Chapters Lone Wolf Mercenary Services
Going Rogue and introductions.
It's been a full year since I was sent here with no way back.
Hi, my names Gray Karmen, I'm from Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom. I lived in a small town called Antrim for a few years before getting sent here, but I'm not the only one that was dragged here. There were six others, Carl, Jason, Kate, Josh, Molly and Brian. Three of them I could stand, but the others were just unbearable. When we all met for the first time Carl decided that we should stick together on this foreign world, we all agreed but he proclaimed himself as our leader and expected us to follow his orders. Kate didn't care about anything but her looks, and by God she was ugly. Brian was as dumb as a brick and couldn't even understand what the word omnivore meant.
Josh was only 13 when he got sent here so he still had the necessary childhood innocence to not freak out when he found out he was in a land of magical talking ponies, and besides, the kid was smart for his age. Molly was a likeable person, very independent and not bad to look at, she was the one keeping me sane during the first month. Jason was an engineer on earth, he introduced Equestria to the telephone which is now a part of daily life for the ponies. He was a nice guy and told someone great jokes to lighten the mood around the camp.
Yes, things were balanced out at the camp but there was an incident that caused me to leave the group, or as Carl put it, Going rogue. It was another crappy day at the camp and Carl was being even more of a douchebag than usual. He ordered me to open a can of beer for him.
"Why should I, aren't you supposed to be our big strong leader?" I said sarcastically, he snorted in rage and tried to throw the can at me but I grabbed his arm and threw him over my shoulder into his tent. "You know, if you had just asked nicely I might have opened it for you, but you just had to play soldier didn't you." He was about to charge me but Molly and Josh held him back.
"I want you out of my camp you freeloader!" He snarled at me while struggling to get lose from Molly's death grip.
"Your camp?" I burst out laughing. "Oh my God are you that dense? This isn't your camp, and you are NOT the boss of me." I walked over to my tent and grabbed a bag that contained my personal belongings.
"You dare defy me?" I walked up to him and knocked him under the jaw.
"Who do you think you are, JESUS!? You won't need to worry about me defying you anymore, I'm leaving the group."
"Gray no!" Molly let go of Carl and hugged me. "We can sort this out!"
"I'm sorry Molly, but I can't put up with this anymore, I've got a friend in Canterlot that I'm going to stay with." I looked to Jason and Josh. "Take care of yourselves guys." I turned to Molly and she planted a kiss on my cheek.
"Stay safe." With that I walked off, it took me a two day walk to get to Canterlot but my friend let me stay with him.
He was a unicorn with grey fur and an orange mane, his name was Pyro Flare, his cutie mark was a three layered flame, one layer red, then orange, then yellow. If you haven't guessed already, his special talent is anything to do with fire. He used to be in the royal guard but was kicked out for burning down the barracks. He's learned to control his destructive tendencies so he doesn't burn his house down. We met a few weeks back, I helped him learn how to control his anger and he became my first pony friend.
I tried looking for work but no one wanted to hire me, eventually I met a griffin named Clawback. He was a large griffin and was in a similar situation. I took him back to Pyro's place and we all talked about what to do, we needed money somehow. Eventually we figured out what to do, since we didn't have any other options other than begging we became a mercenary group, we were all quite skilled in combat and none of us were afraid to take a life if needed.
Six months later our group became known all over Equestria and we began accepting jobs from the princess herself. We eventually scrapped together enough cash to buy a building in Canterlot, which would be used as our groups new home, Pyro sold his home as he no longer needed it. We named our group the Lone Wolf Mercenary Services and started holding auditions for a fourth member. After the auditions we found out that none of the candidates were willing to kill, we weren't to keen on killing ponies either but we don't just take random assassination orders, we look into the pony first then decide wether or not they have to die. Princess Celestia was glad that we didn't just kill ponies just because some rich guy slams a bag of bits on my desk. No, we have standards. Most of our requests are escort missions or guard duty, we get a few assassination requests but like I said, we only kill if it is necessary. Any time we have to kill for a client we try to get the target to go into hiding. We may be mercenaries but we still have hearts.
Getting back on track, none of the candidates were up for the job, so we told them to try the royal guard. We went back to our groups building which we now have called The Wolf Den, I decided to go for a walk to clear my head. On the way I stumbled upon a hidden area of the Canterlot gardens where I met a peculiar creature, he looked like a cross between a pony and an inscect. He didn't notice me so I hid behind a tree.
"What was I thinking, there was no way the ponies would accept me, they think I'm a monster." That sparked my interest.
"Y'know, if you were trying to get ponies to accept you, Canterlot isn't the best place for that." I stepped out from behind the tree. "This city's filled with stuck ups and nobles, you'd have been better off in ponyville." He started shivering in fear.
"What are you?"
"I'm a human, or as the snobs around here call me the ape ." I stepped closer. "Names Gray by the way, who are you?"
"Oh um, my names Mothball." He started to calm down a bit.
"I don't mean to be rude but...what exactly are you, I've never seen a pony like you before?" He sighed and turned away.
"I'm a changeling, a race of shape shifters that feed off of love, we are also heartless so we can't feel love but on feed off it." I took a cautious step back. "But...I'm an exception, you know the way a bee hive is ruled by a queen?" I nodded. "Well, our species works similar to hives, we have a queen that produces changelings asexually, the queen must be one of the rarest types of changeling, a royal. A royal requires two ponies to create, each royal is born with a heart so that we can survive without feeding."
"So it's like the changeling to equivalent to an Alicorn?"
"In a way, yes. I was born a royal, an heir to the changeling throne. But what my mother, the queen, didn't take into account was that I had gained my fathers personality and free will. I left the hive, hoping to be accepted by the ponies of Equestria, but I guess that's never going to happen." I got a good look at him and noticed some key features. He had blue web like hair, a green beetle like back, a blue stripe running across his stomach, he had holes in his hooves and horn and had emerald eyes with slits for pupils. He was also very tall, not Celestia tall but still tall. "I've got nowhere to go." I started feeling bad for the guy, I started to see myself in him. An idea crept up on me.
"Mothball, how skilled are you in combat?"
"Royals are born with great magical potential and I can also transform into beings like manticores and timberwolves, why?" I smirked.
"I think I know a place where you would be accepted."
"Really?"
"Kid, you're looking at the leader of the Lone Wolf Mercenary Services, if you join us, you'll get a place in our group, a home and you'll be able to choose your own path, what do you say kid, feel like becoming a mercenary?" He looked unsure. "Don't worry kid, we don't really accept assassinations just because we get paid, we have standards." This calmed his nerves a little. I reached out my hand in offering. He stood up straight and placed his hoof in my palm and shook.
"You've got yourself a deal." I smiled and gestured for him to follow me.
"Hey Mothball, might wanna put on a disguise until we get to the Wolf Den."
"You call your home the Wolf Den?"
"You're forgetting what our group is called." He nodded and transformed into a green unicorn with blue hair. "I Should probably tell you what the others are like."
It took awhile to convince Pyro to not torch Mothball but he eventually warmed up to him (pun not intended). Clawback was accepting of him for unknown reasons. Word spread quickly that a changeling had joined our group, and when I say quickly, I mean REALLY quickly. It even reached the camp. Here's what happened when they first found out about Lone Wolf.
"Guys, Gray's in the newspaper!" Yelled Jason.
"Give me that!" Carl snatched the paper right out of his hands. "What the, that freeloader became a mercenary!" Everyone in the camp crowded round to see the article. "Lone Wolf Mercenary Services accept changeling into their group. Leader of the group Gray assures public that the changeling means no harm to the citizens of Equestria." Molly then snatched the paper and began reading it very carefully as to not miss any details.
"Gray's really made a name for himself, huh Josh?"
"Yeah, look at his friends, there's a unicorn and griffin, how'd he find a griffin?"
"I don't know, but at least he's doing well." Carl was cursing over in his tent while Jason was trying to figure out how I was able to start a mercenary group in the first place. Kate was jealous that I was getting so much attention and Brian was busy trying to understand some of the words used in the article, at least he's trying.
A few months have passed and today marked my first full year in Equestria, I hadn't seen any of the other humans for about ten months. I was sitting at my desk in my office reading a newspaper when Clawback burst through the door,
"Hey boss, I'm back from my last assignment!" He tossed a bag of bits on my desk, his payment for the job. I lifted the bag and let the bits spill onto the table, there was easily five hundred bits there.
"Great work Clawback." I lifted one hundred bits out of the pile and handed him back the rest. "Enjoy your payment." Here at Lone wolf we have a rule, 20% of our rewards go to our company vault to pay bills or buy food. We keep the rest to ourselves.
"I'm thinking of taking the rest of the week off, I got any more requests?"
"Nah, there was only one job that came in yesterday and Mothballs taking care of that, should be back any minute now." As soon as I said that Mothball walked through the door. "Hey Mothy, how'd the job go?" He tossed his twenty percent onto the table and sat down on my couch.
