The Dark Brotherhoof

by CelestialScribe

Chapter 6: Contract II, Espionage, Part 1

"Now listen, Twi," Applejack started, "before ah tell you anymore on this job, ah gotta say right now, this won't be easy. We'll be headin' to Manehattan for tha' first part."

"Why Manehattan? Is that where Flim & Flam are? Who set the contract anyway? Seems kinda pointless if they won't get to know it actually happened, I assume they're from Ponyville anyway?" Twilight pestered.

"Twi, listen, what we are gonna do isn't, exactly..." Applejack hesitated.

"What?"

"..."

"Legal." Applejack said and flinched in preparation of Twilight's reaction.

"Oh, nononono, AJ!" Twilight began nervously, fidgeting and suddenly sweating profusely. "I'm not pushing myself further into trouble, what if Cele-..."

"Twilight! Listen! Jus' calm down and listen!"

"But! Princess Celestia! What i-..."

"Twilight! Stop! You always get worked up over things, jus' gimme a chance, hear me out."

Twilight nodded slowly, still a firm look of dread on her face. Both Rainbow Dash & Spike had moved away for now, trying to look busy as Applejack attempted to calm Twilight.

"Well, them silver tongued con-stallions, Flim and Flam," Applejack said with a scowl, "have had help working on a brand new super speedy cider thingy, and according to Fancypants are heading back to Ponyville."

"But everyone in Ponyville knows them, they won't trust them again, right?" Twilight asked, much more coolly.

"No Twi, this thing... Will. Not. Fail. And its attractin' all sorts of other attention from hoity-toity businesses. We need to stop this thing, and send others a message that Ponyville is not gonna become an industrial town!" Applejack said with resentment in her voice.

"Why would Ponyville become a place of industry just like that?"

"Flim and Flam's supporting company, Equestrian Innovations, are planning to make a move on Ponyville. Once this thing makes its debut, it'll make Ponyville a target fer a whole mess of other rivals and companies!" Applejack had tones of worry in her voice, this was clearly something she would have animosity against. Since leaving Manehattan and getting her cutie mark, Applejack had always favoured small town, close communities for their traditional values and overall sense of security, rather than cities dedicated to enterprise and profit.

"Equestrian Innovations? The guys behind the self-adhesive material?" Twilight asked in awe.

"The very same, where they go, others follow. So, we need to make sure they don't get a chance to razzle-dazzle us. The basic plan is we go to their headquarters, steal the plans, get Fancypants' business to check over for flaws, and then we sabotage it as it arrives in Ponyville."

"So, we'll be ruining a business, not Flim and Flam?"

"Ah suppose, but y'know, it wouldn't hurt to catch those guys in the crossfire right?" Applejack asked hopefully.

Twilight needed this time to think carefully. Blueblood's contract was a breeze in comparison to this, but she couldn't exactly say no. If the thrill of Blueblood's humiliation was any indicator, the thought that she would actually get to do some good in the process of disrupting Flim and Flam's plans had her mind reeling with joy. Yet Applejack's words still brought up a different conviction. Legal. Stealing a world famous company's future project. Twilight was still lacking confidence in her abilities, she had only had a single contract, and now they were already at the level of corporate espionage! Did the legality of it matter anymore? Everypony fronted a mild attitude to what should be considered absolute disaster, at least in Twilight's eyes. Did that mean they were really this covert? Did this group, one Twilight thought to simply be dedicated to throwing pies at people, command respect and require skill? If Twilight could pull this off, she was sure that there would be no problem being accepted into Princess Luna's spy division.

"She say yeah?" Came Rainbow Dash's voice from afar, knocking Twilight out of her trance.

"Probably," Twilight recognised as Spike's voice, "she does that alot."

According to Spike, it was now decided, so Twilight would use that as her excuse.

"If you guys really want me there that badly, I guess I can spare my talents." Twilight called, to which came some faint grumbling from Discord. Exposure to the sensation of adrenaline for too long clearly had an effect on the mare's ego. Maybe Rainbow couldn't be blamed for her big-headedness all the time.

"Alright! Ah promise ya, Twi, we'll be fine. 'Specially with the new tools we got!" Applejack said.

