“Another round Striker?”

“Yeah, ...thanks.”

The pale blue earth pony stallion slid a hoof full of bits onto the bar, his eye's blocked by a black cowpony hat, and a honey yellow mare with a smooth bronze mane and tail served him a tall mug of hard cider. He took a drink and gave a sigh. Then there was an awkward silence between the two. He looked about the bar. The old building was built tough, it must have been seventy or eighty years old. The hardwood floorboards had faded in color with age, but had a layer of grime which gave them a greasy looking texture, they also carried stains that varied in size shape and color, reminding him of those ink blob tests. The walls were also a hardwood paneling of some kind, much less stained but just as faded. The bar he sat at was much newer, having been redone some time within the last two years or so. The only slightly scratched and stained mahogany still boomed color, and was polished repeatedly to a mirror sheen.

“You finish up that case over in Heartwoods?” the mare stated, breaking the silence.

“Yeah, it was a Hiderunner.”

“Damn that's... grim.”

“You can say that again, that fucker nearly shredded an entire family!” he stated loudly

“You save a few?” a hint of melancholy in her eyes and voice

“One” he replayed taking a long drink of his cider directly after.

“More then one, all it's future victims” she mended, as if already knowing what to say.

“It's just...” he struggled to find the right words, setting his half empty mug down

“Damn that little filly is going to end up so fucked up in the head!” he added, burying his face in his hooves.

“Did she see the the Hiderunner... like after it did its thing?” the mare had worry in her voice, not for the filly but for Striker, she had never seen him react so poorly to ponies who were... negatively effected by the event witnessed while out working a case. This wasn't like him.

“I don't think so, I pray she didn't... that would have been much worse.”

The mare cleaned a mug, taking a cloth in one of her hooves and rubbing the mug dry.
“Hiderunners...” She shivered as the word left her lips, a chill running down her spine.

“I really hate Hiderunners” he began. “Any creature who is willing to rip apart its prey then wear it's victims skin like a goddess-damned blanket as it hunts down its next victim deserves to be put the fuck down!” the anger he held in rang out more the longer he spoke, not wanting to burst he poured the rest of the cider down his throat to silence himself.

The mare was silent for a time, but her curiosity got the best of her as she poured him another drink.

“You ganked the Hiderunner right away, so what the fuck took you so long?” She asked sliding the drink to him.

He gave a snort/chuckle, placing more bits on the bar.

“Wanted to make sure that the filly ended up alright, so I just kept an eye on her 'till I knew she'd be fine”

OK something was up here. The mare thought to herself. The mare had spent her life giving Seekers like Striker a place to drink in peace. Striker came here often enough that she knew him by his full name, which doesn't seem like much but with Seekers full names warranted a high level of trust. This was not like Striker at all. In all of the time she had known him, he had never been the kind of stallion who “kept an eye on" any of his clients after the case was finished. So why did he do it this time? This was odd. She wanted to know more but knew if she pressed any further Striker would just leave the bar, he was obviously pissed about it and is usually more talkative. Instead she continued to clean her mugs, washing them, then drying them two or three at a time.

After a hour or so, Striker stood up.

“Well I got another case! See ya!” He stated in a hurry as he turned and trotted toward the door. His demeanor completely changed, a return to normalcy.

“Whoa another case already?! Don't you think you should rest up a bit?” the mare asked concerned and confused, not noticing his mood shift.

“Nah!” He turned his face to the mare, cracking a grin toward her. His sapphire eyes blazing under his hat, “I'm a Seeker, and I gotta job to do for a very important client!” he added

The mare grinned, her worry for the stallion fading as she reminded herself just how tough Seekers in general were, let alone one like Striker. She returned her mind back to the bar.

“Yo Golden Bear” He stated inches from the door. The honey mare looked up and was shocked. The stallion held a whiskey bottle to his lips and grinned from ear to ear.
“Apple whiskey taste better when you don't pay for it!” He mocked

“Hey! Now that's going on your tab Striker!!” She shouted at him as he galloped out the bar.
“Well at least he's acting like himself again” she thought to herself, her focus returning to the bar once more. But before she could focus, a shadow of a thought flowed across her mind like frigid water, giving her a chill flowing down her back. For some odd reason she couldn't help but feel like this would be the last time she would see Striker for a long time.
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Striker didn't like trains, but he needed to get someplace far as fast as possible, and this was the best way to do it. Something about getting this many ponies together in such a small amount of space just bothered him. The train station was crowded and loud, two things he really hated. The line to purchase tickets was actually not that long, but felt like an eternity for Striker, waiting in line was yet another thing he hated. After much anticipation on his part he reached the ticket booth.
“One please” he spoke, the irritation clear in his voice. The mare in the ticket booth open a slit and Striker placed some bits within it, the ticket mare then slid him a ticket. Her voice sounded full of pseudo enthusiasm “Thank you and enjoy your trip” she droned

