CMMK (Cutie Mark Monster Killers)

Apple Bloom strolled fearlessly through the ever free forest as rays of the moonlight beamed through the opening of it's canopy. She remained absolutely silent as the gently howling wind rustled the foliage above her, her casual and almost playful saunter inviting to any creature of the night who may have been observing her from the thick vegetation. She would pause every once in a while to sniff the air so as to follow the fowl wet dog smell that pervaded it; there was no need for them to announce their presence. She knew they were watching.

"What do you seek, child?" A low and reverberating voice growled from an unknown entity in the darkness.

Apple Bloom smiled under her hooded cloak. "Ah'm here to kill ya," she answered bluntly, her courage not faltering to the beasts intimidatingly deep voice. "All o' y'all."

A chorus of howls and laughter rang out from every direction.

"So, it is fame that you seek?" The voice spoke again.

The young mare sat and drew back her hood. "No, just to kill ya," she reiterated in her deceptively innocent voice.

The bestial howls and laughter continued.

"You are bold, little one. You must be the fourth adventurer who has stepped hoof into our territory in order to claim some sort of justice, or retribution. A fool's errand, indeed. Or, should I say, a foals?"

The bellowing laughter rang out once again; it sounded as if it was getting closer every time.

"Ah'm not here for justice, fame, or revenge. Ah simply want to kill all y'all." Apple Bloom stated as she undid the clasp on her cloak, letting it fall into a pile on the ground and revealing her weapon which was rigged to her back.

"Oh my!" The beast whimpered in mock intimidation. "Boys, she's got an axe! We better leave this one alone!" The mocking laughter went on unceasingly.

The red maned mare took her weapon from it's rig. "Ah wonder what color a warg's blood is," she said curiously as she gently caressed her hoof down the edge of her double headed axe, a beam from the moonlight gleaming menacingly from it's head as she slowly turned it. "Ah made a wager with one o' mah buddies that it was green. She said it was blue, but blue is too pretty a color to ooze from such weak and disgusting creatures such as y'rselves... No offense."

"You little shit!" The beast growled. "Weak? Disgusting? Bah! My pack alone has killed finer warriors than you, if it would even be appropriate to use such a word to describe such a timid and weak race such as yours... No offense!"

"You sound like you get angry pretty easily. And you sound like you don't even have the intellect to come up with a decent comeback. Ah shutter to think of what it would be like ta be such a weak and stupid creature with no spine or dignity." The mare taunted calmly as she continued the inspection of her weapon. "Ah gotta be honest: I really did come here ta kill all o' y'all, but, now I just feel kinda bad. Ah'm start'n to feel like Ah'm pick'n on ya. Guess I'll just go home."

The young mare reached down to withdraw her cloak, but just before she was able to touch it, a large and powerful paw stomped on it, causing the ground to vibrate under them.

Apple Bloom slowly looked up to see a giant wolfs mouth full of gleaming, white, snarling teeth.

"Oh mah!" Apple Bloom let out a disingenuous lamentation. "And you're ugly, too? You poor thang!"

The beasts eyes glowed red as he reared his head back and roared thunderously only an inch away from the unintimidated mare, her mane and tail whipping wildly in the wind from it's vociferous bellow.

"And your breath stinks?!" she widened her eyes in mock sympathy.

Apple Bloom prepared for the blow as the wolf-like creature drew it's large paw back. She stood up on her hind legs and twisted her body in evasion as it swiped at her.

"Ya gotta be faster than that, sugarcube," she advised as she swiftly swung her axe down and liberated the K-9's paw from the rest of it's foreleg.

The mutt yelped as it fell to the ground in surprise. "Kill her!" it howled, it's face twisted in rage and agony. "Bite her still-living belly and feast upon her innards!"

A group of weaker-looking wolf-beasts suddenly charged from the darkness in every direction. Apple Bloom swung her axe and gracefully severed the heads of two that leaped at her head on. She then spun around and drove the head of her weapon down, slicing another's head clean in half. One managed to slam into her, but the combat-savvy mare used it's own momentum against it as she hooked a foreleg around it's neck, spun it around, and flung it into a tree, impaling it on a broken branch. Another attacked from behind, but this time, it was too close for Apple Bloom to spin around and direct her weapon toward it, so, instead, she struck it hard in the throat with her elbow, crushing it's windpipe. It fell to the ground and rolled about choking and gasping for breath before it eventually laid still. Another attempted an attack from behind as apple bloom got down on all fours, bucked it hard, and sent it reeling back into the darkness with a pained yelp.

Another group charged from the blackness of the forest. This time, not just a few, but dozens as they attempted to overwhelm her with sheer numbers.

"Savage, now!" A voice called out from an unknown location. The berzerking mare quickly dropped to the ground on her belly next to the pack leader.

"How ya doin', handsome?" She greeted the tormented beast with a mocking grin.

A volley of bolts suddenly flew from the forests foliage. The wooden projectiles rained down into the massive pack, running each and every one through with lethal precision.

