A Different World: The Future and Fate of Equestria

by Riclo

Chapter 10 | Interrogations & Reputations

The sound of gunfire coming from the building the defunct tower was on was a definite sign that the clone was still there. Even though the tower wasn't working anymore, it seemed like he was still defending it from ponies trying to investigate, meaning that at this point I had to hurry to try and prevent as much lives being lost as possible.

I navigated through the city, trying my best to stay out of sight, which wasn't easy at all considering it was noontime. Most of the time I simply had to run through the streets, knowing that there would be no choice on whether or not someone would see me. I teleported whenever I was able to define a destination to appear, and soon enough I had arrived at the building the tower was located at. The building was surrounded and closed off by security-looking ponies, but I knew that shouldn't be too much of an issue for me if I wanted to get inside.

'Alright, I gotta think of what to do here.' Unlike last time, I was able to use magic now, but that only gave me an advantage. This was gunfire I was dealing with, and I knew I had to be extremely careful otherwise I'd die just as easily as if my magic was still disabled. I didn't want to kill him either - it would be ideal to capture him and maybe try to de-brainwash him as well - so shooting him back wasn't a decent option.

'Guess I could make a tranquilizer gun.' I imagined a semi-automatic tranquilizer rifle in my mind, and after about a minute it magically appeared in-front of me, where I grabbed it and primed it. 'Time to get this douchebag.'

I teleported onto the roof in a bright flash of light - something I knew would give away my position - but if he was down below in the building shooting at ponies then it shouldn't have mattered. As soon as I was able to though, I ran for cover just in-case, peeking around and examining the rooftop. It was all mostly barren, aside from the tower and a small entry-way at the other side that led below. To my surprise, however, I eventually noticed the clone looking in my direction - he actually was up here! As soon as I had noticed, he opened fire, causing me to jerk my head back and hide behind the cover as bullets dented and snapped by me.

'Oh fuck. That's weird though, because I could've sworn I had just heard him firing from inside the building below.' Once the firing had stopped, I peeked my head out for just a split-second before pulling it back in. I had seen that he was running straight towards me, and from there I teleported right at the very top of the black tower. I watched him from above as he jerked his head back, quickly looking in every direction - except for up where I was. I aimed the rifle at him, making sure to line up the shot and give myself a bit of a lead in the direction that he was backing up, before firing once. The dart hit him right in the back, and he quickly turned around, aiming in random directions in a seemingly desperate attempt to find me before yelling out.

"I'VE BEEN..." He couldn't finish his sentence before plopping down onto the floor, unconscious.

'Lol owned.' I was about to teleport back down onto the roof, but something didn't feel right. Why would he yell out like that? It would only make sense if he was talking to someone, which meant that he might not have been alone.

'I wonder if Discord is here too.' I perked my head up and looked around. 'The instant I see him I'm going to kill that fucker.'

I remained on the tower, feeling the wind blowing against me as I made sure to keep my balance and not fall over. I continuously scanned the rooftop for the next several minutes, waiting to see if anything else happened, when eventually it did. My attention became focused on another figure eventually stepping onto the roof from the entry-way below - it was yet another clone.

'Two of them, huh? That would actually explain some things. I wonder how many more are here.' I aimed at him, waiting for the wind to die down a little before firing at him, hitting him in the arm. He jerked back just like the other one, frantically looking around for me before passing out shortly afterwards. 'Hope I'm not actually dumb enough to not look upwards like they both just did.'

I waited for another ten minutes to see if anyone else came out, but no one did, and I hadn't heard any other gunfire since then. 'That might be all of them.' I teleported back onto the roof, making my way over to one of the clones and looking down at his unconscious body. 'Well, time to deal with these douchebags.'

---

The two clones were currently tied up and bound to two separate chairs inside one of the rooms of the building. I had made sure to block off the doorway with some stuff just in-case any ponies happened to try waltzing in, although I doubted they would try considering how many had been killed so far. I had taken the time to examine just what weapons they were both carrying, which only confirmed that they were carrying what I thought they were. Each one was suited with an M4A1 assault rifle, two fully-automatic G18 machine pistols, a Model 1887 lever shotgun strapped to their back, and a backpack filled with ammo and even some explosives. This was all stuff I had created back at my base, where I had already made a load-out for each of my ten clones, plus the extra one I had created later on as a secret - something Discord apparently seemed to find out about anyway. All in all, they were pretty dangerous mother fuckers, and it was a good thing they weren't able to use magic like I was.

