Fictional Crisis

As Twilight and Clone walked through the door, all that greeted them were chills. Something no guest wants to feel. Clone took a good look around the room they were in. Dark, cold, black walls, and a feel of hatred from everything there.

“Yeah, this is definitely a forum room. Stay close Twilight, these guys can be rather vicious.” Clone pulled out his pen and had it ready. Twilight shuddered and stayed close to Clone. She looked all around the room, searching for anything that could calm her. Instead, she saw mysterious movement in the shadows.

“What was that?” Twilight asked.

“Those are the forum members. Members of the Pure. Looks like they're just watching for now.” Clone used his pen to illuminate the room for a few seconds. What they saw was not comforting. Creatures of the dark, members of the Writing Community that hid themselves away, writers that shared their creativity with themselves and no one else. The light faded, and the darkness became their shield once again.

“Are all 'forum members' like this?” Twilight, having seen many creatures that would harm her, was scared.

“Not all of them, just the REALLY obscure ones. AHA!” Clone rushed over to a door way. It had the symbol of the Pure on it. He began messing with the lock with his pen. “This door might lead us to our monster Twilight. I need you to be ready.” Twilight cringed at the thought of fighting a monster that sucked away a character's essence. She could lose herself, forget who she was, forget about all of her great times, or worse yet, never to feel happiness from those great times.

“How do we fight it Clone?” Then something dawned on her that made her sick. “Are you going to use me as bait?”

Clone stopped fiddling with the lock and stood up. He turned around and looked down at Twilight.

“I would never use you like that Twilight. Not one of my own. Not someone else' character.” He returned to the lock and continued to fiddle away. Twilight, with a bit of guilt in her throat, swallowed and walked next to Clone.

“So, how do we fight it then?” Clone finished fiddling with the lock.

“We improvise and see what happens.” Clone stared into the darkness. “Forward march I suppose.” Clone held his pen in front of him and ventured forward. Twilight followed suit. As they entered, the door shut behind them with a large bang. Clone was about to use his pen to light the room, but someone beat him to it and shined huge lights on Clone and Twilight.

“Well done Writer! You've stumbled into our trap.” The unknown voice echoed throughout the room.

“Clone! Up there!” Twilight pointed with her hoof at a figure wearing a mask that had a similar shape to the Pure emblem.

“Oh, doing the whole anonymous thing there?” Clone asked. “That's adorable, I mean it.” Clone looked around the illuminated room. He saw a few things. Rafters that had many figures on it, the door they just came through, and a red curtain at the other end of the room. “So why trap me specifically?”

“We don't care about you Writer,” the figured sneered. “Your character however will be a good source of power for our weapon.”

“Ah yes, your weapon,” Clone walked around the room. “That weapon sure has an interesting function. I mean, sucking the essence of a character out of a character. That's pretty interesting. Question is, 'Why?'.”

“Why hurt Pony characters specifically as well?” Twilight asked.

“Their essence is necessary for our weapon. For what's to come,” Clone scratched his helmet.

“And what's to come?”

“Zero.” Clone simply stared at the masked man with the simple statement.

“And what does that mean?” Clone asked.

“It's a prophecy. Visions were given with the word. Visions of the Writer's destruction. Visions of one ruling the Void, ruling the Well!” The figure pulled out a switch. “But with this weapon, we have nothing to fear.” Clone crossed his arms. “You don't believe me, do you?”

“Well, it's nothing personal. Just know that you are not even close to being the first to share visions of the end of something. Hell, this morning I talked with a guy at the store who said that god will rain puppies upon us and we'd all die.” Clone walked towards the curtain. “So you saw visions of the end, but what does 'Zero' mean specifically here?” The figure laughed.

“It matters not. Soon, the creature will be ready, and we will then take our place as the rightful rulers of the Void. And then, we will prepare.” Clone chuckled a bit.

“That's rich. Send a vision of the future to nutjobs who want to rule Reality. Oh universe...” Clone touched the curtain. “So what's this here?”

“Your end, and Twilight Sparkle's new home,” The figure flipped the switch. The curtains drew back revealing a creature in chains.

“You monsters,” Clone said while stepping back.

“Is that . . . Nightmare Moon? Discord? And the Changeling Queen?” Twilight asked.

“It's the perfect weapon!” The figure yelled. “Our CHIMERA!” The creature had the head and neck of Discord, the body of Nightmare Moon, and the limbs and wings of the Changeling Queen. “Does it disgust you Clone? I thought you would have enjoyed something like this.” Clone looked up and pointed at the figure.

