On the Hunt

These airships are slow. Makes me miss the Blackbird. Been clinging to the side of this ship for over half a day now, if the sun is any indication. Of course, I've also realized that the sun hasn't been moving like it should be. Seems to be going slower then when I first got here. Wonder if it had anything to do with that royal pony I fought with the sun tattoo. Yeah, I pay attention to stuff like the sun moving. Even the smallest bit of information can be helpful.

What wasn't helpful was that the ponies up on the deck above me either have no idea how to fly this thing, or I've got saddled with new recruits. Because we barely missed a tall tree a few hours back and about twenty minutes ago the navigator nearly smeared us against the side of a mountain. The moment I get Alicia back to our world, I'm going to ask Chuck to erase all of my memories of this world and then sleep it off like a bad hangover.

Not that I really know what it's like to have a hangover. Healing factor keeps those away really well. Means I can drink as much as I want and barely get buzzed. However, it doesn't keep away the biting cold that's currently eating its way through my suit. Beast, next time ya create a suit that can fix itself, how about you make it repair the insulation as well?

The sounds of fighting coming from above distract me from the cold. I perk up my ears to hear the sound of a hoof hitting flesh, followed by the sounds of a body crashing onto wood. The scrambling of hooves tells me that whoever just ate it is back on their hooves, and from the sounds of fighting I take it things just got real interesting. I debate whether I should risk being spotted just to watch two ponies beat the hell out of each other. It's no contest.

I climb up the side of the ship, figuring that if they haven't found me with their magic or with their flying horses, then I'm good to go. Still, I chose an area that has numerous boxes to hide behind before I peek up to see how the fight's going.

The two ponies currently painting the deck with their blood are two bruiser-looking guys, probably brought on board for their muscle instead of their brains. Whatever they're arguing about I have no idea, but as I glance at the other deckhooves I can tell from their faces that this isn't the first time they've seen these two fight. Instead, they're placing bets and watching the action while cheering. Now these ponies I like.

I pull the upper half of my body onto the railing and lean against it, digging my claws into the backs of one of the boxes. Once I make sure that none of them have seen me, I shift the boxes slightly so that I have just enough room to see while the boxes cover my presence. I count seven ponies besides the ones that are fighting, and a quick glance at the helm shows me that the wheel is moving despite there not being a pony there. Magic it is.

Figuring that I should pick a side, I go for the one that doesn't have a scar over his face. Scars can mean that someone is really tough and can take pain, but they can also mean that that person was too slow to get out of the way of whatever gave him that scar. And from the way my horse is fighting, I'm figuring that the latter is correct.

"Alright Rocky, you got this," I commentate under my breath as the two keep fighting. "Remember to be loose, stick and move." Don't know if I've got the quotes right. Been a while since I've seen a movie and my brain's been messed with quite a few times since then.

My boy takes my advice and starts to duck and weave past his friend's punches, managing to get a good shot in on the others pony's guts. The stallion with the scar (gonna call him Scar) snarls and throws a wild haymaker in response. I shake my head in disappointment as my guy (gonna stick with Rocky) fails to dodge the hit. He blocks it, but the force of the swing still staggers him and leaves him open.

"Come on Rocky, ya got this," I cheer quietly from the sidelines. Scar doesn't press the attack and instead says something. Probably taunting my boy. That's a bad idea. A smirk crosses my face when my prediction comes true and Rocky throws a quick jab that catches Scar right in the mouth. "Good job Rock, but don't let up. Keep on him."

I know that the horses can't hear or understand me, but I smile when Rocky follows my advice and keeps up the pressure on his foe, landing body shot after body shot to take the wind out of Scar's sails. Scar tries to use his bigger size to smother my boy, but Rocky's smart enough to slip to the side and wind up a massive punch that catches Scar right in the side of the head. The big boy goes down without another word and falls to the deck, leaving Rock to start hollering in victory while the others applaud.

"Ding ding. And the winner is..." I mutter before sliding back down to the side of the ship. I'm glad that I managed to alleviate the boredom a bit, but now I'm stuck down here and God only knows how long it's going to take Scar to be ready for round two. I feel the wind shift on us and the ponies above start barking out orders in response. Wonder if I decked some of their members if they'd let me come up there and-

SNIKT!

My other claw comes out as a scent reaches my nose. I swing my body around towards where the wind is blowing from, knowing that the wind is what brought that scent. I can't be certain of what caused me to go into alert, with so many new scents brought in by the new breeze. But there was something in there, something that I haven't smelled in quite a while.

I narrow my eyes on the horizon, spying what looks to be the smallest traces of smoke. I'm instantly reminded of the town that I came across a few days back, the one that had been burned to the ground and its citizens slaughtered. There are faint traces of smoke on the winds and it worries me.

Now I'm torn, though. Do I stay with the ship and have them take me to where the girl might be? Or do I go see if any of these ponies need my help? I argue over it for a moment before I let out a frustrated snarl. Avenger. Means I help others.

"Sorry, guys, but this is my stop!" I call up to the ponies on the deck before retracting my claws, loosing my grip on the side of the ship and causing me to plummet straight down towards an unforgiving forest floor. Why does this world have so many damned forests? And then the pain started.

||X||

It's been a long time since I've been in this room. I gaze up at the starry ceiling with a sense of awe, the same feeling that I had the first time I saw it. That's because all the stars on this ceiling move in real time, without the sun there to block them. This was the lecture hall back when my organization was still around. I spent many hours learning how to survive in here. They seemed to have worked.

I'm worried about what I'm going to say to my old team. I'm not even sure I should convince them to come back, even if they want to. This creature is terrifying. I'm not afraid to admit that it scares me. But I'm also intrigued and I also promised Luna that I would stop it. And I'm trying not to break promises anymore.

