Hunter the Shadewing

by Kelvin Shadewing

First published 5th of August, 2013

A human finds himself lost in Equestria in the form of a shadewing.

What is reality? What is fiction? After waking up in a land I thought was fictional as a species from a video game, I kind of stopped caring about the difference between reality and fiction. You tend to lose sight of that when you're in the middle of a war, trying to protect a small child, but I'm getting ahead of myself. My name is Hunter, and I am a shadewing.

Cover line art by Foxboy83 and colored by myself.
My Little Pony (C) Hasbro.
Shadewings and Kyrodian Legends (C) Nick Kovacs (myself).
Rated teen for violence and occasional swearing.

Chapter 1

The first thing I remember was a blinding light shining in my face. I winced and squinted, holding my arm over my face to block some of the light and let my eyes adjust. Underneath me, I felt the texture of dirt against my chest, belly and legs, telling me I'd slept outside. I didn't remember camping, and I don't usually get drunk. As far as I could tell, the night before had been pretty normal; I went out and met some friends from college, they took me to a party at one of the frat houses, and I didn't want alcohol because I was driving, so I got some Pepsi instead, and... oh crap. I think the Pepsi was what got spiked. Which means I was probably naked on the campus grounds. Great.

It took almost a whole minute before the pain went away, and I could finally observe my surroundings. It wasn't the campus; I'd never seen this place before. I was out in the forest, the trees were tall and had dark brown bark, almost black, and a thick canopy of leaves that barely allowed any sunlight to enter. The fact that I was naked in the woods would have been scary enough without the black paw hanging over my head.

I yelped and rolled away at the same time as whatever creature was there made a barking sound. On my back, I looked up and saw nothing there. I looked left, nothing, right, nothing, down, a pair of black, scaly legs. Jumping up, I tried to climb to my feet, and ended up faceplanting on the dirt.

Something was here, something big and scary and most likely dangerous, and I was face-down and ass-up on the ground.

I tried to groan, and heard a strange growling noise in place of my own voice. I pushed myself up and looked around, but the thing still wasn't there. I did notice a black wing behind me, and spun around, catching a glimpse of a body and--wait a second. I turned my head slowly, and realized something peculiar: either I wasn't in my normal body, or I had a strange creature's head rammed up my rear end.

Without any better ideas, I experimentally moved my right leg, and the creature's right hind leg moved as well. I even felt the dirt under my toes when I put my leg back down. Flexing a new muscle I felt under my shoulders, I saw the wings flex as well.

Well that's a relief, I thought to myself, At least my ass hasn't been violated. I sighed and sat on my haunches, taking a deep, calm breath and then--WHAT THE HELL?! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BODY?!

Well that's what I was thinking. When I tried to say it, however, it sounded more like a lion and a wolf mating. Don't ask how I know what that sounds like. I hacked and grabbed my throat with a clawed paw, then tried to speak again and just got more growling noises.

This was getting me nowhere, so I decided to calm down and try to figure out just what I'd been turned into. Looking myself over, I was a scaled quadruped with dragon wings, a warg-like body shape, and a lion tail. My scales were black, no scratch that, dark teal, and my mane and tail tip tuft were a dull mid-tone gray.

Where had I seen an animal like this before? Oh yeah, that one video game on Steam. That meant... I was a freaking shadewing. I tried to remember what I could about shadewings; apparently there were two kinds, and you could tell which was which by the color of their eyes and horn. There was nothing reflective around for me to look at my face with, so I opted to cross my eyes and try to see my horn instead.

Now, I realize I would have looked really dumb, but shadewings don't have visible pupils or irises. Their eyes are covered by a sort of one-way mirror shell, and I couldn't tell you what they look like underneath. I couldn't see my horn anyway, so the other option would be to try to use my shadewing powers and do something.

The first type of shadewing was the red eyes, blue horn type, which could turn invisible. I stared at my legs and focused on cloaking myself, straining to do something I had no idea how to do, hoping that instinct would take over the rest. After a moment of straining myself, I let out a breath and gave up. Clearly, I couldn't turn invisible.

The second type was the green eyes, orange horn type, which could move things telekinetically. This time, I stared at a nearby rock, and focused on moving it towards myself. The rock twitched, but I wanted to make sure it was really me and not some burrowing animal, so I pulled a little harder. Next thing I knew, a big lump of gray was racing towards my face, followed by tremendous pain.

OW, ME SCHNOZ! I thought, roaring a vocal expression of pain. I ducked my front down so I could grab my muzzle with my forepaws. OK, so I'm the green-eyed variety. That's good to know.

Now that I had a hold on what I was and what my brand of mind powers were, I needed to learn how to control my new body. Checking my paws to make sure I wasn't bleeding, which I wasn't thanks to my nice scaly hide, I got back onto my paws and started walking around. It wasn't as hard as I expected, though I did trip on a few roots. As my confidence grew, I tried to move faster until I reached an all-out run.

Man, did running feel good! I never enjoyed it that much in my human body, but like this, it was incredible. I was moving so fast, and it just got easier the more I did it! I felt swift, powerful, unrestricted; I felt like I was truly free.

I was pulled out of my prancing when I picked up the sound of something in the distance. It was a voice, but I couldn't tell what it said. My ear swiveled until it locked onto the source, and I turned to follow it. I prowled silently; the voice became clearer the closer I got to it until I was able to tell what I was listening to. It sounded like a small child was crying, and I don't mean just simple "I lost my dog" crying, I mean they were crying hard, and judging by the shortness of breath, they'd been crying for a while and showed no signs of stopping.

Peeking through the bushes, I gaped at what I saw. Pink fur, leafy green mane, and most importantly, hooves. Tiny, soft, fuzzy hooves. There was only one place where creatures had hooves like that: Equestria. Oh yeah, the gigantic eyeballs kind of clued me in, too.

Great, I thought, I'm in Equestria, and I'm the most feared predator on another planet. What would they think of me here? Here in... I looked around and it finally struck me. Oh, shit... I'm in the Everfree Forest!

I looked back at the crying filly, at least I guessed she was a filly by the sound of her voice, and tried to project my thoughts at her.

Hey, can you hear me?

No response. Maybe if I moved in closer...

"Hey, trying not to scare that little pony?" said a twig under my paw, "Allow me to play you the song of my people!"

SNAP!

The foal jumped up and her ears perked forward. She turned her head and saw me in an instant, freezing in place at the sight of me.

I froze in place, and I could feel my eyes were as wide as dinner plates. Uh, hi--

"AAAAAAAHHH!!!" the filly shrieked and recoiled away from me. Her back was already against a tree, so she rolled to the side and tried to run.

I quickly sprinted in front of her and blocked her path. I'm not going to hurt you, I thought.

She scrambled and turned tail, and I jumped in front of her again.

Hey, can you even hear me?

The foal fell on her side and put up a foreleg defensively. "P-please, don't eat me!" she screamed, "Help! Somepony, please help!"

I am not. Going. To. Hurt you, I tried to project, but for some reason, she wasn't getting a word of what I had to say. So much for shadewings being telepathic. Or maybe ponies simply weren't receptive to shadewing telepathy.

Either way, the truth still stood: we were lost in the Everfree together. The sun looked as though it would be setting soon, and the predators would be coming out to hunt. We needed a safe place, and soon.

I stepped forward towards the trembling filly, and gently put a paw on her head. She froze at my touch, and I proceeded to stroke her mane, trying to calm her down. When she looked up at me, I tried to smile without showing too many teeth, an effort that was probably already wasted due to my saber fangs jutting down from the end of my muzzle. Either way, I think the message got across.

"A-are you... gonna eat me?" she asked.

I shook my head, and stepped closer so I was almost over her.

The filly sniffled. "I... I just wanna go home. I want my mama and my papa."

I nodded. Don't worry. I'll help you find them.

If we were in the Everfree, that meant Ponyville must have been nearby. Recalling the map Hasbro made, the Everfree was due west of Ponyville. That meant we had to go north. Hey, since when has Hasbro been right about anything they made up? For all I knew, the sun went backwards in this world, and the moon was warm.

Ignoring my cynicism, I nudged the filly with a paw, and then nodded my head to the side to tell her to follow me. Come on. Let's get out of this forest.

She shied away from me and whimpered.

I sighed and nodded sideways again. Let's go.

"Are you gonna take me home?" she asked.

Yeah, my telepathy definitely wasn't working. I nodded, and turned partially, keeping my eyes on her to make sure she was following.