"Went off without a hitch boss, just had to take out a few timberwolves."
"Good to here."
"Hey, where's Pyro?" Clawback asked with curiosity.
"He's doing a food run, he'll be back later." The griffin nodded and headed to his room. "Hey Mothy, how'd your date go?" I asked with a smirk. He blushed and turned away.
"You heard about that huh?"
"Come on man, it's good that you're getting out there, at least tell me her name." He sighed in defeat.
"Her names Screwball, and the date went great."
"Good on ya dude, glad it went well."
"You know, I should be thanking you."
"Hmmm?"
"If it weren't for you, I'd never have met her, you took me in and encouraged me to get out there."
"Don't get sappy on me Mothy." I said with a slight laugh. He chuckled and left the room, but stopped in the doorway.
"By the way, happy anniversary Gray." He walked off without letting me say anything. I shook my head and went back to reading.
Later on in the day Pyro had returned from the food run and was stocking the fridge.
"Ok, we got my spicy foods, Clawbacks chicken, Mothballs chocolate stuff and Gray's red meat and vegetables. Also we got two six packs, a few bags of potato chips and chocolate cake, as well as the two 2liter sodas. Did I miss anything?" I was looking over over the list as he stocked up.
"Nope, it's all here. We've still got plenty of milk and cereal so we can last a while." He smirked and walked off. "Oh, and could you guys meet me in my Office, I've got something important to tell you all." He nodded and shot off towards the living area. A few minutes later we were all in my office.
"What's this about boss?" Clawback asked. I chuckled and pulled out four bottles of beer.
"Oh nothing, I just wanted to celebrate my one year anniversary of being in Equestria." They all gasped, the exclusion of Mothball of course. I tossed them their drinks and held mine high. "A toast, to the best year of my life! Cheers!"
"Cheers!" We all bashed our drinks together and started downing the contents. We all burst out laughing and sat down on the two couches in the room. Just then the phone rang on my desk, I picked it up and held it to my ear.
"Lone Wolf Mercenary Services, what can we do for you?"
"Gray, it's me, Celestia."
"Oh, what's up Tia?"
"I need you to do a job for me, the reward is two thousand bits."
"Two thousand bits!?" I gaged for a moment, even with the 20% donation it was still 1600 bits. "Must be a big job."
"It is, I need you to escort princess Cadance from Manehattan to Canterlot."
"Sounds easy enough."
"It won't be as simple as make sure she's safe on a train, you'll have to escort her on foot."
"Alright, now I understand the huge payment, who do you need?"
"I will need you and Mothball, meet me in Manehattan tomorrow at sundown at the train station. I will fill you in more then, and I will supply you on your journey."
"You got it." She hung up and I faced the group. "Mothball, you and I just got a co-op job."
"Really, if it pays two thousand then it must be important."
"It is, I'll fill you in on the train ride, pack your bags, it's a long job." He nodded and headed to the living area. "Clawback, you're in charge until I get back, should be a week or so."
"You got it boss." He saluted and sat in my chair. I shook my head and went to gather my things. I entered my room and collected my equipment. I threw on my cloak which draped down past my knees with a strap on the back, the cloak had our emblem on the right shoulder. I picked up my sword and placed it in the strap on my back. I picked up my throwing knives. I also picked up my magic gauntlet that aloud me to use magic, I mainly use it with my throwing knives, increasing their efficiency. I put on my scarf that covered my mouth when I wore it around my neck and headed to the front of the building.
Never had to escort royalty before, if she can't take the train that means there's someone after her. If not then I'm sure Tia has here reasons. She has faith that we will get Cadance to where she needs to go safely and I won't let her down. I exited the building and waited for Mothball. He was probably telling his marefriend that he'd be away for a few days, can't say I blame him.
This job could be risky, but we've faced dangers like hydras and even a dragon, I think we can take on a few thugs.
Lone Wolf Mercenary Services theme song
Youtube Video
Lone Wolf Mercenary Services
One hijacked train ride later...
Mothball and I were currently sitting in a booth on the train to manehatten. I was busy filling him in on the situation. When I mentioned that our mission was to escort the princess of love he looked nervous.
"This isn't gonna end well."
"Relax Mothy, I'm sure Tia will explain everything to the princess. Might wanna be ready to dodge a magic beam though." I chuckled as I finished the sentence and Mothball face hoofed.
"I love ya boss, I really do, but you gotta get some better jokes."
"Be thankful I'm not the kind of boss that forces you to laugh."
"I suppose you're right." The next ten minutes were spent in silence. "Well, we should probably get some sleep. Big day tomorrow." I nodded and threw my legs onto my seat and rested my back against the window with my arms behind my head.
"Night Mothy."
"Night boss." Sleep came easily. I was having a dream about the camp, the good times I shared with Jason, Josh and Molly. I wonder how they're doing, maybe they found a better place to stay. I can't imagine them still living in the camp if Equestrians have gotten used to me. That should benefit them right? It means that ponies won't just run away when they see them. My thoughts were interrupted by shouting at the other end of the train car.
"Alright listen up, hand over your valuables and nopony gets hurt." I peeked around Mothballs seat to see four earth ponies with knives in their mouths going from booth to booth taking the ponies jewellery and bits. I shook Mothball.
"Mothball, we've got company." Hearing this his eyes shot open and looked around the corner. I noticed that the thugs were wearing bandanas with the symbol of a skull on their heads. They weren't random thugs, they were a bandit group. Mothball noticed this too and pulled out a pile of wanted posters and started flicking through them. He landed his hoof on a poster and read it out in a whisper.
"The Skull Bandit Guild, wanted for 3000 bits." We looked to each other and smiled devilishly. I pulled on my magic gauntlet and rose from my seat. I put my hands in my pockets and pulled my scarf over my mouth. I walked out into the open and looked at them.
"You know, it's rude to wake others from their sleep." The ponies jaws dropped.
"He's...h-h-he's from Lone Wolf, what in Tartarus is Lone Wolf doing on this train?!"
I pulled out the wanted poster and looked over it. "Hmmm. You guys seem a tad too weak and unorganised to be worth 3000 bits. I take it there are more of you in the other cars?" One of them gulped and nodded. We were in the middle car so I could use this to our advantage. "Mothball, you handle the back cars, I'll deal with the front." He nodded and headed into the next car. I looked back at the bandits. "I'm gonna give you guys one chance, give everypony back what belongs to them and surrender, or..."
I used my gauntlet to levitate my throwing knives, having them spin in a circle behind me. "...are you going to fight me?" They looked to each other and gulped. "Is that a yes?" They shook their heads and charged at me. I smiled and threw my scarf over a foals eyes. "Sorry kid but this show is for adults only." I shot three of my spinning knives at one of the bandits and he dropped dead. The other three shouted his name and looked at me with anger. I took advantage of their shook and stabbed two of them in the back, causing them to fall unconscious but not dead. I stopped the last one with my sword and held it against his neck. "You done goofed." He threw his knife away and lowered his head. "Good boy, I didn't want to kill your friend over there but to be fair I did warn you." I spotted some rope at the back of the car and tied the three up, the two I stabbed won't bleed out, I avoided any vital bloodlines. I just punctured a pressure point. I looked at the bag that was filled with jewels. "Alright people, get your stuff back."
I lifted the corpse of the dead bandit and wrapped his body in a blanket. I didn't have to worry about the mess, Celestia taught me a spell for cleaning up the blood. How I love this gauntlet, really comes in handy. "Well, time to round up the rest of the cattle." I lifted my scarf off of the foals head and wrapped it around my neck and covered my mouth. If you're wondering why I cover my mouth with it, it's because I think it makes me look awesome. I walked into the next car, there were six more bandits. They started to panic, seriously, why are these guys worth so much? "Come on guys, chill out." I used my gauntlet to freeze them in blocks of ice. "If Mothball was here he'd scold me for that." After a rinse-and-repeat in the next two cars, I came across a room where all of the guards were tied up. "So this is where you guys were." I cut their bonds with my throwing knives and told them the situation was under control. After thanking me they went to arrest the bandits. I returned to my seat and watched as the bandits were teleported to prison by a magic crystal.
The guards returned with two bags of bits. "The bounty has been teleported here by the Canterlot Detention Centre, enjoy your reward sir." I took the bags from his grasp.
"Thank you kindly." He nodded and went to join his squad. I counted the bits and there was 1500 bits in each bag. Mothball returned with a chocolate milkshake held in his magic. He sat down and I tossed him his share. "I take it everything was ok on your end?"
"Mostly, had to kill two of them, after that I just froze the rest in crystallised mucus." You'd think I'd be grossed out by that, but I've known Mothy for awhile, I've got used to it.
"Great minds think alike." He grinned and yawned. "I think we deserve some rest now, would you agree?" He nodded and cast a sleeping spell on himself. "Cheater." I folded my arms and laid back against the window, resuming my dream.
