One only had to take a quick glance at the damage that the monstrous hydra had caused to the forestland. Where the hydra had rampaged, a huge trench snaked towards Ponyville, highlighting the hydra's failed rampage as it attempted to make its way towards Canterlot. Nonetheless, it make a very easy starting point to begin the damage survey to the forest. But more importantly to Rengar, he would now find out if he could still hunt.
With him, Princess Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy accompanied him into the Everfree Forest, with Rainbow Dash flying above to survey the area with a pegasus's-eye-view. Heading into the forest, they quickly noticed the damage that was evident around them. Trees were burnt to ashes, frozen solid, or scorched by blasts of electricity. Charred corpses of animals were littered around the trench where the hydra moved through the forest as well.
"Dear Celestia...", Twilight muttered as she looked over the animals that had perished. Some recognizable and dangerous, such as the mantacores and an occasional basilisk, but here and there were the occasional non-mutated animals, including squirrels, rabbits, and other creatures whose numbers had dwindled due to the aggressive and violent monsters.
Fluttershy attempted to divert her eyes from the carnage, but even after all that she had been through with the hydra, she still went pale when her eyes rested on a dead creature, monster or not.
As Rengar surveyed the damage and the corpses of the animals as he made his way deeper into the forest, he kept mental notes to himself as he went along.
"Hmmm...most of these casualties are the monsters. However, they should easily grow back to their over-population. The hydra only momentarily rampaged through the forest on its way to that castle on the mountain. Therefore...my hunt should continue."
This certainly pleased Rengar quite a bit. He looked back to what the other two ponies were doing, and found Twilight etching down notes in a scroll that she had brought, several others in her saddlebag. Fluttershy still couldn't feel secure in this forest, even with the dead beasts around her.
Or maybe that was precisely it.
"Rengar?"
He turned around to the source of the voice.
"What is it?", he responded to Twilight, focusing his eye on her shape.
"What do you think about all of this? From what I can tell, the forest can defiantly recover, but the monsters will too, and the non-mutated animals have now become even more endangered than now."
"I've come to the same conclusion as well. But that intrigues me. Would something like this happen again?", Rengar asked back.
"I-I really hope it doesn't...", Fluttershy whispered through the eerily silent forest.
Then, a flap of wings were heard, and Rainbow Dash circled to make a landing. She touched down and trotted up to her friends.
"How's it look up there?", Twilight asked Rainbow as she approached her.
"It's....pretty messy down there. Not gonna lie. This whole trench goes for quite a long way. But you guys are getting towards the end pretty soon. Wanna pack up and go?", Rainbow Dash stretched herself as she spoke.
"Not yet, Dash. Can you take Fluttershy and explore the west end of the trench?", Twilight asked her friend to escort her other.
"No problem! Ya up for this Flutters?", she smiled at Fluttershy.
"W-Well...I..."
"Sounds like a yes to me!", she exclaimed and pulled her away, earning an "EEP!" from her. Twilight giggled while Rengar grunted and shook his head.
"Well, I guess that leaves you and me, Rengar. So...could you tell me more about the League of Legends?"
At this point, Rengar wished that he could have gone off with that obnoxious and egotistical pegasus than give a lecture on this age-old subject.
Actually, no. Telling Twilight more about the same subject was indefinitely better.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy clung to her friend as they marched deeper into the forest. Thankfully, it wasn't as thick as the eastern part of the woodland, so sunlight was able to penetrate more easily in the west side, albeit, not by much. When the two had strayed away from Twilight and Rengar, Rainbow Dash suddenly spoke up to Fluttershy.
"So, how's that lion treating you?", she asked while she brushed aside a few ferns.
"Oh, Rengar? He's treating me just fine, at least that's what I think...", she replied back, still finding witness to the occasional charred animal corpse.
"Really. Well, if he gives you any trouble, just come talk to me. He may have surprised us before, but I won't fall for the same trick again.", Rainbow Dash looked back towards her friend, "I'll set him straight."
