Chapter 6
64 POV
About an hour later Rarity had gotten all of her necessary measurements, so I rolled my shoulders and tried to undo the knots I made, to which Rarity scolded me for not letting her hold me still for me. I thought that the slight discomfort I had to go through was much better than the assured panic attack I would have if I had let her hold onto me for too long.
“Well since we’re done here I’m gonna go over and see Twilight. I heard her walk out the door when she was done talking to that little filly. When will my suit be done?” I asked, walking out of the room and heading towards the door.
“I’ll get it done as soon as tomorrow afternoon! Then you can be a gentlecolt and escort us all to the Gala!” Rarity called back, already pulling pieces of black fabrics off of the walls and sewing them together on her sewing machines.
“Actually, I won’t be able to escort you there. I gotta get there earlier so I can take my post in security, you might need to get somepony else to escort you!” I called back, opening the door to walk out of the Boutique. I made sure to place the Rose Ruby I had stolen from Rarity onto a counter top she could see when she would walk out of the room.
“Oh, well no matter Darling! I’m sure my little Spikey-Wikey will be more than enough to get us there safely!”
I chuckled at that. Leaving the 3 foot lizard to escort you to Canterlot on the night of the Grand Galloping Gala? Good luck. I stepped outside and pulled my Cloak back around my shoulders, feeling the slight chill an incoming breeze.
As I made my way through town to the Golden Oaks Library, I got a significantly lower amount of strange gawks, and an increased amount of happy grins and waves. A small Unicorn filly with blonde hair and a purplish coat walked up to me and tapped my shin, waving her hoof towards herself to signal she wanted me to come closer.
I kneeled down to her level and listened to what she had to say, as she came closer to me to whisper.
“Are you what mommy is telling everypony in town about? She says you’re the thingy that saved everypony from a fire pony.” The little filly asked as I smiled and patted her on the head, a small blush lighting up her cheeks.
“Well yea, about 6 months ago though. But it was Twilight Sparkle and her friends that really stopped the fire pony, I don’t deserve all of the credit.” I said, rising up to my feet as I continued walking to Twilight’s library, wondering how fast one mare was able to announce my arrival.
I reached the Golden Oaks Library and knocked on the door three times, waiting for Twilight or Spike to answer the door. I heard a series of loud banging before hoofsteps came to the door, a magenta glow surrounding the door before it swung open.
“Hey Twilight, I just… need to… make…… sure?” I trailed off, seeing an obscene amount of apple remnants littering the floor of the library. Twilight wasn’t even standing at the door; she was in the center of the mess while pulling another apple out of the 20 something crates stacked against a wall.
“64, what do you want I’m really busy trying to perfect a spell I’ll need for tomorrow, and I’d like it if I could have as little distractions as possible.” Twilight said, sweating as the apple suddenly lit up with a purple light, before it completely fizzled out and dropped to the ground like the many before it.
“Umm, I was coming to see if there was anything you needed me to do around here. I don’t know if you know this but I’m not used to just sitting in one spot as others are actually doing things.” I said as I stuffed my hands into my pockets.
Twilight looked as if she was going to simply disregard me and continue with her practice, but she then grew a contemplative face.
“Actually, there might be something you can do for me. I need a few field mice for the second part of this spell, so I need you to go ask Fluttershy for three of them. I’m gonna stay here and reread the spellbook I found this dang spell in…”
I nodded and started to walk in the directions of Fluttershy’s house, before a voice stopped me.
“Wait! Twilight!” A younger voice said as I heard the pitter patter of small feet hitting the floor as the sound quickly approached, and soon a small purple and green dragon stood next to Twilight.
“Twilight, I still need to get my tuxedo tailored today but I overslept so I wasn’t able to go with you and now I need to go to Rarity’s right now so I can get the suit done and make sure to find out when I need to take you girls to the Grand Galloping—“
Spike suddenly saw me standing there in the doorway, his quick bantering being cut short.
“Uh, hey there. Remember me?” I asked, with us only meeting once in a bad situation. He stood there in a frozen daze, mouth open and knees shaking as I saw his eyes start to water up.
