My Little Clony

by therealfeedback

Act III, Chapter II

The sun had risen, and was bearing down on the six of us as we walked the streets of Appleoosa. It looked out-of-place on me, but I had to admit the Clopson hat Promontory made me buy genuinely felt better in the heat than my tophat probably would’ve. Perhaps I’d keep it after all, as a spare.

“So…were exactly is this clo—“ As my friend spoke, I shoved a hoof in front of his mouth.

“That isn’t exactly a detail of this that we want to discuss in public. We’ll get there when we get there.” He sighed, nodding as he did.

“So…how exactly do we know where they went?” Vinyl asked.

“We don’t.” I replied. “We do, though, know where to find the original, so to speak. Our copy happens to be one of The Good Doctor’s duplicates.”

“So we’re going to have to find the visiting one on our own, by luck then, amongst every Pony in town, without getting caught or them going home?” She asked, annoyance creeping into her tone.

“And it just happens that it turns out to be a copy of one of us?” The Doctor chimed in this time.

“I don’t make the facts, I just report them.” I shrugged as I spoke. “Reality is stranger than fiction, eh?”

“So now y’all got a sixth…and a seventh? …Pony in on this thing?” The annoyance in Promontory’s voice was gone, replaced with dull surprise. “ The more complicated this is gettin’, the worse it is. Look, ah’ appreciate all the trouble y’all are goin’ through to give me a laugh, but spare yerselves some effort, jes’ give it a re—“ Once more, he was cut off by my hoof before his mouth. Once he was silent, I gestured ahead of us, to a brown-coated Pony sitting at a table of a restaurant across from where we were standing, a mane of darker brown adorning his head, a bowtie around his neck and a suit jacket wrapped around his body.

“That’s our double., the opera critic. This one goes by the name Pat Trout. There wasn’t much other info.” Promontory stared in his direction as I spoke, confusion in his eyes.

“…Okay, so a pony named Pat Trout is sittin’ at a table, an’ his coat an’ mane are the same as yer’ friend. I dun’ get how this is s’posed t’sell me on this story of yers.”

“It’s not.” I answered, a hint of annoyance creeping into my voice. “That’s why we’re going to be getting closer. Identical manes, coats, eyes, and marks is a bit stronger than a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?” He shrugged.

“Ah s’pose.” He changed his glance from me back to our second doctor, only for a look of surprise to come onto his face. “Erm…if y’all want to find him, ah’ think ya’ may have an issue.” He raised a hoof, gesturing to where our target was. Or rather, had been.

“Dammit...Derpy?” As I said her name, she hopped up to the head of the group, giving me a salute, although her hoof went to her nose instead of her forehead. “Head up, tell me if you see him, and where he’s headed to.” She nodded, then jumped up, leaping off into the sky.

“…You’re having her, of all of us, scout for our target.” Trxie spoke in a flat tone. Whether out of annoyance, or just boredom was unclear. “You put too much faith in that wall-eyed mare.”

“Hey, she’s our only flier.” I responded with a shrug. “Besides, she can scan in half the time any of us can with those eyes.” There was a moment of silence, as a few of the others exchanged disbelieving looks, unsure whether I was being sarcastic or not. To be honest, I wasn’t sure either.

“That doesn’t change that it’s not very subtle.” Vinyl added. “Isn’t not drawing attention to ourselves a key thing here?”

“She’s a mailmare. It’s hardly strange that she’s flying above a town, then setting down in a random spot.” Another moment of silence with exchanged looks, albeit less incredulous than before.

A moment later, Derpy came back down from the skies, a happy look on her face.

“See? I told you she’d get it done.” I said.

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” Trixie shot back. I shrugged, turning back to your flyer.

“So, where can we find our pony?”

“Um…” She stood there, thinking, eyes darting every which way. After a bit, she raised a hoof to her left. “That way.” I nodded, turning to the others.

“We have our heading. Shall we?”

After a short bit of walking, the group caught glimpse of the colt they were intercepting. They stood a distance away, trying not to draw attention.

“So, can you see well enough from here to see what I’m talking about?” Caesar said. “Dead ringer, eh? Not just similar-looking. Plain identical. Exact copies.” Promontory looked at the colt they had gone to for a moment before speaking, tugging on his cap as he did.

