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

“This won’t be fun tho, you know that, right?” She wondered.

“Now!” I replied, and she fired the Party Cannon… Altamir, as expected, jumped, and threw the knife by reflex… It ended up stuck in one of the furnitures without hurting anypony…

“Geez, don’t startle me like that…” He exclaimed.

“We didn’t mean to, but Twilight said there was no way you would wake up!” Pinkie replied.

“Thanks Pinkie… That was all I needed…” I informed her right after.

“Up to you Twilight, but I’m not going to clean all this confetti up for sure!” She replied while pushing the Party Cannon out of the room.

“Well, if anything, Rarity certainly won’t leave all of it just lying around…” Altamir replied.

“Leave what, my dear?” Inquired said mare.

“Altamir… I think it’s best we leave right now…” I suggested.

“Uh, good idea…” He replied, and we got out of there before things went down… We were walking down the streets, when I stopped to think.

“Altamir?”

“Yes?”

“Are you sure know the way?”

“Yes… Why?”

“Just made sure…” We walked on for a while, when we saw some commotion going on, crowd gathering in a circle, didn’t look like it will end well… As we approached the ponies allowed us pass, because of my authority and Altamir being a Human… “Wait… Who is that?  That’s not a guard!” I exclaimed louder than intended.

“Yes, it is… Didn’t Luna tell you about that too?” He inquired.

“Come on! Pay up already!” The said guard exclaimed, holding a sword at a stallion on the ground.

“I already paid the taxes this month!” He replied.

“Not to me! Pay or die!” He replied while putting his sword away, and producing a much primitive looking firearm…

“Go ahead… Kill me… And you’re soon to follow…” The stallion replied, unable to do anything because of his wounds…

“We will see…” The guard replied while taking aim. He put his finger onto the trigger and prepared. “Say goodbye…”

I had no idea what to do, nowadays Human soldiers or guards simply deny our authorities… There was nothing I could do… I looked away, when we heard a filly yell. “Daad!” *Bang*

I looked back, expecting to see a mourning foal, but instead saw Altamir, who took the bullet into his left shoulder instead, with a piece of fabric covering half his face.. “Valiant effort…” The guard exclaimed.

“Bet your ass it was…” He replied, and shoved him back.

“Very well then, you’ll die too.” The guard exclaimed, and swung his sword at Altamir…

He hit the guard’s lower arm with his to block the attack. “Don’t you wish.” He replied, and grabbed the guard’s sword at the hilt, ducked, and got behind him, ripping it out of his hands. “Now what? Tough guy…”

“I can make you kaputt!” (Broken) He replied, and produced another pistol.

“Just how many of those do you have?!” Altamir inquired, rather tired of it, and swung his sword at him, trying to break his focus… He ended up swinging so hard, the the guard parried it with his pistol, but the blade was stuck in it, and both weapons became unusable.

“Hand to hand then, come on, show your wo-” *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

“Hand my ass, I’m tired of your shit already…” Altamir replied after shooting him in the chest three times with a pistol he withdrew from somewhere.

*Cough*  “Cowa-” *Bang* *Bang*

“Die already!” He yelled after shooting him in the forehead twice, and put the pistol away. “Tough son of a bitch.” He muttered, and made his way to the stallion. “Are you all right?”

“Thank you my friend, I’m gonna live, surely… But it wouldn’t be this way if you didn’t act…” He replied. Altamir crouched down and literally tore the bullet out of his own arm, and healed it with his right one, then, so did he heal the stallion.

“Try to avoid them in the future...I’ll do my best to keep them away.” He exclaimed.

“Thank you my friend, you saved my life today… I will not forget this…”

“It was what I had to, now go, your daughter is worried…”

“And I shall…” The stallion replied, and the crowd cheered, but not for long.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* “Enough!” Altamir yelled, and the crowd gasped. “You would’ve just sat there and rather watched him die instead! I refuse to be applauded by such lazy ponies!”

Unfortunately, the crowd was not the only to hear him… So did another one of those guards… “You’ll die he-” *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

“Now go and behave yourselves!” He continued, and the crowd dispersed while he got back to me.

“Holy… Altamir! That was impressive! Where did you learn that?” I wondered.

“From Sarah, we should go to the train station…” He replied.

“Why? Why would we need to be there?”

“We’re going to the Crystal Imperial Hive, Twilight…”

“Wait, what?!”

“After Chrysalis left Celestia’s school as a teacher, she returned to her original form and made a deal with your brother and Cadence.”

“H- How do you know that?”

“Luna nobis providet.” He replied (The moon provides for us.)

“If you say so…” I replied and followed behind. I get Celestia as my mentor and I become a princess after years… He chooses Luna and gets all that after a month or two? Unfair… So unfair…

My arm was still burning from that bullet, but it was down on an acceptable level…

“Twilight, are you coming?” I wondered, seeing as she was a bit behind… Eventually she caught up, and before we entered we stopped again. “Look, if you don’t want to come, you can stay here…” I exclaimed.

“No, I’m coming with you… I haven’t seen my brother in a while anyways.” She replied.

“Up to you then.” I muttered, and we got our tickets… For free actually, it was her royalty bonus, and I was her guest, so it was a neat surprise. We got on the train, and it soon departed… During the train ride Twilight and I talked about many things, so many things… When we got close to the C.I.H, the train stopped, and Changeling guards, shaped like Humans with spears and swords got on the train as an examination. When they got to our cart they stopped, their hands on their swords.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle, am I correct?” One of them inquired.

“Yes.” She replied.

“Welcome to the Crystal Imperial Hive… Allow me to lead you to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Prince Shining Armor, and Queen Chrysalis…” The other continued.

