Prologue

Since the end of the Discordian Era of Equestrian history the pony Kingdom of Equestria has come to be labeled as the most prosperous nation in the world. With fertile ground and near perfect geographical location there is little in the ways of hardships for agriculture, their magic allows them to advance in arcane-science and philosophy. Within a couple decades the nation had been built from the remains of Discords former territory into the civilization seen today. But they are not alone in this wealth, in the early days of the Kingdom pacts where made between the great nation with the Gryphon Reich, The Minotaur Empire, and recently the Buffalo Tribes. While each nation abides by the laws set by their governments they remain under direct influence of Equestria meaning shared resources and knowledge.

However, despite the seemingly communal nature of the ponies it is no secret that they are also highly selective of whom they share their wealth with. While the pact includes the four largest races it provides no aid nor security to the rest of the starved world. Unable to recover from the aftermath of the Discordian era a vast number of civilizations where left to crumble. Two of the original races of Terra faded as a result, the first being the Flora Fauna a species of sentient plantlike bipeds. Once in tune with the worlds natural magic the corruption left by Discord was inadvertently combined in the natural magics, corrupting them and leaving the species as a whole nothing but a rotten husk of what it once was. The second to be effected where Changelings, once creatures that gave and shared love where also twisted but not from the magic of Discord. After the war the Changelings pleaded to Equestria's rulers for help, but they refused claiming the sub-species to be just another manifestation of chaos. This slowly drove the Changelings to the brink of death, so they were forced to make the greatest change and soon began to steal and consume love.

All the while as the rest of the world tried to rebuild from what was left. While some managed to hang onto their way of life many more were lost either dead or changed.

---Badlands---

"A couple more hours and where home buddy." I said looking over one of my charts, the Komodo whom I sat on let out a light hum.

Wonderful master Eli. His voice rang in my head.

"I just hope the others are having and easy a time as us." I said thinking of my comrades whom I was separated from a few days prior in a sandstorm.

Ms Noir and Mr Charon are well I am certain, they are as capable as you and I. He responded still trudging over the large dunes.

"I know but we do have a habit of being reckless, the last thing we need is Noir coming back with another corpse or "toy" at least not one as loud as last time." I said rubbing the Bridge of my nose.

I know it was a bit rude of me to make accusations about her habits, but I liked to sleep. Anyway, her full name is Noir Leva she's a Panther and an ex-warlord, bit of a history I know. After her home was burned by invaders she took it upon her self to find those responsible for the attack. Needless to say she found them pretty quickly as they made no effort to cover their tracks. After killing a path through about two dozen raiders she found their leader, a unicorn outlaw from Equestria. Apparently from what she told us it wasn't much of a fight, the guy was unskilled in any kind of combat other than magic. Once she hung him from a pole by his entrails his gang decided she would be a better leader and decided to sign up with her. Annoyingly that's about as much as she told us though, Noir never told us what happened to her old gang.

You let her get under your skin to easily I say, you know she's been better about her habits since we first met. Kodo said.

"I can't tell if you mean that literally or metaphorically." I said rubbing arm where said cat once put a knife through due to some snotty argument.

Any we both know Charon will be fine, there isn't a thing in this desert that could hurt him.

Charon was a bit of an enigma, he's a drake warrior and as tough as they come. I met him as he was butchering his way through a horde of Necrons, which are zombies that act like vampires. I was returning from a job and I heard him before I saw him, I was good half mile away when I heard him roaring and shouting. I remember crossing over a dune to see the eight foot tall giant cleaving his way through the things. He was screaming like it was the end of the world, and he kept going for almost ten minutes. By the time he was done the whole area was covered in blood and chunks of what use to be people. I was going to just carry on my way but before he could even make another movement he collapsed. Turns out he'd been swinging away long before I got there, I had Kodo help me carry him back to town for treatment but other than exhaustion he was perfectly fine. Guess dragons are as tough as people say.

"I'm not worried about their safety I'm worried about what they'll do to other people's safety." I said rolling my eyes and scanning the horizon. "Off topic for a second, the Oasis should be a bit ahead we can take a breather there and be back at the Brink before night."

We made better time than expected. He noted.

"Well swiping a few documents from a poorly guarded and even poorer secure safe isn't that hard." I said patting my supply bag, said document tucked safely inside.

I had been assigned to gather intel on a Gryphon convoy that had been scouting the area for a while. True it would have been easier to gather the information via contacts and spying but a direct status report theft is much quicker. I had yet to read the document but I planned to soon.

