Original Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q81uugSweO1yOzTAGvJPhzJCPAr3zFqLoK9VxMSSosY/edit?usp=sharing

Ever since the rebellion started, the Pure Hearts Hospital had become one of the most important structures in the entire Crystal Empire. As time passed, more and more patients were occupying the building, to the point where additional doctors and nurses had to be hired. Eventually, the building was starting to run out of space, especially due to all the different intelligent species now fighting for the rebellion. The hospital had no option but to expand, getting permission to use the plot behind it to construct additional space to hold the injured and sick.

Things had been especially hectic in the recent months. One of the scouting groups got ambushed by the BloodClaw Cult and came back with very bad injuries. The easy-to-kill demon worshippers of the civil war age were no more. In their place, only highly trained warriors could be found. Every single member of the cult out to actively fight heretics was wearing full body steel plate armor at this point, making it extremely hard to deal any damage to them at all. Additionally, the cultists also improved their weapons. Instead of subtle daggers and knives, they were now using broadswords, halberts, spears, battle axes, longbows and crossbows. As if this selection of weapons would not be devastating enough, the cultists had a habit of imbuing their arsenal with poisons, diseases and curses. Accordingly, the wounds received by those weapons were very difficult to treat and many did not make it. But all the horrible things aside, there were also more regular cases. Several ponies had become patrons at Pure Hearts. Some just needed frequent support, others came because they had caught the flu which was wandering through the crowds. There even were a few rare cases of ponies trying to slack off by pretending to have the flu, but those were usually quickly found out and send back to their work. One who had thus far frequently been visiting the hospital but definitely was not just pretending to be sick, though, was Rarity.

This was the second time now that the entire group of Twilight Sparkle and her friends were gathering in the waiting room of a hospital. Yet, in contrast to before, the positions of Applejack and Rarity had been switched. But unlike the last time, they didn’t have to wait very long before a doctor came out of the emergency room.

“Well, I got good news and bad news,” he started, obviously dissatisfied with himself. “The good news is that she is no longer critical and will be able to walk around again by tomorrow. The bad news is… Well this is definitely not a flu, cold, heat stroke or whatever.”

“Then what is it?” Twilight wanted to know.

“She had been visiting us frequently for quite a while now, but we could never clearly identify what she has. Seeing for how long she had been struggling with her condition and the fact that none-magical medication so far only helped with the symptoms makes the likeliness very high that she is suffering from a magical disease,” the stallion explained.

“You mean like the Cutie Pox?” Fluttershy wondered.

“If it was something as simple to identify as Cutie Pox, we would have found it out by now,” the doctor stated. “We are quite professional at dealing with magical illnesses of all kind, but this is something different. It must be something very rare and exotic. We have the gathered medical and arcane knowledge of nearly two thousand years and we still could not figure out much yet. But I can assure you, we will not stop before we found a way to heal Miss Rarity.”

“Can we visit her?” Applejack requested.

“Well she is not contagious it seems. So go right ahead. She should be awake and doing much better now. I’ll show you to her room,” the doctor spoke and lead the way.

---

Just minutes later, the group found itself in a familiar position. Everyone silently sitting around and pondering. Twilight walking up and down the room with her focus lowered to the ground while thinking as hard as she could. Only Applejack prefered to take care of Rarity over joining the others. While she remained close to the bed and placed her front leg on Rarity’s shoulder, Rarity herself was enjoying a particularly juicy and sweet apple her friend had gifted to her. The white mare of course was grateful for the company, the gift and the care. Yet still, there was not a single smile in the room.

“I have read so many books… I just have to be able to come up with a solution,” Twilight mumbled while still pacing.

Rarity wanted to respond to her, giving her friend comforting thoughts. But she honestly did not know what to say. Now knowing that whatever was going on with her had to be serious, she was very worried and scared herself.

“I wonder how this started and why nopony else has got the same problem,” Fluttershy commented.

