My Little Clony

by therealfeedback

Rating: teen
Tags: Other, Adventure, Derpy Hooves, DJ P0N-3, Doctor Whooves, Trixie, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 56037

If everything were a lie, what would you do? Would you forget you saw anything, pretend that utopia really is perfect, and go on your way? Or would you fight an insurmountable foe, with nothing but your wits and your companions at your back?

As originally posted on Equestria Daily!

After seeing something that he's certain can't be real, Equitech CEO Caesar seals himself away, researching, comparing, analyzing, seeing no one. After weeks, he eventually lets five trusted friends in on his findings. The result is a tyrannical spin on their world which sets them down a path battling the enigmatic Game Master, from which none of them will return unchanged, and some may not return at all.

Just a heads-up, the dark tag doesn't really apply until the later chapters. All central characters are actual ponies that have appeared in the background of episodes way back in season 1 and onward, not OCs.

Published 2013-04-20 09:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-08-12 19:58:58 UTC

Act I, Chapter II

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter II, Act I
The Sage and The Specialist

“I…don’t…get it. A…magic show?” Doctor Whoof’s breath was staggered by panting, as the two had just spent the last few hours running straight from Manehattan to Foalton.

“An…old friend is here. She has an ego, but while it’s not what she claims, she does have talent, and she has personality, so I paid for her travel expenses and for a traveling stage for her to perform on.”

Whoof shrugged. “You’re…the one…who knows who you’re bringing…lead…the way.”

After a short walk farther, they arrived at what appeared to be a regular traveling stable, plain and inconspicuous, but with a myriad of hinges on all sides, what was either a patchwork by someone with too much free time, or a very elaborate multi-purpose design. There was a door on one side, which Caesar knocked on. A voice echoed from inside.

“Who dares disturb the great and pow—“ “Drop the act, Trix.” Caesar cut in. ”I paid for this thing, I deserve to come inside.”

There was a sound of something dropping from inside, before a face showed itself in the hole in the door. It was that of a blue unicorn, with a plume of hair in a lighter blue extending down in front of her face. A mix of surprise and concern covered her face.

“C-Caesar? I thought you were going to book the next shows in three months, not—“ Caesar cut in yet again, not wanting to extend things longer than needed.

“It’s not about the act. It’s about something more important.”

“…Fine, come in.” She pushed the door open, allowing Caesar in. She stood in the doorway as Whoof entered though. “Caesar manages the act, that’s why he’s allowed in. You are?”

“I’ve never seen you before. Same question.” Caesar’s ears shot up, and he spun around to face The Doctor over Trixie’s shoulder. “Don’t—“ This time, Trixie cut off Caesar.

“You dare insult I, the great and powerful Trixie, with a comparison to one as low as yourself, simply because you are inept enough not to know my name?!” Her manager sighed behind her, placing a hoof on his forehead.

“Here we go…”

“And that is why I’m called ‘The Great And Powerful’ Trixie!” The sun, which had been up when the two arrived, had now set.

“…How did you talk that long, with that little air, without pass—You know, it’s not important. Can the Doctor just come in now?” Trixie stuck her nose up, but stepped aside, letting the Doctor in. The inside of the stable was fairly bare, a few shelves here and there adorned with assorted personal care items, pieces of clothing, a few photos, and random pieces of what looked like a magician’s gear lying about, most of it on a small wooden table around which the three gathered. The whole thing had an overall rustic feel to it.

Once in, Whoof whispered to Caesar, who had been lying in the corner, trying to bear through the rant. “Is she always like that?” He replied silently with a nod, after which the two turned to face Trixie.

“So, what did you come here for other than business?” She asked. “That’s usually all I ever hear from you for.”

“Something much more important, as I said. I need people for something. You’re a damn good illusionist. Even if your other fields could use some work, that’s invaluable.”

“I’ve gotten better, too.” She quipped, a smug smirk on her face. “Ever since that little wretch in Ponyville…” As she spoke, she slammed a hoof down onto the table. “I’m better now. Illusion is still my specialty, but I can do other things too.”

“Great,” Caesar responded. “The more the merri—“

“Hold on a minute.” This time, Caesar was the one being cut off by Trixie. “I never agreed. I have shows scheduled, I can’t exactly disappear all of a sudden. Especially since I have one tonight.”

“I’m your manager.” He replied. “I can make it happen.”

“Yes, well…” She said. “What if I don’t want to?”

“Simple.” A smug smirk crossed his face. “No more funding.” At that, Trixie started stammering, consternation alternating with anger and frustration on her face. “I wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t important.” He added.

She sighed, lowering her head in defeat. “This better be good…” Caesar nodded.

“Right then, thanks to that ‘little’ rant, we’re going to have to make a four hour run in three hours, so I think we should get going.”

“Great,” Chimed in The Doctor. “Because the great and prideful Trixie couldn’t stop, we’re going to be late…”

“Can it, fez-head.” She shot back.

“Lets just get going, alright?” The two nodded to Caesar, then set off back to where the two colts had come from.

The threesome arrived at the club shortly after eight, all three nearing falling over from the run. “I…don’t see…why we’re…coming…to a place…like this…” Trixie staggered as she spoke, breath coming from short rasps rather than full breaths.

“Because there…are…two others…here.” Caesar responded.

“Plus we can…sit down and…have a drink. A nice…luxury…given our run…don’t you think?” Added The Doctor.

The three entered the building. Being a nightclub, outside of the coloured lights shining down from above the stage and the lights inside the bar, there was very little light in the room, and what light there was, was dimmed by the haze that filled the room, which was accompanied by the acrid scent of the smoke.

Distinguishable in the light though, was the gray pony from before sitting at the bar, staring at a small glass in front of her, before one cross eye caught the group.

“Doc, Caesar! ….Who’s she?” She gestured to Trixie as she spoke.

“You are unknowing of that which you are in the presence of? The grea—“

“Trixie, please.” Once more, Caesar cut her off. “Time’s an issue right now.” The unicorn stuck her head up once more, clearly annoyed by the interruption, but silent nonetheless.

“Derpy, this is Trixie. A magician, a unicorn, particularly good with illusions, and says she’s better at other things now, too. Trixie, Derpy Hooves. Pegasus, mailpony, muffin aficionado, and another friend.”

“Alright, now that that you’re done with introductions, can you just show us what you wanted to show us already?” Trixie’s voice had an edge of anger and annoyance in it, understandable, given she’d been rushed across miles of land.

“In a moment.” I said to her. “There are two more ponies I want to have with us. One’s traveling the world right now for occupational reasons, so not much we can do there. The other though, is right here.” As I spoke, I gestured to the stage, on which stood a single goggle-adorned unicorn behind a turntable. The Specialist. “Vinyl Scratch, better known by her stage name, DJ P0N-3.”

“Alright, now I’m just lost.” A look of confusion appeared on Doc’s face. “You’re bringing together a doctor, a magician, a mailpony, a world traveler, a businesscolt, and a DJ? What are you trying to do with all this?”

“She’s also a bit of a gun nut,” I added. “That comes in handy later. Right now though, we need to get in conta—“

“Hey, Caesar?” This time Derpy was the one interrupting, rather than me doing it.

“Can it please wait Derpy?” I asked. “This is important.”

“But there are two yous.” She replied.

“…Are you sure that’s not just the cross-eyes?” The Doctor chimed in, the confusion now mixed with exasperation.

“No,” She said. “There’s another Ceaser right over there.” She raised a hoof, pointing across the dance floor. “Can you teach me to be in two places at once?”

My heart skipped a beat or three as I looked in the direction she gestured. There, indeed, was one of my doppelgangers. By my misfortune, he was here tonight as well. As of yet though, it seemed through the smoke, lights and number of ponies inside the club, he hadn’t taken notice of me.

“No no no no no….get in front of me.” I hopped behind Whoof, switching his hat with my own, and putting my monocle on Trixie. Things could get very bad for both my companions and myself if the other Caesar acknowledged me. “Trixie, give me your cape.”

“What? Why?” She asked.

“I don’t think that’s what’s important right now Trixie.” Chimed in The Doctor. “What is would be why are there two of him?”

Thoughts began racing through my head like lightning, one after another. What the Removal process would involve, if simply being seen by the other Caesar meant Removal, or if contact would need to be made, how it may differ for each of us, whether or not simply changing the hat would be a suitable change to avoid recognition. All firing at once, and flying out of my mind just as quickly, before a hoof slammed into my face knocked me back into coherence.

“Are you listening?” The voice, as well as the hoof, came from The Doctor. “There are two of you. How does that work?”

“Well, this isn’t how I intended to show you guys, but this is what I wanted to show you.” I said, climbing back up. “There are two of me. Probably more than two. I know there at least three. The same goes for all of you, as well. I’ll explain everything if you can get us somewhere secure, the backstage area for example.”

“The DJ is another one of my ventures into the entertainment business – kind of like you are Trixie, but with music instead of magic – So if you tell her you’re with me she’ll let us back. But I can’t go up there; the other Caesar can’t see me. Or if he does, it’s imperative he doesn’t know I’m him. Which is why I need you to give me your damn cloak Trixie, and why I need someone else to go get the DJ.” With a sigh, the magician pulled the cloak away from her neck, putting it over my back.

“Get so much as a single loose thread and you’re buying a new one.” She warned.

“I financed your act, I bought this one.” I shot back. “Now, can someone get the DJ? Be discrete, we don’t want any ate—“ I stopped as I looked up towards the stage, and my heart sank.

“Hi there!” Derpy had flown up onto the stage, and was now in front of the DJ. Since the music was on the LP’s in front of them, the music didn’t stop, so it wasn’t all bad, but there were plenty of ponies looking in confusion. Fortunately, the other Caesar wasn’t among them.

“Um…hi?” The DJ responded, a confused look apparent even through the goggles. “Can I…help you?” I breathed a sigh of relief. There wasn’t a mic on the DJ, only on the turntable itself, so as long as she didn’t lean forward, there wouldn’t be an issue of the conversation.

“A friend of ours says he knows you and wants to talk to all of us backstage. Is that okay?” The smile on Derpy’s face would convince a lot of people to say yes, but it’s not exactly easy to convince a performer to walk offstage with random strangers and go into their back room with them.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t just walk off. Or let you guys back there.” She said, and then turned back to the turntables.

“But, but…but Caesar’s with us!” My heart skipped another beat when Derpy mentioned my name. My eyes shot from the stage to my copy, frantic that he may have heard, though he appeared to still be unaware above the loud, pulsing sounds of the music. The DJ turned away from the vinyl discs again, and back to Derpy.

“…As in the guy who’s paying for this?” She asked.

“Yeah, yeah, he’s right over there!” She gestured in our direction as she spoke, causing the DJ to turn to see me. I waved, trying to put on a smile despite the nerves.

“…Why’s he dressed like he tripped and fell through two closets?” She asked, to which Derpy replied with a shrug. “Alright, since he’s hooving the bill, I’ll take a few minutes.” At that, she turned to the mic.

“Alright, I’m going to take a quick break to get some more vinyls for you guys. In the meantime, here’s something mellow so everypony can relax during the pause.” She switched which disc the needle was on, and then walked off the stage toward the back, Derpy following behind, flashing the three of us a gigantic smile as she did so.

“Well, I…guess that works.” I said. “Come on, let’s get out of the open before he looks over here.” The two nodded, and we followed after Derpy and the DJ, entering the backstage area.

Act I, Chapter III

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter III, Act I
Wake-up call

The backstage area was a relatively calm switch from the dance floor – Grey hallways with doors leading off to rooms. No copies to worry about, the only things living back here were employees of the venue, groupies, and us.

“Caesar, long time no see, though I wouldn’t have recognized you with the getup.” She smiled, levitating and playing with the tassel on the fez with magic. “So, what’re you here for?”

“It’s a long story,” I replied. “And one I want to discuss with you all privately. Can we go to your dressing room?” She nodded, leading us to a door farther down the hall, with the name “P0N-3” stamped on it.

She pushed open the door, and the four of us entered behind her. The room wasn’t extravagant, but neither was it mundane; three couches, assorted electronics, a keyboard, and boxes of records were all around a table, with a mirror mounted to the wall behind, and the scent of vinyl. We took a seat, as did she, pulling the goggles up off her eyes and onto her forehead as she did.

“Right, so, what’s all this about?” She asked.

“Yes, what is it all about? The Doctor echoed, the curiosity from the rest of the day stronger in his voice.

“Well, as you all saw out there,” I started. “There was another Caesar. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen another me, either. There are clones. Clones of all of us, too.” At that, I took my tophat back from the doctor, placing his fez back on his head. I reached into my hat, pulling out a set of photos that had been in a pouch inside it.

I tossed them onto the table for the others to see – photos of what appeared to be them, but different. Different lifestyles, different surroundings, different locations. But identical copies of them.

“How…how did you edit these?” The Doctor asked, a hint of nervousness now in his voice. “This is me, but…I’ve never been to an opera before…”

“Who’s this a photo of?” Derpy chimed in. “It…it looks like me, but I’m me. …Right?”

“This is what I’ve been doing ever since the Gala, where I saw two other Caesars, exactly like each other; exactly like me. I’ve been researching these duplicates, these clones, finding them in different areas, different times, different ponies, different lives, figuring out how they differ, what differences there are, and moreover, what differences there aren’t.”

“What I’ve concluded is that, in essence, we’re all clones. All different mutations of a single master piece of DNA. All engineered by a single mastermind somewhere. We’re all tools in what’s either a sick game or a sick experiment. We may have our own minds, dreams, thoughts, but that’s irrelevant to them. Those who learn the truth get thrown out, replaced with an identical copy – the same mutation, reproduced. Odds are not one of us is an original. Maybe there are some who are unique at the moment, but their strand can be replicated just as easily.”

“There are multiple copies of all of us running around, too. Equestria is populated by these clones. This Caesar is the businesscolt in front of you. Another is an accountant for a firm based out of Hoofington. Doc, that doppelganger of you in that photo is an opera singer on the other side of the planet. Derpy, that straight-eyed other you that you’re looking at is one of the Wonderbolts.”

“And these are just the ones I’ve found. For all I know, there are dozens, maybe hundreds, maybe even thousands of us, all running around living carefully calculated lives, so we never run into our doubles. And when we do, we’re replaced, because we’ve invalidated the experiment, we’ve broken the rules of the game.”

“This…this is…” The doctor stammered.

“Drunken crap is what it is.” Snapped P0N-3. “Trixie and I travel the entire world performing. How come we’ve never seen these clones?”

“Because the game master can’t have that, can they?” I pulled four photos out of the hat, tossing two to each of the entertainers. “I’ve managed to hunt down two clones of each of you.”

“Vinyl, you’re also known as a blacksmith in Fillydephia, and a cook in Fort Clopperdale. The Trixies are a seamstress, and a…pony of the night, lets call it.” Trixie’s blue coat lit up bright red from the comment, but the photo didn’t lie. “And again, if the game master caught wind of any of us doing this, or deciding things for ourselves in a way that’d jeopardize the experiments, we’d be gone, just like that.” I slammed a hoof against the floor for emphasis.

“So why are you telling us this? What do you want to do?” The Doctor asked, the concern and confusion gone, now replaced with a deadly seriousness. “We’re five ponies, what can we do against this?”

“We’re not just five ponies.” I responded. “We may all just be more copies alone, but we’re all particularly talented variants of ourselves. I’ve navigated my way through business clean and dirty, and I know how to run an operation like the back of my hoof. Doc, you’re one of the brightest, and most resourceful ponies I know. You can think on your hooves like nopony else.”

“Trixie, as I said in Foalton, you’re a damn good illusionist. Controlling what your enemy thinks is real is as powerful a weapon as any gun. You also have star power. As do you Vinyl, and of course there’s your love of firearms.”

“Derpy, you may not have the vision that you probably does, but another one of you is a damn Wonderbolt, I’d say that’s a pretty good voucher for your flying abilities. And of course, a postal worker isn’t to be underestimated – when you control the mail, you control…information.”

“The sixth pony I wanted to bring in would be the muscle, but his job requires travel, and he’s on the other side of Equestria right now, nothing that can be done about that.”

“Alright, alright,” Chimed in Scratch. “So we’re all some sort of super team of badasses when combined. Or something. You still haven’t said what this is supposed to let us do.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” I said plainly. “This has gone on for centuries, maybe even millennia, and nobody’s noticed and lived long enough to do something. Until now. And we’re going to end this. We’re going to find this game master. We’re going to find out who they are, where they operate from, why they’re doing this, and how.”

“And we’re going to stop them. We’re going to end this twisted illusion of a reality, these preplanned lives we’ve been forced into living, these sick machinations. We’re going to give everypony what we all are born, or created as it well may be, deserving. Freedom. Choice. Individuality.”

“This is….a lot to take in.” Vinyl mentioned.

“That’s an understatement.” Added Doctor Whoof. “This is basically saying everything we know has all been some grand conspiracy. This is…crazy. Crazier than I ever expected from you.”

“You saw the second Caesar with your own eyes.” I answered. “If you want, we can go look at your doppelgangers too. My ideas of who the game master is may be conjecture, but this isn’t. This is solid fact. I’ve nothing to hide. If you don’t believe me, then you can leave and ignore everything I’ve said until now.”

This silence was the moment of truth. Whether they’d believe me. Whether they’d see what I saw, awake to what I awoke to. Every moment of silence is an eternity in which my confidence is rattled more and more. Until finally,

“I…I’ll go with you.” To my surprise, as well as everyone else, the one who chimed up was Derpy, of all of them. “I…I don’t really understand, but…but I want Dinky to get to…choose her own life…I don’t want some big mean game master picking it for her. Besides, people say I say crazy things all the time, this doesn’t seem so crazy. And if…if one of me is a Wonderbolt…I want to be able to do that too. I could be so much better with the mail if I could move like that…”

I smiled. It was a start, with probably the least skeptic of the group, but a start nonetheless. “Thank you Derpy. It’s good to have a friend onboard. The rest of you?”

“…What the hell.” This time it was Vinyl Scratch. “The world can live without one DJ for a few months if you’re wrong, and if you’re right, I’m not going on someone else’s path. I’m taking my path. This could be the biggest thing ever, and I’m going to be on the right side if I’m on one.”

Next was Trixie. “Count me in. If nothing else, this…tramp…is ruining my name. If she’s doing it because she thinks it funny, I’ll make her pay. And if not, I’ll make whoever decided I’d make a good skank pay.”

The stoic expression on my face had faded from view, a grin now taking its place. “Well, doc? That just leaves you.” There was a moment of silence, during which he stared at the photos again.

“If you’re wrong, I don’t think I need to tell you how cross I’ll be. If you’re right, there’s no way I’m letting this stand. I’m in.”

The grin widened. All four were with me. I only needed Engi, and the team would be complete, but we could start as we are.

“Wonderful, I’m honoured to have you all with me.”

Act I, Chapter IV

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter IV, Act I
Escape

“So,” Trixie said. “Now what?”

“Now,” I answered. “We need an escape route. As said, one of my doppelgangers is out there, which is…bad.”

“Leave that to me.” This time it was Vinyl who chimed in. “I’ll give them a light show, nobody’ll notice one pony moving in the background.” I nodded in agreement.

“Alright, we’ll meet at my home in three hours to discuss moving forward. Derpy, Doc, you both know where it is, each of you show one of our entertainers the way.” They nodded, Derpy a little more energetically than the Doctor.

“The DJ’s been out a long time for just getting something new to play.” The comment came from one of the ponies sitting at one of the tables in the nightclub. There were three in total at the table, a filly with caramel-coloured hair and a yellow mane, a white Pegasus colt with a blue mane, and a particular tophat-adorned pony.

“Relax Brolly,” The tophat-wearing pony said. “It’s not that big a deal; if it’s for a good bit of music, I don’t mind waiting. Besides, it’s nice to hear something mellow once in a while.”

As he finished speaking, the DJ walked back out onstage, carrying a small stack of records with her. “See? I told you that it wasn’t any big deal.”

“Alright, hope you all enjoyed that break.” The DJ spoke into the microphone, right as the calm, ambient track faded out. “We’re back now though, so lets get something with some energy!”

At that, she lifted one of the vinyl discs off the turntable, placing one from the stack on it. The beat hit as the needle fell, the multi-coloured lights moving in time in a grand, rhythmic show. All eyes were drawn towards the stage, as it should be in a good show.

“Alright, now’s your cue.” I nodded as Whoof spoke. I had my tophat and monocle back, and Trixie had her cloak again, so if I was spotted by the other Caesar, there was little doubt he’d recognize me. I had to hope he wouldn’t though…no, I had to know he wouldn’t. The results if he did could be disastrous. There wasn’t room to screw up.

“Alright, I’m off. Remember, three hours.” The three with me nodded, and I took one last, deep breath of air. It was time to run.

With multiple lights swinging every which way in different colours, and ponies dancing all about, it was easy enough to move undetected. Not hitting anything was the tricky part. Still, occasionally bumping into somepony on the dance floor wasn’t exactly an uncommon occurrence, so most wouldn’t bat an eye as Caesar ran through the crowd, hooves flying as fast as his heart was beating, a remarkable feat given its pace.

Vinyl kept a steady, goggle-hidden eye on his escape from the stage, doing as much to avoid the lights shining conspicuously on him as possible. “Come on,” She muttered under her breath. “Not too much farther…”

The steady, heady light of the street lamps above shined from the stairway to the door into Caesar’s eyes as he neared it, the proximity of escape only causing his nerves to heighten.

“So close…” The words echoed in my thoughts, nothing else accompanying them - My mind was bare, save for these simple thoughts. I was running on adrenaline, not thinking, just running as fast as I could for the door. For once, there wasn’t any planning, any theories about the Game Master, anything other than the simple thought to keep running, and a few words echoing. It was pleasant, in a way.

“Almost….this whole affair of getting caught is almost just a nerve-wracking memo—“ I never did finish that thought. So focused at escape, I slammed headfirst, full-speed into the club’s bouncer, who was none too happy about it.

“Can I help you?” The irritation on the bouncer’s voice was clear, as was the fact he was holding back a strong urge to hit a certain pony in the face. Hard.

“I-I’m just…on my way out. Nothing more, nothing less.” Caesar answered.

“Uh-huh.” He spoke with suspicion. “Because ponies who’re just leaving run like that. Yer’ lucky I’m a big guy, punk – if I were a tiny thing like you, someone would’ve been hurt.” As the words came from his mouth, he lifted the pony in the hat, pulling the smaller colt to an eye-to-eye level with him. “And someone’s gonna’ get hurt if you keep lyin’. Now why were you runnin’ like a convict?”

There was a moment of silence, the music filling it. Caesar took a breath in, nodding in defeat. “Alright, fine.” He said. “I was running be…” The expression of defeat on his face turned to one of confusion.

“…The hell is that?” He gestured behind the bouncer as he spoke. The larger colt turned his head, at which point, regret and annoyance on his face, the colt in the tophat bit down on the bouncer’s arm. He cried out in pain, dropping his “friend” as he did so. Now free of his grip, Caesar took off once more, again going as fast as he could, up the stairs and out the door.

“Son of a…” The guard stammered as he watched, well-aware that with the headstart, a larger colt like himself wouldn’t be able to catch the smaller, more agile runner. “Good riddance, I signed up to keep that out, not in.”

I finally felt my body calming down as I ran got out of the club. I was away from the other Caesar, without being noticed, away from being caught, away from being Removed. I felt safe in the night air, the open streets. I could finally relax for a few hours. None of my friends had doppelgangers in the club tonight, they were safe.

For now, everything was back on-course. I began heading back to my house, to prepare for the others, to show them what I’d found, and preparing it all in an understandable manner to seal their confidence. Three hours time was plenty for my needs.

As I walked the emptying streets, I spat, the blood of the bouncer still on my tongue. The only other time I’d ever tasted blood was when I’d bitten my own tongue, yet for some reason this was worse. So much so, it was all I could do to keep a straight face. It was fitting in a way though, as it served as a metaphorical and literally bitter reminder that the path we were venturing down was not pleasant, not easy, and above all, not safe by any standards.

I didn’t care though. This was something that had to be stopped, and we were the only ones who could do it. The dangers simply needed to be dealt with, then once safe, the remnants removed, as I did now.

My mouth now clean, I breathed in the cool night air. It was a chilly night, the dark, damp cold of the silent, empty, grey cobblestone streets a stark contrast to the packed club, filled with lights, ponies, smoke, and rhythm. The echo of my hooves on the ground was almost calming, in a way. A familiar, natural, relaxed feeling instead of the racing pulse of the music.

“Caesar, you okay?” The voice came from a concerned Brolly, whose friend had been transfixed on the exit for the past few minutes. “Caesar?”

The one in-question shook his head, as if to clear a fog inside it, then turned back to his friends. “Sorry, I…I think I’ve had too much to drink. I could’ve sworn I saw…me over there.” The comment was greeted with cheery laughter, both of the other two at the table raising their drinks in toast.

“It may be a good idea to slow down then,” Carrot Top, the other at the table, replied. “We don’t want you having too much, now. Remember what happened last time?” The three erupted into another round of laughter.

“That’s a morning I don’t want to remember again…” The Caesar said, a smile now on his face. “My head still hurts from it.”

“Mine too.” Carrot Top shot back.

“Alright, well, I’m going to get going then.” He said, finishing his drink before continuing. “If I get that bad, I want to do it safe back home. Night guys.” The two nodded, waving as he walked away from the table, across the dance floor and towards the exit. As he did though, the bouncer stopped him.

“You!” He snapped. “Why you…wait…didn’t you leave?” The look of anger was replaced with one of confusion.

“I…did?” The look of confusion spread.

“What kinda’ mind game you playin’ here, pal? …Actually, you know what, I don’t want to know. Just get the hell out of here. I don’t want to see you again tonight, or I’ll be the one biting your legs.” The look of indignation on Caesar’s face turned to one of disgust.

“You’re threatening to bite me now?! Pray you’re not here next time I come in, or I’m having a word with the manager!” At that, he stormed out, disgruntled, to put it mildly. As he walked though, the anger faded, replaced by more confusion and concern. The bouncer seemed to have indeed been dealing with another one of him. Just like he had seen when he looked over there.

It was absurd, but it seemed like there was a second Caesar. “It can’t be though.” He reasoned. “That…that’s just silly. I need to lie down…” As he walked through the deserted streets, the emptiness and the silence echoing the sounds of his hooves against the bare cobblestone only served to feed his paranoia. A stark contrast to the relief it gave a similar colt.

Act I, Chapter V

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter V, Act I
Lunacy, Rationalized

I sat, staring at the clock, not wavering even to blink. My eyes burned from the effort, but my mind was running so rapidly that the only action I had time to do was breathe before my neck spun back to some timepiece. Two short minutes until they arrived. A click. Now one.

As I waited, I still ran through the escape over and over, trying to think if there was any point my copy saw me at. There were none, as far as I could tell. I couldn’t be certain though, and I had to hope if he saw me, he’d assume he was seeing things.

Click. The time was upon me now; they’d be here any minute. I glanced away from the clock, to the wall I had pinned all the photos and notes onto, before shooting back to the clock. Any minute now…

“It…it was just my mind playing tricks on me, right?” The Caesar in the empty streets spoke to himself in a nervous tone, still unsure of what to make of what he had seen. “It had to be…two of me, that’s…that’s absurd! …Right?”

As he spoke to himself, words echoed through the empty Manehattan streets. “How much farther?” A female voice asked in an exasperated tone. “I’m a magician, not a runner, I didn’t agree to run for miles to get all the way here in two hours, and then walk back to Caesar’s whenever he has some crazy idea when I let him finance the act!” A single word from the whining rung in Caesar’s ears. Namely, his name.

“Will you just shut up already?” Another female voice chimed in. “Cee’s paying for our acts, one evening isn’t a lot to pay for that, is it? Honestly, it’s a miracle somepony like you can stand life on the road at all…” Caesar slowly crept closer, inching his way towards the group to get a better ear, back against a wall.

“Excuse me?!” The first voice came back, exasperation replaced with indignation. “Are you daring to suggest that somepony like you, who’s pass at entertainment is playing with other people’s music, is more capable at tolerating being a performer than the Great and Powerful Trixie?! I’ve never…” The voice trailed off into incoherent yelling, interlaced with obscenities, before there was a loud banging noise.

“Will you shut up?! Some of us are trying to sleep!” The voice this time was male, and came from above, probably from an apartment window of a stallion woken up by the whining. The item that had caused the bang was still a mystery, though not for long, as a few moments later, a metal trash can slammed hard into Caesar’s face.

He hit the ground, stunned a moment from the impact. As he slowly centered himself once more, he noticed his monocle was broken, and his hat was missing.

“The nerve of some ponies…” The whining voice said softly. Caesar glanced around for his hat. It was sitting right beneath a streetlight, its black presence in the center of the yellow light oddly somber.

“Doc, is she always this whiny?” The voice was once again feminine, but this time came from a different pony than the last two. “Somehow, I get a bad feeling so, Derpy.” Another voice, this time masculine, said in response. Caesar caught the hat in the light, running towards it.

“I hate you both right now…” The first voice said. Caesar kept heading toward the hat.

“Can we please all just focus on getting where we’re going to instead of fighting for--” The second voice cut itself off, as Caesar slowed to a stop, picking up his tophat and putting it back on. As he turned to return to his following distance though, he realized an issue. Specifically, he was now in plain view of the ponies he had been following. A sickening silence floated in the air as they stared at each other, not sure how to react.

“…That’s…” A blue pony, and the owner of the first voice, said, before being signaled to be silent by another with a tan coat. “Were you following us?” He said.

“I…well…you mentioned my name, I figured that you—“ He stammered as he spoke, trying to cover his story without being obvious, and at the same time dancing around an uneasiness in his throat.

“We did?” The tan-coated pony said again to Caesar. “Who are you then?”

“C-Caesar.” He answered. “I work as a accountant. I’m sure you mentioned my name?”

“I think it must be a different Caesar then, you don’t look familiar. Two ponies with the same name isn’t that odd, is it?”

“I…I suppose not…” He replied.

“Off with you then, I’ve no issue with a mistake, but I don’t like ponies who follow others around like this.” Caesar nodded, walking off down the street in the opposite direction. “I do need help…” He thought to himself. “Following others, eavesdropping, I need rest…”

A few yards away the tan-coated pony turned to the others he was with. “An accountant, that’s what Caesar said one of his doubles was…maybe it’s not so crazy…”

There was a knock at my door. It was a half-hour after when the others were supposed to be here, I was shocked that The Doctor of all people was so late. I walked over, opening the door, the four from before standing on my doorstep.

“Sorry we’re late,” Vinyl said. “We ran into a…friend. Said his name was Caesar.” A chill went down my spine as I heard my name. Apparently the look on my face showed my uneasiness, as she nodded in response.

“That’s…interesting. Did anything…happen?” I asked nervously.

“No, he walked off after we explained it was a misunderstanding.”

I nodded, still concerned, but less so. “Alright, come in, come in. We have a lot to discuss.” I motioned to my side, and the four entered.

“You already have the basic idea from before.” I said, walking around the wall I had my theories on. “Hopefully speaking to another me is enough to convince you I’m not crazy. You all saw your pictures, and there are others, but that’d take too long to go through all of, I could ramble about all this for all night. Instead, I’ll cut straight to the point.”

“We’re going to start ‘looking into’ our potential Game Masters. We’re going to need to act quickly if we want to have any chance of success. I have a grand total of five current suspected Game Masters.” At that, I tore an envelope off of the wall, pulling a set of photos out of it and handing them to the four.

“Whoever the Game Master is, based on the actions I’ve been able to discern them dictating, they wouldn’t be able to resist becoming a leader in whatever group they’re in, even if it makes them more suspect. As such, most of these are in leadership positions.”

“The first is a pony way out in Appleloosa named Silverstar. He’s the Sheriff there, and while that doesn’t seem like much, the Sheriff is pretty much singlehandedly the law in frontier towns like this. Match the fact a relatively obscure frontier town is small enough for him to go undetected, but still feel in-charge, and the lack of duplicates there, and it’s the only frontier town that seems like the Game Master could be there.”

“The second Bastion Yorsets, one of the head professors at the School for Gifted Unicorns. The entire staff is actually under suspicion, but Yorsets is second only to the headmaster, hence why they’re under his name here. The power of the position speaks for itself, and if they’re intelligent enough to play the Game Master, they’d be intelligent enough to get around Celestia, they’d have access to the resources.”

“The third is Photo Finish, the photographer. This woman essentially controls the entirety of the clothing industry; the power factor is there, as is the ego. I’ve worked with her in business before, so I can assure you she has more resources than anyone would guess. And I probably don’t know all of what she has, either.”

“Fourth is Princess Luna. This is really as a precaution more than it is for actual investigation – She’s been gone for too long to accurately control the experiment. There’s a chance, if she’s the Game Master, that even on the moon she could control things somehow, but it’s unlikely. Still, she’s second in power only to her sister, and she definitely has access to the resources.”

“Wait a minute.” Whoof chimed in. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to say who I think you are as the fifth?”

“Knowing you, I do believe you’re correct.” I answered.

