• Published 5th Aug 2016
  • 503 Views, 59 Comments

Caliber's Party - colt alchemist



Jade Caliber and her rag-tag group of mercenaries travel all over Equestria taking various jobs and get into all sorts of strange situations. An action packed, dark, and comedic adventure that they will not forget.

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Introductions and a New Mission.

One bright day, a private little meeting was taking place in a mansion that was located in the middle of the Canterlot.

The mansion was shimmering in the sun and had silver gates surrounding the entire area. The owner of the mansion, a wealthy stallion named Dapper Metal, was in his office. He was a thin earth stallion with a neat and combed back black mane and sported blue business suit. His coat was pale yellow while his eyes were orange. He sat behind his desk in his office, which was filled with all kinds of books and treasures. From rare gems in glass cases to dusty books filled with knowledge.

“I’m so glad you could make it. When I heard you were in town, I wasn’t sure if you would respond to my letter or not,” stammered the business pony.

The pony he was speaking to was resting nonchalantly in her seat. She had a very peculiar appearance that Dapper couldn’t make of. She was a very lean unicorn mare with a tan fur coat. Her blonde mane was short and layered while her tail remained nice and long. However, what was strange about her was what she wore. She sported a wide-brimmed, dark brown Stetson hat that was tipped over her eyes, a henna tattered cloak, some hoof anklets and wore a necklace with a green stone on it. The stallion couldn’t see her cutiemark because it was covered by her cloak, but he didn’t bother to question it. He looked up at her hat and noticed an upside down triangle pattern wrapped around it.

“I don’t see why I wouldn’t. I mean, if I see a job, I’m taking it,” she stated. “It’s always nice to make new clients.”

“Yes, very true,” he replied. “Anyway, this job I have for you is very important.”

“Shoot.”

“Well, you see, not to long ago I purchased a very valuable item,” he explained. “The first of its kind, and it’s not even on the market yet. I bought with good intentions and I planned to give to somepony very important. However, the other day my archenemy, Bulk Buster, had his ponies sneak into my mansion and steal my item!”

“I see,” the mare responded. “And what exactly is this item?”

“I can’t tell you that! I don’t mean to be rude, but I feel like if I told you specifically what they stole, then you would understand why it’s so valuable and you would want to keep it to yourself. I don’t mean any offense or anything, I just want to be cautious.”

“You have a right to be cautious. Sounds like the type of thing I would do.”

“What?” he asked, surprised.

“I’m just kidding,” she chuckled. “But seriously, how will I know what to find if I don’t know what it is?”

“I was getting to that. You see, I always keep the item in a small chest that only I can open. It’s a small, brown chest with a golden lock and my initials inscribed on it. Here’s a photo.”

Dapper Metal showed the mare a photo of the chest. Once she examined it, she levitated it back to the earth pony.

“So, it’s like any other chest but with your initials on it? Way to be original there,” she remarked.

“Yes, well.” He rubbed his hoof behind his head, sheepishly.

“So basically, you want me to locate this stallions place and steal back your item?”

“That’s correct! And I’m willing to pay a high price for it,” he informed.

He then dropped three large bags of bits on his desk and shoved them closer to the mare. The mare looked at the three bags and rubbed her chin in thought.

“There’s about three thousand bits in those bags.”

“Alright. This doesn’t look like a hard job. I think six of us should do,” she replied.

The stallion’s ears perked up.

“I’m sorry, but there’s more of you?”

“Did you honestly think I came here by myself?” she asked. “Just your typical mercenary who prefers to work alone and wanders town to town trying to take any job she can?”

“Well…” he tugged at his collar nervously.

“It’s cliché,” she stated. “There’s no fun in taking different jobs alone. That’s why I always travel with my group. That’s how we role. Anyway, this doesn’t look like a hard job.”

“Really? So that means you’ll take it?”

“Sure, why not? We’ve got nothing better to do,” She shrugged.

“Oh! Thank you so much, Ms…”

The mare tipped up her hat with her hoof, revealing her bright purple eyes.

“Jade Caliber. Remember that. Because one day, everypony is going to know that name!” Jade proclaimed.

“I see.”

Dapper brought out a piece of paper for Jade to sign. She used her magic to levitate the quill and signed her name in the contract. After that, the two ponies shook hooves and sealed the deal. During their shake, Jade’s hat drooped and covered her eyes once more.

“Sorry, this hat doesn’t always fit,” she chuckled, blushing a little.

“Ok. Well, here’s the address to Bulk Busters mansion,” he handed her a piece of paper with his enemies address. “Oh and one more thing. Please don’t leave any bodies. I know you’re mercenary and all, but I don’t want any blood on my hooves. We’re rivals, not savages.”

“Oh, and we’re supposed to be?” she raised an eyebrow. “What an insensitive thing to say to the ponies who are carrying out your dirty work.”

“Oh..well…uh..” he stammered, shooting sweat off his brow.

“Relax, I get it,” she assured. Dapper sighed in relief. “You’ll have your item soon.”

Jade turned around and made her way out of his office.

“When?” he asked.

Jade turned around and tipped her hat up.

“We’ll have it when we have it.”

“Oh, OK then.” Dapper looked away nervously.