We were awoken by the train slowing down. I looked out the window to find we had a beautiful view of the city.
"Whoa..." We both whispered in unison. I noticed a large statue of a pony wearing a dress...it looked a lot like...
I burst out laughing, Mothball just looked at me confused.
"What's so funny?"
"I just remembered...Manehatten...Man hatten...oh my God." I said between laughs. I calmed down and explained the similarities between this city and NYC.
"Whoa, that's freaky."
"I swear to God if they have their own version of Times Square I'm gonna die laughing." He looked at me confused. "Earth thing, come on, gather your stuff." He nodded and retrieved his equipment, which contained a small green blade, tranquilliser darts, magic crystals and crystalic hatchet.
We exited the train and took in the site of the station, well, mostly me. It presented your standard city train station, which made me feel at home. I grew up in Belfast City back on earth before moving to Antrim, nice enough city, always had some kind of convention going on, which was nice. I always went to anime conventions as my favourite anime character Trafalgar Law. Don't know who that is? Look him up or something I'm not going to waste my time explaining. I will tell you he's from the anime One Piece, that's all. Oh God, I'm sounding like Symbol now aren't I? Wait, where did that come from?
Doesn't matter. We walked up the steps into the main depot, where a familiar face walked up to us.
"Hey general FireFlight, haven't seen you in awhile, how're the kids?"
"They are well, thank you." After introducing Mothball to FireFlight he began to lead us towards the back of the station. "The princess's waiting for you in the back, she has something for you."
"Aw, she shouldn't have." He chuckled and continued, I shot a cocky grin at Mothball. "At least somepony likes my jokes." He gave a tired sigh and continued on. We reached the rear of the building and walked through a black door.
"The princess is around the corner, it was nice to see you again Gray."
"Likewise, FireFlight." He nodded and went back to his duties. We walked around the corner to see Celestia siting at a table under the light of one lamp on the ceiling, creating a circle of light around the table. "Kinda cliché but alright."
"Hello again, Gray and Mothball. I heard about what happened on the train, thank you for keeping fatalities to a minimum."
"Your welcome, although you might wanna get your guards better training." She nodded and slid a file across the table.
"This file contains a map and some basic information on Cadance, the map will show you the safest route." We nodded and I began studying the file.
"Princess, if I may ask, why did you request for me to come along on this mission? Don't you think the princess will be afraid, after all changelings feed of of love, and she's the princess of love." Mothball asked with worry. Tia giggled and gave him a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry Mothball, I have explained everything to my niece. The reason I have requested you to be on this mission is that I am trying to improve your image around Equestria, if you safely escort a princess across the land and keep her out of harms way, then the public will trust you more." Mothball nodded in understanding, but I could sense his nervousness a mile away. This is gonna be a loooooooonnnngg trip. "By the way Gray, the blacksmiths and mages finished your request a few days ago."
My eyes widened and my grin became devilish. "Show me." She nodded and placed a black case on the table and pushed it towards me. I opened it up and looked at my new toy with an insane smile. Inside the case was a pistol made of solid gold. It was thirteen inches long and one and a half inches wide. The bottom of the barrel was rectangular, the grip was made of fine leather. I took it in my hands and noticed that the bottom of the grip was empty. I looked to Celestia and she walked over to the corner of the room. There was an object was covered in a sheet.
Tia pulled off the sheet to reveal a silver machine, it had three buttons on the front, one red, one blue and one gold. There were also three holes under the buttons. "This is your ammunition dispenser, it can magically produce three types of ammunition, explosive, magic-dampening or enchanted."
"Is there any limits to how much ammo it can produce?"
"As long as you give the magic crystals time to cool down, there should be no problems. There is also a heat meter on the side, to warn you in the event of it overheating." I nodded. I pressed the gold button and a magazine of twelve golden enchanted bullets dropped from the slot. I examined the ammunition and smiled, they were easily 50 callibur. I loaded the gun and gave it a once over. I noticed an engraving on the side. There was no writing but there was a few curved lines. "Those lines are only temporary, if you give the weapon a name, it will change to that name." I thought for a moment, then an idea came to me.
"Alright, I shall call it...the Lancelot." The lines glowed and the word Lancelot was engraved.
"An interesting name, must be something from Earth?" I nodded, she smiled and handed me a belt with nine straps. "This is for holding you extra bullets, take five enchanted, two explosive and two magic dampening." I nodded and selected the amount of ammo. In total I had ten clips. I'm still amazed that they managed to create this thing. They even shaped it like I asked, it looks like Alucards Jackle from Hellsing Ultimate, but gold instead of black.
"Thank you for such a lovely present Tia." I placed the Lancelot in a pouch on the belt.
"As long as you don't go around shooting my ponies, I'm happy to accept your requests. Consider this a bonus for escorting my niece such a long way." I nodded and turned to Mothball. "Don't worry, I'm not going to have you carry this around, I will take it to the Wolf Den and place it in your room for when you return." I thanked her.
"So, when do we meet this princess?" I asked rubbing my hands together.
"Come along, we are meeting her in a hotel downtown." With that we exited the room. We walked down a small pathway and headed into a carriage waiting for them. Many ponies tried to take a picture of us as well entered the carriage. When I shut the door Tia closed the curtains with her magic, giving us privacy. The carriage began moving slowly but them picked up some steady speed. I pulled out the Lancelot and examined one of the three different types of bullets. The enchanted ones had a gold shell with a silver tip, the explosive ones were red shelled and silver tipped and the magic-dampening were blue shelled and silver tipped. The only thing on my mind at that moment was this...
I can't wait to use this baby.
Lone Wolf Mercenary Services
It's always a kidnapping, isn't it...
The carriage pulled up outside the hotel, only for us to find that the area had been blocked off to the public, and not for a good reason. Outside the hotel there was several injured guards and it was bordered off by police tape. "Oh great, we haven't even got on the job and something's already gone wrong..."
We exited the carriage and a guard rushed up to meet Celestia. "What's going on here?"
"It's the Princess of Love your majesty, she's been kidnapped!"
Celestia gasped, Mothball groaned and I facepalmed. I sighed and turned to the guard. "Do you have any info to where she was taken?"
"Just a marking..." He held a photograph of a moon symbol with two blades down the middle. I looked to Mothball and he started fishing through the wanted posters. He landed on a page and inspected it, a frown formed on his face.
"Dark moon necromancer group, wanted for 10000 bits." Celestias face became filled with fear. "Not much is known about them, but their title speaks for itself..." This job just keeps getting better and better.
"Known location?"
"I can use a tracing spell to show their tracks, but it'll be difficult..." His horn glowed green and several green hoof-prints appeared on the ground. Celestia took notice and was about to send for more guards when I placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't even think about it Tia, you saw how your guys performed on the train and here. Let us take care of it." I started following the tracks. "Besides, you hired us to protect Cadence, let us do our job." I flashed her a smile which I then hid with my scarf, Mothball followed, leaving Tia speechless.
Half an hour later we reached a dark ominous cave on the outskirts of the city. "A cave...it's always a fucking cave..."
"I know what you mean boss, is kinda stereotypical for a necromancer hideout."
"Finally we agree on something." I grabbed my sword and started walking towards the entrance. "There's likely going to be multiple flying resurrected in here, you handle them while I deal with the ground forces. Any live ponies are to be stunned or captured and as usual, kill only if necessary." Mothball saluted before floating above me and shape shifting into a Phoenix. "This is going to be good." I held my sword in my hand and Lancelot in my gauntlet. "Let's blow this shit..."
Meanwhile
Deep inside the cave, four hooded ponies were standing around a bound princess Cadence. "Y'know, I should say 'you'll never get away with this' but then I'd be no better than a damsel in distress." She smirked.
"What makes you so sure about that?"
"Yeah, you saw how we dealt with the royal guard."
Suddenly, a black rotten pony burst through the door. "Masters, we are under attack!"
"And why can't you take care of it?" The undead stallion shot over and whispered something into the necromancer ear that made him sweat. "What in the name of Tirek are they doing here?!" The ponies shot out of the room. For the next few minutes there was screaming, loud bangs and pleas of mercy. An undead stallion walked into the room and blocked the door.
He walked over to Cadence with a blade in his magic. "That's it, I don't care about the ransom, if I'm going down again, somepony's coming with me!" He raised the blade in the air, Cadence closed her eyes, preparing for her eminent demise, but it never came. She opened her eyes to see a look of shock on the ghouls face. He fell to the ground revealing several knives in his back, they then pulled out of his disintegrating body and returned to a bipedal creature in a black trench coat.
"I'm sorry but that mare is under our protection." A knife floated towards the ropes around her body and gently cut them off. Cadence dusted herself off and turned to the creature.
"Who are you?"
Grays POV
Oh damn am I still in the shadows? I stepped forward into the light. "Gray Karmen, leader of Lone Wolf Mercenary Services at your service." I gave a respectful bow.
