On the Hunt

"So, a creature that you've only heard of from your friend shows up in Equestria, and your first thought is to bring it home, instead of informing the princess of the town?" Twilight asks me with a raised eyebrow. She's mad. Of course she is, she just became a princess, yet nopony really treats her like one. But as I smile innocently in reply, I think of all the monsters I had to deal with over the years. It's easy to be like this when you're the disciple of Celestia. I was trained to fight the hard way.

"Come on Twilight, cut her some slack," Lyra says as she pulls Twilight into a hug. "Bon was just doing a favor for me. You know how crazy I can get about humans."

"I know, but I wish that you would have had enough faith in me to at least tell me," Twilight grumbles with an upset expression, but the expression quickly fades as the girl walks over to Twilight. I smirk as the two make eye contact, shaking my head slightly when Twilight's expression became more motherly as she gazed down at the little human. "Okay, she's precious...but looks different from the humans I've seen."

"That's what I wondered when I spoke to Luna. We wondered if this little imp came from the same world of humans that you know," I tell Twilight, who places a hoof under her chin while she ponders what I said. "As she doesn't even seem to understand our language, I thought that perhaps she might not even be human at all."

"Well, she certainly looks human," Twilight mutters while she moves her face in to examine the imp. But as her face got closer, the imp reaches out and grabs hold of it, catching Twilight off guard. But with her starry eyes and look of sheer amazement upon her features, I bet that Twilight doesn't even tease the idea of getting mad at her. And as the princess smiles, I know that I'm right.

"You think she wants a ride?" Twilight asks Lyra as the imp starts trying to climb all over the princess.

"Go for it, Twilight. Seems she's already opened up to you," Lyra replies. Twilight crouches down a bit so that the imp can climb onto her back. Once she's up there, she lets out a cry of delight and wraps her arms around Twilight's throat. "Aw, look at that Bon. She's making friends with everypony. In fact, you might be the only pony she's met that she doesn't like."

"Well, the feeling is mutual," I reply while gazing at the imp. She catches my eye and sticks her tongue at me, further verifying my dislike of her.

"Thanks for taking the time to do this, Twilight. Bon-Bon and I were wondering just how we were going to introduce her to the ponies before you stopped by."

"No problem, Lyra. Just helping an old friend out," Twilight replies. With the girl firmly rested upon Twilight's back, the three of us exit the house and start to walk through the streets of Ponyville. "Do not worry everypony, she's with me. And don't worry, she's completely harmless!" Twilight calls to the ponies that we pass by. Most of them gaze at the girl with some interest, while others walk up to us and get a closer view of the girl.

I remain silent as Lyra and the Princess take care of the talking. Not that I don't have anything to say, but they're much better at talking to others than me. Not to mention that the imp seems to be loving the attention that she's getting from everypony. From the pure joy on her face, it's like it's the first time that she's ever received so much attention before.

I follow that train of thought as we start to move again. Aside from her being a human, we know very little about the girl. It would be easier if we could understand her, but even then with my years studying monsters, you'd think that I would be able to learn something about her from her behavior.

I take a closer look at the human upon Twilight's back or, more specifically, her clothes. They might not be the same as pony clothing, but even I can tell that they look like pajamas. Why would she have been brought here wearing pajamas? Does that mean that when she was sent to our world that it was night time on hers? Or did she just wear pajamas regularly? Hell, does she even have parents? Should our greatest concern be reuniting their family instead of parading her around the town?

"Whatcha staring at, Bon?" Lyra asks, snapping me out of my thoughts and turning my attention back to the real world.

"Nothing, just lost in thought."

"Whew, good thing I got you out when I did. Because when you get lost in thought, you get LOST," Lyra teases while nudging me in the ribs. "But thanks for agreeing to this. I know that I said I wanted to keep her a secret, but then I realized that wasn't going to work and well-"

"Yeah, you like to change your mind a lot," I reply with an understanding nod. "That's just a part of you."

"Yeah...do you know that the human has been having nightmares? I can hear her whimpering in her sleep. I wish I could understand her, so I know what's wrong."

"Nightmares, really? You'd never know with the way she acts."

I then glance over at Twilight, who is introducing the imp to Rainbow Dash. The imp seems fascinated with Dash's mane and Dash doesn't seem to realize that the girl can't speak the same language. The imp then gets ahold of some of Dash's mane and must have yanked pretty hard, because when Twilight separates them, I see tears in Dash's eyes.

"No, bad human," Lyra scolds the girl, who gets the message well enough. She hangs her head and lets out a little sniffle, one that makes me roll my eyes. Not because I'm unsympathetic, but because I know how Lyra's going to react. And sure enough, she pulls the girl in close and hugs her tight, all transgressions forgotten.

"So, where should we take her next?" Twilight asks us once Lyra finally releases her grip on the human.

"How about Sugarcube Corners?" Lyra offers. "So far all she's had to eat is whatever Bon-Bon cooked for her, and honestly I'm curious to see what else humans will eat."

"I can tell you what humans eat. I've eaten with them a few times," Twilight offers.

"Thanks for the offer Twilight, but I'm curious to see what this kind of human eats," Lyra blows Twilight off. Twilight looks hurt for a moment, but I know Lyra well enough to know that her words weren't meant to be hurtful. Once she gets going, there's no stopping her.

"Don't take it personally, Princess. Lyra can become oblivious to other ponies' feelings whenever she's lost in her own world," I say to comfort Twilight while Lyra uses her magic to move the girl from Twilight's back to hers. Lyra trots ahead without us, singing to the imp who's waving to all of the ponies.

