On the Hunt

"How did you talk me into this, Lyra?" I ask myself for the fifth time as I stare down at the human laying on my couch. It was bad enough that we had an unknown creature in my house, but the fact that Lyra had covered it in my blankets and used my pillows added insult to injury.

Not that the human had done anything since we had gotten back to the house. I kept my eye on it the entire time and all it had done so far was sleep. A hint of movement breaks me free of my thoughts, but to my relief all the human did was clutch the blankets closer to its chest and groan slightly.

"Has it done anything yet?" Lyra asks as she enters the room. I shake my head in response and her face falls, but a moment later it perks back up when she walks close to the couch. "Isn't this just amazing?! An actual human, in our house!"

"I still can't believe you managed to convince me to bring that thing here. We should have told Celestia."

"Yeah right, so she could snatch it away and lock it in a cage until she could determine if it was dangerous or not?" Lyra snaps back with a tone I haven't heard in a long time.

"Do you honestly think Celestia would do that?"

"You worked for her. Would you do it?"

"Fair point."

Lyra turns her head back towards the human. I notice that she had her book on them in her grips once more, and was drawing the little imp's face on one of the blank pages.

"Do you think it likes cookies?" I gave Lyra a look in response to her question.

"What?"

"Cookies. Do you think it likes them?" she repeats.

"How would I know? You're the human expert."

I can tell from the way she leans her head back and stares at the ceiling that the question was bothering her. I was more amazed that she was even considering making cookies for a creature that we knew next to nothing about. Guess that's Lyra for you.

I leave her to draw the human's portrait, and I head for the paper that I didn't get to finish. But even with a few bits of interesting news, my mind kept getting drawn back to the creature taking up my spot on the couch. From what little I knew of humans, mostly from the information that Lyra had beaten into my brain, they were supposed to be dangerous. But that little thing? Dangerous? Please.

"I'm gonna make it some cookies," Lyra speaks up. I nod my head, but whether or not she was talking to me or not I didn't know. I hear her enter the kitchen, followed by the sounds of crashing pans. Poor human. First day here and it's going to die from food poisoning. I turn my thoughts away from Lyra and back to the paper, before the faintest of sounds rips me from the paper.

The human is moving. That thought barely passes through my mind before I'm on my hooves. The creature lifted its head slightly and looks around the room, blinking its eyes. The two of us then lock eyes. I didn't know what it reads in my eyes, but in its, I read fear. I saw the fear spread as it gazes around the room. And I knew what came next.

The human let out a scream that could pierce stone. It sprung off the couch and races away from me. I chase after it, but it doesn't get far before it trips and falls onto its face. Ouch.

"Okay, fun's over," I tell it while placing a hoof on its shoulder. It spins around to face me, still the fear in its eyes as it gazes at me. Then its eyes went white and it punched me in the chest. The next thing I knew I was flying across the room, along with any other possessions of mine that had been near the brat. I felt myself slam back first against the wall, before I fall on my head. Double ouch.

"Okay, you little brat," I snarl while getting back up. "Time to see what happens when you mess with me." I paw the ground before letting out a snort. The human wants to fight, huh? I'll show it what happens when you-

"Don't even think about it!" Lyra might not be the most built of mares, but when she's motivated she hits like a carriage. And yes, I've been hit by a carriage before. Multiple times. And she hit me with that kind of force--I find myself flying across my living room once again.

"You'd better have a good reason for doing that," I seethe, once I pull myself back up. Lyra gives me an apologetic glance before slowly approaching the human. The imp's eyes flash with fear and hesitation. Then, its eyes glance up at Lyra's horn and its whole disposition changes. The fear is replaced with amazement and an excitement that I had only seen in Lyra's eyes when she talked about humans. The imp says something in a language I didn't understand as she reaches out to Lyra.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you," Lyra promises as she stopped right in front of the human. It reaches up and gently touches Lyra's horn with its fingers, a huge smile spreading across its face. "Like my horn, huh? Bet you've never seen anything like it. Oh here, let me show you something cool."

"Lyra, what are you doing?" I ask her as she levitates a tray of cookies out of the kitchen and to the human.

"Calming her down. Something you clearly don't know how to do," Lyra snaps back. She then offers the tray to the human, but the thing seems far more interested in the magical aura around the tray.

"Wait a moment. Her? How do you know it's a her?"

"Didn't you hear her tone of voice when she spoke? Pay more attention."

And now Lyra's being all uppity with me. Whatever. I continue to watch as the "her" starts to examine Lyra, who was clearly loving the attention.

"Hey, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" Lyra asks. The human says a few things that neither of us can understand. But from the look on her face she was just as confused as we were. "Um, did you catch any of that, Bon?"

"Nope. Seems we don't speak the same language." Lyra looks visibly hurt by that revelation. The human snatches one of the cookies off of the tray and wolfs it down, a large smile crossing her face a moment later. "However, it does seem that she likes your cooking."

That got Lyra's spirits back up. A smile spreads across Lyra's face as she starts speaking numerous other languages that she knew a little of, but the human continues to stare at her with an awestruck face that made no hints that she understands what Lyra is saying.

"None of it's working. Of course the first human I'd meet wouldn't speak the same language as us," Lyra says. She then brushes the bangs out of the human's eyes with a warm smile, one that seems to calm the girl down a bit.

"So, what are we going to do with her?" I ask. "I mean, we can't keep her here forever. Eventually Celestia is going to have to be told. We can't just keep a creature we know nothing about under my roof."

