Imperial Hunter

The bone cracked, shattered, and broke in two between Dragon’s sharp teeth. He gripped one half and quickly began to suck out the bone marrow, the powerful sour taste striking his senses. Few Imperials liked the taste of marrow because of how sour it was but Arrow loved it; it was his favorite part of a meal.

Tossing the empty bone into the firepit, Dragon checked his map once again to ensure that he was on the right path. As he expected, he was. He was even making good time, very good time. He had figured it would take him four days to get to where he was. He did it in half that. Dragon Arrow was camped maybe eight or ten hours from Ponyville. He suspected he would arrive at the Guard camp the next day, after which the hunt for the Naga would truly begin. The Tartarus Blood would soon prove useful.

Humming to himself in mild thought, he removed the Tartarus Blood vial-the real one- and placed it into a separate pouch inside his pack. If somepony found the pouch and realized some were fake, nothing would stop them from simply taking them all and trying them all. If they were all fake, there was no real risk. Tearing into a cooked leg of the deer he had grabbed some hours before, he looked up at the night sky. Far above him, the full moon shone down brightly. It had been as such for the last few days, likely to help the Guards that were undoubtedly on watch duty near the Everfree. Stars twinkled mischeviously and flashed in and out of existence, constellations forming only to vanish moments later. Some remained the same; the stars and constellations ponies used to nagivate by night, but the vast majority was in a constant state of motion. As he watched, a pair of shooting stars chased each other across the sky, changing direction twice before finally fading out. The night sky had really come to life ever since Princess Luna had returned some two years ago.

Looking at the moon, Dragon felt a feeling of worry slowly settle over him. Each time he studied the moon, he had felt the same thing. A part of him believed that he could feel whatever it was that Princess Luna felt when the moon was raised, but he considered that nothing more than fanciful thinking. It wouldn’t surprise him if she was worried, what with her ponies being in danger from the Naga, but there was no way he could feel what the Night Maiden was feeling. Right?

His ears perking suddenly, he heard the sounds of wings flapping in the distance. The sound was slowly growing louder. Looking up and into the distance, he saw three Pegasi flying in his direction. They seemed to be homing in on his fire, but he wasn’t quite sure what they wanted. Subconsciously, he flexed his wings and heard the metal of his wing blades shift slightly. As they neared, he relaxed some. Two wore bright golden armor while the third were darker purple, the signature armor of the two branches of the Royal Guard. They began to descend, heading straight for him as he now expected. Moments later, the three landed and the Thestral approached him. “Hunter Dragon Arrow?”

“That’s me.” Dragon said, taking another bite from his deer. He didn’t fail to notice the uneasy glances they gave him and the half of the deer that was still cooking over the fire. “I wasn’t expecting a welcoming party. Figured I’d get in, get the job done, and head home.”

“Princess Luna was bit.” The Thestral replied. That caught his attention and he sat up straighter. The Guard must have seen the look on his face and answered the unasked question. “Twelve hours ago, the creature ambushed Princess Luna in the Forest and bit her. Ten hours ago her afflicted leg began to rot and she fell ill. None of Princess Celestia’s healing spells have managed to stop the spread of the poison nor the necrosis, so six hours ago she sent out several parties to find you, hoping you would know how to help her.”

With a regretful glance, Dragon tossed the remains of the leg into the fire and kicked it out, quickly slinging his bags on. He was thankful he had yet to set up his lean-to. If he had, he may have needed to leave it behind to make it to the Princess in time. “Are any of you quick fliers?”

To his disappointment, they all shook their heads, though he noticed one was writing a message. “No sir, we’re all long distance fliers. We needed to be; Princess Celestia expected you would still be three days out.”

“Had a good tailwind.” The Imperial explained as the one writing the message sent it by tapping it to a crystal. “Let’s move if we want to get the antidote to her in time.”

They all took to the air and the Thestral lead the way, beelining straight for the camp even if it would take them several hours to get there. After a few minutes of flight, the Thestral spoke up. “Sir, do you know what we are dealing with?”

“Somewhat. My village’s Elder knew what it was from the description. A bone Naga. They aren’t native to Equestria nor the Empire, so I don’t know how he knew about it. I was provided antidote to counteract its venom and a poison that would be especially effective against it.” The Hunter answered. “My turn. Why did she split the party between the Solar and Lunar Guard like this?”

“One Thestral was placed into every search party in case we passed over you at night. It was just lucky for us that you had a fire going.” The Thestral explained, making Arrow nod. “How many doses of the antidote do you have?”

“Five. It’ll be four once we get there. How many Guards are hunting the Naga along with the Princesses?”

