• Published 27th Jul 2015
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The Many Clones Of Twilight Sparkle - naturalbornderpy



Twilight Sparkle has made a number of homemade clones to act as her while out with her friends. If only she weren't so absolutely terrible at making clones.

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Speedy Sparkle

Lyra and Bon Bon had no real idea what they were staring at. It was in the shape of a normal pony, only its fur had grown so long that it shielded them from head to hoof with several inches of extra fluffy fur. Its coat was purple and on its head was a horn. If it had wings at all, they would’ve been buried somewhere underneath all that fur.

“Phhhp… php… phpphph… gasp!”

The extra fluffy Twilight inhaled a large batch of air as a Twilight bat flew past her head. Thus far, Ponyville had been under attack by a horde of clones baring the resemblance of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Lyra and Bon Bon should’ve been more alarmed by this fact, considering that once again they were forced to fend for both their lives and their town, but, realistically, this was the eighth time this year something close to this had happened. And, if memory served them correctly, most events such as these worked themselves out just fine in around twenty-two minutes. Forty-four max.

Bon Bon pointed at the mound of fur from the bench they sat on. “Is that all it does? Hold its tongue out and make little farty noises?”

Lyra cocked a brow. “I guess. But it’s still kinda cute, right? At least mildly amusing.”

The fluffy Twilight stepped up to a flower on the ground and gasped all over again, before she began trotting in small circles and making that phhph noise some more. Less than a minute before this, she’d miraculously pulled a white pillow out from her fur and decimated an undead clone with it.

“I don’t know,” Bon Bon said, “it’s fun to watch for a couple of minutes, sure, but any longer than that? I dunno. It might get pretty stale, pretty quick.”

Lyra turned to her. “We could always switch benches, you know.”

“But I really like this bench! And it’s right in the middle of town, so we can watch all the destruction and everything from here!”

Lyra nodded. “True.”

In the clear blue sky, two speeding Twilight bats carried another Sparkle clone in the direction heading out of town. Bon Bon thought she heard the clone screaming out, “Apples!” but couldn’t be sure. Following close behind them was Applejack and the rest of Twilight’s friends.

When they disappeared out of sight, Lyra said, “We could always live somewhere else, Bon Bon.”

At that, Bon Bon sighed. “But where else would we get such low housing costs? And such good value on spontaneous disaster insurance?”

Lyra nodded again. “True.”

In a flash of bright light, a purple and light-blue draconequus appeared alongside Fluff Sparkle, lowering down to rub its face into her fur. By its touch, Fluff Sparkle scrunched her face up and stood still.

Snap!

Now the real Discord stood next to Sparkle Discord.

“Now just what in Equestria do you think you’re doing?”

Sparkle Discord detached itself from the purple mound of fur. “Hugging?”

Discord ran a heavy hand down his face. “Hugging? We don’t hug! Not unless under duress or if the situation demands it. Draconequuses don’t give out random hugs, all right? So knock it off!”

Sparkle Discord took a step away from Fluff Sparkle and ran a hand along its arm, looking downcast. “It just looked really fluffy, is all…”

Discord grumbled to himself, “And here I go spending all my free time trying to teach you the delicate art of chaos and all you do is go around ruining our reputation…” He sighed. “I almost think there’s more Twilight in you than Discord.”

With a pout, Sparkle Discord kicked at a pebble on the ground.

Discord rolled his eyes and wrapped a long arm around it. “I’m sorry, Discord Sparkle. That was uncalled for. I just thought a Discord clone would come with the software already installed and running. But, alas, we should probably practice snapping again. Why not give it another try?”

Discord Sparkle extended his eagle’s claw and snapped with them, starting a small fire on Fluff Sparkle’s back.

“…phhph… pphph… phphph… gasp!”

With amazing speed, Fluff Sparkle ran up the road, stopping at the town well to hop inside and extinguish the flames.

Lyra and Bon Bon watched this all unfold with mild interest, passing a box of popcorn between them.

Bon Bon whispered to her very special best friend, “I told you this bench was the best bench in town.”

Discord pulled on his beard. “Not bad, Discord Sparkle. Let’s try something else. Try something on them.” He pointed a sharp claw at Lyra and Bon Bon.

