We were promptly re-detained and disarmed, we were lead to an empty large tent that had a wooden rectangular table and a few chairs but, besides that it was bare. I went and sat on a chair and rubbed my face in annoyance but stopped when I brushed over the cut on my chin which stings pretty bad now that i’ve drawn attention to it. I pulled my finger away from the cut but it didn’t have any blood on it so i’m fine until the thieves guild wannabes decide what to do with us. Me and Triton sat in silence for only a short time until a small unicorn trotted inside
“Well now that you’ve calmed down and released my associate which I appreciate, we can speak about what you were brought here for” The small pink mare was a bit bigger than a foal and was wearing what looked like baby sized armor and she would look adorable if half of her face wasn’t scarred and she had bandolier full of thin but long white needles giving her a slightly menacing look.
“You mean when we were brought here against our wills?” My sarcasm could be seen dripping from my mouth when I said that and I swear I could see a ghost of a smile on her face and was about to grin as well if Triton didn’t elbow me in the side
“Yes, that was pretty amusing but we have bigger problems right now and I think we could both benefit from it if you helped us” She grinned at us like we already said yes
“Now we noticed that you need to get past Twinleaf and onto the train into equestria but to do that you’ll have to get through the town which is crawling with bandits like us, so you could try your luck and get killed in the process or you could assist us in taking back the town” Me and Triton were silent throughout the proposal but we were shocked at the ending
“Why would a group of bandits want to liberate a whole town from other bandits?” Triton spoke with a suspicious look on his face speaking for both of us. The mini mare appeared to grimace at the question then straightened up and spoke.
“This group used to be apart of the bandits controlling the town but back then the group was much smaller and we only focused on robbing and maybe pillaging small villages and caravans and we were content doing just that. Back then I was co-leader of the group along with an ex-guard by the name of Light Spire and for a while we were on the top of the world and nothing could stop us, then Light started to get greedy with the raids and kept going after bigger and bigger targets without rest or remorse he wanted everything and that attracted the wrong kind of attention and if he kept at it we would have the full attention of the crown making us a problem needing to be solved and that’s exactly what happened” She stopped for a moment to catch her breath from the long winded explanation then continued.
“The princess sent a detachment of guards along with one of her captains to take care of us but what they didn’t think of was that Light was ready for them and set a trap and it was a complete slaughter that I had no knowledge of and only found out after the fact what happened and confronted him. When I found him he was still caked in blood from the fight and holding the guard captain’s weapon in his mouth and the mangled corpse of the captain at his hooves… it was horrifying to see.” She had started to tremble and breath heavier so she stopped and steadied herself then continued
“ I didn’t want him to fall any further than he already had so I tried to get him to retire from the rouge life but he snapped at me and left and the next time I saw him he had a new group of bandits much more bloodthirsty than ours and their first goal was to hold a town hostage from the crown and if they don’t comply then they will kill everyone in the town, I tried to talk him out of it and to just come back with me but when I finished he just turned away from me and grabbed a lit torch while asking if I would let him do what he wants and I said no… he burned me.” She stopped and dragged a hoof over the side of her face with the large scar with a depressed look.
“ Anyway, we know the crown doesn’t care about some small village at the edge of equestria so we know they won’t send any help and we are positive that Light will deliver on his threats” I was a bit overwhelmed from the whole backstory but something stuck out at me.
“How do you know he’ll do it?” I questioned
“He tried to make an… example of a child that tried to escape but he was stopped by some travelers who were there, sadly they were just beat by numbers and put away with the rest of the townsfolk” The mention of a child almost getting executed made something flinch inside of me for a moment before I calmed down and the low growling from Triton means he mirrors my feelings on the matter.
“This is why we brought you here, we need more help and we could use the helping hooves for the plan” she looked at us and waited for an answer, I looked at Triton for his impute and he just nodded at me with a serious look in his eye showing he was willing to help but I had one more question.
“After the battle and everything is all said and done with, what will you do with the town” I crossed my arms and waited for her to respond.
“Heh all of my men are sick and tired of this kind of life, so after the battle the group will disband and go our separate ways. I can’t speak for everyone but I plan to settle down in the town and live out the rest of my life” Her small stature makes her seem young but when she said that it was like she aged twenty years and I could see in her eyes how tired she is so I made up my mind.
“Alright we’ll help” I nodded to her and she gave us a grateful smile then turned serious and jumped off the chair to the floor and moved towards the entrance of the tent.
“ Follow me, we need to get you guys your equipment and tell you the plan” We stood and followed her out of the tent and into the quiet camp. Many of the members were just sitting and talking in hushed voices or just silence, I saw the griffin from before just as she enter one of the tents. There are about five tents including a bigger one where I could see there were stacks of boxes and barrels inside and around the area and we followed her to that tent and went inside.
