//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Secrets // Story: The Hunter's Heart // by Silentpegasus //------------------------------// Chapter 8 Secrets Fluttershy and Twilight were making their way through town, keeping an eye out for Cross and any other stallion that tried to steal their tags. Rainbow had reported nothing, Rarity told them about how he trapped the group of mare’s in a net trap. “Wow, I didn’t think he’d lay traps.” Twilight exclaimed. “He’s playing hard ball.” Rainbow said with a smile. “Makes things a bit more interesting if you ask me. Nice to see a stallion that doesn’t have his tail in between his legs.” she said with a grin. The ponies then heard a loud knock at the door, Applejack got to her hooves and opened the door to reveal a grey pegasus mare with a flowing blond mane. “Howdy there Ditzy.” “Hey, I have a letter for Fluttershy, I heard that she might be here.” she said as she retrieved a white envelope. “I think it’s from a secret admirer.” she said with a smile. Applejack gave the mare two bit’s and trotted back inside, she handed Fluttershy the envelope. Fluttershy opened the letter and read the message, a bright blush had appeared on her face and she began to giggle. “What’s up?” Twilight asked as she picked up the letter and read it aloud. Fluttershy, I have had feelings for you since we met, but I didn’t know how to tell you. Meet me by the clearing with the waterfall in the Everfree forest, come alone. I’ll be waiting there until 3:00pm. ~Cross Hair. Twilight’s jaw dropped as she finished reading the letter, she looked at the other mare’s who shared the same looks of shock. Fluttershy was happily giggling and blushing. Rainbow came over and high hoofed her friend. “See Fluttershy, everything’s working out! And don’t worry, I’ll escort you to the Everfree forest.” “Thanks.” she said with a smile. “Well get going darling. It’s very un-lady like to keep a stallion waiting.” Rarity said giving her fried a reassuring pat on the back. Fluttershy looked back at her friends one last time who gave her a reassuring nod. Fluttershy and Rainbow took flight and made their way to the forest. “Good luck.” the ponies said as they waved goodbye to their friends. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cross was being chased by another pack of mares, he jumped over a patch of dirt and looked behind him with a smile. The mare’s collected weight broke the small amount of twigs and leaves his clones had made to cover the pit they dug the previous night. He took a moment to marvel at ‘his’ work, but soon another pack of mare’s converged on him. He looked up to see a familiar pegasus stallion rocketing toward him. “Hey Thunderlane! Down here!” he said as he was running, the dark stallion descended to his level and out stretched a hoof to the grey unicorn. Cross grabbed hold of it and the two stallions ascended into the sky. “Set me down on a cloud.” “But, you’ll fall through.” the pegasus said in concern. “No I won’t, cloud walking spell.” he said as his horn glowed. The stallion shrugged and the two rested on the cloud. “Thanks man....these mare’s are crazy!” “I know....thanks by the way.” “For what?” “For trapping Rose in that net thing, I got her tag.” he said as he showed the unicorn the pink tag with a rose Cutie Mark stitched on it. “Nice.” he said as he bumped hooves with the pegasus. “How’s Big Mac holding up?” “Still hiding.” “Figures...what are you going to do with Rose?” “Take her out to a nice dinner.......maybe a movie....then who knows.” he said with a smug grin. “What about you?” “Just trying to stay alive right now.” “I mean which mare are you going after?” Cross let out a heavy sigh. “If she’s still got her tag then.....Fluttershy.” “Really? She’s playing this year?” “Apparently.’ “That’s cool. She’s cute in an innocent kind of way.” Thunderlane said as he rolled his eyes. The two continued to talk and relax on the cloud. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Back in town, one of Cross’s clones was hiding close to the library, he hoisted himself in through the window and snuck down the stairs only to be caught by Applejacks rope. “Gah!” he said as he was pulled down onto the ground floor, he looked up to see four mare’s with surprised looks on their faces. “Hey...ladies hows the hunt coming along?” “Are you the real one?” Twilight asked. “Nope. Clone number seven at your service.” he said with a smile. Twilight’s jaw hit the floor. “SEVEN!? how many of you are there?” “We started out with ten, but I have no idea how many of us are left.” “Why in the hay did you create copies of yourself?” Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow. “Hello! Divide and conquer.....Plus I just love to screw around with you guys, you enjoy the traps I set?” he said in a laugh. “Ha, ha. Very funny.” Applejack said in a sarcastic tone. “But it makes no sense, with you copying yourself ah mean.”. “No it makes perfect sense!” Twilight said with a smile, the other three mares looked back at her in shock. “Don’t you see? He made the clones to keep the other mare’s off his back so he could go see Fluttershy in the Everfree forest!” “OH!” the three mares said in unison. “What are you talking about?” Cross said in confusion. Twilight levitated the letter in front of the clone. “I didn’t write this, it isn’t ‘my’ hoof writing.” the ponies looked back at the clone in confusion. “Well if you didn’t, then who did?” Twilight said in confusion. The grey stallion untied the rope and began to think. “I don’t know, but I don’t like it.” he then turned towards the orange mare. “AJ I need you to do me a favor.” “What?” “Buck me in the head as hard as you can.” the mares looked at him in confusion. “Look, once a clone’s physical form is compromised then they get sent back to the source.” “The source?” AJ said in confusion. “The REAL Cross. Anything that I have learned Cross learns, so he’ll know what to do.” he said as he closed his eyes bracing himself for the pain. “Don’t hold back.” “Well alright.” “Good. Find Rainbow and get to the forest fast, I have no idea where the original Cross is so it could take him a while before he gets there.” he said as he braced himself. Applejack turned around and aimed for the stallion’s forehead. “Hold still.” she said as her hooves connected with the clone, who disappeared in a cloud of smoke. “C’mon, ya’ll Fluttershy needs us!” Applejack said as the mares rocketed out of the library and galloped towards the dark forest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Back on top of the cloud Thunderlane and Cross were joking around and laughing as Cross finished his joke. “So the patient wakes up, his entire skeleton was missing and the doctor was never heard from again!” Thunderlane was rolling on his back in laughter. “Anyway.....that’s how I lost my medical license.” Thunderlane fell silent. “I’m kidding! Geez, you gotta chill man.” he said as he slapped him on the back. “You gotta.....” Cross stopped talking and closed his eyes. “You okay?” Thunderlane asked as he looked at the stallion. “No.....Somethings wrong.....I.....I need to get to the Everfree forest!” “Why?” “Fluttershy’s in danger......I just know!” Thunderlane nodded and hopped off the cloud and began to push it towards the dark forest, as the pegasus pushed the cloud towards the forest his horn started to glow. One of the clones was cornered by a pack of mare’s in an alleyway. He could see the lust in their eyes and he heard it in their voices. The clone suddenly froze and looked back at the mares. “Sorry ladies it’s been fun but, I must depart.” he said as he took his hat off and placed it on his chest. The mare’s looked in confusion as the clone vanished with a puff of smoke. Across town six other puffs of smoke had appeared and soon vanished. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The CMC were showing Ace off to their friends at the school yard, Ace liked kids but he was quickly becoming aggravated at the grey and pink earth ponies that were berating the three fillies. “No way, this over grown flea bag is your friend!” the pink filly said. “Is so!” Scootaloo said gritting her teeth. “But what is that thing?” a small green colt asked. “He’s some kind of wolf.....ah for get what kind though.” Applebloom said as she scratched her mane Ace rolled his eyes and laid down in the dirt, he then sat up and started to sniff the air. He picked up an unfamiliar scent and started to growl. Applebloom looked over to see a familiar zebra. “Howdy Zecora!” “What have we here? Applebloom my dear.” she said as she trotted over to the children and noticed the large wolf staring at her. “Is the universe pulling my hoof? Is that in fact a Dire Wolf?” “Yeah, isn’t he cool? He belongs to a friend of ours.” Sweetie Belle said. Ace began to growl at the mare. “It’s okay Ace, Zecora is our friend.” the large wolf looked at the small filly and then sniffed Zecora who had a look of fear drawn across her face. “Be wary of this wolf, something very odd is ahoof.” she said as she stepped away from the large beast. “What makes you say that Zecora? Ace looks scary but he’d never hurt a pony.” Scootaloo said. “Yesterday, I discovered a carcass and found some odd proof, the fur of a white Dire Wolf.” she said as she withdrew the fur from her bag. “ Ace was in the Everfree yesterday, he saved us from a timber wolf attack and carried us on his back.” Applebloom said. “Didn’t Cross stay behind to so we could get away?