A Different World: The Future and Fate of Equestria

by Riclo

Chapter 3 | Shit Starts Once Again

"Twilight! I just got a letter from Princess Celestia!"

I groaned and stirred as I stretched in my bed, slowly and reluctantly waking up to Spike's voice. I looked at the clock hanging on the wall to see that it was almost 7:30 AM; normally I would be up way before then, but I still felt tired and miserable. My head perked up when I realized just what Spike was telling me though, and I felt a spark of excitement as I looked and saw Spike running over to me.

"Wait, you were still asleep?"

"What does the letter say?" I asked, not even acknowledging his question as he approached me.

"Oh, I haven't read it yet actually-- I got it just now!" I levitated the letter out from his hands and quickly began to read through it.

'Dear Twilight Sparkle,

As of approximately 1:30 in the morning, a strange device was activated in the port city of Baltimare. There have been reports that it has disabled the use of magic throughout the entire city, which is not good. You will be able to spot it immediately as it is tall and visible even outside of the city's premises, and I request that you gather up your friends and investigate the cause and meaning behind this travesty as soon as possible, as well as put a stop to it if you are able to.

As for your question regarding Klade, there have been a few reports that a human creature has been seen within Baltimare, although I've had no luck confirming them so far. Aside from that, there have been no other spottings I'm afraid. We wish best of luck to you all, and be careful as always.

From Princess Celestia,
And Princess Luna.'

"What does it say?" Spike asked as I put the letter down.

"Something's happened in Baltimare, and apparently it's disabled all magic use in the whole city." I replied. "Celestia wants us to go investigate and find out what's going on and put a stop to it if we can."

"Really? I guess Discord's doing more evil stuff again!"

"Maybe." I responded. "Celestia also said that there's been unconfirmed sightings of a human there-- there's no one else that could be other than Klade."

"You don't think Klade is actually the one doing all of this, do you?"

"I don't know." I sighed. "I really doubt it, but I can't say that I've known him all that well-- he always was a pretty vague and reserved person. He really didn't seem like he was evil though, so I'm not going to jump to any conclusions. I want to stay as critical as possible until I have more answers."

"That just gives us all the more reason to go to Baltimare!" Spike exclaimed. "Maybe we'll find the answers we've been looking for!"

"I hope so. Can you go see about getting us a train ride to Baltimare? Just show the conductors Celestia's letter and that should be more than enough reason for them to lend us a ride to Baltimare. I'll go gather everyone up in the mean-time and we'll all meet here."

"Sure thing Twilight." Spike replied. I watched as Spike ran off back downstairs, and I proceeded to quickly get myself ready for the day.

---

"They think Klade is there!?"

Everyone was currently gathered up in the main room of the library, and I had just finished explaining what was going on. As soon as I had clarified that Klade might also be there, Rainbow had been the first to speak up.

"It's unconfirmed, but we have no other leads right now." I replied.

"I've gotta see what's going on there!" Rainbow retorted. Before she could zoom out of the front door though, Applejack grabbed her by her tail.

"Baltimare is half-way across Equestria all the way by the Celestial Sea. Ya don't expect to fly there all by yerself, do ya?"

Rainbow grunted, clearly impatient and annoyed. "What time is this train supposed to leave?"

"Spike said it's scheduled to leave at nine." I answered. "It's a little before eight-thirty right now, so we have plenty of time to leave for the train station. They might let us leave a little early too due to the importance of this task."

"Then what are we still standing around here for? Let's go!" Rainbow remarked. Applejack let go of her tail, allowing her to fly out the front-door. The rest of us began to walk out with her, but I stayed behind for a moment to look at Spike.

"Could you please watch the library while we're gone?" I asked. "We shouldn't be gone for more than a day."

"Yeah I know the drill." He replied. "Go have fun."

He clearly didn't seem to be very happy about staying behind, and I exhaled slowly, glancing at the door. I thought for a moment if I should really bring him along with us, but I eventually decided against it-- I didn't know how dangerous this could be. I proceeded to quickly hurry out the front door, where I saw the rest of my friends there waiting for me.

"Let's go." I announced. We had already been to the train station plenty of times before for other events, so we all knew where to go as we began heading off in that direction.

We arrived after only around fifteen minutes, and we proceeded to all board the train, one by one. I spotted the conductor while we were getting comfortable, and out of curiosity I decided to approach him and ask a question.

