//------------------------------//
// Completing the Mission.  
// Story: Caliber's Party 
// by colt alchemist 
//------------------------------//

	Jade and Atlas were wandering through their corridor. It seemed like another endless hallway for them. Unable to see the end and not knowing what to do once they reach it. They were sharing a nice conversation with each other as they were walking. 

“So after I beat his flank, he says to me, ‘you’re pretty fast, for a mare with fake wings.’ I couldn’t even tell if he was complimenting me or not,” Atlas ranted. 

“And you still went out with him?” asked Jade. 

“Well yeah! I mean, it’s not every day you get to meet a cool stallion who’s not your typical, cocky, masculine, Wonderbolt stereotype. And let me tell you, he was fast in ALL the right ways.” A sly smile formed on her face.  

“I REALLY should stop having these conversations with you,” replied Jade, deadpanned. 

“What? Don’t be jealous.” 

“As if. ‘I am a strong, independent mare who don’t need no stallion in my life,’” she replied, sarcastically. 

“Wow!” laughed Atlas. “Just, wow.” 

“So then what happened?” 

“Well, like most stallions I’ve dated, he changed over time. He started acting like a jerk and thought that I was his property.” 

“I doubt they were ALL like that.” 

“I know, but I’m exaggerating here.”

“Did you deal with him like you did with all of your other leftovers?” 

“Buck yeah. I don’t mess around.” 

Jade knew what this meant. She knew Atlas for a while and knew how she dealt with her ex’s. She was just glad that she wasn’t on Atlas’ “left for dead” list. 

“You knocked him out?” Jade started. 

“Yep,” Atlas confirmed. 

“Dragged him to a deserted area with no ponies around?” 

“Yep.” 

“And you,” she paused in thought. “Chained him to a tree?” 

“Nope. Left him in a hot-air balloon basket.” 

“Oh?” 

“In the air.” 

“Oh.” 

“That was floating towards the dragon kingdom.” 

“Oh!” 

“While covered with gems.” 

“Oh…”

“Yeah,” she chuckled. 

“You’re dark, Atlas.” 

“Pff! I don’t care.” 

Suddenly, something hit their ears. 

“Hold on!” Jade halted. “Do you hear that?” 

Both of their ears perked up, the faint sound of a stallion screaming soon echoed in their heads. It was followed by hoofs running through the halls. It sounded like two or three ponies running at once. 

“Oh. That doesn’t sound good,” spoke Jade. 

“It sounds like somepony from our team has been found out,” added Atlas. 

“That’s doesn’t sound good at all.”  

“What should we do?” 

“Well I think we should continue on our personal tour of the mansion and disregarded all interruptions- what do you think we should do?!” 

Atlas stared blankly at her. Another faint scream was heard through the halls. 

“Let’s go see who needs us!” she ordered and ran through the hall. Atlas followed suit. 

Meanwhile, the guard pony was chasing Shield through the halls. Shield ran as fast as his legs could take him. He was not about to let some typical guard be his downfall. He tried to come up with a plan as he ran, but was too busy avoiding his would-be capturer to think. 

What do I do? What do I do? 

Shield ran into a nearby hallway and spotted a door. He ran up to said door and opened it up with his magic. As soon as the door was open, he jolted inside. The guard spotted the open door and ran after him, closing the door behind him. At the same time, Jade and Atlas had entered the hallway. The searched all around but couldn’t spot the source of the scream. 

“Now what?” asked Atlas. 

“I’ll search the other hall, you continue on THAT way!” she ordered, pointing to a corner at the end of the hall.

“Got it!” 

With that, the two mares split up. Jade entered through the door Shield and the guard ran through while Atlas flew and turned around at the corner. Her wings carried her as if her life depended on it. She stopped in her tracks and noticed Bulk Buster and his guests coming out of another room. Atlas scanned her surroundings to find a place to hide. Luck was on her side as she spotted a nearby door. She jolted, burst through the door, and closed it.

“And let me tell you, he was less than impressed,” laughed Bulk.  

Atlas peaked through the tiny keyhole in the door to check if coast was clear. To her dismay, Bulk was out standing in the middle of the hallway, rambling on about another story to his guests. Atlas silently grunted to herself.

“Where do they keep coming from?” she wondered.  

Meanwhile, Shield sprinted out of a random room and persuaded down another hall. Shield decided to look back while he was running. He turned around and noticed that the guard was no longer there. Something seemed off. He looked forward and spotted another cross-intersection hallway. There was a door at the end of it and Shield made a run for it. Unfortunately, the guard pony leapt out of said door. He landed on the ground and shut the door with his hooves. Shield gasped and came to a halt. The guard growled at him and was ready to attack. 

