Monster Hunter MLP: Ultimate

Chapters

[Prologue] History
[Act 1] (Chapter 1) The Black Dragon
[Act 1] (Chapter 2) Equestria's Last Hope
[Act 1] (Chapter 3) Hollow Shades
[Act 1] (Chapter 4) Hunting through the Night
[Act 1] (Chapter 5) The Guardian of Foal Mountain
[Act 2] (Chapter 1) Ancient Power
[Act 2] (Chapter 3) Meeting a Hero
[Act 2] (Chapter 4) Showdown with the Dah'ren Mohran
[Act 3] (Chapter 1) Remember
[Act 3] (Chapter 2) Law of the Jungle
[Act 3] (Chapter 3) The Village, the Filly and the Dragon
[Act 3] (Chapter 4) Tremble of the Sea and Land
[Act 3] (Chapter 5) Moonquake
[Act 4] (Chapter 1) A Trail of Dust
[Act 4] (Chapter 2) Tusked Toad Turnabout
[Act 4] (Chapter 3) The Living Nightmare
[Act 4] (Chapter 4) Secrets of the Necklace
[Act 4] (Chapter 5) Critical Power
[Act 4] (Chapter 6) Dire Circumstances
[Act 5] (Chapter 1) Temperature Change
[Act 5] (Chapter 2) Fossil in the Rabbit Hole
[Act 5] (Chapter 3) The Blind Plague
[Act 5] (Chapter 4) Behemoth Awakened
[Act G] (Chapter G) Destiny
[Epilogue] Two Years Later...
[Act 2] (Chapter 2) The Serpent of the Ruins

[Prologue] History

For thousands upon thousands of years, there existed us, the ponies of Equestria. We were, and still are, resourceful, intelligent, caring, and most of all, curious. Thanks to our ingenious minds and creative thinking, we were able to build vast cities, create interesting creations that help us in our daily lives and thrive in even the harshest of environments thanks to our teamwork skills.

However, alongside us existed creatures of mass destruction and awesome power. These creatures, or monsters as many like to call them, have lived even longer than we have and have created nothing but problems for our race; destroying towns, killing innocent lives, spreading virus after virus, the list truly does go on. They have always been seen as creatures of evil, and though some can be tamed, most of them are beyond dangerous.

A thousand years ago, just before pony kind had lost all hope in repelling the monsters, hope shone through like the holy light of god himself. Two powerful Alicorn sisters appeared before the ponies and opposed the monsters with mighty courage. A long battle between the sisters and the monsters had ensued, and in the end of it all, the two Alicorn sisters were victorious, driving away the beasts and becoming the world's first official Monster Hunters.

Years past, and the sisters continued to slay beast after beast, keeping them at bay and helping the ponies of the world whenever they could. But the younger sister was outshone by the elder one in fame, and slowly but surely, the younger sister had begun to feel jealous. The elder sister consulted her about this, saying that it never mattered about fame or fortune, but about the lives of the innocent ponies that were continuously attacked by monsters. The younger never listened, and instead let her jealousy grow into full-on hatred.

From there, different stories on what happened after that became many in number. Some say the younger sister turned on pony kind and left to join the monsters. Most believe she simply fought her sister and lost, resulting in the birth of local Monster Hunters taught by the elder sister herself...

XXXXXX

"...As for me though, I think something else may have happened" a lavender Unicorn mare with a purple mane was beginning to finish up reporting to her mentor, the Alicorn Princess Celestia, who shone like the sun with her long and wavy purple, blue, pink and cyan mane and her snow white coat "I believe that the elder sister personally banished her younger sibling and never saw her again. How? Well, I'm not too sure actually...

"That certainly is an interesting theory, Twilight" Celestia spoke with a soft chuckle "I'm happy to hear that you also know of our history with the beasts that plague the land."

"Well, of course!" Twilight said with a grin "I studied it to no end whenever I got the chance! It really is an interesting subject to talk and read about. Thanks for listening, Princess!"

"You're very welcome, Twilight" smiled the white Alicorn "I always have time to hear what my number one student has to say. However, now, it's getting slightly late. Perhaps you should begin to head back home?"

"Oh, right..." Twilight chuckled sheepishly "Well, goodnight Princess! See you in the morning!"

"Farewell, Twilight Sparkle" waved the lavender Unicorn's mentor "I wish you a good night's sleep."

Twilight nodded before heading out of the large mansion that the princess called her summer home in Ponyville. The mansion was old, but you would never know due to the polished white marble pillars, the well-preserved light blue bricks and the regularly changed brown roof shackles. The mansion was in a rectangular prism shape and was positioned upon a hill just a kilometre away from the main part of Ponyville.

Twilight looked and walked forward towards her home in the middle of the town. As she looked up, she saw it was clearly nighttime, as previously mentioned. However, she saw the shining stars in the sky and the bright lights emanating from Canterlot, the city built on the side of a mountain next to Ponyville. Seeing such a grand city always made her smile. The knowledge of always being protected from monster attacks by the watch of the largest city on the planet would make even the dullest of ponies grin from relief.

Finally, Twilight had made her way back home. Her house was a hollowed out, yet still somehow living tree that doubled as a private library for her and her friends. She opened the front door to see the circle-shaped main hall was still jam-packed with every book the young Unicorn could get her hands on, ranging from research novels to even some... slightly more private books.

To the left side of the main hall was her pet baby Azure Rathalos, whom she named Spike, sleeping the night blissfully away. Twilight smiled at this sight before going to her cupboard, bringing out a blanket, and placing it over Spike. She then proceeded to head upstairs to her room and read a bit more on the history of ponies and monsters. She jumped on her bed and rested her head on her pillow and read until she began to feel drowsy. She finally closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

XXXXXX

Twilight awoke the next morning to the feeling of wetness on her left hoof that was hanging off the edge of her bed. She groaned as she slowly got up to see that Spike had been licking her hoof affectionately. She smiled and petted him on his head. After a quick shower, she brushed her teeth, combed and styled her messy mane and headed out the door to meet with her friends at the local bakery, Sugar Cube Corner, just down the street she lived on.

XXXXXX

As soon as she arrived at the gingerbread-like bakery with beige walls, pink windows, a brown roof with false icing on it and a pink tower shaped like cupcakes in the centre of it, she spotted her friends, all of which were female. There was Rainbow Dash, the cyan Pegasus with a short rainbow mane; Fluttershy, the cream yellow Pegasus with a long pink mane; Rarity, the white Unicorn with a curly purple mane; Applejack, the orange Earth Pony with a braided blonde mane and a brown Stetson hat; and Pinkie Pie, the pink Earth Pony with a slightly darker pink and poofy mane.

"Hiya, Twilight!" greeted Pinkie Pie the second she saw her lavender friend "Are you ready to have a super-duper awesome amazing day today?!"

"Pinkie, she doesn't hunt, remember?" Rainbow Dash, who was currently hovering a few feet off the ground spoke to the bubbly pink mare "She won't be able to join us in what we're going to do! Which is a shame, since then she wouldn't be able to see my awesome skills! Like, seriously! I have this new attack where I jump off the side of a cliff and wham some unsuspecting monster in the face!"

"Yes, I'm sure your skills are quite extraordinary, Rainbow Dash" Rarity spoke sarcastically in a light English accent as she sipped some tea held in her magical grasp.

"Ah'm sorry, Twi" Applejack turned to Twilight's positioned and apologized with a sad voice "Ah know 'at ya wanted ta talk with us today, but huntin' gits us money ta pay fer our homes and food, and y'all know that we need 'em ta live."

"No, no, I understand" Twilight nodded "I know that hunting pays big and taxes are huge in Equestria. Please, for your families, go out and have some fun!"

"Thank you, Twilight..." Fluttershy softly spoke up "You know, you could always join us on our hunts, y'know... if you wanted to, of course..."

"Thank you, Fluttershy, but I'm more of an indoors mare" the lavender Unicorn honestly said "But I can still help you guys! I know everything there is to know about monsters! I've studied every single one and know of every single-"

"Twi, this one may be a lil'... different..." Applejack spoke "'Ere sayin' it's a new species o' monster 'at nopony's ever seen before. We have no idea what it could do ta ya! Once we find one and hunt it down, an' more importantly find it's attacks and weaknesses, yer free ta examine it whenever ya want."

"Oh..." Twilight hung her head slightly "Well, um... Have fun on your hunt, you five!"

"Thank you, Darling" Rarity had finished her tea and got up from her seat, taking her Gold Rathian Bow, the Selene Moonbroken, with her magic "We won't be long. After our hunt, we promise to talk with you all day."

"See ya, Twi!" Rainbow waved farewell before turning back to her team "Okay... Fluttershy, go get your Hunting Horn. Applejack, get your Switch Axe. Pinkie, your Heavy Bowgun, and I'll get my Duel Blades. Got it?"

"Got it!" everypony shouted at the same time, except Fluttershy who was about two seconds late with her cheer, and slightly quieter.

Before Twilight knew it, her five friends were already off to hunt down whatever they were trying to find. The lavender Unicorn let out a slightly saddened sigh, but she quickly regained her posture once she reminded herself that hunting wasn't in her blood. Being Princess Celestia's prized pupil, she was paid a handsome amount every session the two had to help support her literal tree house and her pet Spike.

XXXXXX

"I hope those five have fun today" I smiled as I read the book I was reading previously before I fell asleep last night on my bed "What do you think, Spike?" I turned to the baby Azure Rathalos that was also in my room, playing with a Felyne plush I got him one day. He turned to me and me gave of a small cry of agreement

"Ah, Spike. You're always there to have my back on things..." I sighed before going back to my book "Y'know, I don't mind this life. It's peaceful, quiet, and it gives me time to read my books. Though, sometimes I wish that my life was slightly more exciting..."

Little did I know that my wish would come very, very soon. And not exactly in the good way.

Author's Note

If you didn't know this about me (For some weird reason. I mean, c'mon; my avatar is a Shagaru Magara!), I'm a huge Monster Hunter fan. I've only played Tri and 3U, but that's honestly enough to get one into a series as awesome as this! And since Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate is out now, I've decided to make a story to celebrate such an event. So... here it is!

Now, let's play a little game. The rules are simple, actually. All you have to do is comment down below telling me what your favourite and least favourite monster is, and if you have one that I like, your suggested monster will be featured in this story along with a credit saying you suggested it, and a follow from yours truly. Here are the rules:

-No Elder Dragons (I'm saving those for later)
-Nothing too powerful for Twilight to handle
-No Plesioth (You know why...)

Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I swear, chapters will be much longer after this! I also promise the next chapters will be FAR better than this one, so I implore you to at least read chapter one before deciding to leave a Like or not. You might actually enjoy it.

I'm doing a special chapter at the end of the story after the epilogue, but you know there are some catches. If we manage to reach 50+ Likes on this story, I will do the chapter. Even if your not a diehard Monster Hunter fan, Like it anyway so others can enjoy it. Can you do that for me? :applecry:

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow me, and until then, happy hunting!

[Act 1] (Chapter 1) The Black Dragon

An entire day had passed since Twilight's friends had left Ponyville for their hunt, and Twilight, naturally, was beginning to get worried. What if the new monster had gotten them and killed them in cold blood? What if they were being held hostage by someone or something else? They must be terrified by now, if they were still alive she thought. No, she couldn't think like that, they had to still be alive! They were tougher than that!

As of right now, she was curled up on her bed in fetal position, being comfortably nuzzled by Spike. She didn't know what to do in a time like this. She tried relaxing, she tried reading a book, she tried taking a walk, she tried talking with other ponies around Ponyville, but nothing worked! She just couldn't get the feeling something horrible has, or was about to happen.

Then, out of all her confusion, anger and sadness she remembered something. Her mentor, Princess Celestia, was always able to talk with her about certain issues that were troubling her. Getting out of her bed and petting Spike goodbye, she made her way to the princess's mansion outside Ponyville post-haste.

XXXXXX

Celestia heard a frantic knocking at her front door whilst she was doing some gardening in her backyard and wearing her favourite straw sun hat. Slowly, she went around the side of the mansion to see who could be knocking at her door at the time. Low and behold, she saw her favourite, and only student, Twilight Sparkle with a look of fear on her face.

"Twilight?" the sun princess questioned "Is that you? What may I-"

"Princess!" Twilight exclaimed the second she saw the white Alicorn and made her way to face her at a much closer distance "It's about my friends! They said they went on a hunt yesterday to track down a new monster, and they haven't come back!"

"They haven't?" Celestia asked with worry in her voice "This is troubling indeed..."

"Do you know what may have happened to them?" Twilight asked her mentor with concern "They could have been killed, or eaten, or mutilated, or captured, or-"

"Twilight, Twilight, please calm yourself..." soothed Celestia the best she could in a situation like this "These are troubling times indeed, but we need to try and stay calm so we can figure out what we should do, okay?"

"Y-Yes, your highness..." the lavender Unicorn quickly bowed "So, staying as calm as possible, what do you think we should do?"

"Did you receive any information about the monster from your friends?" Celestia asked.

"No, your highness..." Twilight shook her head "They just told me that they were getting ready to fight a previously unknown monster, and before I knew it, they were off!"

"I see..." sighed the Alicorn "That doesn't quite help us with our predicament, does it?"

"No..."

"Twilight, why don't you leave this to me?" Celestia suggested.

"P-Princess!" exclaimed Twilight "You can't be-"

"I am, Twilight" Celestia's face became slightly more serious "While I fully trust your knowledge in monsters, I think this is a job for a Monster Hunter, especially one descended from the elder sister in Equestrian lore."

"Well, yeah, but..." Twilight spoke again before feeling a hoof on her lips. She looked up to see a kind smile on Celestia's face.

"Twilight, rest up" the celestial Alicorn spoke "I will handle this situation and rescue your friends, okay?"

"Yes, your highness..." the lavender Unicorn bowed once again "And thank you..."

"You're quite welcome, Twilight..." Celestia continued to smile.

XXXXXX

The white Alicorn had climbed it all the way to to the top of Galloping Gorge, the largest gorge in all of Equestria and the place the local guildmaster said Twilight's friends were headed off to. With her Lagiacrus armour on and her Rathalos sword and shield in her magical grasp, she ventured out into the forest at the top of the gorge and tried to located the culprit that stole away five good hunters.

"If I was a completely unknown, undiscovered monster, where would I be?" Celestia spoke to herself as she trekked through the dense wood "It has to be around here somewhere, unless it flew off to another location..."

The Princess of the Sun searched and searched the forest from top to bottom until she could search no more. Everywhere she looked there was nothing but Congalala, sleeping Qurupeco and a few Jaggies here and there. Finally, she began to start heading back to Ponyville when all of a sudden, she heard a weak voice.

"P-P-Prin... c-c-cess..." spoke the incredibly weak voice. Celestia looked around the area to try and discover where the voice had come from. She then looked up and gasped in horror as saw Rainbow Dash wrapped in vines from the trees and covered with her own blood, some of which had turned slightly purple. Beside her were her Zinogre Duel Blades also wrapped in vines.

"Rainbow Dash!" Celestia shouted as silently as possible. Without question, she extended her majestic wings and flew up to untangle the injured cyan Pegasus.

"What did this to you?" she asked Rainbow as she started to cut all the vines off with her carving knife.

"M-M-M-Mon... st-st-ster..." weakly replied the rainbow maned hunter "M-M-Mon..."

"Shhhh..." shushed Celestia "If you can't speak, don't. You must conserve your energy, okay?"

Rainbow Dash replied with a simply nod. Just as she did, a snapping noise could be heard and the cyan mare was let loose from the vines, Celestia catching her before she hit the ground. She then fluttered down and placed Rainbow on the ground where she could rest without being constricted by vines over her body.

"How has your blood turned purple?" questioned Celestia as she enveloped some of Rainbow's wounds with her magic, trying her best to stop the bleeding "Has something infected you? No, the answers can wait for later. Now, you must rest and heal up so that-"

"R-Run..." Dashie spoke quietly, earning a curious look from Celestia. Before the Alicorn could ask why, she heard a loud screech from behind her. The ear-shattering cry was unlike anything the Alicorn had heard before, and it filled her with pure fear. Slowly and reluctantly, she turned around to see a dragon standing not nine metres away from her.

The dragon was black with four legs and seemingly retractable wings with purple highlights on it's underwing. It was covered in spines and it had a long, pointy tail. As it inched closer to Celestia, she noted that some sort of black mist followed in it's tracks. But it's most defining feature of all was that it had no eyes. It was like a hybrid of several different species of monster.

The celestial Alicorn took no time in deciding whether to run or not. She picked Rainbow Dash up as fast as she could, placed her on the Alicorn's back and began running away from the black beast. The unknown creature took this time to chase after them at terrifyingly fast speeds.

"Not this time!" Celestia shouted as she took a sharp turn right and confused the dragon that had been chasing her. She let out a sigh of relief as she continued to gallop her way back to Ponyville. However, the dragon had other ideas. It quickly found the Alicorn and Pegasus and began chasing after them again. It fired a ball of darkness from it's mouth straight at them, which exploding into more black mist.

"Just... a little... further..." an already out-of-stamina but still determined Celestia spoke as she saw the exit to the forest and raced towards it. The monster, however, had different plans. It began roaring a powerful shriek that gave itself purple horns and made the air around it slightly duller. It then continued to chase her with increased speed and more than likely increased attack power.

It was gaining on her, and she was more than terrified. It got closer and closer to her until it was right at the perfect place to attack her. As it ran, it charged up a shot of dark mist intended for Celestia. However, just before it was about fire it, the princess reached the exit to the forest and jumped down Galloping Gorge, making sure to land on her boots to protect herself from falling and dying. The creature looked down at Celestia before deciding to turn back and feast on something else.

(Music stop)

"That was exhilarating..." huffed the princess "Are you alright, Rainbow Dash?"

The rainbow maned Pegasus didn't say anything, but Celestia could feel both her airflow and heart beating inside the mare on he back at a near perfect beat. She smiled at my success and began her long trek back home.

Little did she know that the creature would stalk her in the shadows, waiting for an opening to strike it's prey...

XXXXXX

Celestia had returned safely to Ponyville with the injured Rainbow Dash on her back. To say Twilight was overjoyed to see one of her friends alive and well again was the understatement of the century. She hugged the rainbow maned Pegasus in whilst she was recovering in her hospital bed. By this point, Rainbow had already woken up.

"R-Rainbow Dash..." Twilight sobbed with a smile as she lay next to her friend's bed "I-I'm so g-glad you're s-safe..."

"Hey, or course I am..." Rainbow smiled weakly "I'm awesome, remember?"

"I don't mean to intrude, Rainbow Dash," Celestia, who was also in the room with Dashy and Twi and still wearing her Lagiacrus armour, spoke up "but we need your full knowledge on what that creature is. Can you remember what happened to the rest of your friends?"

"I... I don't really remember that much..." admitted RD, much to Twilight and Celestia's disappointment "But I DO remember seeing that nightmare of a dragon come flying out of nowhere and beating us down faster than you can say Brachydios! I blacked out shortly after it landed, and I awoke to find myself covered in blood and tangled in vines. You also happened to be there when I woke up as well, Princess. Thanks for that!"

"You are most certainly welcome, Rainbow Dash" smiled the white Alicorn "Now, I have seen this dragon for myself, and I can unfortunately say that it is as powerful as Rainbow Dash describes it to be."

"How powerful?" Twilight asked her mentor.

"Powerful enough that it it could wipe out an entire team of hunters in one fell swoop and have the ability to outrun me" she answered "I fear what other dark powers it could have contained within itself. The discovery and documentation of a new species of monster, especially a dangerous one, is never an easy thing to do."

"Now, didn't you saying something about some sort of black mist coming off of it's body?" the lavender mare asked her mentor "Do you think it has anything to do with Dashie's current condition?"

"Whatever it may be, I know it can't be good..." Celestia said "We'll have to keep an eye on Rainbow's sickness and see what happens. It might just go away after a while like a common cold, but who knows?

Suddenly, all three of the mares heard a large thump coming from outside. It had almost sounded like a monster had landed in Ponyville and was about to attack the town. Celestia wasted no time in grabbing her sword and rushing out the door to fight the oncoming beast. Twilight wished to see her mentor in action, so she said goodbye to RD and rushed out the door with Celestia.

As soon as they got outside, their jaws dropped at the sight they were witnessing. The black dragon that the white Alicorn princess and the injured cyan Pegasus had spoken about was standing right before them. It glanced over at the duo before growling and extending it's wings. The wings were attached to two arm-like limbs that had four red claws on the ends of them. The monster finally roared before taking off at lightning speed and flying towards Ponyville.

"Twilight, stay here..." Celestia commanded protectively "I'll deal with it..."

"Understood, your highness..." Twilight nodded before taking a step backwards back to the hospital. The lavender Unicorn then watched as her teacher, her mentor, dashed off to fight the black monster. All the while, the intruding beast had begun to wreck different parts of the town without remorse.

"Horrifying..." was the only thing Twi could say at a time like this. A fitting word as well.

XXXXXX

Twilight trotted back and forth in Rainbow's hospital bedroom, waiting and hoping for Celestia's safe return. This had annoyed Rainbow as the constant clopping noise of her horseshoes had prevented her from getting a nice nap.

"What if she doesn't make it?" Twilight asked in a worried tone as she continued trotting back and forth "What if Ponyville gets destroyed by the monster and we have to repopulate? What if-"

"Twilight, I'm sure the princess is fine" Dashie sighed "Now, if you don't mind, can I PLEASE get some shuteye?"

"Oh, right... Sorry..." Twilight sheepishly grinned "I'm just worried that Celestia might not be able to succeed in killing the monster."

