//------------------------------// // Chapter 42 // Story: 64 vs. The Underground // by Jman9877 //------------------------------// Chapter 42 64 POV Ghost and I were setting up the guest room where he would be staying for an indefinite amount of time, and I had just finished putting together his bed when he pulled something out of one of his saddlebags, but made an explicit effort to try and hide it. “What do you have there Ghost?” I asked curiously, wondering why he would be trying so hard to hide it. “N-Nothing! It’s nothing!” Ghost stammered out, hiding whatever he had behind him with his magic. I put my right hand and quickly snatched what he had from behind him, pulling it towards me. “Wait no don’t!” I saw that what I was holding was a picture frame, and in it held a picture with me and Ghost. It was a picture after we had gone on our first joint Job together, to clear out a gang that was terrorizing a small town on the western edge of Equestria. There ended up being nearly a dozen adolescent Dragons burning the place to the ground, and 10 dead adolescent dragons later, they were both covered in ash and soot. A local newspaper managed to snap a photo of me and Ghost standing over the bodies, high fiving each other with Ghost flying in the air to reach my height. The photo in the frame was graciously cropped a bit to it didn’t show the dead dragons around us, and it was shaded in black and white. “Ghost… you never told me you had this. Why did you want to try and hide it?” I asked, looking up from the photo in my hands. Ghost looked down bashfully and spoke. “Well, you never kept photos of anything… and ever since I found out about taking pictures… I’ve just always loved that a moment in time could be captured to treasure forever. That was the first time I ever did anything of worth in front of you 64…” Ghost admitted, taking the photo back and placing it onto the desk in the room. “Ghost, you don’t have to worry about me thinking if you do or don’t have self-worth. You proved yourself to me when you saved me from falling to my death the first time we met. You will never have to worry about proving yourself ever again.” Ghost smiled and put his saddlebags off to the side, now completely empty. “I’m gonna go tell Applebloom that we’re gonna start her Therapy the day after Nightmare Night. I already have everything planned out.” “Good luck with that… Are you gonna be okay here? In Ponyville I mean. We can make arrangements so you can still stay in Canterlot and you can make weekly visits or something…” I opted, nervous about Ghost being away again. I know he could handle himself just fine… but after we had just gone through, I really didn’t want to let him out of my sight. Ghost nodded happily and shook his head. “There isn’t anything in Ponyville that I can’t take care of. This is familiar territory and I can easily call for help at any time. The scariest thing I might run into is Nightmare Night…” Ghost chuckled, jumping onto his bed and bouncing a few times. “Now c’mon! Applebloom’s welcome back party is tonight in the Apple family barn! You should get ready too! Get out of that long sleeve and put something presentable on!” With that Ghost hopped off of the bed and ran out of the room, leaving me alone in the guest room. I looked down at myself and decided that Ghost might’ve been right about changing, so I dug through my Satchel Pocket to see if I had anything in there suitable for the party. Something that didn’t say, ‘I’m a danger to the entire community’. All I had was a pair of black slacks and a Red collared shirt, but upon further inspection the Red collared shirt was a bit too dirty for a public outing. “Well… only one place to go now…” I muttered, closing up the pocket and hopping out of the open window. 3rd Person POV 64 stood in front of Rarity who was taking some more measurements, after she had made a remark about him looking a bit taller. “Dear why do you continue to grow! We already get so many aches in our necks from having to look up at you all the time!” Rarity commented, extending the measuring tape about 1 inch more than she did last time. “Hey, it’s not my fault. I don’t know why I’m getting taller, maybe it’s just from eating right and regular exercise!” 