Hunt and Toll

by I_Post_Ponies

Ch. 3: Kolnidur

“So why can’t anypony seem to remember me?”

“It’s a... side-effect of your new position, Silken. You’re a Shepard, now, like me and many before us.”

“Okay... and who do I contact to tell them I quit?”

The unicorn stopped and frowned at me. “That isn’t an option. Besides, it’s what you’re meant to do. Your cutie mark is proof of that.”

I jumped in front him, waving a forehoof. “Woah, woah, woah. I did not sign up for this. My cutie mark appeared while I was at my grandmother’s bedside, and last time I checked, helping out sick ponies has nothing to do with everyone forgetting your existence!” I yelled.

My new teacher’s face adopted a grim visage; it was dark, and teetered between anger and sadness. “Because what you’re here for isn’t exactly helping out sick ponies. It’s the ones headed toward death. A death they cannot avoid.

“A death you must Guide them to.”

---

I slowly closed the door to Shallow’s house behind me. My tears hadn’t even had a chance to dry, but Light had said it wouldn’t help for us to linger. He was right, of course. Almost always is.

With a sigh, I looked at my teacher. He was sitting on a bench not far away, gesturing for me to join him. I made my way over and took a seat, dropping my head into my hooves. The late afternoon sun beat into the back of my neck; even the weather did not take pity on me. I didn’t care enough to give it a second thought. All I could think about was Shallow and how I had failed him. How I’d fail everypony, eventually. Every resident of Ponyville would someday be on their deathbed, and I’d be there, doing nothing but feeling sorry for them.

“I Guided Lilac not two years ago. She was a very sweet pony, couldn’t stop talking about how worried she was for Shallow. Even on her deathbed.” His gaze went to the sky, squinting against the sun as it fought to swallow his vision. “I recognized that house the moment I saw you calling from the doorway. Her Guiding was the kind that sticks with you...”

“How do you do it, Light? How do you harden yourself to the consequences of this job?”

He put a hoof gently on my shoulder. “Never do that, Silk. Never. You must let it get to you. The ones we Guide—they deserve to have us cry for them.”

I lifted my head up and looked into Light’s eyes. On the surface, there was no indication of sorrow—no falling tears, no somber frown. But in his eyes, I could see the weight of pain. He hadn’t just spoken those words right before Shallow’s Guiding. He had meant them. It wasn’t that Light didn’t feel any sadness; he was just very good at keeping it inside.

“Do you ever try to save them? Is there really nothing we can do?”

He shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way. We can’t—” His gaze wandered and he put a hoof to his chin in thought. “My teacher was always better at explaining these things than I.” Light looked back to me. “What we do, the Guiding, I never told you why it was so important. It has to do with the origin of our magic. Let me tell you how my teacher explained it...

“What does our job have to do with magic, Arrow?”

The great black stallion looked down at Light and smiled. “We return magic to where it came from, so it can be recycled and help give life to all things living in Equestria. Look around you, Light.” Arrow gestured to the field they walked through. “All of this is given life by Equestria, and it does so through magic. But it does not have an infinite supply of magic. Equestria requires a way to replenish that supply.” He paused, looking over the horizon. “That’s where ponies come in.”

“So ponies create magic, somehow?”

Nodding, he replied, “In a way. The life of a pony is an... investment of sorts. When a pony is born, Equestria gives up some of its magic to give the pony life. Throughout the pony’s life, the spark evolves and grows immensely. Upon death, that monumental soul of magic remains in the body, for Equestria cannot reclaim it on its own.” Arrow turned to Light and offered a weak smile. “We must undertake that role. Upon gaining our cutie mark, Equestria gives us the ability to separate that magic from a body, returning the magic to where it came from.”

“And that’s why—”



“—we can’t save ponies. Because Equestria needs the magic from them.” I finished Light’s statement for him. “But why can’t we save somepony every now and then? It can’t be so bad to just delay the return of magic, can it?”

