The Hunter

Luna felt every eye of every griffon in the Townhall staring at her and the ponies with her. She may not like other beings ignoring her and be afraid of her, but this was different most of the stares she got on the way here, and currently now in the town hall, being stared by a dozen pair of eyes that sees her as a monster and hates her. The other ponies that were with Luna didn’t get the same treatment of hate from the griffons, only her because of who she was and still is. Being hated hurts Luna more than having her subject be afraid of her, however, she has to deal with it.

The mare of the moon and the Mayor of the town were faces to face, his appearance old and hard-minded deceived those that look at him. This griffon was smart and he already had things set up to speak with the Princess if she ever did visit him. He was thankful that the princess did come here to speak with him, he would have to put his time and effort into making everything presentable and well organized to waste if she didn’t.

When both Mayor and Princess began to have a talk about a transportation to Griff Glade, the other ponies that were with the princess, the Elements of Harmony and the artist, looked around the room. Multiples griffons may be watching now, mostly the employees, and listening to the conversation in case something was up and if it concerns their town. However, their worries were soon put out after the Princess told the Mayor their reasons for being here was because her sister had asked for her to bring Twilight and her friends to the Hunter’s home in Griff Glade. The old griffon was unsure if that would be a good idea for them to go and see a creature that wants nothing more than peace and quiet, but if that’s what the Princess wanted to do then it wouldn’t be his problem.

While the Princess arranged their way of travel unknown to her Shade was on her way to Griff Glade. Twilight had problems trying to stand up and stay awake, her legs shaking as if her body weights a ton. It would have been wise for the mare to go back to the ship and rest, but her stubbornness of finding the Hunter to end her nightmare before more comes to her and makes her start losing her sanity. Twilight’s friends were concerned for her because how she’s barely able to stand up. When one of them did talk to her about this all what Twilight says was, “I’m fine girls, I’m just a bit tired is all”, though she wasn’t fine. She doesn’t know that she’s just slowly making herself weaker as she is now because of her single-minded conscious of focusing on one thing that does not involve her own health.

Sketch Note was worried about the mare, he stayed by her side in case the mare suddenly falls asleep and falls on her side. The stallion may not seem much other than looking like an actual pony, but the griffons around can tell he has a scent of both ponies and griffons. Many that he walked past just believed he was engaged with a griffon and she, or he, rubbed their scent on him, however, a few believe he was a hybrid that has the blood of a griffon and the looks of a pony. It’s hard to tell if it’s the second one as it was impossible for the feline birds to figure out since they don’t know Sketch.

“First I drew what the Hunter looks like suddenly I get dragged in to find him, next I’m in the Griffon Empire after flying over the sea, and now I’m here in this room looking after Twilight to make sure she’s not gonna fall over and pass out from the lack of sleep. My sister and mother would wonder where I have been at, both females will make my ears bleed from their questions.” The sudden thought of two adults griffons yapping their beaks gave Sketch a sudden shiver. He may not mind talking to his mother and sister, but he doesn’t like how they want to know almost everything personal that happened to him.

The stallion looks over at the lavender mare beside him to see that she was starting to fall asleep again. He let out a sigh and sat on his hunches. Tapping into his inner stallion, Sketch poke Twilight’s side with his hoof.

The tired and paranoid mare jumped a bit and looked at Sketch, seeing the stallion there reminded her that she was still surrounded by those she can trust, well she doesn’t exactly fully trust Sketch but a small trust was put on him. Clueless Twilight looked at the stallion, she doesn’t know what reason he had for wanting her attention. He patted his side with his lift hoof. Still clueless the mare looked at the stallion with a raised brow. The stallion silently sighed he looked at Twilight speak to her in a low whisper.

“Twilight, you need to rest a bit. Lean on me and sleep until Princess Luna is done talking with the mayor.” Twilight’s brain suddenly popped a fuse, her mind couldn’t haven’t the fact that a stallion was giving her permission to sleep on top of him. For a few seconds, the lavender mare was frozen, her eyes wide. Sketch Note was beginning to think that telling her that just broke the mare’s brain, however, Twilight leans on him. It surprised him that she suddenly did that without asking any questions, but he shouldn’t question the mare’s action as of now her sleeping will help her.

Twilight’s friend saw her resting on the stallion, who seemed like it doesn’t bother him but inside he was glad that the mare was getting some rest. Though now he would have to keep it to himself that a mare was sleeping on him or else his mother and sister would tease him about it. And the other mares that were watching were happy to know that the lavender mare was finally sleeping, it seems like she wasn’t having any nightmares at the moment from the few seconds of their staring.