Before it snapped its fingers, Discord Sparkle thought for a moment.

Snap!

It seemed as if nothing at all had changed.

“Well, what did you even do!?” Discord fumed out.

Discord Sparkle turned to him. “That bench would’ve needed a new coat of paint in around six week’s time. I made it need a new paint job in less than four. Maybe a few new nails too. And don’t forget possible splinters.”

Discord stared at the purple draconequus blankly, an expression of boredom, hatred, anger, and itchiness all vying to let loose all at once. Instead of doing any of that, he sighed loudly and went limp.

“Let’s start back from the beginning, then. Lesson One: Putting the word ‘fun’ in chaos, even if it doesn’t belong there.”

***

Since leaving Ponyville behind, Applejack hadn’t let Apple Sparkle out from her sights. While sweat poured down from her mane and her temples, her heart beat like a jackhammer and her muscles ached something fierce. Even feeling all of that, she ran as fast as she could, keeping under the pair of Twilight bats that held tight to her marefriend.

“Put her down right now!” she yelled, but to no avail.

As she heard the rest of her friends start to close in behind her, a purple and rainbow colored blur shot down from the sky and planted a quick hoof into one of the Twilight bat’s side. Like a lead weight, the bat pony careened towards the ground and landed hard, writhing in pain.

“Ap-apple!”

With one flyer gone, the remaining Twilight bat had hardly a hold left on Apple Sparkle, who now dangled from the end of one leg. In the air, the purple blur moved again and Applejack watched as the remaining Twilight bat was struck in the jaw and sailed into the trunk of a tree several meters away.

Apple Sparkle descended only a few feet before the purple blur grabbed a hold of her and rocketed them down to the ground, stopping with only just centimeters to spare.

Once stationary, Applejack and the rest of them finally saw the blur with clarity.

“I just knew I could take those guys out!”

It was another Sparkle clone almost identical to the original, except with a rainbow-colored mane and tail done up in a messy-like style. In just one look, Applejack knew exactly who she was supposed to be.

She groaned. “Ah, crap. Now we gotta deal with a Rainbow Dash Sparkle, too?”

The new clone started doing pushups on the ground. “Speedy Sparkle, actually. You see how I took out those bat ponies? I was all like Pow! Blam! Smack! And they were all like, ‘No! Not my face! You’re too awesome, so stop hitting my face!’”

Safely back on the ground, Apple Sparkle rejoined the rest of them and gave Applejack a hug.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Actually, I watched the whole thing and it didn’t go anything like that.”

Speedy Sparkle went from doing pushups with her legs to doing them with her wings. “I’m pretty sure it did. But that’s all right. Sometimes I tend to move a little too fast for the average pony to keep up with. Don’t go feeling slow, though. Compared to me, everyone’s pretty slow.”

Applejack spun around to glare at Rainbow Dash. “You just had to go making a clone for yourself, didn’t you!?”

Rainbow Dash took a step back. “What? No way! How would I have even known how? And why would I even do that?”

“Because you’re jealous of Apple Sparkle and I! Just admit it!”

Rainbow Dash shook her head angrily. “You think the only mare I’d be interested in would be one that acts just like me? That’s kinda rude, don’t you think?” She added a mocking tone to her voice. “Oh, Rainbow Dash just loves competition, so I’m sure she’d love a competitive mare! Also, one with a rainbow mane and tail! Flies fast? Check! Ego the size of Cloudsdale? Check!”

Speedy Sparkle came to join their little group, shoving Apple Sparkle aside. “You wouldn’t happen to be talking about me, would you? My level of hearing is quite impressive.”

Rainbow Dash told her, “I don’t know who made you, but all my friends here think that I did just so I’d have a Sparkle clone to call my own. But that’s just not the case!”

Speedy Sparkle narrowed her eyes. “So what are you saying, exactly? That I’m not good enough for you? Maybe it’s you who isn’t good enough for me? You ever think of that?”

Rainbow Dash snorted. “Impossible. I’m the fastest flyer in Equestria! There’s no way you wouldn’t want to be my marefriend!”

