//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 | Meeting // Story: A Different World: The Future and Fate of Equestria // by Riclo //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle's POV I slowly awoke to the feeling of pain in my head once again. I groaned as I sluggishly opened my eyes, blinded at first by the bright light -something that caused me to squint. What was going on now? Memories of recent events began to play in my mind, and I could already feel the anger setting in as I blinked and tried to get a good look around. If this was more of Discord's games, then I was absolutely tired of it. It felt like I had been in an inescapable nightmare, but did it ever end? I couldn't remember the last thing that had happened, and I blinked as I looked around. I was currently laying down on a bed in a beautifully decorated room - something that must've been from Canterlot - when a familiar voice rang out shortly afterwards. "Hey, she's waking up!" I looked to see Pinkie Pie approaching me, and further looking showed that the rest of my friends were here as well. "Are you real?" I asked, to which she looked at me in confusion. "Of course I'm real silly! You didn't get hurt that bad, did you?" "Twilight!!" Spike's voice called out, and I looked to see the small dragon running up to me. "You're alright! Well, mostly alright." "Yeah, I'm fine." I replied, not quite comprehending his last point just yet. "Celestia came and rescued us." Applejack spoke up. "Yer away from Discord for the time being, ya can believe me." I was still skeptical though, but if there was one thing that I wanted an answer to, it was why my head was still killing me - I was so sick of that throbbing pain. "Why is my head hurting so much?" "Your horn cracked, Twilight." Rarity spoke up, something that immediately caught my attention. "Wait... what? My horn cracked?" My eyes went wide at that revelation. Rarity nodded, and she walked to the side of the bed, levitating out a small rectangle-shaped mirror. She held it in-front of me, where I could see my horn wrapped in a white bandage. "It's going to be fine, right?? It should be! I've read books on this type of subject and.." "Yes, it should be fine." Rarity replied. "There's not a thing to worry about! That is, as long as you listen to Celestia's instructions. You aren't supposed to use any magic, and she said that it would also be a good idea if you took some time off. Frankly, I agree with her - I wouldn't want to be working in that condition!" I was definitely relieved to hear that, but I still had a couple questions. "Did.. I do this? Was it Discord?" "We ain't sure about that part just yet." Applejack replied. "It was probably you - you went kinda crazy there with your magic." Rainbow added. "What matters though is that you're okay." Fluttershy chimed in. "It's good that you'll be able to fully recover... Just rest easy for now." "Yeah! I told you that you should've taken a short break." Spike added. "Now look what happened." I sighed, staring down at the bed in-front of me. It was still so annoying to feel like I was constantly being told to take a break and rest, but I really couldn't get too mad about that right now. What I had heard earlier eventually caught my attention though, and my head perked up as I looked towards Applejack. "Did you say that Celestia rescued us? Like, she was actually there?" She nodded in response. "She was for sure, and ah saw you pass out shortly afterwards. We were all pretty concerned for ya when we saw you just collapse like that." "Huh..." To me it was strange that Celestia would do that - I couldn't remember ever seeing her take such an active role before. I couldn't even picture her doing something like that, not that I was complaining. "Where is she now?" "We were all waiting on you to wake up - it's been a whole day." Rainbow answered with an impatient tone of voice. "Celestia said there was a bunch of stuff to discuss, and it's bugging me about what it could be because I know it has to do with Klade. She hasn't let me talk to him since we brought him back from Baltimare! She wants you to wake up first so we can all be there at the same time." I nodded lightly. "Well, I'm up now. We should get going." "Are you sure you should be getting up so abruptly?" Fluttershy asked. "A cracked horn seems very serious." "I'll be fine, Fluttershy. I'll just have to be careful." I was curious to find out just what was going on with Klade as well - it felt like the mystery surrounding him had been stretching on for ages. I slowly scooted to the edge of the bed, moving my hooves to the marble floor below and standing. "If you all are ready, then I shall alert the princesses and bring you to the planning room." A guard who must've been stationed here spoke up. I looked over at him, having not noticed him until just now, and then nodded. "We're ready." I stepped over to him, where me and the rest of my friends proceeded to follow him out the door and through the halls of Canterlot. We soon arrived at the planning room to find that it was empty, where the guard spoke up again. "The