Monster Hunter: Hunting the Hunter

Chapters

Starting Off
Friends and Foes
First Quest, Life and Death
Crazy Times
The True Quest Begins
The Dangerous Giant
Light in the Darkness
First Time for Anything
The Harbinger of Death

Starting Off

Becoming a hunter is neither easy nor simple, but if your call of adventure is strong enough you can rise through training and become one of the best of the hunters around. This a dangerous path for one to embark on and can end with your untimely death, but there are those who live for the excitement and adrenaline rush of being a hunter.

"Alright it's graduation time, let's see who passed the class and is ready to become a true hunter" the voice of the hunter trainer boomed.

Everyone in the room was quiet as they waited in anticipation, in the group Ghost awaited the answer from the trainer. He had trained hard to try and pass. Although he was far from being the best in the class, he knew how to effectively work with anyone on a quest to avoid becoming a monster's next meal. He looked across the classroom to his friend named Raize who was a black and white pegasus stallion.

"Hey Ghost" Raize called in a whispering voice from across the room.

"Yeah?" Ghost asked in a slightly annoyed tone. He wasn't in the mood for his friend's crazy antics which nearly got them in trouble during a practice quest the trainer set up.

"I need to--" Raize said before the instructor interupted him.

"Raize Im sorry to inform you that you....passed" the teacher groaned. He seemed to be pretty upset that Raize had passed."Raize you need to learn that being a hunter requires you to pay attention to your surroundings and a serious attitude so you dont end up dead" he said in a low tone.

The instructor turned to Ghost with what appeared to be a slight grin "Ghost you passed, you have what it takes to be a top ranking hunter...just dont let your buddy there drag you down to hell with him, Im telling you he's not going to last long" the teacher whispered into his ear.

Ghost nodded hoping the teacher was joking, but then again nobody could read him clearly. Ghost was happy that he passed and was ready to start living his life as true hunter. His eyes were full of excitement and hope that he could finally live his dream, he loved hunting ever since his father showed it to him.

As the rest of the graduates were announced and the class was finally dismissed Raize ran over to Ghost.

"So we're finally both official hunters buddy" Raize said happily jumping next to Ghost as he walked.

Ghost looked at the pegasus as if he had lost it, they weren't official hunters until they embarked on their first real quest. Yet that was still pretty far off because neither of them had armor or weapons to go out on a quest.

The school provides funding for these after the students graduate, but it was up to the students to pick the best weapons and armor to defend themselves on a quest.

For Ghost his favorite class of weapon was a long sword, which is a very lengthy thin great sword that has swift attacks coupled by magical abilities to double its attack power. For Raize his favorite was the light bowgun class which has rapid fire shots and lots of different elemental shot shells.

The two young stallions made their way into the busy part of town, which was bustling full of merchants and hunters. Ghost was looking for an armor and weapons shop while Raize seemed to wander off into a supplies shop.

Ghost approached the merchant cautiously "hey there Im a new hunter and I want to know what are the best armors and long swords you have here" he asked looking around at the merchant's items.

The merchant carefully examined Ghost before looking underneath the counter and bringing up a greenish black long sword. "This is a Black Katana Mk.I, its a perfect starting weapon for a long sword user. Well as long as you have the money..." the merchant trailed off.

Ghost shrugged "how much?" he asked looking at the impressive sword. It looked deadly and fast, the little part of the blade he saw shined as if it was the sun itself.

"40,000 zen" the merchant said with a slight grin.

Ghost looked wary of the price, he thought about it hard because the academy gave him 70,000 zen and he didn't want to lose a chunk of it just yet seeing as he had to pay to go on quests and he still didn't have armor and supplies. "Let me see some good armor first before we make a deal here" Ghost demanded looking at the merchant.

"Ah a careful spender" the merchant said chuckling. "I have some decent starting armor, regular steel armor, the whole set for 10,000 zen" the merchant said smiling.

Ghost sighed "how about 45,000 zen for all of it including the sword" he said trying to barter with the merchant.

"Make it 47,000 then we have a deal" the merchant said with a sly smile.

Ghost finally gave in and tossed the 47,000 zen onto the counter and levitated the steel set of armor on him and hooked the sword to his side. The armor was incredibly comfortable and cool as he fit it on. Ghost thanked the merchant before walking out of the shop. He noticed Raize coming out of a shop with what looked to be a ton of supplies.

"Hey Ghost look at..." Raize stopped at the sight of Ghost in his armor and his weapon. "You look like a real hunter" he said looking in awe.

"Thanks, what supplies did you get?" Ghost asked looking at the bulging bag that hung at Raize's side.

"I got double of everything, for you and for me" he said motioning toward the bags. "I got potions, a barbecue spit, hot drinks, cool drinks, traps, paintballs, sonic bombs, and a bunch of elemental shots for me when I get my bowgun" he said happily.

"Well hurry and go get your armor and weapon" Ghost said tossing him 20,000 zen. "I'll go get a quest so we can start earning some more money and rise through the ranks.

Raize nodded before heading off into a gunner shop.

Ghost shook his head at the sight of his friend before heading off to the hunter's tavern.

Friends and Foes

.As Ghost entered the tavern he was met with stares and looks of disgust. He was unsure what any of this meant, but he tried to ignore it and navigate his way to the quest board. Just as he was about to walk up to it, four advanced hunters stepped in his way.

"We don't appreciate newbies around here runt" a black stallion barked at him. His yellow mane moved ferociously as he stepped closer towards Ghost. "You little runts are always stealing our quests and we're sick of it" he said inching closer to Ghost's face. He was so close the breath was filling up in Ghost's nose.

Ghost stood looking unfazed by the ordeal. "Can you please move so I can get a quest and be on my way" he asked in a serious tone.

The stallion darkened his look before it changed into a twisted smile "how about you take this quest" he said before holding up a piece of paper to Ghost's face.

Ghost looked at the paper it was a slaying quest for a Rathian, a green dragon wyvern that was the bane of new hunters around.

"Well how about it newbie, after all its the only quest left available" the stallion taunted. The tavern erupted into a loud sea of laughter directed at Ghost before it was silenced by an approaching hunter.

"Hey Ghost I decided I won't need armor seeing that i"ll just be using a bowgun" Raize came in looking happy as ever.

"Oh this is your partner of choice Ghosty?" the stallion said smiling with his twisted smile. "Maybe you can shove him in front of the monster as an appetizer" he said laughing.

