Three ponies sat in a room, one mare and two stallions, staring at each other intently as they placed
their hooves at the table they sat near. Their bodyguards shifted nervously, glancing around at any
suspicious activity. After all, when the three greatest minds behind the black market got together, there
would a huge possibility of trouble. Staring down at the table in front of them, they all placed giant bags
of bits on the table, making a huge total sum of money on. The one wearing a cloak was the first to
speak.
"This new event has been quite the attraction, as we all know. There are bets being placed, and that's
where we come in. We need to decide now who is going to win this race, and put our money--"
"--where our mouth is." The one with a suit and an evil smirk interrupted, much to the displeasure of the
cloaked one. "I see where we're going with this. I'm definitely in."
"As am I," said the third, which wore nothing but a large scar cutting from above his eye down to his
chest, which was obviously a defining feature. "We bribe the competition to lose, and, if they disagree,
we use different methods."
"Exactly. I have a list of all the recent competitors. Many I have already introduced myself to, but I still
have not all the possible information I could have on them. Obviously, many more are going to join this
race, but it is best we pick out our competitor now. That way, we are ensured to make the most bits."
The cloaked pony suggested, an evil fanged grin spread across her face that even scared the most black-
hearted stallions. The stallion's guards eyed her own suspiciously, which only smiled back.
"Do you have the necessary data on the current competitors so we may make a decision?" The scarred
one asked.
"I would not have called you here otherwise."
"Excellent. Then let us begin our debate."
And so set forth another plan in the game fate had stored for the world of Equestria.
"I still say we choose Lightning."
"Sonic Strike is the best possible choice."
"Ventus Soar shall remain in my personal favor."
The three dark minsters continued their bickering, each one too stubborn to let up. Their choices had
been narrowed down to two pegasi, a fierce, agile stallion called Lightning, a dare devil mare named
Sonic Strike, and a bat pony stallion who usually never says a word, Ventus Soar.
The guards, too wrapped up in watching the debate, failed to notice another presence enter the room.
The intruder made no noise, and was soon right behind the scarred pony, looking over his shoulder to
inspect the three candidates chosen.
"I believe that Ssssonic Sssstrike would be the easiest to bend to your will." The mysterious figure
interrupted, bringing all the eyes on him in fright. The guards immediately brought their spears, swords,
and daggers forward, ready to kill if the intruder made a move.
"Now now, why don't we all put the weaponssss down. I'm not your enemy." The intruder said in a sly,
calm voice. The stallion dressed in a suit immediately smirked, knowing the voice well and true.
"Simon! I've been waiting for your arrival. Where were you, stuck in traffic?" He asked jokingly, making
every other creature in the room slightly more eased.
"Are you saying this.. Whatever it is, is your friend?" The cloaked one asked wearily. Simon chuckled,
moving into the light surrounding the table.
"Ssssnake, Mistresssss Dark Sssspell." Simon corrected, showing off his figure; a long, brown scaled snake, with a
tan underbelly. He wore a western outback hat, with a gun holster wrapped around his midsection, with
his personal weapon carried inside. A seemly strange feature about him though was that he only had
one fang, a long venomous canine on the right side of his mouth.
Dark Spell looked at the snake surprised and confused. Hardly anypony knew her real name. Simon
turned to the well-dressed stallion, giving him a devious smile. "Ssssso Black Cover, how issss everything
with you?"
"Not bad, actually. I may just have a double amount in my bank account, and if everything goes
according to plan, you'll get your fair share of it." He replied, returning the dark smile. He then pointed
towards the snake, and looked to the other two ponies around the table. "This is Simon 'One Fang'
Snake, best bounty hunter around and a personal friend of mine."
"The pleasssure is all mine." Simon exclaimed, bowing before them. Dark Spell and the yet to be named
scarred stallion looked him over curiously.
"I didn't think animals could talk." The scarred stallion stated, bringing a hoof to his chin.
"I wasssss part of one of the firsssst Animal Adaption programsssss a long while back, but after I
obtained the knowledge I needed to ssssssurvive, I left. It wassss too... boring there." Simon explained,
bringing the end of his tail up to gesture, seeing as he had no other limbs. "I then earned a living assss a
mercenary bounty hunter, alwayssss working for the rich, Master Sharp Edge."
