64 vs. The Slava’s Part 4
Ghost POV
I winced as I felt another pang of stomach pain came through, gripping my stomach lightly. I was trying to not divert attention to myself, but I could see Applebloom giving me sideways glances here and there. I just grinned at her and continued to bash away at the rocks, filling up the bucket next to me with a considerable amount of Gems.
“Alright… step aside, Gem Count.” A gruff Female voice said from behind me, a Gryphoness stepping forward towards my haul. I complied as did Applebloom, knowing that the way I wrapped the chains, they wouldn’t become undone just by taking a few steps. The Gryphoness nodded and took my bucket into her talon, before walking away to deposit it. Quickly taking out my makeshift lock pick, I started to work on Applebloom’s remaining shackle.
“Why do ya keep wincin’ and shiftin’?Are ya hungry?” She asked, obviously oblivious to my predicament. I shook my head no and focused on picking the lock, almost getting it. “Well then what’s wrong? Do the bruises the guards gave ya hurtin’?”
“I’m fine… got it…” I whispered, as another shackle came loose. I quickly wrapped the chain around her hoof and stepped back, signaling to get back to work. Applebloom nodded and continued to start bashing at the rock, crushing sizable chunks off with every swing. The guard came in a few moments later, as I made sure to put my lock pick on the ground next to all of the other rocks so it wouldn’t be seen.
“Alright ya little twerps, lunch. Enjoy.” The Gryphoness said, walking back into the dark cave. She threw two bruised apples at our hooves, before crossing her front legs and lying onto her stomach. I looked at the Apple and knew that it wouldn’t give me any nutrition whatsoever, so picked it up and pushed it in Applebloom’s direction.
“Take it… it won’t do me any good.” I whispered, as she looked wide eyed at me.
“Ghost, ah can’t take your apple! Eat it!” Applebloom commanded, but I just shook my head no.
“I won’t be able to digest it. I’m a changeling, so I can’t eat regular food like ponies do…”
Applebloom looked at me with a surprised face. She looked down and rubbed her leg with her hoof, realizing that I was unable to eat anything at the moment. I was slowly dying of starvation, so I had to get out of here so I could feed from 64.
“Take it Applebloom.” I ordered, not taking no for an answer. At my stern look, Applebloom realized that it wouldn’t do any good for the apple to not be eaten, so she bashfully took the apple and put it next to her other one.
“Thank ya Ghost.” She said, blushing a little bit. I smiled and nodded at her, looking over at the Gryphoness staring at us. She snickered and shook her head at my act of kindness.
“You want to starve? None of my business. Just make sure you don’t let up on your work.” She chuckled, obviously gaining enjoyment from our suffering. I scowled, squinting my bright neon eyes at her, before I saw something around her neck. It was a small key, with only 1 tooth on its end. I took a quick glance at my shackles and back up at the key, hoping that there was some sort of connection.
The gears in my head began to start turning, as a plan began to start forming.
‘Step 1… secure the keys…’
64 POV
I dropped at the Canterlot Palace Courtyard, giving a thumbs up at the Pegasi Chariot overhead. They sped off towards wherever the hell they go, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I cracked my knuckles as I felt the shifting of metal inside my hands, feeling the new weapons I had.
Without the use of magic, I would need to rely on the blades and my newly acquired blowpipe for eliminating enemies, which wasn’t really that different from before I got my magic.
The first thing I wanted to do was to talk to Shining Armor, to see if there was anything I could do on helping him plan for an attack on Smokey Mountain. Walking into the Palace I noticed that there were staffers running everywhere, putting up decorations and the like for the upcoming Nightmare Night Celebration. I knew that even though I had an important job to do, other ponies still had lives.
I found Shining Armor and Princess Cadence together in his office, but not wanting to interrupt them, I waited outside of the door, listening in on the conversation.
“Look, I know you wanted to get ready, but with this rescue operation happening tomorrow, I can’t go with you.” Shining apologized, sounding incredibly sincere.
“It’s okay Shining, I understand…” Cadence said, sounding less than happy but understanding. “I mean, over 20 foals stolen? That’s much more important than getting suited for our costumes.
“You don’t have to pretend to be happy for me. I want to treat you like the princess you are, but… sometimes my work gets in the way.”
“I-I… I know but… I just feel that…”
I felt that now was the time to intervene, knowing that the conversation would get worse before it got better. “Hey, I’m prepped and ready to move out. When are we heading out?” I interfered, acting oblivious to the conversation I had heard.
Shining’s face displayed a sigh of relief, one he immediately tried to cover up when his marefriend saw him. “Uh… how about we talk later honey? I need to have a word with 64.” Shining said nervously, trying to escape Cadence’s glare. She just walked out of the room in a huff, leaving an awkward air in the room.
I coughed and clear my throat. “Well… uh… what was that about?”
Shining groaned and slammed his face onto his desk, tossing some papers onto the ground. One of them was a rolled up map which was labeled ‘EXTRACTION’, which immediately caught my eye. I picked it up and unraveled it, looking at its design. It was a bird’s eye view, showing the topography of the area. Contour lines were magical drawn, giving me a near perfect view.