“Silk, Equestria’s balance of magic is in constant flux. In order for everything to flourish, Equestria must be constantly using magic, and the amount of magic returned from a death is tremendous.” Light waved his hooves for emphasis. “If a single death was delayed, Equestria wouldn’t have the magic to keep everything alive. Entire forests could die, or, even worse, foals could be stillborn.”

I frowned and crossed my forelegs. “Doesn’t mean I have to enjoy returning it.”

Somehow, that statement seemed to put some life back into Light’s eyes. “I would expect nothing else.”

Leaning back against the bench, I closed my eyes and let the cool afternoon breeze wash over me. Silence was all I needed right now—time to think, clear my head. With my eyes closed, however, all I could see was that bouquet, those broken glasses, Shallow’s lifeless body...

“Can we leave? I don’t want to be near this place anymore,” I pleaded.

Light gave me a comforting pat on the back. “Not yet, I’m afraid. I can feel a heat coming. That’s actually how I followed you here. But Shallow isn’t the only one to leave us today. Can you feel it?” He lifted his head, breathing in deeply. “An almost intangible heat, a uniform pressure against your entire body. It’s close.”

“Whatever.” I merely shrugged. “I want nothing to do with it.” It felt so wrong to just move on like Light was. Didn’t he just say Shallow deserved somepony who cried for him? Light was just treating this like a job! “I’d rather just have the Hunt take me than have to kill another Shallow,” I mumbled.

Very suddenly, I found Light in front of me, shaking my shoulders. “Don’t say that, Silk! You have a duty! Not only to the citizens of Ponyville, but the others you’d be leaving behind. What about your family?” His eyes pleaded with me. “What about the future generations of Shepards in Ponyville? I won’t be here forever!”

I reared my head, taken aback by Light’s outburst. Is that... fear I see in him?

“We don’t age, remember? How long do Shepards usually live, anyways? It’s gotta be like hundreds of years at least.”

“Y-you don’t know?” Light’s face fell. “Of course. I haven’t told you.” He took in a deep breath before continuing. “Shepards rarely live another ten or twelve years after obtaining their cutie mark. The oldest Shepard I know of was at eighteen years past gaining his cutie mark when I last heard about him.”

I sat there, gaping, staring at Light in disbelief. It took several moments before I could get out the question, “The Hunt is that aggressive?”

“I’m afraid so.”

All I could do was sit and stare off into the distance, reflecting on the newfound boundaries of my “immortality”. It was likely I wouldn’t even live to what was for regular ponies a healthy old age. And what for? Because some cosmic lottery had picked me—doomed me—to a duty I never even wanted.

“Is there no way to fight back? There has to be some way. The Shepards have been fighting the Hunt for a long time, haven’t they?” My breath began to quicken in panic and my tone became sharper.

“And how many Shepards do you think it has killed? I—” Light’s head sunk, and he paused for a moment. “I don’t think the Hunt is something that can be fought, at least from my experience. Its exact form I cannot be sure of, but I believe it is a coalescence of consequence.” He sat back down next to me, gazing into the sky. “I think it was formed in a time before Sherpards existed, where the task we hold was not carried out, and those ‘magical souls’, as you so aptly named, were not returned to Equestria.”

As he turned to me, I looked into his eyes, searching for that fear I’d seen before—but it wasn’t there anymore. Now, I thought I saw... was it pity? He continued. “Trapped within their lifeless bodies, the souls became restless, and, over time, bitter. Resentful. When the corpse containing them finally decayed, the souls would be released and join with other hateful souls. Eventually, I believe, this thing became more than ethereal; a beast that sought only vengeance.” The silence hung in the air as I stared at Light in somber reflection.

“But why does it seek us out so aggressively?”

“We represent something those lost souls never had, something they never had a chance to know. It despises us for our immortality, and resents us for the Guiding we give.”

