//------------------------------//
// Twilight Sparkle 
// Story: The Many Clones Of Twilight Sparkle 
// by naturalbornderpy 
//------------------------------//

Trevor Sparkle couldn’t fully grasp what was happening, but that didn’t mean he was about to question it much. Once he’d tested his theory out a couple more times, he plopped Fluttershy onto his back to keep her out of reach of any monsters nearby. To the clones fighting around him, he tried to add his support. Sadly, having been created only a week ago and having spent most of that time inside and neglecting to do much of anything, his magic skills left much to be desired. Mostly he hung back and threw large rocks at them with his horn.
                
“Can we go home now?” Fluttershy whispered into his ear, half of the purple paint on her coat already rubbed away. “I could make us hot chocolate?”
                
Trevor spun around and bucked the knees out of a purple minotaur, making Fluttershy latch onto him. Once its knees hit the ground, a Twilight clone with a samurai sword and rice hat descended upon them to hack and slash until the creature couldn’t rise again.
                
“Better save the sweet talk ‘til later, Fluttershy. We’re still needed here.”
                
He trotted up the road to get a better view of the battle, and noticed two familiar figures still and silent on the sidewalk. One was General Sparkle, a gaping wound in her stomach that looked like an injury from a horn. She was dead, her hooves wrapped around the neck of another clone with a warped red horn and red-and-yellow bulging eyes. The clone must’ve been strangled quite effectively during General Sparkle’s last seconds of life.
                
“What is it?” Fluttershy asked, as Trevor picked up the notepad next to the bodies.
                
At the top of the page was scribbled: “What have I become?” Below that was a series of crude drawings involving the clone with the red horn and Sexy Sparkle. Perhaps oddest of all was that not a single drawing was sexual in nature. More… awkward? Was that the word that Trevor was searching for?
                
He set the notepad down. “I have no idea. Maybe I don’t want to know.”
                
Fluttershy abruptly stood on his back. “Applejack! Applejack! Over here!”
                
On a connecting street, Applejack, Apple Sparkle, Changey, and Accident Prone Sparkle stopped in mid-sprint and came to them. The three of them put Changey in front, most likely so she wouldn’t run away.
                
“Are you both all right?” Accident Prone asked.
                
Trevor nodded. “We’re fine. Actually, I think I might’ve found something out. I—”
                
Applejack shoved a hoof into his mouth. “Sorry, Mr. Sparkle, but we got important business to attend to here. We’re off to get the jump on Nega by finding out where Dark Sparkle lives. I’d like to stay and chat, but….”
                
Trevor roughly spit out her hoof. “If you’re doing that, then I need to come too. Something’s not right. Something doesn’t feel right, either, and I think it has to do with me.”
                
Applejack grumbled. “I know you’re one of the only male Twilight clones around, Trevor, but I kinda doubt that makes you—”
                
“Everyone get behind me!” Trevor screamed, before he bucked Fluttershy off his back and leapt to the head of the group.
                
The tall dragon from before had touched down on a rooftop across the street, raising its head to inhale air. One of its eyes was a gaping hole, and Luna and Luna Sparkle brought down bolts of pure energy onto its head. Both mares’ sets of forelegs were stained a deep crimson.
                
The dragon slid its long neck down the side of the building until it nearly rested on the street. It opened its jaws and Trevor glimpsed right down its throat at the bright, burning fire contained within. Once its good eye caught sight of him, it stopped.
                
A disgruntled roar later, the dragon soared back into the air and began clashing with the pair of Lunas again.
                
Trevor turned back to the group. “You see?”
                
Applejack furrowed her brows. “See what? That we’re not tasty enough for dragons to eat?”
                
“No! Don’t you get it? All day long, not a single creature of Nega’s has taken a swipe at me. Or if they did, they stopped immediately and went somewhere else.”
                
Applejack chuckled. “Maybe they know you’re just a woosy.”
                
“Now that’s not nice, Applejack!” Fluttershy trumpeted.
                
“I’m only kidding. Trevor can take a joke, can’t he?”
                
Trevor ignored the barb. “Something—someone—is keeping me safe. And if you’re all about to end everything right now, I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to be there. Me and Fluttershy.”
                
He wrapped a leg around her and held her close.
                
“Why me?” Fluttershy whispered.
                
“Because you’re a main character, silly!”
                
