Astral Mist, bat pony mare, assassin for hire, and general troublemaker, was nearly five days out from her home city of Baltimare...And bored.
A week ago, she had accepted a short, quick, and supposedly easy hit due to the lack of anything else to do. However, she had soon learned that it involved trekking well over sixty miles into the Everfree forest: Not something to be taken lightly. In addition, the target was apparently a bat pony like herself… Which was surprising, given how little their species was ever seen.
The bits she earned from it would be ample compensation, of course… If she ever got out of this accursed forest.
“Discord can take this forest to Tartarus for all I care.” Astral growled as she used the enchanted knife in her hooves to break through another wall of creeping vines. She was only a short distance from her target, and she hoped to wrap this up quickly.
The target was just ahead of her, standing in the middle of a field by what looked like a cave entrance. There was no rhyme or reason for why ‘Kuro’, the mare who was her target, would just stand there.
Cautiously, Astral moved out of the underbrush, heading towards the mare, who seemed to be gazing at the ground with her back to Astral. Slowly, the bat pony assassin moved forward, preparing to strike with the stiletto held in her hoof.
Only ten meters from ‘Kuro’, the mare starts to turn around, apparently having heard Astral Mist sneaking up. Astral takes the opportunity to stab at Kuro with a knife, while Kuro twists around, dodging the blow.
"I've suffered many attacks in my days… But never one so rude and unprovoked!" Kuro declares. "Rule number one: Never stab, the way your foreleg moves is all too easy to read." Kuro states as Astral stumbles away from the narrow miss, "Not to mention the several seconds long delay before you can attack again, leaving one able to do something like this..."
Kuro bodyrams Astral, and she flies backward a few feet, rolling to slow herself down and bouncing back on her hooves.
"What? Do you have a problem with assassination attempts?" Astral snarks.
"Actually, no; this is just amusing." Kuro states as she slowly circles the other mare. Astral Mist keeps her distance, glaring at Kuro.
Kuro suddenly pulls out a white stick and throws it at Astral.
"Guess what?" Kuna asks, with Astral looking at her oddly. "Distraction."
Astral Mist throws herself to the side and rolls away as Kuro charges at her, but Kuro rams into the mare as she is getting up from the roll. Astral Mist slashes randomly with her knife as she is thrown back, before using her bat wings to fly upward, staring at Kuro from ten feet above the ground.
"So, what now?" Kuro taunts. In reply, Astral pulls out a small crossbow and fires at bolt at Kuro, who had already launched into the air. Astral Mist watches at the bolt flies past Kuro, frowning.
"... Oh buck." Astral states.
"Rules of engagement, when your opponent can fly, don't use ranged from the sky!"
Kuro barrels towards Astral, mouth open for a bite. Astral Mist dives downward, dropping her crossbow and pulling out her stiletto, slashing upward in Kuro's predicted path, while the other mare ignores the dagger and completely stops just a few seconds before it hits her and drops in altitude.
Astral Mist bares her fangs as she alters course to avoid Kuro, who flies past her, landing on the ground.
"You made me drop the crossbow!" Astral says accusingly, glancing at the now-damaged wood-and-metal weapon.
Kuro picks up a hoof full of gravel and stone, jumps up into the air and throws it at Astral, more specifically, her eyes. Astral Mist reflexively closes them and flies upward, wincing as the rocks impacted her muzzle and neck.
"Well... That didn't work out." Astral states while Kuro hums and retreats.
"Why fight a battle that's bound to end up in a draw?" Kuro yells out.
"Because I've been hired for more than you can likely pay to dispose of you. I was allowed to pick my own
methods, but ambush or assassination are hard in an open field." Astral states.
"Why would someone want to dispose of me anyways?" Kuro asks, and Astral Mist shrugs.
"It's not about what I want. It's about what I am paid to do."
Astral Mist watches her target with curiosity as Kuro darts into a tunnel, unwilling to get closer... For now.
"I shall become, lord of the ants!" She hears the other mare proclaim. Astral Mist facehoofs, groaning. She internally wonders why half of her targets were either bipolar or insane. Astral Mist quickly grows bored, as she can no longer see her target.
After a while, Astral Mist flies to the ground, and is passing her time - growing even more restless and irritated - by sharpening her various knives.
