On the Hunt

I have trouble sleeping. Ever since I stopped working with monsters, I've found that they get their revenge by haunting my dreams. Creatures that I've caught and others that I've killed continue our fight in my dreams. So once again I found myself up at two in the morning while reading a book on the couch.

It's a book about humans, written by Lyra, naturally. It's an alright story, but nothing I haven't seen in other tales. But what I find mildly funny is that the book is classified as a work of fiction, but that little imp has proven that humans aren't fiction. For me at least.

A faint creaking sound pulls my attention from Lyra's words and I turn my ears towards the upstairs, straining to hear another sound. I wait for about a minute, but no other sound reaches my ears and so I go back to my book. Yet right when I'm starting to focus on the words, I hear another sound. The faint sounds of a window sliding open. Immediately I assume that Lyra has opened the window to let in some cool air on this unusually warm autumn night. That's what I assume.

I then close my book and toss it onto the couch before heading up the stairs to discover what had made the noise. You don't survive fighting monsters for nearly a decade by relying on assumptions. I've lost a few teammates who died due to that reason. And it's a good thing that I don't, because when I arrived at the top of the stairs, I find Lyra laying fast asleep on the floor...with the spare bed devoid of its occupant.

"Why did I bother letting you watch her?" I ask Lyra before glancing to the open window, figuring that it was the same one that had been opened a few moments ago. I quickly glance out to see the human child sneaking in the darkness. I bet she believes that nopony can see her. I'll have to show her how wrong she is.

I pull a blanket off of the bed and drape it over Lyra, shaking my head at her as I did so. I don't know who needs to be taken care of more, her or the human child. I then hurl myself through the empty window, landing on all hooves with ease. Some things will leave me as I age, but I'm certain that the monster fighting training with stay with me all of my life. And I'm grateful for that.

Luna was kind enough to give me a full moon tonight, so it was easy to see the footprints in the ground that the little imp left. I follow after them at a brisk pace, not wishing to awaken any of the residents of Ponyville. Aside from Luna, I'm certain that no other pony would be up at this time. Except Twilight, if she's lost in a book again. And myself.

"For as small as you are, you move quite fast," I mutter aloud as I kept up with the trail, always seeming to be a step behind the human. For a moment I wonder if those strange powers of hers are the reason why I can't keep up with her. Then I walk into the marketplace and realize that it's not super speed, it's just the regular speed of a child that's awestruck by everything around her.

I watch as she races up to the Cakes' place and tried to take a bite out of the side of the store. Her attempts to eat the Cakes' store brings a smirk to my face, as I recall seeing many young foals try to do the exact same thing. It only takes the human girl a single bite to realize that the house isn't edible, and she spits out what she had tasted. The imp then turns her head and spies Twilight's castle looming over the town. Even at how far apart we are, I can see her eyes go wide with awe and she starts to run towards it.

"Okay, enough of that. You're coming home with me," I inform the girl as I reveal myself. She spins around to face me, shock and terror upon her face at first. But the moment she recognizes me, the fear is replaced with either annoyance or deviousness. She sticks out her tongue at me before racing off towards the castle. I gallop after her, easily able to start making up the gap between us. She may be an energetic little imp, but I'm in pretty good physical condition. She's not getting away from me.

The girl takes a corner and leaves my sight for a moment. But then I hear a cry of fear come from around the corner and my heart rate skyrockets. Something around the corner has confronted her. I brace myself for the worst as I hurl myself around to corner, ready to fight whatever it is on the other side...only for all desire to fight leave my body as I lay my eyes upon the Night herself.

Luna stands before me, glancing down at the human girl who was staring back up at the alicorn princess with a gobsmacked look on her face.

"Princess Luna," I whisper before bowing. I raise my head in time to see Luna nod to me before glancing down at the small human with a raised eyebrow.

"Hello, Bon-Bon. I am surprised to see you up at so late an hour," Luna says in a friendly tone, but her face looks more confused than it did happy. "I am glad that you are here though, because I am in desperate need of somepony to tell me how a human has ended up in Ponyville."

"Y-you know of humans, Princess?" I ask in a surprised voice.

"Of course I know of the humans. It is a princess' job to know of all creatures that may threaten the kingdom," Luna replies with a smile before looking down at the human girl once more. "But you don't seem to be dangerous at all, are you? I admit, I have never had the chance to meet a human before, much less a human child. What is your name, little one?"

All the imp did was stare back up at Luna with wonder before she reaches up and grabs hold of Luna's mane. The girl's eyes become as starry as the night sky as she drapes herself in Luna's mane. I flash Luna an apologetic look, but she seems to be taking it in good stride.

"I am glad that you find my mane pretty. But I asked for your name, little one," Luna asks once more.

"Oh, sorry princess, I should have told you. She doesn't speak the same language as us," I inform the princess. Luna's response was to lift her head with a look of confusion upon her face, while accidentally taking her mane from the imp's grasp.

"That is...strange," Luna mutters to herself. "According to what I've been told about the humans' world, they should all be able to speak the same language as us. So why is it that this one cannot?" The last question was directed at me.

"I don't know, Princess Luna. Lyra and I found this human girl alone in the forest outside of town," I say to Luna. "We don't know where she came from or how she got here, but Lyra insisted that we bring her back to our place until she awoke."

"I see. And why did neither of you inform my sister of the arrival of a human in this land?" she asks with a stern tone.

