64 vs. The Underground

by Jman9877

Chapter 57

Chapter 57

3rd Person POV

64 hid in a small storage crate next to the one he put Dolus in to wait for his next step. He was unsure if the crown in his possession was indeed the item which The Voice had told him to receive, but if he had to get the sword, he would need to get it from Aurum.

"Why the fuck does this guy even need these things?" 64 asked himself, sighing at the stupidity of the entire situation. He was considering cutting his losses and just looking for any incriminating information himself, but was cut off by the Gem suddenly coming to life. 64 answered the call. "Why is it you always try and contact me at the most obvious moments?"

"That is because I always know how to make a grand entrance." He taunted, laughing a bit. "Now, do you have the items?"

"First of all, you didn't tell me there would be two things in the vault. Want to explain that to me first?" 64 demanded, shuffling a bit in the crate he was in. He made sure to keep his voice down to not alert any passing guards.

"I decided that minor details weren't important to your objective."

64 growled at the explanation, but didn't have any authority on the matter. "Okay then fine. Where the hell are you so I can give you this stupid crown?" There was a bit of a pause in the air, 64 awaiting the response of the voice. He wasn't going to hand over the crown unless they met face to face, so until then he was going to hold onto it.

"We will set up a drop off point. I cannot reveal my identity to you just yet." The Voice answered, realizing the predicament he was in.

"Bullshit you can't. At this point, I'm the only one who can give you the Crown, and I'm the only one who can get you that sword. You're not in a position to be calling the shots around here." 64 asserted, using the small bit of power he had over the Voice. He then thought of something, and knew he could use it. "I'll go to the set drop off point, on one condition."

"And what pray tell is this condition you have?"

"I know you were somehow watching us as we moved through the Castle. That means you knew Novus was captured by the Gryphon Royal Guard." 64 started, knowing that he was going to draw on a bit. "Get him out of trouble somehow, and I'll give you the Crown, and get you the sword."

64 could hear the Voice on the other end grumbling to themselves, probably seeing if they could get him out somehow. "Alright, I accept your terms. I have the release forms for the Changeling known as Novus signed by Aurum Risen, Captain of the Royal Gryphon Guard. I will send this to the guards in charge of the Prison and get him out of there."

"So you can do forgeries apparently. I've had experience in ponies using forgeries to try and hunt me down..." 64 said suspiciously, remembering Knight and his exploits.

"I assure you, I have no ill intent towards you or Novus. We are simply using each other's skills to get what we want. A very mutual relationship if you ask me. And don't bother trying to retrieve the sword, I'll get the Changeling to acquire that item for me."

"Based on what happened to him tonight, I doubt he's in any condition to get that sword. Just tell me where Aurum took it, and I'll be able to get it."

"I assure you that Novus is in capable condition for this assignment. I can see him right now in his cell, pacing around good as new. He must've had quite the love reserve inside of him to heal himself that quickly."

64 huffed a bit, but The Voice was doing what he asked, so he would would have to hold up his end of the bargain and drop off the Crown. "Alright... where do you want me to take the Crown to?"

He chuckled, sending red flags off in 64's head. "You're actually near the location now actually. You need to conceal the Crown, and bring it to Aurum Risen's footlocker in the Barracks. I'm sure you know what I'm trying to do..."

"You want to frame him. Make it seem like he stole the crown." 64 answered, gripping the Crown tightly in his right hand.

"You got it... This isn't a problem for you I hope?"

64 waited a bit before answering. If he did this, then Ethaxial would be sent into a state of civil unrest. The Captain of the Royal Guard, guilty of Treason against the Crown. Sentenced to death, making it nearly impossible to get these Anti-Aggression agreements signed. As these thoughts circled through 64's head, he started wondering if this would be the right thing to do.

"Then again... when I have been known to make the right decisions?"

"Project 64? You need to get moving, the sun will be up in less than 4 hours." The Voice reminded.

"Alright... I'll get moving." 64 sighed, peeking out of the crate he was in and hopping out. "But trust me, this isn't going to end well."

"I know... and that is the reason I am going love every minute of it..."

The line cut off, leaving 64 with bad felling in his gut. "Hm. This is a new one. I've never had to frame someone like this before."

64 POV

I really needed to rethink my lifestyle choices. Here I was, hanging upside down using magic to stay attached to the ceiling above the Barracks Kitchen, while a maid and a guard shagged no further than 10 yards away from me. Apparently they had been fooling around for awhile, because the maid had said something about 'getting caught'.

I wanted to get the fuck out of there to at least give them some privacy, but if I moved I would cast a shadow directly on them, giving me away. I stayed huddle in a corner of kitchen ceiling, covering my ears and praying that they hurried up and finished.

'Dammit I respect the guy's stamina but can he please just hurry the fuck up?' I yelled in my head, trying to drown out the sounds of moaning and groaning reverberating off of the kitchen walls. Eventually, the couple finished up and left the kitchen, leaving me very uncomfortable. 'I really should have taken another route...'

