"What in Tartarus was that!?" Twilight exclaimed as she pulled up just short of Eustace's side, staring at him as they walked.

"That was a beast," he replied simply, giving her a raised brow but not looking at her.

"Yeah, I figured as much, but that thing looked nothing like a pony!"

"Remember what I said an hour or so ago? Case in point."

Celestia interjected, taking Eustace's other side. "What about my magic? The spell I used should have turned that thing to ash."

"Magic?" Eustace shook his head at her. "Astral didn't–" he gave a slight cringe, "– right, memory loss. Well, nopony knows why, but beasts are invulnerable to magic. A few years back the Research Hall tried to figure it out, but nothing came of it for us hunters, of course. All they passed down was 'no magic'."

Celestia looked stricken, and Twilight didn't look happy either. "No magic?"

"Well, as long as it doesn't have to make contact with the beast it should work," he added nonchalantly. "Physical weapons are plenty good enough as it is. See what I did to that beast back there?" he asked with a grin. "That, was a perfect example of exactly that. One hit and done, as it should be. Nice and clean."

Twilight gave Celestia a concerned look, before turning back to Eustace. "So, how many…?"

"Oh, plenty! With luck, we won't run into any more on our way back. The mobs tend to be noisy, so it's those canids I'm worried about. They're quiet, and prefer to take their prey by surprise."

He looked over at Twilight. "You're sure you can handle that rifle?"

She gulped. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Good. When your moment comes, don't choke. I'd rather like to see the sunrise."

-#-#-

The noises of battle had grown steadily louder as they passed further and further into the city, until eventually the walls rang with it. Booming, screams and the sounds of beast and pony alike mixed into a viscous cacophony that painted the mind with nightmarish images of teeth, claws and fire.

As it turned out, stealth seemed to be a forté of Eustace's. Contrary to the massive blade attached to his back, he had crept past the mobs patrolling the larger streets like a large cat stalking its prey. Fluid, silent and, most importantly, always keeping to superior positioning. So far, he had avoided confrontation with a mix of instinct and prowess, but even he had said that there were times when even the best laid plans or most advantageous of situations were laid waste by the element of chance.

Where before they had kept well out of the way of the main thoroughfares, now they shadowed those streets, only ever one alley away. The noises coming from that direction had been of roaring fires and celebration, of what was left to the imagination.

Eustace stopped as they neared the end of their current road, which opened up into a view of the butte that the Cathedral Ward sat on, and surveyed the street in either direction from the corner. Soon stepping out into the street proper, Celestia and Twilight followed.

The street wound around the plateau that Central Yharnam was founded on, and which the rest of Yharnam led to, giving a spectacular view of the surrounding land. Forests spread out far to the left of Cathedral Ward; a few windmills poking out of its foliage roof. To it's right the ocean spread out beyond eyesight, and far below were the crumbling and destitute buildings of another section of Yharnam. A cold wind whipped along the sides of the buildings that lined the street, creating a pitiful wailing noise as it split against the metal railings, tree branches and window bars.

It was a beautiful location, all things considered.

Far up the street, Celestia could see the Great Bridge that spanned the gulf between the Cathedral Ward and Central Yharnam. It would take some time to make it to the bridge, but at least now their end goal was in sight.

She just wondered how Astral would take the news they had to give.

-#-#-

Eustace led them through a metal gate, pushed open by a crashed carriage. They had been travelling for a while, long enough that the wind had started to get to even Celestia, but seeing the city once again close in up ahead made her want to stay out on the cliffside road despite the chill.

To their right a sign nailed to a wooden pole read "Clinic", for some odd reason in standard Equish, and pointed to a building, larger than some of the houses they'd seen, beyond. Eustace gestured for them to follow him inside as he turned into the courtyard in front of the clinic. They both followed him to the door, which, much to their surprise, was left unlocked.

Entering after him, they were met with the strong scent of disinfectant and, perhaps unsurprisingly, blood. The entryway led downwards into a small waiting area, populated by chairs, lighting and a blackboard.

"Take a moment to breathe, I need to go over a few things with you before we go further," he said, opening the door out of the room, "and have a word with the owner of this clinic." He slipped through the doorway, closing it gently behind him.

