//------------------------------// // Chapter 8~The Second Contract (PT.1) // Story: Hellfire Dash // by Centurion Pike-Wall //------------------------------// A few days later, Umbra was doing what she had been doing for the past several days. Get out of bed, trudge along to go get some coffee. This time, however, she heard some talking in the kitchen when she finally managed to arrive. Hearing the conversation, she slid up against the wall, ear peeking around the edge to listen. "I'm telling you, Twilight", said a voice she recognized as Spike. "Something isn't right about her." "Stop being paranoid, Spike." That was Twilight. "Just because you thought you saw horns on her doesn't mean anything." "I'm not being paranoid, and it's not about what I saw. I mean, she shows up; next day, Granny Smith is dead." "Are you really blaming Umbra?" "No! I'm just saying she doesn't seem the most trustworthy. She said she's here on business for somepony we don't know. That she was meeting an associate of her boss, but she's been here for almost a week, and the guy's a no-show. I'm just saying, it's a bit weird." "Spike. I know it seems weird, but just calm down." "Why are you defending her? You've known her for like, a week!" Umbra was getting ready to leave, but what Twilight said next made her freeze in her tracks. "I don't know. It's just, something about her seems, familiar. Like we've met before. I suppose that's it." Umbra couldn't decided whether she should be excited or panicked. On one hand, Twilight on some level sensed a familiarity. She still, maybe, loved her. However, on the other, she was familiar to her, and that could lead to some problems down the road. The same applied to Spike. He was partially onto her; he was right about a bit, but he likely wouldn't follow through. He might be talking out of his flank a bit, but it was still better safe then sorry. She silently wished that her second contract would just show up already. She didn't have time to think on it further, nor did they have time to resume their talking. Rarity came in, walking right past her and into the kitchen. "Oh, hey Rarity. Is, something wrong?", Twilight said. "No, darling. Not at all", she said in her melodramatic voice. "I was down at my usual gathering place, when a group of Diamond dogs appeared." "Diamond dogs!", Spike said. "Yes, Spikey. They told me that it was private property, and that I needed to leave. I told them it was unclaimed, when two ponies showed up. Those Flim-Flam brothers Applejack hates." "The Flim-Flam brothers?", Twilight questioned. Umbra just smiled; he was here. "Yes. They said something about purchasing the land, and that I was to leave. I don't want to know what they're doing there, but it can't be pleasant." "Well, if they legally bought it, then there isn't much we can do", Twilight said. However, Umbra didn't hear the rest of the conversation. She headed back to her room, finally getting ready to get out of here. ++++ Umbra waited until late in the night, when even Twilight should be asleep. When the time she decided to move out arrived, she grabbed the neck gaiter and crept out of her room. She shut the door behind her, before moving along the rim of the floor as silently as possible. She stopped when she heard some snoring inside a room off to her side. Peeking through an open door, she saw Twilight in a chair, book in her lap and several more splayed in piles around it. Typical Twilight; reading until she fell asleep. Umbra smiled at the sight, before she kept moving. However, Umbra saw a small item gleaming in her hand, and couldn't help herself. She silently opened the door, careful not to disturb any of the books nor anything else. She got closer, and her suspicions were confirmed as to what the item was. A small pendant, in the shape of a multi-colored lightning bolt coming out of a white cloud. A small tear exited her eye as she saw Twilight still had it, and still wore it. She leaned in close, kissing her forehead and whispered, "Night night, Twi. For what it's worth, I'm sorry." She managed to make it back to the hallway without waking the sleeping mare, and again making a silent movement through the hall. She was startled by a sleep walking Fizzlepop, trotting around with a purposeful and steady gait like a sentry on duty. She was easy to avoid, yet it was nonetheless unnerving. She managed to make her way out of the castle without waking anyone, taking off and flying for the spot where she knew Rarity liked to go gem hunting. When she arrived, she did indeed see a makeshift fence made up of stone spikes out in front of the entrance to the field, manned by Diamond Dogs in armor. She had interacted with them on numerous occasions, and even had a few contracts on them. Cunning, strong, able to dig though solid rock, but most importantly, stupid. Should be easy to avoid. Beyond the wall, she spotted several large tents, easily the size of