//------------------------------// // Princess Knows // Story: Equestria Girls: Secrets Beyond the Stars // by GoldenGoomba900 //------------------------------// Inapan sat in her lab, looking over the cloning vats she'd placed the DNA inside. Sunset Shimmer's clone was coming slower than almost any known being had, most likely due to the computer having to handle her complex, warped DNA, resulting in a nigh-microscopic piece of flesh growing as slowly as physically possible. Despite this disappointing development, Inapan was less than concerned. In the next tube over was an exact replica of Flash Sentry, floating lazily in the clear gel. She had taken the nightmare from Flash's mind to reality, waiting for the computer to confirm that he was a proper age. She'd locked the door to the cloning lab off from her husband, knowing full well that if he'd found out no amount of brainwashing would be able to make him accept her. If she gave them their Sentry, they'd be less likely to snoop around in her plans until it was too late. "Oh dear Sentry." She mused, rubbing the tube. "A perfect replicate would not be nearly enough for me. While it will have your same puny brain, your same soft skin, your same warm grasp, it would never replace you. It could never replace your guitar's sweet rhythms, even with all the musical talent from the galaxy. It could never replace your tender, loving embrace as we share the same beautiful moments. It would never, ever replace the day I found you, my dearest Flash Sentry..." Sighing softly, she left the cloning lab to be with the real man of her dreams. Sunset Shimmer (the real one, that is) practiced her telekinesis, flipping and spinning items in the air while she held herself up upside-down. She took deep, relaxed breaths, keeping concentration even as Pinkie tried her darnedest to distract her. Party cannons, whistles, bells, almost literally anything she could think up wouldn't distract Shimmer. That is, until she waved a nice chocolate cupcake in front of her. Sunset's stomach rumbled gently, breaking the trance. Thankfully, Shimmer remained enough control to right herself. "Alright," Twilight said, finishing her notes "let's get back to camp, we need to regroup and brainstorm how to fix these problems." Leading the girls back to camp, Twilight began thinking aloud. "Let's recap: I can't fight, so super strength is not much use to me. Sunset, you need food to keep your powers working. Pinkie, your power only works on humans. Rarity can't disguise her voice or pretend to be someone she hasn't met, Rainbow's power only seems to kick in when she's asleep or unconscious, Applejack can't summon her body parts anywhere that aren't living, but if she uses them on our bodies while we wear the mask she can use our powers, and Fluttershy- " "Fluttershy completely deafens anyone within a mile radius, friend or foe!" Pinkie cheerily finishes. "And we have no clue what Spike's mask does." Sunset Shimmer pointed out. "For all we know it could do nothing, or it could be the greatest power of them all." "But we can't let him use it!" Twilight cut off. "He's not... we could barely control our own powers. He's still a puppy, we need to wait." "Aren't we still kids?" Pinkie asked. "Yeah, that's a good point... well, except for Applejack, she's eighteen." "What happened to that pink pickup she used to have?" Shimmer asked. "She still has it, but she isn't allowed to drive anymore, not since she entered that demolition derby." Pinkie reminisced. "That guy in the ice cream truck REALLY wanted to win." "Regardless, we need to think. Pinkie, your ideas are usually ludicrous enough to work, what do you think?" Twilight interjected. "We could get Sunset fat so she doesn't have to eat as much." "Whoa whoa whoa Pinkie, I am NOT getting fat." "Why not? You'll be tons of fun!" "I was really hoping for a solution that could be done in under a week Pinkie. With Sunset's diet it could take months for that to work out." "How about a machine that Rainbow controls in her sleep? Oooh, what about a machine that controls Rainbow in her sleep?" "What's this about a machine?" Rainbow asked as the group approached them. Applejack had started a roaring fire, and Fluttershy had begun cooking some food. "Nothing, we're tossing ideas around about how to work all of this... Rainbow, we're gonna need you to teach Twilight how to fight." Sunset said, sitting by Sparkle's side. "She really got roughed up by that guy, and if he's any indication, Inapan's probably tougher than both him and her sister." "We've also been trying to think of how the rest of you can improve your powers." Twilight chimed in. "Sorry we have to cut into your training for mine, Rainbow." "Pshaw, it's no problem. I like a challenge! And if you're anything like your pony self, it WILL be a challenge." "Gee, thanks. Anyways, we also need to determine a food source for Shimmer's powers." "I wanted her to get fat, but apparently she doesn't want that." Pinkie humphed. "Oooh, I rhymed!" "Speaking