Shields heart started to beat faster, he was running out of options. He tried to sidestep to his left, but the guard did the same and blocked him. He tried moving to the right, but was blocked again. No matter where Shield moved, the guard wouldn’t let him by. It looked like he had to rely on the oldest trick on the book to get out of this one. 

Shield eyed the corridor to his left. His eyes shrank and he let out a terrifying scream. The guard swerved to his right and found that the hall was empty. When he turned back to face Shield, he was gone! The guard turned to his left and found Shield running down the other hall. He growled and slammed his hoof to the ground. 

“Every time!” he exclaimed and chased after Shield. 

Shield ran like never before, he was still surprised that the guard fell for the oldest trick in existence. 

“Wow. Twice in one night? Where do these guys come from?” he laughed as he ran.  

Shield soon found himself in the main hallway from when they first entered. 

“Back to the beginning?” 

The sound of hooves clopping suddenly became louder and louder. Shield turned back to the hall to see that the guard was getting closer. 

“Gah! Now what? Where do I go?” he panicked. 

He ran around in a circle to figure out where to go next. He had run through every hall in the mansion, he had nowhere else to run to. Nowhere to hide without getting caught or trapped. His hooves ran in place as he tried to come up with a solution. That is, until the obvious hit his head. 

“Oh wait!” 

He looked over his shoulder and realized that his sword was still attached to him. He engulfed the handle with a golden glow and slid the sword right out of its sheath. He levitated and swung it around.  

“Why didn’t I use this sooner?” he asked himself. 

He then looked forward and noticed the guard pony still charging at him. He readied himself and pointed his sword forward. His eyes narrowed as the guard got closer and closer. Shield then noticed something was off, the way he kept on running was strange. Surely, he had to have seen Shield’s sword right about now. He had no way to defend himself, the guard was unarmed. Right? Before Shield could process that thought, the crew-cut Pegasus started to take flight. His wings had spread and he was soaring just inches above the ground. 

Shield started sweating bullets. Then he spotted something in the guard pony’s mouth. Shield squinted as the guard flew closer. Right when he figured out what he had, the guard flew straight at him. Shield raised his sword to his face. A loud CLANG! occurred and shot Shield back. Shield stood up after the impact. His eyes didn’t lie to him as he saw the guard pony, standing right in front of him, wings flared, with a large dagger on his mouth. 

A Dagger? He must’ve pulled that out while he was chasing me! I think…I don’t know. Why am I thinking about this? 


The guard spit the dagger out of his mouth and caught it with his right hoof. 

“Just give up!” the guard ordered. “You’ve been caught, there’s nothing more to do than surrender.” 

“Uh, are you not paying attention? I have the bigger blade,” pointed out Shield. “You don’t stand a chance.” 

“You’d be surprised!” 

“Nothing can surprise-“

The guard flew straight at Shield in seconds. Shield yelped at the attack and raised his sword. The blades clashed once more. Shield could feel the guard's dagger push him back, he couldn’t believe how strong he was. Shield thrusted the guard off of him. He took to the air and carried the dagger in his hoof. The guard flew right at Shield, dagger in hoof. Shield swung his sword and countered his attack, deflecting him back into the air. The guard flew in for another aerial attack and Shield slashed at him again. The guard flew all around with his dagger, Shield counterattacking with his sword, blades clashing and sparks flying everywhere. 

The guard landed back on the ground. He flew at Shield, ready for another attack. The guard then started swinging and slashing his dagger at Shield, slicing in various X shaped attacks. All Shield could do was protect his face with his sword as the guard continued his assault. Even more sparks flew with every strike. Shield was starting to lose strength, his hooves started to feel strained. The guard kept on striking with the same patterns, it was starting to get to Shield. 

Shield jumped back and readied his sword. The guard stood there, panting and shooting sweat. Shield saw the opportunity and smirked. He charged forward with his sword, ready to attack. He charged and swung his great blade. When his attack finished, he noticed that the guard was gone. He looked up and found him flying in the air. 

“Forgetting about a small detail?” the guard asked, pointing to his wings. 

Shield growled at him as the guard came diving down on him. Shield blocked his attack and swung at the airborne stallion. He started swinging at him repeatedly, as if he was starting to swat a fly. The guard landed, and charged at Shield again, using the same X-shaped strikes. Shield did his best to block against it as more sparks flew. He then felt a razor sharp sting brush against the side of his neck and left hoof. He jumped back as the guard took to the air again. Shield couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong. He felt like he was leaking. He patted the side of his neck with his hoof. When he brought said hoof to his face, it was covered with red. Shield’s eyes shrank at the sight of the small puddle of blood on his hoof. He looked down and noticed there was a nasty slice on his left hoof too. He stumbled back, but still kept his sword up. He looked up at the stallion who was grinning down on him. 

