“BWAA!” the purple horn of Twilight Sparkle flashed as she instantly teleported a few feet back. She jumped as the pale blue stallion awoke with a start. Her face was close to his body, he had been asleep and she was using magic to scan his body. He looked at the two mares in the now sunlit cottage that belonged to Fluttershy. It was much cleaner then it was when he passed out. He looked at his now properly bandaged and splinted leg, it still hurt, but not nearly as bad at it had.

“Umm Striker? This is mah friend.” Applejack began “Ah kinda told her... everything. Ah had to Ah needed help! I hope you don't mind.”

“Twilight Sparkle.” she introduced herself with a cautious smile.

“I do mind, you had no right to go about telling my secrets, but you did it to help so I wont get mad. Ms. Sparkle my Seeker business stays between us.” he stated still partially asleep, laying on a couch, but still fully understanding what was happening now.

“I can do that.” She replied in a voice that didn't reek confidence.

He gave a heavy groan. “Can I trust you to keep my secret?” he asked with a glare.

“Of course, I'm not the kind of pony who blabs secrets or anything.” She said, giving a nervous smile.

“Good. Where's that little pegasus? Flittermy? Where's my hat?” he asked looking about the room.

“Fluttershy is getting some rest, Ah'll go get yer hat, ahm sorry, I forgot to get that.” Applejack remarked before making her way upstairs.

The room was now empty save for Striker and Twilight. Twilight cleared her throat.

“Umm I just wanted to say thank you for saving my friends. It looks like you really took one for the team. You're a real hero. And your secret is safe with me.” she gave another nervous smile

“I'm no hero, just doing my job Ms. Sparkle.” He stated coldly as he got up from the couch he was laying on.

“Oh Twilight is fi- hey! I just scanning you, you're missing a lot of blood. You should stay down and get some rest, try to sleep more.”

“I've been through worse Ms. Sparkle.”- He finished getting off the couch and began looking through the room. -”Where's my trench coat, and all my stuff?” he asked in a rather somber tone.

“You should really get some more rest Mr. Striker” Twilight stated with a concerned voice, as her horn glowed levitating a cardboard box from behind the couch. Inside it were numerous boxes of ammo, his sawed-off, cigarettes, a lighter, a flask, two journals of some kind, two bags of bits, a letter (the one he received from Luna), and a small lock box.

“Over the years I've developed a tolerance to things like... this.”- he wiggled his bum leg -”Don't you worry Missy, I'll be fine. You two didn't look through my things did you?”

“No, of course not!” She waved a hoof in surprise.

“Where's my trench coat?”
Twilight grimaced. “Ummmm...”

Applejack's voice cut in. “We uhhh, we burnt it, along with the rest of the Black Dog, it was coated in blood.” she told him as she lightly tossed him his hat.

He gave a sigh. “Well, if you two wouldn't mind could you point me in the direction of a restaurant, and where I could by myself a new trench coat?” he asked while putting his hat back on, then put his box of belongings onto his back.

“Umm, we could all... umm go out for breakfast, you did save all our lives.” Fluttershy's timid voice stated.

Everypony there was surprised to see her awake. Applejack looked apologetic.

“Come to think of it, you said that the Black Dog targets ponies close to Fluttershy. Well there aint a pony in town who aint friends with Fluttershy, so you actually saved the whole town!” Applejack said with a grin on her face.

“And I'd like to thank you more officially for saving my friends.” Twilight added catching on.

Striker gave another sigh. He knew that these mares had no intention of letting him go on his way. They wanted to say thanks. But he didn't like the idea of spending more time with these mares. They were nice enough, but he wasn't one who really liked having “Friends”. Seekers don't really have friends, and if that Seeker does, those friends usually do not last long. He really did not look forward to staying here longer. He gave a frown.

“There's no getting out of this is there?”

“Nope” the three said in unison.

Twilight, to her credit, did want to do something for the stallion who saved her dear friends. But she did have some alternative motives. She wanted to learn more about Seekers. Who are they, do they meet up, do most Seeker know each other? What of these dark monsters that hide in the dark? The idea of Black Dogs intrigued her. How did the creature do what it did. How did it harvest emotions for nourishment. Why did those herbs ward it off? She had tons of questions, and she wanted to be his friend, partially for more selfish reasons, but also to make a new friend.

Applejack was moreover just thrilled to alive. Her night was nightmarish. And she did not like thinking about it, but she was alive now! The sun was out and shining brightly in the sky! She wanted to spend time with her closest friends. She wanted to invite Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity, but wasn't sure how much Striker would like bringing more ponies into this. Even if they didn't learn of his secret, he didn't come off as a social butterfly. She didn't mind though. She saw Striker as a new friend.

Fluttershy on the other hoof, kept telling herself to be cool. To be direct, she had a crush on Striker. Not only had he helped her do something she never though possible for herself, but he was also quite handsome. Not only that, he had saved her life, and the life of her closest friends, whom he hardly knew for less then a day. He was a good pony, she could tell. She really, really, wanted to, at the very least be his friend. She personally wanted to be alone with him, but knew she probably wouldn't be able to with out turning redder then a tomato.