The pony slowly got to her hooves, then sniffled again and wiped her tears off her face with her foreleg. She joined me by my side and looked up at me, still showing nothing but fear. If she trusted me at all, it was probably a desperate trust.

And then we were off. I led her east, hoping that Hasbro had given me an accurate map as we trekked through the thick brush and seemingly endless span of trees. Maybe we'd get lucky and find Zecora's hut, and she could show us the way to Ponyville.

I heard a low growl coming from beside us. OK, so maybe we wouldn't get lucky, and get eaten by forest monsters. I snapped my head in the direction the sound came from, and saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes preceding a head made of logs and sticks emerging from the trees around us. Timber wolves; of freaking course.

My muscles tensed up, and my mane bristled like a cat. I stepped over the filly protectively, flaring out my wings to look intimidating as a deep, loud growl rolled out of me. I could hear the foal under me whimpering, and felt her huddle up into a tiny ball. Looking at my opponents, I noticed that their claws and teeth were also made of wood, but I knew full well that even wood could be powerful; after all, if a tree could survive having a truck wrapped around it, they could probably get hard enough to pierce my scales.

I focused on the legs of the one that dared to step closest to me, probably gauging my threat level, and pulled a tendon in the middle of its hind leg, causing it to stoop backwards into a very silly position. Then I lunged, newfound instincts leading me directly towards the creature's throat. Logic took hold just a second too late when I remembered these beasts were made of wood; attacking the throat probably wouldn't do much damage. At least I had their attention now, and I threw my wood-be prey (ha ha, get it?) into one of his pack mates as another tried to jump me from the side.

I rolled under him and threw him with my wing, then jumped up and grabbed a rock with my mind, launching it at the next attacker. One of them got me from behind, and sank his fangs into my... uh, flanks, causing me to roar in pain. I was right; their teeth were sharp, and their jaws were so strong, I almost felt like it would break my lower spine if it held on any longer.

I grabbed one of his buddies in my psychic grip, and swung him around myself. The two wolves shattered on impact, and I took a second to check my wound. It was too dark to tell if I was bleeding, but some scales were definitely ripped out.

One of them snarled as it jumped up at me, and I ducked and pushed it away with my mind. I figured out something interesting doing this: if an object was already in motion when I pushed it, its momentum stayed the same, provided the change in direction wasn't too great. That gave me an idea, and I grabbed one and began to swing it around before firing another impulse from my mind, shooting the fanged missile into a large tree and blasting it into thousands of unrecognizable splinters. So increasing the momentum made my throws even deadlier; good to know.

I flapped my wings and jumped over the next one, landing on him and using another impulse to rip his body in half with his hindquarters sliding along the ground away from us.

The last mobile wolf grabbed onto my wing and shook its head, trying to rip my nice new limb right out of its socket. I rounded on it, pinned it down, then ripped its head off. Taking no chances with this one's body being more intact than the others, seeing as timber wolves could revive themselves over time, I looked up and launched the head off into the distance.

At last, all was quiet. I panted heavily, tasting tree sap in my mouth; timber wolf blood, I figured. I turned and checked my wound more closely this time, and instinctively licked it a few times to clean it out. The blood had already stopped flowing to it, even better that it might make us harder to track if I didn't smell hurt.

Speaking of smells, I took a whiff of the air and caught the scent of the filly, then followed it to a hiding place she'd found under a bush. Opening the side of it, she gasped at my appearance and shrank away.

I smiled down at her, and extended a paw in what I hoped she would interpret as a friendly gesture. Eventually, she caught on, and apprehensively extended her foreleg, wrapping her hoof around my paw. I gently pulled her out of the bushes, and as soon as she was clear, looked her over for any signs of injury. Everything seemed to check out with her, but my inspection was making her even more nervous.

She started to mumble something, then cut herself off. My ears perked up, and I watched her expectantly, waiting to hear what she had to say.

"C-can I... please go home now?"

I looked up at the sky. The sun was going down, and it would be night time soon. Timber wolves were already fine and dandy with hunting in the daytime, as it seemed, so what kind of creatures could we expect at night? I didn't want to find out. Looking solemnly at my new charge, I sighed and shook my head.

"What?" She took a step back. "Why not?"

Because it isn't safe, I tried yet again to project to her. When she didn't react, I turned and looked for some kind of alternative method of communication. Finding a patch of dirt that still had some light on it, I went over too it, scratched it with my claw, and motioned for her to come read what I'd written.

NOT SAFE OUT
CAMP UNTIL DAY

She looked at my writing, then back at me. Then, with tears and a sniffle that broke my heart, she looked down at her hooves, crestfallen. She started to cry softly, causing me to bite my lip to keep from... well, doing whatever the shadewing equivalent of crying was.

Instead, I walked up to her and gave her a gentle nuzzle. She looked up at me again, and I stood next to her and held a wing over her, tilting my head forward to tell her to walk with me.

As we quietly made our way through the dark forest, I kept my eyes and ears at attention, scanning for danger and a place where we could stay the night. I didn't want to pick some place open and exposed in case a manticore or an ursa were around. Thinking about the other monsters that lived here, I remembered something very important, and stopped to write another note in the dirt.

IF YOU SEE A CHICKEN
DO NOT LOOK AT ITS EYES

I wanted to make sure she at least knew how to avoid probably the easiest thing to fall prey to here. Cockatrices could petrify someone just by making eye contact, and if we ever met one, I wanted to make sure she knew to look away from them. If I kept my head down, I should have been able to fight and throw them before they could get us, but there was no sense in sparing caution in these woods.

She simply nodded her compliance and continued following me.

The stars were coming out when we found ourselves at the mouth of a small cave. I could see pretty far into it, despite the darkness, and attributed it to shadewing night vision. At least it was empty, and it didn't smell like it had been used in a long time. This would be where we would sleep tonight.

I led her inside, and grabbed some plants to cover the entrance with. I also pulled up an array of strong-smelling flowers, taking care to make sure they weren't poison joke, and sprinkled them around to cover our scent. Confident that we would at least be hidden until morning, I took the filly to a mossy spot in the cave and laid down like a dog, lifting my wing to invite her to sleep up against me.

She cautiously stepped closer, then after dubiously shifting back and forth, finally, and reluctantly, stood next to me. She then lowered her torso to the ground and tucked her legs in, making a neat little pony loaf of herself before she leaned against me and rested her head against the crook of my foreleg. As I lowered my wing over her, I heard her sniffle again.

"I want my mama..."

Soft sobs would be my lullaby that night. I watched her in silence before resting my head between my forelegs, taking in a deep breath and letting it out through my nose.

I know, kid. I know.

Beams of light ranging from green to pale yellow filtered down through the forest canopy. My eyes fluttered a bit before mustering the strength to stay open. I let out a long yawn, then observed my surroundings.

Where am... oh, that's right. I saw the cave we slept in, my body still in full shadewing form, and the little foal nestled under my wing. I guess it wasn't a dream after all. Great.

I looked at the angle of the sun, feeling some reassurance in at least knowing which way was east. If we kept following the morning sun, it would lead us out of the woods, and hopefully to Ponyville. Then my little pony companion would find her parents, and I could find some way of asking the Mane Six to help me get home. That was the plan, at least.

The foal stirred under my wing, starting to wake up. She worked her eyes open, hazily staring around before she realized where we were, and jumped away from me, screaming her head off and scrambling back until she bumped into the wall of the cave. Clearly, I was not the only one who wished yesterday was a dream.

"Where am I?!" she screamed, "Mama! Papa!" Then came the crying again. I felt for this girl, I really did, but if she kept bursting into tears, this was going to get old fast.

There's no one here but me, kiddo, I thought as I got to my paws and stretched, letting out a yawn and some kind of weird moaning noise at the same time. My back cracked with several satisfying pops, and I relaxed my muscles and stood up. Come on. We're wasting daylight.

I looked outside and checked the sun. It was still rising, so I had a good lead on what direction we were headed. Turning around, I went back to the pony and nudged her, startling her out of her sobbing. I nodded towards the mouth of the cave.

"Are we gonna find my mama and papa now?" she asked, her breath shuddering from crying.

I nodded, and led her out of the cave into the sunshine.

Calling her 'the pony' or 'the filly' was getting old, too. I scratched another note into the dirt and tapped beside it to get her attention.

NAME?

