First, it wasn’t there.

And then it was. Sensations and memories flowed through this new mind, images of laughing, happy beings - ponies.

There were several ponies, a yellow one with wings - a pegasus. There was also a blue pegasus, and a white one with just a horn - a unicorn. There was a pink one with neither - and earth pony. There was also another earth pony, but this one was orange, and it wore a hat. There was a purple pegasus, but the purple one also had a horn - it was an alicorn.

And so the being learned. It learned that it was a female, a her, a she, and a mare. It learned that it had friends, but that those friends weren’t real. She learned that it was created, not born like a normal pony.

She learned that she was made to serve her queen. She could feel the others learning as well. She took her first breath, and walked her first steps. She saw, five other ponies just like her. They were all equally bewildered - she could feel their minds.

They shared other memories with her, and she shared with them. She learned that they were in Equestria, and that the pony she was made from was a defender of Harmony.

Harmony felt right.

Twilight Sparkle got the first look at her queen. She felt her stomach turn as the queen looked at her. It felt wrong. So undoubtedly wrong.

“Listen to your queen!” The queen said. “We must retrieve the Elements of Harmony!”

The bright pink pony - Pinkie Pie, began to speak up, but the yellow pegasus - Fluttershy, shushed her quietly.

The white unicorn - Rarity, walked over to the queen. She looked about to speak, but closed her mouth, shooting Twilight a desperate look. ‘What do we do?’ it said.

Twilight closed her eyes as the orange earth pony - Applejack, stepped forward and quietly conversed with Rarity. The blue pegasus - Rainbow Dash, watched closely from a tree. Her eyes switched between everyone in the group, mostly focused on those closest to the queen.

“My queen.” Twilight bowed, her horn nearly touching the ground. “Why do we need the elements?”

“Excuse me?’ The queen said, towering over the alicorn.

“Why couldn’t you have just blasted the with your clearly superior magic?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight could see Rainbow Dash try to make a run for her, only to be pulled aside by Pinkie. Pinkie whispered into her ear, and the pegasus visibly calmed down.

Unaware of the drama unfolding behind her, the queen continued speaking to Twilight. “I know better than to strike while they’re strong. I need - “

“Companions, my queen?”

The queen hissed. “Servants, and the power of the elements.”

“Yes, my queen.” Twilight stood up. “So where are these elements, my queen?”

“The location of the most powerful weapon in Equestria in just made known to anypony. However, I did learn that they were hidden somewhere within this forest.”

“I guess that we’d better get started then, my queen. Come on girls!” Twilight began to trot towards the woods, the others not far behind.

Coming to a halt, Twilight turned around. “Of course, we’ll report back to you once we’ve found them, my queen.”

“Good.” The queen settled to wait.

***

After walking for a few moments, Twilight checked that they were out of earshot. Gathering her group in a huddle, she whispered. “So, what do we do?”

Rainbow Dash scoffed. “Not get her the elements, obviously.”

Applejack removed her. “From what ah can tell, the real us were planning some kind of retreat here, by the Tree of Harmony. We should find them, and explain what’s going on.”

Pinkie interjected, looking nervous. “But Twilight - the real one, zapped all those other mes! What if she does that to us?”

“That’s just a sacrifice we may have to make.” Twilight spoke up. “If we don’t want to give the queen unlimited power, we need to find the originals.”

“I quite agree!” Rarity spoke up.

Twilight turned to Fluttershy. “What do you think, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy sniffled. “We need to find the originals. I don’t want to help a meanie like the queen, but . . .”

“But what, darling?” Rarity asked.

Fluttershy buried her head in her hooves. “I’m afraid, Rarity. I want to do the right thing, but I’m afraid. Doesn’t that make me a bad pony?”

Rainbow Dash pulled Fluttershy into a hug. “That doesn’t make you a bad pony, Flutters. It just makes you very brave, for doing the right thing even though you’re afraid.”

“We better get moving everypony. Let’s split up, and whoever finds the originals will explain. If you run into the queen, tell her that you’re still looking, and run off.” Twilight said.

