Good Karma Comes in All Shapes and Sizes
Mercenaries: they come in all shapes and sizes, many with different ambitions, some who share the same, others have their own reasons. Whether it's for power, greed, mares, a healthy lifestyle or to just keep bread on the table, they'll do what they can to get the job done when duty calls. But not a single mercenary in Equestria is as unique as 22 year old Inferno Blaze. He is a unicorn stallion with a red mane and golden orange fur with blue eyes and a heart that changes from stone cold, to a heart of gold.
When on the job, he keeps his mind focused on the targets he's paid to kill. Many of his targets were rival gangs or corrupted business dealers. Inferno was like a vigilante cleaning up the world of its most despicable ponies that plagued this once peaceful land. Of course, there comes a time when even his handiwork comes with consequences like when Equestrian Law Enforcements track him down and try to book him.
As a vigilante, he had to deal with his problem since the day he became a mercenary. They've been a real nuisance and aren't as forgiving as some of the other ponies of Equestria who don't work with law enforcements, but at least having this job was the only way for Inferno to support his lifestyle. The bits he earned from each job were for keeping the roof under his head, food in the fridge and a warm bed to sleep in. It was a difficult job with high risks and he took it like a pro. There's also the fact that he's constantly on the move, so he can't really stay in one place, so he had to travel all across Equestria.
As of right now, the night has risen and Inferno Blaze was outside a mob boss' hideout. He used the secret knock to let the ponies inside know it was him. The little sliding door peephole which was eye-leveled, slid to the right and a pair of eyes looked straight at Inferno. "Password." he said.
"Bite my shiny metal ass," Inferno replied. Right away, the sliding door peephole closed and the locks on the door turned before the door opened up. The stallion behind the door stepped to the side. Inferno stepped inside the building, walking downstairs into an underground bar. There were a couple of pool tables and other stallions talking amongst each other. Inferno approached the bartender, taking his seat. He pulls out a photo from his pocket and shows the backside of it that says "target neutralized." Then, he explains to him, "I'm here to talk with the big cheese."
The bartender turned the picture over to get a look at the "target" he neutralized for a split second, then placed it face down again and pointed to the door in the back of the bar. Inferno took the picture with him and walked over to the door and used the secret knock on that one as well.
"Enter," said a deep voice. Inferno opened the door and walked in before closing the door, preventing any nosey ponies from listening in on the conversation. "Ah, Inferno Blaze, nice to see that you've come back and pretty early, I might add." the stallion stated. "I trust you've come here, bearing the good news about our primary target, am I correct?" Inferno nodded, approaching the stallion. He laid the photo of his target on the mob boss' desk, this time it was facing up. "Ah...! Very well done. It's about time that rotten business dealer learned to never rob from me."
"The pleasure is all mine, sir," Inferno said, stone faced.
"Yes, now then. As we agreed, you shall receive your reward," the stallion said. He snapped his fingers, which signalled one of his hench stallions to kneel down and open up one of the doors under the boss' desk, then pulled out a large box and brought it over to Inferno. The stallion opened it up, revealing 50,000 bits inside in total and then closed it back up. "A pleasure doing business with you."
Inferno nodded and levitated the box in the air. "Good day," he replied before turning and leaving the secret room with his payment, then left the hideout.
With 50,000 bits in hand, he'll have enough to last him for a few months, maybe even a year if he manages it right, but only time will tell. And now that he was outside, he had to deal with something he can't beat, at least with the weapons he's packing: the bitter winter cold. As he strolled through the city, he comes across an alleyway where he hears multiple voices coming from there. Inferno's eyes locked on a family of ponies, curled up in a blanket barely big enough to keep them warm. Inferno felt pity for this poor family and didn't hesitate to lend them a helping hand.
Though, when he approached them, the kids, a filly and colt hid underneath their parents' arms for protection while the parents themselves looked scared, too. "W-What do you want from us?" the father asked.
"Please, don't harm our children," the mother begged. Inferno was hurt, not by their reasons for fearing him, he knows that they're down on their luck. Which is why he didn't say anything and just levitated the box full of bits over to the family and then backed away. He watched the father open up the box hesitantly, then backed away again from catching the sight of the bits inside.
"Consider this my gift to you. Take every last bit in that box and get yourselves back on track. I'm not gonna let you guys suffer and starve anymore," Inferno said.
"You... You actually mean that?" the father asked. Inferno nodded and turned away to leave. Just as he was making a left out of the alleyway, his legs were grabbed. He looked down and saw the two young children hugging his legs with tears of joy in their eyes.
"Thank you so much mister!" the colt said.
"How can we ever repay you for saving us from this awful place?" the filly asked. Inferno patted both kids on their heads gently and waited for them to let go of him.
