One month later....

Rarity and her younger sister Sweetie Bell, were walking down a trail in the Everfree Forest, leading to a campsite where all her friends were. This had become sort of a tradition for the main six now. Every summer they would have one camp day, full of fishing, campfires, ghost stories and fun.

Rarity stopped as she heard some groaning from her sister " Sweetie darling, we have to move faster if we are to meet our friends on time." Rarity said.

Sweetie Bell was tired, very tired. The pair had been hiking up the trail for a good two hours now and the young fillies legs were beginning to give out. She looked up at Rarity, sweat dripping of her brow.

"Why does this campsite have to be so far away!" Sweetie complained.

"Don't worry, we're almost there, just around this bend." Rarity said, pointing a hoof to said bend on the trail.

The two continued walking, looking around themselves as they did. The forest was calm and quiet. Rarity loved the beauty of the forest. She loved the scent of the trees and the fresh air filling her lungs. The white unicorn closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then exhaled. The calm demeanour was interrupted when Sweetie Bell started to pull on Raritys tail.

" Yes darling, what's the matter?" Rarity asked as she turned around to face her younger sister.

Sweetie Bell had a look of fear plastered on her face " Theirs something in those trees....." she said as she pointed a hoof behind her.

Rarity looked up at the trees to see nothing and gave out a small giggle " It's probably just a squirrel or something, just ignore it."

Rarity began walking again until she heard a large rustle come from behind her. She spun around to see Sweetie still staring up at the trees. Rarity heard the rustling again and looked up to the trees. The rustling was coming from the trees her sister was looking at.

" Sweetie come to me now." Rarity ordered, to which her sister obliged, quickly trotting over to her sisters side.

Both the sisters stared up at the trees. What ever was making the rustling was far to big to be a squirrel. Their fear was beginning to grow, sweat dripping down their body's at the thought of what horrible creature was watching them. Like a lightning bolt, the creature burst out of one of the trees and hurdled towards the two ponies. Rarity and Sweetie Bell embraced themselves and closed their eyes while releasing a blood curdling scream. The two waited for the creature to strike, but no strike came, only..... laughter? Rarity was the first one to open her eyes, only to look upon the laughing cyan Pegasus, Rainbow Dash.

" RAINBOW DASH, THAT WASN'T FUNNY!" Rarity yelled at her friend and fellow Element of Harmony.

The Element of Loyalty took a moment to collect herself before speaking " Wasn't .... funny!" she said, trying her best to hold back her laughter " I think you'd say otherwise if you saw your face, HAHAHA!"

Rarity let out a hmph and stuck her nose in the air and began to trot off towards the bend. Rainbow got the laughs out of her system and looked down at Sweetie Bell, who had a big grin on her face.

" I thought it was funny." the filly said.

The two laughed as they galloped towards Rarity, the trio now making their way towards the campsite.

Far away, a lone changeling runs for its life through the forest. It looks around itself, trying to see the creature that is chasing it. Not paying any attention to anything else, the changeling strips and falls in a ditch, breaking its hoof. It held back a yelp, fearing to attract whatever was chasing it. The changeling looked around itself. The ditch it fell in was wet and muddy, it stunk like something out of Tartarus and it was Riddled with bones. Bones? The changelings heart stops When it feels heavy breathing on the back of its neck. It slowly turns around to face its chaser. A Manticore. With one massive chomp, the Manticore bites the changeling, shaking his body like a rag doll until it was dead. The large cat dropped the changelings corpse on the ground and released a large and loud bellow. Within a few seconds three more Manticores emerged from the forest brush and joined in on the meal. The four predators ripped the carcass into shreds, eating everything on the changeling. When their meal was done, the large animals moved to a small flat area a few feet away from the ditch and began to groom themselves.

The alpha male and female fell asleep as the two smaller Manticores played with each other. They chased each other around the flat area when the smallest one noticed something on the ground. Three red dots. The cat was intrigued about the lights but was still unsure to go near it. The red dots began to move towards the Manticore, slowly but steadily. Gaining some courage, it walked towards the lights. The cub stretched its paw out and patted the dots. It then smelt something burning. It smelled the air, trying to find the source of the smell, not paying attention to the the red dots which were now on its forehead. Out of no where, a red ball hurdled towards the manticore, causing its head to explode upon impact. The two alphas awoke from their slumber and rushed towards their fallen member. The three remaining Manticores came together and ran into the brush, straight towards the main sixes camp.......

Two hours later....

Twilight shuffled uncomfortably in her sleeping bag as the rest of the ponies slept peacefully around her. She looked around herself. They were sleeping in a small cave that they had found earlier. It was damp and cold, drops moisture dripped on the stone floor. The purple unicorn released a sigh and closed her eyes.

"Hey Twi, are y'all still awake" asked the voice of Applejack.

Twilight open her eyes and looked at the cowpony " You can't sleep ether?"

