Equestrian Mercenaries.by JTChaptersBad Relations.ArrivalPlace to stay.Hell-SpawnsReturn of SorrowMeeting PinkieConflictsFirst shotKrellr VardmadrSweet apple acres.Oh God, I f%*@#$ed up her hairBad Relations.Twilight was trying to wrap her head around what she was seeing. Five creatures stood before her, they were all clad in some kind of Armor colored so that it blended in with trees. She scanned the pack and started to panic when she noticed the biggest one, it was easily as tall as Celestia and looked like it could rip a log in two. Twilight then realized she still had Celestia with her. She turned back and noticed the Diarch's offensive stance. Unfortunately the big one noticed this too, and rolled out of the way as a laser bolt seared the ground he was on. She watched in horror as the big one jumped out one of her windows and broke parts of her wall as well. The others noticed this and sat there, what looked like smiles playing off their faces. Celestia was enraged by this. "WHY ARE YOU SMILING?!?" One laughed and pointed at her......no, Past her. "Cause, you're fixing to be nothing more than a pile of guts, don't believe me? Look behind you." Celestia took the advice and looked behind her, but she froze when her muzzle hit cold steel. Elijah had jumped out the window when the giant 'Chicken.' Shot at him. After landing, he snuck around and estimated where the poultry would be, he was fixing to try to break down the wall, but he noticed a door. He turned the knob, stepped in, and stood there quietly, waiting for the chicken to notice him. Celestia looked up and into the slotted helmet of the creature. "Uh..." She was cut off when it wrapped its paw around her throat, and grabbed her back and LIFTED her above his head. Preparing to: 1- Slam her onto the ground and finish her with a stomp. 2- Rip her in two. "WAIT!!!! STOP!!!!!" Celestia was surprised to see one of the creatures actually keeping her from death. It then motioned for the bigger one to set her down, who groaned at the orders. "Why? It tried to kill me!" "Put the damn thing down! Can't you see it has a crown! I want to know where we are, what happened, and why we're being shot at!" ArrivalGunfire echoed across the land, only to be followed by sounds of Steel clashing against strong armor, and blades sinking into Flesh. Luke was firing desperately into the giant being he faced: Its maw was filled with Razor like fangs five feet long. Its skin a pale white etched with scars from past battles. The arms were the size of trees, and though it moved slow, being hit would mean death. Luke's bullets were simply being soaked into it's skin, annoying the beast further. "Elijah? Elijah! Take this things head on a nice date to everywhere!" He desperately called within the com-Link inside his helmet, hoping the Psychotic Sniper would hear him. Elijah laid down on the ground, expert eyes peering through the high powered scope. Slowly. Carefully he trained the crosshairs on the beasts head. He felt the familiar bolt on his Rifle as he pulled it back, and back, until it fully exited the gun. He then threaded a massive round onto the end of the bolt and jammed it back inside, smiling as he heard the click. "Fine, fine, I just call it's Liver.....What? It looks tasty." He pulled the trigger and the rifle kicked back in his hands. BOOM Luke heard the report of the rifle and threw himself on the ground. This was going to be messy. The round whizzed through the air at incredulous speeds. The air friction turning it into a huge searing metal stake of death. It entered the giants head, obliterating the skull, carrying onto the brain, turning it into an over pressurized mush. When the round exited, the kinetic energy caused the Giant's head to explode into shards of nasty, and tossing the Giant fifty yards from its original position. Luke could only stay on the ground as dozens of pounds of sick rained on him. "I think I'm going to be sick." Elijah stood and started walking towards the fallen beast, he wanted that liver, and he wanted it bad. He could already smell that Liver as it's juices bubbled and popped, the air around it filling with the sweet aroma. The taste of the lightly charred meet when he bit into it. He quickened his pace. He was hungry. After a few minutes of walking/jogging. He came upon a bent over Luke who was promptly emptying his guts of anything they had. Luke was a weak stomached person, Elijah on the other hand would be a little sick too if he had brains covering most of his body. "Whats wrong Lukey? I thought you liked brains?" He teased the soldier, who looked at him with malice. "You know damn well that's not the case! I mean look at me! I'm covered in extinct creature brain matter!" He picked up some brain and smeared it all over Elijah, who merely shrugged. Luke sighed and looked around. The creature they fought was ending its spasms, blood dripping out of the hole that was it's neck. That thing had nearly killed him and made him feel weak, he hated feeling weak. He thought about this for a moment, but decided it was just the adrenaline dump. He wanted to go back to camp, lay down, eat, sleep, and get drunker than a skunk, but most of all he wanted to see the rest of his team. Wait a second............. HIS TEAM! HE HAD FORGOTTEN ALL ABOUT HIS TEAM! "Elijah, wheres the rest of us?" Luke looked back at the giant, who laughed, shook his head, and grabbed luke's and jerked it in the direction behind him. Nearly breaking Luke's neck. "We're right here, Lukey." The bushes parted to reveal a midsized man, holding a drum-fed thompson. A slightly smaller man, carrying what looked like an AUG-BAR. Not to mention an even smaller man, carrying a dinky 9mm. Mark Hayden Josiah Elijah ran up to the one with the thompson. "Markey! You should of seen it! There I was acting all cool when I get a call from Luke, man was he panicked, and guess what! He just begs me to help him and make this thing go boom!" Mark folded his arms and looked over at the soldier. A smile playing across his face. "Really?" Luke guffawed. "Well..I...He...Oh just go claim your damn Liver." Elijah jumped up in the air with excitement, ripping out a large knife off his belt and rushing towards the fallen behemoth. Hayden chuckled and scanned the rest of the team. "Wanna go watch?" Luke shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "Why not." When they got to the fallen creature, Elijah was already past it's ribcage and was half in and half out it's body cavity. He felt his hands around in the mush, searching for a particularly soft organ, he wiggled his hand inside for a bit, but stopped when he felt something hard. "What do we have here?" He wrapped his fingers around it and pulled it out, when id did come out with a sickly pop, he was nearly blinded. In his hand was THE largest gem he had ever seen! This would easily cover all of their expenses for months! He smiled, dropped out of the cavity and waved it in front of his comrade's faces. "Who wants to get paid?" The soldiers all dropped their jaws in awe, staring at the hunk of wealth before them. "Nice find Elijah!" "We're rich!" "I can't believe it!" "Why's it glowing?" The team stopped at the last question. Glowing? They all looked at the gem simultaneously. It WAS glowing! Elijah stopped and looked at his comrade's with worry. They returned the look. "What the Fu- AH!" The crystal ruptured and shattered, the team shielded their eyes from the intense light. The light enveloped them all in it's radius, then it disappeared entirely, leaving behind only ashes and burnt grass. "Twilight, why have you called us here?" Princess Celestia questioned, her usual royal demeanor gone. She loved her student, but there was a particular case about something having to do with a hospitalized pony and one of her chariot drivers. "Well Princess, a few days ago, I was able to Teleport a gem to another dimension, and I would like to demonstrate how to retrieve objects sent across the dimensional plane." Celestia was astonished by this. Teleporting an object to another dimension? It was an impressive feat. "Proceed." "Thank you Princess." Twilight's horn glowed as she focused the spell, the light intensified as she concentrated harder. She scanned the world of dimensions until she came upon a feeling like she was being pulled by something, she quickly focused on this object and pulled it out of its dimension and into her own. A bright light filled the room, and a loud crack knocked Twilight off her hooves and onto the ground. A loud clattering like something falling filled the air. Voices soon followed. "Ow." "I'm going to be sick." "Da' Hell." "I'm going to be sick again." "Comrades! There is a giant chicken looking at us!" Twilight was still recoiling from the spell, wondering what happened. Then it hit her, causing her to jump up and stare in shock. She hadn't just brought the crystal.....She brought something else with it. Author's Note There you have it! The first chapter of Equestrian mercenaries. Comment and tell me what you think! Place to stay."So let me get this straight, we're in a land of talking pony's called Equestria, Elijah here just technically assaulted a Princess and now you're sorry for attacking us?" Princess Celestia smiled and nodded. After the one called Elijah had set her down, and the predicament explained. She had offered them a place to sleep, stay and rest. She had also apologized for shooting her magic at the group. "Yes, I would also like you all to have a temporary place of rest, here in ponyville, but I expect you all to be kind to my ponies." Luke was dumbfounded. He hadn't been here but ten minutes and already they were being offered a place of temporary residence. "Um....Wow princess, I really don't know what to say....I mean thanks and all, but, I don't know." Elijah raised his hand and interjected. "We accept, sorry for nearly ripping you apart, or turning you into boots.." Celestia's face went a little pale and her pupils dilated. "All is forgiven." Twilight was near to bursting with excitement, she was barely able to stay in one spot. "YOU HAVE TO LET ME STUDY YOU!" Elijah shot up, a look of worry spreading across his face. Study him? Look him over, observe his behavior, but that would mean they would find out about.... "No." "Why? Please! ohPleaseohpleasohpleaseohprettyplease?" "No." Twilight sat on the ground looking at the squad. Her eyes becoming like puppy dog eyes. She let out a sad sniffle. "Why not?" "I have my reasons, ones you should not concern yourself with." Elijah turned towards the Princess. "Now where is this place." Mark jogged up to Elijah, nudging his side with his elbow. "One freaky day huh?" "Kind of, besides I kinda like it here, much better than back at camp." "Tell me about. No giant beetles trying to worm thier way into your clothes, no giant spiders, and......no more mutants." Elijah smiled at the thought of no more of the heavily irradiated, jacked up, evil selfish creatures. "Yeah, no more mutants." Twilight appeared to hear this and trotted up to the two, her face questioning. "Mutants? What exactly happened to your world? What could make the place so bad?" Both Creatures stopped, looking at each other, Twilight could almost swear they were talking to each other, She debated this fact, but decided it would not be possible. She looked up to see them both staring at her. "You want to know what happened? Why things were so horrible there." Elijah asked, his face stern. "Are you sure? It's not pretty." Mark interjected. "Well, yeah, duh." Twilight nodded, her obviously cynical tone slightly aggrivating the two. "War consumed our planet, country fought country, nation fought nation, father fought son, brother fought brother. We..." He gestured to the rest of the squad. "Were around til the end of the war, and...it was hell." Twilight gulped, one forbidden question forming in her mind. "How?" "Everyday, we were hunted, bombed, shot at. Every morning, the smell of dead, charred, fresh, old, rotting bodies, filled the air." "How many died?" She asked, hoof against her chin. "Four billion." Twilight's eyes widened in shock at the news. So many people.....Women....Children....B-babies. "F-f-f-four billion?" "Yeah....Four billion." "What was the war about?" "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Twilight thought on this and soon another