//------------------------------// // Act V, Chapter XIV // Story: My Little Clony // by therealfeedback //------------------------------// MY LITTLE CLONY Chapter XIV, Act V Family “So, how did Discord tell Derpy's family without, you know, freaking them out?” I asked as we made our way to the dock. I was still hopping to avoid using the new leg, though I was somewhat more used to it than I had been a short while before. “He was in the form of a regular-looking pony when he talked with us. ”The Doctor said. “Probably wouldn't have noticed him if he never said anything.” “And they packed all of our stuff? All six of us?” “Apparently. Although it might not be 'packed' as much as 'had magically teleported down here in suitcases by Discord.'” “Fair enough. How many tickets are there, anyway?” “Eight. One for each of us.” ----------------------------------------------- “Why didn't you make her sign it?” Apple asked. “Because she wasn't going to. It's already strained after her sister's death, if we have to track those six to another country to tie up the loose ends-“ Arpeggio started, only to be interrupted by Apple Polish. “Then we might have a damned war on our hooves!” She shouted. “And we'll win that damned war. Do you really think I hadn't thought this through?” “Can you blame me after you let this mess happen in the first place? And you're supposed to the big head honcho with all the brains...” “Yes, in no small part because I was genetically engineered for that. Just like I engineered you two to be helpful, but it seems I wasn't at my best when I did so.” “And that means?” "You tell me. After all, you don't think I'm particularly bright, so your guess is as good as mine! Probably better, even!" “Guys, will you both just shut up?!” Noble, usually very cheery, yelled, clearly upset by the bickering. “Sure, you were genetically engineered for that, and you engineered us for whatever you did, but it doesn't matter a damn bit if we don't trust you, and if we're distracting you from getting your work done!” “Do you really think that they got what they did accomplished by whining and bickering? Because I don't! If we want to have a chance of taking them down once the princess is ready to sign, we need to focus! We need to trust each other, for all your talk about being created to be the best, we're certainly acting like a bunch of idiots! She didn't sign it, so we just have to wait until tomorrow. Arpeggio's right. It would've been better if we had made her sign it. Apple's right. You're both right, now can we please stop fighting and focus?!” Noble breathed heavily after finishing, looking from one to the other with a crazed look on his face. “Um…Sorry about that, I…” “No, you're right.” Apple Polish said. “They had a lot of luck between Celestia's arrogance and Discord's meddling, but the fact is we're not going to get anywhere without focusing and working as a group. Arguing like this is just going to help them.” Arpeggio stared at the two for a moment, then snorted, seemingly unwilling to acknowledge that one of his creations had silenced him. “Fine.” He said simply. “We do need somepony to track them though. We're too valuable, something a little more mass produced, more disposable…send a few guards out to all the major cities to do a cursory search, I need time to work…” ----------------------------------------------- “How much farther?” I asked, not entirely familiar with the layout of Baltimare. “I'm still trying to get used to this thing, and an hour trek was not what I had in mind to ease into it with.” “Not much more.” Vinyl, originally from the city, answered. “Take a left up here, walk until you reach the waterfront, and you're there.” She gestured to an intersection about two or three yards ahead of us. We turned the corner, and clear even from how far we were was the image of two unicorns, one pink and one pinkish grey, off near the dock, with a half dozen or so suitcases next to them. ----------------------------------------------- “…What exactly is he doing?” Noble asked. “Creating a new clone.” Apple answered. “It's what he thinks passes as a hobby. And yes, it is pretty weird. Even I think so, and I actually understand most of this stuff…” “Quiet.” Arpeggio said, eyes never leaving the touch screen as his hooves danced over it. “I'm making…a masterpiece. Different enough that it'll command respect of the soldiers, and not look unusual, but similar enough to be easily replaced…all its talents designed solely for its purposes…a piece of living, breathing, utilitarian art.” “...I'm going to assume that when you said weird, you meant creepy.” Noble said, leaning away from Arpeggio. “Was he like this with us?” “Yes.” The stallion replied, still not even blinking. “Well now I just feel uncomfortable.” Noble stared at the ground now as he spoke, shuffling his hooves awkwardly. “It's ready.” ----------------------------------------------- “Mommy!” The tiny grey unicorn yelled, a grin on her face larger than one that could fit on an adult pony's. The grey Pegasus knelt down, and the foal grabbed at her neck with her forelegs, embracing her mother in a hug. “I'm so so happy you're safe.” Derpy said, drops of happy tears rolling down her cheeks onto her