retirement in equestriaby bigheart675ChaptersThe end of an eraSetting up home baseThe MeetingTaking care of PanisQuestion timeThe Rise of the PanThe Onslaught of the PanThe end of an eraIt was a hot day as the sun hung high in the skies over New Mexico. The gravel that normally bustled with the sounds of explosions, gunfire and death seemed oddly quiet. It had been on year since Grey Mann killed his two brothers and sparked the Mann Co wars. Grey Mann’s gravel empire lay in ruins destroyed by the mercenaries that had once worked for his brothers. The gravel wars which had lasted since 1850 were now at an end. The only questioned left unanswered was, what to do with the 18 mercenaries who were veterans of a war against themselves. “Why’d they have to call us down here” exclaimed the RED soldier with a sigh “Heck should I know” snorted the RED engineer “maybe they’re givin us more hats” “That be real sweet dontcha think” butted in the RED scout “Vill you dummkopfs be quiet, zis might be important” said the RED medic As the nine members of the RED team made their way further down into the bunker that housed Mann Co.’s R&D little did they know that their former enemies were making the same trip down a different hallway. They stopped in front of a large wooden door with a sign that read SAXTON HALE’S OFFICE No hippes allowed The door opened to reveal Saxton Hale talking with Meramus the wizard. They turned to greet the RED. “Ah, so glad you could make it. Saxton and I were just talking about your retirement.” The wizard stated “Retirement!?” Soldier shouted “No way, I won’t retire till I’ve beaten those BLUs three ways to Monday” “Well I’m afraid that can’t be helped. I was just telling Saxton here how I would like to reverse the spells I cast on you 7 years ago” “Spells? What spells did you cast on us” Tavish asked “When you were contacted by BLU and RED Mann they both wanted the best fighters in the world. They contacted me to split your souls into two halves, that way they wouldn’t have to deal hiring different mercenaries” “So the BLUs are really…” “…the other halves of your souls.” Meramus finished “But do we have to retire? Why can’t we fight other tiny men?” Heavy asked “You will retire because I say so!” yelled Saxton “Now we’ve already talked to the BLUs and they want to stop fighting” “Those maggots, they pack in easy don’t they engie” Soldier asked his builder friend “Well Solly, I kinda want to just live a normal life again and not have to be sacred of spies and being killed all the time.” Dell explained “everytime I close ma eyes I see back to the battles that we’ve fought” “Oh, well do the rest of you want to chicken out too” They all nodded as soldier mouth hit the floor. “Look mate, we’re all sick and tired of being killed and being yelled at by the Announcer. We just want to live so form of normal life” The sniper said “Ok, ok but where would we go” soldier asked Several names flew around, Austria, Africa, Texas, even Siberia much to the team’s disapproval. Finally the Scout spoke up asking to go to Equestria. “Equestria? vat kind of silly place is that” the medic asked “Well its kinda hard to explain but I’ll try the best I can” scout responded He proceeded to tell his teammates all about the magical land of Equestria, the ponies that lived there, and each of his favorite characters spending the most time on a certain rainbow mare. “… and she’s super-fast all like woosh! And she leaves rainbow behind when she flies and.” “Sounds like someone got over his fear of ranibows” spy mocked “Yea, yea keep talking ya French bastard.” scout retorted. “There is no way I’m going to a frilly pony land” Soldier stated “I will go with scout” Heavy said “What do you see in that overly happy place?” soldier asked “I think Heavy will make good friends with little color ponies” the Russian said “Is anyone else with me here” Soldier asked “I am” Spy said “Well I think it’s a damned good idea and if you two are the only ones against it then you’re all going” Saxton commanded “What about the BLU’s? they might not want to go.” Said soldier hopefully “Well they are a part of you so they would have the same feelings towards this place” Meramus responded “Then its settled your backpacks will be packed with all of your things and you will leave tomorrow after you rejoin with the BLU’s” “Sweet, so when does this mumbo jumbo begin?” asked scout “Well it starts… right now!” As Meramus finished his sentence knockout gas filled the room and the team’s vision faded into darkness as they passed out. By the time the mercenaries woke up from the gas they were in a large steel room with a huge observation window. They were all wearing different colors of the clothes they normally wore except Pyro. Scout and Heavy had tan shirts with black pants, Sniper was wearing a molted brown shirt under his vest, Engineer had on a bright red shirt, Demo and Soldier were wearing dark blue shirts, Medic wore a white collared shirt under his lab coat and Spy suit was black with a dark blue tie. There were nine backpacks each labeled with its owners name and filled to the brim with hats, weapons and everything else given to the mecrs by their employers. A voice blared through the intercom “Engie, we gave you the plans to build a respawn machine and a supply locker when you get to this “Equestria”.” The announcer told them “the portal should be opening in five, four, three, two, one!” A bright blue hole in the room appeared revealing a cloudless and grass covered meadow. As the team picked up their packs and cautiously approached the swirling portal, the intercom crackled “As we go through the documents that RED and BLU left behind we will send you anything regarding your hiring or history. Now go!” she barked at them one last time The portal flickered as the veterans of the dustbowl war walked through. The portal then vanished leaving no trace of its existence. Setting up home baseAs the Team stepped out onto the bright green meadow, they herd birds singing in the trees above. They sat down and started to unpack their belongings when Demo spoke up “Alright lads, what are we gonna do now that we’re in this bloody world?” “First things first, get some food.” Said Sniper as his teammates answered with a nod He then took out his Huntsmen and began to aim at the birds before leasing the arrow. It hit a falcon with thud as he fell out of the tree. The other birds took flight in fear of this new predator. Sniper began to pick up his kill when Scout whined “Ya can’t do that; Fluttershy might miss ‘im” “Flutter who?” asked Demo “Fluttershy the pony that takes care of the animals around ‘ere” he responded “Well I doubt she’ll miss one of her falcons” argued Spy “Yea but if she freaks out and tells the rest of Ponyville they might look for us” Scout responded “Damn so how are we gonna get enough food to feed us all?” Engie asked “Well we could always mooch some apples from the apple farm” Scout suggested “Alright then it’s a plan Spy and Scout go get some apples. Heavy, Demo and Pyro cut some wood, Sniper and I will build the house while Engie works on a respawn machine” Soldier commanded “Scout, if you would be so kind as to show me the way to zis “apple farm”.” Spy asked “Und what about me soldier?” asked the Medic “You will help engie set up his buildings. If you see anyone, don’t be afraid to scare them off. The less these ponies know about us the better.” Soldier added “Let’s go Spy” Scout said -------- Sweet Apple Acers------- “ Exactly how far are we from zis farm” Spy asked as he kicked a rock out of the path “‘Bout five maybe ten feet” Scout said as they approached the gate “So what do we do? You have ze best knowledge of zis awful place” “We hop da fence and get to the back orchard where we stuff as many apples as we can into our packs.” Scout directed They hopped the fence and stealthily ran to the back of the orchard just missing a large red stallion walking alongside a small yellow foal “Well Applebloom ‘buckin seasons over and we gotta get all the apples from the back orchard into the barn” Big Mac told her “Can’t we do it tomorrow I want to go see the girls at the clubhouse” she whined He responded with his trademark phrase “Nope” “Darn, well let’s go get the cart and get this over with” she huffed as he led her to the barn As Spy and Scout made their way to the back orchard they saw several baskets filled with apples of all colors. “Look they already put ze apples in baskets. Zis should be as easy as taking out an oblivious Heavy.” Spy remarked “Let’s just load up three baskets each and go before dey come back” Scout told the saboteur a hint of worry in his voice “Oh is someone afraid of the cute little ponies” Spy jested “No way I just don’t want them to see us that’s all” As they loaded up the baskets they heard a voice yell at them. “Hey you varmints don’t touch our apples!” They turned to see a large red stallion barreling towards them “May I make a suggestion?” Spy asked “What?” Scout answered “Run” He then cloaked and began running at full speed away from the farm laughing at Scout as he jumped over the fence and took off “aww crap” Scout tore up the ground running as fast as he could to escape the maddened stallion. He jumped into the nearest tree and began jumping through the tree tops. “Ya’ll can’t get away that easy” Mac shouted as he gained on the scout Scout then jumped from the trees barley missing the edge of the pointed fence and began running through the forest hoping the stallion would give chase in the thick underbrush. He ran for a few more minutes before realizing that the stallion had stopped chasing him. He breathed a sigh of relief and continued to run till he reached a break in the tree line. He came out into the meadow where a large wooden cabin now stood. He rushed inside and saw his teammates waiting for him. “So did you lose that big horse?” Soldier asked “Yea I lost ‘im. His name is Big Mac and he lives on that farm with three other ponies.” “That would have been useful if you told us beforehand!” “Solly there’s no need to get upset. We got the apples and that all that matters now” Sniper said “No its not fine cause we blew our cover! If that pony tells his pony friends they’ll come looking for us in a heartbeat!” “Well then looks like I get to meet friendly ponies now” Heavy said “When do you think they’ll get here?” Engineer asked “Maybe tomorrow it’s getting dark out and I doubt they hold a search party I ze dark” medic said “You’re right the best thing to do is wait until tomorrow, then we should act.” Demo added As the sun set in the sky the team decided that sniper should keep watch, just in case anything funny happened. “It’s been four bloody hours and nothing’s happened.” He grumbled He felt his eyelids get heavy as he drifted off to sleep. Author's Note New chapters not as good as I wanted it to be but it happens. Would you guys like to see longer chapter that will be put out every 5 to 6 days or would you like small chapter that i can make in a day or two? The MeetingHeavy was the first one to wake up, his internal clock told him it was sandvich time. He walked over to the fridge and grabbed one of the many sandviches inside. He sat down and began loudly eating his meal, “Om nom nom, nom nom” as he finished his food and idea came into his head. Why not visit the little ponies down in Ponyville? He decided to take Pyro with because Pyro lost one of his favorite hats in the forest. “Pyro” Heavy whispered as he shook the arsonist “I go see little ponies, will you come?” “Mmhuh” it mumbled back as Heavy made his way to the door with Sasha safely in his pack They walked found a dirt path and walked down it till they reached a small woodland cottage. Heavy knocked on the door and then looked at Pyro, who was laughing. Heavy massive fist had punched a hole clean through the door. Inside Fluttershy awoke to the sound of wood splintering. She let out a small epp and decided to see what made the noise. She opened her door and was greeted with a pair of large creatures she had never seen before. She quickly backed away and yelled “Don’t hurt me please!” “We will not hurt tiny yellow pony. Heavy is sorry for scaring you” “Wait, you talk?!” she blurted out “Yes, I am Heavy weapons guy and this is Pyro” he said pointing to Pyro who was trying to light a blade of grass using a lighter “Mmh” he gave a thumbs up as Fluttershy slowly inched toward the two. “What is you name tiny pony?” “Flutt.. shy” “What?” “Fluttershy” she said after a few more moments “Good, now can Fluttershy take us to pony town?” “Oh, of course I can let’s go see Twilight first” “Da, that will work” he said as trio exited Fluttershy’s cottage and headed down the path toward Ponyville Sniper awoke to the feeling of metal being drawn across his back. He instantly reached for his kukri but stopped when he heard Soldier shout “Where did that oversized Russian and Walking tire go! We need to find them before they find the ponies” He turned to see Spy idly toying with his knife as the rest of the team searched frantically for the lost mercs. “Sniper, did you hear anything last night” asked Engie “Na, nothing but the sound of Heavy snoring.” He responded “Um fellas, we may have a bit of a problem.” Scout said nervously “What is it” asked the Medic “I found dis note hear” The team moved over to see scout holding a piece of paper that read Went to go see pony town with Pyro be back soon. Heavy Silence reigned for a few seconds before soldier shouted “WHAT THE HELL DO THINK THEY’RE DOING DISOYBYING MY ORDERS!!” “Solly, calm down we’ll find them before they do anything stupid” Sniper reassured him “No, this your fault” “My fault, what I do?” “You fell asleep on watch duty! Medic hand me a beer, NOW!” Medic ran to the fridge grabbing the first can in sight. Soldier popped it open and took a long swig. He then started to scream as clutched his head in pain. The rest of the team slowly backed away from their friend, already knowing what was about to happen. “I am PAINis CUPCAKE! I will eat you!” he uttered mechanically “aww piss” The team tried to contain the wild Panis Cupcake but he dashed out the front door clicking all the way “Ve must follow our friend before he hurts someone in ze town” Medic cried frantically “What ‘he drink anyway?” asked Engie “One of ma Bonk! Drinks.” Answered Scout The team hurried out the door after their strange colleague As Fluttershy accompanied her new friends into town many of the townsfolk began hiding from the two humans. “Gosh, everypony seems to be really busy today” she said as watching the streets empty as they walked through “Mmhmm Mmmh” pyro responded “What’d he say? “asked Fluttershy “Said small ponies are running away from us” Heavy answered “Well you are kinda scary, but I’m taking you to Twilight so we can learn more about you.” She said cheerfully Heavy stopped in his tracks, eyes fixed on the horizon “Whats wrong Heavy” “Little flutter pony should be careful when wanting stories, not all come cheap. Come let us talk no more till we reach Twilight." “Uh, we’re here already” Heavy turned around and saw the large tree that housed Ponyville’s public library. Fluttershy tapped the door lightly and was quickly pulled inside by a pink blur. “Fluttershy! Thank goodness you’re safe from those monsters!” Pinkie exclaimed Inside the library was the rest of the Mane six with Twilight searching for any book that could tell them what was outside her door. “Those aren’t monsters, they’re Heavy and Pyro. They stopped by my cottage wanting to come into Ponyville.” She explained “They kinda look like those varmits who stole ma apples.” Applejack observed “Yea maybe these guys are here to steal us!” Rainbow “Rainbow! Calm down if we let them in I’m sure they will explain” Rarity responded “Hello? Are little ponies not ready