“Using the same attacks over and over? Cheap move, dude!” he grunted. 

“It sure worked on you. And on your buddy over there,” the guard reported, pointing behind Shield. 

The young unicorn looked back, only to find an empty hallway. This wasn’t good.

“W-What’re talking about? There’s nopony t-“

Before he could finish his sentence, a large amount of force rammed into his gut. Shield gasped and salvia was launched out of him. He was thrusted back and slammed against a wall. The impact caused him to crack his back and slam the back of his head against the wall. Shield slid down and grasped his stomach. He moaned in agony, it felt like getting run over by a station wagon, he couldn’t believe how hard that guard could buck. The crew cut guard lowered his back legs and turned around to face the fallen swordspony. He grasped the dagger with his right wing and slowly approached Shield. 

“In hindsight…I probably should’ve expected that,” Shield grunted. 

“You’re coming with me,” ordered the guard. “Bulk’s not going to like an uninvited guest in his home.” 

Shield used his magic to raise his sword, but due to the impact on his head his sword wobbled in his magic. 

“As if I’m go-“

The guard smacked the sword out of Shields grasp with his wing, sliding it to the left side of the room. He then back hoofed Shield’s horn, so that he couldn’t use any more magic. His horn stung, and the pain soon reached the rest of his body.

“Gah!” screamed Shield as he held his horn with his hooves. 

“Are you done?” asked the guard. 

At the same time, Jade appeared at the end of her corridor. She found herself back at the main entrance, and noticed the guard pony pointing his dagger at the fallen Shield. Jade gasped and jumped back in the hallway, hiding in the shadows. She wasn’t expecting on finding her new recruit to get captured like this. 

Well, at least I know where the screaming came from. She thought. This doesn’t look good. Was Stardust’s future about us getting captured true? Are we really just going to get caught, one by one?

This didn’t look good at all. She knew she had to do something. The more time she stood on the sidelines watching, the sooner her new teammate would face his demise.

Wait. This is just one guy. The bad future said we would all get captured. Besides, even if this was the case, I could always prevent it from doing THIS! 

Jade reached into her cloak, ready to pull out her favorite, and not-so-secret of subtle, weapon of choice. She was actually waiting all night for something like this to happen, just so she could use it. Jade was mid-way through with pulling out her “day saving device.” 

The guard raised his dagger at Shield, holding it in a guarding position. 

“Don’t take this personally. I’m just doing my job,” the guard said.  

He reached down at Shield with his hoof as the fallen rookie was covering his face, waiting for his capture. Right when Shield was expecting a hard grasp on his hoof, the sound of clay shattering hit his ears. Confused, Shield removed his hooves from his face to see what had happened. He noticed that the guard was just standing there, face frozen and completely motionless. Shield couldn’t help but tilt his head at the guard. 

“Soooo, are you going to take me or…?” Shield wondered. 

Without warning, the guard collapsed onto the ground, dropping his dagger. This was truly a random moment for everyone. Right behind him, appeared Stardust with a half broken vase and a very concerned expression. She was staring down at Shield with worried eyes and gave a relieved sigh.  

“I made it,” she sighed. “Are you Ok?” 

Shield was speechless. He didn’t know how to react. This mare whom he recently met saved his life at the last second. Part of him was thankful that she saved him in time, but the other half felt something else. Something he couldn’t quite grasp. He wasn’t even sure if this emotion was appropriate for this situation. He decided to ignore it for now. 

“Yeah. Thanks to you,” he replied. 

Stardust smiled and offered him her hoof, to which he gladly took. He grasped her hoof and she pulled him up. However, as soon as Shield stood up, a surge of pain coursed through his hoof. He grunted and collapsed back on the ground. 

“Yep, that hurts,” he grunted. 

Stardust gasped at Shields injury. She could see all the red slowly leaking out of his hoof and neck. She decided to do what was best and wrapped his injured hoof over her shoulder. She brought him up again, this time with Shield leaning on her for support. 

“How did you get lost?” Stardust wondered. “Weren’t you right behind me?” 

“Yeah, well, I was kind of distracted,” Shield admitted. 

“Distracted by what? You weren’t staring at my flank or anything were you?” Stardust joked.

She knows! 

His face blushed redder than a ladybug. He really didn’t want her to know that he was staring at her flank earlier. All he could do was nervously chuckle as he leaned onto his fellow recruit. Unfortunately, the more he blushed, the more red leaked out of his neck. 

