Inspired by Red Like Roses from RWBY

The blood was still warm.

The mare sighed, getting up from her crouching position and looking toward where the trail of blood led, seeing a dark cave entrance at the end of it. She had been following the trail for ages now, ever since she had managed to peg her target with her riffle, though she had not managed to stop it from getting away.

She sighed again, following the trail into the cave mouth, before stopping suddenly when she saw that the cave mouth opened into a hole in the ground, though from what she could see, there was some sort of light source at the end.

So with a snort, she jumped down, sliding down the tunnel till she skidded to a stop at the end of the tunnel, her white hooves touching down upon the sand of a vast chamber.

She saw that the blood trail stopped in the center of the chamber, ending in a great splash of it, along with the shredded remnants of cloth and armor. Walking up to the scraps, she shifted them about till she found what she was looking for, lifting a locket up and opening it up.

The picture inside showed her when she was younger, and an older pony standing side beside, her white coat standing out in stark contrast to his dark grey one, and their yellow eyes shined in the light as they waved at the pony taking the picture, smiles plastered on their faces.

Suddenly she heard the intake of breath behind her, and turned to see a great black wolf descend from the shadows above, beginning to stalk around her as she took in the site of it. The majority of its fur was caked in blood, and bits of fur covered flesh kept dripping off its body, the signs of a recent transformation.

But it was the creature’s eyes that distressed her the most, for like hers, they were yellow, though in the light shining from the hole in the ceiling, they burned golden as the creature let loose with a growl.

“Brother…”

The creature stopped for a moment, taking a deep sniff of the air before its eyes softened, and its ears splayed back against its head. It whimpered, moving close to her and doing its best to nuzzle into her, forcing her into a sitting position as it continued to whimper into her white chest fur.

She hesitated for a moment, and then leaned down to nuzzle the top of its head, beginning to shush it as she spoke. “Shh, shh, it’s ok, it’s ok. I’m here now; everything is going to be alright.”

Slowly, so as not to alert it to what she was doing, her horn lit up, and very slowly she took her riffle from her back and moved it, till the barrel was placed against the wolfs throat.

The creature stopped whimpering then, its eyes widening for a moment before once again softening, before it nuzzled deeper into her chest with a sniff.

“I’m sorry brother…goodbye,” she said, before pulling the trigger, tears spilling from her eyes as she heard the gun go off, and the wolf slump against her chest, never to wake again.

Author's Note

Short, sweet, simple.