"Oh, you're one of the mercenaries that my aunt hired."
"Yes ma'am. The friendliest mercenary you'll ever meet." I flashed her a smile which appeared to be contagious. She extended her hoof and I took it in my hand.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Gray, I am princess Cadence. Where is your friend?"
"Oh he's just tying up the necromancer gang and putting magic dampening rings on their horns. They were kinda over priced for their bounty though." I looked down to the pile of dust that was once a resurrected. "Seriously, are they ranked like that because the royal guard can't take em out, if so that's pathetic, no offence."
She nodded her head in understanding. "I get what you mean, the guard hasn't been given the best training or equipment, they just can't spare the funds."
"Yet they can dish out 10000 bits for these guys?"
She opened her mouth to say something but closed it. "I'll need to have a talk with my aunt."
I nodded and headed for the door. "Come on, let's not keep Mothball waiting."
Little did we know, there was a shadowy figure watching these events unfold.
"Hmm, these guys seem interesting..."
After one reeeaaaaalllllly awkward introduction with Mothball and Cadence, we were on our way down the now empty streets of Manehattan. I'm going to spare you on the details, since the level of cringe worthy moments were over 9000, mark that reference, off the list. Breaking the fourth wall aside, the two were now getting along just fine.
"So you just left the hive?"
"Pretty much, I wondered Equestria for awhile until I met Gray, he listened to my story and offered me a place to stay."
"Is that so? You weren't kidding by being the friendliest mercenary I'll ever meet." I turned and flashed her a smile, and ruffled Mothys mane.
"Someone had to take care of this guy, it's not like the nobility would have accepted him, heck, they still haven't accepted me." My smile disappeared for a second. "Wait a minute, why do I care? They're all snobs, well except for Fancy Pants and Blueblood, but still." This got a confused look from Cadence.
"Blueblood is nice?"
"Oh, right, you still don't know, Blueblood only acts like a total douche, think of it like a mask he wears, when he's in public like at social events he wears the mask and acts snobbish, but when he's among family and close friends, he takes off the mask and is a fun loving guy when ya get to know him." She showed interest in how I was explaining Blueblood, he is one of best friends and I can understand why he would do such a thing, there isn't a lot of time for him and his close friends to hang out, so he has fake friends to fill that void, not the best method but he is limited, he regularly stops by The Wolf Den for a few beers or just to talk, he jets along with Clawback vey well for some reason...
We arrived at the hotel where Celestia burst out of the door just as soon as we turned the corner. "Why is it that you always show up at the most convenient time?" As usual, my question went unanswered as she hugged Cadence.
"I'm ok auntie, really." She tried to pull away from Tias death grip but ultimately failed. We waited until Celestia was done mothering Cadence for abou ten minutes. "Auntie, shouldn't you thank Gray and Mothball?" Celestia froze and dropped Cadence, she recomposed herself and turned to us.
"Thank you, you saved my beloved niece, and for that I am grateful."
"Just doing what you payed us to do."
"And you do is rather well it would appear."
"Yes, but that is because we add a little bit of flare where ever we go, sometimes literally." This got a chuckle from her. I turned to Mothball and noticed he looked a little down. "If you don't mind princesses, I'm going to take Mothy here out for a drink, he looks like he needs it."
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "What about the job?"
"If there is anything I know about these situations it's that nothing else will happen to Candy here for at least another day., but if anything does go wrong..." I tossed Cadence a crystal. "...just add a little bit of magic to this and say you need help, we'll be right there."
"On alright, just don't come back a drunken mess."
"Yes moooooomm ." She giggled as we made our way down the street. "Now let's see if we can find a bar around here."
Lone Wolf Mercenary Services
Well...who expected this except everyone
Well...who expected this except everyone
Molly has been doing well, ever since the creation of Lone Wolf the humans have been accepted by the ponies of Equestria, and they had all gone their separate ways. Brain was now going to school to try to increase his intelligence, good for him. Jason had been accepted into the Canterlot University Of Technology and was now a teacher there. Kate was living with Brain, they had recently gotten engaged. Carl still refused to leave the camp and called the others traitors to the human race. Josh was living with Molly in Manehatten.
Molly was now an up and coming fashion designer, she used her knowledge of human fashion to create exotic trends and reeled in a lot of money for her designs, Josh even helps her sometimes. During her time in Manehatten she had made many friends and enemies as well.
Tonight she was having a girls night with her friends while Josh was sleeping, they were going to their favourite bar to have a drink. She met up with her friends and they walked into the bar, after ordering their drinks they sat down in a both and started talking.
"Did you girls hear that princess Celestia and princess Cadence are in town?"
The other four mares and Molly nodded.
"I heard that Celestia hired a group of mercenaries to protect Cadence." Molly looked up from her drink.
"Was it Lone Wolf?"
Just then the door to the bar opened but Molly didn't pay attention to who walked in.
"Come on Mothy, I've been through enough crazy shit today, I need a drink."
"Fine, but I'm not dragging your flank back to the hotel if you get drunk again."
"That happened once, and it was Claws fault for challenging me to that drinking game."
"Whatever you say boss..."
The mares giggled and looked at Molly. "What?"
"I think there's your answer." One of the mares pointed behind her and Molly turned around, her eyes widened in shock. There he was, siting on a stool at the bar. He wore a black trench coat with the emblem of a wolf on the shoulder and a huge sword. He had black boots and wore a black and grey scarf. He was sitting in front of her, after ten months she finally saw him again.
Grays POV
Me and Mothy were just sitting in some bar we had found a bit down the ways from the hotel, we didn't come here to get drunk or anything along those lines, I just needed a drink after all of the crazy shit I'd been through today. The bar tender walked over and we ordered two beers. The silence that followed our entrance had subsided and the ponies where now chatting normally. A thing about being in a well known mercenary group is that you'll get a lot of stares, awkward silences, even a few mares winking at you from time to time. You learn to live with it after awhile.
"So Mothy, tell me more about this Screwball." I teased. He frowned and blushed. "Aw, come on Mothy, I'm only teasing, really, I wanna know more about her."
He sighed. "She's amazing, she has a really fun personality, she's got these really hypnotic eyes, literally, her pupils are spirals, and she always wears this little hat, and by Celestia is she beautiful."
"You really like this girl, don't you?"
"Uh-huh, I don't even know how I managed to land somepony like her."
I shoved him a little. "Now don't you be going and saying stuff like that, any mare would be lucky to have ya."
"How so?"
"Well for one you're a prince, you're financially stable, you're a nice and caring guy, and you can give them an exotic experience, if you know what I mean."
"You know, normally I'd shake that off as one of your inappropriate jokes, but thanks, I needed to hear that."
"What I tell you about getting sappy?" He chuckled and took a swig of his bottle.
"What about you boss, you thinking of looking for someone, or have you ever had someone?" Note that at that moment I had no idea that the person I was about to talk about was standing right behind me.
"Nah, but there was this one girl that sparked my interest a while back."
"A girl from the camp?"
"Yeah, her name was Molly, she was one of the best people I had ever met." Mothball suddenly had a grin on his face. "What are you grinning about?"
"Oh nothing, continue." I looked at him suspiciously but carried on.
"She was the only reason I stayed in the camp so for the time I did."
"What did you feel when you left her?"
"I honestly had a pain in my chest about it, but I had to do it, I couldn't stand Carl and the way he treated her and everyone else, if I had stayed I would have tried to kill him."
"Was she a looker?"
"You bet, how anyone could look like her without some kind of surgery I don't know. That perfectly straight black hair, her blue eyes sparkled in the light, and by God did she have the best damn laugh I ever heard and what the hell are you smiling at?"
"Look behind you." He tried to stifle a laugh, I looked at him confused. When I turned around I couldn't believe who I saw standing there, it was Molly. She stood there with her hands to her mouth, a huge red blush on her cheeks. We just stood still, staring into each other's eyes, hers had tears at the sides. I didn't even know what to say, what could I say in that situation, here's your answer, absolutely nothing.
A blush found itself onto my face as I looked at her. You wanna know who she looked like? You know that woman from One Piece called Nico Robin? Yeah, spitting image of her. So a really attractive girl just heard me announce my feelings about her and possibly shares those feelings, what in the flying fuck do I do in this situation?
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My embarrassment grew to the point that I had whacked Mothball over the head with the Lancelot, rendering him unconscious and unable to laugh. Oh don't look at me like that, he's fine...at least...I think he is.
"You ok there Mothy?"
"..."
"I'll take that as a yes."
Anyway, I was dragging Mothy through the streets to the hotel. Upon arriving the receptionist gave me Cadences room number and our room key, our room was right across the hall and the entire floor was bordered off to the public, under constant watch by those useless guards. Seriously, this is where the majority of stallions end up? Now I know why there are so few stallions, they all join the guard and get killed due to lack of training.