With a wink, Speedy Sparkle informed her, “Correction: used to be the fastest flyer in Equestria. And I’m pretty sure if I wanted to, I could get you to fall in love with me in ten seconds flat.”

Rainbow Dash frowned hard. “Not a chance! Not before you’d fall in love with me!”

“Fine! Then let the competition begin!”

Rainbow Dash came forward the same time Speedy did, mashing their noses together. Both narrowed their eyes as if searching for some hidden weakness on the other.

A few steps away from the odd scene, Rarity nudged Pinkie Pie in the ribs. “Just how in Equestria did we get here? I mean, really? The mirror pool was one thing, but… jeeze! This just keeps on getting weirder and weirder!”

Pinkie Pie detached a bit of her tail to pop on a cone and start munching on. “I know! Isn’t it great? And for once even I don’t know what’ll happen next!” She pointed her cone at Rarity. “Cotton candy?”

“No thanks.”

Back with the two Rainbow-colored mares, Speedy Sparkle had already begun a countdown from ten to zero.

“Eight… seven… six…”

A bead of sweat trickled down Rainbow Dash’s head. “I’m not just gonna fall in love with you because you bet I wouldn’t!”

“… five… four… three…”

Both of Rainbow Dash’s wings shot out to her sides, causing her to curse under her breath.

“… two… one…”

“Oh, just do it already!”

Tired from the unnecessary distraction, Applejack ran up to them and shoved their heads together, causing their lips to touch and both of them to close their eyes.

A moment later, both mares collapsed onto the ground, kissing passionately. As soon as one pinned the other against the dirt with a kiss, the one on the bottom then tried to reverse their positions.

They both mumbled out when they had the extra oxygen to spare:

“I told you you’d fall in love with me first!”

“No! Applejack cheated! If it wasn’t for her, you would’ve cracked!”

“Well, at least I’m a better kisser than you!”

“That’s not true! I’m just off my game right now! I can kiss so much more awesomely than this! Like twenty-percent more awesomely!”

Rarity turned to Pinkie Pie. “On second thought, I think I will have some of that cotton candy now.”

***

Taking a single step back into town, the five friends (and one Speedy Sparkle that zipped around their heads due to increased boredom) immediately spotted a very familiar sight.

“Thank Celestia!” Rarity cried, trotting ahead of them.

Waiting for them was another Twilight Sparkle; one with no noticeable differences from the original. Even her smile and little wave seemed much the same.

Rarity nearly tackled her into the ground with her hug.

“You have no idea how hard things have been, Twilight! I mean, just—”

Rarity cut her sentence short as she pulled away from her.

“You’re probably not the real Twilight, are you? Just another clone.”

Twilight chuckled lightly. “No, friend mares. It’s really me, Twilight Sparkle of the Princess variety. And I’m here to let you know that everything is now well under control.”

Not twelve steps behind Twilight did a hulking, story-tall, heavily muscled Sparkle clone scream at the top of its lungs before smashing an entire row of undead Sparkles into mush. Perched on her finely shaped shoulder was another Sparkle holding a tray of coffees, downing each of them with alarming speed as her eyelids twitched uncontrollably. Coffee Sparkle, Applejack mused.

“I think you might be wrong about that one, Twilight,” Rarity told her.

Twilight’s smile never faltered. “Why would I lie? The real Twilight Sparkle does not lie. Everything is peachy keen, yes it is!”

Rainbow Dash landed beside them. “This can’t be the real Twilight. She doesn’t talk anything like this!”

Twilight turned to her. “Whatever do you mean, rainbow mare? I am so Twilight Sparkle. The same Twilight Sparkle that enjoys books… and tea… and, uh, books about tea… and, uh, fried shrimp!” She paused for a moment to retrieve a note card to read over. “I mean friendship! Yes, friendship! Glorious, glorious friendship in mother Equestria!”

Rainbow Dash flew upwards and crossed her forelegs. “I’m not buying it. This has to be some kinda trick.”

In a flash, Speedy Sparkle zoomed next to her. “I knew it was trick a whole sixty seconds before you did.”

“No you didn’t.”

“Wanna bet?”

Applejack glared at the pair. “Knock it off! Now’s not the time.” She went over to Twilight, stopping in front of her. “Listen, it’s no big deal if you’re a clone. We’ve already met dozens of them.”

