Hunters and Ponies.

Chapters

King of the Mountain!
A Strange Discovery
The King of the Sky (Part 1)
Ice, Stone and Yellow Snow.
Making An Entrance.
First Contact.

King of the Mountain!

It was another cold day in Tundra. Everything was covered in snow, and it was still snowing. The land was pretty desolate, not much could grow in the bitter cold. A few herds of Popo could be seen traversing the frigid and harsh land. However in the centre of it all stood a mountain that touched the very clouds. The mountain is a magnificent sight, it is almost completely made of ice so when the suns rays hit it they cause a unique light show.

As the herd of Popo came to the foot of the mountain, a terrifying roar shook the earth and in a blink of an eye a white figure pounced at the herd. It was a Barioth.

A fearsome predator of Tundra. It pinned down one of the Popo and began to bite and tear at it with its saber teeth. Some of the other Popo tried to defend their fallen friend but the Barioth didn't give up its meal so easily. It whipped the charging herd with its tail knocking them back and slamming them into a nearby ice wall.

After the problem was taken care of, the Barioth began to tuck into his meal but before long another roar echoed down the mountain. The Barioth stood up sharply and began to drag its meal away, as if to hide it from something. It found a nearby hole and stuffed its meal inside. Once the meal was safely inside, it looked around nervously.

It was hard to imagine that such a ruthless and skilled predator would hide a meal because of a roar. After having a look around, it began to slowly make its way to the foot of the mountain, seemingly unaware of the huge figure creeping up from behind.

Meanwhile about a of quarter way up the mountain, two figures were observing the whole ordeal from a crack inside the ice shelf. One of them was wearing armour that appeared to be made out of stone, with an intimidating horned helmet, to boot, and on his back was a huge heavy looking sword that easily spanned his body length. He also seemed to twitch every now and then. The other figure wore what appeared to be a large yellow coat, and carried a huge bowgun which looked like a, sniper rifle. He also had a pair of goggles on and wild yellow appendages stuck up on his hat which resembled thick hair.

"Ohhhhh boy! Vex found Burg with a Popo again, thing are going to get ugly" the stone guy said. He was looking through a pair of binoculars and twitching slightly.

"Five crystals says Vex get the Popo" said the other figure, who was looking through the scope on his bowgun.

"Three says Burg bites him" said the stone guy confidently.

"Oh! You're on" replied the sniper with equal confidence. After a brief hand shake they returned their attention to the scene at the base of the mountain.

In another world similar to that of Earth, a group of ponies were gathering in some strange ruins. A lot of equipment had been set up and preparations were almost at a close. One of them wore a spectacular wizard hat, that was covered in bells, which chimed as he trotted around. One of the ponies approached him.

"Are you sure about this Star Swirl? It's risky and there's no telling what might happen if it all goes wrong."

The wizard turned to the pony, with a smile on his old face, and put a hoof on his shoulder.

"Now now Grey Mist! Everything will be fine, you have my word". He gave a slight chuckle "besides that's the fun part, you never know what might happen". He gave another chuckle and raised his voice so everypony could hear him. "Everypony! Everything is set. The fail-safe rift spell will now be armed, so stand clear and brace yourselves."

Star Swirl was joined by a few unicorns and their horns began to glow. In the middle of the ruins was a large circle with strange markings, which were chiseled out around it. A strange energy began to crackle in the centre as sparks struck randomly at the symbols. Once struck, they lit up for a brief moment before the light faded. After a few minutes the energy began to take shape. It was a small blob at first, but it soon began to expand. The unicorns, that were helping, looked exhausted and a few had passed out from the sheer magnitude of magic.

"WE NEED TO KEEP GOING!" Star Swirl shouted, as he too was struggling like the rest of them.

The magic was now taking a new form as it began to grow a pair of dragon wings, with mean looking spikes on the tips. Next it grew a tail, which had nasty looking thorns growing out of it. It then grew a pair of strong legs and the body began to show signs of some sort of plating. Then, finally the head emerged. It bore a resemblance to that of a dragon, but it didn't look like anything anypony had seen before. The magic then solidified and the form turned to stone.

Gasping for air, Star Swirl and the remaining unicorns desperately tried to catch their breath. What now stood before them was a statue of a terrifying dragon. One of the unicorns took a closer look.

"Why that form?" she said, still trying to catch her breath.

"I don't know, but isn't it amazing, just look at it" Star Swirl said, with wide eyes. "Just look at its wings and that tail, it must be such a proud dragon, but we did what we came to do and that's that".

"Sorry! But what did we exactly do? I mean, we could have just made a statue. Why go through all of this?" said the mare, who stood at the dragons legs.

"Well! You see child, this is not an ordinary statue. It is in fact a beacon" Star Swirl replied.

"A beacon......but what for?" said another unicorn.

"Well you see, with the return of Night Mare Moon fast approaching, the princess has requested a fail-safe" he said, as everypony began to gather around him

"When it senses danger, that Equestria cannot protect itself from, it will activate and call for help. When the call has been answered, it will bring them here and contain them until needed."

With that, Star Swirl gave the order to pack up and go home. Their job here was done and they left the statue of the dragon inside the ruins.

The Barioth was still oblivious to the huge monster who was stalking it from behind. The monster was perched on a small ledge that was above the Barioth. It prepared to strike, retracting slightly and lowering it body to the ground. It took a step forward and was now directly above the Barioth. The monsters size, however, was its downfall. As it moved closer to the Barioth the ice suddenly cracked when it threw itself at its foe.

The crack, that the ice made, gave the Barioth ample warning as it evaded the massive monster with ease. The monster was now in full sight and what a sight it was. It was in fact a Tigerex.

One of the most powerful and feared monsters in all of Tundra and was now bearing down on his foe as he towered over him.

With powerful claws he took a slash at the Barioth, but missed, but not before crushing an ice boulder into tiny shards. It was immediately obvious that he was very strong and his appearance only complimented that fact. The Barioth however lacked strength but made up for it with speed as it dodged each slash with relative ease. It waited until the Tigerex showed signs of fatigue. It saw an opportunity and leapt onto the Tigerex's back and began to bite into its orange and black scales. However, the Tigerex seemed unfazed by all this as the Barioth's fangs only just punctured his hard scales. The Tigerex then tried to shake off the Barioth but found that his attacker was well anchored to him and was using his claws and fangs as hooks. After a few attempts to shake it off, the Tigerex realized that it was pointless and it tried to slam its attacker into a wall. The Barioth, who was cunning as well, let go as the Tigerex rammed his own body into the wall.

The wall splintered and cracked under the force and weight of the Tigerex. It gave a slight wince, since the Barioth was supposed to be the one to hit the wall. The Barioth gave a small growl, as if to smirk at the Tigerex's attempt. This was a big mistake, as the Tigerex gave an ice shattering scream and turned to look at the Barioth. Its eye were now a bright blood red and steam poured from his body. He was mad, very very mad. With alarming speed he threw himself at the Barioth who was still dazed from the scream.

His entire weight came crashing down onto the unlucky Barioth. He then made a vicious slash and made a deep wound on the Barioth's chest. The Barioth gave a scream as blood poured from its wound as it tried desperately to push the Tigerex off. The Tigerex was not yet finished. He bit down on the Barioth's neck and thew it into a boulder, which shattered on impact. The Tigerex gave a triumphant roar as the Barioth could barely stand up.

The two beasts stared at each other for a while. The Barioth then gave up, he was wounded and didn't have the strength to take on such a fearsome foe. So he limped away and clumsily climbed up to a cave on the side of the mountain and disappeared inside.

The two figures had witnessed the whole thing and the sniper looked very smug and gave a hearty laugh.

"The King of Throne Mountain, the Tigerex, known as Vex, prevails again and you owe me 5 crystals" he said while giving the stone figure a good slap on the back.

"No! I owe you two, because Buerg bit him" he said, determined to get the last laugh.

"Awwww your no! fun" he said, as he accepted the two transparent crystals and put them into a small shoulder bag.

Suddenly, a feminine voice came from further within the crack. "I see you two never change, but then< why would you!", she said with a upper class tone in her voice.