Jade made her way out of his mansion and began to walk the streets of Canterlot. As she was walking she noticed all the high class nobles that were walking by, she couldn’t help but cough at their rich stench.

“Never thought I’d live the day I trot through the most snobbishly rich pony city ever,” she said to herself. As she was walking, she accidently bumped into a mare.

“Sorry.”

“That’s quite alright, darling,” replied the white mare as she continued her way. “Now then, as far as finding a friendship problem goes, I suggest we start at the castle.”

Jade’s left ear perked and she turned around to look back at the white unicorn mare. She noticed that the white mare had a purple swirl mane and tail with a trio of diamonds for a mark. She was also with a pink earth pony mare with a fluffy mane and tail and a trio of balloons for a mark. Jade tilted her head at the two mares, something about them seemed….familiar. She shrugged it off for now and decided to keep on walking.

Few minutes later, she was on the outskirts of Canterlot. She only had to walk over one small hill to reach her destination. Once she reached the top, she looked down below. There, at the bottom of the hill, in the middle of the field, was her mercenary camp. Ponies and other creatures had just finished setting every up below. The white tents were set up, one of the ponies got a fire going, and they were all just chatting with one another. Jade raced down the hill to deliver the news to her group.

Meanwhile, one of the members was showing two new recruits, a mare and a stallion, around the camp and getting them familiar with their new family.

“And that concludes our tour. I hope you two have gotten yourselves familiar with your new lives and are ready to take on any job,” concluded Vlardo.

He’s been in Jade’s group for a while and was always happy to show newcomers around. Vladro was a strong and lean griffon with a grey eagle front and a black lion back half. He also had a bronze-colored beak and shiny blue eyes. For a griffon, he did wear some interesting clothing, such as aviator glasses, a midnight blue cape, and a black Stetson hat. Although, the brim was nowhere near as big as Jades.

“Now then!” he spoke as he turned around to face the new recruits. “It’s time for the grand finale: My area!”

He flew out of the way to reveal a simple hammock tied between two trees. However, what was really surprising was what was resting on the sides of both trees.

Vladro whistled. “Wake up girls! Time to meet some new friends!”

Suddenly, a set of glowing eyes beamed next to one of the trees. Another set glowed on the other side as well. Then, two huge masses formed and started to crawl their way out of the darkness. The two recruits stood their motionless, their hearts raced and sweat dripped down their heads. Their eyes shrank to the size of needle points once they saw two, large timberwolves emerged from behind the trees. The timberwolf on the left side wore a dark green collar while the one on the right had an orange one. Both timberwolves growled and narrowed their eyes.

“Hey! Hey! No! Knock that off!” scolded Vladro.

Just like that, the two timberwolves calmed down and stopped growling.

“Sorry, they’re usually really friendly.”

“Are you sure? Because they look like they’re about make a snack out of us,” asked Abyssal Shield.

He was the stallion and one of the newer members in Calibers mercenary group. A young unicorn stallion with a grey fur coat and a messy red mane and tail. He also had golden eyes and sported a nice, black jacket. His mark was a sword hiding behind a shield.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Anyway, meet Flora,” he pointed to the one with the green collar.

“And meet Amber,” he pointed to the orange collared one. “They’re my prized timberpups. We’ve been through everything together and they’ve never let me down. So, who would like to say ‘hello?’”

Both recruits looked at each other with worried looks.

“Um, I guess I will,” the mare said, meekly raising her hoof.

“Great!”

“Are you sure about this, Stardust?” asked Abyssal Shield.

Stardust was the mare new recruit. She was an earth pony with a navy purple fur coat and a really long navy blue mane and tail. Her mane had a light blue highlight and she had two strands of hair falling on each side of her face. She also sported two golden diamond-shaped earrings, a headband with rhinestones on it, and a neckless with a crescent moon pendant. Her mark was that of a crescent moon with four stars surrounding it.

“No,” she responded. “But there’s a first time for everything, right?”

“That’s the spirit! Now, here’s what you want to do,” instructed Vladro. “Slowly approach one of them and stick out your hoof.”

Stardust did so. She slowly walked forward and extended her front left hoof. Amber, the timberwolf with the orange collar, noticed her hoof and slowly approached her. Stardust’s heart raced faster than before, but her eyes never left the timberwolf. She kept calm because she knew she had to let the wolf know she wasn’t afraid. Amber’s snout soon met Stardusts hoof. She sniffed it while Stardust stood there patiently. She could feel the wooden wolf’s breath on her hoof.

“That’s it, just stay calm,” instructed Valdro.

It’s just a wolf! A big, killer, scary eyed timberwolf! Stardust thought to herself.

The wolf sniffed her hoof some more. Before Stardust could think or do anything else, the timberwolf then rubbed her head on her hoof. A small grin formed on Stardusts face as she start to pet the giant wooden wolf. She started to scratch Amber behind her ears, causing her to moan.

“Well done,” congratulated Vladro. “You now have a new friend.”

“She’s so sweat,” Stardust cooed.

“Yeah, she can be real softy if you pet her right. So, would you like to try, Shield?” Vladro asked.

“Oh, uh, I don’t know,” stammered Abyssal Shield.

