Rafting Against the Current

“Master! I have retrieved them for you!” said Domino’s servant.

“Brilliant!” Domino cheered with the same wicked smile he bore earlier. “Let them in.”

His servant nodded, then turned around and allowed 5 ponies to pass.

The first to walk in was a pegasus. She was a light blue color. Her eyes were a dark pink color, and her mane was made up of 6 different colors – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Her cutie mark looked to be a cloud with a red, blue, and yellow lightning bolt coming out of it.

The second to walk in was a regular earth pony. Her body was a light orange color, and her eyes were a sparkling green. Her mane was blonde, and she wore a cowboy hat on her head. Her cutie mark was a picture of three red apples.

The third was another earth pony. This one was pink with a slightly darker pink colored mane. Her mane was puffy. She had light blue eyes and a cutie mark of two blue balloons surrounding a third one, which was yellow.

The fourth to walk in was a white unicorn. Her mane was a dark purple color, and her eyes were blue. Her flank bore a cutie mark of three light blue gems.

The last one to walk in was a yellow pegasus. Her mane was a light pink color, and her eyes a cross between dark green and teal. Her cutie mark showed three pink butterflies.

“I’m glad you could make it,” Domino remarked, “I was started to get a little worried.”

“Well, we rayn into a bit ah’ trouble on the way here,” the orange pony replied.

“But we’re here now!” the pink pony exclaimed, jumping up and down.

“Yes, I can see that,” Domino responded. “Look, how is it going with… her?”

“Quite well, actually,” the white mare retorted. “We saw her in Ponyville Square earlier, and I think we did quite well in pretending to be her friends.”

“Excellent!” said the mint-teal unicorn. “I think it’s time we let the real ones know of our progress. Misty!”

The servant teleported over to Domino and responded with, “Yes, Master Domino?”

“Misty, would you be a dear fetch the others for us?”

Misty nodded and ran off to fetch the real ones.

I've finally done it! It’s finally worked! I've successfully created the false ones! Domino thought to himself.

“And now,” he said, turning to the ponies strapped to the machines, “you get to stay in the cages! Misty!”

Misty came over to her master with a drink surrounded by her magic aura and instantly replied, “Here’s that drink you requested. What do you need, Master?”

Domino took the drink from Misty’s aura and gulped it down. “Ah, there's nothing like the taste of fresh, cold water when you're thirsty. Misty, please go get the cages. It’s time.”

“Yes, Master! Anything for you!” Misty acknowledged, running off to get the cages.

“You won’t get away with this!” the rainbow-maned pony exclaimed, panting shakily and heavily from the severe trauma she had just gone through. “Twilight is way more awesome at magic than you! She’ll save us!”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Rainbow Dash. You see, your silly little friend will never suspect that anything is out of place. Your clones, here, are perfect replicas of you- except for one thing. They," he paused, "work for me.”

“All you are is weak! You and your friendship! Did you really think friendship could get you out of this? Did you really think that your silly little ‘Elements of Harmony’ could get you out of this? Pathetic!” the fake Dash mocked them.

As she mocked, Domino picked up the case of mints off of the desk by the large screen and took out a mint, popping it into his mouth.

“You shall never get away with this! I know Twilight too well to believe what you say! I know Twilight, and I know she’s more than capable of saving us!” Rarity rebelled.

“Now, now, I know you all think that, but not everything is as it seems. Ah, Misty, you’re here with the cages,” Domino stated as Misty trotted into the room with five cages hovering above her.

“Misty, be a dear and put these silly fillies into the cages. Be careful!” Domino commented as Pinkie Pie tried to bite Misty’s hoof off. “Don’t let them hurt you!”

What's wrong with them? What changed? What's different? Twilight wondered as she walked to her library from Ponyville Square. Is it really them? No, there’s definitely something different about them.

Twilight growled in frustration at the fact that she couldn’t figure out why this felt wrong.

Twilight spent several more minutes mumbling to herself as she walked to the library.

When she finally got there, she opened the door and walked inside. The door slammed shut behind her as she walked over to her desk and plopped herself into the chair.

Twilight rested there for a minute or two before noticing something on her desk.

“What’s this?” Twilight questioned, picking up a blank piece of paper. Twilight flipped the paper over to the other side.

And what else did the piece of paper read but one certain special thing-

Run!