Diamond blinked.
In a flash, before any visible reaction was given to the filly in front of her, the events of the past two weeks blurred through her mind.
She remembered a conversation with Poppinjay, where the mare had told her to be careful. Because Diamond’s “Patron” was Midnight, Poppinjay couldn’t protect her, but she had left her with a gift, a special magical medicine. One dose, hidden in Diamond’s magical field until she reached a point where she could use it. It would heal anything, bring any being back from the brink of death, as long as two conditions were met: They couldn’t have crossed over, and they had to be a foal or equivalent.
That was Poppinjay’s special domain after all. She had little power other than to help foals.
One of the few effects her magic actually had was that Diamond would never question how they had made the week long trip to Manehatten in two days. Or how the mare had arrived in Ponyville the next morning.
The funds Diamond had were gone, but she had a lead. She was supposed to meet a pony at a particular bar, and he would give her the information she needed to find Blood’s Eye.
Her contact was in the obituaries the next morning, and waiting at the bar were a pair of cultists. She was only saved because she recognized the earth pony who had fought Cheerilee in the schoolyard. His first attempt to grab her missed, and in the process he bumped into a pool table, upsetting an intensely wagered game between a pair of griffons.
She remembered most of the brawl that was at the end of the domino chain, but she had been knocked out before it was over.
She had woken up on a couch. The room was dark, she could tell, but that didn’t really bother her. She couldn’t see perfectly, but she could see well enough. She didn’t recognize the room.
She flinched at a movement, whipping around to face a colt, a few years older than her, sitting in a chair. He introduced himself as Keen Eye, although he requested that she call him Dodge Lighthoof depending on the circumstances. He was a thief by trade, but had taken her in because, “of the seven stallions in that bar that any of us remotely trusted not to take advantage of you, I was the only sober one.”
After spending the afternoon dodging each others’ questions, Diamond had decided she trusted him enough to tell him about her mission. He was hesitant, but agreed to help her… from a distance. He let her stay at his apartment, though she turned down his half-hearted offer to surrender the bed. The couch was comfortable enough.
It was his suggestion that started bringing money in for her investigation. Black Diamond gained a small reputation as a bounty hunter, though the criminals never told the authorities that she’d let them go if they told her what she wanted to know.
He had helped her break into the city guard stations too. They had been able to compare the various missing foal reports – foalnappings and runaways – and found one particular area where there were conspicuously few foals disappearing. Keen said these were basically the same methods he used to case a target before he broke in. Diamond was just impressed.
There had been another fight, this one with just cultists. Diamond and Keen had been winning, even with the three to two odds. And then it had happened.
Diamond had mistimed a swing, and instead of disarming her opponent like she had meant to, Blacklight had slid up the length of her knife, biting deep into the flesh of her shoulder. Blood sprayed out and the mare roared in pain. As she collapsed, Diamond heard another pony charging her from behind. She spun, reflexes still dulled by shock.
She would never be sure if Blacklight had acted to protect his mistress on his own, or if she had told him to. Ultimately, it didn’t really matter. Either way, she wound up with her forehooves crossed protectively in front of her and the pegasus stallion skewered. He had impaled himself with his charge, not seeing the dark blades in the shadows until it was too late.
And that was the point where Diamond broke. Keen had knocked out his opponent and dragged her away, although the bat pony couldn’t get far – he didn’t outweigh her by much. He recognized shock – he had seen it once or twice before. In the end he had had to resort to slapping her to snap her out of it. It didn’t make things better, but it got her functioning again.
None too soon either. Their cultist friends had reinforcements and were canvasing the neighborhood looking for them. It was a lucky break that they had been in the warehouse district, so there was nopony else around to get hurt.
It was a hard fight after that. Diamond, still in shock, found herself numb to causing pain. She didn’t know if she killed anypony else that night – the cult covered up all the deaths. Diamond’s bout of shock had cost them though. They were surrounded, outnumbered, and outmaneuvered.
In the end, they only escaped when Diamond reached the deepest point of her desperation. For the first time in her life, the filly shadow travelled with a passenger. The ER nurses never did figure out how she got in.
Diamond was essentially uninjured. Her shadow gave her both protection and a slight healing factor. She would be fine. Keen however had taken some severe injuries. He would never tell her, but he picked them up while carrying her away from the first fight.
Diamond had done the only thing she could think of to make sure Keen would be taken care of and guarded. She told the hospital that his name was Dodge Lighthoof. He was actually slightly famous in this city, and the guards would make sure he was never out of their sight. Hopefully that would be enough to keep Blood’s Eye away.
She had half expected to lose the apartment, but Keen had leased it under his real name, which he was refusing to give, so the guards never came calling.
She kept hunting. The city’s criminals were rather attached to her injured friend – most of them owed him at least one favor – and she found that informants started coming to her instead of the other way around.
She was vicious after that. Something had broken in her, and she wasn’t sure what. Two more cultist bodies were left in the street. Blood's Eye wasn't able to clean up all of the fights before daylight revealed the wreckage.
