Racial Difficulties

by CombineAdvisorT-141450

First Encounter

/Author's Note: MAJOR REVISION! I decided to add a little romance to the story, I just couldnt resist. I really wanted to try my hand at romance, and it just popped into my head, I probably sucked at this attempt, but oh well.. Do comment, it really helps me fix the next chapters/

Middle East, 1600 hours

Ghostkiller is the commander of a team of infamous mercenaries known as Hunter Killers under the cooperative employment of cooperative effort English, American and Russian Armed forces in combating terrorism. Hunter Killers is team of 8 members, each member being ex spec-ops from their employers, they are known for serving as elite bodyguards, performing surgical strikes, executing sabotage, guerilla warfare, bounty hunting, and even insurgency. His team was en route towards a suspicious base for investigation and elimination of said base if necessary.

“All right, you guys know the drill, a plain sweep. But something is off about this base, intel is largely based on rumors, and you know how local rumors can be, some say that this base houses a very dangerous secret, others say that it’s a portal to paradise, like rainbows with pots of gold, it doesn’t matter, the only good, solid intel we have are satellite pictures of the area and by the looks of it, it seems deserted to me, but we can’t be too sure, keep your eyes sharp, and your guns loaded as well as your safeties off” Ghostkiller briefed his men with his very thick Scottish accent over the roar of the M113 as he loaded a fresh magazine into handgun and his rifle; a Beretta PX4, and a suppressed HK G3A3 outfitted with a holographic weapon sight. “Are we there yet?” he asked the driver, to which he replied that they were almost there and would arrive in five minutes. He instructed Skullface to man the machine gun and to keep a lookout for hostiles. “Remember the basic things, do not fire until fired upon, watch your buddies, check your corners and watch where you step. For now, shoot to incapacitate” he ran over the basic protocol once more, to which his mean groaned. Ghostkiller was like that, he made sure his men understood the orders and the mission, he was a methodical person, and he made sure that everything went to plan. He looked at his men, and studied them carefully: Skullface; heavy gunner for the team, Crosser; the team’s medic, Pirate; team’s sniper, Jolly; Pirate’s spotter, Jackknife; the team’s stealth specialist, Avril; the team’s demolitions man, Sigma; the team’s communications expert, and there’s himself, Ghostkiller; leader of the team. To the team, Ghostkiller was either Ghostface or Boss, whichever floats their boat.

“Alright, we’re here! Good luck mercs, stay safe! I’ll be waiting here when you guys are done” the driver told them as the team disembarked from the safety of the metal monster that they call an Armored Personnel Carrier. The team went to the supposed base and entered from the south side, checking the place for signs of life in a fruitless effort. The place wasn’t much of a base but more of a town, and it was unsually dank and dreary for the Middle Eastern climate, and a strange wind blew around the town. It sent chills down Ghostkiller’s neck, he didn’t like it one bit, as if they might have bitten off more than they can chew.

“Sir, something’s jamming our comms, I can’t get a signal for the home” Sigma looked worried as he tried to get the radios working. A cloud formation signaled that it was going to rain soon.

“ Damn it, forget the radios. Jackknife, take Sigma and scout for the north of this place, Pirate, you and Jolly search the east, Avril, take Crosser and go west, Skullface, you and I will take center. We meet at the town center in half an hour, anyone finds anything… well yell ‘Marco Polo’, shoot a flare, or something.” Ghostkiller instructed his men. They split up and went their own ways. Quietly talking about the mission and walking as they searched the whole place. Ghostkiller, was completely nervous about this op.

“Hey Skull, what do you think about this op? Think they’re trying to get us killed?” Ghostkiller asked his partner as they searched through the town

“What do you mean Boss?”

“You know, vague intel, bad weather, jammed comms, they hardly briefed us back at home base”

"I don’t really know sir, maybe they really had no intel on this place, its remote enough that we wouldn’t notice it right?” answered Skullface in a similarly nervous tone

“Perhaps, but at least they could’ve told us ‘hey we have no intel, sorry guys but you’re marching straight into unknown territory’ or some stuff like that, you know I don’t like being left out”

“Maybe it was to make sure we go here and… I don’t know, not chicken out or something, anyways, Boss, you’re not like this, keep it together, the team needs you” Skullface tried to reassure his leader who seemed to lighten up a bit. “ let’s get moving boss, we got a mission to do.”

Half an hour later when everyone was at the center, everyone except Crosser and Avril, they heard gunfire and a few minutes later, saw Crosser making a mad dash for town center, and Crosser came alone. Everyone looked worried.