'If there's only two of them here, then I wonder what the rest of them are doing. Hopefully this reputation shit is over with by tomorrow so I can start finding out what's going on and putting a stop to this shit.' I thought to myself. 'These guys most likely have access to all the other weapons I made at that base also - all the railguns and probably that mountain I fucked full of explosives too. Lol that would be funny though seeing an entire mountain flying into something and blowing up with an explosion so big it could probably be seen from the moon, but not really. That's actually kind of bad and alot of ponies would die if they ever used this shit against them. I may have to close off my base somehow before things get out of hand. Maybe Discord hasn't found out about that stuff yet.'

I paced back and forth, waiting patiently for the clones to wake up. Eventually, they did, stirring and groaning as they came to - one about ten minutes after the other. Once they were both awake, I began speaking.

"Do you know who I am?" I asked, looking over at the clones.

"Fuck you." One of them replied. I stepped over to the one that responded.

"Why are you working for Discord?"

"You're the villain here, Klade. Discord is only trying to save Equestria." He continued.

"I'm the one that created you, you retard. You should know everything that's happened and why Discord is doing this. He's obviously not trying to save Equestria; you shouldn't be that stupid, otherwise you're insulting my own intelligence at that point."

"I'm embarrassed to have ever been made by someone like you." He replied. "Now get me out."

'This is reminding me of when I would talk to Discord, only I'm in Discord's place now.' "Why would I do that? You would just try to kill me as soon as possible. Speaking of which, why did you even set up that tower? That doesn't sound like 'saving Equestria' to me, especially when you're killing ponies. How do you explain that?"

"Sometimes sacrifices must be made for the greater good." He replied. "Once all the towers are placed, Discord will finally be able to cleanse Equestria and fix it once and for all."

'So there's more than one tower apparently. Good to know - that must be where the other clones are probably located.' "And just what is Discord going to do once they're all placed?"

"If I told you, I would be stupid."

"Well, you're already stupid for following Discord; although, I guess you can't help it since you're being controlled by him right now." I paused for a second before continuing. "Just what is there to be 'fixed' in Equestria?"

"I'm not telling you anything. You shouldn't even be alive right now."

"Hmm... that reminds me: What happened to Duston?"

"I don't know." He looked at me with a confused expression. "Did something happen?"

He didn't seem to be faking his confusion. "So you didn't hear Discord going on about killing him at all?"

"No." He replied. "And even if he did, I don't care. Duston is your brother, not mine."

'Wow, what an asshole. I doubt I'm going to be able to de-manipulate him if he doesn't even care about Duston, and I don't know any spells that would stop this. Hmm...' I walked in a circle around them. "Alright, I've had enough fucking around. It seems like there's no hope for you idiots." I walked over to one of the Model 1887 shotguns and grabbed it, cocking it and then pointing it at one of the clones. "If you don't have anything else worth hearing, then I'm done with you douchebags."

They seemed visibly taken back at the sudden threat of death, and they stared at me with blank expressions as if they didn't know how to react. After waiting for a few seconds only to get more silence, I decided to fire at the first clone. I had to admit, I felt bad for technically killing myself, but they were magically created clones anyway - they weren't really real. The clone's head burst open and black magical goo oozed out, splattering all over the wall behind him as he slumped in his chair. 'So that's what they're made out of. That's pretty disgusting actually.'

I cocked the lever of the gun and then stepped over to the other clone, pointing it at his head. "Anything half-way decent to say before you join him?"

He remained silent for a couple seconds before responding. "Killing me won't stop Discord. He will live on, and our mission will not die until it is complete." I stared at him for a few seconds before lowering the gun.

"Well, consider it your lucky day, because I wasn't actually planning on killing you anyway. Not yet at least." I placed the shotgun back on a nearby desk. "I've got plans for you first." I proceeded to grab the tranquilizer rifle from before, priming it and pointing it at him. "Time to get knocked out again." I shot, hitting him in the chest with the dart. He continued to stare right at me until he passed out, and I put the rifle back on the desk afterwards.

'Time to get this idiot ready for Trixie. As for all of these guns... I guess I can just take what I need and leave the rest here. Not like it matters - I could always just make my own - but just using all of these is faster.' From there, I began my preparations.

By the time I was finished, I was fully-armed with a Model 1887 Shotgun strapped to my back, two G18s, a couple handfuls of shotgun shells stuffed in one of my pant pockets, and the other two pistols that I already had beforehand. I had also taken the time to create a leather jacket lined with eight tall G18 magazines - four on each side of the inner-front of the jacket - and I was wearing that as well. The clone was tied up inside a grated metal cage with his mouth duct-taped, and he had C4 trapped to his chest underneath his shirt - that was how I was going to make it abundantly clear that he'll die during Trixie's show in a way that everyone would know without a doubt. He was still unconscious at the moment, but it wasn't like it mattered anyway since he was trapped and silenced.