“One hundred and fifty Solar and fifty Lunar. We’ve yet to find its lair, only being able to track its trails maybe a mile into the Forest before we loose the trail.” The Guard answered.

The four ponies fell silent as they flew, three of them tired but powering through their exhaustion out of worry for their charges.

***

Princess Celestia figured she was maybe twelve hours away from suffering from a complete breakdown. She had received word that a new monster was harassing her ponies, so she sent three Guards to check it out. Only one returned. She sent four squads of experienced Guards and to track down the beast and contact was lost from them all. Finally, she and her sister went down with two hundred Guards and built a camp, requested help from the Rhetoram Empire due to their familiarity with hunting, and bunkered down while waiting for the Hunter. Now her sister lay in her room with a slowly rotting leg, striken will illness and necrosis from the monster’s poison. Her magic did nothing, no antidotes were working, and they still didn’t know what the monster was.

In short, Celestia was not happy. Furious wasn’t quite the right word. Desperate would be better.

Around twelve hours ago, she had sent several search parties to find the Hunter that had been sent to help with this threat in a desperate bid that he would have an antidote to help her sister. Six hours after that she had received a magically delivered message stating that he had been found and that he actually did have an antidote. The Solar Alicorn wanted to cry with relief from that alone. Then she continued reading and found that he was six hours away and that they would be here around sunrise. Twenty minutes ago she had rose the sun and lowered the moon. She had even been forced to raise the moon the night before and she was sure that anypony looking could feel the worry that had tainted her magic. Now she was pacing back and forth outside the medical tent, her wings twitching at her side as she waited for the Hunter to arrive, worry and fear clear in her movements.

Because of that, when a Pegasus scout landed right next to her, she wanted to grip him in her aura and shake him while yelling at him to tell her what he found. But that would scare him and hurt him. Instead, she smiled, though it was clearly strained, and spoke calmly. “Do you have something to report?”

The young stallion, a colt really, rapidly nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty! The Hunter has just been spotted twenty minutes out! He’ll be here any moment.”

“Thank you for telling me this good news. Will you go up and meet him and point him here?”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” The colt said with quick salute.

“Good. Dismissed.” With that, the Pegasus took to the air and flew up, circling the camp while he waited for the Hunter to get close enough. Celestia turned, relief clearly visible to any Guard who happened to look at her, and walked into the medical tent. She passed several sleeping Guards who were mildly injured from the predators of the Forest, not worrying for them. They would be relocated to Canterlot General Hospital within the next six hours where they’ll be treated more effeciently for their injuries. No, her worry was for her sister.

Coming to a stop in front of one of the curtained-off beds, she quickly pushed the white curtain aside and gazed upon her tired, hurting, yet still conscious sister. Luna lay on the double-bed, one of her legs hidden below a veritable mountain of wrappings. Her dark blue coat was matted, her feathers askew, and her ethereal mane limp as she slowly turned to look at her, a horrible rasping sound emitting with each breath. When she spoke, her voice was weak and dry, likely painful for her to even speak, yet no matter how much she drank, she sweat it all out. “T-Tia?”

“Shhh.” Celestia shushed gently, levitating over a small cup and water and holding it to her sister’s lips. She drank it slowly, Celestia lifting it until it was empty. She set the cup back down and took a seat next to Luna’s head. Luna’s head turned slowly and the injured Alicorn’s teal eyes met her magenta ones, taking Celestia’s breath away. Luna was afraid. She’d never say it, she was too prideful, but she was terrified of what was happening to her. The doctors hadn’t lied to her; she knew her leg was rotting.

“T-Tia, am I g-going to lose my l-leg?” Luna slowly asked, even talking being hard for her. Unshed tears began to make her eyes shine. “A-am I going to die?”

Celestia’s wing rose before quickly falling again. She couldn’t even put her wing over her sister to comfort her; she was too hot already. Instead, she settled for placing her head right next to Luna’s even as tears formed in her own eyes. “No, you aren’t. The Hunter will be here very soon and he said he had the antidote.”

Luna whimpered once, a sound that tore at Celestia’s heart and soul, before she calmed down and her eyes drifted closed. If it wasn’t for the slow movement of her hindlegs and her raspy breathing, Celestia would have thought she had passed. The two were silent for a few minutes before Celestia heard somepony land outside the tent, then trot in. Moments later, she heard a deep, rough voice call out. “Princess Celestia?”

“Over here, Hunter.” Celestia replied for nopony other than an Imperial could have a voice so feral.