The much more timid pegasus looked up at her friend, looked away as if doubting if she should say what was on her mind, but gave in and spoke up.
"After all he's done, you still don't trust him?"
Rainbow Dash stopped and turned around.
"Well...I mean...", Rainbow Dash couldn't find the perfect words to say, as she was a mare not known for doing such things.
"Rainbow Dash, even the Princesses seem to know him. And-"
"Yeah, yeah. Without him, Ponyville would have been flattened and all of that stuff.", Rainbow Dash spun her hoof, signalling the "going on and on" movement, "It's just...well...he really isn't the greatest of guys to chat with, ya know?"
"But wasn't Gilda that way? You still made up with her, and she even sent me an apology through the mail."
"B-But that's diff-", Rainbow Dash cut herself off. It really wasn't all that different. But... Rengar threatened one of her friends. She couldn't let that go like the others.
Could she?
No, she couldn't. That was a line that Rengar had crossed, and a line that he would never backtrack to the other side.
"Come on Fluttershy. Let's make this quick so we can get outta here."
Before Fluttershy could reply, she managed to hear rustling nearby. Her friend didn't hear it, but Fluttershy managed to. It was faint, yet it sounded urgent. Like an animal running.
Fluttershy whispered to her friend.
"Um...Rainbow Dash? I think I heard something over there.", she pointed in the direction of the noise.
"Ya did? I didn't hear anything.", Rainbow Dash stopped to listen to the environment, "Well, if you say so, lead the way, Flutters."
The two ponies broke off their path and wandered deeper into the forest. The corpses of animals were not found around as they walked farther, and instead of burnt and frozen plants, the wildlife seemed intact for as far as they could tell. However, not even a mouse was found where they were walking, and Rainbow Dash began to doubt that Fluttershy had heard anything.
"Uh...are ya sure that you heard something?"
"Yes, it's just around..."
Then, they saw it. In a small clearing was the shape of a tiny fox. However, this was unlike any fox that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had ever seen before. Instead of fur, its entire pelt was of crystalline structure. The small creature's coat of crystals glistened in the patches of sunlight that made its way down, showering the rather dark clearing into a multitude of rainbow light. It was truly a sight to behold, even to Rainbow Dash.
"Fluttershy... what is that?", she whispered.
"I... I think it's a prism fox...", Fluttershy whispered back in complete awe, as she couldn't believe what she was seeing in front of her.
"A... prism fox? I haven't seen one before.", Rainbow Dash kept her voice low, as to not startle the creature.
"I haven't either... I'd never even think I'd see one in my entire life. They're extremely rare...", Fluttershy explained to her friend, who was just as awestruck as her.
They watched the crystalized fox paw around, shifting the dazzling display of the rainbow spectrum around itself. The prism fox sniffed for food...
...but it seemed to be a bit less energetic than other foxes.
"Uh...Fluttershy? Shouldn't be a bit more- I think it's injured!", Rainbow Dash rose her voice a tiny bit, but not too much as to scare the fox away.
"Oh... really? I think you're right...", Fluttershy squinted and saw a limp in its step. Sure enough, it was holding one of its hind legs up. Possibly broken...
They watched the tiny fox tread around in pain, and it didn't take long for Rainbow Dash to speak up.
"We should help it!"
"Yes! We have to!"
Before the ponies could approach the exotic Everfree creature, a chill ran down their spines.
They felt the air grow... cold.
But at the same time... it felt warm.
...forgiving.
However, it also felt frigid.
...unescapable.
They sunk down into the bush, and could see the prism fox grow weaker and weaker. It had to be dying. Were the two ponies feeling the death of the fox? They didn't know, but felt frozen in place as the air seemed to grow warmer, but shift colder at the same time...
Then, out of the wilderness, a while glow emerged.
Beholding them seemed to be a heavenly figure. It's white fur glowed with a warm aura. On its two legs, it gently approached the fox. Long ears flowed down from the head of the mysterious being. As it walked closer into the clearing, Fluttershy could make out delicate hooves on the bottom of its legs, but fingers on the ends of its arms, like Spike's claws.