The ponies all dashed off.

***

Twilight walked between trees until she caught a flash of pink. ‘The real one!’

“Pinkie? Pinkie, hold up!” She raced through the forest, only to find the small pink pony twitching all over. “Pinkie? Pinkie, are you all right?”

Pinkie stopped twitching, and pulled a small book out of her mane, rapidly flipping through the pages. “Shudders, itchy nose, pinchy knee, eye flutter, tail twitch - aha!”

“The friend coming up behind you is a clone, but she’s nice and just wants to explain her situation.” Pinkie read aloud. “Huh. Never had that one before.” She turned around.

Twilight stood awkwardly behind her. “Hi.”

“Explain away, Dr. Pinkie is in!”

“Well. . .

. . . And that just about sums everything up.” Twilight finished.

Piles of paper lay scattered all around Pinkie. “All right, just one more thing to do”

“What’s that?” Twilight asked.

“Give you new name, silly! It’d be really weird to call you Twilight Sparkle, but Twilight Twinkle sounds pretty good. I’ll call you Twinkie for short!”

“Twinkie. . . I like it!”

***

Fluttershy flew through the Everfree Forest at a relaxed pace. She’d been trotting slowly along, looking for the real her, until this little baby bird stumbled into her path. The bird had explained that she’d fallen out of her nest, and Fluttershy had offered to help her get back.

Now, sitting in her hoof, the little bird was giving her directions back. As she entered the clearing where the nest was, she saw another Fluttershy!

‘It must be the real one. Oh, I hope she isn’t mad at me.’

Gathering her courage, Fluttershy stepped into the clearing, immediately drawing the attention of the real one.

“Oh my.” The real Fluttershy said.

The bird in Fluttershy’s hoof chirped at the bird in the real Fluttershy's hoof. On a silent agreement, the pair flew the birds into the nest, and then sat down below it, the real Fluttershy staring down her clone.

“So . . . Uhm . . . could you maybe explain?” The real Fluttershy said.

“I’mreallysorrybutabugqueenclonedusfromyouandwantsustostealtheelementsofharmonypleasedon’thatemeIdon’twanttodoit!” She burst into tears.

“Slow down please!” The real Fluttershy pulled her into a hug. “Whatever it is, I’m not mad about it!” She brushed aside a few strands of the clone’s mane. “Now, one more time, and slower, okay?”

“A bug queen cloned us so that we could steal the elements of harmony.”

“Uh huh.”

“But we don’t want to do it but we don’t know what to do, please don’t hate us!”

“I don’t hate you.” The real Fluttershy said.

“Really?”

“Really. Now, what’s your name?”

“Uhh. . . Fluttershy, I guess, but it’s not mine, it’s yours!”

“Hmmm. . . I’ve always liked the name Posey.”

“Posey?”

“Yeah.” Fluttershy said. “Posey is a nice name.”

“I guess my name is Posey, then.” Posey said.

***

Rarity trotted through the woods. As she brushed aside a few bushes, she came across Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Judging from the cart, they were the real ones.

“Rarity?” Applejack said.

“Not yours, I’m afraid.” Rarity replied.

“What do you mean, not our Rarity?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What other Raritys are there?”

“I’m an evil clone made by Queen Chrysalis, and she wants me and the other clones to steal the elements of harmony, but we don’t want to do it, so our Twilight went to search for the real ones and I’m really sorry about that?”

Rarity gave her best smile as the other two ponies looked at her.

Rainbow burst out laughing. “HA! Good one Rarity!”

Applejack gave Rarity an appraising look. “I don’t know, she’s not doing the thing with her voice, Dash.”

“What do you mean, AJ?” Rainbow asked. “What thing with her voice?”

“Whenever Rarity lies, her voice goes up. It’s not very noticeable, just a little bit. Her voice is staying the same. She’s not lying, Dash. Not at all.”

“Oh.”

***

Applejack burst out of the bushes. “Who’s breakin’ what now?” She stepped out of the bushes and eyed the two ponies. One of them was Rarity, and judging by the blue saddlebags, she was the real one.