“This is something I, too, would like to know,” Rarity finally started. “Could it have been one of the cultists’ cursed blades?”

“If so, why is your disease so much different compared to the other patients in the hospital?” Cadence asked back. ”Even though the doctors could not always save those struck by a cultist’s cursed weapons, they at least could quickly identify the curse or magical disease and begin treating it.”

“Honestly… this is scary…” Rarity commented.

“If only we knew how you caught this disease. Ever since the rebellion began, you had always been accompanied by at least one of us. If you got sick by the time we were already living here in the Crystal Empire, at least one of us would have gotten it, too,” Twilight stated.

Rarity frowned and stared at her apple. If only she knew the answer to that. This sickness has been going on for such a long time. Almost as if she had gotten sick just as the rebellion…

The white mare was about to take another bite of her apple when her eyes suddenly went wide open and she stopped. Shock filled her whole body, loosening her grip on the fruit and letting it fall on the bed, which immediately caught Applejack’s attention.

“Are you alright, Sugarcube?” she wondered.

“Oh no…” was all Rarity spoke in response.

Immediately, everyone in the room focused her in worry while the fashion diva’s thoughts were racing through her head. This can’t be a coincidence. But if it’s not…

“Rarity?” Twilight called.

“Toxica. It is Toxica,” the white mare replied. “While we were fleeing from Canterlot Castle, the demons stopped me for just a moment after all of you had ran ahead. Blueblood gave a subtle order to Toxica and before I could realize what was going on, she kissed me. I… I thought he just wanted to tease me with this when he said this would be a farewell gift and payback for the incident at the Grand Galloping Gala, years ago…”

“Shoot…” was all Twilight could say in response.

“Hold on… Toxica was that poison and disease demon, right?” Applejack wondered.

“Yes… That is her…” Fluttershy replied.

“Well, that explains a lot. She must have given you something really cruel that takes a long time to develop,” Derpy stated.

“All the more reason for us to find a cure quickly,” Twilight responded.

“But where do we start?” Shining Armor wanted to know.

“Now that I think of it…” Twilight started, rubbing her chin. “The doctor said it might be something exotic and rare. Who do we know who had always been helping us with such things?”

“Twilight… Ah wouldn’t put all mah hopes on Zecora if Ah were you. We haven’t heard a word of her in ages,” Applejack commented.

“I still think we should give it at least a try. As true friends, we owe this to Rarity. It will be risky to get to Everfree Forest with all those highly armed cultists around. Even riskier would be trying to bring Zecora back to the empire, let alone the time we would waste doing so. The doctors said you should be able to walk again by tomorrow so I would suggest we bring you to Zecora as quickly as possible, Rarity,” she explained.

“Well, I certainly got nothing against that. I will ask the doctors to get me some extra medication for the way. Also I would need one of you to help me packing,” Rarity agreed.

“Ya know what, Sugarcube? I’ll do it and I’ll come with ya this time as support! It’s the least Ah can do. But Rarity: Don’t ya expect of me to pack twenty bags full of dresses, ya hear me?” Applejack spoke, jokingly near the end.

“Always up for teasing me, hm darling?” Rarity replied, gaining a sly expression. “You know I will have retaliation eventually.”

“That’s what Ah’m hopin’ for,” the orange mare replied with a wink.

“I hate to break the atmosphere like that, but something else just came to my mind,” Luna started.

“What is it?” Derpy wondered.

“Twilight Sparkle. A while back, you told us something about Despair having found Sombra’s horn and his possible revival?” the fallen alicorn questioned.

“Right, but the situation hasn’t changed. There is still no proof if what Despair said was true or not. It could be just another of her mind games, or it could be serious. That would explain the ‘strange eyes’ Truesight saw in her vision. Whatever the case may be: If the demons have it, it is out of reach for us. For now at least. There is not much we can do about this threat, so I still think finding a cure for Rarity and improving the defences of the empire should be our top priority for the moment,” Twilight explained.

