Act III: Last Man Standing
I wasn't sure what it was that woke me up: the steady drone of beepings to my side, the light trying to force its way through the crack of my eyelid, the dull ache that blanketed my body, or a culmination of all three. Regardless of what caused it, they were all forcing me from getting any more rest.
My body felt as though it had been run through a meat grinder and sloppily stitched back together. Only my left eye could open fully. As my brow and lips twitched, I could feel something covering the right of my face, splitting down the middle and wrapping around the top of my head. My neck was too stiff to move, leaving my left eye to dart around to try to make sense of where I was, but the room was just a large smudge of colors. Begrudgingly, I clamped my eyes shut and tried to bring my right hand to rub the grogginess out, but when it refused to move, panic seized control.
My left hand shot up to wipe the blur out of my eye. As it moved, there was a searing pain, from my forearm all the way to my collarbone. The skin was festering beneath some sort of tight wrapping, and something ached even deeper. After a few rubs and a couple blinks, everything became clear. Studying my left arm, I found a thick layer of gauze bound tightly around my forearm, wrist to elbow.
I let my arm fall. It had taken all my energy just to hold it up, and my body was demanding more rest. It thumped against my chest with the weight of a truck, and I hissed in a pained breath and gently moved my hand to my side. A fresh wave of pain rolled out in a slow, heavy wave, flowing up my legs, rippling through my chest with each deliberate breath, and drowning my mind in a deep static.
What had happened to me?
My gaze shifted to my right arm and found it suspended by a small hammock. A large cast encased most of it from the elbow down, including my fist, holding it at a ninety degree angle. A couple experimental twitches told me my fingers were fine underneath, albeit hot, but there was a sharp pain somewhere in the middle of my arm that flared as they moved.
A quick glance down revealed my bare feet were suspended in a similar way past the end of the bed. While my left leg appeared fine, bandages were wrapped heavily around my right leg, covering my calf from the heel of my foot to well past the knee. It was then that I realized that my clothes were missing and replaced by a short hospital gown. A few wires were led through my collar, but I couldn’t tell where they came from or stopped.
I looked around the room I found myself in, hoping to find some answers. Balloons littered the ceiling, and ranks of cards saying “Get well soon” lined the nearby side table. Daylight poured in from the open window, along with a frigid breeze. A nearby bird sang a relaxing melody. In one of the two chairs along the wall, a unicorn lay fast asleep, oblivious to my stirring. A faint smile pulled at my lips, agitating the skin beneath a bandage covering the right of my face.
I sucked in a breath, hoping to call her, but my voice couldn’t be found. All I could manage was an uncomfortable grunt. In her chair, Lyra stirred, and her golden, bloodshot eyes cracked open to find me.
“Wha… Hunter?” she called groggily. I tried to lean forward, succeeding in only an inch before the pain in my body became unbearable. Lyra noticed my small twitch, though, and her eyes snapped open in surprise. “Hunter!”
She stumbled out of her chair, a bright grin flashing even through all of the movement. I opened my mouth to reply, but I was still trying to find my voice. As Lyra came to the left edge of the bed, I lifted my hand to reach her. She grabbed it with a hoof, and for a moment, all felt right with the world, save for the terrible ache that blanketed my body.
But as a moment passed, her happy demeanor hesitated. She opened her mouth, searching for the right words. Her smile faded. Something boiled behind those bloodshot eyes. Her grip suddenly tightened around my fingers, and I found myself fighting back a wince.
“You… You are so lucky.” She spoke slowly, and her words didn’t carry any warmth. She shook her head incredulously, never taking her eyes off of mine. “You are so lucky you are already in the hospital!” she suddenly shouted. “Because if you weren’t so close to death when we found you, I would’ve put you here myself!”
I tried to jerk away, but between the immobilizing stiffness of my body and the heat of her glare, I was helpless. My eyes couldn’t tear themselves away from hers, distracted only once as a small teardrop burned a trail from the corner of her eye.
“I… I don’t even know if I’m happy you’re alive or peeved that you nearly killed yourself in that stunt!” she continued to rant. “I mean, what were you thinking?! That was a real boneheaded move, even for you!”
As she shouted, memories of Nightmare Night flooded in with an overwhelming force, demanding my attention. I relived each moment in the span of a second.
The hayride. The wolves. Town hall. The Everfree. The castle. Thorn. The portal.
The portal.
I thrashed in the bed, pulling my arm away from Lyra. Adrenaline forced the rest of the grogginess out of my system and wrestled against the pain. With all of the energy coursing through me, though, my body couldn’t match it. Every muscle, every bone was fatigued, and each twitch was met with an explosion of agony that threatened to drown me. I still couldn’t sit up, much less delicately pull my arm and legs out of their hanging supports.