Sharp Edge nodded in approval, smiling a little at the new arrival. "Now, what was that you said when
you entered?" He asked.
"Well, in my opinion, Ssssonic Sssstrike would be a very favorable option. For you sssssee, I know
thisssss mare, and sssshe issss fasssst. Well, fassssster than anything I've sssseen. Sssshe is alsssso,
believe it or not, greedy when it comessss to money. Sssshe'll do anything for the right amount of
bitsssss." Simon leaned back, tipping his hat a little to cover his eyes as he smiled darkly. "Asssss for the
other two competitorsssss , Lightning issss good, but too ssssstubborn. Bribing him may be hard, ssssso
a little enforcement would be required. Now Ventusssss Sssssoar isssss too ssssusssspicioussss, and
assss ssssuch, untrussstworthy. I know little of him, sssso you bessssst invessssstigate into him more. He
may not be what he ssseemsss."
Everyone in the room fell silent after Simon's long examination. And what surprised the three dark
minsters was that he was completely right. Sharp Edge's smile grew wider, for his choice was already in
higher favor from the bounty hunter. Dark Spell nodded in approval, and Black Cover began to chuckle.
"Well, I'm going with Simon's decision, for more than one reason." Black Cover stated, smiling at Dark
Spell. "I guess majority rules."
"Indeed." The cloaked mare nodded, and then gestured for her guards to come forth. They stood at
attention, standing before the mysterious mare. "Go to Sonic Strike and give her a suitable bribe. Do not
fail me." The guards nodded, and immediately left, intent on fulfilling their leader's desires.
"I hope your minionssss are assss reliable as you ssssay they are." The bounty hunter spoke, looking
towards Dark Spell unconvinced. "It'ssss alwayssss the mosssst loyal onessss that become the
traitorssss."
"And where do your loyalties lie bounty hunter?" Sharp Edge asked, raising an eyebrow towards the
snake. The reptile snickered in return, and then prodded one of the huge bags on the table before them.
"With the highesssst bidder."
Simon began his trek back through the black marble corridor, lit faintly by the torches hung on the wall.
He smiled as his scaly body tingled with excitement, the after effect of being in the presence of so much
gold. He now made himself known to three of the darkest and richest leaders in Equestria, which was
good for business. He stopped in his tracks, however, when he felt another living thing hiding near him.
Part of an ancestral instinct snakes had, he had always been told.
"Sssshow yoursssself." He hissed, glancing around him swiftly. He turned around find Dark Spell right
behind him, her hood down. Two purple, slit eyes stared down at him, her coat a dark indigo. Her mane,
however, glistened white, running down her head straight and silky. Her horn was longer than most,
sharpened at the end. She smiled at Simon, showing of her fanged teeth. He felt a little intimidated.
"Simon, was it? I honestly wasn't expecting the bounty hunter Black Cover spoke of to be... well, you, to
put it simply. I mean no offence." She said, looking the snake over. He chuckled, feeling more relaxed as
he turned and began to slither down the corridor, Dark Spell following close behind.
"Don't judge a book by it'ssss cover issss a motto I have lived by." He replied, glancing at the mare. "I
know much about you, Misssstressssss Dark Sssspell, like how you are the child of a unicorn and a bat
pegassssussss, or how you lived the life of an asssssasssssin until you decided to create your own dark
empire, or how you only sssshow your face to the creaturessss you trusssst the mosssst." He looked at
her to find her quite startled, and began grinning confidently. "But thosssse are only a few thingssss.
Though I know a lot about you Misssstresssss Dark Ssssspell, it issss not assss much assss I would like to
know. They ssssay knowledge issss the greatest weapon and I for one agree."
The dark unicorn looked at the snake slightly frightened, but stood firm and continued to walk with him
down his dark path. "You seem to know a lot about me, Simon, but if you know that I only reveal my
face to those I trust most, can you tell me why I revealed it to you?"
"Indeed I can, misssstressss, for you think that ssssince you can detect liessss with your dark magic
which issss unique only to you, you detected no liessss in my earlier sssstatement that I am loyal to the
highesssst bidder, sssso therefor you are thinking of making me work for you in sssseveral sssservicessss
in return for a nice amount bitssss."