"Isn't she, like, the descendant of that great hero a thousand years ago?" questioned RD "I'm sure she'll be fine. She has a lot of knowledge under her belt, doesn't she? What's the worst that could happen?"

All of a sudden, Twi and Dashie heard a loud explosion coming from Ponyville. Quickly, Twilight rushed to the window to see that Ponyville was in ruins. The black monster had destroyed everything. It gave of a horrifying shriek before extending it's wings and flying off to who knows where. Besides the thought of Ponyville being decimated, only one thought rang through Twilight's head...

"Princess Celestia..." she spoke before rushing out the door and heading towards the now ruined Ponyville.

XXXXXX

As the lavender Unicorn had traversed through the piles of rubble created by the black dragon, she saw that many ponies, and even Spike, had survived the attack. They were all regrouping to try and fathom what had just happened to them. She payed little to no attention to them quite yet, as she was trying to located where her mentor was...

It didn't take long to find her.

Celestia was buried under a pile of rubble that the beast pulled on top of her in the centre of town. She was still alive and conscious, but she was still heavily injured and she needed to be treated to immediately. Twilight begun pulling the rubble off of her mentor's back and wings, seeing how bruised up they were despite being in a full set of armour.

"Twilight?" the Alicorn asked as the final piece of debris was lifted off of her "You came to save me?"

"Of course, Princess" Twilight smiled as she sighed in relief "But the more important question is, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Twilight, thank you..." Celestia smiled "I can still feel all of my limbs and wings, so please, worry not... However, look at the state of this once beautiful town..." Celestia got herself up and looked out at all the ruins and debris scattered across the place "This dragon needs to be put down."

"If I may, your highness," the Unicorn mare intervened "but I think we need to call it something, don't you agree? We can't simply keep referring it as a black dragon or black beast. It needs a creative name that strikes fear into others hearts."

"The Magala" said the white Alicorn simply "Or, if you wish to go all the way, the Gore Magala. Is that a threatening name? Sorry, I'm a bit new at naming new monsters."

"It's okay, your highness" Twi nodded "Yes, that's a very threatening name. Now I need a chance to study it up close so we can learn about it, train you up and save my friends!"

"Twilight, I'm afraid I can't fight the Gore Magala" admitted Celestia, earning a risen eyebrow from me "That crushing feeling on my back may not have destroyed my will to fight, but it has broken my ribs. It doesn't look like this town is any better..." she looked around the area and saw just how many ponies actually were injured "That means, Twilight, that my job must temporarily go to you. I will train you to become a Monster Hunter."

"WHAT?!" Twilight shouted at the top of her lungs from shock.

Author's Note

So here it is, the first REAL chapter of this entire story! I hope you liked it! I see that many people already have, so great job you guys/girls! You all get a cookie! Yay! :twilightsmile:

Be sure to comment below and tell me what monster YOU want to have see in this story! It can be from anything ranging from Frontier to 4: Ultimate, so please, I insist, write a comment below!

Be sure to Follow and Thumbs Up this story as well! Until then, happy hunting!

[Act 1] (Chapter 2) Equestria's Last Hope

Twilight tried her best to regain her balance after the initial shock of what Princess Celestia has just said. Would she really have to become a Monster Hunter; a profession she never really had an interest in? Before she could complain and ask why Celestia would say this, the white Alicorn spoke again.

"I know this must come as a shock to you, Twilight," she spoke with as calm a voice as possible "but look around you. Most, if not all survivors here have been injured, and I too have been hurt by the debris left by the Gore Magala. Twilight, you might be our last hope."

"B-But... I know nothing ABOUT hunting monsters!" Twilight argued, trying her best to get her out of the pit the Gore Magala dug her "Why not just get somepony from another city to help us? I'm sure they'd be more than willing to-"

"My dearest Twilight" Celestia said a she stroked her student's mane to calm her down "You are the only uninjured pony in the world who knows what that beast can do, therefore, your can prepare yourself better than the other hunters of the world. You are this world's last chance should this monster be the bringer of the apocalypse."

Twilight was still slightly skeptical if she should agree to becoming a hunter or not. It was true what her mentor had said about the black dragon possibly having so much power that it could wipe all live off the face of the planet, and her friends needed help should they still even be alive by this point.

"If your agree, you can have a chance to get a closer look at monsters and study them..." Celestia tried to further the lavender Unicorn's decision toward becoming a monster hunter. As soon as Twilight heard this, her eyes grew larger and began to sparkle with excitement as a smile crept onto her face.

"I'll do it!" she nodded furiously "But, how will you be able to teach me how to do things when your ribs are broken?"

"I have an idea, so fear not, my faithful student" Celestia chuckled softly "Bring me back to the hospital and we will discuss my method of teaching."

"Right" Twilight nodded before taking the injured Alicorn on her back and heading off towards the hospital, albeit slowly due to the weight of her mentor stopping her from walking too quickly.

XXXXXX

"Okay, okay, so lemme get this straight..." Rainbow Dash, who was still in her hospital bed, began to chuckle a bit "You're saying that the giant monster we saw is powerful enough to be considered the bringer of the apocalypse, and you're sending in Twilight, the mare who knows literally nothing about fighting monsters, in to save the day, am I right?"

"That is correct" Princess Celestia was resting in the bed right beside Rainbow's.

"No offense, princess," snickered the rainbow maned Pegasus "but don't you think that might be a tiny bit of a bad idea? I mean, this is the bringer of Armageddon we're talking about here. And you think somepony as untrained as Twilight will be able to defeat it? No offense, Twi."

"None taken..." Twilight rolled her eyes as a small sigh escaped her mouth.

"While I understand where you're coming from, Rainbow Dash," the solar princess spoke again "but nopony in Ponyville, from what I can gather, is uninjured from the attack. Twilight is the only one who is uninjured and has seen what it can do, thus making her slightly more prepared."

"Alright then, fine, she's our last hope and everything" the cyan Pegasus finally caved "But still, that doesn't make the fact that Twilight has no knowledge under her belt wrong! How is she going to get training done when you and I are in bed and seriously hurt?"

"I might know somepony that can help her" Celestia remembered "But the journey is a bit long and the path is filled with monsters of all shapes and sizes. It wouldn't be wise to let Twilight go that way. So, I'm letting her borrow my sword."

"You're what?" Twilight asked out of shock "Princess, I can't have that kind of responsibility! It's your sword! What if I lose it? What if it breaks when I'm fighting a monster?! I just-"

"Twilight, it's okay" the white Alicorn smiled and reassured her student "My sword is a symbol of your allegiance to me. Take it to the mare who lives on the treacherous path I will give directions to in a moment, and she will teach you the art of monster hunting. Besides, it was getting quite old anyway, and I needed a new one."

"W-Well, I'm honored then!" Twilight smiled before taking the Rathalos sword, which was until now leaning against Celestia's right bedside, with her magic "Such a refined and powerful weapon. I'll have no problem taking down anything now!"

"I'm glad to see my sword has filled you with courage, Twilight" smiled Celestia "But, if I may teach you a lesson right now, a hunter should never be overconfident in just their weapons. Skill is also needed to take down foes, especially if those foes are particularly stronger than you are."

"Understood, your highness" nodded Twilight "So, may I have these directions please?"

XXXXXX

After Twilight left the hospital, she did her best to recite what her mentor had told her. A little past Ponyville, there should be a lone cedar tree, which was thankfully undamaged from the attack. After that, find the hand-like branch and follow where it was pointing. Keep following that direction until you came across a crossroad. Twilight was at that crossroad right now.

"...then you turn... left?" Twilight tapped her noggin with her front right hoof as she struggled to remember the correct way to the mare's home "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was left. The other way was home to a somewhat docile Zinogre, if I remembered correctly..."

As Twilight turned left, she saw that she was now facing an unknown and seemingly darker forest than the Everfree forest. Swallowing her fear as much as she could, she entered the forest and hoped for the best. It was difficult to see, just as she thought. However, by a miracle, some bugs had begun to light up the way.

"Thank goodness!" Twilight breathed a sigh of relief "Now I can at least somewhat see my way forward."

Walking a bit more, the lavender Unicorn accidentally tripped over a rock and fell flat on her belly with a thud. Right in front of her was one of the glowing bugs that had lit up her way. She took a closer look and saw that these bugs were not only generating light, but electricity as well. She quickly deduced these were Thunderbugs.

"But, if there are Thunderbugs here, that means..." the gears turned in Twilights head before realization struck her hard "Oh no..."

Suddenly, there was a 'woosh' sound coming from the trees around her. The noise was fast, but it sounded as if it came from something very large. The lavender Unicorn looked around frantically to try and find whatever was tracking her down, until finally she felt something breathing down her neck. She slowly turned around to see two glowing red eyes staring directly down at her. A low growl emanated from the owner of the eyes and many blue, electrically charged striped appeared below the two red orbs.

The beast finally gave off a loud, ear-shattering wolf-like roar as the area around it was plagued with thunder, allowing Twilight to see the beast in all it's horrifying glory. It was large, quadrupedal and very wolf-like monster with two horn on its head, sharp fangs, and a turquoise hide with a few dark beige, rocky scales all over it's forelegs and backlegs. It also had a long tail with many of the same rocky scales protruding from the end of it, and dirty white fur on it's head, back, chest, legs and tail. It was called the Thunder Wolf Wyvern, otherwise known as a Zinogre. And as Twilight could clearly see, it was pissed.

"Um, nice doggy..." the lavender mare slowly walked backwards from the beast "Good doggy... stay, boy..."

The Zinogre, not technically being a dog, did not listen to Twilight and only wanted the purple maned Unicorn out of it's territory. It roared again before pouncing over Twilight, leaving some of its electrical charge behind to damage her. The Zinogre knocked over a few trees in one terrifyingly fast tail swing to allow some more room for the fight to continue. It then stared right at the terrified mare before charging right at her in a fit of anger.

Just as Twilight was beginning to think of her last words, the Zinogre was knocked to its side by a powerful weapon she had never seen before. It was an axe that appeared to just be a sword and large shield glued together, but it was exerting powerful energy. The weapon itself was dark blue with a green slime-like substance shaped like a diamond in the middle of the blade area. Holding the axe in her magical grasp was a mare wearing a full set of Brachydios armour. She turned to Twilight and jerked her head to the side, telling her to move out of the way of the fight. The Zinogre then got up and jump-turned to face the mare.

"Listen here!" the mare shouted "I though I told you to begone and travel back to Foal Mountain where you belong! You're terrorizing everypony in Hollow Shades!"

The Zinogre did nothing but roar at the mare before charging straight at her. In response, she rested her axe on her back and waited for the Zinogre to come closer. As soon as it was right where she wanted it to be, she swung her weapon has hard as she could. This attack hit the electrical beast in the face and sliced off half of it's left horn, leaving a scar across its left eye as well. The Zinogre quickly bounced back at this attack landed on it's feet before roaring. However, this roar seemed to summon some Thunderbugs onto it's furry back, giving the beast some more electrical power that it displayed in a show of lightning that came from it's body.

"So you wish to do this the hard way, hmm?" the mare spoke with a hint of cockiness "Very well then. Let's do this the hard way!"

The fanged wyvern roared at the mare before once again charging straight at her. However, this time the mare began to run away from it, but not in fear. No, instead, the mare ran slightly up a tree before jumping off and landing right onto the Zinogre's back. She then took out her carving knife and began stabbing the ever-living hell out of it. It struggled to shake her off, but she held on to it's fur whenever it did. Eventually, the mare won the bull ride and the Zinogre was sent tumbling down onto the ground. The mare then detached the blade from the axe to reveal the weapon doubled as a sword and shield. She then began slashing her sword at the Zinogre's head as much as she could. Finally, the beast couldn't take it anymore; it got up from it's position on the ground and ran off to who knows where.

(Music stop)

"Incredible..." Twilight spoke as she came out from the trees after witnessing such a battle "You're weapon is unlike anything I've ever seen before. You were able to drive off the Zinogre and save me. Thank-"

Before she could finish my sentence, the mare put her sword and shield on her side and rushed up to the purple maned Unicorn, brought out her carving knife with her magic and it placed right up to my neck.

"Who are you?" the mare asked "What business have you here?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Twilight tried to calm her down from doing anything too rash "Let's not be trying to kill anypony now, okay?"

After a tense few seconds with the danger of having her throat slit, the mare brought the carving knife down once she realized the Unicorn wasn't a threat.

"You didn't answer my question" the mare spoke again "Who are you, and what is your reason for being here?"

"My name is Twilight Sparkle" the Unicorn answered her "I come from a town a little ways away from here called Ponyville that was utterly wrecked with the appearance of a new species of monster called Gore Magala. I was the town's only uninjured survivor of the attack, and I've come here looking for somepony to train me to become a Monster Hunter so I can track the beast down and get rid of it once and for all. I'm also the student of Celestia, who-"

"Celestia..." the mare said "There's a name I haven't heard in a long time... You say you're acquainted with her? Then prove it."

"Oh, right!" Twilight remembered. She then whipped out the sword Celestia had given her as a sign of allegiance to her from her side holder and showed it to the mare. The mare inspected it for a moment before gasping and realizing it was indeed the princess's sword.

"Forgive me, Miss Twilight..." the mare bowed before taking off her helmet and shaking her medium-length blue mane to get it out of her eyes. She then stood back up, letting Twilight see her greyish blue coat and very familiar smile.

"My name is Luna" the mare greeted "I was once known as Princess Luna, Princess of the Night and sister to Princess Celestia."

Author's Note

Best princess has come! You may now all have a 10 minute clapping period! YAAAAAAAAAY!!!

So yes, Luna was indeed the pony Twilight was looking for to help train her. How will she train her? Well, first she needs a weapon, and I already have a good idea what weapon it should be.

A note to everyone who favourited this story: If you have not done so already, please leave a Thumbs Up, or a Like as some people like to call them, so I know that you have appreciated my work. Just a small request as I cannot see how many people have favourited this story for some reason. Thank you! :pinkiehappy:

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow me, and until then, happy hunting!

[Act 1] (Chapter 3) Hollow Shades

Luna had lead Twilight through the forest on their way back to Hollow Shades, the hometown of Luna that was virtually cut off from the rest of the world. All the while, the lavender Unicorn couldn't contain her excitement for being with a princess, even a former one. Naturally, she had many, many, many questions for the blue mare, who revealed herself to be an Alicorn when she took off some of her armour to stretch a bit.

"I still can't believe you're a princess!" Twilight excitedly exclaimed as she hopped gleefully around a focused Luna "I have so much to ask you! Are you really Celestia's sister? Why do you live in the woods? Does the Zinogre attack regularly? What is that weapon you always carry around with you? I've never seen anything like it! Oh, where did you-"

"ENOUGH!!" Luna suddenly stopped and shouted in a royal but extremely loud voice, shrinking Twilight down into a low and slow crouch "WHY DOTH THOU PERSIST IN ASKING SO MANY QUESTIONS?!"

"Well, because I want to try and get to know you a lot better..." the lavender Unicorn spoke a little quieter after Luna's outburst "It's not every day you get to converse with the sister of Princess Celestia."

"I... You..." was all Luna could say before she sighed and continued walking toward their destination "You speak too much. However, I will answer any and all questions you may have for me when we get to Hollow Shades."

"O-Okay..." Twilight got up from her previous positioned and began to follow the long-lost sister of her mentor once again, albeit slightly more terrified of her "But can you at least tell me about the Zinogre?"

"...I suppose after being attack by it, you have the right to know" Luna gave a long sigh as she continued to walk and explain the story "Long ago, when Hollow Shades was still being built and when I had recently moved there, for reasons I'd rather not talk about, the village was attacked by a fanged wyvern that existed atop the mountain overlooking the forest. I had managed to drive it off, but for some reason, it comes back every year to try and destroy the village. Every time however, I was able to protect Hollow Shades from it's destructive power."

"What do you think is causing it to attack you?" the lavender Unicorn who trotted alongside the veteran hunter asked.

"I honestly have no idea" Luna sighed once more "Zinogres are only hostile when they're provoked or when something dangerous enters their territory. There is no way a Zinogre would make territory all the way down here in the forest! But, I noticed something else about this Zinogre in particular that we've been fending off..."

The last sentence the blue Alicorn had said had perked Twilight's interest to great heights. Curious about what her to-be-mentor was about to say, she listened in closely.

"The beast in question seems to take a liking for the forest area, which is why it's spotted here so many times by travelers and hunters" Luna continued "However, I've also noted that it's eyes are a different colour than most other Zinogres. There is the possibility it could be natural genetics, but whenever I look at the beast, it always looks like it's being inflicted by something sinister. Almost like it's a puppet..."

"Fascinating" was all Twilight could say after the blue Alicorn's speech and theory "For there to be a 'Rogue Zinogre' out there gives me the perfect time to study it and learn how it acts!"

"Nice try, young one," Luna shook her head "but I'm afraid you won't be able to get close to that thing even if I let you."

"Why's that?" I asked in a curious tone.

"The beast is by far the most powerful creature in both the forest AND Foal Mountain combined" Luna explained to her to-be-pupil "It's also extremely territorial and aggressive, so it will know when you've entered it's territory."

"But you can teach me, right?" Twilight asked "You can teach me how to defeat it and save Hollow Shades, right?"

"I will teach you all that I know" the blue maned mare answered "But I cannot promise that you will know everything by the the time we're done with you're training. Sometimes you have to learn it by yourself."

"Duly noted" the lavender librarian nodded before noticing a few flickering lights off in the distance of the forest "Hey, that must be Hollow Shades! We're nearly there!"

XXXXXX

When we reached the village itself, Twilight noted that it was very beautiful... in it's own way. The houses were made out of dead and sometimes even rotting tree trunks, and the villager's choices of clothing were nothing to gawk over, but these flaws were hidden quite well with the shining light of the fireflies from ponies' homes and around the village itself, the flowers that decorated the porches and walkways, and the cheerful and friendly disposition of the townsfolk themselves.

"This place looks so pretty" Twilight spoke up after marveling at the beauty of the village "You picked a nice place to protect."

"Thank you" Luna smiled at her pupil's comment "That was one of the reasons why I had decided to live here, as a matter of fact. The townsfolk are also very nice to everypony they come across, always singing songs around a campfire and just being generally likeable ponies."

"So, where's your home?" the lavender mare asked.

"Right here" the blue Alicorn stopped right in front of a rather pretty-looking and slightly larger-than-average-in-the-village house. It had only one floor, but the wood was well polished and clean, and it showed little signs of decaying anytime soon. Luna had let her guest in and brought her to the living room before going off to make some tea. In the living room, Twilight saw countless scales of different monsters Luna had either killed or drove away, from which belonged to such monsters as a Rathalos, a Lagiacrus, a Plesioth and, of course, a Zinogre. She also had pictures of her and Celestia as young fillies, which surprised Twilight for some reason. Luna must've still loved her sister, so then why did she choose to live here?

"The tea is ready" Luna smiled as she brought it in form the kitchen and into the living room with her magic, placing it on the round table in the centre of the room and taking a cup with her to sip from it right before she sat down on one of the four couches circling the table "So, let us begin at the beginning again. Hello, my name is Luna. What is your name?"

"Twilight" the lavender mare said "Twilight Sparkle. I come here seeking training to become a Monster Hunter."

"So you wish to be a Monster Hunter?" Luna asked her guest.

"No, actually" Twilight answered honestly, surprising the blue Alicorn "Since I'm the only uninjured survivor of the attack on Ponyville, and since I'm the only uninjured pony to come face-to-face with the Gore Magala, Princess Celestia had entrusted me with finding and defeating the monster to stop it's rampaging from hitting other cities. I honestly have literally no knowledge of hunting monsters."

"I see..." Luna said as she put her tea back down onto the tray "In that case, I suppose we'd best get started, shouldn't we?"

"Well, the sooner the better, my mother always told me!" Twilight grinned.

"Very well..." Luna got up from her seat on the couch and jerked her head to tell her lavender guest to follow her. She took Twilight into the large and circular back room where there lay many different types of weapons, some of which the purple maned Unicorn had never even seen before. The centre of the room was a large fighting stand where Twilight could only imagine that was where she would be trying these weapons out.

"This is my armament room" the lunar princess explained to Twilight "Here I have all the beginning weapons of every class just in case the townsfolk needed any to hunt down small monsters for food. They have all been fully sharpened, so don't worry if one feels sharper than another. Now, let's discover which one most suits your style..."

XXXXXX

The lavender Unicorn held huge iron sword with her magic. The sword was a long triangle shape upwards with a small hilt at the bottom in case an Earth Pony or Pegasus wanted to use it.

"This is a great sword" Luna explained "It is a powerful weapon with excellent range and power. But be warned, as it is-"

Before Luna could finish her sentence, Twilight felt her legs begin to wobble. Finally, she couldn't hold the sword up any longer and she fell down, crashing the sword into the floor leaving an ugly crack.

"...extremely heavy..." the blue mare finished, looking down at Twilight and shaking her head, to which the lavender Unicorn smiled sheepishly.

XXXXXX

Twilight was now magically holding a rather funny-looking weapon shaped weapon with a long pole, a brown bag at the end of it and four protruding pipes all connected by a red and yellow rope

"This is the hunting horn" the Princess of the Night explained "With it, you can play music to give you and your friends a few buffs to help the entire team kill a monster faster. All you have to do is swing it around a bit and notes will automatically be stored into the horn, allowing you to play them afterwards."

