What would you do for one you were loyal to? That you loved? Rainbow Dash became a Daemon for hers.
Rainbow Dash is dead. Well, technically. After an incident a few years ago, she made a deal. The one she secretly loved was saved, but she became a Daemon. Now, she's one of the Devils Collectors; hunting down those who fail to repay their ends of agreements. What happens when she has to head back to Ponyville for a contract?
Canterlot. The capital of Equestria. A city of the High-class, both in terms of ponies, and in terms of services. A city of white marble and beautiful views over the valley by Canterhorn Mountain. However, not everything was as it seemed. Like everything, Canterlot had a bit of a dark side. Nothing much or too serious; this was Equestria, after all. Things like some pickpockets, or a donut store robbery. However, every now and then, something stood out from the crowd.
Like a stallion being chased into a dead-end alley in Restaurant Row.
The stallion in question had a light gray coat and a dull black colored mane. He wore a green and white polo shirt, khaki slacks, brown dress shoes, and a white sweater tied up around his neck and upper back. He normally wore a pair of spectacles as well, but those had long been discarded in his flight. His eyes darted around the alley, silently cursing himself for choosing this way to turn. He considered turning back to the street, hopefully finally finding a guard to help him shake his pursuer, when he heard loud, thudding hoofsteps behind him.
In desperation, he saw and dove into a dumpster behind one of the restaurants. He had to cozy up to leaking bags of compost, but it was a price he was content to pay for now. He shut the lid and began breathing very slowly as he heard the stomping getting louder.
Outside, he heard the beats of heavy boots closing in. The heavy clacking on the cobblestone of the street continued, getting closer and closer to the dumpster. Finally, after what felt like hours but in reality was less than thirty seconds, the sounds were coming from right outside the dumpster. By this point, he had covered his mouth to assist in keeping his breathing quite, and it seemed to have worked. The pounding stopped, then turned away and walked off.
He then peeked out of the plastic container, scanning the alley for any signs of his assailant. When he was certain the coast was clear, he clambered out of the dumpster, wanting to get out of the filth as fast as possible. He dusted himself off, then leaned down on the dumpster lid, breathing heavily. "Oh, oh Celestia", he gasped out between heavy breaths.
"Nope," a voice said in front of him. "Just me."
His head shot up, a new wave of panic induced sweat pouring down his face. Before he could get a good look at who said it, he felt a heavy force slam into his chest. He was sent sprawling, falling to the street. He wanted to look away, but, as if forced to by some unseen force, looked up at the mare before him.
She appeared to be a simple thestral, with the bat wings and all. She had a blue coat and two-toned mane and tail; one color was blood red, the other was a royal purple. She wore a black leather jacket, red cargo pants, knee-high leather boots, and a black fedora with a red band. Her face was obscured by a pair of patrol sunglasses and a neck gaiter, which gave the lower part of her face the visage of a snarling skull. A pocket watch was slung onto her belt by a silver chain, the main body of it hanging just below her jackets zipper.
He choked out past his fear, "D-do you know who I am!? I am Jet Set! If you so much as touch me, I'll see to it you never-" He was cut short as the mare lowered the neck gaiter and took off the sunglasses. These articles of clothing were concealing a mouth full of shark-like fangs and a pair of smolder, glowing red eyes. The teeth were common on any thestral, but the eyes made his go narrow like pinpricks. "N-no. It, it can't be."
"Yep", the mare said, taking off her fedora and tossing it aside. The fedora disappeared in a flash, as it was no longer necessary to conceal what it was: a pair of swept back, dragonesque horns. No type of pony had those; no normal type of pony, anyway. "Name's Umbra Venandi, but for the brief period you still draw breath, you can call me Umbra. Now, let's get this over with."
"Mortal Jet Set of Equestria", she said in a dark, unnatural tone of voice. "Your time is up, and you have failed to meet your end of your contract. You knew the consequences. Now, it is time to collect your end of the dept. Any last wishes?"
She then began coughing, rasping out, "Oh Lucifer's spiral horns, that always feels weird. Anyway, yeah. Anything you want? 'Sides me letting you go. That ain't happening."
Swallowing hard, Jet Set said, "Li-listen. Umbra, was it? I know I messed up, but I plan on paying Ignis back. I just need a bit more time, and-"
She then, fast as a bolt of lightning, kicked him under the chin, sending the unicorn sprawling out on his back. Walking over to him with her hands in her jackets pockets, she said, "Oh, give me a break. I've heard this same story dozens of times. 'But I need more time' or 'It was so I could see my family'. For once, couldn't one of you cowardly bucks just take it like a stallion?"
She knelt down next to him, reaching into her jacket. She removed the hand, which was grasping a long bowie knife with an ornate, engraved horned eagles skull for a pommel. Jet's eyes widened and his pupils shrunk even more. He scrambled back, trying to hook his hooves into the cobblestones to help push him away faster. She just stood up and walked over with a calm gait. As he turned around the try and get up, she shoved the blade into his spine.
He cried out, hoping that somepony, anypony would hear it and try to help him. Alas, no one was out, and he collapsed back to the dirty cobble. Umbra knelt down next to the crying stallion, swinging the knife idlily in her grip.
"Listen, bud. I know this sucks, but this is your own fault. You made the deal to get to a position of prestige, and yet you didn't have the payment needed for that deal", she said. She then held onto some of his hair, placing the blade beneath his neck, right over the jugular. "Nothin' personal. Just business." And with one fluid motion, she slit his throat.
The blood began to leak out of his throat, pooling out onto the cobblestore. He tried to grip at his neck, to stem the bleeding, but it was a futile effort. The wheezing gasps he choked out growing slower and slower. As he did, she slid the knife back into its scabbard and reached under his neck. She said in the demonic voice, "Et redde creditori tuo tu maxima culpa. Nunc, redde tu cum sanguine."*
The remaining blood that was still leaking out began to seemingly freeze. It then began to swirl around her hand, even as she pulled it away. As it swirled, it began to form into a small, blood-red crystal. When the last of the blood in her hand had formed into the crystal, she tossed it up into the air, and after it fell back to her hand, and then slid it into her pocket. "Eh, why the hell do we have to speak that stupid language to work this magic?"
Outside of the alley, she heard a scream. Looking out, she saw another unicorn in a yellow dress. She then looked down at the body, then back at the mare. She then smiled and waved, and the mare screamed and ran off. She muttered, "This is the part of the job I hate the most." She then opened up and looked at the watch, checking both the time and the contract list it said on the red glass surface. "Alright then. Still got a few hours 'fore I gotta be back at the bosses place. Let's go clubbin'!"
She began to walk out of the alley, ears flicking as she heard the heavy pounding of approaching Royal Guards. "Ergo videtur quod non sit de caelis."** A brief purple miasma surrounded her body, then faded from her; along with her body from the view of anyone not a supernatural. The guards ran past her into the alley behind her now.
Deciding to have a little bit of fun, she held out her leg, causing one of the guards to faceplant on the ground. She had to stifle a laugh, as the spell didn't affect her voice, so they could still hear her. Then, when she was a suitable distance away, the spell wore off and she slid back on her sunglasses and hat. Her disguise properly in place, she spread her wings and took off toward the lower section of the city.
'Even after all these years, flying is still the best thing in the world. And in Hell too. She smiled, the wind whipping her face and coat. She had to keep a hand on her hat to keep it from flying off, but it was only a minor distraction. Soon, she slowed to a lower speed and eventually touched down in front of her destination.
Said destination was a building that looked like a rundown, partially crumbling dive bar. To mortals, anyway. To Umbra and other supernaturals, it looked quite the opposite. It was in the style of an ancient Pegasi building, with a row of columns out front that ran along its front and a wide marble overhang. The whole thing was a blood red and had a flashing lights coming out from the small windows. It was the biggest Club for the Supernatural outside of Manehattan; The Seven Sins.
Outside stood a stallion in jeans, a oversized flannel shirt, and a cloth and felt Ushanka hat. At first glance, he could pass for a normal earth pony, but that faded the more you looked at him or the closer you got. If you did either of those things, you would notice he had a longer, more pointed muzzle than a normal pony. Or that he had long, black claws and canine paws instead of hooves. Or that his eyes were dog-like, and his ears more pointed, or any of the number of other things.
"'Sup, White Fang! How's my favorite Lycan doing?", she asked as she approached him.
He said, "Same old, same old. Now, are we gonna have any problems this time?"
"What do you mean? I don't cause problems."
"Tell that to Damnandum. He still got a broken horn and a missin' tooth from your last bar fight."
She shot him her best 'Oh, come on man' look. "Oh, come on man. That happened one time!" White Fang raised an eyebrow. "Ok, like, five times." Once again, the eyebrow shot up. "Thirty-six?." At this point, she was certain that his eyebrow was trying to run away from him. "Ok, I get it. The point is I'm just here for a, like, half an hour. I won't get drunk enough to break anyones skulls or wings. Relax, you old mutt!"
He looked like he wanted to protest, but sighed and shook his head instead. "Fine. But, if I catch you doing ANYTHING against the rules again, then, after throwing you out, I can't let you back in. Get me?"
She shook his hand, and said, already stepping past him, "You won't regret this."
"I have a feeling I will", she heard him mutter as she entered the main room.
It was a massive, vaulted room like an ancient Pegasi temple. Bronze and Helliron chandeliers hung overhead, casting shadows over the floor. A bar dominated the far wall from the entrance, stocked full of nearly every kind of alcohol imaginable. Lining the edge of the room were a bunch of booths, most of which were packed with various creatures. Even more were on the dance-floor, dancing (Obviously) to a loud, techno-beat performed by a daemon unicorn with a white coat, blueish mane, black sports bra, and a pair of massive sunglasses. Most of the crowd, like the management and staff, were Daemons, however she spotted a few Celestials, Lycans, Vamponies, and even a Lamia or two.
She then spotted an old friend of hers. Walkin' over to the bar, she sat down next to a familiar looking Celestial. Like all Celestials, she had a small golden halo over her head and a glowing cross down the front of her forehead. This one in particular was wearing a lighter colored leather jacket than her own, a pair of skinny jeans, a white t-shirt, and a golden Rolex. Her coat was a pale aquamarine with a short cropped two-toned blonde mane. "Hey, Lightning. How're you doin'?"
The Celestial mare turned to Umbra, smiling a little. "Oh, hey Vanandi. Here to break someponies teeth again?" she said with a laugh.
"Nah. Just a quick drink before I go to turn in my latest contract." She then turned to the Daemon barkeep, saying, "Stalliongrad Vodka, no ice." With her drink on the way, she asked her old, mortal age rival, "So, how have things been with the Old Mare upstairs?"
"Oh, fine, fine. Just the typical crankiness. Huh, you know you're lucky. Lucifer sounds like kinda a chill dude. I swear, sometimes the boss is wound so tight you could use her to hold a bridge together."
Umbra grabbed her drink, taking a sip and sighing at the taste. "Yeah, but even he's got a bit of a sadistic streak."
"Nobodies perfect. If that were the case, you wouldn't have a job, would you?", laughed the Celestial.
Umbra laughed back, "Heh, amen." The two clashed their cups together, before pulling them back and taking a big swig. Umbra then asked, "So, Lightning. How'd you become a Celestial? Back when I knew you, you were the biggest jerk I had met!"
The other mares face darkened a bit. "I told you, it's none of your bucking business."
"Ah, come on!", she coaxed. "Let an old friend know!"
"Don't you have somewhere to be?"
"Not for a good eight hours. So, spill, Halo-head!"
Lightning took a big swig of her tequila, then looked over it at the daemon mare. "What would you do if I asked you how you became a daemon?"
"I'd say 'no' as well as 'go buck yourself'", she said. When Lightning stared at her with half-shut eyes, Rainbow caught on to her point. "Touché."
"Yeah, so go buck yourself."
Rainbow then yawned loudly, stretching her wings and her arms back. "Whoa. Ah, Lucifer, I'm beat. Who knew these Canterlot Elites with more bits then sense could run so buckin' fast? Think I'll head back to the old apartment; catch a shower and a few Z's 'fore I head to the boss."
"You do that, Vanandi. Catch ya later."
The Daemon mare slid back on her sunglasses and headed out the door, whistling an old Tennessee Ergot Ford song as she did so. After a short walk from the Seven Sins, she came across a section of wall with a red bit of graffiti in the shape of a old Rune. Rainbow pulled out a key from her jacket, slid it into a small gap on the rune, then turned it and stepped back. A wall of fire erupted from the wall, about the size of a really cramped door. She retrieved her key, then walked in.
Her apartments bedroom greeted her as she emerged from the fire. It was a nice place, especially for Hell. The walls were a deep maroon, and had a great view from the windows out onto the River Styx. A large, queen sized bed with red sheets and comforter dominated a decent portion of the room. The rest of the space was taken up by a small desk, a nightstand, a bookshelf full of Daring Do, and a another door that led to the bathroom/main hall.
She shucked off all of her cloths, leaving her stark naked in her room. She had to admit, she had a killer bod for being dead; well, technically. Sure, her chest looked like someone had set a grill on it, and she had her fair share of scars besides, but all in all she was killer. After a brief marvel at her, she walked down the hall to the bathroom.
A nice, hot blood shower later, and she slipped on a pair of panties and a sports bra to take a nap. She slid into bed, pulling the comforter over her body. Despite being in Hell with the Styx so close by, the room adjusted to the heavy blanket, so that outside of the sheet, it was now cold enough to warrant its use. Vanandi leaned her head against the pillow, and made the mistake of rolling onto her side.
It brought her face to face with the last reminder of her old life, before she made the deal. It was her, along with five other mares and a small dragon sitting on a picnic blanket, eating and laughing. She touched the picture, as if it would bring her back to those old days. Then, she touched the mare she held most dear in her life, even after these six years.
"Someday", she said to herself. "Someday I'll see you again. I promise. On my Loyalty, we'll be together again." She then shut her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
Rainbow Dash scowled, still angry. At Discords betrayal; at Tirek, who betrayed Discord. Basically at everything about this sucky situation.
The six of them sat in the cage for several hours, reclining against the bars or looking glumly at Discord. Fluttershy had stopped crying, but still sniffled in Applejacks arms like a young foal, while Discord himself was looking at the dirt street of the Ponyville street. Rainbow had regained enough of her strength from Tireks magic-sucking thing to begin pacing around the cell. After some time of doing this, Rarity said, "I'm concerned for our friend too, Rainbow. But that doesn't mean you need to pace like a tiger in a cage."
"Well excuse me for being-", Rainbow began, only to be cut off when a bubble formed around her. She was suddenly out of the cage, hovering in said bubble over a burning patch of the Everfree. Below her was Tirek, grinning sadistically. In front of her, was Twilight.
Rainbow nearly choked back a sob. Twilight was standing firmly, yet her face bore a look of fear. Her clothes, once so clean and orderly, were now cut and shredded. Rainbow, despite the situation, couldn't help herself by looking at the section of her bra that stood out from her torn shirt and sweater vest. After mentally slapping herself, she took in the situation.
Tirek said, "Their release, for all of the alicorn magic in Equestria." Rainbow realized what he was offering, just as Twilight let out a loud gasp.
The group of them let out a series of protests, urging her not to do it. As Tirek restated his offer, Rainbow managed to speak above the others, saying, "Don't do it, Twilight!" However, it didn't work. She accepted.
The Wonderbolt hopeful and her friends all fell to the ground. She looked up in time to see Twilight say, "Discord too!"
Rainbow wanted to protest again, but struggled to rise, her Wonderbolts windbreaker feeling like it was suddenly laced with lead. Tirek asked, "Even after he betrayed you, you still consider him a friend?"
Instead of answering, Twilight just said, "Release him!"
Tirek just snapped his finger, and Discord also tumbled to the ground. Tirek then smiled, and turned back to Twilight, grinning his sadistic grin. "Your turn." Now, the fireball formed around his horns again, and a bright purple light began to flow out of Twilights horn. Twilight cried out in pain, making Rainbow want to fly up and punch Tirek right in the nose. She would've, too, if she could even fly. Finally, the last of the magic faded away, and Tirek grew even bigger, roaring in triumph.
They all rushed to Twilights side, crowding around her as Tirek moved off, breathing fire on massive swaths of the forest. "What were you thinking, Twilight?", Spike asked, echoing all of their sentiments.
Their attention was torn away from Twilight by a sick, sputtering cough. They all looked over to where Discord had fell, and paled. Discord had either fallen poorly or, without his magic, was simply really feeble, as he was coughing and wheezing. His deer antler was chipped, and his reptile leg was twisted in an unnatural angle. Fluttershy ran to his side, followed by the rest of the main 6 and Spike.
"Tirek tricked me into believing that he could offer something more valuable than friendship. But, *Cough, cough*, there is nothing more valuable. I see that now." He let out another series of hacking coughs, before feebly slipping off the medallion around his neck. "Tirek lied when he said that this was given to me as a sign of 'gratitude and loyalty'. But, when I *Cough*, say that this is a sign of our true frie, *Cough, cough, cough cough*. True Friendship. I mean it." He then clasped the medallion into Twilights hooves.
As Twilight gripped it, a faint miasma of light filtered out through the medallion. Twilights eyes, having been turned a milky silver color from Tireks magic drain, regained their dark purple color. Applejack asked, "You think that's the last one we need?"
"We have to try", Twilight said. "We have to get to the chest."
"B-but what about Discord?", Fluttershy asked, still holding him in her arms. Even Rainbow Dash, who never liked Discord, felt sorry for him, and was worried about him.
Despite clearly not being so, he said, "I'll be fine, Fluttershy. Just, go. Defeat Tirek. Get back *Cough*, your magic."
Nodding grimly, they all took off, racing for the cave which housed the Tree of Harmony save for Spike, who stayed to comfort Discord.
When they arrived, it was as they left it, all of the keys still in the chest save for one. When Twilight brought Discords medallion close to the chest, a light surrounded it and it shifted into a key with a star shaped grip, sliding perfectly into the last open keyhole. Twilight smiled, and Rainbow along with her, but those faded when a loud crashing could be heard above them. Twilight said, "Together. I think we have to do this together."
All of the others nodded, heading over to the side that had their respective keys on it. As one, they turned the keys, and a rainbow colored light shot out of the top of the chest and into the Tree of Harmony. Beams of the light splintered off of it, flowing to each of the elements, which began to glow in turn. Columns of light suddenly surrounded both herself and her friends, and they once again disappeared in a flash of light.
When she returned to the physical world, however, she wasn't in a bubble, and her appearance had changed. Her wings glowed with rainbow light, her windbreaker, tank top and short shorts were covered in multi-colored starbursts, and her mane had grown in size and flared up, pulsing with light. Looking to her friends, she saw a similar treatment had been given to them, and she couldn't help but take a silent look at each of them. Especially Twilight.
They all rose out of a crack in the earth above the tree, floating up to above Tirek. The centaur gritted his teeth and relit the ball between his horns, firing another bolt of his fiery magic at them. However, unlike before, the fire rippled off of the bubble they were in, dissipating harmlessly. He gasped, then said, "How is this possible! You have no magic!"
Like always, Twilight knew just what to say. "Wrong, Tirek. I may have given you my alicorn magic, but we carry within us the most powerful magic of all."
Multiple beams of light shot out of each of them, coalescing into a single beam of rainbow colored light. The beam slammed into Tirek, causing him to recoil in pain. However, the centaur didn't just lay down and take it. Charging up his power as best he could with his magic ebbing away, he fired one last bolt of magic. One that ripped past the bubble, slamming into the center of the group. Into Twilight.
That was the last thing Rainbow saw, before everything went black.
+++++
When Rainbow came to, she was laying on a hard dirt path. She looked up as she sat up, and gasped at the sight that greeted her.
A massive, crystalline structure stood in front of her. The base was made up of a large spire of light blue crystal, rising up at least twenty-five feet. The full spire rose up another fifty feet, being topped with a large, crystal star. A darker purple building was settled above the bottom of the spire, resembling a smaller version of a castle. A big wooden door was settled at the base of the spire, shut tight.
"Dang, Twi", she said. "Did we do tha-" She then shut up.
Her friends were all around her, all of them also stirring. All of them, accept Twilight. She was just laying there, barely breathing. "TWILIGHT!"
Umbra awoke to loud knocking on her apartment's door. She groaned and rolled onto her side, hoping they would just go away. When the knocking resumed, much louder, she finally threw off the sheets and marched towards the door. As she did so, she stopped by her jacket, which was hanging loosely over her couch, and grabbed her knife. She opened the door, growling out, "What is it, Infernus?"
On the other side of the door frame stood a navy blue daemon unicorn in a suit jacket, dark red undershirt, khakis, and the same silver pocket watch as she had. His glowing red eyes cocked an eyebrow at her attire, and he sighed, rubbing the base of his scimitar-like red horn. Looking back up at her, he said, "The boss wants to see you. You're late for your most recent contract."
Umbra relaxed, adjusting her grip on her knife. "Oh, ok. Guess I hit the snooze on my alarm. Tell him I'll be along shortly; just gotta get dressed and grab a quick bite."
Infernus snorted but nodded. "He'll know." And with that, he walked down the hall, heading for the door leading out onto the central plaza of the ring.
Umbra shut the door, heading back into her apartment to go get dress. The boss was pretty loose with protocols, but it was still not a good idea to procrastinate as to these matters. So, she headed back into her room in order to grab some of her basic clothes.
Tossing her clothes from yesterday down the laundry shoot, she opened up the dresser to get some new clothes. She slid a white tank top on, followed by a pair of red cargo pants and a belt. Ducking into the bathroom, she brushed her mane back and did it up in a messy ponytail, before taking a sip of water from the cup on the sink. She then went over to her nightstand, opening up the drawer and pulling out a small black box.
Opening up the box, she saw a small necklace on a black cord. She lifted it out of the box, studying the small, star-shaped gem. Besides that picture on her nightstand of herself and her old friends, it was the only thing she had left of her old life. It was given to her by, somepony close to her, as a sign of devotion. She sighed, closed the box, and slid it over her head. Putting the box back in the nightstand, she headed for the door, grabbing and sliding on her leather jacket on the way out.
Entering the hall of the apartment complex, she made her way to the elevator down the end of the hall. As she went, a few other Collectors opened up their doors, getting ready for the day or just going to get something. Due to her standing with the boss, they let her pass, some even saying to her things like 'Morning, Venandi' or 'Oh, hey'. Umbra mostly ignored them, hitting the button for the ground floor. She could fly, but she still wanted a quick bit to fully wake up. As the door opened and shut, she said, "Three. Two. One."
As she finished, like clockwork, the elevator music started up:
"🎵Some, ponies say a stallion's made out of mud,🎵 🎵A poor stallion's made out of muscle and blood.🎵 🎵Muscle and blood, and skin and bone,🎵 🎵A mind that's weak, and a back that's strong.🎵"
"🎵You load sixteen tons, and what do ya get?🎵 🎵Another day older and yer deeper in debt.🎵 🎵Oh, Celestia don't call me, cause I can't go,🎵 🎵I owe my soul to the company store!🎵"
Umbra had been here long enough to the point where she could sing the song by heart. At first, it was annoying, but her boss had a somewhat unusual fascination with these older songs (Frank Sineightra and Ergot Ford and the like), so she just had to tough it out. The song didn't finish, however, as she was on a pretty low floor and soon made her way through the lobby out onto the main plaza of the 1st Ring.
