Act I: Deadlines and Deadends
“Watch out!” a quiet voice hissed. “You almost tripped me.”
“It’s not my fault! Applebloom let go of the branch, and it nearly hit me in the face!” an equally hushed and angry voice retaliated.
“Don’t y’all start blamin’ this on me. It’s Scootaloo’s fault we’re followin’ this thing in the first place.”
“Hey, I never said you guys had to tag along!”
“What else were we supposed to do; leave you chasing the monster by yourself?”
“Why’s everypony whispering?” a slow, male voice blurted out.
“Because, Snails, we’re following the monster,” was the hushed response. “Now do us all a favor and whisper before you get us caught!”
“Oops, sorry…”
One hour. One long hour of listening to their nonstop bickering. One hour of painfully slow limping through the woods. One hour of torture from my wounds. One hour of silence on my behalf.
It was alright at first; the foals were fairly silent to begin with. I hadn’t said anything or so much as acknowledged them in hopes that they would get bored and return to Ponyville on their own, but it was becoming more apparent that that wasn’t about to happen. Their conversations slowly escalated into this mayhem, starting with petty apologies, then irksome complaints, and eventually ending with this chaotic criticism. These foals were driving me insane.
“You’re just lucky the monster isn’t very good at hearing. Otherwise we’d all be done for.”
And that was the final straw.
“Alright, that’s it!” I announced as I spun around mid-stride. The foals following me were frozen in shock. “I’ll have you know, the ‘monster’ can hear perfectly fine and has had to listen to your constant complaining for a while now, and you’re starting to give the ‘monster’ some serious migraines. The ‘monster’ has a lot on his mind right now and would really appreciate some peace and quiet!”
There were five foals, all in all; each still with their saddlebags on their backs. I recognized Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle among the group, unsurprisingly, along with the two unicorn colts who chose that manticore for their report. They were speechless with that deer-in-the-headlights look still in their eyes.
I sighed. “Look, I didn’t mean to shout,” I apologized. “It’s just… I’m kind of under a lot of stress right now. I’ve got wounds to heal, plans to make, deadlines to meet. So if you guys can just… I don’t know, shoo, please?” They didn’t move. I turned back around and continued hobbling to the castle. It couldn’t be too far away now. I thought I could hear the river.
The faint sound of the foals’ hooves stayed close by. When I turned around again, my followers were standing around avoiding eye contact. This ritual began to repeat itself a few times before I finally asked the obvious. “Shouldn’t you ponies, you know, be heading back to Ponyville?”
The fillies chuckled nervously in response. “Well, funny thing ‘bout that,” Applebloom started. “We, uh, don’t actually know how to get to Ponyville from here.” The yellow filly tried to give me an innocent smile.
“Wait, what?!” the short teal unicorn shouted. He planted his hooves on Applebloom’s shoulders ands shook her. “Do you mean you girls have no idea where we are?”
“It’s not our fault,” Sweetie Belle piped up as Applebloom recovered. “We didn’t even realize everypony had left! We were too scared to leave our hiding spots.”
“And Scootaloo still wanted a drawing of the monster, so we decided to follow her,” Applebloom confessed. She shrank under a leer from the pegasus and turned to me with an innocent smile. “Well, that and we kinda thought y’all would help us get back. Zecora told everypony you were actually pretty nice for a monster,” she added. “So… would ya?” She and Scootaloo scrunched together, looked at me we pleading eyes, and sang a chorus of “Please?”
I hesitated. “Sorry, but I really can’t afford any detours. My work’s cut out for me as it is, and I’m kinda on a deadline.”
“Wait, you can’t just leave us here by ourselves!” Sweetie Belle shrieked. “We’ll be lost in this dumb forest forever!” The other foals shouted in agreement.
I held my free hand up defensively. “Hey, don’t get me wrong now. It’s not that I don’t want to help. I’m as lost as you are, and I’ve finally been given a free ticket home… kinda. The details are a little fuzzy right now, but I can’t pass up the opportunity to see my family again. They’ve probably been worried sick, thinking I’m either dead or… lost… in a forest…”
I looked at my followers again. They were just kids, with families and friends waiting for them to return home like mine.
They are just ponies, Hunter, the voice reminded. You will not have enough time to help them and save yourself. Think of your family. Think of the burden your absence has placed on them.
A heavy sigh pushed itself out of me. “But I can’t shift that burden onto five other families,” I replied, feeling defeated. “Ponies or not, that wouldn’t be right.” I shook my head as a war raged in my mind. I stole a glance at the sun, which was slowly inching closer towards the horizon.
“Alright, come on,” I waved to the foals as I limped to the river. “I’ll take you back to home, but I need to make a pitstop first.”
“Really?” Applebloom asked as she hopped to my side. “Thanks, Mister! Maybe we can help you get home, too. We can get our cutie marks in… um… Monster Helpers!”
Scootaloo appeared on the other side of me. “Monster helpers? Really? Who would want a cutie mark for something like that?”
“Well, I couldn’t think of anythin’ else!” Applebloom said defensively.
“Oh, oh!” Sweetie Belle piped up behind Applebloom. “We could get our cutie marks as navigators!”
“Yeah, or adventurers!” Scootaloo jumped excitedly, buzzing in the air for a quick second.
“Just like them fancy Darin’ Do books!” Applebloom chimed in.
The trio ran up ahead and shouted, “Cutie Mark Crusaders Adventurers, yeah!”
I couldn’t help but smile at their enthusiasm, even if I didn’t understand what they were talking about. I shuffled past them as they planned excitedly amongst themselves and forgot to pay attention to where I was walking. The bottom of my spear connected to a root sticking out of the earth, and without my stable crutch I collapsed onto the trail with a yelp. The fillies quieted quickly and watched uncomfortably as I slowly pulled myself back up.
“Um, Mister Monster?” Scootaloo asked behind me. “Why are you limping like that?”
I turned to face the foals with confused eyes. “Wait, you kids don’t know what happened?” The three fillies shook their heads innocently. The two colts, however, look as if they were about to explode.
“Oh! Oh! Snails and I saw everything!” the plump, teal unicorn squealed.
“Yeah, it was awesome!” his counterpart, Snails, slurred excitedly. “When the timberwolves attacked, Snips and I hid behind a really big tree. Miss Cheerilee started freaking out and everything and Zecora tried beating the wolves back with a stick, which was pretty cool. And then Lyra and Fluttershy came back with you, and you ran straight at the wolves!”
“Yeah!” Snips exclaimed. “Then you beat up that wolf that was bothering Zecora and went into an all-out flank-kicking on the other wolves!” He added some kung fu looking motions to help his point. “And when they tried to gang up on you, you used your cool Everfree magic to send a tree flying down and crush them. But before you could escape, another really big wolf jumped out and attacked you when you weren’t looking.” The fillies gasped in shock. Snips and Snails nodded in affirmation.
“Yep, we saw it with our very eyes,” Snails picked up. “The wolves pounced on the monster and pinned him against the tree. The big one started talking as it got closer, and—”
“I think they get the picture,” I interjected, not wanting to relive the moment. The colts were deep in their story; they seemed to forget that one of the characters was with them.
