(OH YEA!) Julion wondered through the ruins of Ponyville, flanked by 4 of his mercenaries. The burned-out remains of Ponyville served as a testament to the previous occupants arrogance and stupidity of refusing payment to him. He came across one of the signs they had set up, the message was clear, the fly-infested head of a raider upon a spike that read Do not betray the Soldier. As he continued to wonder through the ruins, they came across several burnt bodies, the bodies of the raiders smart enough to hide when they attacked, but too dumb to run away afterwards. Julion took a deep whiff of the air around him, the smell of death and smoke still pervaded even after a week since the raid. "How much longer would you say before we let another tenant move in?" asked the mercenary next to him, who was known as Bloody 2, his second-in-command. "I would say we give it another week or two, let the message spread across the wastelands." Julion replied. He levitated a cigar to his mouth and brought out a lighter, lighting the cigar as he bit into it. "Alright, let's get back into camp. We're doing no good touring a town that we already destroyed and there's supposed to be a meeting with a potential client in the morning." Bloody 2 nodded and they made their way back into the forest.
(Yaaay!) Jazzy had lost himself when he ran in the complete darkness, trying to find his way to the stable's entrance. He tought that outside was space, or only darkness, but when he saw that there was some ground to walk on it and air to breathe, he couldn't beleive his eyes. After hitting his head on the ground to make sure he wasn't dreaming, he walked to what seemed to be buildings, like the ones in history books. The kind of buildings ponies lived in before wartime. Intimided by his surroundings, he shyly walked to a construction of wood near some forest.
Julion decided to go patrol with some of his fellow mercenaries. They started their patrol at the edge of the forest facing Ponyville and slowly walked around the edge, night-vision goggles leading them through the area with ease. As they reached the area around a cottage that was rumored to once be the home of one of the leaders of the ministries. At first, nothing was out of the ordinary until Julion noticed a shape laying at the door, he motioned for his mercenaries to follow him quietly, they snuck up to the shape and he quietly brought out his rifle and pointed it at the pony's face, "HEY! What are you doing in Soldier Territory!" he yelled.
Jazzy backed up, surprised by the sudden apparition of the soldier. "Oh, gosh, you shouldn't sneak on ponies like this!" He stared at the rifle, but didn't knew what it was. "Are you really trying to terrorize me with a lone metal stick? You should see a doctor. And i ain't on Soldier's territory, and if i really am, please excuse me. I'm lost, and i must find a way back to my stable." He re-adjusted the straps of his bass on his back. "Name's Jazzy, Jazzy Groove. Pleased to meet another pony here~."
Julion glared at the pony extending his hoof, "Kid, from what you just told me, you have no earthly idea of what its like up here. And this isn't just any stick to laugh at, if I wanted to, I could completely fry your nervous system, killing you without leaving a mark. Or even..." He whipped out Head Hunter, his massive knife that would turn even the bravest pony white with fear, "I could cut you to little pieces with this knife. Now, your going to come with me, not only because your trespassing on me and my mercenaries territory, but also because I know you won't survive five minutes out here. Now follow the glow of this and I will take you to our camp." Suddenly Julion's 'fairly acquired' Pipbuck lit up, revealing the Soldier's full face to Jazzy, his black beret laid lazily tipped on his head, covering one of his ears and most of his mane on his head. A long, menacing scar stretched down from his eye almost to his snout, and a cigar hung from his mouth, "Now, let's go." He said, turning on the spot. Two mercenaries got behind Jazzy and forced him to move follow.
Jazzy kept himself silent, and followed the other ponies to the camp. While they were walking, he suddenly came up with an idea. "Mister the soldier, Can you tell me where's this place, and why there's dead ponies everywhere?"
"The Raiders that lived in Ponyville, the town you were just in, missed their third payment, so, we killed them all and burned the place to the ground. That's my system and shall stay that way. And you can leave out The, I'm the Soldier, the leader of the famous/infamous Everfree Forest Mercenaries, we control the forest and all surrounding areas." Julion said. the rest of the trip was in silence until they arrived at the camp, where the twenty members of the Alpha Elite Squad of the mercenaries was based. Julion lead the kid through the camp, gathering salutes from those there, and finally arrived at his tent, which was the largest housing tent of the camp, "In you go, I shall answer your questions inside." Julion said.
