//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Everything In My Power // Story: A Ghost And A Roach // by Delta 727 //------------------------------// Ghost had almost killed Princess Celestia in that moment. He froze, and Roach swore he heard something snap in his mind. Ghost's grip tightened around the doorknob, and his knuckles turned white under his glove. "I know this is a little overwhelming for you to hear," Princess Celestia went on cautiously, "But I'm afraid it's the truth. Although, I had no desire to, it's my fault. I was informed by my, um," she paused, " 'Acquaintance', Discord, that something bad was stirring in Equestria, and it wasn't him this time. He said he could help me, but only if I agreed not to stop him. Reluctantly, I did. After that, he vanished, and I haven't seen him since. He may have brought you here, but I was the one who requested it. I'm truly, truly sorr-" Princess Celestia was cut off as Ghost drew a pistol out of seemingly nowhere, and pointed it straight at her. "Shut it," Ghost said in a firm tone. "I don't care why you carted us off from our home, from our families. The one thing I care about is whether or not you're gonna send us back." His grip tightened, his finger brushing the trigger. "Just make sure I like your answer." Princess Celestia was unfazed. "I thought we agreed that you wouldn't bring weapons in here." "Safety precautions," Ghost said flatly. "Just in case I started feeling an itch on my trigger finger. Now I'd get to work on fixing this before I decide to scratch it." Princess Celestia didn't move, but she did take action. Ghost didn't even notice the yellow aura forming around her horn, as well as an identical one around his gun. Before he could react, his gun was flung away, crashing against the wall. Ghost was unarmed. "I'm not going to hurt you," Princess Celestia said, "But I'll be as defensive as I see fit." Ghost clenched his fist, and let out a yell as he charged the Princess, poised to strike her. Princess Celestia prepared to react, but Ghost was flung to the side, not by her doing. Roach had tackled his partner, stopping him from even getting close to the Princess. Ghost writhed underneath him, but Roach had him pinned by the wrists. "Let me go, Roach!" He struggled against the weight of the other soldier, completely helpless. "I'm sorry, Ghost," Roach said. "You're gonna be, after man-handling me like that!" Ghost yelled. "Now let me go!" "No, not for that. For this." Roach swiftly raised a fist, striking it across Ghosts head. It caught him right in the cheek, and he was knocked unconscious immediately, and lay still beneath Roach, who was breathing heavily. He stood up, and looked a shocked Princess Celestia in the eye. "Can you have your friends take him to the infirmary?" Princess Celestia took a breath, and looked at the door, a little bit of shakiness still in her voice. "Guards!" She yelled. Two guards immediately came in, bursting through the door and immediately at the ready with their spears. Princess Celestia looked over to the unconscious solder, and said, "Take him somewhere he can rest. And restrain him. He's not going to be happy when he wakes up." "Are you alright, Princess?" One of the guards asked. "I'm perfectly fine," she replied. "Just take him." "What about the other one?" "Let him stay. We are still discussing." "Yes, your highness!" One of the guards lifted Ghost onto his back, carrying him out of the room, and the other guard closed the door behind him. Roach sighed, then slowly went to retrieve Ghost's pistol, sliding it into his own holster. "I guess he forgot," Roach said. "Forgot what?" The Princess asked. "That we can't go back." He leaned against the wall by the door, where Ghost had been standing before. "Even if we could, we're dead there. How do we know we'll still be alive if we do go back?" "Unfortunately, I can't help you with that," Princess Celestia said, laying back down on the floor. "But I know Discord can. He brought you here, and he can tell you about getting back. But if Equestria is in immediate danger, I'm afraid I can't allow it until it's contained." "So you're keeping us here to fight some unknown force that an army of ponies with magic can't fight, but you expect two men with basic military load outs to handle it on their own?" "Not exactly," the Princess went on. "I expect them both working together to fight it. You're here for a reason, and your partner needs to accept that." "And he needs to accept the fact that back on our world, we're dead." Roach sighed. "You don't understand, Princess. Back on our world, we were fighting a war too. He's got a lot on his mind, and I imagine he really wants to start taking his anger out on a few bad guys." "Well, I don't know where to find any," the Princess replied. "But we'll just have to find the one who does." --- In Canterlot's dungeon... Ghost was just regaining consciousness as he realized he'd been locked up. He sat up on his bunk. "Ugh," Ghost groaned. "I hate hangovers." He reached up to rub his temple, only to find that his helmet was on. As soon as his hand touched the bulletproof Kevlar, he sighed, remembering where he was. Then his anger flared as he remembered why he was there. He flung himself against the door, shaking it and banging on the bars with his fist. "Hey!" he yelled. "Let me out of here!" He kept banging, and when no one answered, he yelled, "If someone doesn't open this bloody door I'll kill every one of you when I get out!" He hit the door one last time. "Hey! Hey!" He stood there for a moment, grasping the door, fuming. When there was still no answer, he sighed, and let go of the door, sitting back down on the bunk. "How'd I get myself into this mess?" He murmured. Sarcastically, he slapped his palm against his forehead like he'd figured something out. "Oh, that's right, I snapped off on a blasted Princess! Guess it's not the first time I disagreed with royalty." From seemingly nowhere, something snickered. Ghost looked up. It came again. "Who's there?" The snicker turned into a chuckle. Ghost stood up. "Show yourself!" he demanded. "My, my," the voice said. "Aren't we just a bundle of sunshine this evening?" "There ain't gonna be a lot of sunshine when I punch your lights out," Ghost retorted. "Now show yourself!" "Why, I'm right behind you, dear friend." Ghost flung himself around, only to see a mirror on the opposite wall. But in the mirror was a reflection of something that immediately screamed dragon, only... Not quite. The figure chuckled, and swirled