“How bad is it?” Applebloom asked. “Is there something we can do to help?”
I shook my head. “Doubt it. I’ve got something that ought to help, though.” We had finally reached the river. The bridge shouldn’t have been too far down the way. I glanced down at the large, dark stain around my right calf, and a sense of unease fell over me. I wasn’t sure if I could cross the bridge with my new handicap. “But maybe checking on it isn’t a bad idea,” I confessed. I slowly, and painfully, knelt down and pulled up my right jean sleeve.
The foals gasped. The timberwolf’s teeth definitely penetrated skin. It was a gory mixture of crimson streams and scattered scabs around bleeding holes configured in a bite mark.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Sweetie Belle mentioned before plugging her mouth with a hoof. None of the other ponies looked much better.
I cursed myself for not checking sooner and ripped off my shoe and shimmied my sock off my bleeding leg. It was riddled with holes and stretched past what I thought its limits were after weeks of constant use, but it was whole enough for what I needed. I carefully applied it to the wound and wrapped it around my calf once, tying a knot across the shin. It wasn’t a perfect bandage, but it worked where it counted. I rolled the sleeve back down carefully to not shift the new bandage and carefully stood back up.
The foals’ faces were still drained of their color, and I tried to pick up the mood. “Hey, we’re almost there. I bet you kids’ll love to see my little home away from home.” They hesitated but followed as I started hobbling along the river.
It took longer than I would have liked to reach the river. The sun had completed a little over half of its descent to the horizon. I prodded the old tree with my bad leg and tried to give it a shake. It was still as sturdy as the last time I crossed it.
“Wait, we’re not crossing the river on that, are we?” Snips asked worriedly.
“Well, yeah,” I answered, turning to the colt. “Unless you feel like swimming.”
“It doesn’t look very safe,” Sweetie Belle pointed out.
“Hey, I’ve used this bridge hundreds of times,” I exaggerated. “It’ll hold, trust me.” The foals still didn’t seem convinced. “I mean, it’s either that, or you can stay here and wait for me to come back.”
The alternative didn’t seem to settle well with them, and they quickly lined up behind me. It was tricky stepping up with my handicap, and even more difficult crossing the narrow bridge with a crutch. Applebloom and Scootaloo followed closely behind, tailed by Snails and Snips with an uncomfortable Sweetie Belle in the rear. The old tree dipped under our collective weight, and the river crashed into its underside. We were only halfway across.
I paused as a remnant of a branch obstructed my path, trying to figure out how to best move around it. Applebloom nearly ran into me, and behind her could only be described as a horrible train wreck. Heads ran into tails, and hooves scrambled to hold their ground.
One of the colts yelped, and I heard a splash.
“Snails!”
I whipped behind me to find the four foals staring anxiously in the river. I followed their eyes and found the orange unicorn being pulled away by the current, screaming for help. I swore under my breath and dove after him, dropping my crutch in the process.
The river felt as if it was made of ice. My clothes were drenched immediately, and their weight threatened to pull me down to the riverbed. The force of the current propelled me forward, and against the pained cries of my body’s wounds, I pushed myself along it.
The unicorn’s head bobbed up and under the water. Through the small, crashing waves I heard one last choked cry before his head fully submerged. It wasn’t coming back up.
I took in one last gasp of air before plunging beneath the river. My limbs were filling with burning lead. Through the murky water I could just make out a limp, orange form being tugged by the current. I reached out with numb fingers and grabbed its hoof.
My lungs were ablaze and my mind started to cloud as I pulled our collective weight to the surface. The breath of fresh air did little to rejuvenate my energy. I swam to the shore against the downward pull of Snails’ limp body in my arm and the perpendicular force of the current.
“Don’t you give out on me,” I growled through clenched teeth. My shoes brushed against submerged sand. My leg flared as I crawled back to the bank, earning a grimace from me. Snails lolled in my arms as I dragged him next to me, motionless..
I threw him ahead of me as we reached relatively dry land. He rolled once before coming to a halt, still not moving. I cursed and scrambled up to him, hastily examining his condition. His chest wasn’t rising or falling, and I didn’t have any idea how to check for a pulse. I began assuming the worst.
I rolled him onto his back with my hands on his chest and began the compressions. My mind was moving a hundred miles per hour, screaming mismatched instructions and cycling through old memories in an effort to find anything that could help. I wasn’t about to let this colt die on me after all of this, not if I had any say in it.
Still no movement. I tilted his head back and opened his jaw, but then I hesitated. I wasn’t even technically certified for this. Would it even translate to a pony? I shook my head and went back to the compressions one last time.
“So help me, Snails,” I said, punctuating each word with another press. “If I have to give you mouth to mouth, I am going to make. You. Wish. You. Drowned!”
Water spewed from the unicorn’s mouth on the following press, his eyes shooting open. He rolled himself over, coughing roughly. I leaned back on my knees, looking up to the sky, relieved and exhausted.
“Snails!” The soft stomps of four foals filled the air as the others galloped to where we rested. Snips was practically glued to his friend’s side as he slowly came back to the land of the living. The three fillies stood by making sure Snails was alright. Sweetie Belle shot me an angry look.
“I told you it wasn’t safe,” she accused, jabbing a hoof in my direction.
I nodded numbly, not fully aware of what she said, and tried to stand back up. The world seemed to shrink beneath me as I shot into the sky. I blinked as my mind settled back into its body. A dull pain blanketed me, smothering me almost. I felt like I was back in the river, an invisible current pushing me forward, but my feet were anchored in place. The earth tilted to meet me. I had just enough time to throw up my arms in front of my face before collapsing to the ground.
My body was numb. I rolled over to my stomach and closed my eyes. I could hear the foals consoling Snails, but I couldn’t find the strength to lift my head and check. I took in a few deep breaths, hoping it would help with my lightheadedness.
“Mister Monster? Are you alright?” Scootaloo’s voice asked, concerned.
I nodded my head against the gravel, wincing and regretting it slightly as the small rocks sent a small spike of pain through my otherwise unfeeling face. I gave a half-hearted thumbs up. “Jus’ gimme a minute,” I slurred. My eyes fluttered open. The sun was continuing its slow crawl to the horizon, indifferent of my situation. It was nearing the tops of the trees around us. We didn’t have long.
“Maybe we should just stay here and rest for a while,” Applebloom suggested. “You ain’t looking too good, Mister Monster."
“Don’t— Please don’t call me that,” I said tiredly. I sat up and faced the small crowd before me. “My name’s Hunter. And we don’t have time to sit around here. We need to move.” I carefully pushed myself up on my feet, not wanting a repeat of last time.
“What’s the matter?” Snips asked, catching on to the urgency in my tone.
“We’re running late on a deadline,” I explained as I struggled to stand back up. “We have a couple hours before things start getting a little tricky.” The river’s current pulled us far off course. It was slim, but if we made it back to the castle in time, there might still be a chance for us to escape before the hunt began.
“What do you mean ‘tricky’?” Sweetie Belle pressed, worry evident in her voice.
“It’s… just going to be harder moving through the forest in the dark.” It wasn’t a lie, I told myself, just an omission. I frowned; I wasn’t going to be able to move as fast as I could without my crutch. “Has anyone seen my spear?”
