A Captain's Purpose

It was a quiet night in the city of Fillydelfia. Not a soul could be seen. Shop doors were closed, the streets were empty and ponies were fast asleep, protected under the watchful eye of the Princess of the night. But not everything was as it seemed, for in a large industrial warehouse, a large group of ponies were labouring away to rid it of its inside contents. All under the vigilant eye of their boss. Ace of Spades.

"Come on boys, we don't got all night!" The stallion shouted. "We need to get this shipment out here and to Manehattan before sunrise!"

Upon hearing their boss yell, the large company in front of him quickened their efforts in hopes of not angering him further. Lugging around large and heavy boxes and crates isn't an easy thing to hide, so time was of the essence. Looking around for anything that might dampen their operation, he was happy to see nothing of the sort. His gaze shifted to his right and saw a young stallion jogging up to him.

"Ah, Steel! What you got for me, my boy?" Ace said.

"We did an entire sweep of the perimeter and didn't find anything out of the ordinary boss," Steel replied. "Everything is going according to plan."

"Good," He said. "This is going to make us all filthy rich."

"But uh...boss? Aren't you afraid HE'LL find us?" Steel asked, his voice cracking slightly.

The older stallion gave a single bark of a laugh before turning fully to the stallion at his side.

"Don't tell me you believe in those stories boy," Ace scoffed. "They're nothing but that. Stories. Besides, he's more occupied protecting the Princesses up at Canterlot. And we've taken every precaution possible. There ain't no way he could find us here."

"I hope your right boss," Steel conceded, walking off to help out his colleagues.

The next few hours went by filled with relative silence, the only sound being heard being that of the stallions hard at work. With all their cargo now secured safely in their trucks, they were now preparing to take off, with everything done without a hitch. Just as the boss had planned. Just as he expected.

"Right boys! Time to move out!" Ace shouted. " But do a head count before we leave. I want this to be done right!"

Waiting a few seconds, he noticed his crew all gain a confused look, now counting over again. Their confusion deepened as they noticed they were one short.

"Who we missing?" Ace asked.

"We seem to be missing Steel boss," One of the stallions replied. "Swore I just saw him."

"Well? Find him!" He shouted all stallions present scrambling to find their missing pony.

"But you stay," He said to the largest stallion in the company.

"Sure thing boss," The stallion said

He stood there for what felt like hours to him, simply standing expectedly for them to come back with the stallion in tow. But that didn't come, there was only an eerie silence that had not been there moments ago. Quickly peering at the stallion behind him, he inwardly groaned and looked back to where the group had disappeared to.

"Can they do anything ri-?"

Ace was cut off mid-sentence, whirling around as he heard a loud clang coming from inside the warehouse. The stallion stared at the shutter door for a few seconds before stepping forward, pulling out his revolver from his underarm holster, folding down the hammer, ready to fire on any who would threaten his life.

"You heard that too right?" He asked, his only answer being silence.

Turning round, he was met with nothing but empty space. There was no evidence of a stallion had ever been standing there a few moments ago. There wasn't even any sounds to indicate he had left. Glancing back at the door, he strode towards the door with caution, slowly inching forward. As he got closer, a scent wafted through, hitting his nose as he breathed deeply to calm his nerves. It had a pleasant sweetness to it, not unlike an incense you would burn before a nice bath.

Walking farther in, he noticed the lights were out and looked around for a switch, but couldn't find one. Shifting his gaze from here to there, he tried to spot who or what could be causing all of this.

"Boys! I swear if this is a prank, now is not the time!" Ace shouted.

"This is no prank," A deep, gruff voice said from the darkness.

Ace stepped back in shock, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Stepping out from the dark and into the light of the outside lamp, a large figure loomed head and shoulders above him, causing Ace to look up, just to meet its four-eyed gaze. It was the Princess's personal guard. Wolkres the Jaeger.

Making a run for it, Ace made his way farther into the warehouse, firing shots off wildly in an ultimately futile attempt to hit the large being who was closely trailing behind him, the bullets harmlessly bouncing off of his hardened armour. Running up a flight of stairs, he looked back and shot off another bullet, the gun clicking to announce its empty chamber. Running higher up, he came to a door and instantly decided to take his chances.

Slamming the door behind him, he noticed it appeared to be some sort of study and had plenty of stuff inside. Taking what was in the room, he hastily barricaded the door and stepped back. Wolkres' heavy footsteps unnerved the stallion as they stopped just outside the room and he began banging loudly at the door. Soon the door burst open, throwing the makeshift barricade, causing Ace to duck, a few bits of debris hitting him. Quickly looking up, Wolkres was slowly walking towards him, cracking his knuckles as he did.

Panicking, Ace pick up a bent golf club that stopped near his hooves and swung wildly, Wolkres caught the head of the club, barely reacting. Snatching the club from Ace's hands, he forcefully grabbed Ace by the neck. Throwing him down the room without effort, his lean but defined body beheld a strength unseen, even by the strongest Earth pony known. Scrambling to his feet, Ace clung to the window frame overlooking the warehouse, trembling as Wolkres came upon him.