Applejack groaned as she sat on her haunches " It's to dang hot this summer, I'm sweatin like a pig in this sleeping bag"

Twilight giggled at her friend but had to agree with her, this summer may have been the hottest summer she had ever experienced.

" I'll have to talk to the princess, she controls the sun after all" Twi said to Applejack.

Applejack shuffled uncomfortably " Do ya think it has something to do with that giant rock falling out of the sky." she asked with concern.

Twilight smiled " What, the meteor? not a chance. It would have to have been a really big meteor to cause weather change." she assured.

With a smile and a nod the two mares got cozy in their sleeping bags and slowly fell asleep.

About two hours had passed since Twilight had fallen asleep, her body drenched in sweat. She began to awake from a cold breeze at the back of her neck.

" mmmmm.... Applejack, your breathing on my neck." Twilight complained with a yawn.

She opened her eyes to see she was actually facing Applejack, her face plastered with pure terror. Applejack mouthed out a word to Twi. 'Manticore'. It took Twilight a moment to realize the severity of the situation. Manticores only lived in the deep parts of the Everfree, only coming out if food was scarce. The animal looked down on Twilight, drool dripping from its mouth. Twilight did her best not to move or make any sound as the beast sniffed over her form. Applejack watched silently as the Manticore inspected her friend, until she felt a small being shuffle next to her.

"Applejack, can we go to the stream and get some water?" asked her younger sister AppleBloom, unaware of the danger that was only a few feet away.

The Manticore raised its head and stared straight at the filly "RRRRRROAAAARRR!!!!"

Everypony awoke from the roar and screamed at the sight of the animal as they backed away from it until their rear ends touched the end of the small cave. Twilight quickly bounced out of her sleeping bag and stood between her friends and the Manticore, her horn beginning to glow with a purple hue. The predator arched it's back and pounced at its prey, only to be stopped by a magical force field conjured by the purple unicorn. The beast growled and began to slam its body into the barrier, making it harder for the mare to keep the shield up. Her friends watched in awe as she held the monster back.

"Where the hell did this thing come from?!" yelled Rainbow Dash.

" I don't know Rainbow, but I do know that Twi ain't gonna last much longer if that keeps it up!" said Applejack, noticing her friend struggling against the Manticores power.

Rarity held AppleBloom, Sweetie Bell, and Scootalo, their faces buried in her chest and their hoofs over their ears. Pinkie Pie comforted Fluttershy, who was crying hysterically.

"Fluttershy, you need to use that weird stare power on that thing!" Pinkie Pie told the yellow Pegasus.

Fluttershy looked up to face the Manticore. It was ballistic. Foam dripped from its mouth, it's eyes glowing an evil yellow in the darkness. It was the scariest thing she had ever seen. The Pegasus clenched her eyes shut and shook her head side to side.

"I Can't" she whispered sadly.

Twilight was losing energy. Her head pounded from the amount of magical energy she was using to hold the creature back. The Manticore noticed this and made one final attack. With all of its force, it slammed its body into the shield, shattering it like glass. Twilight flew backwards from the impact and collided with Applejack, blood dripping from her nose. Applejack held her friend who was bearly conscious. The Manticore moved slowly towards its latest meal.

"FUCK THIS!" Rainbow Dash screamed.

The cyan Pegasus bucked the much larger creature, her hind hooves sinking deep into its right cheek. The kick did not effect the cat, only infuriated it further.

Rainbow gulped "Bad idea."

The Manticore raised its paw, it's claws extended. Rainbow closed her eyes as she knew she could do nothing to stop the strike. Out of nowhere a large crunching noise was heard from outside. The Manticore squealed in pain as it looked at its tail which was still outside of the cave. It was at the top of the cave mouth, the stinger out of the view of the mane six. Suddenly something began pulling the tail, dragging the Manticore out of the cave. The beast latched onto the sides of cave with its claws but proved useless as it was still being pulled upwards by its unknown attacker. The ponies covered their ears as the animals claws dug into the walls, leaving marks as it was being pulled. When it was fully out of the cave, the Manticore was pulled out of view from the girls. They heard whimpering and snarls as the animal fought of whatever had pulled it out and after a few seconds their was silence. Dead silence. The ponies stood still for a few moments, to afraid to move until Rainbow Dash slowly started to move to the caves mouth.

"Dash! what are you doing!?" Scootalo yelled softly.

The cyan pegasus didn't even look at the young filly. She reached the mouth of the cave and poked her head out and looked up.

THUMP!!!!

Rainbow bounced back inside of the cave as a large mass landed in front of her. It was the Manticore. It's fur had gone from a pitch black to a crimson red, lacerations coving its form. Blood oozed from its neck were it had been slit deeply. From the back of the cave Fluttershy had passed out from the sight of the mutilated animal, Rarity told the fillies not to look as she tried not to vomit.