“Where’s Avril?” everyone asked in unison

“Knocked out, I dragged him into some building at near the western wall, after we saw this… thing a couple streets away from the building. You guys are going to want to see this, follow me” Said Crosser as he reloaded his M16. The team followed their medic and readied their guns. A few minutes of walking led them to the building which Avril was in, he was lapsing back to consciousness. He sat up, rubbing his eyes as if he was blinded by a flashbang. Ghostkiller asked both of them what happened. they told them that they saw this glowing ball, as if it was made of pure energy and another ring of energy beside it as if it was some sort of portal. The ball seemed to notice them and fired a bolt of light at them, it missed Crosser but it hit Avril in the center of the face, knocking him out. Crosser emptied a magazine but the bullets went right through it, by then, Crosser dragged Avril’s limp form into the building and made sure he was hidden then went for the town center. Ghostkiller was surprised, he made a suggestion to approach calmly and with their weapons holstered and slung.

“Let’s see if it will respond more… civilly if we approached it unarmed. But remember, Keep. Your. Safeties. Off.” They holstered their handguns, and slung their rifles over their shoulders and went for this glowing ball of energy. They approached it slowly with their hands raised in the air, they had a white piece of cloth tied to an unloaded M14 with the bolt open as a makeshift flag. Ghostkiller slowly stepped forward and tried to talk.

“Hello? We just want to talk, we don’t want to fight” Ghostface tried to communicate

“So be it. Let us talk then”

“I am Ghostkiller, leader of this band of mercenaries this is Crosser, Avril, Skullface, Pirate, Jolly, Sigma, and Jackknife” Ghostkiller said as he pointed to his teammates while he introduced them

“Ghost-killer, I greet thee. I am known by many names, but I am best known by the personage of Keeper, I serve as this portal’s guardian and manipulator, now that the formalities are over, does any of you have any questions?”

“Portal? To where does this ‘portal’ go? And how does it work?” asked a curious Sigma

“To a land known as Equestria, ‘tis a peaceful place. As to how it works, I cannot tell you how it works, my superiors would disapprove of that” the Keeper replied. “any more inquiries?”

“None, we shall take our leave, for now. Farewell for now Keeper, but we shall return, we should like to see this… ‘Equestria’. Can we expect you to remain in the same place?” to which the keeper nodded and with this, bade them farewell. They went to the south end of the town and joined up with the driver, radioed home base Ghostkiller explained what happened to his employers

“And it goes to a place called Equestria, by his description I highly suggest that should we send an exploration team, we send in lightly armored troops”

“Alright, here’s the deal, you go to this Equestria and you give us recon of the area, you guys are the exploration team, do this and we’ll increase your pay. In Euros, not dollars” His employers told him.

“Very well, triple our usual rate, and this time, in euros. Are we on clear terms?”

“Crystal”

“Here’s the deal, we’re going to hit the motherload, triple our usual rate” Ghostkiller’s team cheered in response “But there’s a catch, we are going through that portal and we are going to do a recon of the area, we do not kill until we have to, remember. Safeties. Off.”

“Seems it’s worth the risk and we’ll be the first to step into uncharted territory, and we get bragging rights! Let’s do it!” Crosser replied. They dismissed the driver and went back into town

They went back to the Keeper and after simple conversation, they stepped into the portal and went out in Equestria. The keeper told them that it would stay there for all eternity should they want to go back and forth from their world

“It’s… nice enough. Perhaps a bit too colorful but I can adapt” Ghostkiller told himself. They walked around until they found an orchard of apples. They picked a few and went to search for the farmhouse, they found a clearing which lay the barn and the farmhouse and a few minutes later, they heard voices from the barn, and out of instinct, the men grouped together into two- man pairs and crept towards the barn, handguns drawn.

“What in the hay are those things? And what are they holding? Darn it I lost ‘em!” A female voice spoke up as she tried to look for the strange aliens on their farm. Ghostkiller and his men were on the sides of the barn and went towards the back. They opened to door enough for them to sneak in and they eavesdropped on them

"I think they’re aliens!” Another female spoke. The barn was dark, Ghostkiller sliently turned on his nightvision goggles and ordered his men to do the same. They snuck along the sides and watched as they tried to make out what were those things speaking.

They’re… ponies!? Two have horns, two have wings, two are just normal but how can they talk, ponies do not talk! Ghostkiller was shocked as the ponies were discussing about them were just as shocked as they are. Spotting his teammates on the other side of the barn, he quietly signaled them to holster their weapons and go outside.

“Is it me, or did we just step into a room full of talking ponies?”

“Glad I ain’t the only one, I was thinking the same thing!

“What the hell was that?”

“Let’s approach them calmly and try to find their political leaders”

From the inside, the ponies were frightened.

“What were those things anyway!? Are they going to eat us?” a timid voice spoke

“Hush Fluttershy! No one’s eating anyone! I think I see em out front!” a southern accented voice replied

The men were at the front, with the makeshift flag, and yelled that they wanted to talk.

“Hello? Is anyone here? We just want to talk, no violence, no guns, nothing, just plain conversation”

There was a scuffle inside the barn as the eight men stood there. There was yelling from inside, they heard six different voices, all female

“Are you sure it’s a good idea?” the one with the southern accent spoke up

“Im not so sure about going outside” the one with the timid voice spoke

“I for one wish to see these extraterrestrials!” a refined tone spoke

“Whats a gun?” two voices spoke, a rough voice and a higher pitched energetic one.

