On the Hunt

"She looks so peaceful when's she's sleeping," Luna says to me as we walk down the stairs, leaving the little imp in her bedroom. Hope she'll stay in there this time. "I still can't believe that a human managed to enter Equestria without Twilight knowing about it. I will have to inform her that she is getting sloppy."

"If that imp did come from the human world," I mutter to myself, but I must have spoken louder than I thought, because Luna nods at me to continue my thoughts. "Look, I don't know that much about humans. Everything I do know comes from Lyra. How about you tell me what you know about them, and I promise that I'll give you my thoughts afterwards."

"Well, I assume that I do not know much more than you," Luna replies as she sits down on the couch. I chose the chair across from her so that I could watch her face as she talked. I've gotten decent at telling when ponies are lying. It's how I keep Lyra from doing anything too crazy. "And all I do know about them comes from Twilight, who has visited their world a few times."

"So, the ponies were right in assuming that Twilight has been meeting with beings from across reality," I confirm. Luna smacks herself in the face and, I'm guessing, because she wasn't supposed to let that information out. "It's alright, Luna, I got really good at worming info out of ponies a long time ago. Guess some habits die hard."

"Yes...back when you were our top monster fighter." I feel my face tighten as those words leave Luna's lips. Seems I was right in assuming that she would bring that part of my life up again. "I've been reading about what I missed while I was trapped in the moon, and your organization came up multiple times. Celestia put an organization together designed to fight monsters about two hundred years ago, and they've been keeping Equestria safe from monsters ever since...until recently."

"Yeah? Well things happen and we can't dwell on them," I mutter loud enough on purpose.

"Agreed. Your file did impress me though, Sweetie Drops," Luna says with a smile, but I give her a look that makes it clear I don't like that name. Royalty or not, I never want to hear that name again. Too many memories. "Is it true that you were never defeated by any monster that you fought?"

"If you mean the beasts and creatures that we fought, then technically yes, none of them ever beat me," I confirm for Luna before losing myself in thought once again. "But if we count that traitor as a monster..."

"Perhaps I should continue," Luna butts in, and I'm grateful to her for doing so. Those memories I had started to go down can consume me if I'm not careful. "From what I have learned through Princess Twilight, humans are beings without magic, but seem to have superior technology to us. What I find bizarre is that she informed my sister and me that they spoke our language just fine. So why does the human you have not speak it?"

"I've had several thoughts about that," I mutter as I press my hooves together and lean my chin onto them. "The first and most likely reason is that she never learned how to speak the human's language. Perhaps no one taught her."

"Yet, she clearly doesn't understand anything we're saying. That would mean that she does not know the language of the planet she grew up on," Luna points out.

"True. This next reason my be harder to understand, but there is a chance she's not the same kind of human as the ones Twilight knows," I continue. Luna went into thought after I told her this and I didn't interrupt her, as I was pondering myself. "In fact...she might not even be human. But perhaps that's too much of a stretch."

"Perhaps. Well, it is getting early and I must be heading back to Canterlot," Luna says as she rises from the couch, bowing to me before walking herself to the door. She places a hoof against the door, but then stops to look back at me. "Speaking of not being human...have you heard the rumors of the clawed being?"

"You mean the creature in the yellow and blue suit? I've seen pictures, but little else," I say to her.

"That is all my sister and I have allowed to be released to the public right now. Tomorrow I will be looking into the creature," Luna says before turning her gaze to the ground. "Do you believe it is possible that this creature is also a human?"

"Unless humans can grow claws from their hands and regrow chunks of their missing bodies, then no, I'd say it's safe to say this creature is not human," I reply with a shake of my head. "Human-like, maybe. But definitely not human."

"I see. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. I promise that I will talk to my sister about not doing anything rash. Farewell, Agent Bon-Bon." Luna then nods before she spreads her wings and takes to the skies, vanishing into the clouds that rumbled overhead. I watch her go until I can no longer see her before I close the door and head towards the stairs. I try not to think about what we discussed. The creature with the claws was her problem now.

I reach my bedroom a moment later and fall face first onto my bed, trying my best to quiet my mind so I can fall asleep. It's not easy. The monster fighter in me wants to analyze, wants to learn about this creature she is going to go meet. Once again I have to remind myself that I no longer fight monsters.

"So, what you two talk about?" Lyra asks me from the other side of the bed.

"The imp for the most part. And then about that creature that's been causing trouble," I mutter in reply, trying to focus on sleeping.

"Is she going to tell Celestia about her?" I hear the fear in Lyra's voice. She doesn't want to lose the human, anymore than I want to keep her.

"Unless we give her a reason to? No, Luna will keep her a secret," I grumble. "But I don't know how much longer we can keep her a secret. She snuck out not long ago. I won't always be there to keep an eye on her and make sure another pony doesn't see her."

Lyra goes silent after I say this, and I believe that she might have finally drifted off to sleep. But just as I feel the blackness of sleep starting to overtake my mind, does Lyra finally decide to open up her mouth once more.

"Well, what if we didn't keep her a secret?" she asks. "What if we showed her around to everypony in the town?"

"And have them all freak out? You know what they're like."

"That's what they used to be like. And it's not like she's some sort of giant monster or unstoppable abomination. She's a little girl," Lyra argues. "I think they might even like her." I'm too tired for this.

"Fine, if that's what you want to do," I grumble before turning over.

"Thanks, Bon. We'll show her to everypony in town first thing tomorrow!"

Tomorrow?

||X||

The screams. The smell of alcohol. The crashing and smashing of a group fighting. Makes me feel right at home.

