TWO WEEKS LATER
Leaves crunched underfoot as I crept through the forest. My silver blade felt heavy in my hand, my armor clinking gently with every raindrop that met the chainmail. My mutant eyes could see perfectly in the dark and gloom of the forest; hell, they were made to. My ears pick up movement in the far distance. My stance lowers, and I press forward with a thicker veil of silence. Movement, again; to my left, extremely close. My oiled blade catches a gleam of white on it's shining steel, and I stop.
With that, I suddenly blast outward with a weak telekinetic blast from the palm of my hand. My sign catches my prey off-guard, throwing it back and causing it to land in a pile of leaves. With lightning speed, I sheathe my blade and leap forward with an airless grace, rolling hard and collapsing onto my stomach, my gloved hands launching into the leaf pile and groping for my victim. My fingers meet with its soft, white ears, and I tighten my grip, pulling my prey from the leaf pile.
"Still up to your old fuckery, I see, you little bastard."
Angel Bunny just crossed his little rabbit arms and glared at me. An unblinking gaze right back into his beady little eyes made him go slack. Whether from fear, submission, or both, there was no denying it- no creature could resist a Witcher's gaze.
--
Angel Bunny squeaked and attempted to make any noise louder than a high-pitched chitter, but my cage was made of sturdy steel. Pony metalsmiths have a bit of talent, they do. Angel panicked and bounced around in his little prison, so high above the ground, making just enough noise for my purposes. In truth, I could have attracted my target with an entirely different approach- my shouts are loud as all hell, after all- but after the stunt Angel pulled just because Fluttershy wouldn't give him any attention warranted a bit of terrorizing on my part.
The weight in my hand felt natural after so many months, sitting in this position over dozens of hunts. A small glass bottle, filled with good old sulfur juice from vents across the badlands. Not the most flashy of bombs, but a Witcher is built to adapt, and adapt I did.
Finally, after an eternity's wait in the shadow of the brush, my target came into view. A black shadow of a body, seeming to melt up from the ground into a round, bulbous head. Two tentacles flanked it's sides, flailing loosely as the beast oozed so gracefully, yet wrongly, through the underbrush. The only distinguishable features on the shadow's head was a flower of seven small tendrils, each topped with a green, luminescent eye. The eye stalks seemed to narrow as they got closer to the caged rabbit, the heart of the lapine within seeming to beat out of it's chest.
Smash.
The shadow beast reared back, it's tentacles flailing blindly in every direction. With only a flick of my wrist, I had sent a glass of sulfuric acid sailing through the air, and crashing squarely into it's face. The eyes were so close together at the time that they all suffered the brunt of the glass, and the liquid within had already begun to damage and eat away at them, blinding the creatures. The thin stalks rotted to nothing, it's only distinguishing feature falling away, as I, once again, drew my silver blade.
Charging across the grassy forest floor from my position in the greenery, all it took to end the life of my contracted Black Gorger was a single, heavy slash through the midsection, bisecting the beast evenly in two. It's lower half seemed to disperse into the shadows around me as the top half flailed on the ground, the last bastions of it's life ebbing away with every shadowy heartbeat. The movement stopped. The Gorger lay dead, the acid still eating through it.
I pulled a rope from my belt, and along with it, a large, rusted, steel meat hook. With a secure knot of the rope around the hook, I cruelly sunk the sharpened steel through the head of the Gorger. I looped the rope around my wrist, and gave it a quick shoulder heft, to test the weight and attachment of my hook. Ensured that it wouldn't disengage from my contract, I drew the machete off my side and gave the rope above Angel's cage a solid wack, severing it. The bunny shrieked, falling to the ground- but I caught it with my roped hand, right around the handle atop the cage.
"Remember, rodent," I started, deeply, my voice no more a whisper than it was a low, deep tone, "My job ain't pet rescue. The next time I have to do this, you'll be sitting cozy over a spit roast."
--
Fluttershy was still resting from earlier this morning, and as such, I didn't bother waking her up to tell her that her contract has been fulfilled. Nor did I release Angel from his cage. Thankfully enough, my words earlier seemed to put the fear of truth into him. Hard to distrust the word of a stone cold killer who's eyes flinch not. Leaving the cage on Fluttershy's couch, I left in sullen silence, collecting my Gorger's remaining half from the tree limb I hung it from, flies clinging to the corpse immediately buzzing away with my arrival.
