The Bounty Catching, Freedom Dreaming, Winged Wolf Phenomenon

by Cloud_Surfer

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad...Teacher?

 
Okay, so I bet you’re all wondering how within a week of Scootaloo living with me, we became that close. Well, I’ll just fill you all in on the family life before I get back to the action adventurey side of things. Like the first fews days of living together.

The next morning after I had brought Scootaloo home was rather interesting. See, I really really enjoy sleeping in when I don’t have anything else to do, but apparently it was a school day for the little rascal. It was a scene that Discord would be proud of.

“Zeta, Zeta ZETA!” the orange filly kept shouting. Rolling over to face the little bundle of fur that was assaulting my eardrums, I opened my sleep heavy eyes and gave her one of those annoyed looks.

“How may I help you?” came out more like “Hmayaheya?”

“I need to get to school but I don’t know how to get there from this side of town!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “Miss Cheerilee will get so angry if I’m late for class again, and then I’ll get detention and I won’t be able to hang out with the Crusaders, and then I’ll never get my Cutie Mark!” Then she smiled a little sheepishly and mumbled something else out that I couldn’t even catch with my heightened hearing ability. That and the fact my ears were still ringing from the explosion of volume this early in the morning.

“What was that squirt? I didn’t quite catch that,” was my fast reply as I began my daily ritual of stretching and cracking my joints. I was impressed with how Scoots wasn’t even phased by the sound.

She started shuffling around and seemed to decide that the floor boards looked extremely nice today before repeating herself. “Well, um, since you’re like my dad now and everything, I was wondering if you could, um, maybe make me a lunch to bring to school?” she asked in a volume that would make Fluttershy proud.

I just chuckled to myself as I hopped off the bed and extended my wings to give her a quick little hug. “Course I will Squirt, that’s what dads are for,” I said in an extremely cheery tone as I proceeded to head down to prep a lunch for Scootaloo.

The little orange fluff ball kept trying to hover over my shoulder as I made her first lunchbox. The entire process took me like, two minutes, since I have constantly made my own lunch back in school, but the look on her face was adorable as she saw how deftly I made her dandelion and cheese sandwich and placed the juice box into a brown paper bag. Of course I had to finish it off by writing her name on the bag with a heart at the end, just to embarrass her, and much to my amusement as she threw a little fit about it.

“But it looks stupid and mushy,” was all she complained about as we left our home and proceeded to head into town. Ponies for the most part were steering well enough away from me, but not keeping their eyes off. I could see the contempt that they held.

Fortunately, the only pair of eyes that I gave two shits about was belonged to the filly currently yelling at me about how if I was going to draw on her lunch bag from now on, it would have to be something epically cool and what not.

The walk to her school only took us twenty minutes or so, but we were still late. “Ugh, Miss Cheerilee is going to be so angry with me. This is the fifth time I’m late this month,” Scootaloo groaned, face hoofing as well.

I just ruffled her mane and laughed to myself, remember how shitty of a student I was and how if I showed up to class 5 times a month my professors considered it to be a miracle. “Just tell her your dad overslept and you had to wake him to walk you to school.” I gave her a quick hug and pushed her towards the door.

Once I was sure she went inside, I shot up into the sky and veered towards the Everfree Forest. Getting woken up early to take my daughter to school was something I wasn’t quite used to yet, but if I was up, I may as well have a fresh meal.

Now I know what a lot of you must be thinking, “How could you hunt in the Everfree? That’s where Fluttershy’s animal friends all live.” Well yes, I already knew that, but that doesn’t change the fact I’m a meat eating animal, and that’s the closest place to grab a bite to eat. I already hunted enough to keep my shed full, but frozen and then cooked meat just doesn’t taste the same as a fresh kill with blood dripping down your chin. Just thinking about it makes me hungry.

Anyway, flying over the Everfree, I could just make out the aforementioned pony leading a school of ducks across a road, so I dove in the opposite direction, nose twitching for something smelling good enough to sink my teeth into when I caught a nice scent. Following the enticing trail, I soon found a doe with her young fawn nursing.

I got to a nice level height, tucked my wings and dove right towards the clearing. I didn’t get nearly fast enough for the Mach cone to start to form, but the speeds I did reach were more than fast enough to catch my prey. With a satisfying crunch, I could feel the spine of my prey shatter beneath my landing. I sank my claws into its fur covered back and dug my teeth into the back of its neck. With a quick shake, I managed to silence its dying cries of pain before I began to gorge myself on the softer underbelly.

Glancing up from my meal, I see the startled doe and fawn staring at me with eyes full of fear. With blood still dripping from my mouth, I uttered a single growl before the two of them took off running. I then returned to eating my kill of a cockatrice. I may be a dick, but I grew up watching Disney movies. Some shit is too sacred to touch.

After that satisfying meal, I spent the rest of the day moseying around my house and the woods directly behind it. Happily, I found a nice little clove surrounded by tightly packed trees that I could barely squeeze between. With a small pond and a couple of rocks that sat in the sun surrounding it, I decided it was going to be my personal napping zone.

After christening my new find, I wandered back over to my house to wait for Scootaloo to get home from school. It only took a few hours before she came bursting through the door. “Zeta, I’m home!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming. Jeez kid a little patience goes a long way” I answered walking down the stairs. Scootaloo just stood in the doorway, digging her head through her saddlebag. After a little bit a rummaging (and tossing out some useless crap) she pulled out a slip and held it out for me to grab. “What’s this thing?”

“Well, since I’ve been going to school here, I’ve never ACTUALLY had a parent teacher conference thingy. So when Miss Cheerilee heard that I was late because you overslept, she demanded that you come to a parent teacher conference tomorrow after school,” was the orange filly’s long explanation. I had already read the note saying pretty much the exact same thing, but I allowed her to tell it anyway. “So can I go play?”

