Author's Note

Author's for this chapter:

There is a lot of talking in this chapter, a few about the Hunter and nonsense stuff, but not much action is in this chapter. The Hunter is not in this chapter because it focuses on the others main important characters in this story. Now with that said and done, enjoy the story.

Chapter 8- Hunter in the Empire part 2

“Princess, as I said before, the Griffin Empire has many bounty boards scattered around the land; I cannot control my griffins’ life and choices for what they want to become it’s their choice, not mine. A king cannot control his subjects as he represents his kind’s leader to make safe choices for them to live under, even if those choices cost the lives of others. My crown has no meaning; it’s only gold that was crafted to wear on one’s head. The meaning of being a king is to have his kin know that he is one to lead his kind through many tragic events, bring hope into their lives, protect them from danger, and many so on choices and believes that he must go through to please his kin. If my kin becomes murders then let them become murders that would soon be killed by the guards, or hunted down by bounty hunters that have their own reasons whether it be honor, fame, greed, or revenge. Your Equestria’s “Hunter” took it upon himself to go and claim the bounty himself; now, do not think that the Hunter came to my land and begged to take this bounty. No, it is his choice to do so! I cannot command a foreigner to take a quest that no griffin in the right mind would take, but I can offer them the choice of taking the quest for their own reasons. You’re Hunter has not set paw, hoof, or foot in Griffonstone, nor has he ever demanded an audience with me. He is a being of his own, yet some would say that he’s a creature that kills for the thrill of the hunt! Every being has their own opinion on what they see the Hunter as, and there other types of predators or prey sees him as a monster; however, there are some that see him as a hero in your lands!” King Roarik slams his talons on the stone round table causing the chalices on the table to tremble from the amount of force he had put into his talons. I couldn’t really believe that a simple greetings with the Griffon King, Roarik; Elk Prince, Willow; Queen of the hounds, Lenora; and two directors from the Yuri Yin Tin Lands; this day was a meeting of agreement between the Griffon King and the Elk Prince, but that little meeting of agreements soon turned into conference of supply trades. Coming here on the day like this was not the best to say as now I am apart of this conference; however, instead of the supply trades we now speak of the Hunter.

“Hero? Oh please, that beast, that suddenly began to hunt down lawbreakers, is no more than a regular bounty hunter that just does it for fame and money. IT is no more than another killer that hunts down killers, rapist, thieves, bandits, and much more that dares to break the law we have under our own borders. I would prefer that we change the subject of ‘IT’ to something else that is in the matter of our hooves,” Prince Willow said. I dislike how he put his hate into the word “It” whenever we speak about the Hunter. Reasons why he hates the Hunter so much is something I do not know about, or ever want to know.

What has the Hunter done to deserve so much hate from the Elk Prince; the beings that are guardians of woodlands and kind-hearted to all living beings on this planet. I wish to know what the Hunter must have done that the Elk Prince himself would despise of the Hunter's existence and speaks about him as an unintelligent beast than a being that thinks of the choices he makes.

“Do not speak of our kin, the Hunter has done well in what he believes! We know that Hunter does not kill for the thrill of a good hunt. A monster the Hunter is not! A merciful kind he is that acts like an Akita, protecting those he believes are good, and thinks before acting and knows what is right from wrong. We believe that Hunter deserves respect from those that look down upon him like another killer!” Lenora growl at the Elk Prince’s action being disrespectful of speaking about the Hunter.

Why does the Queen of the hounds protect Hunter’s name from Willow? Is there something that I do not know what he did before he began to hunt down those who had harmed the innocent? Do they know one another, or does his name give him respect from other predators? Now I want to know the Hunter than what Luna and I had thought of him.

The two directors had not spoken since the beginning of the conference about the supply trades that they had planned on making a deal for the Griffon King. Both of them were wearing cloth that covers their entire body, but they showed their faces to us. They are another dog pack from the desert in the far east. Pharaoh hounds if I remember that’s what they called themselves.

“Only you predators would look up its actions; however, the herbivores do not enjoy killing and watching another life being taken from another being. No, that thing is another killer that just takes any type of jobs that would satisfy its bloodlust!” Willow pointed a hoof at Lenora. If this continues then a war would start and the years of peace we had forged from the past eight hundred years. A war between Canines and Elks would soon spread in my lands and my ponies would be forced to either join the fight or run away.

