Equestrian Legends: The Mercenary of Magic and Steel [Book-3]

We left town, and reached the edge of the forest, when I stopped. “Why did we stop?” She inquired.

“Before we go any further, I must ask you to keep the path a secret, and never, ever, ever, go there without me… Believe me, it’s for your own good, you may also want to ask me about doing anything once we’re there…”

“Is it necessary?”

“Twilight, half of the population died just days ago, they’re grieving, even I am, though not showing it… Just listen to me, okay?” She nodded in response, and we continued… Until a Timberwolf crossed our path. “Fuck…” I muttered.

“What now? You’re a Mercenary, right? You can take care of it…”

“I wish I could…”

“What?!”

“Only Blood mongers, Master Assassins, and Nobles are allowed to fight them…” I informed her.

“What?”

“Those are all the fifth ranks of the three branches…”

“Where’s the problem?”

“I’m only the fourth rank…” I whispered.

“You have got to be kidding me!” She replied. “What do we do then?”

“I drop the barrel, you catch it, and run… I’ll distract it…”

“Are you crazy? It’s gonna eat you alive!”

“What else do you have in mind?”

“You’re right, let me know when you’re ready.”

“Three… Two… One… CATCH!” I yelled, and threw the barrel over the beast, and whistled. “HEY FUCKER! THIS WAY!” I yelled, attracting it’s full attention while Twilight ran past it. The creature started to run towards me, when I slowly took out a smoke bomb and the dagger from my bag. When it lunged I threw the smoke bomb at it.

After Altamir threw the barrel over the Timberwolf I ran past it and caught the barrel…

When I looked back, the Timberwolf  was staring right at him. “HEY FUCKER! THIS WAY!” He yelled, and the beast lunged at him… Suddenly they both disappeared in a body of smoke, I was worried about both him, and my research… “RUN!” I heard from the smoke, and that’s what I did… I ran as far as I could, before noticing a fortress like structure in the distance.

It’s The Lunar Eclipse! I thought to myself, and stopped, unsure about how Altamir was doing… I stood there for a minute or two, before he suddenly teleported right next to me and started coughing, which made a lot of smoke and sawdust leave his mouth.

*Cough* “Timberwolves these days, they have no chance against a smoke bomb and a dagger.” He exclaimed and took the barrel over while dusting himself off.

“Wh- What happened?” I inquired, confused about the sawdust.

“Don’t ask what you don’t want answers for.” He replied. “Oh, we’re very close… Come on, let’s go…” He exclaimed, and trotted away. Sure looks like Pinkie isn’t the only one, who’s not to be questioned… I followed up behind, and soon caught up with him, when we stopped again.

“Why did we stop again?” I wondered.

I remembered where the scouts were, so we stopped in time to be heard before passing by them…

“Why did we stop again?” She asked.

“Wait.” I whispered, then whistled. Two of my brethren walked out of the bushes on the sides.

“Quae causa inducat te necesse fuit concipere?” The Assassin inquired. (What brings you this way?

“The stellarum et lunae pertineret ne nos hic.”I replied. (The stars and the Moon lead us here.)

“Sit bringer de tenebris vos gratiam.” The Soldier exclaimed next to him. (May the bringer of dusk favor you.)

“Et quidnam hic agis?” Asked a third voice, a Mercenary from behind. (And what is SHE doing here?)

“Illa mihi illa nostris incolumibus omnibus.” I replied, and they moved aside. (She’s with me, she’s on our side.)

“Ite ergo, sed calcare opere haec est enim sanctificatur terram.” The Assassin exclaimed. (You may go then, but tread carefully, for this is hallowed land.)

I nodded in response, and we walked on, as they returned to their cover. “What was that about?” She inquired.

“They were the scouts.” I replied.

“What did they say?”

“They asked why we were here, and what were you doing here…”

“Oh, are they always there?”

“Not them individually, but yes.”

“Isn’t only 3 of them a little few?”

“They are tougher than they look, they were all of the sixth rank… There are only seven.”

“Oh, isn’t that risky to send the elite to scout?” She wondered.

“The population was around 800,000 before the attack, now there’s 400,000 of us, 80% of us trained in at least one branch.” I informed her.

“Wait, you can train in multiple branches?”

“It’s up to you to take on the challenge… The highest rank in each branch is Eclipsed… For example, Starlight is Eclipsed in both Assassin and Mercenary branches. Good thing she listens to good reasoning.”

“Well, she must be really good then.” She replied.

