//------------------------------// // Hunter's Log: Rosewind // Story: The Equestrian Omni-Knight // by Azure5555 //------------------------------// It had been a few minutes when Bon Bon had grappled back to her shared home, with her “room mate” in hoof. The monster hunter was frantic to say the least, running to and from her home, gathering supplies to what would be a very long trip, and she had five days at maximum to complete it. The stress was building and it was nowhere near subsiding, until she saw her face. Beautiful fur coat, soft golden eyes, the way her mane traveled across her back and her only thought being: “Am I staring too long?” “Bon? You okay? I can come with you if you want?” Asked the sea green pony. “Huh, what? Oh I uh...no it’s too dangerous. A haunted house is one thing, but these ice caverns have taken more lives than I can count. I‘m not letting an untrained mare go in over her head, especially if she’s somepony I care about.” Stated Bon Bon. “Oh…” All she could say was oh. Her blush profound and bright. Lyra didn’t know whether to hug the huntress or cry, so she did both with a wide smile on her face. ‘She always did get overly emotional.’ Thought Bon Bon. The mares broke off from the embrace, neither actually wanting to part. “Bring me back a souvenir?” “Maybe I’ll bring you a new harp? Keep the shop open, I’ll be back before you can spit! Not that you uh...spit.” Lyra could only chuckle as her hero flew off, her hook having caught onto a strange night blue carriage. “Ooh! I need new strings! I hope that music shop in Canterlot is still open.” -Skies: Agent Drops- The carriage itself was a covert vehicle, closed on all sides and usually flown by cloaked thestrals, Luna’s guards if the agent remembered well enough. Most if not all of the Monster Hunter organization was “politically” run by the nightmarish thestral clan of pony. Even after the Nightmare Moon incident, the thestrals had one loyalty, Equestria as a whole. Which is why it had shocked most of the Celestial royal guard if not the Princess herself to see their operation still in full swing despite Luna having been banished for little more than a day. “Agent Drops, report.” Said a mud brown unicorn mare in a black trenchcoat, and shades. Agent Drops recalled ponies like her, the “Miss” Series. Much like The Sirs who obeyed The captain of the Royal Guard, The Misses of Equestria followed the many orders of the captain of the Lunar. Heavens knew who they were, if they even existed… “All is currently well, all things considered. Envoys of the dragon Lands and Griffonstone have been sent for, and a makeshift militia is being trained as we speak. The statue, is still under containment and the dragon’s bones have been properly disposed of.” “What of the Ursa Major incident agent?” “Chronal anomaly, it came and left.” “On to business, you and agent Do haven’t seen much of each other for quite sometime, will this hinder your mission?” “In what regard Miss…” “Teri, agent. Miss Teri. Rumors had spread of your...falling out.” “It’s in the past, and I believe the fate of Equestria is far more pressing than my *ahem* past relations.” “Quite, off the record, it’s a shame you left Canterlot. You would have made a far superior Miss Trust.” “Let’s not bring up the past.” “Worried about that mare you have hiding in your cover shop?” Asked Teri with a grin. “Can we focus on the mission and not my love life?” “Of course,” Miss Teri opened the front visor to alert the thestral flying the carriage. “Fly down low here and drop the rope, hey Tension, still as strong as ever?” “Still the tightest coil around aren’t I?” Before long, the carriage now had one more passenger. “Derring.” Stated Drops. “Sweetie.” Replied Derring Do. Miss Teri then proceeded to poke Tension with a blunt knife. “Ha ha very funny.” Said Tension. “You know you like it. So girls, ready to steal an ancient weapon from one of the greediest classification of dragons in known Equis?” “Oh joy, I can’t wait to put my life at risk.” Said Drops sarcastically. “At least you won’t be alone, you’ll have your favorite mare with you the entire trip.” Countered Derring with as much sarcasm “Sorry, I left her at home. Where she promised to wait for me.” “Is there something you'd like to say to me!?” “Ladies! Fate of the world! Try to behave, and try not to kill each other. It’s bad enough half the monsters left in the world are smart enough to know who you are and actually have reason to eat you alive…” Their trip was made in silence, hours went by, the temperature began to drop...Tension had been flying rather high...until his sudden drop in altitude. “Alright ladies, a rendezvous’ll be here in six, so get what you came for and get out. Miss Teri will give you gear to keep warm from the trunk. I don’t need to tell you both to be careful, good hunting!” Stated Tension. The mares withdrew from the confines of their warm cabin into the harsh cold of the northlands. Teri lead them to the trunk of the carriage and began to fiddle with it’s lock to no avail. “Oh swell, the lock’s frozen over…” *CLUNK* “Never mind…” Blowing air at her injured hoof, Sweetie tossed the lid with her hind leg. “Heat enchanted fire rubies? Lamps, lamp oil, rope, bomb tags...oh hey, Derring this looks like it’s for you.” “Oh good, they packed my whip of alchemy. Does it still have all it’s elemental alignments?” Asked Derring. “Sorry, we had to seal it for reasons, but fire augmentation was authorized for this mission. Good luck you two, and try not to kill each other, I’d rather not spend hours behind a stack of paperwork.” The carriage left the two mares to their own devices, neither wanting or willing to acknowledge the other. The hunters entered the icy cavern in silence. Seconds became minutes and minutes became hours and their only distraction had been an occasional ice slime every so often. “If we don’t find what we’re looking for soon I’m going to eat the next slime we see.” Said a disgruntled Derring. “Oh that’ll be something to see.” Replied Drops. Of course the two would get their wish in the form of a literal flood of at least twenty slimes dropping from the ceiling along with several loose spikes of ice. “Look out!” Cried Drops as she barreled into her partner. Derring, acting quickly, whipped at a few of the swarming slimes, melting them into their comrades. The following “Super Slimes” began to slam wrecking ball shaped fists into the ground. “That isn’t good...Run!!” The pair scrambled off of each other and high-tailed it as fast as they could. Drops had placed as many bomb tags as she could, and though it dettered the many slimes, it also trapped them deeper into the cavern. “GREAT! We are TRAPPED in a cave in the middle of nowhere! We are ALONE, FREEZING OUR HOOVES OFF, AND WHY AREN’T YOU WORRIED!!??