As she exited one of the apartment building for the Collectors, she still couldn't help but marvel at the sight of the Ring. It had been little under six years, yet it was still a sight to behold. Blackened stone formed a cobblestone path around the whole plaza, while dark burgundy bushes grew in patches in between the massive towers of the Daemons apartments. There were seven in total around the edges of the plaza: one for the Overseers, two for the Torturers, two for the Contract-makers, and two for what she was, Collectors. Circling around the very edge of the plaza, to the point of being right on the edge of the apartments, flowed the River Styx, flowing out of Lucifer-knows where and doing this loop before flowing down into the Rings below them. Above them, by contrast, was nothing more than a blood-red storm, complete with crackling lightning and whipping winds. Always made flying an interesting experience while in Hell.
However, the main feature of the area was an even bigger, towering spire. It was easily taller than anything built by mortals, towering over the already massive apartments like a stallion over a small foal. Like the floor and the apartments, it was made out of black stone; however, as opposed to the more mortal-like structures of the other buildings, this one looked like something out of one of Twilights mediocre fantasy books. Rough, almost sharp edges, protruding flanges like on a mace, glowing runes carved into the sides, etc. It was an unfortunate office, but it was the office nonetheless. Dozens of Daemons, resembling almost all races knew of and a few she didn't, were coming too and fro from it, and she joined in one of the groups heading for it.
Entering the lobby of this building, she was greeted with a much less intimidating sight. Polished hardwood and blood-red carpet made up the floor, while old paintings decorated the walls. A jukebox sat in one of the corners, also blaring one of those older songs that the boss was so fond of. Off to one side were several elevators, all of which had a number over it, indicating which other Ring of Hell they would be taken to. To the other side was Hell's only café, which, naturally, was packed. Fortunately, the line to the coffee was almost deserted, and so she was able to make her way up to the self serve machines and make herself a cup.
After taking a sip of the somehow really good coffee (as it came from a dispenser), she made her way towards what was straight ahead when one entered the building: another elevator. This one, upon entering, had three large buttons on it. Each one was clearly labeled with what it lead to: 'FL-1: Contract-makers', 'FL-2: Overseers', and 'TFL: Boss'. Rainbow hit the last button, and was again hit with that old music:
"🎵Heartaches by the number, troubles by the score.🎵 🎵Everyday you love me less, each day I love you more.🎵 🎵Yes, I've got heartaches by the number, a love that I can't win,🎵 🎵But the day that I stop counting, that's the day my world would end.🎵"
Like last time, Umbra had gotten used to it by then, so she even lightly sung along to it. Finally, after the song had finished and started up again, the bell sounded and the doors opened. Unlike the lobby, this room's floor was made up of polished black marble, with the paintings being replaced by items of notable figures in glass cases. The crown of King Sombra, the staff of General Firefly, the sash of King Grover, along with a bunch of other stuff belonging to ponies or other creatures Umbra had never really bothered to learn. Near the end of the hall, she was greeted by a Daemon Minotaur sitting behind a comically undersized desk. He said, "Venandi. Good to see you. The Boss is waiting for you."
"Thanks, but I was already told", she told him, finishing off her coffee and slipping the cup into the wastebin behind his desk. She then went up to the massive, brass double doors, lifting up and turning the massive handle as she entered the Bosses office.
The inside was a large, circular, vaulted room, illuminated by a large chandelier holding candles the size of soda pop bottles. A bookshelf wrapped around about a third of the room, packed to bursting with massive amounts of books. Other sections of the wall either contained trophies like the ones in the hallway outside, or old posters of some of the oldies the Boss liked. In the center of the room stood a massive, carved obsidian desk, with a large brass plaque on it, reading:
'Lucifer Morningstar, Lord of Hell'.
The owner of the desk sat on it, hooves propped up onto the desk and his hands resting on the back of his head. For the Lord of Hell, he was certainly not that intimidating. He took the form of an Alicorn stallion with ashen grey fur, a curved, almost khopesh-like horn, and skeletal wings. He was somewhat scrawny looking, accented by his simple tank top and khaki pants held up by suspenders, with a similar hat to her own propped on his head. His face, while not her cup of tea, was certainly handsome in a regal, refined way; somepony Rarity would probably be attracted to. His eyes, however, practically ruined the image. They were massive, swirling pits of fire, ones that could suck in a mortal soul, and they would end up lost in those eyes; she had seen this firsthand.
The stallion next to him, by contrast, was all business. Literally; he was wearing an expensive suit, pants, and his own fedora. He, however, was much smaller than the Boss, and was only a daemon unicorn. A pentagram mark was branded over his eye, telling Umbra who this was specifically. Abaddon, Lucifer's lieutenant, and her default overseer. In the past six years, she had come to despise him with a passion.
"Welcome back, Venandi", Lucifer said, grinning as she stopped in front of his desk.
Abaddon coughed, then said, "Well, yes. Good to see you. Now, do you have the soul?"
"Yep", she said, slipping a hand into her jacket's pocket. Pulling out the still blood-red crystal, she tossed it onto the Boss's desk.
He examined the small glowing gemstone, turning it around and examining it in the various lights of the chandelier. After a few minutes, he smiled at her and opened up a drawer in his desk. Following a brief glowing light, he dropped it into, wherever he kept those things. "Excellent work, Venandi. As always."
"Yes", Abaddon said with a snort. "Better late than never, I suppose."
Before Umbra could say something, the Boss said, "I've told you before, Abaddon. Cut her some slack. She gets results; more than you do, anyway."
Abaddon now looked a bit panicked. Bowing his head, he said, "Apologies, my lord. I overstep."
It was Umbra's turn to snort, before turning back to the Boss as he pulled out a massive clipboard. Crossing off a name on it, he set it down and turned back to her. "Once again, excellent work. Now, I have another set of contracts for you, if you want them."
"Eh, got nothing better to do", She said, shrugging. "Who and where?"
"I'm handling the details", Abaddon said, stepping forward. "You'll see when I take you to the location. However, I suggest you pack up a duffle bag. It'll take a bit of time."
"You do know this isn't protocol, right? You're ok with this, Boss?"
He shrugged, once again reclining in his seat. "I trust he is capable of handling these matters. Besides, I'm going to be busy for a bit. I have a meeting, I need to attend."
"Anything I need to concern myself with, Boss?", she said, slightly curious as to what meeting was so important he was delegating tasks to Abaddon.
"No, no. While I appreciate your concern and your loyalty, it is something I can take care of. Now, go on. Have a pleasant hunt!"
Umbra nodded and headed for one of the room's windows. Seeing it was open, she just flared her wings slightly and took off, flying out the window. She had to dodge one of the bolts of lightning from the storm that was much closer than lower down but avoided it with a quick dive out of the maelstrom. Pulling up before impacting the dark stone street, swooping back up towards her apartment. She circled around the side of the building, stopping to hover in front of the window of her apartment.
When she entered, she startled the cleaning imp, who stumbled back in surprise. The small, slouching, red carapaced creature began bowing and scraping, muttering out apologies and begging for forgiveness. She just said, "Just go clean the bathroom or something. Give me a minute." It bowed again and scampered off, heading into the indicated room as she called out, "And if I find anything on the shower racks moved again, I'll have a word with your overseer!"
After it scampered off, Umbra went into her closet to look for a bag. She grabbed out the duffle bag she had in there and went over to the dresser to pack. She stuffed in several tank tops, a few pairs of cargo pants, and a pair of socks. She then went over to the desk, sliding out a decent size bag full of equestrian bits. She zipped up the bag, grabbed her hat which hid her horns, and headed back for the window. Before she hopped back out the window, she yelled to the Imp, "Oi! You can take care of it now!"
She spun around in the air, flying back over towards the tower. Not wanting to take her chances with the storm on the way back up, she headed for the second floor, intending to fly up the stairwell. Finding an open window, she flew inside, startling one of the overseers and sending a pile of papers flying. The papers went flying further and over a larger area when Umbra took off at full speed, zipping past several others and kicking open the door. Amid the protests of the Overseers, she cried out, "Just boss around the Imps to do it! All you suits are good for!"
A quick burst of speed up the spiral staircase, and she arrived back at the office. When she reentered, the Boss was gone, while Abaddon was still waiting for her. "Well, ok then. Let's go." He gestured to the pentagram floor décor, onto which he stepped. She followed suit, and he said, "Sit inter duos pontes, et ignis et carni, forma.*" A flash of fiery, blood-red light flickered around the circle, and the two of them vanished in a flash of the fire.
++++
Umbra cracked her neck once the flames faded, and began to take in her surroundings. She and Abaddon stood on a hill of green grass and a few flowers, while a small cluster of trees stood off to the side. She turned around, towards the rising sun, and her blood froze solid. She made out a familiar skyline and town structure to somewhere she hadn't seen in a long time. A small cluster of buildings: A shed, a barn, and a farmhouse. A tent-looking structure. A bunch of thatch, two-story buildings. A building that looked like a bakery spread. And, of course, a tall, crystalline tower, topped with a castle and a massive, six-pointed star.
For the first time in almost six years, she looked upon her old home, of 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.
Umbra awoke to a polite knocking on the door. She scowled, moaning and pushing herself up on the bed. She looked out the window, seeing the sun beginning to fade below the horizon. So, whoever it was, they were coming here when it was late at night. She slid on her hat, not wanting whoever it was to see her horns, she stumbled to the door. She opened it and said, "It's like eight at night. What in all the-Oh."
Twilight stood in front of her. Like the others, she looked almost no different since she had last seen her. She was still tall, with an almost graceful posture. She still wore the same clothes: A white shirt, a brown sweater vest, a dark purple skirt, and a small necklace. She said, "Sorry. I, I just want to talk."
"Oh, no no", Umbra said, recomposing herself. "I'm sorry, Your Highness."
"Please, call me Twilight. I'm not one for Titles." She shifted somewhat nervously, and said, "Listen, I just want to talk about what happened earlier today."
"Sure, sure. Come on in", she said. She stepped aside and let Twilight pass her, stealing a glance at her flank. She couldn't help it; she was a daemon, not a corpse. Despite this, she was sweating bullets. The pony she had loved, less than a meter from her, and she didn't know. She managed to recover her cool, turning around and leaning on the wall of the hotel room and folding her arms. "So. What do you want to know?"
"Well, I couldn't exactly get much out of Spike. He kept saying something about seeing horns on you? Can, can you just clear it up for me a bit?"
The question confused her. Horns? Then, she realized. When she tackled him, her hat slid down on her head a bit. The enchantment on the hat prevented her horns from being seen when she was wearing it fully, but not only partially. What must've happened was Spike saw the horns when the enchantment flickered, but the others didn't because of their angles on her.
Umbra said, "I don't know about the horns. Do I look like I have horns of any type?"
Twilight giggled a bit, a sound that still made Umbras heart flutter. "Yeah, you don't. Anyway, back on track. What exactly happened earlier? With Spike, Thorax, and Ember?"
So that was their names. Huh. "I saw the dragon; that's Ember, right? The blue one?"
"Yes, that's her."
"Cool. Anyway", she continued. "I saw Ember breath fire at Thorax, but Spike was in the way. I didn't really think; I brought him to the ground before it hit him. I just did it. That's it."
"Ok. Can I ask why", she said.
This one was gonna require a bit more tact on her part. After a moments hesitation, she arrived on a solution. "Is it wrong to not want somepony be burned?"
"No, I suppose not." An awkward silence fell over the two of them, only broken by their breathing and the very faint tapping of Umbras finger on her coat. Twilight broke it by saying, "I don't mean to sound interrogative. I just want to figure it out. And, again, Spikes thing with the horns."
"I get it. He's your little brother, you want him to be safe. I get it."
"Yeah." Again, silence reigned over the room. Twilight again broke the silence. "So, what brings you to Ponyville?"
"Business", she said automatically.
This got a confused look from her mortal age marefriend. "What kind of business?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you", she said. "I assure you, it's not a personal thing. It's just my employers like their privacy, and this policy expands to their workers. Sorry; I'm just following policy."
"I, suppose I understand", she said. "So, maybe you can stay with me? I mean, as a sign of gratitude?"
It was Umbras turn to feel uncomfortable again. "NO! I, I mean, I don't want to inconvenience you."
"It's fine. I mean, again, you saved Spike, and well, it just seems like a friendly thing to do."
Umbra looked down, thinking about her proposal. She didn't have to; she had enough money to stay here until she had handled the second contract. And, if push came to shove, she could slip back into Hell and get some more money. But, well, she would be close to Twilight. She could spend more time around her, even if she didn't spend all that much time in the castle. And that was somewhat unlikely; if Abaddon was correct, it would take some time for Flam to arrive. She somehow doubted she would spend all that time outside.
"I suppose my employer would prefer to keep costs as low as possible", she said. "Alright. Thanks."
"What are friends for? I'll let you pack up and return the key. Meet me outside."
"Cool." When Twilight left the room and shut the door, Umbra trotted over to the bed and sat down. She grinned. She was going to stay in the same building as Twilight. It may not have been in the same bedroom, or even potentially same floor, but it was something. Besides, it was probably be of better quality than the hotel. So, she packed up her stuff, slid her sunglasses into her jacket pocket, and made her way down to the front desk to check out.
++++
Twilight, after Umbra had packed up and came out to meet her, lead her to the castle. Even after all these years living across from a tower that was easily eight times as big, the crystal structure was still quite the impressive sight. Not much had changed since that fateful day after Tireks defeat. Same partially translucent blue crystal, same structure, all that jazz.
The two of them arrived just after the sun went down. Twilight pulled out a key and opened up the door, and lead her inside. Like the outside, not much on the interior had changed from the last time she had seen it. Twilight said, "Come on, I'll lead you to the guest rooms. It's kind of a confusing place when you first come over."
"Oh, I've heard", Umbra said.
"Really", Twilight asked. "Is that a thing?"
Umbra, wanting to play it safe for a bit, said, "Just rumors."
Twilight mouthed 'ah', and lead her along in silence. As they went along, Umbra took the opportunity to look around the hallway. The green doors, and all of the strange shapes of the walls. As they trotted along, Umbra stopped and looked into a side room. It was the map room, and she couldn't help but check it out.
inside, she couldn't help but marvel at the tree roots thing from the ceiling. Multi-colored lights fell down from the roots, and filled the room filled the room at odd and beautiful angles. This was certainly not something she had seen when she had last seen this room. Other than that, nothing in the room was rather different. The table still projected a holographic display of Equestria. Around the table, large backed crystal chairs faced the inside, with the cutie marks of each of her friends on the backs. Well, all except one.
She walked over to that one chair, which was covered by a white sheet. She knew what under it, just by process of elimination. Still, she couldn't help herself. She grabbed and lightly pulled down the seat, revealing her cutie mark stenciled on the back. She just looked at it, a nostalgic look on her face.
From behind her, she heard Twilight snap, "What are you doing?"
"Sorry", Umbra said immediately, stepping back and putting her hands up. "I was just curious."
Twilight did her cute breathing exercise thing, before stepping forward to put the sheet back over the seat. "It's ok. I was just, really close to the pony who used to sit here."
She knew exactly, but she asked, "What is this room? If, you don't mind me asking."
"We call it the Map Room", she said, resting the sheet over her old chair. "The map sends me and my friends to solve friendship problems. You know, Princess of Friendship shtick and all."
"Ok, ok. So, who's seat is that?"
Twilight leaned on the seat, sighing. She lifted up the necklace, and rubbed it around with her fingers. Umbra got a decent look at it: a small, multi-colored lightning bolt shaped pendant. "It was the Element of Loyalties. Rainbow Dash. She was a, a good friend of mine. A really good friend. Listen, It's not important. I'm, I'm over it. Let's, let's just go."
"Ok then. Lead the way." Twilight lead her out of the room, Umbra looking back at the Map Room as she left. Umbra considered what she had seen. The sheet was obviously a sign of respect, or at least an acknowledgement of her. Umbra also couldn't help but lightly smile at the sight of her amulet. At the same time, however, it hurt her to see Twilight for her sorrow. She just wanted to hug her, and assure her that she was alright, and she was back. But, well, she couldn't.
After a bit of a walk, they arrived at a wall of doors. Dozens of them lined the hallway, light green doors stretching around the edge of the ring and disappearing from sight. Twilight opened up a random door, saying, "Here you go." Umbra stepped inside, and whistled at the sight.
The interior was quite the place. It was a single room, yet it was well furnished; a nice desk, a comfy looking bed, a small hooflocker, and a dresser. A window was partially opened, wind whipping through the heavy curtains into the room from the still early night. Umbra tossed her duffle bag at the foot of her bed, and slumped onto the bed, and grinned. The bed was nice and comfy, much like her own back at her apartment.
"You like it?", Twilight asked.
Umbra looked up and nodded. "Yeah. Nice and comfy", she said. "Like the housing at the office."
Twilight nodded. She said, "Good. Bathrooms right next door. My room is the second on the right, third hallway, fourth floor. Sleep tight."
"Night", Umbra said, leaning further back on the table. As Twilight began to shut the door, Umbra muttered and shot back up. "Hey", she said. When Twilight stopped, she continued, "I'm sorry about the whole thing in that Map Room."
Twilight said, "It's fine. It's fine. Good night." As the door shut, Umbra slid against the back of the seat. She went over to shut the window and the blinds. She slid the bolt over the door; she didn't want to, but she couldn't really take chances with somepony walking in and seeing her horns. She slid off her jacket and pants, slid into the sheets, and passed out.
Umbra awoke, groaning and hissing in minor pain as she sat up in bed. Like her assessment last night, the beds in Twilights castle were certainly more comfortable than the hotel, and her body begged her not to leave it. However, she managed to pull herself free of the sheets, and reached down to the duffle bag next to the seat. She pulled out a new tank top and pair of red cargo pants, then stood up to go for the shower.
After a quick check, she realized that the bathroom next to her room only had a toilet. She trudged back to her room, and into a side room in there, finding the shower. She practically face-palmed at her own stupidity; like a CASTLE of all places would have communal showers was kinda stupid. She chocked it up to her lack of coffee, and just went inside that shower room to take a nice, warm shower.
After drying herself off afterward, she changed into the clothes she pulled out, slipped on her jacket and hat, and made her way out. Still feeling like a zombie, she headed for the main staircase, wanting to find the kitchen. Kitchen meant coffee machine; coffee machine meant coffee.
As she did so, she bumped into somepony. Stepping back, she saw an orchid maroon colored unicorn. She wore heavy steel armor, quite unlike the golden colored armor of the Royal Guard. Her magenta colored mane was done up in a mohawk, while her tail was short and well kept. Her most notable features, however, were a large scar over her left eye and a broken, almost stubby horn.
The other mare said, "Oh. Hey. You must be the pony who saved Spike that Twilight told me about, yeah?"
Umbra overcame her surprise, before nodding. "Yeah, that's me. And, you are?", she asked, preparing for the worst.
"Name's Tempe- Fizzlepop. Gods, this is harder than it looks. My name is Fizzlepop. What's yours?"
"Umbra. So, you know where the kitchen is? I need my daily fix of a certain dark brown liquid."
Fizzlepop nodded sympathetically. "Just where I was going", she said. "Follow me."
Umbra did as Fizzlepop said, following behind the armor-clad mare as she lead her down the stairs and around one of the corners of this very confusing palace. As she did so, she began to worry a bit. She was here, and Umbra was a bit weary. Twilight had said she was over it, and here this Fizzlepop was. Had, had Twilight actually moved on? Deciding to find out, she said, "If you don't mind me asking, but what is your relation to Twilight?"
"You want the long story, or the short one", she replied. Not a good sign.
"Short."
"Well, I was the lieutenant of this maniacal conqueror named the Storm King. Heard of him?" When Umbra nodded, she continued. "He said he would fix my horn if I got him all of the alicorn magic in Equestria. I did, but he betrayed me. Twilight and her friends saved me, and defeated him. Now, I'm Twilights student, of sorts; learning about friendship, while at the same time acting as a bodyguard of sorts. That's 'bout the gist of it."
"Cool", Umbra said, releasing an internal sigh of relief. She wasn't a marefriend or anything. She lightly cursed herself after that; she shouldn't be happy that Twilight was still alone. She deserved somepony.
The two of them arrived in a rather large kitchen, which was filled with the smell of cooking prench toast. Spike stood on a stool, laboring over the aroma filled food. Several plates sat off to the side, two already stacked high with the prench toast, haybacon, and smothered in maple syrup. He turned around, and said, "Morning Fizzlepop. I got breakfast read-Oh, you. Good morning."
"Morning to you too", she said, still heading for the coffee machine. "Where do you keep your mugs?"
"In the cupboard right above the coffee machine", Spike said, watching her. He quickly turned back to the prench toast, finishing off the last piece and sliding it onto the plate. He then resumed looking at her; in particular, the top of his head, where her hat rested. From what Twilight told her last night, she knew what he was looking for.
"No", she said. "I don't have any horns. You're either crazy, or mis-saw something. All it is."
Still looking at her suspiciously, he said, "Ok then."
Fizzlepop, who had just dug into her Prench toast, asked, "Did, I miss something between you two?"
Spike hopped down from his stool and headed over with his own plate. He sat down next to her and said, "Nothing. She just helped me yesterday during the showdown between Thorax and Ember yesterday."
"Huh", Fizzlepop said. She went back to her prench toast. Umbra merely ignored them, taking a sip of her coffee.
Twilight entered a short time later, getting a greeting from each of them. Umbra lifted up her pocket watch, taking a look at the time. 10:27. She glugged down the last of the coffee, put it in the sink with other dirty dishes, and said, "I'm going to go for a walk. Be back in a few hours."
"Where are you going?", Spike asked suspiciously.
Twilight said in reply, "Spike!"
Umbra turned back, subconsciously adjusting her hat. "If you must know, I haven't been to this town. I'm just going for a walk. See the town. As I said, I'll be back in a few hours." She left the room, heading for the door and towards her first contract.
++++
Sweet Apple acres was a short fly away. As she flew over it, she saw not much had changed in the old farm. The same neat rows of ripe, blood-red apples rolled and pitched over the hills over half of the property. The other half was split between about twenty different types of smaller fruits and vegetables. Carrots, iceberg lettuce, some potatoes, bell peppers, and still more types.
The main property was the same as well. A large, red and white barn dominated most of the cleared area of the property, with two protrusions for a chicken enclosure and a pig pen. The main house had received a fresh coat of pain, but otherwise it looked the same. She could swear it was even the same potted plants on the windowsill. A calm, almost sweet air filled the air, betraying what Umbra was hear to do.
Since she had gotten to stay at Twilights castle, she decided to deal with this now. Use the death of Granny Smith as a means to draw the attention away from her. She didn't exactly like using the sweet old mare as a means to an end, but it had to be done. Orders are orders, and a job's a job.
She landed on the roof of the barn, on the slope facing away from the building, hiding her from anyone inside. She said, "Nocentibus revelare et occultis tuis."* Her eyes began glowing, allowing her to see through the walls and anything else inside the house. It was only for a few seconds, but it was long enough to spot the old mare. She was alone, sitting on a chair in the living room, and appeared to be asleep. Nopony else was in the house.
