The Hunter

  I think I'm the luckiest person to have ever been alive. Face the facts here, I'm currently a national celebrity on an alien planet. I'm friends with a princess, and I'm going to live in a alien civilization. That is pretty sick right there. Those were the kind of thoughts that were running through my head as I stepped out of the train. The smoke and steam cleared away to reveal the town before me like it was dramatic effect. Ponies walked up and down the long train deck. Through the bussing crowd, I could see the others waiting for us.

  "Hey! It's that human! He's here!" I heard a female voice shout.

  Her shout was so loud that it made everyone stop dead in their tracks. No one moved. The only sound that could be heard, was the train whistle. Everyone stated her direction and eventually found out who they were yelling too. Ponies gasped and their eyes widened. They didn't crowd, but they didn't avoid me like I was infected with the rage virus either. Sure they whispered about me and stuff, but it wasn't anything hurtful or mean.

  I felt awkward about this, so I decided to great the ice. I approached an empty bench and stood I top of it. I cupped my mouth and spoke.

  "Uhh yeah, it's me. Now here's how it's gonna be for now. I'm going to be staying I this town for the moment. I don't know how long I'm gonna be here for, but I plan to get around with all of you. Just don't treat me any different than you guys treat others. Sooooo yeah. That's all I have to say. Carry on." I jumped down from the bench.

  Ponies continued onward with their day, but still gave me their share of looks.

  "Well that was one way to break the ice." Twilight said giving an impressed look.

  "Meh. Was it really necessary to do that?" I asked.

  "You thought it was."

  "Touché. So, how far are we from where we're heading?"

  "Oh, it's not that far. See that giant tree over there? That's where I live and where you'll stay if if choose to do so."

  "Wow that is a big aaaaa-" I caught my tongue. "Thatisabigtree." I said quickly.

  It wasn't that far from where we were currently. It was just around the corner. My stomach grumbled. I just realized that I haven't eaten anything all day. I'm starving and thirsty.

  "So", I said grabbing my belly, "do you know any good restaurants around-OOf!" Something pink pushed itself between me and Twilight. I stumbled a few steps before catching myself. I turned to see what exactly put him/herself between us. It was a very fluffy pony. She was so fluffy, that I couldn't see a cutie mark.

  "Oy! What's your deal?" I snapped . She turned to me. Her blank expression creeped me out a little.

  The fluffy pony suddenly gasped with happiness. She bit onto my shirt gently, making a *nom* sound. I looked at Twilight, confused as much Kanye West was called a gay fish.

  I mouthed, "Is she alright?" Twilight shrugged.

  "Ok Fluffle Puff, that's enough." Twilight said.

  The pony known as Fluffle Puff, let go of my shirt and sped off, making a raspberry sound. I looked at Twilight, who looked back at me.

  "She does that from time to time." She said.

  "Ok then, moving on. So anyway, do you know a good spot to eat? I just realized that I haven't eaten anything all day."

  "I do know a good place not far from here. We can eat there with the others." Twilight said with a bit of enthusiasm at her idea.

  We reached the tree house. It was tall. It had windows in the tree and it even had a balcony with a telescope on it. A giant bees nest hung on a branch by a window. The bees flew to a for around the nest in a figure eight motion. Twilight pushed open the door and invited me inside. I stepped inside to check the ace out. There were books. Lots and lots of books. The whole sir half wall of the tree was lined with shelves of books that were carved into the tree. The only other way through was a stair case that led upwards.

  "Nice digs." I complimented.

  "Thank you." Twilight replied.

  "So what are you, a librarian or something?" I asked.

  "As a matter of fact, I am." She said with a smile. She trotted to the stair case and held a hoof out in front of her.

  "After you." She said .

  I climbed up the stair case to reveal a bed and a little dog bed with a pillow in it in the corner.

  "Oh, you have a dog?" I asked. "Joel loves to meet new dogs."

  "No I don't. I have an owl though."

  "You have an owl? Neato!" I said. I looked at the bed and pointed at it.

  "Then who's bed is that?" I asked. She looked at it and giggled.

  "That's not a dog bed, that's for my assistant, Spike." She said. "In fact, I believe he's upstairs right now. Want to meet him?"

  "Sure. Why not?" I said shrugging my shoulders.