As the being walked towards the fox, now lying on the ground, seemingly in peace, more details revealed themselves to the eavesdropping ponies. A striking characteristic was a pitch-black mask that adorned the being's face. The black was in complete opposite to its white fur, with an engraving on the forehead that represented a little wick of a flame. Or was it a wisp of a spirit?
The two ponies couldn't tell.
Then, the creature bent down to the fox.
It spoke in a soothing voice, even more soothing and warm than Celestia's voice herself. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were shocked at the creature's beautiful voice when it echoed from its mask.
"Oh... little fox... So much death has laid its cruel hands upon this forest. We couldn't judge all of these poor souls, now lost in torment from the monster's awakening. But... you are lucky, even as you die..."
Fluttershy's mouth was slightly ajar. She was in complete awe of what was happening in front of her eyes. She was shocked beyond belief of what was happening, even as this spirit was speaking of death.
"...I can grant you painless, and embrace you in your final moments of your death. Do you want that...?", the spirit asked.
Then, Rainbow Dash shook Fluttershy out of her trance.
"It's gonna kill the fox! We have to do something!", she whispered to her friend urgently.
She would have said something. She would have stopped the creature from ending the other. She knew how to save it, and help it. She took a step forward, but something else emerged.
Or more accurately, burst out.
From a tree rushed a black haze, fitted with razor-sharp teeth and eyes that flickered with a blue fire, just as the other spirit. But that's where the similarities ended.
The other being turned the air into a cold, frigid, and deathly atmosphere by its mere presence. Clouds of darkness folded from its shape, a black haze forming into a mask, complete with the teeth that would seem adequate to tear off a pony's head. The other being spiraled around the other. It snarled and growled as it approached the fox, still lying there peacefully. The black haze seemed to represent a kind of thick fur, as it seemed to stand on its end as it shouted.
The black being, bearing a white mask that was opposite to the white spirit's with its engraving upside down snarled in a voice that held the very presence of slaughter and death within it.
"No! Thrash! Flee! Resist! Deny! Your time shouldn't come yet, little fox! Run away so I can hunt you down! I hunger!", the black spirit snarled viciously at the now still fox of crystals.
Then, Fluttershy broke through the tree line, screaming at the top of her lungs.
"No! Stop! It doesn't have to die!", Fluttershy shouted as she raced down, letting her emotions overtake her reasoning.
"Fluttershy! Wait!", Rainbow Dash desperately called after her.
Everything went wrong in an instant.
A rush of black haze swept up both of the ponies instantaneously, sending them tumbling to the ground. They were then pulled up from the ground by their tails from the floating spirit's jaws, and now found themselves staring directly at the white being, armed with a bow that seemed to be made of magic itself, two arrows notched and aimed right for their temples.
The arrows drew back from the spirit's fingers, gaining tension and tightening their accuracy. The much more vicious spirit dangled and shook them, seemingly toying with them as they hung helplessly from their tails.
"Ponies. You should not have interfered with death.", the white spirit spoke in its warm voice once again, earning Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash to sweat in panic.
"Interfering with our judgement, even after all of the animals I could not eat from that hydra?! You'll now face your own demise! Yes! Lamb can shoot one, and I'll eat the other!", the other spirit snarled.
"No, Wolf. They must leave and not return. Ponies are good. But the fox has chosen its fate.", the one named "Lamb" lowered its bow.
"I hunger, Lamb! I want to eat! I want to see them interfere! I want to see them convince the fox to escape!", "Wolf" snarled again at the two ponies.
Rainbow Dash tried to speak through the blood that was now rushing towards her head from being upside down. She felt her head getting heavier and heavier with each passing second, only to be knocked around by the black spirit, Wolf.
"We were only trying to help the fox!", Rainbow Dash thrashed around inside the trapping of Wolf's grip.