Everyone turned and watch Pinkie Pie bounce towards them. While she looked no worse for wear, the trailing Rarity behind her had soot coating most of her face and chest, almost like a bomb had detonated right in front of her.
                
“Hello,” Rarity greeted them dryly, apparently so ‘over’ current events she couldn’t possibly care any less. “If you happen to come across Iron Sparkle or one of her bombs by chance, could one of you please shove one of those little explosive devices down her throat for me? Please?”

“Will do,” Trevor said. He looked at Pinkie. “What was that about main characters, again?”
                
Pinkie Pie smiled and leapt onto Rarity’s back. “You see Rarity and I? We’re main characters. You see that clone over there?”
                
They all looked. “Which one?” Applejack asked.
                
“Doesn’t matter! They’re not a main character!” Pinkie giggled. “If my Pinkie-sense is telling me anything right now, it’s that things are about to wrap up soon. So that means that all the main characters need to come back together before it’s too late!”
                
Applejack chewed on her tongue. “All right. So is this everyone, then?”
                
“Nope! You’re forgetting Rainbow Dash and Speedy Sparkle!”
                
“They really need to be a part of this?”
                
“Not really, but it would be wise to at least give them a task.”
                
Pinkie Pie left that up in the air to ponder. Applejack thought for a moment and spoke to Accident Prone, “Any chance we could get them to lead Nega to the hideout once we figure out what we’re going?”
                
Accident Prone nodded. “They’d be the best to handle that, and too fast for Nega to harm. Until then, we’d have to hope Sparkle Sparkle and Iron Sparkle keep Nega on her hooves and not finding out what we’re doing.”
                
“Fine. So it’s settled.” She looked at Rarity. “Can you stay and deliver a message for us?”
                
Pinkie Pie angrily squeezed Rarity from behind. “No, she cannot!” She shut her eyes and huffed. “She’ll be accompanying us, Applejack. She is a main character, after all.”
                
“I… guess,” Applejack muttered. She scanned the clone-clogged street until finding Janitor Sparkle. “Hey, can you deliver a message for us?”
                
Janitor Sparkle punched an evil clone-bot in the throat before looking her way. “As long as I don’t have to clean this mess up!”
                
“Don’t worry. Spike’s back. We’ll just make him clean it up.”
                
At that, they all laughed. Even the clone-bot with the messed up throat.
                
Then they continued on with their plan.
 

***


 

“None of you are playing fair!” Nega Sparkle screamed, as another patch of earth first reddened and then exploded from the ground below her, just steps away.
                
Standing on a rooftop overlooking Nega was Discord Sparkle, their jaw clamped in a look of grim determination. They snapped another dozen portals above the street before erecting more barriers to surround Nega with: brick walls, panes of glass, barbed wire fences. Up above, Rainbow Dash and Speedy Sparkle soared in and out of the portals Discord Sparkle had created, legs loaded with all the mini-thermal bombs Iron Sparkle could give to them.
                
The pair flew so fast and with such deft precision, Nega had trouble locking onto them. For every portal she’d snap shut, Discord Sparkle would open two more. Add to the annoyance from above, Nega also had to deal with the likes of Sparkle Sparkle, perched on the rooftop opposite Discord Sparkle.
                
Using her horn, Sparkle Sparkle created batches of highly concentrated energy and planted them like landmines into the earth. Once Nega took a step in the wrong direction, she set it off, blowing away another chunk of her liquid-like body. In the time it took Nega to repair herself, the four of them took a breather and readied for the next attack.
                
Less than ten seconds later, Nega was whole again and visibly pissed. She used her horn to create a dark purple orb that expanded a hundred feet in all directions.

What lay inside the orb was a nightmare made real.
 

***


 

“Seriously?” Rarity asked, as her and the rest of them looked at the latest hideout of Dark Sparkle. “The Hay Burger shack?”
                
Applejack shrugged. “Why not? It’s been closed ever since all this clone business started and it’s not exactly health food, so it’s still somewhat evil, I guess. But let’s not go thinking about things too much. That’s bound to get us into trouble.”
                
Trevor Sparkle pointed at the roof. “You all seeing what I’m seeing?”
                
“The place that fired me after eating a month’s supply of fried pickles?” Pinkie suggested happily.
                
“No. Behind the logo, there’s something metallic there. Almost like a—”
                
“A bomb?” Accident Prone finished for him, before grimacing. “I didn’t think they’d try something like this, honestly. Didn’t know Dark Sparkle had the smarts for it.”
                