“N-No! I was fixing my sword strap! Honest!” he stammered. Stardust chuckled. 

Jade stood in silence in the darkness. Her moment to save the day has been taken. She still couldn’t figure out how Stardust just came out of nowhere. She wasn’t sure what to do now. 

Did that recruit just steal my moment? Seriously? I hardly did anything tonight-I mean, yay…she saved Shield. 

Jade sighed and returned her weapon back to her cloak. She covered it up and patted it to make sure it was secure. There’s always next time. She decided to make herself known and entered the main entrance hall. 

“Hey newbies,” she spoke. Both recruits turned and faced their leader. 

“Jade!” Stardust replied. 

“Were you standing in that hall the whole time?” asked Shield. 

“Well, I was going to show you what I was truly capable of, by not giving away my presence and saving your flank,” she paused. “But then somepony came in and decided to steal my thunder.” 

Both ponies looked at each other confusingly, then back at Jade. They had no idea what she was getting at. 

“I’m talking about YOU,” she whispered to Stardust. 

“What was I supposed to do? Let him get captured?” She wondered. 

“That would've helped my situation, so yes!.” 

“Huh?” they both asked. 

“Relax, I’m kidding,” Jade smiled. “Nice job.” 

“Oh, thanks,” she replied. 

“Seriously though, don’t steal my moment next time.” 

The recruits were silent. They weren’t so sure if Jade was still messing with them or not. Was she really upset that Stardust stole her moment? They didn’t know what to say next. All they did was exchange looks. Finally, Shield decided to break the silence. 

“So,” he paused. “Any luck finding our targeted item?” 

Jade opened her mouth, but before she could answer- 

“I’m so glad you asked.” 

All heads turned around to find Artifice Lock staring at them with his head tilted and his eyes looking confused. He looked around to find an unconscious Pegasus guard, shattered pieces of a clay vase, a bleeding Shield leaning on Stardust, and Jade with a bored face. 

“Did I miss something?” asked Lock. 

“Oh, nothing important,” replied Jade.  

“What about me saving Shield-“ 

“What is it that you need?” interrupted Jade. 

“I believe I have found what we are looking for!” he announced. Jade’s ears perked. 

“Well, what are you waiting for? Show us!” 

“Oh, right!” 

Both ponies then took off to another hall. Stardust and Shield just stood in the middle of the room, unsure what to do since both Jade and Lock seemed to have forgotten about something. 

“Hey guys!” called Shield. 

Jade and Lock returned to the hall. 

“What about my injuries?” Shield asked pointing to his wounds. 

“Oh right. We should probably get you patched up,” Jade said. 

“You think?” 

“Don’t start with me!” she turned to Lock. “Hey Lock, patch him up?” 

“Why me? I’m not a medic.” 

“Rose gave you the bandages, therefore you’re responsible for patching up any injured member.” 

“Who’s Rose?” asked Shield. 

“No idea,” replied Stardust. 

“Alright, fine,” groaned Lock. He reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a roll of clean bandages. “Think fast!” 

He tossed the bandages across the room and took off. The bandages landed in Stardust’s hoof. By the time she looked up, Lock was gone. Jade rolled her eyes. 

“Ok, you patch him up. Next time that won’t happen,” ordered Jade as she took off as well. Stardust and Shield stared blankly at each other. 

“Have you ever patched up anyone before?” asked Shield. 

“I’m a fortune teller, not a nurse.” 

Lock was patiently waiting in the hallway, tapping his hoof on the ground. Jade managed to catch up with him and found him in the hall. Lock turned and noticed her. 

“You know, you could give me a warning when you fly off like that,” she remarked. 

“Yeah, I could-Anyway, I think we found what we are looking for.” 

“You already said that.” 

“It was for emphasis.” 

Lock then knocked on the wall five times. Jade just stared at Lock, confused. Before she could question why he’s knocking on the wall, a few splits and creaks appeared on the wall. A door then appeared and swung right out of the wall. Jade was surprised to see a set of wooden stairs, leading downwards into a dark abyss. Lock then flipped on the nearest light switch with his hoof and trotted downstairs. 

“This way, milady,” Lock motioned forward. 

Jade followed down the stairs. The stairs creaked with every step she took. What she found at the bottom of the stairs was truly……expected. She found herself surrounded by various shelves containing multiple jars, bottles, and cans.  All with Bulk Buster’s logo and face on them. Each container read “Busters Drinks!” in the same big, bold, gold letters they saw before. She couldn’t believe how many drinks were in one small room. However, something about these drinks seemed a little different than the ones they saw on the magazines. 