question popped into her head. "What did you all do?" "We created the Crimson Marauder Mercenaries, telling everyone who would listen, that if they joined and swore Loyalty, they'd get, food, water, safety, and companionship." "How many of you are there?" "Twenty thousand, well armed, well trained Soldiers, twelve thousand women and children, along with non-combatants." "Non-combatants?" "Artificers, blacksmiths, farmers, carpenters, you name it." Twilight thought about this too. Where do you put thirty two thousand people? "Where do you live?" "Nowhere, we don't have a home, we're kind of Like nomadic soldiers" "Wow." "Yeah......Wow." The trio walked on, well behind the main group. Mark was now wondering where the place they were going to stay was, and how much food it has. This brought a question with it. "Hey Twilight, what kind of food you guys got around here?" Twilight looked up at them with a happy smile. "Oh, you'll love it! We've got daisy sandwiches." "Daisy sandwiches? Doesn't sound too bad actually." "We've got lettuce." "Mmmmm...Lettuce." "Oh, and we've got apples!" The two creatures stopped, exchanging a look of glee, and hunger. "Apples, you say?" "Yeah apples, why? What's got you two so worked up?" "Well, we've never had an apple. We've heard stories, but the war wiped most of them out." "Really? Because, where we're going, you can have all the apples you want!" Hell-SpawnsAfter opening up the barn, Elijah had put his rifle up on on a nearby shelf, positioning it and his pistols just so, that if he needs it, he would have it, ready to shoot. He then settled down on a flat bale of hay, folded his arms, and tried to sleep. A few minutes later, Elijah sighed and got up. Sleep never came easily to him, he would often stare into the sky and wonder what they're like up there. Stepping outside the barn, he decided to walk around and get the lay of the land. He passed tree after tree after tree, his mind wondering into anyplace it could find. A sharp crack of a twig alerted the giant and he spun around to be confronted with Demons. Each demon was about 5'9, finely muscled, and had a black blade jutting from the stump of their left hoof, they're right hoof was bloodied, and several pieces of metal were jutting out of them. Their muzzles were filled with sharp looking teeth, all curved inwards for good grip. Their backs had huge metal hooks protruding from the skin. But what disturbed Elijah the most were the eyes. They looked like glowing splotches of blood, staring into your soul, as if they were trying to rip it out. They were a morbid sight The Demon in front reared its ugly head back, and released a high pitched roar. The sound shrieking through the air, causing Elijah to cringe. Elijah was disturbed, even in the wastelands he once roamed, the creatures looked like kittens compared to this. What did they want? What the hell were they? Why hadn't they attacked him when he was walking? Thoughts raced through his head, crashing into each other, causing widespread confusion. He shook his head, clearing the thoughts. They might be friendly, they might not be. He would not throw the first strike. "Are you friend or foe?" He asked, his eyes summing up their numbers. '34 at least, might be more.' He thought to himself. If they were here to kill him, the fight would be bloody. The lead Demon roared again and charged at Elijah, swinging it's hoof-blade, it caught against his shoulder plate, cutting a deep groove in the metal. Elijah jumped back. "Definitely not Friendly" He would have to kill them, as they sought to kill him. He lashed out and caught the Demon by it's neck. Lifting it up, he heaved it over his shoulder and smashed it into the ground. He tried to stomp it's head into dust, but it rolled out of the way and swung it's blade across part of his exposed leg, leaving a deep gash. Elijah swung his fist straight down and caught the beast in the top of it's head. It's skull shattered and exploded everywhere, covering the giant in a blackish red blood. Weight suddenly pushed itself onto the soldier, followed by deep stabs of pain. They were breaking through his armor, the hell were their blades made of? He rolled along the ground, crushing many of the evil beings, their corpses covered in blood. He reached back and pulled two more off his back, he then smashed them together, their bones exploding because of the force. The creatures were finally off him, thirteen lay dead. The rest would soon follow. He felt rage start to boil up inside him, he pushed it down. He was out-numbered, and un-armed. He would need a level head to win this fight. Two more charged at him, hoping to spear him with their blades. Elijah knocked the duo to the side. He picked up one and threw it onto the other, splattering them both across the ground. He turned to the rest of the group. They were halted and......bowing? Why the hell were they bowing? "What the he-URK!" Pain washed across his midsection, such pain, that he was crippled and couldn't react. He looked down, seeing a black sword carved with death scenes of horrendous origins. The blade was shoved even further. He cried out in pain. He felt himself be lifted into the air and felt his bones pop when he was thrown onto the ground. His vision was starting to blur. He could barely stay awake. He was losing blood fast, he could see puddles forming around him.. "Sorry kiddo. You were just at the wrong place, at the right time. You were a threat, you had to be removed." He opened his eyes and could make out a face. A human face. It's teeth were sharp and wicked. It's skin a black shadow that cascaded off him. And it's eyes. Oh god it's eyes. It's horrible eyes. It's eyes glowed bright red, it's pupils were stars that seemed to scream malice and hate. "Bye bye, kiddo." He couldn't stay awake any longer, he could only hope he'd survive til morning, where his friends would come looking for him. That's all he could do, was hope. Return of SorrowMark groaned as he rolled off the bale of hay, he rolled over to far and collapsed onto the floor of the barn. He crawled over to another bale and slapped his hand on its surface. "Come-on Elijah, getup.....Elijah? Elijah?" His hand felt around, not finding the metal the giant wore. Mark finally opened his eyes. Standing up, he scanned the room. "No Elijah here. Must have gotten up already. Better go find him." Mark wondered where the giant had gone. It was unlike him to be up so early in the morning. He remembered one time, a Soldier had disturbed his sleep and had to eat paste for a month. He laughed silently to himself. Elijah, no matter what they had been through, always was there for him, they had known each-other for years. Watched each-others back for years before they joined the Mercenaries. He opened the door and immediately tripped on something. He landed on the ground hard, and it knocked the breath out of him. He was in a little pain, but it was so little, he didn't care. It's what he saw that made him hurt. He saw Elijah. Elijah was laying there, multiple puncture wounds criss-crossed his back, his leg had a deep gash across it. Blood soaked the ground and Mark could see where he had dragged himself across the ground. It looked like had had come over a mile! Mark scurried over to where Elijah laid. Tears threatening him with their arrival. This was his closest friend, his brother even. He placed a hand on Elijah's chest, hoping for a heartbeat.......Nothing, Mark felt nothing. "No,no,no,no,no!.......Come on man!Get up! Get the fuck up!" He was openly crying now, he wiped the tears away with a forearm, but he stopped when he felt something. It was so light, he barely felt it. It was so small, but it gave him the greatest hope a man could have. Ba-dump. It was a heartbeat. Elijah was still alive...His brother was still alive! He wouldn't be for long. He was Losing blood at a slow rate, but it could still kill him if left untreated. There was only one thing left to do now. "JOSIAH! GET OUT HERE!" A few seconds Later Josiah was racing out of the barn, followed by the others. They all gasped when they saw him. They couldn't believe their eyes. Elijah was on the ground, covered in his own blood, and slowly dying. "Go get AppleJack, tell her to tell Twilight to send the Princess, or anyone down here. Josiah, get to work on stabilizing Elijah. The rest of us will provide security detail, whatever did this to him, could still be around. Alright people, lets move!" A few hours later, Elijah was well on his way to the Ponyville hospital. When Princess Celestia arrived, Mark felt no joy, only sadness. These ponies didn't have the technology needed to treat Elijah. How would they treat him? There was only one way to find out. When they reached the hospital, Elijah was wheeled away into the Emergency Surgery Room. The doctors soon tried to get the armor off of him, but it was to strong, so they operated into the puncture wounds. Mark sat on a couch, jumping at the sight of the Pony Doctor walking through the double doors. He quickly rushed over. Celestia did as well, but in a more regal manner. "How is he?" "His body is rejecting chemicals with such ferocity that you could swear he was made for it. The puncture wounds are not all too serious. That armor of his saved his life, stopped the blades before they could reach his vital organs. The Stab wound, however......is worse than we feared, without magic, there is no way he'll live. We also discovered some strange thi-." "Doc, that is not important right now, and did you say magic?" "Yes, we unicorns can do magic. I specialize in healing magic and the like." Mark was about to yell, grab the doctor and punch his face until it was nothing more than a shattered pile of gore. "And why did you not heal him first?" "Well, we had to be sure there was no metal, shrapnel, and other things in him, so that when we did heal him, they wouldn't be fleshed over and infect the wound." Mark stopped, his rage gone: That was actually a very good reason, maybe these ponies could save him. Elijah was later treated with the Magic, his wounds had closed over, but the pain was still very much there. Mark knew that Elijah would have questions, and Mark had some himself. They all entered the sterile white room. Looks of glee on their faces. Their friend was going to live,survive, and get back to kicking ass in no Time. Elijah was sitting up in his bed, his armor was still on, not that he ever took it off. Mark knew why, and it was the same reason he never took his off. "Hey man, how you doing?" Mark asked in a highly sarcastic tone. "Really, I just got my ass kicked by bunch of Emo ponies, stabbed by a fucking shadow man thing, and you ask me how I'm doing? Great, fine really." The mention of the Shadow man seemed to intrigue and worry Celestia, her face went from calm, to downright scared. "Elijah, what do you mean, shadow man?" "Well, he was strong, his skin looked like a bunch of shadows, his teeth were sharp, and he had the most fucked up eyes I've ever seen." Celestia sighed, her face still encumbered by worry. "Then it is as I feared. Sorrow has returned." Elijah was confused. "Sorrow? Princess.....Do you know something, I don't." He asked, he hated being left in the dark. "You see, you are not the first of your kind to come here, One of my most trusted Advisors: Starswirl the Bearded, Tried the spell, that brought you back here. The result was very much the same. When he came through, he seemed friendly, but when he learned of magic, he used it to commit horrible atrocities. He ripped Parents apart in front of their children, making them swear loyalty to him and only him. A lot of my ponies thought him a god, and sided with him, following his every wish, even if it was for them to kill themselves. He attempted to overthrow Canterlot, my seat of Rule. And use it to spread pain and hatred across the Land. When you came through, I thought you were just like him, this is why I attacked you." Everyone remained silent, this enemy was able to take down Elijah. Alone, they would all perish. They would need an Army, but not just any Army...Their Army. "Princess?" Luke raised his hand. "Do you think you could replicate that spell again?" Meeting PinkieThe group stood in Twilight's library, all eyeing the place, remembering it as the first time they met. Mark actually enjoyed the quiet, aside from the strange humming of Twilight's horn, all was silence. "So Twilight, you got any frien-!" "OH MY GOD! IT IS FUCKING ADORABLE!" Twilight's horn stopped glowing as she turned to face the voice. She was greeted by Elijah holding up a pink pony who was laughing and giggling with delight. The pony turned and showed her widest smile yet. "Hey, Twilight, you didn't tell me about the new Stallions!" She would have been bouncing up and down had she not been in Elijah's hands. Twilight facehoofed, she hadn't planned for this, thought about this, or even foresaw this, how could she have been so stupid. "Elijah, put down Pinkie." Elijah simply hoisted Pinkie onto his shoulder and folded his arms. Pinkie laid down on his massive shoulder and nuzzled up beside his head. "No." "Please?" "No", Pinkie sat up on Elijah's shoulder and jumped off landing near his calf. "AW. Twilight, you are such a silly filly, Elijah here is all nice, flowers and sunshine, right big guy?" Elijah rubbed the back of his helmet awkwardly. 