To say the situation became awkward was an understatement.

“An abducted princess was returned and was confused. She had caused destruction when she woke up and attack her friends and mentor. Then as the evaluation of the casualties was undergoing an unknown intruder entered the castle and attack a maid. Midnight in her role as lieutenant sees the threat in it and rushed in the infirmary, where she attacked the companion who came with the abducted princess in rage, as she thinks he had something to do with it. And the intruder reveals himself as a follower of the princess…”

“…So, this is the situation so far.” Vet ended his tale. “Hunter… thanks for catching the spear. It was going a bit too accurate for my vital organs.”

The albino snorted. “No Problem. Your surviving is important for the princesses well-being.”

Vet stare at him. “Thanks for your concerns… really feel the love in it.” He held his stare, before he started to laugh, in which Hunter enters. Both laughed for a while before the laughter died down.

Then both look in each other’s eyes, better Hunter looked in Vet eyes, while Vet only could stare on the binding over Hunter's eyes. “Vet, how bad had it been exactly?”

“Hunter, after I walked through the portal I get shot/hit by magic. They put me in a cell while placing her in an infirmary. They had ignored my warning and did a cold start on her. Luckily, she didn’t go the full way, so I was able to stop her easily.”

“How far was she?”

Vet looked at Hunter. “Too damn close.”

Hunter spats on the ground. “Damn them.”

Near them, Midnight growls at his swearing and spatting. This makes Vet chuckle. “Hunter… Batsy over there hates it, when you do that.”

Hunter looks at the bat pony lieutenant and just shrugged with his shoulder.

That makes Midnight growl again, so Vet simply laughs to make her growl more. “You know this is funny, like a game.” He looks past Midnight into the room, where Twilight was surrounded by her pears and mentors. “Hope the little questions round won’t do a harm.”

Hunter stared into the night sky. “Won’t happen. We are here.”

Vet look again at him. “By Faust, I hope you are right.”

Meanwhile, in the room was lays Twilight in the bed. Vet and Hunter were on the balcony with Midnight, who swore to keep an eye on them. So right now, Twilight was forced to face her friends. “Aww.” The normal talkative mare wasn’t able to find any words.

The others stare at her, making her uneasy. It was Rainbow Dash how asked her first. “The heck was that with the ghost pony? And even before that what is your deal with the strange unicorn.” Her outburst put Twilight on defense.

“What… What do you mean?” she tried to understand the question.

Rainbow flies near her. The cyan Pegasus towers a bit over her. “First you cling at Vet’s flank, then as dung hit the fan, you practical throw yourself on the ghost. A ghost pony with bloody fangs… FANGS… and sobs into his coat?” she listed her points.

“Well…” Twilight tried to say, but Rainbow cut her off, mostly because Twilight talked to quiet to hear. “Egghead, don’t you see that both are practical scream out “DANGER”.”

“They are not dangerous.” She answers, again to be interrupted by Rainbow.

“Well if your friends said that then it must be true. Have you forgotten who your friends are?” she waves her hooves to the others. They all seem to show that they agreed to Rainbow.

This small treason broke Twilight out of her reserve. “They are not dangerous. Don’t dare to say anything else.” Her timid posture before was forgotten instead, she had jumped and stood now on the bed, glaring on the group. “IF you all would be my friends you would respect that fact… but somehow you all seem to forget that you can’t judge a pony just by the first look. This is Zecora all over again. Boohoo. Vet is strange… Hunter is a bat pony with fangs… I DON’T CARE… you know why?” She stares at the group.

“Because over there, they were the only thing keeping me sane. They were MY friends over there.” Her angry posture crumbles and she falls flat on the bed. “The things over there… what the d…doctors did to me…” She starts to cry again. “No mercy… no sympathy… no logic… They had been scientists, they betrayed everything…I believe of science…” The tears now form rivers down her face. “So much pain… they hurt me so much… I just wanted to die…”

That shocked everyone. They had heard some things from Vet, but hearing it from Twilight was so much more. “I was alone… cried for you all…pleaded for a way home…a way out of the nightmare… And none of you came.”