"It's an ambush!" The leader howled.

"How many did you bring with you, you coward?!" The mutt roared at the mare who lay beside him.

"Just two," she answered nonchalantly.

Scootaloo jumped from the tree from which she sat perched and gracefully rolled as she hit the ground and landed into a crouched position, her lethal custom-made pump-action carbine crossbow gripped tightly in her forelegs.

More wargs leaped from the darkness of the forest.

"Put the screws to em, Shadow Dancer!" Apple Bloom cheered.

With calm nerves and deadly precision, Scootaloo cocked her crossbow and fired a shot, felling another beast. She cocked again, fired again, then cocked again, and fired again as they closed the distance on her, but the dexterous mare kept firing, every pull of the lever spelling doom for yet another beast until the crossbow she held finally clicked.

"Well, that's unfortunate," she stated as she looked down at her weapon with a cocked eyebrow.

Apple Bloom attempted to get to her hooves to offer her assistance, but the pack leader clamped it's powerful jaws around her leg and pulled her back down. "Your friend is dead!" he growled triumphantly from behind his clenching teeth which held Apple Bloom's leg firmly in place.

"Oh, ye of little intelligence!" Scootaloo cackled as she got up on her hind legs, rigged her crossbow, then drew a dagger in the crook of each foreleg. She began to dance in a strange and fluid motion, her knives waving around in a series of complicated looking motions.

She sidestepped a charge from one of the monsters, spinning then retaliating with a stab to it's spine. Three more attacked her simultaneously in triangular formation, but the dual wielder spun quickly like a deadly tornado of razors, instantly killing all three of her attackers as they fell to the ground bleeding profusely, a network of deep cuts and stabs lining their faces, heads, necks, and chests. Her dance became so fast and fluid that leaves began to spin around her as she continued to slay her attackers with skill and deadly grace.

The pack leader withdrew it's teeth from Apple Bloom's leg as she swung her axe at his head, missing it's skull by just an inch and slicing off it's ear. The warg then threw his head back and howled as loudly as it could, it's high pitched whine taking the two mares off guard as they covered their ears.

"The entirety of the pack will be here soon,"  The wolf cautioned. "You'd better leave if you don't want to die!"

"Good," Scootaloo quipped before ejecting the empty cartridge from the bottom of her crossbow and slapping in a fresh one.

"We can end this all in one night," Apple Bloom concluded before she drove her axe into the leader's head, killing it as bits of bone, brain matter, and blood splattered her coat and mane

"Hey, their blood is green," Scootaloo lamented. "Looks Like I owe somepony a drink."

"Told ya," Apple Bloom teased as she hobbled to her comrade so they would be back-to-back.

They were completely silent as they heard the wolves ominous howls in the distance.

"How's the leg?" Scootaloo asked as her eyes scanned the forest for the incoming attackers.

"It's fine. Ah can already feel Spell Weaver mending it."

Scootaloo looked down at Apple Blooms leg. The blood around the wound began to slowly seep back inside of the teeth marks before the holes in her pockmarked leg mended as if she had never been bitten.

Can you hear us, Spell Weaver? Apple Bloom projected with her mind, knowing that Sweetie Belle would be able to hear her thoughts.

Loud and clear. The snow white mare answered in her squeaky voice that she managed to keep even into her adulthood.

Can you tell how many are coming? Scootaloo asked.

Just a moment... I'm sensing forty seven... make that fifty. The good news is that they are all approaching from the east, so they wont be surrounding you.

That's good. Any suggestions? Apple Bloom projected.

How many bolts does Shadow Dancer have?

I just loaded a new cartridge, and I have two more. Each holds ten rounds. Scootaloo answered.

Thirty bolts, then? That's good. Why don't you fly above and pick them off from a distance while Apple Bloom pulls them in?

I was thinking the same thing, Scootaloo agreed as she spread her wings and hovered above the soon-to-be arena.

Savage, I'm going to buff you with a defensive augmentation that should heighten your awareness and make you a bit faster. I'm also going to replenish your strength for you.

You're the best, Apple Bloom said encouragingly.

I know, Sweetie Belle replied with a cocky giggle as she projected her spell.

A shimmering aura momentarily shined around Apple Bloom as she felt every bit of her energy returning to her. She then felt a strange sensation come over her as her eyes changed from her natural color to a radiant glowing purple. She surveyed her surroundings as she was suddenly aware of all life around her. She could hear the beating hearts of resting birds in the trees, shuffling of the grass as the wargs approached in the distance, the rhythmic beating of Scootaloo's wings in the sky, even the bugs as they dug beneath the soil under her. Everything seemed as if it was moving in slow motion as she could now hear her own heart beat, the corners of her vision throbbing in synchronization with it's rhythm. She could even see into the darkness as if it was clear as day.

Apple Bloom drew in a deep breath as she prepared for the battle that was to come. "They're here!" She yelled to her comrade above her.

"Let them come," Scootaloo cocked her crossbow as she could see the rustling trees and hear the trampolining paws approaching. "Let them come."