The only thing that kept the hunter's wits about him were his mutations. Though he could still feel genuine joy, his emotional capacity was so dulled that it took a very long time to anger him. This was handy, as the pink pony kept singing her song and dancing about the party, even while they traveled through the forest. In a way, the hunter saw this as an opportunity- her other two friends could recognize her voice, and it would certainly draw them faster than his own.
However, this would also draw unwanted attention. The hunter wouldn't have cared if he were back in the world he came from- he knew every beast that stalked the wilds, so it would be a true stretch to surprise him. This world, however, has its own bestiary, its own repertoire of filth and horror- if it even had that. For all he knew, he could be facing angry raping trees at any one moment, or mind-reading slug pirates, or something equally stupid.
"Hey, Al!" Came Applejack's hearty voice. "I reckon this might be a little rude, but can you tell us how you got so... weird?"
"She means your eyes, darling." Rarity quickly butt in, as if to hopefully save her friend the embarrassment of improper word placement. "Our friend Twilight has described humans to us from her books, but you don't quite match up to the description."
The hunter mulled the words over in his head, and sighed. "It's a long story. I'll tell it the next time we make camp."
"Can you at least tell us how you got so good at using those awesome swords?" Rainbow Dash suddenly piped up from her position above the party. Rarity joined in once again, "I agree. I could hardly see the reflection of the moon on your blade, considering how fast you were moving last night."
"Also, it'd be really nice to know why you carry two of them! I mean if you don't need one, I'd love to give one a few swings!" Pinkie Pie added, taking a break from her persistent song.
With a hearty chuckle, the hunter smiled. "Members of our order, we carry two swords for very good reason. Silver for monsters..." As he said so, the hunter startled the ponies by roughly pulling the steel bastard sword off of his back and holding it straight out in front of him, allowing the blade to gleam with the light. "...Steel for humans."
Before the hunter could say more, he stopped walking and quickly sheathed his sword, bringing his arm up in a fist. "Hold up, horsies. You feel that?"
"I don't feel nothin'!" Applejack replied, looking around confusedly, as Rainbow Dash landed near to her and Pinkie stopped her singing. "The pressure here is different. As if it's about to start thundering." The hunter continued, "There's no thunder, no lightning. But it's unmistakable."
Just as he said this, thunder cracked the sky, and an icy rain began to pour down. The hunter's medallion began hopping, the immense magical energy exciting the silver bauble. The hunter focused his hearing, even as the white unicorn Rarity began to complain about her hair getting wet. Bearing the mutant hearing and unparalleled senses of his order, the hunter could hear the sounds of a fearful struggle, incredibly close by.
Drawing silver, the hunter grunted to his charges, wordlessly ordering them to follow close- but not too close.
It had been roughly a full day since the young princess lost contact with most of her friends. However, she was not alone in her search for them- when she lost her companions, she had been holding eye contact with another, and whenever the event occurred that pulled everybody else away, she and her friend managed to stay together. She was sure her shy companion would have been utterly lost in this great, dark wood, if she were to have been displaced alone.
Though they were both winged, the girls were hesitant to fly. The princess had seen a great flying beast hunting the skies above. Even if the woods were teeming with all sorts of hostile wildlife, the princess was at least able to hide from them. There was no sign of the rest of their friends, but even so, they would keep trying to locate them.
The princess was a ludicrously powerful sorceress, but this place seemed to simply nullify most of her magicks. Diagnostic spells, teleportation, invisibility- it took incredible strain for her to even cast a light upon her surroundings. Even so, she was at peace. Her companion, though shy, was still comfortable around her friend of several years. She had a constant grace about her that could calm even the most terrifying beasts in her own lands.
This aspect did not extend to this great wood. There were things, here. They walked on two legs and carried heavy clubs and swords in their hands. They didn't even hesitate when it came to the girls- they attacked almost at once. Horrifying screams tore from their throats from behind rotten, dirty teeth, as they tore chunks of flesh from their own bodies. The girls only ever barely managed to get away from them.