to see us?” Heavy asked through the door “Sure, but we got some questions for you as well” Twilight answered Heavy grasped the door with his hand and pulled open the door. As the two veterans walked in everyone but Fluttershy grew nervous. They sat on the floor ready to answer the barrage of questions from Fluttershy friends. “What are you?” Rainbow asked first “We are Humans, have hands that are good for grasping sandvich and things” “Did yall steal ma apples?” Applejack questioned “Not me was Scout and Spy, we needed more food.” The apple mare turned to buck Heavy in the face but felt a hoof on her shoulder “We’ll work that out latter AJ.” Rainbow reassured her “Right now we need to know if these guys are dangerous or not. Where are you two from?” “Heavy is from Russia and Pyro is from, from place team dosen't know. He answered “Could you describe how you got here?” asked Twilight who was scribbling all this on a scroll for the Princess Heavy told them about the rest of his team and how they had decided to retire in Equestria. He explained that they all used to work for BLU and RED but did not go further, afraid of scaring his new pony friends. “What kind of work did you guys do?” asked Fluttershy Heavy hesitated before talking to Pyro in a whisper, eventually the Russian let out a sigh and broke the news “Heavy was paid to kill other team. Teammates were once enemies and tried to kill Heavy. Heavy was told that war would last forever. Then Grey Mann killed bosses and we fought robots. Heavy had told you all Heavy knows about gravel wars.” The mares stood in shock, wondering if the two who stood before them were really paid to kill. “Are you lying to scare us!?” Rainbow shouted “No, Heavy does not lie. Heavy can show you Sasha.” He pulled the minigun from his backpack and placed it on the floor. Blood stained part of the dented chamber that held the gun’s massive ammo supply. “Where is the rest of your team?” Pinkie asked “Heavy and Pyro snuck out of base. Team is looking for us Soldier will be mad that ponies know about team.” “Heavy, I think that even though you have done terrible things to your teammates in the past, you are and kind and gentle.” Rarity looked up at the Russian who smiled and gave her a large bear hug. “Let us have Sandviches and Daloakes to celebrate new friends!” He opened gave each of the mares a vegetarian sandvich and a piece of a Daloakes bar. “I must say this is quite delectable Heavy. Did you make the sandwiches without help. “Da, Sandvich has saved Heavy many times” “Why didn’t you all come into town together? Twilight asked “Soldier wanted not to be found” he responded “Would you kindly show us your base? I would like to meet the rest of your team.” Rarity inquired “Later, could we meet rest of town?” “Mmphmph mph mph hudda.” Pyro remarked “If six ponies like Heavy, all ponies will like us.” “Girls, we’re being extremely rude by not telling these two our names” Rarity noticed “I’m Rarity, this is Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie” “We should throw you a party! With cake and games and funny hats!” said Pinkie “Hats!? What kind of hats” Heavy demanded “Party hats, frilly hats..” Pinkie Pie was interrupted by Spy materializing next to Heavy and Pyro “Spy, what is wrong?” “Soldier has become Painis Cupcake and is heading for zis town. We must move quickly to stop him!” “Da, Sasha is ready for strange baby man. Lead way to fight.” Author's Note This took longer than I expected but I'm happy with what came out. I'm going to be studying alot for my finals and things so I might delay the next chapter. Next chapter will probably come out next wensday. Taking care of Panis“Let us move. Ve have cornered him in the woods near that farm” Spy urged his teammates onward “Da ve must stop Panis before he hurts little ponies.” “Wait ya’ll took ma apples!” Applejack shouted “Yes and I’m sure we will reimburse you, but later right now we must help our college.” He responded The mane six flowed close behind the three running humans. Ponies were gawking at the odd sight. “So what’s wrong with your friend?” asked Twilight “He has a condition where he becomes a … thing that talks about eating you.” “That sounds scary! Is he dangerous?” Fluttershy asked “Not really, ah here we are.” As they entered the forest they saw the rest of the team surrounding Panis who was growling menacingly. They had their weapons drawn and pointed at Panis. “So ya got our runaways eh Spy?” Sniper asked not looking up from his scope “Yes and I brought Heavy’s new friends.” “Ah vell later I vould like to examine one to see how zey talk.” Medic remarked “Bout time ya got here! We’ve been holding him here for ages!” Scout yelled “It has only been 15 minutes Scout” Medic responded “Lads, let’s just get Panis contained before he scared the ponies.” At that moment Panis yelled as this entire body glowed and unearthly red. He dashed through Tavish and stopped abruptly before the ponies. “I am Panis Cupcake. I will eat you!” The girls shrieked and ran all except for Pinkie, who looked at Panis quizzically. “You’re not a cupcake. Although you might taste like one.” She said “Pinkie don’t touch ‘im he’s crazy!” Scout warned Pinkie ignored his warning and slowly extended her tongue till it was near Panis’s face. She hesitated a before licking him on his check. “Bleh, you taste like sweat.” She told Panis Panis did not respond as he was busy rocketing 60 feet into the air before crashing down. “Vell, zats new.” “You mean he’s never done that before?” Twilight asked “In all my years of medical experience never have a zeen zomthing like this.” Medic responded “How in blazes did she get that bugger to stop?” Sniper asked Twilight “It’s Pinkie, don’t question her. I gave up months ago.” Twilight sighed “Vell I’m sure it’s nothing a little science can’t solve right Heavy?” “Da look soldier is waking up.” “Ugh, my head. Feels like I got scout rushed. What happened?” “Vell you became Panis cupcake und zis “Pinkie” turned you back by licking you” “Did we find those two Awol’s?” “Da ve are here” Heavy Answered “Good. Now that our existence has been compromised who want to meet these frilly ponies?” “Hey watch it bub, you still haven’t paid AJ back for the apples you stole.” Rainbow reminded him “I don’t owe that farmer anything, Scout and Spy do.” He pointed at the two mercs “Yall need to pay back what ya stole!” Applejack shouted “Ok, Ok just please don’t be mad.” Scout begged Scout gave the orange pony 20 dollars. He turned to spy and asked “You gonna pay her back?” “Why would I pay zat bumpkin a single cent? She was kind enough to leave her hard work out In ze open, like you engie.” The French saboteur snorted at his comparison Rainbow flew full force into spy’s head, determined to teach him a lesson. Spy uttered a small yell as he fell down lifeless. “Rainbow you hurt him!” Fluttershy scolded as Rainbow cut her speed “Um girls, I think she might have done more than that. He has no pulse.” Twilight observed by pressing her hoof against the “body” “What Omi gosh I’m so sorry please don’t hurt me…” Rainbow babbled as she looked up at Heavy The rest of the team looked at her with surprise befor sniper attempted to reassure her. “Shelia, it’s alright we know ya didn’t mean it. Spy’s fine, bloody wuss does that all the time.” But Rainbow wouldn’t listen. Tears started flowing sown her face as she glance back at spy’s fake body. Sniper scooped her up and let her cry on his shoulder. “Shhhhh, just let it out. I know it looks like hes dead but he’ll be back any minute.” “You mean hes not really…” “Yea, but he will be when I’m through with ‘im.” Spy materialized next to soldier snorting up a storm. “You should have heard yourself, you were pathetic.” He continued laughing but was interrupted by a sudden fist to his face that pushed him to the ground Heavy stood over him cracking his knuckles at a chance to punch a tiny baby man. Twilight stepped in just as Heavy was preparing another punch “Stop! Why don’t we talk out our problems over lunch at AJ’s?” “What!? Twi ma sister’s still afraid of ‘em. I don’t think it be a good idea to bring them over.” “Nonsense to little farm house we go!” Heavy yelled carrying his frying pan “Well you heard Heavy let’s go!” Soldier barked The Team rushed forward but were stopped by the gate leading to the farm house. Engineer quickly built a system of teleporters around the gate. “Engineer is credit to team!” Heavy yelled as he made his way up the dirt path carrying his pan. The rest of the team followed shortly afterwards all holding their pans. “We need ta get there before they do!” Applejack urged The man six ran after the mercs, desperate to catch up with them and warn Granny of their impending guests but it was too late. Granny was already in the kitchen cooking up a large batch of apples. “Well Applejack there ya are! How ‘bout telling me next time ya invite nine ..uh guests over.” “Granny I’m really sorry we just found met them and they ran off ‘fore a could tell you and…” Applejack could not continue as a Sandvich was thrust into her mouth. “Little pony should eat and be happy. Time will be later to introduce rest of team.” The Team ate a mixture of Sandviches , apple pie and cupcakes brought along by Pinkie “So what are the rest of your names?” Fluttershy asked “I’m Scout, this is Soldier, Medic, Sniper and Spy” “I’m Tavish Degroot but you can call me Demo or Tavish” the Scotsmen awnsered “I’m Dell Conager But ya’ll can call me Engie or Dell.” The Texan replied in between bites of pie “Well then it’s gettin’ pretty late. AJ why don’t’ these fine fellows stay here for the night?” Rarity asked “Alright then, come on guys you’re staying in the barn till we find a better place.” “What about Base?” Heavy asked “Oh, Panis Pretty much destroyed it when he went on his rampage.” Tavish answered “Very well, can Heavy have a goodnight hug?” “Uh… not right now Heavy. Get on off to bed ya’ll got an early start tomorrow.” AJ called out as the mercs left to go to their sleeping quarters When they had left Fluttershy asked Twilight “Will they be alright to live here in Ponyville?” “I don’t know Shy, but the princesses need to know about them. They should be to help them.” “I Just hope they don’t cause any more trouble.” Rainbow added Author's Note Yea so Panis will get a larger role in the future but for now I want to focus on Ponyville's reactions to the Team. Also chapters should be longer now that i'm done with school and have more time. Thanks for waiting so long :D P.S. After three weeks in development hopefully this chapter will have been worth the wait Question timeCelestia was in her chamber preparing for her day when a letter arrived from her pupil. As she read the heading she called for Luna. “Sister, what is it? I was planning on going to bed" Luna whined. “Luna, Twilight just sent me a letter about some odd visitors" The sun goddess replied. “I’m sure it’s nothing she can’t handle with the elements of Harmony" “She specifically asked for us to come meet and warned that they might be dangerous" “Fine. Let’s go meet ‘odd visitors’. Who knows, it might just be exciting" The two sisters walked down the hall to the royal flight deck where a large chariot was waiting to take them to Ponyville. They thanked the guard ponies flying them and flew off into the early morning sun. ----Sweet Apple Acres---- Applejack walked with Big Macintosh by her side on the way to the barn. Big Mac nervously pawed the ground before asking, “You sure we should wake ‘em this early? Most folks ain’t used to being up at the crack of dawn" “It’ll be fine. Besides, that Spy fella still has to pay me back" Applejack knocked on the barn door. The door creaked open slightly to reveal Sniper, who still looked to be half asleep. “Aw piss, its barley 6 o’clock and we already have peop... er, ponies at our door. What’d ya want, shelia?” “Aw shucks, I just thought I’d check up on how ya’ll are doing. I didn’t mean ta wake you up" “It’s alright, come in and see what we’ve done with the place" The door opened wider to reveal several new machines against the walls. There were 3 sets of bunk beds, some of which were occupied. Several posters hung on the wall, including a picture of what looked like Engineer with a huge neck. Several members of the team were seated around a large table drinking brownish liquid and discussing the gender of their masked member. “What did ya’ll do to my crop barn?!” she shouted. “We made it into a real base and not some storage unit" Soldier answered as he cleaned his rocket launcher. ‘Well, change it back before I put the hurt on you" Big mac said. “Hahahaha! Do you think I’d be scared of some red farmer pony who’s unarmed?” “Ya should be! Ma brother is the strongest stallion in Ponyville and we don’t take too kindly to being pushed around" “Whatever, I bet that librarian wants us to answer some questions. Come on, team. And bring all the weapons you got" “Wait up. We’re not done here" Even before Big Mac finished the team had already packed up and headed out. They walked through Ponyville without being interrupted, mainly because everypony was too scared to make eye contact. They were led by Heavy, who, after much searching, finally found the Library. Soldier tried the door. “Damn, locked. Heavy, do you think you can bust the door down?” “Da, but Twilight will be upset" “Who’s that?” “Is little pony that lives in tree" “She lives in a tree? These ponies sure are strange. Anyway, I’m going to rush it on 3. 1... 2... 