I looked back at a few new backs strapped to Kodo's back as well, a cheeky grin spread on my face. I may have been a bit greedy in what I took but I doubt they would miss what I took... much.

Ah I can smell the fresh water. Kodo said as the sand turned to thin grass and small plant life.

The Oasis while simply named was one of three spots scouts and agents such as myself could resupply on water and usually find small fruits. The spring itself was nestled in a circle of trees protecting it from the sands and also making a small spot of life. I slid of my ride and felt my boots thump on the soft ground. I unhook the bags from Kodo, he wasted no time in bounding to the shallows and sinking in. I chuckled and calmly took off my shirt and cloak. I took a second to check my appearance noting a couple of cuts left from those Gryphons.My hair was a long and tangled mess of black hair, my skin had long since been tanned by the desert and even toughened up a bit as well. I was about 6"10 and I guess I was pretty in shape, hard not to be when you spend every waking moment walking in sand and fighting. My left eye was blue and my right was grey, this being the result of an old wound, I could still see out of it thanks to healing magic but they couldn't fix the color. I checked my back and sighed thankful none of the cuts really damaged my tattoos too badly.

Said markings where actually drawing glyphs, they took in the latent magic in the air and made it usable to me. I could still use magic if they became ruined but it wouldn't be as strong until I fixed them.

After checking each mark I jumped into the clear water, It chilled my skin but I made no move to surface. I swam under the water for a bit looking at small bait fish swimming around a single snake slithered near the water's edge. It was nice and quiet the only sound being the water that flowed out through a small stream, that stream was also the most Direct route to The Brink.

Feeling a tightness in my lungs I swam to the surface and gasped as soon as came up. I paddle back to shore and leaned against Kodo's side. "Ah nothin' better than this eh?" He just let out another content hum.

While I felt like taking a nap my time was cut short as I felt the water move in front of me and a shadow blocked out the sun, I opened my eyes to see a pair of bright green ones staring back.

"NOIR!" I yelp thumping against Kodo.

"Who else were you expecting?" She purred, I noticed she also had a distinct lack of clothes.

"W-well you but not this." I stammered, I wasn't dumb enough to look down I knew if I didn't I would be leaving the Oasis till tomorrow.

"Well I guess you can call it a bonus." She put her legs over mine and sat against me her head under my chin.

Thank god I wear pants.I thought, Kodo chuckled no doubt having heard me.

We sat there for a while the sun slowly began to give an orange hue and I knew it would be dark by the time we got back. I looked down to see Noir had only moved closer.

"You know if we aren't back by dark we're going to have to worry about Necrons and Grue." I told her she huffed and looked up with a pouting expression. "Look you can ride one of your friends when we get to town but we need to move, come on you can have Kodo carry you if you want." She huffed again but didn't bother arguing.

I quickly gathered my things and strapped the bags back onto Kodo, Noir hopped onto his back still not having bothered to dress herself. Before we left I reached into one of my bags, inside were my weapons and relics from home. The first a S&M .356 M686 caliber revolver the other, a genuine Winchester M1873 rifle the .44 variant to be exact.

I stuck the pistol into a holster on my leg but kept the rifle at the ready. I remember the looks on Noir and Charon's faces when I showed them what they could do, I swore Charon was about to tear it out of my hands.

After checking their ammunition we began the hike once more. This time however there was at least some company, although all Noir seemed to be interested in was her recent assignment. No surprise it was an assassination, a nearby group Yak were getting a bit greedy. I blocked out most the details but it seems like she succeeded in the end. As I tried to block out her and Kodo's conversation I kept my eye on the sun and the horizons. When the light was gone some of the worst creatures in the desert wake up, and never in a good mood.

But it would seem they wouldn't be a problem, in the distance I could see a bright glow. It was the towns signal fire for guiding any nearby scouts back to safety during the night. It's also what kept the place safe as the fire was dragon fire, and any monster with a brain living or not knew better than to mess with a dragon.

"Ah finally I can't wait to eat." I said my stomach loudly agreeing.

"I can't wait to get to my bed." Noir said with a yawn. "I hate these long distance jobs, they suck."

"Well so do you but I'm guessing you mean in a different way." I ducked under a swift kick.

"Dick."

"I know you're hobbies so you don't need to inform me." I chuckled dodging another swing.

