“Thank you for your explanation of the situation. However, it was not necessary for you to have come so soon, you could have simply waited for your previous student to report back on what she had found before leaving on your trip,” the king of the Zebra Nations explained to Celestia somewhat uncomfortably.

“Oh don't worry about it Fassil, you know how drab royal life can be. I’ve been looking for an excuse to leave the castle for ages,” Celestia replied with a smile. It had been several hours since she had met with the leaders of the Zebra nations and went over the letters she had received from Twilight with them. It was a relatively drab affair but learning what the magical disturbance was helped to alleviate her and her sister's concerns, somewhat.

What Twilight explained in her letter should not exist, even in her wildest nightmares. For one thing, the structure she described while being consistent with the style of architecture Equestria had before her sisters had been banished lay deep into the Everfree. So deep in fact that it lay near the heart of where the forest had originated, a location so dangerous that when she had first come to be regarded as princess many griffins came to test their mettle and map out the forest but all of them had been reduced to paranoid wrecks by the time they returned.

The next oddity was the creature she had described, a biped lacking hair on most of its body and living in the strange building. She said it called itself a human but she also mentioned that it had initially introduced itself as a hunter, and judging by Twilight's description of what it had done to the pack of timberwolves by itself, that initial introduction seemed more apt. Everything she had heard about this being sent shivers up her spine, even though Twilight had sent a letter saying that her initial assessment was overly paranoid Celestia couldn't shake the feeling that Ponyville was in significant trouble.

As Celestia rounded the last corner to the entrance of the king's palace she noticed that Luna was waiting for her by the door. She smiled to her host, thanking him for allowing her and her sister to stay with him until they had finished relaying to the zebras what her past student had discovered.

“I would like it if we could meet again and talk as friends rather than as leaders,” Fassil said as he bid Celestia safe travels.

“Well the Gala is coming up, I could send you some tickets and we can do just that when I can get away.”

“That would be appreciated, now I must take my leave, unlike you I can't escape my responsibilities for all too long.”

It brought a smile to her heart to know that there were still some individuals that were willing to joke at her expense. So often her subjects treated her like she was a goddess, the fact that anyone would treat her like their equal made it feel like she had received the greatest hearth warming gift imaginable.

“Are you ready to return home dear sister,” Luna stated when Celestia had reached her, “I have taken the liberty to summon our chariot.”

“Yes, while I wouldn’t object to staying I know Daily Planner would be handing me her resignation when I returned,” Celestia chuckled as she followed Luna thru the front door.

As Luna had said their chariot was waiting for them at the base of the palaces stairway. When they boarded and told the three pegasi that they were ready to depart they were treated to the quick jolt of acceleration followed by the steady climb to a decent altitude. Once they had reached the altitude that they were going to remain at for the duration of the trip Luna decided to confront Celestia.

“You know sister, I don't appreciate being lied to. I know that like me, you want nothing more than to return to Equestria and deal with our nation's new arrival. I saw in your eyes as we left the palace, you don't trust that the visitor is an insignificant threat to the elements.”
Celestia sighed, her sister had always been able to read her like a book. No matter how much she wished to hide her true feelings Luna was always able to see thru the facade.

“What Twilight put in her letters didn't sit right with me. She said that this hunter had been able to take out an entire pack of timberwolves and defeat a Bladenboro beast all by itself. Then when you consider that it had no problem incapacitating Rainbow Dash I fear we may be dealing with a creature far more dangerous than we have ever had to face.”

Luna could only nod in understanding, she felt the same, if not more so. If Luna was left to decide this creature's fate she would try to end its’ existence on the spot or sentence it to the farthest depths of Tartarus. But knowing her sister she would most likely try to befriend this being, seeing instead it's capacity for good. Thinking about it had allowed a grin to work itself onto her muzzle, her sister's good nature was something she was still trying to emulate but she had not had a great deal of success in. While this being had been described quite thoroughly as by far the best killer this planet had probably ever known her sister's good will might just be right and it could be brought to live more peacefully.

Unbeknownst to Luna Celestia was thinking just the opposite, a being this dangerous needed to be watched carefully one wrong move could result in the nation's downfall. Celestia hated what she was thinking but every time she mulled over the current situation she couldn't help but arrive at the same conclusion, this human needed to be as far away from the elements as was feasible.