3!” The door swung open just as soldier charged. He crashed into a large bookcase and was buried in a mountain of books. “Can you wait next time before you barge into my house?” Twilight asked annoyed. “We’re in a hurry! After your questions we are going to find a house and maybe get some jobs around town" Scout answered. “Alright then. Come on in, make yourselves comfortable" The team came into the large living room and settled down onto three large couches facing a small chair which Twilight soon occupied. Spike came downstairs only to be shocked at the sight that greeted him. “Uh... Twilight, what are these weird ponies doing here?” “Well, they’re not ponies and I wanted to ask them some questions about how they got here. I think you should go help out Rarity" Spike needed no further urging as he floated on a cloud of hearts out the window and in the direction of Carousel Boutique. “Alright, let’s begin by telling me what you are" “Ve are humans, a bipedal species that dominated the land vere ve come from" “Ok then, Heavy briefly mentioned something about fighting each other. Could you elaborate Spy?” “Gladly, We were hired by two feuding brothers, Blutarch and Redmond Mann. We could not fight for them both so they decided to split our souls into two halves. We were divided into two teams and given objectives based on where we were fighting and what team we were on. Sometimes BLU had to push a bomb cart while RED had to stop them. Other times we had to capture each other’s secret information or intelligence. Life on that battlefield was horrific and I’m sure you couldn’t listen to our stories" “Really? I handled what Heavy told us quite well" “Alright then Soldier; care to tell us a dustbowl story?” “Hell yeah! One time on Badwater, I pushed out of the spawn room and killed that Scot who was placing sticky bombs. You should have seen it, his head flew 10 feet away from his body. Then I killed the spy behind me. His French blood was all over my best helmet!” Twilight began to look green and promptly excused herself. She tried to hold back the bile in her throat as she thought about what soldier had done. Could she really trust these humans if they killed each other so often that they got enjoyment out of it? She lost it and emptied the contents of her stomach onto her bathroom floor. She came back pale and distant to find the mercenaries retelling some of their favorite horror stories. “Can we please continue with the questions?” “Of course Sheila. Just tell us if we make you uncomfortable like that again, wouldn’t want ya to lose your lunch again" “Ok, how did you get here?” “We retired after we defeated the robots of Grey Mann, who killed our employers and launched an attack against Mann Co., which is where we got our weapons" Dell explained. “You retired? Why would you do that?” “We were offered the chance by the wizard who separated our souls. Many of us were tired of endless fighting so Scout recommended zis place because you have no wars" “Ok. What weapons did you use?” “Well I used me grenade and sticky bomb launchers that could blow ya to pieces. Solly used a rocket launcher that works the same way. Pyro lit us on fire with his flamethrower, Sniper shot bullets into our heads, Scout attacked us up close as did Heavy with his minigun, Engie put up sentry that were a pain to get rid of and Spy used a knife to stab us in the back. Medic healed us with some contraption he put together" Tavish finished his explanation and took a deep swig from his bottle of scrumpy. “Maybe later you can show us a demonstration, but for now I have more questions. What is Pyro?” “I vill answer that question to the best of my abilities. Pyro is a human that was severely burned as a child. It has been mentally scarred and sees things in a very comical way. Although I cannot reveal its gender due to doctor patient relations, I can say that when Pyro is ready to take off the suit you will be surprised at the years of reconstructive surgery I’ve done" Medic responded. “How did Scout know about us before you came here?” “I... uh... read a book about you guys" “Really? We’re famous where you’re from?” “Ya you could say that" “Ok last question. Would it be ok if I cast a spell so I could understand Pyro’s speech?” “Yes as long as Pyro is ok with it" Pyro gave a thumbs up and waited for Twilight to begin casting her spell. Twilight’s horn light up and a faint aura surrounded Pyro. The arsonist began to rise into the air as the aura became brighter and more colorful. A blinding flash obscured Pyro from view. When the flash ended Pyro was on the floor slowly getting up from the powerful magic that was just cast upon it. “Pyro are ya alright?” Scout asked with concern. “I… think so” Pyro’s new voice sounded somewhat like Morgan Freeman’s if he took helium. “Did ya’ll hear that? Looks like Twilight’s fancy magic worked!” Engineer exclaimed as the rest of the team stood stunned. “It wasn’t that fancy, just a simple spell princess Celestia taught me" She blushed slightly at his praise. “Vait a minute, you mean this world has royalty?” Medic pondered how this happy land could have an institution of royalty. “Yes, but they’re super nice and understanding of everypony’s problems" “Vell zats the first time I’ve heard zat said about royalty. Anyvay, ve should be going. Soldier is getting antsy" Fluttershy suddenly burst in through the window carrying the falcon that Sniper had killed early. It was limp and still had the arrow protruding from its breast. Fluttershy was in tears as she set the bird down much to Twilight’s shock. “Who could have done this to that poor falcon?” Fluttershy cried as she tried to breathe life back into the dead falcon, “When I find out who did this they’ll be sorry" Her eyes burned like coals as she looked out the broken window. “I told ya she would notice! Better fess up before she goes on rampage" Scout quipped at Sniper. “Alright then, just don’t blame me if we get run out of town. Uh, miss yellow pony, I might know who, uh, killed your bird there” Sniper piped up. “Who! Tell me or I’ll give you The Stare!” “I shot the bird with me Huntsman the first day we were here. I figured we needed some food and that falcon was just sittin’ there, so, uh, no hard feelin’s, right?” “Wait, can you guys it meat?” Twilight yelled. “Yes ma’am. Meat is one of the staples of the human diet. We need meat to live" Soldier said proudly. “Solly’s kind of right. So anyway, miss, uh, Fluttershy, I promise I’ll make it up to you, really, I will, it’s…” “No, I shouldn’t be mad at someone trying to get a meal. Just promise me that if you do that again you’ll tell beforehand" “I promise, sheila. Now if you’ll excuse us..." The team turned with the now vocal Pyro and headed out the door. They looked through the vacant houses in near Sugar Cube Corner before settling on a relatively new house that was built after the events of the parasprite infestation. They spoke with the landlord briefly before purchasing the home. “How will you be paying for this house? Do you have any bits perchance?” The landlord asked. “Damn stupid pony money... No, but we do have metal and the money from back where we came from" Soldier fished out 2 scrap and 20 dollars, “You want any of these?” “Hmm… I’ll take the 20 of the paper things and 10 of those metal piles" “Alright let’s pitch in everyone" Tavish suggested. The salespony left after his price was meet and gave the team the keys. They quickly set up a supply locker and a respawn machine. There were only 8 bedrooms, so two mercs had to share. The team argued for hours before drawing straws. It was determined that Engie and Pyro would share a room. Dell quickly set up a series of dispensers and teleporters as a measure of habit. A sentry rigged alarms system was set up in case they had any ‘unwanted guests’. Soldier put up a sign that read ‘Base 2’ in reference to their old camp in the woods. As late afternoon approached they were greeted with a knock on the door. “Sister are you sure this is the place?” Luna asked. “I’m sure Lulu. Let’s see who these strange visitors are" Author's Note Sorry for the long wait between chapters. I've been busy with my family for the past few days. I'm working on more chapters but might still have delays due to some online classes. Thank you all for being patient. :) The Rise of the Pan“Um hello,? Is anypony in there. I just want to talk to you.” The solar princess asked Heavy opened his mouth to answer but was quickly silenced by Pyro. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to let these ponies in till we know we can trust them Heavy.” Dell told his Russian comrade. “Let’s find out who they are first. Y’all still waitin’ out there for us?” ‘Yes we are, if you could just let us in…” “I’m afraid we’ll have to know who you two are first, can’t have anybody walkin’ in here.” “Oh I’m Princess Celestia and I’m with my sister Princess Luna. We just want to meet you and make sure that you won’t hurt our little ponies.” “Well should we trust them?” Dell whispered to his teammates “Vell seeing as zey are the rulers of this land zat ve should meet with them.” Medic responded Medic opened the door and the two princesses entered. They were surprised at the size of the humans but sat down in the seats provided for them by Pyro. Soldier began to eye the princesses with disgust. Sniper smirked as he watched the two princesses try to awkwardly sit down. Heavy approached the princesses first, being more comfortable around the ponies than the rest of his team. “Can Heavy get pretty princesses anything?” He asked with a smile “Um I’d like some water if you have any. Luna would you like anything?” The lunar princess was admiring a large poster on the wall. It featured all 9 mercenaries dressed in red standing with a strange circle in the background. Celestia’s voice broke Luna out of her stare. “Yes, I’d like some wine if you have any.” “Ah, Heavy will be right back. Spy! Where is your wine?” “Um...are you sure ve should give zese poines wine Heavy?” “Da they are guests and we must make them happy.” “Vell I don’t want to give my wine to zem!” “Spy will give wine or else!”Heavy cracked his knuckles and stared menacingly at spy “Fine then but you find it yourself! “Ok then while heavy is getting our drinks could you introduce yourselves. A long silence filled the room as none of the mercenaries wanted to speak to the Princesses. After a long while Spy was bullied by Soldier into telling the Princesses their names. “ I am ze Spy this is Medic, Tavish Degroot or Demoman, Pyro, Sniper, Scout, Dell Cohnger or Engineer and Soldier who is a little crazy.” “I heard that you French bastard! Do you want a shovel shoved up your ass?” “No but you could slap it if you’d like.” “Wait what?” “You heard me. Slap my ass.” The entire team laughed at Spy’s antics except for Soldier who sat mumbling about crazy French people. “I don’t understand what just happened. Why did you want Soldier to… um “slap your ass?” Luna asked as Heavy returned with two glasses. He sat down and received a sour look from Spy. “It was a long running joke I made back when we were divided into BLU and RED. It kept everyone in good spirits and helped us deal with ze depression zat could happen.” “Ok then do you mind if we ask you some questions about that time.” “Ve vill tell you vhat ve vhat to.” Medic scowled at the thought of revealing the only thing that tied them to normality. “That’s ok Luna do you want to ask the first question?” “Sure, about how long ago did this fighting start?” “The start of the RED-BLU war was in 1850. Our part started 7 years ago when we were hired by both companies. Those idiots would’ve fought forever if Grey hadn’t stepped in; sometimes I wish we could’ve thanked him.” Dell sighed “How long do you plan on living here?” “Till we die, we came here to retire and that’s what we’ll damn well do. Got a problem with that?” Soldier threatened “No, not if you won’t hurt our little ponies. Who in town have you met so far?” “Well we Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and your special student Twilight.” Spy sneered as he finished the last one. “Oh, you haven’t been introduced to the town yet. When we’re done here I’ll arrange a meeting for you.” “Well that’s mighty kind of ya Princess, but we want as little to do with this town as possible.” Dell sat fiddling with a sentry head “Engie we really should meet this town. I think it would be a wonderful idea.” Pyro smiled as it tried to persuade its closest friend “We won’t visit this town Pyro, in fact if any one of these ponies comes up to our door i’ll throttle em’!” Soldier shouted picking up his shovel and standing to challenge Pyro “Well then i’ll just turn on some music than.” Pyro got up and walked over to its cd player “I’m afraid I don’t understand what's going on?” Celestia asked and then looked at her sister, who was now staring striat at Pyro. “Don’t worry is Pyro winning argument” Heavy smiled Pyro pressed the play button on the and light guitar stared to play over the speakers. Pyro whistled along to guitar as it picked up it flamethrower. Pyro turned to face Soldier as the lyrics to the song began “ Do you believe in magic in a young girl’s heart how the music can free her whenever it starts…” Soldier eyes grew wide as he remembered what the RED Pyro had done to him. He was terrified that Pyro might lose control again. “Fine you win we’ll meet the town” He grumbled lowering his shovel and sitting back down. “Last question, What jobs do you think you could do?” “Vell I vas a skilled doctor till I lost my medical license, trust me zat’s a fun story” Medic smile creeped the two princesses out “I could be a mailman, I’m kinda fast and not too messy.” Scout replied “I could be an engineer of some kind. I’m good with tools and mechanics.” “I can’t really think a anythin’ that I could do lasses. I work with explosives but that’s all.” “Heavy is professor of Russian literature and can read books well.” “Well uh I had a job but I really don’t want to talk about it. It brings back memories of the fire.” “I’ll find a job on my own! I don’t need your help!” Soldier left the room and headed upstairs to his room. “I’m great with animals and I’m good at tracking them for long distances.” “I’m an assassin. I doubt I’ll find a job here that suits my skills effectively.” “Ok then we’ll be leaving to arrange the meeting. A guards pony will come get you when its time.” The two princesses left the base discussing whether or not to trust the strange creatures. The mercenaries sat discussing their next plan of action. The suggestion of a full out assault was proposed by soldier but not accepted. Eventually the Team decided to head out in search of more food and possibly hats. They all drew straws and the Demo, Soldier, and Spy were chosen to go get supplies. “Ok let’s split up. Everyone pick a direction and follow it. If you find a food vender try to get some food. Use metal or dollars or negotiate. If you find hats offer a trade. Let’s move out!” Soldier yelled raising his shovel into the air and running off Soldier ran down an alleyway before coming into a small farmers market. Many vendors began to eye him as he looked around the market place. He approached the nearest vendor and pulled the list of food that they had deemed necessary for a week. “Got any of that cupcake?” The sales pony who just so happened to be named Velvet Cupcake looked at the list in shock. “You really need 1000 tomatoes?! Are you feeding an army?” He yelled “A former army but yes we do. So what's your price?” “Well 5 tomatoes is 1 bit so thats 250 bits.” “Damn it! Here take 2 scrap and we’ll call it even deal?” “Uh... i don’t know what these...” “Just shut up and take it!”Soldier yelled as he took the tomatoes “Ok... then come back any time” Soldier than ran off towards the school house. He stopped in a large market square and began to observe the different vendors when he heard a familiar voice. “There ya are! What makes ya’ think you can do that to our barn and get away with it?” Soldier turned around to see Applejack and Macintosh standing behind him. “I don’t care about your stupid barn! Now if you know who sells apples here tell me!” “We sell apples idiot! Why do you think that ma’ names Applejack!” Applejack’s face was as red as here big brothers coat. “Well then sell me some apples than! I need about 500.” Applejack went over to here cart in the market square and got 10 barrels full of apples of all colors. She rolled the barrels over to soldier who was busy buying some bread. The lead barrel hit soldier causing him to get knocked to his feet and fall over. He hit his head on the side of rim and fell unconscious. On the other side of town spy was having a terrible time “I already told you my name and where I came from, leave me alone you annoying tiny horses” Spy ran through the market being chased by the Cutie Mark Crusaders who asked so many questions Spy considered killing them. “We gotta find out more about you.” Sweetie Belle whined “I think not. Leave me alone or I’ll gut you like a Cornish game hen” “What’s a game hen?” Scootaloo asked They didn’t receive and answer because spy cloaked and ran through the town square back to their base. He had already stolen all that he could fit in his Mann Co. issue backpack and felt satisfied in robbing half the vendors in Ponyvile Nearby Tavish was outside Carousel Boutique. He looked up at the mannequins, surprised that the ponies had some form of clothes. He decided to knock and was greeted by Rarity. “Tavish, what a surprise come in and make yourself comfortable.” “Thank ya’ lass, I’m looking for some hats. Do you happen to have any?” “Why yes of course this is Carousel Boutique after all home of fashion!” a small glitter explosion went off as Rarity gestured to a row of mannequins wearing hats. “So what do you think?” “It’s an oasis o’ hats in this hatless town.” Many Hats adorned the head of mannequins scattered around the store. Some wore stove pipe hats with feathers in them. Others had sun hats that looked like someone vomited glitter on them. “Yes not many ponies seem interested in