We went at it for a bit longer but as the gates came into sight we could make out a very large and very armored figure standing next to the guard tower. As we approached the figure stepped up to us a large brown sack slung over his shoulder. We stopped just short of one another.

"I see you kept your armor clean this time." I said with a smile.

"You would be correct." Did I forget to mention Charon was not only a berserker but a gentleman/drake. He had a very refine and calm voice, if you saw him without his armor and in his usual clothes you'd hardly believe he'd ever been in more than a snotty argument.

"What's in the bag?" I asked.

"Evidence." He said as he moved the bag in front of us I noticed for the first time it was moving. "My friends I would like to introduce you to our new acquaintance, his royal highness Prince Blueblood." He pulled open the sack to reveal a pale white and blonde haired unicorn, the guy was still in his pajamas.

"Charon why the fuck do you have the nephew of the most powerful nations rulers in a FUCKING SACK!" I shouted, Noir and Kodo where stunned unable to take their eyes off the struggling prince.

"Do either of you know of my recent orders?" He asked but we shook our heads. "I was told to deal with a herd of rather unsavory Burrowers that were spotted by one of our lookouts. The task was fairly cut and dry but the situation was quickly exacerbated when a group of Equestrian soldiers were already engaged with the herd. I decided it would complicate things less if I let things carry out on their natural path. Sure enough the soldiers were quickly devoured and I was able to dispatch the creatures with no further effort." He tapped the bag with his foot, but with his strength it may as well have been a kick. "This whelp however had been hiding in a carriage, seeing as how his disappearance will be seen as nothing more than a wild monster attack."

I felt anther head ache coming on. "Okay did you at least make it look as much like an accident as possible?" He nodded. "Well I guess as long as that's the case everything will be okay. But what do you plan to do with him?"

Charon thought about it. "We could use him to study magic, you could draw small samples of his magic and tamper with it."

"It would be nice to know more about their magic, it could help whenever we get into skirmishes. Alright I'm convinced, what about you Noir?" I looked over to the cat but she only stared at Blueblood with a hungry look in her eyes. "Well it looks like we got a new roommate for a while." I knelt down next to the prince his mouth covered by ropes but his eyes where left to stare at me in panic. "Well prince you're in for a hell of a time." I tied the bag shut and Charon threw it back over his shoulder earning a few muffled shouts.

I lead on as we entered the gates the humble multistory shanty town that is The Brink sat in front of us. The night market was in full swing as the people wondered about looking at what the day had brought in, an open face bar had a bad playing an upbeat tune. To the left was the residential district where we were staying, it was usually still rowdy there even this time of night being a trading hub this town was rarely ever quiet. To the right was the business and catering district filled with all manners of contractors, brothels, restaurants, and just a pretty odd mix of places. Lastly straight ahead was the Baron's district an area much more organized than out here, while it was the smallest of the districts it also held the most power. The Baron himself is a very old and very very powerful creature, a Leviathan.

Baron Varkel one of the original habitats of the planet, the Leviathan, a small race only amounting to a total of about 20, they are a race said to have existed before even Discord. They have a type of magic even the Equestrian rulers couldn't stand against alone. Sadly though the Leviathan are very neutral in their views on the world. They don't really care for the beings of the world only that they be left alone, the fact that the Baron let a town be built around him was surprising. It didn't take long for people to begin worshiping him and bringing him offerings, guess that's also why he still lets us live here. And while the Baron may be the lead authority of the area he rarely gave any direct order, most agents like me, Noir, and Charon get our orders from the Baron's personal directors. It was also them we had to go to give our reports.

I let Charon lead on as most people parted the streets when he walked through, although it wasn't out of fear but respect. Most people saw agents like us as guardians, which we were but they would be hailing us so much if they knew how we got things done. We made our way through the market with no trouble and soon we were Baron's district, the massive fort that the Baron lived within was built against a large mountain with a cave large enough for the Leviathan. I was thankful we never had to go within the building as it was filled with the strongest soldiers we had, and each and everyone of them scare the shit out of me.

"Elijah." Charon's voice shook me from my thoughts. "If you wish to me and Noir can give your report for you, I see your wounds and it would be good for you to have them checked as soon as possible."

I waved a hand dismissively. "I'm okay I made sure to heal them as soon as I was safe, their nothing more than scratches now."

He sighed. "Very well, but after this you should have them treated as they could still get infected. Even the strongest warrior can be brought down by illness."

