Chapter 4
3rd Person POV
The two rushed forward at each other with top speed, each charging magic for their attacks. Shining Armor launched a Repulsion Spell at 64, who slid onto his knees and managed to dodge the attack successfully. Rising to his feet 64 sent a fist charged with flaming magic at Shining Armor’s exposed muzzle, but as soon as the fist collided 64 was sent flying backwards, repelled by a shield Shining Armor put up as soon as he shot his first distraction spell.
“Gotta watch your opponent at all times! You never know when your magic will prove ineffective!” Shining said, his voice laced with a tone a sensei would give to his student.
64 immediately recovered from being launched backwards and rolled back onto his feet, ready to launch another attack at the Royal Captain. Focusing his magic into his hands 64 punched his hands into the ground, sending a line of red magic through the ground towards Shining Armor. He saw this and jumped to the left, as the ground he was just standing on suddenly erupted with Red Magic.
“Hey, nothing lethal!” Shining yelled as he look towards 64, but saw that he was no longer standing where he was, but instead coming in from above with a magic infused kick. 64 connected with Shining Armor’s muzzle, but Shining used the momentum of the kick to spin around and plant a hard buck onto 64’s chest, launching him onto his back.
“That wasn’t a lethal spell, it was just gonna freeze you in a ball of magic!” 64 said as he conjured a large staff, ready to defend himself from Shining’s next attack. Shining’s horn lit up as he teleported just to the left of 64, tackling him to the ground as soon as he made the trip.
64 backwards as soon as his back hit the ground, in turn pinning Shining Armor to the ground. Shining teleported out from under him, moving across the mat while charging his horn with another spell.
“Get ready for this one 64!” He yelled, as magic began to swirl around his body at an incredible pace, looking as if Shining had a ring of magic around him. 64 lifted his staff and ran forward, ready for whatever Shining was doing.
The ring of magic surrounding Shining Armor suddenly started to launch small discs of magic at 64, forcing him to leap left and right as he still moved forward, ready to put a stop to whatever this spell was doing.
Shining’s focus began to intensify, sweat dripping off of his forehead as he kept up the barrage of magic. 64 began deflecting the discs with his staff, unable to move forward due to the sheer amount of them flying towards him.
“Shining is going to tire out if he keeps up this spell; all I gotta do is not get hit until he does.” 64 thought as he quickly spun the staff in front of his to keep up with the assaulting magic. Shining suddenly realized how quickly this was draining him, so he stopped the flow of magic to his horn and rushed at 64 while he was immobile.
64 saw this move and swung his staff at Shining Armor, who caught the weapon and pulled, trying to rip it from 64’s hands. 64 used this pull to send himself towards Shining Armor, colliding his fist with his face.
Shining Armor was knocked onto his side from the blow but quickly got up, once again lunging towards 64. He managed to grip 64’s arm and swept his feet out from under him, sending him onto his back as the staff in his hands dispelled. Shining but his fore hooves on 64’s chest as his horn lit up, sending a spell into 64’s stomach.
It felt as if 64 was suddenly being electrocuted, all while being held down. He writhed in pain as flashbacks began to flash through 64’s mind, being held down and tortured for experiment under the hooves of Celestia and Knight. Feeling himself losing it 64’s irises suddenly glowed red as he began to expel Red Magic through every pore he had in his skin, feeling himself becoming more powerful and able to escape from his captor.
Shining Armor noticed this and realized what he was doing, stopping immediately and back off of 64’s now glowing red body. 64 shot up onto his feet and saw Shining Armor standing there, but wasn’t able to distinguish him from friend or foe.
“C’MERE YOU! YOU'LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME!” 64 yelled as he rushed at Shining Armor with incredible speeds, making Shining Armor suddenly go wide eyed. He put up a defensive barrier around himself as 64 collided with it, launching him backwards into a wall. He pulled himself from the drywall and rushed once again, this time charging more magic into his hand than the rest of his body. When he reached the shield Shining Armor had put around himself he punched it for all he had, sending ripples through the magical barrier.
