Chapters As I open my eyes to look around, I notice I’m in a pastel colored town. My gazing is cut off by the sound of screaming and roaring. “My sightseeing trip can wait until this incident is resolved.” As I run towards the screaming, I quickly glance around marking mental landmarks to remember my way back to the lantern. I notice a giant gingerbread house, which causes me to slow my run, “Uhm, what? No wait busy, ask questions later.” Resuming my original pace, I come onto the scene. Most of the huntsmen are being detained by guardsponies but one has gotten past them and is pursuing a white filly with purple and pink hair.
Noticing the guards are too busy, I start running towards the huntsman just as the memory of a ribbon covered in blood comes to mind. “I will not allow it to happen again.” Feeling an unknown energy infuse me, I rush at the huntsman swinging the cleaver. The world around me goes quiet except for the sound of tearing clothing and flesh followed by a pained roar. Catching the huntsman’s attention, he turns towards me, blind with his bloodlust, and pursues me for attacking him. I dodge the creatures clumsy attacks then swing my cleaver out, an audible click sound emanating as I bring the reverse side blade out and remove the creatures head from its body, covering myself in its blood.
I look down at the scared filly. “Find safety,” I order before running off to assist the guards, hearing the sound of small hoofsteps behind me running towards the town center. Looking around I notice a glint of metal behind the huntsmen, "Found you." I start running and hear a bang as the rifleman's shot connects with the back of a shield huntsman providing an opening for the guardspony fighting it. The rifleman starts reloading, "Not going to make it in time to stop it, unless-" I stop a ways away and raise my blunderbuss, "Hope this is close enough." I pull the trigger resulting in a louder bang and enough pellets connect with the rifleman to stagger him and I rush up and finish him off with the cleaver. After I make sure the rifleman is dead, I turn around and notice the guards finishing off the last of the huntsmen. "And now they’ll point their weapons at me because I'm an unknown armed figure," I think to myself, putting my weapons away, and looting the rifleman. As I pick up a pouch of ammo and a powderhorn, I hear the sound of hooves behind me and I stand up and brush myself off. As I slowly turn around I hear the sound of feathery wings beating and look up. I grin seeing a dark blue mare descending, "Convenient." I cross one arm over my chest in a salute and bow my head, the guards following my gaze and bowing before Princess Luna.
Luna lands, "At ease everypony." We all raise our heads and she looks over at me, “What are these things Sparrow?”
I nod and gesture to the bodies, “These are huntsmen, humans that were infested and turned into mindless beasts by the plague I told you about and…” My eyes go wide as I see one lunge towards Luna, “You idiots left one alive!” Pushing my way past all of them, I take a slash at the huntsman and trade blows with him, taking his head off but taking a critical shot to the neck myself. Falling to my knees as I start to fade out from this world, I feel a pair of arms wrap around me as if trying to keep me there.
Luna hugs me close in a panic, “Sparrow!” I force a smile before I dissolve into red lights. Without looking at the guards the Princess speaks, “I thought I trained you all better than to stand by and let an ally fight alone against a foe.” Luna stands up and glares at the guards.
I wake up with a start and see I’m in The Hunters Dream, “Great, I’m immortal here too, that’s just perfect, ugh.” I stand up and start making my way to the tombstone to head back to, what was it? Ponyville? I stop, seeing that the doll was not where I left her, but is standing up with her hands down in front of her.
The doll looks at me confused, “Hunter, this doesn’t look like the dream I am used to.”
I go over and pat her head smiling, “I’ll explain everything when I get back, but until then can I get you to clean up the workshop?” The doll nods and I make my way back to Ponyville. Coming out of the dream, I notice I’m standing next to a crystal castle, “Huh, shiny.” I start making my way back to where the fighting was and begin to hear Luna berating the guards. I pick up the pace and notice a lot of ponies had come out of hiding and started looking at the aftermath. I decide to sneak my way up using the cover of darkness and my black cloak to my remains. I make my way over and smirk, “Well all of you look shell-shocked.” I chuckle at the ponies reactions at seeing me alive again and reach my hand forward and absorb the magical traces of my remains into my body, “I’ll be needing that.”
Luna just stares at me with her mouth open, “But, how, I saw you,” then looks down at her hands, “In my hands.” She then looks back up at me.
I take a breath and raise my own hand, “It’s late. All these ponies should be heading home and getting some sleep. I will answer all your questions Princess, I told you that already.”
Luna nods in understanding and reassures the residents of the town and ushers them home, then proceeds to lead me to the crystal castle, “I’m sure Princess Twilight will have some questions of her own.”
I go to say something, then decide against it and ask something else, “So this isn’t your castle?”
Luna looks back at me, “Correct, this is the castle of Twilight Sparkle, one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony.” Predicting my next few questions Luna continues, “There are five princesses and six bearers.”
I just sigh. “I’ll hold my questions for tomorrow, we have more pressing matters to attend to." Following Luna inside, I look around the castle and let out an appreciative whistle, “Are all the castles this flashy?”
Luna chuckles and leads me to the throne room where we see another pony with wings and a horn sitting on a throne, “In one way or another, yes.” Luna and I stop in front of the throne, "Good to see you are well Twilight."
Twilight smiles and nods looking at Luna, "Good to see you too, Princess Luna." Twilight looks over at me, “And you must be the one I have to thank for saving the town, and my friends.”
I smile and give a polite bow, “No thanks necessary m’lady, I was only doing my job.” I look over at Luna who looks a little nervous, “Excuse me for a second I need to answer one of Princess Luna’s questions she asked earlier.” Twilight nods and Luna looks over at me, “The Hunter’s Dream turned my generation of hunters immortal, whenever we died we would end up there, refreshed and ready to get back into the fight.” Rubbing at my neck where I was hit, I comment, “It still hurts to die though.” I look over at the two Princesses “I’ll be blunt, this will not be the last time the monsters appear, and I fear they may only be the beginning of worse to come.”
Both princesses’ eyes go wide and their jaws drop before Luna starts speaking, “You mean there are things worse than what we saw out there?”
