• Published 14th Mar 2012
  • 2,450 Views, 45 Comments

Never Truly Retired - DemonRykuKyuubi



(Sequel to 'The Lost Mercenary') Ra'zaan is finally settling into Ponyville... or is he?

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Chapter 2 - Little Problems


When the group barged into Twilight's library home with four little creatures she'd never seen before, the lavender mare nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of the door being ripped open. She and Spike stared and gawked in awe at the little things in front of them. Twilight seemed to have a hundred questions going through her head at once, but Ra'zaan's voice stopped her from asking anything.

"Twilight, I can see the confusion on your face, but calm down a little first and then we'll explain." The Khajiit said as calmly as he could to the overly curious unicorn.

Twilight stared at the scrawny creatures that were taking books off of her shelves and tossing them about. "B-but what are those things?! I've never seen anything like them before! ...And why are they tearing apart MY library!?" She exclaimed as she used her magic to forcefully drag the scamps to the middle of the room and hold them there. "What the hay is going on?!"

"...And this is why we don't just crash into somepony's house without knocking, Ra'zaan..." Nadene said, sneering at the ex-warrior before she turned to Twilight. "...Sorry for showing up like this, Twi', but as you can see, we have a bit of a problem..."

"That didn't answer my question..." The annoyed unicorn stated.

The scamps were struggling fruitlessly against the magic binding them. Spike, meanwhile, was taunting them and laughing loudly. Ra'zaan walked over to the books that had been thrown about and started replacing them back in their correct spots. Nadene got comfortable on a nearby cushion and sighed again, while Applejack just sat down quietly and waited.

The Dark Elf began slowly. "Alright, Twi'. First off, these creatures are called scamps. They showed up suddenly in the market district. I have a hunch it has something to do with my trip to Tamriel earlier today. I'm afraid that these scamps may not be the only thing that made it threw, as when they are killed, they come back to life. This means that they must be the scamps that are summoned by the Staff of the Everscamp, which raises more questions than answers..."

"Scamps? Staff? Am I missing something? Does this mean these things slipped through into our world?" Twilight asked, thoroughly perplexed.

"It would be too hard to explain, but we do know that, as of yet, nothing dangerous has made it through... I think..." Nadene tried to sound confident, but doubt was written on her face.

"Nadene, don't play dumb. You had the same feeling I did. Whatever has the staff is here as well, and that could be VERY bad. The staff was created by Sheogorath*, the Daedric Prince of Madness. It disappeared with said prince back during the Oblivion Crisis, which I explained to you a while ago, Twilight." Ra'zaan said matter-of-factly. "If it's here, it's very possible that the Prince of Madness himself is here as well, and that doesn't bode well for Equestria."

Twilight thought about that for a minute, but Applejack had heard plenty. "...An' what in the hay does that mean? What's wrong with this Sheogorath feller?"

"Sheogorath, to put it simply, is like this world's Discord. If I remember right, Discord causes chaos everywhere he goes when he is free, and Sheogorath does about the same thing." The Khajiit was leaning against a bookcase at this point, staring off out a nearby window as he spoke. "Only... he's quite a bit more dangerous."

By this time in the explanation, Twilight had begun hyperventilating. She was pacing back and forth, trying to think about just how to handle this situation.

"MORE dangerous than Discord?! Oh no, oh no, oh no! What are we going to do?!" The lavender mare exclaimed.

Nadene had a straight face on, but this latest outburst made her a bit agitated. "Settle down. You're getting worked up over what could be nothing! We have no proof that Sheogorath is even here! I could be some worshiper that the God of Madness took a liking to and gave the staff!"

"Nadene is correct, although the probability of that is low. For right now, I suggest we do something with those four little demons before we do anything else." The Khajiit pointed to the scamps, still struggling under Twilight's magic.

"O-Okay... What do you suppose we do with them?" Twilight asked, starting to calm down.

Ra'zaan gave an almost sadistic grin. "Oh, I have a few ideas...hehehe..."



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"Hmm, now where is that magic coming from?" The shadowy figure was floating above the city he'd seen on the mountain. "I could have sworn it was coming from near here... AH! HA HA! There's the place it's... coming... from... That's a big castle..." As the figure looked on, it became obvious the place was of some importance.

He decided to investigate a little, if only just for fun. The staff that had been in the mysterious specter's vanished as he slipped into a dark alley. A bright flash shined in said alleyway, and a earth pony stallion walked out. The stallion had a dark purple coat with an off-white mane and tail. One of his eyes was blue and the other was green, and they both had dark circles under them. His cutie mark was a wheel of cheese with a triangular piece removed from it, and he had a white and grey, two-toned, scraggly beard on his face.

"Perfect! Now I'll blend right in with all of the townsfolk! Ah, who am I kidding? This will be so much more fun with them all seeing me, but they'll know soon enough..." The stallion said to himself as he walked through the city streets.

