Hunter In Equestria: Chapter 4

You tossed and turned on the floor for a little while, unable to find a comfortable spot. You made a mental note to ask Twilight for either a bigger bed or something else, this was ridiculous. Then again, you really had no room to complain. You sighed, sleep not coming easily.

Sitting up again, you noticed the sun was still out. You can't have been struggling to sleep for more than an hour at most. You sighed. This wasn't good for you, you've had less than ten hours of sleep in the past two and half days. Grumbling to yourself, you stood and walked into the main library. Twilight had returned at some point during the last hour, quietly. She remembered you said you were going to sleep, and adding the sick dragon in her room, she probably wanted to keep the noise down as much as possible.

Predictably, she was reading again. She was halfway through the book she had...'borrowed' from you, deep into the story. She didn't notice when you walked up to her, so you decided to have a bit of fun.

You crept up on the purple unicorn, and then poked her right in the side. She jumped ten feet into the air with a small shriek, landing on her ass and giving you a near-hateful glare.

"Anon, why did you do that? I was reading!" She whined, pouting cutely at you. You were too busy laughing to reply, the first actual bit of fun you've had since you had gotten here. You took a minute to regain your breath.

"Sorry Twilight, I had to do it. You were just asking for it!" You said with a wide grin. She shot you another heated glare, then returned to the book. "Hey Twilight?"

"Mm?"

"Is there anything you can do about the bed in there?" You gestured to the guest bedroom. "It's a little...small."

She adopted a sheepish smile.

"Oh, right. Sorry. Let me see."

She stood and stretched a bit, then walked towards another section of the library. She pulled an untitled book down, then flipped to a specific page, almost as if she knew where to find the information she needed.

She then trotted into your bedroom. A glow enveloped the mattress and bedframe, and both slowly grew in length. She panted, the effort taking a lot out of her. Eventually it was long enough for you to comfortably sleep in it, though it was pressing against both walls now. She stopped, nearly collapsing on the spot.

"Matter...creation...is hard..." Twilight said, sheer exhaustion taking its toll. "So tired..."

She then slumped over, out cold. You felt bad now, you didn't mean for her to go *this* far. You picked the sleeping unicorn up and laid her on the bed, covering her up with the quilt and letting her sleep. Her breathing went from exhausted panting to a calm, deep breathing relatively quickly. You smiled, then stepped into the main library again.

Twilight had a stack of books near where she had been reading, with most of them being biology books. Bipedal species were the focus of the many books, from diet to sleeping habits. Some went into more detail than others, judging from their thickness. You'd ask Twilight what was up when she was.

You decided to take a light jog, feeling a little out of it. Some fresh air might do you some good, but then again, you had just been out there. Perhaps try to find some work, having some spending money was always nice. You needed more gauze too...
--

You were back in the town square, looking around. A small pharmacy was standing off and to the side of the square, which probably explained why you hadn't seen it before. It also didn't help that none of these places seemed to have any kind of name signage. You stepped in, and saw plenty of medicinal items. Pills, salves, powders...none of which you needed. If it was to any degree magical, it likely wouldn't work anyway. Instead, you picked up two sizable rolls of gauze and a pack of medical tape.

You placed it on the sales counter, where a bored looking earth pony sat. She was reading a newspaper, completely ignoring you.

"Um, excuse me?" You said, trying to get her attention. "Hey. Hello?"

She continued to ignore you. You then rapped your knuckles on the counter, which *did* get her attention.

"Oh, sorr-oh." She started friendly enough, but got quiet when she saw you. You rolled your eyes and places your items on the counter.

"How much ma'am?" You asked, pulling out the pouch.

"Total? 55 bits."  Ouch. You nodded and paid the mare, thanking her as you left. You then counted how many you had left.

"Mm, 14 bits... might need to find some sort of side-job. Or have Twilight blast me again..." You muttered bitterly, a slight twinge of irritation springing up. You quashed it, knowing she likely wouldn't try that again, not so soon...you hoped, anyway.

You decided to check on said purple/pink-maned pony, so you began jogging back to the library...when a rock met the back of your head. You staggered and clutched the back of your head, gently rubbing the soon-to-be knot.