"Glad to see you too, Catherine" said the sniper, in an annoying tone.

"Know this Issac and Tich, it will be almost impossible for me to be glad to see you", she shot back. "But I did not come here to exchange insults with such simpletons", she sighed. "Oats has a job for us so I would stop being so childish and make your way to the bulletin board". With that she walked gracefully away. The two figures just looked at each other, shrugged, and followed Catherine into the crack. They kept their distance.

Author's Note

Yay got pics on the monsters now.

(Copyrights go to there respected owners)

A Strange Discovery

Thanks for all the support and views.

It's my first story but things seem to be going well. So thanks.

And please feel free to express your opinions in the comments. It will help me to progress as a writer.

Enjoy!

The three figures made their way through the tight crack which led deeper into the mountain. The wind howled as it traveled through the narrow pathway. Issac and Tich kept their distance from Catherine as they followed her down the path. She was snobby and unpleasant, sometimes, and they didn't what to provoke her so they kept quiet. After a few minutes, Catherine suddenly stopped and turned around, a smug smile soon covered her face.

"Issac! I do believe that Tich has fallen behind, so would you be so kind as to help him." Issac turned around and saw that Tich had got wedged in the narrow passage way. Issac gave an annoyed sigh and walked back to him.

"Your stone armour can be a real pain sometimes. You know that. This is what, the fifth time I've had to hack you out" Issac said, as he produced a small ice pick from his shoulder bag and began to tap at the ice wall, that had wedged Tich's stone armour.

"The ice wall is mean, it traps me all the time" Tich complained, while flailing his legs furiously, which didn't seem to help. Issac soon broke the ice that had wedged Tich's armour.

"Anything else you want to complain about while I'm here" Issac joked. Tich just looked blankly back.

"I'm hungry and cold"

"Well so am I. So lets get going, I'm cooking tonight" Issac said, with a smile on his face.

"By cooking do you mean the black, dried up husk of meat that you make all of the time. If so, I would rather die than eat such repulsive food again, but I regret its not as if we have anything else to eat" Catherine said, with a rather hurtful tone.

"Hey! I am getting better. I just need to get the timing right, that's all" Issac said, getting rather close to Catherine "and you seemed to like the last meal I made" Issac claimed.

"Yes! but that was pot noodles and even so, you managed to burn them slightly" Catherine shot back.

"How was I supposed know they would catch on fire" Issac replied.

"Well maybe if someone wasn't such a simpleton, that could hardly account for such a mediocre task, then maybe you could cook properly" Said Catherine.

"Guys! I got stuck again"

Issac and Catherine, who were nearly butting their heads, turned to see Tich had indeed got stuck again.

After Issac had chipped Tich out for the fourth time, the narrow pathway through the crack then opened up into a large cavern and inside was Koko Village. It was a small town with houses shaped out of ice and stone. To most people it wasn't anything special but to them it was home. They were warmly greeted by the Melynx, who are a race of cats, who have evolved to stand on two legs and can speak the human language. They also formed about sixty percent of the population that occupied Koko Village and had jobs like any another human. A small group of young Melynx ran towards the hunters and crowded around them, asking them all matter of questions about the outside world. Issac, who was surprisingly good with children, told them about the fight between Burg, The White Knight and Vex, The King of the Mountain. The young Melynx crowded around as Issac and Tich acted the scene out. They told them about the fight that the monsters had had but they kept it goofy for the kitten's sake.

Daring Doo pushed a large ancient stone door open and walked inside. With a torch, at her side, she examined the large ruin with great enthusiasm. It was filled with strange hieroglyphics and artifacts dating back many centuries.

"Daring! YOU have made the discovery of a lifetime" she said excitedly. She pulled out a small tape recorder and began to describe her surroundings. After cataloging a few minutes of entries she saw a strange tablet in the center of the room. It was written in a strange language, that she had never seen before. The only words she could make out were "beacon" and "the dragons roar." Scratching her head she then looked up.

"AGHHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed, as she stood face to face with a terrifying looking beast, that was almost four times her size. She dropped her torch and ran for the nearest pillar. She was then enveloped in the pitch dark room. She held her breath. Nothing happened. She then decided to breathe before she passed out and emerged from her hiding spot. She stumbled around for bit until she tripped over her torch. After relighting it, she turned her attention to the strange figure in the middle of the room. She tensed as she approached it and reached out a hoof. Much to her relief, she found that it was made of stone and after establishing that the statue was not booby trapped, she lit a few glow sticks and examined the statue. It was huge and the detail was incredible. Every scale was masterly crafted. It looked almost lifelike.

"Jackpot!" Daring said, doing a hoof pump. "Ok! Now for some pictures and then I need to set up some equipment." She pulled out an old box camera and took a few heroic pictures and a few silly ones. "Ok!" she said, slapping her hoofs together ."Time to get dirty." She had a large pack of equipment waiting outside of the ruins. Inside the pack, there were more glow sticks, a small generator, a few high powered lamps and her lunch. Never forget lunch!

As Daring tucked into her daisy sandwich she examined the strange tablet. Even though it was covered in an unknown language she could decipher a few more words now that she had light.

"Beacon......summon........strangers..........dragons call............" Daring took another bite of her sandwich. "Fail-safe.....and the rest is gibberish" she said, wiping the bread crumbs off her mouth. "Well! This is a strange discovery." Daring then smiled "and another chapter for my book. DOUBLE WIN!"

Catherine sat on a stone bench and watched Issac and Tich play with the youngsters. Although she wouldn't openly admit it, she liked the sight of Issac and youngsters. He was like a big brother to many of them and it brought a warm feeling to her heart. The outside world of Tundra was a wasteland of snow and ice, but even so, a small and dedicated community of five hunters and thirty Melinx had found a place to call home and the future generations would learn to live and survive in the harsh world. It was nice to see that there was still hope in the hearts of the people.

"Issac always had a way with kids, but you're not thinking about that are you?" Catherine almost jumped as a figure sat down next to her. He was a rather imposing figure. He wore a big rice hat and body armor and robes similar to that of a samurai.

"Perhaps its because he acts like one" she said, blushing heavily "And stop spouting such nonsense, we both know he is an absolute child and acts like one all the time".

"Yer! But he means well, he likes to see a smile on everyone face and tries to make people laugh. It reminds us that there's still hope. He's been like that for as long as I can remember" the newcomer said.

"Yes well.....I....um" Catherine stuttered. "Oats didn't you say we had a job to do?" she said said to the newcomer, trying to quickly change the subject.

"Oh right! I did didn't I?" he said, giving a nervous laugh and scratching his neck. "Now what was it again?"

"You are a total airhead sometimes" Catherine sighed. Oats just laughed. Sometimes I wonder why you're our leader Catherine thought.

"Oh! Now I remember" Oats said, hitting his palm with his fists and raising his voice "YO! ISSAC, TICH, OVER HERE. WE'VE GOT WORK TO DO".

After ending the show, Tich and Issac walked over to the bench. Issac sat next to Catherine to annoy her, and Tich just stood up.

"What were you doing?" asked Oats, curiously.

"We just told them about the awesome fight between Burg and Vex that happened on our watch" Issac said.

"Really? Who won? Wait let me guess! ummmmmm, Vex right?" Oats said with enthusiasm.

"Bingo!" Issac replied, with a thumbs up.

"Aw man! I wish I was there. What was it like? Lots of swipes and bites?" Oats said, while doing a shadow box.

"Oh yer! Vex put on another great show, but Burg hasn't lost his touch either" Issac said returning Oats shadow box

"Not to interrupt this enthralling conversation, but don't we have work to do Oats?" Catherine said, breaking the line of thought going through Oats head.

"I was just getting to that" said Oats confidently.

"No you weren't" Tich said, out of the blue.

"Right!" Oats began, completely oblivious to Tich's last comment. "Recently there's been a few tremors in Tundra and a new cave system had been discovered. Its our job to investigate and bring back anything of value". Issac suddenly jumped up and gave a few whoops.

"ALL RIGHT! Spelunking time! Let me get my torches and picks!" And with that Issac bolted for a nearby house.

