The sun was slowly descending from its perch high in the sky when Daring Do and Fancy Pants walked out of the building. The two ponies moved alongside each other as they exited through the doors and set hoof onto the airship docking area.

“So, Miss Do, are you ready for this adventure?” Fancy Pants asked, examining the large airship as the two moved over to the ship’s loading ramp . “I’m sure it shall be very exciting and full of dangers, but I trust in your ability to keep everypony safe.”

“Don’t worry, if you say they’re good at what they do, then I’ll have nothing to worry about.”

He chuckled slightly, moving his gaze to the light gold pegasus. “That is certainly true. I do hope you all get acquainted. Need I remind you that you’re working with a team now? I do not want to hear about any fighting between anypony.”

“As long as Crystal Rune keeps out of the way we’ll have no trouble at all.” Daring explained, dismissively waving a hoof at Fancy Pants.

The white unicorn simply sighed as they approached one of the large airships. Its rotor blades spun slowly, creating small gusts of wind that steadily picked up with every rotation. Daring caught hold of her hat before it almost flew off her head and Fancy Pants shielded himself with one hoof as his blue mane whipped in the wind.

Up ahead, Daring and Fancy Pants spotted three of the mercenaries and watched them load their gear up onto the ship, climbing up and down the cargo hold’s ramp. As they approached the stallions, they spotted Rune watching Black Arrow, Rugged Muzzle, and Roughneck doing most of the menial labor. Rune stood on the catwalk by the cargo hold’s door, her cloak billowing in the wind.

“Hello, my good sirs. I do hope that everything is ready for the trip?” Fancy Pants addressed the three stallions with a polite smile.

“Yep. We got our gear and the more mandatory items. Everything is in order.” A proud grin spread across Black Arrow’s muzzle.

“Good, I trust, then, that you all will return in one piece?”

“Well, why wouldn’t we? Otherwise, how else would we get paid?” Roughneck piped up, grinning stupidly. Black Arrow waved towards the large earth pony as he walked up the stairs leading up to the door out of the cargo hold, motioning for the dark orange stallion to quickly board the airship. Daring Do stepped towards the ramp to follow them.

“Oh, and Miss Do!” She stopped to look back at the regal unicorn. “Remember, do try not to get hurt. I would feel horrible for putting you in any danger. I’d rather see you in one piece than in any more than a dozen.”

Daring Do tipped her hat towards Fancy Pants and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m always careful about what I do.”

With that, she faced back up the ramp and proceeded to the top near the stairs of the catwalk. She turned to wave to the stallion and watched as he waved back. The airship slowly lifted into the air and Fancy Pants’ image shrank as it ascended from the harbor while the buildings and spires slowly faded away until they were no longer visible.

Daring sighed and looked over to the door leading out of cargo hold. She watched as three of the mercenaries left through the door while Black Arrow waved her over before leaving as well.

“This sure is going to be interesting.” Knowing how mercenaries were, she was sure that they only took this job for the money. She reached the door after walking up the stairs and opened it. Inside, the four ponies were sitting in chairs that were aligned in a circle so they could talk to each other easier. They turned to face her when they heard the noise of the door closing.

She stared at them as she walked over to take a seat between Black Arrow and Roughneck. All was silent as nopony really spoke for those first few minutes. Daring decided to break the ice with, “So, how did all of you meet each other?”

Rune smirked and answered, “I found all of them, really. First, it was Rugged Muzzle over here.” She pointed to the big earth pony. He looked Daring’s way and nodded. “Next, we have Black Arrow. I heard about him and his reputation some time after he had a falling out with his last boss.”

“Good day to yah, Daring. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Black Arrow said, tipping his hat.

“And last but not least.” Crystal pointed towards the gray earth pony. “We have little Roughneck over here-”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Roughneck interrupted, ‘little’? Ahaha, that’s cute, Crystal.”

“He’s also our rookie. How I found him… well, let’s save that story for another time.” Rune leaned back in her chair. “Any other questions, Daring Do?”

“What’s your job? I mean, you all have a specific detail in each of your job descriptions, right?”

“That is correct. So, let us first start off with Black Arrow.” Rune turned to look at the pegasus. “Arrow, if you would?”

