//------------------------------// // Chapter Six: On the Hunt // Story: In the Darkness, The Lone Blades Light the Way // by New Lunar Eclipse //------------------------------// * Italics signify that it is being spoken in the species’ native language, or in the universal language of the Covenant, and that this is the closest possible translation.   Music for the chapter.   *Smells. So many smells. Which smell? Bad smell. Follow bad smell. Bad smell is....this way!! Bok barreled past the unconscious guards and through the gate, intent on hunting down the pony who was foolish enough to think he could steal their weapons. He wasn’t quite sure how the single unarmed pony managed to subdue a pair of armed and armored guards, evidently there was some other force at work here. It probably had something to do with how he had levitated their weapons earlier. Clearly, extreme caution was to be exercised.   Bok skidded around a corner before resuming his chase, covering ground quickly with the loping gait his race was renowned for. The smell grew stronger as he continued to run, he must be getting closer! Bok reveled in the sensation of being on the hunt again, his race were natural trackers and it had been quite some time since he had last enjoyed an opportunity to hunt down a fearful prey.   Rounding another corner, Bok skidded to a halt, an expression of pure surprise on his face. *What…what this?? Stretching out before him was what appeared to be…a gigantic green maze? Sure enough, the nearly endless stretches of bright green hedges arranged in a truly peculiar pattern couldn’t be anything but. Bok couldn’t for the life of him figure out the purpose of such a strange construct. Truly, these ‘ponies’ were an odd species indeed.   A quick whiff of the air confirmed that yes, his quarry had indeed headed into the maze in an attempt to avoid him. What a foolish notion. Chuckling slightly to himself, Bok took off again at a full sprint, charging down the slight incline to the maze. Channeling his forward momentum, he tensed his legs and leapt high into the air. Clearing the first wall of hedges easily, Bok landed cleanly in the middle of the maze corridor and tensed again.   Now leaping freely through the maze, Bok was closing in on his target. *Silly ponies. Silly maze not built for Kig-Yar. As Bok sprang into the air for the fifth time, his sharp ears detected a strange sizzling noise to his right. Turning his head, his eyes confirmed that a strange blur of purple color was barreling directly towards him, and it probably wasn’t a stray cloud. Trapped in mid-air, Bok twisted his body, attempting to flatten himself out and veer out of the path of the unknown projectile. Despite his best efforts, the bolt still connected.   Bok screeched in agony as a searing pain shot through his right shoulder and upper arm. Distracted by the pain, he forgot to orient himself for a landing and slammed roughly into the hard, unforgiving ground, his left shoulder absorbing most of the impact. Forcing himself to stand upright, Bok tried to figure out what exactly had just happened. Looking down at his right arm, he saw his own blackened and burned flesh. It sizzled slightly, and when he touched it a bolt of searing hot pain shot through his skull.   Gritting his teeth, Bok forced his right arm to rotate slowly. It hurt to move it, but the fact that he could was a reassuring sign. Although the injury appeared serious, in actuality it was more likely that it was only a surface wound. Evidently his attempt to evade the projectile succeeded in some manner, it was likely that his injuries would have been far worse if the bolt had struck directly. *More enemies. Bad pony has friends. No more jumping, must be careful now. Following his nose once again, Bok took off at high speed, carefully weaving his way through the twisting corridors.   Five minutes passed, and Bok was still running full tilt through the enormous hedge maze. The scent lingered in his nostrils the entire time, neither waxing nor waning as the chase continued. His prey must be stuck in the maze as well. As Bok skidded into yet another dead end and quickly took off in the direction he just came, he cursed his unseen enemies who prevented him from leaping these walls. But he knew he couldn’t risk taking fire in mid-air again, and so kept his feet firmly on the ground.   At long last, Bok burst out of the maze into a small clearing. It was circular in shape with a statue of a strange mismatched creature in the middle, and about five paths leading out of it. Bok paused to take a quick sniff, and his eyes widened in surprise. The pony was close. VERY close. Bok quickly dived behind the curious statue and stood stock-still, waiting for his prey to come even closer.   