“The fifth, is Princess Celestia herself. She’s been alive long enough that she never would’ve needed to rely on cloning herself, she has the leadership position, she has the resources, if it weren’t for the fact there’s nothing shady about her, she’d be a perfect match. You shouldn’t be able to keep something like this secret so long with her position though. Or at least without anything slipping out.”

“You do realize that one, and probably Princess Luna as well, is treasonous, right?” This time Vinyl was the one speaking.

“I’m well-aware. But I’d say if they’re the one, I wouldn’t mind backstabbing them.”

“Okay, so we have a list of maybes.” Whoof once more. “Who do we start with?”

“Photo Finish.” I replied. “She’ll be in-town tomorrow. We’ll gather what information we can, and if we can do so discretely, we’ll ask her a few questions.”

“I assume you have some sort of plan? We’re not just going in like an uncoordinated gaggle of idiots?” Trixie was the one speaking this time, annoyance in her voice.

I nodded. “Of course.”

“Is Doctor Herald in?” Caesar asked at the door of a large medical office. “I know it’s late, but…I think I need help mentally.” A few moments later, a pony with a brown coat opened the door.

“Caesar, what’s wrong?” He said in a concerned voice. “And…why is your tophat damaged? Where’s your monocle?”

“It’s a…long story.” The gray pony replied. “But I don’t know if it’s because of what I had to drink, but I think I’m starting to see things.”

“I…I think I saw two of somepony.” The look of concern on the doctor’s face turned much sterner.

“…Exactly alike?” He asked, to which Caesar nodded.

“Identical. I know it sounds crazy, but…” He stared off into the empty streets as he spoke. As he stared off, Herald reached one hoof behind the wall of the building, lifting a pane of glass and pressing a small, discrete button.

“Come in, it sounds like you’re a little out of your head. I should have something for that.” Caesar nodded, entering the building, closing the door behind himself. A single, fatal mistake. “Right then, I believe what you need…is right here.”

As Herald spoke, there was a stinging sensation in Caesar’s neck; a needle. Within moments, he was on the ground, incapacitated, but still very aware, and very awake. The doctor sighed, shaking his head.

“Poor, poor Caesar...” He said. “I never really like doing this to my patients, but it can’t be helped when you see a copy…I am one of the city’s monitors for any of these mishaps after all, this is a duty above medicine…”

“Truly a shame, you were a pleasant enough fellow. However the Game can’t be interrupted. There will be a group here for your collection and Removal within the hour, please don’t make too much fuss if the drug starts to wear off before then.” The pony on the ground stared up, his expression frozen and unchanged, but the thoughts going through his head clear enough.

Act II, Chapter I

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter I, Act II
All In The Act

It was a sunny morning. There were a few clouds in the sky, but they were scant enough that they did little to darken the mood of the day. Ironic, given what was about to happen.

“Enough!” A voice shouted out in a thick accent. “De sun iz too high now, ve’ll ‘ave to waste de time until it iz setting. Bring de next model!” The voice belonged to none other than the photographer Photo Finish, who, even through her glasses, was clearly annoyed at missing her shot that morning.

She stood behind a camera, as usual, as various helpers carted one pony out of the lens’ view, and another in. The photo shoot was taking place in a scenic park in Manehattan, which was normally public, but closed off for the shoot, a few small trailers lying about the park. There were more trailers and more crew, but most were at the hotel, waiting for their shifts.

As the new model took her position, the annoyance on Photo Finish’ face drained, becoming somewhat pleasant now that a desired shot was in her lens once more.

“Perfect, perfect…” She said, and at that began her life’s work, photography, anew for the day, blissfully unaware of the impending plans of a group of ponies only a few short miles away. A particular group that had been monitoring her actions the past few days, while she had been in-town for this photo shoot.

“Are we in position?” I asked into the microphone.

“Everyone’s set up,” Vinyl replied, her voice echoing inside my ear, courtesy of the small device inside it. “Doc and I are all dressed for our part, just waiting for you, Cee.”

“Trix, are the primary illusions set?” I said once more. Though there was a single communication channel being shared, all of us were tied into it, so no switching was required to change who I spoke to.

“Everything’s ready,” She said. “They won’t know a thing.”

“Derpy, you know your part?”

“Yup! Ready to go!” Came the enthusiastic response. I nodded, not to anyone in particular, but more out of habit, and to calm my own nerves.

“Alright, heading over now. You know your cues, I have faith we’ll get this done.” At that, I began the walk from the street corner to the park the photo shoot was taking place in. The streets were a completely different image to what they’d been the night before – now they were bustling, filled beyond what you’d imagine they could fill with ponies going every which way, with noise to match. Nobody would ever notice one colt talking to himself.

“Someone here for you, ma’m.” Said a gray-coated colt to the photographer.

“Who?” She asked, turning away from the camera. “Who would be so arrogant as to interrupt I, Photo Finish?”

“Fellow in a tophat, said his name was Caesar.” The assistant answered. “Claims to be a friend and old business partner of yours?”

“Ah, Caezar!” She said, anger slowly draining from her tone. “Hiz company made my cameras, let ‘im through.” At that, the gray-coated assistant nodded, walking away.

I fidgeted, nervous. Only natural, given the stakes, and the potential for problems that could arise if things didn’t go according to plan. My nerves only worsened as the guard approached.

“She says she’ll see you, sir.” He said. “If you’ll follow me.” I nodded, a wave of relief washing over me as I walked behind him. So far, so good.

“Caezar!” Photo Finish said, walking over to greet the colt, a smile on her face. “Much too long since ve’ve spoken, how ‘ave you been?”

“Splended, splendid.” He replied. “I assume my products are holding up?”

“Vonderfully,” She answered. “Und de photos are still exquisite!”

“Very glad to hear.” He said back. “Say, is there anywhere we could speak in private? I have something new I was wondering if you’d like to test, but I don’t want to talk about it in public much. Company secrets and all that. Detailing everything could take a while.” She nodded, gesturing to a small trailer a few yards away. “Yes, that should work. I think you’ll like this one, I really do. Shall we?”

At that, the two began heading to the trailer, the assistant from before looking at another in confusion as to what they were to do. As if on cue though, their answer arrived in the form of one of the models calling them.

“Hey, you two!” She shouted. “Lend us a hoof over here!” They shrugged at each other, heading over to the model, who was besides a small foal with swelled eyes. “This poor kid’s lost,” She said. “Could you try and find her parents?”

“Um…well...” One of the assistants began to say. “It’s…not really our job, is it?”

“But just look at her!” The model replied. “We can’t just ignore her, what harm is searching for her parents going to do?”

“Well…I guess it couldn’t hurt.” The other assistant said. “Photo Finish is busy right now anyway, right? And that colt did say they may be a while.”

“Alright,” The other said, turning to the foal. “Come on, we’ll help you find your mommy and daddy.” She nodded, walking over to the two.

“There’s a phone in one of these trailers, and I think it should have a directory. We’ll just call until we get one. What’s your name, sweetie?”

“I…mommy said not to tell strangers.” She said, the fear clear in her voice.

“We’re here to try and help you get back to your mommy though. Can you please tell us?”

“I…I…” The fear in her voice strengthened, her eyes beginning to water.

“Alright, alright,” The assistant said. “You don’t have to give us her name.”

“O-okay…” The foal said back.

“So we’re just going to call everyone listed until someone recognizes the description? This’ll take all day…” The second assistant moaned.

“Hey, it keeps her happy, and it’s not like we’re doing anything right now, anyway. We’ll take turns calling if Photo Finish gets done before us.”

Off in the distance, a blue-coated pony watched, smiling as she did so. “Diversion is working” She said into a small microphone hanging by her ear, running down the side of her face. “Nobody’ll see you now, get going.”

Across from her, two more, both wrapped tip to tail in black jumpsuits and masks, ran from the bushes in the park to one of the trailers, specifically, the one the photographer and the businesscolt were inside.

“Make a single noise and it’ll be the last one you make.” One of the two intruders said, pointing a gun in the direction of Photo Finish as she did so. “That goes for both of you.” As she said the second sentence, she looked in Caesar’s direction.

“Come on, we’re moving. Keep up or you’ll get shot.” Said the second of the two. The photographer and the businesscolt looked at each other, frantic looks on the faces of both.

“Look, whatever you want, we’ll--” Caesar said to the intruders, before being cut off by a hoof to the face from the second intruder.

“Shut up and get moving.” He said. “We’ll talk later. Right now, one more word to us earns you a smack from her gun instead of my hoof.” Caesar groaned, climbing back up, looking to Photo Finish.

“I-I don’t think we get a choice in the matter.” He said.

“Damn straight you don’t.” The first intruder confirmed. The two hostages exchanged looks once more, before walking behind their captors. Not a moment later, both were knocked unconscious with blows to the head, sacks put over their head.s The second of the intruders locked the door, as the first tapped at her ear. “Alright, we’ve got them both under. Get us out of here, now.” And a moment later, they were gone.

“Get up.”

Photo Finish’s eyes were still shut, though sound slowly returned to her ears.

“I said get up!” This time, the words were accompanied by a blow across the face. Her ears were hearing clearly once more, albeit ringing, and her eyes were open, though all she saw was black. “You too, Tophat.” The voice, that of one of the intruders from before, said, the sound of another blow being accompanied by a grunt.

“W…who are you? What do you want?” Though she couldn’t see anything, the voice speaking was unmistakably Caesar’s. Another blow, and another grunt.

“We’re asking questions, not you. Big Man, take Tophat to another room, get something out of him. The Boss and I will take care of Shades here.” There was a moment of silence, before the sound of a chair scraping against the ground.

“Let go of me!” Caesar shouted. “You can’t do this to me! You can’t!” A moment later, the sound of a door slamming, and a pony chuckling.

“They always say that.” The voice from before said. “Of course, you haven’t really said anything, have you? Quite silent, given your predicament. Maybe another smack will wake you up?”

“N-no…” Photo Finish stammered. “I-I’m awake…don’t hurt me…”

“Oh? Making requests?” The voice replied, a dark glee about her words. “Not wise, given your predicament.” At that, something was removed from around Photo Finish’s head, and the blackness she had been staring had disappeared. The first thing to hit her eyes was the bright, almost painful glow of a bare lightbulb.

As her eyes adjusted, the next thing she noticed was the pony from earlier, in the trailer, though now without her weapon. In the day’s light, she could see her “host” was a unicorn of some sort, a white horn protruding from her forehead. The two of them were sitting in a dark, bare gray room. An uneasy chill filled the air, the walls and floors cold to the touch. Photo Finish glanced around, tugging at her arms and legs, to no avail. All four appendages were tied to a chair, which she was sitting in.

“W…where are we?” She asked.

“Can’t tell you.” The masked unicorn replied. “That defeats the purpose of a ‘secret’ hideout, doesn’t it? Don’t worry, The Boss’ll be in here soon enough. Once he and I get what we want from you, and Big Man gets what he wants from your little friend, you two will be free to go.”

“And…what do you want from us?” She said.

“The Boss likes his interrogations. Sorry, but I can’t just tell you. It’d ruin his fun, which wouldn’t bode well for me.”

The silence returned as captive stared captor in the eye, one pair covered with pink sunglasses, the others bare.

“So zen…who are you?” The photographer asked.

“Me personally? None of your business.” Answered the unicorn. “This organization? We consider ourselves the only real justice in a world filled with corruption. And you may be part of the corruption. Wouldn’t want that, personally. Trust me, neither would you.”

“I’m guessing I already know what happens eef I am?”

“Most likely. You’re not stupid, you can probably guess.”

“Not government then…so why me and Caezar?” She asked.

“That, I can’t answer for you.” Came the reply. “The Boss gives the orders. We don’t poke too much at the rhyme to the reason, we just take care of business. I honestly don’t get why he suspects you though; you don’t have the manner or capability as far as I can tell.”

“For what?” Photo Finish said, curious as to the answer. “Outside of being ‘Corrupt’, so far I’ve been told nothing of what iz suspected of me.”

“It’s much more than being corrupt.” She answered. “It’s being the heart of the corruption itself. If all those corrupt are wolves, you’re the leader of the pack. Suffice to say it’s not an enviable position you’re in.” The silence came once more, but was soon interrupted though, by cries. Cries of pain, from another room, of a certain tophat-adorned colt.

“What are…what are you doing to him?” Photo Finish asked.

“Again, I don’t want to spoil the fun for The Boss.” She replied. “Won’t bode well for either of us, sweetie.”

“Don’t call me sweetie.” The photographer snapped back.

At the same time as the exchange across from us, I was preparing for my role, The Doctor helping. For the most part I was ready – I knew the lines, I had the outfit, I was in the mindset. All I needed was the mask and the modulator. The former would go on once Whoof affixed the latter.

“Alright, this should alter your voice.” He said, as he set up the device in front of my mouth. “Remind me why we have something like this again?”

“It’s audio equipment.” I replied. “One of Vinyl’s tricks. She’s the one who picked it out, ask her, I just know what it does and how much it cost.” He nodded, continuing to set it up. Behind him, Derpy was sitting, playing a tape of me screaming that had been made the night before – More of Vinyl’s audio handiwork – to push the illusion. It was also helpful to drown out our conversation.

Moments later, the device was affixed, and on, the mask on top of it.

“Alright, try it out.” Whoof instructed. I nodded, taking a breath in.

“Testing, te—Wow.” I was impressed – The voice I always heard as mine wasn’t what I heard saying what I was speaking. It was eerie in a way, but it was all the more fascinating. It was much lower and distorted, with something higher mixed in. “This is excellent. We’re about ready, go let Vinyl know to ‘bring her in’.” The Doctor nodded, then walked back to the ‘room’. I turned to Trixie, who sat across from where we had been, eyes shut tight in concentration. “How much longer do you think you can keep this up?”

“If it were just controlling the foal puppet or the fake building?” She asked rhetorically. “I could keep it up an hour or two, especially as long as I know when someone’s opening a door or anything. But both at once? Lets just say the quicker, the better, Buildings suddenly fading and little fillies turning into wooden puppets tend to draw a lot of attention.” I nodded, turning my attention back to the false room.

It was showtime.

“Oh?” At that, the captor took a few steps closer, until her face was right in front of Photo Finish’s, her horn pressing against the rims of the glasses. “Snapping at your armed captors…a strong will. I like that. I don’t think you know just how badly this could end though. You see-“ As she spoke, the door behind them swung open. Another pony, this time an earth colt, stood in the doorframe, his face obscured by a mask as well.

“The Boss is ready for her now.” He said.

“I guess you’ll get those questions of yours answered now., sweetie.” A deep joy in getting to call her ‘sweetie’ again was apparent in her voice. The masked unicorn scoffed, before placing the obscuring piece back over Photo Finish’s head, dragging the chair she was bound to. Where to was unclear to the prisoner.

Moments later though, the item was removed again, and she sat in another cold, bare gray room. Whoever took her, were either strapped for cash, or spent it on things other than atmosphere. A large, wooden desk was in front of her, a single colt behind it. He wore a pair of purple goggles over his eyes, and a mask and jumpsuit similar to the others, who were sitting on either side. An odd mixture of senses of both calm and dread filled the room.

“You are…Photo Finish?” I said. It was still odd, hearing my words in the modulator’s voice.

“Y-yes…” She replied weakly. “You are?”

“Call me Indigo if you want a name. But it isn’t important.” I answered. “What is though…is you.” A look of confusion crossed her face.

“I...Me? Why?”

“Big Man, what did you find with the one in the Tophat?” As I spoke, I gestured to Whoof, on my right.

“Not him, sir.” He replied. “All results were negative, he’s clean. Just a coincidence if he is and she’s not.”

“Clean? Of what? What did you do?” Photo Finish demanded.

“Nothing permanent.” Whoof answered. “Worst he’ll have is a limp for a few days. Don’t want anything conspicuous after all, and it’s the amount of pain, not the permanency that gets most to talk.” As he spoke, I saw the colour drain from Photo’s face. Admittedly, I was grateful to be borrowing Vinyl’s goggles, as seeing the genuine concern on her face made uneasiness creep into mine. It was unnoticeable with everything covered, fortunately.

I nodded to Vinyl, who reached over, clamping something around Photo Finish’s wrist.

“What are you doing?!” She protested. “What did you put on me?!”

“Relax.” I said. “It’s not going to hurt you, it’s a…device. A single prick is all the pain you’ll feel from it.” Before she could respond, the prick in-question kicked in, cutting her off before she began. “Right, now, lets talk, shall we?” I got up from behind the desk, walking around over to her.

“We are…an organization, I suppose. And we’re searching. For something, or rather someone. We know what they do, but we don’t know who they are yet. And we want to know what you know, Photo Finish. Or…Game Master?”

“Game Master?” She repeated.

“It’s a long story,” Technically it was true – And I didn’t want to divulge the reality to her. “But essentially, somepony controls the entire world of Equestria. We don’t like that. We want to stop that.”

“Now, you showed up as a possible Game Master. You’re smart, and cunning; No other way you could reach the position that you’ve reached, outside of tremendous luck. You know it was skill though. And me…” I chuckled for the role. “I know that too. I know a lot of things most people wouldn’t want me to, but nevertheless I do.”

“You also have resources. You’re rich from your abilities, to put it modestly. It’s also given you a business that could act as a front, fame to give you the clout to make ponies listen to you, employees for purposes genuine and nefarious, and the power that could get this done.”

“All signs say you’re a very likely possibility. That’s still a possibility though; it’s conjecture, not concrete. Which is why we decided to see what we could find out today. The question though; Are you the one we want? Did we choose right, or were we wrong?”

“This iz absurd!” She shouted. “There iz no proof, iz there? You kidnap I, Photo Finish, torture my colleague, und accuse me of zis, all on guesswork?! I’ll run you into ze ground for dis.”

“Yes or no. We’ll be the ones saying any more than that,” I said. “And answer the question. Is it you?” I had a sinking feeling that the entire time this went on, I’d be fighting to keep her calm, not just for practical purposes, but because I needed to keep my part together. I had always just thought of her as a business partner, but here she was, just as outraged at the illusion of my torture as she was at her kidnapping…it was tearing, to have to keep putting her through all this.

Act II, Chapter II

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter II, Act II
Breakdown

“I already told you, eet iz not me!” She shouted back. “What more can I do zan tell you zhat?!”

“You can be patient.” I said. “We have…ways of knowing if what you’re saying is correct.”

“Let me see ‘im.” Photo Finish said.

“…Who?” I asked.

“Caezar.” She replied. “You said you were done with ‘im, und I’m just sitting here, I want to see ‘im.” In a feeling getting all too familiar, I felt the sweat running down my neck when she asked to see me. Or at least without the guise.

“W-we can’t do that, I’m afraid.” I said back, fighting to keep the nervousness out of my voice. “You’ll see him again, worry not.”

“Don’t hurt ‘im.” She whispered. Once more this raised a certain uneasiness within me – I didn’t like playing this act on somepony who was actually concerned about how I was, and I felt like that was coming back. Unfortunately, I was right.

“…What?” I asked cautiously.

“I said don’t hurt ‘im.” The photographer answered. “You said you know eet isn’t ‘im. If I’m de only one you need to get answers from, zen do it, but don’t hurt my friend. Please, don’t hurt Caezar.” At the last four words, the colt standing disguised in front of her, shuddered. A tense silence followed, before he let out a scream, then ran behind and beneath his desk, shaking, curled up into a ball, whimpering.

“W-what did you do to him?!” The unicorn from before demanded, grabbing Photo Finish at her shoulders.

“I-I-I don’t know! I just…” She stammered, not entirely sure what was going on anymore herself. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Oh, for…” She sighed, turning to the other of the masked captors still standing, the brown-coated colt. “Big Man, I think we have what we need. Finish the situation.” He nodded, walking over to the desk and pressing a button on it.

“W-wait, finish what?” The prisoner yelled. “What are you doi—“ Before she could finish though, her vision began fading, as did her sight. In a few short moments, her world was black.

“Alright, she should be under for at at least twenty minutes.” The Doctor said, removing his mask. “We got the sample, we’ll run it over and see what we get.” Vinyl nodded across from him, stepping away from the unconscious Photo Finish and removing her own mask.

“I think we have our own problems right now though.” As she spoke, she gestured to the desk, beneath which there was still a whimpering pony. “What got into him?”

“I’m not really sure.” He replied. “I just know we don’t want it happening again. Ever.” At that, he walked over to the desk, leaning down to see the businesscolt petrified beneath it. “Caesar, you alright?” There was no reply, just more whimpering.

“Right, I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere right now.” He said. “We don’t exactly have the luxury of time though, let Trixie and Derpy know they can let down the ‘building’ and the tape player, respectively. I’ll see what I can do about our friend in the meantime.” Vinyl nodded, removing the clamp around the photographer’s wrist, and dragging her as she left the room, and in doing so, leaving The Doctor and Caesar alone.

“Caesar, can you hear me?” He asked. Again, no response. “Caesar?” Still nothing. “Caesar!” He asked again, accompanying the question with a slap to the face.

Two times in a row now a hoof to my face knocked me back into coherence. I was starting to get a dislike for it. I didn’t have long to think about it though, a shortly after, my ears got a wake-up, as well.

“Caesar!” The Doctor shouted. My head spun to face him, still disoriented. “Finally.” He said in a relieved tone.

“W…what happened?” I asked, my voice trembling. For some reason, I had an ungodly feeling of fear. Fear, and helplessness.

“You snapped, and hid down here.” Upon ‘down here’, I looked around, confused. It turned out I was under my desk. “Any idea why?” I thought for a moment. To do that sounded very much unlike me, but given there wasn’t much reasonable explanation as to why I was hiding under a desk, as well as my mindstate I wasn’t exactly in a position to question it too heavily.

“I’m…not really sure.” I said, calm yet to return to my voice. A sudden concern hit my head as I recalled what had been going on, and I shot up to look out from behind the desk. Unfortunately, I was under, not behind, and as a result received a blow on my head that would’ve crushed my hat if I were wearing it. I walked out from beneath it slowly, looking at where Photo Finish had been sitting.

“What happened with the interrogation?” I asked.

“Well, after you freaked out, Vinyl got at Photo Finish, then we knocked her out.” I nodded.

“Did you get the sample?”

“We did.” The Doctor replied. “We’ll check it along with the test, but for now, judging by what I could tell, things look good. I don’t get why you have one of those though.” He gestured to the clamp that had been on Photo Finish, now lying on the ground.

“I got a request from an anonymous buyer for something to tell them if someone’s lying or not. I have a company that makes machines. I try to keep one of everything I make. I didn’t get why they needed tissue samples at the time. Now, I get a feeling it’s for the same reason we did.”

“You didn’t question who would want a skin-sampling lie detector that could inject knockout drugs?” He asked, disapproval in his voice.

“They didn’t ask for the injector, I had that added to mine for this operation. I figured the specs as they requested matched the needs of a private detective, or something similar.” As I spoke, coherence coming back to me, I realized I was still speaking through the modulator and wearing the mask. I removed the mask and goggles, taking the modulator off once I could.

“Anyway, lets get going. We probably can’t waste too much time if we want to finish things up.” Whoof nodded, just as Trixie’s illusion of a building disappeared around us. The building were actually just magic walls and doors put up in my basement. Across from us, Vinyl, now with her own mask removed and helping Derpy with hers, stood next to Trixie, who seemed very relieved to only have one illusion to focus on now.

“Photo?” The word came through muffled, barely able to discern what it was.

“Photo?” Clearer this time, but still muffled.

“Photo, are you awake?” The voice was now clear, and the image slowly started fading into view. An image of Caesar’s face, tinted through pink sunglasses.

“W…wha-?” Came the reply, a sigh moments later.

“Please tell me you didn’t sleep through that.” The image was as clear as the sound now. The two were in Photo Finish’s trailer as before, Caesar looking at Photo Finish, who was lying on the ground.

“I…wait…de kidnappers! Are you alright?!” She said, snapping back awake.

“…Kidnappers?” He asked in a confused tone. “What are you talking about?”

“But…but…dey took us, and tortured you, and interrogated—“ Caesar held up a hoof, cutting her off, a knowing look on his face.

“It sounds like you dozed off, and had a particularly bad dream.” He said.

“But…I…” She stammered.

“Traveling life is a hard life to get enough sleep on.” Caesar said understandingly. “And dreams aren’t always fun.” At that, he pranced around in a circle. “I don’t look like I was tortured, do I?” She looked at the colt before her, confused.

“I…I guess not…” Photo Finish said softly. “It was so vivid, but…”

“Look, you need some rest.” He cut in. “Let me know next time you have some time to look at the Prototype, but for now, you should get some sleep. You know my number, let me know when you’re in town next.”

“A…alright.” She replied, embarrassment in her tone. “Sorry to nod off like dat.”

“No worries.” He said back. “We all catch a nap when we shouldn’t now and then. Just take care of yourself.” At that, he began walking out of the trailer.

“Heh…just a dream…” She thought to herself. “I need happier entertainment, dis’ dark stuff iz starting to get to my head…”

“Oh, and Photo?” Caesar said, now out of the trailer and standing on the ground. He didn’t face towards her though. “I’ve been thinking lately that maybe I’m not close enough with the ponies around me. If…you ever want to talk or anything, feel free to call me.”

“Err…alright?” She replied. Caesar nodded, then continued walking off. Though it couldn’t be seen from behind, where she saw him from, Caesar’s monocle had begun fogging up, as a result of tears. Few in number, but there nonetheless.

“Can we please just get your name?” One of the assistants asked. “We haven’t had any luck with anyone we’ve called for your parents so far.” The little foal nodded uneasily, staring at the ground as she did so.

“M-my name…is…” As she was about to say though, another voice cut her off.

“Sweetie!” A colt in a brown coat with an hourglass on his flank ran up to the foal and the two assistants. “Your mother and I have been looking all over for you!” He said.

“Daddy!” At that, the little foal jumped into his arms.

“Is she yours, sir?” The second assistant asked.

“Yes, she is.” He replied. “Thank you two for finding her, we were looking for her for hours, I was terrified for my little girl.”

“Glad to help.” The other assistant said.

“Can we go home now, daddy?” She asked, to which he nodded, and began waking away, the foal riding on her back.

“See?” The first assistant said. “I told you that it wouldn’t be a hassle. And didn’t it feel good, seeing the two of them together like that?”
“You never said that.” The second replied.

Away from their field of view, the brown-coated pony tapped his ear.

“Alright, retrieved the puppet, we’re all clear.” As he spoke, the foal on his back slowly turned back from what seemed like a real foal, into a tiny, wooden puppet. With that, Trixie’s job was finished for that mission, as were those of the rest of the quintet.

Act II, Chapter III

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter III, Act II
A Hug From A Friend

It had only been a few hours since we staged the kidnapping, but it felt like it had been centuries by the time Doc and Trixie got back, mainly because of the anticipation of the results. They had been analyzing ever since our return, but they had only just finished, ready to tell us whether or not Photo Finish was the Game Master.

We were gathered around an old oak table in the main room of my house. There was a large computer behind me, with an equally large monitor, and only because I’m a fan of those sorts of science fiction stories, a swiveling metal chair connected to it by a metal pole, in which I sat. In addition to the lights in the house, the light of the full moon shined down brightly through a skylight, helping to illuminate the room.

“Alright, the polygraph says that she wasn’t lying.” I said.

“I still don’t get why you have that thing.” Vinyl chimed in, her goggles back on her head instead of mine.

“It’s one of my products.” I replied. “Old products were a lot of what we spent last night moving in the basement for the setup.”

“Anyway, I’ll see what I can have done as far as analyzing that little piece of skin the cuff took. If we’re lucky, once I can start looking for similarities in the samples from us and her, I’ll be able to get an idea of a common thread between all of the cloned ponies. That’ll make it a lot easier to see when we get one that’s off, and related to our Game Master somehow. On that note, I’ll need some samples from you all. Hair, skin, whatever works.”

“And for what purpose exactly?” Trixie asked, annoyance in her voice. Exhaustion as well, as carrying on two constant, simultaneous, photorealistic illusions as far apart as she had earlier today required a lot of energy. “I don’t fancy the idea of tearing my mane out.”

“Sampling.” I replied. “I need to know who’s who, on a deeper level than just knowing you. I need to know things that nopony outside of the two of us would. And I need to be able to verify that you’re either you or a clone of you. They could do it, but even with the Game Master’s technology, I can’t think of how they’d clone somepony in any manner of a timely fashion.”

“If we could turn a basement into a terrorist hideout, and a puppet into a living foal, they can use magic to turn one of their agents into us. Genes don’t lie though. Or at least ours won’t, can’t say the same of any clones. I need to be sure without a doubt who’s who. You all do, too.”

“Right, we can deal with all that later. For now though, what’s the verdict on our suspect? Do we know who we’re going after as the Game Master, or are we still on the hunt?” The Doctor asked.

“She looks clean.” I said. “Polygraph says she was being honest, as I said. and the interrogation probably wouldn’t have been possible if she were the Game Master. Someone with that power could’ve stopped it all easily.”

“Which reminds me,” Vinyl said. “What the hell happened to you? One minute you were playing the part, the next you were crying on the ground. It was kind of…unexpected, to put it mildly.”

“I’m not honestly sure.” I replied. “I just know that I don’t want it to happen again. Whatever it was, I felt awful, and I still don’t feel fully clearheaded. I get a feeling that it’s related to our methods though – We’re not kidnapping anymore of our suspects though. We’ll be more subtle from now on. Even if we can pass it off as a dream, I feel like that may have caused it.” There was another reason as well, that I didn’t want to voice, as it would sound selfish to leave behind the relative safety of that modus operandi in-part due to me not liking to play the villain. It felt like a grim reflection of what we were fighting; a facsimile of what were were trying to fight for, and I wasn’t willing to compromise our integrity for the sake of quicker results. We didn’t need to stoop that low, ever again.

“So then what will we be doing?” Vinyl asked.

“Improvising.” I said simply. “Every situation, unless we take full control like that, is going to differ. We have to adapt to it, because we barely had the resources to isolate and control that one incident. Controlling the environments we’ll need to from here-on is impossible for us. We need to adapt.”

“No idea how we do what we do, just that we have to do it, and screwing up can cost every one of our lives?” The Doctor said, oddly excitedly. “I like this plan.”

“So, who’s next? Trixie asked the question this time. “And do walleyes and I get more to do this time?”

“My name’s Derpy, not walleyes.” Derpy said.

“It’s not really that important, is it?” Trixie asked.

“Whatever it is, it can wait until we’re not discussing things this vital.” I cut in. “Please play nice though, we’re fighting a big enough enemy, we don’t need to do their work for them.”

“Right then,” I said, segueing into the next subject. “Who it is next, I’m working out between two of them. I think I know though. And you’ll both get to do more now that we won’t be counting on the illusions to do everything, and individual skill instead.”

“Anyway, overall, given what ended up happening wasn’t planned on in the slightest, things went fairly well. I’ll work out the next move, and we’ll move in a few days. For now though, I want you all staying here.” Here being my home. The less variables we had to deal with, the better. The potential of any of our homes being broken into and one of us being Removed without warning could be disastrous, and potentially give us all away. If we were all here, I could keep an eye on everyone, and we could all pitch into one safe house instead of five.

“Somehow, I’m not fond of the idea.” Trixie said. “The great and powerful Trixie demands her own home, thank you very much.”

“First, strength in numbers. We’re safer if we’re together, which is all too pertinent a concern given our opponent.” I responded. “Second, I’m not exactly poor – my guest room is at least as big as your traveling stable. If anything, you’re getting a nicer place to stay.” There was a moment of silence, quickly ended with the sound of Trixie grumbling.

“Right, so, everyone, get some rest. We need to be fully ready and prepared for the next operation.”

I sighed as I walked back to my room. Everyone else had gone to their assigned guest room to sleep for the night, and I was heading to my room to do the same. As I did though, it turned out I wasn’t the only one still awake, as, not paying attention amidst my thoughts, I walked right into someone. As I glanced up from the ground, I saw it was Derpy.

“Sorry Derpy,” I said. “I wasn’t looking where I was going. Are you alright?”

“I think so.” She said. She seemed upset for some reason.

“Is everything alright?” I asked.

“That lady today…she seemed really scared.” The pegasus replied. “Did we do something wrong?”

“No, she was just…” I thought about my wording for a moment. I didn’t think Derpy really understood just what we were supposed to be giving Photo Finish the impression of, and I didn’t want to make her feel bad in case she also wasn’t fond of how it went. “She was…just trying to make it seem that way. She wasn’t really scared, she was just trying to trick us. She didn’t though.”

“Alright…” There was still an uneasiness in her voice. “And…why were you screaming?” At that, my mind went blank. I hadn’t really thought of an explanation for anyone else, as I didn’t really have one for myself.

“I…I’m not sure.” The truth was better than a lie in this situation, I figured. “I just know that I didn’t like whatever it was…and I don’t want it to happen again. I don’t want to hear…I…”

“Do you want a hug?” She asked.

“Huh?” Was the only response I could give, as my train of thought was disjointed already, and it only got worse with the offer.

“Hugs…always make me feel better.” She said with a smile. “I thought maybe one would make you feel better.” I nodded.