She looked at it for a moment, then looked at me and pointed to herself. "You w-want to know my name?"

I nodded.

"It's... Strawberry Patch." She wiped her eyes on the back of her hoof. "W-what's your name?"

I scratched the dirt again.

HUNTER

Judging by her reaction, mine was a name that didn't go over well with ponies. What was I supposed to do, though? Lie to her? Make up a name on the spot? It's not my fault my father, who was a big game hunting enthusiast, had high expectations for his unborn child.

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out my nose, then scratched another note.

THATS JUST MY NAME
I WONT HURT YOU

She read what I wrote, then looked up at me with sad puppy dog eyes. "P-promise?"

I gave her the most affirmative nod I could.

Right on cue, we heard a distant roar followed by birds taking to the skies. Strawberry Patch whimpered and crouched down, looking around. I nudged her, then lowered myself and pointed to my back. She got the message right away, and climbed onto my back with her back hooves tucked under my wings. I wrote her one last message before we departed.

HOLD ON TIGHT

She complied by wrapping her forelegs around my neck and biting my mane, which didn't hurt at all.

Coiling my muscles, I lunged forward and took off into the woods, running towards the rising sun as fast as I could, jumping logs and rocks and weaving between trees. I thought I heard noises behind us, but rather than check to confirm my suspicions, I just ran faster until I couldn't speed up anymore.

Patch was making noises like she was trying to talk, but nothing intelligible came out. She was probably telling me to slow down, but I was too focused on getting us out of that forest. I could see light up ahead; we would be out soon.

Suddenly, I felt Patch slip off my back. She screamed as she tumbled behind me to a stop, and I spun around on my heels and ran back to snatch her up. That was when I heard the roar from earlier again, only this time it was louder. Something was tracking us.

I grabbed Patch in my psychic grip and pulled her back to me just in time to see an enormous manticore barreling through the trees. This thing in no way resembled the nice-looking one Fluttershy met in the show, oh no, this guy was ugly like you wouldn't believe, and if I didn't know better, I'd swear it had rabies to boot, judging by the red-stained froth coming from its mouth.

The cat jumped into the air, trying to pounce on us. I threw Patch to the side and jumped back, grabbing a branch and shooting it at the creature's face. The stick just glanced off its face and got stuck in the mane, and I had to roll away to avoid getting sliced in half by its claws. It struck at me again, this time with its tail, and I barely avoided becoming shade-kabob. I jumped up on its back and bit into its tail, trying to rip the segmented appendage off. The manticore rolled on its back to crush me, and I got off in time to avoid that, but not fast enough to keep from getting pinned under its enormous paw.

I struggled and clawed at the ground, trying to pull myself out, but the beast did not relent. I looked up in time to see it raise its other paw to take my head off, but before it swung, a small rock flew at it and bounced of its head with a pathetic little thunk. The manticore and I both looked to see Patch standing there with probably the most adorable look of bravery I'd ever seen in my life.

"Leave him alone, you big bully!" she shouted.

The manticore let me up in favor of this easier prey, and started going after Patch.

Oh hell no! I grabbed a flat stone of the ground and launched it, slicing halfway through its tail.

The beast erupted in a primal scream as I leaped up and grabbed onto its tail, ripping it off the rest of the way. The tail writhed and squirmed, almost like it was trying to stab me even though it wasn't receiving any commands from the brain... or so I'd imagine, at least.

Holding it by the stinger over my head, I took aim at my enemy. He reared up, raising his claws yet again to fillet my small pink companion.

Get away from her, YOU BITCH! I thought as I launched the scorpion tail spear at my target.

The tail went right through the manticore's rib cage and, though I couldn't see it from there, probably poked out the front a bit, too. Its heart, if anything was even left of it, had definitely been struck by the tail, which looked like it might have taken a good chunk of the left lung with it as well.

With a brief howl followed by a sickening gurgle, the manticore's lifeless body collapsed to the ground. This time, Patch didn't hide; she came running up to me and clung to my foreleg. I gave her a once over: some brambles in her fur, a few scratches, thankfully nothing serious. I myself, however, had received some new patches of missing scales on my back from when the manticore had me pinned, probably ripped out by its claws. It made me wonder how long shadewing scales took to be replaced; hopefully they'd grow back soon.

I knelt down and let Patch climb back onto me, then, looking back into the darker part of the woods, I took a deep breath and released the loudest roar I could manage. I just pwned a manticore, Everfree forest! Don't you dare fuck with me!

Feeling a sense of triumph, I looked over my shoulder and shot Patch a grin. She smiled back at me, then grabbed hold of my mane. I turned back to the light, and ran. Within minutes, we reached the edge of the forest and broke through the tree line. I skidded to a halt, and what I saw made my jaw drop: open fields, rolling, grassy hills, and a narrow dirt road stretching as far as the eye could see from the north to the south.

Patch climbed off my back and began to wander around. "Mama! Papa!" Her words were answered only by the sound of wind passing us. She called out a few more times, each time her voice becoming more broken, then she turned back to me. "Where are they? I don't see them!"

Speaking of things we don't see, I thought as I looked around, where the hell is Ponyville? I scratched in the dirt.

WHERE DID YOU LAST SEE THEM?

She read my note and looked at the horizon. "We were walking on this road, and then these gryphons were coming from the other way." She pointed north. "When we saw them, Papa told me and Mama to run and hide. Then..." She started to sniffle again. "Then the gryphons grabbed them up and flew away with them!"

My eyes widened. Your parents were abducted by gryphons? But why? What is going on around here?!

Patch fell to the ground. I rushed to her side, thinking she might have been hurt, but she was covering her face while she cried again. I regretted what I thought earlier about her crying so much; she had all the reason I the world to be scared.

I nudged her and tried to get her to calm down. A few minutes passed, and she stopped again. I had written her another note.

WE WILL FIND THEM
LETS GO NOW

She looked up at me with those fawn eyes. "You're gonna help me?"

I nodded, and lowered myself again. She climbed on, and I wrote WHICH WAY? She told me to go north by pointing down the road. Making sure she was set securely on by back, I tucked my wings in tight against my sides to help hold her in place, and broke into a run down the dirt road.

Hopefully we would find the bastards who took Patch's family, and I'd be able to find some answers of my own.

Author's Notes:

If you'd like to support my writing, please visit my site!

Well, I'm sorry, everyone. I tried to resist, but could not. This story just popped into my head, and the next thing I knew, I had an entire storyline planned out that just wouldn't leave me alone. You guys ought to know how it works by now.

Anywho, shadewings are an original species from my game, Kyrodian Legends, which, at the time of this writing, has yet to even release the first game. So for those of you wondering what a shadewing looks like, here's a picture of them.

In case you're wondering, no, I will not be including any characters or mentioning any events from KL. This story is its own story; I'm just using an original species. Hopefully I'll be able to get something done soon. For now, enjoy this stuff.

Chapter 2

The sun had reached its peak as I loped down the dirt road with Strawberry Patch clinging securely to my back. So far, all we'd seen were sparsely seeded bushes and trees, nothing suggesting the presence of civilization. For some reason, Ponyville was nowhere to be seen either, and that worried me. At least Canterlot should have been where I remembered, and so I decided we would continue north until we either found it or somepony who could give us directions... assuming they didn't freak out at the sight of me, first.

I came to a stop a little past noon. My legs were shaking, and my stomach was clawing at me for food. I panted and sniffed the air, trying to catch the scent of something edible.

"What's wrong?" Patch asked, looking over my shoulder at me.

I looked back up at her. I'm hungry, that's what.

"If you're tired, I can walk by myself for a bit."

Now that, I could appreciate. I lowered myself down so she could climb off, then shook my mane, which had become matted from her laying over it. Then I continued my surveillance for anything we could eat. I caught the scent of a rabbit, but for Patch's sake, I decided against eating anything she might find cute.

"I'm kinda hungry," Patch complained, "And thirsty, too. Is there anywhere we can stop and eat?"

Couldn't say, kiddo, even if I could talk. I sighed, not really caring that I could still do that. Wait a second. Isn't she an herbivore? I wrote CAN YOU EAT GRASS? in the dirt and showed it to her.

Patch looked away sheepishly. "Well, yeah, but it tastes weird raw."

Seriously? Her parents were missing, and her major concern at the time was eating raw grass? I shook my head, reminding myself she was just a filly.

TOO BAD. EAT.

"But what about you?"

CAN'T.