"T-The fox can be saved! It's incredibly rare and endangered!", Fluttershy shouted as loudly as she could muster.
Lamb's gaze, a gaze of fire, yet hearth beaded on the ponies. Her bow was already lowered, but Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy knew that she only had to raise it again to kill them. Lamb then spoke again.
"Ponies are good ones. If they can save one from death, then we should let them do so. Especially with a rarity such as the prism fox. Perhaps... it's time has not come.", Lamb's calm and soothing voice echoed throughout the forest.
"Rrrrrgh... I'm hungry, Lamb! I need food!", Wolf growled through the tails of the ponies.
"Yes, Wolf. There is plenty to eat. But this fox, should it choose to be saved, isn't one to be eaten. There are other things to eat, dear Wolf, but not this one. Can you understand...?", Lamb walked up to her companion, place her hands onto Wolf's snout, and calmly spoke to him.
"...I will not eat the fox. But does it want to be saved?"
Lamb bent down towards the fox, and asked the question. The fox was barely conscience at the time of Lamb's speaking, but it could slowly open its shining eyes and nod slowly, understanding every word Lamb spoke.
"So the fox shall be saved."
As such, Wolf didn't drop the ponies, but set them down on the ground. Whisking back to Lamb, he snarled again at the ponies.
"Save the fox! Or it shall die... along with you both to pay the price!"
"R-Right! Rainbow Dash, there are special herbs that grow around here. They're a red color with a tiny yellow bud on them. Could you go that way to find some?", she pointed to the south of the group.
"You got it!", she zoomed off to find what she needed. Meanwhile, Fluttershy opened up her saddlebag and removed several bandages, as she had packed them in case she found injured animals, precisely what she had found with the prism fox. Now, she had to look for a sturdy stick to be used as a splint.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash twisted and dashed through the tree lines, her eyes searching left and right for the herb that Fluttershy described to her.
"Red color with a yellow bud...", she repeated to herself as her head swept side to side to scan the area. She decided to slow herself down in order to get a better view to the forest around her. Once she did, she never noticed how dark the Everfree Forest always was, even during the afternoon. It always just seemed pitch-black dark to her.
In fact, who was the dolt that named this the "Everfree"? If she could name it, she would probably have called it...
Well...
"Ah, who cares. It's just a stupid name.", she huffed a strand of mane out of her face as she now touched down to survey her area.
"Man, where are those herbs? They have to be somewhere...", she spoke to herself again, picking up on her bad habit of doing so.
Then, she managed to see a speck of red in the distance. If she squinted her eyes, perhaps she saw a bit of yellow on them as well. Smiling proudly to herself, she trotted on over to the gathering of herbs. When she arrived, Rainbow Dash eyed the plants carefully.
"Red color with a yellow bud. Yep, found it in..."
She shook her head, not being able to acquire the plants within one-sixth of a minute. She bent down to pick them with her mouth, and did so. One, two, three... she didn't know how much Fluttershy needed. In that case, she picked them all and placed each strand into her saddlebag.
When she did so, she felt the air grow a little warmer.
Was Lamb around her? Maybe she came to help?
Turning around, Rainbow found something completely different.
A gigantic serpent-like reptile curled down from the tree that she had stopped under to pick the herbs, its nose expunging hot-breath. A gigantic snake tongue flicked out from its mouth, feeling the air in front of it...
...and the pony.
Rainbow Dash stood still in absolute shock and intimidation, a humongous snake now sizing up what was in front of it.
With a smile that felt all-too hungry, the snake gave an unnerving hissing sound as it spoke.
"Luuuuunnnnchhhhh..."
At that point, Rainbow Dash turned around and delivered a firm smack into the basilisk's head, causing it to recoil from the sheer force of the buck. Shaking its head, it could now see the pegasus attempting to run and gain speed to lift off the ground.
With a swing of its massive tail, it slammed into the side of the pony, crashing it into a nearby tree. Rainbow Dash's lungs expelled all of their oxygen from the attack, and she struggled for air as she tried to get to her hooves at the base of the tree.