“Twilight you mind explaining things to him?” I asked, not wanting to deal with a weepy little Dragon right now. Dragons could really get under my skin whenever I had to make contact with them, trying to make me perform dangerous acts to gain their trust. It was all about who was stronger, who was bigger, who was “more like a Dragon”.
I guess I could say that I didn’t really trust Dragons, no matter how small. I saw Twilight take Spike to the side and whisper a few things in his ears, with Spike looking over his shoulders at me a few times during the explanation he was receiving. I guess it’s also kind of my fault he was acting this way, I mean we didn’t exactly meet in the most optimal situation, but I can’t help but feel that he might be overreacting just a bit.
When Twilight was done with her short explanation, Spike turned around to me and stood, with a look on his face as if he was trying to gain the courage to speak.
“U-Umm… T-Twilight thinks… thinks we need to… like… reintroduce ourselves… why don’t you go first?” Spike said, slowly gaining confidence with every word spoken.
“Sure, my name is Project 64. What’s your name?” I asked, kneeling down and reaching my hand out. I already knew his name due to Princess Celestia’s explanations, but I only felt that if I told him I knew his name he would freak out a bit more.
“My name’s Spike, I’m Twilight’s assistant here in Ponyville. I’m also the strongest Dragon within a 50 mile radius!” Spike said, now gloating as we finally gained a common ground. I felt he was still a bit egotistical as all Dragons were, but with him being raised around Ponies it seemed as if he was much tamer.
“Yeah, because you are the only Dragon within a 50 mile radius…” I muttered, not loud enough for the other two to hear. “Well, Spike, how about this? I need to go to Fluttershy’s cabin to get some field mice for Twilight, and you need to go get your suit tailored. How about you tag along with me to get the mice, I’ll take you to get your suit tailored?”
Spike suddenly look happier at the mention of his suit going to get tailored, and immediately ran upstairs to go and grab it.
“Well he seems happier. Any idea why? Getting a suit tailored isn’t all that exciting.” I asked to Twilight who seemed to be giggling.
“You’ll see when you get there; just make sure you don’t scare Spike as much as you did last time. He was absolutely traumatized by you.” Twilight told me, making me shrug my shoulders.
“I promise not to sneak into the Library posed as a pony and grab him by the mouth telling him to shut the fuck up.” I smirked to which Twilight punched me in the shoulder.
Spike came running down the stairs with his little suit on a clothes hanger, eager to get going.
“All right Twilight, we’ll be back soon, hopefully.” I said, walking out of the door with the baby Dragon in tow.
3rd Person POV
64 walked the dirt roads of Ponyville with Spike alongside him, the baby Dragon asking question after question regarding 64’s new life after the defeat of Super Nova.
“So like, you go and hunt the bad ponies and kill them?! That sounds cool!” Spike exclaimed, eyes wide as 64 explained what his job was.
“Not exactly. Although I do go to hunt down the ‘bad ponies’ as you put it, I try not to kill them. I always aim for an incapacitation and capture, that way we can find out any more information regarding anything else they’ve been doing. A lot of the ponies I go for are drug runners, pony traffickers, slavers, and dirty politicians, so it’s always in Princess Celestia’s interests to capture and interrogate. I never really liked adding to the rising death toll of every day.” 64 clarified, as Spike nodded in understanding.
“So, you take in the bad ponies to find out other bad things they’ve been doing?”
“Exactly. Sometimes we find out that they have smaller rings of crime hidden under the mask of larger crimes. It’s a really long process, but I think Ghost and I are doing really good.”
Spike suddenly grew confused.
“Wait, who’s Ghost? Is he like your partner?” Spike asked.
“Well yeah, but I also see him as part of my family. He’s been with me through the thick and thin. I wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble to save him if I didn’t see something really special in him…” 64 said, trailing off as slightly more pleasant memories of the past bean to surface.
---------------FLASHBACK 4 MONTHS---------------
64 POV
“What do you mean I can’t see him!?” I yelled to the Royal Pegasus Guard in front of me, blocking my path to see the Changeling that saved me.