Applejack came to Trevor’s side to investigate. On the roof of the Hay Burger was a silver-and-red rocket-like device complete with launching pad. It only had a single decal on its side: a pink heart.
                
Applejack gulped. “We should end this before things get any worse. Changey? Which way’s best to get in?”
                
The group turned to Changey, who automatically shrunk to the ground. “Her lair’s down a set of stairs in the back. The rest of the restaurant was left intact incase anyone came by. Use the back entrance to get in.”
                
Applejack nodded. “Sounds good. Only this time you’re leading us. At least then if we get ambushed, I’ll have plenty of time to punch you in the face repeatedly.”
                
Changey whimpered. “Why are you so violent?”
                
“That’s the apple bucking industry for you. Now let’s get moving.”
 

***


 

Changey lit up the tip of her horn and led them down a spiral stairwell at the back of the restaurant. Applejack couldn’t tell how far they’d gone down; only that Dark Sparkle’s lair must’ve been several stories below the earth. At the bottom they came to a lone hallway that fed out into a larger room. Even from a distance they could hear machines softly humming and bolts of electricity striking things.
                
Changey poked her head out into the larger room. “I see Dark Sparkle. She’s alone. She’s on her throne and just sitting there.”
                
“Any chance of catching her off guard?” Rarity inquired. “Could we loop around her throne or something?”
                
Changey shook her head. “No. It’s one of those big thrones that are impossible to move once you set it down. How they got it down here, I have no idea.”
                
“What did I tell you all about thinking too much?” Applejack snapped at her. “Doesn’t matter anyways. You can go out there and we’ll watch from here—look for an opening. If one doesn’t come up, we’ll leap out anyways and improvise, same as always.”
                
Changey nodded shakily. “Okay.” Then she made her way into the larger room.
                
Shrouded in darkness, Dark Sparkle sat atop her black marble throne, her golden cane resting on her lap. She head hung down to stare at some area on the floor; her bright red eyes more subdued than usual.
                
Changey gave her a bow. “Greetings, oh dark one. I… uh… have come with news! Yes, news! The fight goes well and… uh… Nega sure is scary, eh? I don’t think many ponies were expecting that… erm….”
                
She waited for a reaction. For Dark Sparkle to whisper another insult at her or throw her through a wall for annoying her, but neither of them came. Instead Dark Sparkle sat in silence and did nothing at all—didn’t even register her existence or that someone was in the room with her.
                
“What’s going on?” Applejack whispered to Changey from the hallway.
                
Changey shrugged and took a step towards the throne. She jolted as another clone exited from a side door with a toothbrush wedged into their mouth, brushing vigorously.
                
“Sexy!?” the group of mares hidden in the hall collectively gasped.
                
Sexy Sparkle took notice of Changey and gave her a ‘one second’ indication. She went to a bucket and spat out the toothpaste in her mouth before taking a sip of mouthwash and sloshing it around. Once she spat that out, she turned to Changey with a minty fresh smile.
                
“Hey, you weren’t supposed to come back yet. Why you back?”
                
Changey looked from Sexy to the mares in the hall. “Uh… for more instructions?”
                
“Oh. Okay, then. Tell the rest of your friends to exit the hall before I fill it with toxic gas. I’ll give them… five… four… three—”
                
Applejack and the rest trotted from the hall to stand in the center of the room. Pointing a leg at her, Applejack huffed out angrily. “Now just what in the hay is going on here, Sexy? Everyone thought you were dead!”
                
Sexy giggled, circling the throne in the center of the room. “I was dead. Or in everyone’s heads, at least.” She turned to Trevor and licked her lips. “Hey, Trevor. How’s it hanging?”
                
It took him a few moments to get his emotions in check. “Hanging!? Really? Clones are fighting and dying in the streets and you’re asking me how it’s hanging!? You’re dead! I watched you die!”
                
She waved a hoof. “You saw what I wanted you to see: Nega preparing to attack, myself being as sexy as always. Did you see me die, Trevor? Did you really?”
                
Trevor’s silence was answer enough.
                
“Sadly, I couldn’t let Nega have her fun with you, though,” Sexy continued. “I’d forgotten to tell her you were off limits. That’s why I had to interrupt your little get-together. Can’t have anyone doing harm to my little smexy stud, now can I?”
                