“Whoa,” was all Jade could say. 

“I know, right? Who knew the owner of a protein drink had his own private stash in his mansion,” replied Lock. 

“I can’t tell if that’s you being factitious or stupid,” grunted a familiar voice. 

Both ponies turned to find a bored Guesclin leaning against one of the shelves. 

“Oh, you’re still here,” retorted Jade. 

“Eh, someone has to stay here and guard this place while Lock went to find you,” Guesclin replied. 

“Guard it from what?” 

Guesclin then stepped out of the way to reveal an unconscious and tied up Pegasus stallion guard. This guard’s fur color was darker in color, dark violet to be exact, and his mane and tail were cut short and were both a light brown color. Jade and Lock both stared at the guard. 

“What the?” exclaimed Lock. “I was only gone for two minutes! How did you defeat a guard in that amount of time?” 




2 Minutes Ago


Lock and Guesclin were going over the plan at the bottom of Buster’s drink basement. Lock was making sure to go over all the small details while Guesclin just wanted their conversation to be over. His nodding head wasn’t catching onto Lock any time soon. 

“So, you got that?” asked Lock. 

“Yeah, yeah. I stay here and keep an eye on this room while you go find the others,” he replied. 

“Great!” 

“Hold on. You’re the master thief, aren’t you? Why don’t you just take the item and go?” 

“Because, I want to wait and show it to Jade. She ordered us to summon her when we have found it.” 

“Oh yeah. That makes total sense. Wait until we’re in one room to get caught for stealing instead of getting picked off one at a time,” Guesclin remarked. 

“Hey, orders are orders. Besides, I’m sure you’ll do fine on your own. You could use the alone time,” he muttered. 

“What?” 

“What?” Lock replied. “Anyway, if you hear five knocks, then it’s me. Be right back!” 

With that, Lock took off, leaving Guesclin along in the cellar. He leaned back against a wall and closed his one lone eye. Right before he could catch his first Z, the sound of a door creaking hit his ears. His eye shot open and found some the guard pony trotting down the stairs. 

“Huh? Did I leave the light on?” he asked to himself. 

The guard pony went for the nearest shelf and was about to take a bottle. The guard spotted Guesclin and turned back to the bottle. He turned back again. His eyes were the size of peas as he stared at Guesclin. The one-eye griffon stood up and walked towards the guard pony. Sweat of shooting off of the unfortunate pony. He slowly backed away from the griffon and began to reach for his dagger with his wing. 

“You sure you want to do that, boy?” asked Guesclin. 

He began to reach for his own blade. He slid half of his sword out of its sheath. Even though it wasn’t fully drawn, the blade was still covered with dents, slashes, cuts, but still somehow managed to shine. The guard pony’s heart shrank. He examined his own blade and compared it with the griffons, possibly huge, sword. He kept dotting his eyes at the griffon and back at his own dagger. In one swift movement, the guard pony drew his blade, but by the time the dagger was fully drawn, the fight was over. 



Present


“He wanted a fight, so I gave him one,” Guesclin answered. “Though, it wasn’t very interesting.” 

“Dude, you’re scary,” commented Lock. 

“Eh, at least I finally got to do something on this mission.” 

That makes one of us.

“This is all well and good, but why did you bring me down here Lock?” asked Jade. 

“Ah! Right! Our objective for the night!” 

He flew behind one of the shelves and came back out, lugging a big, metal safe with a bronze dial and lettering. Jade was taken back by this, it was right in front of her. 

“Is this…?”

“Yep!” 

A silence soon fell on the group. 

“I bucking knew there was a safe!” exclaimed Jade. 

“Huh, who knew?” added Guesclin. 

“You think you can crack it open, Lock?” 

“Like you have to ask.” 

Lock reached into his saddlebags and pulled out a shining stethoscope. He cracked both of his front hooves and then his neck. He placed the ear tips in his, well, ears. After that he placed the drum of the stethoscope on the safe door and began turning the dial, trying to hear the tiny clicks and cracks the safe made, hoping to get the right combination. 

“I honestly didn’t expect there to be an actual safe in this mansion,” admitted Guesclin.

“Oh, do I detect a sense of surprise in your voice?” asked Jade. 

“Bah! You just got lucky this time! It was only by mere coincidence that there would be a safe down here.” 

“More like common sense. Coincidence? I think not!”

Guesclin just stared at Jade with his eyebrow raised. The silence continued for a while. Lock was still working on the safe. 

“Why did you say it like that?” 

“I just…well….it’s….s-shut up!” stuttered Jade. 

