//------------------------------// // Day 2 // Story: The Hunters // by Poia //------------------------------// When I woke up this morning, I stretched and yawned for a few minutes straight. I was confused at first, seeing unfamiliar surroundings, but someone, my sleepy mind remembered that I'm in Midnight's house. When I finally woke up enough, I slid off the bed and stepped outside the room. I looked over at the door to Midnight's room just as she left it, she let out a big yawn before greeting me. "Good morning Cinder." She said, clearly still a little sleepy. She finished another yawn before continuing. "You want anything for breakfast?" "No thanks, that was a very big dinner last night." I smiled before stepping downstairs, with Midnight just behind. She looked at me as she opened her fridge. "You sure?" "Yeah, I'm good." She set an apple on her bar and bit into it. "Alright, suit yourself." She said with a mouthful. "So, I was thinking about showing you the town today." she said between mouthfuls. I looked at her, intrigued. "Oh, really?" "Yeah, you know, as a friend. You don't remember anything about this place right?" "Not a thing." "Ok, lucky for you, I got a nice hunk of extra cash." she said with a wink before diving back into her apple. "I have a few things I need to do here first, so you go meet me at the fountain." I nodded and went over to her door. "See you in a bit." I stepped outside and backtracked the walk to Midnight's house. I looked around the bit of town that I could see. I figured that anywhere near the fountain would be good to wait for my hostess, but I decided the same bench we met at would be best, it just felt natural. There were a few other ponies sitting around, mainly in pairs, probably couples out on a date or something. There was one group of four, seemed to be a family, with two adult ponies and two foals. I was waiting maybe ten minutes before anything really happened. I heard a thud on the bench next to me. Naturally, I looked down instantly, I was definitely not expecting to see a kunai in the wood. Sticking out of the wood was a small throwing weapon with a diamond shaped blade, a decently sized handle, and a circle on the opposite side of the blade. I don't quite know what happened after that, but I quickly found myself feet away from a slim pony in a skintight black spandex outfit. Whoever it was lifted a hoof. They had a silver bracelet on the leg they lifted. I quickly darted off to the side as two large razor blades extended from the bracelet and they slammed them into the ground, slicing through the cobblestones easily. The pony easily pulled the razors from the ground and ran at me. They extended their bladed hoof, probably to get some extra range, and I was barely able to hop over their attack and their body entirely. I quickly pulled the kunai out of the bench with my mouth and charged the pony. They quickly turned around, swinging their claws. I caught a glimpse of an uncovered section of their face. They had blue eyes and a white coat, instantly my mind flashed with a picture of Midnight. My adversary hit me hard, I swear I heard some of my skin rip from her razors. The blow was hard enough to knock me a few feet away, however, I somehow managed to keep the kunai in my jaws. I narrowed my eyes and lunged at the pony, turning my head so that the blade was pointed at their face. I wasn't quick enough to hit them straight on, but their huge claws slowed them down so I was still able to cut their side, exposing their coat inside the spandex, and making a shallow cut on their side. Seeing the blood seep from her wound instantly reminded me of mine, and pain shot through my body. My adrenaline rush dulled the pain down, at least, enough to fight through. I knew that any weakness I show would most likely mean my death, so I didn't really have a choice but to deal with it. "Ah!" they shrieked. The pony retracted the claws back into the bracelet form. The pony stared daggers at me, but there was still a slight wince, clearly showing that they had been injured. They tucked their front hoof into the pit of their other front leg. "Die you insect!" They screamed, their voice was obviously feminine. She quickly pulled her hoof out and threw several small needles at me. I rolled to the side to dodge the ranged attack. With kunai still in my teeth, I charged again. I'm not sure why, but something told me that I needed to kill her. She saw my charge and pulled out her razors again, probably to discourage any further assault. Using some instinct, I turned my head back then snapped it forward, releasing the kunai straight towards the pony. She was clearly not too skilled with her weapon, as she tried to dodge again, but still got clipped by my attack, again on the same side, this time a little further back. A white wing spilled out of the gash left by my blade. The pegasus hissed at me, and she forced her other wing to tear through the spandex. She quickly spread her wings then launched into the air. She shook her other front hoof a bit in the air, and another pair of twin razors extended from a bracelet I hadn't noticed earlier. She flew in front of the sun, probably to get me blinded for an easy attack. I must admit though, her excessively large wings and four identical giant claws attached to a thin body made for a silhouette that was equal parts terrifying, and sexy. I had no clue what to do now, I was completely unarmed, and she could easily kill me in seconds if I didn't do anything. I glanced around for any form of defense, but all I noticed was a quickly vacated block. The kunai was by far too small to help now, even if I could get to it in time. Only one option came to mind. I ran for the fountain, the slender and murderous pegasus quickly closing in on me. I slipped behind the main tower of the thing, and it had clearly worked. My marauder glided right