Trevor took a step towards her. “So that’s why none of the monsters were willing to hurt me today. It was you! You were controlling them!”
                
Sexy nodded and played with her mane.
                
“If you’re behind the monsters in town,” Rarity spoke, “then what else are you behind?”
                
“Everything,” Sexy moaned. “Every itty bitty thing, my beautiful mares.”
                
“But… but why?” Fluttershy croaked.
                
Sexy gave them all a smoldering stare. “What’s sexier than heroes, I ask? I’ll tell you: villains. Total control, never ending loyalty, skintight outfits, sex, drugs, and rolling rocks. All I wanted all this time was your love—everyone’s love—and now I’ll have it whether you want to give it to me or not. Soon I’ll rule this world. And then I’ll be a part of the biggest open relationship of all time, with Trevor and Fluttershy and Applejack and…”
                
She trailed on until she lost interest in naming ponies.
                
“There’s still a lot I don’t understand,” Rarity said. “Like how you were able to get away with it all and why there’s so many clones.”
                
Sexy narrowed her eyes at her. “You want a standard villain monologue where I fill you in on every little thing that you don’t know about?”
                
Again Pinkie Pie hopped onto Rarity’s back, this time with a box of popcorn. “Yes, please! I love overly long, convoluted stories!”
                
Sexy sighed. “Fine. Let’s start from the beginning, shall we? At first, Twilight Sparkle created two clones by pure accident. She’d been researching into clone creation when a frisky night between her and a grey mare with silly eyes happened to create myself and Accident Prone Sparkle.”
                
“We were the first two?” Accident Prone said.
                
“Yes, but don’t interrupt.” Sexy Sparkle sat on Dark Sparkle’s lap and ran a hoof along her chest. Dark Sparkle didn’t move an inch. “For a time, things were fine. I was experiencing life for the first time and it was amazing. But then I got used to it, and then I wanted more. So much more. Later, I secured a relationship with Twilight, more as a research subject than anything, and during our late nights together, she’d tell me stories of past villains that would excite me to no end. It was clear what I had to do next.”
                
Applejack stomped her hooves. “What did you do with Twilight!? It’s obvious you’re the one that’s been hiding her from us, so what did you do?”
                
Sexy tilted her head. “Can’t you recognize your dear old friend? I must admit she looks a little different, but I’m not the type that keeps track of the color of one’s coat. Do you, Applejack?”
                
“No….” Applejack’s mouth went agape. “Not… her.”
                
“Yes. Her.” Sexy licked the side of Dark Sparkle’s cheek. “One night, I told Twilight of my interests in the origins of villains and she showed me the Alicorn Amulet she’d kept locked in storage. I stole it and broke it into pieces, and bit by bit I ground it up and slipped it into her tea. The effects weren’t fast in any regard—she was only more irritable than anything—so one night after a solid round of love making, I took the Alicorn Amulet and shoved what remained where the sun don’t shine. Twilight changed instantly.”
                
The group all groaned together.
                
“It was great. Twilight had become Dark Sparkle and was not only out of the way, but completely under my control. I fed her love and directions and let her basic dark nature take control. At the moment, she is directionless and without an order, so she will only sit and wait until one is given to her.”
                
Accident Prone’s eyes were split between Sexy and Dark Sparkle’s. “What about the other clones, then?”
                
“I created them,” Sexy answered bluntly, “some to help Dark Sparkle in her conquests and others merely to confuse and stall the rest of you. I may be sexy as sin, but that doesn’t mean my brain isn’t just as brilliant as Twilight’s in the art of clone creation. You even met my first creation of all—Exposition Sparkle. It wasn’t all too hard to convince her to side with Dark Sparkle and feed you all lies.”
                
“But the timing still doesn’t make sense,” Accident Prone interjected. “I spoke with Twilight. I worked with Twilight. A lot!”
                
“You dealt with me, snookums; the entire time,” Sexy snickered. “I dried my mane and tail off and lifted my voice—simple as that. That same Twilight was the one that told Spike to get lost for a while and even convinced you to lock up Dark Sparkle until it was a good enough time to begin. How terrible you must feel now, having imprisoned and fought the real Twilight all this time.” She grinned at them. “Hadn’t any of you wondered why I never helped out against Dark Sparkle? Why I distracted you while you went to go battle her that first time?”
                
“Because you’re an evil, selfish bitch?” Applejack suggested.
                
“Apples!” Apple Sparkle concurred.
                