When I reached our room I set Mothy in his bed and went outside of Cadences room and sat on a chair beside the door to think about some things. That and I didn't want a repeat of earlier. I started thinking about what happened at the bar, I never intended to let Molly know those things, now if done something that I can't just get rid of by shooting it or stabbing it.
"What have you gotten yourself into Gray?" I asked myself before placing my head in my hands. "I need to be more careful when Mothy smirks, it only leads to bad things."
"Bit for your thoughts?" I turned to see Cadence poking her head out oh her door.
"Sorry, did I wake you?"
"No, I was reading a book when I felt some conflicted emotions nearby."
"Oh yeah, princess of love and whatnot." I slumped back in my chair.
"Come in so we can have a talk. You look like you could use a voice of reason." I nodded and followed her into her room. She motioned for me to sit down on a couch and sat beside me. "So, tell me, what's got you so aggravated?" I sighed questioning whether or not to tell my client about my personal business.
"Back at the bar, Mothy and I got into a conversation about relationships, I asked him about a mare he's been dating and he asked me if there was someone in my life or if there ever was. I started describing the only person to ever catch my eye and how much I liked her. Then when I turned around said person was standing right behind me and heard everything."
"What did you do?"
"I left, when she heard me say those things she froze and I couldn't bring her back to reality, so we left." She put a hoof to her chin in thought.
"What was her expression?"
"Looked like a mix between shock, surprise, relief and a few other things I can't really describe." She nodded and thought about the situation.
"What do you plan to do about it?"
"Nothing." Her expression showed shock and confusion.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"But why, it seems like she feels the same way, so why do nothing?"
"My job." She looked at me confused but then she realised what I meant.
"What you're saying is that you CANT do anything about because of your mercenary work." I nodded. "Than why not try to find another job?"
"Because of them." I pulled out a photo of Me, Mothy, Clawback and Pyro. "If I leave the group then the whole team falls apart, they don't have the management skills I do, and they got nowhere else to go. I can't abandon them, their like my brothers. We're a family."
"Why can't you be together anyway, I'm sure you could still make time for each other." I shook my head.
"I don't want to put that burden on her. Every time I go on a job I put myself at risk, I could die on any one of them, imagine what that would be like for her, knowing that the one she's in love with could die at any given moment."
"Gray, I don't know what to say here, you've trapped yourself in a constant argument on whether to leave Lone Wolf or to stay, and your reasons for staying out way the reasons for leaving." I sighed.
"I know." I looked at her with a smile and scratched her ear. "Thanks for listening to me Candy." She huffed.
"Don't call me that." I began walking out the door.
"I'm still gonna call you that, Candy."
"I'm warning you."
"Too bad cause I'm doin it." Before she could say anything else I closed the door and entered my room. I found Mothy dreaming.
"Hehe........hehehehehehehe......." I knew full well what he was dreaming about.
"I swear to god I'm gonna cut your wings off."
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I woke up as the sun rose over the horizon, I stretched and threw my legs off the bed. I walked over to a desk that had my gear laid out, I checked my ammo and reloaded the Lancelot, I sharpened my throwing knives and polished my sword. I placed my gauntlet on my hand and shook Mothy. "Come on Mothy, we need to get going." He cringed before stretching and opened his eyes.
He got up and wiped the sleep from his eyes. He gathered his gear before we exited the room to find Celestia waiting for us. "Good morning you two, I trust you are ready for the journey?"
"All we need is Cadence, the map and supplies then we are good to go." She nodded and floated a dark blue backpack to me and a light blue saddlebag to Mothball.
"These bags are enchanted to be bigger on the inside, all of your supplies and tools are in them." We nodded and Celestia walked into Cadences room. After a few minutes they both emerged from the room and Cadence greeted us, she came to my side and we turned to face Celestia. "I will teleport you to the outskirts of the city, I'm trusting you two to take good care of her." We gave a salute before her horn glowed and we appeared just outside of the city, in front of us was a barren wasteland.
"Well, here we go." With that we set off, we started a slow jog as we made our way through the wastelands.
After a few hours of jogging we reached a small wooded area. "Alright, we'll rest here for an hour or so then we're moving on." I tossed Mothy a bottle of water and offered a sandwich to Cadence. I took a sip of my water and a bite of an apple, I looked at the trees and noticed that some had a few dark figures in them. I set down my snack and punched a tree with my gauntlet. A changeling drone fell from the branch it was sitting on and I brought my fist down onto it. "Mothball, Changelings!" He nodded and took Cadence out of the area.
I turned to see more changelings coming out of hiding. "This does not concern you mercenary, we are here for our prince, the queen demands he ret..." I punched him sending him flying.
"I don't give a fuck what your queen wants, Mothball is a member of Lone Wolf Mercenary Services now, he's not going anywhere as long as there is life in my body." They all growled and charged me, I sent a few knives into the crowd causing many of them to drop dead. I dashed to one of the drones and kneed him it in the stomach then sent him crashing into the ground. One of the drones kicked my leg causing me to stagger, a few knocked me down and pounced on me.
I grabbed my gun and shot them with enchanted ammo. Once I shoved their corpses off me I grabbed the last drone by the neck and held him in the air. "Here's a message for your queen. Mothball isn't going anywhere, so if you ever try to get him back again I will kill you. But if you are so confident that you can beat me. Come at me bitch!" I knew that the queen could see though her spawn, then I crushed the drones neck sending green goo everywhere.
I walked out of the wood to see Mothball guarding Cadence who was hiding in a log. "You take care of things boss?"
"Yeah, but they weren't here for Cadence, they were here for you." He frowned and growled. I placed a hand on his shoulder and he looked up at me. "Hey, I'm not letting that bitch take you from us, we're brothers. So don't worry about it." He smiled and nodded. "Alright, let's get going, there's a mountain range a bit up the route, there should be a cave that we can rest in." He nodded and Cadence emerged from the log.
As we set off we failed to notice the dark figure watching us. "They're that loyal to each other, this gets better and better."
Meanwhile at the wolf den
Clawback was relaxing in the living room when the phone rang in the office. He rushed in and answered it. "Lone Wolf Mercenary Services, how can we help you?"
"Hello, who am I speaking to?"
"My name is Clawback ma'am."
"Ah, alright. I need some assistance, I am trying to track down somepony who has stollen something from me and I need some muscle, don't worry, this job won't require any killing, I can pay handsomely."
"Well then you called the right place madam, I'll just need some details then I will be down as soon as I can."
"Oh wonderful, what details do you need darling?" After Clawback got the necessary information from the caller he got ready for job.
"Hey Pyro, I'm going on a job, will be back when it's done!"
"Ok Claw, I'll watch the place!"
"Just don't burn it down!"
"BUCK YOU!!!" Clawback laughed and began flying towards his destination...
Ponyville.
We reached the mountains and found a suitable cave that could house us for the night. I swept the area and Mothy placed some movement spells around the entrance. Our cave went deep underground but cut off about one hundred feet down where there was a large open area. There was three tents, one green, one blac and the other pink.
Mothball and Cadence were sitting by the campfire, Mothy holding a stick with a marshmallow in his hooves. I sat down and took inventory on our supplies, we were good on food and water, there was even a few sweets and bits of meat for me. I hid the meat from Cadence and walked over with two sticks and a bag of marshmallows for her and I. She thanked me and stabbed her fluffy treat as did I, there was a nice silence between us as we roasted our sweets, I decided we were too quiet.
"You should see our friend Pyro try to roast a marshmallow, he lets the thing catch on fire on purpose." This got a smile from Mothball and a giggle from Cadence. "Then he eats it while it's on fire." I chuckled at the memory of our first campaign trip, I then started telling Cadence about it.
"Um, Pyro, you sure you should be waving that around?"
"It's fine Mothball, what's the worst that can happen?"
"Hey guys, I kinda spilled some oil on my feathers, I'm going to go clean up."
"What?" Pyro turned around to quickly and the fire caught the oil on Clawback sending him in flames.
"FIIIIIIIIRRRREEE!!!" He started running around like a madman setting fire to our tents while we chased him.
"No, Clawback calm down!"
"Stop drop and roll, stop drop and roll!"
"Oh, that's gonna leave a burn."
"YOU THINK?!?"
We all laughed. "And to this day Clawback will not go anywhere near a marshmallow without a bucket of water." We all burst out laughing.
"You should see my fiancé on camping trips. He always tries to set everything up by hoof because he's to stubborn to use his horn, saying it the traditional way of doing things. Long story short, he gets tangled in the tent and I have to bail him out." We all shared some more stories until we started to get tired.
"Alright you two, it's time to get some rest, got a lot of walking to do." They nodded and entered they're tents, I lay down on my sleeping bag and closed my eyes, letting sleep take me.
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The next day
Cadence, Mothball and I stared at the problem presented to us with neutral expressions. Said problem happened to be a huge bottomless gorge in the middle of the path we had taken.
