A beam of light crept across Twilight's face, beckoning her back from her slumber. Twilight at first tried to cover her head to continue her reprieve but the day had other plans and had prompted the songbirds to start their morning calls to spite Twilight's desires. Eventually, the morning won out and Twilight got out of her bed. She noticed Spike wasn't in his bed, it probably meant he had gotten up before her, an unusual occurrence but with the new guest here and all the fuss she had made yesterday over his presence she doubted he wouldn’t try to see what the hunter was like. It didn't really bother her that Spike had broken his promise when she had him take it she had been overreacting. It was curious that she hadn't had a dream last night, though, but with Luna away from Equestria, it made some sense. On the bright side if it was true no Luna meant no nightmares

Now that she was out of bed and much more stable than yesterday she started her morning routine. Twilight stretched her back, wings, and legs to jump start her circulation. After she finished her stretching she took a deep breath thru her nostrils, only to be hit with the rancid scent of old blood. Twilight gagged from what she had just inhaled. If she was the one to be housing the hunter she was going to need to have him take a bath and wash his clothes. So with a sigh, Twilight set off for the guest room.

When Twilight opened her door she was hit by a wall of odor. The scent of blood hung thick in the air but wasn't bad enough that she felt the need to cast her scent deprivation spell. As she approached the door for the guest room she couldn't help but notice the smell wasn't getting worse. It seemed odd that the scent of blood seemed to be spread evenly throughout the castle, she knew the air flow in the castle wasn’t the best given the lack of opening windows but she never thought it could get this bad.

“Good morning Mr. hunter, I hope-” When Twilight opened the door she was greeted by an empty room. The room looked just like it had before she had invited the hunter, everything was in order save for the bed sheets being slightly misaligned but that was nothing she couldn't handle herself. She would have to thank the hunter for being such a courteous guest. The hunter had probably woken up earlier and headed down to eat or wait for her to wake up.

As Twilight walked towards the stairs it occurred to her that it was more than likely the hunter and Spike were together at the moment. She didn't outright hate the idea but with what she knew about the hunter he was not exactly the best influence especially since he spoke so bluntly; however, given his propensity towards minimalism she doubted if Spike would want to talk for very long since he preferred the stories over just plain information.

As Twilight was descending the stairs she noticed that there was a large trail of blood starting at the front door and ending at the door to the throne room. So much for being a good guest. The hunter had likely gone back to get the bladenboro beast, probably to fix himself breakfast; given she almost never had meat in the castle except when she knew a dignitary would be visiting that required it. Now that she thought about it if Spike was with the hunter he was probably being taught how to properly butcher an animal. It sent shivers down her spine to think that Spike was learning such things but to some extent she knew it was to some degree inevitable. She learned that Spike was a species of dragon that was omnivorous a few years back when at a celebration of the Pony Gryphon Peace Accords she noticed he kept going back for food from the gryphon banquet table. She found out later that he was eating something called Beef Roulade, a popular gryphon dish. When Spike asked her if she wanted to try any she had to decline and tell him why. Spike didn't eat for some time after that. Since then he had promised that he would never eat meat again, but the extended looks she had seen him give towards gryphon dinners as of late was making the future of that promise questionable.

The closer she went to the throne room door the worse the smell became, she hoped to Celestia that the blood wouldn't be absorbed into the walls and floor and require everything to be acid washed. When she found the hunter he was going to be cleaning this whole mess up, every time she lifted her hoof the blood made a wet squelch that sent shivers down her spine when she thought about what she was walking through.

“I hope you were planning to-” Twilight started up as she opened the door to the throne room, only to be rendered speechless by what she was seeing.

Positioned on each seat was one of her friends sitting how they normally would, however, each of their heads had been cleaved clean off. Blood had started to flow from the wounds, running down each of their barrels onto the chairs before reaching the edge and creating a separate waterfall for each of them. Even Spike was given the grotesque treatment. If Twilight was wondering where the heads had gone the dripping on the table clued her in. Hanging from the tree root chandelier hung each of the heads. The heads had been tied to the roots using the blood-soaked manes of the victim, with the exception being Spike who had instead been impaled thru the eyes into the roots. The blood that had dripped down had covered the table and had now begun to slowly drip onto the floor. The scene before her made every cell in her body turn ice cold.

She had been right to not have trusted the hunter, why did she ever think that that monster could have ever been trusted. It occurred to Twilight that she wasn't being attacked and had not seen the hunter yet. The hairs on the back of Twilight's neck stood on end, the hunter was without a doubt out in Ponyville. Twilight instantly turned to put the gruesome scene behind her and bolted towards the front door. She needed to save as many ponies as she could, there was no way for her to stop the hunter now without the help of the princesses. As Twilight ran to the front door she kept slipping, the fact that the floor had always been kept extremely smooth and blood had very similar properties as water made traction a thing of the past, resulting in Twilight becoming covered in blood.

