The scientist left the room soon after following the disappearance of the unicorn styled Twilight Sparkle. Spike was trying his best not to look out into the room at this point as his whole world started to spin around leaving his mind to worry intensely about what it meant in the long run.

‘Is Twilight even ok… What happened in this world? I can’t… NO! It’s not possible!’ Spike quietly curled up trying to possibly think of a reason for the clones. Discord carved out the cotton candy and set up a small stairway for them to get down from. With careful dexterity Discord gripped Spike in his tail and walked down into the room. The lights were still on luckily enough and allowed the two to gaze into the vats filled with random Twilights. None of them actually had her cutie mark though causing Spike to feel the anxiety lessen at least.

“Seems like this world has been busy. Hm… says here on some of the containers that these clones have been growing for several years. So Twilight has been in this realm for years now…?” Discord peered through the labels on the edges of the jars before turning to the bracer.

“So it’s not really Twilight then? That still doesn’t answer why there are clones of her here in the first place. This is really messed up in the first place.” Spike peered at a particular Twilight. She looked exactly the same as she did way back when they were leaving for the Summer Sun Celebration.

Then its eyes opened. It stared down at Spike and smiled… unnaturally. It could’ve given Pinkie a run for her money. Discord hadn’t noticed because he had gone to retrieve the bracer, placing it on his arm he felt power coursing through his body and the smirk on his face boldly grew. Then they shrunk when he noticed the pony in the tube staring at Spike then towards him. It’s eyes traced back and forth between the two with practiced ease as the smile kept on its face. Another pair of eyes opened soon after, then another, and another.

“Discord! HELP!” Spike cried out as the mare in the tube tried to break the glass only to wince at the sudden physical activity. Discord for his part quickly raced down grabbing Spike in his tail and racing up into the vent they had come from. Halfway up the small staircase of cotton candy, a loud shattering of glass resounded amongst the room. It was followed by more but Discord didn’t stop to look knowing that a cliche such as that usually got you killed horribly.

“Now now, where are you taking my number one assistant to? Doesn’t he know we have to get ready for a long day teaching this place what happens when you take a loved one from them there are… consequences.” The voice that said those words were not warm. There was something unnatural flowing through what was said. Spike did look back and saw what was being said. The first few clones spoke at the same time at the same tone with the same measured breaths and inflections. Unlike that day with the mirror pool and the near infinite number of Pinkie Pies, this didn’t ring the same level. Each single clone exhibited the same responses and tones with the only difference between clones being that some had wings and some had horns.

“Faster! FASTER CELESTIA DAMN IT ALL!” Spike cried out as the clones made their marching orders towards the staircase as the two climbed away.

Instead of leaving right away Discord covered the hole in cotton candy and then supercharged it with lightning if only to keep the deterrent for as long as possible. Then the pair headed further in leaving behind another cotton candy wall leading towards the entrance and supercharging that particular one as well. Then he covered their exit route behind them though left it uncharged. Spike wanted to question it but left it for later. The look the clones gave him unnerved him and he couldn’t explain why.

‘They even remembered me. This is so much worse than what Rarity is going through but it looks like they haven’t gotten the real Twilight here though. I don’t know how I know that but I can feel it… somehow. If they are all the same way as Twilight we need to find books and maybe some nachos. She can’t resist either and… and… I don’t want to deal with what they wanted to do. Those smiles I have only seen once in my whole life and I can’t remember from where. Not even Pinkie had ever smiled that unbearably scarily before.’ Spike quietly wrapped his thoughts up and looked behind him at Discord who just seemed anxious at this point.

“You ok Discord?” Spike tossed a casual question at him. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too much for either of them. Spike was anything but casual at this point though. His eyes darted around while his hands wringed against the other leaving him a jittery mess.