The guards, for their part, couldn’t figure out why their favorite new bounty hunter had turned first vigilante, and then assailant. Nopony who knew dared speak of the cult, so the pattern never surfaced.
For most.
There were a few ponies who knew what was going on though, which was how Black Diamond found herself in her present circumstances…
Diamond was sitting at her usual table. Just about every lowlife in the city knew that she would be here for one hour. She had made a few friends, so she was relatively safe from Blood’s Eye attacking her here. And if they tried…
She gave a cold smile so small that it was entirely hidden in the shadows that pooled around her. Rosy Days kept a shotgun full of bits under the bar for special occasions like that.
Her eyes snapped around as the door opened. She straightened in her seat, the pony was obviously here for her. They were wearing a cloak that completely hid them, so they were obviously new to this kind of thing. Keen would have been laughing at the idiot. They might as well have painted “SUSPICOUS PONY” across their side.
The visitor hesitated, swiveling their head to scan the room. Diamond realized that she was all but invisible in her shadowed corner, so used her shadow to push out the chair across the table. The movement drew the pony’s attention, and the invitation was clear.
Tentatively, the pony made their way across the bar floor. It was a mixture of nervous shuffling and trying/failing to look nonchalant that everypony in the room had the good grace to ignore.
Well, almost.
“Ain’t seen you ‘round here before,” Rosy Days’ voice made the pony jump, “I’m guessing this is your first time visiting one of these watering holes. What brings ya?”
The pony’s “masculine” voice was obviously fake, though it did effectively disguise her own. “I’m looking for somepony.”
The barkeep gave her a look. “Honey, gal like you ain’t got no business in a place like this. Don’t care how down on your luck you think you are, ya ain’t this desperate.”
The pony was shocked back into their natural voice. “Wh-what!? No! I-I-I–”
Rosy shook her head as she corked the pony’s mouth. “If you’re here for who I think you’re here for Doll, she’s in that corner. Be careful with the Shadow though. I like that filly, but she’s adjusted a little too well. Don’t get yourself killed.”
Something in the mare’s tone chilled the stranger to the bone. By the time she sat down at the table, her nerves and fears had surfaced completely, and she couldn’t even sit still. When she began talking, she was stuttering and restarting so much that she couldn’t get out three consecutive words.
Diamond rolled her eyes. This was going to be a massive waste of time, she could already tell. She shifted her weight, flicking Blacklight out under the table as she did so that the blade was gently pressing against the other pony’s skin. “First things first. The ponies I’m hunting aren’t exactly friendly types, so I like to know who I’m dealing with. Take off the hood.”
“What?” Female voice. Young. Mare, early twenties. “But what if somepony recognizes me?”
Diamond resisted the urge to roll her eyes again. “That would be why we’re in this corner. The shadows are thick enough to hide your face. Hood. Now.”
The mare made a sound, the trademark undefinable noise of somepony starting to speak and then halting before the first letter escaped. Shakily, she reached up with a hoof and pulled back her cowl.
Diamond analyzed the mare – filly, she corrected herself. She just sounded mature… probably rich. She looked about seventeen, which would make her four years older than Diamond. Unicorn. Baby blue coat. Black mane with a bright red streak. Amber eyes. “So. Why are you here?”
The filly took a breath and held it, apparently gaining a little confidence from the question. She let it out and said in a low tone, “I heard that you’re the pony to go to about… missing foals.”
Diamond facehooved. “One, ditch the cloak and dagger voice, it’s pointless.” She looked up at the filly to see her blushing, but nodding. “Two, I’m not a find-it service.” She paused to gaze critically at the gaping filly. “Still though, you do look like you need help… You should probably ask the father.”
The filly broke down into tears. It was several minutes before Diamond was able to piece “That’s not it at all” together from the unintelligible babbling.
Deciding the filly needed a break, Diamond put Blacklight away. “Okay, okay, my mistake. Yeesh. So do you mind telling me what is going on?”
It was another minute or two before the filly pulled herself together, but when she did, the only evidence of her breakdown was the wet spot on the table. “Okay. I’m okay. Look, I… I don’t know if you can help me, but you’re probably my only chance. My life is… complicated. I won’t talk about it, you don’t need to know. The point is, I only have one friend, and yesterday, he was foalnapped.
“I saw them take him. He lives next door, but I saw it out of my bedroom window on the fifth floor, so I couldn’t do anything. At first I thought it was… somepony else, but… The ponies who sent me to you told me that it sounds more like the cult you’re after.
“Please. I’m begging, help me get my friend back.”
Diamond blinked.
In a flash, before any visible reaction was given to the filly in front of her, the events of the past two weeks blurred through her mind.
She blinked again, and a scowl settled on her face. “You want me to take somepony like you into that warzone so you can get your playmate back? Are you kidding me!? No! I don’t need dead weight like you screwing things up, I’ve already got enough problems as it is. I don’t have time to foalsit you.”
“Foalsit me!?” The filly’s voice went up an octave, “You’re younger than I am! What makes it more dangerous for me than you?!”
