Tales of the Amalgam'verse: Mirror Image

Chapters

Chapter 2: The Fox and the Filly
Chapter 3: True Natures
Chapter 4: Of Monsters and Mortals
Chapter 5: End of the Hunt
Chapter 6: To Run No More
Epilogue: An Open Heart
Chapter 1: The Gray Phantom

Chapter 2: The Fox and the Filly

Chapter 2: The Fox and the Filly

The Golden Oaks Library wasn’t Ponyville’s most frequently visited establishment, but it was certainly among its most unique. It was built within the very trunk of an incredibly wide tree that stretched upwards for the height of about a four story building. Its verdant green leaves made for a shady canopy, and aside from a few elegantly carved windows, a homey looking door at the trunk’s base, and a second story balcony, one would hardly know the tree had been hollowed out to house Ponyville’s public library.

Diamond Tiara heard that it was old earth pony magic that kept the treehouse library sustained and alive, despite being mostly hollow. She wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but whenever she stood on the tree’s smooth interior floors she could feel a sense of liveliness and calm contentment, almost as if the tree personally welcomed anypony who entered to share in its knowledge.

“So may I ask why you have such a sudden and keen interest in legends of the Everfree Forest?” asked Ditzy Doo, the librarian’s wings flapping in slow, lazy motions as she hovered around the top of the library’s bottom row of shelves. Her light gray fur seemed to perfectly accentuate the mare’s wide rimmed, thin glasses, and her slicked back blonde mane reflected her prim and neat demeanor. Gold eyes glanced with sharp curiosity at Diamond Tiara, making the filly a tad nervous.

Ditzy Doo wasn’t just Ponyville’s resident librarian, but was something of a recent celebrity. Diamond Tiara didn’t know all the details, but she did now that not long before the kaiju had arrived in Equestria from another world the Crystal Empire had also reappeared from a thousand year banishment, with its evil Empress Cadance. Cadance fended off attempts to dislodge her from control of the Crystal Empire, and allied with the dangerous kaiju who had arrived from Earth. Now Diamond Tiara wasn’t certain where Duchess Chrysalis’ protege and student, Trixie Lulamoon, had found them, but she’d obtained powerful artifacts called the Elements of Harmony and found six special individuals to wield them.

And just in time, for one of the evil kaiju, a mad, giant dark moth-like insect called Battra Lea, had threatened Canterlot itself with destruction. Only the Elements of Harmony had had the power to empower the good kaiju who had made friends with Canterlot’s royalty, allowing Sir Xenilla and Lady Destroyah to assume their true forms and fight off Battra before she’d been able to do Canterlot any harm.

Since then the Element Bearers has been asked to remain close to the Canterlot region, in one way or another. In Ditzy Doo’s case, she’d chosen to take up residence in Ponyville’s library. Apparently the city of Canterlot didn’t agree with her. ‘Too noisy’, apparently. Other than that, all Diamond Tiara knew was that Ditzy Doo bore the Element of ‘Wisdom’, and certainly seemed like one of the smartest ponies she’d ever met.

Which just made having her staring at Diamond Tiara all the more nerve wracking, as she wasn’t at all ready to reveal the real reason she wanted to study on tales of the Everfree, among other things.

“Well, you see, uh, my friend Silver Spoon is planning a sleepover-” at Ditzy Doo’s furrowed brow Diamond Tiara hastily went on, ‘-and, um, we’re kind of having a camp out her back yard! But you know how it's a tradition to tell campfire stories and such, so I thought I’d do some research on any spooky stories about the Everfree. You know, stuff about ghosts, monsters, or, um, ghost-monsters.”

The fact was she wanted to hunt for stories about the gray phantom she’d seen. It had only been two days since the incident in the Everfree, and Diamond Tiara had found her mind continuously being drawn back to wondering what that strange creature was. But she couldn’t let any adults know about it, otherwise they’d either think she was crazy, or worse they’d believe her and forbid her from ever investigating the matter on her own. Ditzy Doo certainly had that kind of severe look about her, of a mare who liked forbidding things.

“Hmm,” Ditzy Doo adjusted her glasses with a hoof, “The Everfree Forest certainly does have many strange and, as you put it, ‘spooky’ legends concerning it and its denizens. Some of which, I may point out, are not at all suitable for a young and overactive imaginations such as that possessed by eager fillies. That said I do believe I have a copy of ‘Grim Folktales of Yore Vol.6’ which has several stories about both the Everfree Forest and other local woods.”

She flew over to another shelf, her hoof running over the spines of the books until she came to a tome bound in dark blue with gold lettering. “Ah, here we are.”

Ditzy Doo set the book down on the table by Diamond Tiara, almost as quickly flying back up to eye the bookshelves. “I might also suggest ‘The Beginner's Guide to Fae and Spirits’, as while the stories are largely of a tame nature there are several that might be suitably, ahem, ‘spooky’ enough for your tastes without being inappropriate for your age. In fact that book is fairly educational for a young, budding researcher of otherworldly folklore.”

Ditzy’s eyes once more focused in on Diamond Tiara like a pair of golden scalpels. “I don’t suppose you’re seeking a cutie mark as a monster researcher, are you?”

“N-no of course not! I mean, I’m far more interested in business than in supernatural critters, heheh.”

“I see. I do recall you’ve borrowed quite a few books on business and economics. I merely thought that with your recent exploits in befriending our newest, most unusual residents you perhaps gained a new hobby. The kaiju are fascinating, are they not?”

It was hard not to smile a bit, if only out of pleasant memory. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had literally tripped over Lady Destroyah’s unconscious form just after she’d been sucked into Equestria, and had tried to drag the transformed kaiju’s massive pony body all the way to Ponyville. It hadn’t quite worked. Destroyah was heavy, and in her Equestrian form as tall if not taller than either Duchess Chrysalis or the not so long ago reformed Celestia and Luna.

Ironically a run in with a Timberwolf had occurred then, too, with Destroyah waking up just in time to turn the lone beast into a smashed pile of twigs in seconds.

I must have some kind of curse when it comes to Timberwolves. Maybe they just like the color pink? Diamond Tiara wondered.

Whatever the case, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had shown Destroyah around town and acted as the first ones to show the large and imposing, but ultimately extremely friendly and gregarious kaiju friendship. It’d certainly paid off in spades when she, along with Sir Xenilla, had become some of Equestria’s most powerful defenders. Defenders the country sorely needed with the likes of Godzilla and Battra, among others, out there seeking to do who knew what kind of harm to the world.

So in a lot of ways Diamond Tiara fully understood Ditzy Doo’s fascination with the kaiju. “They are pretty cool.” she admitted, “I’m surprised you don’t choose to live up in Canterlot so you can study them.”

Ditzy Doo coughed politely, “Would that I could, but Sir Xenilla has firmly denied access to either himself or Lady Destroyah for being, as he put it, ‘poked and prodded at’. I suppose as long as we know that they can be charged with powerful positive magic to allow them to reach their true forms then for the time being that is all we need to know. As it stands I’m happy to perform the humble task of librarian here in Ponyville. Its peaceful and quiet, just as I like it. Now, let’s see about finding you that other book.”

As Ditzy went off to grab the book she’d mentioned Diamond Tiara took a quick glance through the contents of the first one. Grim Folktales contained quite a number of stories and poems, packed with the occasional dark illustration. Giants, trolls, gremlins, ogres, and other manner of motley creatures were featured in many of the tales. There were several concerning the Everfree, just as Ditzy Doo had said, but at a surface glance none of them seemed to describe the gray phantom.

When Ditzy Doo returned with the next book, Diamond Tiara decided to take a chance, “I don’t suppose you’ve ever heard of a creature that looks like a fox?”

Her mane bobbed as Ditzy tilted her head quizzically, “That’s an oddly specific question.”

“Oh, well, I happen to know that Silver Spoon thinks foxes are...er... creepy, so I was hoping to find a good scary story about a fox like creature. You know, if there happened to be any.”

Ditzy’s penetrating gaze remained on Diamond Tiara for several, agonizingly long seconds before she shrugged and said, “Foxes don’t play a particularly notable role in most Equestrian folklore. If one is seeking stories of fox-like beings then one would have to look eastward to the lands of Neighpon or Carrea. The cultures of those lands are rich with many strange tales of fantastic beasts, and I do believe several are fox-like in nature. Sadly I don’t have any such tomes here. You’d have to seek one of the larger libraries in Manehattan or Canterlot to find such a book.”

“Oh.” Diamond Tiara tried to hide her disappointment, and with a deep breath smiled at Ditzy Doo, gathering up the two books she’d been given. “That’s fine. These should do just great for now. Thanks so much, Miss Doo.”

Ditzy Doo provided one of her rare, small smiles, adjusting her glasses again. “You’re quite welcome. Normally I’d have insisted you bring back some of the books you already have checked out before taking more, but given you’re one of my only regular customers I suppose I can make an exception.”

A short laugh escaped Diamond Tiara as she put the books in her saddlebag. “I appreciate it. I’ll bring back the one’s I already borrowed soon as I finish them. That one you recommended on managing small businesses has been really helpful!”

“Spreading knowledge is my humble yet endlessly fulfilling task. Good day to you, Diamond Tiara, and come back anytime.” Ditzy Doo said with a farewell wave, which Diamond returned before heading out. She had agreed to meet up with Silver Spoon at her friend’s house. It was just the start of the weekend, and the ‘campout’ sleepover at Silver Spoon’s had been something she’d looked forward to all week. Silver Spoon’s father was even going to barbecue hay burgers. Diamond Tiara’s mouth watered just thinking about it. There were going to be a number of other foals there as well, kind of a group sleepover to welcome one of the school’s new students who’d moved to Ponyville just that week. What was her name? Gentle Leaf, that was it! As class representative Diamond Tiara had been more than happy to endorse Silver Spoon’s idea for the group sleepover. It’d be a fun night, and she’d still have time to read through the tomes of tales she’d just picked up before evening fell.

And even if she couldn’t find anything of use in the books she’d just borrowed, she was still confident she’d find out who, or what the gray phantom was, even if she had to venture back into the depths of the Everfree to do so.

She had heard the mortals use a strange word at times, ‘insanity’, often in conjunction with actions that supposedly didn’t make sense. Jeog hadn’t quite understood what line one needed to cross for one’s actions to be dubbed ‘insanity’ but she was growing ever more certain she was close to the mark right now. She was hidden in the line of bushes outside one of the pony lairs within the depths of the town-warren the mortals called Ponville.

In broad daylight. Surrounded by happy, smiling ponies who trotted about the streets.

She was going to be seen! At least that’s what her more frightened instincts were screaming at her. She knew she was quite capable of avoiding being spotted, even in daylight, as long as she was clever and swift. That, and her innate magic of illusion was a supremely useful tool, allowing her to blend into her environment with ease. Usually. She hadn’t used much illusion craft of late. In a pinch it should work just fine to keep her from being spotted, yet despite all that, she trembled. It had been many years since she’d dared venture into mortal dwellings when the sun was high and beaming in the sky. The sun didn’t harm her, but she was a creature of the nocturnal hours, when the land was dark and the moon and stars gracing the sky rather than that baleful bright orb of fire.

Why was she doing this? It didn’t make sense even to her own cagey mind. Was she really just that lonely that she was going to risk discovery, and hence her very existence, just to see that odd little pink pony? Just because the filly had acted friendly and unafraid of her?

“Mad. Mad, mad, mad. Hehehe, gonna end up poked full of holes by the Hunter just to hear pretty pony voices. Yes, I think I understand what insanity is now.”

Her unstable little giggle and whispered words to herself gained a few odd looks in the direction of the bushes she hid in, and Jeog growled at herself. She talked to herself all the time, but in public it was probably a bad idea. It was time for her to move anyway, as she spotted her quarry exiting the giant warren shaped like a tree.

The pink filly, Diamond Tiara. Mortals liked to name things, especially themselves, and she rather liked the filly’s name. It sounded like something shiny and precious to snatch up and keep nestled in one’s own liar like a hidden treasure. Hmm, foalnapping would probably bring the Hunter all the faster, and Cho Yon would’ve frowned on it. She could all but see his face shaking his head at her. Stupid Cho Yon. He was dead, he didn’t get to tell her what to do!

Still, the dead kirin had a point. No foalnapping. No matter how tempting.

Then why am I following her?

She didn’t have a clear answer to that as she watched Diamond Tiara trot off down the street. Jeog just narrowed her eyes in concentration, and slipped away from one bit of cover to the next, fast and silent as a ghost.

Silver Spoon’s house was on the north end of town, not far from where the river passed by on its way to the Everfree. A number of cozy homes were nestled together here, larger than the ‘economic’ houses like where Diamond Tiara’s family lived, but still far from the largest homes in Ponyville. The white picket fences were like symbols of ideal middle-class Equestrian living. Diamond Tiara could all but taste the fresh cut lawns, and she noted garden gnomes peered from many a well trimmed hedge.

The Spoon family’s home sported one of the larger lawns in the area, with the back yard being especially spacious and going near to the edge of the river. The house was just one story, but it had a side garage that made it look larger than it was. Silver Spoon’s father, Red Alert, was one of Ponyville’s crew of fireponies, and actually kept a water wagon in the garage for responding to emergencies. Fire emergencies were rare, and Ponyville couldn’t afford a full fire department like big cities such as Manehattan had, but it maintained a local group for responding to the occasional fire that did break out. It paid well enough to keep the family comfortably middle-class, even if Silver Spoon’s mother choose to be a full-time homemaker.

Stormy Day answered the door, smiling down at Diamond Tiara. “Great timing. Silver Spoon just woke up. The poor dear really does like to sleep in on the weekends.”

Stormy shared her daughter’s dark gray coat, but the pegasus mare sported a neon blue mane with a silver stripe, cut in a well groomed shoulder length set of curls. She wore a white and red checkered neckerchief, and had a pair of sunglasses nestled upon her brow. Diamond Tiara returned the older mare’s smile and said, “Good morning Mrs. Spoon. She in her room still?”

There was a yawn and Silver Spoon, still bleary eyed and trying to get her glasses on straight, appeared from behind her mother and looked sleepily at Diamond Tiara.

“I’m here, I’m here. Yeesh, I thought you’d be at least a bit longer at the library.”

“Well when you ask Ditzy Doo for a book, she doesn’t waste any time.” Diamond Tiara said with a light laugh, “So you need a few minutes, or are you good to go?”

“Give me five to inhale some food and I’ll be right out.” Silver Spoon said, yawning again and turning to trot towards her home’s kitchen.

Stormy Day stepped aside for Diamond Tiara to pass, “Won’t you come in? I could fix you something up real quick before you and Silver Spoon head out.”

“That’s okay, I had some breakfast already, and I’m enjoying the weather so I’ll wait here, but thanks for the offer.” Diamond Tiara said, and Stormy nodded, leaving the door open in case Diamond Tiara changed her mind as she went to join her daugher in the kitchen. Meanwhile a stallion trotted by one of the hallways Diamond Tiara could see from the doorway, balancing a few plates piled high with hay burger patties.

Red Alert was as crimson of coat as his name, an earth pony who wasn’t particularly tall but was more than strong enough to haul a full water wagon around town at a full gallop. He gave Diamond Tiara a friendly wave as he passed by. “Hey there little Diamond! Hope you’ll be bringing your appetite over this afternoon. Plan on cooking up a storm for you kids.”

“Looking forward to it.” Diamond Tiara called back.

“Oh, and tell your dad that his self-lighting grill, uh, worked pretty well for a few days, but it kind of blew up a little bit. I got it in the garage and can drop it off tomorrow if he wants to take a look at it.”

Diamond Tiara sighed, “I’ll let him know.”

It wasn’t uncommon for Filthy Rich to get ponies in town to help him test his inventions. Red Alert had been a willing guinea pig for almost as long as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had been friends. It was probably for the general safety of all Ponyville that her father’s inventions were test run by a certified firepony.

Waiting for Silver Spoon wasn’t at all unpleasant, as it was a magnificently clear and beautiful morning. The weather schedule had called for a mostly cloudless day, warm but with just enough breeze to keep it from actually getting hot. Diamond Tiara closed her eyes for a second to enjoy the feel of both the wind and sun on her face. A moment later she heard a bush rustling nearby and her eyes snapped open, looking to her left. One of the thick leaved plants kept along the edge of the front lawn seemed to stir, but it stopped the moment Diamond Tiara looked at it. Was it the wind?

Licking her lips, Diamond Tiara slowly walked over to investigate. The bush didn’t stir again as she got closer, and with a gulp Diamond Tiara pushed some of the leaves aside. There was nothing there. However she noticed a tiny garden gnome beside the bush was knocked over. Had it been like that a moment ago?

“Hey, what are you looking at?” Silver Spoon said right behind her, making Diamond Tiara leap about half a foot off the ground and probably lose several years of her lifespan.

“GAH! S-Spoon! Make some noise or something before sneaking up on me!”

Silver Spoon giggled, and oddly Diamond Tiara swore she heard some other feminine giggling from somewhere nearby as well, but she couldn’t see anything as she looked around. Was another bush further down the yard rustling now? Just her imagination?

“Sorry, sorry. I couldn’t help it. You were seriously staring at those bushes like you expected something to pop out of them.” Silver Spoon said, her smile slowly fading as she gave Diamond Tiara a curious look, “You aren’t seriously thinking that thing from the woods followed us here?”

“N-not really. She seemed pretty shy. Not sure she’d wander into town during the daytime. Guess I’m just being jumpy.”

“What makes you so sure it was female anyway?” Silver Spoon asked.

“Just a hunch. She moved so... gracefully. I don’t know, either way I got some books from the library that might shed some light on the subject. Was going to read through them while we were out playing today.”

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes, “It's an amazing looking day, and you want to spend time reading books? We’re going to the lake, Diamond, are you going to sit on the grass reading while everypony else is swimming?”

She brushed at her mane self consciously, “Just a little bit. I promise I won’t get distracted or anything. Besides, I might find some good stories for the sleepover tonight.”

Silver Spoon accepted this with a reluctant nod, “Okay, but just try to relax and let’s have some fun today. We can go monster tracking later. Much later. You know we’re probably never going to see that critter again, right?”

“Well... you never know.” Diamond Tiara said as she and her friend trotted off to go spend the day out by the lake.

And neither noticed the bushes behind them stir once more, and a pair of ice blue eyes stare out at the departing fillies with keen interest.

That had been a close call! Diamond Tiara had been within a bare pace of Jeog’s hiding spot, and only a quick bit of illusion craft had kept her presence hidden. She’d been trying to avoid relying on too much illusion, lest she alert any of the magical ponies with the horns on their heads. However it was going to only get harder to follow the object of her attention, now that the filly was heading deeper into the warren of mortal dwellings. If she wanted to keep up, she’d have few options but to make use of more illusions.

Spreading such illusion craft over an area was entirely doable, but far more likely to be noticed. Easier to craft the illusion around herself, less risk of being spotted. But she found herself nervously pawing at the dirt as the thought squirmed its way around her mind. She hadn’t crafted illusion around herself in a long time. It’d invite interacting with the ponies. So far she’d only mustered the courage to follow...

An irritated growl pulled itself from her throat. If she was going this far, there was no point in simpering. It was either do what she came here to do, or go crawling back to her empty, boring, lonely forest! Snarling to herself, she let azure foxfire blaze around her paws as she called forth her own unique and innate magic, the very ethereal essence that made up most of her solid body. Illusion craft usually required a certain focused mindset, especially the kind that affected her own body, almost akin to shape changing.

Frustration and foxfire don’t mix.

A young pony couple, out enjoying a pleasant morning stroll, cast odd looks at a nearby clump of bushes outside one of the homes they were passing as a spontaneous puff of blue smoke and fire flashed for a second, and a coughing small gray earth pony filly stumbled out.

“Stupid bushes, why do they combust so easily!?” growled the filly in a scratchy, squeaky voice that somehow didn’t sound quite right, as she shook her head and gained her bearings.

The filly’s light gray coat carried a tint of blue to it, and her ears, while seemingly normal pony ears, had a rather pronounced pointed taper to their tips, making them look larger. Her mane was wild and unkempt, a more heavily blue tinted gray than her coat, as was her tail which was so bushy that it almost didn’t look like it belonged on a pony.

The pony couple had stopped to stare, and the filly turned light, frosty blue eyes onto them and pulled her lips back in a snarl, showing bone white teeth that might’ve actually had canines.

“What are you looking at!? Have you not seen a perfectly normal, not suspicious tiny mortal before!?”

The stallion exchanged a glance with the mare he was with and smiled politely, if uneasily. “Sorry, didn’t mean to stare. Are you okay little miss? You’re not playing around with fireworks without adult supervision are you?”

Blinking, the filly gave them a strange look where she licked her lips with a tongue that seemed a shade too long to be normal. “Yes. Fireworks. That’s it. And nothing else.”

With a twitch of her tapered ears, the filly took a slight side step away from the couple, then said, “Bye.”

Before either of the ponies could question her further Jeog galloped off, leaving the utterly bewildered couple behind. As she ran she shook her head ruefully. She was really out of practice with personal illusions. Too many years alone in the woods with nothing to do. Not only did the bit of foxfire she used to craft the illusion get away from her and burn the bushes a bit, but her personal changes weren’t quite as complete as she’d like. She’d been trying to imitate a fully grown pony, but had ended up with the shape of a filly.

Oh well, it’d work well enough, as long as she didn’t get too close to hated water or iron.

Now, back to stalking her quarry! Expertly. Silently. Like a shadow in the night.

A crashing noise amid the shelves behind her made Diamond Tiara look over her shoulder. At the end of the grocery store aisle a stack of cans had been knocked over, clattering about the floor. Several other shoppers, startled by the commotion, were staring at the mess, but there was no clear perpetrator. Diamond Tiara thought for a second that she saw some small, gray form scampering around the corner of another aisle, but she couldn’t be sure.

“Wow, somepony’s being clumsy.” Silver Spoon noted, also glancing back at the mess, but then shrugging as she said, “Anyway do we have everything yet?”

Diamond Tiara starred in the direction that gray form had gone a moment longer before shaking her head and looking at the list held in her hoof as she and her friend walked along the aisle. “Still need to grab some soda. Do you think Gentle Leaf will prefer grape or orange flavor?”

“You didn’t ask her?”

“Uh, she’s mute Spoon, kind of makes it hard to get details like that. It was hard enough just getting her to agree to coming over for the sleepover.” Diamond Tiara admitted, “I didn’t want to push her too hard. She seems pretty shy already, so I’m hoping we can just get her to feel more welcome and relaxed here in Ponyville.”

Silver Spoon seemed to mull it over for a moment, then with a firm nod said, “Well, when in doubt, go with grape. Everypony loves grape.”

“I don’t think Pipsqueak does.”

“Pipsqueak is weird.”

Diamond Tiara accepted this with a shrug, and started looking among the shelves of stacked up bottles of soda until she got to the big purple jugs with the pictures of grapes on them. Silver Spoon was pulling the shopping cart, already partially filled with extra food items for both enjoying at the lake and for the sleepover itself. Diamond Tiara felt a stab of guilt at the sight, knowing full well it was Silver Spoon paying for everything. Well, Silver Spoon’s parents at any rate. Diamond Tiara added it to the mental tab of things to pay back someday, when she was able.

She reached for the nearest bottle of grape soda she could, and when she removed it she saw two piercing blue eyes staring at her from the other side of the shelf.

“Ahhh!” she yelped, and whatever was looking at her also let out a surprised yipping sound, banging its head on the shelf as it scooted away. Diamond had also fallen back,, dropping the bottle, which bounced and hit Silver Spoon in the back of the head.

“Oof! Gah, Diamond, what the hay!?”

“Sorry Spoon, didn’t meant to. But did you see that?” Diamond Tiara stood up on shaky legs and peered through the gap left in the shelves. Nothing was there. Frowning she leaned forward, poking her head through to glance around at the other aisle. Nothing to the left, nothing to the right. Had she just imagined someone or something with blue eyes staring back at her?

“Uh, Diamond, see what? You feeling okay?” asked Silver Spoon, still rubbing at her head but now looking at Diamond Tiara with quizzical worry.

“Y-yeah, just thought I saw... nevermind.” she said, turning and going to retrieve the fallen bottle of soda. Placing it into the cart, she joined Silver Spoon in resuming their trek across the grocery store.

While waiting in line at the checkout stand, Diamond Tiara kept looking about, casting watchful glances, wondering if she’d catch sight of whatever it was she saw. Her mind was already turning over the possibilities. Either one of her classmates was trying to pull a prank on her, she was imagining things, or... or maybe she didn’t have to go looking for the gray phantom at all?

Seeing nothing, however, she just sighed and followed Silver Spoon out of the store once their items were paid for, carrying one of the bags herself, although Silver Spoon easily carried twice as much. The extra items they’d gotten for the sleepover would keep just fine until they were done playing at the lake, and the rest of it was stuff for a light lunch and drinks for hanging out at the lake itself.

The lake in question was on the northeast side of town, just outside the actual town limits and nestled between some low rolling hills that kept it fairly private from the rest of Ponyville. It was a popular spot with foals and adult ponies alike, especially when the weather was warm and fine like today. Diamond Tiara wasn’t at all surprised to see the area already had a number of ponies there by the time she and Silver Spoon trotted out to the spot.

Today it looked like there were only foals there, either playing and swimming in the shallows of the lake, or around the lake edge itself where there looked to be a vigorous game of ball being played. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon didn’t waste any time in staking out a spot under one of the trees near the lake, where Diamond laid out a picnic cloth and they could set their bags down.

“Come on Diamond, let’s go!” Silver Spoon said excitedly, practically bouncing on her hooves.

“Okay, just a sec.” Diamond Tiara said as she got her saddlebags off, and gave the books peeking out from within a longing look. Silver Spoon, seeing this, frowned and put a hoof on her friend’s head to turn her around.

“Books later. Swim now.”

“Geeze, you turn into a real Miss Bossy when you don’t get your playtime in.”

“Somepony has to be the not-adult in this pairing.” Silver Spoon said with a wink, “If I didn’t get you to play and have some fun now and again you’d turn yourself crazy real quick.”

Diamond Tiara didn’t have a counterargument for that, and she wasn’t certain she really wanted to argue the point anyway. The books would still be there when she got back. She let herself be dragged to the lake, and within minutes she was splashing around and having a good time along with the other foals. Most of the young ponies present were from Miss Cheerilee’s class, although there were a few foals in town who were homeschooled as well. She recognized Rumble and Pipsqueak, along with Twist and Cherry, all from her class. She didn’t see Gentle Leaf, however, which disappointed Diamond Tiara a little. She supposed it was enough that the shy filly was coming over to Silver Spoon’s house, but it would’ve been nice to see her here. She set aside the concern and within the span of an hour there was everything from games of underwater tag to a entire pretend pirate fleet battle with the vaguest of defined rules but plenty of laughter.

As much as she was enjoying herself, Diamond Tiara was also exhausted in no time. She just wasn’t the most physical of ponies. Earth ponies might’ve been fabled for having higher than average stamina, but just like there were a few pegasi who weren’t great fliers or unicorns who lacked any noteworthy magical talent, Diamond Tiara was pretty much devoid of physical endurance. What she did have going for her was smarts and knowing how to use her words.

In short order, whether she’d really intended it or not, she’d convinced one of the few adults in the lake to let her make use of his blow-up floating chair, and she found herself relaxing lounging upon it while enjoying a box of orange juice that she’d also sweet talked one of the local colts into letting her have. Of course she never forgot a favor, so mentally cataloged names and faces for future payment of debt, but in the meantime she was quite content to relax while the other foals kept splashing around.

“Oi, Miss Tiara?” asked a breathy, heavily accented voice from nearby, “Isn’t that there picnic set-up yours an’ your friend’s?”

She glanced over, seeing that the foal who was talking was Pipsqueak. He’d moved to Ponyville from Trottingham about half a year ago, and while she didn’t know him too well she did find him to be a friendly sort with plenty of energy. He even talked a lot about ways to help the school and had taken an interest in running for class representative next year. Diamond Tiara had been running unopposed for a while, and she welcomed the competition, especially from a young colt who seemed genuinely interested in helping the school. If she won the election again, he'd make an excellent part of the student council. If he happened to win, she'd be more than happy to take on the role of his adviser.

Once his words registered with her head, she lazily kicked her hind legs to turn her floating chair around to look towards the tree where she and Silver Spoon had left their things.

“H-Hey!” she yelled, “That’s our stuff!”

There were a trio of familiar fillies around her and Silver Spoon’s bags, and Diamond Tiara could see the food meant for her and Spoon’s lunch was scattered about, some of the bags torn open. She flopped out of the floating chair and proceeding to half swim, half charge out of the lake, anger pouring into her voice.

“What do you three think you’re doing?”

The ‘three’ in question were fillies Diamond Tiara knew well; Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle. Rivals wasn’t quite the right term to use. Adversaries didn’t fit either. All she knew was that she didn’t mix well with them. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t tried, when first meeting them, but, well... things hadn't gone well, and had only proceeded downhill since. The three weren’t bullies or anything, but they were rather aggressive in pursuing their own brand of fun. The trio even earned near identical cutie marks, swords in the same color as their manes but with differing pommel shapes for each of them; an apple for Apple Bloom, a musical note for Sweetie Belle, and a wing for Scootaloo.

Near as Diamond Tiara could tell their cutie marks represented the trio’s remarkable talent for finding trouble. As foals it was problematic, but if they ever grew into responsible adults Diamond Tiara imagined they’d make good detectives or city guards.

Apple Bloom, as usual, was the one to take the lead in the trio as Diamond Tiara approached them. The sun yellow earth pony filly turned, apple red mane and tail bouncing as she turned slightly narrowed amber eyes on Diamond. Her accent was near as thick as Pipsqueak’s, although more of a farm country drawl than Pipsqueak’s Trottingham accent.

“What’s it to ya what we’re doin’? We’re just lookin’ ‘round at the mess. What, you n’ Silver Spoon can’t have a’ picnic without makin’ pigs o’ yerselves, Tiara?”

“We didn’t make this mess!” Diamond Tiara stated firmly, nearly getting into Apple Bloom’s face until she remembered she was supposed to be setting an example for the other foals. Taking a deep breath she tried to calm herself and said, “If you guys didn’t do it, who did?”

“Dude, like we care about messing with your food.” said Scootaloo, her small wings flapping with irritation as the bright orange pegasus filly came up to one side of Apple Bloom, glaring, “And if we wanted to, what would you do about it?”

“Guys, can we try to not ruin the day with an argument?” Sweetie Belle said, approaching Apple Bloom’s other side, almost as if she was the good guard to Scootaloo’s bad guard. However there was no particular fondness in Sweetie Belle’s eyes as the creme white unicorn filly glanced at Diamond Tiara, “Believe it or not we didn’t do anything to your little picnic setup. We just saw the mess and got curious.”

“Trouble, Diamond?” Silver Spoon asked, still dripping wet from the lake and adjusting her glasses as she cast a hard glance at the three fillies in front of Diamond Tiara.

“No. Not exactly.” said Diamond, “At least I don’t think so.”

“What’s that supposed ta mean?” said Apple Bloom sharply, looming closer to Diamond Tiara. Apple Bloom might’ve had something of a cutesy look about her, what with the pink bow-tie in her mane, but Diamond Tiara knew the filly was a lot stronger than her compact form made her look. Unlike Diamond, Apple Bloom was very much in touch with her earth pony roots. The whole Apple family was. It lent a certain aura of menace to when Apple Bloom decided to lean in on anypony.

“We didn’t do nothin’, so you can shut yer trap.” Apple Bloom left off the ‘or else’ to the end of the sentence, but it was there for anypony to hear who could read between the lines. Several other foals had noticed the confrontation and had gathered, but didn’t venture close. Only Silver Spoon stood beside Diamond Tiara, but that was comforting presence enough, especially when Silver Spoon interposed herself partway between Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom, eyeing the other filly head on.

“Hey, if you didn’t do anything, then it was an honest mistake. So back off.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes lit up with challenge, and she was abruptly nose to nose with Silver Spoon.

“How ‘bout you back off.”

In terms of strength, Diamond Tiara had a great deal of respect for Silver Spoon, but she wasn’t eager to see her friend go at it with the burly Apple filly. Besides fighting among classmates wasn’t exactly something she wanted to encourage. Quickly she stepped up to the glaring pair, schooling her voice to a carefully disarming tone.

“Alright, let me apologize. I shouldn’t have rushed up accusing you girls of anything, and I’m sorry for that. How about we all just simmer down and let bygones by bygones.”

“We did come here to play, Apple Bloom, not fight.” put in Sweetie Belle in a similarly diplomatic tone.

“Fighting can be just as fun as playing.” put in Scootaloo, but Sweetie Belle quickly elbowed the pegasus. “Hey! What was that for!?”

“Inserting your hoof into your mouth.”

Apple Bloom, not taking her eyes off Silver Spoon, said, “Can it you two.” She took a deep breath and held out a hoof to Diamond Tiara. “Apology accepted, Tiara. We’ll be all friendly like n’ ferget this.”

The pair shook hooves, and Diamond Tiara breathed a bit easier, “Thanks. I shouldn’t have flown off the handle like that.”

“Meh, I do the same thang all the time. Ya oughta learn ta pick yer battles though.” Apple Bloom said, while gripping Diamond Tiara’s hoof a bit tighter and pulling the smaller filly closer until she was all but staring down Diamond’s snout, “‘Cause if I dang well felt like it, ye’d be eatin’ dirt.”

She let Diamond Tiara go and started to trot off towards the lake, Sweetie Belle sighing and giving a slightly apologetic look before following, and Scootaloo skipping along without a care. Silver Spoon ground her teeth together and looked ready to go after them, but Diamond Tiara held a hoof out to her friend, shaking her head.

“But Diamond-”

“It’s okay Spoon. She’s got a chip on her shoulder. Leave it be.”

Diamond Tiara had meant her apology. She shouldn’t have just immediately thought that the three fillies had messed up her and Silver Spoon’s picnic. Apple Bloom might’ve had a rough attitude, but honestly if Diamond Tiara had a bigger sister who was a wanted outlaw, she might have a chip on her shoulder too. Still, that left the question, if Apple Bloom and her friends hadn’t gotten into the picnic bags... who had?

It was around that moment when, seemingly from nowhere, a clump of mud went sailing straight into the side of Apple Bloom’s mane.

“What the-!? Who threw that!?” Apple Bloom boomed, turning with a furious glare. Most of the nearby foals took rather large and cautious steps backwards, and while Apple Bloom’s eyes briefly passed over them, they went to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon first.

“Was that yer doin’, Silver Spoon?” Apple Bloom asked with gritted teeth. “My sister gave me this here bow. If ya just ruined it then there’s a serious poundin’ comin’ yer way.”

“Wasn’t her, Apple Bloom.” Sweetie Belle said, “It came from the wrong direction.”

“I think it came from over there!” said Scootaloo, pointing at some bushes clumped around a copse of trees by one of the nearby short hills.

Apple Bloom swung towards the bushes, “That right? Hey! Whoever’s in there better come out an’ face the music! I ain’t no fan o’ cowards who like ta hide n’ the brush.”

In response another clump of mud came sailing out of the bushes. It would’ve hit Apple Bloom square in the face, but Scootaloo, fast as a little hummingbird, leaped in the way and took the sling of mud herself. The pegasus just grinned, not even bothering to wipe the mud off her chest.

“Ha! Nice try! Want to try throwing more!? I’m fast enough to catch all you got!”

“Nice save, Scoots, thanks.” Apple Bloom said, still glaring at the bushes.

“No problem. I don’t mind getting dirty. So, wanna find out who the dead pony slinging mud at us is? Give them a friendly Ponyville hello?”

“Ooooh yeah.” Apple Bloom said and started trotting towards the bushes. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes, groaning under her breath.

“Could have been such a nice day, but noooooo...”

Diamond Tiara, seeing all this, sucked in a deep breath and broke into a fast canter. “This is getting out of hoof. Silver Spoon, little help?”

“Right behind you.” Silver Spoon said, cantering right beside her as they quickly got between Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and their intended target in the bushes... whoever they were.

“Hold on, Applebloom, that’s enough.” Diamond Tiara said, holding a hoof out. The other filly didn’t stop, only slowed, like an approaching hurricane with a thunderous look on her face.

“It’ll be ‘nough when I buck whoever did this right upside their noggin’. I only got one o’ these bows!”

“And I’m sure whoever did that is very sorry...” Diamond Tiara said, casting a worried and curious glance at the bushes. “If they come out and apologize I’m sure we can get the bow cleaned up before it stains.”

“Too late fer that.” Apple Bloom grunted, not slowing down. Silver Spoon moved to intercept her, but Scootaloo was faster, leaping with surprisingly athletic ability, little wings buzzing not so much in true flight but a small scale hover, to go right over the heads of both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to land right in front of the bushes.

“No worries Apple Bloom, I’ll flush ‘em out!” said Scootaloo, and leaped right into the brush, vanishing into the thick green branches with a rapid rustle of leaves.

Meanwhile Apple Bloom took advantage of both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon’s distraction to shove past both of them, following her friend into the bushes. Diamond Tiara grunted as she picked herself back up, given a helping hoof by Silver Spoon, and turned to the bushes to shout, ‘Hey! Whoever it is don’t hurt them! They probably didn’t mean to-”

She was cut off by a sudden loud commotion from inside the bushes that occurred so fast that she couldn’t do much but stare.

“There she is! Get her!”

Bushes rustled and shook at a point a few meters into the brush, like the whole cluster of tangled plants was having a seizure.

“I got her tail! What the- Gah! She slipped away! After her!”

Something or somepony growled in a high pitched tone, and more bushes shook in a line rushing to the left.

“Oh you’re not getting away you bushy little squirt! C’mere!”

The sound of pounding hooves was followed by a grunt of somepony tackling another. The bushes quirvered.

“Hold her still Scoots!”

The bushes went still for a moment, followed by an almost animalistic snarling.

“Tryin’ to, but she’s way stronger than she-OWW! She bit me!”

“Why I oughta! Grraaa!”

As the cluster of bushes continued to quiver with what was no doubt a struggle of epic proportions, Sweetie Belle came up beside Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon with an utterly deadpan look on her face.

“I sometimes wonder why I’m friends with those two.”

Silver Spoon glanced sidelong at the unicorn filly, “Can’t you just keep them in check?”

A smirk that was sardonically seasoned crossed Sweetie Belle’s lips, “Has that ever worked between you and Diamond Tiara when she gets one of her own crazy ideas?”

Silver Spoon opened her mouth as if to say something, then slowly closed it with a frown. Diamond Tiara couldn’t say much to that either, given the events of just a few days ago. Besides, she was distracted from saying anything by the sight of Apple Bloom and Scootaloo being bodily tossed from the bushes like sacks of grain, both of them scraped up by twigs and a noticeable bite on Scootaloo’s right foreleg. Following the pair out of the bushes in a gray blur was a small filly who pounced upon the other two, the trio becoming a tangled mess of swiping limbs and half uttered curses and growls.

However, shockingly enough to Diamond Tiara, the gray stranger was strong enough to end up pinning both the other fillies under her hooves once she got on top in the scuffle. Slightly tapered ears were flat against a head sporting a wildly uncombed mane of dark, blueish gray. A bushy tail of a similar color bristled behind the filly.

Most of all Diamond Tiara noticed the filly’s brilliantly bright, ice blue eyes, that stared icicle-like down at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. She had seen those eyes before. It couldn’t be a coincidence, could it? Then again, this clearly wasn’t the creature that had saved her and Silver Spoon in the Everfree Forest. The gray phantom had been much larger, and clearly not a pony, for what little Diamond Tiara had seen of her.

Either way, this strange filly was growling down at two of her classmates, and whoever instigated the fight was irrelevant. Diamond Tiara needed to end this before it got any worse.

“Please, whoever you are, will you let those two up?” Diamond Tiara asked, approaching with carefully slow steps and speaking in a quiet, understanding tone.

The odd gray filly’s reaction was even stranger still. She blinked, as if not sure what she was doing, and literally leaped away from the two she had pinned, as if they were on fire. She backpedalled towards the bushes, snapping her head left and right like a trapped animal. Those blue eyes were dilated and the filly was drawing in ever quickening breaths. Her gaze then focused on Diamond Tiara, and seemed to freeze the filly in place for a moment, long enough for Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to get their hooves under them.

“Ugh, dagnabit, I ain’t through with ya yet!” Apple Bloom spat, head lowered and scraping the ground with her hoof as if about to charge. Scootaloo looked equally ready to jump back into the fray. Most of the foals who’d come out to the lake had gathered to watch the spectacle, wide eyed. Diamond Tiara would’ve given her mane if it meant getting an actual adult around here to deal with this, but it was just her and Silver Spoon.

Scrambling, she got between Apple Bloom and the gray stranger. “Wait!”

Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes at Diamond Tiara. “Gimme one good reason ta do that.”

“She’s...” Diamond Tiara glanced back at the filly, who still looked frozen in a mix of confusion and fear, and thought quickly. The filly looked like she’d been hiding out in the wilderness for all the grooming her body showed, and there was a wild, skittish look about her. Diamond Tiara’s mind started rapidly constructing a story. “She’s... a foreign exchange student.”

Apple Bloom’s head tilted to the side and Diamond Tiara could near hear the gears grinding to a halt in the other filly’s head. “Wut?”

“Y-yeah! She’s from... uh...” she picked a name she’d heard recently from Ditzy Doo, “Neighpon. Really far away. My family volunteered to be a... boarding home for traveling students. Yup. She’s a guest at my place.”

“What was she doing hiding in the bushes, throwing mud at ponies?” asked Sweetie Belle, eyeing the gray filly with a critical look.

Diamond Tiara gulped, and dove headfirst into the realm of ‘making it up as you go along’. “Its Neighponese tradition. Mudslinging is a sign of friendship in their culture. She was just showing admiration for how much she, uh... liked Apple Bloom’s mane. And of course hiding in bushes is an ancient form of Neighponese hide and seek. She was just playing is all, you see?”

Scootaloo’s wings buzzed with agitation as she rubbed her leg, “And what, is biting ponies a Nieghponese sign of being a total jerk?”

“Actually that’s called ‘self-defense’, and I think it’s pretty universal,” said Silver Spoon dryly, earning a stink-eyed look from Scootaloo.

“You did just try to attack her," pointed out Diamond Tiara, gesturing with a hoof, “I mean look at her, she’s clearly scared and doesn’t get what’s going on.”

Apple Bloom continued to stare heatedly at the gray filly, but Sweetie Belle came up to her and said, “Look, my sister’s amazing with cloths and accessories, and I’m pretty sure she’s got a spell that can clean up just about anything. Let’s just go to her boutique and she’ll clean up your dumb bow.”

“It ain’t dumb.” Apple Bloom said, her angry exterior cracking for a second as a note of genuine sadness entered her voice. “My sis gave it ta me...”

“C’mon Bloom, let’s go.” said Scootaloo, huffing out an annoyed sigh, “This was getting lame anyway.”

Having seemingly lost the momentum of the moment, Apple Bloom just gave the gray filly a final glare, and then let herself be led away by her friends. A few seconds went by after the trio was gone before all the gathered foals started chattering in excited voices.

“Wow did you see that!?”

“She had them both held down like they were foals!”

“Uh, aren’t we all foals?”

“Tinier foals, then. Like, grade-school foals.”

“I think we’re still in grade-school.”

“...Rumble, why do you have to ruin everything?”

Meanwhile Diamond Tiara had turned to face the strange new filly, with Silver Spoon sticking close to her as she approached the newcomer. For her part the gray filly hadn’t stopped staring at Diamond Tiara, standing so still she may as well have been a lawn ornament.

Taking a deep breath and putting on her best, most friendly smile, and extended a hoof. She spoke in a low voice, so the other chatting foals couldn’t hear her. Hopefully they’d keep buying that she knew this filly, at least until she learned her name. “Hi, my name is Diamond Tiara, and this is my friend, Silver Spoon. Sorry, I know you’re not from Neighpon. Just needed something to tell Apple Bloom. What’s your name?”

Unsure eyes blinked at her offered hoof. The filly looked as if she was about to run away at any second. Fear, apprehension, and a strange glimmer of need seemed to battle across the filly’s face as she hesitantly raised her own hoof... then promptly turned and bolted away at a dead run.

“Hey! Wait! Dang it!” Diamond Tiara rushed after her, Silver Spoon letting out a groan and chasing behind them.

The bush branches scraped at her face, but in a few seconds Diamond Tiara was through the other side. She was sure she’d only been a few paces behind the gray filly, but when she got through the bushes she cast her gaze about, but couldn’t spot her anywhere. That didn’t seem possible. There wasn’t anywhere to hide and there was no way the filly was fast enough to get away that quickly!

“Where’d she go?” asked Silver Spoon, coming through the bushes, removing a broken twig that had gotten caught in her braid.

“I don’t know.” Diamond Tiara said, letting out a crestfallen sigh. “But whoever she is, I think she’s in desperate need of a friend.”

By the time her panic attack faded to the point where she could think straight, she was already back at her lair in the Whitetail woods. There her anger and frustrations flared up, causing her to vent savagely upon whatever was close at paw. Piles of long collected junk were scattered, and intricately carved bits of swirls and patterns in the walls were marred by harsh, ripping claws.

Settling down some time later Jeog just let herself fall to the floor in a flump, blowing out the last vestige of her anger in a sighing huff.

That hadn’t gone well at all, and she had none to blame but herself for it. First she’d exposed herself, quite foolishly, in hindsight. When she’d seen the food that Diamond Tiara had left inside the bags, after a few close calls of nearly being caught at the strange mortal lair where they exchanged bits of metal for the things stacked on shelves, she’d remembered she hadn’t hunted any breakfast that morning.

So she’d crept up to the bags and rummaged around for a bite to eat. Mortal food was strange tasting but she’d grown fond of it over the centuries. There was always a visceral joy in finding a tasty woodland critter to hunt, but mortal food was so diverse it was hard not to enjoy it. She’d wolfed down a few items and then crept back to the bushes in no time, and certainly none had spotted her.

Then she realized the mistake when the confrontation happened with those three other tiny mortal ponies and Diamond Tiara. Keen hearing allowed her to catch every bit of the conversation, and she’d smelled the aggressive anger coming off the yellow filly with the silly looking pink bow. Jeog hadn’t liked the way that one had given Diamond Tiara a reason to smell of fear, and so had decided to play a bit of a prank.

Once again, in hindsight not the smartest thing to do. Still, she could have slipped away, then, but she’d gotten angry herself when the fillies had chased after her into the bushes. Instinct rose up, hot and sharp, and before she knew what was happening she was scraping with a pair of mini-mortals and being stared at by just about every other mortal present, including Diamond Tiara.

That’s when the fear had hit in full force. She’d let her instincts control her, just as she had in the past.

As Diamond Tiara had spouted off some nonsense to try and calm the situation down, Jeog hadn’t been paying much attention because her mind had been yanked back to a horrible memory from long ago, during another moment where she’d reacted on instinct... with a much darker and bloodier price to be paid for it.

Had that been why she’d run from Diamond Tiara? The filly had asked for a name, and Jeog had none to give save the one the Hunter had given her. There was the name Cho Yon had once called her, but remembering that name was even more painful than the memories of that night of fire. Fear and shame at the memory had driven her away. Anger and instinct had caused her to expose herself. Now she was back to square one.

And the yearning for companionship remained, stronger than ever from how close she’d been to getting it.

Should she have taken Diamond Tiara’s hoof? Even if it ended in fire and blood, just as it had with Cho Yon?

He’d offered his hoof, once. She’d taken it, and it had been a wonderful thing, until the end.

There were times she wondered why she’d taken such an interest in the mortals. Life had been much simpler before then. She’d worried and feared for nothing before she’d mingled with mortals. Back then life was an endless expanse of hunting, playing, exploring, and following whatever whim she wished with no care for anything beyond satisfying her wants of the moment.

Yet in watching mortals she’d become so curious about them. They seemed to have something inside them that made them shine with colors she didn’t understand. But she wanted to. Oh, how she wanted to understand those enrapturing, bright colors. They had so many names; friendship, family, compassion... love. Words that seemed too small to contain the mystery of what they tried to describe.

Like a cub reaching for the reflection of the moon on a dark lake, all she ended up doing was falling in and drowning herself, it seemed.

And it's still better than spending eternity alone and afraid.

So she had a choice to make. Give up and go back into hiding... or try one more time to trust a mortal.

Night started to fall before Jeog decided.

“And then she turned around only to find that the face looking back at her from the mirror was that of the old crone from the forest!” Diamond Tiara said in an ominous tone, using the light from the small campfire to alight her face as she gave a cock-eyed stare at the gathered foals and took on a cracking, affected voice of age. “‘Where’s my rusty horseshoe!’”

There were squeals and shrieks of equal parts fright and delight from the gathered foals, most of whom still had the remains of s’mores smeared on their cheeks. Diamond Tiara took a quick bow amid a few hoof stomps and sat back down on her haunches, enjoying the warmth of the fire now that the sun was setting and the air was taking on a chill.

So far the sleepover was going great. Everypony seemed to be having a good time, even Gentle Leaf. The filly couldn’t speak, but she could certainly smile, and while she’d seemed nervous at first, after a tasty dinner of barbecued hayburgers and gathering around the campfire for s’mores she’d started to grin and Diamond Tiara began to relax as well.

There’d been a few questions about the ‘Neighponese’ filly who’d run off, but so far Diamond Tiara had managed to deflect all of them. She’d managed to read through the first half of one of her books and while there’d been nothing of use concerning foxes or fox-like creatures, there’d been plenty of spooky stories to use as ammo for story-time around the fire.

“So who’s next for storytelling?” asked Twist, a earth pony filly white a cherry red, poofy mane and a slight lisp who was the one who’d brought the stuff for s’mores.

Rumble fluttered his wings and held up his hooves, “I’m no good with scary stories. Hey, maybe Gentle Leaf knows a few?”

Next to him Pipsqueak nudged the pegasus colt and said, “Rumble, shh!”

“What?” Rumble asked, then noticed Gentle Leaf’s sudden uneasy look, and he gulped. “Oh, uh, sorry.”

Gentle Leaf waved a pale green hoof, shaking her head as if to say ‘don’t worry about it’, dark mane falling around half of her face. After a brief, awkward silence Silver Spoon spoke up.

“Well we’ve already done plenty of stories. How about I go pull out some board games? We can set them up on the deck table.”

“Ooo, do you guys have Relic Seekers? That’s my favorite.” asked Twist, grinning and display a full set of braces that gleamed in the firelight.

“I think we do. I’ll have to go check.” said Silver Spoon, “I’ll go grab several, and we can take turns picking which one to play.”

“I’ll lend you a hoof.” said Diamond Tiara, hopping up and joining her friend in heading back into the house. As they trotted towards the door to the garage, where the shelves with the board games was, Diamond took a deep breath.

“I was thinking about what happened at the lake...”

“Uh-huh.” said Silver Spoon, “About the ‘foreign exchange student’. Seriously can’t believe anypony believed that. What are you going to do if your parents heard about that little rumor?”

“Plausibly deny it. Foals make up gossip all the time. Don’t worry about it. Anyway like I was saying, I’ve been thinking about that filly, and you must’ve noticed she had some similarities...” she trailed off as she looked about to make sure neither of Silver Spoon’s parents were in earshot. She and Silver Spoon entered the garage, and after the door closed she continued, “...between her and the gray phantom.”

Silver Spoon paused, pursing her lips. “I’m gray in coloration too. Do you think I’m the gray phantom?”

“No, duh, of course you're not. But think about it. A mysterious gray filly with blue eyes who looks like she’s been living in the woods just happens to show up a few days after a mysterious gray being with blue eyes saves us in the Everfree Forest. I know it doesn’t necessarily make sense, but then again did it make total sense when the kaiju showed up from Earth?”

A crease of thought crossed Silver Spoon’s brow, and then her eyes widened a bit, “Wait, are you suggesting what I think you are?”

Diamond Tiara nodded enthusiastically, tail wagging, “I was thinking about it from every angle, and it makes sense, right? We know when the kaiju got yanked from Earth to here they got changed into pony forms, right? But they’re still a lot faster and stronger than normal ponies, with some of them even having powers like their big kaiju forms. And that filly was totally strong enough to wrestle Scootaloo and Apple Bloom at the same time!”

“Duchess preserve us...” Silver spoon breathed, “You think she’s another kaiju!?”

“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” Diamond Tiara said, “I mean, maybe when she saved us in the forest she was using, like, a tiny portion of kaiju power or something to look bigger and stuff.”

Silver Spoon was silent for a brief moment, her eyes growing serious. “We should tell an adult about this, Diamond. If she is a kaiju, this is too important to sit on.”

“Just hold that thought.” said Diamond Tiara, reaching to grab up several of the stacked board game boxes sitting on the lower part of one of the garage shelves. Hoofing them over to Silver Spoon she said, “Look, I don’t want to scare her off. She seems way more skittish than Lady Destroyah was. If we do this wrong she might vanish into the forest and we’ll never find out for sure who she is. It might even be too late for that, if we scared her bad enough at the lake.”

Silver Spoon sighed, pushing her glasses up and eyeing Diamond Tiara levelly. “So you don’t want to get adults mixed into it until... what? You’ve made friends with her? What if she is a kaiju but isn’t one of the good ones?”

“Then why did she save us?”

“That could’ve been a coincidence! Maybe she just wanted to crush a few Timberwolves for fun, and us being there was a happy accident! Diamond, you’re being way too trusting here. You saw what she did to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.”
Diamond Tiara’s eyebrows shot up, “I also saw her back off when confronted. That’s not how a bloodthirsty kaiju acts. If she’s some big threat, why not attack Ponyville itself?”

Silver spoon rubbed her forehead, groaning. “You’re not letting this go, are you? Do you remember that you asked me to smack you the next time you ignored my advice?”

A nervous shifting entered Diamond Tiara’s hooves, “Uh, well, yes.”

“Take it as a sign of my supreme patience I’m not following up on that right now.” Silver Spoon said, heading for the door with the board games balanced on her back. “I trust you Diamond, but I just want you to consider going to the adults if this gets too dangerous.”

“Well, it might not matter anytime soon. We don’t even know where she is.” Diamond Tiara said, and they both went back outside into the vast backyard, and were immediately greeted by the sight of all the foals excitedly gathered on the wooden porch deck surrounding a familiar face.

The unusually shaggy and wild looking filly appeared even more pale in the rising moonlight, her gray fur tinted to a more silvery sheen. Her blue eyes still carried a nervous sense of fear, but there was an even greater gleam of stubborn determination in the frosty blue orbs as well. The foals clustered around her were asking rapid fire questions, save for Gentle Leaf who stood a bit to the side, curious but understandably quiet. Amid it all Pipsqueak noticed Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon returning and eagerly waved.

“Oi, look who it is! You’re Neighpon pal just wandered in outta the dark! She doesn’t talk much.”

“I see that.” said Diamond Tiara, gulping, “Why don’t you guys give her a bit of space, eh?”

The other foals reluctantly backed off, but Pipsqueak kept looking between Diamond Tiara and the gray filly, his own curiosity radiating off his face. “Hey, you never told us her name before you two ran off earlier. What’s she called?”

“How about we let her speak for herself.” Diamond Tiara said, evading the question and giving the gray filly a hopeful look and disarming smile, “Go ahead, it's okay. You can tell them your name.”

At least she hoped the other filly could. If she was also a mute like Gentle Leaf this was going to get really awkward, really fast. All the gathered foals eyes turned to the gray filly expectantly. For a second Diamond Tiara feared she might run away again, but the gray filly visibly steadied herself, her oddly bushy tail twitching behind her, and spoke in a high and slightly scratchy voice.

“I’ve been called Jeog. That is the only name I have.”

Not only was the way she said it strange, but there was a thick undercurrent of what sounded to Diamond Tiara like shame, even bitterness. Yet it was a small, subtle tone, and it seemed lost on the other foals who all started quickly asking ‘Jeog’ questions.

“Whoa is that a normal Neighpon name, it sounds weird!”

“Why’s your tail so fluffy! Are all ponies in Neighpon fuzzy tails like you?”

“Why’d you run away before anyway? You were totally kicking Apple Bloom and Scootaloo’s tails. I wouldn't run away from anything if I was that strong!”

Silver Spoon, glancing at Diamond Tiara and seeing the distress there at how uncomfortable Jeog looked, blew out a sigh and pushed herself between the other foals and their new... friend.

“Alright guys, let’s not barrage her. Remember we’re here to chill and have fun. I got the board games, so let’s get to playing!”

It didn’t take long to get everpony’s attention focused upon choosing which game to play and getting everything set up. Diamond Tiara stuck close to Jeog, who seemed faintly intrigued by the little cardboard cutouts, miniatures, and dice being laid out on the table, almost as if she’d never seen anything like them before. While she burned with as many questions as her fellow foals, she kept her peace and did her best to deflect any questions that went Jeog’s way that night.

The filly had odd mannerisms, that was for sure. She kept licking her lips and kneading her hooves on the table, and if Diamond Tiara looked closely she almost thought she saw scratch marks on the wood. Every now and again she thought the light shifted strangely around the filly, and every time she met Jeog’s eyes the blue orbs instantly made her think of the phantom in the forest.

By the time they went back to hanging out by the fire Diamond was getting more and more convinced she was right about her kaiju theory.

Jeog didn’t want to go near the fire, and instead laid down a few good paces away from it.

Before too much longer it was late enough for everypony to be getting tired, and Red Alert came out to help the foals set up tents. He was a bit surprised by Jeog’s presence, but accepted Diamond Tiara’s hasty explanation concerning her being a foreign student. She winced inwardly, however, at the telling of the fib. Now that Silver Spoon’s father knew it was only a matter of time before her parent’s heard about the foreign filly they were supposed to be housing.

I’ll have to find out everything I can before that happens. she resolved as she settled into her tent alongside Silver Spoon. Jeog was supposed to join them, at Diamond Tiara’s suggestion, but she instead laid down beside the tent.

“Uhh, Jeog, you’re supposed to sleep in the tent, not next to it.” Diamond Tiara said, poking her head out to eye the other filly.

Blue eyes glittered in the dark.

“I don’t like small spaces.”

Silver Spoon’s head now joined Diamond Tiara’s in poking out to peer at the strange filly. “It's gonna get cold.”

“I like the cold.”

Silver Spoon’s rolling eyes clearly said, ‘Well, I tried’ before she flopped back into her sleeping bag. Diamond Tiara waited a minute longer, eyeing Jeog with an unsure expression.

“Will you still be here in the morning? Not going to run off again?”

Those intense, ice blue eyes blinked. Diamond Tiara thought she saw that bushy tail wag, once.

“I will. If that is what you want. For as long as I’m able.”

As long as she was able? That was an odd way to put it. “Well, we’re going to be friends right? Got to stick together.” Diamond Tiara yawned, and settled back into her own sleeping bag. “Good night.”

She drifted off to sleep soon after, and all through the night she was watched over by a pair of eyes that never needed to sleep, but for the first time in a very long time became half-closed with a feeling of contentment.

Chapter 3: True Natures

Chapter 3: True Natures

Some ponies woke up slowly, with the natural lethargy that only gradually turned to wakefulness with the application of morning routines that often involved the need to ingest liberal quantities of caffeine and/or sugar. For all her boundless enthusiasm and energy Diamond Tiara was one of these ponies. She had a well honed and refined morning routine, to the point of scientific thesis.

Step one: boop the snooze switch on her alarm clock and go back to sleep for another five to fifteen minutes.

Step two: repeat step one in five to fifteen minutes.

Step three: consider getting out of bed for another five minutes, at least.

Step four: flop out of bed, proceed to snail crawl on floor until door is reached.

Step five: open door, crawl to bathroom.

Step six: perform the herculean task of rising to the bathroom counter to wash face and brush teeth.

Step seven: shuffle in a zombie-like haze into the kitchen, using keen snout to sniff out nearest source of sugar and/or breakfast.

Step eight: devour sugar and/or breakfast once highly honed hunter instinct locates the target.

Step nine: with sugar now working its miracles within the bloodstream begin acting like a normal, well adjusted pony.

She got as far as step six before being interrupted by the sight of an upside down, grey furred filly hanging from the top of the bathroom window, waving at her from outside with a look that could only be described as blindly lacking in self awareness. Diamond Tiara proceeded to spit out most of the toothpaste she’d foamed up in her mouth, giving the bathroom mirror a nice coating, before rushing over to the window and sliding it open.

“Jeog!” she mouthed around her toothbrush, “What are you doing out here!?”

“Watching you.”

“I know that! But why are... wait, how are you hanging upside down from my roof?” Diamond Tiara tired to poke her head out to look but Jeog had a way of just... being right there in the way, her face nose to nose with Diamond Tiara’s as the odd filly smiled thinly and with entirely too much amusement.

“I’m a really good climber. What are you doing?”

“Huh?” Diamond Tiara blinked, then tapped the toothbrush with a hoof. “This? I’m brushing my teeth.”

“That’s strange.”

“You’re one to talk. How long have you been on my roof? I thought we were going to meet at the lake today?”

Jeog’s ears twitched in a way that reminded Diamond Tiara very much of the way a cat’s might when agitated. “I don’t like the water. I decided to follow you here instead. The roof is comfortable, and shows me things.”

“Things?” Diamond Tiara inquired, eyebrow crawling upward like a curious caterpillar.

“Things,” Jeog confirmed sagely, nodding her fuzzy little head.

Diamond Tiara took a slow, calming breath, and smiled, “Fair enough, but Jeog listen to me, you need to be careful showing up here. If my parents see you they’ll start asking questions. It's hard enough keeping the other foals from talking too much about you, and sooner or later an adult is going to figure out you’re not a foreign exchange student, especially considering you’re never in school.”

“I could go to this school,” Jeog said, a strange light entering her eyes, “The teacher would never know I didn’t belong there.”

“I’d rather not risk it. It's easy enough to take you around town, since most adults won’t really care who you are, and as long as you’re seen with me and act normal...ish they’ll just assume you’re a friend. Which you are. But Miss Cheerilee is sharp, and she’ll figure things out a lot faster if you try to show up at school. I got to figure out what to do when too many ponies start asking who you really are.”

A momentary stillness entered Jeog, her ears going stiff. “When that happens I can go. None will ever find me.”

Diamond Tiara didn’t like the hollowness in the other filly’s voice at those words. It was like Jeog took it as a foregone conclusion that she’d have to leave at some point, and this only reinforced Diamond Tiara’s suspicion that the strange filly might be a transformed kaiju. Sending a letter to Lady Destroyah, or even just telling her parents about this suspicion might have seemed like a logical course of action, but she wanted to build some trust with Jeog, maybe convince her to come forward about her own true nature before having to get the grown-ups involved. The last thing Diamond Tiara wanted was to scare the other filly/maybe-kaiju away.

She put on a reassuring smile, somewhat ruined by the fact that she still had a toothbrush propped halfway in her mouth. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to go anywhere. I’ll figure something out, and in the meantime what we should do is just have fun and get to know each other. If you’re not comfortable with the lake, let’s try the park.”

“The park?”

Diamond Tiara’s toothbrush dropped a bit, “You’re kidding. You don’t know what a park is?”

It was weird seeing a filly roll her eyes while upside down. “I know what parks are. People go there to feed ducks. I also went to a park once to feed...” Jeog trailed off, blinking, then finished with a straightforward tone, “The ducks were nice.”

Something about the way she said that made Diamond Tiara shiver a bit. The feeling wasn’t helped by the way Jeog licked her lips and stared right at her, but Diamond Tiara shook off the unease and said, “Anyway why don’t you give me a minute to finish cleaning up and I’ll meet you around the back of the house. Then we can go get Silver Spoon.”

“Around back. Very well.” Jeog said and Diamond Tiara smiled awkwardly, turning to the sink to spit out the toothpaste and rinse her mouth out.

Finishing, she said, “By the way, how’d you get on my roof in-” she started to say, turning to see that Jeog had vanished. “-...the first place?” She blinked and stuck her head out the window, looking around but not seeing Jeog anywhere. Turning her head up to look at the edge of the roof she frowned, noticing that there were small claw marks in the wood.

“Okay, evidence towards kaijuness increasing.” she said under her breath, and quickly went to brush out her mane and tail before heading out to trot by the kitchen. Her mother was already up, far more the early riser than Diamond Tiara was, and had a plate of already jammed up toast sitting on the table while she typed away on her typewriter.

“Good morning honey!”

“Morning mom. Gotta toast and go, big day today.” Diamond said quickly, snatching up a pair of slices of toast, wolfing down one in record time while placing the other on her back.

“Oh? What are you and Silver Spoon up to?”

Diamond Tiara didn’t miss a beat as she said, “Hanging out with some friends at the park, and then we’ll probably stop by Bon Bon’s Sweet Treats.”

There was a fraction of a moment where Spoiled Rich hesitated, then said with a slightly forced cheer, “Did you need a little spending coin, dear?”

Diamond Tiara managed to control herself so that her ears only twitched rather than go flat against her head. “No, mom, it’s alright. I, uh, have a bit I saved from last time. No worries.”

“Oh... okay.” Her mother’s face brightened as she resumed focusing on her typewriter, “Have a good day then, honey. Don’t stay out too long. Try to be back by evening.”

“Will do.” Diamond Tiara said, pausing briefly by the door to the basement. She opened it, hearing the sound of banging hammers somewhere down in the basement depths. “I’m going out dad! See you later!”

The sound of a dropping hammer, followed by a muffled swear reached her ears, then, “Okay pumpkin! Have fun!” echoed up from below.

Diamond Tiara closed the basement door and trotted out the front of her house, glancing around briefly before cantering around to the back yard, which wasn’t so much a yard as it was a small patch of semi-mowed grass between her house and one of the back roads of Ponyville.

Looking around she whispered, “Jeog? Hey, you back here?”

“Yes.”

Diamond Tiara was somewhat proud of the fact that she didn’t jump that high, nor yelp much louder than squeak before controlling herself. Bristling a bit, she didn’t even turn around to look at the other filly before saying, “New rule, for general social situations; don’t sneak up on ponies.”

“...But it's fun.”

Diamond let out a huff of a laugh as she turned around and held out the other slice of toast she’d grabbed from the kitchen. “Didn’t know if you’d eaten or not yet, so here.”

Jeog tilted her head and sniffed at the toast with its raspberry jam as if uncertain of what it was. She then licked the jam experimentally while Diamond Tiara stood there staring. Then in the blink of an eye her jaws opened and snapped up the toast in one solid bite, giving Diamond Tiara a sudden and vivid recollection of when she and Silver Spoon had been helping Lady Destroyah adjust to being in a new world.

This is another chance to help someone who’s out of place find somewhere to belong. I just have to be careful. Who knows how long she’s been keeping herself hidden? Hmm, I wonder if she knows any of the other kaiju that came her from Earth?

Of course she couldn’t ask too many questions of Jeog yet. She wanted Jeog to come forward herself with information about what she was. If Diamond Tiara pressed to hard herself it might scare Jeog off. The Everfree Forest was beyond huge. If Jeog decided to go disappear into that place it’d be next to impossible to find her.

“Good?” she asked as she watched the other filly lick jam off her lips.

“Mmm, it’s different from what I usually eat. What is it?”

“Toast, of the raspberry jam variety. A Rich family house specially. Mostly because jam goes on sale for half off the first of every month and if there’s one thrifty spender in Ponyville, it’s me.” Diamond Tiara said with a bit of pride. Jeog gave her an odd look and Diamond shook her head, “In any case let’s head out. Spoon’s probably waiting.”

Diamond Tiara kept a careful eye out as they trotted across town to Silver Spoon’s house. Mostly she was watching for how ponies walking about reacted to Jeog. As she’d suspected most adult ponies paid her and Jeog little mind. After all it was hardly strange to see two foals out to begin a long day of playing on the weekend, and while Jeog might not have looked familiar to anypony it wasn’t unusual for new families to move into Ponyville so most likely assumed Jeog was just a new foal out making friends.

Which wasn’t entirely off the mark and Diamond Tiara certainly wasn’t going to correct anypony on the matter.

Diamond did notice that Jeog was looking about in a way that seemed more than casually curious. There was a sharp and tense alertness in the way that Jeog’s frosty eyes kept shifting around, and Diamond Tiara chanced to ask, “What are you looking out for?”

Jeog’s gaze snapped towards Diamond Tiara and for a second she thought she saw a flash of genuine fear in the other filly’s eyes before Jeog said, “No one. Nothing! Definitely not escape routes. Because we’re safe here, yes? Travelers don’t come through here often?”

