Prologue
Dramatis Personae
Bakuub: Youngblood, Yautja, Male
Dachande: Blooded, Human, formerly Staff Sergeant Vasily Deaverou of the United States Colonial Marines, Spearmaster, Male
Guan-thwei: Youngblood, Yautja, Male
Hult'ah: Blooded, Yautja, Swordmaster, Male
Jehdin: Youngblood, Yautja, Male
Princess Cadence: Princess, Alicorn, Female
Princess Celestia: Princess, Alicorn, Female
Princess Luna: Princess, Alicorn, Female, formerly Nightmare Moon
Princess Twilight Sparkle: Princess, Alicorn, Female, Element of Magic
Yeyinde: Blooded, Clan Leader, Yautja, Elite, Male, Currently in charge of Hunting Planet Equestria and the Wolf Clan
"What do you want!?" A white colored equine yelled out hysterically as he looked back and forth frantically, a short sword floating in front of him. A large, shadowy figure looked down from the tree branches, watching the gold armoured pony. Clicking its mandibles together, the figure pressed several buttons on its left wrist gauntlet before looking back at the pony.
The figure was easily over seven feet tall, heavily muscled, and had dark, leathery skin. Behind a dark grey face mask and helmet that covered most of its head, lay four mandibles and two, yellow, beady eyes. Coming from the back of the creature's skull were long, black dreadlocks that were woven so tightly that they appeared to be perfectly smooth. Armour that was of a similar colour to the helmet, covered the upper torso, most of the back, most of the back, and the legs, was adorned with skulls and trophies. Around its waist and hanging from a bandolier across its chest, hung dozens of weapons and tools... but mostly weapons. The figure, humanoid in nature, was not of the world it now found itself in. It was Yautja, a Predator. The ultimate hunter.
With a soft shunk, several, long, serrated blades ejected form its right wrist gauntlet, extending almost eight inches past its fist. Apparently hearing the wrist blades extending, the pony looked up and the Yautja stared back at the small equine before pressing several more buttons.
"Sweet Celestia," the pony whispered, staring right at the Yautja. After several seconds of staring, the equine turned and ran, trying to get away from the thing that had killed his comrades. The armoured pony had only made it no more than ten yards before suddenly stopping. The armoured pony was slowly lifted into air. Looking down, he saw the creature was standing in front of him, the blades on its wrist buried into the equine's chest. The equine's mouth opened and closed, like a fish out of water. The Yautja looked down at the equine, studying it as blood began to ooze from the pony's lips.
48 hours earlier
Everfree Forest/Equestria
15 minutes since arrival of the Wolf Clan
Bakuub waited at the entrance of the temple, standing absolutely still, waiting, watching, as Dachande, the small human Predator, mounted the steps of the temple. Though he didn't like it, he had to do whatever the human told him to do, for, though Dachande was an Apprentice, he was Blooded, and served as Yeyinde's eyes and ears.
"Welcome... Dachande," Bakuub spat. But the human didn't give him satisfaction by responding to the challenge. The human
walked up to Bakuub before grabbing him by the shoulder and shaking. Without a word, he returned the greeting, before motioning the human Predator to follow. They stepped into the darkness of the temple, both scanning for the Hard Meat's tracks, though Bakuub already knew there wasn't any. There was a gentle click, click, click, as Bakuub's clawed feet hit the cold stone flooring.
"The temple is amazingly preserved," Dachande observed to himself as he ran a hand over a statue of a Yautja. "How old is it?"
"A few millennia," Bakuub replied sharply.
They continued to walk, in silence, for the rest of the way. The only thing that broke the oppressive silence was the sound of Bakuub's feet hitting the stone. Seeing a light that reflected from around a corner, Dachande picked up his pace. Turning around the sharp corner, they found themselves in the sacrificial chamber. The walls were covered with hieroglyphs and at each corner stood a large statue of either an armoured Yautja or a Kiande Amedha warrior. Eight stone tablets stood in a perfect circle around the center of the room. Scattered in piles were the bodies of five avian based beings, each of them covered in white and brown feathers, and the bottom half ended in a feline-like body and a long tail. All of them had a large bloody hole coming from their chests.
"They've been dead at least seven hours..." Dachande said to no one in particular. "Maybe ten. The Queen?"
"Gone, with four more bodies in the chambers."
