My grandfather once told me that long ago Equestria was a peaceful place. He told me that Equestrians back then, were totally alien to the concept of violence and they all lived in harmony together. I found this story unbelievable at first, but my father assured me that what grandpa was saying is true.
If what he said is indeed true, then I wished I could have born around those days. The Equestria I live in now is totally different compared to it back then. This Equestria is a land filled with death and violence. The once beautiful lands has been scarred by the battle between the two warring factions, the Solar Empire and the New Lunar Republic.
From what I remembered from history class, this whole thing started with the returned of the Princess Luna. After that event, things started to go downhill from that point. Before Equestria already has a ruler, Princess Celestia. With her sister's return a power struggle emerged between these two, which then lead to the first ever Equestrians civil war.
This ongoing war left the nation in poor condition, leaving the land ravaged by foreign invaders such as the griffons, diamond dogs, minotaurs, and even the zebras. Not only did the ponies have to deal with these invaders they also have to deal with their own kind as well.
Their own people turned to the life of crime and became bandits. They prey upon their own brethren for the sole purpose of taking their possessions, whether they are willing to or not.
Amidst this conflict a new profession started to emerge, with the need for somepony to either protect or kill someone, this leads to the rise of the mercenaries. While some seek payment other seek fame and glory for their actions, becoming well-known across the land.
And this is where my story begins, my name is Bolt and this is a tale of how I met and was saved by a mercenary name Applejack.
My story began like any other day. You wake up in the morning, eat your food, go to work, and sleep. However, on this day it was going to be different. Today was the day that I was going into the mercenary profession.
The reason for this is that I was getting sick of working as a dishwasher. I have nothing against working at my dad's restaurant, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life as a dishwasher. Another reason for my choice was because of the lack of any other jobs in this town.
Of course my father was not supportive of my decision, but I told that I am an adult now and I can do whatever I want. So armed only with a pistol I seek out all the bulletin boards across the town, hoping to find any jobs available.
After going through numerous boards I finally found one. Apparently some merchant pony wanted some bodyguards for his caravans. Normally one or two guards would suffice, but for a caravan this large its going to need a lot of guards.
So next I went to the marketplace and found my employers. In front of him was a large group of ponies, each of them wielding a variety of firearms. I saw some holding assault rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, and other types of guns.
After what felt like an hour of waiting, I was finally able to meet my employer. The meeting was short, all he asked was my name and cutie mark, which is by the way, is a single arrow. The stallion just writes down what I said and pointed me in the direction of the others.
I went in the direction he pointed and found the other mercenaries by the caravan. They were either waiting silently by themselves or mingling with each others. Deciding to be friendly and went in and talked to some of the ponies I'll be working with.
I found some of them easy to talk to, apparently they too were also new in the mercenary business. We talked some more, about our lives, family, friends and other junk like that. Eventually this conversation lead to them pointing out some of the certain ponies in our group.
Some of these mercenaries are well known around these parts. Among them are Hammer and Sickle the Terror Twins, SkyBlitz the Air Raider and Sparks the BombMage. Despite all these famous mercenaries, one pony stood out from the rest. She was an orange mare with long yellow mane and green eyes, her name was Applejack and I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for her.
Like the rest, Applejack was also well known, but not because of some amazing feat. Rather she was well known for being a jack of all trades. Basically she can take on any roles if the situation requires it, she can be a sniper, grenadier, skirmisher, and more.
I watched her as she stands against a wall, staring in a different direction. On her are some black straps carrying ammo for her large weapon next to her. On her right arm was sheathed knife tied with the same dark straps. The two items that stood out was her hat and the lasso, never have I ever seen a pony used a lasso before.
Our conversation quickly ended when a whistle was blown. This signalled that we are about to move out. Finding my place in the caravan, I just happened to took the spot behind Applejack
Once everypony was in place the caravan started to move. When it moved we trotted along the sides, keeping a good pace with the waggons and carriages. Soon I found myself going through the gate and out into the hostile land.
Along the march some of the ponies I converse with, convince the other mercenaries to switch place with them so they can talk to me. Apparently they were confused of why this caravan needed so many guards, that was a valid point.
