With the ponies (and Spike) all in agreement about what to do with their hastily created clones, they all decided it best for each clone to be worked on one by one. Each clone would go with the pony it was a copy of.

"How long are we supposed to try to make this work?" Starlight nervously asked Twilight as the clones were split up (despite many of them groaning and protesting the entire time).

"At least a month," Twilight replied. "It's not going to be an overnight thing, especially with the school keeping us busy. We'll have to make do with the time we're given."

"So, a month, and then we'll decide whether or not it's working?" Starlight inquired.

Twilight nodded. "Something like that. I really do think we can get through to them," Eyeing her copy, she then added under her breath. "Or at least most of them."

The evil Twilight just bitterly snapped. "You're making a terrible mistake. You'll regret that you didn't destroy us when you had the chance, princess."

The young alicorn could only sigh and shake her head in dismay. "Something tells me you're going to be the hardest of all to reform. Luckily for you, I'm not the kind of pony who gives up at the first sign of trouble. As Starlight alone can attest, I've managed to get so many misguided ponies to change their ways. Hopefully, you'll be no different."

"Don't think it's gonna be easy." The evil Twilight hissed as she was slowly but surely led away.

Once the clones had all been split up, Twilight and her friends decided to end their camping trip early and head back home. They would need a good night's sleep before they would be ready to start tackling the task of trying to get their clones to change.

"Where are we going? This is so boring!" The evil Pinkie Pie groaned as she was dragged through Ponyville by the very pony she was a replica of.

Pinkie paid no attention to her evil counterpart's complaints. "Never fear, evil me! You'll soon learn that every day in Ponyville is full of fun and excitement! There's always something to do. And nopony knows that better than yours truly."

The Pinkie clone just groaned further. "Whatever. If you start singing and dancing, I'm leaving!"

"And where would you go if you did?" Pinkie questioned her clone in what sounded like an unusually serious tone. "Ponyville's a very big place. You don't know it the way I do. You'd probably get lost."

The evil Pinkie snorted. "Anything's better than having to listen to you. It's like you can never be anything but happy."

The pink party pony protested. "I always like to look on the bright side and make other ponies smile. Life's no fun when you're all gloom and doom, wearing a frowny face."

The evil Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Seriously? You're like a child"

Pinkie just giggled. "I'll take that as a compliment," Then her eyes fell upon a very familiar location: Sugarcube Corner. "Ah, here we are. This is where you'll be staying while we work on turning that frown of yours upside down."

The Pinkie clone eyed the building she was being dragged towards and could only frown and snort. "A bakery. Why did I think it would be anything else?"

"Well where else would I live?" Pinkie pointed out.

"I don't know, a rock farm or something." The Pinkie clone sarcastically replied.

The earth pony with a poofy mane and tail giggled and snorted. "Actually, that's where I used to live. It's not a bad place, actually," And she dragged her clone inside before she could say anything further in protest. Once inside, Pinkie shut the bakery door and whispered to her replica. "Keep it down. You don't wanna wake up the twins."

"What twins?" The evil Pinkie Pie questioned.

Pinkie whispered back. "Pound and Pumpkin Cake. They're the children of Mr. and Mrs. Cake, who I work with in exchange for being allowed to live with them."

The Pinkie Pie clone rolled her eyes. "Please tell me you're not going to make me foalsit. Foals are so annoying!"

"Hey, you can't talk that way about the twins!" Pinkie Pie sternly scolded. "They're lots of fun, trust me." Then she carried her clone up to the loft where she lived.

The clone of Pinkie sighed, realizing the powerlessness of her situation. "You're making me stay with you?"

"Unless you wanna try to find somewhere else to stay," Pinkie cheerfully proclaimed. "Now come on, it's late! Let's get to bed! We've got a full day of fun to look forward to tomorrow!"

Reluctantly, the clone of Pinkie Pie spent the night in the loft above Sugarcube Corner. She had to admit, her cheerful counterpart's hospitality and positive outlook was surprising. At first glance, it might seem like naivety, an outright ignorance of how the world was. But there seemed to be something deeper about it. Like she wasn't denying what the world was, she was just marching to the beat of her own drum.

And there was that word, fun. It was a word so foreign and so alien to the clone. For all of her short existence up to this point, she had just been bored and had seen fit to complain. No one ever acknowledged her, not even her fellow clones. Though she had to admit, she had enjoyed the brief amount of time rebelling against Queen Chrysalis.

Hesitantly, the Pinkie clone went to sleep, still dwelling upon those thoughts. A part of her was beginning to wonder what it was like to live a life of cheerfulness. But that part of her was shoved to the farthest corner of her mind. Every other part told her the world was just cruel, cold, and lonely. There was nothing fun or exciting to look forward to.

The next morning came, and when it did the evil Pinkie was surprised to be woken up to the sight of her cheerful counterpart staring her in the face! "Good morning, evil me! You know, I think we'll need to come up with a better name for you. Don't need to make everypony freak out."