“I am so sorry Twilight to force you into such great danger but I promise that as soon as I return I will personally rectify this mistake,” Celestia thought to herself.

It had been a painful experience for Twilight, informing Rainbow on what she had forgotten. When she had first started to talk to her Rainbow had been begging to be released from the hospital saying she was going to miss her performance with the Wonder Bolts. Needless to say Twilight had to tell her that she hadn't missed the show, and the reason she couldn't remember was that she had a head injury. This seemed to deflate Rainbow by quite a bit, for Rainbow it was more than a memory to fly with the Wonderbolts, it was a life dream. To lose such an important experience was akin to losing a part of yourself.

It was uncomfortable for Twilight to ask but she had to know if Rainbow remembered anything about how she had lost her memory. Rainbow fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you wanted to view it, had no idea, assuming that in her excitement after a successful show had done something stupid and ended up crashing. Twilight didn't know if she should tell her just yet the specifics of what had happened yesterday, particularly how she had come to lose her memories. Twilight instead opted to tell Rainbow what she remembered of the Wonderbolts show, this seemed to prevent Rainbow from asking for the details on how she had lost her memory.

The next three hours were spent telling Rainbow all about the show she had performed with the Wonderbolts in the crystal empire along with the dinner that followed, with a small break about a half hour into the stories so Twilight could write more a comprehensive letter to the princesses to explain the current situation. She had to send somepony to retrieve Spike, not just so she could send the letter but so Rainbow would get a more extensive account on what had happened during the dinner as her knowledge of that night was mostly limited to meeting with her brother and sister-in-law to catch up with what had transpired as of late.

“I’m telling you, if it wasn't for Spitfire, Soarin would have eaten all the pies on the dessert trolley.”

The laughter following Spikes retelling of the night's events shook Twilight out of her sour mood over Rainbows situation. Looking over to the mare in question Twilight could tell that she was doing much better, her ears were less flattened than when they had been when she had informed her of her memory loss, and her posture had markedly become more relaxed. It was moments like this that she treasured the most after having her world turned upside down, the wedding ceremony after the changeling attack and the tour to the four corners of Equestria after Tirek's attack, it all made things seem normal and logical.

A massive yawn started to form itself on Twilight's muzzle, she still hadn't gotten over the lack of sleep from last night's wonderful dream. With how tired she was feeling she was feeling like it was almost evening but according to the clock across from the bed it was still a quarter to noon. Something about that didn't seem right to her, though, she felt like she was very late to an appointment but she didn't have anything on her schedule for another three days, and besides what could be so important that it would warrant leaving her friend when she was at the hospital.

When Twilight finished that thought it hit her like a ton of bricks, she had left the hunter at Applejacks, she had meant to return in an hour but helping rainbow had definitely helped her lose track of time. She immediately got up and started heading straight for the door, as she was about to open it rainbow noticed her departure.

“Hey Twi, what's the rush, you getting lunch.”

Horsefeathers, Twilight had been doing so well keeping the hunter from Rainbows memory she didn't want to render all her efforts up to now pointless. She also didn't want to lie to her as that would likely result in worse outcomes down the line.

“I just left something at Applejack’s farm that I was supposed to pick up a few hours ago.”

“Oh cool, while you’re there could you grab me something to eat I'm getting hungry.”

“Don't the nurses bring you food,” Spike inquired, “I thought you could just order off a menu while at a hospital.”

“Ya, but have you had their food, not exactly fit for the best Wonderbolt”

Twilight was about to go into lecture mode on how the food was properly balanced to provide the ideal nutrients for recovering patients but right now getting to Draxton was her top priority.

Fluttershy's morning had been miserable so far. It wasn’t that it had been significantly different from her usual days but the fact the timberwolf she had brought home had major separation anxiety ripped at her heart. Every time she needed to leave to take care of her other animals she was met with a face begged she stay, and every time she had to leave she felt more of her willpower slip away. It didn't help that she felt like this poor creature's mother. Last night she was awoken by the soft cries of said timberwolf as it tried to come closer to her bed. It had felt like she had personally assaulted the timberwolf knowing that she had not put the timberwolf's bed closer to hers. The rest of the night saw her cuddling next to the timberwolf to keep him company.

