A Different World: The Future and Fate of Equestria

by Riclo

Chapter 8 | Elemental Power

All of our exploration had yielded no results of anything deemed worthy enough of being suspicious. Nobody had found any signs of Klade or anything that resembled the towers that we had seen, and I couldn't help but worry that maybe Discord wasn't planning on placing a tower in this city. If anything were to happen though, we'd find out soon enough - Celestia would let us know if things had changed. At the moment it was the late evening, and we were all currently checking into a hotel to stay the night there.

"So, what is going to happen if there doesn't end up being a tower placed in this city?" Rarity asked just as I had finished talking to one of the hotel waiters. Because we were sent by Celestia and that we had an important task, they were letting us stay for free. "Are we just going to stay here and wait?"

"I doubt that." I responded. "I'm sure Celestia will let us know, most likely through a letter, if something has happened. We probably won't be staying here for more than a few days."

"I sure hope so. I cannot take much more of this cold weather!"

We proceeded to make our way up a flight of stairs, where we were led to our room that we would be staying in. I opened the door and stepped inside to be met warm, cozy room decorated with orange walls and a brown carpet floor. A window located at the other end of the room showed the outside with the falling snow illuminated in the moonlight, and for once I was glad to be someplace that wasn't freezing.

"Is this really a good idea though?" Pinkie Pie spoke up. "What if Klade sets up the tower while we're all sleeping in this room? That would be pretty bad!"

"Pinkie, we looked everywhere." I responded with an irritated tone of voice. "We didn't see anything that looked like a tower, or anything that looked like it might belong to Klade. Unless he's just gonna teleport in and do everything in the dark, and in the cold, all in one single night, then we don't have anything to worry about."

"But... he could totally do that, right?"

"So then what do ya suppose we do Pinkie?" Applejack inquired.

"I don't know, maybe like send somepony out to look around in the nighttime? We could take turns! First someone goes out and looks around for a few hours, then when they get tired they come back here and wake somebody up so that then they go looking around for a few hours. That could work!"

"Well, I'm definitely not taking part in that." Rarity chimed in. "I don't even want to think about how cold it's going to be with no sun out."

"Yeah, Rarity's right." Rainbow responded. "And plus it's going to be dark out, so how are we supposed to see anything? I'd probably bump into a building if I were to try flying, and that's implying I don't freeze to death first."

"Don't you kinda wanna see Klade really really badly Rainbow?" Pinkie asked. "I'd think you wouldn't want to miss out on any chances."

"Of course I do! It's been bugging me constantly about what hell's going on." Rainbow sighed, glancing at the other ponies before continuing. "I mean... I guess I could do a quick sweep every once in awhile to make sure there's nothing happening. But only if I feel like it."

"See? That's one volunteer! Well, two if you include me." Pinkie smiled.

"Ah suppose I could go out and look around real quick if anypony needs me to." Applejack stated.

"There's three!" Pinkie proceeded to look at Fluttershy, who backed away slightly when all eyes were on her.

"I... I really don't think I'd do a good job." She softly exclaimed. "So I think I'll sit this one out."

Pinkie then looked at me, obviously waiting for me to say something. I couldn't deny that she was right - you could never be too careful sometimes - and I was glad to see her caring so much about our task. At the same time though, I really, really just didn't care at the moment. I was tired; I was miserable; I wanted nothing more than to just not give a fuck and go to sleep.

"Sorry Pinkie, I can't do that." I answered, much to her surprise.

"Oh... okay. That's fine Twilight." She paused for a few awkward seconds before continuing. "Well, three volunteers is good enough! Who wants to go out first?"

"Ah guess I will." Applejack droned out. "I might as well, but when I come back ah'm hittin' the hay and I don't expect anypony to wake me up afterwards."

"That's fine! I can go look around after you do, unless Rainbow wants to instead."

"Like I said, only if I'm feeling like it." The cyan pegasus replied. "If I'm really tired then I'm not doing anything."

"Understood!" Pinkie responded. With that Applejack walked out the door, and I decided to start getting ready for bed.

"Howcome you didn't want to go with them Twilight?" Spike asked as I made my way over into one of the bedrooms. "I mean, it seems like a good idea."