“ Screamed Derring. “Hush, *knock*knock* hear that? It’s hollow.” Drops placed her fire ruby into a loose crevice and covered it with a bomb tag. The resulting blast revealed a wide passageway that had more than likely been frozen over with time. “B-bi-bi-ingo...hoo...was it al-ways thi-thi-this...COLD.” Said the shivering Drops. “Here...I don't want you freezing to death…” Stated Derring as she relinquished her own ruby. “B-but...what about- *CRACK* right...fire whip. Oh sweet Celestia, the scythe!” Before them lay a great treasury, gems, gold, crowns, gilded books and tomes, and lying upon the floor of this immense boon was the legendary weapon of fire’s bane. The mares rushed to the weapon, wide smiles adorned their faces. It was so difficult for the two to hold their excitement that Derring embraced her ex-partner. Only… “I'm so sorry! Please! Take me back! I-I was scared, and confused and-” Through tears the huntress fought, hoping against hope the mare in her forehooves felt at least something. “Derring stop.” She didn't. “But-” “You...hurt me. You told me sweet lies you thought I wanted to hear, you...you made me believe you loved me…” The two dislodged themselves from one another. One cold and distant, the other a broken mess. “But-I-I-I’be ch-chaaa-changed. I...I love...y-y-you…” “And as wonderful and heart wrenching as this is “I” would like to know why you are here and why you had to pony-handle my friends,” Said a third and screechy voice. Turning to face the being, the mares looked at the towering form of an ice blue wyvern. “But then again I can't really turn a blind eye to this. Tea?” Once settled in a warmer (though not by much) part of the caverns, the three were attended by several slimes. “You command these things?” Questioned Derring Do. “Slimes. Not things. And no, they are friends, not servants. Isn't that right Kim, how’s the family?” A slime that had delivered them tea, gave a large thumb up. “Now,” began the wyvern. “I see there is tension between the two of you.” “We aren't discussing this!” Shouted Drops. “Well maybe you should. Unless you speak your mind now you'll regret it for the rest of your life.” Stated the wyvern. “Speaking from experience?” Asked Derring. “I suppose you could say that. You never really value something until it's gone.” “That's great and all but we didn't come here to talk.” Stated Drops. “Fine, I understand, but humor me and you will leave with what you seek and more.” The mares stood in place, both in quite a bit of shock. “But you’re a Wyvern?” Questioned Drops. “The greediest form of dragon to ever exist.” Added Do. “And you're going to give us something in return for our life’s story!?” Chimed both agents in unison. “Of course! I’m old, bored, and there’s just something about you. I’ve made too many mistakes in my life, but maybe I can do one thing right. So?” “So!? SHE LEFT ME AT THE ALTAR!!” Cried Sweetie Drops. “Maybe don’t make it sound like I’m the badguy!!” Replied Derring Do. “Maybe I wouldn’t if you had kept your promise!” Drops had burst into tears, years of anger and pain finally releasing themselves. -Three years prior.- A wedding unlike any other...laughter. Joy. Excitement! General merriment bathed those in attendance at what would have been the joining of two wonderful souls, and two even greater hunters. Yet… -Present Day- “She...promised...she even had a ring made for me. She made it for ME! Do you know what she threw it all away for?” “Please don’t say anymore.” Pleaded Derring on the verge of tears. “A one night stand with a known thug! No secret agenda, no surprise capture, not even dinner and a show…” “AND JUST HOW WOULD I HAVE MARRIED YOU IF YOU WERE DEAD!!?” Cried Derring, finally breaking into tears as well. “He had armaments, better than anything you or the hunters could have thrown at him! It was him...or you…” “Likely story…” “What kind of armament?” Chimed the wyvern. “It had a barrel long and thin, a crossbow stock, and the barrel had a sort of wooden covering on the bottom and trigger mechanism.” Stated Derring. “Would this be the weapon?” Both mares gasped at the item, one in disbelief at it’s very existence, the other in absolute fear. “But...why…” “I can’t say. The bandit that tried to rob me never had the chance to speak. The gun is still loaded, but trust me when I say this is no weapon to be trifled with. Not on this world at least.” “Then that would mean…” “Yes, you and many of your compatriots would have died that day,” The wyvern craned his neck forward and tilted it slightly. “Do either of you have words to share?” Asked the Wyvern. “I...why couldn’t you tell me?” Asked Sweetie. “Partly due to shame, partly due to the fact you would have never believed me.” “I...I owe you an apolo-” Before she could say more, Derring had somehow forced herself onto her ex partner who proceeded to kick her off rather forcefully...much to the amusement of the wyvern. “HAH! Ho ho, you do this old heart good. Take what you will, you’ve given me more than I could ever hope for.” The mares left the wyvern, each leaving with a parting gift and the weapon they so fought for, leaving the old drake to retrieve an aged photograph and reminisce of bygone days. “Maybe things would have been better if that stubborn old mare had said yes those so many years ago…”