small houses, made out of burlap and riddled with patches. More diamond dogs milled around them, either sleeping or stumbling around drunk while a few were reading or playing solitaire around several, mostly burned out campfires. One tent was much, much nicer than the others, made up of orange and white striped cloth and lacked any type of patch. Off in she side of one of the cliffs, she spotted several large tunnels, with multiple carts outside filled with... seeds? She landed up on top of this cliff, looking over the edge directly into one of them, confirming that they were, indeed, seeds. Hundreds of them. She had little to no idea what they were up to, but she knew it couldn't be good. An evil smirk grew on her muzzle when she thought of something. So, a plan in her head and a smile on her face, she slid on her neck gaiter and floated down from the cliff. Only one Diamond dog was around there, and he was almost asleep as it was. Just to be safe, though, she kicked him in the back of the head, fully knocking him out and sending him pitching forward onto the ground. She then lifted herself up to peer into the wagons, scooping up a handful of the seeds. She had seen them enough while helping AJ with her farm work: Apple seeds. What they were for, she didn't know. However, she knew that they might be flammable. Well, popcorn were seeds, and those things exploded, so it made sense, right? At the very least, they would burn, and that was all she needed. Well, for her plan to work, she would need some fire. However, she would get it when she saw the small fire in front of where the diamond dog had been sitting. He had missed the fire, and so it would be perfect for her plan. Carefully grabbing one of the burning sticks from the edge of the fire, she placed it in the nearest cart. When the fire spread to the wood of the cart and the seeds themselves, she moved onto the others. Soon, she had lit several of them on fire, before taking a step back to admire her work. The fires were still small, and would likely not be noticed for some time. So, hopefully, that would give her time to get over to the tent. Spreading her wings and taking off, she soared over to the other side of the canyon, landing in some bushes by the big tent. She snuck up to the tent flap, listening for noises and talking inside. "Exactly why do you need us?", said a gravely voice. "You're planting stupid pony trees." "Ah, but the specifics of what we are having the trees for is what we need you and your companions for!", said a chipper, smoother voice. A second, almost identical voice, said, "Are you familiar with Zap apples?" "No." "Oh", said one of them; she couldn't tell which. "Well, you know what apples are, yes?" "Yeah." "Well, certain ponies make jam out of them, and sell them for a profit. Using some colored crystals, we can manipulate the color of the apples, and pass 'um off!" "And you, good sir, will get to keep 95% of the gems we find. We only just need a few, colored like the rainbow, to affect the apples. Sound good?" The dog seemed to consider it, due to a strange growling noise. He then said, "OK. We'll keep digging in the morning." "Oh, you won't regret this, sir!", one of the brothers said. What she assumed was the other one said, "Here you go, sir. A nice, ice-cold cider. Enjoy!" A wooden clink sounded from inside, along with the faint sound of drinking. Umbra scowled after listening to their plot. Typical scam artist. Well, at least she set all of their seeds on fire. Speaking of which, she peeked past some of the tents to look at the carts. The fire was now pretty big, flaring up and fanning out. She smiled, before sneaking around the side to avoid being seen. She heard someone run up, before saying in a gravely voice, "Boss! Carts on fire!" "Wait, what!?", one of the brothers said. "Get out there, and put them out! If you don't you don't get squat! Now go!" A lot of moving, and two diamond dogs ran out of the tent towards the burning carts. A bunch more of them ran from their own tents, grabbing buckets and bottles of water. Neither of the brothers ran out, and she made out the sounds of pacing from inside. Perfect. She stood up, slid up her neck gaiter over her muzzle, and walked around to enter the tent. The inside was also pretty nice. A pair of beds sat in the back corners, and a table in the middle of the room, piled high with papers. The two familiar unicorns were over by the table, the one with the mustache pacing up and down. The one without the mustache, Flim she believed, said, "Who are you? How did you get past the guards?" She ignored him, and just said, "You. With the mustache. You're Flam, right?" "Y-yeah?", he said, fear shooting through his eyes. "Perfect", she said. "Your debt has come. Your soul is forfeit. I am the one to claim it for your new master." After a quick throat rasp, she said, "So, yeah." She then reached under her jacket, pulling out her knife.