She had finally finished caring for her other animals and was now ready to devote what time she could to help the timberwolf recover. She had collected many sticks and branches from the edge of the forest into her saddlebag and felt like she was ready to try to help heal the timberwolf's wounds. When she opened the door to her room she was met with the timberwolf staring straight at her, head pressed against the floor, and slowly wagging its tail. When she set her bag down she could immediately tell that the wolf was looking over to it with great interest.

She opened up her bag and proceeded to move all of the wood in front of the timberwolf so he could have his pick of which he preferred. When she had removed all of the wood she had collected she sat down across from the timberwolf to watch. As she sat there she couldn’t help but feel like she had failed; the timberwolf was simply sniffing all of the wood, not picking one up, not looking back at its legs to assess what size wood it would need, it was like a punch to the gut. Just as she was about to give up hope the timberwolf gently took one of the larger sticks in its mouth. It looked at her without moving and Fluttershy realized it was asking for her permission to take it, she simply smiled and nodded.

As she watched the timberwolf chew on the stick she started to notice something about its body that didn't seem right; it was extremely consistent. Normally when she saw a timberwolf it was very random in what wood composed its body along with being very simplistic in its general shape, but the timberwolf in front of her defied these notions. Every part of it looked like it had been painstakingly chosen and carved to flow seamlessly together. While its body wasn't a consistent type of wood it seemed like there had been careful consideration about how each wood would look when put together to form this creature. What was the oddest thing though was its teeth. As she was watching it chew down the stick it became apparent that its teeth weren't just sticks that had been sharpened to a point but looked more like what she would expect to see on an actual dog; not that they were perfect representations, they were thicker and less sharp than on a dog but still sharp enough that they were making short work of the stick it had chosen.

After several minutes it became apparent that the stick it had chosen was not one it was going to be using to help heal itself but rather as a meal. The stick had several holes along its length from the timberwolf's time with it along with both ends of it being reduced to barely bound splinters. Fluttershy knew that timberwolf's needed to pick wood that was going to comprise their body but the last time she had cared for one it had picked an ash stick in less than ten seconds and had done so when given only a dozen other options. This timberwolf had been given almost three dozen sticks and branches from the trees around her house and seemed almost content to stay without its back legs.

“Whats wrong, are they too small, I can find you something bigger if you want,”

The timberwolf stopped chewing on the stick and cocked his head at her. He simply chuffed and resumed his meal; signaling that he was content with what he had. Fluttershy for her part was still unclear as to why he was acting the way he was.

“Oh, alright. I was just wondering, don't you want your legs to heal?”

The sounds that followed only helped to make her heart sink lower. He said that none of the wood called to him. It smelled like food, not like himself. If Fluttershy couldn't find the wood she needed to help heal the timberwolf she was afraid he would never be able to properly leave this room. If anyone would know what she should do it was Twilight, and even if she didn't immediately know what she would need to do she must have a book that would help. In the event that even Twilight didn't have the information, she had met a pony some time ago on a trip to study the kappas of the Neighgano river who said that they specialized in timberwolves. She could send him a letter and ask if he could come to Ponyville and help.

Fluttershy got up, told the timberwolf she needed to head out for a minute, and proceeded to head to Twilight's castle, but not before being subject to the most incapacitating puppy dog eyes she had seen in her life. It took all of her willpower not to sit right back down and cuddle up with the timberwolf then and there.

Pinkie was stuck. Not knowing anything about what made someone tick was driving her up the wall, and not the fun kind of driving like with bumper cars but the not so fun kind where you had to sit still and stay quiet because everyone was sleepy. She was sitting in front of her Super Ultimate Redonkulous Party Ring of Incredible Surprises and Energy, her go to party planning table for new arrivals to Ponyville; though she was considering renaming it. She had been initially debating if she should have a party for this human, he had been super mean to her and her friends when they first met, especially to poor dashie. But on the other hoof if she saw somepony come into her secret party planning cave and ruin the surprises she had planned she would be super duper unhappy. He had also helped them get away from the mega scary jumpy kitty that had attacked them in the forest so she ultimately decided to give this human a super special welcome to Ponyville party; the only problem was that she didn't have any ideas.

