Hellfire Dash

by Centurion Pike-Wall

Chapter 3~Same old Ponyville

Umbra stared in shock, utterly flabbergasted at the sight. It had been, so long, and yet it didn't look like anything had changed. She dropped the duffle bag in her grip and reached up to clasp her necklace, remembering everything about what was in this town. And who, too. Behind her, Abaddon chuckled, seemingly relishing in her shock.

When she turned around, he had regained an air of business. "You're first contract, the mortal known as Granny Smith, is already in the area. At the orchard. The second, Flam, will be here within a fortnight. You have enough to rent a hotel until then. Enjoy yourself, Venandi."

Her shock turned to anger. She snarled out, "Abaddon; you lecherous dog! I told the Boss I don't want to come back here unless I'm the one who-"

"Oh, did you?", he said, smirking. "Well then, I must've not been present. Now, I must be off. Ta-ta!"

She ran at him, shouting, "You piece of trash! You bucking were, and you know it!" However, before she could grab him, he vanished in a flash of light, and the pentagram with him. "Ah, bucking, degenerate, trash-sucking, dung-eater!" She spent about a minute trotting in circles, kicking the ground and stirring up dust. When she was done, she calmed down, breathing in and out, in and out, like what Twilight had done back before the Equestria Games.

Umbra scowled, getting her breathing under control. She looked back into her old home, watching as ponies began stirring and starting to go about their business. She sighed, knowing she would likely recognize most of them, and none of them should recognize her. She took another deep breath, slung her duffle bag over her shoulder, and began to trot down the hill, towards the bridge leading into town.

++++

Her plan was simple. She would go into the town, avoiding the Town Square, Sugarcube Corner, the Carousel Boutique, and the Castle. She would rent a hotel room, and avoid these areas for as long as possible. Shortly before Flim would arrive, she would take care of Granny, and then go after the con-artist. She would then pull out as fast as possible, and hopefully, never come back. That, at least, was the plan.

Umbra crossed the footbridge into the town, heading along the main street towards the center of town. Like she expected, she saw many ponies she recognized, with some differences, of course. All of them were older; some wore wedding rings, a few didn't anymore; some of them wore more expensive looking clothes. A few of the younger ponies now had their cutie marks. However, other than that, everything was more or less the same.

The houses, even up close, looked like a photograph taken back before she became a daemon. The same flowerbeds, paints, and various other aspects of the houses. The shops from back then were still open, and it seemed it was business as usual. Hay, she even saw a pothole in the street that had caused more than a few cart accidents. She smiled at the more than single occasion she got to witness those accidents. That smile was replaced by a nostalgia driven frown. She shouldn't be here.

She wanted to. Lucifer and Faust, she wanted nothing more than to just fly over to Twilights castle and reunite with her as soon as possible. She wanted to see Fluttershy again, or to compete with Applejack, or party with Pinkie, or even see Rarity again. However, she couldn't really just, go and do any of that.

She was a different pony, literally, six years ago. She didn't want to know how her former friends would react to her now. She was a literal daemon who hunted down and killed people for a job, for Lucifers sake! She could practically see the disgust on her friends faces; on Twilights face. Besides, part of her job contract recommended she not interact with anybody from her old life to help her adapt better. Hence, why she declined contracts in Cloudsdale. She decided it was best she not interact with them at all, and just get her job done and leave.

Of course, she forgot about Pinkie Pie.

She was heading towards one of the hotels she remembered when, from behind her, she heard a loud, "Hi!" In surprise, she stumbled forward, grabbing her hat to keep it from falling off and nearly dropping her duffle bag. She whipped around and instinctively reached for her knife, but didn't pull it out when she saw who it was. The party mare looked barely any different; same hair, same blue and white dress, and same massive, ear to ear grin. "Welcome to Ponyville! I'm Pinkie Pie, Ponyvilles party planner extraordinaire! What's your name?"