"So...how do you think she got here?" Twilight asks me in a low whisper. I see. Serious time. "She didn't come from the world of humans that I know, or else I would have heard the portal open. But I've also been keeping track of magical anomalies for the past couple of months and we haven't had any recently. So how did she get here?"

"I have a theory for that, but right now it's nothing more than a theory," I reply, but my eyes are locked on the shrinking figure of the girl. I then lower my voice so that Twilight can't hear me. "But perhaps there's more to this human than any of you realize."

||X||

One of the greatest lessons I learned during my time in Japan was the power that was held in nothing. And I don't just mean that in a philosophical sense, I also mean physically. Back then, I was far more wild and prone to instinct. The ability to sit still for even a minute was hard for me. Then my teacher taught me how to not do anything. How to just...be. And honestly, it's one of the greatest lessons I've ever learned.

It's also extremely helpful for when I need to stay motionless for nearly a full day. Underneath a bunch of shrubs. With insects and critters crawling all over my back. If you think it was hard to stay motionless in a temple, it get's a lot harder when things keep trying to see if you're edible.

But I knew that my patience would be rewarded. Well, I didn't know but I knew. I've been hunting long enough that I get these kinds of feelings. Feelings that tell me when something is a good idea or not. Kept me alive this long.

I don't know how long I've been under these shrubs, but I do know that the night came and went while I was under there. The sun had also reached halfway across the sky while I was down there, watching the village of ponies whose bar I wrecked the other night. Wasn't reason or logic that kept me down there. Just a feeling in my gut that I should stay.

The ponies had a pretty interesting day from what I had seen. The bar was within my view from where I lay hidden and every one of the ponies in the town seemed to pass by it that day. I was also downwind from them, so that they wouldn't be able to smell me. I'm not exactly pleasant. Early in the morning, some of the ponies whose nights I had ruined came back with guards, who talked with the bartender before doing a whole lot of nothing.

Oh sure, they did stuff. They threw out the broken stuff in the bar, searched around the perimeter for my footsteps and interviewed ponies that had been passing by. But what I meant by nothing is that they got nothing done. I may have issues with S.H.I.E.L.D., but at least they're good at what they do. These idiots? Not so much.

One of the insects was getting closer to my eyes than I would have liked, so I quickly flicked him off of my face. The sudden movement from me upset the birds overhead and sent them flying into the sky. I had two reasons for doing this. The first is that itchy eyes suck. The second was to see how observant the guards were. If it were me down there, birds suddenly taking off would gain my attention.

But nope. They continue to bother the ponies on the streets without so much as a glance in my direction. I think one of the foals managed to notice the birds, but not the ponies that are supposed to be protecting the town. How about that?

I shake my head before starting to crawl backwards, figuring that I had wasted enough time. These guards weren't going to give me anything that I could use and I was losing valuable daylight. Not that I can't see in the dark, but I prefer not to.

Then I hear a commotion starting in town and I turn back to look, just in time for my eyes to go wide and for my jaw to go slightly slack. I've seen plenty of horses since I got here, but none like the one that was flying down towards the town. It was colored like the night itself and the moon on its butt convinced me that the night had more than one influence on it. Its mane was also incredibly long and looked just like the stars in the night sky. Yet the horns and wings are what really got my attention. Unicorns were trouble enough. I hadn't had the chance to clip a Pegasus yet. But if you combine the two? That can only spell trouble.

The tall horse begins to say something in a very female-like tone, but I'm more focused on her crown. Seems she's a queen or something. Definitely royalty. For a second I consider going over to her, but then shake my head as I retreat into the shadows. Royalty and I don't have a good history together. Doubt that would change here.

As I scoot back I startle some more animals, which in turn startles some more birds. I watch as this horse turns her head towards where all the birds are flying away from, and in turn towards me. I can't help but smile at the awareness this pony possesses. She might make things a little more interesting.

This horse starts asking what happened--or at least that's what I think she asks. When the ponies crowd around her and start to point and talk all at once, I figure that I figured right. After a moment, she stamps her hoof to silence them and a cold breeze fills the area. The royal horse then begins to speak, saying something in a powerful voice that seems to calm the other ponies down.

The bartender then walks forward and begins to talk to her in a voice that sounds like he's on the verge of tears. I get it, the little bastard is making up a sob story to look more sympathetic. Probably trying to get her to pay for the damages too. Yeah, go ahead and cry, but last night when I tossed you those coins you didn't look so-

Human. Mutant. Happy. Female.

I practically reel back as a smell overpowers me, but even as I'm struggling to regain control of myself I can't help but let out a small laugh. Because I know whose scent that is. That's the scent of a human girl that I held in my hands a few days ago. The same little girl that I've been looking for ever since I got here. The smell is faint and I can't trace it with so little I have, but that doesn't stop me from smiling.

"Because you've been in contact with that little girl, haven't you?" I ask the royal horse as I feel my grin grow large. "Which means that you know where to find her." The horse spreads her wings and takes to the sky, flying over my hiding spot as she passes by. As she does so, I take in a deep whiff through my nose, burning her scent into my memory.

Because while there might not be enough of Alicia's scent to allow me to track her, I no longer really need her scent. The ponies' reaction to me told me that they've never seen a human before, or if they have, not any like me. Which means that this royal pony is most likely keeping an eye on Alicia, if she hasn't already captured her. But to get to the girl, all I have to do is follow the night horse.

I burst out from under the brush and begin to race through the trees and forest, keeping up with the flying pony as quickly as I can. I know that I'll lose her eventually, but now I have her scent. And once I've got someone's scent, there's nowhere they can go in the world that I can't follow them. Now it's just a matter of time before I find Alicia again. And no one's getting in my way this time.