Something Light mentioned seemed odd to me. “And you know this... from experience?”

He crossed his forelegs and huffed. After a moment, he put a hoof to his forehead and shook his head slowly. “I suppose I do owe you the story. It was, hmm, eight years ago, now. My teacher and I were just outside a hospital, about to perform another Guiding...”

“Are you sure you want to do this one, teacher?” Light asked.

“I must,” he replied, a solemn tone heavy on his voice.

“I know how much you dislike Guiding foals. I think I can handle this one.”

Arrow turned to Light and offered a weak smile, one he’d seen so many times before. “No, Light. Tonight, the duty is mine. I cannot let my past get the best of me. I cannot let it define me.” He patted Light on the head. “You best learn to do the same.”

Light took a swipe at Arrow’s hoof and attempted to frown. He hated when Arrow talked down to him like that. Couldn’t he see I’d grown up?

Looking up at his teacher, Light noticed Arrow’s gaze had turned to the horizon, where the moon had risen just hours ago. It was anypony’s guess as to what was going through his head. Even after knowing him for two years, Light still couldn’t figure him out. For such a large, imposing stallion who seemed troubled by so few things, he spent a lot of time pondering. Was he...?

“Are you worried about the Hunt, Arrow? I know it strikes at the Guiding of foals a little more often than usual.”

“Worried? No, I am not worried about the Hunt.” It sounded like he was booming his voice a bit more than usual. Trying to build up confidence, perhaps?

Light did his best to assuage his teacher. “I’m sure not even a gross perversion like the Hunt would show its face tonight. Not for this.”

The reaction Light got was not one he expected. Arrow turned to Light, smiling, but almost crying. Light merely ogled at him in shock as tears collected in his eyes. “I did tell you that, didn’t I.” Arrow’s breath was heavy like thunder in a storm; his body reverberated with the pounding of his heart. Light placed a hoof on his shoulder hesitantly, still confused as to what was troubling his teacher so. Maybe he hadn’t truly left his past behind.

“I can do this one. Please, Arrow, let me do this for you.”

He wiped the tears from his face, which once again became austere. “You do not know what you ask. I’ll go to my Guiding now, but, Light?”

Light stood at attention, awaiting Arrow’s next words. “Yes?”

“You know this old stallion can be wrong sometimes, right?”

Raising an eyebrow at him, Light replied, “Y-yes?”

Arrow nodded. “Good.”

“Arrow walked into that hospital and never came out,” Light said. “I took a look at the hospital records: no foal died that night. The Hunt found him, in the middle of a hospital crowded with nurses, doctors and patients, and murdered him before he could Guide the foal. I have no idea what the consequences were; it can be hard to determine such a thing. Maybe we got lucky and nopony else suffered, or maybe, in a hospital in some faraway city, a foal never made it out of its mother’s womb alive.”

“I’m sorry, Light. That sounds like a terrible way to go.”

He sighed. “Perhaps. But it’s something I prefer not to dither on. Besides, I think our next Guiding is here.” His eyes widened as his voice faded off. “Oh, dear.”

I followed Light’s gaze down the street to two gleaming ponies. It was hard to make out their faces, but the manes and coat colors were quite clear. One I did not recognize, but the other...

‘Oh dear’ is right.

Anypony in Ponyville would recognize the lavender coat and dark purple mane of the Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle.

---

The sun continued to beat down on me from its place near the horizon. I’d worked up a sweat with my constant pacing; the suspense was killing me.

“I can’t believe you wanted to cook up a plan for this! We should just go in there and-and—”

Light looked at me questioningly, clearly unimpressed with my bravado. “And what? I told you, I could determine from the heat coming off of them we had plenty of time to plan this out. There was no need to go barging in there, we’d at best confuse them, at worst scare the living daylights out of them.”