"That's enough Kaze" a yellow mare said coming forth from the group of hunters. "Let these two choose if they want to do this quest or not and stop making fun of them" she demanded. The mare was wearing what appeared to be Cephalos armor and had a Kut-Ku lance & shield at her side.

"Oh please Kalie, these newbies could never take down a--" Kaze said before he was interrupted by Ghost.

"I'll take the quest..." Ghost said in a low tone.

Murmurs rippled throughout the tavern before it fell completely silent.

Kalie approached Ghost "are you sure you want to do this?" she asked sounding concerned.

Ghost looked at her, her eyes were a hazel orange color. "Yes Im sure, how about we make it a bet, if I come back alive with Rathian wing webbing you'll owe me 100,000 zen Kaze" he said grinning.

Kaze returned the grin "I hope you're ready to die you little shit" he said before slamming the paper on the counter for the guild girl to stamp. "Good luck you're seriously going to need it" the stallion growled before turning around to leave the tavern.

Kalie looked behind and gave a warm smile to Ghost "good luck guys I hope you come back" was all she said before she galloped out of the tavern to join her group.

Ghost looked to Raize who had a wide smile on his face "our first quest Im so excited!" he said jumping around.

"Raize! Focus! we're taking on a Rathian, this could be one hell of a dangerous first quest" Ghost said with cold fury in his voice.

The young pegasus seemed to heed his warning and continued jumping around. Ghost shook his head before he took the quest paper and walked out of the tavern with a trailing happy Raize behind him.

First Quest, Life and Death

The two stallions were wandering the plains for what seemed like an eternity, there were herbivore monsters wandering around the two, but no Rathian.

"So are you sure you don't want to head back to town to get some armor?" Ghost asked in concern as he continued walking following a river that cut through the land.

"I'll be fine" Raize said with a smile as he continued hopping around. "What does this Rathian look like anyway?" he asked happily.

"Weren't you paying attention in class, its a green dragon wyvern that has spike plated skin, its the female counterpart to Rathalos" Ghost replied irritated.

"Oh yeah, they stay on the ground mostly and don't fly as much as Rathaloses" he said happily. The stallion stopped hopping, "maybe we should stay around the herbivores then" he suggested.

"Why would that be a good idea?" Ghost asked not turning around to face his companion.

"Well because there's one attacking a couple right now" he said pointing.

Ghost turned around to see a huge Rathian perched on one of it's freshly killed victims. He could see the guts the Rathian ripped out of the unfortunate herbivore and ate happily. Blood was smeared all around it's mouth and feet.

"Raize, shoot it! And careful don't shoot--" Ghost said before he ducked a stray shot fired from Raize's bowgun. "Me" Ghost finished as he shook his head.

"Sorry" Raize said with an embarrassed smile.

The Rathian looked over at the sound of a bowgun being fired and noticed the two stallions. It quickly began charging towards them. Ghost looked over and charged at the Rathian before dodging the right of it. As he drew his long sword into a horizontal slash at the dragon, it jumped into the air and kicking up dirt and grass as it flapped its huge wings before landing again. Ghost avoided the debris and went straight for it's tail and began hacking at it. The dragon didn't take too kindly to Ghost and began swinging it's tail around ferociously. Ghost rolled through it's legs and began slashing at it's ankles. Raize off in the distance was firing a large amounts of bullets at the dragon. It directed its attention to Raize and ran foward charging towards him. Ghost was kicked out of the way by the dragon's feet. He looked up to see it going for his friend who seemed to be reloading his bowgun. Ghost got up quickly and dashed towards the two.

"Raize! Get out of there!" he yelled to his friend.

Raize looked up to see the dragon who stood in front of and began to back up slowly.

Ghost looked horrified at the sight "Raize! Move!" he shouted.

It was too late, the Rathian did a complete backflip sweeping up Raize with it's tail before grabbing him in it's mouth where Ghost could hear the snapping of bones. He then saw blood dripping from the Rathian's maw before it spat out the chewed remains of his friend. Ghost could explicitly see the snapped bones jutting out of the dark red bloody lump of meat laying on the floor.

Ghost looked back towards the Rathian with eyes full of hatred, raising his sword he felt his hate channel into it. The Rathian was now looking straight at him and was charging at him. Ghost closed his eyes and focused hard hearing the sound of the dragon running straight for him.

Without hesitation Ghost raised the sword high and felt it quickly slash down onto the dragon's head. He combined the one slash with quick merciless multiple strike to its head. The sword felt as if it was turning into a storm of bladed strikes. The last strike he made was a horizontal strike which cleaved the top of the Rathian's head cleanly off.

Ghost looked back at the dragon, blood pouring out of its head and mouth. He then walked over steadily to the remains of his friend. He could see the inside of his friend. The dragon basically split his friend into two. Ghost sighed sadly at the sight, his one true friend gone because his own stupidness. Tears welled up in his eyes at the sight, he suddenly felt alone and abandoned.

The wind blew feeling colder with each breeze leaving him feeling as if a cold dagger was tearing at his heart. Ghost called for some Felyne's which were cat like creatures that could walk up on two legs and had simple tools for farming and such. He called them and asked them to bring a large carrier to strap the monster on and take back to the town guild. The ride back home was filled with silence and the sound of the moving wheels.

Crazy Times

It had been weeks since his friend had died while on their first quest. Ghost was rising through the hunter ranks fast, he started taking more and more dangerous quests with big monsters that many other hunters died to. He thought of himself as the lone grim reaper since he never wanted to have a party hunting with anyone in fear that their skills would get them killed. Ghost wasn't afraid to end up a monster's meal which earned him respect in the eyes of other hunters except Kaze.

"Hey Ghost, it's been awhile, how was the Hypnocatrice?" a familiar voice said approaching him.

By this time Ghost was wearing Khezu armor which was a cloak of white rubbery hide. It had perfect ventilation, he also had a Divine Slasher long sword which seemed to be twice his own length. Ghost looked back to see Kalie who was now wearing revealing armor which was from the monster that he hunted earlier, she also had two short swords hanging from her sides which looked to be from a Rathian and Rathalos.

Ghost looked at the mare for a long second before turning around, "it was simple and easy, but the bird is pretty intelligient" he said chuckling before levitating a cup of tea to his lips and taking a sip. "What about you how have you been?" he asked trying to sound happier.

The mare smiled and decided to sit next to him "I just finished hunting a Hypnocatrice to finish off my armor set, do you like it?" she asked with a happy expression.

Ghost took another look up and down the mare, she looked good in it...too good.Ghost nodded slightly before turning away and setting down the cup. He pulled the hood over his face "well I guess I'll get going, I need to see what's new to hunt" he said getting ready to leave.

