On the Hunt

"Um...thank you?" I say with some hesitation as the human girl places a small cup of tea next to my table. She beams up at me with expectant eyes. I pick up the cup of tea while keeping my eyes on the human, not sure why she's acting so nice. I sniff the tea, just to be safe, before I take a sip. It's my favorite, green, but I still don't know why the girl brought it to me.

"Hey Lyra, did you make this?" I ask my friend as she exits the kitchen and enters the living room.

"Nope. Our little angel made it for you all by herself," Lyra replies with pride before pulling the imp into a hug. "She spent most of this morning trying to make something for you. I helped her out a bit, but she poured it and everything."

I raise an eyebrow at this response before turning my gaze back towards the imp, who is giving me a large smile. But for the first time since she's arrived here, I don't detect any traces of dislike or annoyance in her smile. I nod to her to show my thanks before I turn my attention back towards the paper, but I had barely gone two sentences before the imp leaps onto my lap and nearly spills my drink everywhere.

"The hell?" I mutter as the imp wiggles her way closer to me and leans against my shoulder, looking over the paper. I could tell that she had no idea what the words said, but she pretended to read it all the same. I gave Lyra a glance of confusion, having no idea what was going on.

"Seems that she's warmed up to you," Lyra answers with a smile that I've only seen on her face when she was right about something. "Looks like when you saved her life the other day, she finally realized that she can trust you. Aw, this is such a sweet picture, with the two of you all cuddled up. Where's the camera?"

Knock knock.

If I could I would hug whoever was knocking on the door, for they saved me from another photo in the photo album. Or the "Let's take embarrassing photos of Bon-Bon and call it a hobby." I glance at Lyra before glancing at the imp on my gut. Lyra nods in reply before she walks over to the door and opens it. Her jaw goes slack as she backs up, and when I see our guest my jaw does the same.

"Princess Celestia," I whisper as the Princess of the Sun herself walks into my home, smiling at Lyra before nodding to me. I immediately feel a weight leave my chest and a second later the imp is trying to climb up Celestia's leg. The princess smiles down at the human before her horn glows, and Celestia lifts the human onto her back. The human lets out a squeal of delight before the princess walks over to me.

"Hello, Sweetie Drops." Oh. It's that kind of visit. I fold up the paper and place it on the table next to me before motioning to the couch. Celestia uses her magic to sit the child on the couch before she herself sits down. The girl begins to play with Celestia's mane, getting another smile out of the princess. "My sister was right. This little one is precious. I can see why the two of you took a liking to her so quickly."

"Well, it took some time," I reply with a bit of a dry tone. "What brings you to my humble home, Princess?"

"You know what brings me here," Celestia replies. That kind of talk, huh?

"Lyra, can you leave us alone for a moment?" I ask Lyra. Lyra gives me a worried look before she heads up the stairs, but I wait a moment to make sure that she isn't listening before I nod to Celestia to continue speaking.

"The beast with the claws returned to the town that we believed it had slaughtered," Celestia says. I raise my eyebrows with some confusion. Why would the beast return to the very village that it slaughtered? If it was smart, and I have no doubt it is, it would stay away until the heat died down. I voiced my thoughts to Celestia and she nodded in agreement. "That is what I thought as well. Perhaps this isn't the beast that wiped out that town. Perhaps there is another."

"But if there is, it's sure a damned coincidence that they both have claws that make the exact same wound," I add. Celestia nods once again before using her magic to summon a paper, which she then gives to me. "Some of Luna's night guards fought with the creature. One of them snapped that during the battle."

It was a closeup image of the creature, with a few new details. The first was that the creature had no pupils. Only white...slits. I could also now measure the length of its claws against its arm. Those things are long and they look like they hurt. The final thing that interests me is the smirk upon its face, like it knows the guard can't beat it.

The imp hops off the couch and races over to my side, glancing over my shoulder to see what I was looking at. Yet the moment she looks at the picture, the imp lets out a scream and hurls herself back as fast as she could. Both Celestia and I look at the human with surprised looks, while Lyra comes barreling down the stairs and is at the human's side in a moment.