She slid down from the roof, spreading her wings to slow her decent on the way down. She made her way around, pulling out her neck gaiter from her jackets pocket. She took off her hat for a quick bit, putting the cloth ring on the right way so the skull décor was facing the right way. She put her hat back on, pulled out and affixed her sunglasses, and pulled up the gaiter to cover most of her face. By the time she had done all of this, she had arrived at the front door, which she gave a swift and polite knock on.
"It's unlocked! Ya can come in!", the old mare called out. Umbra did so, walking past the foyer and into the living room. The old mare, obviously, wasn't asleep. She was sitting in the chair, hands crossed in her lap in her typical red and white plaid dress. She looked almost like she was expecting her. "Well, so you're here."
"Indeed, mortal", she said, before gripping her throat and letting out a hacking, gagging noise. "Jeez, I hate this part of the job. Well, yeah. Times up."
Granny Smith stood up shakily, eyes never leaving Umbras. "Well, ok then. Go ahead", she said, spreading her arms.
Umbra cocked an eyebrow, and said, "You're not gonna try anything? Running away? Fighting?"
Granny smith sighed, before shaking her head. "What's the point?", she said. "You'd find me and hunt me down eventually. Ah'm old. I couldn't get too far. 'Sides, I only made the deal so I could care for mah grandfoals. Now, they're all grown up. Big Mac is married, Applejacks got someone ah think'll do the same soon, and Blooms got her cutie mark. I've done all ah can do for 'um. It's time ah move on. Ah want ta see mah son again."
Umbra said, "Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Most try begging or running."
"Like ah said, what's the point?"
"Fair enough. Now, part of the job says I have to give you a last request. What do you want?"
"Nothin'. I'm content."
"Ok then", Umbra said, stepping forward. She didn't pull out her knife, wanting to keep it as bloodless as possible, as well as keeping it from being obvious as an intentional death. So, she gripped the sides of her head and, in one swift motion, twisted. A sickening crack and her body going limp revealed she was successful, and Umbra laid the body against the couch as she headed for the banister to the upstairs.
She kicked a part by the part, sending it flying to the floor below, just in front of the kitchen. She trotted back down to the body, and carried it over to the broken bit of the railing. She carefully laid the body on the rail, making it look like it broke while she was coming down, and she had broken her neck from the fall.
However, she still needed blood. So, pulling out her knife, she made a small incision on her hand. Once a small amount of blood came out, she said, "Et redde creditori tuo tu maxima culpa. Nunc, redde tu cum sanguine." Like before, the blood swirled around her hand, coalescing into the similar small crystal until it turned blood red. She sheathed her knife, tore off a small splinter, and slid it into the hole she had made. Hopefully make it look like it was a part of the 'accident'.
She slid the crystal into the pocket, before lowering her neck gaiter and stepping outside. She shut the door behind her, and took off. She looked for a spot she could take a quick nap; she still liked doing that when not on a mission or one slightly longer ones. Near the edge of the Sweet Apple acres, she spotted a suitable spot. A small section of a stone wall, covered by the shade of several large trees.
Umbra set down, and pulled out her knife. She studied the blade, bouncing the sunlight off of it. She finally stopped amusing herself like that, and pulled out a tuft of grass and used it to wipe the blade clean. When it was done, she tossed the blood stained grass to the wind, letting it blow away to hide the evidence. She slid the blade back into its holster under her jacket, and leaned back against the wall. She pulled her hat over her eyes, still enough of it on to hide her horns, and fell into the realm of sleep.
Rainbow sat almost completely still, watching the rising and falling of Twilights chest. She adjusted her head on her hand, before lifting up her other hand to provide support to the cumbersome mass. Outside of the room, she heard the hustle and bustle of the hospital personnel, but paid it little to no mind. Her gaze remained firmly on the coma-induced mare.
She didn't even notice the other ponies enter the room until she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She looked up, and saw Rarity and Fluttershy, both of them having somewhat concerned faces. Rainbow snorted and said, "I already told you, I'm not leaving until she wakes up."
"Darling", Rarity said carefully. "I know you and Twilight were close, but you need to get out of this room."
Fluttershy nodded in agreement. "Rarity's right. You've been in here for, what, five days now? I'm sure Twilight will be fine. I mean, how much have you slept? If, you don't, mind me asking."
Rainbow considered what Fluttershy had said. It was true. Ever since she had flown Twilight to the Ponyville Hospital, she had only left her room a few times, and only for her to go to the bathroom. And even then, she had only been gone for a few minutes at a time. Maybe they were right; maybe some fresh air would do her some good. However, her primary concern refocused, and she shook her head.
"No. I want to be here when she wakes up", Rainbow said firmly.
Rarity said, "I understand, Rainbow dear. I know you care for her; I do too! But, for Celestias sake, even the Princesses said she should be ok. Just come with us for a Spa day, and you'll-"
"I'll what", Rainbow snapped. "Potenetially miss something important? Loose her forever? No. You go do what you want, but I'll stay with her."
Rarity looked like she wanted to protest, but merely looked down as Rainbow crossed her hands. "Very well, darling. Still, if you ever change your mind, you know where to find us." She then turned and left, while Fluttershy still stood in the door.
Rainbow slumped back into her seat, arms still crossed. She said, "I'm not leaving, Flutters."
"I know, Rainbow", she said. "But Rarity is right. You should just get out. Since Discord-"
"I get it, Flutters. I know you're upset about Discord. But it isn't the same. She's still alive, and she should wake up. I just want to be around when she wakes up." Rainbow further slumped back in her seat, before turning back to her old friend. "Just, please." Fluttershy just nodded, and walked off, leaving Rainbow alone with Twilight yet again.
Rainbow returned her gaze to Twilight. Her eyes felt heavy, but she refused to let herself fall into sleep. Her sleepiness was what probably prevented her from noticing the blinds being slid shut. She did notice, however, when the door slammed shut. That caused her to stand up, suddenly wide awake.
"Well, now isn't this interesting", a strange, dark voice said, as a figure emerged from the shadows by the heartbeat monitor. He was a tall unicorn, wearing an expensive black suit, dress pants, and a pair of sunglasses. What drew her attention, however, was the large, blood-red, saber-like horn. "The great Twilight Sparkle, confined to bed and comma, awaiting death. An unfitting end, agreed?"
Rainbow managed to shake her shock out of her head, and was on her hooves in a fighting stance in an instant. "Sombra! What are you doing?"
The unicorn laughed; a harsh, almost scratchy noise. "That traitor? No, no. However, that is part of the reason I am here.
Rainbow was now very confused. "W-wait. What the Tartarus are you talking about? Who are you?"
"My name is, unimportant. Not literally; I just don't wish to tell you. However, what I am talking about is, my employer has a proposition for you."
Rainbow, still ready to start a fight, said, "Again, what are you talking about?"
The unicorn stepped up to the side of Twilights bed, pressing a hand against of the frame of the bed. He said, "You know, you're right to be distrustful of your mortal doctors."
Now Rainbow was officially very confused, and her anger was fading way to this confusion. Knowing what one of the words he said meant, she said, "Wait, MORTAL? What does that mean? That you aren't mortal?"
He ignored her question, and said as if he was talking to himself, "She's suffering from a very minute type of dark-magic poisoning. It's faint; so faint, that it's somewhat understandable that the mortal magic wouldn't detect it." He then turned to her, flashing her a grin and revealing pearly white, shark-like teeth. "She'll be dead within the day, and your doctors can't do a thing, if they even detect it."
Rainbow had abandoned her confusion for alarm. "What!?" She ran to Twilights side, knelt down and grabbed her hand. When she squeezed it, she did indeed detect a bit of a fainter pulse than when she had first brought Twilight to the hospital. She looked up at the unicorn, and choked out, "I-is there anything that can be d-done to hel-help her? Please. I'll do anything."
"Anything, you say?", he inquired.
Rainbow wasn't one to bare her soul, especially to a complete, and very creepy, stranger. But, if he could help Twilight, she'd do it, and that's what she did. So, she stood up, eyes once again narrowed in anger. "Listen bud. Twilight means everything to me. I don't give a damn what you, or I, have to do. Tartarus, I'd do anything for her. She's, she's-"
"Ah, I see", the stallion interrupted. "She's your, squeeze. That is the term, correct?"
Rainbow didn't respond; she just looked down at the peaceful, sleeping face of Twilight. As weird as all of this was, the stallion was right. She was really close to Twilight, but she was 'close' to all her friends. Twilight; she was something very, very different. She sighed, and looked up at the stallion, who was still flashing her his razor sharp fangs. "What do I have to do?"
"Perfect. And, I'll be taking your silence as a yes, by the by." A fiery red aura surrounded his horn, as a spiral of flames appeared in front of her. Rainbow stepped back in alarm, only for it to die away and she saw a... parchment? He handed it to her, and said, "Read."
"Wait. You aren't just gonna do it?", Rainbow asked.
"No", he said. "I merely give you the offer. If you accept, then that is your decision."
Rainbow grumbled, but did as he told her to do:
This contract, which you are currently reading, has been supplied by the Hell Contracting Committee.
The receiver of this contract has made the deal with the contractor to save a loved one. Relation is not of concern, and will not affect the contract nor the deal in anyway. In addition, the ailment of the loved one can range to any degree, from a terminal illness such as magic poisoning, cancer, severe allergic reactions to various substances, severe diseases, etc., to serious physical wounds including yet not limited to amputation, infections, disembowelment, and internal bleeding. In exchange for the loved one saved, the signer of the contract will turn over their blood, and all that entails, to the contractor, and such, the Lord of the Hells. The contract will be repayed to the signer whenever it is deemed to be necessary, however with no less than one year between then and the signing of the contract. If this is fully within what you are willing to do, please sign below, and return to the contractor who gave you this contract.
Rainbow looked up, and into the pure black orbs of the stallions sunglasses. 'Repayed' was a term she didn't particularly like the sound of. However, it was just blood. How bad could it be? And, if it was to save Twilight, than it should be worth it. She said, "You got a pen?"
He just smiled, and lit his horn again. A quill, already dabbed in ink, appeared in front of her, and she quickly grabbed it and signed it. "Pleasure doing business with you, Element of Loyalty." He stepped back into the shadows, still grinning, and seemed to fade into them. As he did, the room seemed to get lighter, the blinds opened, and the door was unbolted and swung open.
Scarcely had he had vanished and the door had opened, had she heard a gasp from the bed below her. She looked down, and saw Twilights eyes open, and her breathing heavily. Rainbow also began breathing heavily, but in her case, in happiness. "S-she's awake! She's awake!" As soon as she had finished, she lowered her head, and kissed her squarely on her friends muzzle.
She pulled away, looking once again into her eyes. Upon the almost confused look in Twilights eyes, Rainbow stepped away, as several doctors and nurses ran into the room, practically pushing her away from Twilight.
Umbra awoke to a weird, wet feeling on the back of her head. It slid her hat down a bit, and in her brief panic, she slid the hat back up towards the top of her head. However, she could still feel the wet object along the back of her neck, and it was really bugging her. So, she reached back, and pulled out a... a fish?
Sure enough, a slimy fish had hit her in the back of the head. She stood up, looking around behind the wall. Right behind it was no sign of any water, so it couldn't have jumped out of a creek or something. She looked right, and again found nothing like where a fish could've come from. A similar sight greeted her when she looked to her left. However, when she looked up and straight ahead, she saw a charging bear.
With a yelp of alarm, she dropped the fish and took off. She had just cleared the wall when the bear climbed over it, and went for the fish. After getting her breathing under control, she realized that the bear looked oddly familiar. That familiarity was confirmed when she heard a familiar soft voice call out, "Harry! Harry, where did you go!?"
Coming out of the woods, stopping just behind the walls, was Fluttershy. She said, "Oh, there you are, Harry. Why did you run off?" It seemed she then saw her shadow, as she looked up and saw Umbra. "Hello there. What are you doing up there?"
Well, it would be a bit suspicious for her to just fly off without answering. Besides, she also kinda wanted to see her, and so, landed next to the bear. Fluttershy was almost unchanged in all the time she had been in the Devils service. Her hair was still in the same style as always, pulled down over half her face. She also wore the same outfit as she always seemed to wear: a green sweater over a darker green dress.
Something about the way she held herself, or something to that effect, seemed different though. It was then that she noticed the small, golden ring around her left hands ring finger, and it was all clear. She was married; to who, she didn't know. She wanted to say congratulations, or something to that effect, but held herself back. She said, "Your, erh, friend here, almost trampled me."
"What!?", Fluttershy said. "What do you mean?"
"Pretty much exactly like I said", Umbra said. "A fish hit me in the back of the head while I was taking a nap, and next thing I know, this thing runs out chasing it like a dog a stick."
"B-but, his fish was in his feeding trough. How did it get all the way out..." She stopped, as she seemed to realize what it was, and scowled. "Angel." Turning back to her, she said, "I'm terribly sorry. Even after all this time, my little Angel Bunny is quite the trouble maker."
As if to prove her point, Umbra felt something hit her in the side of the head. Looking to the side, she saw an all to familiar white rabbit, holding what looked like a straw. Even as the two of them looked at him, he shot another pea, this one hitting square on her sunglasses. The surprise sent her stumbling back a bit, nearly bumping into the bear, who looked back at her and growled.
"Angel! That's not nice! Say sorry to... I'm sorry, I never got your name."
"Umbra Venandi, miss."
Fluttershy resumed, "To miss Venandi here." The stupid rabbit just blew a raspberry and ran off. Fluttershy just gave an exasperated sigh, and said, "I'm so sorry about that."
"Are you willing to sell the rabbit?", Umbra asked.
That sent the mare into a confused look. "Why?", she asked.
"Cause it looked not that bad, and I haven't had good meat in a long time", she said, flashing her razor-sharp teeth in a massive grin.
Her look shifted instantly into one of horror and she stepped back. "T-that's horrible! What's wrong with you!?"
Umbra, realizing what she just said and to who, lowered her head and looked at her boots. A side effect of her daemonhood, she supposed, but that didn't make it any better. She gave a light snort, and said, "Yeah. Guess I'm a bit of a sick buck. Sorry, I'll just, I'll go. Have a nice day, miss."
She spread her wings to take off, but was stopped by Fluttershy saying, "Wait." Turning around, she said, "I'm sorry for loosing angel. How about I make it up to you?"
Umbra wanted to say yes, but couldn't take chances. "No no. It's fine. I was just taking a nap, and will be on my way. Like I said, have a pleasant day, ma'am." And this time, without waiting for a reply, she took off towards town. Part way there, she landed on the road, deciding to stretch her legs a bit.
As she walked, she thought about what exactly she was doing here. Why was she around these ponies who she knew would find out about her, past, eventually? She could just camp out in the woods, wait for the second one to show up, then just kill him and leave. Simple, and she didn't have to be constantly on edge and slip up.
However, another part of her mind answered it for her; It would be too damn suspicious. She had already agreed to Twilights hospitality, and if she just packed up and left the next day, they might get suspicious. They could investigate, which would lead back to her. Even when she went back to Hell, her next contract could put her out close to Ponyville, or they could be visiting the city it was at. Or even they just link where she'd been, and try to track her down. The Boss made it clear: have no tails, and talk to no one from your past. She had already broken rule number one just by being here, and she didn't want to break the second.
She was so distracted by these thoughts, she didn't hear a loud buzzing sound behind her. She did hear when somepony shouted, "Look out below!" A shadow formed over her head, and she didn't have time to look up before a scooter slammed into her back, just between her wings, and slammed her into the road. Fortunately, her hat stayed on, as that would be an awkward conversation when whoever it was recovered.
She said, "Whoever you are, please get off me!"
"Eep!", cried an unfamiliar voice. "Sorry, sorry! I was just trying something out with my friends, and I messed up, and I-"
"Slow down kid." Umbra stood up, brushing off her jacket and cargo pants, and turned to face the pony who crushed her. She was a younger filly, about maybe 15 to 16, in a red tank top, magenta short shorts with white trim along the sides, and a black bike helmet. Underneath her clothes, she made out orange fur and a magenta colored mane, revealing who she was instantly. Scootaloo. Again, another thing had changed about her: in this case, a multi-colored shield with the picture of a wing on it. "Look, you said you're sorry, so, I'll just be on my way."
Before either of them could do anything, another two figures came running down from a nearby hill towards them. One was an earth pony with yellow fur and a dull red mane, wearing a white t-shirt, overalls, and a red bow. The other one was a white furred and lavender-maned unicorn wearing a light green dress. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom; the other two members of the CMC. If she stayed, she was truly bucked.
"Are ya ok, miss?", Apple Bloom asked.
Umbra adjusted her jacket, and said, "Look, I should be going. I'm fine, so, have a nice day, and I'll be on my-What?"
She cut herself off when she noticed Scootaloo almost freeze. She followed her gaze towards her jacket, and the tank top beneath it. The black strap of her knife holster could just be seen around the leather jacket. Scootaloo said, shaking herself out of seeming trance and rubbing the back of her head, "Oh, sorry. It's just, well, most ponies don't carry around weapons, and, well..."
Most ponies reacted this way. "Oh, ok then", Umbra said. "Part of my bosses policy."
"Who do you work for that has you carry a knife around?", Sweetie belle asked.
"Can't say." After the look on their faces registered with her, she said, "I'm not a gangster, if that's what your thinking. My employer just likes for his employees to take certain, precautions. That's all. Now, may you three please just let me get back to where I'm staying, I'd really-"
"Well, who do you work for?"
"Like I just, said, I can't tell you", Umbra said, rubbing her temples. She liked Scoots and the other crusaders, but sometimes they drove her up the wall. "Now, I'll be taking my leave. Have a nice day." Not wanting to take any more chances, she took off again, and didn't land until she reached Twilights castle.
She didn't even bother with the front entrance; she just slide through the open window. She slid shut the blinds shut, and tossed her hat on the nightstand. Jumping up on her bed, she just marveled at how close a call that was. And also made a resolve to have a talk with the Boss after this about giving Abaddon command of these missions.
Umbra yawned, stretching in her bed and reaching for her hat at the same time. She looked out past the edge of the blinds, seeing the sun setting below the horizon. Her stomach growled, indicating it wanted some food. She was technically immortal, but she still could get hungry and thirsty. So, sliding the hat onto her head, and she headed for the door, planning to head downstairs and get some dinner.
On her way over, she heard loud sobbing from the Map room. Stopping before the door, she looked inside, and her heart sank. Applejack was in her seat, a box of tissues in front of her and used ones scattered around the map, bawling her eyes out. The rest of her friends, along with Tempest and a stallion she recognized as Caramel stood around her, trying to comfort the sobbing mare.
"G-gr-granny!", AJ sobbed, blowing her nose and continuing her crying.
Rarity wrapped her arms around her, tapping her lightly on the shoulder. "There there, darling. There, there."
"Yeah, AJ", Caramel said. "We're here for you. We're here."
Umbra removed her hand from the door frame, stepping back as quietly as possible and leaning against the wall, developing a large interest in her hooves. She had done this to her friend. She had caused her such misery, and it was all her fault. If she ever found out it was her, would AJ ever forgive her? Even if it was her job? No, that would make it worse. However she sliced it, she was a horrible pony. She was going to kill Abaddon when she got back.
"I'm sorry, AJ", she muttered.
Another voice said, "What did you say?"
She jumped, whirling around in panic. Spike was standing behind her, an eyebrow cocked and arms crossed, a tissue box in his hand. Umbra said, almost at a yell, "Don't. Do that. Dear Lucifer, you almost gave me a heart attack."
"Lucifer?", Spike asked, and Umbra cursed at her statement.
Umbra said, "Look, my boss has an interest in Daemonology. Guess I just picked up a few terms."
"Ok then", Spike said. "What are you doing?"
"I was just going to go get some dinner, when I heard, that, going on in there. What happened, anyway?", she said.
Spikes look changed from a look of suspicion to one of sadness. It wasn't much better, but at least he was somewhat off of her back. "AJs grandma, Granny Smith, was found dead in her home. Apparently, the railing broke on the stairs, and she broke her neck on impact."
Umbra said, "Oh. Oh, I see. Well, give her my condolences."
"You're not going in yourself?", he questioned.
"No", she said. She didn't know if she could keep herself composed in there, but couldn't exactly tell Spike that. "I don't mean to sound rude or insensitive, but, I don't really want to. I, I don't do this kinda stuff well, ok?"
Back to raised eyebrow Spike. "O-kay. Well, I'll do that for her."
"Cool", Umbra said, and the two parted ways. When Umbra was around the corner, she let out a sigh of relief. Thank the Styx she didn't slip up. It was getting too close, too often. Looking back to make sure no one was following her or watching her, she stuck to her plan, and headed for the stairs to get some food. While she did, she contemplated what she would do tomorrow.
+++++
Two days later, she stayed in her room for several hours after she had awoke, reading a random book she found on her rooms bookshelf. She had overheard that the funeral was two days after Granny was found dead, according to her wishes in the will. After she was certain that everyone in the castle was gone, she slipped on her hat and jacket and headed for the door.
When she reached the door, she looked out. A few ponies walking about, but rather few. Since it was a Tuesday, most ponies would be in class, at work, or at the funeral. Still, better safe then sorry, as she didn't really want to raise suspicion as to why she was out and heading to the graveyard. So, behind the door, she said, "Ergo videtur quod non sit de caelis.". When the purple miasma faded and she was certain nopony could see her, she carefully slide out the door, and spread her wings, taking off towards the Ponyville Graveyard.
She landed on a hill, near the top of the graveyard, which gave her a great look down on the funeral procession. Despite her invisibility, she didn't want to take chances. Sitting down and leaning against a large headstone, she watched the ceremony.
Most of the ponies present were nearby the Ponyville area, but she was able to see some members of the Apple family that lived as far away as Appleousa. All of them, despite their normal clothing, were wearing black formal wear, and several of the bigger stallions were carrying a large casket. Most of them were simply in their seats, eyes faced downward and she was able to make out several of them sobbing. As the stallions set down the casket, Mayor Mare stepped up to a podium, and began reading something. Her Will, maybe? She wasn't able to hear it from her position.
Umbra just looked down between her invisible legs, staring down at the weathered grey stone she was sitting on. Her job, her decision, led to all this. She had caused all of this. How was she supposed to feel? Most of her contracts she didn't know; only like, one out of every fifty were even in Equestria! Part of her deal with the Boss made it so she wouldn't get contracts in this area for at least a hundred years; keep her from having any personal connection to anypony in town. But, that vindictive buck Abaddon had decided to have a little fun.
By then, the coffin was being lowered by Big Macintosh and Braeburn into the grave. The dirt was lowered over her grave, and her headstone was placed on it. Some of the ponies were beginning to leave, while others were still their, sobbing or looking forlornly at the tombstone. She stood up to leave, wanting to head back to the castle before Twilight or anypony else noticed she was gone.
However, she suddenly remembered something. Namely, something was in here that she would be quite interested in seeing. So, she turned around and headed towards the other side of the cemetery. She had been shown a photograph by one of her hallmates who took another contract in the area, so she knew where the gravestone was. Once she was certain she was alone, she dropped the spell, coming to a stop in front of the gravestone she was looking for.