“True. But just like before, not all of us can leave the empire at once. I volunteer to stay behind and keep the rebellion going,” Luna offered.

“I know how important this is to you, Twilight. But this mission really shouldn’t require most of us to go. A smaller group would attract less attention and the work here has been piling up since our last journey. I think Celestia, Shining Armor and I should also stay here, so we can get things done efficiently,” Cadence suggested, followed by the two mentioned others nodding in agreement.

“Alright, but Fluttershy: I would highly appreciate it if you could come with us again for protection,” the purple mare requested.

“Will do,” Fluttershy responded calmly.

“Good. I also think I owe you an opportunity to join us, since you missed out on last time. Right, Ditzy?” Twilight started again.

At first, the others were confused about this name and why Twilight was looking at Derpy when she said it. The grey mare herself seemed to not have realized she was being called and just keep glancing into the air in thought.

“Ditzy Doo?” Twilight called again.

“Wha-What? Did you… Did you just call me?” Derpy spoke, deeply stunned all the sudden.

“Wasn’t this your actual name?” Twilight asked carefully.

“Um… yes it is. It’s just… Gosh, this is weird. I haven’t been called by my real name in… ages,” the reaper mare explained.

“Is it bothering you? Would you prefer it if I kept calling you Derpy Hooves?” the purple mare wondered.

“No, no. It is alright. I… just need to get used to this again… Anyway, I am in!” Derpy replied.

“So it is Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy, Derpy a.k.a. Ditzy and mahself. That should do it,” Applejack commented. “Ah’ll get packin’ right away. See ya’ll tomorrow.”

---

Wandering straight through Equestria as well known targets of the cult could be compared to walking through a minefield. The threat was ever-present and just one wrong step could have fatal consequences. By now, Canterlot had become a giant watchtower, packed with searchlights and powerful telescopes to scan a huge area all around the mountain which the city was built on. Getting anywhere near the capital would have a similar effect to trying to break out of a prison. But unfortunately, Ponyville and Everfree Forest were both in good view of the mountain city. Getting there unseen would be a very difficult task that required a lot of thought. The planes beneath Cloudsdale were obviously out of question due to all the pegasus cultists flying around. Going east was also not a good option, since Foal Mountain was blocking the way and the only open paths available besides it would either bring them much too close to Canterlot or right through Fillydelphia. In order to stay hidden, they had to frequently seek the visual cover of the woods. So the only path they could use to stay as hidden as possible would be to follow the Crystal Mountains west, pass through the woods behind Galloping Gorge, sneak along Smokey Mountain, walk through White Tail Woods, over to Froggy Bottom Bog and eventually arriving in Everfree Forest. A huge and complex journey for the fact that they were just trying to get close to the center of a country that was practically outside of their doors. But while this would cost them weeks, it also brought them close to many memorable places, which evoked happy memories of the past. Smokey Mountain, for example, was were they had their first contact with an adult dragon and Fluttershy had her first big shining moment since the defeat of Nightmare Moon. White Tail Woods still held the traditional path for the Running of the Leaves and was just as beautiful as always, despite the Cult’s presence. It even seemed like the frogs at Froggy Bottom Bog had managed to deal with the hydra living there, since it was nowhere to be found and the frog population was booming, much to Fluttershy’s appreciation. At last, after all the sneaking, hiding and occasional killing of scouting cultists, they managed to arrive at the south-west end of Everfree Forest.

“That place didn’t change at all,” Applejack started and gulped. “Still as scary as it’s always been.”

“We should be especially careful once inside. With no reapers around to regulate things, who knows how many dangerous creatures and demons we might encounter,” Derpy suggested.

“I just hope that all this didn’t scare Zecora away,” Twilight commented in worry.

“Well, now that we are here, we might as well just go inside and see for ourselves,” Rarity stated.

“Let’s just hope there are at least some friendly animals left inside to help us,” Fluttershy commented.