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Yeah and he came back out without a scratch.” Scootaloo added. Zecora looked at the fillies in surprise. Ace’s eyes shrank and he took off towards Ponyville, leaving the children and the zebra at the school yard. Ace made his way through the small town, as he got to the entrance of the Everfree he noticed five familiar mares just on the outside of the forest. As he caught up to them he barked and got their attention, the mares looked behind them in surprise. “Ace?” the cyan one said in surprise. Ace proceeded to bark loudly at them. “Sorry boy, we can’t play now. Fluttershy’s in danger.” He continued to bark at the confused mares. “What is it boy? Is a colt trapped in a well?” Pinkie asked. Ace was getting annoyed and he had had enough of the miscommunication. He decided to break a promise. “Will you dumb ponies just shut up and listen to me!” the group of ponies looked at him with their mouth’s agate. “D-did he j-just-” “Yes, the wolf in front of you all just talked. We can discuss this later, I have Cross’s and.....whatever her names scent, so just follow me.” the wolf said as he walked past the stunned mares and into the dark forest. The ponies set the shock aside and followed the wolf into the forest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One hour earlier Fluttershy had just arrived outside of the Everfree forest. She looked into the dark forest and cringed a little. She started to turn around when she imagined Cross waiting there for her with that smile he always had. She took a deep breath and ventured into the forest. She trotted along the path trying to keep cool and stayed alert. She suddenly heard rustling in the bushes behind her, she squeaked in fear as a small mouse came scurrying out of the bush. Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief and continued on. C’mon Fluttershy you can do this. Maybe I should head back. No! We’ve made it this far and coincidentally Cross came to you! He likes you! True. Good so get in there and go get your stallion! Fluttershy continued along the path until she heard the sound of cascading water. She saw the clearing and gazed upon a beautiful waterfall. Her heart beat began to rise as she imagined Cross waiting for her there, she entered the clearing and started to look around the extravagant display. Fluttershy stepped up to the crystal clear pool and waited for Cross to arrive. “I hope he get’s here soon.” she said as she looked at her reflection. Her eyes shrank as she saw two more reflections appear in the water. She turned around to see three pegasus stallions looking at her with a malicious grin. Her mind clicked as she remembered the stallions, the same ones that had tormented her in flight school. The mare tried to get away from them but she was soon surrounded. “Well if it isn’t our old pal Fluttershy.” the brown pegasus said with a laugh. Fluttershy was quivering in fear. “What? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten your old pal Dumbbell? What about Hoops and End Zone?” he said as he looked at the grey and orange pegasus stallion. Fluttershy started to back away, but was stopped by a tree. “W-what do you want?” she said as her body began to shake in fear. “Well, being the nice guys that we are we just couldn’t let a mare like you be alone on Hearts and Hooves day. So we figured that we’d have a nice romantic moment with you.” End zone said as he eyed the mare. Fluttershy’s eyes shrank at the statement, she looked for an escape route but her face collided with a brown hoof. Fluttershy grasped her face in pain and began to cry. “Oh if you’re crying now then just wait till later.” he said as he licked his lips. Fluttershy tried to scream but her mouth was covered by an orange hoof, Fluttershy’s mind slowly began to shut down and began to pray for a miracle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cross ordered Thunderlane to stop