“Uhh, I guess we get a slow trickle of travelers and merchants, but Ponyville isn’t exactly a tourist hot spot if that’s what you’re asking.” Diamond Tiara said, and she saw Jeog visibly relax.

“Good.” Jeog said without elaboration, and Diamond Tiara decided not to press the matter. Still, it didn’t take a titan of intellect to gather that when Jeog had been on her roof that the filly had been keeping watch for something, something that had her scared. But what?

When they collected Silver Spoon from her house Diamond Tiara’s friend gave Jeog a scrutinizing look while adjusting her glasses. “Good morning. I thought the plan was to meet at the lake.”

“Apparently Jeog isn’t a fan of the water.” Diamond Tiara said, casually waving off the questioning look Silver Spoon gave her, “Thought we’d go play at the park instead. Didn’t Rumble say something the other day about getting a ball game going today?”

“Yes, through he’s in that stupid phase where he thinks filly’s are better at sports than colts so wants all the teams to have even numbers of both. Its dumb. We never end up with even teams.”

Jeog’s voice cut in curiously, “What kind of game is it? Do we chase and kill the ball?”

Silver Spoon gave Diamond Tiara an exceedingly flat look, to which Diamond Tiara laughed nervously and said, “No, Jeog, we kick the ball. Not kill. Kick.”

“Why?”

“The point is to kick the ball through the other team’s goal to score points.”

“Can we kick the other players?”

“No! Uh, not usually. Not unless we’re using Hoofington rules. Which I’m pretty sure we’re not. Look just follow me and Silver Spoon’s lead, okay?” Diamond Tiara fluttered her eyelashes and smiled in a hopeful way. Jeog stared at her, then scratched at her ear idly and nodded.

“Very well. I shall play this game, and try not to kick anything other than the ball.” the strange filly paused, then said, “What if they kick me first? Can I then kick them back?”

Silver Spoon groaned, “That’s called starting a fight, and no, if somepony accidentally kicks you, just ask them to apologize. If they don’t, then call them a jerkface and leave it at that.”

“Jerkface...” Jeog seemed to roll the insult around on her tongue as if tasting it, and seemingly satisfied she literally wagged her tail and said, “I like that.”

As they headed out on the short walk towards Ponyville’s largest park Diamond Tiara took the lead, while Jeog trailed behind a bit, sniffing at seemingly nothing but always ever alert as if she expected something to jump out at her at any given second. Silver Spoon kept close to Diamond, and giving a furtive look back at their unusual companion she whispered to Diamond Tiara.

“Alright, so let’s not kid ourselves, it's obvious she’s a bit loopy, right?”

“Spoon, if she’s literally an alien kaiju from another dimension trapped in a young filly’s body then wouldn’t it be even weirder if she was acting totally normal? I mean you remember that when we first met Lady Destroyah she tried to disintegrate a rock with energy breath and eat the gas that came off it, right?”

When they’d been transported from Earth the kaiju had retained a number of aspects of their physiology, but not all of it. As it turned out Destroyah could use her micro-oxygen breath, and had assumed she had to consume energy like she did back on Earth using that method. However her new equine body was not set up to digest oxidized gas. That had been a frightful experience, having to rush Destroyah to the hospital after she’d nearly choked on something her body was no longer meant to consume. If Jeog was even half as out of sorts in this new world then Diamond could forgive a little ‘loopiness’.

Silver Spoon, however, seemed less enthused, her body tensing a bit at Diamond Tiara’s words. “Yeah, I remember. But here’s the thing, Lady Destroyah might’ve been a bit weird at first, but even then I could tell she wasn’t a danger. She... dang it you know what I mean, DT. From the get go we both felt like Destroyah was a good sort. She has this way of making you feel safe around her. Like nothing can hurt you long as she’s around. Even Sir Xenilla, while way high strung, still had that feeling about him.”

“And what, Jeog doesn’t?” Diamond Tiara asked quietly, glancing back. It didn’t seem Jeog was paying attention to them, following along but rather absorbed with looking out for... whatever she was looking out for.

“No and that’s my point. If anything I get the opposite vibe. Like she’s just a wrong turn from hurting somepony. Do you remember how she looked the other day, when she had Applebloom pinned down like that? I thought she was going to bite Applebloom’s throat out!”

“It... it wasn’t that bad.” Diamond Tiara said, frowning at the memory. Jeog’s deep growl and cold eyes flashed through her mind and she suppressed a shudder. “L-look, she backed off, didn’t she? Give her a chance, Spoon. That’s all I’m asking.”

Silver Spoon sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I really hope you’re right. Just so you know I’m going to be keeping a close eye on her. If I think she’s getting dangerous... I’m going to Ditzy Doo about her.”

“It's not gonna come to that.” Diamond Tiara said with conviction, but a moment of doubt crossed her face.

Ponyville’s main park was built around a beautiful central fountain not far from a small, scenic bridge over one of the streams that passed through the town. Many well maintained gravel pathways snaked their way through bright green fields of grass dotted by copses of trees and bushes sporting bright berries or flowers. Under the bright sun birds were busy chirping away and flitting between the trees, filling the air with song that easily blended with the shouts of foals at play.

Jeog had heard such sounds before. Before the night of fire that had set the Hunter upon her Jeog recalled fragments of even more distant memory of watching mortals from the hidden places they never looked. Always the tiny ones ran and laughed, romping around with an utter lack of fear.

Had that been what had drawn her to the mortals, so long ago? Those sounds of laughter, and fearless smiles, fueled by some inner light she was as fascinated by as she was confused by it. It was still strange to her, even now. Mortals didn’t make sense. They did so many things that put themselves in danger, seemed oblivious to their own fragile natures, and were never consistent with those odd concepts of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ they always kept talking about.

Yet as much as they confused her, and as much as she was afraid of what might happen if the Hunter found her walking around in broad daylight, there was a nostalgic feeling of familiarity springing up inside Jeog as she followed Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon through the park. Cho Yon had treated the gardens within the old temple well and had often invited the young ones from the town to play there. The sound of foals playing had always been a indicator to her that Cho Yon was at the temple, and he’d even showed her how to play some of the games there. Those games had often involved spinning wooden tops, or hoops, but never a ball.

Her curiosity was piqued, and so far she’d seen nor smelled any sign of the Hunter. Diamond Tiara had assured her that travelers were uncommon in this place, and so far had given Jeog no reason to distrust her. The filly seemed generally unruffled by her, and Jeog had forgotten how good it felt to neither be afraid or have others be afraid of her. It still flew in the face of her instincts, but she decided to try to relax and play with these mortal ponies. Just maybe things would go right, this time, and the Hunter would become a long gone memory.

The park was filled with a great many ponies, the oddly colorful mortals seeming to beam under the sunlight as they pranced, sometimes literally, amid the scene park pathways. Jeog was reminded of a time she’d seen a herd of unbelievably fluffy creatures grazing once in a field, completely oblivious to the dangers around them. Sheep, she thought she’d heard the term to be. Ponies were like slightly less fluffy, incredibly colorful sheep. That occasionally burst into acts of random song and dance. Jeog wondered if it was even possible to comprehend them.

Diamond Tiara led her and Silver Spoon to one of the wider and open fields in the park where Jeog could see a whole pack of the fuzzy little mortals were already gathered. She caught a few familiar scents in the air, recognizing some of the foals from the encounter at the lake the other day. None of the three that had chased her into the bushes, however, so that was a small relief. She’d come so close to losing control of herself the other day that she wasn’t eager to test the limits of her self control again.

“Yo guys!” greeted a light gray pegasus foal, waving merrily to them as they walked up. “You’re just in time, we were about to figure out teams.”

“Great Rumble, hope you all don’t mind if Jeog needs to learn the rules. She’s never played before.” said Diamond Tiara, and then glanced over at one of the other foals with a slightly surprised look that melted into a happy smile. “Hey Gentle Leaf, glad you came out.”

The foal in question was one Jeog had seen before as well, and was a strangely quiet one who never seemed to speak. Gentle Leaf nodded with a small, uneasy smile to Diamond Tiara, but just like the other night didn’t make a sound. Her curiosity turned up a notch, Jeog moved closer to the foal and sniffed at her. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong or sick in her scent, so why was this one not speaking?

“Uh, hey, Jeog, personal space.” Silver Spoon said, pulling Jeog back from the surprised looking Gentle Leaf, who’d blinked nervously at being sniffed.

“I was just seeing if she was ill. Why does she not speak. Was her voice stolen?” Jeog asked, honestly curious, and not sure what this ‘personal space’ thing was that the silver one was talking about.

“Its nothing like that.” Diamond Tiara said, then blinked with realization, “Actually I don’t know why but that’s a personal question and Gentle Leaf doesn’t have to worry about that. Right? We’re not trying to pry.”

Gentle Leaf just gave another nod and waved a hoof as if to say ‘it's cool’, but she gave Jeog a shifty gaze and seemed to make it a point to stand a bit further away from her as the rest of the foals started to discuss the teams of the game. While that was happening the pegasus named Rumble started explaining the rules of the game to Jeog. He spoke in quick words that made Jeog think of fleeing rabbits darting through the bushes, as if the words were tumbling over themselves in a rush to get out of the little foal’s body.

“Okay it's super easy you see this is ball you got two teams and when we shout ‘go’ you gotta kick the ball through the goalposts over there, which are those trees over there for one team and these trees over here for the other team, and you can only use your hooves to kick the ball which is weird because we’ve only got hooves but I guess that rule is there in case a griffin or minotaur show up but you can also use your snout if you want and this one filly Twist is way awesome with her tail and while that’s against the rules we decided to allow players to use their tails because it looked so awesome and-”

And somewhere around that point Jeog checked out mentally from the onrush of words, which seemed to become more garbled in her head the more Rumble talked. She just assumed as long as she kicked the ball towards a tree, she was probably doing okay. Before long the two team ‘captains’ had been decided upon, with Diamond Tiara the head of one team and Rumble in charge of the other one. The two captains choose players from among the other foals one by one, until there were two even groups squaring off across the field.

Jeog found herself facing off with Silver Spoon, who’d coincidentally ended up on the other team. Silver Spoon bounced the ball into the space between them, setting it for the start of the game. Yet oddly Silver Spoon’s eyes remained intently focused on Jeog, as if the ball wasn’t there.

She tilted her head curiously at the filly’s strangely intense stare, but then Diamond Tiara raised a hoof and said, “Alright everypony, play ball!” With the dainty filly’s pink hoof falling all the foals exploded into motion, Silver Spoon going for the ball with surprising speed. Not speed that Jeog couldn’t easily respond to, however, and she batted the ball away, sending it bouncing down the field. Silver Spoon’s eyes narrowed, and then she was off like a shot after the ball along with most the rest of the foals and the game was on.

For the first few minutes Jeog hesitantly moved along with the flow of the game, but soon enough she found herself relaxing and playing without much conscious thought. For all the rules the one named Rumble had jabbered on about, the foals didn’t seem to care much about following them. They scampered about in a laughing pack, bouncing the ball around in such a haphazard manner it seemed most the time they forgot there were even goals or points. Sure the ball might end up flying towards one of the trees that the foals decided were goals on occasion and a team would claim some points, but half the time Jeog was pretty sure the trees that were the ‘goals’ changed and even the team captains weren’t keeping exact track of the points.

Everypony just seemed to be having too much of a good time to care who was winning. She soon found herself feeling strangely light and unconsciously grinning as she chased the ball alongside the other foals, barely paying attention to where she was kicking it.

“Check this out!” Rumble shouted as he bounced the ball up on his snout and with his wings buzzed up into the air and managed an impressive spin to send the ball sailing over the heads of the other foals.

Not even thinking about it, her tail wagging, Jeog sprang up into the air, flipping in mid-air to kick the ball back the other way, landing lightly on her paws disguised as hooves. Smiling, she noticed a bunch of the foals were staring at her, and she blinked.

“What?”

“Whoa! How did you jump that high!?” asked a light purple unicorn filly with a strawberry blonde mane, her eyes wide pools of wonder. Jeog glanced up, realizing she’d probably gotten a good ten feet on that leaping kick. Not hard for her normally, but for a ‘perfectly normal’ mortal child not so much.

Silver Spoon was rubbing her hoof over her face while Diamond Tiara was nervously chuckling. “It wasn’t that high, really. I mean, Rumble got some good height too.”

“Rumble has wings,” replied the other foal.

“And I think she went higher than me anyway,” said Rumble, peering at Jeog. “How’d you pull that off?”

She licked her lips and said, “I’ve always been a good jumper.”

There was a moment of silence as the foals all exchanged looks, and Jeog wondered if she’d ended up blowing her cover that easily, but a second later Rumble grinned and said, ”Cool!”

That seemed to dispel the tension as the foals voiced varying levels of agreement and amazement at Jeog’s jumping skills and in short order the game resumed. However Jeog noticed that Silver Spoon was sticking closer to her than ever, confronting Jeog over the ball at every turn. It wasn’t too bad at first, but inside of a five minutes Jeog was getting a bit irritated at the way the stout, be-speckled filly kept dogging her every move. It was impossible to keep a small growl from building in the back of her throat, and when the ball ended up being kicked off in one direction, the horde of foals stampeding after it, Jeog hung back. Silver Spoon mirrored her, hanging back as well, and Jeog eyed the filly with twitching ears.

“What are you doing?”

Silver Spoon adjusted her glasses, “What do you mean?”

It was hard not to show teeth, and Jeog’s mind flashed with violence for a second, but she quashed it. She could taste the scent from Silver Spoon and while the filly was keeping her emotions under an impressive amount of control Jeog could still smell the sharp tang of fear.

“Are you afraid of me?”

Silver Spoon met her eyes with a surprisingly level and maturely calm gaze for a filly her age. “Should I be? Does Ponyville have a reason to be afraid with you around?”

The blunt and simple question actually set Jeog back on her heels, her tail lashing behind her as her ears drooped. In the span of a couple of seconds she could see many images in her mind’s eye of fire and blood, starting with the horrible blaze of Cho Yon’s temple, followed by a dozen other places since then, from farms she’d hidden in or villages that had taken her in, all suffering once the Hunter found her. She could clearly remember the ship she’d stowed away upon in a final terrified gambit to escape, and even that had not been enough. The Hunter had chased her, the ship and its crew had burned, and Jeog had barely escaped upon a piece of wreckage big enough to keep her from the painful anathema of water.

She choked back her fear, recalling her resolve to try again at living among mortals, and that at the very least there was one among them who wasn’t afraid of her. “I won’t hurt anyone. That’s not why I came here.”

Silver Spoon’s gaze was relentless, “Then why are you here?”

Before Jeog could answer the ball came out of nowhere and bounce off her head with a loud thwack. Her eyes went crossed and she tipped over like a bowling pin, the ball bouncing away a few meters as her vision swirled. Silver Spoon stood in blinking, mute surprise as the other foals ran up, the green hued form of Gentle Leaf blushing furiously as she bowed her head apologetically and grabbed the ball.

Diamond Tiara poked her head over Jeog’s fallen form, “Are you okay?”

Gentle Leaf poked Diamond Tiara’s leg, gesturing at the swirly eyed Jeog, and Diamond Tiara nodded and between the pair they helped Jeog stand back up. “Gentle Leaf didn’t mean it. She was just aiming down the field.”

“Which one is Gentle Leaf?” Jeog asked, “This one.” Pointing at the filly in question, “Or one of the four spinning around her?”

“Wow, that ball hit harder than I thought. Gentle Leaf, you’ve got one heck of a kick,” Diamond Tiara said, causing Gentle Leaf to blush brighter and look away. “Jeog, you able to stand on your own?”

Jeog shook her head like a dog shaking off water, and blinked a few times. “I am beyond the powers of mere mortal play toys to fell!” She teetered slightly, then rapidly steadied herself. “Although the world is still tilting.” She cocked her head to the side. “There. Better.”

“I guess we ought to get back to the game then,” Silver Spoon said, a small frown shading her features as she watched Jeog. The foals all started to rearrange themselves into a new set of starting positions to resume their game, but there was a peal of thunder that rolled across the sky and everyone looked up. Except for Jeog who instinctively hunkered down at the sound of thunder.

“Whoa, what was that!?” said one foal, while another pointed towards the sky to the west of the park.

“Hey, look! Storm clouds!”

Diamond Tiara grimaced, “Were we scheduled for a storm today?”

Suddenly Rumble smacked his forehead and groaned, “Aaaah dang it! I forgot! My brother said the weather patrol was doing an emergency storm exercise today! It’s not on the public schedule.”

“That’s dumb,” complained one of the foals. By now the storm clouds had spread out like a gray stain on the sky and were rapidly starting to blanket Ponyville. The small winged forms of pegasi in bright blue weather vests could be seen guiding the clouds along. Other park goers were making loud, groaning complaints about the situation as they started to vacate the park, some prepared souls unfurling umbrellas in the process.

Diamond Tiara watched the oncoming clouds with a resigned look.

“Its because of the new threat of kaiju attacks. They want the population to get used to surprises. Looks like the park is out for the rest of the day, unless you guys feel like turning this into a round of water polo?”

“Hey I don’t care about playing in the rain,” Rumble said. “Don’t know about the rest of you, but to me catching a cold is just a free day off school.”

“Welllll, I might not mind the rain but...” Silver Spoon gestured at Jeog, who was backing towards the nearest copse of trees with her ears plastered flat against her head. The clouds had gotten directly overhead and Diamond Tiara could see the rain coming like a solid wall, heavy and thick. The look on Jeog’s face was far from merely being irritated at impending discomfort.

“Jeog, what’s wrong? It's just some rain. We can find something indoors to do.”

By now Jeog had managed to get under one of the trees with thicker branches as the rain started to hit, keeping the worst of the water from herself. Though hardly the same kind of thing as being fully immersed in water, the rain would be less than pleasant. It’d douse her foxfire, weakening her, causing pain, and worst of all it’d make it much harder to focus on maintaining her illusion of being a small mortal pony. Even a few minutes in that downpour might break her illusion and reveal her true form, which Jeog wasn’t ready for in the slightest.

Still, she couldn’t just sit under the tree, not with the other foals staring at her.

“What’s up? You seriously got an issue with getting wet or something?” asked Rumble, chuckling under his breath, “And here I thought Diamond Tiara was vain about her mane.”

“H-hey! I just like to keep it well groomed,” Diamond Tiara said defensively, “Appearances are nine tenths of success in business. Besides you don’t see me diving for cover now, do you?”

Rumble nodded, as by this point the rain had already soaked the gathered foals, plastering manes to heads and drooping waterlogged tails. “Nope. And the wet mane look suits you.”

Diamond Tiara gave him a sidelong look, then shook her head and turned her attention back to Jeog. “Okay, you guys can keep playing if you want, but I think I’ll get Jeog somewhere dry until this storm is done with.”

She offered Jeog a hoof, and Jeog hesitantly took it. She looked nervously at the rainfall, sucking in a breath as she braced for the pain and discomfort the torrent would cause as she let Diamond Tiara draw her out from under the tree. The first drops splashed upon her with cold, icy needles, making her shudder. She focused on keeping her illusion maintained, but she could feel it writhing as the downpour hammered her. To a pony the water might just be cold, but to Jeog the water, that much of it, snuffed the aura of foxfire that formed much of her body. It wouldn’t kill her, but walking anywhere was going to be torture. If she lost her concentration...

She must have been making quite the expression because Diamond Tiara was looking at her with worry etched all over her tiny pink features. “Wow, okay, yeah let’s go. Just, uh, stick close to me and-”

Suddenly the water pouring over Jeog lessened considerably and Jeog blinked up to find an umbrella being held above her and Diamond Tiara like a yellow canopy. Next to them, holding the umbrella, Silver Spoon sighed and said, “C’mon, my house is closer. We can dry you off there.”

“Where’d did you get that?” Diamond Tiara asked, and Gentle Leaf appeared around Silver Spoon’s shoulder, pointing at a small saddlebag the filly had brought with her.

“Turns out Gentle Leaf really knows how to prepare for a day out,” Silver Spoon said, turning to look at the mute foal. “Thanks. I’ll return it soon as I can.”

Gentle Leaf just smiled and waved a hoof, and a shivering Jeog just blinked once at the umbrella, then at the filly.

There were words for situations like this. She wasn’t very familiar with them, and barely ever had a reason to speak them. Even the emotion, the odd feeling of debt that came attached to the words, was largely unknown to her. But a very simple piece of cloth attached to a plastic handle was keeping the dreaded water off her already soaked body and while the words were old and unfamiliar on her tongue, she still wanted to say them. Cho Yon would want her to say them.

“Thank you.”

Gentle Leaf just smiled and shook her head. Nearby Rumble and a number of other foals had started up the ball game again, even under the rain. Jeog was a bit envious as Gentle Leaf ran off to join, giving her, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon one last wave.

“Alright then, let’s get going. Silver Spoon, why don’t you squeeze in under here too?” Diamond Tiara said, offering a hoof to her friend.

“Meh, I don’t mind the rain.” Silver Spoon said, “Besides this umbrella isn’t big enough for the three of us. Just walk fast, I don’t want to have to throw myself in the dryer just to get warm again.”

“Dryer?” Jeog asked curiously as the walked.

“Uhhh, how to explain this... its like a metal box that spins clothes to dry them out really fast.”

“Are they magic?” Jeog was more than a bit dubious about these drying boxes.

“If you count being powered by magically charged electrical sockets, sure.”

“Are we to dry ourselves in these magic drying boxes?”

“...No. No, you dry clothes in them.”

Jeog’s head tilted like the world was still spinning.”But ponies don’t wear clothes.”

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon exchanged looks, both of them looking equally embarrassed. Clearing her throat, Diamond Tiara admitted, “It's another of my dad’s inventions. Hasn’t exactly taken off in the mass market, for pretty much the reason you just mentioned.”

The words tumbled around in Jeog’s mind and didn’t quite rattle out correctly. “Your sire creates items of power?”

Diamond Tiara’s gave a short snort of surprise, “Not the way I’d ever heard it put. More like he creates very well intentioned items of dubious economic worth. His heart is in the right place, but he doesn’t really have the business sense for knowing what to make that’ll profit, you know?”

Jeog didn’t. Economics was about as far from her daily thought processes as something could be. Her scrunched face indicated as much. “I don’t understand.” she said truthfully.

“Don’t worry about it. My family’s financial troubles are hardly your problem. I need to find a way to support my parents myself once I get old enough.”

“Or not old enough, given I don’t remember you ever letting age stop you before now,” Silver Spoon said with a faint tone of grousing.

Jeog’s eyes squinted, her tail lashing behind her. While economics weren’t anything she’d ever paid attention to, she did know that mortals had this way of exchanging shiny objects in order to obtain things they wanted. It didn’t make much sense to her, but she’d seen it done enough to mimic the process when she needed to blend in. If she recalled correctly the local mortals liked shiny golden coins as objects of exchange. There were plenty of those coins just laying around in sacks or boxes ponies liked to keep hidden... but Jeog was very good at finding things.

“It is wealth you seek?” Jeog asked, eyes intent and thoughtful.

Beside her Diamond Tiara paused, forcing Silver Spoon to stop so she could keep the umbrella over the two of them. They’d stopped on the bridge over the stream leading out of the park. Diamond Tiara gave Jeog a hesitant look, although Jeog couldn’t fathom what might make the filly nervous about the subject.

“It's not... just wealth. Not by itself. I mean, okay, I get a bit envious of other families that have money. I sometimes hate that I have to see my mom and dad struggling to put food on the table. And yeah, maybe I sometimes feel this dumb, petty feeling that says ‘if only we had money things would be better’. But I don’t want wealth just for the having of it. I want to help. I want my parents to pursue their passions without worrying about feeding me, or being able to send me to a good school. But fact is that no matter how great Equestria is, you still need bits to get by. So yeah, I want bits. All the bits. So I can live how I want, and make sure my parents can too.”

“Diamond...” Silver Spoon’s expression fell as she shifted enough to give her friend a comforting hoof on the shoulder.

“Okay, yeah, sorry about that, just went heavy for a sec,” Diamond Tiara shook her head and smiled at Silver Spoon and Jeog. “It's no biggie, you two. I’ve got all sorts of ideas for making money, and once we get you settled Jeog, hey maybe you can help one of these days. Sorry your first day out got rained on, but there’s always tomorrow.”

Jeog stared at Diamond Tiara, and very slowly nodded. “Yes. Always tomorrow.”

As they resumed their walk back to Silver Spoon’s home Jeog’s mind turned with ideas of her own.

The rest of the weekend went smoother than day one had. Diamond Tiara would manage to crawl out of bed earlier than normal, and convinced Jeog that the bathroom window wasn’t the normal place for friends to meet. There was no more surprise weather, so Diamond was able to show Jeog around town more thoroughly, picking different activities each day. It’d taken the better part of an afternoon to get Jeog to understand that bowling involved rolling the ball down the alley, not kicking it or throwing it. She had this habit of taking things entirely too literally.

Still, Diamond Tiara felt like they were making progress. At least Jeog hadn’t vanished yet. Every evening when it was time for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to pack it in for the day Jeog would split off from them without ever explaining where she was going, and Diamond Tiara’s attempts to follow her had been less than fruitful. Still, each morning Jeog had come back, so something had to be going right.

Today I’ll see if I can get her to talk about what she really is and where she’s living. Diamond Tiara thought firmly that Monday morning, slowly waking up and rolling over in bed, hugging her warm fuzzy pillow close...

...Wait, her pillow wasn’t supposed to be fuzzy.

She opened her eyes to find a gray, furry filly snoozing away in her bed next to her, snuggled up like Diamond Tiara was a pink teddy bear. Now under most circumstances Diamond Tiara’s first instinct would be to scream, as would be appropriate. She managed to bite her lip in time to keep that from happening, instead taking a moment to assess the situation. She had no idea how Jeog had gotten into her room, but for the moment the filly was apparently sleeping peacefully and Diamond Tiara found herself curiously watching.

Jeog’s hooves twitched and pawed at the air, eyes flicking behind closed lids. Was she dreaming? Observing her this closely it seemed only too obvious that this filly wasn’t normal. Diamond Tiara could easily see how her ears were a bit too long and pointed, and that her tail had an entirely too bushy quality to it. And Diamond could swear she saw a hint of pointed canines peeking out from the filly’s mouth.

Diamond Tiara was debating how to best wake Jeog up and get our out of her house without being spotted by her parents when Jeog’s sleepy twitching suddenly grew more intense and frantic. Fearful murmur’s escaped the filly as she started to slowly thrash about, the words indistinct for a time, until Diamond Tiara was able to pick out some of the words.

“Cho Yon... un-yeogn... hawjaewa yeongi... Sanyangkkun!”

Diamond Tiara watched with increasingly wide eyes as there were blue flickers of azure fire across Jeog’s body, her form blurring from that of a little filly to something altogether much larger and taking up most of Diamond’s bed. She saw a momentary glimpse of large canine paws, a tapered vulpine face, and nine thrashing tails, before Jeog thrashed right off the bed. She landed on hard on her back, and the fox-like form flickered with blue fire again and resumed the shape of a young filly whose ice blue eyes snapped open as she sat up fast, breathing heavily.

“It’s okay!” Diamond said quickly, moving to the edge of the bed. “You’re alright, Jeog. You’re just in my room. Uh, which to be fair, why are you in my room?”

Jeog’s panicked looked gradually faded as her eyes settled on Diamond Tiara, the filly’s fast breathing slowing bit by bit. Getting her hooves (or paws?) under her, Jeog collected herself and said, “What’s wrong with me being in your room?”

“Try private space? Parents freaking out? It's not exactly normal for fillies to sleep in the same bed outside of official sleepovers, and usually you ask first.”

Jeog just blinked at her, then asked, “Can I sleep in your bed?”

Diamond Tiara rubbed her forehead, “I get the feeling a point is being missed somewhere here. Look, Jeog, don’t you have your own place to sleep?”

There was an uncomfortably long silence, and Jeog looked at the floor before saying, “Yes. But I don’t like it there anymore. It’s... empty, there.”

Diamond felt her heart clench for a moment. There was a strain of confusion and pain in Jeog’s voice that Diamond Tiara hadn’t often heard in another before. She found she didn’t like hearing it one bit. She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slow, hopping off her bed to pat Jeog on the shoulder. “Okay, it's a bit too weird to just let you hop into bed every night, but I’ll tell you what I can do. How about you show me where you live, and I can spruce it up for you, make it feel less empty.”

“Spruce?” Jeog’s nose wrinkled and she licked her lips as if tasting the word. Diamond Tiara offered a warm smile.

“Yeah, spruce! I mean, I can’t afford to get you new rugs and curtains, but I bet I can find some nice plants and flowers to color the place up, maybe snag a poster or two on the cheap from one of the thrift shops in town. You’d be surprised how a few small touches can really warm a place up and make it feel like a home,” Diamond Tiara said with a voice bubbling up with enthusiasm. Partially because she genuinely wanted to help, but there was a bit of an ulterior motive that if she could convince Jeog to show where she lived it’d be one more step to convince her she could trust Diamond Tiara with the whole truth.

However there was a tremor of unease in Jeog as she hesitantly looked away from Diamond. “There’s no reason to go to where I live. I won’t trouble you here if it makes you uncomfortable. I’m... sorry if my being here is strange.” The way she said the word ‘sorry’ made it sound as if it were a word from a foreign language, one rarely used at that.

“Look, it’s okay.” Diamond Tiara said, glancing at the one window in her room. “I’m not sure how you got in with the window locked, but if it really bugs you sleeping at your place then I guess it's fine for you to drop in here. Just make sure my parents don’t spot you, or they might freak out.”

Jeog’s tail started to wag in a way that Diamond found rather adorable. “It’s okay with you?”

“Yes, for now. On the condition you eventually let me see your place and fix it up for you, alright? Not trying to be pushy, just can’t promise you can share my bed all permanent like. Just until you’re comfortable with your own.”

“Agreed.” Jeog said after a moment of consideration.

“Great! Well, now that we got that settled we’ll meet up after school today.” Diamond Tiara went over to her window and unlatched it, opening it wide. Her eyes briefly looked over the unusually large scratch marks along the wood panel outside it, but at this point she was pretty sure she knew where they’d come from. “And next time could you at least knock before coming in?”

Jeog nodded and lightly hopped up onto the window with the dexterity of a cat, easily balancing there as she turned to look back at Diamond Tiara. Her earlier hesitance seemed to have faded, and now there was a look of anticipation glowing in her eyes. “What will you be showing me today I wonder, Diamond Tiara?”

“Ice cream?” Jeog asked in general confusion. She may have learned the Equestrian tongue, but there were still plenty of phrases she wasn’t particularly familiar with. Ice cream was one of them. She, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon stood outside an mortal lair that looked very much like the other dwellings of Ponyville, only this one had exceedingly colorful designs along its roof and edges of bright, swirling patterns that looked vaguely like waves to Jeog. Above the mint colored door was a swinging sign painted with a depiction of a bowl piled high with scoops of multi-colored spheres topped with chocolate. The chocolate Jeog at least recognized, so she guessed this was some kind of mortal treat. Mortal food could be quite tasty and she was often impressed with their capacity for finding new and interesting flavors.

“Yes, cream of ice, food of the most divine origins, whose creation is a mystery for the ages but whose existence blesses Equestria as surely as the love of Duchess Chrysalis,” Diamond Tiara said with a grandiose gesture at the ice cream shop.

“Giver of brain freeze and bringer of diabetes,” Silver Spoon said next to Diamond Tiara. “Yet we forgive ice cream its faults for all the joy it brings into our lives. Especially because I’m the one paying for it today.”

“I-I’ll pay you back.” Diamond Tiara said, head lowering in embarrassment, but Silver Spoon just waved her hoof.

“Forget it, it’s no biggie.”

Jeog’s ear twitched unconsciously. Again this matter of money. She’d begun to enact her plans to alleviate this baffling trouble that affected her mortal companion. Gathering the shiny bits was actually quite easy, given how much of them were left lying around in most mortal lairs, often with only a few locked chests or poorly hidden spaces in the floorboards where they kept the coins. She didn’t know precisely how much Diamond Tiara needed to be happy, but Jeog figured there was no harm in erring on the side of caution in this case.

When the time came Diamond Tiara was surely be surprised and grateful.

“Right, so Jeog, some important heads up info.” said Diamond Tiara, getting Jeog’s attention with a wave. “First off, don’t be overwhelmed by flavor choice. It can be disorienting for a first timer, but just go with your gut with whichever looks the yummiest, but stick to one flavor only for your first time. Later on we can try more advanced techniques like multi-flavored scoops, or actual sundaes.”

“Second rule, don’t lick too hard on cones otherwise your scoop will fall right off, and that is a tragedy we cannot afford. Literally. I’m not buying replacements,” Silver Spoon stated firmly.

“I think for her first time we’ll stick to a bowl,” said Diamond Tiara, “Cones can be hard on first timers.”

Jeog grimaced slightly. “Ice cream sounds difficult.”

“Don’t worry, you’re going to love this. C’mon.” Diamond Tiara led the way inside, and Jeog was assaulted by a kaleidoscope of colors and sugary scents as she entered behind the filly.

The interior of the shop had a black and white tiled floor but the rest of it oozed a shining palette of colors that filled the walls with painted depictions of the very concoctions on sale, surrounding customers in a frosty embrace of ice cream and ice cream related treats. Even the support beams were carved with intricate and surprisingly detailed scoops of ice cream and the various toppings that could go upon them. White or pink circular tables were set up to the spaces on either side of the doorway in, but there was a clear path to the front counter where a wide glass front showed multiple tubes of the many colored ice creams available, and an entire host of toppings on display.

The proprietors of the shop were as bright and colorful as their product, a pair of unicorn mare’s who Jeog imagined were packmates given their similar markings. One had a pale orange coat and deep pink mane, while the other a more creme colored coat and light brown mane streaked with white, both worn in an identical pig-tailed fashion. Both had identically colored mint eyes, and similar wide smiles as they greeting the entering fillies.

“Helloooo and welcome to The Daily Scoop! What can we do for you?”

Diamond Tiara returned their smile. “Hey there Sherbet, Rocky Road. We’re bringing in somepony special today. Her name’s Jeog, and it's her first time trying out ice cream.”

“Oh my goodness, really!?” cried the orange coated mare, propping herself up on the counter, her eyes widening with equal parts surprise and delight. “You’re in for quite the experience then! Heehee, I’m so happy to able to introduce somepony to the wonders of ice cream.”

“But its so odd you haven’t had it before,” said the other mare with the creme colored coat as she rubbed her chin. “Are you from another country, little miss?”

Jeog was aware that Diamond Tiara had been maintaining the illusion that she was a foreign student from Neighpon, and she had no trouble repeating that lie with a completely straight face. The two ice cream mares accepted the story with friendly nods and no questions. Instead the orange one, still grinning a little too widely, gestured to the array of tubs filled with ice cream.

“So do you want me or Rocky to recommend some flavor options, or do you just want to dive in?”

“Chocolate’s always a decent first choice.” said Diamond Tiara, licking her lips as she eyed the ice cream. “Although my personal favorite is strawberry.”

Jeog glanced over the different possibilities, almost dizzied by the number. The creativity of mortals was certainly one of their more fascinating qualities. And as was her want, she didn’t like restricting herself.

“All of them.” she stated bluntly, which earned looks from all present.

The orange mare, Sherbet, actually let out a pleased chuckle. “Not lacking for ambition I see.”

“Uh, Jeog, remember we said to stick to one flavor? Besides, I don’t think I can afford to buy a scoop of every flavor here,” Silver Spoon said, “Might want to tone it down there.”

“But I want to try all of it.”

Rocky Road waved a hoof in dismissal. “For a first time I think we can give some samples on the house.”

Jeog’s head quirked to the side. “You serve food on the roof?”

“Huh? No, just a turn of phrase that means we’ll give something for free just this once.”

“Oh.” Jeog frowned. “Eating on the roof sounded like fun.”

“That a thing they do in Neighpon?”

“...Yes. You should add tables to your roof.”

“Jeog, stop giving them ideas,” Diamond Tiara said quickly, then turned back to Sherbet. “In any case I’ll be having the strawberry sundae with extra pink sprinkles, please.”

“Sure thing! And how about you Silver Spoon?”

“Vanilla with caramel and gummy bears on a cone for me,” Silver Spoon said as she fished into her saddlebag for some bits to place on the counter.

The mares worked quickly, with deft and precise movements that spoke of both love and experience for their work. Jeog followed Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to sit at one of the tables, keeping a curious eye upon the two unicorns, who used their magic as much as their hooves to whip out bowls and scoop out heaps of the ice cream, sprinkling on toppings in what looked almost like a dance to Jeog’s eyes.

She’d always found mortal obsession with work to be a strange thing. In Carrea she’d seen many spend their lives toiling in fields, or going day in and day out living in the same home turned shop. No doubt these two sisters lived in the space above the shop, and would spend their whole lives doing exactly what Jeog saw them doing right now. And for some reason they would do it happily with smiles on their faces until they were old and withered, then finally died.

Why? Didn’t it get boring? She knew mortals got bored of things the same way she did. Even if ice cream turned out to be the most delicious thing in the world, she couldn't get her mind to wrap around the idea of eating it for her entire life, and with the endless well of contentment, happiness, and enthusiasm she saw these two ponies exhibit. Then again, her lifespan was much longer than theirs. She wasn’t even sure she could die normally. Only iron, fire, or water could end her, not time, like it was with mortals. And they had so little of it.

What made them enjoy their short lives so much, doing such simple things?

She’d spent so long running from the Hunter she’d forgotten about some of the burning questions that had drawn her to the mortals, and she felt an odd spark of contentment herself with being reminded of why she found them so interesting. The past few days spent with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, and some of the other foals in Ponyville, had been more interesting than years spent hiding in fear.

“You’re smiling.”

Jeog glanced over to see Diamond Tiara looking at her warmly, a flashy smile on her face. “Its nice to see. Why don’t you do it more often?”

The words took Jeog off guard. She touched her face for a second, finding that she was smiling, although the expression quickly faded as she glanced away from Diamond Tiara. “I smile enough. When I want to.”

“And when’s that?” asked Silver Spoon, eyeing Jeog frankly. “We’ve been showing you what we like to do for fun, but what do you usually do for fun when you’re by yourself?”

A dozen things crossed Jeog’s mind at once, from the simple but still at times pleasurable hunting of small prey in the forest, to the not so long ago excitement of the violent battle with the Timber Wolves. Licking her lips she said, “I like chasing things.”

“Chasing things?” Silver Spoon repeated with a dubious look.

Jeog tried to smile again. Diamond Tiara did say she ought to do it more. The look in Silver Spoon’s eyes, however, suggested the smile wasn’t quite having the same effect on her. Oh well, not Jeog’s problem. “Oh yes, chases are fun. Especially when what I’m chasing can run fast enough to make me have to try.” She leaned towards Silver Spoon. “It’s no fun, you see, when the chase is too short. Not satisfying at all.”

“Uh-huh... and what do you chase?” Silver Spoon said, holding Jeog’s stare without flinching, which Jeog found she rather liked.

“Whatever I want,” Jeog replied simply.

Diamond Tiara, flicking a confused glance between the pair, suddenly perked up and said. “Oh hey, ice creams here!”

Jeog was distracted from thoughts of wondering what it might be like to chase Silver Spoon by the arrival of the ice cream. Sherbet floated the treats over in a glittering aura of magic, carefully setting them before the fillies. Diamond Tiara had a glass boat filled with multiple scoops of ice cream the same color as her coat, all surrounding a banana and topped off with melted chocolate and whipped cream. Silver Spoon had a waffle cone piled up with vanilla, drenched in a thick stream of caramel, and sprinkled with odd little bear shaped gummies. Jeog couldn’t grasp why they were shaped like bears, but perhaps ponies were more predatory than she thought, because Silver Spoon bit into the defenseless bear gummies with clear relish.

As for Jeog, she found a circular tray in front of her piled up with a dizzying array of scoops from every single flavor available. The scoops were bit smaller than the ones Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had, but the cumulative amount of all the flavors made for one impressive array. There was a spoon available, but Jeog ignored it. Shed never needed mortal utensils before, and never trusted anything made out of metal anyway.

Instead she took a breath, then proceeded to dig in.

The cold struck her almost as hard and fast as the flavor. She barely had time to register one piece of sweetness before it was overwhelmed by another, but within seconds she was licking her lips with absolutely, shocked enjoyment.

“You like it?” Diamond Tiara asked, spooning some of her sundae into her mouth as she gave Jeog a knowing smirk.

Taking a moment to extend her tongue and lick some of the ice cream that’d gotten on her nose, Jeog gave a swift nod. “I don’t understand how something this good could be made by mortal means.”

“Weird way of putting it, but I take that to mean you like it,” Diamond said happily, and Jeog responded by proceeding to shove her face back into the tray of ice cream, slurping it up greedily.

Her tail was dancing behind her as she chowed down on one flavor after another, unable to even grasp how Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon were even capable of restraining themselves to eating their own so slowly. Then Silver Spoon cleared her throat rather loudly and said, “Jeog, you might want to pace yourself, or you’ll get brainfreeze.”

Brainfreeze? What was that? It sounded like a dumb mortal thing that didn’t apply to her. Besides how could she possibly stop eating this delicious ice cr-

The young pony couple that had seen the odd gray filly stumble out of the bushes a few days ago were now out on another date, and today had decided to stop by The Daily Scoop for satisfying their sweet tooth.

Only as they approached the establishment both were frozen in place but an unearthly howl of agony that emanated from within the shop like the wail of some horrific beast of Tartarus.

“Uh, honey, what was that?” asked the mare of the pair with wide eyes.

Her coltfriend gulped and gave her a little push down the road away from the ice cream shop. “Don’t know, but I have a sudden craving for donuts instead, how about you dear?”

“Yes. Donuts. Let’s do that.”

“Jeog, come down from there!” Diamond Tiara said, a tad panicked as she looked up at the rafters of the ice cream shop.

“No! The ice cream is still down there! Waiting. Watching.”

“You’re being ridiculous. The ice cream is not out to get you. We warned you about the brainfreeze,” Silver Spoon muttered dejectedly, still trying to wipe caramel out of her mane. More than a little had gotten all over her when Jeog had spontaneously freaked out at the impact of sudden brainfreeze.

Diamond Tiara had watched in mute shock as Jeog had bowled over the table and literally jumped high enough to hook a hoof around the rafters of the roof and clamber up there like a scared cat. Now Jeog hid partially in shadow up among the rafters, peering down at them with shaking blue eyes.

“Wow. You’re friend has got to have the worst first-time reaction to brainfreeze I’ve ever seen,” Rocky Road commented dryly while her sister Sherbet dragged out a mop and bucket from a nearby closet to start cleaning the mess of ice cream that was melting onto the tiled floor.

Diamond Tiara was just glad that neither ice cream mare was questioning how Jeog jumped all the way up to the ceiling. She was almost thankful for athletic savants like Scootaloo who provided benchmarks of physical prowess that made Jeog’s less than normal stunts seem at least partially normal.

Taking a deep breath and adopting as calming a tone as she could she looked up at Jeog and said, “It’s okay. Look, Sherbet is cleaning up the evil ice cream and it won’t hurt you anymore, alright? The brainfreeze is just what happens when you eat it too fast. It’s not poisonous, it’s just cold. That’s why me and Spoon were eating it slowly, like how you’re supposed to.”

Jeog’s little gray face slowly peeked out from the edge of the rafter. “You speak truly? The ice cream wasn’t trying to kill me?”

“Of course it wasn’t silly. You just ate too much too fast. Totally normal mistake. Alright? Will you come down now?”

With a swish of motion and Jeog leaped down from the rafters, laning with ease and smoothing out her coat as if she hadn’t just had a freak out over an attack of brainfreeze.

“What shall we do now?”

Wow, she’s really just going to play it off, huh? Diamond Tiara thought, chuckling under her breath.

“I’ve still got to return Gentle Leaf’s umbrella from the other day,” Silver Spoon said, bumping her saddlebag with a hoof. “We could always head over to her place, see if she wants to play.”

“Gentle Leaf. The silent one,” Jeog said with a musing voice. “She was interesting. Why does she not speak?”

“Kind of a mystery there.” Diamond Tiara said, “Nopony in town really knows. She moved here pretty recently when her parents opened up a Carrean restaurant.”

Diamond noticed that made Jeog flinch slightly. “Carrean? They are from there?”

“I don’t think they are originally, but I heard she and her parents lived there for awhile, years back,” said Silver Spoon. “Guess they liked the food so much they wanted to bring it here to Equestria. Not that I’m complaining. I’ve eaten at their place a few times and the food’s pretty good.”

There was clear hesitance in Jeog’s face but she looked to Diamond Tiara and said, “Then let us go play with Gentle Leaf.”

Even without words Gentle Leaf could show a lot of enthusiasm with body language alone. When asked if she wanted to go out and play she’d offered a beaming grin and almost blurring nod. Her parent had no objections to Gentle Leaf going out to play, and Diamond Tiara was impressed to find out that Gentle Leaf usually helped her parents with running the restaurant by doing some of the cooking and food serving.

“That’s such a pretty manestyle. Super cute,” Diamond Tiara said in honest compliment to the way Gentle Leaf had styled her mane into a simple yet elegant bun with a pair of tails trailing out from it to curl down one side of her neck, the bun held together with a dark metal manepin with a crane design on one end.

A soft green hoof happily played with the bun, Gentle Leaf nodding her thanks as the quartet of fillies trotted through the town, heading towards the fields just outside Whitetail Woods. Since Gentle Leaf was still new to town Diamond Tiara had suggested it’d be fun to stroll around the woods, which were much safer than the Everfree Forest, and maybe play something simple like tag or hide and seek if they got bored with the scenery. Jeog had seemed nervous about the idea at first, but didn’t object when Gentle Leaf showed some enthusiasm for the idea.

“Is that a style ponies wear a lot on Carrea?” asked Silver Spoon, also giving Gentle Leaf’s mane an appreciative look.

The silent filly tilted her eyes up thoughtfully for a moment before nodded again. She tapped the manepin, then made a few gestures around her head, as if to indicate various shapes.

“Ah, I get it. There’s lots of ways to style your mane around a pin like that, right?” Diamond Tiara said, to which Gentle Leaf bobbed her head.

“It's iron.”

“Jeog?” Diamond Tiara glanced at the other filly, who’s frosty eyes seemed fixated on the manepin.

“The metal thing in her mane. It's iron,” Jeog repeated, taking a noticeable step of distance away from Gentle Leaf. “They’re usually made of wood.”

“Huh. That’s kinda neat. I wonder what else they make manepins out of over there?” Diamond Tiara said, wondering why Jeog suddenly looked so uncomfortable.

“Jade. Obsidian. Sometimes bone,” Jeog said, frowning, “Though I haven’t seen bone used in a long time.”

“How long is that? You’re like the same age as we are,” Silver Spoon said, to which Jeog just gave a small smile and said nothing. Diamond Tiara noticed Gentle Leaf’s somewhat confused expression and she offered a reassuring smile.

“I guess since Jeog is from the same region she knows a lot of Eastern stuff too. Hey, that reminds me, can you understand Carrean? Since you lived there for awhile?”

Gentle Leaf held up a hoof and shook it back and forth in a clear gesture of ‘sorta’, looking bashfully at the ground. She then pointed at Jeog and made a confused shrugging motion, then pointed to her ears.

“Uhh, sorry I don’t get what you’re trying to say there.” Diamond Tiara admitted, but Jeog cut in.

“We’ve arrived at the woods. Why did we come here, again?”

“Oh, well these woods are way safer to play in than the Everfree, and since Ponyville holds a lot of festivals and events out here I thought it’d be neat to show you new guys around it. Its actually a really great place for outdoor games when the park is too busy. You said you like to play ‘chase’ right, Jeog? I figure that sounds a lot like tag. What do you say Gentle Leaf, you like tag too?”

The filly gave a firm nod of assent, while Jeog flicked her tail in curious query. “What’s tag?”

“It's beyond simple,” said Silver Spoon. “One pony is ‘it’, and they chase all the other ponies who aren’t ‘it’. You ‘tag’ someone, then they become ‘it’, and chase everyone else. That’s literally all there is to it. Not really a thinking filly’s game, but it gets the blood pumping.”

Jeog’s tail continued to lash around behind her, but there was an interested light in her eyes. “Then which of us is ‘it’?”

“Do you want to be?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“Yes. How do we begin? Does the prey get a head start?”

“Uhhh, suuuure. We’ll go with that,” Diamond Tiara responded, “Just remember when you manage to tag one of us we become ‘it’ and we start chasing you.”

Jeog glanced away, whispering under her breath, “A feeling I am familiar with.”

Silver Spoon trotted towards the woods, “So, ten second head start sound good?”

Gentle Leaf smiled and shrugged, tail wagging. She seemed content to just be out and playing, for which Diamond Tiara was grateful. It seemed like, despite her odd mute condition, the filly was starting to feel at home in Ponyville. Now if she could just get Jeog to feel the same way enough to open up a bit more.

“Ten seconds is not long enough, I think,” said Jeog, lazily stretching out her legs, “Thirty is what I will give you. Then I start the chase.”

“Hey, got to give her points for confidence,” said Diamond Tiara, joining Silver Spoon and Gentle Leaf a few paces ahead of Jeog. “Ready?”

Everypony present nodded, and Diamond Tiara turned with a sharp nod. “Then go!”

While far from athletic, and definitely on the weaker end of the earth pony spectrum, Diamond Tiara still could enjoy a good hoof race, and tag was just a prolonged race with no set track. It helped that the weather today was much nicer after the storm a few days back, with the air clear and warm and a cloud speckled blue sky overlooking the fillies as they tore off into Whitetail Woods.

Diamond Tiara flagged a bit behind Gentle Leaf and Silver Spoon. Gentle Leaf in particular seemed like she knew her way around a forest and bounded around small obstacles and tough bits of terrain with barely slowing down. Diamond Tiara had to pace herself a bit more gingerly, knowing all too well her luck with forests and their grasping branches. Still, Whitetail was a practical walk in the park compared to Everfree, and she was a lot less nervous now than she’d been then.

She’d been counting up the thirty seconds in her head, and once they were up she chanced a glance behind her to see where Jeog might be. She blinked, not seeing any sign of the filly at first. Then a streak of blue and gray motion caught Diamond Tiara’s eye and she nearly choked at the sight of Jeog speeding along behind them and to the left like a swooping hawk with legs. That thirty second head start hadn’t been nearly enough! Jeog was catching up to them with disturbing ease. The sight was just further proof in Diamond Tiara’s mind that her new friend was the same being that had saved her and Silver Spoon in the Everfree.

Silver Spoon spotted Jeog’s swift approach next, and gave a sharp whistle that got Gentle Lea’s attention. The other filly looked, seemed briefly startled, then shared a look with Silver Spoon. The two appeared to reach an unspoken agreement and both made a quick turn to the right. Diamond Tiara struggled to keep up, swinging out wider to the left of the other pair.

Jeog sped in between them, forcing Diamond Tiara to go more left, like a gazelle being led off from the herd. Diamond Tiara put her head down and galloped faster, her little pink legs tearing up the ground in a blur. There was a small thrill of fear inside her, yet she was more energized by it than genuinely scared. She cut to the right, looking to link back up with Silver Spoon and Gentle Leaf. A gray bolt of fur leaping from the bushes behind her made her gasp as she threw herself into a quick jumping bound.

Jeog laughed behind her, and Diamond Tiara felt a tug at her tail. When she glanced back, however, Jeog wasn’t behind her, but rather further to her right, grinning so wide Diamond Tiara was certain she could see canines.

Jeog made another pass, rushing hard in at Diamond and swiping with a hoof, one that for a moment almost looked more like a paw. It narrowly missed Diamond Tiara’s tail again, just snagging a few hairs for a second. Giggling, Jeog trailed just behind Diamond Tiara again.

She’s toying with me. Like a cat with a mouse. Well, I’m a fast little mouse!

Lowering her head, already panting like mad from exertion but somehow just not caring about the burning in her legs or lungs, Diamond Tiara put on a burst of speed. Up ahead she saw the forest rise up a bit into a short ridge. Strangely Silver Spoon and Gentle Leaf were there, just standing on the ridge, rather than running. When they spotted Diamond Tiara and Jeog coming in Silver Spoon shouted something that Diamond couldn’t make out, and Gentle Leaf shook her hooves in an obvious ‘stop’ gesture.

Only Diamond was moving way too fast to just stop on a dime. She went right up the ridge even as she dug her hooves in to try to stop herself, pure momentum carrying all the way to the top of the ridge, precariously balanced on the other side.

Jeog, clearly having not anticipated such a sudden stop, bowled right into Diamond Tiara. Their flailing limbs caught Silver Spoon and Gentle Leaf as well, and all four fillies went tumbling down the ridge in a fuzzy, multi-colored tangle. The avalanche of filly limbs ended with a resounding crash into something hard and made of wood, but not so sturdy that four fillies tumbling into it didn’t break it with an audible snap of wooden planks.

Groaning and aching all over, Diamond Tiara saw stars through her swimming vision, and slowly tried to disentangle herself from her friends.

“Ugh, who’s hoof is this?” Silver Spoon asked, and at the hoof’s silent wiggle she said, “Oh, Gentle Leaf. I guess the color should’ve given that away.”

“Is this how tag is played?” asked a dazed Jeog from the top of the pile, “Does this mean everyone is ‘it’ now?”

“N-not normally, Jeog. Hey, Silver Spoon, Gentle Leaf, why’d you two stop like that? Owowow, I think I’ve got a splinter in my flank.”

“Good, ya can git yer cutie mark in’ wreakin’ other ponies stuff then,” said a thickly accented and irate voice from above.

Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes, partially in exasperation at her rotten luck, and partially so she could get a look at Apple Bloom’s deeply frowning face that glared down at her and her friends from the top of the stairs leading to a red painted treehouse. Clambering to her hooves alongside the other fillies, Diamond Tiara saw that they’d rolled right into a relatively clear area with one major tree in the middle where a well crafted and sizable treehouse was built. There was also a log table and benches near the treehouse, a small piano of all things, and most pertinent at the moment a wooden ramp and loop-de-loop that was now in several broken pieces after Diamond and her friends had tumbled into it.

“What was that racket?” came a shout from inside the treehouse, and Scootaloo popped her head out of one of the windows, her eyes locking onto the ruined ramp. “What they hay!? My ramp!”

The little pegasus buzzed her wings and didn’t really fly, per se, so much as angrily buzzed out the window and landed on the grass like a highly agitated bee. “What do you jerks think you’re doing!?”

“Breakin’ our stuff is what,” Apple Bloom said, trotting down the treehouse’s stairs and joining Scootaloo in marching towards them.

“Girls? What’s going on?” Sweetie Belle poked out of the treehouse last, her eyes scanning the scene and almost immediately twitching at the sight as she groaned, “Great. Just great. And the afternoon was nice and quiet, too.”

Diamond Tiara shared worried glances with Silver Spoon, who was recovering her glasses and cleaning them off as she frowned at the situation. Gentle Leaf looked properly scared, shrinking back from the approaching CMC members. Meanwhile Jeog stood very, very still, practically a statue as she stared at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Diamond Tiara couldn’t tell if Jeog was scared, nonplussed, or what, as her expression was still as an ice pond. Gulping, Diamond Tiara stepped forward, offering an apologetic grimace.

“We’re really sorry Scootaloo. We were just playing and it was totally an accident.”

“Yeah, sure, an accident. Because you guys totally don’t have it in for us,” Scootaloo spat with so much heat in her tone Diamond was surprised she didn’t see steam coming from the filly’s ears.

“We don’t.” said Silver Spoon, “Seriously, this was an accident.”

“Like how yer little gray friend there ruined my bow the other day was an accident?” Apple Bloom asked with a sardonic lift of her eyebrow, making Diamond Tiara realize that she wasn’t wearing her trademark mane bow today.

“Was it really stained that badly?” she asked.

“Yeah, an’ it ain’t like I can just replace it ‘neither. But ya know what, that ain’t here nor there right now. What’re ya’ll gonna do ‘bout Scoots busted ramp, huh? We had to scrounge up plenty o’ bits just ta git the wood ta build it, ya know?” Apple Bloom trotted right up to Diamond Tiara, almost snout to snout, but at she did so a pair of gray forms got in her way.

Apple Bloom blinked then snorted. “Oh, now there’s two of ya protectin’ her?”

Silver Spoon turned a surprised glance at Jeog, who mimicked the look, as both of them had moved to step in Apple Bloom’s way at practically the same instant and had taken up equally protective stances. Silver Spoon adjusted her glasses and managed a small smile, nodding to Jeog before turning her attention back to Apple Bloom. “Looks that way. Besides we all broke the ramp, so your beef is with all of us, not just Diamond. Now how much did that ramp cost?”

“All the wood and nails cost us twenty bits, easy!” Scootaloo said, moving so that she circled slightly around to the right of the group, her wings still buzzing in obvious anger.

Diamond Tiara winced. Twenty bits might have been small change for any working adult. Even her parents, low earners that they were, would still have that on hoof. But for foals that was anywhere from one to two month’s allowance, easy, and that was for foals that actually got allowances. It wasn’t exactly the kind of coin a foal just had on them.

“You want shiny coins, yes?” said Jeog suddenly, eyes glittering. “Then here.”

Diamond Tiara had no idea where Jeog got it from, but it was like she just reached into her big, bushy gray tail and whipped out a cloth bag that made a loud, audible clink of coins as she tossed it to Apple Bloom.

“Jeog, where did you get that from?” Diamond Tiara asked, and Jeog simply shrugged, not answering, her eyes intent on Apple Bloom.

“Filled with the shiny coins you like, isn't’ it?” Jeog asked, her voice oddly... resonant for a second. Apple Bloom’s eyes shone as she opened the bag. Diamond Tiara couldn’t see what was inside, but it did shine with a dull gold light like bits did.

“Don’t know why ya got so much on ya, but this’ll do fine.”

“They still busted up our stuff,” Scootaloo said with frustration.

Apple Bloom shrugged, “Yeah, but long as we can build it again then I ain’t got a’ problem. It was fun building it anyway, right Scoots?”

“I guess so.”

“Well then guess ya’ll can scram, far as I’m concerned-”

“Wait up,” said Sweetie Belle suddenly, eyes narrowing. “Something isn’t right here.”

“What’d ya mean?” Apple Bloom asked, and Sweetie Belle approached her, eyeing the bag with hard suspicion. Suddenly the little unicorn’s horn lit up with pale green magic, the aura grasping the bag and lifting it up.

Jeog stiffened, and Diamond Tiara wondered what was going on and what might have set Sweetie Belle off, but inside of a few moments the ‘bag’ suddenly burst into bright, icy blue flames. Most everypony there gasped and backed away as the bag faded to nothing, leaving only a few blue embers drifting in the air.

“What n’ tarnation was that!?” Apple Bloom shouted, then glared at Jeog, “What’re ya tryin’ ta swindle us with? Magic?”

“But she isn’t a unicorn,” Sweetie Belle said musingly, “I just felt weird magic in the air.”

“Well I don’t care!” shouted Scootaloo, “You jerks owe us and now you tried to lie to us! So you know what, no more miss nice filly! I’m just taking something valuable from you!”

Sweetie Belle frowned, “Scootaloo wait, we don’t have to-”

But it was entirely too late. Scootaloo couldn’t fly, but she could hover up a decent height, and she proceeded to do so and dive bombed Jeog like a over-sized, buzzing wasp. Jeog took the hit straight in the chest, getting bowled over by Scootaloo. The two went rolling around, Jeog letting out a high pitched, very un-filly like snarl, while Scootaloo's limbs flailed in random punches.

Unfortunately the two bowled straight into Gentle Leaf, the blow knocking her bundled up mane loose and sending her iron manepin spinning to the ground a few paces away.

“Gentle Leaf!” Silver Spoon ran up to check on the other filly while Scootaloo and Jeog wrestled around.

“Apple Bloom, do something!” Diamond Tiara cried, “Help me pry them apart before somepony gets hurt.”

Apple Bloom was scowling, but she gave a grave nod. “Ya, fine, ya git yer pal, I’ll git mine. C’mon Scoots, cut it out!”

The two started to gallop towards the wrestling fillies, only it was just then that the two rolling and punching little ponies tumbled right over the iron manepin, with Jeog’s back getting pricked by the sharp end.

The result was instantaneous.

First was a ear splitting, monstrous howl of shocked agony that ripped out of Jeog’s throat, distorted from a filly’s voice into something entirely phantasmal and unnatural as it pierced the air. The filly’s ice blue eyes shot open unnaturally wide, and her entire form distorted.

It was just like what Diamond Tiara had briefly seen that morning when Jeog had been having that disturbed sleep in her bed. Only now the transformation was clear and more complete as the ‘filly’ that had been Jeog seemed to blow up and pop like a balloon, her form tearing away in ragged motes of azure fire. What was left in her place was a much larger form, a giant fox with thick fur of a light gray and blue tinted shade. A thin, vulpine face blazed with pain and anger, Jeog’s eyes still the same frosty pale blue but now with slitted pupils. Her maw was filled with sharp teeth, bared in a snarl. Nine, wide bushy tails writhed behind her as she took huge paws and in pure, pained reflex, swiped them at Scootaloo.

Scootaloo, to her credit, showed her natural athleticism and reflexes by buzzing away in a gliding jump, although by the look on her face her actions were a reaction of pure terror rather than a conscious evasion. Still, the move kept the swiping paw from taking her throat out, and instead just left a shallow set of scratch marks on her shoulder.

“Jeog!” Diamond Tiara shouted, while everypony else was either frozen in horror, or swiftly backing away.

“What n’ tarnation is that thing!?” Apple Bloom said, dumbfounded.

“Scootaloo, are you okay!?” Sweetie Belle, shouted, running to her friend, who was wincing in pain and holding her lightly bleeding shoulder.

“Ugh, y-yeah.”

Silver Spoon was holding Gentle Leaf, who was shaking like her namesake, staring wide eyed at the creature that now stood in Jeog’s place. Diamond Tiara, realizing just how serious things had just gotten, felt her stomach freezing over as she took a tentative step towards the large vulpine being, who was still growling and looking around wild eyed. She could see the spot on the fox creature where the iron manepin had struck. There was an wound there that bled small bits of flicker blue fire, as if the fox didn’t have blood inside her, but rather was made of the blue flames.

“J-Jeog, please, calm down.” Diamond Tiara said. She recognized Jeog, of course. She knew this was the same being that had saved her and Silver Spoon in the Everfree Forest. She had to somehow salvage this situation.

But Jeog’s eyes fluttered in a rapid set of blinks, as if she was only just now coming to realize what she was doing. A bewildered and frankly frightened look came over her fox-like features and the large vulpine backed away from Diamond Tiara, her paws digging up the ground as she scrambled back. Jeog looked about at the fearful expressions on the faces of the foals around her, briefly settled on the injured Scootaloo, and Diamond Tiara saw a flash of regret in the fox’s eyes before Jeog turned around and fled with a burst of incredible speed.

“Jeog, wait!” Diamond Tiara shouted, galloping after her.

She heard Silver Spoon shouting behind her, but didn’t hear what the words were. She just knew that if she let Jeog get away now, she’d might never see her again, or have any chance at setting things right.

The pain in her back from the hated, burning iron was a pale ache in comparison to the way she felt inside. Jeog had not felt like this in some time, a mixture of inwardly directed anger, shame, and the hollow feeling of knowing she was going to be alone again. There was a dose of fear mixed in there too, because she knew her error in exposing herself would bring the Hunter. She could not afford to stay in Ponyville any longer.

Reaching her lair she went inside swiftly, looking around at the random piles of junk. Was there anything here she truly valued? Just useless trinkets she’d taken on random whims. The only thing of real importance was the growing collection of bits she had hidden in one pile that she was going to give to Diamond Tiara, but if she was leaving then was there even a point to that.

Well, perhaps as a parting gift. Diamond Tiara had been... nice. It could be a final gesture, before Jeog moved on. As for this lair, it was made up of old, easily flammable wood. Burning it down to destroy any trackable trace of her being here would make the most sense.

“Jeog, are you here?”

She nearly jumped to the roof in startled surprised. She’d been so focused on her own thoughts even her keen hearing and scent had missed Diamond Tiara’s approach. Somehow the filly had managed to follow her all the way here? Jeog didn’t know whether to be baffled, or impressed.

Wrapping herself in a cloak of foxfire, turning invisible, she backed up against the wall of her cabin lair, staying quiet.

Diamond Tiara was outlined against the cabin door, the small filly trotting inside cautiously, looking around with searching eyes. Jeog smelled no fear from Diamond Tiara, however, or rather what she scented coming off the filly was anxiety and worry, which were much drier and moldy scents than fear’s sharp tang.

“Wow... you’ve collected a lot of stuff,” Diamond Tiara whispered as she looked amid the piled up collections of junk. “How long have you lived out here?”

Jeog stayed silent, not daring to move as Diamond Tiara searched about the cabin. She ran a pink hoof over some of Jeog’s old scrawlings of boredom, the swirling and geometric shapes seeming to draw the filly in. “These are neat. You did them all yourself?”

Jeog didn’t respond, but her tails flicked behind her, pleased despite herself at Diamond Tiara’s interest.

“Look, I know you’re in here,” Diamond Tiara said, voice filling with earnesty. “You don’t have to show yourself if you don’t want to. Just... listen.”

Diamond Tiara’s ears drooped, her posture growing heavy as she sat on her haunches. “I think I just screwed up big time. All this time I pretty much knew what you were, but I was scared that if I came on too strong with you that I might... I don’t know, frighten you off. I should have come right out and asked you if you were the one who saved me and Spoon back in the Everfree. Maybe then I’d know more about you and the whole situation just now wouldn’t have happened. I probably should have went to an adult... but... I was just worried you’d disappear, kinda like you are right now.”

Jeog’s jaws tightened with the rising feel of regret inside her at the sadness in Diamond Tiara’s voice. She didn’t like hearing it at all. Mortal emotions rarely made any sense to her, but she knew she didn’t like the way Diamond tiara sounded right now, and less the thought that she was the source of the filly’s discomfort.

She let the illusion of invisibility melt away from her, revealing her form to Diamond Tiara. She wondered if the filly would flinch at her true form, but Diamond just looked at her with a mix of relief and awe.

“Jeog, good, I... look I’m sorry about everything. I should have been upfront about all of this. Now I’m not sure what’s going to happen.”

“I will leave,” Jeog said plainly, her own tapered ears flattening against her head as she padded forward and flumped down in front of Diamond Tiara, her nine tails curling around her as she did so. Laying down, she was more on eye level with the filly, meeting Diamond’s worried stare. “I cannot stay here.”

“That’s not true. I mean, yeah some ponies are gonna freak, but it's not like you hurt Scootaloo that bad, and once we explain the situation I’m sure everything will be fine. I hope.”

“I shouldn’t have struck the orange one,” Jeog said plainly, her whole posture sagging. “I didn’t intend for that to happen. The pain, it brought out... what I am.”

“And what are you Jeog? Please, help me understand!” Diamond said emphatically, “I want to understand you. What happened back there?”

“It was the iron of Gentle Leaf’s pin. Iron... is bad for me. It hurts in a way few things can. It made me...” Jeog seemed to struggle for words, a small whine escaping her throat. “It made me be me. The me that’s underneath all the other me. The one that knows food, and pleasure, and pain, and clawing and snapping my jaws around throats, but... doesn’t know ball games, and ice cream, and tag, and that I should call people who hurt me ‘jerkface’ instead of tearing them to pieces.”

“W-well... the others will understand. Ponies will understand as long as we can explain it to them that you didn’t meant to hurt Scootaloo. You don’t have to go away.”

“You don’t understand, Diamond Tiara. I must go because my real form has been seen. Word will spread. The Hunter will come. She’ll hurt any who she finds me with,” Jeog said, the fear rising in her voice even as she spoke the words.

Confusion blossomed in Diamond Tiara’s eyes. “Hunter? What Hunter?”

“She has chased me for a long time, across land and ocean both. If she discovers I’m here, she’ll come. She’ll come with fire and iron and pain, and nothing will stop her except my leaving. If I leave, she may still come, but as long as I’m not here she shouldn't hurt anyone and will keep up the chase.”

“I don’t understand. Why is she chasing you? And it looks like you’ve been here a long time. Maybe she’s not after you anymore, whoever she is,” Diamond Tiara said quickly, but Jeog just frowned, shaking her head.

