Let me tell you just how much ATTENTION I've got since the last chapter! XD Because of that ending, people are practically spamming the fuck out of me for 'Ruining their Pinkie Pie'. Still, I don't regret it one bit. It was by destiny that polar opposites collide and one would be the victor. Hopefully the way I see it, this will improve on certain ideals and relationships. Also, this chapter might be a bit long so that's why it took so long for it to come out.
Still, what the HELL happened last time for people who don't remember!?
1.) Rarity and Twilight find out about Spike's/Nick's actions!
2.) Twilight's panic indicates that Charm is up to something bad!
3.) Pinkie Pie's world is flipped after talking to Nick's Depression!
Questions? Just one!
Gramzon Dragon:I have a question for Twilight, now I have analyzed the data and came out with a solution, do you plan on making an artificial companion for Nick using the ice magic you have from him when he was a chick?
- Twilight Sparkle: W-What kind of q-question is that...!? Of course I want to help him, but that's just... it's impossible! There's no type of spell that can create a breathing, l-living being! Especially from scratch. It's unethical... a-and wrong...
With that out of the way...
Wanna see what happens next!? Then fucking READ!
Disclaimer: I do not own MLP:FiM!
(PS - Don't be afraid to tell me about any errors! I try people, I really do!)
Chapter 37: Perspective
After Twilight had suddenly broke out in shooting orders, the trio had ran off to do their own tasks. Twilight's task was to set up the solution to bring the original Nicholas back before she could aid in the search for the clones alongside Spike and Rarity. In the meantime, the other two had started the search on their own and even resorted to splitting up to make things faster.
For a small place, it shouldn't be too hard to find a walking human with wings.
That's what Rarity thought, but even she was getting frustrated at having not spotted a single clone. It's been 10 minutes and all she had done was run around aimlessly, with no trace of a Nick-clone being around. Not even confused ponies were of help because all they could tell her was "Yeah, we seen him over there. Then he was there. And then back over there."
Rarity was getting tired, but she didn't stop.
Not until she made it to Applejack's farm.
"If there was one thing I need to find Nick, it's Applejack and Winona to sniff him out." Rarity told herself as the barn came into view. She had started to slow down, wincing at the burning she felt in her legs, but nonetheless continued on her way. The first thing she saw was a confused and scared Applebloom who was looking around a corner. "Applebloom!" The small filly 'eeped' and jumped when Rarity called out her name. "Have you seen your sister anywhere? I need her help!"
Applebloom gave the unicorn a look. "Um, I'm pretty sure Applejack and Big Mac need your help first."
"What?"
Seeing Applebloom point a hoof around the corner, Rarity had stepped out to see what had happened. And when she did, she wasn't sure if she should've sighed in relief, gape in amazement or face-hoof in disbelief. The reason Applebloom had distanced herself behind a wall was because of the two Nicks that were arguing or 'playing' with her older siblings. "My word...!" Rarity gasped as she walked forward.
"Listen, I'm not sure what in Celestia's name is going on, but you two need to leave!" Applejack warned.
"Eeyup." Next to her, Big Macintosh nodded as he glared at the two clones. Said clones were Hungry and Rude, both of them sitting in a wagon filled with freshly picked apples. Apples that were currently being eaten by the two in a game of who could eat the most. And so far, Hungry was winning, but that didn't stop Rude from enjoying his share of the stock. "Or what?" Rude lazily waved a hand with a grin. "You'll donkey kick me in the shins?"
"Keep talking like that and I will," The cowgirl threatened, taking a step closer to the wagon. She pointed towards Hungry. "And you! Stop eating our apples!"
"Sorry..." Hungry said with a full mouth. "I'll stop... when I'm full." He chomped down on another apple, finishing everything else that wasn't the core before tossing the remains on the ground. "How much... did you eat... Rude?"
"About 18. You?"
"27!"
"... Fatass."
"I see you already found our little problem," Both of the apple siblings turned around to see Rarity walking up. "And it's even worse than I thought."
"Rarity? You mind telling us just what in Tartarus is going on here!?" Applejack demanded.