"Ow! What the...?" You avoided cursing, as there were smaller ponies running about. You weren't sure of the term for them here, but they were children at any rate. You turned and saw nothing behind you...which in turn told you to look up.

This was, naturally, a mistake.

You looked up, and a small avalanche of stones fell on you. They bounced off of your arms, shoulders, and back. You were doing your best to protect your head from further harm, at the expense of the welts you felt forming. Someone was hurling these at you, but you couldn't look up to check. Eventually the torrent of gravel stopped, and the pile of them came up to your knee.

"Yeah, we got him! We stopped the monster!" You heard a kid call out. You then heard a different voice say "Anypony have anything yet?"  You still had yet to see your assailants, however. You shook yourself out of the pile and looked around, not seeing anything.

Several of the older ponies looked on in amusement, some outright laughing. You weren't sure if the laughter was malicious or not though. A few didn't look amused at all though.

Girlish giggling was coming from a bush off to your left. Bingo. You decided to have a bit of fun with the mischievous kids. You stood up straight an brushed off the dust, and continued on your way...then double-backed and came up behind the bush. You hid behind a tree, carefully peeking out and monitoring them.

One was a small orange pegasus with a purple mane and tail, and a quickly diminishing grin. Another was an apple juice-yellow earth pony with a fiery pink mane and a pink bow nestled in said mane, and the final troublemaker was a snow-white unicorn with a multicolored pink/purple mane.

Masters of stealth they were not. They were merely behind the bush, not actually in it. The three of them sat there, checking their rears for something, you weren't sure what. You did notice they didn't have any kind of mark there, perhaps that was it?

You shrugged, then listened.

"Aww, I've got nothing. Could have sworn Monster Hunting would have been our special talent." The pegasus groaned. You suppressed a chuckle at the irony, then continued to listen.

"C'mon Scootaloo, we'll just try somethin' else. There's lots of stuff we haven't tried!" The yellow one replied, a shy grin on her face.

"Like what?" The little pegasus replied. One name down, two to go...with any luck, they'd do the hard work for you...

Silence took over, with the other two bashfully kicking the ground. "That's what I thought."

"To be fair, you didn't stop him." You called out from behind the tree.

"Hey, who's there!? Come out and you might not get your flank kicked!"

You grinned to yourself. "Alright."

You stepped out from behind the tree, and Scootaloo's confidence took a dramatic and sudden nosedive. "What's wrong, cat got your tongue?" You taunted. "You know, I didn't much like those rocks..."

"SCATTER GIRLS!" They screamed in unison, darting in separate directions. You chuckled, stepping out from behind the bush and back into the square. You saw the unicorn disappear around the side of the town hall...and a few seconds later the other two met her there. You decided to not give chase though, lest the town actually think you were attacking them.

You turned and went back to the library.
--

The sun had set, fallen, whatever it did here. The moon and stars were in its place, and the citizens of Ponyville began returning home to sleep. That was sounding like a good idea to you, tired as you were.

You stepped in just in time to see Twilight leave the guest room, yawning lightly. She smiled when she heard you come in, turning to look at you.

"Hey Anon, where were y-" A yawn cut through her sentence. "-ou?"

"Just out on the town. Stocked up on bandages again, definitely gonna need them. She nodded sleepily, not really listening. "I was ambushed by a few youngsters, they dumped some rocks on me. I decided to give them a bit of a scare in return."

She arched an eyebrow. "Really now?"

"Yeah. Just managed to sneak up on them. I think one of them is...Scootaloo?" You put your hand to your chin in thought. "Yeah, Scootaloo."

"The other two were Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. They're trying to get their cutie marks, they've even made a little club for it. The "Cutie Mark Crusaders"." Twilight explained. "Apple Bloom is Applejack's sister, and Sweetie Belle is Rarity's sister."

You quite frankly didn't care about what Rarity thought of you, but if Apple Bloom told AJ that you were terrorizing them, and she came to try and kick the hell out of you...well, you didn't want to have to knock two ponies out in as many days. Besides, you sort of liked AJ. She was among the few who either wasn't afraid of you or didn't hate your guts. The other three being Lyra, Spike, and Twilight, of course.

"What about Scootaloo?" You asked. Twilight shrugged.

