Imperial Hunter

Dragon broke into a large clearing, the oppressive canopy of the Everfree Forest giving way to a slightly thinner canopy that allowed shreads of moonlight to pierce the forest and nuture the undergrowth of the forest. Larges patches of bushes and grass were dead, though he knew not from what. His eyes darted across the clearing, his sight flashing amongst trees, bushes, vines, and grass to spot anything out of the ordinary. The Hunter’s mind took note of several things that were not natural to the Everfree.

The most obvious of them all was a small section of the ground that had collapsed into an underground system, though he couldn’t seen into it. Countless hoofprints, dead bushes, and flattened grass surrounded one edge of the hole that was most likely the Naga’s home. In one patch of dead grass near the edge of the hole, there was a familiar shattered vial that made his heart thud in his chest. Celestia had been forced to use the antivenom, which means that she was somewhere without another dose.

The Imperial’s ears perked again when he heard another sound, a metallic ringing like a blade striking metal or rock, coming from the pit across the clearing. A moment later, a deep hiss sounded out followed by the sound of something breaking. Realizing that the mare and the beast were fighting in the cave, he leapt into motion. Quickly running across the clearing, he came to the edge of the hole and looked down. Fortunately, it was more of a natural collapse rather than a sinkhole, so there was a slope to the side he was on that led to the bottom. Running down it, his hooves soon felt the shift from soft dirt to unyielding rock, hoofsteps sounding out as he ran and echoing through the cave system. Only one path led from the entrance, heading forward and deeper into the underground.

As the pony ran, he left the light of the moon behind him as the darkness seemed to grow absolute, then turn physical. It almost felt like the shadows were constricting him, slowing him down and making it harder to breath. His mind flashed to tales of the ‘Underdark,’ a horrific place full of monsters and demons that were too slippery for Tartarus and too evil for the surface. Stories from Elder Rune ran through his mind; ponies with their minds removed by monsters, massive worms capable of swallowing an Alicorn without trouble, and horrific beetles able to rust the sturdiest of metals in moments.

Pushing aside his instinctual fear of the Underworld, he reached into his pouch as he ran and pulled out a Candle rune. Stopping only to bash the rune against the tunnel wall, he felt more than saw the rune crack as a bright light began to emanate from the shatter rock, filling the tunnel with a steady light similar to the day, if not quite as bright. The shadows were banished as the tunnel was revealed and he froze, his earlier fear returning in spades.

The tunnel he was running through was easily six meters across and tall, perfectly round and smooth, with a slight coating of a glistening slime on the walls, roof, and floor that he couldn’t feel through his mostly nerveless hooves. There was no crushed rock, no cracks in the walls. The floor and ceiling were competely barren, no rock spires of either brand filling the tunnel. Looking ahead, he saw that the tunnel continued as far as he could see, which wasn’t very far, and seemed to have a very gentle turn to it. He knew what this was.

***

A young pony only twelve years waited patiently. His dark green fur blended well into the darkened forest he was sitting in, his mane and tail almost invisible due to the shadow he chose to sit in. His posture was horrific. He was tense, though his back was straight. His wings, extending a hoof or two past his flanks while also ending a few inches below the bottom of his barrel, were twitching at his sides in impatience. His eyes, dark and calm, flickered across the woods before returning to his mentor.

Sitting on a log a few hooves in front of him was another, much older pony. His coat was obscured by a cloak wrapped firmly around his body, though his mane was a soft red. His grey eyes stared into the younger’s own, watching as the younger Pegasus battled his impatience with knowledge. In one hoof was a small cup of tea, one that the older pony sipped from at times.

Easily an hour passed in silence before young Swift Strike won the battle, settling down as he waited for his mentor, Elder Rune, to begin speaking first. He busied himself by thinking of the mistakes of the past, the present, and what the future could hold. His mind shifted in a flurry of thought and emotion as ideas formed, then were dismissed before they were fully developed. His eyes darted across the forest, looking for anything to attract his attention.