A loyal and dedicated Friend Rainbow Blitz Dash Born in Cloudsdale, Equestria
981 ANM---1005 ANM
It was a simple stone, with only those words on them and a carving of her cutie mark. However, it was somewhat surreal. How many ponies got to look at their own grave? Well, a lot of Daemons and Celestials did, so, probably a decent amount. And, maybe some vamponies, so that number was actually pretty high, all things considered. The brief smile that came from that train of thought soon lead back to a frown when she looked back down at her grave.
Was her body in their? Obviously, she wasn't in it, but her mortal body? If she dug it up, would she find a pile of bones? Or just an empty casket? An interesting proposition. One she really didn't want to find out.
She spent a good while just looking at the grave, hands sliding into her pockets as she did so. She reached up and pulled off her necklace, looking at the star-shaped purple gem. Her ears flattened further against her head, and she lowered it back down. She spent another few minutes just looking at it, and finally slide the amulet into her jackets pocket.
She turned to leave, but stopped when she noticed the gravestone next to hers. It was a VERY unorthodox one, with weird, slopping shapes and a few other pieces of rock jutting out. Besides the very odd look of the tombstone, it also had a weird writing on it; squiggly and slopping, changing lettering types from one letter to the next. That didn't mean it wasn't legible, however, and she was able to make out the words written on it rather easily.
Rest in Piece Discord Lord of Chaos
Died 1004 ANM
"So", she said. "They buried me next to the Draconequus. Huh." She then looked at it for a few minutes. She never really liked Discord. However, she couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him, and for Fluttershy. She was the closest to him, and was hit hard after his death. And for as annoying as he was, he was kinda a cool guy. And, dying like he did, having betrayed them and being betrayed, then dying from, supposedly, a shattered spine from his fall.
She looked back down the hill. By then, the only ones still at the grave of Granny Smith was Applejack. No one else seemed to be in the graveyard. "Best get back to the castle 'fore anypony notices. So, she spread her wings and took off.
A few days later, Umbra was doing what she had been doing for the past several days. Get out of bed, trudge along to go get some coffee. This time, however, she heard some talking in the kitchen when she finally managed to arrive. Hearing the conversation, she slid up against the wall, ear peeking around the edge to listen.
"I'm telling you, Twilight", said a voice she recognized as Spike. "Something isn't right about her."
"Stop being paranoid, Spike." That was Twilight. "Just because you thought you saw horns on her doesn't mean anything."
"I'm not being paranoid, and it's not about what I saw. I mean, she shows up; next day, Granny Smith is dead."
"Are you really blaming Umbra?"
"No! I'm just saying she doesn't seem the most trustworthy. She said she's here on business for somepony we don't know. That she was meeting an associate of her boss, but she's been here for almost a week, and the guy's a no-show. I'm just saying, it's a bit weird."
"Spike. I know it seems weird, but just calm down."
"Why are you defending her? You've known her for like, a week!"
Umbra was getting ready to leave, but what Twilight said next made her freeze in her tracks. "I don't know. It's just, something about her seems, familiar. Like we've met before. I suppose that's it."
Umbra couldn't decided whether she should be excited or panicked. On one hand, Twilight on some level sensed a familiarity. She still, maybe, loved her. However, on the other, she was familiar to her, and that could lead to some problems down the road.
The same applied to Spike. He was partially onto her; he was right about a bit, but he likely wouldn't follow through. He might be talking out of his flank a bit, but it was still better safe then sorry. She silently wished that her second contract would just show up already.
She didn't have time to think on it further, nor did they have time to resume their talking. Rarity came in, walking right past her and into the kitchen. "Oh, hey Rarity. Is, something wrong?", Twilight said.
"No, darling. Not at all", she said in her melodramatic voice. "I was down at my usual gathering place, when a group of Diamond dogs appeared."
"Diamond dogs!", Spike said.
"Yes, Spikey. They told me that it was private property, and that I needed to leave. I told them it was unclaimed, when two ponies showed up. Those Flim-Flam brothers Applejack hates."
"The Flim-Flam brothers?", Twilight questioned. Umbra just smiled; he was here.
"Yes. They said something about purchasing the land, and that I was to leave. I don't want to know what they're doing there, but it can't be pleasant."
"Well, if they legally bought it, then there isn't much we can do", Twilight said. However, Umbra didn't hear the rest of the conversation. She headed back to her room, finally getting ready to get out of here.
++++
Umbra waited until late in the night, when even Twilight should be asleep. When the time she decided to move out arrived, she grabbed the neck gaiter and crept out of her room. She shut the door behind her, before moving along the rim of the floor as silently as possible.
She stopped when she heard some snoring inside a room off to her side. Peeking through an open door, she saw Twilight in a chair, book in her lap and several more splayed in piles around it. Typical Twilight; reading until she fell asleep. Umbra smiled at the sight, before she kept moving. However, Umbra saw a small item gleaming in her hand, and couldn't help herself.
She silently opened the door, careful not to disturb any of the books nor anything else. She got closer, and her suspicions were confirmed as to what the item was. A small pendant, in the shape of a multi-colored lightning bolt coming out of a white cloud. A small tear exited her eye as she saw Twilight still had it, and still wore it. She leaned in close, kissing her forehead and whispered, "Night night, Twi. For what it's worth, I'm sorry."
She managed to make it back to the hallway without waking the sleeping mare, and again making a silent movement through the hall. She was startled by a sleep walking Fizzlepop, trotting around with a purposeful and steady gait like a sentry on duty. She was easy to avoid, yet it was nonetheless unnerving. She managed to make her way out of the castle without waking anyone, taking off and flying for the spot where she knew Rarity liked to go gem hunting.
When she arrived, she did indeed see a makeshift fence made up of stone spikes out in front of the entrance to the field, manned by Diamond Dogs in armor. She had interacted with them on numerous occasions, and even had a few contracts on them. Cunning, strong, able to dig though solid rock, but most importantly, stupid. Should be easy to avoid.
Beyond the wall, she spotted several large tents, easily the size of small houses, made out of burlap and riddled with patches. More diamond dogs milled around them, either sleeping or stumbling around drunk while a few were reading or playing solitaire around several, mostly burned out campfires. One tent was much, much nicer than the others, made up of orange and white striped cloth and lacked any type of patch. Off in she side of one of the cliffs, she spotted several large tunnels, with multiple carts outside filled with... seeds?
She landed up on top of this cliff, looking over the edge directly into one of them, confirming that they were, indeed, seeds. Hundreds of them. She had little to no idea what they were up to, but she knew it couldn't be good. An evil smirk grew on her muzzle when she thought of something. So, a plan in her head and a smile on her face, she slid on her neck gaiter and floated down from the cliff.
Only one Diamond dog was around there, and he was almost asleep as it was. Just to be safe, though, she kicked him in the back of the head, fully knocking him out and sending him pitching forward onto the ground. She then lifted herself up to peer into the wagons, scooping up a handful of the seeds.
She had seen them enough while helping AJ with her farm work: Apple seeds. What they were for, she didn't know. However, she knew that they might be flammable. Well, popcorn were seeds, and those things exploded, so it made sense, right? At the very least, they would burn, and that was all she needed.
Well, for her plan to work, she would need some fire. However, she would get it when she saw the small fire in front of where the diamond dog had been sitting. He had missed the fire, and so it would be perfect for her plan. Carefully grabbing one of the burning sticks from the edge of the fire, she placed it in the nearest cart. When the fire spread to the wood of the cart and the seeds themselves, she moved onto the others. Soon, she had lit several of them on fire, before taking a step back to admire her work.
The fires were still small, and would likely not be noticed for some time. So, hopefully, that would give her time to get over to the tent. Spreading her wings and taking off, she soared over to the other side of the canyon, landing in some bushes by the big tent. She snuck up to the tent flap, listening for noises and talking inside.
"Exactly why do you need us?", said a gravely voice. "You're planting stupid pony trees."
"Ah, but the specifics of what we are having the trees for is what we need you and your companions for!", said a chipper, smoother voice.
A second, almost identical voice, said, "Are you familiar with Zap apples?"
"No."
"Oh", said one of them; she couldn't tell which. "Well, you know what apples are, yes?"
"Yeah."
"Well, certain ponies make jam out of them, and sell them for a profit. Using some colored crystals, we can manipulate the color of the apples, and pass 'um off!"
"And you, good sir, will get to keep 95% of the gems we find. We only just need a few, colored like the rainbow, to affect the apples. Sound good?"
The dog seemed to consider it, due to a strange growling noise. He then said, "OK. We'll keep digging in the morning."
"Oh, you won't regret this, sir!", one of the brothers said.
What she assumed was the other one said, "Here you go, sir. A nice, ice-cold cider. Enjoy!" A wooden clink sounded from inside, along with the faint sound of drinking.
Umbra scowled after listening to their plot. Typical scam artist. Well, at least she set all of their seeds on fire. Speaking of which, she peeked past some of the tents to look at the carts. The fire was now pretty big, flaring up and fanning out. She smiled, before sneaking around the side to avoid being seen. She heard someone run up, before saying in a gravely voice, "Boss! Carts on fire!"
"Wait, what!?", one of the brothers said. "Get out there, and put them out! If you don't you don't get squat! Now go!"
A lot of moving, and two diamond dogs ran out of the tent towards the burning carts. A bunch more of them ran from their own tents, grabbing buckets and bottles of water. Neither of the brothers ran out, and she made out the sounds of pacing from inside. Perfect. She stood up, slid up her neck gaiter over her muzzle, and walked around to enter the tent.
The inside was also pretty nice. A pair of beds sat in the back corners, and a table in the middle of the room, piled high with papers. The two familiar unicorns were over by the table, the one with the mustache pacing up and down. The one without the mustache, Flim she believed, said, "Who are you? How did you get past the guards?"
She ignored him, and just said, "You. With the mustache. You're Flam, right?"
"Y-yeah?", he said, fear shooting through his eyes.
"Perfect", she said. "Your debt has come. Your soul is forfeit. I am the one to claim it for your new master." After a quick throat rasp, she said, "So, yeah." She then reached under her jacket, pulling out her knife.
Flams eyes widened in shock, doubly so when he saw the knife emerge from below her jacket. He backed up, hyperventilating, looking like he was about to start running. His brother stepped in front of her, despite the fear prevailing in his eyes as well. He said, "W-what do you mean? What's going on?"
"He never told you?", Umbra asked.
Flim seemed to grow more and more anxious, while Flam had probably soiled himself by then. Flim said, "Told me what? What in Equestria is going on!?"
"Ah, I see. Happens quite often. Almost all of them, come to think of it", she said. Coming off her little rant, she continued, "Your brother over there made a deal with my boss. I'm here to collect the debt."
"B-b-but you said his soul!", Flim cried out, panicked.
She said, "Yeah. I'm a bucking daemon." With that, she took off her hat, exposing her horns, and tossed it to the side as it evaporated into flames. "Now, step aside. I don't have to kill you, nor do I want to. But, I can if you don't back off."
Flim, who had previously been shaking like a leaf, froze stark still. He turned slightly to look back at Flam, who had also frozen. "Flam. What did you do?"
"I-I-I", he stuttered. "I, I did it for us! We were struggling. For Celestias sake, after Las Pegasus, we were considering taking a gig at a rock farm! He promised to aid us! He asked for my blood! I didn't think it meant my bucking soul!!"
"And you didn't think to tell me about it!?"
"Again, I didn't think it was that big a deal! He wanted my blood!"
"They're basically the same thing in this business" Umbra said. "Now, also again, step aside."
Flim eyed her up and down, eventually focusing on her knife. He said, "Is there nothing I can do to make you stop?"
"Not a thing", she said.
Flim didn't say anything after this. He just stepped to the side, head down and arms held limply at his side. Flam, realizing the implications, turned and bolted for the caves. Umbra walked after him, stopping just when Flim was out of her sight. She said, "It doesn't help. But, for what it's worth, I'm not exactly a fan of this part of the job. Live a nice, long life."
"Just shut up", he said, eyes filled with tears. He walked past her into the tent, closing the flap behind him. Umbra spread her wings, taking off before going into a dive after him. She tried to push aside her guilt at this, and focus on her favorite part of the job: the chase if they chose to run.
He was quite fast, for such a skinny pony. Or, maybe she just spent too much time talking to Flim. Either way, it didn't matter all too much as she caught up in seconds. The Diamond dogs putting out the fire turned when they saw their boss run past them. He stopped, catching his breath, and yelled, "Another hundred gems to whoever stops her!", before hobbling into the nearest tunnel.
The dogs, about eight of them, turned to face her, grabbing whatever they could to arm themselves. Mostly rocks and boards, however a few had spears on them. She had time, but didn't really want to waste too much of it. She didn't know how deep the mines were, or their layout.
She flying kicked the first one right in the face, sending him flying against the wall of the cliff. From the crouching position she ended up in, she used her legs as a piston, shooting up and punching the nearest one under the mouth, sending him flying as well. Another swung a two-by-four sideways, only to smack another one in the face. Another lunged at her with a spear, which she dodged and severed the head of with her knife. From behind, one of them attempted to impale her, only for her to take off and avoid it.
"Well, this had been fun, boys. But, my and your boss need to talk." Doing a backflip in the air, she dove into the gaping mouth of the cave. The dogs turned to give chase, but she was much faster. In a flash, she was down at the spot where the cave split into two paths, each leading in a different direction.
She shook her head; why did they always have to run? She said, "Nocentibus revelare et occultis tuis", watching as the tunnel complex was laid bare before her. She spotted him easily; down the right tunnel for a bit until a left turn, hiding behind a barrel of what looked like fertilizer in a large, open cavern. When the spell wore off, she sped off in that direction.
She soon arrived in the cavern she had seen. It was actually a pretty small cave, with a decent sized hole in the high up ceiling revealing the darkened sky of the early morning. While the walls were stone, the floor was covered in a thick layer of dirt, tilled in neat rows like on Sweet Apple Acres. A rack stood next to the door, filled with hoes, billhooks, and other farming tools. Stacked against one wall were several large boxes and crates, bearing labels like 'Fertilizer' and 'Gems-Assorted colors'.
Speaking of which, it was by those crates she imagined he was hiding. Like Jet Set in Canterlot, she decided to enjoy herself a bit, as well as scare the crap out of Flam. So, she began marching over to the crates, deliberately and firmly, but most importantly, loudly. The thick heels of her boots didn't create all that much noise due to the soft dirt, but were nonetheless still pretty loud. She trotted up to one of the larger ones, peeking over it to see if he was behind it.
From behind her, she heard soft depressing of the dirt. She said, "You clever bucker."
At the same time, she sidestepped a clumsy downward swing from one of the billhooks. Flam had somehow gotten over their without her seeing him; an impressive feat few can claimed to have accomplished. He tugged the blade free and tried again, but this time she caught it, before yanking him forward and smacking him with the pommel of her knife. He fell the ground, a small cut on his forehead, groaning and rolling around.
"Next time, swing sideways. Less momentum, sure, but you got a bigger chance of hitting me, as well as it being much harder to dodge", she said, bending down over him. Before she could do anything, however, a pair of diamond dogs ran in. Unlike the others she had fought outside, who had likely just woken up and wearing simple vests, these ones were in the full plate armor with spears. She knew from experience not to try and fight them straight up, so she just grabbed the con-artist and said, "Sorry, mutts. But, we have business to talk! Night!"
She shot up with him in tow, aiming for the hole in the ceiling. Beneath her, Flam had changed from groaning to screaming, but she didn't really notice too much. Instead, she was focused on the hole, and hoping it was big enough for her to fit through. It was, despite the fact she had to tuck in her wings in order to fit out. In the air above the hole, and tossed Flam to the ground.
He attempted to rise, only to be halted when she landed next to him and swung her hoof into the bottom of his muzzle. His head flew up, before falling back down, head partially in the hole. Now began her least favorite part of the job.
She said, "Why do they always run?"
Flam recovered surprisingly quickly, looking up into her sunglass covered eyes, likely very terrified. He said, "W-where is your boss! I want to re-discuss my contract!"
"Sorry, bud. Not my department. Now, where were we?", she said. "Mortal Flam. Your time has come, and your debt is being collected. Do you have any final desires, before it is done so?"
"Please, you must be willing to make some form of reconsideration! I'm a businesscolt, and I-"
"Just shut up already. 1, I'm not in charge of contracts; that's another departments job. I just collect the debts of the poor unfortunates like you. 2, did you really just try to bribe a daemon? How much of a scumbag are you? 3, even if I could re-work things, we'd have to go through all the channels, and all the representatives and all that. Bureaucracy is a nightmare in Hell. So, no."
He, like Jet Set, tried to scramble away, kicking her leg in the process. She hissed at the slight pain, before flipping the blade of her knife over and throwing it. The blade hit him square in the back, sending him sprawling on the ground, hat falling off in front of him. She hissed in pain, but soon overcame it and trotted up to him.
He writhed pitifully under the blade, clawing at the dirt in front of him. She knelt down, yanking the ornate blade free with a faint *shink* and a quite whine from him. She said, "Remember. This is your own doing, sinner." She then placed the tip of the knife against the back of his neck, and shoved it in until she felt the resistance of the dirt beneath it. From the spinal damage from the previous wound and the blood-loss from the two of them, he was dead almost instantly.
She went about the usual deal after she killed the target. Feel guilty about it, before collecting the soul carrying blood with the words, "Et redde creditori tuo tu maxima culpa. Nunc, redde tu cum sanguine." As the blood collected into the small crystal, a shadow loomed over her. She yanked the knife free, holding it in a defensive posture, before relaxing at the stallion who greeted her. "Boss."
Sure enough, Lucifer himself stood before her. He was clad in his usual attire, with the addition of a black suit jacket that seemed to ripple and have various faces push out of it. He looked tired, if it was possible with such a naturally thin face and fireballs for eyes, hidden behind a pair of aviator sunglasses. He said, "Indeed, Venandi. And we have much to discuss."
Rainbow leaned back on the train seat, arms crossed and head bowed. Over in the next booth, her friends were playing a card game or something; she didn't ask. Over the past couple of stops, almost all of the other ponies had left the car, so she could've sat anywhere. However, she didn't want to seem too distant or anything. So, she just sat in the next booth over, and didn't say anything.
Recently, some weird table in Twilights new castle had reveal itself to be some sort of friendship map thing. Almost immediately, they had been whisked away on some adventure to work out some sort of, thing. She didn't know exactly what to call it.
On the way up, Rainbow had at first sat with her friends. But, they didn't bother her when she had gone over into the next booth of the train car, away from the others. She said she wanted to take a nap, but was still wide awake, thinking. Or, more rather, beating herself over the head for her stupidity.
By Celestia, why did she kiss Twilight? She just got out of a coma, for bucks sake. And she didn't know if she reciprocated her feelings, or even if she was into mares or not. And here she might've just bucked up her relationship with her. She leaned back, rubbing her temples. When she looked back down, she saw Twilight standing in front of her.
"Hey, Rainbow", she said. "Can, I sit down?"
Rainbow overcame her surprise, and nodded. "Oh, yeah. Sure", she said.
Twilight sat in the booth, hands folded in her lap and head faced downwards a bit. Rainbow was now very concerned about this, especially when she saw Twilights horn light up. While it did so, she said, "Can I talk to you about something?"
She said, "About w-what, Twi?"
She knew what it was likely about, but still somewhat dreaded it and hoped it wasn't the case. Sure enough, she said, "About, what you did at the hospital. You know, after I woke up."
"Ah, buck", she muttered under her breath. She knew that it would come up, but hoped beyond hope that it would.
Before she could reply, Twilight said, "Don't worry, Rainbow. I put up a sound-muffling spell. Nopony can hear a thing. And, if you don't want to talk about it, we don't have to."
"No no. It's fine. What, what do you want to know?", Rainbow asked, a lump forming in her throat.
"What're YOU talking about, Twi?", she said nervously. "The Rainbow Dash doesn't do nervous."
"Evidentially, you do." She placed a hand on Rainbows shoulder, and asked, "Please. Just, tell me. Why?"
"I, I got carried away, ok? I was so happy to see you woke up, and I-", she said, before just lowering her head and muttering into silence.
Twilight said, "The others told me that you barely left my room for the time I was in the coma. And don't think I didn't notice some of the looks you've given me. Just, tell me the truth."
Rainbow was now officially panicking. "What are you talking about!? I, I'm not in love with you! I'm too awesome for that!"
"I, never said love you were in love with me", Twilight said.
Rainbow opened her mouth to say something, only to realize her mistake. She lowered her head again, mane falling over her face. She said, "Huh. Right, I didn't. My bad."
"Rainbow. Just, tell me."
"Fine", she said, eyes still focused intently on the floor. She had hoped to confess at some point, and would do it smoothly. But, now that she was actually doing it, she was freaking out. She sighed, before getting on with it. "I, I do, love you. You're awesome, you're smart, you're beautiful; I mean, being around you just, feels awesome. I like being around you." She stole a look at her, almost seeing the gears whirring in her head. "And, now I've bucked up our friendship, and you're going to avoid me, and I-"
She was cut off by Twilight grabbing her chin, lifting up her head so she was staring her right in the eye. A second later, she pulled her in close, kissing her. Rainbows eyes widened in shock, before closing shut in bliss. Something she had dreamed about for a while then, and it was happening.
As she pulled her away, Twilight said, "I, can't say the feeling isn't mutual. I mean, we seem to get along well, and, we just do things well together. And, well-"
It was Rainbows turn to cut her off by kissing her back, this time putting her arms and wings around her. The two of them leaned against the edge of the seat, their lip-lock growing more sloppy. Finally, the two pulled apart, breathing hard and smiling at each other.
Rainbow, past her panting, said, "So, a date when we get back from whatever we're doing out here?"
"I know a good place, up in Canterlot", she said, smiling. "Due to my new status, I think I can get us a reservation."
"Sounds good. Hey, I, I got us something. You know, just in case. I was gonna give it to you on our first date, but I suppose it would be appropriate now", Rainbow said, reaching into her jacket.
Inside, she pulled out a rectangular black box, which she opened and showed to Twilight. Inside were two small necklaces, held on silver chains. On the end of each chain was a small, intricately carved jewel, one shaped like each of their cutie marks. She handed the one shaped like hers to Twilight, who turned it over in her hand, smiling.
"I love it. Thanks, Rainbow."
"Yeah, I know. Consider it a 'starting to date' gift."
Twilight asked, giggling a bit, "Is that even a thing?"
"Hey, Pinkie's given gifts and thrown parties for less. I think I can get away with it."
In the distance, the trains whistle sounded, the shrill sound piecing though the track. The conductor peeked his head in and told the group of mares, "This is the end of the line. You gotta get off, less you want to backtrack."
Twilight peeked her head over the booth, taking down the sound muffling spell and told him, "Thank you. Yes, we'll be getting off." After he shut the door, Twilight told the others, "Alright, lets go."
As they did so when the train stopped, Fluttershy asked Rainbow, "What did you and Twilight talk about? If, you don't mind me asking."
Not wanting it to be exactly public yet, she said, "Not much."
"Whatever it was", she replied. "It must've cheered you up. I don't think I've seen you so happy since before the incident with Tirek."
