The Hunters of Secrets

A huge bonfire was set up and corpse after corpse was burned. The Hunters continued to feed the fire with more bodies that they got either from the ground or from their traps. At the same time, a small group of Hunters began dismantling the traps they had set up. This was to keep their knowledge of traps from spreading to the ponies that loved the Celestial Sun. Nearby, a small group of four hunters were discussing whether to destroy the spear or have someone carry it.

A dark blue Chiroptera said, "We can't just leave it here. If we did, who knows what kind of monster or villain would use it."

Abor said, "And I'm saying we should destroy it to keep this evil from being released again."

A grey Chiroptera interjected, "But should we truly destroy it, that is what I'm asking. I mean, look at Silver Tip. He was able to lead us as well as carry it during the fight. I saw him take on several Griffins at once. I just think if we could have a hunter use the spear they would be unstoppable."

A black Chiroptera said, "It seems like there are benefits to wielding the spear. Just look around you; he did all of this." The Hunter pointed to several spikes of earth, boulders, and the giant hole where they were burning bodies. He continued, "He was able to do all of this, which is why I think someone should wield the spear."

Abor was still shaken by the experience, but she put a brave face on and walked up to the black Chiroptera. "Do you not realize what nearly happened, Iron Smoke? When I grabbed the spear, I almost lost control. I could feel all that built up carnage and that deep desire for more death. If I hadn't dropped the spear when I did, I’m sure I would have gone on a bloodbath. And half of our company would be dead by my hooves. So I think we should destroy the spear. That way, no one can get drunk on its power."

The dark blue Chiroptera Stormy Night said, "It seems we are unable to come to an agreement and I feel that's the problem." He scratched his chin as he continued. "We either need to come to an agreement or include someone else in our conversation."

A grey Chiroptera named Dread Fire supplied, "That’s pretty obvious, but everyone else is busy cleaning up the mess. And we're supposed to be stealthy, not charging headfirst into an army." The grey Hunter pondered for a moment before saying, "However, I’d still question if we should destroy it? Because Silver Tip seemed to handle the power quite well, and we didn't know he could do that until we actually saw it happen. Just think, with this power we could expand Blood Moon even wider. Here’s a magic we can take advantage of, and you two?" he pointed at Stormy Night and Abor, "want to throw it away."

"I agree with Dread Fire." Iron Smoke said and continued, "There is a benefit to this magic power."

Abor said, "Of course you agree with him. You two agree on everything but I'm putting my hoof down and saying no. You two are wrong. This power cannot be controlled, and I seriously doubt anyone could benefit from it. I also doubt Luna would approve of something like this."

"Would you like a fifth perspective?" An elderly voice asked.

The four Chiroptera turned their heads to see another Chiroptera from Hollow Shade. He approached the spear and stopped, placing a cloth with a rune on it on top of the spear, then started to sprinkle salt on it. He pressed it down with one of his hooves for several minutes. As he did, the rune on the cloth began to glow bright red. The blind Chiroptera said, "You have a weapon that is cursed and unlucky."

The Hunters looked at the dark brown stallion Chiroptera and saw that he was blind with all kinds of scars and tribal paintings on his coat. He continued speaking. "The one thing that will truly solve your problem here would be a sealing spell. And lucky for you, I happen to have one."

He pulled out a scroll, but before he could start the sealing process, Iron Smoke said, "Wait, are we sure we want to do this? Just think about the possibilities. Think about the power. We can't just throw-"

"Enough!" Stormy Night yelled, getting Iron Smoke’s and the other two Chipotera’s attention. He resumed with his normal voice. "I'm pretty sure Luna wants us to fight fair, and judging by Abor’s reaction when she touched the spear, it comes with a price. As for Silver, he may have a way around it. Or he let it consume him, but the reality is we can't use it, even if using it would mean we could expand our town. The one who expands the town would become corrupt and crazy; Luna wouldn't want that." Stormy looked at the elderly Chiroptera and said, "Continue your work."