The princess knew what they were. Humans- but these were far different than what she read about. They were not civilized folk who built machines of metal or spoke a language like her's. They were not an ancient race. They were little more than degenerative savages. Their sheer wrath seemed to have shaken her shy friend- and the girls had no chance to rest. Even if they scaled trees with their wings, the savages would bring them down with rocks and sticks. They had constantly been running, and were both at risk of being caught and killed, or worse.
As the princess and her friend rounded a tree, a savage quickly stepped out and swung hard, barely missing the ponies. Both of the girls backed up against another tree, as savages continued to appear all around them. The girls were obviously scared. The princess tried one last spell- struggling hard and building up her magic- before letting it all out in one massive, condensed blast. All she managed to do, however, was summon a thunderstorm. The effort of this action forced all of the energy from the girl, and she fell to her stomach.
The savages continued to advance, almost chuckling, at their cornered quarry. The girls clung to one another, wondering just how their life could have come to this point.
"WHAT THE SANDWICH FUCK IS THIS?" Came a loud, angry voice from beyond the tree line. This startled the girls and caught the attention of the savages, who halted their advance for a moment. The shy pony caught the sight of something catching the light of a lightning strike, advancing in the darkness.
One of the savages growled, deeply, and raised his spiked, cruel club, before letting out a ghastly, muddy roar. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY ABOUT ME, YOU LITTLE BITCH?!" Came the voice again. Suddenly, another humanoid appeared from the darkness of the treeline- for a moment the girls thought he was another savage. There were distinct differences, however- the glowing eyes, the gleaming sword, and the obvious lack of indecency. The savages, all as one, roared at this newcomer. The newcomer carefully reached behind him, sheathing the sword he carried-
Only to draw another. A savage quickly rushed him, laughing and wailing as he swung his weapon, aiming to crack the newcomer's skull in two. However, the newcomer only furthered himself from the other "humans" around him, by quickly sidestepping the attack and cleaving through the back of the madman's legs, causing him to fall over, howling in pain. The newcomer made eye contact with the little pony for the briefest of moments.
"Close your eyes."
-
The hunter swiftly finished off his attacker in brutal fashion as soon as the little pony complied to his demands. Taking stance, the hunter sniffed at the other reavers that had caught his attention. Taking a deep breath, the hunter continued screaming nonsense to goad the beastmen into attacking. "I WILL SHIT FURY ALL OVER YOU AND YOU WILL DROWN IN IT."
Three ran at once, and the hunter merely span around them. One threw himself off balance and collided with a tree. Another turned with the hunter and brought down a strike, which the hunter parried away with his sword. The staggering force of the sudden denial in attack dislocated the reaver's wrist, and the hunter exploited the weakness to brutally slice off the reaver's arm and kick him down. Barely managing to block another club aimed for the back of his head, the hunter had no time to swing his blade, and settled for smashing the pommel of his sword into the offending assailant's head.
A swift kick knocked him back, and the hunter turned to face the other three savages, including the one that had just finished making aggressive love to a tree with his skull. As the three surrounded the hunter's every angle, he grinned, and began to whirl around, blocking and parrying every attack that came his way. "FUCKING NORMIES, REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-" Howled the hunter, just as his parries became stiff and aggressive, throwing the savages back.
Lifting his sword high, he immediately finished a reaver off with a crushing blow to the skull, only to spin around and wholly decapitate another one. The last savage- crawling to his feet- began to run. The hunter focused his energy, and cast outward with his hand, sending out a telekinetic blast of energy that knocked the reaver onto his stomach. "YOU'RE FUCKIN' DEAD, KIDDO" The hunter screeched, stepping forward and lifting his blade over his shoulder.
SHINKT
"Almir? Can we come out now?"
"Aye."
Rarity's voice was like a flaming arrow in the darkness for the shy pony and her friend. Daring to open her eyes, fearing she would observe a sea of carnage and pain, she instead only found herself and her princess surrounded by the four friends they had spent their whole ordeal trying to find. The hunter- Almir, as the pony had figured his name was- leaned against a tree close by, grinding a small stone against the blade he used in the previous battle.