“let’s just go outside girls” A purple pony was already outside when she spoke. “Hello there, I’m Twilight Sparkle, the white one is Rarity, the blue one’s Rainbow Dash, the orange one with that hat is Applejack, the shy, yellow one is Fluttershy, the pink one is Pinkie Pie… wait… where is pinkie pie anyways? And what are you? We haven’t seen your kind before”. Pinkie pie was already at Ghostkiller’s side and had her hoof at the Beretta, curiosity getting the better of her, “What’s this thing do? Is this what you things call a ‘gun’?” Ghostkiller noticed the pink pony fumbling around his holster; he drew the beretta to make sure that the pony didn’t find a way to pull the trigger

“ You wouldn’t wanna be looking down the muzzle of this thing when it goes off. We’re humans, soldiers if you will. But we prefer the term Mercenaries or, if you like the ancient version, Sellswords” Ghostkiller replied “We’re under the employment of our nation’s military and we discovered a portal that led to here and we were ordered to give recon of the place”

“What’s recon?” the one known as Rarity asked

“it’s a term we use to gather information about the place” Crosser replied. “by the way, would it be possible for us to see your political leaders?”

“You mean Princesses Celestia and Luna? I guess…” Twilight scratched her head. “This way then” she summoned a cloud and motioned for them to get on, the cloud transported them to Celestia’s castle “Im her apprentice so I have right to direct audience with
her without prior notification, in short, I can drop in on her any time we’ll be there any minute”

“Thank you” Crosser responded.

Celestia and Luna were at the throne room when Twilight and the men walked in on them.

“Princess Celestia, forgive the intrusion but, these… humans wanted to see you”

“That we do my lady, I am Ghostkiller and these are my companions; Crosser, Avril, Skullface, Pirate, Jolly, Sigma, and Jackknife. We are mercenaries, sellswords if you will. We’re under the employment of our nation’s military and we discovered a portal that led to here and we were ordered to give recon of the place” Ghostkiller spoke as he motioned for his men to bow “We wish to inquire about the land and if possible, establish relations to your race to ours, the humans, we thought it best to ask the political leaders of this area”

“ Ah, I can’t see why not , allow me to introduce myself first, I am Princess Celestia, an alicorn, I hold dominion over the sun, and I raise it and lower it at dawn and dusk respectively, and this, is my younger sister, Princess Luna, she holds dominion over the moon and raises it at dusk as I lower the sun and lowers it at dawn as I raise the sun, let’s begin, shall we? Luna, come, let us entertain our guests, they must be weary from travelling, have the maids prepare some food. Shall we walk around the castle grounds while the maids prepare food and drink?” Princess Celestia offered her hospitality, Ghostkiller accepted and followed her “Oh, and by the way, welcome to Equestria” the regal voice of the white one with the multicolored mane continued as they walked and discussed a brief history of Equestria, however, something put Ghostkiller off, he didn’t quite had his gun on the target but he didn’t like the diarchs open their arms to complete strangers. He motioned for Skullface to come over as he had something to tell him.

“Something bothering you, Boss? You seem quite distressed” Skullface pressed.

“I don’t like this one bit, Skull, rulers welcoming us with open arms? They didn’t ask us about our guns! We are armed to the teeth and they just let us in? they even let us waltz around with tantos and throwing knives as well as Jackknife’s katana! They knew we had some form of blades, Jack was practically brandishing the sword! Surely they would try to disarm us right? Isn’t that what happened to us when we tried to negotiate with that Al Qaeda Leader? Jackknife nearly took a slug to the head for refusing to part with his katana, and yet here we are, waltzing around, knives and guns in hand. This could be a trap skull, tell the other teammates to have their guns at the ready..” Ghostkiller whispered to his comrade as they lagged behind the group.

“And as of now, Canterlot houses the most prestigious academy of magic for only the most adept of unicorns, I personally teach a few students, Twilight being my most promising protégé, she has shown more raw power than any student I have seen, and she may very well be able to challenge my prowess. Ah here we are; the garden of the castle, most of the flora in Equestria can be found right here, I personally take care of some of them, and over there is a balcony that has a view from canterlot all the way to ponyville.” Celestia’s voice rang over their ears, Ghostkiller followed along, studying Celestia’s actions and tone. She must be establishing her authority, a show of power, like the alpha dog showing the fresh meat that he’s leader of the pack and that the alpha dog doesn’t take orders from anyone, seems to me she wants us to learn our place, from her point of view that is. The mercenary leader mused to himself. He spotted a bench near the balusters and He noticed the younger sister sitting on the bench, her head hung a little low, she seemed to be lonely as the other 7 ponies trotted happily with each other, too busy discussing the history and sharing stories with his men. He decided to spark a conversation with the younger diarch and ask a few things about her sister. However, an old injury prevented him from walking any farther. He began to limp as he cursed under his breath.