"We got new stuff?!" Discord exclaimed, looking up from his copy of 'Butt Renovations'. Seriously, he's like, what, thousands of years old? "Since when?"

"Ah'll show ya, Discord." Applejack walked into the 'armoury' as Discord tried, and failed, to shift his stone body to a standing pose that was currently leaning on the couch. The couch seemed out of place in an environment such as this, a bright red, comfortable looking sofa, impeding the shadow that formed around most of the area. Then again, this was Pinkie Pie's basement, nopony should be too critical over what's found in ancient tunnels or how they're renovated. Hehe, butt renovations. Damn it!

Fortunately Twilight was saved from face-hoofing as the cowpony re-entered. A cylindrical object was placed in her mouth, while she balanced a lone pie on her back. Rainbow Dash, Spike, Pinkie and Discord all looked over the mare, clearly this was new to them as well.

"Fancypants may have 'The Clairifier', but now ah have the Cider Screen Bomb..." Applejack indicated to the silver and orange striped cylindrical device hanging from her mouth, "and the, uh..." Applejack looked to the pie on her back. "How 'bout ah show ya what this does? Discord, you've volunteered!"

Immediately Applejack bucked the pie from her back before Discord could respond, and as it was hovering in mid-air, the country mare span and landed two back-hoofs into it, bucking it at Discord's non-shielded face with impeccable accuracy.

As if reminiscent to Twilight's earlier actions, now Discord's face was plastered in the normal looking substance, apple pie, except this time, the target wasn't moving. Discord was still, even more so than usual.

"So... it kills people?" Rainbow offered.

"Nope, look here." Applejack came closer to Discord, the others following behind her, and Twilight to her side as the orange mare wiped Discord's face with a hoof. Behind his mask of crust and brown goo, revealed a sleeping Discord, unaffected by the whole situation.

Unluckily for Pinkie, she had yet to see the sleeping draconnequus from behind the others, and on impulse, bounced for the remaining element of dessert hanging from Applejack's hoof.

"Bagsies!" Pinkie called.

"Uh, Pinkie..." As Twilight tried to inform the bouncy pony, she thought it was best she learnt her lesson.

Pinkie lapped up the apple pie, and stood as normally as was possible for the random pony, before addressing the fact: "Needs more..."

*Thump*

"..."

"She's ok, isn't she?" Rainbow wondered aloud.

"Yep, she'll wake up in 'bout an hour." Applejack reassured as she prodded the knocked-out pony with a hoof.

"That's amazing!" Spike shouted. "If that can take down Pinkie, it can take down anything!"

"How does it work, Applejack?" Twilight challenged, wanting to know the science behind the effective weapon.

"Same as this here cider screen, it's got a concentrated amount of fermented cider in it, almost instantly puts anypony to sleep." Applejack said with pride, poking Pinkie in the side some more. "Not sure she shoulda ate it though."

"Eh, it's Pinkie, she'll probably just ask for more later, I'll take her to her room." Rainbow said as she lifted Pinkie onto her back gently and walked to the dormitories section.

"So, what about that cider screen bomb?" Twilight questioned.

"The only difference with this doo-hicky is that can affect more than one pony. Ah'm not gonna show you it yet though, these take a while to make. Works like a smoke screen, jus' orange is all."

"Hence the cider screen name? Does everypony come up with names this cheesy?"

"Yep! It's a requirement workin' here!" AJ beamed. "You should give it a shot, Twi, you're good with all this scientifical stuff, you could make something revolutionary!"

"I doubt that, I'm still struggling with the fact that we're living in Pinkie's basement. But those should definitely come in handy, when's the mission anyway?"

"We only gotta week before this new prototype comes along to stun us all, which means we need to get to Manehattan before then, with enough time for Fancypants to look over the plans and tell us what to target fer the sabotage." AJ said, rubbing her hooves together, a glint of wickedness in her eye.

"Sounds... brilliant!" Twilight had fully conformed to the values of the Black Hoof, enjoying the revenge she took on behalf of the ponies, and in this case, fighting the 'good fight': against metropolitan expansion devaluing rural society.

"If you're ready, ah'd like to order the train fer midnight tonight, should take about six hours to get there, so we got plenty of time before they open Equestrian Innovations, they offer tours every hour, all we hafta do is jump on one of those, then break off and search fer the blueprints through their offices. We can probably get a cheap motel room to stake out for a bit before the tours start."