“She chases me because I am Jeog. Her Jeog. I... hurt her, long ago. Her and another. One who mattered to me. But there was fire, and death, and now she chases me, until she finds me, and takes from me what she wants. Death, and power. I know she still hunts me, even if I’ve stayed hidden for many passings of the moon. She’s the Hunter. It's what she does.”

“W-well so what!?” Diamond Tiara said, standing up now, a strong light burning in her eyes. “That doesn’t mean she’ll find you here, and if she does, well, we’ll stop her!”

“You don’t understand. Nothing stops the Hunter. Certainly not little ponies.”

This time Diamond Tiara shook her head, “Hey, this little pony has big friends. And... and here’s the thing, Jeog, even if you ran, others are going to find out about you anyway and look for you. You see I know others like you. Not, uh, normal ponies, you see? They’re from another place too. They can protect you from the Hunter, if she shows up.”

Jeog wasn’t sure what Diamond Tiara was talking about. Others like her? There were no others like her. Not for a very long time. A time before even Cho Yon.

“What do you mean?”

Diamond Tiara stepped towards Jeog, slowly raising a hoof. When Jeog didn’t flinch away, Diamond placed her hoof on Jeog’s snout and stroked it. “Will you trust me? I might not know for sure how everypony will react, and I’m pretty certain I’m, like, grounded forever after this... but if you can trust me, I promise I’ll have you meet my friends who are like you, and once they understand you’re not a threat then they can keep you safe from this Hunter.”

It sounded strange and hard to believe, and a part of Jeog’s instincts were yelling at her to just run away. It would be safer. Burn the cabin, and flee into the night. This land was large, and while the forests here were deep and easy to hide in, there were also many mountains, and canyons, and deep, deep caves she could lose herself inside. The Hunter might one, distant day find her... but not for a long time, and more importantly she couldn’t hurt Diamond Tiara or any other pony in Ponyville.

But she so sorely wanted to trust Diamond Tiara, and not lose what she had here. In only a few days she’d found more enjoyment in the presence of these ponies than she had in years of isolation. Was that worth the risk?

Looking at Diamond Tiara, and seeing the odd light of warmth glowing in those eyes, the mortal light that drew Jeog like a moth to fire, she was reminded of Cho Yon. Even if that had ended in pain, it had been worth the time spent with these special mortals. Unconsciously she leaned into Diamond Tiara’s hoof as it pet her snout, and she let out a heavy sigh.

“I... will stay. ”

“Well, it won’t be easy. After what just happened we’re going to have to do a lot of explaining, and you’ll probably have to earn some trust with them, but I think it’ll all work out.” said Diamond Tiara hopefully. “And who knows, it's possible this Hunter chick won’t ever show up. I mean it's been years right? Maybe she gave up.”

During the evening the port town of Horseshoe Harbor was a quiet place, save for the collection of taverns strung out between the shipping warehouses along its docks. With the looming threat of potential kaiju attacks the sea trade had dropped off to a degree, but Equestrian sailors were brave and hearty folk so there were still plenty of ships moored at the piers and the taverns still mostly full with carousing ponies of the sea. One such tavern, McReedy’s, was particularly packed with three or four crews all washing away the day’s toils from their souls with generous amounts of alcohol.

“Oi, Reedy! Need s’more ale down here!” shouted one burly brown mare as she slammed an freshly drained mug on the table she sat at with a crew of similarly motley sailors.

The whipcord thin old stallion behind the bar with a wispy white mane and faded black coat waved a withered hoof and snagged a mug from the shelf with a glow of unicorn magic, filling it from the tap and floating it over as he said, “Gonna run your tab to a new high Rudder if you keep this up. You even planning on going back to your ship tonight or am I going to have to drag you all out onto the street after you pass out?”

“Ah piss on it Reeds, me and the boys are making good coin running cargo while other crews are shaking over some giant lizards running amok inland. Phah! Everypony around here scares too easy. Hey Tack! What was that story you keep telling? The one you say made you wet your tail back in the day?”

One of the ponies of Rudder’s crew, a stubby pegasus stallion of gray colorings looked sourly away from his Captain. “Aw c’mon Captain’, ya know I don’t like tellin’ that one.”

Rudder let out a belly born laugh, elbowing the much smaller pegasus. “Bah, it's hilarious though! How’d it go? Was like two ‘r three years back, right?”

“I don’t rightly remember. Awhile ago. You’re just gonna bug me until I tell it, ain’t ya?”

“Sure as I’m drunk as a waterlogged merpony,” Rudder said, grinning.

Tack muttered into his drink, taking a long pull, then drew himself up and began his tail. “Right, fine then. So here’s how it goes. You all see, back in the day I was working the docks as a simple hauler. One day I was on shift and saw washing up into the harbor a whole mess of wreckage. Happens sometimes a ship or two that gets taken out by pirates and scuttled will have bits washing up on our shores, due to how close we are to the current that runs out east. Now when that happens the dockmaster does his thing and contacts the naval authorities, but in the meantime it's free salvage for us to check if there’s anything useful in the wreckage.”

The pegasus took another drink, clearly steeling himself. “I knew right away this weren’t a normal wreak. You see it was a clear day all that morning, but when that wreckage started washing up, a fog came with it. Thick as curdled milk that fog was, and cold as fresh frost. I didn’t want to go combing the beach in that fog, but the dock master wasn’t hearing any of it, so me and a few others were sent out looking among the broken up stuff to see if any of it was valuable. I tell you, I knew something wasn’t right from the get go. So we started picking through the stuff, and I knew this wreckage had to be from pirates or something worse. So much of the wood was burned up. And I swear some of the wreckage had claw marks on it, big as my head I tell you. But that wasn’t the worst of it by half.”

Rudder grinned into her mug, “This is the best part.”

Off to the side, in one of the darker lit corner tables, a heavily cloaked figure leaned forward, gold eyes focused on the table with Rudder and her crew with keen interest. Unknowing of his additional audience Tack went on, his voice dropping to a hushed and fearful octave.

“The worst was when we found this... this beast washed up atop one the biggest pieces of the wreckage. Gray and shaggy it was, and at first we thought it might’ve been dead... but soon as we stepped close to it the thing leaped to its paws and let out such a howl I thought it stopped my heart for a second. Like a horrible, monstrous fox or wolf it was, with piercing eyes that looked to steal the soul of any that looked at it. I swear on my mother’s grave it had a tangle of tails behind it like writhing tentacles that lashed out blue fire at us, like from the depths of Tartarus! Dang near scared my coat white, and I know if I hadn’t fled for my life I might never have seen another day again.”

Rudder let out a raucous burst of laughter, slapping the table with a heavy hoof, joined by the rest of the crew as Tack grumbled. “Well, it was dang scary at the time.”

“Hahaah! Oh, Tack, gets me every time, that story. Probably just found a washed up cat and was so scared you thought you saw a crazy beast. Then again, I’ve seen some cats when they get put in the bath, I’d mistake ‘em for beats from Tartarus too. Hah!”

“Where did this beast go?”

All eyes at the table turned at the sound of that voice. Cold and razor sharp, like a whip of rime coated iron, the voice arrested attention while at the same time causing a shiver to discomfort to those that heard it. The voice was feminine, but there was nothing soft or chiming about it. The figure it belonged to was looming, covered in a thick, black cloak with the hood pulled up to shadow the bearer’s face in deep shadow. Only two gold eyes shone out from the depths, like twin daggers.

Rudder’s own overcast gray eyes narrowed as she turned her bulk in her seat, facing the cloaked figure with a frank look. “What’s it to you, an’ for that matter who in blazes are you?”

The rest of the crew tensed as the figure in the cloak remained silent for a second, some hooves moving towards knives or cudgels sheathed through sashes or belts.

“I see you want to be difficult about this for no reason...” the figure said in a musing tone, and Rudder drained her mug of ale and tossed it aside, staring at the cloaked individual.

“What can I say, I’m a difficult mare, and I don’t like strangers questioning my crew until I know who they are and if they’ve got coin to make the questions worth my while.”

By now the other crews seated at various tables had taken note of the confrontation and had halted their own carousing to watch. Unbeknownst to anyone else in the tavern there was one particular patrol in another corner who was watching the cloaked figure with similar interest to what the cloaked one had shown Rudder’s crew. She was a unicorn mare with a midnight black coat, and a flaring orange mane streaked with red and yellow strands. Red eyes twinkled with amused interest as this unicorn mare silently watched the scene unfold.

Meanwhile the cloaked figure stared at Rudder, and there was the smallest hint of a smile in the shadows of the hood. “Well, I have no coin, but perhaps you’ll take something else as payment for the information instead.”

“Oh yeah, what’s tha-” Rudder began to ask, but didn’t finish her sentence before the cloaked figure exploded into motion.

An emerald coated hoof dusted with pearl white scales smashed into Rudder’s jaw faster than the ship captain could blink. The blow lifted the not-so-slim mare right out of her chair and sent her flying head over tail across the tavern to smash into the far wall with enough force to crack the wood. Before any of her crew could properly drop their mouths open in shock or pull weapons free the figure flowed right into two more sweeping strikes, one chopping hoof ramming a sailor’s head straight into and through the table while a back kicking hind leg crunched into another sailor’s chest and sent him skidding across the floor like a hockey puck to bounce off another table, topping it over.

The remaining three sailors at the table had just enough time now to stand, pulling weapons in shaking hooves or mouths. Tack himself, eyes shooting wide like the full moon, flapped his wings in a rush to try and flee only to find his whole body encased in an aura of tightly squeezing gold colored magic.

“Stay.” the hooded figure commanded, “Our business is not concluded.”

“Bollocks to that you crazy hag!” shouted one of the other sailors, stabbing in with a long, curved knife. The cloaked figure spun away from the strike with the speed and grace of a dancing firefly. Even so the sailor was not inexperienced with his knife and the strike was accurate enough that it still tore a long, ragged cut through the cloak, causing it to spill away from the figure it hid.

The cloak billowed up in a field of gold magic, wrapping around the knife wielding sailor’s body like he was burrito and holding aloft just long enough for a fast striking kick to send him hurtling across the tavern and through a window to crash into the street outside in an unconscious heap.

By now Rudder had staggered to her hooves, dazed, with her jaw incredibly sore, but the mare equally hacked off as she glared at the one attacking her and her crew... although she blinked at the sight.

Beneath the cloak was a tall, lithe and feminine form. She had equine features, but smooth and exotic, with almond shaped eyes of blazing gold set in a beautiful but somehow feral face. The mare’s beauty was marred by such hardened, pitilessness that looking at her was like seeing a statue of pure carved jade permanently stained by shadow. The effect was emphasized by several ragged scars that marked her face and neckline. Smooth white scales tipped her snout and ran down her neck and chest, while also gracing the lengths of her legs. If that wasn’t enough to show her foreign nature, the long, curved horns sweeping up and back from her head like the antlers of a deer, currently wreathed in gold magic, certainly did the trick. A deep, raven dark mane of hair fell down past the mare’s shoulders, the straight strands perhaps once being well groomed but now having the dusty, split quality of a mane that had seen a lot of hard travel. Her tail was long and almost serpentine, marked by more pearl scales and a length of more black, raven hairs until they formed an elegant, fan-like tuft at the end.

Even if the mare wasn’t wearing a dark, emerald and gold trimmed, form fitting outfit that Rudder recognized as an eastern martial arts gi, she would have recognized the features of the mare as those of a kirin from the Eastern realms. The gi itself was well worn and tattered in a few places, and sported numerous added belts with pockets and small satchels, along with a long bandoleer of crossbow bolts across the chest. The crossbow the bolts were form was slung over the kirin’s back, a bulky affair of dark wood and a strange, top mounted wooden disc combined with multiple bronze cranking mechanisms that were forged into the crossbow’s stock. The mare also wore a prominent wooden token around her neck, which held an inlay of silver metal forming words that Rudder thought was Carrean, not that she could read it.

“Who are you?” Rudder asked, glowering at the kirin, who looked right at her even as Rudder’s last standing crew member tried to lunge for the kirin’s back. With a contemptuous look the kirin side-stepped the lunging sailor and her cudgel, performing a swift and graceful arm throw that sent the sailor crashing to the floor hard enough to break several floorboards.

“Not one to trifle with. This could have been much easier on you and your crew, captain, if you simply cooperated with me. Now your pain and theirs is your responsibility to bear, until I have what I want,” the kirin said in that same whip cord sharp tone she’d started the conversation with.

By now most the rest of the tavern had cleared out. Rudder hadn’t really expected help from any of the other crews anyway, but hopefully one of them was going to get the town constables. She bared her teeth in a snarl, preparing to charge the kirin, but there was an audible click from nearby as McReedy hefted his own crossbow, of a much simpler Equestrian design, and aimed it at the kirin’s back.

“Can’t have ya wreakin’ my bar, miss, or given my customers concussions. How about you leave nice, slow, and peaceful like?”

The kirin’s eyes didn’t even turn towards McReedy, but Rudder saw something in those gold eyes that froze her to her core, and she thought she saw the kirin’s mane start to twitch on its own, like a tense nest of snakes.

“You do not wish to interfere with me, old one. Your bar is mere wood that can be repaired. The pain of these fools will pass, as long as none of them are truly stupid enough to withhold what I desire. If they are, well...” the kirin didn’t so much smile as just quirk her lips in a disturbingly crazed manner, and the magic holding Tack in place tightened around him, bending one of his wings at an increasingly unnatural angle, eliciting a squeak of pain from the stocky pegasus. “I cannot promise what will happen, then.”

McReedy clearly didn’t like that answer, and with a grim glint in his eye he pulled the trigger on his crossbow. The bolt flew right for the kirin’s neck, but just before it could hit there was a blinding snap of motion that caught the bolt dead still in the air. Rudder and McReedy both starred in pure shock at what they were seeing.

Twisting around and writhing like a living thing, the kirin’s mane had come to life and curled around the crossbow bolt, stopping it in mid-air. The kirin’s eyes slowly slid over to McReedy with cold intent, and as if in response to some mental command her living mane constricted around the bolt it had caught and snapped it in half, dropping the two pieces to the ground.

“What the...?” McReedy breathed, and his magic flared, stumbling around trying to get out another bolt to load into his crossbow. Before he could do more than fumble the bolt up, the kirin snorted and her tail now lashed out. It extended impossibly long, flowing like a forest of black kelp to snake around McReedy and lift him off the floor. In a mere instant the kirin flicked her unnaturally writhing tail and slammed McReedy across the back of his bar, smashing mugs and glasses in a torrent until she flipped the old pony into one of the vacated tables.

Fear gripped Rudder, who had no earthly idea what this kirin was, but she’d always found anger a ready and easy counter to fear so she roared in challenge and galloped headlong towards the monstrous kirin mare. She tried to bull rush into the kirin, only to find the mare moving aside with the ease of mist and lashed out a forearm to clothesline Rudder across the chest, the force of the blow hard enough to spin the big mare around and slam hard into the ground.

Coughing, but adrenaline, fear, and rage pouring power into her hooves Rudder surged upwards and threw a hard and fast punch straight for the kirin’s face. To her surprise she managed to connect, feeling a meaty smack as she knocked the kirin’s head back for a second. Only to her equal surprise the kirin looked back at her with barely a hair of her mane out of place. Rudder was stunned. She knew she was a strong mare, probably the strongest of the captains sailing around these parts. She’d beaten minotaurs in arm wrestling contests.

Yet this kirin had taken one of her best punches with barely a batted eyelash.

The kirin’s return punch was fast as jade lightning and made Rudder’s vision darken. She felt her body numb and spin to the floor, and this time when she tried to stand she felt something strong and hard as thick boat ropes wrap around her limbs and torso, holding her fast to the floor on her back. Blinking she saw it was the kirin’s freakish mane again, the black strands of it thickly coiling around Rudder and holding her as strongly as any chains.

Looming over her, the kirin stared down at Rudder with eyes that held not a trace of warmth or concern as she raised a hoof and almost too gently placed it on Rudder’s chest.

“Now... Tack, was it?” the kirin said. “I’m going to ask again; where did the beast you saw go?”

“Y-you can’t get away with this!” Tack shouted, “Help will be here any second! The constables, t-they’ll deal with you!”

“I’m certain local authorities will arrive eventually. Do you think they will fare better than you and your crew did?” the kirin’s voice was level and cold as a frozen lake as Rudder felt that hoof press down with unnatural strength. Rudder tried to hold it in, but she grunted in pain as she felt her ribs start to crack.

“Once more I’ll ask; where did the beast go? Consider carefully. Your captain only has so many bones in her body.”

Rudder tried to speak, but that hoof pressed harder, forcing the air out of Rudder’s lungs and the pain in her chest to double. Tack stammered, eyes wild with fear.

“I-I-I-I d-don’t know! I s-swear I don’t!”

The thick strands of black mane around Rudder’s left forearm started to constrict, bending the elbow back further and further until she could feel the muscles start to tear. Against her will a cry of pain ripped itself from Rudder’s throat. The kirin’s voice stayed calm, level, and remorseless.

“Think harder, Tack. Surely you must remember some detail? Such a beast leaves an impression on the mind. You must know something of where it may have gone.”

Gulping and sucking in lungfuls of terrified air, Tack managed ot steady his voice and say, “I...I think maybe... maybe I heard it keep howling, as I ran. It sounded like it was going inland. Uh, uh, w-west! West I think! That’s all I remember, I swear it!”

“Ah...” the kirin sighed, and Rudder felt the pressure leave her chest and limbs as the kirin stepped back, her mane releasing Rudder and her golden magic dropping Tack. “There. So much trouble for something so small. Do consider just being cooperative next time? It would have spared you so much discomfort.”

With that the kirin turned and trotted from the tavern with all the casual air of a mare who’d simply finished her drink, and not one who’d just demolished half the bar and tortured some sailors. In the silence that followed all Rudder could hear was her own ragged, pained breathing.

And nopony took notice of the strange black unicorn who’d watched the whole affair as she silently glided out of the tavern and followed the kirin.

Chapter 4: Of Monsters and Mortals

Chapter 4: Of Monsters and Mortals

Ki Seong knew she was being followed. Even if she hadn’t heard the soft and scraping hoof steps of the pony trailing in her wake after her... confrontation with the sailors at the tavern Ki Seong’s sense of smell could pick up the pony’s unusual scent. She was experienced in recognizing numerous scents now, having had the enhanced sense for over a year. The dog demon, an inugami, she’s gained the power from had given her quite the chase, but it had been cornered in due time, and now its strength was her strength. Another weapon in her arsenal in her hunt for the one demon she wanted destroyed above all others.

Her hearing and sight had also been sharpened by consuming the dog demon’s essence, which made the darkening alleyways of Horseshoe Harbor seem like well lit noon, and allowed her to hear the distant shouting of the town constables heading towards the tavern. She imagined she be long gone before they organized a search for her, not that she was concerned about it if she was caught. It’d just mean a few more injured people left in her wake. She’d stopped counting those a long time ago. There was hardly even a twinge of regret anymore for the pain she often needed to cause. The goal was what mattered, and those who got hurt by being in her way had only themselves to blame.

So who was this pony following her, then? A friend of those sailors, looking to take revenge? They would either need to be incredibly idiotic or drunk to think taking her alone was a good idea after that display at McReedy’s, and this pony was being too skillful in her stealthy pursuit to be either drunk or a fool. Ki Seong knew the pony was female by scent alone, but it was hard to tell anything else. This pony’s smell was all off, and it set Ki Seong’s danger sense on edge.

After the fourth turn down a random alley with the pony still trailing behind her, Ki Seong delved into another ability she'd gained from a previous hunt. Her skin felt a grave chill as she touched upon the dark power flowing through her blood, and her body shimmered like a mirage until she was nearly invisible, blending into the dark alley with only the mildest of ripples to indicate her position. This power had been gained from consuming the ground bones of a gashadokuro, a rare skeletal demon that harried travelers on rare forest paths. It's natural ability to render itself invisible had made the hunt difficult, but she'd triumphed, and taken the demon's power for her own, as she had with many others.

Now largely invisible she thought she'd have an easy time shaking the pony following her, but with a low grunt of frustration Ki Seong realized after another few twists and turns down several more streets and alleys she could still sense her pursuer.

Perhaps it was better to just get this over with. Picking a swift route to take her towards the edge of the town she found an alley that lacked an easy view from any of the main streets and halted, slowly turning to face her pursuer as she allowed her form to become visible once again, the angry burn of the demon's power fading from her blood as she did so.

“I do not know why you follow me," she called in a hard voice, "But I shall grant you a chance to explain yourself before I get... cross with you. So speak, while my patience lasts.”

“Given what I’ve already seen I’m surprised you have any patience left. But that’s alright, what I have to say won’t take long.”

At first glance the pony that had been following Ki Seong seemed like an unremarkable unicorn, with a coat colored black as fresh tar. Her eyes gleamed orange with amusement and an utter lack of fear, which somewhat surprised Ki Seong and only further confirmed what she already suspected; that this was no pony. Unconsciously she tensed, ready to unleash violence upon this ‘pony’ in an instant that would make her scuffle with the sailors seem like a light bout of sparring by comparison.

The unicorn only creased her lips in a wide smile, “Mmm, you practically sing with violent intent. It was a beautiful thing, that bit of work back at the tavern. I was impressed.”

Ki Seong snorted, “If that is all you have to say then we are done here. Go, demon, before I decide to add you to the long list of monsters I’ve extinguished from this world.”

A laugh chimed from the unicorn mare, “Demon? Such a limiting term, and one I assure you does not apply to me. Why, I’m as natural as the crushing waves of the ocean or the howling winds of a tornado. I share little with the creatures you no doubt have hunted down. A hunt I sense is far more intense than one of a mere unfocused travelers, yes? You seek something specific. You hunger for particular prey. I heard you in the tavern. You hunt this fox beast?”

As always the mere cursory thought of that thing brought a boiling rage to the forefront of Ki Seong’s mind and heart, the blood pulsing with red hot fire through her veins as she struggled to control herself. Her voice grew dire as she said, “What do you know if it? If you know anything I will rip the answer from you, I promise you that.”

“Ah, as interesting as that confrontation would be, it isn’t necessary. I may not know of the creature you seek, but I am interested in helping you find it nonetheless.”

That caused Ki Seong to give the unicorn mare another, searching look, her eyes narrowing to searching gold slivers. “Why? What do you have to gain by helping me?”

“Let us say that in you I sense a, hmm, how to put it? Kindred spirit?” The unicorn laughed again, as if at some private joke. “I’ve recently come to appreciate how much fun it can be to have those of similar mind around to indulge my hobbies with.”

“Hobbies?” Ki Seong sneered, removing her crossbow from its holster across her back and pointing it at the unicorn’s throat in one smooth motion, her magical aura holding the weapon steady as glass. “My quest is not to be made light of. I hunt monsters, and yes, one in particular whose destruction I desire above all others. Yet why should I let another monster join me in that task, especially when I highly doubt we have anything in common, let alone a ‘kindred spirit’?”

If the crossbow aimed at her neck bothered the strange dark unicorn at all she didn’t show it, instead meeting Ki Seong’s eyes with her own open and level stare. “Because while I may not know this beast you seek, I can help you track it.” The unicorn took a smooth step forward, and Ki Seong almost fired, only to hold back at the last second. There was something... arresting about the way this unicorn looked at her. “You want it dead, this fox beast. Not just dead, either. You want to make it suffer, the way its made you suffer. Oh, I can feel it, your righteous fury and the need to make this creature pay. It isn’t enough to just kill it. No, not this one. Others you have killed, but this one is special. This one, when you finally have it cornered where you want it... this one’s death you intend to savor.”

Ki Seong felt a need to take a step back as this unicorn approached her, but she held firm, her crossbow steady despite the growing aura of overwhelmingly powerful presence that was washing off the unicorn now like the weight of a deep, black ocean. Ki Seong found herself unable to look away from those eyes, like two pits carved from a dark sun.

“What of it?” Ki Seong asked, glad at least that her voice remained steady. “Yes I want this beast dead. Yes I want it to suffer. I still do not see what you stand to gain by helping me accomplish this, nor why I should suffer your own continued existence when I can tell quite clearly you are no friend to mortal kind.”

“And you are? I saw what you did to those poor sailors.”

“They shall live. They stood in my way. I only hurt those who are in my way,” Ki Seong said, and even her own voice sounded more defensive to her own ears than she would have preferred.

“As is proper,” the unicorn said, now so close that the tip of the crossbow’s bolt nearly touched her neck, yet there was no fear in those orange eyes. “The strong should never fear the weak standing in their way. Even in a so-called ‘righteous’ world that is how it should be. You know this, but so few others do. How often have weaklings like that stood in your path, forcing you to hurt them, or even costing you your quarry?”

More times than Ki Seong cared to admit aloud. Since the start of this long, nightmarish quest so many years ago she’d nearly had that damnable fox cornered so many times! And every time the monster had managed to escape justice by using mortals as shields. Time and again Ki Seong had been forced to harm others to try to get at the creature, only to be foiled by some last second effort of fools trying to protect a beast not worth saving. It was... frustrating. Even just thinking about it tore a deep growl from the depths of her throat.

“My prey has been fortunate, but fortune runs out eventually and I will end this hunt. Yet I will confess the beast’s luck is irritating. I want this hunt to be over with. Cho Yon’s soul deserves to rest knowing the monster is dead,” Ki Seong cut herself off. “These are things you don’t need to know. You cannot help me.”

“Oh, but I can,” the mare insisted, not once faltering in her confident stance or bearing. “You have but a simple direction to hunt in, west. The trail itself is long cold, and this country is vast. My power can narrow your search. Tell me of this beast, and with magic of my own I can find its path, and discover where it now hides. A search of months or years could become one of days or weeks.”

Everything Ki Seong had ever been taught by her family told her not to trust this creature. Even as an outcast she still carried the blood of demon hunters in her veins, and had been raised in all the traditions and knowledge needed to slay the foulest monsters of her homeland. This “unicorn” already confessed to not being what she seemed, so why should Ki Seong indulge it’s offer of aid?

...Because she was tired. She wouldn't want to admit it aloud, to this mare or anyone else, but she was exhausted by the long years of the hunt. Not in any pedestrian, physical sense. Her body was fitter than the most healthy earth pony, and was fueled by even further might by the hearts and blood of demons she’d slain and consumed. The unnatural power of ogres and far worse coursed through her, power she sorely believed she needed as her quarry continued to elude her. The techniques of that consumption, the secrets of absorbing the powers of the Yogoe, was long forbidden by her family... but she knew they’d understand, as long as she brought back the proof of the beast’s destruction. Proof that Cho Yon’s killer was dead, and the treasure of its beads brought home.

Some part of her mind whispered to her in a cold echo that Cho Yon’s killer would only ever been seen in a mirror, but she shut the mental door on that voice hard and locked it behind thick mental chains.

Tired. So tired. The chase had to end. Her pain would only end with the gumhio’s death, Cho Yon being avenged, and the beast’s fox beads in her grasp with all their supernatural secrets as a gift to earn her family’s forgiveness.

“Fox beads, is it?” the unicorn said, “Or 'yeowu guseul', in your tongue.”

Ki Seong’s eyes widened and without a thought she fired her crossbow, the bolt passing through the carved notches at the end of the crossbow, where enchanted script activated in soft orange gleams of light to in turn inflame the chemical concoction within the bolt itself.

The bolt streaked towards the unicorn, but she merely caught it with a glow of orange and red magic. The bolt still felt the impact upon the magical force and its magically enchanted chemicals exploded in a small but impactful blast of flames. When the smoke cleared, however, the unicorn was utterly unharmed, and was still smiling.

“My apologies. I wasn’t intentionally reading your mind, but your thoughts were projected so loudly I couldn’t help but pick them up,” the unicorn said, not quite apologetically, but rather matter of factly. “A side effect of having such a keen grasp of mental energies as I have, I’m afraid. Rest assured I won’t enter your mind without permission, but I suggest perhaps calming your thoughts so you don’t project quite so loudly, if we are to act as partners.”

“Foul monster. Why should I trust you?”

“Because I’m the only one who can, and wants, to help you,” the unicorn replied flatly. “I make no claim of altruism. Far from it. I do this because I have something to gain from you, even if that something is mere satisfaction of my own curiosity and amusement. However I am intrigued by these fox beads. What are they and how do they relate to this... gumiho, was it?”

“Jeog.” Ki Seong said with pure venom. “That is what I call it. The monster’s power over foxfire stems from the fox beads that are the core of its being. Each of its nine tails holds one such bead. The legends are that if one takes these beads and consumes one, they gain knowledge of the spirit realms and secrets of power from beyond. If I bring these beads home...” she shook her head, sneering. “Let me guess, you will try to take these beads or yourself?”

“I merely want one. A small price for helping bring your long hunt to an end, is it not?” the unicorn said with an oh so reasonable tone. “How much longer do you wish to wander these lands, with no guarantee that even if you find this ‘Jeog’ that you will be able to slay it. What will prevent the fox from escaping the hunter yet again?”

The words struck deep and true. Ki Seong didn’t trust the creature before her even in the remotest sense... yet her desperation was almost as great as her deep and long held rage and yearning for vengeance. She’d already sacrificed the purity and sanctity of her body in her quest, and bend her sense of morality beyond recognition. As long as she got what she desired, as long as the hunt finally, at long last came to an end... then what did she need trust for?

“...So be it, creature. We have an agreement. Your assistance in finding and slaying the gumiho, in exchange for one of the beast’s fox beads.”

In the distance pony voices could be heard shouting, getting closer. The unicorn’s ears twitched and her grin turned almost unnaturally wide. “Ah, and just in time for us to make our departure before the local color finds us. So, my most deliciously rabid new companion, may I know your name?”

“Ki Seong, creature.”

“Hm, lovely. And for the record, while I am far more patient than most of my comrades, that will be the last time I tolerate being called ‘creature’. My name is Battra Lea. Now, I suppose I no longer have a use for this form.”

The unicorn’s body shimmered with a roiling red mist of magic. Like water rippling over a canvas, bleeding away colors into one collective pool, the unicorn's shape smeared and grew like a multi-colored stain until it reshaped itself in a flash of light into a much larger and altogether more intimidating form.

Ki Seong looked on with a controlled expression, but on the inside even her cold and caged heart was slightly shaken. She’d faced the mighty spiked clubs and unbridled wrath of ogres in the mountains of Carrea. She’d wrestled against the talons and beaks of viscous kappa beneath the raging rivers in Neighpon. She’d stalked a vile hair demon into the depths of a lightless cavern lair to face it’s endless tendrils of death.

Yet the creature standing before her now shook even her.

Battra was as tall as any alicorn, with a body of midnight black chitin in the shape of a vaguely insectoid equine, with unusual holes in her hooves and legs that could be seen clearly through. Lithe and powerful in frame, yet infinitely elegant and deadly in stature, Battra’s body sported twin wings of scintillating orange, yellows, and reds crossed with patches of inky blackness. A mane of long hair went from dark orange until it bled to lighter, fiery yellow towards the tips, and her tail flower behind her with identical colors. Upon Battra’s brow a crown of golden spikes worked their way up to one thick, central spike, all of it seemingly grown from the organic bone of her own body. A face that might be considered beautiful by pony standards still smiled with white, flashing fanged teeth, and her eyes shone with colors of red and gold, giving that beauty an altogether more sinister shade.

Ki Seong knew this creature, at least by reputation. While her hunt had been almost her entire focus while in Equestria, she couldn’t avoid the gossip and local news entirely. She knew that not long ago giant beasts known as kaiju had arrived from another world. Some the Equestrians called allies, while others showed themselves to be enemies. This one’s true form had appeared in a blurry picture from an attack on Canterlot, barely fended off some time ago. The monolithic moth of darkness and destruction bore similar characteristics to the vaguely insect-like equine in front of Ki Seong.

But she didn’t care.

Ki Seong might have feared the being she’d just made a bargain with if not for the fact that she’d already, on some level, known Battra’s nature before she’d made her agreement. Come the end, if this monster helped her destroy another far more long hated monster, then it mattered little to Ki Seong what Battra’s future goals or plans were.

As long as Jeog died screaming, that was all Ki Seong cared about.

Battra Lea laughed, a sound like a bell falling down a dark cavern shaft. “Still projecting, my dear. Don’t fret, you’ll hear those screams soon enough. Now, let us go.”

Before Ki Seong could answer the gold horn upon Battra’s brow flashed with orange and red magic, and in a burst of light a teleport spell was cast, and both the kirin and the kaiju were whisked away without a trace.

The training grounds for Canterlot’s Royal Guard consisted of several spacious clearings nestled up against the vast mountain slopes the city and its glorious castle was built upon. The guard barracks sat in several squat buildings of white stone on the west side of the training area, and more than a few of the Royal Guard stood near the barracks in excited packs, eyes glued on an unusual pair trading blows upon the field. Practically all of Equestria resident races were represented among the Royal Guard, including the chitinous forms of more than a few changelings from Duchess Chrysalis’ hive. Whispers of bets and speculation of who the victor would be spun around the guards, most laying fair wages upon the towering dark red form of Lady Destroyah, but there were more than a few willing to lay fair odds towards the sleek blue aquatic newcomer that faced the crimson behemoth of a mare.

“You keep dodging all day I’m likely to start getting a bit bored here. Come on, I’m not delicate. You can throw a punch my way, you know,” said Destroyah with a inviting grin that showed rows of sharp white fangs. The once colossal entity that many upon Earth knew as a mutated precambrian organism and one of the world’s most powerful Kaiju was now contained in the body of a statuesque and massive equine. Her coat was a rusty red, while her wild and long mane and tail were of a darker crimson cast. Taller than even the not so long ago reformed and restored alicorn Princesses, and certainly a good head and shoulders above the height of Duchess Chrysalis, Destroyah dwarfed almost anyone she stood beside. Huge, flaring red wings like those of a giant bat’s only added to her imposing size, along with a large and curved horn of burnished orange.

On one powerful hoof she threw a crushing downward blow that was far faster than what one might expect of someone Destroyah’s size, and once again the target of her attack weaved out of the way, seeming to swim through the air on sapphire fins as she flashed back from the strike. Destroyah’s hoof may have missed its target, but the ground still shook from the blow and left a table sized crater in its wake.

“Yeah, because broken ribs are such a laugh riot. Sorry D, but you can’t blame me for trying to suss out your range before shoving my cranium into easy to smash distance. That said, you want a counterattack, you got one coming right up!”

Like a breaking wave Destroyah’s opponent flowed up and then down in a swift, bobbing motion that was both agile and difficult to follow, spinning around to unleash a blindingly quick tail slap with a wide, blue fin. Destroyah stepped back from the tail, a good thing given the fin was actually sharper than it looked and the near miss clipped a bit of her mane. Not that Destroyah seemed to mind this as her smile deepened.

“Nice move. You might have a future as a barber, Raiga.”

Raiga kept on the offensive, moving in with the speed and grace of a striking cobra as she cut loose with several pummeling punches with her red tipped hooves. A fair bit smaller in stature than Destroyah, Raiga was relying upon her agility to make up the difference in reach she faced in this sparring match. Her body was far different from what she was used to having, but she was adapting to it at an ever exponential rate.

Back on Earth Ragia was the Guardian Beast of Water, a Kaiju of a similar saurian family branch to the one that spawned the famed Godzilla line. Her natural body had been a towering cross between a bipedal dinosaur and a finned beast of the sea, armed with wicked red claws. Her present form, however, while bearing some similarities was a different beast altogether. She still retained an oceanic appearance, with fine blue scales covering most of her body, with darker blue fins cresting her head and back all the way down to her long, powerful and lithe tail that ended in pale, pearly blueish white fins. Her face was less reptilian and more equine in form, though she still sported some sharp fangs in her mouth and her trademark ruby red eyes. The color of those eyes were matched by a number of gleaming red gems that spotted her flanks in rows of three, nestled on the sides of her head next to the frills that served as her ears, and finally a final gem that sat in the center of her more pale scaled chest.

She’d been told the body she inhabited now was like those of a creature called ‘sirens’, which were apparently rare but natural inhabitants of Equestria. She wasn’t sure why she took this form when she was yanked into this world, other than it was an aquatic form to match her Guardian Beast nature, but she was learning to make do. She missed her clawed hands most of all. The hooves she now had were just not up to snuff for close combat, hence why she’d been more hesitant than normal to get in close with Destroyah.

But Destroyah had hit the right buttons to get Raiga just angry enough to go on the attack, and Raiga realized just what a bad idea that was as her hoof blows struck home against Destroyah’s chest with all the effectiveness of a rain of spitwads.

Destroyah just kept grinning and Ragia sighed, “In my defense you’re stupidly huge. Why do you get the super pony form while I’m stuck as the flying guppy?”

“Genetics?” Destroyah offered coyly as she barreled forward in a chest slam that caught Raiga hard across the side even as she tried to dodge away. The blow hurled the Kaiju turned siren a good twenty yards before she slammed, back first, into the ground and skidded about half a dozen more yards before coming to a stop.

“Ugh, okay, note to self; boxing Destroyah equals bad idea. As if I didn’t already know that form my own world,” Raiga, ever durable herself, recovered quickly and with a swish of her tail flew up into the air. Her chest ached, mostly from the dull reminder of the wounds she’d only recently recovered from. Ignoring it, she rapidly circled Destroyah and keenly looked for an opening. Seeing one as the other Kaiju slowly turned to keep Raiga in her sights, the siren dove down like a streaking jet on an attack run. She pulled up level with the ground, flying bare inches above it as she body slammed herself into Destroyah’s tall, tree-trunk like legs.

The top heavy mare was unbalanced, despite her great bulk, and Ragia let out a whoop as she managed to topple Destroyah over with a thunderous crash. Of course Destroyah was an experienced combat veteran herself and rolled with her fall, shockingly nimble in her ability to spring back to her hooves, dirt and dust trailing off her body. Her wings flared wide, Destroyah’s face showing quite a bit of merriment as coils of energy built up in her maw.

Knowing what was coming Raiga immediately went into evasive maneuvers. Destroyah’s micro-oxygen beam spat out across the sky in short, devastating bursts that trailed after Raiga in bright pulses. It was clear she was being careful to avoid aiming towards anywhere that might even come close to an actual building, however, and with a spark of cleverness Raiga slowly arced her path around so that the palace of Canterlot would be behind her, which made Destroyah immediately cut off her beam.

“Clever girl, but that’s playing dirty pool isn’t it?”

Raiga shrugged, “Hey, all’s fair in love and buttkicking. Besides I thought we agreed no beams before we did this?”

Destroyah paused with a considering look, then nodded, “Right, right. Forgot about that in the heat of the moment. My beams are my go-to for dealing with swift little scrappers like you. I got to admit you’re a league above our world’s version of you in a fight. How’re your wounds holding up?”

The entire point of this sparring match had been to test how well Raiga had healed after her less than pleasant first few days in Equestria. It was all still way too complicated and strange for Raiga to get her head around it fully, but some force she didn’t understand had literally plucked her from Earth and dropped her in this other reality populated by colorful, sickeningly adorable equines and other interesting species. Earth had long been stuck in a seemingly never ended series of conflicts involving Kaiju and aliens, and Raiga had been at the forefront of a lot of those fights alongside the other Terran Defenders, a faction of Kaiju under the leadership of Godzilla. Well, Godzilla Junior technically. Senior had perished years ago, facing off against the very Kaiju standing before Raiga.

Or rather her Earth’s version of Destroyah. Apparently interdimensional travel was more complex than just hopping different worlds, but each individual world had its own set of mirror dimensions where things were similar but still different. In some ways bigger than others.

The Destroyah in front of Raiga was from an alternate Earth, one where apparently similar events went down, but the nature of who was on which side had switched around. Destoryah and Xenilla, aka “Space Godzilla” to some humans, were the ones in charge of the Defender’s faction, while Godzilla himself, Junior... he’d become something altogether different than the solemn and determined leader and protector Raiga was familiar with.

The other Godzilla, the one from the “mirror” universe had apparently been dragged into this Equestria along with a number of other Kaiju, all familiar to Raiga but so different now that recognizing their personalities was all but impossible. She’d had to face off with “Mirror Junior” twice in a short span of time after arriving in this world, and both instances had nearly lead to her death. Raiga was a strong and skilled fighter and she knew she was more than a match for most opponents... but the Godzilla in this world was on a whole different level. All of the power, but none of her world’s Godzilla’s restraint or compassion. The Junior she knew would only fight when necessary and only kill when there was no other choice.

The Godzilla she faced had broken enough of her internal organs and bones that she’d needed a week of recovering time even with the aid of this world’s healing magic and her own natural regenerative stamina. It had been a necessary fight, as Godzilla had threatened an entire city of innocent ponies, but damn had it hurt. Raiga had needed the help of a pony named Starlight Glimmer, an apprentice to the local ruler Duchess Chrysalis, to power up to her full Kaiju form, and even then all she’d really been able to do was distract Godzilla and keep him from smashing into the city for a few minutes. Long enough for help to arrive.

She was still getting used to the idea that that help came in the form of Destroyah and Xenilla, two Kaiju who had been deadly enemies of the Mutants faction back home. Raiga had more or less resolved not to think about it too hard and just go with the flow. Besides, so far this “nicer” Destroyah seemed a decent enough sort of gal. Not like the stoic, murder-faced mountain of death Raiga knew from her own Earth.

“So, calling it quits or are you good to keep going?” asked Destroyah, cracking her neck. “I want to get a solid idea of how well you’ve healed up but don’t want to push you too hard either. You feeling any sharp pains or aches anywhere? Headache? Nausea? Your body might still have some of its Kaiju related traits but you need to understand that you’re not anywhere near as durable as you’re used to, so if anything feels out of sorts, say it. I don’t like having to fix internal bleeding, trust me.”

“I’m fine.” Raiga said, and at Destroyah’s flat look she hastily added, “I mean I don’t feel anything more than a little sore, but no internal bleeding stuff going on, nope! I can keep going. I feel like I need to, I don’t know, defend the honor of all Raigas across reality to make up for the one in your world. Is she really that cowardly?”

Destroyah chuckled dryly, “Let me put it to you like this. The last time me and her squared off, I coughed loudly in her general direction and she hid behind the nearest building she could find, then bolted for the harbor before I could get a shot off. Honestly I’d say she’s harmless if that crazy bastard she follows didn’t strike enough fear to browbeat her into attacking cities in the first place.”

Raiga let out a groan, smacking a hoof to her forehead. The Mirror version of herself sounded like a rank coward, and that really got under her scales more than she cared to admit. Raiga lived for a good fight, and even though she wasn’t crazy enough to be without a healthy dose of fear when up against a stronger foe she still was always willing to throw down for the right reasons. Or sometimes any reason, depending on how bored she was. At least her evil counterpart could’ve been some kind of badass dark knight type, but noooooo, she had to be the yellow bellied variety. Raiga felt like she needed to find her alternate reality self and teach her how to have a spine. It was a matter of principle!

“Ugh, I think I want to keep fighting just to get that mental image out of my brain. You ready?”

Destroyah nodded and lowered herself into a fresh fighting stance. “Of course.”

“Heeeeeey!” came a loud feminine call from behind Raiga, and both she and Destroyah turned to see a unicorn mare making her way past the line of spectating guards, trotting quickly towards the pair of Kaiju. With light fur of a dull pink shade and showing a well groomed mane and tail of lavender colors streaked with teal, Starlight Glimmer didn’t really look like the student of a nation’s ruler. She had a humble, and somewhat mousy demeanor, which as far as Raiga could tell actually hid quite the wellspring of courage. Anyone willing to stand atop of a building directly in the path of an attacking Godzilla had a spine and a half in Raiga’s book, and she gave Starlight a warm and welcoming grin as the unicorn approached.

Much as she was eager to get back to sparring, it was nice to see a friend.

“Yo, Starlight! What’s up?”

Pulling up short of the pair of Kaiju, Starlight managed a quick but shaky smile, looking more than a little jittery. Was something wrong? Raiga wasn’t sure whether to see that as a good thing or not. On one hand she hated being inactive and any problems that cropped up were a chance to stretch her fins and alleviate some boredom. On the other hand anything wrong that required coming to Equestria’s resident friendly Kaiju probably meant something majorly serious.

“Hello Raiga, Lady Destroyah,” Starlight said, a bit breathless and dipping her head in a short bow. “The Duchess sent me to bring you two to the throne room. There’s been a, uh, development in Ponyville.”

Destroyah came up, her wings folding against her side as her own expression turned utterly serious. “What kind of development?”

“It’s better the Duchess explain it. She knows all the details.” Starlight said, her tail giving a nervous flick. “I don’t really know much, other than whatever happened it involves a filly that Lady Destroyah knows. Diamond Tiara, I think the name was?”

There was a palpable shift in Destroyah’s stance, making the already huge mare seem to loom taller than the mountain behind the training grounds. “Is she okay?”

Gulping, Starlight hastily said, “Y-yes, far as I know. Like I said, best to let the Duchess explain. Please, follow me.”

The members of the Royal Guard cleared the path for the two Kaiju as they followed Starlight past the barracks and down the narrow stone path towards the interior of Canterlot’s palace. Though she’d been here for a little while, Raiga hadn’t had much opportunity to explore the palace or the city that was built along the mountainside below it. Everything had a delicate and shining splendor to it that had a way of making Raiga feel self conscious. Most the time the only interactions she had with cities were in keeping some Mutation Kaiju from stomping through one while trying to keep from toppling onto buildings herself. Canterlot looked entirely too fragile to be housing beings that could on any normal day send it toppling down like a house of cards. It was the kind of city that could only really be built in a world where war, least of all battles between Kaiju, weren’t the norm.

Being led down wide and brightly lit hallways, Starlight set a quick pace, with Raiga and Destroyah keeping easy pace behind her. Raiga leaned her head towards Destroyah and asked in a curious tone. “Okay, so who’s Diamond Tiara?”

Destroyah’s eyes flicked down towards her without her breaking her stride. “She’s an earth pony filly living in Ponyville. She and her friend Silver Spoon found me when I got teleported to this world. Without them it’d have taken me a lot longer to adjust to things here, not to mention find Xen. Given the way I look, even after getting all ponified, it was having those two trust me that helped the rest of Ponyville get used to me, and smooth out meeting the Duchess. Quite frankly that saved lives when it came time to repel Battra and Godzilla’s first go at Canterlot.”

Raiga knew that Xenilla and Destroyah had arrived in Equestria before she had, and through seemingly different circumstances. The whole reason the pair were called ‘Lady Destroyah’ and ‘Sir Xenilla’ was due to literal knighthoods that Duchess Chrysalis had bestowed upon the pair for the defense of Canterlot when it had been attacked by the ‘evil’ counterparts to Junior and Mothra Lea. Raiga suppressed a shudder. Junior’s murderous mirror world self was horrifying enough, but Lea’s evil twin, Battra, had even the big guy beat out in the creepsville department in spades. Ragia had felt the mirror world’s Godzilla was like a rabid predator with no inhibitions, but Battra had been... something else. Recalling how unsettling encountering that nut case had been Raiga could understand Destroyah’s intense attitude. She wouldn’t want Battra or Godzilla anywhere near a peaceful pony village. Still it couldn’t be that bad, right? Starlight would be acting way more freaked out if that was the case.

“Whatever’s going on it’s probably nothing too big.” she said in what passed for an attempt at reassurance.

Destroyah’s tense stance didn’t really slacken, but she did manage a small rueful smile. “I appreciate it, and you might be right, but I know Diamond Tiara. She’s a sweet kid, but she’s got this habit of getting big ideas without thinking it all through. If something’s gone down that’s got the Duchess’ attention, chances are this won’t be a simple house call.”

Upon reaching the doors to the throne room Starlight briefly nodded to the guards flanking the massive ornate doors, who returned the nod with stoic salutes as they opened the doors for the arrivals. The throne room itself was spacious, with a tall and vaulted ceiling hanging with brilliant crystal chandeliers. Light poured in through stained glass windows, bathing the room in the painted radiance of dozens of colors. Raiga noticed each window showed a stylized picture, probably denoting some kind of important historical event of the world. Most of it was stuff she didn’t really understand, something about a big tree, some giant red centaur looking dude forging fancy looking crystals, a big white and blue alicorn with questionable fashion sense battling a black stallion. Only the recent windows showed anything familiar. One depicted Destroyah and Xenilla in their full Kaiju forms standing together against the fully transformed forms of Godzilla and Battra Lea, with Canterlot in the background surrounded by six points of light, like stars. Then there was the window that made Raiga blush a bit, showing her own stand against Godzilla in front of Manehattan, with Starlight Glimmer empowering Raiga with her magic from the roof of one of the buildings.

It didn’t happen entirely like that, but meh, artistic licence I guess. Can’t complain, at least they made me look pretty badass.

At the end of a long, red carpet the throne room ended in a set of stairs leading to a raised dais where three thrones sat. Two of them were empty, one built with sun motifs and made of bright golds and deep purples, the other covered in stylized moons and carved from ebony and deep blue colors. The third throne sat in the middle, and was taller backed and made from white marble and emerald gems shaped like hearts. It was this middle throne where Duchess Chrysalis, present Regent of Equestria, sat awaiting them with a welcoming if somewhat strained smile.

At the foot of the steps leading to the thrones stood another, a tall and well muscled unicorn stallion. Heads and shoulders taller than most, his dark blue coat was marked by patches of white along his snout and hooves, a color that matched the stark white of a long and spiky mane and tail. Although one might call him a ‘unicorn’ it wasn’t in the traditional sense, as his ‘horn’ was instead a crest of pale crystal that split into three along the ridge of his brow. Yellow and red eyes regarded Destroyah and Raiga’s approach with an appraising and cordial look that gave next to nothing away about what the Kaiju turned pony was thinking.

Which didn’t surprise Raiga. Out of all the mirror world Kaiju that Raiga had encountered, Xenilla seemed to be the one least different from the version she knew from her world. Regardless of whether this Xenilla was ‘good’ or not, he was still a cagey fellow who was exceedingly difficult to read.

“Hey chief, so what has the little scamp gotten into, exactly?” Destroyah asked, not wasting any time. Xenilla, equally of a ‘down to business’ mindset, didn’t waste time either. His tone was cool and clipped.

“Found herself a new friend who wasn’t what she appeared to be. Now there’s been an injured foal, a worried town population on the brink of panic, and our resident Element of Wisdom is calling for backup.”

Destroyah’s face darkened like an onrushing thunderhead. “A foal was injured? Who, and how badly?”

“A pegasus by the name of Scootaloo. The injury was minor and far from life threatening,” Xenilla’s cold but calm demeanor didn’t change, nor sound any less grave for the fact that he was talking about an apparently ‘minor’ injury. “However Ditzy Doo’s letter indicated the distinct worry that the injury could have been far worse.”

He turned his head to regard the Duchess, “My apologies Your Grace, would you like to explain the rest?”

“Yes, Sir Xenilla, but no need to apologize. You’ve been forced to run a war on your homeworld for many years. I completely understand that you’re used to briefing your people yourself. However I’d like to perhaps tone this down somewhat before Lady Destroyah or Miss Raiga get the wrong idea.”

Equestria’s Regent was taller than Xenilla, although still a fair bit smaller than Destroyah. Her body was at once both equine and insectile, covered in a fine, pliant chitin of a light gray coloring. Voluminous and curly teal hair framed a face that held both the motherly qualities of a caring parent and the bright, openness of a best friend, shining green eyes looking warmly from a elegantly feminine face. Small rounded glasses perched upon her snout, and behind the Regent she had a set of luminous emerald wings shaped almost like those of a butterfly, with darker green heart marks near the tips. She wore lavender lacquered regalia in the form of a torque, metal shod hoof guards, and a ornate tiara.

All in all Raiga felt like the Duchess was probably the least intimidating ruler of a nation she’d ever met. Not that she’d met many, but Chrysalis looked like she was everybody’s mom, ready to bake cookies at the drop of a hat. Raiga figured Chrysalis and Lea would get along like bugs of a... feather? Antenna? Raiga sucked at similes.

Waiting a moment to make sure she had everyone’s attention, Chrysalis maintained her smile but managed to still take on a serious look before speaking.

“What Sir Xenilla has told you is true, but Ditzy Doo wrote to me with quite a bit more detail concerning what’s occurred over the past few days. Most of this is information she’s gained from speaking with Diamond Tiara and her friend Silver Spoon both, while also interviewing the injured filly in question and her friends. Allow me to start from the beginning...”

What followed was a fairly straightforward description of events in Ponyville, from the moment Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon first made contact with the ‘gray phantom’ in the Everfree all the way to the exposure of this ‘Jeog’ as a creature that was certainly not the foal she disguised herself to be.

“As of the time Ditzy Doo wrote the letter yesterday, the creature in question has agreed to remain in her cabin in the Whitetail Woods and not enter the town limits, largely due in thanks to Diamond Tiara’s connection to her. Scootaloo’s wound is so minor it won’t even leave any permanent mark, but her parents, and many of Ponyville’s other residents, are understandably worried. That is why I’ve called you here. We must not only assure the good folk of Ponyville that they will be protected, but we must determine who or what this Jeog actually is and whether she truly poses a threat or not. Not to mention given her unique appearance and powers it seemed possible she might be another of your kin, displaced from her homeworld.”

“I personally find that possibility to be a remote one,” Xenillas said plainly, “Prior to our stranding on this world I made it a point to keep myself exceedingly informed on all kaiju activity on Terra, for obvious reasons. Whether as possible allies I could take the chance to recruit, or as potential threats to Terra’s safety that would need to be dealt with swiftly. That being the case I can say with only a small margin of doubt that there was no kaiju on Terra who fits this Jeog’s description.”

“Wouldn’t being yanked here have changed her form into something more ponyish anyway?” Raiga asked.

Xenilla glanced her way. “Not necessarily. My research alongside the Duchess and Miss Glimmer on the nature of the interdimensional travel we’ve endured and the reasons for our altered forms also suggests that repeated travels to this world would weaken the barrier around it to such a degree that other kaiju might arrive with forms more in line with their true shape. Still, I stand by my assessment that Jeog is not a kaiju, at least not one from my Terra. Granted, her apparent skill with illusion and concealment might explain it if she was a kaiju and had kept herself hidden, but the description of that power sounds like something more akin to Equestrian magic than any mana-based art from Terra I’m familiar with.”

“Okay chief, we get it. She’s probably not from our side of the train tracks,” Destroyah said with a light chuckle, “No need to go into detail on it. So what are we thinking? She’s a local?”

“Unless she’s from Raiga’s version of Terra,” Xenilla said, looking at Raiga questioningly. She just held up her hooves and shook her head.

“Never heard of a fox kaiju in my world either. So with all this chit chat on the subject I’m guessing you don’t know what she is either, Duchess?”

“Saldy, no,” Chrysalis said with a soft sigh. “My knowledge is mostly politically focused first, and magically inclined second. If she is a denizen of this world, she is unlike anything native to Equestria itself. I’ve already tasked Starlight with searching our archives here in Canterlot, but more important was sending somepony to Ponyville whose presence could assure the populace and assist Ditzy Doo in her investigation and evaluation of Jeog.”

“And we’re certain that there have been no breakouts from Tartarus?” asked Xenilla, and Chrysalis smiled with an embarrassed look as she shook her head.

“Sir Xenilla, as we have been over many times already, the prison of Tartarus has remained secure. You worry entirely too much.”

“Begging your pardon, Your Grace, but in my experience there is no such thing as too much caution, and I still think that relying upon the efforts of a single entity to act as that prison’s sole guardian, no matter how impressive Cerberus might be, is a security risk-”

“Please, Sir Xenilla, let’s remained focused,” Chrysalis said with a raised hoof, and Xenilla went silent, but there was a look of stubbornness in his eyes that suggested he didn’t consider the topic closed. Chrysalis turned her attention back to Destroyah and Raiga.

“Now that you understand the situation, what I ask is that one of you volunteer to travel to Ponyville. Ditzy Doo will by doing her best to determine if Jeog is a threat or not, and I’ll want whoever goes to render her all needed assistance.”

A pointed and grim look crossed Destroyah’s face, her voice steely as she asked, “And what if we discover that this Jeog is a threat? You Equestrians have some different ways of dealing with things than what we might do back on Terra, so I want to be crystal clear on how you want us to play this if things go sideways.”

There was a sour, yet resolved shadow that passed over Chrysalis’ otherwise naturally friendly features. Her voice was quiet but somehow strong and commanding all at once. “In Equestria we value life in all its forms, and even when threatened we endeavor to end matters peacefully without the loss of that which is most precious. However I am all too aware, especially in light of recent threats to this nation, indeed this world, that some threats cannot be easily pacified without risking great harm to innocents. In the event that the entity calling itself Jeog proves herself to be a threat to the safety of others, I hope you can subdue her without undue harm, but I also will trust and back your own judgement on whether or not more extreme measures are necessary to protect the lives of yourself and others.”

“All I needed to hear,” Destroyah said with a grave nod, “I’ll get going immediately.”

“Whoa, waitasec, I thought this was a volunteer job for both of us!” said Raiga, “Am I going or what?”

“Well,” Duchess Chrysalis said, “I did intend to see which one of you wanted to go. If Lady Destroyah is volunteering first I certainly don’t wish to gainsay her, but if you’re suggesting you’d be better suited for the task...?”

Raiga grumbled and fidgeted with her hooves, hovering about erratically. “Hmm, this job sounds like its not supposed to lead to a brawl, right?”

“Ideally not.” Xenilla said dryly.

“Meh, well, okay I guess I oughta sit this one out then. I’m not really the friendly, diplomatic type,” Raiga said with a sagging head. “But I am soooo bored around here. Now that I’m mostly healed up I need something to do!”

“Now that you’ve recovered from your injuries I’m sure I can find something suitable for you to do.” said Xenilla with confidence. “I’m not inclined to allow anyone who might do some good to just sit idle.”

“Good, I’m not inclined to be idle,” Raiga said.

“Well sounds to me like we’ve got this meeting wrapped up in a nice clean package,” Destroyah said while making a swift turn to start heading out of the room, “So I’ll get myself down to Ponyville and see about giving a mystical fox a psych evaluation.”

“I have absolutely faith that you will be able to resolve the situation, Lady Destroyah.” Chrysalis said with an encouraging smile as bright as a polished gem. “Before you go, please go with Starlight to the archives. I’d like her to select a number of books to assist Ditzy Doo and you on your research.”

Starlight perked up, “I already have a few ideas in mind! I’ll make sure Lady Destroyah leaves with an appropriately thorough selection.”

Destroyah hung her head with a sardonic half grin, “Try to take it easy. Your idea of thorough could strain even my broad shoulders. Just don’t pack half the library, okay?”

A nervous cough escaped Starlight as she batted innocent eyes, “I’ll, um, try to restrain myself.”

She had agreed to not enter the ponies town, but Jeog had said nothing about not keeping watch. Like a jittery shadow she kept to the forest edge, flitting from place to place as she carefully observed Ponyville. Often she looked for any sign of a certain pink foal. Worry gnawed at her, like a rat burrowing through a fresh corpse. What was going to happen now that her nature had been exposed? Even if Diamond Tiara seemed to be unafraid of her, what of the other mortals of the town? Would they seek come after her with fire and iron? It had happened before. Would Diamond Tiara be punished for her connection to Jeog? That somehow seemed the more worrisome concern. Jeog knew she could flee danger, but Diamond Tiara’s legs were quite small for running.

Not seeing Diamond Tiara anywhere left Jeog in an ever increasing state of agitation. The strange gray pegasus with the glass around her eyes who lived in the tree lair seemed to be the one the other ponies looked to for leadership, and had been the one to question Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon after the incident with the other foals. It had been this Ditzy Doo who had asked Jeog to wait at her cabin for the time being, but Jeog could hardly stay still. Even circling the town, constantly moving, her nine tails dancing in tune to her increasingly frantic heartbeat, Jeog’s mind raced in scattered directions.

Amid those thoughts were memories, perhaps climbing to the surface because she’d tried so hard to forget them, but in her confused and fearful state of mind the memories now came unbidden and vividly to her vision.

A waking dream...

Boredom drove her from place to place. Whims came and went. Chase that creature, hunt and feed. Bored again and climbing over hills and mountains, chasing the moon and stars. Blood on her claws from a recent kill, fresh and red, and could be used to paint pictures on trees and stone. In night or day she rushed through valley fields, in the heat of summer dusted with flowers, or the depths of winter covered in snow that danced like ash.

Mortals she’d see on their winding roads through the wilderness, travelers and wanderers. They were more fun to play with than the beasts of the forests and mountains. She could take any shape she wanted to play her games with them and make them laugh or scream, whichever she felt like, and chase them all day without tiring. They didn’t taste as good as other animals, so she didn’t do that often. Besides, those kind of games weren’t very fun, she found. Mortals were more interesting when they were alive. She liked it when they chased her too, even if she didn’t like the fire of their torches.

But even those games got boring after a long time, and she wanted more. Something more. She didn’t even know what it was. But she was sure the mortals had it. They always seem to find ways to be happy, even when they didn’t have any games to play.

So she wandered through the land until she found a group of mortals she liked better than the rest. A family tending to a building they called a ‘shrine’. They were the funniest of mortals, with strange dances and chants that she found quite amusing, and they shined brightly with that elusive thing she sought... the happiness of mortals.

She had revealed herself to this group of shrine-tending mortals one day when they went to chant their funny chants at the shrine, and she demanded they teach her to know of mortal happiness, and if they refused she’d chase them. They laughed and invited her into their home, and treated her like no other mortals ever had. It was there she learned so many things, including that mortals had names, even family’s of mortals like this one; the Yon family.

She learned even she had a name. A name they gave to her.

And for the very first time in centuries of endless wandering and play, she felt something she never had before; a connection. And so even when the Yon family she knew grew old and died, replaced by younger generations as was the mortal way, she felt hurt and wandered away... but the connection remained and she would always wander back after a time. Years or decades didn’t matter to her. Her travels always brought her back to the same place, the Yon family shrine and the mortals to whom she felt a connection to.

Her name sometimes was forgotten by the family if she spent long enough away from them, but in time she'd be named anew, and each time the name felt right, as if it had always been a part of her. In time they called her things like ‘guardian spirit’ or ‘the shrine fox’ but to her these titles were small compared to her name. She would help the Yon family over the centuries, protect them from creatures that roamed the land, or warn them when other mortals like ‘bandits’ might threaten them. Mostly, she played with the family and continued to try to understand and learn of mortal ways.

For the longest time she thought she could learn no more... until...

Jeog’s senses broke her from the gray fog of distant memory as she saw something approaching Ponyville from the air. For a brief instant she thought it might be one of the many winged ponies that flitted about the sky so commonly in this land, but it didn’t take long for Jeog’s sharp eyes to notice that while this being was shaped more or less like a pony it was far too large to be normal. She spied a deep red coat upon a tall, muscular body supported through the air on two huge, bat-like wings.

For the moment Jeog’s other worries were shoved aside by a fresh, new one. This being, whatever it was, triggered a predatory sense in Jeog, the kind that recognized another alpha predator. In her already mentally confused state she didn’t draw the lines of logic to Diamond Tiara’s previous mention of there being other non-ponies like Jeog who might come to Ponyville. Instead all Jeog saw was a possibly dangerous predator landing in the middle of the town that had Diamond Tiara in it.

So rather than think things through, Jeog acted. Not on instinct, for her instincts would tell her to flee from obvious danger. Rather she acted on the vague yet potent feeling she couldn’t identify, but drew her towards Ponyville with only the thought of ensuring Diamond Tiara’s safety on her mind.

Destroyah landed amid the familiar streets of Ponyville with a languid stretching of her limbs and casual glance around to see if anything had changed. The peaceful yet lively little town was just as she remembered it from when she’d first been catapulted into this weird world and had her first encounters with it’s shockingly friendly inhabitants. For someone who’d been stuck on the front line of an increasingly intense war back home the bright colors and unrelentingly openness of the ponies had been a refreshing change of pace for the mutated, precambrian life form turned pony. Many might’ve had trouble dealing with such a sudden and ludicrously insane change in circumstances, but Destroyah was adaptable by nature. She already felt as comfortable in her new equine body as she had in her fully sized kaiju form. If anything this tinier body was easier to feed and maintain, and it was nice to be able to walk inside buildings instead of being worried about flattening them. Reminded her of her early years, actually, before she’d gotten fully grown.

Her arrival had drawn some rapt attention from the locals, many of whom were quick go gather up around her with happy smiles and waves, although Destroyah detected an underlying tension that she knew was likely due to the incident with this mysterious Jeog.

“Lady Destroyah, you’re back! We heard from Miss Doo you might be coming!” chimed in one pony, Roseluck if Destroyah remembered right. Beside Roseluck her sister Lily smiled nervously.

“Will you be staying long?” Lily asked, though from the mare’s uneasy look Destroyah could tell she wanted to ask more. Well, better get it all out in the open. Destoryah wasn’t one to mince words.

“I’ll be here as long as it takes to make sure everything is safe around here,” she said, unshouldering the rather large pack of books that Starlight had given her to hoof over to Ditzy Doo. Research materials for figuring out what Jeog was, although Destroyah wasn’t sure if they’d need this many books. Not that the giant pack of books had been hard for her carry, but it had made flying a bit awkward.

Patting the pack, she looked back at the gathered ponies, offering a confident smile. People usually felt better when someone showed them a strong smile. Usually made even the roughest news go down smoother. “Just to be clear, I’m here to help Ditzy Doo check out our new visitor. One way or another I’ll see to it nopony else is harmed, so the thing I need most from all of you is to keep calm and just go about your days like normal.”

“And just what are you going to do about this beast, Lady Destroyah?” asked a pink coated unicorn mare sporting a bright red blouse and white pants, with her two toned purple mane done up in a tall beehive atop her head. Her tone wasn’t particularly challenging, just high-strung and exceedingly worried. Destroyah didn’t quite recall who the mare was until the unicorn went on to say, “I’m sorry to ask, but I have to know that you’ll do something about that creature! My poor Sweetie Belle was scared half to death and she wasn’t even the one hurt. Why, I saw the claw marks on little Scootaloo’s face and they were just dreadful.”

Now Destroyah remembered. The CMC were a rambunctious trio, and while she knew Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon seemed to mix with those three like gasoline and fire, Destroyah’s own estimation was that once all of them grew up some more they’d probably get along just fine. It was understandable that Sweetie Belle’s mother was one of the more concerned ponies in town, given it could have easily been her own filly that got injured instead of Scootaloo. Still, she had to head off any notion that she was here to do anything other than investigate the situation at this point.

“Ma’am, I understand you’re worried. Makes perfect sense. I’ll do whatever I deem necessary when I’m certain I know what needs doing to protect you and every other pony in town. However I need to be certain before taking action. Try to remember that not too long ago I was the stranger here, and had the luck to run into ponies willing to give me the benefit of the doubt.”

“Well, yes... but,” Sweetie Belle’s mother chewed her lip, “You didn’t hurt any foals, by accident or not. Scary as you might’ve looked at first, you never lifted a hoof to harm a single pony.”

There were a few uneasy murmurs from the other gathered ponies, most of them in agreement. Destroyah couldn’t entirely blame them either. She was more than a little peeved herself that any foal got hurt, and it was a starting blow against Jeog’s case, but she had the presence of mind to at least entertain the notion that it might have been an honest accident. She’d had a few accidents herself, growing up with a ever changing and enlarging body. The first few times she’d tried to get a handle on her micro-oxygen beams had resulted in some close calls, back in the day. She’d save judgment until she had a chance to figure out what this Jeog’s deal was, which she really needed to get to doing now.

“Look, I get it, but I need all of you to trust me and Ditzy Doo to deal with this. That’s all I can tell you for now.”

“She speaks the truth,” came another voice, one quite familiar to Destroyah as the sleek, gray form of Ditzy Doo soared in and made a smooth landing beside the kaiju. Adjusting her glasses with one hoof and looking at the crowd evenly with her bright yellow eyes, Ditzy spoke in a calm, measured voice. “I trust that each and every citizen of Ponyville understands the delicate nature of this situation and will cooperate fully with our investigation, which at the moment requires everyone keep a level head and go about your daily business without delay.”

Her words appeared to mollify the crowd to a degree and the ponies slowly dispersed to start going about their day to day activities once again. Destroyah huffed out a sigh and offered a thankful half-grin to the Element of Wisdom. “Good timing. Never did like talking to crowds.”

“You seemed to be handling things well enough, but I thought to expedite the process. After all, we have work to do.” Ditzy Doo said with her usual focused and business-like demeanor. Destroyah liked Ditzy Doo well enough, but she definitely needed to figure out how to loosen the mare up one of these days. She already had one workaholic, entirely too-serious friend who didn’t know how to relax.