The King of the Sky (Part 1)

After Issac's rather speedy departure, the rest of the hunters decided to gather up their equipment and meet in the village square and after about ten minutes most of them were ready. Tich was the first to arrive, since he had most of his gear on him already. This consisted of his great sword, his armour, a candle, his lunch and a few sticks of dynamite, for blasting through any solid rock. Oats soon made his way to the square. He had brought a rather strange looking bow and a long katana, as well as a few supplies like food and water (though there was not much shortage of ice) and a few blankets and some logs.

"Is that all you're taking?" Oats said, after walking up to Tich.

"Yep" Tich said rather happily "You're not going light, it seems?"

"Nah! Best to be prepared! Its not like the cave is filled with ice cream now is it!" Oats said, with a hearty laugh.

"Oh! I hope it is. What flavor do you think it will be?" Tich said, while jumping up and down excitedly

"Dude! It's like minus twenty in here. How can you eat ice cream? It would be like eating a stone" Oats said, raising an eye brow.

"Tried eating stones, but they taste awful. No flavor at all" Tich said with a hint of disappointment.

"That's kind of the point, but anyhow, are you ready to go?" Oats said, trying to wrap up the strange conversation

"Yes I'm good to go" Tich said, giving a thumbs up.

After a few more moments passed, Catherine made her way towards the two hunters. She wore a dragon scale plated skirt and some rather exotic looking armour. She carried a very large cello on her back, that was almost twice her size and shone beautifully, as light reflected off its bug scales.

"Bringing the hunting cello, I see! Hope you've been practicing" Oats said with a kind smile.

"As if you need to ask such a question. I assure you my skills have not diminished but have escalated as of late" she said, with a hint of confidence.

"You must be pretty muscular to carry a guitar that big" Tich commented, before his face turned to pure terror.

After Oats had picked up Tich, who was currently unconscious with a rather big bruise to the head. He took him to a nearby bench and then walked back to Catherine.

"We need him alive for this mission, you know" Oats said with a sigh and a chuckle.

"Are all men this insensitive?" she growled.

"Do you think I'm insensitive?" Oats replied.

"Depends on what you say next" Catherine said, frowning at Oats.

"You're not nearly as cute as normal, when you frown" Catherine blushed, as her anger faded away. "But I suppose Tich can get rather mouthy. He is just honest all the time" Oats laughed. "The most honest guy I know and you're the most loyal person I know"

"How so?" Catherine said, curiously.

"Well, you've been with us for a while now, and I know that Issac and Tich can be a handful sometimes, but" Oats paused "You could have left ages ago, I know Koko Village is not the best place in the world and the food that Issac makes is terrible, but you stuck with us, and put up with my friends cooking, so thanks, I guess".

Catherine just stared a Oats as she took in what he just said. They stood in silence for a while, as one of them waited for the other to say something. Catherine soon smiled, and turned her back to Oats. "For a airhead, you make one good leader and you say some of the most kindest things".

"It was a shame to see a pretty face so angry" Oats chuckled.

"Are you two going flirt all day or are you going to kiss" said a mysterious voice from behind.

Catherine jumped and whizzed around, to see Issac standing behind her, with a wide grin on his face. Catherine's face turned bright red as she reached shakily for her cello and took a fighting stance. Oats backed off and got a few medical supplies ready, just in case.

"s..s.say t...t..that again and I will...." Catherine said.

"Well!" Issac began "If Oats won't kiss you I....." Issac's vision went blank as pain rang through the top of his head.

Daring Doo had finished setting up her equipment and the ancient tomb was now brightly illuminated. She had to admit the tomb wasn't as old as she first thought it was. The stone pillars and bricks were hardly worn and the artifacts inside were beautifully preserved. The tomb's age had to be around about 500 years old from what Daring could decipher, but she had more pressing matters. Daring worked alone for most of her explorations because she was aware of or had heard about the existence of an artifact or treasure. However, she had stumbled upon this tomb by sheer luck and didn't know anything and had heard nothing about this place. So she had contacted an acquaintance by letter (using dragon fire) to help her.

"If finding a looted tomb isn't bad enough, then a undiscovered tomb with a Know-it-all inside is a nightmare" Daring grumbled. "Ooooooooh what's this? What's that? Here let me touch it and lick the damn thing" she said sarcastically.

"They have no respect for history and its treasures. All they want is fame and to make a profit" Daring sighed, as she looked at the statue again.

"What are you and were are you from?" she asked the statue, but then sighed. "Great, now I'm talking to a inanimate object" Daring said, while sighing again.

"King of the skies" said a small voice.

Daring, who had not heard the quiet voice, was wandering around and examining the hieroglyphics again. She wondered about the purpose of the tomb. Its wasn't well hidden and there were no boulder traps to chase her, either. She once thought that this was a temple of some kind, with the huge statue as the god, but her train of thought was soon brought to a close. Celestia was their ruler so who would worship a monster? Many explanations rattled inside Daring's head but she was unable to fit any of them together.

"What is this place for?" Daring said aloud.

"The beacon. The calling. The gate. The cause. The disaster." Said the voice again as if to answer her question.

"And what's with the monster in the centre?" Daring continued, still oblivious to the quiet voice.

"I am the King of the Skies. Must I repeat myself!" said the voice again.

"It looks funny" Daring said aloud.

A small growl echoed the tomb, which made Daring stand up and frantically look around. She couldn't see anything that resembled a predator, but she remained wary none the less.

"You look funny to me, Meat" came the voice again.

Daring, who was now more alert, plucked up her ears but couldn't make out what the strange voice had said. She moved closer to the centre of the room looking around to find the source of the noise.

She was about to investigate but was soon cut off by a rather sudden arrival.

"I HAVE ARRIVED!" shouted a rather happy Stallion, who burst through the tombs ancient door and tripped over an exposed wire.

"Yes! Me and the whole damn place can hear you" Daring sighed.

"For once I agree" said the voice again.

"So, lets see what we've got here" said the stallion, who eagerly looked around. "Hm! Yes this dates back to Star Swirl's time".

"Star Swirl? The famous unicorn?" questioned Daring, who was finding this hard to believe.

"Yes Daring! This is an amazing historical discovery. Star Swirl was quite the hermit. He hardly interacted with other the ponies. So to find something like this is simply fascinating. Who knew that there was a tomb like this, way up in the mountains?" said the stallion, with a spark in his eyes.

"Why just think about..."

"No" Daring interrupted.

"No?" said the confused stallion.

"Firstly! We are not selling anything. Secondly! Don't get you're hooves on everything, this is history. Respect it! Thirdly, don't take all the credit. I swear you guys are all the same" huffed Daring.

The Stallion just looked at Daring blankly for a few moments because of her outbreak. Where did all this sudden frustration come from? The two of them just stood there in silence.

"ARE YOU DONE!" boomed the voice.

"What did you say to me" Daring demanded, rage swelling up inside her.

"What? Wait? It wasn't me" said the stallion.

"STOP ARGUING!" boomed the voice again.

Daring looked around frantically trying to find the source of the voice, while the stallion backed up to a wall and stayed there.

"Aren't you going to help me?" Daring said, to the terrified stallion.

"Not when there's a horrendously loud voice booming around" said the stallion, who was shaking furiously "I think that we should run" he suggested.

"Oh grow up. I've been through worse" Daring said while rolling her eyes.

After a few moments of silence, both of the ponies decided to look around to see if they could spot anything. Finally Daring eyes rested upon the statue. At first she wasn't sure if what she thought was true, but she soon put all of the pieces of the puzzle together. She couldn't believe it. It wasn't possible.

"Hey! What kind of stone is that?" she asked the stallion.

"Oh this? started the stallion. "Well its a very rare type of stone. Its called Dragonite. Not many ponies know about it because it's so rare, but it is said to store a powerful type of magic. Why it can even...."

"Even be a vessel for souls?" Daring interrupted, as she stood in front of the towering statue.

"Why yes" said the stallion, who was quite frankly surprised "how did you know?"

Daring looked up at the statue. How could she miss something like this.

"Who are you?" she asked the statue. There was silence.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Daring shouted.

"I HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME the voice roared. Daring flinched. "IS THIS WHAT PASSES FOR MANNERS IN THIS LAND, HOW PATHETIC!" boomed the statue with high sense of authority.

