A New World, A New Conflict

by Evowizard25

Let's find the roots of heresy (Day 5)

If there was one thing that annoyed Crowland like no other, it was a rain forest. The constant rain made tracking harder than ever. It washed away everything he needed to keep up with his game and made his life unpleasant. He was a being of the open grasslands, not confined forests. Still, it was only a small nuisance. He got over the inconvenience long ago. Now, he could tack well enough in the forests.

He was a hunter after all. Every environment had something good and bad about it. From the fierce tundra, to the busy streets of a city. The world was his hunting ground and he had killed and collected from every single corner of it. He had every sort of killer in his collection, whether they be sapient or not. Of course, with all these new creatures, he was sorely lacking.

He sighed as his camo coat held back the rain and kept his position in the trees out of focus of others. Little Lady had a smaller version of it on herself. He wasn’t going to just let his newest companion get soaked for nothing. Not the least was it just to spy on his newest prey. They were certainly bigger than most creatures, with only dragons and adult Star Ursas beating it in size. Even then, he was sure the gigantic furred lizard would give them a hard earned fight. That and the mated duo would be formidable. Dragons and Ursas never hunted together. That would be his biggest problem in his hunt. He needed to separate them. Not for long, just to take one of them down. Then, he could just kill the other whenever he pleased and take his trophy. With his newer, larger, high powered crossbow, not to mention the ‘ammunition’ he was using, he was confident he could take them.

His targets were on the move. Slowly though as if looking for something. He was sure it was a place to rest, most likely a large cave or something of the kind. The rain wouldn’t bother them, but their young might get a little chilly. Crowland wasn’t entirely sure, since they were a new species and all.
Still, he wasn’t here to hunt, more to observe. He needed time to prepare for the kill and…his mind was on other things.

“Row.”

Crowland sighed. “Yes, I know.” ‘She’s persistent, I’ll give her that.’ He didn’t like the job any more than Little Lady, but he always got the job done, no matter what. “I’m a terrible bastard. Can’t change that.” He gave a hollow chuckle.

“Spear Row Row.”

“You really think I would let those bastards take her without a contingency plan? Little Lady, don’t doubt me now. Caballeron knows I have more than enough skills to take her back whenever I want,” Crowland frowned. “He knows alright.”
_____________________________________________________________________________
*previously*

Crowland Tempo was usually a calm sort of griffin. It took a lot to make him loose his temper. That helped immensely in his business, what with frustrating prey and sucky jobs. It was best he kept a level head and didn’t do anything rash. However, even he had a breaking point.

Such as like right now.

“Caballeron,” Crowland calmly said. One of his clawed feet lay on the stallion’s chest, pinning him to the ground. Given how much larger he was than a pony, it didn’t take much effort. Even with the stallion squirming in fear underneath him. His crossbow was aimed right at Caballeron’s head. “I am a reasonable griffin. I do my job and I always deliver. You’ve been a shady client, always have been. Yet, I always thought you had standards.” His put a little more weight on his foot. “Clearly, I was wrong.”

“I’m sorry,” Caballeron begged, trying to gasp for air. “Business has been hard for me, so…” He was cut off when Little Lady, who was on the ground beside him, pecked him roughly on the noggin.

“Hard?” Crowland laughed. “Hard? Of course it’s been hard. Your little hideouts in Equestria aren’t that reliable. Maybe setting up a black market inside a country ruled by a peaceful immortal wasn’t such a good idea. I’m surprised Celestia already doesn’t have your head, but I know how much of a slippery bug you are. Always crawling through the cracks.”

“You have to understand.”

“I understand alright. You’re scared. You’re scared these pokemon are going to ruin whatever measly little business you still have. This isn’t like you Caballeron. This isn’t how you do things.”

“I have a business to run,” Caballeron wheezed. “My clients aren’t satisfied with their merchandise. They put up too much of a fight.”

“So you’re trying to stamp the fight out of her,” Crowland stole a glance to the unconscious Kirlia. His stomach churned and his temper flared. “What I want to know is why her? I gave you to her in perfect condition, carried her like a fragile doll. You should have known what I would do if I found out about this.”

“She’s just an alien,” Caballeron tried to reason. “She isn’t….”

“One of us,” Crowland put more pressure on Caballeron’s chest. “I expected to find her well off, but this…Beaten and shocked into unconsciousness? Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you and everyone in this building right now and don’t say that I can’t. You know me.”

“Because of our contract,” Caballeron smirked. “You’re still under my employment, meaning you can’t do a damn thing. Yes…I know you well enough, Tempo. You never back out of a deal, no matter what it is. You never leave anything unfinished and until she’s sold, our contract still holds up.”

Crowland’s foot came close to crushing the stallion’s chest inward. His finger twitched on the trigger. Yet, he pulled back. ‘Damn him. Damn him to Tartarus.’ “You’re right. I can’t stop you…now. Of course, you very well know you crossed a line here. A very fine line. Don’t think about looking for me when this is all over or I’ll seriously consider putting a bolt through your skull.”

