The Shadow of Equestria
Chapter 22
Bounty Hunters
"Sister, are you sure about this?" asked Luna as she followed her sister around the castle.
"It's the only way I can think of Luna. He's simply gotten out of control. I must stop him before he causes too much damage." replied Celestia.
"Just let us handle it sister." said Luna. "I'm certain we can capture him."
"With what?" asked Celestia. "Even though he knows the damage that magic is doing to his body, he still doesn't care. He's just going to become more and more like a mad dog and mad dogs have to be put down."
"I've never seen you act like this before sister." said Luna. "What happened to wanting to help Zhane?"
"He lost my sympathy the moment he attacked Sunpeak Village. Do you know how hard it is to explain to foals why they can never see their parents again? I want Zhane dead before he does something like this again."
"But did you really need to hire bounty hunters? Can't our guards handle it?"
"Our guards are not as battle tested as I thought. They'll never be able to handle Zhane and that's why outside help will more than likely help."
With that, Celestia and Luna reached the main hall, the place where all the bounty hunters were to gather. Inside were a group of Griffons, several Minotaurs, a Diamond Dog, and a Pegasus.
"Is this all?" Luna whispered to Celestia.
"Sadly it is, many bounty hunters backed away once they heard that Zhane was the target. However, the best of the best stepped forward and were willing to try."
"I understand the Griffons, Minotaurs, and Diamond dog but why is one of our own here?" asked Luna.
Celestia simply shrugged and walked forward.
"I'm glad you all made it." said Celestia as she got the attention of the bounty hunters. "I can't thank you all enough for accepting the bounty I have posted on Zhane Black's head."
"What exactly is the bounty?" asked one of the Griffons. "You haven't told us."
Celestia frowned at the impatience of the Griffon.
"1,000,000 bits." she said bluntly.
The smile on the faces of the bounty hunters were more than enough to tell Celestia they were interested.
"Now that I have your attention, let's talk details. I don't care how you bring him back but I would prefer him to be alive. Either way, you will still get paid. I would like to warn you though, Zhane is incredibly strong. His magic is more than enough to overwhelm anypony."
"Too bad we ain't ponies." said one of the Minotaurs. Laughter broke out among the group before the silence returned.
"You will be fighting against the thing that's bested my Royal Guards, killed many ponies, worked for the most dangerous crime syndicate, and escaped and or broken into this very castle many times."
"I never thought a pony could get that strong." said the same Minotaur.
"That's because it's not a pony, it's a human." said Celestia.
There was a pause before Celestia continued.
"He has a thirst for blood and the mindset of a psychopath. I want him stopped before he repeats the Sunpeak incident."
"That was him?" asked one of the Griffons. "Damn, he took out an entire village by himself."
"Yes and that is exactly why the bounty is so high. If we're done interrupting, I have some more info to give you all."
Celestia waited a moment before continuing.
"We have traced his magic to somewhere on the on the west side of the Everfree. We have discovered large black markets in the forest sometimes and we think he's at one of them. Like I said, dead or alive. You many go." said Celestia as she turned and walked back towards her sister.
All we have to do is wait." Celestia said to Luna. "Wait and watch."
"I honestly don't think any of them will survive." said Luna as the both walked back into the castle.
A loud thud on the table woke me from my nap. I looked up to see Poison Spectre with a huge grin on her face and a large bag sitting on the table.
"Did you finally sell that thing?" I asked as I looked in the bag. "I can't believe you made me wait here at this damned market for three hours."
"Calm down Zhane." Spectre said as she rolled her eyes. "I got 30,000 for the amulet.
I closed the bag and pushed it back towards Spectre.
"Who bought that amulet off of you?" I asked.
"Some weird stallion that apparently runs a shop in Canterlot. He seemed interested from the get-go so I talked him into upping the price from 20,000 to 30,000. The rest is history."
"We were bound to find a pony out here that would buy it. I mean this place is too far into the Everfree to come and browse." said Red who had also returned.
"You two ready to leave?" I asked as I stood up.
"Of course." said Spectre. "We need to go count this out."
I stood and lead the three of us towards the exit of the large tent we were in.
"Well what do ya know, he was actually here." said one of the Griffon bounty hunters as he balanced himself on a nearby tree branch.
"What about the other ponies with him?" asked another Griffon.
"They're probably cohorts, I've heard rumors that he's with the Black Hooves. Those ponies must be his protection." replied the other Griffon. "Are the Minotaurs and that stupid little Diamond Dog in place?"
The second Griffon turned his head to look farther down the path and nodded.
"They're in position but what about that pony?" asked the second Griffon.
"That little twit scampered off before we could make the deal. He probably thinks that he can take Zhane by himself." said the first Griffon. "It just means more money for us."
The first Griffon paused before turning to the second one.
"Get ready to signal the ambush."
"What about the Crystal Heart, have you learned anything about it?" I asked.
"The only thing I know so far is that it's somewhere north." said Spectre. "Other than that, there's just not that much to go off of."
"Have you tried looking in Twilight Sparkles Library?" asked Red.
"That annoying unicorn owns a library?" I questioned.
"Of course, it's the one place to go if you ever need info. When I go back into town, I'll be sure to stop by and look for something." said Red.
"With Agliss, Yamato, and Luna on my tail, we can't stay here for too long. Go there once we get back and if you find anything relating to a location, I will leave at once." I said as looked back at Red
"I can't guarantee that she'll actually have the info but it won't hurt to look."
There was a long pause between the three of us leaving the only noise being made originating from the forest. A loud crack caused me to turn and catch a glimpse of some kind of bird moving through the trees. At that moment, I stopped both Red and Spectre.
"Does it feel like is following us?" I asked feeling my paranoia spiking to new heights.
