//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 Mercenaries // Story: Not What I had Expected // by Frosthowl //------------------------------// The throne room was quite active, as several guards were stationed at full alert due to the newly arrived guests coming to the castle. Luna stood tall with her sister as they awaited the group that Celestia had personally requested. The small clatter and clanging of metal could be heard, making the guards tense up , Luna however knew that the only way to deal with mercenaries was to show confidence and no hint of weakness. Celestia's experience with these kind of shady ponies had faded over the centuries, but for Luna, she remembered dealing with a group like this just a year ago, due to her banishment. Shining Armor was also present at the bottom of the stairs, waiting with his peers. The doors swung open and a group of diverse creatures walked along the red carpet leading to the the throne room, escorted by 12 guards, by their 3, 6 and 9 o clock. The group was composed of several different species. The first was a gray maned and navy blue pegasus that had wing clippers, which are armored blades at the end of one's wings. Other than the obvious weapons on his wings, he also wore a black bandana that covered his eyes. If one were to look close, they would see three distinct scars that could have only been made by a gryphon. The second mercenary was a changeling with poison green eyes and mane, its horn had been cut short and its wings were hidden under its carapace, unlike their cousins in the badlands, they had butterfly like wings that could excrete a powerful venom. Luna remembered vaguely of reading of reclusive hives on the other side of the world. Just its involvement alone impressed Luna as she had never seen one. The guards were of course vary, watching the changeling's every move. The third mercenary was a very tall and strong built minotaur that had pale white fur and red eyes. His horns however, were different from the rest of his kin, they branched off like a stag's, but thicker. This mercenary seemed to be a cousin of the minotaur race that were known as tundra walkers. They were giant minotaurs that could only be found past the crystal empire at the very top of the world. He walked using his polearm as a walking stick, seeming that he had difficulty walking. This was due to the fact of the biology of his race, the great girth of the tundra walkers would prevent them from moving in a steady, let alone speedy manner, but their strength was not something someone would question. The fourth and final mercenary was a female gryphon who had black feathers along with orange spots across her body, as well as around her eyes that matched their amber color. The biggest difference from her kind along with the most terrifying feature were her metal talons that stick out like a sore horn. Because she couldn't properly move them, she ended up scratching up the carpet as she walked up towards the princesses, leaving a torn trail in her wake. The group finally stopped just in front of the steps, with even more guards standing between the mercs and the princesses."I thank you for coming, we, the royal sisters of Equestria are in dire need of your particular set of skills." "Just drop the pleasantries and tell us what our objective is, I'm too old to wait for someone to make a five hour greeting card!" The pegasus spoke with a dark and gruff voice that was emotionally dead. Luna was in her mind taken aback by the change of attitude mercenaries had these days. It was certainly different from her time. Shining was however gritting his teeth at how disrespectful the pony was towards the princess. "Watch your mouth! You're.-" "Very well!" Luna cut off the brash Captain. "About a week ago, a filly was abducted by a ferocious creature that is not of this world, for the past year it has roamed the everfree forest. Do you know of whom I am referring to?" The navy pegasus nodded. "I'm guessing its the big bad pig of the Everfree Forest, I've only heard rumors Its a minotaur like creature with no fur, snout or horns." "Precisely, We want you and your company of companions to rescue the filly from the human!" Luna added. The pegasus raised an eyebrow at the princess' ludacris mission. "How do you even know that this human hasn't killed the filly?" "I've roamed the dream world and I can still see her in it, meaning she is alive." "I'm sorry but we're not going to go on your mumbo-jumbo stomach feeling to rescue a filly who is obviously dead… unless you pay us extra for lack of intel." He said, smirking. Luna nodded, while the captain became more and more frustrated with the insolent pony. ´´Just who the heck does this pony think he is!?