“I…Yes, I’d like that.” At that, she wrapped her arms around me, and I instinctively did the same, as a pair of tears slowly ran down my face onto her shoulder.

Sometimes, a hug from a friend can put you at ease better than any cold logic can.

Act III, Chapter I

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter I, Act III
Go West

“Remind me again why we’re heading all the way out here?” Trixie asked.

“Caesar decided we’d be examining the sheriff next.” Came the reply from The Doctor. “He says our sixth man is out here, too.”

The quintet was riding aboard a train, bound for Appleoosa. Though there were many ponies in the train car, for the most part, there wasn’t much chatter, as each group was separated into their own side section of two rows of seats, most opting to close the door to their section to avoid eavesdroppers. With the subject matter they were traveling on, the same held true for this group. The train wasn’t a particularly fancy model, but neither was it low-end; the seats were soft and made of quality material, and the red colouring of the car gave a general regal feel.

“Who is this sixth man, anyway?” Vinyl asked this time. “Appleoosa seems kind of…backwoods for somepony like Caesar to have a contact in.”

“I didn’t even know he worked here.” Derpy added.

“I don’t.” The reply came this time from Caesar, who had just entered their section, carrying a small tray of snacks from the train’s snack bar. On shorter travels such a luxury would be excessive, but it was a pleasant treat on longer travels such as this.

“This guy isn’t someone I know from any sort of work or anything, like you two were.” As he spoke, he motioned towards Trixie and Vinyl. “He’s more of an old friend. He and I grew up together, but he was much more of a physical pony, so he took work that took him way out here.”

“And you’re confident you can trust him?” The Doctor asked, to which he nodded.

“He’s never let me down once.” He answered. “Plus he knows the place. We’re going to need that if we want to actually find anything about our sheriff.”

“Speaking of which,” Vinyl started. “What do we know about our lawman?”

“Not much.” He said. “There’s not exactly a lot of resources out here, and even then I couldn’t find much. Another reason Engi is going to be handy. He comes out here a lot, so he should know more than we do.”

“Anyway, worrying isn’t going to do us much good, especially when we’re not even there yet. Have a snack, and try to enjoy the ride.”

The train eased to a stop, coming to a final, smooth halt at the platform in the Appleoosa train station, which was lit a golden hue by the setting sun. The passengers disembarked, luggage slung over both passengers and employees of the railway whose job it was to aid in carrying a passenger’s baggage. A single group of five had only small items to carry, traveling light.

As the five stepped off the locomotive and onto the platform, they looked to each other before setting off amongst the storm of passengers.

“We’ll be waiting here.” Caesar said a few short steps later. “We’re meeting Engi here. We need to meet him away from the crowd though, for…obvious reasons.” The group looked to each other once more, then for the most part shrugged, setting bags down on the ground, and sitting down alongside them.

The crowd thinned quickly, most of it jamming its way into the exit of the station, leaving the five practically alone. The train remained, as it was the last train for the day.

“Alright, lets go meet our friend, shall we?” At that, Caesar began walking towards the front of the train, towards the engineers pulling it.

I put on a smile as I walked past the engineers, towards the front. A smile makes somepony more receptive, after all. Sweat was pouring down the engineers, understandably, as the four of them had just hauled a full train for hours on end. As I came up to the frontmost engineer, a pony with a brown coat and black mane, I turned to face him.

“Promontory?” I said.

“An’…if I am?“ He spoke between short breaths, still breathing heavy from the work.

“Long time, no see.” I replied.

“Wait…what? Jes’ who’re yo—“ As he glanced up, eyes now staring up from beneath his cap, a smile came to his mouth, the rest of his face lighting up with it. “Caesar! The last time I saw ya’ was years ago! What’re you doin’ out here?”

“That’s a long story.” I said, gesturing to the others behind me. “Everyone, this is Promontory. Promontory, these are my…current business acquaintances. You’re off work now, right? If you’re willing to come with us, I’d be happy to explain it all.” He nodded, turning to the other three engineers behind him.

“Alright boys, that’s it for the night! Get some rest fer’ tomorrow!” At that, he undid his harness, then stepped forward to us. “Yer’ not wearing that tophat into town, are ya’?” He asked, to which I nodded, causing a chuckle. “That’s plain silly-lookin’ out here. Ol’ Edwin Mann has a hat shop in the station, pick a local flavour up before we leave.”

I nodded again, noting and heading towards the hat shop. The last thing we needed to do right now was draw unneeded attention to ourselves. If replacing my tophat with a silly southern look for a few days was required for that, it was worthwhile.

The sun had finished setting, and the moon was now high in the sky, its light shining in through the open window and mingling with the light in the room of the inn we were staying at.

“So…this guy’s me?” Promontory asked, holding up the photo I had given him, off an identical colt, but instead of pulling trains, he was wearing an uncomfortable-looking pair of shorts, and jumping down, shoulder first, onto another colt below him. “And…he’s a wrestler?” I nodded.

“…Didn’t ya’ always say that the good jokes are the subtle ones?” He asked.

“It’s not a joke. It’s ridiculous, I know, but it’s real.” I replied simply.

“…Right.” He said, his voice having more than a little sarcasm in it. “Look, ah’ appreciate the laugh, but it just ain’t my kinda’ humour.” I sighed, still happy to see an old friend, but annoyed at his usual stubbornness.

“It’s not a joke. I’ve seen copies of myself. And so has everyone else here.” I said.

“Of course y’all did.” He replied, sarcasm once more in his voice.

“To be fair,” Vinyl chimed in. “We wouldn’t have really believed you if that second you hadn’t shown up, either. He’s not being unreasonable.” Most of the others nodded in agreement.

“Would it help if I showed you a duplicate?” I asked.

“Yer’ tellin’ me that there’s a pair of a pony here, in Appleoosa, right now, and this game master or whatever yer’ callin’ them, don’t know about it, even though y’all think they’re here, too?” Annoyance was now starting to cross into his voice. “Sure, why not? Maybe the punchline is waiting out there with this ‘clone’.”

“Wait.” The Doctor was the one entering the conversation this time, surprise in his voice. “You think that the Game Master’s here, and that there’s another pair, too? The first we knew, but the second is a bit important to let us in on, isn’t it?”

“It doesn’t exactly seem low-profile to be here right now, does it then?” Trixie asked.

“I wasn’t expecting it.” I answered. “I noticed them while I was heading back from the snack bar on the train. It was too late at that point, and we’re stuck here until at least tomorrow morning anyway. We’re going to have to stay alert to avoid getting caught with this situation, especially if the Game Master is here and aware of it. But we might as well get something done, I figure.”

“So your idea of laying low is seeking out these clones, and showing them to somepony new? Why do we even need this meathead, anyway?” She snapped.

“If we’re smart about it, we can do it discretely. Especially since we have an illusionist like you with us.” I shot back. “As for why we want ‘meatheaded’ Promontory, I’m going to go ahead and assume you forgot about earlier today where he was the head of a single quartet who pulled an entire, fully-loaded train for miles upon miles all by themselves. And he doesn’t exactly seem beat from doing so, does he? Earth Ponies are much stronger normally, but even for an Earth Pony he’s strong. He’ll get rid of any future need we’ll ever have for any physical contribution. If we can’t handle it once he’s with us, odds are it can’t be done. Plus he’s not as dumb as he looks.”

“…Ya know I’m right here, right?” Promontory asked. Admittedly I had forgotten he was there.

“Anyway, odds are the clone is asleep now. Tomorrow though, we’ll find the duplicate and show you it. If we do that, will it convince you?”

“If yer’ really set on all this, be mah guest.” He replied. “I still think y’all are goin’ too far fer’ Caesar’s joke, but it’s not mah’ place to judge.”

He was being more stubborn than I had hoped, but at least my old friend was willing to let me prove myself. Now the only issue was finding them, and doing it discretely.

Act III, Chapter II

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter II, Act III
A Poor Decision

The sun had risen, and was bearing down on the six of us as we walked the streets of Appleoosa. It looked out-of-place on me, but I had to admit the Clopson hat Promontory made me buy genuinely felt better in the heat than my tophat probably would’ve. Perhaps I’d keep it after all, as a spare.

“So…were exactly is this clo—“ As my friend spoke, I shoved a hoof in front of his mouth.

“That isn’t exactly a detail of this that we want to discuss in public. We’ll get there when we get there.” He sighed, nodding as he did.

“So…how exactly do we know where they went?” Vinyl asked.

“We don’t.” I replied. “We do, though, know where to find the original, so to speak. Our copy happens to be one of The Good Doctor’s duplicates.”

“So we’re going to have to find the visiting one on our own, by luck then, amongst every Pony in town, without getting caught or them going home?” She asked, annoyance creeping into her tone.

“And it just happens that it turns out to be a copy of one of us?” The Doctor chimed in this time.

“I don’t make the facts, I just report them.” I shrugged as I spoke. “Reality is stranger than fiction, eh?”

“So now y’all got a sixth…and a seventh? …Pony in on this thing?” The annoyance in Promontory’s voice was gone, replaced with dull surprise. “ The more complicated this is gettin’, the worse it is. Look, ah’ appreciate all the trouble y’all are goin’ through to give me a laugh, but spare yerselves some effort, jes’ give it a re—“ Once more, he was cut off by my hoof before his mouth. Once he was silent, I gestured ahead of us, to a brown-coated Pony sitting at a table of a restaurant across from where we were standing, a mane of darker brown adorning his head, a bowtie around his neck and a suit jacket wrapped around his body.

“That’s our double., the opera critic. This one goes by the name Pat Trout. There wasn’t much other info.” Promontory stared in his direction as I spoke, confusion in his eyes.

“…Okay, so a pony named Pat Trout is sittin’ at a table, an’ his coat an’ mane are the same as yer’ friend. I dun’ get how this is s’posed t’sell me on this story of yers.”

“It’s not.” I answered, a hint of annoyance creeping into my voice. “That’s why we’re going to be getting closer. Identical manes, coats, eyes, and marks is a bit stronger than a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?” He shrugged.

“Ah s’pose.” He changed his glance from me back to our second doctor, only for a look of surprise to come onto his face. “Erm…if y’all want to find him, ah’ think ya’ may have an issue.” He raised a hoof, gesturing to where our target was. Or rather, had been.

“Dammit...Derpy?” As I said her name, she hopped up to the head of the group, giving me a salute, although her hoof went to her nose instead of her forehead. “Head up, tell me if you see him, and where he’s headed to.” She nodded, then jumped up, leaping off into the sky.

“…You’re having her, of all of us, scout for our target.” Trxie spoke in a flat tone. Whether out of annoyance, or just boredom was unclear. “You put too much faith in that wall-eyed mare.”

“Hey, she’s our only flier.” I responded with a shrug. “Besides, she can scan in half the time any of us can with those eyes.” There was a moment of silence, as a few of the others exchanged disbelieving looks, unsure whether I was being sarcastic or not. To be honest, I wasn’t sure either.

“That doesn’t change that it’s not very subtle.” Vinyl added. “Isn’t not drawing attention to ourselves a key thing here?”

“She’s a mailmare. It’s hardly strange that she’s flying above a town, then setting down in a random spot.” Another moment of silence with exchanged looks, albeit less incredulous than before.

A moment later, Derpy came back down from the skies, a happy look on her face.

“See? I told you she’d get it done.” I said.

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” Trixie shot back. I shrugged, turning back to your flyer.

“So, where can we find our pony?”

“Um…” She stood there, thinking, eyes darting every which way. After a bit, she raised a hoof to her left. “That way.” I nodded, turning to the others.

“We have our heading. Shall we?”

After a short bit of walking, the group caught glimpse of the colt they were intercepting. They stood a distance away, trying not to draw attention.

“So, can you see well enough from here to see what I’m talking about?” Caesar said. “Dead ringer, eh? Not just similar-looking. Plain identical. Exact copies.” Promontory looked at the colt they had gone to for a moment before speaking, tugging on his cap as he did.

“Ah’ can’t really see any more than before, sorry.” He replied. “Plus hearin’ ‘im talk’d be helpful – it’s one thing ta’ look the same. Lookin’ and soundin’ the same ain’t as likely.” For a moment, the smaller, gray colt’s eye began twitching, clearly fairly annoyed with his friend’s stubbornness.

“Alright, fine, have it your way.” He shot back. “We’ll follow him, and eventually we’ll get close enough to see and hear. Will that convince you?”

“Um…are y’all sure that’s a good idea?” The engineer asked, hesitance in his voice.

“If that’s what it’ll take to convince you.” There was a tense moment between the two, before Promontory sighed, lowering his head in defeat.

“Fine, let’s get this over with already then.” At that, the six began following after the red colt, attempting to remain inconspicuous, led by Caesar. Contrary to their hopes though, over his shoulder, the singing pony had indeed taken notice.

We trailed close behind, keeping a vigilant, albeit frantic, eye on our clone in case he took notice of us.

“So…” Vinyl started, whispering to avoid being overheard. “Why exactly is getting this guy on our side so important?”

“He adds a physical element we don’t have,” I replied. “As well as being a good, trustworthy pony. And hey, we don’t exactly have numbers on our side right now. Add that our enemy can literally clone armies, and we need all the help we can get.”

She shrugged, returning her attention to our target, as did I, though not for as long as I wished, as moments later, he suddenly spun, rounding a corner and taking off in a sprint.

“Come on, we’re not losing him again!” I barked at the others, taking off after him as I spoke, the others following with me. He took another turn, left this time, the six of us following behind.

“Y’know, maybe we oughta’ take this as a cue ta’ leave ‘im alone?” Promontory suggested.

“I don’t come this far to give up.” I said. “You wanted proof? You’re getting your damned proof!”

Another turn, and the six of us followed suit. At the end of this turn though, was a fairly unwelcome sight, given who we had come here to investigate. The turn we had followed Trout down led to the sheriff’s office, with the pony we suspected being the Game Master just a few yards away inside.

“Help!” He started shouting. “Somepony help me!” Before we had a chance to react, out of the office came the one we had come to investigate; Sherriff Silverstar.

“What’s the meaning of all this?!” He shouted. The second Doctor ran behind him.

“These six were following me!” He said, pointing to us as he spoke. “I don’t know why, and I don’t want to find out!” The sheriff nodded, walking over to us, weapon drawn. I was honestly a bit surprised Vinyl didn’t draw her own right there.

“Alright, come along quietly and we can all walk away unharmed.”

“Hold on, you can’t just jail us on one paranoid pony’s words! This is ridiculous!” As true as Trout’s words were, there was a glimmer of truth to mine; arresting six on the suspicions of one was a bit out-there.

“C’mon Caesar, don’t lie to the sheriff.” The words startled Caesar, as they came from one of the group. Specifically, Promontory.

“Y’all had no malicious intent, but ya were followin’ the poor guy.” The sheriff’s glance shifted between Caesar and Promontory, a skeptical look on his face, before his gaze settled on the grey pony.

“So then what were the six of you following him for?” He asked.

“His buddy here thought they looked alike.” Promontory answered for him, gesturing to The Doctor. “The similarity’s there, no denyin’. He was just actin’ a little stupid is all.” The lawpony kept silent, nodding and looking from one pony in front of him to the next, and back again.

“That was all?” He finally said. Promontory nodded.

“Eyup.”

“You don’t believe this, do you?!” The Second Doctor demanded. “They followed me! They’re crazy!”

“Ya’ may want to calm down.” The sheriff replied. “As odd as it is, following somepony ain’t a criminal charge. Neither is bein’ as stupid as y’all are bein’, even if it should be. I’m not arrestin’ the six of em’ on your word when theirs is equally credible. Arguably moreso – Promontory comes here regularly fer’ his job, he’s practically a resident here, and he’s never said a dishonest word, I’m more inclined to take his word than yours.” A bizarre mix of confusion, anger, and relief was painted across Caesar’s face, or at least as well as it could be.

“I…but…I…” Trout stammered.

“Can we go now officer?” Promontory asked. “This isn’t exactly enjoyable.” He nodded.

“Don’t do somethin’ this stupid again, or I’ll find a loophole to drag y’all in with. For now though, get outta’ here.”

“Best do as the sheriff says.” At that, Promontory turned around, heading off without waiting. The others stood for a moment, Caesar particularly confused as to what had just happened, before he began following after, the others following suit.

Act III, Chapter III

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter III, Act III
The Bandit

“What the hell were you doing?!” As I shouted at him, I threw a hoof across Promontory’s face. Not that it seemed to hurt him though, he didn’t even flinch. In retrospect, it probably hurt me more than him, as my hoof became sore after throwing the punch.

“Gettin’ y’all out of legal trouble is what.” He replied flatly. “Ah’ said it was a bad idea, but it took nearly getting’ arrested to prove that to ya.”

“This is bigger than a little jail time!” I answered, anger growing in my voice. “This is bigger than all of Equ—“

“Caesar, stop.” He said, still in a monotone, clearly sick of all this. “This joke wasn’t funny before. It ain’t funny now. Ya’ almost got yerself and yer friends arrested fer it. Stop.” I froze up for a moment. This was the first time in years that Promontory had spoken like this – the first time in a long time I had seen him genuinely annoyed. Whether it was the amount my driving had annoyed him by, or simply seeing someone normally so level-headed upset, it startled me.

“Promontory, I—“ Once more, he cut me off.

“Save it. I’m disappointed Caesar, ya always were more sensible than this. If this was all yer’ group came out here for, I think it’d be best if y’all got going.” I stood for a moment, trying to think of something to say to try and change Promontory’s mind, but for once, no words came to my mouth. I lowered my head in defeat, turning to walk away, as it seemed anything I said, if Promontory would let me finish, would help.

As it turned out though, I wouldn’t need to speak, as a certain sound did so for me. That sound being a gunshot.

The loud, distinct snapping noise, despite sounding off a ways, was nonetheless distinct as it rang through the air. No screams accompanied it, but within seconds, Silverstar burst from inside the sheriff’s office, a bandolier slung over him with a firearm of his own on it.

Before I could respond myself, Promontory had bolted off after him. Confused, forgetting the others in a panic, and not wanting to be left alone and unarmed while gunfire was ringing out, I followed after the two, for better or worse.

“Hey, Caesar, wait!” Vinyl shouted from behind. I didn’t hear it though, I was too focused on the gunfight that seemed to be going on, listening for the echoes of more fired shells to hear her. With no response, she chased after me as well, the others following her.

The sheriff arrived at the origin of the gunshot, followed shortly by Promontory, then Caesar, and so on. The sight we arrived at wasn’t exactly pleasant – it was outside of the town’s saloon. Various patrons and passerby were standing in shock around it, one pony lying on its steps, out cold, the sounds of fighting coming from inside.

A moment later, another gunshot sounded, and a moment later, another pony tumbled out of the saloon doors, A hoof grabbing at a bleeding shoulder as he scrambled away from the building. As he did though, another shot fired, this one above his head.

He froze, staring at the ground in front of himself where the shot had hit the dirt. Past the doors stood another pony now – this one had a gun drawn, and given it was smoking, was likely the source of the fuss. He wore a black, long-brimmed hat atop his head, a dark, unkempt mane strewn all about beneath it, and a brown cloak over his body, a similarly brown coat beneath it. He grinned, walking up to the pony on the ground, still frozen where he had been when the shot had fired. His eyes widened as there was a click right behind his head. The sound of a revolver cocking.

“You see a pony with a gun start a fight, and you decide the best weapon is a wooden pole?” The armed pony chuckled as he spoke, a familiar tinge in his voice. “I have news for you friend: When a colt with a wooden pole meets a colt with a revolver, the colt with the pole’s a dead pony.”

“Fire the shot and you’ll get one of your own.” The words came from none other than the sheriff, a single hoof resting on his own firearm. “I don’t take kindly to strangers threatening my townspeople. Much less shooting them.” The bandit eyed the sheriff, stepping away from the injured bartender.

“I don’t care if it’s yer’ job,” He said flatly. “This was one fight you should’ve stayed out of.”

“Maybe.” The sheriff replied, sniffing as he did. “Maybe. But it’s one you won’t get to reflect on.”

The two stared each other square in the eyes, sweat seeping down the sheriff’s face beneath the brim of his hat. The sun burned down, evaporating the drops of sweat as they fell to the ground. The two watched each other intently, neither blinking, both silent, frozen, waiting for the other to make a move, one they could read, and counter while the other was still moving. Not a single word was breathed, not a single wind blew, complete silence, complete peace, ready to be shattered by two bullets.

And in an instant it was over. The Bandit flinched his arm, causing the sheriff to react, but pull back as he saw it was nothing more than a feint. After the feint though, with the Sheriff now unready, The Bandit drew, firing twice.

Blood sprayed in the air, a piercing howl echoing through the town as the sheriff clutched his shoulder, his hat flying off and his gun clattering to the ground. As he screamed, The Bandit stood, smirking.

“Very careless of you, old man.” As he spoke, he glanced down at the weapon he held, a disappointed look on his face. “Still, that’s three times today I’ve shot for the head and missed by inches…must be the wind. Promise I won’t miss my next shot, anyone else want to try?” There was a silence from the crowd, much to The Bandit’s pleasure if his grin was any indication. “I thought as much.”

“Let me spell it out for you all – I’m a reasonable stallion. I don’t ask too much, I don’t think. Sure, some will disagree…” As he spoke the last sentence, he held up his weapon, cocking the hammer with a chuckle. “But they don’t usually make much fuss. Now I wouldn’t be reasonable if my demands were unreasonable, would I? So, I’m really hoping you’ll all be willing to cooperate with my reasonable demands. After all…” He leaned down, holding the barrel of the gun to the wounded sheriff’s head, horror in the lawman’s eyes. “The last thing we want...is some needless bloodshed.” At that, he pulled the trigger.

The click of the hammer though was the only sound; all six shots had been fired, there was little more than the clap of the hammer and the empty click of the cylinder turning. He let out a raucous laugh, holstering the weapon.

“I’m nothing if not honest. I have no desire to hurt any of you. But, if I’m refused, well, lets just say more shots will be fired. And this time, I will not miss my mark.” With those words and a bow, he walked back into the tavern, everypony outside still frozen in equal parts fear and shock.

“We need to get out of here.” Caesar said. “Now. If this blows up, it’ll compromise every one of u—“

“We ain’t goin nowhere.” Promontory cut him off, a surly look on his face. “I don’t tolerate this in my town.” Caesar stared at him, equal parts confused and worried.

“You’re unarmed, what’re you hoping to do against—“ Once more he was cut off, this time by actions rather than words. Promontory had picked up the Sheriff’s gun, walking into the saloon.

As the door flew open, The Bandit, sitting on one of the barstools, turned to the direction of the open entry.

“Who the hell ar—“ He stopped himself as he saw the revolver Promontory had picked up, chuckling. “This town’s full of idiots with a death wish, ain’t it?”

“Ah don’t take kindly to your sort comin’ through here. If y’all don’t want to stare down this barrel, leave. Now. “ The threat only drew more laughter from The Bandit.

“You’ve got guts. I can respect that.” At that, he hopped off the barstool, walking over to Promontory and placing a hoof on his forehead. “But you ain’t got much up here.” Promontory bit at the hoof, but it pulled back, only a stray scrap of cloth catching in his jaw. “Feisty, too. What’s your name, son?”

“Ya don’t ask somepony else’s name without givin yer’ own ‘round here.” Promontory said flatly.

“Not sure if you noticed, but I ain’t from around here. I’ll oblige you though,” He accented the word ‘oblige’, mocking Promontory. “Golden Gallop. Sure you’ve seen my face on a poster or two here. Now you?”

“Promontory.”

“Well Promontory, what can I do for you? And don’t be too demanding, I’ve had a rough day having to just deal with so many unreasonable ponies, including one sheriff who tried to shoot me! Unbelievable the world we live in, where a sheriff shoots a perfectly reason—“

“Shut up.” As he spoke, Promontory sounded unusually forceful. Gallop stared, clearly not used to being spoken to like this.

“…Excuse m—“

“What part of ‘shut up’ don’t ya understand? Stop talking. Can it. Silencio. Be quiet. Stuff it. Quit making noise. Cease speaking. Or my personal favourite, and the one I used first: Shut up.”

“What a shame.” He said. “I was starting to like you.”

“I don’t care what somepony like you thinks.”

“How about you spit out what you’re here for before I make it so you can’t?”

“Tomorrow. Noon. You, me, and nopony else.” Gallop stared at Promontory for a moment, a look of amusement on his face now.

“You really think this is a bright idea? Because frankly it just adds you to the list of ponies here who want to die, from where I’m standing.”

“Did I stutter?” There was a moment of silence, broken by a hoarse laugh from Gallop. Followed by another. And another.

“Tell you what, son. I’m in a good mood with your little comedy bit, and I haven’t filled this week’s quota yet. So I’ll be happy to give you a timely funeral tomorrow at noon. For now though, leave me to my drink.”

The words stuck in the air, as a pause sat, festering. Shortly thereafter, Promontory snorted, nodded, and turned, walking out of the saloon. As he passed the group of five who had come to recruit him, Caesar turned to Trixie.

“That is why we want him – he’s not just brute force, he also has more will and more of a sense of justice in one strand of his mane than you do or I do combined. He’s someone we want in a back-against-the-wall situation like this.”

“Assuming he survives tomorrow?” She asked.

“That is an issue, isn’t it…”

Act III, Chapter IV

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter IV, Act III
The Showdown

“You’re sure you want to go through with this?” As I asked the question, I was busy carrying a tray over to Promontory. On it was a simple breakfast that Whooves had prepared, which I found odd since I had never known him to be a cook before. Then again, it was fairly hard to place much about him. It was early morning, with the sun peeking over the hills, giving a soft, amber light to the rented room the six of us were in.

“Not much choice, eh?” Promontory replied, looking over the meal. “The challenge’s been made. Backin’ down from him’ll just push him on an make things worse. Good or bad, I’m seein’ this through. Besides,” He reached down, picking a piece of bread off the tray. “I have some things I want to find out about this ‘Golden Gallop’.” At that, he took a bite of the bread.

“Well, however it goes, I wanted to say…I’m sorry. I was overly forceful with the whole clone thi—“

“Don’t worry ‘bout it.” He cut me off. “Crazy as it was, yer’ heart was in the right place with all that stuff. Don’t give me this “however it goes” stuff though. However it goes ain’t how it goes. How it goes is that I come back. Simple as that.” I nodded, though inside, I was curious. Only yesterday, Promontory had seemed genuinely furious about all this. Now, he was shrugging it off. Whatever it was, I hoped for a chance to ask him more about it later.

The sunlight peeking in through the window shined on Golden Gallop’s forehead as his eyes blinked open, taking in the morning around him. He shifted slowly out of the bed, cautious as not to wake the mare he had been lying next to.

“I need a drink.” He muttered, dragging his things off the floor and tossing them over his brown coat. He slowly pushed the door open, walking out quietly before heading down the stairs into the bar of the saloon. He sat back on one of the stools, turning to the bartender cleaning out a glass. It was a different, younger-looking bartender than the one who’d been shot the previous day. “Give me something. Anything. Just…something to wake me up.”

The barkeep nodded, walking away. A moment later he returned, setting a medium-sized glass in front of Gallop, what was in it obscured by the discoloration of the glass. Without hesitation, the bandit grabbed it, gulping it down. He slammed the glass down onto the bar, his head snapping from side to side as the drink traveled down his throat, sending strands of his coat standing up on-end.

“Um…that’ll be…” The barkeep started, only to be shot a menacing glare by the bandit. “I’ll…just…that one’s on the house.” The ‘customer’ smiled.

“You’re smarter than the last one.”

“I want to ask one more time.” Caesar said. “You’re sure you want to go through with this?” As he spoke, Promontory stood in front of him, loading the sheriff’s borrowed revolver.

“Not much choice now.” He replied, gesturing his head towards the sun. “It’s almost noon. Besides,” He slid the firearm into its holster, tugging on the brim of his hat. “There’s somethin’ I need to find out about this Golden Gallop. Somethin’ don’t sit quite right.”

“May I ask what?”

“We’ll talk about it after I win.”

“For someone facing a trained killer, you’re confident.” Caesar observed.

“I don’t fall short of my word. Ya’ sound like ya’ don’t believe in me though.”

“N-no, I do, it’s just—“ He stammered, before being cut off by Promontory.

“That’s all I need to hear. See ya’ in a few minutes.” At that, he turned around, moving slowly out of the doors of the hotel, marching towards the center of town.

Something was different today than yesterday. Some sort of confidence. Some sort of question. Whatever it was, it had bolstered the brown pony. He was ready to fight.

The sun sat high in the middle of the sky, bearing down on the black cloak the lone pony in the center of town was wearing. He glanced from side to side, looking for his opponent. Moments later, he walked into view, slowly lining up across from the black-cloaked pony.

“Didn’t think you’d show.” Golden Gallop shouted.

“I keep my word.” Promontory answered. “Even to those who don’t deserve such.” The comment drew a laugh from Gallop.

“I guess someone doesn’t like me. Don’t worry though, my feelings aren’t hurt. Right,” At that, he brushed his cloak aside, the sun now glowing down on the exposed grip of his firearm. “Now we start.”

The gaze between the two was unflinching, as if a solid line connected their lines of sight. Each hovered a hoof above their weapon, but dared not act first. While sweat rolled down Promontory’s forehead and almost every other inch of his body, Gallop stood dry, clearly used to the scenario he was in, save for a stray drop of sweat from the heat of the black cloak.

The wind blew across the two, scattering dust around, tossing the black manes of the two about, throwing the hats of both to the ground, and throwing Golden Gallop’s cloak back into the wind. Neither flinched. As the few minutes the two stood perfectly still seemed to tick on forever, seconds turning into hours, minutes years, each inched their hooves closer to their guns, drops of sweat trickling down onto the grips of the weapons.

And in a second it was over. Both shot to grab their weapon. Three bangs, a scream, and a strand of blood through the air.

The brown pony writhed in pain on the ground, clutching his shoulder. The victor stood over him, having picked his hat back up off of the ground.

“Y…you…dammit!” Gallop rasped through gritted teeth, then spat, wincing from twisting his shoulder as he did.

“Quit squirmin’.” Promontory said, wiping the spit off his face. “Yer’ just gonna make that wound worse.”

“S…s…shut up! Shut the hell up!”

“Oh, now ya’ know what that means?” Promontory taunted. Slowly, ponies who’d been hiding inside buildings, behind structures, and in-general keeping out of sight peeked out to see the aftermath, some cheering upon seeing the bandit on the ground. One particular pony who came back out from the foreground was the wounded sheriff, one of his legs now carried in a sling. He cleared his throat, staring down at Gallop.

“Golden Gallop, as the sheriff of Appleloosa, I hereby place you under arrest.”

“H…How about…how about you go…and f—“ Before the bandit could finish, a hoof slammed into his face, knocking loose a tooth in addition to stopping his mouth.

“How about no?” The sheriff replied, before turning back to Promontory. “Thank you for stepping in to handle him in my place.” Promontory nodded.

“Anythin’ to help, sir.” The sheriff leaned down, pulling the revolver out of Golden Gallop’s holster. The weapon had been put in by somepony clearly intoxicated, and as a result, caught on its own holster, a smoking bullet hole in it where the two shots now in the ground had pierced.

“You…you ain’t better than me! My damn gun got stu—“ Another hoof, and another tooth.

“Shut up. Again.” This time it was the sheriff telling him to shut up. He looked away from Gallop, and back to Promontory. “I owe you. A lot. Ya’ stepped in fer’ me when I couldn’t do my duty as sheriff. That’s a debt in need’a repayin’. Is there anythin’ I can do now to start repayin’ it?”

“Honestly, Silverstar?” Promontory started. “Remove his cloak. There’s somethin’ I need to see.”

“Wait, wait, wait. It ain’t enough for you to shoot me and beat me, now you want to strip me in public?!” The wounded bandit demanded.

“Shut up. All between you and bein’ naked is a damn cloak, it ain’t hidin’ nothin’.” At that, Silverstar turned back up to Promontory. “I admit it’s a…strange request, but I don’t see what harm’d come from it. Hold ‘im down?” The brown pony nodded, leaning down on Gallop to prevent him from moving as the sheriff removed the black cloak. The sun bore down now uninhibited on his brown coat. Promontory stood for a moment, silently staring at Gallop, before nodding.

“That’s all I needed.” He said. “Take him away.” The sheriff nodded, yanking Gallop up with his good front leg and dragging him towards the sheriff’s office.

“So…is that it?” Vinyl asked. The five of us had watched the duel from the second story of the hotel, and still hadn’t seen Promontory since, in spite of the fact he had won. “He’s not coming with us?”

“I guess not.” I answered. It was the simplest conclusion. “He’s a loyal friend, our secret’s safe with him. I’m sad though, he would’ve been a nice way to round out the group…”

“So, what now? We still haven’t investigated the sheriff.” Whooves asked.

“Actually, we have.” At that, I pulled the hat off of my head, handing it to him. “While the sheriff was down after getting shot, his hat was on the ground. I switched it with the one I bought at the train station. A few strands of his mane are stuck to the sweatband, which should be more than enough.”

“Excellent.” He said. “We should probably be going then, odds are there’ll be an official response to all this soon, and any notoriety right now is bad.” I nodded, taking the hat back.