"Why do you think, Spike?" I frowned. "How many times to I have to tell you..." I breathed in deeply, holding back the urge to yell at him. "I just want to go to sleep."

"Oh, right. Sorry."

I levitated Spike off my back and took off my jacket, flinging it onto a nearby chair with my magic as I crawled onto the bed. I exhaled and groaned as I slipped under the covers, and I rolled over onto my back, staring up at the ceiling in silence. I really didn't know what I was doing; I couldn't focus on tasks like I used to. I felt so unmotivated, more than I had ever been, and thinking about it only made things worse because I didn't know what to do with myself. I looked at the door, thinking over it for a little while if I actually should go back out there and look around. After awhile though, I decided against it.

I rolled over and sighed, pressing my head against the pillow and staring blankly in-front of me. My thoughts lulled on, and after awhile I found myself drifting off into sleep, slowly becoming less aware of the world around me.

---

"Guys! Hey guys get up - I think we might have a problem!"

My ears twitched, and I groaned as the high-pitched voice of Pinkie Pie talking from the other room resonated in my mind. I was really, really, really getting sick of being woken up like this all the time, and I could already feel the rage building up as I grabbed onto my pillow.

"Hey come on guys I'm not joking." A few seconds later the door to my room flung open, and Pinkie's voice was now much more clearer as she spoke directly to me. "Twilight! I'm like extremely sure the tower is being put up, like right now. We need to get out there as soon as possible and stop it!"

As mad as I was to be woken up like this, I knew that this was serious. I threw the covers off of me and got up off the bed, looking at Pinkie while half-asleep. "Are you sure?"

"Yes! I'm like, 99.9% sure." Pinkie proceeded to zoom out of the room, prompting me to walk out with her. The other expressions of the ponies mimicked mine - they all looked half-asleep and miserable as Pinkie pushed them all into the main room.

"Pinkie, it's almost one in the mornin'." Applejack grumbled out.

"I know! I was looking through the city and then when I went looking inside that building that they're still doing construction on, I swear I saw Klade inside and there was also a bunch of black metal-y tower stuff in there!"

"Do you mean that really tall building?" Rarity asked. "Me and Fluttershy had already searched through there - we didn't find anything."

"Yeah but you gotta believe me, and we need to hurry too, before that tower gets activated!"

"Pinkie's right." I spoke up. "Let's just get ready and check this place out. I'll go get the Elements of Harmony."

Although everyone wasn't super willing, they agreed, and I made my way back into my room, where I heard Spike's sleepy voice speak up.

"What's going on Twilight?" He asked while rubbing his eyes.

"Pinkie thinks the tower is being put up right now." I replied as I levitated my jacket on. "I don't think she'd be willing to wake everyone up like this in the middle of the night if she wasn't really sure, so just stay here while we go and check it out."

"But.. I wanna come with you! There's gotta be something-"

"No." I bluntly interrupted as I gathered the Elements of Harmony. "Not with this, it could be way too dangerous, and just.. no. Sorry I can't think of any other reasons right now." I was already about to exit the room as I finished talking, leaving Spike by himself in the room - I really wasn't in the mood for thinking over something like this. Once everyone was ready a short while later, I levitated their respective elements to each pony.

"Let's go. Pinkie, you can lead the way." I remarked. Pinkie nodded her head, and we all exited the room, making our way down the hall. The hotel was dark and quiet since everyone was most likely asleep, so we put a conscious effort not to make too much noise until we reached the exit doors. Once outside we were met the cold, snowy air blowing right against us, and I could hear Rarity scoff as we stepped outside into it.

"I am never living someplace cold..." She muttered under her breath. Snow was falling from the sky more than it was during the daytime, and Pinkie was the next to speak up.

"It's this way. Follow me and stay super quiet like a mouse!" She trotted off into the fog, and we were all quick to follow her. As much as I didn't want to be doing this, I knew I couldn't have a 'let's get this over with' kind of attitude, otherwise the elements probably wouldn't work - I knew that already from when we had first tried to use them on Discord way back when he had been released the first time.

We made our way through the city until we reached a tall building that had warning signs on it telling us that it was still be constructed. Pinkie stopped, and then raised her hoof as she turned her head to look back at us.

"Okay this is it!" She whispered. "Let's try to be quiet and maybe we can get him by surprise."

