//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 
// Story: The Hunter From Another World 
// by Marezinger Z 
//------------------------------//

Sunset woke up to the smell of something amazing. A bit confused, she headed out into the kitchen to find Hunter making breakfast. 
“Hunter?” She looked over the pair of pans on the range.
“Morning, Sunny.” He smiled over at her as he worked. “Hope you don’t mind, I helped myself to the kitchen.” 
“No… thank you.”
“Oh, did you want some too?” He asked
“I…” Sunset stammered.
“Kidding.” He winked. 
“Ugh, it’s too early for you.” She slapped his arm and went to the fridge, pouring herself a glass of orange juice. 
“I’m going to head into town and take care of some things, I’ll meet you after school.” He informed.
“Okay.” Sunset muttered through the glass as she raised it to her lips. She sat down as he finished cooking; soon enough he laid a plate of au gratin potatoes with diced bell peppers and scrambled eggs with spinach before her. “Is this you being nice or advertising your domestic skills?” 
“Can’t it be both?” He asked with a laugh as he sat across from her. Sunset looked down at the plate, her mind realizing just how natural this situation felt to her. Hunter saw her not eating and paused. “Sorry, was this too much? I just figured…”
“No, no.” She shook her head and smiled. “This is just… nice, thank you.” 
“No problem." He smiled back and returned to eating. 
After breakfast they parted ways for the time being, with Sunset heading to school to let everyone know she was still alive. With everything that had happened over the last few days, the school grounds were a comforting sight. 
“Hey, Sunset.” Flash jogged over as she approached the main building. 
“Flash, hi.” She waved.
“Finally get over that fever?” He asked. 
Sunset pieced together what Fluttershy must have told the school. “Oh, yes.” She smiled innocently. “Doing much better now.” 
“Great.” He walked with her into the halls. “We were getting kind of worried. But Fluttershy said she was visiting you and had it covered. It’s good to have you back.” 
“Well, I’ll only be back today.” She noted.
“How come?” 
“I’m heading out of town for a while.” She quickly thought of a story. “Some extended family business, they called while I was sick; which wasn’t exactly what I needed.” 
“That’s a shame.” He halted at the door to his first class. “Well, take it easy. I’ll see you when I see you, I guess.” 
“Right, thanks for checking up on me.” She smiled and continued on. Entering her first class, she sat beside Fluttershy who was relieved to see her. 
“Sunset.” Fluttershy twisted in her chair to face her. “You’re back.”
“Only for today, but yeah.” She nodded. “Thanks for covering for me.”
“Of course.” Fluttershy leaned closer to whisper. “If you aren’t staying, im guessing things in Equestria aren’t settled yet.”
“Not by a long shot.” Sunset whispered back. “But, Hunter is here and he’s helping us.” 
“Hunter?” The name brought back all sorts of memories. “Is he here now?”
“He’ll meet us after school.” 
“It will be nice to see him again.” Fluttershy smiled brightly. 
Their talk was interrupted as the teacher called the class to attention. Sunset got back into things as much as she could, her mind heavy with far more pressing matters than equations and history. Over the course of the day she was able to reunite with her friends, letting them know the basic situation and that it was far from over. As the final bell rang, the girls left the school to find a familiar face waiting for them. Hunter sat on the brick wall that surrounded the school grounds, he waved to them and jumped down as Pinkie began sprinting over to him. 
“Hunter!” She dove into him, being caught and taken for a swing as they hugged. 
“Hey, Bubblegum.” He laughed and scooped her up into his arms. “Long time no see.” Pinkie chuckled as he carried her back over to the others. Putting her down, he turned his attention to Applejack. “Ah, there’s the literal apple of my eye.” 
“Hi Hunter.” She hugged him. “Good to see ya in one piece.” 
“Most definitely.” Rarity said, hugging him as well. “Sunset told us what’s been going on.”
“Yeah, this is up there as far as my craziest jobs.” He admitted, fist bumping Rainbow Dash. “How’s it been, Skittles.” 
“Awesome as ever.” Rainbow Dash noted with a smile. 
Hunter went to Fluttershy and pulled her in. “Shy, you keeping these rowdy ladies out of trouble?” 
Fluttershy giggled and nodded. “I try my best.” 
“And since the world is still under human control, I’m guessing you’ve been keeping it reigned in too.” He smiled and hugged Twilight. 
“I did promise.” She reminded. 
“Well, how about we go somewhere more relaxing to catch up.” Rarity suggested. 