The lavender Unicorn nodded before she went around and began swinging the hunting horn wildly. She appeared to get the hang of it until she accidentally swung it too hard and sent it flying towards Luna, who thankfully was able to dodge it in time. The horn then hit the wall and played this:

"Um... Perhaps we should try a different weapon instead..." Luna said as she tried her best not to laugh at what Twilight had unintentionally played on the hunting horn.

XXXXXX

The purple maned Unicorn was now holding with her magic a very long, katana-like weapon. It wasn't too heavy or light, and she felt as if she could actually wield it for once.

"This is the longsword" Twilight's mentor explained "It is a long-range sword capable of hitting even the farthest of enemies in battle. If you want a weapon that hits like a a sword but you don't wish to get too close to a monster, then this is the weapon for you. Please, try it out!"

With a nod, Twilight began waving the surprisingly easy-to-use sword around without too much trouble. She then began to laugh with glee on how simply and fun it was to swing around. But then she tried to perform a spinning attack. She spun around with her sword like a spinning top and accidentally sliced off a tuff of Luna's mane from her left side. Realizing this, Twilight stopped immediately.

"Next weapon..." Luna spoke flatly.

"But I-"

"Next weapon..." Luna repeated, interrupting her pupil.

XXXXXX

A long day had passed of Twilight trying out different weapons, all to which Luna didn't approve of or the lavender Unicorn has screwed up somehow. As of now, the two were sitting on the edge of the platform, sighing at their zero progress this day.

"We've tried literally every, single weapon in this entire room..." sighed Twilight "Heck, we even tried that new one you used to defeat the Zinogre! At this rate, I may never find a weapon I like..."

"Well, there is still one left..." Luna spoke, getting her pupil's attention and curiosity.

"You mean there was another one this whole time?!" the lavender mare's voice rose.

"CALM THYSELF, TWILIGHT SPARKLE!!" the blue Alicorn shouted before resorting back to her normal again "I had placed it away for it was a weapon of my own creation I had made not a week ago, therefore I did not want for you to use it."

"Oh..." Twilight understood her reasoning "Well, can I use it now?"

"Well..." the Alicorn hunter veteran sighed "...very well. I suppose it IS the only other weapon available..."

"Yay!" Twilight squee'd with glee "This will be so much fun!"

XXXXXX

In Twilight's magical grasp was a long, beige staff of sorts with a blade on one end and a counterweight on the other. However, the thing that was grabbing Twilight's attention the most was the large violet bug floating around her head. It continued to do so before latching itself onto Twilight's back, earning a wince of pain from her.

"YEAA!" she cried out from the sudden latching onto her skin "Is it supposed to do that?"

"Normally you're supposed to wear armour when controlling the insect, so yes. Yes it is" Luna affirmed Twilight's speculations "Now, what you're holding is known as an insect glaive. As you are aware, it is a weapon of my own creation that I had formed not last week. Fear not, I have already tested it. Now, to use such a weapon, you must-"

"Luna! Luna!" shouted a light green male villager who had entered Luna's home and the room Twilight and the owner of the house were currently in, in order to try and get her attention "A horde of monsters have returned to out village! They're stealing all of our well-earned food!"

"Are you serious?" Luna asked with concern before turning her attention to Twilight "Congratulations, Twilight; looks like today you will be receiving a live lesson on how to use the insect glaive."

"I have to go and fight my first monster now?!" Twilight was shocked by this sudden news to her "But, I'm not even fully prepared to do anything!"

"Fear not, Twilight" Luna smiled "This monster in particular is perfect for beginners like yourself to begin in the art of monster hunting. Think of it as a final exam as your first lesson."

"I... um... okay then" nodded Twilight "In that case, let's fight this thing."

XXXXXX

Luna and Twilight had run outside to where the commotion was. That's when they saw exactly what was attacking the villagers; a horde of small, raptor-like creatures called Jaggies. They were doing everything from attacking villagers to raiding homes and stealing food. In the centre of the commotion was a much, much larger Jaggi known as a Great Jaggi.

The great Jaggi looked like any other Jaggi, only it was gigantic compared to the other ones. It had a raptor-shaped body (tail, head, teeth, etc.) that was light purple with red highlights. It had two arms and two legs with middle claw on each limb being larger than the others, and a fin starting from the middle of it's back all the way to the end of it's tail. It's most defining feature however was it's two fins on either side of it's head which were also light purple with red highlights. Before it could continue attacking someone it had marked as it's prey, it turned it's head toward the two mares that recently stepped out of their homes. It roared at them before tilting it's head up into the air and calling for more Jaggies to help it.

"My god..." Twilight spoke "It's calling for help..."

"Then we'll just have to take care of them" Luna said "Or rather, you should take care of them."

"WHAT?!" the lavender Unicorn shouted in shock.

"No time to talk here, I'll guide you through it!" Luna pushed her pupil into the battle with her insect glaive in Twilight's magical grasp "Good luck!"

Terrified, Twilight approached the Great Jaggi and started to swing wildly at the beast, not exactly hitting. A faint chuckle could be heard from the dinosaur's vocal cords before it spun around and whacked Twilight in the face with it's tail, sending her flying back.

"Twilight, stay focused!" Luna took out her weapon, which she called a charge blade, out and began fighting off some of the smaller Jaggies to help Twilight without directly aiding her, while at the same time protecting the village "If you swing wildly at a creature, you're less likely to get a direct hit on it!"

"O-Okay..." Twilight, who was still slightly dazed from the tail whip, spoke as she shook her head around to rid herself of fatigue "I'll try!"

The Great Jaggi roared at the lavender mare when it realized she was back in the game. It charged right at her with a bloodthirsty look in it's eyes. However, this time the purple maned Unicorn ran at her opponent as well, and staying as focused as possible, she slashed her glaive sideways across the beast's hide, causing blood to spatter and the creature to go tumbling down.

"I got it!" Twilight gasped in happiness "I did it, Luna!"

"It's not finished yet!" Luna shouted back "Never let your guard down until the hunt is done!"

"Understood!" the lavender in-training nodded before turning her attention back to the now slightly injured Great Jaggi that was now getting back up and roaring at Twilight. It once again tried to call for help, but Twilight was slightly smarter now. She was able to run up to the creature and attack it before completing it's call. The Great Jaggi tumbled once more, but quickly regained it's posture before facing Twilight again. It charged once more at the Unicorn and naturally, she swung her glaive at it's head, making a direct hit and cutting off it's left head fin. The dinosaur roared in pain from it's recent removal of one of it's body parts.

"I broke off a piece of it's body!" Twilight said to herself "I must be getting be- No, can't think like that now. Luna told me to stay focused, so that's what I'll do."

"Twilight, there's something you should know about the glaive!" Luna suddenly shouted as she drove away multitudes of Jaggies from the village "The insect on your back can be used to attack your opponent and collect buffs!"

"How do I do that?" the curious mare shouted back.

"There's a button on the handle part of the glaive that allows you to control the insect and send it out to fight" explained Luna "Press it and order the bug to attack the Great Jaggi!"

Twilight nodded and did as she was told. She pressed the button and the large violet bug detached itself from Twilight's back, making her wince in pain and revealing six small, bleeding holes in which the insect had attached itself to. She then commanded to the bug to attack the dinosaur-like beast, to which it quickly did, latched itself onto the creature's head, bit it and brought back something to Twilight, latching itself back into her body. But instead of a feeling of pain when it came back onto Twilight's back, she felt power coursing through her.

"I feel so much more powerful!" Twilight informed her new mentor.

"That's good!" Luna shouted back after she had taken care of most of the Jaggies attacking the village "Now use that power to finish off the Great Jaggi before it wears off!"

Twilight nodded with a smile before once again engaging the beast by charging towards it. The Great Jaggi also did the same thing with a fearsome roar. The two got closer and closer together before they finally met. Twilight stabbed her glaive as far into the creature's chest as possible, blood leaking out quickly from the wound. The Great Jaggi roared one final time before slumping onto Twilight's glaive dead. The rest of the Jaggies, seeing their leader dead, ran away back into the woods.

(Music stop)

"I did it..." Twilight breathed heavily with a smile on her face, removing the glaive from the carcase of the dead animal "I can't believe... I killed... my first monster..."

The townsfolk cheered her on as they danced around her, singing a song of praise and taking what they could from the beast (scales, teeth, etc.). Luna came up to her and patted the lavender mare on the back, earning a wince of slight pain from the Unicorn.

"Oh, my apologies" lightly chuckled Luna "But congratulations! You've defeated your first monster. Do you feel different at all?"

"I feel... great, thanks..." Twilight smiled "But I think... I just found... my favourite weapon..."

"In that case, I do believe it's time for us to learn a bit more about hunting monsters" the blue Alicorn said "When you're ready, and when the townsfolk have finished praising you, drop my my place and we'll learn everything I know there is to monster hunting."

"Right..." Twilight said before the villagers took her and began bouncing her up and down in joy. This brought another smile to Luna's face.

"Maybe she's not so hopeless after all..." she thought to herself.

Author's Note

Special awesome thanks to "tealspeckles" for making me choose Twilight's weapon to be an insect glaive instead of a sword and shield. As a reward, an OC of yours will be featured in this story. Whether it be soon or later, for a while or for a brief cameo, he or she will show up somewhere. You also get your choice of what main monster Twilight gets to fight after the Zinogre. Only two rules are nothing from Frontier and no Elder Dragons.

Thank you all so much for supporting me thus far! You still have a chance to suggest a monster for Twilight to fight later in the story, so be sure to do that by leaving a comment down below.

Oh, and tell me if you spotted the Jurassic Park reference somewhere in the story!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow me, and until then, happy hunting!

[Act 1] (Chapter 4) Hunting through the Night

Through the course of two long and very informative days, Twilight had learned how to gather crucial resources, make her own armour from monsters she had defeated, and combine different items to make better and/or different items. Since then, she had acquired herself a full set of Jaggi armour and, using some weird berries she found in the forest, had upgraded the bug that came with the insect glaive, known as a Kinsect, so whenever it was attached to Twilight's back, it would allow her to deal ice damage to monsters. Luna had told her that should she ever wish to go up against the Zinogre, ice was the best thing to use against it.

As of currently, it was nighttime, and Twilight was sitting on her bed in her room, which her mentor had lent to her for the time being, reading away her own makeshift book titled: How to Operate an Insect Glaive, just so she could get the knowledge that she learned over the past couple of days.

"To use the Kinsect, press the button..." Twilight read a few parts aloud to herself "...then you... finally... then... and..." suddenly the lavender Unicorn began to feel a little sleepy and let out a yawn "I guess I'm getting a bit tired. Well, goodnight informative book that I wrote. See you in the morning..."

Not three hours later did Twilight hear a knocking at her bedroom door. Groaning, she lazily got up and opened the door to reveal that Luna was smiling gleefully, wearing a brown saddlebag on her back that appeared to have something in it.

"Luna?" Twilight asked groggily "What could you wish for an an hour like this?"

"Why, our next lesson of course!" the Princess of the Night spoke with glee.

"Our next lesson?" the purple maned mare woke up a bit from hearing this "What could we possibly do at an hour like this?"

"I was waiting for the right moment to do this when you knew a bit more about hunting" the blue Alicorn said "As to answer your question, I can reply with the simplest of answers: a night hunt!"

"A night hunt?" Twilight questioned.

"Mmhmm" Luna hummed and nodded "My favourite kind of hunt, if you didn't already know. Not all monsters thrive in the daytime, so that's why there are night hunts to hunt down nocturnal creatures. And the creature we'll be going up against today is..."

Luna brought out a picture of our target this evening. The not-so-sleepy lavender Unicorn recognized the small stature and turkey-like appearance of the beast immediately.

"That's a Yian Kut-ku" Twilight informed her mentor "It's a small, bird-like wyvern that can eat insects as large as it's mouth. It's mainly nocturnal, so I suppose you're right in saying we should hunt it tonight."

"Correct" Luna affirmed "Now, get yourself prepared to fight the monster, okay? But don't forget to eat and give yourself buffs for the hunt like I told you to do, okay?"

"Right" Twilight nodded before her mentor left her room to prepare her own things. The lavender Unicorn closed her door and opened her item chest to reveal her neatly folded Jaggi armour. Next to the item box was her insect glaive and her Kinsect.

"I guess it's time to hunt again" she sighed before taking her armour and equipping it to her body.

XXXXXX

The forest that was already very dark in the daytime was made considerably darker in the night, making it next to impossible to see much. However, thanks to a certain illumination spell that both horned ponies knew, walking through the dark woods wasn't that much of an issue. They had already searched for at least half an hour and so far had found absolutely nothing.

"This night certainly isn't fruitful, is it?" Luna, clad in her Brachydios armour, spoke up, trying to engage in a bit of pleasant conversation.

"Tell me about it" Twilight chuckled "But are you sure that Yian Kut-Ku live in this forest?"

"Twilight, I've lived here for ten years" the blue mare rolled her eyes "I think I would know whether or not a certain monster lives within my own domain."

"True, true..." the lavender mare nodded in agreement "So, I've been meaning to ask you for a while now... Why did you come to this forest? Or, is that too personal for you to answer?"

"No, no, it's fine" Luna assured her pupil "I've grown to trust you as of recently, so I think you have the right to know a bit more about me..." the Princess of the Night took a deep breath in and out before continuing onward "If you didn't know already, my sister and I were descended from one of the two first Monster Hunters. The elder to be exact. She laid down a rule that any and all descendants of her had to stay and protect Ponyville and Canterlot with their lives. I, however, wanted to find another place to protect. A place not already protected by a hunter. My sister and I agreed on this so long as she lied about my travels, telling ponies I had gone missing, and that I should never return to either Ponyville OR Canterlot. I haven't come face-to-face with my sister since..."

"Well, that's a bit of a sad ending..." Twilight hung her head slightly "But at least you have the townsfolk, right?"

"Yes, I do" Luna smiled "But one day, I'd like to meet with my sister again, even if for a moment."

Twilight began to smile alongside her mentor. Before anymore sentimental feelings could be shared, they heard a loud squawking noise coming from their left, followed by a loud and horrifyingly familiar roar.

"That sound..." Twilight thought aloud "It can't be..."

"Come! We must find out what made that mysterious noise!" Luna shouted as she followed the sound of the roaring and squawking, Twilight following her close behind. After running for a bit, they finally found a trail of black scales scattered around the area. While the beast must've flown off by now, Twilight knew exactly what they belonged to. Before she could voice her thoughts however, she and her mentor saw a bird-like monster, which she identified as the Yian Kut-Ku they were trying to hunt, walking around without a care in the world. It then suddenly stopped and turned to face the two hunters, giving out an enraged squawk.

The Yian Kut-Ku was a small wyvern that was orange and beige scales with a few pink highlights here and there. It had a large yellow beak and two fin-like ears protruding from the back of the head. Two legs with four claws supported the monster and two wings with spikes all over them helped the beast fly whenever it needed to. However, what really stood out about this particular Yian Kut-Ku was it's glowing red eyes with seemingly dyed purple scales around them. A Kut-Ku's eyes are normally orange.

"What do you make of it, Luna?" Twilight asked her mentor and partner in battle.

"I think that something is most definitely wrong with that Yian Kut-Ku" Luna said "It looks so... possessed; almost as if something is taking control of it. Any idea what that might be?"

"Well, remember that black dragon I was talking to you about?" Twilight asked sheepishly. Before Luna could answer her however, the Yian Kut-Ku charged forward and tried to attack the two quite wildly, managing to hit the distracted hunters square on and sending them tumbling.

"AAHHH!!" cried out Luna as she tumbled around area, before getting back up again "That was

"We have to stay more focused, I guess" Twilight suggested. She then stood back up and brought out her insect glaive and little Kinsect friend.

"Kinsect, go!" the lavender Unicorn shouted as she pressed the button on her glaive's handle part. The bug on her back then detached itself from her armour and flew out at the crazed turkey wyvern, landing on it's hide before biting it and quickly returning to Twilight, giving her a defense buff.

"Have some of this!" Luna shouted as she transformed her charge blade into it's axe mode and began to unleash hell onto the creature. The Princess of the Night noted that whenever it spilled blood from her attacks, the blood came out as purple and not red. As she continued to hack away at the creature, Twilight pole-vaulted up and onto the Kut-Ku's back, bringing out her carving knife and slashing away at the beast. Like the Zinogre a few days ago, it tried to shake the hunter-in-training off it's body. But Twilight managed to bring it down to where her blue mentor could easily slash away at it's tender and weak underbelly. She finally switched her weapon back to sword-mode and finished off the corrupted beast with a hard jab to the stomach. The Yian Kut-Ku let out a loud squawk before finally dying.

(Music stop)

"That actually wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be..." Luna stated "But still, what was with it's eyes and purple blood. Didn't you say you knew, Twilight?" she looked around the area but couldn't find her pupil "Twilight?! Where did you go?!"

"I'm over here, Luna!" the lavender mare shouted back at Luna. Following her voice, the blue Alicorn eventually found Twilight overlooking one of the black scales that were scattered around the area.

"These scales belong to the Gore Magala that I was telling you about a few days ago" Twilight explained "Seems like they, for a short period of time, are able to infect other monsters with some sort of virus that totally zombifies them and makes them act like their in a frenzy! The Frenzy Virus, if you will. The scales become touchable after a few seconds.

"The Frenzy Virus, hm?" questioned Luna "This sounds dangerous. I hope it is only able to infect monsters. If this virus were to infect ponies, I have no idea what could happen then. The end of the world as we know it is an open probability..."

"...I'm taking this scale" the purple maned Unicorn stated after a short pause.

"Twilight, you can't be serious!" her mentor's voice rose "God knows what dangers lie within that scale!"

"If I don't take it, we might not be able to learn of a weakness to the creature!" argued the lavender in-training to her teacher "Besides, if I'm going to be totally honest, it might look good around my neck, don't you think?"

"You are impossible sometime, Twilight Sparkle" Luna sighed "Come. Let us return to the village. Oh, and be sure to carve what you can off of that Yian Kut-Ku as well, okay?"

"You got it!" Twilight nodded her head before scurrying over to the dead carcass of their most recent kill.

XXXXXX

All through the night, Twilight couldn't stop thinking about and studying the scale she found after the hunt. It was a curiously crescent shaped, unlike most other scales which were teardrop shaped. It also had a certain glow to it, turning shiny under the light of the moon. What was it made out of? Was it used for something other than spreading disease? These questions and more ran around the lavender Unicorn's head. Discovering a new species was both a fun and dangerous experience.

Then Twilight had begun to wonder... What if the Zinogre she saw Luna fight earlier was also inflicted with the Frenzy Virus? It would certainly explain it's behaviour and glowing red eyes. Before she could think any more however, she began to feel sleepy. A day and night of hunting monsters would do that to anypony!

"Goodnight Kinsect," Twilight began saying goodnight to her things "goodnight book, goodnight chest, and goodnight mysterious Gora Magala scale... See you in the morning..."

Twilight tucked herself into he bed and feel asleep shortly afterwards.

Author's Note

Eh, not the longest chapter, but it does it's job. Besides, I'll make up for it with the act finale coming up next. You know what that means! Giant Electric Wolf Wyvern battle!! YEAH!!! :pinkiehappy:

So Twilight has finally found and collected a scale from the Gore Magala and has also begun to study it. Her being a nerd, that won't take long! Though, me not wanting this story to end so quickly, it probably will.

Oh, and to answer any questions people may have, I'm using Luna's original design for what she looks like in this story (her appearance in the pilot episode of MLP). Also, yes, Luna and Celestia are descendants of the first hunters, not the first hunters themselves. I'm sure there were many of you who had some confusion about that. Don't worry, all will be revealed!

You can still suggest a monster for Twilight to fight! So long as this story doesn't say "Complete" on it, you're free to shoot out as many suggestions as you want!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow me, and until then, happy hunting!

[Act 1] (Chapter 5) The Guardian of Foal Mountain

Twilight had been able to fully convert her recently obtained scale into a necklace thanks to a villager who specialized in jewelry. She now wore it around her neck wherever she went as a reminder to kill the monster that threatened to literally plague the land. It had already been a day since she found the scale in the forest and hunted the Yian Kut-Ku (the latter of which made a surprisingly comfortable cover for Twilight from it's scales), and today, Luna was about to surprise her with an interesting quest.

Luna entered her student's room, where she was currently sharpening her insect glaive and letting her Kinsect fly around her head. To the former princess, Twilight had grown as a hunter in both knowledge and power, and she believed that her pupil was ready to face her greatest challenge yet... at least until high rank.

"Twilight?" Luna spoke as she saw her protege sharpen her tools "May I speak with you for a moment?"

"Hmm?" the lavender Unicorn's head perked up and she smiled at her mentor as she stopped what she was doing briefly "Oh, hello Luna. What is it you want to talk about?"

"I have noticed your growth in skill and strength recently," the blue Alicorn explained to her student "and I have decided that it is time for you to face your greatest foe yet."

"You don't mean..." Twilight was speechless at what her teacher had just said.

"That is exactly what I mean, Twilight" Luna confirmed "You are going to fight... a Congalala."

"Wait, what?" the purple maned mare was confused, but quickly lightened up to the idea "Oh, okay. I thought you were going to say we had to fight the Zinogre or something silly like that."

"Actually, now that I think about it..." Twilight could feel her sanity slowly drain away as the blue mare spoke "That wouldn't be a bad idea. That Zinogre in this forest and Foal Mountain has been causing too much trouble as of late. I would have already hunted it down if I didn't have the job of protecting these poor townsfolk, so why not let me stay here and you can hunt down the Zinogre. What do you say?"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh..." was all Twilight could allow her mouth to breath out, her face looked as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Glad that you agree with me, fair student" Luna blissfully hummed her way out of her pupil's room, leaving Twilight in shock, confusion, and slight anger at herself. She just sat there for a good five minutes thinking about what she had brought upon herself. Would she really have to fight the Zinogre only three days since she learned how to even fight? The unfortunate answer to that question was... yes. Yes she would. She eventually came out of her dazed state, though she was still terrified at what she would have to fight very, very soon.

