//------------------------------// // Act V, Chapter IV // Story: My Little Clony // by therealfeedback //------------------------------// MY LITTLE CLONY Chapter IV, Act V The Collapse The radio was playing that same song again. That same, stupid song it had already played four times this morning. The song echoed around the janitor's closet, bouncing around the flat gray walls until it entered my ears, waking me up. It had been a few weeks since we had started scoping out the School for Gifted Unicorns, and the constant surveillance was starting to get to me. I'd been spending the time there disguised as a custodian, not sure if my disguise was adequate, or the Game Master was just letting me keep playing. Either way though the only place that my actual plan existed was inside my head, so it worked out. The others are also disguised as various other maintenance jobs, keeping out of sight but ready to pounce if and when an opportunity arrives and I give a signal. Or alternatively, if something extreme happens, we're all supposed to meet outside of this closet. The reason I had told the others that we were here to watch what the head council of the school, the same ones in charge of admissions for foals. They were amongst the original list of possibilities I had given all of them, which meant the Game Master was aware that we were here to examine them. However the reality is we're here to get closer to the Game Master, and this is a convenient alibi. The only problem is I have no idea how the hell I'm going to get close to the real Game Master. And if I screw anything up, we're probably all going to die. Lovely thought, isn't it? I sighed, getting up from the floor I was sitting on, pulling on the harness for the janitorial cart. With a shove, the closet door opened, and I dragged both myself and the cart out with a sigh. I hadn't been very happy lately. Probably had something to do with discovering what I thought was a rebellion against a tyrant was actually just a game to amuse that tyrant. Still, I've always been the stubborn type. Never knowing when to give up. I just keep praying that eventually that'll help me. ----------------------------------------------- “…I'm confused.” Trixie stammered. “Just relax. It'll be fine.” Vinyl replied softly. “It…it doesn't feel right. I don't like this.” “Just trust me. Once you try it, you'll love it. It'll feel good, I promise.” “…Are you sure?” the magician asked. “Absolutely.” The DJ replied. “Now just lie down, and close your eyes, and relax. It'll make you feel better in no time.” “It feels…wrong.” “What's wrong about it?” the white unicorn asked. “There's nothing wrong with a midday nap, especially since you just finished your classes for this semester.” “I guess…” “You know you wouldn't be this tired if you had just listened to me and not stayed up all night studying for the healing magic final.” “What if I flunked the final?!” Trixie shouted. “If I was able to ace it, I guarantee you would even if you didn't study.” “I wasn't willing to risk that.” “Alright, alright, I'll leave you alone then, I'm going to get lunch.” “Bring me back a sandwich?” Trixie asked. “You still haven't paid me for the last one!” Vinyl moaned. “Fine…” With that, the blue unicorn sighed, plopping down onto the bed and pulling the sheets over herself. Vinyl nodded, then walked out, magically closing the door behind her. As she pranced down the hall, she passed a particular janitor. She stopped, tapping him on the shoulder. “Anything yet?” she asked him. “None so far.” He replied. He wore a pair of spetacles on his face, though one lens was a dummy lens, as only one eye needed prescription. “How about you and Trixie?” “She's too focused on trying to get straight A's to pay attention to anything. Which is weird since she's auditing most of the courses…I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary, and believe me, I'm not giving her kind of dedication. What do we do if this place ends up dry too?” “It won't.” The janitor replied with a confident voice. “One way or another, we're going to find our answers here. It's just a matter of when th-“ “When the window of opportunity opens.” Vinyl cut in. “You've been saying that all semester. I don't plan on flunking out, it better happen soon.” There was a moment of silence, which was quickly interrupted by a loud, heavy rumbling. The walls of the academy shook, the various ponies walking through the hall reacting various ways, some looking around nervously, some panicking and hunkering down in a corner, and some just ignoring it altogether. “The hell was that?” the janitor asked aloud. “Felt like the Bass Cannon.” Vinyl answered with a shrug. “If you'll