64 joked, causing Rarity to chuckle loudly before sighing. “Oh 64… I simply cannot thank you enough for bringing back Applebloom. Sweetie Belle was absolutely terrified when she heard that her friend was foalnapped.” “Hell… It was mostly my companion that was able to get her out. Ghost was the one that was in the mountain with her aiding in her escape.” Rarity nodded, “Well nonetheless, you did manage to rescue 20 foals that were also missing. I’m sure their parents don’t see this a just some small act of kindness.” “Hm, tell that to the ponies out there that swear that I’m cursed…” 64 muttered, before wincing a bit as Rarity poked him with a pin in the thigh. “Ow, hey easy there.” “Oh I’m terribly sorry 64, but I just couldn’t believe how all of the town’s ponies reacted to your return. Albeit we didn’t expect you to be on the Chariot back to Ponyville, we should at least provide you with some sort of reward for your good deeds!” 64 waved his hand and received a scowl from Rarity for moving, but returned to his previous position. “No need for any of that. I’m just glad to be doing the right thing… I just wished the reactions were a bit different.” “You deserve all that and more 64.” Once Rarity was done getting her extra measurements and hemming the slacks 64 had brought, he was able to leave the Carousel Boutique with a new buttonless black suit jacket and Red undershirt, perfect for a small gathering. He neatly folded them and stuffed it down his bottomless Satchel Pocket, making sure to attach it back to his belt. While 64 was getting ready to go to the party, Ghost was in the Apple Family barn actually getting the party ready along with Pinkie Pie. He was levitating red streamers along the ceiling and setting up the drink table at the same time, something that a colt his age shouldn’t be able to do yet. “Wow! You’re really good with magic! Do you have a teacher?” Pinkie Pie asked, giggling as Ghost lost concentration for a second and a roll of streamers came down onto his head. “Well 64 has taught me a lot of stuff, and he’s a really good teacher.” Ghost replied, picking up the unraveled streamers and continuing to put them up. “But he didn’t have levitation until a while ago, so he had to teach me from like books and stuff. He took what was in the book and simplified it so I could understand it easier.” “That sounds really fun! I wish I could use magic like that!” Pinkie said, all while using her hair to inflate and tie up balloons before releasing them towards the ceiling. Ghost looked at her with a raised eyebrow, wondering if she was serious. Applejack walked into the barn hauling a wagon full of crates of Soft Apple Cider, setting it off to the side. “Hey young’n Applebloom’s outside with the rest of her friends. Why don’cha just let me an’ Pinkie here set the rest of the barn up.” Applejack offered, seeing Ghost put up the last of the streamers. “Are you sure? I can keep helping.” Ghost offered, but Applejack shook her head no. “It’s alright. Go an’ have some fun!” Ghost smiled and nodded before running outside to the Apple Orchard, seeing a large field where Applebloom and two other fillies were playing catch with a ball. Applebloom now had another bow in her hair, causing Ghost to blush a bit considering that he had destroyed her last one. She apparently saw the changeling colt coming, because she held onto the ball when it was passed to her and waved him over. The 2 other fillies looked to see who she was waving at and saw Ghost standing there, who all of a sudden felt nervous. “Ghost! Come over here an’ met mah friends!” Applebloom called, still waving her hoof. Ghost went towards them and barely caught the ball that was launched towards him with his magic, causing Applebloom to laugh. “That wasn’t very nice.” Ghost joked, smiling at Applebloom then at the 2 other standing with her. “Who are your friends Applebloom?” “I’m Sweetie Belle!” the white unicorn introduced, stepping next Applebloom. “And I’m Scootaloo! The 2nd most awesome Pegasus in Equestria!” The tangerine colored pegasus filly called out, hopping in the air for a bit and buzzing her wings. Ghost looked at her strangely. “2nd most awesome? Shouldn’t you strive to be the 1st most awesome?” He asked, rubbing the back of his head. “But nopony is more awesome than Rainbow Dash! I can’t compete with her!” Ghost chuckled and shook his head, looking towards Applebloom. “You have strange friends Applebloom.” “Ah know.” Applebloom joked, receiving