The human seemed super duper upset, like, never had a party in their life kind of upset and she didn't want to make his more upset like she had done for Cranky so she needed to make sure the party fit the human to the n. The problem was that she knew nothing about humans, especially this one. She had been sitting like this for the least five hours and it was showing. The table was filled with party plans that had been written, scribbled out, rewritten, scribbled out again, and finally put on top of other plans she had given up on.

No matter what she thought would work she couldn't think of anypony in all of Equestria that she could compare to the human. Everyone always had something that made them happy, even the griffins weren't so grouchy when you got to know them. That was it she was going to need to know all about this human so she could give him a proper equestrian greeting. Now all she needed to do was to find him. It shouldn't be too hard thou, all she needed to do was follow the massive cloud of grump he kept giving off.

Twilight had been metaphorically kicking herself the entire way to the farm. How had she been so careless as to leave the hunter at the farm for three hours. She was hoping that the apples had been able to keep him relatively under control for this long but from what she had seen from him if he wanted to he could do as he pleased and nopony cold stop him. However, the more she went over the situation in her head the more it seemed like she was overreacting. The only time she could remember the hunter being violent was when he had been provoked; the timberwolves had been the first to attack so he probably felt justified in annihilating the entire pack, and when he had overpowered Rainbow she had been the first to act, flying straight for him. If she was being honest with herself if she looked over those two events she would have thought that the hunter was a normal, well not normal but definitely not homicidal, new species that had made it's home in the Everfree.

Going over those thoughts had definitely brought down her speed but by no stretch was she walking. As she approached the farm she noticed Applejack was still working the apple trees near the entrance only most of the trees had been cleared of the apples. Applejack for her part looked like she had been given exclusive permission to sell her apples at the next Wonderbolts show. Applejack was smiling ear to ear, and humming a pleasant tune that Twilight how but just couldn't put a name to. When Applejack noticed her approaching her smile only seemed to get bigger.

“Hey there Twi, what can I do ya for”

“Nothing too much, I just came back to take Draxton off your families hoofs.”

Her statement seemed to be part of a joke that she wasn't aware of because as soon as the words had left her lips no sooner did Applejack break out laughing. It was kind of an uncomfortable situation for Twilight but fortunately for her, the laughing was quick to subside.

“Ah, as much as I would love to tell you how much this family would like to see more of your new friend I don't think Granny would much appreciate it,” just as Twilight was going to ask for an explanation Applejack continued, “he’s up by the big tree with my brother. If ya can help it I would try to avoid the barn.”

And with that last statement Applejack was back to harvesting her apples. It didn't take a genius to discern that whatever had happened with Draxton was probably a mix of good and bad, leaning more on the side of bad. Twilight was afraid of what the bad might be but judging by Applejacks mood it probably wasn't too serious. As Twilight made her way towards the tree in question she noticed that Big Mac was up there as Applejack had said but he wasn't watching Draxton but instead looking over the farm; she only hoped that the hunter was up there with him and Big mack wasn't watching hm from on top of the hill.

When she reached the top of the hill she couldn't see Draxton with Big Mac. Twilight felt both annoyed that Big Mac had either let the hunter go off without keeping an eye on him or was watching him from up here, and scared at what the hunter could be doing at the moment. As she was about to ask Big Mac where the hunter had gone a voice broke the relative silence.

“I take it you came back to retrieve me?”

Twilight spun around to see Draxton had laid down with his back to the tree and pulled his hat down over his eyes. Big Mac for his part had also almost leapt out of his skin, he hadn't heard Twilight's approach and the sudden vocalization from the human had been the first words he had heard from him. The human’s voice sent shivers down his spine, it was extremely deep, deeper than his own voice, and how he spoke made even that simple question sound like it was a matter of fact. He could also tell that he spoke in a way that made him sound like he wanted nothing to do with the princess of friendship. He was starting to understand now why his sister said she didn't feel right around him before he had saved her life.

It unnerved Twilight how the hunter was able to do that. He had first shown that he could tell where her friends were without seeing them go there and now he had been able to tell it was her with a hat covering his face. When she had the time she was going to need to ask him exactly have he did that because if he did something like this again she didn't think that she would be able to go to sleep with him around.

“Yes. I’m sorry you had to wait, I was speaking with Rainbow for longer than I expected.”

Draxton simply replaced his hat to the top of his head, got up and started to walk down the hill.

“Where are you going,” Twilight called after the hunter as she trotted to catch up to him.

