You're a Dead Mare
The group of clones and one pony walked through the forest in blissful silence. Everypony… clone? Whatever. Seemed to be lost in their own thoughts. ‘Twilight’ relished the silence and the chance it gave her to think. She had a plan to get the Elements, and one for directly after, but no long term goals to speak of. All her moves needed to be mapped out in advance if they were going to succeed.
Unfortunately, she was distracted from her musing by Pinkie-the-clone walking so close to her they almost brushed shoulders. 'Pinkie' was leaning in--studying the passenger on Twilight’s back with scrutinizing interest.
The real Pinkie obviously found this examination uncomfortable--if the nervous shifting on Twilight’s back was any indication. Just as Twilight was about to snap at the two of them to knock it off, the nosey clone had to speak up.
“So you’re, like, the entertaining one right?”
“Ummm...” Pinkie’s relentless fidgeting was irritating Twilight’s coat.
“‘Cause you’re not doing so good right now,” ‘Pinkie’ continued, a hint of annoyance coloring her tone, “I’m bored out of my mind. Isn’t it your job to fix that?” She jabbed her original in the shoulder, as if trying to find an on switch. “Do something interesting.”
Pinkie took a long breath and spoke with such false politeness Twilight was sure she would snap and punch the clone at any moment.
Or break down crying. Honestly, either one seemed likely with her.
“Look, um, clone-me? I really haven’t been having a super great day, and I haven’t had… the best experience with clones before. I’m preeeeetty sure you’re not like the clones I’ve made but-”
“You’ve made clones?” Twilight interrupted, growing tired of the fumbled politeness. In her experience, if you so obviously wanted someone to leave you alone, the best way was to make them.
Twilight could feel Pinkie’s embarrassed flinch, even if she couldn’t be bothered to look back and see it. “Well, hehe, funny story. I kinda created an army of them with an ancient magical pond. Which is a good lesson to not meddle in ancient magic you don’t understand, by the way. But the ones I made were way more… mindless droney than you guys.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” ‘Rainbow’ asked, hovering right above them. “These guys seem pretty mindless to me.”
“Weeeell,” Pinkie hummed as she thought about the question. “For one thing, you guys seem to have more personality beyond just one tiny little goal. With the possible exception of Rarity-clone?”
Everyone, even Twilight, glanced back to where ‘Rarity’ was stoking a lantern and muttering, “mine… oh shiny pretty mine,” under her breath.
“But anyway,” Pinkie continued after a moment, bringing the group’s attention back to her, “You also seem really freaked out about Chrysalis catching you. The copies I made saw their fellow clones get dissolved in front of them and didn’t seem to care at all! Even though they had to know they were next.”
The clones all shivered at the mental image and Twilight picked up her pace.
“So I’m pretty sure you’re not just magical puppets but, like, actual creatures,” Pinkie continued, “That’s part of why I’m helping you guys. Even if Chrysalis made you just pawns for her evil scheme, you don’t deserve to be controlled any more than another pony.”
“You’re not helping us,” Twilight stressed, asserting herself back into the conversation, “We’re using you. It’s completely different.”
“We are?” ‘Applejack’ asked, joining the conversation, “Aren’t we trying not to be used, though? Like she was just saying?”
“Exactly,” Twilight used small words so their slower minds could understand, “We refuse to be controlled and the best way to do that is to be in control ourselves.”
“Oh, does that mean we’re keeping her?” ‘Rarity’ asked, coming up on Twilight’s other side and also examining her passenger, “Because I have always wanted a pony of my own.”
“You know,” Pinkie groused in a light tone, crossing her front hooves over one another and turning her nose up as far as it would go, “I’m a firm believer that there’s good in everypony, but you guys are pushing that theory.”
The little joke got a few chuckles from the other clones, but Twilight could only roll her eyes. They were born out of dark magic, she was pretty sure they couldn’t be ‘good’ by any definition.
“Oh! Stop now. We’re here!”
Twilight halted and glanced around, not finding this particular clearing any different than the others she had seen. The mountain they had been walking towards was much closer now, so rocks dotted the path even more than trees, but there weren’t any Elements as far as she could see. “Where? Is the Tree of Harmony hidden?”
A scoff came from above as Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Look down, genius.”
Twilight did so and stumbled back in surprise. Not even an inch beyond where she had stopped was the edge of a deep canyon that extended under the mountain. The vegetation and rocks had prevented her from seeing it from a distance. Now that she was looking straight down, however, it was obvious that, had she taken another step, she would have tumbled down a long flight of hard stone steps.
