64 vs. The Underground

by Jman9877

64 vs. The Finale Part 3

Author's Note:

Here you go. 8 months later. A certain Monty Oum has inspired me to get off my ass and finish this fucking thing.

Chapter 66

64 POV

Cold… Things felt cold…

Well, I guess everything would feel cold after you were literally made of fire for a few hours. Except the sensation I was feeling wasn’t a chill like a cold metal pole, or a slab of concrete in the shade. It was the artificial kind of cold which could only be made with something like an air conditioning unit or a meat freezer, the kind of cold which made the air almost have a metallic taste.

The decrease in temperature wasn't the only thing I felt though. I was laying on some sort of cushiony surface, my back sinking into the pillowy material. My back felt sore, as if I had been lying in this same position for a long time, and I could feel a bed sore or two beginning to form.

I struggled to open my eyes, but instead of the blinding white light that was normally expected after I normally woke up from unconsciousness, I was only met with more darkness. But even through bleary eyes and the suffocating darkness, I was able to see that the ceiling of wherever I was was also covered in the same material that I was lying on.

I flexed my fingers tentatively, trying to work out the stiffness in the joints. I continued to do the same with my arms, twisting and stretching them a bit upwards and outwards. Next came rolling my neck around a bit, making sure I didn’t have a neck brace or something. After doing all of this, I pushed myself up, now being seated instead of laying down.

I took a careful look around the room, not seeing any obvious entrance or exits, nor any windows or vents. I made my way to my feet, stumbling once or twice once I regained my footing. Walking forward was actually proving more of a challenge than I thought it would be, with each step feeling as if there were lead weights around my ankles.

The chilling cold wasn’t helping me move either, and I couldn't figure out why for the life of me why I was feeling so cold. Even when I only had the bare minimum of clothing like a t-shirt and sweats I had on right now, I was able to shake off the cold as if it was just dust on my shoulder. But now, the chill was seeping into my bones with a numbness, actually feeling a bit of an ache due to the cold.

Once I managed to walk my way over to one of the walls in the room I was in, I carefully began to run my hands along each and every crevasse of the surface as I could. Moving slowly along the wall, I couldn't find any abnormalities or distinct protrusions, so that meant I was in some kind of holding cell. Now knowing what I was up against, I decided to start calling out.

“U-Umm… Hey! Can You maybe turn down the A/C a bit!” I asked, feeling the chill of the air on my lips. “It’s getting a bit too cold in here!”. There was no response from anyone, and no sign of the temperature going up. “Perfect…”.

I sat down once again, already feeling my strength already beginning to leave me. Leaning against the wall and bringing my arms around my knees, I began to think about just what had happened before I passed out. It wasn’t as if once I turned into Inferno that I had just totally gone into a catatonic state of mind. I was able to see what he was doing, what he was feeling, and what he was thinking.

And to be perfectly honest… a lot of it felt reeealy good…

Just the pure unadulterated rage and lack of conscience was an intoxicating feeling for me, and Inferno gave me an outlet to release all of the pent up emotion I was feeling. Of course I knew it got very out of hand very fast, with me threatening to kill Princess Celestia and avenge those she had wronged in the past. That was something that even in my right state of mind, I would never be able to completely forgive her for.

I was able to put it behind me, as I had explained to Frenzy Scribe in Ethaxial. But there was always that one bit of me nagging that her neck was vulnerable, that an unfortunate training accident could occur, or there was enough time to hide the evidence. I’m glad that the feelings weren’t exactly hidden anymore, but… it could’ve been portrayed with a bit more tact. Maybe something that wouldn’t land me in a freezing and cushioned cell.

I closed my eyes in frustration, knowing that all I could do at the moment was just sit here and wait for something to happen. If I was lucky, then they might not have sentenced me to eternity in this cell. Yet.

“You cool yet?” A voice suddenly echoed through the room, making me open my eyes wide and looking around frantically. I pushed myself up a bit too quickly and tumbled to the ground in a heap, my footing failing me. “Relax 64. We were just keeping you in here as a precaution. But you have to answer my question, have you cooled down yet?”

The voice had some sort of synthesizer to it, so it was a bit hard to tell who was doing the talking. I did feel a lot calmer than I did before I was hit with the Elements of Harmony, and I wasn’t having thoughts of stringing up Celestia by her entrails anymore, so that was definitely a good sign.

“Yeah, I think I’m good.” I answered, awkwardly rising from the ground and managing to stand up this time. “Where am I?”

“You’re in a maximum security cell complete with magic retention fields and a customized freezing unit. It’s about -40 degrees in that room right now.” The voice answered, actually surprising me with that last phrase. I was only feeling a slight chill, and it was way below freezing right now. “You’ll be released in a moment, Princess Celestia wishes to have a word with you.”

And with that, the voice went quiet. I waited a bit to see if it was actually gone, and after a few moments, I sat back down against the wall of the cell. I felt myself beginning to doze off again, my eyelids growing heavier and heavier. The chill in my bones and the numbness in my fingers weren’t helping, and soon I felt my eyes shut, and sleep begin to take over my mind.

Of course there were other things planned for me, like when the wall I was leaning against all of a sudden shot up into the ceiling, leaving me nothing to lean on and causing my head to go slamming onto the head concrete on the other side of the door. “Son of a bitch…” I groaned, already getting frustrated with the situation I was in.

“Well, look at who actually managed to cool down a bit!” A familiar male voice called out, my eyes opening to find Frenzy Scribe looming over me. His mane and red robes being a dead giveaway to his identity, even with my senses muddled as they were. “You know, it wasn’t very fun being shoved into a bunker in the south side of the mountain, but when I figured out that you were the one fighting all of those terribly dreadful changeling bugs I was simply astonished! I mean I knew you were no pushover, what with our exploits in Volaticus, but to discover you nearly single handedly took on an entire changeling army… Simply unheard of!”