“That would be nice, thank you.” She exclaimed while standing up from her seat. I did the same, and had a sword pointed at my throat. “Leave him be, he’s a friend of mine.”

“Humans are not welcome…”

“Have you looked at yourself through a mirror at least once? You dipshit.” He grabbed me by the throat and forced me against the wall.

“I’ll keep my eye on you… Act weird in the slightest, and we shall have your head.” He tried to threaten me.

“Twilight, would you tell him what happened to the last person who threatened me?” I inquired, not willing to make a scene like I did in Ponyville. The two looked at her in response, waiting for her answer.

“Believe me when I say it, it did not end well for them.”She exclaimed, and he let me go.

“Threaten me once again, and I myself will drive your kind extinct… Do you understand me?” I threatened him in response. He stood out of my way and allowed me to leave. “I knew we can make an agreement…” I taunted him as I passed by, and we followed the other guard. It didn’t take long until we saw the huge buildings, made of pure crystal… We walked up to the entrance of the Crystal Palace, and the guard stopped.

“From here, you know the way, right?” We nodded in response, and thanked him before he went back to his duties.

“Twilight, if you want to, you can go, be with your brother while I deliver the message..”

“Oh, we’ll have plenty of time here… I’ll go with you still.” She assured me.

“Do you still have it?” I inquired.

“Well… No… I left it on my drawer…”

“Good thing I remember it word by word…” I replied, and we made our way to the throne room, where both Changeling and Crystal Pony guards stopped us for a second.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle, under what name can I introduce your friend?” One of them wondered.

“He’s Altamir, Altamir De Marz…” She replied, and the guard opened the door to let us in.

“Your majesties… Allow me to announce the arrival of Princess Twilight Sparkle, and her friend, Altamir De Marz…” The guard exclaimed, attracting the attention of the present royalty, then left.

“Hey there lil’ sis! What brought you here?” The Prince inquired.

“I’m merely here to accompany my friend here… We came to deliver a message to Queen Chrysalis…” As soon as Twilight said her name, the Changeling Queen’s ears perked up and got out of her throne, and made her way toward us, disguising herself as a Human while doing so.

“Very well then, I believe you must be from… There…” She replied, while holding out a hand towards me for a handshake. We shook hands, I nodded while doing so. “Well then, where is it?”

I tapped my head with my index finger in response. “Right here.”

“Let me wait no further…” She replied.

“Regina Chrysalis, lunaris eclipsis est super communicatione vestra cura. Sed vereor ne tibi videndum ... Expectamus responsuros et sequentibus diebus adventu ... O si missurus existimabatur Ignavum fucos pecus vel milites, ne quid exspectet remittunt. Cognoscere volumus, si solus ad ostendendum quod habuisti fiduciam nobis.” (Queen Chrysalis, The Lunar Eclipse is thankful for your concern… We expect your arrival in the days to follow, so you can see with your own eyes… Oh, and should you send more troops our way, we advise you not to expect their return… Should you come to us yourself, we would highly evaluate if you would come alone, as it would be a display of trust to us…)

“Ah… I see… I’m glad you’re even responding to me, given my history with the sisters themselves…” She replied, and put one of her hands onto my shoulders. “Sincere condolences for your friend, Altamir… Tell me, is there a way I could help your search? If so, let me know any time...”

“Thank you… I was thinking of one thing…” I replied.

“Yes?”

“Could we discuss it in private?”

“If the others excuse us, yes…”

“It’s okay Altamir, we have a lot to talk about with my B.B.B.F.F here…” Twilight exclaimed, so we left.

Altamir and I left the other behind, and headed for a more secluded area…

This weakling won’t last long… I thought to myself, when he broke the silence.

“So… Queen Chrysalis?”

“Yes?”

“You knew Altair and John, right?”

“Yes… But how do you know that?” I wondered.

“When I was small, Sarah gave me all of her memories through a spell she developed… Most of them still make little, if near no sense to me however…” He replied.

So he knew her? “Ah… May I ask your mother’s name?”

“Moonlight Comet.” He replied.

No way! That’s the researcher I saw Altair with when I tried to take his place! That happened hundreds of years ago! “I see… How is her health serving nowadays?” I inquired.

“She died when I was born…”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t, you weren’t meant to…” He replied.

“So, what did you wish to talk about? Now that we’re here…”

“If my information is correct, you turned Altair into a half Changeling half Human creature.”

“I do not like where this is going…” I warned him.

“Could you do the same to me?”

“What do you mean exactly?”

“Shapeshifting, magic, regeneration…” He replied.

“If that is all you desire, then I must warn you beforehand… Even Altair himself barely survived his transformation…” I lied, of course, but it was in his favor....

“Altair or not, do it…” He replied, determined as Altair was way back when.

“All it will take is a bite… I can, however, not guarantee your survival.”

“I’m ready.” He replied. I took my original form and prepared my teeth.

“You have been warned… Good luck…” I replied, and sunk my teeth deep into his flesh… His left arm to be exact… It tasted terrible, and it was not the way I did it to Altair, but in the end, the result was similar. He rolled around in the ground in pain, while I tried to ease his suffering with my magic… At last, the pain disappeared, and he stood up, grasping his lower arm tightly, as his veins and nerves turned green under his skin, and slowly began to spread to the rest of his body.

“Chrysalis? What’s happening to me?” He inquired… His tone sounded scared, however.

“Congratulations, Altamir… From now, you’re one with the hive… From now, you, I, and other Changelings can commune without verbal expressions, no matter how far we are…” I informed him.

End of Chapter 5