//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: 64 vs. The Underground // by Jman9877 //------------------------------// Chapter 1 3rd Person POV A night in Trottingham brought dark clouds and stormy weather, as the rain pelted down onto The Methysmenos Mare, an large tavern filled with drunken stallions and mares alike. It was a place for friends to grab a pint, and wait for anything bad happening in their lives to blow over. It was a place for adulterating stallions to pick up loose mares and have a night in the sheets, at a very expensive rate the patrons would say. Of course a Tavern like this would gather a sleazier crowd than usually, due to its obscure location and lack of advertising, so this was a place for many discrete and behind closed door deals. Three stallions walked through the rain towards the bars entrance. You could hear the loud Rock ‘n Roll music playing from the outside, along with the constant yelling and hollering from the patrons on the inside. The doors swung open as the three stallions walked in unnoticed, the music too loud for any of the customers there to hear them or care. “Are you sure this is the place? Seems too public for Shura to meet us here.” One stallion said under his Grey Cloak, his associates barely hearing him. “She knows what she is doing. She gave us specific instructions to meet her at the bar, and to tell the waiter to order a ‘Red Fang Reloader’.” The second stallion said under his Red Cloak, speaking with a slight Marescow dialect. “Whatever… let’s just get this show on the road, I gotta a lot of shit to do after this.” The third said from under his Black Cloak. They all walked up to the bar, sitting in different parts. The plan was for the accented pony to order the special drink, as the others covered him for anypony who would want to butt in. None of them knew what Shura wanted to meet them for, but a letter with her hand writing and signature had called them here, and no one disobeyed Shura. The Unicorn bartender walked up to the Black Cloaked stallion, wiping down a mug with a rag. “Welcome to Methysemnos, or Methy’s for short. What can I get ya son?” The bartender asked. “I’ll take Celestia Ale, but that fella over there looks a bit thirsty.” The stallion said as he pointed his hoof to his Red Cloaked associate who would give the order. “Comin’ right up, and I’ll get to him eventually, so don’t go worryin’ your behind about nothing.” The Unicorn bartender levitated a clean mug and a bottle of Celestia Ale out of the small shelves within the Bar, and poured the frosty brew into the mug. He set the mug onto the Bar and slid it to the pony, as he took a nice big gulp of the drink. “Thanks, now shove off.” The stallion said as threw 4 Bits onto the counter, before he turned away from the bar and looked towards the Entrance, looking for anyone who looked suspicious who would enter the establishment. “Hm. Mind your manners next time.” The bartender said as he turned away in a huff, as he walked over to the Grey Cloaked stallion in the group, “What’ll you have?” “I’ll take a Manticore Malt, 40oz please.” The stallion said as he pulled out 6 Bits and set them on the table, making sure not to piss off the bartender like the Black Cloaked did. The bartender nodded as he took the bits and reached into the cooler behind the bar, pulling out a 40oz bottle of Manticore Malt and setting it on the counter, as the stallion nodded and took a nice big swig. “At least you’re a more well-mannered then yer companion over there.” The bartender said as he started to take a few more ponies orders. The Red Cloaked stallion waited patiently as he sat there, watching as his companions slowly sipped their drinks, making sure to stay clear headed if anything went wrong. The door opened as another stallion walked in, dressed in a Brown Cloak as he walked to an empty table and sat down, waving over a waitress to take his order. The Black Cloaked stallion noticed the pony walk in, and gave a small nod towards his companion across the bar. He shook his head back no, telling him to stay put and let the pony be, and wait for anything big to happen. After the steady rush of ponies died down and abandoned the bar, the bartender finally was able to walk over and get to the Red Cloaked stallion, whose patience was starting to wear thin after all his time waiting. “I’m terribly sorry for the long wait, but things around here got a bit hectic. What’ll you have?” the bartender asked, as the accented stallion huffed. “It’s alright; I have the patience of a tree waiting to grow. I’ll take a Red Fang Reloader please.” The stallion said, as the Bartender recoiled a bit, before he leaned closer to the stallion. “Are ya sure ya want to order that? Are you who she sent?” The bartender said as the stallion grew a smirk on his face. “Yes. Me and my three associates…” the Red Cloaked stallion said as he nodded towards the two, who raised their drinks in acknowledgment. “Alright… I’ll tell her I’m sending ya to the back room. HEY! YOU! STOP MESSIN AROUND BACK THERE!” The bartender yelled at the Brown Cloaked stallion, who appeared to