//------------------------------// // The Mercenary // Story: A New Rule // by Sylpheed Dashstep //------------------------------// The sounds of swords clanging and shouts of my team filled the air as I ran through the main square of Canterlot Castle, making surprising speed towards my two targets through the crowd and the guards. I slipped under the hooves of a mare, not giving her features a second glance as I rolled and sprang up into a defensive position, having taken note of two royal guards who had drawn their swords and began to run for me. A small smile graced my lips and my brown eyes landed on one of them, my legs taking an initiative of their own and leaping up, firmly landing a punch on his snout and making a crunching sound emit from under it that couldn't have been good. I turned and crouched again, facing the other guard only to find him on the ground with a bat laying beside him. I decided to thank my team later and quickly ran for the chariot that was moving slowly through the crowd and smirked, silently thanking the Emperor for the extra information. The festival had been the perfect cover to ambush the Princesses, the crowd only making it easier to get to them. I pulled out the pistol from its holster with my magic and leapt at the carriage, throwing open the curtain and spraying a clip of ammo into it, the smirk slipping off my mouth as I took notice of the two dummies sitting in the seats. Dummies. It took my mind to register the fact that I had just fired at a fake Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, another question rising to the forefront of my mind after the realization had taken hold. Where were the Princesses? I turned to shout a warning to my squad and found my vision go as black as my fur, as well as experienced a pain that exploded in the front of my skull, dropping me off into the land of the unconscious. When I opened my eyes I first took notice of the stabbing pain in the center of my forehead, as well as the splint on my nose. The next thing I took notice of was my surroundings, a rectangular room that had gray walls and contained only the bed I was resting on and a table in the center of it. The walls were spread out far enough that even with the table in the center there were about five feet in between the walls and the edges of the table. I took a look at myself and caught sight of some blood in my black fur, the red mess having dried on my fur a while ago, making it hard to get it off. I was still scraping at it with my hooves, my horn had been cuffed with a magic prevention link, when a mare walked in. The same mare I had slid under in the court to be exact. Her mane was a mixture of teal and dark blue, her fur was a light shade of green, and her eyes were a dark emerald. I don't know why but I felt my heart skip a beat at the sight if her. I ignored the feeling and focused as she sat down, trying to get a clear view of her cutie mark but missing it entirely as she sat behind the table. "Hello there 'Omega'," she said, indicating for me to sit in the other chair. I took the seat cautiously and said, "You know my name. How?" "Codename is more like," the mare retorted. "I heard one of your friends yell out for you when I took you down." I took a closer look at the mare at that comment, taking note of the way her body seemed in more shape than unicorns would be, as well as how her eyes looked at me the same way I was looking at her, carefully and calculating. "Are they okay," I asked at last, breaking the silence. She seemed surprised at my question and said, "You're not going to plead that you're not guilty? Or pretend that you had nothing to do with them?" "Am I supposed to," I questioned her. "And you didn't answer my question." "Yes, your friends are okay. Usually this is about the time when most ponies begin pleading that they didn't do it and shove the blame off on somepony else," she said, leaning back in her chair and giving me a look that made me feel as if she was studying my thoughts. "As long as my friends are okay, I don't care what the charges are," I said, visibly relaxing in my seat. "Even if they're attempted murder of the Princesses?" "Oh, you've got that one right on the nail." "So you admit to trying to kill the Princesses?" "Only if you let my friends go." "WHAT?!" "You heard me. You'll only get a confession if you let the rest of my squad go." "That's insane!" "No, it's called loyalty. They were only following MY orders. If you want to blame anyone, place the verdict on me. But let my squad go." She seemed to contemplate it before shaking her head and getting up to go. "Wait," are you going to let them go?" She didn't answer me and headed over to the door, opening it and heading out. I gave a sigh and rested my head on the table, knowing that me and my squad were due to hang soon. Such was the price of trying to kill a princess. Attempting to kill both of them had probably only worsened the punishment. I could only imagine the ways that you could make a hanging worse, cringing each time I came up with a new punishment. The doors opened again an undiscernanble amount of time later and the mare walked in. "They're free," was the first thing she said. "Are you serious," I asked. I honestly hadn't expected them to accept my terms and I still wasn't entirely sure that they were telling the truth. "Swear to me. Pinkie Pie Swear." Nobody could break a Pinkie Pie Swear, otherwise that pretty pink mare would no doubt hunt you down and make you pay for tarnishing the name of her swear. "I Pinkie Pie Swear that your friends are free. Now, it's time for you to hold up your end of the deal. And we want a full explanation for why exactly you did this...if you wouldn't mind at least," she said, growing a bit quiet. "Gladly," I replied, "but first, I have to tell you how exactly I came to this world. You see, I'm not actually a pony. I'm actually a creature called a human that comes from another universe that's more technologically advanced than here." She gave me a blank look and asked, "Do you really think that filing for clinically insane will make you any less able to go to the hanging barracks?" "Not really," I replied, "but who says I'm filing for clinically insane?" "Alright then, continue, tell me how the creature called a human came to Equestria and became an equine." "Gladly."