“For one thing,” Diamond stood up and started making her way around the table. “I don’t start throwing tantrums when somepony says I’m too young for something.” She intended to walk away without a backwards glance, but a hoof on her flank stopped her.
“Wait.” With deliberate slowness, she turned back to the other filly. “I’m sorry. I’m… not used to this sort of thing.”
“Kinda figured. Your life’s probably a fairy tale, with you as the princess.”
The filly barked out a harsh laugh, “Damsel in distress more like. The point is, I’m not used to this, but I’m going to do it anyway. My friend’s in trouble. He needs me, and I’m going to go help him. With or without your help.”
Diamond groaned. “Fine. But if you die, it’s your own fault.”
“I thought you said they’d be here?”
“No, I said I was told they’d be here. And apparently I need to leave another pony on the guards’ doorstep.”
The pair were walking away from their ambush. Their prey was two hours late. It was a bust.
One of Diamond’s informants had told her that Blood’s Eye would be pulling a major operation at this address tonight. She was currently debating the best way to deliver said informant to the guards, and what part of his body to attach his wanted poster to.
Everything changed when a pony jumped on her.
They wrestled for a bit, rolling over each other and out into the street, but he was a fully grown earth pony stallion, and a rather large one at that. He was also wearing a blade, whereas she didn’t have Blacklight out.
She had seen this type of knife before, but had always laughed at it. It was tiny, and poorly placed. Utterly useless in a fight. It was worn high on a front leg, above the knee. The point was towards the other leg, and when the blade only had a single edge, it was worn up. She didn’t know it, but it was called a hostage knife.
When they stopped rolling, Diamond was standing under the stallion, her head pressed tightly to his collarbone by his blade leg. “Okay filly,” He told her companion, “Try going for help and your friend here gets it.”
The filly nodded, eyes wide as she stared. The knife had another name, one that fillies in this city were warned about. The stallion started into the standard “follow me quietly into that alley there” routine, but she interrupted him after a few seconds.
“W-Wait.” She licked her suddenly rather dry lips and swallowed. “Wait. She’s just a filly, y-you can't do this to her.”
“Oh? And how’re you planning on stopping me?”
She hesitated, then decided. “By making a better offer. Take me instead.”
The sound of a clearing throat drew the attention of both back to Diamond. She had finally realized what the older ponies were talking about when she had felt motion behind her at the other filly’s offer. She could have laughed at herself. She had spent so long waiting for assassins and cultists to jump out of dark corners that she had completely forgotten the other option. “Friend,” Her voice was scarily steady, “The offer is appreciated, but unnecessary. Stallion, I’ll give you a three second head start.”
He laughed, “I don’t think I’ll be needing that, I’m sti–”
“Have it your way then.” Nopony quite saw what happened, but suddenly both filly and stallion were rolling again, vanishing behind a parked cart. The filly went to take a step after them, hesitated, and then spun at a dark chuckle from behind her.
“I told them we should have hired a better quality hitpony, but apparently we’re on a budget now. Oh well, I haven’t been able to get my hooves dirty in a long while.” There was a unicorn stallion walking out of the alley the would-be rapist had come from, another pony on either side of him. All three of them wore hooded cloaks, although he had his hood down, revealing his face. “It would also seem that she’s picked up a new friend. So sorry you have to die too dear.”
“Not tonight.” It was Diamond’s voice, but… sinister. The stallion she had disappeared with came sliding across the pavement, barely conscious and bleeding heavily.
The cultists started looking around, searching for the source of the voice. Apparently, there was none. Nopony could think of which direction the stallion had been thrown from either. One of them took a step back, then jumped forward again at a shout from the one in the middle. He overshot though, leaving the safety of the formation by a mere six inches.
It was enough.
Black Diamond struck, diving out of the dark shadows behind the trio, Blacklight hissing through the air and trailing blood. He was dead before he hit the ground, although the blood would pour from the spot where his throat used to be for a while longer.
The other two cultists traded glances, and then tried to rush her. She seemed to flow between them, leaving a half dozen reminders of her passing as she did. The unicorn fired a blast at her, which she rolled under while his companion took flight.
Diamond dueled him for a brief bit, taking a chip out of his horn on one exchange. The pegasus came in from behind, trying to outflank her. The pegasus found out that Blacklight’s rear blades were as sharp as his front ones.
Diamond used the momentum to twist into the air, leaving a deep gash in the unicorn’s shoulder and throwing the pegasus bodily into him. The pegasus’ wing landed with a sickening thud three yards away.
The unicorn scowled. “Make no mistake, we will kill you eventually.”
“Not if I kill you first.”
Diamond’s charge met only empty air as the unicorn teleported himself and the pegasus away.
Diamond raged for a few minutes, even bucking a dent into a nearby light post that would have impressed Applejack. She stilled after a while, her furious energy spent.
She finally noticed the other filly, sitting in the street with tears streaming down her cheeks, forgotten in the fighting. “Stop crying.” Diamond’s voice was harsher than she intended, and she suppressed a wince. “They won’t be coming back tonight. Come on, we’d better get out of here before the guard shows up.”