fashion. I hope to organize my own fashion show if your friends would be willing to help.” “I’m sure they would Rarity. Have you got any hats that are a wee less frilly?” “I have one, I call it the sparkling shako what do you think? Tavish...are you alright?” T he Mannequin before him had a blue velvet shako with several sapphires dotted around the brim. A line of black onyx made the straps that held the crest in place. The crest itself was a large red ruby cut into the shape sun. The shako awoke an odd feeling inside Tavish, something he thought he had sealed away into the recesses of his mind. Demoman stood staring and the jewel encrusted shako that lay before him. He tried to fight the transformation but could not. With his sanity waning he turned to Rarity and yelled “Get the hell... out of... here lass before... it’s too late.” “Before what's to late Tavish?... Answer me!” “Leave... now...lass...” Demoman let out a piercing scream as Rarity ran out the door and headed to get Twilight. Back in the Boutique the shako was lifted off its mannequin. Tavish stood upright before looking at the mannequin “Demopan?” Author's Note I had editor problems with this chapter. It's fixed and a should be able to get back into writing soon. Sorry for the big wait i'll try to be more consistent with my posting in the future. The Onslaught of the PanRarity ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She didn't know what was going on with Demoman but she was determined to find out. She burst open the library door just as Twilight was reading a book on strange creatures, looking for anything to help her with the humans. “Rarity! What’s wrong you look like you just saw a ghost.” Twilight asked with concern “It’s Tavish. I was showing him my hats when he started acting strange and then he fell to the floor and screamed.” Rarity responded frantically “Do you think he’ll be ok?” “I don’t know but we should talk to his friends about this. Maybe they know what’s going on with him.” “Lets make our way over there. Spike go get the others and tell them to meet us outside their base.” Soldier eyes fluttered open as her started to regain consciousness. He saw many ponies standing around him with concerned looks on their faces. “Do you think he’s ok” one asked “I think so, maybe we should get Nurse Kindheart.” a small colt said Said nurse came galloping over with Applejack close by. She carried a small black briefcase in her mouth and was dressed in white lab coat with her cross-shaped Cutie Mark visible. She opened the briefcase and took out a stethoscope and put it up to Soldier’s chest. “Now Applejack i’m sure he’ll understand that it was an accident. I don’t think he’ll be mad at you if you explain the situation to him.” Nurse Kindheart told a nervous Applejack Nurse Kindheart’s prediction turned out to be moderately true as Soldier started to get up. “Ugh, this is the second time this week i’ve been knocked unconscious. Last thing I remember was a barrel coming straight at me.” “I’m so sorry Soldier I shouldn't have rolled the apples at you. Can you forgive me?” Applejack asked “If you let me take the apples without payment then maybe I’ll forget your mistake” “But that a lot of apples for one little mistake can’t you just accept my apology?” “I could but this way i solve two problems and i get free apples.” He boasted rising to his feet and preparing to take the barrels. “Ok i guess ya can have the apples fer free, but next time ya’ gotta pay for em’!” “You should really let me examine you more closer Mr. uh.. Soldier. You might have a concussion or...” She was cut off by Soldier’s laughing “The only doctor I trust is a mad German. Got it sister?” “Uh yes” “Good! now out of my way!” The crowd of ponies parted to let him pass loaded down with the barrels. The crowd watched him disappear behind some buildings. Soldier reached their base without any further interruptions and deposited his barrels outside the front door. He entered the base to find that the team had taken a break from renovating their base to play video games. “Ah Soldier you came back. Vhy are you so late? Spy came back an hour ago.” Medic asked eyes fixed to a large T.V. screen “I had trouble with that apple pony whose barn we stayed in.” he replied sitting next to Medic and watching Heavy beat Scout in Super Smash Brothers. “Well at least you came back which is more than we can say for Demo. Do you think something happened to him?” Pyro asked “Knowing him if anything did happen we’d hear the explosions. Plus I think these ponies are a little stronger than you give them credit for Soldier.” Engie looked up from his laptop and looked at Soldier ready for a debate. To Engie’s surprise that debate never came. Soldier just mumbled something under his breath. Engineer continued to work on his laptop until there was a knock on the the door. Engie set down his laptop and opened the door. “Hi ya Twilight, Rarity! Did ya come over to see our new base?” “Not right now Dell something is wrong with Tavish.” Rarity was nervous interacting with the team partly because she was scared of Soldier. “Well he came to my shop asking for hats, when I showed him one of my best hats he froze and told me to leave. The last thing I heard was him screaming.” Rarity said nervously Engineer’s face hardened as the rest of the team came over to see what was happening. “What type of hat was it?” Engineer asked idly slapping his wrench in his palm “It was a Shako that I made for the band leader of the annual summer sun festival. It’s coming up in a few days.” “Damn it! I thought he said he was over that curse a long time ago.” Engie swung his wrench idly as the rest of the team considered what to do about their friend “You mean Tavish was cursed? Why did you tell us about that!” Twilight yelled “Because ve vere told my demo that he was no longer suffering from the effects of the curse. Zis could lead to a very bad zituation” Medic observed “I’ve dealt with curses before. I don't think Demo’s will be any different” Twilight retorted “No” Spy replied “Demo’s curse is the worst of the issues between us.” “From what i’ve seen you all look to be relatively normal psychologically speaking of course” “Then tiny ponies know little about us” Heavy growled “So what should we do about Demopan?” Dell asked “Vell here is my plan. We find Demopan and lead him into a trap, then Sniper shoots Demopan in the head and he respawns as normal.” Most of the Team gave nods of approval at the germans plan. “There is one problem though. How do we know the respawn machine will work?” Pyro's statement lowered the confidence in Medics plan “Ve vill just have to hope it does Pyro. Ve need to move quickly if ve are to find Demo before he causes any damage.” Twilight, you and your friends tell everyone to get inside. It vill be too dangerous for them to interact with Demo.” “Can i ask why we need to warn the town?” Rarity huffed. She was upset with how little the mercenaries were telling them “Have you ever had a steel pan come at your skull at 20 miles per hour?” “No i can’t say i have Soldier.” “Well its messy, one hit can cause irreversible damage to the skull. If it crits which it probably will it will crack open the skull and kill you” Rarity was speechless. She now realised just how violent the mercenaries jobs were “Excuse me what is a crit?”Twilight asked “Well a crit is… uh a crit is… Medic what's a crit?” “Ve have no explanation for a crit its just happens to be extremely powerful. I have studied the nature of crits and found very little information about why they happen.” Medic pondered at how to explain just what a crit was when soldier swung his shovel as a test. It crited against the german stunning him. “That was a crit! Now lets go take out Demopan.” He smiled as Medic was helped to his feet by Engie. “Why are you going after him? Shouldn't we get Celestia and the guards to handle this?” Twilight was now very concerned for the safety of her new friends if she could call them that “We don’t need civilians getting in the way. Just let us handle this!” Twilight could see the anger in Soldier’s face and backed down Demopan was lost. He had no idea where he was or how he got there. He did know that there were many potential customers around. He dashed over to the nearest pony and plopped a shako down in front of him. “Stout shako for 2 refined!” Demopan uttered his trademark deal. thinking this to be an easy deal he took out his pan and started to polish it. The pony on the other hand had no idea what trading was and started at the Shako, not sure if to touch it or ask the strange being for help “Are ye going ta’ trade me or not?” Demopan said as he looked up from cleaning his pan “Oh you want me to buy this hat? I’m sorry i didn't know.” She began fishing through her saddlebags for some bits. She pulled out 20 bits and put them on the ground next to the shako. “2 refined, not little metal coins.” Demopan was starting to get annoyed with the apparent stupidity of his buyer “What's a refined? Is that a new word for bits?” Demopan picked up his shako and moved on to find the next buyer. He was stopped on the way by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Whoa look at this guy, he’s got a cool hat.” Sweetie Belle stared at the shako in Demopan’s hand Sensing another trade Demopan got down to the Crusaders level and put the Shako on the ground. “Stout Shako for 2 refined!” He secretly hoped that these customers knew what he was asking for “Sweetie Belle do you know what a refined is?” Scootaloo asked “I’ve never heard of a refined before maybe its a test and if we pass we get our Cutie Marks!” Demopan was no longer amused by these ponies antics he took out his pan waving it above Appleblooms head “You either buy this Shako or or I bring this here pan down on your heads!” Soldier came charging through knocking the wind out of Demopan. Demopan slid backwards before falling to the ground. “You kids should get out of here! It’s not safe to…”He was cut off by a pan that came at his face. He fell down broken and unmoving Heavy rushed forward with his fists and put himself between DemoPan and the Crusaders, who were cowering in fear. He swung a right hook at Demo’s face but it missed. Demo brought down the pan on Heavy’s head producing an audible crack. Heavy became dazed but quickly snapped out of it. Moving with a speed that betrayed his size, he ran head first into Demopan. Demopan was thrown backwards into a wall, several bricks came loose and fell on his head. He shook them off and charged at Heavy taking a fatal swing at the russian’s exposed head. Spy and Scout were quickly dispatched with one swing of the steel pan. Enige was trying to get the rest of the ponies away he held his trusty pistol in his hand. As Demopan charged he sidestepped and fired five quick rounds at him Two of the shots connected causing the Demo to wince in pain. He shot forward like an arrow and kicked engineer to the ground. He brought the pan down once. The entire market was in chaos. Ponies were running to escape the madman that was let loose onto their streets. Medic hit Demo in the shoulder with a bolt from his crossbow. Demopan wrenched out the bolt and hurled a rock at Medics head. He crumpled to the ground. Pyro was came forward flamethrower in hand. “Please Demo, you don’t have to do this.” Demopan ignored it and charged at him head first. Pyro let out a burst of flame that lit Dempan on fire for a brief moment. Pyro then air blasted Demo back and waited for him to come again. This was repeated several time until Demopan threw his pan at Pyro like a frisbee. It connected dead center causing Pyro to fly backwards into a wall. The entire wall collapsed in on Pyro leaving only a hand sticking out of the rubble. Demopan retrieved his pan and slowly walked up to the cowering fillies. They looked at him fearfully with tears in their eyes. Demopan slowly raised his pan above their heads. “This is what you get for dishonoring my Shako!” The fillies closed their eyes ready for the impending doom. The fillies looked up when their doom had yet to arrive. Demopan looked surprised as though he had found something he should not have. He then fell forward a blood pooling beneath his head. From across the market Sniper stood still, looking at the carnage that Demo had created. He shook his head solemnly and went over to the crying fillies. “There there loves, It’s alright now nobody’s gonna hurt ya.” He slowly coaxed the three fillies closer towards him keeping his voice low and calm. “We..we thought he was going to hurt us.” Sweetie cried “Not while i’m around. It’s a shame he messed up Rarity's best Shako.” The Shako lay on the ground with a hole torn clean trough. Sniper picked up the Shako and put it into his backpack. He then picked up the fillies and put one on his neck and carried the other two in his hands. He walked past the awestruck ponies and over to the Rarity. “Demopan is taken care of now, won’t have to worry about him for a long time.” Sniper set down the fillies. Sweetie Belle jumped from Sniper’s neck and hugged Rarity “He saved us from that weird monster! He’s so cool and…” Sweetie Belle looked up at her sister who was smiling wide “Now Sniper, Did you happen to recover my shako from that ruffian?” Rarity asked “Uh… heh.. I kinda damaged it when i was taken him down.” He produced the shako from his backpack. “Well its nothing I can’t repair. What did you do to him anyway?” Sniper stood silent as Medic came up behind him “Zat was a nice shot Sniper. I thought for sure he was going to fall on ze fillies.” “Nah you kidin’ me. It was a clean shot, didn't carry enough energy to do that. “Oh vell, vhats done is done. Ve should get the rest of the ponies together and explain vhat happened.” Sniper and Medic rounded up the confused residents of Ponyville who were desperate for answers as to what happened and who these strange character were. Medic stood behind the podium of Mayor Mare and waited for the ponies to quiet down. “Now, zer is a perfectly logical explanation for what just happened here. One of our colleges vas cursed when he was little and and zat thing you saw vas what he turns into. Ze curse is now as the curse of the pan. It is a very old curse cast on him by ze vizard Meramus. Ze rest of his life he may turn into Demopan. I am researching a way to reverse the curse but i know very little about magic.” Medic straightened himself and waited for any of the ponies to ask questions. A pony in the back called out “Are you going to eat us?” “Nah. We wouldn't do that. Besides we just stocked up on food today.” “Are your friends going to be ok?” A green colored pegasus asked “Ya Engines got a weird machine that allows us to come back when we die. It’s called respawn. Don’t know how it works but it does.” “Um so you mean that those guys are…?” “Yes zey are dead. Ze bodies will disappear eventually and leave nothing behind.” “Excuse me but i think one of them might still be alive.” Nurse KindHeart called out. “Zat is very unlikely. The chances zat someone can survive a pan are very slim.” “Well how come i see one moving then?” Medic turned his head to see Pyro crawling out of the rubble, the fire proof suit around its body was torn and tattered. “Pyro! Are you all right mine freund!?” Pyro made no answer but instead fell unconscious next to medic. Medic saw that Pyros head had several bumps and divots on it “Ve must operate immediately if ve are to save Pyro!” Sniper picked up Pyro and they rushed off to back to the base together, ready to save their teammate. Author's Note So yea new chapter. I'm really sorry It took so long to make it but i had school and things. I'm going to try to write at least once per week and hopefully post more chapters. Thank you all for your patience and I hope you enjoy the chapter.