"I'll have my men hunt you down like the animal you are!" Ace yelled, hoping to intimidate him from harming him further.

"Ne shar di," He said in an unknown tongue, before grabbing Ace by the neck again, this time throwing him out the window he so desperately hung onto.

Screaming as he fell, Wolkres simply looked out the window unimpressed, watching Ace's descent. Ace quickly hit the ground beneath the study, bouncing with a thud, wheezing as the breath got knocked out of him, glass shards falling on and around him. Jumping out the now broken window, Wolkres landed a metre or so away from Ace, his four three-fingered arms compensating for the force of the fall.

Trying to crawl away, Ace was pulled up by Princesses personal guard by the back of his neck, staring at him a few seconds before dragging him behind him with his lower arm like a ragdoll.

"You...don't know...who you're dealing with," Ace muttered, wheezing in between words from his broken ribs.

Wolkres stayed quiet, not bothering to give Ace the satisfaction of a reply, he wasn't worth it. Ponies like him never are, they never were.

Hearing the clopping of hooves in the distance, he made his way to the trio of trucks and pulled out a can of spray paint, inscribing his insignia on the sides of each and walked past them, quickly coming upon a large group of guards trotting up to the entrance to the back of the warehouse.

"I've got your man." He said, holding the broken and dishevelled up.

Chucking Ace to the Guard's hooves, he pointed behind his back.

"The rest are waiting inside," He said before turning away from the group, crackling with light blue energy as he slowly disappeared. "They're all yours."

It was an early rise for the young Earth pony, swiftly doing her morning routine with tired grogginess which quickly dissipated as the morning progressed. Waking up, getting her hair under control and having breakfast. The usual. Her father had left late the night before, leaving her alone in her home. This didn't bother her, she was used to it. He always came back.

"Ok. So what's the plan today," She asked herself, looking over the calendar as she munched on her cereal. "Oh! It's a free day. Great!"

She quickly finished her cereal and left to take a shower, her favourite music playing in the background as she sang along, her voice louder than usual due to the ceramic walls. Brushing her teeth and changing into comfortable clothes, she looked herself over in her mirror. Her white fur was as clean as could be and the pink patches on her finger, knees, elbows, muzzle and upper chest were clearly visible through the loose-fitting clothes she wore.

Walking to the living room, she switched on the TV and began channel hopping, not really sure what she wanted to watch, eventually landing on something she enjoyed. She sat there for a while, watching TV and munching on some snacks, when she finally heard the front door open. She didn't turn around to see who it was. She didn't need to. The sweet scent she smelt and the strong pair of arms wrapping around her told exactly who is was.

"Hi, Dad," She said, hugging the large pair of arms back and closing her eyes.

"Hi, kiddo," He said, his voice deep enough she could feel it in her chest.

Letting go, she pivoted round to greet her father and looked up, his four ice blue eyes held a soft kindness, and despite still having his large helmed rebreather on, she could tell he was smiling beneath it. Walking around the couch, he sat down, the reinforced frame giving way ever so slightly.

"Long night?" She asked.

"It was," He replied, taking off the large helm and placing a more portable rebreather on his mouth and breathed in deeply. "But it's done."

"So what's the plan," She asked after a brief moment of silence.

"Nothing," He replied.

She couldn't help but smile. Her father was always a very kind and gentle soul, but he was never one to talk more than he needed to, only giving short answers to get his point across. But if he needs to give long-winded answers, he absolutely could.

"Since you're here, I was wondering-" She started.

"Sherry," He said softly cutting the young mare off. "We've been over this. You know the answer."

"Well, what else am I supposed to do? I'm eighteen and I don't have a cutie mark yet," She said getting up from the couch and facing her father. "I've tried everything and nothing has worked. This may be my only option."

Sighing, Wolkres got up from the couch and walked over to the large attached kitchen with Sherry not far behind and clicked the kettle on. He leaned against the island countertop and stared into the distance deep in thought. Once the kettle was done boiling, he pulled it over to him.

"Tell you what," He said while making a cup of tea. "I'll take you out to the Everfree and teach you to hunt. If you get a taste for it and enjoy it, we'll work from there."

Handing the tea over to Sherry, she took it eagerly and contemplated his offer. Taking a quick sip, she smiled and nodded.

"Ok. You have a deal, sir," She said, a cheeky smile adorning her muzzle.

"Good. It's the only offer I'm giving," He said, gaining a smile of his own.

Walking back over to the couch, Sherry followed closely behind him. As he sat down, she snuggled in close to him, his lower arm wrapping around her.

"Wanna watch a movie?" She asked. "I think it's your turn to choose."

"Sure," He replied switching the TV over to a random streaming service.

Unclipping his cape, he wrapped it around the two of them, it acting as a temporary blanket and providing a warmth they didn't realize they needed. Snuggling in closer, Sherry gave a content sigh.

"This is nice," She said, briefly looking up at her father.

"And I wouldn't have it any other way"