“Ah’ can’t really see any more than before, sorry.” He replied. “Plus hearin’ ‘im talk’d be helpful – it’s one thing ta’ look the same. Lookin’ and soundin’ the same ain’t as likely.” For a moment, the smaller, gray colt’s eye began twitching, clearly fairly annoyed with his friend’s stubbornness.

“Alright, fine, have it your way.” He shot back. “We’ll follow him, and eventually we’ll get close enough to see and hear. Will that convince you?”

“Um…are y’all sure that’s a good idea?” The engineer asked, hesitance in his voice.

“If that’s what it’ll take to convince you.” There was a tense moment between the two, before Promontory sighed, lowering his head in defeat.

“Fine, let’s get this over with already then.” At that, the six began following after the red colt, attempting to remain inconspicuous, led by Caesar. Contrary to their hopes though, over his shoulder, the singing pony had indeed taken notice.

We trailed close behind, keeping a vigilant, albeit frantic, eye on our clone in case he took notice of us.

“So…” Vinyl started, whispering to avoid being overheard. “Why exactly is getting this guy on our side so important?”

“He adds a physical element we don’t have,” I replied. “As well as being a good, trustworthy pony. And hey, we don’t exactly have numbers on our side right now. Add that our enemy can literally clone armies, and we need all the help we can get.”

She shrugged, returning her attention to our target, as did I, though not for as long as I wished, as moments later, he suddenly spun, rounding a corner and taking off in a sprint.

“Come on, we’re not losing him again!” I barked at the others, taking off after him as I spoke, the others following with me. He took another turn, left this time, the six of us following behind.

“Y’know, maybe we oughta’ take this as a cue ta’ leave ‘im alone?” Promontory suggested.

“I don’t come this far to give up.” I said. “You wanted proof? You’re getting your damned proof!”

Another turn, and the six of us followed suit. At the end of this turn though, was a fairly unwelcome sight, given who we had come here to investigate. The turn we had followed Trout down led to the sheriff’s office, with the pony we suspected being the Game Master just a few yards away inside.

“Help!” He started shouting. “Somepony help me!” Before we had a chance to react, out of the office came the one we had come to investigate; Sherriff Silverstar.

“What’s the meaning of all this?!” He shouted. The second Doctor ran behind him.

“These six were following me!” He said, pointing to us as he spoke. “I don’t know why, and I don’t want to find out!” The sheriff nodded, walking over to us, weapon drawn. I was honestly a bit surprised Vinyl didn’t draw her own right there.

“Alright, come along quietly and we can all walk away unharmed.”

“Hold on, you can’t just jail us on one paranoid pony’s words! This is ridiculous!” As true as Trout’s words were, there was a glimmer of truth to mine; arresting six on the suspicions of one was a bit out-there.

“C’mon Caesar, don’t lie to the sheriff.” The words startled Caesar, as they came from one of the group. Specifically, Promontory.

“Y’all had no malicious intent, but ya were followin’ the poor guy.” The sheriff’s glance shifted between Caesar and Promontory, a skeptical look on his face, before his gaze settled on the grey pony.

“So then what were the six of you following him for?” He asked.

“His buddy here thought they looked alike.” Promontory answered for him, gesturing to The Doctor. “The similarity’s there, no denyin’. He was just actin’ a little stupid is all.” The lawpony kept silent, nodding and looking from one pony in front of him to the next, and back again.

“That was all?” He finally said. Promontory nodded.

“Eyup.”

“You don’t believe this, do you?!” The Second Doctor demanded. “They followed me! They’re crazy!”

“Ya’ may want to calm down.” The sheriff replied. “As odd as it is, following somepony ain’t a criminal charge. Neither is bein’ as stupid as y’all are bein’, even if it should be. I’m not arrestin’ the six of em’ on your word when theirs is equally credible. Arguably moreso – Promontory comes here regularly fer’ his job, he’s practically a resident here, and he’s never said a dishonest word, I’m more inclined to take his word than yours.” A bizarre mix of confusion, anger, and relief was painted across Caesar’s face, or at least as well as it could be.

“I…but…I…” Trout stammered.

“Can we go now officer?” Promontory asked. “This isn’t exactly enjoyable.” He nodded.

“Don’t do somethin’ this stupid again, or I’ll find a loophole to drag y’all in with. For now though, get outta’ here.”

“Best do as the sheriff says.” At that, Promontory turned around, heading off without waiting. The others stood for a moment, Caesar particularly confused as to what had just happened, before he began following after, the others following suit.