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// The bear 
// Story: Bear of darkness 
// by Emperorxeno 
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The river was flowing to the brim with salmon moving upstream in mass. The reason why for so many salmon is simple, it’s their mating season. Its the time that all salmon migrate back to where they were born, ready to start the cycle over again. It’s also the time that many bears cramp together in the river to catch as much salmon as their stomachs can carry. The largest ones held the best spots on the river where the salmon jump up to continue their way way to their fate. The more medium sized bears have to wait farther up stream, causing them to catch less salmon due to the fish having more room to flee. And the smaller runt ones have to scavenge what’s left of the other bear’s meal, or eating the dead salmon after their mating season. Even among the large ones, their subtle size differences regulate how close to the edge they are to catch the salmon. The biggest one, currently, is a female bear named brusher.

She’s held this particular spot for the last five years. The bear that held this spot, was named Harry. Or bears, as his sister also shares the same name as well. Brusher never really got why they shared the same name, or why they decided to follow that yellow pony with the pink mane. But that’s not her problem. Her problem is not only trying to catch some fish, but keeping her spot away from others as long as possible. And just maybe, find a mate for herself at last. What most don’t know is, unlike other bear species, mates stay together for the rest of their lives. Once the cubs are born, and are old enough, the males are taught by their father, while the females are taught by their mother. 

Raising her head up, she can see mothers chasing off the smaller males who tried to eat their cubs. Since they are at the bottom of the food chain here, they’re willing to eat whatever they can get their paws. Including cubs smaller than them. Snorting and shaking her head in disinterest, she turned her head back to catch salmon, when she heard a commotion on her right. Bursting through the bushes in terror, with the cubs mowling in fear, a family ran to banks and crossed to the other side. What followed, was the sounds of a large male bear coming forward through the bushes. By the sound alone, she could tell that the male is large enough for her to take him as a threat. Preparing for another fight for the spot, she turned her entire body to the right, and tensed her muscles in preparation. 

What came out, however, filled her with fear and dread instead of of adrenaline. An absolutely huge, black furred bear came lumbering out. He was easily three-four times bigger than all the bears here, including her. The most distinctive thing about him, was not his sheer size, black as night fur. It was his eyes. All she could in them, was a sea of blood-red. No pupil or iris in sight, just red. Sniffing the air a bit, before standing up on his hind legs to mark one of the trees. His sheer size, when standing up, was multiplied tenfold. Leaving deep gashes in the tree, his message to all of them was simple. ‘I’m large and In charge. Mess with me, and it may be the last thing you do’. With a grunt of satisfaction, the male got back on all fours, and started making his way to the river. Quickly realizing that they were in his way, most bears scrambled to avoid his wrath. Two, young cubs who were playing, however, were still blissfully unaware that they were in his way. Only when they were in the male’s shadow, did they realize that something was in front of them, and looked up. The male seemed to have an eternal scowl on his face. This, combined with his sheer size, made them start mewling in terror. She, along with the other bears, watched as he stretched out his front right paw to them slowly. just when they thought that he was going to kill the cubs, he gently knocked them to the side, and continued walking forward. Getting back up, the two cubs scurried off to their mother and father. Who immediately put them between the two adults. When he started wading through the rapid water, brusher realized that he was moving in her direction. Locked up by fear, she didn’t move an inch as he got closer and closer. Only when he was right in front of her, and growled at her, did she move to the edge of the spot. Satisfied, the male took position and waited.

Out of no where, two more male bears came from the same direction as the big male. The males themselves are different as well. Their fur has a more stripe-ish pattern, their canines and claws are longer and more sharp, they have longer tails, and their irises are slited like a cat. Unlike the big male, the bears know this kind of bear well. Tiger bears. They usually inhabit closer to the center of the forest, but are also found where the salmon breed. Brusher finds it odd that two of them out here, as not only do they rarely travel outside of their territory, but they also are usually solitary and aloof. So it’s very surprising that two of them are here. Once they were on the bank, they looked around rapidly, as if searching for something. When they spot the huge male, they began calling out to him, like cubs do to their dad, with excitement. Raising his head, he turns towards them. With growls of annoyance, he calls them over to him. Before he even began turning his head back around, the other two males were already almost there. When they arrived to his side, got comfortable. 

Throughout all of this,none of them were aware of the pair of eyes that were watching them in complete fascination of the turn of events.

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Fluttershy couldn’t believe her luck. She only came here to watch the everfree forest bears catch salmon, seeing if there’s any changes. Well, that and the fact that she just really wanted to see it. Harry, both of them, told her the perfect spot hide and still have perfect view of the river. They warned her of the smaller/runt bears, as they would eat anything they can catch. 

She didn’t even consider seeing a species of bear that she has never seen before. But that male bear’s arrival proved her wrong. What shocked her about the bears, was the sheer size of the bear. It’s probably big enough to dominate this area for the rest of their life, even when they go senile. Not only that, but he has Two male tiger bears following him. All that combined, means the end of Brusher’s reign.

Unless she tries to become the males mate, in which case she’ll gain extra privileges. Since he’s not driving her completely off, by the looks of it, her chance may be high. 

That gets Fluttershy wondering. What kind of bear is he? He’s not any bear she knows about. At least, he doesn’t match any bear that’s in Equestria. But what if it’s a new species? That kind of question gets her excited. It would mean that she gets to learn about an unknown animal in its natural habitat. Untouched by any species of any kind. If she’s lucky, they may have her input on its behavior.

But what if it’s part of an endangered  species? That question put a plug on her excitement. Instead, she’s now filled with worry. If it’s an endangered species, then she needs to contact the endangered species agency, in Canterlot, immediately. They’ll probably just garrison a group in ponyville to watch it, and study it. 

Normally, it would take months to for a request to get through the burocacy of Canterlot. But, with a princess as a friend, she’ll be able to get a message directly to Princess Celestia herself. With that, she hopes that the princess will send ponies who are qualified for this type of thing. 

With a look of determination, Fluttershy takes off towards Twilight’s castles in a hurry, not noticing three pairs of eyes watching with a malevolent curiosity.