When she finally made it to the door and flung it open the only thing that came to her mind was despair. Before her stood the town of Ponyville only looking as if Sombra had returned although without a sense of morality. She had to find the hunter and try to stop him or delay him long enough for some pony to alert the royal guard. She galloped down the streets only to witness a continuation of the carnage from the throne room. Along the streets bodies lay gutted and butchered, blood flowed along downhill cracks in the roads creating small streams of ichor. Most of the street lamps had somepony impaled on them, mostly through the head; however the worst of these were the rare bodies hung upside down with the front hooves tied together and the intestines hanging from their opened guts.

Tears welled up in Twilight's eyes, she had been responsible for everyone's safety and she had failed; now everyone was most likely dead. She felt like dropping down and crying her eyes out. This desire was soon ended as a sudden explosion shook the town. Twilight looked to her right only to see the remains of a magical blast fade from behind a building. A second smaller explosion shortly followed, sending several wheelbarrows worth of earth into the air only a few buildings to the left of the first explosion.

She had no doubt there was at least one survivor-possibly two still alive and trying to fend off the hunter. She needed to go and help them before she was left as the sole survivor of this massacre. She ran towards a gap between two houses to get to the other side, it would take too long if she tried to run around the buildings and the fastest route was right between the buildings.

The gap between the buildings was fairly snug, no so much for her barrel to be touching both walls but if she needed to turn around she doubted she could do so without scraping her horn. As she was making her way through she noticed that many inhabitants had crawled into this ally to save themselves from the hunter. Moans and cries for help echoed off the walls, creating a miserable chorus of pain and death. Twilight closed her eyes and trotted slightly faster down the alley, she wanted nothing more than to stop to help these ponies only her current situation demanded she reach the survivors fighting off the hunter to make sure there weren't any more casualties today.

When she reached the other end of the ally ran into a small pegasus, knocking them over. When she looked down she saw it was one of the crusaders classmates, Featherweight. Blood rushed from Twilight's face, she remembered Featherweight’s mom being one of the many bodies that now adorned the street lamps around town. What made it even worse was that most of Featherweight’s face seemed to have been used to stop a particularly bad fall. Most of his face was bleeding from a multitude of cuts and scrapes several inches long with many exposing bone. Most of the cuts had bits of rock and wood embedded into them creating a grotesque pin board out of the poor colts skull, even one of his ears looked like some sadistic pony had grabbed hold of it and forcefully ripped it off. However, the eyes were what drew the most attention. Both of them were tightly shut with one eyelid cut open just enough to make it obvious that he had completely lost the eye.

Another explosion rocked the town, obviously, a strong unicorn was still fighting off the hunter she, needed to get there quickly before everything got worse. She quickly apologized to Featherweight and prepared to run off before a hoof grabbed her left hind leg.

“Is that you Miss Twilight?”

Twilight looked back, it was Featherweight.

“Please, I need your help. I was going to the store with my mom and then everyone started to scream and run and I got separated from her. Everyone kept screaming there was a monster so I hid in a trash can ‘til everyone stopped screaming. When I finally got out everyone was on the ground bleeding, I tried to wake them up but nothing worked, ” Featherweight sounded more scared as he continued the story, “I was running over to the hospital to get help when a spell came out of nowhere and everything hurt and I couldn't see, and I tried to call out for help but no one called back and I tried to keep going to the hospital,” Featherweight collapsed onto his hindquarters and lowered his head as blood-soaked tears started to run from his long gone eyes and down his muzzle as he choked out one last barely audible addition, “and I just want my mommy.”

Every fiber of Twilight's being was screaming at her to comfort the colt, reassure him that everything would be alright. Only she knew it wouldn't. He had lost both his eyes and his mother in one day, how could she ever comfort him knowing that everything that came out of her mouth was a blatant lie. Another explosion occurred not too far from them pulling Twilight back to the situation at hoof.

“I know you're scared, I am too. I promise that I will do everything I can to help you but right now there are ponies out there that really need my help now, but when I get back you’ll be my number one priority.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

“Ok.”

With that Twilight gently lifted Featherweight off the ground with her magic and placed him in the alley behind an old wooden pallet and asked if he would stay there till she got back, he only nodded in understanding, too emotional to find his voice.

When Twilight was sure Featherweight was safe she galloped down the street towards where the explosions had been coming from. The building had become engulfed in flames with several collapsed from what she assumed to be retaliation by the unicorn fighting off the hunter. She was about to turn towards town hall to see if the hunter and survivors had run that direction until she saw an ominous black figure standing near the end of the street with its back to her.