"And no trace of the Hard Meat."
"Jehdin and Guan-thwei are searching the rest of the temple," Bakuub replied.
"They won't find anything. If the queen was smart enough to dissapear like a modern Houdini, then she's smart enough to leave the temple."
"Phoodini?" Bakuub asked, struggling with the human word.
"A four hundred and something year old entertainer known for his ability to escape and dissapear," Dachande replied. Bakuub nodded and watched the human. Bakuub neither liked the human, nor understood why Clan Master Yeyinde had spared the human soldier let alone make him Yautja. But the human was blooded and Bakuub was not. Dachande was a spear master and Bakuub had no specialty. Dachande had claimed the skulls of two queens and Bakuub had not.
"We'll need the help of the clan," Dachande suddenly said as he stood up.
"But Dachande-"
"This is no longer your trials, those will have to wait. But this is extremely serious. I'm asking Clan Master Yeyinde for assistance."
Ponyville/ Equestria
1 hour since arrival of the Wolf Clan
Yeyinde stood in front of a pack of Yautja, his pack of Yautja. There was Dachande, a human from some backwater human colony that had been overrun by the Kiande Amedha; Bakuub, a young, unblooded Yautja; Guan-thwei, also an unblooded; Hult'ah, a Yautja that was almost as old as Yeyinde; and there was Jehdin, also an unblooded. This was his hunting pack, his team.
"Remember this is not a hunt," Yeyinde told the pack. "We are not here to claim trophies or gain honour, but to find the Kiande Amedha's hive and get the queen back before she destroys our hunting grounds."
The pack nodded, and then, one by one, walked away, activating their active camouflage as they went, disappearing into the night. Growling softly, Yeyinde walked to the edge of the small, stone building and looked down. He watched as equines passed by underneath him, totally unaware that the galaxy's most dangerous predator was watching them. Pressing a series of buttons on his wrist gauntlet, he sent a message to Dachande, telling to remain in the town and observe while the others searched the forest.
Yeyinde was worried about Bakuub and Dachande. For Bakuub would kill and take trophies unnecessarily, while Dachande tended to occasionally ignore the rules of honour, and help the innocent if they were in danger. Yeyinde hoped that they could control themselves or else this planet, the hunting grounds for several clans, would be lost to the Hard Meat. Looking up, Yeyinde spotted the sparkling lights of a city that rested on the side of a mountain. Such a city would have information on the geography of this planet... something he and the pack sorely needed.
Dachande stared down from the clockwork tower, scanning the different spectrums of light, looking for traces of Xenomorph activity. He saw and heard nothing but silence and several ponies that were out late admiring the beautiful night sky; but Dachande wasn't there to admire the scenery, he was there to look for, and eliminate any presence of the Kiande Amedha, Hard Meat, the ultimate prey, before it consumed the entire world. It would destroy, consume, and kill anything that was in its path. He didn't want to think about the similarities they had with humans, or as the Yautja called them, oomans, for they didn't have a proper tongue to pronounce English.
As he continued to scan the area, he found a faint trail of secretions that were invisible to the naked eye, but appeared as a bright green under one of his helmet's many visual filters. Dachande jumped from the clockwork tower and landed on a nearby roof, landing silently. Moving at a run, Dachande jumped across an alley and followed the trail.
After fifteen minutes and after losing the trail countless times, he came to an alleyway. He stood outside, waiting, listening for the tiniest hint of movement. Right before he moved forward, Dachande's helmet sensors picked up barely audible whispering. Zooming in, switching over to thermal, and enhancing the audio, Dachande listened and watched as four equines stood around the body of a fifth.
"Ah man, ah man..." exclaimed one of the equines, the voice high pitched and panicked. "What are we gonna do man, this is game over man, game over."
"Would you please shut up for one minute; please I'm trying to think," said a second, its voice deep and even.
"Yeah, shut up... let the boss think," a third said.
"What are we going 'ta do with the body? No pony's going 'ta believe us that a... thing popped from the old stallion's chest while we were mugging him."
"What was that thing man, I ain’t ever seen anything like it before?"
"I don't know what it was, and I don't know anypony who does," replied the second one.
"Why don't you go ask the purple alicorn... whatever her name is... you're the one who has 'ta hots for her, boss," said the fourth.