“This is where all our resources are stored and your weapons and bags were put in that crate over there” She pointed to a box in the corner with the lid off and I could see my sword sticking out of the top. Triton and I walked over and strapped on our bags and my sword then turned back to the pony
“ We have some spare griffin armor for you but I don’t think we have anything in stock for you that you size at least you i’ll send you over to our armorer to see if he can make you something with some spare leather” She turned and opened a nearby barrel and pulled out a leather chestplate that would fit Triton and a knife to defend himself with then nodded at me to follow her which I did without question.
“Since were a bit strapped for resources the armorer will most likely just make you some gloves and some arm guards” I was okay with that and I already had a chest piece so I hope i’m fine after this. We had entered one of the smaller tents to show an older unicorn stallion working on some sowing but stopped when we entered.
“Ah, what do we have here” He eyed me curiously while putting down whatever he was fixing
“Sharp Eye this is the creature that’s assisting us and he’ll need some more armor for the plan tonight” My eyes narrowed at being called a creature but it was drowned out when I heard that their plan was happening tonight.
“Wait, your plan begins tonight? What is it?” I was concerned with the lack of time to get ready but the mare just waved off my concern and turned back to Sharp
“Can you make him some gloves and arm guards?” While ignoring me, Sharp turned to the pile of materials behind him and brought a teal hoof to his bearded chin then turned to look at my hands to which I opened my hands and held them towards him he leaned closer. I heard his magic activate with the sounding of chimes in the air and the feeling of cold water flow over my hand, my hand was covered in a dark blue aura and was trying to hold me still but to me it felt brittle and fragile like old glass
“It shouldn’t take long, one moment” Pieces of leather were cut and stitched right in front of me at the speed of… well magic. Soon wraps of leather were covering my hands and fitting to my size along with cuts being made in it simultaneously making me flinch before stilling, The leather seemed to meld over my hands with the aid of magic and after a minute some thin but durable gloves covered my hands, they weren’t the prettiest sight but they were functional and would last to the end of the battle at least.
“Sorry, thats all I could make with what I have” Sharp eye apologised then turned back to whatever he was fixing and basically telling us to leave so the mare and I left the tent without a word
“ you should be good on equipment and you friend should be finished changing now so lets go get him and discuss the plan” she turned back in the direction of the supplies tent but I stopped her with a question
“Wait, what’s your name?” she looked back at me and said
“Call me Quick” The she continued to the tent where a armored Triton just walked out. He was wearing a similar uncolored leather chestpiece and some arm guards, when he reached us I gave him an approving nod then returned to following Quick back to what I assume is her tent and inside was two other people the griffin from before who was glaring at me and a minotaur sitting on the ground barely fitting. The minotaur was as you expected one to look but this one was all height and not a lot of muscles and he also looked tired
“Alright people it’s almost time to start the plan and now that we got some more help it might go even smoother” She turned and pointed at us.
“These two will be tasked with extracting and protecting the civilians and our job will to be to find and kill Light Spire the leader of the group, if we kill him most of his bandits will either leave or surrender and if not we will take them down, Try not to damage the town much but if it’s you or the wall you know what to choose” She turned to the minotaur
“Your team will focus on the distraction so these two can get inside and get the civilians and when that’s done try to meet up with me and Tiff” She nodded over to the apparent griffoness then turned back to us
“You to will be provided a map of the town to find where the people are being held captive then if possible extract them back to the forest and if not possible find somewhere to defend yourselves from” She reached into a bag and handed me a rolled up piece of parchment and I unrolled it to see a map of what I assumed is the town sketched on it. The town was built with what seems to be the mayor’s office in the middle and everything spreading out from there and leading to the ocean where the docks are or were in this case, where the docks would be are instead a bunch of what look to be spikes or spears. We need to get to the top right side of the town to free the civilians and get them back to the forest if possible, I handed Triton the map for him to study and turned back to the conversation.
“We don’t have much time to prepare due to Light getting more aggressive with his demands to the crown and so we will be striking within the hour so ready yourself” And with that the meeting was adjourned and everyone left the tent calmly leaving Triton and I with Quick sitting on the table.
“You two know what to do correct?” Triton and I nodded at her question and she grinned at our immediate reply.
“Good, if you do your jobs right we won’t have to protect the people while fighting but if you do get pinned down try to handle it if you can if not then try to hold them off until one of us can assist you. Now go find Tiff, she’ll lead you to your entry point” And at that she walked out leaving us in the silence.
“Are you ready to do this?” I questioned Triton out of apprehension to which he responded
“ Are you?” I could see the same emotion in his eyes are he repeated the question back to me. I was a normal everyday human a few days ago and now I have escaped cultists, fought bandits, trained with a sword, traveled long distances and now i’m about to rescue hostages from town that was taken over by blood thirsty criminals that will kill me and everyone they could get their hands or hooves on if possible, so am I ready for this?
“I don’t know”