“No doubt, nopony ever even dared to fight her one on one… Let alone win against her, or live to tell the tale anyway.” I replied.

“No wonder I’ll need to ask you about almost everything…” She wondered.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you something.”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t expect anypony to bow down for you... In T.L.E, all is equal… The only one we bow down is the one you know already…”

“Then why did you bow down in the quill store?”

“Let me know when you do, because I sure don’t.” I replied, and we arrived.

“Qui venit? Amico et inimico noli?” A Soldier asked on the other side of the gate. (Who comes there? Friend or foe?)

“If we were your foes, we would’ve teleported through already, disckwad.” I replied.

“Yep, it sure is the Altamir I knew… Come on in.” She replied, and soon the gates opened. “It’s been like… What? A day or two?” She inquired, and greeted me with a hoof bump.

“Seems so, where’s Swift Steel? I got her the cyder, and a guest too…” I replied.

“Tamir, don’t you know how Starlight goes about Visitors?”

“She’s on our side, I’m sure…” I replied.

“Your call… Remember the conditions, right?”

“Yes- yes, I know… Her mistake, my death, I know... “ I assured her.

“Wait! What!?” Twilight inquired.

“I didn’t tell you because you really wanted to come… But it’s true… The slightest mistake or offense you make may result in my death, being the one taking you here in the first place.” I explained.

“Right now Starry Shield is with the younger ones on the training grounds, I bet he’d be glad to see you back tho.” Salutem exclaimed.

“Then that’s where we’re headed.” I replied and walked on, but she stopped Twilight for a second, and whispered something I couldn’t hear, so I slowed down to let her catch up. “Ready?”

“I hope so.”

“I’ll introduce you to Starry Shield, Starlight’s elder brother, and my trainer as a Mercenary, he too is of the Eclipsed rank.” She nodded in response, and we walked on, until we got to a certain house, one, which brought back bad memories… I couldn’t help but stop. “Could I… Have a second?” I asked.

“Of course.” She replied, and I walked in… Even tho he was dead, I could clearly feel Cold Blood’s presence in the room, in the room, in the house, which he had died under... I took a deep breath, and left.

“Okay, I’m done…” I informed her and we moved on…

“Uhm… Altamir?”

“Yes?”

“That house…”

“What of it?”

“Was that where he…”

“Yes.” I replied briefly with a dull tone. We heard the clanking of swords, so we knew we were close, until I heard a familiar voice.

“Carefully kid! It’s just practice! Don’t kill the opponent!” Yes, it was him… We turned about on the corner and looked at them, he immediately noticed us and told the recruits to disperse, the training being over for the day. “Let’s hope my eyes aren’t deceiving me… You really are back, aren’t you, kid?” He asked with a grin.

“Sure am… And brought a visitor… She’s Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, and the Element of Magic…” I replied.

He looked at her and greeted her with a nod. “Well met, Princess… I hope Altamir told you about what treatment you can expect from us.”

“Yes sir, he did… He told me what he was needed to.” She replied.

“May I ask what would bring you to a place like this?” He asked from her.

“Oh, I’m here to do some research about your community… As much as you’re willing to share anyway…”

“Well then, why do you need it?”

“Ponies in Equestria mostly know nothing about the history of this place… Or even about it’s existence… With my research, the youth would know about the well dedicated, loyal, and fierce fighters of the Everfree forest, serving under Princess Luna herself… Finally all of Equestria would know of the significant part you all played in history…”

“Hmm… You’re a fancy speaker for sure, I bet Starlight herself would approve too…” He replied. “Oh, and son.” He called to me.

“Hmm?”

“Good job sending Zecora our way…”

“Did what I saw best.” I replied.

“And you did well, I admit… Perhaps you have more than what it takes…” I nodded with a grin, and we left to find Swift Steel.

“Where now?” Twilight inquired.

“We’ll find Swift Steel, Starlight’s younger sister, and pass the barrel to her…” I replied, and we went on, and met Zecora.

“Altamir and Twilight, seeing you both, is a pleasant sight.” She greeted us.

“Good to see you again, listen, I gotta go, and give this to Swift Steel.” I replied.

“That barrel is heavy I assume, will I get to see you soon?”

“Sure you will.” I said with a grin, and trotted on, soon finding her room.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock* “Who’s there?”

“The douchenozzle  with the cyder…” I replied, and the door opened.

“Seems like we’ll be having fun under Luna’s brilliance tonight…” She exclaimed.

