A City of Opportunities

by Sasha Nein

The Action Peaks

Octavia quickly trotted through the streets of Canterlot. She would have galloped, but the morning bustle had already begun. Bumping into ponies and attracting attention to herself was the last thing she needed.

She couldn’t be sure how much Spardis knew she knew, but it would probably be best to simply be as discreet as possible in finding him. Of course, her charge was back at her apartment in a rather terrible state, so spending all day sneaking around to find the stallion was less than ideal. A quick in and out of the guild hall was what she needed. With any luck, nopony would know it was her.

Dodging around a fast moving coach, she swung down an alley behind the office building which hid the guild hall. Panting slightly, Octavia calmed her features and nudged her weapon through the saddlebag on her flank. She should probably come up with a name instead of ‘the office building’, it wasn’t very specific. But, what else could she call it? After a moment, she shook her head and strode through the back door of the building and for the hidden staircase; names didn’t matter right now.

Octavia paused. What was she doing? What would charging in on Spardis achieve? She hardly had anything to convict the stallion of what he’d done; he could easily explain what she had away. Was she going to kill him? Could she kill him? She’d not seen him fight. Those weren’t reliable odds. What was worse, unless she was able to get the jump on him he would be able to bring his unicorn power to bear and even any swordsponyship odds.

What would she do if she did kill him? It would be hard to explain her position. It was possible that she’d be executed herself for acting so rashly on such weak evidence. At the very least she was looking at time in a cell somewhere if she didn’t run.

Octavia grimaced. Running. That wasn’t a very pleasurable choice either. In her time at the fortress, she’d heard about a few runners and they were always caught eventually. Running would also solidify any suspicion of guilt, which would not help her case at all.

Shaking her head to dispel her doubts, Octavia moved forward. She entered the conference room which hid the stairwell to the basement, and closed the door. As she descended the steps she steeled her resolve. Spardis was guilty, she knew. He needed to be eliminated now before he had another chance to try and kill Vinyl.

Stepping as quietly as she could, Octavia descended into the lounge outside the main dormitories of the hideout. Thankfully, it was late enough in the morning that nopony was still lingering around. With any luck, Spardis would be in his office on the next level, alone. If not... Well, she could wait for a few minutes.

Moving across the lounge to the stairs on the far wall, Octavia drew her sword. She wasn’t sure there was anypony she could trust, but hopefully she wouldn’t have to spill any innocent blood. Of course, innocent was relative. She had to be careful as Spardis had lackeys and ninjas who were loyal to him.

As she reached the bottom of the second flight of stairs, she heard the clop of somepony’s hooves coming down the corridor towards the stairwell. They were light, and at quick intervals. Whoever it was, they were small and definitely not her quarry. Taking a deep breath, Octavia waited just around the corner on the last step. If she was quick enough, she could just knock the pony out and be on her way.

Just as the pony came into view, Octavia swung with her sword hilt. Midswing, Octavia’s mind caught up with her actions as she realized pony was actually Stormy Skies. Thankfully, he was much too low for Octavia’s swing to hit him. Unfortunately, she overbalanced in her surprise and nearly tripped over the colt. With a few dancing steps that made her feel foolish, and a surprised jump from Stormy, she was able to avoid a collision with him.

“Octavia!” the colt squeaked, “what are you doing?” His surprised features scrunched in confusion.

“Apologies, Stormy,” Octavia gasped. “I tripped on the last step there, thank Celestia I didn’t hit you.”

Stormy’s eyes glanced at the stairs, then back at Octavia in disbelief. “Right, well, thanks I— Oh! Octavia!” He, in turn, gasped. “The guildmaster was looking for you! He just sent four ponies to your apartment to get you!”

Octavia took a step away from the colt. “That’s nice. Look I—” Octavia stopped. “What? My apartment?”

The colt nodded with a scowl. “Yep, he seemed pretty upset about something. He told me to tell him the exact moment the ninjas left to find you. It would probably be good if you— Hey, wait, his office isn’t that way!”