Sexy Sparkle rolled her eyes. “I guess I am, but a damn sexy one at that; one that will have the pony populace under her hooves in less than ten minute’s times.”
                
Rarity cocked a brow. “How? With Nega?”
                
“No.” Sexy shook her head. “No, Nega is only a distraction and a means to get rid of those annoying spare clones. The only clone I ever truly wanted safe and sound was Trevor, the first of the male Twilights.”
                
“Thanks,” Trevor muttered sarcastically.
                
“You’re quite welcome, sticky buns.” She tipped him a wink. “Did you happen to see the silver rocket outside? That’s a love bomb, set to soar into the stratosphere before crashing back to earth and delivering its payload. It’s large enough to cover half of Equestria and anyone caught in it with fall under my spell instantly—a little something I thought of while in the bar a few days ago. And all those affected? They’ll do just about anything to please me. Anything at all.”
                

***


 

After traversing the twenty-nine layers of the nightmare realm tailored to her particular worries and anxieties, Rainbow Dash soared through the nightmare dome and checked to see if anyone had made it out as well. On the lip of a roof sat Discord Sparkle, their legs dangling over the edge. She flew to them. “Made it out all right?”
                
They gave her a nod. “Discord’s house is worse than anything in there. By a lot. You might still want to get your friends out, though. You should be able to soar in and out without the nightmares taking hold.”
                
She cocked a brow. “You making this up or do you actually know what you’re talking about?”
                
They shrugged. “Half and half?”
                
“Good enough.” She turned to the twisting nightmare dome on the street again, narrowing her eyes to make out the three figures in the swirling void. One was busy hovering in the air, not swaying to either side. Speedy. She glanced down and saw a smaller shape. Behind her were the outlines of something she could only describe as a pony crossed with a spider, twelve feet tall. Sparkle Sparkle and Nega.
                
Rainbow Dash could grab them both if she was quick. With any luck, Nega wouldn’t get a grip on her before she exited. With any more luck, Sparkle Sparkle wouldn’t fry her when she scooped her up, mistaking her for someone else. Whatever. Plans weren’t all that much fun to Rainbow unless there was a mild chance of dying.
                
She told Discord Sparkle, “I’m going in. When I get them back, Nega should be following. We’ve wasted enough time out here, so we’ll try and direct her to Dark Sparkle’s lair.”
                
“You think we’ve bought them enough time?”
                
Rainbow shrugged. “Doesn’t matter anymore. Nega’s gonna wear us down if we continue on like this, so now’s the time we end it.” She smiled thinly. “In case one of us doesn’t make it, I’ll just tell you now: I like you a lot better than Discord. For one thing, you’re not a dick.”
                
They chuckled. “I’ve been hearing that a lot.”
                
Then they got ready to continue the battle with Nega once more.
 

***


 

“Would you all care for some champaign?” Sexy Sparkle asked them, retrieving a bottle from an ice bucket nearby. “This is a celebration, in a way.”
                
Applejack and the rest of them hadn’t budged from their spot in the center of the room, tense and tired and confused. Applejack said to her, “So that’s it? You’re celebrating already? Not gonna sick Dark Sparkle on us again?”
                
“Why?” Sexy questioned calmly. “There’s nothing left to be done. There’s nothing that you can do to stop me: Nega is beyond your control; my love bomb will be launching any minute. Enjoy your freewill while you can.” She glanced at Accident Prone. “Feel free to use my cloning machine in the meantime. Not much material left, but if you’re looking for something to do, go right ahead.” She indicated the bubbling, steaming vat of clone goo pressed against the wall on the opposite side of the room.
                
Accident Prone took a look at it before heading on over.
                
Sexy took a sip from the bottle. “Here’s an idea! Who wants to say goodbye to Twilight before things come to an end? The real Twilight, I mean?”
                
She gave them a Cheshire cat grin that made Applejack uneasy.
                
“It’s simple, really,” Sexy continued. “Every clone I made, I also put in a failsafe device just incase. Same with Dark Sparkle. Want to know what it is, my yummy-nummy little mares? I guess Trevor too, just so he doesn’t feel left out?”
                
“The power of love and friendship?” Fluttershy ventured.
                
“The power of sugar and sweets!” Pinkie Pie screamed.
                
Sexy smirked. “Tickles. Go ahead. Make her laugh. Make her laugh until she cries.”
                