“Skull! You and the men go ahead, I’ll just take a breather, this heavy battle gear is killing my knee, remember Baghdad? Took one in the knee, in one end, out the other.” Ghostkiller told the group, feeling the pain creep up his left leg, Crosser handed him an auto injector of analgesic. He went for the bench the younger sister was in. what was her name again? I think it was Luna…. Ghostkiller thought. As he approached, the younger sister noticed him. ”Mind if I sit here, your highness?” Ghostkiller asked as he pointed to the vacant space beside Luna. “I guess so… why not?” The young mare responded in a shy voice as the strange warrior sat beside him. She noticed the sharp needle in his hand, it was connected to a tube that contained some form of liquid, the man stabbed his thigh with it and she yelped in shock at his strange behavior. Ghostkiller noticed and sighed.

“It’s okay; it’s an auto-injector, it contains some medicine which eases the pain.” Ghostkiller explained, Luna sighed in relief and wiped her forehead with her hoof. “By the way, is your sister always like that? You know, shows of power, establishing authority, things like that” Ghostkiller asked in a hushed voice to ensure no one but Luna heard his voice. Luna’s ears perked up and she looked at him with studious eyes.

“Yeah, she gets power hungry at times and she jumps the chance to show off her status as Political leader of Equestria, she doesn’t mean any harm though, she just probably wanted you humans to know that as long as she’s in the castle, nothing can hurt her. But she’s doing this more often, I don’t know why, my guess is she’s just bored” Luna explained, her voice livening up a little now that she was talking to someone.

“I see, so that’s why she let us waltz in armed to the teeth?”

“Mhmm, by the way, you said awhile ago you took one in the knee in a place called.. ‘Baghdad’, what happened?”

“I got shot in the knee, with a gun, you know, bullets, metal projectiles that go faster than the speed of sound, we use them as weapons to protect ourselves”

“Guns? Are those things of yours what you call ‘guns’? ” Luna asked as she pointed towards Ghostkiller’s rifle and handgun. Ghostkiller nodded explained what guns are, how guns work and how they used them as weapons. It took him about a full hour to discuss about guns in general, by that time, Celestia and the others were done and called their attention. Celestia noticed the two walking together and the human walking by her sister limped.

“What happened to your leg?” Celestia asked.

“A relapse of an old injury my lady, nothing more. Good thing my medic here had painkillers with him”

“I see... You should have told me, I could have called the medical staff here in the castle, it houses some of the finest medical teams in all of Equestria. We could have healed your injury completely and get rid of the relapses”

“Thank you, but no thank you, we wouldn’t want to be such trouble on you, your majes-“

“Tsk tsk! It is no trouble at all! A lady does what she can to help those around her, come, let us visit the medical facilities, no doubt my doctors will be delighted to see humans for the first time, Im sure our magic can help you all the same as it does on our folk” Celestia insisted, and Ghostkiller noticed that she was going to have her way, and that there was no way of declining. “If you insist your majesty, lead the way.” Ghostkiller replied.

“Off we go, May I request that your companions remain here with my protégé and her friends? Luna, come with us.” Celestia asked Ghostlkiller and his men, to which they obliged. They went to the medical facilities of the castle a few corridors from the throne room, she opened the doors and allowed Ghostkiller to walk inside before entering herself.

“Doctors! My guest here has an injury with his leg that hasn’t quite healed yet, assist him will you?” Celestia commanded, her voice ever regal and refined, and with those simple words, the doctors immediately studied Ghostkiller and his human anatomy, finding similarities with their own, and within half an hour, they already knew what to do and asked him to lie on the medical table, it was too small for his figure, is legs were dangling from the knee as well as his arms. Luna had to stifle a giggle at the sight.“Excuse us for our facilities but we never expected to be treating a human, let alone meet one” The doctor apologized. “Long as I don’t end up dead, it’s okay with me, and besides, this makes battlefield surgery a nightmare” Ghostkiller replied as he remembered what happened in Baghdad, he shivered from the memory. In one second, his leg began glowing and he felt the scar vanishing and whatever fragments of the bullet inside him being removed from existence, he felt the cracks in his knee being knit again. In a few minutes, he was completely healed, and was also rejuvenated.

“Thank you, doctors, and thank you my lady, that was completely astounding” Ghostkiller thanked his healers as any trace of the old injury was gone.

“See? It is of no trouble, and the doctors were delighted to see a new form of life enter through their doors, come, the others must be waiting, come Luna let us walk” Ghostkiller looked at them, taking note of how Celestia moved; polished, refined, she had an air of elegance around her and a scent of vanilla wafted in her wake, while Luna faintly smelled like a mix of blueberries and blackberries. Ghostkiller was met by his men in the dining room where they shared dinner with the rulers as well as the six ponies they had met, the dish comprised mostly of vegetables and some fish for the men. As they ate, they discussed multiple things about the humans as well as the ponies. Skullface however asked something that shocked everyone

“Alright Princess, why the show of power?” Skullface’s words silenced the hall. Everyone thought he struck a nerve, Ghostkiller’s men felt for their holsters, ready to draw should things go south.

