Golden Oaks Library

For an establishment meant for citizens to find a book and read in silence, it has seen more than its fair share of “rowdy” moments. This time, was no different.

“What do you have to say for yourself?!” Rarity yelled at the human in the room.

Dan just stood there with his hands in his pockets and a slightly annoyed look on his face. Looking around he could see a number of the “new friends” he was supposed to make already are giving him a mean glare, while some others, had a fearful look in their eyes. That yellow Pegasus seemed to be trying to portray both. Still didn’t say anything though. Then there was that blue pegasus with a rainbow doo… Rainbow Dash, right? Makes sense, the girl definitely zipped all over the place earlier. Apparently, she was trying to be mad like the others, but she seemed impressed as well. Maybe she gets me more than the others. He thought. When he noticed them waiting for his response. He just shrugged “Uh, go me? I just saved all your whiny hides? You always this cranky, Gem Butt?” That didn’t sit well with the girls.

“Why I never!” Rarity stomped her hoof. “How can such an uncouth individual have any affiliation with the Princesses. Have you no manners?”

“Oi, I have manners, but it's hard to express them with all of you glaring at me. Besides, you want to talk about an “uncouth” individual? Save it for that blonde guy I met at the castle. Seriously, he acted like he owned the place and everyone was beneath him…. Really should’ve kicked him out a window or something.” He grumbled as he reluctantly remembered Blueblood.

“Well, I suppose that’s one thing we can agree upon.” Rarity replied once she realized who he meant. “But that’s beside the point!”

That was when Applejack butted into the conversation. “Where do you get off thinkin’ it’s ok to take a life?! Who do ya think ya are!?”

Dan barked back “Where do you get off questioning how I do things?!”

“When you start killing living creatures, that’s when!” Rainbow said next.

“Nobody was talking to you, Skittles and for your information, if I hadn’t shot the thing, most if not all of you would’ve been in that beast's gut. In pieces no doubt!” The mental image of that thought had made the girls hesitate a little as they would try to force that unpleasant thought from their minds. Now the argument was just getting louder until Twilight finally returned from her room after writing a letter and having sent it.

“Alright! That’s enough everypony! All this screaming is not getting us anywhere.”

“And giving me a headache...” Spike rubbed his head as he put earmuffs on to drown out the noise.

“I feel ya, Spike...” Dan mumbled but mostly to himself as things were finally quieting down. The glares still remained though, even on the librarian. Dan decided to pull out his phone. The battery power was still good. He was gonna have to learn that trick to getting back to the other world if he wants to charge that thing.

“Ok, a lot happened today and we’re all still riled up about it all. Let’s all take a moment to calm down and try this all again.”

“Why bother? That monster was pretty clear that he enjoys murdering.” Rainbow replied

“Rainbow! We can handle this, for all we know this was all just a misunderstanding.” Twilight said.

“Pfft, you got that right...” Once again Dan speaking to himself as he was looking through his phone, but it was overheard by the girls. Some of them were looking at the strange device in his hand.

“Anyway, just before all this, we were all very nice to each other, even him, remember?” All the girls seem to avoid each other’s gaze when Twilight asked that. Finally, Pinkie spoke.

“Um… you won’t… do the same to us, right?”

“Where’d that come from?” Dan finally tore his gaze away from the phone to look at the Pink mare. “Why would I?”

“Well…” her mane started to lose some of its poofy looks. “What if you get mad at us and-”

“No.” Dan stopped her “Murder is a crime and it is a stupid reason to kill anyone just because we have a disagreement.”

“You say that-” said a familiar voice. One look for Dan to see it was that shy Pegasus he saved. “But didn’t you already commit murder?” Her voice broke a little.

“On who?” Dan Asked

“THAT POOR MANTICORE!” Her outburst surprised everyone, even Dan. “You act like the poor creature’s death is nothing!”

… At that Dan folded his arms and looked at her. So she’s a definite animal lover. Hopefully not as crazy as PETA. This whole time Aegis hardly responded to him. He guessed that the old man wanted him to stew in the consequences of his actions. However, he replied. “So was it wrong of me to pull you away from it as it tried to bite you in half?” This got her and the other girls to clam up and remember another almost horrible scene of seeing that beast go after Fluttershy. For Fluttershy, it was worse as she was the one to get a look at the cold murderous look in its eyes. Dan continued. “If you had to choose between an innocent girl and a murderous beast that only had its eyes on her, would you have chosen differently?”

….. The silence was deafening….