  We stepped into this large hole in the wall that led upwards. We followed it, and it led to a lather room. It had books, chalkboards, chemistry equipment, and a bunch of other things. It had a door that led to the balcony that I saw outside. This must be her study. It's a pretty nice set up. Very clean and organized. I saw something is the chair right in front of the desk. It was small, purple, and it had a green spine like formation of scales on its back that reached it's tail.

  I was going to ask if it was a stuffed animal or something, but then I noticed that it was breathing. Whatever it was, it was asleep. Its head was down on the desk. It made a snorting sound before saying, "Why yes Rarity, I would love to marry you."

I snickered. Twilight nudged my shoulder playfully, giving me a look that said, "Come on, give him a break."

  Twilight slowly walked up to the sleeping lizard thing. She nudged it gently.

  "Spiiike. Wake up, sleepy head. We have a guest." She said softly.

  "Huh? Wha? Oh, hey Twilight." It said. "What did you say?"

  "We have a guest. Do you remember that alien I told you about?" She asked.

  It instantly stood up on the seat and looked at me. Its eyes widened as mine did. I'm not joking when I say this, but it was a dragon! A real life dragon! It was a baby or so I think. It looked like it was.

  "Woah. You're a dragon!"

  "Woah. "You're a human!" He said back.

  We both approached each other slowly. I reached a hand for a handshake.

  "The names, Trevor." I said. He shook my hand. The texture of his scales my fleshy skin was like having a cheese grater slowly rubbing itself in my hand. It makes you cringe, but it's not painful.

  Spike said hello and introduced himself. He put his claw down to his side. He peered at me as I gawked at him.

  "I've heard about what you did to Twilight. If you do that again, we're gonna have a problem, kapeesh?" Spike said.

  "Spike, I told you that it's fine. We made up." Twilight interjected.

  "How did you get out of the mirror without anypony noticing?" Spike asked.

  I was confused at this. What was he talking about? What mirror? Twilight said that she has seen Humans before. Could it be that they are connected somehow?

  "Mirror?" I asked. "Dude, I got here by falling into a hole. I don't know what you're talking about. I mean, what does a mirror have to do with getting me here?"

  "It's a long story." Twilight said. "But that doesn't matter right now. Why don't we get going and meet the others at lunch?"

  "Aight. Let's get to it." I said.

  Twilight smiled at left the room. *squee* I stopped. I looked around to see what made that noise. It was a squeaking sound of some kind, like when a dog is using a squeaky toy. I looked at my foot to see if I stepped on a mouse or something. Nope, no mouse there.

  "Da fu?" I said to myself. I shook my head and made my way downstairs.

  I saw Twilight and Spike at the door. I made my way down the stairs, jumping off of the fourth to last step.

  "Alrighty, let's get going. Say Twilight, do you have mice?" I asked.

  "No. Why do you ask?"

  "Meh. Just curious."

  **************

  "It's been two days sense the disappearance of fifteen year old, Trevor White." The T.V blared. "The last sign of Trevor was found twelve hours ago, when park rangers, discover two dead wolves. One was shot in the head. The other, was brutally stomped on."

  Trevor's family was gathered around the television. His mom had trails of dried eyeliner lining down her cheeks. His younger sister Wendy, was on the verge of tears. His older brother Chad, stared out into space. A tear escaped his right eye as he cried in pain on the inside.

  His father, had the worst of it. He sat on the couch. He was drunk. The couch stank of cheap beer. He had his head buried into his hands. He got up and began to walk to the kitchen to grab another beer. Chad got up and walked over to him. Chad closed the door behind him so it was just them.

  "Dad? We uh...we need to talk." Chad said.

  "It's all my fault." Trevor's father mumbled.

  "Hey. It's not your fault." Chad interjected.

  He couldn't take it. He dropped his freshly opened beer onto the floor. Alcohol gushed from the can, and onto the tile.

  "It's all my fault!" He shouted. "He is out there! Trevor is out there! He is scared and alone! It's all my fault!"

  "Hey! Hey! It's not your fault! You've done all you could. Plus, he's not out there alone. Joel is out there with him! With the two of the combined, I bet you that they are on their way home right now."

  "Easy for you to say." He said, quieting down. "You weren't the one telling him what to do."