"You seem... awfully chipper despite recent events..." I grunted, getting up off of the ground and giving him a careful glance. Frenzy caught what I insinuated, and shook his head.

"I assure you, should I have been a Changeling, then I would be an empty husk of a bug!" Frenzy grinned, making me tilt my head a bit. "Oh! I had forgotten, you've been out of the loop as some would say. Well, thanks to all of the Chaotic Magic being strewn about that day, along with Queen Chrysalis absorbing all of the love emotion out of the air in an attempt at self preservation, nearly all of the Changeling drones in Canterlot that day simply died of starvation! Fascinating phenomenon!"

I gasped at that last comment, remembering Ghost regaining consciousness shortly before I was blasted with the enemies of Harmony. I was about to go rushing forward to find him, when Frenzy put himself in front of me. "Just wait a moment 64! I assure you your Changeling pup is unharmed. Princess Cadence had given an incredible excess of pure love magic before the chaotic magic leaked into the air, protecting him from most of the damage. The worst he will feel is a bit of grogginess."

My heart rate slowed, and I brought my hands up to rub my temples. This was too much for just waking up. "Just... you said something about Celestia wanting to speak to me. Can we go get to that?" I asked, wanting a comfortable bed and a hot meal. Frenzy nodded his head and waved his hoof towards me.

"Of course! C'mon 64, let us go seek audience with the Celestial Monarch!" Frenzy said a tad too loudly. He turned and began walking, with me following him closely.

"How long have I have been out of the swing of things?" I questioned, remembering Frenzy using phrases like 'that day'. "It couldn't have been that long."

"Right you are! You have been unconscious for about 3 and a half days, and repairs are already underway in nearly all of Canterlot." Frenzy explained. "Princess Celestia has been heading a majority of the restoration projects, and the wedding was postponed to next month."

"Celestia expects this place to be ready for a wedding within a month?"

"Why wouldn't it? Most of the Commercial District has already been repaired, the Residential District is on track to being halfway completed, and the damage to the Palace was easily repaired by both of the Princesses collective effort. The only long term effect of the attack will most likely be the amount of casualties."

That had made me pause a bit. I looked at Frenzy with a cautious stare. "And, just how many casualties were there?"

"Well, the numbers haven't been too good. About a quarter of the Royal Guards both Solar and Lunar were sadly lost with another estimated 250 injuries, and there have been about 100 civilian deaths reported, along with another 150 injuries. Hospitals in Canterlot and here at the Palace are nearly full, and doctors and nurses are working around the clock in an attempt to save as many ponies as they can." Frenzy explained, not losing any of the urgency in his voice, but dropping in tone for seriousness. "I mean... this was a blitzkrieg attack. Just out of nowhere. The only reason we probably managed to defeat them was because of you."

I grinned a bit, rubbing the back of my head in bashfulness. "Nah, I'm sure even if I didn't act, Celestia would have found a way to fight off Chrysalis. You can't just assume that I was the only reason Canterlot wasn't destroyed."

The conversation hushed up after that, as men and Frenzy continued towards Celestia's throne room. As we walked, I noticed that a stained glass window was cracked open, allowing for a view overlooking the Commercial District of Canterlot. I pushed the window open completely and looked out towards the city, seeing a flurry of activity.

Hundreds of Pegasi in bright orange vests were flying around, some of them carrying saddles full of construction materials, and some carrying large tools. Unicorns were using magic to place bricks and rebar, while Earth ponies were raising wooden frames and studs. Symbiosis was in full effect from what I could see, with every pony working their asses off to get the city back in shape. Of course, signs of damage were still obvious, rubble and debris still littering some of the streets.

With a small pang in my heart, I saw rows of what looked like corpses, covered by drapes of some kind which were one by one loaded into carts and taken away, onlookers sobbing hysterically, and others trying to console them. Looked like things weren't all okay just yet.

"Fucking hell..." I whispered, stepping away from the window. "How were things the first day after?"

"Umm... hectic. Princess Celestia publicly announced that the invasion was thwarted, but a lot of skeptical ponies began to riot with accusations that Princess herself was a Changeling." Frenzy recalled. "Luckily they were stopped within the hour, but man were things rough. Ponies also started wondering what the the world was that enormous beast fighting the giant changeling, and also demanded answers for that too. Celestia answered honestly there."

My eyes narrowed. "What does honest mean?"

"She said that one Project 64 manifested his power and helped defeat Queen Chrysalis."

My cautious stare slowed turned to a small grin, letting out a small grunt of appreciation. "Well, that was better than I was expecting." The two of us continued on towards the Throne Room. Not seeing much activity in the halls, I wondered for a bit if the attendants were all out there assisting with the reconstruction. Frenzy saw my curious looks apparently and answered for me.

"Celestia gave them all paid leave. She understood that the last few weeks were an absolute killer." Frenzy explained, giving a small yawn afterwards. "Yeah... been really busy..."

"S'wrong Frenzy? You're looking a bit beat." I asked, noticing that we were nearing the Throne Room. "You see much action before you were evacuated?"

"Haha, me and action are not two things to be associated. No! Before I was so rudely crammed into that vault like structure, I was still busy pouring over the trade agreements made by Capras and Mutarus. Seeing if their agreements were up to par." Frenzy said, making me furrow my brow a bit.

"You mean the Zebra and Changeling agreements? I thought with this invasion no one would be trading with the Changelings for fear of war." I grunted, receiving a head shake from Frenzy. "You mean the Zebras are still receiving land?"

