Apple Bloom Meets the Huntsman: First Impressions

How many times had Apple Jack insisted to her “Stay with the group when you’re on a field trip”? But no, no. With Sweetie Belle sick that day and Scootaloo in detention, Apple Bloom had been the only Cutie Mark Crusader in Ms. Cheerilee’s class that day when they’d gone out to the ruins on the far edge of the Everfree Forest. This meant she’d been quickly bored, not even the creepy statues littering the large green expanse around her had caught her attention. She had tried as hard as she could to listen to Ms. Cheerilee talk about the ruins, after all, nobody knew who’d built this wrecked little castle. It was far smaller than a normal castle, as if solely built for one, yet the design was unmistakable. Towering ramparts, spiked steeples, a few cracked gargoyles atop the blown-open roof, and a finely-cobbled brick road leading to what had surely been an ornate set of double doors.

Yet the walls were now cracked, parts of scaffolding even blown completely across the front lawn of the castle and around its now over-grown garden. The states of mighty beasts situated on either side of the walkway up to the castle were faded, all possible paint long gone, leaving them faintly chipped, white and sad. Immense chunks had fallen off of a chimera statue, leaving two stumps where heads should have been, and Apple Bloom sighed as she looked about.

It had been dumb of her to leave the group and linger behind. But no, no, she’d wanted to check out the garden, and had been looking at the overgrown bulbous flowers in the far back, with pedals draped open as if you were meant to simply lie back, relax, and enjoy a nice nap. A couch-flower sounded comforting, but when Apple Bloom had actually tried it out, the thing had closed up, depositing her inside of a soft chamber, tickling her with its big leaves.

About half an hour later she’d finally managed to break out by chewing through one of the leaves, but now her class was gone, and she was alone. She groaned, hanging her head, shaking her red mane back and forth as she plopped down by the decapitated head of a manticore statue. “Yeah, I understand how you feel.” She said, the thing’s head looking, interesting, surprised. It was almost as if the statues had been alive and having its head cut off had been suck a shock, it’s face had frozen that way.

Well, frozen MORE that way. It was a statue after all. Still, Apple Bloom reasoned the smart thing to do would be to stay where she was. It was getting very, very dark, and it wouldn’t be smart to walk along the edge of the Everfree Forest whilst the night sky glittered overhead. No, that’d be a terrible idea. Anything dumb enough to be near the forest at night was dead meat, there were Timberwolves and Cockatrices and Manticores in there! And she wasn’t strong like her sister, nor did she know any magic nor could she fly. Apple Bloom knew she wouldn’t stand a chance if she went out past the forest.

No, she’d take shelter inside this castle. At least there’d be shelter. And she was pretty sure she could get the door closed and seal it up from wandering Timberwolves. Lugging the head of the manticore statue inside the double doors, she grunted a bit, heaving it forward with constant pushes before, at last, it was inside the one working, open door still remaining. She rolled the head of the statue against the door, sealing it shut. Phew.

Apple Bloom glanced about the castle. The walls were a faded dark blue, parts of them had been worn down and chipped open by time, but not enough for a big, deadly animal to get through. There was one rather large hole near the roof at the intersection of the wall, just over a large mahogany bookshelf, but Apple Bloom wasn’t worried. Timberwolves couldn’t climb! So they’d not be getting in. She’d be fine.

So the little pony trotted her way across torn and tattered carpets, humming to herself as she looked about for someplace to sleep. They’d not actually gone very deep inside the castle, Ms. Cheerilee had been saving that for another trip tomorrow. So she made her way past the main hall and into a hallway that brought her to a spiraling staircase. It towered high above her, going to the second floor, various paintings lining the walls around her as she briefly looked at them-

Odd. They were definitely not ponies, with the exception of a nice portrait of Princess Celestia and Luna. This made her get closer as her eyes slightly narrowed, trying to read the caption beneath. “From your two best, greatest rivals on this world. All the best!”