“Yeah. Yeah sure. Look we should get as far away as we can from this place because those things were not right in any sense of the word. I don’t know what it was but they were not right in the head and you could see that in their eyes. They were hungry for blood and you being there wasn’t making it any better. Seeing you jumpstarted their brains which were probably cloned from the original to match as well as possible but their personalities seemed to immediately shift to the manic side. This is only a thought but probably being in an unknown location against their will has left them unsure how to react and seeing you still free awakened a resolve to be close to someone they knew.” Discord explained as he created more walls behind them as they crawled further through the vents.

“But they know you as well… but they were talking about the Summer Sun Celebration… Maybe they are still in that old mindset of not needing friends.” Spike suddenly looked off worriedly.

“Probably based on the looks they gave me when I grabbed you and ran. They didn’t seem to be able to use magic though. That alone is strange but convenient to me. Crap! I can’t make anymore…” Discord slumped slightly allowing Spike to see that Dash’s mark was nearly empty from overuse.

“I’m wondering why we are feeling this kind of dread. I mean it’s just Twilight and she was never that physically tough.” Spike wondered aloud stopping them from moving. He hopefully thought that the break would give them some time to recharge. Unfortunately the gem shield ability he had would only be useful if they got into a fight. At that point Spike would be labeled the heavy hitter of their duo. Most of his abilities either gave him offense or defense. Discord, meanwhile, focusing on trickery or finesse.

“Probably it’s just a side effect of the cloning. Still I can’t be sure about it. Even I never tried to do anything with cloning. I wouldn’t like to share the glory as I would say back in my hay day.” Discord chuckled though it felt a little dark in delivery. Discord wasn’t smiling as sounds started to breach outside one of the vent grates they were in.

“Spppiiiikkkkkee~. SPIKE! I need you to come back and get ready to send a message to Princess Celestia. Argh… Where is he when you need him- “ The Twilight clone was cut off as another voice rose out of sight.

“T-16 what are you doing out of containment. What is going on?” An unknown voice rung out.

“T-16? No I’m Twilight Sparkle, the prized student of Princess Celestia. Now good sir I need you to get ready to send me to Ponyville I think it was. I need to finish getting this Summer Sun Celebration preparations out of the way. I have to make sure Nightmare Moon doesn’t break out of her prison. It is imperative I get this done.” Twilight gave was sounded like a confidently smug smirk before she yelped out from being shocked.

“Stay down.” The voice called out as they pressed something into the clone shocking it again. What could only be a guard then seemed to turn away voicing something quietly into an object that was in his hand.

“Yes I need you down… What!” The guards cried out as the cloned unicorn outside the grate bucked him into the wall. He fell onto his back as the clone jumped ontop of him with the prod held in her hooves somehow. She then jabbed it into the guard’s face.

“Dear,” A sudden stab broke through the guard’s neck. “, Princess,” The next went inside his mouth shocking the guard to charred flesh. “, Celestia,” She jammed the tip into the eye turning the prod on to the maximum setting leaving nothing but a convulsing corpse lying on the ground. “, I killed another being. It felt wonderful. The feeling of having someponies life in your hand and watching the light die. Is this how you felt in your glory days. I wish I had been more interested in the warfare you underwent in your day. It was too quick. Need another soon. But first I must find my faithful assistant. He will need to help me keep track of every kill on a new checklist. I’ll make one soon. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” The clone seemed to utter the perverse letter to no one in particular as she pulled the prod out of the body and trotted away most likely to find another.

Spike looked away though if he had anything in his stomach it would be gone at this point. Discord stared at the body before covering it in cotton candy so he wouldn’t have to see it anymore. The rest had not been worth the show.

“So clones are deranged sociopaths that developed their own personalities. Right then let's go as fast as possible that way. Now!” Discord pushed Spike forward who wholly acquiesced to the sudden rush.

There were alarms ringing out at that point as the sound of more Twilights came rushing through the vents. Spike covered his ears for the most part keeping the sounds from overwhelming him. The two exited out the next grate they could, if only to escape the echoes that were reaching through the vents at that point. The room was a large hangar revealing several machines that confused Spike on sight.

“What the heck are those?” Spike peered out into the expansive hangar noting the lack of guards and Twilights.