I hear the sounds of hooves and I turn around with a smile as I spy my three old friends. The first is a massive yellow and black stallion that we dubbed "Stinger" due to him looking like a wasp--and the fact that when he punches you, it hurts. The next is "Lens," a pure black mare who is incredibly skilled at gaining intel on an opponent and also has a hobby for photography. Then there's "Reaper," a white mare with a black suit that covers everything up to her mouth. Her name speaks for her skills. There was a fifth member. And then the clawed creature killed her.

"Well, look who it is!" Stinger says with a large smile as he races right up to me and pulls me into one of his bone breaking hugs. I make myself go limp to avoid as much damage as possible until he lets me go. "Been almost six years since we saw you last! How goes it, Sweetie Drops?"

Sweetie Drops. My code name. They called me that because I was sweet one moment and would then drop a pony the next. It fits me. Still does. Lens takes a picture of me while Reaper just nods at me from the background, her white mane covering half of her face.

"I'm happy to see all of you again," I say with a genuine smile to each of them. While I wasn't as close to these three as I was Wildfire, they're still my allies and friends. Then my face darkened. "I wish that I could meet you all again on better terms, but there is a reason that I've called you in here. And that's because-"

"Because of the Wolf, right?" Stinger interrupts. I give him a confused look in reply. "The Wolf. The clawed creature that ripped apart that village and Celestia? That's why you've brought us together, isn't it? Don't worry, Luna gave us the details when she got each of us."

"Okay, but why 'Wolf'?" Stinger has a habit where he likes to name the monsters that we come across. A sixth of the creatures on file have either been named or given a nickname by him.

"Well, you know how that creature's claws make kind of a "W" whenever they carve into something? So, I was thinking we give it a name that starts with a "W." Like Wolf," he explains with a large grin.

"Yes, except that wolves don't have claws like that," Lens adds as she pulls out a picture of the creature, before giving me a knowing stare. "And we heard about Wildfire from Luna as well. So go ahead Sweetie, give us your whole 'why it's too dangerous for us to help you' like you always do, and then we can get down to what really matters."

They know me too well.

"I'm not asking any of you to stay because it might be too dangerous. We've all fought too dangerous and we came through. Why I'll ask if any of you simply want to be support, is so you don't get dragged back into this," I say as I motion to the area around us. The lab. "We got out. We were given a second chance to live a normal life. But if we go back in, there's the risk that we might not make it back to our normal lives. I just want to make sure that you're all okay with this before any of you sign on."

"Sweetie, please. If you actually kept in touch with us instead of going all ghost on us, you would know that none of us have normal lives," Stinger laughs before showing me his hoof, which was chipped and bloodied. "You know what I do with my "normal life?" Three time cage fighting champion. And not always against ponies."

"I go around the world and photograph all sorts of things. Locations, sights...giant colossi, and creatures that would make nightmares afraid," Lens smirks at me as she adjust her glasses. "And Reaper over there? She never got out. She's still the same old assassin that we know and love, except now she hunts evil beings instead of evil monsters. None of us have really gotten out, dear. And neither have you."

"What do you mean?"

"You went to live in Ponyville, the one place in Equestria that gets more monster attacks, supernatural disasters and world ending beings than anywhere else in all of the world," Stinger says to me with a knowing smirk. "You still live for fighting monsters and can't tear yourself away. So don't try saying that we'll get sucked back in if we do this. We're already in. So the question shouldn't be why we will do this. It should be what will we do next?"

They really do know me all too well.

"Heh, I should have just told you guys the plan instead of bothering to ask," I mutter, getting three sets of nods in response. I then turn on the projector that I was sitting next to, bringing up an image of the creature on the wall. "This is the creature that has been plaguing Equestria for the past weeks. We don't have a name for it yet, but-"

"Wendigo? Werewolf? Wolverine?" Stinger mutters under his breath, but just loud enough so that all of us can hear his names.

"What we do know is that it's incredibly dangerous, with retractable claws that can seemingly slice through anything, and the ability to heal rapidly from any injury inflicted upon it," I tell the group as I bring up another picture of the creature with a hole in its side. "These were taking by villagers when it first showed up. These are also the only real pictures we have of it."

"It's also highly intelligent. From every source that's fought with it, they say that it was fast on its feet and an even faster thinker, quickly figuring out traps and evading capture," I continue, with all three sets of eyes upon me. "It's also very well trained, because our best fighters could barely keep up. The night guards also say that it has a heightened sense of smell, but it's safe to assume that its other senses might be heightened as well."

"So what's it after?" Lens asks as she looks up from her notes. "All intelligent monsters are after something."

"Right now we believe that it's after a human girl with powers, that Lyra and I have taken into our home," I admit to the group. Lens and Reaper give me a look while Stinger lets out a laugh.

"You're even adopting strange creatures now! What did you name her?"

"Imp." Stinger starts to clap with a laugh, but Reaper then places a hoof on his shoulder and he goes quiet.

"So, what's the plan then?" Lens asks. "We just going to go in guns blazing and hope for the best?"

"No. So far everypony else has tried that and they all failed. You don't beat an unknown by going in guns blazing," I reply, getting a huge smile out of Lens as I said this. "We're going to gather intel on this creature first. That means getting close, but not too close. And if we have to engage, we fight to stall for time, not to kill. Am I clear?"

Lens and Reaper both nod their heads, with Reaper nodding a little less than Lens. I then look at Stinger, who seems lost in thought. His head then shoots up and he's got a huge smile on his face.

"I've finally got it! The Wombat!"