Suddenly a new voice entered into our conversation, a feminine voice. I turn the direction of the voice and found Applejack trotting towards us. She explained that the bandits are getting more aggressive in their raids. Not only that, but more daring as well when they attacked an outpost belonging to the Solar Empire and New Lunar Republic.
One of my companion assured us that with a force this big, those bandits wouldn't dare attack this caravan. I would have believed him there, if his head hadn't been pierced by a bullet.
Mere seconds after my comrade's death, somepony shouted snipers and we all took cover. It took me a few seconds get into cover, I was still shaken up from my comrade's death seconds ago. We took cover behind a waggon while dodging more bullets.
As we hid behind the waggon and return fire, I heard more loud sniper shots. Some of them hitting their mark as I heard the dying screams from the caravan. We continued to fire in the general direction of the sniper, but unbeknownst to us another group of bandits is about to flank us.
Another sniper shot was heard, but this time coming from the other side. The bandits have launched a second group of snipers to flank us. With no cover the snipers picked us off one by one. One those bastards almost got me if Applejack hadn't shot him.
Eventually all of our comrades realized what's going on and return fire on the flanking snipers. Ponies with large machine guns laid suppressing fire on them, while the pegasus member in our group attacked them from above. Once they were eliminated we returned our attention to the other snipers from before. Using the same tactics, the bandits were easily defeated.
Despite our victory we suffered some heavy casualties. One third of our force was either killed or seriously injured during that battle. This made some of ponies wanting to abandon the mission, which in turn cause our employer to try to convince them to stay. He managed to only convince half of them to stay, the other half mostly the injured left.
With that settled we continued on with our mission. I gave one look back at the leaving ponies, some of them were carrying the bodies of our dead comrades. However, only some of them were taken, those left behind will have their lifeless bodies lay rotting and forgotten.
It was truly a sad a fate for these dead ponies, nopony will ever know about them. They will simply vanish with the passage of time as the bodies will turn to bones. Nevertheless I pressed on, determined to see through it to the end.
We marched on forward to our destination, with most of the ponies gone we were forced to stretch out our forces along the caravans. I was moved to a new position with some other ponies, these guys were less talkative than the last one. I tried to start a conversation with them, but they would just respond with short answers or silence.
Since they were not talking, this made the rest of the journey long and tiring. Each step I took adds a feeling of pain in my legs, never was much of a trotter.
After hours of travelling, we were finally able to take a break. However, before I could rest my hooves I felt a strange shaking sensation coming from below me. I looked around and noticed I wasn't the only one to feel it.
One of my comrades put his ear to the ground. Suddenly the ground beneath him exploded, pieces of the stallion scattered in the air. Next came a series of explosions around our caravans, most of us were either blown up or blown away, It was the latter for me.
The blast thrown me to one of the carriages, my body crashed into the wooden vehicle breaking the door. The impact cause me to lose my gun. I tried to get up, but the pain was restraining my body from moving.
Raising my head up, I saw the rest of my comrades were also struggling to get up. Amidst all this something dug out of the ground. First came the paws, then came a large hairy canine looking creature. It was a bloody Diamond Dog and he was armed.
Wielding two large pistols, the dog pointed at two down ponies. Pulling the trigger for both guns, he simultaneously executed the two ponies. The dog then raises his head up and look straight at me. He proceeded to walk towards my direction.
At that moment time slowed down for me, the dog's arm slowly raised one of his arms. His pistol was pointed at my head. I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable, then came the sound of a gun fire. However, I soon realized I was still alive.
Opening my eyes I saw an orange pony standing over the body of my would-be executioner. Looking at my saviour I came to recognize the pony as Applejack. Walking towards me, she asked if I was alright. I responded by saying I was and she helped me got up.
Applejack then hoofed me an assault rifle, she said that I'll be needing some extra firepower against these mutts. Taking the weapons in my arms, we trotted along the caravans and kill any diamond dogs we see.
I had trouble using my new weapon, compared to my pistol this assault rifle was really heavy. I found myself struggling to aim my weapon at the dogs. Not only that the recoil on firearm is insane.
Applejack on the other hoof had no problem using her weapon. She swiftly moved the heavy gun around between the dogs, popping out short burst for each one. I swear that the mare was some kind of machine, moving smoothly and efficiently. Ever bullet hit their marks, not a single one was wasted.
