The Hunter

  So today's has been a good day. I've put aside the problems that the ponies and I have had in the past, and made up. I'm just surprised that they were so willing to become friends after what happened. They all seem like pretty cool ponies. I just was just iffy about Twilight. It's just that when she's interacting with me verbally of physically, I get jumpy. Everything she does makes me nervous. Perhaps it's just the dreams, or maybe the problems we had earlier.

  So anyway, they all said that I'm going to meet the princesses tomorrow after I've recovered. Honestly, I was kinda excited that I'm going to see this place. It intrigued me, but what if they didn't like me? I nervous about going out. I hope they don't chase me out with an angry mob.

  "Well, we should get back home. It's almost 12! Rarity stated.

  We all looked at the clock, and sure enough, it was 11:56. As if on cue, a long escaped my mouth. My eyes felt like the had fifteen pounds strapped to each of them. I was pretty exhausted for a whole day in bed. Ironic, ain't it?

  "Yeah, I'm pooped." Rainbow Dash said. They all began to leave, except for Twilight, who looked at me for an extra few seconds before turning away.

  "See ya later, Trevor." Applejack said.

  I turned ion my side and yawned again. "Night." Was all I said.

  "Come on, Joel." Fluttershy said

  "Take good care of him." I said

  "I will." She replied happily.

****************

  Twilight was the last pony to leave the room before shutting the door. She couldn't help but shake the feeling of Trevor not liking her. The faces he gave her, made her feel unwelcome. Perhaps it's the drugs in his system. It has to be. Twilight trotted up to her friends.

  "So, what did you guys think of him?" She asked.

  "I think he's really cool!" Rainbow Dash announced.

  "I think he's really nice and polite. Cusses a bit, but he is quite nice." Rarity stated.

  "He's all nice and dandy, but those things he has worry me. They look so dangerous. Do you think it's safe for him to have those with him?" Applejack asked.

  Twilight looked at her, then ushered her to slow down. Once their friends were ahead, Twilight answered her question.

  "Yes, I do believe its safe enough. I'm just worried that he has a grudge against me." She said worriedly. Apple jacks eyes exploded in surprise. She tried to keep quiet, because Applebloom was fast asleep.

  "That's crazy talk." Applejack whispered. "I'm sure it's ok.

  "Face it, Applejack. He always has a look of fear and anger when I talk to him. I know you've noticed it." Twilight said.

  "Well we did kinda chase him around the forest. We did force him to jump into a Fire-head nest, not to mention nearly losing his leg in the process. My best guess is this. Maybe he needs more time to be able to trust you, that is if he is around for that long. If you just spend some one on one time with him, I'm sure you'll become best friends."

  "Yea, I do suppose you're right about that." Twilight said, thinking it over.

  "Trust me. This is only a rough patch for the both of you. You'll become good friends."

***************

"Yeah, we're not friends." I thought to myself.

  I can't trust Twilight. She seems aight, but she's a princess. She is part of the government. I've seen movies do this before. Do you know what they do to extraterrestrial species on earth? The government takes them away to cut open and study them, completely forgetting the fact that they had a life in some other world.

  Yet then again, Twilight did say that she knew what I was. Maybe this isn't the first time she came across one! Maybe people fall in all of the time only to be put under the knife! It all make sense now. She's planning to do the same for me I just know it. I can't be alone with her. That is a death wish.

"Geez Trevor, calm down. You're too tired to think about this now. You gotta rest." I thought to myself.

  I closed my eyes and tried not to think about it. I needed my sleep anyway. I have a big day tomorrow.

  "Wakey wakey." A voice called.

  I turned on my side. I groaned, trying to ignore the voice.

  "Five more minuets." I groaned. "I don't wanna go to school today."

  "Hey...hey Trevor. Wake up sleepy head." I felt something gently shake my arm.

  My eyes fluttered opened. I was confused at first when I saw a group of ponies at the foot of my bed and a yellow Pegasus at my side, then I remembered what happened yesterday. I sat up groggily. I rubbed my eyes and yawned. I squinted at them.

  "Uhh...hey guys. What's up?" I asked, running my hands through my hair.