She had finally found the hunter, only he wasn't moving. Hope temporarily rose up in her that he had been defeated but reality decided that it needed to rear its ugly head. She remembered yesterday when she had found the hunter sitting across from the Bladenboro breast he had defeated with barely a scratch on him. The entire town had been slaughtered, how could she even think for a moment that such an efficient killer could be bested by some unknown unicorn. No, there was only one reason he would be so still.

Twilight channeled all her mana and all the mana she could pull into a spell to stop this hunter. She didn't care that without manipulating the spell she couldn’t know what she was casting if it ended being a spell in the first place, she just wanted to put an end to this madness. When she could no longer hold any more mana in her horn she launched a cart sized mass of pure mana straight at the back of the evil monster she had brought to the town.

Just as the spell left her horn the hunter spun around and flung a large white and red mass straight at the oncoming spell. When the white mass collided with the spell a loud, quick, uneven crack resounded throughout the entire street. The spell, however, had not been enough to stop the white mass as it continued towards her before falling to the ground and eventually coming to a stop at her hooves. It was only when she looked down did she realize what had been thrown at her.

At her hooves lay the battered and bloody corpse if princess Celestia. Most of her body was cut and bruised from her fight with the hunter. A large hole in her abdomen signaling that the hunter had used the giant blade to impale the princess had started to leak a fair amount of blood onto the surrounding dirt. Twilight realized that the red she had seen wasn't the cuts and bruises but the princess’s mane. Her usual multicolored flowing hair was now soaked in her own blood and plastered to the side of her face, speaking of which was now upside down. Celestia's entire skull had been wrenched so far that several vertebrae had broken and now pushed up the skin creating unsightly bumps. Her mouth hung open in a silent scream of terror.

“I must commend you. I had no idea one of your kind could be so cruel.”

The hunter’s statement drew Twilight's eyes away from her former mentor. The hunter was facing her with that horrible blade still caked in blood. He even looked to be smiling at her.

“What are you talking about? I’ve do nothing, except let you in.”

“Ah, but the body before you speaks against that statement. You see, when I threw that pony at you, they were still alive. Granted, you didn't mean to kill them, but the fact you were willing to try to snap my neck speaks volumes about who you really are.”

“No that's not true,” Twilight could not accept she had just killed someone she considered family, the hunter had to be lying to try to hurt her.

“Oh but it is. Before you cast that spell at me I was having a nice little chat with her about how things were going to be from now on. To protect myself I threw her at your spell before it could hit me. Now her blood is on your hooves, along with everypony else you let die.”

As the hunter finished his rebuttal Twilight could feel her front hooves start to become very wet. When she looked down the blood from Celestia had started to creep towards her, as if drawn by magic. She tried to back away and shake off the blood but nothing was working, the blood still followed her like a well-trained dog. She kept retreating back until she stepped in a puddle and could feel a sensation of something crawling up her back legs. When she looked back it was more blood, only this was a river of the foul ichor carrying the corpses of the deceased towards her. She couldn't move a muscle, this was just too much for her to handle. Slowly the blood started to cover her entire body. It wasn't until what she assumed to be a hoof touched her flank was she knocked out of her stupor and back to the situation at hand. Her body had been mostly covered by the blood and was only getting higher. Twilight tried to knock the blood off her, even summoning a broom made of magic to beat off as much of the blood as she could but it was no use, the foul liquid kept climbing its way up her body. The blood was starting to go into her mouth and nose, it tasted worse than anything she could imagine. She tried to scream for help but the blood had started to fill her mouth, making it impossible, she had to settle for choked cries and tears as she was covered from hoof to horn. The last thing she saw before the blood covered her eyes was the sight of the hunter smiling at her predicament.

Twilight sat up from her bed faster than she ever had before, a cold sweat covering her body. She quickly looked around her room, everything was its usual place, even Spike was snoring in his bed. A quick look towards the window showed that it was still dark, likely early morning with a few hours left before sunrise. Twilight laid back on her side and curled into the fetal position. She refused to go back to sleep if there was any possibility of returning to that nightmare.

Twilight stayed in that position until the sun came up, and even then it took Spike shaking her to bring her back to the real world.

“Twilight, are you ok. You’ve just been laying there like a statue, it's kind of scaring me.”

“It's ok Spike, it was just a bad dream,” Twilight replied stifling the yawn that was forming.

“Was it about our new guest? You know you can send for some guards if they're scaring you this badly,” Spike was concerned for Twilight's sanity. He had seen her countless times before having terrible nightmares, mostly over failing a test, and it always, without fail, resulted in Twilight being emotionally broken for days on end.

“I’m fine Spike if the hunter causes any problems I’m sure I’ll be able to handle him. How about you go down and get breakfast ready and I'll check on the guest.”

Spike looked at Twilight skeptically but headed downstairs to the kitchen to start breakfast. Twilight was glad Spike was concerned for her but right now she needed to see if she was willing to trust the hunter. If she was willing to stand by her title as princess she should be willing to put more faith in others, and bringing in the royal guard because of her fears just felt like going against that.

