Where Evil Sleeps

by Nanrite

Chapter 9: Formal Invitation

Crystal looked up at the two older mares as they went through Remy’s saddlebag.

“Here’s your knife back by the way,” Sky said, passing Remy back her blade. The blood from the painting had been mostly wiped away but some was still visible. Despite their best efforts, it would never be completely clean again.

“You keep it,” Remy told her. “You’re better with it anyway.”

Sky shrugged, then sheathed the knife into a makeshift strap across her chest.

“So what is the situation?” Sky asked.

“Captain Swift Hoof and Lance are missing; radios are out too so contact with Bow is out of the question,” Remy stated. She turned a worried gaze to the window, praying that Bow was doing better than they were.

“Okay…” Sky started, trying to wrap her head around how this mission had gone so far south. “The mission hasn’t changed; we still need to find the missing ponies and bring them back safely, same goes for Lance and Captain Swift.” Sky walked over to the bar area and grabbed a bottle from behind the bar. Remy looked at her and her brow furrowed.

“Sky are you serious?!” Remy shouted.

“Relax,” Sky said with a smile. “This is a reward for when we all make it out. And we will.”

Suddenly the door that led to the statue room opened slowly. Crystal jumped and quickly ran to Remy’s side. In the doorway stood a mare in a maid outfit. She had a long, and sliky black mane and tail and a tan coat. Everything about her appearance was perfect, except for her empty, grey eyes. There was nothing there. Cold, Remy thought.

“I’ve been looking for you,” the maid said, turning to Crystal. There was no emotion in her voice.

“Hey!” Sky stated in a commanding tone. “State your name.”

The maid ignored her, “My master misses you; he would like you to come back for dinner.”

Crystal gripped Remy’s hind leg firmly, and Remy could feel the filly trembling.

“Come with me, young mistress,” the maid said, her tone still lacking any emotion.

“Hey, did you hear me lady?!” Sky asked, irritated as she approached the maid. The maid’s gaze snapped to Sky.

“If you take another step,” the maid stated. “I will kill you.”

Sky stopped but didn’t step back.

“Remy,” Sky told her, making sure not to take her eyes off the maid. “Get Crystal out of here, I’ll follow you later.

“Sky we can’t spli-”

“You have ‘til the count of three,” the maid said coldly.

“Remy get the fuck out of here!” Sky yelled.

“One.”

Remy looked from Sky, then to the maid.

“Two.”

“Remy GO!!” Sky yelled again.

“Crystal get on my back!” Remy screamed. Crystal jumped up and gripped Remy as tightly as she could before the two ran down the stairs to the ballroom.

“Three.”

In a split second the maid was mere inches from Sky’s face. Her eyes had changed from a dull grey to a bright yellow. Before she could even react, there was a sharp pain in Sky’s side. Sky looked to her shoulder to see a pair of scissors buried deep into it. Sky spun and unsheathed her knife, slashing at the maid as she spun and fell backward to make distance. She looked up to see blood flowing from the maid’s neck where she had aimed. This was a kill move Sky had mastered, but the maid’s expression did not change. She looked down at the batpony and trotted forward slowly, blood flowing down her uniform.

“What the fuck!” Sky screamed.

In the blink of an eye the maid was on top of her, pinning her to the ground.

“Tell me,” the maid asked, blood from her slit throat dripping down onto Sky’s face. The maid gripped the scissors and yanked them from Sky’s shoulder. Sky screamed out as the pain in her shoulder was amplified. “Tell me what pain feels like.”

The maid sent the scissors down straight into Sky’s belly. Sky screamed again and tears started to flow from her bloodshot eyes.

“Pain… fear…” the maid said as her yellow eyes looked down at the batpony.

Suddenly a crossbow bolt shot through the window and plunged into the side of the maid’s head, sending her to the ground with a lifeless thud. Sky looked towards the window to see a figure there, holding a crossbow in a magical grip and a sword and shield on his back. One hoof was gripping a rope the other was opening the window. It was a stallion. Sky’s vision was fading from all the blood loss but she knew who her savior was.
“C-Captain?” Sky barely got out.
The figure climbed in through the window and trotted over the maid.

Captain Swift Hoof aimed his crossbow down at the maid and gritted his teeth. The maid looked up at him, her eyes grey, then she spoke.

“Is this pain? Why… why can’t I feel-” Swift Hoof sent a second bolt straight down between the maids eyes. The maid fell silent as a pool of blood formed under her.

Swift Hoof trotted over to Sky and looked the batpony over before applying herbal patches to her wounds.

“Sky… you’ve seen better days huh?”

“Captain…”

Swift Hoof applied pressure but the blood from her stomach soaked through the patch. It wasn’t enough.

“Is it… bad?” Sky asked. Her eyes were closed, tears streaming down her face.

“No…” Swift Hoof told her as he rested a hoof on the side of her face.

“That’s good.” Sky laughed but coughed up blood. Swift Hoof wiped the blood from her face and noticed Sky was smiling.

“I…” Sky started. “I hope you… got her.”

“I did.”

Sky just nodded as more blood flowed from her stomach wound. Swift Hoof applied another herbal patch but the blood soaked through again. He went for a third patch but noticed the batpony was no longer breathing. Sky was gone.

Swift Hoof stood up. A single tear ran down the old stallion's face.

“I’ll kill them Sky… I’ll kill them all.” Suddenly the door to the statue room closed. Swift Hoof spun around to see a blood trail… but the maid was gone. Swift Hoof threw the crossbow away and removed his sword and shield from his back with his magic and started to follow the trail of blood. “I’ll kill you… and then your master next, I’ll kill you all…”

Comments

[Moosetasm]

Aww. I liked Sky.