Twilight’s smile started to falter around the edges. “No! It is me! Twilight! Honest! I just love—” She stopped as her eyes crossed and her mouth hung agape. “Excuse me for a second! I just need to—”

As Twilight whirled around to trot away, Rainbow Dash cut her off. “Just where do you think you’re going?”

Twilight hitched in a breath. “I just need to sneeze! So just let me—”

Achoo!

All six mares gasped at once. All except for Twilight, who stood stock still before them, hardened black outer shell out on display. Only her mane and tail remained the same, as the rest of her took on the exact appearance of a changeling underling.

A second later, the changeling erupted in a wash of green flames, taking on the appearance of Twilight again. She ran a leg across her nose. “Excuse me, comrades. That was a particularly nasty sneeze. Time for slumber party and marshmallow squares?”

Apple Sparkle pointed a hoof at her. “Apple!”

Everyone turned to Applejack for clarification.

She rolled her eyes. “She said ‘GET HER!’”

In one fluid motion, the six mares pounced on top of Twilight, effortlessly pinning her to the ground.

With sweat pouring from her mane, Twilight chuckled dryly. “Maybe there’s been a misunderstanding, friends.”

Applejack stood atop of her, two hooves pinned into her chest. “Tell us who you are! A changeling? A clone? A changeling clone?”

Twilight thought over the options. “None?”

“Not an answer.”

With her teeth, Applejack yanked a feather out of one of Rainbow Dash’s wings and began running it under Twilight’s nose. Struggle as she might, Twilight eventually showed the signs of a mighty large sneeze on its way.

Achoo!

Again the changeling dropped the Twilight guise, once more giving them all the sight of a changeling mixed with Twilight Sparkle.

Her light-blue eyes fearfully darted from one mare to the next. “I can explain!”

Applejack pushed a hoof into her cheek. “Then start explaining!”

“I was taken by Dark Sparkle! She wanted me to infiltrate your group and pretend to be Twilight! The only problem is I’m really bad at acting like Twilight!”

“Obviously,” Rarity muttered to no one in particular.

“Why?” Applejack asked.

“To lure you into a trap!” Tears started spilling from her eyes. “I didn’t want to! Honest! But if I didn’t bring you all back to Dark Sparkle, then she said she’d kill me! She’s so mean sometimes and no fun at all! I called her Grumpy Sparkle just one time and she threw me through a wall! Then she made me repair the wall that I was thrown through!”

Applejack looked away from her, turning to the rest. “This still doesn’t make a lot of sense. Why wouldn’t Dark Sparkle just get another Twilight clone to try and trick us? They all look like Twilight, right? So why a changeling clone? Can it even turn into anyone else besides Twilight?”

The changeling shook her tearstained face.

Rarity added, “Maybe Dark Sparkle thought that a changeling would be a good pony to side with her. Changelings have always had that villainous look to them.”

The changeling sniffled. “We’re not evil! We’re just misunderstood!”

“Is that why you just admitted to trying to lure us into a trap against a super villain?”

The changeling paused. “Once! I only did it once!”

Facing her friends, Applejack sighed. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

Pinkie Pie smiled wide. “A song and dance number to help introduce her to the town!?”

“No. It means we go along with the trap.”

***

Brittle twigs and tiny rocks were crushed underhoof as they made their way down the winding path. A fair distance out of Ponyville, the trees started growing closer together, cutting out much of the sun overhead. Soon the dirt path below turned to cobblestone, before becoming nothing more than bits of shattered rock and hard-packed dirt.

A rusted gate swung against a tall stone wall. The other part of the gate had been ripped off and left on the dried grass next to the large mansion looming over them, three stories tall and twice as wide as Applejack’s barn. Most windows of the mansion were either cracked or missing altogether; most of its paint weathered away some years ago. A large rickety porch hung along its front—a set of swinging chains holding a deck chair that lightly tapped against the wall.

Rainbow Dash hovered in the air and viewed the house with pursed lips. “So this is it, huh? Dark Sparkle’s hideout? Makes sense, I guess. All dark and spooky-like.”