"I can't believe I said that!" Twilight quietly yelled at herself "Now Luna's going to make me go to Foal Mountain and slay the Zinogre all by myself! Stupid, stupid, stupid Twilight! Bad Twilight! You're not... no, have to thing positively... okay... You can do this! You can do this! But what if I can't? No, I can! Luna trusts I can, so I can!"

After her short confidence workout, Twilight grabbed her insect glaive and attached it to her back, the Kinsect flying down and doing the same thing. She then opened her item chest and got out her now Great Jaggi Armour and put it on as fast as she could. Finally, she turned to where her necklace was. After some consideration, she decided to put it around her neck, hoping it would give her luck against the infected electrical wyvern.

XXXXXX

"Twilight, are you prepared?" Luna asked her student at the front gates of Hollow Shades, the rest of the townsfolk there as well to wave her farewell "You should know that if you defeat this monster, you will no longer be an in-training, but a full-fledged Monster Hunter."

"I'm ready, Luna" Twilight nodded in confirmation "After some thought, I think I'm finally ready to take the Zinogre on and save this town from it's terror."

"That's the spirit, Twilight!" her mentor smiled "Now, come back alive, okay?"

"I'll try" the lavender Unicorn joked before hugging her teacher, a gesture Luna was not expecting to have her do. However, Luna slowly returned the hug. After a few seconds, they separated from each other and the villagers cheered the young Monster Hunter good luck. She waved back as she left the village in search of the Zinogre that threatened to destroy everything in the forest, including Hollow Shades.

"Best of luck to you, Twilight Sparkle..." Luna said as the villagers continued to cheer her on while she left their quiet little town "May you do us all proud... And may you do my sister proud as well."

XXXXXX

The trek up Foal Mountain was no doubt a dangerous one. It was filled with crevasses and cliffs as high as the eye could see, not to mention filled to the brim with monsters of all sizes. Twilight even saw a Rathian feed it's chicks as she went by a large cave, which she was thankfully able to go past without being caught by the female dragon or it's mate for that matter. The lavender mare continued to trek up the mountain until she finally decided it was time for a bit of a rest.

"Ahhh..." she finally sat down to rest her legs "Always nice to get out sometimes. You know, I always wanted to go and see Foal Mountain, but I never thought I'd visit it as a Monster Hunter."

Twilight brought out a bottle of water she packed in her saddlebag before leaving town. She opened it up and guzzled a quarter of it down. After a long trip going up the mountain, she was absolutely drenched. The day wasn't hot by any means, but traveling up a large rock would make anyone thirsty. After just sitting there for a few seconds, she decided to take a whetstone she also packed in her bag and sharpen her insect glaive.

As she was doing this, she heard something travel past her with a quick wooshing noise. It was too small to be the Zinogre, so she payed it no mind. That is, until that certain thing decided to attack her. The creature pounced onto her, which surprised her greatly. It began to peck at the Unicorn's armour, so Twilight quickly pushed the beast off her body, grabbed her weapon and stuck her glaive right into the monster's heart, effectively killing it. It was that moment when Twilight realized just what had been attacking her; a baby Rathalos.

"Oh no..." Twilight's face turned from scared to horrified in a matter of seconds. The next thing she heard was a loud screech and the sound of gigantic wings flapping towards her. The Rathian was coming to find it's baby. Before Twilight could even move her legs to run, she saw a dragon head towards her, extremely pissed off. The dragon was red with grey spikes on it's back and large tan wings with black patterns on it. Each of it's two legs looked as powerful as two Yian Kut-Ku's combined, and it's head had two red horns around it's jaw. Finally, it bore a long red tail with spikes on the end. Twilight could easily recognized this oddly popular creature as the fearsome and dangerous Rathalos, the mate to the Rathian and father to the chick she just killed.

The Rathalos let out a loud and terrifying roar as it set it's sights on Twilight. The lavender Unicorn, finally snapping back into reality, picked up her stuff and began to run away from the enraged monster. She found a tunnel she could escape through and protect her from the fire breathing dragon for at least a short while. However, the beast somehow was able to fit it's head inside and start shooting fireballs at her, earning a yelp from her. Twilight quickly escaped the tunnel and continued to run from the Rathalos while also heading up the mountain.

The creature was quick to follow the lavender mare up the pathway, shooting fireballs at her as it flapped alongside her. Once, it even tried to grab her and take her back to it's nest where the Rathian was waiting. This continued until Twilight, being the somewhat ditz she was, remembered she was capable of fending off the red dragon.

She took out her insect glaive and sent out her Kinsect, which latched onto one of the Rathalos's legs and flew back to Twilight, giving her a speed buff. She used this to run from the creature faster than before. However, the Rathalos had different plans. Before Twilight could reach a tunnel she deemed to be a small checkpoint of sorts, the beast landed in front of her and roared, forcing her to cover her ears from the loudness of it.

"AHHHH!!" the lavender mare winced at the creature's loud call. However, she tried her best to shake off the noise ringing in her head as she engaged the Rathalos. The beast charged at her with a quick motion, but Twilight managed to dodge it and uppercut the dragon on it's face, inflicting pain onto it and turning it on it's side, giving her the perfect opportunity to try and cut off it's tail. She leaped off a jagged edge of rock that was conveniently right next to the creature's tail and brought her glaive down on the flailing body part in a downward thrusting position. Before she could cut it off however, the beast got up and flew back into the air, giving the purple maned mare a chance to flee through the checkpoint.

Once she exited the tunnel, she saw that the creature was waiting for her in the air. It threw some more fireballs at her, which she unfortunately took to her body. She was sent tumbling back down into the cavern she just emerged out of. After the roll, she got up and took out a mega potion she crafted whilst on one of her hunts with Luna.

"That Rathalos is tough..." Twilight thought to herself out loud as she drank her mega potion "There has to be somewhere where I can fight it on equal grounds... Maybe at the top of the mountain? There is a possibility of a flat plateau at the top, so maybe..."

Once Twilight was done formulating a plan, she ran back outside to where the Rathalos was waiting. It once again fired a few fireballs at her, but being ready this time, she managed to dodge them and continue up the mountain. The red dragon followed her up at the same time and continued to attack her with talons and fireballs. Eventually, Twilight found a round-ish plateau at the top of the pathway with a clear 360 degree outlook over all of the mountains and the forest. She could even see Hollow Shades down below as well. Looking to her left, she saw the largest mountain of the Foal Mountains overlooking the plateau, making this a great place to fight the Rathalos. The monster in question finally landed on the ground and roared at her. She held her insect glaive with her magic and prepared to properly fight the beast. But before she could...

(Music stop)

Out of the blue, a hungry and dangerous Zinogre with glowing red eyes and a broken horn attacked the Rathalos, killing it immediately by digging it's large teeth into it and splitting it in half, causing blood and gore to sprawl out all over the place. Naturally, this both surprised and disgusted Twilight. Normally the Rathalos and Zinogre are on equal terms of power, and either one of them could win a battle at any time. But to see a Zinogre so easily rip through the dragon's tough hide and bone was terrifying to the mare. Just what power did the Frenzy Virus give to it's infected organisms?

The electrical beast payed no mind to Twilight as it began to quickly gobble up it's most recent kill's internal organs and meat. This gave the lavender Unicorn a chance to strike it when it wasn't looking. Slowly, she crept up to the feasting monster and brought out her glaive to strike it. However, by a stroke of bad luck, the Zinogre turned around to head back and saw that Twilight was right beside it. It roared the familiar wolf-like howl when Twilight saw it for the first time, forcing her to cover her ears to avoid going deaf. Finally, the thunder wolf attacked the lavender mare.

In a quick motion, the Zinogre swung it's tail, hitting Twilight off to the side and giving her Thunderblight, the ailment which made her more susceptible to getting paralyzed. Knowing this, she tried to avoid the beast's attacks until the blight wore off. But the infected wyvern wouldn't have anything of it. It dashed forward and tried to knock Twilight off the edge of the plateau, an attack the purple maned Unicorn thankfully avoided. The Zinogre continued to do this until the Thunderblight that plagued the female hunter wore off, to which it tried to whack her with it's tail again. Twilight was able to dodge this however.

The thunder wolf finally decided to use some of it's brute strength to smash a crater where Twilight currently stood in an attempt to crush her. She was able to dodge it, but took a bit of the aftershock instead, giving the wyvern a perfect chance to swipe a claw at her, making a dent in her armour and sending her flying right at the edge of the tabletop mountain. However, she manage to pick herself up and face the beast again. It was at this moment when she realized the crater where the infected wyvern smashed itself onto made for a perfect ledge to jump off and strike an aerial attack.

"Alright, you, uh... big, electrical... thing..." Twilight wasn't too good at taunting "It's time for you to die! You've caused way too much trouble for the people of Hollow Shades, and now you have to be put down!"

The beast responded to Twilight's threat by letting out an enraged roar. Twilight began to run around the creature and towards the crater, taking out readying her insect glaive before jumping off the dent of the crater, striking the beast in the side and throwing it down onto the ground. The lavender mare wasted no time in trying to cut off it's tail, which she was eventually able to accomplish. The creature threw itself back away from Twilight as soon as it's tail was severed from it's body and howled upwards. In doing so, it summoned any and all nearby Thunderbugs to electrically charge it's furry back and send shockwaves of energy through it's body. The Zinogre then ran straight for Twilight.

"Oh, this is going to hurt..." was all the lavender mare could say before getting hit by the Zinogre's electricity, paralyzing her and giving the beast yet another chance to attack. The electrically charged monster did a somersault up in the air and landed right on top of Twilight, sending her flying right up against the edge of the mountain again. She actually fell off a bit, but managed to stop herself from falling down the long side of the mountain thanks to a small ledge just a few feet down from the plateau where she could rest for a second.

"That Zinogre is too fast for me to fight up close..." Twilight thought to herself "But what if I try to indirectly fight it? Like confusing it somehow. But how would I be able to do that?"

The lavender Unicorn took a look at her surroundings. Then an idea hit her head. She giggled at how brilliant her plan was before climbing back up to the plateau and trying to get the Zinogre's attention.

"HEY YOU!!" shouted Twilight, getting it's attention "YEAH, YOU!! COME AND GET SOME!!"

The beast roared ferociously before charging right at Twilight, to which she quickly moved out of the way and ran right, to another area. The Zinogre followed her, but before it could reach her, she made another sharp turn right, forcing the creature to slow down. Finally, it turned to face the purple maned hunter and charged right at her again. But this time, she pulled out her insect glaive and waited for the beast to come closer before slashing it left across the Zinogre's face, slicing off it's other horn and sending it tumbling down the mountain. Twilight looked down to see the beast roaring at her as it fell down the cliff. It was finally impaled by some stalagmites at the bottom of the mountain through the chest.

(Music stop)

The Zinogre let out one final roar before dying on the the now bloodstained stalagmite at long last.

"Wow... That's gonna hurt..." Twilight smiled at her victory "But I finally did it! I beat the Zinogre all by myself! Luna's going to be so proud of me!"

Wasting no time, the lavender Unicorn carefully slid down the side of the mountain in order to carve off the Zinogre's hide and take some back to Hollow Shades in order to prove her victory over the creature. As she got closer to it, she saw some dead Thunderbugs, so she decided to take those with her too. She never knew what they might be good for!

(Music stop)

XXXXXX

Twilight had made it back to Hollow Shades in one piece, bringing back with her the scales of the recently killed Zinogre. The townsfolk had begun hollering and cheering already at her safe return, but it was when she revealed that the Zinogre was defeat that the villagers when full uproar in excitement. At long last, the beast that threatened to destroy their land was gone, and they could finally live peaceful lives.

The second Luna heard the cheering from outside her home, she ran out to see her pupil had returned. She wasted no time in hugging the lavender Unicorn, to which Twilight hugged back without question, smiles beaming on both of their faces.

"You've come back!" Luna released herself from the hug in order to congratulate her pupil "And I see that you have defeated the Zinogre! You have done more than well, Twilight Sparkle."

"Aww, thanks..." Twilight blushed a bit "It wasn't too hard, actually! Well, besides that Rathalos, but other than that, we're all good!"

"Rathalos?" Luna asked "Oh great... Now we must hunt down it's mate and chicks so they won't attack our town..."

"Wait wha-?" the Unicorn was confused and shocked by her teacher's most recent job for her.

"Fear not, fair Twilight; I was making a joke" the blue Alicorn lightly chuckled "Rathalos and Rathians don't go off the mountain unless absolutely necessary, so you mustn't worry about them."

"Oh you!" the purple maned mare giggled.

"Now, Twilight Sparkle," Luna got into a more serious, firm and honorary position "by defeating the Zinogre and saving our village, you have proven yourself as a hunter. From this point on, you are no longer a hunter-in-training, but a full-fledged hunter. Congratulations!"

"Thank you, Luna" Twilight bowed to the rightful princess.

"Um, Princess Luna?" asked one of the female villagers behind her, gaining her attention towards her "Since the Zinogre is gone, we would very much like to ask you a favour."

"Hmm?" Luna asked "And what could that be?"

XXXXXX

Princess Celestia sat in her hospital bed, patiently hoped that Twilight would return in both one piece and as a hero. She had conversed with Rainbow Dash a few times, but only when the cyan mare wasn't engaged in the stories of the great hunter Daring Do. The white Alicorn let out a sigh as she looked out her hospital bed and saw the rebuilding of Ponyville coming along quite nicely. This day had been extremely boring for her... until...

"Celestia?" she heard an awfully familiar voice behind her ask. She turned her head and gasped at who she was seeing. Her sister, Luna, had finally returned to her.

"Luna?" she questioned "Is that truly you?"

Luna's answer was rushing up to her sister and hugging her tightly, crying all the while. Celestia couldn't help but cry softly as well, while also retaining a smile of happiness.

"I-I missed you s-so much!" Luna sobbed as she continued to hug her older sister.

"Shhh... Don't cry, Lulu..." Celestia softly spoke as she stroked her long-lost sister's grayish blue mane "I'm here now... My, my, you've certainly grown, haven't you?"

"You h-have as well, T-Tia..." Luna released herself from the hug and nodded, still looking like a mess as she continued to sob with a smile "It's b-been fifteen y-years..."

In the background, Twilight had already entered the room and sat next to Rainbow Dash. They were watching the heartfelt reunion between the two sisters who hadn't seen each other for a good long time.

"The villagers said they could protect themselves for a while so she could meet up with her sister for a bit" Twilight explained to her rainbow maned friend "I know this kinda breaks the code of the original hunter, but what can you do, I suppose."

"Yeah..." Rainbow smiled at the sight before turning her attention back to the lavender hunter "So, now that you're a full-fledged hunter, where are you gonna go next?"

"Wherever the breeze takes me, I suppose" Twilight spoke "But I'm mainly setting off to find my friends, hunt down the Gore Magala and finally kill it. It'll be hard, but I have full confidence that I can do it after killing that Zinogre!"

"Hate to break it to you, Twi," Rainbow sighed "but you're just scratching the surface as far as monsters go. That Zinogre wasn't even an Elder Dragon for god's sake! You need to be ready for anything, okay? That why I'd actually like you to head off to to Appleloosa. There, they have the latest in armour stuff and some pretty strong monsters as well, if you want to make your own. Okay?"

"I'll think about it..." Twilight nodded before turning to face her mentor "Luna, can you make it back to Hollow Shades on your own?"

"Of course, Twilight" Luna, who had calmed down a bit, nodded in agreement "I have traveled there before, much younger and weaker than I am today as well!"

"Alright" the lavender Unicorn said as she began to walk out of the room "You three have a nice day. I'm going to go and hit the hay for a while..."

"You more than deserve it, Twilight" Princess Celestia spoke "Have a nice nap."

XXXXXX

By nighttime, Twilight couldn't sleep. After a long day fighting not one, but two large dragons, she should feel as tired as a sleepy Congalala. But how could she sleep with questions about the Gore Magala, her friends and the necklace she wore around her neck floating around in her head? She slumped back into the bed graciously provided to her by the hospital and sighed.

"Rainbow's right" she said to herself "There are strong monsters out there I'm not even close to being ready to fight yet. But I have to grow as a hunter! I have to in order to save my friends and defeat the Gore Magala! I'll head out for Appleloosa tomorrow and get myself some new armour."

The purple maned Unicorn's eyes began to flutter shut.

"And if my friends aren't alive, I'll be sure to avenge them twice over."

Author's Note

End of Act 1!! Man, this was a fun one! So yeah, if you couldn't tell, this story will go by acts. Each act has 3-6 chapters in it, and at the end of it will be an act monster, like the Zinogre. I won't spoil it from here on out, but just letting you know.

Please be sure to give me suggestions on what monsters you want to see in this story! I'll be sure to add them in regardless of any plans I may have for other monsters! Yes, that's right, you get to control me! Doesn't that sound fun? :pinkiehappy:

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow me, and until then, happy hunting, everyone!

[Act 2] (Chapter 1) Ancient Power

The next day had already dawned and Luna had already left for Hollow Shades. Twilight was waiting for her train to Appleloosa with her insect glaive and Kinsect on her back, along with her new Zinogre armour protecting her body. Celestia and Rainbow Dash had come in wheelchairs to see their friend off, much to the worry of the lavender mare. They had managed to convince her otherwise, but Twilight still couldn't help but worry for them, especially in their condition.

"Really, you guys don't have to be here" Twilight reassured her friend and teacher "You guys are in terrible condition and anything could attack at any time! What if-"

"Twilight, it's cool" Rainbow Dash assured her friend "The place is under higher protection from Canterlot AND Cloudsdale, so were all good. I'm just glad that Gore Magala thing never got to the train station, or this trip would've been impossible for you."

"Thanks for looking out for me, you guys..." Twilight spoke with a smile.

Suddenly, the train appeared in the train station with the words 'Appleloosa' on the side of the engine. This was no doubt Twilight's ride. The conductor then stepped out of the engine and onto the platform.

"All aboard!" he hollared. Turning back to Rainbow Dash and Celestia, Twilight hugged them both, one at a time of course, before turning away and hopping on-board the train. The train then began to move to it's new location.

"Goodbye!" the lavender Unicorn waved to her friends "I'll return soon! I promise!"

"You better!" her rainbow maned friend shouted back "I'd hate to have to see another friend missing!"

"Best of luck to you, Twilight!" Celestia waved her student goodbye. Eventually, the train was out of hearing range and Twilight could no longer see her friends wave, or even see her friends for that matter. She had completely left Ponyville and was on her way to her next town. She found a seat with a table and took off her stuff, trying to get a bit of rest for the long road ahead of her. Unfortunately, that wasn't what life had planned for her. A teal Pegasus mare with a moss green mane, Lao-Shan Lung dual blades equipped to her sides and Lavasioth armour on her body sat in the seat across from the lavender mare. A cocky grin was plastered across her face.

"Why hello there, pretty one..." the mare said "My, my... I've never seen quite a weapon like that before in my life. Where'd you get it?"

"I'm sorry but... Who are you, exactly?" asked Twilight, not really wanting the mare where she was sitting presently.

"My deepest, humblest apologies, lady of everything..." Twilight could tell the mare was either being a suck-up or trying to hit on her "I am Teal Speck, mistress of the sand, where we're going. And may I ask what name has been blessed onto such a pretty mare such as yourself?" she held out a hoof across the table.

"Twilight" the purple maned mare shook Teal's hoof "Twilight Sparkle. I'm a new Monster Hunter going to Appleloosa in order to get some new armour."

Before Twilight could bring her hand back, Teal Speck brought it close to her muzzle and kissed it like a prince would in a fairytale. Blushing angrily, Twilight took her hoof back and gave her guest a warning glare, earning a smug grin from the teal Pegasus.

"A newbie, huh?" Teal spoke "And one with a lot of spice to her to boot. Just how I like my mares..."

"Teal Speck, are you trying to hit on me?" Twilight asked in a crossed tone.

"Now what gave you that assumption, pretty one?" the teal mare continued ignoring Twilight's glaring warnings and continued to obviously hit on her "Was it my dashing looks and kind personality?"

"More along the lines of your facial expressions" the insect glaive wielder admitted "You're either very silly or very drunk. Either way, I don't feel comfortable with your presence, so may you please leave me be?"

"Ouch... That's a little harsh baby, don't cha think?" Teal just kept on smiling away "But I promise I won't try to hit on you anymore if you let me stay. Pinkie Promise, kay?"

"Well..." Twilight thought long and hard whether or not she should allow her uninvited guest to stay with her before finally coming up with an answer "...okay then. But so long as you're at this table, you're here to talk with me and NOT hit on me, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it..." the moss green maned Pegasus rolled her eyes "So, tell me a bit more about yourself Twilight, and I'll tell you a bit more about me, okay?"

"Sounds fair..." the lavender mare loosened up a bit from Teal's presence "Well, you already know my name, um... I'm a student to the princess and only recently have I been interested in hunting monsters."

"You're a student of the princess?" Teal asked with a grin "That's kinda haw- haw- ha- ah- awesome..." she saved herself from digging her pit deeper than it already was "My apologies, it's my nature. Carry on and I'll try not to say anything about your beauty... Dammit!"