“Yeah, actually, I brought a visitor too…”

“You know how the rules go about those, but if my sis approves, she can join us tonight… At least I wouldn’t mind meeting a few ponies… Sadly, I almost know literally everypony here… Something new would be nice anyway…”

“Yeah, truth be told, that’s partially why I wanted to leave for a while too.” I replied. “So, when and where tonight?”

“You’ll know.”

“Good, I left our visitor to talk with Zecora, turns out they’re friends to begin with…”

“See you tonight then.” She replied, and I left with a nod, and returned to the mares downstairs.

“Hey Zecora… Uhm… Where’s Twilight?” I asked with a nervous tone.

“Hello Altamir, I wanted to talk to you… About Twilight, she told me she has research to do…”

“Son of a… I knew I shouldn’t leave her alone… Listen, I have to find her, can you wait until tomorrow?” She replied with a nod and a grin, and I left. I ran through the whole place twice, while thinking where she could be… Then I realized. THE LIBRARY! If I was right, she was in danger, being caught among confidential informations alone… When I got there, I saw her just trot it casually, while two of the guards, who were hiding, were about to follow her. *Whistle* “Prohibere! Illa loquebatur mecum!” (Stop! She’s with me!)  I yelled, attracting enough attention. They stopped, and I walked up to them.

“Cautiores esse postero tempore Lapidus. Nosti quid faciemus transgressoribus” (Be more careful next time, Altamir. You know what we do to trespassers.) One of them replied. While she did so, Twilight came up to us.

“There you are!”

“Yeah, and I just saved you, by the way…” I threw back a little stressed.

“What do you mean?”

“These two almost killed you for trespassing, since I wasn’t with you…” I informed her while the other two nodded.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve waited… But I’m so excited!” She replied.

“Too bad… As a guest, you have no entrance to the library what so ever…”

“Oh… Then how am I going to do it?!”

“I’m not sure, but you can hear the word of mouth… That is, if Starlight approves of your presence.”

“And, when will we talk to her?”

“That’s where I was about to take you, but since It took me a while to find you, I’ll show you to your room…” I replied.

“Didn’t you say…”

“I said MOVE IT…” I threw back.

“Okay.” She replied and did as I requested, feeling guilty about getting me into some trouble.

We got to my room with a bed in it, I opened the door, and we walked in. “Is this adequate enough? Princess?” I asked with a grin… She returned it with a nod. “Make yourself at home… For tonight at least… It’s actually my room, but we don’t have guest rooms… And…”

“Thanks, but… Where will YOU be sleeping then?”

“Haven’t you seen the Shadow and Bat ponies around? Those guys don’t need much sleep, actually, Shadow ponies need none to begin with…”

“That’s interesting… But… You don’t look like one.”

“Oh Twilight, name one thing that can’t be learned…”

“Uhm, flight?” She replied.

“To a Unicorn…” I added. *Sigh* “Put your bags down, and sit, we need to talk…” I continued.

She did so on the floor on her haunches, I sat down in front of her while closing the door behind. “Yes?” She wondered.

“Swift Steel told me she’s planning some Fun for tonight… I told her about a Visitor, and she said she’d love to meet it… I’m sure you want to meet her too, right?” She nodded in response. “Please, respond verbally.”

“Okay, and yes.”

“I’m not sure why she wants it, perhaps it’s a welcoming to you or Zecora, or just to remember those who didn’t get to wake up today… Anyway, as you could’ve guess, Starlight and Starry Shield will be there too, and Zecora as well… Do you know what that means?”

“Maybe, but I’m not sure.”

“That means you get to make an impression on them… Because if Swift Steel allows you to be there tonight, Starlight won’t disagree with her sister… And if you make a good impression, that means you can…”

“Do my research… I get it.”

“After this one mistake, I’m not sure if I SHOULD take you there, however…”

“I already apologized.” She exclaimed.

“That’s one thing, Twilight… Those guards will remember… They will remember me carelessly letting an outsider roam around freely in here! It’s like you letting somepony, anypony, roam freely in the Canterlot castle!”

“Is it that bad?”

“Twilight… If I were late, they would’ve killed you before you could read anything. And if you would’ve read a word, we both would’ve been killed.”

“Gosh, why?”

“Because it would’ve been MY mistake, which lead to our knowledge being leaked.” I replied. “I want to help you with the research, but you must ALWAYS be by my side, as long as you are among these walls…”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Good, now… Get some rest, Swift Steel will visit when we can go.” I exclaimed. “I’ll be outside, should you need me or wish to talk.” I added, and she lied down to rest.

End of Chapter 3