An hour later, Astral Mist screams in frustration, and launches at the tunnel, throwing herself inside and rolling to avoid injury. She can't see too well as her eyes adjust, and instead carefully walks down the narrow space.
Unknown to Astral, Kuro fires a bolt made out of hardened clay with a stone tip at her.
*thump*
"... Ow! That hit me right in the nose!" Astral Mist rubs at the sore spot with the forehoof not holding a knife, and squints as she tries to see what was down the tunnel. Kuro quickly covers the many protruding clay walls up with what appears to be dead animals and moves farther into the tunnel. Shortly thereafter, Astral Mist stumbles upon the first animal corpse.
"... This is creepy. And that's from somepony who has seen practically everything." In the meantime, Astral Mist's eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness. "... Why would they make clay walls in the middle of a tunnel? You're a strange one. Usually my targets are a different type of unstable."
"What kinda?" Kuro's voice echos from ahead.
"Oh, the type that want to steal industrial secrets, start private wars, and so on. Mega Egomaniacs." Astral casually replies, rounding the first part of the clay wall with her knife held at the ready. "I honestly don't know why a client wants you dead. I don't really care, either. I get paid either way." She rounds the wall completely, waiting to spring if she sees anything.
Twenty small objects come flying towards Astral, who sees the motion and ducks down. Kuro charges forward and goes to bring her sword down on Mist's neck whilst she's down. Astral Mist easily dodges the projectiles and springs back up, slashing with her stiletto to block the sword.
"No fair." Kuro pouts as pushes the sword downward, slashing open a part of Astral's light scale armor. With a large gash in her armor, Astral glares at Kuro with barely concealed rage and stabs forward with her stiletto, which Kuro rolls to avoid, springing forward.
Kuro bodyslams Mist and stomps on her chest, and Astral cries out in pain and slashes upward, nicking Kuro's chest with the stiletto. The other mare jumps off as Astral blinks away her pain and pulls out a second knife, this one coated with a thin layer of paralyzing poison.
Kuro, however, is already in front of her, and brings a hoof down where the armor was broken.
"Don't draw a secondary weapon when your opponent is two feet away from you." Kuro states as Astral is spun around from the strong hit. Kuro jumps onto Mist's back at the opportunity, and the assassin throws her off and rolls away, coming back glaring at the other pony.
"I prefer to initiate that one myself." Astral sarcastically remarks, and Kuro smiles sweetly.
Astral Mist slashes at Kuro with the poisoned knife, missing. She is growing increasingly irritated at the other pony, and her anger is showing.
"Just... Bucking... Die!" Astral growls.
"
“Shhh, watch your mouth." Kuro replies. Throwing caution to the wind, Astral Mist rushes forward in her rage and tackles the other pony.
Kuro hmms as she's pinned under the other pony at the edge of the room.
"Boop." Kuro says as she brings a hoof up and taps Astral's nose. Astral Mist stares at her,unamused, and brings the knife coated in paralytic poison to cut Kuro.
Kuro takes the opportunity to dart her head forward and bite on Astral's face, her fangs digging deep cuts in her muzzle and right eye. Astral Mist screams in pain and drops the knife, fumbling for her saddlebags before finding a vial and downing it.
"Potions are cheating." Kuro says, frowning as Astral Mist instantly calms down, her scarred muzzle regenerating.
"You..." Astral growls.
"Kuro." The other mare replies, point to herself before pointing at her. "Who are you?"
"My name is Astral Mist, and I am going to kill you."
Kuro nods, "Remember, it only takes one slip-up for you to poison yourself!"
"There's a difference. I am NOT going to let you poison me." Astral replies.
"I wouldn't dream of it." Kuro replies as she makes a sudden turn, running down the tunnel.
Astral Mist follows her as best as she can as Kuro kicks up rocks as she runs. Astral easily dodges the projectiles.
"When I catch you, I am going to subject you to everything that I can think of!" Astral roars, "And I am very creative!"
“Great! I love new things to add into my library!” Kuro yells back, spreading her wings for a slight boost, and incidentally jumping clear of a pit.
“You won't have long to use it!”
“I literally had two days building this place! I know every passage well.” Kuro says as she turns a corner, flying immediately upwards into a small alcove to avoid a stone wall. Astral Mist easily sees the pit in time and soars over it, rounds the corner... And slams into a stone wall. Dazed, she rubs her snout.