“Space crafts? This place seemed to be space themed though the fact that all the guards and pilots seem to be monkeys or apes says a lot about this world. Not in a bad way mind you but it's just a bit weird that the conquerors are apes. It’s a literal planet of the apes.” Discord exposited a little. He felt a little weird being the serious one for the moment but there was a first time for everything.

“I don’t think that those will help us. We need to find the door now and get out of here. I’d prefer not to be torn apart by the crazed clones.” Spike nervously wrung his hands together making sure to keep his eyes peeled all around him.

“Wait a moment I got to do something very important.” Discord pointed out as he knelt down and looked to the ceiling.

“Is it gonna be loud?” Spike immediately asked as he felt the scales on the back of his neck perk up.

“Damn you! Damn you all you blew it up! Damn you, you damn dirty apes!” Discord cried out into the hangar which luckily due to the warning klaxons stayed within the hangar. Spike facepalmed instantly.

“You good?” Spike chimed in before stepping out of cover.

“Yeah I knew that would be good for me.” Discord smirked while the two continued across the hangar. The sound of the alarm eerily stopped as they reached the far end. Instead the sound of laser fire ignited the air.

“Remember we have to find Spike girls.”

“I can’t do this without my number one assistant.”

“I wonder if there is a book on aeronautics around here?”

“Jeez this place is more confusing than Canterlot Castle. We still haven’t found the princess yet?”

“She did say we had to meet her in an hour. We need to get ready to reform Discord. I’m positive that we can do it so long as we’re together.”

The voices didn’t fill them with confidence as the two waited patiently by another set of doors ready to take off the moment the those voices entered the hangar. Seven Twilights all entered the room looking curiously around. Each were covered in multiple wounds and dripping blood… though none of it looked to be their own. Their eyes were all dilated with several of them seemingly rubbing the blood against their coat as if it were a soothing lotion. They had enjoyed themselves and the moment their eyes caught sight of the pair they immediately smiled. An unnerving smile which seemed to be worse from the fact that a few of their mouths were dyed red.

“Spike~” The tone was… unexceptionally cheerful and their eyes all locked on him. Spike stood motionless and noticed that even though some had horns none of them tried to grab him in their magic. The ones with wings let them flare and twitch ready to blast off towards him.

Their eyes slowly trailed over to Discord who slightly blanched at the sudden turn. Their eyes didn’t hold any love for him and seemed to match exactly as they were when they first released him for his reformation. While they didn’t have the elements with them he was still much weaker at this point and these particular mare clones seemed to be the more violent ones out of the group.

“Discord… you escaped, “ It wasn’t questioned and merely stated as fact. “ I guess we should have known that you would. Perhaps we should fix that problem.” All of the mares spoke at the same time focusing on Discord only at this point.

“You will release Spike or else.” It was another command which made Spike step behind Discord’s leg. That was something noticed by every single pair of eyes there except for Discord’s. Now they were all snorting and glaring.

“WHAT DID YOU DO!” They all pointed their left hooves at the draconequus. Each of their eyes were becoming engulfed in red but not from the blood coating their bodies. Anger had taken root.

Discord merely tried to placate them by waving his arms that he did nothing wrong. He still couldn’t find his voice mostly due to trying to think of a decent exit strategy. While he knew Twilight wasn’t the most athletic he did know that her rage could propel her to do crazy things. Right now crazy things was the worst possible idea due to each of the clones losing their Celestia damned mind turning into sociopathic monsters. He didn’t even want to think what could happen to Spike if they did get their hooves on him.

“RELEASE HIM FROM YOUR BRAINWASHING NOW!” They all screamed out now racing for the pair as blood curdling screams filled the hangar. Discord grabbed Spike and ducked behind a crate only to appear back at the entrance to the entire facility they came in from. Both were sick to their cores but not from the warping. The fact that Twilight could be so twisted made them sick. Clones or not something wrong was going on in this facility. While one was taken away from the facility the rest were roaming the halls now probably leaving nothing but ruin behind by their own hooves no doubt.