“Pack what you brought with you, the train leaves in an hour, and I already have five tickets.”

As the train pulled into the station, I glanced at my ticket, then back at the town one last time. The stress from the two days here were enough for a month. Somehow, I had a feeling that was something I’d be getting used to. With a nod, I turned back to the train.

The five of us began boarding, when there was a tap at my shoulder. I spun, panic in my head, only to see a familiar face. Promontory.

“…Aren’t you pulling the trai—“ He cut me off, chuckling.

“I got a substitute. I’m comin’ with y’all.” I stared, stunned after the last two days.

“Why didn’t you see us at all before now toda—“ He cut me off again.

“I’ll explain inside the train. Come on, it’s about to leave.” I nodded, leading him in to our car.

“So, if you don’t believe all this clone stuff, why did you come with?” The Doctor asked. The section of the train we were in was similar to the one from before, including having its door shut.

“Didn’t.” Promontory replied. “I do now. I didn’t, but somethin’ didn’t seem right about that Gallop fella. He sounded and looked too familiar. That, along with all yer’ talk about clones, just didn’t seem right to me. So, when I beat him today—“

“Why were you so confident about all that, anyway?” I interrupted.

“Never do somethin’ ya’ ain’t sure yer’ goin’ to do well at. That’s something a certain pony in here told me once.” At that, he turned back to the center of the car. “That’s why I asked to see Gallop without the cloak. To get a good look.”

“At what?” Trixie asked.

“…A good look at his—“ Vinyl started, before being cut off by a light punch to the shoulder.

“I know what I look like, tip to tail. He sounded like me. His face looked like mine. It was disturbin’, like lookin’ in a mirror. That along with the clone talk ate at me – I didn’t sleep a wink last night. So I wanted a full look at him once I got the chance.”

“And?” I asked.

“Identical.” He replied. “More than identical. A perfect copy. Maybe my mind’s messin’ with me, but I’d rather miss a few days of work and find I’m wrong than wonder night after night.”

“Count me in.”

“Excellent.” I said, the excitement of having an old friend in the group apparent in my voice. “We’ll need to roll out another bed, but that’s more than doable. It’s good to have you back onboard, old friend.”

I sighed, staring at the glowing monitor in front of me. It had been hours since we had arrived back in Manehattan, and hours more the computer in front of me had been analyzing the strands of the sheriff’s mane, but it had felt like days. I hopped up out of the chair, pacing around. The amount of time that it had taken for it so far on the sheriff seemed to indicate that it’s not him.

“So then that would narrow down our list a bit more…” I said, speaking to myself. An odd habit I’d picked up ever since starting all this.

“Why not narrow it down all the way?” The words were whispered in my ear, and in that instant, a chill went down my spine, my heart skipping a beat. “After all…what if this ‘Game Master’ you’re so desperately looking for…was right behind you? Right now?” The voice was familiar, as if I’d heard it before, at the same time distant. The terror and uneasiness inside of me only worsened.

“Well, it’s your lucky day, little guy. Turn around. Get a good look at your ‘master’. Because I’ve been waiting for this for a while.” My entire body shook at the words. These few moments could easily be my last. One trembling hoof after the other, I slowly turned around, to face the one who was behind me. The one I had been hunting. The Game Master I was woefully prepared for at this time. Caught off-guard. And as good as dead. Their gaze met mine, and I felt my heart not skip a beat, but seem to genuinely stop.

This was them. This was the Game Master.

Act IV, Chapter I

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter I, Act IV
The Game Master

“So, surprised?” the Game Master asked. I stammered for a moment, unable to speak from fear. Also form surprise that I was still alive, to some degree. “I’m surprised I wasn’t top on your list, given what you took as criteria for me.”

“I..I…”I managed to start. “I…t-thought it was…t-t-too obvious.” With every single word I wanted to smack myself. This was what I had been wanting, but when it actually arrived for me, I was barely able to speak. The Game Master laughed, hitting my chin lightly with their hoof.

“Don’t tell me this is that whole ‘it’s never the most likely suspect’ junk from television? That whole concept is inherently stupid, little one – the most likely suspect is most likely for a reason. Because it makes sense for it to be them. For example, now.” I couldn’t tell if they were mocking me or not.

“I…Then…w-what happens now?” I asked, not entirely sure I wanted to hear an answer.

“Now?” they replied. “Not a whole lot. You continue your little duck hunt, and I continue enjoying it, helping along.”

“Then…wait…helping? …Enjoying?”

“You haven’t figured it out yet?” the Game Master asked. “I suppose it’s not really that surprising, you’re not exactly the sharpest tack…”

“I was sharp enough to piece this all together so far.” I shot back. The response I received wasn’t one I expected. A laugh.

“You really haven’t figured it out then. Tell me something – did you really, at no point, think ‘this is all going a little too well’? Nobody at your company questions why you disappeared when you holed yourself up to research all this? A clone of you gives you perfect evidence when you’re trying to convince others? That clone never says anything to anyone about that night, or at all for that matter, again? After you fail to convince your friend, he happens to find a clone of himself to convince him? That clone, a trained killer, manages to lose a duel with your friend? None of this ever seemed odd to you? A little too convenient?”

“You were able to put all this together, and your deception of your little friend Photo Finish was impressive, I admit. But if I wanted you dead, you would’ve been Removed weeks ago. Hell, I was thinking of doing it at the party, but then I decided otherwise.”

I stood there, silent, the words washing away the fear I had and replacing it with a strange feeling. That same feeling I had when I discovered all this, that everything, was a lie, pre-planned, and mapped out. That I had no actual say. And it was still true.

“Thank you, and please come again!” An enthusiastic Mrs. Cake said, happily sliding the bits away in the cash register. On the store counter in front of her were two boxes with chocolate cakes inside. The cross-eyed mare on the other side of the counter picked the boxes up in her teeth by the drawstrings.

“Thankth Mitheth Cake!” She said, her words being slurred by the clenched teeth and the strings from the boxes. Mrs. Cake nodded in response.

“See you around. You too, girls!” The second part was addressed not at Derpy, but instead to the pinkish unicorn, and the tiny, light purple filly who were with Derpy. The larger of the two nodded, returning the smile, while the smaller one hopped up and down, grinning widely.

“…Why?” was all I could muster.

“Pardon?” they said.

“Why?” I repeated. “Why leave me then?”

“Because it’s fun to watch.” Came the reply. “I’ve been alive for millennia. Orchestrating billions of lives daily gets old after you’ve been doing it for thousands of years. The occasional discovery and attempt at rebellion mixes things up a bit, so I let them live a little on borrowed time every few hundred years.” The words hung in the air for a moment, my mind racing with each and every one.

“What?” the Game Master started back up. “You thought you were the first to discover all this?” silence was my response – I had literally no words at this point, the only things going through my mind were what was going on and how to recover. If I could recover. “There’ve been hundreds like you. Even if you run a good ship, you still have leaks that need sealing now and then.”

“There have been others, but all of them have failed. They either stopped being amusing, and got stupid and boring, so were thrown out, or were getting too close, so were put down. As our meeting should show, you’re the latter.”

“…Thrown out?” I finally managed, anger starting to overcome fear. “Thrown out? We’re disposable to you?”

“Yes.” Was the reply. An unsurprising one, too. “I can create five new Caesars in a day. If I have your brain to work from, I can imprint them each with your memories in a week total. They always act a little different, but orchestration of events helps make that just seem like personality quirks.”

“You never thought that maybe those ‘personality quirks’ were individuality? That maybe we’re more than just copies running routes?”

“I did. Then I decided I didn’t care. You’re all so short-lived, I didn’t really have reason to worry about making you happy instead of making me happy, or making sure I don’t get jeopardized.”

“You know, it’s funny, you protesting this idea of how disposable you really are – I almost wanted to get rid of you altogether when you found out. At first I just didn’t feel like putting up with this whole thing again. I was about to have you taken care of – an electrical fire in the night would do nicely. Delay the fire department a few minutes, seal your doors magically, and it’d seem you burnt to death in your sleep. Papers would probably say you didn’t awaken because you took some sleeping pills or something. Very probable with you running a technology company, too. But curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to let you live, see where this took you.”

“So then…it’s all been staged?” I asked, still in disbelief.

“Yes. Well, most of it anyways.” The Game Master replied. “There have just been too many stupid mistakes by you that got too risky of ruining everything. In a dangerous way, too. So, I made sure you’d have success when you were teetering on failure.”

“I…I…” I was at a loss for words again.

“I expected you to be flustered, but not this badly. Come on, a gentlecolt should be able to speak to a lady smoothly, regardless of the situation.” She said.

“Don’t mock me. “ I shot back.

“Ooh, snippy.” She said with interest. “It’s been so long since I tried something like this, I’d forgotten how cocky you all can get sometimes.”

“Mom, can I ask you something?” the pinkish unicorn asked. She was carrying the boxes over her back now, freeing up Derpy’s mouth.

“Sure.” The cross-eyed Pegasus replied.

“What exactly have you been doing lately? Dinky and I never see you, and when we do, like now, it’s only for a few hours.” The grey mailmare stopped for a minute, the words clearly hitting her hard. “…Mom? Are you alright?” the pink unicorn asked.

“I’m fine.” She replied, still not entirely there.

“Mommy? What’s wrong?” it was the small, purplish one this time that spoke, tugging at Derpy’s tail, a sad look on her face.

“Nothing’s wrong Dinky.” She said, leaning down and picking the little foal up, at least one of her eyes focusing on her. “I just…I’ve been working late.”

“Really?” Amethyst Star said, confused. “But you never work late. Half the time you come home early…”

“It’s a really big thing.” Derpy replied. “Really, really big.”

“…Can you tell us what?” she asked again. There was a pause before Derpy spoke again, a sad look on her face as she responded.

“…No. They said it’s really important it’s a secret. …I’m really sorry.” There was a tense moment, before the pink unicorn walked over to her mother, wrapping a leg around her and giving her a quick hug.

“It’s alright – you wouldn’t keep it from us unless you had to.” The two separated, both now wearing faint smiles instead of looks of dejection. “For all your quirks, you’re always honest.” The comment made Derpy’s smile broaden, and drew a few giggles from her mouth.

“I love you.” She said. “Both of you.”

Promontory yawned, opening his door and trotting out lethargically. He was having trouble getting to sleep, and was walking towards Caesar’s room. After all, he owned the place, if anyone knew where he could find something to help him sleep, it would be him.

As he walked over in the darkness though, he bumped into another pony, who, being smaller, fell over, even in spite of how slowly Promontory was moving. Moments later a burst of pinkish light shot out of a horn, giving a faint light to the hallway, as well as the faces of both Promontory, and the pony he had knocked into, who’s horn was currently glowing. Trixie.

“Watch where you’re going, you brute!” she snapped at him. Though she was speaking in a whisper since the others were likely asleep, there was still an odd feeling as if she was yelling at him.

“Apologies, meant no harm, ma’m.” Promontory said sluggishly.

“That’s ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’, to you!” she snapped yet again.

“Relax, Ah’m just lookin’ fer’ somethin’ to help me sleep, I didn’t mean to cause any fuss with ‘The Great n’ Powerful Trixie.” She turned her nose up at him, clearly still upset.

“Well it’s a shame you didn’t find them, because now I’m wide awake from getting tackled by you!”

“Ah’ didn’t tackle ya, Miss Trixie.” She didn’t respond, and the two stood for a moment in silence. “…Well, ah’ best keep lookin’ then. Sorry ‘bout all that. G’night, and, take care a’ yerself, I guess.” He said, before turning.

“…Wait.” Trixie said as Promontory began walking away. “I…I have some sleeping pills in my room. I always keep them because I have trouble sleeping while traveling. I…you can borrow some if it’ll help.” Promontory turned around, a smile now on his tired face.

“That’s mighty kind of ya’, Miss Trixie.”

“Just don’t tell anyone. Got it?” Promontory nodded, and Trixie began walking back to her room, the engineer following behind.

Act IV, Chapter II

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter II, Act IV
The Game Master

“So then it really is a game to you.” I stared into the Game Master’s eyes, a burning rage in my gaze.

“Your title for me was unwittingly apt.” Her own eyes met mine, equaling my rage with her playful condescension. “It’s not so bad,” she started. “You don’t have to worry about being killed through incident or random murder or anything, and you get to do what you want.”

“…Wait, what?” the rage disappeared from my eyes in an instant, replaced with genuine confusion. “…You’re not going to kill me? …You’re going to let me work towards uncovering you? …Why?”

“Because, what fun is a game without a little risk?”

“So we’ll see you again in a week?” Derpy nodded, a grin across her face. The three were standing at the door of a modest-looking house, with the two fillies inside, Amethyst star holding one cake box, and Derpy standing outside with the other. “Alright then. Goodnight mom.” As she finished, Dinky ran forward, jumping onto Derpy.

“Hurry home, mommy!” she said. Amethyst pulled the little foal off of her mother, setting her on the ground next to her.

“Easy, Dinky, mommy has work to do.” The tiny unicorn nodded, the smile still on her face, albeit looking somewhat dejected now.

“We love you mommy, and we want you back really really really soon!” she piped back up. With one last smile and nod, Derpy turned around, heading back to Caesar’s house.

“Alright, you’re a lot bigger than me, so I figure you should be fine with two.” Promontory stared at the two small pills and the glass of water next to them thoughtfully, or at least as thoughtfully as one could tired.

“Yer’ sure it’s alright for me to borrow these?” he asked.

“I don’t even use a full bottle every year. I can stand to give two away.” Trixie replied. “And don’t use ‘borrow’ for this – I’m not exactly keen on getting them back.” The comment pulled a chuckle from Promontory.

“Much obliged, Miss Trixie.” At that, he gulped down the sleeping pills before following them with the water.

“I’m…sorry.” She whispered.

“Hunh?” Promontory asked, not having heard.

“I’m…I’m sorry about what I said about you in Appleloosa, about being all muscle, no mind. I’ve…a while back a pony at one of my shows ended up making me look like an arrogant jerk, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I’ve been trying to be…nicer.”

“Ya’ don’t really seem like it with Caesar and the others.” Promontory replied.

“Yeah, well, Caesar I’ve known for a while. I’m comfortable enough around him to know he knows better. The others…I don’t want to seem soft. I learned a while back that if you want anything, you have to put on a tough face.”

“Yet here ya’ are, confidin’ in an idiot about all this.”

I-I just-“ Trixie stammered, her blue coat turning red around her face. “You’re the only one I felt bad about talking to like that, so you’re the only one I felt like apologizing too!”

“Ah’m sorry Miss Trixie, ah didn’t think—“

“Damn right you didn’t think!” She cut off. “get out already. The nerve of some ponies, you help them out, then apologize to them, and they try to make you feel bad…” There was a moment of silence, before Promontory nodded.

“Alright, ah’m sorry. Still don’t see what ah did that was so horrible, but ah’ll take yer word for it fer’ now. Ah’m gonna head back to mah room ‘fore these things kick in, if ya’ want ta’ talk again, just let me know.” At that, he turned around, walking out the door. A few moments later, an angry-looking Vinyl Scratch walked up to the doorframe, her eyes red and her face tired.

“Will you shut up with the yelling?!” she demanded. “Some of us are trying to sleep! …Also, let me know if you see The Doctor, I’ve been needing to ask him something. He never seems to be around…” With that, she slammed the door, before walking away, leaving Trixie to sit alone on her bed.

“So then…you’ve lost me.” I said simply. “You’re…here to tell me that you...want me to carry on investigating you? Even though you kill ponies for doing that?”

“Yes.” The Game Master replied.

“Because…it’s fun?”

“Yes.” She said again.

“I…don’t follow.”

“That’s because you’re very…what’s the word…young is too innocent…short-lived, I suppose would work. It gets boring being live for as long as I have – I’ve run this world for thousands of years, just having everything go as neatly as planned is, well, boring. Again, you’re too short-lived to understand.”

“You, and others like you, have been a pleasant way of mixing things up. Seeing what you do, how far you go, who you bring, how they react, comparing you to the last one who tried, things like that. You’re my little fun excursion – my ‘game’ if you will, which is why I still love the name you gave me.”

“So then why tell me all this?” I asked. “You’re invalidating the game.”

“One part of it, yes.” She answered. “There’s still your friends. I can still watch what they do, and it’ll still be valid. I’ll just choose a path one of the others went on for you.”

“So you want me to join in what you do? In guiding ponies how you want them to?”

“I guess you could say that. I prefer to think of it as suggesting how to do your job, with strong incentives in a certain direction.”

“Go to hell, and take your offer with you.” I replied flatly. “I’d rather you replace us all with copies now than let us entertain you for a few weeks, just to be replaced then.” To my surprise, my words drew a laugh.

“You want to stay the course. I like that. But I’m not going to replace you. A life of agony is worse punishment than death, don’t you think? I’d kill them. Every single one of your little friends, and make you watch, unable to do anything.” Every single word sent dread through my body. It only got worse from there though. “Then I’d kill their families. Or maybe let them live with someone they love gone, not knowing why. I’m not sure which one would torture you more. Speaking of torture, maybe I wouldn’t make you even watch in-person, but would take you away, make it so you could’ve done something, but couldn’t. And all the while I’ll give you a little ‘lesson’ of your own. We could have a lot of fun too, with all the knowledge I’ve gathered on ‘playing’ with you little things over the years – did you know that your heart hasn’t been beating this whole time? I’ve been keeping the blood in your body pumping via magic. Yes, I think I like the second one better.”

“Then I’d destroy all the evidence left that you’d dug up. Maybe drop you back into society, or maybe alert the authorities of what you’ve been up to with an anonymous tip, then pin the deaths on you so everything is capped off with life imprisonment…yes, I do like how this is going. You’d be left with all this on your mind, nobody who would believe you, and a lifetime to think about how your crusade went wrong.”

“See what I’m getting at? You have a choice, but the consequences…well, they’ll be fun for one of us, at least.”

“You…” I muttered. Once again, I was at a loss for words. “You…you’re…you’re an evil, heartless bitch, you know that?” again, the comments drew laughter.

“I’m well-aware. And I love it.”

“Anyway, you now know what I came to tell you. Keep going on the path you had started on before I arrived, and we won’t have any problems. I’ll contact you again if you do anything wrong, give you a chance to ‘atone’ before doing…well, we already discussed it, and I look forward to it too much to be brief about it.” With that, there was a fog, and when it cleared, she had left. I could finally think about what had been said, alone.

Not for as long as I had hoped though.

“And one more thing.” A voice whispered into my ear. I spun my head to see who was behind me, before being grabbed at the neck. “Lets get something clear. If you want them to live, then you’re going to watch your tongue, because right now you’re my toy, and toys that call their owner a bitch get replaced. Are we clear?”

“Y-yes…” I managed through clenched teeth.

“Yes who?” she demanded.

“Yes…you evil bitch.”

“Wrong answer.” At that, she pulled at my neck harder, a sharp pain and a cracking sound running through my body. I was pretty sure she had just broken my neck, but was keeping me alive with magic, similar to the blood. As I proceeded to learn, a broken neck is pretty painful if you live through it.

“Yes princess!” I shouted through the pain. Even through closed eyelids, I could see a grin on her face.

“Good.” She replied. At once, I felt her let go of my neck, and a strange, mending feeling run through it, the pain disappearing. It seemed she was equally capable of repairing necks as breaking them.

“If your suffering for breaking our little deal is a meal, that was licking the spoon. The worst is very far off.” At that, a cloud of smoke appeared once more. This time, she was gone, and I was left alone, neck repaired and heart once more beating frantically.

“That was…holy…that…wow.” My mind wasn’t quite back in working order yet, as thoughts were speeding through faster than ever. One thing was clear though – I needed to think of something, and I was treading on thin ice. I shook my head as if to clear it of the mixed-up thoughts. After a moment, I reached over to a small messaging device. A moment later, an identical device rang in Vinyl’s room.

“Mmmph…what is it?” she asked, clearly trying to get to sleep, her voice muffled by a pillow.

“Vinyl, it’s Caesar.” I said.

“Dammit, first Trixie, now you…can’t I just sleep?”

“What? No, Vinyl – look, just…just gather everyone outside my office, alright? I need to discuss something with the team.”

“Fine…fine…I haven’t seen Doc in a while, can he…not be there?”

“Yeah, sure, fine.” I replied. I honestly had forgotten the specifics of the members of the team, even though they were my friends. I was still lost trying to process what had happened.

“So…why did you call us all here? …And out of bed?” Vinyl asked, one of her forelegs wrapped around a small plush toy. Four of the others were standing before me, in the hallway outside of my office. The walls were a lime green, with a hardwood floor that had a rug running down it. A single light mounted to the roof lit the dim hall. All were there outside of The Doctor, Who was absent. He always seemed to be doing something important. Seemed to like the phone booth down the street when he needed to make a call, too. Derpy had just gotten in, and had some sort of box over her back.

“I’ve made some…progress…on the latest samples we collected.” I replied. It wasn’t entirely a lie, I really had made some progress. It was just overshadowed by, well, everything falling to the ground.

“And?”

“The sheriff isn’t our Game Master.” There was a cumulative sigh from the others.

“You’re sure this is all real?” Trixie asked.

“Of course.” I replied. “Positive.”

“Because the evidence seems to point otherwise. Maybe we just saw similar-looking ponies, not these clones you think.” Vinyl added.

“Just…look, I have a good feeling about this next one, alright? Please just stick with me on this? If I’m wrong again, we can all pretend this never happened.” An uncomfortable quiet stuck in the air, before what seemed like a mix between shrugs and nods from the others.

“We’ve narrowed the list down to the princesses, and the heads of the School for Gifted Unicorns. I don’t have a plan to get at the former, but I do have one for the latter, so that’s where we’ll go.”

“And what is this plan exactly?” Trixie asked.

“Simple, really.” I replied.

Act V, Chapter I

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter I, Act V
School Is In Session

“This is unbelievable.”

“What are you whining about now?” Vinyl moaned.

“I’m complaining, not whi—“

“Do I honestly look like I care about nitpicking words right now?” she interrupted.
“Just answer the question.”

“Coming back here of all places, and with you of all ponies, it’s…it’s ridiculous!”

“Listen, do you really think I’m any happi—wait, ‘back’? You’ve been here before?”
the DJ asked.

“Where do you think I learned my craft? I’m not some self-taught ruffian figuring
spells out of a streetside flyer, only the finest academy was suitable for my talents.”
The unicorn with a huff.

“Well excuse me, princess…” Vinyl rolled her eyes, tossing a suitcase onto one of
the two beds in the room. “Look, like it or not, you and I are stuck at the School
for Gifted Unicorns until we get the signal. We’re supposed to keep an eye out for
anything suspicious, so we might as well make the best of it, alright?”

“Fine. If you’ll excuse me, I need a walk if you’re going to unpack your…things. The
last thing I want is to see your mess while it’s even more of a mess.” Without waiting
for a response, she walked out, leaving Vinyl alone in the room.

“So much for making the best of it. Great and powerful my ass, that bitch needs to
get…”

There was a strange sense of nostalgia as I trotted up and down the halls. I had
spent years of my life in here, important years, and it had been so long, yet it all
felt familiar. The walls had been repainted, but other than that most of it was
intact. It felt like it had been ages since I walked these white halls, the red carpet
soft beneath my hooves. It was funny in a way, when I first came here, I thought I
knew everything. When I left, I thought that I was a fool then, and that now I knew
everything. Even then I was wrong.

As much nostalgia as the school brought though, I didn’t want to be here. They may
have taught me here, but I hated it. Some ponies like the idea that there are others
like themselves, that they fit with a group. I was always told I was special this and
that, and that I was great and wonderful, and then I find out that not only were there
others like me, there were those better than me.

“Not for long though.” I said to myself beneath a chuckle. “I may have worked my ass
off, may not have kept any friends from here because of it, but I showed them. I was
the best, bar none. Nobody beats the Great and Powerful Trixie when she puts her
mind to work.”

I laughed again as I said the name. This place was where I first got that nickname.
It was something I thought up myself after a talent show in Magic Kindergarten.
A nickname I liked. And a nickname I maintained by working. The only way to be
powerful in a place full of talented and powerful ponies is to either be a bully, or
work yourself insane. I wasn’t stooping as low as to pick on others, but I was willing
to go insane.

“It all paid off in the end though.” I mused to myself, a grin now on my face as
I neared my destination. “Because when graduation day came, every award,
every honor, every title, every record, every trophy, every single thing that could
possibly be won,” I closed my eyes before walking forwards, relishing that first
look when I would open them. I was in the school’s “hall of fame” so to speak – a
place where trophies are kept, medals are pinned, photos are hung, and the greatest
accomplishments of the school’s students are placed on display for everyone to
see. It was the first time I’d stepped in here since graduating. “Every single thing in
here…” At that, I opened them.

“Was…mine?”

Vinyl grinned as she finished. She had spent the time since Trixie had left decorating
her half of their room, adorning her side of the white walls with assorted musical
memorabilia, from autographed CDs to a poster of Hoofpac Shakur, and even a gold
disc. A keyboard, stereo, and turntable now sat on a once-bare mahogany desk in

the corner of the room across from the foot of her bed, and a small plush pony sat
on her pillow. She had even put some effort into a peace offering, making up Trixie’s
bed and putting a small chocolate bar on her desk for her.

Suddenly, the door swung open, nearly hitting her in the face and slamming into the
wall behind it, knocking the Hoofpac poster down. A furious-looking Trixie stood in
the doorway, walking right by Vinyl without acknowledgement.

“Why would you do that?” Vinyl sighed, more sad than angry. “It took forever to get
it even…”

“Shut up.” Came the reply.

“What did I—“

“I said, shut up.” She cut in. “Shut up you useless, overhyped, traveling noise-making
buffoon of a unicorn!”

“…I thought we were trying to make the best of things?” annoyance began creeping
into Vinyl’s voice, as well as her face turning from hurt to anger as she spoke to
Trixie, who was now lying on her bed, facing away from the DJ. “I even got you a
snack as a gift.”

“I don’t want to go eat a Goddamn Snack!” Trixie snapped, turning around to face
Vinyl, who could now see that her eyes were red, tears down her face. “I want you to
shut up.”

“…Um…look, I…I’m not much of the touchy feely type, but you seem…upset?” at that,
the magician jumped out of the bed.

“Gee, you think?!” with every word, she stepped closer to Vinyl. “I come in here
slamming a door, drop onto my bed without a word, snap at you when you try to
talk to me, and you think I’m upset?! Goddess, you’re denser than those two idiots
in Ponyville!” By now, Trixie was right up against Vinyl, their muzzles scrunching
against each other and their horns poking each other.

“Um…making the best of it?” she replied meekly, causing Trixie to snort in
annoyance. “Well, um…do you want to…talk about it?” the other unicorn spun
around, causing her horn to nick Vinyl’s forehead. Although no blood was drawn, it
still hurt, causing her to reach up and rub her head. “Ow…”

“You wouldn’t understand.” Trixie said. “It’s…a long story.”

“Try me. I already set all my stuff up, so I have time.” Trixie let out a sigh, before
lowering her head.

“…Fine.” She replied. “Just…promise not to laugh?”

“I don’t really think this is a laughy kind of mood right now.” Vinyl observed.

“I don’t really think I care what kind of mood it is.” Trixie replied.

“Alright, fine.” Vinyl said, rolling her eyes. “I won’t laugh. Now can you tell me?”

Act V, Chapter II

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter II, Act V
Way Back

“It…it goes back a while I guess, to when I was a little filly…” Trixie started.

“Oh goddess…” Vinyl moaned, drawing a sharp glance from her blue roommate.
“Sorry, force of habit whenever somepony says that. I watch a lot of movies, and that
line usually means they’re about to go on a long, self-indulgent, rambling flashback
of exposition.”

“…Are you done?” she asked flatly.

“Yep, go ahead. Silence this time, promise.” Vinyl flashed an overbearing grin,
though it was unclear if she was trying to get a laugh, or just coming off as
unintentionally silly.

“Right then…”

“Mommy! Mommy!” a small voice shouted. It rang from up the stairs of the small
home down to the floor below, the only sound present in the out-of-the-way
structure other than the hum of a television left on. A small blue foal ran down
the stairs, an oversized wizard’s hat on her head sliding down over her face with
every bounce of every step. Running around the ground floor, eyes now completely
obscured by the hat, she eventually slammed into something, falling back as she did.
The little foal pulled the hat up to see what she had bumped into, the front legs of
the pony she had been calling for. “Mommy!” She shouted excitedly.

“Sweetie, what’s wrong?” the mare asked in a concerned voice.

“Nothing, nothing’s wrong!” the foal replied. “Come upstairs!” without waiting for a
response, she began tugging at her mother in the direction of the staircase. The two
went up to the second floor, then into her room. Inside, a number of small toys were

strewn around on the floor.

“…Trixie sweetie, what did you want to show mommy?” the mother asked. Trixie
spun from side to side, frantically glancing from toy to toy.

“They…why aren’t they floating anymore?” tears started bubbling up in her eyes,
and before long started running down her face as the little foal began crying. Her
mother bent down, kissing her daughter on the cheek and hugging her.

“They…they…” She stammered through the tears. “They were floating, and I made
them float, I…I…I did it with my…with my horn…” At these words, her mother’s face
lit up. A unicorn herself, she realized why her daughter had so anxiously brought her
upstairs, and what had happened. She gave her another kiss, and then leaned back
up.

“Sweetheart, that’s wonderful – you already cast your first bit of magic! I’m so proud
of you, it was years before I learned how to use magic!”

“But…but…” Trixie answered, not crying, but still sniffling. “But it went away before
you saw it…you didn’t get to see it…”

“That’s alright.” Her mother replied. “It takes a very long time to make spells last.
Your mother didn’t even get good at it until I was three times your age. Just being
able to make it happen in the first place so young is wonderful.” The foal stopped
sniffling, a small smile creeping up on her frown.

“R…really?” she asked.

“Yes. Next time you make something happen with your magic, just shout for me, I’ll
be there right away and you can stay and focus on keeping the magic going.” At that,
the two hugged again.

“I love you, mommy.” Trixie squeaked.

“I love you too, sweetie.” She replied.

“Where’s daddy? I wanna tell him, too!”

“He’s downstairs, watching the hoofball championship. You can go tell him if you
want.” Trixie nodded happily, the smile now beaming on her face. Her mother
walked out, Trixie following down the stairs.

She ran down the stairs, past her mother, and into the living room, where her father
was seated in his large, soft chair, the TV across from him tuned into the interleague
hoofball championship. The Bittsburgh Steerlers were the Equestrian Hoofball
League representatives, playing the Baltimare Colts, the team from the National

Hoofball League.

“Daddy?” she asked.

“Yes sweetie?” he answered in a cheery tone.

“Come quickly!” he shrugged, climbing out of the chair. By the time he was on his
hooves, his daughter was already halfway up the stairs.

“So…at what point does this explain anything?”

“What?” Trixie asked, clearly a little lost switching back from her memories to the
present.

“I said, at what point does this explain why you’re so intolerable?” Vinyl repeated.

“It’s a preamble right now, I’m explaining when I first got started with magic.” The
blue unicorn explained.

“I really don’t think I need that.”

“I’m sure somepony would like to hear it.”

“Who would want to hear that?”

“I’m a performer, I have fans. I’m sure those fans would be very interested to hear
Trixie’s backstory.”

“I’m the only one here. You’re talking to me, not your fans. I don’t care. I just want to
get to the point so I can know why you’re like this so we can try and make you…well,
less of a jerk, frankly.”

“Hmmph.” Came the reply. “Fine, I’ll skip ahead a little bit to Magic Kindergarten…”

“Wait, there’s a magic kindergarten?” Vinyl asked.

“Yes, there is. Why did you think the School for Gifted Unicorns has little fillies and
colts running around?”

“I thought a spell backfired and made them all really short…”

“Anyway, it was after a talent show in Magic Kindergarten…”

A large room was filled with about two dozen or so young unicorns, some in
costumes, some looking very nervous, some just enjoying the show. Alongside most
of them were pair of older ponies. The room was normally a cafeteria, but had been
made into an auditorium for the occasion. Lights were dimmed, with those lights
still on pointing towards a makeshift stage with black tablecloths lying on top of it.
On the tablecloths stood an orange unicorn mare, a smile on her face.

“Alright class, how about a hoof for all of the performers in the talent show?” the
young students and their parents alike began beating their hooves together and
against the ground, a cheerful applause filling the air. As the applause faded, the
students began wishing their parents goodbye before returning to class. In the midst
of it was a blue filly, a grin on her face as it pointed up towards the roof.

“Um…Trixie?” a voice called behind her. She turned to face the pony calling her, a
young unicorn colt with a red coat and glasses, a very nervous look about him. “I…I
just wanted to say that I thought…that I thought you were…”

“Spit it out already.” The filly interrupted flatly.

“Well, I…” He continued stammering. “I…I thought you were really great out there.”
He smiled weakly as he finished the sentence. There was a moment of silence, before
the blue filly smirked with a huff.

“I don’t need you telling me that. I know I was great when I went out there.”

