//------------------------------//
// 3. Hunters stick together! 
// Story: Ex-Wonderbolts new job 
// by Jetto 
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Chapter 3: Hunters stick together

"You should have seen them! Few more nights and the three of them would become..."

"Wait, let me guess," Thunderlane coughed few times, then smiled smugly to invoke his best Soarin impression "they would become legen--..." he held a hoof in the air in silence for a moment in silence, then finished "...-dary!"

Soarin opened his mouth, thought for a moment and finally replied.
"I was gonna say 'true hunters', but your version is even better!"

It was a day like any other. A group of stallions (still missing Big Mac), together in the morning, sharing stories over breakfast. There were two differences this time. First of all, this wasn't Sugarcube Corner, due to them being closed to renovations (it turns out that 'Pie-related catastrophe' really WAS covered by insurance). Instead, they had to have their morning coffee/tea at the small restauran. They didn't even bother to remember the name, but it was the same one where Prince stopped for mediocre tea on his first visit.
Second divergence from usual, was that the topic at hoof wasn't about Soarin's newest achievements, but about his new disciples (which technically was his achievement). A story of three not quite ready for life stallions, one of them they had the fortune of meeting recently, now were getting mentored by the expert. And despite the fact that Soarin didn't get laid in a while, he enjoyed his time immensely.

"It's like the old days," admitted Soarin, in between sipping his tea "when 'hunting' was actually a challenge and every victory felt like I was the king of the world."

"You did mentioned you like to make ponies happy," said Doctor, adding yet another layer of butter to his muffins, much to everyponies horror "that's one original way of doing it."

Then, Soarin had an epiphany.
"You know what guys? I have a brilliant idea!" he rose from his chair and looked at the sun, while his friends facehooved, expecting the worst "I'm enjoying it so much, I think I'll start a group! 'Hunter Association' or something like that." he smiled at the idea.

"You want to gather all the.... 'hunters' in one place?" asked Blueblood, once again questioning Soarin's sanity and brain power.

"Exactly! We could gather up, chat, exchange advice, go on group hunts, once in a while org--..." he tried to finish that sentence, but was interrupted by Shining Armor's slam to the table.

"Do you mind not talking about these things in bright daylight?" asked flustered Shiny.

"Why? What's wrong with organizing a party once in a while?" asked Soarin, making a red-faced Shining Armor even more so. Orgies later, he thought, first he needed to help graduate Private Shining Virgin Armor (it was that obvious) into stallionhood (note to self, don't say that out loud).
"You guys are welcome to join, as always. Come on, what do you say?"

They rolled their eyes. Due to recent events, like settling in Ponyville and losing his job, Soarin never managed to organize the mass hunt he mentioned back in the Everfree Forest, mostly because he promised to get Spitfire to join, which never happened. Since then he invited them for small-time hunts on many occasions, but so far he had no luck. They always had the same excuses.

"I don't think I should indulge myself in the night life. This could backfire, badly!" said Doctor, though nopony was sure what that meant..

"I'm still dating Blossom... I think." explained Thunderlane, whose relationship was always under big question mark, even though everypony claimed that this was their way of expressing love for each other.

"N-no, thanks but no thanks..." Shining Armor always had the weakest excuses, if he even had any to begin with. Soarin's agenda included hooking him up with at least one of his secret admirers. He could count at least several mares that would love to get a taste of that Shining Sword (another note to self- never, ever say that out loud. Ever!).

"You know, I might actually take you up on that offer," Prince Blueblood always had some elaborate explanation, about not needing any help when it came to dating "it has been a while since time. I'm thinking of getting back into the game." while Soarin didn't doubt his friends skills and charm, he would much rather he showed that side of himself once in a whi--...

"Wait, you what now?" Soarin, along with others, gasped loudly at the most surprising proclamation they heard from Prince Blueblood since that day they gained their elements.

"I said I would gladly join your group, Soarin," Prince confirmed, smiling brightly, then taking a sip from his tea. Turns out these teabags were actually bearable, so long as you don't let them sink in for too long "I did promise that I would think about your offer, so I did. And my answer is yes!"

As expected, Soarin's smile grew tenfold, as he got up from his seat and started bouncing around their table, Pinkie Pie Style, while chanting 'yes, yes, yes' over again.
"I knew I could count on you!" Soarin hugged Prince a bit too tightly "Eventually!"