Caballeron fought for air as he stood up. “Duly noted.”

Crowland sneered and turned towards the exit. “Little Lady.”

The next thing Caballeron knew, the little bird streamed towards him in a white, glowing trail. Surprisingly, when it impacted his chest, he was sent flying into a bunch of small, empty cages. He groaned in pain as he laid there.
___________________________________________________________________________
*present*

‘He better well remember that.’ Crowland thought. He wasn’t a fool. He had a means of knowing the little doll’s location. His tranquilizer had also served the purpose of a tracking device. More specifically, a magical substance that now lay dormant in the girl’s bloodstream. It was a simple concoction. Well, for him at least. All he had to do to find the girl was use his ‘compass’.

His stomach quietly rumbled. He laid his crossbow down gently on the branch and out a piece of boar meat. Naturally, he offered Little Lady a piece before himself. She took it happily. Without a second thought, he brought it up to his own beak. That’s when he heard it. As quick a snake’s strike, he caught the tongue in his other hand. Of course, that was his only movement. The rest of his body had remained perfectly still.

“Fella, you’ve got to work on your stealth. I knew you were there five minutes ago.” He pulled the tongue down, bringing the invisible creature before him. The creature revealed itself. It was a rather large green and yellow chameleon. Though, it looked like no chameleon he had ever seen before. “Give me one good reason why I should throw you to the canopy floor.”

“Kec?” It , he, shrugged. The creature’s tone was shaking from both fear and the cold.

Crowland sighed. “Damn my bleeding heart,” he whispered to himself. “Let’s get you out of this rain.” Little Lady sneezed. “And you too.” He cast a glance to his prey as they disappeared into the deep forest. It would take him a while to track them down again, since this forest was so vast and thick that even a creature their size could hide well enough. It wouldn’t be too hard, given his tracking capabilities. Besides, he had others to worry about now. He put his rifle onto his back as well as the strange chameleon and took off with a mighty flap of his wings.
____________________________________________________________________________

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE CAN’T MARCH INTO THE CITY?!!” Ag roared. She and a few others were inside a large tent that stood on the outskirts of the city Abnub.

The zebra before her was a rather plump zebra mare. She was the mayor of Abnub and getting along in her years with all her wrinkles and dull coat. She shivered underneath the gaze of the large pokemon. “I simply cannot allow a large, foreign army into my city.”

“We have permission from the king,” Ag growled. It had been like this for an hour. The mayor just wouldn’t budge. “I said that hours ago. I even showed you all the king’s troops we brought along. What more do you need?”

“The fair zebras of Abnub…” the mayor started, before the zebra guards with Ag snickered. She glowered at them. “Will not stand to have such creatures intrude upon their lively hoods.”

“Look,” Ag rubbed her forehead. ‘Racist asshole.’ “I’m not saying I’ll bring the entire Pokemon Liberation Army onto your doorstep. Hell, I only have eighty pokemon soldiers with me currently. That’s barely enough right there to cover the city. The rest are zebras. Do you hear me? Zebras! Zebras plucked from his majesty’s own royal guard.”

“I did hear you,” the mayor snorted. “And again I refuse. The king is rash. I trust his soldiers as much I would trust a Hyena Dog.” She yelped when said soldiers brandished their weapons. Her own guards pulled out their own weapons.

“We seem to be at an impasse,” Ag knew quite well they could take them. She could do it all on her own, in fact. Of course, that would get her nowhere fast. It’d just make her job harder in the long run, because of the public backlash such an act would cause. “How about this? I will send one, I repeat, one of my soldiers into the city. If they find any evidence that Lia was there or someone connected to her kidnapping, then I will send more. Is that fair?”

The mayor chewed her lip. “Well…if you can officially find the ones responsible, I don’t see any reason to say no…But you must do so under my watch. Meaning, I must be informed of everything at all times. My guards will accompany your soldiers at every turn.”

Ag nodded. It was no big deal to her, really. She was used to having someone watch over her, given how paranoid Sev was. That and she had seen the mayor’s guards. They were skittish, untrained. They were just local militia pulled from the streets. If a fight broke out, her combined forces could wipe them out in no time at all. “Sounds fair.”

“So,” the mayor spoke up. “Who do you have in mind?”

Ag smirked. “A mon who is an army unto himself. CHAR!”

“As I have been called to the holy work,” General Char versed as he walked inside. He walked in with a calm demeanor. His arms crossed behind his back. His eyes were the opposite. They were always on edge. Always looking for treachery and evil. Char was at the ready every moment in the day. His suit was as clean as ever and the two swords that now hung on his hips stood at the ready. They were taken from the local armories and Char loved them. They were enhanced magically to be fireproof, even to carry it. “So I will call others to me. The words of the lord are ever present upon my lips as are his actions upon my limbs. Speak now and his righteousness will be passed.”

“I have a job for you,” Ag said. “How would you feel about a solo mission?”