After all had been said, Twilight went ahead and lead the group. Despite everything, the journey had so far been a rather positive event due to all the happy memories. But now that they were back here, the bad memories began to return. Whether this was due to the dark powers running through the forest or because of their own minds was not clear. But soon enough, they began talking about it.

“This looks familiar,” Rarity began. “Was this the place where Obsidian fought against a chimera?”

Fluttershy’s head did not move, but ears were clearly focusing Rarity now that she heard this name.

“I don’t know. Everything kind of looks the same around here,” Twilight commented.

“All that talk about demon strongholds, zones and curses… We had all been livin’ in an illusion up to that point,” Applejack added.

“I think it was even earlier when the disguise fell. At least to me, it was the moment when Trixie unleashed the Salamander and got eaten by it,” Twilight replied.

“True. That was horrible. The first time any of us had seen a pony die in such a horrible way. The fact that she didn’t stay dead made it all even worse,” Applejack agreed.

Both Rarity and Fluttershy just remained silent and had their focus lowered. While Rarity was trying to figure out which stump it was she had jumped on after Obsidian told her that Everfree Forest was a defiled place, Fluttershy was staring at the heart pin on her cloak.

“Oh gee, we should go deeper into the forest! I can see the meadows of Ponyville through the gaps in the trees!” Derpy commented.

Immediately, Twilight and Fluttershy both glanced over. The purple mare did not have the improved sight of a reaper, so she could not see more than small dots of light between the dark trees. What kept her staring while walking, though, were once again the memories. She believed that the circle of burnt grass would not be visible anymore at this point. The circle which sealed the Salamander away and cost Obsidian an eye. Yes, the Salamander incident definitely was the key moment for Twilight to realize that something was really wrong with Equestria. Thinking back, she was grateful Celestia sent the black stallion to her as their guide into the forbidden and hidden things. Although they had their problems with him at first, she could not think of any reaper who could have done it any better than he did. After all, what is to expect of a rollercoaster ride into Nightmare Moon’s world?

“What’s wrong, Fluttershy?” Derpy suddenly asked.

The group stopped and turned around. The yellow mare was staring in the direction of Ponyville. Without being able to express herself anymore, she just stood there with a neutral face for nearly a minute before she replied.

“They tore down the bell,” she spoke quietly.

“ The… Oh those monsters!” Rarity suddenly mumbled in anger as she realized what Fluttershy was talking about.

The yellow mare was able to see right through the trees and see a tiny section of the graveyard in their home village. Obsidian’s gravestone was still there, but the bell on top of it was missing. The cultists had taken away the one material object the black stallion could ever truly name his own. They had taken away the symbol of his childhood, his innocence, his family and their everlasting friendship to him. All that was left was now were stone and bones.

This was something they all should have seen coming and still, it was hard for them to take. Especially Twilight and Rarity got so angry over the news that they had to fight their tears. But as it was to expect, the purple mare quickly caught herself again.

“There is no point in crying over this. It’s just another of all the sins the BloodClaw Cult has committed and just like with all the others, they will pay for it. We need to stay focused on the task ahead. Let’s cure Rarity, bring Celestia back on the throne and then, Blueblood and his sick cult will have to face justice,” she announced.

“Right… Let’s keep goin’,” Applejack agreed.

While most of the group kept talking for the rest of the journey, Fluttershy only looked at the heart pin and held it securely. Now, this little object was all that was left of Obsidian. All that she still had to remind herself of him. Nothing should ever happen to it.

---

It only took about half an hour for them to finally find the hollowed out tree which Zecora called her home. It still looked like always: Tribal masks greeting visitors, potion bottles hanging from branches. Twilight got very excited as she saw this and ran ahead. She knocked at the door, only to find that it was not locked. As it slowly slid open, it revealed the disarranged inside. Many of the potions and ingredients the zebra herbalist had gathered were still there, but they were not in their proper place.