"Of course you could," answered Prince, smiling brightly "you keep on saying it, after all. We hunters gotta stick together."

"Yes, exactly!" he nodded obliviously.

"For example, if I was to be attacked by some weird mud monster..."

Massive group groan interrupted Prince from saying anything, as his friends either facehooved or slammed their faces into the table.
"You just had to say that!" complained Thunderlane, looking away.

"All this buildup," said Doctor, nodding "I'm as impressed by that punchline as I am ashamed of myself yesterday."

"You're still bitter over that?" asked Shining Armor, whose shame levels reached highest of them all, considering his job was to protect Prince Blueblood from any danger. He was also responsible for his exhaustion in the first place.

"No, I'm not bitter anymore," Prince answered, adding a spoonful of sugar to his cup "Not really," and another "maybe just a bit," and another "only slightly irritated," and another "mildly annoyed," and another "or rather sad," and another "betrayed... left to die... alone... by my first true friends..."

"Oh come on, that was just Pinkie Pie!"

"And bless the sun for that!" he stirred his tea with spoon, which barely budged in between all this sugar "But look at the bright side," he put the spoon away on the table and lifted the cup with his magic "if it wasn't, I wouldn't be any more bitter than I am now," upon taking a sip of his tea, he gagged and coughed a few times, before putting the cup back on the table "...because I'd be dead!" he finished, glaring at his friends. Moment later he picked up a slice of lemon with his magic, dropped it into his tea, stirred again and took one more sip.
"Much better!" he smiled and finished his drink in a single gulp.

"You call that a bright side?" asked Thunderlane, but was mostly ignored.

"We already said we're sorry!" Shining Armor groaned and rolled his eyes. Prince nodded nonchalantly, still pouting and averting his eyes from his friends. He already forgave them and didn't bear any ill will towards any of them, but that didn't stop him from overacting , if only because he had a legitimate reason for once.

"Maybe 'Hunter Association' cares about their members a bit more. Just saying." he shrugged, feigning irritation.





The rest of their morning hangout ended relatively shortly after, without anypony saying too much, now that everypony was too ashamed of yesterdays performance. They said their goodbyes and went back to their homes, except Shining Armor, who had to go grocery shopping and Soarin, who for some reason followed Blueblood. Few steps in Blueblood stopped on his tracks, rolled his eyes and turned back to Soarin.

"Your house is that way." he pointed at the separate direction.

Soarin took a deep breath and decided to take the responsibility in his own hooves. Even if everything ended up okay yesterday and it was kinda funny (in a 'when you tell that to your grandfoals' way), feelings were hurt. That was a 'no-no' in his book and he had no intention of leaving it that way. He slowly walked towards Prince and gently put a wing over his shoulder. Blue twitched only slightly, already getting used to directness of his winged friend.

"Look, I'm not gonna beat down the bush, I blew it!" he calmly said, his face adjacent to Blue.

"Too close!"

"Scared or not, it's not cool to leave your best friends, especially since we promised to never do that!"

"I'm not mad anymore!"

"Even if it was just a misunderstanding. I promise you, that next time a mud monster appears before us, we'll stand by your side like we did back then in Everfree!"

"Go away!"

"Mud monsters sound kinda weird, but we met a giant, pony eating cabbage once, so I wouldn't be surprised if they really existed!"

"You're not even listening anymore, are you?"

"So from now on, I promise to always be there when you'll need me, just say a word and Soarin will appear... well, I'll try to, at least." as Soarin kept on talking, Prince Blueblood contemplated testing out some spells he recently learned. He wondered if 'Apples to Oranges' spell worked on ponies and if there was a counterspell. Was it worth a try? Decisions.
"You have my word, I'll be the..."

"SLIMY, SLEAZY GOOD FOR NOTHING FREELOADER SON OF A !@#$!!" screamed some other voice in the distance.

Short pause. Blueblood blinked "You don't have to go THAT far!"