"Long story, we'll explain it later." The unicorn promised with a nod before stepping up to the wagon and looking at both of the clones. "First, we need to bring these two brutes back to Twilight's house." Rude rolled his eyes after hearing that. Taking a quick bite out of an apple, he tossed the fruit and watched as it stuck itself on Rarity's horn. Who, in fact, looked at it with horrified wide eyes. "Of course the midget couldn't keep his mouth shut. Now we gotta deal with Clarity over here." The red-eyed clone sighed while Hungry glared at him.
"Stop wasting food." He said with a growl.
"Right. Sorry."
"How dare you!?" Rarity shrieked, using her magic to yank the fruit off her horn. Behind her, Applejack turned around and walked back to the barn without a single word. All the while, Big Mac patiently waited next to Rarity in case things got out of hand. Rude just laughed as he craned his neck to dodge the apple, turning to watch it roll against the ground. "You know, that actually looked good on you. Better than that garbage you call dresses."
"Wow, harsh." Hungry mumbled, but didn't bother to stop eating.
"It's the truth. For a fashion designer, her work is kind of cheesy and unoriginal." Rude commented blatantly, taking immediate notice of how angry Rarity looked. It looked like the unicorn was trying to keep her composure and not blow her top, but the clone smirked at the angry tears that built up in her eyes. "Oh, did I strike a nerve, Clarity?"
"It's. Rarity." She gritted through her teeth.
"Clarity, Hairity, it's all the same thing, bitch." As soon as the words left his mouth, Rarity's hair shadowed her eyes and her body began to tremble with rage. "Perhaps it'd be best you stop before you regret it." Big Mac suggested in a serious tone. Rude's eyes locked on him. "I said it once, I'll say it again. Whatcha gonna do about it, big guy?" Before Big Mac could say another word, everyone jumped when Rarity let out another shriek as her horn lit up. Next thing Rude saw was a blinding flash before a beam of magic collided with his forehead.
Hungry's teeth stopped just before biting down on another apple as he watched his brother's body slump back, eventually falling off the wagon and landing on his face. Completely passed out. "Huh." Was all he said before looking back at Rarity, who was seething. Her horn still hadn't dimmed down. The clone started to sweat and let out a nervous chuckle. "Uh, heh, you're cute when you're angry." He was knocked out too after another beam of magic shot from Rarity's horn.
"Alright, I got the rope-what in the world?" Applejack stopped just after stepping around the corner, a roll of rope hanging from her teeth. Her eyes first saw the two unconscious clones, one on the ground and the other laying on top of eaten apples. Then she saw Big Mac backing away slowly from a livid Rarity.
"Tie them up, we're leaving." Was all Rarity had to say before Applejack got to work.
Meanwhile...
"Oh, stop making that face." Fluttershy said sternly, looking down at Angel, who was walking with crossed arms and a scowl. "Maybe if you hadn't tried to steal another carrot from Carrot Top's shop, I wouldn't have given all of them back. Bad bunnies don't deserve treats." Hanging off her sides were bags filled with groceries, but there was barely carrots in them. The yellow pegasus heard a huff from her pet as he hopped onto the front-steps, refusing to look at her as she opened the door.
"Keep that up and you'll go to bed early, mister." Fluttershy warned before stepping inside, turning around to close the door.
"Took you long enough to get back!" Hearing another voice caused her to jump in surprise. Catching herself before she could fall face-first into the door, Fluttershy turned back around. First thing she noticed was the bouquet of roses pressed against her muzzle. "A present, for being the best roommate a guy could ask for!" The pegasus pulled her muzzle out of the flowers, looking up to see a smiling Charm.
"Nicholas?" She blinked in confusion. "Why are you wearing a tuxedo?"
"This thing?" The clone pulled at his tie before shrugging. "I felt like wearing this. A lot better than sweatpants and a tee, that's for sure."
"... Are you feeling alright?" Fluttershy asked slowly. While the two were busy talking, they didn't notice Angel sneaking through their legs and hopping off to the kitchen to search for his treats.