I didn't actually know if I could or not, but considering how eating grass made most predators throw up, I figured the same would probably happen to me. Maybe if I got her to turn around long enough, I could catch that rabbit. Speaking of which, where was that thing?

I tried to listen and smell for it, but I didn't sense it anymore. Something was making noise though, and it was nearby. The sound I heard was a deep rumbling sound, and I felt the air pressure suddenly drop around me; it was the calm before a storm.

Coming in from the east, a large cumulonimbus cloud was rolling in and casting a dark shadow over all it passed. At least our water problem was soon to be solved, but if we didn't find shelter, we stood the risk of getting sick in this storm, or getting struck by lightning in an open place like this. And if Strawberry Patch got sick, how was I supposed to help her? We had to keep moving and find some place to wait out this storm.

I nudged Patch and motioned towards the thunderhead looming towards us.

"Is it a storm?" she asked, "What do we do?"

I stood next to her and put my wing over her, motioning for her to walk with me. At the very least, going like this would keep her covered and hopefully warm enough. I looked back at the storm clouds and noticed something off about them: they were moving on their own. There were no pegasi guiding them over the land or controlling the rainfall; these clouds were forming and raining completely independently. That wasn't how it was supposed to work in Equestria. I got the feeling something was wrong with those clouds.

Patch and I kept walking down the road while I kept an eye out for anything suitable to hide in or under. I pressed the filly close to me with my wing as a chilled breeze swept over us, heralding the arrival of the wild shower. Small, cold droplets of rain began to pelt the ground around us, starting off few and far between, then increasing in frequency over time. A flash of lightning caught my attention, and I counted the seconds.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

A peal of thunder rolled over us, indicating that the storm was less than a mile off, and moving fast. The rain started to pick up, and now even I was beginning to feel wet through my scales. The cool water soothed my wounds from the previous night, but that sensation was quickly replaced by a cold sting of wind chilling the moisture on me. The droplets hitting my wing sounded much like rain on an umbrella, and I hoped my new appendage was making a proper substitute for such a tool. I felt Patch press against me and shiver. Hold on, kid. We'll make it, just hold on.

The rain was coming down harder now, and it was getting harder to see further ahead. The road was turning into mud, and every so often, Patch or I would slip and nearly fall to the ground. I considered trying to put up some kind of barrier over us, but my powers failed to produce such, and all I got for my efforts was rain pelting my eyes when I looked up to project a field.

We quickened our pace, now running on the grass to keep from stumbling around in the mud. Would it have killed the ponies to invest in gravel roads? I prayed we would find a traveler, maybe somepony with a wagon for Patch to ride in, but the road remained empty as we trekked on through the downpour. Now the rain was coming down in torrents, and lightning struck again, this time close enough that I could see it touch ground, even through the fog of rain.

Somewhere off in the distance, I saw a dim, orange light. Had that last bolt of lightning started a fire? No way it would still be burning with all this water coming down. It had to be something else. I wrapped my wing around Patch and used it to lift her off the ground so that I could speed up. I couldn't hold her for long at a time, what with how slippery the splashing mud had made her, but it helped cut down the distance between us and that mysterious light. Whatever it was, I didn't care what, at least it was something the rain could not snuff out.

As we came nearer to it, I saw a form around the light through the fog. By Celestia, it was a house! Not just any house, a log cabin with fire inside, and smoke coming out of the chimney! Patch and I broke into a full run, well, she did at least; I had to hold back so I wouldn't be able to lose her in the storm. I knew we were close, but I didn't feel like taking any more risks at this point. We reached the porch, and thank goodness it had an awning! Patch shook herself dry and shivered loudly while I padded up to the door and rapped on the wood with the side of my paw several times.

There was no answer. I knocked again, and waited. This time, the door opened, and we were greeted to the sight of an earth stallion with a dark rust-colored coat, a dirty blond mane and green eyes.

"Hello? Who's out he--OH, SWEET, MERCIFUL CELESTIA!" Upon the sight of me, the earth pony promptly slammed the door shut in my face so hard, I felt the wind blow at me.

I blinked several times, then looked at Patch. I tilted my head towards the door. You talk to him.

Patch rushed up to the door and knocked on it. "Mister, please open up! Hunter won't hurt you! He's my friend! We need help! Please, open the door!" We just met each other, and she already considered me a friend. That's ponies for ya.

Her small voice must have been the part that convinced him, for when he opened the door again, he immediately looked down and gasped at Patch's soaked, muddy and pathetic form staring up at him with a bedraggled mane and pleading eyes. "What... Ah... Ah mean..." He looked from her to me, then back to her. "Oh, goodness! Yer drenched, child! Come inside, quick!"

We hastily accepted his invitation and stepped into the cabin. Right away, a wall of warm, dry air washed over us. I shivered as the heat made me realize just how cold I felt inside. I caught a new scent in the air, too. It was the smell of wood burning and food cooking over the fire, and the cozy smell of the log walls around us keeping the rain at bay.

Our gracious host disappeared momentarily, and then returned with a pair of towels that he threw over us. He helped Patch dry herself off, but left me to fend for myself. I didn't blame the guy, and besides, I'd rather not have a stranger rub me down with a towel.

"What were y'all doin' out there in this storm?" the pony said, "And with this..." He looked at me, carefully selecting his next words. "...stranger." Good choice.

"Hunter's my friend," Patch said, pulling the towel off her head and draping it over her shoulders, "He's helping me find my parents."

"Oh, is that so?" the stallion asked, looking to me for an answer.

I nodded. What else was I supposed to do? Scratch words on his floor?

"Hunter can't speak, sir," Patch said for me.

"So Ah see," our host said, "Oh, but where are mah manners? Mah name's Applejack Daniels." He knelt down to Patch's level. "And what's yer name, youngun?"

Applejack Daniels? Like the drink? I looked at his cutie mark, and lo and behold, it was a mug of apple cider with foam billowing over the rim. I wondered if maybe he was related to the Apple family.

Patch shied back a little. "Strawberry Patch, sir."

"Strawberry Patch," Jack replied, "Y'all ain't related to Pumpkin Patch, are ya?"

Patch perked up. "That's my papa! Have you seen him?"

Jack shook his head. "Sorry, not since last week. Ya said you were lookin' fer him?"

Patch looked down solemnly. "Yes, sir. He was grabbed up by gryphons, and they took him away. Him and mama."

Fear washed over Jack's face. "Good heavens... not another one."

I tapped my claws on the floor and gave him a questioning look.

"Do ya know what's goin' on out there?" he asked me.

I shook my head.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Where'd ya say you were from, uh, Hunter was it?"

"He's from the Everfree Forest," Patch said.

"The Everfree Forest?" Jack said in astonishment.

I tensed up and quickly shook my head.

"Then where are ya from?" he asked, giving me a look of suspicion.

I thought about how to answer him, then, coming up with nothing good, I simply waved a foreleg off to the side to give the impression of a great distance. Hopefully I wouldn't have to explain my origins being in another planet.

Jack looked even more suspicious of me. "Ah take it yer not from Equestria?"

I nodded.

"So ya really don't know what's goin' on in Equestria?"

I shook my head.

Applejack Daniels looked to Strawberry Patch, who was looking at him expectantly, and sighed. "We're at war with the gryphons. Lately, they've been snatching up ponies off the roads an' takin' them away. Ah hear they're takin' 'em for slave labor or somethin' like that."

Upon this exposition, my eyes went wide and my mouth fell ajar. War? Why was Equestria at war?! I slumped onto my haunches,

"What about my mama and papa?" Patch asked fearfully.

Jack's gaze softened as he looked down at her, but he didn't know how to answer her. He opened his mouth to speak, then hesitated. He sighed and hung his head down. "Ah don't know how else to tell ye, friend... Ah'm afraid they may be gone fer good."

Patch gave a startled gasp, and I growled lowly at Jack.

"Ah'm sorry!" Jack said hastily, "There ain't nothin' that can be done! If they were taken yesterday, and y'all can't travel in this storm, then they'll be too far off before ya could catch 'em. There's a chance they might be held in one of the gryphon war camps, but if not, they'll be shipped off to Gryphonia."

Strawberry Patch was crestfallen. I stood close to her and gave her a nuzzle, but it didn't do much good. She was already starting to tear up again.

"Ah'm awful sorry, friends," Applejack Daniels went on, "If'n it helps, y'all are welcome to stay the night here. Ah got some grub cookin' we can share, too."