“You dropped it in the water when you went to save Snails,” Snips explained. I mentally slapped myself for not putting it somewhere safe.
“I’m really sorry about that,” Snails apologized.
I rested against the tree and looked back. He was tailing a little further behind the group, eyes glued to his own hooves. His bags were gone, I noticed; probably lost in the river. I sighed. “Hey, don’t worry about it,” I said. “I’m just glad you’re all safe.”
For now, at least, the voice added. You wasted precious time and energy with that stunt.
What was I supposed to do? Let him drown? I argued.
You could have pointed them towards Ponyville and carried on with our plan. I grimaced and trudged on as the voice berated me. I didn’t need this right now; I had enough on my mind as it was. These ponies are making you put yourself in danger for them. They don’t deserve your help.
At the moment, I couldn’t think of a rebuttal. I simply shook my head and trudged on. The sun had disappeared behind the thick wall of trees minutes ago. There was still plenty of light before the sunset began, but we were still moving at a snail’s pace, much to my disappointment, and some of the foals were starting to become tired.
“Come on, we’re almost there,” I said, trying to pick up the dying moral of the group. “I think you kids are really going to love this.”
A few questions started to rise from the group, but they quickly died down as the old castle walls broke from the branches and trees. Confusion turned to awe, which quickly turned to excitement.
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” Scootaloo pranced in place. “You’ve been living here this whole time?”
“You better believe it,” I smiled weakly. “How would you guys like to check it out?”
“I bet I can beat you to the castle,” Snips challenged his friend.
“You’re on!” With that, the two foals raced ahead of us.
“Hey, be careful on that bridge!” I called out to them, but they were too busy galloping across it to pay me any mind. I sighed in relief as they crossed without a problem. “Let’s hurry up before those two decide to get lost in the castle,” I said to the rest of the group.
I stayed over the bridge to help ferry the fillies over some of the larger gaps. Scootaloo and Applebloom made it across without any problems. Sweetie Belle, on the other hand, was giving me a hard time. She was nervous when I reached for her, backpedaling away from my hands. I didn’t want to push her, but this was starting to take more time than I would have liked.
“C’mon, Sweetie,” Applebloom called from the other side. “Hunter ain’t gonna bite ya.”
Sweetie Belle muttered something under her breath that I couldn’t catch, and before I realized it she took off past me, galloping across the bridge. She jumped the gaps and collapsed on the other side with her friends, who were as equally confused as I was.
The two colts were arguing at the door. Apparently they had tied, although neither was willing to admit it. I carefully skirted around the heated debate and pushed open the heavy wooden doors. They squealed loudly on their hinges, drowning out Snips and Snails and leading the way for the silence that ensued. I turned around to find the foals staring at the entrance with uncertainty, and a small hint of fear.
I tried to lighten the mood with a smile. “Where’s my hospitality? Come on in. Make yourselves at home.” My offer didn’t have much of an effect at first, but Scootaloo bravely stepped forward and entered the castle. Her friends followed soon after.
I shut the door as the last of the foals entered. The stood gawking at the first room. Some of their eyes drifted to the nonexistent ceiling and empty windows. Others were focused on the greenery that littered the area. “Sorry about the mess,” I apologized. “I wasn’t exactly expecting visitors again so soon, and it’s a little difficult to—”
“Is that where the Elements of Harmony were?” Sweetie Belle asked, pointing to the strange pedestal and sphere in the back of the room.
“Elements of… Harmony?” I hesitated. It went unnoticed however as the foals were too busy rushing up to the monument to pay me any mind.
There were plenty of “oohs” and “aahs” going around the group. They were practically drooling on it as they tried to climb up the platforms. They inspected each tiny crack and chattered excitedly amongst each other.
“Do you think this is really where they were?”
“How cool would it be if they were still here?”
“Do you think this one is where Rainbow Dash’s was?”
It was interesting how much they seemed to know about its history, even though all they did was ask questions about it. I decided to let them have their fun though. The world was starting to spin lazily again, and I needed to get to work.
“I’m going up to my room,” I called to the foals. “You kids have fun. I’ll be down in a bit.”
“Your room?” Scootaloo echoed. “Can we see it? Please?” She looked at me with hopeful eyes.
I hesitated. The sun was inching closer to the horizon by the second. We probably only had a little over an hour, if even that. Given how long the potion took to heal, the best we were looking at right now was a head start on the wolves. I wasn’t sure if we could afford any extra delays. But I couldn’t bring myself to say no to those eyes.
“Sure,” I finally said. “Just don’t mess with anything you’re not supposed to.”
The foals burst through the throne room entrance when we reached the top of the tower, eager to examine the new environment. I was lagging behind, winded from the climb and still feeling fairly dizzy. As I rested in the doorway, they scurried around the room, looking out the windows or playing between the columns. The throne was a straight shot through a minefield of children. I pushed myself off the wall and hobbled across the room.
The cushioned throne was a much needed relief. I had to refrain from melting in it as soon as I sat down. The dull throb of my wounds begged for attention. The potion rested to the right of my feet, and a bucket of water was to my left.
I shrugged off my jacket, laying it on the short armrest of the throne, and went to work. I rinsed my hands in the bucket of water, my shoulders groaning at the small effort. After giving them a quick shake, my hands pulled up my right pant sleeve, exposing the poor, makeshift bandage bound around my leg. The cloth was badly stained where it touched the wound.
I unfastened the knot and carefully removed the sock, wincing as scabbed layers of blood ripped out of place. It was looking better now than it was to begin with, although it was beginning to bleed again. I discarded the further ruined sock to the side and started taking off the other.
The foals cast a few curious glances at me every now and then as they pranced around the room. At one point, Scootaloo broke away from her friends and sat down a few yards in front of me, examining me for a few seconds. She then pulled a sketch pad and pencil out of her saddlebag and began doodling in it, throwing a few inquisitive looks at me as I worked.
I wadded up the relatively cleaner sock, dunked it into the water, and wrung out the excess. I cautiously pressed it against the wound, hissing at the pain. It had to be done sooner or later though. The potion worked wonders closing wounds, but I wanted to ensure there wouldn’t be anything enclosed in my skin after taking it. The ritual repeated itself a few times. Dunk. Wring. Press. Rinse and repeat.
Satisfied with my work, I moved to the shoulders. My shirt was torn around the area, and what was still there was stained heavily. Dried blood turned the gray cloth nearly black, and a thin trail snaked down past one of my sleeves. I winced as scabs began to pull when I tugged at my collar.
Come on, Hunter, just like a band-aid, I told myself. I took in a deep breath, counted to three, and bit back a yelp as I threw my shirt off. The blood was starting to gush out. I dabbed at the wounds with my wet sock to slow it, occasionally scrubbing the dried blood around it.
A sharp pain flared on my left shoulder as I cleaned it. My fingers danced around the wound until they fell upon something wooden. It felt as if it was digging into my skin as my fingers tapped against it. One of the timberwolves must have lost one of their teeth. I reached over and retrieved my hatchet, biting into the handle as I grabbed the tooth and pulled. It was warm and slick. I found it difficult to get a decent grip on it, but after a few tries and a muffled yelp, I was able to pry it out.