“Yo!” 

Both mercs turned their heads to find Stardust and Shield standing at the top of the stairs. The latter was still leaning on Stardust and his entire hoof and neck were wrapped by bandages. 

“Where did this place come from?” asked Shield. 

“From the wall, obviously,” replied Jade. “And what took you guys so long?” 

“Sorry, I was too busy bleeding and hurting to catch up to you,” Shield retorted. 

“And I was too busy trying to patch up his wounds and not dye my fur red,” added Stardust. 

“So WHAT took you so long?” 

Jade motioned to the nearly bandaged up Shield. It didn’t even look like proper bandaging. It more looked like someone tried to mummify a pony and then gave up halfway through. 

“What do you want from me? I’ve never bandaged up a pony before,” admitted Stardust. 

“Clearly. Well, there’s a first time for everything,” replied Jade. 

“So, you found the safe?” asked Shield. 

“Darn right we found it!” Jade turned back to Lock who was still trying to crack the code. “You almost done with that, Lock?” 

“I will be in a minute,” the thief replied. 

“How long will that take?” 

“Who knows? Could take a while with all this talking.” 

“I don’t think we have a while,” spoke Shield. “What with Stardust knocking out that guard in the hallway and all.”

“It will only be a matter of time before somepony finds him and realize we’re here,” added Stardust. 

“So you fought one too, eh?” asked Guesclin. 

“Too?” the recruits asked. 

Guesclin moved out of the way once more to reveal the knocked out and bruised up guard pony. Shield and Stardust had the same reaction as Jade and Lock, full of shock and mouths open. 

“I thought our employer said to leave no bodies?” wondered Stardust. 

“Relax, he’s just unconscious. Dang fool acted like he’s never seen a one-eyed griffon before.” 

“What the…when did this happen?” asked Shield. 

“I’d love to tell you the amazing tale of how I knocked out this wimp, but I don’t think we have time for the same flashback,” Guesclin said. 

“I’d never thought I’d say this,” started Jade. 

“Yes you have,” Guesclin replied. 

“Whatever, but Guesclin is right. We need to get out of here once we have the item. It could be any minute before either guard wakes up. Or if somepony else discovers our presence. Lock, will you please hurry up with that safe.” 

“Up-up-up-up-up! Safe cracking is no easy task. You can’t just expect somepony to just walk in, spin the magic numbers, and have the safe open up like open sesame! These things take time! It’s art! It could take a while before I ca-“

CLICK! 

“Got it!” 

“Who saw that coming?” remarked Shield. 

The safe swung open and revealed what was inside: Dapper Metal’s small chest. It was just like the photo; the brown color, the golden lock, and his initials inscribed on it. Lock spun the chest in his hoof.  Jade was left speechless. They finally found it. 

“Huh, I thought it would be a bit…bigger,” Jade admitted. 

“It may be small, but I bet whatever’s inside will leave a BIG impact,” stated Lock. Jade just stared blankly at him. 

“Hey, am I the only one who’s wondering why this guy keeps a safe in his protein shake cellar?” asked Shield. 

“Who cares? We finally got the chest!” spoke Jade. “Now, all that’s left is to find a way out of this place.” 

“I think I saw an open window on the way here,” said Stardust. 

“Well then, lead the way!” 

Stardust and Shield started to walk down the hall as Jade and Guesclin trotted back up the stairs. As Lock stored the chest into his saddlebags, he couldn’t help but look around at the multiple containers that surrounded him. He scanned his surroundings and stared at all the bottles and jugs. He tilted his head at them, gears were turning in his head. He tapped his hoof to his chin and thought. Something didn’t seem right. 

I wonder, he thought. 

Meanwhile, the four mercs were walking down the corridor, for what seemed like an eternity. 

“But it’s only been 45 seconds,” said Stardust. 

“Who are you talking to?” asked Guesclin. 

“Never mind.”  

Suddenly, the sounds of groaning hit all of their ears. They all paused and jumped. 

“What was that?” asked Guesclin. 

“I’m guessing it was a groan?” replied Jade. 

“I know that! I don’t need your sass!” 

The halls groaned once more. All the mercs stopped and prepared for combat. 

“There it is again,” Stardust said. 

“Is this mansion haunted?” wondered Shield. “Not sure if that’s bad because we’re all probably going to get possessed by a ghost, or good to have a little more adventure on this night.” 

“Shield, you fought a guard. And lost. Any more ‘adventure’ and I’ll have to turn you into a mummy,” warned Stardust. 

“Y-you don’t know that,” he muttered. 