Eventually the rest of our comrades were finally recovering from the dog's surprise attack, with their help we turn the tide in this battle. Those mutts really underestimated us and now they will suffer our wrath.
During all this, I saw the Terror Twins literally shooting the dogs into pieces with their miniguns, I spotted SkyBlitz in the air doing strafing runs, and lastly I saw Sparks casting multiple explosions and is taking out huge numbers of them.
Watching their fellow pack mates being slaughtered, the rest of the remaining Diamond Dogs flee from the battle. The only one that didn't turn tail was this large black furred dog, presumably the alpha male. This top dog probably curse his subordinates for fleeing, refusing to run he charged into the group of mercenaries.
Wielding nothing but an axe and pistol, the alpha dog ran towards a group of three ponies. Using his gun to take out two of them, he then finished the third one by chopping his head off. After dealing with those three, he turned his attention to two new targets, myself and Applejack.
He fired his pistol rapidly at the two of us, this forced me and Applejack to scatter and return fire. I blindly fire my assault rifle at him, barely landing any hits on the dog. Applejack, however did a better than me and shot the gun out of his paw.
This action made the dog focus on the orange mare and chased after her. Applejack tried to shoot him, but she was too late. The dog knocked the gun out of her hoof, then in one swift move he kicked Applejack in her stomach. This sent her back a couple feet, landing on her back.
The mare was in pain, but she won't allow this to stop her. Reaching for the revolver in her holster, she pulled it out and pointed at him. Before she could pull the trigger, the dog grabbed the gun and toss it aside.
He then raised one of his leg and stomp on Applejack's left leg. This cause the orange mare to scream in pain as her leg breaking. The dog then level his axe over her neck, planning to chop her head off. Bringing his axe up high he was about to behead the mare, but suddenly he heard three gunshots, followed by three sharp painful stings coming from his back.
Turning his head around quickly, the dog wanted to know the pony who had the balls to shoot at him. The pony he was glaring at, just happens to be myself holding my pistol. At first I thought those three bullets would have been enough to take him down.
Sadly this was not the case as he was still standing. Realizing what was going to happen next, I tried to reload my pistol. In a normal situation I can reload this with no problem, but seeing the eyes of a pissed off dog charging at ya kinda made me panic.
By the time I fully loaded my gun, the dog smack me to the ground. I don't remember what he said, I can only assume it was not something nice. Still dazed from the attack, I moved my head up and saw the dog raising his weapon.
Now this situation reminded of event that transpired earlier, in fact it was the same. A large diamond dog standing over me and they were about to kill me. And just like the first one Applejack saved me.
I heard the sound of another gun fire, but this one was different. This shot sounded more powerful. The next thing I saw was the dog's head exploding into pieces. While the headless body fell, I looked in the direction where the shot came from.
Laying a few feet away from me, I spotted Applejack holding her pistol. Smoke was coming from the gun's barrel, giving a clear indication that she was the one that fired the shot. I questioned what kind of pistol has that kind of power. But, then to my surprise she ejected a shotgun shell from her gun and inserted a new one. So basically her pistol is actually a miniature shotgun, this explains why she was carrying shotgun shells.
Once the alpha dog was dealt with the rest of our comrades arrived. Applejack and I were taken to the medics which they then tended our wounds. I fared better then my partner who just had her leg broken. Despite her injury she still continued on against the protest of the medics, honestly is this mare stubborn or what?
The diamond dogs attack cost us a majority of our forces, this left us seriously under manpower as we are forced to stretch ourselves along the caravans.
With our short break over we continued on with our journey. I paired up with Applejack again and noticed her limping. I slowed down my pace so that she can catch up. She saw me doing this and scowled. She then quicken her pace, trying to show that she didn't need my sympathy. Sighing I trotted up to the rushing mare and continued our march.
The recent attacks left many of us silent, no longer were we casually talking with each other. I understand how they feel, those two last attacks have really sucked out all the enthusiasm in this group. However, unlike the rest of them I wasn't so quiet.
For the past hour I tried to start a conversation with Applejack. She would just give the same response silence or glares. In hindsight I should have known that Applejack wasn't in a talkative mood, but sadly I wasn't very observant.
