//------------------------------// // Chapter 53 // Story: 64 vs. The Underground // by Jman9877 //------------------------------// Chapter 53 3rd Person POV 64 had a hard time keeping up with the Zebra he was tailing. According to the strange voice behind the gem, she was the best stealth specialist to come out of Capras. She was able to maneuver through entire Patrols of Gryphons, without warning a single one. This left 64 with blockades which he was forced to cross through either distraction or just plain luck. If he were to incapacitate any of the guards, then they would know that he was out of his room after hours when they came to, and that wouldn't look too good for Equestria. A quick glance at his map showed that the Zebra assassin was headed in the wrong direction, allowing 64 to slip down another hallway which lead to a staircase that he could follow to the Castle walls, where Marcos was located. He could already feel the air start to chill as he got closer and closer to top of the Castle, before he found that the quickest way to get to Marcos would be to sneak out one of the windows and shimmy across the outside of the walls. 64 slowly opened one of the stained glass windows which was in the staircase, seeing as snow and sleet came rushing down from the sky. He looked up the wall and heard the distinct sound of steel colored talons hitting the ground, meaning that Marcos was patrolling at the top of the wall. "Shit... climbing up this is going to be a pain in the ass..." 64 groaned, seeing that the stones that decorated the sides of the Castle walls were slick with the precipitation. Even with the use of magic, sticking to the wall would be difficult with the snow and sleet constantly making the surface slippery. 64 charged his left hand with magic and slapped it onto the Castle Wall, sitting on the edge of the window to keep his balance. He pulled his hand a bit to test if he would stick, and was satisfied when he saw he would only slightly slide a bit. He pulled himself completely out of the window, immediately becoming soaked in in the damp snow falling down onto him. With both of his hands, he began to pull himself upwards, using his feet to push onto the wall and keep him attached. He noticed that the storm above him started to get worse, the snow and sleet giving way to a mighty blizzard. Gusts of wind began to whip around 64, threatening to make him fall off of the side of the wall. "The only good thing about this storm is the cover!" 64 thought, knowing that visibility was so bad you probably have to hold your hand or hoof in front of your eyes to see them. 64 reached up to attach himself to a windowsill, but when he went to pull himself up, he found himself slipping. "Oh shit!" 64 swore, quickly using his natural grip to grab onto the small ledge. He used his feet to attach himself to the wall, holding him steady as he found another ledge to attach himself to. He eventually did find one, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself. A fall from the height he was at wouldn't kill him, but it sure as hell would alert the guards to his presence. The heavy sleet continued to slam against 64 and the wall he was climbing, making him clench his teeth at the cold temperatures. His magic usually did a pretty good job at keeping him warm in cold temperatures, but with his clothes becoming drenched and the sleet continuing to fall, it wasn't working as well as it should have. Finally, 64 reached the top of the Castle Wall, but was careful to only use the tips of his fingers to not let the guards see him. "One of these is Marcos... whoever was behind the Gem want's him spooked. Luckily, I'm very frightening when I want to be..." 64 thought, peering over the edge. Letting go of the edge with his left hand, 64 reached into his pocket and pulled out his Locator map, using it to identify Marcos. There were 4 Gryphons acting sentry on this side of the wall, each of them wet and aggravated. "3 minutes guys! 3 minutes til the position switch!" One of them called out, carrying a Halberd over his shoulder. Looking at the map, I could see that Marcos was the fourth Gryphon in line. When they moved, he would be the last in line, meaning their backs would be turned from him. "Gotta get to him before that damn Zebra gets to him..." 64 growled, knowing that she would take the exact same opportunity. 64 pulled out his Shock Baton and put the handle in his mouth horizontally, wanting it to be ready when he vaulted over the edge of the wall and attacked. "Alright! Move to the Eastern Wall!" The lead yelled as they all turned right, presenting the window 64 needed. He jumped over the wall and rushed at Marcos, seeing that as he expected, the Zebra fell from above, landing behind Marcos. She grabbed the Gryphon in a choke hold to silence him, but 64 wasn't about to let her get the win. Marcos' eyes widened as he saw 64's Baton flying towards him, but was shocked when it just grazed his ear, instead connecting with the Zebra attacking him from behind. She stumbled backwards at the blow, growling at the attacking human. Not letting Marcos yell out, 64 grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air, leaving his midsection exposed. The Zebra took this opportunity and lunged forward, sending 3 quick blows to his chest and stomach. 