Rainbow didn't reply. She just followed her friends, and new marefriend, a beaming smile on her face. Things were looking up!
"All due respect, you're damn right, boss", Umbra said, raising herself up from besides the con-colts corpse. "Why in the Rings was I sent here!? We had a deal!"
Lucifer said, "I am well aware, Venandi. Abaddon acted, out of turn. You know he's never liked you. Especially after you managed to make him stab himself."
Umbra giggled at the memory, before returning to a silent scowl. "Still, it's not cool. When we get back to Hell, can I give him a bath in the Styx.... with a burning hot pike?"
"Hmm", he said, stroking his chin. " I've already demoted him to desk work, as well as give his cleaning imp the next year off. But, I suppose I can give you your wish."
Umbra smiled. Beyond the eyes and whatnot, he was actually a really cool do. "You're the best boss, boss. So, are we just going back, or....?"
"Alas, we are not returning just yet."
That reply caught her off guard. "What do ya mean, boss? We ain't going straight back?"
"No. Remember that, meeting, I had to attend?" When he saw her nod in affirmation, he continued, "Well, the matter that I had to discuss with my sister was much more, important, than I expect. She requested that I bring one of my best Collectors to help her."
"What sort of problem?" Then, remembering what he had said earlier in the statement, added, "And, who the buck is your sister?"
"It's, better, if she explains it. The problem concerns her more than me, and I have a feeling she'll have an aneurism if I 'do her job for her'. Peh. Workaholic. Oh, and she's Faust."
Before Umbra could say anything, he raised his hand in a clenched fist to the sky. It was surrounded by black mist, which seemed to suck in the light around it. A beam of golden light suddenly shot down over the two of them, causing Umbra to look around in alarm. Like when she teleported with Abaddon to outside Ponyville, she was dissolved into the light, flowing up as the pillar faded on the mortal side.
++++
As soon as she rematerialized, she said, "Faust!?". As soon as she got that out, she brought her arm up to her face, covering her eyes and grimacing. "And where are we? It's brighter than if the sun popped inside the Canterhorn Mountain mines!"
"Indeed, Venandi. And as for where we are, we are in her realm", he replied, completely unfazed by the light.
Umbra reached into her jackets pocket, scrambling around for her sunglasses. After a few seconds of feeling around blindly, she finally grabbed them and slid them on. While it didn't help too much, the light still being rather bright, it at least let her see around her.
She appeared to be on a cloud, yet one that was whiter and more fluffy than she'd ever seen. When she looked away from the light, she saw nothing but open blue sky, crystal clear and unmarred as far as the eye could see. She willed herself to look back towards the light, and her eyes squinted to make out the shape. It was a massive golden gate, carved with swirling symbols and designs, easily twenty feet high. A massive light shown above, or perhaps behind them, was what was partially blinded her.
"Come come, Venandi. It is best not to keep my sister waiting", Lucifer said and began walking up the slope of the clouds. Umbra shook off her amazement, and ran to catch up to her surprisingly fast boss.
She caught up to him just as he reached the gate. Outside of it stood a large griffin, clad in a golden breastplate underneath a black great coat, a pair of brown pants, and a pair of leather boots. A large halberd leaned against the gate next to him, and he was looking over a small booklet. In front of him, and her, was an earth pony Celestial, along with a partially corporeal unicorn.
"Alright. Everything checks out", the griffin said, handing back the booklet to the celestial. "You can take him in to housing. Have a nice day, Cookie." The gate swung open of its own volition, the light shining ever brighter in her eyes. The two in front of them went inside, the gate closing behind them. The griffin turned to her and her boss, and while a smile still graced his beak, his eyes narrowed slightly. He said, "Ah, Lord Lucifer. A pleasure to see you again."
"Likewise, Gabriel. This is the one your master requested to assist with her problem", he said.
The griffin looked her over, almost incredulously. After a second, he said, "Well, ok then. You know your way to the palace. They'll be expecting you. Have a good day, your excellency."
"Again, likewise Gabriel." The gate once again swung open, with Lucifer heading towards in before it was even fully open. Umbra scrambled to catch up, following him inside as the loud *clink* of the gates signaled they had closed behind them.
The stretch of clouds immediately after the gate was just a straight path, going unmarred and narrow in front of the two of them. Umbra could now see over the edge, looking down only to see the same blue sky that surrounded them. As they kept walking, paths of clouds broke off of the sides, leading to large golden apartments. She was able to make out more paths on those platforms, branching off into more apartments. Winged creatures flew around them while non flyers milled about. A few of them walked up onto the path; a mix of Celestials and 'Righteous' souls. She remembered how it had been described to her: 'We down here get the scum and villains, they get everyone else.'
In front of them, in the center of the path, was a massive white and golden palace. Massive spires rose out of the main structure, a massive bastion with equally extensive battlements. A gate was out front, with a portcullis and everything. It reminded her somewhat of old pictures of the Castle of the Two Sisters, with white and gold coloring and not a ruin. Oh, and the massive blinding light.
"By Lucifers' horn, why is it so bucking bright!?", she groused. "What even is that!? The bucking sun?!"
Her boss chuckled, before replying, "The source of power for the Celestials, like how the storm around my citadel is the source of yours. And, in essence, yes. By the by, I wouldn't recommend using your magic up here. While my magic is within my body, yours is not entirely."
"What does that have to do with anything?", she asked.
"We are as far as possible from that source. Without it, you have a limited amount; like a backup. Without it, your existence would become a lot less... comfortable. Same works in the reverse, if you're wondering."
Umbra didn't ask what that meant; she didn't need to. Whenever the Lord of Hell said 'less comfortable', that usually meant hellfire and brimstone. Instead, she just held a hand up over the gaps in her sunglass and kept walking straight.
The two of them reached the entrance, they were greeted by another pair of celestials. These two were also wearing golden breastplates, but instead wore civilian clothes underneath them. One of them, a male Pegasus with a pale blue coat, said, "Lord Lucifer. Welcome back."
"Enough of the formalities. Just lead us to her", he said, waving his hand.
The Pegasus nodded, turning to his companion. "Wave Rider", he said to his companion, a dull grey hippogriff. "Take 'um up to the bosses office. You have a nice day, sir."
"Likewise", Lucifer said, not a hint of annoyance in his voice. Umbra would've hit someone by then; hence why she wasn't the Boss.
She followed the two of them past the gate into a large courtyard. Multiple doors rimmed the edge of it, going into the various wings of the castle. Like the various apartments down in Hell, various signs indicated what would be in the various wings of the castle. Also like down in the Pit, various Celestials of every species roamed about, heading to-and-fro across the courtyard and in between the various entrances, only they had the partially-corporeal forms of the similar species.
Their escort lead them straight across the courtyard, towards the central keep and largest spire of the palace. Through a door in the far side, he lead them up some stairs to the second floor. Then up a spiral staircase to the main keep. Then into an elevator inside said keep up to her office.
"Why, by all that is holy, is your sisters office beyond so much stuff. Hell, yours is just an elevator and an elevator", she said, groaning slightly.
Neither of them replied, leaving her to just lean her head back and breathe. After the ding of the elevator went off, the two in front of her got out, and she followed them.
They entered into a large room, reminding her a lot of her Bosses own office. A high ceiling, a big centrally located desk, and a few bookshelves and other things like those. However, that is where the similarities ended. The room was much brighter, and obviously was colored white and gold, not pitch black. The desk was actually wood, white birch, carved to look like a floral pattern-ish thing. And of course, the mare behind it herself.
Faust, the Celestial Lady.
Again, it was much less impressive in real life than what she had read or heard about. She was also an alicorn, with a dull rust-red mane, which sloped down her back like Twilight's in a way, and pure white fur. She was wearing a simple sleeveless blue dress with a lowered top over her bosom, and a few bits of jewelry. Like Lucifer, her eyes weren't like a normal pony's, with hers glowing a brilliant white like spotlights.
"You're back?", she said, her voice light and airy as opposed to Lucifers low and husky one. "Good. Let's get to work. We have a whole lot to do to solve this problem."
"Yes, sister. This is the one I discussed. Umbra Venandi, meet my sister, Faust", Lucifer said.
Faust waved her hand somewhat dismissively, saying, "Good, good. Have a seat; we'll get to business. I just have to handle a quick something."
Umbra did so, sitting one of the chairs that rested in front of her desk while her boss remained standing. She said, "So, what do you need me for exactly?"
Faust looked up from her papers, somewhat bloodshot eyes flashing a look of annoyance. "You told her nothing, brother? Nothing!?"
"No", he said, grinning. "I figured you would want to explain your own problems yourself."
"Oh, of course! I have to bucking everything, don't I!?", she snarled, falling back into her chair. "For once in our ten thousand years, would it kill you to just make my job even the tiniest bit easier!?"
"Last time we did some sort of collaborative thing, you yelled at me for doing it. I assumed you would've just liked to stick to your schedule", Lucifer said, crossing his arms.
"By mothers wings, you're worse than our brother!", Faust sighed, flailing her arm around a bit.
At that comment, her boss went into what was colloquially nicknamed, 'Discipline mode'. "1. I'm not the avatar of Chaos for simply letting my underlings have more free-reign and not bogging myself down in paperwork and regulations. 2. At least I didn't stick cotton candy up your flank and buck around with your daughters. And 3. A bit soon, don't you think? It's been less than a decade."
Faust's eyes began glowing much, MUCH brighter. And even if she wasn't a unicorn or other naturally magic-manipulating creature, she had been a daemon long enough to know when lots of magic was about to be used. Not wanting to have a full on argument break out and nothing getting done, she interrupted, "All due respect, bosses. I don't really know what you two are talking about, nor do I really care all too much. Can we just get on with it. I still need to go get my bag from Princess Twilights castle."
Faust sputtered for a second, before breathing in deeply, the glow in her eyes dimming. She said, "Well said. You're right. To business." She sat back down, sighing and rubbing her temples. "We'll finish this conversation after she gets underway, brother."
"Very well, sister", he said.
"Now, like you said, miss Venandi, to business", she said, adjusting her dresses collar and straitening up. "One of mine has gone rouge."
Umbra's eyes widened behind her glasses, eyebrows reaching up into her mane. Sure, some stories circled around the Supernatural Bars and Hell about some Celestials or Daemons going rouge or even outright rebelling against Faust or Lucifer. Still, she thought they were just that; stories. Call her still Loyal, but she really didn't want to get on either of these near all-powerful creatures bad sides.
"Yes, such rouges exist", she said, noticing the look of shock on her face. "These, less than savories, are a stain on our judgements. And this one in particular I regret to say is one of my Elder Celestials. His name is Pillar, and he-"
"Wait wait wait", Umbra butted in. "Pillar? As in Pillar the Daemon-butcher!?"
"Correct, Venandi", her boss said. "The same."
Umbra bit back a gulp. She had heard the stories from both books and some of the older Daemons. Pillar was a Celestial, supposedly one of the first, back during the era of the Celestial-Daemonic War. He was a vicious fighter, one who was more than able to beat dozens of Daemons on his own. "B-but I thought he was imprisoned after he broke the Covenant?"
"He was. I should've killed him, but I thought he would be swayed with time. Instead, he escaped", Faust said. "How, I don't know. The flare of magic from the death of Discord. A simple storing of power. Who knows? The point is, he must be found, less he do something drastic."
"Ok. I get that. But, why me?", she asked nervously. "Why not have your own deal with him? You know, 'cause he might be more lenient on them if they lost a fight with him?"
Faust said, "Pure versatility. A Daemon can do things a Celestial can do, and vice versa. Besides, I simply don't have very many to spare. Due to way I operate, and the frailty of mortals, I simply can't send anyone of my Celestials out to deal with him, without leaving the souls of those who die alone to languish on the surface."
"That doesn't mean you will handle it alone, or even with another Daemon", Lucifer said.
Faust said, "My brother speaks true! That is what we were discussing while you were down in Ponyville. I can spare a few of my own, and will have one working with each of my brothers Daemons. I believe you are familiar with the one assigned to you."
Before Umbra could ask who it was, the Celestial entered the room. "'Sup, Venandi", Lighting Dust said, leaning up against one of the pillars by the door.
"'Sup yourself, LD." Turning back to Faust, she said, "Yeah, I can work with her."
"Good. Now, one of the areas I believe he would be going to would be by the town you just came from, in what mortals call the Everfree Forest. I suggest you two start looking there."
"Sounds good." Recalling an initial point she made, she said, "Hey boss. Can you send me back down to the spot you took me up? I still need to get my bag."
"Of course. I fail to see why not", he said.
"Awesome." She stood up and stretched, cracking her back a bit and said to Lightning, "I'll meet you just outside of town. Find a big rock with a cracked dent in the side of it. I'll meet you there a few minutes after I get down."
"See you there, Umbra", she said. Lucifer snapped his fingers after this, and Umbra vanished in a flash of black smoke.
++++
As soon as the light faded around her, Umbra took off at full speed towards the castle. Besides her recommendation not to waste time, she didn't necessarily want to be in the area for very long. Considering the sun was high up in the air, she guessed that it was about noon. Now that would likely set off, if not red flags, than at least a few suspicions.
She saw the open window of the room she was staying in, and dove inside. She immediately grabbed the tank top and other items she had brought that were on the bed and stuffed them back into the bag. Remembering her horns, she summoned her hat and slid it on. She slung her duffle bag over her shoulder, then went to grab her necklace from the nightstand.
Opening up the drawer on the nightstand, her eyes widened when she saw the box gone. "Oh no", she muttered, her mind going a million mile an hour from alarm. She looked under the nightstand, behind the bed, on the dresser, everywhere in her room. No sign of it. Still, she dug around for it. She couldn't have just lost it; she couldn't loose it period! It was too important.
Suddenly, she felt a magic surround her, and she felt the familiar feeling of teleportation. When it faded, she found herself in the Map Room. Standing around it, she saw her former friends, along with Spike and Fizzlepop. All of them looked VERY angry, and Fizzlepop even had what looked like a two-pronged spear.
From the group came Twilight, looking very angry, yet at the same time incredibly calm. Umbra had only seen her this angry once, and shuddered at being on the receiving end of it. Twilight stopped in front of her, and held up a clenched fist. She laxed her grip on it slightly, and something fell out, only to be stopped by a silver chain. A dark purple gem, shaped like a six pointed star.
Opening her eyes and locking them with Umbra's, sending a chill up the Daemons spine and over her wings. She fixed her with a gaze that would freeze over the River Styx. Then, in a voice that would freeze the Styx SOLID, she said, "Care to explain?"
Umbra just froze like a deer in lamplight. The ONE thing that any of them could've found, and they did it. Judging from the looks, and lack of Pinkie's party stuff, they hadn't connected it to her actually being Rainbow, which was good. Of course, she was now in a room with a bunch of angry ponies (and drake) who thought she stole it from her grave or something akin to that.
Still, one thing came to her mind. "Th-that's mine! Where did you get that?"
"Spike and Fizzlepop found it in your guest room. At first, I was against it. Then, they found this", she said. Her grip tightened on the necklace, lowering her it to her side. "Now, this belonged to a good friend of mine. Where did you get it?"
Umbra knew she couldn't talk them down. No matter what she said, Twilight knew it was hers. She still had to try: "Look. I was just here to get my stuff. That belongs to me, so I'll just take it and-"
"Like Tartarus ya' are!", AJ roared. "Ya can't just steal somethin' belongin' to our friend and get away with it!"
"Quite right, dear", Rarity said.
Pinkie added, "Yeah! You can't just do something like that and leave like nothing happened. That's, like, just the worst and most jerky thing you could do!"
Fluttershy and Fizzlepop said nothing, which was probably the worst. Fluttershy just stood there, arms at her sides and fists clenched, gazing at her. She fixed her with a similar gaze to Twilights, angry and stony like the Spire of Hell. Fizzlepop, on the other hand, stood stark still, just looking at her and tightening the grip on her spear. Between that and the armor, it was clearly apparent she was a soldier, and perhaps the biggest threat.
She backed up towards the door, slowly and holding her hands up. "Look, look. Maybe it's a coincidence. I've had it for a long time now, and I got it from a good friend. I just want it back, and will be on my way. Just give it to me, and no one has to get hurt." As soon as she said it, she knew she made a mistake.
"Are you threatening us!?", Rarity said, eyes narrowing further. The others echoed her look, and Fizzlepop lowered the spear.
"What!? No!", Umbra said. "No, I just-Look, just give it back!"
"Where did you get it?", Twilight asked.
Umbra wanted to say something. But, she knew she couldn't say anything. At least, nothing she could say that would result in her getting it back. She wanted, no, needed it back! After she got back to Hell, it would be the only thing she had from the past. And she knew that Twilight wouldn't let it out of her sight. She had to get it back.
"Look. I'm serious. Give, it, back."
"Tell me! Where did you get it!?", Twilight roared, practically snarling.
Umbra hated it, but she felt she had no choice. "Please, just give it back. Now." As she did so, she reached up into her jacket, reaching for her knife.
Fizzlepop must've recognized the move, and reacted in a way she would've expected. "She's armed!", she cried out, flipping up the lance and throwing it at her. In alarm, she ducked down, having it sail over her head, and finally pulled out the knife.
Now things went downhill from there. AJ ran at her, swinging a fist down at her. She rolled around the hit, getting behind her and backwards thrusting the blade into the back of her knee. It didn't go through very far, but still enough to send her falling to the ground, crying out in pain.
"Applejack!", cried out Fluttershy, running up to her fallen friend. Meanwhile, Umbra got up and pointed the knife at Twilight.
Hesitantly, she said, "Look. I don't want to do this, but-" She was cut off when a Fizzlepop got in her face, having grabbed the spear.
She thrust down, Umbra only narrowly avoiding the spear. The tip was up in an instant, Fizzlepop pushing her back with a series of rapid thrusts. Umbra took off the ground, flying over behind her and trying to kick her in the back. She failed, with Fizzlepop whipping around at seemingly the speed of light, her flying back a little bit further to avoid a kick. When she landed, she was hit from behind by a blast of magic.
She was spent sprawling on the ground, sunglasses falling off her face. Twilight stepped around her, looking over at the fallen Applejack. "Applejack, are you ok?"
"Ah, ah think ah'm fine", she said. "Hurts like Tartarus, though."
"I-I'll go get a first-aid kit", Fluttershy said, running out of the room.
Umbra tried to rise, but was pushed back down with a hard smack. She whipped her eyes around a bit, seeing the butt of the spear in Fizzlepops hands pressed against the back of her head, right under her hat. Twilight stepped away from Applejack, walking over to her. Umbra lowered her head, not wanting her to see her eyes. She needed to get out of there. It didn't really matter about the amulet anymore, and she needed to get out of there. Rule one of the contract; don't let anyone, ANYONE, find out about the Supernatural.
Twilight knelt down in front of her, trying to look into her eyes. She said, "Look. Just, tell me. Where did you get it? I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to-Wait, what's wrong with-?"
Umbra muttered, "Ergo videtur quod non sit de caelis." Twilight and Fizzlepop backed away in shock as the purple miasma whipped around her form. When she had stood up, she was gone from their sight. She got up, careful to make as little noise as possible.
"Where did she go!?", Fizzlepop yelled in alarm, whipping the spear back and forth.
Umbra stepped around her, over towards Twilight. She saw the amulet, still in her hands, with her distracted. She was planning to just leave it, but she had the chance now to get it and still get out. So, she got as close as she could, before being able to reach it. In fact, it got her close enough to her, she could get right in her ear. She grabbed it, Twilight trying to yank it back. Due to the sudden force, Umbra was able to grab it, moving away almost as soon. Still, she managed to get off a quick word to her, whispered into her ear; "I'm sorry, Twi."
She then ran for the exit, not even bothering at that point to maintain stealth. She saw Fluttershy heading down the hall, and yelled at her, "Move it!" She squeaked in surprise and dropped the medkit, eyes whipping side to side to look for her. Umbra didn't bother to look back when she had pasted her, but she had a feeling that she had seen her when the magic faded. She didn't look back when she heard hoofbeats coming after her; she just kept running. When she reached the door, she shoved open the doors and immediately took off. She soared away as fast as possible, heading for the Everfree Forest.
Umbra landed at the meeting point she had told Lighting to meet her at. Sure enough, the aqua-colored mare was sitting on a rock, and slid down when she saw her flying towards her. When she landed, she said, "Venandi, what's up? Look like you've just found a timberwolf in your bathroom."
She didn't reply to her at first, merely turning to her bag. She muttered, "Ad venit laci de qua praecisi estis". A portal of fire, much like the kind that brought her to the outskirts of Ponyville about a week ago, formed below her, and she tossed her bag into it. With any luck, it would be found by a cleaning imp, unpacked, cleaned and put away by the time she got back.
Turning back to her old rival, she said, "Let's just say, I ran into some trouble. Now, any idea where this guy is? I want to get out of this area as soon as possible."
"Hold on", she said. She pulled out a small item from her jacket pocket. Looking a bit around her, she saw it was a small golden lighter with a silver cross on the side and covered in intricate engravings.
Umbra asked, "What's the lighter for?"
"Well, normally we use them for finding the souls that are headin' for the palaces in the sky. Boss mare modified a few of them to track Pillar. Just let me get it on." She flicked the grindstone a few times, finally getting a small white flame form. With seemingly no wind, the flame seemed to move to the right. She said, "Alright. Seems to be going this way. Let's go."
Umbra unfolded her arms and followed the celestial. She lead them into the woods, weaving past the creepers and trees. The flame seemed to grow a little bit smaller, becoming steadily straighter and straighter, if ever so slightly. Umbra herself just kept moving behind her, only occasionally reaching up to keep her hat on her head.
After a little while, Lightning asked, "So, who exactly is Pillar? I mean, I've heard of him, but only really off-handedly."
"You've never heard of him?", she asked. "I thought he was pretty well known."
"Must be like what Nightmare Moon and Discord were. We figured they existed, but didn't really take it too seriously. Again, I've heard of him, but nothing too much", she said.
Umbra said, "Heh. Must be a more Daemon thing."
"Guess so. So...."
"Right", Umbra said, pushing a creeper over her head. "He was a celestial; supposedly one of the first. During the war, before the Covenant, he was something of, admittedly, a badass. Dozens of Daemons at a time, etc, etc. After the Covenant, he still kept attacking and killing Daemons. He was imprisoned, and now has escaped."
"Huh", Lightning said, and silence reigned from there as they kept moving.
Eventually, they arrived in a sort of clearing, stopping at the edge of a steep cliff. In front of them, across a rickety rope bridge, stood the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters, in all its ruin-y glory. Lightning whistled, before looking down at the lighter. "Alright, he's in there. And I am not stepping on that bridge."
"We both having wings, feather-face", Umbra groused, spreading her wings for emphasis.
"Never said I forgot, horn-head", she said, slamming the lighter shut and sliding it into his lighter pocket. "Well? What're we waiting for?" She kicked off the ground, flying over the ravine with Umbra right on her hooves.
She looked back at her, an arrogant grin splitting her muzzle. Lightning put on a burst of speed, Umbra matching it in turn. She knew what she was up to, and followed her example. The two were soon neck and neck, with too little space left for one to suitably pull ahead. The slid against the stone on the other side, instinctively bending their legs to absorb the impact of the landing.