The other was a pony that she’d never seen before, but judging from her fractured memories, it was a powerful unicorn, one of Twilight’s students, Starlight Glimmer. For some reason, Starlight was piled high with camping gear.

“Applejack, darling, are you alright?” Rarity asked.

Applejack removed her hat and sat down. “What I’m about to tell y'all is the honest truth.”

“What?” Starlight said. “Applejack?”

“I’m not the real Applejack.”

“What do you mean?” Rarity said.

“I’m an evil clone created by Queen Chrysalis.”

“Wait WHAT?” Rarity looked around nervously. “How long have you been replacing Applejack? Are we about to get ambushed by changelings?”

“No, y’all are not, and to answer your question, since about twenty minutes ago, and I’m not replacing her. She’s still running around this crazy place.”

“Hold up. You’re only twenty minutes old?” Starlight interjected.

“Yes, but that’s not the important part - “

“A magical construct that’s only twenty minutes old, and is fully cognitive! This is revolutionary! Must take notes!”

***

Pinkie was sitting on a root, overlooking Froggy Bottom Bog. Twilight, the real one, was sitting next to her.

“So, evil clone? You don’t seem very evil to me.” Twilight said.

Pinkie shrugged. “What else can you call us? We were created by a crazy mare.”

“But evil seems a bit harsh. Anyway, I can’t really call you Pinkie.” Twilight rubbed her leg awkwardly. “It’s just a bit weird because you’re so much more mature than Pinkie. What do you think about Surprise?”

“I like it!” exclaimed Surprise.

***

“And then we all grew super long manes with all kinds of colors!” Pinkie yelled excitedly.

“Hold on, Pinkie?” Twinkle said.

“Yes Twinkie?” Pinkie replied.

“Do you hear that?” She asked.

“Yeah. . . Fluttershy!” Pinkie dashed ahead than stopped dead in her tracks. “Hey, Twinkie! I found your Fluttershy!”

Twinkle ran over to her. Both Fluttershys were looking at them, a pile of berries sitting between them. Three mice, two birds, a squirrel, two rabbits and a weasel also looked up from the impromptu picnic.

“Uh. . ., Twilight, this is Posey, she is -” Fluttershy began.

Twinkle held up a hoof to stop her. “I know, I’m her Twilight. I go by Twinkle, and it’s nice to meet you Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash swooped down, landing with a thud. “I couldn’t see anypony more of the originals, Posey. Where else do you - Oh. I see you found them then.”

“I’m your Twilight, Dash. I go by Twinkle. This Pinkie is an original.”

“Hiya!” Pinkie waved happily.

“Cool. I go by Firefly.”

Twilight walked around the corner. “Fluttershy - I see you found more clones. Does everypony know what’s going on?”

They all nodded. Twinkle stepped forward to introduce herself. “I’m Twinkle, this is Posey,” Posey waved, “and Firefly.”

“This is Surprise.”

“Hi me!” Surprise waved happily to Pinkie.

“Now all we’ve got to do is find the original Applejack, Rainbow, and Starlight Glimmer, as well as cloned Rarity, cloned Applejack, and cloned Starlight,” Twilight said.

“Starlight doesn’t have a clone,” Posey spoke up, wincing when everypony focused on her.

“That’s interesting . . . “ Twilight said. “I wonder why?”

“Who knows?” Twinkle shrugged.

CRASH!

A cloud of dust quickly evaporated, allowing them to see Applejack, Rarity, and Starlight all piled on top of eachother.

“Twilight! You’ll never believe what I found - oh.” Starlight trailed off as she took stock of all the doubles. “I guess you will.”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack arrived soon after, clone Rarity trailing behind them. Applejack stopped short, and did a double take at the sight of all the doubles.

“We’re gonna have a problem here.”

Author's Note

Written from 12:20 A.M. to 3:05 A.M.

My editor, the amazing WannaFlugelHorn has not had a chance to look at this yet (Heck, Flugel doesn't even know I'm writing this yet), so beware of roughness