Kalie stopped him by pulling on his armor, "Ghost can you stay in the city tonight I kinda wanted to catch up with you after I heard all these amazing tales of you slaying monsters" she asked with a weak smile. "I even heard you killed a Rathalos in record time, 5 minutes and 50 seconds" she said with a pleading smile.

Ghost laughed slightly at her expression and what she said "well, it's been awhile since I've hunted a Rathalos" he said chuckling. "I guess I could stay for tonight, but where am I going to stay I don't have a home" he said looking around.

"You can come stay with me at my place I have here" she said leading the way.

Ghost looked down to see her flank swaying in his face as she walked away. He growled and shook his head before following her to what seemed to be a small house near the end of the city. It wasn't too big and looked as if it was for only one occupant.

"Don't laugh its not much, but when Im not hunting Im here relaxing" she said walking into the house. It had a couple bookshelves filled with books and a table. There was only one room which held a bed as well as a couple different types of weapons.

"Let me get us a couple drinks and we can start telling stories" Kalie said happily before heading out the door.

Ghost sat in the house in complete silence as he waited for the eccentric mare to come back. He looked at the chimney which held a blazing flame as if it was lit by a dragon itself.

Kalie returned with as many drinks as she could floating above her head. She set them on the table and pointed her hoof at them, "take five" she said smiling.

Ghost smiled before levitating five of the mugs filled with what smelled to be strong liquor, he didn't know the mare was into this kind of drinking. Ghost forced himself to drink one whole mug before looking at Kalie.

"So what are these stories you've heard about me?" he asked sitting upright looking at her.

"Well they're a couple of stories, like they say you killed that Rathian Kaze told you to kill" she asked happily. "Is it true?".

Ghost could see the curiosity sparkle in her eyes, but he looked away and sighed before looking back at her. "Yes I killed it, but Kaze was nowhere to be found to give me by 100,000 zen I had won... but at least the bounty from the Rathian gave me enough to really start hunting even more dangerous game... " Ghost said in a soft voice.

Kalie looked at him before nodding "Oh what happened to that silly friend of yours?" she asked, her voice overflowing with concern.

Ghost shook his head "no I don't want to talk about it" he said turning away and closing his eyes. He levitated another full mug of liquor up to his lips before gulping it down quickly. He was feeling light, but he fought through it. "So what about you, I can tell you are doing pretty well in the hunting game" he said with a slight smile.

The mare's expression lightened up and she began to talk about her quests and all the monsters she's seen and all the close encounters she had. "...there's one quest where th-- they say that...all t--th--the hunters who try never come back.." she barely managed to finish the sentence. They were both heavily drunk and swaying back and forth with smiles plastered upon their faces. Every slight movement they saw made them burst into laughter and giggles.

Kalie was swaying so hard that she actually lost her balance and fell ontop of Ghost and they laid there giggling and laughing at each other.

They fell silent as soon as their eyes met and they both leaned into each other for a hungry forceful kiss. Before they knew it both of them had their armor tossed about the house and were in the bedroom caressing each other's bodies.

Ghost leaned his hoof down between Kalie's hind legs and felt around for the warm, most slit that was waiting for him. She let out a soft moan as he felt it and began kissing her all the way down her chest till he came to her pleasure spot. He licked it hungrily wanting more and more with each stroke. Kalie began moaning louder and louder until she screamed at one point. As the night continued the two began to do more and more, they were lying in a bed with each other doing things that only a married couple should do. By the time they finished they were covered in sweat of each other's body heat and lay motionless awaiting the morning.

In the morning Ghost drowsily awoke only to be met with a blistering pain in his head.

Kalie awoke shortly as well and flinched as she opened her eyes. She then looked around and noticed Ghost and looked in disbelief "Oh...Im umm....I guess we had one too many to drink last night" was all she could really say avoiding Ghost's gaze.

Ghost shook his head "its fine...we both were going at the liquor as if we were those wild monsters" he said putting a hoof up to his head.

Kalie laughed weakly and clutched her head in her hooves. "Yeah we can't go out today, I think we should lay off until tomorrow....maybe we can hunt together?" she proposed as she left the room slowly.

Ghost was in too much pain to argue, his head was feeling as if he had been hit with a fireball to the head. He got up slowly and left the room after Kalie who was making tea in a pot hanging over the weakly burning chimney fire. She had neglected to put her armor back on which was scattered on the floor along with Ghost's armor.

"What are ya' making?" Ghost asked as he slowly approached her.

"Just some herbal tea that will help relieve us of this excruciating pain" she said watching the pot.

"Alright, I'll go take a nap" Ghost said laying on the floor.

"I'll join you in a second, you can sleep on my bed with me" Kalie said pouring the tea into two small cups and setting them on the table.

Ghost looked at the unicorn mare warily "are you sure you want to....I mean we just had one crazy night" he said looking at her.

Kalie looked at him and laughed with a little bit more effort "we just did stuff so I think I can handle just sleeping in a bed with a stallion I just fucked" she said entering the doorway and rubbing her tail under Ghost's chin.

Ghost shrugged and joined her in the small bed.

The True Quest Begins

Ghost was still wary of having a hunting party, but he did like spending time with Kalie ever since that incident. They were close when they were out on the field hunting or in towns in inns or buying supplies for the next quest. The two were inseparable, yet they did come into a small town with a substantially low amount of hunters coming through here. A zebra was stationed by the quest board which seemed to only have one quest hanging from it.

Ghost approached the quest board with Kalie at his side before being stopped by the zebra.

"Beware you fair ponies, this quest has stayed hanging here all lonely. Those who take the quest embark on without a ward, but never come back to claim the sweet reward. For an unknown monster out there is lurking, eat any hunter who goes looking" she said to them.

"What do you mean? There's an unknown monster out there that's preying on hunters that go on the quest?" Kalie asked looking at the zebra.

The zebra nodded slowly "its dangerous for those who take the quest are never seen again" she said pointing her hoof at the paper fluttering in the cold breeze.

"Ghost I think Kaze took this quest last time I saw him, he might be dead" Kalie said coming closer to Ghost. She sounded concerned for the stallion who had an ego to match his attitude.

Ghost looked at the quest paper carefully, "we can do it and bring the monster back...but we will need a team and lots of training before we're ready" he said carefully.

Both Kalie and the zebra looked at him in disbelief. "Ghost I know you can fight I can see it in your eyes, if the time comes that you do this quest please come back alive" the zebra said dipping her head.