The end of an eraIt was a hot day as the sun hung high in the skies over New Mexico. The gravel that normally bustled with the sounds of explosions, gunfire and death seemed oddly quiet. It had been on year since Grey Mann killed his two brothers and sparked the Mann Co wars. Grey Mann’s gravel empire lay in ruins destroyed by the mercenaries that had once worked for his brothers. The gravel wars which had lasted since 1850 were now at an end. The only questioned left unanswered was, what to do with the 18 mercenaries who were veterans of a war against themselves. “Why’d they have to call us down here” exclaimed the RED soldier with a sigh “Heck should I know” snorted the RED engineer “maybe they’re givin us more hats” “That be real sweet dontcha think” butted in the RED scout “Vill you dummkopfs be quiet, zis might be important” said the RED medic As the nine members of the RED team made their way further down into the bunker that housed Mann Co.’s R&D little did they know that their former enemies were making the same trip down a different hallway. They stopped in front of a large wooden door with a sign that read SAXTON HALE’S OFFICE No hippes allowed The door opened to reveal Saxton Hale talking with Meramus the wizard. They turned to greet the RED. “Ah, so glad you could make it. Saxton and I were just talking about your retirement.” The wizard stated “Retirement!?” Soldier shouted “No way, I won’t retire till I’ve beaten those BLUs three ways to Monday” “Well I’m afraid that can’t be helped. I was just telling Saxton here how I would like to reverse the spells I cast on you 7 years ago” “Spells? What spells did you cast on us” Tavish asked “When you were contacted by BLU and RED Mann they both wanted the best fighters in the world. They contacted me to split your souls into two halves, that way they wouldn’t have to deal hiring different mercenaries” “So the BLUs are really…” “…the other halves of your souls.” Meramus finished “But do we have to retire? Why can’t we fight other tiny men?” Heavy asked “You will retire because I say so!” yelled Saxton “Now we’ve already talked to the BLUs and they want to stop fighting” “Those maggots, they pack in easy don’t they engie” Soldier asked his builder friend “Well Solly, I kinda want to just live a normal life again and not have to be sacred of spies and being killed all the time.” Dell explained “everytime I close ma eyes I see back to the battles that we’ve fought” “Oh, well do the rest of you want to chicken out too” They all nodded as soldier mouth hit the floor. “Look mate, we’re all sick and tired of being killed and being yelled at by the Announcer. We just want to live so form of normal life” The sniper said “Ok, ok but where would we go” soldier asked Several names flew around, Austria, Africa, Texas, even Siberia much to the team’s disapproval. Finally the Scout spoke up asking to go to Equestria. “Equestria? vat kind of silly place is that” the medic asked “Well its kinda hard to explain but I’ll try the best I can” scout responded He proceeded to tell his teammates all about the magical land of Equestria, the ponies that lived there, and each of his favorite characters spending the most time on a certain rainbow mare. “… and she’s super-fast all like woosh! And she leaves rainbow behind when she flies and.” “Sounds like someone got over his fear of ranibows” spy mocked “Yea, yea keep talking ya French bastard.” scout retorted. “There is no way I’m going to a frilly pony land” Soldier stated “I will go with scout” Heavy said “What do you see in that overly happy place?” soldier asked “I think Heavy will make good friends with little color ponies” the Russian said “Is anyone else with me here” Soldier asked “I am” Spy said “Well I think it’s a damned good idea and if you two are the only ones against it then you’re all going” Saxton commanded “What about the BLU’s? they might not want to go.” Said soldier hopefully “Well they are a part of you so they would have the same feelings towards this place” Meramus responded “Then its settled your backpacks will be packed with all of your things and you will leave tomorrow after you rejoin with the BLU’s” “Sweet, so when does this mumbo jumbo begin?” asked scout “Well it starts… right now!” As Meramus finished his sentence knockout gas filled the room and the team’s vision faded into darkness as they passed out. By the time the mercenaries woke up from the gas they were in a large steel room with a huge observation window. They were all wearing different colors of the clothes they normally wore except Pyro. Scout and Heavy had tan shirts with black pants, Sniper was wearing a molted brown shirt under his vest, Engineer had on a bright red shirt, Demo and Soldier were wearing dark blue shirts, Medic wore a white collared shirt under his lab coat and Spy suit was black with a dark blue tie. There were nine backpacks each labeled with its owners name and filled to the brim with hats, weapons and everything else given to the mecrs by their employers. A voice blared through the intercom “Engie, we gave you the plans to build a respawn machine and a supply locker when you get to this “Equestria”.” The announcer told them “the portal should be opening in five, four, three, two, one!” A bright blue hole in the room appeared revealing a cloudless and grass covered meadow. As the team picked up their packs and cautiously approached the swirling portal, the intercom crackled “As we go through the documents that RED and BLU left behind we will send you anything regarding your hiring or history. Now go!” she barked at them one last time The portal flickered as the veterans of the dustbowl war walked through. The portal then vanished leaving no trace of its existence.
Setting up home baseAs the Team stepped out onto the bright green meadow, they herd birds singing in the trees above. They sat down and started to unpack their belongings when Demo spoke up “Alright lads, what are we gonna do now that we’re in this bloody world?” “First things first, get some food.” Said Sniper as his teammates answered with a nod He then took out his Huntsmen and began to aim at the birds before leasing the arrow. It hit a falcon with thud as he fell out of the tree. The other birds took flight in fear of this new predator. Sniper began to pick up his kill when Scout whined “Ya can’t do that; Fluttershy might miss ‘im” “Flutter who?” asked Demo “Fluttershy the pony that takes care of the animals around ‘ere” he responded “Well I doubt she’ll miss one of her falcons” argued Spy “Yea but if she freaks out and tells the rest of Ponyville they might look for us” Scout responded “Damn so how are we gonna get enough food to feed us all?” Engie asked “Well we could always mooch some apples from the apple farm” Scout suggested “Alright then it’s a plan Spy and Scout go get some apples. Heavy, Demo and Pyro cut some wood, Sniper and I will build the house while Engie works on a respawn machine” Soldier commanded “Scout, if you would be so kind as to show me the way to zis “apple farm”.” Spy asked “Und what about me soldier?” asked the Medic “You will help engie set up his buildings. If you see anyone, don’t be afraid to scare them off. The less these ponies know about us the better.” Soldier added “Let’s go Spy” Scout said -------- Sweet Apple Acers------- “ Exactly how far are we from zis farm” Spy asked as he kicked a rock out of the path “‘Bout five maybe ten feet” Scout said as they approached the gate “So what do we do? You have ze best knowledge of zis awful place” “We hop da fence and get to the back orchard where we stuff as many apples as we can into our packs.” Scout directed They hopped the fence and stealthily ran to the back of the orchard just missing a large red stallion walking alongside a small yellow foal “Well Applebloom ‘buckin seasons over and we gotta get all the apples from the back orchard into the barn” Big Mac told her “Can’t we do it tomorrow I want to go see the girls at the clubhouse” she whined He responded with his trademark phrase “Nope” “Darn, well let’s go get the cart and get this over with” she huffed as he led her to the barn As Spy and Scout made their way to the back orchard they saw several baskets filled with apples of all colors. “Look they already put ze apples in baskets. Zis should be as easy as taking out an oblivious Heavy.” Spy remarked “Let’s just load up three baskets each and go before dey come back” Scout told the saboteur a hint of worry in his voice “Oh is someone afraid of the cute little ponies” Spy jested “No way I just don’t want them to see us that’s all” As they loaded up the baskets they heard a voice yell at them. “Hey you varmints don’t touch our apples!” They turned to see a large red stallion barreling towards them “May I make a suggestion?” Spy asked “What?” Scout answered “Run” He then cloaked and began running at full speed away from the farm laughing at Scout as he jumped over the fence and took off “aww crap” Scout tore up the ground running as fast as he could to escape the maddened stallion. He jumped into the nearest tree and began jumping through the tree tops. “Ya’ll can’t get away that easy” Mac shouted as he gained on the scout Scout then jumped from the trees barley missing the edge of the pointed fence and began running through the forest hoping the stallion would give chase in the thick underbrush. He ran for a few more minutes before realizing that the stallion had stopped chasing him. He breathed a sigh of relief and continued to run till he reached a break in the tree line. He came out into the meadow where a large wooden cabin now stood. He rushed inside and saw his teammates waiting for him. “So did you lose that big horse?” Soldier asked “Yea I lost ‘im. His name is Big Mac and he lives on that farm with three other ponies.” “That would have been useful if you told us beforehand!” “Solly there’s no need to get upset. We got the apples and that all that matters now” Sniper said “No its not fine cause we blew our cover! If that pony tells his pony friends they’ll come looking for us in a heartbeat!” “Well then looks like I get to meet friendly ponies now” Heavy said “When do you think they’ll get here?” Engineer asked “Maybe tomorrow it’s getting dark out and I doubt they hold a search party I ze dark” medic said “You’re right the best thing to do is wait until tomorrow, then we should act.” Demo added As the sun set in the sky the team decided that sniper should keep watch, just in case anything funny happened. “It’s been four bloody hours and nothing’s happened.” He grumbled He felt his eyelids get heavy as he drifted off to sleep. Author's Note New chapters not as good as I wanted it to be but it happens. Would you guys like to see longer chapter that will be put out every 5 to 6 days or would you like small chapter that i can make in a day or two?
The MeetingHeavy was the first one to wake up, his internal clock told him it was sandvich time. He walked over to the fridge and grabbed one of the many sandviches inside. He sat down and began loudly eating his meal, “Om nom nom, nom nom” as he finished his food and idea came into his head. Why not visit the little ponies down in Ponyville? He decided to take Pyro with because Pyro lost one of his favorite hats in the forest. “Pyro” Heavy whispered as he shook the arsonist “I go see little ponies, will you come?” “Mmhuh” it mumbled back as Heavy made his way to the door with Sasha safely in his pack They walked found a dirt path and walked down it till they reached a small woodland cottage. Heavy knocked on the door and then looked at Pyro, who was laughing. Heavy massive fist had punched a hole clean through the door. Inside Fluttershy awoke to the sound of wood splintering. She let out a small epp and decided to see what made the noise. She opened her door and was greeted with a pair of large creatures she had never seen before. She quickly backed away and yelled “Don’t hurt me please!” “We will not hurt tiny yellow pony. Heavy is sorry for scaring you” “Wait, you talk?!” she blurted out “Yes, I am Heavy weapons guy and this is Pyro” he said pointing to Pyro who was trying to light a blade of grass using a lighter “Mmh” he gave a thumbs up as Fluttershy slowly inched toward the two. “What is you name tiny pony?” “Flutt.. shy” “What?” “Fluttershy” she said after a few more moments “Good, now can Fluttershy take us to pony town?” “Oh, of course I can let’s go see Twilight first” “Da, that will work” he said as trio exited Fluttershy’s cottage and headed down the path toward Ponyville Sniper awoke to the feeling of metal being drawn across his back. He instantly reached for his kukri but stopped when he heard Soldier shout “Where did that oversized Russian and Walking tire go! We need to find them before they find the ponies” He turned to see Spy idly toying with his knife as the rest of the team searched frantically for the lost mercs. “Sniper, did you hear anything last night” asked Engie “Na, nothing but the sound of Heavy snoring.” He responded “Um fellas, we may have a bit of a problem.” Scout said nervously “What is it” asked the Medic “I found dis note hear” The team moved over to see scout holding a piece of paper that read Went to go see pony town with Pyro be back soon. Heavy Silence reigned for a few seconds before soldier shouted “WHAT THE HELL DO THINK THEY’RE DOING DISOYBYING MY ORDERS!!” “Solly, calm down we’ll find them before they do anything stupid” Sniper reassured him “No, this your fault” “My fault, what I do?” “You fell asleep on watch duty! Medic hand me a beer, NOW!” Medic ran to the fridge grabbing the first can in sight. Soldier popped it open and took a long swig. He then started to scream as clutched his head in pain. The rest of the team slowly backed away from their friend, already knowing what was about to happen. “I am PAINis CUPCAKE! I will eat you!” he uttered mechanically “aww piss” The team tried to contain the wild Panis Cupcake but he dashed out the front door clicking all the way “Ve must follow our friend before he hurts someone in ze town” Medic cried frantically “What ‘he drink anyway?” asked Engie “One of ma Bonk! Drinks.” Answered Scout The team hurried out the door after their strange colleague As Fluttershy accompanied her new friends into town many of the townsfolk began hiding from the two humans. “Gosh, everypony seems to be really busy today” she said as watching the streets empty as they walked through “Mmhmm Mmmh” pyro responded “What’d he say? “asked Fluttershy “Said small ponies are running away from us” Heavy answered “Well you are kinda scary, but I’m taking you to Twilight so we can learn more about you.” She said cheerfully Heavy stopped in his tracks, eyes fixed on the horizon “Whats wrong Heavy” “Little flutter pony should be careful when wanting stories, not all come cheap. Come let us talk no more till we reach Twilight." “Uh, we’re here already” Heavy turned around and saw the large tree that housed Ponyville’s public library. Fluttershy tapped the door lightly and was quickly pulled inside by a pink blur. “Fluttershy! Thank goodness you’re safe from those monsters!” Pinkie exclaimed Inside the library was the rest of the Mane six with Twilight searching for any book that could tell them what was outside her door. “Those aren’t monsters, they’re Heavy and Pyro. They stopped by my cottage wanting to come into Ponyville.” She explained “They kinda look like those varmits who stole ma apples.” Applejack observed “Yea maybe these guys are here to steal us!” Rainbow “Rainbow! Calm down if we let them in I’m sure they will explain” Rarity responded “Hello? Are little ponies not ready to see us?” Heavy asked through the door “Sure, but we got some questions for you as well” Twilight answered Heavy grasped the door with his hand and pulled open the door. As the two veterans walked in everyone but Fluttershy grew nervous. They sat on the floor ready to answer the barrage of questions from Fluttershy friends. “What are you?” Rainbow asked first “We are Humans, have hands that are good for grasping sandvich and things” “Did yall steal ma apples?” Applejack questioned “Not me was Scout and Spy, we needed more food.” The apple mare turned to buck Heavy in the face but felt a hoof on her shoulder “We’ll work that out latter AJ.” Rainbow reassured her “Right now we need to know if these guys are dangerous or not. Where are you two from?” “Heavy is from Russia and Pyro is from, from place team dosen't know. He answered “Could you describe how you got here?” asked Twilight who was scribbling all this on a scroll for the Princess Heavy told them about the rest of his team and how they had decided to retire in Equestria. He explained that they all used to work for BLU and RED but did not go further, afraid of scaring his new pony friends. “What kind of work did you guys do?” asked Fluttershy Heavy hesitated before talking to Pyro in a whisper, eventually the Russian let out a sigh and broke the news “Heavy was paid to kill other team. Teammates were once enemies and tried to kill Heavy. Heavy was told that war would last forever. Then Grey Mann killed bosses and we fought robots. Heavy had told you all Heavy knows about gravel wars.” The mares stood in shock, wondering if the two who stood before them were really paid to kill. “Are you lying to scare us!?” Rainbow shouted “No, Heavy does not lie. Heavy can show you Sasha.” He pulled the minigun from his backpack and placed it on the floor. Blood stained part of the dented chamber that held the gun’s massive ammo supply. “Where is the rest of your team?” Pinkie asked “Heavy and Pyro snuck out of base. Team is looking for us Soldier will be mad that ponies know about team.” “Heavy, I think that even though you have done terrible things to your teammates in the past, you are and kind and gentle.” Rarity looked up at the Russian who smiled and gave her a large bear hug. “Let us have Sandviches and Daloakes to celebrate new friends!” He opened gave each of the mares a vegetarian sandvich and a piece of a Daloakes bar. “I must say this is quite delectable Heavy. Did you make the sandwiches without help. “Da, Sandvich has saved Heavy many times” “Why didn’t you all come into town together? Twilight asked “Soldier wanted not to be found” he responded “Would you kindly show us your base? I would like to meet the rest of your team.” Rarity inquired “Later, could we meet rest of town?” “Mmphmph mph mph hudda.” Pyro remarked “If six ponies like Heavy, all ponies will like us.” “Girls, we’re being extremely rude by not telling these two our names” Rarity noticed “I’m Rarity, this is Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie” “We should throw you a party! With cake and games and funny hats!” said Pinkie “Hats!? What kind of hats” Heavy demanded “Party hats, frilly hats..” Pinkie Pie was interrupted by Spy materializing next to Heavy and Pyro “Spy, what is wrong?” “Soldier has become Painis Cupcake and is heading for zis town. We must move quickly to stop him!” “Da, Sasha is ready for strange baby man. Lead way to fight.” Author's Note This took longer than I expected but I'm happy with what came out. I'm going to be studying alot for my finals and things so I might delay the next chapter. Next chapter will probably come out next wensday.