With a hoof, Speedy Sparkle ruffled Rainbow Dash’s mane. “Is someone scared of a little ol’ abandoned house? I bet I could spend a whole night in there all by myself!”

Rainbow Dash pressed her face into hers. “Nuh-uh! Not when I could spend a whole two nights there! No candles or lantern or Daring Do books or anything!”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah!”

“Oh, yeah!?”

Yeah!

Both Apple Sparkle and Applejack jumped into the air to nip at their tails, dividing them. The last six arguments that’d broken out between the rainbow mares had all ended much the same—a rather competitive and noisy make-out session that only extended their mission more.

If Applejack had thought of bringing a bucket of ice water along, she would’ve dumped it on them hours ago.

“So this is the place, Changey?” Rarity asked the changeling, back in her Twilight disguise.

Since none of them had wanted to keep on calling the changeling either “Twilight” or “the changeling,” they all settled on Changey once Pinkie Pie started calling her that.

Changey gulped dryly. “Yep. I was supposed to tell you that the source of Dark Sparkle’s power is located in the basement, and then we’d all go through those doors on the right. That’s when Dark Sparkle would’ve trapped you all in and then done something terrible.”

“So then what should we do?”

“Enter through the front,” Changey explained, indicating the set of double doors on the porch. “There’s nothing in the rest of the house, yet; Dark Sparkle’s only been working in the basement so far. If we entered through the front, then you’d all still have the element of surprise.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Maybe we should get a new member and call her The Element of Surprise.”

Rarity groaned. “I think we’ve always had that Element.”

Rainbow Dash furrowed her brows. “What do you—”

“Surprise!

In an explosion of confetti and streamers, Pinkie Pie launched upwards and slapped a party hat on Rainbow Dash. Afterwards, Rainbow Dash shut her eyes and used two hooves to rub at both temples.

A short battle strategy later, the group of mares (and lone changeling) crossed the littered lawn and stepped onto the mansion’s porch, each wooden board bending underneath them.

Applejack pushed the front doors open and waited until her eyes got used to the gloom before entering. Inside the foyer was a set of dusty couches and a couple moth eaten rugs. Hanging from the ceiling was a chandelier incased in crisscrossing spider webs.

With a nod, Applejack said, “Seems normal enough. For a spooky mansion, I mean.”

Once she stepped into the entryway of the mansion, the rest of them did the same, breaking away from each other to inspect various old items in the room. The only one to stay behind on the porch was Changey, who glanced around anxiously while rubbing at a leg.

“I’m…” she muttered out. “I’m so sorry about this.”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A set of thick steel bars slammed down across the entryway. Another dropped down to block another door inside the house, while a third set of bars sealed shut across the only window in the room.

Applejack hurried over to Changey—the two of them now divided by bars.

“It was still a trap all along,” Applejack said breathlessly.

Changey couldn’t look her in the eyes; eventually reverting back to her dark changeling form. “I had no choice. I needed a way to keep her from killing me.”

Applejack shook her head. “You just made a very serious mistake.”

Not as serious as yours, I fear…

An airy, haunting voice sliced through the silent house with ease—at once sounding as if spoken from far away as well as right behind ones head.

Applejack went to stand with the others as a swirling mass of blacks and purples congregated in a corner of the room. What stepped out from the ball of energy wasn’t Dark Sparkle as Applejack had feared, but rather a taller, thinner Twilight adorning black and silver armor. Her horn and wings were longer; a set of sharp fangs out on display. Her coat was a perfect midnight black and her purple tail and mane billowed out around her body like a carefully controlled magic aura.

The clone spoke barely above a whisper, yet all of them heard each word as clear as day.

I am Nightmare Sparkle… and soon I will turn all of your darkest fears into reality…

Not a single one of you shall leave this place…

I will make sure your own worst nightmares devour you one by one…

Scared stiff, it took Rarity a full ten second before she noted Pinkie Pie poking her in the face.

“What!?” she screamed.

Pinkie Pie took another bite from her cone. “You still want some cotton candy?”

Author's Note:

I like this story. There're no rules to speak of and it went off the rails within the first paragraph of the first chapter. So... basically anything goes, doesn't it? :pinkiecrazy: