Crouched low on my paws I skulked out of the forest, my form hidden amongst the darkness cast by the midnight storm. The quiet sound of my paw steps was drowned out by the rain and made sneaking close to the village far easier than I had expected. Waiting silently, I observed the guards as they moved around the borders of the town in small patrols of five. I was thankful they had all taken to bringing lanterns with them as they moved rather than relying on the light from the moon, it would kill their ability to see further in the dark and made them easier to keep track of to my light-sensitive eyes.

I snuck between the guard's patrols and into the town proper, keeping low and away from windows where I could. The town was almost as quiet as when I first came, and I would have been worried that they knew I was there if not for the fact that I could hear some of the denizens snoring in their beds. The silence was broken by the trotting of hooves and I crept back into the shadows of a house, an earth-pony guard walked down the street humming an unknown song. My size would be to my detriment here, hiding behind fences and ledges would be difficult given I was taller than a large chunk of the ones the ponies of this village had made.

The village was medium-sized maybe four to five hundred ponies would be my guestimate from its size, this was of course working under the assumption that these ponies lived in households similar to people. The fact that they tended to make the houses two-storied could mean there were a decent many more. I was still a bit put off by the fact that Ponyville didn't have a wall, with how close they lived to the Everfree you would think that it would have been a priority to whoever built this place. Not that I was complaining, this little escapade would be significantly harder if there had been one.

Swiftly dashing across the street, I was thankful that my armor hid the glow from my eyes and fur. Silently, I glanced down the street at what appeared to be the guard barracks, there was a unicorn sitting at the door looking bored. I decided it would be in my best interest to explore more of the town before I made my attempts at theft, knowing where to run and hide would be just as important as knowing where my targets were. I knew I needed cooking supplies, I had gotten survival in the forest down for the most part, what I mostly needed was some quality-of-life improvements. My main focus was things to help with cooking.

The bakery would be my best bet for cooking utensils, but it was fairly in the open and one of the lights on the second floor was still on, deciding the risk to be a little high I moved on to find somewhere different. My next choice was the restaurant where I found that sandwich when I first came into town. The place had looked like a cafe when I was passing through the first time so I was hoping they would have all of the items I needed, at the very least I hoped to find a few pots and a frying pan. The ability to actually cook my food would improve my mood by a significant degree, raw, and roasted meat may cure hunger, but a good soup cured everything.

There were a few other buildings that drew my eye, one was a stout two-story building that seemed to be a general store of some kind, a glance through the window revealed several things of use to me, including rope and what I hoped to be several empty metal pails. Another I spotted as I was avoiding a patrol of guards, a round building called the Carousel boutique, normally such a thing wouldn't interest me in the slightest but I kept it in mind if I couldn't find any good cloth or blankets in the general store. There had been a carpentry store on the main street but I would save it for last given the guard traffick, the cooking supplies came first though, the frying pan would do more for my survival than an axe at the moment.

I grumbled slightly when I got to the street and found it occupied, two earth-pony guards and one oddly dressed Pegasus stood in the middle of the street seemingly not caring about the rain. They seemed to be arguing in hushed whispers that not even my sensitive ears could make out. I pressed up against the wall, taking special care not to let the lamplight reflect off my armor. The Pegasus's apparel interested me, as it was the first time I had seen a pony wearing clothing that wasn't a guard of some kind. She was wearing a leather coat that was worn and patched in various places. A hood hid most of her features, and I could hear the chainmail shift under her coat as she moved. Oddly, she seemed to be wearing boots that were reinforced with plates for her forelegs, almost like bracers. This was a fantasy realm, perhaps she was a mercenary or wandering adventurer. I took note of the fact that she carried a spear, it was a simple thing that carried the profile of an old English boar spear.

I quickly held my breath and stilled my tails when the mare turned and scanned the area I was hiding with a disturbed look, one of the guards quickly raising his voice in concern at her sudden movement. She said something I couldn't catch over the rain before starting to walk in my direction. She made it maybe twelve feet towards where I was hiding before one of the guards said something that caused the other to snicker loudly, whatever was said was enough for the mare to turn around and snap at them. I quickly slipped behind a building and waited for the sound of hooves to fade away on the cobblestones. I wasn't sure what had aroused the mare's suspicion, but I made a mental note to be careful if I came by her again while sneaking around the town.

When I was confident the area was clear, I approached the door to the restaurant. It was locked of course, but I had guessed it would be, with a glance behind me to ensure I was alone I began shaping my fire slowly I formed a long thin rod of blue fire and jammed it into the lock internals, waiting I hoped that my rather large frame would block out any of the light that was escaping from my actions. Soon I glanced down at the now melting lock and grimaced, drawing back a paw I unsheathed a single large claw before plunging it through the top of the lock and swiping it down. Gritting my teeth both at the relatively loud noise of tearing metal and at the pain of having molten brass on my claw, I quickly plunged my claw into a nearby puddle with a steamy hiss.

My ears flicked atop my head as I listened for anything that might indicate someone had possibly heard my actions before turning to the now-ruined lock and opening the door with a slight limp. The interior reminded me of one of those old diners you saw in classic movies, and while part of me desperately wanted to see how many similarities I could find, the other part demanded that I get a move on. The things I wanted would be in the back. Thankfully, the door to the kitchen was not locked, so I did not need to repeat my lock-melting trick, I quickly began grabbing pots, pans, and various other cooking supplies like vegetable oil, a few dozen eggs, and a whole crate of milk. I silently hoped that the cows of this world weren't sapient, and resolved myself to not find out for as long as possible.

Part of me protested at committing the same crime that got me into this mess in the first place, I recognized that these ponies were going to make me do several actions that I would find morally wrong. I would have to find something to even out my karma at a later date. I would have to steel myself for the future, somehow I knew that these ponies would force me to commit actions worse than stealing a few supplies. How long would I be able to get away with not killing my oppressors I wonder, don't get me wrong, I wasn't one of those people who believed that killing was some great act of evil. There were plenty of reasons to kill in my mind. The simple fact was that I knew my nature had changed with my transformation, and I was scared to find out how.

My escape from the building went unnoticed, though I was nice enough to splash some water on the wood around the lock. These ponies were assholes and may have tried to kill me, but that was no reason to burn some random person's business down. With that taken care of, I made my way towards the convenience store. I almost got caught when I rounded a corner and nearly collided with another guard, luckily she was looking in the opposite direction and I managed to back up and leap behind another house before she turned to see why her back was suddenly warm. When I finally made it to the store, I was pleasantly surprised to find it unlocked, a quick glance through the door revealed a treasure cove of useful items. Into the bag with several bottles of shampoo, a set of various brushes, a pair of scissors, and several other household items. I was especially happy to find a large journal and several fountain pens.

I was startled when the sound of hoof steps echoed above me. Shit, that was why the door was still unlocked, the owner was still here, I gave a sad glance at all the stuff still there and quickly swiped a shelf full of chocolate into my bag before bolting out the door. I was left with a dilemma then, I could go for the carpenter shop or the boutique. Problem was I needed the saw and other supplies but the store was further back in town, meanwhile, the boutique wasn't likely to have a lot of the more useful items I needed but was near the edge of town even if it was the wrong side. I decided to try my luck with the boutique next.

I doubted I had, long before my actions were noticed. The boutique was, strange. Its circular shape was different from most of the other buildings, as was the color scheme. I mostly put the surprisingly familiar coloration of the building to the back of my mind and went to trying to get inside. The building was too out in the open for me to try my fire, and I didn't want to be exposed for too long, and coating a digit in molten metal hurt a lot. Growling in frustration, I was about to just give up when I noticed the rock.