“I almost fell! Why did no pony warn me?” She glared accusatorily at the two Pegasi hovering in the air, both of whom would have easily spotted the hole from their vantage points.
Rainbow Dash gave her a flat, uncaring look before shrugging noncommittally.
Fluttershy, on the other hoof, chuckled and smiled cruelly. “I thought a nice tumble would have been good for you, oh 'fearless leader’. And don’t worry, I would have caught our little passenger.”
“I did warn you?” said passenger answered, sounding genuinely confused, “That’s why you didn’t fall?”
Twilight took a deep, calming breath. There was no reason to waste time bickering. They were almost at their goal and she wasn’t about to let a few idiots get under her skin and ruin her plans.
“Fine.” She levitated Pinkie off her back so she didn’t slip as they descended the stairs. “Whatever. This is where the Elements are then?”
The floating pony nodded. “Uh-huh, there in the very back of the cave. It’s a big ol’ glowy tree. You can’t miss it.”
“Then let’s go. Everyone stay close in case the Bearers beat us here.”
Thankfully, the group encountered no other ponies as they descended. They did, however, find a fully operational campsite that a few of them had the great pleasure of tearing down. Much to Pinkie Pie’s dismay if her whining protests were anything to go by.
And farther back into the crevice, in a deep cave, was their goal.
To be honest, when Pinkie had mentioned a crystal tree held the Elements Twilight had been expecting just a little more tree and a little less crystal.
The thing in the middle of the cavern was sparkly and gaudy. Gaudy in that hurts-to-look-at kind of way. It looked more like a star had gotten lost on its way to the sky than it did any kind of plant life. The dark roots snaking into the ground were the only thing keeping it from being an insult to trees everywhere.
Twilight would know, she was at least thirty percent tree herself.
Ignoring the insanity of it all for a moment, Twilight concentrated her sights on the five glowing gems hanging from the crystal branches. "There they are! Everyclone, grab the Elements!"
Twilight rushed forward, not even noticing Pinkie's yelp as she dropped her at the cave's entrance. The clones started attacking the tree with various degrees of effort. Rarity tried to gnaw the purple diamond free with her teeth while Rainbow simply curled up for a nap at the base of the trunk.
Twilight, for her part, gripped the red lightning bolt gem in her magic and yanked with all of her might. And then with more might. She could feel a headache coming on from the power behind her magic but even still the gem would not budge. It was more than just stuck on--it felt like something was actively pulling against her.
So concentrated on pouring as much power as she could into moving the stupid gem, Twilight didn’t even notice the middle of the tree starting to pulse a threatening black aura. She was completely caught off guard as a ribbon of energy, purer than any magic a Unicorn could conjure, wrapped around her torso and lifted her into the air.
Dread filled her as she realized what was going on, catching a glimpse of her fellow clones suspended in similar ribbons around her.
“No no no! Why is this happening?” She cried, thrashing in her bonds. She could tell, at least, what was happening. The energy was tearing her apart. The magic that kept her body together was being ripped away as easily as paper mache, collapsing her physical structure and making her flesh drip off of her like wet glue.
Thankfully, her nerve senses appeared to have gone first. The deconstructing of her inner spell matrix, her soul, hurt less than her split lip. She was dying. And she couldn’t even muster the energy to be worried as her other senses slowly faded from use.
She wondered if her consciousness would leave her or if she’d forever be stuck as a highly intelligent log.
She hoped the others weren’t in pain either.
“Stop stop! Please stop they’re not bad ponies!”
Through the melted lumps that once were her ears, Twilight could barely make out the frantic voice calling below her. She tried to focus her dripping eyes but with her best efforts could only make out vague colors.
The disgusting light blue of the tree, the brown of the cave walls, and a little splotch of pink on the floor.
“I know they tried to steal from you, but they’re really sorry! They didn’t know what they were doing. Please don’t kill them!”
The next thing Twilight felt was her back hitting the ground, a rock jabbing her right between the wings. She gasped desperately for breath as her body started to reform--the changeling magic stitching itself back together now that it wasn’t actively being torn to shreds.
Blinking the fuzz from her eyes, Twilight sat up and focused on the pony who had just saved her life.
Pinkie was standing in front of the Tree of Harmony, a hoof resting on the trunk and the tree’s bright magic surrounding her. But unlike the harsh ribbons that had attacked the clones, this magic was soft and gentle and wrapped around Pinkie with a warm glow.
