What's up everybody!? You know, I'm reaaaally loving the feedback I'm getting for UToE! Another THANK YOU is in order! Anyway, this chap is a bit longer even though I had to chop it up. So I'm pretty sure next chapter will be the finale of this Clone Mishap episode!
Also, a little bit of warning, this chapter might trigger people near the end. You'll find out soon enough.
Anyway, what happened last time!?
1.) The scroll was a cloning spell!
2.) The spell goes wrong and splits Nick into 6 counterparts (Charm, Rude, Happy, Hungry, Lazy, Depression!)
3.) The clones split up into Ponyville!
What happens now? Questions, that's what!
General TigerDragon: To Rude: I know that you represent repressed anger and aggression Nicolas, so unless you have no plans to make an unexpected visit to Canterlot of Celestia, to cut a little chat with her, not to mention... giving her a deep kiss, even as a ruler Equestria?
- Rude: Oh, don't think I've forgotten about Sunshine just yet... I'd LOVE to give her a piece of my mind, but the damn author wants to be a pansy and keep me on a leash. If anything, she should be damn lucky I'd even blink at her without setting the palace on fire, nevertheless a kiss...!
MasterSage11: Soooo Spike, are you and Nick like bros now? We never really saw you guys interact very much. Plus, giving him a messed up spell isn't very bro-like. And since when did you swear?
- Spike: Splitting him into 6 versions of himself wasn't my fault! At least, not all of it... It was Nick who probably pronounced the words wrong! Other than that, we are in fact best friends. You may have not seen us hang out much, but we've done plenty of things. Like pranking, playing games at the arcade with Button Mash, and even had sleepovers. So of course we call each other a brother, especially since we're one of the few guys in town. And I've always swore, just not when I'm around others.
MLP'sShyGuy: Guess I'm the first to question a clone. Anyway, I gotta question for Charm! If you're Nick's passion, love and lust all in one package, what would you do if you had enough 'alone time' with any girl? Especially Fluttershy!
- Charm: I'll admit, even though I'm the gentlemen of my brothers, I am the one with the most 'desires'. However, seeing as how there's no human females in this world, I'm left with other means to have fun. It's no problem actually, since the original me came to understand the chances of finding a relationship in Equestria, even if it's another species. Oh! Sorry, I trailed off from your question. I'll just let you in on a secret; there are many things I'm open to trying, but it's all up to the girl. Fluttershy? Well, you'll have to see about that later... ;)
With that out of the way, it's time for you to READ!
(Anybody mind creating some fanart of Unexpected Turn of Events? I'd greatly appreciate it if you do XD I'll post the link up on my page if there's any artwork!)
Disclaimer: I do not own MLP:FiM!
Chapter 36: You See It Too, Right!?
"I must say, those were the best 3 hours of my life!" Rarity praised with a smile.
Next to her, Twilight couldn't stop herself from smiling as well. "You're right about that. Who knew Lotus and Aloe were so good at massages?"
"I've told you before darling, those two sisters are the reason I'm always so relaxed." Rarity informed, thinking back to all the times they helped her. "Whenever I'm stressed out with work, they're the first I call for an appointment."
"I can see why you like them so much."
"And I can see how a day at the spa helped your brighten your mood."
Twilight sputtered. "I-I wasn't that bad!"
"Twilight, sweetie, you spent hours locked in your home and refused to talk to any of us." Rarity reminded bluntly. "The next day, while you did socialize a bit more, you were still... what did Pinkie Pie say, 'The grump of the party'?"
"You're right." The purple unicorn sighed. "I guess I was a little out of it these last few days."
"Not only you, but Fluttershy told me Nicholas was acting strange as well." Rarity squinted her eyes in suspicion. "Did something happen between you two?"
"... Y-Yes, but I don't want to talk about it." Twilight muttered. "I promised myself I'd forget all about it."
"You're lying."
"What are you-"
"We can all tell you're lying because when you do, your tail twitches 2 times."
"... How-"
"Pinkie noticed first."
If they weren't walking through town, Twilight would've face-hoofed herself. To expose such a trait was humiliating! Walking with her head low and her mouth pulled back into a frown, Twilight shook her head. "I still don't want to talk about it. Let's just leave it at that, okay?" Rarity looked like she wanted to put up more of an argument to learn the source of her friend's troubles, but after seeing Twilight's mood drop to the same depressing one from before, she relented. "Still, I'd like to thank you for helping me relax. I needed it." Twilight added.