“Guess we do,” Destroyah said, poking at the bag of books. “Starlight sends her regards, and the gift of a whole crapton of reading.”

Ditzy’s eyes lit up with a deep burning hunger as she gazed upon the bulging pack of fresh knowledge. “Most excellent. I wonder if Miss Glimmer will mind if I keep several as permanent additions to the library here? It could stand to have some sections expanded.”

“That’s between you and Starlight. The two of you can fight it out over books,” Destroyah said, shouldering the large pack once more and turning towards the Golden Oak, which was just a few short blocks away. “First thing I want to do after dropping these off is see those two fillies.”

Her tone held a note of hardness to it, and as Ditzy followed Destroyah’s long, yard eating trot by taking to the air to hover at eye level alongside the kaiju, she said, “Ah, of course. I sense a scolding on the horizon. I do believe both fillies have gotten earfuls from both myself and their parents on the matter.”

“Yeah, well, they’ve got another one coming.” Destroyah said evenly. “I like the little tykes to pieces, but what they did was stupid on a level that requires some sense getting knocked into them. The first thing they should have done when they suspected their new pal wasn’t normal was come see you about it, or tell some authority figure.”

Actually, part of Destroyah’s anger was rooted in a bit of personal hurt that the fillies wouldn’t think to trust her or any other adult enough to come to them about Jeog right off the bat. It wasn’t as if sending a letter to her in Canterlot would’ve been that hard for Diamond Tiara. That little filly was entirely too clever to not know how to mail a letter to the right address!

“If you’re going to yell at them, please moderate your volume. We’ll be in a library, after all.”

Destroyah chuckled dryly. “Do I got that look on my face?”

“I at times imagine your name pertains to that look you get when you’re peeved about something. You do wear your heart on your proverbial sleeve, I’ve noticed.” Was that a smile on Ditzy Doo’s face? If so, the pegasus hid it well. Destroyah took a calming breath and nodded.

“Wasn’t going to go too hard on them, but they’ve still earned a talking to. Are they already at the library?”

It was Ditzy Doo’s turn to nod. “Yes. I knew you’d be arriving shortly and requested their parents release them from their grounding long enough to participate in our investigative efforts. I believe we’ll need them to ease ourselves into speaking with Jeog. From what I understand this fox-like entity’s power of illusion is impressive and if we scare her off it will be difficult to track her down if she doesn’t want to be found.”

“Right. We’ll play this with kid gloves until we need to do otherwise. Hoping this will go smooth. I mean, you evaluated me when I first got here, so I got an idea of what to expect. You might ease up on the questions this time around.” Destoryah shivered slightly. Ditzy Doo had taken charge of investigating Destroyah during her first week in Ponyville. The precambrian kaiju couldn’t recall a time she’d ever been asked so many questions in such a short span of time, nor quite so thoroughly examined. Ditzy Doo had a way of making one feel like they were being pinned down and put under a microscope with just a look and a pointed set of queries. Destroyah wondered what the mare was doing as a librarian and not a lawyer.

Reaching Golden Oaks Library, Destroyah let Ditzy head in first, having to duck down to the point of nearly crawling on her knees in order to fit herself through the doorway. Setting the pack of books down beside the door, she looked across the library’s first floor to see a pair of tense fillies dejectedly waiting at one of the reading tables. Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara clearly had that unpleasant look of children who were in trouble and knew it. Even so, both their eyes lit up a bit upon seeing Destroyah and it was hard not to feel fondness welling up inside her. These two had been kind enough and fearless enough to see someone like her unconscious on the road and decide to cart her all the way to Ponyville. Despite Destroyah’s fearsome appearance, these little ponies had only seen another in need, and shown a lost foreigner to their land unconditional compassion the likes of which Destroyah hadn’t known since her earliest days.

So it was hard to maintain a stern visage when she kind of just wanted to go hug the two, but she was an adult and these kids needed a proper scolding, no matter how much she wanted to simply scoop them up and put them on her back like a protective mother bear.

“L-Lady Destroyah. Uh, hi?” Diamond Tiara said uneasily, her ears flopped downward. Silver Spoon, ever the more practical of the pair, remained silent with her eyes resigned to the telling off she could see coming.

Destroyah took a deep breath and crossed the room to stand over the pair. Best to get this part over with.

“You know the both of you messed up, right?” she asked firmly, frowning down at them both.

Diamond Tiara’s mouth worked soundlessly for a second, eyes casting a look to Silver Spoon, who merely shook her head and said, “No point denying it, Diamond.”

“W-well, yes, I guess we did...”

“You guess?” Destroyah said with one of her eyebrow’s shooting up as she leaned over Diamond Tiara, “Do you have any idea how dangerous it was to hide that fox’s existence from everyone else? How irresponsible it was? No matter what you were afraid might have happened you should have went to an adult immediately. You’re a smart filly Diamond Tiara, and you should have known better.”

“I... I’m sorry, I just...” Diamond seemed to be fumbling for words, and Silver Spoon stepped in.

“Diamond was worried about scarring away Jeog, Lady Destroyah. That’s all. She wanted to learn more about her first, before doing anything else. I’m sure the plan was to come to the adults about her as soon as we had a better idea of what Jeog was. And don’t just yell at her, I’m just as responsible.”

“The idea isn't to yell at you fillies, but I want you to understand how dangerous what you did was,” Destroyah said, turning her gaze towards the little gray filly. “Even if Diamond might’ve had some scheme in mind you ought to have headed her off on that front, Silver Spoon. Sometimes friends have to stop friends from doing dangerous things, and you dropped the ball on that one.”

“It wasn’t her fault.” Diamond Tiara said, head hanging, “It was all me. I insisted we keep Jeog a secret and tell lies about who she was to everypony. I... wanted to figure out the mystery on my own. I thought that, well, she was kind of my mystery to solve. It was... another dumb idea of mine.”

Diamond Tiara’s eyes suddenly filled with desperate resolve. “But it wasn’t Jeog’s fault that Scootaloo got hurt! You have to believe me that it was an accident, I swear! Please, you have to help me help her. She’s really scared right now and I promised her I’d help!”

“We’ll talk about that in a second,” Destroyah said, keeping her voice and face stern, despite wanting nothing more than to reassure Diamond Tiara. Still, she had to make sure the filly fully understood. “What you did was wrong, even if you heart was in the right place. It's good that you wanted to help, the same as you did with me, but hiding things put other ponies in danger. I want you to honestly think about what might have happened to Scootaloo had that claw injury been even half an inch deeper than it was. Do you have any idea what a nicked artery looks like, because I do. She could have died, Diamond Tiara, do you understand that?”

She felt a nudge at her elbow, and didn’t have to look to know it was Ditzy Doo, signaling for her to bring it down a notch. Destroyah didn’t have a problem with that, already feeling like maybe she was stepping too far. It was clear Diamond Tiara felt every word like a heavy blow, the way her face crumbled into tears. Dammit all, Destroyah hadn’t meant to make the filly cry, but she had wanted to make sure Diamond understood just how serious the situation could have been, too. Scootaloo was fine, yes, and ultimately this wasn’t about punishing anyone, but what Diamond Tiara had done had been reckless. And if Destroyah was being honest with herself, a lot of her flaring anger just stemmed from her own fear that it could have easily been Diamond Tiara hurt, or worse, had things gone differently.

Taking control of herself, she was about to apologize and try to put the fillies at ease, but just then her sense of danger, sharpened through years of battle, kicked into high gear even before she heard a feral growl from behind her followed by a snarling feminine voice.

“Leave her alone!”

The air shimmered like a heat haze as a large form of blue tinted gray furred fury materialized at the threshold of the now open library door, and Jeog came barreling into Destroyah at full speed with claws outstretched. Only reflexes and instincts honed from surviving countless life and death struggles allowed Destroyah to pivot away from the sudden danger with the speed and ease that she did, and even then Jeog’s claws came within a scant inch of her face.

Jeog acrobatically twisted in mid-air, landing on all fours, her claws digging into the wooden floor to halt her momentum, only for her body to shimmer with bending light until she blurred and dashed into motion once again, this time zipping left and right as she came at Destroyah in a dizzying pattern.

Barely more than two seconds had passed, leaving Ditzy Doo still blinking wide eyed and the two fillies only just now realizing something was even happening. Destroyah was thinking faster, used to ambushes, and set her hooves in a bracing stance as she readied herself. She already knew this had to be Jeog, and had processed what the vulpine creature had said, realizing that Jeog must have perceived Destroyah as a threat to Diamond Tiara.

As such she withheld the brimming power of a micro-oxygen burst that her battle instincts told her to unleash upon the threat daring to challenge her and instead when Jeog’s blurred form came at her from the left side, Destroyah snapped around and caught Jeog’s outstretched talon with a hoof and tucked herself into Jeog’s chest, heaving the fox-like creature into a powerful shoulder throw that slammed Jeog into the floor...

Or would have if the Jeog that Destroyah had grasped didn’t vanish into a puff of blue flame and smoke, a semi-solid illusion that hid the real Jeog, who leaped upon Destroyah’s back. But before either Jeog’s claws could dig in, or Destroyah could turn her head, an angry spark of micro-oxygen now leaking around her mouth, a voice shouted in sharp despair.

“STOP!”

Both Destroyah and Jeog froze at the same time. Diamond Tiara, shaking on her hooves, eyes wide with shocked tears, repeated her desperate cry “Please stop...”

Jeog, poised on Destroyah’s back, tilted her head quizzically and said, “But this one is hurting you.”

“No, she’s just scolding me. Which I deserved.” Diamond Tiara stammered out, “You don’t have to protect me.”

Jeog’s face scrunched up in confusion, “But you were crying.”

Diamond Tiara wiped at her face with a hoof, “I know, Jeog, I know. Sometimes that happens for the right reasons. Destroyah was just forcing me to understand some stuff I did was bad, that’s all. Its okay, please, uh, could you get off her?”

Destroyah cleared her throat, the glowing motes of micro-oxygen around her mouth slowly fading. “Preferably before I remove you myself.”

Ice blue eyes regarded Destroyah with careful measuring, and Destroyah returned in kind with her own blazing gold gaze. Now that she could look Jeog over up close she could tell this was no lost kaiju. Even when transformed into beings native to the world of Equestria, the kaiju still retained physical elements of their kaiju forms, including a certain level of scent that Destroyah could pick up on. Not only was Jeog clearly a creature that looked entirely like a giant, gray fox with nine tails swishing behind her, but she smelled entirely different from any kaiju Destroyah had ever encountered.

The tension lasted only a second more before Jeog sniffed at Destroyah and with a soft whine hopped off. The way the fox glided across the floor a few quick steps to sit with her tails protectively curling around where Diamond Tiara stood was as clear a message as could be, even if Destroyah wasn’t used to using body language to communicate even more than verbal speech. She made her own statement with an unfurling of her wings and a pointed tilting of her head towards the filly in question, making it clear in no uncertain terms that Jeog wasn’t the only one being protective.

Off to the side Ditzy Doo adjusted her glasses, issuing a deep sigh. “Well, we seem to be off to a auspicious start. Jeog, might I ask why you entered the town’s limits while strictly told not to do so until given permission?”

The fox didn’t turn her head, only flicked her eyes towards Ditzy, “I saw another predator. I thought it might eat someone I like. That was more important than silly words like ‘permission’.”

“Did we not inform you that a kaiju would be arriving soon, one who might have an usual appearance? You just jumped to the conclusion Lady Destroyah was going to eat ponies?” Ditzy asked incredulously, but Silver Spoon was quick to speak up.

“To be fair, if you didn’t actually tell her what Destroyah looks like, anypony might mistake her for trouble.” Silver Spoon smiled apologetically at Destroyah. “No offense.”

Destroyah just puffed her chest out, sporting a fang filled grin. “None imagined. I know how I look, even as a transmogrified pony. If I didn’t know me, I’d think I was bad news too. Can’t exactly blame fox-lady here for assuming the worst. Maybe for not taking ten seconds to listen to the conversation and put two and two together, but somehow I get the feeling we’re not dealing with a math genius here.”

Jeog’s head tilted to the side, her fox ears twitching. “Math?”

Diamond Tiara cleared her throat, “I’ll try to explain it later, Jeog. I, uh, I’m glad you’re here. Even if I wish you’d maybe found a better way of introducing yourself to Destroyah. One that involved a little less attempted mauling.”

Jeog’s paw scratched at her muzzle and she yawned, “Is this the time for what mortals call apologizing? I don’t like it, but if the big red one is actually a friend of yours I will do so.” Jeog stared at Destroyah and then said in the most awkward tone possible. “Sorry for trying to claw your face off.”

Destroyah actually felt a laugh bubble up inside her, despite the situation. This creature had already proven that she could be unpredictable and dangerous, there was no doubting that. Even this short conversation was showing that Jeog barely grasped conventional social norms and had little respect for any kind of authority. She certainly didn’t think twice about taking violent action when she felt provoked... or had something to protect.

Ditzy’s concerns were quite legitimized in Destroyah’s eyes, and it became very clear that they needed to learn more about Jeog before any more “misunderstandings” occur.

Yet for all the rockiness of this first meeting, it was obvious that Jeog had been motivated, however erratically, by the need to protect a friend. As far as Destroyah was concerned that was the biggest first step, right there. Whether or not Jeog could take the rest, that was yet to be seen.

Shimmering fields of green crossed with gentle rolling hills were painted with life bursting pastels of vibrant forest or glittering, sun kissed rivers and streams. The beauty of Equestria’s countryside was on full display for all travelers through its verdant roadways to soak in, but all of that splendor fell upon eyes burning with such heated focus that all around her may as well have been ashen wasteland for all that it penetrated the iron walls around her soul.

Ki Seong glared into Battra’s back with laser focus, impatience wafting off her like the heat waves rolling off sun baked stone. The menacing, dark kaiju had resumed her seemingly humble disguise as a unicorn, spectral bands of deep orange and red magic coiling off her horn and seeming to spread in the air like the strands of a growing spider’s web.

“Well?” Ki Seong asked after another minute of impatient glaring, her eyes like gold daggers from within the depths of her raised hood.

“Your eagerness for blood is a credit, but control yourself for the moment. This is a trail many years left to cool, but rest assured any being of power, be it magic or... other sources, leaves traces that never truly fade. The beach where this gumiho washed ashore was a good start, and it did pass this way. I merely need to find the traces, buried under many other auras, but still there... yes...”

“You have it!?” Ki Seong jumped forward like a hunting hound pulling at the leash, scenting its quarry. This was almost literal, for her nose was quite stronger than normal in picking up scents, and while the gumiho’s trail was far too long gone for her to pick up its foul odor, a part of her growled internally with a need to find this trail herself so she could finally run the beast to ground.

Battra’s look was one deeply marinated with wry amusement at Ki Seong’s behavior, her voice smooth as oiled tar. “I have enough to say she went further west from here. Come, we’ll continue on another few miles, then I’ll search again.”

A gutteral noise of snarling frustration was barely contained by Ki Seong’s will. To be making progress after all this time, yet for it to be so laboriously slow was beyond torture! This had been the way of it since Battra teleported her from that port city. They’d gone to the beach of the sailor’s tail first, and Battra had used her aura tracking spell to pick up the strange, foreign taste of the gumiho’s foxfire, a magic that would not be duplicated by any other being in all Equestria. Fortunately Ki Seong had carried on her a sample of Jeog’s blood taken and preserved from a clash in one of the villages the beast had tried to hide in back in Carrea, so the auras could be compared.

So it was that they followed the trail west, stopping every few miles to ensure they were on the right track. It was agonizingly slow going, but Ki Seong couldn’t argue with Battra for faster progress. This was the only way, and slow as it was, it was better than the fruitless wanderings she’d been engaged in previously. So she tolerated her companion and followed Battra along, a surly cloaked shadow in the wake of the confidently striding kaiju masquerading as a humble unicorn traveler.

“So tell me, what did this Jeog take from you that fires the passion for vengeance in you so?” Battra asked in a perfectly conversational tone, as if she was asking about what food Ki Seong liked to eat, as opposed to the core of her lifelong vengeance quest.

“No business of yours.” Ki Seong replied tersely, glowering beneath her hood.

“Not business, but pleasure. Such focused desire to destroy is a rare gift. Can I be blamed if I’m curious as to what sparked such a gloriously burning flame?”

Ki Seong remained silent, mouth clamped tight in a dark scowl. Battra chuckled dryly. “Perhaps we shall pass the time in a guessing game? Just tell me if I’m hot or cold, hmm? Now let’s see, the depths of your rage could only really be created by the most intense of pains. Loss of a loved one, perhaps?”

Ki Seong’s teeth started to grind together, and as if she could hear it Battra’s smirked. “Ah, warm. Now to narrow it down. A slain family member? A parent?”

Ki Seong rolled her eyes and looked away, and Battra made a clicking noise with her tongue. “A bit colder, but still on the right track. Not a family member then, but still closer than a mere friend I would guess. Oh, I see, a lover then.”

Death glared from behind Ki Seong’s eyes, but upon seeing it Battra merely pranced with triumph. “Red hot! I must have hit the mark. Love really is the most deceptively dangerous of emotions. One can drown in its light, never seeing the yawning void of despair that waits just out of sight if that light is snuffed out in an untimely manner.”

“What does a thing like you know of love?” Ki Seong spat, and Battra merely laughed.

“That it hurts. Beyond any other pain known to mortal kind.” Battra’s smile displayed not normal pony teeth, but her impressive array of fangs. “That’s why I admire it so. Now why not tell me of this lover of yours? Did this Jeog slay them in front of you?”

“If we are to continue this journey without me tearing your black heart from your chest, then I suggest we travel in silence.” Ki Seong said with cold iron in her tone. “Keep your questions to yourself.”

“Your threats are as unnecessary as they are ineffectual. I’m not what you’re truly angry at, Ki Seong, but the creature that caused you the pain that has driven you across countries, oceans, and to even alter your own flesh to achieve your goals.”

Her hooves stopped moving and Ki Seong halted in the roadway, and as if in response to her extreme agitation her mane quivered, tendrils of it reaching from her robes like the angry coils of a snake nest. Battra looked at her without concern.

“What I’ve done is only what is necessary to ensure the beast pays for her crimes.” Ki Seong said.

“Of course. It was not criticism, but admiration. You’ve sacrificed the purity of your body to become stronger, and that takes a unfathomable dedication to your goal. I’m curious, how many ‘demons’ from your land have you slain and consumed by this point? I know not what manner of ritual you must have used to absorb their powers, but I can sense their auras upon you like a deliciously bubbling stew.”

Ki Seong was not pleased by the kaiju’s almost friendly tone, or the way she looked at Ki Seong like some kind of fresh appetizer, or a bug under a microscope. Worse, she wasn’t fond of being reminded of the things she’d done to herself in growing desperation in her endless hunt. In truth while she’d hunted many demons, she’d only performed the ritual of binding on the ones she thought would best serve her needs. Every time the foul ritual had left her feeling sick inside, even as her body burned with ever greater powers.

“It doesn’t matter. Your admiration means nothing to me. Once my hunt is finished, I shall return home to... my family, and to their judgment. Perhaps they will forgive my own transgressions in light of both slaying the beast and returning with her fox beads. Or perhaps they will execute me as an abomination. I don’t care, as long as I end Jeog.”

“Hm, that would be such a waste. And again I must wonder who this Jeog slew to turn you on this path?”

“Drop. It.”

“Oh, very well, have it your way then.” Battra said with a snort, and finally left Ki Seong in peace. Or as little peace as she could find, for the kaiju’s questions, though left unanswered, swirled through Ki Seong’s mind and made her remember things she wished she could forget.

Sweat dripped off Ki Seong as she ran the course, her body a jade streak as she flipped under spiked logs that flew down from the trees upon tight ropes, or leaped over pits of bamboo spears, all the while her twin kirin horns blazing with gold magic. The bolts from her crossbow flew like buzzing bees, expertly striking bullseyes upon targets of straw set up along the course, while the flashing blade of her curved spear sliced through wooden training dummies similarly placed in her path.

At the end of the course she made a prodigious leap over the stream the ran by the back of her family’s compound, her crossbow firing upon and striking a set of targets set up on a floating barge that she literally flipped over before landing gracefully on the stream’s opposite bank.

Breathing hard, she holstered her crossbow and sheathed her spear across her back, and stood with head held high, awaiting praise.

Her father, stern faced but not without a look of approval in his deep gold eyes, offered her a deep nod. “Well done. Superior even to my own record when I was your age. You continue to demonstrate the prowess of the Seong family bloodline.”

“Yes, father.” Ki Seong said, trying to keep from beaming and maintain a controlled posture.

“In fact,” her father said with a somewhat sly look, “It has been talked of among the family heads that you are of age to contribute to the family bloodline.”

That got her to blink. “Father? Do you mean...?”

He coughed, gesturing for her to follow him away from the stream and training course and towards the walled off Seong family compound. A thick gate at the back opened up into a wide garden, where her father fell in beside her and spoke in a quiet but firm tone.

“You’ve known since you first began training in the family arts that we keep our bloodline strong through marriage to families possessing traits we Yogoe Hunters seek in our offspring. To produce strong heirs to inherit our traditions is a duty we all face. I married your mother having only seen her face a week before the event, and yet my love for her is no less for it.”

Ki Seong suppressed a gulp and kept her voice respectful and even. “Yes, father. I do not intend to argue this. I know my duty and will perform it as a Seong should. But may I know who I am to call my husband? Hopefully before I must take him to my bed?”

He likely didn’t miss the hint of cheek in her voice, and he smiled at it, however thinly. “I dare say you shall have longer than I did to get used to your mother before I went to her bed. Times are changing, and there are some families that don’t even arrange marriages any longer. Of course those families do not have the dire tasks we do, nor the same legacy.”

Ki Seong nodded in complete understanding. Ever since she was old enough to understand speech she’d been taught of her family and her role in it. The Seong family were Yogoe Hunters, demon and monster slayers, protectors of Carrea against the scourge of unnatural entities and ferocious monsters that had plagued the people of the land for uncounted centuries. There had been other families of demon hunters before, but many had waned over the years into mere shadows. Only the Seong family remained strong, because they held fast to their traditions of extreme martial and magical training and never allowing their bloodline to become weak by allowing members to marry outside of carefully selected candidates who would make the family stronger. The family took this practice so seriously that the one time a member of the family had defied the arranged marriage set up for them had resulted in that individual being disowned and expunged from the family records. Ki Seong wasn't even sure who it had been that had defied family tradition, only that it had happened relatively recently, within her own generation. It might even have been a sibling or cousin, perhaps, but she'd never have known, for that individual's name wasn't even spoken of by her parents or any other member of the family. And that was well enough, far as Ki Seong was concerned. She had no intention of disgracing the family in the same manner.

It was her duty to contribute to the strengthening of the family's bloodline, and she would not resist this fate. She had expected this soon, perhaps not quite this soon, however. She was still young, relatively speaking, a few years past proper adulthood. The prospect of a husband didn’t cause her panic, per so. She’d be trained to battle monsters and demons, after all! There was no way she could be frightened of a mere marriage bed. Still, it would’ve been unreasonable to expect her not to be a little nervous, right? This was an important change that would be coming into her life, and duty or not it might disrupt her training! Of course it wouldn’t hurt if her husband to be would be strong enough to keep up with her, and if not handsome at least not horrid looking.

“So who is he, father? One of the military family’s from the Imperial City?” That had been where her mother had come from, the daughter of one of the Empire’s most respected generals and warriors. Ki Seong liked to think every time she wielded her spear she was channeling the blood of her mother through her motions.

“No, his family actually lives here in our own town. You should be fairly familiar with them. You are to marry Cho Yon.”

Graceful or not, Ki Seong nearly tripped at those words. “The Yon family? The ones who tend the temple in the forest?”

Her father’s look turned coy. “Do you know of another Yon family?”

Face reddening with embarrassment, Ki Seong bowed her head. “No, father, I merely meant... well are they not a family of pacifistic monks?”

“Shamans, to be more precise.” her father said, leading her to one of the garden pools where he casually picked up a stick and touched it to the water in two places, creating intersecting ripples. “Our techniques for hunting the hated Yogoe stem from two sources; martial prowess and magical knowledge. Every marriage adding to our bloodline seeks to increase one or the other. Your mother’s Iron Flower spear fighting technique was one such addition to the Seong family arsenal, and you wield it even more fiercely than she does. So, too, does the Yon family possesses techniques we desire, both martial and magical. As shamans who have tended this land for generations they know natural magics and have powerful talents that will be passed on to your children. Furthermore I hear he is skilled in his family's Way of the Open Heart, a martial art unique to the Yons.”

“Way of the Open Heart?” Ki Seong frowned, “I cannot imagine a family of pacifists would develop a martial art useful to we who hunt demons.”

A strange look passed over her father’s face as he turned to her, “Then consider it a challenge to learn from Cho Yon, and to learn in what manner the teachings of his family can be used to make our own stronger. You are the Seong family’s most promising heir, and he in turn is the bright scion of his own family. The Yon’s have agreed to this marriage after no small amount of negotiation on our part, Ki Seong. It is important you work hard to ensure a strong tie to them through your marriage to Cho Yon. To that end, today you shall go to the Yon Temple and meet with him.”

“Today? Um...” she sniffed at herself, still soaked in sweat from training. “Perhaps he would appreciate it if his wife to be took a bath first?”

One of her father’s rare chuckles escaped him. “Ah, yes, perhaps he would at that. Clean yourself up, Ki Seong, then go and meet your future husband.”

Some hours later, when Ki Seong walked up the winding trail through the hilly forests outside of town that led to the Yon family temple, she did her best to set aside her nervousness. She was not used to wearing anything other than the simple, loose training vestments she always used during practice and exercise. The rather ornate dress her mother had insisted she wear for her first meeting with her fiance didn’t feel right at all and she feared she was walking like an awkward fawn instead of the well trained hunter she knew herself to be. Then again none of her training prepared her for simply meeting a prospective mate, either. What was she to say to him!? Ki Seong knew twenty seven different ways to track an ogre across a moonless night, or the secret weaknesses of nearly a hundred different species of demon beast, and how to properly set a trap of magical seals to capture all manner of foul monsters... but she had no idea how to talk to the stallion she was to marry.

Her nerves were nearly raw by the time she reached the great steps to the temple. It was a grand building to be so completely hidden and tucked away within the depths of the forest hills. Its massive wooden gates were flanked by stone statues of the Four Fortunes, great coiled dragons whose grandeur was captured in the expert stone work of the statues. Ki Seong had heard that much of the Yon family had shrunk over the years and the temple fallen into some level of disrepair, until Cho Yon’s own recent efforts to restore it. Workers had been hired from town and instructed in new construction and fixing the temple’s ancient walls, and Ki Seong could see the fruits of that labor in fresh tiling and recently smoothed over and repainted wooden pillars, now shining red.

Up the steps she went through a short gatehouse and into the vast garden and courtyard of the temple proper. Shining ponds were surrounded by greenery, and well swept stone paths winded through arrangements of natural beauty. At the far end further steps led into the main temple, where she could smell the burning of incense wafting through the air.

Several kirin and ponies in simple white and black robes, each bearing the silver mark of the temple sewn into the backs, were meditating by one of the ponds. Upon her entrance one opened her eyes and smoothly rose to her hooves, approaching and bowing to Ki Seong.

“Fortunes’ blessings upon you, honored one. What do you seek on this fine day?”

Clearing her throat she said, “I am hoping to meet with Cho Yon. I am Ki Seong, and I was told I was to be expected.”

The other kirin mare opened her eyes a bit wider, then smiled. “Ah, yes of course! I am Kwan Yon, Cho’s younger sister. Really he should already be here, as he was told you’d be coming, but he does get a little immersed when talking his walks.”

“Walks?” Ki Seong asked, raising a slim black eyebrow.

Kwan gave an embarrassed nod, “Oh yes, he goes for many walks, when not working on the temple. More and more, as of late. He should be back any minute-”

Ki Seong raised a hoof. “That won’t be a problem. I shall seek him out. Merely tell me where he usually goes. I can take it from there.”

The skills to track demons also translated well into tracking mortal kind. If her husband to be was to take his walks so seriously as to think to miss their arranged meeting, well, she’d merely track him down and demonstrate how seriously a Seong takes marriage! Some of her nervousness burned away with her ire and a little twinge of pleasure at the challenge of tracking, a task she was at least familiar with.

Kwan gave her an odd look, but bowed her head. “Very well. If you go out the main gate and turn to the west you will find a trail that leads behind the temple and further up the hill. There are many paths criss crossing the forest that way, but Cho likes to go to a particular spot at the top of the hill where there is a clearing and a good view of the entire valley, including the town. You will probably find him there.”

Ki Seong wasted no time. Giving a polite, parting bow to Kwan and the other monks, she quickly departed the temple, found the path, and began to track Cho Yon. It wasn’t remarkably difficult. The path was well used, but picking out the freshest tracks was a breeze, and soon she was following the hoof prints of what she estimated to be a young kirin male; no doubt Cho Yon.

Strange, but every now and then her eyes picked up hints of other tracks, but they were oddly muffled and hard to make out. At times she wasn’t even sure she saw them, and they were always just off the pathways rather than on them. Something larger than a pony or kirin, and certainly not hooved. Pawed? Perhaps a bear or mountain lion? They were to indistinct to tell, but their presence set her on edge, her hunter’s instincts kicking in. Even in her ornate dress of jades and deeper greens she did have hidden several weapons of her trade, so she feared no confrontation, but still...

After fifteen minutes of tracking she reached the clearing Kwan Yon had mentioned, at the very top of the central hill the temple was built halfway down. She heard a male voice speaking, but in indistinct, quiet and conversational tones. Curious, she strode forward, not making any attempt to hide her presence, and the voice stopped talking as she entered the clearing.

It was indeed a fine view of the valley from the top of this hill, strewn with tall grass that waved like an emerald ocean around her as she left the treeline.

Cho Yon was as she’d expected. He was clearly young, around her same age, with plain but not unpleasant features and a strong yet oddly humble bearing about him. His own black mane was tied back in a plain knot, and he wore a simple vest of black and white, much like the other monks of his family. He was standing in the middle of the clearing, his body in an odd stance, standing on his hind legs while his forelegs were stretched out in a position that reminded Ki Seong of the way a crane might spread its wings.

He smoothly slipped out of the stance, returning to standing on all fours, and with a flush in his face he bowed his head to her.

“My apologies, Miss. I must have lost track of the time. I can only surmise that you are Ki Seong, yes?”

She nodded, not quite bowing her head, and giving him a look that was meant to appear sharp but she couldn’t quite manage it and instead likely looked equally as apologetic. “I am, and do not think too much upon apologizing. It’s a pleasant day and tracking you here was not difficult.” Her eyes glanced around the clearing, curious. “I heard you speaking as I approached. Was someone else here?”

Cho Yon’s face reddened, and he cleared his throat. “Oh, um, I talk to myself sometimes. I enjoy a good philosophical debate so much that at times I argue even with myself. Ehehe...”

Again her instincts were set on edge. There was nothing wrong with what he was telling her, and she was not so good at sniffing out lies, but even so she felt something was very off about this situation. Still, she didn’t want to sour her first meeting with him by badgering him about whatever he wished to keep private. Her keen eyes saw nothing amiss, even as she scanned the clearing and forest edge, so whatever the case was, it probably wasn’t anything she needed to worry about. Besides, there were far worse qualities for a husband to have than occasionally talking to himself.

“Well now that I am here you need not talk to yourself.” she said, shifting awkwardly on her hooves. “Although I don’t really know what to start talking about.”

Cho Yon smiled, and it was a decidedly lopsided, yet exceedingly warm expression as he laughed. “I suppose we’ll have much of our lives to figure out what to say to each other, but perhaps to start I’ll just say that I’m happy to meet you, Ki Seong.”

She let out a half hearted laugh, “A greeted more suited to friends, than those about to be married.”

“It would say that first and foremost friendship should come first, before love does.” Cho Yon said, and he offered Ki Seong a hoof, “So let us learn to be friends.”

She stared at his hoof for a second, before slowly taking it in hers. His hoof was as warm as his smile. She found her feelings of awkwardness were quickly flitting away as she returned his smile.

“I believe I’d like that.”

Ki Seong shuddered. Those memories, at the beginning, were pleasant ones, which in turn made recalling them all the more bitter for her. Cho Yon had been a light she’d never expected to come into her life. Losing it had torn out something deep inside her, but worse for the fact that she’d never seen the danger coming. All the signs had been there, even in the earliest moments of first meeting him.

Why had she not seen it? Why had she been blind to the monster lurking so close to the Yon family’s legacy?

That was what hurt most of all. The sure knowledge that she should have been able to see and prevent the danger before it had taken Cho Yon from her.

But there was no point relieving that past now. Mistakes had been made, but the largest of those mistakes had not been made by her. No, not by her.

And soon, oh so soon, Cho Yon’s killer would face her wrath. Then Fortunes’ woe to anyone who stood in her path!

Destroyah yawned and nearly hit her head on the table as she tried not to pass out. Instead she turned to Ditzy, who was shuffling through her papers, quill pen in hoof. “Ditzy, seriously, can we call it a day before what’s left of my cerebellum dribbles out of my ear holes?”

Across from the table they all sat at in the library, Jeog rolled over with a whine and scratched at the bottom of the table, her nine tails lashing about behind her. “Yes! Over! No more questions! You are the cruelest mortal I have ever met. Is this punishment?”

Ditzy Doo pressed her lips into a thin frown at both of them while adjusting her glasses with a wing tip. “You two are equally impossible. I’ve only gone through eighty out of my list of one hundred and forty four questions and you act as if I’ve kept you here all day.”

“It’s been two hours.” Destroyah groaned, “You didn’t even take this long when you did this to me the first time.”

Jeog looked at Destroyah while still laying on her back. “She tortured you like this too?”

“It is not torture, you bellyaching foals. I have to form a thorough baseline of information to be able to perform my duties of further evaluation. Now, please, question eighty one; have you ever at this time or any past time been allergic to fish or fish products?”

“I don’t like fish! They're in the water! What kind of stupid creature chooses to live in water!?” Jeog cried, eyeing one of the windows on the library’s second floor as if contemplating making a break for it. Destroyah could sympathize. Ditzy’s questionnaire was a bit... unnecessarily thorough and obtuse.

Ditzy made a mark on her papers, making an intrigued ‘hmm’, thoroughly engaged. “I see. I see. Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, be a pair of dears and fetch me volume six of the Imperial Encyclopedia of Cataloged Creatures, the Misty Horizon’s edited edition.”

Nearby Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon leaped up from where they’d been flipping through the library’s few available magazines to go delving into the pile of research materials Destroyah had brought from the Canterlot archives. Ditzy had conscripted the pair of fillies to be “research assistants” while working on questioning and evaluating Jeog.

“What, do you think you got an idea of what she is now?” Destroyah asked. Thus far directly trying to ask Jeog was she was had been... less than fruitful. It seemed like even the enigmatic fox wasn’t really clear on what species she was. Which in some ways made sense. When Destroyah had first been developing her own consciousness while under the care of humans she hadn’t the foggiest notion of how to think of herself. She just... was. She was Destroyah. That was it.

So it was with Jeog that any direct question of “What are you?” had mostly boiled down to her replying “I am me.” Clearly hers was not a species concerned with cataloging or retaining information about itself. If anything Jeog seemed like a very intelligent but equally flighty talking fox, for all Destroyah could tell. She didn’t even seem to think much of others of her kind, only referring to them as “The others.” Apparently she’d rarely ever had contact with “The others” of her species, and hadn’t even seen another for a “Long, long, long time.”

The hint of a growl at that line of questioning, along with the raised hackles, also told Destoryah that Jeog hadn’t gotten along with her own kind the few times she’d had seen them. Destroyah could relate. She hadn’t exactly gelled with other kaiju until she ran into Xenilla, and it had taken time even then for her and him to get used to each other.

Scampering through the various books that had been strewn out of the duffel bag, Silver Spoon was first to find the volume Ditzy had asked for and both she and Diamond Tiara hurried over to present it. Silver Spoon looked fairly curious, but Diamond Tiara was practically shaking from excitement. “Do you really know what Jeog is, Miss Doo?”

“There’s a possibility.” Ditzy Doo said, grabbing the text, an old tome bound in faded red covers with both golden scrawled lettering in what Destroyah assumed was the Carrean language, with Equestrian words beneath to translate. The boot itself was written in Equestrian, apparently a translated work from the original Carrean, which if Destroyah caught the date right was nearly nine hundred years old.

Flipping through the pages with neat, careful gestures of her wings while peering intently through her glasses, Ditzy remarked, “My questions, while they may seem boring and pedestrian to you folk, have had a purpose. I’ve been slowly collecting information on Jeog’s relevant traits to narrow down the potential Yogoe types she could be.”

“Yogurtwhat?” Diamond Tiara asked, blinking.

“Yogoe. In Neighpon the term would be Yokai. Our Equestrian equivalent would just be ‘monster’, but that’s not entirely accurate.” Ditzy explained. “In Equestria many native creatures exist that possess varying degrees of intelligence and unusual powers or traits, and either coexist with or in some cases threaten ponykind. Cockatrices, hydras, timberwolves, giant arachnids, the famous Wendigos. All would be creatures we might dub ‘monsters’, but in the far eastern land of Carrea the term for such beings would be ‘Yogoe’. Of course such creatures are as many and varied as there are stars in the sky, and not all of them are hostile by nature, as the term ‘monster’ might suggest. Jeog possesses several traits that suggest what type of Yogoe she is, and since we know she came from Carrea it's only a matter of referencing these traits with what’s written in the most complete of the Carrean Empire’s writings on the subject. I must thank Starlight Glimmer for being so thorough in the volumes she sent us...”

The fillies leaned forward to peer with interest at Ditzy’s search, and Destroyah leaned her tall form over the petite pegasus to observe as well. Jeog just looked at them with a combination of bewilderment and boredom, yawning her vulpine jaw as she sat watching them silently.

Destroyah was amazed at the sheer number of Yogoe she was seeing in the pages of the book, and how varied they were. Everything from three-eyed dog spirits to spindly, scaled humanoid goblins, to massive serpentine dragons graced the pages, all of them drawn with exquisite attention to detail with each entry. Finally Ditzy came to a page that showed a picture of a slim, fox-like creature with nine tails swirling like a fan behind it. Flickering flames coiled around the picture, showing the fox half transforming into the shape of a beautiful kirin mare. Destroyah couldn’t help but notice that in either form, the fox was depicted as wearing a wicked smile, showing many sinister fangs.

Ditzy, running a wingtip over the writing by the picture, read aloud. “The gumiho has been regarded as among the oldest and most dangerous of the animal spirits inhabiting the land. These Yogoe, legend has it, originally hail from the underworld and only rarely enter the mortal realm using the bones of foxes killed in the depths of winter as mediums to take physical form. Alternate myths suggest they instead are a magical mutation of living foxes exposed to intense dark magics, while yet others claim they are an offshoot species related to the Kitsune fox spirits of Neighpon folklore. Regardless of the truth, most tales of the gumiho mark them as deadly tricksters, that target the naive and weak minded for all manner of viscous games that often result in the death of the victim. Even what few stories exist of non-violent encounters with gumiho still place them as unpredictable entities that are capricious at best, with little or no caring for the well being of mortals.”

“Now just hold on a second!” Diamond Tiara nearly shouted, “That doesn’t sound like Jeog at all.”

“It's just a description based on old legends and tales, Diamond Tiara.” said Ditzy Doo in a cool, professional tone. “In all likelihood there is a mixture of truth and fiction ingrained in these writings. I am only reading what is here, not making judgments based upon it. However I am curious, Jeog, what do you think of this?” She slid the book towards Jeog, “Is this you?”

The fox tilted her head quizzically and sniffed at the page, then looked at Ditzy Doo like she was simple. “No, this is a book. You mortals scratch things in them.”

Destroyah let out a belly laugh, slapping Ditzy Doo on the back with one of her wings. “Hah! You did walk right into that one, Ditzy. Alright, alright, Jeog, look at the picture. The scratchings that look like a fox. Look familiar?”

Jeog looked down, her eyes narrowing at the picture. “It looks like someone didn’t know what we look like when changing. It's not like that. We don’t flow like a river. It looks like this. Faster, like flame consuming a leaf.”

In demonstration Jeog’s vulpine form crackled with blue fire, and in mere seconds the fox was seemingly engulfed in a burst of azure flames until in her place stood a small gray filly with a wild mane and tail and fox-like features. “See. Very quick and easy.”

Ditzy and Destroyah exchanged a glance, Ditzy looking back at Jeog after a second. “What kind of magic is that?”

Jeog shrugged. “Mine.”

“Right...” Ditzy sighed, then pointed back at the book, “That aside, does the term ‘gumiho’ mean anything to you?”

There was a visible bristling in Jeog’s mane as the fox turned filly shifted uneasily in place. “It is what the Hunter calls me, when not calling me Jeog. It is a name mortals used sometimes. It never meant anything to me before the Hunter came.”

Destroyah leaned forward intently. “You told Diamond Tiara this Hunter has been after you for a long time, but you never explained why.”

If Jeog had looked uncomfortable before, she looked ready to go bolting for that open window now. Diamond Tiara went around the table to sit beside the agitated magical fox creature, placing a comforting hoof on Jeog’s back. “It’s okay. We won’t force you to tell us, but knowing might really help us understand. Lady Destroyah and Miss Doo just want to understand you. I do too.”

Destroyah wasn’t so sure if Ditzy Doo or her could afford not to eventually force the information out of Jeog, but she was willing to let Diamond set Jeog at ease if it would help. She could tell just from Jeog’s body language that a lot of pent up fear, anger, and confusion was all coiled up inside the question of why this Hunter was after her. Destroyah had already guessed the Jeog was a creature not used to thinking in ‘mortal’ terms or even with normal emotions. Chances were Jeog didn’t understand this any better than the ‘mortals’ around her did.

With Diamond Tiara’s encouragement Jeog calmed down somewhat and gave Destroyah and Ditzy a guarded look. “The Hunter hates me. Blames me for the loss of someone.”

“Are you responsible for this someone’s loss?” pressed Ditzy, and Jeog growled.

“I was there. For the Hunter, that is enough.”

Destoryah blew out a sigh and set one of her massive hooves on the table, “Look, Jeog, can you tell us exactly what happened? Without context this is going to be hard to explain away when we have to make a decision on whether or not you’re safe enough to be allowed to stay near Ponyville, or any other settlement in Equestria for that matter.”

“L-Lady Destroyah, she’s not danger-”

“Diamond, I understand how you feel.” Destroyah said, not unkindly but with a firm and parental tone. “The fact is that we wouldn’t be here if she’d approached openly and safely like I or Xen had, and nopony had ever been hurt.” She saw Jeog wince at that mention of Scootaloo being injured, which whether the gumiho knew it or not that did shift a few points in her favor by Destroyah’s reckoning. Still, she pressed on. “It's my and Ditzy Doo’s responsibility to make sure we understand who and what Jeog is and if she’s safe enough to live among ponies. We can’t ignore this Hunter, or whatever story revolves around why they’re after Jeog. Now, I know you don’t think quite like we do, Jeog, but do you understand why we need to know what happened between you and the Hunter?”

Jeog’s eyes met hers, ice still blue orbs reflecting off of intense gold ones. Destroyah felt that Jeog had ceased hearing just Destroyah’s words and instead was reading her intent through her body. Even if she wasn’t a kaiju, Jeog was enough of a creature of body language to read the sincere intent and desire Destroyah had to want to understand her. More than that, Jeog may have read the iron hard will and resolve Destroyah had to do whatever was necessary to guard the citizens of Ponyville, and particularly the two fillies Jeog had attached herself to.

In that, at least, Destroyah and Jeog understood each other perfectly.

“Yes, I do understand.” Jeog said at last, her nine tails slowly swishing behind her as her form shifted in a puff of blue, flickering fire back to her natural state. Behind her the air started to shimmer with more motes of deep azure flame and in moments it looked as if the library wasn’t a library, but an entirely new landscape. They were sitting atop the peace of a large forest hill overlooking an old, eastern temple.

“These are.... impressive illusions.” Ditzy said.

Silver Spoon gulped, “I don’t remember Jeog being able to do this.”

“I have not been good with crafting false sights, sounds, and smells.” Jeog said, “Not for a long time. But I will craft them now, and show you... the me before the Hunter, and the me before I was called 'Jeog'.”

Chapter 5: End of the Hunt

Chapter Five: End of the Hunt

Long ago in Carrea...

Wind sighed a whispering tempo through the trees, whose branches swayed and sent a pallet of autumn leaves flickering over a stream that cut a winding path down the gentle hill slope. At the stream’s banks a kirin just entering the fresh years of adulthood drew water into a pair of buckets balanced upon a bamboo pole to take back to his village up the hill. White of coat and dark of mane, he wore a plain robe of white and blue over his lean and lanky frame.

She’d been observing him silently from the treeline, sniffing the air to sample his scent on the breeze. Having circled the village several times she’d counted how many mortals dwelled there in the lairs of wood and thatch compared to when she was in this region last, far more turnings of the moon ago than she considered worth bothering to count. Not that that was a very high number to begin with, and since she’d recognized some of the scents of those dwelling in the village she knew some of the Yon family from her last time here were still among living. But they didn’t interest her. There were new Yon’s to watch and play with, the way mortals tended to sprout more of their kind.

Nothing special about this particular kirin of the Yon family had stood out or drawn her attention. It was simple chance that he’d wandered away from the village to gather water not long after she’d arrived that made her decide to follow him first to play her games. Often that was what she did with the Yon’s, for unlike many mortals this family seemed to accept her presence and would play along with her games. As interesting as she found mortals it was aggravating to deal with most of them, but the Yon’s were an unusual exception that didn’t treat her as a threat. Perhaps that was why she kept coming back, generation after generation. She’d never done that with any other family of mortals.

Grinning to herself, she lay in wait as this young Yon filled his water buckets. She wasn’t fond of water, but as long as she didn’t get too close it wouldn't be a problem. Just when the kirin had his buckets full and had balanced them upon his back, starting to turn to trot up the path back to his village, that was when she sprang from hiding.

One bounding step and a leap took her soaring over the kirin’s head like a gray gust of wind, and her tails flowed behind her like a blanket of mist. She didn’t actually touch the kirin at all as she sailed over him and the stream both, but he’d seen the streaking gray something passing over his head and reacted like anyone would; with a great deal of sudden, yelping flailing which sent him spinning into the stream.

It wasn’t a deep stream, but it was deep enough that he flopped about with water up to his shoulders as she let out a giggle like wind chimes and vanished into the trees on the opposite shore of the stream. She wondered how many times she could get him to fall in the water before he gave up and returned to the village? Or perhaps he’d stomp around the forest looking for her? Hiding herself and preparing to spring out once more, she paused and blinked.

Where had the kirin gone? He suddenly wasn’t anywhere in sight. That was strange. Curious, she slowly exited the tree line, sniffing the air for where his scent might have gone. Her ears perked forward and her nine, glossy tails swished behind her as she looked around for the kirin stallion.

Suddenly the water of the stream rippled and before she could blink the kirin jumped up from the water with his hooves raised in a comical approximation of a supposedly frightening pose and bellowed out, “Bwahaha! Beware vengeful water spirits!”

Caught entirely off guard she went leaping up the nearest tree like a spooked cat. Any other situation she might have swiped at the object of such a sudden startling, but she hated getting wet so her instinct was to get distance. Hence the tree. Sitting up there perched on one of the lower branches, partially hidden by the leaves that still fell with autumn's swift arrival, she peered at the kirin as he stumbled out of the stream and looked up in her general direction. She was mostly hidden in the leaves, save her glittering blue eyes.

“Uh... hi there?” the kirin asked with a boyish mix of uncertainty and earnest curiosity. “Sorry if I startled you. I was just trying to prank the prankster. Who are you?”

She stayed silent for a moment, staring back at him with a slowly tilting head. “I am me.”

“That’s descriptive,” he said in a bemused tone, “Do you have a name?”

Right. Names. Mortals had an obsession with them. Everything had to have a name. She’d never had a mind to give herself one, but the Yon family had always used titles in the past that while not like normal names were as close as she knew to what one was. “Your family sometimes calls me Watcher in the Leaves. Or other things.”

This got the kirin to widen his eyes and he balanced his buckets of water across his back, then more closely approach the tree, craning his neck to try and get a better look at her. “That old story? Grandma used to tell me about how when she was a filly there was a fox spirit who watched over our family, helping us Yons even as she liked to play tricks on us for amusement. Is that really you?”

Gradually she poked her muzzle out from behind the leaves to gaze down at the kirin. “I watch. I play. I do what I please. If that makes me what I am, then that is what I am.”

“Well you certainly talk in circles like grandma’s stories say.” The kirin let out a warm, if confused chuckle as he rubbed his head. He then just shrugged with another chuckle and bowed his head to her in a gesture she recognized mortals used, but never really understood. Bowing seemed to signify anything from a mere greeting to a display of subservience. She might like the later, but she didn’t smell any submissiveness in the kirin, so she doubted that was what he was doing.

“I am called Cho Yon. Since Watcher in the Leaves is a bit of a mouthful how about I give you a name? Would that be alright?”

Her ears twitched and she impulsively leaped down from the tree, causing Cho Yon to quickly hop back from how close she suddenly was. She sniffed at him, licking her lips as she peered at him like he was some manner of oddity. In all the long time she’d toyed with mortals, even among the Yon family, none of them had ever suggested giving her a name. Mortals seemed to value their names greatly, so perhaps it would be interesting to have one.

“I will take this name.” she said with a hungry look of anticipation, “What is it, Cho Yon?”

He rubbed his chin, pondering. Then with a satisfied nod of his head he said, “Let’s keep it simple, but hopefully accurate. I’m going to call you-”

Destroyah watched as the illusionary scene went still, like someone had paused a movie. The image of Jeog and Cho Yon from what she could only imagine was many years ago stood utterly silent, the babbling brook frozen in mid burble. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were both looking around in bewilderment.

“Why did you stop, Jeog?” asked Diamond Tiara.

The real Jeog, who’d turned invisible during the illusionary replay of memory, shimmered into view. Her nine tails were dropped flat to the floor and her slim, sharp features were cast in pained shadows. “The rest of that day isn’t important. Only that I met Cho Yon. He was different from the other Yons. They all accepted me, but only he acted without any fear or reverence. He treated me like other mortals treat each other. I found it interesting, so I spent more time with him. I didn’t grow bored like I usually did.”

“But why stop just before this Cho Yon named you?” inquired Ditzy Doo insistently, leaning forward. One of her wings was dexterously holding a quill poised over a notebook where she’d been furiously scribbling. “We already know your name, do we not? It seems a strange thing to hide.”

Jeog’s body tensed, and Destroyah hardly needed to be an expert to read that the gumiho was highly agitated by Ditzy’s questioning.

“I do not hide anything! Jeog is my name now. The other name is no more, for Cho Yon is no more.”

That sent a slight chill across the room, the two fillies exchanging worried looks while Ditzy made an uneasy notation with her quill. Destroyah decided to quickly try to smooth things over. She was used to playing mediator, having plenty of experience being the diplomatic one among Xenilla’s often times ragtag band of protector kaiju back on Terra. Of course her diplomatic skills were helpfully backed up by her ability to administer appropriate doses of butt-kickings when necessary. Nothing like the looming threat of a micro-oxygen burst to the face to encourage others to listen to reason. In this case, however, she just wanted to calm Jeog down so this jaunt into the past could continue without getting derailed.

“It’s okay Jeog, if you don’t want to tell us about your other name that’s fine. Ditzy and the rest of us are just curious.”

“Well it isn’t mere curiosity,” Ditzy said with a self-conscious adjustment to her glasses, “It seems a pertinent detail if she’s trying to intentionally omit it from the story.”

Destroyah gave Ditzy a look. Ditzy coughed politely and glanced away, “Of course I can retract my question for a later time, when Jeog feels more comfortable discussing it. Ahem, please Jeog, continue.”

“Yes, I’m curious what happened next,” said Diamond Tiara, “What kind of family were the Yons? Were they all kirin? I’ve never met one before.”

Jeog appeared to settle down more with Diamond Tiara leading the questions, and her tails perked up slightly with a steady wag as her foxfire hovered in flickering motes over the backdrop of illusions, changing the scene like a bleeding watercolor painting.

“Kirin are just like other mortals. All different. All strange. Like you ponies, but not as often breaking out into random singing. The Yons were a tribe apart from other mortals. They lived near a large collection of dwellings, like this Ponyville place, but they were still separate. They lived in the forests near town, and only rarely went there. Except for Cho Yon...”

The pair of guards at the gate to the town waved with friendly, relaxed smiles to Cho Yon as he passed through. Behind him she followed with casual ease, cloaked entirely with illusion that all but rendered her invisible. Perhaps one of the guards may have seen a brief stirring in the air that he would have associated with a passing gust of wind, but that was it.

While the streets were relatively busy that morning it wasn’t hard for her to slip around passing kirin, having no difficulty keeping pace with Cho Yon. The town was far from the largest collection of mortal lairs she’d seen, but it was large enough that she started to get bored very quickly as Cho Yon winded his way through the streets, eventually reaching an open market district where numerous storefronts were open.

She amused herself by snatching up any shiny or interesting object she spotted among the merchant wares, easily keeping her actions from view with a little illusioncraft. She acquired and discarded various trinkets, keeping half an eye on Cho Yon as he spoke with one of the merchants. She wasn’t paying much attention, most of her mind focused on finding ways to keep herself from getting bored. Spotting a particularly colorful garment hanging from the next door store’s front racks, she silently padded over there and slipped the dress off the hook. The fabric was soft, and consisted of numerous bright, warm color tones. It was perfect for shredding to make something comfortable to sleep on.

She was about to grab several more similar garments, when a crash behind her riveted her attention back towards Cho Yon. The kirin stallion was laying on the ground in front of a massive and beefy muscled creature that had apparently bumped into Cho Yon while he’d been talking with the merchant across the way. She didn’t recognize the minotaur for what it was, she only saw a tall, bipedal bovine creature wearing a loose cloth bandoleer and carrying a huge gourd in one meaty fist from which he took a huge swig of alcohol.

“Hhheeeey, ya need ta watch where you stand little guy,” the minotaur said in a deep, drunken slur, jabbing a finger towards Cho Yon, or rather about half a pace to the left of Cho Yon. “It's impolite ta be standin’ where I can trip over ya.”

Cho Yon, calmly standing up and brushing himself off bowed his head apologetically and said, “I’m sorry sir, I didn't mean to be an obstacle. Perhaps you’ve had a bit too much to drink, if you’re finding yourself stumbling into folk so readily?”

The minotaur’s irritated confusion turned swiftly to drink enhanced anger, “Ya take that back! I’m not too drunk. I’m exactly as drunk as I want ta be! Its yous standin’ in the road all swirly and four of ya's that’s the problem.”

While this exchanged was happening she had quietly but swiftly started to edge around behind the minotaur. She’d seen what that sharp smelling drink did to mortal minds. It made them dumber than they usually already were, and a lot more aggressive. Normally she’d have her fun with a drunk like this, but with Cho Yon present she didn’t like the idea of the small kirin getting squashed. She wasn’t done playing with him yet herself, after all. She extended her claws, eagerly grinding them into the ground as she pawed around behind the minotaur, still completely invisible. All anyone would hear or see would be a quick scream, some blood, but none would know it was her...

“I think it's probably for the best if you sit down for a moment, sir,” said Cho Yon, moving suddenly closer to the minotaur before she could act. She cocked her head at him as Cho Yon shifted his legs into an unusual stance.

“Sit this down!” the minotaur said, taking a drunken swing.

She moved to stop it, claws ready to swipe, but she blinked as the whole minotaur went stumbling suddenly to the side, tripping over himself, it seemed, and crashing to the ground with a hefty thud. Cho Yon was revealed standing where the minotaur had been, still standing in that unusual looking stance with his weight mostly transferred to his hind legs and his fore legs cocked in a position almost like a bird with spread wings.

“Uhhh, wut?” the minotaur mumbled, his drunken daze hefty as he teetered upward. Blurred, but still angry eyes locked on Cho Yon and the miniature mountain of muscle barreled towards him.

Once again before she could act to intervene Cho Yon seemed apt to defend himself, yet not by striking the minotaur. Instead it was almost like Cho Yon gently assisted the minotaur to sit down, only he did so by pivoting on his hind legs just enough to move out of the brunt of the charging bull, and with a sweep of his forelegs appeared easily flip the minotaur from a headlong charge into a stiff but ultimately non-bonebreaking slam to the ground that knocked the breath from the minotaur's lungs.

Cho Yon, clearing his throat, said, “Please, sir, you should rest. You really must sleep off all that drink.”

“Mmmmfffzzzzzz...” the minotaur mumbled something incoherent for a moment, tried to lift the gourd of alcohol to his lips, then simply passed out into snoozing right there in the street.

The merchant kirin that Cho Yon had been speaking to gave the sleeping minotaur a faintly disgusted look before giving Cho Yon a grateful bow. “I see the Yon family’s technique is as sharp as ever. The whole town may well thank you for hopefully knocking some sense into this loud and unpleasant outlander.”

“I sincerely hope his head clears by the time he wakes.” Cho Yon said, returning the merchant’s bow. “Now, about those construction materials?”

“I can have them delivered to the temple by next morning, and just for giving me such an enjoyable show I’ll go ahead and slice ten percent from the price,” the merchant replied, and with that Cho Yon’s business appeared to be concluded and he started to make his way back towards the town gates.

It wasn’t until he was out of town and easily more than halfway to the forest covered hills nearby that she dropped the illusion cloaking her form and hopped ahead of Cho Yon.

“I was bored until the large horned thing showed up. You took it down too fast, Cho Yon, I was going to help!”

He slowed his pace slightly, rubbing the back of his head in what she knew to be a gesture of embarrassment from him. “I just hope I didn’t hurt the poor fellow. That was the first minotaur I’ve ever seen. I heard they were large, but-” he paused, cocking his head as he looked her over. “Where did you get that dress?”

“I found it.”

Why did mortals always smack their hooves to their faces like that? Didn’t it hurt? Cho Yon dragged the hoof down his muzzle and sighed heavily. “Remind me to instruct you on the finer points of personal property sometime. I don’t suppose I can convince you to return it to where you ‘found’ it?”

She frowned, claws sinking into the dress as she clutched it tight. “Its mine.”

“According to the law its the shopkeeper's, and you ought to return it.”

She snorted. “If the law wants me to return it the law can come take it, but since I don’t see or smell any ‘law’ it must not exist. Therefore the dress is mine.”

“And to think my family considers you a guardian spirit. I don’t think guardian spirits are supposed to have kleptomania,” Cho Yon said with a heavy sigh, although she noticed he had a strange smile on his face as he said it. “I’ll just have to donate an appropriate amount of money to the shopkeeper to compensate for the dress. I swear, I will figure out a way to teach you conscience someday.”

She had no idea what that was, but maybe it was edible? A lot of what Cho Yon said didn’t make sense, but that was part of what made him so amusing. Bundling the dress up and curling one of her nine tails around the bundle, she walked alongside Cho Yon to the edge of the forest. She rarely followed him all the way back to the small village nestled in the forest, or to the old temple hidden even further up the hills. Today, however, she was curious.

Idily batting her paws at passing crickets, she asked, “What was that power you used on the big horned thing?”

“Minotaur,” he corrected, “And it wasn’t a power. It was just my family’s martial arts, the Way of the Open Heart. I’m not even particularly good at it.”

She wrinkled her nose, sounding out the odd combination of words. “Way of the Open Heart? You didn’t open up the horned thing’s heart at all. It’s chest was entirely intact. Where’s it’s heart?”

“And again I get reminded how easily you misinterpret things,” he said with chuckle, to which she gave him an uncomprehending look. Cho Yon stopped his walk and held out his hoof as if holding something, although she couldn’t see anything in his hoof. “I’m not talking about a muscle pumping blood in the chest. I’m talking about something you can’t see. Something that only exists here, between people.”

She sniffed at his empty hoof, giving him a suspicious look. “I don’t smell anything. Is this another strange mortal head trick? Like those silly ‘laws’ that say I can’t take things I want?”

“Not everything that exists is something you can see or smell. Some things you just have to feel,” Cho Yon said, and she just tilted her head at him in bafflement.

“How can I feel a heart?”

To that Cho Yon gained a contemplative look on his face, “I’ve been asking myself that all year since I met you. Hmm, perhaps... yes, maybe... do you want me to teach you the Way of the Open Heart? I don’t know how good a teacher I’ll be, but I can show you what I know.”

“Will be be boring?” she asked, making a face. One thing she couldn’t stand was if something was boring. Still, she thought of how easily Cho Yon, so plain and small, had easily handled the giant horned ‘minotaur’ thing and thought perhaps it might be fun to learn.

“I hope not, but only one way to find out. I need to do some work at the temple today, so how about we meet at the clearing on the hill this evening?”

The spot he was talking about was a place he went to often, she’d noticed. A field of tall grass atop the hill the Yon family’s ancient temple was built upon. She didn’t mind meeting him there, as it was far from prying eyes. Still, she eyed him curiously as they resumed their walk back to the forest. “You keep spending time in that temple. Why? Your family doesn’t lair there anymore.”

Cho Yon gave a solemn nod. “True, we haven’t used the temple as our home in several generations. Not since the family grew too large for it. But I want to renovate the temple to make it larger and restore its old glory.”

“Why? Your current village lairs are enough, aren’t they?”

“Its not simply about having a roof over our heads. It's about the town,” Cho Yon said, glancing over his shoulder at the now distant collection of buildings behind its short walls. “My family barely goes there anymore. We’ve become reclusive. Just a bunch of monks and shamans living in the forest. But once we had travelers coming to our temple from far and wide, and the townsfolk visited all the time. I want to restore the temple so my family and this town become... connected again.”

“I don’t understand why that’s important,” she admitted with a frown.

“I know. Maybe once you understand the Way of the Open Heart more, then you’ll understand why it matters so much to me,” he said, and while she had her doubts, she didn’t question him. Whatever he was trying to teach her, at least she didn’t feel bored around him. Maybe, after so many long and countless passings of the seasons, she’d found a mortal who’d help her understand what made them so strangely fascinating.

“You wanted to understand mortals better? That’s why you spent so much time around the Yon family?” Ditzy Doo asked, scribbling down in her notebook.

“Mortals don’t make sense to me, but I kept finding myself drawn to them. Then, and now,” Jeog said, giving Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon a meaningful look. “Even after what happened to Cho Yon, I couldn’t stop myself forever. Too much boredom. When these two wandered close, in danger, I revealed myself to them.”

“Saved them from Timberwolves,” Destroyah said with an approving nod, “Gives us something in common. Whether you did it to relieve boredom or not I don’t much care, I’m grateful you protected these fillies.”

“Grateful...” Jeog said the word as if it tasted strange on her tongue. Her fox-like features looked at Destroyah unscruitibly. “I think you would not say that word if you knew the danger of the Hunter. A part of me still thinks I should go, but for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon I stay.”

“And I really appreciate you’re willing to trust us,” said Diamond Tiara, “We just need to understand, is all. Everything that happened, and why this Hunter is after you.”

“True,” said Ditzy Doo, glancing out the window, where the daylight was growing dimmer. “But we’ve been here for some time already. I think it’s best we take a break for today and get back to this in the morning. Destroyah, if you’d be so kind as to escort Miss Jeog back to her domicile, I will begin compiling my notes so we can go over them upon your return.”

“Guess we have been chewing the scenery for awhile,” Destroyah said, rising from where she sat and stretching, “Not that the HD, full surround sound trip into Memoryville hasn’t been interesting so far, but yeah, I think we all need to recharge while me and Ditzy bump brains on a few things. Jeog, you got any objections to getting back to your story tomorrow?”

The fox gave her a rather reserved look, allowing the illusions she’d constructed to fade away like melting oil paintings. “No, I don’t.”

Diamond Tiara raised a hoof, “Could I, um, maybe come with you to Jeog’s home? Just to talk a bit more?”

Destroyah took a deep breath, putting an understanding look on her face but also keeping a certain firmness to her tone. “You’re still grounded by your parents, Diamond Tiara. I don’t think they’d appreciate me going over their heads on that. It’s best that you and Silver Spoon go home for today, but I’ll come by and have a talk with your parents in the morning and I think they’ll agree to letting you continue to help us here.”

“O-okay...” Diamond Tiara said, ears drooping, but Silver Spoon gave her an encouraging bump on the shoulder with a hoof.

“We’ll see her tomorrow, DT.”

Diamond Tiara gave a shallow nod, and it was clear the filly was still very apprehensive about the whole situation. Diamond looked at Jeog and Destroyah could see the worry there. She wished she could give the kid some more assurances, but it was still too early to tell exactly how this was all going to pan out and she had a strict rule about not blowing sunshine up anyone’s tail no matter how much she wanted to wrap them up in a big comforting hug and tell the it was all going to be okay. So instead she did her best project a relaxing presence for the two fillies as she led them and Jeog out towards the door while Ditzy Doo started going over her notes.

Jeog paused at the door, a flicker of her azure foxfire flowing over her. Destroyah saw the fox’s form begin to change into that of a filly, but she held out a hoof and said, “Don’t bother, Jeog. Its best to let the townsfolk see you.”

The way Jeog looked at her Destroyah might as well have suggested walking down the street naked, were they human. The gumiho curled into herself, her tails coiling around her and her eyes going frightfully wide. “It's not good if they see me.”

Diamond Tiara was quick to say, “Um, Lady Destroyah, with everypony being on edge about her maybe it’d be better to let Jeog have her disguise?”

“Actually I thinks Lady Destroyah is right,” said Silver Spoon in a calm, measured tone. She turned a questioning glance to Destroyah, “You want everypony to get used to her, the same way they got used to you.”

Destroyah remembered well, with a certain fondness and embarrassment, her own first few days in Ponyville. Unlike Jeog she’d had no way to hide her unusual appearance, and while the arrival in Equestria had changed her from her true kaiju form into something more equine, she’d certainly stood out to the townsfolk. It had taken some getting used to, being on normal folk’s level and getting gawked at so directly, but she’d found the ponies of Ponyville had had adjusted to her remarkably fast.

“That’s right Silver Spoon. The more they see Jeog’s true form the faster they’ll get used to her. It’ll go a long way to easing everypony’s tension and getting them to see her as normal. Or at least as normal as it gets around here,” she said with a short smirk. Looking at Jeog she let her tone soften, “Trust me. They might stare, but they’ll get used to you quick if you don’t try to hide.”

Jeog seemed hesitant, but then Diamond Tiara patted one of her tails and said, “You can trust Lady Destroyah. She’s a friend.”

Contact with the filly seemed to drain out Jeog’s unease and she uncoiled, wrinkling her nose and swishing her tails. “Okay, let’s go.”

Outside there was still plenty of daylight, but it was turning into that faded, deep blue wash of evening light as the sun went lower and lower towards the horizon. This was actually Destroyah’s favorite time of day, when everything was winding down. That nice, slow transition from a busy day to a quiet evening had a certain appeal to her, mostly because she rarely got to take breaks herself.

As expected there were already a number of ponies out and about, either trotting home from their places of work, or heading out to one of Ponyville’s two or three drinking establishments or more numerous restaurants. They got plenty of stares as they walked down the streets, and Destroyah could practically bounce her wings and achieve lift off from the nervousness radiating off Jeog. The gumiho walked with her tails dragging and her ears flat, eyes darting around at each pony who openly gawked at her passing. Couples whispered, and a few parents ushered curious foals back indoors. Destroyah wanted to sigh, but she’d figured it’d be like this for the first time, but she imagined after a few more days this would fade.

“I don’t like this. It's so much easier to just be invisible or change into something that blends in,” Jeog muttered.

“Keep it steady girl. They’ve never seen anything like you, but they hadn’t seen anything like me either and once they saw I wasn’t a threat, the starring stopped,” Destroyah said.

Before long they reached the point where Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had to go their separate ways home. Diamond didn’t hesitate to give Jeog a through hug, which seemed to confuse the gumiho more than anything else, as if she didn’t know how to respond to a tiny filly clinging to her.

“See you tomorrow,” Diamond Tiara said.

Jeog nodded awkwardly, “See you tomorrow.”