I just give a sorrowful nod, “Unfortunately yes, and your guards alone will not be able to contain the situation if more of them show up, or if some of the stronger creatures show up.” I go over to the window and look at the ground, “The biggest monster I saw was either as tall or half as tall as this castle.” Turning back, I see the terrified face of one princess and one enthralled face of the other, “I doubt any of those monsters will appear again, but there might be monsters equivalent to them in size and stature that show up.” Looking at their concerned faces, I turn towards Twilight, “May I use your kitchen to prepare you two some tea to help you calm down?” Receiving a nod and stuttered directions from a panic-stricken Twilight, I make my way to the kitchen. I return with a tray that has a teapot and cups on them and pour a cup of chamomile tea for both Luna and Twilight.
As her nerves began to settle down, Luna talks first, “So how are we going to be able to combat them?”
I set the tray down, “I could give you the knowledge I have on the enemies I faced which should be enough for guards to be able to handle some of the weaker enemies, but for the stronger ones, I can fill them in on their attacks and attack patterns, but the only way to fight them is by getting experience.” I go over and lean against a pillar, “There was one enemy I faced that took up, I think at least twenty tries before I got its pattern down and defeated it.” I stand back up and walk over, “I said I would answer questions but I have been hogging the floor this entire time. I apologize, what would you like to know, ladies?”
Twilight speaks up first, "I know you are acquainted with Luna, but I have not received your name yet."
I sigh and tap my forehead, "My apologies, I am Sparrow, once a Hunter of Yharnam."
Twilight picks up fascinated by the name of a land she has never heard of before, “Where is this Yharnam.”
I sigh and shake my head, “If I knew where it was, I would not recommend going there, they were not very polite to outsiders.” I continue mumbling, “Myself included.”
Luna looks over at me concerned, “They treated you poorly?”
I look over and shrug, “They wouldn’t give me the time of day if I asked, not that it mattered while the hunt was on, it was always night.”
Luna’s eye twitches but ignores it, “So, I got a report that your weapon there changed forms during the fight with the...huntsman was it?”
I nod and draw my saw cleaver, “Yes, they are referred to huntsman and they are the basic grunts of these creatures, as for this, it’s called the saw cleaver.” I show them it in its saw form before backing up and snapping it out into its cleaver form, “One thing that hunters carried around with them was a trick weapon and they come in different forms, some just enhanced itself in some way, or they change form just like this one.” I close the saw cleaver and put it back and double check my pouch if I have any other weapons to demonstrate and then close it quickly blinking.
Luna looks over at me confused, “Everything okay Sparrow?”
I compose myself and nod my head, “I appear to have my mentors weapon with me as my only other melee weapon.” I Put the saw cleaver in the pouch and pull out some sort of stick and a greatsword.
Twilight looks at the two items, “That doesn’t look like a very impressive weapon.”
I smile and put the stick on my back, twirling the greatsword. Then I slam it into part of the stick, another part snapping out. I pull forth a scythe and smirk. “What was that about not being impressive?”
Twilight blinks then blushes, “I’ll take back my comment.”
I nod then return it back to its greatsword configuration and return it to the bag pulling out the saw cleaver.
Luna tilts her head, confused, “Why not use your mentor’s old weapon, instead of the saw cleaver.”
I look at her and shake my head, “Because I was a hunter that focused solely on fast attacks while that Burial Blade was designed to utilize both speed and magic in it’s attacks.”
Twilight perks up at that word and looks me intently, “Can all of your kind use magic? What kind of magic is it? Do you need some sort of focus-” Twilight’s mouth is sealed by a magic aura before she can continue her tirade of questions.
I nod to Luna as thanks, “Well, I only know that creatures and hunters can personally harness magic, others have crafted tools to use a person's innate magic.”
Twilight blushes as he mouth was released, “Sorry about that, the prospects of new magic always interest me.”
I wave my hand dismissively, “We can talk at length about the tools Hunters use at a later date.” I look outside and see it turning to day and let out a sigh, “Good day and night cycles are still in order here.”
Luna and Twilight look at me confused, “What do you mean by that?” Luna asks.
I look at them, “When the hunt was going there were two points where I killed a creature and first it turned to night, then it turned into a blood moon,” I shudder, “And things got even worse.”
Twilight gulps, “What do you mean by worse?”
I sigh and lean against the window, “All the creatures got stronger and more vicious, and some even developed some different forms of attack, it was a messy affair, thankfully some of the creatures went to sleep allowing me to sneak past them without issue.”
The princesses look at each other then Twilight turns back to me, “Is there anything we can do to prepare to fight back against these creatures?”
I turn around and look out the window again, “I would need some place isolated to set up a forge to start making weapons, and, here’s the hard part, I would need volunteers to take on training to become a hunter.” I look out at the forest that the Huntsmen had originally come from and raise an eyebrow and mumble to myself, “What is that?”
I hear the two princess discussing the possibilities of anypony actually volunteering to join as a hunter or not. I walk over to them, “What’s with that forest?”
Twilight looks up at me, “That’s the Everfree Forest, not much is known about it other then it is independent from the rest of Equestria in its ecosystem.”
I nod and go over to open the window, “Hmm, maybe there is something in there related to all of this.” I walk back in there direction.
Luna taps her chin, “Potentially, my sister and I’s old castle is in there, so there may at least be a hint.” Luna looks over at me, “I’ll have some Night Guards look into it.”
I pull my face mask up and look at the princess then at the open window, “No need Your Highness.” I break into a sprint and jump out the open window. The princesses run over in time to see me hit the ground rolling then stand up instantly and draw my weapons as I run into the forest.
Getting far enough into the forest to not see the town anymore, I slow down and catch my breath. Staying aware, I look around as I walk down the path, “Okay, time to take stock of the situation.” Using the saw cleaver to clear the path on my way to the castle, “First, I wake up in an altered version of the hunters dream. Second, it is no longer connected to Yharnam. Third, the population here is humanoid...ponies. Fourth, it appears some sort of hunt is happening here. And last, why have I not come across any creatures in this forest!?” I stop, and all I hear are crickets before they quiet down and all I hear is the wind.
As I continue walking, I notice a shimmer out of the corner of my eye. Looking over at what it is, I hurry my pace over to it, “Please tell me it’s what I think it is.” When I arrive I grin, put my saw cleaver away, and pick up a threaded cane. “This is more my style, also less intimidating when I have to deal with the ponies.” I look over the cane and blink, noticing two gems inlaid into the handle, “Of all the blood gems to be inlaid, it had to be these two.” I rub my neck, the pain from where I got hit disappearing along with the scar there. I return to the path and continue my walk towards the castle.