The halls groaned again. All four mercs turned towards the end of the hall to find a shadow approaching from out of the corner. They didn’t know what to make of it. Jade reached inside her cloak while Guesclin reached for his sword. The shadow got closer and the groans got louder. The sound of hoofsteps was starting to sound louder as well. The sound of metal dragging on the floor also struck their ears. Jade cocked an eyebrow at this new sound. 

Hold on! Dragging metal? 

The shadow disappeared as a figure emerged from the darkness and walked right around the corner. The figure had its head down, slowly approached the group of mercs, and dragged her metal wings on the ground.  

“Wait,” said Shield. 

“Aaaahh, you guys!” groaned Atlas. 

The group lowered their guard and faced the metal winged mare. She lifted her head to reveal her pale face to the rest of the crew. She didn’t look so good. 

“Oh, it was Atlas all along,” joked Jade. “Looks like we solved the mystery.” 

“What happened to you? You look awful,” asked Stardust. 

“It all started, when I was born,” she started. 

“Really? That long?” asked Shield. 

“More like three minutes ago.” 



More like Three Minutes Ago 


Atlas waited patiently in the dark room for Bulk and his guests to leave the hallway. Every time she peaked into the tiny keyhole, they would still be there. Atlas grunted to herself. She couldn’t believe how one pony could be in so many places at once, and have so many boring stories to tell. 

“So I say, ‘why don’t you prove it by giving it to one of my workers?’ So he did! And it didn’t work!” laughed Bulk. 

Like always, his guests laughed a snooty laugh with their heads thrown back. 

“Eheheheheh, shut the buck up,” grunted Atlas. 

Suddenly, an unfamiliar scent found a way into her nostrils. She involuntarily inhaled and caught the scent. Her eyes shrank and her brain stopped, she even heard the sound of glass breaking in her head. She quickly covered her nose with her wing and stepped back. 

“Ugh, what is that smell?” 

As she stepped back, something damp touched her back hoof. She froze in place. Atlas slowly turned her head. That proved useless however, because when she turned all she could see was darkness. Nothing but a black space filled with who knows what? 

Oh geez. What’s touching me? 

As if it couldn’t get any worse, the unknown dampness started to swarm and engulf her hoof. Atlas gasped but quickly covered her mouth. The strange damp thing started to crawl around her hoof, it felt like a bunch of little, wet tentacles surrounding and devouring her hoof. Adding that to its horrid smell, the dark room became an abyss of discomfort. Atlas moved forward, but the creature thing followed. She peaked out the keyhole to find Bulk still talking to his guests. Atlas groaned. The smell worsened, like rotten fruit mixed with toilet water. As the scent crawled up her nose, it triggered Atlas’ gag reflex. Luckily, she caught it before she could throw it up. She gulped and moaned in agony. Between the darkness, the smell, and the strange thing wrapping around her hoof, she needed to do something. 

“Brilliant story, Bulk!” commented Bulk’s guest. 

“I know. It’s even funnier when you think about the fact that-“ 

“WILL YOU JUST MOVE ON ALREADY?!” 

Everything went silent. Bulk and his guests stood there with confused looks. Atlas covered her mouth. There was no hoping that they didn’t hear her outburst, they had to have heard her. Her heart stopped. 

Oh crap! I’m so screwed!  

The silence was killing her. She thought she was done for. That is, until the luckiest thing ever happened. 

“You know what, you’re all right. Where are my manners?” spoke Bulk.

His guests looked at him in confusion. Mutters and whispers were heard and shared among one another. Even Atlas couldn’t believe what was happening. 

What?

“There’s still so much of the mansion I haven’t shown you yet. I shouldn’t waste your time with my stories. Now come along, I have a piece that is to die for!” 

With that, Bulk’s guests shrugged it off and followed their host into another room. As soon as there was no one left in the hallway, the door swung open. Atlas collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air. Her chest felt like a balloon inflating and deflating. The smell escaped her nose the moment she felt the ground. She panted and crawled from the room. She turned around to find three wet mops fall on the ground. 

Atlas’ eye’s widened. She couldn’t believe that she was scared and grossed out by a wet mop. Feelings of relief, embarrassment, and anger coursed through her body. She looked down and noticed her hoof was still damp and smelled. She crawled over to the closet and grabbed a roll of paper towels. Once she was done cleaning off her hoof, she placed all of the wet mops back in the closet and shut the door. The smell was still there and the feeling of a wet mop covering her hoof was present. She groaned to herself and slowly walked away. 

Ok. That's enough action for tonight. 



Present


“Ugh, sounds gross,” commented Shield. 

“Yeah! It was!” she shuttered. “Imagine if it was something else.” 