After the two fillies had departed and Destroyah and Jeog resumed their walk. Destroyah was letting Jeog lead now, even though from both Diamond Tiara and Ditzy Doo she knew more or less where the gumiho’s cabin lair was. She just figured Jeog would be more comfortable taking the lead now that they were out of town, and she did notice just how quickly the unusual fox seemed to grow more and more naturally at ease the further they got from mortal civilization... even through Whitetail Woods was hardly wild.

“I’m kind of surprised you chose Whitetail to set up home, rather than the Everfree,” Destroyah said, “I would have thought the more wild and isolated forest would be a better spot if you were looking to hide.”

Jeog didn’t respond immediately, silently padding along through the underbrush and moving with smooth and sinuous motions now, like she belonged in the forest. All of her rigid and stiff motions while being stared at were gone now and Jeog seemed as light as mist, transparently slipping between bushes with predatory ease. Destroyah wasn’t sure whether to be impressed, or reminded that this creature might still prove to be too dangerous to be allowed near the ponies of Equestria.

“You’re right,” Jeog said eventually. “It would have been smarter to stay in the darker, big forest. I would have belonged there more. I wanted to be closer to the mortals, and the lair I found in this thinner forest was nice.”

“Did you go into town before meeting the kids?” Destroyah asked.

“I did. Hidden, unseen. I didn’t have...” Jeog paused, licking her lips and grimacing in frustrated thought, “Reason to reveal myself until the wood dogs attacked Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.”

Destroyah didn’t miss a beat, “Why’d you do it? Helping them would have put you at risk, if staying hidden was your goal. So why take the risk?”

Destroyah kept her tone neutral, hiding the fact that obviously she approved of what Jeog had done. Yet this question felt like it was at the crux of why she was here, assessing Jeog. Even a wild animal can, through sheer accident of instinct, do something ‘good’ for another. And some animals could be incredibly intelligent, even show emotions like sapient people while still being fundamentally creatures of instinct. So the question was if Jeog was just a very smart, articulate animal, but still too controlled by her instincts to be fully trusted around normal people... or could she understand and be taught the importance of moral choices?

Had she saved Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon because it was the right thing to do, or because some instinct detached from morality had driven her to it?

Jeog let out a confused growl, reminding Destroyah almost of how Xenilla sounded sometimes when he was vexed by a particularly frustrating puzzle or problem.

“I did what I wanted to do. That’s...” another vexed growl. “That’s all I do. I wanted to save them so I did. Why does that not make sense to mortals? You, Cho Yon, Diamond Tiara, always asking me why and showing me things that never make sense!”

The frustration was there in her voice, clear as a brush fire, but underneath it were the embers of doubt, pain, and something like longing. She sounded to Destroyah like someone desperately trying to grasp at something abstract. Destroyah could relate. She’d been raised by humans, while being about as far from human as one could get. Grappling with trying to learn so many things that didn’t seem to fit who and what you are, it was the kind of frustration that not many might understand. Jeog’s species, whatever their purpose or origin was, clearly shared little with mortal kind. Yet Jeog seemed drawn to mortals, despite that massive gap in how she viewed the world from the way other creatures did.

Destroyah could see how a cognitive dissonance might form from that, and it seemed a miracle Jeog hadn’t been driven outright insane by it at this point. As it was, she might not be far off from it. Was there a chance to reign her back in? Bridge the gap?

“Believe it or not, I understand how you feel,” Destroyah said, “I grew up among people who didn’t look anything like me, and had to learn how to be a ‘person’ myself from scratch. I mean, it's not like my adopted family had a manual on how to raise something that looked like a cross between an H.R Giger painting and a dish served up at Red Lobster. Took Azumi months to teach me I shouldn’t dissolve the walls with micro-oxygen bursts every time I wanted a snack. I don’t know how my family survived until I learned object permanence and that trying to eat the local cat population was wrong. Mrs. Yamane never got over that cat, either, no matter how many times I said I was sorry later on.”

Jeog was looking at her with a stare so confounded Destroyah may as well have started a lecture on string theory and gotten the same expression.

“Why did this ‘family’ raise you if you were nothing like them? Why did you stay if you did not belong?” Jeog asked plainly, slowing her pace somewhat, ears perked towards Destroyah in equal parts bafflement and curiosity.

How to even begin to explain? Destroyah was not born like any other being. She’d evolved rapidly from a combination of a precambrian era crustacean-like creature and the power of Dr. Serizawa’s Oxygen Destroyer. It was a technology nearly identical to what was discovered by a young scientist named Kensaku Injuin. Dr. Injuin’s “micro-oxygen” was a near mirror image to the Oxygen Destroyer that mutated the microscopic lifeform that Destroyah started out as, and she’d started to grow in size in an aquarium in downtown Tokyo at the Telecom Center. A nighttime security guard had found her munching on the local fish, and because he’d been married to a biologist he’d managed to coax the small, juvenile Destroyah into a cat carrier and take her home with him. Needless to say the guard’s wife was shocked to have a such a unique specimen brought home, but a scientist to the core she leaped at the chance to study Destroyah without government interference. It helped that Destroyah quickly bonded with the family’s daughter, Azumi.

It was a strange beginning to an even stranger life, where Destroyah knew nothing of what, or who, she was, and had to figure out the world one step at a time.

Destroyah remembered distinctly being filled with as much curiosity about the strange creatures around her, these ‘humans’, as they were curious about her. Those early years had involved a lot of learning on both her part and her family’s. She’d had to learn from square one the complexities of social interaction and the emotions that came with it, and not all of it had been smooth. In fact very little of it had been smooth, yet even during her worst... tantrums, her family had never given up on teaching her, especially Azumi.

One of Destroyah’s most vivid early memories was when she’d been following Azumi to school, keeping hidden, when a group of bullies had accosted the young girl. Enraged, Destroyah had attacked to protect her family, but before Destroyah could injure anyone Azumi had thrown herself between Destroyah and the now terrified bullies. It had been a painful learning experience in when not to go too far, when instinct had to be controlled. Still, Azumi had made the decision then that Destroyah had to grow up away for humans, and had insisted on ‘releasing’ Destroyah into Tokyo Bay. It wasn’t a pleasant thing to remember, but Destroyah understood why Azumi had done it.

For months after Destroyah survived in the bay, raiding fisheries along the docks and food stands near the beach areas to get food. It was around then, after a few scuffles with the police that in Destroyah’s juvenile mind at the time she viewed as “games”, that Dr. Injuin learned of her existence and contacted G-Force. He became attached to the team send to contain, capture, study, and if need be destroy her. There had been some close calls with G-Force’s more specialized forces, but during those scuffles Dr. Injuin had realized just how intelligent, and ultimately non-aggressive Destroyah really was. Probably helped that her family came forward about having raised her at that point, and G-Force along with Dr. Injuin agreed to leave her be as long as Destroyah allowed them to study her in her “natural” environment in the bay.

She’d enjoyed those times, before everything got crazy with Godzilla. Dr. Injuin had been more interested in studying her for raw science than necessarily caring about her the way her family did, but he wasn’t a cruel man, and after the incident where Godzilla attacked Tokyo and Destroyah evolved to her full, adult form to battle him, it was Dr. Injuin who gave her her name. Dr. Injuin had seen her to be something more than what the sensationalist news had later named her. Not a indiscriminate “Destroyer”, but a protector, one who only “Destroyed” the things that threatened the world and the sanctity of life. Just as Dr. Serizawa’s original Oxygen Destroyer had been used to protect the world from the first Godzilla, so would this new “Destroyah” be a force that could protect it from the current one. Serizawa’s Legacy.

It was a role she took to eagerly and seriously, but she would never have been able to if she hadn’t had people to teach her what the differences between right and wrong were. If she’d just been let loose into the world with no guide, no teacher, just her instincts to follow... who knows how she might have turned out?

“It might be hard to understand, but while my family might have taken me in out of curiosity at first, the reason they kept me around even when I became a pain in the ass was because they cared about me. Not like a pet science project, but as part of the family. And I stuck around not just because I was curious about the people trying to raise me, but because I just didn’t want to not be around them anymore. I didn’t want to be alone.”

“Alone...” Jeog said the word with a cold shudder, “That is a word I understand. Going to Diamond Tiara, following her... I didn’t want to be alone either. Even knowing it was foolish and dangerous. It was the same with Cho Yon. I was so tired of being alone. Which is strange. I’ve always been alone, since the earliest moons I can remember. It felt right, back then. It was only after I started being around mortals that being alone stopped feeling right and instead started to... hurt.”

“That’s kinda part of what caring is, Jeog. The other part is knowing not to hurt those you’re around.”

“Like Diamond Tiara?”

“Like anyone!” Destroyah said, perhaps a bit forcefully. “Don’t get me wrong, sometimes you have to put the smack down on someone to protect others, but the whole point of being around other people is so you don’t have to hurt anyone and make their lives suck a little less each day. In return, you find your own life gets better.”

Jeog made a sniffing sound, still looking like she was trying to mentally chew on concrete and not having much luck. The forest ahead cleared a bit and a short, one story log cabin appeared before them. Jeog went up to the door, pawing it open to enter the dark interior. Inside she turned around and peered back out at Destroyah, blue eyes unblinking.

“Your words are like Cho Yon’s were. Strange, without scent or touch, but I can hear them and they feel like a light just out of view, but no matter how I turn my head I can’t see it. But... I want to.”

Destroyah managed a sighing smile, shaking her head, “That’s better than nothing. We’ll keep at it tomorrow. I want to know how things ended between you and Cho Yon.”

“I am not so certain you will like what you learn,” Jeog said, lowering her head to stare at the ground. After a moment she said, “You say that one should try to make the lives of those they care for better, yes?”

“I’d say that’s one of the basics of being a good person, yeah,” Destroyah said. Jeog just kept staring at the ground, clearly in deep thought.

“I see. Diamond Tiara has troubles with what mortals call ‘money’.”

When had that cropped up during the filly’s time with Jeog, Destroyah wondered? It was unfortunate that Diamond Tiara’s family were a bit on the struggling side of things, but honestly the economy of Equestria was so strong that their situation wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. Destroyah wanted to help the filly too, but had learned that Diamond Tiara wanted to fix her family’s financial issues herself, and without any handouts. Given how bright Diamond Tiara was, Destroyah didn’t doubt that once she got through higher education and into running a business that the money problems would rapidly evaporate. Still, that was a number of years off from now.

“That’s not really the kind of problem you can just fix for someone, other than being supportive. Diamond Tiara’s already doing all a filly her age can to turn things around for her family, and its not like you can just drop a bunch of money on her to solve it.”

Jeog just blinked. “Why would I drop money on her?”

“Exactly. Glad we’re on the same page. Anyway, see you at the library. First thing in the morning.” Destroyah said, waving once with one of her massive wings, and turning to trot away. As she headed off through the forest, she didn’t hear what Jeog said next in a confused and wondering tone...

“I’m just going to give all the money I’ve found to her. That makes so much more sense than dropping it on her. I swear, these morals are so strange sometimes.”

Hoof traffic became more frequent on the roads as they drew nearer to the heart of Equestria. Ponies pulling wagons of goods, or traveling in small groups, or even alone would become more common to see as Ki Seong and Battra, still quite disguised as unicorn mare, traversed the countryside. They passed a number of small towns and villages along the way, most remaining modest in size when compared to cities like Manehattan or Fillydelphia. It somewhat surprised Ki Seong how rural the heart of such a prosperous nation seemed, when stacked against the clearly modern cities that dominated the coastline.

She and her companion drew little attention. Ponies were a friendly and trusting sort, and the worst of the travels wasn’t anything like suspicious stares or having to answer questions to guards, but rather enduring the endless amiable attitudes of practically every pony they passed by. Ki Seong had to fend off more friendly conversations than ever had to in her life, and it only soured her mood every time she had to sternly made it clear she wasn’t interested in talking to anypony who happened to be sharing the road with her.

This included Battra, but the insufferable kaiju in pony guise was singularly adept at not only ignoring Ki Seong’s attempts to avoid conversation, but seemed to derive perverse pleasure in continuing to pick upon her.

“Dusk draws near, it’s time to rest.” Battra declared as the sun started to wane below the horizon. Ki Seong turned annoyed eyes towards her companion.

“I am far from tired, and I know you must have reserves of endurance as well. We continue.”

“Hmm, no, I think I’m hungry and that we’ve crossed more than enough ground for one day. We rest. Unless of course you think you can track your Jeog without my help now?” Battra’s voice held a tone of acidic honey as she fluttered her eyes innocently at Ki Seong. She then proceeded to trot off the trail and over a thick copse of trees with low hanging branches that sat a few dozen yards off the road. Ki Seong growled out a sigh and followed.

Underneath the trees’ boughs there was a firm, dry patch of ground where Battra, with a conjuring of magic, easily shuffled together some kindling and broken branches, which then were ignited into a bright and warm campfire. Ki Seong noted that Battra looked upon the flames as they ate up the wood with a kind of hungry, loving gleam in her eyes that made Ki Seong feel cold inside.

As both mares settled down Ki Seong mechanically went about removing her crossbow and started oiling its more complex moving parts. Battra watched her, settling down on the other side of the fire. Ki Seong did her best to ignore the kaiju’s staring eyes, focused entirely on her weapon maintenance. Inevitably, however, Battra broke the silence.

“You must be, what, in your mid or late twenties now? Yet I suspect you were much younger when this journey of vengeance began. It's quite a long time to dedicate oneself to killing one particular creature. And not once did you ever consider giving up. That’s a special kind of hate.”

“Why do you insist on badgering me? Analyzing me? My motivations should mean nothing to you,” Ki Seong responded bitterly, knowing she wasn’t going to get to pass a quiet night.

“Oh, but how can they not?” Battra smiled, her unicorn form showing fangs, and for a moment a hint of her more monstrous form flickering across her features. “What I became when I was pulled into this strange new realm is what some call a Changeling Queen. Interestingly, this species can taste emotions like others taste food. I’ve become something of a connoisseur in my short time in Equestria, and I do so enjoy finding new flavors. Yours in particular is one of the most intense, dark, and utterly delicious hatreds I’ve tasted yet. Why I dare say it reminds me of one of my... compatriots. His hatred drew me to him as well. Yours is different, but no less potent. You can hardly blame me for being curious how such a hatred came to be.”

“The more I learn about you, the more I question this alliance,” Ki Seong snorted, finishing work on her crossbow and moving on to her other weapon. She removed the wooden token that hung from her neck. For a moment she looked at it’s simple wood surface, engraved with such plain letters. She ran a hoof over it, then with a sigh she touched the token with her magic.

A faint fog emerged from the token and rapidly took shape as the magical seal opened and disgorged Ki Seong’s true and dearest weapon.

The spear was of the 'woldo' style, short in shaft, no longer than Ki Seong’s own body, but bearing a broad and curved blade with twin teeth rising from the back. The etching of a dragon’s head could be seen reflected by the firelight on the blade’s smooth iron surface. Ki Seong set the talisman down and gently cradled the spear in her magic, removing an oil rag to polish the blade’s surface.

Battra looked on curiously. “An interesting piece of magic. I sense the magic of the talisman isn’t yours, however. Someone else enchanted that object to hold the spear. Hmm, I wonder who?”

Ki Seong’s eyes flickered towards Battra with a flash of anger, but she then resumed focus on polishing the blade of the spear. Battra chuckled dryly.

“From the way you looked upon it I can take a guess. I can’t read the writing, of course, but why do I feel as if it contains some message of affection? ‘Take care, my love’, or ‘Forever yours’, something to that effect?”

Abruptly the spear was thrust across the flames of the campfire and its blade stopped a scant inch from Battra’s face. She show little concern for it, other than to smile at Ki Seong across the iron edge’s length as the kirin glared at her. The flames of the fire didn’t so much as heat the spear’s shaft, a faint glow of magic besides Ki Seong’s own gleaming slightly off its surface.

“You. Know. Nothing.” Ki Seong spat.

“I don’t? Yet it was him, was it not? Cho Yon was the one who gave you that talisman, if not the spear. It seems he cared for you deeply.” Battra raised a hoof and while it seemed a gentle motion, a monstrous strength pushed the spear away from her face. “One must wonder how this gumiho became so close to him for it to be able to kill him, with you also around, ever vigilant.”

Ki Seong surged to her hooves. Like writhing snakes of shadow strands of her mane flowed around her head, poised to strike. Her eyes grew red with rage, and it took every ounce of self discipline she had not to leap across the campfire and attack Battra right then and there. Instead her voice was a almost unnaturally distorted growl as she shouted, “It wasn’t my fault!”

Her breathing was ragged, and her mind bubbled with flashes of memory that she wanted to batter away like motes of fire. Fire like the flames that had consumed the Yon family temple. Her hooves shook as she remembered the heat of that fire, harsh and choking the air with smoke. She remembered all of the anger and hurt she’d felt, discovering Cho Yon with that... thing.

“I couldn’t protect him, from either Jeog, or himself,” she said, as if to herself, practically forgetting that Battra was there. Her magic shook, the spear hovering in an unsteady pattern near her. Her eyes trailed to the talisman on the ground, the simple piece of carved wood, which she carefully picked up. Looking at it calmed her, gave her focus.

“It was all a mistake. He was under that creature's spell, that’s all. It wasn’t his fault, or mine. It was hers. It. That monstrous thing. It ruined everything. Brought him to ruin, and me as well... heh... but she couldn’t kill me and fled. But there’s nowhere in the world she can flee to I won’t find her. I’ll correct the mistakes. I’ll make it right. When the gumiho dies, everything will be right again...”

With something almost akin to desperate reverence she ran a hoof over the talisman, and the same faint mist from before emerged and coiled around the spear, both spear and fog vanishing into the talisman within seconds. Ki Seong then slipped the wooden ornament carefully over her head once more. Her eyes slide back up to Battra with sharp focus.

“That is all you ever need to know.”

Ki Seong then sat down and proceeded to stare into the campfire, and Battra may as well have ceased to exist for all the attention the kirin paid to her after that point. As for Battra herself, she continued to observe Ki Seong with a faint glimmer of satisfaction in her eyes. During that outburst of emotion Ki Seong had forgotten just how easily Battra could read surface thoughts, and the kaiju had gleaned much from that brief exchange.

Not everything had been clear, but Battra had seen enough to put most of what she hadn’t seen together, regardless.

She wondered just how much of it Ki Seong herself believed was true, and how much was the ever shaky filter one sees the past through?

For Ki Seong, the memories felt clear as glass, and sharp as the broken edge of a mirror. While Battra watched her, Ki Seong’s mind delved backwards, remembering...

She had always performed her duties with respective diligence and pursued training with heartfelt determination, but over the past few weeks many within the Seong family compound noticed a slow but distinct change in their prodigal daughter. Ki Seong woke up at the same time each day, an hour before dawn, taking to her chores and training regimen with an almost glowing passion. She smiled more, laughed louder, and her mother took note that on more than one occasion Ki Seong would take more time to brush her mane and tail than usual, until the black strands were smoother than silk.

Of course most could guess what this meant; that the courtship with Cho Yon was going well. The marriage was to be at the cusp of summer, and it was now mid-spring. As if Ki Seong’s mood was contagious the usual serious air of the Seong compound grew lighter and even some of the more dour members of the family of monster hunters couldn’t help but crack smiles themselves, seeing the happiness that Ki Seong would radiate through the quiet halls.

That morning the sun had barely been up an hour but she’d already finished laundry, carrying water from the stream, and performing basic weapon maintenance in the armory. She was out in the main training yard, going through the motions of her spearwork. Body, magic, and spear all moved as one, her swept back horns gleaming with a magical aura that also coated the broad bladed spear that floated at her side. The Iron Flower style was one of perpetual motion. The warrior never stopped moving either their body or their weapon, combining devastating hoof strikes with an ever spinning blade and spear shaft. It was an aggressive style, one her mother had taught Ki Seong well. Whether against one opponent or many, the Iron Flower was a flurry of strikes, a relentless rain of punishment that few could defend against. If it had a weakness it was only that the form relied on that aggression to carry the warrior through to defeating her opponents, since it lacked a meaningful defensive technique. But who needed defense if you left no opponent standing long enough to attack you?

She was thoroughly sweat soaked and panting by the time the sun climbed another hour’s length into the lightening morning sky, but felt little of the fatigue. A dozen training dummies were left cleaved around her and her muscles had a nice, enjoyable burn in them as her heart pumped loudly in her chest. She’d just like to see a Yokai try to best her style! Now if only there was something to hunt. The last time the family had dispatched hunters had been the previous year. She’d been part of that hunt, tracking down a dreaded mountain spider. Her father may have struck the killing blow, but she’d set it up by severing the beast’s legs out from under it. Terrifying and thrilling both at the same time. She loved what she did, and if there was one concern she had with this arranged marriage it was that she worried she might not be sent on any hunts for a time, if she was stuck at home with a foal on the way...

Granted that was a matter for later, after the bond of husband and wife was sealed in the marriage bed, but it was a worry that nagged at her. However she couldn’t find it in her to mind even that worry. Cho Yon had thus far shown himself to be a good man, who seemed to care for her beyond the simple matter of doing his duty to family. He talked to her freely and with an ease that she found relaxing. She appreciated his quick wit and inquisitive manner, and it didn’t hurt that he wasn’t too hard on the eyes and far more fit than his appearance might suggest.

But perhaps most of all she just enjoyed his company and felt at peace with him around. She had no idea if that was love or not, but if it wasn’t, well many an arranged marriage happened without love but in time grew into it. So while she couldn’t say with certainty that she loved Cho Yon, she certainly believed she could grow to do so, and in a fittingly short time. All in all, things could be far worse.

“Good morning, Ki Seong.”

Cho Yon was standing on the open hallway that ran alongside the training yard, smiling at her. She hadn’t even heard him come out through the doorway into the house’s main interior. Either too focused on her training or too busy daydreaming. She shook a briefly bewildered expression off and smiled back at him.

“Good morning to you too, Cho Yon. I’m sorry you have to see me in such a disheveled state. I usually train until mid-morning,” she said, blushing with a brief gleam of red as she looked at her dusty, sweat covered state, with her mane and tail wild from her vigorous training session. She’d always ensured to see Cho Yon only after a through bath and some time spent sorting her mane and tail out, and now he was seeing her at probably her most disarray state.

Yet Cho Yon’s smile only deepened as he stepped out onto the training grounds, quickly trotting up to her. She noticed he had a small box wrapped up in green cloth printed with white lillies balanced on his back.

“I probably should have announced myself, but I wanted to see you train,” he said, gesturing around at the grounds with its broken training dummies, “This is a part of your life, and worth learning about just as I try to teach you some of my family’s ways. And if it isn’t too bold to say, you look just fine.” He coughed, turning a tad red himself, “More than fine, actually.”

She laughed, planting her spear in the ground next to her and started to go through the ritual of her stretches, a necessary part of training the muscles after heavy exertion. She didn’t mind that it gave Cho Yon even more to look at. “Oh? So you like seeing me covered in dirt and sweat? Perhaps I shall skip bathing today if it pleases you so.”

She also enjoyed teasing Cho Yon to no end, a fact that surprised her when she discovered it, but had embraced fully. She grinned as Cho Yon held up a defensive hoof, laughing as well.

“No, no, you mustn’t let my odd tastes preclude you from attending to hygiene. Otherwise I may be tempted to join you in skipping bathing, and then what will the town say? There goes Ki Seong and Cho Yon, the dirtiest couple in town, and not for any of the fun reasons we could be called so.”

She idly picked up a small pebble with her magic and tossed it at him with a smirk, “Behave.”

He caught the pebble and tossed it up and down in his hoof, wagging his eyebrows, “As you wish, my lady.”

Cho Yon approached her as she finished her stretching and gave her a warm, heartfelt embrace. She felt her face redden against as she returned it, “It is good to see you, Cho Yon. You’ve never come to the compound before.”

“I thought it was about time.” He looked around at the place, at the numerous squat and simple buildings of dark wood and slopped, gray tiled roofs. “It's a bit... grim. There’s literally a weapon stand every other room I passed through, and I don’t think I’ve seen a splotch of color besides gray since I passed the front entrance.”

“Well, my family does what it does very well, and frivolity is not often part it,” Ki Seong said with a note of defensiveness, “We hunt monsters. Bright colors don’t seem appropriate.”

“I suppose so,” he said, licking his lips. She sensed a slight nervousness in him, but it passed quickly. “I imagine if my family was in the same business the village might seem more grim as well. I suppose we’ll both have things to bring to each other’s family once we’re wed.”

“Your family’s connection to spiritual matters is admirable, and also partly the reason for our match, but you do seem to have a preoccupation with venerating strange beings,” Ki Seong said, and hesitate a moment before going further, “Like that Watcher in the Leaves, for example.”

She had been unsure how to question Cho Yon on this, or indeed if she should even bring it up at all. Cho Yon’s family were shamans, spellcasters with a strong spiritual connection to not only the land, but the realm of spirits beyond. That in and of itself was neither unusual or a bad thing. Carrea was a magical land, filled with strange and fantastic things. Mystical beasts dwelled in the high mountains, deep rivers, and dark forests. Spirits roamed moon cast nights, and haunted ancient ruins and temples. A few were benevolent towards mortalkind, many more were at best neutral... and entirely too many others were malicious and monstrous.

Ki Seong had spent her whole life training to deal with the monstrous ones, the Yogoe, and even some of the more neutral spirits if they ever turned hostile towards innocent mortals for one perceived slight or invasion of territory. Yet shamans like those of Cho Yon’s family were known to have more direct and positive contact with such beings, even if infrequently. In the many times she’d visited Cho Yon in the past few weeks she’d been noticing some unusual things.

At first it was just the sensation of being watched. An ever present feeling at the base of the back of her neck that warned her of eyes upon her. It only happened when she was with Cho Yon, strolling through the forest, or spending time in his family’s village. Ki Seong could never spot anything or anyone watching her, however.

However she’d also started to look for deeper signs of something amiss, and in several instances had managed to find unusual tracks following alone where she and Cho Yon went. Fox tracks. It was then that she’d started paying more attention to the Yon family’s history and legends, learning from those that the family had long held to the notion that they had a ‘protector spirit’ who would watch over them from the forest. A fox spirit, referred to most often as the Watcher in the Leaves.

Now the Yon family was hardly the only one in Carrea to claim to have some guardian spirit. Many old family’s had legends like that dating back centuries. Nine times out of ten it was just simple superstition. But in Carrea, that tenth time often meant a Yogoe was involved.

The question was, what kind? In her extensive studies there were only a limited number of spirits and beasts that bore any resemblance to a fox. None of the ones she knew of were particularly friendly towards mortals, and the worst of them were outright deadly.

Yet the Yon family seemed happy and safe. No horrible shape-shifting fox demons preying upon them that she could see. Just the constant feeling of being followed, and the occasional mysterious track.

Could she really just be imagining things? Perhaps she was being too paranoid and overprotective of her new fiancee and was merely getting worried over a few normal fox tracks and a neck tingle.

But she wanted to see how Cho Yon reacted to her question, and to her surprise his nervousness from before came back, though he tried to hide it.

“Oh, heh, well that old tale goes way back, with my family. Many generations, in fact. I wouldn’t say my family venerates her so much as just recognizes that our fortunes are tied with her’s on a karmic level. According to the legend she came to us to learn mortal ways, and in exchange for that knowledge she has helped the Yon family in times of need.”

Ki Seong’s eyes narrowed slightly as she idly started to clean up the remains of the training dummies. They were simply affairs, packed with straw and shaped in rough facsimile of traditional Yogoe. One of them happened to have a fierce vulpine appearance, with a snarling fox head. Coincidentally. Ki Seong didn’t even remember specifically picking the dummy out for her training, but now that she looked at it, head severed cleanly from the body with straw strewn about everywhere, she felt an odd pang of satisfaction.

“I see.” she said, tossing the dummy’s head into a nearby wastebasket, “And in what ways has this spirit aided your family? It is my own family’s experience that such favors usually cost more than the mortal is aware they’re paying.”

Cho Yon gave her a guarded look, perhaps the first time she recalled him being defensive around her. “Spirits don’t see the world the way we do. Sometimes even the help they give isn’t always obvious, even to them.”

“Or the danger they represent.”

“Ki Seong, I know your family has trained you to hunt the kind of creatures that would threaten mortal lives, but surely your training has also taught you that not every non-mortal being that inhabits our land is dangerous.”

Her eyes flashed with momentary anger, sharpening her voice, “I am not a fool. I know that some Yogoe are not inherently malicious. But they are, one and all, unpredictable. Not a one of them is harmless, and you’re right, they don’t see the world as we do. That’s what makes them dangerous. I...”

She stopped herself, realizing how much she was raising her voice. Taking a calming breath Ki Seong looked at Cho Yon with softened eyes. “I’m only worried about you. I’ve... noticed things, at your village, and in the forest. As if when we are together there we are being followed. Watched.”

He stared at her for a good long moment, then slowly nodded his head, “I understand.” With a careful brush of his own magic he lifted the box that he’d been balancing on his back and floated it towards her. “I can’t explain everything quite yet, but I want you to know that I’m not in any danger and that despite our differences I do support what you do and who you are. That’s why I brought this.”

She took the box in her own soft glow of gold magic, and looked it over curiously. “For me?”

Cho Yon nodded, “Yes. To show that I’ve been thinking of you.”

With a faintly bemused smile she opened the box, her magic lifting off the lid as she peered inside. With a curious look she floated out the contents, a smooth token of dark wood edged with silver, with a red strip of cloth through it so it could be hung from the neck. The wood was carved with a series of complex kanji lettering, part of which she recognized as a shamanic seal. She could feel the warmth of magic flowing through the token. It took her a moment longer to read the inscription.

“...’My heart is always with you’. Cho Yon, what is this?” she asked, not understanding, although she felt warm just holding the token.

Cho Yon smiled and gestured at her spear, “Touch the token to your weapon. You’ll see.”

Curiously she did so, and let out a small gasp as the spear shimmered and transformed into a light mist that swirled into the token. As she looked at the token in amazement Cho Yon came up to her, putting a hoof on it. “Anytime you need to retrieve an item from the token, just run your hoof or your magic over the inscription. I thought that since I can’t likely ever join you on your hunts I could at least make it easier for you to carry your hunting gear.”

“You made this yourself?” she asked, and Cho Yon chuckled.

“Mostly. Had a little help from my grandfather, who’s far better at enchantment than I am.” He looked at her with an uneasy smile, “Do you like it?”

The warmth she’d been feeling seemed like it might spill out like an overflowing teacup and in response she took the token and slipped it on over her neck. She then leaned forward and nuzzled his cheek and whispered, “What do you think?”

They shared a quiet moment together, eyes meeting with galvanizing heat. On the surging impulse of the moment she pressed forward, her lips meeting his. He didn’t resist, and seemed to sigh into her. For a few seconds Ki Seong forgot all about her duties to her family, fears for the future, and any concerns over mysterious Watchers in the Leaves. She just enjoyed being there, with him.

The moment passed entirely too quickly and the two were left looking at each other, each seeming to blush more than the other.

“So, um, will I be able to see you later today?” Cho Yon asked.

“I have a lot of work to do around the compound,” Ki Seong admitted, “I don’t know if I’ll get it all done before evening. Maybe tomorrow?”

“I’d like that.” Cho Yon said, and he paused curiously, a mischievous look coming over his features, “And perhaps by then I can arrange a more complete answer to your questions about my family’s mysterious guardian. I think I’ve put it off long enough.”

“Oh? Well, I’ll look forward to it.” she said, reaching out and giving him a final, affectionate touch on the cheek before letting him go. She watched him leave wistfully, then got back to cleaning up the training yard.

That took longer than she’d have liked, and she knew she had quite a few other chores that needed doing. However before she’d even gotten them half done her mother passed by Ki Seong cleaning one of the interior dojos. Her mother was a shorter, more compact version of Ki Seong, with the same jade coat and white scales, with a mane of dark hair. Her mother kept her mane and tail cut short in a more warrior-like fashion, but kept it just as well combed and smooth as Ki Seong did.

“Whatever are you doing wasting time with cleaning up an already near pristine dojo, child?” her mother asked with a wry grin. Ki Seong just paused in patting out dust from one of the practice mats and blinked at her mother.

“I always do this, mother. It's part of my regular duties since I was eight.”

Her mother laughed, “Yes, well, I think we can start making exceptions when its such a nice day out and you have more interesting things to occupy your attention with.”

The elder kirin nodded towards the token now hanging around Ki Seong’s neck, “I saw that fine young man give that to you. He seems a good fellow.”

“H-He is,” Ki Seong said with a heated face. Her mother approached her and nudged Ki Seong with a sly wink.

“As much as I love your father, I always did somewhat regret not taking more time to enjoy just getting to know him before we sealed our vows. Arranged marriages don’t always have to be between strangers, my little iron flower. Go, take the rest of the day off and spend more time with him.”

“B-but, I already told him I’d be doing chores all day. He wouldn’t be expecting me.”

Her mother’s smile grew positively devilish. “Surprise him. Perhaps while he’s bathing?”

“Mother!”

“Oh don’t give me that look, child. You were already thinking it before I said it.”

“...I was not.”

Shaking her head ruefully her mother nodded towards the door with an encouraging smile, “Go.”

Finally taking the hint Ki Seong set aside the practice mat she’d been cleaning and took a few minutes to clean herself up and pick out a dress to wear. She had few to choose from, almost all of them plain, but she didn’t think Cho Yon would mind. Satisfied that she looked somewhat presentable, and already eagerly anticipating the moment of surprising Cho Yon with her sudden visit, she was practically skipping out of her family’s compound and down the short streets that led out of town. She knew the route to Cho Yon’s village by heart now, and made good time up into the forested hills.

A quick inquiry at the temple was all it took to discover Cho Yon had gone further up into the hills. Not unusual for him, and she figured he’d be at his seemingly favorite spot at the hilltop clearing that overlooked the valley. She went that way with a bounce in her step, not even bothering to look for any signs of being followed or watched like she usually did. Whatever Cho Yon was hiding concerning that family legend, he’d tell her in due time. She didn’t even want to think about it today, and instead just enjoy her time with him.

She hadn’t been paying much attention to her surroundings, but she didn’t have to in order to hear Cho Yon’s voice speaking in the distance. She also heard another voice, this one female, replying to him. She couldn’t make out the words, but the tone was... joking and familiar.

Ki Seong instinctively slowed her pace and went silent, ears perked as she listened. The voices were still indistinct, so she silently crept forward, moving off the forest trail and hiding herself among the thickly packed trees. Her heart started to beat faster as she got closer to the clearing. Who was Cho Yon talking to?

Slowly, with every shred of stealth her skills and training could muster, she reached the edge of the clearing. Staying hidden behind the trees she watched with ever widening eyes at the unfolding scene.

Cho Yon was standing beside a large, fox-like creature. The fox had a light gray coat of fur with a slightly blue tint, its slim body ending with a massive fan of nine fluffy tails. Ice blue eyes were looking at Cho Yon with altogether too much fondness for Ki Seong’s liking as the fox took up a two legged stance that Ki Seong recognized as identical to the stance Cho Yon used when practicing his family’s martial art.

The way Cho Yon was carefully adjusting the fox’s stance and speaking in a quiet, encouraging tone suggested he was teaching the fox. He took up the same stance and worked through the motions of several forms, the fox awkwardly mimicking him. When the fox stumbled she let out a frustrated growl, and Cho Yon laughed merrily as he tried to show her the proper stance again.

Ki Seong was too shocked to do anything other than keep watching, her blood pounding in her ears.

She still couldn’t hear the specifics of what was being said, but Cho Yon’s friendly manner and the fox’s relaxed ease seemed to say plenty in Ki Seong’s reeling mind. Then when the two moved on from practicing forms to actual sparring Ki Seong felt her teeth start to clench. From one perspective it might have looked like awkward sparring between a teacher who didn’t know what he was doing and a student not very adept at learning. To Ki Seong the playful back and forth between the two looked entirely too intimate.

Especially when the fox managed to pounce on Cho Yon and the two tumbled to the ground, laughing. The fox ended up on top, and said something to Cho Yon. Ki Seong couldn’t hear Cho Yon’s response, but she saw the fox move in and kiss her fiance.

The sight made her blood turn cold as winter. She turned and vanished back into the forest, unable to think clearly, and only wanting to be away from that place as fast as possible, her mind turning end over end.

She’d been right. There was a dangerous creature stalking Cho Yon’s family in the guise of a friend. Whatever it was, it was using Cho Yon. Had him under some sort of spell. That was the only explanation.

But what could she do about it? She couldn’t tell her family what she’d seen! It’d ruin any chance of the marriage going through if they found out. She’d have to save Cho Yon herself, and put an end to this monstrous creature quickly. She just needed the right opportunity.

The first night she spent in study, pouring over her family’s records and manuals until she found the obscure entry on “gumiho”. The second night she received a letter from Cho Yon that was almost too perfect for her plans. He wanted to meet her, alone, at the temple on the next sunset. He wanted her to meet a ‘friend’ and that he’d explain everything.

Good. The perfect chance to free him from the gumiho’s spell.

On that night she’d left town with Cho Yon’s token still around her neck.

When Ki Seong awoke she felt a hot dampness on her eyes and with a angered grunt she wiped away the offending tears. She was beyond the pain those memories brought, or so she told herself vehemently as she got up and looked around the camp. She couldn’t quite remember when she’d drifted off to sleep, but the night had passed and the horizon was starting to brighten with the coming dawn.

Battra was nowhere to be seen. With a soft grumble Ki Seong retrieved her possessions, threw on her cloak, and set about searching for her wayward partner with a glower on her face. It had been awhile since she’d dreamed about the details leading up to Cho Yon’s death. Perhaps the prospect of the hunt possibly coming to an end was making the memories surface. Battra’s incessant badgering on the subject certainly wasn’t helping.

Ki Seong just wanted this all over with. Cho Yon’s soul deserved to rest peacefully, and she...

...She didn’t didn’t know what she’d do when it was all finally done. For the longest time she’d convinced herself returning home with the gumiho’s fox beads would be enough to earn her way back into her family’s good graces, but after so long she wasn’t certain she even wanted to return. Things would never go back to how they were. She couldn’t go back to what she’d been. Not after absorbing the essence of so many Yogoe in her long, long quest for vengeance.

Even now she was reminded of just how far she’d strayed from being a mere kirin as her nose sniffed the air and her sharpened senses picked up Battra’s scent nearby. She didn’t even need to follow the trail the kaiju left to discover her in the field around the bend of one of the nearby hills. Not even bothering to don her unicorn disguise, Battra was standing tall and proud in her dark form that resembled a cross between an alicorn and a monstrous insect. She was just finishing the ritual for a magical spell, lines of magical energy flowing across the ground around her in a circle, when Ki Seong came upon her.

“Ah, awake at last. Did you have pleasant dreams?” Battra asked in that honeyed voice that made Ki Seong’s blood feel poisoned.

“My dreams are none of your concern.”

“Oh but I’m so close to helping you fulfill one of them.” Battra cooed teasingly, her magical ritual completing with a flash of deep orange light. The kaiju smiled, displaying pearl white fangs. “This last tracking spell has finally zeroed in on our prey.”

Ki Seong tried to control herself as her heart leaped in sudden, hungry excitement. “She’s close?”

“Very close.” Battra said with assurance, “The spell didn’t pick up her old trail this time, but instead a fresh sign of this gumiho’s unique magical energy. She’s within ten miles or so west of here, give or take. Pinpointing her exactly will have to wait until we’re right in the vicinity, but we’ll reach that by this afternoon if we move fast enough.”

A feral look entered Ki Seong’s eyes as she turned to start trotting for the road, “Then let’s not waste time.”

“Don’t be too hasty, my eager friend.” Battra said, easily catching up and keeping pace with Ki Seong by using her large, butterfly-like wings to fly beside the kirin.

“Don’t even think of getting in my way, now that we’re this close!” Ki Seong snapped, but Battra just laughed lightly and shook her head.

“I can see how this Jeog has escaped you so many times in the past, if you get this rambunctious every time you get close to cornering her. A wise hunter does not rush their quarry, but waits patiently for the right moment to strike.”

Ki Seong knew Battra was right, but it still irked her all the same. Taking a deep breath she said, “Yes, yes I know. If I know how the monster operates she’ll be hiding among the people. There’s a town nearby, isn’t there?”

“Ponyville, if the maps are accurate. We should take our time and survey the town before making our move.” Battra licked her lips, “But do not fear, you’ll soon have what you hunger for.”

Ki Seong said nothing, eyes fixed forward as she marched down the road. Battra resumed her pony disguise, following along behind with a knowing smirk.

Soon, one way or another, the hunt would end.

Diamond Tiara woke up earlier that morning than she could remember in a long time. She’d simply been too restless during the night to sleep very well. In her heart she knew that she shouldn’t be so worried. Destroyah was not only a good pony-er, kaiju, but she had Diamond Tiara’s complete trust that she’d judge Jeog fairly and make sure everything turned out okay. It was just... Diamond couldn’t help but be afraid for her unusual fox friend.

Part of it was that the way that book had described gumiho seemed so contradictory to the Jeog that Diamond Tiara had grown to know, yet in some ways she could almost see how the book’s entry had come about. Jeog wasn’t normal in how she saw the world around her, at least not in regards to things like conventional ideas of right and wrong, or any social norms that ponies like Diamond Tiara took for granted.

It’d be easy for anyone who didn’t want to look any more closely at the strange fox-like being to see nothing but a dangerous nuisance at best, or a complete monster at worst. Diamond was convinced that Jeog was no monster, but it was impossible to deny her mind didn’t work like a pony’s did. Even so, over the past week Diamond Tiara had seen Jeog have fun, get scared, be sad, and smile. The differences between them couldn’t be that insurmountable.

But Diamond Tiara was still worried. She trusted Lady Destroyah’s judgment, but if Destroyah and Ditzy Doo decided Jeog was too dangerous to stay around ponies... well, Diamond wasn’t sure what she’d do.

On top of all that there was the looming shadow of the “Hunter” that Jeog was so frightened of. The gumhio seemed convinced this Hunter was still out there, and might find her, especially now that she’d revealed her true form to the ponies of Ponyville. Diamond wasn’t so sure. From the story Jeog had shown them so far of what had happened in Carrea it seemed this had happened a long time ago. It seemed crazy anypony might chase Jeog for years, across oceans even. Still, if there was truly a threat from this mysterious Hunter, Destroyah was here. Diamond Tiara couldn’t imagine anyone or anything strong enough to take on Lady Destroyah. Even that horrifying Godzilla fellow, although Diamond had to admit she’d never seen this supposed “King of the Monsters” in the flesh before.

Her thoughts carried her through her morning routine, and she entered the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast, only to blink at the presence of a large crate tucked into one side of the kitchen. Her mother was humming away in the kitchen as well, preparing some toast with what looked like the last of the jam from the sparsely populated cupboards. Diamond pointed at the crate and asked, “Hey mom, what’s this?”

Spoiled Rich glanced over her shoulder and smiled at Diamond Tiara, “Oh, good morning dear. I’m not sure what this crate is about. I found it delivered on our doorstep and just sort of hauled it inside. It is rather heavy, so I assume it's more parts your father ordered for one project or another. You know how he gets when he’s on a roll.”

“You didn’t look inside?” Diamond Tiara asked, tilting her head.

“Oh no, dear, I don’t mess with your father’s things. Some of the parts he uses are delicate. Wouldn’t want to break anything,” her mother said, still smiling as she finished filling up plate with jam covered toast and offered Diamond Tiara a slice. “Eat up. I suspect Miss Doo will be keeping you and Silver Spoon busy again today.”

A brief flicker of concern and unease crossed Spoiled Rich’s face as her smile faltered, “And just like yesterday I expect you to come straight home afterward. You’re still grounded, and... um, well just come straight home. No dallying around with Silver Spoon or, uh, your other friend.”

“She has a name, mom,” Diamond Tiara said with a slight huff, going to the table and munching down her toast, her eyes still drawn to the mystery crate. She thought about taking a peek inside, but like her mother she wasn’t eager to screw around with any of her father’s work. Still, it was strange. He usually didn’t order parts in bulk. Maybe he had a big project in the works? Diamond Tiara could only hope. Perhaps the new invention, whatever it was, would finally sell well.

Spoiled Rich joined her daughter at the table, still looking uneasy. “I know she does, dear. I really do wish you’d told us about her. Not like it would have been any stranger than when you brought Lady Destroyah into town.”

Diamond Tiara sighed, ears drooping to either side of her head, “I know, mom. And I’m sorry. I was just worried getting adults involved would scare Jeog off and... I was being selfish. I guess I wanted the mystery all to myself.” She gulped, “I just hope she’ll be allowed to stay.”

“I think it’ll be okay,” her mother said, managing an encouraging smile on her weary features, “A part of me might feel dreadful thinking what might have happened to you or Silver Spoon this past week, considering what almost happened with poor Scootaloo, but it seems to me that if this Jeog had really meant anypony any harm then something would have happened much sooner. And I’d like to think I raised a daughter who knows how to pick her friends. If you trust your new friend, I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt.” Spoiled Rich paused, taking a bite of her toast, “You’re still grounded, though.”

“I know...” Diamond Tiara huffed again, but there was a bit of an accepting smile behind it. She quickly finished her own toast and said, “I better get going to the library. Did you want me to pick up some jam on the way back?”

Spoiled Rich hesitated, a momentary look of shame coloring her face, “Oh, well, we’re a bit short of bits for that at the moment. I’m sure we’ll be able to get some more next week.”

Diamond Tiara took that with a simple nod, voice subdued as she said, “No problem, just thought I’d ask.”

She went around the table to give her mother a quick hug, “Love you, mom, see you when I get back.”

With quick steps she trotted out of the house, only giving the strange crate one last look before leaving. She didn’t realize that the reason the crate seemed so out of place to her was that, unlike every other crate or package delivered by Ponyville’s mail service, there’d been no address stamp.

Diamond Tiara had yet to arrive at the library and Jeog was getting antsy. She paced around the library’s main floor while Destroyah looked on from the table where Ditzy and Silver Spoon were already seated, both of the ponies with their gray noses buried in books. Jeog was mildly curious about what the pair were trying to learn from the books, despite thinking that the books themselves were strange. Scratching something down with ink onto a dead plant, trying to record what should be experienced, seemed to her like a hard way to learn. If you wanted to know something, you had to feel it, smell it, taste it, rip into it with your own claws and teeth. All the things she’d ever seen in books looked as dead as paper it was written on. But then again, mortals kept building things and continued on existing, so maybe there was something to it?

Following her curious impulse she poked her snout over Silver Spoon’s shoulder and peered at the book the filly was reading, “What are you trying to read-learn?”

Silver Spoon jerked, startled, as Jeog hadn’t really made her presence known until she spoke, and the filly adjusted her glasses with a flat frown. “I’m going to get a bell to attach to you one of these days. Ahem, I’m trying to learn more about... well, not your ‘kind’ exactly, but just about Carrea’s strange beasts in general.”

Jeog tilted her head to eye the filly, then looked at the book, which had a page open to a picture of a huge, hulking humanoid creature with deep blue skin, an unbelievable musculature, twin horns rising from its brow, and carrying a huge spiked club. Jeog couldn’t read any of the writings, but she knew the creature in the picture and she snorted, “Mountain oni. Big, easily fooled, fun to play with. Got a whole pack of them to chase me for a week, once, before I got bored of them trying to squash me. Why do you care about these things?”

Silver Spoon looked down at the page with a thoughtful twitch, “I guess just like Diamond Tiara I’m just trying to understand what you are better. Heh, besides, there’s all sorts of neat stuff in here. Like I’m kind of surprised at how many weaknesses some of these beings have. Like you’re allergic to iron, but I’ve ready in here about creatures that freak out at mirrors, or get poisoned by jade, get warded off by certain kinds of incense or salt. I could whip up a decent anti-critter arsenal from half the stuff in Ditzy Doo’s kitchen.”

A few of Jeog’s many tails swished about, “Planning to go hunting?”

“No, just satisfying curiosity,” an odd look crossed Silver Spoon’s face, both yearning but faintly sad, “I mean, I won’t be able to look out for Diamond forever. We’re gonna grow up one day, and if things go the way she wants she’ll start doing business stuff... but I don’t think I’ll be joining her.”

“I don’t understand,” Jeog admitted, and Silver Spoon offered a small smile.

“That’s okay, I’m not so sure I do either. Just been thinking a lot lately. Don’t worry about it.”

To Jeog’s own surprise she was worried about it. Diamond Tiara may have been the one to occupy the center of Jeog’s attention, but Silver Spoon had been an enjoyable presence as well and Jeog didn’t like seeing the filly seem so unsure of herself. It seemed very unlike Silver Spoon, uncertainty.

Before she could consider the matter further the door to the library opened and Diamond Tiara trotted inside, giving everyone present a wave while smiling apologetically, “Sorry if I kept you waiting. Kinda surprised you all got here first, I thought I’d woken up pretty early.”

“Your idea of early is still most other ponies idea of regular morning, Diamond,” Silver Spoon said, earning a sardonic smirk from Diamond Tiara.

“Oh be quiet, I wasn’t built for mornings.”

As Diamond Tiara trotted across the room, greeting Destroyah and Ditzy Doo in turn, then turning a smle towards Jeog, the gumiho watched the filly carefully. She’d left her gift out in front of Diamond Tiara’s family lair, but hadn’t stayed beyond watching Diamond’s mother take the crate into the house. Knowing just how much Diamond Tiara cared about ensuring her family had that silly ‘money’ thing, Jeog was hoping that no matter what happened, even if she had to leave and never see Diamond Tiara again, that at least she’d make the filly’s life better by giving her the thing she wanted. She hoped to see some excitement on Diamond Tiara’s face, but the filly seemed normal. Happy, but no more so than usual.

Had they not opened the crate yet? Jeog wondered if perhaps she should have opened the crate herself and dumped the money on Diamond Tiara, like Destroyah had mentioned? She suppressed frustrated whine and resolved herself to wait. Diamond or one of her family members would discover the money eventually, then she could enjoy Diamond Tiara’s reaction.

“You okay?” Diamond Tiara asked her as the filly sat at the table, “You look distracted.”

“It’s nothing,” Jeog said, having no desire to spoil the surprise and instead just quickly changed the subject, “Now that you’re here, we can finish what was started yesterday.”

“You’ll be able to get through it all today?” asked Destroyah, moving her sizable bulk over to the table as well, plopping down heavily opposite where Jeog sat.

“Yes, there isn’t much more to show,” Jeog said with a heavy nod, feeling an unpleasant and cold weight settle over her as she was reminded of what she’d be doing, of the memories she’d be revisiting. All of the old pain and fear threatened to bubble back up and make her want to flee the library, but she took control of herself, looking at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. She was doing this for a reason. They should know what happened, so they’d understand the Hunter, the threat she represented, and possibly be better prepared for her if she did track Jeog to Ponyville. And maybe more than that, by telling this story, showing what happened, Jeog wouldn’t keep feeling weighed down by it.

“Well, no reason not to begin then,” said Ditzy Doo, closing up the book she’d been reading, “I believe we’re ready when you are, Miss Jeog.”

Jeog nodded nervously, and glanced down as she felt a hoof patting one of her front paws. Diamond Tiara was giving her an encouraging look, “Go ahead, I’ll be right here.”

With the filly’s look helping temper Jeog’s resolve, she tapped into the magic inside her and summoned forth the azure glimmer of her fox fire, and meticulously began to craft the illusions that would paint the library in the sights, sounds, and smells of the past.

It was a beautiful day, with the sky clear and painfully blue, with the warmth of spring tempered by a freshly cool mountain breeze. The clearing atop one of the many steep foothills was covered in tall grass that swayed like the waves of an ocean under the wind. Jeog wasn’t particularly taken with the splendid weather, instead too focused on her frustration. She could mimic Cho Yon’s form all but perfectly, her hind legs forming the correct stance, her paws spread in a manner akin to a sweeping crane’s wings. Her nine tails made balancing even easier than it was for Cho Yon, all nine lashing around in the air as she went through the motions Cho Yon was showing her. He stood right beside her, his own kirin body managing the oddly bipedal stance expertly and swiftly moving from one stance to the next with a smoothness akin to a flowing stream.

Yet she knew something was missing from her own motions. A hesitance or lack of ease that couldn’t quite match Cho Yon’s, no matter how precise she was in trying to mirror his form. Whether it was stance practice, or in their sparring matches, she just couldn’t match him, and it made her hair bristle and her lips pull back in an unconscious snarl.

“This is boring!” she declared, still maintaining her stance, but halting her motions. “I don’t understand this. I move like you do, but you always are faster, and always win when we play fight!”

Cho Yon halted alongside her, switching his stance to one that was at rest, yet still staying on his hind legs as he looked at her with a smile that said he sympathized with her frustration, but still found it amusing, which just made her bristle even more.

“We haven’t been doing this too long. You’re not going to master the Way of the Open Heart in a week. Honestly I’m shocked at how far you’ve come already! You’re a natural at the forms, you just lack... the proper perspective.”

She blew out a snort, dropping her stance and sitting on her haunches in front of him, tails swishing about lazily as she licked a paw and looked at him sidelong, “More silly mortal talk. Perspective? I see you just fine, and do exactly like you do. Why then do I not understand this Heart Way you speak of?”

He sighed, and while his smile didn’t fade she had the impression she’d disappointed him somehow.

“Because you have to do more than just perform the motions, you have to feel them. At the very core of the Way is the idea that we’re all connected, right here...” he held out his hoof between him and her, as if holding something. Just like the other day outside town. And as before she sniffed at his hoof, and glanced at him as if he were soft in the head.

“There’s nothing there.”

The young kirin shook his head, “No, there is, you just haven’t learned how to see it, yet. I know there’s something there because I can feel it, clear and bright as the sun in the sky. I think it's that you’ve spent such a long, long life never looking anywhere but inside yourself that you can’t see what can form between you and another.”

“And what is that?”

Cho Yon’s smile deepened, “A heart.”

Now that was confusing. She tilted her head, vulpine ears flicking as she put a paw on her chest. “Those things in here that pump all that hot blood that can flow out so easily?”

He laughed, but it was a sighing laugh, helpless yet somehow filled with an endearing fondness, “Only you’d take something like that so literally. I don’t mean that muscle. I mean... heh, well its hard to explain. It’s something you feel between yourself and another. A warmth and pull that draws you to each other. A heart isn’t a thing, its a feeling. Makes you want to be around that person, protect them, see them smile.”

That just baffled her even more. A warm feeling that caused one to do all that for another? She’d never experienced anything like that before in all the many passings of mortal years she’d existed. It sounded so strange. So alien. Yet... not unpleasant sounding either.

“I don’t understand,” she said, looking at him intently, “But I don’t mind seeing you smile. Is that close to what you mean?”

“It's a step in the right direction,” he said, rubbing the back of his head, “And I’m thinking if I can get through to you, I can get through to her.”

She didn’t have to ask who ‘her’ was. She’d been following Cho Yon closely these past weeks, watching as he became closer and closer to a particular female from the town. With a wry smile she licked her lips and she looked at him coyly. She was not unfamiliar with mortal courtship and mating habits. She’d been watching them long enough to know what kind of things they did with one another to produce offspring. She found it amusing, and had even played around with such things when the whim had taken her in the past, and she knew many mortals found the whole process oddly embarrassing. It meant teasing them about it was very easy, and equally fun!

“Oh, by her you mean the jade colored female who you want to mate with?”

As expected his face colored red. How easily mortals got flustered by such a silly thing!

“Hey, knock it off, I don’t just want to mate with her you know. There’s more to it than that! Ki Seong is a very good mare, and I feel lucky I’m getting the chance to get to know her before...”

“Before the mating,” she said with a thick grin, to which Cho Yon snorted at her.

“You’re impossible. I won’t let you embarrass me anymore. Nope, fun’s over,” he said, only half seriously as he turned his nose up, “I’m officially activating my ‘unflappable’ mode. Impossible to be embarrassed now.”

Oh yeah? That sounded like a challenge to her. While he was busy looking up and away from her in mock snootiness, she licked her lips and readied herself to spring. A moment later she pounced on him, and the two of them went rolling across the grass, both laughing. She ended up on top of him, pinning his chest to the ground with her paws, her snout a bare inch from his muzzle. She could feel his breath tickling her nose, and the rapid patter of his heart muscle beneath his chest, and the pleasant warmth radiating off his sweat coated body under her.

“O-okay, I think that's enough fun for one da-” Cho Yon started to say, but she halted his words with her lips locking onto his.

It was just an impulse. She wanted to think it was just for the fun of embarrassing him further, all part of the game. Yet as she kissed him there was a strange and unfamiliar stirring inside her. She’d done this before with morals, even gone much further than mere kissing, but none of those instances of meaningless fun had caused such an unusually warm stir within her. She found herself growling, but not in anger, but in hunger for more of this feeling.

But she felt firm hooves pushing on her chest, pushing her back and forcing the kiss to end. She ended up staring down at Cho Yon’s face, and while it was red as a rosy dawn, his expression was less amusing. He looked, if anything, uneasy and a little sad, his ears drooping and his voice soft.

“That’s enough. Please get off me.”

In times past she might have pushed things further, toyed with the mortal some more, she may even have liked making them uncomfortable and ill at ease. Yet now something in Cho Yon’s tone had her scrambling off him quickly, with a distinct sense of pain in her chest that she didn’t like one bit. She hid the feeling by putting on an aloof face as she watched him pick himself up.

“I was just having fun,” she said, “You mortals take things too seriously.”

Cho Yon cleared his throat, face still flushed red, “That may be true, and I’m not angry or anything. We just can’t... do things like that with each other. Playing around is one thing, but I can’t do that with you.”

She cocked her head, “Why not? Is it broken?”

“What!? No! I’m, uh, a fully functional stallion. That’s not the problem.”

He seemed to flounder for words, his face scrunching up as he opened his mouth in a few silent false starts as he tried to choose his words. She just watched him with a mixture of bewilderment and a bit of relief. True to his word he didn’t appear mad at her for kissing him, just flustered and struggling to explain what weird mortal hang-up he had over the issue. Eventually he blew out a sigh and shook his head helplessly.

“I don’t know how to explain this. I care about you, but not in the way that would make laying with you right.”

She felt a stab of resentment, although she wasn’t sure why, “But it would be right with that other female?”

“The way I feel about Ki Seong is... different. Similar, but different. I don’t think I can explain what that difference is with words. You’re just going to have to trust me when I say that difference matters, and that it doesn’t mean I don’t like you, it just means I don’t feel right doing, uh, you know...”

“Mating,” she provided, assuming he’d simply forgotten the term. Did mortals just forget their own language when they got embarrassed?

“R-right, that. Even if you don’t really understand this yet, I hope you at least get that this is important to me. And it should be for you too. You should wait until you find someone you feel really... strongly about, to do that with. Not just for fun, but for showing them how you feel.”

He was swiftly delving back into explanations that made no sense to her, but she supposed this was just his way. Her resentment was fading fast with the resurgence of boredom, and it was hard to remain irritated with Cho Yon’s oddly earnest and trusting face. Besides she was glad he wasn’t mad at her, so she could allow him to keep having his strange talks about feelings, although this particular talk was certainly turning out odder than most.

“Your words still don’t make sense, but they remain amusing. I think you make things more complicated than they need to be, but if it makes you feel better I won’t do that again,” she licked her lips, flashing fangs, “Even when I want to.”

He gulped, “Thank you for that.”

She saw him visibly relaxed, which pleased her, but his next words caused her to stiffen up.

“You know, I think it's time I had you and Ki Seong meet.”

A shivering tickle went down her back and made her tails bristle. “I don’t like that idea. I’ve tracked around her and her kin’s lair. It is... guarded against me. They know how to hurt me, and those like me. I can smell the death hanging over that family. They are hunters.”

Cho Yon looked surprised for a moment, but then a youthful and charming smile of enthusiasm came over his face, “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you’ve checked them out. Ki Seong told me she’s felt like she’s been followed a few times. But you don’t have to worry, she’s a got a good heart and I don’t think she’ll misjudge you as long as I’m there to explain things. She’s going to be a large part of my life soon, and the thing is, you are too, so its best to have you both meet so we can all move forward together.”

She let out a soft growl, lashing her tails, “I still don’t like this. I may play with mortals, but I stay hidden from all but your family for good reasons. Mortals have tried to hunt me before...”

It didn’t happen often, but she had been hunted by those mortals trained to combat those creatures like herself. Most of those times she simply fled from their iron weapons, magical talisman, burning fires, and strange chants. If Cho Yon wanted to lay with a hunter, she didn’t really care, but to openly meet with one?

Cho Yon gave her a reassuring smile.

“It’ll be fine. Ki Seong will understand. Despite her family’s teachings there are things that go deeper than old hatreds and grudges, you’ll see.”

This caused her to look at him curiously, “What things? Tell me of these things.”

He chuckled, “Oh, well, things like love. That can surpass any barrier of hatred. And while I tink Seong and I are still learning to love each other, it’ll come, with time. As will her understanding of you.”

“Love? I have heard this word. It isn’t edible. Or touchable. I can’t smell it. I still wonder if it is real, or something you funny mortals keep telling me of as a joke.”

Cho Yon’s smile was wide and genuine, “Hah, it is very real. My family has had you with us for so long, but I don’t know if anyone has really tried to show you what it means. I’ll do my best to show you and Seong both. Trust me...”

The images froze there, the illusions halting in place with perfect clarity with Cho Yon’s youthful face split in an energetic smile that radiated confidence and warmth, while the illusion of Jeog looked at him with equal parts native curiosity, haughty immortal overbearingness, and a shade of genuine trust that surpassed her clear unease at the prospect of meeting Cho Yon’s female friend.

Diamond Tiara looked around at the still images, unable to see where the real Jeog was, but assuming the gumiho was still seated next to her. “Why did you stop, Jeog?”

The fox’s voice spoke quietly, but somehow it carried like an echo over the illusionary field.

“I don’t like what happens next. I have to show it to you, but I know it is going to hurt. There’s nothing but pain in this memory, the memory that made me Jeog. I’ve run... run for so very, very long from it.”

The illusions melted like wax, churning into a pastel mess of mixing colors until they flickered away in motes of azure foxfire. Jeog sat next to Diamond, face a flushed, wide eyed mask of distress as even the fox’s breathing became fast and uneven. Ditzy Doo gave Destroyah an uneasy glance and the kaiju turned pony nodded and turned a comforting gaze towards Jeog.

“There’s no rush if you need time to think about this. I’m already getting an idea of what went down, so if you don’t want to show us-”

Jeog abruptly shook her head, all nine of her tails seeming to ignite with flames of purest blue as she closed her eyes and growled out, “If I do not do this now, I will always run, always be alone. It will hurt, but I will show you. I don’t want Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon to feel this pain, but if they have watched until now, then they should see it all.”

Jeog turned pained, ice blue eyes to Diamond Tiara, “You said you wanted to know me. So be it. Then see me. The Jeog.”

As if afraid she might change her mind if she waited a second longer Jeog’s hesitance seemed to vanish as her foxfire blazed and the library was once again drawn over by a illusionary world, only somehow now it was harsher in its reality, more tangible yet shaded with a dark gray coating that left Diamond Tiara feeling cold inside.

The scene showed a great temple in the forest, its vast stone steps leading to a huge set of gates flanked by statues of deities Diamond didn’t recognize. It was night, with a clear sky above affixed with a brilliant silver moon. Cho Yon walked up the steps practically brimming with nervous energy. The kirin’s smile was encouraging as he glanced over his shoulder at the nine-tailed form silently padding up the steps behind him.

“Now remember, let me ease her into things first. Just keep quiet and hidden until I can talk to her and let her know what’s going on. Once I call your name, you can come out-”

Diamond Tiara frowned in wonderment as Cho Yon’s mouth moved at the end of the sentence, but no name came out. Jeog had purposely been avoiding letting Cho Yon ever actually speak whatever name he called her during these days, and this time seemed no different. It was as if that name, along with these memories, was something Jeog had wanted to bury and forget. But if Jeog was willing to show them this final, clearly painful memory, then why still hide the name Cho Yon gave her? She kept her peace, however, and allowed Jeog to keep painting the memory for them.

“Hmph, easy to stay hidden, but it's what comes after I worry about,” Jeog said, keeping easy pace with Cho Yon. She had played inside this temple many times over the many years of on and off visiting of the Yon family. It had mostly been a disused ruin in decades past, but through Cho Yon’s efforts it was becoming restored, including a vibrant courtyard garden that had many hiding places from which she could easily conceal herself from Cho Yon’s prospective mate.

Why that thought still made her feel oddly irritated continued to elude her, but perhaps once she got over this first meeting with Ki Seong and got used to her that feeling would go away. Perhaps this female would prove just as interesting as Cho Yon was?

Within the temple’s courtyard Cho Yon chose a spot near one of the ponds to turn and observe the gate, which he left open for when Ki Seong would arrive. Meanwhile Jeog swiftly became a part of the shadows enshrouding one of the thicker patches of bushes on the opposite side of the pond. She didn’t like being near the water, but this was the best spot to hide in the courtyard, with the shadow of the main temple building looming behind to obscure the bushes from the moonlight. She added a layer of invisibility illusion around herself, just in case. She knew Ki Seong and her kin were dangerous for mortals. She wasn’t going to take chances, no matter Cho Yon’s enthusiasm.

Minutes passed, but it was not much longer than that before a shadow appeared at the mouth of the gatehouse. The kirin female strode into the moonlight, tall, statuesque, like a carved jade statue kissed by the moonlight. Jeog instantly felt a nerve wracking sense of unease upon seeing this female. She wore a simple green and black lined tunic that hunt loosely around her slender frame, and a wooden charm hung around her neck from which Jeog sensed a hint of power. As she sniffed the air she caught a whiff of the female kirin’s scent and her hackles stood on end. It was a sharp, angry, and desperate smell coming off this kirin, yet she moved with controlled grace and when she spoke it was in a smooth tone of false calm.

“Cho Yon, you’re here.”

Cho Yon didn’t seem to sense the danger wafting off the mare, and Jeog wanted to burst from the bushes to bark some sort of warning, but she trusted him and he’d insisted she let him talk to Ki Seong first. Instincts that had guided her all her long existence warred with unfamiliar yet strong feelings for Cho Yon, and those feelings momentarily won out and forced her to remain hidden and still as Cho Yon smiled at Ki Seong and waved.

“Yes, just as I’d said I’d be. I’m glad you came, Ki Seong. I know this may be unusual, calling you out here in the night, but I felt it best we do this somewhere where it will just be us and we can talk. You see, there’s someone I want you to meet, and I... are you alright?”

Ki Seong wasn’t looking at him, but instead her eyes, like golden lanterns, were scanning the rest of the courtyard. A feverish edge entered her tightly controlled voice, “I’m fine, Cho Yon. My mind is clear, and I know what needs to be done. I came here to protect you, even though I know you can’t understand me right now while under it’s spell.”

Jeog’s whole body tensed as she saw Ki Seong’s attention turn towards the bushes she was hidden in. Meanwhile Cho Yon, shaking his head in confusion, took a step towards Ki Seong, also interposing his body between the female kirin and where Jeog hid.

“Ki Seong you’re not speaking any sense. Protect me? Under whose spell? Ki Seong, I asked you out here because you’re right, my family does have a connection with a... guardian spirit of sorts, and I want the two of you to meet.”

“Oh, I’m sure that’s what it wants you to think,” Ki Seong said, her voice dropping to a cold, sharp hiss, “I’m certain it’s filled your mind with all manner of illusions and charms! I scoured my family’s archives for information on this thing, and trust me, gumiho can poison the minds of even the strongest willed individuals, twisting them to their sick ends. Cho Yon, you’re under its spell! Why else would it have had you bring me out here in the dark of night, save in hopes of trapping an ambushing me?”

Cho Yon looked aghast, his eyes wide pools of disbelief, his voice turned to a shocked stammer, “Am-ambush!? Ki Seong, wait! You don’t understand at all! She isn’t controlling me. We’ve been friends for a long time and I’ve been trying to teach her how to understand mortals-”

Ki Seong’s voice turned into an enraged snarl, “Oh I saw you understanding it! Kissing it! Only a spell could have corrupted your mind enough to make you do such a thing! Well, I won’t let it take you!”

Jeog only had a partial view of Ki Seong, but she could still catch the kirin’s serpent swift motion as she reached into her loose tunic, easily loose enough to conceal all manner of weapons, and fling out a clay jar at one of the trees across the pond near the bushes Jeog hid in. The clay jar burst over the tree, and a light cloud of metal dust spread out under the moonlight. The moment the dust touched Jeog’s body she howled in agony. Iron dust! Little flecks of iron, all too small to truly do much damage, but more than enough to hurt and strip away Jeog’s invisibility.