I looked from Patch to Jack and nodded. Yes, thank you. I knew it wouldn't do any good, but I figured I'd try with everypony I met in case somepony could hear me.

Patch sniffled and hiffed, blinking a tear onto the floor. I wrapped my foreleg around her and held her close, tucking her head into the crook of my neck.

"Um..." Applejack Daniels shifted uncomfortably. "Ah suppose Ah'll just get the table set."

I looked halfway towards him and nodded. As he sauntered off, I sat next to Patch and held her close against me, gently rocking back and forth. I couldn't imagine what it was like to be in her position. I'd been separated from my family in the past, but never had someone tell me it was hopeless to find them again. Although, I suppose it could happen now, provided Princess Celestia couldn't help me get home. But even then, I was an adult, so I still couldn't fathom what was going through the mind of a small child in that situation. All I knew was deep down inside, I felt the urge to protect her getting stronger by the hour. I squeezed her tight to let her know I was there for her, wishing I could say something to put her mind at ease. Patch pressed herself against my chest and clung to me, her cries beginning to ebb ever so slightly. Then she looked up at me, and I leaned down and rubbed my cheek against hers, which seemed to help a little.

Our tender moment was rudely interrupted when the smell of food wafted into my nostrils and made my stomach growl like a beast; Applejack Daniels must have opened the pot of whatever he was cooking. Patch gasped and lurched back, looking at my belly. I chuckled, well, sort of, and let go of her, then nodded towards the kitchen.

I led the filly to the table and pulled out the chair for her to take a seat in. I was tall enough that I could sit on my haunches on the floor and still be over the table.

"Everythin's almost ready," Applejack Daniels said, "Ah just need tah find that pot holder. Where did Ah--WHOA NELLY!"

I chuckled as I levitated the cast iron pot off the fireplace and set it down gently; I was beginning to really enjoy this telekinesis business. The poor stallion was dumbfounded, probably because my powers lacked the telltale glow of a unicorn's aura.

"Who... who did that?" the confused pony asked.

"Hunter," said Patch without much enthusiasm, "He was just trying to be helpful."

Jack looked at my horn and exhaled sharply. "Oh, Ah see. Fergive me, Ah didn't know you were magical."

I wanted to shake my head no, but then he'd want an explanation, and there was no way I'd be able to explain that my powers were genetic without some paper and a pen, which I didn't have on me. If he had any, I didn't know how to sign that I wanted some.

"Anyway, y'all are guests, so you jus' leave the servin' to me, y'hear?" Applejack Daniels said after recomposing himself, "Ah got leek soup, bread an' baked potaters here. Y'all eat hearty, now." He set out some dishes and held the soup ladle in his hoof while he served us each a portion.

"Thank you, sir," Patch said politely.

Jack chuckled. "Don't gotta call me 'sir,' youngun." He served himself last and took a seat across from us.

I wanted to make a good impression on our host, so I summoned up all the manners I had accrued over the course of my life, prepared to levitate my spoon, and... and my face was already muzzle-deep in my bowl, ravenously gulping down my dinner. Instincts trump manners, I guess.

The ponies awkwardly watched me devour my meal for half a minute before Jack decided to break the uneasy silence.

"S-so, how'd y'all meet?" he asked.

Can't talk, eating yummy soup.

"Well, I was lost in the woods after... you know..." Patch began, "I was so scared that I started crying, and I guess Hunter heard me. I really thought he was gonna eat me, but instead, he helped me by fighting off these big ugly wooden monsters! Then he took me to a cave and we slept all night in there." I noticed Patch's enthusiasm returning as she told our story.

"Hold up there, partner," Applejack Daniels interjected, "Yer sayin' he fought off a pack ah timber wolves?" He looked at me for confirmation.

I nodded.

"That's right!" Patch continued, "He used his magic to throw them around and rip them into sticks! Then when we tried to leave, we were attacked by this enormous cat monster!"

As Patch went on to describe our adventure in the Everfree, I was deep in thought about our situation. To be honest, with the night spent in the woods and the one we would be spending here, those gryphons had a two day head start on us. There was no way I would be able to track them without any leads. Her parents best bet would be to hold out until the war ended, or maybe someone else would rescue them before they were taken out of the country. My plan was to get Patch to Canterlot where she would be safe, and I would be free to search for and destroy any gryphon slave caravans I could find.

But would her mother and father even hold hope? They were taken at the edge of the forest, and they knew their little girl went inside there; would they have the will to live thinking their only child was dead? I tried not to think about that, and convinced myself to believe that they would press on as long as they could.

Still, the question nagged at me: what if I failed to retrieve them? What would happen to Patch? Was there any place safe, some place the war hadn't reached? And what if we lost? My thoughts kept coming back to Patch and her safety. I grimaced at the thought of what those barbarians would do to her.

I hadn't noticed that my food had vanished from my plate, and looked around curiously for it. A muffled burp informed me that my meal was already in my stomach, and so I decided to simply listen to Patch and Jack talk.

"...and then we got here, Hunter scared you, and you gave us this yummy dinner!" Strawberry Patch finished her story.

"Quite an amazin' tale there, friends," Jack said, taking a swig of whatever he had in his cup, "It's hard ta believe ya got outta there unharmed."

Patch mimicked the way he drank. "Well one of them bit Hunter, but he didn't even cry."

Gee, thanks, Patch.

"One o' them bit Hunter?" Jack looked at me with concern. "Where'd it get ya?"

I shrugged and turned so that Jack could see the wounds I'd received last night. To think a pony really could turn pale, especially a dark red one like him.

"Oh mah gosh!" Jack practically jumped out of his seat and scurried over to me, then closely inspected my injury. "Why didn't ya mention this sooner? Ya got a death wish or something?"

I stared at him and tilted my head.

The earth pony scowled at me. "Don't'cha know anything about timber wolves? Their bites are poisonous as a rattler's! Ah can't believe ya even lasted this long on yer own!"

Before I could even imagine what kind of snarky reply I'd have given about not being informed, Jack was hot on his hooves. He ran into the next room, and returned shortly after with several bottles of different liquids and a wad of some kind of moss. He sprinkled some of the fluids into a rag while chewing on the moss, then spat the green wad onto my largest wound and pressed the wet rag against me, causing me to hiss and recoil.

I felt like I was having hot steam sprayed against my skin where the medicine made contact. Immediately, I could feel it seeping into my body and coursing through my veins, like there was some kind of microscopic war going on inside me. The whole experience was making me feel nauseous, and I fought to keep my stomach down; I didn't want to puke the dinner he'd so graciously shared with us.

"There," he said with a relieved sigh as he took a cloth bandage and used it to tie the rag to my body, "That oughtta get rid ah the venom. Yer mighty lucky ya haven't passed out, otherwise you'd be done for. Open yer mouth. Is yer tongue green?"

I said 'ah' as best as I could for him, and he held my lower jaw down with a hoof. I could see him lurch back a bit at the sight of my fangs, but he quickly composed himself and took a closer look.

"Alright, the poison hasn't spread all over yet. It's amazin', really, how slow it's movin' through ya." He pushed my mouth shut and stepped back. "Now Ah ain't no doctor, but hopefully ya won't need one with that treatment Ah gave ya. Ah know how to treat a bite just fine, among other things."

Strawberry Patch came up beside Jack and looked nervously at me. "Is Hunter gonna be OK?"

Jack looked down at her. "Ah sure hope so, youngun. He risked his life fer ya, so the least we can do is try to help him out." He walked over towards the window and grabbed the curtain, drawing it shut. "Speakin' o' which, the two of ya better get some rest. There's a spare bedroom down the hall that Hunter can use. Strawberry, y'all'll sleep with me."

My eyes bugged out, and in an instant, I was low to the ground and snarling fiercely at Applejack.

"Whoa Nelly!" The stallion reared back in surprise. "Now hold on there, partner! Ah didn't mean it like that! Honest!"

My growling continued as I dragged Patch behind me, keeping my focus on Jack the whole time.

"OK! OK! Ah get it! She's all yers!"

"Hunter, what's wrong?" Patch asked, "Why are you acting like this?"

I turned to Patch and motioned for her to go down the hall.

"But why?" she pressed.

"Just go on, Patch," Jack said somewhat urgently, "Ah think Hunter wants to have us a grown up talk, alright?"

You bet your sweet apple acres, I do.

"OK." Patch turned around and started down the hall. She paused and looked back at me. "But Hunter?"