“Good idea, I’m starving.” Pinkie held her rumbling stomach. 
“Diner it is.” Sunset said, heading for the parking lot. 
With a bit of carpooling, they headed for the local eatery and claimed a quiet, corner booth. Sunset and Hunter relayed the full tale of what was happening and of the battles they had already fought; the only detail omitted being their steamy make out session on Twilight’s terrace. 
“That’s nuts.” Rainbow Dash said, taking a lengthy suckle of her smoothie. 
“I’m sorry we can’t be of much help.” Twilight added.
“It’s okay.” Sunset assured. “This is way different than anything you’d be prepared for.” 
“Yeah.” Hunter concurred. “I know what I’m doing and even I’m having a hard time with it all; and this is my job.” 
“We’ll certainly be with you in spirit.” Rarity promised. 
“I’ll keep my fingers, toes and eyes crossed for you.” Pinkie vowed, demonstrating as such as her pupils closed in on each other. 
“It’ll definitely be nerve racking just sitting on our hands and hoping you make it back.” Applejack sighed. 
“Don’t worry.” Hunter put his arm around her. “I promise I’ll come back to you.” 
“I was talking to Sunset.” She smirked, pinching his hand.
“Ow.” Hunter pulled his hand back, rubbing the sore spot. “You Applejacks are all the same.” He noted under the girls’ laughter. 
From lunch, the group moved on to the mall where they could freely wander as they talked. Rarity kept a keen eye on Hunter and Sunset, noticing how they would hang off of each other as the day progressed. When she found a moment to get Sunset alone, Rarity took the opportunity to investigate further. 
“Sunset, dear.” Rarity stepped up beside her. “I can’t help but notice that you and Hunter seem much… closer than before.” 
Sunset flustered a bit at the suggestion. “Not really… I mean, we’ve been through a lot over the past few days is all.”
“Please, darling.” Rarity laid her hand to Sunset’s shoulder. “You two may not notice how you’re acting around each other, but I certainly have. There isn’t a thing wrong with it, I think it’s lovely.” 
Sunset sighed and looked around to make sure the others were out of ear shot. “Okay, Rarity. I’ll be honest, but you can’t tell the others.” 
“You have my word.” Rarity set her hand over her heart, eager to be privy to such gossip. “So, are you two an item?” 
“No.” Sunset shook her head. “Well, not really… I don’t know.” 
“Did something happen?” Rarity asked, looking for clarity from the jumbled response. 
“We… kissed.” She shyly admitted.
“You did?” Rarity struggled to whisper. 
“We almost did a lot more.” Sunset continued. “But, we stopped ourselves.” 
“Oh, oh my.” Rarity’s face flushed.  
“I like Hunter.” Sunset looked into the toy store to see Hunter and Pinkie battling plush toys. “But we just don’t see how it could work out. I mean, my life is already crazy and his is even more so. He’d have to be away so often and… I’d never know if he was going to come back or not.” 
“I see.” Rarity nodded. “I suppose that would be a stressful relationship. Still, it’s obvious that he really cares about you.” 
“I know.” Sunset let out a long breath. “We said we’d talk about it after this was over. We’ve got enough on our plate at the moment.” 
“Well, I may not be an expert on relationships but I can say this. As cliché as the adage is, it is often true that love finds a way.” 
“Love?” Sunset looked at her with great scrutiny. “That seems a bit much.” 
“Maybe.” Rarity smiled. “But not entirely unreasonable, eh?” 
Sunset looked back to see Applejack holding both of them by the ear for causing such a ruckus in the store; only to receive a foam dart in the back of the head from Rainbow Dash for her efforts. She smiled and sighed in thought. “Maybe.” 



Back in Equestria, the dark shadow of Skyfall soared over the mostly empty southern plains. Spying a familiar, quaint village he spiraled down from the sky and touched down in its center. He noticed a few, armored stallions on spikes like grim totems. 
“Ridgeback!” He called out. 
“Keep it down.” A heavy baritone responded. From between the homes, the muscular brute stepped. Thick brown fur, coating a frame similar to a silverback gorilla and with the massive head of a dire boar on his shoulders. Sharp spines dotted his back and his sheer weight was so great that even his knuckles left imprints in the dirt as he loped. “What the hell brought you flying back?”  
“We have a problem.” The great bird shuffled closer. “We’re being tracked by someone from our world.” 
Ridgeback scratched his porcine nose. “You sure?” 