Lenora growled again, but this time she looked like she was about to pounce on the elk if it weren’t for one of her personal guards to stop her. This was bad, and it obvious that the situation now could go out of hoof if one of the leaders actually attacked one another. I looked over at Roarik’s direction to see how he’s handling this situation. He appeared to be calm acting like a king would when it comes to being a leader, but in his eyes, I could tell that he did not enjoy Lenora's action.

I took my eyes off the king and set my gaze on the two directors. Both hounds were whispering to each other discussing something that I can’t hear because how the Elk Prince continues to be disrespectful of the Hunter. Whatever they were whispering among themselves they seemed to agree on something.

“May we move on to another subject? One that might help our kingdoms instead of risking war over a single being, one that I may add that isn’t a threat to us, or should we continue speaking about our opinions about the Hunter?” The table was silent after the Pharaoh hound had spoken up. Every being in this room was now discussing the supply trade than the Hunter.

I don’t have any role to speak about the supply trade as I have had this conference years ago before any of them were born. I remember those days after Luna’s banishment how I was overworking on my royals duties trying to keep the peace among the other kingdoms and to go through countless conferences about agreements of what should ban or allowed to trade among each kingdom. Such stressful day those have been, barely having time to sleep. Luna could have helped so much if the Nightmare Forces didn’t corrupt her with her own jealousy of not gaining any attention from our subjects.

Hours upon hours of listening to the six beings discussing the supply trade of what should be banned and what should be allowed to be sold in their borders. I have not spoken a single word ever since they began to speak of their supply trades. I didn’t want to interfere with their duties of being leaders to their kingdoms, and if I did speak about my opinions about the agreements they have, then the conference would have lasted longer than now.

The talk of the Hunter was forgotten after all the leaders made common agreements on the supplies their willing to trade they planned on having another talk in this room tomorrow on continuing to find a common agreement, but I noticed how King Roarik have been looking over at my direction a few times during the conference. The quick glances were a dead give away that he wishes to have a word with me.

After the end of the conference, the five other leaders went back to their own rooms that the King has provided them, but Roarik and I stayed in the room. Having time to talk with him alone was what I wanted and now I have it; however, the other leaders would be suspicious and think that the King and I would be planning something against them, and I do not want our trust and peace to be thought as a lie to plan against them.

“Celestia, I know my actions on keeping you here in the room would bring suspension to us, but they should not worry as I only wish to discuss more on how I do not control my kin’s decision of what to become and how I do not control the Hunter.” The King of the Griffins took a sip out of his chalice. He may claim that the other leaders should not worry about this talk, but that won’t stop them from believing something wrong.

I took hold of my chalice with my magic and took a sip from it, the sweet taste tickled my taste buds as the liquid flows down my throat. Griffin’s wine has been one of the top delicacies that I keep in the castle’s cellars, letting it age on until the wine itself tastes better than what most tastes today. Setting my chalice down I looked up at the King to see that he has been waiting for me to speak.

“I know King Roarik,” I let out a sigh and looked down at my chalice to see my red self, in the wine’s reflection, staring back at me. “But after the griffon was slain by the Hunter, I had thought he was returning here in Griffonstone to claim the bounty on the wanted griffon like how most bounty hunters would. I had to come here to speak with you about the griffon and the Hunter himself.”

“You have already received news about the griffon that the Hunter had killed, yet you wish to speak with the Hunter, and you thought that he would travel to Griffonstone to turn in his bounty?” Sadly that what I had thought. I nodded my head feeling a bit defeated that the Hunter has not set foot in the Griffin Empire capital to turn in the bounty. King Roarik sighed knowing what I had planned when I cross path with the Hunter. “I am sorry Celestia. You have probably wanted to meet your Kingdom’s hero, yet he prefers to keep himself unknown to those he protects and wants to keep the innocent safe from the guilty; however, ever since your sister’s action against the Hunter in Ponyville he must have decided to leave and abandon the role of being your ponies’ hero.”