It began to crack and break down, forcing Shining Armor to dispel the barrier as he tackled 64 to the ground, then suddenly yelled in pain, feeling to intense burn 64’s magic was beginning to give off. 64 sent a fist into Shining Armor’s face, dazing him before grabbing him by the throat and lifting him up.
“I’M GONNA MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME!” 64 growled as he slowly tightened his grip on Shining Armor’s neck, causing the Captain to gasp and choke for air.
“don’t do this… please forgive them…” a figure said, blue invading 64’s vision. 64 let go with one of his hands and tried to wipe away the intrusion to his eyes, but the blue figure remained there.
“fight it 64… shining isn’t the enemy…” the figure said once again, digging its way into 64 mind. He suddenly let go of Shining Armor as he fell to the ground, gasping and wheezing for air. 64 gripped his temples as his fell to the ground in pain, seeing the figure in blue slowly become clearer in his vision.
It spoke softly, slowly, and clearly. 64 screamed at it to go away.
“calm down 64… don’t let it corrupt you as it did me…” the voice said, finally breaking through to 64’s head, allowing him to now clearly speak to Shining Armor.
“SHINING! HELP!” 64 yelled as he banged his temples with his palms, begging the pain in his head to go away. Shining Armor got to his hooves and made his way to 64, who was still shaking and spasming with his hands covering his head.
Pinning him to the ground Shining Armor sat on his shoulders, forcing 64’s arms to his sides. He brought his two front hooves up, before he muttered at 64.
“Sorry buddy.”
Shining Armor brought his hooves down onto 64’s head, promptly silencing him.
64 POV
I felt myself wake up before I opened my eyes. A splitting headache was shooting through me when consciousness came back, nearly making me throw up in my bed. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and looked around the small medical room I was in, a heart rate monitor and IV drip stuck into my wrist.
No nurse was in the room at the moment, so I undid the IV drip and sat upright on the bed I was lying on.
“What the hell happened to me?” I groaned, feeling blood suddenly rush to my head as I felt a bit dizzy. I had vague memories of me and Shining Armor sparring, but when PTSD kicked in I couldn’t remember anything after that.
I stood up and saw I was still in my training apparel, and not in those horribly awful robes that were too small for me, which was strange because if I was taken in by medical personnel, I would have been stripped of my clothing.
“Hello? Anypony out there?” I asked, walking over to the door of the room. I opened it and saw Shining Armor standing there with his hoof reaching out towards the doorknob, obviously about to answer my question.
“Oh, I was just coming to see you. I kinda need to you be quiet for a bit, technically you aren’t supposed to be here.” Shining Armor said, motioning for me to follow him out of the room. I complied, wondering what he meant by that.
“What do you mean I’m not supposed to be here? Didn’t the medical personnel check me in?” I questioned, as Shining Armor nodded his head no.
“I brought you here after you went kind of bonkers. I’m not sure what would happen if Princess Celestia caught wind of your little episode, so I snuck you in here so you could cool down for a little while, literally. Luckily, you’ve only been out for about 3 hours, so the ponies around here are just starting to wake up.”
I suddenly remember seeing flashes of Vi telling me to calm down while I was freaking out, and instantly felt bad about it.
“I didn’t hurt anyone right?” I asked worried for the ponies in the palace’s safety.
“No, you managed to calm yourself down before you did any real damage. Luckily I was there to stop you when I did. I’m sorry about using the stun spell on you like that, I forgot how powerful it could be.”
I waved my hand to disregard the subject, “It’s alright, all that matters is that nopony was hurt. We’re in the medical wing of the palace, right?” I asked, to which Shining Armor nodded.
“Yeah, 5 floor, why?” He asked, seeing the small grin I had on my face.
“You go on ahead; I can sneak out of here quicker by myself. I just need to find the tower…”
I looked down the hallway we were in and saw a stairway to the Memorial Tower, where the Elements of Harmony were held.