a playful punch on the shoulder from Scootaloo. “But we gotta stick together! We ain’t gonna find our cutie marks if we don’t!” “Yeah, because we’re…!” Sweetie Belle shouted, as all 3 fillies jumped into a pyramid formation, with Scootaloo being on top, “THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” They all yelled in unison, nearly knocking Ghost onto his rear. “The cutie mark what now?” “The Cutie Mark Crusaders! We spend each and every day working together to find out who we are, and what we're supposed to be!” Scootaloo shouted, trying her best to balance her hooves on the backs of Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, but not doing it very well. “Hold still!” She cried as Sweetie Belle began to shake. “Sorry! You’re kinda heavy!” Sweetie Belle apologized, starting to buckle underneath the weight. Due to her being a unicorn, her body wasn’t as well fit to hold up Scootaloo like Applebloom was. Sweetie Belle tried to lower herself down gently, but Scootaloo took a tumble down towards the ground, taking an especially bad fall onto a jagged piece of rock lying on the ground. “AH! Ow that hurt!” Scootaloo yelped, sitting up and holding her side. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom both went to Scootaloo’s side to see what had happened, to see that she had received a shallow cut just below her wing that was slightly bleeding. “Oh it isn’t that bad Scootaloo, we just need a bandage. Applebloom, do you have any—“ Sweetie Belle was about to ask if they had any bandages in the farmhouse, but Applebloom looked pale as a ghost. “Applebloom what’s wrong?” “Ah… G-get away! GET AWAY!” She screamed, swatting Sweetie Belle away and taking a few steps backwards. “AH DIDN’T MEAN TA HURT HIM! AH SWEAR!” Ghost ran up to her and tried to reach out to her, but instead she turned around and delivered a hard buck to his face, sending him to the ground. “Applebloom!? What’s gotten into you?!” Scootaloo cried out, but Ghost put out his hoof to stop her, red blood running down his left eye. “No, she’s experiencing an episode and needs to be dealt with delicately. Don’t worry, I’ve taken bigger hits than that.” Ghost explained, standing up on his hooves and walking back towards Applebloom. “Please get away! Ah don’t want ta hurt anypony else!” Applebloom screamed, her eyes darting back and forth towards invisible foes. She saw the ponies standing in front of her as the Gryphon she had attacked in front of Smokey Mountain shortly after her escape. “Applebloom, calm down… it’s me, Ghost. You aren’t in any danger right now… you don’t need to be scared…” Ghost said soothingly, slowly making his way towards Applebloom. In her vision, she saw a Gryphon advancing towards her menacingly, but as Ghost spoke, the form flashed between Ghost and the Gryphon. Now confused to what was really happening, she tried to close her eyes and shut everything out, but she felt a pair of legs wrap around her and bring her into a hug. She slowly opened her eyes to see that Ghost had brought her into a hug and was trying to keep her from thrashing about, but something else caught her attention. “G-Ghost? What happened to your eye?” She asked, pushing him away lightly to get a better look. When she put her hoof up to touch it, she noticed that the bruise that was starting to form was the exact size of her hoof. “Did… did ah…?” “It’s alright Applebloom, you just had a bit of a moment there. These things are gonna happen and that’s why I’m here.” Ghost assured, poking at his bruised eye like it was nothing. "Umm, hello?! Can somepony explain what in the hay just happened? Applebloom just bucked that colt in the eye so hard that he's bleeding! Speaking of which, who are you?" Scootaloo asked, stepping forward and pushing the two foals apart. Ghost stood up straight and waved. "My name is Ghost, and I'm gonna be Applebloom's caretaker for a while." Ghost explained, introducing himself. "Caretaker? Like a babysitter?" Sweetie Belle asked. Ghost shook his head. "Not like that. It's just that... Applebloom do you mind if I tell them?" Ghost asked. Applebloom looked down at her hooves and got closer to Ghost, whispering in his ear. "D-Don't tell 'em everythin'..." She quaked, still a bit shaken up at her episode. "Well, she experienced something scary when she was foalnapped, and she might have more moments