Daring's jaw hit the floor. She couldn't believe it talked back to her. Wait! didn't it just say.....

"What do you mean pathetic!" growled Daring "YOU'RE just a statue, so what are YOU going to do about it!"

"Ummm! I don't think we should piss it off any more than we already have" called the stallion, who was currently hiding behind a pillar.

"Why should I? Just because its big and scary doesn't mean it can insult me like that" Daring shot back.

"But what if 'It' comes alive and attacks us?" the stallion called again.

"Its not going to do that and if it does then I have a bone or two to pick with it" Daring said bravely.

"It's definitely going to pick you're bones if it does" said the stallion under his breath.

The statue had been unnervingly quiet during the two ponies exchange of words.

It then began to laugh.

"HAHAHAHAHAH! SUCH FIRE IN YOUR HEART! SUCH COURAGE IN THE FACE OF DANGER! SO DARING IS YOUR NAME? IT SUITS YOU. I AM VOLDRAX AND YOU SHOULD BE HONORED, ONLY A SELECTED FEW KNOW OF MY NAME."

"Well I don't feel honored" Daring said under her breath.

"NO MATTER" growled Volrax "I HAVE BEEN CHOSEN AS THE KEEPER, AS THE BEACON."

"What do you mean?" Daring asked, desperately pressing for answers.

"YOU WILL FIND OUT IN DUE TIME, BUT FOR NOW I WILL RETURN TO MY SLUMBER. RETURN BY THE NEXT FULL MOON, DARING. I LOOK FORWARD TO OUR NEXT EXCHANGE."

With that the statue seemed to lose its strange aura and all was silent.

Ice, Stone and Yellow Snow.

Oats grunted as he carried the now unconscious Issac to the bench, where Tich was resting. Oats put Issac down beside Tich and gave a sigh. He had been reminded numerous times before that Catherine was a force to be reckoned with, but thankfully he had avoided the painful fate that came with her sudden spikes of anger and frustration. After applying bandages to Tich and Issac's heads to stop the bleeding (Yes! She had hit them that hard) he then turned his attention to Catherine, who was still showing her frustration.

"We haven't even accepted the request and we already have two casualties" Oats sighed, as he walked over to Catherine.

"It was Tich's oblivious nature and Issac's sudden advance that brought them to such a fate" Catherine said, as she slowly calmed down.

"Well we need them alive, so if you could restrain yourself for the length of the request, that would be appreciated" Oats replied carefully. This seemed to do the trick, as Catherine walked over to Oats with an apologetic look on her face. Oats sighed and smiled kindly at her.

Before they could say anything, a small gasp could be heard behind them. Oats turned around and saw a tall, dark haired girl. She wore a set of full plate armor, making her look heavily protected and she held a long katana, similar to that of Oats. She was also holding a 2x2 cup holder, that held what seemed to be cups of coffee. She looked nervously at Oats as if expecting an answer.

"Its okay Walker" Oats assured her. "'They will wake up soon with a minor headache. Nothing to worry about".

Walker let out a small sign of relief and then offered one of the coffees to Oats, while looking away. Oats raised an eyebrow but accepted the warm cup and smiled.

"Very generous of you Walker. Thanks".

Walker offered Catherine a cup and seemed more confident about her, than she had been with Oats. Catherine accepted with a smile as well. Walker then looked thoughtfully at the two unconscious figures on the bench. She then pointed at them while looking at Oats.

"Yes, I think its about time we woke them" Oats said, as he picked up a small pile of snow in each hand. Oat's then looked down at the two hunters. He then dropped one of the snow piles and looked at Tich. Oats shrugged, then pulled Issac forward and put some snow down his back.

The result was almost instant.

Issac's eyes snapped open and he leapt into the air while clutching his back. When he landed he began running around in random directions, desperately trying to get the snow out of his yellow jacket.

"HOLY FROST BALLS! THAT'S COLD! COLD, COLD, COLD. YAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAHAAAA."

Walker looked over at Oats, who was laughing his ass off. She then looked at Catherine, who was trying desperately to hold back a fit of laughter. Oats wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes and then walked over to Tich, who was still seated.

"You're awake aren't you Tich?" Oats said in a commanding voice.

No response.

"Come on, get up" Oats said, giving Tich a small kick.

No response.

"Oh well, looks like we will have to explore the ice cream cave without you". That got Tich's attention. Oats was suddenly grasped with monstrous strength and lifted clean off the ground. Tich looked furiously at Oats. His grip tightened as he brought Oats closer to his face.

Tich then hugged Oats and begin to cry under his helmet.

"PLEASE TAKE ME WITH YOU!" Tich cried, while he slowly bent Oat's spine with his crushing monster hug.

Oats could hardly breathe, let alone answer Tich, as he felt his spine almost shattering. Suddenly the pressure died down as Walker rushed to Tich and shook him, trying to stop Tich from snapping Oats in two. Tich then let go of Oats and turned to Walker.

"So! We are going together then sis?" Tich said while trying to hold back the tears. Walker nodded and hugged her brother. Tich then went from tears to explosive happiness (try to image an on and off switch).

"YAY!"

Walker let go of her brother and looked at Oats, who was lying on the ground. She gasped and knelt beside Oats and tried to wake him up.

Walker was a fragile and caring soul, but she had rarely spoken from an young age. She didn't show much in the way of strength but she had amazing skill when it came to wielding swords. So it was a startling surprise as she lifted Oats clean off the ground and shook him violently. Catherine could only stand there in awe at this sudden escalation of events while Issac laughed hysterically.

"She get's it from her brother" Issac said to Catherine, between laughing fits "Me and Oats have known Tich and Walker for years. She may seem fragile and don't get me wrong, she is, but when Oats gets hurt she goes into overdrive."

"Does she like him?" Catherine asked Issac, which only made him laugh harder.

"She has had a crush on him since our childhood" Issac somehow managed to say between breaths. "She's not very good at hiding it but Oats isn't very good when it comes to girls emotions. He's been oblivious to the fact that she likes him for years and the fact that she is very protective of him" Issac said as he finally calmed down.

Oats had woken up from near suffocation and spinal injury, only to find that he was being shaken like a pair of maracas,

"Walker you can stop now" Oats said in a wobbly voice, as Walker continued to shake him like there was no tomorrow.

After the ordeal was over and Oats had picked himself up, he then led the group over to a large message board. In most hunter towns and cities the message board is where hundreds of people post requests concerning a monster problem. Hunters can only hunt and capture/kill a monster if they have been give permission to do so. However they can defend themselves if they get attacked but they must only attack to drive away the monster or to escape.

However Koko villages message board had only one single job. It was quite sad really, a huge board that could have hundreds of jobs listed but they only had one. Oats tore the request down and took it to a small booth. A melynx sighed and stamped the request and wished them the best of luck in the unexplored cave.

The cave in question took a while to find but soon the group of hunter stood at the large and unsettling opening. The opening looked like it had been forced open by some monster because it didn't look natural. Before the hunters went in Oats carefully examined the crack.

"Not even Vex could do this" Oats said quietly to himself as he ran his fingers along the edge of the crack. "Oh well! That's not important right now" Oats said, as he caught up to the group.

XXX

It was dark and Daring was in a bad mood. She only just found out that the statue could talk and she was left with so many questions. It infuriated her, but reluctantly she packed up her equipment and made for a near by cave. Soon after the stallion walked out and joined her near the cave.

"One Tartarus of a find, I have to say" the stallion said eagerly. Daring just grumbled. "Still not happy about the fact that you have to wait to get some answers?" continued the stallion Daring scowled at him so he took that as a sign to shut up.

They reached the cave entrance and Daring wandered inside and started to build a small fire pit.

"What are you doing?" asked the stallion.

"Setting up camp. Why?" Daring said, not even bothering to look up at him.

"You mean you're staying the night here?"

"Yes"

"Why?"

"Because I want answers and I am not heading all the way back down this mountain to only climb all the way back up" Daring pouted.

"Well I can't just go if you're setting up camp. Besides, I'd like some answers too" the stallion said while he looked around the cave.

