Octaviaverse: Strings.

The moon shone brightly across the land, which, coupled with the street lights, allowed for a perfect view in the dark. Although who would be out on the street at this hour was a mystery. It was late, it was dark and tomorrow was a day of work. Ponyville was a town of few night owls, and of those, even fewer would leave their houses. There was just no reason to. Everything was closed. Everything was quiet. Everypony was asleep.

Well, almost everypony.

In the shadows, a dark figure moved as quietly and as fast it could. From bush to bush, from corner to corner, it waisted no time in moving. She would make a lot of noise soon, and for that reason, she had to act quickly, lest they discover her send all her work crashing down. She couldn't let that happen. She wouldn't fail.

She couldn't fail.

"Come one...where is that thing..." she whispered. Her hooves were muffled by the grass, as she avoided the street as much as she could. She couldn't risk having the noise give her away. She stopped, listening around for any sign of activity, sighing once she didn't hear anything.

She kept her silent walk for nearly half an hour, crossing in front of iconic places like the town hall, the bank and the mail office. Her work in those places had already been completed. Now, the only place that was left to visit was the tree house, which also happened to be the most critical part of the whole plan.

She smiled to herself as she reached the tree house. All lights were off and there was no sign of anypony being awake. The cart was parked right besides the door. All she needed was to hook herself to it and she could be on her way. She nearly squeed in relief. This might just actually work!

"Gotta make sure everything is here.." she circled around the cart, looking for somewhere to place a bag she was carrying, but everything was covered with a thick blanket. Probably to protect everything from the cold and the morning dew. The ponies of the trading service sure thought of everything. She placed the guiding seat on her. All that was needed now was to make sure it was well tight and she could be on her way. She gave one final look to the tree house. Her smile vanished.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered.

"You can be sure you will." A voice said. "Now!"

The blanket was brutally pushed away by Fleur's magic. Berry and Octavia jumped out of the cart, ready to grab the copycat. Said copycat was stunned for a seconds, but pulled herself together. She bolted forward, only to be pulled back by the surprising weight of the cart. She fumbled with the straps, desperately trying to pulled them apart.

"Holy molly, Octavia! There are two of you!" Berry said. And indeed, Octavia herself was partially frozen with the uncanny revelation, for tied to the cart was Octavia, who was now desperately trying to free herself. The straps creaked and began to snap.

"Fleur! Throw the blanket around her!" Octavia ordered. Fleur did as told as quick as possible, but it was too late. With one final creak, the binds around the clone snapped, leaving her free to run away.

"Stop!" Octavia shouted, but Octavia quickly began to flee, leaving Octavia to pursue her.

"Fleur, get of the cart! We gotta follow them!" Berry said. Fleur jumped after her, with the blanket flying behind her. The clone Octavia was fast, and it showed, for she was slowly but surely leaving them behind. Octavia did her best to keep up with her, but it was no use. Berry and Fleur were no better, quickly falling behind as well. However, there was one critical difference between them and the clone.

They knew the town. At least, Berry and Fleur did.

"She's heading for the alleys! We can catch up there!" Berry said.

And indeed, they soon found themselves surrounded by houses and small buildings, forcing them to cut close corners and slow down in order to avoid painting their faces on the wall. Octavia, Fleur and Berry, thanks to their lower speed, had little problem in accomplishing this, and where quickly gaining territory, while clone Octavia wasn't so luck. She had already tripped a couple of times and had nearly kissed a wall had it not been for a timely stop.

"Come back here!" Octavia shouted, not caring if she woke anypony up. The clone only tried to run faster, but it was no use. The three mares were closing in on her, a fact that did not escape Octavia, who started speeding up. Inch by inch, she was almost able to bite the tail of her copy.

"Octavia wait, we have to-" Fleur started, but both Octavia and her clone vanished behind a corner. Before Berry and Fleur could follow, a crash, followed by sounds of struggle echoed through the alleys. The light of the moon shone once more as they left the entire complex, finding themselves at the edge of the town.

"...stay together." Fleur finished. In front of them was Octavia, who was currently struggling with Octavia. The darkness around made it difficult to see who was stoping who.

"Fleur! Throw the blanket to her! Now!" Octavia shouted.

"No! Wrap her up! I'm the real Octavia!" Octavia shouted, trying to outdo Octavia.

"No, I'm the real one!"

"No, I am!"

Fleur looked from one Octavia to the other with increasing worry. The blanket floated behind her, just waiting to be used. Berry was just as worried, though confusion was more prominent in her case.

"I haven't drinked anything all day and I'm seeing double...I guess I'm gonna have to cut the cider." Berry said with a nervous smile.