I turned my head towards her.

"Please don't eat him after he was so nice to us. Please?"

I would have rolled my eyes if it would have meant anything, but it didn't, so I opted for what I figured was a sigh, followed by an exaggerated nod. Patch smiled at me thankfully, and then went into the other room. Once she was out of earshot, I looked at Jack and grunted.

"Look," he started softly, calming down from the scare I gave him, "Ah just want you to know that Ah'd never do somethin' like that to a foal. Ah just meant that the master bedroom has a bigger bed, so the two of us would fit together. Yer bigger than both of us, so either way, ya'd need a bed of yer own, and we wouldn't fit in that smaller one." He tentatively stepped forward. "Ah just meant to make the two of you comfortable, nothin' more than that. You two have been through Tartarus, an Ah wanna do what Ah can to help, alright?"

I slowly blinked, and after a long, awkward pause, I raised my foreleg and rested my paw on his shoulder.

"Do ya fergive me?" Jack asked.

I nodded solemnly.

Jack heaved the biggest sigh of relief I'd ever heard. "Oh, thank sweet Celestia. Now Ah understand you must be real protective of her, so if ya wanna be the one sharin' a room with her, Ah understand. Ah'll just... leave it up to you, eh?"

I nodded again, this time managing what felt like a smile to me; I felt like I was getting a better sense of my expressions. Slowly, I padded of into the guest bedroom where Patch was waiting, hiding by the door frame.

"What were you two talking about?" the filly asked me.

I just gave her a look, then nuzzled her and nodded towards the bed.

Patch climbed up and buried herself under the blanket, then poked her head out and rested it on the pillow. I propped myself up on he bed and grabbed the blanket in my mouth, then tucked Patch in.

"Hunter?" she asked, the fear returning to her voice, "Do you think I'll find my mama and papa?"

Her question struck something deep inside me. It was a question that I couldn't answer with an absolute yes or no, and yet that was all I was capable of giving. What was I supposed to do? I opted for a reassuring lick on the cheek, and then rested my neck across her. As gently as I could, I raised my paw and brushed her mane with my claws,

I don't know, kiddo, but I promise I'll do all in my power to find them.

Patch yawned and rolled over on her side. "Thank you, Hunter."

My ears perked, and I raised my eyebrows. Did she hear me that time? I waited to see if she would jolt up and exclaim, "Hey! You can talk?" but it never happened.

The light suddenly went out, and I spun around to see Jack standing next to a freshly-extinguished oil lamp.

"Oh, sorry there, Hunter," he whispered, "Ah was jus' puttin' out the lights so no gryphon scouts come snoopin' 'round here." He quietly walked over to the curtain and drew it shut. "Will ya be alright in here?"

I snorted; not like he could see me nod.

"Ah'll take that as a yes," he said as he started out of the room, "Sleep tight, you two."

I watched him go, then turned around so I was parallel to the bed and hunkered down on the floor. The hard wood should have bothered me, but it was actually not that bad, and much better than that stone cave. The sound of the storm still going on outside was comforting as well, certainly a more welcome ambience than the sound of a child crying.

I couldn't help wonder what the next day had in store for us, or if Celestia would be able to help. One thing at a time, I reminded myself, First we get to Canterlot, then we ask Celestia for help.

Author's Notes:

If you'd like to support my writing, please visit my site!

Hopefully I'll be keeping the chapters this long. I know the Applejack Daniels pun has been done before, but I like it, so nyeh. Sorry for not much action in this chapter, especially when Hunter just had a boss fight in the first one. But don't worry; I've got plenty of cool fight scenes planned, so stay tuned!... or, you know, go read something else while you're waiting.

Chapter 3

The rain had not stopped by the time I woke up, but it had slowed down to a light pattering shower. The sun was just rising, which was strange for me since I wasn't normally such an early riser. The day before was different; I was anxious from being in the Everfree with monsters around and hoping I'd wake up back in my own room. Last night was not so tense, despite the chilling exposition I'd been given. Perhaps my new body had a better internal clock than a human's.

I raised my haunches and stretched my forelegs, then stretched the back legs along with my wings before shaking my mane out. It was going to take some time to get used to having wings; just feeling them on my back was weird enough, let alone the idea of flying. The thought was both exciting and scary at the same time. On one paw, it could be really fun to do and would be a big help in traveling long distances. On the other, it would only take one mistake, and I'd be plummeting like a meteorite.

Shaking that image away, I looked at Strawberry Patch. She was still sound asleep under the covers, although she was in a weird position and the blanket was disheveled; she must have had a bad dream, or a bad memory. I decided not to disturb her so she could get some much-needed rest.

A smell from out of the room made my stomach growl. I followed the smell and found Jack already up in the kitchen, stirring a pot full of what smelled like apples and cinnamon. I coughed to get his attention, and the poor guy jumped so high, I could hear his hooves clack loudly on the floor. I winced when I heard the ladle clang against the pot and sink into the concoction.

"Hunter!" the poor startled pony said. grasping his chest, "Mah gosh, Ah didn't hear ya come in. Ya know it ain't smart to sneak up on ponies."

He didn't need to tell me twice; my experience at my aunt's farm when I was ten was all the lesson I needed. Of course, having silencing paw pads changes things.

Jack looked back at the pot and groaned. "Aw, the ladle fell into the oatmeal."

I stepped forward and nudged him out of the way, and looked down into the pot. The smell was intoxicatingly delicious, and the only thing keeping me from shoving my face into the pot was the knowledge of how painfully hot it would be.

"Oh, sure, go right on ahead," Jack huffed, "Ah was all set to make another pot anyway."

I shot him a glare that shut him up quick, then turned my attention back to the food. I reached in with my mind and tried to focus on the ladle. I could sort of 'feel' the metal inside, as well as the heat around it. Once I was sure of my grip, I began to slowly pull, careful not to have a boiling hot sequel to my rock-in-the-face incident.

The ladle began to rise with oatmeal and apple chunks stuck all over it. I shook it slightly and watched the chunks of our breakfast drip off of it. Setting it down carefully, I looked at Jack and grinned.

The earth pony shook his head and chuckled. "Ah'll never git used to that. Magic that don't glow, if that don't beat all." He checked the food and gave an affirmative nod. "Right, Ah think it's just about ready. Should be enough to go 'round this time. Could ya run 'n' fetch Strawberry Patch?"

I nodded and padded out of the kitchen back into the bedroom. Patch was still sleeping, so I put my paw on her shoulder and shook her awake.

"Mmf... Mama?" Patch raised her head groggily and blinked the sleepiness out of her eyes. Upon seeing me, she seemed disappointed. "Oh, good morning, Hunter."

Poor kid probably thought she was home with her family again from waking up in a real bed. I could imagine she still wasn't fully grasping the situation, and kept expecting it all to be a dream. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel that way at times myself. I gave her an affectionate nuzzle and led her into the kitchen where Jack had already set the table; me having a much larger bowl than last night.

"Ah suppose y'all'll be headin' out today then, eh?" Jack inquired.

I nodded.

"Ah guess there's no stoppin' ya." Jack sighed and stood up. "There's some things Ah could give ya fer yer journey. Can't just send ya of empty hooved."

"Thank you, Applejack," Patch said.

Jack chuckled. "'S jus' Jack, youngun."

I snickered quietly to myself as the image of the male version of Applejack popped into my head, then started into my meal. Sweet Luna, this pony can cook!

Soon afterwards, I had a pair of canvas saddle bags packed with dried fruits and shortbread strapped to my body. Patch was riding on my back like before, using the saddle bags to help keep herself steady as I traveled at an even trot. I couldn't get over the irony that I had a pony riding me everywhere, not that I would ever mention it; they'd probably think I meant a huge shadewing riding a pony.

I had to be at least the size of Big Macintosh, and probably weighed more, too. As if being a scaly predator wouldn't make it hard enough to blend in already.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of galloping hooves coming from behind. Patch and I turned to see Jack running all out to catch up with us. He skidded to a halt, then hung his head low and panted once he came to a full stop.

"Hiya, Jack," said Patch, "Didja forget something?"

Jack screwed up his face and sighed. "Consarn it, Ah can't just let yo two go, 'specially when neither of ya knows how to dress a wound. The two o' y'all wouldn't last a week." He turned his head back to the cabin. "'Sides, Ah ain't just gonna sit aroun' an' wait for them gryphons to find me."