"You just had to, eh?", Umbra asked.
Lighting panted, yet was still grinning like a feral dog. "Just like old times. You know, 'sides me bucking up." She shook her head, and added, "Come on. Pillar should be inside."
Slipping past the rubble, the two of them ended up behind a large boulder in the main throne room. Peeking around the edge, Umbra couldn't help but sigh in nostalgia. She hadn't been her in years; not since the incident with Discord's vines. However, one thing stood out among the familiar torn tapestries and bits of broken stone.
Standing over by the weird metal thing that the Elements of Harmony were on, stood a dull green-colored earth pony stallion. Like the griffon at the gate, he wore a golden cuirass over a white tank top and dark, olive green cargo pants. A sheathed sword hung at his side. His dark blue mane was pulled bag into a short rats-tail. He was facing away from them, apparently talking to somepony.
"That must be him", Umbra said.
"Well, he's a Celestial", her compatriot said, pulling out and flipping open her lighter. "And the flame is almost completely straight up. So, yeah, that's our best bet."
"Ok. So, how do you want to go about this?", Umbra said, pulling out her knife from her jacket.
"I'm gonna try and get him to surrender."
Umbra looked at her like horns just shot out of her head. "Are you nuts!? This is-"
"I know, I know. I just have my orders, and-"
"You can stop hiding now", a third voice, much louder than the two mares, cut in. "You are terrible at this."
Peeking around what they were hiding behind, they saw that the stallion was looking at them. His face was handsome yet cold, with a dull green, jade-like eyes. His sword was now in his hands; a silver and gold basket-hilted broadsword. The two of them stepped out into the open, and Lightning said, "Pillar. The Boss-mare says you're to come back immediately. Do so, and she won't strip you of your power and hand you over to-"
"That isn't an option, Ms. Dust. I am not bowing down to her, if it means also bowing down to the Daemons", he said, eyes locking with her. Umbra couldn't help but shudder. "I will give you one chance to leave, Ms. Dust. I only wish to kill the Daemon. You may leave."
"Yeah, that's not happening", she said, drawing her own weapons; a pair of foldout batons. "So, we'll just have to drag you back kicking and screaming."
"A shame."
He was in front of her seemingly in an instant, swinging the blade down at her. She barely had time to get out of the way, and even then the brim of her hat was cut. She slid back and kicked off the stones, diving low, knife held at his knees. At the same time, Lightning Dust came at him as well, batons aiming for either side of his head. He lifted up his leg, bringing it down on her when she got close enough, sending Umbra sprawling into the floor. At the same time, he blocked both of the batons, using his other hand to shove her back, before whirling around, bringing the blade down in a deep thrust at Umbra, who once again was just barely able to slip out of the way. She flapped her wings, the leathery limbs getting her airborne and out of range for a short time.
Umbra caught her breath, before scowling and pulled up her neck gaiter. This was gonna be a tough one. Flipping her knife around in her grip, she dove for one of the pillars. Kicking off of it, she landed just shy of him, kicking off it once again and charging him. She reasoned that if she could move fast enough, she just might be able to overwhelm him.
He seemingly anticipated it, sidestepping her attack, then blocking the twin strikes from Lightning, and turning to focus on her. Umbra whirled around in the air, diving at him from behind. He ducked one of Dusts strikes before kicking backward, preventing her from getting in close at that moment. He swung up the blocked baton, the slashed it in a wide arc, sending both of them back. He snarled, "I've beaten dozens of Daemons, all stronger than you two. You think you're a challenge?"
"Just shut up", Lightning said, striking at the back of his knees. He blocked it, then tried to grab Umbra's arm when she stabbed down at his neck. He managed to prevent it from hitting that, but the blade still dug into his shoulder. Dust, seeing an opportunity, had gotten back and flew in, dropkicking him square in the back. The force of the impact, likely combined with a bit of magic, sent him flying, smacking force first into the stairs. The two of them stood up, and began walking up to him, Dust pulling out a pair of handcuffs.
The two of them stopped when they saw a... a filly run out from some of the rubble. She was a dark red earth pony with a brown and blue-streaked mane. She wore an orange T-shirt under a denim jacket, a pair of jeans, and a grey field cap. She knelt down next to Pillar, saying in a seemingly average voice, "Mister Pillar! Mister Pillar!"
"Who the buck is that?", Umbra asked.
Dust said, "Look like I know?"
She looked up at the two supernaturals, and Umbra saw her eyes, the only thing that didn't immediately scream 'Average'. They were spiral pools of purple, constantly swirling like a whirlpool. She said, "W-why did you hurt him? He's helped me!"
"Listen, young lady", Umbra said. "No matter what he's done, he is still a bad Cel-Pony. A bad pony. So, we'll just take him into custody, and I'll take you back to Ponyville to find your parents or whoever you're staying with. Give me the cuffs, Dust."
After being given the cuffs, she walked forward, trying to ignore the now crying filly. She said, "N-no! Please! Leave us alone!" And to both Umbra's and Dust's surprise, a loud *POOF* sounded around her, and Umbra fell two feet onto the steps.
She shook her head and looked up, only to have rainbow-colored bangs to fall in front of her face. Eyes wide behind her sunglasses, she looked down. Leather jacket; check. Pocket watch; check. Hooves..... Sure enough, instead of her fur covered hands, she was greeted with hooves like those on her legs. Looking back, she saw she still had rear hooves, but her body was no longer bipedal. Instead, it looked like a bulls, with flanks, a flat back, the whole nine yards. On her back were her old feathery wings, flapping erratically.
Lightning Dust, like the good friend and former rival she was, burst out laughing. "Oh, dear Faust! You're so adorable! HA HA HA HA HA!"
Umbra, by contrast, was freaking out, "What in the Rings happened to me!?"
The filly was also freaking out, muttering over and over, "Oh Celestia, oh Celestia, oh Celestia." Another flash of magic, and Umbra was back to normal. Well, partially. Her hair didn't return to it's red and purple color, remaining her original full rainbow color. Everything else, however, was back to its previous state: Leathery bat wings, dull blue fur, fangs, and whatnot. She said, "Ok, what was that?"
"Ok, yeah. What in-AGHH!", Lightning said, being cut off by Pillar. He had recovered, thrusting up in a massive thrust, impaling her at full speed. She stumbled back a bit, looking down at the blade in her gut. She said, "Oh, buck you", before falling limp and fading into golden light.
He was turning back to her before she could fully recover, swinging downward and hitting her arm. The jacket absorbed a small amount of the impact but didn't stop the cut, which bored through the leather and cut her skin, just below her left shoulder. She rolled away before he could recover, and took off to avoid the next attack.
Turning around in the air, she saw the two of them fleeing deeper into the castle ruins, Pillar carrying the weird filly. She prepared to throw her knife, only to realize it fell out of her grip when she was turned into, whatever the heck that was. So, instead, she uttered, "Ubi non est absconditum a vobis peccata vestra." Unseen to them, a small pool of black mist formed around the filly's shoulder, before fading.
Now, even as they ran around the corner and down some stairs, she could still see them. She decided to give them a bit of a lead, allowing her to stalk them a bit better. Besides, she needed her knife. So, she landed by where it fell when she was, transformed, or whatever. When she stooped down to pick it up, she heard a voice behind her. One she both hoped and longed to hear again.
"Rainbow Dash?", Twilight said, freezing Umbra on the spot. "Is that you?"
Rainbow grinned as she saw the various orbs fly in their direction. She had seen them taken away, so she knew that those were their cutie marks. Her suspicion was confirmed by the blue one flying up to her and slamming into her upper arm. She slid off the shoulder off, seeing the equal sign being replaced by her old tri-colored lightning bolt. Looking down, she saw the others getting theirs back as well.
"Yeehaw!", Applejack yelled, pumping her arms and kicking the air. "Finally, ah can buck like a five-bit snake herder in an Appleouse ranch house again!"
"Oh, and you got your country-isms back", Fluttershy interjected. After the moment of jubilation, they all remembered about who stole them; Starlight Glimmer. Faces turning to determination, they all took off running, while she and Twilight flew towards the pass.
As they got closer, they saw the four townsponies who had come with them; Night Glider, Sugar Belle, Double Diamond, and Party Favor. At some point, Double Diamond had gotten ahold of a helmet and some skies, and was just now pulling up to the others. If she had to guess, he was the cause of the massive pile of snow blocking the pass.
Speaking of said pile, Starlight poked her head out of it. Her muzzle was contorted into a snarl, and after a few quick glances around, her eyes fell on her former citizens. She crawled out of the snowbank, eyes narrowed and horn aglow with magic. They backed up as spirals formed around it, and a burst of magic shot at them.
Before any of them were hit, however, Twilight, who had gotten a bit of a head start on her, landed in front of them and put up a magic barrier. The two forces of magic seemed to play a session of tug-of-war for a minute, before Starlights beam faded and Twilight lowered her shield.
Shock had overcome Starlight's features, before they returned to anger. She said, "I studied that spell for years. How can you-"
"I studied magic for years too. But what I didn't know then was that studying could only take me so far. Each of my friends has taught me something different about myself. It was their unique gifts and passions and personalites that helped bring out the magic inside of me", she said, and Rainbow was certain that she made eye contact with her as she said it. "I never would've learned that I represent the element of magic without these five. And I certainly wouldn't he here to stop you now."
"Spare me your sentimental nonsense! I gave these ponies real friendships they never could've had otherwise", Starlight ranted.
"How could you have known that!?", Double Diamond interjected, pulling off his helmet and holding it in the crook of his arm. "You never even gave us a chance."
Starlight's face further contorted into a snarl, and her horn lit up again. Like before, a bolt of energy shot out of it, this time at Twilight. A smaller shield popped up, but instead of absorbing the bolt like last time, it ricocheted off it, reflecting off it and slamming into Rainbows chest.
She fell back, her wings seemingly unable to flap. As she fell back, she was stopped by the twin auras of Party Favor and Sugar Belle. Her chest ached, almost fully drawing her attention, but was able to keep her sense up just enough to hear the blast of magic, and Starlight yell in alarm, before a thud hit the snow.
The two of them lowered her to the ground, Twilight running up to her. She said, "Rainbow, are you ok!?"
"*Cough, cough*, fine. Just hurts." However, her eyelids felt heavy, and that combined with the pain sent her over the edge. She went limp, falling back in Twilights arms.
++++
Rainbow awoke screaming. As soon as her eyes shot open, pain pulsed through her like somepony lit her blood ablaze. A focal point of this pain was her head and her wings, and she reacted as such. She gripped her head with her head, while her wings flapped erratically, sending her rolling off whatever she was on. All the while, she was still screaming.
Through the pain, she made out a voice say, "She's awake!" It sounded like Twilight, but it was hard to tell. It was confirmed when she saw Twilight, who grabbed her hands and held them in front of her. "Rainbow! Speak to me!"
With the pressure from her hands on her head gone, she then began thrashing her head around. She choked out, "MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!"
"Help me get her back onto the bed", Twilight said, and she made out several blurs move up to her. She thought they were her friends, but she couldn't tell. The only form she could make out clearly was Twilight.
She was hoisted up, despite her thrashing, onto a bed. Despite the slight comfort beneath her, the pain that shot through her caused her to roll and scream. She nearly fell off the bed again, but was stopped and held somewhat still by Twilights magic. It didn't stop with the pain, though.
"Can't ya do anythin', Twi?", a voice she recognized as Applejack said.
Twilight said, "I've tried. But, no matter what healing spells I use, nothing happens. I've even tried using some of the unfamiliar spells in Starlight Glimmers house. Nothing."
"D-do you even know what she did to Rainbow?", a terrified Fluttershy said.
"Again, I don't know. There is nothing like what's happening to her in Starlight's Spellbooks."
"Yeah", a saddened Pinkie said. "I looked too. Not a thing."
Another shape came into the room; a light pink one. A feminine voice said, "I've gotten the closest thing we have to a doctor. Remember, with Starlight's control, we didn't have much, so he's sort of out of practice."
"It's fine, Sugar Belle. I don't care. Just, help her. Please", Twilight said.
This time, another blur entered, and made her way over to the thrashing and magically bound Rainbow. "Hold her still", a masculine voice said. A part of her was focused by the magic, held still while other parts of her continued to twitch.
She felt a faint cool feeling against her open chest. It was probably nothing, but it was a massive flare of pain that shot from it. She resisted against the push of magic, but it held her down as best it could. Finally, she stopped pushing against the magic, just laying back, hyperventilating and trying desperately to overcome the pain.
He pulled away, the blur fading out of focus as she hissed in agony and continued breathing heavily. Over her breathing, she made out the conversation between them. "I don't know what's wrong with her", said the stallion. "Nothing appears to be wrong with her, at least on the outside. And, well, even internally, I can't detect anything wrong with her. Some sort of magic must be at play. I'm sorry. I just don't know."
"Please. Double check", she heard Twilight say. "We're close, and.... and I just want her to be ok."
"Ok, I'll do it." He made his way back over to her, the magic once again holding her down as he went over her. Again, pain flared over her chest, and she continued to hiss and groan. He pulled away, and she heard somepony get up next to her. Rolling her head over, she saw a pink blob.
"Please, Dashie. Please be ok", the blob spoke, confirming it to be Pinkie Pie. "I know hurting is bad, but I know you'll get better. You're strong, and you'll come out of it. And I'll throw you a big party. Ok?"
"Kill me. Kill me, kill me, kill me", she sobbed, clenching her eyes shut. She knew she shouldn't say as much, but couldn't help it. It seemed like a decent alternative to all of this.
"What did you say, Dashie?", Pinkie asked.
Another blob came up to her, a white one, said, "Yes, darling. What did you say?"
She didn't care. She roared out, "KILL ME!", and her eyes shot open.
Instead of her pain blurred vision of before, she was greeted with a crystal clear view. And, lookin directly into her eyes, was the stallion from Twilights hospital room. This time, he wasn't wearing his sunglasses, and she saw his eyes. Instead of a normal ponies, she was greeted with a pair of glowing red orbs. He said, "With Pleasure."
She screamed, and felt a pain flare up in her chest. Looking up, she saw FIRE shoot up out of her chest, rippling past her ribs like a lantern. She screamed, and slammed her head back into the headrest of the bed. She managed to look down, and saw a massive burn over her chest. A numbness flared up past the pain, and fell back to the chair. Her eyes lowered, but remained open. That didn't matter.
Umbra turned around slowly, staring at the alicorn behind her. She did a quick look over herself as best she could. The clothing was the same, she still had on her face coverings and hat, and her wings still resembled those of bats. Then, she looked a little way up, and saw a string of orange, red, and yellow hair peeking under the brim of the hat. Knowing she was caught, she still said, "Ummm. No?"
Twilight crossed her arms, eyes narrowing. "Ok, I'm not Applejack. But even I know that was a lie. And you know it too."
She considered running. She could easily outrun her, and outfly her if it came to that. She could make it out of there and get away from her easily. But, she knew that wouldn't solve the issue. Push come to shove, she might even go to the Princesses, and she didn't really want to involve them. So, she stood up, sliding her knife into her jacket sheath. She held up her hands, before they fell to her sides and she said, "Ok. Yeah. It's me. 'Sup."
She expected Twilight to... well, she didn't really know what she would do. She said, "Why?"
That was something she didn't expect. She stuttered out, "W-what do you mean?"
"Why didn't you come back!?", Twilight shouted, walking up to her. "If you're alive, then why the Tartarus did you not come back!?"
"Y-you're not wondering how I'm alive?", Umbra asked, a mix of confused and terrified.
She yelled back, "I honestly don't care how you're alive, I just care that you are!"
"Technically, no." As soon as she said that, she winced, realizing her mistake.
Sure enough, Twilights eyes widened in confusion, before narrowing. "And what does that mean!? What is going on!?"
"Look, I need to go. Catch ya later, Twi!". She tried flying in the direction Pillar and the filly went, only to be stopped by a purple shield. The same shield then slammed into her and sent her flying backwards, landing on her back and sending a jolt of pain up her wings. An aura of magic surrounded her, lifting her up with Twilight.
She said, "Now. Explain. Why didn't you come back?"
Umbra couldn't exactly tell her. You know, about being a Daemon and what-not. She said, "Look, I can't. I-"
"What do you mean you can't?", Twilight shouted, by now visibly angry. "What aren't you telling me?"
"You know what, fine", Umbra said, indicating up to her hat. Twilight let her magic go, and Umbra removed the extra bits of clothing on her head. Her neck gaiter, exposing her teeth; her sunglasses, exposing her blood-red eyes; and of course, her hat, exposing her swept back horns. "Because I'm a bucking Daemon, Twi! That's why!"
That sent her into shock, and Umbra used the momentum that gave her to push her point. "Yeah. I'm a literal Daemon from Hell. My job is to hunt down the creatures who make deals with other Daemons and to collect their souls. That's why I was in Ponyville; I was on business all right. Collecting souls. I kill people for a job."
"B-but how!?", Twilight yelled, face contorted in a mixture of sadness, anger, and confusion.
"After Tirek blasted you into a coma, I was confronted by this Daemon. Abaddon. He got you out of the coma, and in return I gave him my blood."
"What does you giving blood have anything to do with becoming a Daemon!?"
"In this business, blood is like gold. It holds the soul, and I have to collect it when I kill someone." She then shook her head, and said, "Look, none of this matters. I have other matters I need to attend to, and I really need to go!"
"Still, why didn't you come back!?", Twilight said. Umbra got up in her face, wings flared and fangs bared.
"What part of 'I'm a BUCKING Daemon' did you not get! What was I supposed to do!? Knock on the door, convince Spike to let me talk to all of you, and just say 'Oh, hey girls. I'm now a Daemon from Hell who kills people and takes their souls for a living, but we can still be friends, right'? Who in their right bucking mind would-MMPH!"
She was cut off by Twilight slapping her, sending her head lolling to the side. "What is wrong with you? We're your friends, Rainbow. It doesn't matter what you are; we're still friends. And, I, I still love you."
"Well maybe you shouldn't", Umbra said, looking away and crossing her arms. "Maybe you should just move on."
"What did I just say, Rainbow? I just said that it doesn't matter what you are. What matters is-", Twilight said, only to be once again cut off by Umbra.
"And I agree with you. But it isn't just what I am. It's what I've done." She slumped down on a bit of rubble of the castle, looking up at her former marefriend through her bangs. "Like I said, my job is to hunt people down. To take their souls. I've killed the elderly and the young. At least one from nearly every living race on the face of the planet. Of every social circle, wealth level, everything. *Sigh*. I was even the one who killed Granny Smith."
"Y-you did?", Twilight said.
Umbra nodded. She looked up a bit more, making eye contact with her. "Just, let it go, Twi. I handle my business, and we'll never see each other again. For both our sakes, just move on, Twi." She stood up, turning to leave, only to stop in her tracks.
"Rainbow, no."
"That, that's not even my name anymore. I told you, it's Umbra Venandi", she said. She kept moving, a tear sliding down her face. She didn't want to, but it was for the best.
Suddenly, a massive pull on her horns sent her stumbling backwards. She was whipped around, face to face with Twilight. Even after all these years, she was still so beautiful. In a voice as soft and gentle as she could ever hope for, Twilight said, "I don't care."
"What?"
"You heard me. I don't care. I still love you. I don't care if I'd have to spend eternity alone, I'd never betray you. We're more than friends, and I don't give a literal hoot in Hell about it."
"Twi, I-"
"Shut up", she said, before pulling Umbra into a kiss.
Her eyes widened, before shutting in bliss. If she concentrated, she could almost imagine it was their first proper kiss, back on the train outside Our Town. A thought then occurred to her; she didn't need to draw the comparison. Twilight was more-or-less right. She still loved her, and it didn't matter as much as she thought it would. After a blissful eternity in their embrace, they pulled apart, giving one another looks of tender passion, with maybe a hint of lust.
"W-well, what do you want to know?", Umbra asked, still coming down from the afterglow of her kiss.
Twilight seemed to consider it for a moment, before rambling out, "Oh, I don't know. There's just so much to be learned from this. I, I, I just can't decide!"
"Look, I don't mean to come off as a motherfluffer, but can you hurry it up a bit? I really do need to get going", Umbra said.
Twilight nodded, looking at her. "Right. Ok then; who was that?"
"That was Pillar", Umbra said. "He's a Celestial. Back before the Covenant, he was one of the most well-renowned warriors of Faust in the war. And by well renowned, I mean most feared by the Daemons. After the Covenant, he still kept fighting and killing Daemons, breaking the Covenant. So, he lost his power and was imprisoned. No idea how he got out, but his old boss and my current one want him stopped."
"Wait! Faust? Covenant? War!?", Twilight said.
Umbra said, "Relax. That was over ten thousand years ago."
"Ok, now you need to tell me everything", Twilight said.
"But I really need to go!", Umbra protested. That reminder seemed to shake Twilight out of her 'Bookworm mode'.
She said, "Oh, right! G-go!" As Umbra tried to take off, she said, "Oh, and Rainbow! Don't you think of bailing out on me!"
"Wouldn't dream of it, you sexy egghead!", Umbra snorted, whirling around in the air, and diving in the direction of the stairs the stallion had fled down. Twilight lit up her horn, teleporting back to her castle...
++++
...And right into the middle of a bunch of ponies talking. Her friends, Spike, and Fizzlepop were still there, if obviously not in the same position they were before she had initially teleported away. Three new figures had arrived, however, taking up a decent portion of the room. One was an unfamiliar stallion in a dark suit, fedora, and round sunglasses, like the mob bosses from those old movies her dad liked. The other two, however, she recognized immediately.
"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!", she said. "What are you doing here? And who is this?"
"Twilight", Princess Celestia said. "I'm glad you've returned. And, did you encounter Umbra?"
Twilight scowled for a second, before saying, "That's the thing. I did, but I found out something about her. She's-"
"The one you once knew as Rainbow Dash? Correct", the stallion said, drawing shocked gasps and looks of disbelief from all of the assembled ponies. Save the older Princesses.
"What!?", Fluttershy SHOUTED, much to everyone's surprise.
"I beg pardon?", Rarity exclaimed before her fainting couch fell back and she fell onto it.
Twilight, on the other hand, who knew about this information, was instead of shocked, suspicious. "And just how do you know that?"
"Ah, you must be Princess Sparkle. My nieces have told me much of you. A pleasure to meet you in the flesh", he said, holding out a hand to the flustered alicorn.
She stuttered, "N-nieces? What?" She shook herself out of her stunned state, before fixing him with a glare. "Ok. Just who are you, and how do you know about Rainbow?"
"Where are my manners", he said, rescinding his hand and spreading his arms. "My name is Lucifer Morningstar, Lord of Hell, and Umbra's employer."
"Hold up right there, partner!", AJ interceded. "What is goin' on?"
The stallion let out a sigh, looking up at the two alicorns. "Why do you insist on keeping this a secret? It would make things so much less complicated, and give my daemons an easier job."
"Do you want a mass panic?", Luna said. "I imagine that would make your daemons jobs much harder, uncle."
"Sister...", Celestia said, almost warning a bit. The younger sister snorted and looked a bit disgruntled, but remained silent. "Carry on, uncle."
