The 2nd Human

She was running, again.

The trees sped by in blurs of gray and black, shadow and light. It was behind her, she could feel it. The sound that repeated itself over and over was not her panting, nor was it her pounding strides as her paws dug into the soil underneath, leaving clear signs of her passage. It wasn’t even her blood, hammering like a blacksmith on a drum, which echoed in her hearing.

It was the sound of crying, of a pup wailing brokenheartedly, its high-pitched howls bouncing back and forth between her ears. She did not know why, but the sound terrified her, and sent her running like a frightened animal every time. Not once, not ever did she look back, but not because she knew what lay behind, no. She never looked back because she didn’t know what she would see, or what would happen if she did.

With each step she loped, each cry she heard, she was tempted to stop, to turn around and face what it was that tormented so, and had for so long. But fear overrode everything, as it is wont to do. It had leashed her mind, her heart, and even her spirit, to do one simple, easily accomplished task:

Run.

And so she did…

Every time…

Until she woke up.

***

“Hey! Wake up, pup!”

Sage heard a familiar voice, and whined in her sleep.

“I ain’t joking, runt! Wake up!”

She remained unmoved by the pleas as her whimpers grew more pitiful.

“I’m gonna regret this, ain’t I?”

Hunter reached into his backpack, and placed what he had pulled out in front of Sage’s nose, waving it back and forth like a metronome. Her nose twitched, and followed it even in her unconscious state, before she sprang up and latched her jaws around whatever it was that smelled so delicious.

“Gahhh! Brickabrakka sassafrassin darghbuckle!”

Sage’s eyes flung open to find Hunter sitting in front of her, his face contorted into a monstrous mask of pain. As her eyes trailed down his arm, she found the reason:

She had his hand between her teeth. And she could taste something metallically familiar, and wet. Sage blinked twice, and quickly removed her jaws from about the human’s fist, which clutched a strip of bacon jerky. Hunter stared down at his hand, counting the eleven holes now embedded on the top and bottom of his fist, as blood slid down, striping him like some morbid candy cane.

Sage’s paws came up to cover her snout, as Hunter took the strip of meat with his other hand, and presented it to her, covered in drool. She looked at him, then back to the hand, back to him, and again to the hand.

Frustrated, Hunter lightly swatted her nose with the delicious morsel. “If I’m gonna get bit ‘cause of this, then you’re gonna eat it.”

One of her ears went up, as the other went to the side, and exasperated him further. Hunter placed the treat on the tip of her nose, got up, turned around, and walked towards the nearby stream, where he washed his hand.

The little diamond dog took the bacon in both of her paws, alternating between looking at it and looking at herself.

I can almost see my ribcage, she thought, before scarfing down the salty slice of pig.

As she licked the leftover grease from her toes and claws, Sage felt multiple emotions rise up as the bacon went down. Satisfaction, fear, regret, anger, and… security?

Why would I feel secure? This… thing... hasn't been anything but a… grumpy, stubborn, unhelpful jerk … but… even though he left me, even though I led the timberwolves right to his home, even though I hurt him… why is he still helping me?

...

I need some answers.

After a deep breath followed by a sigh, Sage carefully made her way to a spot a few feet to Hunter’s left. She watched him as he sat, like a cross-legged statue as he stared into the water. He didn’t even seem to blink as the flowing water carried his blood downstream.

Sage cleared her throat to catch his attention. He ignored her. She cleared her throat a bit more loudly, and still he made no sound or movement of recognition. Annoyed, Sage gave her best imitation of coughing up a lung, which made the young man roll his eyes.

“Heard ya the first time. What?”

She bit back a retort, and stared at her reflection in the water, before she replied, “I… I’m sorry.”

Hunter’s gaze drifted over to her mirror-self in the water, curious. “What for?”

Her eyes closed as her ears went back, “For... being all mean, and stuff. Granted, some of it was justified, like you when you left me in that snare, but the rest? Not so much. You didn't deserve it. Mostly."