The shy pony exploded upward, gripping all of her friends in a colossal hug, which they were all too quick to return to the sweet girl. "Girls! You have no idea how happy I am to see you!"
"We feel the same, Fluttershy!" Came Pinkie's voice, bubbly as ever. "But, what's with Twilight? She seems spent!"
"Guessing she over-exerted herself. I can barely use my own magic in this place to just comb my mane!" Rarity replied. The shy pony- Fluttershy- looked over at the hunter. The hunter noticed her gaze- but guessing by her demeanor, if his cat eyes shifted over to acknowledge her the girl would probably explode. Instead, he kept his gaze focused on maintaining his blade. "Aye, I would guess the same, Rarity. But we can ponder that later- this storm isn't letting up, and the barometric pressure is taking a dive, so it's only going to get worse."
"Meaning...?" Rainbow Dash piped up.
"We need shelter. Quickly. Everybody's accounted for, so we can focus on surviving this place. I'll make something temporary so we can rest, but then we really have to go."
The hunter quickly assembled a waterproof and windproof survival fire. The wet conditions made his matches and lighter fail to work, however. With a sigh, the hunter simply snapped his fingers, casting a very small ball of flame from his hands and onto the dry kindling, setting alight the fuel. The ponies simply looked on in silence as the hunter worked, until he brought the fire to a roar. The four he traveled with were comfortable enough sitting near the hunter, but Fluttershy was still wary of the man who saved her life, and her princess- Twilight Sparkle- was still unconscious.
The hunter set himself down on his knees and opened up the pack at his belt, pulling out two small bottles. One was a small, glass jar filled with a lightly glowing white liquid, and the other was a corked bottle filled with a very obviously glowing cyan fluid. Before the hunter did anything, Rarity caught his attention.
"So, can all humans do magic?"
"No..." The hunter began, "I was trained specially in the use of very light magic tricks. There are six in total. My magic is not as powerful as what your sorceress friend here can apparently do, but when someone's got a sword in their free hand, they can be ludicrously effective- Not to mention that creativity is rewarding, for my spells are very versatile."
"What else can you do, other than flick fireballs out of your hands?" Rainbow Dash inquired. "Not that the fireballs aren't wickedly cool."
"Well, I can cast a shielding spell that can absorb and repel damage. There's a telekinetic blast, and a hypnosis hex that has drastically powerful and long-lasting aftereffects. I can lay down magical traps that shock the everlasting hell out of anything that gets too close, and one is more of a defense than a spell, since it lets me absorb magical damage instead of getting blasted by it."
"You said yer tricks rewarded creativity, right?" Applejack asked. "What'cha mean by that?"
The hunter pondered the inquiry for a moment, then smiled. With a quick flick of his wrist, a very light telekinetic force flipped the cowgirl pony's hat off her head, sending it flying over to the hunter, where it landed neatly upon his head. "H-hey!" the cowgirl laughed, before playfully headbutting the hunter in the shoulder. Another chuckle bounced forth from the hunter as he gently placed the hat on her head. "Ooh! Ooh! Me next! Me next!" Pinkie Pie pounced forth excitedly, trying to shake her tail- a valiant effort, considering it was soaked by the rain.
A light tap to the ground with his finger sent a small quake through the earth- and directly into the puddle the pony's face had been hovering over, splashing her even further. With a brief moment of surprise, the pony began giggling uncontrollably. The hunter noticed that Fluttershy was beginning to smile, ever so slightly. Looking over, he noticed a few overlarge fireflies buzzing about the forest, and he stared at them for the briefest moment before making a few gestures with his fingers. A slight flash of white light appeared from the hunter's hand, and his eyes seemed to glow all the brighter for the shortest second.
The ponies wondered what it was the hunter had done, until they noticed the fireflies- all flying in unison, and all carrying what seemed to be a flower crown. They lightly set the crown atop Fluttershy's head, and she squeaked in response, before looking up at the brilliantly glowing insects. A large, genuine smile edged across the pony's features as an idle hoof touched her flower crown. She cast a glance at the hunter, who had finally chosen to meet the pony's eyes- he detected no fear.