Umbra stood back up, grabbing her bag off the ground as she removed her hand from inside her jacket. Well, her plan was shot, so plan B: Be a snarky, less than civil pony. It didn't work for CDD, but she hoped it could last for the few days she would be here. "Listen, I'm not planning on staying for very long. So, just buck off, and mind your own business." She tried moving on, but Pinkie appeared in front of her in a pink, blue, and white blur.

"That's fine. It's still no reason not to make a new friend!", she said, still smiling.

Umbra hated it, but she pushed her aside and kept walking. "I said buck off. I told you, I'm going to be here for only a few days, a week at the most, and I'm here on business. So, just buck off!"

"Ohh! What kind of business?", she asked, still following her. "Are you a salespony? A daemon hunting the souls of those who've sold their souls? A real estate agent?"

The second one sent her stopping dead in her tracks. "What was that second one?"

"A daemon hunting the souls of those who've sold their souls?" She said it like she had offered to bake her a cupcake or something. Umbra shook her head; It was just Pinkie being Pinkie. She didn't know anything.

She said, "You're a bit of an idiot sometimes. And, I prefer to keep my business and my employers business to myself. So, for the ten thousandth time, buck off."

Pinkie just giggled, ignorant of the fake sneer of Umbras face. "Silly. You only said 'buck off' three times!"

"And so I'll say it a fourth time. Buck off. I'm just trying to find a hotel, and then pass out. I've had a long walk, and I-"

She was then cut off by Pinkie once again hopping back in front of her, saying, "Oh, you're tired. Well, you wanna know what helps me wake up? A nice, sugary vanilla cupcake!"

"No, thank you", she said. "Now, for the last time, please, just buck off."

Pinkie didn't stop still skipping alongside her, Umbra just kept walking and trying to get her to leave. She had lost track of where she was, as when she next payed attention to where she was, she found herself in the town square. Right across from the apple family stall.

As Pinkie went into another diatribe, she heard another voice with a thick appleousan accent call out, "Pinkie, stop botherin' the poor gal! She looks more uncomfortable than a salamander in an icebox!" Umbra looked up to see the farm pony approaching them, again, looking almost no different then when she had last seen her. Same green and white shirt, jean shorts, and large Stetson hat. "I'd like to apologize for mah friend. She can be a bit suffocating sometimes."

Umbra said, "Yeah, I can tell." She didn't want to be snarky to AJ, but she had to keep up the story. "Listen, I just wanna go find a hotel. So, if you mind bucking off..."

"Well, er, sorry. Go ahead." She stepped aside, but Umbra was barely past them heading out of the square when she heard her say, "If ya don't mind me askin', what's yer name?"

"Oh yeah!", Pinkie cried out, suddenly once again right next to her. "I never asked that. You just said you were here on business and that I should buck off, and so I never asked your name or you never introduced yourself. So, what is your name?"

She sighed in fake exasperation. "If you MUST, know. Umbra. My name, is Umbra Venandi."

"Ooh. That's an interesting name." Pinkie said.

Umbra said, "Yeah yeah. Now, again, can I just go and find a hotel?"

"Yeah. Go on", Applejack said. "Ah hope to see ya around town."

"Wait! But what about your 'welcome to Ponyville' party?", Pinkie pouted.

Umbra was really conflicted about this. She loved Pinkie parties, and didn't want to miss one. But, it would draw attention to herself, and that was something she didn't want. "No party. I'm going to only be in here for about a week and a half, and It doesn't seem worth it."

"Don't worry! I'll take care of everything, and It won't be any effort at all!"

Despite her instincts shouting for her to accept, she said, "Still, no thanks. Just, don't."

"Don't worry. Ah'll keep ya from waken up wit' her smearin' a cupcake in yer face", Applejack said.

She hadn't been in Ponyville for some time, so that made her cock her head. "Has that ever happened?"

"Well, no. But, ah mean, it can happen."

Pinkie said, "Oh, come on, AJ. It's not like I'd-"

Their conversation was cut off by loud shouting. It was somewhat indistinct, but turning around, they saw where it was from. Through an archway on the other end of the square, she saw three figures, two of which were yelling at one another. Umbra scowled; that was where the hotel was, and she had no intention of going the long way around. So, she hiked up her duffle bag, said, "Bye" to Pinkie and Applejack, and began trudging towards the arch.