"Peachy! Why do you ask?"
"Because your eyes are purple..."
"Oh that? That's because I'm a clone." Fluttershy did a double-take while Charm shook his head with a chuckle. "But enough with the minorities and let's focus on something more important. Like you." Fluttershy's cheeks lit up as Charm's hands reached into the bouquet and plucked out a rose, one of the smaller ones. "There. Absolutely perfect." He winked at the pegasus after placing the rose in her hair.
"W-What do you mean you're a clone?"
"Long story short, I used to be one person until a spell broke me up into 6 versions. But instead of calling me a clone, call me Charm. Sounds better." He answered bluntly, before cupping his chin and tapping his cheek with a finger. Charm eyed Fluttershy with a hungry smile. "And in return, I'll call you beautiful. Seems fair, right?" The blush seemed to double. "You're cute when your flustered." The pegasus was at a loss for words so Charm took the initiative. With a snap of his fingers, "Here, let me take those." the bags on Fluttershy's back levitated in purple magic before floating all the way to the kitchen, where they landed themselves on the table. "And you..."
Without even a warning, Charm levitated Fluttershy as well before taking a seat on the sofa where he allowed her to float down onto his lap, back and wings against his legs. Just when she was about to speak actual words, Fluttershy squealed in surprised when she felt a hand start to rub circles on her belly. "Nick-I-I mean Ch-Charm, what-" At this point, Fluttershy's entire face was an adorable crimson.
"Shhh, relax. Let it happen..." He whispered soothingly, placing his left hand under her head. "You know, you're a lot softer than I'd thought you'd be. Warmer too."
"C-Charm..."
"I'm sorry," Charm, hearing the uncertainty in Fluttershy's voice, momentarily stopped moving his hand. "Is this uncomfortable?"
"N-Not exactly." Fluttershy answered in a mumble, trying to hide behind her main. "It just feels... s-strange..."
Charm blinked a couple of times before smiling, slowly beginning to rub her belly once more. "If you don't like it, don't be afraid to tell me no. But I am trying to repay you for everything you've done for me." Fluttershy shifted when Charm tickled her stomach, feeling his fingers move dangerously closer down... "What I-I've done?" She repeated quietly. Charm nodded. "Everything. From rescuing me from the Everfree to nursing me back to health. From giving me shelter to becoming my best friend. From listening to my problems to trying to help me solve them." Pulling his hand away from her stomach, he used his fingers to lightly brush away the strands of Fluttershy's mane before leaning down. "You've done more than enough for someone like me..."
When Fluttershy felt his lips touch her forehead, her face felt so hot that she worried about passing out from embarrassment. "Th-This isn't right..."
"Hm?"
"Y-You're just a clone... you're not the real Nick."
"... That may be, but everything I say comes from the heart." Charm sighed happily. "In fact, if it weren't for you or the girls, I'd have probably been hunted down like a wild animal. You simply don't understand how much gratitude I have for you."
"Are you... telling the truth?" Fluttershy asked, looking Charm straight in the eyes.
"All of it."
"..." When Fluttershy said nothing, Charm began to grow worried. "Is everything alright, Shy?" He asked.
"I'm sorry, but I want Nicholas back. The real Nicholas." Fluttershy informed gently, but her eyes were serious. For several seconds, the two continued to stare in silence. Charm had even stopped rubbing her stomach. Eventually the clone closed his purple eyes and let out a sigh, a reluctant smirk on his face as he pulled her up into a hug. "As much as it hurts to hear that, I'll do it if it truly wish it." At first, Fluttershy didn't know how to react about Charm's disappointment, but she did hug back. "Still, before I go back, you must know that I truly wish to make you happy."
"Charm..."
"You deserve it. Now," Gently turning her over with his magic, Charm stood up and placed Fluttershy back on her hooves. He clapped his hands with a grin. "Let's get back to Twilight's house!" While he allowed Fluttershy to walk through the front door first, this also allowed him to keep his saddened face hidden from her. He shook his head as he closed the door.