Octavia ignored the colt as she bounded back up the stairs. She fumed silently to herself, this wasn’t what she was expecting at all. She was so close, but if she engaged Spardis now, she would lose Vinyl and it would all be for nothing. Spardis would just have to wait. She was such an idiot! Why did she leave Vinyl in her apartment? With ninjas after Octavia, hiding ponies in her own home for safety was dumb.

She skittered to a halt at the top of the stairs as a thought hit her. If Spardis was out to get Vinyl, why did he just send ponies to her apartment? He must be keeping closer tabs on her than she thought. Still, how was he able to get information on her whereabouts so fast? Or, maybe he didn’t know, and was looking for Octavia for some reason? Octavia shook her head, it didn’t matter right now, there were four ninja ponies about to make ponychops of Vinyl.

The receptionist didn’t even blink as she burst out into the main lobby. Without pause, Octavia barreled through the front doors and onto the street. Breaking into a hectic gallop, she wildly dodged carriages and surprised ponies. Home wasn’t far, which was unfortunate as it would give her little time to catch up. If she was lucky, it would be a brawl in the hallways. If not... well, she’d deal with that when the time came.

Each second felt like an entire minute of wasted time. She pushed her limbs harder while wishing the streets had been empty. Thoughtlessly she vaulted over a cart of apples and spun around various ponies who all cried out in alarm or outrage. Once, she careened into a stallion who had suddenly popped out of a small shop. She’d grabbed him as they spun about, using him as a stabilizer as various items fell out of his saddlebags. Octavia didn’t waste her breath apologizing as she broke back into her hazardous run.

After a few short minutes, she was finally at the door of her apartment building. Shoving thoughts of being too late to the back of her mind, she charged up the stairs to her rooms. Pausing on the landing to grab her sword, she sprinted down the hall.

As she arrived, she noticed the door was ajar and the jamb splintered. She bit down on her weapon’s handle and it extended with a ring. Without pause, she dived through the doorway into a roll.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of silver buzz angrily overhead and chunk into the open door. Rolling to her hooves she was met with two ponies, ninjas, armed with wakizashis charging at her through the small living room.

She moved to meet them and time seemed to slow as they swung in unison. Their moves were predictable, they would be off balance if she stood back just enough to let them complete their swing. Octavia chanced a glance down the hall as she stood still. There, in the closet at the far end, she saw a sliver of white behind the folding doors.

In her mind, she hesitated. Vinyl was going to see this, and it was going to be messy. If Octavia did this, her cover would be blown for sure. Yet, as the two ponies staggered forward her body moved of its own accord. There was no other option, if she was going to act, now was the time.

Stepping around the pony on the left, she shunted him forward into the pony that had tried to decapitate her at the door. Spinning fluidly, she brought her sword around to intercept the blade of the pony on the right. He was a pegasus, and she easily shoved him back.

Pressing her attack, she delivered a series of quick blows against the pegasus who struggled to deflect them. It took her barely two short seconds to weasel her way through his defense and slice him across his chest. She continued forward into the collapsing stallion and swung him around behind her.

One of the ponies, a unicorn, dodged the body. The other was not so fortunate and went down in a heap. Octavia almost felt sorry for the unicorn, he was holding his sword out in front of him with his magic and she slipped past it in an instant, ramming the hilt of her sword into the unfortunate stallion’s throat. He staggered back in pain and surprise, but his features quickly changed to shock as the gray mare expertly slid her blade between his ribs.

The final stallion, an earth pony, watched warily as Octavia pulled her blade out of the unicorn. She grinned, causing him to stumble backward in alarm and glance towards the door. Octavia sprinted forward and the stallion scrambled sideways, hoping to get around her towards the exit. He didn’t make it two steps before Octavia sliced his legs out from under him. His scream of pain was cut short quickly.

The sudden silence accentuated Octavia’s panting as she stood still, listening to her surroundings. A faint rustle from the closet and a groan from the bleeding unicorn were the only sounds. She turned and faced him, causing the stallion to grimace in terror and scramble backwards. Octavia noticed, with grim confirmation, that she had seen this pony before. He was one of Spardis’ lackeys; always hanging in the background of the training room at the guild hall.

