Chapter 21
3rd Person POV
2 days after what was now known as the ‘Chaos Incident’, the Elements of Harmony were publicly congratulated for their actions, and the window which once held the depiction of Celestia’s and Luna’s victory against Discord was replaced by the new defeat of Discord, depicting the Elements of Harmony using their power to defeat him.
When Twilight first saw the new window, she immediately saw the problem with it. It omitted 64’s involvement whatsoever. After the celebration was over and the rest of her friends had gone to sleep in their guest rooms, she walked over to Celestia, the question on her mind.
“Excuse me, Princess?” Twilight asked sheepishly, not wanting to anger Celestia.
“Yes Twilight? Did you need something?” Celestia asked, making Twilight shake her head no.
“That’s not it. I… I was just wondering… why… why wasn’t 64 put into the window? He had just as much, if not more responsibility for defeating Discord.”
Celestia looked at Twilight for a while, thinking about her response to that question. She lowered her head a bit, sighing as she looked back at Twilight. “I felt… that even though he was a big reason Discord was defeated, you and your friends were the ones who were able to deliver the final blow.”
Twilight looked unconvinced, knowing there was a bigger reason. “Princess, I know you are lying to me. Please be honest… I know there is a lot of mystery and lies behind 64’s life, but can you please be honest? If not with Equestria, then can you please be honest with me?” Twilight begged, wanting to know.
Celestia sighed and looked behind her shoulders a few times, before looking down at Twilight with a serious tone to her face.
“Twilight, would you like to see where 64 was born?” Celestia asked, making Twilight’s eyes widen.
“W-what do you mean? He’s told us where he was born before.”
“I have no doubt he did, but I feel it would be best explained there.”
Twilight looked a bit doubtful about traveling into the Undergrounds of Canterlot, knowing its dark past, but looked up and nodded at her mentor. Celestia sighed once again and started walking down one of the many hallways in the Palace, with Twilight following close behind.
They found the triple bolted and locked metal door of the Dungeon, made to hold the less dangerous criminals of Equestria. Twilight looked apprehensive about entering, but walked in after a wave from Celestia.
“Do not let their heckling get to you, just keep your head forward and keep walking.” Celestia said seriously, obviously not showing any signs of leniency toward some of the conscious criminals in their cells. Twilight wondered what she meant by that, until one of the prisoners spoke up.
“Well hullo there little lady! How about you get me outta these chains an’ I’ll let you show me a good time!”
Twilight reared back at the stallions disgusting advance, quickly scurrying closer to Celestia.
“Hey there good looking, how about you tell the Princess to let me outta these chains and I can make it worth your while…” Another stallion said, a suave look on his face and a stare which almost made Twilight agree to the offer.
“Leave her alone this instant!” Celestia snapped, scaring the lecherous captive back and startling Twilight as well. The two continued walking without incident through the dungeon, before coming across Two Royal Guards standing in front of a lift. They bowed at Celestia’s presence, her aura simply demanding respect.
“At ease… we would like to descend to the S Floor please.” Celestia asked, stepping onto the large lift with Twilight. The two Unicorn Guards nodded, their horns glowing Purple. The lift began to descend at a quick pace, scaring Twilight a bit.
They eventually stopped after 17 floors of falling, coming to a boarded up one door entrance. Twilight looked at the dusty door, seeing the signs of death and decay all over it.
“Princess, it looks like nopony has been down here in ages… what is this place?” Twilight asked naively, Celestia not saying a word. She simply walked to the door and put a hoof up to it, feeling its rough surface.
“I never thought I would see this place again…” She said, before frowning at the door. She quickly turned around, and with a yell she bucked the door with all her might, shattering it into a pile of splinters and dust.
Twilight was shocked at the display of anger, but followed Celestia after she walked through the opening. It was pitch black, with the only light illuminating the room being from Celestia’s horn.
“Over a thousand years ago… Nightmare Moon first appeared in Equestria, born from Luna’s jealousy and hatred. This you already know. After the events of her banishment, I slumped into a deep depression, not knowing what to do anymore. Without my leadership, Equestria fell into a state of turmoil.” Celestia explained, walking through the dark hallways. Twilight listened with rapt attention, not saying a word.