"How long should it take for us to reach Baltimare?" I asked. He immediately turned to look at me, seemingly out of surprise as if he didn't see me coming, before replying.

"Uhh, Baltimare? Usually just under two hours." He responded. I was about to reply, when I abruptly heard Rainbow speak up from the back.

"Two hours!? We need to be there now!"

"This is the fastest way we can get there, darling." Rarity responded. "I've brought plenty of things to occupy myself, however, so I needn't worry about that."

"I don't care about occupying myself-- I just don't want to get there too late!"

"I'm sure Klade will be fine, Rainbow, if he's actually there." Fluttershy spoke up. Rainbow sighed, appearing to be a bit restless.

"Yeah but I still want answers too."

"We all do Rainbow." Applejack remarked. "Two hours ain't too long. Jus' be patient and don't over-worry too much about every little thing-- we'll see what happens when we get there."

"Yeah Rainbow!" Pinkie piped up. "We can talk about all the cool things that might be in Baltimare together! I've never been there before, and when I go to new places I like to think about all the things that might be there before I actually get there. That's fun!"

"We aren't going there on a vacation Pinkie." I exclaimed to her. "If everything goes well we might be able to do a little exploring of the city, but I wouldn't count on it."

"Aww okay Twilight." Pinkie replied. I looked back ahead of me to thank the conductor for answering my question, only to find that he had left already during my friends' little fiasco. I looked around for a moment, before exhaling slowly, making my way over to my seat and beginning to think over things. I really didn't feel like doing any recreational activities-- in-fact, I didn't feel like doing anything at all. The only reason I had forced myself out of bed was because of Celestia's letter, and the thought of finding out about Klade and saving Baltimare was only remotely interesting-- although still the most interesting thing I could've possibly thought of doing. I sighed, holding my head down and staring at the floor in-front of me. I had to do this anyway because it was important.

---

The trip there was mostly uneventful. It wasn't until we were beginning to approach the city, however, did Rarity abruptly speak up.

"Twilight dear! My magic isn't working right!"

My head perked up at this, and I looked towards Rarity to see that her horn was spazzing out while she was trying to do her chores. "We must be approaching the premises of the city." I explained to her.

"Now my magic won't work at all!" Rarity looked between her eyes at her horn and frowned. "How am I supposed to work like this?"

"It's like this all over Baltimare." I replied. "Hopefully we can put a stop to it."

"I sure hope so too Twilight! I simply cannot imagine how those poor ponies are faring without any magic-- to be trapped to work in such... unfortunate conditions."

"Must be rough." Applejack remarked, getting a glare from Rarity in response. It was then that the high-pitched voice of Pinkie Pie rang out.

"Hey guys look out the window! I think this is what Celestia was talking about when she said we'd know what it is right when we saw it!" We all proceeded to stick our heads out the window. We could see the city only about a mile away from where we were, as well as a glaringly obvious tower that was located right on the top of the largest sky-scraper. The tower appeared to be emitting some type of cyan-green light, and it was all circling around in what seemed to be some type of see-through orb at the top.

"That's gotta be it." I spoke up. "Once the train reaches its stop, we all head towards that building and make our way up from the inside."

"Sounds like a plan." Rarity chimed in.

"Can I fly up to the roof from the outside and check out what's going on up there?" Rainbow asked. I shook my head in response though.

"No, it could be dangerous and I wouldn't want you going up there by yourself. We'll all go up together through the inside, and we need to be ready for anything because I'm sure it's being guarded."

"So would that make the entire inside a trap then?" Applejack inquired. "We could be walkin' right into one."

"Maybe..." I sighed and rolled my eyes before continuing with an irritated voice. "Whatever, we'll figure out what to do when we get there." The ponies looked at each other, and the rest of the ride proceeded to be silent-- almost awkwardly so.

The train's brakes screeched as it approached the station a short while later, and we all got off our seats when it came to a complete stop. We made our way off the train and stepped onto the city's streets shortly afterwards, which appeared to be mostly normal. Ponies lined the streets and seemed to be doing their usual business, although some did look confused and even cautious. We eventually arrived at the tall sky-scraper we had seen earlier, only to see a bunch of ponies already there-- and one in particular that was guarding the entrance. Some of the ponies looked scared and even traumatized, and with a curious expression I made my way up to the stallion that was blocking off the entrance.

"Hey don't go in here!" He spoke up as we approached. "It's highly dangerous and I'm here to make sure no one else gets killed."

