My Little Clony

by therealfeedback

Act II, Chapter I

It was a sunny morning. There were a few clouds in the sky, but they were scant enough that they did little to darken the mood of the day. Ironic, given what was about to happen.

“Enough!” A voice shouted out in a thick accent. “De sun iz too high now, ve’ll ‘ave to waste de time until it iz setting. Bring de next model!” The voice belonged to none other than the photographer Photo Finish, who, even through her glasses, was clearly annoyed at missing her shot that morning.

She stood behind a camera, as usual, as various helpers carted one pony out of the lens’ view, and another in. The photo shoot was taking place in a scenic park in Manehattan, which was normally public, but closed off for the shoot, a few small trailers lying about the park. There were more trailers and more crew, but most were at the hotel, waiting for their shifts.

As the new model took her position, the annoyance on Photo Finish’ face drained, becoming somewhat pleasant now that a desired shot was in her lens once more.

“Perfect, perfect…” She said, and at that began her life’s work, photography, anew for the day, blissfully unaware of the impending plans of a group of ponies only a few short miles away. A particular group that had been monitoring her actions the past few days, while she had been in-town for this photo shoot.

“Are we in position?” I asked into the microphone.

“Everyone’s set up,” Vinyl replied, her voice echoing inside my ear, courtesy of the small device inside it. “Doc and I are all dressed for our part, just waiting for you, Cee.”

“Trix, are the primary illusions set?” I said once more. Though there was a single communication channel being shared, all of us were tied into it, so no switching was required to change who I spoke to.

“Everything’s ready,” She said. “They won’t know a thing.”

“Derpy, you know your part?”

“Yup! Ready to go!” Came the enthusiastic response. I nodded, not to anyone in particular, but more out of habit, and to calm my own nerves.

“Alright, heading over now. You know your cues, I have faith we’ll get this done.” At that, I began the walk from the street corner to the park the photo shoot was taking place in. The streets were a completely different image to what they’d been the night before – now they were bustling, filled beyond what you’d imagine they could fill with ponies going every which way, with noise to match. Nobody would ever notice one colt talking to himself.

“Someone here for you, ma’m.” Said a gray-coated colt to the photographer.

“Who?” She asked, turning away from the camera. “Who would be so arrogant as to interrupt I, Photo Finish?”

“Fellow in a tophat, said his name was Caesar.” The assistant answered. “Claims to be a friend and old business partner of yours?”

“Ah, Caezar!” She said, anger slowly draining from her tone. “Hiz company made my cameras, let ‘im through.” At that, the gray-coated assistant nodded, walking away.

I fidgeted, nervous. Only natural, given the stakes, and the potential for problems that could arise if things didn’t go according to plan. My nerves only worsened as the guard approached.

“She says she’ll see you, sir.” He said. “If you’ll follow me.” I nodded, a wave of relief washing over me as I walked behind him. So far, so good.

“Caezar!” Photo Finish said, walking over to greet the colt, a smile on her face. “Much too long since ve’ve spoken, how ‘ave you been?”

“Splended, splendid.” He replied. “I assume my products are holding up?”

“Vonderfully,” She answered. “Und de photos are still exquisite!”

“Very glad to hear.” He said back. “Say, is there anywhere we could speak in private? I have something new I was wondering if you’d like to test, but I don’t want to talk about it in public much. Company secrets and all that. Detailing everything could take a while.” She nodded, gesturing to a small trailer a few yards away. “Yes, that should work. I think you’ll like this one, I really do. Shall we?”

At that, the two began heading to the trailer, the assistant from before looking at another in confusion as to what they were to do. As if on cue though, their answer arrived in the form of one of the models calling them.

“Hey, you two!” She shouted. “Lend us a hoof over here!” They shrugged at each other, heading over to the model, who was besides a small foal with swelled eyes. “This poor kid’s lost,” She said. “Could you try and find her parents?”

“Um…well...” One of the assistants began to say. “It’s…not really our job, is it?”

“But just look at her!” The model replied. “We can’t just ignore her, what harm is searching for her parents going to do?”