"Berry, this no time for jokes. Get her!" Octavia pointed a hoof towards Octavia.

"We're friends! She's the one who's been copying me!" Octavia.

"Berry, what do we do?" Fleur asked. But Berry didn't answer. She was intently staring at the Octavias. She frowned. This was going nowhere.

"Berry, Fleur, we defeated the Warlock Stallion remember? We saved Equestria together!" One Octavia said. The other one gritted her teeth at the fact that she had been upstaged.

"Yeah but..."

"Fleur, you know me, you know this one is a fake. Get her!" The other Octavia said, but Fleur didn't move. "I can't believe you are actually falling for this! Are you blind or deaf or something?!"

"See! I wouldn't treat my friends like that! I wouldn't shout to them or insult them!" Octavia shouted. Berry and Fleur looked at her before glaring at the other Octavia, who gave a step back.

"Berry, stop! Fleur! Its me! She's the fake one!" she yelled back, but Berry and Fleur did't listen, instead walking towards the other Octavia, who was sweating heavily, but was still grinning. "You can't do this to me! I'm your friend!"

"We can and we will. And you know why?" Berry said. Fleur readied the blanket. The Octavia that was away from them didn't move. She was frozen with shock, betrayal edged on her face.

"Because you are our friend."

The next few seconds happened to fast for Octavia. One, she was about to the attacked by her friends, next, her clone was lying on the floor, struggling against the blanket, which was tightly wrapped around her. Fleur and Berry high hoofed, content with their work.

"I..what?" she said. "But...you..."

"Were confused. Even with the previous knowledge of the impostor, she did a really good job at copying you." Fleur answered.

"But you two looked so sure!" Octavia said. "You even with sided with her!"

"We need to get her confident before we could catch her. No use in having her run away right?"

The clone struggled as hard as she could, but it was no use. The blanket was firmly wrapped around her and no amount of effort would free herself from the trap. Fleur's magic had done a good job in trapping her and it showed. She could barely move her legs!

"But how did'cha know Ah' was a fake!?" the clone asked, not bothering to hide the accent anymore.

"You called us friends." Berry explained tapping her head. "Octavia wouldn't call us friend right out the bat. She would need to be pressured to the very end to say that. Besides, you were being a overly kind with us."

Octavia sniffed, chuckled and wiped her eye before walking towards her friends. "I guess you didn't fall for it..."

"No we did not Octavia." Fleur nuzzled her. "You are our friend, and just because somepony that looks like acts nicer, it doesn't mean we would prefer that over you. Though you could tone down the jerkiness."

"I can do that." Octavia smiled, before turning to their captive, who now seemed very afraid. "Now. What should we do with you?"

It some effort, but between Berry and Octavia, the managed to carry the bundled up clone all the way back to the tree house. Octavia was a lot less careful with her load than Berry, almost letting her fall a couple of times, only being stopped by Fleur placing the prisoner back in place. Once inside, she unceremoniously dropped on her on the floor. Hugin landed on Octavia's back.

"So, this is the reason why everything happened?" he asked.

"That's right." Octavia answered. "Now, lets see who's under the mask." She bit the cloth, brusquely tugging away, soon aided by Berry and Fleur's magic.

"No, wait! Ah' can explain!"

But it was too late. With one might flip, the three friends pulled the blanket from her, sending her flipping away. The blanket landed on top of them, obscuring the vision, but Fleur quickly removed it.

"And behind blanket number one is..." Berry looked at Octavia and Fleur. "...paint?"

And indeed, the tree of them were covered in paint stains. It barely noticeable in Octavia, but Fleur's and Berry's fur was noticeably dirty. The patches of paint were a very dark gray, probably coming from the blanket after it feel on them. Even Hugin's feathers were slightly stained with the dark material. The three confused mares looked at each other in surprise before a whimper caught their attention.

Laying away from them, the copy cat slowly stood up. Her mane and coat were no longer the same color as Octavia's, instead now being covered with splotches of blue and yellow respectively. What was most surprising though, was her flank, specifically her cutie mark, for the purple clef was no longer purple, but blue, and yet it was still the very same clef that adorned Octavia's leg.

"She...she has your same cutie mark." Fleur said.

"You can't copy cutie marks. Thats impossible!" berry added.

"Who are you?" Octavia asked.

"Ah' am..." the clone sighed, knowing she was defeated. "Ma'h name is Fiddlesticks."

"You are the one has been impersonating me." Octavia said. Fiddlesticks nodded. "You took my money and used it all up in farming tools. Why?"