"Gets killed?" Rarity asked with a shocked look on her face. The stallion nodded his head in response.

"I ain't ever seen crazy stuff like this, let me tell ya-- there's already been a few brave souls who have trekked on through here, and then after a moment of time passes, all ya hear is this thundering BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM, really darn loud and really fast-- like a jackhammer! We've had ponies run out lookin' paler than I've ever seen, and they tell stories of how their brethren are killed right before their very eyes. I can't let that happen to nopony else, so I've taken it 'pon myself to make sure nobody else wastes their lives."

"It's true!" A mare who sitting against the building added; she was in tears and sobbing profusely. "Please, please listen to h-him and don't go in there. Th-that place is made of nightmares!"

I turned to look at the rest of our group with a conflicted look on my face. "That doesn't sound like anything we've ever had to experience before-- not even with Discord."

"Well he did kill Duston, so it's safe ta say he may have changed his ways-- for the worse I might add." Applejack responded. "I ain't too sure if we should continue on."

"Are you saying we came all this way for nothing!?" Rainbow Dash spoke up, clearly not happy with where this was going.

"What else can we do?" Rarity replied. "It may just be best if we head back and tell Celestia of just how dangerous this is, and from there I'm sure we can come up with a better plan."

"I agree with Rarity." Fluttershy spoke up. "I don't think we should go in there.."

"That's so stupid!" Rainbow cursed out. "Fuck this! I'm finding out what's going on here whether you all are up to it or not." Rainbow proceeded to start flying up towards the top of the building, much to my dismay.

"Rainbow no!!!" I shouted out to her, before quickly trying to bring her back down with my magic. I was unfortunately reminded of how I still couldn't use any magic at all though due to the tower, and I stomped my hoof on the ground in frustration. "Damnit! I have to go save her!" I barged my way past the stallion and into the building, eliciting gasps from the rest of my friends.

"Twilight yer actin' just as irrationally Rainbow!" I heard Applejack yell out as she ran in after me, but I was already far ahead of her as I ran up a flight of stairs that was inside, mostly fueled by aggravation. The inside of the building was completely dark, with the only light sources coming from the windows. I was only able to make it so far though before Applejack's better athleticism caught up with me, and she grabbed me before I could make it up to the next floor.

"Twilight jus' what do you think yer doing!?" She shouted at me in a whisper voice. "You're gonna get yerself killed!"

I was about to rebuttal back at her, but I stopped myself when I realized that she was right-- just what on Equestria was I doing? I had barged in displaying one of the most arrogant-minded actions ever, and I spent the next few seconds thinking about how out of the ordinary I had been acting lately. Before I could respond though, I heard the voice of Pinkie Pie start whispering.

"Oh my gosh this place is so dark and spooky!" She spoke up, although the expression on her face clearly showed that she didn't want to be here. "But can we go now? Please? I really, really don't want to be here right now. I don't want to diiiiiiiiiie!"

I looked to see that Rarity was the only other pony with us, which caused me to speak up as I became concerned for yet another pony. "Where is Fluttershy? Did she follow us in here?"

"No, she went after Rainbow dear." Rarity replied. "But let us get out of here, please. This is definitely not the place to--" Rarity was cut off by the sudden sound of gunfire coming from the roof, and my eyes went wide open at this.

"Rainbow!" I gasped out as I abruptly scrambled out of Applejack's grip and ran up the stairs. I felt weird squishy and wet things against my hooves as I turned the corner, but I didn't think too much on it as I ran up to the next room. I suddenly stopped just in-front of the door-way at the end of the stairs, however, as what I saw next made me feel colder than I ever did before. Littered across the floor were the bodies of dead ponies, with their corpses illuminated by a spotlight located all the way at the other end of the room. Blood was pooled and dried all around their bodies and even against the walls, and bullet-holes could be seen surrounding the entire area I was standing at. My gaze slowly moved to the front of me, where I could see a shadowy silhouette of a bipedal creature right in-front of the light. Chills and coldness swept across my body as I felt frozen in fear, simply staring there at the figure-- it looked just like Klade, but at the same time it felt so intimidating and evil as if something was definitely wrong. It was then however that I felt something grab onto my hind-legs, pulling me down the stairs right as he opened fire. Bullets whizzed over my head and I yelped as I tumbled backwards, trying to stay as low as possible.

"What in the buckin' tarnation!?" Applejack yelled out, who seemed to be the one that pulled me down. "We're gonna be dead meat if we don't get the hell outta here!"