Taking care of Panis“Let us move. Ve have cornered him in the woods near that farm” Spy urged his teammates onward “Da ve must stop Panis before he hurts little ponies.” “Wait ya’ll took ma apples!” Applejack shouted “Yes and I’m sure we will reimburse you, but later right now we must help our college.” He responded The mane six flowed close behind the three running humans. Ponies were gawking at the odd sight. “So what’s wrong with your friend?” asked Twilight “He has a condition where he becomes a … thing that talks about eating you.” “That sounds scary! Is he dangerous?” Fluttershy asked “Not really, ah here we are.” As they entered the forest they saw the rest of the team surrounding Panis who was growling menacingly. They had their weapons drawn and pointed at Panis. “So ya got our runaways eh Spy?” Sniper asked not looking up from his scope “Yes and I brought Heavy’s new friends.” “Ah vell later I vould like to examine one to see how zey talk.” Medic remarked “Bout time ya got here! We’ve been holding him here for ages!” Scout yelled “It has only been 15 minutes Scout” Medic responded “Lads, let’s just get Panis contained before he scared the ponies.” At that moment Panis yelled as this entire body glowed and unearthly red. He dashed through Tavish and stopped abruptly before the ponies. “I am Panis Cupcake. I will eat you!” The girls shrieked and ran all except for Pinkie, who looked at Panis quizzically. “You’re not a cupcake. Although you might taste like one.” She said “Pinkie don’t touch ‘im he’s crazy!” Scout warned Pinkie ignored his warning and slowly extended her tongue till it was near Panis’s face. She hesitated a before licking him on his check. “Bleh, you taste like sweat.” She told Panis Panis did not respond as he was busy rocketing 60 feet into the air before crashing down. “Vell, zats new.” “You mean he’s never done that before?” Twilight asked “In all my years of medical experience never have a zeen zomthing like this.” Medic responded “How in blazes did she get that bugger to stop?” Sniper asked Twilight “It’s Pinkie, don’t question her. I gave up months ago.” Twilight sighed “Vell I’m sure it’s nothing a little science can’t solve right Heavy?” “Da look soldier is waking up.” “Ugh, my head. Feels like I got scout rushed. What happened?” “Vell you became Panis cupcake und zis “Pinkie” turned you back by licking you” “Did we find those two Awol’s?” “Da ve are here” Heavy Answered “Good. Now that our existence has been compromised who want to meet these frilly ponies?” “Hey watch it bub, you still haven’t paid AJ back for the apples you stole.” Rainbow reminded him “I don’t owe that farmer anything, Scout and Spy do.” He pointed at the two mercs “Yall need to pay back what ya stole!” Applejack shouted “Ok, Ok just please don’t be mad.” Scout begged Scout gave the orange pony 20 dollars. He turned to spy and asked “You gonna pay her back?” “Why would I pay zat bumpkin a single cent? She was kind enough to leave her hard work out In ze open, like you engie.” The French saboteur snorted at his comparison Rainbow flew full force into spy’s head, determined to teach him a lesson. Spy uttered a small yell as he fell down lifeless. “Rainbow you hurt him!” Fluttershy scolded as Rainbow cut her speed “Um girls, I think she might have done more than that. He has no pulse.” Twilight observed by pressing her hoof against the “body” “What Omi gosh I’m so sorry please don’t hurt me…” Rainbow babbled as she looked up at Heavy The rest of the team looked at her with surprise befor sniper attempted to reassure her. “Shelia, it’s alright we know ya didn’t mean it. Spy’s fine, bloody wuss does that all the time.” But Rainbow wouldn’t listen. Tears started flowing sown her face as she glance back at spy’s fake body. Sniper scooped her up and let her cry on his shoulder. “Shhhhh, just let it out. I know it looks like hes dead but he’ll be back any minute.” “You mean hes not really…” “Yea, but he will be when I’m through with ‘im.” Spy materialized next to soldier snorting up a storm. “You should have heard yourself, you were pathetic.” He continued laughing but was interrupted by a sudden fist to his face that pushed him to the ground Heavy stood over him cracking his knuckles at a chance to punch a tiny baby man. Twilight stepped in just as Heavy was preparing another punch “Stop! Why don’t we talk out our problems over lunch at AJ’s?” “What!? Twi ma sister’s still afraid of ‘em. I don’t think it be a good idea to bring them over.” “Nonsense to little farm house we go!” Heavy yelled carrying his frying pan “Well you heard Heavy let’s go!” Soldier barked The Team rushed forward but were stopped by the gate leading to the farm house. Engineer quickly built a system of teleporters around the gate. “Engineer is credit to team!” Heavy yelled as he made his way up the dirt path carrying his pan. The rest of the team followed shortly afterwards all holding their pans. “We need ta get there before they do!” Applejack urged The man six ran after the mercs, desperate to catch up with them and warn Granny of their impending guests but it was too late. Granny was already in the kitchen cooking up a large batch of apples. “Well Applejack there ya are! How ‘bout telling me next time ya invite nine ..uh guests over.” “Granny I’m really sorry we just found met them and they ran off ‘fore a could tell you and…” Applejack could not continue as a Sandvich was thrust into her mouth. “Little pony should eat and be happy. Time will be later to introduce rest of team.” The Team ate a mixture of Sandviches , apple pie and cupcakes brought along by Pinkie “So what are the rest of your names?” Fluttershy asked “I’m Scout, this is Soldier, Medic, Sniper and Spy” “I’m Tavish Degroot but you can call me Demo or Tavish” the Scotsmen awnsered “I’m Dell Conager But ya’ll can call me Engie or Dell.” The Texan replied in between bites of pie “Well then it’s gettin’ pretty late. AJ why don’t’ these fine fellows stay here for the night?” Rarity asked “Alright then, come on guys you’re staying in the barn till we find a better place.” “What about Base?” Heavy asked “Oh, Panis Pretty much destroyed it when he went on his rampage.” Tavish answered “Very well, can Heavy have a goodnight hug?” “Uh… not right now Heavy. Get on off to bed ya’ll got an early start tomorrow.” AJ called out as the mercs left to go to their sleeping quarters When they had left Fluttershy asked Twilight “Will they be alright to live here in Ponyville?” “I don’t know Shy, but the princesses need to know about them. They should be to help them.” “I Just hope they don’t cause any more trouble.” Rainbow added Author's Note Yea so Panis will get a larger role in the future but for now I want to focus on Ponyville's reactions to the Team. Also chapters should be longer now that i'm done with school and have more time. Thanks for waiting so long :D P.S. After three weeks in development hopefully this chapter will have been worth the wait
Question timeCelestia was in her chamber preparing for her day when a letter arrived from her pupil. As she read the heading she called for Luna. “Sister, what is it? I was planning on going to bed" Luna whined. “Luna, Twilight just sent me a letter about some odd visitors" The sun goddess replied. “I’m sure it’s nothing she can’t handle with the elements of Harmony" “She specifically asked for us to come meet and warned that they might be dangerous" “Fine. Let’s go meet ‘odd visitors’. Who knows, it might just be exciting" The two sisters walked down the hall to the royal flight deck where a large chariot was waiting to take them to Ponyville. They thanked the guard ponies flying them and flew off into the early morning sun. ----Sweet Apple Acres---- Applejack walked with Big Macintosh by her side on the way to the barn. Big Mac nervously pawed the ground before asking, “You sure we should wake ‘em this early? Most folks ain’t used to being up at the crack of dawn" “It’ll be fine. Besides, that Spy fella still has to pay me back" Applejack knocked on the barn door. The door creaked open slightly to reveal Sniper, who still looked to be half asleep. “Aw piss, its barley 6 o’clock and we already have peop... er, ponies at our door. What’d ya want, shelia?” “Aw shucks, I just thought I’d check up on how ya’ll are doing. I didn’t mean ta wake you up" “It’s alright, come in and see what we’ve done with the place" The door opened wider to reveal several new machines against the walls. There were 3 sets of bunk beds, some of which were occupied. Several posters hung on the wall, including a picture of what looked like Engineer with a huge neck. Several members of the team were seated around a large table drinking brownish liquid and discussing the gender of their masked member. “What did ya’ll do to my crop barn?!” she shouted. “We made it into a real base and not some storage unit" Soldier answered as he cleaned his rocket launcher. ‘Well, change it back before I put the hurt on you" Big mac said. “Hahahaha! Do you think I’d be scared of some red farmer pony who’s unarmed?” “Ya should be! Ma brother is the strongest stallion in Ponyville and we don’t take too kindly to being pushed around" “Whatever, I bet that librarian wants us to answer some questions. Come on, team. And bring all the weapons you got" “Wait up. We’re not done here" Even before Big Mac finished the team had already packed up and headed out. They walked through Ponyville without being interrupted, mainly because everypony was too scared to make eye contact. They were led by Heavy, who, after much searching, finally found the Library. Soldier tried the door. “Damn, locked. Heavy, do you think you can bust the door down?” “Da, but Twilight will be upset" “Who’s that?” “Is little pony that lives in tree" “She lives in a tree? These ponies sure are strange. Anyway, I’m going to rush it on 3. 1... 2... 3!” The door swung open just as soldier charged. He crashed into a large bookcase and was buried in a mountain of books. “Can you wait next time before you barge into my house?” Twilight asked annoyed. “We’re in a hurry! After your questions we are going to find a house and maybe get some jobs around town" Scout answered. “Alright then. Come on in, make yourselves comfortable" The team came into the large living room and settled down onto three large couches facing a small chair which Twilight soon occupied. Spike came downstairs only to be shocked at the sight that greeted him. “Uh... Twilight, what are these weird ponies doing here?” “Well, they’re not ponies and I wanted to ask them some questions about how they got here. I think you should go help out Rarity" Spike needed no further urging as he floated on a cloud of hearts out the window and in the direction of Carousel Boutique. “Alright, let’s begin by telling me what you are" “Ve are humans, a bipedal species that dominated the land vere ve come from" “Ok then, Heavy briefly mentioned something about fighting each other. Could you elaborate Spy?” “Gladly, We were hired by two feuding brothers, Blutarch and Redmond Mann. We could not fight for them both so they decided to split our souls into two halves. We were divided into two teams and given objectives based on where we were fighting and what team we were on. Sometimes BLU had to push a bomb cart while RED had to stop them. Other times we had to capture each other’s secret information or intelligence. Life on that battlefield was horrific and I’m sure you couldn’t listen to our stories" “Really? I handled what Heavy told us quite well" “Alright then Soldier; care to tell us a dustbowl story?” “Hell yeah! One time on Badwater, I pushed out of the spawn room and killed that Scot who was placing sticky bombs. You should have seen it, his head flew 10 feet away from his body. Then I killed the spy behind me. His French blood was all over my best helmet!” Twilight began to look green and promptly excused herself. She tried to hold back the bile in her throat as she thought about what soldier had done. Could she really trust these humans if they killed each other so often that they got enjoyment out of it? She lost it and emptied the contents of her stomach onto her bathroom floor. She came back pale and distant to find the mercenaries retelling some of their favorite horror stories. “Can we please continue with the questions?” “Of course Sheila. Just tell us if we make you uncomfortable like that again, wouldn’t want ya to lose your lunch again" “Ok, how did you get here?” “We retired after we defeated the robots of Grey Mann, who killed our employers and launched an attack against Mann Co., which is where we got our weapons" Dell explained. “You retired? Why would you do that?” “We were offered the chance by the wizard who separated our souls. Many of us were tired of endless fighting so Scout recommended zis place because you have no wars" “Ok. What weapons did you use?” “Well I used me grenade and sticky bomb launchers that could blow ya to pieces. Solly used a rocket launcher that works the same way. Pyro lit us on fire with his flamethrower, Sniper shot bullets into our heads, Scout attacked us up close as did Heavy with his minigun, Engie put up sentry that were a pain to get rid of and Spy used a knife to stab us in the back. Medic healed us with some contraption he put together" Tavish finished his explanation and took a deep swig from his bottle of scrumpy. “Maybe later you can show us a demonstration, but for now I have more questions. What is Pyro?” “I vill answer that question to the best of my abilities. Pyro is a human that was severely burned as a child. It has been mentally scarred and sees things in a very comical way. Although I cannot reveal its gender due to doctor patient relations, I can say that when Pyro is ready to take off the suit you will be surprised at the years of reconstructive surgery I’ve done" Medic responded. “How did Scout know about us before you came here?” “I... uh... read a book about you guys" “Really? We’re famous where you’re from?” “Ya you could say that" “Ok last question. Would it be ok if I cast a spell so I could understand Pyro’s speech?” “Yes as long as Pyro is ok with it" Pyro gave a thumbs up and waited for Twilight to begin casting her spell. Twilight’s horn light up and a faint aura surrounded Pyro. The arsonist began to rise into the air as the aura became brighter and more colorful. A blinding flash obscured Pyro from view. When the flash ended Pyro was on the floor slowly getting up from the powerful magic that was just cast upon it. “Pyro are ya alright?” Scout asked with concern. “I… think so” Pyro’s new voice sounded somewhat like Morgan Freeman’s if he took