A smile so faint it almost passed out twitched at the corners of Hunter’s lips. “Fair ‘nough.”

Sage’s right eye opened, and she looked at him sideways. “Hunter? If it's okay, can I come with you?”

His back went ramrod straight, eyes turned towards her in wariness. “Why?"

She turned her head, looking at him with both eyes, her ears still down. “Because I have nowhere to go, and I can't go back.”

Hunter cocked his head to the side, and raised an eyebrow as he brought his hand out of the cooling wetness. “Why?”

Sage sighed heavily, feeling tired and older than she was. “I'll make you a deal, Hunter. If I tell you about me, then you have to tell me about you. Deal?”

Hunter crept forward on his hands and knees, stopping almost nose-to-snout with Sage, and looking through the purple-colored windows, and into her. He looked, long and hard, until he nodded.

He leaned back, sat down and offered his hole-riddled hand. "Name’s Hunter Knighte.”

Sage’s smile almost made her eyes disappear as she took his hand in her paw. “I’m Sage Halfblood, Mr. Knighte.”

Hunter rolled his eyes. “Just Hunter.”

Sage took a closer look at the tawny-bearded young man sitting before her. “Before we get started, Hunter, I think we need to lay down some rules for the questions.”

Hunter’s confusion was as obvious as a purple elephant. “How do ya mean?”

She looked at the ground as she crossed her eyes in contemplation, before she uncrossed them and focused back to him. “Well… maybe just three questions each a day? We'd have to think harder about the questions, and wouldn't get all frustrated from getting asked too many. Sound good?”

After he scratched his beard for a few moments, Hunter nodded, “’Kay. How ‘bout turns? Sound fair?”

Sage smiled, “Just what I was thinking. Who’s first?”

Hunter snapped his fingers, and dug through his belongings. He fished out a copper bit between his thumb and forefinger.

“Shoes or grains?” he asked.

Sage blinked a few times before she tilted her head to the side. “Huh?”

Hunter’s eyes rolled as he smirked, showcasing each side of the circular currency. “One side’s got a horseshoe, other side’s a wheat grain. Pick one, I flip, winner goes first.”

“Oh. Okay then, I pick... grains.”

With a nod, Hunter flipped the coin into the air, and let it fall to the grass with a soft thud, grains-side up.

Sage and Hunter locked eyes after seeing the result. He shrugged, and gestured for her to go first. Sage scratched the side of her neck, before she began.

“Why were you living in the Everfree Forest? It’s not exactly well-known for being... well, safe.”

With a grimace of unease, Hunter groaned and sighed, “That’s a… story.”

She nodded, “Take your time. I got plenty.”

Hunter gave a thankful nod. “’Kay. Started ‘bout a year ago. I ain’t from here, got sucked into some kinda magic-portal-thing by some kinda demon. Got my life saved by a real-life hero. Last life he saved. Anyways, I get here, and there ain’t no way to send me home. Princesses already looked.

“I’m sent to Ponyville, and… gotta be honest with ya. Wasn’t expecting a warm welcome, but… lemme just say I’ve been warmer in a blizzard. Nobody liked me, didn’t want me there, neither. Much as I tried, just couldn’t hold a candle to the hero. Had one friend, and she tried her darnedest, too. Least, before I find out she’s just acting.

“Couldn’t take it anymore. Every time I looked in a pair of eyes I saw disappointment, and… had enough. Packed up, ran off. Three months, and I meet up with ya. The end.”

Sage’s eyes were wide in astonishment as her jaw worked awkwardly, and she tried to find the words, “You… they… ponies are like the nicest of the races! But, just because of things you couldn't control, they shut you out?”

Hunter nodded with a small, wry smile. “Yep.”

Sage took on a thoughtful look as she stared at the ground. Her paw came up and, without thinking, began to massage the back of her neck.

Her line of sight brought Hunter back into view. “You got a question for me?”

He stroked his short beard as he held his elbow in the palm of his hand, and was about to reply before his stomach growled, and Sage’s stomach responded in kind, which caused her to blush.