I dragged the body to the town hall. Some ponies that recognized me waved, happily, to which I responded with a nod. Others gasped and seemed revolted by my charge. There was no surprise, there- ponies knew well of death, of pain, of blood, but their inherent innocence always made them forget about it. Every time they saw death was the first, for them. It was why I loved this world, and was so willing to take it back. My old world was grey and dead and hateful. This world wasn't quite dead, yet, and hate could never exist with so much love in the air, even in the black. The ponies kept it that way.
The mayor of the town kept everything in order, with the help of Zecora and the Elements. She was a good leader. She stood at her podium, at the top of a stage in front of the town hall. Mayor Mare looked almost asleep, her head in her hooves, eyes flickering between this waking nightmare and restful dreams. As she idly scanned over the town in front of her, her cobalt eyes finally fell upon me. She had no reaction at first, merely blinking. Then, she pulled herself up, eyes still blinking, to see if she wasn't hallucinating. In a snap, she was awake.
"Champion! So, the rumors are true!"
"Aye, Mayor. There's a long story to be told; but that can wait for later. I've got a lot of work to catch up on."
"Indeed, you do. That old bounty board has only been adding up... So, what've you got, there?"
With a heave, I wrenched the Gorger's carcass forward, its shadowy body flapping about and causing dust to fly up. The Mayor took a step back, a light shriek of fear emitting from her, before settling to look closer. Indeed, it would be difficult to recognize the body, with it's mutilation. Gorgers were just solid shadow and glowing eyes; no eyes meant it was just a big black sack of goop. The mayor looked over the carcass for several seconds, before it clicked.
"Oh! It's one of those Gastronomists!"
"Gastro-whatnow?"
"Gastronomist. Princess Twilight found these beasts in a bestiary in her library. They've been around since the reign of Discord; so few of them exist. Pure shadow, manifest only to eat and hunt. You know them as Black Gorgers, of course, because you were the first one to rediscover the beasts and live to tell the tale!"
"I see. Well, I answered the bounty on this one."
"Quite a hefty lot of bits for this one-"
"Keep your coin, Mayor. I don't want the money. All I want is for you to get some hefty stallions, find a flagpole, and hang this fucker up for me, wouldya please?"
"Excuse me?"
"All I want is for ponies to know that the Champion really, truly, without-a-doubt, has returned. They'll trust my actions more than your words. So hang this body up on a nice, big pole, for everything within range to see it, and to take heed."
"Take heed of what, exactly?" The mare quizzed, almost concerned.
"Take heed of the threat within. Take heed of the defender of this village. To take heed of the silver blade aiming for the dotted line along their necks."
With that, I undid my trophy hook from the beast's carcass, shaking loose the shadowy gore. Nary another word, I was off in the direction of the forest, once more. There was a lot to do.
--
The pistol on my thigh was beginning to feel heavy. This target was much slipperier than the others. Shadowy, moving with an impossible silence, leaving no true physical trace. Even my senses couldn't track it. The only thing that defined it's movement was the slowly dying flowers in it's wake. Never fought one of these before, but the old cryptozoology book Twilight lent me many moons ago described a creature such as this. It had very little in the way of available information, for the name was the only sure thing about it.
"Whisper."
It had to be a ghost. I've rarely had to bring out my other weapons. The beasts that assailed this land, almost all of them could be felled with mundane steel; but there's a certain aspect to silver that causes beasts of the supernatural to lose all of their resilience. They lose their armor, their stamina. They turn into literal butter against the might of a Witcher's silver blade; especially a blade as powerful as Aerondight. This beast, however, was special. Something told me that silver itself lacked the proper kick to end it's ghastly existence.
My medallion began to pull on its chain. There was a light flapping of wings, and I let myself at ease, sheathing Aerondight in it's cozy, leather sheathe on my back. With a smile, I turned to regard the purple alicorn princess, Twilight Sparkle. She landed with a huff, and walked towards me with her wings spread proudly before she tucked them in and smiled back. "Good afternoon, Sifty."