“Alright… so here’s what you’re looking at.” Shining explained, taking the map from my hands and placing it onto the table. “There are literally zero places to hide an assaulting Royal Guard Company, so once we leave, there’s no going back. You on the other hand are going to sneak in while we provide the distraction. Once inside, you will need to make sure of two things. 1, You find a way to extract all of the Foals out of the mountain. 2, do not let Shura Slava escape. Whatever the cost, do not let her leave the mountain. The second she is a safe distance away from the mountain, she will blow the sucker sky high.”
“Alright, sounds good so far. I’m guessing the first order of the frontal attack will be Ballistas?” I asked, seeing them drawn surrounding the mountain. Shining Armor nodded but waved a hoof at me.
"Yeah, but don’t worry about any of that. Your job is to get inside, and get out with every single one of those foals. Speaking of getting inside, this is where your entrance will be.” Shining pointed with his hoof to a small black arrow on the left side of the mountain, showing mineshaft entrance which was covered in rubble. “You’ll have to blast your way in with small explosives. Don’t worry, they aren’t magical in anyway, so they won’t set the rest of the mountain off.”
“Alright… and once I’m inside… I’m on my own?” I asked, not taking my eyes off of the map. Shining leaned back in his chair and nodded, running a hoof through his mane.
“That’s the idea. You’ve done way worse solo jobs than this… you’ll be fine.”
“Yup… that’s my motto…”
3rd Person POV
Ghost was picking up gems with his mouth and spitting them out into the bucket, trying to ignore the now constant pain in his stomach. Groaning softly as he did so, he looked over at the Gryphoness who was still glaring daggers into his back.
“What you want kid? Get back to work!” She yelled, cracking the whip in her talons threateningly. Ghost growled back and looked over at Applebloom. She had a pleading looked, not wanting him to provoke their overseer any farther than needed. He closed his eyes and sighed, opening his mouth.
“You know what? FUCK OFF!” Ghost yelled purposefully, knowing what would happen next. The Gryphoness stared wide eyed at Ghost for a moment, registering that she had just been yelled at by a Changeling colt.
“Why you little motherfucker!” She yelled, charging at Ghost. He quickly swiveled his head and looked to Applebloom, giving her a stare which read ‘Don’t interfere’. The Gryphoness tackled Ghost into the rocky boulders in front of him, crushing some of the chitin on his back. She began to relentlessly beat him, using her talons to try and claw and dig into his armored shell, but to no avail.
Applebloom stared in horror at the assault on her companion, wanting to take the hammer in her mouth and use it to bash the Gryphonesses face in, but Ghost had signaled her to stay out of this. Ghost continued to try and block her relentless attacks with his forelegs, but it did little for the cracks he was beginning to develop in his chitin.
All of a sudden, he suddenly found himself unable to breath. Not due to any injury he had, but to a sudden piercing pain throughout his head and chest. He spasmed twice before he coughed and spat out an unhealthy of green blood onto the Gryphon, who recoiled in disgust.
“Ugh! What the fuck is this?!” The Gryphoness said, backing up. She looked towards Ghost who was now collapsed onto the floor, coughing and gasping for breath. She briefly considered calling medical personnel, but then she would be canned from the job and not receive her cut in the end. “Heh, serves you right you bug…”
She walked out of the cavern, leaving Ghost and Applebloom in the room. The filly went to Ghost’s side and tried to find out what was wrong, but couldn’t see anything besides the cracks and blows which the Changeling had sustained.
“What’s wrong Ghost!? What’s wrong?!” She pleaded, trying to hush her yelling to not call attention to herself.
“St-st-starving…… no… food…” Ghost gasped out, realizing that by receiving all of the blows his body would try and repair itself as quickly as it could, depleting all of his love reserves.
“Ah knew ah should’ve let ya eat that apple!”
Ghost shook his head and coughed once again, blood dripping out of his mouth. “No… solids… something else…”
“Then tell me! Ah can call the guards for it!”
“They… they have none…”
Applebloom continued to give him her pleading eyes, trying to figure out what she could do to help the Changeling. She made her feel safer, and without him she wasn’t sure if she could survive her predicament.
“Then what do ya eat?!” She cried out, as Ghost opened his mouth to try and say his next words. He felt his throat move, but he couldn’t form words. “Tell me!”
“L-lo…” Ghost gasped, trying his hardest to speak.
“Ah can’t understand!”
“L-Lov… L-love… Changelings… a-absorb… l-love…” Ghost managed to choke out, as Applebloom’s eyes widened. She remembered learning that Changeling could actually eat a pony’s emotions, but love was the most nutritious. Seeing the way that her friend was now shaking and bleeding on the ground, she tried to think of a way she could get something like that to a changeling.
“Ah… ah don’t know how to get that! Let me call a guard!” Applebloom said frantically, taking in a large gasp of breathe to call a guard. Ghost put a hoof up and grabbed Applebloom’s leg, stopping her from calling out. He had a thought, but banished it to the back of his mind immediately, knowing that he would never be able to live with himself afterwards. He couldn’t bring himself to ask Applebloom to give up some of her love.