“I’d hate to be you right now,” added Jade. 

“Alright, do you think we can go now?” asked Guesclin. 

“Hold on, where’s Lock?” wondered Stardust. 

The crew looked around and noticed that their thief was missing. Nowhere to be spotted. 

“Here I am!” 

The crew all turned around and saw Lock running towards them, with his saddlebags flaying as he ran.  

“Where have you been?” asked Jade. 

“Sorry. I had a little trouble fitting the chest into my bag.” 

“Wait, you found the chest?” asked Atlas. 

“I know! Crazy right? Where did you go?” 

“Not now!” 

“Alright! Looks like everyone is here! Time to make our exit. Stardust, continue,” ordered Jade.

“Sure thing!” 

Stardust, Shield, Atlas, and Lock started walk down the hall, following Stardust to their exit. Guesclin and Jade stayed behind while the rest of the team was getting ahead of them. Jade walked next to Guesclin. 

“You know Lock took something else from that room, right?” asked Guesclin. 

“No duh,” she nodded. 

“You going to expose him?” 

“Eh, not right now. I want to wait and see how long it’ll take for somepony else to figure it out. It’s more fun that way,” she shrugged. 

Jade ran off to join the others. Guesclin just stood there in the hallway, staring blankly at the young merc as she ran around the corner. So many things going on in his head. 

“There are so many things wrong with you,” Guesclin said. He then ran to catch up with the rest of the team. 



Later


Two guards were patrolling the hallway as Bulk was still entertaining his guests. They entered the main entrance hall. They both stopped in place to find part of the hall covered with dents and scratches. They scanned the area to figure out what happened. 

“What the hay happened here?” asked one guard. 

“I don’t know!” 

They both fanned out and scanned the hall to find any clues as to who or what did this. One of the guards came to a halt when he came across a shocking sight. 

“Uh, dude!” he called. 

“Yeah?” 

“You might want to take a look at this!” 

The guard soon joined his buddy. He gasped in shock to find one of his fellow guards knocked out, covered with Bulk’s protein shake, have a huge bump on his head, and tied to a pillar by a bunch of bandages. That could only mean one thing. 

“Do you think?” 

“Yep!” 

Suddenly, another guard came running out of the other hall and joined his friends. His eyes were also wide and sweat running down his head. 

“Hey, did you know that there’s a guard tied up in Bulk’s shake cellar?” 

The other guard didn’t answer, but pointed to the one they found. The third guard turned and gasped at the tied up stallion. 

“We are so fired.” 

Jade and her crew were long gone. It was dark out, and they were running through the grassy fields, cheering and laughing as Lock tossed the chest in the air like some kind of juggling ball. 

“Yeah! We did it!” proclaimed Lock. 

“What did I tell you guys? In and out, just like I said!” added Jade. 

“Yeah!” they all laughed. 

“Well, I guess we all know which future was true!” spoke Shield.

“See? My predictions are never wrong!” added Stardust.  

The crew laughed even more. Even Stardust couldn’t believe that they all made it out without getting caught. They all felt a river of victory flow within their bodies. 

“What was I so worried about?” laughed Jade. 

“I know! Just in and out!” exclaimed Atlas. 

“Yep! In and out!” 

“Yeah.” 

The laughs and cheers died down and everything went silent. The team trekked the grassy fields with victorious smiles, but nopony was no long celebrating. They looked back and noticed that nopony was even chasing them. The peaceful silence became awkward. 

“Kind of expected a little more action than that,” admitted Lock. 

“Yeah, I mean we just snuck in, split up, hid for a while, found the chest and left,” Jade recapped. “That was it.” 

“We also fought two guards,” added Shield. 

“I don’t know if I would consider mine an actual fight,” pointed out Guesclin. 

“Still. Good thing I saved you the last second,” mentioned Stardust. 

“Yeah, thanks.” 

The silence returned. The groups walking speed seemed to become slower with every conversation they had. 

“Still, we defeated two guards, so that’s something,” spoke Jade. 

“Yeah, I guess. Just two,” replied Shield. 

“In and out, like you said,” said Guesclin. 

“Yeah. In and out.” 

The silence returned. Only more awkward than ever. The teams smiles even began to fade away. 

“Kind of anti-climactic, to me,” admitted Shield. 

“Yeah.” 

No one spoke a word. For a full three minutes. 

“So, I guess we should turn this in now?” asked Lock as he held up the chest. 

“Right! Let’s go….do that!” ordered Jade. 

“Yeah!” 

With their first mission finally over the team of mercenary ponies made their way towards Canterlot, where they would return the chest to their client and collect their well-deserved reward………..