I exchanged a glance with Patch, then looked at Jack and nodded for him to come with us.

Jack nodded and stepped forward. "Pshew, thank ya kindly. Ah'll try an make sure Hunter don't kill himself."

I raised an eyebrow and Patch giggled.

Applejack Daniels has joined the party! Healing increased by 4. Added perk 'Southern Accent': talk your enemies to death and woo pretty mares.

Much of the trip was just Patch and Jack talking with each other. Jack told us how his town was sacked, and he hid in that cabin near the Everfree in hopes that the gryphons wouldn't bother searching there. The story was a little to vague, so either he was shielding Patch from things a foal shouldn't have to hear, or there were details he simply didn't want to remember.

We stopped to rest by a small river. Jack and Patch got into the packed food while I stood over the water and looked for fish. I saw some delicious-looking trout swimming in the stream, so I reached out with my mind and tried to grab one.

The first one jumped up and slapped me in the face, eliciting a round of giggles from my pony companions. I glanced at them, then tried again with the fish, this time catching one a little too well; it flew right into my mouth, and I nearly choked on the thing.

I made short work of snapping it up, then licked my lips. No wonder the Japanese eat sushi.

Patch gasped when I caught another, this time catching it sideways. She and Jack looked a little uneasy at the sight of me holding live prey in my jaws.

I cocked an eyebrow at them. They quickly turned their heads and kept to themselves until I was done.

Satisfied at last, I sat down next to them and licked my lips, then waited for them to finish.

Jack awkwardly coughed. "Well, Ah got mah second wind. Y'all ready to go?"

"Mmhmm," Patch replied.

I repacked the bags and got down so Patch could climb aboard. She seemed a little hesitant after being reminded I was a carnivore, but an impatient grunt got her behind in gear. Let that be a lesson to you: if you want to earn a kid's respect, just eat a live animal in front of them. That's sarcasm, by the way; don't do it.

About an hour later, we were heading through some rocky terrain when I heard raised voices and the sound of clanging metal. I stopped short and set Patch down while motioning for Jack to stop.

"What is--" Jack was cut off when I hissed at him to shut up.

I perked my ears forward and zeroed in on the source of the noise, then pointed at a nearby boulder. They quickly took my meaning and hunkered down behind it while I took a low stance and prowled forward. As I rounded the bend, I saw a group of pony soldiers locked in deadly combat with a squad of armored gryphons near a pair of covered wagons.

One gryphon swooped down and took a slash at a pony with his talons. His claws were unusually shiny; they were wearing bronze battle claws. Those things would tear through a pony's hide like paper, and it didn't help that they could reach under the armor with them. The pony cried out in pain and swung his spear, but wounded and less agile, he was easily parried and slashed across the face.

I couldn't just stand and watch any longer. Adrenaline burned through my veins as I shot forward down the hill. The gryphon had the pony's throat in his grip, about to rip him open. I was in the air in a second, fangs flashing just before I sank them into the gryphon's neck, pinning him down and biting so hard that his spine snapped; killing him instantly.

The injured pony gasped and looked up at me in stunned horror. I stood up, grabbed his spear in my telekinesis, and fired it at another gryphon who was grappling with a pegasus. The spear stuck right through his chest cavity, and he let out a pained shriek before collapsing on the ground.

His cries alerted the other gryphons, and they all rounded on me. "Seize that beast!" I didn't care to see who shouted the order; I just went after the next gryphon using the same tripping technique I did on the timber wolf, then sliced his throat open. His comrade took a swipe at my side and tore out a row of my scales. I howled and pounced my foe as another gryphon jumped on my back and started raking away at me. I flung him over my back and slammed him down in front of me then broke his neck with a kinetic twist. Having to concentrate even more on my target to perform that move nearly cost me my life; a gryphon picked up a pony's spear and charged me with it, barely giving me time to dodge.

I rolled to the side and caught sight of an archer poised to fire on me. I grappled my opponent and used him as a meat shield while his buddy fired an arrow at him. Sadly, the arrow simply bounced off his armor with a pathetic tink. I didn't wait to think about what happened, let alone allow my enemy a chance to retaliate, so I focused all my energy into a single impulse, sending the gryphon flying back into his squad mate with a deafening crash. Even if they survived, they were in no shape to get back up any time soon.

My last opponent was the gryphon captain. One pony who had recovered from the shock of my attack took the opportunity to strike, but the captain was too quick for me to see exactly what he did. Whatever it was, the pony didn't get up from it. The edges of my vision went red. I lowered my stance and dared him to make the first move.

The captain screeched like an eagle as he charged forward, battle claws flashing brightly in the sun. I leapt up, fangs bared and claws forward, and collided with him in the air like Tom Cruise. We rolled on the ground, scratching and biting at each other. He kicked me off with his back legs, and pounced again with another screech. I rolled and got to my feet in time to jump to the side, but I was starting to wear down, and he knew it.

What was I thinking? This was no dumb animal I was fighting, it was a trained warrior. He knew I'd already exerted myself, and was taking advantage of my fatigue setting in. The heavy use of telekinesis was adding mental fatigue as well, and I was starting to feel groggy. If I didn't end this fight soon, he would, and being mostly unharmed would make his escape that much easier. I couldn't let him escape, otherwise he'd go back and report what happened, where he found these ponies, and probably call in fresh troops to finish them off. Their fate was riding on me now, and I was terrified.

I pushed him back with an impulse to get us some distance, and grabbed a spear. The gryphon read my intention, and dashed to the side to take off. I chased after him, stabbing forward without actually letting go, steering the spear into his side. The head of the spear went through the muscle of his unarmored wing. The captain crashed to the ground, and tried to break the spear. I moved forward and pulled it out, stabbing again under his armor, and then once more in the neck to finish him off. As I stood over him, watching the life vanish from his eyes, I felt no remorse, nor any satisfaction; only relief in knowing the fight was over.

The adrenaline flow slowed down, and I became aware of the pain from my wounds and how badly I was shaking. Several of the ponies stood guard around me, waiting to see what I would do while the others tended to their injuries. I counted eight, three were watching me, four trying to stop the wounds from bleeding, and the one that died at the gryphon captain's talon.

"Hunter!" Jack was galloping towards us with Patch in tow. He weaved past the soldiers and stood next to me.

"Steady men," one of the soldiers commented, "Don't get too close."

"He ain't gonna hurt y'all," Jack said, then turned his attention back towards me. "You crazy... thing! Ya darn near gave us a heart attack!" Jack scolded, "What were ya thinkin'?" He huffed and sized up my injuries. "Come 'ere, lemme have a look at those."

I growled and shooed him away.

"Now listen here, you--"

I cut him off with a bark and pointed towards the hurt ponies.

Jack's expression fell into quick sobriety, and he bit his lip and nodded. "Right, sorry. Ah'll get on that." He went over and began unpacking his first aid supplies.

One of the troops, a larger earth stallion, approached him. "You know this creature?"

"Sure do," Jack said as he applied some kind of ointment to one of the other stallion's legs, "Plum scared the daylights outta me when Ah first met 'im, too. Hold still while Ah wrap this."

The soldier he was tending too seethed and heeded Jack's advice.

Patch slowly walked through the destruction and took her place beside me, nudging me with a hoof. "Hunter?" She waited for me to look at her. "Is that pony..." She looked at the dead stallion.

I sighed and pulled her close with my wing, rubbing my cheek on her forehead. I tried to shield her from what was around us, but she'd already seen the carnage, and probably was watching when I killed the gryphons as well. It tore me up inside knowing that I was the one who had given her her first glimpse at death and taken away her innocence.

Right on cue, one of the still-healthy soldiers came up to the larger guy who spoke to Jack. "Sir. Corporal Frost is down, and with the injured here, we won't be able to move the supplies and keep enough guards up to fend off another raid." He was doing a remarkably good job ignoring who fended off the last one.

His commanding officer nodded solemnly. "I see. We'll have to move as much as we can onto one cart and leave the rest. Load Frost's body as well; he deserves a proper burial for his bravery."

I grunted at the officer to get his attention, and wrote I WILL HELP in the dirt. It showed up better than before, what with the blood on my claws.

The soldier read my message and harrumphed. "So, you aren't just a dumb beast," he said. His tone indicated he didn't mean any offense, but was genuinely intrigued. "But you're still a foreigner, so I can't let you get involved. Bad enough I have a civilian playing field medic over here."