My eyes turned to Lyra, and she must have seen the wild drive beneath them. Her anger had melted, leaving behind a concerned face. I opened my mouth to speak and was finally able to croak out one, weak word. “Lyra….”
“H-Hey, cut it out,” she stammered. She put a hoof carefully over my chest, hoping to calm me down. A groan pushed out of my lips through the pressure. “You’re going to hurt yourself more. I-I wasn’t seriously mad at you, I swear.”
She didn’t understand, and my racing mind wouldn’t slow down to explain myself properly.
“The portal.” My voice was hoarse, so much so that I feared she wouldn’t understand. “I-I found it. It was right in front of me!” I tried to sit up again, but the muscles in my abdomen screamed and refused. Along my side, hidden by the gown, skin pulled and stretched. I fell back on the bed with a gasp after barely raising a few inches. My eye shot to her desperately. “You gotta help me out of here,” I wheezed. “I think Thorn was trying to do something with it.”
Lyra shook her head. There was an alarmed look in her eyes as she pushed down a little more firmly with her hoof. “Hunter, you just need to rest,” she tried to assure me. “Don’t worry about any of—”
“I can’t not worry about it, Lyra! I saw my only way home!”
She reeled back as I finally found the voice to shout. A wet, heavy cough racked the inside of my chest, and she backed further away as though the space would help. With her hoof off my body, though, I continued my frantic efforts to get up. I was determined to leave, even if she wouldn’t help me this time.
Lyra began protesting, but my ears were deaf to it. I used my free hand to maneuver my right out of the sling. That hidden ache started to rile beneath the cast again, but my arm was finally freed. I was only faintly aware that Lyra had ran to the newly opened door and was shouting into the hallway as I worked on my legs.
My abdomen and shoulder were burning as I worked. The once steady drone of beeping had grown frantic to match my heart. By the time I managed to release my last foot from the hammock, a stampede of ponies burst through the door.
My heart was seized by dread as unfamiliar faces swarmed the bed. Multiple hooves pressed my body back firmly into the bed as indistinct voices overlapped each other. That frantic drone of beepings pierced the air as my only uncovered eye struggled to take in the strangers around me. Each twitch of my body was met with another hoof trying to press it still.
Another hoof touched my chin, pulling my head to the left against stiff muscles. A nurse. A familiar one. Her mouth moved, but her words only added to the static ringing in my ear. Her cold blue eyes flickered once between me and the other ponies, then twice. The features of her white coat twisted to a scowl, and she shouted above the other voices.
“Everypony, calm down!”
The chaos quickly quelled, though the pressure of the hooves remained. Nurse Redheart turned back to me, and this time she spoke more softly, though the sternness remained. “That means you, too, Hunter.”
Behind her was Lyra, who stared at me with terrified eyes. My breathing steadied, and I took the advantage of the pause to scan the room. My assailants weren’t the brutes I originally thought them to be. They were doctors and nurses, scrawny bodies hidden beneath white lab coats and blue scrubs. They still looked as frightened of me as I was earlier of them.
I swallowed a lump in my throat and gasped for a quick breath, turning to Redheart. “I… I want to leave.”
One of the doctors spoke before the nurse could reply. “You need to stay here.”
My attention shot to him, and he shrank back. “Am I a prisoner here again?” I challenged him through grit teeth.
“You’re a patient,” Redheart assured me. “You were barely alive after the Princess brought you here Nightmare Night. We weren’t sure if you were going to pull through when you didn’t wake up the first day. It was a miracle you managed to survive at all.” There was no mistaking the agitation growing in her voice, and as she spoke, I became more aware of the throbbing ache that consumed my body, head to toe.
“I still can’t stay here,” I insisted. My ragged voice was nearing begging. “You don’t… you don’t understand. The portal home… I saw it.” I shook my head, trying to ignore the festering pain on the right side of my face. “Thorn was trying to close it; I think for good. I need to make sure he didn’t.”
From the doorway, someone else cut in, “Worry not over Thorn and his scheming, Hunter.” Princess Luna stood at the entrance of the room. With a wince, she managed to hobble inside. One of her forelegs was bound in gauze against her body, held in place by a sling around her neck. Bandages covered patches of her fur; one over her muzzle, another by the temple, more down her neck and back. “He won’t be threatening you anymore,” she said grimly. After a pause, “Or anypony else, for that matter.”
The room went rigid, then more so when the Princess’s sister came in tow behind her. Princess Celestia stood tall above everyone else. Even in the still air of the room, her mane was flowing, covering one of her eyes. The other scanned intensely across the room, crossing over and then eventually falling on me. Her face was a stone mask, unmoving as she took in each detail. Eventually, she took in a deep breath, and the illusion shattered as her nostrils flared. She spoke curtly.