"I don't know, she doesn't really talk about it." She shrugged again, before walking into the kitchen to make herself something to eat. You, meanwhile, went into your room. Closing the door behind you, you simply collapsed onto the bed. Twilight left the bed nice and toasty, which helped you go straight to sleep.

--

You slept much more comfortably that night, actually having a mattress under you for once. You eventually woke up, stretching and yawning. Your door was cracked open for some reason, you were sure you had closed it.

"Well Applejack, he talks in his sleep. Very disturbing talking too."

Twilight. You crept up to the door, not wanting them to know you were up yet.

"What does'e say?" The accented pony asked. They both sounded somewhat concerned.

"The only thing I could actually understand was "Why did you kill him?" I...I don't know."

You leaned back, trying to think. Nightmares again? You supposed they would never really go away. Came with the territory of being a hunter...which was your excuse every time you had one. You sighed. Which one was it this time...?

You listened again.

"Well Twilight, if Ah was you, Ah'd ask 'im myself... Ah'm not you though. Do what ya think is right." You heard hoofbeats on wood, growing louder. "Ah gotta get on back to the farm, Granny's got a "new recipe" she wanted to try out. Bring Anon on down when 'e wakes up, I bet he'd appreciate it." There was a special emphasis on the words "new recipe", but you couldn't for the life of you tell why.

The front door opened.

"Alright Applejack, thanks. I think I'll talk to him about it." Twilight said. "We'll be down in about an hour, thanks for the invite!"

"T'weren't nothin' Twilight. See ya there!" With that, the door clicked.

"Alright Twilight, how will you talk to him about this..."Hey Anon, heard you tossing and turning in your sleep. Anything you wanna tell me?" ...no, that sounds too bossy. How about "Hey, Anon, are you okay? I heard you talking in your sleep."" She was talking to herself, going over how to break the news to you that you were having an intense nightmare.

This was painful.

"Twilight, I'm up." You walked out of the room, much to her shock. She teared up a bit and galloped at you, wrapping her fore-hooves around your waist. "What the...?"

"Please tell me what happened..." She cried, her head buried into your stomach. It was slightly muffling her voice.

"I would if I remembered."

"Don't tell me that!" The sudden shout caught you off guard. "I didn't tell AJ everything, I heard a lot more. Names, Anon. A shout of just...pure hatred."

You frowned, realizing what she was talking about. You shook your head.

"I can't tell you about that Twilight. It's a horrible memory."

"Why not?"

"Because, I don't like bringing it up." You said, tone final. "It makes me...angry, and I don't want to give YOU the same nightmares I have."

"I can help though! I read a book on traumatic experiences, it says that talking about it makes things better!" Twilight nearly screamed, tears now freely streaming down her face.

"No."

"Anon!"

"NO GOD DAMMIT!" You shouted. "I will talk about it when I'm damn good and ready!"

This time she burst into tears. You immediately regretted shouting at her. She *was* only trying to help, but that was still a sensitive memory. You took a knee and held Twilight in a tight embrace. Her head was hanging off of your right shoulder, her tears staining your clothing. You just held the little unicorn tighter. Your own tears stained her fur. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."

You stayed there for almost twenty minutes, slowly rocking the sobbing Twilight back and forth. You gently stroked her mane, keeping your tight hold on her.

"Please...tell me..." She pleaded.

"I can't..."

"Why..."

"Because that day, I was a monster. I don't ever want to remember that." You said, throat tightening. You were getting choked up because of the crying pony in your arms. Twilight fell silent after that, her shoulders shuddering with each sob.

"A-a monster...?"

"No better than anything in the Everfree Forest. Worse, even." You said darkly. "Humanity has horrible motivations sometimes. It drove me to madness..."

"Anon..."

You decided to hell with it.

"Alright. I'll tell you."

"Anon?"

You let her go, and she sniffled, eyes locked onto yours. Bright violet orbs met your own eyes, hers shinning with tears unshed. She sat down. "Please, let me in..."

You nodded.

"Twilight, when I tell you this, I want you to understand something. Who I was when this happened...doesn't surface except under extreme duress."

"What kind of duress...?"

"Imagine if every friend you had was killed brutally in front of you, and the killers then mocked you as you were powerless to stop it." Her mouth dropped open and quivered, and her eyes threatened to open the floodgates again. You gently closed her mouth and stroked the side of her face. "Shh..."