Kuro drops from the ceiling and stomps on her satchels.
“I would mount you, but i'm not feeling like it.” The other bat pony joked, racing down the tunnel and back towards the room.
Astral Mist narrows her eyes as she sees that some of her less protected light healing potions have broken.
With a scream of frustration, she chases after Kuro.
“Have fun reaching into that without cutting or poisoning yourself!” Astral hears Kuro shout.
“I don't keep poison in glass jars! I'm not that bucking stupid!”
Kuro turns around suddenly and rams head-first into Astral, who slams into the other pony and bounces backward, coming up with her knife in hoof, if slightly unsteady.
“Then watch your step in the tunnel! Don't know what will show up there!” Kuro cheekily says.
In response, Astral Mist throws her first stiletto at Kuro, who acts by punching it to the side with a
hoof, easily deflecting it.
“Errr… No comment.”
Astral Mist charges forward with a scream of rage, slashing at Kuro with the poisoned knife. Kuro meets it with the severed limb of a bear.
“I dug into a cave, alright?” Kuro explains.
Astral Mist stares at the leg, before ripping her knife out and frantically stabbing at Kuro. The fight has gone on far longer than she is used to, and she is out of her normal fighting zone.
Kuro resorts into throwing the limb at Astral, “Did I mention that bears don't die when you cut off their limbs?”
Astral Mist easily dodges to the side and throws herself at Kuro, tackling the pony and stabbing downward. Kuro, surprisingly, catches the knife in her mouth, careful as to not cut her tongue or ingest the poison. Annoyed that her knives are near-useless, Astral Mist opens her own mouth and sinks her two larger fangs into Kuro's shoulder, although they only penetrate less than a third of an inch.
Kuro, instead of screaming, moans, leaving Mist to figure out just what she's doing. Astral Mist pulls her mouth away and stares at the pony.
“You... GET OFF TO BEING BITTEN?!” Astral practically screams.
Kuro yanks the knife out of Mist's grasp and spits it out. “My first boyfriend was a vampire pony, go figure.”
“... Just perfect.”
“I'm not a vampire”
Astral Mist, while keeping Kuro pinned, pulls out her fourth knife. “Sure you're not.”
“Errr, vampirism... Never really my thing, you see?” Kuro opens her mouth to reveal the small fangs that both she and Astral possessed as bat ponies and darts her head forward, biting into Astral’s face.
Astral screams in rage and pain, dropping her knife and stumbling back, before pulling out another vial and downing it to avoid severe injury and blood loss. Meanwhile, Kuro picks up the dropped unpoisoned knife and throws it at Mist, who yelps in pain as the knife buries two inches into her shoulder, the healing position insuring that she was healing around it.
Kuro licks some of the blood from her wound and looks up at Astral. “You should really watch where you sink those things. You never know if you might bite a nerve cluster or a major artery.”
Astral Mist spits the vial away and winces as the knife digs into her shoulder, sending a spike of pain through her head. Kuro sighs, walking up to her and pulls out the knife Astral screams as the knife comes out, stumbling to the side as the remaining potion quickly closes up the wound. She glares at Kuro, her eyes darting around the tunnel, looking for an advantage.
Kuro spits the knife out as Astral Mist pulls out her fifth and final knife, sending a short prayer to whatever deity would listen in hopes that she would succeed.
Kuro is idly pawning the dirt. She suddenly gasps.
“Oh horseapples! I left the oven on!” She practically wails, wincing as a small explosion is heard from deeper in the cave. Astral Mist takes advantage of the distraction to launch forward, taking a large swipe with her stiletto, nicking Kuro on the foreleg.
Kuro bites her lower lip gently, “Don't do that! You never know what results you'll get.”
“Why not, you're a target!” Astral says, launch into an easily-avoided strike.
“Then aim for the throat! Making me moan isn't going to help you anywhere but my bed.” Kuro says, and claps a hoof at her mouth when she realizes what she's said.
Astral Mist mutters something along the lines of "I never should have taken this job" as Kuro slowly backs off. Astral takes a step forward, unsure of her intentions.
Kuro raises an eyebrow and licks the blood off her foreleg. “Tastes like, well honestly blood, but you get the drift.”
Kuro slowly approaches Astral, until she's just an odd meter away. “And now,” Kuro gurgles “Hah 'is!”