It took almost another half an hour but Twilight finally got down from her bed, did her stretches, this time skipping the deep inhale, and trotted out into the hall. As she was heading to the hunters room she couldn't help but remember what she had happened in the dream, every step seemed to remind her of the nightmare; but she couldn't let her fears control her. So taking a deep breath and doing the exercise Cadence had taught her she twisted the handle and opened the door.

In front of her was the same guest bedroom she had seen several times before, everything looked untouched. The only difference she could see was that I the middle of the room laid two open coffins. Twilight grew pale, had she been right about the hunter, was he planning to kill her and Spike? Twilight hurried downstairs, not running but definitely not walking. Her mind raced trying to reason through why the hunter had two open coffins in his room but every time she was drawn back to him planning to kill her and Spike.

When she arrived at the kitchen she opened the door, perhaps too vigorously, only to be met with the sight of the hunter leaning against the counter across from her drinking from a fairly dented metal cup while Spike went around making breakfast. The hunter had obviously changed his clothes, he was currently dressed what looked like a long grey overcoat and pants. It reminded her of the Minotaur’s formal dress for equestrian parties and delegations. He was still wearing the same grey pointed hat with the fabric that covered his right eye.

“Coffee is on the stove,” the hunter plainly stated after taking a sip from his own cup.

“Thank you, I appreciate the gesture.”

Twilight meandered over to the stove and looked into the pot that the hunter had likely been referring to. It was the darkest coffee she had ever seen, if it wasn't for the fact that about half the pot was already gone she would have mistaken the glass of the pot for something like cast iron. Twilight, not wanting to be inconsiderate, opened the cabinet where she stored her mugs, retrieved one, and poured about half a cup, just in case. When she finally took a sip she instantly regretted her good nature. The coffee was as purely black as it could possibly be, its bitterness refused to leave her mouth, staying almost as strong as when it first entered, even after she had quickly swallowed it all. The coffee also tasted like it had been thoroughly burned, attacking the back of her throat like a furious beaver. She had to put the cup down before she accidentally took another sip out of habit.

“If you don't like black coffee why didn't you add milk and sugar?’

Twilight looked at the hunter and saw his usual even expression. It really unnerved her that the entire emotional spectrum the hunter had displayed thus far was anger and apathy.

“I didn't think it would be that bitter, I need to test what the coffee tastes like first before I add anything.”

“Fair enough,” the hunter replied before pouring another cup of the coffee and resuming his place on the counter

“How can you even drink that, I don't even think Pinkie could stomach it,” Twilight asked as she grabbed the milk from the fridge and the sugar from the cabinet in an attempt to make the drink halfway palatable.

“When your usual cup uses no more than five beans, you learn to appreciate stronger brews.”

Twilight was about to inquire into why the hunter was so used to weak coffee when Spike set down a plate of pancakes and hay bacon for her.

“Breakfast is served.” Spike enthusiastically stated before turning to the hunter, “I can make you something too. I recently learned to-”

“I’m fine with just coffee”

“Oh, ok then,” Spike sounded fairly disheartened that the hunter had shot him down before even hearing him out, but quickly perked back up and resumed his questions for the hunter, “I didn't want to disturb you while you were making the coffee but I've got to know, Where are you from.”

“Lostendav”

“I've never heard of it, is it near Equestria,” Spike asked, while pouring himself a bowl of cereal.

“No.”

“So you had to travel quite a bit to get here, did you see anything exciting,” this got Spike excited, if their new guest was from far away he had to have some exciting stories.

“Not particularly.”

Twilight could barely contain a smile at Spikes mounting frustration. After the hunter had quickly shot down yet another of Spikes questions Spike looked to be ready to scream out in frustration. It was really setting her mind at ease how… well… normal the hunter was. Well he wasn't exactly normal by any stretch of the imagination, the approximately two dozen words he had uttered in total since first meeting him being just the cherry on top of his strangeness; but the fact that he wasn't the genocidal monster she had dreamt him to be was all that mattered to her now. The only thing that was keeping her from fully calming down was the one question she had since seeing the guest room.

“If you don't mind me asking, why do you have two coffins in your room?”

“They're my storage containers. I figured your princesses are going to want me to accompany them back to their castle.”

“What do you have in them?”

“Weapons, clothes, and other supplies for hunting.”

Spike slammed his claw down onto the table and pointed his spoon at the hunter and proceeded to shout with all his anger, “why does she get actual responses when I only get one-word answers?!”

“She asks the right questions.”

The human barely seemed to be registering Spikes fury, and this only worsened the situation. Twilight had to magically restrain Spike as he tried to jump off the seat and get into the hunter's face.

