Klade's POV
The flight to Ponyville had gone by pretty fast. I still didn't know why I had decided to let Trixie come along, but she hadn't been too annoying, at least so far. During the flight, I had mostly been thinking about what could've possibly happened during all this time; I had been trapped in that cave for days, plus the couple days I spent recovering and then helping Trixie. I hadn't realized just how long had I been gone, and I didn't know what things Discord could've done in all of that time. For all I knew, the mane 6 could've been trapped somewhere as well or off battling him somewhere. I was eager to find out, which is why I was glad to see Ponyville finally coming into view. As I approached, though, I was once again reminded of how I still didn't know how to land these things.
"Alright Trixie, it's about time we landed." I called out over the rushing wind. "Don't say I didn't warn you this time."
"When Trixie said that, she meant the jump!" She responded. "Are you sure there isn't a better way to land these things?"
"There's supposed to be, but I haven't gotten around to learning it." I answered. "Besides, this way is alot more fun." I proceeded to create a parachute in-front of me, putting it on and then steering the plane so that it wouldn't crash into any houses when we jumped off. Once the plane was flying evenly, I stood up, carefully making my way over to Trixie and then grabbing her. "Are you ready?"
"Almost! Just give Trixie a few moments." I watched as she peeked down at the ground below, and I sighed, looking around before looking back at her.
"If we wait too long, I'm gonna have to go sit back down to turn the plane around."
"I... okay okay I'm ready." She frowned at me. "Just do the stupid jump."
"Gladly." I pulled out the shades I had created last time and put them on. I contemplated doing another back-flip this time, but I eventually decided not to just to make it less extreme on her. I hopped off the plane, letting us fall in a orderly fashion as we plummeted downwards toward the ground below. After a short time, I activated the parachute, letting us slowly descend to the ground until eventually landing with a plop. A quick look around showed me that we were just at the outskirts of Ponyville, and I looked over at Trixie as she lifted the chute off of her with her hooves.
"What are we doing in Ponyville anyway? I don't think you ever told me." She frowned. "I don't like this place. Not anymore."
"I need to see Twilight to find out what's happened since my disappearance." I replied.
"Wait... Twilight!?" Trixie started frowning. "Why would you need to see that smug, arrogant little wench?"
"That's not a nice way to refer to someone who's trying to help save Equestria."
"But I'm doing that too now! You have no idea what type of person she is. You don't know her like how I do."
I didn't feel like spending the time trying to defend Twilight at this moment. "Well, I need to see her anyway. Just don't forget that you're the one who wanted to come with me."
Trixie sighed. "That stupid little..." I didn't bother listening to whatever else she mumbled, and I began making my way straight in the direction of the library. It was nice to actually be in Ponyville again, although something did seem off as I walked through the streets. It felt like the town was missing something, but I couldn't quite pinpoint what is was. Eventually though, the two of us began to approach the library, where I noticed a note on the door.
'That doesn't seem good.' I walked up to the door, but before I could get very far into reading the note in my mind, Trixie spoke up.
"What does it say?" She asked, making me decide that I was going to have to read the note out-loud.
"Twilight and I are away right now to help the princesses. We'll be back as soon as we can. Sorry for the inconvenience!" I stated. 'The note doesn't say anything about Duston... unless he was the one who wrote it, but I doubt that - it seems more like it was Spike.'
Trixie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "She thinks she can just put a note on her door saying 'Oh, I'm off helping the princesses, look how cool and important I am!' She thinks she's so perfect."
"Huh." I responded, not even commenting on what Trixie said. "There's one more place I need to stop off at here, then I'll go to Canterlot next if I have to."
Trixie nodded, and then her ears perked up shortly afterwards. "That would give me an opportunity to offer the princesses my help. I shall be much better than Twilight ever was!"
"We'll see about that." I began walking off again, noticing her glare at me after I said that.
"Oh, there will be much to see Klade. You'll witness just what Trixie can be capable of when she puts a hundred percent of her effort into one thing!"
'I can't wait.' I thought to myself as I continued walking. I soon began to reach the outskirts of Ponyville, where I approached a hill with a house located on the top. I knew this was Duston's house that he had created for himself with his magic, and I stepped up the hill until I reached the front door. 'He better be here...'
"Who's house is this way out here? It looks way different than the others." Trixie inquired as I looked at the front door-knob.
"Duston's."
"Duston? Who... was that the other one of you? There was two, right?"
"Yeah, he's my brother."
"Hmm, I've never met him before." Trixie exclaimed. I was barely paying attention to what she was saying though; I was feeling increasingly unsettled at the thought that I kept seeing more and more evidence that he wasn't around anymore. It was really starting to bother me; I pretty much knew that he wouldn't be here, because why would he? I rarely saw him at his house, and if Twilight was gone, then he would probably be with her. I was grasping at straws at this point, but the thought of him actually being dead was making me feel shaky and cold - I had never experienced anything like it before.