“Release your hold on our guest.”
The pressure of the doctors’ and nurses’ hooves was swiftly removed before she finished. Even though her command was satisfied, her calculating gaze was apparently not.
I dared to break the smothering silence that followed. “What… What did you mean by that?” I asked Princess Luna. “Is Thorn…”
“He’s gone,” she affirmed for me with a solemn nod. “Reduced to little more than splinters and… a few larger, more recognizable pieces.” Her gaze was focused on the bed beneath me. As she spoke, there was a controlled formality to her tone, faltering only at the end to hint at the emotions she was truly feeling with the news. I had to remind myself of all that she said that night, even though I couldn’t have been happier about the news.
She lifted her eyes to meet mine. “He… his body seemed to have taken the brunt of the explosion, cushioning you from the worst.”
I was troubled over the Princess’s words. My memories were scrambling to explain, but I couldn’t recall anything about what she had said. A frown spread across my face, quickly transforming into a grimace as hidden wounds wrinkled and stretched. “What… what explosion?”
“We were hoping you could tell us,” Princess Luna replied.
“Twilight and her friends had explained their accounts of Nightmare Night as best as they could,” her sister started. Her features softened, and her formal voice melted to a more sympathetic one. “You were very brave, Hunter, far more than anypony could have asked you to be.”
“However, we fear we still don’t fully understand exactly what happened,” Princess Luna added. “We were hoping you could provide some answers, if you feel up for it, that is.”
The sisters waited expectantly for me to respond. I was still coming out of a daze from this whole situation, but the relative calm had eased the storm in my mind. Urgency was still nipping at my thoughts. I told myself that the sooner this was resolved, the sooner the Princesses could help. I tried to nod, a difficult task laying down with a stiff neck, but they seemed relieved.
I cleared my throat, rattling something in my chest in the process. “So… What exactly do you need to know?”
The Princesses glanced at each other, and after a reassuring nod from her sister, Luna spoke. “When I found you, you were…” The words seemed difficult for her to speak. She cleared her throat and resumed with a rehearsed formality. “You were fighting Thorn. All we know of what happened before is what your friends told us, and unfortunately that information ends when you ran off by yourself.”
“Did you know where you were running to?” Princess Celestia asked delicately.
My words were briefly caught in my throat. I could feel Lyra’s gaze on me, but I couldn’t build up the nerve to look back. A sense of guilt began to gnaw within as I admitted, “No, I was… I was running blind.”
The room stirred uncomfortably at my confession. Not wanting anyone to dwell on it, I continued. “I ran as far as I could, but then I ran into something.” I sucked in a breath, hoping to convey the gravity of what I was about to say. “It was the portal.”
There was a heavy pause. The sisters were troubled, seemingly digesting the information. The doctors and nurses were silent, bystanders in a dialogue that was starting to feel private.
This time, Princess Celestia broke the silence. She spoke as though she were stepping on eggshells. “Are you sure that’s what it was?”
I tried to nod again, only to grimace from a pain forming in my neck. “I didn’t believe it at first either,” I explained. “Couldn’t even see it until I ran into it. It’s like it was… camouflaged or cloaked by a spell. But I found it.” My excitement came accompanied with a new wave of soreness. The sisters didn’t share my emotions, though. I wondered if they still had doubts in their minds. “It was where you found me,” I continued, this time directed to Princess Luna. “Those lights I was fighting Thorn in front of, that was it! We finally found it. I…” The words choked in my throat. I almost couldn’t believe I was saying it.
“I can finally go home.”
No one would look me in the eye. Even as I finally turned to Lyra, she looked to her hooves, but not before I could catch the discomfort painted over her face. Others in the room had similar faces; pursed lips, wrinkled brows over troubled eyes.
“Hunter, I… I don’t know how to tell you this,” Princess Celestia confessed, just barely over a whisper. She finally met my eyes. I was anxious for an answer to everyone’s actions. Her lips moved. Her voice spoke. But the words didn’t make any sense.
Though I was already laying down,I felt as though I had been dropped. For once, the pain subsided as my body went numb. My mouth moved, opened and closed, as I tried to process what she had said. It played over and over in my mind, leaving no room for any other thoughts. Finally, words came to me.
“I… What… What do you mean it’s gone?”
The Princess’s regal mask had now fully melted away, and all that was left was another pony with sympathetic eyes. “Hunter…” As she paused, I found myself hoping for a mistake, hoping for some sliver of a chance that it wasn’t fully true. But what she said only made it hurt worse. “I’m so sorry.”
The world was spinning, so much so that I feared I’d be flung out of the bed. My head fell back against the pillow, and my swirling mind was struggling to make sense of anything in the room. It couldn’t be true. It couldn’t be true.