"The Zebras still haven't received word of this attack, and technically this wasn't even an invasion from Mutarus." Frenzy enlightened. "This was an entirely rouge attack with forces amassed by Queen Chrysalis, none of it sanctioned by the Nation of Mutarus. She'll be branded as a traitor by Mutarus, and will most likely will not be receiving diplomatic assistance from her homeland."

"So... what? She still here?"

"Yep, locked up in the Underground Prisons. Round the clock security on her, checks on all incoming and outgoing guards, the whole nine yards."

I chuckled a bit at what that meant to me. "You mean the same security I was able to break out of when I was 14?"

Frenzy was about to open his mouth to say something back, but closed it and grunted. "Yes, I suppose, but she's so weak she can barely move, and is catatonic at the moment."

"I pretended to be those things too......"

"No one asked you alright?!"

I laughed at our back and forth, before realizing that we had arrived at the Throne Room doors. With both of my hands I pushed the doors wide open, looking down the large aisle and seeing Celestia and Luna both sitting in their respective Thrones.

When she saw me, Luna's eyes shot open in surprise before she literally became a violet blur and went crashing into me, sending me onto my back. "Oh 64! Thank heavens you are alright!" She exclaimed, her forehooves wrapping around the back of my neck as she nuzzled against my face affectionately. I smiled and hugged her back.

"Aw c'mon Luna, it's gonna take a bit more than a Changeling Invasion to keep me off my feet." I joked, patting the back of her head as a signal to let me up. She complied with a smile and helped me onto my feet, walking with me towards Celestia. The Solar Princess smiled at us, tilting her head a bit.

"You know, if anypony else had been subjected what you were put through in the past 72 hours, they wouldn't be so spry." Celestia quipped, me waving my hand a bit.

"Yeah, anypony. I don't think I fit that classification." I smirked. I kept looking around the room and saw two mares standing off to the side, both with small grins on their faces. I gasped and walked up to them. "Holy crap! I'm so glad to see you guys!" I exclaimed, seeing both Blusa and Crossroads, each of them with a few bruises and bandages.

"Heh, don't worry about us. Just got a bit tied up... literally..." Crossroads grunted, looking down and kicking the carpet playfully. "Was able to catch the fireworks out there though, nice work 64."

Blusa nodded her head feverishly, her horn blinking a few times in glee. She began to blink out a phrase, asking about her brother.

"Grey Streak is on his way over here right now probably... once word of this invasion reaches the rest of Equestria, I'd bet good money that he would drop everything to get over here right now." I answered. "There's not much stopping him from taking you back to Manehatten you know. And in my opinion, I think you should go with him... he really missed you last time I went to go see him."

Blusa nodded sadly, with a small knowing smile on her face. There was a lot of love in the bond they shared, and I had no doubts that getting Blusa back to her brother would be a good call. Plus I technically still owed Grey Streak for making me my Skeleton Blades, something I hadn't repaid him for yet. "You know he's pretty well off over there. Big city, nice ponies... I think you'd really like it."

The sadness in Blusa's expression began to slowly dissipate, before a nice glowing smile came through in a wave of fresh optimism. I gave her a smile before turning my attention back towards to Crossroads. "I can't imagine the paperwork you're going to have to sift to to sort out this fiasco." I joked, giving her a little shit eating grin as she returned with a large groan.

"Don't even joke about that...... All of the new recruits coming from this invasion... I'm going to have to counsel and assign all of them..." Crossroads sighed, rubbing the side of her head with a hoof. "That's going to be the hardest part, all of the fresh faces."

"Not a pony's mare am I right?" I poked.

"Not a chance in Tartarus..." Crossroads yielded.

I heard the sound of a throat clearing behind me, and turned to see Celestia giving me a bit of a 'wrap it up' look. I gave a small laugh and turned back to Crossroads. "Well good luck with that, it's good to see you both safe and sound." I grinned, waving before turning once again and beginning to walk towards Celestia and Luna.

As I walked towards the Princesses, the strange sensation of time slowing once again consumed me. Not to the severity as if I was in combat, where I could begin to make out the droplets of sweat dripping off of someone's head, but instead a keen awareness of everything that was going on around me, in every single direction.

Behind me, Blusa was giving me a small wave, knowing that I couldn't see it, but out of courtesy.

To my left, the shadow of a passing bird flittered by one of the stained glass windows, barely casting a shadow in the actual Throne Room itself.

There were guards posted by both sides of the Princesses, each with the Standard Issue Halberd by their sides. The blades were painted gold, and their blades and pikes were sharpened to a fine sheen. It would really make it a shitty day to be on the business end of one of those.

To my right, there was a quick flash of blue, making my head suddenly snap in that direction to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me. I looked left and right to see if there was anything there, but closer inspection showed there wasn't anything of interest there.

"64? Are you feeling well?" Luna asked me, seeing my sudden stupor of confusion.

I glanced around one last time to see if there was anything there... but there was nothing. "Yeah... just thought I saw something... familiar..." I looked back at the Thrones again... and thought I saw her sitting at the top of Celestia's Throne, giving me a wink and a wave before once again popping out of existence. Shaking my head, I finally stood in front of Celestia and Luna, ready to listen to what they wanted me for. "So what is it Celestia? More damage control in result of the invasion?"

Celestia grinned and shook her head in a defeated manner. "You know your role all too well don't you 64?"

"Hey, I was literally made to take as much pain as physically possible. There's not much else I can do." I joked. Luna gave a chuckle at that, smiling at me.

"You know perfectly well that you are capable of so much more 64. There are some things that not even we can do that you yourself can accomplish." Luna comforted, even though I knew that was probably a pretty hefty exaggeration.