“But I…Trixie, I just…”

“And another thing, don’t call me by that name. Somepony like you shouldn’t
be calling somepony like me by their name. Refer to me as the…as the…Great,
and…Powerful Trixie.” She contemplated the name she had thought up, before
nodding to herself to confirm she liked it.

“I just wanted to…”

“Wanted to what?”

“I…”

“Wait, hold on.” A familiar, grating voice cut into the conversation.

“What now?” Trixie asked through gritted teeth, clearly very annoyed at Vinyl for
interrupting again.

“…This is supposed to explain why you’re so mean, right?” whereas Trixie was
angry, Vinyl just more or less looked confused, her brow furrowed above her red
eyes.

“That’s what it’s doing, isn’t it?” she replied.

“…Not really. You’re being a jerk to that poor little colt.”

“He was wasting my time stammering, and it wasn’t like he had anything
worthwhile to say.”

“He was nervous.”

“He was annoying.”

“He was trying to be nice to you.”

“He was wasting my time.”

“Isn’t the whole point of a talent show to show off so you can get tons of meaningless
praise and stuff?”

“Yes, but from ponies that mattered, not ponies like him.” At that, Vinyl sighed,
closing her eyes in frustration.

“…Alright, so let me see if I have this.” She started. “You’re a jerk to ponies, not
because you’re a jerk, but because you see them as insignificant and a waste of your
time, even when they’re trying to be nice to you.”

“It’s the effect that counts, not the thought. Sayings be damned.” Trixie replied.

“You’re just a rude pony then.”

“Not rude! Watch your mouth!” she snapped back. “Just…very...important. Yes,
important fits.”

“That’s…depressing. Seriously depressing.”

“Well what did you expect?” she asked. “Some sort of sob story about how I was
a happy little filly until I got abused by my parents or my teachers or bullied or

something, so I became bitter and mean because of that and just needed some sort
of kind ear to listen and make everything better?”

“Well…”

“You realize how ridiculous that is, right?”

“I guess, but—“

“This is real life Vinyl, not a movie. That kind of thing doesn’t happen in real life.
Seriously, who would believe that…”

“You know, you’re—“

“And honestly I’m kind of offended you’d assume such things about my
parents. They were wonderful ponies, even if daddy was a little obsessed with
hoofball…never got it myse—“

“You know, you’re being a jerk again.”

“What? How?!” Trixie said angrily. “All I’m doing is explaining myself, how am I
being rude?!”

“You’re…”

“I’m not doing anything wrong, you’re the one that started this conver—“

“Shut up!” Vinyl cut in, smacking Trixie in the face with a pillow. “That’s a big part of
it. You’re not letting me say anything; you’re treating what you have to say as more
important. If your story is accurate, you did the same thing to that nervous little colt,
more or less.”

“Because I do have something more important to say.” Trixie responded flatly.
“Or rather, I have something important to say at all. Why should I trust you to say
something worthwhile?”

“Because I might have something interesting to say?”

“I doubt it.” Trixie said with a laugh.

“Bitch.” Vinyl muttered.

“What did you just say?!”

“It’s not so pleasant when someone else makes fun of you, is it princess?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I’d tell you, but you’d interrupt me again.” At this point, Trixie’s eyelid was
twitching, and it was fairly clear to Vinyl that it was taking a great amount of
restraint to keep her roommate from mauling her. “Look, that’s how it feels when
you act like that. You make the ponies you’re talking to feel insignificant, and
generally just make people want to ignore you. Give them half a chance and they do.”

“So the key is just to make sure they can’t ignore me. Learned that a long time ago,
try again.”

“…No, that’s not the key.” Vinyl said with a sigh. “The key is not to be so damn rude
in the first place. You get more flies with honey than vinegar.”

“…Why would I want flies?” Trixie asked, the anger replaced with confusion.

“That’s not the point. Look, just try being nicer, alright? When somepony tries to
talk to you and say something, even if you don’t think that it’ll work out, just give it a
shot?”

“…Why would I do that?”

“Because then ponies actually like you.”

“I thought they already did.”

“The ones who believe you actually have that whole ‘tragic past’ thing you just called
a load of—“

“Not all of them have that puppy-eyed sympathy thing.”

“Well they’re just morons then.”

“So the ponies who actually like me are morons. That’s a real great way to make
your point.”

“Just try it for a few days, alright?” after a moment, Trixie sighed, and then nodded.

“Alright, fine.”

“Great.” Vinyl said, a smile now on her face. “Sorry about calling you a bitch by the
way.”

“It’s…alright? Is that how it works?” Trixie asked as she spoke, clearly not used to
trying to be polite to someone she thought of Vinyl as. Vinyl replied with a very
enthusiastic nod rather than more words.

“See, it’s not that hard being nice. It’s just a habit that you get into.”

“It feels kind of…weird.”

“Weird in a good way? Vinyl asked.

“It doesn’t feel bad, so I guess so.”

“I told you you’d be fine with it.”

“I feel like a pushover.”

“Because you’re used to being a jerk.” Vinyl grinned as she replied, Trixie simmering
across form her.

“Don’t you think it’s kind of weird to just start being nice this suddenly though?
There’s no real transition, just suddenly, ‘hey everypony, I’m nice now.’ It’s about as
believable as that whole tragic childhood thing.”

“Hey, if it’s what works to move your plot along, then just go with it. No reason to
prolong it, right?”

“I guess not…”

“Right, so…um…how’d we get on this again?” Vinyl asked.

“I came in here upset, and—“

“Right!” she cut in, bringing a sigh and a roll of the eyes from her roommate. “Oh.
Sorry.”

“Just don’t worry about it.”

“See? Being nice isn’t so hard! Right then, why were you so upset anyway?”

“It’s another long story.” Trixie replied.

“Oh goddess, not another one…”

“This one can be explained with a quick trip down the hall though.”

“Oh, great.” There was an uncomfortable pause sat in the air for a few moments.
“Um…Can I actually meet you there in a few minutes?”

“Sure, I guess. …Why exactly?” Trixie asked.

“I’d like some…personal time.” Vinyl replied, glancing from side to side, a small hint
of red coming into her face.

“…Why is th…wait…you mean to—“

“Yep.” She replied flatly.

“Why now—“

“I…kind of have a thing for people who’re naturally mean. Not as in I like people like
that, but the idea does kind of…”

“Alright, I get it. I don’t want to know anymore of what talking about me is making
you think.”

“Trust me, if we’re going to be living together, you’re probably going to catch me
doing a lot worse than that.”

“Just…finish up. I’ll be waiting in the hall.”

Author's Note

Have I ever mentioned that I have the comedic maturity of a five year-old?

Act V, Chapter III

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter III, Act V
The Trophy Room

“Here we go.” Trixie said matter-of-factly, nodding as the two unicorns entered the
trophy room. It was a well-furnished room, with a soft red rug completely silencing
the patter of hoofs against the ground. Ornate, oak cabinets contained shining
trophies of varying alloys behind glass, with a photo of a pony next to each, and a
plaque under them to explain what each meant. In the center of the back wall was a
single display cabinet, with a large metal plate nailed to it reading “CURRENT TITLE
HOLDERS”

“…Are you going to explain what had you so upset?” Vinyl asked.

“You can’t tell? Just look.” There was a moment of silence as Vinyl glanced around
the room.

“…I don’t get it.”

“Did you never go to magic school in the first place?”

“Does dropping out count?” there was an uncomfortable silence, before Trixie broke
it with a sigh.

“I shouldn’t have had my hopes up…basically, all of these records, awards, all of it
used to be mine. I came here expecting to at least get something to feel good about
to get myself through having to spend time living with you. …No offense.”

“Anyway, I was expecting a few of them to be gone, but every single one is broken,
there’s not a trace of me left anymore in the main cabinet…”

“So you have a few records that aren’t yours anymore.” Vinyl started. “Records are
meant to be broken, That’s the attitude a lot of really great Hoofball players and
Equestria Games competitors always seem to ta—“

“I hate that game.” Trixie interrupted.

“What, Hoofball?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Long story. Not something I want to talk about.”

“Yet you were willing to talk about your past candidly just a moment ago…” Vinyl
muttered. “Alright, well, still, the point is it’s not the end of the world just because
some purple unicorn broke your records, is it?”

“Except that’s not just ‘some purple unicorn’, that’s Twilight Sparkle.” Trixie said,
annoyance slipping back into her tone.

“…I take it you two know each other?” the DJ asked.

“Yes. I was on a show in Ponyville, and she and her friends started heckling me.
Granted I was being a little…boisterous, but what’s a performing artist supposed to
do, pretend not to matter?”

“I never take myself seriously at my DJ gigs.”

“I said performing artist, not glorified turntable.”

“…Okay, and now you’re back to being a bitch again.”

“Sorry, force of habit. Anyway, point is they were heckling me, and I responded by
showing them up.”

“I’m not seeing how this makes you bitter with her. You got the last laugh, right?”

“…Not really. I don’t want to get into specifics, but something came up, and she
ended up embarrassing me much more than I did her and her friends. Word got
around, and now my shows are either full of hecklers, or just empty. She ruined my
business, and now she’s ruined my academic career.”

“Well, that’s…different then. I’m sure she didn’t mean anything by breaking your
records.” Vinyl said reassuringly, a cheap grin on her face as if to try and convince
her that she was helping.

“That doesn’t help with the fact that, you know, she outdid me. It’s not that she
did something I did, it’s that she did it better. She outdid me. Again.” There was a
moment of silence, as Vinyl stared at the ground thoughtfully, trying to think of what
to say. After a bit, she turned back up.

“Look. I may have fans, and I may have success, but do you really think I’m the best
DJ in Equestria?”

“Of course not.” Trixie said with a chuckle, before catching herself and swallowing
the laugh. “Sorry, force of—“

“Yeah yeah, force of habit.” Vinyl said in an annoyed tone. “Of course it was. Anyway,
the point is, as great as some ponies think I am, I know I’m not the best at what I
do. I want to be, but Celestia knows I’m lying if I say I am, or even that I think I am. I
don’t let that get me down though; there’s always somepony better than you, and if
there’s not, with how many ponies are born every day and learning every day, there
will be within a few years.”

“…How is that supposed to help?”

“Look, just try not to think about it too much while we’re here, alright? Thinking
about it will only make you more upset about it, and ultimately, who cares about
those things anyway?”

“I do.”

“Why?”

“It proves…well, proved, that I was the best.”

“And?”

“…And why shouldn’t I try and be the best?” the comment drew a sigh from Vinyl.

“There’s a big difference between trying to be the best, and pursuing it to the point
of insanity. So you’re not the best ever anymore. She’s going to be bested in a few
years I’ll bet. Nobody stays on top forever, because everyone wants to get higher,
and eventually someone succeeds.”

“So I should just give up on being better than I am then?”

“No! Stop misinterpreting me.”

“Then make clearer statements.”

“Bitchy again.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that nobody is the best forever. You
were the best, and now you’re not. Life doesn’t give people forever, in the end;
you’re not measured by what you do, but by what your impact is. Why do you think
we remember those who invent the primitive, first version of something just as
much as the guy who introduces the new, cutting-edge version? Because they had
the skill, the foresight, the courage, and the brilliance to do what nopony else could
do, or would do. Pioneers are remembered even if they weren’t the best. The unique
and the different are remembered, not the prototypical record setters. The record-
chasers are forgotten as soon another record-chaser eclipses their mark. It’s great if
you can get these records, but they are not something to measure yourself by.”

“…Then what am I supposed to do? Invent something new?”

“If you want. It’s not just the innovators, it’s the unique, the different, those who
accomplish what they accomplish without being what the accepted model for
success is, or those who overcome extreme odds, that are remembered.” Vinyl’s
phrasing was very energetic, with her voice projecting and her tone raising and
lowering in emphasis of each point.

“Those are the ones who leave a legacy, the ones who get remembered. You don’t
get there by emulating. You emulate to create your basic skills, but you only get
there by your work. By honing your individual talents and capabilities to their
fullest, focusing on what you do well, or on what you want to do, and building
around it. Being successful on your terms, not on the terms defined as great. Your
life is only truly yours when you start living for your fulfillment, what makes you
happy, what makes you feel proud. If that’s providing for a wife and a little filly,
congrats on being a great father. If it’s chasing records, by all means, go for it. But it
seems to me that you didn’t enjoy the chase, only the finish. When you’re defined by
chasing things, you have to enjoy the chase.”

“…So then what should I define myself with?”

“You tell me.” Vinyl said matter-of-factly. Trixie stood in thought, glancing around
the room at trophy after trophy, then to the ground and her hooves on it, and the
roof above her. Eventually she turned back to Vinyl.

“…Performing. I…I love performing. I love making the ponies watching me perform
entertained, and I love them enjoying me. That’s what I enjoy.”

“Then that’s what you need to focus on. …Well, that and paying for food and a roof
and all that. But I’m assuming you’re smart enough to know to worry about all
that. And improving your magical technique will obviously help you be a better
performer, but what you need to worry about if it’s what you want to do is putting
on the best show, making sure as many ponies leave your show happy. And looking
at your flank, that’s not that bad a choice. The most exciting performer is the one

who’ll be remembered, believe me there. I’ve beaten out many better DJs with
showmanship.”

“Should I not care at all about records then?”

“If you get them, that’s great, but unless you enjoy that chase – which you more or
less said you don’t – then just enjoy it when you get it, and don’t worry too much
about it.”

“That’s…a lot to think about.” Trixie replied thoughtfully. “I’m impressed, that was
pretty deep for a disc jockey. Hard to believe you were a dropout…”

“I’ll choose to focus on the compliment in there. And I only dropped out of magic
school. I’m a doctor of philosophy.”

“Philosophy? No wonder you had to turn to making noise for a living…”

“You know how to make it hard to focus on the compliment.”

“Sorry…alright, lets head back to the room then. You’ve given me…a lot to think
about. But if you’re that bright…well, maybe this stay together won’t be so
nightmarish after all.”

“Coming from you, I really appreciate that.” Vinyl said with a grin. “You know, if
you’re interested, when we get back, I could help you…relieve some of that stress,
clear that head of yours up a bit.” As she spoke in a drawing tone, Vinyl leaned
forwards, pecking a kiss on the tip of Trixie’s muzzle.

“Oh, um…I’m, um, flattered, but, I, erm, I like colts.” Trixie replied, embarrassment
showing both in her voice and the red coming up through her coat in her cheeks.

“Wait, really?” Vinyl asked in a disappointed tone. “Aww…you’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Aww…”

Act V, Chapter IV

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter IV, Act V
The Collapse

The radio was playing that same song again.

That same, stupid song it had already played four times this morning.

The song echoed around the janitor's closet, bouncing around the flat gray walls until it entered my ears, waking me up.

It had been a few weeks since we had started scoping out the School for Gifted Unicorns, and the constant surveillance was starting to get to me. I'd been spending the time there disguised as a custodian, not sure if my disguise was adequate, or the Game Master was just letting me keep playing. Either way though the only place that my actual plan existed was inside my head, so it worked out. The others are also disguised as various other maintenance jobs, keeping out of sight but ready to pounce if and when an opportunity arrives and I give a signal. Or alternatively, if something extreme happens, we're all supposed to meet outside of this closet.

The reason I had told the others that we were here to watch what the head council of the school, the same ones in charge of admissions for foals. They were amongst the original list of possibilities I had given all of them, which meant the Game Master was aware that we were here to examine them. However the reality is we're here to get closer to the Game Master, and this is a convenient alibi.

The only problem is I have no idea how the hell I'm going to get close to the real Game Master. And if I screw anything up, we're probably all going to die.

Lovely thought, isn't it?

I sighed, getting up from the floor I was sitting on, pulling on the harness for the janitorial cart. With a shove, the closet door opened, and I dragged both myself and the cart out with a sigh. I hadn't been very happy lately. Probably had something to do with discovering what I thought was a rebellion against a tyrant was actually just a game to amuse that tyrant. Still, I've always been the stubborn type. Never knowing when to give up.

I just keep praying that eventually that'll help me.

“…I'm confused.” Trixie stammered.

“Just relax. It'll be fine.” Vinyl replied softly.

“It…it doesn't feel right. I don't like this.”

“Just trust me. Once you try it, you'll love it. It'll feel good, I promise.”

“…Are you sure?” the magician asked.

“Absolutely.” The DJ replied. “Now just lie down, and close your eyes, and relax. It'll make you feel better in no time.”

“It feels…wrong.”

“What's wrong about it?” the white unicorn asked. “There's nothing wrong with a midday nap, especially since you just finished your classes for this semester.”

“I guess…”

“You know you wouldn't be this tired if you had just listened to me and not stayed up all night studying for the healing magic final.”

“What if I flunked the final?!” Trixie shouted.

“If I was able to ace it, I guarantee you would even if you didn't study.”

“I wasn't willing to risk that.”

“Alright, alright, I'll leave you alone then, I'm going to get lunch.”

“Bring me back a sandwich?” Trixie asked.

“You still haven't paid me for the last one!” Vinyl moaned.

“Fine…” With that, the blue unicorn sighed, plopping down onto the bed and pulling the sheets over herself. Vinyl nodded, then walked out, magically closing the door behind her. As she pranced down the hall, she passed a particular janitor. She stopped, tapping him on the shoulder.

“Anything yet?” she asked him.

“None so far.” He replied. He wore a pair of spetacles on his face, though one lens was a dummy lens, as only one eye needed prescription. “How about you and Trixie?”

“She's too focused on trying to get straight A's to pay attention to anything. Which is weird since she's auditing most of the courses…I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary, and believe me, I'm not giving her kind of dedication. What do we do if this place ends up dry too?”

“It won't.” The janitor replied with a confident voice. “One way or another, we're going to find our answers here. It's just a matter of when th-“

“When the window of opportunity opens.” Vinyl cut in. “You've been saying that all semester. I don't plan on flunking out, it better happen soon.” There was a moment of silence, which was quickly interrupted by a loud, heavy rumbling. The walls of the academy shook, the various ponies walking through the hall reacting various ways, some looking around nervously, some panicking and hunkering down in a corner, and some just ignoring it altogether.

“The hell was that?” the janitor asked aloud.

“Felt like the Bass Cannon.” Vinyl answered with a shrug. “If you'll excuse me, I need to go make sure some punk isn't messing with it in the music department.” Without waiting for a response, she ran off, leaving the janitor alone.

“That felt more like an earthquake than one of Vinyl's toys…” I thought to myself. “Earthquakes don't happen that often in Canterlot…this is too obvious though. She'll be expecting us to do something like this.” I sighed, knowing this was an opportunity, even if a poor one, that I was letting slip by, before returning to my cleaning duties. “Sooner or later we'll get what we need…”

Trixie groaned, throwing her pillow at the wall.

“Can't Trixie get five minutes of sleep without something waking her up?” she climbed up out of the bed, stretching her legs as she did. “It's always the worst feeling when you get enough sleep not to be able to get back, but not enough to be rested…what caused that, anyway?” she shook her head before pulling her hat back on, reaching to flick the lightswitch. As she did though, the switch began to glow.

“That's…not normal.” She said as she backed away from the switch. Before long, in addition to glowing, it began changing shape, even coming off of the wall. Various posters and records Vinyl had hung on the wall began doing the same thing, some merging with the floor, some merging with the ceiling, others becoming something new altogether. “…Alright, this is not normal. I don't know what Vinyl put in the waffles for breakfast, but I'm not finding out. Midday nap, I return to thee!” Without taking a moment more to examine the changing, psychedelic imagery in front of her that had been her room, Trixie turned around, hopping back onto the bed.

As she did though, the bed collapsed inward. Not as if it had broken, but as if it were a body of water rather than a solid object. She yelped in surprise, before paddling in the bed on instinct, floating near the surface.

“Waterbed. Cute.” She said in an annoyed tone. “I guess I'm not getting sleep then.” A buzzing noise began ringing in her right ear, causing her to swat at it, before remembering what was causing the buzzing. It was a little device Caesar had given her, as well as all the others in the group. It was a small communications device, invisible to the eye, but as clear as the highest-priced headphones. It was only to be used if something important happened, which hadn't been the case until now. She tapped the small device, disengaging the beeping and engaging the communications.

“Trixie, are you awake now?” Caesar's voice asked.

“Yes, I am. How did you know I was asleep?” Trixie replied.

“Vinyl said you were asleep, and to call you and make sure you were awake.”

“She's there?” Trixie asked. “Put her on, now. I don't know what she put in my breakfast, but whatever it is, the world's basically melting. It's like one of those ugly paintings she keeps insisting is art, but real. And I am not fond of it.”

“That's not just you, Trix.” The DJ's voice rang over the communicator. “It's everywhere. We're not sure what's going on. I didn't drug your food, though it's sweet of you to suggest.”

“…Okay, now I'm really lost.”

“So are we.” Caesar was the one speaking once more. “The others are with me in what used to be the hallway about four minutes to the left of your room, I don't know if the routes are still intact, but see if you can meet us there.”

About ten minutes later, Trixie arrived in the hall, or what remained of it. The solid, neoclassical architecture had become completely warped and contorted beyond recognition, with bizarre splotches of color mixed in. Gravity had seemed to have taken a holiday as well, as both she and Promontory were standing on the roof.

“What took so long?” I asked.

“The halls were…less than intact.” She replied.

“Why are you wet?” Vinyl asked. Trixie was dripping wet, from her nose to her tail. Her cloak and hat were also weighted down and soaked, though none of them were actually dripping water. They were dripping little strands of blue fabric.

“I had to swim out of my bed, which is now a miniature pool.”

“…Okay, that's kind of awesome. Is my bed a pool too now?”

“I don't think that's very important right now.” Trixie said, clearly becoming annoyed.

“Okay, how about this then, why are you standing on the roof?” Vinyl shot back.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” She replied.

“Mine is probably a fair bit better, then.” A voice rang from behind her. It was a voice none of us recognized, and a figure none of us recognized. It was standing on the floor, and it had a devious, twisted grin along its mouth, with a single fang sticking out.

Act V, Chapter V

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter V, Act V
Q

The figure in-question was a strange one. It was a bizarre conglomeration of parts of all sorts of animals. It had a horse’s head, a snake’s body, a dragon’s tail, arms of a lion and an eagle, legs of a lizard and a goat, and various other parts of animals stuck in at various places.

“…And what exactly are you?” I asked timidly.

“’What’ am I? ‘What’?” the figure snapped, clearly offended by the term. It snapped the fingers on its taloned hand, and in an instant was kneeling on the ground, a sword sticking through its chest, which was now covered in robes of red and gold, a circlet around his horns. “You wound me, little Caesar, truly wound me. I know I may not be the prettiest girl, but surely you can call me a ‘who’ instead of a ‘what’?”

“…Okay, who are you then?” I asked again, this time more confused than timid now. “And how do you know my name?”

“Well, since you asked so nicely,” It snapped its fingers once more, the robes, circlet, and sword disappearing. It now stood tall and outstretched in front of us, a glowing neon sign behind it, with a single word flashing.

“Discord is my name, and chaos is my game!” He said exuberantly.

“The R in the sign is backwards.” Vinyl commented, drawing the joy from Discord’s face and replacing it with annoyance.

“It’s supposed to be like that, genius.” He replied. “Honestly, for an artist, I’d expect you to know a little thing or two about design…but look at me, who am I to talk about design.”

“Right, where was I? Oh yes, yes, right. I, my dear little ponies, am Discord. Chaos, disharmony, discorderly conduct, illogic, and strangeness are my trade and my specialty. All you see around you now? This lovely little ‘marvel of architecture’ turned into a tasty little stew?” As he spoke, he plucked a piece of the wall, sipping it like a drink to emphasize the last bit. “All my handiwork. I know, it’s beautiful, no need to thank me.”

“As for how I know who you are, your little Game Master’s quite the arrogant one. Loves rambling on and on and on about you six in her garden. Being a statue may make you a little stiff, it certainly doesn’t make you deaf.”

“So then you know who the Game Master is then!” Vinyl shouted.

“Yes, yes I do.” Discord replied, the smile back on his face. “And before you ask, no, I can’t tell you. Where’s the fun in that? Besides, I’m already doing you enough of a favor.”

“…How is all of this a favor?” I asked, still confused.

“Isn’t it obvio—actually, I guess it’s probably not to you all…alright, I guess I will reveal a little bit about your precious Game Master. It’s one of your princesses. That princess turned me to stone a thousand years ago, but not for the reasons she’d tell you. She’ll say that I was some sort of malevolent, evil, sadistic moron who couldn’t care for his subjects if they begged and groveled. I may not be the nicest choir boy, but I’m certainly not that cruel, dull, and boring. I’m not Sombra…”

“Right, you probably don’t know who Sombra was…long story short, tyrant who enslaved an empire. Really boring guy, just always rambled about crystals, no personality, never even had any hobbies. Sounded like Christian Hay-Bale’s Batmare whenever he talked. Completely one-dimensional. I may be dedicated to chaos, but I at least take time out of my day to play the lute and watch some hoofball…The princesses banished him a few years before I was frozen. I helped take him down too, but you’ll never hear about that. After all, what good is a villainized spirit of chaos that everyone hates if – gasp! – he does something out of the decency of his heart?”

“Anyway, after Sombra was banned, your little Game Master-princess was very upset. Understandable, the other princess and I were too. You don’t see something like what Sombra did without getting upset. However unlike the two of us, who were capable of dealing with it like rational people, she decided that she was going to solve the problem by completely controlling every single event in the world ever. Women, I tell ya…” The last comment drew a derisive snort from the three female members of our group. “Nothing personal, Vinyl. You too Derpy.”

“And me?” Trixie asked, annoyed.

“Oh come on now darling, you’re a grade A control freak.” Discord snapped his fingers again, appearing next to Trixie and holding a sheet of paper to her face – a mock report card, with an A marked as the grade in the course ‘controlling jerk.’ “You don’t have to be proud of it, but don’t deny it, sister.”

“Now then, where was I? Oh right, the crazy evil bitch taking over everything.” He snapped his fingers again, reappearing without the card in front of us. “As you can imagine, the idea of taking every single pony and forcing them into certain actions and behaviors for all of eternity didn’t sit very well with a spirit of chaos and a princess just shocked by a brutal totalitarian autocracy that enslaved its entire population. The two of us argued for what felt like eons with her, but she was dead-set on creating her utopian vision. And to her credit, it didn’t work out that bad. You’ve got almost no crime or poverty or anything anymore. But—“

“But there’s no free will.” I finished. “What good is something that’s perfect if you’re never really living in it, if you can only watch and do what you’re meant to, if you never act on your own thoughts and reasons, and are just acting as a robot? If you never actually do anything because you truly want or should, but because you’re ‘meant’ to do it.” The comments made the grin return to Discord’s face.

“I like you, kid. When this is all over, if you’re still alive, talk to me and I’ll see about extending your lifespan or something. I could use a partner in chaos.”

“That’s basically what I argued for the longest time, too. That, and the ethics of the whole ‘destroy anything and anyone who endangers the illusion, living beings included’ thing. But eventually your Game Master got tired of me interfering and arguing, and just turned me to stone. Apparently she also banished the Crystal Empire. That was Sombra’s place, she gave it to me after we got rid of him to help rebuild it. Believe me, neither of them would have had the forethought to turn them into actual, living creatures made of crystals instead of just crystal ponies in name. They didn’t seem to mind, either. A lot of them actually rather enjoyed it…”

“So, yes, that’s about all I can tell you. The rest, you’ll have to find in my delightful little play world.” He laughed as he spoke, floating off his feet and winding around the room with a broad grin on his face.

“Okay, question.” Vinyl asked. “Why should we trust a spirit of pure chaos?”

“Because if there’s one thing chaos hates, it’s order.” He snapped his fingers again, now resting on a hammock suspended by nothing in-particular, sunglasses over his eyes and a drink in his hand. “I don’t mind it to an extent – after all, if there’s no order, then chaos becomes normal and dull – but something like what we have here? This is just horrific. You can call it ‘free will’ if you want, I’ll still call it ‘chaos’, but either way it’s the unpredictable ability of all living things to determine their own actions at random and on-the-spot. If you know who you’re dealing with you can estimate, but you can never predict. It’s perfect chaos, it’s inherent in every living thing, and it’s what makes life worthwhile. I value nothing more, and from what I heard as a statue, neither do you.”

“Anyone trying to topple this ‘utopia’ is a friend of mine. You all included.”

“If you’re so powerful, why not do it yourself?” Trixie asked.

“Right, right, right, because the princesses will believe that. ‘Oh Luna, oh Celly, I was so bad and nasty wasty way back when, but I’ve changed since then, being a statue for a thousand years didn’t make me bitter, but in fact melted my heart. I think I’ll listen to you girls now and be a good little boy who’s definitely not hiding an intricate plot to overthrow the kingdom!’ Please. She may be arrogant, but she’s not stupid.”

“Besides, where’s the fun in that? I’m the element of chaos, not the element of rationality. It’s just not as fun if I do it than if you all do it! Plus self-insertion fics never go over well, if I came back just to steal the lead, it’d be terrible writing.” The latter half of the statement drew confused glances from the bunch of us. “Right, you don’t know about…just don’t worry about it, that’s just me having a little fun.”

Author's Note

Discord is so much fun to write for. Cookie point if you catch the shout-out!

Act V, Chapter VI

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter VI, Act V
Unveiling

“Can you get to the point of why you’re telling us all of this?” I asked. By now, I was starting to get upset at what felt like a needless explanation.

“I thought it was clear by now.” Discord sighed, snapping his fingers again and making the hammock disappear. “You’re trying to bring a little chaos back into this dull, dull world. Whether you call it chaos or not, I support that 100%. So, I gave you this little playground world once I was freed. Not only has all of your Game Master’s security been completely thrown for a loop, and her guards tossed about, but I’ve even done you the courtesy of leaving the important parts you need to see alone. There’s even a distraction; me! With me up and about running amuck, she’ll never have a chance to worry about you all. What’s more dangerous; a bunch of ponies trying to do something noble, or a spirit of chaos having a ball with the world? Ooh, that’s a good one…” He snapped his fingers, a small digital recorder appearing in his hand. “New idea #2,627: Turn the world into a ball. Make a lot of ‘have a ball’ jokes once you do it. Not right now, that’d just be overkill.”

“No kill like overkill.” Vinyl chimed in. There was a moment of silence before Discord spoke again.

“Kid, I like the way you think, too.” He snapped his fingers, the recorder disappearing and what remained of the castle started bouncing. “What a world!” He said with a laugh.

“I still don’t see why we should trust you.” Trixie said flatly.

“Because you should never look a gift horse in the mouth, darling.” Discord replied. The saying drew glares from most of the group. “Oh don’t look at me like that. You ponies call your cities things like Fillydelphia, Baltimare, and have the gall to use words like ‘everypony’ even when you have not-horses in your presence, and you’re going to act like I’m the racist one for using a saying every other race uses? And you wonder why griffons and dragons don’t like ponies…”

“Point is, when you get something this helpful, you don’t question it. You act on it. And if I were you, I’d act soon – not sure how much longer I can keep whatsherface occupied.” At that, he turned around. “Now if you’ll excuse me, there are six pretty little fillies that Celly’s sent after me that I have play with in some hedges or something.”

“Oh, and before I forget, what you’ll want to see is that way.” Discord pointed off to the right, then snapped his fingers, and in a puff of pink smoke, was gone.

“So now what?” Vinyl asked.

“Trixie doesn’t think we should trust this Discord.” Trixie replied.

“And what, waste this opportunity?” Doctor Whooves chimed in. “We just sit while there’s no focused effort on keeping us out of where we need to go?”

“Where the hell have you been?” Vinyl said, pointing at the doctor. “Seriously, it’s like you just disappeared into another dimension or something for six or seven months.”

“That’s a long story. And not an important one right now.”

“He’s right. About that, and that we shouldn’t waste this opportunity.” I added my own voice to the conversation. Discord, as unusual and hard to trust as he was, was right that we likely didn’t have long, and this was as good a chance as we would ever get. Even if he was planning to screw us in the end, it’s hard to think of a better opportunity than a world literally in complete chaos to get past security forces. “Like it or not, he’s given us an opportunity. This is too convenient to be real, but it’s also too direct. The Game Master likes more subtlety. We might as well trust him, and we don’t have much time based on what he said.”

“But—“ Trixie started.

“No buts.” I said, cutting her off. “We all signed on knowing this might be a one-way trip. I intend to live to see the outcome of our handiwork, but the fact is this might not go as intended. Even so, opportunities to actually do anything with what we know are rare, given our opponent. This is one. And a damn good one, too.”

“If you want to turn from this chance, I won’t hold it against you. I wouldn’t blame you; we’re in a scary, unknown place, and one false step means death. But I’m going to go after this opportunity. Alone, I don’t have much of a shot, and if I die, I’m not sure what’ll happen next. I’m pretty sure it won’t be very pleasant. But if we go together, we have a chance. A chance for freedom, for you, for me, for every single living thing in all of Equestria, for every single thing that will ever be alive, for every single soul that’s been restless for too long, because they were where we are and failed. We have a chance to free all of them. Your families, your friends, everyone’s fate is resting on us. But only if we’re willing to take a chance.”