“Well, fine!” I stammered, throwing my hooves up in defeat. “Let’s just wait for the blood-curdling screams and then—”

“Silken Sound!” Light’s voice boomed as he slammed his forehooves on the ground. “Just because you’re burdened by Shallow’s death, does not mean you can disregard the feelings of every other pony we’re to Guide! Now get a hold of yourself!”

I slinked backwards, completely caught off-guard by Light’s rebuke. Slowly, I stood back up straight, trying to retain at least some of the confidence I had before, but it was difficult under Light’s scrutinous glare.

“If our duty today is to Guide both Twilight and her companion, then that is what we shall do!” His tone was barely constrained.

I bit my lower lip, waiting for further instruction from Light, but it seemed he wanted something from me. My gaze darted back and forth as I tried to think of what that might be. I suppose I was pretty insensitive there. I sat down and stared at my hooves.

“I’m... sorry, Light. My mind’s in the right place now,” I squeaked.

“Good. It will need to be. The Hunt is known for striking at times where multiple Guidings are involved. I will concentrate on fulfilling our duty, you will need to stay alert and keep an eye on our surroundings. Now, let’s go.” He extended a hoof to me; I grasped it and he helped me up.

Our faces came close for just a moment, and I gazed into the dark wells of his pupils. There was fear in them, but also... determination. It hinted at something darker within him, something I’d not seen before. I never did ask Light about his life before becoming a Shepard. Perhaps I should.

We walked over to the library door. Light knocked on it, then stepped back to stand beside me while we waited. Moments later, the door was encompassed by a violet glow and swung open, revealing a beaming Twilight. Her companion was further back, giving attention to a strange construct in the middle of the main room. What really caught my attention, though, was an oddity in the glows that came from Twilight and her friend: they were connected.

“Hello! I’m Twilight Sparkle. I’m terribly sorry, the library is closed at the moment. Bright Fall and I have some important work to do. Could you stop by tomorrow?” Her voice was quite pleasant; she truly sounded distressed that she was forced to turn Light and I away.

Light coughed. “That’s exactly why we are here, Miss Sparkle.” He gestured to me. “I am Mr. Lost. My colleague, Mr. Sound, and I are here on behalf of Ponyville’s Public Safety Division. We will be monitoring your experiment’s progress to determine if it poses a public safety hazard.” Sticking his nose up in the air, Light simply walked in, not waiting for confirmation or even an acknowledgement from Twilight.

“P-public Safety Division? Do you really think that’s necessary?” she stammered. “I’ve quadruple checked all of my calculations and the scientific theories behind binding magic and electricity are sound. There’s no reason—”

Light cut her off. “I couldn’t help but notice you used the word theory there, Miss Sparkle.” Wandering toward the strange metal construct in the center of the room, he mumbled to himself with a rather haughty tone, “Hmm, yes.” Turning to Twilight, he continued, “Is that not a valid reason for us to be here on its own?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Theory does not just mean a guess! There is plenty of solid evidence—”

Once again, she was interrupted by Light. “Mr. Sound, if you would, please come in. We’ll need to give this device a thorough inspection before their experiment can begin, and I doubt they wish to be delayed.”

I quite suddenly realized I was still standing outside, staring at Light in the flawless execution of his act. “Yeah! I mean, uh, quite! I’ll start ‘inspecting’ right away.” Attempting to enter with the same uptight aura as Light, I half-closed my eyes and lifted my head up as I trotted inside.

Luckily, Twilight bought it. I heard her huff and close the door behind me, grumbling to herself.

A short time later, Light and I had finished our ‘inspection’. Twilight and Bright had gotten back to their work, moving in double time to avoid a delay. Light was sitting next to me, sipping on some tea he had helped himself to. I wasn’t so sure that was needed to sell the story, but he seemed pretty pleased with himself.

I walked over to Bright, who was busying herself with preparations. At the moment, she was leaning on the pedestal with her forehooves and inspecting some wiring.

“Nervous?” I asked.