'Should I tell them?......No, We've got a fragile truce with them as is, so no tell.' He thought to himself. "I, well, you see-" Click. "OOH! What's this shiny thing do?" Elijah looked down in horror,Pinkie had his pistol, somehow she had gotten the safety off, and was looking straight down the barrel. "Pony, don't move a muscle. Your very life is at stake here." He slowly reached for the pistol, his hand wrapping around it's grip, his finger moved to flick the safety back on- BOOM!! "AGH! MY MANE! MY GLORIOUS MANE!!" Twilight seemed to have gone pale..If that was possible, given her color and all. "Uh Oh." Author's Note Sorry for the wait. Had writers block, several other ideas and school. you get the gist. ConflictsRainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy both sat on the floor of the library, eyes wide with wonder at the story being told to them. "So there I was, I just won a fistfight with a giant mutant, nearly as big as I am! When this lady comes up to me and says!" The trio all leaned forward, eyes becoming impossibly wide. "What did she say?" Asked a infatuated Rainbow. "She said. Get the fuck off my property!" Elijah spanned his hands wide, making a gesture of surprise. "WHAT! YOU DO ALL THAT WORK AN' THAT CHICK TELLS YOU TO LEAVE? UNBELIEVABLE!" "I know right? I didn't even get paid, not that she could have paid me afterwards." "What do you me-" PLOP. A scroll bearing the royal insignia appeared and landed on Elijah's lap, who unrolled the parchment, and shrugged. The rest of the Mercenary band, who sat around the room, lifted their heads in surprise, and each (Excluding Mark, on account of his helmet.) Gave quizzical looks. Luke was the first to ask his question. "Well, what's it say?" Elijah set down the scroll, took his pistol out, and loaded a fresh stripper clip into it. Putting the metal strip back into a pouch on his waist, he stood. "We just got hired." The ponies all gave confused looks towards the giant. Applejack raised her hoof in the air like a school filly. "What da ya mean, hired? What's the job?" Elijah shrugged, and holstered his pistol again. "Some things called 'Black Wing Brigades' Raiding the borders, the letter said that Lethal force is authorized." This elicited a whoop from the Mercenaries. Who immediately set to loading, checking and cleaning their respective firearms. The Ponies jaws fell, their eyes grew wide with horror. "Black Wing Brigades? The savage Ponies and griffons who raid towns? You're going up against them?" As if to punctuate Rainbow's statement, a bag filled to the brim with gold coins, materialised and landed on a nearby table, spilling it's contents. "We also get paid in advance." The group of Ponies and Mercenaries walked through the town, a few Ponies evaded and avoided the band of Humans and Element Bearers, who chatted happily to themselves. Elijah, began looking for their mode of transport, spotting only some Royal Guards heading their way, he looked back. 'Wait a second, Guards?' The thought intruded his mind like a naked old man barging into a National Nun Reunion. There were Guards heading their way, headed by a white stallion bearing a silver type armor. Twilight ran up to this Stallion and embraced him. "Shining!" "Twiley!" The two broke apart, Twilight gestured to Elijah and the rest. "Shining, this here is Elij-" "Elijah, Mark, Luke, Hayden, and Josiah, yes I know, I was informed by the princesses about our........Guests." Shining Armor said the phrase through gritted teeth, speaking the last word with difficulty. It was obvious he did not like them. "And I assure you, your services are no longer needed, the Royal Guard has things all under control." Shining expected the humans to be relieved, these were black wings, he had heard the stories of prisoners being torn apart, tortured. He shuddered, Castrated, then forced to eat their own bits. But when he looked up, he nearly dropped his jaw in amazement. They were pissed. Each Mercenary wore a mask of anger, hate and just plain rage, even the two wearing helmets had an aura of hatred emanating from them. The largest one, Elijah, raised his hand and pointed a finger at him. "No can do, doughboy, we get paid, the job gets done, company policy." "I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to pass on to the tr-!" Shining armors voice was cut off when something grabbed his throat, cutting off his oxygen, and slammed him into the ground, knocking the rest of the air out of his body. He heard a click, and felt a large cylinder press against his fore head. "YOU WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH MY MISSION! I WAS PAID, AND THE JOB WILL BE DONE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" Shining's Guards leveled their spears at the mercenaries, who in turn shouldered their rifles. "Don't even try it, if you so much as make a single move, we'll pepper you with so many holes, you'll whistle when you walk." One of the guards jabbed his spear in the groups direction. "Surrender!" "I'll surrender one bullet, where do you want it?" The opposing sides wouldn't back down, all the while, Shining was still being choked by Elijah. The Guards eventually started inching their way towards Shining, trying to get close enough to free their Captain, at least till he was thrown out of the way like a ragdoll. He then landed in some trash cans, resulting in a loud racket. Elijah gestured to the rest of his squad, beckoning them to get to the train. "Come on, it's not like they can hurt us anyways." First shotElijah sat in an undersized bench, his helmeted eyes scanning the scenery as it flew by. He sighed, and removed on of his gauntlets. Underneath it, the flesh was a rose color, as if agitated, and the veins were black. He slipped the gauntlet back on and continued staring out the window. Everything quiet in his mind, save for one thought. "Six months." "What was that Elijah?" Elijah jumped and looked over at Twilight, who held a concerned look. "It was nothing. where are the boys at, We need to come up with a plan." "They're in the back car, doing.....something?" Elijah got off the bench, which groaned in delight, and walked through the door leading into the last car, as soon as he passed through the door, he was assaulted with noise. Inside the cart, all his fellows were drinking, smoking, and having just plain fun. Josiah stumbled by with a bottle of the pony equivalent of whiskey, took one swig, and crashed on the floor. "Lightweight." Elijah continued his march into the car, finding everything to be right as he passed by Luke holding a bottle to hisa mouth and hayden with a cigar rolling between his thumbs. Mark was laying on a bench, sleeping. All was well. Elijah found a nice spot on the floor, sat down and leaned back. Letting out a tired sigh as he passed into sleep. "Elijah! Wake up! We're almost there!" Elijah's eyes fluttered open to reveal Mark standing over him, offering a hand up. Elijah grasped the hand and hauled himself onto his feet. His hand instinctively went to the pistols at his waist. He found his revolvers handle and drew it. He brought it up to his face and examined the cylinder, each round inside as big as his thumb with enough powder behind it to blow through a tank. "You plan on using Ol'Ark today?" "Yeah, figure if I can kill one in such a bloody way, the others will lose morale and surrender." "Sounds good, come on, the others are up front." Elijah and mark passed into the next car and began addressing their gear. Elijah took a glance out the window to see a train of ponies walking back towards ponyville. Each one sad and downtrodden. He visibly swelled as he prepared himself for battle. A few minutes later, the train came to a halt in front of a burning town. There were audible clicks as bolts were slammed into place and clips loaded. Elijah spun the cylinder on his revolver, watching it spin effortlessly. The door opened and they were met with a barrage of arrows. The others ducked as the arrows flew. But Elijah stood rigged, the arrows bouncing off his armor making a clang noise. Soon the barrage stopped and a few shouts of surprise were heard. "What is that thing?" "Is it with us?" "Does it like gravy?" Elijah stepped out onto the ground, only to be confronted by a black and white griffin waving a sword at him. It was futile seeing as the griffin barely passed his waist. "Oi! You can't just come in here and act like you's the boss! Why I ought to gut ya and fuck yer corpse just fer sherwin' up! Now me an' me boys here won't take a single act of dummeh as long as you here. Oi, are you listenin'?" Elijah didn't respond. He just raised his revolver to the griffin and fired. The bullet passed through the griffin's chest, the kinetic energy and mass of the round blowing the torso apart. When Elijah lowered the revolver and holstered it. All that was left was a gristly corpse of legs, trying to stay standing. His 'Fellows' stood behind him with the remainder of their commander splattered across their faces. Meanwhile Twilight was mortified at the display of violence, and prowess, and sheer hate. She felt tears well up as she turned to Luke and the rest of the squad as she cried. "Why don't you help him? He's going to get swarmed!" Luke wrapped his arms around Twilight and whispered into her ear. "Look, Elijah's pissed and it's best just to let him vent out, and don't worry, those bandits won't be able to hurt him." Krellr VardmadrElijah felt nothing as another skull powdered under his fist. He felt nothing as another body was torn apart in his hands. He felt nothing as another bandit lost his life beneath his boot. In complete rage, he felt nothing. A bandit wielding a spear flew at him, a crazed look in his eye as his wings gave one last blast of propulsion. Elijah grabbed the spear tip, thrusting it through the pony, and making it come out the other side, covered in blood and the remains of the bandits spine. Elijah's gaze tore into his eyes, making sure the last thing he saw was the torrent of anger within him. A pony wielding a sword met his end as Elijah's boot crushed his skull to a bloody pulp in the dirt beneath him. The slaughter continued, beating, ripping, gouging, tearing, impaling. All of it passed through his mind on instinct. Through all this, a single thought passed through his mind. 'Why? Why is it me who this has to happen to? I tried to save them, help them! Yet now I pay for my good will. Why?' The question reverbrated through his mind as he picked up a stallion, thrust his palm in his gut, and disembowled him. Elijah tossed the corpse away, then clotheslined another bandit with the intestine cord. He wrapped it around his neck and tied him high to a tree, and left him to choke. The slaughter continued. Until there was no more. Looking around, Elijah saw the destruction he had caused. Buildings were smashed into rubble, hay and building materials lay spewed out on the ground in random piles. Bodies littered the area, all punctuated by the hanging bandit. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement. Snapping his head to the object, he saw a bandit's face look out, pale and then hurry back in. Elijah stomped over to the cellar door, and with one swift kick, knocked it inward. Following the steps down, he saw a sight that would forever haunt him. Nailed to a wall was a mare, her eye gouged out, her snout cut off, her belly cruelly opened and hurriedly stitched back together. Leaking from in between her legs flowed a thick trail of semen. Her bottom hooves were chopped up and branded shut, and tears of blood streaked her face. Breaking out of his trance, Elijah saw the monster responsible, curled up in a corner, was a bandit, his hooves covering his head and quaking in fear. Elijah decided to ignore him for now, as the mare needed immediate medical attention. Getting closer, he noticed something inside her stomach was moving, her fur and skin poking out and shifting. Elijah lowered his head to the mare's belly and listened. "Mommy! I want out Mommy! I can't breathe!" Elijah recoiled in shock and disgust. He realized that in order to save the foal, he would have to kill the mother. That or he could rip her open and save the foal while she died a horrible death. The choice was obvious Pulling out one of his pistols, he leaned in close to the mare. He put his forehead against hers and whispered in the softest voice he could. "I'm so sorry, but I'll take care of her, don't worry." The mare sealed her eyes shut and whispered back. "Thank you..." Elijah clicked off the safety on his pistol, pulled back the hammer, and lined up the shot. Boom. The bullet had completely obliterated the mares skull, leaving a stump of meat spewing blood. Elijah wasted no time as he ripped open the corpse. The stitches giving way under his brute strength. Out of the bloody maw fell a little filly, her coat as black as night and her eyes a teal. Her horn was colored blue as the sky. She plopped into Elijah's hands, covered in her mother's blood and intestines. She didn't appear to be breathing, he checked her pulse, finding it strong and steady, he surmised that she simply passed out from oxygen starvation. Elijah pulled his canteen out from his waist, and washed the little filly off, sparing no expense of water as he made sure the blood and guts were off of her. Once he finished, he placed the snoozing filly in his side pouch. And turned on the bandit. The bandit took notice of his gaze and backed himself further into the corner. Whimpering and crying. Elijah picked him up by the scruff of the neck, making him meet his gaze. the bandit cried and wailed for mercy. He would find none. Elijah continued the stare down until the bandit spoke. "Wh-wh-what a-are y-you?" "Your damnation." Elijah wrapped his hand around the bandit's midriff, pulling him out of the cellar. Elijah cleaned his hands off of the blood, then dunking his entire body into the stream. The water turned red as the blood from the bandits was washed away. Once Elijah was done, he walked to the shore, gathered the snoozing filly and his weapons, and walked back to the train. Passing by the corpse of a bandit. Who's chest was ripped open, revealing his still beating heart. Each of his ribs broken off and shoved through his limbs to pin him to the wall. His eyes were gouged out and rested as his new testacles with his old ones adorning his neck. His skull, carefully carved in a way as to remove the brain safely, but painfully, out of the head, rested on the shoulder of Elijah's armor. Waiting to be coated in metal and added as a new pauldron. Elijah passed the screaming stallion, his face no more than a floppy sac of brains and muscle. Beneath him was scrawled a message. "I come for you all." Elijah kept walking past the flaming cellar that contained the filly's mother. A decent funeral was all he could give. Elijah kept walking to the train, feeling the filly in his arms stir awake, and scream at the sight of him. "WHERE'S MOMMY? I WANT MOMMY! MMMMMMMOOOOOOMMMMMMYYYYY!!!!!" Elijah's heart broke and he let out a sigh as he placed an armored finger to the filly's mouth, silencing her. "Mommy's gone. I'm so sorry. But Mommy's gone, and she won't be coming back. Don't worry though, mommy is in a better place, and someday we'll both get to see mommy again, we just have to be strong and carry on. I told her I'd take care of you and I meant it. Just be strong. For Mommy. Okay?" The filly's eyes grew large and tears filled her eyes, she gripped herself tight to his armor, crying as she stuttered out words. "M-m-mommy's gone, but now....I have a Daddy." And for the first time that day. Elijah smiled. "So, little one. What's your name? Mine's Elijah BaniBrandr." The filly looked up and giggled slightly. "You have a funny name. I'm Midnight Blossom." "Hmm.....well, I changed my name whenever I left home, so how about we do the same?" "But what will I change it to? And why would I change my name?" "Well, whenever I changed my name from Wyatt to Elijah, it symbolised my leaving of the past, to leave things as they were and move on. I think changing your name would help you move on." "Well, okay. But I can't think of any names?" " How about I name you in my native tongue, an old dialect called Norse, I named myself after the village suffered a fate like yours did. So how about......Krellr Vardmadr...or in Norse, Spirit Watcher." The filly jumped out Of Elijah's hands and buried her muzzle in his armor, tears streamed down her face as she whispered. "I love it...Thank you daddy." Elijah simply chuckled as he held the filly in her arms, rocking her back and forth. When he came to the train and stepped inside, his friends all gasped, causing the filly to shrink back in his arms. Twilight stared at the skull on his shoulder, trying not to lose her lunch. His friends all smiled big as they saw the skull, but smiled even bigger when they saw the filly. Twilight gave Elijah a look of shock and hatred as she stared at the filly. "ELIJAH! HOW COULD YOU KIDNAP AN INNOCENT FILLY! ARE YOU SOME SICK BUCKING PERVERT WHO PLANS ON USING HER, WELL I FOR ONE WON'T LET YOU!" With that Twilight jumped at Elijah, her horn flaring as she did, but this did not last long as the back of Elijah's hand met the side of her face in a violent and hard bitchslap. Twilight sat up again in shock, her eyes filling with fear and hate. Until Elijah finally told the filly to cover her ears. Before turning his fury on Twilight. "TWILIGHT! HOW DARE YOU FUCKING ACCUSE ME OF BEING A FUCKING PEDOPHILE! YOU KNOW HOW I FOUND HER? i FOUND HER MOTHER WITH HER FUCKING EYES GOUGED OUT, HER HOOVES CHOPPED OFF AND ALL AFTER SHE WAS RAPED! aND GUESS WHERE I FOUND HER DAUGHTER? IN HER DAMN-FUCKING-SHIT-ASS STOMACH! THE BASTARD CUT HER OPEN! STUFFED HER INSIDE, SEWED HER UP, AND RAPED HER WITH THE FILLY INSIDE! AND I KILLED HER! OUT OF MERCY! AND I'D DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN IF I HAD TO! NO ONE EVER DESERVES THAT! EVER!" In the middle of Elijah's fury, a flash of light burst in the room, revealing Celestia, Luna, and a host of guards. Celestia caught the tirade and yelled in her canterlot voice. "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE! FIRST I RECEIVE A LETTER ASKING FOR REINFORCEMENTS AND NOW I SEE MY ALLY YELLING AT MY STAR STUDENT? EXPLAIN NOW!" Elijah turned and pointed a finger at the Monarch. "YOUR STAR STUDENT HERE JUST ACCUSED ME OF BEING A PEDOPHILE AND TRIED TO ATTACK ME! I SAVED THIS FILLY FROM A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH AND I KILLED HER MOTHER BECAUSE I HAD TO! i DON'T NEED THIS SHIT! I'VE GOT SIX FUCKING MONTHS! SIX-FUCKING-MONTHS! UNTIL A DAMNED DISEASE EATS INTO MY FUCKING SKULL AND KILLS ME! YOU KNOW HOW I GOT IT? I WAS ON A FUCKING MISSION WITH SOME OF MY MEN, WHEN WE COME UPON THIS LADY, TRYING NOT TO BE FUCKING RAPED, AND I DECIDE TO HELP HER! AFTERWARDS SHE KNOCKS ME OUT AND INJECTS A FUCKING PARASITE INTO MY ARM AND CALLS IT A GIFT! A FUCKING GIFT! SO DON'T TALK TO ME LIKE YOU HAVE A FUCKING CLUE THAT YOU KNOW HOW STRESSED I AM. DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" The room went silent as the crowd heard this revelation. The fact that Elijah was going to die sent Twilight into teas and a cascade of 'I'm sorry's' Celestia had tears rolling down her face and Luna just looked down in somber sadness. The guards looked like they would burst into tears. His team simply sat back and soaked in the news. Elijah sighed and picked up his daughter, slowly rocking her to sleep. "And this is my daughter. Kreller Vardmadr." Sweet apple acres.The group soon arrived on Sweet Apple Acres. Elijah and Mark both hummed in delight at the smell of the apples. Twilight worried about them, from what she had seen, these two were closer than they were to the others. Also, why wouldn't Elijah let her study him? What was he hiding. Once they were on the porch of the farmhouse she dismissed these thoughts, they needed a place to stay, and AppleJack was the only pony with enough space to house them all. She brought her hoof up to knock on the door, and rapped it three times. The door swung open to see a orange pony with a blonde mane and a stetson on her head. "Well howdy Twilight! What can ah do for ya?" She asked, a smile forming across her lips. "Um hi AppleJsck. I have a few friends here, who need a place to stay, and......you're the only one who has the space to house them." "Well, dang! How big are these guys?" "Take a look." She stepped aside to reveal a bunch of biped figures, who were too tall to be of Pony Nature. "Meet the Squad." She pointed to the smallest one. "Hayden." He smiled and waved. She then switched to the next biggest one. "Josiah." He shrugged. She looked around and indicated the next one. "Luke." He bowed and twirled. "And those two over there are Elijah: The tall one. And Mark: The one riding the tall one." The rest of the group heard this and turned to look at the spectacle. Thier eyes growing big and their faces curling up in a smug. "Hurry up Mark! They'll notice us soon!" "Shutup and stand still! I've almost got one." "HEY! GET AWAY FROM MY APPLES!" Elijah looked back at the fuming orange pony. He quickly glanced around for an escape. "Fuck. Mark, we've been caught." The two then got on the ground and walked over to AppleJack. The one called Elijah spoke first, hhis voice had a hint of sadness and disappointment in it. "Sorry for trying to take your apples, Ms..." "AppleJack" "Ms Applejack" "Good, now I see y'all need a place to stay, and that barn over there will be just the place, so make yourselves at home, just leave the apples alone. Okay?" The whole squad answered in sync. "Yes." The rest of the pony's all went their separate ways, Twilight back to her Library, Celestia back to the Castle, and the squad into the barn. None of them noticed the dozens of glowing eyes watching them from across the road. Author's Note Short chapter, I know. But things will be kicking up very nicely. Oh God, I f%*@#$ed up her hairOh God, I f%*@#$ed up her hair Rarity had just been trotting down pony boulevard when a rather fast moving giant bee, just came by and incinerated part of her lovely mane. She screamed at the top of her lungs and immediately headed off towards Twilight's library to search for a remedy for burnt and missing hair. _____ Twilight had buried her face in her hooves. "This is not good, not good at all." Elijah seemed sceptical. "Why? i know someone might of just been shot, but by the sound of it, it only grazed their hair." This seemed to only panic Twilight more. "No, you see Rarity is quite eccentric when it comes to her appearence." As soon as Twilight finished her sentence, the door burst open, revealing a rather pissed off, white unicorn, who had a blazing trail of smoke curling off her neck. "TWILIGHT, I NEED YOUR HEL-!" Rarity stopped when she saw Mark and Elijah standing there, they were both terrifying in their own way, but something about how pinkie was next to the big one kind of eased her down enough to not faint. She immediately wondered who or what these strange creatures are. "Um, hello. Who are you?" The biggest one stood up straight. "Who am I? WHO AM I?" He sucked in a deep breath and yelled at the top of his lungs. "I'M KING PERBY!" Rarity awoke to Twilight's voice, her eyes opened and the mares face soon came into view. "Rarity? Rarity? Are you okay?" "Just peachy dear. Oh, I had a terrible dream, you were catering an insufferable Barbarian who yelled that he was King kirby or Something." "Actually it was King Perby." Author's Note Sorry for such a short Chapter, and a late one too. Things really kick up in the next few though.