He waited for the train's door to finally open the noise of the crowd giving him a headache. Once the train was open, he quickly found a seat in the back and let out a sigh of relief. He stealthily pulled out a flask from his ever-present trench coat and took a quick swig. Sliding the flask back, and a letter out, he looked at the seal of Princess Luna encrusted on the cracked wax, he opened it and went over it's contents again.

Dear brave Sun Striker

We, I would like to reluctantly ask for your aid once again. Once thou hast finished thine current case, We I ask that you make haste toward the small town of Ponyville. We I fear that the town may be in danger, more danger then it can handle without the Sunfall Clan. The town has a reputation for... dramatic events so please take caution. Please inform us as soon as possible if you choose to aid us. We have faith in both your skill and blood, and wish thee good luck whether or not thou aids us or not.

Best of Wishes

Princess Luna

He grinned at the informality of the letter, it reassured him that his business remained between his clients and himself. With the letter came a small amount of bits, and a map on how to reach the town of Ponyville. He hoped that he would be able to sleep on the train, the trip would take about three whole days, but sleep would skip some of that, hopefully most of it. He wanted to speak to Luna from the dreamscape, she knew more about him then she let on, and he knew it. He had to admit to himself that part of the reason he was helping her was so he could learn more about what she knows about him, and Seekers in general. She was hiding something, but he didn't have all of the pieces to her puzzle, he would have to wait to start piecing things together.

The train started with a groan, as it slowly began to move along the rails. Doing his best to zone out all of the idle chi-chat among the ponies that shared the train cart he closed his eyes, the whiskey's fire still burning in his stomach, he hoped that he wouldn't finish the bottle he snuck on board before he reached Ponyville. He probably would though.

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Mean while just outside the Everfree Forest the was a small cottage. Home to the young pegasus Fluttershy. It was mid afternoon and she was... well fluttering along searching for some of her animal friends who had gone missing. Normally animals come and go from her home, but she hadn't seen two or three of her little woodland critters in about a week, which was odd they usually at least stop by to say hello every few days at the least Not to mention how several of her woodland friends were visiting less often then normal.

She hummed a song to herself as she looked around getting farther and farther from her cottage. Suddenly she was hit with a rather odd smell, one she knew, but just couldn't put a hoof on. Ignoring it she continued on her merry way. The smell grew stronger however, stopping her train of thought. Deciding to investigate the smell, which was now pungent in the air, she followed her nose. She found herself just within the edge of the Everfree, a forest she knew well enough to live near peacefully.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted it. Some kind of wounded animal laying limp on the forest floor, just beyond her sight, inside a hidden forest grove. She naturally went to investigate, worried and wanting to help, she approached the creature. Which upon hearing her enter it's little grove perked an ear. Her concern had clouded her mind, she didn't even notice how strange the grove was. The grass was dried and yellow. The trees were bare, and a sickly pale. A mild fog filled the grove. That smell was now brutally strong. There was no sound, just the labored breathing of the beast, and the crunching of dead grass at her hoofsteps. Now much closer, she had thought the animal to be a skinny bear.

Unfortunately the second it picked itself up and turned to look at her she was filled with absolute horror at what she saw. All at once she recognized the animal, and remembered what that smell was. The animal growled. It's entire body was black, jet black. Not because of its color of fur, but because the creature was burned. Charred black, the creature stood on all fours. She looked into it's eyes, which were glazed over and white. The shape of the creature was now much more horrifying. Bits of black charred flesh hung aching to fall off with the slightest breeze. She saw that it was not a skinny bear, but a huge dog it stood taller then she did. But more terrifying then its glazed eyes, size, and charred flesh was its jaw. The monster looked like it had been charred black, but whoever did so peeled the charred flesh off of the dogs jaw. Unlike the rest of its body, the dog's jaw was dripping with wet bloody flesh, nothing hiding its teeth, the dog looked like it was constantly baring it's fangs. It snarled, and she balked. Her mind went blank. The dog let out a hungry roar, as Fluttershy screamed as loud as she could. The sent of ash and smoke fresh in the air.

Author's Notes:

This one went smoothly.
Striker hates a lot of things.
Next chapter the ball starts rolling.