'You may not realize it and neither does the real me, but if you'd just take the chance...' A simply raised a finger to brush away the tear in his right eye before giving the unknowing Fluttershy a small smile. 'Maybe everything will be right again...'
Later (Twilight's Library)...
"Knock, knock, I'm already inside!" Came the voice of Charm as he opened the door for Fluttershy.
Once he walked in last, Charm had expected to hear a greeting from Spike or some strange conversation from one of his brothers, but as fate would have it, he was forced to dodge a purple beam of magic. "Whoa, hold the phone! That's no way to greet a pal!" Before he could react any further, Charm felt magic wrap around his arms in chains and dragged him across the floor towards the rest of the girls.
"Fluttershy, did he hurt you!?" Twilight's concerned voice called out.
The yellow pegasus was more focused on the squirming Charm. "Me? What about him? What in the world's going on, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked as she looked up to the group. For better words, the room was a bit hectic. Other than Charm, his brothers were also present and some were bound like him. Flipping out on the ground, Rude was trying to fight his way out of numerous chains while biting down on a strip of cloth. Even muffled, his curse words were still audible while he glared angrily at Rarity, who sat next to him with an equally irritated stare.
Next to both of them, Hungry just sat down with a downcast look. "Just one more...?" Next to him, Applejack shot him a warning glare that meant pain if the clone asked for another apple. That made him quiet down without too much trouble.
Sitting next to Twilight were Pinkie Pie, except she didn't look the same way she always did. Instead of smiling, she had a far-off look in her eyes. Her coat was a darker shade of pink and her hair hung down her sides. At first, nobody had made an attempt to speak with her. They all knew how she got whenever she was this upset. But sitting next to her was Depression, he wasn't that much different looking than Pinkie. And seeing as how he was completely harmless and less motivated to do anything in particular, Twilight saw no need to chain him up like the others.
"I'm sure Charm here must've told you about being a clone," Twilight said, giving said clone a cautious glare. "but we weren't sure what'd he'd do, especially if he found you."
"You never really did explain to us why it was so important to gather them up as fast as possible." Spike reminded from his spot next to a still sleeping Lazy. For the most part, it looked like he had gotten a bit bigger by a couple of inches. Realizing this, it was no surprise that the girls questioned his sudden growth before Fluttershy walked in.
"Look, the Faces of Truth spell is... tricky." Twilight tried to explain, frowning at the difficulty to find the right words. "From what I read on the scroll, there are supposed to be seven versions of Nicholas. Anger, Happiness, Sadness, Greed, Void, Courage, and Trickster. Each of them represent a major part of Nicholas' soul, but the most dangerous one is Trickster, which you all know as Charm." She pointed a hoof to the specific clone, who was looking just as confused as the rest of them. "Anger is easiest to contain because he acts first without thinking." This received a couple of muffled threats. "Void is Lazy, who is the part of Nick's soul that lacks the will to do anything. And Sadness isn't far off. Greed, or Hungry, could easily feel the need to take or consume anything he wanted, let it be food or objects."
"But what makes Charm the worst?" Fluttershy asked.
"He's supposed to be the 'evil' in Nick, the one who uses sympathy to let down the guards of others before taking anything he wants. He's the most unpredictable one, which is why I'm not taking any chances by chaining him up."
"But he never did anything to hurt me or others at all!" Fluttershy defended, stepping closer to Charm and shooting Twilight a hard glare. Although a light blush lit up her cheeks. "I-In fact, he's done nothing but nice things before we got here!"
"Wait a minute, you forgot about Courage! What's he supposed to do?" Applejack called out before Twilight could respond.
"Courage is Nick's determination, the 'drive' to get things done." The purple mare answered before jutting a hoof towards Spike, who pointed a claw at himself. "Which would be a good explanation as to why Spike got so big. Earlier, Spike told me that he was hit by Nicholas' magic before the split happened. It's likely Courage came out along with the others, but didn't take a solid form in time before colliding with Spike. Courage could've possibly triggered some sort of growth to match Nick's body, but things didn't turn out exactly right..."