Sure enough, the sound of galloping hoofsteps was soon audible, followed by the sound of heavy breathing as the pony also emerged into the clearing. Bok tensed, but held his position and waited for the perfect opportunity. “No, no, no, this isn’t right…Iron Heart told me two lefts, one right, left, right, three lefts, five rights, two lefts, right, left, two rights, and then a left! I followed his instructions exactly…or did I? Hmm, perhaps I took a left after the third left, right sequence…” the pony muttered to himself.   “Well regardless, if I’m where I think I am now, then I need to go…that way!” Bok risked a peek around the statue to see which direction the pony was headed in. Sure enough, the tan pony from before was trotting perpendicular to Bok’s line of sight, the chest full of their weapons levitating beside him. Waiting until the pony was mostly looking away from him, Bok took his opportunity to strike. Sliding out from behind the statue, he sprinted as quickly and quietly as he could towards the pony, intending to tackle it from behind.   Unfortunately, the balance between speed and stealth is a fickle one, and Bok’s rapid footsteps alerted the pony to his presence. Spinning around, the pony’s eyes widened in surprise and fright while his horn started to glow cyan. But it was too late for the pony. Bok screeched victoriously and leapt at his prey, intending to wrap his hands around its neck and throttle it to the ground…but reality had very different plans.   Bok smacked face first into some sort of invisible forcefield, his limbs splayed comically around him and his eye twitching slightly in a combination of surprise, pain, and anger. Disoriented as he was, Bok was still able to register the fact that the unicorn was now facing him, a victorious glint in his eyes as his horn glowed even brighter. Faster than any normal pony could react, Bok’s lightning reflexes and survival instincts kicked in, and he kicked off of the forcefield into a backflip just as a massive maroon blast erupted from the pony’s horn and passed through where Bok had been just seconds before.   Unfortunately for Bok, initiating such a maneuver while still disoriented tended to be ill-advised, and he tumbled clumsily to the ground. Looking up, Bok barely managed to catch a glimpse of the pony’s fleeing tail as he disappeared into the maze once again. Groaning in pain, Bok forced himself to his feet yet again and resumed his pursuit, albeit a bit more cautiously now. Clearly this pony had more than a handful of tricks up his sleeve, and Bok didn’t want to be on the receiving end any more than he had to.   *Pony must leave maze eventually. Bok follow for now. Then when pony in open, Bok strike, Bok thought to himself. His plan now fully realized, Bok continued to follow the pony at a fair distance. Deeper and deeper into the maze they went, twisting and turning through the green depths at an almost alarming pace. *Pony know maze well. Pony not lost, Bok mused to himself as he watched the pony charge confidently through a t-intersection before disappearing behind a left turn right as Bok reached it.   Suddenly, Bok’s sharp eyes detected an abnormal flash of color to his left. Upon turning his head, Bok’s chest tightened at the sight of yet another purple blast barreling right for him. *Again?? Bad ponies everywhere! Lightning reflexes once again in full swing, Bok sprang forward, tucking his limbs in and executing a flawless somersault through the intersection. The massive bolt of energy sailed directly over his compact form, but not before singing his toes slightly. As Bok recovered from the maneuver a section of hedge behind him exploded in flames thanks to the wayward projectile.   Clicking angrily to himself, Bok ignored his attacker and continued to follow his quarry, determined not to lose their weapons to a bunch of colorful ponies. The pursuit continued for another five minutes, during which time Bok had to hurriedly dodge three more large purple projectiles. *Ponies really want weapons. Can’t have weapons, weapons ours!!   At long last, Bok turned a corner into a long straightaway with a large golden gate at the end. The pony he was pursuing was already passing through the golden archway, and with a flick of his horn slammed the gate closed and locked it. Bok scoffed at the pathetic attempt and tensed his legs for a jump. His wariness over jumping resurfaced for a brief moment before it was brushed away impatiently. He’d come too far and endured too much to lose that pony now!   