She set her jaw and tightened her grip on her sword. The stallion opened his mouth, no doubt in a desperate beg for mercy as she strode towards him, but before he could say anything Octavia slammed the hilt of her sword into his temple and knocked him out. He would probably bleed to death soon, but she didn’t have the heart to kill him. Not with him staring at her like that.

It took only a glance at the pegasus to confirm her blow was fatal, pegasi were never that still. His eyes were wide open, but glazed with death. There was a pool of blood spreading out from the slice in his chest. She had gone right through the bone like it had been paper; pegasi, while light and quick, weren’t the sturdiest of ponies.

Trembling with adrenaline and fear of her current situation, Octavia quickly cleaned her weapon and put it away. Distractedly, Octavia wiped her muzzle and pulled away a red smeared hoof. She didn’t know what to do. These ponies had attacked first; Spardis had attacked first. Surely she would be forgiven killing fellow ninjas, right? It seemed only fair, yet she had experience that fair wasn’t exactly a standard code that the Order followed.

Walking carefully down the hall, she came to a stop in front of the closet that Vinyl was inside. Slowly, she opened the doors to find the unicorn cowering in the farthest corner and giving Octavia a wild look.

Taking a deep breath, Octavia sat down in the hallway. “Hey, it’s me, Vinyl. You’re safe now.”

“What are you?” the unicorn asked in an agast voice.

Octavia frowned. “I’m an earth pony.”

Vinyl’s ears flattened back and she grimaced, but then she suddenly seemed to steel herself and stood up to look down at Octavia. “No, that’s not what I’m talking about. I think you know what I mean,” she waved emphatically down the hallway. “What the buck is this?”

“Vinyl, I can explain this,” Octavia began as she glanced at the bodies on the floor, “but we need to leave, now.”

The unicorn’s mouth opened, but then slowly shut. She glanced down the hallway, then back to Octavia. She swallowed. “I don’t know what is going on here, but since you haven’t killed me too I guess I may as well trust you.” Vinyl paused before she continued with a nod. “So I can get my answers later if you insist we need to run now. But tell me one thing, why aren’t we calling the authorities?”

“Because I don’t think they will get here in time, or that they will believe what happened,” Octavia said readily. “I know who is trying to kill you, Vinyl. I can put a stop to it right now, but we have to move.”

Vinyl glanced at the bodies on the floor. “You think more will, are, coming to get us?”

Octavia nodded.

“Fine, then. I said I’d trust you, so let’s go.” Vinyl took a shaky step out of the closet.

Octavia blew out a sigh of relief, that hadn’t been hard. “Okay,” she said, grabbing Vinyl’s hoof. The mare flinched at the contact, but allowed herself to be led forward. “I shouldn’t have left you here, that was dumb. We need to get out of here before Spardis realizes what happened.”

Pulling her hoof out of Octavia’s suddenly, Vinyl’s eyes turned down to the mutilated ponies now before her and she stopped. “Dear Celestia,” she whispered, “Am I dreaming?” She looked up at Octavia, her eyes wide from the mess before her. “Please tell me this is just a dream... A vivid, blood splattered nightmare.”

Octavia stepped back and took Vinyl by the withers, carefully directing her around the bodies. “Listen, I’m sorry I left you here. You were never supposed to see anything like this. Ponyfeathers, I wasn’t supposed to have to do anything like this!”

There wasn’t anything Octavia could do about the blood seeping over the floor, or the cloying smell that was beginning to permeate the room. They were things she had long ago gotten used to, but Vinyl looked like she was going to throw up.

Ushering the unicorn into the hallway, Octavia turned and closed what was left of her door. She stood silently for a moment, contemplating her options, then led her charge down the stairs and into the lobby bathroom. After making sure nopony had noticed them, she locked the door and turned to regard herself and vinyl in the mirror.

Blood was spattered along her neck and muzzle from when she’d sliced the pegasus. She could feel the blood that had smeared on her hooves drying into her fur. It cracked as she turned to the sink and began rinsing it off.

