//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: 64 vs. Equestria // by Jman9877 //------------------------------// Chapter 8 Princess Celestia POV I feel Twilight is now ready. She has studied and trained for a good 6 years, never spoken up against me, and followed every instruction I have ever given her. There is one problem though; I feel that Twilight does not know how to interact with others. She has spent so much time devoted to me, that she often disregards her “friends” here in Canterlot, and chooses to stay locked up in her library with her assistant Spike. If you noticed I said “friends”, that is because they were specifically selected by me to protect her when they interacted outside of the Palace. Their services were rarely used though, and mainly consisted of watching Twilight as she read in the park. I’ve decided to take a great risk, one that I would never do if I felt it wasn’t absolutely necessary. I’m sending Twilight to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration in the town of Ponyville. I feel that her introverted nature will lead to unforeseen consequences in the future. Although we have a more pressing matter to attend to, regarding a certain escapee and his companion, I have decided to continue with the planned events. There will be less security assigned to the Ceremony, due to the fact I believe that 64 wouldn’t dare try to attack when I am attending the Celebration. That’s leads me to another question. 64 hadn’t been seen for the past week. Usually the reports would find him about 5 days apart, but we haven’t found him for 7 days. This has led me to the question, what is he planning. He must have some sort of plan, there’s no way he would not try something on such an important day. Even Twilight Sparkle is trying to plan for something. Due to her amount of reading and research, Twilight has uncovered an old myth regarding my Sister’s imprisonment. On the Longest Day of the Thousandth Year, Nightmare Moon would escape from her Prison on the Moon, and reign Eternal Night upon Equestria. This story was nothing but an old pony’s tale, but Twilight insisted that she research the story and take extra precautions towards the security of the Summer Sun Celebration. Hopefully she won’t blow things out of proportion on the matter, because I’m also sending her on another important task. I want Twilight to make new friends on her own. By learning how to make new friends, she will hopefully come out of her shell and be more social, not having to come to me when she wants to talk about every little thing. I am partly to blame for Twilight’s social issues, due to the fact I kept her isolated from most of the outside world during her young life. I think that the first time see saw somepony else during her training was when a maid accidentally entered her chambers, thinking it was a lavatory. I looked at a Clock mounted on the wall of the Throne Room, it was 9:30 AM. “Guards,” I called, “Prepare a chariot for my Most Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle, to be sent to the town of Ponyville.” “Yes your majesty.” The two guards by the door called. They exited and I waited for Twilight Sparkle to arrive at 9:45. As I waited, I began to think about Project 64. Both I and my advisor Knight have come to the agreement that Twilight Sparkle is his target, and he is trained in most forms of combat, if most reports are to believe. Luckily so is Twilight. Much to her parent’s dislike, I’ve also trained her in many forms of combative magic. These spells were usually reserved for low ranking Guards, but I think that Twilight should have them in here arsenal. These skills ranged from electrocution, oxygen deprivation, and burning spells, giving Twilight a way to fight back if she was attacked, and hopefully giving time from somepony near to respond. “Your Majesty,” A Royal Guard said, “Twilight Sparkle has arrived and is ready to leave for Ponyville.” “Very well, you’re clear to leave.” I said, trying to keep my nervousness suppressed. The Guard nodded, leaving the Throne Room. All I could think about was Twilight’s safety and hope that Project 64 wouldn’t intervene with anything at the festivities. “Stay safe, “Most Faithful Student”…….” 64 POV “Vi, what’s with that chariot?” “It seems to be civilian transport, maybe for the Summer Sun Celebration.” “Well tag it; we have to make sure…” Chariots have been going in and out of Canterlot the entire day, and it was only 9:46. “There has to be an easier way…” I grumbled, backing away from the telescope and laying on my cot. I needed to find the location of the Summer Sun Celebration so I could get there before Celestia did. Over the years I had been collecting evidence towards her experimentation, such as Failed Projects, Progress Reports, and Testing Locations. Apparently Canterlot wasn’t her only testing ground, granted the others were mainly for food and civilian testing, so they were as harmless as ants. “64, I think you need solidified documentation of the location, and not just following the most suspicious chariot…” Vi said. “Good point, I have an idea.” As I took the telescope off of its mount and strapped to my back. I then pulled out a match from under the cot, struck it against Peacemaker, and lit the bed on fire. “Ok, time to go.” I said as I jumped from the window, hitting the floor and running to an outcropping. “64! Are you insane!? Why did you do that?!” Vi yelled, angry as Tartarus. “Grabbing attention.” I ran to the tree line of the outcropping, and pulled out a slingshot which was attached to my belt. I climbed a tree, and hid amongst its leaves. Almost immediately, Outpost 13 was lit ablaze, and the green leaves were perfect for creating a ton of smoke. “Now we play the waiting game…” 3rd Person POV As the smoke lit the Outpost on fire, Royal Guards instantly swarmed to the area. The squad of Pegasi Guards quickly located the burning tree and extinguished it using their flight to create large gusts of wind which blew it out. “Spread out! Locate the disturbance!” The Squad leader called out. The three other Pegasi walked around, trying to find out what started the fire. One of the Pegasi found an indentation in the ground under the burnt tree, and saw the prints head south. He followed them, and was lead to an empty field within the forest. He felt confident that the disturbance went this way. “Hey! Staff Sergeant! I think I found—“ CLANK! The Pegasus Guard was immediately knocked out, and the side of his helmet was indented. “Damn helmets.” 