On the Hunt

I hold a hand to my side as I march through the forest, a sneer on my face. Whatever that pony with the scythe did to me, it still hurts. I know that I'm not actually hurt, the wound healed long ago, but the phantom pain is still there. Am I just imagining it or did that pony have some sort of voodoo that made this pain last?

I push the pain out of my mind while turning my focus to the group of ponies that attacked me. They were nothing like anything I've faced since I've gotten here. They were focused, skilled and worked as a team incredibly well. And they weren't there to kill me. I bet they would have liked to, but I know that wasn't the goal. That's why the pony with the camera was there. They were documenting me, learning how I fight and how I move. I'll give them credit, that's pretty clever of them.

The one that had hung back and used candy-like weapons seemed to be the leader, from how much she barked. The one with the scythe was the biggest threat. Need to be worried about her the next time we fight. The bruiser isn't much of a challenge. I just need to tag him once and it's game over. But how did they find me so easily? Did they notice the destroyed village as well? Or are they somehow tracking me? Questions for later.

I cleave through the brush with my claws, sniffing the air as I move. The battle with the ponies wasn't a total loss for me, though. That one with the candy weaponry (I've seen weirder) was practically drenched in the scent of Alicia. And now I can smell the girl. I don't have her pinpointed, but I have a general idea what direction in need to head.

I'm not that far from wherever they're keeping her. Another couple days if I keep moving through the night and day. I tilt my head upwards and take in another whiff, detecting the girl's scent upon the winds blowing in from the northeast. I change my pace and start to move that way. I glance down to notice a faint path, meaning that at one time that village was connected to wherever I'm going. At least I assume so.

'Logan.'

This time I don't jump at the voice suddenly appearing in my head. I've been expecting a call from Chuck for a while now.

"Hey, Chuck. Wondered when ya were going to call me," I reply as I lean up against a tree.

'It has indeed been a while, Logan. Two weeks about. How are things going? Have you retrieved Alicia yet? How is the scenery where you are?' Good old Chuck. Always focused on the mission yet still able to try and strike up a casual conversation.

"I'm closing in on the girl. The locals here have been less than kind to my presence. With the way they're trying to kill me ya would think that they've heard of me before," I joke, but I feel Chuck's presence become a bit darker than before.

'Logan, you wouldn't have done anything that would warrant such actions against you, have you?' There it is. The daddy is upset with you tone. I've heard it so many times that it's rare when he's not using it.

"Chuck, it's me we're talking about. I've left a few bodies, but only because they attacked me." Chuck sighs on the other end and I know he's restraining himself from giving me a lecture.

'Logan...what is bothering you?' Right, he can read me like a book. He knows that my mind isn't completely on Alicia at the moment. 'There is another thought with your mind that is distracting you from the mission. And whenever you get distracted, it is usually not a good thing.'

"I've come across two villages. Villages where the entire populace was completely slaughtered," I tell Chuck, but he probably already went through my mind and figured that out already. Or maybe not. Chuck doesn't like to do that if he doesn't have to. "Not only is that out of the ordinary for this seemingly cute and colorful world, but I've found wounds that are eerily similar to some of our associates."

Chuck goes silent for a few minutes after I tell him this. I close my eyes and focus completely on the wounds that I saw so he can see them too, if he happens to be in my mind. I'm waiting for him to tell me what to do next. I'm no leader. I'm a strategist, but no leader. I tend to get angry way too quickly to be an effective leader.

"Chuck, what do you think I should do?" I ask him when he doesn't break the silence. I want to do something. I don't like to sit still unless I have to.

'The most important thing to us right now is securing Alicia and bringing her home. That is what we should do,' Chuck instructs me. I nod and start to head towards where Alicia's scent is. 'However, stopping whatever is killing the creatures in that land is what would be most important to the innocent there.'

"Giving me mixed signals here, Chuck."

'The choice is up to you, Logan. Do you secure the girl or do you save the creatures? You are the only one that can make that choice right now.'

"Great, helpful as always. Anything else you want to tell me before you get out of my head?"

'Just that we have a way to bring you home whenever you are ready.' Finally, a bit of good news. 'Beast managed to construct a portal that we can open at anytime to bring you home. However, due to the nature of the world you are in, Beast theorizes that the portal can only open once before it breaks. Meaning that we can only use it when you are ready to come back.'

"And I won't be ready until I've got Alicia in my arms," I tell Chuck. I start to walk again, reaching a crossroad where the faint path heads towards Alicia's scent. But the other path goes off in a direction that doesn't seem to lead anywhere. "Alright Chuck, going to hang up for now. I'll call again when I'm ready to come home."

'Alright, Logan. And know that I trust you, even if you do not always trust yourself. You're a good man.'

Sometimes I think he's the only one that believes that. I feel Chuck's presence leave my mind, allowing me to finally think in peace. I know that if I head to the left that I will find Alicia. That much is certain. I then tilt my head and sniff to the right. Many smells enter my nose as I do this. Most of them I recognize.

But then there's this one smell. So faint that I can barely detect it. It's a smell that feels familiar yet at the same time is new to me. I rarely forget a scent. I assume that whatever this scent is has something to do with whatever has been killing the ponies and burning down their villages. But now I'm faced with a question. Do I go straight for Alicia and get her before the ponies have time to learn about me? Or do I track down whatever this thing is that's killing all of them, despite knowing that it won't stop the ponies from trying to kill me?

I let out a sigh as I look up at the blue sky overhead. The answer is easy. I used to be a monster that hurt and killed a long time ago. Sometimes I still can be. But I refuse to believe that the monster, the berserker, is who I really am. I have to believe that I'm a better person than that. I know what monsters can do to the lives of others. The pain they can cause to a family or community...it never goes away. That's why I have to stop it before it can do what I have done.