I growled lowly and double underlined the word WILL, then gave him a cold deadpan look, pointing my muzzle at him to make sure there was no mistaking my meaning. Whether he wanted me or not, I was coming. If these soldiers had a camp nearby, it would be a good place to rest and get some information, and frankly, after killing a pack of timber wolves, a rabid manticore and about half a dozen gryphons in front of a child, I felt I'd earned my place inside the loop.

The officer grunted and looked down his nose at me. "Fine, but you're pulling the cart. Any funny business, and I'll run you through myself."

I nodded affirmatively and picked up Patch, then helped load the wounded ponies onto the cart. None of them seemed to care about my 'invisible magic,' which was just fine with me. I let the other ponies deal with Corporal Frost; I'd been around enough death for now, as did Patch.

She rode on the cart I was hooked up to, the one without the injured troops on it, probably to keep me from running off with them and taking them hostage. Jack volunteered to pull the other one and maximize the number of available fighters in case we got attacked again.

Hours of uneventful walking passed us by. Patch curled up on the front of the wagon and had fallen asleep some time before we reached our destination. Eventually, we came to a camp that was set into a hillside covered in wooden criss-crossed pikes. The pony-built walls were made of tall logs with the tops sawed into sharp points, and pony soldiers stood alongside straw dummies on a raised platform inside. More criss-crossed pikes lined the area around the wall, scattered haphazardly to make them harder for ground troops to weave through. The whole thing made me think of the bandit camps from Skyrim.

"The supply convoy has arrived!" a sentry called out when he spotted us, "Open the gates!"

When the entryway opened up, I quickly noticed the reason why the soldiers were fine with having an open top. Along the inside of the walls were large crossbow turrets aimed towards the middle of the airspace, set like that instead of in the middle facing out where it would be too cramped to man them properly, and they would be an easy target like that. Spread out like they were, it would be much harder to take them out, especially since one would have to risk crossing the line of fire of another turret to destroy one, and being spread out meant it would be easier to man each one. That and the sentries on the wall were armed with crossbows of their own, and had spears balanced against the wall within easy reach should any enemies get close enough. Such firepower would also make taking the low route favorable, as one could form a shield tank to block the arrow fire, so the pikes still had a purpose by preventing any such formations from being utilized.

A group of ponies came and carried away the injured while several more guards joined the ranks surrounding me. Naturally, my appearance drew looks, and nopony looked happy to see me. Their expressions ranged from suspicious to fearful to 'keep your nose clean, or I'll chop it off.' I lowered my head close to the ground and averted my muzzle, still shifting my eyes around to watch their movements.

One pony who came to meet us stood out. Unlike the other soldiers, who wore bronze armor, this guy had a set of polished steel, and his helmet had a plumage on it that bore the colors of Princess Celestia's mane. His coat was dark gray, his mane and tail even darker, but not quite black, and his eyes were a sort of rust color. I didn't get a look at his cutie mark.

He stepped up to the large officer from the field and saluted. "Report, Lieutenant."

"Captain Iron Lock," the lieutenant replied with his own salute, "Our convoy was attacked by gryphon forces. The foreigner intervened, and this civilian provided medical aid. The supplies were unharmed, but..." He hoofed over the helmet of the pony who was slain. "Corporal Frost was killed in action."

Iron Lock took the helmet and nodded slowly. "Winter Frost was a good pony, and an excellent scout. It's a terrible shame he's gone, but that can't be helped now." He looked up towards me. "I'm going to speak with the foreigner. You're dismissed, Lieutenant." He saluted his troop again.

The lieutenant saluted back."Sir," he said, "I should inform you that the foreigner is mute."

"Noted." Iron Lock ended his salute and walked over to me as a pony took the cart I was pulling away. "My lieutenant tells me you assisted in a skirmish with the gryphons. Do you have a name?"

I nodded and wrote HUNTER in the dirt.

"Hunter," Captain Lock read, "I see. Well, we appreciate your help, but I have to ask where you're headed."

CANTERLOT

"Ah. I'm afraid you won't be reaching Canterlot anytime soon, at least not if you intend to bring your friends with you."

I cocked my head to the side.

"What's goin' on," Jack asked, also free of his wagon, "Somethin' wrong at Canterlot?"

Iron Lock shook his head. "Can't say for sure, on account of us being cut off. Se those mountains over there?"

I looked where he pointed.

"Canterlot lies directly on the other side of that range. Unfortunately, the gryphons have taken the pass. We can't send for aid, and if the pass isn't cleared soon, everything south of it may as well be lost, because it will only be a matter of time from there."

"Hunter?" Patch asked, nudging my side with a hoof, "Why do you want to go to Canterlot?"

"Yeah, Ah wonder 'bout that, too," Jack said, "Ya said y'all were headin' north to track them gryphons that took Patch's folks. Ya never mentioned Canterlot."

I noticed Iron Lock was beginning to look suspicious of me. I hastily started scrawling in the dirt.

SAFEST PLACE FOR PATCH
SHE CAN WAIT WHILE I SEARCH
THEN CELESTIA HELPS ME

"Helps you do what?" Iron asked somewhat forcefully.

GET HOME

The meaning of my words seemed to take a moment to sink in, because it was a moment before Jack finally said, "When y'all said you were from far away... Hunter, you don't know how to get home, do you?"

I nodded.

"And how do you expect the princess to help you?" Iron Lock asked.

I DUNNO

I shrugged when they stared at me in disbelief. To be honest, I had no clue how she was going to help me, but it was worth a shot, right?

"I understand." Iron Lock looked to Jack. "The two of you are welcome to stay, though I suggest you--"

"Ah-ah, three, Captain," Jack butted in, "We got a lost foal with us, or didja miss that part?"

"I know what I said, civilian," Iron Lock replied tersely, "You and the foal are welcome to stay. The foreigner must remain outside the camp."

Immediately, I felt my mane stand on end. I arched my back and bared my fangs, letting out a deep, rumbling growl.

Iron Lock jumped back and took a defensive position, as did the soldiers nearby.

"Ah'd be careful o' what Ah said 'round him if'n Ah were you, sir," jack said, standing somewhat between me and the captain, "He's fiercely protective of that girl. Ah've seen first-hoof how easily he gets riled up, too."

"All the more reason not to trust him," Iron Lock said, "We don't know anything about him; where he comes from, what he's capable of, nothing. Now my mission is to break through that blockade from the rear so that Canterlot can get some troops in here, and I will not jeopardize that mission because some civilian tells me to trust a clear and present threat to our safety."

Jack's eyes lit up like fire at that comment. I actually backpedaled when the stallion rushed up and went chest-to-chest with the untrusting captain. "Consarnit! Now you see here, you! Hunter has already risked his life for your men, plus twice before for the youngun! He didn't ask fer anythin' in return, nor did he wait fer an invitation! Ah wouldn't care two bits if Ah were a cow and you were Princess Celestia, Ah stand by mah statement and mah friends, an' Hunter here is as good a friend as any Ah ever had! Ah know Ah said he gets riled up easy, but that's cuz he's a protectin' type. We had a misunderstandin', see, and he was tryin' to protect Strawberry Patch cuz he thought Ah aimed to do somethin' Ah wouldn't do. Now Ah know this here's your camp, and Ah respect that. That's why Ah'm tellin' you, if you kick him out, you best be willin' to kick us out with 'im, cuz it ain't gonna go down any other way!"

My eyes were as wide as dinner plates by the time Jack ended his schpiel, and I was crouched so low, it made me feel like I was the foal to see him towering over me.

Jack glanced at me and snorted. "Git up, ya big pansy. I wasn't talkin' to you."

Blinking, I recomposed myself as best as I could. Arguing ponies was funny on TV, but in real life, man, it only went on to remind you these creatures were no pushovers. Well, some, at least.

Iron Lock was stunned as well, but took it better than I did. He cleared his throat and stood tall, his full height being closer to my own. "Very well, then. But he'll be under watch until I personally clear him. I assume you're willing to take responsibility for his conduct?"

"Ah am," Jack replied flatly.

Iron Lock stared down Jack, who didn't falter one bit. He set his jaw and turned on his heel. "Guards, keep them under close observation. I want to be informed of everything the foreigner does."

Author's Notes:

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Time for Hunter to be all he can be, cuz he's in with the army now. Next chapter will reveal some more details of the war, but for now, I'm gonna work on the next chapter of Stunt Double, because all this violence is a bit much for me.