//------------------------------//
// Stellar 
// Story: Contracted 
// by Slywolf930 
//------------------------------//

Stellar
The wind was blowing softly. The trees around him looked menacing, but also protective. Marx stepped out of the trees into the clearing ahead of him. There, there was a house, abandoned looking yet still bright colored. Marx was pushed forward by a slightly shorter filly behind him as she took in the surroundings.
"Wow! This place looks awesome!" She said, her smile brightening as the clouds parted enough for sunlight to hit it just right. The roof glistened in the sunlight, still wet from rain the night before.
"Yeah," Marx said, still unsure. He looked behind him, the former royal guard smiling for encouragement.
"It's alright, you're safe here. This is your new home after all," He said.
Marx looked at the house again, then he noticed the filly looking back at him. She waited for him to say something, but Marx didn't know what to say. Her look though, did give him confidence.
"Can't wait," Marx said.
"Let's go look inside!" She said, her black mane streaking in the distance as she raced to the house. "Race you there!"
Marx started in a sprint, but he couldn't catch up. She was just too fast, and her laughter as she ran didn't help him either. She beat him and waited for him to make it, their escort not too far behind, a smile on his face.
"That's no fair, you had a head start!" Marx said.
"Excuses, excuses," Rogue said, pushing the door open.
Upon entering, he noticed the faces of the ponies when he entered. An older mare looked from behind at the group, apparently having been waiting for the new arrivals. There were six he didn't recognize, but two he did. One of which, was Dalen, his former friend turned nemesis. The other, Rogue's best friend, Stella. She was cute, Marx had to admit. She was the same age as the others, but she often showed a more mature side than Rogue or Dalen.
Dalen, on the other hand, was really competitive. That was why he thought they were great friends. After an argument, Dalen decided that he didn't want to be friends anymore, and they then hated each other's guts. When the four of them were chosen to be taken from the orphanage, two colts two mares, they decided that they'd stay away from each other.
Their escort, not having given his name, was an ex-guard. He was highly trained, but showed a lot of joy and hadn't been unpleasant in the least. Now, he looked down to the four as well as the other six he brought. He gave a smile before starting.
"Welcome young colts and fillies to your new homes. My name is Overlord, but you can call me O.L." Overlord said.
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Marx woke with a start, his body immediately punishing him. Marx gritted his teeth as his body ached like never before. Every nerve in his body seemed to burn when he moved. He relaxed, letting his head drop onto the soft pillow. Wait...
Marx endured the pain to look to his left, a light blue fabric filling his vision. When he looked to his right, there was a wall, but he could see a door on the side away from him. He noticed where he was, the thought making him even more confused. Using up the only remaining strength he had, he reached over and pulled the curtain aside slightly, before dropping back in his bed in pain.
"Morning," Marx heard. He looked to his left, feeling the pain once again. He saw her face looking at him, as well as the other face next to her.
"Didn't think you'd wake up for a few more hours," She said, her light tanned face and blonde mane giving off a friendly feeling," Marx knew better though. She was a killer at heart, one of the worst that Marx knew. Stella, the fallen angel.
"You here to kill me?" Marx asked.
"Nice to see you too," She replied, winking. 
"What are you doing here?" Marx asked after licking his dry lips.
"You should be grateful, I had to drag you here from across town. Can't you at least say thanks?" Stella asked, putting on a playful frown.
"She has something she needs to admit..." Rogue said, looking away. Marx remembered that she was the other one he'd seen. She was bandaged on her side down to her hooves.
"Look, and I don't want you to get mad... that's kind of why I told the doctors to hide your weapons... so about that contract you had earlier..." Stella said giving him time to think.
"Yeah..." Marx said.
"I was kind of the one following you," Stella said, giving a smile. "At least for most of the time," Stella said.
"I'm not mad," Marx said with the straightest face he’s ever had.
"Phew, thought I'd have to get some restraints," Stella said, turning to Rogue. "Your turn."
"Okay... I was the one following you, when you failed..." Rogue said, looking towards him.
"And?" Marx asked.
"That's it," She said, a little surprised at his reaction, "Aren't you mad?"
"Why would I? It was part of my contract, so I'm the one who's at fault there," He said. "I don't really care that it was you two who followed me around. I should have known,”
Stella had to admit, she thought Marx was the type of pony who would scrutinize every little problem as a traitorous deed. The way he reacted now, she was regretting having put out the fire on his first night. There was no way she'd tell Marx she did that though. Especially with Rogue here.
"Anyways, I'll need to get out of here before anypony else comes," Marx said, trying to move again, his limbs protesting.
"You don't need to worry about that," Stella said, a grin on her face. "Only five ponies know you were coming to Ponyville. When I was following you, no other mercenary showed up, so I'm certain of that. Of the five..." Stella did some quick math.