of food, how's dinner coming?" Applejack turned to Fluttershy. "Oh, it's great. I'm making a vegetable stew from all the food we brought." "Wait, vegetable? Ah man Fluttershy, I know you and Sunset are vegans but we gotta eat too you know!" Dash sighed and shook her head, getting up. "I've got some beef jerky in my bag, just chop it up and put it in there too." "Come on Dash, some leafy greens won't kill you." Applejack said, pulling her back down. "It might do you good to have some more in your diet." Rarity added. "Why do you say that?" "Regardless, I think we've been doing really well out here on our own." Spike said, smiling as he crawled out of the tent. As if on cue, it began to rain, putting out the fire, ruining the stew, forcing a change of clothes, soaking all of them, and forcing them to turn in early for the night. "I probably should have looked at the weather instead of going to MyStable." Rarity coughed. "Wait, how can we get internet access or have rain if Inapan put up a dome?" Sunset thought aloud. "That's... a good question." Twilight admitted. "Perhaps it's a biosphere, where it simulates its own weather." "Why'd they need that in space? And how would that give us internet access?" Rarity asked, taking out the phone and toying with it again. "Maybe it's a simulation?" Pinkie suggested. "Impossible, I've gotten fifty likes on my last post." Rarity countered. "Maybe it's not a complete shield?" Sunset responded, chowing down on some granola bars. "Wait, where did you get those?" Applejack asked. "I, uh, found them." "Actually, I think those were mine." Fluttershy mumbled. "I'm sorry, guys but I was just soooo hungry! Like, you don't understand." "Well, you know your powers the best, so I suppose we should hold off on your training. Anyways, what about the shield?" Twilight tried to rerail the conversation. "Maybe it's Flash trying to help? Trying to control it from the ship?" Applejack added. "What if" Sunset said between two chocolate flavored granola bars, "she was bluffing earlier?" "I doubt it. You saw the beam too, right?" Spike added. "Well whatever the cause, we shouldn't let this rain keep us down. We'll just have to keep going, no matter what nature throws at us." Meanwhile, Flash slept in bed, shaking, moaning, rolling back and forth. Inapan watched, silently in her nice, long, soft shirt. He had given her so many grand ideas, her helpful husband! She sat over his chest, grinning in anticipation for her husband's next wondrous pla- "Sister!" Tested said, entering. "Grunt's missing!" There was a brief pause. "Am I interrupting something?" "No, not at all, just keep it down... what's this about Grunt?" "He is not here; he is not at his station, in his bed, or anywhere on the ship." "Pfft, so? He's probably off cataloging new species of flora like he usually does. Get me in the morning, after Flash and I enjoy our company more thoroughly." "Shouldn't he be awake for that?" "Trust me sister, he'll not mind." As Tested left, a look of horrified realization came over her sister's face. "Wait, wait, th-this is all wrong! Sister, come back!" Tested returned to the room, to find Inapan furious as she held the sleeping Flash by his chest. "He loves another." "What?!" Tested recoiled in shock. "I have dipped into his mind for more ideas, to know more about the world he comes from... and what I saw is a very unfortunate sight. He has performed his kind's mating ritual with others." "H-how many others, dear sister?" "Plenty, but the one he'd gone the furthest and the longest with is the very woman we've been trying to capture for days now." "Sunset Shimmer." "He has made LOVE to her, in ways he has yet to love me!" She climbed off the bed and began pacing, trying to think. "Why has he not loved me as he has her, dear sister? What made him wish not to perform his mating cycle with I? Am I not pretty enough? Am I not tall enough? Is it because I gave him so much while she treated him with cold rejection?" Tested went over to read Flash's mind to catch up on what her sister had found. "Astounding. You were right sister, his mind is small and mysterious. It has so little to see, yet somehow there is more buried within... wait, I see it. Yes, they appear to be..." "Don't remind me, dear sister!" Inapan said, starting to cry. "He does not love me as much as I love him! What shall we do? I cannot be trapped in a loveless marriage if I am to rule the galaxy!" "...Sister, you are cloning her, yes?" Inapan nodded while sniffling. "Then the solution is obvious. Make him think the clone is the real one that he loves, then make her do something he perceives as irredeemable. While he is in shock, perform an act of goodness towards him, and he will love you instead." "And if he finds out?" "By then we will have the real Sunset Shimmer in our grasp, and have her act just as cruel as the clone." "Sister, you are brilliant! I take back everything about you going to the College of Intergalactic Treachery." "I was top of my class, sister."