“So… do we got any hope?” Spike squeaked out while holding his stomach. Luckily the screams of frustration coming from the hangar was the only thing they heard.

“If we find the door I’ll tell you.” Discord wheezed out. Pinkie’s power was far too taxing and inefficient compared to his usual methods. The alert on the facility going down only meant one thing in his mind. ‘They’ve taken over.’

“Well I feel unsettled now. How much longer you need? I… I don’t think I could use my powers on her. I know they’re not her but… I don’t think I can.” Spike looked away not able to truly finish the thought. He really didn’t want to attack Twilight. Regardless if they were clones or not. Yet that image persisted and kept breaking in whenever he managed to close her eyes. The blood… It was too wrong. So wrong.

“Two more minutes. Then I’ll have three more warps and we may have to use them. Already this is unsettling and this is supposed to be my job.” Discord moaned out. He was still feeling that headache. ‘I can’t trap them forever. Cotton Candy doesn’t react well to saliva and she probably will be as messy an eater like she is with hayburgers.’

Discord slowly stood back up holding his head from the jolt of pain but as soon as the mark restored on his back it was gone. Another rule of the powers came into play at this point. ‘So long as it recharges we’ll be able to recover almost immediately after they finish. Any physical pain or mental strain will disappear most likely.’ His thoughts kept absorbing certain aspects of the powers they got but so far the warping power had been the only one that caused a load of problems for the two of them.

Spike slowly surveyed the halls noticing that the entire hallway was empty revealing discarded helmets and weapons coating it. Strangely there was no blood and the clones were probably still searching the hangar or at least checking ahead by the door the two had decided to stand near. Discord stood back up and walked over to him. With a quick jerk of his head the two traveled down the corridor away from the direction of the hangar making certain that they kept their footsteps light using the cotton candy as makeshift shoes.

“I have no idea where we could be looking for a door Discord. Doesn’t it usually appear after we find the artifact?” Spike loudly whispered though it sounded more like hissing at first. Discord pondered a few seconds before answering.

“That’s true. This is really strange and we usually get really lucky though Applejack’s and Rainbow’s doors didn’t appear until we dealt with a threat. I got a bad feeling that we’re gonna have to get rid of the threat in this world. You know what that means though right?” He grimaced more to the fact that these clones were highly dangerous. The one that talked about aeronautics was especially terrifying more due to the fact she actually wanted to either build a ship or learn to pilot a ship to escape the confines of this planet. That sent shivers down their spines. The looks that the clones gave him reminded him of some of the worst monsters he faced way before dealing with Celestia and Luna.

Spike grew quiet. This quest went from being a hero to survival very fast. ‘Was this what everyone went through when they faced Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis?’ He didn’t like the choices before him yet there was some finality screaming out in his chest. He didn’t know what it was but childhood only seemed to be a wistful memory at this point. ‘Was this what they meant by losing one’s innocence.’

“Dear, “ A squelch came from one of the rooms, “Princess Celestia,” Something was torn, It sounded wet and drippy. “ It seems that ape muscle fiber is very tough requiring a certain level of torque to completely rip off. Still no sign of my number one assistant but the research here is going swimmingly. I’m also looking for Discord so I can ask him to teach me some other magic that I might need. Who knows how useful a body alteration spell could be. I do need more… subjects to test. The alteration spell will give me much more to work with. Your student Twilight Sparkle.” The clone started to paint one of the far walls writing down complex notes on the elasticity of the fibers she was stepping on. Discord quickly wrapped his tail around Spike’s head covering his eyes. While he could smell the meat and blood in the air he was glad he couldn’t see it.

‘This place is messed up.’ Spike was picked up and carried away. Luckily this Twilight had the same senses when it came to studying which made it easy to get away from her… it. ‘Remember they are clones… horrible sociopathic clones…’

“We really need to find an exit. Nowish would be good.” Discord sounded perturbed. He saw how many bodies were in that room and this place really needed to go. Only this particular facility at the very least.

“Was it really bad?” Spike hesitantly asked. He really was curious but at the same time he didn’t want to know. His eyes were covered for a reason and he knew it would scar him but he needed to be ready even for the worse.