Her soft sobs were the only thing to be heard until a new voice speak. “Twilight do you think we had it simple here?”. It was Fluttershy how spoke. She walked to her side and lay herself next to her. This interrupts Twilight and she looked that the yellow pegasi mare.

“W…What…?” she asks, interrupts by hiccups.

Fluttershy moves a hoof on Twilight’s face. There she carefully pushes a loose strain of mane behind the back. “Twilight when the thing had carried through the portal, we all raged. We mauled the remaining thing into a stomp. It then destructs itself. We all were caught by the explosion, which also destroy the portal. When we had regained concussions, Celestia and Luna tried to reopen it and to follow you. We all had stood by them ready to follow, but we couldn’t. Celestia and Luna tired and tried countless times to reopen the portal, but the explosion had erased every trace to where the portal lead.” She started to cry too. “Could you imagine that all the villains we had faced? Nightmare Moon, Queen Chrysalis, Tirek, even Starlight Glimmer and then… we couldn’t defend a friend and couldn’t rescue her.” She places a wing over Twilight. “It broke us all. The last year wasn’t a happy one. No fun, no party, no friendship missions. All we did was tried to overcome the pain. And then when the anniversary of this dark day came, you returned, but in company of strangers. It rips the wounds open. Cause we all fear that you will choose them over use, that you had forgotten everything from us.” Now her tears were rivers.

This broke Twilight “…It broke you?” She looks at the group. “You all?”

Rarity stepped forward. She also cried. “Yes, darling. It hurt us to the core. But our pain was a mere friction compared to the one of Spike.”

This set Twilight back and finally, she looks at Spike and takes every detail in. What she saw shocks her deep into her core. The small little purple dragon, who was like a baby was gone. Instead, there was a grown dragon. Wings on his back, long Spikes on his head. He had grown in hid and so he was as large as Celestia, still, he didn't finish in growing, Overall, he looked more like a dragon, ready to fight. But still Twilight could see under all the scales, horns and new wings, the little purple dragon, who always was here companion, her son…not by blood but by bond.

She reaches out with her hooves. “Spike?” she asks. The dragon looked at her outstretched hooves and stood still. His face didn’t show any reaction and for a moment Twilight feared that he recoils from her… this though was enough the make the tears rise again…

But then he suddenly flies to her side and pulls her into a hug. Twilight was embraced by his strong arms and wings. As she looks up his barrel into his face she saw all the tears all the emotions. “Mom…” was all he could say between the snobs and hiccups and tears.

This broke all dams in Twilight and see cried too. “Spike…son…” And both cried together. And soon all the other joined the cuddle. First Fluttershy, then Rarity, then Pinkie Pie and Applejack, Rainbow Dash and the two sisters at last. So, they all make one big great huddle and they all cried their pain from the soul.

High Mile, who Midnight had left as guard, couldn’t hold her owns tears back. “This moment…” she says between her own tears.

But in this moment Flame Sword and a quad burst through the door, a war cry on their lips. In no time Mile turns around and raised her own weapon. She hit with the flat side of her spear Flame on the head and knock him cold out. “Don’t you dare to interrupt this tender moment" she threatens the squad in a shockingly good imitation of Midnight.

The squad slowly retreat and pulls Flame with them. They had problems to understand what happened, but after they sat the huddle, they decide that this is far bigger than their payroll so they did the only thing safe… tactical retreat.

Outside on the balcony vet and Hunter had heard the situation from the start till the closing doors. Vet stare at Hunter. “Wow… I own you a meal. Didn’t believe that it didn’t blow up.”

Hunter simply snorted and laughed at Vet’s demise.

Vet laughed a while with him before he calmed down. “But a thing bugs me. How did you found her?”

Hunter suddenly pulls something from his back and point it down the city. Vet didn’t flinch. But Midnight does. She hadn’t realized that he carried something with him. As she looks now on him she realizes that the strange Albino Bat pony has some sort of armor on him.