past me at lightning speed, smashing into the wall of a brick building. I needed a second to catch my breath, but as soon as I could, I snatched up the kunai sitting on the ground and wandered over to the attempted murderer. She was laying in a pile of bricks, and a dust cloud was slowly dissipating in an almost cartoon-like fashion. She was moaning in pain, her razors still extended. The mare saw me as I inched closer, hatred still raging, but she was clearly out of commission. I used the kunai to wedge the razor bracelets off of her leg so she'd pose minimal threat, and just to be safe, I slipped my hoof into one. "Good fight." she said with a scowl. She coughed up a bit of blood, and tried to stand. It took her an amazingly short time, considering how wobbly she was from blood loss and probably one heck of an adrenaline rush. "But I'm not beaten yet!" She stared daggers at me, and her shaking instantly stopped. She pushed off with her rear legs to tackle me. Her front legs wrapped around my neck, she hid her head from the kunai on the opposite side of mine. Time slowed, the impact forced me to drop the weapon, and she took her chance to pin me. "You're weak, how could you ever have expected to win the prize money?" She spit in my face for additional disrespect before she reached for one of her rear legs. I hadn't noticed before due to the perfect color, but each rear leg had a black knife sheath strapped on with a black strap, making it impossible to notice from a distance. She drew the blade on her left, somehow grasping it with her hoof. It was identical to a kitchen knife, just slightly more curved for more maneuverability. "Any last words?" She taunted, her three unarmed legs were holding down mine, and the kunai was by far out of reach of the leg I could move. The mare thrust her knife towards my throat, I was barely able to catch her hoof with mine, the blade poking into my flesh. "I, won't, let, you." I shouted between breaths. I pushed my hoof back with all my might, but it was greatly handicapped due to the large gashes in my side. I only had one hope now. The bracelet I put on was still on the hoof I was struggling with. It was now or never. I shook my hoof, trying to trigger whatever it was that made the blades materialize. "Come. ON!" The pegasus smiled a devilish smile. "You were so close, I almost wish I didn't need to kill you." She laughed and pushed her knife hoof towards my throat again, much harder than before, I was barely able to slow her down. "Please." I begged the weapon. "Work." I jiggled my hoof as much as I could without giving my assailant any leeway on her attack. I heard a small click, and her face instantly changed. Her evil grin melted into an emotionless state, and her eyes appeared to be looking through me. I felt something warm pour over my hoof, and I dared a look. It was a bloody mess, but I could clearly see that the blades sprang out and impaled her leg. The knife dropped from her hoof, the blade nicked my shoulder on the fall, not nearly enough to break the skin, but it was still frightening. The pony bowed her head, avoiding eye contact. "But, I was so. Close." She started crying. "Three ponies died at my hooves. I can't lose now." Her head bobbed occasionally as she wept, hear tears falling onto my chest and soaking my coat. "Sorry, but no pony is killing me today." I ripped the blades out of her hoof with as much force as possible. Blood went flying, and I could clearly see bone. I pushed the now limp pony off of me. She was still breathing, but not for long. I got up, flipped the blades back into their bracelet form then stood over her. "Why, Midnight?" The mare raised an eyebrow before she responded. "I, I, don't." She let out a long sigh, her final breath. No pony would ever hear from her again. Knowing she was dead, I did the only decent thing I could in this situation. I carefully put my hoof up to her face and shut both of her eyelids. I stepped away from the body and forced myself to look away. "I'm sorry, Midnight. I didn't want to, but you forced me to." I glanced myself over. The wound in my side was leaking blood, not nearly fast to pose an immediate threat, but it definitely needs medical attention. I didn't realize it, but my hoof had been cut, probably when she threw the needles, or I scraped the knife when I went to stop her. Again, it was nothing major, but then, I didn't really know how much the giant puddle pouring off my hoof was my blood. On my other side were some scrapes when I was knocked aside, there wasn't any blood, so I knew it didn't need any attention, just some time to patch up. My entire body was shaking from the massive adrenaline rush the fight had given me. "Whoo. Calm down Cinder." I said to myself. "It's all over now, you're safe." I stood there for several moments undisturbed, when suddenly- "CINDER BLADE, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?" A very familiar voice screamed at me from behind. I dared to take look, it was Midnight, her light green mane and tail glistened in the sunlight, they were both clearly damp, probably fresh from a shower. "Midnight?" I asked, astonished at the sight. "But, I thought-" "YOU THOUGHT WHAT? I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! WHAT HAPPENED?" The friendly mare sprinted up to me. "She attacked me, she nearl-" When she got to me, she cut me off with a quick slap on the cheek. She cut my cheek open a bit due to how hard her hoof was. "YOU JUST KILLED A PONY? WHAT? I MEAN, HOW? Er..." she needed a moment to think what question she was going to ask first. I took the time to actually say something. "Look, Midnight, she attacked me, I was just defending myself." She slapped me again, making an identical cut on my other cheek. "I saw everything, I was just too scared to help, but, HOW DID YOU DO THAT? YOU WERE FREAKIN AWESOME!" She gave me a death