'Think I might be getting a little brutal.' I thought to myself as I looked down at the cage. 'But it's totally fine because it's a magically created clone that's being manipulated by Discord. Now I just need to find Trixie.' Deciding it would be fine to leave him in this barricaded room, I teleported onto the roof, where I walked over to the edge and looked down at the streets below. Ponies appeared to be walking around minding their own business, but they were still taking much care not to go anywhere near this building. I couldn't spot Trixie anywhere though, much to my annoyance. 'Guess I gotta do this the long way.' I created a lawn chair and sat myself down right up along the edge of the roof. 'I'm not about to go walking around and making a huge deal with everyone seeing me and fearing for their lives, so I guess I'll just sit here and wait until I see her. Good thing I'm used to waiting.'

The sun was starting to set and paint the city in a warm, orange glow by the time I finally spotted Trixie wandering around. With her in my line of sight, I concentrated and then teleported her right beside me onto the roof. She was understandably shocked at first, looking around in confusion before glaring at me.

"Warn Trixie before you do these things!!" She yelled out at me with a frown. "What do you want now?"

"It's more about what you want. After all, this is your reputation." I replied. "I've got the clone captured and set up. He's trapped in a metal cage with an explosive strapped to him."

Trixie blinked. "Is that all you brought me over here to tell me? You already told me you were doing that."

"We still need a plan on how we're going to do this. I'm guessing your fliers are placed around successfully?"

Trixie nodded. "Trixie finished with that ages ago, so she was enjoying herself for the remainder of the time."

"Meet me behind this building tomorrow morning at about... twenty minutes before the event is supposed to start. I'll have the clone there, and you can drag him to square from there. Then you can do your little show thingy and blow him to pieces with your undoubtedly powerful magic." I tried my best not to sound sarcastic, which apparently seemed to work as Trixie started to grin.

"These ponies are going to be in for the biggest show of their lives... Trixie shall be their hero!"

"If anyone questions you about the little event that happened earlier with you trying to convince them I was really the good guy, just say that you were being forced to against your will or else some really bad stuff would happen."

"Trixie knows how to handle herself." She frowned at me. "She is fully-capable of handling any criticism."

"Yeah." I paused for a second before continuing. "Guess we're done here then. I'll await you tomorrow." From there I teleported Trixie back onto the streets below. It was a bit abrupt, but I was tired; I had been up since around one in the morning, and I had almost fell asleep in that chair while I waited. I was eager to go to sleep, so that was the next thing I planned on doing.

'Guess I can just sleep somewhere in this building.' I began making my way over to the stairs that led down inside, where I would begin my exploration for a decent place to sleep at.

---

The morning inevitably came. When I had created the fliers, I scheduled them to have the time of the event at 9 AM - it was currently 8:33 AM. I had been screwing around in the building waiting for about the past hour, messing with the slot machines and observing what other games they had, and I figured it was time I started getting things going. I teleported into the barricaded room the clone was in, watching him stir from his curled up position from the bottom of the metal cage. From there I grabbed onto the cage, where I proceeded to teleport us straight to the back of the building. It was pretty isolated and hidden, and there wasn't any ponies that would be in my line of sight.

'Sometimes I wonder if I abuse teleportation more than creation.' By now I noticed that the clone was fully-awake, banging his body against the cage in some vain attempt to free himself. I was having second thoughts about this by now as I watched his desperate struggles, but it was already too late anyway; it took around an hour to make a fresh clone, and that was time that I didn't have. Even then, it would still be pretty brutal. I would be creating a clone just to kill him afterwards, and that clone wouldn't even be being manipulated. I convinced myself that this was the best course of action.

It took a few minutes after 8:40 AM before I noticed Trixie running over. I was surprised that she was a little late considering how important her reputation was to her, but I didn't bother to bring it up.

"So many ponies are curious about what I shall be doing. I almost couldn't get over here!" Trixie exclaimed. "But I did, of course. All of their questions and curiosities will be satisfied.. by none other than the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

"All according to plan." Noticing there was no way she could drag the cage, I proceeded to create a rope tied around one of the bars that she could use to drag it. "Here's the douchebag."

Trixie approached the cage, examining it and the clone inside as he banged and tried to flip the cage over. It wasn't working despite his best efforts though, and I watched as Trixie turned to look at me. "Don't you have a sheet you can use to cover this? There's no surprise if everyone can just see what's in there while I'm dragging it to the square."