“W-Wait.” I struggled to prop myself up with my good elbow as the words stammered from my lips. The distance from the princesses seemed to stretch into a mile. “It… It was invisible, remember? Maybe you just couldn’t find it again because of that. Maybe that’s why… I…”
Princess Luna spoke softly as my voice trailed. “We thought of that, too, Hunter. We checked the entire clearing, and even beyond into the woods in case it could have moved, but… Hunter, it just wasn’t there.”
It couldn’t be true. The cadence of the heart monitor wouldn’t relent for me to think. There had to be something we were missing. If only my mouth would stop trembling.
“What if… What if I need to be there?” I tried to reason. The nausea was overwhelming. “I… I mean, I… Spellbreaker, right? That-That’s what Thorn said. I-I broke the… the cages, so maybe if…”
“Hunter, you don’t understand,” Princess Celestia said sadly. “I was there myself. It was clear that there was powerful magic there once before, but even if it was hidden, we would be able to sense some trace of it. We searched everywhere, but it just doesn’t exist anymore.”
“Then check again!”
The room jumped at my outburst, though I could barely tell. My vision was shaking with the rest of my body. That damned heart monitor was interrupting my thoughts. It couldn’t be true. They had to have missed something. Why weren’t they saying anything?
“It isn’t gone,” I said, trying to will it as fact, but my quivering voice did little to convince even me. “It… it can’t be.
Something touched my free arm, tugging as I didn’t respond, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the Princesses. Their silence was deafening, so much so that I could no longer think; my mind could latch only to the mantra that repeated endlessly.
It can’t be true.
It can’t be true.
It can’t be true.
Vertigo overcame me. I was numbly aware that I had collapsed back into the thin pillow. My vision of the white tiles overhead started to blur, and a dark thought squirmed once it found the room.
They weren’t lying to me. What would be the point?
I sucked in an unsteady breath, feeling as though I had been punched in the gut. My mind struggled to understand the implications. I would never see my home again. I had unknowingly seen lifelong friends for the last time. My family would never know what had happened to me.
Something was crawling up my throat; the pressure made it impossible to breathe. My free hand probed at my collar, found nothing to free the pressure, and traveled up to my head. Fingers wormed beneath the bandages at my hairline, hoping to ease the chaos beneath.
What was the last thing I had said to them? The question was a burning inferno in my head and demanded an answer. I frantically searched through my memories; it wasn’t so long ago, right? Why couldn’t I remember it, that dumb, stupid thing I said when my dad wished me good luck?
One hand wasn’t enough. My right hand, still encased in a cast, arm still bent at an odd angle, rubbed hopelessly against my temple. Something snapped loose, and my left hand pushed further beneath the bandages and up my scalp, pulling at my hair to vainly tug my thoughts away. The pressure in my throat was building, some primal emotionI I never knew existed.
I would never see my home again. I was hopelessly lost in this world, and as far as I knew, the only human in its existence. My core caved inwards, and a loneliness I couldn’t fathom began to crush me.
The pressure released. The resounding scream ran my throat dry.
It died only as the wind left my lungs. I almost didn’t have the strength to breathe back in. Damaged skin pulled at itself as my body stretched and shuddered, trying to channel this thing out of me, but the pain was only gasoline thrown into the burning maelstrom. Familiar voices were calling my name, trying to ease me. Though I knew it somewhere in the chaos that it was Lyra and Redheart, I couldn’t see them through the burning flood of tears.
An eternity passed like that. The storm eventually passed, leaving me a shivering mess as I lay in the bed. Redheart brought a tissue to clean my good eye, and Lyra had a comforting hold around my hand. I only just realized how tight my grip around her was, and I carefully pulled my fingers back. Lyra never protested.
Between shuddering breaths, I glanced across the room, careful not to meet anybody in the eye. It wasn’t a difficult challenge; most of the doctors had left already. The rest appeared either too uncomfortable to move or too unsure if they needed to stay. Both of the princesses stayed. After a while, Princess Luna stepped forward to speak.
“What has happened to you is a terrible thing, Hunter. If there is anything my sister and I can do to help you, please, you must only ask it of us.”
I nearly responded, a halfhearted nod that I was sure would have sufficed. After a while they would have left, followed by the doctors, followed eventually by Lyra, and I would have been left to sit in my misery. But her words floated in my now-empty head. They twirled, around and around in an imaginary breeze, before settling on the remaining bed of smoldering embers. It was there I was able to pick at them, to fully understand what she had said.
The tinder caught fire, but this time it wasn’t a crushing despair that rolled over me. A question burned into my mind, demanding an answer. My jaw locked itself in place, and it seeped through my teeth in a low growl.
“Where were you?”