daughter's shoulder. “Mom, what's going on?” The other unicorn that had been waiting at the docks asked. Her coat was much pinker than her sister's or her mother's, and her mane was purple instead of yellow. “You've disappeared for months, and now suddenly we have to come all the way out to Baltimare with everything packed. What's going on?” “I can explain.” I said, limping forward on my new leg. “It's been my fault you girls haven't seen your mother much, and for that I'm sorry. I only hope once you understand why, you'll realize that your mother helped in something much greater than any of us could've imagined.” “Caesar?” Amethyst Star said, her gaze switching between my metal leg and my face. We never really had a chance to sit down and talk, but she and I had met in passing through my friendship with her mother. “…What happened to you?” I chuckled. Sometimes in a bad situation, all you can do is laugh. “It's a very long story. One that has to do with what I said I'd explain to you both. Can it wait until we're onto the boat?” “Where are we going? And why? I'm not leaving until you explain that.” “Amethyst, please, for all we know we don't have much time to-“ “You don't.” An unknown voice said from behind. I turned, to see three pegasi of the Royal Guard, their coats gleaming white even in the night, behind us. “You'll be coming with us.” “Easy now. You don't understand the way things really are, please, believe me.” I pleaded. I knew they wouldn't believe me, but sometimes you act even when you know it's pointless. You want to hope it'll go differently than you expect, that it'll work. “I know how this seems, but-“ “Can it. You don't get to talk.” “Mommy, I'm scared.” Dinky shifted from the hug, crouching behind her mother. “Don't be sweetie. It's…it's going to be alright.” “Step away from the foal m'am.” One of the other guards said. “We don't want children involved.” “But…she's my daughter!” Derpy pleaded. “M'am, that was an order. Step away or we're taking her away.” “Don't touch her!” “That's it.” At that, the guard went over to the two, bending down to pick Dinky up. “Mommy, help!” She screamed. “I don't want to go with the guard pony!” “The kid's making a fuss. Do we have anything to restrain her?” “Just knock her out.” One of the guards said. “They're fugitives anyway. What's the big deal about a bump on the head of one fugitive's kid?” “I said don't touch her!” Before the guard knew what happened, a rock hard hoof slammed into his jaw with all the force its owner could muster, cutting his tongue and staining his clean white chin with a small strand of blood, as well as producing an audible, cringeworthy crack. A tooth appeared to go flying too. He landed with a thud a ways away, his head hanging off the dock, a quiet plinking noise as his helmet slid off his head into the water of the bay. Across from him, Derpy stood on two legs, a look of fury on her face. “Ponies…they can make fun of me. They can hurt me. They can take the things I bring them without paying, and make me pay for them. They can be mean and nasty to me, and make me cry. But…nopony touches my daughters. Nopony hurts Amethyst or Dinky. Nopony makes my daughters cry.” I saw a look in Derpy's face I had never seen before. Even in the worst of times, she always seemed happy. She always seemed unfazed. I was never sure if she was just that self-assured, or if she wasn't all there. But she was angry now. Her eyes were almost straight, whatever the case was with her, it was all overridden by a mother's instinct. A mother's love and desire to protect her child. She wasn't going to let any one of the guards lay a hoof on Dinky or Amethyst. The guard she had broken the jaw of tried to pull himself to his feet, moaning as he did. He spat, wincing from trying to manipulate the broken bone, another tooth coming out. “G…get them!” Was all he could manage with the condition his mouth was in. The two other guards nodded, running at Derpy. She ducked the first one, and he flew headfirst into one of the boats, leaving a dent both in his helmet and the side of the ship. The next one was smarter, throwing a punch rather than himself at her. Unfortunately, it also didn't end well. She spun around the punch, grabbing his foreleg, pulling it behind him, and twisting it in an unnatural way. There was no snapping sound of a broken bone, but instead, the popping noise of a dislocation. An injury that would need a week or two to heal, and could not be walked on, but was not serious if treated. He howled, swinging with his other foreleg, which Derpy grabbed and slammed into his helmet, knocking him out cold. Probably felt better that way considering the arm. By now, the first guard had come to, and jumped at Derpy again. This time he connected, rolling before pinning her to the ground. Shortly thereafter though, he was greeted by a heavy, metal object to the ribs; My new hoof. He fell over to the side, wincing from pain but getting back up. Or at least until Derpy was also up. Once on her hooves, she spun around, bucking the guard dead-on in a particularly sensitive area for stallions. Even if he had been attacking my friend and her foal, as another man, I did feel a little pity watching Derpy's hindlegs ram full-speed