"No problem, darling." Rarity nodded with a few giggles following after. "Although, you should be thanking Spike, not me. He's the one who thought you needed a break."
"Really?" Twilight arched her brow and raised her head. With her scowl gone, Twilight let out an amused snort. "If I know my little brother, he probably wanted me out of the house just so he'd have enough time to raid that gem-stash I hid from him."
Rarity bit down on her lip to try and contain her laughter. "Twilight, that's horrible. He really was worried about you."
Twilight's eyes softened. "I know. And I love him for that-oof!"
"Careful darling," Rarity advised, seeing Twilight stumble into "Oh Nicholas, how have you been?" Rarity greeted kindly, getting a friendly smile in return from the teen. He had caught Twilight in case she accidentally tripped over her legs trying to balance herself. "Nice to see you too, Rare. And are you alright Twi?" He asked in slight concern, watching as his purple friend shook her head and blew hairs out of her eyes. "You really should watch where you're going." Nicholas teased with a chuckle.
"U-Uh, thanks Nick. S-Sorry..."
"No need to apologize, Twilight." Nicholas dismissed with a hand. "Really. It's all water under the bridge." He had said it in a carefree manner that Rarity hadn't noticed the hidden message behind his words. But Twilight did. She wanted to tell him "No, it's not alright! You need help and I can do that!" but she chose not to. Somewhere in her mind, she thought it was for the best that he didn't resent her.
And she didn't want to set things back in the wrong way.
"Yeah, w-water under the bridge..." Twilight repeated in a whisper. Then she added, "But are you sure-"
She stopped when she noticed something strange.
"Sorry, but I don't have much time to chat." Nicholas informed, beginning to step past the two and flashing them a toothy grin. "I have something important to check on. I'll catch you girls later." With that, he jogged down the street and disappeared around a corner, leaving the two girls feeling a little confused.
"Okay, that was a little... strange." Rarity said slowly.
"Rarity?"
"Yes, darling?"
"Did... did Nick always have purple eyes?"
30 Minutes Later...
"Spike, you have a lot of explaining to do!" Twilight's loud voice was quick to jolt the dragon awake. The purple unicorn, with a stern glare, watched as Spike scrambled on the floor in an attempt to pick himself up and try to comprehend what was happening. "H-Huh? What's going on...?" Spike slurred as he blinked the sleep from his eyes. "Why is the-" As soon as her little brother stood up, Twilight paused with a "Whoa..."
Behind her, Rarity had been looking down at the sleeping Lazy clone with confused eyes. After hearing Twilight trail off, the white unicorn turned to see exactly what caught her friend off guard.
It wasn't the fact that a clone of Nicholas was sleeping on the floor.
No, it was the fact that Spike was standing tall enough to make perfect eye-level with Twilight.
"Spike, did you have a growth spurt?" Rarity gasped as she stepped closer to inspect the dragon's sudden change. "Growth spurt?" Spike repeated in puzzlement, only to realize his voice had gotten a bit deeper. It was just like Rarity suggested, but it wasn't just the height that changed. Other than his voice, Spike's scales took a deeper shade of purple and green. The spines growing from his back had gotten a bit pointier and his tail had grown longer as well. "Whoa!" Spike exclaimed, just like Twilight had earlier. "What happened!?"
"That's what we'd like to know!" Getting over her surprise, Twilight stomped her hoof against the floor before pointing it across the room. "First of all, why is the Faces of Truth spell out of my room?" She demanded, gesturing to the open and slightly singed scroll on the ground. "And why is there a second Nicholas!?"
Putting the pieces together, Spike's face slowly turned sheepish. Letting out a nervous chuckle, he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, about that. Hehe, you're gonna laugh when-" The look Twilight gave him was proof that she wasn't in a laughing mood. "Okay, it's exactly what you think. Except it's not only 2 Nicks, there's actually 4 more clones." Rarity's eyes widened while Twilight finally face-hoofed herself.
"What's all this about cloning?" Rarity questioned.
Twilight sighed as she trotted over to the scroll and picked it up with her magic. "The Faces of Truth, it's an old cloning spell that Princess Celestia sent to me as a test. It's like a cloning spell, except with a few twists. One of them being instead of making more of you, it splits you up." The purple unicorn stepped over to Lazy and poked his arm with a hoof. "This guy here is Nick. A part of the real one. And by part, I mean a characteristic trait of his personality."