“Yes.”

The answer was short and curt and Discord could feel him shivering through his tail. While he didn’t want to comfort him he needed to say something else. This dimension or whatever it was was starting to get on his nerves and the sudden shift from the wackiness they faced with Pinkie and Rarity’s worlds left him at least optimistic about the light heartedness at least reaching a few more worlds. It was a pipe dream at best. Fluttershy instantly came to mind and he knew that there was little that could really be done for her with his lack of power. She must have gone through one of the portals of her own free will but that thought tore him apart.

“Discord. I smell something weird… “ Another voice broke him out of his reverie.

“What is it? We need to keep moving at least to find the door we need.” Discord set Spike down sufficiently fine with the distance between the clones and them.

“It smells like another Twilight is nearby but I don’t smell blood on her.” He answered knowing something was still wrong with the situation.

Discord pondered for a bit. The lack of blood left him wondering whether or not this particular clone was a threat or not. While he motioned Spike to lead him toward the smell Discord planned out some countermeasures before they even reached the door. His talons were at the ready to summon a cotton candy storm of chaos should it be needed. The bracer he had remained dormant still something he barely noticed until he was pondering his course of actions.

Inside the room was a single Twilight Sparkle sitting on the floor holding her tail and rubbing it softly. Spike kept his distance but the pangs in his heart made him want to sprint over to her. Discord kept his distance as well removing their cloud shoes allowing the natural staccato of their claws to ring out of the room. The sad mare looked up decidedly less crazy looking than the other clones. She remained still but allowed her tears to stop falling. The unicorn clone of Twilight stood back up but remained in place. Her eyes darted back and forth seemingly uncertain of what was going on.

“Spike…” The voice was soft and tender.

“Yeah Twi? We’re ok.” Spike answered gingerly taking a few steps forward. The clone hadn’t moved at all.

“We’re all wrong Spike. It doesn’t feel right. Discord… am I real?” Twilight asked utterly lost and confused allowing panic to overtake her.

“In a sense yes, you are. But what’s really wrong?” Discord kept his talons behind his back ready to trap her should she prove just as unstable.

“I don’t feel like I’m Twilight Sparkle. Also you two are dead… I remember that happened… didn’t it?” The mare sobbed slightly. Lines creased her forehead and tears streamed down her face. She was keeping the sobs muttered with her hooves. The less sound meant the less things that could hurt them.

Pitying her the two stood close by. Discord was still prepared to act while Spike slowly hugged the clone to stop her crying. The mare stopped crying but remained on the floor huddled on the ground.

“Thanks. I need to get you out of here. You’re in danger here. I think the others are getting restless.” Twi-clone stood back up and looked out the door searching for something.

“We need to find a control room Twi. Did you ever see something like that?” Spike spoke up trying his best not to appear scared of her. Twi-clone just shook her head until something seemingly sparked her mind. Slowly she trotted out of the room and kept going through the hall.

The two followed the young mare out of the room cautiously though. While this particular clone remained stable and sound of mind they were completely on edge after witnessing the horde covered from head to hoof in blood. Twi-clone stepped past another room which had more insane mumbling coming from within but instead of ape bodies within there were pony bodies. The room was filled to the brim with the massacre that had enveloped from the release of the clones and no survivors were left.

“I feel something from this room over here.” Twi-clone spoke up pointing a hoof at a door further from the room they passed. The room that Discord had quickly shut before Spike could walk by.

Discord was no stranger to gore. Before he had become an all powerful being even he knew how to deal with threats. These circumstances were not the same though. Sadism seemed to course throughout the facility at this point. Dogmatic belief in leaders flooded his senses. The atmosphere had changed and what he saw made it all the worse. Spike, while annoyed at not seeing the truth, was personally happy that he was being spared the gory details. Especially with the fact that the entire facility had clones of his caretaker who committed unspeakable acts not even he wanted to acknowledge.

“You sure Twi?” Spike asked genially looking up at the smiling mare.