Another hour passed in wait as the forest grew darker around the pair. Swift had calmed slightly, his wings no longer twitching. He had resigned himself to waiting for there was nothing else he could do. His mind was still a blur, though it moved at a more reasonable pace. The Hunter Apprentice thought of what his future training would entail. He was one of the only ponies in the Leaping Wolf village capable of using runes. The oldest other rune mage was currently sitting in front of him, a thought that made him twitch slightly as he waited.

A third hour passed in silence, Elder Rune having finished his tea before pouring another cup from a pot he had brought with him. Swift was no longer concerned about the time. He was going to be here until Elder Rune’s lesson finished and the thought interested him. With the fall of night, the forest seemed to come alive as buzzing, panting, and howling was heard all around him. His muscles relaxed readily as he focused on the life of the forest, his mind falling into a peaceful blankness. He was calm, happy, and content with his situation. The forest really was the home of a Hunter, even if he was still in training.

“You have learned the value of patience rather well, Swift Strike.” Elder Rune said, his gruff voice in contrast to his soft tone. “Though you took one hour longer than most.”

Swift knew not, but that was a lie. The Apprentice had relaxed three hours faster than others did, but Elder Rune kept such a fact a secret. Causing a pony to believe that they were below average made them work harder to not only match others, but surpass them. On the contrary, if a pony knew they were above average, they would stagnate, confident in their abilities.

“Thank you, Elder Rune.” Swift replied softly, taking a moment to find his voice. Between the three hours of sitting and the six hours of walking, he had not spoken in some time. Another moment of silence spread, the younger Imperial wanting to ask what the lesson would be but knew he should wait.

He was rewarded a moment later by a soft smile from the Elder. “Good. Today’s lesson is about the Underdark.”

Swift’s mouth opened to speak only to close a moment later. The Elder laughed in amusement before he spoke. “Go ahead, ask your question.”

“Why would I need to learn about a place like the Underdark? It’s not like I’ll ever go that deep.” Swift said, asking the question that was on his mind. In his mind, he was right. The Underdark was far below ground, miles below the surface, where nopony ever went. He would never go there.

“Ah, the short-sightedness of the youth has always been entertaining to me.” Elder Rune reminisced fondly. Swift bristled at that only to force himself to calm down. The Elder was trying to get a rise out of him and that knowledge did wonders for calming him. Moments later, the Elder spoke.

“The Underdark is, generally, very deep below ground. The most dangerous places are at least two dozen kilometers below the surface of the world. However, there are places where the Underdark breaches the surface world. In those places, the monsters and demons that rule the Underworld may exist mere meters beneath our hooves.” Elder Rune said, inspiring a shiver from the younger pony as he looked down, imagining demons and monsters right below the surface, waiting for the right moment to break through the surface and grab him. His attention snapped back up to the experienced Imperial when he continued speaking.

“Today, I will explain some of the more common beasts of the Underdark because…” Elder Rune trailed off.

“Knowing the nature of your prey is the first step in hunting your prey.” Swift recited, earning another smile from the Elder pony.

“The first beast I will explain in one you are unlikely to meet but very likely to see the effects of. Deep beneath the surface, there are massive worms, Gargantua, that are kilometers long and meters wide. Their hides are a solid purple, with no mouth or limbs to speak of. With a head that opens in four like the petals of a flower, they can devour rock, gems, and ponies with ease. They travel across the Underdark, eating the rock and converting it into more flesh as they grow longer. They leave behind massive tunnels that the other, more intelligent denizens use as roads across the underworld.” The Elder explained.

“Isn’t that dangerous, Elder Rune? What if the Gargantua turned around?” Swift asked.

“Because of the nature of their bodies, they are unable to travel through open spaces, young Strike. They need the rock to propel themselves, so a tunnel from a Gargantua is, ironically enough, the safest place to avoid any of them.” The Elder replied. “Because of this nature, there are places across the world where a Gargantua will come up to the surface and become stuck, unable to continue forward or turn around. The worm dies from starvation and begins to rot, scavengers and looters alike slowly taking apart the entire body for materials. The only evidence that the worm ever existed is a perfectly circle tunnel that leads into the Underdark.”