the cloud above a clearing in the forest. He materialized a pair of binoculars and surveyed the area. He spotted a familiar yellow mare and three pegasus stallions. “Hey Thunderlane, who’re those three?” he asked as he handed the binoculars to the black stallion. Thunderlane looked down where the unicorn had directed. “Uh-oh. That’s Hoops, End Zone and Dumbbell. Those three tormented Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash back in flight school, trust me they’re bad news.” he said as the binoculars vanished. Cross thought for a moment and came up with an idea. “Thunderlane, get me right above them.” “Why? What are you-” “Just do it!” he barked. Thunderlane complied and moved the cloud right above the stallions. “Perfect. Now go findRainbow Dash and the others. Tell them what’s happening and lead them back here!” Thunderlane looked at him in confusion, his eyes shrank as he put the pieces together. “ALLONS-Y!”Cross yelled as he dove off the cloud and was rocketing towards the ground, Cross looked back up to see Thunderlane flying back towards town. Cross focused his magic and let loose a barrage of magical spells. The stallions started to converge on Fluttershy, but were blocked by a volley of spells. They looked up to see a grey stallion falling towards them, Cross’s horn glowed agin and he slowed his descent, he landed in between the mare who looked at him in surprise. He hurried over to the mare side and helped her get to her hooves. “Fluttershy! Are you okay?” she slowly nodded her head, Cross looked behind him just in time for his face to collide with a grey hoof. He managed to regain his balance and he eyed the stallions who looked at him in confusion. “Who the buck are you?” “It’s common courtesy to give your name before asking for some-pony else’s.” he said with a smirk. That angered the stallions and they charged towards him, Cross’s horn glowed but the magic soon fizzled out. He felt the barrage of hooves hit him and he was sent flying back against a nearby tree. “Cross!” Fluttershy yelled as she began to cry. Cross got to his hooves and spat out some blood. “Fluttershy.....get out of here.” he said as he began to pant. “Head back the way you came, you’ll probably meet up with Rainbow or Thunderlane.” he said as he looked at the mare. “I can hold these guys here a little longer.” “But-” “NO BUTS JUST GO!” he barked. Fluttershy tried to escape but was cut off by one of the stallions who hit her with an uppercut, knocking her out. Cross’s lunged at the stallion and his front hoof connected with the stallion’s jaw, sending him soaring back into the other two pegasi. Cross quickly rushed to Fluttershy’s side and addressed the wound. They are going to pay! How? You can barely stand. I know....who’d thought that making twenty copies in twenty four hours could leave a stallion so drained. You knew damn well what would happen, now you have next to zero power. I know I- he was cut off as he dodged another blow from the grey stallion. Cross kicked him back and glared at the pegasi with Fluttershy laying behind him, still unconscious. He looked back at her and gave a smile, he then turned and face d the three stallions. “Okay fellas....Who’s first?” he said as he got in a defensive position. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thunderlane was flying over the Everfree forest as fast as his wings could carry him. He looked down to see a familiar rainbow maned pony along with five other mares, he rocketed towards them hovered just above the group. “HEY UP HERE!” he yelled. Rainbow saw him and flew up to his level. “What’s up Thunderlane? We’re kinda busy right now we think that Fluttershy-” “I know, and she is! Hoops, End Zone and Dumbbell cornered her in a clearing up ahead. Cross jumped in to save her, he’s probably still there now and he needs help!” the mares looked at him in shock. “Where?” Twilight asked with concern in her voice. “A few miles ahead, we’d better get there quick!” Thunderlane said as he and Rainbow flew ahead of the group, prying they would make it there in time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cross was being beaten left and right as he tried to get out of the triangle of pain. He saw an opening and he leaped away from the group, he stood there panting and bleeding. His vision was beginning to blur and his legs started to feel like jello. He looked over at Fluttershy who started to stir and wake up. He felt his face making contact with