"Aw man..." Lazy yawned and fluttered his orange eyes open to see three sets of eyes staring at him. "I was dreaming of boobs and-"
"Which one is he?" Twilight quickly interrupted before Lazy could get into the 'finer' details of his fantasy.
"He's Lazy. Or that's what we agreed to call him."
"We?" Rarity repeated.
"Me and the other Nicks. There's Rude, Happy, Hungry, Depression and Charm."
"Anyway to tell who's who?" Twilight asked.
"Their eyes. Lazy over there has orange eyes." Spike said after gesturing to the clone, who fell asleep once more. "Rude has red, Happy is yellow, Depression is blue and Charm is purple." Hearing the last one, Twilight's eyes widened. "We just bumped into him..." She muttered.
Spike blinked. "Oh you did?"
"Do you know where he's headed?" Twilight urged, going into panic mode. "Spike, we need to know!"
"Whoa, chill out! Why the sudden rush!?" The dragon took a step back and raised his hands in defense.
"No, you don't understand. Charm is the trickiest one!" Twilight informed in a flurry of words, her lack of concentration causing the scroll to fall down. While Spike tried to come up with the right words, she could tell he didn't know where Charm was. "Ugh!" Letting out an annoyed grunt, the purple unicorn's horn lit up with magic as she levitated the scroll back into the air. Then she twirled on her hooves and ran to the staircase across the room. "We don't have time to stand around doing nothing!" Twilight exclaimed before she ran up the stairs to her bedroom, trying to search through her notes. All the while, a confused Spike and Rarity stood alone just staring at each other. "Spike, I need you and Rarity to go search for the clones while I search for a way to fix this! Try to find Charm first! We'll figure out what happened to Spike later!"
Upon hearing the urgency in her tone, the two wasted no time before scrambling for the door and running out into town.
Upstairs, Twilight stopped pacing in a rush once she found what she was looking for. "Got it!" With a relieved smile, she took the sheet of paper and levitated a nearby empty jar, letting the rest of her notes fall to the ground. She'll pick them up later, but for now, she needed to make things right. Starting with Lazy.
As she sprinted down the stairs, chanting the words for her next spell, the Faces of Truth scroll landed on the ground with its contents facing upwards. However, the heat of Nicholas' magic left bits and pieces of the paper unreadable...
... the Faces of Truth must be performed with caution. The spell, while one of the few cloning spells, isn't safe without proper guidance... Never cast spell alone... split into multiple versions of original... 7 common traits... Anger... quick to outbursts ... Happiness... too unpredictable... Sadness... mental limitation... borderline insanity... Greed... insatiable desire to consume... Void... lack of motivation... Courage... no fear, determined to... Trickster... approach with caution... ! ... Gather spirits before... fade away...
Meanwhile...
Pinkie Pie hummed her usual happy tune as she bounced through the street, her trademark smile stretching to both sides of her face. Honestly, today was a good day, an achievement in her book. If she had one. Earlier, she had just got done finishing up an order of 4 dozen strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, and blueberry cupcakes. To add to her list, she had also been tasked with baking 5 cakes for several different birthday parties. Not only that, but also finishing her task to clean the Sugercube Corner.
All the while the owners were out getting ingredients in the next town, leaving Pinkie Pie to manage the store herself.
"Hehehe, if Mr. and Mrs. Cake were teachers, I bet they'd give me an A plus, plus, plus, PLUS!" The pink earth pony giggled to herself, finding the scenario funny as her imagination played out the scene in her head. "'Golly, Pinkie Pie, you sure outdid yourself today'!" Pinkie lowered her voice to imitate Mr. Cake's voice before switching over to an imitation of Mrs. Cake's. "'Here you go, dearie! An A plus, plus-'"
Pinkie Pie stopped bouncing immediately.
Something wasn't right.
Her ears twitched upon picking up the sound of sighing.
She knew that sound anywhere! It was one of the view things that made her uneasy. It was the sound of negativity. But who could be so down in the dumps on such a beautiful day like today? Pinkie didn't know, but what she did know was that someone was upset and needed her holy guidance. Ears twitching again after hearing another sigh, Pinkie Pie narrowed her eyes and sucked her teeth. "Not on my watch." She declared before jumping into an alley-way and disappearing in a group of trashcans and bags.