"How deep do you think it is?" Asked Mothball as he looked over the edge. I picked up a small rock and dropped it into the abyss...there was no sound of it hitting the ground.
"Well, that's not a good sign." I looked to Mothball and Cadence who both had wings. "You two fly over, I'll find another way around and catch up to you."
"You sure boss?" I nodded and he buzzed his little bug wings, taking flight and landing on the other side of the gorge.
I looked to Cadence who was looking really nervous about something. "You alright Candy?" She shook her head.
"I'm...not really a strong flyer." My left eye twitched slightly as I facepalmed. I rubbed my temples as I tried to think of a way around this.
"Fuck it." I lifted cadence and held her like a javelin. "Mothball, get ready to catch her!" She tried to protest but I began walking back, I then ran forwards and straight up threw Candy over the bottomless pit. She screamed as she flew swiftly over the ravine and into Mothys hooves.
"Are you crazy?!" I shrugged and began walking along the edge.
"You two go on ahead, I'll find another way over." Mothball nodded and he put Candy on his back and began walking away. "Ok, this thing has to stop somewhere."
"HOW LONG IS THIS FUCKING THING?!?!" I had been running for about a full hour now, and the gorge showed no signs of stopping. Looking at the opposite side of the gorge and to my knives I sighed. "Again...Fuck it." I grabbed two of my knives and held one in each hand. I took a running start and jumped into the gorge. I quickly approached the opposite wall of the gorge and drove my knives into the stone. Sliding down a little before stopping, I hung there tightly holding onto my knives. "I've made a terrible mistake."
Three hours later
I finally pushed my torso up to the surface and stood on the green grass, the sweet, sweet grass that grew on flat ground. I threw my tired arms up in victory before collapsing and falling backwards into the gorge again. "FFFFFFFFUUUUUU-!!!!!!!"
Yet another three hours later
Once I managed to climb the gorge walls again I immediately distanced myself from the edge and lay on the ground. "I am...so...getting...paid...extra...for this...shit." After catching my breath and resting my arms I got up and started walking towards a crystal field that Mothball and Candy had walked in the direction of. It was a few miles away so I had to keep a quick pace if I wanted to get there by nightfall.
About fourth minutes later I reached the entrance to the large fields of tall multicoloured crystals. These things were randomly showing up here and there, and for some reason could only be broken by a pony or other creature that was blessed by an alicorn. I had received this blessing from Celestia a few months back as I usually used the crystals on my missions. There was actually a lot to using the crystals, but after your first few tries you can use them effortlessly.
As I walked further into the fields I felt like I was being watched by someone. When you're in my line of work your senses kind of need to be heightened, so you learn to know when a possible hostile is in the area. Looking around I spotted a tip of a pony ear sticking out from behind a large black crystal. "Hey! I see you up there!" I heard a feminine laugh and the pony in question revealed herself. She was a dark grey Thestral with a slick dark purple mane, of course there was the bat wings and golden piercing eyes.
"What gave it away?" Her voice was like a woman's in her late twenties, except it was filled with a bit of sultry and was very smooth.
"The tip of your ear was exposed." I explained. She facehoofed and blushed.
"To be fair, if you weren't so sharp you would have never sensed I was here." I rolled my eyes and she flew down to me.
"So, why are you spying on me? You from some other mercenary group?" I slipped a hand behind myself and held The Lancelot, just in case.
"I was, but then the group started becoming all about the murders and cash and not about the adventures and our bonds. Not to mention that all of the other members were males, treated me like a common whore." Her face took a stern expression before calming down again. "Then I saw a news article about a certain mercenary group, Lone Wolf Mercenary Services, their slogan being 'freindliest group of mercenaries you'll ever meet.' So I thought I'd scope you guys out and see if you're worth joining, and I will say that I have grown to like you lot." She said with a soft smile. I detected no trace of a lie or possible scheme in her voice.
"So you're looking to join Lone Wolf?" She nodded.
"I do have one question though. If you are a group that works together, why call yourselves Lone Wolf?" I smiled and looked to the sky.
"We chose that name because it signifies what our lives were like before the group, we were all lone wolves that left their packs. We found each other and made our own pack. Plus I think it sounds cool." She giggled before walking to my side.
"So, any openings?" She asked hope in her voice.
"Anyone is free to join at anytime, I'll need to know your name first." She smiled and put a hoof to her chest.
"My name is Moonlight Whisper, at your service...boss." I smirked and we began walking side by side until we reached a small cave that Mothball and Candy had set up camp in. "Come on, I'll introduce you to Mothball."
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Yet another obstacle (day 3)
I sat down at the entrance to the cave with my sword in my hand. I let Mothball introduce himself to Moonlight. I needed to think of a nickname for our newest member, just a little hobby of mine. I always chose nicknames for my friends.
'Wisp? No...Moon? Nah. Moony? Probably get slapped for that one, I'll put it in the maybe category. Light? Nope...fuck it, Moony it is.'
"You not going to sleep?" I turned my head to see Moonlight walking towards me. "I saw you in that gorge today, how in the name of Tartarus have you not passed out yet?" She sat beside me and looked at me with interest.
"Well, I don't exactly fully trust you just yet, so I'm not letting you take the night watch." She nodded in understanding. "As for how I haven't passed out yet, I honestly don't know." She giggled and looked up at the night sky.
"Hey, have you ever heard of Princess Luna?" I looked at her confused.
"Can't say I have."
"Nearly a thousand years ago, Princess Celestia only controlled the sun. Her sister, Princess Luna managed the moon. Unfortunately the night went unappreciated by the ponies of that era, and Luna soon became jealous of her sister and the praise that her day was given. She became a monster known as Nightmare Moon, and planned to plunge Equestria into eternal night."
"I can already see a shit-ton of problems that would cause her."
"Yes, Celestia managed to seal Nightmare Moon onto the moon, thus creating the legend of 'The Mare on the Moon.' And she's been on the moon ever since."
I looked up at the moon and saw the shape of a pony's head on it. "How come you know all this?"
"It's a story passed down through Thestrals, as our kind was loyal to the Night Princess as were are nocturnal."
"A valid point." I began sharpening my sword with a throwing knife. "So this other Princess is still on the moon." She nodded. "Then I guess if it's nearly the thousand year anniversary of her defeat then that seems like the perfect time to return." Moony just looked at me and smirked.
"That seems to be a common thing in Equestria. Almost a thousand years ago there was all these evil beings that were defeated by Celestia or by a unicorn named Starswirl."
"What hasn't gone wrong in this world?" She smiled and began walking back into the cave.
"What the hell is that thing?!" I had Mothball and Cadence over my shoulders as I ran with Moony flying beside me.
"I don't know just run man!" I looked back to see the giant ogre like creature chasing us.
"Fuck you Shrek!" I pointed The Lancelot at him with an explosive clip and pulled the trigger. The blast hit the east square in the chest and caused it to stagger. "You ain't invading my swamp!"
"The hell does that mean?!" Asked Mothy.
"You don't wanna know man, you really don't wanna know!" I looked to Moonlight who was giggling.
"You guys are so funny!" I groaned and picked up speed.
"Moony! Stop giggling like a schoolgirl for five seconds and distract that thing while I get Cadence to safety!" She stopped her little giggle fest and nodded. She flew back and started flying around the beast.
As we were coming up to a cliff I looked back and sighed.
"Luck my old friend, please don't be a douche right now." I stepped back and sprinted off the edge of the cliff, Cadence and Mothy screaming as we neared the ground. Luckily we landed in a giant mushroom patch and bounced off of one large toadstool. Leaping from mushroom to mushroom I finally got us to safety.
Setting the two dazed ponies down I turned back and began running towards where the monster and Moony were.
"I swear to god Moony if you're dead up there I'm going to kill you." I threw a few of my throwing knives into the side of the cliff, creating makeshift stairs. Once I reached to top I pulled out my sword and sprinted back to Moonlight.
Once I entered the clearing I stopped and watched as Moonlight flew towards the beast at full speed whilst spinning to form a drill-like cone. She drilled right through the things chest and it fell resulting in the ground shaking violently. I stuck my sword in the ground to keep my balance, when the shaking stopped Moony landed in front of me with a confident smile. "So, what did you think?"
I just looked to the dead ogre and back to the over powered Thestral before me. "You wanna get a drink later or something?" I asked, dumbfounded at the sheer power this tiny pony possessed.
"Nope, maybe some other time." She replied with a sly grin before taking off agian.
"Well this was an eventful day." Mothball said as he handed Moony and Cadence sticks and marshmallows while they sat around the campfire.
"Tell me about, how the hell does something that big not get noticed by Celestia?" I asked while lying down on the back of a timberwolf I had punched into submission and had shaped into a bed. When it whined I just elbowed it in the snout to shut it up.
"I think it was living underground until now, we probably disturbed it by grabbing that crystal." Mothball scolded as he looked to Moonlight.
"Hey, I needed to get something for my sister's wedding, sue me." I faceplamned and closed my eyes.