“What?” Celestia asked in response

“Why the show of power? You let us waltz in, armed to the teeth, you tour us around the castle, show us your kingdom, and prepare a feast, seems like a textbook case of Alpha Dog syndrome”

“Can’t it be a show of generosity? I welcome you to my castle, let my guard down for you, tour you inside, and let you eat from my table? Is it not reason enough to implicate that I also wish to establish relationships with your kind?” Guards were going near the men; tension was beginning to run high in the room.

“Could be, or you wanted us to learn our place” Pirate replied. “From my days in the seas, captains often showed great generosity for the new ones only to be shown that they are top dogs, the other way they assume authority is when they beat the fact into their skulls” He made sure his boot knife was within arm’s reach

“Why I never stoop to such low an action, I am treating you as ambassadors of your race and you react this way?” Celestia still retained her regal tone, though now disturbed

“Sorry my lady but we humans are like that, we cannot be too trusting, multiple nations have been destroyed by corruption and terrorism simply because they trusted too much, I apologize for my men’s behavior, we’re mercenaries, not ambassadors, we aren’t the best in the… civilian world, we serve as bodyguards, soldiers, or even assassins, we’re damn good ones being assassins though. ” Ghostkiller regretted the saying word ‘assassin’, as three guards lunged at him swords and spears at his throat. His men jumped out of their chairs and the sound of metal charging handles being pulled filled the room. Four of his men held their guns towards the royalty, the other three aimed at the guns. Wrong move Ghostkiller, wrong move. Ghostkiller mentally slapped himself. You do not talk about your history as an assassin in front of a political leader inside a room of armed guards! Ghostkiller tried to patch up the faux pas he had done.

“Princess! Look into my eyes and believe me when I say we are not assassins, we are merely an exploration team under the employ of our nations; surely you can detect a lie can you? Now please order your men to stand down and I will order mine to do so or this will get bloody… the conflict in my home world has left my men on edge, I ask that you forgive them.” Ghostkiller explained as he had his arms raised. Celestia studied Ghostkiller very carefully and true enough, the man was not lying. “Very well… Royal Guard, stand down! These men mean no harm.” Celestia ordered

“Men, unload and holster your weapons, engage safeties. Now. Once more I do apologize, can we get back to dinner?” Ghostkiller asked, to which Celestia agreed. They all sat down and ate dinner, they asked for a place to sleep and Celestia offered the guest quarters to which the men accepted. Though the room fit all of them, the beds couldn’t. They either had to sleep with half their bodies dangling off the bed or sleep on the floor. Luna peeked in and it took all her willpower not to laugh at the men in ridiculous positions while trying to get a decent night’s sleep. She noticed that the one she sat with awhile ago couldn’t sleep. He stood up and crept towards the corridor so as not to disturb his men. Luna turned herself invisible so as not to be detected by him. Ghostkiller looked for a large window and sat on the windowsill. Luna slowly crept towards him; however the hard tile floor was making her job harder. She used her magic to try and muffle her hoof-steps, but in the end, Ghostkiller managed to detect her in her invisible form

“I know you’re there. No need to hide, Im unarmed” Ghostkiller spoke as he looked at the direction where Luna was. He was wearing a long sleeved olive drab shirt under a windbreaker, camouflage pants and his boots, he wasn’t wearing the goggles and helmet that covered his face save for his mouth, he had pale tan skin, a goatee, and his hair neatly done in a crew cut, icy blue eyes that seemed capable of melting anyone’s heart. Luna sighed and reappeared. “You couldn’t sleep?” the young mare asked.

“Not one bit, you forget I am a mercenary, I’m always looking over my shoulder to see if some sniper hasn’t shot me dead yet, or to see if some killer wants to see how I look like with a knife sticking out my back, or in this case, a princess whose curiosity got the better of her.” Luna blushed from his remark. “Why are you up this time of night? Oh right, princess of the night thing. I forget, humph” The man added. His voice was warmer than usual, more civil. Not the warmonger people think him to be.

“Can I ask you something? “ Luna asked.

“I guess, there’s nothing better to do right now, I can’t sleep a wink. So I might as well keep my mind busy”

“Why do you do what you do?” Luna asked once more, this time, she was trying to probe his mind.

“It’s the only way I feed, clothe, and shelter myself. When I got discharged from spec ops, I got fired three times and got jailed twice, got no one back home waiting for me though, I lead a solitary life, the few friends I had back home were murdered.” Ghostkiller said with a forlorn voice. “I lost everything there, but something kept me going, I worked as a mercenary, found my men, and here I am... One day I know I’ll drop dead in a fight but at least I tried to keep my head above water.”