"Well if you're staying, at least tell me your name" Daring said, as she got some flint and lit the fire.

"Search Glass" said the Stallion who held out a hoof.

"Daring! But you already knew that" she said, returning the hoof shake.

Search Glass winched a bit as the shook hooves.

"Got quite the grip on you. You know that!" he said, as he broke the shake.

"Years of vine swinging and treasure hunting" she claimed proudly.

"But you have wings! Why not just fly?" questioned Search Glass.

"I could, but where's the fun in that!" Daring said while grinning smugly.

It was now pitch black outside Daring's cave. Both of the pony's huddled around the fire as they tried to stay warm. The mountain was surprisingly cold and Daring had wondered why there was no snow. It seemed like perfect conditions for natural snow. But natural snow was rare to find because the Pegasus maintain most of the weather, anyway. After a hour or so Daring got up.

"I've got to go for a minute" she said simply. She then walked off without Search Glass saying anything. She made her way further inside the cave and immediately it got very cold. Daring could see her breath as she walked further inside.

She then came across something very strange.

It was a small sludge puddle in a corner of one of the caves many tunnels. What was even stranger is that it was glowing purple. Daring looked closely at the goo but didn't touch it.

"Looks nasty! Whatever it is?" She said to herself.

Something else caught her eye inside the tunnel, that the goo was in. It looked like a piece of metal. Upon further inspection it had some writing on it, in a language that was unknown to Daring, but frighteningly similar to the ones located on the stone tablet inside the tomb. It was also slightly burnt at the top. Daring decided to go further inside the tunnel to see if anything else was inside.

She soon came to a clearing and the tunnel opened out into a cavern. It was amazing inside, there were strange blue crystals hanging from the ceiling. The cavern was also very cold. Daring cautiously made her way inside the cavern.

She then slipped.

"Ow owowowow! Cold, cold!" Daring muttered. "Stupid ice!"

Ice!?

Daring looked down and saw that a portion of the floor was covered in ice.

"But how come I didn't see any ice or snow on the way in? Water is needed as well? WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? Daring said, with mixed emotions.

The room was very strange. One side was stone. The other was ice.

Daring made her way to the icy side of the cavern in hopes of finding some more strange items.

Nothing, except her clopping hooves could be heard in the surprisingly dimly lit cavern. Daring found it hard to adjust to the ice, and kept sliding around and slipping. Her ears then picked up something. It was faint but it sounded like running water.

The noise excited Daring, as she made her rather slippery way to the source of the running water. She turned a corner and saw the running liquid and she bounded her way towards it but stopped just before it. Something was wrong. The liquid was a strange yellow color. The ice was steaming where the liquid hit it, and it left a rather discomfiting smell.

Daring then looked at the source of the strange smelly liquid to see......something.

It was tall and had two things sprouting out of its body. It stood on two legs and wore a strange rice hat, strange clothes and had a bow and a long sword strapped on its back. The source of the liquid was hidden behind a small pointy rock.

Daring was speechless and frozen with fear. She had never seen anything like this......Thing.

The liquid stopped running and a small zip noise came from the strange Thing that was inside a small opening in the wall.

They both looked at each other. Then screamed.

Making An Entrance.

The group of hunters were carefully making their way through the incredibly dark series of tunnels. so far they hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary (not that they could see much anyway). Issac had lit a few torches and handed them put to the others. This however did very little as the cave was still pitch black. The walk was unsettling. It was quiet. Nothing but their foot steps could be heard in the darkness.

"I'm telling you I saw something" Oats insisted.

"You see a orange horse like thing with wings while taking a piss? not likely" Issac laughed.

"It was real you heard it scream" Oats said get frustrated

"Well when we came to check all I saw was you and Tich yelling your heads off" Issac said smugly.

"I won the yelling contest" Tich added.

"Whatever" Oats groaned, not willing to embarrass himself further.

After a while Issac's laughter calmed down as they continued to walk.

Tich, Catherine and Walker walked together as Issac and Oats fell behind. Issac move closer to Oats and gave a slight shiver.

"Its perfect isn't it" Issac said with a large amount of disgust on his tongue.

"Yes it is" Oats replied sharing Issac's disgust.

"Well? You think one will show up?" Issac said bitterly.

"Pitch black cave with plenty of places to climb. If it wasn't here then i'd eat my hat" Oats simply said back.

After exchanging a quick nod they caught up to the rest of the party. Oats then checked his bag and revealed a few jars which contained a blue liquid that glowed very slightly in the dark.

"What's that?" Tich asked, his eyes stared excitedly at the jar.

"Something I hoped I don't have to use" Oats said with a slight hint of concern.

Tich stared at Oats for a while before stopping him in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" Tich said loudly "Something is wrong. Very wrong. Very very wrong, as in the bad type of wrong. Tich said in quick succession.

Oats looked up at the giant of a man and sighed

"There you go with you'r MPD" Oats said looking slightly annoyed.

Issac looked confused "I thought it was mood swings?"

"Could be both" Oats shrugged

"That's not the point. Whats on you mind. I need to know. For the sake of my comrades I will not rest until I have heard what troubles you so that I may share the burden with you" Tich said with deep passion.

"Idiotic loyalty?" Issac dead-paned.

"Idiotic loyalty!" Oats dead-paned.

"Even so what's the matter" Catherine asked as she managed to get a comment in between the rambling speeches Tich was firing out.

Oats sighed "Well a while ago when Issac and I were still kids, we found a small cave at the back of the village. My dad always told us never to go in there but our curiosity got the better of us and we slipped inside. Much like this one it was very dark and quiet but rather foolishly we pressed on. After a while I had the strange feeling that we were being watched and followed"

"You know, the tingling feeling on the back of your neck" Issac butted in.

"Yer well anyway" Oats continued. "We heard a scuffle behind us and saw that Tich had followed us inside.

"I thought you were preparing some sort of surprise party or something" Tich said, switching back to normal mode

"In a dark and seemingly dangerous cave. not likely" Issac dead-panned.

Oats thought this was a good moment to continue "we came to a particularly dark opening in the cave. what we saw was beautiful. In the centre of the room was a large glowing statue of some kind of glorified horse.

"Had a horn and wings too if I recall" Issac added.

"The Three of us looked at the strange stone and then it began to change. The stone moulded and shifted as if it were alive. It then covered our hands." Oats Issac and Tich cringed. "The stone then began to warm our skin. At first it was nice. It felt like the sunshine that we rarely get. It only lasted a few seconds through, suddenly it began to warm up really quickly and began to burn our skin.

"It was like touching the sun" Tich said with more happiness than was needed

"The pain was unbearable. Luckily after while or so the stone released us and left a strange mark on the back of our hands.

Issac shivered "This is where things get...strange".

"We began to hear a whisper. It was small at first barely noticeable. 'Three of them. Unarmed. Rip meat. Must wait. NO hungry now. Must wait.

"The voice had madness all over it" Issac said with a hint of venom

"However the voice got impatient. Then it attacked us. A Gigginox."

"It landed on top of us and screeched. It caused ice to crash from the ceiling.

"Needless to say we ran for our lives." Issac added (again)

Oats continued "The whispers soon became clearer. 'run small meals run. I'm coming for you' it said giving a mad laugh. After running for what seemed an eternity we saw the light at the entrance but...

"I tripped" Issac interrupted "It then took me into its maw. Its rows of teeth sliced and cut me up and it then vomited on me."

Catherine and Walker back up a bit

"It was years ago so I got the smell out eventually"

"The Gigginox has poison glands on its belly tail and head which give off a purple glow. When it vomited its poison on me my vision became hazy. Then Oats dad came.

"Oat's father?" asked Catherine for it was her first time hearing about Oats family.

"Yup" Issac said giving Oats a friendly but firm headlock. "Oats's old man is a life saver. A man who can walk among monsters. A true legend in his time. He smashed the ugly Gig's face with his sword slashing its glowing eyes, causing it to cough me up. It screamed and bled heavily from them. The poisonous bastard retreated back into its god forsaken cave. Oats dad then blocked up the cave by causing a cave in. But I was badly poisoned" Issac paused "Give or take I had about thirty seconds to live. Oats however gave me a strong experimental antidote. The three of us were big inventors even back then" Issac chuckled "It was almost impossible for it to work..but it did. It had a few side effects like increased resistance to poison and the antidote made me feel drunk".