others will arrive shortly." He proceeded to walk off, and I turned to look at the rest of my friends. "Has Klade done anything since we came back?" I asked out of curiosity. "Nope. He went straight to the dungeon and I haven't seen him since then." Rainbow Dash answered. "And these guards wouldn't let me sneak in there either!" "Do you really think he's turned against us?" Rarity inquired. "We'll find out soon enough." I replied. Silence ensued, and I began to think over recent events as we waited. Spike, Celestia, and everyone else that had told me to take a break were right - so why on Equestria didn't I listen? The princess herself even told me in person that I needed to have some time off, but yet I still refused; now because of it my horn was cracked. I had even known at the time that I was making the wrong choice, so why didn't I do anything? I couldn't fathom it and now it was bothering me too the more I thought back to it. 'I should've listened... I can be so stupid sometimes. I hope Celestia isn't going to be mad at me for this. She probably is... she's going to be so disappointed in me - ugh why do I have to think about things like that? It's not going to help at all, not right now. She wouldn't ever drop me as her student... right? No, not over something like this. At least I hope not..' After a few more minutes went by, my head perked up when I noticed figures entering the room. I looked to see Princess Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and my brother all walking inside. Behind them were royal guards, who appeared to be transporting a human figure who was bound by chains - that had to have been Klade. Further inspection only made me confused though, as I watched yet another bound human figure walk in behind them. For a brief moment I felt a spark of excitement at the far-fetched, seemingly impossible chance that it could've been Duston - there had to be no other reason why there were two humans walking in! I stared with wide, shocked eyes, but as I got a closer look, I found them both to look exactly the same. They both looked like Klade. 'But... what? Why are there two of them?' Behind them followed yet another figure, this one a pony, who I recognized as Trixie. 'Is that Trixie? What on Equestria is she doing here?' "There is much to discuss." Celestia announced. No one even replied - they were all too confused at what they were looking at - which prompted Celestia to continue. "The Klade you brought back from Baltimare was not real, as it turns out." "Wait... just what is that supposed to mean?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Of course he's real! He's standing right there and he tried to kill us!" "That's not me, Rainbow, that's a clone." Klade spoke up, causing us all to divert our attention to him. "There are at least nine of them that I know of that are still remaining - Discord has taken control of them and manipulated them." "He's not wrong about the clone that is with us today." Celestia replied. "I've already confirmed that he's being controlled by Discord's magic prior to this meeting." "You mean there's fake Klades out there?" Rainbow inquired. "Yes." Klade responded with a simple answer. "How do we know there ain't more to this?" Applejack chimed in. "He could still be workin' for Discord for all we know; we don't know what he's been doin' since we last saw him over a week ago." "Yeah, and why's he here now after all of this time?" Rainbow asked, glaring at him. "How'd he even get here anyway? Something's not adding up." "Excuse me." Trixie spoke up with a frown. "Are you all just going to ignore Trixie? I can answer all of your questions, because I am the one who has been with Klade for the past few days, and also the one who saved his life!" "Yeah, Trixie, why are you here?" I exclaimed. "You're the last person I ever expected to see here." "You watch that mouth of yours Twilight Sparkle." Trixie replied with a glare. "Your friends may not know what you're really like, but I do. I know what type of arrogant, smug little brat you are." "You can save your personal problems for another time." Cadance intercepted after the shocked look from my friends. "Please.. what were you going to tell us? We'd like to hear it." "Very well." Trixie paused for a second before continuing. "First of all, Klade wouldn't even be here right now if it wasn't for me, something that his monkey brain still hasn't been able to fully-comprehend yet. I saved his life with a magical tracking spell I put on him ages ago after his little 'stunt' he did to me during my magic show in Ponyville - he thinks he's so cool ruining my reputation and my life, just like you did Twilight. But, at least he's making up for that, slowly but surely. About a week ago I noticed he had been in the same place for over a day - out in the middle of nowhere - and I was tired of waiting for him to come back, so I went in and investigated. Well, apparently Discord trapped him in an underground cave out in the San Palomino desert. He was practically half-dead when I got to him, something that he still hasn't thanked me for." She