The Quarry
By Bendelsohn
The sense of isolation in the cool night air of the Everfree was not helping Silver Bit’s concentration. If anything, his general discomfort around the Everfree Forest made him twice as nervous as he would be on any other mission. But there was no time to think about that. He had a job to do. He observed his target from his shadowed position in the tree, a pink pony with a straight, pink mane. He cringed as he watched her bury her latest handiwork. He vaguely remembered the victim as a very isolated pony, someone who very few would notice if he went missing. The sorts of wounds visible on him, even from a distance, indicated that his end had not come quickly. Silver clenched his teeth to prevent his anger from getting the better of him. He regained his composure and began to tail Pinkamena towards the exit of the forest.
Silver moved gracefully through the trees, something he had proven quite skilfull at early in his assassin training. Since then, he had advanced at a surprising rate, managing to stay just ahead of his peers. Still, he was only a seventh rank assassin. He couldn’t help but think that his current mission was a bit out of his league.
His black robes, given to him for this particular assignment, kept him nearly invisible in the dark. His skilled hoofs made sure that only a tiny sound was made when he went from tree to tree. He stopped for a moment. It seemed that the pink pony had noticed a small blood stain on the back of her hoof, and had stopped to try and wipe it off on a nearby tree. His opportunity had presented itself.
The target was just under him. It was a perfect shot. He readied the hidden blade in his hoof. He tried to position himself at the end of the branch, just as his instructors had taught him. Their teachings seemed to blur out of his memory though, just when he needed them most. His heart felt like it was beating out of his chest. Silver made the jump for it.
Just as he left the branch, a wind began to flow across the forest. It was not enough to throw off his aim. It was however, enough to blow the trees that had so faithfully held up the moonlight before, just out of the way for a second or so. The moonlight cast a silhouette of Silver, just below. The target seemed to notice. Her head shot towards him at a rapid pace.
Time seemed to slow down. The stare that Pinkamena gave Silver was piercing to say the least. The feeling it gave him could be best described as being frozen solid just before a vivisection. It was absolutely terrifying.
Silver’s hidden blade should have come down right on Pinkamena’s neck. Instead, she jumped out of the way with alarming speed. Silver Bits was stunned. Pinkamena shot him another heart-stopping glare. She grinned faintly.
“So, I take it you’re a member of this Assassins guild I’ve been hearing about?”
Silver could only nod weakly to her. “You’ve guessed right, and now, with any luck, I’m going to kill you.” He tried to give a confident looking grin, but failed miserably, showing only how scared he really was.
“Fun. I’m impressed that you managed to follow me this far into the forest. Looks like your technique could use some work though. I guess there isn’t much point in talking to you though, since you’re going to die pretty soon anyways. I’ll just get right on that.”
With blinding speed, Pinkamena drew a long curved knife from seemingly nowhere with her mouth. She sliced straight at Silver. He barely managed to block it with the cuff of his hidden blade. Her attacks became relentless, each one being only barely stopped by the metal around Silver’s hoof. Silver’s adrenaline levels were going through the roof. He found that her strikes were becoming easier to anticipate. Was she underestimating him? Was this really the limit of her strength? Could she just be toying with him? Silver decided it would only matter if he lived to find out. He waited for her next attack, in a defensive position. She swung at him from the side with her knife. Instead of blocking, he ducked under it, and jumped through. He found himself flanking her, with the confused killer still briefly confused as to where he went.
That was all he needed. The hidden blade extended from his hoof. He shot towards her side, and aimed straight at her heart. He closed his eyes as he felt the blade hit skin, and cut through it. The battle was over.
When he opened his eyes, it became very clear that the battle was not over. His blade had blood on it, but it was not connected to a body. He stared at it for half a second in confusion, before a pair of hoofs collided into his belly. The force of the impact sent him sprawling backwards. He quickly got back up, to see an angry looking pink serial killer staring at him. Blood dripped down her coat, originating from a large cut across his back. She must have ducked just before the blade could make full contact.
Pinkamena was in obvious discomfort from the wound, and was breathing heavily.
“Aaagh, damn that hurt. And here I was thinking I could fuck around with you before I killed you. Looks like we’re doing this the hard way.”
Shiiiiit.
That was supposed to kill her. It was supposed to be over right there. He was severely winded from the fighting just earlier. He was in no shape to continue. He shook his head. No. He was an assassin. He was stronger than that. He had to look for a place to get away for the moment so he could ambush her. He spread his wings. He tried to move up to a place in the treetops. If he could get up there, he could move around her, and possibly attempt the assassination over again. It was the only plan he could think of at the moment.
As soon as he took to the skies, he heard a faint “I don’t think so” coming from Pinkamena’s direction. After he heard that, a knife came streaming through the air. It pierced right through his right wing.
“OH SUNOVA-”
So much for that plan.