An uncomfortable silence had fallen over the room. I looked up and noticed all the foals were staring at me worriedly; some of them looking slightly nauseated. I spat the hatchet out of my mouth and flicked the tooth to the side. The sound it made as it landed seemed much louder than it should have been.
“Sorry about that,” I started. I picked up the potion bottle and popped the cork off. “Not too used to having company when I do that.” I paused as the bottle touched my lips, trying to mentally prepare myself before downing some of the drink.. I had to resist the urge to retch the moment it touched my tongue. It tasted worse than the last time I remembered taking it. I started to worry if it was possible for the potion to expire.
A low growl echoed in the room. My body tensed as I bent down to grab my hatchet. Were we being followed by the wolves this whole time? We all stared at room’s sole door, save for a rather embarrassed looking Snips.
“Sorry, I haven’t eaten since lunch,” he explained sheepishly. “I’m really hungry.” As if on cue, a small chorus of whines and grumbles sounded out of the other foals’ stomachs.
A faint smile pushed itself to my lips, and I chuckled in disbelief. “Well, you all are in luck,” I said as I threw on my jacket and strained to push myself up to my feet. My hand anchored itself on the broken throne and helped push me further back in the room where a light green saddlebag waited. My calf groaned as I knelt down to pick it up. “‘Cause for the first time in a long time,” I continued as I made my way back to the foals, “I have more food than I know what to do with.”
I collapsed into the cushion and fiddled with the bag’s flower-shaped buckle. The foals inched closer in curiosity as I revealed the leftovers from last night.
“Say, ain’t that Daisy’s bag?” Applebloom asked. I looked up and found them staring at me suspiciously.
“Hold up, it’s not what it looks like,” I started.
“You’re not stealing stuff from other ponies now, are you?” Sweetie Belle asked with a disapproving look in her eyes.
“No,” I sputtered. “It’s just—”
“Then how’d you get it?” Snips pressed.
I hesitated, not wanting to sabotage any of the friends I had just made. Getting the kids to trust me would be difficult otherwise, though. I sighed, “Look, don’t tell anyone about this, but some ponies came over and visited the other night. They brought some food and gave me the leftovers ‘cause I kinda needed it. It’s hard to come by decent food out here.”
Scootaloo tilted her head to the side. “And Daisy was one of them?”
“That’s not important,” I stressed. “This is a pretty big deal, and I’d hate for them to get in trouble over this. I’m trying to turn over a new leaf here, and they’re being really helpful. Just promise me you all will keep this a secret for now.”
They were unsure at first, but they eventually nodded. I breathed a sigh of relief, and started passing out the food. “Thank you. You guys can have as many of these daisy sandwiches as you want. I can’t eat them.”
“What’s wrong with them?” Sweetie Belle asked skeptically.
“Nothing’s wrong with them,” I shook my head. “My kind just can’t eat flowers. It’s bad for us.”
Scootaloo was scratching her pencil in her notes, balancing the end of it between her teeth with her sandwich resting in her hoof. She paused to take a bite and looked at me. “So, wait, does that mean there’s more of you?” she asked, crumbs falling out of her mouth and onto her paper.
“Oh, yeah; loads,” I chuckled. “A whole planet-full even.”
“Wait, if there’s so many of ya, how come we ain’t ever run into your kind before?” Applebloom asked.
“Probably because I come from a whole different world altogether,” I offered. It felt odd saying that; I never imagined myself saying that string of words honestly in my life. After all that had happened to me since I came here though, I had pretty well come to terms with it.
My train of thought was cut of with a loud gasp. I looked up to Snails, who stared back at me with surprised eyes. “Does that mean you’re like an alien?” he asked in awe.
I blinked, trying to process what I just heard. A small laugh found its way out of me, and it quickly grew. “You know, I never really thought of it like that,” I smiled. “But yeah, I guess I am an alien, in a way.”
“That’s so cool!” Snips and Snails exclaimed in harmony. They jumped around excitedly, asking questions that ranged wildly from homeworlds to motherships. Scootaloo was scribbling frantically in her notes, and Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and I were struggling to keep up.
“Alright, let’s slow down a bit,” I tried to calm them.
“What are you doing here?” Snips asked, carrying on the assault of questions. “Are the rest of the aliens trying to find a new homeworld?” He cut himself off with a loud gasp. “Are you planning on taking over Equestria?”
“No, no, nothing like that at all,” I shook my head in exasperation. It was getting more than a little tiresome answering these questions.
“Did your ship crash land here after an epic space battle?” Snails shot back excitedly.
“No. Well, kind of, just not that exactly.” An idea popped into my head, and a faint smile broke my face. I decided to let them have their fun and give in to their fantasy. I sat down on the throne and leaned forward.
“It all started when my family decided to… take a vacation from our homeworld,” I began, trying to weave a sci-fi spin into my own life. “We were bored with civilization, and decided it would be relaxing to spend some time in the uncharted wilds of deep space. Things were going smoothly until our ship began running out of fuel. I was chosen to leave the mothership in search of raw materials to power the engine. I came here to begin my search when I was suddenly ambushed.”
I paused to see how my audience was buying it. Snips, Snails, and Applebloom were staring at me with eyes wide and jaws agape. Sweetie Belle was watching me skeptically, and Scootaloo was writing on a fresh piece of notebook paper trying to keep up. A part of me felt bad for lying; she was probably going to take these back to tell to the rest of the class all the misinformation I was feeding her. But at least the colts were quiet for the time being.
“My ship crash landed deep in the Everfree,” I continued. “Communications were down; I had no way of sending a message back home. All I could salvage from the broken remains was a simple tool. As I left the crash sight, I was greeted by ferocious creatures of twisted vines and wood.
“They chased me through the whole forest, their teeth hot on my heels. I eventually managed to shake them and fled from the forest, only to find myself near a peculiar town. A terrible storm raged overhead, and I knew I needed to find shelter. There was an uneasy air about the town, but I pressed on hoping to find help. I rested underneath a large tree with a house built into it and thought I heard voices inside. I cautiously opened the door, only to be attacked.”
“That’s not what happened at all!” Sweetie Belle interjected. Her disgruntled look wiped the smile off my face, and I pressed my lips together. No one spoke a word.
“Alright, then...” I finally said after an unbearable pause. “Why don’t you tell me what actually happened then?”
All eyes were on her. She shrank slightly, but that defiant flare was still in her eyes. “Rarity told me everything. She said you were trying to break into the library!”
“Trying to break into the—” I echoed in disbelief. I shook my head. “You know what? Sure, in hindsight, I guess I was trying to. But I don’t think that warranted getting shot point blank with a confetti cannon.”
“They thought you were a monster,” Sweetie Belle defended.
“I thought they were monsters,” I exclaimed. “I thought I escaped the maws of a bunch of bloodthirsty animals just to stumble into nest of more bloodthirsty animals. I was lost and separated from my family and scared for my life. I heard voices and I thought there were people who could help me. If I would’ve known what would have happened, I wouldn’t have gone anywhere near that tree.”