Hearing this, Spike's face contorted into one of disgust. "So you're saying... Nick is inside me right now!?"
A muffled "That's what she said!" caught a glare from several occupants of the room. Rude rolled his eyes without a care in the world.
"Not for long, Spike." Twilight reassured while Spike's hands roamed all over his body, as if he was plagued by some sort of disease. "After I cast the spell to fix this, I'm sure you'll go back to normal. But we just have one problem." The unicorn sighed after looking over the clones they gathered up. "Where's-" Interrupting her was the sound of the front door being kicked open.
Walking in was Nicholas' Happiness, who was happily banging on a single drum that hung from his shoulders. Behind him walked in both Rainbow Dash and surprisingly, Vinyl Scratch. "I've brought Smiley in like you asked, Egg-Head!" Rainbow Dash revealed with a grin as she shut the door behind them. "And before you go on about what took so long, just know that I found him at Vinyl's music shop going hard on a set of drums. Dude wouldn't stop his drum-solo for nearly 6 minutes and he still isn't tired!" Said clone stopped one hand from drumming and fist bumped Rainbow's hoof while Vinyl nodded at his side.
"He's got some skill, I'll give 'im that." She rubbed her chin with a hoof and a grin. "Gave me a couple ideas on beats too..."
"No time for dillydallying! We need to get this done before it's too late!" Twilight rushed the clone over by using her magic to pull on his arm, forcing him over to the group. "And by 'too late'...?" Rainbow Dash inquired with arched brows. Twilight opened her mouth before didn't say anything. The way she looked at the clones sent an odd feeling over the group before another sigh escaped her lips.
"It's possible that if they remain separated for too long," She bit her lower lip. "... it would be impossible to put them back together."
"WHAT!?" The simultaneous shout came from everyone in the room, even Vinyl, who could feel the seriousness of the situation. Although the only ones who hadn't shouted were Rude, who rolled his eyes with a grin, Hungry, Depression, Pinkie Pie, and Lazy, who actually woke up from the volume. He looked around, seeing Fluttershy surprisingly step up to Twilight's face with a panicked expression, before he went back to sleep. "Are you saying he's stuck like this!?"
"I said it's possible! There's no recorded time that tells me if it's too late or not," Twilight took a couple of steps back from the enraged pegasus. "But we need to hurry before things get worse!"
"And by worse?" Charm asked nervously.
"...You could turn to dust...?"
"Oh hell no!" Rude's muffled reply came as the clone wriggled angrily on the ground. The other girls weren't too far off from the same reaction as they crowded the unicorn with panicked faces. "Hurry the fuck up and put us back!" Rude barked out. Although the clone had stated earlier that he was better off without his 'brothers', the thought of turning into dust particles weighed down pretty heavily on his mind. "O-Okay, just give me a minute to focus!" Twilight backed out of the group as her horn started to glow. "I need to make sure I do this perfectly or Nick won't be the same."
As Twilight began to chant several words, her horn lit up brightly before shooting out towards Lazy. The flash catching Spike off guard, he jumped in his seat just as Lazy faded into a ball of orange glowing magic. The group took steps away as the 'soul' floated in the center of the room, wandering aimlessly as Twilight turned Rude as well.
"Wait, what'll happen when we're all put together?" Charm asked. Seeing his brothers turn into magic souls one after another urged him to bite his lower lip. Right after Twilight turned Depression, she looked at him with narrowed, concentrating eyes. "I'm not sure, but there's a possibility that he'll remember different things once he's back. It's either he remembers everything, pieces or he none of this at all."
"If that's the case, let me speak to Fluttershy before it's my turn."
"How can I trust you to not try anything?" Twilight grunted as she focused on containing Happy's soul. The purple-eyed clone leveled a stare with her and lifted his hands. "You bound me by my wrists, ankles and wings. I'm pretty sure that count's as something." Rolling her eyes at the clone's snarky response, Twilight nodded her head. Just as Charm leaned up to Fluttershy's ear, the unicorn muttered something along the lines of 'Good thing Sarcasm wasn't a clone...'