"No need to do that. You guys take care of yourselves," he said as he walked off.
He sighed, walking down the streets, heading home, he felt pretty good about himself. He might have given his entire box of bits away, but at least he knew he did the right thing. They deserved to start over and Inferno would donate to them again if he was given the chance. And so, with a clear mind, Inferno kept on walking until he finally arrived at the apartment he was currently staying in. He unlocked the door and stepped inside, setting his gear on a small table a few feet away from the front door.
Inferno closed the door and went into the living room, approaching his recliner and sat down. "Okay, that was by far one of the easiest missions I've ever completed. I might be short on bits, but as long as those scumbags keep coming, I'll keep locking and loading." he said to himself.
He stayed in his recliner for about another 10 minutes until he heard a knock on the door. He got up from his chair and looked to see a message being sent through the letter slot in the middle of the door. He goes to pick it up and opens it up, reading the contents of the letter. A smile dawned upon him as it was another client writing to him for another mission. "I guess karma works in many ways."
The letter read as follows: "Mercenary Inferno,
You don't know me, but I certainly know about you. I've heard of the remarkable work you've done in the past and i’m in need of your services. If you will agree to meet me at the address I've written below, I will pay you handsomely for your troubles and throw in an added bonus. Remember to bring this message with you if you choose to come on by. I look forward to seeing you."
"Well, another day, another bit," Inferno said to himself. Tucking the message into his pocket, he walked back towards the front door and grabbed his gear. "One more thing."
Inferno made his way into the kitchen where he opened up one of the cupboards and took out a box full of bullets for his sniper rifle as well as the suppressor and hooked it to his sniper before loading up. "Alrighty, time to find out which bums are gonna be erased," he said cocking his gun.
The meeting started just like any other meeting: showing up in a shady place and talking with the contractors, discussing who the target is and how they want them dead.
For this particular job, Inferno's contractor wants him to deal with some bozos who work for a loan shark that forced his wife and son into the streets. For weeks, Inferno's client was recording every single step of this guy's every day routine and gave Inferno the info. It seemed this loan shark always comes to this part of town to collect his bits from those who borrowed for him and charge them extra... unfairly. Inferno's anger felt like it would burst through the stratosphere when hearing about this blood-boiling news and nothing was gonna please him more than to see this bozo end up 6 feet under.
Inferno Blaze had tracked the target down to the wrong side of the town and took his position from atop a building, using whatever he could to keep out of sight.
He had his sniper rifle aimed at a window at this 3-story building one of the other loan victims were being backed against a wall while the loan shark and two of his hench stallions were standing on each of their boss' side, keeping those straight faces, unflinching and uncaring. Inferno aimed carefully and made sure all three stallions were perfectly lined up. Once the time was right... "Say goodbye, you motherbucker," Inferno said, before pulling the trigger on his targets. The bullet flew quickly and penetrated the three goons in their temples, earning Inferno a triple kill and it's a good thing he has his suppressor on.
"That oughta do it," he said to himself. After the targets were eliminated, Inferno snapped a photo of his dead targets and then made himself scarce, fleeing the scene before someone spotted him.
He made his way through the town, heading back to the spot he met his client. But as he was strolling through town to find his client and collect his payment, he suddenly heard the sound of someone panicking just around the corner. Inferno got his sniper ready and quietly approached the sound of whoever was in trouble.
His eyes widen with shock before he glared in anger and resentment. A little ways away, there was a beautiful bright yellow unicorn mare with a matching red and yellow mane with sparkling turquoise eyes. This mare was being cornered by these stallions he instantly recognized as his previous clients. Ponies that he worked for, to cleanse Equestria of the scum that he was hired to kill. And now he is seeing them committing the acts that he had seen many times on his previous jobs.
“Stop! Just leave me alone!” the mare begged towards the stallions, but her pleas were unheard by them. And they pursued even further by chuckling and getting handsy with her face.
"Stop what? Trying to offer you the life of luxury? Trust me, dear, by the time we're through showing you everything you could ever ask for, you'll be begging for more. So how about you be a good girl and just come along with us?" the boss asked with a cocky grin.
"I said "no!" Now back the hell off! I don't want whatever you're offering! Just go away!" she yelled, trying to push the man back, but he kept getting closer.
"I've heard just about enough of these assholes," Inferno whispered. He then places his rifle over his shoulders, and then took out the perfect tools he required for the job: his trusty Ninjatō blade and Kurki. These bastards didn’t deserve a quick and painless death, ooooh no, he’s going to slice them down to size.