Octavia watched her hooves, it felt like they belonged to somepony else. They no longer shook, as she thought they should have been. Instead, all she felt was a numbness. Killing those ponies was so easy it was disgusting. Blood and gore didn’t bother her, but actual killing was something else.

It didn’t help, either, that these ponies, too, had been trained killers who were dedicated to the same lifestyle as she. The penalty for killing a fellow ninja was death. Spardis condemned himself, and those around him, to die because of the stunts he pulled. Octavia hadn’t been the most attentive to the lectures on rules and regulations, but when rogue ninjas were put down the ponies that did it bore no consequences.

With detached calmness, she realized what her next step would have to be.

Spardis needed to die.

She didn’t know what his motives were, or how he’d remained in power in Canterlot for so long. But it all pointed to some very shady business in Octavia’s mind. Better for everypony to sort out this situation after he was dead; she was done taking chances.

A short cough brought Octavia back to reality. Shutting off the water she turned to Vinyl. The unicorn was standing straighter, and while her stance was still cautious she seemed to have regained a modicum of confidence.

“Alright,” Octavia rasped. She paused and cleared her throat. “Alright, as I said, I know who is after you, Vinyl. It seems they are starting to get desperate, so I think it would be best if you came with me until I deal with them.”

“I... Um...” Vinyl stammered for a moment. “Look, I, uh, don’t really know what’s going on here, but wouldn’t it be best for me to hide away somewhere safe? You know, if I go with you, and they’re after me, wouldn’t you have to be... You know...”

Octavia shook her head as Vinyl trailed off. “Absolutely not, this is definitely safer. I just tried to hide you away and look what happened. I’m afraid that as soon as we step out of this building we’ll be watched, so I can’t leave you anywhere.”

“Okay, what about—”

“There’s no time,” Octavia interrupted with a shake of her head. “We need to move now. It’s either cut and run, or face these ponies before they have time to react; and I’m no runner.”

Octavia pushed Vinyl out the door and into the busy streets of Canterlot. As they walked, she continued to whisper in Vinyl’s ear as she kept an eye on their surroundings. “We don’t have far to go, but if anything happens then just find a wall and back up to it. I can take care of anything just so long as it’s in a single direction.”

They approached the office building concealing the guild hall and Octavia pulled them off to the side for a final time. She turned to Vinyl, but the unicorn spoke first.

“That’s enough, Octavia. I get it. I’ll follow you in there and do what you told me, but after this is over—” Vinyl paused and gulped, but then steeled herself and poked Octavia in the chest. “If we survive, then you owe me answers. I may be a terrified little filly here, but my irritation at being in the dark on why ponies are after my guts is getting hard to ignore. So, after this is done, we’re gonna find a nice little corner and you’re going to answer my questions, got it?”

Octavia grimaced. “Fine, whatever. Just stay away from anypony in there. Any one of them could slice you up in a heartbeat.”

“Please, I can—” Vinyl stopped, snapping her jaw shut. “Fine, whatever.”

“Let’s go.” Octavia stepped towards the door. For better or worse, Octavia readied herself to play the cards she’d drawn.

Author's Note:

Well, here we go... The big ending will be the next chapter.
I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but I wanted to make sure the next one wasn't too large.

Comments

[Luno_Illumino]

Finally.

[nibtip]

Yeesss...

[Phazon]

As she arrived, she noticed the door was ajar and the jam splintered.

I'm guessing that's supposed to be 'jamb?'

She moved to meet them and timed seemed to slow as they swung in unison.

Noun, not verb.

[Swashbucklist]

Aw, it's almost over? Well, that's fine. However soon the end comes, it will still have been an enjoyable, kick-ass action fic.

I may be a terrified little filly here, but my irritation at being in the dark on why ponies are after my guts is getting hard to ignore.

This is not really how a character—a character like Vinyl, especially—would describe their emotional state. More like how a third-person narrator would describe the character they're looking down on. Vinyl would say something more like,

I may be scared out of my wits here, but it's getting kinda irritating, not knowing why ponies are after my guts!

6082124 Sure, it took a while, but please don't be rude. No author who entertains for free owes you anything.