“I think what he means by that is I asked questions that take more to answer. I’m pretty sure he doesn't like saying more than necessary,” this seemed to calm Spike down quite a bit but he still seemed to be ready to fight the human. When she let go of him he gave one last death glare towords the human before picking up the remains of his cereal and stomping out of the kitchen.

Twilight sighed, that could have been better. She hadn't seen Spike that emotional in a long time. It felt out of place for Spike to be so easily angered, even if he felt slighted by the human not giving him the responses he wanted; it was like Spike had been replaced by a dragon diplomat with how easily he was set off. Then the final piece slipped into place.

Twilight let out another sigh and laid her face down on the table. Spike was going through normal dragon puberty. She was going to have to go through about fifteen years of Spike having elevated hormones, predator hormones no less, dealing with all the mood swings and aggression that came with it. If the great Fausticorn would like to give her any more hurdles this week, now would be the perfect time so she could get it out of the way.

“So when can I expect your princesses to show up.”

“I don’t know,” Twilight flatly stated, her muzzle still pressed against the table, “they had to go to the zebra nations because the zebras felt the same disturbance I did and they want to know exactly what happened.”

The kitchen was consumed by silence for some time after that, save for the occasional bird songs that reminded Twilight that she hadn't gone deaf. Twilight eventually lifted her head and finished her breakfast and when she turned to put her plate in the sink she nearly jumped when she saw the human still leaning against the counter and writing in the notebook she saw yesterday. The human had not made a single sound since he had asked about the princesses. She guessed he had been writing in the notebook the entire time. It scared her that he had done so without making noise. After her plate had been washed she decided she might as well engage with the human.

“Since we’re probably going to be near each other quite a bit for the foreseeable future we should probably get to know each other. I’m-”

“Twilight Sparkle.”

“Wait, how do you know that,” Twilight was surprised ,and slightly scared, that the human knew who she was.

“You told me yesterday”

Now that she thought about it, she did remember telling him her name right before he cut her off and interrogated them on why they had gone into his, I think he called it his workshop. Anyways, she still wanted to know his name.

“What about you?”

“Draxton Valdane”

“So Mr. Valdane, do you think you would be interested in taking a walk around the town?’

Draxton stopped writing in his book and looked up at her. His expression wasn't one of surprise or irritation, more a look of cold calculation. It was kind of unnerving her, especially his exposed eye. The intensity that that eye conveyed bordered on predatory, it didn’t help that the iris was this deep shade of red that reminded her of-- no, the dream wasn't real, she wasn't going to judge another based on her paranoia.

“Alright,” Draxton said. Closing the book and placing it in his coat, likely an inner pocket.

“Wonderful. If you want, you could put on something less formal.”

“This isn’t formal.”

“Oh,” Twilight had forgotten he was from another world possibly so codes of dress were likely much different there, then an idea struck her, “I know, I’ll take you to Rarity’s boutique. She could make you something more fitting for wearing around Ponyville.”

“Why would I need that?”

“Well, I thought it might be a nice gesture to offer you some new clothes so you could fit in a little better. It also gives me an excuse to check up on my friends while I show you around the town. If you really don't want her to make you anything I won’t force you.”

Draxton didn't look too sold on the idea, but the fact he wasn’t objecting to it out right was a good thing; at least she hoped so.

“I’ll just go clean up. If you want you can wait for me by the front door.”

It was an awkward walk thru Ponyville to reach carousel boutique. Every pony they passed gave a sidelong look to the human; each trying to figure out what he was. It didn’t really help that Draxton didn’t seem to acknowledge their existence, keeping himself looking straight ahead despite the murmurs. From snippets, she was able to overhear a majority were wondering if he was another visiting dignitary like the yaks were.

“Are you guys seeing this? Is Twilight trying to befriend more nations?”

“I don't have the foggiest. If she is, it must be quite the ways away, I haven't seen that fellows kind in Equestria.”

“Screw where they came from, are you seeing the weapon they’re carrying. If they’re that open with weapons and Twilight hasn't taken it away yet I’m pretty sure they’re another predator.”

It was a point that Twilight hated with a passion. She had tried to convince Draxton to leave his weapons behind but it ended with him telling her he was bringing a weapon, end of the conversation. Twilight didn't know why he was so adamant, she had told him Ponyville was extremely safe so he wouldn't need a weapon, more so since she had seen what he could do without one.

The two of them eventually arrived at Rarity's boutique and without so much as turning to wait for her he opened the door and strolled right in. She was afraid he would terrify Rarity and a possible client of hers with that so she quickly ran right in only to find the room empty with Draxton scanning the room.

“You know it isn't exactly polite to just stroll into someponies’ house without warning, especially since no one knows just who or what you are,” Twilight stated with mild irritation

“Didn't you say this was a store,” Draxton replied evenly, looking to be assessing the quality of the outfits on display but giving no indication as to his thoughts.