be trying to hit on one of the waitresses walking around. He backed off as he stumbled a bit, walking over the small jukebox. He pulled out a Bit as he inserted it into the coin slot, and a heavy rock song started to play. “This right here my song!” The stallion said as he tripped over his Cloak, falling onto the floor as the Cloak blanketed him. He groaned as he lay there, shifting a bit in his drunken stupor. “I’m dreadfully sorry about this stallion’s behavior everypony! Say, friend, before you go to meet Shura upstairs, would you mind throwin’ out the trash? My bouncer called in sick today.” The bartender explained as he gave a pleading look. “Of course, no problems.” The Red Cloaked stallion walked over to the inebriated pony on the floor, before he gave a swift punch to the drunkards head. “Oi! Get outta here right now! This place has no need for your patronage tonight!” The Red Cloaked stallion yelled as he went to punch the back of his head, when all of a sudden an appendage came up from under the figures Cloak, gripping the oncoming hoof. “What the fuck?” The Red Cloaked stallion yelled as the grip on his hoof slowly increased, and the Brown Cloaked figure lifted off of the floor still holding onto the hoof which tried to Assault him. As the figure now stood equally to his attacker he continued to rise upwards, the Cloak falling from his arms as they were revealed. He stood on two legs, and stood 2 feet taller than the Assaulting pony. “Before you start to attack someone, make sure you can take them first.” The tall figure said, as he lifted the stallion off of the ground and dropkicked him, sending him flying behind the bar. The other two stallions saw the leader of this operation get sent flying behind the bar, as they quickly made for the attacker. The rude Black Cloaked stallion got up to lunge at the tall cloaked figure, before he felt an excruciating pain shoot into his hoof. He looked down at his hoof to see a knife stabbed through it, with the bartender holding it down. “AAH! YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!” the stallion yelled as he tried pulling the knife out. “Be careful what demons you stir up son!” The bartender yelled as he picked up an empty Vodka bottle and smashed it into the head of the stallion, effectively knocking him out. The bartender turned around to see the Red Cloaked stallion, stumbling to get up. “Now you, need to get out from behind this bar!” the Bartender yelled as he picked up the Stallion with a magical grip, and tossed him from behind the bar. The Grey Cloaked stallion stood in front of the tall figure as he unsheathed a sword hidden under his Cloak using his magic. “What in the fuck are you?” The stallion yelled as he aimed his sword at the tall, cloaked figure. The figure said nothing as he grabbed his Cloak and tossed it away, revealing bipedal being, wearing a Black Long sleeve with grey cargo pants. His hair ran down to his neck, oily and grimy from days of unkemptness. With a burn scar on his right eye, he smirked in excitement. “I’m Project 64, and you’ve been a bad pony.” A few of the bar patrons sensed what was about to go down, so the less rowdy ones immediately went galloping out the door. Others were either incredibly drunk or incredibly stupid, and stood to join into the fray. “Look at that thing right there! He must be 6 feet tall! That ain’t a fair fight!” One of the less inebriated customers yelled, as he ran over to join 64’s opposition. Other stallions looking for a fight went to go join in, some on 64’s side, and some on his opposition. 64 wore a grimace on his face. This many civilians in the middle of this fray were going to be a bad thing, especially when two of the combatants were armed. He needed a way to diffuse this situation, and quickly. “Look, this is between me and this gentlecolt right here! Everypony should clear out of here before things get ugly!” 64 yelled as he saw a Bar Stool being magically lifted and thrown towards him as he ducked, the Stool colliding with a stallion behind him. “Well so much for a peaceful approach…… Oh well, acceptable injuries can be made. CHARGE!!!” 64 roared, pointing towards his target. “EVERYPONY, GET THE MONSTER!!!” The Grey Cloaked stallion screamed, as both sides of the opposition yelled as they collided. 64 hung back to wait for an opening, watching as the countless drunken ponies start to brawl, some not even bothering to see what side of the fighting they were on, and were just swinging wildly with beer bottles and bar stools. 