"What we are trying to get for cutie marks again?" Sweetie Belle asked her fellow crusaders. They were currently walking through the Everfree Forest, in the middle of the night. The white unicorn was starting to get a little nervous.
"Monster Hunters!" Scootaloo said excitedly. She was the only one who thought this was a good idea.
"Ah dunno, Scoots. Everypony always tells us to stay away from th' Everfree. Are ya sure we should be doin' this?" Applebloom said, sounding uncertain.
The orange pegasus rolls her eyes, "We'll be fine! I mean we've been in here before." The other two fillies decided not to say anything about how they were almost turned to stone last time they were in here.
The trio stopped when they heard the sound of an animal wailing in terror. "Let's go! The monsters must be that way!" Scootaloo said, her wings fluttering with anticipation. The unicorn and earth pony reluctantly followed their eager friend. Sweetie Belle held a large net in her magic, Applebloom had a camera to take a picture of it, and Scootaloo just had her bare hooves. They quietly looked through the branches of a bush to see a manticore looking around with terror in its eyes.
"What do you think could scare a manticore like that?" Sweetie asked. The other two just shrugged and waited for their monster to appear.
A twig snapped behind them and they whip around ready to catch a monster (or scream and run away, which ever came first). "The net!" Applebloom shouted, signaling Sweetie to throw it.
"Hey!" A familiar scratchy voice says in annoyance. The crusaders see somepony trying to shake off the net.
"Rainbow Dash?!" They all cried, completely forgetting about the manticore behind them. Rainbow, however, knew it was there.
"Shh!" Dash hissed, shaking the net off. She looks through the bush before glaring at the crusaders. "What are you doing in here?" She asked quietly with a sharp edge. The fillies were in the way, and she needed them gone.
"Trying to get our monster hunter cutie marks," they said in sync.
Rainbow Dash sighed. "Get out of here. It's not safe," the crusaders groaned, "Maybe you can pull some late night pranks in town, just stay out of the forest okay?" Rainbow suggested.
The fillies looked at each other before taking a deep breath, "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS PRANKSTERS YAY!" Rainbow winced and folded her ears back. She then quietly peered through the branches to make sure the manticore was still there. To her luck it was, and shrunk down in fear as it saw her.
"Hurry up and go before some monster comes and eats you." The crusaders ran off after saying a quick goodbye.
"Finally," Rainbow grumbled under her breath. She spread her wings which had shed their feathers and were now bat like. She flew into the clearing looking for the manticore, which had just tried to run. As she looked around, her coat turned dull until it was almost gray, her once-vibrant mane now as dull as stone. Her now-blood red eyes pierced the darkness as they landed on the cowering form of a once-terrifying manticore. She grinned, her fangs glinting in the pale moonlight, as she lunged for its neck.
What she didn't know was that the trio was still hiding in the bush, having back-tracked after making sure she didn't know they were still there. Their eyes were wide with horror as they watched the pegasus bite down on the manticore's neck, blood dripping down her chin. "Applebloom, hurry get a picture!" Sweetie whispered while Scootaloo stared ahead. Unfortunately, the flash caught the vampony's attention.
"RUN!!" They all three screamed. The monster's crimson eyes widened as she heard their voices. Rainbow Dash turned around to try and stop them.
"Wait!" She called, but they were already running out of the forest.
"Dammit..."
***
"MONSTER!!!!" Sweetie Belle yelled as they ran into town. Since it was Ponyville, that wasn't an uncommon thing to hear, so lights instantly turned on. Ponies rushed outside, looking around for the monster. One white unicorn with a two-toned, wild blue mane looked out the window. She noticed how the crusaders were coming from the Everfree. She also knew this was Dash's night to hunt.
"Dammit, you're usually better at this," Vinyl muttered to herself. She turned towards the doorway as she heard hoof-steps.
"What do you think it is Vinyl?" Asked her marefriend, a gray earth pony with a straight, black mane and a purple treble clef for a cutie mark.
The DJ held back a wince, "I'm sure it's nothing Tavi. They probably saw something and freaked out." Octavia nodded before walking outside with the unicorn. The town had gathered outside town hall to listen to the panicking fillies.
"Girls what happened?" Twilight asked calmly. She was almost certain it was nothing, seeing as these fillies were also known for pranks.
"W-w-we saw Dash i-in the forest a-and-" Scootaloo was shaking uncontrollably as were the other two.
"-she told us to leave a-a-and we did! B-but we went back and s-saw her." Sweetie Belle had started up after her friend, but she stopped, too. Seeing as she hadn't spoken yet, the other two looked towards their earth pony friend.
Applebloom glanced at her friends before she continued the story, "She looked completely different! H-her fur and mane were dull-" She was cut off by a new voice.
"Since when is my mane dull?" Everypony turned to look at Dash. She landed softly on the ground in the middle of the crowd next to the crusaders. They took a step back, eyeing her with fear.
"Wha' exactly happened out there RD?" Applejack asked her friend, some towns-ponies nodding, wanting to know as well. The earth pony looked between her friends and their sisters as she waited for an answer.
"I followed the crusaders into the forest and saw them about to trap a manticore. I stopped them, told them to go back to town, and made sure nothing was following them. They must have seen a shadow," Rainbow lied while Vinyl Scratch looked between her and the fillies. The unicorn knew what everypony else didn't.
"That's not true! You had red eyes and fangs!" The crusaders somehow all said at once. They were now glaring at Rainbow Dash, their fear momentarily forgotten. Although it quickly returned as the pegasus turned to look at them.
"You're just tired, it was your mind playing tricks on you." Twilight said.
"Come on, Sweetie, let's get you to bed." Rarity told her sister as she picked her up in her magic. The smaller of the two tried to protest, but eventually just let her sister take her home.
"You too, Applebloom," Applejack started nudging her sister towards the farm. Applebloom gave Scootaloo her camera and followed her sibling home.
"I-I'll walk you home Scootaloo," Fluttershy said softly and started nosing the arguing filly towards her house.
"Tomorrow I'll throw a 'Yay There Was No Monster!' party," Pinkie giggled as she bounced back to the bakery.
Soon, it was only Rainbow Dash and Vinyl Scratch left in the center of town."You should have been more careful, Dash," The DJ said, shaking her head. This wasn't the first time one of the two had been caught, but every time the problem was always solved quickly. "You probably just put us in even more danger than we already are! These are fillies we can't rid them like the we did to other ponies who have seen us."
"I was! They must have back-tracked right before I attacked it. Besides, everypony thinks they saw a shadow or something and overreacted."
"I realize that the hunger made you not think as clearly, but you still have to watch out for witnesses!" Rainbow folded her ears back and glared at her unicorn friend. Sometimes, she got on her nerves. She was right, but it made the pegasus aggravated to be scolded like a fledgling.
"Last time I checked, you weren't able to give me orders. But I'll be more careful, alright?" The pale unicorn rolled her eyes but nodded.
"See you later then," She turned and trotted towards her house.
Rainbow took flight, when she remembered the camera flash. "Oh well. It's not like I'll show up in my true form anyways." She shrugged as she landed on her doorstep.
Author's Note
So here it is! My first story. I'm only 15 and haven't written anything creative or any fanfiction in like two years so don't be harsh in the comments okay? If you have any ideas on how I can improve my story and/or writing please let me know! 
I would like to thank The Ponytail for helping me fix all my mistakes!
http://www.fimfiction.net/user/The+Ponytail