The basilisk slithered towards the stunned pony, and unhinged its jaw to swallow the pony whole.
"Not so fast!"
A wired throwing weapon tied with stone weights was hurled at the basilisk, snaring its mouth down shut. The giant snake turned around and bared witness to a bipedal lion leaping right at it, a pair of wrist-mounted blades sprouting out from his arm. The snake was too surprised to counter attack, and the lion landed right on top of the snake's neck. With a swift plunge of the two blades, Rengar drew blood from the basilisk.
He slashed the knife out of the bottom of its head, effectively putting an end to its life as it fell dead onto the forest floor. Grunting, he withdrew his blades with a sickening shluck, and the blades retracted back into their sheaths.
At that point, Twilight Sparkle flapped down next to Rainbow Dash and helped her friend up.
"Oh my gosh! Are you okay? What happened?!", she asked in mortal concern towards her friend.
Rainbow Dash managed to get the air back into her when she responded.
"I... was searching for some herbs than that... thing attacked me.", she managed to say.
"Basilisks. Those damned monsters love to prey on anything smaller than them. What were you doing collecting herbs? And where is that other pegasus you were with?"
"Fluttershy? She asked me to get herbs to help this injured... what was it... -oh! A prism fox!"
Then, Rengar's one eye grew wide with disbelief.
"A prism fox? Those are one of the most elusive and endangered creatures in the Everfree. It's literally the manifestation of beauty in a natural form. You said you found one?", Rengar asked with great interest.
With that, Rainbow Dash nodded.
"Twilight, we must tend to this animal. Too many have been lost to the beasts of this forest. Loosing even one more could drive them even further to extinction.", Rengar spoke to the princess.
"Well... okay. But can't we just reintegrate them into nature after we collect them and let them breed?"
"Not possible. From what I have heard, they hardly last a year in captivity."
"Alright, let's get those herbs, and Rainbow Dash, lead us."
After each member of the party had their share of herbs and after they had departed to head back, Rainbow Dash spoke to Twilight.
"How did you guys find me in time?"
Twilight smiled.
"We didn't find a whole lot of damage on our end, so we decided to loop back around and rejoin with you. Then, Rengar said that he heard a lot of commotion and smelled that you were nearby."
"Wait, he can smell me?"
"Yep, he says it's a stench that no other pony holds."
Rainbow Dash scowled at Rengar, who merely chuckled at her disapproval.
"Remember, pony. You would have been slowly digesting in that Basilisk."
Then, Rainbow Dash remembered something. She remembered about Lamb and Wolf, the two spirits that they met. How would Twilight, or especially Rengar react to them?
Well... if Lamb and Wolf tried something funny, then she and Rengar could get the jump on them while Twilight could back them up.
They took down a hydra, so four could fight two.
But not even all six of the Elements could take Rengar by surprise.
It took a bit for them to arrive back at where Fluttershy was tending to the fox, with Lamb and Wolf watching over. When more appeared from the tree line, Wolf was quick to react.
"More to save the fox?", Wolf snarled.
"They're friends of mine, Mr. Wolf.", Fluttershy responded to Wolf, who was still tending to the fox.
"Then they shall aide.", Lamb spoke in agreement. At once, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Rengar tended to the rare and nearly extinct animal. The bandages that Fluttershy crafted from her supplies were wound very easily with Twilight's magic after Rainbow Dash had ground the herbs into a fine paste. Placing the bandage onto the fox, Twilight then levitated a firm stick up that Fluttershy had found in order to serve the purpose as a splint.
Then, Rengar looked down and shook his head.
"The leg's infected. Even with that, it won't survive. Not unless I give it this."
Then, the lion took a small round glass flask from his belt. Inside of it was an extremely vibrant red liquid that sloshed around inside the container. On the top was a wooden and iron sealing piece, with a cork to stop the liquid.
The lion bent down towards the fox, poured a tiny bit of the red liquid in his paw, and held it up to the fox's snout to drink.