"She's shaking like crazy," Lyra mutters as she pulls the girl into a tight hug. "Something has terrified her." I didn't need Lyra to tell me that, to see that the human was clearly scared witless. Celestia takes the picture from me before walking over to the girl and holding it out before her.

"Do you know anything about this creature?" she asks the human. The girl lets out another cry and hides her head in Lyra's chest. I reach out and place a hoof on her shoulder and the girl looks out from Lyra at me.

"Do you know who this is?" I ask this time, but in a far kinder voice. I hope that my eyes tell the girl what I want to know. For a moment the two of us stare at each other, then the human breaks free of Lyra's grasp and grabs the nearest paper she can find. She then digs out a box of colored pencils that belongs to Lyra and beings to draw on the paper. My soul sinks deeper and deeper into my stomach as she draws.

When she finishes drawing, she holds up the paper for all of us to see. There's a burning building in the back, while a being in a yellow and blue suit runs away from it with a crying girl tucked under its arm. I might not be able to understand what the imp is saying, but I know damned sure what this picture is telling us.

"It kidnapped her," I say softly, but I feel the rage building within me. "It kidnapped her and then burned her house to the ground. Maybe even killed her family...just like it might have done with that village."

"There is no question now. That creature must be stopped," Celestia whispers in a rage that made all three of us back away from her. "I wished to simply capture the creature, as it may not have been the one to cause that fire. But if what this girl drew is true and it truly burned her house down after taking her..."

"Maybe true? Princess Celestia, you saw the look in her eyes when you showed her the picture. She was terrified," Lyra reminded the Princess, who nodded with eyes set like flint. "This creature, whatever it is, might be the reason she's here."

"And that's what it's looking for," I realize. "That's what it's been hunting for across the land. That's probably why it burned down the village. It's after her. And it won't stop until it finds her."

"Then its quest shall be in vain," Celestia says with such fire in her voice that I'm afraid I'll burn away right there. "Because me and my forces will put an end to it. One of the guards managed to tag it with a tracker and it hasn't noticed yet. So I swear to you, little one, that your nightmare is over."

"That creature's rampage ends today."

||X||

The evening sun looks really pretty here. I'm usually not one to marvel at the sight of the sun, but this one really does look pretty. It's a blood red and makes the sky around it a nice color of orange. Haven't seen a sunset like that since my days back in Japan. Wonder if these ponies have a land here that's like Japan? Doubt it.

The scent of that royal pony is starting to fade and it's pissing me off. If I hadn't run into that bunch of bugs I would have been able to follow her right to Alicia. Hope the poor kid is doing alright. Being stuck in a strange land with strange creatures...she's going to need some therapy once this is over.

Another thing that's pissing me off is this damned forest. How many damn forests are in this world?! And why does each town or city seem to have one in-between them and the next town? Do the ponies not visit each other or do they just use magic to-

SNAP!

My reactions kick in a second too late and the next thing I know I'm upside down. A rope has wrapped around my leg and yanked me into the air, like one of those old school traps. My claws come out in an instant and I slice through the rope. I then roll in the air and land on all fours, eyes narrowed into slits as I gaze at the forest around me.

That was no random trap for an animal. That was meant for me. Which means that someone here has a problem with me. I take in a deep whiff, taking in the smells of all the scents around me. I smell trees, forest...horses. Horses with strange gear. A smirk crosses my face as I pinpoint their locations with my nose. One of them is behind the third tree ahead of me. The other two are behind me, waiting to ambush me.

I need to make this look good. Like I haven't caught on. I advance while looking from left to right, before spinning around to check behind me. Make them think that I don't know where they are. Make them think that they're still the hunters.

I can smell the sweat coming off of this pony. He...no, she is nervous. And tense. Meaning that she will probably jump me the moment I pass by her tree. Not going to give her the chance. I walk right up to the third tree, the one that I know she's hiding behind, before spinning on my heels and lunging into the tree. The pony cries out in surprise as my hands grab it by the neck, allowing me to hurl her out from behind the tree and onto the path.