"Sure, I'll have some time to read on the train." Twilight said happily, just another trip. But a lot like Appleloosa, as things were going to spin far out of her control, she realised. Up until the actual time of Blueblood's contract, Twilight managed to ignore the feeling of anxiety, had she built up a mental barrier due to her experience?

"Oh, right, that reminds me! Here's the letter of contract. Ah know we're 'sposed to keep the identity secret, but ah really don't think Granny Smith would mind, she's seething just mentioning that duo. Mighty glad she still has a subscription to Manehattan Daily, else she wouldn't have known about any o' this." Applejack stopped to think. "Ah can't imagine the paper-colt enjoys the six hour journey to Ponyville though." Applejack fished out the contract and it was grabbed by Twilight's telekinesis.

"Oh my, that'll be an interesting read, would hate to be in Granny Smith's aim. I'll read it when I get back, though, I think I need a day of 'typical' for now."

"Ah agree, imma finish up some work on the farm, then ah'll meet you at the train station at midnight, I'll bring all the equipment we need."

"Alright, see ya tonight AJ! Don't work too hard."

"Same to you, Twi. But, reading-wise." Applejack smiled as Twilight departed, almost forgetting Spike who was running to catch up.

"See ya AJ!" He uttered before leaving the room.

As the doors closed behind Spike, Discord woke up surprisingly early from the effects of the apple pie. Hopefully that was down to him being an immortal spirit, rather than a fault in the weapon. It appeared true as Pinkie wasn't back to reality yet. He mumbled and groaned as he shook off the remaining food, yawning slightly.

"Why am I warm and sticky? Did I miss something fun? What happened to the demonstration?"

"Er, ah was just gettin' round to that, Discord, lemme get another." Applejack said slyly.

---

Dear Princess Celestia,

Over the past few days I've been involved in new experiences I never thought I would get, or even want, to be a part of. But with the help of my friends, I've realised that you shouldn't be afraid to take risks and try something new, because they could turn out to be some of greatest chances you might miss, and never have another opportunity for. You should always trust that your friends will be there for you, to support you in times of anxiety or nervousness, and will never be judgemental of your actions, providing you treat them with the same respect.

Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle.

"Spike!" Twilight called out to the kitchen. It had been a while since she sent a letter to Celestia, and what better lesson to have learnt than that which she was still involved in. Obviously she couldn't reveal ALL the details, but a short report was better than no report.

"Yes ma'am!" Spike said sternly with a mock salute.

"Could you send this to the Princess, please?"

"Sure!" Spike inhaled a large breath, but then paused asked Twilight, "wait, you're not telling the Princess about all this, are you?"

"Of course not, just a quick friendship report. No matter how much I don't trust Discord, it's not worth sacrificing the Black Hoof for."

"Just checkin'!" Spike resumed the sending process, and forwarded the letter via magical green fire.

Twilight turned to face the clock resting on the wall. 8:00PM. Her day consisted of re-organising some books, cleaning the shelves and eating some rubies. No, wait, that's Spike. Twilight's day was lounging on the sofa, eating cheesits, and reading some of Starswirl's recordings. A nice lazy day, before all eternal night breaks loose.

Starswirl's book had proved astonishingly valuable to the field of magic, it would take further study to solidify the teachings into practical magic, but with the notes provided, it seemed fairly possible to adapt and create her own spells from them. Applejack was right, again, Twilight was on track to invent her own useful combat tool.

Twilight glanced towards the clock once more. 8:01 PM. She really needed something to do while waiting for midnight, as she was reluctant to begin panicking.

"Spike, get me some more cheesits!"

---

"Howdy, Twi." Applejack said softly before suppressing a yawn.

"Applejack, did you get carried away with the farm?"

"Maybe." Applejack yawned again. "Yeah, a little. Ah'll get some sleep on the train though, ah'm not that tired."

"I hope so, quite we've got quite day planned." Twilight turned her head to see the stallion-driven train approaching the station rather quietly. The only sound being the faint pitter-patter of hooves pulling in. "Here comes the train now."