“Well… yes… I did, but it's just,” Twilight let out a sigh and lowered her head, “you know what, forget I said anything,” there was no way she was going to be able to explain all the societal norms he was going to need to learn without an exhaustive lesson plan, and even then she doubted he would conform to them anyway given this morning’s weapon debacle.

“Twilight, is that you?”

Rarity was galloping down the stairs, she had to make sure her ears weren't deceiving her. When she cleared the final stair and saw Twilight she instantly ran over and embraced her as tightly as she could.

“Twilight, everyone was worried sick about you. We watched the forest to see when you came out, but when you never did we thought the worst.”

“I’m sorry about that, I was meaning to send a letter to you girls when I got back, I was just so frazzled that I forgot.”

“Well why didn't any of us see you come back, we spent all night watching that dreadful forest.”

Twilight nervously laughed, “Well I sort of teleported us to the castle before we left the forest to avoid Draxton scaring the towns ponies,” Twilight was starting to regret not remembering her friends, they had probably been overly stressed all night.

“Well, I'm glad you’re safe. Now, down to business, I know you too well to think you would come in person and without notice just to exchange pleasantries.”

“Am I really that predictable,” Rarity only nodded in response, it wasn’t unexpected but it still felt weird that her friends probably knew more about her than she did about them. “Well, I just thought I would take our new guest around and show him what Ponyville was like. I also thought it would be nice to buy him more casual clothes to wear.”

Rarity had hardly noticed the human in her boutique, he had been watching them have their discussion, probably waiting for her decision on the matter. She hardly thought this creature was cultured in the slightest when she had first seen him, however, what he was wearing now looked to be more visiting diplomat instead of savage killer.

“I would be more than happy to help. If you would please disrobe I’ll be back shortly with my tape to take measurements,” Rarity stated, barely refraining from voicing her reluctance in being around the individual that injured Rainbow Dash.

As Rarity headed upstairs she couldn't help but allow a smile to creep onto her muzzle, despite her misgivings. She was going to be the first and possibly only designer to make an outfit for this new species, this was the opportunity of a lifetime. After she grabbed her measuring tape and her notebook and pen she went back downstairs and found the guest removing their pants to place on her presentation stage.

When the guest had removed all but his underwear it became obvious that she was indeed dealing with a male, judging by the bulge in the front. It was quite funny to her that he was so inclined to cover up; it was refreshing to be around such a modest male, given Equestrias’ dress code any modesty, in general, was quite the treat. Upon further inspection however her smile faded.

The entirety of the hunter’s upper body was covered in long wide scars, crisscrossing so often it almost appeared that his skin was actually another layer of clothing. Rarity was even able to pick out a multitude of round indents across the skin that looked like the craters that covered the moon. Rarity almost fainted though when she saw his face. Without the cloth from the hat to cover it, a large deep gash; running from the top middle of his forehead, down through his eye, and tapering off when it reached his bottom jaw, was painfully obvious.

Rarity simply stood where she was in utter shock, even Twilight was trying to recover from what she was seeing. It was such a shock because the wound looked to have only just stopped bleeding, strands of what looked like recently exposed flesh spider-webbed between the two sides of the wound. It also sent shivers down both of their spines that the individual in front of them seemed to have only recently been wounded but showed no sign of being in anyway cognizant of the damage.

“If it bothers you that much I can put the cloth back on,” Draxtons usual deadpan voice broke the silence that had fallen over the room. Neither of the friends had realized they had been staring right at the wound for some time now, and it had more than likely come off as insensitive.

“That would be much appreciated,” Rarity responded, after nervously swallowing, she wanted nothing more than to avoid looking at that dreadful wound more.

After Draxton had replaced the cloth over the injury Rarity went to work taking his measurements. From her measurements, this new guest was no bigger than an adolescent minotaur. He was only about two meters tall and his chest was only eighty-eight centimeters around, even his arms were no bigger than twenty-eight centimeters around. If she had just met him she would have incorrectly assumed that he was no stronger than the average stallion.

“I just have to ask Draxton, how did you get that wound.” Twilight needed to know the story behind such a vicious injury.

“Father Gascoigne. He was another hunter who went mad from the blood,” Draxton pointed at the cloth covered wound, “I underestimated him and lost an eye. I let it fester so I’ll always have a reminder.”

Both Twilight and Rarity were floored by his answer. Neither of them had ever heard of someone purposely keeping a wound from healing, sure there were those that held battle scars are a badge of honor but never like this.

“Doesn't it hurt darling, I mean, that is quite the wound.”

“More than you can imagine.”

“Well we have one of the best nurses in Equestria, I have no doubt she would be more than happy to help remedy that.”

“That would defeat the point of keeping the wound.”

Twilight was positive she needed to get Draxton away from Rarity. Every time he opened his mouth she could see Rarity become more and more unsettled. Not even the most hardened gryphon soldier shrugged off wounds like this human did.