  "Hey, listen to me!" Chad grabbed his face so he can look him in the eyes. "You taught him how to hunt. He got that huge ass buck two years ago! Do you remember that?" Chad asked.

  Trevor's dad nodded in response. He was so proud of Trevor that day. The buck was moving to. Killed it in motion. For such a quiet and innocent kid, he had skill when it came to hunting and taking care of himself.

  "I've seen some fighters back in Afghan. I know a fighter when I see one. Trevor's a fighter, dad. He has been sense the day he was born. You know that!" Chad said, jabbing a finger at his chest.

  Trevor's dad hugged Chad tightly. Chad patted him on the shoulder.

  "You're right. You're right." He said.

  "They are going to find him." Chad said. He brought his face to his. "The WILL find him."

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

  "And then you shot me with your fancy magic." I said, pointing my fork at Twilight.

  Twilight blushed, but had a small smile on her face.

  "But we made up. Now we're good." I finished as I took another bite of my salad.

  I've been eating at this place called, "The Food Barn." Just as I predicted, they are all vegetarians. I haven't seen a hamburger filled with meat ever sense I got here. None of the things on the menu seemed appetizing; so I just got a Julius Salad, which was a Ceasar Salad. I was eating with everyone, except for Big Mac and Applebloom. Joel lied underneath me as I rubbed the top of his head.

  They've giving a tour around ponyville. I've personally met the mare. She sounds strangely similar to Spike. It's like there was a voice actor for both of them. Anyway, I met all sorts of interesting characters in this town. I met this one pony named Vinyl Scratch ok aka DJPon3. She is a dubstep artist. They don't call it dubstep here. They call it "Wubstep." Vinyl lives with her best friend Octavia, who is a cello player up in Canterlot. She all fancy, while Vinyl is this wild party animal. It's truly ironic.

   I met this couple named as Lyra and Bon Bon too live in the same house together. didn't get to know them, but I saw Lyra gawk at me when she payed eyes on me, like I was a celebrity. Come to think of it, I am somewhat of a celebrity.

  Rainbow lives up in this mansion completely made out of cloud. I asked how it was even physically possible to make a mansion, not alone live in it. She said that Pegasus's can walk on and make physical contact with clouds. She participated in all of these competitions and got loaded with money.

  Pinkie Pie lives in the attic of Sugar Cube Corner, which was a bakery. She claims to be a really good baker, especially in cupcakes. I gotta try one of hers sometime.

  Rarity lived in this large building that looked like a carousal, he see the name, Carousal Boutique. She lived with her younger sister, Sweetiebelle. Rarity told me how Sweetiebelle and her friends are in this club called the Cutiemark Crusaders. They went around doing all of this crazy stuff to get their cutiemarks.

  I didn't see Fluttershys or Applejacks place, because they were to far from town, and I was starving. I'll check them out tomorrow. I gotta see what to do when it comes to whatever I'm doing tomorrow.

  "But hey, enough about us. We told you all about us. What about you? Tell us about your life." Flutter shy said quietly.

  I sat back and thought about what to say. "Do you want an honest answer?" They all looked at each other with confused looks.

  "Why wouldn't we?" Rarity asked.

  "Well...I didn't really get around. I was kinda shy. It wasn't that I had problems talking to other people. It was that mostly, that I had nothing to say. I wouldn't say that I was a complete loner, but I wasn't exactly Mr.Popular back home either."

  "Did you have a special somepony?" Rarity asked. I knew what she meant.

  "Well no. I mean I had a few girls that I have my eye on, but I was pretty out of their league. You see, your world is pretty different from mine. The main way to score, required a few things."

  I held out a finger to number off each thing.

  "Popularity, attractive features, strength, speed, agility, and money." I said numbering them off. They all looked at each other.

  "Surely that can't be true." Applejack said.

  "Oh, but it is." I interjected. "If you lack at least three of them, your chances a not as big to get in a relationships. I on the other hand, lack most of them if not all of them."

  "But when you like somepony, what matters is on the inside." Fluttershy objected.

  "Well sistah, not in my world."

  "I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to disagree with your statement in your self image." Twilight said. "You are a pretty cool human. You have just as much potential as anypony else. You just don't know how to approach a girl."