“Are you sure?” The mayor eyed Char with contempt. “He is rather scrawny. Some of the local troublemakers have twice his muscle.”

“Muscle does not matter when it comes to serving our glorious Lord Arceus,” Char sneered. “A single mon with faith can triumph over legions of the faithless.”

“Well said,” Ag nodded. She knew she had the right mon for the job. However, she also knew that the city would get a new red coating soon. Char was rather…overzealous when it came to blazing away the ‘corrupt heathens’. She just hoped he wouldn’t go overboard today.
_________________________________________________________________________

Being a pony in the black market wasn’t easy. It never had been with Celestia cracking down so hard on them. They rarely had any relief. The sun goddess had eyes and ears in a lot of places. Thankfully, not all. Zebrica was a big ‘blank zone’ for her and that’s where the black market thrived. There was so much open and uninhabited terrain or corrupt officials that it was almost too easy to go about business.

However, with the emergence of the new king, business had been getting a bit slim. He was cracking down on them as hard as Celestia. That made him quite unpopular to the lords of the ‘underground’. Not a good place to be.

One such ‘lord’ was a mottled brown and grayish-green unicorn mare known as Too Much. She wore a body covering black outfit with a money insignia where her cutie mark would be. Currently she paced along a metal causeway outside her the main office. It gave her a perfect view of the storage room and all her workers going about and moving precious valuables: stolen jewels, furniture, poached animals, you name it. She had the mother load, but that didn’t assuage the anger and fear she felt.

“Damn that Caballeron,” she growled. “Where the hell are you?”

“Right here,” Caballeron trotted up the stairs. He was slightly wheezing as he walked and was covered in bruises. “I’m sorry, Too Much. I just ran into…an old friend.”

“I don’t care who you ran into or ran over you,” Too Much snorted. “I just want to know if you brought my goods.”

“I have them,” Caballeron said. “There is no need to worry about that. Some of my best stuff now lays at the docks in Bridleton. Not to mention that we have procured some of the more…interesting new wildlife.”

“How interesting?”

“As interesting as a small fortune.”

Too Much could literally see bits floating around the stallion. “My, my, my, you certainly have a way with words. How soon can I get them?”

“By tomorrow,” Caballeron said. “Our clients are on the edge. They need their new toys sooner rather than later.”

“So we’ll amp the price,” Too Much smirked. “I like the way you think. A good thing too. Some of our more vocal merch have been degrading in quality. It turns out some creatures can’t get it through their skulls when to shut up. I can’t just cut out their tongues. Who wants a slave with no tongue? They can’t understand that.”

“I never was one for slave trading,” Caballeron clutched his bruised chest. “And now I see why. Still, bits are bits and these are desperate times.”

“Yeah,” Too Much looked around, hesitant to find the griffin she was looking for. “Say, where’s that Thirst?”

“She’s….studying,” Caballeron winced. “She might be looking for some new specimens shortly.”

“Oh….” Too Much wasn’t going to push that. “As long as she pays well, I don’t care what she does with them or what bloody spell she uses. She could kill that Arceus fella for all I care. Might be doing us all a favor.”

Suddenly, something smashed through the windows. Turning to look at the source, the two ponies’ jaws dropped. There, standing on a pile of large crates, was a well dress orange, earth dragon carrying swords. Fire lit the end of his tail.

“I heard there was heresy and got here as fast as I could.”

Author's Note:

General Inquisitor Char is ready to rumble!

I hope you all liked this chapter and please leave a comment.

Comments

[gundamfighter55]

I heard there was heresy and got here as fast as I could.”
that reference this is why I like this group and most of the writers the jokes are good referances

[Evowizard25]

5339804
Char: I require nothing more than Arceus's will.

Ag: Yeah, we're going to need a clean up crew...a very big one.

[gundamfighter55]

5339813 so how can I help with the least amount of being burned or punched if loom is still mad

[Evowizard25]

5339819
Don't do anything heretical and don't destroy and machinery. Follow those rules and you won't get hurt both those two.

[Serpentking789]

Oh, things are about to get VERY entertaining. I can't wait to see General Char go all Alexander Anderson on some heathens and scum.

[Bubbabob]

Instead of wielding two swords, he should wield a Doublade.

[ShadowsInTheDark]

Woooo things are about to get massy.

[Ausbrony]

Those ponies are boned, so utterly, fucking, boned...

I suppose it still beats Gard turning their brains into tapioca.

[Night_Moon60606]

5344009 only just....only just...

[Recteik Shade]

She could kill that Arceus fella for all I care. Might be doing us all a favor.

Interesting choice of words

[Raul]

"Heresy is like a weed. You can cut it down over and over and it will just grow back, stronger than before. The only way to eliminate it, is to destroy the roots."

Ahhh, Imperial Inquisitors have the best quotes.
It should be noted though, Char pulled a line from the book of Commissars, not inquisitors.

[Nitro Indigo]

Why is Char called an "earth dragon"?