The response wasn’t immediate. Questioningly, cautiously, the Princess spoke up. “I… I’m sorry?” she asked.
Beneath the bandages on the right of my face, torn skin festered as the sore muscles beneath pulled into a grimace. I sucked in an unsteady breath, shuffled my broken body, and propped myself up with the elbow of my good arm. It took all of my strength, but now I was able to look her in the eyes, to see the confusion in them, the attempt at innocence.
I breathed in, trying to ignore the pain, and asked again.
“Where… in the hell were you?!” I demanded. The tension in the room snapped with audible gasps. Luna looked at me with wide eyes as though she couldn’t process what I had said, and with my heart beating a war cadence in my ears, I was more than happy to elaborate.
“You told me you had a plan,” I accused. “You said you had a way to deal with Thorn and keep everyone safe. You said all it would take from me was a leisurely stroll into the forest and back. And do you know what happened? I was chased through the woods by a pack of wolves, wounded. I ended up freeing all the prisoners myself. And the icing on the fucking cake? Thorn caught me alone in the end anyways!”
My spiel ended as an intrusive cough cut me off. The shouting ran my throat dry again. The Princess’s shock was devolving into something near indignation, betrayed by a twitch along her lips and the flicking of her ears. Still no answer. Would I have to pry it out of her?
“Where were you that night?” I demanded once more with a hoarse voice.
Luna’s eyes briefly reflected my own anger before she pressed her lips into a stern line.
“We came here to offer our condolences,” she said in a controlled tone. “Not to be interrogated.”
An indignant snort escaped my nostrils. “Is that your excuse?” I sneered incredulously.
“If my sister and I could have the room with Hunter,” Princess Celestia interjected. “Alone.”
She didn’t have to add the last part. The few doctors and nurses remaining were already stampeding for the door. Though my eyes were locked on Luna’s, I could still see them shoving past each other to exit the door behind her.
Luna’s nostrils flared. “You were supposed to be in Ponyville,” she noted accusingly. “It became too dangerous, and I sent you back. That was the plan. If I would have known you were still in the forest,—“
“What, you would have actually tried to stop Thorn?” I cut in.
“When I said ‘alone’, I meant you as well, Lyra,” Princess Celestia said off to the side.
“But… But…” Lyra sputtered. “I can’t just…”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Luna chastised me. “Thorn had obviously planned for a confrontation—”
“And you didn’t?!” I shouted.
“Please, Lyra,” Celestia begged, and at that moment, I whipped my attention to her.
“Why shouldn’t she stay?” I demanded. “Too afraid she’ll realize how much of a royal mess this whole situation was?”
“Hunter!”
Though I could feel Lyra’s eyes burrowing into me, I kept mine locked on the princesses. Even with the shock and hurt in her tone, I couldn’t bring myself to look at her. There was a fire raging behind my eyes, and I couldn’t imagine what I would say or do if Lyra fell within the crosshairs.
I sat rigid, shaking only from the effort to support myself. After it became clear that I wouldn’t turn to her, Lyra made a soft, indistinguishable noise and walked to the door, trying to steal a glimpse of my uncovered eye. The door sealed itself behind her, and then there were three.
Finally, Princess Celestia spoke. “You’re angry,” she said cautiously, winning a scoff out of me. “And rightly so; you’ve survived terrifying events on…” For some reason, she struggled to say the words. “That night.”
She paused, expecting me to say something. At first, all I could do was weakly shake my head, then the words found their way through my grit teeth in a growl.
“Angry?” I echoed incredulously. “Angry barely scratches the surface of how I feel. I… I don’t even know if there is a word to describe it.”
In an annoyingly calm tone, she responded, “Try to, if you can. It could help.”
My glare lingered on her before focusing on the desks beside her. “You’re not the school counselor, Princess,” I huffed. “I don’t have to explain anything.”
“Don’t you point your ire at my sister,” Luna snapped. “This feud is between the two of us; my sister has done no wrong by you.”
“She hasn’t?” I asked sarcastically. Celestia raised an eyebrow to challenge, and I met it back with a glare. “You led me on,” I growled. “You made me think it was safe to stay in this town, right next to the forest with a mad dog that was trying to kill me.”
“We did not know Thorn was still alive,” Princess Celestia reasoned. “Nor that he was hunting you. It has been over a thousand years since…” Her words suddenly choked, and her eyes widened for a moment. Keeping her mask intact, she swallowed the lump in her throat and continued, “Since we had seen him.”
“Nopony expected him to be alive,” her sister stepped in. “I’ve explained this to you before.”
“And I explained to you that it was a bad idea to have a hayride through the Everfree,” I shot back. My supporting arm was growing weak. It shifted beneath me, and I winced as a pain shot through my side. The sisters were quiet, either from a loss of words or to allow me to regain my composure. I wasn’t certain which was more frustrating.