“Soon after I finally came out of my stupor, I found myself becoming angrier at myself, not realizing what was happening to my sister right before my eyes. I focused on making sure that an event like this would ever affect Equestria again, so my Royal Advisor at the time, Penmen Hunt, suggested something drastic. We began to enforce more stressful training regimen for the Royal Guards, resulting in 13 deaths within a year.” Celestia said regretfully, making Twilight gasp in shock.
“They died!?” Twilight asked, making Celestia nod her head.
“Yes… 5 dead from training related accidents, such as mortally wounding each other during training, and the other 8 from suicide. They were simply unable to take it, and took their own life after a few short months. When I realized that their deaths would hinder morale, I went back to a slightly more lenient training regimen. Penmen’s plan after that was simple, find ways to improve the guard genetically. This was a time before Starswirl the Bearded, when spells such as temporary augmentation weren’t available. This is when I first started taking in… students…” Celestia said slowly, opening another boarded up door, gentler this time.
Twilight was nearly in tears, knowing that she was nearly turned into one of the test subjects. Celestia didn’t looked back at her, as they finally reached a room with a large vat standing in the middle. It wasn’t filled with anything, but to Celestia, all she could see was the being who would in the end save her from herself.
“In here, was where 64 grew. We kept him until the age of 10, before releasing him. From there, the rest is history… He is the only remaining survivor of a dark time for Equestria, which is one of the reason I didn’t implement him into the window. He isn’t supposed to be exposed to the public like a shining idol, but a reminder that I have committed crimes so horrible, that sometimes I feel as if that I shouldn’t be alive.” Celestia whispered, staring at the empty vat.
Memories of the experiments undergone in these labs were making her tremble slightly, with one tear streaming down her cheek.
“It’s in the past… right?” Twilight asked, honestly scared of the answer her mentor might give her. Celestia nodded and turned around to face Twilight, her eyes red and puffy.
“Yes Twilight… this is all in the past… hopefully this is the last time I ever have to come down here.”
Twilight nuzzled her mentor affectionately, as Celestia returned the gesture. Celestia understood what she did was horrible, and no matter what she did, nothing would absolve her of her crimes. She had no right to be mad at 64 for holding a grudge against her. She deserved it tenfold.
“Do you understand now Twilight? Why 64 couldn’t be on the window?” Celestia asked. Twilight looked up at her mentor and nodded.
“Yes Princess, can we get out of here now? It’s starting to give me the creeps.” Twilight joked, trying to lighten the depressing mood. Celestia chuckled and nodded, as the two made their way out of the Underground Labs.
2 WEEKS LATER
Times had been rough ever since 64 had gone into his coma, especially with Celestia racking her brain with her newfound revelation. Twilight and her friends had begun to help rebuild after what had happened to Ponyville after Discord’s short reign, mostly offering mental support in regards to the traumatic experiences which many ponies were still having nightmares about.
64 was also having these nightmares in his comatose state, imagining what if he wasn’t able to distract Discord from killing the Elements. He could see their burnt and charred bodies on the ground next to him, dead from him not being there to react quickly enough, or Discord being able to fully invade his mind and make him a husk of a being.
He felt a tingling in his fingers as he head suddenly exploded in a fit of pain, but he was unable to move. His eyes slowly fluttered open, seeing a pitch black room. There was a door on the other side of the room with light leaking through the bottom of it, but the blinds to the windows were drawn shut, not allowing 64 to see anything.
“urgh…” 64 groaned nearly inaudibly. He felt a cool liquid flowing through his arm, going up his shoulder until the sensation stopped, and knew it was an IV drip. He tried closing his fists, but found that his body was unresponsive. Even with his eyes open, he couldn’t find the will to blink.
His eyes began darting around, trying to think of something that would get him out of this claustrophobic setting. He could already feel the tingling in the back of his neck, the first indicator that he was about to have an episode.
He tried harder to move his arms, but they felt as if they were tied down with barbed wire.
“FUCK FUCK FUCK!” 64 yelled in his head, already freaking out. As he struggled against the nonexistence restraints, he heard steps within the room. He stopped all attempted movement, and began to scan the room as best as he could in the pitch black.
He heard the footsteps get closer, and his thoughts came to a full stop.