As she nodded she looked up at Discord shuffling around slightly looking worried. Discord said nothing but the look he saw reminded him of something he had seen once long ago. Uncertainty of who one was. She looked lost, more so that she had an inkling of being cloned from a still living being. She seemed to know that she wasn’t meant to be real.

Before he could say anything Spike called him into the room. The two followed the sound finding monitors lined against the wall showcasing the slaughter of both sides. The sociopathic ponies seemed to be faster and tougher than anything Twilight had ever done before hand yet the ape guards showed no quarter managing to slaughter another clone for every three casualty they suffered,

“Sweet Celestia this is horrible. Is there anything we can do to stop it?” The Twi-clone asked looking close to tears once again.

Unbeknownst to her, at the other end of the room was the door they needed. The door was still closed and Discord knew something in particular needed to be done in this realm. Spike looked over the console searching every nook and cranny for some kind of switch. ‘In every comic the self destruct button was always labeled. Why can’t now be one of those times?’

Shortly after he found a small field guide which Discord removed from him and skim through. While Spike was eager he didn’t need to have this on his claws. The self destruct sequence was a set of multiple key commands which was set with a password. Ironically the password was written within one of the margins of the book. Has the clone not been transfixed by the violence she probably would have lost it from the desecration of a book for no good reason.

“Spike calm her down while I get to work.” Discord began his task never looking at the two others in the room. It was something which dragged his conscious through the mud. Spike comforted the Twi-clone managing to tear her from the monitors.

“Why am I in this nightmare…” The clone sobbed into Spike’s shoulder while he rubbed her head consolingly. The shift in demeanor was becoming more unbearable for the young drake. He knew he couldn’t do anything for her in the time they had.

“SELF DESTRUCT INITIATED 15 MINUTES TO DETONATION. ALL EXITS ARE NOW SEALED.” A robotic voice came on.

“WHAT!?” Spike and Twilight screamed out. Discord then wrapped Twilight in loads of cotton candy keeping her trapped within.

“Spike how many gem shields can you make?” Discord calmly asked while Spike stared dumbfounded at the draconequus. He looked at the gems he had left and noticed that he had five gems left.

“Five. I don’t think I’ll have enough energy for that though.” While Spike was confused by Discord’s actions he thought about the alternative and kept his panic from getting the best of him.

“Create three circular shields that can act like a cocoon.” Discord stated evenly while he kept Twilight confined in the cotton candy leaving only her head free. She was bewildered, too stunned to sob anymore. The first two cocoons came out well enough allowing them to shelter her within them. The third took a bit longer nearly collapsing as the mark on his back started to fade.

“Here… it’s done. Best I can make it…” Spike panted slightly breathing heavily from the strain before pulling out the last two gems. With the last of his powers he made two circular shields large enough to hide behind before collapsing on the ground. The mark was fully grayed out.

“T-MINUS 8 MINUTES TO FACILITY LIQUIDATION.”

“Ok Twilight I want you to stay put in this until everything calms down. I can get you to safety but we can’t go with you. I know there are other facilities on this rock and I want you to make your way towards one of them. I think these apes were leaving to invade somewhere and right now is when they are most vulnerable. We’re going to warp somewhere and I’ll get you set up and ready to make it to the next facility. These things will keep you safe but you can’t waste them.” Discord quickly explained. Before Twilight could voice an opinion the two stepped behind the console only to end up far outside behind a boulder.

The Twilight clone felt like puking but with nothing in her stomach she managed to breath and calm herself down. Discord felt tired once again from using his warping ability so soon. He positioned Twilight behind the boulder on the side opposite the blast then placed the shields in a way that would guard her from two blows before they could break through.

“You are alive you know. It’s not much but this will let you survive. When it is over you’ll be able to live. I’m sorry we can’t do more.” Discord sadly mused as he stepped closer to the boulder.

“It’s because I’m just a clone huh?” Twilight asked. She wasn’t sobbing or sounded sad. The tone was merely… resigned to their fate.

“Yes.”