“C’mon. If she can do it, then you can too.”

“Yeah. They’re actually not that bad,” Stardust added.

“Oh, Ok then.”

Shield trotted towards the other wolf, Flora, and extended his hoof. However, when he raised his hoof at her, Flora began to growl and glare at Shield.

“Gah!” Shield retracted his hoof and backed away.

Luckily, before Flora could come closer, Vlad flew in front of her.

“Whoa! Whoa! Easy!” he ordered as he flared his wings. Flora calmed down and sat on the ground. Vlad then turned around to face Shield.

“W-why did she growl at me? I thought you said they were friendly?”

“They are. You just came at her a little too quickly. She must’ve thought you were going to attack her,” he informed. “First impressions are everything to them.”

“Oh,” Shield said, ashamed.

“Hey, it’s Ok. It’s not like you were trying to attack her or anything.”

“Of course I wasn’t.”

“You want to try again?” Vlad asked.

“I don’t know.”

“C’mon. I’m sure she would like you if you approached her differently,” he assured.

“Yeah, there’s nothing to be afraid of,” added Stardust.

Except maybe a giant timberwolf trying to eat me! He thought.

Shield looked back at Flora and noticed she was still lying on the ground with her eyes half open. The mere look of those shining, golden eyes sent a shiver down Sheilds spine. He wasn’t so sure that joining this group was the best idea for him. Before he could answer though-

“Hey, Jade’s back!” yelled a voice.

All heads turned to see Jade making it back safely to their camp. All of the mercenaries dropped what they were doing and rushed on over to greet their leader.

“Look! Somepony is trotting towards us! Let’s pay attention to it!” stammered Shield as he ran far away from the timberwolves as fast as possible.

While he did that, Stardust walked next to Vlad to get a good look at her new leader. She was amazed at how young this mare was, she looked to be around Stardusts age.

“Is that our leader?”

“Yep! That’s Jade Caliber. Probably the most enthusiastic mercenary I’ve ever met,” Vlad replied.

“What do you mean by, enthusiastic?” Stardust wondered.

“Oh, you’ll find out soon enough.”

“O-Ok then.”

“C’mon! Let’s go see what she has to say.”

With that, Stardust followed Vladro to greet Jade. The other members of the group were over flooding her with questions as she was trying to walk towards her tent. Her tent was the biggest of them all, shaped in a huge trapezoid. It was white with golden edges, had all of her supplies inside, and even had small windows. Jade stood on a crate and faced her team. Even though there were only thirteen of them, including the new recruits, she still felt like they were a huge crowd.

“Alright troops! Listen up! I just got our mission for today!”

There was a small wave of whispers and mutters among the crowd.

“What’s our mission this time?” asked a voice.

“This one is not as big as the others we’ve faced, so keep,” she paused. She noticed something was wrong with her audience. “Hey, wait a minute.”

She squinted her eyes at the crowd. She noticed that she was a few members short. She counted the number of members and whispered the numbers to herself. She soon found out that there were only ten members present in the crowd. Including herself, she counted eleven members altogether.

“Aren’t we missing a few members?” Jade asked.

All the members began to whisper among one another to check who was missing.

“There’s supposed to be thirteen of us total, right?” Stardust asked Shield.

“That’s what I heard, but I only counted eleven of us,” he replied.

“Yeah, same here.”

“We believe we’re missing December Gale,” a voice said.

Both Stardust and Shield turned their heads to see that the voice came from a rather creepy looking unicorn mare. She was much younger and shorter than the other members, and had a black fur coat. Her mane and tail were red with purple strands in them and she had dark green eyes. Her mark was an eclipsed red moon with the rest being purple, but it was hard to get a clear look at her mark since most of her body was covered by a dark cloak. She also sported a star necklace. However, what was really creepy about her, was that she was carrying a small pony doll. The doll had a big, toothy smile and X’s in the eyes. The two recruits slowly backed away from the young mare and her doll.

“Thank you, Eclipse. Anypony else?”

“I think we’re also missing, Dead Eye,” added Vladro.

“Again? Those two are always missing together. Where are they this time?” Jade asked, scanning her area.

Before anyone could answer, loud rumbling and thumping noises were heard in the distance. They all turned their heads and noticed one of the tents pitched up. It was rocking side to side and the loud thumping could be heard from inside. Not only that, but loud grunts and moans escaped from flaps of the tent. Most of the moans sounded very feminine. Stardust blushed at the noises. Jade rubbed her eyes with her hoof.

“Of course. Can somepony fetch them, please?” Jade ordered. “Eclipse?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll get them for you,” Eclipse responded, deadpanned. She approached the tent and lifted the flaps with her hoof.

“Hey! Lovebirds! Party’s over!”

“Gah! We’re in the middle of something, Eclipse!” yelled a mare’s voice.

“Give us five more minutes, please!” added a stallion’s voice.

Eclipses horn was engulfed by a green aura and she picked up the two ponies in the tent.

“Hey! What are you doing?! Not again!” they both yelled.

Eclipse thrusted her head and launched one of them out of the tent. The mare was thrown out first, and she was sent screaming. She landed on the ground with a thud.