"But what's that got to do with now" asked Catherine who was clearly touched by the story and had tears in her eyes and was comforting Walker.

Issac just sighed "Oats father didn't kill it. He only wounded it, but it is highly likely the bastard is still alive and this cave has been sealed for some time. See where I'm going".

Catherine and Walker nodded.

"Good lets get this over with then" with that Issac picked up his pace

"Is he-"

Oats cut Catherine off "Don't ask".

The silence was..........awkward.

Oats stopped.

"The whispers.....there back."....................

XXX

"SEARCH GLAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! WE ARE LEAVING" Daring shouted as she bounded down the cave at ludicrous speed.

Five more minutes.... Search Glass said groggily, it was just past five am after all. Celestia's sun hadn't even come up yet

"No, no and no" Daring said in quickly

"But why I thought you didn't what to head back down the mountain" Search Glass replied with annoyance.

"Some...thing is in here with us. Something I have never seen before." Daring said while she packed up her equipment in a hurry.

"So you have the courage to talk down a dragon statue but not a strange thing in a cave." Search dead-panned

"One! It was a statue, what was it going to do? Two! We are in a dark cave and there is a strange monster that easily reaches about 6.5 feet. Three! It can melt ice with some sort of acid it produces."

"So how do we get back in the middle of the night?" Search said and was now wide awake.

"We use this" Daring said pulling out a crystal

"A way point stone? Aren't through's incredibly rare? Search said in awe.

"You are talking to a treasure hunter and adventurer you know" Daring dead-panned.

"Oh right sorry" Search said feeling slightly embarrassed. "But where did you find it?"

"It was a present from a old friend of mine" Daring said fondly "The crazy fool, inspired me to do adventuring. Always going on about stars and galaxy....mystery's of the universe.......time travel, the works. Never did tell me his name though ....strange"

"Weren't we in a hurry or something from the strange monster" Search said waving his arms making a ooOOoOoo noise

"Do that again and you leave with a bloody nose" Daring threatened.

"I'm sorry"

"Just don't do it again. Lets go" Daring declared.

"Fine. But don't blame me if I fall asleep" Search moaned still getting the sleep out of his eyes

"That's ok. I will just leave you behind" Daring said playfully increasing her pace.

"Hey wait!"

XXX

"I'M GOING TO BLAST YOU INTO OBLIVION YOU POISONOUS SACK OF PALE FLESH".

"Issac we don't have time for this we need to get out of here".

"What is that putrid thing".

"YAY it's Gig how ya been. How did Issac taste. Reunion party so much to plan so little time. Burnt fried noodles or charcoal meat".

"HEY MY COOKING IS NOT THAT BAD".

"You humans are strange"

"Aren't you supposed to be chasing us?"

"Oh right sorry slight brain damage and I'm blind so forgive me"

"Its ok"

"Thanks"

...

After a long pause the chase continued as the Gigginox bore down on the five hunters.

10 years after the cave was sealed the monster was a lot bigger, faster and stronger than before. It used the wall to chase after them. Skilfully jumping from one wall to the next and sometimes on the ceiling while spitting poison vomit balls. Most hunters could face a Gigginox and fair fairly well as long as they avoided its poison. However the cave was almost pitch black and the monster had the jump on them so Oats didn't want to risk a battle in which they were at a clear disadvantage but Issac had other ideas.

"How is this thing seeing us? I thought it was blind?" Catherine yelled as she sprinted along side Issac.

"Essence. Think of it like a kind of echo location" he screamed.

In the world of monster hunters there is a mysterious force called Essence. Essence is an aura that surrounds all living things in the world. Its mysterious property's is what allows such monsters like the Giggnox to exists. Through evolution the monsters have learned to harness essence to allow them to use unique powers. The Gigginox's essence allows it to see in the dark like passive night vision even when blinded in this case. It also allows it to spit balls of poison by encasing it in essence and to cling to walls by flowing it through its claws.

After running for a good ten minuets Issac finally pulled out his bow gun and spun around. Using the ice to carry him forward he loaded a few shells into it and took aim and activated his essence.

Hunters have only recently been able to use essence for themselves. The essence from hunters depend on the person and what weapon they carry. Issac is a gunner so his essence helps him with focus. Using his essence Issac can increase his reaction and reflex speed dramatically, so much so that time literately slow down from his point of view allowing him to set up and empty his guns ammo in less than 2 seconds. However the longer he is using this ability he becomes mentally tired and needs frequent breaks in-between.

Time indeed seemed to come to a stand still. The cave became brighter. Issac's eyes glowed a faint blue as he lined up a perfect shot. The shell left the gun slowly. Issac could see every detail as he saw the shells flight path. The casing split open and a small explosive charge shot out with increased speed. The charge flew into the Gigginox's maw and exploded.

After the blast Issac's time returned to normal as the monster tripped at the sudden pain in its mouth screeching as it did so and as Issac's ice slide came to a stop he pulled out another gun. This one was bigger than the last one and had red scales covering it.

Not wasting any time Issac assumed a rapid fire stance (which is like a crouch but you dig yourself in). Oats and the rest of the team took note of hiss sudden attack and moved in to assist.

"Dam it Issac we need to go" Oats said sternly as his compact bow snapped open.

"It nearly killed me ten years ago so the least I could do is rough him up a bit" Issac said with a sly grin behind his mouth guard.

"Fine but you get the bar tab when we get back" Oats replied heartily, there was no point in arguing with Issac

The Gigginox however had recovered from its explosive digestion (insert terrible joke) and bounded at the the hunters. "You escaped me before but not now, not now notnownotnownotnonwnotnow It screamed madly.

Tich rushed forward to meet it half way and swung his huge sword at the monster catching its head with the blunt side.

Heavy swordsmen like Tich tend to be tough and highly resistant to damage as well as being demonically strong, in Tich's case he is similar to a train. Strong, heavy and hits like one too. So its no surprise that the the great sword that easily weighed two tons was swung like a stick in Tich's twitchy hands

The sword's shock visibly ripped the Gigginox's skin before the momentum kicked in and sent the monster crashing into the cave's wall.

As the dust and shattered ice settled a huge crack shot up the wall that the Gigginox had crashed into.

"This is bad we need to move now, the cave is getting unstable now" Oats commanded as the crack became longer. Tich ran back with surprising speed avoiding sharp ice spikes falling from the roof and charging straight through at a shattered rock which crumbled in half.

Issac however was still in his dug in stance and looked ready to take another shot.

"Issac we need to go NOW!" Oats cried avoiding a few spikes himself.

"One more shot and its all over" Issac muttered, drowning out all other noise as a spike narrowly missed his shoulder.

"Tich grab Issac and run" Oats commanded.

Tich gave a cry as if to say yes and he charged through rocks and lumps of ice.

But before he could reach Issac the Gigginox had recovered from the forceful shock and had got a head start. Although Tich was faster and hadn't received a blow to the head that would knock most monsters out the Gigginox was ignoring the spikes that rained down from the roof buying it valuable time. Gathering up its strength it launched a poison ball straight at Issac. But the shot landed next to Issac splashing next to him but still some of the goo cover his right arm.

Tich had however caught up with the monster and rammed in to the side as he rushed ahead to save his friend. He grabbed Issac round the belly and continued running without missing beat or slowing down And ran along side Oats who injected him with the blue liquid from the jars.

"Where are the girls?" Tich said excitedly, enjoying every passing minute.

"When you smashed the Gig I told them to retreat back to the village first so that we could lead it away from everyone" Oats said between breaths. "Tell you what though. That was one hell of a swing Tich.

"NOBODY HURTS MY FRIENDS" Tich roared.

BANG

Oats turned around to see at his dismay a krag round flying towards the ceiling.

The wind was knocked out Issac's lungs when Tich forcefully grabbed him and the antidote made him feel drunk. But he had to get one last shot to seal of the cave again but had yet to realize they weren't heading back to the village.