I let out a laugh as I duck under a horse's right hook before slamming my knee into his gut, my strike lifting him off the floor before he crashes down onto one of the tables. One of the unicorns uses their hocus pocus to fling a bottle at my head, but I've managed to weave out of gunfire before. Catching a bottle is child's play.

I snatch the bottle out of the air before returning it to sender. A smirk crosses my face as the glass cracks the horse right in the jaw. He goes down without another sound. I back up to the bar to find that every one of the ponies is now involved in the fight and all of them seem to be gunning for me. Well, I would hate it if they made it easy for me.

"Take it this isn't a normal occurrence for ya?" I ask the bartender, who's cowering behind his bar. I take a swig of whatever was in the bottle next to me before lunging forward with a roar, head up and claws out. I slash through the chair that one horse thought would make a good shield before driving the heel of my foot into his chest. He ain't going to feel good in the morning.

I feel a weight upon my back and I glance over my shoulder to see that one of the ponies has leapt onto my shoulders. It wraps its hooves around my neck and starts trying to strangle me. While I may have one of the most incredible healing factors known to man, I still need to breathe and suffocation hurts like a bitch. Means that I got to get rid of this extra weight.

The obvious solution is to slice his arms off and call him stumpy for the rest of his life. But these are bar patrons. They're practically family to me. So instead, I leap towards a table and roll around in the air so that the horse is set to cushion the impact. I hear it scream right before we impact, shattering the table and getting the pony to release its grip on me. I kick back up to my feet and glance under my arm to see the pony passed out on a table of splinters.

"Sorry bub, but I don't do piggyback rides," I snarl before whipping my head around. There's still six of them left and the unicorns are all still standing. From the way their horns are burning like candles, they're about to use their magic to make my life suck. Can't have that.

The one off to my right fires first. I kick up a chair that had been near my feet to intercept the blasts. It does its job and now it's time to do mine. The magic had just turned the chair to ash before I hurl myself into the air, claws aimed right at the unicorn's throat. A single slice is all that it would take to keep him down. But I don't take the shot. I only kill when I have to. And I don't have to right now.

So instead, we put our heads together. Or rather, I slam my head into his. So unless his skull is made of adamantium, he ain't going to be standing after that. And he doesn't. As he falls I spin around to my next opponent, who just happens to be the horse that wanted to sell me that special rock--who is somehow holding two knives in his hooves. Without thumbs. Whatever, I've seen weirder.

"Come on, bub. You really want to knife fight with me?" I ask him as I raise my claws next to my face, reflecting his image in them. "Ya should know that yer butter knives don't compare with what these babies can cut through. Ever hear of the Hulk?"

He doesn't understand a word I'm saying of course. But the action isn't lost on him. For a brief second the pony looks down at his own knives. And there's my window. I lunge forward, claws extended. I could kill him too, but I won't. He's definitely getting a few new holes, though.

That's what I think, until a blast of magic catches me in the side and hurls me across the room. I slam into the wall and hear glass break, meaning that I probably hit a window. Great, guess I'll be picking glass out of my back for a few days. I grunt as I hit the floor, but a moment later I'm back on my feet and glaring at the unicorn that shot me out of the sky.

"Ya shouldn't have done that," I inform him before roaring and lunging forward. I duck down low and make sure to weave around whatever tables are still standing so that he doesn't have an easy shot. Two bolts of magic whiff, giving me a chance to get in close. I take the opportunity.

I tackle into him shoulder first, sending him crashing into the bar stools. The moment the horse is dazed I'm on top of him. My eyes lock with his and I see the fear spreading across his face. And with the fear comes the desperation shot. I see his horn begin to glow. I could dodge it, but I'm here to make a point.

Pain roars through my nerves as the bastard shoots me right in the mouth, tears apart the skin, and leaves my lower jaw looking like Wade's ass. But I keep my smile upon my face as my skin begins to heal, the burns begin to fade, and a few moments later my face is back to how it was. And of course, the horse is absolutely terrified by what it just saw.

"Pleasant dreams," I say to it before slamming my face into the creature's nose. It drops and allows me to get back up. Right in time to see one of the bruisers charging right for me. Which is funny, because I remember breaking his face with my face. "Glutton for punishment, are we? Well I've got plenty of punishment to dish out!"

I wrap my arms around the horse's neck when he reaches me, while digging my heels into the floor at the same time. A normal horse would be nearly impossible for me to throw like this, but even as a bruiser this pony ain't hardly as tall as me. And that's saying something. And it also allows me to lift the pony off of his hooves and hurl him over my head, slamming him down onto the bar and cracking the thing clean in half.

With the last threat down, I let out a sigh as I survey the damage. Six broken tables, numerous broken chairs, multiple unconscious bodies strewn across the place and one pony left standing that's wetting himself. When did I become so restrained?

I walk over to the pony that I left standing, the guy that wanted to sell me the rock. I glare down at him, flaring my nostrils as I do so. He immediately caves and stares down at the floor, whimpering at the same time. I think of the best way to make his night miserable before I smell something hanging from his bag. Smells like gold. I use my claw to remove the bag from his belt and pick it up, opening it to see that small gold coins are what lay inside.

"Here," I say to the bartender before tossing him the bag of gold. "Fer all the trouble I caused. If there's any damage left over, put it on his tab. He started it, after all." The bartender didn't understand the words, but money transcends all languages. He looks at the bag of coins before nodding to me and then motions for me to get out. I did so without any further trouble.

'Now what?' I think to myself as I stand alone in the middle of the night, under the gaze of the moon and in the arms of the evening breeze. If I were a smart man, I'd leave town immediately. Because after word of this gets out, there's no doubt that this place will be crawling with guards or worse. If I were smart, I should leave into the forest and not look back.

Yeah, that's what I "should" do.