Bad Relations.Twilight was trying to wrap her head around what she was seeing. Five creatures stood before her, they were all clad in some kind of Armor colored so that it blended in with trees. She scanned the pack and started to panic when she noticed the biggest one, it was easily as tall as Celestia and looked like it could rip a log in two. Twilight then realized she still had Celestia with her. She turned back and noticed the Diarch's offensive stance. Unfortunately the big one noticed this too, and rolled out of the way as a laser bolt seared the ground he was on. She watched in horror as the big one jumped out one of her windows and broke parts of her wall as well. The others noticed this and sat there, what looked like smiles playing off their faces. Celestia was enraged by this. "WHY ARE YOU SMILING?!?" One laughed and pointed at her......no, Past her. "Cause, you're fixing to be nothing more than a pile of guts, don't believe me? Look behind you." Celestia took the advice and looked behind her, but she froze when her muzzle hit cold steel. Elijah had jumped out the window when the giant 'Chicken.' Shot at him. After landing, he snuck around and estimated where the poultry would be, he was fixing to try to break down the wall, but he noticed a door. He turned the knob, stepped in, and stood there quietly, waiting for the chicken to notice him. Celestia looked up and into the slotted helmet of the creature. "Uh..." She was cut off when it wrapped its paw around her throat, and grabbed her back and LIFTED her above his head. Preparing to: 1- Slam her onto the ground and finish her with a stomp. 2- Rip her in two. "WAIT!!!! STOP!!!!!" Celestia was surprised to see one of the creatures actually keeping her from death. It then motioned for the bigger one to set her down, who groaned at the orders. "Why? It tried to kill me!" "Put the damn thing down! Can't you see it has a crown! I want to know where we are, what happened, and why we're being shot at!"
ArrivalGunfire echoed across the land, only to be followed by sounds of Steel clashing against strong armor, and blades sinking into Flesh. Luke was firing desperately into the giant being he faced: Its maw was filled with Razor like fangs five feet long. Its skin a pale white etched with scars from past battles. The arms were the size of trees, and though it moved slow, being hit would mean death. Luke's bullets were simply being soaked into it's skin, annoying the beast further. "Elijah? Elijah! Take this things head on a nice date to everywhere!" He desperately called within the com-Link inside his helmet, hoping the Psychotic Sniper would hear him. Elijah laid down on the ground, expert eyes peering through the high powered scope. Slowly. Carefully he trained the crosshairs on the beasts head. He felt the familiar bolt on his Rifle as he pulled it back, and back, until it fully exited the gun. He then threaded a massive round onto the end of the bolt and jammed it back inside, smiling as he heard the click. "Fine, fine, I just call it's Liver.....What? It looks tasty." He pulled the trigger and the rifle kicked back in his hands. BOOM Luke heard the report of the rifle and threw himself on the ground. This was going to be messy. The round whizzed through the air at incredulous speeds. The air friction turning it into a huge searing metal stake of death. It entered the giants head, obliterating the skull, carrying onto the brain, turning it into an over pressurized mush. When the round exited, the kinetic energy caused the Giant's head to explode into shards of nasty, and tossing the Giant fifty yards from its original position. Luke could only stay on the ground as dozens of pounds of sick rained on him. "I think I'm going to be sick." Elijah stood and started walking towards the fallen beast, he wanted that liver, and he wanted it bad. He could already smell that Liver as it's juices bubbled and popped, the air around it filling with the sweet aroma. The taste of the lightly charred meet when he bit into it. He quickened his pace. He was hungry. After a few minutes of walking/jogging. He came upon a bent over Luke who was promptly emptying his guts of anything they had. Luke was a weak stomached person, Elijah on the other hand would be a little sick too if he had brains covering most of his body. "Whats wrong Lukey? I thought you liked brains?" He teased the soldier, who looked at him with malice. "You know damn well that's not the case! I mean look at me! I'm covered in extinct creature brain matter!" He picked up some brain and smeared it all over Elijah, who merely shrugged. Luke sighed and looked around. The creature they fought was ending its spasms, blood dripping out of the hole that was it's neck. That thing had nearly killed him and made him feel weak, he hated feeling weak. He thought about this for a moment, but decided it was just the adrenaline dump. He wanted to go back to camp, lay down, eat, sleep, and get drunker than a skunk, but most of all he wanted to see the rest of his team. Wait a second............. HIS TEAM! HE HAD FORGOTTEN ALL ABOUT HIS TEAM! "Elijah, wheres the rest of us?" Luke looked back at the giant, who laughed, shook his head, and grabbed luke's and jerked it in the direction behind him. Nearly breaking Luke's neck. "We're right here, Lukey." The bushes parted to reveal a midsized man, holding a drum-fed thompson. A slightly smaller man, carrying what looked like an AUG-BAR. Not to mention an even smaller man, carrying a dinky 9mm. Mark Hayden Josiah Elijah ran up to the one with the thompson. "Markey! You should of seen it! There I was acting all cool when I get a call from Luke, man was he panicked, and guess what! He just begs me to help him and make this thing go boom!" Mark folded his arms and looked over at the soldier. A smile playing across his face. "Really?" Luke guffawed. "Well..I...He...Oh just go claim your damn Liver." Elijah jumped up in the air with excitement, ripping out a large knife off his belt and rushing towards the fallen behemoth. Hayden chuckled and scanned the rest of the team. "Wanna go watch?" Luke shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "Why not." When they got to the fallen creature, Elijah was already past it's ribcage and was half in and half out it's body cavity. He felt his hands around in the mush, searching for a particularly soft organ, he wiggled his hand inside for a bit, but stopped when he felt something hard. "What do we have here?" He wrapped his fingers around it and pulled it out, when id did come out with a sickly pop, he was nearly blinded. In his hand was THE largest gem he had ever seen! This would easily cover all of their expenses for months! He smiled, dropped out of the cavity and waved it in front of his comrade's faces. "Who wants to get paid?" The soldiers all dropped their jaws in awe, staring at the hunk of wealth before them. "Nice find Elijah!" "We're rich!" "I can't believe it!" "Why's it glowing?" The team stopped at the last question. Glowing? They all looked at the gem simultaneously. It WAS glowing! Elijah stopped and looked at his comrade's with worry. They returned the look. "What the Fu- AH!" The crystal ruptured and shattered, the team shielded their eyes from the intense light. The light enveloped them all in it's radius, then it disappeared entirely, leaving behind only ashes and burnt grass. "Twilight, why have you called us here?" Princess Celestia questioned, her usual royal demeanor gone. She loved her student, but there was a particular case about something having to do with a hospitalized pony and one of her chariot drivers. "Well Princess, a few days ago, I was able to Teleport a gem to another dimension, and I would like to demonstrate how to retrieve objects sent across the dimensional plane." Celestia was astonished by this. Teleporting an object to another dimension? It was an impressive feat. "Proceed." "Thank you Princess." Twilight's horn glowed as she focused the spell, the light intensified as she concentrated harder. She scanned the world of dimensions until she came upon a feeling like she was being pulled by something, she quickly focused on this object and pulled it out of its dimension and into her own. A bright light filled the room, and a loud crack knocked Twilight off her hooves and onto the ground. A loud clattering like something falling filled the air. Voices soon followed. "Ow." "I'm going to be sick." "Da' Hell." "I'm going to be sick again." "Comrades! There is a giant chicken looking at us!" Twilight was still recoiling from the spell, wondering what happened. Then it hit her, causing her to jump up and stare in shock. She hadn't just brought the crystal.....She brought something else with it. Author's Note There you have it! The first chapter of Equestrian mercenaries. Comment and tell me what you think!
Place to stay."So let me get this straight, we're in a land of talking pony's called Equestria, Elijah here just technically assaulted a Princess and now you're sorry for attacking us?" Princess Celestia smiled and nodded. After the one called Elijah had set her down, and the predicament explained. She had offered them a place to sleep, stay and rest. She had also apologized for shooting her magic at the group. "Yes, I would also like you all to have a temporary place of rest, here in ponyville, but I expect you all to be kind to my ponies." Luke was dumbfounded. He hadn't been here but ten minutes and already they were being offered a place of temporary residence. "Um....Wow princess, I really don't know what to say....I mean thanks and all, but, I don't know." Elijah raised his hand and interjected. "We accept, sorry for nearly ripping you apart, or turning you into boots.." Celestia's face went a little pale and her pupils dilated. "All is forgiven." Twilight was near to bursting with excitement, she was barely able to stay in one spot. "YOU HAVE TO LET ME STUDY YOU!" Elijah shot up, a look of worry spreading across his face. Study him? Look him over, observe his behavior, but that would mean they would find out about.... "No." "Why? Please! ohPleaseohpleasohpleaseohprettyplease?" "No." Twilight sat on the ground looking at the squad. Her eyes becoming like puppy dog eyes. She let out a sad sniffle. "Why not?" "I have my reasons, ones you should not concern yourself with." Elijah turned towards the Princess. "Now where is this place." Mark jogged up to Elijah, nudging his side with his elbow. "One freaky day huh?" "Kind of, besides I kinda like it here, much better than back at camp." "Tell me about. No giant beetles trying to worm thier way into your clothes, no giant spiders, and......no more mutants." Elijah smiled at the thought of no more of the heavily irradiated, jacked up, evil selfish creatures. "Yeah, no more mutants." Twilight appeared to hear this and trotted up to the two, her face questioning. "Mutants? What exactly happened to your world? What could make the place so bad?" Both Creatures stopped, looking at each other, Twilight could almost swear they were talking to each other, She debated this fact, but decided it would not be possible. She looked up to see them both staring at her. "You want to know what happened? Why things were so horrible there." Elijah asked, his face stern. "Are you sure? It's not pretty." Mark interjected. "Well, yeah, duh." Twilight nodded, her obviously cynical tone slightly aggrivating the two. "War consumed our planet, country fought country, nation fought nation, father fought son, brother fought brother. We..." He gestured to the rest of the squad. "Were around til the end of the war, and...it was hell." Twilight gulped, one forbidden question forming in her mind. "How?" "Everyday, we were hunted, bombed, shot at. Every morning, the smell of dead, charred, fresh, old, rotting bodies, filled the air." "How many died?" She asked, hoof against her chin. "Four billion." Twilight's eyes widened in shock at the news. So many people.....Women....Children....B-babies. "F-f-f-four billion?" "Yeah....Four billion." "What was the war about?" "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Twilight thought on this and soon another question popped into her head. "What did you all do?" "We created the Crimson Marauder Mercenaries, telling everyone who would listen, that if they joined and swore Loyalty, they'd get, food, water, safety, and companionship." "How many of you are there?" "Twenty thousand, well armed, well trained Soldiers, twelve thousand women and children, along with non-combatants." "Non-combatants?" "Artificers, blacksmiths, farmers, carpenters, you name it." Twilight thought about this too. Where do you put thirty two thousand people? "Where do you live?" "Nowhere, we don't have a home, we're kind of Like nomadic soldiers" "Wow." "Yeah......Wow." The trio walked on, well behind the main group. Mark was now wondering where the place they were going to stay was, and how much food it has. This brought a question with it. "Hey Twilight, what kind of food you guys got around here?" Twilight looked up at them with a happy smile. "Oh, you'll love it! We've got daisy sandwiches." "Daisy sandwiches? Doesn't sound too bad actually." "We've got lettuce." "Mmmmm...Lettuce." "Oh, and we've got apples!" The two creatures stopped, exchanging a look of glee, and hunger. "Apples, you say?" "Yeah apples, why? What's got you two so worked up?" "Well, we've never had an apple. We've heard stories, but the war wiped most of them out." "Really? Because, where we're going, you can have all the apples you want!"