Hunter chuckled. “How ‘bout we eat? Questions later.”

***

The sound of a chainsaw being revved was what finally kicked Gilda out of Slumberland like an angry, sleep-deprived security guard. She sat up with a squawk, and breathed heavily through her beak. The embers nearby were a short ways away from being dead, though the morning light outside did more than enough to-

“Grahhh! Hunter! When I find you I’m gonna break your stupid nose so much it’ll-”

“Snrrrrkkq!”

Her roars were interrupted by the chainsaw. Gilda’s beak was open in mid-shout as her eyes darted towards the source of the sound: a small pile of furs that covered her cousin, still enjoying the various attractions of Slumberland. His beak was open, and he drooled contentedly onto the rolled-up deerskin pillow.

Gilda smacked her face with the palm of her talons, rubbed her eyes with two, and padded over to her blissfully unconscious cousin. Her eyebrows, rigid with indignation, relaxed slightly upon the sight of bandages wrapped around Garrett’s head.

She poked the side of his face. “Hey cuz. Wake up.”

He scratched his chest feathers and snored again.

Gilda poked a little harder, and spoke more loudly, “Seriously dude. Get up or I’ll make you.”

Her threat fell upon slumbering ears.

Gilda sighed, closed her eyes, and shrugged as her talons went out to the sides. “You asked for it.”

She flung furs off Garrett, and easily found his tail. After taking the end of it in one clawed hand, she brutally pulled out three of the hairs from the tuft. Garrett’s eyes shot open, went wide, and his pupils narrowed to almost invisible smallness. He rocketed to the ceiling, his “Yee-owch!” echoing for three seconds after he returned to the cave floor, and clutched his tender length protectively in both sets of talons.

His tear-filled glare didn’t faze Gilda one bit as he grumped. “Not cool, cuz! Soo not cool!”

Gilda rolled her eyes dramatically so he’d get the drift, then glared as she growled out, “Ya know, I wouldn’t do it if you’d just wake up when I tell you!”

As Garrett softly stroked his abused tip, Gilda went outside. Despite the cold, the sun shone bright, just like on a certain day. As she breathed in the chilly air, her mind drifted to the island of a memory, almost a full year old...

She had decided visiting Rainbow Dash wouldn’t be a bad idea, ever since the incident in the Abysmal Abyss. Maybe-

Her thoughts were interrupted as a roar sounded nearby. Gilda’s eyes looked left, and widened at the sight of a manticore as it barreled through the sky like a battering ram, headed right for her. Its eyes were bloodshot, and though continued to stare her down, the irises seemed to visibly shake back and forth, like some kind of hyperactive metronome. The cloud of foam on its lips was enough of a warning to shift the griffon’s wings into high gear.

The flight from Griffonstone had taken a toll on her, however.

Fear had given her enough of an adrenaline boost to quickly dash away, but it just as quickly went as it came, and Gilda could feel the manticore’s breath behind her even as she gasped for breath. A claw had snipped off some hairs from her tail’s tuft, and the next swipe was poised to tear into her hindquarters, but was stopped mid-swing by an arrow through the paw.

Gilda saw a hunched figure in a tree bordering Ponyville and the Everfree point to the ground as it shouted, “Get him here! I got the rest!”

Despite her suspicions, she ad few good options left. She dived down, despite the slaps and scratches of branches. While she had had more experience flying than running, Gilda’s lion half served her well. The manticore, after seeing its prey get away, unleashed a roar that shook the trees within a hundred feet of it, and followed Gilda in eager pursuit.

Thankfully, the arrow slowed down the beast’s lumbering charge across the forest floor. Gilda had widened the gap between them, but the manticore was quickly closing it. Ponyville seemed so far away as the griffon zipped past the last of the trees, and whoever had tried to help her had apparently run away.