Nicholas, or better known as Depression, sat idly atop the roof of a building. A shop or someone's house, he didn't know, but this was the first place he could find to be alone. And so far, nobody had even bothered to speak to him. In fact, nobody even noticed he was sitting on a roof. "Not surprised... after all, it's not like anyone really cares..." Depression let out another long, disappointed sigh as he looked down at the wandering ponies.
He had been so preoccupied with staring below that he didn't even notice Pinkie Pie floating up next to him. Unclipping the belt that attached her to balloons she acquired through unknown means, Pinkie landed on the roof with a soft thud and allowed the balloons to raise into the air. "So you're the one who set off my sad alarm?" She asked in surprise.
Depression didn't even flinch from Pinkie's sudden appearance, but he did turn his head to shoot her a side glance. "Ooh, you changed your eye color! I like it!" Pinkie complimented with a giggle.
"What are you doing here, Pinkie?"
"Duh, to cheer you up, silly!" The earth pony informed before sitting down next to him. "I guess Fluttershy was right about you being upset from time to time, huh?" She said to herself, remembering the time Fluttershy made a brief mention about her worries of Nick's mental health. Realizing she had a job to do, Pinkie Pie shook her head before nudging Depression's shoulder with a smile. "C'mon, spill the beans. Why're you up here alone sighing like a dehydrated elephant?"
"... what's the point? It's not like anything matters anyway."
"Hey now, where's all this coming from?" Pinkie Pie asked, this time her voice softening. She tried to keep a smile going, even after she heard how empty her friend sounded. Another nudge to the shoulder, Pinkie let out a weak giggle. "It's not normal for you to be moping like this. Now that I think about it, you were only this upset like 27 chapters ago during that welcome ceremony."
"Heh," Depression let out a dry, humorless chuckle. "Leave it to you to compare my life to a book."
"Trust me, you'd say the same thing if you see the things I see." Pinkie Pie mumbled, eyes looking far off into the distance...
"You were always the weird one, always talking in riddles that nobody understands." Depression rolled his eyes and pulled his knees up to his chest. "That's why I don't bother talking about my thoughts and the way I see things. You and the girls wouldn't understand."
"But that's why I'm here, to make sure you get better. And you know how determined I can be when cheering up a friend."
"... Hard to forget how obnoxious you can be. Fine, I'll humor you and tell you exactly what I've been thinking about." Using his hands as gestures, Pinkie Pie watched as Depression moved his arms in every direction. "This little story you think I live in? Pointless. Everything is absolutely pointless. That little custom every living thing shares, where we all believe we're alive to make a difference? That's a lie. Everything we do means nothing when we die." By this time, Pinkie Pie's curly and bushy man had dulled in color and fell flat. The silent pink pony could only stare Depression with wide eyes as he continued to rant.
"Everything, Pinkie Pie. When I say everything, I mean me, you, the others, absolutely everything will always be shadowed by something of greater value. And in the end, it'll all fade away into history, only to repeat again and again through naïve creatures like us. That cutie mark of yours? It'll be on another pony's ass, only to appear on the one after that and so on."
"Nick... That's not... true right...?" Pinkie tried to speak, but she was trying to register everything Depression was feeding her.
She tried to understand the scary truth of the world around them.
"Of course it is!" Depression had actually raised his voice to make his point clear. "It's like I'm the only one who understands! What we do today, tomorrow or the day after won't matter!" The shaking, dull colored earth pony looked down at her hooves and didn't say anything else. Only when Depression grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to look at him did she see how serious he was. "Can't you see it, Pinkie Pie? We're just puppets in an infinite time loop of misery..."
With that, Depression let her go and went back to brooding.
He didn't even pay attention to the tears that fell next to him.
... Well that ended with a total mind-fuck. o_O! Hopefully that wasn't too bad to read, but I couldn't help myself. I just HAD to add this in for some sick reason of mine, but don't worry, Pinkie Pie won't get fucked over trying to comprehend Depression's beliefs. And when you think about it, Depression IS Nicholas, which means he thinks like this when his emotions go down the shitter!
Still though, it's an interesting way to look at the world.
But the Feel Time isn't over yet! You all seen what I've seen!
1.) What will happen to the other clones!?
2.) Just how fucked up IS Nicholas!?
3.) What about the trait for Courage!?
4.) Can Pinkie Pie break the FOURTH WALL!?
Keep reading and find out soon!
PLLEASE REVIEW!
(Anybody mind creating some fanart of Unexpected Turn of Events? I'd greatly appreciate it if you do XD I'll post the link up on my page if there's any artwork!)