She turned her head to me and grinned. “Crazy nervous. But I’m really hopeful, as well.” Keeping her eyes on Twilight, she gestured me closer. I leaned in and she whispered, “Twilight is brains like you wouldn’t believe. I give it a ninety percent chance this experiment goes off without a hitch.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “And the other ten percent?”

She squeed. “We become super-famous!”

Sighing, gave her a pat on the back. “Yeah. That would be pretty cool, huh.”

I got a jab in the shoulder for my temperament. “No grumps in here. The negative energy interferes with the delicate equipment.”

“That actual science?”

“Hey! Stop distracting my partner!” Twilight yelled over to me.

“I’d listen, bud. Twi is as crazy as she is smart.”

With a gulp and a nod, I backed away from Bright and returned to where Light was sitting.

“Why are their glows connected like that?”

“It is a dependency.” He took another sip of his tea. “Both of these ponies do not have to die today. The actions of one may save the other.”

“So there is a way—”

“Annnnnd—done!” Twilight cheered. “I was so sure we weren’t going to make it in time, even with the ‘distraction’.”

If Light heard her, he didn’t show it.

“C’mon, Twilight, we have the procedure for this memorized by now. There was no need to get worked up in the first place,” said Bright, breathing heavily. She wiped a hoof across her forehead.

“I know. I know!” Twilight turned to Light and glared. “I don’t want anything to go wrong. We’ve put too much time into this to fail now. If we don’t get any meaningful data today...” I could practically hear the excitement drain from her.

Bright put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder and used another to lift Twilight’s chin up. “Come now, Twi. We’ve come too far to fail. You’ve put too much work into this and I’m too excited to let it go.”

“Hey, Twilight,” I called.

The librarian turned to me with an apprehensive look, but said nothing.

“You’ve got the be, like, the smartest pony in this town. I’m sure this will go fine.” I offered a smile as well.

Confusion flashed across her face for a moment before she said, “Uh, thanks, Mr. Sound.” Bright looked at me and winked. Some confidence returned to Twilight’s stance, but she still seemed wary of my encouragement, as if trying to determine if it was genuine or not. A quiet scoff came from Light and I looked back to him.

His nose was in his tea, and his eyes were closed. A curious smile was painted on his lips. “There’s too much of me in you.”

I smirked in response. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

All I got from him in return was a shrug. Setting down his tea, he stood up and coughed, getting Twilight and Bright’s attention. “Now that it seems you two are ready, perhaps you could walk my colleague and I through your procedure?”

“Oh, of course,” said Twilight. She led us over to the construct, a rather large pedestal covered by an elastic material. Atop the pedestal was an eerie-looking purple crystal. Twilight started her explanation by gesturing to it.

“This is the phase crystal, a specially-crafted medium meant to house a hybrid form of energy created from electricity and magic. It will be fed electricity through this wire,” she pointed to a wire coming up through the center of the pedestal, “and I will be adding a specific amount of magical energy at a precise time. We have some monitoring devices set up to gather information about the energy output, and the crystal itself can be analysed after we’re done. You see, the hypothesis behind—”

“Yes, yes, quite interesting, Twi—*ahem*—Miss Sparkle. But I don’t need to know the physics behind your experiment, just the procedure and safety measures,” said Light.

Annoyance fought its way back onto Twilight’s face. “Of course, Mr. Lost. How silly of me. The procedure is simple: Bright will send a current through the crystal, and I will apply magic. In case of unforeseen circumstances, there is a physical cut-off for the electricity outside of the experimental apparatus, and grounding rods that can be attached to the crystal to drain its energy.” Tossing her mane aside, she gave Light a smug grin. “Besides, once I stop feeding the crystal magic, the reaction should die off on its own. The risk calculations for a self-sustaining energy vortex have yielded probabilities of less than one-thousandth of a percent.” Her tone had gone from frustrated to straight-up cocky at the end.

Light took another long look at the equipment with a scathingly scrutinous gaze. “This seems acceptable. Do you concur, Mr. Sound?”

