An endless grassy void was all that Eager Shot saw as he walked around for hours. But then he noticed something different that cut through the monotony of the grass. It was a small tree.
With high hopes that the tree would help answer his questions he flew to it. As he got closer, he realized it wasn't an ordinary tree. It was huge, like “rain forest” huge. And the bark of the tree was glowing with golden light.
As he approached, he felt the power of the mask increasing. The power felt like growing wisdom. He didn't know if it was good or bad.
When Eager Shot landed, he saw that the leaves on the tree were many different colors, all of which were unique.
"Has somepony come to free me from this cursed life? Or do they wish to keep me here for knowledge?" asked a beautiful but ancient voice.
Eager Shot tried to find the owner of the voice, but he couldn't.
"Um, I'm here for the knowledge of the spear of the first hunter?"
"I should have guessed that. No one ever has the time to free me from this artifact," said the voice, but this time it sounded disappointed.
Then a pony-like figure floated down to the ground and Eager Shot finally got a look at the owner of the voice. She was a pegasus with a blue coat. Her mane and tail were floating as if in a breeze and they were comprised of two colors mixed together - golden yellow and light green.
But the freakiest thing about the mare’s body was that it was covered in light golden scars. And her eyes. He could not see her eyes, for they were glowing brightly, the same color as her scars. Her wings had a lot of feathers missing, but in their place were feathers made of that same golden light.
She looked at Eager Shot. "So, you wish for ancient knowledge?" Eager Shot nodded. "And what was it again?" Her voice sounded heartbroken.
He suddenly felt sorry to ask her again and almost didn't, but then he remembered why he came here in the first place. So he shouldered his emotions and said again, "Um, the spear of the first hunter?"
"Okay. The knowledge you seek shall be yours."
Then her eyes and scars began to glow even brighter. Soon, the grassy void brightened out of existence. The next thing Eager Shot knew, he and the pegasus were floating down to a cave.
Inside Night Breeze’s home, she and Fluttershy were having tea in the living room.
"So, how are your friends holding up?" As Night Breeze said this, she was careful not to destroy Fluttershy’s happy mood.
"Well, from what I’ve heard, Twilight is up in Canterlot discussing what happened and what to do to prevent it from happening ever again."
Night Breeze placed her tea cup down on the table.
"As for Applejack, she is working on the apple orchard. I'm guessing hard work is keeping her mind off it."
"I suppose that makes sense," Night Breeze reached out to grab an amulet with an arrow head emblem.
"The same can be said for Rainbow Dash,” continued Fluttershy. “She is keeping a smile on her face and is working ten times harder than she usually does busting clouds."
"Well, I guess everypony has their way of handling loss."
"I think Pinky is doing fine, but I didn't see her at all after the whole ordeal was over."
Night Breeze was thinking. This isn't right. She’s living her dream here. Why do I have to destroy it? No, if I show her this, there'll be no going back. What kind of mother does that? "Fluttershy, dear, I have something for you, but before I give it to you, I have to ask you something."
Fluttershy looked at her.
Night Breeze cleared her throat. "Do you want to be a Hunter of Secrets?"
Fluttershy thought for a while then answered. "Yes."
"Okay. Then hold this." She handed the amulet to her daughter.
As Fluttershy held it, her eyes suddenly glowed bright blue.
"Hello? Hello, is anypony there?" It had been several hours and Rarity was still walking in darkness. Most ponies would have given up, but Rarity wasn't that kind of pony.
"Well, well, well," said a female monster’s voice. "Look who's finally here."
"I'm looking for the exit. Could you kindly point the way and I'll be gone?" said Rarity.
"Oh, I’m sorry, but you can't just walk out of our shared mind."
"But I-”
"You’re confused. Don't worry, dear, it won't take long for things to start kicking in."
Rarity’s eyes widened as she began to realize what had happened to her. From her death to becoming a monster, as well as the hunger for the flesh of her friends.
