//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Hunter/Prey // by UnluckyReaver //------------------------------// The sun slowly setting behind the castle. A maiden with flowing golden hair standing on the ivory tower. A crystal orb floating in darkness holding the scene. Long claws reaching out grasping the orb. A pair of sickly glowing yellow eyes staring out from the blackness. Hunter’s eyes shot open, the dream still fresh in his mind. Rolling out of bed, he flinched for a moment when his bare feet touched the stone floor. “I’ve been here a week, you’d think I’d learn by now.” He said to himself, as he quickly made his way over to the dresser for some socks. Pulling out a pair, he sat down on the bed then collapsed backwards onto it. “The bed is pretty comfortable, maybe I should just stay here today…” He said thinking aloud. Rising from the bed once more, Hunter quickly put on some clothing and his shoes then exited the room. Hunter glanced at the two guards that were stationed next to the door; the solar guard’s eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the human; the lunar guard, however, simply gave the human a small respectful nod as way of greeting. Ignoring the solar guard; Hunter returned the lunar guard’s greeting before setting off to find something to eat. As Hunter rounded the corner he found himself standing in front of a large griffon. “Ah, Hunter, lad, I was just coming to see if you had awoke yet.” The griffon said, having to look up to look the human in the eyes. “Ambassador Kruger,” Hunter answered politely. “Am I really that special that the ambassador to the Griffon Kingdom feels that he must come see me the moment I awake?” “Hunter, lad; remember that you are the only one of your kind here. You’re a representative of your kind here in this shiny pony land just as much as I am to mine.” “Well… I guess that is true; I never thought about it that way. Thank you Ambassador.” Hunter said with a small bow. The two of them stood still not saying anything for a long moment until they simultaneously started to laugh. “Come on, lad.” The griffon said as he slowly calmed himself down. “Let’s go get something to eat. I believe I have come across something that you’ll enjoy.” “Bacon? How did you get bacon?” Hunter asked staring at his plate. He quickly picked up a strip and shoved it in his mouth. “Ooh bacon; I have missed you.” He said as he chewed, waving another piece around in the air. Kruger tried to stifle a laugh as he watched the human’s antics. “You know, lad,” the griffon said with a smile, “you should come back with me to the Kingdom. You’d probably like it there more than this here pony land.” “Didn’t you say that you home is up in the mountains, and that you need to be able to fly go get there?” Hunter asked, still focused on the bacon strips in front of him. “You do know that humans are about as earthbound as they come, right?” “Maybe we can find a griffon to act as your chauffeur and carry you around in a fancy carriage.” Kruger said with a chuckle. “You volunteering?” the human asked with a smile, biting into another piece of bacon. The griffon chucked, “You know, lad, we’re a lot alike.” “Yeah, if you discount the wings, and the beak, and the talons, and the ability to be in the same room as the princesses for more than five minutes; yeah we’re the same.” “Yeah, I guess that’s kinda true, lad.” Kruger said scratching his chin. “But what’s this about not being able to stand near the princess?” “Yeah, when I get to close to them I get this weird headache, like staring at bad florescent bulb.” “A what?” “Really? Again? You know that the lights in this room are florescent bulbs, right?” “Alright lad, you got me lad.” “You know what they say; fool me once shame of you, fool me five times…” Kruger smiled, “That being said; how are you holding up, lad?” “I don’t know man…” Hunter said shaking his head. “It’s just… a lot to take in; stuck in a new world, filled with mythical creatures, magic, and talking ungulates.” “Maybe you’re thinking about this too hard, lad.” The griffon said sympathetically. “You’re under a lot of stress, lad; I think you’ve been spending too much time in the archives. You should just spend the day relaxing, or doing something you enjoy not wasting away under all those book; if you really are stuck here, you do have the rest of your life to learn this world’s history.” “Yeah, you’re probably right… maybe I go look at the gardens or something today; I never really got a chance to see them.” Hunter walked through the royal gardens, taking his time to take in his surroundings; he could tell that there were dozens of small animals that lived there, but they all seemed to avoid him. Huh, I thought that they would be more acclimatized then that. Hunter said to himself; maybe it’s because they’ve never seen a human before. The human let out a small chuckle as a trio of squirrels that had spotted him fled, abandoning the nuts they had been fighting over the moment before. “We see that you have finally decided to leave the archives.” A voice coming from behind Hunter said. The human turned to find Princess Luna standing there. Giving her a small bow, Hunter greeted the alicorn, but made sure to keep track on how close she was to him. “Good morning, Princess Luna.” “And good morning to you;” Luna answered, “However we insist… please, just call me Luna. It is my fault that you are here and informality is the least we can offer you.” “Fair enough, Prin… Luna.”Hunter said with a small smile. “And yeah, Ambassador Kruger was the one that finally convinced me that