"Does it matter what I'm called?" The clone inquired as she was more or less dragged out of bed.

Pinkie Pie smiled and giggled. "Of course it does, silly! After all, you're probably not going to be evil for much longer," She paused briefly, putting a hoof to her chin. "Hm, what to call you?" A gasp escaped her lips as a sudden idea came to her! "I know: We'll call you Inkie Pie, and you can be my long lost cousin! I've always wanted to have one."

"'Inkie Pie'? Really?" "Inkie" groaned in annoyance. "Is that the best you can do?"

"Well unless you've got a better name, it's Inkie Pie," Pinkie replied. "Now come on, let's go down for breakfast! Then maybe we can do some baking together, that's always fun!"

"Inkie Pie" sighed and hung her head. This was going to be a long month.

The pink party pony led her duplicate downstairs just as the Cakes were all sitting down for breakfast. It wasn't anything fancy: Just pancakes, toast and orange juice.

As Pinkie moved to sit down, she cleared her throat. "Mr. Cake, Mrs. Cake," She gestured to "Inkie" and told them. "This is Inkie Pie, my long lost cousin. She's going to be staying with me for a while."

"Inkie Pie" struggled to think of what to say, and ultimately settled for. "Um… hello?"

Surprisingly, the Cakes were warm and welcoming to this pony. They didn't seem to suspect anything was amiss, aside from her cutie mark. "Hello, Inkie Pie," Mrs. Cake was the first one to greet her. "Pinkie Pie's practically family to us already, so that means you're family to us as well. I hope we'll get to know you better for however long you stay."

Mr. Cake then cleared his throat. "But if you're going to stay with Pinkie, you have to work like her. That's the rules."

"Sure, whatever." Inkie Pie sighed, resigning herself to her fate.

Breakfast then passed with no further fanfare. Inkie Pie didn't seem to be in a talkative mood, not that it seemed to bother the Cakes.

When breakfast was over, Pinkie took Inkie by the hoof and led her into the kitchen. "Come on, Inkie! It's time to get bakin'!"

"What are we going to make?" Inkie Pie questioned. "It doesn't really matter to me."

Pinkie Pie smiled brightly. "Well, I find that the best thing to do when you're making new friends is to bake a cake! It doesn't have to be a really big cake! Any cake will do, as long as we bake it together," She then rushed over, quickly grabbing a red and white cookbook. "Here, we can bake this recipe!"

Inkie Pie gulped. It looked so daunting. "Are you sure we should do something like this? It looks like it could get…" She frowned. "Messy."

"Hey, making messes can be fun too!" The pink party pony proudly proclaimed. And she zoomed away to fetch all the ingredients, plus a mixing bowl. "Come on, let's get started! Just follow my lead and do exactly what it says in the cook book. This is gonna be a blast!"

For several minutes, Inkie Pie was content to let Pinkie just put all the ingredients into the mixing bowl and stir them. She didn't really see what her doppleganger saw in baking. What was so fun about it?

Then, suddenly, a series of energetic giggles broke the silence. Into the room flew Pound and Pumpkin Cake, who then started running about on the countertops without a care in the world!

Pinkie Pie spun around and gasped! "Pound Cake! Pumpkin Cake! What are you two doing here?!"

The twins just giggled, apparently delighting in the mischief they were causing. They didn't seem to care about the mess they were leaving in their wake.

Pinkie was about to give chase, when she heard the timer on the oven ding. She knew what that meant! "Oh no!" She exclaimed and rushed to the oven! "The cake needs to be baked!" She hastily turned to Inkie Pie. "You've gotta chase down the twins for me! The baking lesson will have to wait."

"Why me?!" Inkie Pie groaned in annoyance and began to walk away. "None of this seems like fun! You can manage yourself! I'm out of here for good!" But she was so fed up and annoyed that she forgot to pay attention to where she was going.

Suddenly, the twins knocked over a sack of flour that had been resting above the fridge. It fell to the ground, landing on top of Inkie Pie and turning her a ghostly shade of white. When the twins saw this, they laughed and laughed.

Inkie Pie blinked her eyes very slowly. The twins were obviously laughing at her misfortune, and she wanted nothing more than to yell at them for what they had done. How dare they delight in causing trouble for her.

Yet the more the "disguised" clone thought about her situation, the less angry and bored she felt. Looking at herself, it was almost like she was looking at a ghost. And the sheer ridiculousness of it made her unable to stop herself. A smile began to form on her face as she giggled, slowly at first, and then ultimately broke out into hysterical laughter!

Pinkie Pie happened upon the scene a moment later. And it was enough to make her smile. "See?" She said to Inkie Pie. "Isn't it better to laugh than to always be such a frowny face?"

"I… guess so," Inkie Pie commented. "It feels… good, I think. I never really felt like this before."

Pinkie winked and flashed a knowing smile. "Well don't forget how that felt! Memorize it, and remember it! Because the only thing better than smiling and laughing, is sharing that joy with the world!" She clapped her hooves together! "Ooh, I can't wait to throw a party to celebrate this."