Luna hasn’t thought that she would have to spend an hour to talk with a mayor in an event like this needing to travel to the Hunter’s home in Griff Glade’s forest, but she had to tell the mayor of this town the reason why she’s traveling by. If she didn’t tell the mayor of this town then the griffons around here would start rumors, rumors that will be false and be spread by those that have a grudge on the Princesses of Equestria. She doesn’t want her subjects to be thrown into the rumors too, so that’s one of the reasons why she had a talk with the mayor of this town.

With everything done for travel to Griff Glade, the group head back to the ship. Twilight was woken up from her nap and was told by her friends that Luna had finished talking with the mayor and now needed to return to the ship. From there they would grab a carriage and fly over to the town where the Hunter resides. Though none of them, except Luna and the family of batponies, knows that the Hunter no longer lives in the outskirt of Griff Glade.

As the group began to leave the mayor’s building, a pegasus flew down from the sky nearly crashing into Rainbow Dash and landed in front of the group. Luna recognized the pegasus mare in front of them. Shimmering Glimmer, one of the few in Luna’s guards that stayed as a pony and refused to be a batpony, there were many reasons why but the most common the Princess knows was that they want to be able to serve their Princess of the Night in the day and protect while she slumbers. The mare was breathing heavily, having to spend nearly two hours in the sky flapping her wings and flying around with speed. Though after finding her Princess here at the Mayor’s building Glimmer was glad that she found her, she could tell her the news of what had happened on the ship.

“Princess Luna, I have news for you,” Glimmer said before gasping as she takes another breath of air, “a group of griffon came to the ship, Mrs.Shade went with them and carried her daughters too. There was no violence or an aggression, the mother and her foals just went with them. I don’t know where they went but I thi--”

Before the mare could have the chance to finish her last sentence, a sudden flash of cobalt blue blinded everyone around. When everypony regained their sights, Princess Luna ran over to the captain's quarters. She used her magic to slam the door open, causing the stallion behind a desk filled with paperwork to look up at the enraged Princess of the night. Seeing his princess in a foul mood, the stallion didn’t ask why she was here. Just asking dumb questions he knows the answer would make the princess even madder, hell it would give her the same rage as an Ursa Major when some creature messes with her cub.

“Captain Fleet Feathers, what was the reason to let the mother and her children be taken by a group of griffons that had no rights of setting hoof on this ship!?” Luna demanded, she wanted to know what reason and purpose were there to let Shade and her daughters leave this ship with a group of griffons that she does not know of.

The stallion sighed and looked up his princess before speaking in a stern sturdy voice. “My princess, you did not give us the order to keep the family on board. And when the griffons came aboard my ship, my crew were already telling them to leave before Shade herself stop everypony from getting into a fight against the group, she and the griffons were talking and they agreed on something. When we saw the mother leave with her daughters, Miss Shade told us that they were here to escort them. To where? I don’t know.”

It took nearly all the years of patience in her life to stay patient, Luna wanted to slam the chair that the captain was sitting on against his head, but she knew to do that wouldn’t make things better. With a sigh of defeat on the thought of arguing and knowing that she didn’t really do give the captain orders to keep the family on the ship, so the fault was hers on that. Though now that she knows that Shade went with the griffon which made her think deeply. Griffons had shown up, they didn’t threaten anypony on the ship, Shade stopped the ponies from getting into a fight with the griffons, then she talked with them agreeing on something before leaving.

Luna suddenly realized that this was all planned out. The letter that Cazador wanted her to have must have told Shade what to do and what to expect. He planned this ever since Celestia had him agreed to help in the war, he doesn’t want Luna and the others to know where he was at or any other ponies too, the batpony family was the only ones he wanted to know where he lives and she played her part of what he expected her to do. Bring Shade and her daughters with her to Auria’s Gale, she was playing her part that she never knew.

‘Why that no good pony murderer of a monster he is, I swear I hope he dies in battle against the wolves in the borders of the Crystal Empire.’ Luna wished deeply that would happen to the Hunter, dying in battle. Though now she regretted wishing that. Her anger soon turned into sadness, she had let her anger take over he once from being jealous of her sister, she will not let it take over again.

‘I shouldn’t say that he has his reasons for not trusting me and my sister. He decided to join and help our subject. I should be happy for that, but I cannot forgive him for murdering countless ponies that were considered criminals. Murder wasn’t right, but why should I say that since we’re bringing him into a war that’s not his. Sister, I hope in our mother’s name that we do not regret this.’ The Princess of the Night calmed herself down and walked out of the captain’s quarters, not saying a word to the captain, fearing that she may yell at him by accident.

