Hellfire Dash

by Centurion Pike-Wall

Epilouge~Heaven and Hell

1 week later

Umbra raised herself up, yawning and stretching as she rose from off the couch. She was reached over to her hat, checking inside before putting it on. She was rewarded, in a way, by checking, as she once again found the thing found full of rabbit droppings. She trodded over to the nearby waste bin, and turned it over to dump them out. She turned it back over, pulled out a rag to clean out the remaining droppings, then put it on.

She sighed, muttering about Fluttershy's stupid rabbit. She knew that most animals hated her, and daemons in general, but Angel took it above and beyond. This was the third time in a week.

She had chose Fluttershy's, and while the rabbit and the other animals were a pain, she still didn't regret her choice. Rarity and Pinkie lived in town, and while she had reunited with her friends, she really didn't want to explain all this to the weather team or the Wonderbolts. She could've, and was offered to, stay at the castle of Sweet Apple Acres, but she didn't really want to. One was the place she killed her friend's grandma, and the other was the former home of her marefriend. So, that left Fluttershy's.

She stretched again, cracking a few spots on her shoulders and back, before grinning and rolling her shoulders. Before she could head into the kitchen, she heard a loud knock on the door. She would've just ignored it, but she knew Fluttershy would be asleep for a while longer and didn't want whoever it was annoying her while she tried to make breakfast, so she headed for the door. Opening it, she said, "Who is it?"

She knew immediately, however; it was Derpy, in her brown mail uniform with the mail bags. She said, "Oh, hi! You must be that out-of-towner Fluttershy is letting stay with her for a bit, right?"

"Yeah, that's me. So, what's up?", Umbra asked.

"Just delivering the mail!", she said, pulling out a bundle of letters.

"Cool." Umbra took them, flipping through them as Derpy began to fly off. Before she got too far, however, Umbra yelled, "Oi! Birdbrain!" When Derpy got back down, Umbra said, "There's no one named Star Tracker here. I'm pretty sure that's a stallion."

"Oh, I must've messed up the letter. My bad!", she said, grabbing the letter and putting it back, before rooting around in her bag for a bit. Finally, she pulled out a letter, checked the address, and said, "Oh, this one is for you!"

That got her attention. "As in me, me?"

"Well, your name is Umbra Venadie, isn't it?", she said.

"Venandi. And yeah, that's me."

"Then, here!", she said, handing her envelope. "Have a nice day!"

As Derpy flew away, Umbra shut the door and looked over the letter. It had no return address on it, and had a pair of initials on it. 'LD'. She had a feeling who it was, but she still opened it. Maybe out of anger at her, maybe out of curiosity. Either way, a second later she found the envelope open, the letter unfolded her reading it.

Dear Umbra,

Hey. I know after what happened a few days ago, you probably don't want to talk to me. I wouldn't want to in your hooves either. But, well, grow a bucking spine. Meet me at the Seven Sins at 11:15. I have something to tell you, and somepony for you to meet.

Your hopefully still friend,
Lightning Dust.

Umbra crumbled up the letter, snarling lightly at what the letter said. She knew that Lightning was just doing her job; she had used the same reasoning. But, that didn't mean she couldn't hold a grudge. So, she headed into the next room, grabbing her jacket off of Fluttershy's coat rack. As she grabbed her sunglasses from off of the coffee table, Fluttershy entered in a white shirt and mint green and pink flannel pants. She said, sleep still evident in her voice, "Morning *Yawnnnnnn*, Rainbow. Where are you goin'?"

"Canterlot", she said without missing a beat.

That certainly drew her attention. "Canterlot? Why?"

As Umbra dug around her for her watch, she asked, "You've heard of the Seven Sins, right?"

"Y-yeah. Vinyl said she DJs there from time to time", She said. "Why're you going there?"

"Because the bird brain that took Twi wants to meet me there. I'm going, even if I don't decide to kick her teeth in and strangle her with her stupid halo."

Fluttershy just looked at her like she her horns had just grown to the size of sabers. "B-but you said she was just doing her job."

"I know", she said. "And I still acknowledge that. But I still want to strangle her with her halo. I'll be back by three." She opened the door, slamming it behind her, and took off as fast she could. Not fast enough to perform a Rainboom, but close enough.

++++

Umbra landed outside the Seven Sins, everything the same as it used to be. The same pillars, the same lights; even White Fang leaning up against the door. She headed up to the door, saying, "Hey, White Fang."

"You ok, Umbra?", he said. "You look like you want to rip someone's throat out with your bucking teeth."

"No, no", Umbra said. "Just let me in."

He jerked his head to the side, saying, "Please don't hurt anyone. I don't want to kick you out. And, for what it's worth, sorry about the-"

"Thanks, Fang", she said, before heading in.

Like the outside, the inside was almost identical as the last time she was in almost a month ago. Loud techno music, laughing and dancing among friends, food, and drinks clashing in all sounds. It was almost overwhelming, but she just gritted her teeth and scanned the crowd. Finally, her eyes fell on the one who had sent her the letter. Lightning Dust.