“A single wound can fell a great beast, and we’ve been given a clear view of this one’s Achilles. Maybe it’ll trample us when we reach out to take it down, but it’ll trample us soon anyway. We have a chance to win a battle that seemed bleak at best. And worst case scenario, I’d rather go down fighting than just sit and hope. I’d rather die knowing I fought to free the world than have watched and shook my head in dismay. I’d rather know that when it was impossible for the Game Master to control me, I decided to fight back, instead of having to live knowing that with freedom given to me, I simply shrugged at an enemy too powerful to have been felled before. I’m ready to fight. I’m ready to free the world. I’m ready to win the fight, at all costs.”

“Who else is?” I hadn’t been expecting to give a speech. At most I was planning on giving a line or two. But every word felt natural, and every word came as if precisely timed.

“I am.” The Doctor stepped up alongside me. “If we don’t take the opportunity that presents itself, we’re basically giving up. I don’t like giving up.”

“I am too.” Derpy said. “I may not be the best pony, but…I want to do this for Dinky and Amethyst. I’m not going to…I don’t want the Game Master to make choices for her.”

“Hell, never thought ya’ had this in ya’, C.” Promontory stepped up as well. “I’ll fight with ya’, and if’n it comes to that, I’ll die with ya’.”

“I didn’t come along just to sit and hide. Lets take this bitch down.” Vinyl came forward, a hop in her step.

“Trixie doesn’t have much choice, does she?” Trixie nodded. “I’m here to do what I can. I’m not going to sit by and watch you all fight alone.” As she stepped forward, a sense of relief came over me. From the moment I had finished, I wasn’t sure who, if any of them would follow me. A general is nothing without his men, and that goes double when his men are also good friends. To have them at my back made me feel a hundred times greater than a moment ago.

“Then we have our direction.” I gestured to where Discord had indicated. “Lets get going, before we lose our chance.”

Author's Note

Big shout-out for my test-reader buddy Dave, Aka Merc, for some very helpful advice on reworking this chapter!

Act V, Chapter VII

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter VII, Act V
The Source

Unfortunately, the time it had taken to convince everyone to follow me was starting to hurt us. As the six of us sprinted down the twisted, malformed hallway, some of us on walls, some of us on the roof, it flashed and flickered its original design. Discord’s hold was weakening, whether he had been defeated or just didn’t have enough power to maintain it was unclear. What was clear though was that we were running out of time.

“What happens if the world goes back to normal before we get there?” Vinyl asked, gasping between words as she ran.

“Then we keep going! There’s no turning back now. We either succeed, or it’s over. Discord’s helped us, but if he can’t keep helping us, we just have to pull a little magic of our own.” I answered. Promontory, The Doctor, and I were all fine, while the others were getting tired from running. In spite of the mundane appearance, being an Earth Pony does have advantages, one being increased stamina.

Eventually, we reached an oddity in the chaos – something that looked normal. A pair of large, marble doors, as clean as a plate, with giant golden handles. They stood at least ten or twenty feet tall, with a dark granite frame, and stood distinct from the rest of the world.

“Discord did say he left what we were looking for unchanged.” Trixie said, eyeing up and down the door. She and Vinyl nodded to each other, horns glowing as they began opening the gigantic doors. Right as they did though, a shout came from behind us.

“Stop! Right now!” Two of the royal guard, lost in the chaos, had stumbled upon us. It seemed clear they recognized the door, and that they didn’t intend to let any of us inside.

“Go. Now.” Promontory said, stepping towards the guards. “I’ll handle these two.”

“You’ll get yourself killed!” I protested. All five of those with me were my friends, but Promontory I had known since we were both little colts. I wasn’t leaving him behind. “You may be tough, but it’s two-to-one, and they’re trained fighters.”

“We don’t have a choice now, do we?” He asked. “We ain’t got time ta’ fight about this, or ta’ let these two slow us down. I’ll give y’all time. Just go.” I was silent. I had thought he was going to get himself killed in the shootout in Appleoosa, and now he really was. But I knew what he was saying was right. I couldn’t bring myself to say it, but the understanding was clear on my face. All it did was make Promontory chuckle.

“Remember when I said I’d fight with you, and if needed, die with you?” He asked. “I guess it was needed.”

“Give em’ hell.” I said simply, biting back tears. Even if this was something we knew we might not return from, he was still a friend. Watching your friends die for you isn’t an easy thing to stomach.

“Gladly.” He replied. “And C, if’n ya’ don’t make it either, meet me in heaven an hour before the devil knows yer’ dead. Mah’ treat.”

“You kidding me?” I said. “We’re overthrowing the greatest tyrant in history. If they’ve got the nerve to send either of us to hell, we’ll just overthrow them too.” Another chuckle.

“Ya’ always were the witty one.” At that, he turned back to his two opponents. “Good luck.” At that, he screamed, charging at the two, knocking one to the ground with a punch and wrestling the other.

“Lets go.” I said, turning back to the door.

“But—“ Vinyl started, stopping as I glared.

“He’s giving us a chance.” I said simply. “We’re not wasting it. Door. Now.” She nodded, and her horn began glowing, as did Trixie’s. The door was thrown open, and the five of us ran through, slamming the door and leaving Promontory to the guards.

“Holy…” Vinyl started.

“It’s…huge…” Caesar muttered.

“Is this…where the clones are grown?” Trixie asked. The five stood on a single metal platform, stretching out in front of them was a sea of pods, as far as the eye could see. All were a glistening white, with windows glowing a soft green in the center of each. They lined the walls, the floor, the ceiling, they surrounded the entire gigantic room, save for the platform they stood on.

“Goddess, there must be at least enough to hold Canterlot, Manehattan, and Fillydelphia combined…” Vinyl marveled.

“Find the controls.” Caesar said. “We don’t have time to marvel, we have to find out how to shut down as many as possible.” He tapped his monocle, which started beeping. A camera, recording the installation. “We’re inside the facilities. I have no idea what we’re going to find from here on, but I’m not leaving without the evidence. Let this recording be witness of all.”

“Wherever the pod controls are, I found the surveillance systems.” The Doctor shouted from across the platform. Caesar ran over, looking at the smooth, circular panel that Whooves was pointing towards. “It’s a touch screen, very simple, but it has a very complex, powerful system inside of it. This thing monitors every single living thing in Equestria. And, as you can imagine, most of it’s going haywire with the mess Discord’s cooked up.”

“Can you take it down?” Caesar asked, looking it over with the camera.

“Most of it. A lot of it is about as old as the Game Master’s tyranny, so I can wipe out the surveillance systems with most of Equestria fairly easily, but they started installing new systems in certain countries. Most of North Amareica and the Uneighted Kingdom will only be crippled temporarily unless I kill the whole continental populations. The rest of the world can be freed without harm though.”

“Kill the countries you can do safely, but just cripple the new systems.” Caesar said. “If all goes well, we can free them once the rest of the world is under control.”

“Can-do.” The Doctor replied, hooves flying over the panel. Caesar nodded, returning to his search for the control panel for the pods.

“Found it!” Trixie shouted. Caesar ran over.

“The pod control?”

“Yep.” She said. “It’s a touch screen too. This whole system’s designed to look fairly innocent unless you know how to access it…”

“Move then.” Caesar demanded. “The Doctor and I are the tech whizzes, if anypony is going to be able to get the info we need from these, it’s us.” She nodded, stepping aside and letting the tophat-adorned pony at the controls. His hooves ran across the screen, clacking and clopping at various images and dialogs that popped up on the screen. After a few moments, a single screen appeared, prompting him for a password. After a handful of guesses, it accepted the input, and unlocked.

“We’re in. Lets see here…there’s…that can’t be right…” He murmured, eyes wide as he poured over the information in front of him.

“What’s wrong?” Vinyl asked.

“The panel says there’s…2.3 billion of these pods.” He answered flatly.

“That’s…wow.” Vinyl said, trailing off as she looked out over the pods again in a combination of amazement and horror. “This is where the clones come from?”

“Looks like it. I guess foals aren’t only made when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much…Apparently the way they generate new ponies is by starting with a mix of water from a Mirror Pool, and the genetic structure of something called a Changeling.” He tapped the monocle again, taking pictures of the formulas on-screen as he scrolled through them. “That’s mixed with a combination of the genetics of the two ‘parents’, which is based on the desired pony. A little anatomical magic to keep the form and anatomical structure of a proper pony…and you have yourself a fresh new clone.”

“This is…wow. Honestly, this is kind of impressive. Horrifying, but impressive. Changelings seem to work exactly like their name implies, they’re a perfect basis for creating copies of something. This Mirror Pool’s entire purpose is creating copies of a Pony, but the Changeling genetics allow it to be a more full personality and mind, as well as provide more control over the creation. They both take to the parent genetics perfectly. Meanwhile, the princesses take an imprint of the mind of a Pony when they visit their dreams, which was originally for chronicling history, but that this system can be used for to create a clone with a fully realized mind. It can also be used voluntarily…Seamless replacement mentally and physically…it’s a sickening affront to nature, but a brilliant one.”

“And one nevertheless that we need to destroy.” He said, tapping a bit more on the screen. “Whooves, is the surveillance down yet?”

“Three, two, one…it’s down. It’s been damaged beyond repair for most of Equestria, they’ll have to replace every single unit to get them up-and-running again. Not very easy to do for them. In the parts of the world with the new systems, it’s been crippled so it’ll be offline for a week or two, and nopony’s been harmed. It’ll be back within a month though at most.”

“I’ll take it.” Caesar said in a relieved tone. “Alright, lets see here…” He pressed an on-screen button, and one of the pods shot out of the wall, lowering onto the platform. It emitted a soft, low humming noise when close. “If I’m right, this should destroy the pod’s circuits, but if I’m wrong, it could wake them up. Waking up 2.3 billion angry soulless monsters up isn’t a fun idea, so lets test it on this one.” At that, he ran his hooves over the panel again. After a few moments, he stopped. The humming noise sped up, then suddenly stopped. After a few seconds, the pod’s light faded away.

“…Alright, I think that broke it. Now we can do that to all of the—“ Caesar’s words were cut off as a thump came from the pod. And another one. The glass panel on top of it shattered, a horror of creation having broken it. It was an unnatural mixture of a slick, jet black shell and a pony’s coat, with twisted, contorted features. What appeared to be eyes had no pupils, it lacked teeth other than two fangs on both top and bottom, and its skin was riddled with holes throughout, some opening the inside of it to the air, others going clean through.

“Sweet Celestia, that just woke it up!” Its head spun, turning to Caesar after hearing his voice. It hissed and howled, a mouth, brain, and throat not fully formed unable to truly speak. It lunged at Caesar, fangs bared.

Author's Note

I really love how well those two ingredients to make the clones came together. I had originally planned something much more along the lines of "It's technobabble. moving along..." But then the changelings and the mirror pool came along, and both were a perfect fit to the idea of cloning. Thank you everyone at Hasbro who wrote them up, you did a lot of my own work for me!

Also, fun fact: I had originally planned to have them sneak in here at night in a much more generic stealthy manner, with Promontory still staying behind to fight the guards off. But then the season 2 premiere rolled around - yes, though new on fimfic, My Little Clony dates all the way back to the first offseason - and when Discord showed up and completely screwed up the world, I got the idea to use it like this about two hours after finishing the episode.

Act V, Chapter VIII

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter VIII, Act V
The Game Master

The creature jumped on top of Caesar, an unnatural amount of strength in it for something not fully developed.

“Help! I…I can’t get it off me!” He shouted. It licked its fangs, before lunging its head at his throat. Caesar closed his eyes, turning away as he prepared for the worst.

Then three loud, ear-shattering bangs rang out.

He opened his eyes, only to see the creature slumped, dead on top of him, green blood coming from four circular wounds in its back. Across from him stood Vinyl, a smoking handgun floating in front of her, surrounded by an aura that matched the one around her horn.

“That’s what you signed me on for, right? She asked. “Firearms expert?”

“That thing…it was a second away from killing me.” As he spoke, he was gasping, still sweating from terror.

“And it’s dead now. Whatever you did to its pod, do not do it to the other 2.3 billion minus one. I only have 21 more bullets.”

“Right, I won’t…” He shoved the dead monstrosity off of himself, wincing as he saw that some of its blood had gotten into his coat. “I’m going to need a long, long shower after all this…” He walked back over to the pod control panel, tapping a few buttons onscreen before a small device popped out of it.

“Vinyl, this thing’s a genetic sampler. They have to make sure every one of their clones matches the original after all, can’t have a clone of somepony have a different DNA test than he did ten years ago. Do me a favour and get some blood and fur samples off of that thing. I may be recording all this, but others are going to want proof of something this crazy, and DNA samples of it will help.” She nodded, taking the small device with a glow from her horn. Even if she shot it, she didn’t want to touch the thing either.

“It might take a little time to alter the commands I put in to get a combination that shuts the pods down…Vinyl, save some bullets, we’re going to have a few more to go through.”

“You won’t get the chance.”

Every single hair on my body stood on end when I heard the voice speak. It was one I had known all too well, and one that I had heard on the most terrifying night of my life.

It was the Game Master.

“I would’ve killed Discord instead of freezing him all those centuries ago if I had known he’d do something like this…” She said, a disturbing tone in her voice. It was angry, but it wasn’t furious. It was clearly annoyed, but it sounded like someone who knew they couldn’t lose. “Shame my student was too soft to do that herself.”

“Now, step away from the controls, little Caesar.”

“Why?” I asked simply. I turned my head from the control panel as I did. I wanted to see her face one last time before I died. The face of evil. The face I was going to die fighting.

“Because I’ll kill you all on the spot if you don’t.” Celestia said, a wicked, confident grin on her face.

“Aren’t you going to anyway?” I asked.

“Oh, of course I am. But I’ll do it more painfully then. Remember who you’re talking to – I’ve been alive for millennia, you learn a lot about the way the body and the universe work. I could tear you all apart atom by atom if I wanted, and I’d barely break a sweat. That’s what I’d do; there’s a fun little point right before you can’t feel it where it’ll hurt like nothing you’d imagine.” As she spoke, she stepped closer to me. “Of course it’d overload your brain and nervous system with so much sensation that you’d die there and then, but fortunately, I’ve managed to perfect controlling all that. I could keep you alive down to the last two atoms, then let you fade into the wind.”

“You’ve put up a valiant fight, and unlike all the others before you, thanks to Discord, you managed to actually learn how it all works. You even managed to win when luck favored me; those guards happened to run across this door, and you managed to take care of them. But it ends here.” She stood only a foot from my face, learning her neck down to look me eye-to-eye. “Now I’ll ask you one more time. Step away and save yourself a little misery.”

“No.” I said flatly. “We have one moment of defiance against you. Everyone, you can listen if you want, but I don’t care how much it hurts. I’m making my stand. Pry me away from this panel, if you dare.” Celestia chuckled, stepping back.

“As you wish.” At that, her horn began glowing a radiant pink. My legs seized up, moving against my will to move me away from the panel. “You’re first.” She said in an almost demonic hiss. “Lets save the vital parts for last. This little foreleg of yours?” The glow from her horn increased, holding the others in-place and raising my right foreleg. “You don’t really need this, do you?” As she spoke, I watched as my foreleg began dematerializing right before my eyes.

Then the pain set in.

I bit my lip until it bled trying to hold it in, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of my scream. I was only able to hold it for a second or two. I howled in pain, feeling the most excruciating sensation I’ve ever felt. I thought I would die there, even though no blood was spilled, even though no vital organs were being harmed. I probably would’ve if she weren’t keeping me alive to experience every single second of agony.

In a matter of seconds that felt like centuries, my right foreleg was almost completely gone, down to a stump protruding inches from my chest.

“There, that feel good?” She asked rhetorically, grinning all the while. “Now, lets have some fun with that other foreleg.” She began raising my other foreleg up to destroy it, before it, along with the rest of my body, was released. I slumped to the ground, writhing in pain. As I did, I heard a scream that sounded ten times more horrific than my own.

“You…you…b-bastard…” Celestia managed, gasping in pain. A horn no longer protruded from her head, a jagged stump in its place. The horn was instead in the mouth of another pony; Promontory. He had survived the fight with the guards, albeit he was bloodied, limping, and with one bruised eyelid swollen shut. All the beating in the world though had left him still strong enough to pull a train on his own, and strong enough to tear a horn from a unicorn’s head. He spat it into the air, catching it on his hat.

“Ah’ don’t die easily.” He said with a grin. “Can’t cast any spells now, can ya’? Yer’ just an oversized pegasus.”

“It…It’ll grow back. I’m only…stuck like…stuck like this…a few months.”

“You’re not living a few months.” Vinyl replied. “If you’re without your magic, we’re not that easy prey for you anymore.”

“You’ll…die killing me. I guarantee you that.” She shot back.

“It’s…a deal." Caesar panted, trying to pull himself onto his three remaining hooves. He fell over, still shaky and sweating from the pain, before managing to get onto a footing with his three legs, albeit a wobbly one.

“We’ve…we’ve won…haven’t we? It doesn’t matter what happens to us. We’ve…won. As long as your reign ends…we’ve freed Equestria.”

“No, not quite.” A new voice chimed in.

The seven in the room turned their gaze towards the doorway. Standing in it now were two stallions and a mare, all three unicorns. The first stallion had a powder blue coat, and a white mane and tail, a golden wreath adorning his flank. The mare had a light tan coat and a brown mane, with a red apple as her cutie mark. The third of the three, also the tallest and the one in the center, was a similar shade of grey to Caesar, with jet black hair. They had eyes of gold, blue, and purple, respectively, and all three were wearing suits. The admissions examiners for the school, another group of possible Game Masters on Caesar’s list.

Author's Note

I don't know why, but I really love making my villains deliciously psychotic and detailed in how they make the life/lives of the hero(es) hell, both mentally and physically.

Act V, Chapter IX

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter IX, Act V
The Real Masters

“About time you three showed up.” Celestia said, annoyance coming in through pain.

“Shut up.” The grey one said.

“H-how dare you?!”

“I said,” His horn began glowing, and the princess floated into the air, before being thrown to the side, a loud crack coming from one of her hindlegs as she hit the side of the platform, along with a scream. “Shut up.”

“Who…are you?” Caesar asked weakly.

“Caesar, leader of the resistance, right?” The blue stallion asked. “If it can be called that. I guess you all deserve to know the names of the ponies who’re going to kill you. I’m Noble Laureate, and the big grey fellow’s Arpeggio Septimo, though students like to call him Bastion Yorsets. The pretty filly’s—“

“Will you shut up too?” Arpeggio shouted at Laureate.

“Sheesh, have a flair for dramatics. Can’t we ham up the occasion and have a little fun with these rebels?”

“Having fun with these rebels is what got us into this mess in the first place, you idiot.”

“Didn’t you say to let them live though, Peggy?” The mare said to Arpeggio, playfully running her tail under his jaw. “I’m Apple Polish, by the way, since Peggy cut off Noble. No relation to that family of hick farmers in Ponyville, do not ask me that.”

“I did.” Septimo answered. “Because they allowed us to get rid of Celestia.”

“W…what are you…what did you do?” The princess demanded, trying to get up before crumpling back down on the broken leg.

“You think you’re the only one more intelligent, with more longevity than the rest of us. But you’re not.” Arpeggio started. “We may have been created in this little playlab of yours, but we’re every bit as smart as you. Considering we’ve controlled you the last seventy or so years, probably smarter.”

“You…were created? But…when? How?”

“I escaped.” He replied simply. “The nightly guard you assign to kill any clones that escape, then kill and replace because he knows too much? I got out on his shift. I killed him before he could kill me, then made a copy of him. You were too arrogant to believe one of your clones broke out and escaped, so you believed that drivel backstory I came up with.”

“And us, well, you were there to make us.” Laureate chirped. “But you made the mistake of letting Septy here program our heads. He made us loyal to him first.”

“You’ve been a pawn yourself since you let him in on your little secret.” Polish added.

“The arrogant are so very easy to control.” Arpeggio said flatly.

“You…you…I’ll kill…” She tried to get back up again, before crumpling down once more.

“And how will you do that without your horn?” Arpeggio asked. With a chuckle, he turned to the others. “I should thank you all. Without your little diversion, we never could’ve pulled this little coup of ours off. Not only did you distract our little princess, but you gave us a way to off her.”

“So then…what now?” Caesar asked.

“Now? We kill you lot, then start running things my way.” He cocked his head when the look of shock came onto Caesar’s face. “Oh, don’t act so surprised. Did you think we were somehow going to be in cahoots with you? We’re not. You’re a means to an end. Nothing more.”

“But…but why? Why would you want to continue this?” He asked.

“Why would you want to end it?” Arpeggio answered. “There’s no war. No famine. No suffering, nothing bad. We’ve created utopia in Equestria. Why would we destroy that?”

“Because it’s meaningless. It’s not like this because Ponies are capable of it, it’s because you forced them to it.”

“I forced them to a perfect world. How is that a bad thing?”

“Because to do it, you robbed them of their free will. You forced them to live their lives a certain way, made them nothing more than puppets!”

“And because of it, they’re all living happily.”

“Not all of them. Have you ever seen a starving artist? Or somepony who wanted to be a hoofball player, but broke a leg and couldn’t keep playing? Or somepony else who was denied their dream? Who was denied even a chance to try to achieve it all because of your ‘utopia’? I see them every day. They become employees in companies like mine. This may be utopia to you, but to them, it’s a life plagued with what-ifs and regrets. A life that’s not worth living.”

“And what about everyone you’ve killed? All the innocents that asked the wrong question or did the wrong thing, saw behind the curtain, and had to be replaced to keep ‘utopia’ alive?

“So I have to smash a few eggs to make an omelette. Isn’t it worth it? Isn’t it worth ending all the suffering?”

“Maybe you have done some good. Maybe you have fixed some of the world’s problems. But you’ve gone too far. Maybe it won’t be as perfect, but the world’s not going to collapse if you let us live our lives as we choose again. Giving us free will won’t end the world!”

“And what if it does? Celestia spent centuries before us making this harmony. We’ve maintained it for decades. What happens if it all comes crashing down and we have to recreate it?”

“Then so be it. But to keep us all acting how we’re supposed to according to you three, instead of giving us the ability to choose our own destiny…it’s the same as death, just prolonged. It’s something we can’t change, can’t control, can’t truly enjoy. We’re just acting how we have to in order to maintain your vision, never truly enjoying our lives, alive but never truly living…it’s worse than death.”

“So naïve. I remember when I was like that…well, it’s not that important, at any rate, you’re all still dying. ‘Tia would’ve preferred to keep you alive for some dramatic nonsense. Me, I’m much more utilitarian.”

“Say, Trixie?” Vinyl whispered to the magician.

“What is it?” Trixie asked.

“Remember the course we took the final for right before all this?” There was a moment of silence before Trixie whispered again.

“Are you suggesting that we--?”

“Yes I am.”

“It’s that or die. Lets do it.”

Author's Note

Hooray for philosophical debates on the merits of free will vs. a utopian society! Actually ended up getting philosophical for what was originally written with the intent of making escapism fun, kind of proud of that.

Also, because I know someone will say something about it if I don't put this in here; The reason Vinyl doesn't just shoot them is because they're unicorns. Magic tends to be able to stop bullets if its user wants to stop bullets. Especially when the users are instructors at a school for especially gifted magic users, run by a being with godlike magical powers. It'd be wasted ammunition and opportunity, and she's smart enough to know that.

Act V, Chapter XI

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter XI, Act V
Peace of Mind

I could barely see. I tried opening my eyes, but the light stung too much to do much more than squint.

“He’s waking up.” An unfamiliar voice said. “Increase the anesthetic dosage.” I tried to move, but couldn’t. My entire body was either numb, or aching. A few moments later I felt a soothing feeling come over me as the aches disappeared, and I drifted back off to sleep.

Sleep.

A world inside my mind.

A world that was, at the moment, blank. Flat black, with me floating somewhere in it. I could tell it was a dream since I had all four legs, but I couldn’t wake up. Not that I didn’t mind right now.

“Caesar.” A familiar voice called. I spun to see that behind me, the only other being in the void, was the princess. The one I had been battling, and the one who now fought for us, even briefly.

“Celestia?” I asked, still not entirely clear on what was going on, in or outside of my head.

“So you can hear me then.”

“What’s happening on your end? There was a flash, and we were on a dirt road, and I passed out, and I woke up, but I was being drugged by…”

“Caesar, relax. You’re with Coppercog, the roboticist I mentioned, right now. The way I destroyed your foreleg meant that to connect the prosthetic to nerve ends and give you control of it just like a real leg, he has to do some minor surgery. He’s only drugging you with anesthetics. You have nothing immediate to worry about.”

“…And what about you?” I asked. It felt odd, this figure I had seen as an embodiment of evil had now saved my life, and was fighting for us. She had tortured me only a short while before, and she had been a tyrant for centuries, but a common enemy is enough to warm relations.

“I’m still alive for the time being, so I’m well, given the circumstances. I don’t know how much longer that will be the case though. They’re not making it easy for me.”

“How are you here if you’re fighting? You can’t be here, you need to focus on the fight.” Admittedly, it was as much because I wanted her out of my head as because of what I said that I wanted her to leave.

“I’m thousands of years old, Caesar. I’ve learned a lot of tricks in my time. One of them is projecting my voice to the mind of another, and one of them is being able to focus perfectly on two separate tasks. In this case, speaking to you, and fighting for my life.”

“It’s funny, isn’t it?” She started. “Not even an hour ago, you and I wanted each other dead. And now we’re fighting together, for however long I can hold them off.”

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” I said simply, voicing my thoughts. "Though you did torture me, and were ready to kill all six of us...I'm not sure I'd call us 'allies' quite yet."

“There may not be time to do so later, but I can't say I blame you…Caesar, I don’t expect you or the others to forgive me. I don’t deserve it after the centuries I’ve done what I’ve done for. I…I thought it was the right choice at the time. And to some extent...I still do. Seeing what Sombra had done, I…I couldn’t let anypony ever live in fear of that again. I made it happen, even if I had to throw away my friends to do it…I froze Discord, and when my sister found out, I sent her to the moon…I’ve spent centuries alone. Centuries feeling like the only being with a real mind. A real free will. It gave me a lot of time to reflect. Time to think that maybe what I had done was wrong. But by the time I thought about what I’d done…I didn’t feel I could change it.”

“So what’s changed?” I asked.

“You.” She said. “Discord gave you a window of opportunity, and you saved me by taking it. Because of you, I was humbled. Because of you, I saw that what I had done could be undone. That self-determination could be returned to Equestria. …And I heard Arpeggio. Hearing him talk to me like that…talk to you like that…it made me realize that I had become the very despot I had wanted to prevent. I'm still not sure that I agree with you, and I'm still not sure I like you. But I'd rather Equestria be in your hooves than in Arpeggio's, and I'm not going to live either way.”

"You're that remorseful after ten minutes?" I interrupted. "Just...'poof, I'm fighting for freedom now!'?"

"Actually, it's been more of two hours. You've been in surgery a little while now."

"Oh. ...Well, still, that quick?"

"When you're about to die, you have to decide things quickly. I've believed for so long that what I was doing was right. I still do to an extent. But I'm not going to just let myself be killed so it can continue. Arpeggio...he won't actually have any concern for those he's protecting. Utopia is all that matters to him, not its inhabitants. I'm not going to let that happens, even if it means helping you."

“Again, while I hope for it, I don’t expect or deserve your forgiveness. But please know that I will watch over you. Though my body may die, one like me can never truly be killed. I will always be with you and your comrades. Protecting, guiding, doing whatever I must to undo what I’ve done.”

“I appreciate that.” I said, unsure of what to say. “It’s funny, I may be an earth pony, and you may be an Alicorn, I may be a commoner, and you may be a princess, but deep down, we’re not that different. We both did what we’ve done to try and protect the people we knew and loved from a tyrant taking their freedom.”

“Except the princess loses, in the end.” Celestia chuckled. “Caesar, if I cannot defeat all of them, go to Stalliongrad. The Russireans never acted in rebellion, but they were never fond of the way I ran things, and that was before they knew what I was really doing. They’ll support you, and they’re likely the only country with a large enough force to oppose Arpeggio and the others. You can free this world, but you must act smartly. If you are rash, all will be as it was under me.”

“Acting smartly has been my forte.” I said confidently. The princess smiled.

“In that case, freedom may return to the land soon. I look forward to seeing it from whatever cloud I’m on. I must go now – I can only split my focus for so long, and the two of them aren’t letting up at all.”

“Two? There were three?” I asked.

“Lets just say Noble’s always been a sparky one. It only seemed fitting to treat him thusly.”

“Good luck princess.”

“Thank you. If you manage to return from Russire and save Equestria, please, tell Luna of what really was. I convinced her I was different when she came back. She’ll believe you if you show her the evidence you gathered, but you’ll never get past Arpeggio to her. Tell her that I’m so sorry, for then, for now, for all of it. That I’m sorry I stole her family from her right as she came back home. She’ll understand what has happened with your evidence. And once she does…so will Twilight…”

“Who?”

“No one you need worry about right now. Good luck Caesar, and remember; I will be with you, always.”

And with that, she was gone. I was once more alone in my head.

The white platform was now stained with drops of sweat, and splotches of blood. Noble Laureate lay off to the side, eyes wide and coat standing on end, sparks flying off of his mane and horn. In the center was Apple Polish, her fur charred. Arpeggio stood at one end of the platform, Celestia on the other. Both were breathing heavily, and covered in nicks, scrapes, and wounds. All superficial, except for one on Celestia. A single gash in the side of her chest was bleeding badly.

“You’ve lost, princess.” Arpeggio said. “We’re both wounded, but…yours are fatal. And…and neither of us has much magic left.”

“Your cronies are…dead though.”

“I’ll make new ones.” He said simply. “I made them once, I can…do it again.”

“No…you won’t.” She said.

“Who’s going to stop me, you? You’re barely clinging to life. And you’re all out of spells.”

“Maybe…maybe I am. But so are you. Ponies haven’t…haven’t always had spells though. Every creature was…wild at some point, us included. Pegasi survived by flying…earth ponies through toughness…you want to know…how unicorns survived before magic?”

“One last lesson from dear Princess Celestia? How fortunate I am.” Arpeggio spat. “Indulge me. I don’t see why not.”

“Two words: Sharpened horns.”

“…What?”

“They’re kept dull now for safety. But mine?” A wicked grin came across the princess’ face. “Sharp as a sword.”

“Wait, don’t—“ Before Arpeggio could finish, the princess charged at him with a scream, ramming into him headfirst. The two stood there, Celestia’s horn clean through Arpeggio’s stomach, his eyes wide in shock as he stared at the appendage sticking through him. He was too stunned even to scream.

“Heh.” The princess started. Her words were forced, the lasts of her energy. “Shame you were…such a big…mistake…that fixing it…came…to this.” She closed her eyes, slumping down. “I told you…that I’d…take you…with me…” With that, she went limp, lying peacefully on the ground. A silent, eternal sleep. Arpeggio fell off her horn, now bleeding from the wound in his stomach.

“B-bitch…d—gnkh!” He crumpled over in pain, grabbing at his stomach with one foreleg, dragging himself towards the pod controls with the other, blood from the wound trailing behind him. “Not…today…not…dying…yet…” He loosely tapped controls on the screen, altering three different pods. Once finished, he pulled himself over to the pod the unfinished clone had come from, wincing as he crawled into it over the glass of the shattered canopy, shards cutting his skin even more than it had already been damaged. “Not…dying…today…” A few seconds later, the pod flooded with a lime green liquid.

“Changeling incubation fluid.” Arpeggio thought to himself. “These things created me, so this stuff will keep me alive long enough for new versions of Noble and Apple to get me medical attention. Shame that one incomplete clone broke the roof, or I could use it to fix myself right now....” As his pod filled, two more pods lowered. They opened on their own rather than being broken open, more incubation fluid flooding the platform, and new versions of Apple Polish and Noble Laureate, sans suits, falling out with them.

“What…where am I?” the new Noble asked.

“Noble?” Apple Polish asked, looking at him confusedly.

“Apple? What’re you doing he—“ He cut himself off upon seeing the body of the princess. As well as the bodies of himself and Apple Polish.

“…Well, this looks bad.” Apple commented simply. “When was our last backup?”

“Well before all this.” Noble replied. He looked around, then saw the pod Arpeggio was in. “That might have some answers.” He hopped up, walking over to it and seeing Arpeggio inside. “Peggy! You can answe—holy crap that’s a nasty looking hole in your stomach…”

“What Noble’s trying to say is; what’s going on?” Apple said. Arpeggio rolled his eyes, unable to speak through the incubation fluid, gesturing to the control panel. The two shrugged, walking over to it. A note had been typed on the screen.

“Noble, Apple,” Noble started. “Blabla fight, blablabla…huh. Apparently the last iterations of us died fighting the princess.”

“Sounds painful.”

“Looks painful too…” Noble winced as he looked at the sparking body of his previous self. “’I’ll explain everything once you two patch up the hole in my stomach our princess left.’ Works for me. Magic works through incubation fluid, right?”

“Only one way to find out.” The two nodded to each other, returning to the pod and leaning their heads over it.

Act V, Chapter XII

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter XII, Act V
Eye Of The Storm

“How long has he been in there?” Trixie asked worriedly.