I scrunched up my face, feigning concentration. “I concur.”

“Excellent!” exclaimed Twilight, hopping with exultation. “Let’s get started with pre-checks, then. Bright?”

“Hit me, Twilight!” Bright called, standing ready next to the pedestal.

Twilight’s face twisted in confusion. “Why would I want to do that? Seems counterproductive.”

Bright rolled her eyes. “Just get on with the checklist.”

“Current flow!”

“Check!”

“Load balancer!”

“Check!”

Twilight and Bright continued to go over a checklist while I pulled Light aside. There was something on my mind...

“This experiment is what’s going to kill one or both of them, isn’t it.” I did not speak it as a question.

Light looked to the apparatus, then back to me. “It seems likely. But let me worry about that, Silk. You need to keep an eye out for the Hunt. That’s still your top priority. I think...” His voice trailed off as his eyes scanned the room. “I think I can feel It coming.”

I recoiled in shock. “You can do that? Feel it, I mean?”

He looked unsure. “I... I don’t know. But this feels so familiar.” He dismissed the thought. “No, I’m just imagining it. Stay alert.” The uncertainty left his face, replaced by the iron-clad determination I’d seen before.

Twilight called over to us, “Checks are done, everything is green! Stand back, Bright is going to close the circuit!”

Light and I backed away from the experiment apparatus. His eyes were on Twilight and Bright, mine were scanning the library. I wonder if the Hunt can move through walls and ceilings. Don’t see why not.

The heat given off by the experimenters’ glows began to intensify just as Bright flipped the switch. I found myself disproportionately worried for her. I mean, there’s no way the Element of Magic could die to something like this, is there? Darkness threatened to envelop the room, but the light from Twilight and Bright pushed it back. I almost didn’t notice they turned the lights off. Atop the pedestal in the room’s nexus, the crystal began to give off a weak blue hue. It likely would have been smarter for me to stay back, but I had a hard time being nothing more than a witness. I crept closer to the middle of the room, ready to dive in and protect one of the scientists if need be.

They continued to shout status updates back and forth. I tuned them out until Twilight announced she would start adding magic to the crystal. This is it. Venturing a glance at Light, I saw he was still focused on Twilight. Colors from the crystal in the center of the room danced across his face, still the visage of focus and precision I had come to recognize. But there was still fear in there. I couldn’t tell if the sweat on his brow was from the heat or nerves.

I had no intention of dying tonight, either. Putting a hoof to my chest, I started to regulate my breathing—didn’t want my heart leaping out of my body.

A brilliant red chroma encompassed the room, inexorably bringing my gaze back to the crystal. Had I not known the anguish it was about to cause, I may have called it beautiful. It emitted and refracted innumerable shades of crimson, giving birth to a scene like I’d never seen before, and doubted I’d see again. I caught myself trying to take a step closer to it, some part of my mind desiring to touch it, to know it.

“All good things,” said Light.

Shaking my head, I snapped out of my trance and looked to my teacher. His gaze was fixed on Twilight, who, unknown to me in my stupor, had begun to yell frantic instructions to Bright.

“Cut the electricity! Open the circuit!”

“I already did, Twilight! Stop feeding it magic!”

“I stopped almost a minute ago!”

They both gasped and exchanged glances. “Throw the grounding switch, then! Drain it!” hollered Twilight.

Bright nodded and threw the switch, causing four metal rods to rise from the ground and touch the crystal. We all stared at the crystal and waited, expecting the red glow to weaken or disappear.

But it only intensified.

I let out a heavy breath. For a moment there, I thought... There would definitely be another Guiding tonight. The only question was: would it be one or two?

“Stay alert, Silk!” Light snapped at me.

I jerked back, realizing I had once again lost focus. What’s wrong with me!? This is important! I slapped myself across the face and darted forward to help.