Before anyone could say anything a bright flash filled the room. “JESUS!” Dan had to shield his eyes and feel his heart skip a beat from the sudden action. When the light went away he finally took a chance to see what caused that freak light show only to see, someone he’d rather not deal with right now. He folded his arms and stared at Princess Celestia as she made her presence known to everyone in the library. Immediately all the ponies and dragon in the room kneeled towards her. Before Celestia could speak Dan beat her to it. “So you can teleport now. Neat trick, princess.” This caused the others to look at Dan in surprise to how he would speak to their ruler.

“Ahem, yes…” Celestia replied, “I decided not to waste any time after getting word from Twilight about a dispute between you all.”

Dan raised an eyebrow and looked at Twilight. “What? You got phones or something in this world.”

“A what?” Celestia asked raising an eyebrow.

“That would be a no then. I’m just gonna assume some sort of magic priority mailing service or something then.” He waved it off.

“You’re… not too far off on that.” Twilight decided to answer this time.

“For real?” Dan said mildly surprised. Celestia decided to get everyone’s attention.

“You may rise my little ponies. We have much to discuss it would seem.”

Dan nearly released a fit of laughter and turned his head trying to hold it in until it passed. Did she really just called them that?

‘Yes and you will not bring it up to her, are we clear?’ Aegis said as if he was trying to discipline Dan.

Oh, look who’s back? I thought naps make old people LESS cranky.

Aegis just sighed ‘Just pay attention, kid.’

It didn’t take long to get the Princess up to date on what happened and when she was she just heaved a heavy sigh. “I see, I had hoped this sort of thing wouldn’t come so soon.” Dan raised an eyebrow as Twilight decided to speak what was on everyone else’s mind.

“What do you mean Princess?”

Celestia looked at her student “Twilight, do you remember what I wrote to you in that letter for expecting Dan’s arrival?”

Twilight nodded “Yes, it said to make him feel welcome and to let him speak the TRUTH of why he was sent here.” She then turned to Dan with a stern look. “The Whole Truth.”

‘What?’ Aegis was by far the most shocked ‘Why? Why get them involved?’

‘Beats me but it’ll make things easier on my end.’ Dan replied before he decided to make his way over to them in case he had to explain some things.

“Gather around everypony.” Celestia said as everyone decided to sit around the large table in the library that even fit Dan and Celestia in with the girls. Of course, the girls definitely gave Dan space, but not for his sake. He picked this up but decided to say nothing. They wanted to make it difficult, fine. “What I’m about to explain to you CANNOT leave this room. The public must never know the ACTUAL reason for Dan being here. I believe I explained in the letter Twilight that what Dan had to tell you was very important.” At her student’s nod, she began telling them everything Luna told Dan about his role as a Royal Hunter.

The girls were a little worried hearing of this secret side of the world they lived in, even more so that all conflicts with these “Darkened” creatures and individuals would always end with death. Naturally, this caused questions to raise with the girls.

“So you’re telling me some dark threat over the ages controls animals and even ponies and makes them bloodthirsty monsters?” Rainbow raised her hoof. “How come I never heard of any of this?”

Celestia then turned to Dan. “That is the doing of the Royal Hunter. It is their job to dispose of such threats before word and terror can spread.”

“Thus nipping a problem in the bud instead of watching it gain more casualties of innocent lives.” Dan added gaining everyone’s attention. “Correct?” He then turned to Celestia for confirmation.

“Why ask her? Shouldn’t you know this Mr. ROYAL HUNTER?” Rainbow glared at the guy.

Dan shook his head. “Hey it’s my first day on the job, the last hunter…. retired two days ago, and gave me the position.” He then looked away. “Wish he asked me first.”

“Would you have agreed if he did?” Celestia gave her rebuttal “For that matter, would you even believe him?”

…. Dan chose to remain silent…

Twilight then decided to speak “So princess this last hunter, was he human too?”

“Indeed he was Twilight, though in public decided to take on the form of a pony feeling it would make his time and travels much easier when confronting others.” Dan could see that look of longing in her eyes. But soon smiled “Actually I do recall you meeting him on occasions back when you were still studying under me in the castle.”

“I-I did?” Twilight asked in surprise before she tried to remember Such an individual, however, it is a fruitless effort since she didn’t bother to ask for the name or what he looked like.

“So, now that this is all cleared up. Are we all good now?” Dan looked around at the other girls. None of them seemed to answer straight away and just looked at one another, all looking unsure or conflicted.