The monster voice spoke again. ”The way I see it, you and I are going to get very acquainted. And from here on out, I get to say what kind of pony we will become, and it will be one with power, one who is in charge. And who will be running this ship? Why that would be me!"
Suddenly, Rarity was tackled to the ground. She looked up to see herself, but it was a version of herself that had decided to let her mane grow uncontrollable. It was not even combed. Her coat was ruffled and furry. She had a broken horn and red eyes. And just then, her mouth opened to reveal pure white rows of teeth that were sharp, pointy, and ready to eat her face.
With a blast of her magic, Rarity sent her double flying off. When her Rarwolf was a good distance away, Rarity felt a little better. But then, Rarwolf got up and ran toward her. Rarity fired a beam of magic to stop her double.
"Not so fast, darling!” Rarity exclaimed. “I'm not going to let you make us a monster."
But Rarwolf lit up her broken horn, which sparked dangerously and uncontrollably, and met Rarity's beam of magic. The two magic beams sparkled and flared. But the magic fractured in several places, then shattered, knocking down Rarity. Rarwolf jumped up and landed on top of her.
"Enough!" Both ponies heard the same voice and then several blue magical chains appeared, wrapping around Rarwolf.
Rarity walked up to the owner of the voice, princess Luna. As she walked toward her, she passed Rarwolf, who was snapping her mouth at Rarity. "Princess Luna, what are you doing here?"
"I'm the alicorn of the night. I help ponies who are suffering, like you are."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you are what is known as a werepony, a cursed pony whose soul is corrupted beyond measure. In the height of wereponies, some thousands of years ago, I created a secret group of ponies called the Hunters of Secrets. With their help, we managed to lock the wareponies away with an ancient seal which is hidden from the world. The main reason was so no pony could ever find it by accident. But I digress. Back to you. You see, your soul is corrupted. But I will do my best to save you.”
Eager Shot saw several Hunters arguing about something. The pegasus began to impart her knowledge.
"Once, long ago, there was a pony named Silver Tip." They zoomed in on the Hunter in question. He was a black Chiroptera with a silver mane and tail, and he was holding the spear.
"He was the best hunter of his time, killing Luna knows how many monsters." Suddenly, the cave of arguing Hunters disappeared.
Eager Shot looked around. And what he saw was the aftermath of a battlefield in a forest, with uprooted trees laying on the ground and a dragon looking at his own blood as he slowly died in front of his slayer.
Silver Tip kneeled on the ground and said, "Rest in peace, noble challenge." But then his spear glowed a dark red, and then gone was the pony known as Silver Tip. The power of the spear could be seen in his eyes as they glowed red.
The spear’s power spoke through Silver Tip in a more sinister voice. "He wasn't so tough! We could have taken on fourteen dragons. But I guess we are satisfied."
Then the power let Silver Tip have control again. "Well, at least you’re satisfied. I'll be able to sleep now, but we’ve got to talk about our-"
"Little brother, are you talking to yourself again?" Eager Shot looked at the pony who spoke to Silver Tip.
"Night Strike, what are you doing here?"
A mare Chiroptera came out of the shadows, donned in black leather armor and carrying a spear, the head of which was engulfed in black lightning. Her coat was dark red and her mane and tail were silver just like her younger brother’s. "Well, I’m going to be gone for a couple of months. I just wanted you to know. So, yeah."
Brother and sister hugged each other. Then Silver Tip asked, "Do you have to go?"
"Mystic Coat said if I don't then I can say goodbye to this." Night Strike looked at her spear, then looked back to her brother. "But on the bright side, at least I'm keeping hope alive. And don't worry, I'll be back before you know it."
"Well, promise me that you find somepony special."
Night Strike’s cheeks turned red. "Um, okay, but you're not supposed to know about that kind of stuff. If I find somepony special, it will be someone that I can trust. But we will talk about that when I get back."
With that, Night Strike walked into the shadow of a nearby tree and Silver Tip went back to the cave of the Hunters of Secrets with the spear in his hoof.