"Alright, come on, let's get moving."
The ponies stood and stretched, a couple of them shaking themselves free of the rainwater. The hunter quickly downed the two bottles he had brought out earlier- the white potion seemed to create a sense of hyperalertness, and the other made the hunter's glowing, amber eyes emit an even fiercer glow. The hunter was now fully in tune with the forest around him; he could hear much farther, and see in almost pitch blackness. Hoisting the unconscious princess over his shoulder, he scanned around, until his sights set on a mountain in the distance, unseen in the forest storm.
"There. About a quarter mile northeast. I'm guessing there may be a cave there we can huddle in, perhaps make into a homebase until we can sort things out."
"R-right behind you." Fluttershy finally spoke up, standing straight-backed with her friends. Perhaps this human truly was their salvation, despite his violent tendencies.
The cover from the rain, plus the hunter's enhanced senses, kept the party from meeting any interesting new friends along the way to the mountain. Indeed, the hunter's hunch was correct- there was a cave. The mouth was about ten to twelve feet wide, and the cave itself was virtually untouched, about fifty feet in depth, and twice as wide as the mouth. There was indeed a sense of apprehension among the party as they entered, especially the hunter- in his own world, these caves were never this clean.
"Alright, you girls get in there and start getting it ready. I'll build another fire and trap the entrance, then see about getting clean water for us to drink. Then, comes the matter of food..."
"Awh, man, you just had to say that..." Rainbow said, her stomach growling. This was met by the same result from the rest of her friends- even the unconscious Twilight. "Shouldn't be a problem. This forest is vast. We have to mark this cave, and out foraging grounds, when the time comes. For now, just get set up."
"I'll handle the fires, Almir." Rarity replied, with a regal bow of her head. "You have done enough for us in that regard. Just do whatever else you must- we can take it from here. Believe us."
The hunter nodded. At the cave's mouth, he began to carve small hourglass figures into the dirt and stones. As each hourglass was finished, it glowed an ethereal, violet color, and sparked slightly with static. As the hunter laid the traps along the mouth, he noticed a tiny trickle of rainwater moving along the rocks and into the mouth of the cave, where it gathered in a small puddle. The water was cool, and as the rocks were covered in fresh, green algae, it was filtered, as well.
That would solve the water problem. Now came the bedding. He began to voice a question with his companions, but they seemed to have already solved that issue- Applejack had rounded together several mosses and Rarity had magically sewn them together with plant fibers, making soft, living beds for everyone. "Hot damn, you girls are productive."
In no time at all, a basic camp had been set up by the party. Huddled close, in tenuous firelight, an uneasy companionship made stable. The hunter grilled the ponies on what it was they would eat in their own world- he, himself, could survive just fine off the flesh of any beasts he could hunt. The suggestion of a carnivorous companion made the ponies- especially Fluttershy- rather uneasy, but the hunter stressed that he would only consume uncontrollable beasts such as Rarity's pursuer, and only ever out of the pony's sight.
The ponies themselves preferred a diet of hay, fruits and flowers, things that were in great abundance in this domain of the damned. Pinkie Pie then presented several mushrooms she had picked, all found within the cave walls. Before the ponies could dig in, the hunter flicked a brief gout of fire. "Hold on a second," he began, "I know of these species. These are ludicrously toxic..." With that, the hunter picked away several of the mushrooms, tossing them in the fire, leaving only enough for each pony to take only a single bite. "Sorry, Pinkie. I hope you're not upset."
"Naaah!~" The pony bubbled, "It's better to be a little hungry than to eat something dangerous!"
Smart girl.
Maybe this won't take so long after all.
The ponies all settled in together, sleeping in one big pile. The hunter was still riding off his potion high, so he didn't have the urge to settle down. Instead, he emptied his pack to clear some room, and decided to go on an early foraging trip. Checking his traps once more, the hunter set off into the darkness, his eyes shining in the black.
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