To Fear A Predator

by Evowizard25

Taken

Cato wasn’t one to let suspicion and doubt get the best of him. His master had taught him well enough to not let those sorts of things get the better of him. He was to remain calm in any and all situations. He was a future Inquisitor in the making after all. Nothing but the best was to be expected of him. He was to make her proud. Yet, as he moved through the forest, he kept getting the nagging feeling he should get out. To run away. He pushed those thoughts down. He wasn’t a coward. He would meet up with his master and settle this matter. He would show her that he was a real Inquisitor.

It was a serious situation, which was something he wouldn’t take lightly. Well if it wasn’t for a certain kitsune. He sighed as he watched the little fox sapient hum a spy tune as he sneaked about. Sometimes he would basically disappear as he let his illusions confuse the forest around him, including Cato himself. “Hikaru, can you take this a bit more seriously please?”

“I am taking this super seriously,” Hikaru spoke up as he grinned. The kitsune appeared on Cato’s head, looking down into his eyes. “I have to be at top form if I want to beat the bad guys. That’s what the comics Miss Pizzelle has says.”

“She reads comics?” Cato was unsure if mothers or rather female parental figures actually read those things. Trixie never did, but she did keep those romance novels of hers that Dot always teased her about.

Hikaru nodded, “A few, but most of them are really old and some of them are just boring.” He stuck out his tongue to show how he felt about them before jumping off his head. “Still, I had to read up on what it means to be a hero like Miss Pizzelle.”

“You can just call her mom, you know.”

“You first,” Hikaru gave him a challenging stare, causing him to huff. The duo did really care about their parents but they still weren’t sure if it was the right time for that stuff.

“So…” Cato started to say after a moment of silence. “What did the superheroes in those comics do?”

Hikaru stared at him for a few seconds, “Don’t you read comics?”

Cato shook his head, “Master doesn’t think they are worthy of my time. She always wants me to get smarter, go to college, and become an Inquisitor like her.”

“College?”

Cato shrugged, “She said it’s what she did and Celestia’s School for the Gifted is the perfect place to do it. They have different portions of the school for ages. So Master is going to teach me how to do magic until I get old enough then send me there.”

“Sounds like she has everything planned out for you,” Hikaru noted. “What about you? What do you want?”

Cato opened his mouth and then closed it. He scratched the back of his head, “I guess what Master wants. I want her to be happy and she always knows what’s best for me.”

“That sounds boring,” Hikaru said. “You should do what you want. I’m sure she’d be happy anyways.”

Cato frowned, unsure about what he was saying was true. He never really stopped to think about that sort of stuff. He just did whatever his Master told him to do. She was always right after all… Yet he knew she was wrong about his abilities. She would show her how great he was.

“You should listen to the fox,” a wicked voice cackled in the forest, prompting Cato to pull out his pistols. “It’s going to take more then that, boy. Still, you’ve got guts coming here. I think I’ll take you alive instead of kill you.”

“Just try it,” Cato scowled as he readied himself for combat. He really hadn’t much experience in real combat situations but his Master had taught him well enough. He turned towards Hikaru and nodded. Hikaru stared at him for a moment in confusion before he smiled.

“Well if you children wish to fight me,” a small distance away, a unicorn teleported to face them. “I might as well show my face since you won’t be walking away from here.”

Cato’s eyes widened,” YOU!” It was none other then Pokey Pierce, except he was wearing the shroud of a chaos sorcerer.

Pokey laughed, “Yep, it’s me. I’ve been playing your dear old mare this whole time. Oh I can’t wait to see her face when she sees me for what I really am. I was planning on using her some more, but this is fine too. Bringing in her son will be an added bonus to watch that smug bitch fall to pieces.”

“You won’t be taking me anywhere,” Cato aimed his pistols at his opponent.

“Yeah,” Hikaru spoke up. “We’re going to take you down.”

“Such bravado for ones your age,” Pokey smirked. “It’s almost a shame to kill you, but alas, we need more sacrifices.” With that said, he formed a spear with his magic and fired it. The two children dodged and right to their right. He smirked as he formed two more spears and the children narrowly dodged them as well. “I don’t have all day now, kiddies. Just come with me and I promise it won’t hurt.”

“You’re an idiot if you think that’s going to work,” Cato called out.