"Why not? You keep me under this roof," Lyra says with a smile. I give her my "I'm being serious" glare in response. "I know, I know. I just want to get this chance to study a human up close, without having to go through Celestia to do it. Come on Bon, you've dealt with worse creatures during your old job. Surely you can handle a human."

Was she trying to make a play on my ego? No, I think she's being serious here. And she's right, after all I've dealt with, handling a human child shouldn't be...but what about those white eyes of hers and power that threw me across the room? Lyra did state a while ago that some humans were strange, but...

"Alright. But we tell Celestia soon.

||X||

I had hoped to get to the town of those strange horses by dawn. That was before a massive, Venus flytrap tried to eat me for a late night snack. Unfortunately for it, metal doesn't digest well. The whole experience put me in a bad mood, though. Not that it's entirely the plant's fault. I'm almost always in a bad mood.

Instead, it was around noon that I walk out of the forest and into the small town, a snarl on my face. Their town was nothing special. Buildings, carts, some other things that I didn't care about. All I wanted was a map and maybe the chance to see if I could pick up the girl's scent. Then I glance at the first citizen and knew that none of that was going to happen.

The pony I was staring at was terrified of me. I was used to getting that stare, but usually it was after the claws had come out. Should I take off the mask? Would that even help to calm the thing down? Then it starts to scream. And apparently when one starts screaming, all of the damned beasts do because a moment later, nearly every pony in the town is running around in circles screaming at the top of their lungs.

"SHUT UP!" I bellow at them. Naturally, my suggestion didn't work and all of the ponies scream louder in response. However, my shout did gain me the full attention of six armored horses that emerge from the woodwork. They surround me and point their spears towards my chest. I glance around to see that two of them were unicorns, while the rest were regular. That meant two of them were trouble.

The lead guard, the one with the fancy helmet, yells something at me that I don't understand. I assume it was something along the lines of surrender. Even though I don't understand, I slowly put my hands up anyway. I'd prefer to get out of this without a fight. They're just doing their jobs. No need to-

Then the lead guard says something to another one of his men, one of the unicorns. Its horn glows, using its magic to create a ball and chain that fastens itself to my leg. With me "secured," the ponies then began to approach me. I then chose to lower my arms.

"Even if you can't understand my words, understand my tone," I whisper to the guards with rage in every word. "If you take another step towards me, you're going to have three new holes in your bodies."

Most of the guards backed off after I spoke, clearly understanding the rage in my tone. But the lead guard didn't and continues to get closer. So all the leaders in this world are idiots. Good to know. There was no fear in his eyes either. He considered me trapped. Time to change that.

SNIKT!

The metal had barely punched through my flesh before I swung my claw down and ripped right through the ball and chain on my leg. Even if it was magic, my claw went clean through without any resistance. The magic dissipated and left me a free man, something that did not make the guards happy.

The lead guard then yells out another command to his troops. I think this time he said "Get it." I'm not certain though, because after he said it I lunge forward and slam my fist into his jaw. He went down without another sound.

Taking out their leader seems to have inspired courage in the other guards, because they all chose that moment to jump me at once. The closest thrust at me with his spear. I slash at the spear with my claws. Guess who won that battle? I kick the now weaponless guard in the chest for good measure before turning towards the next unlucky S.O.B.

He wants to stab me as well, but I don't like being a pincushion. I grab hold of the spear myself and tear it from his grip. Wait a sec, how do creatures with hooves hold spears? Ah, who cares. Wood splinters as I slam the shaft of the spear across his face. Three down.

"ARGH!" I cry out as something strikes me in the back, something that burns like the sun. Snarling, I force myself to stay standing while glaring over my shoulder at my attacker. It's one of the unicorns and this one had his horn glowing like a candle. The fire I could stand. The smirk on his face though? That tore it.

"Okay bub, you just lost your chance to be my friend!" I bellow as I felt my vision begin to go red.

SNIKT!

The appearance of the second claw wipes the smirk off of his face. Also gives me a moment to lunge at him with the claws pointed right at his chest. He recovers a second too late, and I easily dodge the blast of fire that he shoots in a vain attempt to hurt me. My time to return the favor.

"GRAAHHH!"

I ram the one of my blades on my right hand right through the armor on his chest. Then I drive them through his chest. The horse lets out a scream as my claws erupt from his back, causing blood to flow down from the new hole. Whaddya know? They bleed red as well.

From what I've learned about horses, this shouldn't be a fatal blow. It'll hurt like hell though. I slam my skull into his nose to shut him up before hurling his body off to the side. These ponies have built towns and have magic. They should be able to fix him. Then I turn my attention back to the other two, who are gazing at me with absolute horror in their eyes.

"That's right. I'm not like the monsters you're used to fighting. I'm far worse. And if you don't want to end up like him...run." The two get my message and flee for their lives, dropping their weapons as they did so. I smirk at their retreating figures before turning back towards the town, only to feel another blast of magic tear through my side.

I roar with agony while collapsing to one knee, gritting my teeth in pain. I glance down at my side to see a small chunk of my side missing.

"That...hurt." I push myself back up and turn around to see that the leader of the guards is back. He points his glowing horn at me in response and fires another blast of magic. A flash of my claws is enough to slice the spell into oblivion. I see annoyance flash across the guard's face at how easily I dealt with his spell. But then I watch his eyes glance down at my side and smirk as that annoyance is replaced by fear.

"That's right, bub. I heal quick. Now answer me this question," I begin as I crouch down, everything in my field of view red. "Do you?"