On the Hunt

My life is plagued by death.

That is my only thought as I enter into the remains of what once was a village of ponies. Now it's a village of corpses. You'd think that after living for so long and watching dozens of people I truly cared about die, that death wouldn't bother me at all. I'm more numb than most, but not completely. That's the only way I know that I still have my humanity.

Not that I can call what happened here 'death'. It's a complete slaughter. Bodies in the roads. Blood pouring through the streets. I've fought in multiple wars and even I could feel myself cringing at some of the ways the bodies here were ripped apart. But I force the disgusted thoughts down as I kneel next to one of the bodies, extending my claw next to the wound that killed this mare.

"Same as mine," I mutter to myself. Three slashes. That's what did her in. Three slashes that match up with the way my claws are separated. From the size of the wound and how deep it is, if I was trying to figure out who did this, I would say I did. But I didn't do this. So the questions is, who did?

I need clues. I start with the ring of ponies in guard armor that are laying dead in a circle. I walk up to them and immediately notice how close they were grouped together. There would have barely been any space behind any of them. Yet all of their stab wounds are in their backs or in the backs of their heads. How did whatever did this get behind them?

I move on to where a family was cut down, having to avert my eyes for a moment when I see that not even the youngest of ponies was spared. My blood boils at the sight, but I force myself to remain calm as I kneel down next to them. My eyes narrow into slits when I spy that one of these three ponies wasn't killed by the fire or claws. It was killed by a beam of energy. After getting hit with so many, I've gotten pretty good at telling an energy mark from other markings.

"But it ain't magic," I muttered as I run my fingers across the mark, barely any ash coming off of the spot. While my fingers are running across the pony's body, I feel its ribs move in a way that tells me they're shattered. Yet the only injury that I spy upon it is the energy burn. "So whatever kind of energy hit you, it also shattered your ribs and most likely your organs. A concussive beam of energy. That sounds all too familiar."

I'm starting to get worried. Back at the first village, I thought that whatever had done this was a creature from this land. I'm beginning to think otherwise. I continue to walk around the village, trying to find any trace of survivors. I find none.

What I do find is that even babies were slaughtered. My anger reaches critical mass when I glance down at the dead child, trying to keep myself under control. Thankfully I spy something to the side that distracts me from the bodies. It's a blanket. But when I pick it up, I find that on one side it's completely invisible. I glance from the blanket to the kid, then to the two ponies that I assume were the parents.

They hid it under a blanket that was completely invisible. A blanket that even I wouldn't be able to see through. Now that doesn't mean much, the kid could've been bawling its eyes out while under there and gave itself away. But if it did remain quiet, then whatever did this saw through complete invisibility...and I only know a handful of things that can do that.

"This is starting to look real bad," I mutter aloud. A village slaughtered and all by weapons that I'm familiar with. Yet it's clear that a battle was fought, but aside from the footprints and scents of the ponies there's nothing else here. No strange footprints. No foreign blood. And no smells that are out of the ordinary...well, for a dead village.

But I can't shake the feeling that's there's more going on. That there's something I'm missing. Something that I should know. I growl with frustration, but there's not much more I can do. I turn towards the exit to the village before I spy something on one of the burned buildings. It's another black mark made of ash, but this one is all too familiar. It's from where a bolt of lightning struck the wall. And judging from the angle, that bolt of lightning came down from above.

I glance up at the sky, remembering during my entire trip on the airship I didn't see a single cloud in the sky. And this village hasn't been burned long. Two days at most. I'm using most of my willpower to focus on only the scents I want to smell. Also trying not to gag on the other scents. But no clouds, yet there's a spot where lightning has struck. I know a lot about lightning strikes. A lot of teammates like to use lightning.

"That's three...maybe four," I mutter, a picture starting to form in my mind. But if I'm right and-

SNIKT SNIKT!

My claws are out and I spin around in half a second, cursing my stupidity. Someone managed to get the drop on me. I probably wouldn't have noticed if not for the sound of a camera shutter going off. I glare at a tree on the outskirts of the village and know that's where the sound came from. I sprint at full speed towards the tree and lunge up it with a bellow. I reach a branch just in time to see a pony in camouflage leap out of it.

She hits the ground a half second before I do. To my surprise she runs away from the trees and to a clearing not too far from us. I race after her in pursuit, gaining on her rapidly. Ponies might run fast, but when I run I can tear myself apart to go faster. And that's what I do.

I ignore the agony in my leg muscles as I catch up with the pony. I debate whether I should kebob her or just bring her down before I spy the camera tucked under her cloak. So I was right and she was taking pictures of me. Time to find out why. I reach out for her, deciding not to slice her legs off. My hands are practically on her cloak and-

Cold. A chilling cold. A cold that I have only felt twice in my life. Instincts screams at me like a rabid animal and I hurl myself to the ground, just in time to feel the very air be sliced above me. I tuck and roll, allowing me to get back up to my feet a moment later. I spin around to see a white horse with a completely black bodysuit, covering everything except for her eyes and mane. And the midnight black scythe that she has rested on her shoulder.

I'm really concerned now. If that scythe got such a reaction out of me, then it can't be good. I don't know if it can go through my skeleton, but I know getting hit by it would hurt like hell. I then look into the pony's eyes. They're a lot like mine. That means she's trouble.

I glance behind me at the mare with the camera to see that she has come to a stop and is now aiming that camera right at me, waiting for me to move. I then glance to my other sides to see a massive stallion on one side and a mare with candy on her flank on the other.

