A white pegasus with a short cropped blonde mane and a cutie mark of stage with a spotlight overhead, by the name of Stage Drama, paced back and forth in a large office waiting news to arrive. This process continued for several minutes while all the pegasus could do was worry over the situation in Canterlot.

When news hit him that Canterlot was invaded by the Storm king's forces and his Number one client, Songbird Serenade, along with the entire city were taken prisoner. At first he went to the Equestrian Military, but unfortunately was denied an appointment. The Captain of the Royal guard, Shining Armor, held an emergency open conference stating that any and all action will be considered in retaking Canterlot and the safety of the princesses was first priority.

Last Drama heard from his connections in the guard were plans were being postponed until more intelligence could be gathered on the enemy forces. Since the royal guard were being delayed and prioritizing the princesses. Drama's personal priority was to find Songbird and get her out of there. One of Drama's contacts recommended a third party private agency. 'Easy, efficient and off the books and mercenaries do anything for the right amount of bits' they said supplying Drama with directions and notification of his arrival.

Drama was a bit skeptical when he had to travel to the outer edges of Manehattan, he was down right terrified when he located the building he was informed of labeled with giant letters 'The Ruined Kingdom' and all the intimidating species that lurked around the area. Ponies, Gryphons, minotaurs, changelings, diamond dogs, dragons, felines, yaks, Hippogriffs and the list went on!

He received many glares and eager looks from the populace, probably already knowing he is here to hire somecreature or creatures. He was filled with worry when he passed brutish, rugged mercenaries as he entered the building and was greeted by a smiling, innocent-looking secretary earth pony, with light purple coat and wearing a black pin stripe suit dress, sitting behind a desk. On her Desk was a type writer, which she was currently working with, a desk lamp and a large stack of folders filled with forms and papers. Drama couldn't help but think this pony looked completely out of place with all the ruffians right outside. "Mr. Drama," The pony just looked squarely at him. "We've been expecting you, please just call me The Secretary."

Thus brings us to Drama's current predicament as he explained his situation to the secretary pony, who listened intently and processed his explanation. "Of course, Mr. Drama. Here at The Ruined Kingdom we have all types and manners of personnel to tackle any opposition that our customers want dealt with." The secretary stated as she reached down into her desk, pulled out a file drawer and seemingly grabbed files at random.

"Now," She started as she turned her attention back to Drama. "I am not going to sugar coat it, we are aware of the situation in Canterlot so right off the bat your request is being flagged as RED ECO." Drama was about to ask for clarification but was beaten to it. "Rather Extremely Dangerous Experienced Contractors Only. Which means that if you want to proceed with your request you will be hiring personnel that are qualified for the situation, and they can get rather expensive but it shouldn't be an issue with Songbird Serenade's Manager."

The secretary pony finished cheerfully as she continued to look through and sort files and papers on her desk. Drama felt a small sensation that she was trying to imply something but waved it off and just wanted to get this awkward meeting over with. "Yes, yes I just need Songbird rescued as soon as possible. Can your mercenaries make it happen or not? I don't care how much it cost!" He stated slightly frustrated. The Secretary smiled at that last bit and nodded.

"Of course Mr. Drama though we prefer the terms Contractors or operatives, keeps us at a professional standard from the common riffraff you find in bars and what not," she quirked, Stage Drama didn't understand the difference but decided to roll with it to avoid and issues. "Now as you've seen most of our personnel are right outside as you saw on your way in here." She stated as she motioned her hoof towards the window.

"Now we have two options, one We can process your order, review our profiles manually and assign suitable operatives to you within the next two to three business days depending on who is available and interested." The Secretary stated to Drama, who was bewildered at the amount of time it would take to hire these mercenaries.

The Secretary noticed the look plastered on his face and quickly followed through. "Or Option two, I can flip that red switch on the wall," She said as she pointed her hoof towards said wall and on it Drama noticed was a set of color coded switches that he didn't notice before. green, blue, yellow, red and black. "Which will turn the lamp posts outside red for all the personnel to see and any interested will walk in here, ready to work on the spot and you can pick whoever you want." She finished with a smile.

Drama couldn't help but get chills down his spine at her smile. This secretary appeared so innocent but had and obvious over shadowing malice to her. "Our chairman always prefers that our customers know that options are available and optional." She added quickly as she trotted over the switches on the wall. "So which shall it be?" She asked as she hovered her hoof over said switches.