"Why are you just standing there?" Trixie eventually asked.
"...No reason." I grabbed the door-knob and opened it, stepping inside slowly and looking around. The place still looked barren and incomplete, and I could immediately feel waves of shivers as soon as I entered and saw just how empty it was. I was sure there was no one here, but I wanted to keep looking anyway. I made my way forward, looking around at the dimly lit kitchen and dining room. It looked like no one had been here for a long time though, which was making me feel increasingly distressed as I walked down one of the halls. The door to his bedroom was already open, making me feel a spark of excitement at the thought that he might be inside. Upon stepping inside though, I saw that the bed was empty, and that there was no one anywhere to been see in the room. There was no one here.
'...I need to go to Canterlot. I need to find out what's going on.' I immediately turned around, walking right around Trixie as I headed for the front door.
"Wait, we're leaving already? Why'd you even come here?" She asked as she followed me back outside.
"We're going to Canterlot now." I replied with a bit of a harsh tone of voice. Trixie didn't seem to bother replying - not that I was paying attention to her anyway - and I walked straight down the hill until I found a decent stretch of flat ground. I stood and began imagining another two-person plane, creating it into the real world within a couple minutes. As soon as I was able to, I climbed up inside, staring blankly ahead of me as I waited for Trixie to come on as well. Once she was on, I began throttling the plane right afterwards, sending us forward and eventually up into the air as I sped off straight towards Canterlot.
The trip there was mostly spent thinking over all the possibilities surrounding his increasingly likely death. I couldn't stop thinking about it now, and it was leaving me constantly stressed out. Canterlot thankfully wasn't very far away from Ponyville - you could even see the town from the castle itself - so it didn't take very long for me to arrive. I steered the plane to face away from the castle as I approached, where I then stood up, making my way right over to Trixie.
"Hold on." I spoke, grabbing her and pulling her up. Instead of jumping like I had done for the past few times though, I simply teleported straight in-front of the castle, making sure that Trixie was brought with me as well. As I began to make my way inside, however, I was suddenly stopped by a group of royal guards.
"Halt!! Stay where you are!" They yelled out as they pointed their lances at me, much to my confusion.
"What are you doing?" I asked. "I've been here before, you should all know who I am. I need to see Twilight Sparkle, or the princesses at the very least."
"You're under arrest for threatening the peacefulness of Equestria!" One of them replied - I was even more confused now.
"But I haven't done anything? I need to see either Twilight or the princesses - it's important." As soon as I went to step forward though, they suddenly charged at me, pummeling me to the ground and pinning me down. 'For fuck's sake.' I would've resisted, but I didn't have any intention of fighting back against royal guards.
"What is the meaning of this?" Trixie spoke up. "I've known his exact whereabouts - he's been doing nothing but nearly dying, which he didn't, thanks to me of course."
"Ma'am, I'd like to ask that you come with us." A guard replied as he stepped over to her. "Are you his accomplice?"
"Trixie serves no one!!" She frowned at that. "I am with him only for my own reasons. He's helping me save Equestria."
'Wow, can she really be that delusional? I've been doing everything so far.' I watched as the guards looked at each other, before looking back at her.
"You're coming with us." One of them approached her, to which Trixie backed off.
"Are you arresting me? How dare you! I've done nothing wrong!!"
"We're asking that you come with us peacefully, or force will be used." He replied. Trixie frowned, not seeming to like that, but she eventually sighed.
"...Fine, Trixie shall come along, but don't touch me. I'm fully-capable of handling myself."
"You need to put these on then." He levitated over a pair of hoof-cuffs to Trixie. She was clearly reluctant to put them on, glaring at the guard, but eventually did so anyway.
"There, they're on. Are you happy now?" I watched as the guard levitated a ring onto Trixie's horn - something I assumed was used to block her magic - and then they began to lead her inside with one guard in-front and one behind. I was cuffed up shortly afterwards as well, where it quickly became obvious that these cuffs were meant for thick pony hooves, not human wrists.
'I could probably slide out of these if I tried hard enough.' The same ring that they put on Trixie was then fitted onto one of my fingers, and the remainder of the guards - at least seven of them - all surrounded me as they led me inside. 'Overkill much? They're treating me like I'm Discord. I guess alot has changed since my disappearance... hopefully not too much. I better find out what's going on soon.' I was constantly being pushed and treated like shit as they brought me straight to the dungeons, where they proceeded to throw me into a prison cell, closing and locking the metal gate with the metallic chiming of keys. Some of the guards proceeded to walk off, but two stayed behind, standing right in-front of the gate and just staring at me, presumably to stand guard.