"Well...Lyra believed that if Celestia got involved that she would take the child. And you know how Lyra is when it comes to humans..." I remind Luna while rubbing the back of my head with my hoof. "So I was hoping that you would, possibly, keep the human girl a secret for the time being?" I felt my stomach tighten into knots asking this question, knowing that I had no right to ask Luna for such a huge favor.

"Hmm, I do not like keeping information from my sister," Luna mutters to herself before the little imp walks over to her and hugs the princess' leg. Luna glances down at the child to see that the girl was motioning for Luna to pick her up. It was at that moment that Luna's gaze softens and her horn began to glow. She uses her magic to pick the little human up and places her upon her back, where the imp laughs aloud with delight.

"But I suppose that it wouldn't hurt to keep my sister in the dark a little longer. After all, one of the rulers of Equestria has been informed about the human. And she believes that the precious little child is not a threat in the least," Luna informs me before smiling back at the girl, who hugs the princess' neck. "All I shall say to my sister is that I am keeping an eye on the creature in this town. Now come, Bon-Bon. It is late and the child needs its rest. Allow me to escort you home."

"She seems to like you," I inform Luna while the human girl gets entangled in Luna's mane once more.

"Indeed. And I like her. But once we arrive at your house, we shall discuss this matter more...professionally." I hate it when the princesses want to talk to me professionally. It means we have to bring up my old job.

||X||

Now this is my kind of place. Seedy, dark alleys. Creatures in cloaks that know better than to avoid eye contact with a being in a yellow and blue suit. And those that don't know better... I managed to find this rusty old town just as the moon began its descent to make way for the morning. My nose told me that there was booze and trouble here, and I was in desperate need of one of those.

A creature that was black and looked like an insect stood outside the entrance to the bar. It was reading a paper when I approached, but to my annoyance it didn't even look up at my arrival. Cocky little...

"Hey, bub," I say, informing it that it had a patron. It lifts its blue eyes up towards me and immediately backs away from me in terror, drawing out a smile on my face in the process. "I don't like being ignored, bub. So how about ya make it up to me by letting me in there without causing a scene?"

I was trying to be nice. I wanted to do this without violence. But with the town I had wandered into and the kind of beings that were here, I was already flexing my fingers with anticipation. Not to mention it probably didn't understand a word I had said. It moves in a flash, reaching down for a whistle that was around its neck. It was fast. I was faster. I snatch the limb that was going for the whistle before slamming my fist into the bug thing's nose. It goes down without another sound.

"Thanks fer being such a pal," I say with a laugh as I push my way into the bar. The moment I enter the establishment, familiar sounds greet me like a group of old friends. The sounds of glasses clinking, vomiting and other fighting. Finally found a place that feels like home. I take in a deep whiff to have a sample of every smell in the room. The alcohol here is good. The beings aren't.

I ignore the looks that the other patrons are giving me before walking to the only empty table in the room--which happens to be in the middle of the room and surrounded by every one else. Not a trap in the slightest. As I sit down, a waiter walks over to me, never batting an eye at me even though I'm clearly not from around here. But given all the other bozos that are here, not from around here is a normal night for this horse.

Since we don't understand each other, I point to a glass bottle that's sitting on the shelf behind him and he nods before taking off to get it for me. He returns a moment later with the bottle and a small glass, which he lays on the table before filling it up halfway.

"Thanks bub, yer a real nice guy," I say to him with a nod as I grab the glass. I don't expect a response. He probably has no idea what I just said anyway. Wonder if he'd be nice enough to put my drink on a tab. Don't know if they accept my kind of money here.

I expected to drink alone, but to my surprise one of the ponies that had been at one of the other tables sits down across from me and gives me a nice smile. I instantly don't like him. The pony then reaches into a small bag and pulls out a rock made of every color of the rainbow. He lays it on the table in front of me and begins to speak. I don't need to understand what he's saying to know that he's trying to sell that rock to me. I've got no interest in rocks.

What I am interested in, however, is why would the two bruiser-looking ponies be trying to sneak up on me. I lift my glass as if to take another drink, but as I do so I glance into the reflection to see that the two bruisers are practically right behind me. One's got a club and the other has a horn. Both are trouble.

But now that they're close enough, I notice that they smell like the pony that's trying to sell me the shiny rock--along with the scent of other dangerous smelling beasts. I'm debating my options when I see in the reflection one with the club wind up to crack my skull open. Gonna have to add damages to my tab then.

SNIKT. SNIKT.

By the time I'm on my feet one of my claws has already cleaved clean through the club. Realization dawns on the pony's dumb face when he realizes what has happened, just in time to receive a taste of my old Canunuckle head. I break his face with my forehead before kicking the table towards the ceiling, sending his precious rock to the floor as the table topples him over. The rock splinters into thousands of pieces when it impacts the floor and for a moment the room goes quiet, allowing me to see what I'm up against.

Five of them have the same scent as the seller, so I'm guessing they're all working together. The other patrons remain in their seats, but I see hunger in their eyes as the rest of rainbow rocks bruisers start to circle around me. Even if I beat these jerks, I'm not getting out of here unless I kick the crap out of every being in this bar. And I thought tonight might be boring.

"Look pal, I'm real sorry about busting yer pretty rock into all those pieces," I say with a smirk to the seller, who pulls out a knife in response. "Tell ya what, I'll do ya a favor. I'll carve yer body into as many pieces as that rock. That way you can look just as pretty as it!"