Drama pondered over his decision and came to the conclusion that the quicker he had Songbird rescued the quicker he can stop worrying about this entire ordeal and get back to relaxing in his suite and planning appearances. "Go ahead and flip the switch, let's see what we have to work with." Drama answered as he motioned her to carry on. The Secretary smiled and pushed the red switch down. "Wonderful." Almost instantly Drama noticed outside the window the area glowed with a red hue.

Most conversations halted and every creature gazed at the lamp posts with the majority returning to their conversations and daily activities while few began to make a small trek to the main office. Drama gulped and held his composure as he watched creatures of all shapes and sizes enter through the door.

A minotaur, a gryphon, two felines, a trio of changelings, a hippo (surprisingly), a dragoness, a yak, several ponies of all kinds, yet the ones that entered last caught Drama's attention the most, a duo of a species that he's never seen before. A male and female from the looks of it, they both stood on two legs and had two arms and hands like the minotaurs but that's where the similarities ended, they had no snout or beak only flat faces.

The female entered first and had some features resembling the changelings. She had parts of her body such as her legs covered in an sleek insect like carapace. her forearms and hands were covered with the carapace as well as parts of her torso and head resembling a type of helm or crown covering he red mane that was slicked back.

Drama couldn't also help but notice this female's chest was well endowed similar to female minotaurs. And her choice of attire was scantily clad, mainly exposing her pale midriff and portions of her shoulders and chest. Her most defining and disturbing feature, to Drama, were four spider-like appendages protruding from her upper and lower back with the tips ending in a sharp point.

The male was the last to enter and towered over mostly every creature in the office, even giving the minotaur a run for his money. Drama looked over the male and took in the image. aside from his facial feature he looked like a heavily armored troll, with his shoulder guards being large, round and covered in studded spikes. Slung across his back was a massive, wicked looking ax, draped beneath the weapon was a red cape with a dark insignia Drama didn't recognize. 'Clearly not the symbol of any of the princesses, maybe from a far away land?' He thought as he felt small thuds the creature made with every step.

The secretary caught wind of Drama's gaze and broke into excited cheer at a familiar face. "Darius! Good to see you again! Somepony said you were dead, you look good." The Secretary chuckled as she greeted the armored behemoth while all species formed a side by side line. "Darius" merely grunted as he stood next to his female compatriot. "Elise, I trust you've been keeping yourselves out of trouble?" The secretary asked as she walked down the row, eyeing all the participants.

"Why of course, Miss Secretary. Darius and I strive to be civil members of the equestrian society," Elise answered in a sultry yet sarcastic tone. The Secretary frowned at her response. "Can it smartass or I dock your pay again and make a charitable donation the Manehattan foster homes." The secretary said as glared at Elise. Elise hissed in agitation but immediately quieted down. Drama bit back his chuckle, last thing he needed to do was accidently anger one of the mercenaries.

"And Darius what did I tell about walking around armed? That ax has gotten you in trouble with the guard too many times, you're lucky you're one of the chairman's favorite employees." The secretary scolded as she continued examining all the participants. "I would've left you in the dungeons considering all the bits you've cost this company and just piling me with more paperwork." Darius only grunted aggressively while the secretary finished up scolding the others down the line, all the while Elise chuckled, "Oh, how the 'Might of the Trifarix' has fallen." earning a deadly glare from Darius.

Drama couldn't help but overhear and wonder what the 'Trifarix' was. His attention was snapped back to the secretary as she waved at the present personnel. "Now then you all came in here looking for work, as you know the request has been flagged as RED ECO and Mr. Stage Drama here," The secretary motioned to said pegasus who sheepishly waved at the small crowd. "Is your potential employer. Now the request is Search and rescue, I'm sure your aware of the situation in Canterlot being invaded by the storm king's forces. The rescue target is one Songbird Serenade." Just hearing her name perked up some heads, "Yeah I thought that would get your attention, I'm looking at you Star Glass, we all know you're a fanboy." The secretary joked as she pointed out one of the unicorn ponies, who blushed and tried to hide it while his comrades wolf whistled and called him out.