“She’s not here…” Twilight mumbled in disappointment.

Moments later, Derpy caught up and looked inside, analyzing the situation.

“Hmm… Either something ambushed her while she was working on a potion, or she left this place in a hurry,” the grey mare analyzed.

“Let’s hope it is the latter. Not for my own sake, but for her’s,” Rarity commented. “I would hate to find out that something happened to her.”

“Well, shoot…” Applejack spoke, half in a sigh. “Ya think she might still be around here somewhere?”

Derpy entered the hut and took a more closely look at the exposed ingredients. After just a few moments, she turned back around and shook her head.

“The plants are dried up and dead, the potions have rotten and that cauldron hadn’t been cleaned in ages. She would never let her things succumb like that if she was planning to return,” the grey mare explained.

“Then it was for nothing…” Twilight stated, followed by a stomp on the ground and a sad look over to her sick friend. “I’m sorry, Rarity.”

“Darling, please. You tried. What more could anypony ask for?” Rarity asked back.

“Let’s get back to the empire,” Fluttershy suggested.

“Yeah… Nothin’ to do here anymore,” Applejack agreed and turned around.

Unwillingly, Twilight followed along with the others. Her head was hanging low and she had a grim expression on her face. Why couldn’t she have luck with anything just once? Where did Zecora go? Was she hurt?

Worry began to fill the purple mare’s mind. Memories of Zecora were mixing up with the memories of Everfree Forest. The zebra lady always prefered living in a wild and dangerous forest over the safety of the village because it brought her closer to unusual and rare ingredients for potions. A long time ago, Twilight had a conversation with Zecora about this and that she was worried about her security. But it seemed like Zecora was very capable of defending herself and she just kept arguing that there was a special type of magic flowing through this place. It wasn’t just the demonic energy in the soil, plants and animals. There was a different power here as well. Something older than the forest itself. Something pure and powerful, but unpredictable. It were these rare, pure things in this cursed forest that Zecora was searching.

And into her own reflection she stared, yearning for one whose reflection she shared.

With all the thoughts and memories stirring in her, Twilight’s mind made a sudden jump. A well remembered event in Ponyville, which had its origin here in this forest. A place she remembered because she was the one who sealed it away. Somewhere around here, the Mirror Pool was still hidden underneath a rock. Unknown by anypony, untouched for nearly a decade. Even if the cult would somehow have come across that old legend, they would have never been able to find it. Twilight was the only one still alive knowing about its location. Suddenly, the purple mare stopped.

“Girls,” she called, causing all the others to turn around.

“What is it, Twilight?” Derpy wanted to know.

The purple mare hesitated with her answer. It was a thought steering in her head, but she still wasn’t sure if it was a good thought. But after a few moments of insecurity, her expression suddenly became very serious.

“I have an idea, but I’m not sure if you will like it. This journey won’t have been for nothing if we take a little detour,” she suggested.

“Well, where are we heading, darling?” Rarity wanted to know.

“The Mirror Pool,” Twilight replied.

A brief moment of silence followed. Was she serious about this? Everyone had the same thought, but it was Applejack who first put it into words.

“You plan on clonin’ us, Sugarcube? Why? What’s the point?” the orange mare wondered.

“With all the help we have gained so far, the cultists still outnumber us by a lot. But the last thing they will expect is to see an army of clones,” Twilight explained.

“Haven’t you learned anything from the last time the pool was used?!” Derpy protested in shock. “Those clones are completely out of control! How can you even think that this would be a good idea?”

“These clones were out of control because they were Pinkamena’s clones. You know how random she… acted. I do believe if we made them, they would turn out a lot different,” Twilight retorted.

“But even then, do you believe that this will work out as you want it to? How are we even supposed to get them back to the Crystal Empire unseen?” Fluttershy wondered.

“I know, I know. This will need a lot of thought. But I am developing a plan just as we speak and I am pretty sure it works. Pinkamena told me everything and all about the legend and the rhyme going with it. Let’s just get there. I will explain everything on the way,” the purple mare requested and started walking ahead.