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The three sat at outdoor restaurant. Striker's box of belongings sat underneath his chair. All quite content with eating their meal. None of them really spoke. Until the silence was broken by a somepony.

“OH. MY. GOSH. ARE YOU NEW IN TOWN? Because I know everypony in town, but I don't know you, so that means either I have been missing you, or your new in town! OHMYGOSH! I HAVE TO THROW YOU A SURPRISE PARTY! OHMYGOSH! I JUST RUINED THE SURPRISE. NOW IT HAS TO BE A WELCOME TO TOWN PARTY! OHMYGOOOOOOSH WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR LEG?!” the intensely pink pony stated somehow managing all that in a single breath.

"Oh boy..." Applejack stated

“Umm... I am new here-”Striker responded

“AH-HA I knew it!!” the pony interrupted “I'm your new best friend Pinkie Pie!”

“...ok?”

“So what happened to your leg?!, and don't worry I'm gunna throw you a “Welcome to town, hope you get well soon” party!?

“I don't really... need a party. As for my le-”

“DON'T. NEED. A. PARTY. AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!” and with that Pinkie ran off someplace screaming.

Striker looked to the three friends.

“Yeah... that's our friend Pinkie Pie.” Twilight said after a sip of her herbal tea.

“Ah think you broke her.” Applejack said with a laugh, before taking another big bite out of her waffles.

“Umm... yeah you should know there is going to be a party in your honor, even if you don't want it, Pinkie is going to throw one for you.” Fluttershy chimed in with a smile.

Striker was pretty confused. He was very disturbed that these mares were general not disturbed by the rather odd actions. He was not one for social gatherings... at all. He recalled the bad mood being at a train station gave him. “And she throws random ponies... parties on a whim?”

“Yup” Applejack spoke with her mouth still quite full of waffle.

“Well not so much random ponies, she actually selects specific ponies, but the whole party on a whim thing is pretty normal.” Twilight said, taking a careful bite of her toast.

“Normal? She does that regularly?”

“Oh yeah, fer birthdays, anniversaries, dentist appointments, you name it!” Applejack stated in between bites.

“And that's... normal”

“Well, that's Pinkie Pie.” Fluttershy said sipping her orange juice.

It astounded him that that kind of behavior had grown normal to these mares. He gave a sigh and continued eating. The three hadn't bothered to stop with all the Pinkie Pie business, he realized that Pinkie Pie's behavior really was normal to them.

“Listen, you don't have to go, I'm pretty sure Pinkie wouldn't mind.... that much....at first.” Twilight told him in an attempt to be friendly.

“It seem like you are all very close, ponies like that don't get the best reception all the time. How well do you all know each other? I wouldn't mind going if it's a favor for you three.” He replied casually.

“She's one of our best friends, which reminds me, we have to introduce you to Rainbow Dash and Rarity as soon as possible.” Fluttershy spoke, then gave him a small smile.

Sticker thought about that for a moment. At first the idea of staying in town seemed... unfortunate. And the overbearing levels of kindness and friendship these mare were extending to him seemed....well overbearing. But he was starting to see how pleasant this could all be. Twilight had mentioned living and working at the town library on the way to the restaurant, that gave him a direct connection to the town library, and thus all the town's records if a new case were to pop up, like Luna had said might happen. Applejack would definitely give him a good name around town, as would Fluttershy, so he should meet very little resistance in his investigations. Normal ponies don't give information that Seekers look for to strangers. Their word would give him an edge. This Pinkie Pie was strange, but he was sure she could prove useful, perhaps her parties could help him create more allies. He didn't know about Rarity, or Rainbow Dash, but he was sure they would be useful to him at some point. However, it didn't feel right to him, if he were to just use these girls for his own gain. He actually liked them, and a rather large portion of him wanted to be their friend. But Seekers and friends don't mix. Yet these mares were so nice to him. The conflicting emotions bothered Striker, so he did what he always does when he is emotional confused or hurt.

“Hey, waiter, yeah you, can I get a whiskey sour, room temperature, no ice please.” His call gaining the attention to a teenage mare who didn't looked thrilled to be working this early.

“Hey, you can't drink, you are suffering from severe blood loss!” Twilight whispered.
He wave a hoof in response, “I'll be fine.”

“Sir, it's barely 8:30 in the morning.”

“I know the time, I could really use a drink.” The waitress gave a sigh and trotted away.

“You really should not drink.” Twilight's warning echoed the words Fluttershy and Applejack wanted to say.

“First, I'll be fine, it's one whiskey. Second, I have quite the tolerance to alcohol, I started drinking at a very, very, early age.”

Twilight said nothing. Her body language however was quite sharp. The three mares saw how bad his injuries were, and needless to say, they were all worried about him. Striker on the other hoof, knew his limits. He spent a long time training, so he knows his body well. He knew that he would have to take it easy for a while, his broken leg really slowed him down. But he knew that it wouldn't stop him from solving cases.