“You didn’t have to stay,” she leered. “Why didn’t you just run away if things were so bad?”
“I was trying to run, but your friends kept trying to catch me like I was a wild animal. They were starting to wear me down; I couldn’t let them chase me forever,” I argued.
“That doesn’t mean it was okay for you to hurt my sister!” she practically screamed at me.
The cards were on the table now, and a heavy sigh found its way out of me. Her sister was one of the ponies chasing me that night. I forgot that little detail. She was the one I snapped on, too, if I was remembering correctly, and I prayed I wasn’t remembering correctly. I could only imagine what was running through her mind about me.
“Look, Sweetie Belle,” I started cautiously. “There were a lot of bad decisions last night, on both sides. We were all scared, and when people get scared, they do things they wouldn’t normally do. Your sister was worried about her friend, so she tried to save him. I was scared for my life, so I ran, and when I couldn’t run anymore, I tried to fight.” I met her green eyes. They were getting watery from the shouting and anger, but she didn’t dare let a tear drop. “I’m sorry I hurt your sister, but I’m not sorry I defended myself.”
She huffed, but otherwise didn’t say anything else and turned her attention to her sandwich. The morale of the group was plummeting, and I was at a loss thinking of how to save it. “You kids finish eating,” I resigned. “You can have more if you want, but we’ll need to be heading out soon.”
I separated from the group and hobbled to a window to check how much time we had left. The sun had just touched the horizon. If we left now, and were quick about it, we should be able to make good distance before the pack was unleashed on us. My eyes glanced at the foals, still eating next to the throne. I didn’t want to rush them, especially after that argument. I heaved a sigh and watched as our time slowly ticked away, trying to plan the trek in my head.
Hunter, you cannot be serious about this, the voice piped up.
“Should’ve figured you wouldn’t be onboard,” I said under my breath. A few low-hanging clouds clung to the horizon towards Ponyville. They looked dark, but that could’ve been thanks to the setting sun. “What do you suggest I do, then?”
Anything else, the voice exclaimed. Go to the wolves before the deadline. Fight your way home. Or stay here; hold them off. We know this fortress, Hunter. We can survive here.
“Not for long,” I pointed out. “This is a lot of ground for one man to cover. And we’ll run out of food eventually.”
The foals don’t have to stay here. More food for you.
I frowned. “You know I won’t do that.”
Think about this, Hunter, the voice pleaded, somewhat agitated. What you are planning is a suicide run, a one-way trip. There will be no coming back to the Everfree after this.
A sigh escaped me. You’re probably right, I started, breaking my eyes away from the setting sun and looking over to the foals. They were quietly talking amongst each other; some were occasionally casting a few glances at me. But my decision is final. I’m taking them back home. Even if it kills me.
That is what we are afraid of…
<><><>
The soft rain gently pelted my head. I raised my hood to shelter my eyes from the water as I carefully navigated through the dense plant life of the forest. I was running, well, walking, for my life from a hidden enemy. There was no way of knowing where they were or when they would strike, for certain. They could be behind the brush up ahead of me or be as far away as the castle. My only hope of safety was to reach the town at the end of the forest. Déjà vu.
“Couldn’t we have just stayed the night at your place?” Scootaloo complained. Behind me lagged the five foals. They were struggling to stay awake despite being on the move for an hour now. The sun had fully set a while ago, and it was quickly getting more difficult to see. I never told them the reason for our hasty departure, just that it was urgent and we needed to go as soon as possible. So far we made it past the river without any trouble and were making good time. Ponyville was probably only a half-hour away.
“No, I think it’d be best to get you all home as soon as possible,” I answered. “Don’t want people to start thinking I kidnapped you.” A twig snapped to my left. I halted, much to the displeasure of the foals following me, and listened for anything else. Nothing other than the rain and the occasional coo of the nocturnal birds could be heard. I coughed and continued forward.
“Somethin’ wrong, Mr. Hunter?” Applebloom asked with concern. I stole a quick glance at her. She was so small, so young, so innocent. I shuddered as I thought of what might happen to her if I failed. I couldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t let that happen, to any of them.
“Everything’s fine,” I lied in an attempt to reassure her. “I’m just a bit jumpy.” Some bushes up ahead rustled. I put myself in a stance and prepared for whatever creature was about to spawn before us.
A rabbit… Just a rabbit. I sighed in relief and mentally slapped myself for being so paranoid.
Do not be too harsh with yourself, Hunter, the voice said. Your paranoia and instincts have kept you alive this long. Do not let them go.
It wasn’t entirely happy with my plan, especially since I was putting my life at risk for the foals; even less so when it found out I didn’t intend on arming myself to the teeth with all that I had. I figured that carrying all of that would have slowed me down. Not to mention it probably wouldn’t have sent the right message to the ponies if I walked into town armed with spears. My hatchet bounced off my thigh as I walked with a half-limp, my only defense in case things went wrong. I prayed that I wouldn’t have to use it, but my mind was plagued with scenarios of all that could go wrong. In spite of it all, though, I was adamant to see my plan through.
“Does this have anything to do with you missin’ your deadline?” she persisted. Deadline… What an appropriate term.
“Yeah, I suppose you could say that.”
“We’re really sorry we made you miss it,” Scootaloo chimed in.
I sighed. “It’s not your fault. It’s all water under the bridge now. We’ve got bigger problems to worry about.”
“Problems?” Sweetie echoed. “What kind of problems?”
I cursed myself for letting that slip. Should I tell them? No, that would probably only complicate things. “Don’t worry. Everything should be fine, if we’re careful...” I assured, but they didn’t seem to buy it. I could hear the foals whispering nervously amongst themselves.
The closer we drew to the end of the forest, the more my fears shifted. I was no longer afraid of the timberwolves as much as I was the ponies. Would they accept me after I brought back the missing foals? Someone might have concocted some wild idea that I had kidnapped them. I wouldn’t be able to retreat if things went south during this trip. The forest was no longer a sanctuary. It had become a deathtrap.
Another twig snapped. It was probably just the wildlife again. But the panting, too? No, I must have been imagining that. I had to be imagining that. We were too close for them to have followed us this far… right?.
“Let’s pick up the pace,” I said. “We’re getting close. Just a few—”
The wind was knocked right out of my body. I was barely aware that the world had turned upside down. Through the harsh ringing in my ears I heard one of the foals cry out my name. Before I had a chance to come to my senses, sharp claws dug into my shirt and pushed me against a tree.
As my vision slowly sharpened, the blurry lines of the brown canvas before me formed twigs and vines in the snarling face of wolf. His eyes were fixed with mine, glowing with yellow, fiery ferocity. I grabbed at his foreleg in an attempt to pull myself away, but to no avail. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the foals huddled together as a trio of timberwolves encircled them.
“Coward!” the alpha wolf growled. “I promised safe return to your home world, so that you would no longer interfere with the course of events here, and you have the nerve to spit in my face and hide behind five foals?” His grimace slowly turned into a sinister smile.
“Oh, you have made a grave mistake, human.” He threw me in the middle of the path, forcing a pained gasp to escape me upon impact. One of the wolves broke away from the foals and pinned its paw on my chest, daring me to move with a snarl of wooden teeth. “I am going to ensure your end is slow and painful. A fitting end for worthless vermin like you.”