From here it was a straight shot to Aurum's private quarters, and in his quarters would be his Footlocker. Even though he was the Captain of the guards, he wasn't exempt from daily inspections. I moved quietly, hugging the walls and trying to listen closely for any night guards. I wanted to go into my ash form now, but I knew that if I needed it later I would be screwed.

I reached Aurum's Quarters, labeled by a large sign on the front of the door. I was turning my head left and right praying that I wouldn't get spotted, because I had already seen what happened with Novus. No way I was going to fuck this up for Equestria.

The door wasn't locked, giving me easy entrance. I poked my head in as little as I could, looking left and right in the room to see if there was anyone in there. Thankfully, Aurum was still out, giving me ample time to get into his Footlocker.

"Alright, footlocker... footlocker... Ahah! There it is..." I whispered, seeing the Green steel case against the same wall that his dresser was against. It was combo locked, but luckily, there was an easy way to get into these things. I looked and saw that the most worn out numbers were 2,0,4, and 8. Talons had a nasty habit of leave marks when pressing a button.

The footlocker clicked and opened, allowing me to see what was inside. There were a few small sacks filled with items such as snacks, books, and the occasional photo, so if he were to glance inside and notice a new sack he wouldn't notice. I took out the crown and gave it one last look, taking a deep breath and letting it go.

"And with this... Aurum is fucked..." I whispered, wrapping up the crown in a spare blanket I had and stuffing it into the footlocker. I gently closed it and went to leave the room.

Until I saw the fucking doorknob turning.

Without thinking, I dove underneath Aurum's bed, going into my ash form to avoid detection. I could see his Armored talons going across the floor as he made his way to a large chest on the right of his bed. He opened it up, and the kleptomaniac in me was wondering what he had in there. I heard the distinctive clicks of clips holding his Golden Armor together releasing, allowing him to take it off and place it into the chest.

I was about to make my move to get out of there, but noticed that Aurum still hadn't moved from standing in front of the chest. I didn't want to move while everything in the room was still, he would be on me in a second.

"64? Are you in here?" He said, nearly causing me to release my ash spell. "No don't worry, it's me Novus."

I wondered if I could truly believe him, but by the uncertainty of his voice, I was inclined to believe him. I formed back into solid form and crawled out from under the bed, and 'Aurum' indeed did burst into green flames and reveal himself to be Novus.

"I saw you get pummeled in the Throne Room, how the hell did you have enough in your reserves to disguise yourself?" I asked, knowing the limits that Changelings have.

"I'm not Mutarus' best shapeshifter for nothing, I know how to use the absolute minimum amount of magic needed to completely disguise myself. Plus I managed to nail a maid in the kitchen a few minutes ago." Novus admitted, as I felt my cheeks go flush. "What's up with your face? It just got all red."

"Nothing! Shit, you got the sword?"

Novus pulled the sword from his scabbard, revealing the jewel encrusted blade. I didn't know why the Voice wanted this blade put into his footlocker, King Blackbeak gave him permission to be in possession of the blade.

"Yep, swiped it from him while he was in the can. I was told to put the blade into the mattress of his bed." Novus said, stabbing the blade into the side of the bed, stuffing it deep within the thick mattress. Novus patted the bed to make sure he couldn't feel it, before nodding. "Alright, we're good. Let's get the fuck out of here before he really does show up."

Novus and I quickly made our way out of the room, splitting up as soon as we went through the kitchen. I didn't even get 10 feet away before the Gem around my neck started to buzz again.

"What do you want now?" I growled, but instead of the false voice, I heard Novus.

"Look, I just wanted to thank you for getting me out of there. I know there was no way that Aurum would just let me walk out of there like that. How did you spring me?" Novus asked, panting a bit as he ran through the halls.

"I asked a favor from our mutual friend. Luckily the bastard knew that he wouldn't be able to get the Crown if he didn't get you out of there somehow." I replied, barely being quick enough to duck behind a doorway when a few guards walked by.

There was a pause, probably because Novus needed to stay hidden from guards. He spoke again a few moments later. "You didn't have to do that... You could have just let me take the fall and let Mutarus get cut out of the deal that's going on..."

"No... I couldn't have."

"Why not?"

I finally arrived at my room, getting inside and shutting the door behind me as fast as I could. Frenzy was still sound asleep, allowing me to step into the bathroom and close the door so I wouldn't wake him.

"Look... I don't know what other plans that Vulnus or Illudere might have, but Frenzy's is the one that will definitely be most beneficial to every one of us. It requires that all of 4 of the nations here are in agreement though, so if the Changelings somehow were rejected from the arrangement, it would all fall apart. Just make sure to see this as something that can't happen again, alright?"

Novus sighed a bit, "Alright... I'll be more careful next time."