64 saw a gap in the fray, and saw Grey standing across the mass of ponies, still holding his Sword in his magical grip. 64 made his way through the mass of brawling ponies, simply walking as he pushed stallions out of the way. “C’mere you!” A drunkard yelled as he lunged onto 64’s back. 64 shifted left and planted an elbow onto the drunk’s muzzle, knocking him back onto the ground in an unconscious lump. “Hooves off …” 64 growled as his irises glowed red and he pulled his hood back up. He continued towards Grey, and when he was finally within range 64 conjured a Double Edged Rapier and slashed forward at Grey as he parried the swing, thrusting forward towards 64 for a stab to his head. 64 moved his head left last second and came in close with a Dagger in his left hand, ready to put the blade into the stallions shoulder. When a bright light illuminated his vision 64 suddenly felt himself get launched from his battle and into a wall, as [Red finally got to his hooves and saved one of his comrades from injury. Only feeling the force blast him back 64 got onto his feet easily, and saw Red across from him, his horn glowing a bright green. “We’ve heard of you Project 64, many stories of the Bipedal Blight have come across mine and Shura’s ears!” Red shouted, yelling over the hollers of the still brawling drunks. “I bet you have heard of me!! I’ve been busy these past months. Tell me, your old man is still locked up in Canterlot right? How’s that been going for business? I bet Shura has been having a hard time keeping things together without him right?” 64 taunted, knowing Red’s family held very close bonds in their mafia. “You will not disrespect the Slava family name!” Red yelled as he rushed at 64, charging his horn as he blasted a bolt towards him. Reaching to his right very quickly 64 grabbed a chair and threw it at the bolt, causing a mild explosion which stopped the bolt and destroyed the chair in the process. A large flash of light exploded, and both combatants ran towards one another, both bearing Long swords. The weapons collided as sparks flew, Red charging his horn to catch 64 up close. Eyes widening 64 immediately dropped backwards onto his back, and while Red fell forward on top of him he planted his foot onto Red’s stomach, launching his body backwards in a roll. Red collided with a wall as 64 got to his feet to see Greyattacking him with a sword. “You’ll pay for this!” Grey screamed as he suddenly teleported from the ground, and appeared right above 64, ready to cleave his head in two. “SHIT!” 64 yelled as he brought his sword up for a block. Seeing his chest was exposed Red charged up a bolt of energy, and launched it at 64. He was blown backwards into the bar, smashing the countertop as he crashed. “Ya need some help there bud? Seems these two are more than ya can handle!” The bartender yelled as he pushed away another brawler trying to swipe a Bottle of Appalosa Ale. “No Ghost, I got this! Just hang back and deal with the civilians!” 64 yelled as he got back onto his feet, and stared at his two combatants. They stared at him with malicious grins, knowing if they were able to finally put an end to the Bipedal Blight they would be sitting pretty in bits. “You know Deimos, I say we use the little trick we have up our sleeve to finally finish this…” Red growled, as Deimos, AKA Grey, nodded his head slowly. “I agree Duplex, let’s end this quickly…” ‘Grey’ said back. Both of their horns began to glow, as 64 waited for whatever was going to happen play out. He stared wide eyed as Duplex began to duplicate himself. First there were 2 clones, then 4, then 8, then 16, as they all had the same evil grin as the original. Deimos' horn then blasted at all 16 of the clones, shrouding them in a reddish glow. All clones then grew longer fangs, and their pupils began to shrink, as some began to cackle wildly. “Minions! Sic the Bipedal Blight of Equestria! Tear him limb from limb!” Deimos screamed as all of the clones did the same, and all of them rushed at 64. 64 dispelled his sword, and held his hands out towards the group of rushing clones. He shut his eyes tightly as he concentrated, and attempted his latest skill. A bright red wall formed in front of him, as the crazed clones began to try and leap and climb over it. 64 began to sweat at the amount of energy and concentration it took for him to pull that off, as he began to catch his breath. “EVERYPONY! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!” 64 roared as his irises once again began to glow red, immediately catching the attention of all of the drunken ponies. They scattered at the sight of 64 beginning to leak a red aura, as the palms of his hands began to burn with flames. “THIS. IS GOING TO BE FUN!” The shield dropped as the crazed clones swarmed towards 64 as a psychotic grin split his face, ready for his share fair of fun. 64 POV I cracked my neck as I took a look at my handiwork, finally coming down from my magic induced rage. The bodies of Deimos “Grey” Tranq and Duplex “Red” Slava laid at my feet, both covered in bruises, cuts, and swollen limbs. The only pony who looked relatively uninjured was Dust “Black” Charmer, only having a few lacerations to the face from a broken Vodka bottle and a knock on the side of the head from a short recovery from unconsciousness. The bar we stood in was a totally different problem. There were destroyed tables and chairs everywhere, along with large holes in the walls from the flurry of fights which hurricaned through the entire place. It was chaos Discord would have been proud of. “Well, looks like ya done wrecked the bar up, but we did make an agreement with the owner of this place, right?” Ghost asked me, still masquerading as