On his first day in Ponyville, Soarin had little time to socialize with residents of the town. He made some friends at his short break and among them was a pegasi couple, Flitter and Cloudchaser. Their first meeting was just like any other hunt- activate 'The Charm', quick threesome, leave on good terms, never meet again and remain a pleasant memory. Fate was a weird mistress that day and he ended up venturing into the heart of Everfree Forest, saving the day (literally) and losing his job as a Wonderbolt in the process. That's where girls entered his life again, looking for a new roommate for their big house while he searched for a place to stay.
And they got along almost perfectly. There was never another threesome since then (they kept refusing, for some reason), but instead he got two new best friends that made his life even more complete.

Cloudchaser was the one he interacted with the most, as both were currently unemployed. 'Chasey' was the tomboy of the couple, whom he would've treated like any other guy, if she wasn't also a totally hot bombshell. Whenever he wasn't hanging out with other Elements of Harmony, he was usually with her, getting along perfectly. Heck, she was his number one wingpony, especially when Flitter was working night shifts and Chasey was bored out of her skull.

Flitter wasn't home as much, so he didn't know her nearly enough. She was the girly one, but with a serious attitude, that he had to watch out for on occasion. She seemed to tolerate him only on a basis of paying the rent. It was hard to blame her- before he came along, she was pretty much the only source of any income and rent was fairly high. She refused to move out, as this was a house she grew up in. On a good day, she was a wonderful, cheerful mare, a joy to be around. On a bad day...

"LEMME AT HIM!" shouted Flitter, as she tried to crawl in Soarin's direction. The only thing that stopped her, was her fillyfriend, holding her by the waist and trying to pin her down to earth, but ultimately fighting a losing battle.

"Flitty, please calm down!" she cried, struggling to keep her under control.

"Not until I get that son of a @#$!"

Two stallions, along with some passerby’s, focused all their attention at two mares, one visibly ready to blow up, other trying to defuse the ticking bomb, or die trying. All the confidence and cheer he was soaked in until this moment, were totally gone, as Soarin was now covered in cold sweat. And worst of all, he had no idea what he did.

"F-Flitter, what's going on?" he got away from Prince and carefully approached his roommates. It was then that Cloudchaser couldn't hold her fillyfriend anymore and fell on the ground, while Flitter charged at Soarin. The stallion yelped in panic and covered his face from the incoming strike... but nothing happened. He slowly opened his eyes to see a very close shot of his roommates face, but not in a good way he was used to. Any traces of happy, cheerful pony he grew to love last few weeks was gone, instead showing only fury and barely held inside emotions. Her hooves were trembling, as if only her strong will kept her from mutilating the stallion in front of her.

"Umm..." Soarin started, feeling more intimidated than ever in his entire life. At least Nightmare Moon had a CLEAR reason to want him dead. The uncertainty scared him the most "... what..."

"What's going on." said calmly Flitter, repeating Soarin's earlier question "What's going on?" her voice raised a few levels "WHAT'S GOING ON!?" she poked his chest with a hoof "Oh, I'll show you what's going on!" she produced an envelope and slammed into his hooves with enough power to knock him down on his back.

"W-what is this?"

"Read it!"

He gulped, opened the envelope and took out the document inside. Blueblood stood behind his back and read it with him. The giant title "Notice" on top made his heart about three times faster.
"According to Equestrian Law... paragraph this and this... UNDUE PAYMENT?!" he screamed and looked at Flitter.

"Read the rest." she ordered, patiently waiting with crossed hooves.

Soarin got back to the document and read further. All of it was just bureaucratic jargon that he barely made a sense of, but two more things were clear. The amount was exactly the same as his share of the rent and there was one dreadful word that made his heart stop.
"If the aforementioned amount won't be paid in fourteen days upon receiving this document" he blinked, then read it again, not believing his eyes "...e-e... EXPULSION!?"

"THAT'S what's going on!" confirmed Flitter.

"B-but... but I paid you just a week ago! I gave you a check myself!" he turned to his other, calmer roommate "Cloudchaser, you were there!"

"Yes, about that..." Flitter took a deep breath and coughed "When I got this in today’s mail, I thought it was some misunderstanding. So I went to the town hall first, bugged a bunch of ponies about it and yes, it turns out that your check was worth less than paper it was printed on!"

"W-wha..."