The round stuck in the ceiling for a few seconds. The seconds seemed like hours before the round exploded. The cave gave a mighty groan and the walls began to crumble. Pieces of ice larger than a man crashed down a round them as they ran down the collapsing cave system.

"I see a light guys" Tich cried ecstatically.

"Then what are we waiting for" Oats giddily as the adrenaline took over

The light at the end of the tunnel grew larger and a strange smell hit there noses.

"Is that a cake I smell" Oats said rather strangely.

"OMG CAKE" Tich cried.

"Ima gonna eatsss that cake first" Issac said drunkenly

The light grew brighter until the hunters burst through into a colourful......bakery?

Tich threw Issac into the bakery first, using his essence to give him extra strength.

Issac shot through the bakery window and crashed into a few tables spilling some coffee and cup cakes and alarming a few strange residences.

Oats was next through the window landing clumsily on his feet a drew out a dijin and took a fighting stance.

Tich crashed through the window as the Giggiox came through as well.

The Gigginox pinned Tich down and stretched its neck to swipe at Oats knocking him onto his feet. Since It had used most of its poison up already it had to get physical and it went to attack Oats again. Oats was ready for this and activated his essence. A nearby table warped and reformed into a a huge gauntlet and attached itself to Oats hand. Taking a deep breath he focused all his energy into his shoulder and punched.

Tich was strong due to his essence which acted like a extra set of muscles. Even though Oats was not as strong as Tich the impact was still dominant as the Gigginox crashed through the bakery wall into the street.

"Dude you just decked Gig in the face" Issac said, still drunk from the antidote. "You are like 20% cooler now".

"Not now Issac just stay here. "Tich, lets bounce" Oats ordered and they both went after the Gig.

"Issac picked up a rather small seat and sat down at a nearby table and took a swig of the coffee that was still there. Issac looked around and saw a brightly colored horse thing looking in both shock and awe.

"Oh great now I'm seeing the colourful thing as well. Stupid antidote." Issac said as the coffee slowly made him sober. but not before Issac saw a colourful looking cannon in a closet that had the door torn off by the Gig.

Issac smiled.

"Time to have some fun"

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long. Writers block is a pain in the neck to deal with but I'm get back into writing so the next chapter will be out sooner. Oh and check out some of the past chapters. I put some pics so you can see what the monsters look like. Oh and here are what Oats Issac and Tich look like.

Issac:
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100302065446/monsterhunter/images/a/ab/MH3-HvyBowGun.png

Tich:
http://images.wikia.com/monsterhunter/images/5/5b/Gravios-Hammer.jpg

Oats:http://th01.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2012/288/3/0/commission__monster_hunter_yukumo_by_serenamidori-d5hyn5q.png
(all images copyrights go to there respected owners)

First Contact.

Twilight was sleeping after another late night of reading. She had received a letter from Celestia informing her that some new and seemingly hostile monsters had been sighted in random locations all over Equestria. She had received some blurred photos to use as reference. After she had looked in every animal encyclopedia book available she eventually got some sleep. Even while she slept the task set by her teacher dawned on her immensely. She had been warned not to approach any of the monsters because of other researcher reports that the monsters were very hostile, but how was she supposed to learn any more without interacting or even approaching these strange creatures.

After a few stressful but well need hours of sleep she finally opened her eyes and the sweet smell of breakfast hit her. She groaned and stretched her tired body before she rolled out of her bed and walked over to her bathroom to freshen up. After fixing her mane, tail and brushing her teeth she polishing her horn sand made her way downstairs feeling much better. When she entered the kitchen she saw Spike finishing some fired hay for himself and some grass pancakes for her.

"Morning Spike" Twilight said, giving off a long yawn.

"Morning Twi" Spike said, serving breakfast and letting out a yawn of his own "guess they are infectious".

They both sat there eating their breakfast in silence as they both slowly woke up.

"So what are we going to do about this creature project" Spike asked, as he was taking his empty plate to the sink and washed it off.

"I don't know" Twilight groaned, as she rubbed her temples "the reports said that most of them were territorial and aggressive, so how can we learn anything without getting close to one".

"Fluttershy?"

"We can try but remember her condition when we had stop that dragons snoring. She was terrified and I refuse to put her in the same state."

"True but what are we going to.....-"

"TWILIGHT"

The library door exploded and Twilight was tackled by something pink.

"Pinkie not the door again" Spike groaned "going to have to fix it again"

"TwilightIneedyourhelpsomenewponysarecometotownandIneedyourhelptogetthepartyready" Pinkie cried in record time.

"Um what" Twilight managed to get out "Pinkie can you say that slower please.......and get off me"

"Oops sorry Twi"

Pinkie jumped off the purple unicorn and she dusted herself off.

"Ok now tell me why you broke my door again for the third time this month" Twilight sighed, as Spike set to work fixing the door.

"Well I woke up today to see Gummy biting a lamp in the corner of the room so I tried to get to get him off but he wouldn't let go so I-"

"Pinkie the-reason-for-breaking-down-my-door" Twilight said slowly.

"Oh well when I got Gummy off the lamp I went to bake some muffins and I had a new idea for a cup cake so I tried to make it but I made some gold bars instead and I wonder what i'm going to do with all this gold so-"

"PINKIE THE DOOR" Twilight shouted "wait gold bars?"

"Well my tail twitched twice and my tummy itched and my ear flopped, that means a few new pony's are coming to town and I need your help with the decorations" Pinkie said, as she bounced around the unicorn.

"Finally" Twilight signed "alright Pinkie I will help you but I need to do a few things first. Oh and how many are there by the way"

"Hmmm I think four" Pinkie chimed. "But thanks Twilight for hel.....-"

Pinkie stopped bouncing and her back leg started shaking like mad.

"What does that mean" Spike asked, as he tested the repaired door.

Pinkie just stared at her back leg for a few worrying seconds.

"Pinkie" Twilight, waved a hoof in front of pinkie's face and got no reaction.

"SOME PONYS GOT MY PARTY CANNON" Pinkie cried.

"Wha-" was all that Twilight got out before screams could be heard from the the street and a crash soon after.

XXX

Gig crashed through the bakery wall from the force of Oats wooden gauntlet. His body hit the floor hard as he spat out a bit of blood and growled.

"Dark ones demand blood I....will.....obey".

After regaining a bit of strength he staggered onto his claws and turned on his essence. The scene around him was one of panic. Strange beings ran around in panic and fled to their homes.

"Fooooooooooood" Gig drooled.

A small one ran into his leg and froze with fear.

"Foooooood" Gig moaned again, as he prepared to indulge in a light snack.

"Oh no you don't".

Gig screamed as he whiped his head around to attack.

Tich had charged out of the bakery and grabbed Gig's head as it extended and wiped round. Gig's head stretched a good four feet and as strong as Tich was the rubber like skin was straining his foot hold as he struggled to hold the thrashing monster's head.

Oats burst out of the bakery, sword and shield in hand and grabbed the small pony and ran to the safety of a big tree house.

Oats smashed the door down and put the little pony on the floor and saw that it was shaking with fear.

"OH COME ON" a voice moaned as Oats turned to see a small reptile....thing.

"I just mended the door" it groaned again but froze as Oats and it locked eyes.

"Issac is going to love this" Oats breathed.

"Love what" a new voice said as Oats turned around and saw a purple unicorn thing.

"Oats could use some help here"

Oats sighed "Sorry about the door" was all he said and bolted out the door but not before hearing "Spike. Letter. Now"

Tich had slid slightly closer to Gig as he thrashed around wildly. Oats drew his weapons and charged at the extended neck but Gig sensed this and spewed some poison in Tich's face causing him to let go and his neck to snap back as Oats stumbled past his moved target.

Oats recollected himself and threw Tich one of the blue jars and charged at Gig again.

"Pointless Pointless Pointless Pointless" Gig repeated.

"Oh shut up" Oats said, as he smacked Gig with his shield and rolled out of the way of a slash. Tich took the antidote and the side affects took over. Tich charged into the side of Gig and carried it with him and crashed into the side of a tall elegant looking building. The wall exploded opened and rubble and cloth flew everywhere and a wooden beam collapsed as well. A high pitched scream rang through the room as a white thing stood there with a look of shock and dismay.