the bartender of Methysemnos Tavern. “Yep, he should be getting compensated for the damages, but let’s let the Bean Counters back in Canterlot worry about that. Let’s get these three bozos upstairs with Shura, and then we can make our way back to Canterlot. From here it’s about a 2 days travel, but we can try and use that spell that Princess Celestia gave you. I know that I won’t be able to pull it off.” 64 explained, as he slung Deimos and Duplex over his shoulders. “Alright, I’ll grab this one then. Made me glad I could smash a bottle over his head with his rap sheet.” Ghost said, a hatred burning inside of him. He picked up Dust using his magic, revealing it to be bright neon green, and propped him onto his back. Luckily the staircase to the roof was still intact, so Ghost and I carried our three captured fugitives from the destroyed bar up to the roof, where Shura was still lying there unconscious. “Alright, lay them down so we can do our stupid capture report.” I said, setting the two down and stretching out a bit, sore from an extended use of magic. I grabbed my satchel which I left on the roof and rummaged through it, pulling out a small manila folder containing 4 profiles, and then I tossed it Ghost’s way. Ghost opened up the folder and pulled out the first piece of paper. He shook his head as he was consumed by a green flame, shedding his disguise and revealing his true form. Black chitin made itself apparent, and beady bluish eyes were uncovered. Ghost shook himself a bit, before clearing his throat, regaining his actual buzzing voice. A changeling pup might've not been the most ideal choice of a companion, but the little bugger had grown on me. “The first stallion from Manehatten, Dust Charmer. Enforcer of Shura Moonlight’s Crystal Methamphetamine and Mare trafficking ring. Identified by a Cutie Mark of a female gender symbol with dust falling out of it, signifying his ability to put ponies of the opposite sex in a trance. Status, Captured.” Ghost chirped as I nodded, pleased at what we had. Dust had a perfect description of Princess Celestia’s dossier, down to the cutie mark. He was an orange stallion with a black mane, spiked forward with gel. “The second stallion from Californeigha, Deimos Tranq. Enforcer of the same organization. Identified by a cutie mark of a Heart with 3 claw marks slicing through it, signifying the ability to put ones true soul to sleep, and reveal a much eviler, much more demonic side of one’s self. Status, Captured.” Ghost looked down and matched the descriptions, grey coat with a white mane, along with matching cutie marks. “That would explain what I saw in there before I sorta blanked out. The clones Duplex was able to make all had some sort of spell cast onto them, making them crazier.” I said, trying to recall what had happened while I was in a rage. Ghost nodded yes as he continued flipping another page, “The last stallion from Marescow, Duplex Slava, Son of Shura Slava and Manager of Drug Rings from Neighvada to Ethaxial. Identified by a cutie mark of a mirror, signifying his ability to duplicate himself with very little effort. Status, Captured.” This stallion had a red coat like his cloak, with a black slicked back mane, and the cutie mark was a spot on match. “Then that leaves her…” I said, grabbing her profile and reading it for myself. “Shura Slava, Leader of the Slava Crystal Meth and Mare Trafficking Ring. Identified by a cutie mark of a black mask, signifying her ability to appear as something she’s not. She’s used this to swindle past the police, DEA, and the Royal Guard itself. I wish I could learn her secrets, but sadly Celestia is paying us to bring her back as soon as possible. We should get going, turn into a human so you can carry two of these two at a time.” I told Ghost as he nodded his head, green flames enveloping him as he formed into me, smirking as he knew that seeing a copy of me really freaked me out. “Ready to go 64?” Ghost said using my voice, as I punched his shoulder. “Hey, you know how much I hate that, stop it.” I said, grabbing Duplex and flipping him onto his back, reaching into his Cloak to repossess the real reason we got this task. A small blue amulet in the shape of an arrow pointing downwards, and hopefully it would stay that way forever. “Alright, got it. Let’s go. Try using the Longshot Teleportation Spell, Celestia still hasn’t taught that thing to me.” I grunted as I lifted both Shura and Duplex onto my shoulders, as Ghost lifted Deimos and Dust onto his shoulders. Ghost nodded as “my” forehead began to glow green, and a ball of green flames surrounded us both. I looked down to see my feet disappearing as they were being teleported into Canterlot along with the rest of my legs, my torso, and eventually my head, as Ghost and I successfully appeared in the Canterlot Throne Room I looked up to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna sitting upon their Thrones, looking at both of us with small grins upon their faces. “Princess, glad to see you again.” I said, placing my right fist across my chest to my left shoulder, bowing slightly. I was back home.