“I see. It is a heavy weight on your mind, heart, and soul”

“Yep, the thought of coming back in a box is enough to unnerve me, but if no one’s going to visit my grave, better to die in an unmarked one in a battlefield.”

“But wouldn’t you settle for a more peaceful job?”

“I would, but frankly, no company wants someone who spent time behind bars. Looking back, it was stupid of me, and now, the only way I can make a living is by working as a mercenary. And to be honest, I’ve a lot of blood on my hands, Princess, you wouldn’t like it”

“I see, when did you last go home?”

“I… I can’t remember, I’m sorry. My home’s nothing more than an empty apartment with a bed in it. God knows the landlord’s probably sold it to someone else by now. The only home I could really consider now is base camp, and the only thing that’s really happy to see me get back is my dog, german shepherd named Dusty” Ghostkiller answered with a heavy heart. Luna looked up and saw the same man, although this time, she felt the burden on his shoulders, she felt the emptiness he dragged everywhere. She felt sorry for him, yet she admired his tenacity to keep on going.

“Would you like some coffee with cream?” Luna offered

“That would be much appreciated, I’ve been on a battlefield so long I forgot how normal coffee tastes, the simple luxuries I sacrifice... no? yet so life goes.” Ghostkiller replied. They went to the castle kitchen, Ghostkiller keeping the same pace with Luna. It was not even past nine in the evening and his men were already sleeping like logs, they were excited about having a night’s sleep without worrying about a bullet going through their skulls or a pound of explosives going off inside their room. They reached the kitchen without any remarkable incident. Luna started putting coffee in the coffee maker and rummaged through the fridge for some cream, she mixed some sugar with the coffee and added cream, poured the mixture into two cups, and gave one to Ghostkiller, they both went towards the balcony of the garden once more and felt the cool air wafting in their faces, Ghostkiller sat down by a bench near the balusters, Luna sat beside him, while the man was sipping his coffee and savoring it, he asked Luna a question.

“Tell me, Princess, what do you do during the night as its designated ruler?”

“Please, call me Luna, the whole ‘Princess’ thing unnerves me, Im not one for the political arena, I leave that to my sister, I watch over ponies, I can slip into their dreams and make nightmares better, I also manage the stars and the moon, I keep watch over Equestria during the night making sure nothing goes wrong. You know, like, a guardian of the night” Luna explained her job. She shivered a little from the cool night air, Ghostkiller offered his jacket and draped it over her figure. “Thanks, I was… getting cold, aren’t you feeling cold?” Luna stroked her mane with her hoof while she was blushing.

“Don’t worry, I’ve fought in temperatures that would freeze your saliva in seconds if you so much as spit on the ground, God, fighting in the snowcaps of the Ural Mountains makes this place feel like room temperature” The man boasted his war-torn past.

“Really? Is it that cold in your place? Can you tell me more of your past?” Luna’s ears as well as her curiosity perked up once more.

“I guess, I’ll tell you the tales of the adventures my men and I have shared and by the way, I’ll share you something first; my name, if my name was Ghostkiller all the way from the start well, that would’ve scared a few people. Anyway, it’s Johann, Johann Ironclad. Not much of a name but it’s mine” for the next few moments, Ghostkiller regaled the young Luna with all his past, as a boy troubled from studying from preschool to college while his parents divorced and his mom ran off with someone else while his dad became a lousy drunk who one day shot himself, Johann dropped out of college to join the military then, he told her how he got into the special forces, when and why he was discharged, the three times he got fired and the two times he got jailed as well as how he began mercenary work, which led to him telling her all about his adventures; tracking down a terror cell hiding in the Ural Mountains, raiding a compound of insurgents in war-torn Israel, protecting the Russian Prime Minister in a world summit from an assassination attempt, serving as a spearhead of the American war effort in taking Baghdad, where he got shot and a scar under his right eye from a knife-fight, Raiding an Abbu Sayyaf base in the southern part of the Philippines, he also told her about the places he had been to and how the locals acted, their cultures and traditions, he told Luna of all the fun he had despite the killing, all the scenery he’s seen, and many more of his travels around the world. Luna listened, eyes wide and mouth gaping from sheer awe as the storyteller was telling things even she could only dream of. The two didn’t notice Celestia was walking towards them with an impish smile on her face as she looked at the two beings sharing an evening together.

“My my, Little Luna, dating the sellsword are we?” Celestia teased her little sister who, upon hearing her, blushed profusely; she hid her face with her hooves.

“N-NO! I-I… I was just talking to him!” Luna stammered, she was mortified from her sister’s sudden appearance.

“Sure you are, Luna, glad to see you’ve got a crush” Celestia winked, her voice was honeyed this time, obviously teasing her little sister, who was turning redder and redder each second.

“Good evening your majesty, sorry to have woken you up, it seems that my story telling has gotten… a bit out of hand” Johann bowed.