So for the next few hours, I tried desperately to get her to talk. At first I tried some small talks, it didn't work. Then I decided that if she wasn't going to talk, I'll be the one who would do the talking. So now I was basically telling her my entire life.
I told Applejack about how my parents met, my birth, early childhood, my first day of school, and my first crush. I was pretty sure she was just ignoring everything I said from that point. But, when I got to the part where I decided to become a mercenary, her ears perked up.
I told her about how I was bored with my life as a dishwasher and wanted something exciting. Then I told her of all the stories I've heard from ponies. They were tales describing the many adventures the mercenaries had. Everyday I listen to them and each time it inspired me to the point that I wanted to become one.
After finishing my story Applejack did something unexpected, she spoke.
Breaking her silence, Applejack chastised my reasoning for becoming a mercenary. She explained that the life of a soldier for hire isn't glamourous as I thought. She then went on and told me that the life of a mercenary is a constant battle of morality. Every mission she has to make a difficult decision and after making them she has to live with the choice she made. Said that every night she is haunted by the terrible things she has done.
After she was finished, I was left entirely speechless. Her sudden outburst changed my opinions about the mercenaries. I soon realized that my previous vision of these ponies was all fantasy, this is the real world.
Despite my initial shock, something came to mind and I blurted out. I asked her that if being a mercenary isn't good, then why did she become one?
However, instead of answering she returned to ignoring me. And with that the silence returns and I was in no mood to talk anymore. The rest of the trip was a long and quiet one.
Along the way the skies above us started filling up with clouds. Eventually the clouds covered the sky and were making some loud rumbling sound. It didn't take a genius to know that this was clear indication of thunderstorm.
Raincoats were given to everypony in case it was going to rain. Truth enough I felt a small droplet of water landing on my nose. Then more water started dropping from the clouds and soon enough it started to rain.
It wasn't heavy rain, but it was enough to create mud on the road. This made our hooves dirty and made it hard for the caravans to traverse on.
During this downpour some of the caravans got stuck in the mud. While we were trying to move the large wooden vehicles, we were unaware of new threat coming from above. These new enemies were from the ones from before, instead of surprise attacks they moved swiftly and silently.
They quietly took out our comrades that were distracted helping move the caravans. The assailants moved between ponies and assassinating them. Those that made noises upon being killed were blocked off by the crackling roars of the thunder.
In a couple of minutes the enemies managed to silently eliminate half of our forces. But, eventually one of the ponies spotted them and opened fire. This alerted everypony and soon every one took up arms and face the new threat.
When Applejack and I turned around, we saw who were up against. Eagle head, talon, and wings with lion body. It was the freaking griffons.
These fearsome flying creature hail from the land in the far east. Most of the griffons that invaded Equestria were either mercenaries looking for a job or small clans seeking to establish a base in the war torn land.
Now standing before my eyes are some very menacing looking griffons holding large bladed weapons.
The griffons upon being discovered by me and Applejack charged at us, raising their sharp pointy weapons at us. We reacted quickly, taking out our guns we fired at the incoming griffons. I managed to take one of them out while Applejack took out two.
The last one was heading in my direction, aiming my gun at him I pulled the trigger. I fired five shots, each one penetrating clearly through his body. After that the griffon fell face down onto the ground. At first he seems dead, so I walked forward and inspect. Suddenly he jumped up and thrust his spear into my stomach.
Luckily for me the spear didn't damage any vital organs, but it still hurt like hell.
I dropped my weapon and fell on my back, with the spear embedded into my gut. Before the griffon could do anything, Applejack shot him. With him dealt with, she approached my fallen body and called for a medic while trying to ease my pain.
Unfortunately the medics never arrive, because all of a sudden we could hear some loud explosions. Apparently the griffons weren't here to steal the caravans, rather they are here to destroy them. Those flying bastards must planted some bombs during the fight.
So then came a series of explosions coming randomly from each of the waggons and and stagecoaches. By this point Applejack knew what was coming, she put both her hooves on the spear and broke the handle off leaving only the blade.
Applejack lifted my arm over her shoulder and she dragged me away from the caravan. However, the waggon we were near exploded and sent the both of us flying forwards.