like that in the future. So I'm here to make sure that hey don't happen too often." Ghost finished explaining, sating the 2 curious fillies minds. "But why did you have to hug her like that?" Scootaloo asked, causing both Applebloom and Ghost to blush. Ghost was able to recover first and answer the question. "W-Well... Ponies react better when there is intimate contact coming from an outside source... So it was easier to make her calm down..." Ghost answered nervously, feeling the heat on his cheeks. Scootaloo smirked and saw right through his excuse. “Yeah… that makes a lot of sense…” “Can it Scootaloo, we don’t need to make fun of Applebloom’s new friend.” Sweetie Belle scolded, walking up to Ghost and extending her hoof. “It’s nice to meet you Ghost!” Ghost took the hoof and shook it, glad for the distraction. “It’s nice to meet you both, and don’t worry about the eye, it’ll heal up quick.” Although Ghost was waving off his injury, Applebloom thought it looked serious. “Oh mah gosh! I’m sorry ‘bout that Ghost!” Applebloom cried, scared that she had hurt her friend worse than she had thought. “Don’t worry about it Applebloom, it’ll…... remember what I can do when I get hurt?” Ghost said, whispering that part to just Applebloom. Right before her eyes, the bruising underneath Ghost’s eye disappeared, and the cut that had developed had vanished completely. "Thanks by the way." Applebloom blushed at the reminder of what she did in the caves, and in doing so saving Ghost's life. "Don't mention it..." She said bashfully, all of a sudden interested in the dirt beneath her. All of a sudden, a rubber ball came flying towards Ghost's head, knocking him onto the ground painfully. "Hello?! We're still here!" Scootaloo called out, scowling that Applebloom and Ghost kept disregarding them. "Oh, right. Let's get you a bandage Scootaloo" Ghost answered, walking towards the Farm house with the rest of the fillies. 64 POV I changed into my 'casual' attire and was making my way towards Sweet Apple Acres. I hoped that tonight would yield better results than my arrival, but knowing how paranoid some of these ponies were I was having my doubts. I saw a rainbow trail zoom overhead towards the same place I was headed, so I flagged it down. "Yo Rainbow! Wait up!" I yelled, as the trail of light made a U-Turn and headed straight towards me. I stood my ground and waited to see if she would crash into me, and as I suspected she zoomed as close as possible to me and stopped in her tracks, hovering right in front of me. "Hey 64, you heading towards Applebloom's welcome back party?" Rainbow Dash asked me, doing slow loops around me. "Yup, I'm just hoping that I don't get torn into like when I showed up in the first place." I muttered, slowly turning in circles while walking to keep my eyes on Rainbow. “What was the big deal about all that in the first place? Mistakes happen; I of all ponies should know that.” I shrugged and shook my head, “I’m not sure Rainbow. All I know is that I can’t do anything about it, because once I retaliate I’m going to be proving those ponies right. So all I can do is keep my head low and not try to ruffle anymore feathers.” I admitted, continuing to walk down the road, still receiving some glares. Rainbow dash saw a few stallions giving me a harsh glare, so she flew over to them. “What the hay do you think you’re looking at?! Don’t you have anything better to do?!” She yelled, scaring them enough to make them start walking in the other direction. I gave Rainbow Dash as small smile. “Thanks for that, but stares I’m cool with. You think a 6’2 Biped won’t get stares? I’ve been dealing with them all my life, so don’t go scaring ponies who don’t have the stomach to come up to me and say something.” I said, making Rainbow Dash cross her arms. “But you’ve done all these awesome things for Equestria and they are still treating you like that! I can’t stand to leave one of my friends hanging like that!” Rainbow yelled exasperated. I grinned at her admission. “So I’m your friend huh?” Rainbow nodded and did a few loops in the air. “Duh! Anyone who’s awesome enough to fight things like Super Nova and Discord and come out of them alive is definitely a friend in my book!” I smiled and held out a fist which Rainbow Dash bumped with her hoof, causing me to chuckle. “Thanks Rainbow.” “No problem… Now let’s get going!”