The alpha wolf slumped forward so that he was back on all fours. He prowled back to where we came from. “Do what you wish to the human, but bring him back to me alive,” he growled. “I will follow his scent and discover the hole he has been hiding in and ensure there is no trace left of him.”
The wolf above me whimpered, and the alpha wolf paused. “The foals?” he asked. He hesitated, as if he was uncertain, and then craned his head back to face us. “The human might have infected them. Bring them to the pack for cleansing.” Without another word, he stormed down the trail, leaving us with his pack.
The wolf above me opened its maw and lunged. I brought my arm up, and it clamped down on my left forearm. I yelped and braced my left arm with my right for support. It shook his head wildly, and I screamed as it ripped through my skin, sending blood splattering across my face and into my eyes, turning the world crimson and blurry. My hatchet rested on my left side, and I couldn’t reach it without losing whatever ground I was desperately holding onto.
There was a shrill shriek off to the side. The other wolves were closing in on the foals.
“Leave them alone!” I cried out to the wolves, desperately hoping they could understand me. “I didn’t do anything to them, just please let them go!” My wolf snarled and pulled back at my arm. I screamed as I struggled to keep it locked in place. It had me pinned, and all I could do was watch the foals hopelessly.
Their timberwolves rallied them in a tight circle. They were shaking like leaves. One of the wolves made to move at them, and everything fell apart. The foals screamed and scattered, leaving their captors clueless. A wolf lunged for one of the foals, and time slowed to a crawl.
It probably took less than a second, yet it seemed to stretch out for an eternity, burning every last detail into my mind like a branding iron. Wooden jaws clamped down on the runaway filly’s lower back; its teeth digging into her white coat. A shriek pierced through the screams and snarls in the air as the filly was ripped from the ground. The wolf shook its head once before tossing the dazed filly back to the cold dirt, a dull thud accompanying the impact.
The earth was shaking. Something ignited in the back of my mind, and I cried out with all I had as if it would turn back the clock. “Sweetie Belle!”
The filly was motionless, unresponsive to my cries. The world seemed to fade around her still form, behind the chaos thrashing inside my mind. I glared up to the wolf attached to my arm, and We wanted nothing more than to watch it burn.
Before I even realized it, I became a puppet; a passenger in my own body. A primal scream escaped my lips as I threw the wolf off of me and rolled on top of it. My hatchet was already in my hand and connected with the startled wolf’s head. A string tugged my hand into the air, and the wolf resisted against the bleeding arm that held it in place as the tool was wrenched out of its skull. My arm seemed to rise and fall on its own accord, over and over and over. I didn’t know what was happening, but I didn’t want to stop.
Something latched onto my back and hurled me to the side. A new mass of wood landed on top of me. My vision was tunnelling around it. Despite the dull ache in my body and the pounding of my heart in my ears, a surreal calm washed over me. A voice whispered in my mind, lulling me to sleep.
They hurt you, and through you, Us. We will not let them hurt you again. They will die and burn.
Something was wrong. My grip on reality was slipping, and I was scrambling to find something real and tangible to hold on to. One moment a wolf was on top of me; the next I was crouched before two, one with a limp; another I was grabbing at a prone wolf’s head with bloodied hands.
I was… forgetting. The intervals of nothingness were ousting those of consciousness. A cloud was forming around my mind, pressing me further into sleep. It was excited and frenzied and hungry. And it wasn’t welcome.
Another glimpse of consciousness came. I grabbed it with all I had, but something was trying to push me back. A scream broke through static of my mind, and I recognized it as my own.
The first thing to greet me back to reality was an overwhelming sense of nausea. My vision was hazy as the world spun around me. A dull pain conquered my body, which felt as though it was filled with lead. My breathing was shaky and uneven.
There was a whimpering not too far away. A wolf appeared a few yards away as the world came back into focus. Its wooden jaw was unhinged on one side, and its fur oozed golden sap. It struggled to stand on a foreleg that bent in an unspeakably disturbing angle. It scampered back a few more paces before turning and limping away with its tail between its legs.
My arms were warm. I realized I was hunched forward on my knees. I looked down and felt the blood drain from my face. My left arms was planted on top of a wooden carcass. It was numb, and dark trails of crimson leaked from the cuff of my jacket sleeve. The wolf I was over was turned to its back, and my arm disappeared into its abdomen past the elbow. It was pulsing… or something was pulsing around it; I couldn’t quite tell. I carefully retracted it, revealing my bare, sap-coated forearm. My fingers and palm were smothered in hues of crimson and yellow.
I couldn’t hold it back anymore. I doubled over and retched from the nausea and stress. I tried to recall what had happened, but my mind was drawing blanks. A dull pain was receding in the back of my head. I wanted nothing more than to just lie on the damp earth and let the sprinkling rain wash over me, but as I started to fully regain my grasp on reality, more memories started to flood in.
“Sweetie Belle!” I shouted, straightening back up on my knees. I scanned the trail but couldn’t find her, or any of the foals for that matter. Was I too late? Had more wolves come and taken them during my blackout? I struggled to pull myself back up to my feet and called again. “Sweetie? Scoots? Snails?” The earth tilted beneath me, and I stumbled to a tree for support. My heart was racing. “Applebloom? Snips? Please tell me you’re alright!”
Through the ringing in my ears, I thought I heard a response nearby. I limped towards it, away from the trail and a few yards into the brushes. My hands peeled away at the leaves until I found the foals. My relief, though, was short lived.
“Don’t you worry, Sweetie,” Applebloom said in soothing tone. “We’ll get you back to the hospital, and you’ll be fit as a fiddle in no time.”
I pushed through the small crowd and stared at the little filly in dread. Her white coat was stained red around the side of her body. Her tears mixed with the rainwater as she cried and screamed loudly. Her mane was covered in grime.
“Where is it?” I turned to Applebloom.
“The hospital?” she asked.
“It’s all the way in Ponyville,” Snips answered, never taking his eyes off of her. “But I don’t know if we’ll make it in time.” Scootaloo lied down next to Sweetie Belle, trying to calm the filly’s sobs despite being unable to hold back her own. Snails stood worriedly to the side, unsure of what to do.
I threw off my jacket, making it into a makeshift cradle, and gently moved Sweetie Belle inside of it. She wailed in protest as I tightened the sleeves around her wounds to slow the flow of blood. With great caution, I cradled her fragile body in my arms. Her head turned over, revealing the agony in her face as she buried it in my chest and cried harder.
“We aren’t giving up without trying,” I said, a small flame of determination beginning to burn inside me. “Let’s move!”
I barely gave them enough time to follow me as I thundered through the forest. My muscles ached from the exercise. I realized that more had happened to me during my blackout than I had originally thought. My left leg was set ablaze with each step I took. A small trickle of blood stained the small tears in my jeans. My right arm was bruised, and its hand almost felt numb. It ached from the weight of the small unicorn in my arms. Wooden teeth splintered out of my left forearm, pushing in deeper and deeper as I ran. I was surprised I hadn’t tripped yet from the small moments of blind running due to the pain in my head.