"Ah'...Ah' had to... Ah' had no choice.""

She didn't say anything else. An uncomfortable silence filled the room.

"You impersonated another pony, committed fraud and perform illegal transactions in the name of the protege of the princess." she said firmly. "I should have the guards arrest you."

"No! Please don't! Ah'...Ah' can't let them take me!" Fiddlesticks cried.

"Then talk." Octavia threatened. Fiddlesticks hesitaed, looking around the library for an escape route, a sign of support, anything to avoid having to look at Octavia. But there was none.

"Ah'...Ah' am a farmer. An apple farmer. Mah' family has a small piece of land a day's walk from here." she explained. "We've never had a lot of stuff, but we were happy. Farming every day, playing music and all that... until a band of griffins showed up and started harassing us...they took our crops and said they'de be back for more..."

"What does this have to do with stealing my things?" Octavia asked.

"We don't have things. Our last crop was poor, and now we don't have enough to plant another one. Time is running and the griffins will come back and and and...and Ah' just didn't know what to do..." Fiddlesticks ended, trying to hold back her tears. She still had pride. What was left of it anyways.

"So you came here to get farming tools." Fleur said. Fiddlesticks nodded. "But why didn't you go to the guards?"

"I tried, but the nearest guard place was too far away. By the time they got to the farm, the griffins were long gone. They called us liars and refused to come again."

Berry and Fleur were torn. This mare had stolen their's friend only current support and used all of it. She had impersonated her and performed fraud, a crime that Equestrian law punished heavily. On the other hoof, she had a rather good reason to have done so, and if the guards didn't help, then who could blame her for taking matters in her own hooves. Providing her story was true.

"I don't know what you expect me to do." Octavia said. "You stole and lied, all the while pretending to be me, and then you come up with some sob story, hoping that I would forget all about it? I stopped being a filly a long time ago."

"But, but its true! Ah' didn't wanna do it! Ah had no choice! Look, I'll even return the stuff!"

"Sorry or not sorry, You still committed a crime. You have to be punished for it." Octavia said sternly.

"Octavia, wait." Fleur replied. "Fiddlesticks, do you have any proof about this story? Maybe we can sort this out."

"Ah...don't." was the quiet answer.

"So much for a third way..." Hugin snarked from Octavia's back.

The argument continued on. Fiddlesticks was nearly begging Octavia to forgive her and let her go, while Fleur racked her brain, looking for a way to convice Octavia to calm down a little. Hugin ony made things worse with his comments, though one could see he was more on Octavia's side. And who could blame them? Fiddlesticks had stolen their food source. The only to really help her would be to-

"I believe her."

The argument stopped dead cold. Four sets of eyes turned towards Berry Punch who was, curiously enough, smiling. It wasn't a big smile, nor a defiant smile. It was a friendly smile.

"Wha...what?" Fiddlesticks asked dumbly.

"I said: I believe you." Berry repeated. "You have a rather sucky story. I believe you. I'm willing to help you even."

"Berry, this mare could be lying to save herself from a well deserved place in jail!" Octavia said. "There is no reason to believe she is telling the truth!"

"Yeah, you're right, there isn't any. But there wasn't any reason to believe you back at at the forest, remember?"

Octavia was about to say something else, but closed her mouth.

"Look, you have a right to be angry with her. I would be too. She did something bad, and thats enough reason to be angry. But that doesn't make her automatically a bad mare. She could be lying, yeah. But I prefer to think she isn't. And I'm not saying to let her go scot free..." Fiddlesticks gulped loudly. "I'm talking about being fair."

"But how would that be fair?" Hugin asked.

"She committed a crime, but lets remember what drove her to it. We can't just let a farm rot now can we?" Berry walked in front of Octavia. "Just give her a chance."

Fleur didn't say anything, not wanting to risk ruining Berry's speech. Octavia, still reeling from Berry's words, looked at her friends, then at Fiddlesticks. Her mind was divided between her anger and her trust. It would be a nearly a full minute of silence before she would speak again.

"Alright." She grumbled. "Alright, alright. I won't turn her in. Yet. She will stay with you for the night. Tomorrow, I will have the princess send some guards to her farm to investigate properly."

Fiddlesticks couldn't contain the tears anymore. She was about to hug Octavia when she stopped her with a hoof.

"Not so fast farm girl." Her voice took a darker tone. "If you lied to me and my friends, you will regret ever coming here, understood?"

Fiddlesticks nodded, but kept smiling and crying. Fleur smiled too, infected by the happiness that radiated from her.

"Now what Octavia?" she asked. Octavia took a deep breath.

"Now...I go to bed."