"Come on...", he mumbled to himself as the fox sniffed the liquid.
The fox barely licked the liquid. Then, it licked it again. And again. The more it tasted the liquid that Rengar held in his paw, the more it began to regain its composure and actually start to get up again.
The ponies watched in astonishment at the miracle of the fox's rejuvenation, as well as Lamb and Wolf who were also witnessing the spectacle.
The fox was now on its legs, drinking up the red liquid in Rengar's paw. After it had finished, it shook its crystalline fur, reflecting light into a magnificent rainbow spectrum, then wandered away.
The fox disappeared back into the forest, and Fluttershy looked back at Rengar.
"What... was that you gave the prism fox...?"
"That was a health potion, made in the League of Legends. When I came here... let's just say... I 'borrowed' a few things.", Rengar admitted to the group.
"Did you say..."
"...the League of Legends?"
Lamb and Wolf both spoke, with Wolf finishing Lamb's sentence. At this, Rengar immediately stiffened up. He was positive that no one but those princesses knew about this organization.
Especially that he used to be a part of it.
He turned around, eyeing both of the spirits in a glare.
"Yes... I did."
"Then you must be..."
"...Rengar!"
At this, Rengar formed his teeth into a threatening scowl and was mere inches from springing his wrist-blades out.
"Who's asking?"
Then, Lamb broke the tension.
"Bard has told us about you. We also know about your actions in the Everfree, preventing it from becoming even more overpopulated than what it is. We honor you dearly for this...", Lamb spoke to the lion.
"You hunt as well! Just like me and Lamb!", Wolf added to Lamb's statement, "Bard has told us that you are the League of Legend's greatest hunter! But one cannot be a greater hunter than death itself!"
"Wolf, I do wish that you could not try to raise a feud with him. He is a great hunter, and we shall pay our dearest respects to him.", Lamb patted Wolf's jawline in care.
"Rrrgh...", Wolf growled, yet when Lamb asked of things from him, he would always agree.
However, Rengar now had a question on his mind ever since they mentioned another name.
"You two know Bard?"
"Of course we do! He's the one who told us about you and he's also the one who brought you here! I wanted to eat you, but Bard kept telling me that I couldn't! I thought all things are mine for the taking, Lamb!"
"Even some things are better kept alive. Especially Rengar.", Lamb's voice echoed like mystical bells.
This entire conversation was a lot for the ponies to take in. They watched as the spirits and Rengar conversed back with each other for a rather lengthy period of time.
Then, Twilight stepped out.
"H-Hello. I'm Twilight Sparkle. Princess of Friendship. It's nice to meet you two."
"Friendship? Well... me and Wolf certainly have that quality...", Lamb giggled at her companion.
"...even while we chase and hunt!", Wolf's teeth seemed to form into a smile.
"And... please tell me. Who are you two?"
At this, Wolf formed back around Lamb, encircling her with his black hazy body. Lamb and Wolf began to speak.
"I am Lamb."
"And I am Wolf!"
"We shall go and find those who accept their death..."
"...or catch and kill those who deny it!"
"For we are never one-"
"without the other!"
"As such, we are-"
"Kindred!"
The two beings were invited by Princess Twilight, much to the other's surprise to accompany them through the Everfree Forest. In this time, twilight had learned a great deal about these two mysterious creatures. Apparently, their species, like the "Bard" that had brought Rengar to Equestria were called spiritkin. They lived in this world to essentially prevent undeath. Although these two beings were here with Twilight, Lamb described to her that she and Wolf were everywhere at once, as they were the manifestation of merciful and unescapable death, though the forces of death were always permanent no matter one would go.
Even Rengar was intrigued. At one point, he asked a question.
"If you know Bard, then where does he come from?"
Lamb laughed a tiny bit.
"Oh, wouldn't it be obvious, Rengar? Even though he can journey to different dimensions, he must originate somewhere. We are the same as him, but we don't have that power."
Then, it clicked in Rengar's head.