I cross the bridge, my gun put away, holding onto the rope handrail. “Why did it have to be a rope bridge.” I step on the opposite side of the bridge and draw my weapons, thinking I hear a bell. I look around and slowly make my way towards the castle, keeping my guard up the entire time. I enter and the sounds of combat can be heard echoing through the halls as I get further in. I snap my cane out to its whip form and start running to see if I can help out in any way. As I come across the scene, I see a huntsman and a mare fighting and notice the mare is exhausted as the huntsman knocks her weapon out of her hands and knocks her down. I rush forward, bringing the whip down to hit the huntsman in the back. It gets his attention and he lunges towards me, only to receive my cane piercing through his infested heart and out his back. I grin and kick the huntsman off my cane. “Glad to have this back in my hands.”
I walk over and offer the mare a hand up, only to have it knocked aside as she struggles to get herself up. As she does that, I walk over and retrieve her weapon for her and then go back and hand it over to her. As I get a better look at her, I notice she looks a lot like Luna but her colors seem to be darker, and her pupils are more like a cat's eyes then a ponies. The mare stumbles into me, and I catch her and put one of her arms around my neck, “Okay we are finding you a place to sit down.”
The mare struggles to get free. "I don't need some stallion protecting me."
The mare shudders from a sudden coldness as I speak, “I refuse to let another hunter die from their own stubbornness again!” I guide her to what looks like a bedroom and sit her on the bed, then scour the room to make sure it’s safe. I nod and go back to her, “You rest here, I’m going to search around to find anything else useful.” The shocked mare just nods.
I head out and look around, hoping to find either a library or a workshop. I come across a courtyard and see a lantern in the middle of it. I go over and light it, “I have a fast travel back here now… I wonder if I can take that mare through it with me.” I head back to the bedroom and open the door, then immediately shut it after seeing a half-naked mare. “Well, I did tell her to rest.”
The mare calls from inside with a sultry voice, “You may come in now.”
I head inside and she has gotten fully dressed. “Sorry about that, I was not expecting you to have stripped down like that.” She giggles a little and I smile, “Well now that the awkward tension is gone, my name is Sparrow, and I was teleported here somehow from a place called Yharnam.”
The mare nods, taking in the information, “I wish I could give you my name but I can only remember one name which is not mine.”
I tilt my head, confused, “And what name is that?”
The mare sighs, “It is Nightmare Moon, and I remember a feeling of terror that comes from that name.”
I sigh and lean against the door, “Do you want me to come up with a name for you?” Seeing the mare nod, I close my eyes and think, “How about Mythril Knight?”
The mare stands up and stumbles, “Well it will do for now.”
I go over and support her, “Come on, I’m getting you out of here.” I start helping her to the lantern.
Mythril leans into me, “So why did you come here in the first place, Sparrow?”
I shift my weight a little to open a door, “I came seeking anything that could help in the hunt.” I smile and look at her, to which she returns a confused look, “I found something better than a weapon, another trained hunter with knowledge and skills.” I look away debating something to myself, “and one who is more than half beautiful.”
Mythril’s face turns purple as she blushes, "You're just saying that."
I stop at the lantern, "I see no reason to lie about the truth." I reach towards the lantern and teleport us both to the Hunter’s Dream. I set Mythril down where the doll was sitting before, “We’ll be safe here, so rest up.”
Mythril looks around, “Where are we?”
I sit down next to her, “This is the Hunter's Dream, this was my safe haven from the turmoil of Yharnam.” Looking down at my hands, I sigh, “It’s also where I end up when I die.” I notice her head snap to me, “There’s also a graveyard filled up with the names of dead hunters.”
Mythril stands up quickly, dizzying herself, but recovers just as quickly, “What do you mean when you die?”
I stand up as well and lead her to a tombstone, “This place has made me immortal, or at least not permanently killable, still hurts though.” I nod to the doll who waves from the workshop then grab Mythril’s shoulder and teleport us to Ponyville. I smile as she’s startled by the sudden change in location, “It’s also a fast travel for me.” We head inside and I notice Luna talking to guards. I push Mythril behind me, “Stay behind me for now, because they will only recognize you as Nightmare Moon before I can explain the situation.”
Mythril nods and hides behind me as we approach. Luna notices and starts running over only to see Mythril. “Guards, seize that mare.”
The guards move to approach but stop when they hear metal on crystal and see a deep scratch in the floor beneath then back up at me. I just glare at them, “One hoof beyond that Line before we are done talking, and I will be cutting flesh next.” All the ponies back up including Mythril.
Luna steps forward before the scratch, “Sparrow you don’t know what you’re doing, you don’t know what she tried to do.”
I just look at Luna, “Her, or you Luna.” Luna and Mythril’s eyes go wide. “I don’t know how I can see it, but I can see the strands of magic in the air, I dismissed it originally.” I walk over and grab a strand and cause both Mythril and Luna to shiver, “But you two are connected by this one.” I look over at Twilight, “So Twilight, why don’t you tell me the full story between these two.”
Twilight gulps and nods, “Can we go sit down to talk about this then.”
I look over at the guards, who nod and back off, “After you then Princess.”
Most of the guards go with Twilight but a couple stay behind with Luna as she waits for us, “This is unusual, Sparrow.”
I raise my eyebrow at her, “You’ll have to specify Princess.”
All the ponies, including Mythril, stop and look at me, “Usually it’s the mare that defends the stallion.”
I blink, “Fascinating so that’s how your society works.” I motion for everypony to continue walking. I shrug, “My society was completely the opposite, and I now share the same opinion for that factor of both our societies.”
Mythil looks at me, “And what opinion is that?”
I look dead ahead, “I don’t give a crap, all they do is suppress the opposite gender and make things difficult for them.” I shudder causing the ponies to grow concerned, “There was one memory of a huntress that still scares me to this day, I say again this was only a memory.” The ponies just stare straight ahead as we approach the door and enter catching the meaning of my last words.