She made her way over to the counter where she sat, grabbing the stool next to her. She said to the bartender, "Appleousan cider. Hard, no ice." As the Daemon went off to get her the drink, she snorted, glancing at Lightning out of the corner of her eye. "Hey, Dust."

"Hey, Umbra. Again, I'm sorry about the princess. Again, I was just doing my job", she said.

"Just, just shut up. Why did you want to meet me here?", Umbra said.

An awkward silence ensued between the two of them, even after the bartender got her drink and she took a big swig of it. Finally, Lightning said, "I ever tell you how I died?"

"No. You made that a point whenever we hung out." She was a bit confused.

Lightning said, "You want to hear it?"

"I, guess?", Umbra said.

++++

Flashback

"Alright, everypony!", Spitfire barked. "According to reports, this, creature, is causing some problems. The guard is nowhere to be seen, and he's heading for Appleousa. We're the only ones between him and them. Any questions?"

Lightning Dust raised her hoof, yelling, "Yeah! Why can't Dash and her friends do it!? Isn't that kinda their job?"

Spitfire was in her face immediately, a snarl on her face. "Well do you see Rainbow Dash anywhere, recruit?"

"No ma'am", she said, snapping to attention on instinct.

"Well then", Spitfire said. "We're still doing this. Now, get to a cloud, and get ready for my signal."

Lightning did so, looking for a cloud to hide in waiting for the thing to approach. However, when she tried to get into a cloud with some other Wonderbolt Cadets, they shot her dirty looks and waved her off. The same thing happened at the next cloud, and then the next. She also adopted her own snarl. She was trying to not be such a jerk, but if they wouldn't even give her a chance, why bother?

She finally reached another cloud, this one containing proper Wonderbolts. Spitfire, one of them, said, "What are you doing here? Get with the other recruits."

"Can't. None of 'um want me around", she said.

Spitfire grimaced, before saying, "Just get in here." After LD was inside the cloud, Spitfire sighed. "When all of this is over, I'll talk to the others. See if I can convince them to give you a second chance."

"Don't bother, Cap. I get it. Was thinkin' of dropping out."

That drew her attention. "What do you mean? You're one of the best fliers I've seen in years. Some more teamwork and a bit lessening of your ego, and you could make the full team, easy."

"It's that first part. I can't. Look, I just-"

"He's coming", Soarin said. Sure enough, below them, the large creature made his way along the road. It looked like a black pony for the most part, but where his head should've been instead stuck out a torso like a minotaur.

"Ok, on my signal", Spitfire said, raising her wing. Lightning spread her, getting ready to dive out from the cloud and rush him. "NOW!"

With that, she dove out of the cloud and rushed him, easily a hundred pegasi behind her. She beat her wings as fast as she could, finding herself neck and neck with Spitfire. She was closing in on him, when she saw a small flash out of the corner of her eye. Next to him was a weird, misshapen creature; one she recognized from a field trip to the Canterlot Castle when she was a foal. She had heard about him being reformed, but if he was here with this guy...

"Cap! Pull up!", she yelled, pulling up towards the sky. Spitfire, more out of confusion, also pulled up, while the rest of the others were too slow. A flickery orange aura surrounded the mass of pegasi, followed by a massive wall of flickering fire. They collapsed to the ground, cutie marks gone and eyes dulled. "What the flap did they do to them!?"

"What, you think I know?", Spitfire said.

"Oh, Tirek!", Discord said in a singsongy voice. "You missed two of them!"

The creature smiled wickedly, and both of them developed nervous looks. "Maybe, we should go get the guard."

Spitfire gulped, and said, "Yep."

The two of them turned to fly away, only for the same fire to surround them. Lightning Dust immediately felt weaker, and her wings lost almost all of their strength. Both of them fell like stones, Lightning flapping like a hummingbird on the way down. As her wings felt sore and weak, she looked over at Spitfire. She grimaced, then rolled over towards her.

She grabbed her, pulling Spitfire over her so Dusts back was facing the ground. The ground came closer, and-

End of Flashback

++++

"And I woke up in front of Faust", Lighting Dust said, before tossing back her head and finishing her drink. "So, yeah. Boom."

"Ok. What does that have to do with anything?", Umbra said.

Lightning said, "My story is like how most Celestials get chosen. They die doing good deeds or lived a good life. Hell, the guy in the housing block across from me died in a complicating during a kidney transplant."

"I'm getting a bit frustrated at this point", Umbra said, standing up and looking over at her. "What the buck are you babbling about, you bucking flankhole."

"You think I just took Twilight because she just died?" When Umbra cocked her head in confusion, she said, "Look behind you. Second booth from the corner, back wall."

Umbra did so, looking back and scanning the booths until she found the one Lightning said. She squinted at the pony in the booth, before her eyes widening and her jaw-dropping. She saw another Celestial mare, wearing a white long sleeve shirt, a purple sweater vest, a darker purple shirt, and a pair of loafers. What drew her attention, however, was her physical features. A horn, a three-toned straight mane, a lavender coat... and a pair of folded wings. "Is, is that..."