Pokey narrowed his eyes and threw a magic spear towards the sound of the voice. He cracked a smile when he saw the boy running to escape his wrath. He would take the boy alive, but just barely. So he threw more spears, tearing apart several trees. “Stop now boy and-” His eyes widened when one of his spears actually hit the boy… and went right through him as if he wasn’t there. ‘An illusion? That blasted fox tricked me!’ His ears perked up and he turned his head. This was lucky for him since a gunshot rang out into the air. The bullet that would have taken his life now simply took his ear. Pokey yelled in pain as he clutched where his ear used to be. He could feel the small bit of holy magic which made the pain worse.

Pokey teleported a small distance forward to avoid another gunshot, “You little brat! You will pay for this!” With that said, several magical spears formed around him and shot out into the forest. He heard the small gasps from one direction and turned towards it, advancing quickly enough to finally spot them.

The boy fired twice more. Pokey used his spears to block any bullets fired his way as he shot out more at the boy. That’s how it went for the next moment. Cato needed a way around the chaos magi’s spears. Thankfully Hikaru’s illusions threw off many of his spears but he couldn’t keep this up forever.

His luck was starting to run out. One of them missed him by inches and the second he had to use a shield spell to deflect. That’s when Pokey noticed where he truly was besides the illusions. He grinned and fired several spears. Cato had to stop and summon a strong shield spell, gritting his teeth as they impacted.

“Can’t run now!” Pokey cackled before he heard a light growl and then pain in his leg. He yelped and looked back to see that Hikaru had bitten into his leg. He raised his leg and tried to shake off the small kitsune. “Get off!”

Cato knew that this was his chance. Without sparing another moment, he raised his guns and fired. He was thankful that the bullets were magical in quality and that these guns were easy to load with their six shots. His old ones were only one shots. He’d have to apologize for taking these ones instead without his Master’s permission. Unfortunately, only one of the shots hit their mark.

Pokey cried out as a bullet his leg before he teleported off to Cato’s side. Using his magic to rip Hikaru off, taking some of his own flesh with him, he threw the kitsune right dab into Cato. The toy boys rolled on the ground for a moment before stopping. Cato just had enough time to throw up another shield before the strong blast from Pokey’s magic burst through it and hit the two boys. They cried out in pain and went still.

Cato fought for a moment before the darkness encroached onto his vision. ‘I’m sorry, Master. I’ve failed you.’ With that, his eyes closed.

Pokey huffed and limped forwards. He was able to find out they were alive, just a bit bruised and knocked out. “I will make your sacrifice extremely painful, mark my words.”

______________________________________________________________________

Trixie huffed as she trudged along, keeping up with Blueberry Frost and the other soldiers. A part of her still contemplated executing Blueberry but she still knew that was wrong. That was especially so when she needed as many bodies between her and the enemy as she could get. So she knew she had to bear it and deal with insubordinate soldiers. Of course she’d probably put in some recommendations for assignments for the soldier. Probably on the southern griffon border for instance.

“We shouldn’t be far from our destination,” Captain Blueberry Frost called out to the troops. “Given another hour, we’ll be safe within the confines of Ponyville.”

“Oh thank Celestia,” Trixie huffed.

“Perhaps we shouldn’t have made such a deep foray into the forest, Inquisitor.” Blueberry pointed out. “It would have made getting out all the easier.”

Trixie glared at her, “Do not question my decisions again, Captain. You forget that I am still an Inquisitor. I can make your life rather difficult easily.”

“True,” Blueberry nodded. “But as a soldier, it is my duty to make sure an Inquisitor returns safely. If that means I must disobey them, then so be it.”

“Commendable, but foolish.” Trixie said as she scanned the forest around her. It still unnerved her how easily they were taken by surprise. She made a note not to let that happen again. It was her duty as an Inquisitor to do the best she could. What sort of Inquisitor would she be if she continuously let foes get the drop on her?

A purple magic spear penetrated the ground in front of Trixie. She instantly pulled out her sword, “Who dares?!! Is it you again, miserable chaos mage?”

“Yep,” the voice cackled. “This time however, you are coming with us.”