“Sure, go ahead squirt. Just be back for dinner at 7,” I replied as I nuzzled her head. Once she had left the house though, I dove into full on panic mode. “FUCKINGSHITBALLSCOCK! What the hell am I going to do?!?!” I was not expecting to have to meet any of the residents more than I had to, and here I was getting dragged into a PTC two days after taking Scootaloo in?

I just sighed and admitted defeat after failing to think of a substantial way to get out of this meeting and sank into the couch. “Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day…”

And so it was. The morning leading up the PTC was dull. I didn’t need to eat too much since I gorged myself the day before, but the nerves of having to meet Cheerilee. When the time came to head over to the schoolhouse, I felt like I was receiving a death sentence. I couldn’t even relax on the flight over.

Landing in front, I took a deep breath and attempted to calm myself down. As I open the door and enter the building, I saw Cheerilee sitting in her desk with Scootaloo sitting across from it looking at the door.

The look on Cheerilee’s face when I entered though washed away all of my worries as I approached the desk. I could tell that she was trying to hide her fear of such a large predatory creature walking inside, and I found out later that she actually took a class on the ancient wolf species so she knew what I was. The only reason she wasn’t in full on panic mode was the look of excitement Scootaloo had when she saw me enter.

So I walked down the row of desks with my usual bravado, and took the seat next to Scootaloo. “So you must be Scootaloo’s teacher Miss Cheerilee. To what do I owe the pleasure?” I really didn’t know what I had been so worried about before I got there. I am a freaking cynogriffin! What do I have to be afraid of?

“Well SIR, I would like to discuss the fact that you have neglected to attend a SINGLE Parent Teacher Conference since Scootaloo has been enrolled at this school. That, plus the fact I have noticed that she has tended to be underfed these past few years brings up some SERIOUS concerns about her family life!” the mare said in one of those ‘I’m disappointed and angry’ voices that only teachers seemed to have mastered.

And that was when all of my bravado went down the pooper. My tail instantly tucked between my legs, no matter how hard I tried to stop it, and my ears went flat on my head. I recalled why I was so terrified of going to that PTC. Teachers are fucking scary when pissed.

In my defense though, I managed to hold back bursting into tears at the intensity of the glare I was getting. Tavi should take lessons from Cheerilee if she ever gets out of slavery. Just as I was about to stammer out a defense, probably with piss poor results, Scootaloo cut me off, “Don’t yell at my dad! He’s the nicest person ever!”

Cheerilee seemed shocked by the filly’s sudden outburst. “Scootaloo, I don’t think you quite understand what I’m…”

“He just became my dad three days ago anyway. I was the one that ran away and didn’t tell anyone.” Scootaloo was close to tears at this point. I guess she still wasn’t quite used to telling her story. I extended my wing over her body and pulled her close, offering what comfort I could. She simply stared up at me and continued, “But now I have a daddy, and I’ll be safe and everything else.”

Cheerilee took this information with a stern face as she observed the scene before her. Eventually I glanced up upon her face and she returned my gaze with one of understanding before she spoke again. “Scootaloo dear, I’m going to talk to your dad alone okay? Why don’t you run along and play with your friends?”

When my daughter (loved being able to say that) looked up at me I just nodded and soon she was out the door. I turned my attention back towards the magenta mare in front of me with a questioning look of my own. “So what was that about?”

“Well, before I can approve of this whole thing and not report it to Foal Protection Services, I’d like to know a bit more about you, such as how you plan on caring for Scootaloo and keeping her safe?”

So I proceeded to explain to her everything that happened to me since coming to Equestria. I didn’t leave out any of the gory details either. Well except for the parts where I murdered Azragni and that moose. Oh and the parts involving Octavia. Actually I gave her a pretty tame account of what I’ve been up to; pretty much that I’m a bounty hunter who tracks down criminals. That news didn’t please her all too much.

“You do realize that if anyone ever discovers you have a daughter or you live here you’d be putting Scootaloo in mortal danger correct?”

“…. God damnit.” To be perfectly honest I had not even CONSIDERED that before she brought it up. “Um, what do you think I should do?”

“Luckily Mayor Mare and I are well enough acquainted that I could see about pulling your records from the public files and letting you keep them under lock and key. Also I suggest you don’t be seen too often in town considering you are somewhat unique.” Cheerilee started walking with me towards the door as she explained her plan. “Another aspect is that you have those that you’ve met or can’t help meeting, such as Pinkie Pie or myself, to swear to NEVER reveal where you are.” I simply nodded and followed after her.

Once we arrived there she had one more question for me. “Honestly though Mr. Zeta, do you believe you’ll be able to care for this little filly? It’s not a shame to admit that.”

For my response though, I just stared her right in the middle of the eyes and replied, “I’ll be damned if I don’t do my best for her. She’ll be fine, trust me.” Topping that sentence off with a smile full of razor sharp teeth probably wasn’t the brightest idea but oh well.

And there you guys have it. That’s how I managed to hide my existence away from the general populous (and assholes who are pissed at me) and met Cheerilee. Maybe next time I’ll tell you about Nightmare Night or that time a Manticore tried to eat Scootaloo.

A/N:

And you all thought I was dead and wasting away in a ditch somewhere. So here is one of the inbetween chapters that I promised I would have out like 3 chapters ago. Finally got around to finishing it now that I have a slight calm before the storm that is known as Finals Week. Hopefully once Winter Break commences I'll be able to knock out a large portion of the next Story Arc before school recommences.

As the norm, point out any glaring mistakes I've made here. See you all next time!