Celestia examined the room, while Twilight immediately spotted a bookshelf, and promptly started browsing the selection.

It was fairly plain, even beyond the aforementioned seating. Two more doorways led out of the room, east and west if the way they came from was north. A few bookshelves lined the room as well, and candles provided lighting throughout the room. The blackboard was to the left of the door Eustace entered, and had words scribbled on it, though Celestia couldn't make sense of the script. Gauging the layout, however, it looked suspiciously like a list of names. If it were that, all but one under a heading had been either scratched out or erased.

"The owner, perhaps?"

"Princess," Twilight half-whispered at her, "come take a look at this!"

Walking over to Twilight, she looked over the excited pony's shoulder at the book she held.

"Look, look at this letter here," she said, holding up the book for Celestia to see clearly. Using her magic, she highlighted a particular symbol. "Doesn't that look like an early tribal variation of 'luminescence'?"

Celestia hadn't brushed up on her tribal in years, but as she squinted, she could certainly see what Twilight was talking about. The symbol was completely different from any of the other characters on the page, and, even if it wasn't immediately clear what it meant, the style was definitely tribal in origin.

She nodded sagely, draping a wing over Twilight's back. "Well done, Twilight. Memorize that symbol, and I will too. If we can use it to pinpoint our place in time, we may have an easier time leaving this place now than we did before."

Twilight nodded, and the door by the blackboard opened once again to reveal a perturbed looking Eustace. He walked forward slowly, barely even acknowledging their presence.

"Eustace?" Twilight asked, walking up to him. "Hey, you okay? What happened?"

He didn't answer until Celestia had joined Twilight. "The doctor," he said, looking over his shoulder, "Iosefka… she was… different. Cold."

Twilight blinked, but pressed on. "Oh? What's she normally like?"

"The opposite." He breathed in deeply, frown growing deeper.

"Maybe she's just had a bad day?" Twilight offered.

Eustace sighed and shook his head. "I don't think so. Maybe I'll come back, after I've got you two to Lady Astral. See what happened." He breathed in again, this time his face relaxing. "Either way, I need to warn you. The bridge, and Central Yharnam itself are going to be positively crawling with activity from beast and huntspony alike. It's not just likely we'll have to fight, it's guaranteed." He looked at Twilight as he said that. "I can tell you're not one to hurt others, so remember who you've got at home. That's who you're fighting for, that's who you're fighting to get back to. Work as a team, and we all go home in one piece." With that, he moved past them both towards the stairs.

"Is that why you're fighting?" She asked after him.

He stopped just in front of the stairs. "No. I'm fighting because I'm good at it," he stated, and started up the flight of stairs, checking once to ensure they were following.

~#~

Outside, a shrill screech pierced the night air, echoing off the stone walls so that it was difficult to tell where it came from. Eustace cringed, he'd heard that sound once before, and if it was what he remembered…

Looking to the Cathedral Ward, he saw the last thing he'd ever wanted to see again. A massive, ungainly creature, as tall as a six-story building, lumbered out of the space between the Ward's buildings, massive claw clutching its face. It slowly walked to the plaza that the bridge opened out to, and then jumped onto the bridge itself.

Eustace prayed it would either fall off, or continue on its way.

And of course, it did neither.

It crouched down on the bridge, before sitting backwards against the gate into the Cathedral Ward, both claws now clutching its face and knees pulled up to its chest. Or, as close as it could pull it's knees, that is.

A grimace of indescribable severity painted Eustace's face. "Well, shit."

"What is that?" Celestia asked from beside him, some amount of fear actually breaking through her regal stoicism.

"That…" he spat, sitting down and massaging a temple, "is above our pay grade."

Author's Note

Wow, only three weeks. Write a review, or something. Even if it's criticism, leave a comment. If it's a spelling error or similar non-conformity, send me a PM.

A little clarification: Eustace is a hunter. The mobs the Hunter kills are called Huntsmen mobs (huntspony mobs in this story). They are different.

Edit: 11/22/19 realized there was a glaring non-comformity with text recognition. Guess I'm just so good nobody realized it was there