Twilight looks concerned, then pouts, “Did I miss a bit of Sparrow’s history?”
The guards hold back their laughter as Luna and Mythril giggle at the young princess. I shake my head, “Just comparing societies and telling them about the scariest enemy I faced.” I lead Mythril over to a pair of chairs, my cane making a clicking sound as we walk.
Luna finally notices the cane as the tension has gone down but waits to ask about it. Meanwhile, Twilight goes into detail of the events leading up to the creation of Nightmare Moon and then the separation of Luna and Mythril.
I stop and think, “So you were going to arrest Mythril because she looks like Nightmare Moon?” The ponies nod. I raise an eyebrow at them, “Then why not arrest Luna as well since she was Nightmare Moon?” All the ponies gasp and look at me. I raise my hand to prevent any pony from starting to speak. “Because you have gotten used to her and learned more about her, do you see what I am getting at?”
The ponies stop and think about it then the princesses nod and Luna speaks up, “I understand what you mean Sparrow.“ Luna turns to Mythril, “I apologize for jumping to conclusions and accusing you of what you aren’t.”
Mythril nods and smiles, “Apology accepted Princess.”
I smile and look between them, “Now I have a request Luna.”
Luna looks at me, “Yes Sparrow?”
I nod and place a hand on Mythril’s head, “I’d like for you to leave her in my care for now.”
The ponies blink and Luna is confused. I see the wheels start turning as she realizes, “Of course Sparrow, but I’ll need to inform my sister of this development.” Luna stands up and leads her guards out, and although it’s hard to tell through her practiced facade, I think I catch a wary glance in Mithril’s direction on her way out.
I turn towards Twilight, “Do you have a few spare rooms we could use?” Twilight nods and gets up to lead us there, “Oh also, do not, I repeat, do not, limit the volunteers to only mares.”
Twilight stumbles and looks back at me, “Do you know the trouble that could cause?”
I shake my head, “No and I do not care, if anypony is willing to help, they should be allowed to.” I learn down and look Twilight in the eyes, “That is if you think you can beat me in a fight, then I will change that, but here’s the thing, I’ll only hold back enough to not kill you.”
Twilight gulps, “The rooms are this way.”
I sigh and rub my forehead, “Sorry for all the terror Twilight, it’s what I had to do to stay alive in Yharnam and at this point it’s ingrained into my mind.” I give her a genuine smile and she calms down a little.
Twilight gives a slightly forced smile, “It’s okay.” She coughs going into business mode, “It will take some time to keep the word out and then for volunteers, to show up.” she stops and turns back to us, “Well here’s your room.”
I blink and look at her, “Only one room?” Mythril and I share a look and a blush starts to slowly creep on her face. I sigh and rub my forehead, chuckling to myself slightly, “I guess I can just sleep in the Hunter’s Dream.”
Twilight grows beet red, “I’m so sorry, I just thought with how protective you are I thought you two were together.”
Mythril yawns behind me, catching both mine and Twilight's attention, “Go to bed Mythril, there’s a few things I need to talk to the Princess about before I head to the dream to sleep.” Mythril nods and heads into the room after some well wishes are exchanged. I look back at Twilight, “I was about to ask if you had a library, but I feel like you already have one, and this is a castle, so mind leading us to the library. I'll tell you as much of my world as I can, if you do the same.”
Twilight nods and leads me to the library.
===================================================================================================
̵͈̝͖̪͛̽̿̉T̷̛̩̻̈́̉ḫ̷̢̧̽e̸̽͝ͅý̶̗̞̮̗̏̐̀ ̷͈͓͓͚̌̾̑̕Ḓ̵͍̍̐͒ő̵͈̙͛̄̕n̴̨̢̞͍͑̎̑'̸͚̳̖̘͕̎̑͛͑̌t̸̨͓̽͒̿̾ ̴̛̜̤̮͖̽͠
̷͕̞̓̀͌̀T̴̹̽͝ṙ̸̜́̋̐͝u̶̘̤͇̾͂͠s̴͉̆̽̋ͅť̶̺͗̿͋ ̷͓̦̮̂͗T̴̬̫͎͚̩̄h̴̛̝͖̞̙̻͐̿̀̈́e̷̛̺̞͙̤͘ͅir̵̪͚̫͒̏ ̴̺̤̗̮̎͋̂́ͅO̶͈͈̰̻̒͜w̴̥̒͑͐̾̀n̵͙͋
As Twilight and I walk to the library, there is only silence, save for the click of my cane against the floor. Taking some deep breaths, I calm myself, letting the adrenaline run out, as I take a closer look at my surroundings and my host. Twilight’s mane and tail are purple with a pink stripe and she is wearing a purple dress with a star motif aligned at the bottom. Looking at the castle, I notice almost everything is made out of some crystalline material. I glance at my cane, remembering the gouge I put in the floor. “I wonder how strong I have gotten.” Looking up, I notice purple eyes staring at me with concern. I wave my hand dismissively, “Just thinking about how I used to be.”
Twilight’s eyes light up with curiosity and she pushes her face close to my face. I instinctively move my head back as she starts firing off questions, “What were you like before you became a hunter? What did you do before all this? Did you have any friends?” A blush spreads across her face, poorly hidden by a scroll she’s carrying as she asks, “Did you have any lovers?”
I take a deep breath to focus my thoughts and answer the questions as best I can, motioning to Twilight to continue our walk. “Well, I wasn’t very social and was mostly gruff with others when I talked to them. Becoming a hunter during that time, taught me to treasure those that could at least tolerate me.” After a brief pause to let Twilight note down the answer, I continued, “Before I was a Hunter, I was actually a scholar. I had gone to Yharnam to study this miraculous cure they claimed to have.” We arrived at the library, a majestic room several stories tall, with bookcases as far as the eye could see, a couple of couches near a fireplace, and desks scattered here and there.“I didn’t have many friends. Although I had allies and companions, the closest thing to friends I had was my Covenant.” I raise a hand to stop her from asking about Covenants, “I’ll get to that in time.” There’s a mischievous grin on my face as I lean down towards her. “I do wonder why you asked if I had any lovers though, it couldn’t be that a certain princess has developed a crush on the mysterious stranger has she?” I chuckle as Twilight blushes once more, fumbling her scrolls and quills. “I’m just teasing, Twilight. No, I did not have any lovers back home.” At that, Twilight gives me a flustered pout and gathers her writing materials together, before motioning towards a set of comfortable-looking chairs.