***

The tunnel was the old trail of a Gargantua, with the hole on the surface being where the monster broke through the crust and became trapped, unable to return to the Underdark. There, it likely died and was devoured by the inhabitants of the Everfree leaving only an incredibly long tunnel from the surface to the Underworld. It was a horrifying thought. The only thing that kept him moving forward was the knowledge that Celestia was somewhere further in the tunnel, fighting the bone Naga. The rings of metal and cracking of rock continued from deeper into the tunnel. He followed them to the best of his ability, eventually beginning to see the glint of light from up ahead of him, further down the gently sloping trail. As he neared, he dropped and crushed his rune, immediately ending the light before he continued own, quiter than before.

He could see that one side of the tunnel was shattered and broken as the worm passed beside a large cave. The light came from within, though he couldn’t see around the corner. The din of combat was louder than ever, the sharp ears of the Hunter able to easily hear the sounds of Celestia panting from exhaustion, a fact that worried him greatly. If an Alicorn was tired, how hurt was she or how long had she been fighting?

The answer became very clear when he rounded the corner and his eyes were greeted by a horrendous sight. Celestia, her horn alight in magic that provided the light, stood with her back to him. Her condition was terrible. Her armor was dented and broken in places, with pieces of it simply missing. He soon spotted small plates scattered around the floor of the cave, giving him a hint as to the intensity of the combat. Golden blood stained her coat and dripped onto the floor, with splotches of it dotting the cave. Her right wing, the one he could see, was blackened and drooping toward the floor. Dragon thought it was burnt at first, then saw that it was starting to rot. Her mane and tail were limp, stained with golden and black blood. A number of her knives were missing while her halberd was likewise stained, though the axe head and spear point were flickering with light flames. The ground next to her was coated in black and red liquid with a shattered vial around it. The Naga had clearly broken the vial before Celestia could use it.

Across from her, the bone Naga rested, its tail coiled up beneath it as it was ready to spring forward should Celestia make a move. Its hide was made of dark grey scales though there was a bright white exoskeleton around it, shaped like an endoskeleton. In darkness, he could easily see how it would look like nothing more than a skeleton attacking. Several knives were dotted throughout its side, though they seemed like minor annoyances. Slashes and burns dotted all across it as black blood dripped from the monster, making him mildly nauseous. Black blood, to Imperials, was a sign of evil. Chunks of scales were torn off, with a few chunks of the exoskeleton scattered around the cavern, which it seemed to ignore. Truly, only Tartarus Blood could affect a monster as evil as a Naga.

Quietly, he readied his bow and knocked a poisoned arrow, but waited to shoot. With the Naga’s coil, Dragon figured that it could easily dodge an arrow and he wanted it to take only one shot, preferably without the Naga ever noticing he was there. With his dark hide, black mane, black armor, gray bow, and dark arrows, he hoped he was blending into the shadows of the cave and was invisible to the Naga.

Sparing a quick glance to Celestia, he frowned when he saw her burning some of her more severe wounds with her blade to stop the blood loss. It hurt him to see her so injured. She wasn’t his Princess but she was the Spirit of the Day and it would impact the entire world should she be lost. Nothing in life would ever be the same should she bee injured. He had to prevent such an event from happening.

Before he could think further, another knife was drawn and thrown in the blink of an eye. Celestia scored a powerful hit, nailing the Naga directly in the eye. It screeched in pain, then darted foward to deliver another bite to Celestia. The missing eye did it no favors as she dodged to the left, silver venom splashing the ground where she had been standing. Dragon took note of that; it seemed the Naga couldn’t stop the venom once it started to bring it out. Maybe it would run out soon, though he doubted that.

Two deft flicks of the halberd left two burning scars across the Naga’s side before she purposely slammed her speartip into the rock, releasing another loud screech of metal on rock. The Naga didn’t seem to care about the din so he wondered why she did it. Then he realized. Celestia was purposely making as much noise as she could to hopefully attract his attention. She knew that she couldn’t beat the Naga alone. Her only hope was to stay alive until he arrived with the poison, then try not to perish from the Naga venom before she got an antidote. Then she had to try to stay alive until they got back to camp, where she could be treated for her injuries.