Twilight had almost gone into a frenzy, and Bright wasn’t much better off.

“The energy is still building! It’s-It’s self-sustaining!” cried Bright.

“No, that’s not it! That doesn’t make any sense, there has to be another explanation! Think, Twilight!” She stared at the ground intensely and started smacking her head in an attempt to force it to think faster.

“Twilight, we don’t have time for that!” said Bright, shaking Twilight out of her thoughts. “The energy is building too quickly. As soon as it exceeds that crystal’s capacity, we’re going to have a massive explosion on our hooves. We need to move it, and now.”

“But why? Why didn’t the grounding work? Even if it is self-sustain—” Her words cut off and her jaw dropped. “Oh no.”

“Twilight?”

“Conductivity,” said Twilight. “When the electricity merged with my magic, it gained the conductivity properties of magic.”

Horror washed over Bright’s face as well. “And only living things conduct magic.”

Both ponies stared at the crystal, lost in thought. I tore my gaze away from the scene, doing my best to keep alert to signs of the Hunt. Perhaps Light and I would be safe tonight. Taking a glance at Light, I was shocked to see the same look of horror on his face that the scientists now shared. My first instinct was to ask if he needed help, but I instead turned to Twilight.

“Twilight, is there something I can do?”

Bright spoke up, “I’ll just teleport it out of here!”

“No! If we attempt to manipulate it with magic at all we could set it off instantly. No magic.”

“Then we need something to pick it up from a distance. Do you have any tools like that?” Her voice had switched from dread to panic.

I perked up. “I know where we could get some!” I said before taking off for the door

Twilight stopped me. “No!” Then, turning to Bright, “Do you really think we could run this thing a safe distance away in time?”

“But... with no way to move it...”

Twilight stood up straight, a heavy glare in her eyes. “I must ground it.”

Bright jumped in front of Twilight. “No way, Twilight! You’ll be fried instantly! With that kind of current, there’s no way to survive!”

Twilight’s fierce stare was now directed at Bright. “Better me than the entire town.”

“But this is just stupid! We just overlooked a stupid thing like conductivity, that can’t kill you, it can’t! Oh, Celestia, this is my fault!” She started pacing back and forth. An idea popped into her head and she faced the crystal herself. “I’ll ground it. You can’t, Twilight. You’re so much smarter, so much more important than me. I need to make up for my mistake.”

If Bright’s suggestion had shaken Twilight, I didn’t see it. But I heard a voice, a whisper so quiet I almost missed it.

“So you’ve always been there.”

I leapt in place, desperately scanning the room for signs of an invader. Twilight and Bright continued to bicker. Was it the Hunt I heard? Turning my back to the three other ponies in the room, I examined the wall behind me. Still nothing. I straightened my ears, listening for the voice to return, or perhaps a growl. The room seemed to shrink around me and I started panting. It was almost like I could feel sharp teeth on my neck and a hot, foul breath across my coat. It had to be here. It had to be the Hunt. My concentration wavered when I heard Light speak up.

“You know this old stallion can be wrong sometimes, right?”

“O-of course, you old coot,” I answered instinctively.

Light nodded. “Good.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, I heard a thundering of hooves; Light had broken into a full gallop. I spun around and was struck speechless by the sight of Light racing past the arguing ponies. Twilight and Bright both turned to him as he blew by them. Twilight yelled out his name, but he was determined.

Just like he had always been.

He skidded to a stop right in front of the crystal, only pausing to glance back at me before placing his hoof on it.

There was no great flash of light, no rush of sound, no thundering blast; the crystal simply went out, and Light fell. For a split second, no one reacted, the room merely a still frame in time. The silence was deafening.

But it shattered when my hooves hit the floor in a gallop. In a second, I was standing over Light. I kneeled down next to him, holding his head up, feeling frantically for a breath or heartbeat. There was air coming from his mouth, but it was no stronger than a feeble breeze.