"It's fine..." Twilight began to smile as well at the teal mare's somewhat enjoyable personality "Anyway, a previously unknown monster now classified as the Gore Magala attacked and utterly destroyed my town of Ponyville."

"Ah, yes, so I saw" the moss green maned mare recalled seeing a wrecked town not a few minutes ago "Were there any survivors?"

"Most ponies survived, yes" Twilight somberly nodded her head "But all that did have been hospitalized due to extensive injuries."

"That's sad..." Teal sighed "I remember when my own home was attacked by a Diorekkusu. I've gotten over it since, but hey, never hurts to looks back on the past, right?"

"Yeah..." Twilight heavily breathed in and out before cheering up a bit "So, what exactly do you do?"

"Me?" Teal Speck perked up as well "I'm a professional Monster Hunter, baby! I'm coming from Baltimare to get some armour like you are, though I'm doing it for a slightly different reason."

"Why? To impress a mare?" the lavender Unicorn giggled a bit.

"N-No!" the teal Pegasus blushed a bit "I'm getting armour to help me defeat a monster that's been causing earthquakes in the town as of late. Folks are saying it's a Lagiacrus that's causing all the hassle, so I wanna get what I can here and head on back to finally kill the Lagiacrus and... um..."

"And?" Twilight questioned her guest's unusual way to finish her sentence "And what?"

"Um... no, it's nothing" Teal shook her head "Let's just forget about it, kay? Kay. Well, it was nice knowing you, Twilight Sparkle!" she got out of her seat to head off somewhere else "Be seeing you around, I suppose. Oh, and may I say you are looking simply stunning today!"

"H-Hey!" shouted Twilight "You Pinkie Promised!"

"I promised that I wouldn't hit on you at the table, my fair lady" smirked Teal before she began walking off "You'll grow used to my attempts at getting a kiss out of you eventually..."

"That sneaky little..." Twilight was about to be cross at the mare, but she couldn't help but smile at Teal's persistence in trying to get her to be her very special somepony "Eh, I might get used to it eventually. Here's hoping nothing bad happens along the way, right?"

XXXXXX

Nighttime fell over the land and Twilight was currently trying to sleep on the couch she originally sat in when she first boarded the train. However, she couldn't sleep due to the shaking and noises of the train. She heard a loud and deep roar come from outside the train, and when she looked to see what was out there, she saw three Diablos, two of which smashed their horns together in a duel for the third, which was obviously female. However, she quickly realized that the roar of a Diablos wasn't that deep. She also realized soon enough that most of the shaking and rattling wasn't coming from the train. It didn't take her long to figure out something else, something huge, was out there.

Quickly and quietly she took her insect glaive and Kinsect, put them on her back and got out of her seat to try and find out where Teal was sleeping. Entering the cabin ahead of hers, she heard somepony loudly snoring. She then discovered exactly who was making such a sound. She shook the teal mare she met earlier today awake.

"Twilight?" Teal whispered "Could you really not resist me until morning? I mean, I'm flattered, but I'm also trying to take a snooze."

"Look, there isn't much time" Twilight whispered back "We have to go to the top of the cabin."

"Wait, why?" the teal Pegasus questioned.

"Something big is chasing us, and don't say I'm wrong because I'm not!" loudly whispered the lavender Unicorn.

"Alright, okay, I'll come with you..." spoke Teal as she slowly got up from her couch and followed Twilight up onto the top of the cabin via a maintenance ladder off to the left side of the entrance to Twilight's original cabin.

XXXXXX

"Twilight, you're pretty and all in the moonlight, but I don't see anything big in these sands" Teal admitted after the two had looked around for twenty minutes trying to find what Twilight was looking for "I think I'm going to head on back down to the cabin and catch some zees."

"But I could have sworn..." the purple maned Unicorn sighed in disappointment "The vibrations of both the train and that supposed monster were completely different, making it seem like there was something else out there. But I guess it was just an earthqua-" Twilight scrunched her eyes a bit out into the desert as she thought she saw a rock formation move all of a sudden. Then, to her surprise, the rock formation sank into the sea of sand.

"Teal!" she called the mare back up "Teal, I saw something!"

Hearing this, the moss green maned Pegasus quickly came back up to see what all the commotion was about.

"What did you see, baby?" she asked.

"Just look!" Twilight twisted her head towards the sea of sand. It was there when she finally saw it.

Slowly, the sand around a certain area began to shift, as if something large was trying to emerge from it. Then, a few rocky scales showed themselves popping out of the ground, surprising the teal mare. Just as quickly as they had appeared however, they slowly sank back down into the sand. Whatever those scales belonged to wasn't done with the train just yet, as the two felt the train rumble around a bit. The rumbling continued until finally a gigantic, whale-beast covered in spikes with four legs, a tail and a gigantic horn on it's head popped out of the ground and flipped over the train, nearly flipping the train as it landed.

(Music should stop here)

"Sweet mother of god!" Teal shouted "What the hay was that?!"

"I honestly have no idea!" Twilight shouted in panic "I've never seen something so massive in any of my books! Not even the large Elder Dragons could match that thing's size and power!" her look of panic then turned into a look of pure joy "Teal, we might have stumbled across a totally new species!!"

"Well, that's great and all," the teal mare began "but my question is, how was it able to go so undetected by everypony if it's so loud and big?"

"That's actually a good question..." Twilight thought "But no time for that now. We need to drive it away before it reaches the train and either eats us or leaves us stranded in the middle of the San Palomino Desert! Do you know where the cannons on this train are?"

"I think they're in the back of the caboose" Teal recalled "Here, I'll pick you up and fly you over there, kay?"

"...fine..." Twilight sighed and allowed herself to be carried away by the moss green maned Pegasus.

XXXXXX

Twilight and Teal wasted no time in manning the cannons as soon as the got there. They loaded the new, multiball canon up with as many cannonballs as they could and waited for the monster, which she has decided to name George for now, to emerge from the sand so they could begin firing away at the beast. Eventually, George showed it's ugly face right in front of them, which meant it was also eating up the tracks as it swam through the desert.

"It's eating the tracks, the little, er... big bugger!" Teal Speck shouted "Now how'll I get back to Baltimare, huh?"

"There's always another way, Teal" Twilight tried to calm her down "For now, focus on cracking it's horn, okay? That should be enough to drive it off."

"Gotcha!" the teal mare nodded before she aimed up her cross-hair on her targeting system and fired one of the metal balls at George's tough and rocky hide. She didn't hit the horn, but the gigantic monster did seem to be inflicted by pain as it roared and sank a bit into the dry sea.

"Nice!" the lavender mare who manned the other cannon praised "But we're not done yet!" she fired a cannonball at George, which hit the giant horn but didn't break it off "Darn, it's too tough!"

"What if we fired at the same time?" suggested Teal with a shrug.

"That might not fully break it's horn, but it just might be enough to drive it away!" Twilight nodded "Right, ready..." they both prepped themselves to fire the cannonballs "Aim..." they lined up their cross-hairs "And... FIRE!!"

They both pressed the fire button at the same time and sent two of the heavy iron balls barreling toward George. The balls hit the gigantic sand monster and cracked it's horn a bit, making it roar in agony before deciding to bail away from eating the train tracks and the train itself.

(Music stop)

"We did it..." Teal let out a sigh of relief "That was pretty intense, baby. You hurt?"

"How could I've been hurt?" Twilight asked "We were at least fifty metres away from George."

"You're seriously going to call it George?" the teal, and more than likely lesbian, hunter asked her lavender accomplice "That isn't a very threatening name for this kind of monster."

"Yeah, but I had a theory" the purple maned Unicorn said "If this thing hadn't been seen before by pony kind, then that means it's some sort of ancient monster reawakened somehow, which also means it already has a name. Once we get to Appleloosa, I'll have to ask the elder about something like this."

"I follow, I follow..." Teal Speck nodded in agreement "Right, well, now that this is over, wanna head back to my couch and-"

"In your dreams, Teal" Twilight rolled her eyes before heading back into the line of cabin cars that the main engine was pulling along via the door to the caboose.

"Ouch... She'll warm up to me one day..." the moss green maned hunter smiled before looking back out into the desert "But I'm going to have to find a way back sooner rather than later or else I won't be able to defeat that Lagiacrus and... No, you'll make it back Teal. You just have to believe in yourself."

XXXXXX

The next day had dawned and Twilight had already explained to the engineers that the railroad tracks were taken out by a giant creature, meaning they couldn't get back to Ponyville or anywhere that wasn't Dodge Junction or the San Palomino Desert. They didn't believe her until the main engineer came up and said that he saw the monster as well fly over the train and nearly shake it off the track. After hearing how Twilight and Teal saved the train, he offered to let her and the teal hunter off the train for free. Once the train reached Appleloosa, he held up his promise and never let the two hunters pay.

"Ah, take a whiff of that air!" Teal exclaimed before taking a deep breath in a smelling the scents of the desert town "Manure and hay; just what a hunter likes to smell after a long day of work."

"Maybe for you, but not for me..." Twilight held her nose "I'd much rather like the smells of Ponyville or even-"

"Twilight?" asked a strangely familiar voice to the lavender Unicorn "Is 'at you?"

Twilight looked around frantically to try and find the source of the voice until finally, she came face-to-face with a certain orange mare with a blonde braided mane with a Stetson hat on her head. She was currently with some crutches, but the lavender mare recognized her immediately.

"Applejack?" Twilight asked before smiling and proceeding to hug her country friend "Oh Applejack, I missed you!"

"Ah missed ya too, Twi" Applejack hugged her friend back "But what are y'all doin' 'ere anyhoo? Have ya finally took up huntin' monsters?"

"Yeah, I have" the lavender mare nodded after releasing herself from the hug "But there's no time for social stuff yet! There's a giant monster out loose in the desert and we have to-"

"Whoa, hold yer horses 'ere, Twi" the blonde mare calmed down her friend "Yer sayin' y'all saw a giant monster out 'ere? Hmm... Could be coincidence but..."

"But what?" the purple maned mare spoke quickly "Please tell me you know something about that thing!"

"Ah think ya best come with me" Applejack jerked her head, telling Twilight to follow her. Twilight nodded and called Teal, who was currently trying to hit on another mare, over to follow the country Earth Pony. They were soon to learn what this menace was, and what exactly the limit of it's power was.

Author's Note

And done! So, I'm at school right now, but there's a free period, so I'm all good. So yes, if you couldn't have figured it out by now, the thing their going up against is a Dah'ren Mohran. It's not a spoiler if it's obvious! But our heroes don't know that yet, so there's still KINDA the element of surprise, I guess?

Teal Speck is owned by tealspeckles, and since he didn't provide a name for his OC, I named her myself. Art thouest happy with thy choice? Great!

Be sure to say in the comments what monsters you want to have appear in this story!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow me, and until then, happy hunting!

[Act 2] (Chapter 3) Meeting a Hero

Twilight awoke in a dark room on a somewhat comfortable bed. She nearly fell back asleep again due to the gentle rocking and creaking of wood in her room. However, she slowly got up and looked around her surroundings. For some reason, she couldn't use a illumination spell to light her way forward. In fact, now that she realized, all of her equipment from her armour and insect glaive were missing, being nowhere in the current vicinity. Footsteps could be heard from upstairs, so being the curious mare she was, she went exited out of her room, found a set of stairs and climbed them.

Outside she saw that it was a cloudy day, and that she appeared to be on a ship. The mast and sails gave it away, as well as the cannons and ballista binders equipped to either side of the ship. However, as she slowly came out from the staircase, she saw that she ship was, in fact, sailing on sand. Her mind and heart just about exploded with excitement and questions. How was such a ship sailing on sand? Why?

Then it hit her. The cannons, the speed the ship was sailing, the sturdy hull... This was the ancient weapon that was described on the plaque before it was destroyed by the Najarala! But how was it sailing already? Had she been knocked out for a while? Had the Dah'ren Mohran already been defeated?

"Hey you!" shouted a voice from behind the lavender Unicorn. She turned around and saw a stallion in at least his thirties with a dark green coat and a brown mane "Who exactly are y'all supposed ta be, huh?"

"Cornelius, stand down!" spoke a very royal, yet motherly voice from behind the stallion. Standing there was a tall and beautiful snow white Alicorn mare with a long red mane, a full Lagiacrus armour set and a Rathalos sword and shield.

"Pardon me, yer highness..." the one apparently named Cornelius sarcastically spoke after rolling his eyes and makin room for the taller mare to come up and speak with Twilight. The purple maned mare just looked up at the Alicorn towering over her. This made the white mare smile a bit.

"H-Has the Dah'ren Mohran been defeated yet?" Twilight asked the mare.

"Unfortunately, no" the mare let out a sigh "But with this Dragonship, we'll be able to defeat it. It's armed to the brim with cannons, and we even have the newest model of the Dragonator equipped as well!"

"The Dragonator?" the lavender mare asked.

"What rock have you been living under, kid?" asked another voice from above her. Looking up, Twilight saw a black Alicorn mare with a long purple mane, a full Plesioth armour set and a Fatalis great sword hover above her before landing on the deck of the ship.

"Sister, don't be rude" the clearly older Alicorn lightly scolded her younger sister before turning back to her guest "I'm sorry for all this. May I ask what your name is?"

"Twilight Sparkle, ma'am" the lavender Unicorn nodded "Don't ask me how I got on this ship, because I literally have no idea."

"Well, a pleasure to meet you, Twilight Sparkle" the mare greeted "My name is Faust, and this here is my younger sister Nyx. Again, apologies for her nature, but she does her best to look out for me, which I respect."

"Well, nice to finally meet you, Faust and Nyx!" Twilight smiled "So, what about him?" she pointed over at Cornelius "Is he always like that?"

"He's not too great with new people..." Faust giggled a bit "But, I suppose he's just a little crabby like that. In fact, my sister and I have discussed whether or not we should change his name to Crab Apple."

Twilight froze, for she had no words to speak. Were her ears failing her, or did Faust just say that the young stallion she recently met shared the exact same name with the thousand-year-old coot living in Appleloosa? No, there was no way that she traveled back through time. But the more and more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Where was Teal? Why was the Dragonship out and about, and why did it look so new? Did this mean that the mares in front of her were in fact the first Monster Hunters in existence?

"Um, Twilight?" the white mare spoke to her guest "Equestria to Twilight? Are you still with us?"

"Huh, what? Oh, yeah..." Twilight snapped out of her dazed thoughts "Sorry, I just realized that you two are the first Monster Hunters. As in THE first Monster Hunters! Oh, I'm so excited! I have to ask you so many questions!"

"Monster Hunters?" Nyx questioned the lavender mare "That actually sounds pretty badass! What do you think, Faustie?"

"Hmm... I do agree that it sounds pretty cool..." Faust thought for a while "But we don't really hunt monsters as much as we protect innocent ponies."

"Aw, c'mon Faustie! I don't want to be known as the Great Pony Protector later in life! That sound boring!" Nyx whined "Monster Hunter, now THERE'S a cool name! Faust and Nyx, sister Monster Hunters! Are you really saying your passing up this fantastic opportunity to go down in history sounding like something badass?"

"I..." the white Alicorn thought for a moment before giving her final verdict "Yeah, you're right. It does sound pretty badass..." she shed a small smile after saying that.

"See? I told you!" laughed the black Alicorn. After this little conversation between sisters, Twilight came to yet another realization; she had invented the profession of Monster Hunting. She couldn't hold in her excitement and let out a squeal of joy, confusing the two mares. Young Crab Apple also looked over to see what all the fuss was about.

"You two, I have SO many questions to ask you!" the lavender mare hopped around as if she was a little school filly who just found a few bits lying around on the ground.

"Uh... okay?" was all the two hunters could say before they were absolutely bombarded with questions.

"What's you're favourite food? What's your blood type? How long have you been hunters? How old are you? What were your parents' names? Where did you find or how did you build this ship? What's a Dragonator? Can it help us defeat the Dah'ren Mohran? What's the ship made out of? Can that material last for ten centuries? Why does..."

XXXXXX

Night had fallen and the clouds had settled onto the sea of sand, turning them into a thick fog. Nyx, loving the night, had decided to stay watch in case the Dah'ren Mohran decided to show it's ugly head. Faust and Twilight were conversing with each other in the white Alicorn's room while Crab Apple slept and snored in his own room. As of currently, they were just finishing up a game of poker.

"Twenty!" Twilight slammed her cards down with her magic and laughed "I won! Yes!"

"Guess again, young one..." the Alicorn put down her own cards down carefully with her magic, making the lavender Unicorn's jaw drop. Her hand (cardwise, not literally) added up to twenty-one, making the purple maned mare groan in defeat.

"You win again..." she sighed "But seriously, how are you so good?"

"When you're waiting for monsters to invade Ponyville, you find things to do and you get good at them" Faust chuckled.

"Ponyville..." Twilight muttered under her breath.

"Pardon?"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry, nothing!" the lavender Unicorn nervously laughed before trying to calm back down again "Hey, um, have you ever heard of a monster by the name of Gore Magala?"

"Gore Magala?" wondered Faust "No, I haven't, sorry. Is it a new kind of monster?"

"You could say that, yeah..." Twilight sighed before deciding to make up a white lie "A while ago, it completely destroyed my hometown and left many ponies homeless. I left my home to try and become a hunter, but I lost my stuff before I found myself here."

"That's sad..." the white Alicorn patted her guest on the back "But don't worry. Once this is all over, we can-"

"Dah'ren Mohran, dead ahead!" Nyx called down to her sister.

"Coming" Faust shouted back up before turning to face me again "You best stay down here. I trust you know a bit about hunting, but this is nothing like what you know."

"I understand" Twilight nodded "Good luck!"

Faust nodded with a smiled before heading out of her room and onto the Dragonship's deck. The lavender Unicorn took a long sigh before getting out of her seat and going to lie on her host's bed. All of a sudden, she began to feel very dizzy. She clutched her head with her front right hoof before she was knocked out cold, the world spiraling around her.

XXXXXX

She awoke suddenly with the feeling of sand on her back and in her mane. She looked around the area to find that she was back in the ancient ruins south of Appleloosa. However, her gear and especially Teal weren't present, and the walls of the room looked exceptionally younger, telling her she was still in the past.

"So you're finally awake" spoke an old but strangely familiar voice behind Twilight. The lavender Unicorn quickly turned around to see a much, much older Faust standing there. Despite her mane turning grey and her face gaining a few wrinkles, she stayed just as beautiful as the day she met her. She also had a saddle bag on her back.

"Faust?" Twilight asked "Is that really you?"

"I've grown old and too weak to continue being a 'Monster Hunter', as you liked to put it..." the white Alicorn smiled "But yes, it's still me. Thank you for recognizing me for me and not the monster I've become..."

"Monster?" the purple maned mare thought about what she meant before finally coming to the realization "Oh... I know what you mean..."

"I've come here to finally lay the Dragonship to rest for future generations to use it" Faust spoke "I had just finished the plaque on how to reawaken it when I saw you lying there, unconscious."

"The plaque?!" Twilight beamed as she turned and saw the new stone slate with words on it still in it's prime "It's still here?! Yes! I can still read it!" she scurried over to the plaque and began to read it aloud "By the power of the gods, I have blessed this place with a sacred weapon powerful enough and fast enough to defeat the Dah'ren Mohran should it ever arise in future generations. In order to awaken this power, one must place the blood of a Najarala onto the pedestal..."

Twilight facehoofed herself the exact moment she read this.

"Twilight?" Faust asked "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah..." she assured "It's just that I remembered something dumb and stupid..."

"Twilight, are you from the future?" the white Alicorn asked all of a sudden "Don't lie to me; I know when ponies lie."

"...yeah" the lavender mare confirmed Faust's suspicions after taking a deep breath in and out "I'm from the future. But I can't say anything, or else a paradox might ensue, and god knows how much damage THAT would cause. Why ask all of a sudden anyway?"

"Because, I brought this..." the grey maned Alicorn opened up her saddlebag and brought out a familiar white potion that Twilight drank earlier "It's a new Zebra potion that takes you back to visions of the past. But this one is different; it has the power to send a soul back in time as well, allowing the drinker to interact with figures of the past. I got it from Crab Apple who recently visited the Zebra country."

"So that's how I'm talking with you now?" Twilight questioned "Interesting..."

"You should wake up very soon, but before you do, may I just say it was an honour to meet you, Twilight Sparkle" Faust spoke with a smile before extending her front right hoof.

"I seldom differ, Lady Faust" the lavender Unicorn smiled back as she also extended her own front right hoof and shaking the other mare's "To meet such a hero is truly an honour in itself."

"I'm no hero, Twilight" sighed the old mare after their hoofshake "After what I did to my sister,

"Don't look down on your failure, Faust" Twilight patted her on the back "You still did a lot of good by protecting the innocent and even teaching ponies how to fight monsters on their own. You are a true Monster Hunter."

"...thank you, Twilight" Faust spoke before proceeding to hug the Unicorn "Now, it's time for you to wake up..."

XXXXXX

With a loud gasp, Twilight awoke in the same room where she fell asleep and saw into the past. On her left, right beside her was Teal with a look of worry and relief in her eyes and face, telling the lavender mare that she had finally returned home.

"Twilight!" the teal mare proceeded to hug her partner "Oh, I was so worried about you!"

"This is a first..." Twilight smiled "Actually caring about a mare and not just using her as a puppet to look cool? Are you sure you're the Teal Speck I know?"

"Ha, ha, very funny..." Teal rolled her eyes after releasing herself from the hug "But seriously, good to have you back, baby. So, what did that potion do to you anyway?"

"It gave me a vision of the past" the lavender mare said simply "But, I now know what we have to do in order to awaken the ancient weapon."