I snarl before turning to my right and racing off after the faint scent, knowing that this only gives the ponies more time to prepare for me. But they didn't ask to be stuck with me, to have a mutant with claws and a healing factor create chaos in their land. All they want is to be left in peace. And after I kill this thing and grab Alicia, I'll leave them to their peace. Peace isn't my cup of tea.

||X||

I'm just lowering my hoof from knocking on the castle doors when they open up and I find myself face to face with Princess Twilight. Princess Twilight. I still haven't really gotten over that yet. Just about a year ago she was just another unicorn, albeit a smart one, that lived close to me and Lyra. And now here she is, ruler of friendship and protector of all of magic. Too bad that title came with an ugly castle.

"Hello, Bon-Bon. I didn't expect to see you here today," Twilight says in a polite, but confused tone. I bow to her slightly, knowing that she doesn't like being bowed to. She steps aside and allows me to enter into her castle, a place that I try to avoid if I can. I don't like castles. Never have. Too open, to grand...to prone to being attacked every few weeks.

"Can I help you with something? Lyra mentioned to me that you wanted to see me, but she said that you didn't tell her about what," Twilight continues. I nod before walking down the long corridor, glancing at each of the rooms. I'd prefer one with no windows, where we can't be overhead. But of course, every room in this place has a window. Whatever, the corridor is just as good a place as any.

"Twilight, I'm here to talk to you about something that I'm sure you and Lyra have discussed plenty. Humans." For brief seconds I see a shadow fall over Twilight's face, but in the next moment it's gone and she looks at me with confusion. Nice try, Twilight, but now I know you know exactly what I'm about to talk to you about.

"I see. Well, the secret's out I guess. I've been to the human world a few times," Twilight admits with a small laugh, but I give her a look that tells her that's not what I'm here for. "You're not here for that. You're here to talk about humans like Imp...and the clawed creature."

"Correct," I say in a professional tone. "I'm also here for any information that you have on them. Biology, strengths, weaknesses...anything that you can spare." Twilight gives me a look that I've seen her give a few bad characters, meaning that she's about to go into one of her speeches. Faust help me.

"Bon-Bon...you shouldn't be fighting this thing. You should be leaving it to me and my friends," she begins, trying to reason with me. "This thing is way too dangerous for you! Look what it did to Celestia! What it's done to two villages now! You don't have to concern yourself with it."

"It killed a good friend of mine, Twilight. This is my battle," I remind her with a cold voice. "And you said it yourself. Look what it did to Celestia. Who's to say it wouldn't do the same to you?"

"Because I'd have my friends with me. When we're a team, there isn't a threat that we can't handle." She's not thinking. Or rather, she's thinking this will be like her past battles, with magical creatures that want power or world domination. This creature doesn't want any of that. It simply wants Imp and will kill anything in its path to get her. Twilight needs to learn that.

"Celestia had a team with her. My friend and two other teammates that devoted their entire lives to fighting monsters," I remind her in a quiet voice. "We spent nearly fifteen years learning every way to trap, fight or kill any monster that we might come across, Twilight. We've fought things that you can't even dream of. We're professionals. And the three of them were slaughtered by this thing."

"We have the magic of friendship on our side," Twilight states with sheer confidence.

"It has metal claws that can slice through anything. HE has an ability to heal from a fatal wound within mere moments. And he has something that you lack. Experience." Twilight tilts her head in confusion at that statement, meaning I'm going to have to explain more. "You didn't see him fight. We had numbers, we had training and we had the element of surprise, sort of. And not only did he hold all of us off, but he downright kicked our flanks. He's used to fighting, Twilight. Maybe he's even fought creatures with magic before, or beings with powers like his. Beings far more powerful than him. And he's still alive."

"We have to at least try. With Luna and maybe Cadence on our side, we can fight this thing. He could fight one alicorn. I say, let's see how he handles three." She has an unwavering conviction. That's probably how she's gotten as far as she has. I let out a sigh as I force myself to not get angry. Twilight's heart is in the right place. She wants to help us, to make sure we don't get hurt. But the more I learn about this creature, the more afraid of it I become.

"Alright, Twilight. How about this? If me and my team can't stop this thing, can't put it in the ground, then you have my blessing to unleash all of your alicorn might upon it," I say with another sigh of surrender, but by the look that Twilight's giving me it's not good enough.

"How about my friends and I take on the creature first? And if it gets past us, then I guess we'll have no choice but to rely on you and your team?" she counter-offers with a sly smirk. There's no point in arguing any further. She's set on her decision. Might as well play along.

"Fine. But can I still have all the information on humans that you've got? Even if it's not like the humans you met, any information that we can use to learn about this creature would be beneficial."

"Sure. Stay here and I'll go gather all of my notes."

I watch as Twilight takes off into the castle, not sure whether I should be grateful or upset at her determination to help me. I want to be the one to avenge Wildfire. I want to be the one to stop this thing. I want to prove that even though our organization is gone, I'm still able to hold my own against the monsters of this world. But if Twilight and her friends end it, then Wildfire's still avenged and I don't have to give up my perfect life.

But this isn't about me. This creature is after Imp. The magical tracker is showing that it's getting closer and closer to us. It knows where she is. And Twilight and her friends have stopped so many threats before, so why wouldn't they beat this one as well? As long as Imp's safe, I don't care who kills the creature. It already took her home once. I'll do anything to make sure that the creature never harms her again.

"We should still study up on it. Just in case," I mutter to myself. Just in case it gets by Twilight and her friends. Just in case I have to fight that thing by myself. And if I have to, I'll need every advantage that I can get.