“How nice of you to drop in, December Gale,” greeted Jade sarcastically.

December Gale was Pegasus mare with a slender figure. She had an eggshell color fur coat while her mane and tail were long and blonde with light blue highlights in them. She had two silver stud earrings and hazel eyes. Her wings were by far her most noticeable traits, as her right was normal while her left one was covered with metal, bolts, and gears. Her mark was a wing over a wrench and she had a silver anklet on her front right hoof.

“Ow! I wasn’t done yet!” she groaned as she rubbed her flank.

The sound of a stallion screaming filled the air next. Pretty soon, said stallion landed face first on the ground, right next to the one wing Pegasus.

“Glad you could join us too, Dead Eye,” added Jade.

Dead eye, a young earth pony stallion, was a very well-toned and fit pony. His fur coat was white while his mane and tail were silver. His mane was short and spikey while his tail reached down to his knees, he also had a nasty scar on his chest. His mark was a cloak that was getting stabbed by a dagger. An actual black cloak soon floated down on top of him.

“Mood killer,” he responded.

“We have fetched them for you,” Eclipse said.

“Yes. Thank you, Eclipse,” Jade said with much gratitude.

Stardust looked down upon the fallen lovers and couldn’t help cringe at their hard landings.

“Are those two always like that?” she asked Vlad.

“If you mean by being all lovey-dovey at any opportunity they get, then yes, they’re like that a lot.”

“Ok, I don’t know what they were doing in their tent, and I don’t want to, but I would hardly call THAT just being lovey-dovey,” Shield commented.

“Anyway! Back to the topic on hoof!” announced Jade. Soon all eyes were turned towards her again.

“This mission is not as big as the others we’ve had, which isn't very many, so keep that in mind. Our employer wants us to retrieve a valuable item from his rival. He hasn’t told me what it was, but he said that it was kept in this small chest.”

She levitated the picture to show everypony. Mutters and whispers soon filled the air. No one knew why their employer wouldn’t tell her what was in the chest.

“Even though it’s a simple mission, our employer is willing to pay us big money for it. About three thousand bits to be exact.”

The entire group gasped at the high price.

“Three thousand bits for one item?!” exclaimed another voice.

“I know, right?” Jade responded. “I told him that we would take the job and we would get it done. Now, before you troops go crazy, I would like to point out that I won’t be needing every single one of you for this mission.”

“Huh?” they all asked.

“Seeing how this is merely a search and retrieve mission, I’ll only be needing about four or five of you. Also, since the place we’re invading is just a mansion and-“

“Just a mansion?!” yelled a voice.

The crowd cleared away to let another griffon pass through. This one was much different and much older than Vladro.

“Oh no,” Jade groaned.

This griffon was rather large, muscular, and was covered with scratched up and dented plate armor. He had black fur and golden feathers on his head and sported a black eagle-like crest on his chest. His left eye was missing and it was covered by a rather nasty scar.

“What’s the problem now, Guesclin?”

“Just a mansion? You do realize we’re in Canterlot right? The richest and wealthiest city in all of Equestria? Do you really think that just some mansion will be a walk in the park for you? And if this item is so important, don’t you think that the place will be heavily guarded?” lectured the griffon.

“First off, the mansion isn’t in Canterlot per say. Second, what’s your point?”

“My point is that it would be foolish to only bring a small amount of soldiers with you.”

“Yeah, but I only bring my whole army if we’re fighting against, oh I don’t know, another army!” she exclaimed. “This is just one mansion. Even if we are outnumbered, we’ve got some of the best fighters, healers, and other loveable freaks on our side. We’ll pull through til the end. Besides, if we end up losing, we’ll just retreat and try again.”

“Right, because retreating should be what this group is known for. A mercenary company's reputation is everything, and right now, we don't have one. Do you really want one of our first missions to be at best petty larceny and at worst a retreat? And do you have any idea how stupid you sounded when you said ‘we'll just retreat and try again?’ The mansion will be better prepared and defended if you got caught the first time, and then what will you do? Have you thought out anything in the least? Do you have any strategy whatsoever?”

Jade tuned out during his speech and groaned in silence. Her eyes shut so hard it made her brain twitch. She always hated this part about announcing missions. No matter how optimistic she sounded, this particular griffon would always be there to shut her down. She had no idea why he even bothered to stick around if all he’s going to do is belittle and lecture her.

“As a matter of fact, I do have a strategy: make sure to clash my blade as loud as I can, so I don’t have to hear your annoying voice during a battle!” she shot back.

Guesclin growled at her. Stardust and Shield were more than irritated by this griffon’s presence.

“Who’s that?” wondered Shield.

“That’s Guesclin,” answered Vladro. “He’s the merc that always doubts and our leader in any way possible.”

“Why?”

“Dunno. Just his role I guess.”

“What do you mean?” asked Stardust.

“Haven’t you ever noticed in books and stories there’s always that ONE GUY who always complains and blames the pony in charge of everything. He’s basically that. He may be old, but he still has a lot of steam to let off.”

“Does he ever do anything other than complain?” asked Shield.

“Well, I haven’t known him for that long. But I do know that his sword is just as blunt as his words.”

“Oh joy.” Shield rolled his eyes.