  "Wanna know a fun fact?" I asked with a smile. "I'm the only human on this planet. There isn't a single human for untold distances." I picked up my water and began to drink.

  "Then why don't you try to date a pony, darling?" Rarity asked.

  My eyes widened. I nearly gagged on my water. I felt water travel down my air pipe and I began a coughing fit.

  "Jeez Trevor. Are you alright?" Rainbow asked.

  I waved a hand. "Yeah...*cough* I'm fine*cough*" I struggled to speak. "I'd rather *cough* steer away from that." Rainbow Dash shrugged.

  "Well, I think we should head off now." Applejack said.

  "I'll pay for it." Rarity said. We all thanked her.

  "So Trevor, where are you staying?" Twilight asked. I let the question roll around in my head.

  "I think it will be best to go with Applejack. So she can show me what to do tomorrow. Whatever it is, I can do. Whenever to help out." They all nodded. The ponies all began to go their separate ways. We said our goodbyes.

  "Well Trevor, you best follow me." Applejack said. I nodded. I put holsters on, and put my guns inside.

  "Come on, Joel."  I said, and Joel followed us.

  It was cool to walk around. None of these ponies never seen a gun before; so I could walk around with them freely and feel like a soldier or something.

  "You never did say what those are for." Applejack said, pointing to my guns.

  "They are for sport in ways."  I said.

  "What kind of sport?"

  "Oh well, you know..." My eyes looked for something to steer the conversation with. I saw a store that said, "B Flats Instrument Shop."

  "What's over there?" I asked as I began to speed walk over to the shop.

   I looked at the shop as I got closer to it. The logo was a bass clef. The letters had a jazz style to it. Both doors to the shop had a guitar, a set of drums, and a saxophone. I pushed open both doors. Instruments of all sorts were in rows. You have you flutes, saxophones, pianos, drums, anything you can think of was in there!

  "Woah nelly." I said in awe.

  "Good afternoon." I heard a voice toward the back say.

  A tall and slender pony came from behind the counter. He was grey with black spiky hair. He wore a pair of red glasses that were in the shapes of stars. He held a bottle of the liquid to clean a trumpet with in his hoof. He was a pegasus. He began to fly up to put the bottle away. That was, until he saw me. His eyes widened and he dropped the bottle.

  "Ohhh...hi." He said in a surprised tone. I waved back.

  "Hi." I said back.

  He snapped out of his trance. "Oh I'm sorry. It's just that I wast expecting to have a human in my shop so soon. Not that I have anything against your species. It's just unexpected is all."

  "Not a problem."

  "Well, in that case", he leaned on the counter. "Welcome to B Flats Instrument shop! I'm B Flat. You can call me B for short. So, what can I do for ya?"

  "I'm just taking a look around."

  "Feel free." He said with a grin.

  "Trevor. What in the hay are you doing?" I heard Applejack say behind me. She had just walked through the door.

  "I just wanted to see what instruments are in here." I sad innocently, as I looked around.

  I suddenly stopped moving when I saw an acoustic guitar. I walked over to it.

  "Aw no way! You guys have guitars here?!" I said excited. I hurried over to the guitar. I felt like a kid finding the Christmas presents in the closet.

  "You like?" B Flat asked.

  "Do I like? I love! I really like playing the guitar." I said back. "I didn't expect you to have guitars, because y'all have hooves and it would be nearly impossible to play."

  "Are you kidding? Boy, I can play the banjo with one hoof with my eyes closed." Applejack said.

  "Can you play?" B Flat asked.

  I smiled with anticipation. "Can I play? You bet it that I can play." I grabbed the guitar and looked at B Flat.

  "May I?" I asked B Flat, excited.

  "By all means."

  A devilish smile broke out on my face. I placed the guitar on my lap. I took a deep breath before I began to play one of my favorite songs, Enter Sandman by Metallica.

  (A couple of epic minuets later)

  Applejack and B Flat stood there in udder shock. Applejacks mouth hung so low, I could fit a beach all inside!

  "Wow....That.Was.Amazing!" B Flat exclaimed.

  I couldn't help but smile.

  "Hey, I'll tell you what. You can have that guitar on the house, if you can teach the ponies around here your skills, we could make some serious bits around here! How does that sound?"