It was Applejack to actually break the silence and speak what was on her mind after a moment of hesitation. “Well, ta’ be honest with ya’, I ain’t too sure if ah’ can right now.” Seeing that she got his attention, she continued. “Ah’ know what the princess said and the reasons for it, but How can ah’ trust a pony-”

“Person.” Dan interjected.

“Wha?” This caught her off guard.

“Please say, person. I’m not a pony. In fact, I probably should’ve said this earlier, but around me and any non-pony people here could you not refer to them as such? Everypony is EveryBODY. Since every living creature has a body. Same for the words, Somebody, anybody, and nobody. I get that the majority of this society are ponies, but please keep in mind of foreigners or anyone that isn’t a pony that comes to this country.

Applejack just stared at him as well as everyone else in the library…. “Can ah’ talk now?”

“Oh, sure, please continue.” he gestured to her.

…. “Ahem, as ah’ was sayin: How can ah’ trust a po-” She noticed a glint from Dan’s eye then sighed “How can ah’ trust a PER-SON that goes and outright… kills another living creature like that?”

“Yeah! What if he decides to do that to us?” Rainbow butted in, however, Dan immediately cut her off.

“Because I don’t kill people. That’s just outright murder. Which is bad and sinks heavy on your conscience.”

“Then…” that shy mare was speaking again ”Then why kill that poor creature? You… What you did to it, was murder!” She spoke that last part with more conviction.

“That wasn’t a murder and I already told you the reason. The beast was deranged and all it thought about was killing all of us.”

“How would you even know that?” She responded with despair in her voice.

He was about to open his mouth telling them about Aegis but immediately remembered how far fetched that would sound and make him look crazy. “It's… Hard to explain, but I do have a way of knowing. In any rate, why would you even care so much about it? It almost bit you in half.”

She remained quiet now that she was being questioned. Well not so much as being quiet, but sinking and curling into a ball as she quietly fumbled her words.

‘And NOW she’s back to being a scaredy cat again.’ Dan inwardly groaned.

‘Dan, you must have more tact when speaking to a woman. As well as sensing the mood of the situation.’ Aegis decided to chime in.

Not a word from you, This whole day has been crazy cuz of you. Everything would’ve been fine with the first impressions, but nooo, you had to make me run off to some farm to fight a demon lion and then I get scolded for saving their butts!.... Crap they were talking to me. Thanks ya geezer, now I have no idea what they were telling me..

From what he could gather, the other girls seemed to be answering for the timid one he decided to just nod his head and move on.

Seriously, she avoids speaking to me if it can be helped, but she has no problem questioning my morals when she doesn’t agree with them. He sighed and scratched his head. Living here is gonna be more of a pain then I thought.

As the conversation continued eventually the girls calmed down about Dan’s role. However, that didn’t mean they were ok with it. Only going with it because their princess asked them too. And not too long ago these girls actually wanted to get to know him. At least, that’s how Dan saw it anyway. They sure weren’t looking his way now. As if they were trying to ignore he was there. Especially, Pinkie.

‘Guess I can say goodbye to that welcome party she was talking about.’ Dan shrugged as he leaned against a wall letting the girls talk with the Princess. ‘Well, things are just gonna be awkward here now. Maybe it'd be better if I just live as a hermit in the woods so the public doesn't have to look at me.’

‘Do not be so depressing, Dan. This is just new for them. These girls were raised in a way that cherishes all life.’ Aegis echoed in his mind before floating out of his body and staring at the girls as well. “Sure they are aware of death and the Royal Guard are trained to take a life if need be… They just don’t see something like that in their daily life. The royal guards out in the frontier might, but behind the borders, the act of one person taking the life of a creature or another person is… inconceivable to them.”

Dan turned to Aegis, the spirit seemed to be staring more at Celestia then the girls with a look of longing. Seeing as how they moved far enough out of earshot he spoke softly this time to Aegis. “Wouldn't it have been better to just let them experience it? If you shelter them from the truth, it’s only natural they wouldn’t handle it well when they do see it.”

Aegis shook his head, “You misunderstand, It’s not like we’re actively trying to hide it from them.”

“What do you mean?”

Aegis turned to Celestia again. “I asked the same question to her parents when I was new to the job as well, and after so many years of observing these ponies I can understand what he meant.” He then turned to Dan. “The ponies… Wherever they choose to settle if there is enough of them. It’s as if some unforeseen force shields them from such disparities such as killing and true madness. Maybe they emanate it off their bodies since they are so attuned to the magic of the world but it remains a mystery. Magic is basically a part of nature in this world, and Nature seems to like coddling them.”