The trio turned back to see the mare and the griffon still barking at each other.

“If you ask me, I’d say that you don’t even know what you’re doing!” he yelled.

“If you’re done with your little introduction here,” spoke Jade. “I’d like to continue explaining our plan.”

“Fine. But don’t be surprised when I point out another one of your flaws.”

“I never am.”

Why are you still here, you old vulture? She thought.

“Like I was saying, I’ll only be needing a small amount of you today. We’ll need to be in and out of the mansion as quick as possible. So, for this mission, I’ll be needing our swiftest fighter. Atlas, you’re u-“

“Already here!” Jade turned to see a Pegasus mare standing right next to her.

“Gah!” she lost balance and fell off her crate.

“How did? Wha-Where did you come from?” stammered Jade as she brushed off the dirt of her cloak and hat.

“Well, whenever I hear ‘Atlas’ and ‘Swift’ in the same sentence, I tend to show up at the spot,” she explained with a smile. “I’m surprised you don’t know this by now.”

Zephyr Atlas was by far the speediest member in Jade’s group. That’s mostly thanks to her silver, mechanical wings. They shined in the sunlight and the tips were as sharp as blades. Her dark blue coat stood out and her dark brown mane and tail were cut short. She also sported a light blue captain’s garb that covered her mark, which was merely a hawk. She stood there proud and tall on Jade’s crate.

“And I’m surprised that you can fly that fast with those bulky, metal wings,” she retorted.

“Pff! What? You mean THESE?”

She flew up and spun around the air. Then she landed on the crate on her hind legs with her back facing the crowd. She flared her large, metal wings making a loud “Ching!” noise. The sun rays then reflected off of her wings and shined at the crowd. Many tried to avert their eyes to avoid being blinded.

“Yes, those. And that was totally necessary,” Jade said deadpanned. “Now get off my crate!”
Atlas grumbled and hopped off the crate for Jade to take over again.

“Moving on. Seeing how we are going to retrieve a special and secret item, we will be needing the pony with the stickiest hooves in Equestria,” she paused.

Her eyes went wide as she realized how dirty that sentence was worded. It didn’t help that she heard slight snickers and chuckles coming from the group. She looked down at her troops. She noticed that some of them were staring at her with blank expressions. Others were covering their mouths with their hooves or claws, trying to hold in their laughter.

“That came out wrong,” she said.

Her only response were more snickers from the crowd. Even Shield and Stardust were trying his best not to laugh.

“Why are they sticky?” he whispered to Stardust.

“Shut up!” she punched his hoof. She still couldn’t help but let out a few chuckles.

“You all know what I meant!” yelled Jade. “Lock, just get up here already!”

Another pony was making their way through the crowd and towards Jade. A lean, orange Pegasus stallion with spikey white mane and tail emerged out of the crowd. He sported a black and gold cat burglar outfit and goggles hanging around his neck. His saddlebag was filled with all kinds of gadgets and tools perfect for theft. He approached Jade with a sly grin on his face.

“Artifice Lock, at your service!” he announced. “Although, I’m not sure if my hooves are sticky enough for your needs-“

“Enough with the sticky joke! We all know what it’s supposed to be!” Jade yelled.

“What is it supposed to be?” wondered Eclipse.

“OH, uh…” Stardust chuckled, nervously.

“Are you going to need me tonight, captain?” asked Dead Eye.

“Not for this mission. Our employer specifically instructed us that we leave no corpses.”

“Well that’s no fun,” sighed Dead Eye.

“Aw, that’s Ok, babe,” cooed December Gale as she placed a hoof on his shoulder. “You can take out somepony on the next mission.”

“You think so?”

“I know so,” Gale said with a smile.

“No, you know what? I agree with him!” protested Guesclin. “What kind of mercenary goes on a mission without leaving a few casualties here and there? In my opinion, this sounds like a job for delivery boys rather than for our kind.”

“Well, I don’t care about your opinion, gramps!” Jade shot back.

Guesclin snarled at her once more.

“And I couldn’t care less what our orders are, just as long as we get paid in the end. Isn’t that what typical old warriors like yourself always want?”

“See, now you’re speaking my language! Why can’t that be your objective for every job?”

“Because if I did that, then it would get repetitive and boring!”

“At least you’ll be making a living!”

Jade glared at him. She really didn’t want to put up with him at the moment. By the time she chose the rest of her squad for the evening, it would already be the next day. Nothing she thought of sounded like a good comeback. So she did something else.

“Anyway!” she yelled. “I think it’s time for my usual tradition again. Vlad, we have new recruits right?”

“Yes we do,” he replied.

“Good. Newbies, up and center!” she ordered.

Stardust and Shield exchanged looks. They turned back to Jade and stepped forward and approached her crate. Jade looked down on them and examined them. She scanned up and down and stared at their strange appearances.

“What are your names again?” she asked.

“I’m Stardust.”

“Abyssal Shield.”

“Right, I remember now. Well, good news you two! You’re both coming along on this mission!”

“Huh?” they both said.

“I chose Atlas and Lock to come with me because I’ll be needing their specific skills in order to complete our mission. I’m bringing you two with me tonight to help you gain some experience points.”

