Klade's POV
I had been trapped in this hellhole for what felt like an eternity. The last moments I had that weren't in this pitch black room felt like they had happened ages ago. I had been heading back to my house from the party that Pinkie Pie had thrown in celebration of defeating Discord-- or at least, celebrating that we thought we had defeated Discord. By the time I arrived at my house and opened the front door, however, I saw that the entrance had been changed to some strange black void instead. Not attempting to get away as fast as possible was my biggest mistake, as the very next thing that happened was that I was pushed inside, where I've been trapped ever since then. Scouting and feeling my way around the darkness proved to be pointless, and no matter what I did, I couldn't find any way to escape. I couldn't contact my clones to get them to teleport me out as an outside source since Discord had taken control of them and manipulated them, and for some reason my magic was currently disabled so I couldn't teleport out on my own. I was stuck here, as I had been for much, much longer than I ever would've liked.
A short conversation with Discord right after I had been trapped revealed that he had plans to kill Duston next. I unfortunately was never able to find out what happened with that, and I couldn't send any telepathic messages to Duston due to the how my magic wasn't working. I assumed that he failed-- there's no way he would've actually been able to kill him-- but the way that I was still trapped in here and the fact that I hadn't received any telepathic messages from him yet was extremely concerning. Ever since then, there hadn't been a single voice to be heard aside from my own. Discord hadn't come to check on me once to see how I was faring with his torture, which was surprising considering the sadist he was, and by this point I was even willing to talk just to him to have at least someone to talk to, or maybe even for a chance that he'd save me, as unlikely as that was-- but I was truly desperate by this point. Nothing happened though, and it was the same thing every day-- not like I could even tell when a day passed. I couldn't even tell the difference between if my eyes were open or closed in this darkness.
I toyed with the gun in my hands as I laid on the floor, feeling weak, exhausted and barely able to think straight. The pistol I was holding was one of the very few that I had that wasn't magically created-- I always kept at least one on me for good measure from Duston's backpack-- and it was getting extremely tempting not to just kill myself and end the misery right now. The air in the room was dry and stale as fuck, and my throat was constantly burning and stinging in pain-- whenever I swallowed it felt like I took a quick visit to the fires of hell. I hadn't had any food or water in what must've been days, and I knew I was dying. The only thing that was probably keeping my sanity was the fact that I knew I could've ended it at any time-- why I hadn't yet was a mystery. The fact that I was on Equestria was probably why, and I didn't want to give that up, or to give up my companionship with Rainbow Dash. I wanted to live, or at least... I still did, a little bit. Maybe a tiny bit. Thinking was hard, and I opted to just lay and lull in the nothingness without any thoughts.
The sound of rumbling didn't even catch my attention. It wasn't until I began to see light peering down from above did I finally comprehend it with my deprived mind, and I blinked, realizing just how heavy my body felt when I tried to move. How long had I actually been laying here? Was I dead? Was I going to die anyway after so long? The light grew in intensity, blinding my eyes and causing me to look away. I didn't know what was happening, and I didn't even have the energy to ponder over the possibilities of what could have been happening at this moment. Realizing how hard it was to move my body had made me aware of just how exhausted my body was, and I didn't even know if I could kill myself even if I wanted to at this point-- I probably wasn't that far away from there anyway. Whatever toying I was doing with the gun must've just been in my mind, as if I was controlling myself in a dream, not even aware of what I was really doing. A voice suddenly rang out, sounding so familiar yet I couldn't figure out who it was.
"Klade?" The feminine voice asked, before continuing. "Why isn't Trixie's stupid horn working in this dump? She can't see a damn thing!" I felt myself being grabbed and dragged along the ground. I made it to the source of the light where it shined down onto my face, blinding me once again as the black outline of the pony's head loomed over me.
"Is he even still alive?" She asked as she looked me over. "What on Equestria was he even doing way out in the middle of nowhere like this anyway? Was he trying to kill himself? You better not have been trying to hide from Trixie!"
