Flim was busy polishing an already-gleaming counter top when the entrance door swung open and a small, cloaked figure entered the guild hall. It shrugged off its saddlebags and placed them onto a table, their contents clinking as they settled onto the wooden surface. The figure then trotted over to Flim, ruffled through some hidden pockets within its cloak and, finding what it was looking for, withdrew several contracts and set them on the counter before him.
The sight of the figure disturbed Flim. A few days ago, he wouldn't have expected to see such a sight, but over the past few days it was becoming a regular occurrence. He levitated the contracts with his magic, gave them a cursory glance, and set them aside. He then leaned over the counter and pushed back the figure's hood to reveal a messy purplish-pink mane that tumbled down into the filly's eyes. He brushed the hair aside to reveal a fresh cut over Scootaloo's left eye.
"You're bleeding again," Flim stated.
"It's nothing. I'm here for another contract."
And so it had been, ever since a few days previous when the young filly had entered the guild hall with a kind of renewed determination, not to mention some proper armor, and demanded to be given a contract. Flim knew, of course, of her first successful mission. She had gained a confidence boost then for certain, but this had been different.
It had been amusing then. Now... not so much.
"Another successful contract?" Flam appeared from the back room to stand beside his brother. His eyebrows raised slightly. "You're becoming quite the adventurer!"
"Three contracts," Scootaloo corrected. "Plus another slime I saw on the way here. There wasn't a contract on it but—" she motioned toward her saddlebags "—it had some more stuff in it for Lyra to sell."
Flim looked at his brother and saw that he had just noticed the filly's injuries. He waited until he met his brother's gaze and, despite neither of them saying a thing, he knew that they'd just come to an agreement. He placed his front hooves on the counter, leaned forward, and smiled.
"I do believe you've successfully completed the last of the small contracts."
"I'm afraid there are none left to be given," Flam chipped in.
Scootaloo frowned. She walked over to the board where contracts were posted and, much to Flim's horror, pulled down one of the more recent additions. She then walked purposefully back to the brothers and placed it on the counter.
"I'll take this one, then," she said, simply.
Flim met his brother's gaze again briefly. "Well, you see, this particular contract is rather, um..."
"Ms. Heartstrings is unaware of the details pertaining to this contract, it having just arrived this morning, and—" Flam tried to assist, but was cut off by a small hoof slamming onto the counter.
"Does this mean anything to you?" Scootaloo asked, her eyes unblinking. She removed her hoof to reveal her Adventurer's Guild membership card. Her voice cracked slightly with her next words. "Am I a part of this guild?"
Flim's ears laid back, and he caught himself staring at the ground. He forced himself to meet the young adventurer's gaze.
"Of course you are," he said. He put on a smile. "It's a rather large contract. Care for some assistance?"
Large was an understatement. Somehow Lyra had managed to attract the attention, and bits, of the Royal Canterlot Guard. How the crazy mare had managed that was beyond Flim's wildest imaginings, but it had been made clear that the client was to remain anonymous. Brave little Scootaloo, then, would have no clue who she was working for, or just how dangerous the mission was. Flim had a very clear idea of how dangerous things might get, and allowing the filly to try to go it alone was absolutely ludicrous from every imaginable angle. Not to mention unprofitable.
Scootaloo snatched the contract, stuffed it into her cloak, and walked away. She retrieved her saddlebags, walked toward the exit and looked back over her shoulder. "I'll be fine," she said with confidence. "I need to drop this loot off at the Emporium, and then I'll set off. Ms. Heartstrings is not going to lose her home!" With that she opened the door and disappeared.
Flim allowed her a good ten minute head start before nodding to his brother and following after her.
The slime shimmered softly in the sun's fading light as dusk fell upon the land. A moment later it exploded from the force of a giant iron war hammer crushing it against the ground.
"Oh yeah! That swing was totally epic. Come on, partner. Hit the hoof."
Iron Will looked at Shining Armor's extended hoof, ignored it, and met the pony captain's eyes with a glare. He then proceeded to slowly clean his war hammer, his eyes unblinking.
Shining Armor sighed. "Come on, Iron Will. Do you know how often I get to just let loose and, you know, actually enjoy saving Equestria? It's always 'regulations this,' or 'you can't do that.' Please don't take this from me."
Iron Will stared a moment longer. Then, with a roll of his eyes, he reached his fist out and bumped the pony's hoof. Shining Armor grinned.
"Now that's what I'm talking about. With the two of us on the job we'll have these monsters cleared out in no time." He aimed his spear at another slime. "Then there won't be any more monster sightings, and no more questions about monster sightings–" he used his magic to thrust the spear into the slime "–and no more meetings with royalty in the middle of the night in regards to monster sightings." He lifted the spear and the slime dropped off, unaffected. A moment later he raised a hoof to protect himself as the slime exploded from the impact of Iron Will's hammer.