I turn towards the door we entered into the library from, hearing footsteps on the other side. Twilight confusedly looks over as well as the door opens and a purple-scaled, green-spiked head peeks into the room. Twilight looks back at me, a single eyebrow raised. “How did you know Spike was there?”
I give the now-named biped, something more lizard-like than anyone else I’ve seen, a once over. He’s wearing a dark green hooded jacket with a zipper and seems to be about average size, if a bit lanky. I give him a tip of my hat in a friendly greeting before turning back to Twilight and setting my hat on the table. “My adventures in Yharnam trained all of my senses to detect threats.” Both Twilight and Spike blink in surprise, and stare at me, eyes wide. “No,” I chuckle, “I do not consider Spike a threat to anyone’s wellbeing at the moment, I’m just saying that I have trained my hearing, and that claws on crystal are not all that hard to miss.” I turn my head, thinking I hear hoofsteps, as Twilight asks Spike to bring us some tea, then turn my attention back to Twilight, setting the noise aside.
Clearing my throat to catch Twilight's attention, I return to our discussion. “Since I brought it up in our last conversation a few minutes ago, I’ll tell you about Covenants.” Looking my clothes over for something, I sigh, not finding what I was searching for. “I was a part of a Covenant known as The League, our purpose was a united one, to protect the people of Yharnam from the monsters.” Leaning back on the couch, I continue, “The other five Covenants are vastly different. While they worked towards that same purpose: two of them, Cainhurst Vilebloods and Executioners, made enemies out of each other, another two, The Blood Beast and Lumenwood Kin, gave into the creatures of the hunt, and the last group, Hunter of Hunters, hunted down hunters who have become addled by blood.”
As Spike returns, carrying a loaded tea tray, I catch a whiff of a simple green tea. “Twilight, the girls are in the map room, do you want me to send them here?”
Twilight nods, “Yes please, Spike.” Twilight turns back to me as I take a sip of tea, “So I have a few questions.” Nodding, I motion for her to continue. “Are all creatures like you furless, are there any other sapient creatures in your world, and how does magic work over there?”
I set my cup down to answer, “All humans like myself are furless yes, no matter where you go, while we all have different cultures and different skin tones, all in all we are the same.” Taking a breath, I sigh at my own comment, “As for other sapients, only humans have achieved full sapience, but there are some animals that are just as smart, or perhaps even smarter in certain ways.” Tapping the couch armrest in thought, I continue, “Only hunters were able to utilize innate magic when holding a focus, non-hunters had to use specialized, magic-infused tools, although hunters’ magic was considered dark, even for over there.” I look up and see a concerned expression on Twilight. “Do you have blood magic here? It’s a kind of magic that uses the user’s own life as fuel. As I said when I demonstrated the Burial Blade, that scythe, I was more of a skill or fast fighter, whereas the burial blade and magic were more for arcane fighters.” Taking another sip of tea, I hear hoofsteps just outside the door and point towards it.
The door opens and six mares come in, two appear like normal equines from earth, one orange with a blond mane and tail wearing a flannel tied top and a pair of shorts, the other pink with not much else to say about her appearance save for the whiteshirt, blue jacket and pink skirt . Another two of them appear to be unicorns of myth, one white with a purple mane and tail noticing her wearing an outfit clearly fit for nobility causes me to grimace, the other with a coat color similar to lilacs and a two-toned mane and tail of purple and teal and wearing a sky blue shirt and purple skirt, while the last two appear to be pegasi, one yellow with a pink mane and tail wearing a white blouse and green skirt, the other cyan with a rainbow mane and tail wearing a white shirt with a blue jacket and blue skirt. The rainbow-maned ones’ eyes flare as she sees me, and she falls into a striking stance. I duck forward under the lunging cyan pegasus, then roll off the couch and up into a defensive stance, leaving my cane leaning against the couch and my gun on my waist. I catch her mid-lunge, then slam her onto the couch on her stomach and sit on her. “Maybe you should learn about what’s going on before attacking someone.” Seeing that I’m not actually hurting their friend, the other ponies collectively giggle at their friend’s situation.
The pegasus struggles to get me off her back, “I’m not going to let you eat my friend, you monster!”
Twilight gives me a concerned look and I just shrug it off, “Yes, I am an omnivore but that doesn’t mean I’m going to eat another sentient being.” Twilight picks up her scroll and quill again. “Twilight, more questions can wait till we deal with introductions and Miss Short Fuse here.”
Twilight blinks, then blushes bashfully, “You’re right, Sparrow.” She gestures to the one I'm sitting on, who’s struggling to still get up, “That pegasus there is Rainbow Dash.” I put my blunderbuss into storage so Rainbow doesn’t accidentally set it off and shoot herself as Twilight gestures to the others, “My other friends here are Fluttershy, Rarity, Starlight Glimmer, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie.” They all give me their own greeting with varying levels of enthusiasm as I stand up and bow before them, “Girls, this is Sparrow, Hunter of Yharnam. He will be helping us deal with more creatures like those that appeared last night.”
Rainbow sits up and gruffly says, “For all we know he could have led those creatures here, how do we know we can trust him?”
I look over at Rainbow, “You can’t.” Everyone startles, confused, as I continue, “I could ask the same of you though, how do I know I can trust you?” I point at Pinkie Pie, “I know I can trust her, she contains the same magical aura of a friendly creature I met in my travels, they provided a safe haven for me to send people too.”
Rarity gasps, “You’re the one that saved my sister.” She rushes over and hugs me, tears running down her face. “I don’t know what I would have done if I lost her.”
“No-one would know what to do if they lost family.” I gently rub her back, “And I made a promise to myself to not let a particular event happen again.”
Rarity backs away and cleans her tears, “What event was that, darling?”