“If you’re done with your measurements, Rarity, I think we should get going. It really would be nice if I was able to show Draxton Ponyville.”

Rarity still looked to be trying to process what she was hearing, “oh... yes... I’m done with the measurements. Before you go though, can come upstairs with me, I need to tell you something.”

Twilight was curious as to why Rarity wanted to talk so privately. As Draxton was getting redressed she told him she would meet him outside when she was done talking with Rarity. He didn't seem to have heard her, but as she was about to repeat herself Draxton just got up and walked outside. If she was going to be spending more time around him she was going to need to set some ground rules, and near the top of that list would be acknowledging her when she was talking to him. So with that sorted out Twilight headed upstairs to Rarity's room. When Twilight reached Rarity's bedroom she found the unicorn patiently waiting for her.

“So Rarity what do you need to tell me?”

“Well, I thought you should know that shortly after you left to find, Draxton was it, Applejack and Pinkie took Rainbow to the hospital when they were unable to wake her. The doctors sent word this morning that she finally woke up... but... the news wasn’t so good.”

Twilight was noticeably shocked at what she was being told but something didn't add up, “I appreciate you telling me, but why did have to be in private, I don't think Draxton would care if you told him how bad he hurt Rainbow Dash,” as much as the words both hurt and startled her to say, it seemed to be the most accurate assessment of the hunters personality.

“That's exactly why I wanted to tell you in private. When you brought him in here I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt but I couldn't shake the feeling when I was talking to him that everything about him was unnatural, like he’s the very elemental for the Everfree.”

Twilight couldn't respond, she knew exactly what Rarity was talking about and there was nothing she could say to refute her.

“I know it might sound unreasonable, but I don't think you should let him near Rainbow, for now, I just don't trust him enough to feel comfortable with him being near her.”

Twilight closed her eyes, lowered her head and released a sigh, “No, it's not unreasonable. I’ll see if Applejack would be willing to watch him while I check up on Rainbow Dash,” Rarity seemed to agree on this course of action, giving a little nod and a half-hearted smile. As Twilight was walking out the bedroom door she turned to Rarity, “If it's any consolation, I’m not sure I feel any different about him.”

When Twilight left the boutique she found the hunter leaning against a tree to her left and seemingly having something to eat. As she approached him she was starting to have second thoughts, what if Applejack and her family won't be safe around him, what if he refuses to leave her side, maybe she should just take him back to the castle and have the others keep her informed on Rainbow’s situation. The best course she could see right now would be to extend the same courtesy he had shown her.

“Draxton, I need to tell you something. Rarity just told me that our friend Rainbow Dash, the one you fought yesterday, is in the hospital and is not doing too well. If you don't mind, I would like for you to stay with another of my friends while I check on her, because if I’m being frank, I don’t entirely trust you, especially around Rainbow Dash.”

“Fine by me.”

One part of her felt relief that the hunter wasn't going to fight her on the matter, but a far more vocal part of her was berating her for how she had handled it. With how easily the hunter went along with the decision it was like he had been expecting her to want to leave him. Right now she just wanted to see how Rainbow Dash was doing and try to sort her emotions out.

The walk to the farm was fairly mundane, Draxton, as usual, was as talkative as a statue and she had done her best to avoid the most direct route through Ponyville so the only thing they passed of note was the bell tower. The silence was starting to get to her too. Without something to take her mind off the issue, the current situation with Rainbow was starting to make her more and more anxious.

Fortunately, Applejack was starting to clear the Apple trees near the entrance. When Applejack caught sight of Twilight she visually brightened up but that enthusiasm was quickly tempered at the sight of the hunter besides her friend. Nevertheless, Applejack happily trotted over to her friend to greet her.

“Hey Twi, I’m glad y’all got back safe,” Applejack said to Twilight before turning to Draxton, “I trust our new friend here helped play a part in that. I want to personally thank you for protecting us back in the Everfree, if you wouldn't have been there we’d have been as safe as a feed sack in a chicken coop.”

“I was just stopping by to see if he could stay here for a while. I’m planning to visit Rainbow Dash to see how she's doing and I didn't think a reunion between Draxton here and Rainbow would go all too well. If anything he could probably lend you some help around here, what do you say?”

“Why is it everyone assumes I’m the one who always needs help,” Applejack mumbled under her breath. “I think I can find something for him to do.”

“Thanks, Applejack, I should be back in about an hour.” Twilight quickly said before starting her jog to the hospital.

When Twilight was out of listening distance she turned to Draxton so his stay here could officially begin.

“I’m going to assume since she was referring to you as Draxton that's your name,” Draxton only nodded in response. “Well I think I know just where you can go, I was gonna go grab Applebloom to help Big Mac but I think you two will be a much better fit.”