"Well until we find what those things are, let's just stick with the the tasks that you have ready for me. What's the job Princess?" I asked, scratching at my cheek. "I wouldn't expect there to be much trouble except for a few looters the guards could handle. Why do you need to bring me in?"

The tone of the room suddenly shifted a bit, the air becoming heavier and the mood becoming serious. Celestia gave a slight grimace at the thought of the job, obviously not something she was very happy to have to issue out. "It is not one of your usual assignments 64, you won't be able to use your usual brute force and magic." Celestia elaborated, pausing a bit to think. "In fact, you won't even have to leave the Palace grounds to complete it."

My eyebrow raised in confusion, wondering what task required me to do it, if it meant not even having to leave the Palace. "That... doesn't sound like it would need me then. No captures? No intimidation?" I questioned, receiving a slight unsure head shake from Celestia.

"Well, the former has already been completed technically... what we really need you for is the latter." Celestia continued. "We feel that Shining Armor wouldn't be a suitable interrogator due to his recent... incapacitation... but you aren't so closely connected to the captive as he is, and your aggression should be a viable source of intimidation for gathering information."

Finally, I was able to piece together just what the Princess wanted me to do. I looked up at her and furrowed my brow. "Well... I won't say that I'm incapable of helping you there, but are you sure I'm the best candidate? Why not get someone who actually specializes in these kinds of things? My guess is you don't want me getting physical with her right?"

Luna nodded her head. "Unfortunately, we require that no further harm come to her. It must be an interrogation, not a torture session. But I'm sure that even without physical harm, you'll be very capable of getting the information we need."

"And what exactly are you looking for? What am I supposed to be finding out specifically?"

Celestia straightened herself out a little bit, and cleared her throat. "Several things as a matter of fact. We need you to gather if she is holding other prisoners, and their locations for extraction. We also need to know if there are any other forces acting against us, and where they are now. This is the first large scale invasion of Equestria in over a millennium, and I believe that there are other benefactors who were willing to assist her in the invasion."

A small manila folder began to levitate it's way towards me courtesy of Celestia, so I took it from the air and opened it up. There were photos of the destruction of Canterlot, with smashed buildings, blood and other undesirable innards in the streets, and finally a few of the covered up bodies themselves. I continued through the folder and saw one last photo near the back, bringing it up to my eyes for a better inspection.

I almost chuckled when I saw a snapshot of Chrysalis's Gargantuan Drone, and Inferno's Enormous Astral Projection. It truly did look like a clash between two titans, towering so high they might've been visible from Ponyville itself. "Alright... I think I have what I need." I assured. "How long do I have with her?"

"As long as you need. She is a prisoner without chance of asylum. Even if she was sanctioned by Mutarus in this invasion, they would never admit it. The consequences of such an attack would be too great for them to deal with in their country's current state. She will be staying here until the day she passes away if deemed necessary." Luna clarified, an edge to her voice at the mention of letting her die here. I guess the whole "no harm must come to her" thing was more so I didn't accidentally kill her.

I once more thumbed through the file, seeing a case profile for Chrysalis, and another one on the basic Changeling Drone. I didn't see anything in them that I could get any real use out of, so I closed it up and looked back up at the Princesses. "Alright, I wanna talk with Shining Armor and Cadence before I go and see her. Want to clear some stuff up."

Celestia and Luna looked at each other thoughtfully, before looking back at me. Celestia broke the silence, looking at me with a small frown. "Of course."

---

I walked through a dim hallway, the lack of noise from the usual attendants giving me an unsettling feeling in my stomach. After the chaos a few days ago, all of this silence didn't feel right. It was too out of place, too normal in this very abnormal situation. But thanks to the silence, I was able to hear hoofsteps on the other side of the door I had just arrived at. I didn't expect either of them to be moving around too much after the entire ordeal, I know so the amount of movement I heard surprised me a bit.

I brought my fist onto the door 3 times, knowing better than to barge into a room with the both of them inside anymore. The movement in the room stopped for a moment, and there was once again a very uncomfortable silence filling the air. I waited with my arms crossed, taking a step back away from the door and sighed deeply. This definitely wasn't going to be a very nice conversation.

Eventually the sound of hoofsteps got closer to the door, and it slowly creaked open. Princess Cadence poked her head out of the doorway, and saw me standing there. She opened the door completely and gave me a small smile. "Well hello there 64. You're looking well." She greeted. "I've been wondering where you were for the past few days."

I rubbed the back of my head, shrugging my shoulders. "Eh, I've been cooling off." I answered nonchalantly. I gave a closer look at Cadence, and noticed that she still wasn't looking 100 percent. Her mane looked pale in color, and her eyes and cheeks were just a bit sunken. I didn't make a big deal about it though, knowing that these past few days couldn't have been easy on her. "How are you feeling Cadence? Anything you need?"

She gave me a slow shake of her head. "You don't need to worry about me right now 64. I'll be fine. What I think you need to worry about...." She began, slowly dropping volume and stopping. She looked up at me again, staring at me as if she was looking for the end of her sentence on my skin. She grunted and looked down at the ground. "64... I think you need to talk to Shining Armor for me."

My brow furrowed, my head tilting to the side in confusion. I stayed silent, and waited for her to continue. Cadence's eyes shifted left and right, as if she was nervous about how I would react to what she was worried about. "Look, I'm not sure what happened to him, but all of a sudden he is acting incredibly distant towards me. He hasn't even slept in the same bed as me the past 2 nights, and anytime I try to give him any sort of affection he just makes up an excuse that he has to be anywhere but with me." Cadence confessed. "I don't know how to get through to him, and his attitude isn't making anything easier either. But you might be able to get through to him. Can you do this for me 64?"