Hell-SpawnsAfter opening up the barn, Elijah had put his rifle up on on a nearby shelf, positioning it and his pistols just so, that if he needs it, he would have it, ready to shoot. He then settled down on a flat bale of hay, folded his arms, and tried to sleep. A few minutes later, Elijah sighed and got up. Sleep never came easily to him, he would often stare into the sky and wonder what they're like up there. Stepping outside the barn, he decided to walk around and get the lay of the land. He passed tree after tree after tree, his mind wondering into anyplace it could find. A sharp crack of a twig alerted the giant and he spun around to be confronted with Demons. Each demon was about 5'9, finely muscled, and had a black blade jutting from the stump of their left hoof, they're right hoof was bloodied, and several pieces of metal were jutting out of them. Their muzzles were filled with sharp looking teeth, all curved inwards for good grip. Their backs had huge metal hooks protruding from the skin. But what disturbed Elijah the most were the eyes. They looked like glowing splotches of blood, staring into your soul, as if they were trying to rip it out. They were a morbid sight The Demon in front reared its ugly head back, and released a high pitched roar. The sound shrieking through the air, causing Elijah to cringe. Elijah was disturbed, even in the wastelands he once roamed, the creatures looked like kittens compared to this. What did they want? What the hell were they? Why hadn't they attacked him when he was walking? Thoughts raced through his head, crashing into each other, causing widespread confusion. He shook his head, clearing the thoughts. They might be friendly, they might not be. He would not throw the first strike. "Are you friend or foe?" He asked, his eyes summing up their numbers. '34 at least, might be more.' He thought to himself. If they were here to kill him, the fight would be bloody. The lead Demon roared again and charged at Elijah, swinging it's hoof-blade, it caught against his shoulder plate, cutting a deep groove in the metal. Elijah jumped back. "Definitely not Friendly" He would have to kill them, as they sought to kill him. He lashed out and caught the Demon by it's neck. Lifting it up, he heaved it over his shoulder and smashed it into the ground. He tried to stomp it's head into dust, but it rolled out of the way and swung it's blade across part of his exposed leg, leaving a deep gash. Elijah swung his fist straight down and caught the beast in the top of it's head. It's skull shattered and exploded everywhere, covering the giant in a blackish red blood. Weight suddenly pushed itself onto the soldier, followed by deep stabs of pain. They were breaking through his armor, the hell were their blades made of? He rolled along the ground, crushing many of the evil beings, their corpses covered in blood. He reached back and pulled two more off his back, he then smashed them together, their bones exploding because of the force. The creatures were finally off him, thirteen lay dead. The rest would soon follow. He felt rage start to boil up inside him, he pushed it down. He was out-numbered, and un-armed. He would need a level head to win this fight. Two more charged at him, hoping to spear him with their blades. Elijah knocked the duo to the side. He picked up one and threw it onto the other, splattering them both across the ground. He turned to the rest of the group. They were halted and......bowing? Why the hell were they bowing? "What the he-URK!" Pain washed across his midsection, such pain, that he was crippled and couldn't react. He looked down, seeing a black sword carved with death scenes of horrendous origins. The blade was shoved even further. He cried out in pain. He felt himself be lifted into the air and felt his bones pop when he was thrown onto the ground. His vision was starting to blur. He could barely stay awake. He was losing blood fast, he could see puddles forming around him.. "Sorry kiddo. You were just at the wrong place, at the right time. You were a threat, you had to be removed." He opened his eyes and could make out a face. A human face. It's teeth were sharp and wicked. It's skin a black shadow that cascaded off him. And it's eyes. Oh god it's eyes. It's horrible eyes. It's eyes glowed bright red, it's pupils were stars that seemed to scream malice and hate. "Bye bye, kiddo." He couldn't stay awake any longer, he could only hope he'd survive til morning, where his friends would come looking for him. That's all he could do, was hope.
Return of SorrowMark groaned as he rolled off the bale of hay, he rolled over to far and collapsed onto the floor of the barn. He crawled over to another bale and slapped his hand on its surface. "Come-on Elijah, getup.....Elijah? Elijah?" His hand felt around, not finding the metal the giant wore. Mark finally opened his eyes. Standing up, he scanned the room. "No Elijah here. Must have gotten up already. Better go find him." Mark wondered where the giant had gone. It was unlike him to be up so early in the morning. He remembered one time, a Soldier had disturbed his sleep and had to eat paste for a month. He laughed silently to himself. Elijah, no matter what they had been through, always was there for him, they had known each-other for years. Watched each-others back for years before they joined the Mercenaries. He opened the door and immediately tripped on something. He landed on the ground hard, and it knocked the breath out of him. He was in a little pain, but it was so little, he didn't care. It's what he saw that made him hurt. He saw Elijah. Elijah was laying there, multiple puncture wounds criss-crossed his back, his leg had a deep gash across it. Blood soaked the ground and Mark could see where he had dragged himself across the ground. It looked like had had come over a mile! Mark scurried over to where Elijah laid. Tears threatening him with their arrival. This was his closest friend, his brother even. He placed a hand on Elijah's chest, hoping for a heartbeat.......Nothing, Mark felt nothing. "No,no,no,no,no!.......Come on man!Get up! Get the fuck up!" He was openly crying now, he wiped the tears away with a forearm, but he stopped when he felt something. It was so light, he barely felt it. It was so small, but it gave him the greatest hope a man could have. Ba-dump. It was a heartbeat. Elijah was still alive...His brother was still alive! He wouldn't be for long. He was Losing blood at a slow rate, but it could still kill him if left untreated. There was only one thing left to do now. "JOSIAH! GET OUT HERE!" A few seconds Later Josiah was racing out of the barn, followed by the others. They all gasped when they saw him. They couldn't believe their eyes. Elijah was on the ground, covered in his own blood, and slowly dying. "Go get AppleJack, tell her to tell Twilight to send the Princess, or anyone down here. Josiah, get to work on stabilizing Elijah. The rest of us will provide security detail, whatever did this to him, could still be around. Alright people, lets move!" A few hours later, Elijah was well on his way to the Ponyville hospital. When Princess Celestia arrived, Mark felt no joy, only sadness. These ponies didn't have the technology needed to treat Elijah. How would they treat him? There was only one way to find out. When they reached the hospital, Elijah was wheeled away into the Emergency Surgery Room. The doctors soon tried to get the armor off of him, but it was to strong, so they operated into the puncture wounds. Mark sat on a couch, jumping at the sight of the Pony Doctor walking through the double doors. He quickly rushed over. Celestia did as well, but in a more regal manner. "How is he?" "His body is rejecting chemicals with such ferocity that you could swear he was made for it. The puncture wounds are not all too serious. That armor of his saved his life, stopped the blades before they could reach his vital organs. The Stab wound, however......is worse than we feared, without magic, there is no way he'll live. We also discovered some strange thi-." "Doc, that is not important right now, and did you say magic?" "Yes, we unicorns can do magic. I specialize in healing magic and the like." Mark was about to yell, grab the doctor and punch his face until it was nothing more than a shattered pile of gore. "And why did you not heal him first?" "Well, we had to be sure there was no metal, shrapnel, and other things in him, so that when we did heal him, they wouldn't be fleshed over and infect the wound." Mark stopped, his rage gone: That was actually a very good reason, maybe these ponies could save him. Elijah was later treated with the Magic, his wounds had closed over, but the pain was still very much there. Mark knew that Elijah would have questions, and Mark had some himself. They all entered the sterile white room. Looks of glee on their faces. Their friend was going to live,survive, and get back to kicking ass in no Time. Elijah was sitting up in his bed, his armor was still on, not that he ever took it off. Mark knew why, and it was the same reason he never took his off. "Hey man, how you doing?" Mark asked in a highly sarcastic tone. "Really, I just got my ass kicked by bunch of Emo ponies, stabbed by a fucking shadow man thing, and you ask me how I'm doing? Great, fine really." The mention of the Shadow man seemed to intrigue and worry Celestia, her face went from calm, to downright scared. "Elijah, what do you mean, shadow man?" "Well, he was strong, his skin looked like a bunch of shadows, his teeth were sharp, and he had the most fucked up eyes I've ever seen." Celestia sighed, her face still encumbered by worry. "Then it is as I feared. Sorrow has returned." Elijah was confused. "Sorrow? Princess.....Do you know something, I don't." He asked, he hated being left in the dark. "You see, you are not the first of your kind to come here, One of my most trusted Advisors: Starswirl the Bearded, Tried the spell, that brought you back here. The result was very much the same. When he came through, he seemed friendly, but when he learned of magic, he used it to commit horrible atrocities. He ripped Parents apart in front of their children, making them swear loyalty to him and only him. A lot of my ponies thought him a god, and sided with him, following his every wish, even if it was for them to kill themselves. He attempted to overthrow Canterlot, my seat of Rule. And use it to spread pain and hatred across the Land. When you came through, I thought you were just like him, this is why I attacked you." Everyone remained silent, this enemy was able to take down Elijah. Alone, they would all perish. They would need an Army, but not just any Army...Their Army. "Princess?" Luke raised his hand. "Do you think you could replicate that spell again?"