Kalie looked at Ghost "I don't know Ghost, even the most elite hunters are afraid to go and do this quest what make's you think we can do it?" she asked looking worried.

Ghost closed his eyes "I live for the hunt and if I die to a monster then so be it Im not afraid to even attempt this quest on my own" he said shrugging. "This is the chance to make history and make a name for ourselves, its a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to discover a new monster and bring it in dead or alive" he said looking happy.

Kalie looked unconvinced but shrugged "alright Im on board so where do we begin?" she asked looking at him.

"We need to recruit two more hunters that are as good as us or even better" Ghost said turning around. "Come on let's go to a certain city where I know would be perfect to find hunters" he said as he made his way toward the exit of the town Kalie slowly following his flank.

"Hey Ghost can we stop and go for another fuck before we leave in our inn?" she asked with a playful tone.

"Well..." Ghost stopped and began to think, but before he could answer. She grabbed his hind legs with her magic and dragged him into the small inn they were staying.

Days passed as they traveled back to the city known as the Land of Sand. The city was surrounded by an ocean of immense sand. There were rumors of huge elder dragons swimming the great deserts that seemed to swallow the city. Ghost and Kalie walked through the bustling busy city filled with hunters, merchants, blacksmiths, and many other occupations. There were also government officials scurrying up and down the busy streets.

"I wonder why they're running up and about, it's not like them to be out on the streets like this" Kalie said just as another government official rushed right passed her.

"Wait, it must be a Jhen Morjan was spotted nearby, it happens once in awhile in the city here" Ghost said looking around.

"You mean the huge elder dragons that swim in the deserts?" Kalie asked looking puzzled.

Ghost nodded before pulling her along "we need to hurry we can be assigned to a hunter ship to take it down" he said rushing through the crowd pulling Kalie along.

"Wha--? You really are a crazy ass hunter" she said giggling as she was being dragged along.

Ghost looked at the now crowded quest counter, the waitress was overwhelmed with hunters cramming and wanting to get in. He sighed and pushed his way violently through the crowd until he came up to the quest counter waitress. He flashed his hunter card quickly at the waitress who looked surprised at the sight of his hunter card.

"Here you go, you two can go on the quest ship, a Jhen Morjan was spotted not far from the city" she said before stamping the quest paper. A path cleared and the hunters grew silent as they watched Ghost and Kaile walk up to the quest gate where the ship was stationed.

"Am I that well-known?" Ghost asked chuckling. He wasn't sure why that just happened, all he knew was that his hunter rank was pretty high so he could easily get into exclusive quests without much hassle unlike regular hunters.

Kalie shrugged. "What's so special about a Jhen Morjan besides it being an elder dragon?" she asked curiously.

"It's body is covered in rare minerals that can be mined on its back, so it would be very beneficial for us to get some rare materials for upgrades in our weapons" Ghost said as he boarded the ship.

"Wait, so how do you plan on getting those minerals then?" she asked.

"Easy, hop on its back" he said smiling.

"You are one crazy ass hunter Ghost, I don't know why I hunt with you sometimes" she said shaking her head.

"Isn't it because after we finish hunting you like to go for a fuck wherever we're staying?" he asked playful as he nudged her.

Kalie smiled and rolled her eyes before sitting on the ship.

The duo was accompanied by two more hunters, one was another mare who was Leaf on account of her dark green mane that seemed to look like leaves. Her armor was a surprisingly rare green Plesioth armor which was extremely difficult to obtain. The other hunter that joined them was a stallion pegasus named Claw who had plenty of scratches and dents in his armor which was black Diablos armor.

"Have any of you fought against an elder dragon before?" Claw asked in a low growl.

Kalie and Leaf shook their heads while Ghost nodded slightly.

"A Chameleos that attacked a small town, I had to get rid of it and it helped me get the long sword I have right now. A Smolder Dragonsword which after I get some materials from this Jhen Morjan I'll be able to upgrade to a Knockout Dragonsword" he said in a confident tone.

Claw nodded slowly, "then you know they're extremely tough unlike that Chameleos though a Jhen Morjan will be attacking the ship so we need to handle the weapons on board the ship until the dragon comes close and we can hop on it's back" he said looking at Ghost.

A sailor of the ship popped his head through the cabin door of the ship "Jhen Morjan spotted get ready" he yelled.

All four of the hunters rose to go on the top deck it was time to take on the beast.

The Dangerous Giant

The team came onto the top deck of the ship to be greeted by a huge dragon swimming parallel to the ship they were on. It was a behemoth compared to the ship that seemed tiny compared to it. There were two other ships that followed the colossal monster that seemed to be firing cannons at the it, which seemed to have no effect until it flinched and sent huge chunks of sand falling onto their ship.

"Ok Kalie and Leaf you two handle the ballistas while me and Claw handle the cannons" Ghost directed. Before he head over to the pile of cannon balls and levitated one over to the cannon and dropped it in. The elder dragon was nearing their ship slowly.

The two mare's handled the large crossbow with giant bolts that were made to repel elder dragons of all sorts.

Claw came up next to Ghost holding a cannon ball on his back and keeping it in place with his wings. "Get ready to jump on its back after we fire these cannons off" he said dropping the cannon ball into the barrel of the cannon.

Ghost nodded before raising his hoof high, "Fire!" he shouted.

Right as he gave the command a storm of ballista bolts shot from the ship at the dragon while two small explosions struck the spine of the dragon. The dragon flinched and let loose a deafening shriek that sounded terrifying before it settled right next to the ship.

"Here goes nothing" Ghost said as he and Claw jumped on the back of dragon. The two stallions headed straight for where rare ores were growing out of its spine. After grabbing as much as they could and tossing it back onto the ship they were ready to hop back off until something caught Ghost's eye. There was a crack that seemed as if it could be broken if attacked in the dragon's spine.

Claw yelled at Ghost "come on! its parting away from the ship!" he said hopping back onto the deck of the ship.

Ghost shook his head "no,i need to do something" he said before galloping his way back towards the cracked part of the spine. Ghost drew his sword into a slash and focused before letting loose a powerful spirit combo which then engulfed his blade in a gold aura. He had done this many times, each time he did the combo it would change to a different color. He continued slashing away at the crack before it finally gave in a created a giant hole in the spine.

The dragon flinched and bucked Ghost off his back. Everyone looked in disbelief as Ghost flew up high into the sky.

Kalie looked at Claw "fly up there quick and save him!" she yelled at him.

Claw shook his head "I won't be able fly up there in time" he said watching as Ghost came plummeting back down.