I thought about what reasons Shining Armor could be acting like this for, but nothing was coming up in the immediate moment. "Well... I'm not too sure what could be making him act like that. But I'll get a word to him about it if I can. There has to be a way to get through to him." I started. "But right now I have an assignment from Princess Celestia. I'm going to be interrogating Chrysalis today, about the invasion, who she had helping her, and how she managed to get into Canterlot in the first place. I came by to ask if there was anything else you wanted me to be asking her."

Cadence's eyes widened when I told her I was going to be the one interrogating Chrysalis, and she looked over her shoulder back into her quarters. I looked over her and saw that she was staring at a closed door, so I assumed that Shining Armor was on the other side. "Apparently Celestia thinks he's not in a well enough state to do the job. And I'm pretty sure you think so too." I said. Cadence looked down at the ground once again, knowing that I was right. "So is there anything you want me to find out? I'm sure I can get it from her."

"I want to know what she did to my Shining Armor..." She whispered. "I want to know what she did to make him feel this way."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "You think he's acting this way because of something that she did?"

"I really have no doubt in my mind about it. If she was posing as me for so long... who knows what she could've done. What she could've done to Shining Armor." She finished. I nodded and made a mental note of what she wanted. "Thanks for this 64. I just really need a break from these past few days."

"Anything for you Cadence." I smiled. I looked over her once again, eyeing the closed door on the other side of the room. "I wanted to ask him about it too. Something tells me he might have a particular bone to pick with her. "

Cadence nodded and stepped out of the doorway, letting me in. I walked inside and started towards the closed door, knowing that it wouldn't be easy if Shining had locked the door. More than likely he wasn't going to be interested in letting me in, but something was telling me that if I told him about what I was going to be doing to Chrysalis, he might let me get a few words.

I moved to knock on the door, but I stopped and looked over my shoulder towards Cadence. She was giving me a careful look, worried about what might happen if I knocked. I turned back towards the door and gave it a few knocks, not hearing anything on the other side. "Yo Shining, it's 64. We need to talk."

I waited for any sort of response, any noise or any sort of answer. Nothing came, so I gave another few knocks onto the door, with a bit more force than what I did last time. "Shining. We need to talk." I barked, once again getting no answer. "If you don't open this door I'm just gonna have to force it open! Last chance Shining!"

Me and Cadence waited in an awkward silence, wanting to see if there was anything that Shining would do. Even after all of the coaxing, there was still no noise coming from the room. I channeled magic into my hands and grasped the doorknob, feeding my magic into the door and eventually forcing the door to open up. I swung open the door and looked inside, and saw a very angry unicorn stallion with a horn fully charged and staring directly at me.

"Don't you know when someone wants to be left alone!?!" Shining Armor yelled, sending volley of kinetic blasts my way. My hands flew to my protection faster than my mind did, throwing up a wall of magic to catch all of the blasts and dispel them. Shining fired one more blast directly into my shield, overloading it and causing me to be thrown back into the main room. Cadence stood there with a shocked look on her face, stepping to the far side of the room.

Knowing it was better to not retaliate, I stood back up and readied another shield. Shining rushed towards me with his horn charged up once again, this time grabbing my shirt to pull me towards himself. As I was forcibly brought towards him, it looked as if Shining was about to gore me onto his horn, despite what a painful and self destructive move that would be. I planted my feet onto the ground and reached out, wrapping a hand around his horn and sending my chaotic magic into him. The results were instantaneous, and exactly what I was going for.

Shining's eyes wrenched in pain, but I made sure that it wasn't enough to completely subdue him, just to give him a painful jolt, like a brainfreeze. Soon, he was simply squirming around on the floor, knowing that if he struggled to much he could risk injury to his horn.

"Yeah, I do know. But I also know when someone is acting like a prick and needs to have some sense knocked into them." I growled, still holding him down by the horn. "What the hell has gotten into you Shining? What's going on?"

He began to thrash and struggle once again, but as he did, I wrenched his head to look towards Cadence. After a bit more struggling, his eyes met with hers, and all immediate signs of resistance faded away. I don't know what made him stop fighting, but I knew it was safe to get off of him at that point. I let go of his horn and slowly stepped off of him, helping him up as well. "Are you ready to stop acting like a little foal hiding from his problems? Or are you ready to do something about them?"

Shining grunted and shot me a dirty look, but did nothing else. Cadence was standing in the other room, giving a careful stare towards her fiancé. I could feel the tension beginning to rise, the bride and groom waiting to see who would start speaking first. Suddenly the silence that had been so pervasive earlier became a lot more tolerable compared to the awkward kind quickly making itself apparent.

"Cadence, how about giving me and Shining a few minutes in private?" I asked, "I think there's a few things he and I need to discuss..."

She gave one last look between Shining and I, before he gave her an okay in the form of a nod. With an apprehensive expression, she nodded and turned away from the door, leaving the Quarters and heading down the hallway. The sound of her hoofsteps got fainter and fainter, before we were once again enshrouded by the pervasive silence, the awkward edge leaving with Cadence. I used magic to shut the door, then turned and faced Shining once again. "Alright... let's talk..." I began.

"And what is there to talk about right now?" Shining retorted, his abrasive attitude once again making itself known. "Right now all that should be focused on right now is helping with the the reconstruction of Canterlot and-"

"Well obviously that's what you're doing right now, moping in your room! How are the repairs coming Shining? The room looks fantastic by the way!" I yelled sarcastically, followed by a shove from Shining. He was glaring at me once again, but right now I wasn't trying to be nice. "Shining what the hell is up with you? Neglecting Cadence like this? Locking yourself in your room like a damn teenager? The hell man?"