´´ Shining armor thought to himself. "What can you tell us about the human? Any information is critical as I am not willing to attack something that hunts timber wolves and displays minotaur skeletons as a warning, without some sort of leverage." The pegasus spoke bluntly. This time, Celestia stepped forward to speak. "He carries with him an enchanted axe that is as dangerous as his temper, he is very paranoid and constantly vigilant, you will have to be careful not to expose yourself at a bad time as he appears to have almost a sixth sense that somehow lets him know somepony is following him. And most of all, he has a very powerful magical immune-system. Any magic used on him will have almost no effect on him. "I myself have never seen him, could you describe his appearance?" The merc asked, taking mental notes at every piece of new intel that was revealed. Celestia nodded. "But of course. His height was measured at 179 centimeters when we last measured him and his physical appearance is that of a minotaur but without a snout and is completely lacking of fur other than his mane and facial hair. If you want, we have an entire medical analysis of his entire body along with several pictures that you are free to bring along with you." "I'm sure Locust would appreciate it." He said tilting his head towards his changeling colleague. "And besides, I'm blind, so I would appreciate it if he could have it in my stead." He said, with a slight hint of humor. Celestia smiled as she got a good hang of talking with the merc and let Luna continue on. "Your mission is to return the filly to us alive and well. The reward for completing your task is 10,000 bits for her safe return." A big frown appeared on the mercenaries’ faces. "Well then, good luck getting her back, we're not doing a high risk job for '10k'." The mercenaries turned their backs on the princesses and the guards moved slightly out of the way as they began to head out of the throne room. "Wait! Where are you going!?" Luna called out in a slight state of panic. "Get somepony else to do the job, we're not doing this for this low-pay!" Luna was almost shattering her teeth by how hard she was gritting them due to how disrespectful they were acting. "Guards, Stop them!" The guards quickly surrounded the band of soldiers. They raised their spears and magical shields towards them while Shining armor also took the liberty to create a magical prism to contain them all. An angry frown appeared on all of their faces, but the gryphon appeared a lot more agitated by this new growing hostility. "Just what in the name of Tartarus do you think you're doing!?" The griffon called out as her talons began digging deep into the floor, causing screeching noises. "I agree, we have not done anything illegal! If we decline your insane request, you have no right to keep us here!" The blind pegasus spoke without turning his face towards the princesses. "You think you can speak to royalty in such a manner!? I should have you all thrown in the dungeons!" Luna called out. "ENOUGH!" The booming sound of the royal canterlot voice rang in the throne room, from Celestia herself. All the guards and the mercs were taken by surprise by the solar diarch’s outburst and quickly grew silent. "If you think our original payment is low, I will raise it...Ten thousand bits for each and every one of your colleagues, including you!" Luna was stunned by the insane payment that Celestia had offered the mercenaries, but she had dared not to speak up against her sister, after all, the last time she had used the royal canterlot voice against her was during their battle a thousand years ago. The band started to discuss it amongst themselves, huddling together whispering to each other. After a minute had gone by, the leader stepped forward. "We find your amount… acceptable." *** The caravan had been traveling for 11 hours straight since Aran's encounter with the bears. During that time, Aran had gotten enough rest and was now quietly sitting, waiting for the gryphon in the other caravan to finish skinning, stitching and preparing the bears hide. Winter was coming and Aran's hairless body would need anything that could keep him warm, though magmar had weak winters, it could get cold enough that if he wouldn't have anything to protect his body, he would be unable to fight. It already felt cold enough for snow, now all that was missing was the snow itself. Applebloom was still snoozing and the horse had glanced once or twice at him during their journey. She obviously feared the human, but knew good enough that he wouldn't hurt her without a good reason. The caravan eventually came to a halt as it was time for the puller to get some well deserved rest, Aran stepped out to see that the caravan had stopped in a circle around itself. As the new bodyguard of Korvax, part of his job was to protect his property, in other words, Korvax’s staff and the caravan itself. So while everyone busied themselves getting a fire started, Aran climbed on top of biggest of the wagons and sat on top of it with his axe lying on his lap. Their location was roughly half an hour away from a large forest that would be too risky to travel through during the night. "You're already showing yourself to have a lot of dedication to your new job!" Korvax called with a smirk on his face. The human’s right eye looked towards the minotaur while his left kept continued to keep vigilance over the caravan. "Too bad you couldn't have joined sooner, I'd have probably saved me a lot of money." He spoke, whilst climbing up to the driver’s seat, sitting a few feet below the human. "Then I'm happy I joined so late." He said with a cocky smirk. "But in all honesty I didn't join you because I know that first chance you get, you'll sell me to a Warlord as a slave." "You got me!" He said, appearing as if he was joking, but Aran couldn't read his expression. "speaking of betrayals, once we reach Magmar, I have an offer for you.” Aran raised his eyebrow with a smirk at the scheming minotaur. “Oh really?” Korvax chuckled. “Lets just say your skills will come in use. When our contract comes to an end, I’ll have a proposition for you that will have you settled for life.” Aran laughed "I’m guessing you’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart?” “Profit!” Korvax cut in. “And the fact that I’ll get half of the pay since I’m the one with the