It was a completely ordinary rock, gray, smooth from years of being in the open weather, unnoticeable in every way but one. It was the only rock in the otherwise pristine flower bed. There was absolutely no way, right? With a hesitant movement, I wrapped a tail around the rock and lifted it. I stared in disbelief at the little brass key that sat there in the rain. "Who the hell keeps their spare key in such an obvious place?"

With a huff of air, I slid the key into the lock and turned. Sure enough, the lock clicked, and slowly I opened the door and peered inside. I stopped, glancing around in confusion before slowly backing out of the shop and glancing at the outside. Walking back in, I confirmed that yes, the building was most certainly bigger on the inside. To be honest, I was now scared to fully enter the building, surely such an enchantment required a powerful mage. The Inside of the building, at least the first large circular room, was decorated with purple silk and mannequins stood in several places around the area. I took slow, silent steps into the center of the building. There was a small stage-like structure in the center, and behind it, there was a door on the left side and a staircase on the right. Quietly I began removing large bolts of cloth and other fabrics from a shelf near one of the mannequins, I tried to hurry, something about this place disturbed me.

A loud meow startled me nearly out a window, spinning on my back paws I raised both my forward paws to pounce on whatever made the noise when I realized what it was. I almost laughed, loudly. This world seemed to be getting in the habit of scaring me with small, mostly harmless animals. First with the Almaraj, second with the fox, and now with this grumpy-ass-looking cat. It was a small thing with clean white fur and with a purple bow holding up a lock of its fur and a droopy-looking face. I was once again startled out of my observations when it meowed a second time, seemingly impatient with whatever it wanted. "Well, shoo cat, shoo. I swear to god if you get me caught, I will eat you."

The cat stared at me with a glare so fierce that I momentarily checked my fur for sparks, then leapt and attached itself to my mask with an angry yowl, whatever they say in the history books I will forever deny having been bested by the feline. Swiftly and as silently as I could, a tail wound around the cat to remove the hissing creature from my mask. Part of me contemplated actually eating the beast but decided that eating someone's pet was probably not the correct response to this situation. I was about to lock in one of the various chests littering the room when a voice to the right decided to speak up. "Opalescence, why are you hissing? Why are you down here anyway, you know that rarity feeds yo..., What are you doing to our cat? Rarity a giant dog is trying to eat opalescence!"

The entrance of the pint-sized filly left me with a rather large myriad of emotions, part of me wanted to address the fact that she had called me a dog, not an overly important thing to focus on I know, but the statement left me unnaturally angry for some reason. Another part of my brain was yelling to throw something to get her to stop yelling, she was loud enough
That my ears had pinned themselves against my skull to avoid being hurt even more. The rest of me decided my most pressing need was to escape. The combination of these three different streams of thought led to me resolving the situation in a less-than-optimal if still effective manner.

" I am a fox, you pastel-colored midget horse!" With my piece said I yeeted the cat claws first at the head of said midget and jumped through one of the windows of the boutique with a loud crash. I could already hear the startled yelling of the various guards throughout the village and quickly submerged myself in the shadows cast between two buildings. I didn't go straight to the forest edge, keeping up a quick pace I followed a path to the west of the town and ended up in what appeared to be a park, a dull lifeless thing compared to the Everfree. Not that such a statement said much given that the Everfree made even Earth's national forest seem dull. Cougars and bears seemed less worrisome when one has faced manticore and was chased by wooden wolves so full of hatred that their gaze caused dread.

The forest was quiet, so quiet that it bothered me in fact, this entire time I had grown used to the constant noise that came with having the enhanced hearing of a fox, the rustling of critters in the undergrowth, the shifting and groaning of wood as timberwolves stalked in the shadows. The lack of scents was just as disorientating, this park was truly dead, kept alive only by the careful application of its keepers, I think had I been human I would still find the lack of naturalness of the park disturbing. I flicked an ear in confusion, interrupted from my thoughts by a feeling that I could not place.