Silver came crashing back down, and landed in intense pain. He remembered that he had some medication for pain in his bags. He desperately scrambled through them, found the bottle, and downed it. The pain in his wing died down significantly. There was however, still a large hole in his wing. He would not be flying again any time soon. He cursed at this.
It was around this time that he realized he should have been killed by then. Pinkamena was nowhere to be seen. Silver’s heart began racing again. He was in a dark, famously dangerous forest, and completely alone except for a deadly serial killer, known to torture her victims. Not good for his mental health. He began to wonder why he ever became an assassin.
The fact that he had to constantly remind himself that he was one was beginning to annoy him. He pulled himself together, and got off the ground. Looking around, it would seem he was completely alone. He would have tried to leave if he didn’t know better. Pinkamena was somewhere out there, hiding behind the pitch black areas in the trees. He closed his eyes and focused, trying to listen to his surroundings. He put all his concentration into finding Pinkamena. Silver began to feel subtle changes around him. He opened his eyes, but things looked different than before. The forest itself seemed darker, but he felt more aware than ever. He heard an extremely faint noise from behind him. He turned around to see a glowing Pinkamena moving towards him through the trees. It didn’t seem like she knew he had seen her.
He readied himself, anticipating her actions. He looked partially away, to act as if he was still unaware of her whereabouts. Pinkamena leapt out from the bushes, taking Silver slightly off guard just from the speed with which she did so. She was holding a different blade from before in her mouth. It was around the same length as the other one, but it was straight this time. In Silver’s state of heightened awareness, he noticed it had tiny serrations on its edges, likely designed to rip apart the victim it was plunged into upon withdrawing it from the body.
The blade was pointed right at his neck. That same blade, which was supposed to be planted firmly in Silver’s throat, instead went right over him, as Silver dodged out of the way and bucked Pinkamena in the side. Clearly, this was not the outcome she had expected. She lay sideways, staring at Silver. He grinned, with a tiny bit of actual confidence this time.
“Did you really think it would be that easy to kill a member of the assassins brotherhood?” Silver said this in a particularly biting tone.
“Funny, you didn’t seem so sure of yourself just a moment ago. Come on asshole, finish me off!” She finished the sentence with a demented smile. Her failure to have killed him already was clearly getting to her. She was getting visibly angry. She breathed heavily as she got up. Silver drew his own blade from the harness around his robes. He charged at Pinkamena.
Their fight was much more even than the last one. Although Silver’s heightened awareness was no longer active, he could still keep pace with Pinkamena. Now that he had a real weapon drawn, he could go on the offensive as well. Their fighting continued at a rapid pace.
They moved rapidly around the forest, although generally Silver was the one pushing forward. Eventually, Pinkamena found herself pinned against a tree. A quick parry and a hoof-sweep later, she found herself on the ground. Silver extended his hidden blade. The time had come, once and for all. He thrusted the blade straight at her neck. It dug itself in the ground.
Wait what.
It would seem that Pinkamena had rolled out of the way. And was now standing next to him. Holding a serrated knife. Which he quickly found embedded in his side. Silver bits slumped to the floor.
Pinkamena had not come out of the fight unscathed. She had numerous cuts and bruises on her from the previous fight. She looked exhausted.
“Hehe... that’s right asshole... you lost motherfucker...”
She rolled Silver onto his back, and put her hoof just under his chin. Silver managed to put his hoof up to her forearm, as if trying to grab at it.
“Give it up kid... you’re going to die here... nopon-”
Pinkamena’s sentence was finished by a hidden blade rocketing through her chin and into her brain. She had been too caught up in her victory to even remember that Silver’s hoof was a weapon. She slumped onto him before being slowly pushed off. Silver, with great difficulty, managed to get up. The pain in his side was astounding. He inched himself towards the exit of the forest. He had no intention of dying there.
…
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed. With every painful step, he could feel himself getting weaker. That mattered little, as he could finally see the exit of the forest. As he hobbled towards it, he noticed that the sun was rising over the horizon. Ponies were just beginning to leave their homes to walk to their jobs. He tried to call out for help, but he knew it was hopeless. All that came out was a loud wheeze. It managed to get the attention of several ponies before Silver collapsed. They started shouting things he couldn’t quite understand. Some of them ran towards him, while others ran the other way, presumably to try and get some kind of help. His vision got darker.
It wasn’t all bad. He would have prefered that he hadn’t died during the mission, but at least he hadn’t failed. He managed to take out a dangerous psychopath. As far as final actions went, that wasn’t too bad. He felt the warm, wet area around him, soaking into his robes, slowly growing bigger. He was sure his family would understand.
The ponies noticed the trail of blood he had left behind him. Several of them were going in groups to follow it back, he figured with the intention of finding out what had killed him. He knew they would find Pinkamena’s body. With any luck, they might even find her most recent victim, crudely buried there. He could get a proper burial, as opposed to the crude ditch in the forest.
The last thing Silver managed was a faint smile.