64 said as he dropped from his tree and walked towards the unconscious pony, “Better to have a cooking pot on your head.” 64 turned the guard over, and saw a satchel on his back. As 64 dug in it, he heard a call. “Lieutenant Blade! Where are you?” “Shit…” 64 grumbled, as he simply took off towards the same tree line he just came from, taking the satchel with him. 64 ran south for about 5 minutes, when he decided to hop up a tree and catch his breath. “Let’s have a look…” He said. He dug through the satchel, finding 2 ration bars, a bottle of water, and a stack of papers. When flipping through the stack 64’s eye caught something, and flipped back. It was a notification from the Royal Advisor, Silent Knight. If you have received this notification, you will report to The Canterlot Hedge Maze at 900 Hours to report to the City of Ponyville, to protect Princess Celestia at the Summer Sun Celebration. This notification is confidential, and must not be discussed. You will travel slowly to the outskirts of Ponyville, and await about 1 mile from the City. This protection is also to protect from the fugitive known as Project 64, who I suspect will attack the event. Signed, Silent Knight. 64 looked at his watch. It was 1000 hours at the moment. “Heh, looks like being late ended up saving me time.” 64 chuckled. “Well now we know where the Summer Sun Celebration is, we can travel there pretty quickly from this location, about 5 hours’ time.” Vi said, wanting to get going. “Yeah but look at the time on this paper, 9 AM. I bet they’ve already mobilized, and I have to go to Outpost #3 first to pick something up. By the time we get there, we might have already run out of time.” “Then I suggest you siphon a bit of my energy to get there.” “You asked for it.” 64 got into a Track runner stance, and let Vi’s “magic” flow into him. He closed his eyes, and when they reopened, a blue light shone from both of them. 64 reared up, and shot forward like a bolt of lightning, quickly out of sight from anyone in the area.’ Knight POV I lined up the secret security within the outskirts of Ponyville, inside the forests. The entirety of Ponyville was surrounded, and with both Pegasus patrols, and Unicorn sentries, Project 64 had to be a fool to even try to set foot within 100 yards within this place. “Sir, Captain Shining Armor would like a word with you.” A Unicorn Guard spoke. “Take me to him.” I replied, curious to what he had to say. I followed the Guard, and saw Shining Armor off to the side of the lined up guards, obviously wanting to keep this conversation private. “What would you like Captain?” I said, trying to figure out his question. “Sir, I would like to know what made you think this would be the best idea for security. We could easily have half of the Soldiers here and still have a strong defense. I understand this is to protect both Princess Celestia and Twilight, but this is obviously in excess.” He said confused. “Shining, I know you have had a run in with the particular fugitive we are after. And I know that you did nothing to apprehend him…” Shining suddenly looked nervous. “So what if I were to reveal that you have aided and abided a wanted criminal in the past… that wouldn’t look so good on a Status Report would it?” “N-No sir.” Shining said nervously. “Exactly. So why don’t you just let what’s going to happen today happen, okay?” Shining nodded, and turned to join the ranks. Good boy Shining… I move my Knight on the board… 64 POV Holy crap that hurt… I finally slowed down as the magic being injected into my body finally started to subside. I slowly came to a run, then fell as I slowed to a jog. “Ugh… Vi… That hurt…” I complained. “Oh get up baby, it was just a bit of magic.” I pushed myself to my feet as I saw the City of Manehatten on the horizon. I looked into my small satchel and pulled out a full brown hooded cloak. I put it onto my back, and dropped onto my knees for a hands and knees crawl. "Vi, this look okay?" I asked. "Looks fine, now lets get going." I had the idea for stealth in crowded areas, but couldn’t come up with anything. It wasn’t until I saw a group of birds flying within the exact same cloak, which looked like another human, tricking me into thinking there was another Project like me. From another ponies perspective, it looked as if I was just another pony with a large cloak on, covering every part of my body, and most importantly my hands, which were a dead giveaway. I crawled towards Manehatten, and after about 10 minutes, I made it. I crawled past the bustling ponies within the city, and got into a small abandoned warehouse which was in a deserted part of the city. I entered and took off my cloak, standing straight up and running into a back door, which led up to the stairs up large skyscraper. I climbed the stairs, and when I finally made it to the tip top, I walked into the room, and saw a large zipped up bag in the middle of it. I walked up to it, and unzipped it, revealing a sleek, lightweight, scoped bow. I plucked the bow string, and heard a harmonious hum. I then looked into the scope, and checked the accuracy. “This is why you came here?” Vi asked, “You have a bow in the Outpost #2, right next to Ponyville. Why come all the way here?” “Well, I think I need a bit more firepower if I need to pull off a good shot on Celestia. Or I may need to use my blunt arrows to create a distraction or to knock out more guards.” I said, justifying my decision, “Besides, I have a quicker route to Ponyville, and it should go right pass that blockade that Knight is setting up.” I opened a window, and jumped from the top, aiming for a large dumpster which looked full enough. I landed within the dumpster, and when I exited, I once again was wearing my brown cloak, and crawling on my hands and knees. I saw a sewer cover in the middle of the street, and quickly walked up to it, and entered without too many ponies seeing me. “64, I think this passage won’t get you to Ponyville anytime soon, and I don’t think your body can take that amount of magic again.” Vi said, trying to warn me. “It’s fine, I can still run like a regular human.” I said smugly. “Right… regular human…” I chuckled, and followed the sewer line straight through the Equestria Train line, towards Ponyville station. I’m coming Celestia. Just you wait.