“The prisoner is currently being question by both Captain Shining Armor and Princess Celestia. If it is deemed clear you will be admitted to see him in the detention center. Now please leave until the interrogation is over.” The guard said, his voice trying to be intimidating yet had no effect on me.
I decided to use a bit of intimidation as well, fronting the guard as my nose hit his muzzle. I stared deep into his eyes as mine started to flicker red, causing his demeanor to slightly falter. I blew a puff of thick black smoke out of my nose as I saw it rise past our eyes, further breaking the guard’s defenses.
“Now listen here… If you do not let me in to see the Changeling, I will not hesitate to force my arm up your asshole and pull your intestines out so I can choke you with them, so I think it’s in your best interest to allow me passage, got it?” I growled, allowing Super Nova’s voice to leak out.
I had finally broken the guard who stepped aside and unlocked the door, letting me push the doors open to see Princess Celestia and Shining Armor both pressing the Changeling hard, but they were unable to see me through the one way mirror. I was hearing their words and decided it wasn’t a good time to intervene, waiting for a moment when they acted overly violent.
“Listen, I don’t care what you did for my agent; your species is still guilty of many crimes. If you know something that you aren’t telling use right now I will not hesitate to use force to get it out of you…” Celestia said, bearing down on the Changeling menacingly.
Shining Armor stepped in and put his hoof on Celestia’s shoulder, telling he to lay off a bit.
“Look, I know you’re young, but you aren’t stupid. Living in that hive you had to have heard something through the Hivemind that Clovercloud was communicating through. Anything regarding any attacks, invasions or anything malicious would be helping Equestria become a safer place for all of us.” Shining said, obviously playing good cop in their little charade.
The changeling continued to say nothing as he let a few tears drop, but no sound emitted from his mouth. Celestia apparently thought that was the last straw, because she proceeded to grab the changeling with her magic and bring him to her eye level.
“You forced my hand in this little one…” She said, as I knew that was enough. I smashed through the locked door and grabbed Celestia horn, cutting off her flow of magic to the changeling as he fell to the ground.
“Ok Celestia, time for you to lay the fuck off of him. It obvious that he doesn’t know anything and you’re scaring the hell out of him. How about you start out slow and try asking him his name?” I growled, letting go of her horn as the changeling scurried to get behind my legs, peering around them to meet Celestia’s intense gaze.
“That’s a good idea Princess, we don’t even know his name yet. Maybe if we act a bit friendlier we can get through this predicament a bit quicker?” Shining Armor suggested, as Celestia’s gaze fixed to me.
“You will leave this interrogation at once as Captain Shining Armor and I continue. I will not hesitate to detain you if necessary.” Celestia said as I kneeled down to gently pick up the changeling, and placed him back onto his chair.
“Look, just answer any questions that you can, then they’ll let you out of here. Ok?” I assured, as the changeling nodded.
I turned around to Celestia and pointed a finger to her.
“No threats.”
I stepped over the broken pieces of the door as I walked out, passing the Guard who was now curled up in a ball on the floor.
-------------FLASHBACK OVER-----------------
3rd Person POV
“64!”
64 suddenly snapped out of his memories as Spike yelled in his ear, causing 64 to suddenly trip over. After picking himself up and dusting himself off, 64 glared at the Dragon.
“What was that for?!” 64 yelled.
“You had this weird look on your face and then stopped talking! I didn’t know what to do so I climbed up your leg, up to your shoulder, then screamed in your ear! We’re also right outside Fluttershy’s Cabin.” Spike explained, as 64 looked in front of him.
Spike was telling the truth apparently, because Fluttershy’s Cabin was just ahead. 64 shook his head and continued walking with Spike right behind him, wanting to hurry up and get this day over with. Reaching the front door 64 knocked then instantly put his hood up, going down onto all fours.
Spike was amazed how much like a pony 64 looked like while he was like that, so amazed that he didn’t realize that the door had opened.
“Oh, h-hello there. Is there anything I can help you with?” Fluttershy said, sounding more like a whisper.
