Chapter 38
3rd Person POV
Specialized Earth Pony Guards were sent into the caves, sweeping for anything that might have been missed. During their sweep, the foals were all evacuated from the caves, and messengers were already on their way to inform their Guardians of their rescue.
64 was in front of the mountain, sitting on the edge of a medical bed while a medic started to place his ribs back where they belonged. “Damn, easy there. This doesn’t exactly feel great.” 64 complained, the Unicorn medic pointing her horn at his chest.
“You think repairing bones is supposed to feel good? Just suck it up you baby.” The medic scolded, placing the remaining few of the fractured ribs back into place. “Alright, there you go, just take it easy. You did a great thing today.”
64 smiled and put his shirt back on, standing up off of the table and heading towards the Medical tent which was currently housing a few of the injured children. When he poked his head inside, he saw Stomper Leaf and Lily Wing lying on beds next to each other, with Stomper now sporting a large cast on his right foreleg. Both of them were asleep, obviously exhausted from the ordeal they had just gone through.
On another bed was Cardinal Berry, who was silently brushing her tail with a sad look on her face. 64 slowly walked up to her and leaned on the wall.
“Hey, you ok? You know you’re pretty brave for getting out of the tunnels with your group.” 64 congratulated, but she remained silent. “Look… I know that you might have seen a few things in there. Bad things. But those were really bad ponies, and now that they are gone, they aren’t going to do bad things anymore. We’re gonna get you back home to your mom and dad, and you’re gonna see Big Heart again, ok?”
Cardinal slowly looked up at the mention of her favorite plush Donkey, before giving 64 a small smile.
“There we go. Don’t worry, in a few hours we’re gonna get you back home and you’re gonna be safe and sound. Now go ahead and rest up a bit. It’s been a rough journey for you.”
Cardinal nodded and stopped brushing her tail, putting the comb down and curling up in the bed. 64 stood back up and saw all of the other fillies and colts, some of them recalling how the ‘awesome human’ came in and rescued them.
64 swept the area looking for Applebloom and Ghost, but couldn’t find either of them. He saw Crossroads wearing her Combat Armor, ordering around a few Privates.
“Hey Cross, where did Ghost go? He’s not in the medical bay.” 64 asked, as Crossroad took off her helmet and turned towards 64.
“Yea he wasn’t injured so we cut him loose. He ran off somewhere to find some doll named Applebloom. You might wanna ask some of the other medical personnel.” Crossroad explained, turning back to the recruits and barking a bit more.
64 went to ask around, but every time he asked where Ghost was he received a different answer. He followed the trail of answers until he heard that Ghost was last seen heading towards the Psych Tent, reserved for PTSD victims.
When 64 arrived at the tent, he opened it to see an unconscious Applebloom lying on the table with a gas mask on her mouth, with Ghost standing at the bedside.
“What happened to her? Why is she in here?” 64 asked, taking the clipboard at the end of the bed and looking at the diagnosis. It read that she was experiencing ‘PTSD’ like symptoms, but didn’t explain any further.
“I was able to lead her and two others to the Western Exit, but when guards came down the tunnel I distracted them so Applebloom could get away. Apparently when she got out she ran into some Gryphons and ended up stabbing one of them with their own knife, but she freaked out afterwards. The other Gryphon ran off with their tails between their legs.” Ghost explained, as 64 noticed the red bloodstains on the filly’s cheeks.
“Dammit… looks like Applejack is going to have a reason to be pissed at me for a long time…”
Ghost shook his head and looked up at 64, his icy blue eyes saddened. “It’s not your fault, I… I should have tried to find another way to distract those guards… maybe she wouldn’t have had to do it…” He tried to explain.
“Look, let’s not play the blame game just yet. We have to get everything settled first, then we’ll see what happens. Come on, you must be starving after all this. Let’s get some love in you.” 64 said, walking out of the tent. When he noticed that Ghost wasn’t following him, he called out. “Ghost, you coming?”
Ghost shook his head and looked back towards Applebloom, resting his head on the side of the bed. “She let me feed off of her…” Ghost whispered, 64 not being able to hear it clearly.
“She what?” He asked, stepping closer.
“She… she let me feed on her! Alright?! I…I can’t just leave her sitting here like this! This is all my fault!”
64’s eyes widened at the sudden outburst, taking a moment to realize what had just heard. “Ghost… were you starving?” 64 asked slowly, wondering what how dire circumstances could have been for Ghost to feed off of a filly.
“I…I was dying. I kept on regenerating after the thugs in there kept beating me, and…and I started to run low on love. When I finally ran out and was starting to starve to death, Applebloom… she… she gave me her love willingly.”
64 listened to the story and waited for him to continue.