Until she heard the sound of a snapping branch, followed by a growling mewl. Gilda turned around, and her beak dropped at what she saw. Some strange creature had pulled back a large branch on one of the trees, and had waited until the manticore had come close enough to release it, sending the limb swinging directly into the beast’s face, which sported a black eye and a lump on its forehead large enough to dwarf most unicorn’s horns.

Before Gilda could catch her breath for a question, a yellow blur shot out of the corner of her eye, headed towards the defeated manticore. It was the same pegasus she had roared at her last time in Ponyville, and she… cuddled the manticore?!

After she had made sure the beast would be fine, the mare turned her Stare towards Gilda’s rescuer, and chewed him out, up and down, about irresponsible he was, how he could’ve killed the poor thing, and how that wasn’t how he would’ve handled the whole thing.

The tall biped’s face was hidden inside his hood, but his head was angled towards the ground. Five minutes had passed before the irate pegasus stormed off in a huff, and threatened something about telling Pinkie.

Gilda walked up beside the tall thing, and rubbed the back of her head. “Uh, hey. Thanks.”

It shrugged, still staring at the ground, “No sweat. Long as ya don’t yell at me, I figure we’re square.”

Gilda coughed to cover the chuckle that successfully escaped. As she pounded her chest to continue the ruse, she notice the thing was staring out at the Everfree Forest. She followed its gaze, watched the trees for a moment, and then looked back at it.

“What’cha need?” it asked.

Gilda rolled her eyes and looked away from it. “Name’s Gilda.”

It turned in place to look down at her. “Name’s Hunter.”

The griffon swiveled her head back to it, and took in his small smile, along with the mischief that danced about like an uncoordinated monkey, behind his magenta eyes.

Wait… Hunter’s eyes aren’t-

Gilda’s mind sped back to the present, and her eyes widened as she gulped, put on a face that only the dimmest of bulbs would find reassuring, and found herself beak-to-muzzle with a set of eyes she was familiar with. Very familiar with.

Her smile, and voice, trembled, “H-hey there, Dash-sh! What’re y-you doing here?!”

A snort came from the mare as her eyes locked onto Gilda’s and held them in a stare strong enough to give Fluttershy a run for her bits. The pegasus mare only growled out three words through her gritted teeth:

“Where… is… Hunter?!”

***

The sun shone clearly through the cloudless sky, piercing the canopy of the Everfree Forest like so many spears of light, into the untamed floor below. Sage walked along her human traveling companion, who’d kept silent for the past three hours after a he’d seen a peculiar rainbow-colored blur fly through the sky at incredible speed. Ever since, she could definitely smell, and even almost see, the tension radiate through his entire being. Each of his steps seemed to be consciously, deliberately placed.

Finally, they reached their unspoken destination: a quartet of trees, so old and close together they had wrapped around each other as they had grown. At their roots opened a gap, barely big enough for Hunter to squeeze through without a grunt every now and then. Sage followed closely after.

She found herself in a space almost ten feet on each side, though domed and three feet at its highest, like some kind of arboreal tent. Hunter wasted no time, as he’d set up two sets of bed rolls, and was chewing methodically on some jerky and dried fruit, his back to the root-wall as he faced the entrance, hunched.

Sage slowly crawled over, sat down by Hunter, and waited. The creak of the trees as they swayed, the wind, and the soft munching of dried foodstuffs were the only sounds she could hear, until Hunter broke his self-imposed silence.

“Got a question.”

Her ear shifted in his direction “Ask.”

“Why ain’t ya gotta place to go back to?”

“Kind of like yours. It’s a story. Short, though. I’m only half diamond dog, on my dad’s side. My mom was a kitsune, a forest spirit. Dad raised me as best he could, and boy did that tick off the clan. They would’ve killed me on the spot when I got dropped off on his doorstep, if he hadn’t stopped them. Okay, I lied about one thing. Diamond dogs don’t actually have doors.”

Hunter chuckled lowly and shook his head. Sage smiled, glad to see him come back, even if not entirely, from wherever he’d gone.