Jazzy silently nodded and walked inside the large tent. Right as he entered, he removed his Bass from his back, and putted it next to the entrance. He then turned to the soldier, "If you're going to answer my questions, at least i want you to swear me you'll tell the truth. Don't try to manage me with half-truths and stories, even if i look like a baby, okay?"
"Kid, up here, you only lie if it benefits you, and I currently see no possible way to benefit from you by lying. And I also have some terms for you; Don't ask for my real name or my history, because I ain't sayin'. Now take a seat and shoot." Julion said as he sat back into his cushioned swivel chair.
Jazzy sat in front of him. "Alright, no personal questions. Except one: You seem to be the one giving orders. What's your rank?"
"I founded the group, so I lead it. Never really came up with a rank name for it. Usually our name's describe our rank, like my number 2 is named Bloody 2. I am also the other one who has gotten a hold of a Pipbuck, which kinda also helps distinguish me. Now, I have a question for you before your next one, you know, question for question, why the hell are you out here, when you should obviously should be in a Stable."
"It's a long story. Let's say that when you became popular, you make yourself unknown enemies. Some horrible enemies who had left me for dead at the surface. I only wish to go back in my stable, but 'They' could still be there, and they'll kill me for real if i go back. Now, my turn: Who are the ponies i should know here? I remember you talked about the raiders. There must be other groups that i should know, right?"
Julion shrugged, "I really don't know much about the groups other than the most common ones or other mercenary groups. There's the raiders, there's slavers, there's the Talons mercenary group, and a couple others. One notable one is Red Eye, almost everypony out here knows about him, but don't trust him. Now, I have a pretty big question for you." Julion said leaning forward across the table between the two, "What are you gonna do?"
Jazzy smiled. "I'll start by answering another question that you'll ask yourself in a couple of seconds. My father was a great mathematician, and before he died, he had given me a spark of his intelligence. Since that day, i learned how to persue the world differently, and calculate everything in a snap. By doing this, i can estimate the most favorable future events. Now for what i'm going to do, i don't know. But i know that i won't be alone, neither fear what will happen next. Now with another question: I except that the war has ended, but is there still ponies going along the Solar Empire or the Lunar Republic?"
Julion gave Jazzy a strange and confused look, "How many Mint-Als have you been taking kid? War's been over for neh on two hundred years, and it was between Equestria and the zebras, if the posters that are BUCKING EVERYWHERE say anything. What kinda propaganda have they been feeding you kid? *Sigh* I guess I can't let some misinformed, unprepared stable runt run around in the Wastelands, who knows what will grab you, mutants, zombie-ponies, raiders, slavers, really anything. So, you shall stay here for the foreseeable future, at least until you are ready to go out on your own."
"As for the propaganza they teached us, it was only what i could hear in the councils chambers, when i sneaked in with my friend Ashes. They had said, one day, 'If one day the rivalty aginst the Solar Empire and the Lunar Republics comes to an End, we could go back on the surface'. And you're sure i can really stay? I won't fit with all oftheses mercenaries... I'll stay if i can help. I know how to fight using music, does this counts?"
Julion facehoofed, "Music isn't going to do you much out here unless you want to go to DJ-Pon3, which you wouldn't survive a journey to. What will get you to survive is learning these basic guidelines: Learn to use some weapon with some expertise while remaining well rounded, #2, Ethics aren't with anything out here, having ethics get you killed, #3, There are no rules. Wanna know why kid? Out here in the real world, blood flows little pony, blood flows, and if you aren't willing to spill some, yours will be."
Jazzy laughed. "It has been a long time since i've heard that name. Okay, i think it's time for me to show you my dad's creation, Silence's echo." Jazzy took his bass out of his case. "You know, when the sounds barrier shatters, it creates a huge wave of energy in all the directions. I've found out how to focus this energy, and my dad had found a way to make it in this simple instrument. You can see the little holes there? It's the same thing as your metal pipe a little before. It shoots things pretty fast, and pierces easily a pony's skin. I thought it was useless until they had kidnapped me. Now i understand why my father always said that the biggest weapons are the subtile ones. D'you want a little demonstration? It isn't very accurate, but it's strong."
"I'm good, and I guess that it would only be good at holding off large groups, considering you just said it wasn't very accurate, now, for tonight, I will let you sleep in my tent, as there is no other place other then our holding cells, and those are getting full."