Kalie looked furious before she said turning back to the sight of Ghost falling back to the ground.

Ghost hit the soft sand rolling around before sinking into it, it was as if the sand had the same consistency as water. Before he was suddenly pulled and dragged back up to the surface. He noticed a rope and snagged itself on his armor and he was being dragged by the ship which was ferociously sailing ahead. Ghost yelled "he---hey! Can some-- help me!" he shouted repeatedly hoping that somepony on the ship would here him.

Leaf looked up from the ballista she was firing at the dragon, "hey, do you here that?" she asked looking around. She slowly walked to the back of the ship to be surprised by the sight of Ghost being dragged by a rope that snagged onto him.

"He's alive!" she shouted pointing her hoof out from the back of the ship.

Kalie wiped the tears that came pouring out of her eyes and walked up next to Leaf to see that Ghost was being dragged along by the ship.

"Hey ladies, we have a giant monster here that we're supposed to be killing!" Claw shouted in his deep voice.

The two mares ignored Claw as they went below the deck to the back of the ship to pull Ghost back onto the ship.

"Ghost you're alive!" Kalie shouted in happiness before hugging him tightly.

Ghost coughed up sand before standing on all fours again "we need to get back to the top quickly, don't worry about me" he said before galloping back up to the top deck with the two mares trailing behind him.

"Get the dragonator ready!" Claw commanded as soon as Ghost came to the top deck. "It's approaching from the front" he said before going back to loading up the ballistas.

Ghost went to the front of the ship to see off in the distance the dragon was coming towards them surfacing before diving back below. He needed to time the dragonator just right, if he didn't they were all going down with the ship and most likely would die. The dragonator is a serrated spear that ejects quickly when pressed, its meant as a defense mechanism to protect from any elder dragon.

The dragon was coming closer and closer with each passing second, until it was just a couple hundred yards from the ship. With that Ghost slammed his hooves onto the dragonator which ejected a serrated spear and hit the dragon right in it's chest as it turned right and dived underneath the ship.

They all cheered before realizing they were just a couple miles from the city once again.

"Shit, that thing is going straight for the city we need to stop it fast" Ghost said to the captain navigating the ship they were on.

"There's an old trashed ship with usable weapons on it right outside the city, hunters used that as a last minute defense in the event that one of these monsters made it this far, I can drop you four there but then you're on your own, just the four of ya" he said in a raspy voice.

Ghost nodded "fine" was all he could say before looking at the rest of the hunting party. They looked worried but eager to slay the beast that was approaching the city.

"You're one crazy jackass, Ghost" Claw said passing by him.

Ghost smirked at the remark "well you're not the first one to think that" he said looking over at Kalie who was smiling softly.

Leaf who seemed busy sharpening her weapon, asked "so what's the plan since it's just the four of us against one humongous elder dragon that can end up destroying the city if we fail, so you have to have a plan" she said before putting looking up at Ghost.

Ghost looked back at the city and then back at the Jhen Morjan which had stopped and began actually walking towards the city in slow but big strides. "All we have to do is lay down enough cannon fire before activating the real ballistas to stop it in its tracks...then i suppose we can use the dragon gong to stun it and attack it manually" he said sounding partially unsure at his own plan.

Leaf looked up at him before nodding and getting back up.

They finally reached the abandoned wrecked ship, the weapons on it were directed towards the outside of the city towards where the dragon was approaching sluggishly.

"Is everyone ready? Aim for the spine to blast holes into its back" Ghost shouted.

"Ready" the three other ponies answered him in unison.

Ghost continued prepping the binding ballista, just as he finished he could hear the others already starting to fire the cannons. The monster starting to get close, but not close enough for the binding ballista to be effective. Ghost adjusted the aim on the ballista to the upper top of the dragon's chest. Just as he was ready to fire he saw a dark figure racing out towards the monster. It was Claw "what the hell is that dumbass doing?" he growled.

"Kalie handle the binding ballista, fire it when i raise my long sword high" he said before galloping out after Claw. The monster was nearing the ship and he could see Claw stabbing away at the monster with his gunlance before letting loose small explosions which was the shelling capability of the gunlance.

Ghost unsheathed his long sword and raised it high in the air using his magic, just as he did giant bolts shot out at the elder dragon with ropes attached to it. The dragon raised its head high before falling over and rolling over onto its back.

"What are you doing out here?!?!" asked looking at Claw as if he had lost his mind.

"I came out here to defeat the monster" Claw said simply as he continued stabbing away at the dragon lying upside down.

"We need to get back to the ship, before its too late" Ghost said with great concern.

The dragon began to flail around to regain its upright posture and it had hit Claw and Ghost out of its path, before it was upright once again and began to slowly approach the city. The dragon clearly weakened by the ordeal looked as if it was ready to flee or die.

Ghost and Claw looked up as the dragon was yards away from the ship that was firing bolts and explosions at it.

Ghost quickly got on all fours and rushed over back to the ship, "press the gong!" he shouted with all his might. That was the only thing that could stun the dragon long enough for them to finish it off. There was one thing he needed to do to finish the dragon off. As he heard the gong go off the dragon once again held its head up high before falling over and rolling upside down, this time with it's mouth open. Ghost quickly rushed into it's mouth and planted two medium sized barrels in the dragons mouth.

Before he could get away from the dragon's mouth he felt it rumbling which meant it was coming out of its trance. "Shoot the mouth" he said barely being able to run out of the dragon's mouth.

Leaf quickly fired the cannon right into the dragon's mouth which then chain reacted into a huge explosion. The dragon screeched loudly before everything fell silent. They did it the dragon lay motionless and quiet.

Ghost sighed a breath of tired relief "we did it, we actually did it" he said sighing once more before plopping down into the sand.

Kalie ran out to him and jumped ontop of Ghost before forcefully kissing him, "Ghost that was amazing what were those barrels you put into it's mouth?" she asked with a smile.

"They were anti-dragon bombs I had gotten from the ship we were on" he said softly.

The other two ponies joined him sitting right above him.

"That was some fine hunting!" Leaf said happily as she approached Ghost and Kalie.

"It seems that you're quite the hunter Ghost" Claw said coming up to him grinning. "That was very impressive, taking down a Jhen Morjan with anti-dragon bombs and a cannon blast to set them off" he said smiling.

Ghost nodded "Thanks, but right now Im tired and want to rest that was some hunt" he said with a small chuckle. The three ponies around him laughed at his statement, before he ended up closing his eyes and drifting off into a deep sleep.