"Goodnight, you crazy fucks."
Lone Wolf Mercenary Services
End of the line (final day pt.1)
I looked out at Canterlot that was just a few more miles away from our current camp. That chase with mega Shrek really picked up the pace and got us far. "I wonder what Clawback and Pyro are doing."
A few days earlier
Clawback landed in Ponyville and walked to the building that the call had came from, the Carousel Boutique. As he checked that his dark blue jacket with the emblem of Lone Wolf on the back was presentable he knocked on the door. He had gotten a few odd looks from the ponies in town, most of them have never seen a griffin before so it was to be expected, there was also the fact he was from a mercenary group so... yeah.
"Just a moment~" A very refined voice sung out from inside. Soon Clawback heard the sound of a lock opening and the door opened to reveal a marshmallow white mare with dark purple curly hair, three diamonds as her cutie mark.
"Hello madam, Clawback of Lone Wolf Mercenary Services. You called about needing a bit of muscle?" Clawback said in a friendly voice.
"Oh, yes. Thank you for coming darling, please come in so I can fill you in on my situation." Clawback nodded and followed the mare inside. "First I should introduce myself, I am Rarity Belle, pleasure to make your acquaintance." She held out her hoof. Being the gentleman that he was, Clawback took it and kissed it.
"Pleasure is all mine madam."
"My my, such a gentlecolt." Rarity giggled before walking over to a table and pulling out a chair. "Now, let's get you up to speed mister Clawback." Nodding Clawback pulled out his own chair and sat down opposite her. "A large amount of my gem storage has been stolen by a pack of Diamond Dogs. Without the gems I won't be able to finish any of my orders, I'll go bankrupt within a few week."
Clawback nodded. "So you need me to take care of the Dogs while you retrieve the gems?" Rarity nodded.
"So, will you help me?"
"Ma'am, consider it done." Rarity gave a sigh of relief. "So, when do you want to leave?"
"Give me a few minutes darling, I need to get a few things." Clawback nodded and idly twiddled his thumbs as he waited.
"I'm sure they're fine." I looked back to the group as they began packing up for the trip ahead. "You guys ready to go, we should be able to get to Canterlot by nightfall." Everyone nodded. I jumped down the cliff and slid down the slope and jumped up to a branch. Swinging from that I landed on a rock in the middle of a circular clearing. "Well this doesn't seem dangerous at all, I mean seriously if you're going to lay a trap for somebody at least put some effort into it." I heard a growl come from the trees surrounding the clearing and a large changeling walked out, his mane long and red, his beetle back and wings were also red. "And who might you be, Buggy the Clown?" I asked while leaning on my sword and checking my nails in boredom.
"I am Prince Insectia! First in line to the changeling throne!" He announced in a pride filled voice.
"Huh, could have swore Mothball was next in line to the throne." I retorted with a smirk, looking to get a rile out of him.
"Don't you dare speak that name to me! My mother has deemed you a serious threat, and entrusted me with the pleasure of killing you and stealing your love!" He scrapped the ground with his hoof and snorted at me.
"Oh really now? If your bitch of a mother really deemed me such a threat, then why did she send you and not come to fight me face to face?" I asked disinterested, tossing The Lancelot in my hand.
"She has other more important matters to attend to." He took a fighting stance and I just looked at him with a neutral expression.
"Find, I was getting bored of your jibber jabber any ways." I pulled my sword out of the ground and pointed it at him. "I wonder how much bug leather is worth."
"Gray!" I turned to see Mothball and the two mares walking into the area. "You and Moonlight have had something to fight on this mission and I've been left with babysitting Cadence, no offence to you Princess but I just need to blow off some steam." Mothy stared down Insecta-dick with a mighty rage.
"Shouldn't you wait until you're back with Screwball to blow off some steam?" I asked jokingly, sheathing my sword and walking over to Candy and Moonlight.
"Shut up Gray." I put up my hands defensively and sat down on a log, getting ready to watch the fight between the two princes.
"Wait." We both turned to Candy who was looking incredibly impatient. "I'm helping."
"Candy, as much as I would love to see you beat the shit out of dick-horn over there our job is to keep you out of danger." I pointed out.
"I hardly call him a danger." She smirked looking over to Insectia who growled.
"You dare mock me!?"
"What you gonna do ab-"
"Oh my God just fight already!" Both Moonlight and I shouted. We both looked to each other and smirked. Candy and Mothy both took fighting stances and stared down the changeling that matched Celestias height.
"I bet fifty bits Mothball will make the finishing move." Said Moony as she pulled a bucket of popcorn out of nowhere.
"Oh I'll take a piece of that action." We both pulled out fifty bits and placed them in a small bag. Turning back to the group they all charged towards each other. 'If things get dusty I'll step in, gotta keep Candy safe or I'll never hear the end of it from Tia.' I pulled out The Lancelot and lay it at my side, just to be sure. Moony looked at me and nodded, pulling out her spear just in case.
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One bullet (final day pt.2)
Mothball charged Insectia with his horn glowing, he jumped up and headbutted his brother with great force causing a small crater to appear under the large changeling. Mothball jumped out of the way and Cadence fired a magic blast into their opponents chest.
Insectia growled and shot towards Cadence, pinning her against a tree. "Mother promised me that I could keep you as a slave once she was finished with your little friends here, I guess now is a good time to collect." His horn glowed and a spell activated and Candy's body began to change. Before the spell could be completed I loaded The Lancelot with magic dampening rounds and shot one into the bug-horse. He grunted in pain before looking at me.
"If you're gonna pull that kinda shit wait until you've actually taken care of your enemies, have a sense of honour." I scolded laying The Lancelot beside me and folded my arms.
Mothball charged him and knocked him to the ground, Cadence caught her breath and cast a healing spell on herself. Looking down at her attacker she charged her horn and created a magic hammer, bringing it down on the bugs crotch. He screamed like a girl and kicked Cadence in the snout before grabbing her in his magic and slamming her into a tree.
Mothball spat out some green goo which turned into two green crystalic swords. Insectia took notice of this and created his own blades. The two rushed towards each other and clashed blades, taking swings at each other which were either avoided or blocked by another attack.
While Insectia was busy with Mothball, Cadence flew up into the air and charged her horn. A ball of pink energy formed and she slammed it down onto the prince, creating another crater and leaving him spraled out on the ground with a large burn mark on his beetle back.
Insectia grabbed both of them with his magic and repeatedly slammed them into each other before throwing them away. He grabbed Mothball again and held a blade to his throat, before he could make the fatal blow he was tackled by Cadence and punch by her hooves with great force,
Mothball recovered and made a crystalic hammer. He walked over to the now battered Insectia and slammed it onto his chest. Insectia tried to get up but looked up to see Cadence and Mothball looking down at him with evil grins. Both held their magic hammers in the air and brought them down simultaneously, finishing him.
Moonlight and I looked to each other and sighed, each taking our fifty bits back. "Shame, looks like we'll have to find a different bet." I said as I got up.
"How about a drinking contest once we get to the Den?" Moonlight suggested.
"You're on missy."
"Did you just call me missy?" She asked with a playful tone.
"Why, does that offend you?" I looked at her with a sly grin. "If so prepare to hear that name every time I pass you in a hallway or street."
She rolled her eyes and we walked towards Mothy and Candy. The two looked at us with smiles. "So, how did I do?" Candy asked.
"I'll say right now Candy, whatever poor sod is marrying you has to be one brave mother fucker." Her skill in combat was great alright, but it lacked a sense of nature, likely because she isn't a natural born fighter.
"Well a captian of the Royal gaurd has to be brave." She replied with a smile.
"Wait, you're the mare that Shining Armour is engaged to?" I suddenly burst out laughing, falling to the ground and holding my sides. "That sorry excuse for a fighter is-BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" I had fought Shining before, he is terrible at fighting, he relies way too much on defence than offence.
"True he is a bad fighter, but he never backs down from a challenge and is braver than any stallion in Equestria." She defended.
"C-Candy, I know that isn't the real reason you want to marry him!" I said in between laughs. "You just want to be dominant in a relationship." Candy thought for a moment before a look of realisation came to her.
"Sweet Faust, y-you're right." She sat down and out a hoof to her chin in thought. "No wonder I usually try to take charge."
"Oh no that's just a thing all women have, you just don't have the natural instinct for your mate to be the dominant one in the relationship." I finally stopped laughing and we began walking. As I was about to exit the clearing I heard Insectia cough. "You guys go on ahead, I gotta do something first." The group nodded and I walked over to the wounded changeling who glared at me with one eye, the other being swollen and bloody.
"Y-You won't survive... the invasion. You are... my mothers... primary target now." I knelt down in front of him.
"Tell me, are there anymore of you princes?"
He coughed and smirked. "Of course, two princes, one princess. They will make sure... you die!"