While Twilight released Hungry's soul, Fluttershy looked down at Charm with an uncertain frown. "What does that even mean?" The clone gave her a somber smile and shook his head. "You'll understand later if things don't work out the way I hope. Just promise you'll wait for it." Twilight and the girls looked on in curiosity as Fluttershy sighed with a reluctant nod. Then she leaned down to give the clone a quick hug.
Charm snorted out a sarcastic quip. "Alright, Twi, you can turn me into a strobe-light now."
"Nice." Vinyl snickered as the clone, just like his joke entails, turned into a blinking ball of purple magic. He joined the swirling group of red, orange, yellow, green and blue.
"Hey, what about me?" Spike piped up, watching as Twilight turned to him. She gave him a reassuring smile, but it was strained. Her fur was damp with sweat due to the concentration she put in to contain 6 'souls' at once. "Don't worry... I didn't forget... about you." She gritted out before shooting her little brother with a small beam of magic. But instead of hurting like he expected, Spike just felt... drained in a sense. All occupants in the room watched as a white light seep out of Spike's scales to join the other colors.
Not wanting to waste anymore time before her focus broke, Twilight chanted out the final words to the spell. Her horn gave one burst of light as all the colored 'souls' swirled around in a circle before colliding with each other in the center. Shielding their eyes from the bright light that engulfed the room, the girls and Spike waited for it to fade.
"And here comes the migraine...!" Was all they heard.
Fluttershy was the first to race forward when they saw Nicholas kneeling down in Charm's tuxedo, right hand holding his head as he winced. "Is it really you?" Spike asked as he walked forward. The second Nicholas turned to him, Spike gave the teen a double thumbs-up when green reptilian eyes met dark brown. "How're you feeling, bro?" Nicholas, accepting the hug from Fluttershy, let out a long groan.
"Like shit. I have memories of seven different 'mes' flooding my brain, so it's no surprise my head is throbbing."
"So you remember everything that happened?" Rarity inquired.
"Not exactly everything, but most of it. And for the record, I'm sorry about tossing an apple at you." The teen apologized with a frown, earning a kind and accepting nod from a smiling Rarity. "You too, AJ. Sorry about the apples. I'll help out on the farm if it helps." The orange cowgirl tipped her hat, but she was happier that her friend was back in one piece. "Oh and Vinyl?" Said DJ pony tilted her head to show her attention. "I'm coming back for more jam-time."
"I'll hold you to that."
"Come on, Nick. Let's get you home and treat that headache of yours." Fluttershy suggested softly, helping the teen up onto his feet. Nicholas wobbled a bit before he looked down at Fluttershy with a sheepish chuckle. "Sorry about earlier. I probably crossed way too many lines." Fluttershy shook her head with a giggle. "No, it was alright. You weren't exactly you at the time."
Hearing that, something popped into Nicholas' mind that caused his smile to drop. "That reminds me..." He muttered. "Where's Pinkie?" Looking around the room, the teen eventually caught onto the quiet form of his usually happy friend. "Can you guys, uh, give us some space? I need to talk about something important." The pink mare simply looked up at him with cold eyes as he walked over and knelt down in front of her, the girls allowing the two some time alone. "Hey," Nicholas started softly. "You doing alright?"
"Of course I'm not." Pinkie Pie whispered with narrowed eyes.
"I remember what happened on the roof and I want to say sorry."
"For what? Telling me the truth?"
"Eeeh, I'm not going to lie about how I see things," Nicholas rubbed the back of his neck. "But I'm not going to let my problems ruin the way you live. As a friend, I'm responsible for whatever bullshit I planted in your brain." Pinkie Pie didn't bother responding to that, but she didn't take her eyes away from Nick's. "Come on," She looked down at the hand that landed on her shoulder. Nicholas gently shook her with a joking smile. "Give me back my friend, the one who's party-rocking every minute of the day." Still no reply. Nicholas let out an annoyed breath. "Okay, I didn't want to do this, but..."