"You do?" Teal's excitement grew "Well, what is it?"

"See that Najarala over there?" the Unicorn pointed over at the recently killed Najarala "We need to put some of it's blood onto the pedestal where I found the white potion."

"That's it?" the teal Pegasus deadpanned "If only we were quicker, we could have already awoken the ancient weapon and defeated the Dah'ren Mohran."

"Well, what's done is done, I suppose" Twilight shrugged "But let's not waste anymore time..." she began walking over to the corpse of the giant snake beast and stuck her carving knife into it with her magic. She then took it out and headed back to the pedestal with the blood on the knife, plucking her insect glaive from the sand when she left it there to mourn over the lost plaque. Carefully, she dropped some of the now red blood onto the pedestal. At first, nothing happened.

"Are you sure that's what the plaque said, Twi?" Teal asked her partner.

"But, I could have sworn that-" Twilight's sentence was interrupted by a loud rumbling noise. All of a sudden, the wall behind the pedestal began to crumble away, until there was nothing left. There stood the most amazing thing that both Twilight and Teal could ever imagine; the ancient weapon, the Dragonship, in perfect condition and ready to be used at a moment's notice. The sails were retracted and the masts were surprisingly shrunken down, but the purple maned Unicorn still recognized it.

"Unbelievable..." the teal mare said as she marveled at the Dragonship "So this is the ancient weapon, huh? Looks like it's in pretty good shape. What is it, some sort of sand ship? Hey, this might actually be able to defeat the Dah'ren Mohran!"

"Yeah, I know..." smiled the lavender mare as she inspected the hull for any cracks "Seems all good. Want to take it for a ride?"

"Do I?!" Teal exclaimed "Hell yeah, I do! Let's go!"

"Aye, aye!" Twilight laughed as she climbed the retractable staircase to the ship and got in front of the steering wheel. A lever that she assumed was the engine start-up was right next to her, so naturally, she pulled it. The Dragonship let out a loud whistle of steam as it retracted the staircase, extended two platforms on either side of the deck and slowly began to move forward. Teal just flew right onto the deck as the ship began pointing upwards to a blockade of stones in front of it.

Worrying for a moment, Twilight saw a button that said Dragonator on it. Wasting no time, she pressed the button and a giant drill-like object came popping out of the front of the ship, utterly obliterating the stones and allowing the Dragonship to get out. As soon as the ship reached the light at the end of the tunnel, it jumped out of the cave and onto the sea of sand that was the San Palomino Desert. It was finally time to put an end to the Dah'ren Mohran. Suddenly...

"Shoot, I forgot to ask her how she defeated Nyx!" Twilight suddenly shouted, confusing her teal partner.

Author's Note

Yes, we have finally seen what the first Monster Hunters looked like. And yes, her name is Faust, as in Lauren Faust, the creator of MLP:FIM and your new god.

Be sure to say in the comments what monster you want to see Twilight fight!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow me, and until then, happy hunting!

[Act 2] (Chapter 4) Showdown with the Dah'ren Mohran

Before Twilight and Teal even thought about fighting the Dah'ren Mohran, they decided to visit Appleloosa to get a few things to help them defeat the monster. It wasn't a surprise to them when ponies began marveling at the ship sailing on the sand, especially Applejack who had heard legends about the ship, but never thought it would be real. As soon as the ship stopped right next to the entrance of the desert town, the orange mare spoken of earlier slowly walked up to Twilight and Teal, who where heading down the extended staircase to meet with her.

"Well ah'll be..." Applejack chuckled "Ah can't believe it's actually real. Ah jus' thought great grandpa was bein' an ol' pony again, but ah guess he was right. Where'd y'all find it anyway?"

"Remember the old ruins Corni- I mean... Crab Apple spoke of?" Twilight quickly corrected herself with a nervous chuckle "Well, there we found a pedestal with a white potion on it which I drank to-"

"Long story short, we found some ruins, and then we found this" Teal interrupted her partner, wanting to get explaining over with "So, we're here now for some stuff before we head out and kick that sand whale's ass!"

"Girl, ya dun have ta swear all the time..." the country mare the two hunters were conversing with deadpanned.

"I know, but it vents off steam, y'know?" the fillyfooler smirked, earning a facehoof from both her partner and Twilight.

"Heh, heh, heh... Well if it ain't our lil' heroes back with the ol' Dragonship..." said an old voice from behind the three mares. They all turned around to see Applejack's faded green great grandpa Crab Apple out and about with a cloud of smoke coming from his pipe, following him.

"Great Grandpa Crabby!" Applejack spoke in a surprised tone "What are ya doin' up an' about like this?"

"Ah came ta see the sand ship, youngin'! Ain't it obvious?" cackled the old stallion "Ah haven't seen this thin' in years! A whole one-thousand o' 'em, ta be exact! It's also in purdy good shape fer being so old. Ah think ya youngin's' might have a chance against 'at 'ere Dah'ren Mohran, but not a full one. 'At's why ah'm comin' with ya!"

"WHAT?!" all three mares shouted in shock.

"Mr. Crab Apple, you can't be serious!" Twilight exclaimed "I know you fought this thing before back in your prime, but that was ages ago! You could get hurt or-"

"Twi, jus' let it go..." Applejack sighed "Once mah great grandpa make a choice, 'ere's no way ta git him ta think otherwise..."

"Hoowee! Let's go an' hunt a monster!" Crab jumped up as much as he could "Y'all dun need ta worry ifin ah'm gonna fight or not. I'll be drivin' the ship. But boy, oin' this make mah heart race; twenty beats a minute!"

"Oh no..." both Twilight and Teal thought to themselves.

XXXXX

After stocking up on whetstones, mega potions, well-done steaks and honestly anything else they could scramble together, the two hunters and one driver had gotten themselves on-board the Dragonship, which had it's masts down, and were just about ready to go out and hunt the Dah'ren Mohran. The only thing left to do was to bid farewell to the townsfolk of Appleloosa.

"Take care, ya darn youngin's'!" Crab Apple shouted down at the residents of the small western town as he played with the steering wheel a bit "An' Applejack, if ah die out 'ere, y'all dun go cryin' 'bout it, understand?"

"Great Grandpa, dun even say thin's' like 'at!" a cross Applejack shouted at her extremely old grandfather.

"Aw, y'all know it was bound ta happen one day" sighed the old stallion "Ah'm over a thousand years old. This might be mah last big adventure..."

Applejack didn't want to believe something like that, but she knew it was true. Her grandfather was extremely old and way past his prime; he would go any day at this point. She knew he wanted to get in one last adventure before he kicked the bucket, so she backed off from him and waved him farewell. The old pony smiled at this before turning back to the wheel and readying himself for battle.

"Look on the bright side, youngin'..." Crab Apple spoke to Applejack as he chuckled and looked out into the vast sea of sand awaiting him "At least ah'll finally git ta be with yer great granny after all 'ese years..."

"Alright Crab Apple, we're all ready to head out" Twilight spoke as she emerged from the door to the lower deck "Just say the word, pull the lever and we'll be off."

"Aye, aye, capt'n!" the old stallion saluted before he cranked the handle as hard as he could. The masts shot up and the staircase retracted back into the hull. The two platforms slid out of the top of the deck and formed the rest of the ship before it slowly began picking up speed and heading out into the desert to defeat the giant sand whale.

"See ya later, ya varmints!" Teal tried to copy country talk, much to every single pony in the towns' dismay.

"Oh Teal..." Twilight smiled as she rolled her eyes.

XXXXXX

The three ponies had sailed on the sand for a while with no sign of the gigantic monster anywhere. They had begun to play cards, take turns steering and being on lookout, and vomit over the edge of the ship, the latter being mainly Twilight, who happened to be seasick. The purple maned Unicorn was currently on the edge of the Dragonship, waiting for more of her digested lunch to rise out of her throat.

"How could you possibly be seasick, Twi?" Teal questioned her partner "We're not even on the sea!"

"It's the rocking and the... ohhhh..." the lavender mare felt her stomach churn before she turned and threw up over the edge "...the swaying of the boat, not necessarily... aaaoooohhh..." she leaned on the edge once more and vomited "...necessarily the sand itself..."

"Are you sure you don't want a break, baby?" the teal mare asked with concern "Or do you wanna save some lunch so you can throw up all over the Dah'ren Mohran?"

"Ha, ha, very funny..." Twilight fake laughed "I just need something to distract myself from the shaking, like fight a Dah'ren Mohran for example... ohhhhh...." she leaned over once more and did her business "...give me that and I'll be good to go..."

"Still, would have been kinda funny..." Teal shrugged.

"Oi! Do y'all feel 'at?!" Crab Apple shouted from the wheel "Ah sense a Mohran under us... It must've 'membered the Dragonship from all those years ago... it could pop out at any moment, so prepare yerselves!"

"Rightio, old dude!" the moss green maned hunter nodded at the aged stallion before whipping out her dual blades with her wings and spinning them around a bit "Teal Speck, best hunter ever, ready for action!"

"Anything to get rid of this awful feeling..." Twilight took her insect glaive off her back and let her Kinsect fly around her "I guess I'm ready to go as well."

"Good ta hear!" Crab cackled "Right then, stay focused an'-"

The elderly pony didn't even get a chance to finish his sentence before a huge crash shook the Dragonship quite violently, nearly knocking everyone off the deck. The ship finally stabilized and the three ponies regained their balance. They all frantically looked around them to try and find out where the thing that hit them was.

"Do you think we hit the Dah'ren Mohran?" Twilight asked her two crewmates.

"Or it might've been a big rock..." Teal suggested.

As if on cue, the gigantic sand monster with the broken horn from earlier sprang from the right side of the Dragonship, jumping over the ship with an ear-shattering roar and landing on the other side of the sandy sea. Twilight and Teal were once again awestruck at the sheer size and power of the monster, but Crab Apple was just laughing like there was no tomorrow.

"Hoo boy! Didja see 'at flip?!" the blind old stallion cackled "This brin's' back thousands o' memories! Heh, heh, heh! Hang on ya youngins', ah'm gonna activate the cannons and balista binders!"

Crab Apple pressed a button on the steering wheel which opened up two compartments on either side of the ship; one for the cannon and one for the balista binder per side. The cannons and balistas rose up and were ready to be used at any time.

"Teal, man the left cannon, and I'll use the left balista binder!" Twilight put away her insect glaive to man the balista.

"Roger that, baby!" the teal mare nodded before going over to the ammo depot and taking carrying a cannonball to use against the Mohran. At that exact time, the giant beast reemerged from the sea of sand to swim next to the Dragonship. Wasting no time, Teal loaded the cannonball into her cannon and fired it off, inflicting damage onto the beast and breaking a tiny bit of rock off it's body.

"Yes!" she said with a cocky smirk.

"...and... Fire!" Twilight launched her balista harpoon at the monster, digging into the place where Teal broke away the rocks and making the Dah'ren Mohran tumble back into the depths of the sand. After a little while, the monster flung itself over the sand ship again onto the other side before ramming it's own side into ship, knocking it about and causing the three to once again nearly fall off. However, once they regained balance, they noticed that the creature's arm had lodged itself into the extended platform of the Dragonship.

"I have an idea, but you gotta trust me, okay baby?" Teal looked at Twilight as she smiled. The lavender mare thought for a second before finally nodding and letting the teal mare execute her plan. Without a second thought, the lesbian hunter ran onto the arm of the creature, taking out her dual blades with her wings and swinging at anything that looked like a weak point on the monster's back.

"TEAL! ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Twilight shouted with concern "YOU COULD GET YOURSELF KILLED!!"

"Sorry babe, but I'm just too crazy for you to handle..." the Unicorn could see her partner smile as she continued attacking the Dah'ren Mohran. Eventually, she swung one of her blades at an unnaturally fleshy rock and broke it, causing extreme pain for the beast. It roared ferociously, signalling it wanted her off it's back. The teal Pegasus sheathed her blades and began flying off the Mohran before it rolled violently in the sand.

"Twilight!" she called down from the air "I found it's weak point! Hit it with more cannonballs!"

"Got it!" the lavender hunter called back up before going back to the ammo depot and loading in another cannonball "Fire away!" she launched the iron ball right at the monster's tough hide, it roaring upon contact with the ammo. It then delved back down into the sand. After a while, it hadn't popped back out from the sea, worrying Twilight.

"Where did it go?" she asked with concern "We didn't lose it, did we?"

"Ah think ya best open yer eyes an' see, unlike me! Heh, heh, heh!" Crab Apple laughed as he pointed to the front of the ship. Teal flew higher to see that the Dah'ren Mohran was on a collision course with the Dragonship.

"Twilight, it's gonna hit the ship head on!" the teal mare shouted down to her lavender partner. At first not knowing what to do, Twilight then remembered the drill-like Dragonator that she used to decimate the rocks in the sand ship's path. The monster quickly approached the ship, so she went up next to the other button that activated it and waited until the Dah'ren Mohran got closer. Finally, the beast jumped out right in front of the boat. Twilight quickly pressed the button and sent the drill right into the Mohran's belly area, creating a large and fresh wound with a bit of blood leaking out and onto the bow and the Dragonator itself. The beast then sank back down into the sea and soon onto the left side of the ship again.

The next thing that it did surprised even Crab Apple. The monster shrank a bit before exploding three of it's rocks onto the deck of the ship, blocking passage to the left cannon and right balista binder.

"Great!" Teal shouted "Now how are we supposed to fire big objects onto the darn thing?"

An idea popped into Twilight's mind. It would require pin-point precision, but if pulled off correctly the beast would be stunned long enough for Teal to go over and beat the ever living hell out of the creature.

"Fire a harpoon into the Mohran's eye" Twilight said simply "Don't question it, this might be the only shot we have to kill it."

"Well..." the teal mare thought for a bit before deciding an answer "...Okay then! I'm trusting you on this, Twi!"

The lavender mare nodded with a kind smile before manning the balista binder and aiming carfully at the Dah'ren Mohran's eye. She waited for it to stop moving around before she let loose the harpoon and sent it off. She took a deep breath in and out before firing it, which she did with her magic. The harpoon traveled through the air and, by a stroke of pure luck, right into the beast's eye, it letting out a shriek of pain and roar of agony before tumbling back down into the sand.

(Music stop)

"I-I did it!" Twilight was amazed by her perfect shot "I can't believe I got it's eye!"

She suddenly felt the Dragonship slowly come to a stop. She looked up to the top deck to say thank you to Crab Apple, but instead she saw a rock from the Dah'ren Mohran had crashed exactly where he was standing. Twilight's expression drained away exceptionally quickly. She rushed up the stairs to the steering deck to see that Teal was already looking over the dying Crab Apple, crushed by the rock.

"Oh no..." Twilight gasped before she got on her knees and tried to help the elderly Earth Pony "No, no, no... This can't be happening! Just give me a second Crab Apple and I'll-"

"Youngin... 'ere's no... need fer 'at... now..." the old stallion shook his head with a chuckle "Ah'm over... a thousand years... old... Ah think... it's time... ta move on... an' meet... with mah wife... You dun worry now... Ah want this..."

"But Applejack, you can't just-" Twilight spoke before getting shushed by the old hunter.

"Mah great granddaughter... is a perfectly fine... an' grown mare..." he explained with a smile "Ah think... she... can... ...mah time... is here... Nice meetin' ya... Twilight... An' next time... don't you... randomly appear... on a ship... ag... aga... a..."

The old pony closed his eyes and let out his final breath with a smile on his face. His over one-thousand year journey had at long last come to a close, and he was finally with his wife. Twilight smiled a sad smile as she got up and said nothing. The rocks crushing the old stallion and blocking the weaponry crumbled away into nothingness, allowing Twilight to take the helm and steer the ship back to where the Dah'ren Mohran was more that likely still alive. Her eyes were filled with sadness, and even though Crab Apple died a peaceful death in his last requested adventure, the lavender mare still felt it was necessary to avenge his death somehow. She flicked the engine switch and began sailing in the direction the great sand whale was headed.

XXXXXX

Somehow, someway, the Dragonship managed to get slightly ahead of the Dah'ren Mohran and slowed down right in front of Appleloosa, which the creature planned on destroying. Twilight had stopped the ship in the middle of the beast's path and docked it, prepping the cannons to destroy the beast. She turned to the town and called out to the residents.

"Ponies of Appleloosa!" she shouted " The Dah'ren Mohran will arrive here shortly to attack and destroy this town! I need as many hooves on deck as absolutely possible to kill it once and for all! Who's with me?!"

The townsfolk roared in cheering and clapping before some mares and stallions went onto the deck and began loading the cannons and manning the balista binders. Twilight and Teal ran forward, unsheathing their weapons with their magic and wings respectively. They began slashing away at the whale's surprisingly toed feet, trying to make it flinch so the ponies on the Dragonship could attack it with slight ease. Eventually, they did make it flinch, but only for a few seconds. That was more than enough time apparently, as the cannons blasted out cannon balls at the monster, injuring it.

"Yes, keep doing that!" Twilight shouted at the townsfolk "We're almost there!"

The giant beast wouldn't have anything of it though. It just plowed through the cannonballs and harpoons once it became used to their pain. There was only one thing that could hurt it now. Rushing back to the sand ship before the Dah'ren Mohran got there, Twilight called over Teal to fly her back there to press the button.

The monster was getting closer and closer, and the teal Pegasus was flying the lavender Unicorn as fast as possible. Finally, she got her partner there just in time to turn the Dragonator to face the sand whale and slam the button down harder than Space Jam just when the beast was right next to the ship. But before she could, she saw that Applejack had made her way onto the deck and had already turned the weapon and pressed the button with a smirk on her face.

(Music stop)

The drill-like Dragonator shot out and pierced the creature's chest, making it loose a lot of blood. The monster roared in pain as it slowly began to wither away to death, the Dragonator still lodged in it's heart.

"YEEHAW!!!" the orange country mare shouted with a huge smile on her face "Take 'at, ya varmint! Nopony goes around an' messes with MAH town! Now y'all think twice before comin' 'ere! Not 'at ya will, 'at is!"

The townsfolk finally riddled the creature with as many cannonballs and harpoons as humanly possible until, at long last, the great terror of the sands fell over, dead.

(Music stop)

The ponies of Appleloosa roared in happiness as they saw the beast's life drain away from it's body. Twilight and Teal wasted no time in carving as much of the monster as they could to make new armour and weapons. After that, they ran out and joined the rest of the ponies in celebration.

"Twilight, we did it!" Teal said before grabbing her and kissing her passionately. Much to her surprise, the lavender mare began kissing back. Eventually, they broke the kiss with blushes as red as cherries on their cheeks.

"Everypony gets one..." Twilight lightly chuckled.

"That was incredible..." the teal mare said before fainting right then and there, earning a giggle from the newer hunter.

(Music stop)

XXXXXX

Twilight told Applejack the news about her great grandfather. She took it relatively well, but she also requested to be alone for a while until she calmed down a bit. As of right now, the two hunters were beginning to unpack everything from the Dragonship when Teal all of a sudden got an idea.

"Hey Twi," she began "do you think this thing will run on ground and water? I think this might be our ticket out of Appleloosa!"

"I'm not sure, but it never hurts to try, right?" the lavender Unicorn shrugged. Just as she did, she spotted Applejack come out of her temporary home and over to the docked sand ship to bid her friends farewell.

"Ah'm guessin' yer gonna start goin' now?" she asked, now feeling a little bit better.

"Yeah, we are" Teal nodded "You wanna come?"

"Ah thank ya kindly, but somepony needs ta keep this 'ere place under control" the country mare smiled "An' 'at pony is gonna be me. Ah couldn't imagine Appleloosa bein' run by somethin' silly like a sheriff. 'Ese folks need a real, hardworkin' mare ta git 'em inta shape, y'know?

"I understand, Applejack" Twilight nodded "I'll be sure to tell the princess that you're okay here for a while."

"Thank ya kindly" the blonde Earth Pony nodded "An' good luck on yer little quest! Where y'all headin' next?"

"Well, I was hoping Cante-" the purple maned mare said before getting interrupted by Teal.

"Baltimare" she said "We're heading for Baltimare next. There's something there I need to do."

"Are ya sure?" questioned Applejack "Ah've been hearin' 'at the place is constantly attacked by a Lagiacrus, but ah'm also guessin' yer goin' ta go an' beat it down, right?"

"Yeah, that's right!" played along Twilight, who was very confused right now "Going to beat a Lagiacrus! Yep! Totally!"

"Well, y'all be careful then, ya hear?" the orange mare gave the two hunters a stern look, to which they both nodded furiously and nervously.

XXXXXX

The Dragonship had already taken off to it's next destination with everyone in Appleloosa cheering them on and bidding them farewell. A mile behind the ship was a scrawny male spectral entity with a faded green coat and a grey mane. He let out a satisfied sigh before turning to his wife, a tall, wrinkled white Alicorn mare also with grey mane. She turned as well and smiled at him.

"I think our work here is done, no?" she asked her husband "Come; let us enjoy heaven together, Cornelius..."

"Of course, my sweet Faust..." Cornelius laughed before walking off and fading away in a flash of white light.

Author's Note

Did I get the feels? If not, that works too. But hey, I tried right?

So wait, if Faust is the wife of Crab Apple, then does that make Applejack a descendant of her, therefore having her blood and spirit? Short answer: Yes. Will I indulge in it? No. This was just something I thought you'd like to know.

Just a reminder that we're doing a special chapter at the end of the story once we hit 50+ Likes, so keep on liking everyone!

Put down in the comments what monsters you want to see Twilight fight.

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow me, and until then, happy hunting!