“Experience points?” asked Shield.

“Well, you’re not going to be much to use to me if you can’t or don’t know how to fight. Or know how to do anything in general. So how else are you going prove your worth by joining us on this job? Think of it like a test. If you pass, then you become stronger. And, you can stay in my party. But if you fail, well…”

“Well what?” wondered Shield.

“Then there’s a high chance that you’ll probably die in the real battlefield. Not being any use to me at all.”

Both of the ponies eyes shrank to the size of peas.

I don’t think I like this tradition of hers, thought Stardust.

“So, you two in?” Jade chimed.

“I don’t know if I’m comfortable with this,” admitted Stardust.

“Oh,” Jade said. “Too bad! The script calls for it!”

“What?!” they both exclaimed.

Before they could interject, a pair of hooves wrapped around their shoulders. They turned to see Atlas suddenly between them. Her hooves were wrapped around them as if they were her buddies.

“Alright! First night on the job! Aren’t you pumped for this?!” she exclaimed.

“Uhhh,” was all they could say as they averted their eyes.

“Yeah, great tradition there,” spoke Guesclin. “Bring the new recruits with you just to axe them off. That sure is a wise choice.”

“How else are they going learn to fight if they just stayed here and did nothing?”

“It’s called self-training! Maybe you should let them do that instead of dragging them head first into an assignment that could be dangerous for them!”

“I don’t have time for a training montage! And they’re not going to get any experience if they just stayed here all the time!”

“That’s your reason? Maybe you should-“

“You know what? Why don’t YOU join us!?” Jade interrupted.

“Excuse me?”

“Since you’re SO insistent that they’ll get hurt, you can tag along and be their foalsitter!”

“Hey, we don’t need no foalsitter! We can take care of ourselves!” interjected Shield.

“It’s, ‘we don’t need a foalsitter,’” corrected Stardust. “When you said, ‘we don’t need no,’ you just gave a double negative. Meaning that we do need one.”

Shield stared blankly at her. His cheeks started blush into a bright red color. He looked away, feeling attacked by his own ignorance.

“Fine. I’ll tag along! Just so I can see you fail!”

With that, Guesclin marched right up to Jade’s crate and joined the others who were joining her. Now her squad was set, the leader, the speed fighter, the thief, the recruits, and the warrior stood there proud and tall; ready to tackle anything that was thrown at them. Well, Shield and Stardust stared at each other nervously while everypony else was beaming with confidence.

“Are we really doing this?” Shield whispered.

“Unfortunately,” Stardust replied.

The remaining members in the crowd looked up at Jade and her chosen members.

“Alright, looks like our team is ready! I have the address to our targets mansion and the plan that will get us paid. This mission will not be easy, so get ready to demolish any obstacle that gets in our way. I promise we will retrieve the item and get what we deserve. December Gale, get our weapons ready.”

“Got it!” Gale replied.

“We shall leave, immediately!”

“Yeah!” the crowd roared.

“What about lunch?” asked Lock.

As if on cue, Jade’s stomach growled like a manticore. She looked around and noticed that she wasn’t the only one. Most of her other member’s stomachs were rumbling like crazy.

“We shall leave, in three hours!”

“Yeah!”

Later

It was evening and the sun was almost about to set for the day. Jade, the four ponies, and the griffon were trekking through a large, grassy terrain to get to their target’s location.

“Dang it guys, I was kidding! You weren’t actually supposed to take three hours!” she yelled at her team. “It’s going to be night any minute now, let’s hurry it up!”

“Hey, if you’re giving us three hours to cook and eat, we’re going to take our time,” Atlas replied. “That was a mistake on your part.”

“Thank you for that lecture. But I think I can get enough of those out of Guesclin.”

“Well maybe if you just led us properly you wouldn’t-“

“Did I ask you to speak?” Jade interrupted.

Guesclin grumbled and continued to walk. The others were getting equally tired of walking. They just wanted to get to the mansion already and get the job over with. The very long trip was taking them hours to complete.

“How far away is this place?” groaned Shield.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” replied Stardust.

“I thought this place was in Canterlot. But we passed the main castle an hour ago. Now we’re in the middle of nowhere!” added Lock.

“Yes, thank you for pointing out the obvious,” remarked Atlas.

Jade looked at the address on the card Dapper Metal gave her. She looked up and noticed a large, grassy hill. She knew she was going in the right direction, but felt lost at the same time. She looked around and saw no houses or mansions for miles. Only grass, dirt, and dirt on grass. She and her group walked up the hill. As she was trotting, her patience was starting to wear off.

Ok, I swear if I don’t find something in the next five minutes, I’m let my arrows loose right up somepony’s-

Before she could finish her thought. She reached the top and found what she was looking for. All of her anger went away and was replaced with joy.

“Oh Luna! Troops, shut up and come up here!” she ordered.

“No pony said anything,” Stardust pointed out.

“Shut it and get up here! We made it!”

Like that, all of her troops raced towards the top of the hill to be met with a glorious and breath-taking site. Right above them, stood the floating pegasai city of Cloudsdale. Jade and her team’s jaw dropped and they stared with awe. The city shone in the dusky sun and shimmered to the ground below. Houses made of clouds and rainbow bridges could be recognized anywhere. However, there was one small problem.