A few minutes later we were in the records building and thankfully Noir had put some clothes on, if you can call a short silk skirt and chest wrappings clothes.

Sitting at a desk in front of us was short little imp, he was our overseer meaning we had to report every mission to him as soon as we returned.

"So let me get this straight." His voice is tiny and kinda squeaky. "You find a bunch of Equestrian soldiers fight for their lives and let them die, only to then kidnap their prince?" He said through his hands which had been forcefully applied to his face.

"You didn't think to help them and earn their favor?" He asked peeking through his scrawny fingers. Charon was about to say something but stopped. "Course not. Okay okay look we can salvage this, do you have the prince with you now?" Charon scooted the sack forward. Good you didn't botch this too bad."

"Um sorry but how can we save this?" I asked.

"Well." The imp grabbed Blueblood by the head and a grey energy link the imps arm and him. "I can rewrite his memories of the past few days, so I can make it seem like Charon saved him just in the nick of time and instead of simply letting those soldiers die he fought to avenge them. This way we can have a direct favor to the Equestrian government for saving their prince." He said Blueblood was still a trance like look in his eyes.

"Ah I get it now, but another thought how are we going to cash in said favor?"

"Well your team will be going to return him yourselves." He said.

"I understand sending Charon but why us, hell Charon alone scares most people given he's a dragon so adding a Panther and me into the mix is going to cause an angry mob." I said but he just shook his head.

"It's for that reason you'll be sent, seeing the three of you saving their prince will look better on us as a whole and not just dragons." He said, the magic flow stopped and Blueblood fell flat unconscious from the ordeal. "There I'll have someone take him to the hospital and give him a rundown of what will happen, you three go home and prepare because you leave tomorrow."

"Tomorrow!" The three of us shouted.

"Yes the sooner we get him out of here the better it will be for all of us, having a high priority Equestrian here will drawn attention we don't need." He said with finality.

I wanted to protest but I knew it wouldn't get me anywhere so I just held my hands up and stood. The others did the same and we made for the door. "Foster! There's a letter for you in the lobby by the way." The imp called before closing the door behind us.

The two looked at me and I shrugged heading for the lobby. The secretary gave me a the letter, it had the Directors seal on it. I slid a knife under the seal peeling it of. Inside was three gold coins and a rather short letter.

Elijah Foster

We at the council believe your team has shown exemplary progress in your assignments, as such we believe you are ready to take on your first recruit. Given how you have shown to be capable in various fields we believe you to be the best choice in training your new teammate. We hope you will prove us right and we wait for you next report.

Best regards Director Nemis

"We can recruit people?" Was my only response.

"It appears so." Charon said.

I knew the Directors had personally made the three of us into one of their Divisions ours being Division 8 but I didn't know we could just up and recruit people on a whim.

"As long as they play nice I don't see the problem." Noir said. "It could be fun after all, we get to bring a new guy out on our biggest mission yet so it'll be perfect to show him how we do things." She said, I gave her a blank look.

"I don't think giving a rookie on the job training during a job that may spark an international incident is perfect." I said Charon nodded.

"Okay so maybe it's not the best circumstances but hey, we're going in looking like the good guys so it'll be easy." She said still optimistic.

"Not like I have a choice either way, but if something goes wrong I'm blaming you." I said.

"Are you going punish me." She said with a doll faced look.

"Yes and it involves my foot up your ass." I growled leaving the office.

I climbed onto Kodo's back and looked over the letter for any other information but there wasn't any. Noir and Charon walked alongside me towards our house, it's more of a duplex we broke the walls of but hey it worked.

"I wonder what criteria our new companion will meet." Charon said rubbing his chin whisker things.

"Well I cover infiltration, espionage, and subterfuge pretty well. You've assault down to the bare wires and Noir follows a more personal version of my work. So looking at the facts we could use someone who has a bit of a medical background or is capable of piloting some means of transport. " I said Kodo looked up in mock indignation.

"Asking either of a new recruit seems a bit unfair, after all such skills take time to learn and if they had said attributes they would probably seek professional employment and not mercenary work." He said with a more questioning tone.

"It's not impossible though I mean look at us. Noir has a background in acupuncture and alchemy, although just not in the ways of medicine. I'm a skill blacksmith and gunsmith, hell I hand load my own ammunition. Not to mention you yourself are a scholar, you can read stars like maps and pluck hidden messages from encrypted writings." Charon didn't say anything back and instead looked to go deeper in thought.