Light in the Darkness

Ghost awoke to the feeling of a soft warm tail lightly rubbing against his fur, it was almost ticklish and he couldn't help to crack a smile as he opened his eyes.

"I see that got you up, we really should be getting on our way now" Kalie said as she laid down in the bed next to Ghost. "I heard there's a nice paying quest to hunt a plesioth that's been giving a coastal village some trouble" she said with a smile before swishing her tail right in his face which made him cringe slightly.

Ghost smirked "are you sure you can handle your own with a plesioth?, Something that big and deadly?" he asked surprised she had accepted the quest.

Kalie left the bed and went looking around for her new set of dual swords that had thunder element imbued into the blades. "Of course I've done dangerous hunts without you, this will be a piece of cake" she said sounding full of confidence.

Ghost shrugged before leaving the bed, he needed a new weapon and to his luck he heard news of a new weapon type not too long ago after they had defeated the Jhen Morjan. Supposedly the new weapon was a combination of two weapons in one called the "switch axe".

"Kalie can we stop at a weapons shop, I think it would be in my best interest to pick up a new weapon maybe the new switch axe everypony is talking about" he asked as he put his khezu armor back on.

Kalie turned came back and watched him put his armor back on "sure, but why not another long sword that you usually get?" she asked as she was looking around the for her Hypnocatrice helm.

"Well I just feel that it would be best to change things up and try new things" he said as he strapped his long sword to his side.

"You did try new things last night" Kalie said in a playful tone before giggling.

Ghost smiled at her remark and rolled his eyes "maybe if I get this weapon then I'll try many more new things" he said taunting her.

Kalie smirked and rolled her eyes before leaving from the inn they were staying in. Ghost followed behind her and drifted off towards the nearest weapon store where he managed to pick up a Lagiacrus shock switch axe after he sold his long sword.

The duo traveled to what appeared to be a jungle area which was near the coastal village they needed to get to. The jungle was filled with larger than life bugs that buzzed around and a variety of other wildlife that seemed more keen on staying out of sight of the two ponies.

Just as the two ponies broke through the tree lining of the jungle they could hear screams off in the distance coupled by the sound of weapons being used. The two ponies burst into a swift gallop towards the growing sounds of peril. Finally they could see off in the distance not one but two plesioths in the village shooting jets of water at the huts of the townsfolk. They also saw two mare hunters who seemed to be trying to take down one of the plesioths as a team.

"Come on Raina stop playing around with it and just hit it" the yellow mare yelled at the dark brown one who appeared to be just dancing around in front of the beastly shark with legs.

"You want to take the other plesioth and then come help them when we finish?" Ghost asked looking at Kalie.

"Yeah" she said dashing out towards the second plesioth who trampling through the mass of huts.

Ghost took one more glance at the two novice hunters before dashing off in the direction of the second plesioth.

Kalie was already by the plesioth slashing away at it's ankles. Before Ghost actually made it to her she toppled the plesioth over onto its side all on her own. She quickly dashed towards the beast's head and laid down a maelstrom of quick fluid slashes on it's head quickly putting it out of its misery. Blood laid splattered on her hooves and her duel blades hovering at her sides.

"You just took down a huge plesioth just like that?" Ghost asked looking quite surprised.

"Well its all about the elements you use on the monster and which ones are most effective" she said with a sly smirk. "I would've thought you of all ponies to have know that already" she said flicking Ghost's nose with her tail before running off to where the first plesioth was.

Ghost followed close behind and saw the two ponies still trying to fight the huge beast, but they weren't working cooperatively together. He noticed the one called Raina still dancing around in front of the plesioth, but actually was drawing its attention while the other mare was shooting the plesioth with what looked to be a heavy bowgun.

"Let's go help them" Kalie said as she began to walk forward.

Ghost stopped in front of her "wait, let's see how this plays out these two probably have potential.

The plesioth was confused by the two conflicting actions and decided to jump back into the waters.

"That was mighty fine hunting for a couple of newbies" Ghost said as he slowly approached the two young mares.

"Who the hell are you?" the yellow mare asked pointing her bowgun right at Ghost.

"I know exactly who you are!" Raina said before running up to Ghost and hugging him around his neck. "You're Ghost the famous hunter who took down a Rathian as his first quest, you inspired me to become a hunter myself!" she said with a big grin on her face.

Ghost looked back at Kalie who was holding back a wave of laughter from her mouth "it seems that you got yourself a fan" she said letting a small laugh escape.

Ghost smiled weakly "well glad to know Im famous now, anyway that was good hunting, but i didn't catch both of your names" he said backing away a small distance from Raina.

The yellow mare spoke first "my name is Lilly and that's my sister Raina, we live in this village and the plesioth's have been stealing our catches and ruining our fishing boats with their water jet blasts" she said pointing her hoof at the damage the two giant monsters made.

Ghost turned to look over at the destruction and back out at the sea where he could see the plesioth's top fin lingering around the shallows. "Well its not over it seems that one that jumped back is coming back for more" he said drawing out the heavy axe. His weapon had two modes axe mode which it's in and sword mode which has the special elemental vial that can add extra damage to the monster hit with it.

"Let me test this new weapon out, you three stay back" he said before walking cautiously over to the edge of the water.

The plesioth quickly jumped out the water and back on land. It turned around to face Ghost who had his axe drawn and ready. But before Ghost could take another step the beast let loose a piercing water jet that clipped the side of his armor utterly destroying the piece.

"Shit, if I get hit Im done for I need to be quick and get underneath it fast" he said to himself before he began charging at it.

The plesioth shot it's beam of water now in a horizontal path, but Ghost ducked to avoid the blast and slid right towards it's legs.

At this moment he switched his weapon into sword mode in mid-slash to let loose a blast of electricity that seemed to stun the creature for a moment. Ghost took this oppurtunity to charge up his weapon for a vial blast where it ejects all the vial it has into one explosion at the tip of the sword.Just as he was getting ready to let the charge loose on the vulnerable plesioth he saw Raina dancing in front of the beast.

"What the hell is she doing? Get her out of there!" Ghost shouted. He could tell the beast was starting to recover and knew the moment it spotted Raina it would let loose its deadly blast of water.

Lilly took notice of this galloped to her sister's rescue.

The plesioth snapped out of it's vulnerable state and started charging up it's beam attack.

What happened next was something of pure horror that sent chills through Ghost's spine as he turned around.