“’Bout an hour.” Promontory answered.

“Should it be taking this long?”

“Ain’t never known nopony that needed somethin’ like this, yer’ askin’ the wrong pony, Miss Trixie.”

The other five members of the group were sitting in a waiting room. It was like that of any doctor’s office, small but not quite cramped, drab beige walls, vinyl flooring, and a ceiling that’s way too low. There was a small TV in the corner, playing the Hoofball championship between the San Franciscolt 94ers and the Baltimare Griffons.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Vinyl said. She was watching the game, but it was clear to anyone who knew her that she was just as much worried as she was enjoying the game. “The princess wouldn’t have recommended this Coppercog guy if he didn’t know what he was doing.”

“Of course she would.” Trixie snapped. “You remember why we were there, right?”

“I do.” Came the reply. “I don’t think she would’ve teleported us out of there if she still felt that way about us. Caesar’s going to be fine. …At least, as much as he can after that.”

“Your friend’s right.” A female voice off to the side said to Trixie. “Coppercog is one of the best in Equestria, he’ll fix your friend up just fine.”

“See?” Vinyl said. “I told you. Thanks for the supp—gaah!” She jumped out of her chair as she turned to face the voice, seeing a creature of sickly green with an unnerving resemblance to the clone that had attacked Caesar. “Get back! I’m warning you!” She waved a hoof at the creature in a combination of fear and anger.

“Oh will you calm down, Vinyl Scratch?” Another voice said to her. This time it was a unicorn stallion; a brown coat, goatee, and mane, with streaks of grey throughout, and a diploma on his flank. He wore a blue suit, with a green bowtie around his neck. “Terribly sorry Miss…Yhsrettulf, isn’t it? She’s had bad experiences with changelings before. Try not to worry about it too much.”

“Oh, alright then…” With a bit of a sad look on her face, the changeling shuffled off to check on the progress with the surgery.

“That’s Coppercog’s assistant, genius.” The brown stallion scolded.

“Who the hell are you? Vinyl demanded. “And how do you know my name?”

“My voice doesn’t ring a bell?” He asked in a mockingly hurt tone. “Not my pretty little eyes? Well now I’m just crushed. Completely, utterly crushed.”

“Get to the point.”

“It’s me, Discord. Being the dashing, handsome thing that I normally am isn’t very subtle when you just feigned a world takeover, so I decided I’d try a more…equestrian look to get to all of you unnoticed. Apparently it’s better than expected if you can’t recognize me.”

“And why should we believe you?” Trixie asked, to which the stallion simply rolled his eyes. He hopped up, clicked his hooves together, and in a puff of pink smoke, was gone. In his place, Discord.

“There. Believe me now?”

“But Celestia said her students defeated you?”

“Yes, well, her death threw the whole ‘elements of harmony’ thing out of order, which set me free again.” He stopped for a moment, noticing the shocked look on the faces around him. “Oh, right, she teleported you all out before all that. Sad news, everyone. Celestia is dead. She died fighting those three ponies that betrayed her and buying time for you all.”

“She’s…dead?” Vinyl asked in disbelief.

“Yes. That’s what you were planning on doing too, wasn’t it? Did you think you could just talk her down? It was going to be you or them.”

“I guess, but…she’s basically a goddess or something, right? That three ponies were able to kill her…doesn’t bode well for us.”

“Those were far from average ponies. You’ll learn more later.”

“So what are you doing here then?” The Doctor asked. “Even chaos has some reason to it.”

“Perceptive as ever, Mr. Smith.”

“Mr Smith?” Trixie asked.

“Yes Matthew, Mr. Smith?” Discord echoed mockingly.

“Matt Smith?” Trixie asked again. “What a boring name…”

“Another name I’m called somewhere else. Long story. Not relevant. Why are you here again, Discord?”

“To relay the news and make sure things are going not-dead with all of you. After all, it’d be a shame for me to be free only to see the best thing to happen for chaos in centuries die. Also, to give you these.” He snapped his fingers, a set of tickets appearing in them.

“For a ferry from the Baltimare Inner Harbor to Stalliongrad. ‘Lesty wanted you to go there, she thought it’d be your best chance of getting a force big enough to fight her betrayers. I took the liberty of alerting your daughters, Derpy. They packed everyone’s things, and are waiting for you all right outside the stadiums.”

“Why should we believe you?” Vinyl asked.

“Because if it weren’t for me, you’d still be back in that school of theirs, waiting for either a much less useful opportunity to strike, or for ‘Lesty to get bored and kill you all. I’d say that’s worth trusting me because of.”

“How are we supposed to get there?” She asked again. “By the time we’d get to the harbor, the championship will be over. This whole town’s wrapped up watching their Griffons in the championship, if they win there’ll be happy rioting, and if they lose there’ll be angry rioting. Neither is very easy to navigate.”

“Leave that to me.” At that, Discord snapped his fingers. On the broadcast of the championship, the lights in the stadium suddenly died. “Lights dying in the middle of a championship, don’t think that one’s been done before…It’ll be a half hour before they can resume play. I’ll make sure it’s a close finish too. Nobody will be out there to get in your way.”

“Wait, so you decide games?” Vinyl demanded.

“When I’m bored.” He replied.

“I knew Baltimare couldn’t have gotten this far without divine favor or something! You’re helping your team!”

“Oh come now. If I played favorites, I wouldn’t be very chaotic. Besides, if I always pick Baltimare, why’d I help Neighmath all those years ago?”

“Enough of this though, I’m bored, and a princess of the moon needs consoling. Stay safe, you’re the best hope I have for chaos, and I don’t want to have to find new candidates.” At that, he snapped his fingers, and was gone.

Arpeggio gasped, lifting his head out of the incubation fluid and breathing in air for the first time in hours. He patted his stomach, feeling the newly formed flesh over where the hole had been. Healing magic normally can’t fix something like that, but the incubation fluid and the electronics of the stasis pod made tissue generation much easier, to the point two unicorns like Noble and Apple could do it. It would take time for the coat to grow back, but it was nothing he couldn’t cover with a suit.

“Alright, I’ll put it quick for you two.” He said to the newly formed Noble and Apple. “Discord got out somehow, and while he was out, those rebels managed to get in here. They know about everything. Celestia got here first, then we did. When she learned what was going on, she teleported them away. We don’t know where because they crippled our surveillance systems. Once they left, we fought her. We won, she’s dead, but you two died, and I almost did.”

“I assume you have a plan?” Apple asked.

“Do I ever not?” Arpeggio shot back. “First off, we go public with Celestia’s death. We can blame the six of them for it. Make them public enemy #1, at least in Amareica. Avoids it blowing up in our face, too. Second, we promote Luna.”

“She doesn’t like what we’re doing though, if Celestia is to be believed. If she finds out about this, it could cause a problem.” Noble added.

“She won’t. We were able to hide our plan from Celestia, we can hide this from Luna, especially a grief-stricken Luna.”

“Why not Sparkle? Celestia’s student?”

“Promote her from a commoner to supreme ruler? Too hasty, it’ll set off alarms in the public’s mind.”

“Okay, is that all?” Noble asked.

“Not quite.” Arpeggio added. “We’re going to need a more easily controlled force to hunt for them now. I think we can make some alterations to the clones; make them look more robotic, convince the princess they’re not real.”

“And make a clone army? What is this, Stare Wars?” Apple sighed.

“Tell me it’s not practical. An infinite army of identical puppets with little resource drain? We don’t even need to give them rations or medics, just make new ones. They’ll need a leader though…a master puppet…I’ll take care of that myself.”

“Luna?” Discord asked. He looked around the chamber. It was a large, dark room, on the highest tower in the castle. It served as an observatory until the princess of the night had taken it over, turning it into her bedroom and study until a new one was constructed. The only light in it was from the half moon shining in the night sky through the gigantic glass doors on the outer wall. Past the doors was a small balcony, on which a telescope sat. “Luna, where are you?”

“What dost thou want, Discord?” The princess asked, clearly not in a very good mood. “To throw Equestria unto more chaos?”

“Still using the royal voice…look, I…sorry about that whole…completely messing up the entire world thing. I got kind of…pent up after a thousand years.”

“A feeling We know all too well.”

“Right, the moon, I heard about that…well, listen, Luna. I hate to be the baron of bad news, but you should hear it from someone you consider a friend. …Or at least considered a friend at some point.”

“We know already.”

“What?”

“Our own sister. We could sense her pain, yet We were…We…We were powerless.” Her voice shook as she spoke. She turned to face Discord, tears running down her face glinting in the moonlight. “If thou art freed, then the only explanation…” She trailed off, either unable or unwilling to finish as more tears fell from her eyes. Discord knelt down, wrapping his arms around the dark blue Alicorn in a hug.

“I’m so sorry, Luna. I know how much she meant to you, and how happy you were to be with her again.”

“Tis’ not fair!” She cried, her tears staining Discord’s shoulder. “We arrive back, and…and…We lose our sister within a cycle!”

“We may have had disagreements in the past, but I’m free now, and I’m clearheaded after getting that whole outburst earlier out. You were always nice to me, even when ‘Lesty and I had…heated disagreements. Whatever you need, I’m here for.”

“Discord, We…We thank thee. Thou…had been a good friend before…before ‘Tia sealed thee.”

“Thank you. And I plan to be a good friend again. But first, you have to listen to me.” In an instant, Discord’s tone changed from consoling to foreboding.

“D…Discord?” She started, dabbing her eyes with a stroke of her wings, the tears running off her feathers and shattering on the stone floor. “Never serious…thou art never serious…what has thou so troubled?”

“I can’t tell you right now. There’s not enough time. But you have to trust me. There will be three unicorns who will come to you within the hour. A flamboyant blue stallion with a yellow mane, a terse, tan mare with a brown mane and a foul temper, and a grey stallion with a very ominous air about him. Listen to them and go along with every word they say. Make no mention of my speaking to you, and do as they tell you. Give them an impression of control. But do not trust them. Every word they will tell you is a lie. You will want to, and they will give you ample reason, but you must never take them on their word, under no circumstance. They are not your friends, they are not my friends, they were not ‘Lesty’s friends, and they’re liars. You cannot confront them now though. For now you need to play along. I can explain everything later, but they’ll be here before I have a chance. Do you trust me?”

“We…Discord, We…I…” She tried to speak, but was clearly still upset over the loss. Discord put a finger to her lips, silencing her.

“You don’t need to trouble yourself with an answer. Just nod yes or no. Do you trust me?” There was a moment of silence, after which Luna nodded. “Alright then. You remember how to contact me?” Another nod. “Good. Whenever you’re alone and certain you won’t be interrupted, call on me and I’ll explain what I can. Until then, I’ll be hiding in plain sight, as always.” At that, Discord tugged at Luna one more time before getting up, opening the glass doors, and walking out onto the balcony.

“And Luna? Remember that no matter what, she’s with you. Ponies may have a set life span, but spirits like you, me, and ‘Lesty? We’re not so easy to kill. Even if you can’t see her physically, even if she’s gone from the physical world, your sister’s still with you, and she still loves you.” With those words, he snapped his fingers, disappearing in a cloud of pink smoke.

Author's Note

I have no idea what I am doing when I try to make Luna speak old English. I just throw words that seem like they'd fit in there.

Also huge thank-you to the wonderful Dr. Javi(drjavi.deviantart.com/drjavi.tumblr.com), mod/owner of the Tumblr askblog "Ask Coppercog(askcoppercog.tumblr.com) for giving me permission to use Coppercog and Yshrettulf in My Little Clony. They're his characters, so I can't take credit for how well the cameo fit my plans!

Also, big big BIG cookie point if you can get the references to real-life events!

Act V, Chapter XIII

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter XIII, Act V
Awaken

The black walls of a blank mind began fading, replaced with a sterile white room. I opened my eyes, still sensitive to the light of the room. I heard a voice I didn’t recognize speaking off to my right. It was muffled and unclear, especially next to an odd ringing in my ears. As I shook my head, the light seemed to dim, and I was more able to open my eyes.

“Caesar?” The voice slowly started to come more and more into focus. It was a stallion. I looked over to face him. He had a teal coat, with a similarly coloured mane. A mechanical-looking horn was in the center of his forehead, whether it was a replacement for one he had lost or one he had simply added, I wasn’t sure. If it was a replacement, it was far from his only one – all four of his legs were replaced with mechanical ones.

“Good, you’re awake now.” He said.

“Who…who are you? I passed out, and I woke up here…” I held a hoof to my forehead, still trying to piece together the last few hours. It had happened so bizarrely I wasn’t sure I didn’t simply dream the whole thing up.

I got an unpleasant reminder though when the hoof that rested on my skull didn’t feel right. Instead of the smooth, natural lukewarm of keratin, it was the cold feeling of titanium. I pulled it away from my head and glanced down. My entire right foreleg was now a mechanical replacement, much like the one on the teal pony.

I reared back in shock. It wasn’t a dream after all.

“It’s a little weird not having the real thing for the first few weeks.” He said. “You get used to it pretty quickly, though. I’m Coppercog by the way.”

“I...um…thanks, I’m…Caesar.” I was still very disoriented, barely speaking coherently through the anisthetics and the shock.

“It’s weird, I’ve never worked with a stump quite like yours.” He turned around, pulling up various X-rays and charts of what I assumed were the remains of my right foreleg. “The muscles look like they’ve been working with a full leg your entire life, but the stump’s as clean as if you were born without it.”

“I…it’s a long story. Did I…were there any other ponies with me?”

“Yes, actually.” Coppercog turned back to face me. “Five if I recall. One of them was pretty beat-up, did something happen to you on your way here?”

“You could say that. It’s not that important though.” It really was pretty important, but I didn’t feel like talking about it while I was still coming down from the anesthetics. That, and even if I did tell him what happened, he’d probably dismiss it as some wild mid-operation hallucination because of the anesthetics.

“Um…so…do I need to know anything about…” I trailed off, still staring at my new robotic appendage.

“Oh, right, yes. Ehm, not really. Just try and keep it clean. It’s titanium, so it’s not going to corrode in our lifetimes unless you’re trying to corrode it, and the joints are sealed pretty well, but there’s still no better way to keep them from gunking up than keeping it clean. Outside of that, try to use it fairly lightly for a few weeks. Normally you can use it right away, but like I said, your case was very unusual, so some minor surgery was required to make it so you can use it properly. It’ll be sore and a little swollen for a few weeks, but it should be pain free and normal size again within a month. Probably a good idea to take it off when you plan on sleeping or showering, ”

“That’s really all there is that needs worrying though. I use my prosthetic legs myself, so I have a personal interest in making them work seamlessly. It’s just like your real ones, but metal. Powered off body heat, and it reads nerve impulses in the stump to work. You control it with your brain, just like your old one. Yours is a new one that even gives the nerves sensations, so you can feel things with it. It’s nowhere near as accurate as the real thing at that yet – you’ll probably have as good an idea what something feels like as a 10-minute sketch would give you of what it looks like, but it’s a lot better than not feeling anything. I’m working on improving it, too. Come back to me in a few years and I may have it down as good as your other legs. It’s a little heavier, but all in all it’s a very faithful recreation.”

“Good, good…”

“Any other questions?”

“Um…where are we?”

“Baltimare, about a half hour out from the Inner Harbor.”

“Right…Where can I find the…the ponies I came here with?”

“Right through here.” Coppercog gestured to a door out of the room. “Take the first left, then just keep going. You’ll find the waiting room at the end of the hall.”

“Alright, thanks.” I got up, shifting awkwardly as I tried to place weight on the new limb. Even if it was a realistic recreation, it was still going to take getting used to. I walked out of the room, more limping on the new leg to save time than actually using it normally for now.

“Princess?” Arpeggio asked. The three stood outside of the door to the observatory. “Can we come in?” The door creaked open wordlessly, the three unicorns walking into the dark room. A faint breeze was blowing through an opened door to the balcony, on which Luna sat.

“…Princess Luna, I’m Arpeggio Septimus. One of your sister’s advisors. These other two with me are Noble Laureate and Apple Polish, two other advisors. We…have some very bad news.”

“We art already aware.” She said simply.

“…What?”

“Alicorns art not like other ponies. We could…sense Sister’s pain. We…know that she is…” She trailed off, biting her lip.

“We’re very sorry. We’ve known and served her well for years, we’re all heartbroken as well.”

“Not as much as her sister though, I imagine.” Apple Polish added.

“Unfortunately, I must ask for you to perform royal duties in spite of your loss.”

“What is it thou wishes of Us?” Luna asked.

“We…have an idea who killed your sister.” A faint glow emanated from Arpeggio’s horn, stealing the specks of moonlight that were shining in. They contorted, forming the faces of six ponies.

“Caesar, Derpy Hooves, Doctor Whooves, Promontory, Vinyl Scratch, and a performer known as Trixie. They formed a group a while back convinced your sister was some sort of tyrant. We were monitoring them, but didn’t think they would actually try and assassinate her.”

“We were…gravely wrong. A mistake we cannot repay.”

“We can try to bring some closure to this all though. With your sister’s passing, you are the grand ruler of Equestria. If you order it as such, we can make them public enemies. It’ll be a witchunt, and we’ll find them within days.”

“They match Discord’s descriptions exactly…” Luna thought silently. “Why should I believe him? He just got done turning Equestria into his playground! But…the only time I’d ever seen him serious in thousands of years was when he and ‘Tia were arguing about…that project of hers all those years ago…and he was serious tonight…can I trust him?”

“Princess? Is something wrong?”

“I…We…We still do not feel clear-minded enough to act upon…Sister’s stead.”

“Respectfully, milady, this is to bring her killers to justice.”

“I...We shall sign it. But…nay shall we do it immediately.”

“But…but they could escape to Saddle Arabia or Maredrid or—“

“Enough.” Luna said flatly. “Your princess has spoken. We shall sign, but…not tonight. Please, not tonight.” A tear ran down her face, and Arpeggio nodded.

“Very well, I understand. We will come see you in the morning then.” At that, the three of them saw themselves out. Luna turned from the doorway to the starry night sky, a small smile on her face.

“Stallions always fall for the waterworks…You were right, ‘Tia…right as always…” The fake tears were soon replaced by very real ones as the thoughts about her sister returned.

I glanced around. Most of them were too nervous to even notice I had come back into the room. I shifted awkwardly, still getting used to the new leg.

“…Hi guys.” I started nervously. I had no idea what had happened since I had blacked out, and felt very uncomfortable at the moment. Vinyl was the first to jump up, running over to me.

“Caesar!” She said, a mix of concern and joy in her voice. “You’re alright!”

“Marginally, anyway.” I said with a chuckle.

“Right, the leg…Well, the new one…um…it looks real…except, you know…it’s covered in metal, not fur…how does it feel?”

“Weird. I’m sure I’ll get used to it, but it’s this weird gap between feeling like my real leg, and just being completely alien. I’m…not sure how to describe it. Like I said, it’s weird…”

“Trixie hates to break up the pleasantries, but we have matters that need attending.” Trixie chimed in, walking up behind Vinyl. “We ran into Discord while you were under.”

“He’s free? I thought Celestia said one of her students defeated him?”

“That’s what we said. Apparently he was freed when she died. …On that note, she’s dead.” An uncomfortable silence hung in the air before I broke it.

“I’m…aware. She…contacted me while I was under the anesthetics. …Or at least I think she did. It might have just been a hallucination. What did Discord say?”

“That Celestia wanted us to go to Russire, and that he got Derpy’s family already down here with our stuff packed. Even gave us tickets.”

“That…matches what Celestia told me.” As I spoke, I was wondering if she had split her focus in three and told Discord all this while she was telling me it.

“Also, he’s going to comfort Luna.” Trixie finished.

“So…what now?” Vinyl asked. After a moment of thought, I nodded.

“We go to Russire.” I said matter-of-factly. “Not many other options on our table. We’ll probably be wanted criminals by tomorrow – it’s hard not to notice Celestia being gone, and we’re too convenient a scapegoat for Arpeggio not to use – but I managed to record a lot of what happened. The recording lens was broken when that…thing attacked me, but I have everything up until that. Which, mixed with the DNA sample, should be enough to get us some headway there. There’s probably not much we can do staying in Amareica though.”

Author's Note

Once again, thank you to Dr. Javi(drjavi.deviantart.com/drjavi.tumblr.com), mod/owner of the Tumblr askblog "Ask Coppercog(askcoppercog.tumblr.com) for giving me permission to use Coppercog here. Fingers crossed I managed to make his lines fit his character!

Act V, Chapter XIV

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter XIV, Act V
Family

“So, how did Discord tell Derpy's family without, you know, freaking them out?” I asked as we made our way to the dock. I was still hopping to avoid using the new leg, though I was somewhat more used to it than I had been a short while before.

“He was in the form of a regular-looking pony when he talked with us. ”The Doctor said. “Probably wouldn't have noticed him if he never said anything.”

“And they packed all of our stuff? All six of us?”

“Apparently. Although it might not be 'packed' as much as 'had magically teleported down here in suitcases by Discord.'”

“Fair enough. How many tickets are there, anyway?”

“Eight. One for each of us.”

“Why didn't you make her sign it?” Apple asked.

“Because she wasn't going to. It's already strained after her sister's death, if we have to track those six to another country to tie up the loose ends-“ Arpeggio started, only to be interrupted by Apple Polish.

“Then we might have a damned war on our hooves!” She shouted.

“And we'll win that damned war. Do you really think I hadn't thought this through?”

“Can you blame me after you let this mess happen in the first place? And you're supposed to the big head honcho with all the brains...”

“Yes, in no small part because I was genetically engineered for that. Just like I engineered you two to be helpful, but it seems I wasn't at my best when I did so.”

“And that means?”

"You tell me. After all, you don't think I'm particularly bright, so your guess is as good as mine! Probably better, even!"

“Guys, will you both just shut up?!” Noble, usually very cheery, yelled, clearly upset by the bickering. “Sure, you were genetically engineered for that, and you engineered us for whatever you did, but it doesn't matter a damn bit if we don't trust you, and if we're distracting you from getting your work done!”

“Do you really think that they got what they did accomplished by whining and bickering? Because I don't! If we want to have a chance of taking them down once the princess is ready to sign, we need to focus! We need to trust each other, for all your talk about being created to be the best, we're certainly acting like a bunch of idiots! She didn't sign it, so we just have to wait until tomorrow. Arpeggio's right. It would've been better if we had made her sign it. Apple's right. You're both right, now can we please stop fighting and focus?!” Noble breathed heavily after finishing, looking from one to the other with a crazed look on his face.

“Um…Sorry about that, I…”

“No, you're right.” Apple Polish said. “They had a lot of luck between Celestia's arrogance and Discord's meddling, but the fact is we're not going to get anywhere without focusing and working as a group. Arguing like this is just going to help them.” Arpeggio stared at the two for a moment, then snorted, seemingly unwilling to acknowledge that one of his creations had silenced him.

“Fine.” He said simply. “We do need somepony to track them though. We're too valuable, something a little more mass produced, more disposable…send a few guards out to all the major cities to do a cursory search, I need time to work…”

“How much farther?” I asked, not entirely familiar with the layout of Baltimare. “I'm still trying to get used to this thing, and an hour trek was not what I had in mind to ease into it with.”

“Not much more.” Vinyl, originally from the city, answered. “Take a left up here, walk until you reach the waterfront, and you're there.” She gestured to an intersection about two or three yards ahead of us. We turned the corner, and clear even from how far we were was the image of two unicorns, one pink and one pinkish grey, off near the dock, with a half dozen or so suitcases next to them.

“…What exactly is he doing?” Noble asked.

“Creating a new clone.” Apple answered. “It's what he thinks passes as a hobby. And yes, it is pretty weird. Even I think so, and I actually understand most of this stuff…”

“Quiet.” Arpeggio said, eyes never leaving the touch screen as his hooves danced over it. “I'm making…a masterpiece. Different enough that it'll command respect of the soldiers, and not look unusual, but similar enough to be easily replaced…all its talents designed solely for its purposes…a piece of living, breathing, utilitarian art.”

“...I'm going to assume that when you said weird, you meant creepy.” Noble said, leaning away from Arpeggio. “Was he like this with us?”

“Yes.” The stallion replied, still not even blinking.

“Well now I just feel uncomfortable.” Noble stared at the ground now as he spoke, shuffling his hooves awkwardly.

“It's ready.”

“Mommy!” The tiny grey unicorn yelled, a grin on her face larger than one that could fit on an adult pony's. The grey Pegasus knelt down, and the foal grabbed at her neck with her forelegs, embracing her mother in a hug.

“I'm so so happy you're safe.” Derpy said, drops of happy tears rolling down her cheeks onto her daughter's shoulder.

“Mom, what's going on?” The other unicorn that had been waiting at the docks asked. Her coat was much pinker than her sister's or her mother's, and her mane was purple instead of yellow. “You've disappeared for months, and now suddenly we have to come all the way out to Baltimare with everything packed. What's going on?”

“I can explain.” I said, limping forward on my new leg. “It's been my fault you girls haven't seen your mother much, and for that I'm sorry. I only hope once you understand why, you'll realize that your mother helped in something much greater than any of us could've imagined.”

“Caesar?” Amethyst Star said, her gaze switching between my metal leg and my face. We never really had a chance to sit down and talk, but she and I had met in passing through my friendship with her mother. “…What happened to you?” I chuckled. Sometimes in a bad situation, all you can do is laugh.

“It's a very long story. One that has to do with what I said I'd explain to you both. Can it wait until we're onto the boat?”

“Where are we going? And why? I'm not leaving until you explain that.”

“Amethyst, please, for all we know we don't have much time to-“

“You don't.” An unknown voice said from behind. I turned, to see three pegasi of the Royal Guard, their coats gleaming white even in the night, behind us. “You'll be coming with us.”

“Easy now. You don't understand the way things really are, please, believe me.” I pleaded. I knew they wouldn't believe me, but sometimes you act even when you know it's pointless. You want to hope it'll go differently than you expect, that it'll work. “I know how this seems, but-“

“Can it. You don't get to talk.”

“Mommy, I'm scared.” Dinky shifted from the hug, crouching behind her mother.

“Don't be sweetie. It's…it's going to be alright.”

“Step away from the foal m'am.” One of the other guards said. “We don't want children involved.”

“But…she's my daughter!” Derpy pleaded.

“M'am, that was an order. Step away or we're taking her away.”

“Don't touch her!”

“That's it.” At that, the guard went over to the two, bending down to pick Dinky up.

“Mommy, help!” She screamed. “I don't want to go with the guard pony!”

“The kid's making a fuss. Do we have anything to restrain her?”

“Just knock her out.” One of the guards said. “They're fugitives anyway. What's the big deal about a bump on the head of one fugitive's kid?”

“I said don't touch her!” Before the guard knew what happened, a rock hard hoof slammed into his jaw with all the force its owner could muster, cutting his tongue and staining his clean white chin with a small strand of blood, as well as producing an audible, cringeworthy crack. A tooth appeared to go flying too. He landed with a thud a ways away, his head hanging off the dock, a quiet plinking noise as his helmet slid off his head into the water of the bay. Across from him, Derpy stood on two legs, a look of fury on her face.

“Ponies…they can make fun of me. They can hurt me. They can take the things I bring them without paying, and make me pay for them. They can be mean and nasty to me, and make me cry. But…nopony touches my daughters. Nopony hurts Amethyst or Dinky. Nopony makes my daughters cry.”

I saw a look in Derpy's face I had never seen before. Even in the worst of times, she always seemed happy. She always seemed unfazed. I was never sure if she was just that self-assured, or if she wasn't all there. But she was angry now. Her eyes were almost straight, whatever the case was with her, it was all overridden by a mother's instinct. A mother's love and desire to protect her child. She wasn't going to let any one of the guards lay a hoof on Dinky or Amethyst. The guard she had broken the jaw of tried to pull himself to his feet, moaning as he did. He spat, wincing from trying to manipulate the broken bone, another tooth coming out.

“G…get them!” Was all he could manage with the condition his mouth was in. The two other guards nodded, running at Derpy.

She ducked the first one, and he flew headfirst into one of the boats, leaving a dent both in his helmet and the side of the ship. The next one was smarter, throwing a punch rather than himself at her. Unfortunately, it also didn't end well. She spun around the punch, grabbing his foreleg, pulling it behind him, and twisting it in an unnatural way. There was no snapping sound of a broken bone, but instead, the popping noise of a dislocation. An injury that would need a week or two to heal, and could not be walked on, but was not serious if treated. He howled, swinging with his other foreleg, which Derpy grabbed and slammed into his helmet, knocking him out cold. Probably felt better that way considering the arm.

By now, the first guard had come to, and jumped at Derpy again. This time he connected, rolling before pinning her to the ground. Shortly thereafter though, he was greeted by a heavy, metal object to the ribs; My new hoof. He fell over to the side, wincing from pain but getting back up. Or at least until Derpy was also up. Once on her hooves, she spun around, bucking the guard dead-on in a particularly sensitive area for stallions. Even if he had been attacking my friend and her foal, as another man, I did feel a little pity watching Derpy's hindlegs ram full-speed into him there.

He crumpled over onto the ground, writhing in pain as he clutched where he had just been nailed, too much to even scream. By now, the only coherent guard, the one with the broken jaw, was running, not bothering to wait for his comrades. Derpy took the helmet off the guard she had just bucked, and threw it at the guard with disturbing accuracy. It nailed him in the head, and he fell down, jaw-first, causing yet another yelp of pain. Derpy flew over to him faster than any of us could run.

“Listen.” She said, staring into the guard's eyes from inches away from his face. “Nopony threatens my daughters. Do what you want to us. To me. But threaten either of them ever again, and you'll be lucky to be as beat-up as the three of you combined. Now, you're going to leave, you're going to tell whoever sent you that you just got your flanks kicked in by one pissed-off momma, and that whoever comes next gets it tenfold. Got it?” The guard nodded meekly, terror all over his face.

“Holy crap.” Vinyl said simply, mouth agape. “Where the hell did that come from?”

“I guess even the most docile animal can become a monster when you threaten the mother's young.” I said. Truth be told, I was as shocked as she was, if not more since I'd known Derpy longer. Coming down from surgical-strength anesthetics and painkillers has a funny way of dulling your expressions though.

“Where did she learn to do that though?” Vinyl asked again. “That's just…do they teach you that in the post office?”

“We used to get some very…unpleasant experiences because of mom's eyes and attitude.” Amethyst Star chimed in. “So mom and I took self-defense courses. She always took them really seriously, because she wanted to protect Dinky.”

“Remind Trixie not to make any more mean jokes about her daughters…” I muttered.

“Trixie has no plans to anymore.” She said from behind me.

“Go.” Derpy said simply to the guard. “Now.” Without another word, he scrambled up, running as fast as he could. With two of the guards incapacitated and the last one fleeing, Derpy took a deep breath, walking back over to the rest of us. Her first attention was to Dinky, who was crouched on the ground shaking, hooves over her eyes.

“It's okay sweetie.” Derpy said, all the anger gone from both her face and her voice, the lopsided grin back on the former, and her placid, docile tonality back to the latter. “Mommy's here now. The bad ponies are gone.” Dinky took her hooves away from her eyes, which were threatening to overflow with tears. She ran up and hugged her mother's leg, bawling into it.

“Mommy, I was so scared! What did those mean ponies want?”

“It's not important, Dinky.” As she spoke, Amethyst walked over, hugging the two of them with her forelegs. Derpy smiled, wrapping a wing around her two daughters. “What's important is we're fine, and we're going on that boat to a new place where they can't hurt us anymore.” Dinky's bawling had subsided somewhat to a sniffle and a few tears, albeit now her mother's front right fetlock was dripping wet.

“Promise?” She asked.

“Promise.” Derpy said, nuzzling the top of Dinky's head. Amethyst smiled. She walked away from her mother and sister, and back over to me.

“…I guess that has to do with what you're going to tell me.”

“Yes it does. But it's best if we avoid having another encounter like that. Can we please do it on the boat?” She nodded, much to my relief.

“Alright.”

“What's ready?” Noble asked.

“My frankenwife. Assembled from the most gorgeous mares ever to live, and brought to life with the power of lightning.” Arpeggio said in a deadpan, an annoyed look on his face.

“Ooh, neat!” Noble clapped his front hooves together excitedly.

“He's only joking, I promise you.” Apple Polish clarified on Noble's behalf. “…Or at least I think he is.”

“Yes, well, whatever it is, I'd like to introduce you both to my newest creation.” He tapped the touch screen, and another pod floated down to the platform. It drained before opening, the only thing falling out of it when its canopy opened being a unicorn stallion. His coat was black as night, with a dark grey mane. A hypnosis wheel adorned his flank.

“Meet Hugow. A simple yet effective creation. As of now, he's the leader of the SODREP. Simple enough to be easily replicated with minimal resources, complex enough to pass for a natural pony. Similar enough to earn the respect of the template clones I'm planning on creating, but different enough to be distinct. Intelligent, and very strong. Designed to be the perfect agent for us.” Hugow shook his head, climbing up and looking around, taking in his surroundings for the first time. His eyes, the left a dimmed gold and the right a bright blue, blinked as he glanced from each of the three.