“Well… alright, darling. I am in for it. Tell us about your plan,” Rarity agreed and began to follow her, with the others coming along moments later.

---

For years, the luminescent mushrooms had been the only source of light in the cavern that held these enchanted waters. But as the rock lifted from the entrance, sunlight filled the whole place. The Mirror Pool reacted to the light, shining brightly as it absorbed the rays of sunlight. It was a liquid unlike any water else in the world. So pure, despite being surrounded by dirt. One might be tempted to drink from it, but who knows what would happen then. Was this even water? Twilight already knew that many would like to research this pond and its liquid, because she felt the very same urge. But she knew better. Such magic is best hidden away, at least while the world was still in such disarray.

As the group stood before the pool, they all had mixed feelings. They trusted Twilight, of course. But they were still unsure about this. Yet, if this worked out, it would be an enormous advantage for the rebellion. They just needed to give it a try.

Twilight stood in front of her friends and began to cast a spell. Moments later, they all gained random large blotches all over their bodies which had a slightly darker color than the rest of their fur.

“I’m glad this is just temporary. This so doesn’t go for me,” Rarity complained.

“Just endure it for a moment,” Twilight responded. “Okay, Fluttershy: I want to test something, so you should do the ritual first.”

The yellow mare nodded shortly and stepped in front of the Mirror Pool. Already, the reflection she saw was so much deeper and better than any water surface or mirror could ever create. It felt like it was just about to climb out of the pond on its own. Perhaps it was wanting to, but needed Fluttershy’s approval to do so. An approval given by a specific rhyme, which the yellow mare then began to reside.

"Into her own reflection she stared, yearning for one whose reflection she shared, and solemnly sweared not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly mared.”

Silence filled the cave. Fluttershy kept staring at the reflection in front of her, but nothing was happening. Then suddenly, the reflection in the pool turned around and disappeared into the depths. This was something even Twilight was surprised to see happening, causing her eyes to go wide open.

“So that is how it responds if it’s not possible. Pretty fascinating,” she spoke.

“Why didn’t it work, though?” Applejack wanted to know.

“I want to take one more test to make sure. Ditzy: Could you give it a try now?” Twilight requested.

“Sure thing!” the grey mare replied cheerfully and went in front of the pool. "Into her own reflection she stared, yearning for one whose reflection she shared, and solemnly sweared not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly mared!”

The reflection moved along perfectly and even had Derpy’s grin on its face after she finished the rhyme. But again, nothing happened. Moments later, her reflection stopped smiling, turned around and walked away as well.

“Hey! I did everything right! Come back, you!” the grey mare spoke in frustration.

“It’s alright, Ditzy. I expected this to happen,” Twilight commented.

“Would you care to explain, Twilight?” Rarity requested.

“I just wanted to make sure. You see, the rhyme clearly says ‘her’, ‘she’ and ‘doubly mared’. What if a stallion tried the ritual? Or something that isn’t a pony? My theory was that the pool only accepts female earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi. I wanted to test if it would also consider reapers as ponies, but it doesn’t,” Twilight spoke.

“That makes sense. We may still look like ponies, but our bodies don’t work like ponies at all anymore,” Fluttershy agreed.

“And now we go for the counter-thesis,” Twilight announced as she stepped in front of the pool herself. "Into her own reflection she stared, yearning for one whose reflection she shared, and solemnly sweared not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly mared.”

In contrast to the two attempts before, a purple hoof reached out of the water, asking Twilight for assistance. She grabbed it and moments later, there were two Twilights standing next to each other.

“See? It worked!” the left one commented happily.

“What worked?” the right one wanted to know.

“We will explain that to you later. For now, why don’t you introduce yourself?” the first Twilight requested.

“Oh, sure! My name is Twilight Sparkle! What’s your name?” the second asked back.