I pulled out The Lancelot and loaded it with enchanted ammo. "Let them try, because all it takes is one bullet to the head to kill any one of your kind." I placed the barrel of the gun to his head. "Here's a message to your mother. You try anything like that again and you'll be on the top of my kill list, I will personally beat you down and have a bit of fun with you before killing you and sell your body on the black market where a some creepy stallion will use it as some weird sex toy. So stay away from my friends." With that I pulled the trigger.
A few hours later we were all in Canterlot. We walked to the gates of the castle where Celestia was waiting for us with a warm smile. She rushed forward and brought Candy into a tight hug. "Thank goodness you made it here safely." She let go of Candy and turned to us. "Thank you so much for completing this important task Lone Wolf, as promised, here is your reward." She floated a large sack of bits over to me. "There is double the amount you were promised for that... incident at the gorge."
I shivered at the memory. "Thanks Tia, pleasure doing business with you once again." I placed the bag of bits on Mothy's back and turned to Candy who wrapped me in a hug.
"Thank you Gray."
I patted her on the back and pulled away. "No problem Candy, just doin what I was paid for."
She rolled her eyes and hugged Mothy. "Thank you too Mothball, I enjoyed spending time with you."
"Likewise princess." As Candy was about to walk away Mothball put a hoof on her shoulder. "Um, could you maybe, help me with something?"
"It would depend on what it is, but yes."
"Well, I've started seeing this mare, and I was just wanting to know if the relationship will actually go anywhere." Cadence nodded and followed Mothy down the street. I had taken the bag of bits back and threw it over my shoulder.
"Well, we'll be off then. Gotta get back home and make sure Pyro and Clawback didn't burn the damn place down." I hugged Tia and began walking towards The Wolf Den with our newest member in tow.
I sat in my office with my feet up on my desk, enjoying the peace that my little office brought to me after a long mission. Moony sat on one of my couches while reading a magazine. "So Gray, what's next for us?"
"That depends on what you mean missy." She groaned slightly before continuing.
"What's next for Lone Wolf?"
I looked out the window to my left and watched the sun start to set, causing the sky to go a beautiful orange while sending small Ray's of light through the blinds. "Whatever the world brings to us I suppose."
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A few days later
I sat in my office alone, the ceiling fan being the only source of sound as I leaned back in my chair with my feet up on my desk enjoying the silence. I had decided to take a few days off any missions after the journey with Candy, I needed to think about a few things, those things including Molly. What happened after I left the bar! Did she go looking for me? Was she ,ad at me saying those things then just up and leaving? Those were just a few questions circling around in my head.
Another question was when was I going to run into the other five humans! I know Carl is still at the camp being the stubborn prick he is. Josh is with Molly up in Manehatten, Jason was the closest one to my current position as he was teaching in that university as a technology and science teacher. Brain and Kate though... I can't really remember where they ended up in Equestria. All I know is that they got engaged and Brain was trying to increase his pathetic IQ, again, good for him.
Sighing I reached into one of my drawers and pulled out a ammo magazine for The Lancelot and began idly taking out the enchanted bullets and putting them back in again, failing to notice our newest member Moonlight placing a bag of bits on the table. She stared at me for awhile before tapping my foot with her hoof, I snapped out of my trance and looked at her. "Yes Moonlight?"
"Just dropping off the vault cut for my payment. You doing alright Gray?" She asked concerned.
"I'm fine Missy, just thinking about some complicated stuff is all." She looked at me concerned before exiting the office and leaving me to my business. "Maybe I should go on a mission to get my mind off of this." I shook my head and slapped myself. "No, if I keep avoiding these thoughts I'll never resolve anything." I rubbed my temples before getting out of my chair and walking out of the office. "Maybe a walk will help me think more clearly." With that I walked out the front door of the building with the groups emblem on the top and out into the streets of Canterlot.
Meanwhile at Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia sat at her throne while looking over some papers. She set them down and looked to a certain stained glass window, showing her with a blue alicorn. Sighing she placed all of her papers to the side and walked out of the room, needing some air.
As she reached a balcony she looked up at the sky, thinking of the upcoming celebration that brought joy to others but pain to her. As she was about to walk inside a green flame flew towards her and transformed into a scroll. Smiling knowingly Celestia took the scroll in her Maci's and began to read. It was from her faithful student Twilight Sparkle, informing her if an upcoming disaster that Celestia was already well aware of. Trusting her visions Celestia began to set her plan into action, and that started by sending Twilight to Ponyville.
"Let's see if this plays out right, if anything goes wrong I can always trust Lone Wolf to step in if needs be." She sent a response letter and walked back indoors.
As Twilight read the response her eyes widened in shock. "Why isn't she taking this seriously? Equestria could be in danger for Fausts sake!"
"Calm down Twi, if it's the princess saying that you don't need to worry then you can trust her." A young purple dragon said as he stacked a few books. "It's not like we could do anything about it anyway."
Twilight frowned before glancing at a newspaper beside her. Taking it in her magic she opened up to a page where an article on Lone Wolf was shown. "We may not be able to do anything about it, but I know where we can find others who can. Spike, grab my bit purse." With that Twilight walked out of the library with the young drake running behind her with a bag of bits in his claw.
As I walked around Canterlot I got a few waves from some of the friendlier nobles in the city and even had a few mares wink suggestively at me, to which I playfully winked back. Don't judge me, it's a great way to get an ego boost, and I really needed one at that point so it was free game.
"Hello Gray." I smiled as I recognised the voice behind me. I turned around and saw my favourite moustached friend standing there with his wife. Fancy Pants and Fleur, they usually hired one of us if they needed extra security at an auction or showing, and boy did they give generous tips.
"Fancy, Fleur, I haven't seen you two in ages. How are you two lovebirds doing these days?" I ask while I kneel down to eye level. The two ponies smiled warmly and brought me into a hug which I gratefully returned.
"Yes Gray it has been far too long, it is great to see you again my friend." Fancy replied as he pulled away. "As for how we are doing, well, let's just say that we are expecting a new member of the family." Both of them looked to each othe lovingly.
I smiled as I instantly knew what he meant. Knowing what kind of rumours would go around if I yelled I kept it to a whisper. "Fleur, you're pregnant?"
She nodded happily and rubbed her stomach with a hoof. "Yes, an I couldn't be happier, although I'm not looking forward to the pain of the birth though, but I guess that it's worth it to bring a life into the world."
"Oh you don't need to worry about the pain, with female hormones in the brain once the baby is born you almost instantly forget the pain, you'll still feel a little tired depending on how long it takes but you get what I mean."
Fleur smiled warmly. "Always knowing what to say, I'm surprised you don't have a mare for yourself."
I laughed nervously. "Yeah, I'm not cut out for relationships and all of that, and I'm constantly putting my life on the line, could you imagine what that would do to someone if we grew close enough? It would destroy them in at least a few ways."
The two ponies nodded in understanding. "Well, I hate to cut this short but we are on a strict schedule today, it was great seeing you again my human friend but we must be off."
"That's fine Fancy, you're a busy pair, I'll let ya go. See you two lovebirds later."
As we separated I began walking back to the Den. But as I was halfway there I saw a purple aura surrounding me,milling me with dread as I immediately knew who it was.
"Ohhhhhhhhhh no."
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Bring on the pain (part one)
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Bring on the pain (part two)
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Complaints from a disgruntled unicorn
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Kinda cloak and dagger don't you think?
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Lone Wolf Mercenary Services
This is a situation I didn't expect to be in...
Shit shit shi shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit
That was what was going through my mind right now. I figured that this awkward silence had gone on long enough.
"Um, hey there...long time no see..." Mothball was holding his stomach laughing, while keeping my gaze on Molly, I punched him off his stool. "You're fired Mothball." He just kept laughing.
Molly just stood there, frozen in place. I moved to the left and she still kept staring at the same spot. I got up and waved my hand in front of her face, still no reaction. Yep, it was official, I broke her. "You ok there Molly?" There was no response, I looked over to a group of mares that appeared to be her friends and gestured towards Molly, they shrugged and went back to drinking. I clicked my fingers a few times but still no response.
Ok, this is either a good response to what she just heard or a horribly bad one, and judging by the redness of her face I think it's the former
I poked her in the shoulder a few times. "You in there Molly, you're making me worried here." Still no response. "Ok, you'll need to breathe soon or you're gonna pass out." Mothball was still laughing on his back on the floor beside me, I kicked him but he didn't stop.
I fucking hate today...
I used my gauntlet to levitate her back to her friends. I figured it was a good idea to get the hell outta there before she woke up from the shock. I paid for our drinks and dragged Mothy out of the bar and down the street, laughing all the way.
"Oh man, you should have seen the look on your face!"
"Don't make me shoot you in the fucking head." He calmed down and started walking by himself. "Mothy."
"Yeah?"
"We're never coming back here, EVER!" This just caused him to burst out laughing and I threw him into a garbage can, closed the lid and shook the thing with all my might. "You're still fired."