“Alright, remember to inform Ghost of the job he needs to decide about. Oh, and Princess Celestia wants to meet you at noon to give you information about the Grand Galloping Gala tomorrow.” Shining Armor told me as he walked away, heading back towards the Barracks.
I chuckled as I proceeded down the hallway towards Memorial Tower, climbing the stairs to reach the Room I was looking for. The memorial I was looking for was dedicated to a mare named Snowdrop, whose room had a perfect perch for a jump into the bushes of flowers decorating the ground below. I felt a little bad using her memorial to get to ground level quicker from up here, but I figured no real harm was being done.
I passed many memorials on my way to Snowdrop’s. The most notable of them all would be Starswirl the Bearded’s room. It was massive, complete with paintings, magic theories and forbidden spells, one of them being a resurrection spell which was written in some illegible language. I often found scholar ponies studying the artifacts found inside, but I had never really gone in myself.
I climbed up to Snowdrop’s memorial, feeling its magical aura permeate throughout the room. It always felt naturally cooler in this room, even when the temperatures outside were in the triple digits. I walked to the balcony window and open it, feeling the rush of cold air hit me as the air pressure in the room changed.
I looked over the edge and saw the bushes of flowers decorating the Court Yard, forming beautiful patterns with their colors and shapes. I wasted no time of choosing a spot I was going to aim for and jumping off of the balcony, making a much quicker way downstairs than any elevator.
I landed in a thick bed of Rhododendron’s, perfect for cushioning my fall as I managed to carefully pull myself out of the bed of flowers. I looked to a large clock on the side of the Memorial Tower and saw it was only 7AM, nowhere close to noon. Seeing that Celestia wouldn’t need me for about 5 hours, I went to go talk to Ghost, know I would need to tell him about the job Celestia wanted him to do.
I made my way back to my room, seeing guards and attendants alike waking up for their days in the Canterlot Palace. Many attendants waved happily to me, some of them being ponies I saved in rescue situations.
A light blue coated unicorn mare with a brown bowl cut mane happily walked up to me, hugging me as her horn lit up happily.
“How are you doing Blusa? Feeling good this morning?” I asked her, as her horn lit up with a bright green light.
“That’s good, are you making sure to take it easy? It’s only been about 2 months since we got back from south of the border.”
She nodded yes to me, nuzzling me affectionately before she waved to me, walking away to start her work. She was such a strong mare, especially if she had the strength to continue her life after all she had been through.
I managed to bring her back from the southern Country of Tuvalu, where she was being auctioned off as a slave to a very sleazy politician. She was abused on a daily basis, both physically and emotionally as she was forced to do the most demeaning of tasks for her “master”. I can still remember how many tears she shed when we escaped, but she didn’t cry.
Her vocal cords had been damaged beyond repair when the stallion who had bought her punched her in the throat for speaking out of turn, causing her to become incapable of communication. Upon returning to Equestria she saw no other option in life but to become an attendant in Canterlot, where she made many friends and eventually learned magical sign language.
She had mentioned to me once that she had a brother out in Manehatten who I went to go find, and found that he was a very skilled fellow, able to craft the some of the finest metal trinkets in Equestria. He had a shop where he sold the trinkets, but I quickly found that he was incredibly laid back and very blunt, causing many patrons who entered to leave immediately.
He was happy to hear that he still had a relative who was still alive, and wanted to meet her for a while now. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to get Blusa over to him yet, but I planned on doing that when Celestia let me off the leash a little bit.
I made my way to my chambers and opened the door, seeing that Ghost was still curled up on the bed where I had left him, moaning at the light which was seeping through the now open door.
“Why does my head hurt?” He groaned as he woke up, buzzing his wings a bit and rubbing his eyes.
“Ghost, you and I need to have a talk.” I said seriously, making him look down at the floor.
“Is…Is it about when I ate?”