connection and you are the one that can make it happen. Its as simple as that.” Aran kept his crazed smirk plastered on his face. “Very well, I’ll look forward to what this offer will turn out to be. And of course, when the point of inevitable betrayal comes, I'll make sure to kill you quickly." Korvax started to climb down from the wagon. "Oh yes, that too.” He laughed. “I expect nothing less from you." He said, finally going back to join the other with their recently finished campfire. A slight feeling of loneliness slowly overcame Aran as he glanced at the people who had gathered around the warm fire. Seeing Applebloom also join them made him feel slightly worse and with the winds not letting up, the human shuddered in the cold. Alone, hungry and freezing, the human felt an emotional sadness that he hadn't in almost a year. *** Few hours had gone by and most had already finished their meals, the human was supposed to be the last one to eat just before everyone went to sleep as most of them were herbivores and were quite uncomfortable with his more omnivorous diet, leaving the gryphon tailor to cook for him. The gryphon appreciated having another meat eater on the team, but just having the same diet wouldn't cut it for him to have the courage to approach him. Part of his job was to occasionally take to the sky and watch for trouble, alerting everyone should something or someone approach. Although he did have the human a bit yesterday, he was covered blood and had dragged the corpse of an enormous bear over to his wagon. Even a gryphon would be slightly off-put by something that kills bears without much effort. He just nodded at everything he asked for and hoped he wouldn't upset him. Taking one last gulp, he approached the wagon that the human was sitting on and held the stew in sight the whole time. "Y..-Your d-d-dinner!" He stuttered. Aran didn't respond, but he did lean down to pick up the large bowl, with chunks of cooked meat floating in the stew. A small sincere smile crept on his face as he hadn't eaten cooked meat in a long time. Though he didn't like it when it was in chunks, he did prefer it to be warm, so he took the bad with the good and started slurping it up. After a satisfying sigh, he hugged the warm bowl tightly. "When will the bear pelt be ready?" He spoke, trying to warm himself up. The gryphon’s fear of the human slightly eased up as he saw the smile. "It should be ready by tomorrow, I've had a lot of issues trying to fix the damage that was done." "Alright then." Aran's left eye spotted some shadows in the distance moving, heading towards the dimly lit caravan. Aran quickly narrowed his eyes towards the shadows and focused his sight as best he could. His previous smile grew and his eyes opened with a sick look of pleasure on his face. "Finally, something to do!" In the distance was a pack of wolves, not timberwolves, real flesh and bone wolves that were much bigger and tougher then easily smashed timber wolves. "-And a chance to test my axe again." Aran gripped the handle tightly as he jumped off the roof and landed on the ground. A loud howl rang in the field, waking everyone causing most of the caravan to look outside to see what was going on. A loud and deafening roar echoed throughout the entire field. Aran charged the wolves in a bloodthirsty frenzy. He didn't wait a single second for them to surround him Aran charged straight at the largest wolf in the group. Twirling his axe so that the blade was pointed down, he lunged at the wolf slashing at it from its nose to the end its tail in one clean slice. The wolf slid apart, bisected, its entrails spilling out along with other cleanly sliced organs, glistening red in the setting sun. Pieces of brain matter had somehow managed to land atop Aran’s head along with a decent amount of blood splattering his face. The wolves stepped back after the initial attack, taken by surprise at how quickly one of their pack members had been slaughtered in an instant. But just because they were backing away, did not mean that Aran would take time and pick his next opponent. To him, it was the sweet relief of taking out all his anger and hatred from everything that had happened to him, and the more he struck, chopped, eviscerated, and slaughtered, the better he felt. The second wolf that was trying to run away was immediately chopped in half in the middle of its back. Making the upper part yelp out in an unimaginable horror, still alive from its nightmare, turning back to see its half digested meal of a rabbit, old meat clinging to bone, dripping with a little of its stomach acid, surrounded by its own crimson blood. The third wolf pounced Aran, but the human couldn't strike again, so he redirected the wolf with a slam to the face with the bottom of the handle knocking the wolf to the side, quickly followed up with a strike to another wolf, crushing its skull with the blunt side as hard as he could, shards of its cranium sticking out at angles, the eyes popped like grapes, the eye sockets now drooling chunks of brain and blood. The previous one finally shook itself out of its daze only to be chopped into four pieces, the head flying into the air, given a prime view of its decimated body for the last few seconds it kept alive. It was clear to the rest of the pack that they wouldn't stand a chance, so the remaining wolves ran away, hoping to get away from the maniacal human… but Aran had no intentions of letting them escape. *** Everyone saw how the blood drenched human chased after the fleeing wolves. Applebloom however ran to the