Meeting PinkieThe group stood in Twilight's library, all eyeing the place, remembering it as the first time they met. Mark actually enjoyed the quiet, aside from the strange humming of Twilight's horn, all was silence. "So Twilight, you got any frien-!" "OH MY GOD! IT IS FUCKING ADORABLE!" Twilight's horn stopped glowing as she turned to face the voice. She was greeted by Elijah holding up a pink pony who was laughing and giggling with delight. The pony turned and showed her widest smile yet. "Hey, Twilight, you didn't tell me about the new Stallions!" She would have been bouncing up and down had she not been in Elijah's hands. Twilight facehoofed, she hadn't planned for this, thought about this, or even foresaw this, how could she have been so stupid. "Elijah, put down Pinkie." Elijah simply hoisted Pinkie onto his shoulder and folded his arms. Pinkie laid down on his massive shoulder and nuzzled up beside his head. "No." "Please?" "No", Pinkie sat up on Elijah's shoulder and jumped off landing near his calf. "AW. Twilight, you are such a silly filly, Elijah here is all nice, flowers and sunshine, right big guy?" Elijah rubbed the back of his helmet awkwardly. 'Should I tell them?......No, We've got a fragile truce with them as is, so no tell.' He thought to himself. "I, well, you see-" Click. "OOH! What's this shiny thing do?" Elijah looked down in horror,Pinkie had his pistol, somehow she had gotten the safety off, and was looking straight down the barrel. "Pony, don't move a muscle. Your very life is at stake here." He slowly reached for the pistol, his hand wrapping around it's grip, his finger moved to flick the safety back on- BOOM!! "AGH! MY MANE! MY GLORIOUS MANE!!" Twilight seemed to have gone pale..If that was possible, given her color and all. "Uh Oh." Author's Note Sorry for the wait. Had writers block, several other ideas and school. you get the gist.
ConflictsRainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy both sat on the floor of the library, eyes wide with wonder at the story being told to them. "So there I was, I just won a fistfight with a giant mutant, nearly as big as I am! When this lady comes up to me and says!" The trio all leaned forward, eyes becoming impossibly wide. "What did she say?" Asked a infatuated Rainbow. "She said. Get the fuck off my property!" Elijah spanned his hands wide, making a gesture of surprise. "WHAT! YOU DO ALL THAT WORK AN' THAT CHICK TELLS YOU TO LEAVE? UNBELIEVABLE!" "I know right? I didn't even get paid, not that she could have paid me afterwards." "What do you me-" PLOP. A scroll bearing the royal insignia appeared and landed on Elijah's lap, who unrolled the parchment, and shrugged. The rest of the Mercenary band, who sat around the room, lifted their heads in surprise, and each (Excluding Mark, on account of his helmet.) Gave quizzical looks. Luke was the first to ask his question. "Well, what's it say?" Elijah set down the scroll, took his pistol out, and loaded a fresh stripper clip into it. Putting the metal strip back into a pouch on his waist, he stood. "We just got hired." The ponies all gave confused looks towards the giant. Applejack raised her hoof in the air like a school filly. "What da ya mean, hired? What's the job?" Elijah shrugged, and holstered his pistol again. "Some things called 'Black Wing Brigades' Raiding the borders, the letter said that Lethal force is authorized." This elicited a whoop from the Mercenaries. Who immediately set to loading, checking and cleaning their respective firearms. The Ponies jaws fell, their eyes grew wide with horror. "Black Wing Brigades? The savage Ponies and griffons who raid towns? You're going up against them?" As if to punctuate Rainbow's statement, a bag filled to the brim with gold coins, materialised and landed on a nearby table, spilling it's contents. "We also get paid in advance." The group of Ponies and Mercenaries walked through the town, a few Ponies evaded and avoided the band of Humans and Element Bearers, who chatted happily to themselves. Elijah, began looking for their mode of transport, spotting only some Royal Guards heading their way, he looked back. 'Wait a second, Guards?' The thought intruded his mind like a naked old man barging into a National Nun Reunion. There were Guards heading their way, headed by a white stallion bearing a silver type armor. Twilight ran up to this Stallion and embraced him. "Shining!" "Twiley!" The two broke apart, Twilight gestured to Elijah and the rest. "Shining, this here is Elij-" "Elijah, Mark, Luke, Hayden, and Josiah, yes I know, I was informed by the princesses about our........Guests." Shining Armor said the phrase through gritted teeth, speaking the last word with difficulty. It was obvious he did not like them. "And I assure you, your services are no longer needed, the Royal Guard has things all under control." Shining expected the humans to be relieved, these were black wings, he had heard the stories of prisoners being torn apart, tortured. He shuddered, Castrated, then forced to eat their own bits. But when he looked up, he nearly dropped his jaw in amazement. They were pissed. Each Mercenary wore a mask of anger, hate and just plain rage, even the two wearing helmets had an aura of hatred emanating from them. The largest one, Elijah, raised his hand and pointed a finger at him. "No can do, doughboy, we get paid, the job gets done, company policy." "I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to pass on to the tr-!" Shining armors voice was cut off when something grabbed his throat, cutting off his oxygen, and slammed him into the ground, knocking the rest of the air out of his body. He heard a click, and felt a large cylinder press against his fore head. "YOU WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH MY MISSION! I WAS PAID, AND THE JOB WILL BE DONE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" Shining's Guards leveled their spears at the mercenaries, who in turn shouldered their rifles. "Don't even try it, if you so much as make a single move, we'll pepper you with so many holes, you'll whistle when you walk." One of the guards jabbed his spear in the groups direction. "Surrender!" "I'll surrender one bullet, where do you want it?" The opposing sides wouldn't back down, all the while, Shining was still being choked by Elijah. The Guards eventually started inching their way towards Shining, trying to get close enough to free their Captain, at least till he was thrown out of the way like a ragdoll. He then landed in some trash cans, resulting in a loud racket. Elijah gestured to the rest of his squad, beckoning them to get to the train. "Come on, it's not like they can hurt us anyways."
First shotElijah sat in an undersized bench, his helmeted eyes scanning the scenery as it flew by. He sighed, and removed on of his gauntlets. Underneath it, the flesh was a rose color, as if agitated, and the veins were black. He slipped the gauntlet back on and continued staring out the window. Everything quiet in his mind, save for one thought. "Six months." "What was that Elijah?" Elijah jumped and looked over at Twilight, who held a concerned look. "It was nothing. where are the boys at, We need to come up with a plan." "They're in the back car, doing.....something?" Elijah got off the bench, which groaned in delight, and walked through the door leading into the last car, as soon as he passed through the door, he was assaulted with noise. Inside the cart, all his fellows were drinking, smoking, and having just plain fun. Josiah stumbled by with a bottle of the pony equivalent of whiskey, took one swig, and crashed on the floor. "Lightweight." Elijah continued his march into the car, finding everything to be right as he passed by Luke holding a bottle to hisa mouth and hayden with a cigar rolling between his thumbs. Mark was laying on a bench, sleeping. All was well. Elijah found a nice spot on the floor, sat down and leaned back. Letting out a tired sigh as he passed into sleep. "Elijah! Wake up! We're almost there!" Elijah's eyes fluttered open to reveal Mark standing over him, offering a hand up. Elijah grasped the hand and hauled himself onto his feet. His hand instinctively went to the pistols at his waist. He found his revolvers handle and drew it. He brought it up to his face and examined the cylinder, each round inside as big as his thumb with enough powder behind it to blow through a tank. "You plan on using Ol'Ark today?" "Yeah, figure if I can kill one in such a bloody way, the others will lose morale and surrender." "Sounds good, come on, the others are up front." Elijah and mark passed into the next car and began addressing their gear. Elijah took a glance out the window to see a train of ponies walking back towards ponyville. Each one sad and downtrodden. He visibly swelled as he prepared himself for battle. A few minutes later, the train came to a halt in front of a burning town. There were audible clicks as bolts were slammed into place and clips loaded. Elijah spun the cylinder on his revolver, watching it spin effortlessly. The door opened and they were met with a barrage of arrows. The others ducked as the arrows flew. But Elijah stood rigged, the arrows bouncing off his armor making a clang noise. Soon the barrage stopped and a few shouts of surprise were heard. "What is that thing?" "Is it with us?" "Does it like gravy?" Elijah stepped out onto the ground, only to be confronted by a black and white griffin waving a sword at him. It was futile seeing as the griffin barely passed his waist. "Oi! You can't just come in here and act like you's the boss! Why I ought to gut ya and fuck yer corpse just fer sherwin' up! Now me an' me boys here won't take a single act of dummeh as long as you here. Oi, are you listenin'?" Elijah didn't respond. He just raised his revolver to the griffin and fired. The bullet passed through the griffin's chest, the kinetic energy and mass of the round blowing the torso apart. When Elijah lowered the revolver and holstered it. All that was left was a gristly corpse of legs, trying to stay standing. His 'Fellows' stood behind him with the remainder of their commander splattered across their faces. Meanwhile Twilight was mortified at the display of violence, and prowess, and sheer hate. She felt tears well up as she turned to Luke and the rest of the squad as she cried. "Why don't you help him? He's going to get swarmed!" Luke wrapped his arms around Twilight and whispered into her ear. "Look, Elijah's pissed and it's best just to let him vent out, and don't worry, those bandits won't be able to hurt him."