I didn't know how long the blast knocked me out, but when I woke up Applejack was sitting next to me. Her eyes were closed and yet I don't hear any snoring, meaning she is either resting or she was a silent sleeper.
I tried getting up, but then I felt a stinging pain coming from my stomach. Looking down I saw bandages wrapped around my belly. Turning the head to the left, there was an empty first aid kit next to me.
At that moment Applejack spoke up. She explained the situation to me, apparently all the caravans were destroyed. This meant that the mission was a failure and everypony fled. Everypony except me, my wounds were severe and needed to be taking care of.
Since the medics ran away with everyone else, Applejack had to tend to my wound by herself. Despite not having any medical training she did do a pretty good job sealing my wound. I asked her how she knew how to do this, but she just ignored my question and told me to rest.
Seeing that I won't get anything from her, I decided to comply and rest. As lay on the cold dirt ground a thought appeared in my head. If everypony left, why didn't she go with them? In fact why did she stayed with him?
These questions could be answered if I simply ask the orange mare, but due to my previous attempts I just remain silent.
An hour pass and I can feel that my body was healing. No longer does it hurt when I try to get up. But, then suddenly I heard some noises. Applejack also heard the noise as well and got up. Hoofing me a pistol, she signalled me that she was going to investigate the source of that sound.
Taking the pistol from her, I watched her trot away from my sight. I awaited patiently for anything to happen. Minutes passed by and still nothing.
I was getting worried at that point. Inside my head my imagination went wild, coming up with many ideas why she hasn't come back yet.
Then all of a sudden a gun shot was fired, soon a series of gun fire came after the first.
I instinctively ducked down intending to dodge any stray bullets. So far none of them passed through in my direction. When the gunfire stopped I got up and went in the same direction Applejack.
I eventually came to a clearing and heard some sounds. Hiding inside the bushes I peeked out and saw the cause of that noise. Out in the opening is Applejack and three stallions circling around her. Upon closer inspection the stallion were not part of our group, scavengers perhaps? Then I came to realize something, she was unarmed, but the other three weren't.
Armed with knives the stallions held their blades menacingly. I found this strange, they had guns in their holster and yet they use their knives. I then came to a realization that these three must want her alive.
Before I could think any further, the stallion behind her jumped at her. Applejack countered by giving him one strong buck with both her rear legs, the stallion was kicked back a couple feet.
Seeing their friend getting bucked made the other two charges at her. Applejack managed to smack one of them away with her hoof, but when she tries to punch the second one, the stallion grabbed her arm.
He then proceeds to toss her to the ground. Face down Applejack tried to get up, but the stallion held her down. He kept her pinned down long enough for his two buddies to recover and when they did they gather around Applejack.
Sensing that she was in grave danger, I got out of my bush while raising my pistol. At first my weapon was aimed at one of the stallion's head, but remembering the recoil I lower it a bit so that it was aimed at the chest.
Pulling the trigger my gun fired. As I predicted the strong recoil pushed the gun barrel upwards aiming at the head. In a instant my bullet penetrated the stallion's skull.
Soon after my first shot the two stallions turn their attention towards me. I thought about shooting the stallion pinning Applejack, however I worried that I may hit her. So instead I turned my weapon to the other pony and shot a couple of rounds into him.
That guy tried to reach for his gun, but I was too fast for him.
Suddenly I heard a click sound and turn my gaze at the last stallion. Holding a magnum in his hoof, he fired it. His aim was a bit off because his bullet didn't hit my brain, his bullet did however, graze the left side of my face. This left a long scar line across my left cheek.
The pain made me drop my gun. Before I could pick it up, I heard another click from his revolver. I quickly evaded his shot by jumping out of the way. The stallion aimed his weapon at me again, he was about to pull the trigger, but felt a punch from behind his head. This in turn ruin his aim and missed me.
Turning his head around he spotted Applejack raising her hoof up. In one swift swing of her arm, she planted her hoof into the stallion's face. This send him back a bit while also tossing his gun away.
Applejack then pounced him and two were engaged in combat. Seeing his weapon near me, I immediately rushed towards it and grabbed revolver. Aim the weapon at the two combatants, I waited for a clear of the stallion.