"Uncle?", Pinkie asked. "Even I don't know what's going on, and I got a look at the writers' PMs."
"Er, ignoring that", Lucifer said. "Like my nieces and I have said, I am the Lord of Hell."
He proceeded to explain what his job was, and what he was doing here. How he had been informed by his nieces, Celestia and Luna, that he had been informed that one of his Daemons had been identified. The whole situation had been explained to him, and now he was here to explain what was going on.
"So, what exactly are you wondering? I'm sure I can answer any questions you may have", he said, putting his hands in his pockets and gave a small smile, showing off similar shark-like fangs to Umbra.
"How are the Princesses your nieces?", Spike asked.
Lucifer said, "My sister, Faust, had a... Oh, how do you put it... a fling! Yes, a fling. With a mortal a long time ago. And by long, I mean several thousand years. After the mortals' death, she had them raised by Starswirl the Bearded, before they became the rulers of Equestria. She maintains contact with them, hence why they know about the supernatural and me."
Other questions were exchanged, Lucifer answering them. How Hell worked, Faust, almost everything was asked and replied to. One question, however, was asked not to him but to the sisters:
"Why keep all of this a secret? I mean, if so many ponies and other creatures have to hide this, then why not let them be, you know, open about it?", Twilight said.
None of them noticing the look of barely contained fear on Fluttershy's face, Celestia said, "As my sister alluded to earlier, we wish to avoid a panic."
"But, aren't ponies usually excepting of others?", Twilight asked. That resulted in a harsh, barking laugh from Lucifer, and all attention falling on him.
"Accepting?", he said, like it was the most amusing thing in the world. "You're only ok with things when you're used to them. That zebra who lives on the edge of town, for instance. You only didn't think of her as a witch after proof to the contrary and six months!"
The group all looked about, wincing, recalling one of their not best moments. Celestia said, "He speaks the truth. Despite your moving past it, it is something of a sad truth that some might not. And if it was somepony close to them, then the results might be more dire. Better to keep it a secret, or at least edge it out slowly, than to simply shove it in their faces, as it were."
Before any of them could continue, loud screaming was heard outside. Celestia's horn flashed, and all of them were teleported to the steps of Twilights castle. The sight that greeted them made them freeze in their tracks.
In Ponyville, several creatures ran amuck, attack bystanders and otherwise destroying property. However, as they got a better look at some of them, they looked familiar. One, a dog-like pony with huge rippling muscles ripping apart a fruit stand, gave them a confirmation. He had bright red fur, with shredded blue jeans, a red flannel shirt, and a work yoke around his shoulders.
"Big mac!?", Applejack shouted in astonishment.
Pinkie asked, "What's going on!?"
Before any of them could say anything, Fluttershy suddenly fell to her knees. When they looked back at her, her wings were folded behind her back and tears ran down her cheeks. She whimpered, "I'm sorry." As she spoke, they made out sharp, pointed canines in her mouth. She let out a shrill shriek, her wings flaring out. Only, they weren't really her wings; they were instead, large leathery bat wings, much like Umbra had. Her fingernails extended into claws, and she hunched forward, hissing in pain and gripping her head.
Lucifer knelt down next to her, using a near pitch-black magic aura to force open her eyes. Instead of the normal teal eyes, she instead had blood-red slit pupils, the whites replaced with a swirling purple aura. He shoved her head aside, leaving her a crumpled mess on the top of the steps.
"Chaos magic. Someone is using Discords old power to control them", he said, scowling.
Twilight asked, "How!?"
"Much like how I created Daemons to check sentients sins and my sister to reward their good acts, Discord created them to embody.... well I don't honestly know. However, they all share a link to him and his... his power." He froze, face wide with horror. Even as Fluttershy writhed below them and chaos reigned in Ponyville, he muttered, soft as a mouse, "Discord, you bloody fool."
Umbra, as Twilight teleported away, spread her wings and took off in the direction where Pillar and the filly fled. As she got close to the ruins of the old thrones, she saw a small passage behind the dais, leading underground. She didn't recall anything like this the last time she was at the castle, but that would've, at this point, at least eight years at that point. Despite the lack of rubble around the hole, she choked it up to falling debris from the old palace. She didn't really have time to deliberate on it at that time. She landed, drew her knife, and slunk down the stairs.
After a few steps down, the light from the sun faded away, and she was soon shrouded in darkness. That wasn't really a problem, however. Her eyes, glowing red as they were, acted as essentially headlights. She could make out just enough to not trip, but the light wasn't bright enough to really alert anyone. So, hand against the wall to prevent from walking into something despite the light from her eyes, she made her way down the stairway.
As she did so, she recollected the little filly. Who was she? One second, she was walking towards Pillar, and the next, she was a quadrupedal, thing. And then back again. What could do that? She wasn't a unicorn. And even then, the only pony even close to that power was rumors about Cadence and Shining Armors daughter (Fuzzy Heart, or something?), who was an alicorn, for bucks sake. So, just what was she?
Her thoughts were interrupted when she nearly stumbled back after reaching the edge of the wall. She jerked back quickly, hoping she wasn't seen. Reflecting off the wall in front of her, she saw light. Not the constant glow of the sun, but the orange flicker of a fire. Careful not to be seen, she peaked around the corner.
Below her was a large room, whose purpose she couldn't accurately make out. In the center of the room was the fire, around which Pillar and the filly sat. Pillar was bandaging a gash, while the filly was curled up, lightly sobbing. Umbra was once again left wondering about her, before dismissing the thought as currently unimportant. Even injured, Pillar was still the bigger threat.
Looking around the upper part of the room, she noticed large pillars, easily big enough to fit a pair of Big Macs behind comfortably. Using them, she should be able to get behind him and perform a surprise attack. So, careful not to make any loud noises, she shot over to the nearest one. Once again checking over around the corner of the pillar, she slunk around the upper platform, careful not to be seen. As she did so, she listened in on the conversation the two of them were having.
"Are you ok, Mr. Pillar?", the filly asked. Now that she focused on it, something seemed off about her voice. Even with its sad down, it had a weird... effect to it. She couldn't really describe it, but something was definitely off.
Pillar said, "I'm fine. Just a scratch. I've dealt with worse."
"Why'd you hurt that Celestial?", the filly asked. "I thought you said it was just Daemons that were the baddies."
"They are. My brethren and Faust are just... misguided. They think they'll honor the Covenant. Fools. They can't be trusted." He lifted up his hand, grasping hers. "That's why I need your powers. So I can prevent them from harming anyone."
She jerked her hand away. "I, I can't. The voice says not to."
"What is this 'voice' you keep talking about? You've never really been clear."
She averted her gaze from him, focusing instead on the flickering light of the fire. "I can't really explain it. I, I just don't know!"
Pillar leaned forward, once again grasping her hand. "It's ok. But, please. Give it to me. I want to help you."
Umbra had no idea what was going on. Voice? Powers? Just who was this filly? Umbra pushed those thoughts aside as she finally got behind him. With him leaning forward, his sword nest to him, she was in the perfect position. So, after a moment of steeling herself, she bolted around the corner, her wings flapping to give her just that bit more momentum.
Her move wasn't unnoticed. The filly shouted, "Look out!" Pillar reacted in an instant, whipping around and reaching for his sword, however even he wasn't fast enough. She slammed into his chest at high speed, sending him flying into one of the columns behind him. He fell to the ground, a massive dent where he hit and a small rain of pebbles hitting him. Not wanting to take any chances, she jogged up to where he fell, pulling out the cuffs she still had and putting the cuffs around his wrists.
He jerked up immediately, thrashing like a fish out of water. He jerked to the side, still attempting to grab his sword, but Umbra kicked it out of his reach, then him in the chest. He fell back, his head lolling to the side. He then looked up, and said, "Release me, and I swear I shall make your death painless."
"Oh, shut up", she said, kicking him again.
Behind her, the filly said, "Stop it! Stop hurting him, you meanie!"
She turned, looking over the filly again. Almost everything about her was normal and yet wasn't in some way. "Ok. Who are you, and how in Lucifer's name did you turn me into that... that thing?"
She continued to tear up, head down nearly touching her chest. "My, my name i-is Parabellum. A-and I, I don't know."
"Ok then", Umbra said. "Look, this guy isn't a nice guy. So, I'm going to just take this guy in. I'll come back, then I'll take you to the Ponyville Orphanage, and I-"
"NO!", Parabellum shouted, her voice laced with a weird flanging effect. "I don't wanna go back! I don't want to hurt anypony!"
"Please. Just give me your power. I will ensure you do not return to that place", Pillar said.
Umbra looked back at him, preparing to yell at him again when she noticed he started glowing. He snapped the binders like they were made of wet paper, standing up. Familiar looking, swirling purple power coursed up his arms, and he shot her a sadistic grin.
She looked over her shoulder, seeing Parabellum slumped against the wall, shivering. She said, "What is going on!?"
"Simple, Daemon", Pillar said. His sword poofed into existence in his hand, giving it a quick flourish before he rested it at his side. "The filly has given me her power. With it, I shall keep your foul kind from corrupting the surface. Starting, with you." He flipped it around, and exploded into a cloud of... confetti? He appeared in front of her, smacking her in the chest with the pommel. She was sent flying up, smashing through the ceiling and sent flying into the early afternoon air.
Umbra groaned, rubbing her head as she leaned up. She had no idea what exactly hit her, but it was nothing like what she had seen any Celestial or even a Daemon use. If anything, it reminded her of Discord, but that was stupid. He was dead, and from what little she knew of magic when the caster was gone, the magic was more-or-less gone too.
Before she could consider it further, she saw a flash of movement appear above her. A streak of swirling magic shot down, her rolling out of the way just before it hit. She stumbled forward and took off, taking off to stay away from the blasts of magic. She ducked into a spiral, finding herself level with Pillar.
Looking at him, she noticed something about him was... off. His eyes, while still having dark blue pupils, now had yellow instead of white in the outer parts. His fingernails seemed a little bit longer, and of course, he was floating. That last part was pretty obvious.
She yelled, "What in the Rings did you do!?"
In reply, he merely laughed. "I have claimed the power of a GOD! And with it, I shall end you and your kinds evil once and for all!" With that, a pink miasma formed around his blade, before he swung it in a wide arc and sent it flying her way. She ducked out of the way before it suddenly shifted directions and slammed her in the back. She tumbled forward out of the air, her wings not responding to her commands to flap.
At the last second, she managed to regain control and prevent from becoming a Daemon pancake. Once again, she had to quickly had to duck out of the way as Pillar dove down, jabbing his sword into the stone. Thinking the blade was stuck, she dove back in, kicking for his head.
He grabbed her leg, leaving his sword behind. He shoved it up, sending her sprawling onto her back. He turned back and yanked his sword free, shoving downward towards her. Again, she rolled out of the way, before jumping up and running away from him.
"You can't run away forever, Daemon!", he shouted.
In reply, she yelled back, "Buck you sideways, Motherfluffer!" She bolted around a column, seeking her knife. Sighting it, she ran for it, ducking under a wall of magic Pillar sent after her. She rolled, grabbing the small blade and rolling to the side to prevent him from firing at him. It wouldn't do much against his direct magic and sword, but it would at the very least help. She peaked around the corner, only to avoid a blast of magic. She ducked her head back, watching as the rock it struck sprouted wings and flew off. Heavy steps indicated he was approaching. So, with a deep breath, she dove around the corner, hoof flying up and connecting with the place the sun don't shine.
++++
"What do you mean, 'Discord, you bloody fool?'", Twilight asked. "Discord is dead."
"My point", Lucifer replied. "His power should've faded away, or returned to the void. But, someone is using his power. How, I don't-"
He was cut off when Fluttershy dove up, hissing and swinging her claws. He grabbed her by the throat, holding her just far enough away from himself to prevent her from clawing him. He snorted, then threw her against the door, where she fell to the ground with a thud. The others ran to her side, and both tried to comfort her and restrain her at the same time.
"Fluttershy! What's gotten into you!?", Rarity shouted.
Pinkie added, "Yeah! Calm down, Shy!"
She began to thrash, desperate to be free of her captors. Through her snarls and hissing, they were able to make out the words, "Master..... Master!"
"Master?", Fizzlepop said. "Who?"
"One of my sisters, I suspect. Pillar."
Celestia said, "Pillar!? He got free!?"
"Yeah. Rainbow mentioned this. He's some sort of fanatic, right", Twilight said.
"Worse than that", Luna replied. "He's absolutely devoted to the cleansing of Daemons."
"An dat's a bad thing because?", AJ asked.
"Without Daemons to keep it in check, the worst attributes of you mortals run rampant. Greed, lust, vengeance; all of it. Just like how Celestials reward the noble and the virtuous", Lucifer explained.
Applejack said, "Oh."
Before anyone else could say anything, Fluttershy broke free of her friends. With her wings spread and a screech of triumph, she took off, whipping around Twilights castle and towards the Everfree.
Twilight said, "If the one with Discords power is Pillar, then she must be going to help him!"
Celestia said, "Go! Save Fluttershy and Umbra, and stop Pillar. We shall contain the others and prevent them from escaping to aid him."
"Right", Twilight said, a determined glint in her eye. "Gather around, girls." They did so, grabbing Twilight's arm as her horn lit up, and they disappeared in a flash.
++++
Umbra ducked another swing, kicking off the ground and soaring above him, her hoof connecting with his face as she did so. Pillar snarled, before snapping his fingers and dropping a wall of water on her. She was soaked, and the impact sent her falling back to the stones. He lunged down with his blade, only for her to roll out of the way and kick him in the back of the legs.
She flung herself up, grabbing her knife in both hands to drive it into his back. He disappeared in a flash of bubbles, appearing behind her with a downward slash. Again, she sidestepped and whipped the knife around, again aiming for the back. He stepped forward, before whipping around and going into a low guard.
"I'll admit, Daemon. You've got some skill", he said, a snarl never leaving his face.
"Thanks", Umbra replied. "So, you gonna stop trying to kill me? And purging Daemonkind from the realm?"
"Never!", he roared.
She prepared for him to lunge forward, but it never came. Instead, she was tackled from behind, sending her sprawling and her hat falling off her head. Whatever had hit her, it wasn't that strong, allowing her to roll over and onto it. She turned around, raising her knife, only to stop in shock. "Flutters!?"
Sure enough, the yellow mare was below her, snarling and hissing. Oh, and she was a vampony; wings, fangs, whole nine yards. She lunged up, catching her off guard and causing her to fall back. She lifted up a leg, kicking her in the stomach. The force of the kick sent her flying towards Pillar, who used the flat of his blade to shove her out of his way. She went flying back, smacking onto the edge of the hole in the floor before falling into it.
"What'd you do to her!?", she yelled, turning back to Pillar. He greeted her with a sadistic grin.
He said, "With the power of the old chaos god, I can control them. An army to purge the unclean."
"Wait. Discord!?", she said.
"Rainbow!", another voice yelled, drawing both of their attentions. Twilight, Spike, Fizzlepop, and the rest of her friends all ran into the old throne room, looking ready to fight. Pillar said, "I will not be interrupted."
He lowered his sword, lifting up his hand and snapping his fingers. In a flash, all of them save Twilight, who threw up a shield, disappeared in a flash of smoke. At the same time, a shield of what looked like cotton candy appeared over the hole.
Twilight lowered her shield, and said, "What did you do to my friends!?"
"They are safe, mortal", Pillar said. "Down below. Now, let me send you to them. I shall deal with this, scum, shortly."
"Why do you think I'm here? I'm here to stop you."
That seemed to catch Pillar off guard. He said, "You'd defend this Daemon?"
"I'm right here you kno-"
"Silence", he snarled, tape forming over Umbras mouth. "Now, really? You will stand by it, despite what it's done and what it will do?"
"Yes. She may not be the same pony, but she's still my friend. More than that, even. I'm not going anywhere, and neither are my friends. Friends stick together."
Pillar looked stunned. Umbra didn't think he'd back down, and so tightened her grip on her dagger, while also ripping the tape off with her other hand. He looked at Umbra, then back at Twilight, then back to Umbra, and back again. He said, "So be it then, corrupted." With that, he snapped his fingers. A large round sphere with a fuse fell in front of her, and a second later, exploded.
Umbra yelled, "NO!", and threw her knife. It seemed to catch him off guard, burying itself hilt deep in her head as he stumbled back. She barely noticed, running at full speed over to her fallen lover.
Twilight was bloody, her vest, shirt, and skirt riddled with holes. She wasn't moving. Umbra said, "Come on, Twi. Wake up. J-just say something. Anything. You aren't dying on me like this, egghead!" She pressed her head to the chest; Twilight was already cold.
Pillar stood behind her, grimacing. "Regretable", he said. "But it had to be done. Now, onto you. Worry not. I shall avenge her, and your old self, by killing you."
Umbra barely heard him. She just squeezed her eyes shut. A tear made its way out the side before it evaporated from a sudden heat. When she opened her eyes a second later, instead of normal eyes, they were balls of fire.
When Rainbow awoke, all she saw around her was darkness, laced with streaks of pale mist. She stood up from her previous laying down position, looking around in all directions. She stepped forward, only to bump into an invisible wall. She pressed her hands up against the wall, before turning around and walking in the other direction. The same thing happened, and when she flew up. Finally, after nearly breaking her neck flying into the invisible ceiling, she settled down on the floor, sitting with her arms wrapped around her legs.
Was she dead? She had to be dead; her last memory was seeing a massive gaping hole in her chest. So, would that make this the afterlife? It didn't seem like anything that had been described to her or anything she had read. Still, she couldn't rule out the possibility. And if that was the case...
She stood up and looked further up as her little prison was suddenly bathed in red light. From seemingly everywhere at once, a voice said, "Here you are, Sir."
The bubble was yanked up, knocking her back to the ground. The red light faded to the background as it was replaced with a blazing inferno in the shape of an orb. A black slit was all that marred it, which blinked a few times and then narrowed. Even as she tried to rise again, the prison was shoved down, the red light fading from below her. Looking up, she made out a few blurs of two shapes. One was a simple black outline, and the other was a similar one, save two orbs of fiery light.
A different voice, an even deeper one, said, "You bloody fool, Abaddon!"
The second figure backed up, seemingly alarmed. Rainbow tried to yell, only to find no noise emitting from her mouth. The first voice, likely the one who backed up, said, "W-what do you mean, my lord? I brought you another soul, just like you said!"
"You got one of my niece's Element Bearers!" The silhouette seemed to recline back, an arm reaching up to grab its head. The second voice said, "Great. Now, thanks to you, I will have to face the wrath of my sister and the paperwork beyond that. Paperwork I'll be making YOU do."
She still couldn't get a good look at the second shape, but he seemed to gulp. "Y-yes sir. And, what of her?"
The second figure seemed to grumble to himself, musing to himself. "Well, I suppose that there is no use in wasting a good soul. A contract is a contract", he said. "I'll take her to the forge. You. You will start with my current papers."
"Yes sir." A massive darkness flared over her prison, and said darkness surrounded her.
++++
When light finally returned to her little cell, it was a much brighter red, bordering on orange. However, it only filled her cell for a brief second, before a massive pulling force yanked her free of it.
She found herself in a large, dark room, bathed in flickering red and orange light. In front of her was a large pool of what appeared to be molten metal, bubbling and rolling like a stormy sea. Looking up, she saw a high vaulted ceiling above her, carved with images of bones, skulls, and ponies and other creatures dying horrible deaths. She said, barely above a hoarse whisper, "W-where am I?"
"In the Hell Forge", a voice from behind her said. She turned around and froze, her eyes turning to pinpricks. Before her was stood a massive alicorn with ashen grey fur, a large pair of skeletal wings, and a horn that resembled a massive sword. His eyes were balls of fire, and she found herself unable to focus on anything else. The swirling vortexes were seemingly unable to let her go, and she just stared, mouth agape.
The figure continued, "I am Lucifer Morningstar, Lord of Sin and Regent of Hell. Your name is Rainbow Blitz Dash, correct?" When she nodded dumbly, he continued, "Now, do you know why you are here?"
She didn't really want to, but she had a sneaking suspicion of why. "Am, am I dead?"
"Correct, my dear", he said.
She didn't properly reply; she just fell onto her knees, tears falling from her eyes. She was dead. She had just begun a relationship with the pony she loved and was now dead. Never to see her again. Then, a thought came to her. "W-wait. W-why am I in Hell!? What did I do!?"
Lucifer said, "Technically, nothing. However, you did make a contract with one of my subordinates. We value our contracts, and that is why you are in this place."
"W-what is this place?"
"This is where I forge my new daemons."
Rainbow balked in surprise. When one heard of Daemons, one generally associated the name with evil creatures. Hay, when she first heard of Tirek, she kinda thought of him as one. But, now, she was in a place that made them, and if she was right...
"Does that mean... you plan to turn me into one?", she asked, dreading the response.
He smiled; one that would normally be associated with someone who got a nice gift. "Well, yes", he said. "Like I said, I value my contracts. And, you said you would give up your blood to me if you failed to return your debt. I know Abaddon failed to give you adequate time, but a contract is a contract."
"And, what if I say no?", Rainbow asked, not really wanted to do that.
Lucifer smile slightly goes down, lowering his hands into the pockets of his khakis. "Well, I can't just let you go. You are technically mine. If you refuse to become one of my servants, I shall have little choice but to send you to one of the Rings of Hell. So, do you accept my deal?"
Rainbows tears had faded, and she looked around. From Lucifer, to the ceiling, to the pit of fire. Well, call her a coward, but she really didn't want to languish in Hell for all eternity. And, well, if it was the only way out, then it was the only way out. "O-ok. I, I guess I'll do it."
"Good", he said, his grin returning. "Now I need you to sign this. Like I said, contracts." A glowing red piece of paper formed in front of her from a whisp of fire, a black quill falling into her hand from the same puff. Like with the other one, she didn't really look at it too much. She just grabbed the quill and signed her name at the bottom of the contract. When she finished, it disappeared, and Lucifer said, "Good. Now, in you go." And he kicked her in.
She cried out in alarm, flapping her wings for a split second before she landed in the pool. Despite its bubbling and steam, it was almost ice cold. The liquid seemed to swirl like a whirlpool, sending her around in a circle. While it did, she felt pins and needles all over her. Then, a more intense pain forming in her head and wings. The liquid swirled her around faster and faster, and the pain grew and grew. Finally, after what felt like several minutes, it stopped and left her floating in the liquid. A little bit later, it spat her out like a piece of gum.
She lifted herself up onto her hands and knees, panting like she had just flown a marathon. Immediately, she noticed something was wrong with her. Her hand, while it was still a bluish shade, now ended in pitch black claws. Her arms were even more muscular than they had been, pulsing orange veins visible beneath the fur and skin. She couldn't see much else past her tattered clothes, save her now bat-like wings.
"So", Lucifer said, causing her to look up. His eyes were no longer quite as hypnotic, the swirling flames looking less intense. "Rise, Umbra Venandi."
Rainbow looked down, shaking like a leaf. That wasn't her name; she knew that wasn't her name. But, she did just skim over the contract, and she was certain she remembered something about that in there. She stood up shakily, cracking her back as she did so. She hissed in the pain, stumbling forward in pain. Lucifer caught her, preventing her from falling flat on her face.