I shook my head no, knowing that he just couldn’t help his hunger.
“No, I can see why you did that Ghost. All you need to learn from that is self-control will prevent accidents like that happening again. Celestia has something she needs you to do. It’s really important that you listen to what I’m going to say, so pay attention.” I spoke, walking over to a bookshelf I had on the wall and pulling out a small folder, labeled with the title “Clovercloud”.
“Celestia needs you to do something important, but it’s your choice whether or not you are going to take the job. Ghost, you need to learn how to be a Changeling.”
-----------------------5 Hours Later--------------------------
Ghost had taken the news about what he would need to do overseas if he decided to take the job well. He didn’t freak out about like I had predicted, in fact, he seemed a bit excited about learning new skills involving deception. I had told him the terms of the job and what he would need to do, and he excitedly accepted the job on the spot.
I would need to tell Celestia about his decision, so I quickened my pace to the Throne Room. Celestia also said she needed to see me, so I left Ghost with my report of the Badlands job and went to go see what she wanted, curious of what I would need to do.
The doors opened as I approached, the Unicorn guards detecting me coming near. I saw Princess Celestia sitting on her Throne, a small grin on her face as she and Luna sat in silence.
“Princess, Shining Armor told me you had wanted to see me?” I asked, seeing her turn her head a bit in confusion.
“Yes, but I’ve had trouble locating you all morning. Where have you been?” Celestia asked as she walked forward to me.
“I was informing Ghost about the job Luna had told me about, and he actually was more than happy to accept. And before that I was walking around the Palace early in the morning.” I explained, my explanation being accepted by Celestia.
“Well that explains it. The reason I have called you today is to inform you of a small journey I need you to make before the Grand Galloping Gala tomorrow. I ask you to travel Ponyville and make sure that my student and her friends receive their tickets for the event. I also suggest that you acquire a suit from the Element of Generosity, who is a well-known tailor. I know for a fact all that you have in that closet of yours is Black and Brown Cloaks and a bunch of combat pants, so acquire something suitable.”
I looked down to what I was wearing and saw that all I had wear a pair of black combat pants and a black long sleeve.
“What’s wrong with what I have on right now? I’m just going to be working security; I don’t see a reason to dress up for the occasion.” I countered, as Luna walked down.
“64, there’s nothing wrong with dressing up for a special occasion. So pick up a nice suit while you’re in Ponyville, or I and my sister are going to make you pay.” Luna said in a mock anger way, causing me to chuckle.
“Alright, fine. I’ll be back tomorrow in time for the Grand Galloping Gala, til then, take care of Ghost. Speaking of which, when will he be leaving?” I asked, to which Celestia answered.
“We have plans to send him to the ship ports in Baltimare, and then have him travel to Ethaxial sometime within the next 3 days. Until then, he will be traveling to Baltimare with a small guard squad.”
64 nodded, understanding what would happen during the next few days.
“Alright, so how will I be getting to Ponyville? Running there?” I asked, as Celestia shook her head no.
“We would rather have you get there in a way which wouldn’t incite a city wide panic. We’re going to send you by Chariot, a much more pleasant arrival. You can leave now if you want, unless you want to say goodbye to Ghost?”
“No, Ghost and I have a saying about goodbyes. If you never say goodbye, you aren't really gone. I’ll be on my way to Ponyville. You got the Chariot ready?” I asked as Luna nodded.
“Yes, I can escort you there at once. Please follow me.” Luna said, walking towards Celestia’s Throne and tilting the small candle on the wall, revealing the secret passageway to the back cliff of Canterlot Palace. Princess Luna wasn’t lying about already having a Chariot at the ready. 4 Pegasi Guards were attached to the chariot as they were ready for takeoff.
Luna pulled out a small purple envelope containing the tickets and handed them to me, and then immediately turned around and walked back into the Palace.
“Well I did tell her I wasn’t too fond of goodbyes. Alright soldiers! I’m ready to fly.”