Chapter 3: Decisions
Octavia was thinking fast, Blueblood had left the compartment just moments ago to prepare for the arrival in Canterlot. This is not good. This is very very bad! The situation had spiraled out of control way to quickly. Frankly, she had panicked. Filled with conflicting emotions and thoughts, she had finally focused on the fact that in accepting she would buy herself some time to think. She had completely bucked it up though. What kind of assassin accepts a job before even talking about the payment?! When she realized her mistake, it was all she could do not to bang her head against the wall, repeatedly. Luckily, Blueblood hadn’t noticed.
Still, they had finally agreed on a price...6 million bits. Blueblood sucked a haggling.
6 million bits...6 MILLION! She squealed a bit. Calm down Octavia, attempting to assassinate Twilight Sparkle, would be synonymous with sailing the sea of chaos in a boat named insanity. Not even you could be that retarded…...still 6 million.
Octavia got up and started to pace back and forth in the small compartment. What are my options here? Tell Celestia? Yeah right, Hello Princess I work as a professional assassin that have been killing your subjects for years, and now Blueblood wants me to kill Twilight Sparkle. Oh whats that, you want proof? Sorry don’t have any. Octavia shivered. Nope, not doing that!
Just don’t do anything?...And have Blueblood just hire somepony else to kill Twilight and myself?..Nope can’t do that either.
Make Blueblood change his mind somehow? Probably be easier to convince him to marry an earth-pony and take up farming.
Kill Blueblood? Tempting, but he has probably made arrangements should he die in the near future. If that was the case, my life would come crashing down with his.
Kill Sparkle? It would be extremely hard to pull off and Blueblood might backstab me afterwards...but he might not….6 million. Octavia shook herself. I won’t do it, she is a friend of Vinyls isn't she? Vinyl would be devastated… In the back of her head a small voice replied. “You could always use the money to buy her something nice, so she will feel better.”
“AAHRG!” she snarled in frustration.
The train started to slow down as it neared the Canterlot station. Octavia looked out through the window at the sprawling city that seemed to shine in the late afternoon light. It all came down to if Blueblood had taken precautions or not. So lets investigate and find out.
Octavia stepped off the train and onto the crowded platform. The air smelled of sweat and burning coal. Making her way to the wall of the station, she rose onto her hind legs and surveyed the crowd. Over at the end of the platform just outside the throng of ponies she saw Bluebloods butler, a grey unicorn with a thick dark mane. He was making a fuss over his master. Octavia smirked. Lets see where you are going now “My Lord”.
She followed them outside and up along the cobbled path, while carefully keeping her distance. A great fact about ponies being herd animals, is that they have absolutely no sense for when they are being observed by somepony.
She made her way closer trying to overhear their conversation. She caught the butler saying:
“-you are putting yourself in so much danger...what could possibly be worth such a risk?" Octavia couldn't believe her luck, she immediately tilted her ears in Bluebloods direction to catch his reply. Instead she saw a golden bubble envelop them briefly before fading out. By bucking Celstias horn, a bucking anti-eavesdropping spell?!
“Touche” she said under her breath. Maybe there was more than just feathers in that skull of his.
Octavia fell back on her original plan, to see where they were going. That became increasingly more difficult as the crowds thinned out the higher up on the mountain they went. After a few hours, the streets were deserted and she had to fall back far enough that she no longer could see them. Lucky for her, Blueblood was not one to holding back on his perfume. Following her nose she ended up outside a white manor with thick white walls decorated with lots of spikes.
The mailbox gleamed in the moonlight, the words “Lord Silver Sheath” engraved on the side. Octavia smiled. Mission accomplished.
She turned around and came face to face with a very drunk Vinyl Scratch, swaying slightly. The white unicorn DJ looked at her over the rim of her sunglasses. “H-h-heeeellol Ocy you arrr looking reeeeally nice tonight.” she slurred as her eyes roamed over Octavia.
Octavia swallowed her heart back down her throat where it had tried to escape. “Where the hay did you come from?!”
Vinyl gestured vaguely in the direction of everything. “I was at t-t-this aweeesome gig way over ...someeeehehe-where.” Vinyl refocused on Octavia and grinned wickedly as she placed her hooves around Octavias neck, and pulled her close and whispered in her ear “H-h-hey Ocy, what’s grey and… reeeeally sexy?”
Octavia pulled back, blushing furiously. “I don’t know! Concrete!?” she blurted out.
Vinyl looked blank for a second, then she fell to the ground laughing, her body curling up as she fought for air.
Octavia waited patiently for the worst to pass, then frowned down at her, cheeks still burning. “For ponies sake Vinyl, how much have you had?”
Vinyl rolled over on her back and looked up at Octavia from upside-down. She lifted her hooves and held them an inch apart. “Just a little.” she said with her most sincere smile that she reserved for Octavia and royal guards. For some reason, it didn’t work.
Octavia opened her mouth to give Vinyl the standard lecture on inebriation, when she heard the main door to manor open. Golden light spilled out from the doorway as Blueblood made his farewells. Octavias eyes darted from the doorway to Vinyl and back again. Horseapples! She hurled herself across Vinyl. With her own back to Vinyls upturned stomach, she hooked a leg around Vinyls neck and rolled around and stood up with Vinyl across her back.
Vinyl was gasping, trying to get air back into her lungs.
Sorry Vinyl Octavia thought as she raced down the street. However, its your own fault for having the worst possible timing ever.
After a few minutes, she had left the manor far behind her, Vinyl had fallen asleep and the night had grown cold.
Octavia sighed, however much she would like to have followed Blueblood all the way home to his manor. Fate had not been on her side tonight. It was time to return home and prepare for the day to come.
I will get out of this mess, one way or another.