“Question.” Noble chimed in. “What's a SODREP?”

“Special Operations Division of the Royal Equestrian Police. Manned entirely by clones. Once Luna allows it, they'll be the ones hunting our prey for us. They'll also get a nice new overhaul, which will include Hugow's installation as its leader.”

“Aaaah.”

“So what exactly does he do?” Apple Polish asked. “Besides being black and fancy and a leader and stuff.”

“That's something I'll let you all see in action very soon.”

Author's Note

I was really questioning whether or not to put Derpy kicking the ass of the guards in, but decided to keep it in. Why? Stay tuned to learn!

Also cookie if you can figure out all the references in Hugow! Help me out there too, I don't remember what the eyes meant, but I remember they meant something.

Act V, Chapter XV

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter XV, Act V
Epilogue

Improvisation.

It’s a cruel, cruel thing, and yet it is also a graceful savior.

Improvising is what has landed me maimed without my right foreleg, and forced me and my friends from our homeland to Stalliongrad.

However an ability to improvise and think on my feet is what has kept us all from death the past few months.

Whatever way it treats you on any given day, one thing is very plain. It can’t be taken back. There’s no set script, no recreateable point from which to reset everything to. It is innately something that cannot be duplicated, something that scatters any semblance of order and planning.

Its chaotic nature makes it something that cannot be recreated again, and something that can be altered once done. It’s something that, whatever the outcome, you must continue forwards with. There’s no way to go back to the way things were. There’s only what you can do ahead.

I suppose a certain Draconequus would delight in that explanation.

I sighed, staring off the stern of the boat as the shores of Baltimare became smaller and smaller in the distance. Leaving home is never easy, especially when you don’t know if you’ll be back.

My name is Arpeggio. Arpeggio Septimo. I am a keeper of order. A baron of peace. The only thing I strive for is a perfect world for those who are my subjects, knowingly or unknowingly. By any means necessary.

If I have to sacrifice a few thousand for the happiness of a few billion, that’s blood I’m willing to get on my hooves. Somepony has to do it, after all. As much as some ponies may defend it as free will, I’ve seen what ‘free will’ does to the world. Or at least, I was given vision of it. Having a system that programs minds also has a handy ability of allowing creatures millennia old to show those of us less immortal what their memories store.

Unfortunately, courtesy of my aforementioned predecessor’s arrogance, I now have a thorn in my side and in utopia’s side. A very large one, too. But one that won’t be any consequence soon. Being taught by the original master of your craft, and literally being created for greatness, has a way of making you very good at solving problems you face.

“You alright?” I turned around to see who was speaking to me. As it turned out, it was Derpy, her usual happy look on her face, a muffin balanced on her muzzle. “Hungry?” I smiled, reaching out to pick up the muffin. Instead, I knocked it over with a metal hoof.

“Sorry Derpy, I’m…still getting used to the new leg…” I bent down to pick it up, using the real leg to do so. “Thanks.” At that, I bit into the muffin, grateful to have something to eat. It felt like I hadn’t eaten in days. Whether Discord actually messed with time or just my perception of it while the world was distorted, I was unsure. I was sure that the muffin was tasty though. “This is really good. What kind of muffin is this?” I asked.

“Family recipe!” Derpy replied, more glee coming to her face. “No telling!” I chuckled, wrapping a metal leg around her in a friendly embrace. Even if I wasn’t used to it yet, something so basic was still natural.

“So…what are you doing out here?” She asked. “It’s really cold up here, and everypony’s down under the ship…”

“Just…thinking.” I answered, switching my eyes from her face to the twinkling lights of Baltimare, not much bigger now than grains of sand in the distance. “Thinking about what just happened. What we’re going to do now. What’s going to happen because of all of it.”

“So, what exactly is the plan then?” Noble asked, his usually bubbly demeanor settled since his outburst.

“Simple.” I answered. “First, we reestablish what surveillance systems we can. Then, we hunt them down. Third, we hunt down anyone they showed behind the curtain. Finally, we install new surveillance wherever they destroyed it.”

“No plan ever goes that smoothly.” Apple commented.

“Which is why we improvise. Everything should go according to plan, but if you can’t adapt and adjust when it doesn’t, which it won’t with an enemy this dangerous, you’re as good as dead.”

“And I’m not fond of the idea of dying.”

“You’re helping a lot of ponies, who don’t even know.” She said, stretching a wing around me in a gesture matching my leg around her. “Ponies who’d want you to do good if they knew.”

“I hope.” I said with a chuckle. “I haven’t done anything though. It’s been all of us. Trixie’s illusions, your wings, Vinyl’s instincts, The Doctor’s insight, Promontory’s strength…I wouldn’t have been able to do any of what I’ve done without you all. I’m no hero, I’m just a stallion blessed with the greatest companions in the world.”

“Funny to think, some ponies might call us heroes…plenty would probably also damn us, but I guess not everypony’s as bright as you or me, eh?” Derpy just smiled, nodding as she stared off to the fading shore with me.

“That’s the boat they’re on in all likelihood then.” Apple Polish noted.

“Yep, looks like it.” Noble added. “Should we go after it?”

“No.” I said simply. “We wait for the princess’ go-ahead. You two may have the minds of the versions of you that fought Celestia, but you’re not used to actually using your spells yet. You’ll need some practice on some live targets…good as we may be, fighting an angry moon goddess with you two fresh from the tank is not something I think we should risk.”

“So we’re just going to let them go?” Apple asked.

“We have more important things to worry about anyway.” At that, I turned to Hugow. “We may not be allowed to hunt them without her say-so, but I’d say we can still get to work repairing the surveillance systems where they weren’t completely destroyed. Hugow, you keep an unofficial state of martial law until then. Don’t want things getting too hectic. You’re now the commander of the Royal Guard, use them as you see fit.”

“Yes sir.” He nodded obediently, just as programmed.

“What about Cadenza’s fiancé? The current captain?” Apple Polish asked.

“A princess being assassinated on your watch tends to get you demoted.” I answered. “Still keep him, he’s been a valuable asset, but demote him a little, both make room for Hugow, and discipline him. This is something we can get away with without too much grief from Luna.”

I sighed happily, staring up at the sky. It was gorgeous – out on the ocean, with no lights outshining each other or ruining your night vision, the stars twinkled as bright as the sun itself, with the moon centering it all. Most ponies wouldn’t believe it, but you could even see farther off into space. The arms of the galaxy itself were visible, outstretched like arms reaching to the heavens.

“It feels like ages since I just…sat down. Sat down with somepony, and enjoyed a nice view.”

“It’s more than nice.”

“It really is. Funny, how something so simple can feel so amazing…goddess.”

“What’s wrong?” Derpy asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

“Nothing, I just…it just hit me what’s going on.” I said, my gaze jumping from the sky down to the deck of the ship stretched out past my hooves. “Celestia’s dead, someone more ruthless has taken over, we’re leaving Amareica for Russire, possibly for good, and for all we know we’re about to start a war or get another leader assassinated.”

“Nopony ever said it would be easy, I guess.” I said to myself. “I certainly didn’t.”

“Discord said he’d be watching us though.” Derpy said reassuringly.

“He said whatnow?” I asked.

“He said that he was going to help us and protect us. He said we were the best thing to happen to chaos in a long time.”

“Fancy that.” I said, my eyes returning to the simple beauty of the stars. “Celestia said almost the exact same thing…you know, if anypony else said it, I’d be inclined to call it hokum. But from one spirit that just got done completely changing the world, and another that raised and lowered the sun and, for centuries, the moon too, well, maybe there’s something to what they’re saying then.”

“What if I said it?” Derpy asked. I wasn’t entirely sure if she was having a bit of playful banter or if she was serious.

“Well, from you, I might just be inclined to believe it too.” I said with a smile.

“Derpy, I…thank you. My mind’s been racing the past few hours, I…it’s nice to talk to a friend just like we used to talk again.”

“You’re welcome Caesar.” She said, simply and happily.

“So, do you want to go join the others below deck?”

“I’m…I’m happy up here.”

“But I thought you said you were cold?” I asked.

“I was…but I’m not anymore.” I smiled, nodding, the two of us lying back and watching the beauty of the stars as the ship rolled along the sea.

Hell might lay in wait ahead of us, but at least for now, next to the friends I fought for and with, there was no place in Equestria more peaceful.

--

Note from the writer

Hello! Feedback here, the author of My Little Clony. This concludes the first half of our story! I’ve had a lot of fun writing about Caesar and his merry group of background characters, and I really hope you all have enjoyed reading it just as much!

What originally started as a joke about why there were three copies of Caesar onscreen in the season 1 finale has blossomed into a huge project that doesn’t have a lot of notoriety, but that I’ve loved writing, and that takes up a ton of time and space in my schedule and head, respectively. Time that I love giving, because I learned while writing this whole series that I love writing, to the point I’d love to do it for a living some day! Whether or not that happens though, I’ll keep doing it!

MLC was originally going to be a lighthearted poke at conspiracy writers and the quirks of the fandom in-general, but it became something very personal that I’ve put a lot of my own ideas and beliefs into to make it more than escapism, to give it meaning. …Not to mention a fair amount darker. I’ve really enjoyed both that transformation, and writing it in-general!

It hasn’t been all me though – just like Caesar, I’ve had a lot of help from plenty of good friends, all of whom I wanted to thank after finishing the first story arc.

Before the thank-yous though, let me get this out of the way since people have told me that it’s impossible when I’ve mentioned the sight to them in real-life; yes, you really can see the arms of the milky way in the night sky – or at least one of them – if there’s no light pollution. Google for images of “Grand Canyon night sky”, there are some truly beautiful images of the arms of the galaxy. Right then, time for the thank-yous!

First off, if any of you have been following from when I first published the first act and have dealt with how horrible I’ve been with updating, let me say that both I am incredibly sorry, and incredibly appreciative for your willingness to be patient. A lot of things have unfortunately come up over the past year or two in my life that have, one way or another, put MLC and a lot of other creative projects of mine on the backburner, from college to some family issues I’d rather not go into detail about.

The worst part is that, for the same reasons, I can’t promise when I’ll be able to start the second half, or how regularly I’ll be able to update it. I owe you all for sticking with it though, I won’t put it off for anywhere as long as I’ve done with this half.

The fact that there are people who enjoyed reading it enough to deal with the delays, if there are, means a lot to me – I could have let the entire story just sit in my head and entertain myself if I didn’t think anyone else would enjoy it, giving people something that they enjoy, whether it’s because it makes them laugh, makes them happy, makes them think, or makes them feel anything else, is the entire reason I’m writing My Little Clony in the first place.

Second, a huge shout-out to everyone back on the MLP thread on the forum I first came up with the idea on – you guys know who you are, don’t want to name names to avoid anyone being harassed – for not only encouraging me and giving me a lot of positive feedback whenever I’d beat myself up, but also for putting up with my constant requests for some of you to help me out by proofreading these before I submitted them to EqD, making sure that all typos, weird sentences, and badly written portions never saw the light of day. As much as you’d lift me up when I was down on myself, when it came time to read and make sure I didn’t embarrass myself, you pulled no punches, and I’ve always preferred the truth in those situations, so I appreciate the criticism, both positive and negative.

And of course, I want to thank you guys for being great friends too. I can’t describe adequately over text how much I love all of you, you’re what keeps me working, and what makes my work worth reading at all.

Third, a thank you to Sethisto. He’s the guy who lets this stuff have an outlet in the first place! He also puts up with my delays in content as much as anyone else. I may not always be the nicest to his Trixie, but I’ve tried to give her fair character development, and she’ll be getting more in the second arc! Hope you don’t have any problems with the pairing I have in mind!

Fourth, gigantic thank-you to Dave, aka Davrockist(http://davrockist.deviantart.com/) for drawing the art for MLC. Dave’s a good friend, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate him being willing to help me out with the art. Cute as it is, the original image for the series of a silly-looking Derpy just doesn’t fit the story, even if it has her in it, and I felt silly whenever I’d update the story with that image still showing for it. Dave’s a great artist, and helped me out with a shiny new one. Thanks again!

Fifth, a shout-out to the Tumblr ask blog Ask Coppercog( http://askcoppercog.tumblr.com/), for the source of the pony roboticist that gave Caesar his new foreleg. I knew I wanted Caesar to need some sort of prosthetic after the confrontation with Celestia, but I didn’t know how to get it. I spend way too much time I should be spending writing reading through Pony tumblrs, one of which is Ask Coppercog. Eventually I just figured I’d ask Dr. Javi, the owner of the blog, if I could use his character and save myself some trouble. He said yes, and I can’t say how much I appreciated it. Hopefully it gave some fans of his blog that also read MLC something extra to smile about. Thanks again, Javi!

Sixth, thank you to everyone on here who’s liked, favorited, left comments, and anything else for My Little Clony. It doesn’t seem like much, and it doesn’t take much effort, but believe me, it means a lot when you’re doing all this work, and people tell you one way or another that they’ve been enjoying your effort. Thank you to the heads of the groups I shoved it into, as well. Every story needs a library, and it’s nice to be in a few here.

Seventh, an obvious thank-you to Lauren Faust and everyone else who had a hand in creating My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Without their work, there’s no show, and if there’s no show, there’s no My Little Clony. More importantly, I never meet the people I’ve met in the community. I’ve always considered myself a fairly moderate fan, but I never realized how much happier the show has made my life in a lot of ways. It sounds silly, but when there’s this big a community to go along with the show, you meet people, you see things they do, you get inspired, you make friends, and you create things yourself, things with meaning and value, be it to you or to others, things that make you feel happy or feel fulfilled because you’re creating something. It opens a whole new world to you that you never would’ve even thought about without the show, and we owe it all to the crew that made the show in the first place!

We also owe it to Hasbro, who gets a thank-you of their own for not trying shut the entire fandom down at the first whiff of our use of copyrighted material. It hasn’t always been perfect harmony and cooperation between Bronies and Hasbro, but it’s been good enough for what exists to exist, and that’s a lot more than I’d expect from a lot of companies.

Speaking of the community’s creations, a thank-you to the entire Brony community. From the incredible artists to the talented musicians to the gifted writers, I love the work you all create, and tried to incorporate enough shout-outs and references to make Quentin Tarantino’s head spin! Just as well, I’ve never been much of a fic writer – or reader for that matter – but seeing the stuff you’ve all made is no small part of what inspired me to make My Little Clony into a written story instead of an idea. Thanks for all the incredible work, it’s a big chunk of what drives me to keep writing!

Quick shout-out to the artists who’s music I listened to whenever I was writing, in-particular Hans Zimmer and Sam Hulick. You all set the tone in my mind for the writing, I couldn’t have done it without you, even if “you” are a CD with a bunch of ones and zeroes on it programmed to make sound. As long as I’m thanking the music, big thank-you to Christopher Nolan, Bioware, George Nolfi, and the Wachowskis for making Inception, the Mass Effect trilogy, The Adjustment Bureau, and The Matrix, respectively, all of which had a big impact on the atmosphere and the design of the story for My Little Clony. I’m a huge movie fan, and while I love a good book as much as anyone, films are what set my tenor when I create, and these were a big part of where the tone of MLC came from.

Finally, I want to take another minute to thank all of you who’ve sat down and read the overly-long, drawn-out story – and it’s only halfway there, too! – that I call a fic. Whether you were here for the first chapter, or you’re just starting now, it’s because of you that My Little Clony is more than just an idea floating in my head, and I’m grateful for that. I’ve got a lot of plans for the second arc, I don’t know if they’ll be as good as the ones in the first arc, but I hope that you guys will still enjoy reading them as much as I’m going to enjoy writing them!

Thanks again for reading, looking forward to seeing you in Stalliongrad!

~Feedback

Act I, Chapter I

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter I, Act I
The Doctor and Bright Eyes

What if everything you knew, everything you thought was correct, everything you’d been led to believe, who you were told the good guys and bad guys were since you were a little foal, all of it, was all a lie in some twisted game?

How would you feel? Would you be angry? Sad, depressed, relieved, what would run through your mind the instant you realized everything was all fabricated? What would you do once you found out? Would you mope about? Would you be overwhelmed and end things right there? Would you become misequestric?

Or would you get even? Would you fix the broken, and bring down the player in this sick game?

My name is Caesar. Odds are you’ve seen me – or at least one of me – before. A tophat and monocle adorn my face. I’m prominent businesscolts, politicians, wealthy and important. Everywhere from Manehattan to Ponyville you can find one of me. This particular Caesar is a businesscolt in Manehattan, and a fan of fashion.

Why do I speak like there’s more than one? Because there are, of course. There’s more than one of everypony. We all have individual memories, thoughts based on how we’ve lived, souls, and such, but we all have hundreds, maybe thousands of identical twins throughout Equestria, and only a dozen or so are ever active at once. More are ready to be taken out and swapped in to avoid anyone questioning the system, should one of us fall victim to some sort of accident. Which tends to happen a lot when you’re viewed as a game piece.

Nopony’s ever noticed though, because of the skilled work of the player, the game master. Because of them, whenever somepony realizes what’s going on, that same night, they’re replaced. They’re taken away, “removed”, and then replaced by a new one, identical in every way, and indoctrinated with the experiences and beliefs of their predecessor, though some of the old one’s contacts and such need to remain the old ones in order to reaffirm the “memories”. Not a pretty fate, is it?

They move us around, controlling the events that we react to so we never meet a duplicate of ourselves or those we know. They watch us, monitoring us for anything odd where they can. By the time most realize the part about them looking over your shoulder, they’re already being dragged off for removal. I’m lucky in that sense. I’m already aware of this. Nobody ever stayed alive long enough to find out who they were. I have a few theories though, and I plan to see through finding which one is the one.

So if there are so many precautions, you may ask, how come removals are even needed? How does word get out? Well, everypony is bound to slip up eventually. And occasionally the game master gets overconfident. Which is how I found out about it.

A few weeks ago, given my position, I was one of many I know to receive an invitation to the Grand Galloping Gala. In the VIP section this year, too. However something happened as I listened in out of boredom on the conversation one of the Wonderbolts was having – A rainbow-maned pegasus headbutted me up into the air.

Lost my tophat during the fall, but I found it later, and moreover, gained something valuable. Knowledge of the reality of our world. When I was shot up into the air, I saw two identical ponies staring in shock and surprise from across the room. Not just identical to each other – identical to me. They were separate, but for that moment, I saw two other Caesars standing elsewhere. I don’t know if there were more at the Gala, or if there am more than three of me awake right now.

After I regained my composure from the fall, I started searching around the building, pretending to just be going around the party to see friends. I saw them everywhere, now that I was looking for them; identical duplicates, the same skin tone, the same mane colour, the same eyes, the cutie mark, even the outfit was the same. Copies all around me, alive and individual, yet…not unique. And worst of all, until I “woke up” and realized this, I was one of them. It was like something out of a horror film.

I managed to keep an image of collection during the remainder of the Gala, though to my fortune, some sort of destruction in the dance hall ended it early, allowing me to escape home sooner rather than later. It’s been three weeks since, and I’ve managed to get little sleep, but I’ve pieced things together, based on who I recognized amongst the copies, who there was only one of invited, and trying to find information on my other selves.

I’ve been assembling the pieces. I’ve been placing potential Game Masters, who may be the puppeteer behind all this madness. I don’t have anything concrete yet, but I have conjecture as hard as concrete. I can’t keep going alone though – I don’t have the capability, talents, skill, or fortitude to do everything myself. I need a team.

Because of this, as well as the network of lies, I’ve been piecing together one of those I trust, those with capability, and those who have connections. I’ve narrowed the ponies that fit all of these down to a small group; The Doctor, The Sage, Engi, The Specialist, and Bright Eyes. Each is a friend I am confident I can trust and inform of what I’ve learned, and each has a specific ability that will help with what I need to confirm, and if we live that long, take down the mastermind of this “reality”.

First I need to get to them though. Engi’s job requires travel, so he’ll be a challenge to get to. Bright Eyes and The Doctor I see daily though, so they should be easy to reach. The Sage is a town out from Manehattan. As for The Specialist, she’s here tonight, so I’ll be able to get to her later today, as well.

In the meantime though, I need to get to work, and that means reaching out to those I want with me, starting with the doctor.

“That’s all…that’s all I should need to convince him.” As he spoke, Caesar turned around, walking away from the wall behind him. It was covered in photos, string wrapped around tacks connecting different things to each other, and a mess of sticky notes, all with seemingly abstract meaning. To the side though, there was a simplified, easier to follow version. The curtains in the room were drawn, and the lights, excepting a single lamp, were off, leaving the room in near darkness.

Caesar waded his way through the pile of food wrappers, crumpled notes and photos, and drink cans to the door, pushing it open, before rearing back and falling over, the sunlight greeting his eyes for the first time in days, like a flashlight shining right in front of your face after hours in the dark. He shook his head as he got up, as if to shake away clouds inside his head, and continued on, managing to get out this time.

There was a creaking sound as Caesar pushed the wooden door open. A heavy, warm-smelling slab of mahogany, it moved slowly, but it was also a very reliable door if anyone ever pounded on it. This building, lit by an odd mix of open windows and abnormally strong synthetic light, was the house of Doctor Whoof, an old friend of his, and somepony who seemed to have the ability to be in two places at once, in addition to being both resourceful and smart.

“Doc?” He called. “It’s Caesar. I need to speak with you about something.” The businesscolt glanced around as he spoke, eyes jumping from knickknack to tchotchke to trinket, and all in-between, from amulets to instruments to odd-looking pieces of what seemed like technology. Whoof always had strange tastes, and it seemed like he added something newer and stranger each time he came over.

“Sure, I’ll be down in a second.” He came down a moment later, a curious look on his face. “Caesar, I haven’t seen you in weeks. Where’ve you been?”

“It’s a long story, I’ll explain later.” Caesar responded. “In the meantime, come along with me, I want to show you and a few others something. Something important.”

He nodded, though the curious look on his face began to mix with skepticism. “Sure, but…what is it?”

“I can’t tell you outside. Business stuff and all that.” He nodded, the skepticism fading, though confusion taking its place. “Alright, but one more question. You’re not wearing a tophat, I thought you liked that thing?”

Caesar glanced up, feeling the top of his head. Indeed, he had left his tophat at home in his hurry. “…Must’ve forgotten it. Can I borrow one of yours?” Doctor Whoof nodded, a smile coming onto his face now. “Sure, let me go get one.” The Doctor ran off up the wooden stairs, then returned a moment later, carrying a round, red hat with him.

“…This is?” Caesar spoke with confusion, as he hadn’t seen a hat like this before.

“It’s a fez.” The doctor replied. “Fezzes are cool.” There was a moment of silence before either spoke up again.

“…On second thought, keep the fez, my house is on the way, I’ll just get my hat when we pass it.” Whoof shrugged, then nodded, tossing the hat onto his own head.

“Equestria Postal Service Central Office, this is the place.” The two colts stood outside the aforementioned building, gazing up at the massive, glass-enclosed structure, both now wearing the proper hats.

“…Alright, you’ve brought me random places before,” Whoof spoke with a bemused edge. “But usually I’m fine with it because I can get something silly that looks good in a glass case. This I just don’t get.”

“We’re here to get another friend. I want her to see this too.” As Caesar responded, The Doctor raised one eyebrow, lowering the other, a look of confusion.

“You know, you still haven’t told me what you want to show us.” Whoof said.

“All in good time, my friend.” At that, the tophat-adorned of the two walked forward, pushing open the door, the colt in the fez following behind.

They entered into a large lobby, a large, round, utilitarian room, mainly empty, save for an assortment of ponies in chairs all around, as this was apparently the waiting room as well. There was a wooden desk near the back, also round, with a single pony behind it. She played with a small, cube-shaped puzzle, leaning back in her chair and paying none of the others much mind, including the Doctor and Caesar.

“Can I help you?” She asked in a flat, low monotone. It was clear she was bored by the tone of voice, as well as annoyed, likely by the mere fact the two had entered, as her pay didn’t rely on anyone coming in, meaning every guest was a unnecessary nuisance.

“Um…we’re looking for a friend, she works he—“

“Just give me her name already.” No time wasted at all.

“Erm, her name’s Derpy.” The receptionist eyed the two colts in front of her from behind a pair of sharp, pointed glasses, for a moment, before nodding.

“Weird girl. Good at her job though, go down the hall on the left, she’s through the third door on the right.” Caesar nodded, heading in the direction, Doctor Whoof following after.

They arrived at the door, pushing it open and entering the room. The inside of it was clean and sharp, an angular, space-saving rectangle of space, devoid of many things to catch the senses, save for the scent of baked goods and a desk with neat stacks of envelopes, a mailbag hanging over a chair in front of the desk. Behind it was another chair, on which sat a gray, cross-eyed pegasus, who was staring intently – or as intently as you can cross-eyed – at a muffin on the desk.

The two entered, confused less by the look on the unicorn’s face, and more by the muffin. “Um…Derpy?” The unicorn’s focus shot away from the muffin, then to the two guests, a look of surprise on her face, which was soon replaced by one of joy.

“Caesar! Whoofy!” At that, she hopped over the desk, tackling both of them, using one arm to give each what would be considered a hug if it were looser.

“Derpy…can’t…breathe…”

“Oh!” She released the two, stepping back up as they pulled each other back to their feet. “Why’re you two here?”

“Apparently Caesar wants to show us something.” The Doctor said. “Won’t say what.”

“Ooh, a surprise! What is it?” The smile on her face had gone to a look of excitement now.

“I can’t say yet. But it’s…a doozy, to put it mildly.” There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, during which Derpy stared at the two, somehow looking more confused than before.

“A what?” She asked.

“…A doozy.” He replied.

“A what?” Caesar bit his lip in annoyance for a moment.

“Something big.” The expression on her face switched from confused to happy once more.

“Oh, okay!” She said with cheer.

“So, can you come with us then?” She glanced from the two of them to her desk, and then back again.

“Sorry, I have work. Muffins don’t mail themselves! Although they could if you used magic…we should hire more unicorns…” The tangent turned into muttering, during which Derpy’s eyes shot around, still cross-eyed, but changing where they were staring rapidly.

Caesar and Doctor Whoof exchanged concerned glances, before Caesar put a hoof on Derpy’s shoulder to try to get her attention.

“Oh, sorry!” She blurted, turning back to the two. “I’m busy right now, but I can meet you guys later?” Caesar nodded, a smile on his face.

“Sure, that’ll be fine. Come to the Grooving Grotto around 8, we’ll meet there.”

“Alrighty then!” At that, she hopped back behind the desk, returning to staring at the muffin. The two colts exchanged glances once more, and then walked out, closing the door behind them.

“So wait, if you’re going to show us at eight, why did you get me now?” The look of confusion had returned to The Doctor’s face.

“We’re not done yet. We still have one more person to get before we can go.” The confused face deepened, annoyance mixing into it.

“…Okay, it’s 11 AM. You can get across all of Manehattan in three hours. Even if we go from here to the west end and back, it’ll only be 5. That leaves four hours to kill.” A look of smugness came into Caesar’s face.

“Who said they’re in Manehattan?” There was a pause, after which The Doctor’s eyes and mouth both drooped down, the confusion gone, now replaced with surprise, though not of the good sort.

“…You’re dragging me out of town for this, aren’t you? Why couldn’t you get this guy first?”

“Just relax,” Caesar replied. “They’re only one town over, and it’s not that far. We’ll be back around seven, so you can catch your breath before we go to the Grotto.”

He sighed, following along as Caesar began walking away. “Remind me to ask more before coming with next time you want to show me something.”

Author's Note

Wow it has been ages since I read my first ever chapter. It feels like a completely different author to me...hope you enjoyed it!

Act V, Chapter X

MY LITTLE CLONY

Chapter X, Act V
Escape

“So that's it? You just use us and kill us like that?” I asked.

“You are pawns after all. And you were good pawns. But like all pawns, once your usefulness is used up, you don't have any purpose anymore. You won't be missed, your replacements will make sure of that.”

“Oh, but Peggy, I want to play with them! It's no fun to throw out the toys!” Noble piped in.

“Again, that's the exact idiocy that Celestia would do, you idiot. And don't call me that!”

“Ideas like that are the reason why I'm the one in charge. I'm going to be smart about this, unlike you or 'Tia.”

“I'm going to kill them.” At that, his horn began glowing. As it did though, a voice boomed throughout the chamber.

“Don't you dare.” It shouted. A large, white alicorn stepped down in front of us. Celestia, broken leg healed and horn mended, stood between our six and the three Game Masters.

“Celestia? But-“ I started before she interrupted me.

“You may not have been my favorite ponies in Equestria, but at least you didn't backstab me.” As she spoke, her eyes narrowed. “These three did.”

“Really?” Arpeggio asked. “You're siding with the broken clones over the clones you underestimated.”

“You've got it backwards, Arpeggio. If I underestimated any of my creations, it was these six. And if any of them are broken, it's you three.”

“How trite. So what, now you agree with their whole 'free will' spiel? After a millennia of maintaining this, you change your mind because of the words of one hobbled horse rambling about freedom and choice when he's probably delirious from pain?”

“They healed me, Arpeggio. The two unicorns, who I believe just finished your healing magic class, healed my leg and my horn. Maybe I'm delirious from having my leg broken and my horn ripped off, and maybe I'm just pissed off from you talking about me like I was trash, but their free will, their decisions that we thought worthless, just saved my life. Maybe their words do have some credence."

"Even if they don't though, I'm probably not getting out of this - you know if that if I do, you're dead for using me. So you're not letting that happen. You can probably kill these six with a single thought, and I have to fight you either way. So, I can either accept your vision, lay down, and die, or unite with the enemy of my enemy, and let them survive, even if I wanted them dead a moment ago."

“Unbelievable. Absolutely ridiculous. Stand aside and let me kill them, you'll feel better.”

“Do. Not. Order me.” Celestia said defiantly.

“You want to fight?” Arpeggio asked. “Powerful as you might be, all three of us were made to be the greatest unicorns in the land. Starswirl's genetics were used to some degree in all of us. You can't best three of us at once. “

“Maybe not. But maybe I can hurt you. Maybe I can make you pay for what you did to me, and what you want to do. Maybe I can save these thorns in your side and let them grow bigger. And maybe I can kill one or two of you.”

“Go ahead and try. It'll be the last thing you do.”

“A fitting redemption.” At that, the princess turned to us. “Trixie, Vinyl, thank you for healing me. I cannot repay that debt. …Especially with what is likely to happen in a few moments. But know I am grateful for as long as my spirit will exist. Caesar, if time would allow it, I would recreate your foreleg, but that would take hours. We have precious minutes. Find a roboticist named Coppercog in Baltimare, he can create a quality synthetic replacement for you. All of you, know that while we may have battled during my life, and we may have wanted each other dead, that is no longer the case. I doubt you can forgive me, but hopefully saving your lives will give me some points in that direction. Wherever you go, know that my spirit will watch over you all, and you will carry with you my blessing, for as long as you fight these bastards.”

“Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some clone ass to kick.”

“But-“ Caesar started. Before he could finish, Celestia's horn glowed a bright purple. The six were engulfed in the light, and teleported away.

“Alright, with them gone, I will ask one last time. Will you listen to reason?”

“I have. It's telling me to get rid of you three.”

“Ooh! Snappy! I like it.” Noble said gleefully.

“Noble, shut up. Please.” Arpeggio said flatly. “If that is how you wish it. We may have our differences, but I must thank you for creating me, I suppose.”

“Don't praise me for a mistake.”

“You still feel I'm a mistake?”

“It's not a feeling, it's a fact. You want utopia just for utopia's sake. You want it because you see it as a challenge to solve. I wanted it because I actually cared for my subjects. I wanted it to save them from ever experiencing what the Crystal Empire suffered. The way you talked about every clone like your pawns…I only view the ones who betray me or threaten the harmony as something that needs to be disposed of. And I never enjoy doing it unless they outright oppose me. It's clear you feel otherwise. Think what you want, but you were and always will be my worst mistake. My greatest failure.”

“I suppose I'm not going to change your mind, after all, that'd require having you torture me first. At any rate, are you ready to die now?”

“No, but I accept it nonetheless, as you will have to as well.” At that, Celestia closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. “Luna, Twilight, please forgive me. I was blind, and though I'm now paying the price for it, you both will end up doing so as well because of my sacrifice. I'm so sorry. I'm so very proud of you both, and I hope you find both a quick recovery from your grief, and truer sight than I possessed.”

“Now then, come at me, you synthetic sons of bitches.” At that, her horn began glowing brighter than before, the light reflecting throughout the chamber. The Alicorn charged at her three creations, who all charged in similar fashion.

“But-“ Before I could say anything else, a bright purple glow surrounded all of us. In an instant, we were no longer in the castle, but on a dirt road.

“W…Where are we?”

“It looks like we're a little ways outside of Baltimare.” The Doctor replied. “We should probably try and find that Coppercog fellow fast then.” The Doctor continued talking, but it was muffled words to me. It had taken almost all my energy to stay awake during the destruction of my foreleg and the pain after, and it took what was left to stand up on my remaining three hooves and speak to both Celestia and the real Game Masters. My vision was going blurry, I couldn't hear clearly, I had a horrible headache, and I was about ready to collapse by the time we were out.

And collapse I did.