He shook his head at me and turned away, trying his best to ignore what I was saying to him. "You know when I saved your life in Celestia's Academy for Gifted Unicorns I didn't expect you to end up like this." I kept pressing, knowing that eventually he was going to either retaliate with words or more attacks. Whichever one came first I would be able to deal with. "You know what? Yeah, shit happens. We got invaded, we took a blow, but you know what? We shook it off, and now we're going to be fixing the problem. You can't just sulk around while there's still things needed to be done Shining!"

"That's not what any of this is about..." Shining muttered quietly. I waited for him to continue, opting for silence while he gathered up his thoughts. I finally cracked through his mental barrier, all I had to do was wait. "Look, just forget about what's going on right now. I'll get my armor on and-"

"Oh nuh-uh. You're not just gonna brush this off right now." I interrupted, standing in front of the door. "You're gonna tell me just what is eating you. If you're shook up by the combat I know what that's like. If you're mad that you got captured, there's nothing any of us could've done about it. You know that you can talk to me about any of this.... It doesn't feel good seeing you like this Shining."

There was a pause in the conversation, Shining looking down towards my boots as if he was thinking very hard about something. It was the kind of look where you knew better than to break him out of his thoughts, the kind where you knew you had to let them think. After a few moments, Shining finally looked back up at me, and spoke.

"Have you ever been in love before 64?"

See now it's questions like that which can absolutely make or break a person. I was stunned momentarily by the weight of such a question, before really giving it some thought. Shining was still staring at me with a bit of a blank look in his eyes, obviously willing to wait a substantial amount of time to receive an answer.

When I was created, and eventually liberated... love wasn't the thing at the front of my mind really. The only thing that I ever thought about, the thing that made life make sense... was survival. I just had to survive until the next day. And then the day after that. And then the day after that day too. I survived only to maybe one day expose Celestia for every single atrocity that she ever committed, and if that wasn't possible, to take her down with me. So of course the subject of love wasn't something that was very often discussed. But... I guess it was always there.

She... I don't know what kind of love she had for me... But I do know what kind of love I had for her. She was my best friend, my partner in crime, and the one who would keep me going when the shit got rough. I loved her like one would love someone by being there from the very beginning. We both knew the struggles of imprisonment and experimentation, and she was the one who got me out of the Palace on the day of my escape. I guess I could say that I did love her... but not the way Shining loves Cadence...

"Once... but it was nothing romantic... at least not from me I think..." I answered, remembering her. "What's your point?"

Shining turned away from me once again, and I was afraid he was going to shut me out. But instead he began talking. "I love Cadence so much...... so much that it hurts sometimes when we're apart for more than a few days...." Shining confessed. Once again, I stayed silent. "But I can't look her in the eye right now... not after what happened with... her..."

Something clicked in my head, and things started to suddenly make sense. I went to speak, but Shining beat me to it. "I loved that thing just like I loved Cadence... and I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself for that. I...... I laid...... with that thing... just like I would with Cadence..."

Shining began to shake his head wildly, as if he was attempted to rid himself of a painful memory. He charged up his horn in his rage, before taking the footlocker at the base of his bed in a magic hold and throwing it against the wall, spilling its contents everywhere. Horseshoes and spare sheets now were strewn all over the room, and Shining still still standing there huffing and breathing. He obviously needed a few minutes to cool down, so I took the liberty of using my own magic to gather everything back up and putting it back into the foot locker.

His attitude suddenly started to make a bit of sense. He wasn't beating himself up about the invasion. He would've just brushed something like that off, maybe even using the invasion to strengthen his resolve. No, this was a matter that was far more personal, and something that he had much less control over. It wasn't his head that was played with, it was his heart. And a wound of the heart was a lot more complicated to heal than a flesh wound. I guess it was only good luck that his wife was the Princess of Love.

"You think you betrayed Cadence because of what Chrysalis was doing to you..." I stated, making sure to not pose it in anyway as a question. "You think you've broken your vows."

Shining Armor grunted in response, giving the ground a piercing stare. He looked as if he was about to start yelling again, but to me it looked as if he was tired of dwelling on the matter. I stepped closer to him, and when I saw that he gave no reaction, I spoke.

"Shining, what's all of this really about? Do you feel that Cadence blames you for what happened? Do you think that she won't love you as much if you tell her what happened? Because I can assure you, that nothing would please that mare more than being able to help you right now. But you sure as hell aren't giving her anything she can work with right now, you have to let her help you out Shining."

Finally, I saw Shining's last wall of insecurity break down. He shivered and gave a shaky sigh, slackening himself and releasing all of the tension he was holding in himself. He looked openly frightened now, but he had every reason to be. Here was a stallion who in the course of a day had learned that who he thought was his bride was actually a Changeling Queen, and that his real fiancee was being held prisoner underneath Canterlot for almost 2 weeks. A stallion who looked as if he was about to break at the seams at a single fragile push, and who needed the comfort only a loved one could provide.

I felt Cadence's footsteps coming down the hall again, and looked out of the room to see her peek her head in through the doorway. She must've seen Shining's despondent expression, because she pressed a hoof to her mouth when she looked in our direction. She made her way over to me, not tearing her eyes away from Shining Armor.

"What... what did you talk about?" She carefully prodded. I gave a small smile and shook my head a bit, knowing better than to disclose the sensitive nature of the topics at hand right now.

"I think it'd be best if you let him open up to you right now." I answered, looking at Shining and giving him a nod. The silence as Cadence began to take slow, tentative steps towards her fiance were nerve wracking, but I knew better than to stick around and put my nose into something that wasn't my business. I turned and walked out of the room, knowing that my part of the job was done.

"64, wait." I heard Shining call, a hoof gripping my shoulder and turning me around. "Look, I know you're the one who's going to be interrogating Chrysalis. All I want you to do is to find out what her endgame was. It couldn't have been to feed her hive. If that was her goal, she could've stayed hidden until she had enough love to bring back. I think she was aiming for something bigger."

