//------------------------------//
// A Little White Lie 
// Story: The Truth about Reapers 
// by MineLittleDashie 
//------------------------------//

Needless to say, Fluttershy was extremely alarmed to open her door to find me with an unconscious Twilight draped over my shoulder, but I was able to convince her that neither of us had been seriously hurt. 

I dropped the purple alicorn in my host's bed, then had a nice hot bath, allowing the water to flow over my injured back, soothing the light pain.

After having dried and dressed myself, I emerged from the bathroom and headed downstairs, where I discovered that Twilight had awoken and Fluttershy had brewed some tea for us.

Twilight, ever the observant one, noticed me first.

"Ah, George, would you mind telling me what exactly happened earlier?"

'She's surprisingly calm about this,' I thought. 'maybe it's the tea.'

"Certainly." I dug into my bag and pulled out a flat, circular container; similar to the ones that might contain balm or tobacco. "It's only fair, considering that you were also a member of my excursion. Fluttershy, could you help me with this?"

The yellow pegasus obliged, and Twilight's questions were put off for a few minutes as I instructed my host how to correctly apply the ointment to my back. Once I felt that she had the gist of it, I turned my attention back to Twilight.

"Now then, you were saying?"

The purple alicorn cleared her throat and used her magic to pull a piece of paper off of the table beside her. If she saw me raise an eyebrow in incredulousness, she didn't acknowledge it.

"First, you called those things that attacked us, 'forest fae', correct?"

"Yep. Nasty little buggers, as I said before, but infinitely useful for small or nature related tasks."

"Like what?"

"Well, treat them right and they can help take care of gardens. They make excellent motion detectors, animal caretakers (the young and small), messengers... If it's not too big of a task and has to do with plants or forest animals, they can usually do a pretty good job. Although, they're shy, and if too many are in one area, they do end up turning that place into thick forest relatively quickly. I assume if that happened, you might have another Everfree somewhere.

I added the last part due to an excited smile that was growing on Twilight's face, and it didn't take much to guess what she was thinking about. It worked too. I could see her smile fade as she thought about the consequences. 

"Alright." she conceded. "Question two: what did you need to capture them for?"

"Messengers."

Twilight gave me a curious look. "Who would you be contacting?"

Good question. I couldn't exactly tell her that I had made contact with one of the other princesses, not yet. I guess a half-truth will have to work.

"The other hunters. Well, more accurately, our leader. I've been out of contact for too long as it is, and I need a way of recieving assignments."

"There are others like you? I mean, professional monster hunters? How many?" Twilight was intrigued.

I smirked. 'Thousands of 'em.'

"I actually don't know, never seen the full number."

"OOH, this is so exciting!!" Twilight was beginning to foam at the mouth. "I need to tell Princess Celestia about this!"

"Hold on!" 

My outburst made Twilight gave me a wierd look

*cough*  "I mean, hold on a minute, Twilight. I'd like to ask a favor of you."

"Okay...?"

I paused, searching for a good way to phrase my next statement. 

"Could you...not say anything about me to the princesses? Not yet?"

Twilight's face showed confusion, but slowly began to adopt a small bit of suspicion. "Why?"

"Well, think about it. What would the princesses do if they found out about me?"

"They would most likely want to meet you. Is there any harm in that?"

"Not for most, but it would be an inconvenience for me and my order." 'A life-threatening inconvenience.'

"How could the princesses ever be an inconvenience for anyone?!" Twilight seemed appalled by the concept.

"Let me explain. We monster hunters work best anonymously. We wander around and investigate rumors that we hear about, or if we get a mission from our leader through private channels or other hunters. If your princesses knew about me, they would turn to me for help dealing with monsters, or have me investigate rumors about monsters. Most likely, word would be sent out beforehand to expect me and for the inhabitants to give me their full cooperation."

"But that's good, isn't it?" Twilight asked.

"Not necessarily. Not only would those in need of help be keeping an eye out for me, but so would the monsters I'd be sent there to hunt. The notice would give them ample time to go to ground or worse, prepare a trap for me."

Twilight's head was slowly nodding, a sign that she had followed my logic seamlessly. 

"So by staying anonymous, though I might be treated by suspicion by the locals, I'll be taking any monsters by surprise. So please, Twilight. Say nothing of me to the princesses for now."

"I understand," Twilight said somberly, her ears drooping. "You're doing good for Equestria, and I'd hate to get in your way."

I was glad that she'd accepted my excuse, but perhaps I could sweeten the deal a little.

"Thank you, and in return, how about I give you some information about how to deal with monsters. Just in case any appear when I'm gone."

Twilight's ears flicked up. "You mean it?"

I stood, ignoring the squawk of protest from Fluttershy, and took a step closer to Twilight, my hand outstretched.

"Absolutely. I've come to like this town, and it would be a shame if something were to happen."

Twilight put her hoof in my hand and we shook.

"What do you mean, 'when you're gone'?" Fluttershy's quiet voice penetrated the silence.

I sighed quietly and turned to face the yellow pegasus. 

"Let's be real here, Flutters. I'm only gonna be able to stay here until my boss tells me I need to move on. Besides, even while I am here, there are jobs I need to do, so I'll be out of town a lot."

Fluttershy's head dropped.

"But as long as I'm in the area, Ponyville will be my base of operations. I will return here after every job and see you. That...is a promise."

Fluttershy raised her head and met my gaze. We stared at each other for a long while.

Finally, Fluttershy wiped her eyes and nodded.

I smirked. "Besides, you're too adorable for me to leave."

Fluttershy's face turned red, and with a *squeak*, turned and fled up the stairs, followed by the sound of my quiet laughter.

Twilight stood, a small smile etched on her face. "Well, it's about time I got back to the library. I'll see you tomorrow?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

I waited until after Twilight shut the door behind her, then walked over to my bag, opened it, and stared down at the two sealed clay jars within.

"And now, let's deal with the two of you."