“Do you really believe I would be stupid enough to do that?” Trixie scoffed. “You’re even more stupid than I thought.” A part of herself cursed the fact that she had left Twilight Sparkle in town, but she hadn’t thought this would be of any trouble. Besides, Twilight was a troublemaker and that battle in town with Lyra had landed her in a bit of trouble so she had put her in ‘time out’. Which meant that Twilight wasn’t to leave the town till she said so. Again, Twilight was full of inconveniences.

“Oh this is the reason why,” out from the woods stepped, or in this case hobbled, officer Pokey Pierce. Except now he was wearing a chaos mage garb. “Surprised?”

Trixie’s eyes widened before she snarled, “You traitor! I should have known it was you all along.”

“You didn’t because you are an ignorant fool,” as he said that, his magic flared up and a cage floated beside him. Inside, which caused Trixie to gasp and nearly drop her sword, was none other then a young kitsune and her acolyte, Cato. They were both unconscious and bruised but still breathing. “I have your little acolyte, Trixie. If you want him to survive this day, you must come with me.”

“Inquisitor,” Blueberry spoke to her. “Listen to me. I know this might be difficult, but you know he won’t keep his bargain.”

“Quiet,” Trixie whispered, not taking her eyes off of the cage.

“Inquisitor, listen to me.” Blueberry said. “He will not keep his word. We should depart now before he throws his forces at us.”

“I said quiet!” Trixie moved her sword to point it at Blueberry. “I will not sacrifice my precious pawns.” She huffed and tried to calm herself from her rage. “Especially not one that I practically raised from birth!”

“Is he…” Blueberry’s eyes widened before she groaned. “Oh Celestia damn it. I can’t convince you to leave your son.”

“He isn’t…” Trixie snarled. “He is... “ Then she furrowed her brow, “Just listen to me, Captain. I can’t lose him. I just...”

Blueberry put a hoof on her leg, steadying her body that she didn’t know was shaking. “I understand.”

Trixie let herself calm down again and gave the soldier a nod. She then turned to glare at the chaos magi. “We will go with you as long as you do not harm him.”

“I have no intention of harming the boy that gave me so much trouble,” Pokey snorted. “You are my target, not him.”

“Trouble?” Trixie smiled as she saw the injuries on Pokey: a missing ear and a bleeding leg. “I see. Still,” she sheathed her sword. “We are in your care… for now.”

_______________________________________________________________________

Suri Polomare had watched the whole thing. She had used her naturally honed abilities as a mercenary to keep out of sight. Sometimes she had to perform assassinations or kill monsters without being seen. The chaos mage, this Pokey Pierce, was sloppy so she had no trouble getting past his goons. She scowled as she watched Pokey bring out the children and especially so when Trixie agreed to go with them.

She knew it was a stupid decision but she also knew it was the best one. While he may be sloppy, Pokey had enough forces under his command to kill the assorted ponies before him. It might take a while and hurt him in the long run, but he seemed like the type to her that wouldn’t care about casualties. Unfortunately, Suri didn’t see a way to save them without getting the children killed.

‘Damnit,’ Suri thought to herself. ‘I couldn’t do anything. Again. Why does this sort of manure always happen to me?’ She huffed as she decided to let Lightning and her master know. They needed to make a plan to save them or at least do something. She wasn’t a monster after all.

So she quickly and quietly made her way around some of his chaos forces and back to her camp. It wouldn’t take her long to get back there, but every second counted.

Author's Note:

This was a chapter I had on the back burner for way too long. This is my own mistake but college did take priority. I hope it was worth the wait and don't worry, the finale is coming soon. Probably within two or three chapters if I do everything as I plan. Until next time, take care and please leave a comment as they are greatly appreciated.

Comments

[howard035]

The real villain of the piece is revealed! Cato and the Kitsune did quite a fine job fighting for a couple of kids. Good to see Trixie will rescue them.

[Fullmetal Prime]

Least the kids put up a decent fight they should be proud of that and BOY is Pokey going to be in trouble when this is all over

[Metroid Prime]

omae wa mou shindeiru

[ghoul-of-the-background]

good fight...
And while I do hate Trixie Cato's cool

[Evowizard25]

8796428

8796541
Thanks. I did try and make it show that Cato has obviously been paying attention to many of Trixie's lessons and is rather clever on his own.

8797614
NANI?!!!

[Ri2]

Yeah, I knew Pokey was the bad guy.

[NobodieZ]

Amazing work, nice character development for Cato.