She continued, “Life wasn’t easy, but I won’t bore you with the details. My life was like yours, but with more diamond dogs and less ponies. When a tunnel collapsed on dad, I left. Real quick. I only lasted so long because dad was around. That was about six months ago. I’ve been going from clan to clan, hoping that maybe one of them would let me join. Last one I tried chased me into that trap of yours. So… that’s it, I guess.”

Hunter could only grimace at the sheer absurdity of it all. “I come from a whole different world, and things don’t change. Still a buncha jerks and jokes ev’rywhere I go. Least I ain’t alone.”

Sage tilted one ear up and the other down as she looked at him, “Huh?”

Hunter looked at her from the corner of his eye. “Was getting tired, being the only one in the boat. Least now, I got company.”

Sage rubbed her eyes, but a hiss of pain made her stop. As she looked down to see the pack of leaves around her upper arm, she found Hunter had seen as well. He reached into his bag, and brought forth a set of familiar sight: four jars, some leaves, a clean cloth and a cotton swab. Sage grit her teeth and held her breath as Hunter applied the manticore venom, but released it as he softly spread the hydra’s blood. She also noticed that he’d left out the same bluish-lavender powder that he’d given to Gilda.

Curious, she pointed a claw at it. “My next one needs two answers. How do you know so much about plants, animals, and how to use what? Like that powder?”

A corner of Hunter’s mouth quirked up in wry amusement. “’Nother story. Hah! Well, ya know there’s a zebra in the Everfree? No? Well, I learned a lotta stuff from her. Name’s Zecora. I think she’s here for the plants. Anyways, I learned ‘bout her from Twilight Sparkle. She’s the princess living in that crystal-treehouse-castle-thingy in Ponyville. Heard a few stories about this crazy horse living in the crazy forest, thought I’d take a look-see. Glad I copied those books. Wouldn’t’ve gotten far as I have if I didn’t.

“See, zebras don’t talk much like ponies, so their writing’s different, too. Twilight’s a bookaholic, so I copied down a pony-to-zebra book. Took the notes, started spying on Zecora soon as I hit the woods. Weren’t easy, lemme tell ya. Almost caught me a few times. Managed to get her notes copied down, change them over to pony-speak, and bam! Instant know-how on survival in here.

“The venom, blood, and” - he held up the powder-filled jar - “this? All outta her notes and mine. This is lullaby dust. Dried and ground up flower, only opens on a full moon. Sniff it, and it puts ya in no-dream-land. Most ponies use this stuff in hospitals to knock out folks. That’s why I use it and the venom, cuts out the nightmares, see? Keeps Princess Luna off my back too. Just don’t eat it. Might put ya in a coma.”

Sage stared at the jar with a newfound sense of respect, and an increased sense of fear, as she gulped and gave Hunter an uncomfortable smile, her ears splayed out to the sides

***

The only sound that could be heard throughout the crystal-lined hallways was furious scribbling. Page after page, line after line, word after word all blurred into a constant stream of unstoppable parchment-scratching. At least, until a certain somepony burst through the set of double doors leading into the map room.

A set of bloodshot, purple eyes angrily lifted themselves from the final piece of paperwork to glare at the offensive intrusion, until they went wide at who they discovered. Rainbow Dash hovered quickly over to Twilight, barely even breathing hard from her flight over the Everfree Forest.

“Twilight! I found him!”

Her eyes went wider, as she gently released the quill and paper from her magical grip onto the table. With a furrowed brow, she pointed to the holographic map on the giant crystalline construct.

She spoke in a strained voice, whispering hoarsely, “Show… me.”

Rainbow flapped her wings once, vaulted into the air, and landed on the section of the Forest. She pointed to a large rock on the map as she triumphantly grinned. “Here! Gilda saw him here!”

Twilight took note of the landmarks nearby, looked to Rainbow Dash, and nodded.

“Tell… the girls.”

As she hopped down from her seat, Rainbow Dash could only stare at her friend in worry

“What’re you gonna do?”

She smiled tiredly, but full of determination, through her half-closed and bag-laden eyes.

“Get-” she coughed “-information.”