helium. “Did ya’ll hear that? Looks like Twilight’s fancy magic worked!” Engineer exclaimed as the rest of the team stood stunned. “It wasn’t that fancy, just a simple spell princess Celestia taught me" She blushed slightly at his praise. “Vait a minute, you mean this world has royalty?” Medic pondered how this happy land could have an institution of royalty. “Yes, but they’re super nice and understanding of everypony’s problems" “Vell zats the first time I’ve heard zat said about royalty. Anyvay, ve should be going. Soldier is getting antsy" Fluttershy suddenly burst in through the window carrying the falcon that Sniper had killed early. It was limp and still had the arrow protruding from its breast. Fluttershy was in tears as she set the bird down much to Twilight’s shock. “Who could have done this to that poor falcon?” Fluttershy cried as she tried to breathe life back into the dead falcon, “When I find out who did this they’ll be sorry" Her eyes burned like coals as she looked out the broken window. “I told ya she would notice! Better fess up before she goes on rampage" Scout quipped at Sniper. “Alright then, just don’t blame me if we get run out of town. Uh, miss yellow pony, I might know who, uh, killed your bird there” Sniper piped up. “Who! Tell me or I’ll give you The Stare!” “I shot the bird with me Huntsman the first day we were here. I figured we needed some food and that falcon was just sittin’ there, so, uh, no hard feelin’s, right?” “Wait, can you guys it meat?” Twilight yelled. “Yes ma’am. Meat is one of the staples of the human diet. We need meat to live" Soldier said proudly. “Solly’s kind of right. So anyway, miss, uh, Fluttershy, I promise I’ll make it up to you, really, I will, it’s…” “No, I shouldn’t be mad at someone trying to get a meal. Just promise me that if you do that again you’ll tell beforehand" “I promise, sheila. Now if you’ll excuse us..." The team turned with the now vocal Pyro and headed out the door. They looked through the vacant houses in near Sugar Cube Corner before settling on a relatively new house that was built after the events of the parasprite infestation. They spoke with the landlord briefly before purchasing the home. “How will you be paying for this house? Do you have any bits perchance?” The landlord asked. “Damn stupid pony money... No, but we do have metal and the money from back where we came from" Soldier fished out 2 scrap and 20 dollars, “You want any of these?” “Hmm… I’ll take the 20 of the paper things and 10 of those metal piles" “Alright let’s pitch in everyone" Tavish suggested. The salespony left after his price was meet and gave the team the keys. They quickly set up a supply locker and a respawn machine. There were only 8 bedrooms, so two mercs had to share. The team argued for hours before drawing straws. It was determined that Engie and Pyro would share a room. Dell quickly set up a series of dispensers and teleporters as a measure of habit. A sentry rigged alarms system was set up in case they had any ‘unwanted guests’. Soldier put up a sign that read ‘Base 2’ in reference to their old camp in the woods. As late afternoon approached they were greeted with a knock on the door. “Sister are you sure this is the place?” Luna asked. “I’m sure Lulu. Let’s see who these strange visitors are" Author's Note Sorry for the long wait between chapters. I've been busy with my family for the past few days. I'm working on more chapters but might still have delays due to some online classes. Thank you all for being patient. :)
The Rise of the Pan“Um hello,? Is anypony in there. I just want to talk to you.” The solar princess asked Heavy opened his mouth to answer but was quickly silenced by Pyro. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to let these ponies in till we know we can trust them Heavy.” Dell told his Russian comrade. “Let’s find out who they are first. Y’all still waitin’ out there for us?” ‘Yes we are, if you could just let us in…” “I’m afraid we’ll have to know who you two are first, can’t have anybody walkin’ in here.” “Oh I’m Princess Celestia and I’m with my sister Princess Luna. We just want to meet you and make sure that you won’t hurt our little ponies.” “Well should we trust them?” Dell whispered to his teammates “Vell seeing as zey are the rulers of this land zat ve should meet with them.” Medic responded Medic opened the door and the two princesses entered. They were surprised at the size of the humans but sat down in the seats provided for them by Pyro. Soldier began to eye the princesses with disgust. Sniper smirked as he watched the two princesses try to awkwardly sit down. Heavy approached the princesses first, being more comfortable around the ponies than the rest of his team. “Can Heavy get pretty princesses anything?” He asked with a smile “Um I’d like some water if you have any. Luna would you like anything?” The lunar princess was admiring a large poster on the wall. It featured all 9 mercenaries dressed in red standing with a strange circle in the background. Celestia’s voice broke Luna out of her stare. “Yes, I’d like some wine if you have any.” “Ah, Heavy will be right back. Spy! Where is your wine?” “Um...are you sure ve should give zese poines wine Heavy?” “Da they are guests and we must make them happy.” “Vell I don’t want to give my wine to zem!” “Spy will give wine or else!”Heavy cracked his knuckles and stared menacingly at spy “Fine then but you find it yourself! “Ok then while heavy is getting our drinks could you introduce yourselves. A long silence filled the room as none of the mercenaries wanted to speak to the Princesses. After a long while Spy was bullied by Soldier into telling the Princesses their names. “ I am ze Spy this is Medic, Tavish Degroot or Demoman, Pyro, Sniper, Scout, Dell Cohnger or Engineer and Soldier who is a little crazy.” “I heard that you French bastard! Do you want a shovel shoved up your ass?” “No but you could slap it if you’d like.” “Wait what?” “You heard me. Slap my ass.” The entire team laughed at Spy’s antics except for Soldier who sat mumbling about crazy French people. “I don’t understand what just happened. Why did you want Soldier to… um “slap your ass?” Luna asked as Heavy returned with two glasses. He sat down and received a sour look from Spy. “It was a long running joke I made back when we were divided into BLU and RED. It kept everyone in good spirits and helped us deal with ze depression zat could happen.” “Ok then do you mind if we ask you some questions about that time.” “Ve vill tell you vhat ve vhat to.” Medic scowled at the thought of revealing the only thing that tied them to normality. “That’s ok Luna do you want to ask the first question?” “Sure, about how long ago did this fighting start?” “The start of the RED-BLU war was in 1850. Our part started 7 years ago when we were hired by both companies. Those idiots would’ve fought forever if Grey hadn’t stepped in; sometimes I wish we could’ve thanked him.” Dell sighed “How long do you plan on living here?” “Till we die, we came here to retire and that’s what we’ll damn well do. Got a problem with that?” Soldier threatened “No, not if you won’t hurt our little ponies. Who in town have you met so far?” “Well we Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and your special student Twilight.” Spy sneered as he finished the last one. “Oh, you haven’t been introduced to the town yet. When we’re done here I’ll arrange a meeting for you.” “Well that’s mighty kind of ya Princess, but we want as little to do with this town as possible.” Dell sat fiddling with a sentry head “Engie we really should meet this town. I think it would be a wonderful idea.” Pyro smiled as it tried to persuade its closest friend “We won’t visit this town Pyro, in fact if any one of these ponies comes up to our door i’ll throttle em’!” Soldier shouted picking up his shovel and standing to challenge Pyro “Well then i’ll just turn on some music than.” Pyro got up and walked over to its cd player “I’m afraid I don’t understand what's going on?” Celestia asked and then looked at her sister, who was now staring striat at Pyro. “Don’t worry is Pyro winning argument” Heavy smiled Pyro pressed the play button on the and light guitar stared to play over the speakers. Pyro whistled along to guitar as it picked up it flamethrower. Pyro turned to face Soldier as the lyrics to the song began “ Do you believe in magic in a young girl’s heart how the music can free her whenever it starts…” Soldier eyes grew wide as he remembered what the RED Pyro had done to him. He was terrified that Pyro might lose control again. “Fine you win we’ll meet the town” He grumbled lowering his shovel and sitting back down. “Last question, What jobs do you think you could do?” “Vell I vas a skilled doctor till I lost my medical license, trust me zat’s a fun story” Medic smile creeped the two princesses out “I could be a mailman, I’m kinda fast and not too messy.” Scout replied “I could be an engineer of some kind. I’m good with tools and mechanics.” “I can’t really think a anythin’ that I could do lasses. I work with explosives but that’s all.” “Heavy is professor of Russian literature and can read books well.” “Well uh I had a job but I really don’t want to talk about it. It brings back memories of the fire.” “I’ll find a job on my own! I don’t need your help!” Soldier left the room and headed upstairs to his room. “I’m great with animals and I’m good at tracking them for long distances.” “I’m an assassin. I doubt I’ll find a job here that suits my skills effectively.” “Ok then we’ll be leaving to arrange the meeting. A guards pony will come get you when its time.” The two princesses left the base discussing whether or not to trust the strange creatures. The mercenaries sat discussing their next plan of action. The suggestion of a full out assault was proposed by soldier but not accepted. Eventually the Team decided to head out in search of more food and possibly hats. They all drew straws and the Demo, Soldier, and Spy were chosen to go get supplies. “Ok let’s split up. Everyone pick a direction and follow it. If you find a food vender try to get some food. Use metal or dollars or negotiate. If you find hats offer a trade. Let’s move out!” Soldier yelled raising his shovel into the air and running off Soldier ran down an alleyway before coming into a small farmers market. Many vendors began to eye him as he looked around the market place. He approached the nearest vendor and pulled the list of food that they had deemed necessary for a week. “Got any of that cupcake?” The sales pony who just so happened to be named Velvet Cupcake looked at the list in shock. “You really need 1000 tomatoes?! Are you feeding an army?” He yelled “A former army but yes we do. So what's your price?” “Well 5 tomatoes is 1 bit so thats 250 bits.” “Damn it! Here take 2 scrap and we’ll call it even deal?” “Uh... i don’t know what these...” “Just shut up and take it!”Soldier yelled as he took the tomatoes “Ok... then come back any time” Soldier than ran off towards the school house. He stopped in a large market square and began to observe the different vendors when he heard a familiar voice. “There ya are! What makes ya’ think you can do that to our barn and get away with it?” Soldier turned around to see Applejack and Macintosh standing behind him. “I don’t care about your stupid barn! Now if you know who sells apples here tell me!” “We sell apples idiot! Why do you think that ma’ names Applejack!” Applejack’s face was as red as here big brothers coat. “Well then sell me some apples than! I need about 500.” Applejack went over to here cart in the market square and got 10 barrels full of apples of all colors. She rolled the barrels over to soldier who was busy buying some bread. The lead barrel hit soldier causing him to get knocked to his feet and fall over. He hit his head on the side of rim and fell unconscious. On the other side of town spy was having a terrible time “I already told you my name and where I came from, leave me alone you annoying tiny horses” Spy ran through the market being chased by the Cutie Mark Crusaders who asked so many questions Spy considered killing them. “We gotta find out more about you.” Sweetie Belle whined “I think not. Leave me alone or I’ll gut you like a Cornish game hen” “What’s a game hen?” Scootaloo asked They didn’t receive and answer because spy cloaked and ran through the town square back to their base. He had already stolen all that he could fit in his Mann Co. issue backpack and felt satisfied in robbing half the vendors in Ponyvile Nearby Tavish was outside Carousel Boutique. He looked up at the mannequins, surprised that the ponies had some form of clothes. He decided to knock and was greeted by Rarity. “Tavish, what a surprise come in and make yourself comfortable.” “Thank ya’ lass, I’m looking for some hats. Do you happen to have any?” “Why yes of course this is Carousel Boutique after all home of fashion!” a small glitter explosion went off as Rarity gestured to a row of mannequins wearing hats. “So what do you think?” “It’s an oasis o’ hats in this hatless town.” Many Hats adorned the head of mannequins scattered around the store. Some wore stove pipe hats with feathers in them. Others had sun hats that looked like someone vomited glitter on them. “Yes not many ponies seem interested in fashion. I hope to organize my own fashion show if your friends would be willing to help.” “I’m sure they would Rarity. Have you got any hats that are a wee less frilly?” “I have one, I call it the sparkling shako what do you think? Tavish...are you alright?” T he Mannequin before him had a blue velvet shako with several sapphires dotted around the brim. A line of black onyx made the straps that held the crest in place. The crest itself was a large red ruby cut into the shape sun. The shako awoke an odd feeling inside Tavish, something he thought he had sealed away into the recesses of his mind. Demoman stood staring and the jewel encrusted shako that lay before him. He tried to fight the transformation but could not. With his sanity waning he turned to Rarity and yelled “Get the hell... out of... here lass before... it’s too late.” “Before what's to late Tavish?... Answer me!” “Leave... now...lass...” Demoman let out a piercing scream as Rarity ran out the door and headed to get Twilight. Back in the Boutique the shako was lifted off its mannequin. Tavish stood upright before looking at the mannequin “Demopan?” Author's Note I had editor problems with this chapter. It's fixed and a should be able to get back into writing soon. Sorry for the big wait i'll try to be more consistent with my posting in the future.