“Footsteps?!” 64 screamed out in his head, as two imaginary hands came down onto his shoulders, pinning him to the bed. The figure put its legs over 64, straddling him in the bed and moving its face closer to his, as he felt its breath on his face.
“we’ll always be in here 64… and when you crack… I’ll be waiting for you…” the voice said, as a small flicker of fire illuminated the room. For a split second, 64 saw Vi’s bloodied and disfigured face hovering over his own, as he felt his entire body tense up.
64 felt himself sit up while screaming his head off, gripping both sides of his temples as he threw the vision of Vi off of his body, making her disappear. 64 rolled off of the bed, pulling down the IV stand down with him, making the bag burst and spill its contents everywhere.
A few nurses burst through the door, letting the light of the outside shine blindingly into 64’s face. For not having his eyelids open for 2 weeks, then letting light flood into his eyes, it only made his situation worse.
“Project 64! You need to calm down and allow us to get you back into bed!” One of the stronger male nurses said, gripping 64 by the shoulders and attempting to hoist him up. 64 saw these ponies as ponies who were trying to recapture him, and immediately lashed out at them.
He grabbed the stallion and threw towards the wall, making the two other mares in the room shriek in horror. Nearly blind and covered up by an ill-fitting hospital gown, 64 came stumbling out of the hospital room, yelling and screaming his head off.
“DISCORD!? WHERE THE FUCK IS HE!?” 64 yelled, thinking that Discord was still there trying to attack him. Royal Guards immediately saw 64 freaking out and called for backup, knowing how strong 64 was. Two Unicorn Stallions both entangled 64 in combined grips of 64’s legs, causing him to fall onto his stomach, all while clawing at the floor trying to get away.
“YOU THINK I’LL GO BACK?! I’LL NEVER LET YOU TAKE ME BACK! YOU MONSTERS!”
More guards came flooding into the hallway 64 was currently being detained, all either using magic or physical restraint against him. 64 continued to fight against all of the restraint which was being put against him, but to no avail.
Eventually, 64 finally began to tire out, and fell back into unconsciousness.
64 POV
“uh… what the fuck… is going on…” I groaned, feeling another spike of pain shoot through the front of my head. When I moved around on my bed, I heard a voice talk.
“64, are you alright?” Princess Celestia asked me, making me open my bleary eyes. I was laying on a medical bed, with small restraints on my wrists and ankles. I noticed that Twilight and her friends were also in the room, looking down at me with worried faces.
“I… I feel really weak… like I can barely curl my fingers.” I groaned, as Celestia chuckled.
“Well after being in a comatose state for 2 weeks, I wouldn’t expect any less.”
My eyes shot open at that statement.
“2 WEEKS? I’ve been in a coma for 2 weeks?!” I exclaimed, making Celestia nod her head. “What he hell happened to me? I can remember up to the moment where I shot a bolt of magic a t Discord, and then everything went kind of explosiony. Then I can remember waking up for a little bit before, but nothing after that.”
“You suffered from a severe concussion due to the explosion, but other than that, you’ve suffered no permanent injuries. And you did wake up for a brief moment, but it was in a fit of rage and confusion. Luckily you were restrained before anything bad happened, but it seems that you might have suffered from psychological damage as well. You were yelling a great deal about Discord.”
64 took in this information and thought about it, not remembering any of that.
“Damn… I’m sorry about that. Why the hell are my arms tied down?” I asked, tugging at them a bit. They were cut by Celestia’s magic shortly after, allowing me to bring my arms up to my face and rub my wrists. “Thanks, help me up.”
I held my hand out towards Celestia, who held out her hoof as well. I was pulled up to be in a sitting position, groaning as my stiff body was being moved.
“How are you feeling 64? We found you in a pretty rough shape after we defeated Discord.” Twilight said, worried about me.
“I’ll be fine… head trauma never slowed me down before. When’s the soonest I can get out of here?” I asked, straining to swing my legs over the bedside. I curled toes and rolled my ankles a few times before stretching out my back.
“Well, that depends. If you pass a quick physical exam I have planned, then you can be discharged within a few hours within passing it, but if you don’t, it might be a few days. For now, take it easy and we’ll get you examined.” Celestia explained, her voice softer than I’ve ever heard her speak to me. I nodded and continued to stretch myself out a bit, working out kinks that I gained for lying in bed for 14 days straight.