"So that means..."
"Yes. As me and Wolf were born on the world of Equus and we inhabit Equestria. Bard is the exact same."
Rengar couldn't believe his ears. A champion within the League of Legends actually had come from Equestria through dimensional travel.
"I-Impossible...", Rengar said to himself.
"Lamb speaks the truth, Rengar.", Wolf growled, finding a little amusement from his disbelief.
More questions were asked by Twilight Sparkle to Lamb and Wolf, and hilariously, they would sometimes finish each others sentences.
And she thought only Lyra and Bon-Bon did that.
As they checked on more damage with the Everfree Forest, Wolf suddenly spoke up to Lamb.
"Lamb, tell me a story.", he asked Lamb in his deep growl. At once, Lamb lightly ran her fingers through Wolf's fur gently and caringly.
"There was once a pale man with dark hair who was very lonely.", she began, her voice echoing of sooth and care.
"Why was it lonely?", Wolf asked back with a tone that seemed to let the others know that Wolf had known this answer.
"All things must meet this man, so they shunned him.", Lamb carried the story on.
"Did he chase them all?", Wolf asked again, knowing the answer.
"He took an axe and split himself in two right down the middle.", Lamb spoke the next part of the story that Wolf wanted to hear.
"So he would always have a friend?", Wolf looked at Lamb.
"So he would always have a friend.", Lamb looked at Wolf.
A lone guard was standing in the Everfree Forest. He watched around his location, seeing if anything was lurking in the bushes or in the tree lines. He stood there for a whole minute, watching and listening. Looking both ways, he then walked back towards a plethora of bushes. He rattled the bush.
Ponies dressed in armor began to step out from their cover, pushing the same carts of prototype weapons that were stolen from the Canterlot military.
Among them all, overseeing the whole thing was Golden Might. He had his hooves crossed as he leaned against a tree and looked over the soldiers that were approaching out of their concealment.
He got up from the tree and walked over towards a cart. Lifting up the tarp, he could see the magnificent prototype rifles that were nestled inside the cart.
"Perfect."
Then, more noise approached from the right. Turning to face the direction of the sound, more ponies began to exit from a tree line. However, these ponies were made entirely of crystals, obviously hailing from the Crystal Empire.
The crystal guardsponies stopped in front of Golden Might with several other carts.
"I see that your end of the deal has gone well?", he asked to one of the guards.
"Without a cinch. I bet that armory won't even notice that their best swords are gone for a week.", the crystal pony laughed as Golden Might inspected the cart's contents.
Crystal Swords. Nearly unbreakable and able to cut through nearly any metal known to ponykind. The perfect close-quarters weapon.
Especially to stop a certain lion's knife should it come to that...
"Good, very good.", Golden Might nodded and smiled at the crystal ponies.
"Alright! Everypony gather around!"
The guards circled around Golden Might, who was standing on a stump.
"I shall go over our objective here one more time. As such, we have found that our militaries have become weakened from their glory that they once had. The Elements of Harmony have done our jobs for us, and we won't have that anymore! The military might of Equestria shall rise again!"
"YEAH!", the guards shouted in unison.
"However, we need funding in order to do so. For our first corse of action, she shall trap various exotic and rare animals of this forest. There are rich bastards that would pay well over one million bits to get their hands on one of these animals as a pet. After we have done so and recruited more into our ranks, we shall then sell the prototype weapons we have acquired in exchange for more ponies. We shall learn how to reproduce these weapons and engineer faulty designs to mislead our buyers."
The audience of guards, fed-up with their poor militaries listened to each word intently.
"Eventually, with our new funding, we shall have the most powerful mercenary group within Equestria. Eventually, even the world!"
The guards cheered as the last sentence was spoken.
"Not even the Princesses or the Elements of Harmony will stop us! Together, we shall all bring back this land's former military glory!"
Golden Might smiled to himself as he saw the soldiers, now under his command cheer and shout in unison.
"Death to the Elements! Death to the Princesses!", one shouted.