Lilly dived and pushed her sister out of the path of the beam, but she couldn't get herself out of the way. She took the shot point blank which cut a clean hole between the mare's neck and shoulders. There was a huge gap where the blast had caught her and blood began to pour out from both her neck and her shoulder.It seeped out slowly at first before it was a gushing torrent of blood streaming from her body. She was dead, no pony could take a shot like that and live, her body stood upright for just a moment before it collapsed into a pool of her own blood. Limp and lifeless she lay.

Ghost turned back and let the explosion loose, closing his eyes the memories of his friend Raize came flooding back the hate, the sadness, the lonliness. It was his fault he wasn't quick enough back then and it happened again, he wasn't quick enough to save a life this time. The explosion toppled over the plesioth and automatically switched the weapon back into axe mode. With a heavy heart and a high raised axe he swung down on the monster finishing it off.

Kalie slowly walked over to Raina who was looking at her sister's body in disbelief.

"Is...is she dead...? Lilly? Lilly?!" was all she said before she burst into tears. "Why did I have to be a dumbass and do something so foolish and stupid to go and kill my sister, my best friend?" she said with face full of tears. Ghost and Kalie looked at her with worried faces until Ghost sighed.

He put a hoof on Raina who was crying over her dead sister's body. "I lost a friend before, it was the very first quest and I lost him to the Rathian who ended up killing him right before my eyes. Raina, all we can do now is remember Lilly for who she was and know that she's watching over you" he said softly. He levitated the bowgun Lilly held over to Raina "I know she would want you to keep the memory of her alive" he said before resting it on the side of the mare and strapping it on her.

Raina looked at it and wiped her tears "you're right" she said sniffling as she spoke.

Ghost sighed and looked at the mare with a slight smile "how about you join me and Kalie" he offered softly.

The mare stood up and turned around with a smile and teary eyes "thank you Ghost, thank you I would love to" she said before burying her face into his fur.

Kalie smiled warmly at the sight and joined in and hugged them both. "Let's head back to the city and get settled into and inn" she said before leading the way back through the jungle, Raina still clinging to Ghost as he walked.

First Time for Anything

"Where are we going Ghost?" Raina asked sounding impatient and tired.

"We're trying to get back to the major city by cutting through the jungle" Ghost said as he slashed away at dense branches that were in their way as they continued walked through the vegetation.

"Are you sure we should be cutting through here, I've heard stories of a Nargacuga that stalks through the deep parts of the jungle" Raina said sounding concerned.

Kalie chuckled lightly "we can handle any kind of monster kid" she said with devilish smile.

"Don't get too cocky now I don't want any of y'all dying on me, but if we need to fight everyone be serious and focused" Ghost said looking back at the two playful mares. "No fooling arou--" he was cut off as he heard the cry of a Khezu close by.

The three ponies poked their heads through the tree line to see a Khezu, but not any Khezu it was a red subspecies of Khezu which was extremely rare to find.

"Well well well, I'll fight this one though" Ghost said stepping out and drawing his axe. "This should be quick if I can sneak up on it" he said whispering back to Kalie and Raina. "Both of you, STAY HERE this time I don't want any of you dying" he said before ran towards the Khezu and slowed down to a soft walk.

As Ghost was silently approaching the Khezu, a blur of green fur dashed out from the trees to his right and tackled the Khezu to the ground and engorging itself on its rubbery flesh. The monster was rapidly consuming the flesh from the Khezu while it was squirming underneath the weight of the other monster before lying motionless beneath it.

The green beast then looked over at Ghost and growled deeply.

"Kalie, Raina run get out of here...it''s a Nargacuaga !" Ghost yelled before settling in his fighting stance before the beast.

The two mares dashed back into the jungle and disappeared into the vegetation.

"Not only is this a Nargacuga, but it was a subspecies as well, that only top ranking hunters fought at rare occasions" Ghost thought to himself. The beast stood its ground snarling and growling at Ghost. It's tail spiked up before it whipped it around at Ghost.

Ghost quickly ducked and rushed forward towards the monster, but it was too fast. It already jumped backwards and started to shoot spikes from it's tail. The spikes zipped so close to Ghost that they damaged large portions of his armor. "Shit! It's too fast" he backing slowly.

Out of nowhere a blast of fire hit the Nargacuga right in it's face making it flinch before falling down before squirming and scratching its face.

Ghost looked over to see Raina wielding the heavy bowgun that her sister had once held. She proceeded to continue firing fire shots at the beast which made it howl in pain. Ghost looked back at the Nargacuga before rushing at it, raising his axe high before bringing it down into a direct hit on its head. This made the beast give off an even more startling scream before it rested still. It looked dead, they needed to take the materials from both the dead monsters and get out of the jungle quickly. There was sure to be more Nargacugas show up after the terrifying screech it let loose as it died.

Ghost quickly ran back to the two mares waiting for him "Raina thanks for saving my ass back there" he said with a slight laugh. "If it wasn't for you I probably would've died" he said giving the small mare a smile of approval.

Raina looked up at Ghost with the biggest smile he had ever seen in his life before hugging him tightly.

Kalie rolled her eyes with a smile and pushed the mare off Ghost "well Im surprised you actually needed help trying to take down a monster" she said before she hugged him.

Ghost smirked "its just the new weapon, its too slow maybe I should just get another long sword instead of this thing" he said backing away and leading them through the jungle once again.

"Hey Raina what kind of bowgun is that?" Ghost asked not turning around to face her.

"Im not sure, it was once my father's before he gave it to Lilly, I think he said something about it being a Lao-Shan something dragon I think" she said with uncertainty.

Ghost stopped and turned around to look at her "do you mean a Lao-Shan Lung elder dragon? That bowgun is extremely powerful, your dad defeated a Lao-Shan Lung before?" he asked looking in disbelief. "Who was your father?" he asked with sudden interest.

" Well I was little when I met him, so I don't remember his name but yeah he defeated one" she said softly.

Kalie shouldered Ghost "don't go turning into a fan girl now" she said with a jokey grin.

Ghost laughed as he fell on his back "Oh please you know you want to be a fan girl of mine" he said laughing.

Kalie stood ontop of him pinning him down and leaning close into his face "I already am and always will be, Im the only fan girl that can do this" she said before she leaned in and kissed him.

"Ew gross, you two need to get a room Im still here" Raina said in disgust as she trotted off.

The two ponies laughed before standing up and continuing on their way out of the jungle.

The Harbinger of Death

Weeks passed as the three ponies prepared themselves for the impending fight that they were so eager to take on. They took on more and more dangerous quests. Raina especially was learning alot that she needed to survive out on the quests while Ghost and Kalie took turns training her and giving her tips on what she could do to improve her abilities. The mare learned the material fast and soon knew how to easily and effortlessly fire her weapon, reload, and what specific shots to use on what types of monsters.