I could understand the logic behind his request and nodded my head. "You got it Shining. don't be afraid to open up to your fiance there, she's got a great head on her shoulders." I acknowledged, making Cadence roll her eyes dismissively, a small grin on her face.

Shining chuckled and smiled. "She does doesn't she?" He sighed, looking back at his wife. "Take care 64."

"You too Shining..." I muttered, already out the door. I knew where I was going next, the gaping pit in my stomach already telling me that no matter how well prepared I thought I was for my next task, it wouldn't go as smoothly as I hoped. There were too many things I didn't know, and too many things that could go wrong if I didn't handle it the right way. But for now, I had one last pit stop to make. I had a friend that needed checking up on.

---

Ghost looked no worse for wear thankfully. I sat with him in the a private Infirmary room, which had a pair of guards stationed outside the only exit and entrance to the room. I rubbed the back of his neck tenderly, feeling a buzzing as he enjoyed the ministrations.

When I had heard Frenzy Scribe tell me that the Drones attacking Canterlot had all been killed by the Chaotic Magic in the air, there was little hope in me that Ghost was okay. I had feared that in all of my hate, and in all of my wrath, that I could've accidentally killed him. I mean he was in the same room as Inferno when he first was released, and had actually grabbed onto him when he had awoken from his fight with Queen Chrysalis in the Crystal Caverns.

The doctors had said that an overdose of love magic was the only reason he was still alive, and without it my Chaotic Magic would've fried him like a drop of water on a hot summer sidewalk. There was still a risk of me harming him involuntarily, so a few Magic Retention spells were placed on me before I was allowed to see him. Apparently even me leaking the smallest amounts of Chaotic Magic could be detrimental to his recovery, and could worsen his already exhausted state.

That worried me more than anything actually. The overdose of Love Magic and the subsequent exposure to the incredible amounts of Chaotic Magic a few moments later caused a major defect in his immune system, making him overly sensitive to feeding off of negative emotions, or consuming an excess of positive emotions. This meant he had to be put on an extremely strict diet, one of which could be proven fatal if he didn't follow it to a T.

How the nurses here were going to be able to regulate that, I didn't know. These were a few of the things that I had no idea could ever happen. In all my time observing Changelings, even studying their physiologies up close and personal both in and out of their nests, this condition was something that had never been recorded in Equestrian history. Ghost was essentially the first Changeling ever without a working immune system.

Of course, things could have been a lot worse. He still had the ability to actively monitor which emotions he was consuming, meaning that as long as he was careful he could safely eat the right amounts of love. The only problem was, what was considered the "right" amount? Things were really going to change for Ghost, and the biggest change of all was told to me by himself.

"I'm being Discharged from active duty." Ghost whispered, his eyes closed and his mouth set into a small frown. He pointed to a small open letter on a bureau next to his bed. "That came from Crossroads desk about an hour before you got here. Signed by Celestia herself." The way he spoke about it... it was as if someone was just casually speaking about a retirement plan. "Looks like I'm supposed to stay in the hospital until they say I can leave. No more missions ever from Celestia though, no matter how healthy I am."

I read the letter with a sad silence. Unfortunately, I agreed with every word written on the page. With this defect, missions were now even more dangerous. If he didn't have a constant source of love to keep up with the regulated amounts prescribed to him... especially while out in the field... The added risk to his health wasn't worth it. "I'm sorry Ghost... This never would've happened if I lost my control..." I sighed, rubbing my head. "What did you think about this when you read it?"

Ghost shifted a bit, raising his head off of the bed. "Well... I sorta saw it coming... I mean, I'm gonna be sick most days now until they can find some way for me to get the right amount of love magic into me. If I'm too sick to fight I'll be too sick to go on missions." Ghost explained, showing a surprising amount of maturity about the matter. He's grown up quicker than the average Colt...... or Drone, but he always had that childish playfulness which allowed him to brush things off.

I huffed a bit and continued to rub Ghost's back, my head still spinning on how quickly things had managed to go topsy turvy around here so fast. I guessed that I shouldn't have been so surprised, it seemed as if I could barely go a few weeks without something crazy being sent my way. It was as if there was always an air of chaos following me, and no matter what I did, there was nothing I could do to shake it. It was like my existence somehow threw a wrench into the natural order of how things were supposed to go, because I'm damn sure than a human didn't belong in Equestria, no matter what the circumstance.

"You okay there 64?" Ghost asked, noticing that I had stopped rubbing his back and had a far off look in my eye. I shook my head in response, groaning as I stood up and stretched a bit.

"You know, it's me that's supposed to be asking you that question right now, not the other way around." I joked, shooting a small grin Ghost's way. He laughed and smiled, buzzing his wings a bit as he did so. At least his sense of humor wasn't gone yet. I watched as Ghost rolled over onto his back and splayed his legs outward in exasperation, sighing to himself. "Anyone else visit you lately?"

"Well... Crossroads to deliver the letter, but she seemed as if she wanted to leave before I got a chance to read it, like she didn't want to see what my reaction would be. Cadence came to see me a little bit before you got here, but she had this funny thing around her horn, and she told me it was a Magic Retention cuff. They didn't want her getting any magic out of her horn just in case I wouldn't be able to take it very well... and...." Ghost went a bit silent, droning off that last and. "and... that's it, nopony else came to visit."

"Huh. Only us three? That's a bit low. Not even Twilight or her friends? Applebloom?" At that last name, I saw a bit of blush dusting Ghost's cheeks, looking up at ceiling. I decided not to press him too hard about it, deciding that he didn't need any unnecessary stress right now. "Don't worry Ghost, chances are she's gonna be around here soon. She was already released according to the front desk, only a bit of a concussion she had to worry about. My guess is she's making sure everything is sorted out with her and Applejack."

