The Hunter's Trek

The Hunter’s Trek

Chapter 8: The Avians

It was quite early in the morning, the cool air quite refreshing upon her feathers. The howling wind of Canterhorn, however, drowned out whatever sounds within the area. While the lack of sound might have been a disability to any creature, she saw it as more of an advantage.

Flying above the city of Canterlot, she watched as ponies walked around. Some, walking out to open shops – or to get an early start to what work they might do – others, to find themselves at cafes for a social breakfast or other. There even were fillies and colts hunting each other up and down the streets.

She flapped her wings a few good beats, rising up and pushing herself outwards towards her destination. The hospital. Unfortunately, as big as Canterlot happened to be, there was not one of the buildings alone.

Spotting the first hospital she came across, she folded her wings and a dive, swooping down before stretching her wings and pulling up while giving off a few flaps to slow her impact with the hospital’s roof.

From the sky, the place looked bigger, but now that she was grounded on the roof, it looked more like a regular shelter. The roof matched the walls’ beige colouring and, looking over the side, she could make out wooden doors that, while was of luxury wood, was not like the other one she had seen before, preferring glass doors from what this one had. The only way she knew it to be medical was the red cross painted upon a hanging sign.

Dropping softly down onto the windowsill, she turned her head to its side and gazed in through the pane. What met her was the sight of the hospital’s lobby, not at all busy, especially for this season. She took to the sky briefly, hopping over to the next sill over, and looked inside. It was just a patient’s room, with its doctor inside. Not who she was looking for.

She spent some time looking through every window, and the likes, looking for him. the one she was tasked to look out for. While being bound to staying outside, she did hold out and wait a good while at the window, in case she would see him. To no luck.

She then just decided upon moving on, off to check the next hospital she came across. And so, with a mighty flap of her black and white feathers, she took to the sky.

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Her talons clicked against the brick chimney’s rim of a noblepony’s residence as her predatory gaze watched a hospital locked in her sight. It was the first one she had come across, but she had yet to investigate its insides, instead watching those few since the crack of dawn, who walked into the building – either for work or other – for her target. Right now, it was late morning.

Watching the hospital from afar, however, did not yield any gain, for she knew of two things. Her prey was either partly nocturnal, or something has forced him to take a different trail.

She jumped from the chimney and entered a soft glide for the large, white hospital. With a good few wingbeats, she made the distance, grabbing onto a window sill with her talons.

Looking inside the window itself, she saw a pony, wearing white and working at a tree wood desk. The pony was an icy blue – in coat – with a mix of red and lavender, striped in their mane and tail. They didn’t look like him, so she moved on to the next windowsill with but a wingbeat.

What she saw through this glass pane, was little different than the last, the only difference being its emptiness, with no pony inside. She looked around the room with the one eye facing it, looking for any feature that might hint to if this was her prey’s den. Nothing.

It took a good few more windows before she came across another empty room. Each one either occupied with other ponies or just empty, with no sign of him. Some were just sleeping dens, filled with the injured and sick. But it looked as if this one, too, had nothing on her prey.

She spread her wings to hop for the next window when something caught her eye in her new position. What it was, was a landscape trapped in time. There was a herd – possibly a family of young, with their elders – of ponies with one with the same colours as her target looked. It seemed she had found his den. But she had yet to see him, himself.

She decided to sit and wait for any sign of the pony whom she had been sent to hunt.

After nearly an hour of nothing, she took to the sky, quickly, shifting her direction towards the castle, which was quite close to the nobles’ territory.

This place where the nobles stayed was quite different from the other points of land. Where she would see the gathering spots, there were also stone depictions of the alpha, drinking points – even if all they did with it was throw metal into it – social territory and the prey playing predator.

This bit of land was quieter, like a forest in the middle of the day. Few ponies wandered its’ streets, even few socialized longer than the ones of south. To her, ponies were a little too diverse.

Pretty soon, she had crossed the castle wall and roof, moving towards its other side. To the alpha’s study.

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Edmond stood in the middle of the study, looking over every nook and cranny in the room for a hint as to what might have happened here. So far, all he found was a letter meant for Shining Armor, dear Sparkle’s older brother, declaring a threat to their wedding, hidden and crumpled under a bookshelf.

He had spent all of the last day getting to Canterlot, spending the night on the train, hoping to get an early start to track this ‘Silver Gift’. Fortunately, the train arrived early, giving him, Ternychus and Fanu’ia time to get extra rest for the hunt before them.

And, by dawn’s raising, the three had split up to search predestined locations for hair or hide of the doctor, with plans to meet up at noon, lest the two avians find anything in Canterlot proper.

When he arrived at the castle, he wasted no time and briskly headed towards Celestia’s study. During his search – that had been relatively untouched, or so he had been told – he could find very little as to the events that had transpired within these walls, apparently unheard by the guards stationed outside its doors.

It was then that he heard the sound of shifting wind, drawing his attention to the window he left open, for his or his birds’ use. And the sight that met him was that of Fanu’ia landing inside the window.

“Fanu’ia,” he said with a nod and a raised arm. The acknowledged bird briefly took to the air, making the short distance and perching upon his outstretched arm. “I see you’re a little early. Ya find something?”

Turning his head from the avian, Edmond let out a soft hum in consideration. Jerking his arm upwards he let the bird situated on top jump off and onto the table sat in the middle of the room. He then dragged over a nearby stool and sat down upon it before speaking up once more.

“Give ‘er thirty more minutes. If she doesn’t show up, got out and look out for,” he said, half to himself. It wasn’t too long, however, that he heard another set of wings approach the window.

Turning his head, he regarded to magpie sat in the study’s window.

“So, one of you found the bastard, then,” he said. He then stood and walked over to the windowsill, keeping his gaze out and on the castle gardens. And, in a quiet tone that only conveyed triumphant glee – accompanied by a smirk – he spoke out to unhearing ears. “Well then. Check, mate.”

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In the throne room, sat upon one of two thrones, one made of a golden material, sat an alabaster alicorn, awaiting the next petitioner to walk through the very doors she stared blankly at, hoping not one of the spoiled nobles would dare make another outlandish request, especially with Equestria being threatened.

A slight twitch of the eye broke her from her thousand-mile stare. Only momentarily, for the only difference at current, was a big decision playing out in her mind.

That, too, only lasted so long. And so, summoning a piece of parchment, and some ink and a quill, she started writing her will.