The pony followed the sound of her voice and quickly found them, the curtains still open from when she had pushed them aside earlier. The Imperial Pegasus was about what she expected. First of all was his height; he would come up to just below her jaw and could easily be taller than Luna. His coat was a dark green, with his mane and tail a solid black. His fur was wild and rough, clearly not something he considered important. His dark green eyes, while identical to a pony’s, held a predatory look that belied his omnivorous nature. Most of his body was covered in a black-dyed leather armor, leather that she knew was real, with easily two dozen pouches strapped to it all over. Hooks, chains, and string were wrapped up around it, places where he could attach even more pouches and objects.

Looking at his wings, she saw they were larger than any Equestrian pony’s, likely rivaling her wingspan. While looking at his wings, she caught the glint of the solid steel of wingblades. Glancing down, she saw his hooves were bare of hoofblades, though she doubted he didn’t have any. Attached to his right side was a recurve bow with a small spike on the bottom, though she wasn’t sure what that was for. Without saying anything, he walked over to the bed and looked at Luna. “The beast that bit you? A large snake, white bones covering the outside, likely taunted you?”

After a moment of gathering what strength remained, Luna managed to nod shakily. He grunted as he deftly untied one of his pouches. “Elder Spell was right, it was a bone Naga. Nasty things from what I’ve been told. I got five doses of the antidote, so you’re going to be fine. About ten minutes after you drink it, Princess Celestia is going to have to cast her healing spell. It’s an antidote after all, not a restoration elixir.”

That made Luna smile, the sight alone making Celestia smile as well. He pulled out a small cloth wrapping and unwrapped it, revealing a simple glass vial filled with a soft white liquid. On the side of the vial, she could see a green oval and an orange triangle. He uncorked it and held the end up to Luna’s muzzle, which crinkled at the smell. “Yeah, it smells horrible. The taste will be just as bad. But you need to drink it. It won’t work otherwise.”

Nodding weakly, she wrapped her lips around the vial and he lifted it up while she drank it. It didn’t take long before it was empty, at which point he pulled it back and rewrapped it while Luna stuck out her tongue, the taste nearly making her gag. He returned it to a pouch- a different one, she noticed- and turned to her. “Princess Celestia, I recommend waiting about ten minutes before casting your healing spell again. At that point, the antidote will have neutralized the Naga venom and your spells will work again.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“Set up my lean-to at the edge of the Forest and get to work. I’ve been sent here to do a job and I plan to do just that.” He replied, turning to leave.

“Will you at least share your name?” Celestia asked.

He hesitated for a moment, then answered. “Hunter Dragon Arrow of the Leaping Wolf village. If another pony gets bit by the Naga, don’t hesitate to get me. I have another four doses of the antidote but I plan to save one for high-priority ponies like yourself, Your Majesty.”

With a final nod, he left. Celestia couldn’t help but find to-the-point attitude a rather refreshing change from the norm. She also couldn’t help but wonder how he earned his name. She, of course, knew it had something to do with a dragon and an arrow. Perhaps he and a few others slew a teenager with their bows?

***

Stepping back from his temporary camp, Arrow quickly examined it. He had managed to find a rather large tree that served as the back wall, with large sticks serving as the side walls, both covered in leafy branches. The front was, naturally, open to the air and, more importantly, the firepit he had made. The leather roof would keep rain off of him rather well and the walls would help protect against the wind. Inside was no bedroll; most Hunters chose to forego them. The pit was simple, a small hole lined with rocks he had taken from the bed of a nearby river. Dragon huffed.

He would have had more time if he wasn’t forced to spend half an hour arguing with two lookouts, then waited while their commander came. The Imperial was forced to wait even longer while he sent a message to Celestia, then waited for the reply. Finally, after nearly two hours of arguing and waiting, he was finally cleared to set up his camp in the Forest edge.

Shrugging internally, he quickly detached his bow and spiked it into the ground inside the lean-to, then placed his arrows next to it. If he needed to, he could wake up and fire an arrow out of the shelter in under four seconds, even if his accuracy wouldn’t be as good as it is normally. Placing his hoof blades side by side next to the bow, he would be able to put this on quickly while firing his bow. He would only have to pause to tie the straps that kept them on. He already wore his wingblades and was so used to sleeping with them that he wasn’t worried about cutting himself on accident.

Dragon looked outside of his small camp and grinned. That would come later, much later. It wasn’t even noon yet, and with that much daylight, he could try to pick up the Naga’s trail. Removing all his pouches except the ones containing the Tartarus Blood, Naga antidote, and runestones, he started walking deeper into the Forest. For this quick scouting, he wouldn’t need his bow or hoofblades. He wasn’t planning to encounter or challenge the Naga, but he kept the poison on him anyway.

Just in case. After what happened to Princess Luna, Dragon wasn’t taking the chance.