Dan thought about this before a thought occurred. “Wait, there are other races on this world right. I remember being told about Griffins and minotaurs and zebras and such, What about them?”

Aegis smiled a little and turned to Dan. “Hm, do you actually care about this world’s well-being to ask that. Or is this just human curiosity?”

“Can it be both?” Dan folded his arms

With a shrug, Aegis chuckled “Perhaps.” Then his face returned to its neutral state. “As The Royal Hunter, there are times wherein a manner of good will to allied kingdoms we are sent over to “deal with matters that cannot be handled by the resident people of that land. Other times that darkness seems to spread well in those other kingdoms. Mostly in the world of Politics, people suddenly bent on having a conflict with Equestria or other borders.”

“I’m guessing that's where the “killing people” part comes in.” Dan looked over at the girls, looked like things were wrapping up over there.

“Indeed… This dark force seems to have a far more strange and menacing effect on sentient beings than on beasts. A being could grow mad and aggressive, changing into a vile beast himself, a mere ghost of what they once were. Even worse is when the tainted being is smart enough to hide it and use it more strategically. A prime example is an individual suddenly raising a rebellion or going into politics to instigate a war. In the military, an official could break off the chain of command fooling his subordinates into taking on the most heartless missions imaginable. All for the sake of growing violence and despair.” Aegis decided to fly back into Dan seeing the girls finish up as well. ‘I know you have made a stance, not to kill people… but for the sake of peace, this is a burden I have selfishly given you. There is no way I can properly apologize for all this, and I understand that you can never forgive my actions, but it was the only way. The Talisman guided me to you, I cannot fully understand why, but I know it was for a good reason.’

….”Pfft, placing the fate of a kingdom on an old trinket to find me, old man?” Dan smirked for a moment before his look turned sour and he muttered under his breath “That jokes not even funny. What is this? A fairytale book all of a sudden?”

…. It was silent between the two of them for a good while. It seemed Dan still had some grudges and issues hidden away, though Aegis chose not to pry, at least not for now, for he had a good guess on what the reason was. With the girl talk ending and the Princess bidding her farewells she walked over toward Dan. Dan kept a neutral face and decided to push himself off the wall and listen to what she had to say. “Just in case you missed it, for the time being, I’ll leave you under the care of Twilight for the time being as you get settled in… Is everything alright?”

“No, princess it’s not.” Dan shrugged, “But I’ll manage.” he then turned his gaze to the six mares “Will they?”

“It… will be a rocky start, but I have the utmost faith that they will come to understand you… So as their princess, I can only ask that you at the very least try to make the same effort.” She bowed her head a little toward him.

……….. Dan sighed “I’ll try, but don’t expect a miracle, alright? These girls seem pretty dead set on not having anything to do with me.”

“All I ask is that you give each other time.” Celestia then nodded to him before smiling at the girls and teleporting out of the library. Leaving Dan to deal with the ladies.

“So…. Where do I sleep?”

Author's Note

Hey! Thanks for reading this far! As promised I'll let you in how this story is gonna work! Currently I'm working on my first story still and I post in every 3 weeks. how those weeks are set up is thus: The first week, I work on the next Chapter for this story here, The Royal Hunter. the two weeks are that are solely dedicated to writing the next chapter to my First story. I'm estimating here but I should be able to post a Chapter for Royal hunter at the very least, somewhere between once a month to a month and a half.

This will be the process until I finally finish the first story (Which I will! No proof to doubt me yet on that one.) Then Royal Hunter will get the three week treatment and see updates much more frequently. Also, despite this Chapter here and the prologue in my First Story, I don't accept a Chapter as complete until it's at least 4k words long. I personally like long chapters so I do the same for my stories.

Let me be absolutely clear incase your thinking this. I will NOT! be one of those types that will right a story and then never return or put it on a hiatus. There might be times that I might get writer's block, and if that happens I will update you whats going on via in the author's notes in the latest chapter and write "(News Update)" in the latest Chapter's title. I don't want to keep you guys in the dark or anything like that when writing this story.

Secondly, Whether you people like this story or hate it, I'm gonna continue it until its done. It's the same for my first story. Even if this story gets nothing but thumbs down I'm still gonna keep putting up chapters for it.

Now then, about this story! I wanted to start this with the first 5 chapters ready to go because I wanted to get through all the introduction stuff for the reader so the chapters from here on out get to rest of the story. It's why I withheld posting this for so long.

Anyway, I hope you find this story interesting and hope you look forward to more chapters coming for it. If not, thanks for giving it a shot at least.