excuse me, I need to go make sure some punk isn't messing with it in the music department.” Without waiting for a response, she ran off, leaving the janitor alone. ----------------------------------------------- “That felt more like an earthquake than one of Vinyl's toys…” I thought to myself. “Earthquakes don't happen that often in Canterlot…this is too obvious though. She'll be expecting us to do something like this.” I sighed, knowing this was an opportunity, even if a poor one, that I was letting slip by, before returning to my cleaning duties. “Sooner or later we'll get what we need…” ----------------------------------------------- Trixie groaned, throwing her pillow at the wall. “Can't Trixie get five minutes of sleep without something waking her up?” she climbed up out of the bed, stretching her legs as she did. “It's always the worst feeling when you get enough sleep not to be able to get back, but not enough to be rested…what caused that, anyway?” she shook her head before pulling her hat back on, reaching to flick the lightswitch. As she did though, the switch began to glow. “That's…not normal.” She said as she backed away from the switch. Before long, in addition to glowing, it began changing shape, even coming off of the wall. Various posters and records Vinyl had hung on the wall began doing the same thing, some merging with the floor, some merging with the ceiling, others becoming something new altogether. “…Alright, this is not normal. I don't know what Vinyl put in the waffles for breakfast, but I'm not finding out. Midday nap, I return to thee!” Without taking a moment more to examine the changing, psychedelic imagery in front of her that had been her room, Trixie turned around, hopping back onto the bed. As she did though, the bed collapsed inward. Not as if it had broken, but as if it were a body of water rather than a solid object. She yelped in surprise, before paddling in the bed on instinct, floating near the surface. “Waterbed. Cute.” She said in an annoyed tone. “I guess I'm not getting sleep then.” A buzzing noise began ringing in her right ear, causing her to swat at it, before remembering what was causing the buzzing. It was a little device Caesar had given her, as well as all the others in the group. It was a small communications device, invisible to the eye, but as clear as the highest-priced headphones. It was only to be used if something important happened, which hadn't been the case until now. She tapped the small device, disengaging the beeping and engaging the communications. “Trixie, are you awake now?” Caesar's voice asked. “Yes, I am. How did you know I was asleep?” Trixie replied. “Vinyl said you were asleep, and to call you and make sure you were awake.” “She's there?” Trixie asked. “Put her on, now. I don't know what she put in my breakfast, but whatever it is, the world's basically melting. It's like one of those ugly paintings she keeps insisting is art, but real. And I am not fond of it.” “That's not just you, Trix.” The DJ's voice rang over the communicator. “It's everywhere. We're not sure what's going on. I didn't drug your food, though it's sweet of you to suggest.” “…Okay, now I'm really lost.” “So are we.” Caesar was the one speaking once more. “The others are with me in what used to be the hallway about four minutes to the left of your room, I don't know if the routes are still intact, but see if you can meet us there.” ----------------------------------------------- About ten minutes later, Trixie arrived in the hall, or what remained of it. The solid, neoclassical architecture had become completely warped and contorted beyond recognition, with bizarre splotches of color mixed in. Gravity had seemed to have taken a holiday as well, as both she and Promontory were standing on the roof. “What took so long?” I asked. “The halls were…less than intact.” She replied. “Why are you wet?” Vinyl asked. Trixie was dripping wet, from her nose to her tail. Her cloak and hat were also weighted down and soaked, though none of them were actually dripping water. They were dripping little strands of blue fabric. “I had to swim out of my bed, which is now a miniature pool.” “…Okay, that's kind of awesome. Is my bed a pool too now?” “I don't think that's very important right now.” Trixie said, clearly becoming annoyed. “Okay, how about this then, why are you standing on the roof?” Vinyl shot back. “Your guess is as good as mine.” She replied. “Mine is probably a fair bit better, then.” A voice rang from behind her. It was a voice none of us recognized, and a figure none of us recognized. It was standing on the floor, and it had a devious, twisted grin along its mouth, with a single fang sticking out.