“Wait, our target’s mansion is in Cloudsdale?” Shield questioned. “How the hay are we supposed to get up there?! Only half us have wings and can walk on clouds! Oh great, our first mission and we already have a big problem!”

“What?” asked Jade. “No, his house is right THERE.”

She pointed to the big mansion that was directly below Cloudsdale. The rest of the group scanned downwards and finally noticed the huge, blue, two-story mansion that was directly below the floating city. It was guarded by a golden gate and had several flower-filled bushes and hedges surrounding the structure.

“Ooohh,” the group said, understanding what was going on.

“Yeah, our client told me his rival’s an earth pony who wanted to live in Cloudsdale. But seeing how earth ponies will just fall right through the clouds and become pony pancakes, he chose the next best thing.”

“That’s a weird dream to have,” pointed out Atlas.

“Yeah, it’s like saying a young filly wakes up one morning and says she wants to become a dragon when she grows up and builds a clubhouse right next to a dragons cave,” added Lock.

The rest of the group just stared at him with eyebrows raised and speechless faces.

“That’s a…specific example,” noted Jade.

“Don’t ask me how I know that!” retorted Lock as he looked away.

“O…K…Follow me,” she ordered.

She jumped and hid behind a large tree. The rest of the group followed. They all hid behind the large trunk, making sure not to be seen. Jade peaked around the corner and noticed two large security ponies in black shirts were standing watch at the front gate. She turned back to her team.

“So, what’s your plan,” asked Guesclin.

“Ok, here’s what I came up with,” Jade started. “We knock out the goons out front, somehow, then we break in. And then, we look for the main bedroom, since I’m guessing that’s where the safe is.”

“How do you know it’s in there?” asked Atlas.

“It’s a giant rich mansion. Every mansion has to have a safe in the main bedroom. Duh! Anyway, we break in without setting off the alarm. We find the safe, Lock will get it to open, and then, wait for it,” she paused. “We take it and go!”

There was silence among the group. Atlas face-hoofed herself while Shield and Stardust tilted their heads and gave confused stares.

“Really? That’s your big plan? That’s got to be the most dumbed-down and ridiculous plan I’ve ever heard,” ranted Guesclin.

“What? Like you’ve got a better plan? It’s the best we got! So, shut it and just go with it,” she shot back. At that moment, a light bulb went off in Stardust’s brain.

“Of course! Now would be the perfect time to us it,” she said to herself.

“Use what?” asked Jade.

Stardust reached into her saddlebag and pulled a small orb. The group stared blankly at the peculiar object. They had no idea where she was going with this.

“A glass ball?” wondered Lock.

“It’s a magical orb to be exact,” she corrected.

Stardust held the orb in one hoof and began to rub it gently with the other. She rubbed it in a circular motion. She rubbed it faster and faster. As she did, the orb started to tint and glow in a bright green color. The glow was reflecting off of Stardust’s eyes as she stared intensely into the mystic object. She whispered into the orb as the glow got brighter and brighter. Every pony’s hearts beat like a mouse, they didn’t know what to make of this. Jade stared in awe at Stardust’s ability. She didn’t know whether to be scared or impressed.

All of a sudden, the orb stopped glowing. Stardust’s eyes pulled back and she panted like crazy. Sweat was starting to form on her brow.

“What was all that about?” asked Shield.

“Oh yeah, I probably should’ve explained this sooner. But I always carry this orb with me wherever I go,” she explained holding the orb. “And whenever I need it, I ask it to foresee my or anypony else’s future. I used this a lot when I was a gypsy.”

“Um, I doubt fortune telling will help us on this mission,” Guesclin doubted.

“Alright, I’m just going to play along. What did you see?” asked Jade.

“I saw us running out of this mansion running with the chest we’re supposed to retrieve.”

“Gee, who would’ve seen that coming?” remarked Atlas, sarcastically. “Can we get this over with?”

“Hold on! That wasn’t all that I saw. I witnessed another future where I saw us getting captured by the owner’s guards and getting tortured in order to get answers out of us. There was another one where he convinces us to join his side. And he was willing to pay a higher price for our services, and we just went along with it.”

Looks of concern were soon aimed at Stardust. Even Jade was getting worried.

“W-which one is the real future?” Jade asked.

“I don’t know,” Stardust admitted.

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“The orb always shows me multiple futures, but only one is true. It never tells me the exact one until it’s happened.”

“Well that’s kind of lame,” admitted Lock. “Why would it not tell you which future is correct until after it’s happened? Why not just show the correct one and only the correct one?”

“It just does. And at least it helps to be prepared for any outcome,” Stardust replied.

“She’s got a point,” shrugged Shield.

“But still, why bother to tell you a future if it might not be true in the first place?”

“It doesn’t work like that!”

Jade thought to herself as the group began to bicker about the purpose of Stardusts orb.

So, we could end up failing on this mission? Pfff! No we won’t. That won’t happen. But what if it does? It won’t. It’s just a dumb orb, it’s not like it’s true or not. But only one future is real? What am I saying? It’s a bucking orb. Those things are never true! Why should I care about what a glass ball says? I don’t care. I really don’t care! I don’t care at all! She thought to herself. But what if….No! It doesn’t work like that. It has to be fake! Earth ponies can’t use magic anyway. Again, not that I care or anything. Focus on the mission.