I imagined and then created a white blanket with my magic, handing it to her and watching as she levitated it over the cage. Before she could grab the rope and begin dragging the cage, however, she made sure to turn and look at me. "Trixie does not want you going anywhere until after the show is over. Only after everything goes perfectly may Trixie allow you to leave."

"How about no." I replied. "It's your sole responsibility to make sure this goes right - I've already done everything I can do. Your part is the only one that's left to play now, so it's all up to you on whether or not this works. However, surely someone like you shouldn't have a problem."

Trixie stared at me, clearly not wanting to denounce herself for the sake of not letting me leave. It took her a few seconds to respond. "You... Well we'll see about that! This is your idea after all - Trixie only went along with it because it was convenient."

"Let's hope you don't blame anything that goes wrong on me anyway, regardless of whose fault it really is." Trixie glared at me, but before she could respond I continued. "Whenever you do your little magic stuff to the cage though to kill him, make sure you're far away from it. Really far away from it."

Trixie's eyebrows raised. "And why is that?"

"Because it's going to explode." I answered. "I'll be watching from afar and I'll time the explosion to be in-line with your magic; it'll amplify their perception of your power much more than if you did it alone."

"Hmm..." Trixie nodded slowly. "Trixie can go along with that." She then rapidly shook her head. "Let us not waste anymore time talking! There are great things that need to be done." She began to drag the cage, and I watched as the flat metal bottom grinded and screeched against the floor. That wasn't really nice to hear and see though, so I motioned for her to stop.

"Hold on." I grabbed the cage and tilted it, where I proceeded to create some wheels on the bottom before setting it back down. "Now it won't be so noisy."

Trixie nodded, not bothering to say anything as she continued dragging it once more. I was about to teleport back onto the roof so I could watch from afar, though, when her unexpected voice stopped me and forced me to listen first.

"Say... just what do you plan on doing after this anyway?" Trixie asked, turning her head to look at me. "Trixie demands to know, because she doesn't think you ever told her."

"I'll put a stop to Discord. During my little interrogation with that clone, I found out that there's more of these towers apparently, so I'm going to need to deal with that and kill this piece of shit once and for all." I paused for a second as I thought about my growing uncertainty over my brother Duston's life, as well as the threat that my base had if the manipulated clones ever took control of the weapons there. "Plus there's a few other things I have to do also."

"Interesting." She continued looking at me for a couple seconds before turning her head back in-front of her and resuming. "That is all." She began dragging the cage again, and after watching her for a few seconds, I teleported onto the roof.

'That was kind of weird. You'd think she wouldn't give a fuck about what I've got planned.' I stepped over to the edge of the roof and watched her, making sure not to stick myself out too far since if I was seen, that would totally ruin this whole little show. Ponies were already starting to gather at the sight of her dragging the captured clone, and looking on ahead I saw that there was already a group of ponies waiting at the square. 'Guess I made those fliers pretty good.'

"I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, knows that you all have been very curious about what is going to happen here. All shall be explained very shortly!" She continued to drag the cage until she reached the center of the square, where she resumed her speech. "Trixie is the one who destroyed that tower, all by herself!"

"Who's Trixie?" One of the ponies asked, to which Trixie frowned and glared.

"That's me, you idiot!!!" She yelled out. "I just told you that!"

"Why should we believe you? Nobody knows why that tower stopped working."

"Yeah!" Yet another pony spoke up with a high-pitched voice. "When we tried looking in there yesterday after the tower stopped working, more of that deadly loud thundering rang out, and we had to run for our lives. That place is still dangerous!"

"It is?" Trixie asked in confusion, before shaking her head. "No, that was before Trixie went in there and fixed everything. Trixie is going to prove that and everything to you, right now!" The blue-colored unicorn then grabbed the white blanket with her teeth, yanking it off and eliciting gasps from the crowd as the clone was now visible to everyone. Ponies instinctively backed away, and some even hid from the sight of him.

"Is... is that the cause?"

"That's who I saw in there!! That's definitely who I saw in there!"

"That thing is a MONSTER!!!"

'Things seemed to be going along well so far.' I thought to myself as I watched from the roof. 'Should probably start getting ready.' I pulled out the C4 detonator and held it in my hand, ready and waiting for the right time.

"I, Trixie, captured this beast all by herself!" Trixie yelled out with a grin. "It was very challenging, of course... but Trixie prevailed, even in the face of death." Ponies seemed to be getting more interested in her speech as she spoke. "And now, Trixie comes here to all of you, to finish saving this city once and for all." She turned to look at the cage, before backing away, giving herself quite a distance. From there her horn began to glow, and I watched more closely as the cage began to illuminate in a blue light.