"Rogue had a hunch after following you last, I already knew. Mercy and that amateur found you here on accident. You know Mercy owed Clutch after he saved his ass? That amateur's his younger brother. He’s giving him some tips to make things even," Stella said.
"What about the fifth?" Marx asked, curious.
"O.L., so you're safe for now. Just get better... Rogue's orders," Stella said, starting to get up and leave.
"Shut up," Rogue said, a slight blush appearing so she turned her head to the side.
"Seriously though, get better. I have to go check in, make sure O.L. doesn't have any jobs for me. I'll be back in about an hour, that'll give me time to make sure I'm not followed," Stella said.
"You, getting followed?' Marx asked jokingly.
"Never know, it could happen," She said before leaving the room through the door.
Marx looked to his left at Rogue who had been staring at the ceiling, her eyes lost in thought. Marx also looked up at the ceiling, prepared to spend the time in silence. That is, until a thought occurred to him.
"How long have we been out?" Marx asked.
"You've been asleep for two days. Stella said I woke up after a few hours. Mercy came in this morning, thinking you'd already recovered. When he found out the truth, he left," Rogue said.
"Wow, longer than I thought," Marx said.
"You must have been pretty worn out..." Rogue said, her voice trailing off.
"Yeah," Marx said.
The next few minutes were spent in silence, of which Rogue fell asleep, and Marx looked at the ceiling, trying to ignore the ache and pain his limbs were still in. Even after two days, he still could barely move. Marx realized how close to death he was. One fraction of a bigger hit, or a cut from a sword and his body might have failed on him. Two days was a long time, and he’s surprised he’s not dead right now.
Death... Now, he wondered just how Dalen was taking this turn of events. Dalen was probably taking his sweet time walking over here, a smile on his face as he asked ponies for direction. Or maybe Mercy told him. No. Mercy would want Marx to himself and not tell anypony. Dalen was probably still looking...
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Dalen approached the house of his target. He was on a job, killing the mayor of this town so that a new law would be approved. He was finding it in the way of his current objective, finding Shadow, and he wanted to get this over with. But that didn't mean he couldn't grow his reputation as he did it. He was still on the streets, ponies walking briskly by.
Dalen heard the whispers as he walked. They were whispering one word, a warning to some, a wakeup call to others. To Dalen, it was one thing, his name. “Death”. Death reached his house, the street now devoid of ponies as they realized what he was here to do. Some went to call the authorities, others to run to safety.
Death knocked on the door, three rapid knocks that gave the owner some surprise. The mayor opened the door, suddenly his eyes grew wide. Standing in front of him, was a light grey pony with a mane blending in with the pitch black hood that hid his face and body. The pony looked at him, the scythe gleaming in the sunlight promising a quick death.
"Wha-," The mayor could startlingly say before his throat was cut, the blood pouring out rapidly. Death pulled back the scythe he had sliced with, the blood stains were a dark red.
"Okay, next up, his son," Death said, before stepping past the still bleeding out pony to the room inside. The table was set for four with an extra chair, the wife and son noticed him enter, their fears immediately growing. The young filly was confused, but stopped her eating nonetheless.
"Room for one more?" Death asked, before raising his scythe. He was ruthless as the room was splattered in blood. The mother tried to scream and shield her child, and Death had to slash multiple times at her to get her to die. The son was wide eyed as the scythe came across his neck, severing it with a sickening crack as the scythe cut through the bone.
Death looked down at the remaining filly, her eyes wide with horror. The trauma cutting deep in her mind as she looked at her mother's body below her, covered in blood and cuts. Her eyes were filled with tears. Then, she looked up at Death’s dark, cruel eyes as he looked into her innocent ones.
"Life is cruel like that, deal with it," Death said, before turning and leaving the scarred filly to cry over her mother. If he had to live with it, so would others.
Death left the house, to find a trio of Dawn Guards waiting for him. They raised their spears, ready to fend him off.
"Stop Death," The one in the front said, his spear reaching forward towards him.
"Nopony can stop Death," Death said, using his scythe to slice off the shaft of the spear, causing it to fall apart. Then he cut a fatal wound in the guard's chest before turning to the others.
Death used one swing to cut across their chests, causing them to fall over and start to bleed out. He lifted his scythe, looking into the air as he did. A group of guards were approaching. Four Shadow Guards, lead by a Divine guard, were headed towards him.
"Shit," Death said before turning and running. A Divine guard was a death sentence to Death himself. He just ran in the direction of the forest. It wasn't too far, but he wasn't taking any chances with the Divine guard.
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"So Marx, what now?" Rogue asked, feeling boredom enter her mind again.
"I need to heal up, before Mercy comes back again. When I can stand up again... want to go sparring?" Marx asked.
"I'd love that," Rogue said, smiling as Marx flinched from the pain he felt trying to look at her.