"Shut up!" yelled the second one. As Dachande continued to listen to the four equines argue, he slowly pieced together what had happened. The fifth pony, the one on the ground, had been infected a few hours ago, made his way into the town, and had been lured and mugged in the alley. But, as four equines carried out their planned mugging, a chest-burster had exploded from the fifth one's chest, leaving them with a dead body and hell of a lot of explaining to do.
Zooming in even further, Dachande studied the four equines, looking for weapons, and luckily, all of them had knives and one had a baseball bat. Reaching for his belt, he removed a smooth, curved pistol with a barbed pistol grip. Taking aim, he placed the sights on the second equine's forehead and took a breath before slowly letting it out. Squeezing the trigger, a metal barb flew from the spear gun and impaled the engine's forehead killing him instantly. The now dead body fell to the ground with a dull thud and the other three just stared at the body. A pair of wings suddenly unfolded from the third one's body as his panicked face, slowly turned into one of horror. Dachande frowned as he stared at the wings. He hadn't noticed the wings before, and the infrared hadn't picked it up, but he didn't concentrate on that. The third equine ran towards the exit of the alley, only to run into Dachande's wrist blades, before being thrown back into the alley.
"Game over man, game over," Dachande mocked as he slowly made his way towards the equine.
Canterlot/ Equestria
Two hours since arrival of the Wolf Clan
Yeyinde dropped down from the stone wall, landing silently inside the castle, before looking to his left and right, he checked to see if anything had seen him. The only thing in the courtyard was a guard that was completely oblivious to Yeyinde's presence. Slowly making his way across the courtyard, he searched for an entrance into the castle. While there were many ways into the castle, all of them were too small for his large size. Flaring his four mandibles in anger, Yeyinde spotted a tower with an open window. Zooming in on the window, he switches through several visual filters, checking to see if there was anything he couldn't see in the infrared spectrum. There were two sources of heat, one from a lit fireplace, and the other from an equine that was twice as tall as the other equines. Jumping up, Yeyinde grabbed hold of a windowsill and slowly made his way up the walls of the castle and towards the tower.
Ponyville/ Equestria
Two hours since arrival of the Wolf Clan
Making one final cut, Dachande stood up and pulled, yanking the skin off the pony. With his helmet sitting beside him, Dachande had, for the last half an hour, been skinning and hanging the dead equines upside down. Looking up, he saw that the sun was rising, and with it would come the ponies. He wrapped and tied a knot around the pony's ankles before hauling him up the side of the roof to display how easy the kills had been. Dropping back to the ground, Dachande picked up his helmet and moved to destroy the body of the fifth pony, but stopped when he heard something humming a song to
itself.
Yanking on his helmet, he prepared to kill whatever entered the alley. But something told him he shouldn't, that he had already drawn enough attention to himself and that he needed to get back to the Hunt.
Jumping back to the roof, he saw a lavender coloured Alicorn with a purple mane and tail with a pink stripe, walk by the alley before stopping and taking several steps back. Dachande didn't stick around to see what the equine's response was to his kill, but he did hear a high pitched scream as he leaped to another roof.
Yeyinde flipped up onto the balcony, staying completely silent. Standing up, he peered into the room to see a cream colored alicorn with a multicolored mane and tail that waved in an invisible breeze, but he didn't see the alicorn's colors because he naturally saw in the infrared spectrum. Yeyinde waited until the alicorn left the room before testing the handle to find it locked. Growling quietly, he smashed part of the window and reached in to find the lock. After opening the door and stepping in, Yeyinde found that the room's ceiling was unnecessarily high, the ceiling being at least five to six feet above Yeyinde's head. Slowly moving towards the door on the other side of the room, he activated his active camouflage. Taking a deep breath, he opened the wooden door to find an empty stairwell that led down. Swearing, he promised to kill whoever designed the tower
Everfree Forest/ Equestria
Two hours since the arrival of the Wolf Clan
Bakuub sat in the branches, watching the group of armoured equines as they made their way through the forest. He recorded everything the equines did, making sure he missed nothing. He hadn't seen this species before and so he wanted to make sure he knew their capabilities and how well they did under pressure before he had to fight them. Hopefully they wouldn't disappoint him. Looking down at the one at the front, he imagined the equine's skull hanging on his trophy wall. Clicking his mandibles together with pleasure, he continued to watch them. Switching to a different visual filter, he saw a bright green trail running underneath their hooves. He continued to scan and record, swinging to a new tree every so often. After about ten minutes of following them, he noticed that the trail stopped. Frowning, he glanced around, looking for signs of activity, but found nothing. Hearing a scream from one of the equines, Bakuub turned to see a Hard Meat larva had attached itself to the armoured equine's leader.