64 saw his magic shield absorb the first blow, but after that he felt the wind get knocked out of him, making him double over onto one knee, dropping Marcos hard onto the ground. The Zebra delivered a devastating blow to the back of Marcos' head, rendering him unconscious. "Hey! He's my target!" 64 threatened, getting back onto his feet and charging his Baton with electricity. He charged the Zebra Mare and swung at her head, making her try and block with her hoof. She yelped in pain as she felt the zap of the electricity, leaving her open to a roundhouse from 64. She was knocked over, but she quickly rolled onto her hooves and whipped her head, revealing a very sharp Kukri in her mouth. 64 grabbed Marcos with his magic and threw him to the side, before putting away his Baton and conjuring a Gladius in his right hand. The two opponents stood across from each other, staring each other down. "It's obvious we were contacted by the same mysterious voice. Which means you were also offered information in return for performing a few favors." 64 said, causing the Zebra to narrow her eyes. "But let me ask this. If I'm here, and you're here... where's the Changeling?" "What's going on over here?!" A voice yelled. 64 turned and saw a Gryphon guard advance towards he and the Zebra, a Halberd in his talons. "Drop your weapons now!" He yelled, pointing the spear end of his Halberd at the two. Neither complied, eyes narrowing at the guard. The Zebra whipped her head and threw her Kukri at 64 causing him to bend backwards to the ground to dodge it. It continued to fly, headed straight for the Gryphon Guard. He eyes widened and a Green shield erupted in front of him, stopping the Kukri from taking his head off. The Zebra whipped her head back towards herself, revealing a near invisible wire attached to the hand of her blade, allowing her to reclaim her Kukri and place it back in its sheathe. "I think we had just found him..." She growled, looking that the "Gryphon Guard" who was using magic. He growled and released his disguise, glowering at us. "Well look at this, the whole gang in here." 64 said sarcastically, getting up off of the ground and staring at the unconscious Marcos. "So we all were contacted by the same mysterious voice, am I correct?" "And why should I answer that?" The Changeling said, hissing a bit. "Because you are wearing the damn yellow gemstone around your neck..." 64 deadpanned, pointing to the accessory which the Changeling forgot to disguise. "I was contacted as well... but was not given a reason as to why this Gryphon was to be intimidated." The Zebra said, addressing the unconscious Marcos. "I have an idea, but first we need him awake." 64 explained, walking over to the Gryphon and taking off his helmet. A cold bucket of water wouldn't be able to help right now, a damn blizzard wasn't waking him up so what would? "Here, help me do something really quick." 64 said picking up Marcos. 64 POV "Ugh...mmph...phumph? " Marcos groaned against the duct tape wrapped around his beak, finally waking up. He felt that gravity was going in the wrong direction, and when he tried to move his wings, they wouldn't budge. "Finally! You know how long we were standing in this damn blizzard for?! Like 10 minutes!" I yelled up at him, waking him up a bit. He looked in the direction that my voice was coming from, but thanks to the blizzard whipping by us he wouldn't be able to see me. He was hanging off of the highest wall of the Castle, suspended over the edge by a rope being held by the Changeling. He was reluctant to help, but realized he had no other choice. When Marcos realized the predicament he was in, he started to give muffled screams, but the sound of his voice was drowned out by the whipping winds and falling sleet. "Look! I know what you did Marcos! That poor girl out there is pregnant with your clutch of eggs! You performed one of the most unspeakable acts known to all, and were fucking laughing about it! Now you get to pay the price!" I screamed at him, seeing tears start to stream out of his eyes as he began to realize what I was talking about. He started to shake and swing against his restraints, but apparently that Zebra knew how to tie a damn fine knot. I could hear through his muffle that he was begging for me to let him go, to stop what I was doing. "Let me guess! Is that what that poor girl was screaming when you defiled her?! And what did you do!?" I asked, "You continued! Disregarding her pleas! So why do you deserve any better?!" His eyes widened when he realized I couldn't be bargained with. This was it for him. "Drop him!" I ordered. The Changeling let go of the rope, sending Marcos falling towards the ground. He wailed silently as he fell down to the Earth, bracing himself for the sweet kiss of death. Suddenly he stopped falling, and he opened his eyes for just a bit to see what was going on. The Zebra was conjuring a spell with the enchantment powders that she had, creating an invisible cushion for him to land on in mid-air. "Alright he can survive from there, drop him." I ordered, sending Marcos crashing to the ground. He would live of course, just be severely injured. As if they were synchronized, every single one of our Yellow Gems began to vibrate, as we gave knowing looks on our faces. We all opened the channel, waiting expectantly. "Well it looks like the spies have learned of the arrangement I have made for them." The voice chuckled, causing the fire in my stomach to burn a bit. "Listen bub, we did the stupid favor and frightened Marcos. I