  "Good morning, Trevor. You are fully healed and ready to leave." The same doctor said from yesterday. "But I'm sad to diagnose you with...." I looked at him, a feeling of fear began to unfold inside, "severe bed-hair."

  "Ah wow." I said in disbelief. The fear was obliterated. The doctor laughed, hold a hoof in the air.

  "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. No, but seriously you have made a full recovery."

  "You sure about that?" I asked skeptical.

  "Well considering the fact that you could turn to your side with such ease, I think you will survive." Applejack interjected.

"Fair enough." I thought.

  "Well you're ready to walk, but take it easy. You might feel some irritation and a slight numbness." The doctor advised.

  I nodded and maneuvered my legs to the side of the bed. I lowered my legs slowly to the cold floor beneath. I stood up from the bed. I stumbled a few steps before catching myself. The leg that was bitten has healed incredibly fast. It only felt like it was a sprain. I looked at my leg. Two marks were on my leg. It looked pretty cool, like a battle scar.

  It did hurt. I wasn't going to be able to walk normally just yet. I was gonna have to limp for now.

  "Can you walk fine?" Applebloom asked.

  "Yeah, but I'm gonna have a limp." I replied. I stretched my arms and legs out. If felt good to stretch.

  A blue glow that was holding my clothes, floated over to me at a steady pace. I looked at it, intrigued. I poked at it. It was really cool to see levitation in action. Even though this wasn't the first time I've seen it, it was still really cool.

  *ahem* Rarity cleared her throat. I snapped out of my gaze. I held out my arms. The blue glow around my clothes disappeared, and they fell into my arms. Everything was there. A grey T-shirt, my jeans that bagged at the ankles, my green flannel shirt, my socks, and my shoes. My phone slid out of my jean pocket. I caught it on midair. My heart nearly skipped a beat there!

  "I fixed, cleaned, and restitched everything that needed it. I found that metal thing, but I knew it was yours; so I left it be." Rarity said, smiling.

  "Wow Rarity, this is really nice! Thank you kindly." I said surprised. I couldn't believe it. My clothes looked like they were brand new!

  "Oh it was nothing really." She said, blushing slightly.

  "Oh don't be so modest. This is really good. It actually looks like these were made yesterday!"

   She waved it off, looking down and still blushing. I took my clothes to the bathroom and closed the door.

  I got dressed and was ready to go in five minuets. I looked at myself. Not to shabby for someone who has been through a lot of shit the past couple days. I looked the the scar on my eyebrow. The stitches were gone. They must have removed it while I was asleep. I didn't know if they took them out while I was in the bed or they took me to a operating room. I was just glad they were out, because they were irritating.

  I stepped out from the bathroom. One of the ponies whistled comically. I couldn't help but smile. I took a bow before them in response.

  "You ready?" She asked.

   I grabbed my stuff from the corner and held my things in my hands. "Can't be anymore ready than I am." Was my response.

  We all walked down the hallway. Doctors, nurses, and patients walked up and down the hall. I noticed a lot of eyes on us. More specifically, me. They didn't show as much fear as I expected. They showed curiosity. Doctors whispering to other doctors. Patients stared while they lied in their beds. I passed a baby colt and it laughed and grabbed at me while the mother held him back.

  "It's that human or whatever he's called."

  "Is he safe to be around?"

  "Wow. He's tall." This were some of what I heard from some of the ponies around me.

   We made it to the main lobby of the hospital. By this time, there was a crowd of ponies following us. I could only wonder why. I looked around in the lobby. A look of concern was glued to all of our faces. The front doors were being swarmed by ponies with flashing cameras. The roar of the crowd was intense.

  "Have fun." The doctor said with a chuckle.

  "The paparazzi is hungry today." I noted. "Take evasive action."

  "Sadly we can't do that." Twilight said. "Applejack, can you take Trevor's thing"?

  "Yeah, sure." Applejack said

   "Perfect."

  Big Mac walked over to the doors. He opened the doors, while he held the crowd back. The roar of the crowd has gotten louder. Big Mac was pushing ponies back as we made our way through the crowd. All around me, ponies were asking me questions like:

  "Where are you from?"  "Are you a killer?"  "Do you have any sexual relationships with ponies?" (Oh god why)

  We popped out of the other side of the crowd. Other ponies stared at us who weren't paparazzi's just looked at us. Twilight grabbed me with her magic and pulled me to the right. I resisted at first, but gave in.