Hmm. Was this, perhaps, Discord’s castle? No, couldn’t be. He’d have chairs on the ceiling and wallpaper you could peel off and eat. This was too fancy-pancy-schmancy. So Apple Bloom shrugged, continuing up the spiral stairway before, at last, popping up onto the second floor. She walked across the carpet, admiring how beautifully it had been made. Even now, centuries after it’s creation, it was still so soft to the touch, with faintly twinkling stars barely visible in the cross-stitching.  She rubbed a hoof across it, nodding a bit before catching sight of the room at the far end of the long hallway.

A bedroom! Bright blue down blanket on a king-sized bed from the looks of it. She took off and jumped onto it, happily bouncing up and down with a delighted laugh. “Weee! It’s so soft and fuzzy!” Apple Bloom remarked out loud, snuggling up against a pillow almost as big as she was, a slightly faded white thing which was poofed up in her hooves before Apple Bloom crawled under the covers. There wasn’t that much dust there, surprisingly, but she didn’t mind. She just yawned, and curled up slightly, resting her head against the pillow, allowing sleep to slowly slip into her.

It made its way towards its old home, sighing slightly as it pushed aside some brushes with a clawed hand. It’s pale blue eyes looked the small castle over with unmistakable nostalgia as it sighed, running a hand down the walls. It had remembered when it had first made the castle, crafting the bricks, carving the statues, cultivating the garden. It remembered the blood, sweat and tears it had poured into this temporary home, and it sighed sadly. Living for centuries didn’t take away the pain of realizing how time could take and take and take. It barely dulled it.

“I was barely a century old when I made you. Now you’re falling apart.” The horned being sighed, shaking his head back and forth before looking off into the distance, a thoughtful expression on his features. “I wonder how Celestia and Luna are? Are they still alive? I hope they are. It would be good to talk to them.”

He made his way to the front door, blinking as he realized something was keeping him from opening it. “Someone blocked it from inside?” He murmured, shrugging before actually putting some real strength into his shove.

The statue head rolled along the floor, the alien being sighing as he walked into the main hall, picking it up. “Ohhh. Five hours to hunt you down, and look at you.” He mumbled. “Does nobody appreciate true art?” He asked, putting the head down on a nearby couch before making his way towards the stairway. However, he stopped in place and sniffed the air, eyes widening a bit. A pony. He smelled a pony nearby, and close. Looking intrigued, he walked up the stairs, making his way towards his bedroom and carefully pushing the door open. Sure enough, he saw her. A young little mare, just a foal, a little dibbun who was curled up under the covers of his old bed and snoring away.

He chuckled a bit at the sight before getting slightly down onto his knees to look at her slumbering, cute little face. She had the most adorable little bounce to her red mane, and soft yellow fur on her body, which was warm to his touch as he gently caressed her cheek. She murmured a bit in her slumber, “Just a few more minutes, Apple Jack, I’m so sleepy…”

“This is MY bed.” He thought to himself. “But, still…she looks so cute in it.” Then an idea came to him. Ah ha! A large, fanged grin stretched across his face. “Won’t you be in for a treat.” He playfully cooed.

THE NEXT MORNING

Sunlight filtered gently in through the window as Apple Bloom let out a yawn, stretching her arms as she wiped the sleep from her eyes with her hooves. She smacked her lips a bit, the unmistakable scent of eggs wafting up from downstairs as she blinked in surprise, tilting her head a little. Eggs? Why was-wait. Huh?

Somebody was in the castle. Yet if someone was in the castle and making eggs then why hadn’t they tried to wake her up or-

She had to know. Apple Bloom hopped out of the bed and carefully snuck down the hallway, heading down each step to the first floor as carefully and quietly as she could, flinching at every faint squeak the floorboard made. The unmistakable smell of fresh eggs kept wafting through the air from a room to her far right as she poked her head in, seeing somebody place a plate of eggs down on a stone table along with some eating utensils, and that person turned, smiling warmly at her.

It was definitely not a pony. It was horned, like a minotaur, yet had no nostrils, no ears, and sharp clawed hands and toes. It wore no clothing but had a large necklace of unusual faint blue gems around its neck, and three gems embedded into its forehead. Its skin was as dark as the night sky, with faint glittering lights twinkling out from within its muscular, toned body, and it looked at her with its pale blue eyes, its voice ethereal, almost kindly and yet dark and somewhat terrifying in undertone. “Good morning.”