“Fluttershy, it’s me, 64. Remember me?” 64 asked as he pulled down his hood, as Fluttershy immediately recognized him.
“Oh! 64! It’s so good to see you after all this time. What are you doing in Ponyville?” She asked as 64 shrugged, standing up to his full height.
“I just have a few things to do here, but right now Twilight asked me to grab a few field mice from you for her. Apparently she’s trying to pull off a spell or something, and she needs them for experiments I guess.”
Fluttershy’s suddenly shot wide open as she heard the word ‘experiment’, making 64 realize what he just said.
“Wait! I didn’t mean that, I just mean she needs them for something. I don’t know what that something is though.”
Fluttershy let out a small sigh at that, her wings fluttering just a bit.
“Oh that’s good. I wouldn’t want any of the little critters to get hurt by Twilight. Did she say how many she needed?”
“Yeah, she said three. I can go ahead and bring them back after she’s done with them.” 64 said as he stepped into Fluttershy’s home. Almost immediately 64’s and Angel Bunny’s eyes locked onto each other, as Angel Bunny leapt up onto his face and started to claw the hell out of him.
“AHHH! GET THIS LITTLE FUCKING ASSHOLE OFF OF ME! AHH SHIT HE’S CLAWING MY FUCKING EYES!” 64 yelled as he stumbled backwards into a wall and knocked over a painting, before tripping on Spike and falling to the floor. 64 finally was able to rip the offending animal off of his face and held him outwards, as Angel began to claw at his hands.
“No use little fuck! Those things are calloused 3 times over!” 64 said as he got back up to his feet, as Fluttershy flew up and grabbed Angel.
“Angel! How dare you attack 64 out of nowhere like that! You better apologize right now before I bring out the cage!” Fluttershy threatened, as her eyes suddenly opened at bit wider, causing Angel to freeze in place.
64 wiped some blood off of his face and fur out of his mouth, causing Spike to wince slightly at the wounds. They were incredibly small compared to some of 64’s other endeavors, but due to Spike being scaled he had never experienced a cut before, making ever paper cut look like a gash to him.
“Eh, I’m alright Fluttershy. I’ll just take those mice and get them back to Twilight.” 64 said, glaring at the bunny that was now in Fluttershy’s clutches. She nodded and grabbed a prepared cage with 3 mice on the inside, all happily sleeping.
“Get them to Twilight quickly before they wake up, they don’t really like being in the cage.” Fluttershy informed me. 64 nodded and took the cage into his hands, making sure to do it gently.
“Thanks Fluttershy, I’ll get them to Twilight as quickly as I can.” 64 said as he walked out of the door, Spike following close behind him.
“Wow! I’ve never seen Angel Bunny that violent before! What do you think set him off?!” Spike yelled as we walked away. 64 didn’t really know the answer to that question either. He knew they had met before when he spent the night in Fluttershy’s Cabin, but he didn’t really do anything to piss him off, except maybe threatening to eat him a few dozen times.
“I’m not very good with animals…” 64 said, making a quick excuse for himself. Spike seemed to accept this and continued walking back to Twilight’s Library.
“Wait out here, I’ll just drop these off then we’ll head to Rarity’s Boutique.” 64 said as he went inside of the Library to see Twilight reading her book furiously, unaware of all of the fruit flies which were now zipping around.
“Umm, Twilight? I got the field mice you wanted.” 64 said, snapping Twilight out of her stupor.
“Huh, what? Ah! Why are there so many flies!?” Twilight yelled, her horn shooting out a bunch of little sparks as flies began to drop. After the pests were taken care of Twilight began to sweep up the destroyed apples littering the floor, trying to get rid of what the flies were attracted to.
“Ugh, I forgot to clean up before I read… You said you got the mice 64?”
“Yeah, right here.” 64 said, putting them onto the table she was reading on. “I’m gonna go with Spike to get his suit tailored. I think he’s a bit too eager to get to the Boutique.”
Twilight nodded and continued to sweep up the apples, not really paying attention to what 64 was saying.
“Okaay… see ya. C’mon Spike! Let’s go see Rarity!”
“Alright!”
“Little weirdo…”