Before the stallions could do anything with the mare, Inferno rushed right into the ally swiftly and very quietly. And as he drew near, he raised his ninjato and sliced of the 1st stallion’s arm off, causing him to scream in pain before Inferno silenced him by impaling his Kukri blade through his lower jaw. And in a quick flash, he turned towards the other two and began delivering deep cuts and slashes all over their bodies. Making them bleed quicker than they could scream. Two mob bosses laid on the ground, holding their wounds as they bled. Inferno moves closer to one of them and raises his ninjato up in the air, facing downward, and brought it down swiftly and impaled the stallion.
"You're just like all the rest: a glutton for punishment and a disgrace to all living creatures. Good riddance, you disgusting monsters," he said, putting away his weapons as he let the thugs bleed to death. He turns his head towards the mare who was still in shock from the carnage she witnessed him create. "Are you alright, miss?"
"I… I am. Thanks for helping me out. That was amazing what you did. Although, murdering those stallions doesn't make you any better than what they've done in the past," she said.
"True, but I did what I had to do or else they would've done who-knows-what to you. That's just not how I want stallions treating a beautiful mare like you out here.” Inferno replied.
“Did you say I’m… beautiful?” she responded with a blush on her face.
Inferno then suddenly realized what slipped out of his mouth and immediately gave himself a mind slap for being an idiot. But can he really blame himself. This mare standing right before his very eyes was astonishingly beautiful, no doubt! Her bright yellow coat looks clean and soft, her turquoise eyes shine brightly than the stars, and her mane is like fire with golden streaks mixed in. And it was impossible to prevent him from saying such a flattering comment.
"Well, yes… it's hard to ignore such a beautiful mare. But before I make a creep out of myself, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Inferno Blaze, I'm a mercenary," he said.
The mare giggled at his statement of himself and surprisingly she wasn’t fazed knowing of what Inferno is. “Well it’s a pleasure to get to meet you Inferno Blaze. My name is Sunset Shimmer.” she said.
"Sunset Shimmer, huh? What a beautiful name. So, if I may ask, what exactly were you doing out here in the dangerous part of this town?" Inferno asked. Before Sunset could answer, thunder roared in the sky and soon, the rain began to fell hard on the city. “Awww shit.” he growled.
“Sooo can we take this conversation somewhere else, or you want to continue in the rain.” Sunset humored as she and Inferno were getting more wet.
“Did you just made a joke?” Inferno asked smugly.
“I don’t know. Did I?” She answered back with a smug of her own.
"You know what, why don't you follow me and we'll get dried up," he said, asking for her hand. She gladly accepted it and followed him through the rain and off to his little apartment. Once there, he took her to the living room and sat her down on the couch. "Here, you just dry yourself up, I gotta go and meet with my client. I still got a job to finish. Is that alright with you, Sunset?"
"Sure, just don't keep me waiting all day. I've got a special secret I want to share with you," Sunset said. Inferno nodded and let Sunset dry herself off as he went back out in the drenching cold streets, heading back to the place he met his client. It was a very damp trip, but he eventually reached the spot: a rundown bowling alley.
Inferno entered the building, searching for his client. Right away, he saw the stallion, along with what appeared to be his wife and son. Inferno approached him and tapped him on the shoulder, startling him a little as he turned around.
"You're back! Did you get the job done?" he asked. Inferno answered with a picture of the stallion and his hench stallions all lifeless on the floor, but made sure he only showed it to his client and not his wife and son.
"Don't show this to your kid," Inferno whispered. The stallion nodded and handed him a big box filled with 25,000 bits. "You take it easy and don't let anymore loan sharks pressure you or your family into borrowing money from them." Soon, after that, Inferno left his client and walked out of the building with his box. He levitated it above his head so he wouldn't get even more drenched than he already was.
"Rain. Rain. Go the fuck away!” he sang to himself. "God damnit, why did Princess Celestia have to schedule the pegasi to make it rain in this part of the damn town?"
Luckily, he didn't have to worry about the rain any longer as he spotted the apartment. He rejoiced and quickly went inside, set his box down and then closed the door, locking it. "Did you actually go and meet your client or did you just want to go for a swim?" Sunset joked, laughing.
"Oh ha-ha, very funny," Inferno chuckled. “At least you recovered very well from the ally incident earlier today.” he said as he began to shake water out of his mane. And then he places the box with his payment on the table of his apartment, and then proceeds to take off his jacket and shirt that were soaking wet. Sunset remained silent as she sees how well fit Inferno’s upper body is and how muscular he is, but then was also shocked to see a few scars all over his chest and back.
“Oh… my, when did those come from?” She asked him while pointing at Inferno’s scars.