[Act 3] (Chapter 1) Remember

The sand ship, which Twilight and Teal since learned was also an all-terrain land ship, made its way through the ground on it's way to Baltimare, the hometown of the teal hunter onboard. The lavender mare joining her wasn't too pleased with Teal's request to head to the water-based city before speaking with Princess Celestia and Rainbow Dash. However, she understood the urgency of the lesbian mare's plight, so she ultimately decided otherwise.

"Thanks for playing along back there, Twi" Teal suddenly spoke as the two stood on the steering deck with Twilight at the helm "I know that you wanted to get somewhere else, but this is really important for me."

"No, no, I understand..." the Unicorn nodded "Besides; I might find somepony there I'm looking for. And heck, I might even discover a bit more about the Frenzy Virus."

"Hey, you never told me about that Frenzy Virus thing" the moss green maned mare remembered "So... What is it?"

"Well, I owe you after earlier, so why the hay not..." Twilight took a deep breath in and sighed "The Frenzy Virus is a dangerous disease that is slowly spreading due to the perils of a dragon known as the Gore Magala, a recently discovered and highly dangerous monster. From what I can tell, the virus infects only monsters and makes them more powerful, while at the same time making them mindless slaves."

"That sounds bad..." Teal said with a grin, earning an eye roll from her partner "But I'm sure I can take them on! I mean, I've taken on a Rathalos AND a Rathian during heat! I don't think it gets any worse than that."

"Well, you haven't seen the Gore Magala, or any of the infected monsters up close..." the lavender hunter remembered the day Ponyville was destroyed "Anyway, we should be arriving Baltimare soon. Look, I can see it over the horizon!"

What the newer hunter said was true. Looking out into the open, Teal saw her home before her original one was destroyed. She let a small smile loose and watched as the city which held so many memories close to her heart slowly get closer and closer.

"Yeah... what a sight..." happily sighed the teal Pegasus "Now, how about another kiss, baby?"

"I said everypony gets one!" huffed Twilight.

XXXXXX

Not wanting to attract extreme attention to the sand ship, Twilight steered it in to Horseshoe Bay where the ship looked more like an actual ship and not an ancient weapon. It eventually docked with one of the many piers of the bay that led straight to Baltimare, the city of water. As the two hunters tied their ship on their own pier, they noticed little cat-like creatures called Felynes roam the dock and carry things back and forth to the centre of the city, which happened to be the Gathering Hall for when hunters wanted to go on team hunts.

"Aww..." smiled Teal "I always loved these little guys since I was a foal, and I still do today."

"They are kinda cute..." Twilight smiled along with her partner "I've never seen one in real life before though. Only in books."

"You- What?!" the teal mare turned her head back to the Unicorn at shouted "Baby, you need to get out more often."

"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?" chuckled Twilight "Anyway, we should have a look around town. Maybe they have some stuff we can use to help find my friends and defeat the Lagiacrus."

"A-Actually, you go on ahead..." the Pegasus nervously spoke "I'll just stay here, okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, um, okay then..." the purple maned mare was slightly confused "I'll just go on ahead and get some items then..."

"Thanks, baby" the teal mare nodded as she leaned on the hull of the docked ship "We're going to need some shock traps, barrel bombs and whetstones. Maybe some herbs as well, but we'll see what we got."

"Right" nodded Twilight before turning around and heading off the pier, only to turn back and talk with her partner again "Um, I don't have any bits on me right now..."

"Here you go, babe" she smiled and took a handsome amount of bits off of her armour with her wings.

XXXXXX

Twilight traveled through the crowed bazaar of fruits, healing items, and weaponry until she finally found a place where she could purchase some traps to capture the Lagiacrus and eventually kill it. After doing so, she turned and accidentally bumped into someone, knocking all of their items onto the ground with a soft and feminine grunt, signalling that the pony the lavender Unicorn bumped into was female.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" Twilight quickly apologized to the mare a she bent down to help pick up her stuff "Here, let me help you..."

"Oh, thank you, that's very kind of you..." spoke a familiar voice which stopped the Unicorn and made her look up to see the mare she bumped into. She was a Pegasus with a cream yellow coat, a long pink mane and butterflies for a cutiemark. She has a nervous expression on her face and a leather saddlebag on her back.

"Fluttershy?" the lavender mare asked "Is that you?"

"O-Oh, sorry but... I think you might have me confused with somepony else..." the cream mare spoke softly "I'm Willow Seed, but you can just call me Willow... If that's okay with you of course..."

Twilight knew that this pony was Fluttershy. There was no way she could have been anyone else. So then why did she lie to the Unicorn and act like she's never met her before? Or was her memory erased somehow? Twilight shuddered at the thought that one of her greatest friends could have amnesia.

"Fluttershy, it's me! Twilight!" she continued to try and spark her friend's memory "You know; your friend? The one that never wanted to be a hunter? The one that you saw get eaten alive by Remobra that one time? Please, you have to remember!"

"I'm really sorry miss... Twilight?" the amnesic Fluttershy apologized "I really must be going now. It was a pleasure talking with you... I think..." she then ran off as fast as possible, forgetting all of her stuff on the ground. Twilight lowered her head a bit in disappointment.

"I'm guessing that didn't work out too well?" said an unfamiliar voice from behind the lavender Unicorn. She turned around to see a tan Unicorn stallion with a green mane styled to look like leaves and a white lab coat over his back. He wore circular glasses over his muzzle.

"Who are you?" Twilight asked the new stallion.

"My name is Dr. Game Taco, but you can call me Taco for short" he slowly approached the mare "I'm the one that found that mare and temporarily named her. I'm guessing you know her personally?

"Y-Yeah..." the lavender Unicorn nodded.

"I think you might want to come with me back to my home" suggested the tan doctor "Please, I insist. I have tea on the kettle."

XXXXXX

Game Taco's home was a regular house with a kitchen, washroom, bedroom and dining room. He motioned for Twilight to step on a certain area of his dining room, which she did. The room's floor with both ponies on it began to descend into the lower floors, much to Twilight's surprise. The floor finally reached the bottom of the elevator. Before them was a metal door sealed by five huge rods. Taco wasted no time it approaching the door and, with his magic, took out a key card from his coat pocket and swiped a lock at the side of the door. All five of the locks opened, allowing access to the two ponies.

Inside the room amazed Twilight to no end. The area was littered and filled with different cages with different species of monsters in them, including, but not limited to, a Great Jaggi, an Azuros, a Lagombi and a Gypceros. They were all causing some sort of commotion, ranging from banging on the bars and roaring and looked as if they could break out at any time. However, they made no noise whatsoever.

"The cages are soundproofed and magically sealed" the doctor stallion explained "Nothing gets out unless I say so. Now..." he went over to a table with a kettle and two cups on it and poured some water into both of them "Tea?"

"You know, when you said we were going to have tea, I never thought it would be down in a secret lab like this" joked Twilight "Now, why did you bring me here?"

"Straight to the point, eh?" Taco chuckled a bit "I like you. Right, on with my request. I think I may have discovered a way to bring back Willow's-"

"Fluttershy's" the lavender mare corrected him.

"Of course, my mistake..." he coughed and continued with his explaination "...Fluttershy's memory. I have been working with an assortment of scales and hides, and I have come to the conclusion that all I need to fix her memory is a rare flower found only in the swamp south of Baltimare. I'd get it myself, but the swamp is filled with dangerous monsters. That's where you come in." he sipped some of his tea "I want you to go into the swamplands and retrieve this flower. You'll be paid a hefty amount, of course."

"Do you know what kinds of monsters live in the swamp?" asked Twilight

"I know of many, such as Kecha Wacha, Congalala, and of course, the king of the swamp itself, the Nargacuga" the tan stallion explained "All will be tricky monsters should you ever encounter them, but I have full faith in you!"

"I'll accept, but I'll only do it for Fluttershy" the purple maned hunter nodded.

"Thank you" Taco nodded "And if you see Fluttershy, please give her this and she'll forgive you." he lifted a letter from the table the kettle and cups were on and gave it to Twilight.

"What is it?"

"You'll find out in due time..."

All of a sudden, the ground below and above Twilight and Taco shook violently. Quickly, the tan doctor ran over to a lever and flicked it to the right, which slowly ceased the shaking on the inside of the laboratory. After the ground stopped rocking, Taco pulled the lever back to the left and sighed.

"That's the fourth earthquake this week..." he shook his head "That Lagiacrus has to go. Good god, when is that traitor going to defeat it so we can get on with our lives?"

"I'm sorry?" Twilight questioned the doctor "Who's this traitor you're talking about?"

XXXXXX

Twilight was absolutely furious. She stormed through the marketplace of Baltimare right to the pier where the Dragonship floated softly on the gentle waves. She spotted exactly who she wanted to see conversing with a familiar pink maned Pegasus blushing like crazy.

"So, you come here often, baby?" Teal tried her best to win her heart "I'm a seasoned hunter, if you couldn't tell."

"Um... I... um..." was all Fluttershy could say as she stuttered to get her words out.

"Teal, you and I have to have a little talk!" the lavender Unicorn said in a cross tone of voice before looking at Fluttershy "Alone, if you will?"

"O-Of course..." the cream yellow Pegasus backed off a bit.

"Thank you, Fl- Willow..." she quickly corrected herself before turning back to Teal "Now... Teal, may you please explain to me why you're a WANTED CRIMINAL?!"

"WAAAA!!!" the teal mare jumped back from her partner's sudden change of voice "T-Twilight, I can explain!"

"Nope, I don't want to hear it..."

"But I-"

"Nope!"

"Twi, you-"

"Nuh uh!"

"Will you just-"

"Not listening!"

"Knock it off, you two!" Fluttershy suddenly shouted in her still sweet voice, surprising the teal hunter and greatly surprising the lavender one, grabbing both of their attentions "You two should just forget about your problems and work together, okay? Now make up!"

Twilight looked at Teal, and Teal did the same to Twilight. They both let out a sigh before nodding and shaking hooves, making up with each other.

"I'm sorry about not telling you sooner, baby" Teal lowered her head in shame slightly "I just didn't want our friendship to go sour when you found out I was a wanted mare."

"And I'm sorry for thinking of you any differently..." Twilight apologized "Now, if you don't mind, can you tell me how you became a wanted criminal?"

"Wanted pony" the teal mare corrected her "But sure, I can tell you baby. A while ago, I was a well-respected hunter. Then one day, when the earthquakes began, I was called out by some crazy guy saying I had 'awoken the god of the sea' or something like that, and I was shunned by the entire city. I couldn't live a normal life there until I killed off the Lagiacrus. Oh, and there was also something about the black market, but I wasn't really paying much attention."

"Well, in that case, I guess one of our two main priorities now is to defeat the Lagiacrus and earn back the trust of everyone in Baltimare" the lavender mare nodded.

"Damn straight, baby!" smirked Teal before turning back to the sand ship "You ready to head out?"

"Just a second..." Twilight turned back to Fluttershy and took out the letter from her armour "I believe this is for you?"

"Hmm? Oh, thank you, miss" the cream Pegasus smiled "I'll be sure to read it later. Right now, you should head out to where you need to go and prepare for your fight! Y'know, when you're ready, of course..."

Twilight just smiled and rolled her eyes at this before hopping onto the deck of the ship and then up to the steering deck. Below her, Teal had already undone all the ropes connecting the ship with the pier and flew up onto the deck as well. Twilight then flipped the lever and activated the engines and sails. Finally, she steered the ship out of the dock.

"Let's just hope the swamp isn't too infected with the Frenzy Virus" the lavender hunter hoped to herself.

Author's Note

I felt as if this chapter was rushed and boring (especially in the lab), but it's the weekend now, so I'll have more time to write stuff for you guys. :twilightsmile:

Sorry it wasn't out sooner either. Due to FIMfiction being a dick, I lost a portion of my chapter and had to redo it again, making me punch a pillow in the face :flutterrage: ! I'm all okay now though... :ajsleepy:

Anyway, make sure you write down in the comments below what monster you want to see in the story, and I'll be sure to put it in somehow!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow me, and until then, happy hunting!

Oh, and if you want to hunt with me in MH4U, just give me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! :raritywink:

[Act 3] (Chapter 2) Law of the Jungle

The two hunters had found an abandoned, and surprisingly not wrecked pier not far from the swamplands. So naturally, they decided to dock there. Twilight lowered the sails and the staircase to allow herself off, while Teal tied a rope around the dock to refrain the Dragonship from floating away. Finally, the two stood beside each other on the boardwalk, staring off into swamp.

"They used to call this place something else before it became a swamp" the teal mare spoke "Hayseed Forest, the most beautiful forest in all of Equestria. My village was in here as well before it was destroyed, and with it's destruction the forest withered away and became this place."

"You used to live here?" Twilight asked "I'm sorry about your loss..."

"No, no, it's fine..." lightly chuckled the hunter "When I was a little filly, a wise stallion once told me if you're going to look into the past, use it to look into the future."

"Words to live by" the lavender Unicorn nodded before turning her attention back to the swamp "So, are we going to explore the 'Hayseed Swamps'?"

"Hayseed Swamps..." Teal smiled "Nice name... And yeah, I'm ready, baby! Let's find the crap out of that flower!"

"I'm not sure if you can find it over and over again, Teal" grinned Twilight, taking her insect glaive off her back with her magic and letting her Kinsect fly around a bit.

"Oh, aren't you the little jokester?" she laughed before taking out her dual blades with her wings "Alright, let's do this!"

XXXXXX

The two hunters traveled through the dense swamp covered with thick vines, dead trees, rotting logs and, of course, marshes. Cries of different kinds of monsters both big and small could be heard echoing through the entire area, giving Twilight a few chills down her spine. Who knew what ferocious beasts lurked in the depths of this place? Despite her worrying, she pressed on, hoping to find the flower and recover her friend's memory. That's when a thought crossed her mind.

"Teal," she asked her Pegasus partner, getting her attention "do you have any idea what the flower we're looking for even looks like?"

"I thought you knew, baby" the teal mare answered honestly.

"Well great! We're on a blind quest!" shouted Twilight a little too loudly "I accept the quest, hoping to save Fluttershy from her amnesia, only to find out I don't even know what we're looking for!"

"Twi, don't worry about it, okay?" Teal calmed her partner down "I'm sure it being a rare flower, we'll find it atop a dirt pillar being guarded by some kind of monster, just like the movies!"

"I don't think it works like that, Teal..." smiled the lavender mare, cheering up a bit.

"Well, it was worth a shot" she shrugged "Right, should we get moving or-"

All of a sudden, they heard a loud, mammalian roar coming from around their current vicinity. The tall trees above the two mares began to shake in a path, as if something was following them. They tread carefully through the area, trying not to attract more attention then they already had. After no more than ten steps, Twilight felt something breathing on her neck.

"Teal..." she said quietly.

"I feel it too..." Teal spoke in voice of pure fear.

Slowly and hesitantly, the two turned around to see what had been following them. There stood, or rather was hanging from it's long orange and hooked tail upside down, a large orange and yellow mammal with a long, anteater-like snout, two green eyes, long arms with three long and sharp claws protruding from them each, pale wing-like webbing between the arms and the torso, and two gigantic red ears with two teeth-like spikes on the lobes of each.

"Teal, don't move..." the lavender Unicorn said as she looked at her partner "It's a Kecha Wacha, a more or less recently discovered mammal with the ability to climb and swing from trees with it's claws and spit mucus from it's nose. It's usually peaceful unless somepony was to anger it. Maybe we haven't angered it yet?" she turned back to the lemur, which was still just hanging there, watching the two closely "It looks like we haven't, so just back away slowly and-"

The Kecha Wacha saw that the two hunters were moving back slowly and freaked out. It let out a roar and quickly climbed back up into the treetops, worrying Twilight.

"I think it might be angry now, baby!" the teal mare shouted. And she was right. The lemur suddenly sprouted from the trees and onto the ground in front of them, letting out another roar.

"Run!" Twilight shouted as she placed her insect glaive on her back "We need to find an easier place to fight it and not where it has the advantage!"

"Couldn't agree more!" Teal shouted back before putting away her dual blades and began running away with Twilight from the creature in the orange hide. Naturally, the beast followed them by using it's claws to swing through the trees faster than Twilight and Teal could run. It landed in front of their path and swung a claw at them, forcing them to move left, the only safe path left. The monster once again followed them.

"Teal, what can you remember about this place before you left?" the Unicorn shouted as she ran through the swamp with her friend "Is there a clearing somewhere? A landmark to point us in the right direction? Anything now would really be nice!!"

"Um... um!" the teal hunter frantically looked around the area they were running through to see if there was something that reminded her of anything clearing-like. Finally, she saw a scratched tree and smiled.

"That scratched tree!" she nodded at the landmark "Turn right there!"

Twilight nodded and did what she was told. The two ponies were now on a rather bumpy path with many downed logs and thick vines. To remove these obstacles, the lavender mare whipped out her glaive and began to hack away at the vines, clearing their path. Unfortunately for them, the Kecha Wacha continued to swing through the trees and once again land right in front of them. This time however, the Unicorn pole vaulted over the lemur as Teal began to fly around it, confusing it and making it angrier.

"Twi, babe, I think it might've gotten more pissed at us!" Teal landed next to her partner and began running again before looking back and stating the obvious.

"Gee, really?!" Twilight yelled "Just find the next-"

"Got it!" the teal mare nodded at an old, rotting and illegible sign, a narrow pathway to the right of it "Turn left there!"

Twilight skid to a halt to turn left and follow her partner's instructions, when all of a sudden the Kecha Wacha burst out from the treetops in front of the pathway, flailing it's claws around like crazy. It covered it's face with it's ears and let out a bellowing roar, forcing the two mares to cover their ears. The mammal then went back up into the trees to continue following them.

"Go! GO!" the moss green maned Pegasus shouted before her and her partner dashed off through the narrow pathway. At long last, they found a large clearing of dirt, cloudy skies and more marshy swamp to which they could combat the giant lemur. As if on cue, the orange mammal, now with it's face uncovered again, leaped out of the trees and into the clearing.

"Alright you overgrown lemur!" Twilight began as she readied her insect glaive and as Teal whipped out her dual blades again "It's time for you to-"

(Music stop)

The lavender Unicorn didn't even finish her sentence as she heard a loud cheetah roar followed by a black dragon with paws at the end of it's wings coming down from above and tackling the Kecha Wacha, snapping it's neck in one brief motion, killing it. It never paid any mind to the two hunters, giving the lavender one a good look at it. Some of it's jet black scales had fur on them, as well as the tail being completely covered in it. The creature also had cat-like ears and a beak over it's mouth, making it look like some kind of crossover between cheetah, bird and dragon. Finally, it's wings were sleek with dark red webbing between each of it's fingers and it's eyes were glowing naturally orange. It was a Nargacuga, king of the jungle.

"A Nargacuga? Here?" Twilight wondered "They're usually found in the Galloping Gorge Forest. Why is it here on the exact opposite side of Equestria?"

"No time to think now, baby! We have to fight!" Teal loudly whispered as she tugged her partner along, who resisted her pulling "C'mon, stop being so stubborn! I've fought Nargacugas before and they're not exactly friendly or fair with their atta- Are you even listening?!"

Suddenly, they both heard a loud screeching noise from above, snapping the lavender mare out of her trance and making her look up. There she saw a familiar shadow of a certain black and purple monster and gasped in fear. The infectious scales would fall onto the Nargacuga at any moment.

"Teal, run..." Twilight didn't even bother whispering as she pushed her friend backwards from the area "Don't ask why, just do it!"

"But Twilight, we can take this-"

"It's not about the Nargacuga, Teal!" the lavender Unicorn turned her head towards her partner and shouted "It's about what that black dragon up there can do to the Nargacuga! If the scales from the dragon above fall onto the Nargacuga, we're basically finished!"

"Twilight, you're not making any sense!" Teal argued "What are you-"

Just as Teal was about to finish her sentence, the cat-like dragon in front of them began to freak out. It clawed at it's head and let out a growl of pain before all of a sudden calming down. It turned to look at the two hunters, it's eyes now glowing red with purple highlights around them. It let out a roar of anger. This was when Twilight readied her glaive again, realizing there was no backing out of this. Her partner just smiled before she too readied her weapon.

The infected cat dragon ran around the swamp clearing, knocking down a few trees and preventing the escape of the two mares. It then skid across the ground coming from the left and faced it's prey again, roaring a cry that echoed through the entire wood.

Teal wasted no time in charging forward, hoping to deal damage to the beast like any other Nargacuga. Unfortunately for her, this wasn't any other Nargacuga, and it bounced backwards before charging right at the teal mare, inflicting damage to her and sending her flying back. He lavender partner quickly rushed over to where she was downed and handed her a potion that she bought from earlier.

"Thanks..." the teal Pegasus smiled before drinking the potion "Never saw that coming... How'd old Narga over there even do that? I know they're fit, but they're not that fit."

"Once this is over, I'll tell you" the Unicorn nodded as she helped her partner up "Right now, focus on dodging it's new attacks and severing it's tail, okay?"

"Got you loud and clear, baby!" Teal smirked before running to the back of the Nargacuga, distracting it for her partner.

Twilight smiled before running up to the black cat dragon and pole-vaulting onto it's back. She landed and pulled out her carving knife with her magic before stabbing it, hanging onto it's fur whenever it tried to knock her off. Eventually, the lavender hunter managed to knock the dragon over, giving her and her partner a perfect chance to attack it. Teal went for the tail while Twilight went to cut off it's wings' webbing so it couldn't maneuver as quickly around the field. Before they could however, the Nargacuga got back up and roared at the two as it began hopping around the clearing again, looking for a chance to strike it's prey.