"Your mare? Yep!", Dust said. "Now, go talk to her. I'll be here if you need me. Barkeep! Another scotch!"

++++

"Tw-twi?", Umbra said as she sat down across from her.

Twilight looked up nervously, but was still smiling. "Hey, Rainbow."

"Twi, I said-"

"I know, I know", Twilight said. "But, can I call you Rainbow? For old times sake, if nothing else?"

Umbra took off her hat and leaned back in the booth. She crossed her arms and looked at the floor as she thought about it. After a minute of considering it, she said, "Ok. I'll let you call me Rainbow."

"Cool", she said.

An awkward silence reigned between the two of them, the only sound being the music on the dance floor and the noises of the other people. Eventually, Twilight said, "Well, this certainly isn't the place I'd imagine for a first date."

"D-date?", Umbra stuttered.

"Well, yeah. What else would it be?", she said, giggling. After a bit, she stopped, looking over at Umbra, who was still sitting stiffly. "Are you ok, Rainbow?"

"Y-yeah! I'm great! It, it's just. This all, kinda sudden, ya know?", she said. "I mean, I spent the last week thinking you were dead, and the past six or so years thinking I would work up the nerve to go see you. I just-"

"Look, shut up you featherbrain", Twilight said, surprising Umbra. "I know it's been a long time, but that isn't an excuse."

Umbra looked a bit stunned, but replied, "Ok, yeah. That's true."

"Seriously, I thought I was the nervous, neurotic one", she joked.

"You are, egghead. I just had my doubts. You know."

Twilight reached her hand over the stand, grabbing Umbra's hand and looking into her eyes. "Look. I know this is a bit of an odd situation. But, trust me, we'll make this work. Do Supernaturals have some sort of communication thing?"

"Hell has messager imps, but I don't know about Celestials. And they can't get into Heaven. Maybe use our friends as an intermediary?", Umbra said.

"Maybe we can get an apartment or rent a house together? You know, so we can live together?", Twilight said.

"Like you said, we'll make it work", Umbra said. "We'll make it work."

"Yeah, I said that", Twilight said, and the two of them started snickering.

Suddenly, Vinyl put on a song that started with a loud burst of trumpets. Umbra smiled widely, drawing Twilight's attention.

(Ring-A-Ding-Ding by Frank Sinatra)

"What is it?", she said.

"You know how my boss likes old music?", Umbra said. After Twilight nodded, she continued, "Well, this is one of my favorites!"

"Cool", Twilight said.

"Hey, uh, I'm going to go dance", Umbra said.

Twilight stood up alongside her, saying, "Well, if my marefriend is gonna dance to her favorite song, then I'm going to join you."

"Try and keep up, Egghead!", Umbra yelled, slipping past her and onto the dance floor.

The two of them ended up together, hands together and more-or-less swaying to the beat. Due to Vinyl being a DJ, it wasn't like Lucifer's old records, but it was still recognizable as the one she knew. The two of them smiled, and laughed, and just danced away the stress of the previous weeks, months and years.

As the song neared its end, the two of them more or less became entangled in each other; dancing was neither of their forte. However, they didn't care much. In fact, Umbra leaned in for a kiss, which Twilight returned. For a split second, nothing else mattered to the two of them. Glancing up a bit, Umbra saw Lightning looking at them, raising her glass in a toast. For a bit, Umbra could imagine she was Rainbow again; how she would just do this after a bit of dating.

"Faust, you have good taste in music", Twilight said.

Umbra smirked, and said, "I'd have thought you'd like my taste in mares?"

"I think I'll take both", Twilight said, standing up in her grip and lightly pecking her on the cheek. "I bucking love you."

"I'll take it. I love you too, Twi", Umbra said.

Author's Note:

And, that's a wrap!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Comments

[Archivist Nightwatch]

Saw the ending coming a mile away but It was like a rollercoster. You see the drop and all you can do is Hang on cause its gonna be one hell of ride getting there.

[Pat_Hoof_5000]

9963929
I was hoping this was gonna be the end, but you can never tell what someone has in mind.

[DJ Discharge]

any plans for a sequel?

[Mistyrain758]

Aw!!!So cute!!!!
Hope you make more Twidash stories!!!!

[RDDash]

Castle of Sweet Apple Acres? Is that a thing that AJ calls her orchard?

Discord you are a prick.

Twilight is now undead dead, I hope it was worth keeping her alive.

[Bronyshot]

If you do a sequel can i help

[JustCallMeDash]

This story was absolutely amazing! I’ll definitely have to reread this another time! Heh, kinda hoping a sequel or something will be made in the future. This will always be another one of those stories to have me shaking with excitement. Again, great work!!

[Zigrth]

Is there going to be a sequel to this story

[My Rainbow Dash]

A sequel would be awesome. I've read it, honestly, I don't know how many times, but I still love it.

[MeTaLGuArD]

The way you made Hell and Daemons work made me serious think of Hazbin Hotel, and I love it. It was a very unique read.