"No not really, it just feels like we're in a forest." said Spectre.
A nearby bush rustled loudly. In response, I held my hand towards the bush and fired a Shadow bolt into the forest.
"Come out before I decide to level this place."
There was more silence.
"I'll give you till the count of five. one...two...three...four..."
"I don't understand how you noticed us but it doesn't matter. Surround him!" yelled a disembodied voice that echoed around the forest.
Suddenly, a number of large creatures emerged from the foliage and onto the trail. Behind us were two Minotaurs, battle axes at the ready. In front of us stood a large dog on two feet and three Griffon surrounded our left and right. The Griffon on the left was the first to speak up.
"I didn't think you would notice us till it was too late. I guess that's why your head is worth 1,000,000 bits."
"So she finally put a price on my head." I said with a smile. "I'm assuming that you were the only ones willing to take the jobs?"
"You would be correct Zhane." said the same Griffon.
"Celestia did warn you right? She warned you about what I can do?"
"Of course but no matter what kind of magic you posses, there is no way you can escape."
I smiled.
"I guess she didn't warn you enough." I said as I slammed my fist into the ground causing a large shock wave that clear a large number of trees. I then drew my sword and dashed at the nearest enemy while they were still stunned from the shock wave. I pushed my sword into his neck and moved to the next target. The large dog was on its back holding its hands to its head. I picked up my foot and stomped on its head as hard as I could. Once he stopped moving, I continued to the Minotaurs behind us. The first one did not fight back but the second was able to regain its composure enough to block the killing blow I was about to deal it. With its attention focused on my sword, I launched a bolt of magic at him that successfully took half of his abdomen with it. With that, all that remained was the Griffon to the left. I walked away from the dead Minotaurs and approached the now recovered Griffon.
"I told you she didn't prepare you enough. I honestly didn't think of her as the type of pony to do something this extreme but I guess..." I said as I plunged my blade in his neck. "I guess things change."
I cleaned my blade off and placed in back into its holster before walking over to Red and Spectre. Both ponies were laying on the ground with their legs covering their eyes.
"They've been dealt with, we need to move just encase there are more after us."
Spectre looked up and around at the devastation.
"I didn't think Celestia had it in her to send these bounty hunters after you but I guess 1,000,000 bits is enough to peak anypony's interests."
"You would think that she would have sent more." said Red. "If I were her, I would have sent a whole army."
"She might as well do that because a few little bounty hunters aren't going to be enough to take me down."
"I thought they would last longer." said a voice from the sky.
I looked up to see a large Pegasus with a white coat slowly descending.
"Another bounty hunter?" I asked.
"You betcha, as soon as I heard Celestia was gonna offer some big reward for you, I booked it to the castle. I was surprised to see something as weak as you to be worth 1,000,000 bits."
"Weak eh, you're the first pony to have the balls to call me weak and stand their ground. Now before I kill you, what's your name.
"Azure Phoenix but you can call me Phoenix."
"Wait." said Red. "You mean the Azure Phoenix as in the Blue Flamed Demon, the best bounty hunter in the business?"
"Why yes, how do you know of that little nickname." said Azure as he smiled deeply.
"Darkwing mentioned you as his go to bounty hunter for a long time. That is, until you turned on him."
"I will stomp Darkwing's head in one day for what he's do to the ponies of Equestria. Once I heard the rumors about you, Zhane Black, I had to find answers. So let's just say that I know more about you than I should.
"At least my name is spreading." I said with a smile. "Actually, I'm feeling kinda merciful today so I'll give you a choice. You can run and go back to the castle to tell Celestia what will happen to anything she sends after me or you can stay and die. Your choice."
Phoenix put his hoof to his chin and looked up at the sky
"How about no, to both of your options. I'd much rather live and walk away 1,000,000 bits richer."
I sneered.
"Your funeral." I said as I began to launch Shadow bolts at the Pegasus. In response, Phoenix launched himself into the air and dodged them all expertly before diving straight towards me. Before he was able to reach me, I slammed my hand onto the ground to summon some spikes to stop him dead in his tracks. Phoenix stopped before he hit the spikes and landed about twenty feet away from me.
"I guess I was right about your kind, you're nothing but a bunch of cowar.."
I was stopped near the end of my sentence back a pair of hooves that managed to break through the spikes and hit my chest. I can't begin to explain the pain I felt after his hooves made contact with my chest. The best way I could describe the feeling was getting hit by a bunch of cinder blocks at the same time. The hit was so strong that it even sent me fly back to where Spectre and Red were stand. I don't even know how he got that close to me without me noticing. As far as I was concerned, that little pony was dead meat.
I stood and allowed magic to flood into my hand causing an ominous black aura to emerge.
"Ohh." said Phoenix. "Two can play at that game."
He flexed his wings and beat them once. A torrent of blue flame emerged and covered his wings. To my left, I could hear Red mentioning something about running. To myself, I could hear Umbra cursing the pony's name.
'What's wrong Umbra, scared of a little pony that knows some magic?'
"The pony controls Magi fire, only the wizards of the old Equestria had any knowledge of the art and even fewer practiced it. I'm warning ahead of time, whatever you do, don't let those flames touch you, they will never go out until the user wills them to disperse."
'I'm assuming you have experience with this kind of magic?'
"More than you know."
"As much as I would love to stand here all day and stare at you, I would much rather get this show on the road." said Phoenix.
I frowned as I readied myself and began to run towards the pony. I couldn't wait to hang his body from a tree.
Here's Chapter 22 for everypony. Enjoy!
Azure Phoenix is an OC owned by Neo Masamune. I thank him for allowing me to use it in my story.
Expect the next few chapters to be filer chapter. This will help set the tone for the next story arc which will be the Crystal Kingdom arc.
See everypony Thursday!