turned to look at Klade to glare at him. "Fortunately for him, Trixie doesn't care about mere words; what he has done to help me has been just fine so far, and I care about that more." "That is an interesting tale." Luna remarked. "We've been in Los Pegasus ever since, where Klade was nice enough - unlike Twilight Sparkle - to restore my reputation in that city. With his help, I was able to destroy Discord's tower of evil and save the city! It was after this that we made our way back to here, where I was arrested - that is not something a hero such as me deserves!" "So that's where Klade's been this whole time?" Pinkie Pie asked. "That would explain why the Los Pegasus tower had stopped working." Rarity pitched in. "This is all a surprise for sure, but a welcome one nonetheless." Celestia exclaimed, before turning her head to look at the human. "Klade, I request that you aid us in our fight against Discord, just like you have before. The situation has become dire, and your help would be most beneficial." The rest of us turned to look at Klade, who responded shortly afterwards. "That mother fucker killed Duston and then tried to kill me. If there's ever a time that I say no, then you should kill me right then because there would clearly be something wrong with me. I'm not going to let that son of a bitch get away with the things he's done." As skeptical as I still was towards Klade's help, I couldn't deny that it felt very relieving to hear him say that. He was probably the only other person who was experiencing the levels of anger and sorrow that I was towards Discord, and in a way, it felt nice that I wasn't alone with it. "I see." Celestia replied. "At the moment, there are still two towers remaining: One stands in Baltimare, and the other in Manehattan." She then proceeded to look at me. "Twilight, I request that you take a break. I shall take your place for the time being." I nodded slowly, seeing the surprised looks on my friends' faces - this was the first time they had heard of Celestia's offer, even though it was the second time she brought it up. This time though, she wasn't asking, she was requesting. "Yes, Princess Celestia." "I shall accompany your friends to Baltimare to disable the tower, and if all goes well, then we shall move on to Manehattan and do the same. Klade will come with us." "Actually, I should be able to destroy both the towers from here." Klade spoke up. "I can take the underground passage I made back to my base - the same one we all used when Discord trapped us here. From there I can destroy them both." Celestia seemed hesitant to the idea, and I watched as both Luna and Cadance looked towards her. "I do not see why not..." Luna divulged, to which Celestia then replied. "You will be coming with us Klade. I appreciate your offer, however." "As long as these towers get destroyed, then I'm fine with that." Klade seemed to be on board with what Celestia wanted, and there was a short silence afterwards, until Trixie was the next to speak up. "Ahem... I'm still here, you know. I would like to come as well." I looked at Trixie in confusion - why would someone like her even want to come? I couldn't imagine her being anything more than just a hindrance, being the type of pony she was, and I looked towards the princesses in curiosity of how they'd respond to that. At the same time though, I now felt a little relief at the fact that I wasn't going anywhere - that would mean I wouldn't have to deal with her if she was allowed with them. "I think it would be best suited that you stay in the castle and watch over Twilight as she recovers." Celestia answered. "WHAT!?" Me and Trixie both yelled out. "Are you out of your mind?" Trixie wailed. "Trixie is here to save Equestria, not watch over some pathetically elitist mare. She never came for this!" "Celestia, please, if I may ask." I spoke up afterwards. "She has... problems... why do you want her looking after me?" "You two have your differences, surely, but I believe that with some time spent together, you will learn to overcome them." Celestia expressed. Trixie definitely didn't seem to like that - more so than me probably - but at the moment it seemed like we didn't have a choice. "...Okay, Princess Celestia. I understand." I eventually replied. I looked over at Trixie to see her glaring at me, and I frowned, looking back for a couple seconds until the next voice rang out - this time from Klade's clone. "None of you know what you're doing to the future and fate of Equestria. Your actions are only going to risk causing a chain reaction that will lead this place to its downfall; Discord is the sole savior who's trying to prevent that from happening." "..What are we going to do with him, Celestia?" I asked. "He's out of his mind." "I think de-manipulating him would be the best thing to do." The real Klade replied. "He might know more about what Discord is planning." "It's worth a try." Celestia acknowledged. "I think that is something Luna can work on during my absence." Luna nodded, and from there it seemed like everyone was on terms with what had been discussed, prompting