I sit back on the couch next to Rainbow and pick up my cane, running a finger over the blood-red gem set in it, “There was a little girl who wanted me to find her parents.” I look over at Twilight, “Her father was a hunter that had succumbed to the blood, and I was forced to put him down. Her mother's corpse was not too far away.” Clenching my fist, I pause to collect myself. “I retrieved the mother's brooch and went back to the little girl, and told her of the safe place at the chapel.” Dropping my cane, I hang my head, sorrow in my voice, “She never made it, she was killed by a man-eating boar on her way there, all that remained was a ribbon stained red with blood.” I hear sniffles and gasps from all the mares in the room
I feel more than a couple pairs of arms wrap around me in a hug, “That hit me hard, but it also drove me to work harder so no one else would lose their life senselessly.” As they all let go, I looked over at the one named Fluttershy, who looked like she wanted to say something, “Yes?”
Flutteryshy, hiding behind her mane, speaks, “Isn’t there any way things could have been resolved peacefully?”
I sigh and shake my head, “Unfortunately not, they were mindless creatures consumed by the plague only wanting to kill.” Seeing the discomfort on her face, I quickly explain, “They weren’t in control of their actions anymore, they were just pawns for a greater creature, which was the last thing I fought before arriving here.” I raise my hand to stop Twilight from asking a question, “I will not speak of it, in fear that it may summon it to this world, but I can say it was the source of the hunt, but did not spread the plague itself, and that it hid itself on the moon in the Hunter’s Dream.” Raising my hands to stop any more questions, “Please hold off on any more questions for now, the lack of sleep for two days now is catching up to me, and I’d just like to rest.” I Get up letting the girls talk amongst themselves. I go to search for a book to read. Finding a book on the basics of magic I find a secluded desk and sit down to start reading falling asleep in the process. Unbeknownst to me another conversation is taking place.
=====================================================================
Stepping off her chariot, Luna arrives back at Canterlot. All save for two of her guards head to the barracks to rest up while she proceeds into the castle proper. As she heads to her room to retire for the day she hears a familiar voice call out to her. “Sister!” Turning to see a Larger white alicorn walking towards her. Gives a tired smile “hello dear sister.”
The white alicorn stops a few feet away, “Sister I was worried, you had stormed off just as I was about to come get you for night court, is everything okay?”
Luna nods thinking she can’t keep anything for her sister. “Yes Tia, everything is okay now, there were some unusual creatures attacking ponyville. The guards and a concerned citizen were able to deal with them.”
Tia looked concerned, “while I appreciate one of our citizens taking initiative to help defend ponyville they really should just leave it to the guards.”
Luna shakes her head, “They aren’t one of our ponies sister, they are a traveler from a distant land that apparently has had dealings with these creatures before.” Looks out the window “They then proceeded into the Everfree after feeling something calling to them, and they returned with a pony that looked like nightmare moon.”
Celestia's eyes go wide, “She has been detained and imprisoned, yes?”
Luna Shakes her head, “I am leaving her under the watch of that traveler, they said a few things that made sense, and while I do hesitate I trust them to make sure nightmare doesn’t become what she once was.” She yawns “now if you’ll excuse me dear sister, I must be off to bed as this excursion has most assuredly drained me.”
Celestia nods as Luna enters her room, “Sleep well sister.” She walks towards the throne room, “While you may trust them sister, I don't trust a creature like nightmare moon to run free, maybe I can convince this traveler to hand her over to me.” starts writing a letter to be sent to twilight.
Author's Note
hope you lot enjoyed the little christ mas gift, I kinda rushed the last part of the chapter so it would be out for christmas, so it may not be up to mine or my editors standards, but otherwise, enjoy and we shall see what happens when sparrow meets the princess of the sun
I wake up with a start, knocking a blanket off that was placed on top of me and look around, recognizing Twilight's library. I also see a startled Spike looking at me. “Sorry about that, it’s been awhile since I got peaceful sleep.”
Spike nods. “Understandable, if you’ve had to deal with what I have heard the others talking about.” He picks up the blanket and folds it, adding, “Twilight received a letter from Celestia requesting the presence of you and… Nightmare Moon?”
I stand up and stretch. “Celestia, that would be Luna's sister, correct?” Spike nods in response. “Well, I doubt Mythril is ready to meet Celestia just yet, so I’ll go and at least make myself known.”
A few hours later I find myself on a train heading towards a place called Canterlot. ‘Are all these cities named after equine puns?’ I fall asleep to the sounds of the train as I watch the countryside go by. Waking up as the train pulls into the station, I stand up with only my cane in hand and wait for my turn to get off. Getting off the train, I approach a city guard, clearly setting them on edge with my appearance and show them the summons from Celestia and she proceeds to guide me to the castle.
Walking through the city, it bears a striking resemblance from several of the cities my studies have taken me to in my world, only more colorful. On our approach to the castle, I freeze up and clutch my head as memories of Yharnam start flooding into my thoughts. The guard looks over at me concerned, “Sir, are you alright?” I give a sign to give me a moment.
I shake my head to clear my mind. “Sorry about that, I was just hit by a rush of memories all at once.” Gesturing for her to continue leading, I follow promptly behind. Taking a few deep breaths, I look around some more, noticing a lantern that’s connected to the Dream in a sort of garden. I pipe up, “Is it alright if I go into the garden first?”
The guard nods. “Of course sir, I have to return to my patrol, but if you show that letter to a guard they would be willing to escort you to see the Princess.”
I give them a polite bow in thanks as she makes her way back into the city before heading into the garden and lighting the lantern connecting a path to the Hunter's Dream. “Step one done, getting here, step two: actually talking to the Princess, can wait a bit, the plants in this garden actually interest me some.” I walk through the garden noticing both familiar plants and some that I have never seen before. I come across a big patch of sunflowers and find a nearby bench to sit on. “Short break then it’s time to face fate, from what I have heard she can be understanding, but if she has that sort of personality, there’s a confrontation on the horizon.”
After taking some time to myself, I stand up and make my way to the entrance. I show the guards at the door the summons and they let me inside. Another guardsmare escorts me to the throne room, throwing curious glances at me when she thinks I’m not looking. I ignore the glances and examine how all the guards look the same except for differences in species, those being what appear to be unicorns and pegasi along with some without additional features. Pausing, I look out the window thinking I saw one with bat wings, then keep walking again, playing it off as me just getting a look at the view.
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
‘I swear, all these nobles care about are themselves,’ Celestia thinks to herself while listening to nobles in court. She gets a report of a creature with a summons being escorted to the throne room. ‘Well, whether they are hostile or friendly this shall be interesting.’