  "Sounds good to me. When can I start?" I asked.

  "How about next week? That is if you are gonna be around for that long."

  "Sounds like a plan." I smiled.

  Applejack and I walked out of the shop. The sun was setting and ponies were beginning to head back home for the night. The sky was a bright orange and the temperature was just right.

  "Hey thanks for the guitar!" I shouted.

  "No problem! See ya later!" B Flat shouted back.

  Applejack and I walked out of ponyville. We made small talk. Like what she did what I did before I got here. She also says that she is this thing called, " The Element of Honesty", which I have no clue what that is about. Maybe it's a religion? I don't know.

  "I don't understand how you didn't get around that much back home. You seem like a pretty cool guy. You play the guitar really well, not to mention your funny, and selfless."

  "Meh. Like I said, I'm a shy fella. Plus, I didn't have much luck with relationships."

  "And like Rarity said, why don't you try dating another pony?" She asked.

  I tried to think of a polite and honest way to say it. I couldn't really think of one at the moment so I just sent out with it.

  "Well that is not gonna work. You see back on Earth, there were ponies. Not like you guys. These were far less intelligent. All they do is eat, sleep, and do their business wherever they want. There were no species as intelligent as us. It was only us. Therefor, human only went with other humans. If a human were to have any kind of affectionate relationship with anything other living thing, is considered taboo and illegal. Plus, our chromosomes won't add up with anything else, so theoretically if a baby was attempted, it would die or it wouldn't live a long life."

  Applejack stared at me, then at the ground. I couldn't tell if she was offended in anyway. Just in case, I tried to clear up somethings.

  "Not that your kind isn't intelligent or anything. Your species are way more advanced than any other species I've encountered. Not to mention that you live in this utopian society, in which human I don't think will be able to achieve. It's just that if I date anything else other than a human, I think I'll get a feeling of guilt or shame."

  "But if you think about it, we are just as intelligent as you guys are. We never know if our chromosomes would match of not. My guess is that it is possible."

  "I know but still, I'd rather stick to humans." I said, looking ahead.

  "Alright, suite yourself." Applejack said.

  We came to the entrance of a large farmland. I could see the house that they brought me to. I could also see a barn and a orchard in the distance. It was open and spacey.

  "Well, here we are. Sweet Apple Acres." Applejack announced with pride.

   We walked over to the farmhouse. Applejack opened the door for me and I stepped inside. The smell if apple pie filled my senses. I saw the table where they held me down on. The memories were coming back like videos playing in my head.

   "Hey y'all! Trevor's here! He'll be staying with us tonight!" Applejack called.

  "Trevor!" I heard a voice call from upstairs.

  The rapid sound of small hooves in wooden floor could be heard descending the steps. A small yellow head poked out. It was for sure Applebloom. Her eyes lit up with happiness and ran over to me. I knelt down to rub her head, but instead she embraced me in a big hug. I went with it and hugged her back.

  "I'm so glad your here! We are gonna have the best time! Come on, you can help us get our cutiemarks!"

  She saw Joel, and her happiness level reached over 9000.

  "Hey boy!" She greeted Joel. Joel barked and licked her face till her face was covered in slobber.

  She giggled at this. I couldn't help but join her. It was just soon freaking cute!

  "Sorry Applebloom, not now. I have to show what Trevor here has to do for tomorrow."

  "Awwww." Applebloom whined, disappointed.

  "Maybe if I finish, maybe we can for a little bit?" I asked, shrugging my shoulders.

  "If we do, then yes." Applejack said.

  "Yay!" Applebloom cheered.

  At that moment, Applebloom raced up the stairs. I giggled at the adorableness. She was so cute when she was happy!

  "Well we have leftovers in the fridge. Help yourself." Applejack said. "Oh hey! While you are eating, we can discuss what you can help with, so you can crusade with the crusaders."

   "Oh ok." I said.

  I ate homemade apple porridge at the table while we discussed what I was gonna do tomorrow. I was basically going to be the cashier. She gave me a rundown of the prices and everything that was being sold. It seemed easy enough. When I was done with dinner, awe both ate a piece of apple pie with cream on top of it.

  "Well, have fun." Applejack said. I nodded and headed up the staircase.