Without responding, the other Twilight just smiled and waved her friends over to the pool. This was another one of Twilight’s tests. Apparently, the clones are able to recognize themselves, but do not realize it immediately when they see a doppelganger. Derpy and Fluttershy stepped back and started counting the clones rising out of the pool. The more there were made, the greater the confusion became about which ones the real ones were. The other clones just stood there, deeply confused as to what was happening. Some even decided to join the three mares in saying the magical rhyme, making everything even harder. After about half an hour, the cave was completely filled with clones, to the point that barely any of them could still move and most had very annoyed expressions.

“Okay, I think that should be enough,” one of the Twilights at the pool announced.

Immediately, one of the Applejacks and Rarities stopped as well, soon followed by the remaining ones stopping and focusing the three.

“Listen up, everypony!” Twilight started announcing. “I am pretty sure that by now, you have realized that we are making clones and that you are one yourself-”

“Oh you think I am a clone?” one of the Rarities asked in an irritated tone. “What makes you think you are the real one then?”

“That is simple,” the Twilight spoke and started casting a spell to undo the blotches on herself and one other Rarity and Applejack. “Our blotches are magical. I gave them us to be able to differ between the real ones and clones. I know you don’t have the same knowledge we do, so only by knowing the spell the blotches will disappear and only we three know it. But please, don’t get this the wrong way. To us, you are all originals. Everyone of you is a Rarity, Applejack or Twilight and you are free to use that name, or any name you would like. We are not here to take advantage over you or use you in any way. You are free to do whatever you like and we promise that none of you will be sent back into the pool.”

“Then, what keeps us from just leavin’ this place?” an Applejack clone wanted to know.

“Nothin’,” the real Applejack replied. “But before ya go, we want ya’ll to know something. We know ya don’t have our memories, skills or knowledge. So it’s only fair to tell ya that there’s a war ragin’ up there. Right now, we’re all deep in enemy territory and if ya just go out there alone and talk to anypony, they will kill ya. We can show you a save way out of here, but there’s something ya need to consider.”

“And what is that?” a Twilight clone wanted to know.

“This war out there is world-wide. Our enemy is an evil stallion controlling an even worse army of cultists and monsters. If we don’t stop them, there will soon be no place left to go to. We can’t force you to join us, but please, we need your help to save many, many lives. Joining in a war against an enemy you don’t even know anything about yet is asked for a lot, I know. But we wouldn’t have done this if we weren’t convinced that this was necessary to not only save ourselves, but the whole world,” the real Rarity spoke.

“If you come with us, we offer you education, protection, shelter and food. All we ask for in return is that you do the right thing when the time comes. Please! We need your help! This is all so much bigger than you can yet imagine!” the real Twilight stated.

The clones began to mumble and argue with each other. It took minutes, but it eventually became quiet again as an orange, blotched hoof raised into the air.

“Well if we have the freedom to go wherever we wanna go, then Ah say we find out about these things ourselves! Everyone who agrees with me, come along now!” one of the Applejacks spoke and started walking.

“Now hold on there just a minute!” another Applejack started. “Ah know this is weird and all, but Ah got a good feelin’ about these ponies. There’re so many questions in mah head right now. Ah don’t know about ya’ll, but Ah’m goin’ with ‘em!”

The three originals were all pretty stunned about this scenario. All these ponies in front of them were clones, but they could come to such different decisions. After some more discussing and arguing, it was decided. Of the many clones they created, only a few left on their own. The majority had trust in their creators and decided to stay. It wasn’t exactly as Twilight hoped it would turn out to be, but it was more than enough to please her and call it a success.

“Very well. I thank you all for your trust. For now, we need to find a way to get back to the Crystal Empire unseen. Here is a map of Equestria, the land we are currently in, if you don’t know that already. With your help, I hope to come up with a few plans of how we can all reach our goal,” the real Twilight explained and unrolled the map in front of the clones.