"'Afternoon, Twi. Something you need? I'm in the middle of tracking something."
"I know. I was watching you from above. You seem to be having trouble, so I figured I would come to help."
"All assistance is appreciated, but I can tell that's not the only reason. No pony has the stones to follow me just out of curiosity; not even you. Spill the beans, girly."
"...I admit that I missed adventuring at your side. Among other things."
"Thought so. Well, girly, if you wanna help, show me how. Watching plants bite the brown dust isn't the best way to track my target."
With that, I grinned at the alicorn. Drawing my silver blade once again, I tussled the Princess' mane with my free hand, and pointed ahead with an open palm. "Lead the way."
She and I walked forward in what began as a sullen silence. The girl kept eyeing my blade, occasionally shooting looks to the other weapons I carried. I knew that she recognized the small, black, one-handed crossbow that sat on my lower back, attached to the sheathing of my chainsword; she helped me find and assemble the bloody thing, after all. But I'm sure the chainsword itself, along with my pistol, astounded her. Ponies had some tech, sure, but not tech like this.
"That blade..." She began, her horn glowing with an intriguing spark, "I sense a lot of magic within it. More than any other piece of equipment you've ever pulled in from your adventures, Sifty. What is it?"
I smiled, a bit too proudly, I admit. I span Aerondight in a few heavy, reaping circles around me, causing the pony to step to the side a bit, fearful of getting sliced by my dextrous blade mastery. With a solid grip, I stopped the blade upright just in time to catch a rare beam of sunlight, which lit up the shining silver of my sword in such a way that the whole blade looked to be made of pure sunlight, for the briefest of moments.
"This is Aerondight, the Sword of Destiny. Light, sharp as a razor, fits the hand neatly. It gets it's name from the legend surrounding it; it is said that the blade has an agenda all its own, and whatever that hidden destiny is, only time will tell. This beauty is exceptionally effective against almost anything ghastly. As for where I got it, well... That's a bit of a story all it's own."
"You have a lot of tales."
"Tell you what, Twilight..." I purred, "How about we head home for now, yeah? Take ourselves a little bit of a break. I've been up and about since Fluttershy pulled me out of the forest. I think I need the chance to let my brain cool down from all the violence."
She looked at me, warmly. There was a sparkle in her eyes, a look of good will, almost as if she was hoping that I would respond to her presence this way. It was true, however; as badly as I wanted to get my job done, I was still capable of burning out. Couldn't track something this reticent on a blurry mind. A growl from down low made Twilight's ears wiggle and twitch, and she giggled; as did I. The important parts of my duty were done. The bounties were little more than cleanup duty. The lives that needed saving have been saved.
Besides, I still had priorities. After lunch and some meditation, it would be good to pay Rarity a visit, clear out the mannequins in her boutique. Girl needed to make money, somehow. Before anything else, however, I felt I needed to ask a question.
"Princess..." I began, my voice deep, almost a growl with its solemnity.
"Sifty? You know you can just call me Twi..."
"Listen. Answer me this; have you ever seen a living being die?"
"No, Sifty, I... I can't say I have. I know about the Nightmares, what they want. I know about everything else that poses a danger to us, but... Well, the only death I've ever honestly seen has always been the results of your protection."
"Good. I want to keep it that way." I breathed, relieved. "You and your friends- no, you and everything in this world, you all hold a sense of... innocence. A sense of right. A brightness that can't be tainted by any sort of shadow. But death, it can change that. It can alter the mind. I don't want that happening to you girls. Hell, after the way I've been thinking for the last day or so, I can't imagine what brought me so low to want to leave that innocence. To want to leave everything you ponies gave me."
"Almir..."
"We- We don't use that name, Twilight. Listen, just... if you and I find ourselves in a scuffle, I want you to promise to do something for me. I'm gonna make sure everypony, every one of your friends- our friends- makes this promise to me."
"Anything."
"You close your eyes and tuck in your ears. Whatever happens, whatever you see, I want you to hustle down and shield yourself, and don't you dare look into the fire. Promise me. Promise me that you will only EVER let me see the horrors that come with battle. That you'll only ever let me bear the burden of a life claimed. You're a strong girl, Twilight. You've always been a strong girl. But there are things that you just shouldn't ever, ever see. Promise me you won't look."