“I explained it was a bad idea,” I repeated, breathless from the pain. “But you convinced me it was safe. Look at me. Look at what I had to go through because of you.” Luna tried to hide herself behind a stoic mask, but in her eyes was a stronger emotion. Anger or sadness or sympathy… I couldn’t tell what it was, only that it wasn’t enough. “Look at your guards,” I spat.
Celestia snapped out a wing in front of her sister, pressing it against her body to hold her back. Luna’s face twisted with a fury that was so unexplainably satisfying to see. She opened her mouth to speak, sucked in a breath to shout, but Celestia moved her wing higher to cover her sister’s mouth.
“We never could have foreseen a disaster like this,” Celestia said in a strained calm. “Good ponies have suffered for our mistakes.” She paused, the muscles around her jaw tensing before continuing. “A good human has suffered for our mistakes… yet again. Believe me when I say that it haunts our consciences. We beg this not for our sake but for yours… I beg this; is there anything we can do to ease the suffering we’ve caused?”
She dropped her wing, and behind it Luna had managed to regain some of her composure. Hints of the same fire inside me burned through the cracks in it. Nevertheless, she and her sister waited expectantly for an answer, and for once I decided to give their question some thought… or at least to appear that I was. There really only was one thing they could give me, and I knew the answer to it even as it hissed through my teeth.
“You can find the portal to my home.”
Celestia deflated. Her eyes begged for anything else. “Hunter… we can’t. It doesn’t exist—”
“You said,” I cut her off with a growl. “No, you promised… Everything in your power to—”
“We’re not gods, Hunter!” Desperation cracked Celestia’s voice, and her words hung in the air between us. As the fallout settled, the fact that was never truly hidden was laid bare for all to see. My suspicions confirmed, I let out a joyless snort.
“No, of course not,” I said, determined to get one last jab in before succumbing to defeat. “You’re just like the rest of them.”
After a moment passed, Luna spoke up.
“And what does that mean, ‘just like them’?”
It wasn’t accusing. There was no malice in her words. Maybe that’s why it was so hard to find an answer. The last of my fire sputtered out, and I let myself fall back into the bed in a defeated heap. A soft groan escaped me as my body protested the collapse, and after a minute of thinking, I finally had a legitimate answer.
“You’re helpless,” I said flatly. “Just like every other pony in this town.” A bitter irony came over me as I spoke, invading my heart like a knife. “Just like me,” I finally admitted.
A heavy silence fell over the room, broken only by a lone songbird somewhere out the opened window, oblivious to the explosive, verbal war waged in this room. It was frustrating, the way this world carried on as though nothing had happened.
My eyes were glued to the tile ceiling, stinging too much to comfortably close. My mind was overrun by an all-consuming static, too full of noise to rest. How desperately I wanted to rest now.
At the end of my bed, the sisters spoke quietly to each other. Not quite a whisper, but I was too exhausted to care to listen. Why wouldn’t they just leave me alone now? What was left to talk about?
After a minute passed, it seemed my silent prayers would be answered. Hooves clattered against the floor. Hinges squealed as they moved. A door closed shut. A sigh escaped me, only to be sucked back in as another set of hooves stepped closer.
Celestia appeared above me, stopping next to my bed. Her eyes were trained forward, out past the window behind me. She took in a deep breath through her nose, holding her solemn head as though to appraise the view. As she slowly exhaled, her body began to sag, all of its tension escaping with her breath. The corner of her lips twitched just slightly upwards as she continued to stare outside.
“What a rare chance, to hear this song so late in the year,” she explained distantly. “Most birds would have migrated by now. I was pleasantly surprised to hear it when my sister and I arrived. I thought it was a beautiful omen…”
Her lips pressed into a tight line, and she shook her head. Across her horn, magical sparkles of light flickered. I heard the window slide shut, and the birdsong was cut off.
“I’ve only just realized it’s singing to itself,” she said sadly. “No other birds return its song. The rest of its flock must have left without it… yet still it calls, hopeful.”
If it was an attempt at a conversation, I didn’t return it. What was the point of speaking about birds and migration? When the silence dragged, Celestia sighed. Her crown levitated off of her head and began to descend, turning to face her. Her eyes trailed after it until it gently clattered on the bedside table, returning then to look out the window. Even with it fully shut, her mane billowed as if in a strong, steady breeze, moreso now unburdened by the weight of the crown.
“What a terrible tragedy to endure,” she said solemnly, “to lose one’s family, to lose one’s home. Worse, still, to know it’s still out there… somewhere.” She briefly flashed a grimace at something outside before recomposing herself, still refusing to look at me.