Drama was kind of surprised to find out Songbird had fans even among some of these mercenaries, goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover. "Moving on," The secretary called out returning their attention to her, "Mr. Drama will be choosing whoever he sees fit out of you lot," The secretary stated as she stepped aside and stood next to Drama while he looked over the every creature himself. If Drama was going to be honest he didn't really know who to pick. He was slightly leaning towards the minotaur or the one called Darius first of all, he was unsure how to decide.

So with that, Drama decide to just ask about the last two at the end since they had roused his curiosity the most. Drama looked directly over to Elise and Darius, "So if you don't mind me asking, what are you two exactly?" Drama asked, he slightly froze when Elise looked back at him directly, Drama made the mistake of looking directly into her eyes. A feeling of dread loomed over him as his instincts were telling him to proceed with caution. However it was the secretary who spoke up. "These fine specimens are Elise and Darius, according to them they were accidentally transported to our world via magical summoning or something. Both are very effective at their jobs and hold the highest record of contract completion, also they aren't the only ones they are 8 more just like them in Equestria but Darius refuses to reveal their locations." The Secretary stated as a matter of factually.

Drama couldn't help but ask, "There are more of you?" Looking at Darius, who's stony expression was unamused before speaking. "What they do is their business and not my concern." He gruffly stated, which prompted another question from Drama, "Then why is she with you?" pointing a hoof at Elise, who only chuckled knowing the hand of Noxus was not fond of questions. Darius threw a quick glare at Elise, "To solely keep an eye on her and making sure she doesn't run rampant on you inferior species." He growled menacingly.

Elise looked less than amused, "Oh please Darius, I've already told you there is literally more than enough magic in the air itself to sustain my beauty and sate my ... urges," She said, scoffing at his claim. "And Quite frankly I'm offended that you treat me like a monster with HIM running around freely." She hissed as she gave him the cold shoulder. "Honestly I feel like you just enjoy being around me." Elise added earning several murmurs and subtle nods from the other mercenaries. Darius was about to retort, but the Secretary stomped her hoof to get everyone back on track. "OK, back to the current task at hoof, Mr. Drama we are not here for a Q&A, please continue with your decisions." The Secretary said, Drama flinched slightly at the Secretary's assertiveness, moved on and spent the next several minutes looking over the other mercenaries.

Once done Drama looked at the secretary and nodded, "I am going to go with the obvious choice and take those two," Pointing at Darius and Elise, "And--' Before Drama could finish choosing all the other operatives groaned and proceeded to leave the room one by one. Shortly after only the Secretary, Drama, the two humans and a changeling were left. "Wait, why did they leave?!" Drama asked feeling insecure about his decision.

The secretary's calm composure slightly cracked as she nervously chuckled before turning to Drama, "Riiiiight, I forgot to mention that even though They have a high success rate, they-- well Darius-- has trouble working with others, more notably squad mates returning dead or worse." she explained joyfully, "but luckily we have at least one other operative with some stones," She said trying to sway to the brighter side of things as she pointed to the changeling that just stood there and appeared to stare timidly at the floor. "That or he really needs the bits." She said under her breath. Drama was not inspired at all and regretfully pointed at the said changeling, "Fine I'll take whoever at this point." He sighed as he handed a quill and contract fetched by The secretary and signed away.

"Thank you for purchase of services and we do hope to keep your business with The Ruined Kingdom, now you may continue with the rest of your day, I'll take care of the rest." The secretary said while escorting Stage Drama out towards the way he came in, he stopped shortly past the doorway and turned back to the Secretary. "Now you will notify me as soon as Songbird is safe, right?" He asked just wanting some reassurance. "Yes sir, you have some of the Ruined Kingdom's finest operatives that know what they're getting into and you will be notified once we secure your package, unless she is dead before our operatives can get to her, but other than that you have nothing to be worried about." The secretary answered with a smile.

Drama couldn't help but look past the pony to see Elise and Darius looking down at their changeling comrade. Elise crouched down next to it and lightly poked at it's head several times. The Changeling's head snapped up, "I'm awake!" It startlingly shouted in a raspy voice, it quickly looked around in confusion at the less occupied room before looking back at Elise. "Is the hiring event over?" The Secretary looked from Drama to the changeling and back to Drama, her smile twitched before she slammed the door shut. Drama's mind was struggling comprehend if things were going well or not for Songbird's sake.

Author's Note

Welp, here's my first shot a story, hope ya'll enjoy it. More chapters are coming.