scene and took a closer look at the aftermath. "Wait, Applebloom!" Anzja called, running after the little filly. She stopped running as she saw the innocent pony looking over the carnage. With one still alive and barely breathing. Half of its body cut in half, exposing all its innards. Anzja covered Appleblooms eyes, hoping to spare her from the terrifying view. "Don't bother, ahm used to it." She simply stated. Anzja looked down, surprised by her words. She slowly removed her hoof away from the filly's eyes and took a deep breath. After a few moments of staring with other members of the caravan, they went back to their wagon some of them trying to hold down their dinners. Even Applebloom had never seen Aran like this, usually he fought with more anger than enjoyment, but this time, it was like he was addicted to the bloodshed. "I dont understand why the wolves would hunt so far away from their territory, what could have driven them here?" Anzja asked out loud, not really expecting an answer from a filly. "Didn't that gryphon cook Aran's supper? Maybe they could smell it?" Applebloom replied. A few moments went by as Anzja wanted to ask a question that had been burning in her mind. "Applebloom, how did you two meet and why are you traveling together? I can't imagine its because you are his family or his friend." Applebloom took a few seconds to think on what she would say. In the meanwhile she had tilted her head to tell Anzja to go back to their wagon so she could explain in privacy, she also needed a bit of time to think what she would reveal. If she ended up saying something wrong, it might frustrate her companion, and after witnessing the recent massacre, she wanted to definitely avoid that. "When I was still living in ponyville, me and mah friends thought it would be a smart idea if we went and captured him. Thinking back now, it was the stupidest idea ah've ever come up with." "I agree, it was very foolish." Anzja said, with a motherly tone and a disapproving frown "But one thing led to another and the princesses wanted to kill Aran, even if ah might’ve died because of that. The guards she sent to help me, were ordered by Aran to drink the water they brought him, he thought it might be poisoned or somethin’. Turned out he was right, just then some other pony attacked Aran head on and the one he asked to drink, used his magic to carry me. But that’s when the timber wolves came running after us and the poison killed the guard. "How inconsiderate of your leaders!" Anzja raised her voice, not understanding how they could risk the life of a little filly like a pawn for their own gain. "Ah barely managed to escape. Ah saw all the guards lying on the ground, most of ‘em weren’t alive. But just as ah was about tah’ catch up with Aran, a large pack of timber wolves came after us and we had tah’ run for our lives again, but despite everything, Aran protected me… ah don' know if he did it ‘cause he actually likes me or ‘cause he didn’t know what he was do’in, my guess its a bit o’ both." A small smile appeared on Anzja's face as she began to see the human in a better light. "I do not know if he cares for you like a father for his daughter, but I can see that you do want his approval, and despite you being in danger when you are together, and I also see that he does care for you when he kept you warm with his fore-hooves." Applebloom's depressing thoughts started to fade away as she also recalled how he had complimented her, a little filly like her had won the respect of arguably the most fearsome creature that had ever existed, in her mind that was something to be proud of. "Ah guess you're right." A few minutes went by and Applebloom continued to tell Anzja about how they ended up working for Korvax, but as her story came to its conclusion, the duo could hear others were calling out that Aran had returned. They both stepped out of the wagon to see the blood drenched human, shouldering his axe and holding the head of two wolves by their fur. "Despite him being a nice-pony, he still is a terrifying creature." Anzja leaned down, commenting on her bizarre companion. "Aaaand now I'm bored." He said, dropping the heads on the ground and taking a seat at the fireplace, planting his axe in the ground in front of him. "Ah’m going to bed now, Anzja." Applebloom yawned out as she stepped back into the wagon, knowing that nothing more was going to happen anyways. "You do that." The horse said also a bit tired, but before she would call it a day, she decided to take a closer look at the human. She wanted to be completely certain that he did indeed care for Applebloom. As everything began to calm down and everyone went back to sleep in their wagons, Anzja saw how Korvax handed the human a smoke-stick. "Nice job, you certainly didn't go overboard." Korvax joked, as he lit the smoke-stick with a leaf that he had engulfed in fire. "Oh really? And here I thought I was holding back too much." Aran laughed. "Thanks for the smoke, now fuck off so I can enjoy it as well." Korvax patted the human’s shoulder, before leaving him alone for the rest of the night. Their encampment was now almost completely empty with the exception of Aran and Anzja. The horse approached the relaxed human. "If you're trying to sneak up on me, you're doing a horrible job at it." He commented, hearing her coming from a mile away. "I wasn't trying to sneak up on you!" Anzja exclaimed, a forehoof raised to her chest, a little offended. "Good, because you're horrible at it." He turned around with the smoke-stick in his mouth and a crazed