“I didn’t pressure her into doing it though! She told me to take it after she saw me dying! You have to believe me!” Ghost pleaded, not wanting to look like all of the other Changelings. 64 sighed and knelt down to Ghost’s level, patting him on the head.
“I believe you. I’m just wondering though… how did you two meet up in there?” 64 asked, looking back at the red haired filly. He noticed that she didn’t have her signature Red Bow on.
“I was assigned to a mine that she was in, and I had to protect her from the guards a few times. She may have seen me do a few things… so … I wouldn’t be surprised if she hates me now…”
“And since when did you care what Applebloom thought of you?” 64 said smugly, grinning at the now blushing Changeling. Ghost’s eyes widened and ran out of the tent, leaving a chuckling 64 with a new tool to embarrass his companion.
A medical examiner walked in, light combat armor covering up his medical cutie. 64 visibly shuddered at the thought of a cutie mark like that, remembering certain Doctor with the exact cutie mark. “Ah, 64. Checking up on the youngest PTSD patient to date?” The medic said, making 64 sigh.
“Can it Sawbones. How is she?” 64 questioned, fiddling with his Skeleton blades a bit.
“Well… besides a case of walking nightmares, being incredibly jumpy, and slight hallucinations, she should be just fine. There’s some medications that she can take to negate the effects of her ordeal, so I’ll be prescribing those as soon as we get her to an official medical center. Now if you’ll excuse me… I regrettably have to perform an amputation on a young colt…”
64’s eyes widened at the sentence, but the medic was already walking out of the tent. Looking back at Applebloom for the last time, 64 walked out and went to look for Shining Armor. He found him ordering a few Privates to start packing up, meaning that they were going to be getting out of there soon.
“Shining, what’s the word on that sweep team?” 64 asked. Shining turned and levitated a book over to 64, who gently took it out of the air.
“It is a very, good, thing… that we found this place now…” Shining said solemnly, turning away without giving 64 another word. The human looked down at the leather-bound book and the weathered pages, wondering what could actually be so terrible.
He thumbed the book open to the first page and began to read it, discovering that they were was official reports from Shura Slava herself.
‘Our buyers have been very interested in our work lately, and are offering a very substantial payment for the transfer of our Crystal Dust to the Zebra Homeland. Now I don’t trust those black and white striped mongrels, but Bits are Bits in the end, and I’ll gladly sell to those who will buy.’
‘I learned what the Dust was going to be used for today… and I like it very, very much… The Zebras and the Gryphons have actual formed a little alliance… and are using the dust to create new weapons for their militaries. Who knows… I may not have to completely buy out the Ethaxial Monarchy to set my plan in motion…’
‘The plans regarding Equestria have been put on hold for now. A complication was just found while scanning Ethaxial for spies. A changeling has been spotted on the coast city of Hamus today, and I need to confirm that this isn’t an insurgent from the Changeling Kingdom of Mutarus before moving on.’
‘Ha… I had absolutely nothing to worry about… The ‘spy’ I had found ended up being one of Celestia’s little pets. My good friend Reggie Fawkes down in the Police Force informed me of his presences and asked me if I wanted him exterminated… but I kind of want to see how far he can get.’
‘Too close for my liking… he had nearly killed Emerald Graves today, my best contact in converting the Crystals into Dust. Luckily the changeling didn’t get a good shot at the Diamond Dog, with Reggie shooting the gun out of his talon last second. Even better news though… apparently this Changeling had connections to my good friend Project 64… I’ve sent Dust Charmer to go and clean up the mess.’
The entries ended there, and 64 nearly dropped the book in shock. The alliance between Ethaxial and Capras, the Zebra Kingdom, was something of monumental importance. This had to be settled immediately… or Equestria may have the First major war in history…
“All clear sir! Nothing left to report!” A guard said, saddlebags full of evidence and confiscated items from the mines.
“Good work. Start packing up, we’re heading out.” Shining ordered, walking back to 64. “The honor’s yours… hop onto a chariot and get a safe distance away.”
64 nodded and saw the chariot that Shining was motioning to, climbing onboard and turning around. He saw the last of the tents taken down and the last of the foals loaded up onto medical transports, along with Applebloom who was now resting on a stretcher.
Ghost climbed onto the same chariot as 64, who wrapped his arm around the Changeling and brought him close. Ghost embraced 64 who gave a small grin, looking back towards the mountain.
“KNIGHTS! PREPARE FOR TAKEOFF!” Shining yelled from his own chariot, as all of the Pegasi extended their wings out and waited. “READY! PEGASI! GO!”
One by one all of the Pegasi took off at full speed, running on the ground before shooting off towards the sky. 64 gave a look towards Shining Armor who simply nodded back at him, and started to charge magic into his right hand. Once he felt that the magic was satisfactory, he focused his eyes on shooting for the open cavern at the top of the mountain, making sure to compensate for wind speed and power.