While this was a complication, it didn't really matter very much. For all it did was give him a chance to kill them and take trophies.
Author's Note
Pronunciation of the Yautja Language to English plus meaning
Yautja ~ Pronunciation ~ Meaning
Species
Yautja ~ ee-wat-ya ~ Predator
Names
Bakuub ~ Bakuub ~ Straight Spear
Centanu ~ Sen-tan-oo ~ The Black Hunter (God of Death)
Dachande ~ Day-shan-day ~ Different Knife
Dahdtoudi ~ Dah-too-dee ~ Little Knife
Guan-thwei ~ Gwan-thwey ~ Nightblood
Jehdin ~ Jay-din ~ Individual/ One
Hult'ah ~ Hool-tah ~ Observer/ Watcher
Paya ~ Pay-ya ~ God/ conquering warrior
Yeyinde ~ Yah-yin-day ~ Brave one
Expressions
c'nlip ~ can-lip ~ Intoxicating beverage
dai-shui ~ day-shoo-ee ~ Yautja musk
dhi'ki-de ~ Dee-kay-dee The Long Sleep (Death)/Unconscious/Coma
h'ko (M-di) ~ ah-ko ~ No/Negative
ka'rik'na ~ kah-rik-naa The Summoning (of other Yautja)
kiande amedha ~ Kee-and-ay Am-med-ha ~ Hard meat (Xenomorphs)
lou-dte kale ~ low-dat-ee kale Child-maker (female) (no male would ever say this to a female's face unless he wishes to be he first being to enter orbit without the aid of a space shuttle)
mesh'in'ga ~ mes-in-ga ~ The Battle Dreamtime
n'dui'se ~ en-du-ee-say ~ Yautja scent
nain-de ~ nane-day ~ Type of hunt
nain-desintje-de ~ nane-des-int-jay-day ~ The Pure Win (absolute victory)
nan-de than-gaun ~ nan-day than-goo-an ~ "Kiss Of Midnight"/No Mercy
pyode amedha ~ pee-yode am-med-ha Soft meat (humans)
tarei hsan ~ tare-ay has-san ~ Unworthy opponent/Bug
tjau'ke ~ t-jay-kee ~ Compressed dust
u'sl-kwe ~ oo-sla-kway ~ Final rest (death)
z'skvy-de ~ zee-sk-vay-dee ~ Birth of Xenomorph from host (Chestburster)
zazin ~ zaz-in ~ Completely centred/Within oneself
People Definitions
jehdin ~ jay-din ~ Individual/One
mei'hswei ~ may-sway ~ Brother
mei-jadhi ~ may-jad-hee ~ Sister
hulij-bpe ~ ool-ij-bay-beh-pay~ Crazy
hult'ah ~ Hool-tah ~ Observer/Watcher
vor'mekta ~ vor-meck-ta ~ Stalker
kv'var-de ~ kav-vav-ar-dee ~ Hunter
ic'jit ~ ik-jit ~ Bad Blood
sain'ja ~ sane-jah ~ Warrior
p'kya'uha ~ pak-ya-ooh-ah ~ Sniper
nrak'ytara ~ n-rak-yah-tara ~ Guardian
n'yaka-de ~ n-yaka-day ~ Master
mar'cte ~ mar-rak-tay ~ Killer
kujhade ~ koo~j-hade ~ Destroyer
u'darahje ~ oo-dar-rah-ay-jah ~ Abomination
kha'bj-te kah-ah-bej-tay ~ Maniac/Reckless
dteinou ~ det-eey-now ~ Messenger
Weapons
akrei-non ~ ah-kray-non ~ Bombs/Explosives
al'Nagara ~ all-Nag-ger-ah ~ Longsword
awu'asa ~ aw-woo-as-ah ~ Armor
bhrak-chei ~ brak-chay ~ Speargun/Harpoon
chakt-ra ~ chak-t-rah ~ Hunter's Disc
dah'kte ~ dah-ket-tay ~ Wrist Blades
dah'Nagara ~ dah-Nag-ger-ah ~ Shortsword
ki'cti-pa ~ key-cit-ee-pah ~ Spear/Combi-Stick/Lance
