When everyone returned to the castle, the Stallion Guards were quite skeptical of the nine mysterious men who did not look like they came from Equestria. A gentle hand from Celestia eased their minds as they lowered their weapons and allowed the Princesses, the Mane 6 and the Nine Mercenaries to pass.
"They look strong. But Heavy is stronger and Sasha can chew through their baby weapons." Heavy boasted as he patted his beloved Minigun affectionately while Pinkie Pie was left looking at it in interest.
"I'd love to see how it can work against my Party Cannon!" The pink mare chirped as Heavy chuckled, already liking this girl and her excitable nature, it reminded him of Pyro's own cheerful and exuberant behavior back in their many battles against BLU. Soon, they arrived at the throne room as Celestia and Luna sat on their seats to address the nine mercenaries.
"Alright, you may start by telling us how you nine men ended up here." Celestia asked as Engineer walked up and took off his hardhat, holding it to his chest as he proceeded to explain the tale of how he and his teammates ended up in Equestria.
"Well, you see Ma'am...I was building a special invention that would help us get to the various maps where we fight our clones, the BLU's, quicker. Something must have gone wrong because it went up in smoke and before any of us could react, it exploded and we all were knocked out from the blast radius, then we woke up here and the rest is history."
"Well, first of all, what are the BLU's?" Luna asked.
"The BLU's are clones of us created by our rivals, Builders League United. Our group is called Reliable Excavation Demolition or RED for short." Spy explained while taking a drag from his cigarette.
"They were created by the brother and rival of our former employer Redmond Mann. Both of them were...dare I say, rather stupid. The war they had was over a useless plot of land but luckily Saxton Hale, the CEO of Mann Co., helped us out through the multiple problems we faced until the brothers were killed by their third brother, Greymann Mann." Medic said next.
"Greymann had an army of robots that looked like us and took over Mann Co. briefly before we were able to stop him. We then continued fighting the BLU clones of us because we couldn't really return to normal lives. In fact, I could say the endless days of fighting had become normal to us and we just couldn't abandon each other." Sniper finished the tale while holding his hat to his chest before putting it back on his head.
"Whoa Nelly...that's a lot to take in." Applejack said, rubbing the back of her head at the massive info dump the Mercs had given them.
"And now we find out that Pyro is actually from dis here place and somehow ended up in our world." Scout said while gesturing to Pyro, who shyly waved.
"Lit Matches...I think I remember a member of the Royal Guard of that name." Celestia said thoughtfully as Pyro took off his mask.
"Yeah...It's Pyro now...the name just kinda stuck." The Arsonist explained.
"You always did have a fascination with fire." Celestia said with a giggle as Pyro turned to Luna.
"I can see that Nightmare Moon is no more and that Princess Luna is back to normal." Celestia nodded as Luna looked a little uncomfortable at that name.
"Yes, it was thanks to the efforts of Twilight Sparkle and her friends." Pyro turned to Twilight, who had a proud look on her face as he nodded.
"I was there when you were but a little Filly...It's amazing how much you've grown now." The formerly named Lit Matches said as Twilight blushed in response while shyly scratching her chin.
"So, you used to be a member of the Royal Guard and had an obsession with fire, huh? That's cool but how did you end up in your friend's world anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked as she walked up to Pyro.
"It was a strange magical fluctuation caused by Twilight. Apparently, it was because of some kind of rainbow-colored shockwave..." Pyro explained as both Twilight and Rainbow immediately gained awkward expressions.
"When we found him, he was hiding his facial features and guessed he just had a disfigurement that he didn't feel comfortable showing. Saxton Hale was more than happy in recruiting him into our group but BLU had the same idea and cloned him, but the insides were hollow, nobody inside the suit except for blood bags and old meat." Engineer said while patting his friend on the back.
"Mr. Hale had also seen the visions I had of home and mimicked the visual effects and illusions into what he called 'Pyrovision Goggles'. He had them as a special cosmetic for us to wear for a time. In my opinion, my visions were to help censor the horrible acts I was doing to our enemies...even if they were mere copies." Pyro said as he rubbed his arm uncomfortably.
"Well, you're home now. We welcome you back with open arms, Lit Matches...or should I say, Pyro. And we also extend a welcoming hand to your teammates as well." Celestia said with a warm smile as Pyro smiled happily, tearing up a little at finally being home and welcomed with open arms by his beloved ruler.
"OHMYGOODNESS! I STILL NEED TO MAKE A 'WELCOME TO EQUESTRIA' PARTY FOR YOU ALL! WELL, IN PYRO'S CASE IT'S A 'WELCOME BACK' PARTY BUT YOU ALREADY GET THE IDEA!" Pinkie Pie said while hopping up and down excitedly.
"I think I'm gonna like it here. Doesn't seem TOO girly." Scout said with his hands behind his back as Spy chuckled while patting his son on the shoulder.
"Remember the Pink Unicorn Phase we all had?" Scout blushed as Rainbow Dash giggled and he looked away, not wanting her to see his reddened face.
"Come on! There's so much we need to show you around in Ponyville! You'll love it!" Twilight encouraged with a smile.
"I will have my guards bring you to Ponyville. It's not too far away and I'll be sure to find you all a suitable home there as well." Celestia said.
"I will contact Mayor Mare and let her know of our new guests so she may prepare a suitable housing arrangement for you all." Luna spoke next. Medic smiled and took a bow.
"We are grateful for your hospitality, Frauleins. I hope we all can be great friends~." The German Mad Doctor said pleasantly, his eyes aiming at Fluttershy with a sly gaze on his last words.
And so would begin the new lives of the former mercenaries of RED and the friendships they would make as well.