Hiding from her? She was delusional if she thought I was that concerned about her. I didn't know why she would even think I was hiding from her anyway-- was she still salty over what I did to her at her magic show? I watched as she looked up at the light and tugged on the rope that was hanging down from there, and then she looked back down at me.
"Trixie is going to try something." She spoke as she began climbing up the rope, leaving me laying half-dead at the bottom of the room-- I would've been pretty pissed if abandoning me to die was what she meant by 'trying something'. Once she reached the top and after a short time later though, I felt myself being wrapped in a magical glow. I levitated upwards and out of the room through the opening at the top, where I was now blinded in all directions from the light as it completely surrounded me. I felt myself being laid down a coarse, rough and hot surface, and I slowly squirmed back and forth as I felt even worse than I did before in that room. My eyes still hadn't gotten adjusted to the light, but despite that, I was still able to make out that she was approaching me with something in her hoof.
"You look like you're going to start cracking and disintegrating any minute now, so you better hurry up and start drinking." I could barely move or even reply to her though, which prompted her to roll her eyes and continue. "Fine, Trixie shall do it." The bottle was pressed to my mouth rather clumsily as water began to pour out and splatter down all over my face. I almost couldn't believe that I was finally drinking water, and I quickly swallowed as much as I could, choking and coughing under all the water that she was pouring out much faster than she really should have been, but I didn't even care at this point since I was just glad to finally be drinking something. She eventually stopped though, taking the bottle away and speaking up.
"Okay that's enough, you can get up now." I tried to get up, but I was barely able to move any of my limbs without feeling like I was going to collapse and pass out; I had never felt like this before, and it was pretty terrorizing. My eyes had mostly adjusted to the light by now though, and I was able to tilt my head up slightly to see what Trixie was doing. Her horn was glowing, and she was moving a large grey rock over what appeared to be a hole in the ground-- or sand for that matter-- and by the time she was finished, her horn stopped glowing and she turned to look at me.
"Don't tell me Trixie has carry you too!" She exclaimed with a groan. "She should've just left you out here." She trotted over to me and levitated me onto her back over her saddlebags, only to groan even more afterwards. "Gosh you're heavy for someone who looks like they're about to die."
'Is that supposed to be an insult?' My body wobbled in response to Trixie's trotting, and I took the time to try and glance around at my surroundings as best I could. Wherever I was, there was sand everywhere that seemed to just stretch on forever, as if I was in a desert of some kind. It didn't take long before I felt my body relaxing though, and I drifted in and out of consciousness, never remaining fully-aware of where I was or what was happening. Everything felt hazy and dream-like, and the sun shining down on my back wasn't helping at all with how shitty I felt.
This continued until I abruptly found myself being dropped to the floor like a piece of luggage, and I groaned as I toppled down on-top of my own weight.
"Trixie needs you to take care of this... animal." The feminine voice spoke out. "Trixie will be back later this evening to bring it back."
'Bitch.' I thought to myself as I felt my body being picked up shortly afterwards. From what I could see, I appeared to be indoors somewhere in some public place, where I was at least glad to not be isolated any longer for once. Glancing a pony's nurse hat allowed me to conclude that I must've been at a hospital, and I felt relieved that maybe I wasn't actually going to die after all. I was carried through hallways and rooms, none of which I was paying any attention to, and upon being laid down on a bed, it didn't take very long for me to pass out again.
I groaned and stirred as I felt myself slowly waking up. I opened my eyes and blinked them as I took the time to look around-- for once I wasn't waking up in that dark, isolated room! That thought alone put me at ease, and I extended my arms as I stretched and made myself comfortable. The room I was in had several other hospital beds lined up, some with ponies in them and others that were empty. A hanging clock told me that it was a little after 2:15 PM, and I was glad to not be feeling completely miserable anymore. A sudden voice to the other side of me where I wasn't looking took me off guard, and I quickly turned to look in that direction to see what appeared to be a nurse pony standing there.
"Heyy, you're finally awake." She greeted. "You can talk, right? I'm not sure if you are who I think you are."
"I can talk." I responded, to which she smiled.
"Oh, so you must be Duston then!"
"Klade, actually."