  "So what's the plan then?" I yelled over the crowd.

  "Me and you are gonna see the princesses!" She yelled back. She groaned. "We'll never get there in this. Hey guys! We'll meet you guys in Ponyville." At that moment, a Twilight grabbed ahold of my chest. I yelped in surprise. I was about to push her away, but a purple flashed before my eyes. My eyes snapped shut. The roar of the crowd disappeared instantly. I opened an eye. We were in a completely different building. It was a large hall. Ponies in golden armor patrolled the area.

  This must be where the princesses are.

  Twilight ushered me to follow her. I kept my distance behind her. I wasn't sure what to expect from meeting these princesses, but I can tell you this, I've got a bad feeling about this. Guards saw us coming and charged for us. I stopped in my tracks. My eyes widened as they ran past Twilight and strait for me.

  "Stop! Get away from the princess!" One shouted.

  They surrounded me. I was surrounded by six ponies in armor. I put my fists up and prepared myself for a fight. I kept myself in motion of a constant 360 spin.

  "Come on! I can take ya!" I challenged.

  "Stand down, Guards" Twilight commanded.

  The guards backed away, not taking their eyes of me. I glared back. I put two fingers to my eyes, then pointed those fingers at each of them, making the sign, "I'm watching you."

  I heard a door open. I looked to see two ponies with horns and wings like Twilight. One was smaller than the other. She was dark blue. Her mane was long and sparkled. It moved and floated by itself. It honestly looked like space or something. Her tattoo was a crescent moon with a black cloud in front of it. She wore a black crown on her head that was hidden behind her horn.

  The other one was taller. She was white and more slender. Her mane was a combination of blue, green, and pink. It too flowed and sparkled like the other ones mane. Her horn was longer than the others. Her crown was much bigger. It was almost as large as her horn. Her tattoo was a large sun. She seemed to be the pony that ran the joint.

  "Trevor, I would like you to meet Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna." Twilight introduced.

  The guards around us knelt and closed their eyes. I felt something nudge my arm. I looked to see Twilight looking at me. Her eyes darted from me to the floor. I was confused. I gave her a confused look.

  "What? Is it something on my shoes?" I asked.

  "Kneel!" She hissed.

  "It's quite alright, Twilight. We understand that he's new to this." Princess Celestial said.

  Her voice was strong. It was elegant, like a person of royalty would have.

  "So. You are Trevor." Princess Luna said. "You have been stirring a lot of attention lately."

  I nodded. I didn't know what they were getting at. We're they going to put me in jail or something? I had to play this smart. I had to look civilized and intelligent.

  "Uhh...yes. I have um, heeded the fact that a lot of peopl- ah of ponies have had an interest in me?" I said. The princess looked at each other and then at me. They looked at me like I had  just shaven my eyebrows!

  "So can you tell me thy name of this place?" I asked. "Where I art thou?" Twilight face hoofed, and shook her head.

  "You can just speak to us normally if you wish." Luna said.

  "Ah...ok I see." I said.

  "Well Trevor, you are in our throne room in Canterlot." Princess Celestia said.

  "Uh huh. Ok."

  "But enough of that. We are here to have a discussion. We understand that you have received a few injuries. You have also inflicted injuries as well, including on Twilight. Would you care to explain to us how this had happened?" Princess Celestia asked. Their facial expressions hardened. I felt my stomach twist into a knot.

  "Princess, it is quite alright." Twilight interjected.

  "We wish to hear it from him." Princess Luna interjected.

  "Well, it all began when I found an apple orchard."

  I told them how we came across Applebloom and the spider. I told them everything that led to me having to jump into a underground hill.

  "I see." Princess Celestia said.

  "Luna, Would you care to explain the consequences for inflicting pain upon a princess?" Princess Celestia asked.

   Luna stepped forward. She took a deep breath.

  "You either have to spend ten years in the depth of Tartarus, six months of community service, or if it is severe, spend the rest of your life banned from Equestria."

  I gulped.

  "We understand that it was a misunderstanding and in a way, it was self defense. So we'll give you this..." Princess Luna said.

  I lowered my head in shame. I'm getting it bad aren't I?

