Second Childhoods

by Proud Lutheran

The Hunter

An average day in Ponyville saw a great deal of hustle and bustle amongst its fair citizens as the sun shone down upon them. Everypony went about there lives; going to work, talking with friends, and hoping that no monsters or anything dangerous would show up. On an below average day, something evil, bizarre, or Crusader-related would happen. On an above average day, nothing out of the ordinary would occur and the townsfolk could sigh in relief. The relief, however, could not come until the day had safely passed.

As far as the citizens of Ponyville were concerned, today was slightly above average at the moment. The only thing that might be considered out of the ordinary was the strange unicorn colt wandering through town. His hide was pale, not quite white. His mane and tail were unkempt, light in color that was somewhere between light brown and blonde. His eyes were light gray, almost blue. Nopony recognized him, which led to the assumption that he was from out of town. Normally, foals his age would be in school, yet he was freely wandering the streets. Perhaps his family had very recently moved in, yet nopony had heard such news. Ponyville was a small town and its community was typically aware of new faces as a result. This was, of course, helped by the fact that somepony new meant a welcoming party. The local gossipers assumed that they would be receiving their invitations to such an event soon, for that colt was most certainly a new face. His presence still begged the question of who and where his parents were.

A few ponies considered talking with the colt to satisfy their curiosities, but hesitated. There was something extremely off about him. Perhaps it was the coat and tricorn hat he wore, which were a century or two out of style. Perhaps it was the syringes filled with a peculiar red liquid dangling from his coat. It might have been the rusty-looking saw that rested on his back. Out of all those very noticeable things on him, what struck everypony the most was the way he carried himself. The child’s head barely moved, but his eyes darted about toward any and all movement. Rather than run about playfully and gaze at every market stall, the colt walked with caution and tension in his steps. This would’ve been mistaken for shyness, readiness to jump at any sudden movement, were it not for the grim, almost blank expression on his face. Were he an adult, the other ponies would’ve compared him to a coiled snake waiting to strike at the first fool to cross its path. Seeing such behavior in a child was most unsettling.

Inevitably, the colt was seen by Pinkie, who gasped in her typical fashion and speedily went off to make party preparations. The fact that the colt reached for his saw at Pinkie’s reaction, as if expecting a fight, did not quell anypony’s nerves. Gossip traveled fast in Ponyville and it wasn’t long before some were suggesting that they inform Princess Twilight Sparkle about the uncanny colt, thinking him to be some sort of monster in disguise. Others believed him to be an orphan who had a hard life and therefore struggled to trust anypony. Another group claimed that everypony was overreacting and that the colt was simply playing hooky and pretending to be an adult. This camp was, of course, challenged to speak to the newcomer. Rainbow Dash readily accepted the challenge.

The colt was making his way to the Castle of Friendship when the rainbow pegasus landed in front of him. “Hey, there,” she greeted. “The name’s Rainbow Dash. What’s yours?”

The colt looked at her, then past her toward the castle. “I am but a hunter,” he replied, his tone almost monotonous and not childlike save for its pitch. His voice carried a slight Trottingham accent. “That castle, does it hold many texts?”

Rainbow needed a moment to process that. “A hunter?” There was no need for such an occupation among ponies. Fishing didn’t count.

“Yes,” said the colt, ignoring her confusion, “A hunter of beasts.”

Rainbow wasn’t sure whether to laugh at the absurdity of a child hunting monsters or cringe at how serious the colt sounded. “Ya look a little young for that. Shouldn’t you be in school or something?”

“I am older than I appear and therefore have little use for school. Now, what of the castle?”

Rainbow saw no harm in answering that question. “Yeah, it’s got a library. What about your parents? Where are they?”

“In their graves.”

Rainbow was taken aback by the sheer bluntness of that answer. Where was this colt from and how long had he been without parents? “What? But-! You’re all by yourself?”

“Not quite.” He gestured behind him. “My dwelling is in the forest and the doll is good company.”

Forest? Doll? “Wait, you mean the Everfree Forest?”

“If that is the name of the wood near this village, then yes.”

“Woah, woah, woah! You live in the Everfree Forest by yourself? Yeah, right! My friends and I go in there all the time! We’d have met you by now.” Rainbow was still thrown off by this colt, but his talk of living in a dangerous forest reinforced the idea that he was pretending. She believed that his parents were dead, but scoffed at the idea of him living in the Everfree. She didn’t know what he meant by the doll, however. Did he have a literal doll, or an imaginary friend?

“We have not lived there long,” he replied, starting toward the castle again. “Now, excuse me. I have more pressing matters to attend.”

Rainbow easily kept pace with him. “Like what?”

“Research.”

If that was all the strange colt wanted, Rainbow saw no harm in leaving him to it. Besides, she reasoned, Twilight would know how to help him with his research. She’d probably throw herself into whatever project he was working on as well. On the other hoof, there was no harm in asking Cheerilee if one of her students was missing.

---

Within the Castle of Friendship, Twilight was taking the opportunity to relax in the library, enjoying a very good book. She was so absorbed in her text that she paid no heed to the sound of hoofsteps approaching. However, he ears did twitch at the sound of somepony clearing their throat.

Twilight turned to the source of the noise and beheld the strangest little colt she had ever seen. “Hello,” she greeted, “Can I help you?”

The unicorn colt stared at her for a moment. “You are the only creature I’ve met to have both wings and horn. Why?”

Twilight smiled genially, always happy to impart knowledge. “Well, it’s because I’m an alicorn. There are three different types of ponies: unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi. Unicorns have a horn, pegasi have wings,-”

“Earth ponies have neither while alicorns have both, yes?”

“Essentially.”

“Why are alicorns so rare?”

“Well, as far my research shows, alicorns aren’t born, they ascend.”

The colt’s expression became far more focused. “Explain.”

Twilight proceeded to recount the story of how she finished Starswirl the Bearded’s unfinished spell and became an alicorn princess.

“You became a Great One,” he breathed, “Yet there is no madness in you.”

Twilight found herself blushing at being called great. She couldn’t have done anything without her friends. “Madness? What do you mean?” Was he talking about Nightmare Moon? If so, he should’ve already known about alicorns.

“Nevermind. Are there many more of you?”

“Only four: myself, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance.”

The little unicorn didn’t answer at first, taking a moment to regard Twilight and ponder her words. He then slowly took the wicked-looking saw off his back and set it on the floor, keeping one hoof on it. “Five,” he said, removing his coat. A pair of newly uncovered wings flared outwards.

Twilight fainted.

Author's Note:

I can already see somebody insulting me in the comments for making an Alicorn edgleord, but let me explain. See, there’s this video game called Bloodborne, made by the creators of Dark Souls. One of the endings for the game has the PC turn into an infant eldritch abomination and a living doll cradles it. I figured “Hey, they turn into a Great One, so why not an Alicorn foal instead?” Thus, this one-shot was born because I have neither the time nor inspiration to make a full story out of this.

Comments

[Cold Spike]

It's a pretty good start, actually.

[PirateLord93]

I figured it was Bloodborne by the title. I would be interested in reading this story.

[Samuel16]

I do enjoy this however I must ask I know this is a story filled with shorts but are there any continuations it's understandable if there is not I just want to know

[Proud Lutheran]

11403897
Maybe, if inspiration strikes.

[Velvet-Fresh]

I can totally see Luna adopting him and actively bringing him along into nightmares. Trained in pony style combat as he slay nightmares to aid dreamers. It's something new, and something nostalgic for him.