"He better have a good explanation for doing all this once I have my hooves on him." Rainbow added. "If it's even him."

"Hopefully this will give us the answers we've been looking for." I concluded. From there we all quietly began to step past the yellow thread that was cautioning us not to enter, and we made our way inside. The interior of the building appeared to be mostly complete, although barren of any fine details. This was only the first floor though, and from what we'd seen so far, the tower was probably going to be up on the roof. Spotting a flight of stairs, we walked over to them and began heading upwards.

Trotting up the stairs, I was suddenly met with a feeling of deja vu - this is exactly what I had been doing back at Baltimare. All of those dead ponies littered across the floor, and the fact that I had almost become one of them. I hesitated my ascent as I thought back to it, and for long enough that it caught the attention of the others.

"Are you okay Twilight?" Fluttershy softly asked, causing me to perk my head up as I saw the rest of my friends looking at me. I thought over what I should say as I gazed back at them, knowing that they could've all possibly been going into very grave danger. We had the Elements of Harmony with us this time, though, so I figured that we would be alright. At least I hoped so.

"It's nothing." I answered. "Let's just keep going.. and be careful too."

We slowly continued our ascent up the stairs, going up from one floor to the next. The rooms began to become more barren and incomplete, affirming that this building was definitely still under construction. We reached a high enough point to where we could see the wood and the metal poles scattered across the floor, and we could even see the moonlight from outside shining in through tiny little openings and archways in the design. We were nearing the roof.

It was at this point where I suddenly noticed a figure standing in the distance, and I immediately felt a flashback back to Baltimare where this exact same thing had happened. There he was - that shadowy figure - standing so ominously at the other side of the room. The rest of my friends stopped shortly after I did, where they realized just what I was looking at. At least this time the floor wasn't littered with dead bodies... not yet at least.

"There he is!" Rainbow yelled out. "Is that you, Klade? What the hell are you doing!? Why are you putting up these towers?"

Although it was hard to see him due to the lack of light, I could still tell from the moonlight that he was only responding by raising his gun up towards us, causing me to gasp in fear. "Everypony get back! Run down th-" I was cut off by the sound of gunfire ringing out straight in our direction. I shrieked and squeezed my eyes closed, as tense as a statue while I stood frozen in terror. I immediately felt like I was going to die right then - that everything was finally going to end at that very moment. I stood like this for what felt like an eternity, paralyzed in horror, before I slowly opened my eyes back up a few seconds after the shooting stopped. To my surprise, I saw that the elements were all glowing, surrounding us all in a pink, magical shield. Whatever Klade's weapon was supposed to do didn't reach us.

"You're not gettin' away with this Klade!" Applejack called out to him. "We're findin' out what's goin' on one way or another!" The human began to back away towards the stairs behind him, dropping his weapon to the ground. His arms moved as if he was beginning to pull something else out, when I heard Rainbow start yelling at him.

"Don't even THINK about running away!" Rainbow tried to speed off towards him, only for me to lunge forward and grab her before she was able to leave the magical barrier.

"Rainbow don't!" Right after I said that more gun-fire rang out, this time sounding different than the last times. It was spamming out at an extremely fast, high-pitched pace, but the bullets didn't seem to be very effective against the glowing pink barrier. By the time the shots stopped whizzing out, the figure had already backed all the way up the stairs, where he proceeded to run off onto the roof.

"Let's go!" I commanded, and we all began to run across the room together. We started to make our way up the stairs, when the sudden, loud sound of metal screeching penetrated our ears. We stopped abruptly, glancing at each other as the sound of metal and gears echoed throughout the room.

"The tower!" Pinkie exclaimed. "That's gotta be the tower! We gotta stop it before it's activated!"

"Ah sure hope it ain't too late!" Applejack replied. "Because it sounds ta me like it's bein' activated right now!" We quickly continued our ascent up the stairs, running up them until we reached the rooftop a couple seconds later. The moon shined directly down onto us through the falling snow as we stepped onto the roof, only to see the black tower fully-built right in-front of us. The see-through orb at the top was glowing and swirling with a green color, which mixed with the illuminated moonlight being shined onto the floor as it swirled around in our vision. We could already feel the effects as if the magic-denying force was pressuring itself against us, and I turned to look at my friends.