“There are few who can understand the pain you are going through, Hunter.” She paused, taking in a calming breath. “Even fewer that know it. My sister and I were fortunate… in some twisted sense of the word. We at least had each other. But you?”
Finally, she looked down on me, her magenta eyes carrying more pity than her words. “I wish I could tell you it doesn’t get worse, this pain you feel, this loss. If I could spare you from it with a click of my hooves, believe me, I would. I wouldn’t wish this grief upon even my most hated of enemies, and you, Hunter, are probably the most undeserving of all to bear it.
“You’ve been patient… so, so patient. And for this to be your reward…” Her voice trailed off, and she tore her eyes away from me. I could feel a tension pulling at my jaw, around my fist. The seconds stretched into an eternity, until finally she spoke. “There is no amount of riches in the world that can compensate for what has been stolen from you,” she said solemnly, still turned away from me. “No punishment severe enough for you to find justice in this. All that’s left for you now is to grieve, and even when you're done, the pain will linger.”
After a shake of her head, she finally turned back. The lids around her eyes were wet, but she spoke calmly, tiredly, to ignore it. “So I ask you again, one last time; is there anything I can do to grant you even a moment of respite?”
I searched her tear-stained eyes for the kernel of deception I knew in my heart was there. So much had gone wrong, every plan made and hope dreamt, and trusting the Princesses seemed to be at the root of it all. But there was a sincerity in her voice that my gut told me couldn’t be faked, and the sorrow in her eyes left no room for anything else.
“You’re being serious, aren’t you?” I thought aloud. Celestia gave me a short nod, keeping her eyes trained on me. I hesitated, weighing my options, and took in a deep breath. “Anything you can do?” I ventured, and her nod was slightly more enthusiastic this time, a faint grin showed on her face.
My lips trembled and peeled back, exposing what I know to be a wicked half-grimace.
“Then get out,” I growled through my teeth. “There’s nothing else you can do, and after all this time… I’m starting to think there never was.” My eye pulled away from hers, staring once more at the ceiling. Tiredly, I added, “I just want to be left alone now.”
I could feel her staring at me, but she didn’t speak a word. She lingered for a brief moment, and in my peripheral vision I saw her nod. Something floated to the top of her head, and she turned to leave. The clatter of her hooves echoed in the small room, pausing before the door opened.
“I’m sure it’s the last you wish to hear,” she said solemnly. “But if you would listen to an old mare’s advice, one last time…” There was an expectant pause. I didn’t respond, but she continued nonetheless. “It will be easy for you to choose solitude; this breed of misery feeds on it, but… try not to give into it. Your friends will come to comfort you, or rather, they will try as best as they can to. Don’t push them away, lest your wishes and fears both become realized, and you truly will be alone.”
The hinges of the door squealed as it opened and closed. I counted the seconds as they passed, waiting to be certain that there were no other surprises. A pent up breath eventually pushed itself out of me. I finally had the room to myself.
I laid in the bed, wounds and thoughts festering. Nothing in this waking nightmare felt real, save for one unavoidable fact: I was never going home.
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Damn dude. Coming back with a hell of an update.
Uh...wow.
Glad this is back. Poor hunter, he should’ve probably asked for the context of who Thorn was and if they try to deny him that information say he had a right to know who tried to murder him and why. He also could’ve used that to press Luna. She tried to send Hunter away so she didn’t have to kill Thorn which led to the portal being destroyed. In trying to selfishly spare herself of the heartache of losing someone she caused Hunter to lose much more.
yoooooooooooooooooooooo Its back!
"I laid in the bed, wounds and thoughts festering. Nothing in this waking nightmare felt real, save for one unavoidable fact: I was never going home."
IT LIVES!
He has every reason to hate the sisters for this, they screwed up, he and ponies got hurt, and not he’s lost his chance of going home.
Was pleasantly surprised to see the update. Poor Hunter though, he didn't deserve that at all. He's gonna have to rely on his friends now more than ever for support
I can’t find it in me to have any sympathy for the two sisters, they fucked up hard and refuse to take responsibility for it by saying they couldn’t have predicted it and that they had no idea that the Mad Dog was even alive.
He has every right to be pissed off, he is injured because of Luna’s so called “Plan” but she refuses to admit it went FUBAR or how predictable it was! She also sent him back without care that there could be ambushes waiting for him.
I think what is even more tragic is the lack of care they seem to have for the loss of life that was suffered by their Guards, they lost what? Six or seven Guards THAT WE KNOW OF and yet all they say is it’s “Tragic”?
How long until Hunter becomes a liability? I really hope he GTFOs once he is able.
Is it likely they are lying? Yes, it is. Where ta first they were kind in turning things about for him they quickly became heartless and abused his trust for nothing. What they need to do is admit they were completely fucking stupid and they SHOULD have just taken him away from Ponyville in the first place. It won't fix what happened, but them admitting all they did wrong is needed if he can ever trust them again. They can't just lecture him on letting go of anger when they're actively contributing to it by acting that way.