"I won't look, Sifty. I promise."
"Good. Now, let's head home, you and I."
"Whose home?"
Shit, that's right. In all this time I've been working, I've forgotten to go and check on my own house. If I remember correctly, the time loop Celestia placed on my humble abode while I was away would dissipate when my presence re-entered this plane of existence. The feel of my bed, the scent of my home... it gave me a sense of nostalgia, and that sense of longing returned. With my blank expression of thought melting away into a nostalgic grin, I looked Twilight in her gentle, violet eyes.
"Mine."
There it was. My home; my fortress. So many additions to my parent's old house had turned it from a regular one-story abode into what could technically be considered a modern military base. Sandbag walls, all ten feet wide and four feet tall, formed small amounts of cover every fifty feet, serving as the first padding to my defenses.
A chain-link fence, nearly twelve feet high, ran around the length of my property, topped with barbed, rusted twists of the chains and coiled razor wire. A rolling gate, locked by a dozen chains and padlocks, gave entry to about one-hundred feet of free space between defenses, overgrown with grass and weeds. A small trail of dirt, hardly five feet wide, ran the middle of this space, still noticeable through the overgrowth. With a brief tap of my equipment, I snatched up my old keyring, and began to undo the locks on the gate. Twilight didn't wait for me, merely flying over the barbs and onto the other side.
After I finished unlocking, the old, rusted gate squealed as I pulled it open, the loose chains clattering to the dust. Twilight walked slightly in front of me over the distance and passed the next defense, which sat in the middle of the space between the fence and the iron gates. Here, I had walls of punji stakes, matching the distances of the sandbags accordingly. Behind the punji stakes, another fifty feet or so, was a ten foot tall iron fence, the tops of each cast-iron bar topped with a cutie mark. Twilight's star, Fluttershy's butterfly, Applejack's apple, and so on down the line, forming another line of defense around my perimeter.
The gate had but a simple lock, so Twilight didn't simply buzz over the fence. As the lock fell free, the gate pulled to the side on a pair of rusty wheels, similar to the first fence, and lead onto the final stretch of space to my house, about fifty feet. There was a small street running the space around my house; a cobblestone road I put down with the help of the cowgirl pony friend of mine. Every thirty feet was a magically powered lamp, providing solid illumination in the twilight hours. The road all culminated into one concrete path, from my house, through the gates, and out the first line of defense.
Going up the bush-lined driveway to my humble abode, I stopped and stared at my old home. The garage door was unmarked, a cool beige across it, fitting well with the accented bricks of the home, which was primarily weight with a blackened roof. The home was flanked on the sides by a wooden picket fence, six feet high- redundant, at this point, but it was one of the few things I did with my father when I was young, so I felt no desire to remove it. Spinning my keys with a finger in the keyring, I caught them on the front door lock.
Twilight waited patiently as I stepped into my home for the first time in so long. The scent hit me immediately. Cucumber-melon. A mix I made myself with ingredients from my garden. A sweet, tangy scent that filled the entire house, a scent that I loved. I felt relaxed for the first time in ages; even moreso than when I was cleaning up my little Fluttershy. In that instant, I just felt... tired. So tired. Of everything. My gear felt incredibly heavy on my back, and I fell to my knees.
Twilight let out a low gasp from behind me, and quickly met my side. "Sifty! Are you okay?"
With no reply, I merely reached over and snatched the pony up in a colossal hug. She didn't resist, merely returning the gesture. "Yeah, pony. I'm okay. Just... glad to be back."
An idle hand undid the clips and belts on my equipment, and my weapons and armor pieces tumbled to the floor while Twilight and I embraced. Softy, gently, I leaned down and fell to the floor, still clutching Twilight. "Twi... you don't mind if I catch a quick nap with you, do I? I'm tired."
"Sifty, I would like that more than anything." Twilight gently cooed, with a smile. She nestled her face into my chest, laying atop me, and for once in a great while, I drifted off into a gentle, unwounded, desirable slumber.