"We need to use the elements against that tower!" I shouted out to raise my voice above all the clanking metal. "While we still can!"

Getting in position, we all began to focus our concentration onto the beam that would eventually shoot out. Our collective efforts became almost unison as we focused into the magic, and the elements worn around our necks - aside from my crown - began to glow brighter and brighter with each passing second. I gritted my teeth as I let my frustrations and pent up rage pour out into my concentration, and I pressed my fore-hooves against the floor, looking up at the tower and then firing the magic at it. The rainbow-colored beam of potent magic seemed to effortlessly break through the tower's emissions, barreling straight towards the orb at the top until it made contact. The orb glowed a bright hot white before shattering shortly afterwards in a loud explosion. Shards of glass flew and splattered against our magical barrier as they fell and rattled against the floor, and after several seconds, the magic from our elements stopped, leaving behind a successfully deactivated tower in-front of us.

"We did it!" Pinkie exclaimed with a happy, cheerful voice. "See, I told you I was 99.9% sure! We got the tower and saved all of Vanhoover! You know what this calls for?"

"It's not over yet Pinkie!" Rainbow replied, running out in-front and looking around. "Where the hell did Klade go? He couldn't have gotten off this roof!"

I nodded, and from there we split up, quickly searching the entire rooftop. No matter where I looked though, I couldn't find anyone hiding or any traces of a human sneaking around. We all found ourselves meeting back up a short while later, where Rainbow was clearly not happy.

"How does he disappear like that!?" She cursed out and frowned. "If it wasn't for this stupid tower I would've got him!"

"We all tried our best, Rainbow." I spoke up. "At least we got the tower, which was our primary goal."

Rainbow looked as if she was about to respond, but didn't for a second, presumably thinking of what to say. "...I just don't believe it. The real Klade would NEVER shoot at me, I don't care how unwillingly he's working for Discord. There's something else going on here and next time I'm going to find out what it is no matter what."

I watched Rainbow as she began to walk back towards the stairs, knowing that now she was going to be even more prone to doing something stupid; I was going to have to keep a very close eye on her from now on, especially during dangerous situations involving Klade. We all looked at each other before following her down the stairs, when the voice of Pinkie Pie rang out as we entered the floor below.

"Hey look, Klade left his weapon here!" She announced. "Remember he dropped it when he started backing away?" She went to go pick it up, but I quickly ran over to her and stopped her before she could.

"No Pinkie don't! We don't know how that thing works, but what we do know that it's extremely dangerous."

The five of us looked down at the weapon laying on the floor, when eventually Rainbow made it back to investigate as well.

"Twilight, use your magic to make this place brighter." The cyan pegasus spoke. I abided, and my horn grew a bright purple, lighting up the surrounding area. The weapon was now more visible, and Rainbow leaned her head down as she examined it. "..It should be fine to pick this up. I actually remember Klade showing me one of these that looked exactly like this - he was going over how ponies can't use these weapons." She reached down and picked it up with her hoof. "See the curved pointy part here? He called that the trigger, and that's what makes it shoot. You can't do that with hooves."

"Oh. Well that stinks!" Pinkie frowned. "Here I was thinking we could totally fight him back with his own weapons!"

"We're not doing that." Rainbow glared at the pink pony. "That would kill him, and there is no way I'm on board with that."

"How much did he teach you about these things?" I asked. "They're called guns, right? I know that Duston would use them too."

"Yeah, that's what they're called. I was actually playing an insane game with him once where we were controlling people that were displayed on a screen in his house - it was filled with all kinds of these things. It was loads of fun and we did it for hours." Rainbow started frowning again. "I knew Klade better than anyone here, that's why I don't understand why he would do these things. It's not him, and it just pisses me off when you people don't believe me."

"Excuse me, but can we please talk about all of this someplace else?" Rarity spoke up. "You know, someplace that's not out in the freezing cold in the middle of the night."

"I agree. We should start heading back." I replied. "Spike is still waiting for us too, and I need to send a letter to the princesses telling them what happened tonight. You can tell us everything that you know there Rainbow."

She nodded, and from there we continued our descent, bringing the weapon with us.

Author's Note:

Rainbow Dash describing that Modern Warfare 2!