Another two knives were sent into the Naga’s face, both striking the spread muscles that were meant to make it seem larger. It hissed in pain again before four more knives were yanked out of the beast only to hit again in different places. Celestia seemed to favor her knives over her halberd, although if she was tiring and slowing, it would make sense. She couldn’t afford to get bitten again and have more venom injected into her.

Dragon shifted the bow constantly as the two immortals danced around each other. Twice, the Naga’s tail whipped through the air and sliced Celestia’s side but she did little more than grunt in pain. The Naga failed three more bites, only one eye damaging its coordination massively. Celestia continued to strike stone and bait the Naga into eating rock to make noise, not realizing that he was only meters away from her and waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. He doubted that his arrow would pierce its hide.

Moments later, he had to force himself to not let loose an arrow prematurely. The Naga’s tail sweeped out Celestia’s hooves, making her fall and her levitation fail, her halberd skidding into the Gargantua tunnel and down a few meters. The Naga reacted quickly, coiling around the Alicorn time and time again until Celestia was trapped, incredible pressure stopping her from being able to cast any magic. The Alicorn knew that she was unable to escape; one flex and every bone in her body was crushed, one bite and enough venom would be in her to kill her in seconds. Dragon could see it in her eyes. She was convinced this was the end for her. To her credit, she didn’t begin to cry or scream or plead for mercy. No, all she did was glare at the Naga head hovering above her and spit once, golden blood and pony saliva staining the beast’s other eye.

The Naga screeched in agitation, its mouth opening wide. Dragon took the chance. He reared up, unable to use the spike to steady his bow. Celestia saw him then, her eyes widening before they began to shine with happiness. He paid her no mind, his right hoof drawing the string back, the arrow fletching coming to rest on his muzzle. A slight twitch of his hoof released the latch on the string, his arrow flying forward and true, directly into the Naga’s open mouth. He watched as it struck the monster’s throat, which began to rapidly turn black as the agitation turned to horrible pain.

The monster collapsed, its coils loosening as Celestia leaped out and quickly limped her way over to him. Dragon still didn’t say anything, watching the massive snake writhe on the ground as the scales and bone began to turn to ash, the Tartarus Blood spreading through its system with unnatural haste. Moments later, it stilled. Even then, he watched as its body turned entirely to ash, leaving absolutely nothing behind besides Celestia’s knives. To his surprise, even the pieces that had been torn off turned to ash. Then he realized even his arrow was incinerated, which annoyed him slightly.

Starting when Celestia touched his side, he turned his attention to her finally. Though she was coated in gold and black blood, both cauterized and fresh wounds darting her body with a rotting wing hanging from her side, she still favored him with a bright smile. Her eyes shone with joy and relief as she stared at him, her gaze conveying just how thankful she was that he had showed up. When she spoke, her voice was weary, though content. “As thankful as I am that I’m alive, that won’t remain so for much longer without an antidote.”

Nodding quickly, Dragon reached into a pouch and pulled out a vial of antidote. She took it in her magic and unwrapped it, quickly drinking it. Like her sister, she gagged at the taste but didn’t react otherwise. She returned the vial and cloth to him, both of which he stuffed into a spare pouch. Moments later, she sighed as the burning pain in her veins reduced, then ended. Her wing was still damanged to the seventh level of Tartarus, but she was alive.

“Thank you, Mr. Arrow.” Celestia said softly, her magic gathering her knives from around the room.

“We’ve Hunted together. Call me Dragon.” He said simply. Celestia nodded.

“Then call me Celestia.” She said, her knives returning to sheathes on her side. Four of them were missing, so he lended her a couple of his pouches. A spell later and she attached four makeshift sheathes that became home to the remaining knives. While she was altering the cloth, he retrieved her halberd for her and hoofed it to her when she finished, which she took with a grateful smile.