He took a look around as he walked. This whole town just bored the mismatched stallion to tears. Everything was so orderly and snobbish! "Ugh. Note to self. Once I get a better feel for things around here, I need to liven things up... A LOT!" He thought as he walked. The buildings were all big and lavish, and that seemed to annoy the stallion. He eventually came across a more casual-looking building, and looked at the sign. "Pony Joe's... hmm... Well, it's a starting point at least..."

The stallion walked calmly into the cafe and looked around. There was an empty seat at the bar up near what the stallion perceived as the owner of the small establishment, so he took a seat there. The mismatched stallion noticed while waiting for the waiter that these ponies seem to use a different type of currency. He quickly conjured up a few of these 'bits', and then sat and waited longer.

"Hiya! Name's Pony Joe! What can I getcha?" The pony behind the bar asked suddenly.

"Uh... Just give me the weirdest thing on the menu. I'm sorta... new here... hehehe..." The imposter said.

Joe simply nodded and came back with a donut filled with a rainbow of different colors. "This here's my Rainbow Special! It's a donut filled with six different, colored, different flavored jellies. That'll be three bits, please!"

"Here you are... one... two... three!" The stallion wasn't sure what to make of this 'donut', but he had to admit it was the most interesting thing he'd seen since getting into this boring city. "So, can you answer a few questions?"

Joe smiled. "Sure can! What's on your mind, Mr...?"

Uh, oh... didn't think that through... How do their names go again...?" He faltered, but only for a minute. He looked at his cutie mark and got an idea. "My name's... Swiss Cheese. I'm a... a cheese taste tester!" "I'm so full of shit right now... I love it!"

"Nice to meetcha, Swiss! So, what's on your mind?" Joe asked, completely oblivious to anything being wrong.

'Swiss' chuckled. "Now this is gonna sound silly, but what is this city's name?"

"Your here in Equestria, and you don't even know what this city is? Your in Canterlot, my friend! Next, you're gonna tell me you don't know about the Canterlot Castle!" Joe said sarcastically, laughing a little. 'Swiss' just smiled awkwardly. "You're kidding me. You've really never heard of the castle the princesses live in?"

"Well, not until you just told me about it! Are ponies allowed to visit it?" The stallion asked next. The answer didn't really matter, because he was going there either way.

Joe lowered and shook his head, a smirk covering his face. "You sure are clueless, ain't ya? Yeah, you can go visit. The gardens are open all day long, but the interior is only open during the day from noon to five. It's three now. You best get there soon if you want to visit. Take your donut with you, and have fun!"

"Thanks. Good luck with the rest of today, Joe." 'Swiss' said as he walked out, eating his donut in one bite. "That was delicious! I'll have to remember to get some more of those later!" With that, the strange stallion turned a corner out of everypony's view and vanished.



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"DAMN IT RA'ZAAN!" Nadene yelled as she chased after Pinkie's hot air balloon. Four small figures could be seen tied by their ankles dangling from the basket of the balloon as it floated away with no pony driving it. "What in Talos's name compelled you to do something like this?!"

"Calm down, Nadene. It's not like their going to be hurt. I mean, they're only dangling several thousand feet above the ground by their feet!" Ra'zaan smiled innocently.

Twilight face-hoofed. "You have absolutely no idea how that balloon works, do you?"

"Sure I do! You start up the fire and the balloon floats up into the air! Nothing to it!" The Khajiit said confidently.

It was Pinkie's turn to be confused. "B-but without somepony driving it, it'll just keep floating up until it pops!"

"...Oh... well..." Ra'zaan started. He looked up at the little dot that was the balloon moving farther and farther away. "...It was nice knowing you, little guys." Ra'zaan gave a fake salute as he just stood there smiling.

Rainbow was done waiting. "Well, if no pony else is going to do anything, I'm going to stop this..." She said as she took to the air and flew towards the balloon.

"What's the big deal, anyway? Those little bastards will just come back after they land." The ex-warrior frowned as the cyan mare flew away.

"Yeah, but that there balloon belongs to Pinkie Pie. Plus, no pony but you wants to see those little critters hurt anymore." Applejack glared at Ra'zaan.

The Khajiit just huffed and sat down. "Well, fine then... I guess we just need to go find who ever has the damned Staff of the Everscamp then... But where do we start looking?"

Twilight wasn't sure what to think about Ra'zaan after everything that's happened in the past few hours. "What is up with Ra'zaan today anyway? He's tried to drown the scamps in the river, drop them off the mountain, and even make the green dragon in the Everfree eat them... heh, his ears are still charred after that one... But that isn't the point! The Khajiit was never so brutal about anything. He was trying everything in his power to keep those scamps dead..."