“Well…I guess it couldn’t hurt.” The other assistant said. “Photo Finish is busy right now anyway, right? And that colt did say they may be a while.”

“Alright,” The other said, turning to the foal. “Come on, we’ll help you find your mommy and daddy.” She nodded, walking over to the two.

“There’s a phone in one of these trailers, and I think it should have a directory. We’ll just call until we get one. What’s your name, sweetie?”

“I…mommy said not to tell strangers.” She said, the fear clear in her voice.

“We’re here to try and help you get back to your mommy though. Can you please tell us?”

“I…I…” The fear in her voice strengthened, her eyes beginning to water.

“Alright, alright,” The assistant said. “You don’t have to give us her name.”

“O-okay…” The foal said back.

“So we’re just going to call everyone listed until someone recognizes the description? This’ll take all day…” The second assistant moaned.

“Hey, it keeps her happy, and it’s not like we’re doing anything right now, anyway. We’ll take turns calling if Photo Finish gets done before us.”

Off in the distance, a blue-coated pony watched, smiling as she did so. “Diversion is working” She said into a small microphone hanging by her ear, running down the side of her face. “Nobody’ll see you now, get going.”

Across from her, two more, both wrapped tip to tail in black jumpsuits and masks, ran from the bushes in the park to one of the trailers, specifically, the one the photographer and the businesscolt were inside.

“Make a single noise and it’ll be the last one you make.” One of the two intruders said, pointing a gun in the direction of Photo Finish as she did so. “That goes for both of you.” As she said the second sentence, she looked in Caesar’s direction.

“Come on, we’re moving. Keep up or you’ll get shot.” Said the second of the two. The photographer and the businesscolt looked at each other, frantic looks on the faces of both.

“Look, whatever you want, we’ll--” Caesar said to the intruders, before being cut off by a hoof to the face from the second intruder.

“Shut up and get moving.” He said. “We’ll talk later. Right now, one more word to us earns you a smack from her gun instead of my hoof.” Caesar groaned, climbing back up, looking to Photo Finish.

“I-I don’t think we get a choice in the matter.” He said.

“Damn straight you don’t.” The first intruder confirmed. The two hostages exchanged looks once more, before walking behind their captors. Not a moment later, both were knocked unconscious with blows to the head, sacks put over their head.s The second of the intruders locked the door, as the first tapped at her ear. “Alright, we’ve got them both under. Get us out of here, now.” And a moment later, they were gone.

“Get up.”

Photo Finish’s eyes were still shut, though sound slowly returned to her ears.

“I said get up!” This time, the words were accompanied by a blow across the face. Her ears were hearing clearly once more, albeit ringing, and her eyes were open, though all she saw was black. “You too, Tophat.” The voice, that of one of the intruders from before, said, the sound of another blow being accompanied by a grunt.

“W…who are you? What do you want?” Though she couldn’t see anything, the voice speaking was unmistakably Caesar’s. Another blow, and another grunt.

“We’re asking questions, not you. Big Man, take Tophat to another room, get something out of him. The Boss and I will take care of Shades here.” There was a moment of silence, before the sound of a chair scraping against the ground.

“Let go of me!” Caesar shouted. “You can’t do this to me! You can’t!” A moment later, the sound of a door slamming, and a pony chuckling.

“They always say that.” The voice from before said. “Of course, you haven’t really said anything, have you? Quite silent, given your predicament. Maybe another smack will wake you up?”

“N-no…” Photo Finish stammered. “I-I’m awake…don’t hurt me…”

“Oh? Making requests?” The voice replied, a dark glee about her words. “Not wise, given your predicament.” At that, something was removed from around Photo Finish’s head, and the blackness she had been staring had disappeared. The first thing to hit her eyes was the bright, almost painful glow of a bare lightbulb.