“I assume we’re returning to your home,” the hunter flatly responded. He simply kept walking towards the entrance, not bothering to engage in proper social etiquette such as look at who he's talking to, not that it should surprise her.

“Well yes, that was the plan. But you could have asked where I was going to be taking you before you start marching off on your own,” Twilight was getting irritated at this human's blatant disregard for how he should be acting in Equestria.

“If I was going in the wrong direction you would have corrected me.”

That was it; when she got home she was going to chain him to one of the chairs in the throne room and she was going to force him to recite every action he going to have to take while in Equestria to not be so insufferable to deal with.

Fluttershy was hoping that Twilight was going to be home when she arrived at the castle. She was currently taking the path through the park to help calm take her mind of the possibilities that might come up. It was one of the habits she had been developing as of late with her friends to help reduce her skittishness. It always brought a smile to her face to see ponies walking around, talking, and in the case of the little fillies and colts, playing games. Well, most of the time it brought a smile to her face; right now she was single-mindedly heading to the castle. While the walk thru the park was keeping the worst possibilities out of her head it wasn't helping to calm her down.

Right now she was really hoping that Twilight would have a book to help her with the timberwolf. If she didn't then she would need to find the timberwolf specialist and convince him to come to Ponyville. The problem was that he was living in Canterlot as a senior scientist for the Canterlot Academy of Biological Sciences the last time she had spoken to him. The problem with this was that she was going to need to leave all of her animals behind to go on said trip, and with an injured timberwolf that not even she could properly care for she wasn't confident in leaving him to be cared for by somepony else. If he had moved to another city or worse yet was off studying she wasn't sure she was ever going to find him.

As Fluttershy was reaching the end of the park she couldn't help but notice Twilight in front of her, and she was walking in the same direction but seemed to be accompanied by what appeared to be a scrawny minotaur. Fluttershy decided to pick up her pace to catch up with her friend and hopefully find out what the individual accompanying her was. Everypony had told her last night that they had found a minotaur-like creature living in a really scary graveyard when they had reached the place Twilight had been talking about and she was wondering if this was the thing they had been referring to. Fluttershy really didn't know how to feel about this creature thou as by their accounts he was the reason Rainbow had nearly been killed but on the other hoof he had protected them and had been willing to sacrifice himself to make sure they got to safety. When she was ten meters behind the two Twilight suddenly looked up at the creature and spun around to face her.

“Oh hey Fluttershy, how are you doing,” Twilight tried to say in a sincere manner but Fluttershy could tell from her voice and the way her eyes subtly kept looking over to the creature that she was with that something about it was or had made her very nervous.

“I’m fine. I was just going to the castle to ask you a question, but since you're here I can ask you now.”

At her statement Twilight visually tensed up, there was definitely something going on that was making her so nervous and she wanted to ask what it was but right now only one thing was on her mind.

“Do you have any books that might help me with the timberwolf, I tried to give him some wood to fix his legs but he didn't respond to any of it.”

Twilight seemed to become less tense, looking relieved at the question, she had probably been expecting to asked something else.
“I’m sorry but I don't think I have any books that could help. Timberwolves aren't exactly the most studied species out there,” Twilight started tilting her head down, it wasn't like her to not have a book to help her solve a problem. Twilight turned back around to continue her journey back to her castle and motioned for Fluttershy to follow her, “if you want you can look thru the library and see if I do have any books that could help.”

As they were walking Twilight suddenly raised her head and exclaimed,“wait, didn't you tell me that you found someone on one of your trips that specialized in timberwolves? Maybe you could ask him for some advice on what you should do.”

Twilight's sudden exclamation almost had Fluttershy jump into a nearby bush out of fear, but after she calmed down from the heart attack she had nearly had she simply nodded, “I had been planning on that. I was going to send a letter to the academy he was working for last time I spoke to him and hope they could get it to him.”

Silence followed Fluttershy's statement for what felt like an eternity. Fluttershy was so used to Twilight following up her statements with a question or at least a statement that her not trying to keep the conversation going felt…wrong.

“Oh, excuse me, sir. Are you the human that my friends met yesterday if you don't mind me asking,” Fluttershy felt like now would be a good time to ask the creature about itself since the previous conversation had seemed to have come to a close. It felt weird to say that word, human. She had never heard of it before and it felt entirely foreign, like a word from the valkyries of the northern islands across the western sea.