"Oh, whoops." She laughed slightly. "I don't really stay that up to date in current events-- I just know that supposedly you're really important or something. Anyway, a pony named Trixie took you in and we saw that you were in horrible condition. You were severely dehydrated, so we're working on that-- did you get lost in the desert?"
"The desert?" I asked in confusion, to which she began to clarify.
"The San Palomino Desert. You know, the one that's totally surrounding this area." She paused for a second before continuing. "Do you know that you're in Las Pegasus right now?"
"Not until just now." I replied, to which she nodded her head.
"I thought you seemed confused. Sometimes when ponies arrive here in the hospital from out there, they're suffering from Desert Fever-- I'm sure you'll remember what happened as more time goes on and you recuperate some more. Now that I see you're awake though, I'm going to go let the chefs know so they can cook you up something to eat. You're probably starving too!"
"Thank you." I responded. I watched as the pony nodded her head and walked off, and I proceeded to begin thinking about what she said. 'I'm pretty sure I remember exactly what happened and what that fucktard Discord did. What the fuck was I doing way out in a desert though? I guess that would explain why that room I was in was so dry and hot-- that must've been where Discord trapped me. God I'm glad to be out of that hellhole.' Hearing the nurse pony mention Duston had reminded me that I still didn't know just what had happened with him and if Discord had really killed him or not. Now that I was out of that room and feeling better, I decided to do a little test, lowering my head and closing my eyes.
'Hmm...'
In my mind, I began to imagine a pistol-- no specific brand or name, just something of my own that I was able to come up with. I fleshed out the details in my mind's eye, making sure to get everything exactly the way I wanted it to. I then let the spell itself take care of the rest, reaching into my subconscious and gathering the necessary information to make the gun work the way I would've wanted it to, when I felt an all-too-familiar 'click' in my mind-- something that caused me to grin widely. I opened my eyes back up to see that the gun I had just thought of had appeared in-front of me in the real world, and I examined it before putting it to the side.
'Cool as fuck. Man it feels like it's been years since I've done that-- glad to see my magic is finally working again. Now...' Looking forward, I began to send the telepathic message to Duston.
'Duston, where are you? This is Klade, if it isn't already obvious. It's been a few days by now-- I don't really know for sure though-- but last I heard, Discord is trying to kill you, just like he's already done with me. I don't know if he's actually succeeded-- I would imagine that he hasn't-- but I need you to respond back to me as soon as you can. Discord is getting serious apparently, and we need to kick his ass before he does anything else like this again.' I waited up to a minute for a response, but I didn't get any, which was making me feel uneasy.
'Maybe he's just busy right now.' I took another look around the surrounding area. 'Guess I can just make more stuff while I'm waiting for that nurse to come back.'
I had managed to make two pistol magazines and a flashlight by the time the nurse had come back with the food as well as some water. I had created the flashlight just in-case I was ever stuck in a room like that again, where at least now I'd be able to see something if that happened. I was eager to start eating, so I wasted no time in doing so as the nurse went on to take care of other patients. I had finished almost half an hour later, and the same nurse came up to me when she noticed.
"All done?" She asked, to which I nodded.
"Yeah. When do I get out of here?"
"The doctor who took a look at you recommends you stay here until at least tomorrow morning to make sure that everything is okay." The nurse answered. "You should be fine to leave by then."
"Alright." I answered, watching as she took my dishes. I wasn't about to overwork myself or do some crazy bullshit by leaving right this second, so I decided to listen, getting more comfortable in my bed. I still felt pretty exhausted and weak, so I exhaled slowly and let myself relax. 'Still haven't gotten a response back from Duston... I need to head back to Ponyville as soon as I can tomorrow morning. Or actually, I should go to my base and make sure everything is going alright first-- that sounds like a better idea.' My main base of operations was located within the Foal Mountain range, where with my magic I liked to do all kinds of crazy bullshit, create all sorts of weapons, monitor Equestria to always know what was going on in general. I had probably spent most of my time in Equestria around that area, occupying myself with backup plans and then backup plans to those backup plans against Discord. I loved doing it, and the only reason Discord was still alive and doing what he was doing now was because I had given him a chance to redeem himself-- something I wasn't going to bother with anymore.