The bullets rang out for a few more seconds before stopping, but none of us even thought about going back up there. I was traumatized and couldn't even get myself to move, to which Applejack smacked me across the head and grabbed me.

"Let's get movin' Twilight!" She yelled out as she began to drag me back down the stairs. I blinked before finally managing to take control of my body again, following her along with Rarity and Pinkie Pie as we ran back down the dark building. We eventually made it out the front entrance, where I was eager to collapse onto the ground and catch my breath. I felt weak and sick, and I couldn't stop thinking about what I saw in that room-- the bodies of the ponies as well as the figure standing in the distance-- it was literally the stuff of nightmares. That image had been cemented into my mind, and I sat there on the street staring at the ground for some unknown amount of time before I noticed Pinkie Pie waving her hoof in-front of my face.

"Hey Twilight? Are you alright?" She asked. I perked my head up and looked at her, but I couldn't say anything, which prompted her to continue. "Fluttershy said she found Rainbow Dash and she wants us to make sure she's okay! Twilight?"

I blinked, taking a few seconds to comprehend what she said. "I... I'm good Pinkie." I replied. "I just think I just.. I need to-- I just.. to rest for a little while." I slipped up on my words.

"I guess so-- you're shaking like crazy Twilight!" She responded. "Just what on Equestria did you see up there? You looked like you'd seen a.. well.. worse than a ghost, honestly!"

"I don't know." I answered. "I don't want to talk about it right now... just go see Rainbow Dash."

"Um... okay Twilight." She replied, not seeming too convinced but abiding anyway as she zoomed off. I remained on the street for several more seconds before perking my head up, looking around to see that I was in the middle of the road, so I got myself up and headed towards the wall of the building. I sat leaned against the wall, unable to stop thinking about what had just happened. That was the first time I had ever seen dead ponies before, and I shivered when I realized that must've been what those weird wet and squishy things were that I was stepping on-- they were dead bodies. I looked down at my hooves, only to feel a sinking feeling in my stomach when I saw blood on them.

'No...' I could feel myself begin to hyperventilate, when I eventually noticed the rest of my friends making their way towards me off in the distance.

"Rainbow's been hurt, but she's okay." Fluttershy exclaimed as Rainbow was walking beside her. "One of her wings is damaged, but I couldn't notice anything else that was serious." I tried my best to listen despite how shaken up I was.

"There's no way that was Klade up there." Rainbow spoke up. "I was flying around the perimeter and then out of nowhere I start getting attacked. I couldn't get a good look at where I was being attacked from and yeah it's Klade's weapons but there's no way he would shoot at me just like that. Whatever is up there-- whether it's Discord or something else-- it's definitely not Klade." There was a silence for awhile as my friends just stared at me, probably having noticed by now that I wasn't looking really comfortable. Eventually, though, I spoke up before they did.

"I saw him Rainbow." I replied quietly, causing her to look at me with a bewildered and even disbelieving expression.

"You saw what? Discord?"

"No... I saw Klade." I paused for a few seconds before continuing. "It had to be him, Rainbow. There's no other humans it could be and it even looked like him. I saw him move and he shot right at me.. I could've been hit if it wasn't for Applejack."

"But..... that's impossible!" Rainbow frowned. "There's no way..."

"Come on, let's head back to Ponyville and get yer wing patched up Rainbow." Applejack spoke up. "I ain't too happy about the news either but Twilight ain't lyin'."

"There's gotta be something we're not getting here!" Rainbow responded. "How and why on Equestria would he-- ahh!" Rainbow flinched and tensed up. "Stupid wing!"

"Let's just go." I expressed, standing up and making my way back straight towards the station without even looking at anyone. In all honestly I didn't want to talk at all-- I just wanted to sit down in silence for a good long time to try and cope with what I had just experienced put on-top of everything else I was going through. The others followed me soon afterwards, ready to deal with the long, disappointing ride back.

Author's Note:

Poor Twilight getting traumatized over and over. (First Duston and now this!) All this stuff is gonna be taking a toll and you'll be seeing that build up soon.

Also, while not necessary, a map of Equestria would be really nice to look at so you can see where all this stuff is happening, which you can find here: https://derpibooru.org/1553160 There's gonna be alot more locations like Baltimare later on and even some connect-the-dot stuff.

Comments

[DDDDDDDDD23]

I kind of hate how they just say discord did it when they have evidence that points to kaide,