“Right. So, my job…” The maroon pegasus started off, leaning to the side and pulling something from the side of his chair. When he did, Daring stared wide-eyed as he pulled a crossbow from the chair’s side. It was relatively small for a stallion his size. “As I was saying, I am the sniper and assassin of this team. If there’s a problem that can’t be solved with reason or up close and personal, it’s my job to take them out.”

“So, basically, you're just a hitpony, right?” Daring deadpanned. The comment made the pegasus chuckle slightly.

“Nah, hitponies are more up close and personal most of the time. Me, I’d like to think that it’s more of a job. Good work, good pay, mostly outdoors.”

“Yeah, a job where you kill others without actually getting your hooves dirty.” Daring remarked.

“Now… that may be true, but as long as there are two ponies left in Equestria, somepony is going to want somepony dead. And, unlike some blokes out there, you always have to be professional about your job.”

“What about those you affect? Some of these ponies you kill have families.”

Black Arrow chuckled as he stared at Daring. “Look here, mate, they may have families, but whenever a job needs to be taken care of you can’t afford to feel remorse for the poor bloke. Besides, professionals have standards. Be polite, be efficient,” he pointed the crossbow at Daring, “and have a plan to kill everypony you meet.”

Daring Do furrowed her brow at the pegasus, leaning back into her chair as he kept the crossbow pointed at her. He chuckled and moved it so it pointed towards the ceiling.

“Cool, cool. That’s good ‘n all, but it’s my turn now.” The gray earth pony stood up, moving around a little, “So, first of all, when we’re talking about me… it’s kind of a big deal.”

“Oh, here he goes.” Rune murmured as she looked away.

“I mean, do you even know who I am?”

“Should I?” Daring deadpanned.

“Ahaha, yeah, you're pretty cute, aren’t you?” He smiled. “Anywho, I’m the stallion you go to if you need to steal a few things or smuggle some illegal items.”

“So a common thief, am I correct?” Daring inquired.

“Oooh, you think you’re a big shot, huh? Who do you think you are?”

“Are you serious?” The adventurer exclaimed. “I’m Daring Do.”

“Uh, sorry. Are you supposed to be important?”

“Are you dense or something?” Crystal gawked at his ignorance. “Everypony knows about Daring Do.”

“Uuhhhh…” Roughneck stared at Crystal Rune with a blank look.

“Ugh! Daring Do! You know, legendary explorer of the Tenochtitlan Basin?” The gray earth pony just blinked. “She has an entire book series all about her.”

“Is there a movie for it?”

“Are you… I can’t believe that you do not know who she is!” The dark green unicorn almost yelled.

“Forget it, Rune.” Black Arrow told her. “This is Roughneck you’re talking to. The boy probably hasn’t read anything that isn’t Playcolt. Then again, stallions don’t really buy those for the articles.”

“Hey, I resent that! There’s also… I mean, I read other things, too!” Roughneck claimed. Daring only rolled her eyes while Black Arrow snickered.

“Right, so you know Roughneck now. Hopeless mess, isn’t he?” Crystal shook her head. “Now, since he is done speaking, I would say that Rugged Muzzle would speak to you, but he doesn’t say much at all, really. I’ll let you know, Daring, that he his our enforcer and our muscle. In case you try anything, he’ll respond in his own way.” The large earth pony looked towards the adventurer and cracked his neck. “And as for me, let’s just say that I’m the leader and the brains around here. Nopony else gives orders except for me, do you understand that?” Rune declared, staring at the light gold pegasus with her cold eyes.

“I thought Fancy Pants was the boss.” Daring remarked.

“Wrong. He’s just a client. When we’re on the job, I’m the boss. Got it?” Crystal asked as she inched closer to Daring’s face.

Daring rose up, not backing down from such petty intimidation. “I think I get the point. Either way, I work better alone. You’ll be the ones slowing me down so just try to keep up. Did you get that?”

The dark green unicorn chuckled a little as she backed off slightly. “Alright, then. Now that we have established the rules, I think we’ll be able to ‘understand’ one another better.” Crystal smirked before turning and walking away from the group.

“Uhh, just a word of advice, mate. You really do not want to get on Rune’s bad side. Trust me.” Black Arrow leaned towards Daring.