When Luna was back outside, she saw that everypony on deck were talking to each other. The Elements of Harmony were talking to each other in a low whisper, wondering why Shade and her daughters went with the griffons. Of course, Rainbow Dash had come up with the thought that those griffons blackmailed Shade and forced her to bring her family, but the pegasus’ belief was thrown overboard by a certain orange cowpony mare who argued that they couldn’t have blackmailed the family because this could have been their first time here. The two could have argued more about what could have caused Shade to leave without a fight if it weren’t for a certain white unicorn, who was drinking wine out of a fancy glass.

“Rainbow Dash, Applejack, darlings you both need to calm down. Miss Shade could have known those griffons, from what one of the gentlecolts have told me that they were talking to each other in a low whisper. They could have known each other through mail, so we shouldn’t think those griffons have done illegal way to take Miss Shade and her daughters.” Rainbow Dash and Applejack pondered a bit on what Rarity said. The white unicorn mare was right, if they were in any illegal way then one of the crew would have done something.

Luna walked past the three mares, she looked to her left to see Fluttershy, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie, whose mane and tail still poofy. All three of them were staring at the town and beyond its walls. These mares were talking to each other about the Hunter, how he was a mysterious creature that each would want to know, well mainly Pinkie and Fluttershy. Both mares would want to see the cursed man for their own reasons. Pinkie’s was obvious as she wants to make the dangerous creature a friend, so she should have a chance to play fetch with the shapeshifting human. Fluttershy’s was a bit complicated, her reasons for wanting to see the curse man is surprising. She wanted to hug him tightly, why she wanted to do that, because how much pain he had to go through. Hunting down criminals only to be hated by everypony, he saved an entire town from bandits, but everypony hates him for killing. She wanted to cry for him and tell him to keep on going, even if it was wrong he was still protecting innocent lives. She wanted to do so much that she wants the curse man to know that he’s not hated by everypony in Equestria.

“Do you think the Hunter ever had a party before? Wait no, he must have because how he could have been in a hunting party! Do you think he ever had a party with cake? Wait, do you think he ever had a party with that dragon and ghost he has at his place? Oooh, I hope I would be the first to throw him a “Hello Hunter and his friends welcome to your first party with ponies and the Princess of the Moon”! Oh, I would like to see his reaction!” Pinkie rambled to herself, asking questions then changing those questions with another set of questions. Twilight and Fluttershy didn’t pay any attention to the pink party mare, who can break logic and everyone’s mind that thinks too hard on how she does.

With Pinkie Pie talking to herself Fluttershy asked Twilight a question. “Twilight, what happened in your dream that made us have to find him?”

The question made the lavender mare’s blood freeze from the memory of being eaten by the Hunter. Could she tell Fluttershy the reason why she wanted to find the Hunter so badly? Would tell her about the horrid nightmare caused the shy pegasus to have one too? Twilight thought carefully on how to answer the question before she telling her friend.

“The dream I had was a warning and a sign of the Hunter needing help, he wasn’t what we all know and believe him to be as in the dream. He has changed, turning into a monster. It feels like I could stop him from turning into one, keeping him as he is right now than what I’ve seen in my dream.” Twilight could have gone off and told more to her friend, but she kept herself from rambling off in fear of what she had witnessed in that dream.

Fluttershy’s ears flatten on the side of her head and looked down over the deck. She couldn’t imagine witnessing the Hunter actually killing innocent ponies, being a monster that she believed would be the opposite of what she knows and heard from her little friends. A creature that protected those who cannot defend themselves against the guilty and hunts down those who dares to harm the innocent.

The Princess was saddened knowing the truth that she still couldn’t do anything against those dreams, she had visited Twilight’s dream before to stop the nightmares, but she didn’t find any nightmares that haunt Twilight. All she found was a void of darkness and no mare. Luna knows what the void meant; a nightmare that can never be ridden off unless the creature having them brings themselves in peace in both mind and soul.

She walked to the bow of the ship and looked over it, seeing the town of Auria’s Gale beneath her. The looks of this town reminded her of one of the port towns in Equestria filled with batponies and unicorns that enjoys the beauty of her night. She remembered visiting this town once, seeing all the ponies there loving her night and art in the sky made her heart feel warm with joy, knowing that her subjects enjoy her night sky. Just seeing Auria’s Gale reminds her of that small port town.

Luna found herself smiling softly, thinking of that town she calls as her favorite. Despite hearing about the bad news she was told by Shimmering Glimmer, Luna was somehow felt happy just by looking at the town below. Just by small memories the Princess somehow a way for herself to be happy.

‘Sister, was this how you stay happy in bad events? Remembering the happy memories whenever things go bad, I can’t really imagine that actually helping, but I am wrong on that. The memories of the town’s ponies made me happy despite how terrible today is, the family taken by the griffons, and the Hunter using me to provide the family a way to cross the sea.’ The Princess sighed and turned around, facing the direction what she believes was Griff Glade. Luna had a determined look on her face. ‘I won’t be outplayed by him!’