You began your story.

"I was the highest rank in a hunting group, which made me the de-facto leader. They didn't mind, my experience more often than not allowing us to succeed.

"We were tasked with killing a single female dragon, a Lunastra. Much, much bigger than ourselves. Bright blue scales, almost like flames. Made sense, because she's known as the Empress of Flame. Near a volcano, not anything we hadn't done before."

Twilight was listening intently, eyes never leaving yours. You took a moment to gather your thoughts, and then you continued.

"Of course, there was a catch. It was mating season, so multiple Teostra were in the area. Male dragons, same species as the Lunastra. Emperor of Flame, covered head to tail in red scales and fur. As a result, we would be going with another group.

"This group were known as the "Black Tigrex Hunting Squad". Initially, I laughed. It was a ridiculous name, and they were all themed in the same armor. Black Tigrex armor, made of a ridiculously violent wyvern that lives in volcanoes."

"How violent is...'ridiculously violent'?" The lavender pony asked, quivering slightly.

"Entire villages would simply...vanish. The only traces being scraps of broken buildings and large claw marks of a Tigrex."

Twilight put a hoof to her mouth in silent shock.

"W-we have dragons here too, but they mostly stay to themselves...it's no wonder your species sees violence as necessary..."

You continued after Twilight was done her out-loud thinking.

"They were armored head to toe in the stuff. One had a massive hammer made from its claws and skull. Another had dual blades made from claws and teeth. A third had a bow made from its tendons and bones, covered in scales and shell. The fourth, the leader, had a massive blade made of a mix of carbalite-based steel and its razor sharp claws.

"They had a track record of every hunt being successful, so they were hired on in addition to us. They had a strange habit of coming back alone from group hunts like this, but I thought nothing of it."

Your hand clenched into a fist, and you felt the need to punch something.

"I should have figured it out sooner."

"What, Anon...?"

"Every time they came back alone, it was because they had killed the other group. I didn't realize it until it was too late, this would be the same.

We got to the area, and it was actually rather uneventful. We managed to get in without being detected, and killed the Lunastra while it slept. Brutal, but necessary." You added when you saw Twilight's horrified face.

"It's going to get worse Twilight. I hope you're ready."

She gulped, and then slowly nodded. "I-I want to help..."

"Then listen. We managed to get out of the hunt area without a single injury, and we signaled a balloon to come pick us up. I was talking to one of my friends...and the bitch with the bow shot him in the head mid-sentence. He was telling me how he was going to take a guild maiden out on a date when we got back..." Your voice quivered, the pain starting to surface again.

"The same archer then shot the balloon down, sinking it into the water. All hands, lost. The other three drew their weapons, and we fought...we were no real match, as caught off guard as we were. Another of my group, a woman, was gutted by the one with two swords. The final member of my team was cut down by the man with the greatsword, cut straight down the middle.

"It happened so fast, I couldn't even react. In an instant, Twilight. They were gone." Tears started forming in her eyes again.

"Anon...I..."

You held up a hand. "I'm not done. It gets worse." She fell silent, and you saw a bit of her color...fade.

"They attacked all at once. I was barely avoiding their attacks, not even able to mount a counter-attack. One of the archer's arrows found its way into my left thigh," you pointed at the scar, "and I fell. It was then that...something inside me snapped."

Twilight grew scared now, and she was shaking violently.

"I stood back up...and charged them. They didn't expect that, and I blew right past them. I was going for the archer. In one move, I drew my sword," you pointed at the golden blade in your room, "and gutted her. I severed her spine, the flames killing her instantly."

"I then moved on to the others. I held off the dual sworder with my shield, shoving him back and nearly sending him into a pool of lava. That gave me time to deal with the hammer user. He swung and just barely hit me in the wrist, breaking it and making me drop my sword. I didn't care. With my other hand, I drew my knife."

"As he was pulling his weapon up, I pushed my knife under his helmet and cut his throat."

"The dual sword user rushed me again, just as the greatsword user did. I stepped back, and the great sword user impaled his own teammate on his blade. The look of shock and betrayal I remember to this day...and I enjoy it." A dark grin found its way to your face. "All the pain he had caused me, he got to experience it firsthand."