hug, and I felt her cry right onto me. "You had me so scared. Who was that?" I stood stunned for a moment before I slowly put my hooves around her, neither of us payed any attention to any of the blood that was now getting all over. "I honestly have no clue." I felt some tears starting to well up in my eyes, I wasn't quite sure when they started streaming down. "I was scared too." I dug my nose into her coat, it felt natural, and it honestly helped me calm down. "I thought I was going to die!" Midnight broke the embrace and glared straight into my eyes. "Never, do that again." I nodded, not quite sure what else to do. "I won't. Promise." Before I knew it, she had pulled me back in for another bout of tears. I couldn't begin to imagine how weird we must have looked, two blood soaked ponies crying over each other, with a spandex covered pegasus lying dead in a pool of blood behind us. We had to look like some sort of psychopaths or something. This time, I broke up out embrace. "Thank you for helping me calm down, but, the adrenaline is wearing off, please call a doctor." I winced as the pain slowly rose from all of my wounds. Though I couldn't see, I felt a powerful throbbing pain on both my back and the back of my head, plus my wings were sore from being crushed by two ponies of weight, and maybe some of Midnight's hug. "Ok, lie down and don't move." She bolted off down a street without even making sure I was safe to be left alone. I laughed in my head and took her advice, making sure to lie on the scraped side, rather than the cut open side. The blood flow was definitely slower than earlier, but I wasn't sure if that was good or bad. I was waiting maybe three minutes before Midnight ran back with two paramedics, a stretcher was harnessed between the two, and a large first aid kit was resting on it. The lead medic, a white mare with light pink hair tied into a bun underneath a paper nurse's hat, unbuckled her harness and ran up to me. "Where does it hurt?" she asked, her voice the smoothest and calmest I've heard, well, that I can remember. She instantly began investigating my exposed twin gashes. "Everywhere." I said, holding back a scream of pain, the rush was almost entirely worn out by now and the pain was unbearable. "Like, a nine out of te-EN!" I yelped as she poked the wound. She turned her head and yelled at her identical copy. "Get me a roll of gauze, the needle and the medical tape." Her twin ran over and set the requested stuff on a cloth she also brought over to help keep the gear sterile. "Ok now hon." The nurse said to me. "I'm going to inject you with this, you'll feel a bit of pain, but it will knock you out fast. Just a warning," she continued as she jabbed me, "some patients experience nightmares, especially after a traumatic experience like you. You'll wake up in a couple hours." Her words slowly got quieter as I slipped into unconsciousness, and despite her warning, I had no dreams of any sort. I woke up much later, the sun was setting, the last rays of the day leaking through the window in the hospital room. My right hoof, the uninjured one, had a lot of pipes going from it into some machine that turned whatever they were collecting into numbers on a monitor that only a trained professional could understand. The room was small, but very open. I was in the most comfortable bed imaginable, and I had the perfect view of the entire room. There was a bathroom to my right, though I assumed it was for the doctors, nurses, and visitors, as I was most likely bed ridden and set up with a bedpan. The door to the hallway had a whiteboard for any notes my caretakers may need, and it was right next to the bathroom. There was a bookshelf on the opposite wall for entertainment, though it was definitely out of my reach. Lucky there was a stack of books on the movable table next to the bed, along with my lunch. Then I noticed that there was a chair in the corner, and a familiar white pegasus was sitting on it. Her ears perked when she noticed that I woke up. "Cinder! Are you alright?" She hopped off her chair and trotted over to me. She threw a hoof across my chest and hugged me again, she buried her head into the bed, and I could've sworn I heard her sobbing. "You woke up four hours later than expected, I was so scared." From the position I was in, I couldn't really hug her back, so instead, I just petted her head. "It's ok Midnight, I'm fine now. The doctors took good care of me." I couldn't help but smile, knowing she was legitimately terrified for me. "But, why do you care so much about me?" She quickly broke the hug and wiped her eyes. Then she fixed her mane and adopted an air of confidence. "Because, I feel that we are friends, and friends need to worry about each other, nothing more." She punctuated her statement with a sniffle. "Yeah, right." I held back a giggle. "We both know it's more than that." "That is simply incorrect. Now, are you still in pain?" "A little, mainly my side, could you kiss it better?" I joked. She scoffed at the thought. "I guess you will have to tough it out then." I shook my head and rolled my eyes at her. "I don't understand you." "What do you find difficult to understand?" she appeared genuinely offended. "Sometimes you act so perfect and proper, and other times you're worse than a sailor." "Well then, if you're quite done, I believe it's time that I leave. I will check up with you tomorrow, try not to die." she immediately headed towards the door after she grabbed the saddlebags she left in her chair. She stole a glance at me before she left for good. I waited a coupe minutes, expecting her to come back in, but it was obvious she was really gone for the day. "Aww yeah, peace and quiet." I pulled the movable table over to the bed and ate the untouched food. When I was done, I picked up a book, opened it, and began reading. This is going to be a long day.