kv'Vurj-de ~ kav'vur'jay'dee Energy Flechette
sivk'va-tai ~ siv-kav-ah-tai ~ Plasma Caster
taun'dcha ~ ta-oon-dee-cha ~Pistol/Firearm/Sidearm/Gun
t'gou u'linja ~ ta-go-oo oo-lin-ja ~ Netgun
Objects
d'lex ~ da-leks ~ Super-strong/Metallic/Crystalline material
dekna ~ deck-na ~Eye/Eyes/Eyeball
gkinmara ~ ga-kin-mara ~ Sensor/Detector/Camera
kiloun ~ kil-o-oon ~ Wood
syra'yte ~ sire-ay-tay ~ Head
th'syra ~ this-ay-rah ~ Skull
tjau'ke ~ taj-ow-kay ~ A type of rock made of compressed dust
tyioe-ti ~ ty-ee-oh ~Escape Pod
Actions and Events
chi'ytei ~ chi-ee-tai ~ Embrace/Hug
chiva ~ chi-va ~ Trial
dha-viath ~ dah-vi-ath ~ Disaster
dtai'kai'-dte ~ da-tai-kay-tee ~ Battle/Fight
gry'sui-bpe ~ grii-sue-be-pee ~ Stampede
ikthala ~ ik-thala ~ Cataclysm
ka'Torag-na ~ ka-tor-ag-na ~ Lurking
kv'var ~ ky-ve-var ~ Hunt
n'ritja ~ en-reet-jah ~ Dance
Phrases
dtai'k-dte sa-de nav'g-kon dtain'aun bpide/Nau'gkon dtain'aun bpi-de (fuck it... I'm not translating that) The fight that begun would not end until the end
gkaun-yte ~ ge-ka-oon-yet-ee ~ sheet
gkei'moun ~ ge-kai-mah-oon ~ sheet
jkiu ~ jah-key-oo ~ sheet
ki'sei ~ kay-say ~ I agree/I understand
n'dhi-ja ~ en-dee-ya ~ Farewell/Good bye
n'jauka ~ en-ya-ook-ah ~ Welcome
na'tauk ~ nah-tah-ook ~ Salute
payas leitjin-de Hma'mi'de ~ pay-yas lee-it-yin-day mah-me-day Remember the gods' practice
sei-i ~ say-ee ~ Yes/Affirmative
thar'n-da s' yin'tekai ~ tar-en-dah see-in-tah-kay ~ Strength and honor
thin-de le'hsaun 'aloun'myin-de s' bpi-de gka-de hou-depaya - Learn the gift of all sights or finish the dance of the fallen gods
Words
(You guys figure out the rest. Ill post the full one on my blog... eventually.)
agaj'ya - Realm
bhu'ja - Ghost/Soul/Spirit
bpi-de - End
ch'hkt-a – Nervous/Hyper-active/Excited
c'jit - Expletive
dhi'rauta - Cunning
dto - Forest/Jungle/Woodland
gahn'tha-cte - Ruthless
gkei'moun - Easy/Simple
guan - Night
h'chak - Mercy
h'dlak - Fear
h'dui'se - Smell/Scent/Odor/Musk
halkrath - Shadow
ikthya-de - Umbra/ follower
ju'dha - Water
kiande - Hard
kehrite - Training Hall/Dojo
ki'cte - Enough
kjuhte - Void
kwei - Sly
l'ulij-bpe - Mad
lar'ja - Dark
luar-ke - Moon
m-di h'chak - No mercy
m-di h'dlak - No fear
mi - Fuel
n'ithya - Earth/Ground/Dirt/Land
nanku - Alive
nok - Unit of measurement (equivalent to 13 inches)
nracha-dte - Relentless
ooman - Men/Humans
pauk - Expletive
pyode - Soft
r'ka - Fire
s'yuitde - Pathetic
setg'in - Deadly
te'dqi - Secretion
than-guan - Midnight
thar'n-dha - Strength
thei-de - Death
thwei - Blood
ui'stbi - Geography
vayuh'ta - Air
yeyin - Brave
yin'tekai - Honor
z'skuy-de - Convulsions/Spasm
Zabin - Insect known to the Yautja.