“It huuuurts,” Sweetie cried again. “Just make it stop!”
“Don’t you worry,” I tried to soothe her. “Everything’s going to be alright. It’ll be better before you know it. I promise.” I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep that promise, and the fear of failing to do so was more immense than I can describe.
We burst through the forest border. The storm had begun to pick up. The rain was heavier, and the wind seemed to push us back. Ponyville was in sight, just ahead.
It was at that moment I realized how half-baked my plan was. I had no idea where the hospital was, and I had accidentally left the foals behind. They were the only ones who could direct me to the hospital, unless I felt like running around blindly through the village. No, I couldn’t do that; not with Sweetie Belle’s life on the line.
A tiny voice piped up from my arms. “Hunter?”
“Yes, Sweetie?”
The little filly coughed in my chest. “I’m sorry for what I said earlier. For a monster, you seem really n-nice.”
I couldn’t hold the tears back any longer. I pulled her closer to my chest, as if through some miracle it would help her. “It’s going to be okay, Sweetie. I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.” It was getting harder to breathe with the lump in my throat. This wasn’t fair. She wasn’t supposed to be like this. I was.
“Hunter!” an urgent voice cried behind me. I tore my eyes from the filly in my arms. The other foals had finally caught up to us. “What do we do now?” Scootaloo asked quickly, despite her shortness of breath.
I stood back up, recomposed myself, and stared at the village. There were probably still some pony stragglers outside, and for all I knew the hospital could have been on the other side of the town. Even if we made it in time… When we made it in time, running through the town would be sure to cause a riot. My eyes shot down to the filly in my arms. To save her, a riot might just be worth it.
“Alright, listen up,” I announced. “I have no idea where the hospital is, but you do. I’m not sure how much time Sweetie has, so we’re going to have to be quick about this. Applebloom, Scootaloo; you girls try to find any of Sweetie Belle’s friends, family, whatever. They’ll want to know what happened. Snips, Snails,” the two colts saluted at the sound of their names, “You two are going to lead me to the hospital. You guys know your way around town better than me. Everybody clear on what to do?” The foals erupted into affirmative shouts. Sweetie Belle weakly groaned.
We immediately split up. I followed Snips and Snails with ease. They were fast, but slower than I would have liked. I wished I didn’t have to rely on them for directions. Ponies became more and more frequent as we drew closer to the village, as did their shrieks of terror. By the time we entered Ponyville, everything had fallen into chaos.
“It’s the monster!”
“Everypony run for your lives!”
“The horror! The horror!”
“What did it do to that poor filly?”
“Is that blood?!”
“It’s chasing those colts! Somepony do something!”
Snips and Snails skidded to a stop at an intersection. I nearly trampled them.
“The hospital’s that way!” Snips yelled, pointing his hoof down one of the paths.
“No, it’s the other way!” Snails retaliated, pointing his hoof in the complete opposite direction.
I stared between the two in disbelief. Were they arguing about this now of all times? How could they not be sure where the hospital was? They lived in this mad town! Maybe I should have told the others to lead me instead.
Sweetie Belle groaned again. “Make it stop,” she pleaded weakly. With no idea which colt was correct, I blindly chose one of the paths, praying it would be the right choice. As I stormed down the streets, the ponies were eager to make way for me. “Hunter, I’m getting tired,” Sweetie coughed. “Can we just rest for a bit?”
“No, don’t go to sleep!” I shouted desperately. “You are not giving up on me! You hear me?! I promised you I was going to fix this, and I’ll be damned before I break a promise!”
Up ahead I could see a large building roughly three stories tall. A red circle with a white cross marked its roof and the sign before it. It had to be the hospital. Without missing a beat, I raced to the front doors, shifting slightly so as to not jostle Sweetie too much. There was no time to enjoy the break from the downpour; I had a sickening feeling the true storm resided inside.
I flung the glass doors open and sprinted inside. My soaked shoes slipped on the slick floor, launching me forward. Sweetie Belle fell out of my hands as I stumbled, screaming in pain as she skidded to a stop before the receptionist’s front desk.
The cold tiles came up to kiss my face. Stars exploded in my eyes on impact. I was dazed, but I couldn’t let that stop me. I sluggishly reached forward to drag myself towards the wounded unicorn, but found no purchase. My wounds and fatigue were starting to take their toll. I could feel something warm and thick pooling in my mouth, and crimson splattered the once-white tiles as I spat it out.
“Somepony help!” the nurse at the front cried out. “This foal is hemorrhaging badly. She needs medical attention, now!” Three ponies rushed into the room. Two of them untangled Sweetie Belle from my jacket and rushed her off. The third stayed behind with the nurse.
My surge of energy disappeared with the crying unicorn. I pushed myself up to my hands and knees and allowed myself to breathe. Everything was sore. My eyes were still going in and out of focus. Despite all the pain, though, I smiled. I did it. I saved her. She was going to be alright.
Something punctured my shoulder, something small and thin. One might dare say needle-like. I froze in horror as it ignored my shirt and plunged into my skin. I didn’t dare move, not even when liquid fire burned in my arm around the point of contact. I silently screamed inside. When it withdrew, I turned to face it.
There stood a white pony with her pink mane done neatly in a bun. She stared at me with wild and frightful blue eyes. In her mouth rested a syringe, barely filled with a peculiar green liquid. She was shaking worse than I was.
I turned, fleeing out of the hospital and back into the raging storm. The pony injected something inside of me. I didn’t know what, but I was fearful to find out. It could have been a poison. It could have been something to paralyze me. It could have been something that would eat me from the inside out. My imagination ran rampant at all of the possibilities.
Most of the ponies had vacated the streets. I stumbled around trying to put as much distance between myself and the hospital as I could possibly manage. My body was heating up, and I was feeling light-headed. My vision was failing yet again, but this time it didn’t seem to be returning to a working state. My sense of balance was thrown off as my mind began to muddle, and I soon found myself on my hands and knees.
“Well, well, well. Look who we have here.” A light blue mass materialized in front of me. There was a soft thump like a fist hitting an open palm. “It’s payback time.”
Run. I tried to scramble away on my hands and knees, but something bound itself around me neck. I gasped for breath and clawed at the lasso as it constricted my airflow.
“Nowhere to run to now, partner,” a second voice said. Despite the familiar sounds, I couldn’t find the brainpower to connect the voices with names.
I reached for my hatchet and pulled it out. Thunder exploded next to me, and the hatchet was struck out of my hand. The impact sent me spinning, and the noose pulled me to the ground. Through my blurred vision I could make out confetti clinging to my soaked and sap-covered hand. A large, silver blur positioned itself over me, and I could barely make out the pink blur behind it. “Sorry, Mister Monster, but we can’t have you making any more party fouls,” it said in a singsongy manner.
No, not like this, the voice growled. You will not be defeated in such a pathetic manner. We spent too much time… Stand and fight!
I tried to obey, but my muscles refused to listen. I was slipping out of focus again.
“It’s okay, girls. Nurse Redheart informed me that she drugged the beast with heavy sedatives. It shouldn’t pose as too much of a problem.” That voice… That voice I could definitely remember. It was the same voice as the pony that plagued my nightmares.