I cut the line before he could say anything else. I stepped out of the bathroom and rubbed my eyes, suddenly realizing how tired I was. Frenzy was sitting on his bed, looking at me.

"What did you have to get?" He asked, not as asleep as I thought he was. I sat onto my bed before answering.

"King Blackbeak's Crown and Sword... frame Aurum for stealing them..." I replied, exhausted. I only have 3 left hours to sleep dammit...

"And? Were you able to do it?"

"Yes, but there were a few complications along the way... The Changeling bodyguard got caught while trying to get to the Vault."

Frenzy's eyes widened, knowing how serious that was. "What?! Oh no... this is terrible! The Changelings aren't going to be able to give the Zebra's farmland! The Gryphons won't have to give them-"

"Relax Frenzy, I was able to get Novus out of the prison." I tried to say, but it didn't do anything to calm him down.

"No! The guards in charge of the Prison will know that he was there! They'll notice that someone helped him escape!"

"I didn't help him escape. I was able to get him out by forging a document. To the King it will look like Aurum freed him on purpose, and we're already framing Aurum, so anything he'll try to say to the king will instantly be discredited. I'm not even doing this anymore to get the secrets whoever this fucker is has, I'm doing this to make sure that either Mutarus or Capras don't get them."

"And how do you know that the whatever this guy has will be legit?" Frenzy said, a confronting tone in his voice.

"I don't, but I'll put his head through a wood chipper if i ever get the chance to meet him..." I growled, laying onto the bed with my arms extended at my sides.

There was a very long pause after that, as if Frenzy was trying to process the seriousness that my words contained. I kept forgetting that he wasn't exactly experienced in the field, meaning he didn't know just how dirty these things could get. I was just about to finally go to sleep, but his next words shot a chill down my spine.

"Why do you help Equestria?"

I opened my eyes and slowly turned my head towards Frenzy. "What... what do you mean?"

"I did some research on your past when I that we going to be partnered for this mission... All of your past experiences involving the Underground Labs, Silent Knight, Princess Celestia... Super Nova... Project #1... I read about all of it." I could feel my knuckles start to clench nearly instinctively at this, but managed to keep my mouth shut. "I'm not sure I'm right about this... but it seems to me that anyone else who was also put through all of that would stop at nothing to get revenge. A lot of the stuff involving the Underground Labs and Celestia's involvement in everything has been covered up pretty good, but you could expose her for what she really did in a few seconds. Why don't you?"

I took a minute to think about it. Well... that wasn't entirely true. I had spent countless hours thinking about it before. Everyday, I often wondered if I should just reveal Celestia for what she did to Equestria, every single bloody detail included. Nothing would be able to stop me. Celestia had tried before, but history has proven that I could take her down if I needed to. I didn't know why... but I had made an excuse for myself for all of these years.

"What good would it do...?" I whispered, pushing myself into a sitting position. "What good would it do for Equestria? I get revenge? Whooptie fucking do. What about everyone else? Either Luna is forced to banish Celestia to the Sun by the angry citizens of Equestria, or Celestia's guards perform a mutiny and turn their blades on her. She's might be invulnerable to time, but not to the sharp end of a sword. It wouldn't be worth it in the long run Frenzy... None of it would..."

I flopped back onto my bed. "Now go the fuck to sleep..."

Frenzy complied.

Comments

[Changeling-Drone]

I'm howling at the moon...

[Jman9877]

4727653 For quicker chapters?

[Changeling-Drone]

4727749 no it's a clue to who I think is the gem voice

[Mr Marshmallow]

4728145
Hmmmmmmmm.....
WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILERS
IN 3,2,1
Luna, Nightmare Moon?

Also you could try to put the Snooze in this, that'd be hilarious

[Changeling-Drone]

4728633 heh smooze

No, here's another hint, it's a line in a song

[Jman9877]

4730141 *sigh*... I got it now...

[Changeling-Drone]

4730207 DISCORD IM HOWLING AT THE MOON AND SLEEPING IN THE MIDDLE OF A SUMMER AFTERNOON

[Mr Marshmallow]

4730141
...HOW DID I NOT NOTICE THAT I LOVE THAT SONG!
Argh!
But thanks, also yeah, his magic is yellow so it makes sense

[Changeling-Drone]

4730645 plus

"Alright... I'll get moving." 64 sighed, peeking out of the crate he was in and hopping out. "But trust me, this isn't going to end well."

"I know... and that is the reason I am going love every minute of it..."

also the author for got to color some things

[Oubliette]

64 Stat increases:
+5 to diplomacy, stealth, and intimidate.
Perk unlocked: "Black Days"
"I Wanna Know, If this Could be my Fate..."
Whether you glory in it or dislike it, you have a gift for getting on the wrong side of powerful folks and getting involved in touchy situations. Yet you always come out okay, even if it is a close shave. Once per encounter, when in a dangerous situation, you may make two rolls on any check and use the higher result.

[Clicker]

I preferred the first one but I'm enjoying this.