Krellr VardmadrElijah felt nothing as another skull powdered under his fist. He felt nothing as another body was torn apart in his hands. He felt nothing as another bandit lost his life beneath his boot. In complete rage, he felt nothing. A bandit wielding a spear flew at him, a crazed look in his eye as his wings gave one last blast of propulsion. Elijah grabbed the spear tip, thrusting it through the pony, and making it come out the other side, covered in blood and the remains of the bandits spine. Elijah's gaze tore into his eyes, making sure the last thing he saw was the torrent of anger within him. A pony wielding a sword met his end as Elijah's boot crushed his skull to a bloody pulp in the dirt beneath him. The slaughter continued, beating, ripping, gouging, tearing, impaling. All of it passed through his mind on instinct. Through all this, a single thought passed through his mind. 'Why? Why is it me who this has to happen to? I tried to save them, help them! Yet now I pay for my good will. Why?' The question reverbrated through his mind as he picked up a stallion, thrust his palm in his gut, and disembowled him. Elijah tossed the corpse away, then clotheslined another bandit with the intestine cord. He wrapped it around his neck and tied him high to a tree, and left him to choke. The slaughter continued. Until there was no more. Looking around, Elijah saw the destruction he had caused. Buildings were smashed into rubble, hay and building materials lay spewed out on the ground in random piles. Bodies littered the area, all punctuated by the hanging bandit. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement. Snapping his head to the object, he saw a bandit's face look out, pale and then hurry back in. Elijah stomped over to the cellar door, and with one swift kick, knocked it inward. Following the steps down, he saw a sight that would forever haunt him. Nailed to a wall was a mare, her eye gouged out, her snout cut off, her belly cruelly opened and hurriedly stitched back together. Leaking from in between her legs flowed a thick trail of semen. Her bottom hooves were chopped up and branded shut, and tears of blood streaked her face. Breaking out of his trance, Elijah saw the monster responsible, curled up in a corner, was a bandit, his hooves covering his head and quaking in fear. Elijah decided to ignore him for now, as the mare needed immediate medical attention. Getting closer, he noticed something inside her stomach was moving, her fur and skin poking out and shifting. Elijah lowered his head to the mare's belly and listened. "Mommy! I want out Mommy! I can't breathe!" Elijah recoiled in shock and disgust. He realized that in order to save the foal, he would have to kill the mother. That or he could rip her open and save the foal while she died a horrible death. The choice was obvious Pulling out one of his pistols, he leaned in close to the mare. He put his forehead against hers and whispered in the softest voice he could. "I'm so sorry, but I'll take care of her, don't worry." The mare sealed her eyes shut and whispered back. "Thank you..." Elijah clicked off the safety on his pistol, pulled back the hammer, and lined up the shot. Boom. The bullet had completely obliterated the mares skull, leaving a stump of meat spewing blood. Elijah wasted no time as he ripped open the corpse. The stitches giving way under his brute strength. Out of the bloody maw fell a little filly, her coat as black as night and her eyes a teal. Her horn was colored blue as the sky. She plopped into Elijah's hands, covered in her mother's blood and intestines. She didn't appear to be breathing, he checked her pulse, finding it strong and steady, he surmised that she simply passed out from oxygen starvation. Elijah pulled his canteen out from his waist, and washed the little filly off, sparing no expense of water as he made sure the blood and guts were off of her. Once he finished, he placed the snoozing filly in his side pouch. And turned on the bandit. The bandit took notice of his gaze and backed himself further into the corner. Whimpering and crying. Elijah picked him up by the scruff of the neck, making him meet his gaze. the bandit cried and wailed for mercy. He would find none. Elijah continued the stare down until the bandit spoke. "Wh-wh-what a-are y-you?" "Your damnation." Elijah wrapped his hand around the bandit's midriff, pulling him out of the cellar. Elijah cleaned his hands off of the blood, then dunking his entire body into the stream. The water turned red as the blood from the bandits was washed away. Once Elijah was done, he walked to the shore, gathered the snoozing filly and his weapons, and walked back to the train. Passing by the corpse of a bandit. Who's chest was ripped open, revealing his still beating heart. Each of his ribs broken off and shoved through his limbs to pin him to the wall. His eyes were gouged out and rested as his new testacles with his old ones adorning his neck. His skull, carefully carved in a way as to remove the brain safely, but painfully, out of the head, rested on the shoulder of Elijah's armor. Waiting to be coated in metal and added as a new pauldron. Elijah passed the screaming stallion, his face no more than a floppy sac of brains and muscle. Beneath him was scrawled a message. "I come for you all." Elijah kept walking past the flaming cellar that contained the filly's mother. A decent funeral was all he could give. Elijah kept walking to the train, feeling the filly in his arms stir awake, and scream at the sight of him. "WHERE'S MOMMY? I WANT MOMMY! MMMMMMMOOOOOOMMMMMMYYYYY!!!!!" Elijah's heart broke and he let out a sigh as he placed an armored finger to the filly's mouth, silencing her. "Mommy's gone. I'm so sorry. But Mommy's gone, and she won't be coming back. Don't worry though, mommy is in a better place, and someday we'll both get to see mommy again, we just have to be strong and carry on. I told her I'd take care of you and I meant it. Just be strong. For Mommy. Okay?" The filly's eyes grew large and tears filled her eyes, she gripped herself tight to his armor, crying as she stuttered out words. "M-m-mommy's gone, but now....I have a Daddy." And for the first time that day. Elijah smiled. "So, little one. What's your name? Mine's Elijah BaniBrandr." The filly looked up and giggled slightly. "You have a funny name. I'm Midnight Blossom." "Hmm.....well, I changed my name whenever I left home, so how about we do the same?" "But what will I change it to? And why would I change my name?" "Well, whenever I changed my name from Wyatt to Elijah, it symbolised my leaving of the past, to leave things as they were and move on. I think changing your name would help you move on." "Well, okay. But I can't think of any names?" " How about I name you in my native tongue, an old dialect called Norse, I named myself after the village suffered a fate like yours did. So how about......Krellr Vardmadr...or in Norse, Spirit Watcher." The filly jumped out Of Elijah's hands and buried her muzzle in his armor, tears streamed down her face as she whispered. "I love it...Thank you daddy." Elijah simply chuckled as he held the filly in her arms, rocking her back and forth. When he came to the train and stepped inside, his friends all gasped, causing the filly to shrink back in his arms. Twilight stared at the skull on his shoulder, trying not to lose her lunch. His friends all smiled big as they saw the skull, but smiled even bigger when they saw the filly. Twilight gave Elijah a look of shock and hatred as she stared at the filly. "ELIJAH! HOW COULD YOU KIDNAP AN INNOCENT FILLY! ARE YOU SOME SICK BUCKING PERVERT WHO PLANS ON USING HER, WELL I FOR ONE WON'T LET YOU!" With that Twilight jumped at Elijah, her horn flaring as she did, but this did not last long as the back of Elijah's hand met the side of her face in a violent and hard bitchslap. Twilight sat up again in shock, her eyes filling with fear and hate. Until Elijah finally told the filly to cover her ears. Before turning his fury on Twilight. "TWILIGHT! HOW DARE YOU FUCKING ACCUSE ME OF BEING A FUCKING PEDOPHILE! YOU KNOW HOW I FOUND HER? i FOUND HER MOTHER WITH HER FUCKING EYES GOUGED OUT, HER HOOVES CHOPPED OFF AND ALL AFTER SHE WAS RAPED! aND GUESS WHERE I FOUND HER DAUGHTER? IN HER DAMN-FUCKING-SHIT-ASS STOMACH! THE BASTARD CUT HER OPEN! STUFFED HER INSIDE, SEWED HER UP, AND RAPED HER WITH THE FILLY INSIDE! AND I KILLED HER! OUT OF MERCY! AND I'D DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN IF I HAD TO! NO ONE EVER DESERVES THAT! EVER!" In the middle of Elijah's fury, a flash of light burst in the room, revealing Celestia, Luna, and a host of guards. Celestia caught the tirade and yelled in her canterlot voice. "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE! FIRST I RECEIVE A LETTER ASKING FOR REINFORCEMENTS AND NOW I SEE MY ALLY YELLING AT MY STAR STUDENT? EXPLAIN NOW!" Elijah turned and pointed a finger at the Monarch. "YOUR STAR STUDENT HERE JUST ACCUSED ME OF BEING A PEDOPHILE AND TRIED TO ATTACK ME! I SAVED THIS FILLY FROM A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH AND I KILLED HER MOTHER BECAUSE I HAD TO! i DON'T NEED THIS SHIT! I'VE GOT SIX FUCKING MONTHS! SIX-FUCKING-MONTHS! UNTIL A DAMNED DISEASE EATS INTO MY FUCKING SKULL AND KILLS ME! YOU KNOW HOW I GOT IT? I WAS ON A FUCKING MISSION WITH SOME OF MY MEN, WHEN WE COME UPON THIS LADY, TRYING NOT TO BE FUCKING RAPED, AND I DECIDE TO HELP HER! AFTERWARDS SHE KNOCKS ME OUT AND INJECTS A FUCKING PARASITE INTO MY ARM AND CALLS IT A GIFT! A FUCKING GIFT! SO DON'T TALK TO ME LIKE YOU HAVE A FUCKING CLUE THAT YOU KNOW HOW STRESSED I AM. DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" The room went silent as the crowd heard this revelation. The fact that Elijah was going to die sent Twilight into teas and a cascade of 'I'm sorry's' Celestia had tears rolling down her face and Luna just looked down in somber sadness. The guards looked like they would burst into tears. His team simply sat back and soaked in the news. Elijah sighed and picked up his daughter, slowly rocking her to sleep. "And this is my daughter. Kreller Vardmadr."
Sweet apple acres.The group soon arrived on Sweet Apple Acres. Elijah and Mark both hummed in delight at the smell of the apples. Twilight worried about them, from what she had seen, these two were closer than they were to the others. Also, why wouldn't Elijah let her study him? What was he hiding. Once they were on the porch of the farmhouse she dismissed these thoughts, they needed a place to stay, and AppleJack was the only pony with enough space to house them all. She brought her hoof up to knock on the door, and rapped it three times. The door swung open to see a orange pony with a blonde mane and a stetson on her head. "Well howdy Twilight! What can ah do for ya?" She asked, a smile forming across her lips. "Um hi AppleJsck. I have a few friends here, who need a place to stay, and......you're the only one who has the space to house them." "Well, dang! How big are these guys?" "Take a look." She stepped aside to reveal a bunch of biped figures, who were too tall to be of Pony Nature. "Meet the Squad." She pointed to the smallest one. "Hayden." He smiled and waved. She then switched to the next biggest one. "Josiah." He shrugged. She looked around and indicated the next one. "Luke." He bowed and twirled. "And those two over there are Elijah: The tall one. And Mark: The one riding the tall one." The rest of the group heard this and turned to look at the spectacle. Thier eyes growing big and their faces curling up in a smug. "Hurry up Mark! They'll notice us soon!" "Shutup and stand still! I've almost got one." "HEY! GET AWAY FROM MY APPLES!" Elijah looked back at the fuming orange pony. He quickly glanced around for an escape. "Fuck. Mark, we've been caught." The two then got on the ground and walked over to AppleJack. The one called Elijah spoke first, hhis voice had a hint of sadness and disappointment in it. "Sorry for trying to take your apples, Ms..." "AppleJack" "Ms Applejack" "Good, now I see y'all need a place to stay, and that barn over there will be just the place, so make yourselves at home, just leave the apples alone. Okay?" The whole squad answered in sync. "Yes." The rest of the pony's all went their separate ways, Twilight back to her Library, Celestia back to the Castle, and the squad into the barn. None of them noticed the dozens of glowing eyes watching them from across the road. Author's Note Short chapter, I know. But things will be kicking up very nicely.
Oh God, I f%*@#$ed up her hairOh God, I f%*@#$ed up her hair Rarity had just been trotting down pony boulevard when a rather fast moving giant bee, just came by and incinerated part of her lovely mane. She screamed at the top of her lungs and immediately headed off towards Twilight's library to search for a remedy for burnt and missing hair. _____ Twilight had buried her face in her hooves. "This is not good, not good at all." Elijah seemed sceptical. "Why? i know someone might of just been shot, but by the sound of it, it only grazed their hair." This seemed to only panic Twilight more. "No, you see Rarity is quite eccentric when it comes to her appearence." As soon as Twilight finished her sentence, the door burst open, revealing a rather pissed off, white unicorn, who had a blazing trail of smoke curling off her neck. "TWILIGHT, I NEED YOUR HEL-!" Rarity stopped when she saw Mark and Elijah standing there, they were both terrifying in their own way, but something about how pinkie was next to the big one kind of eased her down enough to not faint. She immediately wondered who or what these strange creatures are. "Um, hello. Who are you?" The biggest one stood up straight. "Who am I? WHO AM I?" He sucked in a deep breath and yelled at the top of his lungs. "I'M KING PERBY!" Rarity awoke to Twilight's voice, her eyes opened and the mares face soon came into view. "Rarity? Rarity? Are you okay?" "Just peachy dear. Oh, I had a terrible dream, you were catering an insufferable Barbarian who yelled that he was King kirby or Something." "Actually it was King Perby." Author's Note Sorry for such a short Chapter, and a late one too. Things really kick up in the next few though.