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As we continue walking, a sleepy guard promptly wakes up sweating at the sight of my cane. As we walk past him he watches us, then looks down at his armor, deep in thought.
We approach the door and the guardsmare gives a sharp salute indicating we have arrived and leaves. I show the summons, "I'm Sparrow, the monster hunter." The guard announces me then lets me enter. As I enter I hear the grumbles of the nobles being ushered out the same door. With a smirk under my mask, I stop a ways away from the throne and take in the appearance of the princess. While most would call her beautiful, I consider her appearance an eyesore, too many bright colors. Looking into her eyes though, I see a being of great wisdom, but equal loneliness.
She leans forward and looks around. "Where is the other one? Hiding, perchance?"
I straighten up and look her in the eyes. "At this time, I believe Mythril is either patrolling the forest, or learning more about the town we reside in." I stand with my hands resting on the head of my cane waiting for her next move.
I notice her smile grow some before putting on her formal mask again. "Be that as it may I request that you bring her here so I may keep my eye on her."
I stamp my cane on the marble floor putting small cracks around the impact. "Are you trying to create another Nightmare Moon incident?" The guards gasp and I gesture to her with the cane. "All this summons proves is that you don't completely trust your sister's judgment in a situation like this." I start to pace, noticing a few cracks in the mask. "Your sister entrusted that mare to me, I must ask, is this truly a diarchy or do you hold all the power?"
We all hear a gasp from behind us and we turn to see Luna, who promptly leaves. Celestia gets up and tries to go after her but I block her with my arm. "I am sorry for what just transpired but you of all people should know now is not the time for you two to talk." She sighs but nods. "I'll return to Ponyville and try to get Luna to send you a message within a week, but my stance still stands on not turning over Mythril." I give a polite bow. "As a more urgent situation has come up, I shall take my leave." I leave the throne room, pretending to not hear the silent sniffle from the princess, and make my way to the garden. I use the lantern there to hop into the Dream, hopping out in front of Twilight's eyesore of a castle and heading inside.
As I start walking to the room I was lent, I get intercepted by Spike. "I want to become a Hunter."
I motion for him to walk with me. "Are you sure about this? Until we have a decent amount of Hunters, you'd have to stop being Twilight's assistant."
He nods adamantly. "All my life I have been following Twilight wherever she went. While I do enjoy being her assistant, I want to forge my own path."
Seeing a drive in him, I nod. "Go to the carpenter and get three training swords, axes, and mauls." Spike salutes, running off with a slight skip in his gait, and I say to myself, "Enjoy the pleasant times while they last, my young apprentice." I make my way to the throne room and notice there aren't any guards. I peek my head in and notice Twilight on her throne. I step inside and walk over to her. "Lonely Twi?"
She looks up at me. "You have no idea. I open the throne for any to bring their complaints, but nopony shows up." She blinks and looks at me intensely. "Didn't you have a summons from Celestia?"
I put my hands on her shoulders and gently push her away as she unconsciously got in my face. "Yes I did, we had a conflict of opinions, then something more urgent came up, and so I returned here."
Twilight looks at me inquisitively. "How did you get here so fast? You don't have wings so you can't fly, and you don't have a horn to do magic."
I ball up my fist and tap her on the top of her head. "First, don't be racist there are other ways to do magic." I cross my arms staring at her. "Second, the Hunter’s Dream can be used as a sort of hub to travel to different places almost instantly, as long as a lantern has been lit." Before we continue with our discussion we hear the throne room door open and see Luna and a couple of her guards with her. All three are taken aback seeing me here and the guards get in front of her defensively. "You saw what I'm capable of, do you really think you would stand a chance if I meant harm?"
Motioning for the guards to stand down, Luna asks, "How did you get here so fast? I just saw you in the Canterlot throne room."
Chuckling to myself, I remark, "Guess I should have waited, the Hunter’s Dream can be used as a traveling hub." I walk over to Luna and give her a hug, surprising everyone. "Remember, you are loved, more than you know." Breaking off the hug, I then leave the throne room and go searching for Mythril.
I arrive at our shared room and knock on the door. Getting a response to enter, I do so. Now that my adrenaline rush from the night before is over, I finally get a good look at my roommate. She appears to be taller than the average pony, with dark blue and lighter blue hair with silver streaks. I blink at that realization. "Hold on, wasn't your hair a solid blue when we met?"
Confused, Mythril turns to examine herself in a mirror. "Yeah, it was blue where did this silver come from."
I come to the sudden realization she's only in her underwear and turn away. "Uhm, what's with the mark on your upper thigh?"
Mythril looks at the mark, a blood-stained axe over a crescent moon. "That changed too." Seeing an opportunity to tease me, she hugs me from behind. "Well since you ask, those marks represent what makes a pony unique and what they are especially good at." She lets go to get dressed. "Does your kind not have them?"
I sigh and turn back, shaking my head. "No we don't, some humans get tattoos, but nothing that deep."
Mythril finishes getting dressed. "Maybe we should think about getting more clothes for each of us?"
I look down at my hunter outfit and nod. "Yeah these are the only things we have to wear aren't they?" Getting a nod from Mythril, I continue, "Maybe Twilight has some… pony? she could suggest."
Mythril chuckles. "Go ahead and stick to your own terminology dear, if ours is going to give you some trouble, but you were correct."
I sigh thankfully and nod. "I'll do that then." Leading the way out of the room, I realize something. "Wait, dear?" Watching Mythril giggle and take off running towards the throne room, I shake my head. "If Mythril is an extension of Luna, when was the last time the Princesses got to act like mares and not have to wear masks?" I continue at my own pace arriving at the throne room where Mythril is waiting.
Mythril stands there tapping her foot. “What took you so long?”
“I was just thinking of how we need a tailor as your pants have a hole in the rear.” Chuckling as I made her check for a hole that was not actually there, I head to the door and knock.
Waking up with a start and take a look at my surroundings. I notice I’m in the middle of a graveyard on a floating island, “This looks a lot like the Hunters Dream, but it seems too bright for that.” I go to stand up, my hands brushing against something on each side. As I look down I notice the Saw Cleaver on my right and the Hunter Blunderbuss on my left. Getting up I look myself over and notice I’m wearing the hunter outfit.