Inferno turned towards the mare and then looks back at his scars. "There have been times in my line of work when I took a few nasty hits. Being a mercenary comes with very huge risks. Some very… incriminating… life-threatening risks. Stab wounds, slash marks, gunshot wounds, this is what I have to show for all the times when I barely escaped with my life. But I do it so others will feel safe without some criminal scums lurking around every corner." he explained.
"I.. guess I shouldn't be surprised, but still, it does worry me a little bit. Don't you think that you should go straight and find a better career to pursue? You're still young and energetic, there's lots of other ways to keep everyone safe from harm." Sunset implied.
“Like what? There’s nothing I can do, I mean Equestria has turned its back on me years ago. I’m declared a criminal by the royal crown that I had once served in the Pony-Griffon War five years ago and there’s no way they would give me the benefit of the doubt. No one has. My life is now meaningless, it always has and it always will be.” Inferno stated with depression in his voice.
"What? That's just plain rude! No, I won't have it from these ponies. If they won't see past the good you've been trying to bring, then I'll just have to… persuade them." Sunset said.
“And how are you planning to do that?” Inferno asked, raising his eyebrows in suspicion. Sunset replies with a smirk and soon her horn began to glow with magic, which begin to grow very brightly in seconds.
“I’ll show you.” That was the only thing she said, before her magic erupted in a bright flash of light which filled his entire apartment, nearly blinding him if he hadn’t covered his eyes before she did it.
When the light slowly faded away and Inferno could see again, his eyes caught sight of Sunset, completely changed into an entirely different outfit. Not only that, but it appeared that she had transformed her appearance a little. Her raggy clothes turned into this angelic white dress. Her breasts were poking out of her dress and appeared to have grown a little. Her hips got wider and her thighs became a little thicker. The long loincloth covered her front area and part of her impressive ass. And for the icing on the cake, he noticed that she wasn't a unicorn… she was an alicorn.
"S-Sunset, wha… what is this?" Inferno asked in shock.
"Inferno Blaze, it's time I told you the truth about myself. It's true that my name is Sunset Shimmer, but what you don't know about me… is that I'm known far and wide as the “Goddess of Empathy." she said.
“The Goddess of Empathy?” Inferno puzzled before a light bulb went off in his head. “Like... as in one of the legendary eight Goddessess of Harmony!”
"That's right. The rumors about me and my goddess friends being real… are true. And because of the kindness you've shown when you helped me and that family, I'm going to make sure all of your efforts aren't wasted when me and my friends find you a more promising career. Tell me, what career have you always wanted to pursue before resorting to being a mercenary?" the beautiful goddess asked.
Inferno was left speechless, the mare that he saved in the ally, turns out to be a goddess. And not only that, she knows about the small good deeds he has ever done in his entire life. And now she wants to help him find a true purpose for his miserable life. But he was unsure what to think of, his years as a mercenary sealed his fate from any future he could set himself upon. But there was one thing he was sure he wanted to do.
“I… I don’t know, Sunset.” he said. “All my life, I only know to take a life and wander the land of Equestria without even settling down in a place to call my own. But, there is only one thing that I do know. All my life, I wanted to help ponies in need, families who could not feed their children, ponies who could not protect themselves, wanting to give hope to them and give them a bright and better future. So that they would not have to bear the weight of the world on their shoulders as I did.”
"That's very noble of you. Then perhaps there's a way for me to make that happen. It'll take some time, but if we work together, we can do anything. But before we think about that, I'd like to… reward you for all your brave and valiant efforts." she said, slowly approaching the young mercenary until her barely-clothed boobs were touching his bare chest. Sunset followed it up by gently rubbing her soft, tender fingers against his still-partially wet fur, giving him goosebumps.
“Uhh Sunset, what are you doing?” Inferno asked while panicking a little, mostly because he can feel the holy softness of Sunset’s massive mammaries against his chest. Yeah, it was totally that, plus Sunset was acting way too friendly with him and the look in her eyes that he just cannot describe.
"There are also rumors that the eight legendary Goddesses of Harmony are naturals in bed. But in truth, that has yet to be put to the test. And I've been saving myself for a very special stallion that wants me, not for my body, but for myself. You showed no signs of greed when you kept me safe here and I want to thank you by offering up my body to you. So tell me… how good are you in bed?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his shoulders while still giving you the bedroom eyes.
Inferno’s cheeks turned completely red with arousal. “Uhhh, well for a long time on the run, I never actually met any special girls in my life.”
Sunset then brings Inferno’s face between her breast while she gently pets his head. “Ohhh you poor thing, well lucky for you… I can show you what a mare feels like.” This horny goddess quickly takes the young mercenary over to the bedroom while he was contemplating what was about to happen.
'Me… a mere mortal… getting laid with a goddess? Who says good karma doesn't exist?' he thought to himself.