“There you are, monster!” Ki Seong shouted, and surged past the shocked Cho Yon, rushing across the shallow pond. She touched the charm on her neck and Jeog saw a magical mist form briefly before turning into a long, heavy bladed polearm. Jeog instantly recognized the thick curved blade as being forged from iron and survival instincts kicked into full, heated gear inside the gumiho’s mind.

With a snarl Jeog darted with lightning swiftness away from Ki Seong’s first swing, the thick blade of the spear severing bushes and trees in neat cuts that took a second before the tree fell apart diagonally.

“W-wait! Ki Seong, stop!” Cho Yon shouted, trying to rush towards the unfolding fight, but Jeog was already rushing for fresh cover amid another set of bushes like a gray streak of mist while Ki Seong bounded after her with all the speed and prowess a youth of training had granted her, her spear twirling within a glow of her golden magic.

Jeog rushed into the next set of bushes, struggling to get her illusions to form while the iron dust coating her back still burned. Puffs of azure smoke and fire spurted from her tails, creating half formed mirror images of herself, but the illusions were incomplete and failed to distract Ki Seong’s dogged pursuit. The kirin made a sudden leap, spear raised above her and coming down like a stroke of thunder. Jeog barely rolled aside, the spear gouging the ground she just occupied a split second earlier.

Springing with unnatural agility, Jeog kicked off the ground, swung around the trunk of one tree, and flung herself upwards at another, intending to gain enough height to make a jump for the temple wall. Once up there surely this crazed kirin couldn’t chase her up-

Ki Seong moved with unreal swiftness, another weapon emerging from the thick folds of her tunic. This was a crossbow, smooth and dark wood reflecting in the moonlight. Hardly a normal weapon, it was covered in clockwork mechanisms and was fed by a disc shaped clip of bolts attached to the top. Ki Seong aimed and fired in one smooth motion, the bolt flying from the crossbow while magical script on the shaft ignited it in flame.

The fire bolt hit the tree Jeog had been intending to leap from and exploded in a ball of fire, shattering the tree and clipping Jeog with sheets of fire. Jeog screamed in pain, rolling to the ground as embers licked at her body. Her danger senses screamed at her and she dodged without thinking, another bolt of explosive magic fire striking behind her as she fled among the bushes.

“You won’t get away!” Ki Seong’s voice chased Jeog as bolt after bolt smashed into the bushes and flower beds of the temple garden, Jeog barely able to keep one step ahead of the fiery trail of destruction. The flames started to spread, consuming the easy tinder of the garden, and soon the whole courtyard was bathed in a hellish orange glow, reflected in the golden eyes of a bloodthirsty kirin.

Finally Jeog’s mind twisted from mere flight to fight. Fear of the flames filled her, but so too did sudden anger and a need to strike back. Turning hard, her paws scrapping the courtyard as she changed direction, Jeog turned blazing blue eyes towards Ki Seong and azure foxfire filled her right paw. With a howl she flung the ghostly flame at Ki Seong, but the kirin swung her iron spear before her like a barrier. The bolt of azure flame impacted the spinning spear and the iron of the blade split apart the foxfire, sending the blue embers to land amid and set ablaze more of the garden.

That was merely a distraction, however. Jeog had recovered enough from the iron dust to make better use of her illusions, and she leaped, hissing, upon the kirin. Ki Seong’s spear flashed and pierced the gumiho’s chest, only for the fox’s form to vanish into a puff a smoke, the illusion vanishing just as the real Jeog rammed into Ki Seong’s side with raking claws.

Ki Seong twisted with the blow, her reflexes born of years of training saving her from any serious injury as Jeog’s claws merely tore the cloth of her tunic. Jeog snarled, but had to quickly leap back as Ki Seong’s spear spun in a deadly pattern of retaliatory strikes, so fast that the gumiho could barely keep up with the furious series of blows. Even as she made a final leap of a dozen feet to get some distance she howled in pain as the iron spear’s sharp edge cut a horrid wound on her chest.

“You can’t have him. He’ll be free of you, no matter what it takes,” Ki Seong promised darkly, advancing on the wounded gumiho, who was backing away, snarling in equal parts pain, anger, and growing fear. The courtyard was now a phantasmal scene, coated in fierce orange and blue light as the fires started in the garden began to rage outward, consuming the walls and licking upon the temple’s main building. Shadows danced and the air was filled with a growing sheet of choking smoke.

From the billow smoke Cho Yon’s form leaped in between Ki Seong and Jeog, his eyes desperate and resolved, “Stop this now! Both of you! The flames will kill us all. Please, Ki Seong, put up your weapons! We have to flee this place!”

“We will,” Ki Seong’s eyes blinked in concern, but hardened in determination, almost crazed, “But not until I finish this beast and free your mind. I can’t let it live, Cho Yon. Please, stand aside.”

Cho Yon shook his head, tears that had nothing to do with the stinging smoke in the air clouding his eyes. “I can’t do that. You’re... not yourself right now, Ki Seong.”

He reared up on his hind legs, fore hooves spreading out in the Way of the Open Heart stance, “I can’t let you hurt her.”

For a second it looked as if Ki Seong might have backed down. There was an instant of shock and doubt in her golden eyes, as equally streaked with tears now as Cho Yon’s. But soon rage and denial crept into those eyes and she brandished her spear and crossbow both, her golden aura of magic so thick it now seemed to coat Ki Seong’s whole body.

“Her...? Her!? That thing is an it, Cho Yon! A monster that’s perverted your mind! And I’m ending it, NOW!”

A raw burst of pure gold, magical force exploded from Ki Seong, flowing like a wave towards Cho Yon. Even the nimble young kirin couldn’t evade it in time and he was flung aside like a doll, tumbling to the ground. Jeog froze, caught between conflicting instincts. She wanted to go to Cho Yon, but she also wanted to tear into this foe in front of her, while at the same time the towering flames and oppressive heat around her was making her flight instincts howl for retreat.

For an instant she was too confused to know what to do, and it would have spelled her death then and there if Cho Yon had not acted first. Still picking himself back up, he shouted with all his might, with all his conviction. He screamed her name, and even Jeog, in the present, in the library in Ponyville, felt the memory so vividly that she couldn’t suppress the name.

“Chingu, RUN! Get away from here!”

His voice cut through her confusion and doubt just in time for her to narrowly avoid the crossbow bolt Ki Seong fired at her, the dart exploding on the wall behind where Jeog, where Chingu, had just been. Though there were parts of her that still cried to either go to Cho Yon or keep fighting Ki Seong, Cho Yon’s voice had been filled with such conviction that it had pushed all that aside. So she ran. She turned and made became a gray streak for the gates out of the temple.

Ki Seong pursued doggedly, her crossbow firing bolt after exploding bolt, creating a trail of flaming explosions in Chingu’s wake. Until she ran out of bolts that were enchanted with the flames, and she had to reload with a set of conventional iron bolts. Still enough to kill the gumiho, but she’d have to strike a vital point now. So when she reached the gates herself, with Chingu all but flying down the vast temple steps, Ki Seong’s eyes narrowed in focus as she began to aim.

Meanwhile Chingu had reached the bottom of the steps, but she could still feel the heat of the flames consuming the temple behind her. Fearing for Cho Yon, she turned in time to see Ki Seong, silhouetted like a dark wraith amid the backdrop of the burning temple walls, aiming her crossbow. Instinct and fear for Cho Yon drove Chingu to summoning her own fire, the ghostly azure foxfire sparking to life amid her sweeping nine tails. Even as she did so she knew she'd never be able to strike Ki Seong before the kirin would let fly with her bolt, and Chingu was in a poor position to dodge.

Ki Seong saw the gumiho's tails alight with its demonic magic, but knew she had the beast dead to rights.

She'd almost never missed her target a long as she had a second to aim, and the gumiho had turned around from its flight, making itself the perfect target. Ki Seong’ eyed down the crossbow, took a deep breath, and started to squeeze the trigger.

Cho Yon had never moved so fast in his life. He reached the gates and hurled himself between Ki Seong and his fleeing friend.

Ki Seong saw him appearing in front of her, but too late stop herself from pulling the trigger.

The black bolt of iron flew, and found its mark in Cho Yon’s chest.

The young kirin staggered, eyes wide, and for a split second he stood there, staring at Ki Seong. Sadness blossomed in his eyes and he opened his mouth to say something, but only blood came out, and he collapsed. She was just fast enough to catch his falling body, her crossbow clattering to the steps by her side, her spear forgotten back in the burning temple. Ki Seong stared into his face, now slack and lifeless, and then turned a look of pure, hot hatred towards Chingu.

"You! You did this! You made him stand in the way of that bolt! Monster!"

Chingu stared in mute shock and uncomprehending denial of seeing Cho Yon's fallen form. The rage in Ki Seong's eyes, matching the growing heights of the terrible flames from the temple, made Chingu take a hesitant step back. She didn't know what to do for a moment, but Cho Yon’s words still echoed in her mind. Just as Ki Seong was reaching for her crossbow once more, Chingu wove a shimmering illusion of invisibility around herself, loose and weak but enough to obscure her. Wounded, terrified, confused, and feeling pain beyond the mere gash in her chest, Chingu turned to flee into the night.

And following her was a single word, screamed from the throat of a broken kirin mare holding the body of her loved one. A word that would be repeated in her mind over and over again, across days, weeks, months, then years as the Hunter pursued her. A new name, that slowly had replaced the one she'd received from Cho Yon that fateful day by the river bank.

“Jeog!”

The library was deathly silent for a solid minute before Destroyah’s voice broke the quiet.

“Well... crap.”

“Language, Destroyah,” Ditzy Doo said as she let out an explosive sigh, adjusting her glasses, “Is that all you have to say to... to what we just witnessed?”

Destroyah shook her head, rubbing her face with a hoof, “No, but it sure sums it up succinctly.” She shifted her look to Jeog with sympathy coating her face, “I’m sorry you had to show us that. I suspected, but to see it play out...”

She cast a look towards the fillies in the room, “How are you two holding up?”

Silver Spoon had a pale expression, like Ditzy Doo seeming to adjust her glasses out of nervous habit as she looked down quietly, “I never imagined something so terrible could happen so easily. All that, over a misunderstanding.”

A sniffle filled the room as Diamond Tiara teared up, and flung her hooves around Jeog, “I... I had no idea you went through something like that! And I just made you live through it again. I’m so sorry!”

Jeog’s head tilted curiously towards Diamond Tiara, her own voice subdued, “I don’t see why you’re sorry. You didn’t do anything to hurt me. You wanted to know, so now you do. I am Jeog. The Hunter’s Jeog, who she pursues because I took from her Cho Yon...” Her expression fell, “I caused his death.”

“What?” Diamond said in bafflement, and Destroyah let out a sigh.

“Right, survivor’s guilt. Seen plenty of that. Do you seriously blame yourself for what happened that night?” Destroyah asked seriously, meeting Jeog’s eyes evenly. The gumiho looked back with a pained, but challenging air.

“Had I not been in his life, he would not be dead. Is this not true? I play with mortals for fun, and so often they get hurt. Cho Yon was merely the first who’s loss hurt me as well.”

A bitter note entered her voice, “And I still couldn’t stay away from mortals. Not very smart of me. Cho Yon would have been happier if I had not entered his life.”

Destroyah snorted, “You’re right, you’re not very smart.”

“L-Lady Destroyah!?” Diamond Tiara looked at the kaiju in dismay, “Don’t say that!”

Destroyah leaned her bulk forward, not taking her eyes off of Jeog’s, and for a moment Jeog could see a conviction and strength there that mirrored Cho Yon’s. “Do you really believe that Cho Yon didn’t want you in his life? That he would’ve been happier if you hadn’t shown up? He died for you, not because of you! I didn’t know the man, but I know a man who loves without regret when I see it, and he put his life on the line for someone he cared about! For two people he cared about! Are you really going to disrespect that by assuming he’d have been better off never even knowing you!?”

To that Jeog was left blinking in confused silence, trying to process Destroyah’s strange words. For all the time she’d spent fleeing the pursuit of the Hunter, of Ki Seong, she’d always had this hollow, empty spot inside her where Cho Yon’s presence had been. It had only stood to reason if she hadn’t wanted to feel this way, she shouldn’t have let herself get so involved in a mortal’s life. Ki Seong only attacked because Jeog had been there, and been playing with Cho Yon... only because of her.

“I... I was there, and didn’t belong. Isn’t that why the Hunter attacked? Isn’t it why she’s pursued me for so long? Because I don’t belong with mortals. I cannot understand you. My being with them only eventually hurts them, right? Because... because I am Jeog.”

“No, you’re not!” Diamond Tiara said, shaking her head, “I heard what he called you. Cho Yon had another name for you. Chi-”

Jeog shook her head fiercely and snarled, “No. I am not that anymore. Cho Yon is dead. So is that name. Jeog is what I am. The Hunter may be a mad predator, but she knows what I am and sees that much clearly. Why can’t you? Why can’t...”

Uncertainty crawled into Jeog’s voice as she flattened her head against the table, tails lashing behind her in frustration. “Why can’t I go back? To long ago, when I felt nothing of this pain and confusion? It was so easy before, but now I keep feeling pains inside me. Pain because Cho Yon is gone. Pain because I don’t want Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon to be gone. Pain because I’m afraid I’ll be the reason why mortals die again. I didn’t feel that pain before, but now...”

“Yeah,” Destroyah said solemnly, “That’s called having emotions. Guilt. Remorse. Loss. It's part of being a person.”

“I don’t like it! Why would mortals choose to be this way!?” Jeog shouted.

“We don’t choose it. It’s just how we are. And... it sounds like its something you are now, too, whether you understand it or not. Which definitely makes you dangerous,” Destroyah sighed, then let out a small laugh, “But no more dangerous than I was when I was first figuring all this stuff out too. You’re actually really lucky, Jeog. I get the impression you’re one of the few, if not only gumiho who’s developed feelings like this by being around mortals for so long.”

The fox turned a deep frown towards the kaiju, “I don’t call this lucky.”

“Well, let me ask you this; was all the time you spent with Cho Yon, or Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, painful?”

Jeog’s face screwed up in thought, and mild bewilderment, “No, there were many times that felt good. But that doesn’t meant it won’t hurt again, too.”

“That’s part of life. Good times, and bad times. Living like you did before you spent time with Cho Yon, maybe you didn’t feel all that bad, playing around with mortals, sometimes hurting them, sometimes not, just doing whatever your instincts told you to do. But you didn’t really feel good in the way Cho Yon made you feel, did you? Not the same way Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon here make you feel, right?” Destroyah said insistently, clearly trying to drive something home to Jeog. Again reminding Jeog of Cho Yon and the way he spoke of the heart.

Yet Jeog had such a hard time grasping the meaning of these words. Yes she felt better around Cho Yon, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon than she could ever remember feeling. But so, too, was the pain so much worse. Cho Yon’s loss had haunted her, turned her into an animal that only fled and hid until the loneliness and boredom forced her to try to be around mortals again.

She couldn’t see what drove mortals to exist this way. So much intense pain and joy mixed together, wouldn’t it drive any of them mad? It certainly seemed to drive the Hunter mad, and Jeog wasn’t certain it hadn’t driven her mad, too.

“I think that’s enough for now,” Ditzy Doo’s voice cut in with its calm, measured weight. “We’ve all had a long day, and it’s already well past time for lunch. I believe we should take a break here and let our thoughts collect. Jeog, you may be confused right now, but rest assured I appreciate your willingness to open up so much to us, and this all will help me make an informed decision regarding your status here in Equestria. Whatever doubts you may have, I do hope you continue this level of cooperation.”

“You’re talk makes my head hurt, strange pony,” Jeog said.

Diamond Tiara patted Jeog’s shoulder, “It's alright, Ditzy’s just saying thank you in her own way. So, do you want to go get some lunch?”

Food didn’t really appeal to Jeog right then, but anything seemed better than sitting around to mull over her confused thoughts. She was about to say as much when there was a pounding knock on the library door, followed by a hoarse shout.

“Ditzy Doo! Lady Destroyah! Please come out, we must speak immediately!”

Jeog’s ears twitched at the voice’s harsh, even hysteric tone, while the ponies in the room all exchanged glances.

“Who could that be?” Diamond Tiara asked, while Silver Spoon rubbed her chin,

“That sounds like Sweetie Belle’s mother.”

Destroyah rose from where she sat, face growing calm and steady while also carrying a hint of wariness that was reflected in her voice, “Best see what she wants. Sounds serious.”

Ditzy Doo nodded her agreement and both of them went to the door, the towering pony shaped kaiju standing aside to allow the far shorter Ditzy Doo looking foal like next to Destroyah as she opened the door. Beyond the threshold stood not only the pink form of Sweetie Belle’s mother, practically shaking in place, but there was a whole mob of ponies wearing faces of clear distress, worry, or outrage. The moment Ditzy Doo had the door open a flood of angry shouting washed over them.

“Quiet down please,” Ditzy Doo said over the shouting, somehow making her placid tone carry over the din with weight. “Quiet down and somepony speak one at a time.”

As the crowd grew quieter Ditzy Doo nodded in approval and glanced at the hefty pink mare wearing a red blouse, her purple mane done up in a beehive bun. “Good. Now, Cookie Crumbles, perhaps you could enlighten me as to what this particular gathering is about?”

Cookie Crumbles gulped and nodded, “Of course, but you may want Lady Destroyah to guard the door so that... guest of your’s doesn’t cause any trouble. Any more trouble. Now, Filthy Rich, Spoiled Rich, would you please come forward so you can help explain what’s happened?”

As both of Diamond Tiara’s parents shuffled nervously out of the crowd, both wearing jittery looks tinged with an element of shame Diamond Tiara herself came to the door with Silver Spoon following close behind and Jeog curiously padding behind the two fillies.

“Mom? Dad? What’s going on?” Diamond Tiara asked, poking her head out from around Ditzy Doo.

“Well honey, um, you remember that crate in the kitchen this morning?” Spoiled Rich said, rubbing the back of her head in a flush of embarrassment as she looked around at the irate citizens of Ponyville around her, which Diamond Tiara now noticed consisted of quite a number of the merchants who worked the stalls in the marketplace.

“It wasn’t filled with anything for my work, pumpkin,” said her father. Filthy Rich was a frazzled looking stallion, with a light brown coat stained with various bits of oil or glue from his inventing. His darker brown mane was slicked back and a tad messy, and he still wore a pair of magnifying goggles he usually had on when he was working. He had a worried frown on as he looked at Diamond Tiara, but also cast a glance towards Jeog.

“The crate was filled up with a whole lot of bits.”

At this point Ditzy Doo shared a querying look with Destroyah, who shrugged, and both of them emerged from the library to face the crowd. Diamond Tiara made a move to follow, but Destroy looked back and shook her head, causing the filly to stay in place. Then the kaiju turned her attention to Diamond Tiara’s parents.

“Just how many bits are we talking about here?”

Filthy Rich glanced at the crowd with unease, “I didn’t count it all up, but it was quite a lot, all separated into different pouches or lockboxes. Um, the kind local merchants use to keep their profits in.”

“We were so confused,” said Spoiled Rich quickly, “We’d heard about some of our fellow Ponyvilians being stolen from, so it dawned on us this money had to belong to them. But, well, when we went to tell the Mayor-”

“Which is where I was there to hear the whole thing!” Cookie Crumbles declared, “I was speaking with the Mayor concerning safety precautions we could take concerning... certain individuals in our midst and Mr. and Mrs. Rich came in, all flustered and talking about having found all the money that’d been going missing these past few days. I heard all that and knew who must have been responsible!”

There was a chorus of agreeing cries from the gathered ponies, many of them now turning angry eyes towards Jeog, who remained lingering in the library. By now Jeog had comprehended, at least in part, what was happening. Clearly her gift to Diamond Tiara’s family had been discovered, although none of these ponies seemed particular happy or grateful about it. Even Diamond Tiara had a look of distress on her petite pink features as she looked back at Jeog. Still in the library next to the fox, Silver Spoon let out a groan.

“You didn’t? Did you? Seriously?” Silver Spoon didn’t sound angry, just exasperated. Jeog held her head up, not at all sure why she should be getting all this weird looks!

“I don’t see the problem. None of these ponies were using their silly pieces of metal, just collecting them in bags and hiding them, poorly, under shelves or floorboards. I just grabbed a few to give to Diamond Tiara, because she said her family needed them. What’s wrong with that?”

Several sharp cries of anger rose form the ponies, but Cookie Crumbles rose above them as she pointed with an accusatory hoof, “See!? She admits it! This creature thieves from us, injures our foals, all while pretending to befriend our own. Miss Doo, Lady Destroyah, surely you see the danger she poses now?”

A low growl filled Jeog’s throat, but it was tempered by the memory of having accidentally clawed Scootaloo. She wanted to shout at these ponies that their rules made no sense. Why would some ponies keep so many metal coins they didn’t need while ponies like Diamond Tiara had to make do without them? Why were the coins so important to begin with? Mortals were crazy!

But she kept her mouth shut, her tails and hackles bristling as she glared.

Destroyah sucked in a breath and spoke in a loud, authoritative voice over the din of the angered crowd. “Everypony settle down! It's obvious that this was done in misunderstanding. Jeog is still figuring out the rules here, and made an honest mistake.”

“Oh, like little Scootaloo’s injury was an honest mistake?” shot in Cookie Crumbles, sweeping a hoof out at the crowd, which did have a few foals in it who were keeping close to their parents. “How many ‘honest mistakes’ does it take before she does something that can’t be reversed?”

“That’s why we’re evaluating her and working to acclimate her to our ways,” said Ditzy Doo, “Are we ponies of Equestria not a people whose lives are built upon tenants of acceptance, friendship, and building harmony between others? While I understand your concerns this display of anger is unworthy of citizens who not so long ago accepted our Lady Destroyah with open hooves, despite her own unusual appearance and origins.”

“M-Miss Doo, begging your pardon,” said Spoiled Rich, “I know what you’re trying to say, and given its my daughter who’s spent so much time with... um, Jeog, I think I have more riding on her learning our ways than most here. Its just, while Cookie might be getting a bit alarmist, I can’t say she’s wrong.”

Spoiled Rich looked at Jeog with shockingly frank and level eyes, “I know you might not understand our ways, and that you and my daughter are managing to get along despite that. But can you understand why, with things like this, I’m scared? Scared that, even if you’re not some evil monster, you might still accidentally end up hurting somepony, including my little filly?”

“Mom, that’s not fair! Jeog would never do anything to hurt me or Silver Spoon! She doesn’t mean to hurt anypony. She just needs to be taught what is and isn’t right to do, like with the bits-”

“Stop.”

It was Jeog’s voice that cut off Diamond Tiara, and the filly looked back at the gumiho, along with everypony else who’s attention turned towards the strange, foreign creature as she exited the library with her head low to the ground, ears flat, tails dragging.

“Jeog?” Diamond Tiara blinked.

“I don’t want to cause you more trouble,” Jeog snorted, “I thought I was giving you something you wanted, but it just causes problems. I’ll go.”

“Wait, you don’t have to do that!”

At Diamond Tiara’s cry, Destroyah held out a wing, stepping towards both the filly and the fox, leaning down so her massive form was more at eye level to the pair. Destroyah’s eyes were earnest as she looked at Jeog.

“I trust you’re not planning to up and leave entirely?”

“No, I will not leave. I still wish to find a place here, even if I fear what may happen,” said Jeog, “But too much noise today. Too much trouble, and I still don’t understand mortals enough to not be trouble. Stupid metal coins. I just wanted Diamond Tiara to have as many as she wants, and nopony seemed to be using them...”

Destroyah sighed out a laugh, “Economics suck, no matter the world. Still, got to teach you the importance of private property, girl. A lesson for tomorrow I’m thinking. So you’re heading home to your cabin?”

Jeog nodded with a gloomy but accepting expression, “If I stay there will just be more anger and shouting. At least the cabin is quiet.”

Diamond Tiara looked crestfallen, and Silver Spoon came up beside her with a comforting pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, this will blow over once everypony gets their bits back and they have a chance to simmer down.”

“Indeed,” said Ditzy Doo, eyeing Cooke Crumbles and the crowd, “I trust that nopony objects to me overseeing that the money is all returned in the proper amounts to the appropriate owners? Assuming I can’t convince our Mayor to leave her office for a few minutes to help-” Ditzy Doo’s voice turned to a momentary mutter, “-for a change of pace.”

Cookie Crumbles didn’t looked particularly satisfied, but she, along with the crowd, appeared to be calming down now that Jeog had declared that she was leaving the town limits for the day. Many still gave the gumiho nervous stares.

“That’s fine by me,” Cookie Crumbles said, “As long everypony gets back what belongs to them and your ‘guest’ is kept from causing any more mischief.”

“We’ll keep an eye on her as long as you don’t stir up any more mobs,” Destroyah said in a flat, purely no-nonsense tone, “Ditzy Doo is right, Ponyville isn’t the place for this kind of thing.” She gestured with a stern hoof at the crowd, and to most of the gathered ponies credit many of them looked at least somewhat ashamed.

As the crowd started to disperse, Spoiled and Filthy Rich looked at their daughter and Jeog, both looking only marginally more relaxed. Filthy cleared his throat and said, “Well, the minor heart attack I suffered upon finding a small fortune in stolen bits in my kitchen aside, I’m grateful you seem care so much about my daughter, Miss Jeog. Perhaps when you’ve gotten a bit more used to pony life you might drop by for dinner sometime?”

Jeog looked at him curiously, then quietly answered, “...Sometime.”

Diamond Tiara gave her parents a imploring look, “Mom, Dad, I know I’m still grounded, but would it be okay if I stayed at the library today, at least until dark?”

“Um, well I guess that’s okay,” Spoiled Rich said after exchanging a look with her husband, “But why?”

“I just want to read, and talk with Lady Destroyah some more, since its been awhile since I gotten to see her.”

“Hm, well that’s fine honey, if Miss Doo doesn’t mind.”

“That’s perfectly fine,” Ditzy Doo said, “I could use a hoof in recategorizing a few shelves.”

By now the crowd that had gathered was no entirely dispersed, and Jeog’s nose twitched at the departing scents of so many ponies. The air around Ponyville could be so thick with pony scent it was hard to discern anything specific. With a shallow breath she started to leave, only for her to feel a tug on one of her tails. She turned to see Diamond Tiara staring at her with hopeful eyes, Silver Spoon beside her with a more reserved by no less hopeful look.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?”

A moment passed silently, then Jeog’s lips twitched in the memory of a smile and she said, “See you tomorrow.”

Destroyah let out a long held breath after Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were back in the library, working on organizing a few shelves of books at Ditzy Doo’s direction. The Element of Wisdom flew out to see the towering crimson kaiju watching the direction Jeog had departed from.

“Worried?” Ditzy Doo asked, alighting next to Destroyah. She couldn't claim to know the titanic being trapped in a pony’s form very well, but Ditzy wasn’t the holder of the Element of Wisdom for nothing, and could perceive more than her thick rimmed glasses might indicate.

Destroyah cracked a wry but subdued smile, “I had a few guesses about what had gone down back in Carrea, but what we saw went further than even I feared.”

“You believe this Ki Seong will be coming here?”

“Ooooh yeah, I’d lay money on it, if I had any,” Destroyah’s expression turned grave, “I’ve run into plenty of monsters in my time helping Xen keep Earth halfway intact. I’ve seen the kind that kill for fun, I’ve seen the kind that kill because of instinct and the need to feed...” she grit her thick, pointed teeth and growled, “And I’ve met one who kills out of pure, undiluted hate and rage. And he’s the most dangerous being I’ve ever faced. This Ki Seong mare, when she screamed Jeog’s name, well, that sounded a lot like the same kind of rage that boils inside Godzilla. So yeah, I’m worried. I’m thinking I need to get a letter to Xen and request he send Raiga here as backup, just in case.”

“Are you sure that’s necessary? Even if Ki Seong is still hunting Jeog after all this time, how could she track her down to this small village in the middle of Equestria?”

“Never say never, Ditzy. I’ll write up the letter and get it sent out tonight. I’d rather be wrong and bore the crap out of Raiga, than be right and not have an extra fighter on standby in case we need her.”

Ditzy’s otherwise calm face nodded in acceptance, “I suppose I cannot fault your caution. Very well, I’ll ensure the letter is sent first thing in the morning. Let us hope that your fears prove to be unfounded.”

The pony village looked like one of any number of dozens she’d seen before. Homey little buildings with thatch roofs, all clustered amid the picturesque greenery of the Equestrian heartland. Fortunately forest bordered Ponyville in abundance, with numerous branches and copses of thick trees providing endless spots of cover for Ki Seong and Battra to hide in as they observed the quaint town.

For all of that agonizing morning Ki Seong’s eyes searched feverishly, with hawk-like clarity. Her nose tasted the air, all of her senses enhanced by the demon blood in her veins. For hours, nothing. Then her ears picked up the disturbance, angry shouts at the center of the village.

“Something’s happening,” she craned her neck, trying to get a better view, but there was no easy vantage to see deeper into the village from where she and Battra lay amid the trees.

“Ah, yes, the air does have a delicious tinge of fear and outrage to it,” Battra said, breathing in deeply with a savoring sigh, “I do believe there are some ponies in town who are quite upset about something.”

“Your spell says it’s in there somewhere... perhaps the residents have discovered it presence and intend to run it out of town?” Ki Seong surged to her hooves, “If it fights back we could sweep in and catch it while it’s distracted!”

“Oh do sit down,” Battra said chidingly, “I also sense that one of my enemies is within the town. Hmm...” she closed her eyes, sniffing the air, licking her lips with a long, forked tongue. “Ah, Destroyah. How... perfect.”

Ki Seong raised a dark eyebrow, “Destroyah?”

Battra let out a ravenous chuckle, “The strong right hand of my enemy, and his most valued knight on the board. Here. Alone. Heheh, this venture may prove more fruitful than I imagined. She is powerful, but a blunt, simple instrument.”

“Is she going to complicate matters? I’m here for Jeog, nothing else,” Ki Seong said firmly.

“Oh, not to worry. We can deal with your Jeog first, and if Destroyah ends up interfering then I shall be sufficient for dealing with her. I rather relish the opportunity, as she’s almost always attached to her master. Together they are too formidable to face by myself, but if she’s alone, I believe I can do for her...” Battra’s smile turned wickedly wide, “And oh how I’d so enjoy the expression on Xenilla’s face when he sees her broken corpse.”

Ki Seong growled out a sigh, once again starting to regret ever teaming up with this creature, but now that her prey was all but in sight, there was no turning back. Grumbling she said, “Let us find a better spot to observe from. I want to know what’s happening in there.”

It took a few minutes of slow, careful walking, avoiding exposing themselves to anypony who might be looking their way, but Ki Seong and Battra found a small hill, still covered in trees, that provided a more commanding view of Ponyville. Ki Seong’s keen eyes managed to spot a crowd of ponies gathered around a large tree near to the center of the town, a tree that had windows and a deck, as if it had been hollowed out to be a home. By the time she spotted the crowd it was already parting, ponies leaving back to whatever business they were doing and leaving only a small group by the treehouse itself.

It was then that Ki Seong’s eyes shot wide, her blood pumping hot inside her as her heart started to hammer.

She saw it, the light gray form with its thick, nine tails. A roar filled Ki Seong’s ears from her pounding blood and she nearly tore down the hill right then and there, but Battra’s hiss stopped her.

“Easy, Ki Seong. Look, see the tall, red one?”

Ki Seong did, and even through her deep anger and bloodlust a part of her was shaken by the sight. She’d never seen a pony anywhere near that size! The dark crimson form was head and shoulders a giant easily three times as tall as the average pony, and even at this distance Ki Seong could see the wide, bat-like wings and the massive orange, curved horn cresting from this “pony’s” brow.

“She’s... impressive.”

Battra laughed lightly, “You should see her in her true form. Such a shame she chose the wrong side. She’d have made such a beautiful destroyer of worlds. Now, I know you crave your prey’s blood, but a direct attack in the middle of town would be foolish. Let us wait a little longer...”

She hated it, but Battra was right. Ki Seong hissed out a sigh and settled down, but her eyes never lost their focus on the distant form of the grayish vulpine form of her enemy.

Her patience was rewarded sooner than she could have hoped. Ki Seong’s breath nearly caught in her throat as she saw Jeog leaving the village, swiftly padding across a grassy field outside the village limits and heading towards one of the thinner woods bordering Ponyville.

“There! It’s alone.”

“Hmm, indeed she is. Just a moment...” Battra’s horn lite up with deep orange magic, “This close I’ll need no ritual. I can track exactly where she goes.”

Ki Seong snorted, “Unnecessary. Now that it’s is in my sights, my own senses will track the beast to its lair. It won’t escape. Here, this day, the hunt ends.”

Gentle Leaf had finished her chores for the day and left her parent’s restaurant to go explore more of Ponyville. There was still so many little alley’s and cul de sacs she hadn’t seen yet, and the town was deceptively larger than it seemed at first glance. Besides, walking helped clear her head. She was still feeling twisted up inside over what had happened with Scootaloo and Jeog.

She’d been so scared of Diamond Tiara’s friend when her true form had been revealed, and she felt bad that Scootaloo had been hurt. Yet she also felt bad for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Both of them had gone so far out of their way to make Gentle Leaf feel welcomed in Ponyville, and she wanted to keep playing with them, to be their friend to pay them back for showing such consideration and kindness.

But she was afraid to be near Jeog now. So instead of going to play with her new friends, she contented herself with exploring the town alone, trying not to think about things too hard and still feeling bad about it.

The little filly was passing a street near the grassy field that led towards the Whitetail Woods when she caught sight of a gray form vanishing into the woods. Jeog? Gentle Leaf peered in that direction, too far away to be sure, but figuring that she must have just seen Jeog leaving town. Had Miss Ditzy Doo and that big mare, Destroyah finished talking with her for the day? Gentle Leaf had heard about that from her parents, who collected all sorts of gossip from the ponies who came into the restaurant. She found herself hoping that things turned out okay. She might have been scared of Jeog, but what happened had still seemed like an accident, and it was better when everypony could be friends, even when not all the creatures involved were ponies.

Sighing, Gentle Leaf was about to turn and head down another street, but her eyes caught a hint of motion amid the woods again. Turning and squinting, she thought she saw two large, dark forms moving amid the trees, heading deeper into the Whitetail Woods. Heading in the same direction Jeog had gone.

Curiosity briefly warred with caution, and as was often the case with the young, curiosity won out.

Gentle Leaf headed towards the woods.

Her cabin was silent and dark as always, and Jeog laid on a pile of taken cushions and blankets, idly drawing a random design in the floor with a claw and trying not to sigh every two minutes. It had been a... tiring day. Reliving the pain of Cho Yon’s loss, discovering how little she still understood about mortals ways, she just wanted to crawl into her lair and sleep. What was ‘theft’ anyway? Would she have to give back everything she’d taken? How was she supposed to get things, then? Give the ponies pieces of metal? Where would she get those if she didn’t just take them when she saw them?

A horrible thought passed Jeog’s mind.

Would she have to get one of those... those... what were they called again? Jobs?

She shuddered at the thought. She’d just have to figure out a way to live among mortals without driving herself insane, or causing them trouble. It seemed such an imposing task. In some ways it would be infinitely easier to run away again.

An image of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon’s hopeful faces flashed through her mind, and Jeog let out a small but not unhappy sigh, her tails wagging slightly.

A difficult, perhaps impossible task, to understand mortals... but perhaps worth it to keep trying.

Jeog’s ears perked up at the sound of hoofsteps outside her door. They were quiet, light steps, but not coming from anypony who was trying to hide themselves. They were too light to belong to Destroyah. Ditzy Doo, perhaps? Or had Diamond Tiara come out to see her, despite being ‘grounded’ by her parents?

Jeog stood, taking a few steps towards the door to see who it was, when the unlocked portal swung open under a wreath of golden magic that Jeog recognized instantly, and felt every single nerve in her body freeze with utter terror as her nightmare stepped into the cabin.

“Jeog,” Ki Seong said simply, eyes burning pools of molten gold, a rabid predator’s grin splitting her face as her onyx mane started to writhe around her like a living shadow.

There was no other exit from her cabin, save the windows, and Jeog bolted for the nearest one without thought, just pure cold fear driving her flight. She leaped for the window, willing to crash right through it, but Ki Seong’s mane expanded and flew even faster. The unnaturally tough and strong strands wrapped around one of Jeog’s hind legs, halting her in mid-air just long enough for Ki Seong’s living, demonic mane to yank the gumiho back and swing her straight into the cabin wall with enough force to shake the entire structure.

Jeog howled as pain exploded through her, but she didn’t miss a single beat, scrambling up and bolting for another window. Ki Seong’s face twisted in disgust as she moved with lightning speed, leaping into a spinning hoof strike that caught Jeog squarely in the side of the face. This pushed Jeog’s head through the window in a shatter of glass, and she slumped down, but refusing to let the pain daze her Jeog’s foxfire boiled up in a puff of dense azure smoke.

Ki Seong didn’t let the smoke distract her, lashing out with a hoof at Jeog’s darting form, only to find the form flicker out as the illusion of the gumiho popped and the real Jeog appeared near the door, rushing outside.

Out of the cabin Jeog rushed headlong towards the treeline, eyes wild, mouth panting...

Only to slam headlong into a painful flash of magical light that sent her careening backwards. Yelping in pain she rose, looking with horror to see that the field of magic had been created by a series of papers pinned to the ground by iron needles, elaborate magical symbols flaring with power to ward against Jeog’s species. Her whole cabin was encased in these talisman, and she realized she was trapped.

She turned as Ki Seong stepped out of the cabin, the kirin’s face a mask of deep satisfaction and eager bloodlust.

“No more running. No more hiding. Finally, finally I have you, and you will not escape me again!”

Jeog, despite the fear burrowing like frozen worms through her body, readied herself to fight. She reared down, readying to spring, issuing forth a growl. Ki Seong’s smile of hot rage didn’t waver as the familiar wood charm around her neck summoned forth its mist and the kirin’s iron spear took shape in her ready magic grip.

However just then a new voice spoke, smooth, smokey, and filled with venomous intent.

“As much as I’d like to watch you two fight, I’d rather we not waste time we don’t have to, Ki Seong.”

Jeog suddenly felt pain rip across her back as a beam of thick, twisting orange magic lanced across her. She rolled away from the magic beam, struggling to stand again, only to have a large, dark form smash into her from above, pinning her to the ground with crushing force.

Looking up, Jeog’s eyes widened as she saw an unfamiliar creature standing above her, it's dark onyx beauty only matched by the raw menace and malevolence that radiated off of the black, instectile equine form of Battra Lea. Magic blazed from Battra’s horn, smothering Jeog in a thick, telekinetic grip even as her hoof pressed Jeog’s face into the ground.

“No need to struggle, although I do appreciate the entertainment. That said...” Battra leaned down, whispering with unrestrained mirth, “The real fun is just beginning.”

Ki Seong, scowling, approached and reached with her magic into the folds of her cloak. Out came a set of long iron needles, and Jeog’s eyes widened as she started to redouble her efforts to try and break free of Battra’s hold. It was useless. She couldn’t move. All she could do was watch as those long, thick needles of hateful iron flew on strands of gold magic around her... then stabbed inward. The iron pierced Jeog’s arms, the terrible metal burning the very fabric of magic that made up Jeog’s body. A howl escaped Jeog as the needles dug in deep, and strength started to flee her body.

“This should hold her while we work,” Ki Seong said flatly.

“So, how long to sever each tail? That is what is involved with harvesting her beads, yes?” Battra asked, and the words sent a fresh tremor of panic through Jeog. She tried to twist her head to bit at this strange onyx newcomer, but she could barely move. She tried to summon up any foxfire for an illusion or even a glimmer of flame, but the iron now burning inside her made such magical focus impossible.

Ki Seong stood over her, that look of disgust never flinching, “Years wasted chasing you. I want nothing more than to see your demise, but first I’ll take from you that which I need to salvage my honor, if not my life.”

It was becoming clearer to Jeog that there was no escape, and that her fate was as good as sealed. There was no point denying her fear, but surprising even to her was the fact that beyond the fear of her own impending death, she was scared most of all for what might happen to those mortals she’d come to know in Ponyville.

Struggling even to speak past the pain of the iron needles piercing her flesh, Jeog said, “Don’t... don’t...”

Ki Seong spat, “Begging for your life now? What a wretched thing you are.”

Jeog shook her head, “Don’t...hurt the ponies... just me. Just me... and not them.”

Her plea had a rather rapid effect. Ki Seong’s eyes briefly widened. A maelstrom of conflicting emotions shot across the kirin's eyes; crosswinds of confusion mingling with gusts of doubt... but then flashing with the lightning of utter rage. In an instant the jade flicker the kirin’s hoof smashed into Jeog’s face. The blow rattled Jeog, stars bursting to life in her vision. Then Ki Seong’s hoof battered her again, and again, in a relentless flurry of unrestrained anger.

Battra rolled her eyes and held out a hoof, stopping Ki Seong. At the kirin’s glare Battra said, “Do recall she must be alive in order for us to harvest the beads. Or am I misremembering your explanation of the ritual?”

With a hiss Ki Seong pulled her hoof away, looking at it, and Jeog's bruised face, with a momentary flicker of shame, which soon transmuted back to stony resolve. “Yes, I remember. This thing won’t die easily, but we’ve wasted enough time. Bring it into the cabin. We’ll get to work, and soon enough you’ll have what you want, and I’ll have what I need.”

Her black mane slipped around Jeog like a coiling blanket, the strands tightening around the gumiho’s body tightly as Ki Seong dragged her into the darkness of the cabin. Battra followed with an amused smile, and Jeog looked out from the cabin desperately as the doors closed on her, and any hope of escape.

No more than thirty paces from the cabin, a minute after the door closed, a bush shook as a starkly terrified and horrified Gentle Leaf backed away from what she’d just witnessed. Her mouth worked in a silent attempt at screaming, but even she realized to make any noise now might spell doom for her and for Jeog.

With all the speed her tiny legs could muster Gentle Leaf turned and galloped back towards Ponyville.

Chapter 6: To Run No More

Chapter 6: To Run No More

“Do you really think we’re in that much trouble?”

The kitchen in the Golden Oaks library was fairly large given the treehouse’s size, but Destroyah still had to keep her head pretty low to avoid scraping the ceiling. She and Ditzy Doo were alone in the kitchen while Ditzy fixed up some dinner. The door was closed but Destroyah’s keen ears could still hear the two fillies in the main library room, the pair organizing some of the library shelves that Ditzy had asked them to.

Destroyah didn’t look at Ditzy after the pegasus had asked her question, instead giving a thoughtful glance out the kitchen window, where beyond the rooftops of Ponyville she could see the patchy edge of Whitetail Woods. Ditzy had written and sent the letter updating Xenilla and Duchess Chrysalis on the situation already, but it would take Ponyville's mail service until tomorrow to get it to Canterlot, and Destroyah couldn’t help feeling a growing sense of agitation. Her instincts were warning her, but she had no clear threat yet to act against. A part of her considered she might be acting paranoid, but she'd learned to trust her gut when it told her danger was inbound.

“Best case scenario I’m being pointlessly worried over nothing and we give the locals a few days to calm down before bringing Jeog back into town. Worst case, however? We might have a fight on our hands sooner rather than later. It's only a matter of time before word about Jeog being here leaks out from a gossiping traveler or merchant. If Ki Seong catches any of those rumors I don't think it'd take her long to come straight here.”

“Hooves. Fight on our hooves,” Ditzy said, waggling one of her limbs at Destroyah, who rolled her eyes.

“Right, I keep forgetting. Still think its weird you guys use the term ‘everypony’ when you have creatures living in Equestria that aren't ponies. Colloquialisms are weird. Point is, if this Ki Seong is out there, still hunting Jeog, we’re on a ticking timer before she inevitably makes her way to Ponyville. When that happens I want to be ready for it.”

She paused, considering, “It might even be better to convince Jeog to relocate to somewhere less populated. Somewhere we can effectively hide her.”

“I’m not certain that would be for the best,” Ditzy replied, not looking away from her cooking, “The connection she shares with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon is not something I’d wish to place undue strain on by separating them for an extended period. I imagine Jeog may become far less cooperative without the fillies being nearby.”

“You’re not wrong,” Destroyah admitted, eyes roving over the quiet little homes of the town outside the window, “At the same time I have to look at the safety of the ponies living here and consider the repercussions of a brawl with a vengeance driven demon hunter occurring in town square.”

Ditzy solemnly nodded as she stirred the ladle in a pot of soup, “A wise train of thought, and one I share. That being said, I believe it would be a mistake to send Jeog away. As dangerous as this unfortunate kirin may be, I believe Jeog herself could be even more dangerous if left in this state of mental and emotional confusion. Her species seems disinclined towards moral conscience, and this is a rare opportunity to teach one of her kind a sense of... harmony. As a Bearer for an Element of Harmony I don’t think I can ignore a chance to help another creature, especially one so confused and in need of guidance.”

Destroyah couldn’t help but chuckle warmly, grinning down at the small, bookish pegasus. “I just can’t get over how optimistic you ponies are. Sure, you get the herd mentality sometimes. I’ve seen ponies panic and get gripped by fear a lot since I got here, but despite all that there’s an real tough and endlessly hopeful core to you little candy-colored miracles. Makes me kind of glad me and Xenilla got zapped here. Especially the cheif.”

“Sir Xenilla? Why do you say that?”

A heavy look crossed Destoryah’s face, eyes no longer seeing the kitchen, “I just think he needed this place. Don’t get me wrong, he’s an incredibly capable leader and has never once wavered in this duty he’s saddled himself with to protect the Earth. But the war we were fighting over there, I think it was slowly wearing him down. Breaking down the good parts of him. Forcing him to make harder compromises and choices, while every setback or failure would eat away at him just a bit more. I was starting to get worried. Still am, but since we got here I’ve been seeing... something blossoming anew in him. Not sure if its just the way this world is, or the way you ponies are, or if I’m just imagining it all, but I think being here is helping smooth over some of the rough edges in the guy. That’s all. Suppose its not crazy the same might be true for Jeog, or even this Ki Seong.”

“Equestria is the place for second chances,” Ditzy Doo said, then blinked, as if surprised, “Huh, I usually don’t quote the Duchess like that.”

“That one of her turns of phrase?”

“Yes, it's not our Duchess’ way to give up on anypony, or anyone for that matter.”

It was a good thought, although Destroyah knew from her own experiences that there were some monsters out there that couldn’t be so easily reasoned with. She was all for second chances, but wasn’t so certain it was quite that simple when it came to the likes of Battra Lea or Godzilla. Somewhere out there in the world those two were likely plotting their next move against Equestria, and who knew how many innocent lives would be put in danger? Or lost? They’d come so damn close to ending the King of the Monsters after Raiga’s tussle with him outside Manehattan, but the bastard had managed to get away. Destroyah somehow doubted the harmonizing nature, whatever one wanted to call it, of Equestria was having much effect on him. Probably less on Battra.

Much as I’m glad Xen being here is doing him some good, I wish it hadn’t come with the price of bringing Earth’s worst monsters over here with us. But me and Xen will do what we’ve always done, and face those beasts every time they rear their ugly heads. And with Raiga to back us up we just might be able to keep this world from getting razed by a mutated psychopathic dinosaur and the nihilistic moth from hell.

Her musings were interrupted as her eyes caught sight of a small, light green form galloping full tilt down the street towards the library. Usually seeing a filly running around Ponyville’s streets was pretty normal, but Destroyah could see the distress in the filly’s gait, and a moment later saw the terror on the little pony’s face as well. A cold feeling hit Destroyah’s gut.

“Ditzy, look outside,” was all Destroyah said, and her tone alone immediately got Ditzy Doo’s full attention and upon spotting the filly rapidly approaching the library her own expression went still. The pair of them didn’t even need to exchange looks, they merely went straight for the door out into the main library.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon both gave the adults odd looks as Destroyah and Ditzy Doo reached the library’s entrance and flung the doors open, a mere second before Gentle Leaf came galloping in. The filly had twigs and leaves stuck in her mane, and her face was covered in a sheen of sweat, her tiny chest heaving in exhausted and frightened gasps.

“Gentle Leaf? What’s wrong?” Diamond Tiara asked and she and Silver Spoon joined the two adults around the panting Gentle Leaf, who seemed to be gasping for air and trying to move her lips to form words.

Destroyah leaned down, a gentle look on her face as she said, “Take it easy there, kid. Just breathe. You’re safe now.”

Ditzy Doo was examining Gentle Leaf from tail to snout, eyes smooth and unblinking behind her glasses, “She’s uninjured, save for a few scraps from branches. She must have run without stopping. Her pupils are dilated. Something’s given her a serious fright.”

“It’s okay,” Destroyah said in a soothing voice, one of her massive hooves extending to give the softest of comforting touches to Gentle Leaf’s withers, “Take a minute to catch your breath and then tell us what happened.”

Those warning instincts were revving up into overdrive inside Destroyah, but she let none of it show on her face, maintaining the calming mask for Gentle Leaf’s sake. She didn’t actually know the filly much at all, although she’d eaten at the filly’s parent’s restaurant once while she’d still been in Ponyville. She’d just assumed Gentle Leaf was the quiet, shy type, so she was rather surprised when Diamond Tiara quickly said.

“Destroyah, Gentle Leaf... she’s mute. She can’t tell us what’s scared her. Gentle Leaf, could you write it out for us?”

Gentle Leaf shook her head, her whole body shaking as the filly seemed to draw in as much breath as she could and then with her eyes clenched shut with concentration and force of will she spoke in a quiet voice, “They... got her!”

Everypony blinked, some in shock at hearing Gentle Leaf speak, Destroyah in grim realization of what the filly was likely talking about. Ditzy Doo, ever one to confirm things, frowned and asked, “Who? Please, if you can, elaborate.”

It took Gentle Leaf another minute, having to force each word out with a voice clearly unused to ever uttering a sound, but she described what she’d seen. Spotting Jeog heading home into the Whitetail Woods. The shadows she’d seen following after the fox-like creature. When Gentle Leaf got to the part where she had to describe the crazed looking kirin and the bizarre monstrous looking Changeling that had beaten Jeog into the ground and dragged her into the cabin, Gentle Leaf barely got the words out past her shaking and tears and curled up into a ball on the floor.

“I’m sorry... I tried to run here as fast as... as I could....”

Destroyah put a comforting hoof on Gentle Leaf’s head, “You did exactly the right thing. You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. Now stay here with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. I’m going to go... take care of things.”

Ditzy Doo looked up at Destroyah with an even stare, “I should go with you-”

“No,” Destroyah said with a shake of her head, “This isn’t a fight you need to be in Ditzy. One of that pair is Battra, and that’s bad news on every level. It's far too dangerous.”

Ditzy Doo, despite being a third Destroyah’s size, somehow managed to make herself look as if she was staring at Destroyah at head level, “I’m not as fragile as I look, Lady Destroyah. And since Battra is present it’s all the more important I join you. If she has obtained the means to assume her true, kaiju form then you’ll need me present with my Element to aid you in assuming your own. Am I wrong?”

Destroyah grimaced, letting out a soft grunt of defeat, “No, you’re not wrong. Again. Guess you’re coming after all. Let’s just really hope Battra doesn’t have any tricks that’ll let her go big. She’s bad enough at our current size.”

“Wait, what about us?” Diamond Tiara asked, pointing at her and Silver Spoon. Destroyah shot the fillies a stern look.

“You’re staying here and looking after Gentle Leaf,” she held up a hoof before Diamond Tiara could say another word, “No ‘buts’. You fillies stay here.”

She softened her tone and expression just slightly as she looked both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon in the eyes, “Don’t worry. I’ll bring her back, safe and sound.”

If pain could be a river, then Jeog was drowning in it, swept away by a constant current of agony that flowed through every inch of her. Her throat was raw and hoarse from screaming, despite her best attempts at silence. The pain was simply too much, even keeping her thoughts straight was a challenge.

She was bound to the ceiling of her cabin by a simple length of rope that was wrapped around a ceiling beam and then tied around the wrists of her front paws, leaving her dangling just slightly. Her size was enough that her hind legs still touched the ground, but not enough to really stand in a stable manner. The rope wouldn’t be much of a problem, but it was the iron, the cursed, horrific iron piercing her flesh that weakened and immobilized her. That, and the potent binding talisman that Ki Seong had placed on Jeog’s body, the long rectangles of parchment blazing with magical symbols.

At first Jeog wasn’t certain why Ki Seong hadn’t simply killed her already. The kirin had beaten Jeog, unleashed her fury for the first few minutes, but that had soon subsided into more deliberate, if no less painful action. On some basic level Jeog understood Ki Seong’s need. Pain called to pain, and this had been a long time coming. Yet the kirin’s actions seemed focused beyond just causing Jeog to suffer. Certainly the long, iron needles that Ki Seong inserted into Jeog at various places were beyond searing in the pain they caused, but they weren’t causing much actual damage. In fact each needle seemed to be placed shallowly, and if Jeog could just get the iron out of her, then she’d be able to move again. Furthermore, even with her pain fogged mind, she realized the needles were being jabbed into her flesh not at random, but with purpose. This purpose became gradually more clear as Ki Seong used the edge of her spear to cut a red line across her own fetlock, and used the oozing blood to draw lines connecting the needles, forming a pattern on Jeog’s body. Some kind of mystic symbol that Jeog didn’t recognize beyond realizing it was akin to others she'd seen hunters like Ki Seong use, albeit somehow more jagged and... wrong looking.

As she hung there, panting for breath, no longer able to do more than whimper from the pain, the tall and darkly shadowed form of the creature that’d assisted Ki Seong emerged into what little light came in from the cabin windows. Jeog had no idea what manner of creature this female was, only that she was tall, bore a resemblance between a nightmare insectoid and a pony, and she held gleaming eyes that held no warmth even as they radiated amusement.

“Why, I do think she’s done screaming. I’m rather impressed with how much pain you could inflict in a short span of time, Ki Seong. You’ve got quite the gift for this. It’s a shame Cadance isn’t here. She’d have enjoyed such an exquisite show.”

Ki Seong, who was to Jeog’s left and slightly behind the battered gumiho, spoke in a low snarl, “I’m not doing this to amuse you. The ritual symbol is complete. The gumiho’s flow of chi is being redirected to the proper channels, and blocked where needed so that it all pools in the correct location. We can begin harvesting the beads.”

“Oh good. I don’t suppose you’d allow me the honor of making the first cut?” Battra asked ina sickly sweet tone, and Ki Seong’s eyes fumed with barely contained hatred, to which Battra only smiled and held up a hoof, “Fine then, have at it. I swear, I need to teach you to enjoy these moments. You should be smiling, dear. After all, this is what you’ve been waiting for all this time. Savor it.”

“I am not a monster like you...” Ki Seong said, although there was a quiet, doubtful note running through its otherwise resolved tone. Battra’s smile just deepened.

“All in due time,” Battra whispered, and Jeog wasn’t sure Ki Seong actually heard it as the kirin went and gripped Jeog with a strong force of telekinetic magic.

She could feel the magic yanking her nine tails outward, spreading them out like a fan. For a moment Jeog couldn’t fathom what Ki Seong was doing, but then she saw that long, heavy bladed spear float up behind her and felt the burning iron edge of it touch the base of her left most tail. Ki Seong use her magic to force Jeog’s head to turn, craning the gumiho’s neck so it was uncomfortably bent but able now to see Ki Seong’s spear poised over one of Jeog’s tails. Ki Seong’s golden eyes stabbed into Jeog, her voice a silken rasp.

“I want you to think of him, beast. You took Cho Yon from me. I want your last thoughts to be of him, and regretting you ever decided to poison his life with your presence.”

With those words Ki Seong’s magic intensified. The blood connecting the needles of iron glowed with sanguine light, tinting the cabin crimson. A sensation of utter queasiness and cold sickness spread through Jeog, starting at the center of the blood symbol and then extending through her until it focused into a gangrenous feeling at the base of her nine tails.

Then Ki Seong struck with her spear, and the feeling that exploded through Jeog couldn’t even be properly described as pain. As one of her tails was cut from her and was held aloft in Ki Seong’s golden magical aura, Jeog could only open her mouth in a silent cry that went past agony. She could feel the portion of her that’d just been cut away, not just physically, but the raw and ragged tear in the fabric of her being.

A gumiho’s tails were the core of what they were. Jeog’s magic, her power, perhaps her very ‘soul’ stemmed from those tails. She hung there, silently twitching, eyes wide and unseeing as her body and mind tried and failed to comprehend the loss they’d just experienced.

Meanwhile Ki Seong held the severed, blue tinted gray tail aloft and examined it. There was no satisfaction in her eyes. In fact the kirin looked more tired and frustrated than triumphant as she scoffed under her breath and approached Battra, who also gave the tail a curious look.

“So does it change on its own or do we have to-?” Battra began, but paused as the severed tail started to become immolated in azure foxfire. The blue flames danced and flickered like the convulsions of a dying animal, then swirled together into a tight ball. In moments the flames crystallized, taking solid form into a shining blue orb no larger than an eyeball. Its color gleamed with an ever shifting spectrum of infinite blues.

“It’s beautiful...” Ki Seong whispered, then shook herself, face grim once more as she held the bead towards Battra with her magic, “As agreed, one fox-bead is yours. The rest are mine.”

“Ah, so honorable of you to give me the first one,” Battra said as she took the bead with her own magic and held it up to her eye for a closer look, “Not afraid I’ll abandon you now that I have what I want?”

Ki Seong met Battra’s gaze with her own flat, unmoved stare, “Now that our business is concluded I couldn’t care less what you decide to do. Stay and watch, go and never bother me again. It makes no difference to me. Perhaps next time we meet I’ll simply kill you.”

“That would be an interesting misadventure, and one I might find briefly amusing. You do have potential, young Ki Seong. Perhaps I’ll stay and watch a time longer, just in case,” Battra said with a thick, tar-like laugh. She floated the fox-bead to her hoof and then, as if the air had become water, the bead vanished into a ripple in the air. “I’ll keep this tucked away for now. You said all one has to do is swallow it?”

Ki Seong shrugged, “That is what the legends claim. Whomever swallows a gumiho’s fox-bead gains forbidden knowledge of the spiritual realms. Feel free to test it out yourself.”

“I think I’ll wait until I’ve had time to properly examine it in detail,” Battra said, turning her piercing yellow on orange eyes towards Jeog, “Shall we finish up here, then?”

Ki Seong sighed, glancing back at Jeog with no less hatred, but with a weight of exhaustion seeming to bend her shoulders as she turned, spear at the read. “Yes... I... I just want this over with.”

Jeog had recovered enough of her senses by now that she was more fully aware of her surroundings, and her sharp ears picked up a noise fast approaching. The sound of vast, leathery wings cutting the air. Whether they heard it, or sensed the approach in some other manner, both Battra and Ki Seong instantly turned towards the door just a scant moment before the wooden barrier shattered into dozens of kindling pieces from the impact of a massive, dark red form barreling through it and landing with enough impact to shade the entire cabin.

Destroyah took the scene in with a single glance, the smokey glow of raw micro-oxygen already burning between the fangs of her maw.

“Step away from the fox,” the hulking mare said in an iron clad voice.

Ki Seong’s eyes were wide for a split second, merely taking in Destroyah’s massive form up close, but soon turned into golden pits of spite as she bore her spear at the kaiju.

“Nothing will keep me from finishing this beast off. I have no qualms adding another monster to the list of those slain by this spear.”

“Always a pleasure to see you, Destroyah,” said Battra, taking a smooth and slinking step forward, the horn of her spiked orange crown lighting up with power that was not Equestrian magic, but fueled by the raw destructive mana of the kaiju within. “How’s Xenilla? Is the poor dear still grieving over that... oh, what was her name? Titanosomething?”

Destroyah’s eyes flashed dangerously, the only warning she gave before unleashing a powerful torrent of micro-oxygen in a writhing stream towards Battra. Clearly anticipating this Battra didn’t hesitate a single instant in lowering her head and sending out a blinding and chaotically twisting beam of deadly purple energy.

For a second the cabin was lit up by a flash of clashing powers, micro-oxygen born of one of mankind’s greatest scientific achievements smashing against the purest manifestation of Earth’s primal forces of destruction. It was a clash that could last only for a moment before the two potent beams canceled each other out in a unconstrained wave of force that blew out the cabin windows and sent arcs of energy tearing into the walls, scorching through the wood and ripping several chunks clean out of the wall. Dust was kicked up in a brief smoke cloud, obscuring Battra and Ki Seong from view for an instant, but only as long as it took for Ki Seong herself to come barreling out of the dust cloud at full speed.

The kirin rushed in low, almost too fast for Destroyah to track with her eyes. Ki Seong’s grip on her spear changed in an eyeblink from her magical aura to both her front hooves as she used her hind legs to surge upwards while swinging the spear up in an uppercutting arc that would have cleaved right into Destroyah’s chest if the kaiju hadn’t immediately stepped back and blocked the top of the spear’s shaft with her left hoof.

Destroyah hadn’t been underestimating Ki Seong. From Jeog’s story she knew this mare was expertly trained for combat. She’d seen the way Ki Seong had fought during the flashback at Cho Yon’s temple. However she wasn’t prepared for just how much stronger Ki Seong was compared to the kirin’s deceptively delicate frame.

With the consumed power of Yogoe blood fueling her muscles Ki Seong’s spear strike shoved Destroyah back half a dozen yards, even after being blocked. Destoryah could feel the momentary numbness in her hoof from the strength of the blow but had no time to contemplate the source of Ki Seong’s unnatural strength as the kirin exploded from the cabin entrance like a spinning, steel twister.

For a few seconds defense was all Destroyah focused on as Ki Seong’s whirling assault pressed like a bladed hurricane. Ki Seong switched from hefty slashes to instant thrusts in the blink of an eye, trying to keep Destroyah off balance. However despite her size Destroyah was no slow behemoth, and she was the survivor of countless battles. Instinct blended with hard earned experience as Destroyah put up a precise and rugged defense against Ki Seong’s attacks, using both her hooves and her large but tough wings to parry and redirect the spear seeking to slash and pierce her.

Even so she was giving ground, slowly being forced back away from the cabin, step by step.

Battra slid from the cabin’s broken doorway like an oily shadow, still all vicious smiles and pleasant tone, “I shouldn’t be surprised you’d come for the little fox, Destroyah. You and Xenilla do so love to pick up strays who are even more lost and helpless than you and he are.”

“Are you going to fight?” Destroyah asked while swiftly ducking a high blow from Ki Seong’s flashing spear, “Or just run your mouth, you insufferable hag?”

Battra hissed out a sigh while narrowing her eyes to molten slits, “When this is over, the thing I’ll miss most about you is your wit.”

With that the Earth’s Vengeance, the destructive incarnation of the Mothra species created solely to wipe the Earth clean of life, wasted no more words and threw herself into the fray alongside Ki Seong. She used her flaring black and orange wings to skim along the ground and tried to body slam into Destroyah.

Destroyah managed to leap aside from the attack, but at that moment Ki Seong took advantage of the distraction. Her mane shivered to unnatural life as it flew outward and wrapped its wire hard tendrils around one of Destroyah’s hind legs. The move took Serizawa’s Legacy completely off guard, for in her rushed and panicked state Gentle Leaf had forgotten to say anything about Ki Seong’s unusual powers when hastily telling of what she'd seen.

With remarkable force the hair was able to yank Destroyah off her hooves, tumbling the huge mare onto her side. Battra, still skimming the ground, turned around fast and with her horned crown flashing, discharged a crackling blast of mana.

The mana stream slammed into Destroyah, causing dirt to erupt from the ground and sparks to burst in Destroyah’s eyes as the energy painfully writhed over her body. However she was nothing if not a titan of resilience, even in pony form, and with a smirk at Ki Seong, who’s mane was still wrapped around her hind leg, Destoryah kicked with that leg with all the force she could muster.

Ki Seong was sent flying towards the treeline, her mane letting go of Destroyah in the process. She would have slammed right into one of the trees, but with expert control of her body and spear she planted the spear in the ground and whipped herself around, altering her momentum to skid along the ground and come running right back at Destroyah, who’d gotten her hooves under her.

With careful aim Destoryah belched forth a blast of micro-oxygen at the kirin, aiming for the ground at Ki Seong’s hooves more than at the kirin herself. The blast sent up a huge geyser of dirt, temporarily blinding Ki Seong. Destoryah rushed to take advantage, but was halted by Battra’s diving form, who this time managed to plow into Destoryah hooves first and between the Changeling Queen’s own impressive mass and her momentum combined was able to tackle Destroyah into, then through, a nearby tree.

Destroyah rolled with the bow, battered but not really injured much yet. Battra’s beams were painful, yes, and getting slammed through a tree wasn’t good for her health either, but Destroyah retained much of her kaiju form’s toughness even in her present body, so it’d take awhile for Battra and Ki Seong to wear her down.

The moment her body stopped rolling across the ground Destroyah sprang to her hooves, and quickly looked to where the tree had fallen, snapping multiple branches on the way down. Battra was still airborne, glaring death down at Destroyah. First figuratively, and then literally as Battra’s eyes sparked with malevolent mana the same way her horn did. Destroyah bolted into a gallop as eye beams of violet lightning flared from Battra’s eyes. The ground was annihilated in a path following Destroyah’s headlong run, but she managed to stay ahead of the beams and reached the fallen tree. She rolled over it, then with deft hooves kicked it up, then bucked back with both hind legs. Kaiju born might sent the tree flying at Battra at high speed, and while her eye beams blew the tree into splinters, chunks of the wood battered her and momentarily blinded her.

This distracted Battra just long enough for Destroyah to aim and fire a beam of micro-oxygen that hit Battra’ square in the chest. Sparks flew and Battra dropped from the sky, but Destroyah knew such a blow wouldn’t be enough to do more than stun Battra for a few moments. She’d have to hit Battra a lot harder to put the bug down for good, and she charged up another micro-oxygen blast to start doing exactly that when the air shimmered beside her.

Destroyah barely dodged in time, and even then only to make the slash from Ki Seong’s spear create a shallow cut on her side rather than the deep gash it would have otherwise opened. Ki Seong’s body flickered into view after another moment of a strange, rippling distortion in the air, and as she appeared her mane was writhing around her like a nest of snakes.

“Got a lot of tricks up your sleeve, don’t you?” Destroyah said, cracking her neck, “Just what did you sacrifice to get them?”

Ki Seong, for just a moment, had a shamed look on her face, but it was swiftly replaced by rage as she advanced on Destroyah, spear poised to strike in her magical aura.

“I’ve sacrificed more than you’ll ever understand in order to gain the powers I needed to hunt the Jeog down and end it’s blighted existence. I’m not going to let another monster like you stand in my way, let alone judge me!”

Rather than strike with her spear, as Destroyah had been expecting and was prepared for, the dark cloak around Ki Seong billowed under the kirin’s magic, and suddenly an ornate crossbow covered in gearwork appeared and took aim. Destoryah muttered a curse under her breath and threw herself to the side as a bolt, covered in flames, was fired and nearly struck her head. Instead it missed her by a scant inch and exploded a tree’s trunk clean in half several dozen paces away.

Meanwhile Battra had recovered, and with a deep throated snarl that didn’t sound like it could come from an equine’s throat she fired a spearing beam of mana from her horn, catching Destroyah in the back.

Destroyah bit back a cry of pain and whirled around so that she could keep both Battra and Ki Seong in view. She sidestepped another crossbow bolt, but the magical explosion of flame from its detonation still buffeted her and made it that much harder to avoid Battra’s next blast, which grazed Destroyah’s right wing.

Dealing with any one of these two would have been a challenge, but taking on both at the same time was making it so that Destroyah couldn’t focus on one without exposing herself to the other’s attacks. It was all she could do to keep them from overwhelming her, let alone mount a counterattack. But that was fine, because she’d succeeded in her intent, which had been to draw these two away from the cabin.

Now all she had to do was keep their attention long enough for Ditzy Doo to free Jeog.

Despite the combination of torture, exhaustion, iron weakening her and making each motion a fresh batch of agony, and the loss of one of her tails leaving her feeling weaker than ever, Jeog was still frantically struggling to move. If she could just get her teeth around the rope binding her she could... could... do what? Fall to the ground in a useless heap? Ki Seong’s binding talisman still covered her, and the iron needles boring into her would still making walking, let alone fighting, impossible.