"The other team leader had simply...given up after that. I wasn't satisfied. I grabbed him by his throat...and threw him into the lava lake beneath us. He screamed as he fell, before the lava silenced him forever."

Twilight looked sick, and her crying started anew. She held you tightly.

"That 'me' has never come out since. It's been three years since then." You felt...drained. Your eyes were dry, your throat cracking. You returned the embrace.

"Now you know why I didn't want to say anything. It's a terrible burden, one I don't want anyone else to bear. You may be wondering why they did it...well, for the reward money. They got more if it was split 4 ways instead of 8."

"Anon...are all humans that..evil...?"

"No Twi, most are genuinely good people...but the exceptions always make the largest impact." You were shaking, the memory still affecting you deeply. "I became a monster that night. I never want to feel that again."

Twilight simply wrapped you in an embrace, not letting go. You didn't think you wanted her to anyway.
--

You both sat there in silence for a little while, before a light snore sounded from your chest. Looking down, you saw the lavender pony had fallen asleep on you, tear streaks still evident. You smiled, then shook her awake.

"Oh Twiiiiiliiiight...wakey wakey sleepyhead..."

"Hu-wha?" She jerked awake, looking around confused. You chuckled a bit as she blushed when she realized what she had done. "Oh, sorry." She bashfully released you and stood up, yawning again.

"Think we should head to AJ's now? It's only been about 45 minutes." You said, remembering what the orange pony had told Twilight during your little eavesdropping session.

"Well, may-" Her sentence was interrupted by her stomach growling. She blushed a bit. "Uh, yeah. We probably should, there's going to be food there anyway." She called upstairs. "Spike? We'll be back soon!"

A sick "Okay" was the response, followed by a sneeze and the sound of a flame. "Uh oh..."

"Spike...? What did you just send...?" Twilight asked nervously.

"Uh, I might or might not have sent part of your bed."

Twilight groaned, slapping her forehead with a hoof.

"Spiiiike." The unicorn groaned, and then her stomach growled again. "Ugh, I'll figure this out when we get back. It's not like the damage is going anywhere..."

You followed her out of the treehouse, and she closed the door with a bit more force than was needed. The lock clicked, and she lead you to Applejack's place.
--

Twilight had been silently fuming on the way up, her face showing deep irritation.

"Uh, Twilight?"

"What?"  She snapped.

"Whoa, cool your heels."

"What?"

"Uh, hooves. Cool your hooves." You corrected yourself.

She shook her head. "Sorry. Spike burning away half my bed put me in a bad mood."

"I can tell. I was kinda expecting you to burst into flames or something."

"Heheheh...yeah..." Twilight chuckled nervously. You arched an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

"Aaaaanyway, where are we going, again?"

"Sweet Apple Acres, of course. It's the Apple Family farm."

You nodded, suddenly aware of the apple trees all around you. You then came to an entrance arch covered in ivy, a wooden sign with an apple cut out hanging from it. A traditional farm layout was inside, which surprised you somewhat. From the name, you would have expected...you know, just apple trees.

Regardless, Twilight led you on through. You walked past what you assumed was the Apple Family farmhouse, and towards a darkened barn.

"Uh, Twi...where are we going...?"

"You'll see. Trust me."

"If you say so..."

She stopped at the barn door. "You first!"

You arched an eyebrow at the purple pony. "What, are you scared or something?" Twilight had a wide grin on her face...something was up...

You figured the only way to find out would be to go in, so you pushed the door open.

"SURPRISE!"

A whole host of voices assaulted your ears and the lights flipped on. You, meanwhile, had panicked and jumped back outside. Feeling extremely foolish, you walked back in, chuckling to yourself.

"Alright, alright, you got me!" You laughed, the group of ponies joining in. At the forefront was Pinkie Pie, hanging from the rafters. In said rafters was a banner reading "Welcome to Ponyville, Anon!" Balloons and streamers were hanging everywhere, and music was playing from...somewhere. You didn't see anything that you recognized as being able to play music.

You looked through the crowd, spotting AJ, Lyra with a cast, Bon Bon, and a few others that you didn't recognize. You also saw a yellow pegasus with a pink mane talking to Applejack, you assumed this was Fluttershy.