Time went by surprisingly quickly-- probably because I was used to waiting due to being trapped in that room for so long with absolutely nothing to do-- and soon enough, evening began to approach. My attention was captured by a nurse approaching me with a familiar blue-colored pony beside her, and my head perked up as I turned to look at them.
"You have a visitor Klade." The nurse announced, and I watched at as that pony made her way over to me with a fierce look in her eyes.
'Trixie.' I thought to myself as she approached.
"You!" She yelled at me. "You're an asshole!" She spoke loud and vulgar enough to catch everyone's attention in the room.
"I am?" I asked. "Don't tell me you're still pissed over what happened at the magic show."
"You humiliated me and made me look like a fool! You have no right to act in such a way towards me-- the great and powerful Trixie-- and I demand and apology."
"Not this again. Trixie, your attitude is shit. Nobody likes you and nobody will like you as long as you keep up your extremely inflated ego. You're continuing to-"
"You have no right to tell me how I should act!" Trixie interrupted. "I am to do as I please; I make my own decisions and you are nothing to me."
'Oh boy.' I thought to myself as I listened. "But.. you're being hypocritical right now. Under that logic, you have no right to tell me that I can't put you in your place."
"You don't understand at all you damn monkey!" Trixie responded rather fiercely. "First of all, I am better than you, so that doesn't even apply to you. Second, you're too stupid to even see what my natural calling is-- magic is my special talent! How am I supposed to live without doing magic shows? You told me to 'look at what I've become'-- what does that even mean? I've become amazing-- far greater than I ever have been before! It's not my fault I just happen to be so much better than alot of other ponies, so what am I supposed to do? Deny that greatness? That would be stupid. Stupider than you, even!"
I sighed. "That's not the problem Trixie. The problem is your attitude. You can do all the magic shows you want, and people might even like them, but nobody is going to like the shit attitude that comes along with it."
"And you can't tell me how to live my life! Do I need to repeat that so your dumb monkey brain can understand it?"
"You know what, you're right." I replied. I really didn't feel like getting in a huge argument over this-- not after I almost died. "Just keep acting like that Trixie and see what happens. I can't tell you to act differently-- I can only suggest it-- and you get everything you deserve for continuing to act that way."
"I can't believe it. He actually understands!" Trixie's eyes went wide as a mock expression of shock took over her face. "But that's not why I tracked you down. I, or should I say Trixie, could care less about whether or not someone like you apologizes. What you're going to do is help me bring back my reputation."
My first thought was to refuse-- I had way more important things to attend to. She did save my life, however, so I needed to pay her back for that at least, otherwise she would be right and I would totally be an asshole. "Alright, I'll help with that."
Trixie looked surprised at first. "You're just going to agree that easily? I-I mean no wait-- of course you would agree that easily! You would be foolish not to." Trixie grinned. "Now, I'm going to get you out of here so you can start working on rebuilding my reputation right away."
"He can't leave until tomorrow morning, at the very least." The nurse spoke up. "You'll have to wait until then. I apologize."
"What!?" Trixie frowned at this. "But why not? He looks perfectly fine to me!"
"He was in horrible condition and we need to make sure that he recovers fully." The nurse replied. "He was so dehydrated that he's lucky to even be alive."
Trixie groaned out in irritation, rolling her eyes and sighing. "Fine, I shall return tomorrow." She looked at me one last time and then turned around. "This better be worth it." She muttered to herself as she exited the room. I had wanted to ask her just where exactly I had been kept prison, but it seemed like that was going to have to wait for another time. The nurse exited as well a few seconds later, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
'I don't see this going anywhere with her current attitude. This better not take too long, because I don't need anything bad happening with Discord or even Duston for that matter while I'm fooling around with this egotistical mare. I wonder if she would be happy if I just created a bunch of a bits for her-- probably illegal, but who cares lol.' With nothing else going on, I relaxed into the bed and exhaled as I rested and waited for the next day to arrive.