Celestia to continue. "Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Klade: I suggest beginning preparations for our departure to Baltimare immediately. There is still half a day remaining, and so I expect you all to return ready to leave within an hour." The mentioned names nodded, and I watched as they began to slowly leave the room, indicating that the meeting was over. Luna turned to look at her sister, where I assumed she was asking something, but I had questions too - so I quickly trotted up to the two of them. "Um, excuse me, Princess Celestia." I spoke, causing her to divert her attention from Luna to me. "I just wanted to apologize for my rash decisions lately. I really should've listened to you earlier, and I um.." "The damage is already done, Twilight Sparkle." She replied simply, looking down at me. She didn't appear as harmonious as she usually was, and I gulped, getting the impression that she was disappointed in me. She probably was - she had no reason not to. "I know, I'm sorry, I'll try to be better from now on. Out of curiosity... do you know how long it's going to take for my horn to heal?" "Six weeks at most, I'm afraid." Celestia answered, causing my eyes to go wide in response. "Six weeks?" That meant six whole weeks without any magic usage! During the Winter Wrap-up I had barely managed to last a day - I couldn't fathom lasting for six whole weeks. "Depending on your health and recovery, it's possible it may be four or five weeks. Regardless, you will be resting for quite some time." I nodded slowly. "I understand." I continued to gaze up at Celestia for a couple more seconds; I felt like there was so much more I wanted to say, but yet I couldn't think of what those things could've been. It was like I wanted to somehow show her how I felt, but I didn't know how to convey those emotions. I eventually just turned around, slowly beginning to head out of the room, but not before noticing Trixie standing in the distance and glaring at me. I turned my head to look at her, where I could already feel myself frowning at the sight - did this mean I had to deal with four to six weeks of her? I sure hoped not. For now though, it seemed like I was going to have plenty of free time. Princess Luna's POV Twilight Sparkle had just finished talking to my sister and was now walking away. Her concerns were understandable, and I felt hopeful that she would learn from her mistakes. She had interrupted my little conversation with Celestia though, to which my sister then spoke up about it shortly afterwards. "What is it you wanted to ask me?" She turned to look at me, to which I replied. "Why did you not allow Klade to destroy the towers in his own way? I did not see any reason not to let him do so - his methods have proven to help us before." "I know." Celestia responded. "It's just a precautionary measure. I want to see how he acts around us and Discord first, if he so happens to show up." I watched as Klade was un-cuffed, but something didn't feel right with Celestia's explanation - almost as if she wasn't saying something. I thought about asking her about it, and I was just about not going to, but she had already told me before that I was free to ask her anything. She shouldn't have any objections - at least that's what I thought. "Is there more to it than that, Tia?" I inquired, watching as she turned her head to look at me. She didn't reply until a couple seconds later. "Yes." Celestia answered simply, before elaborating a short while later. "His power is too dangerous to be left uncontrolled. I'm unsure of what the future holds, after Discord is gone, but I'm hoping it will be a safe one." "You still do not trust him?" "At the moment, no. The time I spend with him will help me determine the type of person he is, and from there I'll decide on what to do." "I see." I looked back at Klade as I watched him walk out of the room. I thought back to what Celestia had told me several days prior: She had told me about the dangerous things he had been doing with his magic, as well as how careless he seemed to be with it all. From what I could see, I hadn't observed any signs of malevolent intentions coming from him, despite what Celestia seemed to be implying whenever she spoke to me about him. Perhaps that wasn't what she was worried about though - maybe there was something else she was concerned about. Either way, Klade seemed to be on a neutral standing when it came to Celestia, at least for now. His actions would decide what happens from there. My gaze soon moved to his clone, who was still bound up and currently being dragged out of the room. He was my next goal for now; he was being manipulated by Discord's magic, and I was to try and restore his mind. If his clone really was a carbon copy of Klade, then this might also be a chance to peer into his mind and see just what he was really like from my own perspective. I approached him slowly, seeing his piercing yellow-red eyes upon looking at me. He definitely wasn't giving off a friendly impression, and I hoped that would change after I figured out how to cleanse his mind.