"Ra'zaan, why are you trying so hard to kill those things anyway?" Twilight finally asked, ignoring his last question for a moment.

"That's a good question. One that would take several hours to fully explain. Instead, let's just say having something that I can kill with no repercussions makes me more excited than it should. Anyway, back to my previous question..." Ra'zaan said, changing the subject in a hurry.

Suddenly, the four scamps appeared right next to Ra'zaan, and a scream could be heard several thousand feet away.
Rainbow flew down with the balloon and had a sheepish look on her face. "Um... I accidentally untied the rope holding the scamps... and they fell..."

"HA HA HA! Nice one, Rainbow! I-I mean... be more careful..." Ra'zaan said with little to no sincerity in his tone.

Rainbow blushed a little as she hopped out of the now-anchored balloon. The scamps ran in a circle around Ra'zaan, blissfully unaware of their recent brush with death.

*Sigh* "Well... okay then... Anyway, I'll send a letter to the princess. In the meantime, I need you and Nadene to go get Fluttershy and Rarity. We'll meet up at the library. Alright?" Twilight announced finally, starting towards the library. Pinkie, Applejack, and Rainbow followed her while Ra'zaan started for Fluttershy's and Nadene headed for Rarity's.

Ra'zaan looked back once before continuing his walk. "At least we're getting some excitement for a change. Life is nice, but after being a mercenary for several years... I could use something like this in my life every once in a while..."



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Celestia was walking about, enjoying the cool fall air in the Canterlot garden, taking in all of its beauty. Here and there, other ponies admired the still statues and lush shrubberies. But Celestia had come out into the garden for one reason: To visit a long-forgotten foe. As she trotted slowly across the massive courtyard, she spotted her target. A large statue of a creature made of several other creatures stood in front of her.

"Discord... for the longest time, I thought your imprisonment might have changed you... But after your unexpected escape, I know that is not the case. What could we have done differently...?" She said quietly under her breath.

"You alright, Miss? You look a bit down. Need some cheering up!?" A voice sounded behind her. She turned slowly to see a dark purple stallion with an off-white mane and mismatched eyes.

"Hello, my little pony. I was just here to visit... an old friend... You're welcome to join me here, if you wish." Celestia said, realizing that this pony must somehow not know who she is. "My name is Princess Celestia, By the way."

"OH! M-my apologies, Princess. Nice to meet you! My name is... 'Swiss Cheese'.



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"Well... I didn't mean to meet the princess yet, but... as long as my cover isn't blown... I could still find out what the aura coming off of this statue..." Sheogorath, or 'Swiss', was standing next to the most majestic pony he'd ever seen.

"No need to fret. I'm here for a casual stroll, so no pony needs to think of me as anything but another pony. It's nice to meet you, Swiss." The princess gave Sheogorath a knowing wink, and it made him almost cringe.

"Great... she knows I'm not being honest... Still, I ,might get away with this anyway..." "It's... nice to meet you too, Princess. "At least she is a kind ruler... this may not be as hard as I thought..."

'Swiss' walked up closer to the statue, and placed his right hoof on it. "It looks like there is another plane of existence within this strange statue... The aura I was sensing was coming from here..."

A loud sound could be heard behind Sheogorath, but he didn't pay it any mind. He was focusing on crossing into the plane within the statue to find out the source of the energy. The sound of crumpling paper could be heard as he started to vanish into the stone prison.

"Wait! Stop! Come back! Celestia's voice could be heard as Sheogorath disappeared completely.



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"Oh my... this won't be good..." Celestia sat flabbergasted in front of Discord's statue. "...Just a little too late... my faithful student..."

On the ground behind Celestia, an unraveled scroll lay open in the grass. If a pony were to get close to it, they'd be able to read it clearly.



Dear Princess Celestia,

We have encountered a problem here in Ponyville. Four strange creatures have appeared here, and Ra'zaan and Nadene have identified these creatures as a special type of scamp from their world. The alarming part of this is that these 'everscamps' are summoned by a staff called the Staff of the Everscamp. The user of said staff is supposedly still in Equestria. Our two neighbors from Tamriel believe the summoner to be none other than their God of Madness, Sheogorath. This man/god is apparently their world's equivalent to our Discord. He is extremely dangerous and must be found. I am gathering the element bearers along with Ra'zaan and Nadene for a search party to find this 'Sheogorath' person.

P.S. According to Ra'zaan, Sheogorath has a strange obsession with cheese... this may or may not make finding him easier.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle


That last sentence is what answered Princess Celestia's suspicions, but she was too late to respond. Now, Tamriel's God of Madness is within the statue of Discord, Equestria's God of Chaos.

"Nothing that will come of this will be good... I must send word back to Twilight immediately!" Celestia said as she levitated her newest letter from Twilight with her at a full gallop back to the Castle.

TO BE CONTINUED