As she got closer, she made out the figures better. The one on the left was a dragon with blue scales and ridges with a deeper blue shade. She wore heavy bronze armor, similar to something she had seen in the Bosses office. The other one was a bear! She didn't see Fluttershy, so she had no idea what it was doing here, or why it was fighting a dragon. In the middle and a little bit closer to her, was... Spike?

Sure enough, it was the short young drake. He, unlike others he had seen, had change quite a bit. Before, he barely came up to her waist, maybe being only a bit taller. Now, he was easily up to her neck in height, and quite muscled at that. He still wore his typical clothing, though: Khaki cargo shorts, a green hoodie, and purple and green running shoes. As she got closer, he said to the changeling and the dragon, "My worst fears are happening!"

Now Umbra stopped in confusion. "What in the nine rings of hell?", she muttered to herself. As she just stood there and watch, she saw the two of them charge each other at each murder in their eyes. The dragon opened her mouth, fire whipping past the ends of her teeth, and Umbra saw that Spike was standing pretty much in the middle of them. She really didn't want to draw any attention, but also knew that she wouldn't really ever forgive herself if she let him die. She kinda liked him, and besides, he was Twilights little brother essentially. So, when the blast of fire shot out of her mouth, Umbra dove at Spike, yelling, "Get down!"

She slammed into his back, sending him sprawling under the fire. From his position on the ground, he yelled, "No!"

Surprisingly, they both stopped. They then turned their attention onto her, glaring daggers at her. "What, are, you doing!?", the dragon shouted.

The bear then spoke, shocking her, "Yeah! Why'd you just attack Spike?"

Umbra scrambled to her hooves, dusting off her jacket and adjusting her hat and sunglasses. "I wasn't", she said. "I was just keeping you two from making pounded or charred meat out of him."

"I wasn't trying to hurt Spike! I was trying to protect him from the dragon!", the bear shouted.

The dragon, meanwhile, shouted back, "Me neither! I was trying to protect Spike from the bear."

The angry glares on their faces turned to confusion. Purple flames whipped around the bear, and he changed into a more equine shape. He looked like a pony almost, except he had green chitin, a large pair of orange horns, purple insect wings, and solid purple eyes. He wore a green polo shirt and jeans, along with a massive gold collar with purple crystals embedded in it. They said at the same time, "Wait, what?"

Umbra was about to respond, but then she looked off to the side. Her reply died in her throat as she saw somepony she REALLY didn't want to, but not because she hated her. She cleared her throat, and said, "Well. I think I'll let you three work this off. I'm just gonna go and get myself a hotel room."

She grabbed her duffle bag, and then took off over them. She didn't land on the other side, just flying down the street until she reached the inn. Landing and pushing open the door, she walked up to the front desk and the grey earth pony manning it. She said, "Welcome to the Ponyville Inn. The tavern is just down the stairs, and you talk to me if you want a room."

"Well, ok", Umbra said. "I'd like a room. Don't care about quality; just that it's cheap."

"Here at the Ponyville Inn, we make our rooms both cheap and well stoc-"

Umbra said, cutting him off, "I said I don't care about quality. I just want cheap. Get me cheap."

"Oh", the receptionist said. "Well then, ok. There's an initial fee of ten bits, and subsequently five bits a night."

Umbra dropped the ten bits onto the desk, and grabbed the key when it was offered to her. The receptionist added on her way up, "Third room on the left, second floor!" She arrived at the room in question shortly after, sliding in and turning the key. She didn't bother looking at the room; she just threw down her bag, shut the blinds, and took off her hat and sunglasses to let her eyes adjust and her horns free for a bit. She then fell back on the bed, noting the hardness of the mattress compared to the one in her apartment, and shut her eyes for a nap.

Comments

[Replica Knight]

So far as good

[Youdidwhat]

I like it