Astral Mist, meanwhile, is mentally debating between running away or killing Kuro when the other bat pony spits blood into Mist’s eyes. Astral uses a hoof to wipe away the blood and slashes at the mare’s head. Kuro ducks, but winces as the blade hit her wing.
Kuro jumps forwards before Mist can retrieve her swing and lands on Mist's back, clambering atop the assassin and leans forward, whispering in her ear, "I don't know about what I said earlier anymore..."
Kuro then sinks her fangs into her shoulder as Astral Mist whimpers and tries to throw Kuro off her back, the larger mare using her superior strength to keep Astral pinned. Kuro temporarily stops to gently whispers into Mist's ear “Shhh, it will all be over soon.”
Astral Mist tries her best to use her knife to stab Kuro, but fails due to the angle she is at. After nearly a minute, Kuro finally lets Mist's shoulder go, having drained surely nearly a liter of blood. "I'm giving you a chance, just give up."
Astral Mist, weakened by the loss of some of her blood, and disheartened by her repeated failures, goes limp and drops the knife.
“Just... Kill me and get it over with…” Astral softly says as the mare on top of her turned slightly, apparently sorting through her saddlebags.
“Which one of these can paralyze somepony?” Kuro suddenly asks.
“Not going to tell you…” Astral replies.
Kuro sighs, “Either I drain you until you pass out, or you tell me which one will paralyze you.”
“ ... T- The metal ones…”
“Nothing lethal?”
“... Too much of a risk... Might kill myself accidentally…”
“I see.”
Kuro takes a metal vial out, looking over the sleek surface and removing the cork, “I'm giving you a chance, and I'm taking a gamble; will you do the same?”
Astral Mist stares behind her in shock as Kuro downs most of the vial, easily enough to keep her stiff for nearly a day, or even push her into an overdose. Kuro smiles gently at her.
“If I don't wake up, I'll know not to trust assassins. Life is trial and error... Right?”
“... Right.”
Kuro enters the paralyzed state, still a with smile on her face.
Astral Mist slowly gets up, pushing the mare off, her eyes darting between her knife and the vials she had in her saddlebags as her mind worked overtime in trying to make a decision. Astral Mist reaches for the knife, stops, and then pulls her hoof back.
She reaches for her saddlebags, pulling out a small vial filled with a grey fluid. A general antidote.
Astral Mist, still holding the vial, gathers up everything into her saddlebags, even gathering up the three of her knives that she could see. Hesitantly, she stands over the other pony, before lowering the now-opened vial with the grey liquid to the mare’s mouth and pouring it in.
“There... That should take effect in... Two or three minutes.”
Astral Mist slowly pulls one of her stilettos out, glancing at the near-perfect blade. It was not openly discussed, but all in her profession had an unwritten rule: If an opponent spares your life, you owe them yours.
It looked like she was going to have to cancel the contract.
The bat pony puts the weapon beside the bat pony she had just fought and backed away, before slowly trotting out of the room and heading for the exit, wishing to get back to Baltimare - and out of these tunnels - as soon as possible.
A short while later Kuro, with more than a little effort, manages to stand up. She glances around the cave. Where had that other pony gone?
Kuro starts trotting towards the exit, making sure to not get lost. She sighs sadly. ”I never even got to thank her for the fun...”
The mare sighs and heads towards the crater in the ground, the demolished remains of what was once her house, until she forgotten the oven on.
“So much for curing cancer.” She mutters.
Kuro notices how the house is still smoking slightly
‘Hmm...’
Kuro flaps into the air and starts flapping her wings to create letters in the sky
*I'll, miss... You!*
“There we go, with a damaged wing that was surprisingly difficult.”
‘I think I'll get my client to drop that contract line forever... I off industry leaders and potion smugglers, not... That.’ Astral thinks to herself.
Astral Mist glances behind her, seeing a message written in clouds; "I'll miss you."
“... What?” Astral shakes her head, dismissing it as a coincidence before she begins her long walk back to Baltimare.
Kuro sinks in the ground slightly as she realizes she'll have to find a new home “Ponyfeathers.”
Suddenly, she gets a brilliant idea. “I'll sign up for the Guard in Baltimare! Or Manehattan... Some place where I can avenge him, avenge Null…”
And with that, she begins her trek.