The train pulled into the almost deserted station, almost fully encased in darkness were it not for the stars illuminating the sky and the faint light from the ticket dispensaries piercing the atmosphere around them. The two mares entered the train easily, and found their way to a private carriage that felt high class just being near. Rarity must have paid quite a bit after Twilight's pleasing performance to be able to afford this. The room had two decent sized beds, a large table in the middle, and some overhead compartments. There was also a grand view of Ponyville receding into the distance through the window as the train began on its way. They stored their sets of luggage, making sure to hide the voluminous, red, Black Hoof insignia from their dark cloaks.

Twilight lit a match provided next to one of the two candles on the large table, held firmly in place by a secure candle holder to avoid falling from turbulence and lit the one adjacent to her bed. She pulled out her new book on Starswirl, as well as Granny Smith's letter, and nestled into the cozy bed.

"If you don't mind AJ, I'm going to have a read over the letter and a bit more of the book." Twilight spoke quietly in order to not disturb other passengers, if there was any. But upon inspection, Applejack was fast asleep, collapsed atop the blankets, face down. Twilight smiled and gently tugged the blankets from under her, then placed them properly over the snoozing mare.

She then unfurled the scroll and read mentally, and instantly spotted a problem.

Dear Ditzy Hooves,

I can't take no more of these con-sarnit police telling me that I need to calm down and that no more cider-making monsters are coming to Ponyville! I've seen Manehattan Daily, an' I know that them whipper-snappers Flam and Flim are planning another dang cider take-over! What's worse is that them devils have now got the backing of some fancy-shmancy business! If Ponyville's police don't understand the threat that these hoodlums pose then I sincerely hope your special group does.

Why, back in my day, if somepony was doing something like this, out came the pitchforks and torches! But no, now things have to be solved 'peacefully'. They're lucky Mr. Abernathy's got that bum hip, or they would be up to their flanks with angry seniors! That and we can't remember how to hold pitchforks, with hooves and all that. What was I talking about?

Right, I have no idea what your group does, but help show the older generation that you young-uns don't take kindly to assault on our domestic lifestyles! And that you're not all lazy good-fer-nothings! Flam and Flim are the head marketers for Equestrian Innovations in Manehattan, here's the article from that darned newspaper, I can't stand looking at it no more.

Granny Smith

Twilight skimmed over the article that was stuck to the scroll with what looked like spit. The text was almost illegible but Twilight could make out, "Equestrian Innovations are excited to announce a brand-new prototype machine dedicated to the distillery business. The machine will be making its first demo run in Ponyville, eliciting many rumours of business expansion. Flim and Flam, marketing chiefs of EI, when asked for a comment had this to say: 'Ponyville ain't going to know what hit them.'"

The picture showed both Flim and Flam inside what she assumed was Equestrian Innovations, wearing incredibly comical scientist outfits with oversized cartoon wrenches. If anything, these two would be brilliantly well-suited for a children's magic act or one of Trixie's shows, but for foals. The terrible shtick was just radiating from them and embarrassing just to be seen with. She hoped to Celestia they weren't planning another song.

"Neither will you, Flim, neither will you, Flam." Twilight muttered quietly before erasing the candlelight, placing her books under the bed and drifting off to sleep. Starswirl could wait. If she was going to be awake for six, she needed sleep.

Comments

[CelestialScribe]

Hey there everypony! Part one of (what I think will be) three for the second contract.
I felt this needed to be done as Mass Effect 3 comes out Friday for the UK, so if I appear slightly dead, then pray for Shepard's soul as he has me controlling him.
Anyway, thanks for all the continued support, look forward to some espionage, sabotage and if I can, a bit of Austin Powers.
Remember: every time you click like, Shepard kills a reaper.

[Nny11]

Awwwww yeaaaaaah, time to kick some flank secret agent style!

[Purple Thunder]

303018 Austin Powers, Yogscast and The Elder Scrolls? BEST FIC EVER!

(I know I already said it, but whatever, it's amazing )

I found a few mistakes, but I don't really mind because it's such a great fic and I don't remember them!

5/5

[CelestialScribe]

303315
AHH! Perfectionism drives taking over!
Scratch that, sleep drives are dominant. I'll have a check tomorrow. For now I need a cup of tea and a pillow.
Thanks once again for the inspiring comments!