That last statement got Dark Sparkle’s attention. Sluggishly, she turned her head to Sexy, a hint of worry in her expression. “Master? Why would you tell them?”
                
Sexy frowned. “Because dark coats are so last week. And you’re rather… boring, to put things delicately.”
                
Sexy nimbly stepped away from the throne as Applejack and Apple Sparkle trotted up the steps. Yanking a feather out of Apple’s wing, Applejack went to work finding the softest spots on Dark Sparkle’s torso to hit. Pinkie Pie arrived next, using her curvy mane and tail to hit her behind the knees. Like a scoop of ice cream left out in the sun, Dark Sparkle went limp against her seat, legs thrashing as she laughed and laughed, tears welled in her eyes.
                
She tried to slap them all away to no avail. “No. No! No! Stop! I can’t—” She was laughing too hard to speak, her voice traveling from a guttural pitch to one more reminiscent of the original Twilight’s.
                	
When Applejack and Pinkie saw her coat brighten to purple, they doubled their efforts, uncaring of Dark Sparkle’s pleas. Now the villain’s cheeks were shimmering with tears.
                
The last act of Dark Sparkle’s reign was a mighty belch that shot out half of a silver-and-red object before it tumbled to the floor. The Alicorn Amulet.
                
A mostly normal looking Twilight Sparkle collapsed against the back of the throne; Dark Sparkle’s robes quickly disintegrating into ash. Twilight pried open her tired eyes and found her friends staring back at her. “Something bad happened, didn’t it?” she asked.
                
They nodded.
                
“Shit.”
                
“I’d fill you in on all the details, Twilight,” Applejack spoke, “but we really can’t waste much more time. You were cursed and used and Sexy’s the one responsible. Now she wants to turn the whole world into a big love fest with her at the center of it.” She scowled down at Sexy. “You’d probably call yourself Queen, wouldn’t you?”
                
Sexy thought on that. “Queen Sexy? Now doesn’t that just roll off the tongue? Speaking of tongues, anyone want to make out for a bit before the bomb drops? I’m sure I could make it fun. Best kisser gets to become my personal slave? Who’s first?”
                
Rarity stormed over to her. “This is not over, Sexy! The Elements will find a way! Just like they always have.”
                
Sexy yawned. “Boring. Dull. Redundant. Trevor? You paying attention, sweetie? Get stretching. You and I have some unfinished business to attend to once I’m done here.”
                
Trevor gulped. A loud hiss pulled at his attention and he turned to the cloning vat on the other side of the room. Accident Prone was fiddling with its controls, turning dials to their max despite its alarming effects. Burning hot clone goo splashed to the floor and splattered onto the walls.
                
“Get away from there, you retard!” Sexy yelled.
                
The entire room went silent.
                
Pinkie Pie shook her head at her. “Too far, Sexy. Much too far.”
                
“Umm….” Sexy awkwardly scratched at a leg. “Okay. Let’s try that again. Get away from there, you special needs pony!”
                
This time Accident Prone did just that, stepping away from the erupting vat. The damage had obviously already been done.
                
Sexy exhaled sharply. “No matter. I didn’t want anymore clones anyways. I want new bodies to explore.” She spoke to everyone in the room. “There is absolutely nothing you can do to stop me. Get that through your thick skulls. Not unless something catches me completely by surprise.”
                
That was when a section of the roof caved in and Nega Sparkle fell to the ground with Sparkle Sparkle clawing at her chest. Rainbow Dash and Speedy Sparkle zoomed in after them, followed by Discord Sparkle, who used an inside-out umbrella to slow their decent.
                
“Oh, crap! Something surprising!” Sexy screamed, before she galloped behind the throne for protection.
                
Accident Prone whistled loudly, getting their attention. “Over here! Throw her into the vat! That’s the only way to destroy her!”
                
A round of nods later and Speedy Sparkle and Rainbow Dash began to fly in a tight circle together. Their flight soon picked up speed and their combined efforts formed a purple and blue cyclone that took on a life of its own, sucking up Nega and propelling her against the stone roof, flattening her head down to the neck.
                
Nega’s headless body landed a dozen steps from the vat, her body starting to repair itself all over again.
                
Discord Sparkle and Sparkle Sparkle worked in tandem to push her headless body towards the cloning area. Discord Sparkle snapped together a mazelike jumble of obstacles that her torso collided with. Sparkle Sparkle, for her part, shot out round after round of pure energy to slice through her midsection and drive her back. Even under such heavy resistance, Nega was reforming faster than she was falling apart.
                