"Hey Anon!" Pinkie called from above. "Think fast!"

You looked up and she leaped at you. You held your arms out...and she never hit your arms. You looked around, and then felt a strange weight on your head. You looked up, and pink hair was in your face.

"Ach, Pinkie!" You cried. "How are you DOING that?!"

She weighed almost nothing, standing on your head like a feather. She then hopped off of you, landing with a thud. She was giggling madly, while you stood there confused. You would never understand that mare...and you honestly think she preferred it that way. You shrugged, still grinning like an idiot.

You saw that even Rainbow Dash had managed to make it to the party. Her face was still bruised, but not swollen anymore. She was even smiling, even when she looked at you. That shocked you. Last you knew, you were both enemies.

"Anon! Hey bud, how ya doin'?" Dash said brightly, a hint of a blush on her face. She was slightly slurring her words too. Wait a minute...

"Uh Dash...have you been drinking...?" You asked, quirking an eyebrow. She nodded, stumbling a bit. "Okay, question 2. Alcohol?"

She thought for a minute, and you could almost see the gears struggling to turn.

"Uh, just the punch!"

You walked over and grabbed a cup, taking a sniff as you poured it in. There was definitely a hint of booze, but...

Taking a sip, you made a face. Weak as hell. You supposed it was enough for creatures of their body weight, but it would take more than the entire bowl to even make you semi-buzzed. Granted, you had a drink of some of the heaviest booze the Guild had to offer after each hunt, but...

Applejack rolled her eyes.

"Sorry 'bout that Anon, Rainbow here can't hold 'er 'punch'. We're all grown ponies here, so no harm in it, right?" The orange pony said with a bit of a grin. "Don't let Twilight get any neither, she can't handle it...in the worst kinda way."

That last bit sounded too ominous for your liking. "Uh, will do AJ."

Rainbow, meanwhile, had taken an interest in her wings, slowly extending and retracting them...then giggling like a fool. Applejack downed her punch like a shot, and appeared no worse for wear. She then filled it up again, before downing that one too. This time, she was looking right at you when she did it. Was she...challenging you? It certainly seemed like it...

--

Three hours had passed. Ponies of all kinds were watching both you and Applejack down hard cider shots for the better part of an hour. The blond earth pony was starting to feel it, one of her eyelids half closed. You, on the other hand, were just starting to get buzzed. This really wasn't fair, but you didn't really care.

Hell, you would get *full* before you would get drunk. That was your main issue, your stomach was groaning at you. Applejack took another shot, then very shakily put the glass on the table upside down. She grinned at you, barely staying stable. You then downed yours, flipping the glass and placing it opposite hers. Twilight was in the back, watching with a small frown. You figured she didn't like this kind of stuff simply because she couldn't participate.

The glasses were refilled, and this time you went first. You downed it and your stomach groaned in protest. You suppressed it, thinking AJ had one or two shots left in her.

She did not.

She lifted her glass, it touched her lips...and then she slumped over onto the table, asleep. Several cheers went up and Pinkie Pie came to get AJ.

"D'aww, poor wittle Applejack! Can't handle her cider!" Pinkie giggled. "Auntie Pinkie will put you right to bed, little missy!"

You stood, and stumbled a bit. Might have hit the cider a *bit* too hard. You staggered over to Twilight and she smiled nervously.

"So, having fun?" She asked, taking a careful look at you. You nodded, grinning from ear to ear. You sat down on a bench next to her.

"Couldn't be better, Twily!" Your focus drifted, and then you lost focus completely.

--

You jolted awake, looking around. Twilight was asleep in your lap, and the party had died down and stopped at some point. You don't remember much, to be honest...but your head hurt like a bitch. 'Should have had more than booze', you chided yourself.

Ah, whatever. It was a party, you were allowed to destroy yourself at least once. A quick look around confirmed that Pinkie, AJ, Fluttershy, and Rainbow were still in the barn, AJ and Rainbow sleeping off the spiked punch and cider. Fluttershy was using Pinkie as a pillow, and Pinkie's leg twitched now and again.

Twilight yawned tiredly in your lap, then rolled over onto her side. Her ear twitched, followed by a sleepy sigh as she fell back into a deep sleep. Thinking that was a fantastic idea, you quickly followed.
--