"Look at me." Nicholas started, saying the words as quickly as he could. "Look at the ground. Now back to me and back at the ground. Look up again, what do ya see?" Pinkie Pie blinked in confusion when she saw Nicholas' hand held up before her, thumb placed between his middle and index finger. "Got your nose. But that's a lie. Look at the ceiling." She didn't know why, but once she did, Pinkie covered her mouth just as laughter escaped her lips.
"Gotcha." Looking back down, she realized that Nicholas had used his other hand to tickle her underbelly. "You want to laugh, I know you do. Just let it out."
Her smile left as soon as it came. "Because there's no point in anything-"
"That's where you're wrong." Nicholas interjected by bopping her on the nose with a finger. "I've thought the same thing for years, Pinkie Pie. The only way I'm smiling like a dumbass right now is because I've learned to ignore it and enjoy what I have. Although it's always there, nagging me in the back of my head." He muttered that last bit before shaking his head. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is you gotta live your life the best way you know how."
Her colors began to brighten.
"Cupcakes. Jokes. Pranks."
Her hair started to curl back up.
"Laughing. Children. Friends."
A smile slowly appeared.
"And finally-"
"PARTIES!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed loudly, making the other girls flinch from the sheer volume. The pink mare let out fits of giggles as Nicholas pulled her into a hug, rocking side to side as the two gave the biggest smiles. "There's the Pinkie we all know and love!" Nicholas laughed before Pinkie Pie pushed herself back and started bouncing on her hooves. "Alright, now that that's done, it's time I lay down. This migraine is killing me. And Pinkie?" The earth pony stopped bouncing for a moment. "Remember what I said today. Live how you wanna live."
"And you remember what I say." He felt a hoof jab into his stomach. "Anymore of those thoughts and the readers are gonna bail!"
"Yea-wait, what?"
"Nothing!" She giggled happily. Nicholas tried again to get an answer, but all she did as bounce away with the girls and left the library. Nicholas rubbed his forehead with an amused chuckle. "Leave it be Nick, it's just Pinkie being Pinkie." He said to himself before he looked over to the remaining occupants of the room. Which were Twilight, Fluttershy and "Spike why the hell are you still big?"
Said baby dragon blinked at the question before looking down at himself. He was still the same height and his spines were still more defined than before. "He's right. What gives Twilight?"
"I honestly have no logical explanation for this. You should've gone back to normal."
"Well it's not like its bad, right?" Nicholas said in a hopeful tone, placing a hand atop Spike's head. "He's finally growing the way he's supposed to, no big deal."
"Speeding up his growth with a piece of your soul isn't something I'd take lightly." Twilight said back with narrowed eyes. "Who knows if your Courage is still inside him? What if something goes wrong-" Nicholas held up a hand to make her stop talking. When she did, Nicholas gave her a reassuring smile. "Twilight, take a deep breath and calm down before you go on another one of your ranting sprees. I'm pretty sure Spike is safe. After all, you guys saw my Courage get sucked out of him, didn't you?"
"Yeah, but-"
"Twilight."
"... Fine." The unicorn huffed in annoyance. "But if anything happens, you're both in big trouble." She gestured towards Spike and Nick.
"Why me?" Nicholas said in confusion.
"First, Spike's still in trouble for taking a spell without my permission. And you're in trouble for doing it anyway! I mean, what could've possible made cloning yourself sound like a good idea!?" Fluttershy looked at Nicholas in the eye. She was the only one who noticed the void of emotions in his eyes before his face went back to a joking expression. Humming as he thought of a reason, Nicholas finally came to a shrug and simply said "I was lonely." That got Twilight to stop for a moment. "And plus, maybe if you didn't such a dangerous spell in your room in the first place, I would've had done it. So think about that when you sleep!" Nicholas finished with a triumphant smirk before turning on his heels.
"Anyway, let's get home Shy. I still need to sleep off this migraine." The teen said before patting Spike on the back as he walked to the door. "And congrats on the wings Spike."
Just as the two walked out the door, Twilight continued staring at Nicholas' back while Spike tried to feel his own back with his claws. "Oh shit, he's right!" The second he felt two bumps on both sides of his spine, he wanted to cheer in excitement until he paused when he realized he had cursed out loud.