can guarantee you that he's not going to talk. Now give us what we all came here for so we can get the negotiations on the way." I demanded, making the voice just laugh. "Oh? You think you are done? We haven't even gotten started. You 3 may have worked together this time, but when it comes time for the next task, only one of you will be able to claim victory. Good luck, and you may want to start running. Gryphon guards are already on their way..." The voice said before cutting off, leaving all of us confused. When we heard the sound of steel talons stomping towards us, we all split up into different directions, heading back towards our rooms. Luckily all of the guards flooding outside to find out what had happened to Marcos left the hallways pretty empty, so I was able to fiddle around a bit with the Yellow Gem I had as I ran. Now that I knew that the Zebra and Changeling had these too, I would be able to create a channel between us, allowing for communication within the Castle. We may have been spies, but we were still security. "Testing, testing, 1,2,3, do you copy?" I said into the Gem, trying to get in contact with the Zebra. "What in the world? Who is this?" The Zebras voice said, not expecting another voice. "The human. I've found a way to communicate through the gem... I'm 64 by the way. We really didn't get a chance to introduce ourselves." I said, giving my name in hopes of receiving one. "My name is Dolus. I'd have to say I wish we could have met under better circumstances." She replied. "Likewise, you're pretty quick on your hooves. I had a tough time trying to get to Marcos before you did." There was a short silence, before Dolus spoke up. "Do you know how dire the situation is in Capras?" She asked. I honestly didn't know how bad the situation was, but I did know it was really, really bad. "I... I guess I don't know exactly. Why?" "My country is going through the worst famine that we have ever experienced. I have 10 brothers and sisters waiting back at home, doing anything to survive. My mother and most of my sisters have been reduced to performing disgusting acts for food, and my brothers have to resort to thievery and trickery to get by." I was wondering why she was telling me this, until she began to explain. "I will do anything to help my home. And if that means defeating you to get what he has... then so be it." The channel cut off, leaving me in the silence. Something was telling me that this mare wasn't exactly lying either. With the information that the Voice had, she'd be able to blackmail the shit out of Ethaxial, strong-arming them to assist Capras with anything they needed. And according to the Journal that Shura Slava kept, Ethaxial was trying to get both Capras and Mutarus to assist them in an attack on Equestria. Ethaxial had no idea that we knew of their little deals, so if worst came to worst, we could use that to strike the non-aggression agreements home. I arrived at my assigned room, opening the door, slipping in, and closing it behind me. I rearmed the lock then started to shed my drenched clothing, removing the chain-mail and leather armor I had underneath my clothing as well. Frenzy was still out cold, giving me the time that I needed to contact the Changeling shapeshifter. I redressed into more comfortable clothing, a black T-Shirt and white Pajama pants. I grabbed my Gem and began to triangulate nearby open channels, only 2 others existing. One of them was Dolus, so the other had to be the Changeling. I opened the channel, hoping he would pick up on the other line. "Who is this? You better start talkin' because if I swear if this is the ass who keeps calling with the stupid voice changer I'm gonna smash this thing!" The changeling threatened, but I knew he was bluffing. "First of all, don't make threats you can't keep. Secondly, no it's not that guy. I'm the human that was out there with you a few minutes ago. My name is Project 64, can I get your name?" I asked as politely as I could, walking into the bathroom so Frenzy wouldn't hear anything if he did wake up. "What's it to you?" He replied defensively, making me roll my eyes. He was trying to act all tough, but that facade was easy enough to break through. "Look, even though that voice is saying that only one of us will get the info he has, we still have to work together to keep everyone here safe. Now I'll ask again. Can I please get your name?" There was a pause followed by a bit of grumbling. "Novus, my name is Novus." "Novus, by what I've heard you are a shape shifting specialist. And by what I saw out there, and your less than stellar attitude..." "Fuck you." "...you probably don't have that much experience in the field, do you?" "Hey! What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class in the-" "Holy shit you are not about to quote that one book, All Quiet in Eastern Equestria are you? I swear I've read that thing about 10 times and that part is so difficult to read through. Look, me and that Zebra mare can help you out. Now in about 3 hours the negotiations are going to start. Just keep your eyes and ears open for anything that might go down, and you'll be fine. Get some rest." "Fine... and sorry for what I said." Novus apologized. "Don't worry about it. See ya in the morning." I said, closing the channel and walking out of the bathroom. I laid onto my bed and closed my eyes, wanting to relish in the last moments of sleep I still had.