“Um…g-good morning?” Apple Bloom murmured quietly, trying not to freak out. It wasn’t because the thing was naked, no, there weren’t any genitals or anything exposed. It was “decent”, it didn’t appear to have any weapons, but the thing was, to put it bluntly, big. It must have been ten feet tall, and looked like it could easily hold her in the palm of its hand. “I, er, that is, if this is your home, I-I didn’t know, everyone in town says the place has been abandoned for years-”

“It is of no consequence. Here. Eat. You must be hungry.” The being said, sitting down in a stone chair opposite her as it poured some freshly-squeezed orange juice from fresh-picked oranges from its garden into a cup.

“You, er, have some lovely cups. Are they gifts from a friend?”

“Ah, my cups. Good thing about crystal cups and silverware is how long they last.” He admitted. “But no, I wouldn’t call them a gift from a “friend”, I-” The horned being sighed. “I do not really have any friends here. You see, Princess Celestia gave these to me after I taught her and Luna how to do a Petrification spell.”

“Wait. Petrification?” Apple Bloom suddenly got an idea. “Does that mean those statues out there-”

“Oh, yes. All real animals. It required a few ingredients, but when you pull it off right, you get instant art.” The horned being remarked. “It took me hours to track down the animals I wanted, but I am the Huntsman. It is simply what I do.” He informed Apple Bloom as she nervously looked about.  “You needn’t worry. I won’t hurt you. If I wanted to, I would have just done it to you last night as you slept, after all. So please. Have a seat.”

Apple Bloom bit her lip, but made her way over to the seat, hopping into it and picking up the fork, tasting the scrambled eggs. They were surprisingly good, not runny, not too milky, and with a slight fried edge to it. She gave the Huntsman a smile with puffed up cheeks full of egg and kept eating. “Mmm! Dees err ‘eely ‘ood, mistuh.” (These are really good, mister!)

“I can tell. I know you ponies are primarily herbivores, but I’ve seen your race eat eggs and occasionally fish in Canterlot. Glad to see I was right about your kind enjoying eggs.” The Huntsman admitted with a wave of his hand as he sipped his orange juice.

“Dunno why ‘oo ought no fwuh, yah cookin’ kuh wid dem ovah.” (Don’t know why you’ve got no friends, your cooking could win them over!) Apple Bloom mumbled through the eggs, giving him a nod as she kept on munching away.

“Heh-heh. Such high praise from such a small thing.” The Huntsman remarked, resting his head on his hand. “Do tell me. What’s your name, my little pony?”

“Apple Bloom.” Apple Bloom said after swallowing down some of the eggs and wiping her lips. “So you’re called “The Huntsman”? Your first name is “The”?”

“It’s my title.” The Huntsman remarked with a chuckle. “I’m an alien, Apple Bloom. A Cosmo Sapien, a living galaxy. I set up a little home here many ages ago when I was looking for interesting challenges. Like your leaders, the two diarchs.” He admitted with a nod.

“Challenges?”

“Oh, yes. If they won, I’d teach them anything they’d like.” The alien being admitted to Apple Bloom with a flourish of his clawed hand. “If they lost, I’d eat them.”

Apple Bloom almost choked on her eggs, coughing and spluttering as she dropped the fork down onto the table, cringing and turning slightly pale. “E-E-Eat them?” No wonder he didn’t have any friends here!

“Yes, my species needs to eat living, sentient beings to survive. To stave off entropy, to help fuel us.” The Huntsman sipped his orange juice again with a careful, deliberate slurp before putting the glass down and leaning back in his chair, arms folded across his chest. “But please, tell me. Why were you here in my home?”

“I was…er…it was a class field trip, I sort of got lost in your garden.”

“It was the Bulbascious Gardenia, wasn’t it? The big flower with the large petals wide enough for you to lounge on?” The alien asked with a sigh and a shrug. “It got me with that too. It likes to capture people and tickle them. It has an odd sense of humor-” He stopped, seeing Apple Bloom was nervously looking off to the side and down towards the ground. She very clearly was disturbed and frightened of him. “…Apple Bloom, do you think I’m going to hurt you?”