I don't know what strange twist of fate let me hear the gentle quiet noise of wind against feathers nor what ancient instinct filled me with the urge to drop my front legs out from under me and slide in the mud. What I do know is without them my adventure would have ended right there. I stared wide-eyed at the spear buried halfway to the lugs at its base in the tree a few inches in front of my face, side-eying the cold determined face of the leather-clad and amber-eyed pegasus, from this angle, I could see that the mare had a shaggy black and grey mottled coat of fur and a mane that her long and frizzy mane seemed to be a deep black color and was styled in such a way that it reminded of your stereotypical fantasy Norse women.

Perhaps the most notable feature was her muzzle, it was sharper and more narrow than on your average mare, some part of me deep down was reminded uneasily of a wolf. I didn't have much time to think on that before the mare grinned, revealing her own set of fangs before a heave ripped her spear from the tree with the sound of splintering wood. Before I had time to even attempt speech the blade was whipping towards my throat. I managed to yank my head backward, the tip of the spear sparking off of my chainmail with a metallic screech. I barely had time to throw up a tail to redirect the thrust going for my heart before she was already coming back for another attack. Panicked I wrapped a tail around the haft and yanked it towards me angling the spear to go between my armpit and my torso in an attempt to trap the spear, with a loud snarl the mare let go of the spear and spun, bucking out with both back legs she caught me under the chin and my vision went white.

My whole jaw felt like it was made of pain cords of pain wrapped themselves around my muzzle as I shook my head to clear my vision. I glanced up and rolled just in time to avoid being impaled as she slammed into the position I had just been in. I quickly whipped out a tail and sent careening for her back legs, the mare simply flapped her wings once and laughed as my tail connected with nothing but air. Groaning in pain I got back to my paws. The mare was watching me with a visage of impatience as I steadied myself. I took the reprieve in rapid spear blows to focus and with a grunt, I launched a dozen successive bolts of magic at my opponent. The mare scoffed and batted the first three from the air with her spear and simply began dodging the rest as she raced towards me, a mocking gleam in her eye.

Even if I had the time to try and reason with her I realized that I wouldn't be able to. A smile plastered itself across her face, a fanged smirk that gleamed with feral joy and I realized that I wasn't a monster or a bounty to this strange pony, I was prey and she was hunting me. Her first blow was a thrust for my neck that I managed to knock to the side with a bracer, the lifting of one of my legs slowed me down however, and her follow-up swing carved a bloody line across my right foreleg. I screeched in pain jumping back in an attempt to put some distance between me and this predatory mare.

Snarling I waited for her next blow, a swing, and ducked. She was fast, but my leap had been a break from my normal pattern of defense and my jaws bit deeply into her upper shoulder, around where a collarbone would be in a human. I could feel her shudder against my chest as my tails wrapped around her torso. Her blood was both metallic and somewhat sweet on my tongue, in the heat of the moment I couldn't decide if it was my new tastebuds or the battle but I couldn't help but enjoy the taste, part of me wanted to go for her neck, to end this threat here and now, yet I knew that killing one of these ponies would only make them more desperate for my head. With a grunt of pain as my jaw shifted I lifted with my tails and spun keeping the mare firm in my jaws I threw her at a nearby tree.

The mare slammed into the tree with a loud crack. The tree, a small birch, split and splintered as she went through it. I sat there panting and in pain when she did something that made my blood run cold in my veins. She began laughing, a deep belly laugh that showed no signs of pain or exhaustion. She opened her mouth to speak but I didn't give her the chance with a roar of anger I grabbed at my mana and sprayed her prone form with fox fire. The laughing stopped and suddenly she was moving just as fast as before, the butt of her spear impacted the center of my mask with the force of a Warhammer. My head snapped back as my vision filled with red spots and I collapsed into the mud.

I attempted to get up only for a hoof to stomp down on my neck slamming my head against the dirt once again. I choked a bit as blood leaked down my throat. I was decently sure I had bitten the tip of my tongue off with the second slam. From this angle, despite the pain I noticed how much larger she was when compared to the other ponies, about five feet instead of the normal four. The mare snorted before sighing deeply. "I must say I'm kinda disappointed, I was expecting a Magispawn to put up more of a fight. Oh well, at least you were a decent hunt. Not many of the creatures I hunt have managed to get a bite in."