I frowned at the mention of what my sister had done to the Hunter, but she did it because he burnt down Ponyville’s town hall and trapped a pony inside unless...unless he was trying to save that pony! Did Luna stop him from saving that pony? No, from what I read on the guard’s reports that there wasn't a body found in the remains of the building meaning that there was no pony inside the town hall after all, so that means that the Hunter must have the ability to cast illusion to trick everypony there to think they saw a trapped pony inside! Maybe that’s how he was able to avoid patrols around cities he can use magic to hide!

‘But how did King Roarik knows what Luna had done to the Hunter?’ I asked myself, I looked up at the King to see one of his guards whispering something to him. ‘When did the guard enter the room?’ After the guard was done whispering into the king’s ear, Raorik, looked up at me with a broad smile on his beak.

“If you weren’t a goddess Celestia, I would say that the god of fortune is on your side. Word has it that the Hunter appears to be living in Griff Glade’s forest. If you’re luck still holds then he would still be around the forest before he leaves the area.” With that Roaric winked at me, telling to go and take my chance to speak with the Hunter. Not wasting another second I jumped out of my seat and galloped through the castle to the gates.

POV Twilight Sparkle

‘What happened? Why did everything go black? I can’t feel my hooves, nor can I feel any parts of my body.’ Panic began to take its course as my breathing quicken and my body begins to shake. I couldn’t see anything -everything was black- and my eyes had already adjusted to the dark. What happened? I remember going to the door and opening it to see Rainbow Dash being excited that she had a paper in her hoof. She was waving it in front of me saying that one of the ponies that was at the event of last night had managed to see the Hunter and correctly drew what he truly looked like; however, I can’t seem to remember what happened after that.

Looking around would be pointless because how everything was literally black, and I believed I’m repeating myself again on how I can’t see, way to go Twilight now you’re talking to yourself. I shook my head as I tried to collect myself and remember more after hearing what Rainbow had said, but nothing came to mind. My brain felt like it was about to explode from how much time I’ve been trying to remember, but I knew that there’s no way that somepony’s brain would explode from overthinking or putting too much stress into it; however, it would cause that pony a headache or something worse if they continue to strain their brain.

“BY CELESTIA’S SUN WHY CAN’T I REMEMBER!?” I screamed out to nopony as the feeling of loneliness began to sink in. I never thought I’d feel this way again after meeting the girls. How it feels to be lonely after being Celestia’s student for nearly the rest of my life, too focused on my studies to approved anypony’s existence outside my shell of study and research. Spike may have been there when I first became Celestia’s student, but it felt like I was talking to a servant working for Celestia than a baby dragon that I raise as my child. How dumb was I to ignore everypony for my studies to believe that the greater good was to become another Star Swirl the Bearded to keep the peace in Equestria going?

“Twi...ight.” My head shot up and my ears twitched in every direction trying to pinpoint the source of the pony who whispered my name. Somepony was here and I know it because I heard it.

“Tw...light...ke...p!” That was Pinkie Pie’s voice! I glanced at every direction all around me trying to find Pinkie Pie, but I couldn’t there was nopony around only the darkness.

“Twilight.” I snapped my head to the right to see the Hunter, his red eyes staring down at me, his smile showed his razor-sharp teeth. My eyes widen as I stared at him, his smile sent a cold shiver down my spine. I tried to run, but my legs were locked in place as if somepony had wrapped rocks around my legs to keep me from running for my life.

“Save him! Help him! Cure him! Free him!” Voices whispered in my ears demanding to help...him. I felt my body shake violently when the Hunter knelt down. I watched in horror from how his body started to change the clothes that he wore began to stretch, horns grew out from the top of his head, gray fur started to cover his body, some of it poked through the tears in his clothes, as the sickening sound of bone snapping and flesh ripping caused my face to go pale. The Hunter ripped his skin from his own face, his clothes finally ripped and fell to the floor with pieces of skin attached to them, his body was now covered in gray fur, his face was now the same as the furred timberwolf’s, his legs were different than before they bend back than being straight, and his teeth were no longer white instead they were red with blood dripping down his chin. The entire time he was smiling enjoying the pain that he had gone through to change into such a monstrous beast.