Entering the residential district our home was pretty easy to spot, it was a two story duplex building we had bought when the Directors made us into one of their Divisions. It was our safe house as well as our main base of operations, we would come and go rarely ever having all three of us there at once. The front of the building was marked with a large flag hanging down with what Noir likes to say is our calling card on it. It's a rifle and sword crossed in an X shape in front of a rune marked shield, in front of all that on a banner lie patter was our title Division 8. Now each part of it had it's own meaning to each of us, the sword represented Noir and her history and the rifle mine, the shield was added by Charon and it was the only clue to his past we had but none of us could read the symbols as they were in ancient draconian.

Guess we may be adding a new image soon. I thought remembering our latest news.

As we came closer I dismounted and began taking the bags and harness off of Kodo. Noir and Charon waited by the door not wanting to meet the rookie without all of us being present. After making sure Kodo was comfortable in his own little hut I unlocked the door to the building. Sliding the old wooden door open I saw a single blue light coming from the sitting room. I had my rifle put away but I was also ready to draw the revolver on a moments notice. Peeking around the wooden frame of the entrance I looked into the room to see our newest addition.

A mage?

Sitting cross legged in the center of the room was what looked like a Fox. It was obviously a young woman no older than Noir or I, she had a grey coat with thicker tufts of black fur around her neck, wrists, and shins. Her hair was a subtle dim red with black ends and it seemed to match the colors of her clothes. She didn't notice us and just sat there her hands steady and holding a mass of glowing water.

"Ahem." I coughed, the noise made her jump but she held her concentration enough to pour the water back into a canteen. She was on her feet in seconds an old wooden staff in hand, the edges had two sharp blades on each end.

Seeing the three of us she looked worried and quickly lowered her weapon. "I'm sorry I didn't mean that." She said giving a quick bow.

Definitely not a dark caster. I thought with a chuckle. "Don't worry about it, I take it your the one the Director's assigned us."

"Yes, I'm Finna Jera." She said bowing again.

Nordic really. It wasn't often someone from the northern territories made their way to the Badlands. "Right well Finna we're glad to have you on board another magic user is always welcome so long as you leave blood magic and necromancy at the door."

"It's a good thing I specialize in the primal forces." She said holding a hand out, it was quickly surrounded i water and bits of stone.

"We have something in common." I said holding out my own hand which I coated in fire and wind. "I'm Elijah Foster Division 8's representative to the Directors and also intelligence specialist." When it came to any official matters the three of us made it a point to be as professional as three mental cases can be.

"Noir Leva special operations." She did an odd bow which was returned by Finna.

"I am Sir Charon direct engagement specialist." The drake said putting a hand to his heart and bowing his head.

"It is nice to meet you all, I will try and learn as much as I can as quick as I can." She said.

I couldn't hold back a small chuckle. "Well you'll be having a chance to show us how well you can attest to that soon, you'll b going on your first assignment along side us tomorrow." The look of panic in her eyes was pretty funny. "You'll be accompanying us along side an Equestrian VIP, I believe you know of a Prince Blueblood." The poor girl looked about ready to faint.

I felt a large scaled hand smack the back of my head. "Eli enough you'll give the poor girl a heart attack." Charon scolded. "Don't worry young miss it's a simple escort and we most likely will be taken by airship so we won't need to worry about the dangers of the Badlands." He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and she relaxed.

"Ah thank you Sir Charon, but regardless I will help as much as I am able where I am able." She said politely.

"I'm sure you will, now since you'll be staying here feel free to pick any empty room you wish and furnish it as you like. I recommend turning in early as we will be departing early, and that being the case I must bid you good night." He said before leaving to his room.

"Really it isn't that difficult around here,our overseer will see to it you're given assignments fitted to your level of expertise." Noir said giving the fox a quick hug and kiss, and I wish I could say on the cheek. "Good night."

The two of us were left in the room.

"Well we best get some sleep to, I look forward to working with you." I said holding out a hand with a minor flow of light around it.

"And I you." She said taking my hand her hand also sparking with energy.

It was something of a formality for those who practiced magic to greet one another this way as a way to get of feel for one another's prowess. "See you bright and early." I said before leaving to my bunk as well.

As I closed the door to my room I looked down to see a small spark of sporadic yellow energy.

This is going to be interesting. I thought with a Cheshire grin.

Author's Note

I still hate descriptions.
And late night shifts.