However, instead of Twilight scolding him for his language, the purple unicorn walked up the stairs muttering to herself.
Spike could've swore he heard "... hurting himself..." before Twilight walked out of his hearing range.
Later...
"Hey Shy?" Nicholas called out as he slipped into his make-shift bed. In his arms was Dax, as the tatzlwurm wriggled closer to get into a more comfortable position against Nick's chest. He had gotten himself ready to go to sleep, even though it was hardly past sundown. Still, the migraine was something he didn't want to deal with longer than he was supposed to.
The yellow pegasus stopped just before she was about to close the door and go make tea. "Hm?" She hummed in response.
"I gotta question for you." Nicholas scratched his cheek and let out a sheepish chuckle. "What did Charm tell you before I came back?"
"... you don't remember?" Fluttershy said in surprise.
"Well when you have 6 different memories in your head, things tend to get mixed up and left out. Hell, I barely remember what happened after Charm said hello to you when you and Angel walked in the house." If there was one thing Twilight was right about returning to normal, it was definitely the memories. The second he felt himself become one, which was the weirdest experience of his life (more so than getting sucked through a portal), the memories of all his clones came in at once and he had to take a moment to realize what just happened.
He could remember Rude tossing an apple at Rarity, Hungry going through a crap-load of apples, Depression's talk with Pinkie Pie, Lazy dreaming of (Blank), Happy flying laps. around Ponyville before stopping at Vinyl's shop, and surprisingly he could recall a bit of Spike's/Courage's memories. But if Twilight was so worried about Charm being the mos dangerous clone, it made him feel a little uneasy about how little he remembered from him.
Fluttershy took a moment to see Nicholas' confused face.
She remembered what Charm told her, word for word. But none of it made any sense. With a sigh, she closed her eyes and shook her head. "Charm told me not to tell you."
"What? Why?"
"He said it's up to you to find out." With that, Fluttershy stepped out of the room and trotted downstairs, leaving Nicholas alone with Dax.
The teenage human sat there in disbelief. "What the hell could've been so important that I needed to keep a secret from myself?" He asked himself, mentally cursing himself or specifically Charm if he was somewhere in his head. If there was one thing that irritated him as much as wasting food, it was the curiosity he felt trying to figure something out that was so close. Groaning as he fell back on his pillow, he looked over to Dax. "... maybe it's not that important."
They both stared at each other for several seconds.
...
"Oh who am I kidding, this is me we're talking about!"
Downstairs, Fluttershy couldn't keep herself from frowning.
She could hear Nicholas shuffling upstairs in agitation. She felt awful to keep something secret from a friend, especially when the secret came from him. But there was nothing else she could do. Charm specifically told her to wait and not tell him, that it was for the best. But that made no sense! As Fluttershy sipped her tea to calm her nerves, it didn't nothing to stop her thoughts from wandering.
She could remember exactly what Charm said.
"In due time, my eyes will open to the truth and only then will I find real happiness."
Dear Luna,
Today was amusing. And when I say that, I really mean extraordinarily horrifying.
Let's just say I had a little magic accident that involved me splitting up into 6 versions of myself.
I won't lie about it being a dumb choice, but the experience was definitely interesting.
Living life in different perspectives gave me something to think about.
It's either best to be me or nothing at all.
Nonetheless, I still feel like I haven't made any of the progress I wanted.
That'll be all.
~Sincerely your student, Nicholas Burton
And there's the end of the 'Me, Myself and I' fiasco! Let me tell you how much of a bitch it was to organize everything without getting confused. Hopefully this 'episode' gave you enough entertainment because things will start getting a bit depressing in the later chapters. Not too bad, but depressing nonetheless. Wanna know why? Let's just say a certain God of Chaos is involved... ;)
Questions!?
1.) How far is Nicholas willing to go to fix his problems!?
2.) What the fuck is Charm talking about!?
3.) Will Spike become the adult he claimed to be and ask out Rarity!?
Find out next time!
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