“You said you wanted to eat the Princesses.”

The Huntsman sighed and held his head in one hand. He didn’t like having to explain this. “Apple Bloom…do you know what happens if a fire doesn’t have enough fuel?”

“It goes out?”

“Yes. Think of my species as very big bonfires. To keep blazing, we need good sources of fuel every once in a while. About half a month. If we don’t, our bodies start to give out, we get desperate and feral and cruel.” He admitted to her, his blue eyes gazing into her green. “I don’t like it. But I’m not just eating for one. I’m a living galaxy.”

“Are you really?” Apple Bloom asked, blinking a bit. Her natural curiosity was being peaked and the Huntsman gave her a playful little smile.

“Would you like me to prove it?” he asked. “Again, you have my vow I shall not harm you.”

Apple Bloom looked him over. He’d had plenty of chances to hurt her and hadn’t taken it. She didn’t think he really would hurt her, so she gave him a small nod as he smiled gently at her and walked over to where she was, putting out a clawed hand. She climbed into his palm as he held her to his chest.

“Feel it. Put your head against it and relax.” He offered to her as she felt his chest, rubbing her hooves over it. It was so soft and warm, like a big satin pillow that had been carefully heated up just enough to give you that little extra comfort on a winter day. She murred a little as she felt herself sinking into the soft expanse, her body being tenderly absorbed into the warmth. More and more of Apple Bloom sank into the Huntsman’s chest, yet it felt so…soothing and warm. It was like being massaged by soft pillows, and she soon found her head now in a wide, immense abyss of blackness.

Within moments though, the darkness gave way to pure beauty, as the wide expanse of space stretched out before her. Stars twinkled about, a planet circling below her, spiraling around a sun as a tiny moon hovered nearby. There were a few other planets off in the distance as a shooting star passed by Apple Bloom, and she saw its trail blazing bright blue, just like the Huntsman’s eyes. “Woooooowwww.” She whispered, eyes bugging out as wide as saucers as she faintly felt the Huntsman rubbing her, though he was nowhere near her in the wide abyssal expanse of space.

“Ready to come out?” The Huntsman asked her as if he was sitting right behind her and she gave a nod, finding herself plopping out of his chest and into his palm again as he warmly looked down at her. “Did you like that?” He asked.

“That. Was. AWESOME!” She exclaimed, spreading her arms wide. “You’re so big on the inside! I  mean, you’re big now, but you’re even bigger in there, I-I just, wow! So cool!”

“Yes. It’s a beautiful place inside me.”  He admitted as he put Apple Bloom down on the floor, kneeling so she didn’t have to strain her neck so much to look at him, Apple Bloom thinking a bit about what she’d just seen, a sad expression coming to her face.

“But you gotta eat people to keep all that beautiful stuff going?” She asked.

“Yes.” He quietly said, giving her a gentle nod. “I try to make sure there is no pain, but yes. I do.”

“You wouldn’t eat me, right?”

“No. You’re a child, I try to avoid hurting children.”

“But you’ve done it before haven’t you?” She also asked as he nervously looked away from her. “You don’t need to answer. I get it.”

“Sometimes there’s no good options. Sometimes you’re dealt a terrible hand and have to live with it.” He told her as he stood up and headed out the kitchen door, Apple Bloom trailing after as he walked along the carpeted floor, making for the front door. “I’ve been trying to find a way to sustain myself without that type of feeding, but it simply hasn’t worked.” He pushed the door open, gesturing at the early morning rays of sunlight. “But you don’t have to worry about me. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you and your family is probably worried sick. I’ll walk you to the edge of the Everfree just to be safe and you can head the rest of the way home on your own.”

“What’s your name?” Apple Bloom asked as they made their way down the walkway, the Huntsman looking down at her, blinking slightly in surprise. “I mean, your real name.”

“Neh-Buh-Loh. Why?”

Apple Bloom smiled. “Because friends ought to know each other’s names.”

Neh-Buh-Loh smiled back.