"Dominate Equestria!", another cheered.
"No one will stop us!", another shouted.
The sad part is, it was rather true. The entire garrison of Canterlot was only roughly 200 strong, and that was after Golden Might had thinned out their numbers by secretly recruiting guards into his ranks. The order that he had given the glaive launch, however, was his own fault and incompetence. But in a sense, why should he have to trust the same military manual that his fellow canterlot guards, terrible in combat in nearly every situation worshipped like it was some kind of holy script?
The guards then got to work, inspecting the new weapons and gear that they had acquired while others began to head off to set traps for the exotic animals that lurked around, hiding from plain view.
The ex-captain smiled to himself. Everything was off without a hitch in the path. Coming over to the weapons, he thought a little bit. Should that lion show up with the elements, then they could simply use the HT-MK3 rifles to blast them apart at a range. He know for a fact that if one Element of Harmony fell, the others would be weakened beyond repair. In addition, he doubted even Rengar could survive such a high-powered shot.
The rotary cannon, on the other hand was something that could fell entire forests. No lion could possibly hide from that with fifty arcane-charged shots raining down in nearly every direction every second. Should that fail, his knife couldn't cut through the crystal swords, just as he had done with his iron guard sword.
Even the swords of the Canterlot guards were outdated.
With enough in his ranks and replication of the prototype weapons, he could easily outmatch the Canterlot militia. Roughly 200 random guards against more than 50 of the best ponies he had picked out, some wielding rifles that could blast a tree in half?
There was no possible way.
But as such, precautions had to be taken. The first priority was funding, and the Everfree was loaded with possibilities.
The Princesses hardly had a grasp on the vast amount of land they controlled, so an illegal mining operation within the forest could go unheard of, as well as their poaching. If any monsters threatened the expedition group, a single Hextech rifle shot would obliterate a mantacore.
Time passed as Golden Might inspected the weapons with a few select scientists that he had managed to bring over with him.
Perhaps he shouldn't have murdered Clockwork Gadget, that but pony was only interested in bits, and would gladly squeal on him if it meant acquire more. It would take longer to reverse-engineer the weapons, but Golden might and the scientists, especially with the aide of uni orn magic could do so.
Not to mention, most of the mercenaries in the force were unicorns. This made the use of Hextech weaponry extremely convenient to use.
"Sir? We managed to catch something that I think you'll like to see."
A few hours have passed, and Golden might turned to meet the soldier.
"Show me."
The guard walked him down a bit of a ways away from their camp, and showed Golden Might what they had trapped.
Their leader was very pleased.
Very pleased.
Inside of the trap was a tiny creature resembling a fox, constructed entirely of crystals.
"I'd never though I'd see one in my life... do you know how much those wealthy pukes would pay for something like this?!", Golden Might smiled deviously at the little creature.
"How much, sir?"
"Well over three million. It's a pet fit for a king."
"By the gods... that much?"
"I could even fetch more for it."
"Odd... there's a bandage on its leg."
The ex-captain looked down at the tiny creature, who shrunk up in fear of the armored pony. Sure enough, there was a crude bandage tied around its leg. Somepony had to have mended it and sent it back into the wild.
A shame they would sell it now to the highest bidder.
"But, won't this fox not even last a year if kept?", one guard asked Golden Might.
"That's none of our concern. We get the money, then I don't care.", Golden Might dropped the crystal fox on the ground, earning a painful yelp when hit the surface of the forest.
"Throw the thing into a cage and re-rig the trap. We got plenty of work to do."
"Yes, sir!"
The guards got back to work, and Golden Might, once again, smiled maliciously to himself.
He will see Equestria rise once again to its former military glory, and he shall be the leader of the entire thing.
As well as if the time comes and he plays his cards right, then there would be a lion head that will be added above his mantlepiece, as well as the feeling that The Elements of Harmony and the Princesses would be no more.
Statues would be built, and soon, he shall begin his conquest on the exact same land that he had served under.
And it would be glorious.