Discord Sparkle snapped a portal underneath her that led to the movable stairs set around the cloning machine. Without any head to see, Nega fell into it and landed out the other side atop the ring around the vat. When her head was made whole again, she found Discord Sparkle already waiting for her.
                
She gave them a mock smile. “You’re all so impolite, attacking me when I can’t even see.”
                
Discord Sparkle looked at her coldly. “This is for Discord.” They then used their sharp claws to pluck out one of Nega’s eyes, before doing the same to the remaining one. “And that’s for scaring Fluff Sparkle.”
                
In the palm of their hand, Discord Sparkle crushed both of Nega’s eyeballs into mush as she brought her hooves up to her face. Discord Sparkle noted the red dot on their back a moment before stepping aside. That same red dot appeared on Nega’s chest before it bloomed out and covered her.
                
Across the room this whole time, Sparkle Sparkle had been charging up her horn into a cannon of pure destructive force. With everyone clear, she let it rip and shot out a five-foot-wide rainbow-hued beam that tore through Nega and plastered her against the far wall. Soon those pieces and parts of Nega began to slip away and splash into the boiling clone goo below. Each drop of Nega hissed and disappeared into the unstable concoction.
                
Everyone held their breath to see if Nega would resurface and attack them once more. Only she never did.
                
Sparkle Sparkle blew on the smoking tip of her horn. “That was for Mr. Booky Book.”
                
Speedy Sparkle nudged Rainbow Dash. “What did she say?”
                
“I SAID ‘THAT WAS FOR MR. BOOKY BOOK!’”
                
Speedy Sparkle brought a hoof up to her pained ear. “Got it, kid. Thanks.”
                
“Let’s not get cocky all a sudden, girls,” Applejack warned them. “Nega was only half the trouble here. Now we gotta deal with a villainess hell-bent on global destruction.”
                
They could all hear Sexy giggling to herself behind the throne. “They called me a villainess! Awesome! That’s so sexy!”
                
Rainbow Dash blanched. “Wait. What? Sexy’s alive now?”
                
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Yes. And she’s also a huge bitch that’s basically been the one responsible for everything. So could someone just go grab her already?”
                
In a flash of rainbow streaks, both pegasi did a loop around the throne and came back with Sexy in their grasp. Sexy’s giggles faded away as everyone in the room glared at her.
                
“What?” she asked them innocently. “You think this is over because Dark Sparkle has been ousted and Nega’s been destroyed? Please. Don’t let those award winning butts of yours forget about that little ol’ bomb on the roof, ready to launch.”
                
Accident Sparkle raised a hoof, a tad out of breath. “About that. When all the commotion with Nega was going on, I went back outside and dismantled the launch pad’s wiring. That love bomb isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”
                
It suddenly looked like Sexy was chewing on something sour. “Doesn’t matter. I press the button, my bomb goes off and everyone in Ponyville and around for miles is forced under my spell. I would still have an army at my disposal! A sexy army where not a single butt dares to be hidden by armor!”
                
“Where’s the button, then?” Applejack inquired.
                
“Why, right here!” Sexy reached behind her and came back with a tiny black box that held a single red button. Everyone in attendance groaned again.
                
Applejack turned to her group. “Someone wanna grab that before she presses it?”
                
“I’m not touching that!” Rainbow Dash answered. “Where’d it even come from? It’s not like she’s wearing clothes.”
                
“Ditto,” Rarity added. “I know it might be the end of the world and all, but still, ew.”
                
Discord Sparkle sighed and snapped their fingers, zapping the remote from Sexy’s hoof to their hand. Discord Sparkle gagged a single time before dropping it to the floor and crushing it with a hoof.
                
By the sight of her ruined remote, Sexy’s shoulders slumped and she sat on the ground in a pout. “You guys are lame.”
                
On the steps of the throne, Apple Sparkle was helping Twilight down. Once on the floor, Twilight looked over them, stopping at both Speedy Sparkle and Apple Sparkle.
                
“You made more clones.” She didn’t state it as a question.
                
Accident Sparkle nodded. “Sexy did. A lot of them for various reasons.”
                
“That’s not good.”
                
“We can figure out what to do with them later. Most are friendly, honest. We’ll—”
                
Twilight shook her head. “No. I mean any clone is bad. That’s why I stopped right after I accidentally created Sexy and you. Because….” She hung her head.
                