  "Tomorrow, you shall go to Appaloosa with Twilight and her friends. You shall help sell and help in anyway you can, and most importantly, make some friends." Princess Celestia announced.

  I looked up from the ground confused. They both had a smile on their faces. Did I just get trolled by royalty? Yes, yes I did.

  "Gotcha." Princess Celestia said with a chuckle.

  We all chuckled at their little joke. The thought of going to Tartarus or whatever that place was called. Thought thought of going to what I assume to be prison was ridiculous.

  "No, but seriously. If you will, follow us. We wish to speak with you."

  They flew over to their thrones guarded by the ponies in armor. They both looked at me and ushered me to approach them. They called off the guards with the flick of Celestias hoof. I walked over to them. A chair appeared behind me with a blue flash. I jumped in surprise. I heard a guard snicker.

  "Please, have a seat." Luna said. I did as told. Twilight appeared at my side. It was apparent that they didn't want to cut me open or anything like that. I honestly thought it was cool for Twilight to stick up for me back there even though it didn't matter in the end.

  "So tell us, Trevor. First of all, how did you get here; and tell us everything." Princess Celestia said.

  "Ok. It's a long story. A story of how my life got flipped, turned upside down."

  I told them everything. I told them about how I was chased by wolves, but left out out the part on taking two of them out like earlier. I told them about the desert, the misunderstanding, the spiders, and everything else that led to this.

  "I see. Well this hole you describe. It doesn't sound familiar to us. However, maybe we'll be able to find it." Princess Celestia said. A large piece of paper, floated over to me with a quill on top of it. It was a map of Equestria. "If you could, please mark on the map where you claimed to have come up from, and we'll have men out there to find it."

  I squinted at the desert area of the map. I saw Appaloosa and god know how long I walked around for. I thought of my surroundings when I came out. There wasn't any sort of landmark to help me remember, so I did the next best thing. I circled a large circle of an estimated distance around Appaloosa. I help the paper out.

  "This is the best I can do." I said. The paper floated out of my hand and up to the princesses. They studied it an Luna nodded.

  "We'll have ponies out there immediately. We'll search every square inch of the area. Don't worry, Trevor. We'll have you back home in no time." Princess Celestia said with determination. I nodded in reply.

  "You may go." Luna said.

  I stood up from the chair, which disappeared in the same blue flash. I began to walk away, with Twilight at my side. We looked at each other and smiled. It went better than expected.

  "Thank you. It was nice to meet you both." I said as I waved; and they waved back.

  Twilight and I exited the large building. I followed her to the train station. I never been on a train before, but I want to teleport to this Ponyville place. It would be quicker and I'm not gonna lie, it's really cool. I think I was the first human ever to be involved with teleportation! Wait until I tell by buddies back home about that. I followed her while we avoided the news ponies hunting for their victim. Otherwise, the citizens would just look at me while I looked back. Most of the ponies seemed to be high class. They wore fancy clothes with monocles and shit. Some had these hair styles that were gelled and put int these funny positions. Even mustaches were styled with gel!

  "So tell me Twilight, why do these ponies wear clothes, while you don't?"

  "Because it's part of their culture. In my personal opinion, it's to show how many extra bits they have to burn. There's no need to wear clothing for most of the time here. Our coats keep us warm and protected." She said as she searched for paparazzi.

  "Why do you wear clothes?" She asked.

  "Well...it's kind of hard to explain. It's for style, attention, but it's mostly because it's considered offensive and repulsive to walk around in the nude."

  "Interesting." Was all she said.

  "Plus, we are mostly hairless; so we also wear them for warmth."

  We entered an ally. We began to jog or gallop. We were close, because I heard a nearby train white.

  "Ok hurry. We don't have much time." She said.

  "Are you crazy? Their all over the place. We'll never make it without being swarmed!"

  I wasn't exaggerating. There were paparazzi everywhere! They parted the streets as if on guard. Cameras ready and pen and paper in hand or hoof.

  "Are you ready?" She asked

  "No."

  "Good. On my three count."

  The train blew it's whistle.

  "One"

  The train conductor yelled "Allllll abooarrd!"

  "Two"

  They crowded the entrance. The train whistled again before it started to move. It was leaving us! We'll never make it!