into him there. He crumpled over onto the ground, writhing in pain as he clutched where he had just been nailed, too much to even scream. By now, the only coherent guard, the one with the broken jaw, was running, not bothering to wait for his comrades. Derpy took the helmet off the guard she had just bucked, and threw it at the guard with disturbing accuracy. It nailed him in the head, and he fell down, jaw-first, causing yet another yelp of pain. Derpy flew over to him faster than any of us could run. “Listen.” She said, staring into the guard's eyes from inches away from his face. “Nopony threatens my daughters. Do what you want to us. To me. But threaten either of them ever again, and you'll be lucky to be as beat-up as the three of you combined. Now, you're going to leave, you're going to tell whoever sent you that you just got your flanks kicked in by one pissed-off momma, and that whoever comes next gets it tenfold. Got it?” The guard nodded meekly, terror all over his face. “Holy crap.” Vinyl said simply, mouth agape. “Where the hell did that come from?” “I guess even the most docile animal can become a monster when you threaten the mother's young.” I said. Truth be told, I was as shocked as she was, if not more since I'd known Derpy longer. Coming down from surgical-strength anesthetics and painkillers has a funny way of dulling your expressions though. “Where did she learn to do that though?” Vinyl asked again. “That's just…do they teach you that in the post office?” “We used to get some very…unpleasant experiences because of mom's eyes and attitude.” Amethyst Star chimed in. “So mom and I took self-defense courses. She always took them really seriously, because she wanted to protect Dinky.” “Remind Trixie not to make any more mean jokes about her daughters…” I muttered. “Trixie has no plans to anymore.” She said from behind me. “Go.” Derpy said simply to the guard. “Now.” Without another word, he scrambled up, running as fast as he could. With two of the guards incapacitated and the last one fleeing, Derpy took a deep breath, walking back over to the rest of us. Her first attention was to Dinky, who was crouched on the ground shaking, hooves over her eyes. “It's okay sweetie.” Derpy said, all the anger gone from both her face and her voice, the lopsided grin back on the former, and her placid, docile tonality back to the latter. “Mommy's here now. The bad ponies are gone.” Dinky took her hooves away from her eyes, which were threatening to overflow with tears. She ran up and hugged her mother's leg, bawling into it. “Mommy, I was so scared! What did those mean ponies want?” “It's not important, Dinky.” As she spoke, Amethyst walked over, hugging the two of them with her forelegs. Derpy smiled, wrapping a wing around her two daughters. “What's important is we're fine, and we're going on that boat to a new place where they can't hurt us anymore.” Dinky's bawling had subsided somewhat to a sniffle and a few tears, albeit now her mother's front right fetlock was dripping wet. “Promise?” She asked. “Promise.” Derpy said, nuzzling the top of Dinky's head. Amethyst smiled. She walked away from her mother and sister, and back over to me. “…I guess that has to do with what you're going to tell me.” “Yes it does. But it's best if we avoid having another encounter like that. Can we please do it on the boat?” She nodded, much to my relief. “Alright.” ----------------------------------------------- “What's ready?” Noble asked. “My frankenwife. Assembled from the most gorgeous mares ever to live, and brought to life with the power of lightning.” Arpeggio said in a deadpan, an annoyed look on his face. “Ooh, neat!” Noble clapped his front hooves together excitedly. “He's only joking, I promise you.” Apple Polish clarified on Noble's behalf. “…Or at least I think he is.” “Yes, well, whatever it is, I'd like to introduce you both to my newest creation.” He tapped the touch screen, and another pod floated down to the platform. It drained before opening, the only thing falling out of it when its canopy opened being a unicorn stallion. His coat was black as night, with a dark grey mane. A hypnosis wheel adorned his flank. “Meet Hugow. A simple yet effective creation. As of now, he's the leader of the SODREP. Simple enough to be easily replicated with minimal resources, complex enough to pass for a natural pony. Similar enough to earn the respect of the template clones I'm planning on creating, but different enough to be distinct. Intelligent, and very strong. Designed to be the perfect agent for us.” Hugow shook his head, climbing up and looking around, taking in his surroundings for the first time. His eyes, the left a dimmed gold and the right a bright blue, blinked as he glanced from each of the three. “Question.” Noble chimed in. “What's a SODREP?” “Special Operations Division of the Royal Equestrian Police. Manned entirely by clones. Once Luna allows it, they'll be the ones hunting our prey for us. They'll also get a nice new overhaul, which will include Hugow's installation as its leader.” “Aaaah.” “So what exactly does he do?” Apple Polish asked. “Besides being black and fancy and a leader and stuff.” “That's something I'll let you all see in action very soon.”