“Nah it’s okay, I was just going for a sip of water when I overheard you two talking to each other, Luna’s face was priceless from your storytelling, I just couldn’t resist teasing her, you know; she can be so adorable at times” Celestia was like the mother who was embarrassing the child who was Luna, who was now redder than a tomato, desperately trying either to hide her face inside Johann’s windbreaker or burying it in her hooves. Her scent was permeating into the windbreaker.

“Your majesty, I apologize for the incident awhile ago, it was my fault as I should not have said that statement”

“It’s all right, really, there’s no need to make such a fuss about that. And besides… It seems that my little sister here has developed quite a crush on you. Wait a second, Luna? Is that… our friend’s jacket? Why Ghostkiller, how kind of you to look after my sister’s welfare, you know what cold air can do to some…” Celestia spoke in an even more honeyed voice as she nudged Luna who yelped a bit and realized that Johann’s jacket was still draped over her, she gave up trying to hide her face and just blushed in front of them like a filly, she made a noise that sounded like a ‘squee’ as she looked up and realized that Johann was sitting right beside her, she looked down again and blushed even harder. Keep it together Luna, you’re the princess of the night! Such things do not affect you! Luna scolded herself.

“Thanks, I guess, being a gentleman isn’t one of the things listed in my résumé” Johann scratched his head, still pausing to sip some of his coffee. “By the way, nice coffee, Luna, thanks” he added. Celestia shot another teasing look at Luna who didn’t care anymore about them seeing her blush.

“Anyway, I’ve embarrassed my sister enough tonight; I’ll leave you two alone now. Take care and have a pleasant evening, both of you” Celestia walked away into the castle, giggling loudly. Luna sighed from relief. There was a moment of silence between the two, Luna stroking her mane with both hooves while sitting beside Johann who seemed to be staring at the distance.

“The night’s pretty beautiful, you do a wonderful job managing the stars. You see that? Orion, the great hunter” Johann tried to break the ice as he pointed to the hourglass-shaped constellation. “I engraved it on one of my dogtags back in Baghdad and it’s been a lucky charm of sorts ever since” he took out his dogtags, showed it to Luna. The dog tags were cool and smooth to the touch, on one of them, his name, blood type and callsign was engraved, on the back of it was Orion, there was another dogtag but on it the words ”My calm hides a storm” “My passion comes from pain” were inscripted and on the back was “My past does not define me” and “ I shape my fate ”. She wondered what such adages meant to him.

“thanks, I try to keep things in order” Luna accepted his compliment

“Can I ask you something?” Luna added. “What do these sayings mean to you?”

“I’ll explain one for now, the others, well those are for another time, take your pick. Which among those four do you want me to explain?” Johann responded

“How about ‘Past does not define me’?”

“You know my past is a war-torn one as well as I had a difficult upbringing being the products of parents who always fought and berated me for everything I’ve done. I wanted out of that, I wanted to go away from it all and be my own person, most people would’ve thought I’d end up being a petty thief or some drunkard, but I used my pain from my childhood to become a mercenary, not truly loyal to any side and it gave me what I wanted at the time; someone to fight, it became my passion, back then I was a ruthless tactician, I helped in making my team infamous due to our daring and near suicidal endeavors, to the point where other mercenaries gave way to us, treating us like royalty. We became top-shelf killing machines, I relished in our destruction, I fueled my passion into our endeavors, and all that came from my pain during my past... if that makes any sense” Johann answered. Luna nodded in acknowledgement.

“Well, what do you plan to do with your life now?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea, Im trying to start over. I’ve already had more than my fair share of combat, Im looking for a place to settle down and get a decent job, though my criminal record seems to want the opposite, for once in my life, I’m unsure.” Johann admitted. He finished his coffee cradled his head with his hands, the backs of his hands were scarred from bullets and from one too many bar fights. Luna probed his mind, trying to send emotions of comfort and sympathy via her telepathic abilities.

“Well, you’ll find a way, who knows? Maybe you can start over here in Equestria, My sister and I could help you with that.”

“I guess, but I’d need to take care of this first” Johann stood up and pointed at his body. Luna giggled and imagined how he’d look like as a pony, he’d has enough mental faculties to be a unicorn and seems to be agile enough to be a Pegasus, she was thinking about him being an alicorn, only the royal sisters know the spell for transforming any life-form into an alicorn. She dismissed the thought as soon as it popped into her head, she’d go back to it some other time.

“I suppose we’d best be going back in now, before the cold air does a number on you” Johann suggested. Both of them walked towards the warmth inside the castle, Johann keeping pace with Luna while he was bringing his empty cup as Luna brought hers, they once more went to the kitchen, washed their cups, went towards the living area of the castle, sat by the fireplace and Johann started telling even more stories, this time using his body as a prop, he was keeping luna on the edge of her seat when Celestia barged in again, forcing luna to blush at the sight of her sister, the older alicorn simply sat on the couch.