He held out his spear to Iron Will and raised an eyebrow. "Want to switch?"
The minotaur folded his arms across his massive chest and frowned down at Shining Armor. A moment later, he allowed a sly grin and accepted the trade. It was like the pony captain said. If they were going to crush monsters together, he might as well add a bit of challenge to it and enjoy himself.
The two partners fought well into the night, and enjoyed every moment of it.
Elsewhere, Scootaloo was also enjoying herself. She had already successfully taken out three more slimes, two of which had more loot for Lyra. It was easy, once you knew how to approach them. Besides, they weren't actually alive, so there wasn't any kind of intelligence that she had to contend with. Just wait for the right moment, then strike!
You can do this, Scootaloo thought. You are a useful member of the guild!
The sound of leaves rustling behind her pulled her from her thoughts. She grinned. If she kept defeating slimes at this rate, she would be able to pay off the improved armor she had borrowed from the Emporium. Then maybe she could upgrade to a better weapon than the old blacksmith's hammer that Lyra had convinced her to use. Yeah, so maybe Lyra had mentioned something about fillies not really being meant to wield actual weapons. That might be true for most young ponies, but surely a full-fledged member of the Adventurer's Guild would be expected to wield something a bit more appropriate.
She turned around to face the slime, her thoughts on whether she should switch to a bladed weapon, or stick with the crushing-type she was currently using. At the sound of the low, rumbling growl, she froze.
The blacksmith's hammer dropped from her mouth to the ground.
The fading sunlight made it difficult to see, but there was no mistaking it once its head appeared from within the bushes. It only took a moment for the timber wolf to crouch, its wooden limbs crackling slightly, before it pounced with a roar.
Scootaloo didn't even have time to scream before the wind was knocked out of her. The impact of the timber wolf's claws lifted her off of her hooves and sent her flying backwards, where she landed hard on her back. Her mind raced as she struggled to come to grips with what was happening. She couldn't breathe. Her face was bleeding, of that she was certain. By some miracle, she'd managed to land in such a way that didn't break her wings. That was a positive, at least. She was also still alive. Definitely a positive. She lifted her head to get a bearing on where she was.
The timber wolf was distracted by the fallen hammer. Good. She was lying in the middle of a clearing with no decent spots to run to or hide. Bad. Her hammer was too far away to be of any use. Double bad. She also hadn't told anypony where she was going, tonight. Okay, so things were extremely bad. She looked back at the wolf as it sniffed the hammer one last time, then looked her way. Well, then. Time to be a hero, or die trying.
Please be a hero.
She pushed herself back up onto her hooves. The timber wolf growled once more, then took a step towards her. It was now or never. With a bestial cry that she was frankly shocked that she was able to utter, Scootaloo rushed the wolf. She could use her wings to assist in a last-second dodge, grab the hammer, and use her momentum to gallop full-speed ahead. The wolf's wooden legs would make it difficult for it to turn around quickly, and would give her a good head start. From there, it was down to luck.
Before Scootaloo could put her plan into action, she caught a flash out of the corner of her eyes. A moment later the timber wolf exploded into branches and twigs as a pegasus collided at-speed with it. The pegasus's momentum caused it to slide through the dirt before it spun to a full halt. It then stood up, trotted over to Scootaloo, looked her up and down, then grinned.
"Wow, not bad, kid. You were gonna use your wings to accelerate a dodge to the left, right? That was gutsy. Probably would have worked, too. Didn't want to have to explain myself to Lyra if it hadn't though."
Scootaloo blinked as the realization of what had just occurred kicked in. The yellow coat, the orange mane and eyes. The Wonderbolts uniform. Her eyes began to glisten with excitement.
Spitfire rolled her eyes and smiled even wider. "Yeah, yeah. I get it. Lucky I was scouting the area for ponies in trouble. The monster attacks have grown worse lately, and it's not just slimes. As you've seen now first-hoof."
Scootaloo continued to stare.
Shifting her legs, Spitfire said, "Alright look, kid. I like your style. How about you and I get out of here and, I don't know, maybe I could show you a few things. What do you say, want to be trained by one of the best?" At Scootaloo's continued starry-eyed gaze she said, "I'll take that as a yes. Come on kid, let's get out of here."
As Spitfire took Scootaloo under her wing, she looked out into the forest. A moment later, she nodded almost imperceptibly.
As he hid among the bushes and shrubs, Flim nodded back at Spitfire. Once he was certain she and Scootaloo were gone, he crept out of the woods and approached the body of the timber wolf, his own magic holding it back from piecing itself back together.
His brow furrowed. Timber wolves most certainly shouldn't be roaming around in this part of the woods. Something was wrong.
Flam would need to hear about this.