Fighting? The thought felt like a stray flame across a dark void, but Jeog snatched at it. She had so many reasons to want to flee, not the least of which was that her instincts were pounding away in pure panic within her to just get away from that which was threatening her very existence. What could be more important than preserving her own life?

But Destroyah...!

The thought grew from a spec of flame to something brighter and hotter, and it was like a pull in her chest, a yearning that made no sense to any rational part of Jeog’s instincts, but it was there now, real and clear in its intent. She wanted to go help Destroyah. Why? Jeog knew how deadly Ki Seong was. Running made so much more sense. But there the feeling was, yanking on her insides, fueling her struggle to bend her head just enough to try and get the rope within her jaws.

But she couldn’t reach it. Frustration tore a growl from her throat. Perhaps if she could use her foxfire? But that too was impossible. The moment she tried to summon her innate magic the talisman binding her flared to golden life and stifled her power like wet blankets over a smoldering fire. Jeog was helpless, and could do nothing but hang there and listen to the sounds of battle outside the cabin, a part of her she didn’t understand hoping for Destroyah to win, not because Jeog was as good as dead if Destroyah didn’t, but because the idea of Destroyah sharing Jeog’s fate pained her.

Destoryah had come to help her. She’d been trying to teach Jeog things. The same as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon...

The same as Cho Yon.

“Arrrgh...stupid... rope... grrrr...”

Again she tried to bend enough to get her teeth around the rope. So close, but just a hairsbreadth short! Then, to Jeog’s shock, a familiar cool and collected voice spoke right next to her.

“Allow me.”

Ditzy Doo, hovering up on her wings, used a small carving knife taken from one of the cabin’s many junk piles and severed the rope, spilling Jeog down to the floor in a heap. Ditzy Doo landed quickly, bending over the gumiho while discarding the knife. Barely restrained concern and horror painted the mare’s face behind her glasses as Ditzy Doo took in the sight of Jeog and what had been done to the gumiho.

“Such barbarousness... I can hardly fathom it. Jeog, can you move?”

Breathing heavily, Jeog managed to gasp, “Iron... get it out...”

Ditzy Doo gulped as she looked at the iron needles protruding from Jeog. There were large ones piercing Jeog’s shoulder, arms, and legs, while a set of much smaller needles formed an odd pattern, connected by a trail of dry blood, to form a symbol that Ditzy imagined was part of some magic ritual. Jeog’s body didn’t so much bleed as it appeared to spill small wisps of blue flame from around the edges of the needles. Gingerly Ditzy reached down to the first of the larger iron needles, and gave Jeog a worried, confirming look first. At the gumiho’s slight nod, Ditzy took a deep breath and yanked the needle out.

Jeog whimpered, but said in a rough breath, “All of them... quickly.”

Ditzy worked faster, wincing each time she heard a cry of pain from Jeog, but she didn’t stop until the last needle clattered to the cabin floor. With that done Jeog took in a deep breath and said in a stronger voice, “Talisman next. Rip them off. Hurry!”

That took less time than the needles as Ditzy moved in a gray blur, teeth snatching off the paper talisman one after another. With each removed seal Jeog felt portions of her body growing warmer and less numb. Her magic was still weakened and her body aching in pain, but strength was flowing back into her limbs in a tingling rush and she was finally able to stand on her paws. She shook, trembled, swayed, but then steadied herself with a fierce shake of her head and a hot growl.

Ditzy looked at her, then winced at the sound of harsh explosions from outside. “You have to go, while Destroyah is still holding them off.”

For a split second the notion tempted her. She was hurt. Diminished. The spot where one of her tails had been severed didn’t merely cause pain, but felt like a hollow space that reached deep into her center. Every instinct told her to flee. To get as far away from this place as possible. If she stayed, she risked a very strong likelihood of death, especially in her weakened state.

But the pull was still there. She didn’t understand it, but it was there. Instinct said she had to run. Something else, something just out of of her reach to name, but still undeniably now a part of her, said she wanted to go help Destroyah.

“No,” she said, “I’m not running.”

She darted out of the cabin, but remembered that Ki Seong had placed warding talisman all around it so she pulled up short. She could see through the trees in the distance the flash of flames and otherworldly beams exploding and streaking back and forth, along with the occasional glimpse of Destroyah, Ki Seong, and Battra all throwing themselves into pitched battle with one another. Jeog couldn’t see much detail from this distance, but she smelled blood in the air. More than one of the combatants were injured.

Ditzy Doo flew out of the cabin and landed beside Jeog, her own eyes calmly controlled behind her glasses, “Are you certain of this? You’re in poor condition to fight, and we came to save you, not watch you get killed.”

An impatient snarl tore itself from Jeog’s lips, her remaining eight tails lashing behind her, “If I run this will never end. The Hunter... Ki Seong will not stop. Not as long as I live. So either I die fighting... or...”

Or what? Was there only one other way this ended? Jeog didn’t know. But she did know that she was done running. She was not going to flee from Ki Seong, or the past they shared, any longer. One way or another it all ended here, today, in this forest.

“Please,” she said, bouncing her paw off the warding shield the talisman created, “I have to finish this.”

Ditzy hesitated for only a moment before taking a heavy breath and reached down to remove the nearest talisman and break the warding circle. The moment the mystical barrier was broken Jeog moved, turning into a streaking gray phantom who ran towards the battle ahead. And whether she’d find death, salvation, or just an ending to a tale too long in the telling, she did not know.

But she’d run away from it no more.

Little pink legs carved a narrow groove in the library floor as Diamond Tiara continued to pace, eyes barely leaving the front door. With each pass she let out a small grunt of building frustration and worry, culminating in a final outcry as she made her hundredth circuit.

“Aaaugh! I can’t take this! What’s happening out there!? Is Jeog alright? Is Ditzy Doo? Is Destroyah? If only... if only we weren’t foals.”

“Yes, because then we could get in the way as adults. Far better than getting in the way as foals,” said Silver Spoon, who was looking through one of the many books on Carrean Yogoe. She looked up with eyes that were no less worried than Diamond’s, however, and despite her words softened her tone, “I feel the same way, Diamond. If I thought we could actually help in some way, I'd even be right there with you. But we don't have a way to help, and you heard Destroyah.”

“I know. And she’s right, we’d only make things worse by going out there. We couldn't even help. But that doesn't’ make this easier!”

Diamond resumed her pacing, but slower now, hanging her head as she continued to wonder what might be happening in Whitetail Woods. She knew quite well that Destroyah was strong, but that doesn't guarantee anything with the likes of Battra around. She held no doubt that Destroyah and Ditzy would do everything they could to save Jeog and fend off Battra and Ki Seong, but who knew what that monster and crazy kirin might have done to Jeog in the meantime!?

And all she could do was pace around her and wait! She’d never felt so useless in her life.

“Diamond, you’re going to rub your hooves raw on that floor,” Silver Spoon said, “Just try to relax.”

“How can I do that? How can you? I’m literally sweating rivers right now, but you’re so calm!”

“I’m not calm. I’m composed. There’s a difference.” Silver Spoon nervously adjusted her glasses, “Besides, this is Destroyah we’re talking about. She can handle one oversized goth bug and some edgy kirin monster hunter. The kirin isn’t even a kaiju. Sure she has some fancy moves and a bit of magic, but its not like she’s got superpowers.”

“Umm...”

It was a quiet noise, but given Gentle Leaf had hardly made a sound since curling up on one of the library chairs, the small voice of the filly quickly drew Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon’s attention as they both looked over towards. Gulping fearfully now that the attention was on her, Gentle Leaf said, “Th-the... kirin. She, um, she did have... weird powers.”

“Wait, what do you mean she has powers? What powers!?” Diamond Tiara said, rushing up to Gentle Leaf. The other filly flinched away and Diamond Tiara backed off, ears drooped, “S-sorry. But please, what do you know?”

“And why didn’t you say anything sooner?” Silver Spoon added.

“I... I just forgot. I was trying to say e-everything at once and it was still so scary and confusing, then Miss Ditzy and Destroyah left so fast... I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay, I understand what you mean,” Diamond said, “Everything was happening, is happening, so fast. There wasn’t time to think. Now what was this Ki Seong able to do that was so weird?”

With slow hesitance Gentle Leaf lifted a hoof to her mane and stretched it out, wiggling the strands of hair about, “She made her mane move, all creepy and gross. And she was super strong, too. She threw Jeog around like she didn’t weight a thing!”

“Okay, that sounds bad,” Diamond Tiara said, and glanced at Silver Spoon, “Could Ki Seong be using some kind of freaky eastern magic?”

“I don’t think so...” Silver Spoon’s eyes gained a contemplative sheen, and then she swiftly trotted back to the stack of books at her table and started to flip through them. “Here! Look, Gentle Leaf. Did Ki Seong look anything like this?”

Silver Spoon flipped the book around and showed a picture filling one of the pages. It looked like a pony in form, but surrounded by so much ragged, inky black hair that writhed like tendrils around it that the picture resembled more a hairy spider than a proper equine. Gentle Leaf’s eyes shot wide at the sight and she nodded her head in rapid bobs.

“Y-Yes, that’s exactly what she looked like! It was scary...”

“What is that?” Diamond Tiara asked, squinting at the picture as Silver Spoon set the book back on the table.

“A hair demon,” Silver Spoon said, face flushed with fresh worry, “I don’t know how Ki Seong has its powers, but the hair of one of these things is reported to be stronger than steel. And if she has this demon’s powers, who knows what else she might have?”

“Craaaaap!” Diamond Tiara smacked a hoof onto the book, “Then this is way worse than we thought! Destroyah has to fight two super powered monsters? She’s strong, but...”

Diamond trailed off, sitting down and rubbing her face with her hooves, “But there’s still nothing we can do to help.”

“Maybe. Maybe not,” Silver Spoon said musingly, grabbing another book. Diamond looked at her, and even Gentle Leaf raised her head and peered curiously at the other two fillies.

“Um, are you going to elaborate on that, Spoon...?” Diamond Tiara asked as her friend started rapidly flipping through pages. After a few seconds of quick page turning Silver Spoon stabbed a hoof down onto a page with authority.

“Salt.”

“Salt?’

“Mmmhmm, salt, pure jade, mirrors, cinnamon incense, it's all in here.”

Diamond Tiara’s face became a cloud of bafflement, “Did you hit your head? What are you going on about?”

“Look,” Silver Spoon insisted, turning the book towards Diamond Tiara, “I’ve been reading through these all day and part of yesterday. The Carreans didn’t just catalog info on their monsters, they put down all the different ways to ward them off or weaken them as well. I mean, they’re just old folklore and myths about what were supposed to fight off Yogoe, but I think some of this stuff might actually work!”

Diamond Tiara’s eyes scanned the pages, reading faster and faster as her heart rate skyrocketed up. Most of what she was seeing was pretty basic and somewhat nonsensical, but at the same time what sense did it make for iron to hurt Jeog? If that worked on their gumiho friend, then what else in here might work on a kirin who was part Yogoe now herself?

“But can we find any of this stuff?” she asked hurriedly.

Silver Spoon nodded, already snatching up the book and heading for a door between the kitchen’s entryway and the stairs leading up to the library’s second floor. “Some of it we can scrounge out of the kitchen, and I think we might find a few other things down in the basement. Miss Doo collects all sorts of odds and ends.”

Diamond Tiara started to eagerly follow Silver Spoon, but then paused with hesitation written across her brow, “...Spoon, should we really do this? Weren’t you just saying how it’d be stupid of us to rush out there and try to help?”

Silver Spoon flicked her tail and looked back with a serious stare, “It was stupid when we didn’t have a plan and didn’t know of a way to help. Now? I don't know, but I'm willing to try.”

“Aren’t you the one always telling me not to do risky things though!”

“Yes... yes I am, and nine times out of ten I’m probably right. But this time might be one of the few times where it’s better to take a risk than to do nothing. I mean, if we can’t do this when our friends’ lives are in danger, when is it right to take risks? I thought you’d be all over this, Diamond! You were the one pacing around saying how you want to help.”

Diamond Tiara nodded, biting her lower lip, nearly shaking in place, “I know. I do want to help. I just don’t want to make the same mistakes I have before by being reckless and not listening to the adults. Lady Destroyah told us to stay put. If we run out there and end up making things worse...”

She felt a hoof rest on her shoulder and looked over, blinking, as Gentle Leaf nervously patted her shoulder and managed a small, unsure but encouraging smile.

“If... if we can help, we should. Th-the worst they can do afterward is ground us all for life, and you’re already grounded, so...”

Diamond Tiara thought about it, and her mind could only focus on the overwhelming fact that she knew that people she cared about were in danger. Right or wrong, doing nothing just wasn’t the Diamond Tiara way.

“We are so going to get in trouble for this,” she said, then managed to perk up and put on a determined smile, “But I can live with that. Let’s whip us up an anti-demon arsenal!”

A single, massive bounding leap kept Destroyah a hair’s breadth ahead of a cutting pair of purple beams that ripped apart the landscape where she’d just been standing, Battra circling above for another pass. She then had to whip around and shield herself with her wings as Ki Seong, circling Destroyah at a gallop, fired another crossbow bolt.

Unlike the explosive fire bolts, this one shimmered with a faint green light as it left the crossbow and impacted Destroyah’s wing in a burst of thick, green smog. The smell hit Destroyah like a year’s worth of rancid waste mixed with an exhumed graveyard that had then been set on fire. The toxic gas burned to the touch, but Destroyah’s hide was thick enough to resist the corrosive effect as she charged out of the billowing cloud of green smoke. She held her breath, but her nose stung at the smell and her eyes teared up, obscuring her vision for a moment.

Even so she could hear where Ki Seong was and Destroyah angled her charge to slam into the kirin, who was knocked back into a tree so hard it rattled the trunk, but Ki Seong bounced back with a vicious snarl and spun her spear around in a punishing arc, forcing Destroyah back and to take a shallow cut for her efforts.

Blinking her eyes clear Destroyah jumped upwards as she saw Battra swooping in, spreading her own wings to flap up to meet her airborne foe. Micro-oxygen and destructive mana beams crossed the air as both behemoth mares flew by one another, the energy sparking off their bodies as they both scored painful hits. Battra let out a cry that equal parts indignant rage as it was pain as Destroyah lashed out with her hind legs and kicked one of the Changeling Queen’s wings hard enough to send Battra into a spin that ploughed her into the ground.

That hardly slowed Battra for more than a second, however, as she stomped herself upright just as Destroyah was diving in with the intent to slam right atop the dark bug. Ki Seong, however, intercepted with a magnificently executed flying spin kick that caught Destroyah across the face and sent even the giantess of a mare flying off course and rolling across the ground.

Shaking dirt off herself, Battra grinned, licking her fangs and coating her voice with sweet, sugarly venom, “How much longer do you think you can last, Destroyah? Against the both of us you’ll eventually fall. Why not spare yourself this pain and surrender?”

Destroyah, not bothering to shake the dirt off herself, stood and fixed Battra with a hard stare, “As if you’d accept it even if I had a mind to give it.”

“True, but I’ve been looking forward to this for so long and it’d be a shame to end this so pitifully quick. I want three, four days of enjoying your pain, bare minimum. I’m sure Godzilla would like a turn with you as well. I keep trying to teach him the pleasures of drawing the kill out, but admittedly he really does like to do things the direct way.”

“Quit babbling!” hissed Ki Seong, “Can’t you see she’s just trying to buy time!?”

Without waiting for further comment the kirin’s crossbow flew around in Ki Seong’s magical grip and fired a pair of shots in quick succession towards Destroyah. However the bolts were met in mid-air by a pair of flying azure spheres of dancing flame. The foxfire melted the alchemic components of the bolts, making them detonate early as they exploded between Ki Seong and Destroyah, momentarily obscuring the area with smoke.

However Ki Seong didn’t need to see it to know what had interrupted her attack, and she was already wearing a hateful scowl as the smoke cleared and it was revealed that standing beside Destroyah was the sleek gray form of Jeog. The gumiho’s body was free of Ki Seong’s iron needles and sealing talisman, and her eight remaining tails swayed behind her like a fan, flickering tongues of deep blue foxfire dripping from them.

Her teeth nearly cracked form how hard she clenched her jaw in flaring anger, and Ki Seong’s eyes bored into the gumiho, her own personal demon whose existence plagued her every waking thought. For a second she was unable to do more than just stare with naked hate at Jeog, but the gumiho just stared back with those unfathomable blue eyes, then the fox glanced at Destroyah.

“You’re injured.”

Destroyah shrugged, ignoring the various bleeding cuts, scrapes, and burns covering her body at this point. “I’ve had worse. Way worse. Still, good timing. Should have maybe taken the chance to run, though.”

Jeog shook her head, eyes returning to Ki Seong, “There is no more running.”

“For the record I did try to convince her otherwise, but she wasn’t having any of it,” said Ditzy Doo, flying down to land gracefully next to the pair.

Destroya blinked at the spectacled pegasus, “You good to fight? Never seen you in a scrap before.”

Ditzy dusted off her forelimbs and hovered up on smooth flaps of her wings, adopting a boxer’s stance with her fore hooves held up. “Two time lightweight boxing champion of both my last two years in college. I can hold my own.”

Destoryah turned her attention back to Battra and Ki Seong with a rueful grin, “Works for me.”

With a murderous and ice cold glower filling her features Battra looked at the trio arrayed before her and said in an acid tone, “I do believe you’re right, Ki Seong. The time for talking and taunts has ended. Do you care about getting your remaining eight fox beads?”

Ki Seong’s voice was a husky, bloodthirsty growl, her eyes never leaving Jeog’s.

“No.”

“Good,” Battra said, wings flaring out and becoming covered in a sheet of crackling violet energy arcs, “Then we kill them all.”

They all moved at once, like drawn magnets, straight towards one another like the collision of two oncoming thunderheads. In the immediate clash there was a tumultuous frenzy of chaos between the five combatants. Battra’s wings discharged a storm of violent, purple electricity, smashing into Destroyah only to find a streak of gray motion faster than the wind itself tearing a claw across the kaiju’s chest, drawing sparks and blood alike. Ki Seong whirled her spear like a tornado, forcing the smokey blur that was Jeog away from Battra while her crossbow aimed at Destroyah, only for Ditzy Doo to fly in and knock the weapon aside at the last second. Destroyah heaved herself between Battra and Ki Seong, slamming out with both wings and hooves like a living battering ram, forcing the pair to back up to avoid a pummeling.

Ki Seong took aim at Ditzy Doo, only to find a sudden, thick fog billowing out around her. She saw a flicker of ghostly movement behind her and side stepped the slashing claws of Jeog, the kirin issuing forth a feral growl of her own as she yanked a clay pellet from her bandolier and threw it into the fog, bursting iron dust across the foggy illusion and scattering it, only to find Destroyah barreling down on her from the direction Jeog had gone. Destroyah’s heavy hooves met with Ki Seong’s whirling spear, the two clashing strength to strength with such force the ground cratered under them.

Battra bent to take to the air, only to find orbs of will o’ wisp, blue foxfire dancing in the air above her as Jeog made a soaring leap, twisting in mid-air to swish her eight tails back and forth until the air was alight with azure flames that descended on Battra. With a contemptuous sneer Battra buffeted the incoming flames, only to find the first wave were in fact illusions and the real bolts slammed into her a second later. The foxfire burned at Battra’s hide, but she was resilient well beyond mortal means and Jeog’s foxfire was weakened by the loss of one of her tails. The flames hurt, but did little lasting damage, and Battra unleashed a wide sweeping arc of both thin but powerful eye rays and a crackling bolt of power from the horn of her crown. The deadly energy assault tore apart the forest around her and managed to graze Jeog, who’d been camouflaging herself as best she could with blurring illusions.

As Jeog gasped in pain she dove up a tree, scrambling with remarkable climbing speed as Battra’s beams cut through the tree. As the massive pine fell Jeog ran along its falling trunk and jumped off at just the right moment to avoid another energy bolt from Battra’s crown, which splintered the tree to kindling. Her jump wasn’t random, however, and in fact was timed to allow Ditzy Doo to offer a hoof for Jeog to grab. Without needing words Ditzy Doo nodded down towards where Ki Seong and Destroyah were still exchanging a storm of blows that were wreaking a good portion of the clearing, and Jeog grinned.

Ditzy Doo flew over the pair and air dropped Jeog right towards Ki Seong’s back. Ki Seong responded just in time to narrowly avoid getting the full brunt of all of Jeog’s claws at once, but a passing swipe still cut a deep laceration on the kirin’s shoulder, drawing blood. Ki Seong responded with an immediate lash of her tail, the black strands of hair on its end extending like a whip that cracked across Jeog’s face and sent her sprawling. Ki Seong’s mane then came alive, writhing upwards to grasp at Ditzy Doo, who’d been coming around to dive on the kirin.

Caught by surprise, Ditzy reeled back from the grasping strands of demonic hair, but was soon caught around the barrel, hooves, and neck. As Ki Seong’s hair constricted around the pegasus Destroyah charged in, mouth agape with the tell-tale glow of micro-oxygen. As the beam of lethal energy fired Ki Seong flipped to the side with a wild display of agility, bringing her crossbow around while she was still in the air and firing a bolt at Destroyah that was marked by a pale yellow glow. This bolt burst in mid-flight into a spray of thick yellow goo that splattered onto Destroayah’s legs and instantly hardened, rooting the massive mare in place.

Meanwhile Ki Seong continued to try and strangle Ditzy Doo as Battra advanced on the now immobile Destroyah, grinned with wicked intent as her horn, wings, and eyes all lit up violet.

Before Ditzy could be strangled or Destroyah blasted, a wall of brilliant blue flame sprang up and cut towards both Battra and Ki Seong. Jeog’s tails were all raised above her in a wide fan, each tail blazing with as much foxfire as she could muster. She felt the strain sucking the very lifeforce out of her body, which was essentially made up of the very magical essence she was draining to create her foxfire. She’d never summoned so much up at once before, and the heat scalded the air. Battra turned her energy assault upon the wall of flame, while Ki Seong swore profusely and rolled aside. Her spear flashed, severing a part of her mane that’d caught fire from the wall, which in turn freed Ditzy Doo who fell to the ground in a coughing heap.

Rays, bolts, and a storm of lightning-like purple energy shredded into the wall of thick foxfire, tearing through it like paper. As hot as the flames were, even using as much power as Jeog could muster, there was simply no contest against the raw might of the mana stored in a being born to eradicate all life in a biosphere. The ground was similar torn apart in a deep furrow of explosions heading straight for Jeog, who in a streak of motion dove aside. She was still thrown by the passing shockwave of energy. With unnatural flexibility customary to her race, the gumiho righted herself while tumbling through the air and managed to snag a passing tree with a claw, flipping around and back to the ground on all four paws.

She saw Ditzy Doo, still coughing from her near choking experience, and from the haze of smoke that now coated the battlefield Ki Seong appeared like a maddened wraith. Ditzy didn’t have time to react, even as Jeog shouted in warning. A savage kick from Ki Seong smashed right into Ditzy’s side, audibly breaking ribs and sending the pony sprawling.

Ki Seong raised her crossbow, clearly intent on finishing the pegasus off, but a raw beam of micro-oxygen flew across the field and smashed the crossbow to pieces. Jeog’s wall of flame may not have stopped Battra, but it had bought Destroyah critical moments to free herself from the hardened goo that had trapped her, and seeing the wounded Ditzy down for the count, Destoryah’s eyes flared with vengeful fire.

However Battra took to the air, her body still coated in flares of violet energy, and she sent another barrage of power cascading down into the clearing, forcing Destroyah to also take to the sky in order to avoid the explosive rain of energy. For a moment Destroyah and Jeog exchanged looks. Jeog was now the only one on the ground facing Ki Seong, while Destroyah was squaring off with Battra in the air. No words passed between the two, only the briefest of looks, and a solemn nod from Jeog.

The intent was clear. She’d finish things with Ki Seong on the ground, as long as Destroyah could deal with Battra in the sky. Destroyah nodded back, approving the plan, and silently telling her battle companions not to dare lose.

Ki Seong noticed the exchange, and only wore her own dour, grim expression as she kicked aside the fragments of her destroyed crossbow and brought her spear to bear on Jeog.

Jeog met the eyes of her foe, resolute, and charged with the swiftness of a loosed arrow.

In the sky, Destroyah mirrored Jeog’s move, streaking towards Battra like a red comet.

Distant thunder rocked through Ditzy’s thoughts, which were thick and slow as tar as she regained consciousness. Pain lacerated her chest, and with calm analysis one part of her mind categorized her injuries as severe, if not fatal. Multiple broken ribs, likely a minor concussion. And with blearily blinking eyes she saw her vision was beyond blurred, and a casual hoof search found broken glasses laying nearby.

She was out of the fight, certainly. Perhaps trying to engage in melee with super-powered beings had been a rather foolhardy venture. Element of Wisdom indeed. Well, self recrimination could wait until she’d extricated herself to a safe distance. Her vision was blurred, but she could hear the sounds of fighting, which were intense enough to clue her in that Jeog and Destroyah were both still battling it out with Ki Seong and Battra. She could gauge that much based on the fact that one set of combat sounds emanated from high above, while another came from somewhere much closer on the ground.

Grinding her teeth against the pain, Ditzy started to slowly drag herself towards what she hoped was the opposite treeline. Every motion was an exercise in resisting agony, but Ditzy was nothing if not rational and compartmentalized her pain as best she could while focusing on moving one more inch at a time. She might risk worsening her injuries, but she wanted to get out of the area of battle, lest one of their unscrupulous foes consider taking advantage of her state and grab a hostage.

She just started to feel the brush of bushes around her body when she lost the last of her stamina and couldn’t drag herself any further. Still, this should be enough to keep her out of the way.

“There they are! I hope we’re not too late.”

Ditzy’s eyes widened, even as she felt a wave of dizziness crash over her from both exhaustion and pain. That was Diamond Tiara’s voice! What were those fool foals doing there!? She tried to raise her head, but found she couldn’t. The voice came from nearby, however, and was joined by another, Silver Spoons.

“Not too late to help,” this was followed by a rattle of what sounded like something metal and a grunt, “Assuming any of this stuff works.”

“If it doesn’t... well let’s just hope it does. C’mon, we need to find a good spot to hide until we see an opening. I think that’s Lady Destroyah in the sky. Oh no, that must mean Jeog’s fighting the other one alone! We gotta hurry!”

No blast it, you have to be anywhere but here! Ditzy thought, but even as she tried to speak she found her voice came out as a hoarse croak rather than any kind of commanding tone, and the foals’ voices quickly receded to the distance.

“Ugh... oh for... Tanaka’s sake... to borrow a phrase...”

Ditzy fell into a deep lake of unconsciousness.

She’d quickly lost sight of Jeog and Ki Seong, but Destoryah couldn’t have afforded the pair any mind at this point anyway. Battra Lea wasn’t the kind of foe one takes their eyes off of if one wanted to keep all their organs intact.

On hindsight, taking to the air to battle Battra on the wing probably hadn’t been the smartest of decisions. Battra was faster and more maneuverable than Destoryah was, and her specialty was ranged attacks. Destroyah knew she was tough enough to absorb a lot of punishment, but eventually Battra was going to wear her down unless she could find a way to pin the damn moth down and land some solid blows. Battra was no glass cannon, but if it came to a raw trade of damage Destroyah knew the death bug would crack first!

The problem was hitting her.

Peals of Battra’s irritatingly smug laughter filled the sky as she flew in swift circles around Destroyah’s slower, more cumbersome maneuvers.

“Truth be told I’m quite happy things have turned out this way, Destroyah. You really deserve the kind of end only I can craft for you,” Battra pulled a fast wing-over, evading one of Destoryah’s hastily aimed micro-oxygen beams, while returning fire with a precise rake of her violet eye beams that burned a bleeding line along Destroyah’s flank. “Slow. Deliberate. Piece by piece. The way any foundation should be torn out. You are his foundation, you realize? Without you, his tenuous grip on whatever is still left of his resolve and sanity will begin its final decay.”

Battra sighed with anticipating pleasure, “I can’t wait to see it. He might fall hard enough to even switch sides! Imagine that! Terra’s greatest defender, broken and serving the very brother he’s hated for so long. The irony just makes me shiver.”

Destroyah shook her head, carefully watching Battra’s motions as the Changeling Queen circled her. They were easily a hundred feet up by now, and still ascending above the Everfree’s verdant ocean below. A few puffy clouds marked the sky, still above them.

“I already knew you were crazy, but that’s a special kind of imagination you’ve got. The chief might feel the strain of this long war, but if you really think you can crack his resolve, you haven’t been paying attention to the guy.”

“Oh I rather think I know his nature better than you, child. You’re still so young, I forget how naive your optimism is. But I’ve observed his brother and him both for longer than you’ve been a part of his merry, ever dwindling band of Defenders, and let me tell you...those two brothers are far more alike than they’ll ever admit.”

Destroyah, as much in a spike of sudden anger as in anticipating of Battras sudden bank and swooping move to get behind her, rolled over and bent her neck to aim backwards across her belly. She fired a swath of flaring micro-oxygen as Battra closed in, clearly catching the other kaiju by surprise. Still, Battra’s ability to turn on a dime saved her from taking the brunt of the blast, the micro-oxygen grazing her wing in a shower of sparks but not connecting solidly enough to do more than cause Battra to screech in annoyance.

Damn, so close! Keep her talking! Destroyah thought, noticing that when Battra Lea got on a good monologue she started to lose some of her battle awareness.

“Alike!? One’s a psychopathic murderer who thinks the world owes him something just because he had a few tough breaks! The other is doing everything he can to save a world he wasn’t even born on and to protect a species that would just as soon rather he didn’t exist, all because he’s got a sense of duty higher than the very stars he came from! Don’t even try to compare them, you self-absorbed, nihilistic, Nietzsche fangirl!”

Battra began a hard climb, the central spike of her crown charged with purple arcs of lightning that shot down at Destroyah as she tried to chase Battra upwards. Destroyah banked hard to avoid the bolts coming her way, but again her slower maneuverability was making things rough as arcs of lightning struck her several times, shedding more blood with each hit.

“Mock as you will, but you know that ultimately this isn’t a war you can win. Things fall apart so much more easily than they hold together, because that’s the nature of things. I only exist to ensure the world follows its proper, natural course.”

“Oh blow it out your tailpipe! You’re just jealous that you were born to a cause that’s got no future, so you take all that vitriol and spew it back at a world you can’t stand is still trucking along despite your best efforts to make it fail. Guess what? Terra still stands, and so does Equestria. How does it feel to fail at your born purpose on two worlds, Battra Lea?”

Battra swung around and spread her dark wings, the volcanic orange stripings within the wings flaring bright as a storm of purple energy coalesced around her. Battra’s eyes turned to pure violet fury and her crown transformed into a swirling halo of destructive energy. Her voice boomed like the thunder of a wrathful goddess.

“I have not failed yet, whelp! The ruination of Equestria is merely a warm up to what will be Terra’s fate. The cycle of destruction must be maintained! Come, Serizawa’s Legacy, come and feel the end that awaits all at the completion of nature’s cycle!”

What descended upon Destroyah made Battra’s previous displays of power seem like a flip lighter next to a blow torch. Eyes, crown, wings, all discharged a furious tsunami of life ending power in a torrent of deep violet energy. For a second the sky was splattered with the dark purple bruise of death light, Battra forming the darkest corona at the center of the storm of destruction.

Had she been in her true kaiju form such a unleashing of power likely would’ve have flattened several square miles of Everfree Forest. Even at a distance residents of Ponyville looked to the sky in uneasy fear, wondering if what they were seeing was a random storm, or something far worse.

Certainly few things living could survive such a cascade of energy.

Few living things could boast to possess the raw durability of Destroyah.

This is by far one of the stupidest plans I’ve ever had, Destroyah thought grimly as she flapped her massive wings and soared right into the torrent of Battra’s attack, But hopefully that’s why it’ll work!

Destroyah was no stranger to pain. She’d suffered near fatal injuries defeating Godzilla the first time they met. That’s how she knew she could take almost anything Battra threw at her, as long as she didn’t take it for too long. That didn't mean this was going to be pleasant, however.

She smashed into the barrage of energy discharging from Battra like a crazed salmon leaping up a waterfall. Her body sparked and charred from the deadly river that surged around her, causing unimaginable pain to shoot through every inch of Destroyah’s body. She clenched her jaw tight, and even then still let out ragged yell of pain as the wave of power she was flying through tore into her. Yet the determined mare flew on, hooves outstretched, fanged teeth grinding, eyes never losing focus upon their target high above. She couldn't take too much of this kind of punishment, but she could withstand enough, because while discharging all this potent energy Battra Lea wasn't moving. Destroyah shoved all the pain to the back of her mind, putting all her will into gaining more and more speed and momentum as she streaked towards her immobile and unwitting foe.

Finally, she burst through the wave of energy, body smoking and bleeding, and collided with a very surprised looking Battra. Destroyah’s hooves impacted squarely with Battra’s chest with an impact that sent a small shockwave billowing out around them, scattering a nearby cloud.

Absolutely stunned by the blow, Battra just hung in mid-air for a moment, trying to remember how lungs worked. That gave Destroyah ample time to cock her hoof back and deliver a punishing haymaker across Battra’s face, sending blood and spittle flying and spinning Battra around like a top.

While Battra was still in a daze Destroyah clamped her hooves around the Changeling Queen, grabbing her in a crushing bear hug and then brought her wide row of fangs to bear.

Battra’s screech cut the air as Destroyah bit straight into the joint between shoulder and neck, drawing forth brackish orange blood. Destroyah was about to rend the wound open wider, but Battra’s body suddenly flared from head to tail with intense purple light and suddenly Destroyah found herself chomping down on nothing but air.

A teleport spell? Destoryah thought, but then her body was wracked by a barrage of thin, purple rays, dozens of them, from all sides. The beams were much smaller than what Battra had fired earlier, but there were so many they were impossible to dodge and still cut painful lines across Destroyah's now heavily wounded body. She then heard Battra’s voice let out a chorus of rasping laughs, dozens upon dozens of tiny voices laughing in dark humor.

“Bold move. It’s been too long since we’ve felt a decent jolt of pain. But this contest is over.”

Clearing her head with a rough shake, Destroyah looked around her to see that she was surrounded by a veritable swarm of miniature Battras. They swirled around her like a cloud of ash, their voices all speaking at the same time to join together in a high pitched choir.

“And wounded as you are you’ll soon fall to my thousands of... hey, stop laughing!”

Destoryah couldn’t help it, she tried to keep the explosive laughter inside by covering her mouth with her hooves, but the deep, gutteral whoops came out, regardless.

“Bw-bw-bwahaaha! I can’t...hahah! I can’t take... Pffft, you’re so... so tiny and squeaky! Bwhahaahah! Can I keep one of you as a pet? I wanna put you in a little bonnet and have a tea party Snnnrkk!”

“Do not mock the incarnation of death!”

“HAHAHAH! Oh my, oh my Daiei, please stop talking. It hurts to laugh!”

Dozens of wrathful eyes narrowed, and Destroyah realized that as funny as squeaky little Battra voices were, there was little humor to be found in the dozens of small death lasers that now blasted in at her. Swearing under her breath Destroyah beat her wings fast and started trying to evade the beams, but soon found that doing so was all but impossible. Battra, or rather now the dozens of mini-Battras, swarmed her like a nest of wasps. While each beam was nothing more than a painful sting, the fact that there was an unending barrage of dozens of them was swiftly mounting the pain on Destroyah’s already battered body.

Destroyah let out several micro-oxygen blasts, sweeping the atomizing beams back and forth. However if Battra had been swift in her normal state, her miniaturized selves were even quicker and more elusive. Every one of Destroyah’s blasts seemed to strike only air, clearing away a few Battra’s, only for them to return a split second later and resume their barrage of tiny beams.

If this keeps up I’m just as dead as if I let her hammer me for too long with that giant blast. Need to even this playing field. Need to be able to catch these little bastards all at once!

Destroyah thought furiously for a new plan. And she found one. She didn’t like the plan one bit, because it wasn’t something she willingly did often. It was a massive pain in the butt. That said, she couldn’t think of another way to deal with this. If it worked, she could probably beat Battra. However she’d be in no position to go help Jeog, at least not any time soon.

As more beams tore small but painful wounds over her body, Destoryah realized she really didn’t have any choice.

Turning hard, she streaked for one of the nearest clouds, and threw herself into it headlong. The Battra swarm followed her in, content to fire their miniature rays blindly, confident they could hit Destroyah a few times even while blinded by the cloud. What they couldn’t see, and certainly didn’t realize, was that Destroyah was using the cloud’s obscuring presence to hide what she was doing while flying out the other side.

Battra might have sensed it a second too late. Her senses were attuned to the mana of Terran born creatures, and she likely felt the sudden, unusual division of Destroyah’s essence as they flew through the cloud. But Battra wouldn’t have understood, nor fully realized the truth until her swarm of miniature selves flew out of the cloud not surrounding a single Destroyah...

But now contending with a sudden swarm of juvenile Destroyah’s that burst out of the cloud like a flock of birds snapping at their prey. Each Destroyah wasn’t an exact copy of the original, like the mini-Battra’s were, but rather younger adolescent versions of the adult form. And like eager teenagers, eyes gleaming with the joy of the hunt, they threw themselves into their foes with reckless abandon.

The air exploded into a melee of catastrophic chaos. Juvenile Destroyahs barreled through suddenly shocked and frightful mini-Battras. Burping beams of micro-oxygen the Destroyah’s rolled over the swarm in a disorganized but effective mess, scattering the small dark moths in a sudden panic. Their advantage of maneuverability was largely lost now, and the advantage of surprise allowed the small, now quite agile Destroyahs to keep pace with those either fleeing or trying to fight back.

A major factor was that the Battras, ultimately, were controlled by a single consciousness, and now that Battra was taken off guard her focus was as scattered as her miniature selves, slowing their response. Meanwhile the Destoryahs were essentially each an independent mind, allowing them to zero in on their targets far more effectively. And happily.

“Oh yeah, get ‘em! Smack the bugs!”

“Lookit ‘em run! Get back here!”

“I got this one! I got this one!”

“Hahaha! Fear me tiny insects for I am become death, destroyer of dumb!”

Under the sudden and devastating assault the miniature Battra’s all started to convert into motes of swift moving purple light, all coalescing back together a few dozen meters away back into the form of the full sized Battra. She was sporting now numerous cuts and bruises accumulated from the Destroyah swarm, along with her previous injuries, and was looking much the worse for wear.

The adolescent Destoryah’s charged after her, and Battra considered them for a moment. She then glanced down at the Everfree Forest far below, where she imagined Ki Seong was still battling her nemesis.

A shame to abandon such a promising recruit, but if the kirin survived then Battra Lea imagined another day might come when the opportunity to further turn that one towards her own ends might arise.

Besides, she did have a prize already claimed in the foxbead nestled safely in a magical sub-pocket.

“Yes, I think I’m done here...” Battra muttered, giving the oncoming swarm of Destroyah’s one last glare. “We will finish this another time.”

Tapping into her knowledge of Equestrian magic now, Battra’s horn lit up orange and her body vanished in a pop of brilliant light, teleporting far, far away.

The swarm of adolescent Destoryah’s all halted in a tangled mass, bumping off each other as they stared at where Battra just was.

“Awwww man! I wanted to smack her around some more!”

“Totally! What a wimp!”

“... I’m bored now. You guys wanna go play something else?”

“Nope! You guys need to listen up to me, and start getting in line!”

The last was said by a Destroyah that was slightly larger and older than the other juveniles. This was the one where Destroyah had kept the majority of her personality and memories. This was one of the reasons she hated having to divide herself. Unlike Battra, who could keep all her components under one will, Destroyah had to divide her memories, thoughts, and personality among her divided selves. It’d taken a lot of practice to keep them all to the point where they could still think clearly and still more or less act like her, but they were still all independent and kind of ornery.

“Aww, do we gotta?” asked one, “You haven’t done this in forever! I wanna play!”

The other’s chimed in, echoing each other, “We wanna play!”

The older Destroyah let out a sigh and said firmly, “No time for that! C’mon, no bellyaching and get in line! We need to reassemble so we can go help our friends!”

“Ugh, laaaaame!”

Despite the complaints the other adolescents did comply, flying over to form a hovering line that the main Destroyah could fly up to and touch one at a time. Each touch created a burst of energy as she absorbed the one she touched, adding another bit of herself to the growing whole. However she’d divided herself into dozens of juveniles, and it’d take time to fully reassemble herself and become whole again.

Minutes that she wasn’t sure Jeog had.

Just hang in there fox gal, and don’t you dare die!

An avalanche of savage iron sought to rend Jeog limb from limb, a tide she threw herself into evading with all the primal speed and agility her supernatural body could offer her. The horrible pain of her injuries faded into the background roar of combat instinct as she struggled to stay just a pace ahead of Ki Seong’s spinning spear of iron forged death.

Jeog ducked and dived, bounced off of trees and branches while Ki Seong pursued her with relentless focus. The spear, coated in Ki Seong’s golden magic, struck with the speed of a cobra, its heavy blade severing branches and thick tree trunks with equal ease, leaving a pathway of shattered forest in the two combatants’ wake.

Not solely on defense, Jeog sought every opening she could find to sneak in an attack. She’d hastily craft any illusions she could think of, baring Ki Seong’s path with walls, surprising her with the sudden appearance of a bear, or making the ground seem to come alive with grasping skeletal hooves. Yet Ki Seong was having none of it. Every time Jeog sent out an illusion the kirin would either barrel through it or throw a clay orb of iron dust to scatter the foxfire making up the illusions.

Even if such tricks wouldn’t work in full, however, they still provided enough distraction for Jeog to turn on her foe and swipe with her claws. She targeted the kirin’s legs, hoping for a hamstringing blow that would cripple Ki Seong, but the kirin was more than ready for such attacks. Her mane would billow out like a cloud of ink, striking even where she wasn’t looking to block Jeog’s claws, and nearly catching Jeog’s arm before she managed to burn some of the silken steel mane away with a jet of foxfire.

Ki Seong moved in, leading with her spear but also rearing up on her hind legs and launch into a brutal hoof strike right beside the magically flying spear. Jeog twisted away, bending away from the deadly iron, but not quite far enough to evade Ki Seong’s hooves. The blows backed by ogre strength rocked Jeog off her paws and sent her sprawling. She flipped over and darted away just in time to avoid a powerful spear thrust that split a small boulder just behind where Jeog was.

Slipping to the side of the advancing kirin Jeog swiped her tails, flinging a half dozen bolts of flickering blue foxfire at Ki Seong. The kirin whipped her spear round and spun it in front of her, the blur of iron dismantling the bolts of foxfire as easily as if they were sprays of water, the iron dispelling the supernatural flames. But the moment Ki Seong looked beyond the vanishing motes of fire she saw that Jeog was no longer where she’d been, but instead had used the moment to become invisible.

Ki Seong snorted, as two could play at that game, and tapped into her own demonic power to shift into her own invisible state. A brief game of cat and mouse ensued. Ki Seong could smell Jeog with her potent sense of scent, and knew the gumiho hadn’t simply run away but was trying to stalk her. Ki Seong in turn slowly and deliberately moved to try to get behind the illusion cloaked Jeog.

Removing one of her last iron clay bombs, Ki Seong targeted the area where she smelled the thickest level of the gumiho’s scent, and threw. The bomb shattered, spraying iron dust in a gray cloud... but no Jeog appeared. Frowning, Ki Seong only saw that the spot she’d hit had a low hanging branch that was covered in a thick matting of gray fur that was now dissipating into blue fire.

She baited the spot! Ki Seong realized, just as she also realized her motion of throwing the bomb had likely created enough distortion in her own invisibility to mark her location.

Ki Seong grunted in pain as a weight landed on her back, Jeog’s claws digging in as she grasped at the kirin, snarling. Ki Seong didn’t hesitate, throwing an elbow back to smash Jeog across the face, but the gumiho took the bow and snapped at Ki Seong’s neck. She got her spear around, using the haft to catch the blow, forcing Jeog’s jaws back as she turned around and slammed her back, gumiho and all, into the nearest tree.

Jeog yelped at the blow, but held on firm. Ki Seong smashed back again, almost dislodging Jeog, but not before the gumiho’s fangs flashed once more, this time clamping around Ki Seong’s right horn. Ki Seong’s eyes widened and she focused to bring her spear flying back around to try and impale the gumiho, but Jeog’s jaws crunched down with full force and there was a cracking sound like a splitting log and Ki Seong screamed.

Pain and fury lent extra strength to Ki Seong’s hooves as she rammed one into Jeog’s gut and sent the gumiho flying away like a tossed rag doll. However as Jeog went she took a good half of Ki Seong’s right horn with her, and broken horn sputtering sparks of gold magic. Her magical aura flickered erratically, her spear dropping from the air to clatter to the ground between her and where Jeog landed.

Unreal, stabbing pain rushed through her skull, Ki Seong dazed by the sudden loss of one of her horns. She forced herself to think through the pain and focus on Jeog, who was spitting out the broken half of Ki Seong’s horn. Both eyed the spear that lay between them, and moved at the same time.

Ki Seong was just a shade faster, snatching up her spear with her hooves now, rearing up to her hind legs to spin the spear around and catching the leaping Jeog with a hefty blow that threw the gumiho back once again, this time knocking her in a rolling sprawl right by the side of the old cabin that Jeog had called home all these years.

Hoping to finish the beast quickly, Ki Seong advanced fast, grabbing one of her very last weapons, another clay bomb, this one filled with a similar flaming alchemic mixture to her crossbow bolts. She kicked the jar at Jeog as the gumiho struggled to stand. Once more Jeog’s own unnaturally swift reflexes and speed saved her as she dove away from the clay jar, which splashed thick green liquid across the side of the cabin that ignited in a sheet of flames.

“There’s nowhere left to go,” Ki Seong promised with a ragged, heavy breath that betrayed her own exhaustion, the long battle finally making even her endurance flag.

Jeog, looking no less beaten, battered, and at the edge of her endurance, turned to face Ki Seong with unfaltering eyes of blue.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Ki Seong came in hard and fast, slicing down with her spear. Jeog leaped over the blow, landing on the haft with her hind legs and slashing down with both claws. Spinning like a jade pinwheel, Ki Seong let the claws graze her in order to yank her spear out from under Jeog and land an explosive snap kick that crunched the gumiho into the side of the cabin. The flames were starting to spread, licking the edge of the roof now. Ki Seong’s spear flashed forward, almost skewering Jeog’s head, but the gumiho ducked down at the last second and raked out with her legs, catching one of Ki Seong’s and cutting deep red lines across it. The kirin ignored the pain of the blow, already blinded by so much that the cuts on her leg hardly registered, and she battered Jeog with another kick that rolled Jeog across the ground towards the front of the cabin.

Ki Seong jumped, spear grasped in both fore hooves as she drove it down towards Jeog, whose eight tails all sprang up at once. Azure foxfire pooled through each tail, Jeog dredging up what felt like the last scraps of mystic power she had left. The flames formed into a single, large orb of pulsing blue fire that Jeog flung upwards at the descending Ki Seong.

Ki Seong hit the ball of fire dead on, spear first.

And she burst right through it, blue flames clinging to her hide and hair as she fell towards Jeog with single minded focus.

Jeog tried to evade, and in doing so spared herself from being impaled through the back, but Ki Seong’s spear still caught her left front leg and pinned it to the earth, the iron eating away at Jeog’s flesh. She couldn’t help but howl. Ki Seong yanked the spear free, drawing it back for a killing blow.

Then something smacked into the side of her face, bursting in a cloud of white dust. It was a bag of salt, falling to the ground and leaving Ki Seong blinking in mild surprise. Jeog too was surprised, not just by the salt bag, but by who threw it.

“Uh-oh, uh, Silver, the salt didn’t work!” Diamond Tiara said, scrambling to grab something from a large sack she’d dragged with her. Next to her Silver Spoon and Gentle Leaf both stood with panicked but determined looks mixing on their faces.

“T-Try the copper pots! Gentle Leaf, go for the rosemary!” Silver Spoon said while flipping through a book quickly, eyes scanning the pages.

Ki Seong just blinked at the foals as if she was seeing another illusion, but she could smell the ponies clearly and the bag of salt had felt perfectly real.

“What are you children doing here!? This is no place for you!” she bellowed, glaring back at Jeog, who was trying to stand, but having difficulty with her injured leg. “Again you drag innocents to defend yourself, beast!? Children, now!?”

Jeog shook her head, looking with wild desperation at the foals, “No, they cannot be here! It is dangerous! Run!”’

Diamond Tiara shook her head as she grabbed out a pair of copper pots from her bag and started banging them together, her eyes filled with a fiery resolve. “We can’t leave you to be killed! You’re our friend!”

Ki Seong’s eyes narrowed, flinching at the annoying banging, but not understanding...

Wait, her early days of training came rushing back to her. Ki Seong remembered lessons on various ways to drive out spirits and other Yogoe. Most of them were pure folk foolishness, like the banging of copper pots to make spirits flee an area. Other such folktales held truth to them, however. Salt could be used to repel certain demons, but why would these foals be using it on her?

Silver Spoon pulled out a mirror and flashed it as Ki Seong, scratching a nail over it. The sound was annoying, but no bane to the kirin. She almost laughed at this idiocy, frowning in irritation as Gentle Leaf threw a clump of rosemary at her, followed by a string of garlic.

“Cease this at once,” she growled in utterly fed-up annoyance, walking towards the foals with menace, “You children do not understand what you’re meddling with! This beast is friend to none, and has merely confused your minds with her-”

“Shut up! You don’t know a single thing about her!” Diamond Tiara shouted, dropping the copper pots and taking out a glass vial filled with some kind of green powder, “Now just go away!”

Diamond flung the vial, and with a scornful scowl Ki Seong swiped at it with her hoof. The glass broke and disgorged a cloud of green powder around the kirin. Unlike all the other foal’s folk remedies, this had an immediate effect. In shocked surprise Ki Seong yelped in pain as the powder clung to her and sizzled with wisps of smoke. She batted at her limb, trying to remove the powder, and coughed and sputtered as some of it got into her nose, burning all the way.

It took her a second to recognize what the powder was.

Jade. One of the purest stones in Carrean folklore, and an almost universal bane of Yogoe-kind, right behind iron. Not all Yogoe feared jade, just as not all of them feared iron, but for those that were affected, the touch of jade was agony.

Ki Seong growled and shook herself, trying to clear as much of the powdered jade was possible, and felt sick to her stomach as she felt her body tremble with waves of cold.

“Whoa, did that work?” Diamond Tiara said, eyes wide.

“I think so. That was the powdered jade, wasn’t it?” Silver Spoon gulped, “We, uh, only had one of those didn’t we?”

“I’m kind of surprised Miss Doo even had any. What does she use it for?”

Gentle Leaf licked her lips nervously, “She, uh, doesn’t look like she’s dropping, guys. I-in fact I think she’s looks kinda...mad.”

Indeed, Ki Seong was furious. The powdered jade hurt, and she felt it sapping her strength, but there hadn't been nearly enough in that tiny vial to stop her. And now her wrath was focused upon the three tiny ponies that had interfered with her hunt! The gumiho would be dead already if not for them! When children misbehave, they needed to be taught a lesson.

Her mane quivered and moved. It wasn’t nearly as fast or as strong as before, moving like sickly snakes rather than swift vipers, and Ki Seong felt her blood burn inside her as the jade railed against the demon power within. Even so, the black tendrils of mane still moved fast enough to grasp at the foals, who all scampered to try and get away.

Silver Spoon and Gentle Leaf were wrapped up in coils of living mane, Diamond Tiara only barely escaping by ducking behind a tree.

With a deep grimace Ki Seong debated what to do with the children, but then a gray form barreled into her from the side. Jeog, even with one horribly injured leg, still had the strength to move and clawed at Ki Seong’s face.

“No! No more of hurting others! It is me you are here for!”

Ki Seong rolled with the blow, her face raked with shallow, bleeding cuts, but she swung back with a titanic, two hooved buck to the chest that sent Jeog sprawling back to the ground, flat on her back. Finally seeing a chance to end things, Ki Seong spun her spear around and rushed in, starting a downward swing that would cut the gumiho in two.

A swift pink blur threw herself in the way, hooves out.

“Stop!”

All slowed. Ki Seong blinked in shock at Diamond Tiara standing right between Jeog and the descending spear, but she’d put too much momentum behind a blow meant to cut her foe in half for her to be able to pull back. She could all but see the same desperation on the young pony’s face as she’d seen on Cho Yon’s so long ago, and the horror of what she’d done that night rushed through her even as she knew she couldn’t possibly stop in time.

For Jeog time seemed to slow even further. For her the image of Cho Yon interposed over Diamond Tiara was as real as a slap to the face, and such a maelstrom of emotions thundered inside her that she felt like she might literally be torn apart by them. So much fear and pain tried to keep her chained to the ground, yet an all encompassing need to protect the filly in front of her was pulling her towards motion.

Jeog couldn’t understand why Diamond Tiara, or Cho Yon, would do something like this! Why were they willing to give up their short, mortal lives to try and save her? What pushed them to such irrational actions!? Didn’t they understand how important their lives where!?

“I’m not talking about a muscle pumping blood in the chest. I’m talking about something you can’t see. Something that only exists here, between people.”

Cho Yon’s words were as real to Jeog as if he was standing right there, saying them again. She could see him, holding out his hoof between herself and Diamond Tiara, his words an echo from the past that rang with utmost clarity.

"It’s something you feel between yourself and another. A warmth and pull that draws you to each other. A heart isn’t a thing, its a feeling. Makes you want to be around that person, protect them, see them smile.”

A heart. Not something one possesses alone, but something born between two people. Draws them to one another. Makes their lives matter to each other, more than their own.

Sense crashed through Jeog like a waterfall of cold, awakening water, or the warmth of the sun finally cresting the ridge to bring dawn. In the span of nanoseconds realization and understanding snapped into place, and every one of Cho Yon’s actions and words over the long gone years suddenly were bathed in new light.

And so too were Diamond Tiara’s. This little filly who when all sense and rationality would say she ought to have been fearful of the fox she met in the forest, she chose to befriend her instead. And slowly, bit by bit, whether she’d been aware of it or not, Jeog and Diamond Tiara had formed that same connection Cho Yon had shown her long ago in Carrea. A connection that Jeog finally could see and name as ‘the heart’.

She could feel her heart, and Diamond Tiara’s, as the warm, shining bond between them. A feeling that pushed aside pain, breathed new strength into her limbs, and made Jeog move as she’d never moved before...

No, not Jeog.

That was a name she’d hidden behind, because she’d been too afraid to be what Cho Yon had seen her as all along.

When Ki Seong’s blade sliced down upon nothing, the kirin blinked, partly in shock, and partly in relief. She’d had no desire to harm the child, but what had happened? It took her a second for her mind to reconstruct the event as she looked up from her spear. Jeog stood not far away, Diamond Tiara held by the scruff of her mane in the gumiho’s mouth like a mother fox might snatch up its cub.

In a last ditch burst of speed Jeog had actually used her tails to yank Diamond Tiara away from Ki Seong’s spear while springing away with a nearly impossible arm stand with the one uninjured paw she had left, and had flipped both herself and the filly out of harm's way. All within the span of a split second. Ki Seong’s mind briefly boggled at the speed and agility such a move had displayed, but soon shoved such unneeded feelings aside as she took up a fighting stance once again.

The nagging doubt in the back of her mind that asked why the gumiho would save the young pony bit at Ki Seong’s resolve, and she growled it away. A trick. It had to be a trick. The beast just wanted to keep its living shield around, that was all.

Diamond Tiara, shaking, glanced back at Jeog in surprise as the gumiho set her down.

“J-Jeog? I...”

A soft grayish blue paw patted her head gently and then just as softly pushed the filly to the side.

“You don’t have to explain, Diamond Tiara. I see it now.”

The gumiho smiled, eyes shining at the filly, “I see what he was showing me, our hearts. And... call me Chingu.”

“Chingu?” Diamond Tiara tilted her head, then a slow smile spread on her own face, “Yes, Chingu.”

Ki Seong spat, holding her spear before her, “What nonsense is this? Chingu? Is that supposed to be another, twisted gumiho joke, Jeog?”

Chingu turned to face the kirin, for what she knew would be the last time, and she took a deep breath. She then rose up onto her hind legs, and despite the pain lancing through her badly wounded left arm, she spread them out in a familiar stance.

The stance was familiar to Ki Seong as well, because she let out a small, choked gasp at the sight of it. The Way of the Open Heart. The notion filled Ki Seong with dark, bubbling bile, her eyes turning to golden edged razors.

“You dare...? You dare to pervert his art against me!? Is there no depth you won’t sink to!?”

“You’ve come for an ending, Ki Seong,” Chingu said, not in boast nor in threat, but in simple calm statement, “So let’s end it.”

That was all the invitation Ki Seong needed. Her broken horn still bleeding spurts of gold magic, her body slick with darker blood, the kirin moved in. She lacked the same power and speed from before, both the toll of battle and the jade weakening her, but her determination was no less than the gumiho’s before her, and so she rushed in with a powerful straight thrust that still had potent killing potential.

Chingu flowed into motion. Her own body was no less bereft of stamina now than Ki Seong’s, and just as wounded, but the Way of the Open Heart was not an art of hard motions requiring much from its user. It instead used its opponent’s strength and momentum against them. Chingu had learned the forms well enough from Cho Yon, she’d merely lacked the emotional understanding to grasp what lay at the center of the martial art.

Knowing one’s own heart, the heart of one’s opponent, and the connection between them that made those hearts what they were.

She could feel Ki Seong’s heart. The kirin’s pain, so far beyond the wounds on her body, was written over every inch of Ki Seong’s face.

Chingu tried not to be distracted by it as she sidestepped the spear thrust, using a simple turn of her paw to push the spear aside and let its force bypass her as she twirled away.

Ki Seong growled and advanced, spear now becoming a whirling blur as she stepped into the forms of her own martial art. The Iron Flower was a powerful technique, building momentum with every swing. Few could stand against it’s constant barrage of twirling slices and swift thrusts. Yet like a raging firestorm breaking upon an ocean tide, Ki Seong’s fiery strikes were meeting with nothing solid. Chingu moved like mist, using only the minimalist of motions to bend away from the blows or redirection them with subtle and swift blocks.

Ki Seong tried to grasp at Chingu with her mane, the black strands coiling out slowly due to the jade still burning inside the kirin. Chingu hopped over the grasping tendrils of mane, flipping over Ki Seong so that her back was to the cabin. By now the cabin’s east wall was covered in fire, and almost half the roof now was, too, bathing both gumiho and kirin in a flickering curtain of orange.

“He was mine!” Ki Seong shouted as she turned, resuming her furious assault, spear reflecting the firelight, “The first real light I ever had in my life! You took him away!”

Deadly iron breeze by Chingu’s face as she ducked back, leading Ki Seong closer to the cabin. The kirin’s movements were growing less disciplined and focused as emotion raged across her face. Chingu felt ever more the radiating suffering of this creature in front of her. Less and less did Ki Seong look like the powerful, relentless, and unstoppable Hunter, and more did she look like the wounded, battered, and mourning lost soul she truly was.

Where Jeog might have just continued to see an enemy, Chingu saw something different.

“We both lost Cho Yon,” she said as she bent around one of Ki Seong’s swings, turning to grab the spear’s haft and directing its blade into the ground, “But he’s not gone! He left his heart behind, with us! Can’t you see it?”

A feral snarl ripped from Ki Seong’s throat as she tore the spear free of the earth, sending dirt flying as she powered a hoof strike past Chingu’s defenses, knocking the gumiho back until she was almost up against the burning cabin’s door. The interior of the cabin was still free of fire, but smoke and firelight was starting to pour through the broken windows.

“See it!? See what!? You killed him! Made him shield you! That bolt was meant for you! I didn’t mean to...” her eyes closed in pain and she let out a guttural noise of mixed agony and rage, “It’s all your fault!”

Eyes snapping back open with furious focus, Ki Seong lunged for Chingu, another powerful overhead chop that could easily bisect what it struck. Chingu was still until the last second, where she stepped into the blow and turned her body to tuck it up against Ki Seong’s chest as she hooked her good arm through Ki Seong’s extended leg. Then using all of the power behind Ki Seong’s strike, Chingu bent forward and threw with her shoulder. Ki Seong went flipping end over end, flying through the broken doorway into the cabin and crashing into the far wall hard enough to shake the whole cabin and make a few embers drip down from the ceiling.

Chingu followed her in, stepping into the smokey, stifling confines of the flaming cabin.

Outside Silver Spoon and Gentle Leaf had both joined Diamond Tiara, the three fillies staring with wide eyed, breathless tension as they watched the gumiho stride into the cabin, the flames already starting to chew through the roof. Whether the cabin had minutes or seconds before it became an inferno was anyone’s guess, but Diamond Tiara could hardly breath, fearing for her friend, but knowing she couldn’t do any more now but hope.

Within the cabin’s shadowy confines, Ki Seong rolled to her hooves, gasping for breath, eyes watering both from the sting of smoke and the rawness of emotions kept tightly locked away for too long.

“It was you... it was you...” she kept saying, even as her mind repeated the same phrase in a guilty echo, with an entirely different meaning.

”It was you... it was you...”

Chingu faced her, still keeping her stance steady, “What does it matter who it was? We both hurt. We both cared. He cared. Isn’t that enough?”

“NO!”

Desperation fueled her as she surged towards Chingu. One spear slash came close enough to cut a trail of leaking blue flame from Chingu’s shoulder, despite her best efforts to roll aside. Another smashed floorboards as the gumiho leaped away. Ki Seong’s mane twisted and struck like hungry vipers, and flicks of Chingu’s tail sent small flickers of foxfire to meet them, burning the strands away. All the while the cabin grew hotter, the smoke thicker, and the hellish light of the flames curtained the interior as the walls and ceiling became coated with tongues of flame.

Chingu’s instincts were boiling over with fear of the deadly fire. If she let the flames touch her they’d scour her away. Yet she couldn’t flee. Not until this was over.

Back and forth they went like blood stained phantoms, each fighting on only the last flickering coals of strength they had left. Every blow, every dodge, was slower than the last, yet filled with ever more desperation. Even using the Way of the Open Heart wasn’t enough for Chingu to avoid every twist and turn of Ki Seong’s spear, yet the kirin stumbled now like a drunkard, beyond all limits of exhaustion as she tried to slay the foe she’d pursued, blamed, and hated for so long.

At last Ki Seong saw Chingu trip on a splatter of Ki Seong’s own blood, and thought it an opening. In truth Chingu tripped on purpose, a final feint to end things once and for all. Ki Seong thrust with all her remaining might. Chingu ducked and turned, her eight tails coiling out to grasp the spear and push it upwards. The spear impacted with the ceiling, embedding there up to the end of the blade. At the same time Chingu kicked back with her hind legs, catching Ki Seong across the face and dropping the kirin to the floor.

Breathing heavily Chingu stumbled around, intending to pounce on the kirin, but Ki Seong, while dazed, wasn’t done.

With a sputtering flare of golden magic from her broken horn, her one still intact horn covered in an overflow of aura, Ki Seong started to tug her spear free of the ceiling. The cabin groaned at the effort. Chingu saw cracks forming along the flame coated ceiling beams above Ki Seong.

“Wait, you’re-” Chingu began to shout, but Ki Seong spat blood and roared a wordless shout of denial and rage as she rose to her hooves and her magic surged, ripping the spear free of the cabin ceiling.

In so doing she tore away an entire chunk, nearly a third, of the ceiling's supports and a large portion of it collapsed in a flaming heap. Most of it fell onto nothing, but one of the larger ceiling beams struck Ki Seong across the back and head, pinning her under a portion of flaming debris. The spear fell, striking the floor and planting itself there.

For a second Chingu just stood there, stunned. Ki Seong wasn’t moving, and it took Chingu a second more to realize the kirin was out cold, but still breathing. Not likely for long, however, as not only were the flames of the debris starting to reach for the kirin, but the moan of cracking wood from above signaled the entire cabin would become a pyre at any moment.

The doorway was open and clear, however, and Chingu could easily escape joining Ki Seong in a fiery death. All she had to do was... leave her there to face her fate.

Ki Seong had hunted Chingu relentlessly for years. Many had been hurt, even killed, in that single minded Hunter’s quest for vengeance. She’d killed Cho Yon. She almost killed Diamond Tiara. She might continue to try to kill Chingu, if she was allowed to live.

All Chingu had to do was remember the way Cho Yon looked at Ki Seong, the way he spoke of her, the way he’d died not just for Chingu’s sake but in many ways for Ki Seong’s as well. She knew Cho Yon’s heart, and what he would want her to do.

Going against her every fear and instinct she rushed to the fallen kirin’s side. The flames scorched at her as she gripped the ceiling beam and began to haul it up. The weight was almost beyond her, and the feeling of fire eating away at her flesh was near maddening in its pain, but she bent herself to the task, knowing she had seconds to spare. Slowly the ceiling beam lifted, inch by inch, until enough space was available that Chingu could reach down with her jaws and grip Ki Seong’s mane. With agonizing slowness she was able to drag Ki Seong free of the debris. She almost collapsed, then, her endurance pushed past all reason.

Flames were dropping down from above now, some striking Chingu and burning her further, ripping away at her, but she kept her jaw’s grip firm on Ki Seong’s mane and forced her dead legs to move. In a jerking shuffle she pulled Ki Seong towards the door, even as hungry fingers of fire consumed the walls and made the cabin start to sag inward. The heat was unbearable. The pain indescribable. All Chingu could see was the fire, and the doorway ahead, so close yet feeling miles away.

And just when Chingu’s strength was about to fail her, when she could feel her consciousness slipping away, just a bare foot away from the opening to freedom... a massive crimson pair of hooves reached through and grabbed both her and Ki Seong, lifting them up and through the doorway in a titanic yank.

Bursting free of the cabin, Destroyah pulled the burned and smoking kirin and gumiho away from the inferno just as the cabin finally collapsed into a roaring tower of smoke and flame. She dragged the pair a good distance away, where a horrified and frightened trio of fillies waited.

“Oh no! No, no, no! Please tell me she’s okay!” shouted Diamond Tiara.

“Give me some space, let me check them,” Destroyah said, quickly bending over the pair with a critical eye, “Tanaka and Daiei both, but you’re damned insane, Jeog!”

Still conscious, if only just barely, Chingu managed a tiny smile past the waves of pain covering her, “Chingu now... just Chingu. The other one?”

Destroyah, not looking up from her examinations, cracked a small grin of her own, “Kicked her butt, sent her running. Just another day on the job. Now just hush up and take a breather while I make sure you’re not as crispy as you look.”

“I’m...I’m okay,” Chingu said, trying to rise but wincing and letting out a light whimper, “But I shall do as you say.”

“Good girl. You learn fast.”

“Wh-what about her?” Gentle Leaf asked, nodding towards Ki Seong, who hadn’t so much as stirred an inch. Between her wounds from the battle and the burns marking her coat, the kirin could easily have been mistaken for a corpse if not for the slow rise and fall of her chest.

Destroyah had been examining the kirin as much as Chingu, and after a moment said, “Hard to say until I get her somewhere with medical supplies, but she’ll probably live. I don’t suppose any of you fillies brought some rope in your bag of tricks?”

There was a potent look in Destroyah’s eyes that told the three fillies that they would have words later over the fact that they’d come out here when Destroyah had expressly told them not to, but for now the present need to clean up the crisis and deal with wounded surpassed all other issues. Silver Spoon adjusted her glasses nervously and said, “Y-yeah, I think so.”

Minutes later Ki Seong, still unconscious, was bound up as tightly as could be with rope, and was carefully slung onto Destroyah’s back, alongside Chingu who rode there with her legs curled up and her tails genty swishing behind her. A search of the area had revealed Ditzy Doo unconscious in the bushes, and the fillies carried her between them on the slow walk back to Ponyville.

Diamond Tiara looked at Chingu, the filly’s legs trembling with relief now that it was all over. Chingu shared the feeling, the two not needing to say anything to both feel a collective weight falling from them. Still, Chingu glanced back at the burning ruin of the cabin that had once been her home. She thought she might feel some loss, there, but instead, with every step away from that place where she’d hidden herself as Jeog for so long, she felt lighter and lighter.

That cabin had been where Jeog had run from the past and hid from the world.

Chingu had no need of it. Not anymore.

From now on there would be neither running, nor hiding. Just living.

Epilogue: An Open Heart

Epilogue: An Open Heart

Several days later...