“Sounds fair, just don’t keep me waiting.”
I laid back in the bed, sighing as I did so. Applejack came to the side and spoke.
“64, ah just want ya to know that we really appreciate ya helping us with Discord. Spike told all about the letter ya sent to Celestia, and we all saw firsthoof what ya were doing to keep Discord distracted.” Applejack said sincerely. The other girls all exclaimed their thanks together, Rainbow Dash reenacting my fight with Discord with a bunch of goofy sound effects. I chuckled and made sure that I accepted their thanks, before a nurse walked into the room and announced visiting times were over.
Everypony in the room walked out, making me sigh in boredom. I scratched the bottom of my neck when I realized that I didn’t have my Communicator Charm on, looking around for it on a table anywhere.
When I couldn’t find it, I groaned and fell back into my bed, wanting to make sure I had it on me at all times. I always made sure Ghost had his on, because you never know when you might need it.
His name rang a bell in my head, making me shoot up from my bed and go to the door. I looked out and saw Celestia still hadn’t left my field of vision, before yelling out at her.
“Celestia! Wait! One last question!” I called, making her turn around and come back.
“Yes 64? What is it?” She asked.
“Has there been word from Ghost? Is he alright?”
Celestia laughed and made a small red charm appear, placing it in my open palm. “Crush this gem in your hand and toss the dust into the air. He left you a message after I informed him of what happened.”
Celestia turned and walked away after that, with me going back to the hospital bed. I made myself comfortable as I crushed the gem into both of my hands, blowing the dust which formed into the air. It floated stagnantly for a few moments, before swirling into the image of Ghost standing there in a hotel room.
“Hey 64! Princess Celestia told me all about what happened in Equestria A few days ago! When I asked around, it seemed like it hadn’t hit Ethaxial, so maybe Discord wasn’t as all powerful as he thought he was huh? Well I’m doing alright over here. Like I told you before, the police force over here is helping me gather some evidence before we allow you to come over here all Kung-Fu-y and take him back to Equestria. Captain Fawkes has been really cool about it too, not worrying about me stepping all over the case like a lot of the other cops.”
“Now don’t get scared of me saying this, but I did have to feed. It was some cheating wife trying to find a quickie to get back at her husband for not treating her well enough, and she decided that I looked like a good enough Gryphon to do it with. Luckily she was really drunk so I didn’t actually have to do anything to her, because she was spewing love everywhere. Oh and chunks, she was also spewing chunks.”
“Celestia told me what you did to Discord, and I got really scared when I found out about you being in a coma. But I know you won’t be stopped by a little point blank explosion, so you’ll be fine. Next time there’s a really big bad guy we have to fight, make sure I’m there with you, so we can split the glory alright?! Well I have to go, we’re planning a sting operation later tonight, with me posing as a high end buyer for the dust. Bye 64! Hope you’re feeling better!”
The message ended after that, making me grin. Little guy always knew how to put me in a good mood. From what he kept sending me in his reports, he must have been doing alright.
“Hello, Project 64? I’m here to conduct your physical exam. Don’t worry there’s nothing serious or anything, just a few stretching tests, a blood sample, and a urine sample.” A stallion said, walking in with a stethoscope around his neck, and a bandage cutie mark.
“Alright Doc, just make it quick.” I said.
The doctor pulled out a small flashlight with his magic and shined them in my eyes, before writing a few things down on a clipboard.
“Ok Project 64, this may sting a bit.” He said, a small syringe in his magical grasp. I looked up at the needle and then to the doctor, making me freeze in my seat and my blood run cold. Standing there was Dr. Silent Knight, blood running down his face and a large blade instead of a syringe.
“LET’S GET THIS OVER WITH!” He screamed in a blood curdling voice.
“NO!” I yelled, leaping backwards in the bed and closing my eyes.
“64?! Is something wrong? Are you afraid of needles?” A much quieter voice said, as the doctor who was conducting the tests was once again standing there, an empty syringe in his grasp. I shook my head a bit and held my arm out.
“No… no of course not. Just… uh… a bad memory.”