As her eyes adjusted, the next thing she noticed was the pony from earlier, in the trailer, though now without her weapon. In the day’s light, she could see her “host” was a unicorn of some sort, a white horn protruding from her forehead. The two of them were sitting in a dark, bare gray room. An uneasy chill filled the air, the walls and floors cold to the touch. Photo Finish glanced around, tugging at her arms and legs, to no avail. All four appendages were tied to a chair, which she was sitting in.

“W…where are we?” She asked.

“Can’t tell you.” The masked unicorn replied. “That defeats the purpose of a ‘secret’ hideout, doesn’t it? Don’t worry, The Boss’ll be in here soon enough. Once he and I get what we want from you, and Big Man gets what he wants from your little friend, you two will be free to go.”

“And…what do you want from us?” She said.

“The Boss likes his interrogations. Sorry, but I can’t just tell you. It’d ruin his fun, which wouldn’t bode well for me.”

The silence returned as captive stared captor in the eye, one pair covered with pink sunglasses, the others bare.

“So zen…who are you?” The photographer asked.

“Me personally? None of your business.” Answered the unicorn. “This organization? We consider ourselves the only real justice in a world filled with corruption. And you may be part of the corruption. Wouldn’t want that, personally. Trust me, neither would you.”

“I’m guessing I already know what happens eef I am?”

“Most likely. You’re not stupid, you can probably guess.”

“Not government then…so why me and Caezar?” She asked.

“That, I can’t answer for you.” Came the reply. “The Boss gives the orders. We don’t poke too much at the rhyme to the reason, we just take care of business. I honestly don’t get why he suspects you though; you don’t have the manner or capability as far as I can tell.”

“For what?” Photo Finish said, curious as to the answer. “Outside of being ‘Corrupt’, so far I’ve been told nothing of what iz suspected of me.”

“It’s much more than being corrupt.” She answered. “It’s being the heart of the corruption itself. If all those corrupt are wolves, you’re the leader of the pack. Suffice to say it’s not an enviable position you’re in.” The silence came once more, but was soon interrupted though, by cries. Cries of pain, from another room, of a certain tophat-adorned colt.

“What are…what are you doing to him?” Photo Finish asked.

“Again, I don’t want to spoil the fun for The Boss.” She replied. “Won’t bode well for either of us, sweetie.”

“Don’t call me sweetie.” The photographer snapped back.

At the same time as the exchange across from us, I was preparing for my role, The Doctor helping. For the most part I was ready – I knew the lines, I had the outfit, I was in the mindset. All I needed was the mask and the modulator. The former would go on once Whoof affixed the latter.

“Alright, this should alter your voice.” He said, as he set up the device in front of my mouth. “Remind me why we have something like this again?”

“It’s audio equipment.” I replied. “One of Vinyl’s tricks. She’s the one who picked it out, ask her, I just know what it does and how much it cost.” He nodded, continuing to set it up. Behind him, Derpy was sitting, playing a tape of me screaming that had been made the night before – More of Vinyl’s audio handiwork – to push the illusion. It was also helpful to drown out our conversation.

Moments later, the device was affixed, and on, the mask on top of it.

“Alright, try it out.” Whoof instructed. I nodded, taking a breath in.

“Testing, te—Wow.” I was impressed – The voice I always heard as mine wasn’t what I heard saying what I was speaking. It was eerie in a way, but it was all the more fascinating. It was much lower and distorted, with something higher mixed in. “This is excellent. We’re about ready, go let Vinyl know to ‘bring her in’.” The Doctor nodded, then walked back to the ‘room’. I turned to Trixie, who sat across from where we had been, eyes shut tight in concentration. “How much longer do you think you can keep this up?”

“If it were just controlling the foal puppet or the fake building?” She asked rhetorically. “I could keep it up an hour or two, especially as long as I know when someone’s opening a door or anything. But both at once? Lets just say the quicker, the better, Buildings suddenly fading and little fillies turning into wooden puppets tend to draw a lot of attention.” I nodded, turning my attention back to the false room.

It was showtime.

