There he was. Hanging around outside the library all nonchalantly. I wouldn't have suspected him if not for the fact that he'd been there since I arrived, and was still there half an hour later.

I sat on a cloud above the library, looking down and watching him. He was a dark orange unicorn stallion with stark black hair. His clean mane had some traces of gray in it that his short tail lacked. His dark green eyes darted around in an almost paranoid manner. Ponies who passed by didn't give him a second glance, usually assuming he was simply looking for something.

At quarter after five, I made my move. I ditched the cloud I was on and went around behind the library, quietly diving into a patch of shrubbery right by the suspicious stallion. As he continued to look around, I sneaked through the leaves over to him. In one quick movement, as soon as nopony was looking, I grabbed him around the chest with one hoof and covered his mouth with the other, then pulled him into the bush.

"I'm doing this because if I just walked up to you you'd run away," I said quietly as soon as I had him. He was struggling to get free. "Promise not to scream or run away if I let you go, and I'll do so, and then we can have an ordinary civil conversation. Trust me, I don't get my kicks pulling ponies into bushes."

He stopped struggling and looked at me, an eyebrow raised as though he didn't understand me. He mumbled something, which I took to mean he promised not to scream. I let him go, and he wiped his mouth. "You're the Windigo, aren't you?"

"No, I'm just really good at costume designing," I replied sarcastically. "Yes, I'm the Windigo. I would prefer if you called me Arrell. Since that's my name and all. I don't go around calling the citizens of this town 'the pony'."

"Windigoes have individual names?" He seemed shocked at the revelation.

I sighed. "Yes, we do. So do ponies, and griffons, and zebras, and-"

"Yeah, yeah." He rolled his eyes. "Why did you pull me into a bush? Gonna mind control me like you did for that mare you've tricked into believing loves you?"

"Okay, let's try this again," I stated calmly as the stallion came to. "Where were we?"

He groaned as he grabbed his head. There was a giant lump forming under his mane, the pain of which seemed to take his attention away from that of his black eyes, scratched chest, and stomped balls.

"I...wha...huh?" He blinked, looking at me. "...Windigo?"

"Arrell," I corrected.

"Windigoes have individual names?"

"Yes, we do. So do ponies, and griffons, and zebras, and-"

"Yeah, yeah." He rolled his eyes, then blinked. "...déjà vu?"

I shrugged. "All I'm gonna say is that if you continue that sentence the way I think you might, you're gonna get another bump on your head. At least."

He winced. "...I'll bite my tongue then." He shuffled nervously. "So...why did you want to talk to me?"

"Because you broke my window," I responded. "That made my house cold, and Asylum - that's my girlfriend, and the pony you're trying to take away from me - isn't immune to cold like I am. I'm gonna expect you and the rest of the Imperium to pay for that window, because I'm certainly not going to pay for repairs caused by somepony else."

He blinked. "...the window? That's all you wanted to talk about?"

I shrugged. "Nothing else springs to mind."

"Nothing about how we're sending you letters, or wanting to destroy you, or trying to pull away that mare you're pretending to love?"

"You know, this stopped being funny after the first time," I said with a sigh as he woke up. The amount of bumps on his head had tripled, and he was one more punch in the torso away from a broken rib. I would've delivered that punch if I didn't need him to be able to talk.

"You...really don't like...talking about...that mare...do you?" he gasped out, grabbing his head.

"No, I just don't like the insinuation that our love - either mine for her, or hers for me - is fake. So I'd suggest you stop making that suggestion. I've run out of places to beat you that won't cause lasting damage, so if you do it again, we'll just end up having to continue this conversation in the hospital."

"...noted." He took a minute to catch his breath. "So...um...what were we talking about?"

"Broken window."

"Oh, right. Is that all you want? The window fixed?"

I chuckled. "Buddy, I want a lot of things. But having you racists pay for my window, and then never vandalizing my home again, is pretty much the only thing you can help with."