"What's that?" Twilight asked groggily.

Rainbow looked forward but only saw the corpse.

"Don't worry Twi, it's dead, now let's get out of here before whatever killed it comes after us" Dash said as she walked outside of the cave and spread her wings "Get the pipsqueaks on me and I'll get them out of...."

The mare was lifted by her neck of the ground by a translucent form. Rainbow gagged and gasped for air but the creatures grip was to tight. Applejack clenched her teeth and charged towards the being, slamming her shoulder into it. The cowpony fell flat on her side as if she had ran into a brick wall. The being made some clicking noises and snarls at the ponies before revealing itself to them. It's translucent body began to disappear revealing skin and armour. It had light blue skin and bronze armour cover most of its body. Its face was hidden by a bronze mask with two red eye lenses. Rainbow Dash stared into the beings eyes and it stared right back. It threw her backwards into Applejack with little to no effort. The being pulled a sliver cylinder from a pouch on its side and pointed it at the ponies. It had blue lights near the top of it until the being twisted the top, turning the lights into a crimson red. The ponies huddled all together as the being raised its thumb above the cylinder.

Guan looked down on the equines, his gkei'moun ready to erase their memory's.

What pathetic creatures these beings were. So small and frail. They huddled together, cowering at his might. Just as he was about to press the top when a large rustling was heard behind him. He turned his head and looked from the corner of his eyes. Emerging from the brush of the forest was the two other cats that had ran off. They growled at the yautja warrior who had just slain their fellow Manticore. Guan could feel the equines fear growing. Cowards. The predator lowered the device and returned it to its pouch.

"Don't move." he sternly commanded.

The hunter turned his back to the cowering, walking towards his prey with no fear. The cats separated and walked circles around Guan, snarling and grunting at the yautja. Guan extended his wristblades, causing the Manticores to jolt slightly. He waited for one of them to strike. Like a lightning strike one of the Manticores pounced on the predator. Guan countered by grasping the powerful animal by the throat. The cat clawed at Guan, it's sharp claws slicing into his chest. Guan slashed his blades at the beasts arm, cutting deep into its flesh. The Manticore howled and jumped of of him. It raised its tail at Guan, the stinger dripping with venom. It shot its tail out at Guan like a spear, jabbing at the warrior. Guan dodged the stinger, grabbing it at the perfect moment and severing it with his wristblades. Yellow liquid spurted from its tail as it roared from the pain. As the creature bellowed, Guan took this opportunity for an offensive. He ran to the side of the distracted animal and leaped on its back. The Manticore tried to shake Guan of but the yautja was to strong. He began stabbing into its body, the Manticores blood splattering on the green grass. Guan grabbed the preys wings and severed them to insure that it could not fly away. After a few seconds of stabbing the Manticore collapsed from exhaustion and blood loss. Guan stood up above the Manticore and the Manticore weakly looked up at him. The creature accepted its fate and laid back for the finishing attack. The predators wristblades shot back into their gauntlet. Guan reached down and grabbed his foes head and with one swift motion, he snapped its powerful neck with no effort. With the one Manticore defeated, Guan turned his attention to the remaining one. He looked around but saw nothing. He looked at the ground and noticed heat signatures of paws leading back into the brush. Looks like there was still more to this hunt, but first he needed to return to some unfinished business. He marched back towards the cave mouth were the equines were still cowering.

"Please leave us alone." a horned one pleaded, three young foals holding on to her.

Guan said nothing as he yet again aimed his gkei'moun at them. As his thumb touched the top of the device, the Manticore burst from the brush and lunged on top of Guan. The impact caused his gkei'moun to fly into the air and land somewhere in the brush of the forest. The ponies screamed as the Manticore gnawed on the predators shoulder Armour. Guan stood with the animal clinging on his back. He jumped and landed on his back, crushing the beast. Though it hurt, the Manticore didn't let go and continued its assault. Guan stood up again and began elbowing the beast, not noticing the incoming danger. As he continued pounding into the Manticores side, Guan was stopped by a large pain in his right leg. He looked down to see the animals stinger in his leg. Enraged by the sight, the warrior used all of his strength and managed to grab it and throw it off of his back. When the Manticore slammed into the ground it didn't even get to look up before the yautja stomped its head in the ground. Guan reached down and unsheathed his sword, raised it up and with on mighty strike, decapitated his prey. He was victorious.

Guan sucked in some air and was about to release a roar of victory until he felt something wrong. His entire body felt like it was going cold. Ice cold. He began to shake violently, dropping to his knees. His heart beat slower and slower with every passing second. His vision became blurry and he felt he was soon going to lose consciousness. He fell on his side and noticed one of the equines approaching him. Guan could do nothing but look at the horse. He heard her say only one thing before he lost consciousness.

"What the hell are you?"

Author's Note

Well It may have taken time but HERE IT IS!
Please comment and like if you liked it.