I should take a day to relax.” “I wonder why you listen to an old griffon and not a princess.” Luna teased as she sat down on one of the benches. “But, please be honest; is it because you blame me for bringing you here?” Sitting down on a bench several feet away, Hunter sighed. “No, Luna, I don’t blame you; it was an accident, you didn’t mean for this to happen. You are no more at fault then the butterfly that stared the tsunami.” Luna gave the human a blank stare. “Butterfly?” Hunter dropped his face into his hands. “And I just realized that that analogy doesn’t work on this world. What it means is that we can’t always see the outcome of every action; something small, like a butterfly flapping its wings, can cause a major change, such as a massive storm.” “I’m still not sure I understand what the point you’re trying to make is; pegasi control the weather, not butterflies.” “Yeah, on this world, where pegasi exist; back on my world the weather is…” Hunter trailed off in an attempt to find the right words. “The weather just happens; it just is. It’s not controlled, or made, or anything like that; it’s just… exists.” “You mean the weather on your planet works the same as the weather in the Everfree Forest?” “The Everfree Forest?” Hunter gave Luna a confused look. “I’m sorry, but I’m still a little rusty on my Equestrian geography; what exactly is the Everfree Forest?” “The Everfree Forest is an unnatural place; filled with wild and strange magic. All manner of beast and aberrations call it home. It is said that plants grow, the weather moves, and animal live without any external aid.” Hunter chuckled. “Yeah, does sound like home.” “Are you saying that your world is nothing more than a chaos filled nightmare?” “Umm… no, that’s not what I’m trying to say at all…” Hunter shook his head, the paused for several moments trying to figure out how to phase what he wanted to say. “Alright, so you have concepts of both harmony and chaos, correct?” He finally asked, looking up at the alicorn. Luna merely nodded and allowed the human to continue. “And you hold these two states as separate, correct? You either have harmony or you have chaos.” “Yes, but I fail to see what your point is.” “The point is back on my world it doesn’t work that way… we don’t have harmony or chaos we have both. Harmony gives us life, but chaos allows us to grow; one folds into the other than back to the first, like a mobius strip.” “That… that seems impossible, chaos and harmony cannot co-exist.” Luna said defiantly. “Maybe I’m just not really good at explaining this…” Hunter said and lowered his head momentarily. “I guess what I’m really trying to say; is that in my world things just are, thing happen and we have to deal with the consequences.” Luna was about to respond when she noticed a servant walking towards them. “I’m sorry Hunter, but it appears that royal duties are calling. Perhaps we can finish this conversation another time.” “Of course, Princess;” Hunter said, bowing. “I’ll be around.” Hunter watched as the Princess walked away. Remaining on the bench, the human stared at the palm of his hand for several long moments; lost deep in thought. Slowly he curled his fingers into a first; “But how can you be friends with something that it is literally painful to be around?” He shook his head, then rolled so he was lying down on the bench staring up at the sky. He stared up at the clouds as they hung in the sky for several minutes until he realized that they were perfectly still. “What’s the point of watching the clouds drift by if someone has to push them?” He asked himself as he slowly rose to his feet. Wandering through the castle gardens once more, it wasn’t long until Hunter came across a statue filled area. For the most part, he found nothing but statues of ponies; some names, like Starswirl the Bearded or Clover the Clever, but most either were unnamed or had named he didn’t recognize. As he made his way through he began to see a larger variety of creatures; first several griffons, then a pair minotaurs, a gargoyle, and finally a tall mismatched creature. “Huh, they even have chimeras here. This place gets stranger by the minute.” The human said to himself, then noticed the name engraved on the base. “Discord, eh? Well, he does look it.” Leaving the strange statue behind, Hunter continued on his way through the castle grounds until he came across a large hedge. Hedge wall? He asked himself as he looked up towards the top of it. Why would there be a hedge wall here? Unless… he turned his attention further down the hedge and his suspicion paid off when he noticed an opening. Not a hedge wall, it’s a hedge maze. He thought as he walked over to the opening. Why not, I got time. Hunter sauntered through the maze, though lost in thought his left hand idly ran over the hedge as he moved along. Haven’t done anything like this since I was a kid; he thought to himself, running through the corn mazes that everyone seemed to have. As Hunter rounded another corner, he felt himself collide with something. Looking down to see what he had hit, he found a Pegasus lying on the ground in front of him. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to knock you over.” He said as he crouched down to help the Pegasus. “I wasn’t really paying attention to where-” The Pegasus looked up, saw Hunter crouched over her, and screamed. “AAAAH! MONSTER!” She yelled launching herself into the air. “THERE’S A MONSTER IN THE MAZE!” She flew off, screaming as she went. “Wait! I…” Hunter yelled after her as she disappeared from his sight. “That’s not going to end well.”