The mare must have saw me doing this, because she broke off from her fight with the stallion. With a clear view of my target in sight, I level the gun at him and squeezed the trigger.
However, instead of a bang all I got was a click. Pushing the trigger again lead to the same result. The blasted gun was out of bullets.
Upon hearing the sounds of empty gun, Applejack quickly dash towards her opponent. She ripped opened his one pocket and took out a hooful of bullets. Then she tossed all of them in my direction.
Out of all the bullets thrown at me, I only caught one. However, one bullet is all I need to end this stallion's life.
Opening the revolver, I inserted the bullet into the right slot and closed it.
Returning my gaze at the two ponies, I saw Applejack holding the stallion. She shouted at me to fire the stallion. I hesitated at first, not wanting to hit her. But, then a second yell from made me aim the gun at the stallion.
Once again I pulled the trigger and this time succeeded. The bullet flew out of the barrel of the gun and pierced through the stallion's chest.
The impact must have been strong, because the two ponies were pushed back. Both of them fell backwards with Applejack suffering from the extra weigh from the stallion crushing her.
I held my ground for a bit, shocked that I might have killed the mare who saved me. But, then my worries faded away when Applejack push the dead stallion of her.
Seeing her alive, I quickly made my way towards her. Passing the dead body I noticed a hole through his chest. Turning my attention to Applejack I saw the bullet embedded in her vest. The bullet must have passed through this guy's body and stopped when it hit her.
Helping her get up, she told me that we need to leave in case there are more of them. Silently agreeing with her, we left the area as quickly as possible.
When we were far enough and safe, we slowed down a bit and just causally trot our way back to the town. Knowing that this will be a long trip and despite previous failed attempts, I tried to strike a conversation with her.
Responding with a sigh I was about to drop it, until to my surprise she spoke. That right, Applejack was actually willing to talk to me. So for the next few hours we talked.
From what I learned from our conversation, Applejack used to work at her family's farm the Sweet Apple Acres. She didn't go into any details of why she left, but said it was similar to mine. She also mentioned a friend who was great with animals and would tend to their injuries, hence the explanation of Applejack's medical skills.
Like me, she was also lured in by the tales of the mercenaries. And like she soon joined after and became famous. Unfortunately being a soldier for hire has their downside. Hired to harm the innocence, used as cannon fodders, and being betrayed by your comrades\employers. This was not what she signed up for.
I asked why doesn't she quit? She answered by saying that she needed the money and any other jobs either paid little or was just degrading.
Then I asked her why doesn't go back to the farm. She responded by saying that after what she did, she'll never be welcome back.
The mood was suddenly ruined by this and we both remain quiet.
This last for a few minutes until Applejack spoke up. She advises me to drop out of mercenary profession and find another job. I took offense to it, but as stopped by her hoof. She explained that she is not here to tell me what to do with my life, just warning me that if I want to live a long and happy life, then quitting would be my best option.
And with that, the rest of trip was in silence.
We finally reached the town, we were about to depart when I remembered something. Turning around I called out to Applejack, who in turn look straight at me. I told her about how thankful I was for saving me numerous times.
Applejack then explained that there was no need to thank her, she was just doing what anyone else would do. Lending a helping hoof to someone. She then turned around and continue to trot out of my sight, that would the last time I'll ever see that mare again.
After her departure, I though long and hard about my decision at this point and I finally came to a conclusion.
Returning back to my father's restaurant, I inform him of my journey and wished to get my job back. He told me that somepony else has already filled in that spot. He does however, got an available opening for a waiter.
So for the next few months I wrote down the orders of food and delivered it to the customers. To my surprise I found this rather peaceful. Sure you have deal with the usual jerks, but other than that this beats getting shot.
My favourite part of my job is listening on the customer's conversation. They would usually bring up tales of the mercenaries and all their adventures. As exciting some of them were, there is one tale I am always eager to listen to.
This was about a pony who not only did I met, but was also saved by her. This is the mare that help reshape my life. This was the mare who never abandon her comrades and will risk her life trying to save theirs.
This is a tale of the mercenary named Applejack.
Author's Note
Man this took me a while to finish, hope to receive any critique from this.