The pony has a yellow body and a green mane, but the look she's giving me is a mix between scared and furious. She quickly rises to her hooves as I lunge at her again. I'll take her out first, then go back for her two-

CRACK!

My thoughts are interrupted from the spin kick that the pony just caught me upside the head with. I stagger back a bit from the blow, but I'm more surprised than I am hurt. I slowly turn to look at the pony to see that she's leapt back away from me. She then points down and I look at my feet to see numerous spheres laying on the ground.

"Son of a-"

Three explosions go off and a moment later I'm surrounded by smoke. But even as I gag I keep track of the ponies with my ears. Thinking that I'm helpless in the smoke, they've all surrounded me and are waiting for the smoke to clear so that they can jump me. Not going to let that happen.

I spot a branch hanging above my head and I make a gamble. I leap up with all of my strength and grab hold of the branch, praying that it can hold my weight. For once God seems to be on my side and the branch holds, allowing me to pull myself onto the branch and into the tree. With my vantage point, I wait until the smoke begins to clear. I smile the moment realization dawns on the stupid ponies' faces that I'm no longer there. The second claw comes out as I leap from my perch and dive towards the ponies, preparing to finish this.

She smiled. The green haired one just smiled. That's not good. My claws go clean through the pony, only for the "pony" to phase out of existence a moment later. I hit the ground hard, but manage to roll back up to a vertical base. I glance over my shoulder to see that one of the two ponies that I didn't see was a unicorn...and that he had created a fake pony for me to attack.

"Not bad, bub," I mutter as I spin around. The unicorn smiles in reply before he dives to the side to reveal that his buddy is standing behind him with...a rocket launcher? "What the actual fu-?"

The pony fires a blast of something at me, but I don't get the chance to see it as I hurl myself out of the way of the projectile. I glance up just in time to see the projectile go straight up and explode in the air, creating a firework of sorts. That wasn't a missile. It was a signal to the other forces that might be in this forest. No choice. Got to wrap this up. Things are going to get bloody.

I roar bloody murder before I throw myself at the pony with the launcher, using my full speed to close the gap in a second. His eyes go wide as I'm suddenly towering over him. My sight begins to turn red as I plunge my claws towards him.

Pain lances through my body before my claws connect and I stagger as I register multiple projectiles, almost like Widow's stingers, piercing through my back. I snarl while glancing over my shoulder to see that the green haired mare has a strange gun that I assume is where the projectiles came from.

These aren't regular ponies. I don't even think they're guards. They're more like special agents or something along those lines. Agonizing burning starts to course through my body from where the darts have embedded themselves, but the healing factor has already begun to take care of the pain. Meaning I can take care of them.

I plunge my claws forward once more into the pony standing before me, but my claws only strike magic as the pony shimmers out of existence. I stare at where the pony was before throwing my head back and letting out a roar to the sky that I bet could be heard for miles.

"You ponies are really pissing me the hell off!" I bellow as I start to see red. I spin as fast as I can and go for the unicorn, claws out and eyes crimson. But I know that he's a fake. That's why I use my nose to sniff out where he really is. And he really is...

"Got you!" I roar as I lunge past the hologram and plunge my hand into the bush. I grab the pony by the throat and pull the blue and black pony out. He starts to kick as I hold him over my head, but he's not getting away. I scream at him before driving him back first into the ground. I plant my foot onto his chest before I prepare to strike with my claws.

Pain. Horrible pain. Pain like being on fire. That's what I feel when a burst of magic slams into my chest and hurls me across the forest floor. I dig my claws into the ground to grind to a halt, but once I'm stopped I glance down at my chest to see that my chest is blackened and burned. Badly.

I suppress the pain as I gaze up at my new foe, only for my eyes to narrow when I see what I'm up against. It's a white pony with both wings and a horn, much like the dark one I saw the other day. She gives off the same regal appearance that the other did and from her height and scent, they might be related. But there's one crucial difference between her and the other one. That one had a look of like she was searching for me.

This one simply wants to kill me