A purple blur stuck its head above me. For a second, my eyes refocused to allow me to a very happy Twilight staring down at me. “Isn’t that right?” she cheerily asked. I tried to lift an arm but only succeeded in raising it halfway before it limply fell back to my side. “That’s what I thought,” she nodded. “You and I are going to have a busy day tomorrow. I can’t wait to get to learn more about you!”
Twilight’s grinning face was the last thing I saw before everything went black.
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Merry Christmas/Hearthswarming!
And with this, Act 1 is officially complete
again. Hope you all enjoyed! Not going to lie, writing some parts of this made me want to go back and work on the beginning again, but I'm going to wait until this story is fully finished before I tackle any more rewriting. Please feel free to point out anything wrong, and I'll try my best to straighten it out.It still blows my mind whenever I think back to when I first started writing this. I never expected it to get anywhere past ten likes at best. You guys are all amazing, and I couldn't have asked for a better audience. Hope you enjoy the rest of the story; next update will kick off Act 2. Have a wonderful winter and a merry Christmas!
7817882 And you as well, you mystical beast, you. :P
Great chapter but fuck you
I hope he beats the fuck out of the Elements
Update soon?
Bitch!
Ahh that's nice...
So it isn't just Hunter that sees that 6th foal
Nah but seriously I'm assuming that was an error.(unless it's a ghost oOoOooOOh)
Great chapter! Keep it up.
Love and tolerance, bitches.
7818199 Shoot, I thought I got all of those
Thanks for pointing that out
I download the last few chapters because I was heading out, but still wanted to read them. Read the last part and goddamnit, I'm sitting there on a park bench, fuming because what a way to cliffhanger. Can't wait for the next chapter, and merry crimbo to y'all!
7818046 I'm hoping for it. The next chapter is about halfway done, but the first part is giving me some trouble.
The mane six are being huge dicks at this point.
I hope they get payback.
My initial response to that is go choke on a dick and die you smug, 'holier than thou', clueless bitch. I put it in spoiler tags in case some special snowflake reads it and gets offended by my profanity.
I find it rather insane that a nurse would just grab a sedative and stick something with it, do you have any idea how easy it is to kill someone with sedatives? And that is where the average needed to sedate but not permanently stop a heart is known because it's only used on humans here, in ponyland where no one knows anything about humans other than they are 'monsters' because racism, it is 99.9999999% likely that they would either have too low a dose to effect him or too much of a dose and kill him. Either way I think it would have gone differently. That is without even mentioning missing a vein and having time to depress the plunger when he jerks away with clumsy hooves.
There I go overanalyzing a fimfiction story again
But... It's Christmas...
Wouldn't Celestia have informed Twilight about Hunter by now? Didn't the princess task him with watching over them? That's kinda irresponsible...
I really hope he doesn't act like a snowflake after this and instead dishes out swift, merciless justice.
Great chapter but no more cliff hangers like that please.
7820121 I'd love to say I won't, but I'm a little addicted to them.
I'll try to tone them down a bit, though.
7820278 Thank you. It's like watching a really good show, and things start to get really good until the episode cuts off and you have to wait until next week.
Sorry about the ramble. I just got really into the story.
Woo! So much hate for the ponies from the peanut gallery, I love it!
I suppose the next chapter will go over misunderstandings to a certain degree, perhaps quite a lot once everypony comes clean with their little secrets. How much depends on how long he's unconscious since the foals will blab immediately, although it'll take the older mares longer to come forth (He might have to convince them his crashed ship isn't out there however, heh).
Hunter still has to deal with that pack of Timberwolves that'll try to catch and maul him again so the big baddie can kill him by inches later. Who's to say they won't get so bold as to venture into Ponyville to retrieve him? This is assuming Celestia herself doesn't pop on down to haul him away to spend some quality time in Canterlot's luxurious dungeons under many locks and keys. Mmm, pretty sure Twilight's castle doesn't have a dungeon, not unless she takes a spare room, empties it, then blockades the door? Makes me wonder if her bookforts ever had a stockade?
Until stuff is posted to read, it's all wild speculations folks. Here's to misunderstanding, "monsters", and meandering apologies on both sides. See y'all in 2017.
Yes, please tone down the cliffhangers. Also, you've blown Hunter's capabilities out of the water; the capability-fish are floundering.
7818903
I don't know about ponyville hospital, but as far as I know most hospitals don't arm their nurses with sedatives. like you said that shit is dangerous if not given in the right dose. That's why anesthetists make so much fucking money. All the Hospitals I have worked in make sure to lock shit like that up so people can't get to it. So I don't think she would have been able to get the sedative as fast as she did.
And overanalyzing famfictions is fun!!
step one: baseball bat with nails
step two: show ponies what a real monster rampaging is like
also I was hoping hunter would of had enough strength to bash a pony on the face with his hatchet
As one of the readers of the original version, I find some of the comments here hilarious.
Thank you Blank Page, thanks to you I really want to kill the mane six right now...
7829801 Especially since the original was far more brutal.
7834443 Aye.
7834714 What is being read now is a re-write.
The original was written a few years ago.
7829801 would it be possible to link me to the original version? I'd like to read it!
7836008 I'm afraid I can't.
Sorry.
7836008 I still have most of it saved, save for the first couple chapters. I can send you the links I have. Skijarama also made some youtube readings of the older ones, and I don't think he's taken them down yet, but you'll have to ask him.
7829801 Same, man. There are so many comments that make me wonder what they think if they were reading the original.
I am scared for Hunter's life right now. Damn Twilight to Hell.
Words cannot describe how much I loathe this interpretation of Twilight. Almost every HIE with a dark tag had Twilights like this way back then. I had thought everyone had moved on from this, but given this is a rewrite of an older fic, I'll let it slide. Being reminded of this Twilight kinda resurged all my hate.
Wait...is this really back alive?! YES YES
Were chapters removed again? Nooooo
7901088 Don't worry, this is just as far as I've gotten. The rewrite's been slow going lately
The next chapter ought to be coming out soon though!
This chapter was phenomenal and the changes were both appropriate and refreshing. I really liked how Sweetie Belle and Hunter's relationship progressed. Very organic.
I am kind of sad I didn't see Hunter destroy the Timber wolves, only saw the aftermath. Oh well.
And this is the one thing I like about Hunter, despite his flaws. His sense of justice is strong and he would help others, even at the cost of his own freedom and/or life. My respect for that.
The only thing I have against Hunter is telling his origin wrong.
There is a big difference between embellishing your story with exaggerations versus replacing the true events with myths. The former is tolerable and has stronger layers of truth while the latter is a garbled mess with no credibility. WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU FEED POOR SCOOTS FALSE INFORMATION! You could have exaggerated about your time when you fought with the Timber-wolves and escaped and all that. YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO MAKE UP A STORY ABOUT SPACE YOU F*CKING MORON! 
People are sometimes horrible at telling convincing stories that are closer to the truth than they let on.
Any way, I very much enjoyed this chapter. oN TO THE NEXT.
Can't decide if I like the rewrite better or not. They'reboth good but I miss the diamond tiera scene and guess I'm just used to how things played out in the original.