"Easy, Umbra. Your true form is not one you can maintain for long", he said.
She asked, "T-true form?"
"Yes, true form", he said. "The form that is most natural to you. Despite this, it is hard to maintain, both in a weakened state or in the mortal realm. Focus; on your old form. Just, think of it."
She did so, stiffening in alarm as blazing flames whipped around her. As it faded, she found herself feeling much better, and also stronger. As she did, Lucifer said, "How do you feel?"
"Good", she said, taking in her now normal looking limbs and her still bat-like wings. "I feel good... Boss."
Fire whipped around the sockets of her eyes, evaporating the tears that had fallen from them just seconds earlier. Her grip tightened on Twilight's body, her knuckles turning white on her former lover's arm. She stood up, breathing heavily, only to be knocked back to her knees and squeeze her eyes shut by a powerful strike from behind.
"Stubborn, I'll give you that", Pillar said. He stood slightly in front of her, sword held at his side. "But, alas, you must die. Tell your master that if he continues to send out his minions, I shall come for him." He lifted up his sword, leveling it at her chest. Umbra laughed in response.
"Oh, not the case, my friend. Because, you see", She said, opening her eyes and cracking a wide, fang-filled grin. "I'll let you tell him yourself."
In a flare of power, Umbra tapped into her anger; one of the 'powerful emotions' Lucifer had mentioned would allow her to access her True Form in the mortal realm. Fire whipped around her, sending Pillar scrambling back in alarm. Beneath the flames, Umbra felt certain parts of her grow in size, while others shifted. New heat, not from the fire, flared up inside her, and remained even as said fire faded away.
As it did, she rolled her now rather muscular arms, watching as the liquid fire ran from her heart out to her arteries and veins. The familiar sight of black claws on her hands, larger and more ram-like horns, and even bigger wings made her smile grow even bigger. Pillar's eyes widened in shock, as she fixed his with her own black orbs with red pupils.
He sputtered in alarm, exclaiming, "W-what devilry is this?"
"Never seen this before?", she asked, cracking her neck. "Well, sinner, I'll tell you this. You killed the most precious thing to me; the one thing that kept me tied to the mortals. Now, without her, I have nothing. And I'm gonna break your sword, then use its shards to choke you." She flexed her hand, and her knife flew into her hands, before being engulfed in fire and growing to the size of Pillars sword. After spreading her wings, which were now also wreathed in flame, she let loose a feral cry and charged.
++++
Down below, Spike lifted himself up, gripping his head as he groaned. He looked around, spotting his friends, who were also recovering from their sudden teleportation. He said, "Everyone here?"
"Ah'm here!", AJ called out, adjusting her hat.
Fizzlepop said, "Yep, I'm here."
"Mmhmm."
"I'm here, darling."
"Ok", he said. "Wait. Where's Twilight!?" Above them, a loud explosion sounded, dust shaking down from the ceiling. "That can't be good."
"Yeah", Fizzlepop said. "We need to get topside." She took off running for the staircase, followed by Applejack and Pinkie. As they ran up the crumbled stone stairs, a wall of pink, bubbly substance appeared over the entrance, sending the three of them slamming into the shield then falling back down the stairs. Fizzlepop stood back up, thrusting her spear into the shield, only for the tip to snap off.
Spike looked around the room, only to fall back as Fluttershy jumped him. He cried out in alarm, pushing back with all his might in order to push her off of him. Rarity aided him in the effort, using her magic to push her back and pin her to one of the columns. Despite the aura of magic around her, Fluttershy continued to thrash and hiss, attempting to break free.
"Oh, this is horrible, Spike", Rarity said, sweat pouring down her face as she concentrated on keeping Fluttershy contained. "Our friends are up there with that maniac, we're stuck down here, and something is wrong with Fluttershy here."
Applejack kicked the shield as hard as she could, then again, and again. After at least several other attempts, she stopped, backing down the stairs over towards the two of them. "Calm down, Rares", she said. "We'll figure something out. We have to."
Spike nodded, but stopped focussing on Fluttershy when he heard a noise off to the side, down below them. It sounded like... Crying? Peeking over the edge, he saw a small filly leaning against the side of the wall, tears streaming down her face interspersed with hard, racking coughs. He ran over around the column that Fluttershy was pinned to, almost jumping down the stairs. He ended up next to her, putting his hand on her shoulder.
She didn't look good. Sweat poured down her head, leaving streaks of darker colored fur down her face. Her eyes, while they shocked him at first, were flicking open and shut several times. Her clothes were also soaked in sweat, and was racked by occasional twitches. In other words, she looked terrible.
He asked, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"P-p-parabellum. I, I just want to be left alone", she said.
"Ok, but what are you doing here?", he asked.
She coughed again, before saying, "Mr., Mr. Pillar. He said that he could help me. But, but he didn't. He just made everything hurt. I just want it to stop. I just want it to stop." She lowered her head into her lap, now full-on sobbing.
Spike backed up, a little bit stunned. Pillar; that was the name of the Celestial thing that was fighting Rainbow and Twilight above them. He had brought her to this place, and suddenly he had all these crazy, Discord-like powers. As he was putting two and two together, Fluttershy managed to break free. She lunged at Rarity, but was smacked back by Applejack. She fell in front of him and Parabellum, struggling to get up.
As Fluttershy landed in front of her, Parabellum froze. A blue mist flowed out of her mouth, and it formed into a small blue, noodle-like figure. It seemed to walk over to Fluttershy, and it stopped just in front of her. A tendril of the steam flowed off of him, and Fluttershy seemed to stop her thrashing. It then turned to the others, and Spike could almost make out a form the tendril.
"Discord?", Rarity asked.
"I'm sorry", a voice seemed to echo out of it; an all-too-familiar one. "If you are hearing this, then I'm somehow dead. Unimaginable, I know, but you know it's true. Even gods like me and my siblings can die if we are cut off from our source of Power. In my case, my chaos magic. But, as you've probably figured out, I've found a way my power won't be lost." It gestured to the filly, who was watching just as intently as the rest of them. "This is Parabellum. Nice name, right? She's, for lack of a better term, my heir. She has my power. Please, if you can, get her to Princess Celestia. Much as I hate to admit it, she's her best chance to train her and help her grow into her powers. And, if you can, say goodbye to my best friend, Fluttershy. Thank you; I'll try to send some goodies from the afterlife. This is Discord, God of Chaos, signing off." And with that, the smoke seemed to fade, disappearing like smoke in the wind.
Spike put two and two together immediately. "That's why everything hurts!"
"Last I checked, we're all fine Spike", Fizzlepop said.
"Not us", he said. "Her. Parabellum. She gave her power to Pillar, and she's dying as a result."
"I'm... dying?", Parabellum asked. "But, I just want to be normal. I, I don't want all of this crazy stuff happening!"
Fluttershy seemed to recover, sitting up and breathing heavily. "W-what happened? Where am I!?"
"Long story, Sugarcube", Applejack said, helping her up.
Spike continued to talk to Parabellum. "Look. I know it's hard. Trust me, I know. I know that these things can be hard. But, sometimes, you have to just stand up and take responsibility. Just, help us. Pillar, he wants to hurt people. Help us, and not only you will stop hurting, you can keep him from hurting others."
"But how do I do it?", she asked. "I don't know how to control what I do, I just *cough*, I just do it."
"Just, try. Please", Fizzlepop said.
Parabellum looked nervous, but swallowed and nodded. "Ok", she said, shutting her eyes.
++++
Umbra was thrown against a column, collapsing part of the structure on top of her. She threw off the crumbling old stone, bringing up her blade just in time to parry a blow aimed for her neck. She pushed in with their blades locked, before kicking off his knee and flying back, buffing him with her wings. He recovered quickly, delivering a rapid thrust at her chest. Again, she parried, this time ducking under the sword and trying to deliver a cut under his guard. Again she failed when he kneed upward, hitting her just below the chin and sending her falling onto her back.
The fight, which had been going back and forth like this for a while, finally turned in Pillars's favor. He snapped his fingers and chains made of cobras formed around her, while their heads bit into her. She felt her strength, along with feeling in her body, fade away as her true form melted away back into her normal form. The snakes removed their fangs, proceeding to tighten around her.
Pillar stood over her, breathing heavily. Her onslaught did injury him; he was covered in burns, small cuts, and other injuries. However, he still had the advantage and placed his blade to her throat. "As always", he said. "Good triumphs. Say goodbye, Daemon."
As he said that, he suddenly froze, twitching and wheezing. Umbra raised herself up on her elbows, watching with a mix of horror and interest. He fell to his knees, eyes glowing with flickering purple light. She cautiously stood, somewhat unsure as to what was happening to him, or by him. She inched closer, holding her now once again normal knife in front of her, ready to lunge forward to stab him.
Finally, he stopped twitching, looking up at her. He tried to rise, but she kicked him in the chest, sending him sprawling on his back. He snapped his fingers, but nothing happened. He did it again, and then again, but the result remained the same. She grinned. She didn't know how, but she didn't care.
She threw down her knife, grabbing his collar and began punching him. She punched until a sneer formed on her face. She then punched until golden ichor began to pour out of his face. She then punched until the sounds that the punches made stopped making smacking noises and started making wet squelching noises.
Finally, after her hand was stained with golden blood and Pillars' face looked like a crushed pie, she was interrupted. A voice, which said, "Woah, Umbra. Calm down, will ya?"
Umbra stopped, letting the bloody and wheezing Pillar fall to the stone floor. She asked, "Dust?"
Sure enough, the aqua celestial mare was there, looking none the worse for wear. She said, "Yeah. We're perpetuals like you, remember? Now, I'm here for two things, so if you'd step aside, that'd be great."
"Two things?", Umbra asked. "I get Pillar, but what's the second." But, she knew. And she dreaded it.
"Him", Lightning said, before pointing at Twilight's body. "And her."
Umbra breathed heavily, reaching down slowly to grab her knife. She nodded over at Pillar, and said, "Do what you want with him. Hell, I'll help string him up by his muscles. But, don't you touch Twilight."
"Sorry, Umbra", she said, walking closer to the corpse. Umbra more or less slide over, blocking Dust from getting to Twilight. "Step aside, Umbra. I don't want to hurt you, but I have my orders."
"Since when did you follow orders?", Umbra asked. "Even at the academy."
Dust snorted, crossing her arms. "Things change, 'Dash'. I thought you would of all people would know that."
Umbra knew that, and, deep down, knew she should. But, she still had no intention of doing so. She had lost Twilight once, and she wasn't going to lose her again. "True. But, no. I'm not going to do that. You want her? Come and get her."
Lightning Dust sighed, but threw up her arms before they fell at her sides. "Fine. Have it your way, you stubborn motherfluffer."
Lightning spread her wings, a golden glow emanating from them. She kicked off the stairs, flaring her wings and drawing her batons. Umbra thrust up her knife, attempting to intercept her, but she was tired and more than a little beat up. Lightning parried the blade, smacking Umbra in the face with the other one. Umbra fell back, but recovered and lunged at Lightning. She sidestepped, before slamming both of them into Umbras gut.
She fell to the ground, another blow from a baton striking her in the back of the head. Lightning knelt down next to her, and said in her ear, "I suggest you stay down, lest I break your nose." Lightning stepped away from Umbra, trotting over to Pillar. She knelt down next to him and pulled out a small stone carved with glowing white glyphs, placing it on the stallions chest. "Good to see ya, buddy. Miss me?"
"Oh, piss off", Lightning said, before punching him in the face. She tapped the stone, and Pillar faded away into white sparkles before disappearing completely. "Now, onto the Princess. Again, I'm sorry about this, but I have my job, and you have yours." She walked over towards the corpse, before she stopped and sighed, looking down and saying, "Oh, come on Umbra. Just leave it."
Umbra ignored her, gripping her leg tighter as she attempted to climb it like a tree. Lightning just sighed, and attempted to walk forward, growling in annoyance at her persistence. Umbra said, "No. I won't let you take her from me!"
"How many wives have you taken from their husbands, and vice versa, Umbra? What makes her any different?", Lightning asked.
"I LOVE HER!"
That seemed to catch her off guard a bit. Lightning looked at her, then over to the corpse, then back down at the sniveling daemon. "Again, I'm sorry", she said, grabbing the torn collar of Umbras leather jacket. "But, I have my job to do. So, you get out of my way, and let me handle it. I assure you, I wouldn't be here if she wasn't coming with me."
"NO! PLEASE!"
"I said PISS OFF, Dash!", Lightning said, grabbing her by the collar and throwing her back. She fell on her back, groaning and shifting. "And for Faust's sake, stay down."
Umbra didn't. She tried to get back up and, failing that, she began trying to crawl over towards Twilight. By now, she heard noises behind him and over to her left. Looking first to her left, she saw her friends, along with Spike Fizzlepop, and Parabellum. All of them were looking around in shock, before falling on Lightning and Twilight.
"No", Spike said, his voice hoarse.
The others hung their heads, while Fluttershy pushed past them over to her. Her wings were still batlike, and her teeth were still fangs, but she once again resumed her old posture and way of walking. She knelt down next to her, and asked, "Rainbow? Is, is it really you?"
"Y-yeah", she replied. "It, it's me."
"A-are you ok?"
"No", she said. "By the Void, Flutters, no."
"And why is that, Venandi?", Lucifer asked. He and the Princesses walked up behind the two of them, the sisters bearing looks of sorrow.
"Boss!", she said, almost yelling. "Please! Stop her. Don't let her take Twi-"
"I can't", he said. "Me and my sister have come to a deal. I get the souls of the evil, and she gets the souls of the virtuous. She is dead, and in life was a fine mare and paragon of friendship. By right and by law, she belongs to my sister."
That was the straw the broke the camels back. Tears once again welled up in her eyes, falling to her knees and bawling like a baby. She didn't care. About Dust, about her Boss or the Princesses; heck, even her friends. She just wanted to make the pain stop.
Every single turn, things buck up for her. She crashed a bunch. She admired and pined for Twilight from afar. She finally got up the guts to plan to talk to her about it, then *boom*! Tirek attacks and Twilight ended up in a coma she had to make a deal with a Daemon to wake her up. Then, when she finally got with Twilight and planned to go on a date, *Boom*! She died, and became a Daemon herself. After six years, she met her again, and the two more or less made up, planning to sit down and work it out. And then? *BOOM*! Twilight was gone; forever.
Her friends gathered around her, either hugging her or just standing around her, heads held low. Celestia said, "Go. Find a place were Rainb- Where Umbra can get some rest. She's been through a lot."
"Right. Of course, Princess", Rarity said, lighting up her horn. The familiar flare of teleportation surrounded her, and she found herself in Fluttershy's cottage.
Applejack said, "Why'd ya take us here, Rares? Why not da castle?"
"Darling", Rarity said. "Twilight told us that the two of them were close. VERY, close. So, do you honestly think that it would be best for her to stay in the castle?"
"Yah, ah suppose so. Ya gonna be ok, Rainbow?"
"I, I don't know", she said.
"I'll get her on the couch", Fluttershy said. "You all go home. Come over for brunch tomorrow, and we'll all talk then." The others nodded and left, while Fluttershy pulled out a pillow and a blanket. Umbra threw off her jacket, and laid under it. She shuddered slightly, but finally faded off to sleep.
Umbra awoke on the couch, attempting to raise herself up on atrophied muscles. The mix of exhaustion and power drain from the battle left her weak, and she fell back to the couch, hissing slightly after she hit the side of it. Before she could even open her eyes again, she heard a voice say, "Oh, look. She's awake!"
When she opened them again, she was greeted with her friends coming over towards her. "How ya feelin', Dash?", AJ asked.
Umbra tried to raise himself up, only to once again fall down. She said, "O-ok? Where am I?"
"My cottage", Fluttershy said. She looked normal again, wearing a clean blouse and skirt. "After, you know..."
The thoughts returned to her. Finally managed to sit up, leaning against the backrest of the couch. She said, "Right."
"I'll go get something sweet. I think we could use it", Pinkie said, heading into Fluttershy's kitchen.
"Agreed, darling", Rarity said. "Meanwhile, perhaps we could talk."
"Ok. What do you want to talk about?", Umbra asked.
"Well. Everything", Fluttershy said. "It's been, what, six years? A lot's happened, and we want to find out about it."
"No kidding a lot's happened. Since when were you a vamp?", Umbra asked her old friend.
Fluttershy almost seemed to blush a little bit, before looking into her lap. "It's a long story. But, to make it shorter, I was affected by a spell going wrong from Twilight to drive away a swarm of Vampire Fruit Bats. They tried to help me, but the spell didn't work. Fortunately, I met Octavia, who's also one, and-."
"Wait, Octavia's a Vampony!?", Rarity exclaimed, evidently alarmed.
"And her roommate, Vinyl, is a Daemon. And it turns out that Big Mac and the mayor are lycans. What's your point?", Fluttershy countered.
"I, I, I... I honestly don't know what I was expecting when I got into this conversation", Rarity said.
Applejack said, "Well, yeah. Guess I'll be havin' quite the talk with mah brother when I get back to the farm. Now, how 'bout we start with you and Twi. When'd that happen?"
"About six years ago. We planned on going on a date after we dealt with Starlight", Umbra said, beginning to tear up. "S-she said she knew a place we could go to in Canterlot. I, I gave her a necklace of my cutie mark, and had one of her's for me. It, it w-would've been perfect!" By that point, both Pinkie had returned to the room and Umbra had broken down in tears.
The others looked at her and lowered their heads. Pinkie pressed a mug of hot chocolate in her hand, and said, "Here. You need it."
"Thanks, Pinks", Umbra said, grasping the mug in both hands. She leaned back, sighing. "I had made a deal, to help her not, ya know, not die. When Starlight hit me with that spell, my 'contractor', if you will, chose THAT moment, to collect my end of the bargain. You saw the result. I was sent to Hell, the Boss took pity on me, and the rest is history." She took a sip, relaxing as the warm, sweet liquid rolled down her throat. "I spent the next six years focussing on what I was still there to do. I wanted to forget, and at the same time was desperate to get back to you all. Then, Abaddon, the daemon I made the contract with and the Bosses second, sent me here. Again, the rest is history."
Fluttershy put a hand on her shoulder, and Umbra seemed to relax even further. "Rainbow. I know you're sad, and you're hurt. But, we're here for you now. We'll support you, and while I know nothing will ever replace Twilight, we'll be there for you if you ever need anything."
"Yeah, thanks girls. I, I honestly don't know why I was dreading this", She said, wiping away her tears. "You'd never turn your back on me unless I, you know, became a supervillain or something."
That earned a round of giggles from the assembled mares, which was interrupted by a loud knocking on Fluttershy's front door. Fluttershy said, "I'll go get it." She stood up and walked down over to the door, opening it and almost immediately freezing. "Oh, um. Hi."
"Hello, ma'am", said a scratchy voice, laced with annoyance. "I'm looking for a mare named Umbra Venandi. Her employer, as well as my own, wants to see her."
"I'm here!", she yelled, standing up and setting down her mug and limping over. Standing in the door frame was a female hippogryph with dull silver fur, lighter silver mane, and a dark red and black lace dress. Of course, she was still easily identifiable as a daemon for Umbra; sharper claws and teeth than were normal for her species, along with a faint red glow behind a pair of wide sunglasses. "Vento, right?"
"Yeah, that's me", she said, tapping her finger against her arm. "Now, as I'm sure you heard, the boss wants you to come with me. I suggest you come with me."
"Right", Umbra said. "Just, give me a minute." She almost shut the door, just enough to leave a small amount of the outside visible. She turned to the others, and said, "So, I need to go. Duty calls. I'll come back later. Maybe I can stay with one of you for a while afterward?"
"Oh, of course", Fluttershy said.
"'Course, Dash", AJ said.
"Okie Dokie Lokie!", Pinkie added.
Rarity said, "Of course, dear."
"Thanks, girls", Umbra said, opening the door and following Vento. "Lead the way, birdie." The two of them walked down the path from Fluttershy's cottage for a little bit, before coming to the typical daemonic circle. The two stepped into it, with Vento pulling off her glasses and pulling out a small black necklace. "What's that?"
"We normally can't enter Heaven just like Celestials normally can't enter Hell. This bypasses that ward, thing. Anyway, just give me a minute." After a few seconds, she seemed to get it to work, and the two of them vanished into thin air.
++++
Umbra and Vento materialized in front of Faust's palace. Immediately in front of them were a pair of celestials, wearing golden breastplates and wielding golden halberds. "Man, your boss has an obsession with gold, doesn't she?"
"Doesn't yours have an obsession with black iron, spikes, and a fire?", one of them says.
"Well, you're not wrong", Umbra says. "Let's just not question it."
"Works for me. Now, if you'll kindly follow us", the second one says, turning and heading down the cloud path. The two Daemons followed them, who led them into the palace and down a hallway. After a few more turns, they arrived into what Umbra could only assume was some sort of heavenly courtroom.
A large desk sat along the wall on the far side of the room, with Faust sitting in it. Her brother stood next to him, who motioned for the two Daemons to come over to him. In the center of the room knelt Pillar, wrapped in glowing chains and surrounded by fifteen Celestials in breastplates with halberds leveled at him.
As the two of them reached their boss, Faust finished reading off of a piece of paper, "...And, as a result of your crimes against both the realms of Heaven and Hell, you have been... Ah, buck this. I've had enough of you and I'm pawning you off on my brother. Have fun in Hell."
Umbra was waiting for Pillar to issue some sort of retort. However, she noticed that he had on a gag, and could only let out muffled protests and snarls. Lucifer rubbed his hands together, saying, "Alright! A new plaything."
"Hmph. My brother is a bucking sociopath. Just get him out of here. I need to take a nap", she said, standing up and heading out the door.
"Alright, Vento. Grab him and bring him over here. Umbra I'll let you do one thing to him for all the pain he caused you. Sound good, eh?", Lucifer said.
"Yeah. Hey, boss", Umbra said. "Can I ask you a favor?"
"Depends. What is it?"
Umbra rubbed the back of her head, almost muttering, "Well, can I take some time off? Just, you know, spend a week or so with my friends?"
"Normally, no", Lucifer said. He lifted up his hand as she opened her mouth to reply, adding, "I said, normally. However, due to your past actions and the circumstances, I'll allow it. You get two weeks, but I expect you back after that time. Clear?"
"Crystal, boss. Now, about that pain-causing thing...?", she said, a smile forming on her face.
"Take your pick", Lucifer said, pulling out a piece of black cloth. He unfolded it on his sister's desk, revealing a set of plyers, a few screwdrivers, a piece of razor wire, and large iron nails.
"Boss, do you carry this on you at all times?", she asked.
"Yep", he said.
Umbra looked at him, then back to the tools, then to him. Finally just ignoring the oddity, she grabbed the plyers. She walked over to Pillar, who Vento was holding with a knife to the back of his throat. She opened up the plyers, placing them around his left eyeball. She closed it, before yanking back and ripping it out of the socket. "Enjoy Hell", she said over his yells of agony.
The two of them disappeared in a flash of black fire, and she used the rune Vento tossed to her to teleport back down to outside Fluttershy's cottage.
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.
"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."