Ghost looked as if he didn't hear what I had said, because he just kept staring at the ceiling, counting the small tiles in a bored manner. I didn't blame him, knowing how bad hospitals could be. He was just lucky he didn't have a homicidal doctor to watch out for. All he had to deal with was wonder just what disgusting "food" paste would be served at lunch time.

I glanced up lazily at the clock on the wall, and saw it was almost time for me to get going. I didn't want to leave Ghost's side, knowing how lonely it could get in the ivory walls of a hospital room, but I didn't want to put off the interrogation any longer than I had to. Sadly, it was just about time for me to get going.

"Sorry Ghost, it's about time for me to get going... I still have a job to do..." I whispered, once again sitting down by Ghost's side. He glanced over to me with a sad smile, rolling over onto his stomach again.

"S'alright, I think it's about time for me to take a nap anyway..." Ghost yawned, looking a bit tired with everything. I couldn't blame him, hell even with my extended stay in a glorified meat freezer all I wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep for a day. "Good luck 64, I know you'll be able to squeeze her for the info you need."

I chuckled and stood up, patting him once more on the head before heading towards the door. The smell of disinfectant filled my nostrils as stepped out into the hallway, seeing nurses bustling back and forth as they pushed carts full of medical supplies and patients to their needed destinations. There definitely wasn't a lack of work for these ponies, the incredible amount of injuries sustained from the Invasion making them really earn their paychecks.

I stepped left and right, making sure to stay out of anyponies way as they came past me. Tight corridors filled to the brim with others wasn't exactly my favorite place to be, my paranoia telling me that any one of the ponies in this crowd could be a changeling just waiting for the perfect time to slip a knife in between by rib cage. Of course, according to Frenzy every single Drone in the invasion had been completely disintegrated as a result of the Chaos magic, so there was no way a drone could still be around here. But despite knowing that, there was still that biting and nagging feeling in the back of my head telling me to watch my back.

Ironic as it was, as I was to busy focusing what was around me to actually notice what was in front of me, because I collided with a pony just as I exited the incredibly claustrophobic hallway, stopping for a bit to apologize to whoever it was. "Oh crap, sorry about th-", I started, but stopped as I saw a Stetson hat and orange fur. "Shit Applejack, what brings you here?" I asked.

She gave me an incredulous look, as if the answer was obvious. "Well shoot, same reason yer here yerself. Word is our little Changeling friend is stuck here for the time bein' thought me and AB here should give him a visit." AJ answered, stepping aside to show Applebloom standing behind her with a small bundle of flowers in a saddlebag. I raised an eyebrow at the flowers and caused Applebloom to blush, looking away from me.

"It, it was Applejack's idea okay?" She admitted bashfully, suddenly very interested what the wall opposite of her looked like. "'Sides, ah've seen what these hospital rooms look like. I jus' can't stand how boring they are, maybe these will brighten the room a lil bit." I nodded along with the excuse, pretending that I didn't see any of the romantic undertones in the gesture. I knelt down and patted Applebloom on the head, tugging at her Bow a bit.

"Ghost might need another one of these bowties, chances are the one you gave him was destroyed in all of the fighting." I didn't actually know if it was true or not, but he didn't have it with him while in the hospital room. Either way, it was another chance for Applebloom to get another gift for Ghost.

"Oh shoot! Ah gotta git 'im one when we get back to Ponyville! Ah got a closet full of 'em!" That made me pause for a bit, realizing that since he was technically discharged from active duty, he wouldn't be cleared to work as Applebloom's escort in Ponyville anymore. Of course the job of a foal psychologist wouldn't be too hard to replace, but separating the two could be detrimental to Applebloom's condition. She used him as a familiar friend to ground herself to whenever she was feeling lost, knowing that he was there to protect her if necessary. But without that, she could be susceptible to more and more panic attacks.

I wasn't about to be the bearer of bad news, so I smiled and nodded. "Sounds like a plan AB. Sorry to cut this short, but I gotta get going. You two have fun with Ghost." I said with a smile, stepping aside and walking away with a wave. The Apple sisters waved back at me and continued into the Hospital, eventually getting lost in the mass crowd of ponies. Seeing no point in stalling for time any longer, I knew exactly what I had to do next.

There was a certain Changeling Queen that had a lot of explaining to do... whether she wanted to or not...

Comments

[Undead bear shark]

IT HAS RETURNED!!!!!

[Jman9877]

6896006 Yes, yes it has.

[Gobeman]

something blue..... only thing in my head while im halfway was... whats her name...you know the one in his weapon... back then... who sacrificed herself for him...or somthing along that line-...

[Themexininja]

YEEES, YES, YEEEEEEEEEEEES, YAAAAAAAAAAA@AAAAS! I've missed this tory, can't wait for the next update.

[Jman9877]

6914363 Bingo.

[Adam Jensen]

Well shit.. I actually caught up. It's 5am and I have work in two hours... Who needs sleep right? I'll just eat a load of powerbars.

[BureYaAkili]

6921160
That sums up my life, except frozen waffles and I'd be at work already -_-

[Tison Valane]

It's been about three months, so I hope you continue with this story.

[CanvousBrush]

I caught up?! Wow!

I really like this fanfiction. I usually don't like reading them, but ever since my brother told me about this story, I was very interested. That's why I went here and made an account to read your story and when I did, I couldn't help but stay up late to read more chapters. I was immediately hooked and amazed on how well you plotted this. This is the first mlp fan fiction I have ever read and fell in love with.

I can't wait for your next update! Toodles!

[Gastonyu21]

Update please?