Suddenly, an idea occurred to him. An excellent idea! Just moments before he would run headlong into the now barred gate, Bok sprang upwards. His hands wrapped around the upper railing of the gate, and his forward momentum pivoted his body up and over the gate and launched him towards the ground on the other side. He landed deftly and spared a quick glance upwards. Sure enough, not one, not two, but THREE giant magical bolts converged on the spot where he would have been had he jumped normally, exploding in brilliant purple hues. There was no way he would have been able to dodge that.   Silently congratulating himself on his ingenuity, Bok set out after the pony once again. Rounding a corner, he gradually slowed down before halting. Before him was some sort of plaza or courtyard, and it was packed with ponies! Bok’s keen eyes scanned the crowd, but could see neither hide nor hair of his quarry. He tried scenting the air as well, but the sheer overwhelming number of scents left him feeling slightly light-headed. Looking around hurriedly, he spied a nearby castle wall. It was time to gain some altitude.   Dashing over to the wall, Bok jumped up and began to climb, no longer comfortable with the thought of being suspended in mid air. His sharp claws easily reached into the gaps between the bricks, giving him perfect handholds and allowing him to scale the wall virtually effortlessly. Half way up, a gentle sizzling sound reached Bok’s ears. Craning his head to look behind him, Bok’s eyes widened as yet another purple bolt rocketed towards him.   Bok leaped sideways, his hands and feet scrabbling for new purchase as the bolt slammed into the wall, bits of debris and masonry flying everywhere. Bok cringed as he felt a particularly sharp piece slice open his cheek, but he redoubled his climbing efforts. Upon reaching the top, he quickly scanned the plaza for anything of notice. First, were there any purple bolts flying towards him? No? Good. Funny how one’s priorities can change so suddenly.   Using his new vantage point, Bok searched the crowd once again in an attempt to locate his quarry. There! Barreling through the plaza towards an immense wooden gate was the pony in question, chest of weapons floating beside him. How the chest was floating was still a complete mystery to Bok, but then again there had been a lot of strange things happening lately. He made a mental note to have Ultra force the ponies to explain it all. But that wasn’t important right now. Once again on the trail, Bok took off down the wall, running flat out in an attempt to close the distance between himself and his quarry.   The pony’s horn began to glow as he approached the gate, which was currently being blocked by two pegasus guards, their spears crossed over the gate. Their wings were flared and their faces wore expressions of grim determination, but somehow Bok doubted their ability to stop his prey, especially because the pony’s horn was glowing. Strange things seemed to happen when those horns lit up. Realizing that he was rapidly running out of time, Bok weighed his options.   If the pony managed to get past the guards, he would escape to the city proper, and with so many ponies about Bok would be very hard-pressed to stay on his trail. But on the other hand, if he jumped…   It was now or never. It was time for a leap of faith. He would stop this pony and retrieve their weapons or die trying.   Running some quick calculations in his head, Bok steeled himself for the jump of his life, quite literally. *Prophets protect me. For honor and glory!! And with a powerful pulse of his corded legs, Bok was airborne, slowly sailing towards his elusive quarry. Off to his right, he saw two purple blasts emerge from thin air and start moving towards him. Bok gulped and prepared to do whatever he could to stay alive.   Fortunately for him, Bok’s adversaries were not quite as adept at mental math as he was, and Bok could feel the heat as the first blast sailed behind him. The second, however, was steadily eating away at the distance between them. Bok could tell that they were on a collision course, but what could he do? Absolutely nothing. With no other recourse, Bok curled up into the tightest ball he could and prayed to the Holy Spirits. His fate was in their hands.   Bok screeched in agony as the purple blast connected, but once again it was fortunately only a glancing blow. Nonetheless, pain exploded across Bok’s back as the purple flames licked at his back and shoulder blades, leaving a charred swath of flesh in its absence. The scent of his own burning flesh reached his nostrils, and Bok had to resist the urge to be sick.   Between his own pained screeching and the screams of ponies in the plaza, who had finally taken notice of the massive purple explosions and strange alien creature sailing through the air, the fleeing pony became aware that something was wrong in his immediate surroundings. Casting his gaze around him confusedly, his eyes widened when he finally saw Bok flying straight towards him.   