“Here you go Maxis… just like you wanted…” 64 muttered, lobbing the orb of magic into the air towards the mountain. It sailed through the sky, followed by a red glow of Chaotic Magic. The resulting explosion which followed among impact sent a shockwave through the air, causing all of the chariots to slight shake in midair. Smoke and dust erupted in all directions, with a large fire exploding shortly after it.
“Wow! That’s amazing!” Ghost yelled, amazed by the show of pyrotechnics the mountain was rigged with. 64 grinned down at his changeling companion. No matter how mature he might have seemed at times, he was still a colt.
64 POV
We were now on our way back to Canterlot, and Ghost was napping on my stomach as I laid down in the Chariot. My mind was still reeling at the contents of the book Shura had written in, wondering what the fuck Celestia was going to do about it.
As the monarch of Equestria she could actually take this news a declaration of war and retaliate, but knowing her she would try and find a diplomatic way to talk this out. But when Ethaxial and Capras find out that their hidden alliance was found out, they might act immediately and attack Equestria.
I felt myself to become dizzy with the mere thought of an invasion… thinking about looking on the horizon and seeing rows upon rows of enemies in the sky, each and every one of them ready to kill you. I turned my head to look at Shining Armor’s chariot, and saw that he was staring off into the distance, no doubt contemplating what he had read in the book as well.
I looked at the side of the Chariot and saw that he still hadn’t pulled up the rope on the side that I dropped from, and I decided that I needed to have a word with him. I gently picked Ghost up and put him to my side, allowing me to stand up and ready myself.
I lept at the hanging rope and grabbed onto it, swinging under the chariot with the momentum I had. I quickly pulled myself up and into the chariot, and saw that Shining Armor still had a look of deep thought.
“What are your thoughts Shining?” I asked quietly, allowing the wind to whip past my head, sending the longer strands of hair I had flying backwards. The stallion simply said nothing, only sighing a bit before turning to me.
“Honestly… I have no idea… War? I could never imagine something like that happening in Equestria in 1000 years…” Shining whispered, looking down at his hooves. “Celestia is going to have a way to fix all of this. She’s going to have a word with the leaders of Ethaxial and Capras and get to the bottom of all of this.”
I shook my head at the optimistic view of Shining Armor, knowing that would probably not be the best course of action. “You should prepare a proper military first… not just a Royal Guard. Knights who would be ready to fight on front lines and defend their country with honor. Who knows what’s going to happen now… it’s probably best to be prepared first…”
Shining remained silent at my suggestion, rubbing his eyes with his right hoof. He looked up to me with eyes that were slightly red, possibly from tears threatening to escape his ducts. “I have been Royal guard for 3 years now… I’m too inexperience to lead an entire army. I can barely handle the Royal Guard. Maybe….. I could find a place for your somewhere in the CO positions.” Shining offered, as I thought about it for a few moments.
I really didn’t have a say in that matter, knowing that I would be needed anyway. “That would be just fine to me. Let’s just hope Celestia can actually pull this thing off diplomatically. She’ll probably send Twilight as an ambassador though, and maybe you as an escort.” I said, taking a seat on the small bench in the Chariot.
“I pray it comes down to a simply sit down. I… I don’t think I can handle a war…”
I had never seen Shining like this before, save for the first time we met in the burning down wing of Celestia’s Academy for Gifted Unicorns. He was often the spitting image of confidence in the face of danger, but now… he was turning into a shaking mess at the thought of War.
“Shining look at me.” I ordered, making him turn around to me and look into my eyes. He now had tears streaming down his face, and his eyes were red and swollen. “You can handle it if it comes down to it. Wanna know why?”
Shining shook his head no, but I explained it to him anyway. “Because you will do anything to protect your home. You have stared down Super Nova not once, but twice. Both of those times who fought knowing that each passing second could have been your last one, but you still kept fighting. You would do anything to protect your special somepony, your Princesses, and your sister. Look at you cutie mark Shining. You once told me what it means.”
Shining looked down at his flank, seeing a shield emblazoned with a 6 pointed star, and 3 stars above it.
“You said it means that you will defend every and all ponies that you care for, and you’ve done that for all of your life. Why the fuck would you stop all of that for nothing?”
My little speech done, I simply stared at Shining to try and see what was going on in his head. At first his eyes darted up and down at me to see if I was done, then stared blankly as he comprehended what I had told him.
His eyes squinted in determination and his lips pressed together in a hard line, nodding at me once. “You’re right 64… you’re abso-fucking-lutely right.”
“Fucking A.”
We both looked down to see that we were approaching Canterlot at a quick rate, and a very large crowd in the Palace Courtyard. I could easily see Applejack’s signature Stetson.