“Light!” I heard Twilight call out. She was instantly beside me, looking at him with compassion and tears in her eyes. “Oh, Light, why did you do that?”

“C’mon you crazy stallion, wake up.” I tapped his cheek and looked desperately into his eyes.

And, if by some impossible act of Celestia, they opened, if only a little.

“Hey, Twilight,” he croaked. I could hardly understand him, there was so little force behind his words.

“Doctor Lost.” She wiped a tear away. “You know you should really be the one looking down at me. You’ve gotten our roles all messed up.”

Doctor Lost? I looked back and forth between Light and Twilight. And when did she learn his first name?

“Guess I just got it wrong today.” He turned to me. “And who might you be, kind stallion?”

It was all I could do to muster a pathetic smile through my tears. “No One.” I stroked his mane softly. “But I can tell there’s a terrible pain that burdens you. Let me carry that weight.”

And he spoke sweet words, the sweetest words I had ever heard.

“Sounds... wonderful.”

I hugged his body to me, now crying freely. The tears tickled my coat as they flowed down my face. I’d never carried another pony’s weight before, and Light’s was heavier than a mountain. That terrible mist started escaping his body, caressing me with it’s tranquil touch. The soul sought to soothe me with it’s compassionate whispers as it floated past my ears; I only cried harder. In the end, I could not protect him. No one could protect him from himself.

The Hunt had claimed another.

Comments

[Chaotic Mind]

This is different and getting very interesting. I'm wondering who or what the Hunter is now. If this chapter is leading to what I'm thinking...

It's gonna get far more interesting from here.

[Derpmind]

1536495
Hate to break it to you, but the story's labeled as being complete. The Hunt's basically a myth, there is no malevolent force going around killing all the Shepards.

[Chaotic Mind]

1540843 Failed to see the complete sign.

But I know what the mythical Hunter is. It's fate's cruel take on probability. Perhaps almost like probability manipulation. That's my idea. Chances being manipulated by an unseen spell so that the Shepards don't live too long a life.

Sad to see it end like this...

[I_Post_Ponies]

1541183
Maybe... it's certainly up for interpretation. I took a more optimistic view of the ending. In fact, that's what I was aiming for throughout the story. But I won't sully other people's experience with my intentions. It's open-ended so people can make up their own minds about it.

[ponygrad]

Based just off of the last few paragraphs it seems that the hunt is the will to not sacrifice oneself to save the life of a stranger.

“I took a look at the hospital records: no foal died that night. The Hunt found him, in the middle of a hospital crowded with nurses, doctors and patients, and murdered him before he could Guide the foal. I have no idea what the consequences were; it can be hard to determine such a thing. Maybe we got lucky and nopony else suffered, or maybe, in a hospital in some faraway city, a foal never made it out of its mother’s womb alive.”

The wording might be a bit more obtuse than what would be natural for the sake of keeping up the plot, but it makes sense. The foal would not have died and the soul would not have been lost or passed on in any way if arrow had sacraficed himself. Honestly, the only part of the fic that I might be a bit confused on is when he's keeping an eye out for signs of the hunt. It might very well be that this is just to keep him busy and that there are no signs, but this would be the first lie he was told outright, rather than a lie by ommision.

Oh, and I'm at a loss for the whisper he hears "“So you’ve always been there.”" I'd love to hear someone's idea about that.

[SGDragon]

Finally got around to reading this story. Very well done! I love the twist in the end on what The Hunt actually is.

1543046

I think you got it backwards what The Hunt is (typo perhaps?).

It was Light who whispers "So you've always been there". He said that because it was at that moment that Light realized exactly what The Hunt was, which is the urge to sacrifice yourself to save another (not the will NOT to sacrifice yourself), and how all Shepards have that urge, especially, as was pointed out in the story, when foals or multiple ponies need to be Guided. Since they didn't know exactly what The Hunt was before that point, they were still on alert to whatever ethereal monster they believed it to be.