The blind Chiopotera dropped the scroll on top of the spear and sprinkled spice on it. Then he said, "Recan lock knock." And the spear and the scroll started to glow. Suddenly, a beam of white light hit the two objects and they began to merge into one. The beam of light came from the moon.

After an hour, the beam of moonlight disappeared, but the glow on the spear didn't fade away. In fact, it became brighter, to the point that if anypony was looking at it, they would be blind. But it wasn't long for the magic to work, turning the spear into a stone box. As the light died down, two other objects appeared by it: an arrowhead and a wicked-looking dagger.

The elderly Chiroptera grabbed the dagger and the arrowhead and handed the items to Dread Fire and Abor, saying, "These two items are keys. You must keep them far away from that box as long as possible. If for some reason these keys went inside that box," He pointed a hoof at the stone box and continued, "the spear would reappear." He turned around to walk back to Hollow Shade and called out, "Luna knows what kind of carnage would occur if this weapon plagued Equestria again."

Up on top of a nearby cliff, several shadows came together and reformed into a hoodie figure that no hunter noticed. She watched the hunters carrying a stone box and two keys. While the others were cleaning up the battlefield and dismantling the traps, the hoodie pony spoke quietly to herself. "Oh, brother, you're always the one to reach out to those who fear the light, the one who cared for everyone else." As the mare said this, she removed her hood. With tears in her eyes, Night Strike continued, "I'm sorry, but I couldn't find my special somepony, so please forgive me. For, you see, Mystic Coat has a plan. A plan where we all can have our well deserved happy endings."

Night Strike saw that the Hunters were finished disarming the last of the traps and throwing the last of the bodies into the enormous bonfire of dead warriors. Then, her face troubled, she spoke to herself again. "If this plan were to go sideways, it could cost us the whole multiverse, and I'm not making this up. I've seen several other worlds that either rise to everlasting peace or fall into chaos. And there are a lot of them, especially one where a pony named Twilight was secretly a Changeling." She noticed the Hunters leaving the battlefield and lost her worried look. In its place was confidence and hope. "But enough of that. The reason that I'm here is because I hope you’ll wish me luck on my new mission with Mystic Coat, and hopefully the next time we see each other, it will be under much better circumstances." Instantly, she returned to her shadow form and disappeared like the wind.

Back in the present, the spear continued. "The Hunters decided to put me in a corner and forget about me, and ever since that day, I was more alone than you could imagine."

Black Fall went through every bit of information on the situation before she had a realization and said, "Wait a minute, how do you know your previous owner was the one known as Silver Tip?"

The spear pondered for a moment before saying to Black Fall, "Well, I have killed many enemies in my time while I was conscious, so I figured the pony who was holding me was him."

The spear gave her control again and she shook her head while asking, "Are you sure it was him?"

Talking through her again, the spear said, "I am positive that it was the legendary Hunter known as Silver Tip. He kept on using me. I must know, though, why do you ask?"

Regaining control of her body again, the falling Hunter said, "Because, judging from your story, the spear used the earth bending magic and the gravity magic but he didn't used the nightmare rune until he used that rock on him, and that thing made him impossible to harm. But the cost for that is his pure soul, and for some odd reason you absorbed a corrupt soul instead of leaving it alone."

Speaking through her again the spear said, "Yes, yes, when I absorb a pure soul it would usually make my magic more powerful and give me a golden ring to add on my spear. As for corrupt souls, well, they don't exactly power up and a red ring would appear."

Black Fall struggled for a bit, but eventually she regained control. As she walked deeper into the tunnels, she said, "I think the reason why that is is because you're not only remembering it; you've been through it, and that constant need for blood to stay awake is because you don't absorb souls. Before I left the Hunters, I read a few books about magical weapons, and most of them prefer souls because the more souls they've collected the more powerful the weapon can be. And magical spears don't need a constant source of blood. I think somehow, someway, you are Silver Tip, and you refuse to devour souls."