“This isn't just a character is it?” Clone asked with an angry tone in his voice. “I see what you did here, and let me tell you, I ain't happy.” The Chimera roared at Twilight, pulling at its chains to get to Twilight. Twilight stepped away from the creature, fearing what it could do.

“What else is it Clone? Diamond Dog? Griffon?” Clone shook his head.

“The problem isn't in its looks Twilight. It's at its core.” Clone walked up the Chimera and stroked its head. “I wondered about this since the problem first came up. For a character, it's nearly impossible to suck the essence of another character. For a writer on the other hand, it's easy. We have to take the essence of character so that we can understand it and implement it into others.”

“So you mean-?” Twilight stepped back even further.

“Yeah. This creature was a writer.” He took a knee down next to it. “I'm so sorry. I really am.”

“Ha! I was wondering when you'd figure out the truth. Figured it out a bit slower than I expected.” The figure proclaimed proudly. Clone stood up.

“Who was this?” Clone asked gesturing towards the Chimera. “Who did you use as a lab rat?”

“This lab rat volunteered. 'Geronimus' was happy to volunteer when I told him of all the splendor he'd bring. So young and wanting to prove himself.” This made Clone even angrier.

“So you lied and manipulated a kid to become a monster? I'm seeing only one monster in here, but you're far worse than it.” The figure laughed.

“Well, compliment my ingenuity all you want Clonetrooper,” the figure began walking away. “It'll get you nowhere. In the meantime, enjoy some play time with the Chimera.” The figures left the room, leaving Clone and Twilight alone with a poor terrible creature who was breaking out of his bonds.

“Any suggestions Clone? This thing looks hungry.” Clone and Twilight backed away.

“One idea, though it's going to get a little screwy in here.” Clone turned to Twilight. “Listen, I'm going to do something that will make you feel like you're being drained. Focus,” Clone tapped Twilight's head. “On being you.”

“What are you going to do?” Twilight asked.

“Do you know how I said writers can take character's essence into them?” Twilight nodded. “Well, I'm about to take them all in and release them at once.” Twilight frowned.

“Why didn't you do that in the first place?” Clone started stretching.

“Because if I take them all in at once, there's a chance I could die or be turned into a monster. This is a bit of a last resort.” Clone's hands started to glow. “Hold on Twilight. And Geronimus, I'm so sorry.” Twilight curled up into a ball, and the Chimera leaped to attack. As the creature did this Clone began pulling what appeared to be gold energy from the creature. The energy shimmered as if all the stars in the sky were shining at once. Twilight looked at this energy and thought it one of the most beautiful sights she had ever seen. As she saw this, the same energy began to leave her.

Clone was groaning in pain, but the creature was worse off. For Clone, it felt as if one mind after another was barging into him for a ride. For the Chimera, it felt as if his body was being picked apart. Finally, mercifully, the last bit of essence left the creature. Clone thought he could hear the creature say, “Thank you” before it finally died.

Clone had all the characters essences that the Chimera stole inside of him. He felt every bit of who they were. Happy characters, insane characters, morally challenged characters. There was no end to it. And if he wasn't careful, he'd be consumed by it.

“Alright characters, back to where you're supposed to be.” Clone pointed his arms in the air and released the energy from his finger tips. The energy divided up and went off in completely different directions. “There you go, off you all go.” Finally, the last bit of energy left Clone and he slumped down to the ground exhausted. He looked around, all the members of the Pure had left, and all that remained was Clone, Twilight, and the darkness. Clone looked to Twilight. She had passed out, and was on the floor sleeping. Clone picked her up and made for the exit.

At the Nexus, Clone found a seat and placed Twilight on it and sat at an opposing seat. He reclined and sighed. He loved it when a mystery was solved. He could get back to solving less reality threatening problems. He looked over to Twilight. She was coming to.

“You missed me being awesome Twilight. I must admit, that was good.” Twilight blinked.

“What's going on?” Her voice was different.

“You were unconscious from the attack and I brought you to the safety of a chair” Clone shrugged. “Isn't it obvious?” Twilight leaned forward and pounded the table.

“Where am I? And where's Mistuh J?” Clone leaned forward and looked into Twilight's eyes. They were blue.

“What?” Clone asked.

Next Time...

Clone: "This is impossible! Voices can't be swapped!"

Twilight: "You don't understand my love with Mistuh J!"

Harley: "Where's Clone? Who are you?!"

Joker: "Please... no introductions are necessary are they?"