“I’m… I’m done… here…” He gasped, getting weaker. He held up his hoof to show something to Applebloom, who gasped at the sight of it. It was a small key, which Ghost guessed was the key to the shackles around his hooves.In the scuffle with the guard, he managed to swipe it off her neck. “Take this… get out of here…”
“Ah… ah can’t! There has ta be another way!” Applebloom begged, racking her mind with every idea she could possibly try to come up with. As she thought frantically, she suddenly had a small thought. If Ghost ate a pony’s emotions… then… could she give her own? “Ghost! Ah think ah know way!”
Ghost looked at her and shook his head, knowing that this was it for him. He could already see the edges of his vision begin to blacken, and everything begin to go numb. He wouldn’t die right away, but he would after a few minutes of unconsciousness.
“Ghost! Take mah emotions!”
That one phrase caused Ghost’s eyes to widen, and his already hindered breathing to hitch. He coughed once again, expelling a spew of blood. He had always made sure that whenever he fed in Ethaxial, that his victim would have no recollection of it the next day. But now that Applebloom was consenting for him to feed, he felt conflicted.
“Love is the best thing right? Then ah’ll start ta think of things that I really love!” Applebloom exclaimed, closing her eyes and thinking really hard. “Mah sister Applejack… Big Macintosh… Granny Smith… Sweet Apple Acres…”
Applebloom continued to list of things that she loved, and in Ghost’s vision, he began to see the red mist of Love begin to see out of her body. It was so pure… so untainted… and so enticing for the young Changeling.
He began to feed on the love being presented to him, taking in the sweet essence of the savory emotion. He opened his eyes to see that Applebloom was wincing in discomfort, not used to the feeling of emotion being drained out. Ghost realized that he was going too fast, and due to the filly’s small size, she would be drain quicker.
With an enormous amount of effort, Ghost managed to pull himself away from Applebloom’s love, and began to gasp and choke at the sudden rush of adrenaline he felt. All of the injuries he had sustained over the course of two days had now vanished, leaving him feeling refreshed and energized.
Applebloom on the other hoof now looked exhausted, feeling the aftermath of a literal emotionally draining moment. She went to speak, but her eyes shut closed and she fell forward, barely giving Ghost enough time to lunge forward and grab her.
“Woah, can’t have you falling like that.” Ghost whispered, laying her down onto the ground. She groaned and shifted a bit, now sound asleep. Ghost looked at her slumbering form and smiled, nuzzling her thankfully. “Thank you Applebloom.”
64 POV
Everything was set. The Company of the Equestrian Knights and Pegasi was now set with large transports and medical aid for the foals, and I had reattached the Skeleton Blades to my hands. The Blowpipe I bought from Grey now had a leather strap on the end and was now strung across my shoulder, ready at a moment’s notice. Strapped to his thigh were 3 charges of Explosive Gel, ready to blow a path into the mountain.
Shining was standing next to me in his Combat Armor, the purple and gold knights armor providing a menacing demeanor. We were currently standing behind the Palace on a large flat of land for takeoff, making last minute preparations for the mission.
“Alright, everything’s all set. What are we waiting for?” I asked, standing on the Chariot waiting for some sort of go.
“Just getting myself ready for this. The Slava’s may be just a family gang, but they have something that my soldiers don’t, and that’s Alicorn Magic. We just gotta be careful.” Shining sighed, taking a few deep breathes. I was as nervous as he was about this. With one of my plans already failing miserably, who’s to say that this one wouldn’t either?
“We just and to have faith that this will work. Between your planning and my fighting skills, then we have nothing to be worried about. I’m gonna go in there, fuck some shit up, get the children out, and blow the mother down. After that’s said and done, I’m gonna drag your ass down to princess Cadence so you can go and get your fucking costumes fitted for Nightmare Night.” 64 said confidently, trying to calm his nerves.
It worked for Shining, who was able to crack a smile and laugh a bit. “Ha, nice one tough guy. Alright that’s enough stalling… KNIGHTS! PREP FOR TAKEOFF!”
The flightless guards immediately piled onto the chariots of the Pegasi guards, making sure to pack as many as they could onto each one. Other Chariots held much larger objects such as Ballistas and Catapults for the distraction assault, but the chariot Shining Armor and I were on held nothing but a line of rope for my descent, and 1 large Revolver in a special case.
Shining Armor insisted that I take it into the Mountain, but I didn’t want to. Guns would lead to nothing but trouble.
“READY! PEGASI! GO!” Shining called out, as every Pegasi’s wings sprung up and began to run towards the cliff. After a few seconds of a drop, every single Chariot being transported to Smokey Mountain was in the air, going as fast as physically possible.
I looked over the edge of the Chariot and saw Ponyville slowly coming into view, remembering the events prior to this mission. I had to get to Smokey Mountain for 4 reasons.
1, I had to find Ghost and get him back.
2, I had to save Applebloom and get her back to Applejack.
3, I had to save every single foal in Smokey Mountain.
4, The Slava family had to die.