“What’s she going to do? I’m not afraid of her.” The light gold pegasus huffed, glaring at where the unicorn had disappeared.

“I admire your spirit and all, but you haven’t seen what she does to poor blokes who don’t listen.”

“I’ve seen and experienced worse than what she could possibly dish out.” The pegasus mare leaned back in her chair and looked away from the others.

Black Arrow looked towards the other two stallions and sighed. “This is going to be quite the interesting adventure.”

The sun slowly rose into the sky as the morning proceeded. The jungle was quiet with only the occasional sound of a bird chirping within the dense vegetation. A soft boom sounded before the roar of an unknown noise echoed throughout the tropical forest. The native animals froze in their tracks, their heads turning towards the source of the strange, crashing noise.

Deer, birds, and other creatures quietly approached the unknown object, glancing at it warily and curiously. The top of the object opened, yet nothing seemed to appear. A flash of movement quickly left the metallic pod-like structure, sending the surrounding animals bolting in fright as the occupant crashed through the thick jungle canopy, leaves rustling violently in its wake. The strange being landed on a tree branch a few meters above its pod before hastily jumping away from branch to branch. It stopped, looking at its surroundings before raising its arm. There was a small metallic wristband that it opened by flipping the top up.

It moved its other hand and pressed a few buttons. A small hologram appeared from the armband, showing the position of its prize: the being that was carrying the serpent. A quiet beep emanated from the hologram as more of the four legged inhabitants of this planet appeared nearby. From what it saw, there was a camp stationed close to where the target and the others were headed. It quickly made its way over to where the campsite was and as it approached, it noticed the camp was full of activity.

In its sight, the world looked like a variety of cool blue shades, representing ambient temperatures, but there were figures composed of warmer colors moving on the ground below its perch. The shades of red, yellow, and green indicated body heat and their shapes told that they were the same species as the target. The beings it saw were similar to the ones it had seen on a planet far across the galaxy, the homeworld of the “humans”. They kept such four legged creatures as beasts of burden, but these were physiologically different. Some of them seemed to have a horn-like appendage growing out of the top of their heads while others had wings growing out of their backs. Even those that resembled the animals on the other planet were different. They were carrying loads that should have been too much for their small frames to support. Not only were these equine beings physically different, they were intelligent as well. They wore clothing, spoke to each other, used advanced tools, and even carried weapons.

As it watched the equines, it noted that the ones with horns seemed to be levitating various objects above them. The observer pressed a button on its gauntlet and its vision changed with a flash of color, making the world take on a yellow color scheme instead of blue. Looking back at the floating objects, a blurry distortion surrounded the image. It pressed the button again, changing the world to gray. The image of the floating objects were clearer now and it could see that they were being lifted up by an aura of energy that corresponded to a matching aura around the equines’ horns, each having their own signature color. How these creatures could generate this sort of power, the being in the shadows didn’t know. This type of energy was unknown to it and it assumed it must be some sort of magic, a concept not unfamiliar to its kind.

The figure watching the camp came to the conclusion that these beings, despite their harmless appearances, were worthy prey. The ones with horns had access to either a form of telekinesis or a type of sorcery, the plain ones had strength, and the winged ones could fly. Besides, these equines were armed with spears and crossbows and the observer couldn’t let the opportunity to hunt a new species slip past it.

Seeing that the prize and target were heading its way, it made a clicking growl and crawled through the treetops, making its way to the camp below. It stood just out of sight on a branch a few meters over their heads before two blades extended from its right gauntlet with a metallic ring. It pressed another button on its left gauntlet which caused the light to bend and ripple around its body, making it vanish with the only trace of where it originally stood being a flash of blue light that resonated over its eyes before finally dissipating from sight.

Author's Notes:

I do ask that if you have a comment or anything you want to say, whether it be talking about what was good or something along those lines, even criticism is welcomed to help me fix any problems, then go ahead and put it up. Other than that, I am not pushing anypony to say something, it just helps me and my buddies in the long run.

Anywho, hope you enjoyed the chapter and again, thanks to DiabloGuapo for his editing and TehSporkBandit for his proofreading. Hope you all have a good morning, afternoon, evening, night or whatever. Oh and remember... sweet dreams...