“I figured. I was supposed to have wings and I can’t feel magic. It’s weird you know. I thought it would be bad to not have magic but for me… I feel ok with that. You should head back and keep Spike safe. Thanks for keeping me safe. I know the others were… monstrous but I’m glad you proved something to me.” Twilight smiled as she looked at the draconequus. The age on his face was very apparent at this point.

“What have I proved to you princess?” He answered with a smirk mocking her with her new title if only to keep the strange feeling in his heart from breaking forth.

“That when you are serious you really do care about others. You kept Spike from completely losing his innocence and made sure to do things yourself. Then you made sure that I was safe even though the others wanted to tear you limb from limb.” She smirked back.

“I’m no stranger to hard choices in life. I just decided that when I had my power I wouldn’t be dictated by what others thought was a normal way of life. Chaos is the way of the world and my chaos makes sure that everyone has a chance to survive. I do mean everyone not everypony. Unfortunately you are the only one with any equinity in them I suppose is the term in this case. You have your chance to make something of yourself here. Something different. Something grand that goes beyond the memories that you have of back then. Princess of Friendship I bid you good luck and adieu.” Discord stepped behind the rock leaving the Twilight clone smiling as she closed her eyes and waited for what was to come.

As he got back into the room the door was wide open now leaving him to pick Spike up and sidle over to the room. The warping downside did hit him but only mildly letting him keep to his feet within milliseconds.

“T-MINUS 3 MINUTES TO COMPLETE ANNIHILATION.”

“Where do you think your going Discord…?” Seven voices called out of the darkness as he stepped into the doorway.

When he turned around he quickly covered Spike’s eyes before he could see. Every single one of the clones that had hunted them down to the hangar was broken in ways that couldn’t be imagined. The unicorn clones either had broken bones or deformed legs barely able to support the weight they held. The pegasi clones were even more broken as a few no longer had both wings. The same problem still held over all of them. They were smiling and covered in the blood of the guard that were within the base.

“Away.” He backpedaled across the threshold but the door didn’t close.

When he realized that the door didn’t close the mares charged ahead recklessly even when the sound of twisted bones indicated that they could no longer walk. When they tried to jump through the door a force field stopped them from bursting into the room. Unlike with Zero the clones couldn’t enter the room of their own volition. They snarled like beasts scratching at the field trying desperately to charge in. Always their eyes would focus on Spike as their motivation.

“T-MINUS 60 SECONDS TO DETONATION”

“SPIKE! LET US IN NOW!” The clones cried out only for Discord to cover what was considered Spike’s ear with the thickest cotton candy he could muster. He didn’t hear nor did he see. Discord kept his senses open and never stopped looking at them.

‘I won’t deny this is my fault in a sense for destroying these posers. I will not let somepony become a playtoy for another. That is my job. Hopefully the sane one will be alright.’ Discord watched as desperation turned into unbridled rage as the clones turned on each other tearing themselves apart.

“T-MINUS 5 SECONDS,”

“4 SECONDS”

“3.”

“2.”

“1.”

The door slammed shut as the entire base was engulfed in a torrent of flames and explosions. The last thing Discord saw were the smiling faces of each mare as the mutually assured destruction of the base kept going. Smoke crept out of the door frame as Freya made her way over to the pair. Spike had been returned to normal and allowed back on his feet.

The bracer floated off of Discord’s arm planted itself on its respective place before flashing a soft purple light. With the light restored a new door appeared with three pink butterflies on it. Discord tensed up but slumped to the ground soon after. He was tired and needed a break from his actions.

While Freya didn’t speak she did float the two off to the bedroom they shared leaving them to rest for the trials ahead while she looked more in depth into the world they came from. There were three Twilights left in that world. Two clones and the original still lived. With great care she went into the world and looked for the clone she needed.

When she returned she said nothing to the pair at first. The duo didn’t say anything either but the prospect of that occurring again was frightening.

While it was pointless the two were grateful for the sentiment. Heavy hearted and full of dread the two prepared for the next door they would enter.