“He told me himself.” Skyfall noted. “Said his name was Hunter, ring a bell?”
“Nope.” Ridgeback answered plainly. 
“He isn’t alone either, he has help from magic users.” Skyfall continued.
“Like those sissy unicorns?” 
“No, they fly. From what I learned from the Griffons they are called alicorns and they represent the royalty of this world.” 
“Guess it was only a matter of time before the authorities came after us.” Ridgeback laughed. “Same shit, different world. I’ve already dealt with a few groups of the armored ones, I’m guessing they work for those alicorn things.” 
“Did you kill them all?” Skyfall inquired. 
“Not all of them, just enough to keep the ponies here in line.” Ridgeback pointed westward to a group of tall hills. “I’ve got most of them working in a mine, this place is filled with gems and jewels. I’ve got their wives and kids locked up in a few houses to keep their minds on work and not running for help. There’s a market for the stones, I’ll start working my way into the economy and get myself set up nice a pretty.” 
“That won’t mean anything until we deal with this Hunter and the alicorns.” Skyfall reminded. “Apparently they’ve already taken out Stinger.” 
Again, Ridgeback snorted a laugh. “Not surprising, that idiot probably just went wild and drew all kinds of attention to himself.” He sighed heavily. “Fine, stick with me and we’ll figure out what to do. You can help me keep this little shits reigned in.” 
“Fine.” Skyfall conceded. 
“Don’t get your feathers rustled.” Ridgeback noticed the nervous look in Skyfall’s eyes. “This place is isolated and there doesn’t seem to be any type of long distance communication. If we keep control of this village and the area, they won’t be able to track us down without a good dose of blind luck.” He started back through the village and Skyfall followed. “So, what does this guy look like?” 
“I don’t know the species.” Skyfall shook his head. “He wasn’t anything I’ve come across or have been told about so far. He resembled a Griffon but he was taller and a starkly different color.”
“Alright, we can ask the ponies here if they know anything. “Ridgeback grumbled. “We know he’s looking for us though, and we can use that to our advantage. I’ve spent enough time being chased to know how to handle this.” He laughed to himself as they headed for the mine. 



After an active afternoon, Sunset and Hunter returned to her place for the night. Sunset immediately went to the kitchen and started up her single cup, beverage brewer. 
“Want some coffee?” She asked.
“Please.” Hunter nodded as he sat at the table. 
“I really needed today.” Sunset said as she placed a cup under the nozzle. “More than I thought I did.”
“It’s easy not to realize how heavy things are getting.” Hunter stated. 
“I guess so.” She sighed. “You ready to get back to work tomorrow?” 
“Plenty ready.” He smiled. 
As the machine sputtered out a serving of coffee she swapped the cups and started the second. “I wish I had your ability to compartmentalize things.” She sat his cup before him. “Even trying to have some fun I couldn’t stop thinking about everything going on in Equestria.” 
“It’s not about compartmentalizing, it’s about acceptance.” Hunter took a light sip. “I’m always aware of what’s at stake and I’m always thinking about it.” He wrapped his hands around the hot cup. “There’s a very active part of my mind that knows that today might have been the last day I get to see those girls.” He said solemnly. “Even so, I don’t let that infect the time we spend together. I don’t let it weigh me down and I certainly don’t allow it to weigh on them either.” He smiled to himself. “My philosophy has always been to live each day like it’s your last, but just don’t act like it might be.”  
“I never really thought about it in that way.” Sunset sat across from him with her own cup.
“It’s only because that’s how my life is.” Hunter shrugged. “We each develop our own philosophy based on our own circumstances.”
“Makes sense, I guess that’s why I was so terrible when I was first sent here.” Sunset said in reflection. “I was angry… and hurt, so I just hurt others to keep myself safe from feeling like that again. Which… is exactly what you were doing, now that I think about it.” 
“Yeah, sounds about right.” Hunter nodded.
“Maybe on some subconscious level that’s why I was so set on you, because deep down I knew how you were feeling.” She smiled across the table at him.
“Or maybe it was just because you thought I was hot.” He grinned.
Sunset sighed and lowered her head. “Can you not ruin a moment for once?” She asked with a laugh.
“Hey, you know I hate keeping things too serious.” Hunter innocently replied. “This conversation has been way too introspective.” He noted, taking a long drink. 
They changed the subject, spending the early hours of the evening just talking and relaxing. Enjoying themselves as much as they could before they returned to the reality of their situation in the morning.