"...nothing about the letters?"

"Those letters? I get death threats in person every time I go article hunting, or just on a general save-part-of-the-world trip. Death threats by mail is funny to me. Though if you could be less graphic in them, Asylum would appreciate that. She has a weak stomach."

"...nothing about us wanting to destroy you?"

"All I can say to that is 'good luck'."

"...nothing about us trying to save that mare who-" He caught himself and shut up, letting his unfinished sentence be enough.

I smirked. "Hey, you're learning." I let the smirk return to a simple smile. "Trust me, Asylum is under no mind control. She doesn't need saving. If I could mind control ponies, why haven't I done that to you yet?"

He glared. "So I could go back to the Imperium and tell them you were innocent."

"I could just mind control you into doing that."

He lost his glare and went quiet.

"Look, I don't know why you racist assholes are targeting me..." My voice began to raise as I passed the 'calm' portion of this talk and reached the 'speech' segment. "...but it isn't going to do anything. I'm best friends with a member of the Royal Guard who could get every military pony from here to Appleloosa on your flanks as soon as they had a single piece of identification. I can get away with mouthing off to Princess Celestia herself because she knows she needs me to accomplish a bunch of deadly tasks that a pony such as yourself would wet himself just thinking about. I have saved lives, I have saved towns, I have saved all of Equestria, and yet you self-entitled shitheads still think I'm a threat who wants to destroy a land that would give me no benefits from being obliterated! How do you not see what is wrong with this motherfucking picture?!"

He cringed. "I..."

"No. Don't give me any of your excuses. Here's what you're going to do." I glared at him. "Go back to your fucking Imperium playmates and tell them that I'm sick of these games. If they think they have the balls to actually try and fight me, go right ahead. March up to me and fight me."

"There's a lot more of us than you'd expect," he warned. "I doubt you could take us out."

"Yeah, I don't think I could. But guess what?" I poked him in the chest. "Just about every citizen of Equestria who knows me actually likes me. You think you could take them out? Plus, throw in the entire Royal Guard, regardless of what they think of me. Think you can take them out? And what about Princess Celestia herself? Think you can take her out?!"

He gulped nervously. "I...y-you're lying...?"

"I don't lie. Lying gets you nowhere that the truth does not. But rather than thinking about how much trouble you might have hurting me, think about Asylum instead. Because you're hurting her pretty easily."

"...pardon?"

"Asylum loves me and I love Asylum. So how do you think she's acting every time she reads one of those letters, telling her that the one she loves is evil and she needs to escape? How do you think she would feel if she learned that her lover was attacked, beaten, or even killed by a group of jackasses who were 'trying to save her'? She wouldn't be pleased as punch, I'll tell you that much."

He blinked, frowning. "...I never thought of that..."

"Of course you didn't. Because until now, you didn't know who I was. You were pulling the Zecora stunt on me. Racism isn't cool." I poked him again. "So, you know what? That message I asked you to pass on? Forget it. Instead, I'm giving you a choice."

"What kind of choice?" he demanded.

"You can tell the Imperium one of two things. Two four-word messages. You can pick one to tell them, but make sure you let them know they are straight from Arrell Ragnarok the Windigo's mouth."

He raised an eyebrow. "What are they?"

"The first one is rather self-explanatory. 'Please leave us alone.' You already know why I'd want them to know that. As much as I find your attempts funny, Asylum doesn't, and I value her over myself. I'd prefer she feel safe instead of having me be entertained."

He thought for a moment. "And the second message?"

I grinned.

"Come at me, bro."

Author's Notes:

One more bonus chapter to this arc. Also, consider this a preview to the Imperium; this is their first canon appearance, but when they appear later on in the story, these bonus chapters won't be crucial. That's all I will say.

Also, I typed this all in one sitting while tired, and got over 1700 words! Yet it takes me several sittings and brainstorming sessions to write a chapter that just breaches 1200. Yay?