The ground was still damp from the rain a few hours ago. She could feel it mush into her hooves as she made her way into the deeper parts of the woods. The feeling of the soft soil staining her fetlocks with each step was oddly satisfying, calming even. It was a welcome feeling compared to the thrashing knot in her belly, growing stronger as she plodded on. Pain or not, it did not matter either way now, for she was already so close now. Being on commission also helped.
She grimaced as a surprisingly large patch of brambles appeared around a bend. Looking both ways, it was clear there were no paths around the thorny obstacle. The lithe mare instead took to her wings, gliding over the brambles with ease. She looked back at them after she landed, a thin grunt of dissatisfaction directed towards the defensive shrub. She hated having to use her wings when she was on commission. It wasn't fair, the mare reasoned. This was an intimate moment, grim as it was, and she felt it nothing short of betrayal to allow advantages such as wings to interfere.
Still it was what it was, and the job had to be done anyway, so what did it matter as long as it was done, she asked herself. The petite pegasus readjusted the hood hiding her face and resumed her search. Time passed strangely when one was on commission, one of the little unspoken facts of the Guild, and this commission was no different. A pony could never quite tell if time was slowed or speed up at such a time, strange that it was. Experts on the mind and body would often say as a retort that it is only an illusion, that the brain interprets the passage of time differently because Guild members are just concentrating on the job.
The mare smiled to herself. She was a rational pony as any, but those who have never experienced a commission could ever understand. There was something at play here, perhaps magical, for the commission is something special that ponies were never really meant to do. Doing special things leads to special things, she reasoned. Besides, even with magical research reaching the heights it was now, mysteries would always be a part of the world.
A nearby twig cracked nearby, and the mare froze in place. Were this any other time, she might have shrieked or panicked, but this was a commission. She paused and listened. Snaps and cracks echoed through the woods, making a loose pattern. Judging by the uncaring loudness of the noise, either a very foolish pony was wandering the woods or the reason for her search was here.
With a careful silence not shared by the noise maker, the little mare made her way to the source. It was not difficult to locate. Her eyes grew wide when she finally spotted it hunched near a stream. It was a garmr, a rare sight in the central parts of Equestria. Garmrs were strange wild dogs with natural red stains that look like blood on their fur. Old pony tales say they used to guard the entrance to Tartarus before Cerberus took the job though the mare had her doubts. Regardless of what they might have been, they are normally seen in the cold North these days and are highly defensive of their territory.
The mare was conflicted. She had never seen a garmr before, save for a scant few pictures, and yet she was here on commission for this very animal. Despite how much she wanted to trot up and greet the animal, it displayed the signs. It's fur was mottled with great patches of it missing, covering sign number one. The dog would twitch and shake unnaturally, sometimes so hard it's joints would make popping noises. Number two was apparent as was the black foam squirting from it's mouth signalling number three. Number four was a bit harder to spot for her, not having ever seen a normal garmr, but it was oddly muscular for a dog.
Her mental checklist was apparently complete, and now was the time to end this commission now that the garmr was resting. She withdrew her wing bow, attaching it to herself and did an experimental stretch to ensure it was fastened correctly. The wing bow was an interesting piece of equipment for pegasi, as it worked partly like a sleeve of wood worn over a forehoof with a typical bow instrument connected to it. It got it's name due to being drawn and notched by a wing stretching back against the string, an arrow tucked between the feathers for grip.
An odd thing and not a preferred one at that, the wing bow was rarely seen even among pegasi who preferred the much easier crossbow. The mare liked the wing bow however, appreciating the difficulty in using it properly. Satisfied that the bow was correctly latched on to her, she drew and notched an arrow. She looked at the garmr, frowning that this had to be done. This was the only way however, for there was no known cure for "Black Blood" as the affliction it bore was called.
The lithe mare took aim, finding a swollen patch on the neck right where a main artery should be. She silently mouthed an apology and fired. The arrow impacted with a thick and unwholesome sound as it entered the neck of the diseased garmr. The garmr yelped at the sudden pain, leaping to face an attacker, but quickly collapsed to the ground. The telltale black liquid stained the ground around it as the wild dog sputtered and left this world.
The mare waited a few moments in case it was not yet gone and then approached when it seemed it was truly dead. She looked down at the deceased garmr, her hood slowly darkening with tears. She hated the Black Blood disease. Hate was a word she never used but this was the one time she could think of a reason to truly hate something. Nopony knew exactly what caused the disease and that thankfully it was exceptionally rare and noncommunicable. All the mare knew was how much it disgusted her that something out there could ruin another creature like that. To make a normal happy animal suddenly mad and violent, thrashing about until it came to it's own grim end.
The hood she wore was now too stained with tears to be of much use. Lifting it from her face, Fluttershy gulped in the crisp forest air. Fluttershy looked down at her hoof and thanked the wing bow for straining her wing so much with each pull. It should never be easy to take a life she reasoned. Fluttershy then retrieved a a tag from her saddlebags and tagged the ear of the lifeless garmr.
Taking a thin rod from her bags, Fluttershy then spiked it into the ground. A little green light blinked from the top of it. Hunters Guild unicorns would receive the magical signal shortly and retrieve the dead hound, confirm the kill and the tag, and ship payment to Fluttershy's house back in Ponyville. Fluttershy rubbed her sore eyes and put her hood back on. She would return to the village that commissioned the Hunters Guild and inform them that the garmr would no longer be attacking them before heading home.
Author's Note
Thank you for reading. For those curious, I based the creature after Garmr, a dog from Norse mythology.
Comments are appreciated, so please let me know if there are any mistakes I made or anything like that.
