//------------------------------// // Chapter Four // Story: The Bounty Hunter // by Hope Is Never Lost //------------------------------// Calo walked through the streets. He wasn't surprised when he saw ponies giving him looks of curiosity while his shifted his eyes around everywhere to glance at the ponies. Doing this he saw little colts and fillies giggling and running around playing without a care in a world. Calo stopped when he felt a small ball bounced into his leg. Glancing over he saw a little filly with green fur and a yellow mane running up towards him. She didn't look to be over three years old. 'Then again I'm not good at telling ponies ages.' Calo thought as he watched the filly trotted up to the ball giggling. She stopped by the ball to glance up at him while Calo stared down at her with a neutral expression on his face. The two stared at each other before the filly blew a raspberry at him with her tongue sticking out. Calo blinked a few times than glanced around with his eyes before blowing one back at her. He quickly put his tongue away before anyone saw. The filly giggled and grabbed her ball trotting off with Calo standing there with an invisible smirk on his face as he walked off. 'You too soft.' He continued walking along until he finally reached what appeared to be a house built inside of a hollowed-out tree. 'The irony. A library in a tree.' Calo thought as he walked up towards the door and knocked on it four times. After a small moment, the door was answered by a small purple dragon. He had a smile on his face though it disappeared once he saw Calo who stared down at the dragon behind his goggles. "Can I help you?" "I heard this library have maps. I'm here to borrow a few if possible." "Uh, maps? What for? What are you anyway?" "Kid. I'm here for maps. Not to answer questions." The dragon crossed his arms while he glared up at the bounty hunter. "You don't have to be rude." "You also don't have to ask questions about me either." Calo retorted back "Fine. Go ask Twilight. I got my eyes on you, though!" The dragon emphasized this by pointing at his eyes than at Calo. 'Whatever helps you sleep, kid.' Calo thought as he walked through the doors and begun to stare around the inside. He looked around to see many shelves bearing books. It was safe to assume that the tree was an adequate library for all ponies to use. Speaking of, there was a lavender unicorn with a cutie mark of six shimmering stars reading a book on her sofa. ' 'That must be Twilight...But why doesn't she notice me from this distance?' The dragon waddled over and nudged the lavender unicorn's side "Err, Twilight? Sorry to interrupt, but," He looked over at Calo and winced when Calo crossed his arms. "Something is here to see you..." The one called Twilight sighed as her horn began to glow. A bookmark wrapped in an aura similar to the horn's glow hovered over and set itself into the current page of the open book. Then, the book itself was wrapped in the same aura as it closed on its own. When she caught a glance of the strange pony, she yelped in surprise, snapping him out of his own thought. He stared with his unchanged expression while Twilight looked in shock "Wh-Who are you?" Twilight trotted over and examined him up close while he stared down at her in silence "What are you?" "Someone who likes his personal space," Calo grunted. She looked up at him and blushed in embarrassment "I-I'm sorry about that...What's your name?" "None of your concern." Twilight frowned at his rude answer. She then perked up "I'm sorry, I haven't properly introduced myself yet!" Twilight placed a hoof on her chest "My name is Twilight Sparkle. It is a pleasure to meet you today!" She smiled warmly at her visitor hoping to warm him up. Calo just stared at her for a few tense moments. "Likewise..." He finally responded in his monotonous tone. Twilight's smile vanished after hearing his response. While she was fascinated by his appearance, she wasn't fond of his behavior. She wondered if the strange thing "Okay. Well, why don't you make yourself comfortable on the couch before I-" "Can you just let me borrow some maps of the area?" Calo interrupted her. "You can stop being rude you know." Calo glanced down at the dragon before glancing back over at the unicorn. "Can I please borrow some maps of the area?" "Well we do have some, but they can't be checked out." "Can I have a look at them then?" "Hang on one second." Calo watched as she walked over to one of the shelves with a look of someone concentrating. "Here it is!" Calo watched her horn glowed purple while some scrolls with the same color floated down while the mare walked towards Calo who stood there with his arms crossed before reaching forward and grabbing the scrolls. "Thanks." Not even bothering to hear her reply he turned towards a table while pulling a chair up. Taking the scroll he began spreading across the table then grabbed a few books that happened to be laying there to place them on the corners so the scroll wouldn't roll back up. He ignored the two that stared at him with looks of curiosity. Calo stared at the map for awhile ignoring the two who continued staring at him. 'This map only shows the town! Nothing else?' He took one glance closer just to make sure. 'Brave explorer.' Calo thought sarcastically as he begun to roll up the scroll. 'So basically my bounty could be hiding in the forest or in town.' Calo stood and turned to leave only to stop at the door. "Excuse me....Twilight it was?" Calo spoke but not turning around. "Yes?" "Has anypony reported anything missing here?" Calo turned around while Spike and Twilight shared a glance with each other. "Not that I'm aware of." "I see." Calo turned and begun to open the door. "Your welcome!" Spike shouted causing him to stop halfway out the door. "Spike!" "No, Twilight. This guy has been completely rude for no reason." "Annoying brat ain't ya?" Calo asked as he shut the door ignoring the yelling behind it.