When Simon finished his long answer, he stopped in his tracks to stare at his now less confident
conversationalist. Snickering, he turned and continued to slither in the dimly lit corridor. The dark
unicorn followed close behind, and soon, the pair came to a pair of small doors.
Simon turned to the unicorn, and tipped his hat. "It wassss a pleassssure, Dark Sssspell. If you ever
require my sssservicessss, don't be afraid to assssk." He took a gem from under his hat using his tail, and
placed it slyly in the pocket of her cloak. He grinned before swiftly opening the doors and exited from
the hall. Dark Spell placed her hood over her head once again, and walked into the dark alley outside.
The vilest city of Equestria so far was Manehattan, the living place of the most dangerous criminals.
Simon slithered through the dark alleys of the growing city, careful to avoid any unwanted attention.
The trash reeked of rotting substances, the rood stained with small amounts of blood. Simon hated it
here, and continued on until he found himself on the open road in the city. The bounty hunter, a well-
known criminal, kept to the shadows in fear of being caught. He did not need to raise his bounty higher
if he had to use violence to get to his home.
Crossing the street, he glanced into an alleyway to see three large stallions towering over a small child.
The child was crying, the three ruffians laughing, which almost made Simon spew on the spot. He was
never one for justice, but he despised the ill-treatment of children. He slowly slithered towards the
group where he began to hear the group of thugs talking.
"We sell her. Slaves are in high pay nowadays."
"Meh, why not cut her up and trade her organs. That pays higher on the black market."
"Ah say we take 'er home and have a littl' fun with 'er, if you know what ah mean."
The child, obviously thanks to the conversation defined a female, backed up against the wall, shaking
terribly. Simon could not bear the sight, and continued to approach the three. They laughed and
debated amongst themselves, not noticing the snake approach them. Before any one of them could
react, the snake took the gun from his holster, reloaded, and fired three bullets into the heads of the
ponies before more than a second passed. They collapsed, hitting the ground like bricks, dead before
they even hit the floor.
The child looked up to see the criminal’s dead, with a serpentine figure checking their wallets. She
sniffed, and began to crawl over to her current hero. Now much closer, she saw that the figure was
indeed a snake, a well dress one at that. The bounty hunter's eyes moved from the bodies and wallets to
her, examining the child. She reared back a little, but the snake moved closer, trying to smile kindly and
began to reassure the child.
"Don't be afraid, girl, I won't hurt you." Simon said smoothly, but it did not affect to calm the girl's
nerves. She was an earth pony, a blank flank, brown coat, red curly hair, and blue eyes, and she was
shivering in fear, so he continued his attempts to make her feel safe. "What'ssss your name, girl?"
"R-rosy Petal, m-mister snake sir..." She stammered, still frightened that the reptile may kill her.
"Rossssy, huh? That'ssss a pretty name. Where are your parentssss Rossssy?"
She sniffed, hanging her head as she replied to the snake. "... D-dead..."
This took Simon aback, raising and eyebrow at the young girl. If her parents were dead, that means her
life so far must have become horrible.
"Do you have any family to go to?"
"No... I lived at the orphanage... But I didn't like it there, the Miss hated me.... Hurt me... So I ran
away..." She said, looking the snake in the eyes. "Who are you, mister snake sir?"
"Don't ever call me ssssir, makessss me feel old." He stated as a joke, getting a small giggle out of the
sobbing girl. "Call me Ssssimon. I'm a bounty hunter."
Rosy gasped, bringing a hoof to her mouth. "You're the legendary 'One Fang' Simon?"
Simon smiled, bringing the end of his tail to point to the one fang he had left in his mouth, "The one and
only."
"What happened to your other fang, Simon?"
The snake widened his eyes a little, and then quickly shook his head. "Never mind about that. How
about you come with me until I find you ssssomewhere to live?"
"You want me to come with you?" She asked doubtfully, widening her eyes.
"Ssssure kid, why not?"
She smiled and stumbled to her hooves, and walked over to the now less scary killer. The bounty hunter
in return tried his best not to laugh. Smiling, he began a long trek to an abandoned shed on the outskirts
of the city which he called home, now with a guest to show his collection of bits and books to.