A scream breaks me out of my observations, leading me to picking up the cleaver and blunderbuss. As I get closer to the source of the shouting I notice two things, first it's more a shout of frustration than of anguish, and second it sounds feminine. As I turn the corner leading with the blunderbuss I see a dark blue pony like humanoid with wings and a horn shout at a gravestone then blast it with what appears to be magic and it just reforms in front of them. Hoping they're peaceful and just upset at what ever is on the tombstone I lower the blunderbuss and call out, "Hello?" That was a mistake, startling the mare caused her to yelp and send her next attack at me. I barely dodge out of the way, the tombstone behind me was not so lucky, but it quickly reformed.
The mare rushes over with a look of fear on her face, "Are you okay?"
Standing up I brushed myself off and put my weapons away, "Yes I'm fine, but who are you and how did you get here?"
The mare glares at the tombstone that reformed, "I am Princess Luna, and it is our responsibility to watch over our little ponies’ dreams and to let them sleep well." Luna growls and shoots the tombstone again, "Why won't these things go away."
I shrug, "I don't know, it's just how the Hunter’s Dream was designed." I motion for her to follow and lead her through a gate and out of the graveyard and onto a path that leads up to a workshop and past more tombstones. As my gaze goes down both paths I noticed a bidal figure sitting at the base of the ramp up to the workshop. I make a mental note to check it out later and lead Luna past more tombstones to a clearing and sit down, looking at the sun, "This place is less morbid so feel free to ask questions."
Luna comes over and sits down and looks over at me, “I have three questions, who are you, what are you, and what is this place?”
I pull my hat off and pull my face mask down, “At the moment I forget my actual name, but you may refer to me as either Hunter or Sparrow.” I sigh and look at my glove, “As for the second question there are two answers, I am, or at least was, a human, I am also referred to as a Hunter.” I move my hand around gesturing to the scenery, “And this place is the Hunter's Dream, it’s where Hunters come when they...fall asleep.”
Luna hears the slight hesitation in the last words but chooses not to ask about it, “What are hunters then?”
I smile and put my hat back on to dampen the sun some, “Hunters are or at least were, I don’t know if it’s still going anymore, a faction that hunted down creatures that were infested by some sort of plague.” I turn my head towards the graveyard, “The event had been going for a few years before I got involved, at that point the hunters had all fractured and formed separate factions.” I stand back up and pull my mask back up to hide my grimace and dust myself off. “Some of the ones that were still alive were friendly and helped me out from time to time, the others,” I look at the graveyard again sorrow in my voice, “I added their names to some of those tombstones myself.”
Luna stand up and does her best to wrap her wing around me trying to comfort me, “It’s okay, they’re probably in a better place now, I don’t exactly know how your afterlife works.”
I give a weak smile at the attempt under the mask, "I hope so, they all deserve better than what they were given."
Luna looks around the dream some more, “Can you tell me any more about this hunter’s dream?”
I look at her and nod, “Well all I know about this place I had to figure out on my own, no one to tell me about it.” I gently leave the embrace and start walking towards the workshop, “First, this dream is the last thing I have of my mentor, it was based off his memories, This building is based off the old hunter’s workshop which was underneath the workshop of the healing church, don’t ask me about the healing church I don’t know anything about them myself.” I lead her down a path leading away from the workshop with tombstones on the right hand side, “Darn the chalices are missing, these tombstones allow Hunters to enter trials called chalices, though the trials aren’t always the same.”
I then lead her up another path directed towards the front door of the workshop with more tombstones on the right and a doll on the left side, “The tombstones here allow me to travel to places, usually I have to have already been there and ignite a lantern to register a site, but I can see there is a site registered already.” I move over to the doll and clear hair out of her face, “This Doll was my most devout companion in my journey through Yharnam, my mentor made her based off his missing lover, but distanced himself from her as she did not have her personality, so he gave her to me.” I sit the doll up against a low wall before leading Luna into the workshop proper, “This is my workshop, here I customized and upgraded weapons I found on the field.”
I notice a chest and go over to it and open it and it’s empty, “Darn, nothing in storage.” Slamming the lid shut I head over to a workbench, “Oh crap that’s not good.” I start looking around the worktable in a panic.
Luna looks around in a panic, “What’s wrong, what happened?”
I rush over to an altar at the end of the workshop and start looking around it, “Crap this tool is missing as well.” I rush out a side door, “The sun's still up so that’s good.” I look down and see a pony with bat wings show up and I gesture towards the front door, “Luna you have a visitor and he seems in a rush.” I go back in to meet up with Luna and the new arrival.
The bat pony stops and salutes Luna, “Your Highness, we have some reports of unusual creatures showing up in Ponyville.”
Luna blinks, “What do they look like Night Strike?”
Night Strike points over at me, “Like that thing princess.”
My eyes go wide and I rush past the pair down to the lowest tombstone, “Was there a report of what they were carrying?”
Night Strike looks over at Luna and she nods, “The reports that came in said they were carrying shields, axes, and torches, and there was a report of one of them carrying a wood and metal tube of some sort.”
I pull the blunderbuss off the spot in the middle of my back, “Something like this soldier?”
Night Strike nods, “But the reports say it was longer and didn’t bell out at one end like that.”
I put the blunderbuss back in it’s spot and looks back towards the tombstone, “They don’t use this.” I start channeling energy into the tombstone and start glowing.
Luna runs up to me, “Where are you going?”
I look over at her and smile, “To do my job.” I fade out from the Hunter’s Dream forcing the two ponies out.
Author's Note
When i give him a new weapon or armor that is from the game I will post a link to it
Hunters Blunderbuss https://bloodborne.wiki.fextralife.com/Hunter+Blunderbuss
Saw Cleaver https://bloodborne.wiki.fextralife.com/Saw+Cleaver
Hunter Armor https://bloodborne.wiki.fextralife.com/Hunter+Set
Hunters:
==========================================
Mythril Knight "Nightmare Moon"
==========================================
(created by Jason Monroe) Split Duality (To be Introduced)
==========================================
Crafters:
==========================================
(created by Alchemik) Woven Chain (to be Introduced)