11302510
The question is would an Apology even be sufficient at this point? It won’t erase what they did or allowed to happen, it won’t magically bring back his way home, he’ll it won’t even fix his injuries or the multiple of scars he is going to be sporting.
No, at this point the best thing they can do is leave him alone, but we all know they won’t.
I honestly hope he shows them what their stupidity cost them, how many of these guards had family? Will they be told that they are dead? How they died? I honestly hope he shows those families just whose fault it was they are dead.
If there's one thing I've learned in 9 seasons, absolutes like "gone forever" are false. But this is tasty drama and angst. Hunter's tears are delicious.
This seems like a sad case of ‘yanking the dog's chain’.
“We never could have foreseen a disaster like this,”
Has anyone ever gone into the forest and not been attacked in this story?
Damn, it’s been a while! Thanks Author, for not abandoning this tale!
11301929
Ditto. There is selfishness permeating everyone in this chapter, and it's very... humanizing?
As for Hunter's one free request, he could've also said "Yeah, you can send Lyra back in on your way out."
It would declare an outward mindfulness for his friend, while also passive-aggressively telling the royals to get out
(I'm not saying it should be changed, it just came to mind)
I had forgotten about this.
Read a couple of past chappies and it comes rushing back. I'm very pleased.
Looking forward to more.
W
That was an intense read
I've been waiting for this for a long time. I'm glad your back mate. :)
While It was satisfying to see the sisters get chewed out I’m positive they won’t learn from this I’m mainly sorry for Hunter he lost his home his family his friends his entire life and all he gained in trying to get it back is losing an eye I hope the families of the dead guards are compensated. As for anyone else who has been following this story from 2013 I just want to say it feels good right? And to blankpage I want to say thank you for not giving up and keeping this story going on despite how many years have gone by
11320767
Glad to be back
11320985
Thanks for sticking around since the beginning! It certainly has been a long time, and I really appreciate that you and the others have stuck around. You guys really are the reason I keep coming back
11301929
I agree but also seeing it from the Luna's perspective, You just found out that the person who you thought was dead is actually still alive but in a different form. The last person besides your sister that had survived the tragic event that destroyed your home.
Would you be able to just kill off someone that easily even though you held them dearly in your heart?
I wont say she isn't at fault for not listening to Hunter and he has all the right to be angry at the princess if need be, but at the very least her motives for not killing are understandable
My god this whole chapter was beautifully done, from beginning to end
The loss of the portal scene where the genuine emotional build up to a primal scream of sorrow and pain from so much hard work being wasted almost made me cry
The princesses character writing is wonderful as well. .
Luna is still not as emotionally solid as her sister so she still has trouble keeping on her mask which was portrayed greatly
Celestia showing that she will always try to past down knowledge even in painful situations like this is nicely done.
I look forward to you future work cause your writing is immaculate and impactful as hell
11322663
No problem mate your writing is mostly really solid especially when it comes to characters Hunter Grey is a very likeable protagonist and his friendships feel genuine
11323482
Wow, I almost don't know what to say
Thank you for the praise! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I hope I can deliver
11323468
Fair point, counter point. I’m pretty sure Luna knew he tried to kill children.
11323801
Very true.
Though I still think my point applies that she still struggled to kill him since, he was pretty much a very special pony(now timber wolf) in her life. That in which led to more suffering.
And like I said she's in the wrong, but I understand why she didn't kill him.
Wow, missed this one
Honestly am excellent conclusion for thorn, what a bloody mess that was.
And hunter really is gong to need therapy, or just lots of time with friends after this one
next chapter?
Hey when do you think The next Chapter come out ??🤔
Well, that was pretty interesting and intense, if I’m going to be honest. I could definitely feel Hunter here, losing his only way home (most likely for real this time) is super tragic.
On another note, I suddenly have a future idea of creating a multiverse anthology story where each of the human characters from many stories across Fimfiction actually return home. Eventually, I will PM you (and many authors for that matter) to see if you’re comfortable with that. But like I’ve stated, it’s gonna be in some future because I’m still busy managing my first fanfic (a nearly dead one at that).
Either way, best wishes for you and your story, Blank Page!
TheHumanWriter
Just finished making my way through this, and boy was it entertaining. Hope a new chapter comes along soon.
Please more!
11534467
I want to read more!!!
When is the next chapter🤔
There remains a foothold out of this mire - now climb.
More
Please
11620473
Well, if God wills, maybe sooner than later :D
Please make more!
This really is an enjoyable story; that's even coming from someone whom typically just reads LoHAV type fics, nowadays.