  I found Applebloom in her room with two other ponies. One was orange with messy purple hair, as if it was helmet hair. The other, was white with pink and purple hair that curled in front of her face. They all looked at me. Their eyes widened.

  "Woaaah!" The orange one exclaimed. "You weren't kidding, Applebloom!"

  "Girls, I would like y'all to meet Trevor, the one and only human in Equestria!" Applebloom announced like I was an artifact or a performance.

  "Hi there. I'm Scootaloo." The orange pony said.

  "And I'm Sweetiebelle." The other said.

  "And we are.......", They all said "THE CUTIEMARK CRUSADERS!" They shouted in perfect unison.

  "Hey keep it down in there!" An elderly voice shouted from the end of the hall. "Some ponies are trying to sleep!" They instantly hushed.

  We talked about what they could do to get their cutiemarks. The whole group was going to help. So they said things like, selling, making, brewing, baking, and so on. They were pretty determined to get their cutiemarks. They were gonna be busy tomorrow.

  We didn't do much other than talk. After fifteen minuets, I heard Applejack call my name. I told hem goodnight as they got ready to turn in for the night. I crept down the floor, trying not to make the floor boards creak beneath. One step, and I could be yelled at by that old pony. I lowered one foot to the floor.

  *creak* I lifted my foot. I didn't breath. I didn't hear anything. No sign of an angry pony. I was so close. I looked behind me. I only took five steps. There were roughly twenty five more to go.

Screw it." I thought.

  I began to creep quickly down the hall. *creak creak creak creeeaaaak creak*  I made it to the her room and shut the door behind me.

  "Took you long enough." Applejack said with a grin,

  "Whatever. So why did you call me?" I asked.

  "I wanted to tell you that we don't have a spare bed. Our couch is too small and I have the largest bed."

  "I see where this is going." I said with a sarcastic smile.

  "Eyup. We're gonna be bunk mates." She said. She patted the spot next to her as if I was a dog.

  "Well, I have to shower or something." I said nervously.

  "If you want angry Granny Smith, be my guest." I hung my head. I knew there was no way out of this.

  I took off my shoes and got in the bed opposite of her. She looked at me like I had gone insane. I gave her a pleading look.

  "What?" I protested innocently.

  "What are you doing?" She asked.

  "I'm lying down." I said.

  "I don't want your bottom fingers in my face." She said.

  "First of all, they are called toes. Second of all, wouldn't it be awkward?" I asked ,raising an eyebrow.

  "Oh come on. Get your mind out of the mud. It's a friend thing." Applejack said with disbelief.

  I got up and laird down correctly. Right next to her. I just looked up at the ceiling. She looked at me and chuckled.

  "You're that uncomfortable?" She asked with a smirk. I looked over to her and nodded slowly.

"Well, it's either this, or the freezing couch. The choice is yours."

  I guess this wasn't that bad. It seemed alright. Maybe Im being to dramatic. I guess I'll live.

  "Nah, I'm fine." I said.

  He expression loosened. She smiled.

  "Goodnight, Trevor." She said. Applejack turned of and turned off the light. Darkness swallowed us both. The only light was the moonlight from outside that blanketed the floor. I turned and closed my eyes.

  "Goodnight....*yawn* Applejack. See you in the morning."

  **************

16 HOURS LATER

  "No! Listen to me! I had nothing to do with this!" I yelled as I was being dragged into the darkness of the cave before me.

  Glass and rubble shuffled and moved as I was dragged. I tried to squirm free, but there was no use. They hauled me to me feet once in front of the cave. A guard punched me hard in the back. I flew forward as pain shot throughout my back. I landed on the cold rock of the cave. I got up instantly, and charged for the doorway. I was kicked strait in the chest. I hit the ground hard. Everything was a blur, but I could see my friends being held back as they tried to save me.

  "No! Don't do this" I shouted.

  "Trevor White, your crimes are unforgivable!" The booming voice shouted.

  The doors began to close. I reached a desperate hand out. My face twisted into a face of pure terror. My heartbeat growing faster each second.

  "NOOOO-" slam! Was all they heard me scream before the cave isolated me in to the darkness of the cave. I pounded on the door, hoping that it will open, but it didn't. I turned around when I heard something coming. In the distance, I could hear a hissing sound.

  And it was getting closer.