"But I didn’t stop there!" Flitter continued, raising her voice even higher "Oh no! I went to the bank to confirm it and lo and behold, yes, your account was empty! Nothing! Not a single, frickin' bit!" she walked closer to Soarin, who still sat where he was, terrified for his life. Cloudchaser didn't leave her fillyfriend's side, ready to grab her at any time.
"But I didn't take their word on it, I had them double, then triple, then quadruple check for any mistakes. Maybe somepony along the line made an error, messed a comma or two, lost a document, spilled coffee on something or whatever, but guess what? NOTHING!"

Soarin breathed heavily and tried to register what he was just told. And now that he carefully thought about it, it was starting to make sense. He was fired in the middle of the work month, which meant that his pay was cut. He had a lot of savings on his account prior to this, but last few weeks he wasn't exactly saving up. Bars, drinks, motel rooms, restaurants- all of it has slowly but surely drained all his money. He was having so much fun, that the thought of bankruptcy or finding a new job never even crossed his mind.

"I don't care who you are and what you do," Flitter continued "but we had an agreement and THIS..." she pointed at the document "this is you breaking it! THIS is me losing a home I lived in for my entire life! What do you have to say for yourself?"

He had nothing. For once, he couldn't gather a single word that could fix the situation. The look on Flitters face was not only that of an anger, but worse- fear. He was well aware of their financial situation and how hard it was to pay for her home and livelihood of not just herself, but also Cloudchaser, who couldn't find any permanent work and only occasionally brought any bits from odd jobs and seasonal part time jobs, none of which was too common in Ponyville to begin with. He was supposed to be their last hope and he blew it in worst, laziest possible way. A single sorry not only wouldn't help, but would probably make her feel even worse. There was nothing he could do.

"Here you go."

A small object, covered in a familiar, blue aura, levitated in between Soarin and Flitter, successfully breaking their eye contact. It was a small piece of paper, a check with royal seal on it.
"This should cover it," announced Prince Blueblood, as he walked to Flitter's side "but a small pocket money for royalty such as Princess own nephew.."

Soarin opened his mouth, but took a few seconds to speak.
"B-blue, I can't accept this money!"

"Which is why I'm giving it to her, not you!"

Flitter gasped and was extended her wing to grab it, but stopped herself in the middle and turned to Prince suspiciously.
"What's the catch?"

"The catch is that he," Blue pointed at dumbfounded Soarin "will have to pay me back the full amount whenever I say so."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

Flitter turned back to the check and gazed at it for a moment. Finally, she sighed  and reached her wing for it.
"You're lucky I'm too desperate to refuse," she grabbed it and turned, slowly walking away from the group. She stopped for a moment and took one last peek at Soarin "If this happens again, you'd better be miles away from Ponyville!" then she extended her wings and flew away.

Cloudchaser looked at her fillyfriend and was about to follow, but before that, she slowly walked to Soarin.
"Soarin, I'm... I'm sorry for her," she scratched her head, unsure of what to say "she didn't mean it. She's just stressed out."

"No, she's right," he replied, but couldn't look her in the eyes "I messed up and it's only my fault. She has all the rights to be mad."

Whenever Soarin mentioned how awesome his roommates are, this is what he meant. She was a few hooves away from becoming homeless thanks to him, yet still managed to show so much empathy.
"It won't happen again, I promise," he wiped his tears and stood up, smiling weakly. Though this still wasn't a regular Soarin from ten minutes ago, it was a start. Cloudchaser shared a weak smile with him.

"Okay, if you say so. I'll better go talk to Flitter and calm her down a little. I know it might sound a little harsh, but..." she scratched her head and averted her eyes "...could you spend this night away from home? You know..."

"Yeah, sure." he nodded, sighing. Considering what just happened, it was a good call to avoid Flitter for the time being, just in case.

Cloudchaser nodded back and walked away. As she passed Prince Blueblood, she muttered a quiet 'thank you', to which Prince nodded, then she flew away. As soon as she was gone, Soarin walked towards Blueblood.
"Blue..." he started, looking at him with teary eyes.

"Don't mention it," Prince hoofwaved  "after all, I wasn't kidding when I said that I would join your club. And as you keep on saying, we hunters gotta stick toget--" he didn't finish the sentence, because he was interrupted by Soarin suddenly hugging him with enough force to make him step back. As often as his clingy pegasi friend did it and as annoying as he could be, this time, for once, he couldn't force himself to be bothered.
"You're welcome."