'They're sure taking this seriously, not that I'd want to break out anyway - that'd stir up too much trouble. Good thing I'm used to waiting.'
"You didn't tell me they were out to arrest you Klade!" Trixie spoke up from another cell located across from me. "There is absolutely no reason why someone like me should ever be in a place like this."
"Well, I didn't know either. I should remind you though that you're the one who wanted to come with me in the first place."
Trixie frowned and glared at me. "Don't you dare even think about trying to blame this on me!!! If Trixie had known you would be arrested, she would have never come along - I could be basking in the riches of Los Pegasus right now."
"I told you I didn't want you to come, but you pressed on with it anyway."
"Are you that stupid?? Did you not hear what I just said? Your own-"
"Enough." One of the guards exclaimed in a loud, firm voice - but not loud enough for it to be considered yelling. "No more talking between you two."
Trixie scoffed, giving me one more glare before sitting and resting with her back up against the stone wall. I wasn't very focused on her complaining though - I was mostly thinking about why this was happening in the first place. There were clones at Los Pegasus that were guarding that tower - clones that looked exactly like me - so it made some sense that perhaps that was the reason I had been arrested. I had been gone for a long time as well, which was something that could definitely raise questions - I could have been doing anything during this past week. It was all the more reason that I needed to talk to someone important to explain what was going on.
In the back of my mind, though, the mystery surrounding Duston's death was still constantly bothering me. These feelings suddenly became my main concern when after several minutes, I saw Princess Luna walking into the hallway outside my cell. A cold shiver spread throughout my body as I was now in the presence of someone who could answer that pressing question - something that I was hesitant to even get the answer to now that I was this close to finding out. She looked over at Trixie, and then at me with a piercing gaze.
"Your actions will not go unpunished."
"Hey!! But I haven't done anything!" Trixie replied, causing Luna to look at her. "I demand an explanation."
"Who are you?" Luna asked, which was something that I could already tell Trixie didn't like hearing.
"I am the Great and Powerful Trixie!!! I have done nothing wrong." She paused for a second before continuing. "Twilight Sparkle... She knows me, where is she? I know that she is with you right now."
Luna shook her head in response, however. "She is not with us at the moment. When the time comes, you and Klade will be given an opportunity to explain yourselves."
"And why can't that time be right now? If I had known this would take so long I never would have let myself be thrown in here!"
"Be patient. When Celestia and the others return, your explanations shall be given to all of them."
'Celestia is gone but Luna is here? That's strange - I wonder what she's doing.' I watched as Luna turned her head to look at me again, before then turning around, beginning to head back. I had been putting off asking her of Duston's fate in fear of what the answer might be, but I knew I had to ask now or else I would have to wait even longer - I needed to find out the truth.
"Luna." I spoke up, causing her to pause her trotting. "Where is Duston?"
The princess remained standing in place for several seconds before turning around to face me, and with a slightly confused look on her face. "Duston has been deceased for nearly a week's time."
That answer weighed down on me as if it pulled me miles underneath water. In an instant I felt so empty - something that I would never be able to regain again had just been confirmed to be torn from me. Was he really gone? Her answer seemed so certain that I would've had to have been in absolute denial not to believe her. Memories of all of the events we had been through together began to flash in my mind; they were all from the past and I knew that no more new ones could possibly be created. He really was gone.. and the longer I thought about it, the more it set in.
I stared blankly ahead of me, not even comprehending what Luna was doing or what was going on around me - I couldn't care about that right now. All the days spent in uncertainty, reaching for any possible explanation that could show that he was still alive - it all felt so pointless and meaningless now. My gaze lowered towards the grey, stone floor as I thought back to our time on Earth together; all of those long, distant memories of a completely different time. We had grown up together, with each of us being a part of our own childhood's. He was something that wasn't from Equestria, something that went further back to a time and place that was so secluded from everything that was going on now. He was the only part of that life that I had in this world, but now he was gone... and it hurt in an incomprehensible way. I felt alone and separated. I felt as if everything I had been through in this world was just a dream.
My vacant stare remained as I sat in the cell with my back up against the wall. I didn't want to believe he was dead, but I knew better than to be so stupid. He really was gone, taken away by the fury of another world's daemons. I would've died too, leaving behind everything I had been through up to this point, all for it to just be forgotten as if it never even existed. I was still here, though. By pure luck I had survived up until this point, something that probably wasn't even supposed to be. I wasn't going to let that opportunity waste away; I was a mark from my previous life on Earth, living and breathing in this world still with the knowledge of what it was capable of.
This was only my beginning.