Duchess Chrysalis kept a private meeting room for situations where the throne room lacked the more personal tone she sometimes desired for certain meetings, this one included. The room was cozy without being claustrophobic, with enough space for a varnished oak desk situated in front of an open glass window and door that led to a balcony with a spectacular view of Canterlot. A semi-circle arrangement of plush chairs were set before the desk, occupied currently by Equestria’s kaiju protectors. Destroyah sat in the middle chair, still sporting a number of bandages from her recent exploits, but she’d assured Chrysalis that she’d recover fully with a few more days of rest. Raiga didn’t so much sit in her chair as float to the side of it and lean on the back casually. Xenilla sat at Destroyah’s other side with his usual calculating look, although that mask slipped to show concern any time his eyes flicked towards Destroyah’s injured state.

“I do hope that Ditzy Doo is doing well?” Chrysalis said, knowing full well that, injured or not, Destroyah had insisted on seeing to the Element Bearer’s care herself before coming back to Canterlot.

Destroyah gave a heavy nod, “Ponyville General has some good doctors, and she’s a tougher cookie than most. Still, three broken ribs are no joke. She’s going to be mending for awhile.”

A shadow passed over Destroyah’s face as she said, “Probably shouldn’t have let her fight...”

“You made the best tactical decision you could given the circumstances,” Xenilla said plainly, “You didn’t have time to argue while facing two potent adversaries, so having Ditzy lend what aid she could, despite risks, was the more sensible choice than trying to force her to flee when she had no intention of doing so. Don’t waste too much time second guessing that, Destroyah.”

“Yeah, chief, I know, just hate it when these little ponies get hurt. It's what we’re here to prevent,” Destroyah said, and Raiga reached over to give the large mare a playful swat on the shoulder.

“Cheer up, D, sounds like you guys kicked all kinds of a-” she paused, glancing at the Duchess and grinning apologetically, “a... lot of tail, yup, totally what I was gonna say there. Just real bummed out I missed such a good fight!”

Destroyah chuckled, wincing a bit in the process, “Won’t lie, wishing I’d brought you along, fish face. We could’ve used the backup. Battra’s no pushover, and Ki Seong... with all that demon power in her body she was easily a toe-to-toe match for any ponified kaiju. I was lucky Ditzy and Chingu were there to even the odds, otherwise I might not be here to talk about it.”

Chrysalis didn’t disguise any of the relief on her face as she nodded in grave acknowledgment, “I’m extremely grateful to you, Lady Destroyah. Once more you’ve risked your life to shield those of my subjects, and it is a growing debt I shall not soon forget. The same is true for Ditzy Doo, and my realm’s newest guest. Chingu, now, is it?”

“That’s what she’s preferring to go by, now,” said Destroyah.

“When are we going to get to meet the fox lady?” asked Raiga, “Was kinda expecting her to be here.”

“She did arrive with you from Ponyville, did she not, along with her...chaperones?” Xenilla used the term with a loose tone, eyebrow slightly raised.

Destroyah cracked a wry grin, “Figured I’d let them get settled first, chief, before dragging the poor fox around to meet everyone. Besides, the kids wanted to see the sights. Think this is the first time Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon have been to Canterlot, so they were pretty eager to explore.”

“Hopefully that won’t cause too much of a stir,” commented Xenilla dryly.

“No worries there, chief. Chingu’s got her filly form on, and the foals got their parents keeping an eye on things. This is basically their last hurrah before several month’s worth of grounding kick in.”

“Ouch,” said Raiga, “Kinda harsh, isn’t it? I mean, they did help, didn’t they?”

“Yes, they helped, when expressly told to stay put,” Destroyah said, letting out a hefty sigh, “Those fillies have smarts, talent, and a whole lot of guts, but I swear I’m going to teach them caution if it kills me. All it would’ve taken is one stray shot from Battra and any one of those foals would’ve been toast. Takana’s sake, the way I heard it Diamond Tiara was a split second from getting the business end of a spear before Chingu pulled off the save. So yes, Raiga, they helped, which is why they’re grounded for a couple of months instead of for life.”

Raiga held up her finned hooves in surrender, “Okay, okay, just playing heroine’s advocate. I like me some last second heroics.”

“Heroics are good,” Xenilla said, “Tempering it with caution is often better. On that note, what is to be done about the prisoner?”

Duchess Chrysalis leaned back in her own seat, folding her hooves in front of her as her motherly expression gained a hardened edge. Not unkind or lacking compassion, but certainly a look of matronly severity. “Ki Seong will be held in our highest security prison short of Tartarus, until several issues can be worked out concerning her status. She’s charged with multiple counts of assault on Equestrian citizens, and I think at least one count of attempted murder is justifiable. However, I am also attempting correspondence with several Carrean authorities, including contacting her family. It's possible she may be wanted for crimes in that country as well. As it stands I’m uncertain whether to keep her here, or ship her off for her kin to deal with.”

“What’s there to even think about?” Raiga asked, making an off hoof gesture, “Pack her in the tightest crate you can and toss her back across the ocean, or stuff her in the deepest hole you got over here. Either way, she’ll won’t be a problem anymore, so why sweat the details?”

“Call it an Equestrian sense of justice,” Chrysalis said, her gossamer wings fluttering in a nervous gesture behind her as her brow creased in heavy thought, “We believe not just in punishing the wrongdoer, but in facilitating their rehabilitation, if possible. I doubt she’ll receive such clemency from her homeland, so I’m considering keeping her here.”

Raiga just blinked at that, “Uh, if you say so.”

Xenilla leaned forward slightly, eyes meeting Chrysalis evenly, “I trust that, given the danger she represents, you won’t be taking this lightly, Your Grace?”

A weary smile touched Chrysalis’ face, “Of course not, Sir Xenilla. I will spare no security measures necessary. Ki Seong will find that while Equestrians can be very forgiving, to earn such takes a great deal of time and proof of one’s willingness to change. Speaking of which, Lady Destroyah, I assume you and Ditzy Doo finished your evaluation?”

Destoryah laughed, reaching to the arm of her chair to grab a thick folded envelope to toss to the Duchess, “Yeah, as if I needed to think on that more after Chingu put her life on the line in that fight. Ditzy still insisted I give you her written report, but I’ll sum it up for you; Chingu is solid. Not going to say there still might not be some rough edges to work out, and the gal has got a lot to still learn about being around everyday people, but she’s not a threat to your citizens, Duchess. Instead of running away to save herself, she risked everything to put a stop to Ki Seong’s rampage. And if that wasn’t enough she saved that nutjob from a burning cabin when fire is one of the few things Chingu’s species genuinely fears. If that’s not stellar proof of character, I don’t know what is.”

Chrysalis caught the envelope without problem and set it on her desk without opening it, “That was all I needed to hear. I’ll ensure the paperwork for her official status as an immigrated citizen are put through before the day is done. Her home was burned down in the conflict, yes? I could see to having it rebuilt.”

“Won’t be necessary,” Destroyah said, “She doesn’t seem to much care for the notion going back to living in the forest. In fact last I heard she wants to move in at Diamond Tiara’s home.”

“...Her parents approve of this?” Chrysalis asked.

Destroyah shrugged, “Chingu saved their daughter’s life. Seems to have endeared her to the family quite a bit. And any stink that might’ve started getting raised around town about Chingu’s previous fumbles have been swept under by the news of her heroics in the fight. Ponyville has pretty much flipped their opinion on her and I wouldn’t be surprised if she hits ‘town mascot’ status in a few weeks. Now, there is a slight issue concerning the size of the Rich family household. Its barely big enough for the three of them as is, before adding a rambunctious eastern magic fox to the mix.”

“I hear a plan in your tone, Destroyah,” Xenilla said knowingly, well aware when his second-in-command had an idea cooking, and Destroyah grinned back at him.

“Well chief, you see I remembered that when Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon first met Chingu they were trekking into Everfree to find a gem cave. The day before we took the train up here I decided to go have a look for myself. Found the cave easily enough, and like Diamond Tiara said, it was caved in. But what are a bunch of rocks to a few blasts of concentrated micro-oxygen?”

For a rare sight Xenilla actually smiled, letting out a light chuckle, “Ah, I see. I trust our ambitious young businessfilly was on the mark?”

“In spades,” Destroyah said, “Once I was past the collapsed entrance, that cave system is choke full of gems. Don’t know much about how the market value with shake down, but get some miners in there and I bet it’ll turn quite the profit.”

Duchess Chrysalis shared the enthused look on Destroyah’s face, although it was tempered somewhat by a hint of distress, “I do try to ensure all my little ponies have opportunities to support themselves and their family’s. It still distresses me to no end that some like the Riches end up in less favorable straits than others. I also try not to show favoritism, either, but since Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon both discovered this cave on their own then technically they do have right to claim the site. Of course their parents are going to need to handle the official paperwork on opening any mine, but I can ensure that process is made as smooth as possible.”

“Sounds like alls well that ends well, then,” said Raiga, yawning, “No offense Duchess, but do you guys still need me here for anything? Not even sure why you brought me along in the first place, Xenilla.”

“It was important to have you here because now that we’ve sorted everything else out I wanted to have everyone’s opinion on one final matter,” Xenilla said with weight in his words, turning his gaze first towards Destroyah, “You well know I can’t readily ignore any possible ally we might recruit, and you’ve already fought beside her.”

Destoryah pursed her lips and looked back at Xenilla with an expression of heavy thought, “I see where you’re going with this chief, and I’m all for giving her the pitch... but not right now.”

“Reasons?” he asked, not confrontational, just in honest desire for his second-in-command’s thoughts.

“She can handle herself in a fight, yeah, and her skill with illusions, not to mention some natural predatory instincts and prowess, would make her one heck of a recon asset. But bottom line is I don’t want her in our fight until she’s developed enough to really understand what she’d be getting herself into. Gal just figured out how to feel her own heart, chief. Let’s give her some time to sort out what that means, and to connect with the people around her, before we start asking her to jump back into the fire, eh?”

Xenilla accepted that with a slow nod, glancing at Raiga and Chrysalis, “Do you two concur?”

Ragai gave a huge shrug, “Beats me. I get what Destroyah is saying, but then again we could use all the help we can get, and someone who can straight up turn invisible would be damn handy.”

“I believe I am in agreement with Lady Destroyah,” said Chrysalis, eyes downcast, “Chingu has already endured enough, and deserves what peace we can give her. I won’t tell you not to extend an offer to her, Sir Xenilla, but I do ask that you give it some time before doing so.”

“So be it,” he said, the large unicorn settling back in his seat with a contemplative look, eyes ever calculating, “I suppose at this juncture her abilities would be of limited use, since we don’t even know which region our opponents are hiding in right now. We must find a way to narrow the search grid before he finds an opening to strike again. Equestria has too many cities to protect and not enough Defenders to go around.”

The room grew quiet then, not a one of the occupants able to make light of the fact that Equestria remained in dire peril at the claws, fangs, and atomic might of a near indestructible monster and his band of like-minded cohorts. Chrysalis could see the weight of that fact pressing hard upon Xenilla’s shoulders, and her heart went out to the brave and ever dedicated kaiju. For not the first time since she’d met him she wished she could find a way to ease that burden, to convince Xenilla he didn’t need to shoulder all of the responsibility on his own. The urge to reach out a comforting hoof to him was strong, but it wouldn’t be appropriate and she wasn’t certain he’d appreciate it. Sighing at her inability to find the words to express what she really wished to say, Chrysalis instead said, “As always we will do whatever we can, however we can, to protect this world and those who call it home. The last thing we can allow to take root in our hearts is fear. For today, let us celebrate the victories we have won, and leave concerns of future battles for another day.”

The cell was cleaner and more comfortable than she’d have expected, but perhaps this was just the way of Equestrians. That being said there were no chances being taken with her incarceration, either. The bed was a plain mattress with no sheets or blanket that could be fashioned into a weapon, and its frame was heavily bolted to the floor so it too could not be wielded or easily pulled apart. The walls themselves lacked a window, made from rough hewn stone, and the bars thickly occupying one of the walls were laced with enchantments that made them far more potent than mere steel.

From what little Ki Seong could see her cell was located deep underground, likely within the dungeons of the pony’s capital city. She’d woken up in this place, her wounds treated, but her one remaining horn capped by a ring inhibiting what remained of her magic. Manacles without chains were similarly enchanted to reduce her physical strength and induce mind-numbing sickness if she tried to force her way out of her cell or even more faster than a brisk walk. The ponies were not unkind, but were being thorough in her captivity. While she was given some level of privacy, she knew guards remained close and watchful at all times, and they were appropriately wary when bringing her meals.

Not that she had much appetite.

Ki Seong couldn’t feel much of anything. Just a hollow emptiness where her rage had once burned. It was funny. She thought she’d be furious. Frustrated. She ought to be gnashing her teeth in desperation to break free of this prison and continue her hunt for the gumiho that had once again escaped her.

Instead she just felt a strange and alarming stillness inside her that left the kirin confused and frightened, as if she was standing at the edge of some great precipice. Even though her cell was kept at a pleasant room temperature, she couldn’t help but feel a chill that left her shivering.

How had her life become this bent from its proper course? It had all seemed so very, very simple, not so long ago. Jeog was her enemy, to be hunted and killed. That was all there was to it. That was all there was supposed to be to it. So why did these doubts now creep in around her like shades risen from the grave, standing around her in an accusing procession? Why was she so afraid to contemplate the possibility that after all this time, could she have been wrong?

“You look like how I think I must have, hiding in that cabin.”

Ki Seong jerked at the voice, right outside her cell. For a moment the old anger flared, like dying embers sparking from charred logs. The gumiho sat right outside her cell, the creature’s vulpine face pressed near the bars, her icy eyes gazing at Ki Seong with curiosity, contemplation, and... pity?

Ki Seong almost lunged for the bars, hoping to reach her hooves out to strangle the beast, but she stopped halfway to standing up from her mattress, slowly even the hateful desire to kill subsiding under a wave of cold apathy.

“What are you doing here? How did you even get inside?” she asked, not with any real interest or passion, but the residual resignation of one who’d given up.

The gumiho shrugged, “I asked. The one called the Duchess seemed willing to let me speak with you, even as the large blue one made many angry noises about ‘security risks’. I...” the creature paused, tilting its head at Ki Seong in a most curious manner, “I wanted to see you.”

“To torment me further?” Ki Seong growled, though not with much energy, even as her eyes smoldered at the gumiho. “You know I will never stop hating you.”

Those deep blue eyes held an unreadable light, but Ki Seong thought the fox-like creature showed an odd crease of expression at that, a lowering of her eyes. Sorrow? More pity?

“That is your choice. I haven’t come to hurt you further. I have no reason to, as long as you’re not a threat to those I care about. I’m came because I think Cho Yon would want me to. And because I want to. I’m only now starting to see and understand what makes mortals so different from my kind. I still don’t know if I can ever really be like them, but I’m going to try.”

Ki Seong huffed out a tired snort, “You’ll fail. Eventually. You can’t stop being what you really are, underneath whatever mask of civility you’ve learned to put on. Even if...” hesitation, doubt, all if it welled up in her from that dark precipice she feared to tread beyond, “Even if... by some strange miracle of chance you genuinely aren’t the monster I thought you were, you can’t really stop being a gumiho. You know that, right?”

Surprisingly the gumiho nodded, “That is true. I will always be me. My kind, I’ve realized, we are solitary by nature. We live alone. We pursue what we want alone. We... die alone. It isn’t in our nature to think of others as anything more than objects to play with as we please. I lived like that for a very long time. If not for Cho Yon I might never have been anything more than passingly curious about mortals. I never knew what made them so different from me. How they could be so happy with their strange lives. He set me on the path... Diamond Tiara and you helped me take the next step. Now I don’t know what I am. Gumiho, mortal, something in between.”

She held out her paw near her chest, looking at it with eyes filled with a wonder that Ki Seong couldn’t have ever imagined on such a predatory face. “Yet I feel my heart. I know what it means to feel this between myself and others. I even felt your heart, Ki Seong. I know how much it hurts. That’s why you won’t stop hating me, because someone you cared for died, and I was there to blame.”

“It... was your fault,” Ki Seong said, but even she was starting to feel like she didn’t believe it anymore.

“That too is your choice to believe. For as long as you choose to believe it. I may not know much yet about the heart, but I do think I understand one thing about it. It gives us choices.”

The gumiho looked at Ki Seong intently, the eight tails left to her flicking back and forth behind her like a gray wall of mist, “So I choose to forgive you. I also choose to keep living like the mortals do; not alone. If you ever wish to stop being alone, it is a choice you can make too.”

Ki Seong remained silent, staring back at the gumiho while trying to dredge up the old feeling of hot hatred that had driven her for so long. Yet there was only the cold void to greet her when she looked inside herself, and she could only look away, saying in a quiet voice, “Just... go away. I don’t have any more choices left to make.”

“Choices remain with us for as long as we still live,” the gumiho said, turning to stride away from the cell, but before she left she looked over her shoulder at Ki Seong with those unfathomable blue eyes, “And we are both still alive, Ki Seong.”

And with that, she was gone, leaving Ki Seong alone in her cell, with a great deal to ponder.

Ponyville - one week afterward...

Diamond Tiara awoke with a face full of fluffy tail, and looked up to see Chingu had nestled into her bed once again, curled up at the foot of it like an oversized and exceedingly fuzzy hoof pillow. The filly let out a small, quiet laugh as she slowly extricated herself from the protective curl of the gumiho’s eight tails, which had surrounded her like a blanket over the course of the night.

“You know, we built you your own cabin right outside. You ever plan to use it?” Diamond said, and Chingu opened one of her eyes and let out a wide-jawed yawn.

“It is a nice cabin, but the bed isn’t as comfortable without my favorite paw warmer.”

“You're learning sarcasm now? I better watch out, before long you’ll be able to sass me just as much as Silver Spoon does,” Diamond Tiara said with a chuckle as she got out of bed, striding across her new, much larger room to go look out the window and take in the morning air and sunlight.

The Rich’s new family home was two stories instead of one, and Diamond Tiara’s room was on the second floor right across from her parent’s. Down below in their rather sizable lawn she could see the small but very cozy cabin they’d built for Chingu, a hop, skip, and a jump from the main house. It's warm pink window drapes were visible, along with several of the potted plants Diamond had helped Chingu pick out to spruce the new home up. Inside were a few posters from bands Diamond Tiara was fond of and was introducing Chingu to, along with a bookshelf filling gradually with literature, now that Diamond Tiara was helping Chingu learn to read better.

And there was a bed of sorts inside, although it was basically a big circular mattress rather than a conventional bed. Despite Diamond Tiara’s teasing Chingu did sleep there, only once or twice sneaking into Diamond’s room for a curl up. Thus far Diamond Tiara’s parent’s seemed fine with the situation, seeming to see Chingu as one part new best friend, and one part loyal household pet.

“Silver Spoon ought to be here soon,” Diamond Tiara said, noting the height of the morning sun, “Better get up, Chingu. We got breakfast to tackle, then I need to go over the mine report before we head out.”

“You like your numbers, don’t you?” Chingu said, yawning again as she deftly rolled out of bed and stretched herself out in languid pleasure, “How many shiny coins do you really need?”

“Hey, this is an unprecedented chance for me to learn how a real business is run,” Diamond Tiara said, snatching one of her economics books from her enjoyable large desk. She grinned at herself, wondering if perhaps Chingu was right. She shouldn’t let this go to her head. It just felt so nice to wake up and not be worried about her family’s finances. Instead she looked forward to going over them, reading the reports from the newly opened ‘Rich&Spoon Family Gems’ mine. Legally speaking her and Silver Spoon’s parents were the ones who owned and ran the new business, but among them the only one who showed interest in running the business was Silver Spoon’s mother, who’d taken to operating the mine wholeheartedly, and was more than willing to share information and ideas on the business with Diamond Tiara.

Given she was grounded for awhile it wasn’t like she had a lot of other things to do with her Saturdays.

Well, there was one thing she an Silver Spoon were allowed to do, as agreed upon by their parents. As soon as Silver Spoon arrived, she, Diamond Tiara, and Chingu would head out for most the day.

Her mother had a shiny new typewriter she was happily clacking away on in the houses rather spacious kitchen on the first floor, waving in greeting to her daughter and Chingu as the pair entered.

“Good morning! Would you girls like some toast? I made it with extra jam!”

Ever since their financial situation had turned around Spoiled Rich had made every batch of toast with extra jam. Diamond Tiara was slightly frightened by just how much jam her mother now kept stocked in the pantry. If the world was ever in danger from creatures that just happened to be allergic to jam, then the Rich family had Equestria covered.

During their jamtastic breakfast Diamond Tiara heard a faint thump and bang from down below, where no doubt her father was hard at work on one project or another while still breaking in his newly expanded and improved invention laboratory. She’d been down there once or twice, and was amazed at just how much her father managed to pack into their new basement. It was a tad alarming, actually, but as long as Filthy Rich didn’t explode the house, Diamond Tiara figured he could have all the crazy gizmos he wanted to work on his inventions with.

A knock at the door announced Silver Spoon’s arrival and Diamond Tiara eagerly met her friend at the door.

“Now you fillies be back before evening,” Spoiled said with a wave from the kitchen table, “Grounded is still grounded. Chingu you’ll be sure to get them back before it gets too dark?”

Chingu gave Diamond Tiara’s mother a solemn nod, “They will be back on time.”

With that the trio left, heading out across Ponyville at a brisk pace. Diamond Tiara’s new home was just a few doors down from Silver Spoon’s house, now, which was pretty convenient for the pair. As they passed Silver Spoon’s home, the filly adjusted her glasses and glanced at Chingu, or rather at Chingu’s tails.

“Miss Doo wrote back to me. Even hospitalized she’s pretty thorough when it comes to reading. She said she hasn’t found any hints in any of the books available that say if a gumiho’s tails can grow back.”

There was an apologetic note in Silver Spoon’s voice, and Diamond Tiara was fast to pitch in with a more enthusiastic, hopeful tone, “That doesn’t mean it's impossible! There’s lots of magic out there, so if we look long enough maybe we can find something eventually.”

Chingu shrugged. As they passed by various ponies going about their morning routines they got a number of friendly smiles or waves, the nervousness that’d existed around Chingu giving way to an open acceptance as word of what had happened in Whitetail Woods a week ago had spread. This was the first time Chingu could walk so openly among mortals, and she liked the feeling. The loss of her tail didn’t seem as heavy as it might have been without these new feelings to explore and experience.

“It’s not something to feel worry about. If I grow a new tail, I grow a new tail. If I don’t, I don’t. I have faint memories of having fewer tails when I was new to this world, but I don’t remember how I got more. I don’t know if the one that was taken can return. It doesn’t really matter.”

“Still,” Silver Spoon said, “No harm in continuing to do research. It's kinda fun anyway, all this reading about mysterious cultures and creatures from the other side of the world.”

Diamond Tiara glanced over at Silver Spoon with a musing hoof rubbing her chin, “Going for a researcher cutie mark?”

“Maybe I am,” Silver Spoon shot back, “I like learning about strange, far off places, and Miss Doo says there are ponies who go out and do field research all over the world. Sounds pretty fun to me! I even heard that with the arrival of all the kaiju there’s talk of a new ‘Kaijuologist’ field in the making. I could get in on the ground floor! You’re not the only one with ambitions, you know, little miss ‘twelve year old businespony’.”

Diamond Tiara laughed, “Hey, if you can find a way to make ‘Kaijuology’ profitable, I’ll totally bankroll your first expedition. What do you think ‘Diamond & Silver Expeditions Inc.’? Has a nice ring to it.”

“Sounds fun,” said Chingu, “I shall go as well, yes?”

“Well we’re not leaving right now, but eventually maybe. When we’re older,” said Diamond Tiara, and Chingu gained a knowing grin.

“I can wait.”

On their way across town they passed by the restaurant that Gentle Leaf’s parents ran. The little green filly was in her waitress uniform, greeting customers for the morning breakfast rush. She gave a shy wave, but one with a much easier and brighter smile than she’d once had as the trio passed by, smiles that were returned to her in full.

“Take it easy, Gentle Leaf, and when we’re not grounded anymore, let’s get together to play!” called Diamond Tiara, and Gentle Leaf shouted back happily.

“Only if we can do tag again!”

Once the trio reached the bridge leading across the stream towards the Everfree Forest, the slowed their pace. There was a cleared dirt road now leading into the forest where it would eventually reach the gem mine jointly owned by the Rich and Spoon families. Timberwolves were not much of a problem. Apparently they were afraid of a much more dangerous predator who’d made it clear to the local packs that the mine and a good portion of forest around it was her territory. Now that area was about as safe as any portion of the Whitetail Woods.

Just as they were crossing the bridge a voice shouted behind them in a familiar accent.

“Hey, wait up ya’ll!”

Behind them Applebloom galloped their way, followed a few paces behind by Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. The CMC trio came to a halt a few paces from Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and Chingu. Applebloom looked agitated, while Sweetie Belle looked more embarrassed than anything. Scootaloo didn’t look anypony in the eye, only flickering a glance at Chingu quickly before hurriedly looking away with a surly face.

“Uh, can we help you girls with something?” Diamond Tiara asked.

Applebloom grit her teeth, as if she didn’t want to say anything, but pushed the words out anyway, “Was it you? Did you send over that huge scooter ramp?”

Diamond Tiara cleared her throat and met the other filly’s gaze evenly, “Yes, I did.”

“Well we didn’t ask for it! We weren’t asking for charity!”

“Geez, way to be ungrateful...” Silver Spoon began, but Diamond Tiara held up a hoof and gave Applebloom a small nod.

“I understand that you don’t want charity. It isn’t. It's just paying back what we owed you for breaking your old ramp. Simple as that. No need to think of it as anything more.”

Applebloom make a grunting noise, face reddening as she stammered, “F-fine then! We’ll take your stupid ramp! And not owe you anything!”

“Good.”

“Okay!”

“Great”

“FINE! Thank you very much!” Applebloom was now shouting and turned around and stomped away in a huff, face now red from snout to neck.

Sweetie Belle let out a long sigh and said, “You’ll have to forgive her. She doesn’t know how to deal with feelings very well. Thanks for the ramp.”

“Yeah, it’s cool, I guess...” Scootaloo mumbled, “Like, thanks and stuff. Okaynowbye.”

The pegasus quickly trotted away too, soon to be followed by Sweetie Belle who gave Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and Chingu an apologetic smile before trotting after her friends. Diamond Tiara just blinked with a face of mild confusion.

“They’re so weird,” Diamond Tiara muttered with a wondering shake of her head.

“The yellow one likes you,” Chingu said, sniffing the air and nodding to herself.

“I... got nothing to say to that,” Diamond Tiara said in bewilderment, “Let’s get going before I think about it too hard.”

Into the Everfree Forest they went, Chingu now taking the lead. About halfway down the road to the mine they went off the path and into the thicker forest, Chingu leading the two fillies through a winding route that eventually led to a steep incline in the forest floor. A minute later they came out upon a tall hill, one that held a decent sized clearing of tall grass that gently swayed in the fresh morning wind. A spectacular view of the rest of the Everfree Forest, and the rooftops of Ponyville a few miles away, was clear to see under the bright sky above.

Here the three went to the center of the clearing, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon taking up positions to either side of Chingu as the gumiho took a moment to sit and enjoy the view. She then stood, looking to the two fillies as she took up a stance on her hind legs.

“We pick up from last time. Do as I do, but not just the motions, but try to feel what is around you. Feel the wind, the grass, the sunlight. Feel each other’s breaths, and mine, and then look deeper.”

“This still feels super awkward,” Silver Spoon said as she mimicked Chingu’s two legged stance, and Diamond Tiara did the same.

“Yeah, but we’ll get used to it. It's good exercise,” Diamond Tiara said, “And you’re always telling me I need to work on my stamina.”

Silver Spoon adjusted her glasses, nearly losing her balance at the motion until Chingu’s paw steadied her. “Not complaining. Just noting it’s going to be awhile before we get this down.”

“We are not lacking in time,” Chingu said, a brief somber look crossing her vulpine features, “I am learning how to teach just as much as you are learning the Way from me. Cho Yon was much better at this.”

Diamond Tiara rested a hoof on Chingu’s side, smiling up at her friend, “You’re doing great. Now, show us the motions again?”

“Yes. You start with your hind legs like this, and spread your arms to maintain balance. Then with the first step imagine being like the grass, bending but without force...”

And minutes flowed into hours as the three moved together, Chingu passing on what Cho Yon had taught her. For now it was just the motions of the Way of the Open Heart, but Chingu knew with time would grow understanding of the martial art’s subtler mysteries. She too was using the training to learn more, to solidify the lessons that Cho Yon had given her now that she could temper them with the understanding she’d gained of the heart.

As she and the two fillies by her side moved in a harmonious whole, Chingu could feel their hearts beside her own like bright beacons that warmed all the places that had once been cold and confused inside her. And beside them she too felt another familiar heart, and imagined Cho Yon’s youthful grin encouraging her onward upon the new path she’d discovered, filled with a horizon of possibilities.

Author's Note

Well here we are, and I'd like to thank everyone who's given this story a chance by giving it a read. I'd like to give extra thanks to Tarbtano for letting me take a shot at writing this fic. Seriously dude, thanks a bunch, and keep on writing, because not only are your stories awesome but they're a continuous source of inspiration for me and many others.

I hope everyone enjoyed this very different take on the gumiho and Ki Seong. That's sort of the beauty of things like the Mirrorverse, being able to examine the familiar through a very different reflection. A mirror image that shows you all the things that could be.

As per my usual I encourage and welcome any and all comments, questions, or critiques on my fics. Feel free to let me know what you thought, I'd highly appreciate all of it.

And as a final note to cap off this tale, I'd like to show off a pic done by the friendly and skilled FallenAngel over on DeviantArt:

While this specific scene isn't in the story, the image encapsulates the elements of the story very well, emphasizing the tragedy of the character's past, and the inevitable confrontation in the present.

Chapter 1: The Gray Phantom

Chapter 1: The Gray Phantom

Carrea - Hanju Province - Some Years Ago

The night sky was clear and brushed with a shining tapestry of stars, joined by a half-moon that still managed to throw a silver sheen upon the quiet valley town. Pinpoints of yellow light from lanterns marked the town’s streets, but few of its inhabitants, kirin or pony, ventured outside their cozy homes.

So none took immediate note of the faint, angry orange glow to the northeast, nestled deep inside the thick forest that carpeted the hills outside the town. None saw the band of inky smoke bleeding into the night sky. It wasn’t until some time, in fact, that a young kirin gate guard, who’d been half-napping, sniffed the air and picked up the faint scent of burning wood. It was several more minutes before his eyes blearily blinked and took note of the growing glow of wild firelight in the distant forest, and minutes more before his sleep beleaguered brain realized that it was coming from the direction of the old temple.

Raising the alarm took even more time, and it was nearly an hour before a party of volunteer townsfolk and guards ventured out to investigate what had happened.

What they found was an inferno.

The ancient Yon family temple, which had had so much recent work gone into its renovation from the family’s bright young scion, was now a pillar of roaring fire that soared into the heavens.

Yet the burning temple was not the worst thing witnessed by the townsfolk, but rather the ghastly sight of Cho Yon himself, heir to the Yon family’s long heritage of shamanic priests, laying in a broken heap upon the steps of the temple, blood trickling down the ancient stones from a wound piercing the dead kirin’s heart. A black crossbow quarrel stood like a tombstone from his chest, leaving no doubt as to what had taken the young scion’s life.

And holding his body was a soot streaked, disheveled kirin mare, her deep jade coat and dark mane blending in with the shadows cast by the inferno’s flames. It took many of the townsfolk several seconds to even recognize Ki Seong, the daughter of one of the town’s most prominent families, and there were none who hadn’t heard the happy news of her engagement to Cho Yon.

Yet the crossbow that lay discarded on the steps was hers. Many of the local guards knew Ki Seong’s family taught their children the old arts of hunting the evil spirits and demons that often threatened the realm. Ki Seong’s marksmanship was the stuff of stories among the guards.

She never missed her target.

Seeing Ki Seong’s fiancee’s corpse stricken by one of her own bolts left the guards and other townsfolk with countless questions. Yet for many hours after they pried Ki Seong from the body of Cho Yon, there was only one word they could get out of her delirious state, a word she repeated with ever greater venom and hatred, like an unending mantra of revenge.

”Jeog.”

Equestria - Whitetail Woods - Present Day

”Jeog.”

The word echoed across the cavernous, twisted bends of memory and made the vulpine creature shudder, as it always did. She didn’t sleep the way mortal things did, but inaction drew out memory like the rising bubbles from a bog, reliving events in a state not unlike dreams.

Dreams she’d spent many long years trying to bury. Nothing but pain and fear in those bending tunnels of thought. Whatever good memories she had were inevitably tied with the terror and pain of the night of fire; the night the Hunter had begun to chase her.

She huffed out yip as she padded around her lair, seeking distraction from memory. The lair was little more than an old cabin, long abandoned by whatever mortal flesh had build it. The modest space was filled with collected trinkets she’d snatched over the years she’d called these woods her hidden home. While fear bound her to this place, hidden from prying eyes, alone and as safe as she could manage, boredom pressed in on her like a growing weight.

Scratch marks adorned the walls of the cabin, some in swirling patterns, others in harsh, jagged lines, all attempts to relieve boredom. Piles of trinkets stolen from farms and unattended market stalls filled the cabin’s corners, almost all gathered during the night hours. To venture into the mortal warrens and lairs in daylight was to invite the Hunter to pick up her trail once more.

The Hunter... she was still out there. Jeog knew this, as firmly as she knew ‘Jeog’ was her name, and not the other name that she’d been given long ago. The Hunter would never stop. Even if it had been years since she had scented any hint of the Hunter’s presence, she didn’t fool herself into thinking she was entirely safe. Only being hidden, and not approaching mortals, would act as a final shield against the Hunter’s relentless pursuit.

She’d made the mistake too many times of involving mortals with her. The Hunter always hurt them, come the end. The chase never truly ended.

If only that special mortal from long ago had never gone to the Hunter. Why had he gone to the Hunter? He’d spoken strange words back then, words Jeog still struggled to grasp. She thought maybe she’d understood them once, but they flitted from her mind like mist from a mountain valley.

”It’ll be fine. Ki Seong will understand. Despite her family’s teachings, there are things that go deeper than old grudges and hatreds, you’ll see.”

“What things? Tell me of these things.”

“Oh, well, things like love. That can surpass any barrier of hatred. And while I think Seong and I are still learning to love each other, it’ll come, with time. As will her understanding of you.”

“Love. I have heard this word. It isn’t edible. Or touchable. I can’t smell it. I still wonder if it is real, or something you funny mortals keep telling me of as a joke.”

“Hah, it is very real. My family has had you with us for so long, but I don’t know if anyone has really tried to show you what it means. I’ll do my best to show you, and Ki Seong both. Trust me, Chi-”

Jeog growled in deep throated denial, claws ripping into the wooden floor of her cabin lair. She bristled and threw away the broken memories. Especially that name. That name didn’t belong to her anymore. Only Jeog. Cho Yon was gone, and the Hunter was all that remained for her. The Hunter, and the infinite boredom of her solitary existence in these woods. They were called the Whitetail Woods, she had gleaned that much from eavesdropping on the mortals, though the name made no sense to her. There were no tails here, white or otherwise. Tasty rabbits in abundance, however, so it wasn’t all bad.

Once she was done adding a few more claw marks upon the limited unmarred space within her lair, she ventured outside, wincing at the brightness of the sun. She sniffed the air, just to see if there was anything different. Rather expectedly, there wasn’t. Just the same verdant, cloying mix of forest scents. Nine tails, in a swirl of gray fluff, twitched behind her as the fox-like creature pawed in agitated circles around the front of the old cabin.

As always the same debate took place. Hunt food here in the Whitetail? She wasn’t hungry, and the rabbits were boring prey anyways. Go to the nearby, larger forest to the west? She went there often to play games with the many creatures that infested that deeper, darker forest, but had long ago exhausted all of the games that were any fun. Chasing the barking, wood dogs was sometimes amusing, even delightfully dangerous. She’d once led a huge cat scorpion on a merry chase as well, yet most of those creatures had wised up to Jeog’s games and didn’t chase her anymore. She’d found a large mortal ruin, a castle, once, and had enjoyed exploring it for a time until she’d found all the secret places and traps it had to offer, and hadn’t returned since. Perhaps she could go to the swampy place, with the many headed dragon that regrew its own flesh? It had been briefly fun to play with that one, but also perhaps too dangerous. She’d ended up in its jaws briefly before a bit of foxfire had got her free, and fun or not, bored or not, Jeog wasn’t eager to repeat such a close call with becoming another’s food.

What to do, what to do?

The thought slipped into her mind like an unwelcome fly buzzing in her ear, making their tapered gray forms dance about in twitching annoyance.

She could always explore the nearby warren of mortals. She’d seen the collection of many, thatch roofed lairs, teeming with the colorful ones, their hooves always bouncing with that imperceptible emotion the mortals called ‘happiness’. The town had an alluring quality to it, like the warm smell of something delicious. During her less cautious moments she even ventured near enough to hear the colored ones, the ponies, talk and laugh. Jeog licked her lips, thinking of what it would be like to walk among them. What games could she play? What fun might it be just to talk and be talked to again?

NO! The Hunter! Remember the Hunter!

Jeog snarled and shook her vulpine head. She could never risk being close to the ponies, or any other mortal. She might as well crawl to the highest peak and howl into the sky until the Hunter found her, then...

...Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. The chase had been so long, and she’d been hidden nearly as long. Would it be wrong to just let the Hunter end it?

She shoved aside those dark thoughts even harder than her fears. Survival instinct was stronger than what ennui had nestled inside her, and so Jeog settled to return to the big, deep dark forest that day. Called Everfree, by the mortals. Perhaps today she’d find something new there, some new game to play...

But she doubted it. At least she didn’t have to worry about encountering any ponies there. Ponies never went into the Everfree Forest.

“You want to go into the Everfree Forest!?” Silver Spoon nearly shouted as she and Diamond Tiara exited the schoolhouse.

Diamond Tiara quickly put a hoof to her friends mouth, gently whispering, “Shh! Not so loud. I don’t want anypony else knowing.”

Foals rushed out onto the street on either side of the two fillies, all so eager to get out and play for the day now that school was out that none of them seemed to have heard Silver Spoon’s words, for which Diamond Tiara let out a sigh of relief. The last thing she needed was word of what she was planning reaching her parents. She looked to her best friend with a conspiratorial wink and said, “But yes, that’s the plan. I have a brilliant idea to make some bits for our families, and I think you’ll agree it's amazing once I give you the details.”

“That might be one word to describe it. Or crazy, I’d say that’s accurate too.” Silver Spoon muttered, eyeing her friend with cautious worry. Not that this came as a surprise to Diamond Tiara. Silver Spoon had always been vocal about any time she had issues with one of Diamond’s plans, which was one of the reasons she liked having Silver Spoon as a friend. Constructive criticism was always welcome. Even if Diamond Tiara was pretty sure her friend’s worries were entirely unfounded in this case.

The pair of fillies trotted through Ponyville’s busy streets, filled with folk going about their daily business or just out to enjoy the fine weather of a pleasantly warm afternoon. The market adjacent to the town square was so bustling that the small pink earth pony and her gray coated companion had trouble weaving their way through the colorful mass of other ponies trotting about.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were greeted warmly by more than a few of the passing ponies and stall owners, and given narrow eyed looks by almost as many others. The numerous times the pair had volunteered to help out around the community spoke for the former, and more than a few of Diamond Tiara’s dubious money making schemes attributed the later. It was a small source of embarrassment for her, but she maintained that with nothing ventured, nothing was obtained. The occasional disaster like a runaway pudding stand was a small price to pay for the sake of securing her family’s financial future, no matter how impossible those pudding stains were to get out. Really, those mares shouldn’t have even been wearing those dresses in public if they didn’t want to risk them getting dirty.

Across the town square the two fillies hung a left and made their way up a street that had several rows of smaller houses, among the smallest in Ponyville. They were cozy affairs for their low price, though barely large enough to be comfortable for a single pony, let alone a family with foals. Equestria was a nation with a potent economy, to be sure, but there were still ponies who weren’t nearly as well off, for one reason or another, as some families were. There was little fear of ending up homeless, for the wise Duchess Chrysalis’ laws forbade overcharging on the housing market, but low cost homes were still a common sight in many towns.

Diamond Tiara’s home was a modest single story affair near the edge of the town proper, with a brightly painted pink front door that led right into the combination living room and kitchen that took up much of the front of the house.

“Hi mom!” Diamond Tiara called just as Silver Spoon also said, “Hello Mrs. Rich.”

As always, whether she liked it or not, there was an involuntary twitch in Diamond Tiara’s ears every time she heard her family name. It seemed a cruel joke of fate that the ‘Rich’ family was anything but. Not that this seemed to ever dampen her parent’s moods for long. As always her mother turned from her typewriter, plopped upon her knees with a half finished page, and all but flung herself at the two fillies. Catching them in a big hug, Spoiled Rich cooed, “Welcome home! Did you both have a good day at school?”

“Y-yeah mom,” Diamond managed to sputter out past the fierce, motherly hug of undiluted yet deadly affection. Silver Spoon, in similar straits of struggling for breath, choked out, “S-Swell Mrs. Rich.”

The middle-aged mare, who shared Diamond Tiara’s pink coat, albeit at a darker shade, let them go from her death hug and beamed at the fillies. “Good! And speaking of good, I’m nearly done with my next story! I have a good feeling about this one.”

Diamond put on an encouraging smile for her other, despite having a sinking feeling as to where things were going. “That’s great to hear, mom. What’s this one about?”

“Oh it's a deep rooted tragedy about the eternal failings of mortality brought about by the inevitable heat death of the universe!” Spoiled Rich said with the brightest and most cheerful tone of voice imaginable, all but bouncing back to the couch up against the wall where she’d left her typewriter, “The main character faces many existential crisis, and a rubber duck, which is very metaphorical, before achieving peace at the end of time!”

“Sounds... great.” Diamond Tiara said, smile still in place, “Sure the publishers will be all over this one.”

“Oh I hope so!” her mother said, cheerful still, but Diamond Tiara could detect that faint, strained note in her mother’s voice. Her mother had been writing for years. Diamond Tiara could count the number of her mother’s manuscripts had been actually bought by publishers before she ran out of hooves. It wasn’t that her mother was a bad writer, either. Diamond had been a test reader plenty of times, and by the straight prose, Spoiled Rich had talent.

She just had the weirdest ideas for stories. Not exactly the kind that sold. Not that Spoiled Rich was alone in having odd ideas that didn’t exactly sell...

On cue there was a faint explosion from behind a big oak door in the hallway beyond the living room, followed by a string of muffled curses. The house, despite its small size, was blessed with a functional basement, and Diamond Tiara’s father had long since claimed it as his own.

“Dad been working all day?” she asked.

“Oh, he’s been up for air once or twice.” Spoiled Rich said with a happy laugh, “He’s been wrestling with that automatic window cleaner for weeks now. Convinced it’ll sell like gangbusters in big cities like Manhattan.”

“It would.” Daimond Tiara agreed, not adding the unspoken; If Dad can get it to work.

Her mother had chosen the written word as her creative outlet turned dubious method of occasional bread winning. Her father on the other hoof had turned his mind towards invention. The incredibly inaptly named Filthy Rich had originally inherited his father’s general goods store, once upon a time, but his passion was for inventing new ideas to improve the quality of life for the ponies of Equestria. He'd sold the general store and used the bits from it to fund his inventing passion. However much like the mare he fell in love with and married, his ideas were often... odd, and not exactly best sellers.

“Well, if dad’s busy I won’t bother him. Me and Spoon were going to head out and play, but needed to grab a few things from my room first.”

Already back on the couch, typewriter in her lap, eyes glued to the page as she pecked at the keys in jarring strokes, Spoiled Rich smiled and waved a hoof. “Of course honey, you and Silver Spoon go enjoy the day. It's so lovely outside you should leave the door open as you go. Have fun you two!”

Heading down the house’s one hall, past the door to the basement, there was a quick turn to the only two other doors in the house, both bedrooms; her parent’s and Diamond Tiara’s. Her room was a small and modest affair, with a bed tucked into a corner, a small writing desk, and a dresser right beside it. The desk was littered with notes concerning her various ideas to make money for the family, and with more than a few books on economics and business management borrowed from the local library. Diamond Tiara was a determined filly, with every intention of becoming a successful businesspony.

Snatching one of the books off her desk, Diamond Tiara tossed it onto her bed, then just as swiftly pulled a small pair of saddlebags from underneath the bed and put it beside the book. Silver Spoon watched her with one of her pale eyebrows raised, and adjusted the glasses perched on her snout. “So, my completely valid worries aside, what is your plan?”

“Here,” Diamond Tiara said, flipping open the book, which lacked a title on its spine. “Came across this a week ago at the library. A history book on Ponyville’s early development. Included some surveys and journal notes from prospectors who combed the region for valuable ore and gem veins.”

She opened to a two page spread with rather thorough cliff notes along the bottom that showed a surprisingly detailed map of the area Ponyville occupied, including a decent portion of the nearby forests. Whoever had drawn the map had possessed quite the eye for detail, and artistic expression, given the stylized hydra rising from Froggy Bottom Bog, or the vicious looking Timberwolves shown prowling the Everfree Forest.

What Diamond Tiara cared about, however, were the markings next to colorful depictions of several caves glittering with gems. “They apparently found at least three or four natural caves in the Everfree that were just bursting with gems. Yet in all the years since Ponyville’s founding nopony has ever actually set up any mining in the Everfree Forest, so those caves should be practically untouched.”

“Gee,” said Silver Spoon, pointing at the picture of Timberwolves, “I wonder why that could be?”

Diamond Tiara snorted and waved her hoof dismissively, “Oh c’mon Spoon, you know how much old legends get exaggerated. Ponies spook too easily. Sure the Everfree is large, dark, imposing, but I’m pretty used to dealing with large, dark, and imposing.”

“I don’t think making friends with somepony who can turn into a castle sized monster qualifies you for wandering into a Timberwolf infested forest.” Spoon said dryly. “And I’m pretty sure if Lady Destroyah were here, she’d sit on you before letting you put yourself in danger.”

Diamond Tiara glanced away, frowning. “What danger? There’s no danger. All those stories are just that; stories. I’m sure there’s a few Timberwolves here and there, but they probably stick to the deeper forest, and we’re going here.” she pointed to the cave nearest to the edge of the Everfree. “I’m sure the most dangerous things we’ll run into is thorn bushes and a few spiders.”

She smiled at Silver Spoon, sliding up to her friend and putting a hoof around the other filly’s shoulders, her tone honey tinted. “All we have to do is take a couple hours walk, fill our saddlebags with shiny, valuable gems, and trot on back! Why I bet we can even lay claim to the cave, and use the gems to invest in starting up a full mining operation.” Diamond Tiara’s eyes nearly turned gem-like themselves with how much they shined with the dream she was painting. “Just think of it. Diamond & Spoon Mining Inc.! Has a good ring to it, and I can finally take care of my family!”

“We’re twelve.” muttered Spoon. “Diamond, couldn’t we, I don’t know... do something normal? Like go play at the lake? Or get ice cream?”

“With what money?” Diamond asked.

“Hey, I can spot you some bits from my allowance.” Silver Spoon offered, but Diamond visibly winced at the words.

“Don’t like mooching off you, Spoon. For once I’d like to be able to pay for my own things.” Diamond Tiara sighed and shoved the book into her saddlebags. “Look, we can play any day, and I promise tomorrow we can do whatever ‘normal’ thing you want. I’ll be all over it. But I’m going to find myself a gem cave today, Spoon. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

Silver Spoon growled out a heavy sigh, “Don’t even start with your reverse whatchamacallit.”

“Psychology.”

“That. Reverse that. I’ll come along. You know I will. Without me around you’ll probably get lost on the way there.” Silver Spoon poked Diamond Tiara in the chest, “Besides we both know I’m the muscle in this pairing. How many gems could you even carry, five?”

“H-hey, it's not my fault i’m a bit... dainty.” Diamond Tiara said, then smiled and quickly gave her friend a hug, “Thanks though. I owe you one.”

“You owe me, like, twenty or thirty at this point. But who's counting?” Silver Spoon said, grinning in the manner of one who was long since used to being owed, and was content enough with it. “Anyway if we’re going to do this, we’d better get going. I don’t want to be caught out there in the dark. I need to stop by my house to get my own saddlebags, plus some food and water.”

“Great, I’ll meet you at the bridge then!” said Diamond Tiara, referring to the old wood bridge across the stream on the south side of town.

For a forest that was reputedly filled with deadly creatures Diamond Tiara reflected it was remarkably easy to just walk in without anypony trying to stop her. You’d think the city planners might’ve decided to put up a fence or something. There wasn’t even one of those big, bright yellow ‘Keep Out’ signs posted anywhere.

“You see Spoon, it's this lack of planning that’s left Equestria so vulnerable.” Diamond Tiara said as they trotted along a grassy game trail, following the map in her book. “I bet if I was in charge, we’d have contingencies for things like, say, interdimensional invasions by hundred meter tall kaiju.”

Silver Spoon hung her head, muttering, “Who makes plans for things like that? I don’t think you can blame Duchess Chrysalis for not waking up on any given day and thinking ‘You know what Equestria needs? An action plan for if we’re ever attacked by gigantic monsters!’”

“Hey, there’s dragons. It's not like giant creatures are new to us.” Diamond Tiara said defensively, “I’ just saying we’re lucky that Sir Xenilla and Lady Destroyah happened to be on our side, otherwise that oversized dinosaur reject would’ve flattened Manehattan.”

“Wasn’t it a whole new kaiju that saved Manehattan?” asked Silver Spoon, “Big, blue, kind of looked like what’d happen if an alligator got together with a blender and a lightning rod?”

Diamond Tiara nearly started skipping. “Right! Lady Raiga! I haven’t met her yet but I wrote Destroyah about her and am really hoping we can get introduced. Have you seen those pictures in the Equestria Daily!? She straight up decked that Godzilla jerk in the face, heheh!”

“It was a pretty good shot.” Silver Spoon admitted, “Really wondering how the photographer managed to get that good an angle...”

“Looking for a photography cutie mark?” Diamond Tiara asked, and Silver Spoon shrugged.

“At this point I’d be happy with just about anything, even if it was just a spoon.”

Diamond Tiara giggled, “Aw, I bet it’ll be something cooler than that. I mean, what would a spoon cutie mark even mean?”

“Don’t know, but I’ll take it over staying blank flanked.” Silver Spoon said, then glanced at her friend, “Doesn’t it ever bother you?”

Diamond Tiara looked back at her own flank, as equally blank as her friend’s. She frowned slightly, then shrugged and resumed walking. “I don’t have time to worry about a picture on my butt. I’ve got bits to make.”

Further conversation trickled to little more than occasionally stopping to consult the map, and pausing to munch down some cheese and crackers Spoon had brought along. So far Diamond Tiara wasn’t sure what the big deal about the Everfree Forest was. Aside from the fact that the thicker trees led to a forest canopy that reduced the light a lot more than the Whitetail Woods, the Everfree didn’t feel all that threatening. With every step she started to feel more and more confident.

“Okay, so if this rock formation is the same as what’s drawn here...” Diamond Tiara murmured as she carefully examined the map in her book. She pointed off to her right, past a trio of large boulders. “Then our cave ought to be that way, and pretty close.”

Silver Spoon looked up at the little patch of sky that could be seen through the thick branches and hanging vines from the trees. “We’re losing light.”

“No worries, Spoon, once we hit the cave this won’t take long at all. C’mon! We’re almost there!” Diamond Tiara said, happily trotting along, near breaking out into a light canter.

Silver Spoon followed along, keeping pace with her friend, but glancing around with quick, nervous looks. She couldn’t shake a growing sense of unease, like a prickling cold on the back of her neck.

There was nothing new to find or play with in the Everfree Forest, but Jeog kept running along the many twisting forest paths anyway. Even though water was anathema to her she barely felt any thrill when leaping over streams, and scrambling up cliffs alongside waterfalls. There was a brief and fleeting sense of freedom that came with just rushing along the underbrush, or climbing up trees to leap from branch to branch, but as always the feeling left quickly.

There weren’t even many other creatures out and about yet, with night still hours away. She was nearly to the point of giving up and returning to the lair when her ears twitched at a distant noise. She paused, head tilting, listening. Seconds passed, and she heard the sound again, closer, more distinct.

Voices.

What was being said was unclear, but that didn’t matter. Ponies were in the Everfree, and Jeog was frozen in place. Fear kept her rooted until she realized the voices speaking didn’t sound remotely like the deadly tones of the Hunter. However she remained skittish. She’d been doing nothing but avoid mortals for years, and if she broke that streak now she’d just be inviting the Hunter to track her down. But at the same time the unrelenting boredom of how she’d been living made it oh so tempting to see who those voices belonged to. To have someone, anyone new to play with.

Indecision kept her anxiously pawing in circles for a minute, then her nose twitched as it caught scent of the ponies. They weren’t far, she realized. And at the same time her ears flicked as she heard another set of sounds echoing amid the forest boughs. Only her sharp hearing, far beyond what a pony’s natural hearing would be, let her pick up on the distant growling and panting of the pack of wood dogs. It was early in the day for them to be out and about, but the pack must have heard and scented the ponies around the same time Jeog had and had begun their hunt.

Knowing the wood dogs’ hunting habits well, she understood they’d shadow the ponies for a time, wait until the pack could spread around and surround their prey, and only when they were sure of a kill would they attack. The ponies, by their fresh scents, smelled young too. They wouldn’t stand a chance of surviving.

A soft growl escaped Jeog’s throat, though she didn’t fully understand why. It wasn’t any of her business if two young ponies fell victim to forest predators. They shouldn’t have been wandering from their pony lairs in the first place! She should just return to her own lair and allow nature to run its course here. Back to her lair... empty, quiet, dark, and alone...

Her nine tails thrashed about in pure agitation as Jeog growled again and made her decision.

“Gotta be close...” Diamond Tiara gasped as she labored for breath, the long trek finally starting to take a toll on her stamina. Errant branches scratched at her mane and face, while brambly bushes snagged at her tail. The trail was barely even a path any more, instead just a bush and root clogged mess with only the barest hint of a way through. Yet Diamond Tiara pressed on, determined. She could see the cave in her mind’s eye, old and untouched, filled to the brim with shining gems.

Bits all but blazed in her eyes, although her thoughts of wealth were entirely wrapped up in the notion that she could make life easier for her parents. No more nights walking to the little filly’s room to find her father sitting at the kitchen counter, staring at piles bills with that haunted look in his eyes. No more watching her mother cringe every time she opened the pantry only to find them more empty than they should be. Just one stroke of good luck was all she needed to turn things around, be useful to her family.

Finally the path ahead seemed to thin out and Diamond Tiara felt an excited surge of energy as she picked up her pace, despite the sweat beading her brow. “There! It should be in this clearing right up here! Hurry Spoon!”

Silver Spoon, weathering the trek much better than Diamond, being by far the more athletic of the pair, just let out a slightly winded chuckle at Diamond’s enthusiasm and picked up her own pace to keep up with her friend.

“I’m telling you Spoon, this is it, I feel it! We get some big, pure gems back home and we’ll-” Diamond Tiara’s words cut off in her throat as she skidded to a shocked halt in the clearing the trail led out into. Silver Spoon came up beside her, her previous chuckle now drying up in her throat as she looked bleakly at the sight before them.

There indeed had been a cave. Situated in the side of a tall grassy hillock, it was easy to see where the entrance would have been, years or decades past. Now, however, the cave mouth was collapsed, filled with a long, lonely pile of fallen rocks, some long coated with moss.

“It...” Diamond Tiara’s voice cracked with the tone of a dream crushed like so much glass. “It was here...”

Her ears drawn down in a mirror of her friend’s expression, Silver Spoon put a comforting hoof around Diamond Tiara. “I’m sorry. It was a good idea, and you were right about where the cave was.”

“Maybe we can still find a gem or two laying around.” Diamond Tiara said morosely, “Will you help me look?”

“Of course I will.” Silver Spoon said, “And hey, might be we can get some shovels to dig this place up?”

Diamond Tiara let out a long sigh, “It's a nice thought, Spoon, but we’d need grown ponies to help us move those rocks, and anypony big enough to help us would probably stop us from coming out here in the first place. Remember the Timberwolves?”

“I seem to recall being the one to warn you about them, but I haven’t seen any...” Silver Spoon said, but her sentence trailed off into a chilled silence as both she and Diamond Tiara heard a sound emanating over the clearing.

A series of deep, rumbling growls.

Both fillies turned slowly to see the dark bushes surrounding the clearing now filled with near a dozen sets of baleful glowing eyes. Both young ponies went pale as sheets, backing up towards the collapsed cave.

“S-Spoon...feel free to slap me the next time I ignore your warnings.” Diamond Tiara said in a terrified whisper.

“If there is a next time I’ll try to remember that.” Silver Spoon said, eyes wide as plates as the Timberwolves emerged from the forest.

The beasts bore some resemblance to the wolves of their namesakes, yet their bodies were formed from a tight collection of bound branches, twigs, roots, and vines. The wood formed the shape of well muscled legs tipped with ferocious claws, and snarling maws filled with fangs that dripped sap like saliva. Their shining eyes were like looking into pitless pools of hungry light. And they had the two fillies all but surrounded.

Diamond Tiara tried to remember anything she knew about Timberwolves, hoping to recall some weakness, but her brain was too clogged with fear to recall much. She didn’t even know from where Timberwolves came or why they hungered after living flesh. Did things like this even have stomachs?

“What do we do?” Silver Spoon asked, clearly just as terrified as Diamond, but also just as unwilling to give up. Seeing the way her friend was swallowing her fear, Diamond Tiara could only try to do the same. Glancing behind her, she looked up the slope of fallen rocks at the collapsed cave entrance, and realized it reached up to the top of the hillock.

“Go up, Spoon! Climb!” she shouted.

The pair started to scramble up the pile of rocks. While tiny, the fillies were both nimble, and by the time the Timberwolves snarled and charged, both ponies had gained a decent distance up the rock pile. However the Timberwolves themselves were no less nimble, despite the much larger size and bulk in comparison to their intended prey. Only a few of the pack could fit on the rock slide, chasing after the fillies that were desperately scrambling ahead of their deadly jaws.

Within moments Diamond Tiara was huffing and puffing in breaths, barely able to keep ahead of the Timberwolves nipping at her hooves. Silver Spoon had pulled ahead, but seeing Diamond flagging behind, paused, turning to kick one of the loser rocks down at the Timberwolves.

“Back off you stupid kindling piles! You’re all lucky I don’t have my daddy’s fire axe with me!”

The kicked rock bounced off the snout of one Timberwolf, making it lose its balance and slide down a few paces, tripping up one of its fellows in the process, but that only bought Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon a matter of seconds, with one Timberwolf still hot on their tails while the rest of the pack stalked about and howled below, awaiting their prey to be pulled down.

Up the fillies climbed, until the top of the hillock was just out of reach. Silver Spoon paused, lowering herself so she could boost Diamond up. For a second Diamond Tiara wanted to argue, to tell Silver Spoon to go up first, but she knew her friend wouldn’t hear any of it, and they’d waste precious seconds having the brief debate. So instead Diamond just nodded fearful thanks and hopped up on Silver Spoon’s back, clambering up to the top of the steep hillock...

Only to come face to face with something large, vaguely vulpine in shape, and covered in grayish blue fur. She barely had a moment to even blink as the shape catapulted itself over her and Silver Spoon’s head, emitting a high pitched snarl that froze the air. There was a burst of blue phantom light, and suddenly the lead Timberwolf was engulfed in a halo of flickering blue fire.

The Timberwolf howled, not in hunger but shocked fear and pain, as pale gray paws gripped it and tore it from the rock face and threw it bodily down amid its fellows in a burst of burning wood shards. The next two Timberwolves were bowled off by the darting gray form, moving in quick, bounding leaps that took it down amid the pack waiting below.

The Timberwolf pack, taken utterly off guard, spent a second or two hesitating. That was a second or two more than the gray phantom needed, as it proceeded to shred into the Timberwolves with wild and reckless abandoned.

All Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon could do was stare in completely wide-eyed shock. Diamond couldn’t even get a clear look at what this strange creature was, it was moving too fast. More than that, its form seemed blurred, as if air and light were blending around it as it moved. Flickers of pale blue fire flew from it in deadly little spheres impacting among the Timberwovles and sending them into panic even as the gray phantom tore into their wooden forms.

It wasn’t even a contest. The Timberwolf pack was reduced to half its original size within the span of a few eyeblinks, the fallen half broken apart or burned to char. The remaining pack turned tail and fled. Timberwolves would stand and fight against many foes, but fire of any kind was one of their few banes, even the strange blue flames wielded by this sudden and terribly swift foe.

The fight was gutted right out of the pack, and so it fled. The blueish gray creature pursued, so quick that Diamond Tiara still couldn’t get a glimpse of it beyond a vague sense of a fox-like shape, and swirling, fluffy tails.

Within a minute the frightful howls of the Timberwolf pack dissipated into the distance, leaving the two fillies just shaking and catching their breaths. After a moment Silver Spoon finished climbing atop the hillock beside Diamond Tiara, fear still shining in her eyes.

“What... what was that?”

Diamond Tiara’s eyes remained staring into the forest where the gray phantom had vanished in pursuit of the Timberwolves.

“I have no idea.” Diamond Tiara said, then a smile of wonderment plastered itself across her face.

“But it was awesome!”

“Huh?” Silver Spoon cocked her head, “Diamond, are you feeling right in the head. That was horrifying!”

“Well, yeah, but also cool! Did you see how it moved!? I’ve never seen anything that fast!”

“Yeah, and when it's done chewing on Timberwovles, it might come back for us!” said Silver Spoon firmly, tugging at her friend with a hoof, “C’mon, let's get out of here before it gets done chasing those twig piles!”

Diamond Tiara glanced at Silver Spoon, saw the clear fear still swimming in her friend’s eyes, and gave an understanding nod. “Okay, okay! You’re right. Let’s get out of here before something else tries to eat us.”

The back of the hillock was too overgrown to find a way down that way, so they were forced to climb back down the rock slide, but that only took a few moments. There were still a few faint howls of frightened Timberwolves echoing across the forest boughs, but the two fillies ignored them and quickly made their way back down the trail they’d followed. It was evening by now, and the light was starting to fade, but true twilight was still hours away. Even so, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon moved at a quick pace, Silver Spoon constantly looking over her shoulder with fear and Diamond Tiara... less with fear and more just curiosity.

What had that gray phantom been? Some strange creature of the Everfree? She’d never heard any story that spoke of such a thing.

“Whew... home free.” Silver Spoon sighed, visibly relaxing as they finally reached the edge of the Everfree Forest. A wide field of tall grass was all that separated them now from the bridge over the creak that’d lead back to Ponyville. The homey thatch roofs were their curls of smoke from evening fires in hearths were in sight, and even Diamond Tiara had to admit that all she wanted now was a warm bath and a comfy couch.

As the pair trotted out into the field, Diamond Tiara heard the faintest of rustles behind her. Silver Spoon heard it to, spinning around in fear, but Diamond felt oddly calm as she turned around.

It was perched up in the trees, largely obscured by the shifting branches that swayed under a warm breeze. Fur a strange mix of blue and gray, pale and luminous, reminding Diamond Tiara of a cloud at dusk. Two eyes, bright, deep, and icy blue. She couldn’t see its form fully, but it was large, and for some reason Diamond Tiara thought it had a feminine grace about it. The phantom stared at her and Silver Spoon, and while her friend tensed to run, all Diamond Tiara could think to do was smile and offer a friendly wave.

“Thanks for saving us. We owe you one.”

“Diamond...” Silver Spoon whispered fearfully, but Diamond Tiara just kept going.

“Anyway, my name’s Diamond Tiara. What’s your-”

Before she could finish the question, the phantom vanished. It was as if one moment it was there, staring at her, and the next, with a simple sway of the branches, it was gone.

“-yours?” Diamond Tiara finished, then blinked. “Well, okay, guess she’s shy.”

“Shy!?” Silver Spoon groaned, “Let’s just count ourselves lucky it wasn’t hungry. Diamond, come on, let’s go home already.”

Silver Spoon was all but dragging her along by the tail at that point, and Diamond Tiara sighed, allowing herself to be lead back towards Ponyville by her understandably unnerved friend. It wasn’t as if Diamond Tiara hadn’t been scarred too, at least a little. But that fear was overcome by the same kind of accepting curiosity that had also once driven her to make friends with a transformed giant from another world. She hadn’t been afraid of Destroyah either, and strangely, she wasn’t afraid of this gray phantom.

Whoever or whatever they were.

Jeog fled. She wasn’t even certain why she’d felt the need to follow the two tiny ponies. It certainly wasn’t to ensure that they got out of the forest safely! Nope, she didn’t care about that. At least that was what she repeated to herself as she rushed along the tree branches, making her way back towards the Whitetail Woods.

It was foolish of her to reveal herself to the ponies. Foolish, foolish, foolish! What if they told other, bigger ponies what they saw? And then those ponies would tell more ponies, and those more, the way mortals jabbered on! Then, somewhere out there in the world... the Hunter would hear.

The Hunter would hear, and then come. She’d come with fire and iron, with all the deadly things that hurt and slayed. And there would be no more hiding.

She continued admonishing herself all the way back to her cabin lair, growling and scraping at the door, and pacing about inside with twitching frustration.

Why had she done that!? Why had she saved the tiny ponies!?

As much as she tore at herself with those questions, the answer was as simple as it was obvious. Because it had felt good to hear voices again. Voices besides her own thoughts.

”My name is Diamond Tiara.”

Jeog pawed around her bed of piled straw and blankets, laying down and placing her head upon her folded paws. In her mind’s eye she saw the tiny pink pony, the little mortal as she stared at Jeog... unafraid.

”Thanks for saving us. We owe you one.”

Slowly her growls turned to contented yips. The danger of the Hunter was a distant thing, from many years ago, and Jeog was so very, very bored of being alone.

Perhaps this time it would be different. Perhaps this time it was safe.

Elsewhere, in Equestria...

Night had fallen over the mountain pass, not far from the northern coastline. Few dared travel the old pass in daylight, let alone in the growing dark of night. Yet it had been one of the only ways to reach some of the northern fishing villages, and she refused to accept that her quarry had left no trace somewhere for her to follow.

Up and down the coast she’d travel, until she found the scent again.

She wore a dark brown cloak that covered most of her form, making her little more than a bulky shadow moving with smooth grace down the rocky pass. Only the tip of her green snout, tipped with fine white scales, and the gleam of her gold eyes could be seen from the shadows of her cloak’s drawn hood. Her eyes focused ahead, filled with burning, unrelenting anger and hate.

No matter where her prey ran, no matter where that thing hid itself, she would find it.

Amid the tall boulders lining the side of the pass a form arose, huge and menacing. The manticore was of a mountain born variety near twice the size of its forest bound cousins. Dark bat wings spread over a thickly muscled lion’s body. A black carapace of a scorpion tail rose above the manticore’s head as it let out an ear bleeding roar and hungrily dove upon its intended target.

The cloaked figure halted as the manticore descended, and she turned her head just enough to fix one rage filled eye upon the beast. The manticore sensed a moment too late that the prey it had chosen was no helpless traveler at all, but a beast far more savage than even itself.

Less than a minute later the mangled remains of the manticore were left where they lay in the center of the road, and the cloaked figure continued on her path, eyes forward and unblinking as she walked on, tireless, relentless... a Hunter.

Author's Note

I'm not sure how to explain this one. For those of you not familiar with The Bridge and its subsequent side-story Sound of Thunder, this story probably isn't going to make a lot of sense. It's not just set in Equestria's Mirrorverse from the comics, its set in The Birdge's own version of the Mirrorverse, where the kaiju were still transported to Equestria, only their alignments are essentially shifted to the opposite end of the spectrum. As for why this particular story, focusing on these particular characters? I don't have a clear answer to that one. I simply wanted to write this, and when the muse calls, I type.

I certainly have done the best I can to try to write this story in a manner that its coherent and enjoyable without prior knowledge of the stories its based on, but it'd still likely help to have read both The Bridge and Sound of Thunder with this one. That being said for those of you who haven't read those stories I highly recommend them, and for those that already have, hope you find something to like here too.

The wonderful image in this chapter was provided by FallenAngel, and did a good job capturing the scene I think.

Thanks for reading folks, and as always feel free to let me know what you think.