Before Twilight’s eyes, the Earth Pony seemed to grow lighter. Her nicks and bruises closed and healed, her posture became more stable as she put pressure on the side she had been favoring, and even her coat and mane seemed to smooth out and shine.
When it was all over a joy-filled grin stretched over Pinkie’s face. She giggled, hopped, and finally cartwheeled over to where Twilight was laying, fully healed.
“Hey, you okay there Clonelight? Thgiliwt? Sparkle Twilight?” She cocked her head to the side even as she reached a hoof out to help Twilight up. “Hmm, we’ll work on that.”
“What happened?” Twilight asked, ignoring the Earth Pony’s words but allowing herself to be pulled to all fours. She was relieved to note the others rising around her, seemingly no worse for wear. “Why did the Elements react negatively to us? We are exact replicas of you and your friends. They should work the same for us as they do for you!”
“Well, um.” Pinkie bit her lip and looked over the clones around her. “Maybe you guys are just like us physically, but the Elements aren’t really bonded to our physical bodies? It’s more of a spiritual virtue thingy.” She leaned in close and whispered in Twilight’s ear. “And, no offense, but you guys are kinda bad at the whole ‘virtues of friendship’ thing.”
Twilight took a deep breath. “So what you’re saying is that we can’t use the Elements and any attempt to even steal them will get us all killed. Is that right?”
Pinkie smiled apologetically. “I’m super duper sorry about that. I really didn’t know the Tree would attack you.”
“Right,” Twilight said flatly, ignoring the pointless apology, “give me a second here.”
Pinkie kept talking, however. “I am super duper glad-”
Twilight proceeded to scream. Loud enough to make the other ponies all jump.
Research has shown that screaming is a healthy way to vent one’s frustration. It was certainly better than trying to blast a hole into an all-powerful murder-hungry tree.
So Twilight screamed, and kicked the ground, and said as many foul words as she knew. Then she cursed the original Twilight for not knowing enough foul words!
Eventually, she had used up all of her screams and stood panting in the middle of the cavern, sweat glistening off her coat.
“You good there, champ?” Rainbow called from her place lying against the wall, “Got it all out?”
Twilight dragged her hooves over her eyes and groaned. “All this way. We came all this way. We found the Elements-”
“And I’ve found you!”
The seven ponies whirled towards the cave entrance, where a fuming Chrysalis stood, glaring at her creations with a deep, burning hatred. She was limping heavily, favoring the side that Twilight had blasted, the tattered wing twitching and smoking.
“And now that you’ve so helpfully led me to the Elements I’ll be taking them for myself, if you don’t mind,” Chrysalis continued with a snarl, stalking further into the cave, “Then, I’m going to melt you traitorous little clones down to pulp and start fresh. I’ll make sure your replacements don’t have so much free will.”
Twilight desperately racked her mind for a way out of this situation. Of course, she had injured the Queen once already, but that had been when she was completely distracted. Now that she was focused on all of them, perceived them as a threat, she was sure to put up a better fight.
“And you!” Chrysalis cried, jolting Twilight out of her thoughts. But she wasn’t looking at Twilight. Instead, she was pointing aggressively at Pinkie Pie. “I’m going to drain you of every emotion in your puny little body! Then I’m going to use your husk as a pinata!”
Pinkie backed up until her flank bumped into the Tree, cowering within the safety of the twisting roots.
She opened her mouth to say something. And Twilight opened her mouth to say anything. But the pony who actually spoke came from the other side of the cave.
“Ya can’t attack us,” Applejack cried, stomping her hoof, “We’ve got the Elements!”
Chrysalis turned to her, hesitating briefly, and Twilight used that window to grab onto a freshly forming plan.
“Of course!” She took a confident step forward and grinned at Chrysalis, selling the lie for all she was worth. “What do you think we’ve been doing? Waiting around for you to show up? As you can see, we’ve mastered the Elements and even captured one of the Bearers. From where I’m standing, we have all the power. Not you.”
Twilight had to stop herself from holding her breath. A lot could go wrong with this plan. Not with her performance, of course, but with every other factor. Chrysalis could have heard her ranting before, one of the others could slip up and give something away or, worse of all, Chrysalis could just decide to take her chances and start shooting. Then they would be in hot water without a paddle.
Chrysalis’ face slowly sunk from rage to confusion as she took half a step back. “You… you’re bluffing! If you’ve harnessed the Elements, then why are they still in the Tree?”
Twilight scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Why would we just have them out of their power source before we need them?” Her smile turned devilish. “But, if you really insist on seeing them up close and personal... Pony, hand me an Element!”