another hoof. Fluttershy awoke to see Cross taking massive amounts of damage at the hooves of her attackers, Fluttershy had had enough, she rose and engaged her stare freezing the brown stallion as he tried to bring his hoof down on the grey unicorn. “What?” he said as he locked eyes with Fluttershy, who had a look that could kill a manticore. Fluttershy was not backing down, Cross looked at her in amazement, his eyes shrank as he saw the orange stallion come up behind her and force her to the ground. Free from the mares stare he picked Cross up by his mane and threw him into a nearby tree, causing it to fall on top of the stallion. “Y’know what. You’re going to watch as we tear your colt friend apart....bit by bit.” the orange stallion whispered to Fluttershy who began to cry. Her face was still in the dirt as the tears began to flow. She managed to raise her head just enough to see the fallen tree beginning to shift. The grey pegasus stallion trotted over to the pile ready to start beating on the grey unicorn. Surprise took him when something grabbed hold of his face, the object gripped tighter and threw him into the waterfall. The other ponies looked in surprise as they saw a massive grey mass rise from the fallen trees. “What the buck?” Hoops said as he saw the tree’s being pushed aside to reveal Cross without his hat and eye patch. The pegasi glared into the spliced blue eye that was formerly covered by the eye patch. Cross stepped into the light to reveal that his front right hoof had turned into an appendage with five razor sharp claws protruding from it, his grey coat had shifted into shiny grey scales, growing out of his back was a set of wings that were similar to that of a dragon’s only proportioned to his size. Cross’s teeth had turned razor sharp and he began to growl at the pegasi, who cringed back in fear. Dumbbell charged at him, Cross raised the claw and brought it down on the stallions face sending him straight into the ground. End Zone had recovered and was flying towards him. Cross opened his mouth and black flames erupted from the unicorn’s mouth, singeing the pegasus’s wings and making him cry out in pain. The grey pegasus dropped to the ground and curled up into a ball. Hoops had let go of Fluttershy and started to fly away from the stallion. Cross had taken flight and appeared directly in front of the fleeing pegasus and brought his left hoof down on the orange stallions head. Hoops fell to the ground creating a crater where he landed, Hoops was crawling out of the crater as he felt something grip his wings. He looked back to see the grey unicorn looking at him with an icy stare, Cross had wrapped his hooves around the pegasus’s wings, he placed a hoof on his back and began to pull on the feathered appendages. Hoops began to scream in pain, Cross heard a loud snap coming from the wings, Cross let go of the orange pegasus who dropped to the ground. Cross looked back at Dumbbell and End Zone who regained consciousness and looked back at the stallion in fear. “Leave....NOW!” he ordered. The stallions did as he said and the three limped away with haste back onto the path only to be stopped by Thunderlane and Rainbow Dash, who stared at them in rage. “P-please don’t hurt us!” Hoops pleaded with them. The rest of the group soon caught up to them and looked at the pegasi in confusion. The ponies then noticed the grey figure standing in the clearing. “Cross, thank goodness you’re-” Twilight then noticed the stallion’s physical appearance. She let out an audible gasp as he looked back at her with tears in his eyes. His gaze then shifted to the yellow mare who started to approach him, shaking with fear. His wings began to receded back into his body, his right hoof took it’s original form and his teeth became less sharp. He adverted his gaze and began to trot away from the group, he was stopped by the yellow mare who wrapped her hooves around him and began to cry. “Thank you.” she said through the tears. Cross felt the mare’s soft lips being pressed against his, he could feel his cheeks blush as the mare broke the embrace. He saw that her face was bright red as well. Cross looked over to the group who had looks of shock and surprise strewn across their faces. As he stepped forward he felt a massive pain rip through his body, he began to cough up blood as he fell to the ground. He felt the darkness start to take hold of him, the last thing he heard were cried of worry and fast approaching hoof-steps.