“I couldn’t sleep as well, with you two up and dating each other, I might as well listen to your stories” Luna blushed when she heard the word ‘dating’ but paid no heed, she was too busy drowning in Johann’s story

“So there I was, knife and gun in hand” Johann narrated as he mimicked his stance on that day. His thick Scottish accent was filling the room. “When suddenly BANG!! A shot zipped right past my head and grazed my helmet! So what I do is I return fire, emptying a whole magazine into his direction” he pretended to fire a gun and imitated the ‘click’ sound as he dramatized him having no more bullets “… So I says ‘crap! This is bad!’ then by dumb luck, this guy lunges at me, this nasty looking machete at his hand and started swinging the blasted blade right at me” he swinged his arm in wide arcs, simulating a big blade. “.. so I dodge and tumble, avoiding the bugger’s blows bow and fighting back with my knife, it was like me bringing a toothpick to a swordfight! What happens then was BAM! Bugger slashed my face but luckily he grazed the top o’ me eye and the bottom.” He traced the scar that ran over his right eye. “But too bad for him, he got close enough for me to plunge the knife into his gullet, but had I not reacted a second quicker, I would be missing a head” he walked with his arms forward, flailing about “.. and going about yelling ‘where’s me head!? Where’s me bloody head!? Though how I would be able to yell is beyond me, I’d probably yell at my own body ‘Im right here you useless pile of meat! Now pick me up before something bad happens!’ ” The two sisters giggled at how this person turned such a brutal nightmare into a relatively humorous one. He bowed with an air of mock arrogance and pretended to be blinded from camera flashes “no autographs, please.” He continued his role until it was half past midnight, celestia yawned and decided to get some more sleep, leaving the two behind once more. Johann told another story, this time about the time he was fighting in the Urals, though he noticed, halfway into the story, Luna had fallen asleep, she was lying on the couch, snoring.

“… So the place was so cold, god forbid, if you even spat on the groun- Luna? You there? Sleepin’ on me are you? Even princesses need their beauty sleep” He noticed his jacket was on the floor now, he blanketed her with it, “Good night Luna, sleep tight” as he walked to the lounge chair and sat, soon, he himself was sleeping.

“ You too, good night , Johann” a meek voice replied.

Luna and Johann woke up to the scent of fried eggs, toast, and oatmeal being cooked, the mercs and the older princess were busy eating when they noticed the two walk in.

“Had a pleasant night, Luna?” Celestia, ever the embarrassing sister, teased her sibling.

“None of your business!” Luna barked, her face reddening

“Boss! Ever the ladies man, even non humans swoon for you!” His team cheered their boss. Johann scratched his head and smiled.

They all ate a hearty breakfast and readied their things. Within the hour, they were leaving, and when they were at the castle gates, Luna and Celestia waved goodbye at them, and gave them some bits(which seemed to be golden coins) to cover for food and transportation. Luna ran after them with celestia on her tail, Johann’s windbreaker was dangling from Luna’s mouth

“You… uh.. forgot this Johann, thanks for the jacket”

“Keep it, seems that you liked it, a little gift from me to you.” Johann told luna, he ruffled her hair with a gloved hand, Luna giggled.

“Till next time princess! “ Johann waved as he climbed aboard the train.

“Boss, you like her?” Crosser jokingly asked

"Shut up crosser” Johann leaned his head on the window and slept.

Several hours later, the mercs contacted their employers notified the UN which immediately took an interest in building new diplomatic relations with the new land and asked to build an embassy inside Equestria, they requested them to come back for further debriefing and for their payment. As they entered the portal, Johann stayed behind. The mercs asked him why

“been in the game for over a decade, I’ve seen more than my fair share of bloodlust, I think it’s about time I put the gun down and settled for a more tranquil life. You can all split my share guys, Im staying”

“But Boss…” Skullface retorted

“Skull, I told you years ago I wanted to settle down and start over from my past, this is my chance, Im not going to pass it up. They don’t care about my criminal record here. Take this, a memento for the times we shared as a team” he fished into his pack and gave them a silver plated 1911. “Given to me by the US president for saving his and his family’s lives during the time we escorted him from Baghdad, don’t lose it. And by the way, you’re the leader now, skull, I trust you.”

“Alright Boss, this is goodbye, for now.”

“Yeah Boss, so long, and… take care” his team replied as they waved and stepped into the portal.
He turned his back and faced the landscape before him, he was only a couple hundred yards from Ponyville. He breathed deep.

“Alright, a new start, what could possibly go wrong?” He boarded another train headed for Canterlot, buying some food at the station and made his way for the Castle. He knocked and asked for Luna, who was shocked by his return, but nevertheless, she welcomed him with a hug.

“This is going to be the start of something great” Johann told himself

Comments

[Midnight Rider]

This is a really well done revision. A few errors here and there but they can be sifted out. Again like i said even the pros were once amateurs