'I guess I could humiliate her again and not even do anything, but I won't do that. I'm sure it won't teach her anything just like last time.' I watched and waited until the cage was completely surrounded in her magical aura. I wasn't sure what she was trying to do specifically, but this seemed like as a good time as any to blow it up. I clicked the remote on the detonator, and like clock-work I watched as the cage burst in a violent explosion. Ponies gasped and even Trixie herself stumbled back a little from shock at just how fierce the explosion was. Black magical 'blood' spewed out everywhere and even got on some of the ponies that were closer to the cage, and I could even see torn apart limbs and a couple teeth laying on the floor. The ponies looked utterly shocked at the sight, until one of them starting cheering. This caused another one to start cheering, and soon enough they all began stomping their hooves on the ground and yelling out in approval.

'Well I think I just made Equestrian ponies alot more violent with that one.' I watched as Trixie went on with her smug egotisticalness, and since nothing much else seemed to be going on aside from that, I figured my job was done here. I knew I still had to leave without being seen though, otherwise this whole little event would've been for nothing. 'I can't make a plane or anything to fly out from on the roof here - that would be way too noticeable. Teleporting from roof to roof until I'm out of the city might work, but each time I do that it's going to make a bright flash of light - that's also pretty noticeable. I might still be able to do that though if I do it right now while they're all distracted, I'll just have to make sure I teleport to enclosed spaces.' I put the detonator away in one of my pockets and backed away from the edge of the roof, taking my time to walk around and scout out the best place I could teleport to. Once I found one, I made sure I was located at the middle of the roof to make the flash of light as unnoticeable as possible before teleporting.

I proceeded through this city in this manner until I reached the end, and from there I did a bunch of sneaky stuff to make it off the cloud city and onto the ground below. I hadn't realized it, but this whole little venture had taken over half an hour so far.

'Alright, glad to be out of that place. I should be able to make the plane by now, and I'll try to use the mountains as cover as I'm flying out just in-case.' I began imagining another two-person plane, and within a few minutes I had created it into the real world. I entered the plane and turned it on, where I sat for a little while as I began thinking over some things. 'I might just go straight to Ponyville first. There's something seriously wrong if I haven't heard from Duston yet or even any of the mane 6.' As much as I didn't want to admit it, the mystery surrounding Duston's fate was really starting to bother me in ways I couldn't have ever imagined happening. I stared ahead of me as I thought over the last words Discord had spoken to me and how he was going to kill him, which was only making me want to know just what happened more and more. As I was about to take off, however, a sudden voice caught me by surprise.

"Wait! Don't leave just yet!" I could already feel myself frowning at that voice, and I turned my head to see Trixie running towards me.

'I'm leaving anyway no matter what she wants.' "What do you want Trixie? And what are you doing way out here? I've already helped you and your reputation - I'm done here."

"Let me speak first you idiot! Trixie has been thinking over some things..." By now she had approached the plane. "Trixie had thought to herself, if she can be known as a hero in Los Pegasus... than what about all of Equestria? Think about it Klade! She can help you stop Discord, and then she'll be known as a hero to every living pony imaginable!"

"Nope." I wasn't even going to think about that. "I'm not doing that."

Trixie frowned at that. "And why is that!? Trixie can be of great help! You don't know what you'll be missing out on!"

"I highly doubt you'll be able to help with anything. I've already made you a hero for one whole city, is that not enough for you?"

She clearly didn't seem to like hearing that first part. "Trixie can help with you MANY things! Was it not her that saved your stupid little life? If you're going to give Trixie that attitude, then perhaps next time she shall just leave you to die."

"So everything I did just now means nothing?" I replied after a few seconds. "I helped you with your reputation only because of what you did for me. I've already paid you back."

"Of course it doesn't mean nothing! Trixie just thinks that saving your life should be worth more than just... this. You're still in-debt to her."

I wasn't about to spent the time arguing over that. "Well that's what you think, not me. I did exactly what we agreed on, so we're done here." I began to throttle the plane to get it moving forward, causing her to trot after me.

"I knew it! You are an asshole, and here Trixie was thinking maybe you weren't so bad after all." She paused for a second before continuing. "I'm not rescuing you again if I ever have to!"

As much as I thought I shouldn't have, I eventually sighed, slowing down the plane and letting her catch up. I stared ahead of me in silence for a few seconds before turning to look at her. "Get your ass on the plane right now before I change my mind."

Trixie blinked, almost as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing, before quickly jumping onto the plane and into the seat behind me. "You will not regret this!"

"I already am."