"Ghost what type of shots do I use on Rathian or Rathalos?" Raina asked prepping her bowgun.

"Electricity, Water, Ice, or Dragon elemental shots should do fine against them" he said looking back at Raina. "Why necessarily do you ask?" he asked sounding concerned.

"Because I know you and Kalie have been training these past couple weeks and I want to prove to you both that Im capable of handling myself so I took this quest and I want you two to watch me take down both a Rathian and a Rathalos myself" she said her voice booming with confidence.

Ghost sighed and looked at the mare, she had grown mentally since her sister died and didn't doubt her skills. But he was a bit wary of wanting the mare to take on two dangerous wyverns on her own. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked cringing at the thought of her getting mauled to death by the troublesome duo.

"Yes!" she said with a stern look at the stallion.

Ghost sighed once more "alright, just do your best I don't want you to die" he said looking at her with soft eyes.

Raina rolled her eyes and smiled "alright dad" she said sarcastically.

Kalie came walking over to Ghost "did she ask you?" she asked with a slight frown.

Ghost responded with a single nod, yet he began to smile.

"Why are you smiling?" Kalie asked tilting her head slightly.

"She's pretty much a daughter to me" Ghost said with a warm smile. "It's weird, we take her with us after her sister dies and we take care of her and teach her and watch her grow and progress. It's very fulfilling" he said with a small laugh.

Kalie smiled "well she is still pretty much a kid to us even though she's probably the same age of you when you first started" she said looking at Raina who was fiddling around with her bowgun. "In a way I guess I do see her as my own child, I would hate for anything to happen to her" she said before kissing Ghost's cheek and trotting away back to the mare .

Ghost smiled and closed his eyes "These two are something else" he said to himself as he shook his head before levitating his sword over to his side and strapping it onto his new red Khezu armor. Raina had Gypceros armor while Kalie wore the highly revealing Green Nargacuga armor.

The trio left the inn they were staying in and departed on the quest Raina had picked out. Ghost remembered this area, it was an area that many of the wyverns gathered to hunt herbivores. It was also the place where the Rathian killed his friend Raize.

Raina was dashing and jumping forward leaving Ghost and Kalie behind to catch up to her.

"Now remember if you need help just yell and me and Kal--" he began to say before she interrupted him.

"Ghost relax I got this" she said before smiling and jumping ahead.

Ghost sighed "that girl..." he said shaking his head.

Kalie smirked "just let her show you how much she's learned and impress us" she said in a soft voice. "Calm down and relax she's going to be fine, everything is going to be fine" she said brushing up against Ghost lightly.

Ghost sighed "you're right it'll be alright" he said in a light tone.

They finally came in sight of a Rathalos not far in the distance, it appeared to be just sleeping. Its red and black scales covering its entire body creating its natural armor rising up and down in slow rhythmic motion.

"Time to kill it" Raina said as she set up her heavy bowgun. She was loading in thunder shots to start the hunt off.

Ghost and Kalie sat down to watch their student take on the wyvern on her own.

Finally the mare fired a volley of thunder shots which woke the winged beast from it's slumber. Enraged being woken from it's nap it quickly charged at its attacker, but Raina dodged it and quickly reloaded more shots before letting loose another wave of thunder shots that made the wyvern flinch. The Rathalos roared loudly before jumping up and taking to the skies. Raina wasn't giving up just yet, she continued firing shot after shot at the airborne dragon creature.

The dragon finally gave in to the pain and plummeted back down to the ground writhing and flailing in distress. Raina took this chance to unleash a special attack she learned to do on her bowgun. She loaded it slowly before standing no more than a couple feet from the flailing dragon. A wide burst blast exploded out of the tip of the bowgun's barrel and streamed right to the Rathalos which was then consumed in a huge blast of fire. The shot sent Raina sliding a good ways backwards due to it's recoil. She had perfected using WyvernFire shots which were basically huge beam shots, it was slow to load and could hold no more than one shot at a time.

The Rathalos lay writhing in pain before settling into position with parts of it still burning with small flames on tips of its scales.

Ghost smiled at the sight "well shit she is one hell of a gunner" looking surprised at what he witnessed.

"I showed her that" Kalie said proudly while smiling.

Not long after the Rathalos perished a Rathian showed up looked quite angry at the sight of it's dead mate. This time Raina loaded in dragon shots and quickly began firing at the wyvern. It looked as if Raina would quickly beat it because it could hardly move under all the shots she was firing.

"She's doing amazing for her first solo quest" Kalie said happily.

"Yeah...but something's not right the Rathian seems as if it was already fighting something" Ghost said looking around. "I have a bad feeling Kalie..." he said carefully looking around. There was a sudden uneasy feeling that seemed to be like a cold chill that came without warning.

Raina who had battered the Rathian with constant fire finally killed it. The Rathian let out a low roar before falling down to the ground. "I did it, see?" she said looking overjoyed and happy.

Kalie ignored Ghost and walked over to congratulate Raina on her first solo quest being a success.

In the far distance Ghost could hear a roar that he never heard before, the sound of it made him shudder and want to leave. "Hey we should leave....now we can celebrate later" Ghost said looking uneasy.

"Ghost relax the monsters are dead we can--" was all Kalie said before a orange blur rushed out and spun around to face them. It was a monster with the head of what looked like a dinosaur with blue markings, huge claws that looked terrifyingly deadly. The monster stood drooling showing its exposed shark like teeth that seemed covered in blood.

"What is that...?" Raina asked looking terrified.

Before anyone could answer, they were joined by a hunter who seemed like he took a hell of a beating. The stallion threw out a what seemed to be a small disc, but in fact was a shock trap which the monster stepped on and seemed paralyzed in place.

"Run!, That won't hold it forever" he said running past them. The three ponies followed after him leaving the beast behind in their tracks.

The group managed to make it back to the base camp set up far away from the site where they encountered the mysterious monster.

"Hey...you mind explaining..what the hell....that was?" Ghost demanded as he panted.

"That is...what's know as a...Tigrex....one of the most dangerous monster's ever found....it was just found up at village up the mountain in the tundra, but the village reported it left there and came....down here. It's claimed many hunter's lives even top ranking hunters have been unsuccessful in attempts to defeat it. My team actually died to it...Im the only one left." he said in a tired voice.

Ghost nodded "come back with us please...and tell us more" he said before taking in a huge gasp of air and composing himself.

The stallion simply nodded before taking the lead for the other three to follow.