Normally I would tried to come up with a witty comeback but I was decently sure I had a concussion and a broken jaw so such things were beyond me at the moment. She rolled my head so I could look at her, a grim expression on her face as she pulled back her spear to thrust it through my eye. In the back of my mind, I cursed whatever quirk of magic made physical shields so hard to cast before I froze, shields. With a grimace, I focused as best as I could and formed two shields on either side of me and slammed them together. There was a bright flash and a loud sound similar to a window pane shattering before I was crushed into the dirt with extreme force, screaming as several of my ribs broke.

My vision came back to me slowly, black spots filling it and making it hard to determine just where I was. I rolled over on my paws, ribs screaming in pain as they shifted. The clearing had been scorched slightly, steam coming off the crater I was lying inside. I didn't know where the mare was and I honestly didn't care. Gritting my teeth at the pain I ran for the forest, silently I hoped she was as damaged as I was, I had a funny feeling the forest wouldn't stop her otherwise. I somewhat of hoped she did come after me, the fight had been exhilarating and I felt more alive than I had in a long time, a second chance to prove my strength sounded unnaturally exciting in my head. She was kinda pretty too, in a feral, I'm going to rip you apart kind of way.

??? P.o.v

She stared after the giant fox as it bounded out of the clearing, well, limped would be more appropriate. She would have given chase but a glance at the bone sticking from her left foreleg told her she wouldn't get very far. With an annoyed sigh, she turned her gaze toward the town, she had been right when she had felt its presence while she had been arguing with the two guards. Honestly, they lived next to a predator-filled forest, surely good leather should not be so hard to find.

She had given chase when he had burst from the window of the boutique, She had almost lost him when he had used the town as cover instead of bolting for the forest, his foray into the park had been a boon, the trees weren't as thick in the whitetail woods or the Everfree and tracking him had become significantly easier, despite her boss's warnings to kill the beast quickly part of her was happy that it had dodged her killing strike, though a part of her was curious on how he knew she was coming.

She would give the beast credit, it was smart. Lulling her into a false sense of security with its defensive style and then lunging during a time she could not block or deflect. Still, she would have to talk with the librarian and her pet dragon, the reported file in the fox claimed he had the ability to shoot a light fire attack. The magic bolts and level of fire he had used were well beyond what was reported, and that final ability. She didn't know what he had done exactly but it had almost looked like an intentional spell clash, something that even accomplished mages had trouble doing with any real power.

When the first of the guards swarmed into the clearing she snorted at their shocked faces, the clearing was covered in blood from both her and the fox, likewise, her wounds were not minor. A broken leg and shoulder, several lacerations, and a decently deep bite in her upper shoulder. She couldn't help but snicker at that last one, the blow had been masterfully done, if a bit forward. If he proved to be a greater hunt in the future she might even take him up on his unintentional proposal, once she had proven herself superior to him of course. Oh, she was sure it was a him, the fact that he had gone for her shoulder instead of her neck had proven that, an animal would have gone for a killing blow.

Author's Note

So, here's a fight scene, how unfortunate for Harbinger to run into a monster hunter.

Like always, if you guys see errors or things that you think need to be improved let me know, I'm always happy to try and improve my writing. I know that the way Harbinger's thoughts come up is a little sudden and sporadic, but that's somewhat on purpose, as it's based on how my own thoughts tend to come to me. I find myself often falling into various lines of thought while doing things completely unrelated to what I'm thinking about, and get interrupted by said thoughts quite easily.

Likewise, my style of writing chapters doesn't help, I often write the outline of what's in my head as I basically write the main meat of the chapter then go back and add little details and such. Not the best way to write a story, but it helps me keep track of where I am going.

As always, please leave a like, or a comment. They really do give me a boost of self-esteem, and I enjoy answering your guy's questions.