its reflected body around the edge of the mirror. "Oh, dear, it looks like you're in a bit of a pickle, hm?" Ghost shook his head, placing a hand against it and leaning against the wall. "I think I'm losing it." The figure raised a claw. "Quite the opposite, my friend. You're opening your eyes for the first time." Ghost dropped his hand. "Yeah? And who might you be, mirror mirror on the wall?" "Oh, that doesn't matter," the creature said. "What matter is-" the mirror shattered, and the shards fell to the floor. But in every single shard was a mirrored version of the creature's reflection. He pointed right at Ghost. "Who are you?" Ghost sighed, sliding down to the floor, resting his wrists on his knees. "Me? I'm a man stuck where he doesn't belong." He twitched one hand at the glass shards. "Now you mind telling me what you're doing in my cell?" "Hmm," the creature rubbed his chin. "How about you riddle me this: Why is it that I'm using some of my oldest tricks in the book, and you don't so much as flinch?" "Well, as of today I've seen a lot of crazy shi-" The creature started to laugh. "What's so funny?" "You think you've seen crazy?" The creature laughed again. "My dear friend, you haven't even begun to see crazy!" "Yeah?" Ghost taunted the creature. "Try me." "What if I told you I was the famous, and infamous, Draconequus himself," the creature placed a hand against its chest, "the great and powerful Discord!" Somehow, fireworks went off outside the window. But the only fireworks Ghost knew about were the ones in his head. He immediately stood up. "You're the one that got me in this mess in the first place!" "Indeed I am." "Then get me out of it!" "Whoa there," Discord sarcastically tried to calm Ghost down. "Take it easy there, cowboy. All in good time. But before I can do that, I'll need a little favor from you." "I ain't doing anything for you!" Ghost's voice dropped to a tone of seething anger, and he talked through clenched teeth. "I want you to take me to Roach, and send us back to Earth!" "As I said," Discord disappeared from the shards of glass, which immediately flew back up into the mirror frame, coming together as though it were never broken. Then, he appeared outside Ghost's window. He curled one finger at Ghost, beckoning him to come. "I'm going to take you somewhere not far from here. There's someone that's been dying to meet you. Do this, and I'll gladly buy your tickets home myself." Discord reached into what seemed to be a pocket in his skin. "I'm sure I've got some leftover bits here somewhere." He pulled out a small velvet coin purse, clicked it open, and tipped it over. After a short delay, an entire pile of golden coins fell out at once into a large pile, flooding around Ghost's feet and out of the cell. With barely a reaction to what happened, Ghost sighed. "Alright, I'll come meet your little friend. But I better be home in time for dinner." Discord chuckled, motioning one hand toward the horizon outside the window. A red carpet unfurled from seemingly nowhere and rolled away as far as the eye could see. "Right this way, my friend. She's expecting you." --- After about an hour of Ghost being kept locked up, Roach decided to head down to make sure his friend had cooled off. Princess Celestia requested to come with him to check in on his condition, and to tell him everything that she had told Roach. "I know I've said this a couple times already," Roach started as they made their way down the stairs to the cells, "but I'm really sorry about my hothead of a partner." "I can understand his anger," Princess Celestia replied. "He's lost and confused. I'd be very well near what he is now if I was suddenly taken from my home, and I have been in time's past." They reached the bottom of the stairs. Ghost's cell was just around the corner. "You and me both, sister." Princess Celestia cast a curious glance at Roach. "When I went off to war, I left my home and my family behind. So did Ghost. He's been a little unstable ever since, but he's kept a lid on it until now." They turned the corner. "And it's a shame about his daughter-" Roach stopped dead, and so did Princess Celestia. They spotted the pile of gold spilling out from Ghost's cell. "Ah, crap," Roach said as he ran for the cell, and started banging on the bars. "Ghost! Ghost, answer me! What is all this!" Princess Celestia trotted up next to him, and threw open the door with her magic. Roach immediately ran inside, sifting through the coins. His partner was nowhere underneath. Roach slammed his fist into the pile. "Son of a-!" He looked up at the window. Or what used to be a window. All that was left now was a hole in the wall in the exact shape of a man, and a red carpet rolled up neatly next to it. Roach's head was spinning, but Princess Celestia knew exactly what happened. Her eyebrows angled down in anger as she stamped her hoof. "Discord." "What?" Roach looked back at the Princess." "Discord's the one who brought you two here. He was the one who said that you two were necessary for the survival of Equestria." She huffed, placing one hoof against her muzzle. "I should've known he'd tricked me again." Roach rose to his feet, and began to squeeze his way through the hole in the wall. "What are you doing?" The Princess asked. "I'm going after him," Roach said. "I don't care how fluffy and innocent this world looks, he could get himself killed all on his own. I need to find him before that happens." Roach stopped dead as he ran into a glowing, yellow wall in front of him. "Ow!" he yelled, pressing a hand against his nose. "What's that all about!?" "I can't let you go alone," Princess Celestia said. "We need to wait and think about what we're doing." "Look," Roach started in a somewhat hostile tone, "I know we're supposed to be working together, but that's not just my partner out there. That's my friend. And I'm not leaving him behind. You can gather your forces here for as long as you want." He took his rifle from off of his shoulder. "But I'm going after him, and I'm not waiting." "It's too dangerous!" The Princess tried to warn him again. "If your sister was kidnapped by some big and scary creature and taken to some unknown place, would you care if it was dangerous?" Princess Celestia remained silent, simply bowing her head. The glow around her horn faded, and so did the wall in front of Roach. Without another word from the Princess, he turned in pursuit of his friend. "Be wary," Princess Celestia said, too quiet for Roach to hear. "Discord's not the danger I'm worried about."