"Alright kids, ya found the monster," I snarl at them as I slash my claws together, causing sparks as I prepare for the battle. "I just hope ya live to regret it."

||X||

I'm scared now, even more so than before. We've got the creature surrounded and yet I'm still scared. Nopony has ever been able to dodge one of Reapers silent kills, yet this creature ducked under it. Now it knows that we're all here and it's glancing from one of us to the other.

It's incredible to see up close. The claws shine in the sunlight and I realize that they're made of metal. Metal claws. That's bad. It's also really muscular, which explains its strength. But what unnerves me the most is that I can't see its eyes. There's only two, white slits. No pupils. I know that it's part of the mask, but I hate it when I can't see my foe's eyes.

The creature clinks its claws together and then says something in a really masculine voice. Going to assume it's male. It was also pretty easy to find. The tracker that's attached to its clothes gave off a magical signal that would be impossible to miss. And guess where we found it? In the center of a town that's been wiped out. Quickly too, I might add. It's dangerous, that much is certain. But the fact that he found Lens even when she was perfectly hidden...

I nod to Stinger and Reaper. Time to go into action. I whip my arms around behind me and reach into my bag, just as Stinger and Reaper rush the creature. The creature turns its focus towards Stinger first and slams an elbow into his gut, sending him staggering back before he narrows in on Reaper. She swings her scythe twice with speeds that I can barely keep up with, but the creature ducks and weaves past the strikes with such precision that I wonder if it's his first time fighting a scythe wielder.

Got to focus. Got to let Lens do her thing. I pull out two small bombs that I've dubbed the "Cherry Bombs" and hurl them at the creature right when he ducks beneath another scythe swing. My aim is perfect and I wait to hear them detonate against his skin...but then he slashes out without looking and cleaves my two bombs to pieces.

It did that without looking. This thing is used to being in fights and is used to being outnumbered. That's the only way it could be so skilled. Stinger comes back into the fray and Reaper backs off to avoid hitting him, but the creature barely seems bothered by the switch in tactics.

Stinger throws out his quick yet painful punches that he's known for, but the creature blocks each strike with the back of his claws. Stinger backs up and shakes out his hooves with a pained expression. Yet the moment he's backed away, the creature hurls himself to the side and out of the range of Reaper's scythe. Her expression doesn't change, but I can tell from the way her style has changed that she's getting annoyed. No creature has evaded her for this long.

"That's fine," I mutter under my breath while glancing over at Lens. She's taking pictures with one hoof and recording the battle with the other. "She's getting what we came here for. We just have to make sure that she has enough."

The next item I pull out of my bag is a massive block of metal I call "Jawbreaker." Guess why? I whip out a slingshot as well and take aim at the creature, letting the shot fly when he's distracted with both Stinger and Reaper. Whether he saw it coming or not I have no idea, but he doesn't avoid it and the breaker catches him right in the side of his skull. For a moment he seems staggered...and then the ball made of metal cracks in half and falls to the ground.

My soul drops as the creature slowly turns to gaze at me, eyes narrowed with fury. He then slowly lifts his hand and extends one finger up in the air, before a smirk crosses his face and he turns back to the battle with the others. I'm left trying to figure out what just happened. That ball was solid metal. And it cracked against his skull, which should be solid bone. Then I glance at his metal claws and a thought comes to me.

"REAPER! I want to see this bastard's bones!" I call to Reaper before I reach into my bag and whip out my two candy cane-like knives. I like sweets, alright? Long range isn't cutting it, I need to get in close. I close the gap in a quick gallop before going low and slashing at the creature's ankles. Yet even with it fighting both Stinger and Reaper it still manages to swing an arm down and slice right through both of my knives.

I then smile up at the creature, because that's what I wanted. It gives me a look before Reaper's scythe flashes and the creature roars in pain. It pushes Stinger away before lunging backwards, glancing down at its side where a large chunk of flesh has been removed. My eyes narrow as I see one of its ribs poking through its wound...and it's made of the same metal as the claws.

"Guys, its entire skeleton is either made of or covered in metal! Be careful!" I call out to the others. Then the creature's wound begins to heal. I'm no expert on anatomy, but I've never seen a wound heal as rapidly as his did, even with magic. In a matter of moments the wound was just a red patch and then even his damn suit begins to repair itself as well.

"Does everything on this guy heal?" Stinger asks me before the creature lifts its head to face us. The smile is gone and replaced with a look of fury. We've made it mad. That was the last thing Celestia did to it.

I back pedal as fast as I can to get away from the creature while Stinger and Reaper engage it. Stinger throws a haymaker, but the creature ducks underneath the punch before leaping up, and slams his skull into Stinger's face. Stinger goes down without another word, just in time for Reaper to swing her scythe towards the creature. He bellows in response as he swipes his claws towards the scythe.

Made of dragon scales and mythril. Forged in the hottest of furnaces. And wielded by the most deadly assassin that I know. That is the scythe that Reaper uses. And the claws of the creature cut the blade clean in two. Reaper is just as stunned as me, but she retained enough sense to leap away from the follow up that the creature did. Reaper drops what's left of her scythe and pulls out a long blade, but I can see fear in her eyes even at this distance. Even a coldblooded assassin is scared of him. That's it.

"Team, pull out!" I order. Reaper nods and races over to Stinger while I throw down "Gum Drops" around the creature's feet. The gum explodes and cements the creature to the ground, but I know with his claws it will only be a few moments before he's free. That's all the time I need. Reaper brings Stinger over to Lens and I join them momentarily. The three of us then turn our heads towards the creature that has just cut itself free. It bellows before lunging towards us, claws flashing in the sunlight.

"Don't worry. We'll meet again," I promise it. And then the four of us vanish in a flash of lunar light.