‘How can somepony go through that much pain?’ No wait, he didn’t scream in pain or flinched from how his own bones in his legs bend back and his skin falling off. He still had that terrifying smile on his lips. Maybe those who believed that the Hunter is a monster are right, maybe he’s nothing more than a bloodthirsty beast wanting nothing more than to hunt down anything to satisfy his bloodlust.

“Twilight, why are you afraid?” I flinched at how he knew my name and how he laughed like a mad pony. My body tensed up from his touch, his hands (minotaurs has hands so why ain’t Lyra interested with their hands?) weren’t the same before he changed into this monster, the fingers grew and so did his nails. His hands cupped my cheeks and pulled me closer to his face. I gagged at how awful his breath smelled as I was now faced to face with the Hunter.

“Want to see how I eat?” I quickly shook my head, but that didn’t stop him. In a blink of an eye, his hands gripped my sides digging his nails into my skin causing me to scream out in pain as he lifted me up in the air. I began to kick my legs struggling to get out of his grip and scream out to somepony or anything to help me, but my struggle didn’t seem to faze the monster holding me. He opened his maw showing me the rows of sharp teeth he has. Again I tried to struggle out of his grip no matter how painful it was to move because how his nails dug deeper into my skin. As he lowered me closer to his gaping mouth I let out a scream hoping that somepony would save me!

Real World

“GAAAAH!” I jolt up awake my hooves holding the blankets close to me as possible, my heart was beating like a drum anypony could probably hear it a good yard away from me. My eyes quickly scanned the room to see if this was all real, I pinched myself to make sure it was real and what a relief that it was all a nightmare.

“Twilight!?” I screamed at the top of my lungs as I jumped off the bed and crawled underneath it. Underneath the bed on the opposite side, I crawled under was a pair of pink hooves. I recognize those hooves and who it belonged to but my instinct told me to stay underneath the bed where nopony or creature would find me.

I can’t stop shaking from how that nightmare felt so real and how it was all suddenly happened so quick that I don’t even think Rainbow Dash wouldn’t look at the Hunter the same way. This is why prey felt so helpless to predators, they couldn’t do anything against a monster alone or else they get gobbled up. Prey, I felt like the Hunter’s prey because how my instinct told me that a monster was coming after me, and when he does I don’t think I’ll be able to fight him.

The multiple sounds of hooves against the wood told me that Pinkie wasn’t the only pony here in my house. Cyan, white, yellow, navy blue, orange, and brown hooves galloped around my bed surrounding me.

“Pinkie Pie what happened, we heard Twilight scream!” I heard Luna demanded, but I couldn’t see her face or body only her and the girls' hooves.

“I don’t know when Twilight woke up I yelled out her name in joy because she’s finally awake after hitting her head against the doorframe after Rainbow Dash told her the exciting news how somepony drew what the Hunter look like from memory.” I heard Pinkie say as her hooves disappeared and reappeared when she bounced. Did I really knock myself out by hitting my head on the doorframe? Embarrassed about how I knocked myself out I stayed under my bed watching the pairs of hooves.

“Pinkie,” I heard Rainbow Dash’ began to say. “Yelling out Twilight’s name after she woke up would obviously scare her.”

There was a moment of silence from the girls. I continued to stay underneath my bed until I saw Luna’s snout.

“Twilight, would you please come out?” Luna asked her voice almost sound motherly like Celestia. I slowly began to crawl out from under my bed kicking my hind hooves to push myself forward and pulling myself towards Luna with my forehooves.When my head poked out from under the bed I saw my friends, the princess, and a mare all looking at me. Fluttershy had gasped and laid down beside me, my body was now halfway.

“Twilight have you been crying?” Have I been crying? I wipe my eyes with a hoof and looked at it to see that I was crying, but was I crying because I escaped that horrid nightmare or was I crying because how real it felt. I slowly nodded my head.

In a blink of an eye, Fluttershy wrapped her forehooves around me, bringing me into a hug. My body reacted on its own as I found myself hugging back crying into Fluttershy’s should making her fur damp. Luna has to know what I’ve dreamed of or else I’ll probably have the same nightmare again.