  "Three!" Twilight pulled with her. I stumbled out into the open.

  Instantly, news reported swarmed me, asking me questions. I pushed through the crowd of questions. Twilight was up ahead. She was at the tracks waiting for me. She yelled something, but I couldn't make out what she said over the yelling. There were to many. I charged forward. Ponies were getting knocked back like bowling pins. I made it to the other end! I ran and jumped into the tracks. The ponies jumped after us, asking questions.

  "Are you and Princess Twilight in a relationship? Are you a reptilian alien?"

  "No comment!" I shouted as I ran.

  "Grab me." Twilight said as we ran.

  I didn't hesitate. I grabbed her. Purple light flashed into my eyes and made things blurry like a photo was taken of me. The crowds yelling died down. We fell and hit not train tracks, but carpet. I wheezed as I caught my breath. I sat up, blinking and rubbing my eyes. Through the blurriness, I could see the distant crowd of ponies in the distance. I chuckled.

  "Goodbye, paparazzi zombies."

  "Ah well...(gasp)...that was tiring." I heard Twilight say beside me.

  "Yes...yes it was."

  We turned to each other. We stared at each other. We began to giggle. The giggle turned into a laugh.

  "Good afternoon, Princess Twilight." We heard a voice say.

  There was a conductor standing at the door. He stared at us with an eyebrow raised. I stood up, still laughing. I offered Twilight a hand. She placed her hoof in my hand. I pulled her onto her hoofs.

  "I'm sorry, but do you have tickets?" He asked.

" Tickets? What mind of conductor asks a princess for a ticket?" I thought.

  "Yes, yes I do." Twilight said. Two tickets appeared out of nowhere. She gave him the tickets.

  "Right this way." The conductor said as he pointed a hoof to the rest of the train.

  We left the caboose and entered the next car. Ponies as expected to, began to look at me. We walked up the aisle and found a private booth with a door and.everything. I opened the door and let Twilight inside first. I shut the door behind me. The noise of the train on the rails was completely muffled. It was almost silent in the booth.

  The seats were larger than I expected, and I saw why. Twilight hopped up onto the seat and laid onto the seat on her stomach. I hopped on the other and lied down and lied flat on my back. I rested my hands on the back of my head. I took a deep breath.

  "Wow. This is nice. This. Is. Nice." I said.

  "Yes. The one and only private booth on this train." Twilight said.

  "Nice. Thank you very much."

  "Yes, I bought this just for us. To get to know each other better."

  I held my breath in mid-inhale. Visions of that god awful dream flashed through my head like a movie.

  "See that's the face I always see when I'm with you." Twilight said. "Every time I tried to talk to you yesterday, you get all jumpy. Trevor, is there something wrong?" She asked.

  I took a deep breath. "I'm guessing this is why you bought this booth? So we can talk about it."

  She said nothing.

  "Well, it started when we first met and when I say met, I mean when you shot me in the face with a laser." I said with a nervous laugh.

  "Anyway, I got this idea when I got away that you were after me to experiment on me or some shit. That's when I became paranoid and stuff. Honestly, I was afraid of you."

  She gasped. "Do you still feel that way?" She asked.

  "No. Not as much."

  She sat up and approached me.

  "Trevor, listen to me. You are my friend. I would never do anything like that to you. I want us to be friends. I want this to work."

  "Yeah. Me too." I said. I smiled and laughed a little.

  "That feels good to get off of my chest. We good?" I asked.

  "Yes. We're good, but I want to say, can you please ease out on the swearing? We don't really like that here."

  "Uhhh yeah. You got it."

  I spent the rest of the train ride talking to my new friend. We talked, laughed, and swapped stories. It turns out that those tattoos on their flanks are actually these things called "Cutie Marks." They are these things that appear when the find out what their special talent is. Her cutie mark represented magic. She showed me. Even though I felt slightly uncomfortable that I was looking at a pony butt, but it was interesting.

  Anyway, enough with the sugar coated stuff. Let's get back to the story.

  EEEEEE

  A loud sound of metal grinding on metal woke me up from my nap.

  "We're here." I heard Twilight say.

  "Ah...where are we?" I asked as I wiped my eyes.

  "Ponyville."