“Yes”

The voice that she heard made her think of a dragon with how deep and rumbly it was. It brought chills down her spine how much force had come from that one word. Fluttershy couldn't help but feel like she had insulted it in some way. The creature hadn't even turned its head to respond to her, and the way that one word was spoken made it sound like he was irritated by her. She couldn't help flattening her ears and lower her head.

Twilight for her part sighed, “Don't mind him. He does that to everypony. He only ever gives you what you ask for. And if you think he doesn't like you it's because he never changes that tone of his.”

The last sentence Twilight had made seemed to imply that she as angry at the human, it helped that she had also turned to face him and had narrowed her eyes. The human for his part didn't seem to acknowledge that Twilight was upset, continuing his unchanging pace towards the castle. But none of the information that Twilight had said had made Fluttershy feel any better as she still kept walking with her head down.

The remainder of the ten-minute walk was filled with an eerie silence that no one seemed to want to break; Fluttershy for fear of upsetting the human, Twilight for a need to collect her thoughts and feelings, and Draxton for obvious reasons. When they finally arrived at the castle the human simply opened the door, walked in and headed to one of the guest rooms. Twilight looked like she was going to yell after the human before she simply closed her mouth and proceeded to seethe. When it seemed like she was about to rush after the human and get into a shouting match she exhaled and turned to Fluttershy.

“Do you want something to drink?”

“That would be nice.”

Something about this hunter was definitely grinding Twilight's gears. It wasn't like he to be so wound up. When she got the chance she was going to have to ask her why the human was making her so unhappy. As they entered the kitchen they were met with the sight of Spike sitting on the counter eating a sandwich.

“What are you doing here, I thought you were staying with Rainbow to help her remember everything,” Twilight asked, more demanded as she made her way to the cabinet where she kept her tea.

“I got hungry. You were gone for almost an hour and I couldn't get anything at the hospital.”

“Spike, I left a little over half an hour ago.”

“Well I felt like an hour,” Spike huffed as he went back to eating his sandwich.

Twilight was about to get back to making Fluttershy and herself some tea when an idea struck her.

“I just had a great idea,” Twilight almost yelled, “Fluttershy, you can write a letter to your specialist friend and Spike you can send the letter to princess Celestia. The princesses are off in the Zebra Nations right now so any letters Spike sends are going to be handled by one of her assistants at the castle. As long as you attach a note to it saying who it's for I’m sure they would be willing to give it to him. Oh, you could even get Featherweight to take some photos of the injuries to give him a sense of what you're talking about.”

“You would really do that for me, oh thank you so much Twilight,” Fluttershy practically tackled Twilight in her excitement, she was also hugging her so hard it felt like Twilight had been placed in an oversized vice. And just as fast as the overly enthusiastic gratitude began it ended, “let's get going Spike, I need to find Featherweight and ask if he would be willing to help.”

Spike had gone from peacefully eating his lunch to being forcibly carried in the back of an excited pegasus in the span of two seconds. Twilight couldn't decide whether Spike would appreciate the sudden excitement she was giving him today or if she was going to be made to pay for it later. Either way, it made Twilight smile to see at least half of her friends had shown her genuine smiles today. Maybe this hunter wasn't going to be the end of Equestria's peaceful existence. Hopefully, sometime soon, she could be able to call him a friend

Author's Notes:

It's finally here. Sorry it took so long, I'm going to try to update this every two weeks from now on so that's a plus at least. Also if you notice this chapter reads like crap sorry, I didn't run it thru an editor as it was going to be short notice and let's face it. who wants to be editing someone's work and having them breathing down your neck about deadlines. I know the messages are old but if your reading this digital or Lunar Justice I could use some help with a proofreader if either of you are still available.
Also, I'm working on a board game that's going to show up in a future chapter. if anyone has experience with designing board games or has played an ass ton of board games I would appreciate the help in tuning the game to be; playable, balanced, comprehensible, and fun, or in other words, NOT THE RAGING DUMPSTER FIRE THAT IT IS NOW.
I would appreciate any reviews and input as to the stories quality and what I'm writing.
Thank you for the support and I wish you all the greatest, except you Reggie. You know what you did.