Celestia took a step toward the exit only to almost collapse as her front left leg almost gave out on her, making him notice the very large gash across it. Even though it had been burned shut, it was clearly deep. He quickly walked around her and offered his side to her, which she happily took. One wing came over him while she leaned on him, taking the much needed support. Together, they began to walk toward the exit and up the tunnel, which they both knew was going to be a long walk. Dragon didn’t bother questioning why she didn’t teleport. If she couldn’t heal herself, she likely didn’t have enough magic to teleport anywhere, much less out of the Forest.

Feeling her soft fur matted in several places and missing in others, he spared her a quick glance. She noticed it, her magenta eyes flickering to meet his as she smiled softly. “Something on your mind, Dragon?”

“Just that, if it weren’t for your injuries, this would have been a clean, easy Hunt.” Dragon commented idly. “If we had managed to strike it once with the Blood, it would have been over instantly. I saw the broken vial, so I assume it broke it before you could use it.”

Celestia noticed his phrasing. ‘If we had managed.’ He was ensuring it didn't sound like he was blaming her, something she found endearing. Celestia, putting aside her thoughts, nodded. “You’re right. I tried to coat my halberd in some before pouring the rest on the Naga, but it must have been awake and faking sleep. Chances are, it heard me walking down this Gargantua tunnel and knew I was coming.”

While she was leaning on him with her weight off of one of her legs, she was actually the same height at him. That made it easy for him to look at her in confusion when she stopped walking. Celestia turned her head and looked at him seriously, though her eyes were still shining in the darkness. Suddenly, Dragon became acutely aware of how close their faces were before he put the random thought aside as she began speaking. “I don’t know how to thank you, Dragon. If you hadn’t shown up, I would definitely be dead right now, likely in the Naga’s stomach, too.”

“Just saying ‘thank you’ could work, though I do believe you already did that.” Dragon said with an honest smile.

“Thank you.” Celestia said with a happy smile of her own. The pair continued walking again even as Celestia spoke. “Though I believe you should be rewarded for both ending a threat to Equestria and saving the life of a Princess.”

“I don’t believe I deserve a reward, Celestia.” Dragon began truthfully. “I was there for longer than it seemed, waiting for the right moment to strike. Perhaps if I had risked shooting it earlier, my arrow could have pierced its hide and you wouldn’t have been at such a risk.”

“You did the right thing.” Celestia said firmly. “My blades only worked because they are enchanted. Your arrows, unless they are the same, would have simply shattered on its hide and not hurt the beast. I will reward you.”

Dragon sighed. “My arrows aren’t enchanted, just steel. Fine, what’s my reward?”

“Three reasonable favors.” Celestia said with only a moment’s thought. “One for killing the Naga, one for saving me, and one for saving Luna. They’ll be yours to use at any time.”

“Can I use one now?” Dragon asked quietly, knowing what he would ask.

“Of course.” Celestia replied, curious of his intent.

“Will you allow me to stay within the Everfree, provided my Chief agrees?” Dragon asked.

“I’ll do you one better, Dragon. I’ll personally message your Chief and ask him, then tell you what he says. If he agrees, you are more than welcome to remain within the Everfree, Dragon.” The Solar Alicorn replied, making him smile.

“Thank you, Celestia.” He said honestly, happy with his reward even if he believed he didn’t deserve one.

“You’re very welcome, Dragon. Just one warning.” Celestia said with a mischevious smile.

“Don’t be surprised if my sister and I visit you often.” She said. “The last Hunter my sister and I knew, we were very close friends to. We found her mannerisms very enjoyable. Do you have any complaints with that?”

“As a pony who has Hunted with me, you are always welcome around my home for any reason.” Dragon said seriously, making Celestia stumbled at the honestly in his voice. She knew well of a Hunter’s love for privacy and secrecy, so his offer was astounding. It made her realize how important it was that he allowed her to hunt with him. “Your sister has the same courtesies extended to her, due to dealing with the Naga previously and surviving its bite. Both of you are powerful mares, easily able to become a Hunter or Warrior in my homeland.”

Celestia was silent for a moment, not quite sure what to say. After a few minutes of walking in silence, they reached the surface again and she finally spoke. “Thank you, Dragon.”

“You’re welcome, Celestia.”