The Onslaught of the PanRarity ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She didn't know what was going on with Demoman but she was determined to find out. She burst open the library door just as Twilight was reading a book on strange creatures, looking for anything to help her with the humans. “Rarity! What’s wrong you look like you just saw a ghost.” Twilight asked with concern “It’s Tavish. I was showing him my hats when he started acting strange and then he fell to the floor and screamed.” Rarity responded frantically “Do you think he’ll be ok?” “I don’t know but we should talk to his friends about this. Maybe they know what’s going on with him.” “Lets make our way over there. Spike go get the others and tell them to meet us outside their base.” Soldier eyes fluttered open as her started to regain consciousness. He saw many ponies standing around him with concerned looks on their faces. “Do you think he’s ok” one asked “I think so, maybe we should get Nurse Kindheart.” a small colt said Said nurse came galloping over with Applejack close by. She carried a small black briefcase in her mouth and was dressed in white lab coat with her cross-shaped Cutie Mark visible. She opened the briefcase and took out a stethoscope and put it up to Soldier’s chest. “Now Applejack i’m sure he’ll understand that it was an accident. I don’t think he’ll be mad at you if you explain the situation to him.” Nurse Kindheart told a nervous Applejack Nurse Kindheart’s prediction turned out to be moderately true as Soldier started to get up. “Ugh, this is the second time this week i’ve been knocked unconscious. Last thing I remember was a barrel coming straight at me.” “I’m so sorry Soldier I shouldn't have rolled the apples at you. Can you forgive me?” Applejack asked “If you let me take the apples without payment then maybe I’ll forget your mistake” “But that a lot of apples for one little mistake can’t you just accept my apology?” “I could but this way i solve two problems and i get free apples.” He boasted rising to his feet and preparing to take the barrels. “Ok i guess ya can have the apples fer free, but next time ya’ gotta pay for em’!” “You should really let me examine you more closer Mr. uh.. Soldier. You might have a concussion or...” She was cut off by Soldier’s laughing “The only doctor I trust is a mad German. Got it sister?” “Uh yes” “Good! now out of my way!” The crowd of ponies parted to let him pass loaded down with the barrels. The crowd watched him disappear behind some buildings. Soldier reached their base without any further interruptions and deposited his barrels outside the front door. He entered the base to find that the team had taken a break from renovating their base to play video games. “Ah Soldier you came back. Vhy are you so late? Spy came back an hour ago.” Medic asked eyes fixed to a large T.V. screen “I had trouble with that apple pony whose barn we stayed in.” he replied sitting next to Medic and watching Heavy beat Scout in Super Smash Brothers. “Well at least you came back which is more than we can say for Demo. Do you think something happened to him?” Pyro asked “Knowing him if anything did happen we’d hear the explosions. Plus I think these ponies are a little stronger than you give them credit for Soldier.” Engie looked up from his laptop and looked at Soldier ready for a debate. To Engie’s surprise that debate never came. Soldier just mumbled something under his breath. Engineer continued to work on his laptop until there was a knock on the the door. Engie set down his laptop and opened the door. “Hi ya Twilight, Rarity! Did ya come over to see our new base?” “Not right now Dell something is wrong with Tavish.” Rarity was nervous interacting with the team partly because she was scared of Soldier. “Well he came to my shop asking for hats, when I showed him one of my best hats he froze and told me to leave. The last thing I heard was him screaming.” Rarity said nervously Engineer’s face hardened as the rest of the team came over to see what was happening. “What type of hat was it?” Engineer asked idly slapping his wrench in his palm “It was a Shako that I made for the band leader of the annual summer sun festival. It’s coming up in a few days.” “Damn it! I thought he said he was over that curse a long time ago.” Engie swung his wrench idly as the rest of the team considered what to do about their friend “You mean Tavish was cursed? Why did you tell us about that!” Twilight yelled “Because ve vere told my demo that he was no longer suffering from the effects of the curse. Zis could lead to a very bad zituation” Medic observed “I’ve dealt with curses before. I don't think Demo’s will be any different” Twilight retorted “No” Spy replied “Demo’s curse is the worst of the issues between us.” “From what i’ve seen you all look to be relatively normal psychologically speaking of course” “Then tiny ponies know little about us” Heavy growled “So what should we do about Demopan?” Dell asked “Vell here is my plan. We find Demopan and lead him into a trap, then Sniper shoots Demopan in the head and he respawns as normal.” Most of the Team gave nods of approval at the germans plan. “There is one problem though. How do we know the respawn machine will work?” Pyro's statement lowered the confidence in Medics plan “Ve vill just have to hope it does Pyro. Ve need to move quickly if ve are to find Demo before he causes any damage.” Twilight, you and your friends tell everyone to get inside. It vill be too dangerous for them to interact with Demo.” “Can i ask why we need to warn the town?” Rarity huffed. She was upset with how little the mercenaries were telling them “Have you ever had a steel pan come at your skull at 20 miles per hour?” “No i can’t say i have Soldier.” “Well its messy, one hit can cause irreversible damage to the skull. If it crits which it probably will it will crack open the skull and kill you” Rarity was speechless. She now realised just how violent the mercenaries jobs were “Excuse me what is a crit?”Twilight asked “Well a crit is… uh a crit is… Medic what's a crit?” “Ve have no explanation for a crit its just happens to be extremely powerful. I have studied the nature of crits and found very little information about why they happen.” Medic pondered at how to explain just what a crit was when soldier swung his shovel as a test. It crited against the german stunning him. “That was a crit! Now lets go take out Demopan.” He smiled as Medic was helped to his feet by Engie. “Why are you going after him? Shouldn't we get Celestia and the guards to handle this?” Twilight was now very concerned for the safety of her new friends if she could call them that “We don’t need civilians getting in the way. Just let us handle this!” Twilight could see the anger in Soldier’s face and backed down Demopan was lost. He had no idea where he was or how he got there. He did know that there were many potential customers around. He dashed over to the nearest pony and plopped a shako down in front of him. “Stout shako for 2 refined!” Demopan uttered his trademark deal. thinking this to be an easy deal he took out his pan and started to polish it. The pony on the other hand had no idea what trading was and started at the Shako, not sure if to touch it or ask the strange being for help “Are ye going ta’ trade me or not?” Demopan said as he looked up from cleaning his pan “Oh you want me to buy this hat? I’m sorry i didn't know.” She began fishing through her saddlebags for some bits. She pulled out 20 bits and put them on the ground next to the shako. “2 refined, not little metal coins.” Demopan was starting to get annoyed with the apparent stupidity of his buyer “What's a refined? Is that a new word for bits?” Demopan picked up his shako and moved on to find the next buyer. He was stopped on the way by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Whoa look at this guy, he’s got a cool hat.” Sweetie Belle stared at the shako in Demopan’s hand Sensing another trade Demopan got down to the Crusaders level and put the Shako on the ground. “Stout Shako for 2 refined!” He secretly hoped that these customers knew what he was asking for “Sweetie Belle do you know what a refined is?” Scootaloo asked “I’ve never heard of a refined before maybe its a test and if we pass we get our Cutie Marks!” Demopan was no longer amused by these ponies antics he took out his pan waving it above Appleblooms head “You either buy this Shako or or I bring this here pan down on your heads!” Soldier came charging through knocking the wind out of Demopan. Demopan slid backwards before falling to the ground. “You kids should get out of here! It’s not safe to…”He was cut off by a pan that came at his face. He fell down broken and unmoving Heavy rushed forward with his fists and put himself between DemoPan and the Crusaders, who were cowering in fear. He swung a right hook at Demo’s face but it missed. Demo brought down the pan on Heavy’s head producing an audible crack. Heavy became dazed but quickly snapped out of it. Moving with a speed that betrayed his size, he ran head first into Demopan. Demopan was thrown backwards into a wall, several bricks came loose and fell on his head. He shook them off and charged at Heavy taking a fatal swing at the russian’s exposed head. Spy and Scout were quickly dispatched with one swing of the steel pan. Enige was trying to get the rest of the ponies away he held his trusty pistol in his hand. As Demopan charged he sidestepped and fired five quick rounds at him Two of the shots connected causing the Demo to wince in pain. He shot forward like an arrow and kicked engineer to the ground. He brought the pan down once. The entire market was in chaos. Ponies were running to escape the madman that was let loose onto their streets. Medic hit Demo in the shoulder with a bolt from his crossbow. Demopan wrenched out the bolt and hurled a rock at Medics head. He crumpled to the ground. Pyro was came forward flamethrower in hand. “Please Demo, you don’t have to do this.” Demopan ignored it and charged at him head first. Pyro let out a burst of flame that lit Dempan on fire for a brief moment. Pyro then air blasted Demo back and waited for him to come again. This was repeated several time until Demopan threw his pan at Pyro like a frisbee. It connected dead center causing Pyro to fly backwards into a wall. The entire wall collapsed in on Pyro leaving only a hand sticking out of the rubble. Demopan retrieved his pan and slowly walked up to the cowering fillies. They looked at him fearfully with tears in their eyes. Demopan slowly raised his pan above their heads. “This is what you get for dishonoring my Shako!” The fillies closed their eyes ready for the impending doom. The fillies looked up when their doom had yet to arrive. Demopan looked surprised as though he had found something he should not have. He then fell forward a blood pooling beneath his head. From across the market Sniper stood still, looking at the carnage that Demo had created. He shook his head solemnly and went over to the crying fillies. “There there loves, It’s alright now nobody’s gonna hurt ya.” He slowly coaxed the three fillies closer towards him keeping his voice low and calm. “We..we thought he was going to hurt us.” Sweetie cried “Not while i’m around. It’s a shame he messed up Rarity's best Shako.” The Shako lay on the ground with a hole torn clean trough. Sniper picked up the Shako and put it into his backpack. He then picked up the fillies and put one on his neck and carried the other two in his hands. He walked past the awestruck ponies and over to the Rarity. “Demopan is taken care of now, won’t have to worry about him for a long time.” Sniper set down the fillies. Sweetie Belle jumped from Sniper’s neck and hugged Rarity “He saved us from that weird monster! He’s so cool and…” Sweetie Belle looked up at her sister who was smiling wide “Now Sniper, Did you happen to recover my shako from that ruffian?” Rarity asked “Uh… heh.. I kinda damaged it when i was taken him down.” He produced the shako from his backpack. “Well its nothing I can’t repair. What did you do to him anyway?” Sniper stood silent as Medic came up behind him “Zat was a nice shot Sniper. I thought for sure he was going to fall on ze fillies.” “Nah you kidin’ me. It was a clean shot, didn't carry enough energy to do that. “Oh vell, vhats done is done. Ve should get the rest of the ponies together and explain vhat happened.” Sniper and Medic rounded up the confused residents of Ponyville who were desperate for answers as to what happened and who these strange character were. Medic stood behind the podium of Mayor Mare and waited for the ponies to quiet down. “Now, zer is a perfectly logical explanation for what just happened here. One of our colleges vas cursed when he was little and and zat thing you saw vas what he turns into. Ze curse is now as the curse of the pan. It is a very old curse cast on him by ze vizard Meramus. Ze rest of his life he may turn into Demopan. I am researching a way to reverse the curse but i know very little about magic.” Medic straightened himself and waited for any of the ponies to ask questions. A pony in the back called out “Are you going to eat us?” “Nah. We wouldn't do that. Besides we just stocked up on food today.” “Are your friends going to be ok?” A green colored pegasus asked “Ya Engines got a weird machine that allows us to come back when we die. It’s called respawn. Don’t know how it works but it does.” “Um so you mean that those guys are…?” “Yes zey are dead. Ze bodies will disappear eventually and leave nothing behind.” “Excuse me but i think one of them might still be alive.” Nurse KindHeart called out. “Zat is very unlikely. The chances zat someone can survive a pan are very slim.” “Well how come i see one moving then?” Medic turned his head to see Pyro crawling out of the rubble, the fire proof suit around its body was torn and tattered. “Pyro! Are you all right mine freund!?” Pyro made no answer but instead fell unconscious next to medic. Medic saw that Pyros head had several bumps and divots on it “Ve must operate immediately if ve are to save Pyro!” Sniper picked up Pyro and they rushed off to back to the base together, ready to save their teammate. Author's Note So yea new chapter. I'm really sorry It took so long to make it but i had school and things. I'm going to try to write at least once per week and hopefully post more chapters. Thank you all for your patience and I hope you enjoy the chapter.