“Ok enough!” she yelled. The rest of the group turned to her. “We’re getting off track. Right now, we need to get into that mansion. Atlas, I need you to go over there and-“

“On it!”

Atlas zoomed off before Jade could finish her sentence. The others just stared off in confusion. They all peaked around the tree to see the two guard ponies still standing watch by the gate. That’s when things started to happen. One of the guards was suddenly slammed right into the gate. It made a loud ‘Ding!’ noise and he collapsed onto the ground. The other guard jumped at his fallen partner. Both the group and the guard noticed a round dent left in the gate. It was strangely shaped like the guards head.

The other guard scanned his surroundings to see who attacked his friend. His eyes were wide open and sweat running down his face. It was too late, as a dark blue blur zipped right past him, causing a loud ‘Thud!’ As the blur flew by, the group’s eyes shrank to see the other guards face and muzzle planted deep in the earth. Atlas then appeared between the unconscious guard ponies. She had a confident smile on her face and her metal wings folded back to her side. She looked at her right hoof and blew off some mane that was found on the bottom of it.

Jade let out a sigh of relief, knowing that the guards were taken out. She turned back to her team and found Shield and Stardust’s eyes completely white. Their mouths were opened and stood there motionless. It didn’t take a genius to tell they were shocked.

“Amazing isn’t it?” Jade said, smugly.

“H-How did she do that?” wondered Shield.

“It’s just something that she does. That’s actually why I brought her here tonight. We needed somepony to take out some enemies as swift as possible without killing them. That’s where Atlas comes in,” Jade explained.

The recruits continued to stare in awe. They both shook their heads violently, getting out of their amazed trances.

“S-should we move on then?” asked Stardust.

“No I think we should stay out here and gaze the stars, I thought that might be better,” Jade replied sarcastically.

No response came.

The five troops came out from behind the tree and walked towards the gate. As they approached the gate, Atlas flew over the fence and unlocked it from within. As she pushed the gates opened, Lock and Guesclin dragged the knocked out goons and hid them in a nearby bush.

The group then proceeded to walk along a stone path that would lead them to the door. They soon approached the giant double doors. They looked down and noticed the even larger keyhole.

“What is it with mansions and giant, dramatic doors?” chuckled Jade.

“Whatever the reason, no keyhole is a match for my sticky hooves,” replied Lock with a sly grin.

Jade groaned. Deep down she knew she should’ve picked better words for her speech. Artifice Lock approached the giant keyhole in the door. He reached into his saddle bag and pulled out two, small, bronze rods. As he brought them out, a small glow could be seen engulfing the rods. He held both rods carefully with his wing and hoof and inserted them into the keyhole. He began to jiggle and twist the rods, trying to unlock the door.

“Hey!” two voices yelled.

The group turned around to see one more guard pony appearing around the left corner of the mansion. They spotted one other guard pony appearing from around the right corner. Both sported black t-shirts and charged at the group.

“Alright,” spoke Shield. “Now it’s my-“

A dark blue blur zipped by leaving a gust of wind. Shield could feel the gust blow by him from left to right. Two loud thuds was heard. Shield looked back and noticed the two guards laying still on the ground. They both laid there motionless with large lumps forming on their heads. Atlas appeared next to him with her smug grin.

“-Turn,” Shield finished. His eyes went wide.

“Oh, did I steal your moment?” mocked Atlas.

“Yes! You did, actually!”

“I see. Sorry, not really. Maybe next time, or not,” she chuckled.

Shield growled in silence while Stardust rested her hoof on his shoulder. That helped him calm down a little as his annoyance was fading away. Lock twisted the keyhole. Several springs, sprockets and other mechanisms went off and they could hear the lock slide open. When Lock pulled out the two rods, the double doors slowly opened up, revealing the massive hallway inside. He smiled greatly, knowing his lock picking skills had worked yet again.

“After you,” he bowed and moved out of the way for Jade. In return, she gave him a satisfied nod and trotted inside.

“Alright troops. This is it. It’s time to get that item!”

“Hopefully this is worth every bit,” complained Guesclin.

“Don’t worry. I’m confident this will all work out.”

“And if it’s not, we can always ‘retreat and try again,’” teased Atlas.

“Shut up and follow me!”

They all shared a small group laugh, except for Guesclin, and followed Jade inside. Deep down, Jade was still worried about the different outcomes Stardust’s orb foretold. She knew she didn’t care, she didn’t want to care. She couldn’t let possible futures distract her from her true goal. She shook her head and entered the mansion, leading her team inside. She felt ready for whatever lies within that mansion, and nothing was going to stop her......

Author's Note:

And so concludes the first chapter. Sorry if this chapter was a little too wordy with the descriptions. Thanks to all the members out there for lending their awesome OCs for this fic. If your OC hasn't appeared in this chapter, then they'll probably be introduced in either the next one or in a later chapter.

Thanks to TP Night for helping out with this chapter. Let me know what you guys and girls think. Thanks.