And it was too late.   The poor pony could only watch as the infuriated alien drew closer, their collision inevitable. The pony was running too hard to stop his forward momentum anytime soon, and he was already halfway into casting a teleport spell to get him through the gate, rendering him unable to reverse his magic and cast a new spell fast enough. The two of them collided at full speed. And Bok’s calculations were deadly accurate.   *CRACK!!* The pony screamed in agony. Bok screeched victoriously. The surrounding screams intensified in volume and frequency.   Bok landed square on the pony’s back, impacting with such force the pony’s spine snapped like a twig, and he buckled immediately. Suddenly flung from his perch, Bok twisted through the air and crashed into the ground. HARD. Yet another searing pain lanced through his skull as he landed badly on his right ankle, undoubtedly breaking it.   Bok lay on the ground in a daze, struggling to comprehend what had just happened. *The weapons…must…retrieve…the weapons… Forcing himself to stand up, Bok began to hobble over to the prone form of the tan pony, favoring his left leg heavily. The pony writhed in pain on the ground, screaming horribly as he convulsed in sheer agony. The chest of weapons lay a short distance away from him, whatever power that had been causing it to float now gone with the incapacitation of his prey.   As soon as the pony went down, the guards at the gate had immediately rushed over to the scene. They were currently pointing their spears at the immobilized pony and ordering him to stand down. One of them trotted over to the chest and curiously prodded it with a hoof before noticing Bok’s approach. Letting out a bark of alarm, he quickly pointed his spear in his direction and began to advance, his ally soon doing the same.   “In the name of Princess Celestia of Equestria, stand down creature! The Royal Guard will take over this situation!” This of course was completely unacceptable news to Bok.   *”No! Must retrieve weapons! Ultra’s orders!”   Bok’s strange chittering speech clearly alarmed the guards further, and they began to advance on him from either side. But they were no match for Bok’s agility. Quick as a flash, he sprung forward on his one good leg, twisting his body between the spears of the guards as they thrust at him. Passing safely through their attack, Bok landed heavily on the ground.   When he opened his eyes, there was the chest of weapons. Bok immediately reached out and snatched the box, holding it close to his chest like it was the most precious thing in the world. The guards, however, were incensed. One guard stayed next to the agonized pony while the other slowly advanced on Bok, spear outstretched.   “Creature, we order you to surrender that chest! Give it to us!”   “No!” garbled Bok. The word was horribly mangled and barely recognizable, but understandable nonetheless. It pretty much represented the entirety of his ability to speak in the English language.   “We’re only going to ask one more time! Hand it over!”   Bok could feel his consciousness fading fast. Now that the endorphins of the chase were gone, the pain from his various injuries came flooding back. His right shoulder and back burned fiercely. The gash on his cheek stung and oozed considerable amounts of purplish blood. His right ankle felt like it was being stabbed and hurt so bad he almost wanted to vomit. But still, he resisted. “No!!”   The guard stiffened, and opened his mouth to reply before there was a sudden purple explosion behind him. The other guard, the one watching the pony, was flung through the air and collapsed in a heap on the ground. Bok shifted his blurred gaze back to the pony he had been chasing and gaped at what he saw.   All that was left of the pony was a blackened and charred mass. Looking up to the wall, Bok caught a brief glimpse of a hooded pony-shaped figure that quickly turned around and disappeared from view. *Was that…bad pony? Or is Bok…seeing things… Bok struggled to stay conscience but by now it was a losing battle. All he wanted to do was lie there and sleep, the box of weapons safely secured in his arms…   He was dimly aware of the sounds of utter hysteria in the courtyard, and that of the remaining guard screaming at him to do something. What exactly that was, however, would remain a mystery. His voice was just so garbled and distant…   Suddenly, all the noise stopped. In the silence that followed, a single female voice rang out, splitting the silence with its serene authority:   “That’s enough, Sergeant.”   And with that, Bok slowly slipped into the deep recesses of unconsciousness.