grin. He took note of her expression, "I'm just kidding, so whats up?" He asked, gesturing her to sit down by the fire. Anzja did just that and sat a few feet away from the enormous human. Taking a long and drawn out breath she started speaking what was on her mind. "I wanted to talk to you about Applebloom." Aran didn't respond and just blew out the smoke that was trapped in his lungs. "She told me your story about how you two were trapped together and what you did afterwards." "Are you seriously sitting down next to me to have a discussion about moral ethics?" Aran asked, raising his right eyebrow, waiting for a very stupid answer. "No, that is also not why I am here. I came to you because I wanted to know if you are a suitable guardian for that little filly." "Guardian!?" Aran asked shocked. "Yes, guardian. I refuse to let that filly continue her journey with you, if she cannot be kept safe. I need to know that you won't let her die, not matter what. If you cannot give me your word you will keep her safe, I will not let you see her again after we reach magmar." A few moments passed as Aran stared at the horse in slight interest. Though she had shown great courage in standing up against the human, her jaw was shuddering and her eyes were looking irritated, as if producing tears. "How old is she?" Aran asked. "What?" Anzja asked, not understanding the off-topic question. "How old is your daughter." Aran repeated, more clearly this time. Anzja was taken by surprise by the human’s question. "How… how do you know I have a daughter!?" She demanded. "That look in your eyes...I've seen it only once, when a mother was shielding her daughter from harm. You had that same look when you mentioned Applebloom's security, but if you want an answer from me I will need an answer from you first." Anzja sat quietly, not knowing if she should answer or not. "The last time I saw her, was two years ago… she was as big as Applebloom… before she was taken from me." Aran took another blow from the smoke-stick and exhaled the smoke. "Where is she now?" He followed the answer with another question. Anzja needed a second to be able to form the words, her throat felt closed off and she was holding back her tears as much as possible. "I was very poor in Al-charid, I lived in the slums with my daughter, until a slave collector came one day and captured her. I did everything I could to rescue her, but there is only so much a mother can do for her daughter, I was beaten nearly half to death and thrown out of the city. I would have died, hadn't Korvax found me." She went on unhindered, like she was reliving everything all over again. As she stopped, she removed the tears that had slithered down her face. It was finally Aran's turn to answer the question that had been given to him. Extinguishing the smoke-stick with his left hand palm that was made out of a large layer of dead and tough skin. Anzja saw this and was confused by the humans antics. "Doesn't that hurt?" She asked. "It doesn't and that's exactly the reason I...tolerate Applebloom, over the past year I've been through unimaginable pain, hardship and suffering. Day in and day out I try to find a reason to fight… a reason to wake up… a reason to continue living. Since I met Applebloom, she rescued me from the one thing I fear above all else..." Anzja was waiting anxiously for what the human’s fear would turn out to be. "When I was held prisoner in Canterlot, I had all the time in the world to think. Every regret I ever had and everything I was never going to do, see or feel again. I would've been driven insane if I didn't learn to… shut it off. But when I escaped, I could finally care again, only I had no reason to care for anything. No family, no friends, nothing." Aran laughed. "Its ironic, I'm physically unbreakable, but emotionally fragile… I never want to be alone again… it is undoubtedly the worst thing that has happened to me since my arrival." A few moments passed, the firewood started to let out some crackles as it was slowly about to burn out. "I will never be alone again, as long as I have Applebloom, I have a reason to look forward to the next day." Aran now stared directly at Anzja. She wasn't sure if she had angered him or if he was just being serious. He stood up was about to take a seat on top of the wagon again, but not before he glanced at the mare one last time. "You know, you got guts for talking to me the way you did." And with that, he left Anzja alone going back to the wagon to continue his watch. *** Luna's eyes shot opened, having finally located Applebloom. Her sister and the others were anxiously waiting. "They are a day away from Magmar, If you leave tonight, you should be by the border of Equestria by morning and Magmar in four days time. I'm certain that they will stay there for at least a while, which will allow your team to catch up to them.” “Why can’t you just drop us off at a specific point?” The blind pegasus asked. “The minotaurs aren’t a very diplomatic race, unless we have an audience with their High Warlord, we won’t be able to fly there without starting an international incident.” Celestia replied. As everyone was preparing their equipment. Celestia took her captain to the side so she could talk to him in private before sending him away. “Yes, your highness?” “I have a personal favor to ask of you and I hope that this request can stay between you and me.” “Of course, your highness!” Celestia lowered her muzzle closer to the captain’s ear. “If you are presented with the chance to kill him, I want you to take it!”