Accident Prone hesitated, before asking, “Because of what?”
                
Twilight sighed. “Because any clones coming out of that vat were never meant to survive for more than a week. Eight or nine days, tops. I was planning on finding a cure or reconfiguring the formula…” she indicated the throne next to her “…but obviously things went way out of control. I’m sorry, I really am. But I honestly don’t know if there’re be enough time now.”
                
Rainbow Dash looked from Speedy to Twilight. “What? You mean… all the clones are going to die soon?”
                
Twilight nodded without meeting her eyes.
                
Sexy Sparkle gasped. “What!? Why didn’t anyone tell me this? I wasted so much time! I need to find someone! Anyone! Just one more lay before it’s too late!”
                
“Would the two of us do?” Luna asked, after she stepped out from the shadows underneath the hole in the ceiling. Luna Sparkle stood next to her.
                
“Yes! Anything! Let’s go!” Sexy trotted to the pair, only for magic hoofcuffs to clamp around her legs. She glanced at them. “So you like the rough stuff?”
                
Luna Sparkle shook her head. “Afraid not. From this day forward, you will be spending your days in Canterlot’s worst multi-sex prison. No guards. No rules. No way out. Only the top ponies get to make the rules there. The rest become sexual partners to whoever they think can protect them.”
                
Sexy thought about it, then brightened. “Sounds like fun! Let’s get going!”
                
Behind her, Apple Sparkle collapsed to the floor in a series of violent coughs. In an instant, Applejack was by her side, supporting her head with a hoof. Apple Sparkle’s breathing quickly became labored.
                
“No. No, no, no, no,” Applejack whimpered, her voice cracking. “It’s can’t be this soon. Not like this.”
                
Apple Sparkle looked up at her in confusion. “Apples?”
                
A single tear rolled down Applejack’s cheek. “Don’t talk, Apple Sparkle. Save your strength. We’ll get you back to the castle and Twilight will figure something out. Just don’t—”
                
“Apple?”
                
Applejack shook her head. “Don’t start talking like that. You’re gonna get out of here. You’re gonna go on and we’re gonna get married, just like I promised you. You’re not gonna die here. You’re gonna die an old mare in bed, but not here, not when I need you so badly. Promise me, Apple Sparkle. Promise me you won’t leave me today, okay?”
                
But Apple Sparkle had already grown still, her unblinking eyes staring up at the ceiling above. Her chest didn’t rise.
                
Applejack moaned and began to sob. She brought Apple Sparkle to her chest and held her tight as Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Applejack. I never wanted anything like this to happen.”
                
Accident Prone came to her next, and instead of getting emotional like the rest, she instead kicked Apple Sparkle in the ribs. “Now cut that out! I know for a fact there’s no way you’re dead.”
                
Apple Sparkle snorted and rubbed at the spot she’d been kicked, before quietly chuckling to herself.
                
Applejack’s sorrow flipped to anger as she held Apple Sparkle away from her. “You little jerk! That was an act? That was an act? Why would you do that? Why!?” She was simultaneously furious and happy all at once. “When I get you home, I’m gonna slap that hide of yours so hard you’ll be seeing stars! Don’t ever do that to me again!”
                
They kissed, before all eyes fell to Accident Prone. She told them earnestly, “I knew of the clone problem right after being created. I found it while studying the code. Considering it was a life and death matter, I concentrated on fixing it as fast as I could. In less than a day I figured it out and gave the antidote to myself and any new clones that were created before I could readjust the formula. Every clone after Sexy and I should be fine.”
                
Across the room, Sexy raised a hoof. “What about me? Did I get the cure?”
                
Accident Prone held her tongue until Sexy literally quivered at the knees. “Yes. Even though you were mean to me, I gave you the cure without you knowing.”
                
“Huzzah! Sexy lives to tightly embrace another day!” She slapped her butt in support of her good fortune. The cold looks she received quieted her and she sighed. “In jail, I mean. Goody….”
                
As Luna and Luna Sparkle flew away with Sexy in tow, Twilight turned to the rest of them. “So what do we do now? There’re clones everywhere, living and breathing and existing on their own. What are we supposed to do with them all?”
                
Pinkie Pie pleasantly mashed her face against her friend’s.
                
“Why don’t we let the epilogue deal with those pesky questions?”