"Sorry ma'ma i'm just sdawcssadasdadas" Tich said as the drunk side affect kicked in.

"GHAAAAA stupid hunter submit to the dark ones" Gig growled, as it emerged from the wreckage and caused the white pony thing to scream again.

"hmmm nope" Tich said, as he picked up the 12 foot long wooden beam and swung it at Gig causing him to fly out of the room and into the street again.

"Home run WOooOooo" Tich cried, before running after Gig.

***

Issac was slowly becoming sober again as he strapped the colorful cannon to his back and slowly and calmly walked out of the trashed bakery. He looked around and saw some figures off in the distance coming towards the town with surprising speed. Pulling out his light bow gun he looked down the scope to see a few flying pony things. A few of them where on an chariot of some kind and had horns. But the ones that caught his attention were the ones with both wings and horns.

"Either i'm still drunk" Issac said with a hiccup "or we are in deep trouble".

At that moment Gig flew by and crashed into another house revealing some terrified looking pony things before getting back up and rushing Tich.

Isaac pulled out the cannon and read the instructions that came with it.

"Why does it even have instructions" Issac muttered "right" he began "Party Artillery Room Transformer Y class cannon mark one or P.A.R.T.Y Cannon"

Step one: Set the cannon to desired setting. Issac saw a gauge on the side and cranked it up to max and the cannon visibly swelled.

"Ok" Issac said in confusion.

Step two: Point cannon at intended area.

"Gigs face is the intended area" Issac chuckled.

Step Three: Press the big red button.

"......thats it? Issac said, as he checked the instructions again. "Well Ok"

Issac looked at the back of the cannon and saw a big button with the letters PARTY TIME.

"Awesome sauce" Issac thought as he cracked his knuckles and rotated his shoulders. "PARTY TIME"

XXX

"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna thank goodness" Twilight cried, as the Alicorns appeared in a flash of light with a few guards that Shining and Cadence brought with them.

"Twilight are you ok" Cadence said, as she hug the unicorn firmly.

"Yes tell us of these strangers" Luna said calmly.

"Well Spike and I were having breakfast and Pinkie came in and told me that four new pony's were coming here with her Pinkie sense" that raised a few eyebrows but no pony questioned it as Twilight went on.

"Suddenly there was a some screams and a big crash and a voice came from the town square".

"What did it say" the white allicorn asked.

"Something about food." Twilight said, as her eyes grew wider.

"So they mean to harm our subjects" Luna said, with anger in her eyes.

"Well not all of them" Twilight injected.

"Pray tell" Luna demanded.

"Well the two legged one came in here earlier with a foal and left her here for protection".

"Where is this foal" Celestia asked calmly.

"She is upstairs resting she was shaking when whatever it was came in" Twilight said, as she looked to the stairs.

"I see, best we not bother her then. She must be shaken up after all that" said the Alicorn of the night.

"Indeed Luna that would be best" Celestia reassured.

"Was the thing armed in any way" Shining asked.

"It had a red glowing sword and a red spiked shield" Spike said, as he had seen more of the thing than Twilight.

"Any magic?" Shining asked again.

"Not from what I saw but they seem to have claws" Spike said, as he remembered the strange being.

"Claws?! Did they have body armor!" Shinning asked rather hastily.

"Uh yer why?" Spike said, being a bit taken back by Shinning sudden question.

"Because as well as monsters coming out of nowhere there have been reports of two legged beings who hunt and kill the monsters as well as threaten and harm pony towns."

A crash shook the tree and a few more cries could be heard.

"We must hurry" Luna commanded, and the guards stood at attention. "We must observe the enemy before we attack is that clear"

"Yes Princess" Shinning and the guard said in unison.

XXX

Gig ducked as the wooded beam rushed past, crashing into another wall and the residence scream and ran for their lives. Gig wiped his head and cause Tich jump back into the open.

The Gigginox walked out into the open area, panting heavily, drool and poison dripped from his mouth.

"The dark ones demand blood I will consume you" Gig said, with venom (bad joke alert) in every word.

"EAT THIS" Tich roared, as he took the beam and threw it with demonic strength as he flared up his essence causing the beam to fly like a missile but sadly it the Gigginox dodged and caught Tich in its tail.

"ENOUGH" Gig scream, as he pooped a strange substance from his tail encasing Tich in the sticky and rubber like goo. Tich tried to break free but the goo stuck to him and only stretched at his attempts.

After encasing Tich, Gig turned his attention to Oats. They walked in around each other. Oats never taking his eyes off Gig. Oats drew his Rathalos Sword and shield. The blade hissed with heat as it glowed a deep red and orange. After a few rotations they stopped and Oats rushed Gig. Gig grasped a piece of wreckage with his tail and threw it a Oats who just sliced it clean in half as the wreckage was no match for the blades intense heat. Oats slammed his shield into Gigs chest but got knocked back by a rubbery neck whip.

***

Issac found the battle site after chasing Tich who made Gig crash through half of the buildings in the town. Issac knew Oats can't keep up the fight forever but what could he do. Then a crazy but inventive idea came to mind.

"I'm drunk who cares" Issac mutter, as he barged into a house that didn't have any holes in it......yet. Over in the corner of the room Issac saw what appeared to be a family of pony things that just looked at Issac scared to death.

"Morning" Issac said, as he took a look at the gas cooker and filled a canister he had with gas and went over to the kitchen table and began to build something (Just like this)

The gas canister was attached to a pressure valve with a metal hose at the end. The valve was hooked up to a trigger and beneath the hose was a small lit candle. After wiping a tear from his eye at his beautiful creation he ran with it out of the house and called to Oats.

"OATS GOT A PRESENT FOR YA" Issac called, as he threw the contraption at Oats who barely caught it after avoiding another attack and as Gig prepared to bite down on on him he pulled the trigger.

Flames shot out of the hose end and spewed into Gigs face. Gig screamed as his pale and bare skin did little to resist the flamethrowers effect. Gig backed away tossing his head around wildly trying to put out the flames. Oats tried again but the canister was empty. Gig recovered and opened his maw wide enough to swallow him whole and closed Oats closed his eyes and waited. All he heard was a sound like a plug being pulled and when Oats opened his eyes Issac had stuck a colorful cannon into Gigs mouth.

"PARTY TIME" Issac cried, as he hit the big button.

Gig visibly inflated to twice his size his wounded eye bulged as his body was filled with streamers party banners and cake. Lots and lots of cake. When the inflating stopped and Issac pulled the cannon away Gig threw up everything. Large cakes, streamers, punch, balloons, small cakes, party hats, party blowers, more cake, then some poison and some actual vomit all flowed like a fire hose from his mouth and tail.

Needless to say Gig passed out from emptying three rooms worth of party supplies and as adangerous black and red energy discharge rippled across his body a rune like symbol appeared on Gigs back and head before fading away and then Gig collapsed on the ground.

Issac and Oats caught their breath before pulling Tich free of his slimy prison and collected their thoughts

"One thing has just come to mind guys" Oats said, sheathing his sword and sitting down on the ground "Where the hell are we"

"You are in Equestria" a rather angry voice called, and the three hunters and the unconscious Gigginox was approached by a slightly bigger white pony with wings and a horn followed by a blue one and a then a few.........dozen guards.

Tich burped and a small blue bubble came out of his mouth and burst.

"There goes the side affect" Oats said quietly, as Tich grabbed his head as the hangover hit him full force.

Issac looked at the white pony and narrowed his drunk eyes. He took a full breath of air and slammed his right foot onto the top of the cannon and struck a pose and shouted at the ponies.

"I ONLY HAVE ONE QUESTION"

"And what pray tell what is that" the blue one answered, with a bad frown on her face.

"Issac don't say anything stupid" Oats whisperers to Issac.

"WHO! THE! BLOODY HELL! ARE! YOU!"

Time seemed to come to a stand still.

Shining and the Guards had their mouths wide open in shock. Twilight's eye twitched as her mane began to stick up in random places. The towns folk stood in a crowd and were just as shocked. Luna's face was deep red with rage. Celestia was either unaffected or had the universes best poker face.

"NOW TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER"

Oats face palmed.