Pinkie jumped as Twilight turned to her. Twilight kept Chrysalis in her peripheral but shot Pinkie a look that invited no arguments.
Thankfully, the pony seemed to be smarter than she looked and, with a light kick of her hindleg, sent the Element of Laughter falling into her open hoof.
Twilight suppressed the wince from just how easily she had done that. Steeling herself for the hardest part of her plan, she turned back to Chrysalis. “Do you want a taste of our new power?” The others gathered around her, moving into a formation that was at once familiar and foreign.
Chrysalis’ eyes were wide. She tried to keep up her determined sneer but Twilight could see her confidence slowly cracking. The Queen’s gaze darted from clone to clone and over to the Tree of Harmony before settling back on Twilight.
Twilight took a step forward. “Since you’re my creator I’ll give you one, one, chance to run.” Her horn sparked dangerously and she steeled herself to even try and pick the Element of Laughter out of Pinkie’s hoof if it came to that.
But it never did. Chrysalis screamed in pure rage and her own horn flared to life. Twilight braced herself to shield her fellow clones from whatever attack was coming as the changeling started to rant.
“You will rue this day! Rue it I tell you! No one double-crosses Queen Chrysalis. You haven’t seen the last of me!”
Then, in a bright burst of green fire, she disappeared. Only a burnt circle of dirt marking that she had ever been there at all.
There was a blissful moment of silence before-
“You did it!”
“Gah!” Twilight choked at two strong white hooves wrapped around her neck.
“I thought for sure that dreadful bug would take all my hard obtained things from me!”
“R-rarity!” Twilight wheezed as she used her magic to pry the Unicorn away from her jugular. “Get off!” Just as she managed to remove Rarity, a strong hoof clapped her on the back, knocking the wind out of her.
"Woo wee! That was a fine lie you wove there, Twilight." Applejack said, beaming with approval.
"I would have liked to actually blast her," Fluttershy added. Helpfully.
Despite their aggressive way of showing it, Twilight couldn't help but to glow in her sisters' praise. She was finally in charge. Chrysalis was gone and completely and ultimately they were free. No one could control them anymore. She felt so pleased she could have joined her sisters in celebrating.
"Pinkie?"
A call echoed through the cavern and immediately silenced the clones.
The voice was familiar. So familiar that it cut through Twilight's fur and chilled her bones.
"Pinkie are you in...here?"
'Twilight' slowly turned to gaze at the cave entrance and stare straight into her own purple eyes.
Six ponies were standing at the mouth of the cavern, frozen in shock.
Twilight, the real Twilight, looked torn between blurting out a million questions and just straight up attacking. And, with the Elements so easily at their call, the clones wouldn't last a minute against the Bearers.
The original Rainbow Dash was the first to speak. “The buck?"
There was no plan, no lie or trick, that could save them.
So the clone of Twilight Sparkle looked to her mother, Chrysalis', example for the first time.
She teleported away.
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when in doubt, telepoubt.
Best line in the chapter.
This shows a ton of promise, I'm loving it. As it's been said, the characterization so far has been great as well as the new spin on the whole situation. Hopefully this picks up more readers as it continues to update and gain ground, it really deserves to be noticed. Anyway, I'll be eagerly looking forward to the chapters to come!
In all honesty those clones had a lit if potential. Too bad Hasbro killed them off
Excellent chapter and can't blame clone Twilight for opting to get out of there.
Even by Pinkie standards, pronouncing "Thgiliwt" is impressive.
That didn't seem right. Twilight made a mental note to double-check her mind for any lasting damage.
In any case, whatever happens next should be very interesting indeed. After all, teleportation isn't an option for the other clones, and I doubt Twolight would've taken any of them with her. Looking forward to it.
That's pretty cool that Pinkie can sort of control the tree of harmony like Twilight can, and I'm guessing the other bearers can do it as well.
I absolutely love this!!!!
Is this story still being continued?
10036516
Yes it is! Super sorry for making everyone wait and worry. It's been tough finding time to write lately but I am planning on continuing as soon as possible
10036523
Awesome! I like it a lot and am excitedly waiting for the next update.
This is an interesting scene, because is shows how the power of a lie can be used for both good and ill.
Everyclony!
10071282
And for monetary gain. All bluffing in Poker is a form of lying/deception.
I really like how pinkie pie Just save the clones just as how clone twilight did before
Wonder if there'll be some Elements of disharmony.
DOUBLE UH OH!!!