She couldn’t believe how she missed this detail. And so, her rage at him grows.

Vet simply look at the bat pony, who growl nonstop. “Batsy cut it down, you sound like a broken lawn mower.”

Hunter had ignored him, instead, he worked with the thing he had pulled from his back. It looked like a spear. But Vet knew that it was not a spear.

It was a high-powered bolt-action rifle, caliber around ¾ inch. Vet had witnessed the firepower of this rifle. With the right ammo, punching a hole through 4-inch armor plate in 2mile distance was child play. Vet know that this rifle is dangerous and Hunter seems to do magic with it.

Hunter holds the rifle and put it up, so he can look through the scope. He let it wanders over the scenery.

“Ok Hunter three questions. First, how did your rifle survive the portal, second how can you use it, but most importantly how did you find her so quick?”

The bat pony let his rifle wander a moment, then he put it down and look at him. Vet knew that under the bandage his eyes look direct on him. He didn’t feel the terror or fear normally come through this. He mere feel that the gaze was on him.

“Mech builds it, so it survives anything. The rifle changes his appearance a bit. “He turns the rifle a bit so Vet could see the trigger. It had changed so that now a how can operate it.

“And how I found her. Were you there when seeing lost control?”

Vet shakes his head. “Was in cell deep in the dungeon, only get his by the blast and was forced to act as a landing pad for Midnight. Then I rushed to her side and was able to bring her down… still the fucking black crystals had already grown.”

Hunter looks a moment longer before he raises a hoof near his face. “I can’t really explain it, but when she woke up her fear and terror, were the first things to wake up. Her panic was like a sun in the darkness. I had seen it, we all had seen it. And like a moth, we come to the light.”

Vet looks down at the city. “Ok, that was poetic and it thinks I get the idea, still there are some holes in it.”

This sentence makes Hunter sniggers. “Don’t worry, when Mech or Psy arrives one will explain it.” He said while putting his rifle back.

Both turn to walk in, but Midnight stood before them. She looks at Hunter, then she suddenly moves her hoof in a quick movement. She hits him near his shoulder and as she retreats her hoof a knife was there. “The princess said you are no danger.” She had heard Twilights outburst. “But you had stolen my knife. In my eyes, you are a thief and possible murderer.” She leans closer to him. “I will watch you. Every step you take, I will be on your tail. until I got my proof, then I will use this very knife to gut you. I don’t care what the princess will do about it and I don’t care.” As she finished she was the first to walk in leaving both Vet and Hunter alone on the balcony.

Vet imply looks to Hunter. “Well, for certained... you had made a friend.”

Hunter looked a moment longer at the leaving Midnight. As soon as she was out of hearing reach he spoke up. “She is good. She notices I had taken her knife when I entered the room.”

Vet was surprised by the comment of Hunter. “Well, she is lieutenant in the night guard. She protects the darker alicorn, Luna. She is one of the best.”

Hunter was unfazed by this comment. “She is maybe the best of them. But she isn’t the best in my eyes.”

Both already started to walk inside. Vet looks inquiring at him. His question was not put in words, still, Hunter knows it. “Because dear brother, she may have notice that I had taken her knife…” he starts to grab something from under his cape.

Suddenly a scream comes from the inside and an enraged Midnight, with raised spear, charged at them.

Vet jumps to the side; will Hunter simply dig a knife out and block the spear. The knife looks the same like Midnights. Hunter was unimpressed by the sheer bloodlust Midnight emirates. “…This is the reason. I had taken her knife…” He easily deflects her spear and forces it out of her hooves.” But also, the knife of her companion.”

Midnight started another attack, which Hunter easily deflect. Meanwhile, Vet laugh and couldn’t stop. “I wonder how the others will appear on the door. Because I fear for this land.”

Author's Note

So yeah a short update. Little talk... Hunter gets a few lines... Stuff and such

So hope you enjoy.