Big Mac was carrying a bushel of apples to the cart when he saw Applejack crest over a hill with what looked to be a scrawny minotaur. He inwardly groaned to himself, every time a minotaur asked for a tour of the farm they always without fail asked to test their strength against him, they also never shut their mouths. When the two of them reached him he was glad that whoever it was with Applejack didn't seem to be like the other minotaur’s.

“Big Mac I'd like to introduce you to Draxton, the hunter I told you about yesterday. Twilight needs us to keep an eye on him for now while she checks on Rainbow so I thought it might be best to have him help you out.”

Big Mac did his best to form a polite smile and nod in understanding. He appreciated the fact the hunter had gone to great lengths to keep his sister and her friends safe but he could only see the hunter slowing his work down. All this plan would end up doing is making more work for him tomorrow.

“Now Draxton, all you need to do is when Big Mac here’s filled up a bushel with apples you take that bushel and place it in the cart over there. And when the cart’s full Big Mac can pull it to the barn for Granny Smith.”

The hunter didn't actually respond to or even acknowledge what Applejack said looking over Big Mac with this one Blood red eye. Big Mac prided himself on his ability to stay calm but something about the way he looked over him made him feel like he was being sized up for a meal.

“Well I’ll leave you two alone so you can get to work.”

No sooner had Applejack said those words then the then the hunter began to pick up a bushel that he had just filled and take it to the cart. Apparently he had been wrong in his initial judgement of the hunter, he appeared to be a hard worker that didn't need to be told twice what to do maybe he wasn't going to need to make up for lost progress tomorrow.

As time went on Big Mac couldn't help but let a smile creep across his muzzle as he realized that he and the hunter seemed to be cut from the same cloth. Not only was the hunter a focused worker he was quiet as the day was long. The hunter even brought a second cart for himself to pull so the process would be sped up. In about an hour and a half, the two of them had cleaned off about fifty trees, they were going to go back out to continue when Granny Smith spoke up.

“For both of your sakes, you better not be going back to bring me more of these here apples.”

In his euphoric haze of finally not being slowed down by someone helping him but actually being sped up he had failed to notice that Granny Smith was only now just starting to appraise the second load of apples they had brought in. So he wouldn't get whooped he lead the hunter to his favorite tree to rest under. He took his usual position that allowed him to stare over the southern section of the farm. When the hunter realized that the two of them were going to be here for a while he laid down with his back against the tree, pulled his hat over his face and seemed to fall asleep.

Today had been so good, not only had he been able to finish early today he would say that he had found a new friend that understood his desire for silence. If this new creature was willing he would no doubt be asking him to hang out another time.

The walk to the hospital had been stressful on Twilight, every time she tries to take her mind off Rainbows condition another possibility reared it to head to bring down her mood. If she imagined Rainbow having lost all her memories she tried to calm down using cadences breathing technique, but as soon as the possibility faded from her conscience the possibility that Rainbow had become completely paralyzed came to the forefront. By the time she reached the hospital she had become a nervous wreck.

“Oh, hello princess, what can I do for you,” Nurse Redheart asked as Twilight entered. The kind demeanor of the medical pony helped to ease her nerves.

“I came to see Rainbow Dash. My friends said she woke up this morning and wasn’t doing too well.”

As soon as Rainbows name left Twilight's lips the smile on Nurse Redheart disappeared, replaced by a look of sorrow.

“I can take you to see her, follow me”

It seemed odd how Redheart had become so drab at the drop of a hat. And just like that, the paranoia resurfaced. As they were walking through the hospital it became apparent they were heading in the direction of the intensive care unit.

“You should know a few things before you see your friend,” Redheart began, “when your friends brought her in and told us what happened we assumed the worse. When she wouldn't wake up we ordered a CT scan of her head to fully understand what damage had occurred. We noticed the back portion of her skull had been fractured in several areas, there were also several edemas across the brain.”

The nurse continued to tell her about the medical issues that Rainbow Dash had sustained but Twilight had tuned it out, she already knew what it meant. A fractured skull was one thing when it came to head trauma but when that gets combined with bleeding across the brain a ponies health was definitely at stake.

“We’ve put her under twenty-four-hour surveillance in case her condition gets worse but so far she's only displaying a mild case of retrograde amnesia.”

“How ‘mild’ of a case is it”

“It's approximately three days loss”

Had Rainbow really lost the last three days of memories? It might not seem like a great deal of time, and it wasn’t, but in that time Rainbow had done a show with the Wonderbolts and afterwards had a group dinner that she called ‘the greatest time she had ever had in her entire life’, it almost brought tears to her eyes knowing that that memory might be permanently robbed from her.

“Is there any hope she might regain them.”

“Hopefully. It's never clear with these kinds of injuries, they might come back by the end of the week, they might come back years down the line or not at all. We just need to wait and see.”