“So, you gunna go to Pinkie's party Striker?” Applejack said intentionally changing the subject.

“I guess, although I really need a trench coat first.”

“Well, we'll take you to the best tailor in town, she'll get ya what ya need.” She replied.

The rest of the breakfast went on without a hitch. The girls began to speak of their upcoming Nightmare Night plans; they were all going to pinkie's big Nightmare Night party, it was only three days away. Striker did not like Nightmare Night. Not because it meant talking to ponies, but because what a supernatural night that night really is. Nightmare Night, is the night were the spirit world is closest to the physical plane. Ghost and other type of spectres roam this night. It is quite literally the worse night of all the possible nights, for such an event. However Striker kept that to himself, noting wanting to burst the girls' bubble, they, obviously, were quite excited. They spoke to each other about costume ideas, and even convinced Striker to spend the night with them. His intentions were to make sure his newest companions were safe. They wanted to see if he would actually show up.

Sadly, as mid day began to arrive, the mare's had to leave due to their busy home lives. Twilight had work to do at the library. Applejack had a lot of explaining to do to her family. And Fluttershy was too nervous to be temporarily alone with Striker, so she made an excuse about finding her animal friends before running away. Striker was left just outside Carousel Boutique. Where he was told the tailor, Rarity, one of the aforementioned best friends, would assist him. With his box on his back he trotted in.

The place was much more high class then he originally anticipated. With elegant fancy dresses as decoration, extravagant wall fixtures,and paintings. The cat who napped silently on a pillow even seemed high class. However the overall classy feeling was dropped when he heard a white unicorn mare with a fancy purple mane, who he correctly assumed to be Rarity, and a unknown white filly with a much lighter shade of purple mixed evenly with pink as her mane color, argue. He tried not to eavesdrop but he did anyway, the silence of the shop making their argument seem loud.

“Aww that's not fair! Applebloom's cousin is only coming for a few days, we HAVE to spend Nightmare Night together!” the filly shouted.

“And you will Sweetie Belle, just not the whole night, I'm sure she wouldn't mind it on any other night.”

“But Nightmare Night is only once a year and were gunna miss it!”

“You wont miss it at all Sweetie, you just wont be up as late, its not that big a deal.”

“If Nightmare Night isn't a big deal then why don't you not go to Pinkie's party so you can watch us?! Besides you get to see you're friends everyday, Babs only comes to visit on special occasions! Occasions like Nightmare Night!”

“Sweetie Belle, enough is enough, you and your friends can spend the night together any other night.”

“But it's not fair! We don't even need a babysitter were not babies!”

“Sweetie Belle! I-Oh!” Finally noticing Striker “We can talk about this later!” She finished a statement toward the filly, then returned to her focus to the customer. “Welcome to... oh my, you must be Striker, the heroic stallion who saved Fluttershy and Applejack!”

Striker flinched in confusion. Had somepony told her what happened? How much did she already know!?

“Uhh... yeah.” He replied with an edge on his voice.

“Fluttershy has always taken care of strays, I warned her that one day something might get the wrong idea and attack her. Thank Celestia that you and Applejack were there to help!”

“How... who told you about this, it just happened last night.”

“Well Twilight of course, she saw the whole thing! How that rapid dog attacked Fluttershy out of nowhere, how you and Applejack saved her! How when it pounced at Applejack, you threw yourself in harm's way! She wrote me a letter explaining everything this morning.” she told him with a smile, her magic floating up a letter. “Your poor leg looks horrible! My, you are quite the hero.”

“Just doing what I can to help miss.”

“Oh my, listen to me gawk. You must be in here for a reason, what can I do for you?” She spoke, her grin never fading.

“I just need a trench coat, with a lot of pockets on the inside.”

Rarity gave him an odd look “That's it? A trench coat with extra pockets?”

He opened the box and slid out a small bag of bits. “Yeah that's it, how much will it be?”

“Well, just a simple trench will not do! I shall make you the finest coat any trench will ever see! Yes, I can see it now-” her horn began to glow, and magic began to levitate several objects from around the store “-you look the Roguish Type, yes I'd say this will go nicely!”

“All I need is a trench coat ma'am, I aint got much money, so a simple trench coat alright?”

“Money? You saved my friend's lives! You shan't pay a single bit for this coat sir!” Rarity boomed excited to see her vision become clear. Striker however was very surprised. She would go the extra few miles to make him a nice trench coat, but did not intend on charging him any money for it.

“Wow, umm that's very generous of you ma'am.”

“Oh shush, I'm just doing what I can to help sir." (her tone the same as his when he spoke those words seconds ago) "I'll have your order ready in a few hours.” and with that she left to the back room of her store, her cloud of utensils following her, save for a measuring tape, which quickly made its self very personal with Striker before leaving to catch up.

Striker, not having anything specific in mind just had a seat. Near the counter Rarity had stood behind.