“Oh?” At that, the captor took a few steps closer, until her face was right in front of Photo Finish’s, her horn pressing against the rims of the glasses. “Snapping at your armed captors…a strong will. I like that. I don’t think you know just how badly this could end though. You see-“ As she spoke, the door behind them swung open. Another pony, this time an earth colt, stood in the doorframe, his face obscured by a mask as well.

“The Boss is ready for her now.” He said.

“I guess you’ll get those questions of yours answered now., sweetie.” A deep joy in getting to call her ‘sweetie’ again was apparent in her voice. The masked unicorn scoffed, before placing the obscuring piece back over Photo Finish’s head, dragging the chair she was bound to. Where to was unclear to the prisoner.

Moments later though, the item was removed again, and she sat in another cold, bare gray room. Whoever took her, were either strapped for cash, or spent it on things other than atmosphere. A large, wooden desk was in front of her, a single colt behind it. He wore a pair of purple goggles over his eyes, and a mask and jumpsuit similar to the others, who were sitting on either side. An odd mixture of senses of both calm and dread filled the room.

“You are…Photo Finish?” I said. It was still odd, hearing my words in the modulator’s voice.

“Y-yes…” She replied weakly. “You are?”

“Call me Indigo if you want a name. But it isn’t important.” I answered. “What is though…is you.” A look of confusion crossed her face.

“I...Me? Why?”

“Big Man, what did you find with the one in the Tophat?” As I spoke, I gestured to Whoof, on my right.

“Not him, sir.” He replied. “All results were negative, he’s clean. Just a coincidence if he is and she’s not.”

“Clean? Of what? What did you do?” Photo Finish demanded.

“Nothing permanent.” Whoof answered. “Worst he’ll have is a limp for a few days. Don’t want anything conspicuous after all, and it’s the amount of pain, not the permanency that gets most to talk.” As he spoke, I saw the colour drain from Photo’s face. Admittedly, I was grateful to be borrowing Vinyl’s goggles, as seeing the genuine concern on her face made uneasiness creep into mine. It was unnoticeable with everything covered, fortunately.

I nodded to Vinyl, who reached over, clamping something around Photo Finish’s wrist.

“What are you doing?!” She protested. “What did you put on me?!”

“Relax.” I said. “It’s not going to hurt you, it’s a…device. A single prick is all the pain you’ll feel from it.” Before she could respond, the prick in-question kicked in, cutting her off before she began. “Right, now, lets talk, shall we?” I got up from behind the desk, walking around over to her.

“We are…an organization, I suppose. And we’re searching. For something, or rather someone. We know what they do, but we don’t know who they are yet. And we want to know what you know, Photo Finish. Or…Game Master?”

“Game Master?” She repeated.

“It’s a long story,” Technically it was true – And I didn’t want to divulge the reality to her. “But essentially, somepony controls the entire world of Equestria. We don’t like that. We want to stop that.”

“Now, you showed up as a possible Game Master. You’re smart, and cunning; No other way you could reach the position that you’ve reached, outside of tremendous luck. You know it was skill though. And me…” I chuckled for the role. “I know that too. I know a lot of things most people wouldn’t want me to, but nevertheless I do.”

“You also have resources. You’re rich from your abilities, to put it modestly. It’s also given you a business that could act as a front, fame to give you the clout to make ponies listen to you, employees for purposes genuine and nefarious, and the power that could get this done.”

“All signs say you’re a very likely possibility. That’s still a possibility though; it’s conjecture, not concrete. Which is why we decided to see what we could find out today. The question though; Are you the one we want? Did we choose right, or were we wrong?”

“This iz absurd!” She shouted. “There iz no proof, iz there? You kidnap I, Photo Finish, torture my colleague, und accuse me of zis, all on guesswork?! I’ll run you into ze ground for dis.”

“Yes or no. We’ll be the ones saying any more than that,” I said. “And answer the question. Is it you?” I had a sinking feeling that the entire time this went on, I’d be fighting to keep her calm, not just for practical purposes, but because I needed to keep my part together. I had always just thought of her as a business partner, but here she was, just as outraged at the illusion of my torture as she was at her kidnapping…it was tearing, to have to keep putting her through all this.