"There's gotta be a ledge somewhere where we can jump off of and strike it down..." the purple maned Unicorn looked around frantically before seeing something they could use, and sighing "...we can use the Kecha Wacha's body to leap off and knock it over."

"Eww..." the moss green maned Pegasus shuddered in disgust "Can't we use a tree?"

"And risk it falling down on us?" Twilight said in a convincing tone "That corpse is the only- LOOK OUT!!" she turned her head just in time for them to move out of the way of an incoming lunge from the cat dragon they were opposing "We don't have time to argue about this, just do it!"

"Fine, fine..." Teal rolled her eyes and ran off towards the now slightly eaten and now beginning to rot carcass of the giant lemur, as did Twilight. They waited for the monster to get closer to them before they ran up the body and leaped off of it, bringing their weapons down onto it and knocking it over. They went to destroy their assigned parts and were finally able to do so, the tail being flung a few feet away from the Nargacuga and the wing webbing being torn in half. The beast roared in agony as it lost blood from it's tail, but managed to shrug it off as it entered rage mode, it's eyes glowing more then they already had been and small streams of light now following their every movement.

"Watch out!" Twilight called out to her partner. But the teal mare just stood in the face of her opponent.

"Don't worry, babe..." she smirked "I have a little trick up my sleeve..." she thrust her dual bladed up in the air with her wings. As she did this, a red light enveloped her, appearing to make her stronger. The lavender Unicorn had read this somewhere before. She believed it was called demon mode, and it made the user of dual blades only slightly stronger. Remembering that tidbit of information, Twilight backed away from her partner so she could deal some damage without being disturbed.

"Take THIS!!" Teal charged forward at the Nargacuga's beak, hitting it so much that it actually broke, forcing the cat dragon to wince in pain, giving enough time for Twilight to come out and strike it's belly. Finally, she thrust her insect glaive straight into the beast's chest, it giving out one final roar of agony before dying, it's body going limp.

(Music stop)

"Wow... Never did I think in my life would I have to take on a Nargacuga, let alone an infected one..." Twilight huffed as she pulled out her glaive, now covered in the infected purple blood "That was really intense..."

"You think that was bad?" smirked the teal Pegasus as she put away her blades, and with them her demon mode "You should take on a Zinogre next. They're deemed to be the fastest monster in the world. I hear that when they're fully charged, they can outrun an Iodrome on twelve cups of coffee!"

"Yeah..." the purple maned mare chuckled nervously, remembering her fight with the Zinogre at the top of Foal Mountain "Maybe I'll fight one someday! You never know!"

"Anyway, you were going to tell me about that Frenzy Virus thing?" Teal Speck asked.

"Oh yes, right, of course!" Twilight nodded as she began explaining to her partner the dangers of the disease "Long story short, The Frenzy Virus is a dangerous disease that only infects monsters and makes them haywire and much more deadly. It is spread by a mysterious dragon known as the Gore Magala, which was the thing that destroyed my hometown of Ponyville, injuring everypony and kidnapping my friends, placing them in different parts of the world. That's why I'm here; to save my friends and defeat the Gore Magala once and for all."

"So basically, you began as a total noob, but you're slowly growing stronger to eventually take out this 'Gore Magala' thing?" slightly laughed Teal "Nah, I shouldn't laugh. That's very noble of you. Kinda makes me jealous..."

"It's okay, Teal..." the lavender Unicorn patted her friend on the back "Now, onto more important matters. Such as HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE WHEN GIGANTIC TREES ARE BLOCKING OUR PATH!!!"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, baby! Do you want to attract another monster here?" the moss green maned hunter asked with a stern look, Twilight shaking her head "Good, good... Now, let's try and figure this one, out together, okay?"

"Yeah, okay..." Twilight nodded with a smile "What do you propose?"

Author's Note

And cut! Sorry, you'll have to wait until the next chapter for your answer. But that's okay, we have cliffhangers for a reason, right?

I'm sorry for not putting out a chapter yesterday like I was supposed to. Not only did I make some plans with a few friends of mine on Monster Hunter, but I also had homework, studying and just plain old life to get back to. It's normal stuff.

Thank you all so much for 1000 views! You've done a lot for this story and I hope to continue making this story as awesome as it already is! You guys helped make this story good, and for that, I thank you.

Nargacuga idea was given by "rst64tlc". Please support him!

Please comment down below what monsters you want to see in Twilight fight in this story!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow me, and until then, happy hunting!

[Act 3] (Chapter 3) The Village, the Filly and the Dragon

"Why don't I just fly you over?" Teal asked her lavender partner, who gave her a look of sudden realization in her eyes before she facehoofed herself.

"Of course..." Twilight sighed "But wow; that was a little anticlimactic..."

"Eh, it's all the same to me, baby" the teal mare smiled "Now, grab my hooves and let's get outta here!"

XXXXXX

The two hunters had continued on their quest to discover the rare flower living deep within the thick swamp. Bog after bog, marsh after marsh the ponies tread further and further into the unknown.

"How much longer, Twi?" Teal complained as she huffed from exhaustion "I'm really tired, and I don't have any more mega juices in my saddlebag..."

"You can't have your entire diet on just mega juices" Twilight sighed "Do you know how much sugar is in those things? Answer: A lot. Why not have a normal potion made from healthy ingredients like herbs and blue mushrooms?"

"Eh, they taste weird to me without some kind of sweetener" the Pegasus groaned as she looked through her saddlebag "Which is probably why I pack as many mega potions as I possibly can into my bag."

"Still not so healthy as a road snack, but it's better than mega juices I suppo-"

"Hey, look! I found a mega juice!" Teal brought out a sample of the sweet drink from her bag.

"Don't drink it" Twilight told her partner as the teal mare taunted her by putting it near her mouth "Teal, don't drink it!" she put it closer "Teal, stop!" the mare was now about to raise the glass skyward and guzzle it down "TEAL, I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DON'T PUT THAT GOD DAMN DRINK DOWN, I'LL MURDER YOU!!!"

"HA! I made you swear!" laughed Teal as she dropped her drink and rolled around on the dirt.

"You made... you... you little..." the lavender mare gave a stern glare at her Pegasus friend. She stopped laughing and got up after that, apologizing to Twilight.

XXXXXX

Inevitably, night had crept up behind them and was beginning to make the ruined forest darker and darker. They had decided to set up a temporary camp until the morning rose again. Twilight had started a fire with her magic after Teal collected some wood and stones, and made a fire pit. The two had sat on some nearby logs, watching the fire dance.

"When I was a little filly, I used to love watching the fire..." Teal smiled as she witnessed the flickering light "The elder always had a story to tell every week to us. Sometimes they were of his adventures hunting monsters as large as the eye could see, and sometimes they were about his travels across the land. Either way, they were always so interesting to me."

"And then the Diorekkusu..." Twilight sighed.

"Yeah" the Pegasus's smile faded away "It attacked in the night. We never had any time to react as it killed everypony in the entire village; smashing houses and leveling ground... and I watched it kill my family right in front of me."

"Oh my goodness!" the purple maned Unicorn gasped before placing her closest front hoof over her partner "I'm so sorry... Did you have any siblings?"

"Yeah, a foal sister" Teal sighed "She never made it out either. She could've been a great hunter like me, and heck, even kept me on a straight path as well! But it's all in the past, and I'm sure my parents and sister would be proud of the mare I am today" she smiled again before attempting to make a joke "Well, kinda. I still drink booze and all that good crap. But when I see that Diorekkusu again, I won't run away like I did a long time ago."

"That's the spirit!" Twilight patted her on her back with a smile "Now you say that your village is here, right?"

"Yeah?"

Twilight sighed, thinking about Fluttershy's amnesia before speaking again.

"Why don't we try and find it so you can avenge your family?" she asked.

"But what about Fluttershy?" Teal asked.

"While helping Fluttershy and defeating the Gore Magala is my number one priority, I learned a long time ago that it never hurts to help a friend in need" the lavender Unicorn explained her reasoning "Besides, maybe our little flower is growing there. A double quest, if you will."

"Sounds fun!" her partner smiled "Yeah, let's go, baby! But when we get there, if I start doing the waterworks, could you snap me out of it? I wanna try and be as professional as possible."

"Fair enough" Twilight nodded.

"Now, I have a few more mega juices in my bag..." Teal smiled "Want some?"

XXXXXX

The sun had risen once again over the hunters heads. They had slept in each others embrace with their armour taken off and their eyes facing one-another next to the now diminished fire in order to keep themselves warm through the coolness of the night. Twilight was the first to wake up with a smile on her face. The smile quickly turned into a look of shock as she saw her friend cuddling with her. She immediately screamed and got up, pushing the teal mare away and waking her up.

"EH?!" she awoke "W-Where's the fire at?! Call 911!"

"You slept with me!" Twilight yelled "That's a bad touch!"

"Well, you kind let me do it..." Teal got on her side and stared at her partner "You were drunk as balls last night from all those mega juices I found in my bag. But I must say, you're quite the kisser. You also have one fine, warm body with childbearing hips and-"

"Enough! I don't want to hear it!" the lavender Unicorn blushed "J-Just... Please don't sleep with me again, okay?"

"One time is enough for me to live my life anyway..." the teal mare bit her lower lip, making Twilight blush even more.

"What am I going to do with you..." she sighed as her partner got up from her resting position and faced Twilight.

"Just let me do my own thing baby, and I'll let you do yours" Teal smiled "Now, are we going to find my village or what? You do want to save Fluttershy from her amnesia, don't you?"

"Right, let's get a move on then!" Twilight nodded as she began to pick up all her Zinogre armour and put it on. Once she and her partner completed their dressing, they began to walk away from the campfire to try and find the ruined village.

XXXXXX

"I doubt it even looks like a village anymore" Teal spoke as she and her partner trekked through the thick vines of the swamplands "The place was leveled, electrocuted, crushed and ripped to shreds."

"I'm sure we'll find it anyway" Twilight smiled "We've been walking for a while. It really can't be too long now. Plus, you seem to know this place like the back of your hoof."

"Yeah, you're right. We'll be able to find... it... soon..." the teal mare looked to her right and saw the open land of burnt grey grass, leveled ground and shredded wood. She took as few steps in that direction and felt the lifeless grass on her hooves. From the state of the area to the burning stench in the air and the echoes of ponies long since lost, she knew exactly where this was.

"This is horrible..." Twilight commented in a somber tone "Teal, I'm-"

"Sorry? Yeah, it's okay..." Teal finished her sentence as she felt a few trickles down her cheeks "Oh, here come the tears. Great. Twilight, be a dear and please stop this water shooting out my eyes?"

"Right" the lavender mare pulled out a hankie from her saddlebag with her magic and wiped the tears off her friend's face "Better?"

"Better..." Teal nodded as she wiped a few of the remaining tears off with her front hooves and taking a few breaths in and out "Thanks, baby. But, this grass feels recently burned. The Diorekkusu might be nearby..."

"In that case, be on your toes for anything unusual" the Unicorn said "I know what a Diorekkusu can do to you. I happened to study it profusely back in Ponyville. Did you know that the Diorekkusu is actually a relative of the Tigrex? Albeit a much stronger, electrical and blue version of the Tigrex, but a Tigrex relative nonetheless" she continued to ramble on as they went through the ruined village "And hey, did you know that the Diorekkusu is-"

"Twilight, you're a total nerd..." her moss green maned partner rolled her eyes with a smile before pointing at some structures in the distance "Look, there are some houses still just barely standing over there. Mind if we split up and you go check it out?"

"Oh, sure, yeah..." Twilight said, slightly disappointed that she couldn't explain more of the Diorekkusu's anatomy. Nevertheless, she did as she was told and walked over to the remaining standing buildings.

XXXXXX

"...and it's breathing is actually increased when it becomes electrically charged" Twilight recited to herself the biology of a Diorekkusu as she went through some of the old and ruined homes of day's past "Wow, I can't believe Teal passed up learning all there is to Diorekkusu research. It's such an interesting monster! Actually, when Ponyville is all rebuilt again, I might want to take it's corpse and bring it down to the lab for further study. Who knows, maybe I'll discover something about it as well! I'll be Twilight, the great-"

A sudden movement of a small creature interrupted her train of thought and got her attention. She listened closely to the sounds as she followed them to a small, hollowed out house in front of her. There was a giant hole in the side of it, and when the lavender Unicorn peeked in, what she saw truly shocked her.

It was a hunched over Earth Pony filly that couldn't have been more than fourteen years old, eating something she had found from the remains of the village. She had a light brown coat and a very long & messy pale blue mane. She was clothed in rags, more than likely from the remaining clothing of the village, and her entire body was covered in soot and dirt. However, from the angle Twilight saw her, her magenta eyes still held the glimmer and sparkle of a hopeful young teenager, meaning that this young mare has either lived here forever, was a survivor of the attack, or both.

The filly immediately saw the lavender Unicorn step into where she was. Her head perked up and she stared at Twilight, never saying a word. She was like a curious dog that just saw a squirrel of some sorts.

"Um... hi there, young one..." Twilight greeted as she slowly raised her front right hoof and waved "My name is Twilight Sparkle. What's your name?

The filly said nothing. Instead she tilted her head in confusion and curiosity and licked her lips a bit, making her seem more like an animal than a proper pony. She yawned and drew her attention back to her food, as if to say she was getting bored with the current conversation.

"Do you... even understand me?" the purple maned mare asked the young filly, to which she simply shot back up and continued to stare at the Unicorn "I guess not... Were you..." she corrected herself and began to speak slowly with hoof gestures "Were. You. Born. Here?"

The light brown filly seemed to understand the mare as she slowly nodded, bringing a smile to Twilight's face.

"Okay..." she said as she continued with the gestures "Can. You. Take. Me. To. Your. Parents?" the sentence seemed a little too long for her, so the lavender Unicorn tried to condense it "Take. Me. To. Mother. Father?"

The filly nodded once again and began walking off to another place. Twilight curiously followed her, wondering what had raised the young mare for the entire time she lived here. Eventually, the mare followed the filly into a nearby cave that looked relatively recent. Down and down further into the darkness, she couldn't help but see little sparks of blue electricity lighting the way around her, worrying her greatly. At long last, they reached the bottom of the dark cave. Inside, a Congalala was waiting for them. The young mare growled at the pink ape monster, telling Twilight that this wasn't her parental figure. She whipped out her insect glaive and was ready to fight at a moments notice. It was finally the Congalala's time to shine! To begin the fight, it-

The pink beast was crushed by the weight of a blue dragon facing away from Twilight and the filly. The light brown teenager's face lit up to the sight of the dragon, making Twilight sigh in worry. The creature in front of them, with large, Nargacuga shaped wings, a Tyrannosaurus-like head and sharp talons, which was now currently eating the recently killed Congalala was none other than the very same Diorekkusu that terrorized and destroyed the village.

"Twilight!" the lavender mare hear Teal call from behind her as she went down the cave "I heard a loud shake of the ground and I was wondering... where... you..." the Pegasus said nothing as she stared at the beast that has killed her entire family. She never even took her dual blades out in rage. She was just in awe of the monster. As if on cue, the Diorekkusu turned around and looked at the three mares. It let out a ferocious roar before the young mare stepped out in between the dragon and the hunters, opposing the beast. Twilight and Teal thought it was all over for her, but to their surprise, the Diorekkusu actually backed off.

"How did she do that?" Teal asked her partner.

"My guess is there's a parent-daughter relationship between the two" the lavender Unicorn assumed "It's like the Diorekkusu has actually grown to like the filly."

The filly smiled at the dragon before proceeding to hug the dragon's face. The blue creature gave off a low growl of satisfaction. Teal wanted to kill this thing. After everything that it had done to her and her life, she wanted to everything imaginable to the Diorekkusu that would harm it. But something was holding her back. A feeling in her gut telling her to just leave it alone and let the two live peacefully.

"I... can't..." the moss green maned hunter sighed "I can't kill it... Twilight, let's just go..."

"But didn't you say-"

"I know what I said!" she shouted at her friend before calming back down "Sorry... I know what I said. But seeing these two living happily together makes me happy. I'll let it go... for now..."

The filly finally exited her hug from the Diorekkusu and picked a flower from the ground with her mouth before giving it to the two mares. The flower was outgoing and red with a dash of yellow. It had four huge petals and it was unlike anything Twilight had ever seen.

"You think this is the flower?" she asked her teal partner.

"More than likely" she answered before gently plucking the flower from the filly's grasp with her left wing "Thank you, young one... say, you kind of look a bit like-"

"C'mon, Teal!" Twilight had already begun walking away "The flower won't deliver itself, and I want out of this place as fast as possible. It kinda scares me..."

"Fine, fine..." Teal rolled her eyes. She looked back at the young mare before smiling and following her partner out of the cave to deliver the flower to Fluttershy.

XXXXXX

After a long and tedious journey through the swamp, they found their way back to their docked ship and sailed back to Baltimare as fast as they could. At long last, they reached their destination and tied up the Dragonship. Twilight took the flower from Teal's saddlebag and ran as fast as she could to Dr. Game Taco's place where she prayed to god the two would be waiting for her.

Eventually, she found his house and entered without even knocking and huffing as she showed the flower to the tan stallion still wearing a labcoat and, as by a stroke of pure luck, Fluttershy as well.

"I... have... your... god... damn... flower..." she flopped down on the ground to take a breather "If... this... doesn't... work... I'm... going... to... kill... you..."

"That was rather rushed, wouldn't you agree, Willow?" Taco chuckled a bit "But still, you have the flower, so all's well that ends well I suppose. I'm guessing you worked hard to get this flower?"

"You don't know the half of it..." Twilight was beginning to regain her breath "Just... Just make the potion please..."

"What is this about a potion, Dr. Taco?" Fluttershy asked.

"While I'd love to explain, I'm afraid that would be pointless" Game Taco said "Just trust me, okay?"

"Okay..." the cream yellow Pegasus shrunk down a bit.

XXXXXX

The good doctor had taken a good half hour to concoct the memory potion for Twilight's shy friend. The two had waited, chatted, and even tried playing a few games. Before they could begin a game of marenopoly, Taco emerged from his underground lab and with him, the potion.

"Dear Willow, please drink this..." he said handing the potion to her with his magic. Reluctantly, she sipped a bit of the potion, but she never felt anything afterwards.

"Doctor, I don't feel anyt-" Fluttershy's eyes suddenly glowed white for a few seconds before the light faded away and she fell to the floor. Twilight and Game Taco immediately helped her up onto her flank and tried their best to comfort her.

"Willow, or rather... Fluttershy?" the good doctor asked "Can you hear me? Are you okay?"

"I-I..." the pink maned Pegasus clutched her head with her front left hoof "Oh my goodness, I had the strangest dream... I was captured by a black dragon and flown to Baltimare... Oh, hello Twilight! How are you doing?"

"Just fine, Flutters. Great to have you back..." Twilight smiled, Fluttershy giving off a confused look to her friend.

Author's Note

The ending to this one felt a bit rushed, but eh, I was pressed for time. Now, time to hunt monsters! :pinkiehappy:

And tealspeckles, I'm sorry that I changed the plans for the bonus chapter, but I promise that I have a much, MUCH better idea in store! :twilightsmile:

Be sure to leave a comment down below to request what monster you want to see Twilight fight!

Also be sure to Like, Comment, Favouite and Follow me, and until next time, happy hunting!

[Act 3] (Chapter 4) Tremble of the Sea and Land

Fluttershy gave a confused look to Twilight's sentence. She looked around her area and tried her best to figure out where she was. Next to her was a tan stallion with a green mane and a white lab coat on. He smiled at her, but the cream yellow mare's expression only grew into a more confused one.

"Twilight, who is he?" she asked kindly, earning a stare from her lavender friend.

"What do you mean 'who is he'?" the Unicorn wondered in confusion looking at Game Taco and then back to her "You knew him not a few moments ago! Did the potion not work?"

"Unfortunately, my dear Twilight, this is normal for memory recovery potions" the good doctor spoke "The drinker will recover their previous memories, but lose anything they saw after they received their amnesia."

"Oh..." she said "Well, at least her normal memory is back."

"Yes, quite..." Taco smiled before looking at Fluttershy, think up a quick lie to conceal the fact she had amnesia "Hello, miss Fluttershy. My name is Dr. Game Taco, and you had quite the fall. You've been out for a while, but now that you're awake, you're injuries have healed up and you're looking at a full recovery."

"Did I?" the shy Pegasus asked curiously "Oh my, it must have been quite the fall... Thank you so very much!"

"Don't mention it" the good doctor patted Fluttershy on the head before turning to face Twilight "So, what will you do, now that your friend here is healed?"

"I think I'm going to fight the-" the lavender hunter stopped herself from mentioning anything Teal or Lagiacrus related "The, uh... Ceadeus!"

"I beg your pardon?" Taco raised an eyebrow "You do know that the Ceadeus is an extinct species of monster, correct? The species died out before hunters even existed. How are you going to fight one when they no longer live?"

"Well surely there has to be ONE left in the world" she hypothesized.

"Suit yourself" the tan stallion doctor shrugged "Just don't go after a certain Lagiacrus in this area. That job goes to Teal Speck and Teal Speck alone. She was the one accused, therefore she must save this land."

"Y-Yeah, sure, no touchy Lagiacrus-y..." Twilight sighed "Right, well, can you take care of Fluttershy while I-"

"I know Teal is with you, Twilight" Taco interrupted her, getting her full attention with a look of shock on her face.

"Y-Y-You..." she tried to stutter out.

"A certain mare told me that she saw you and Teal conversing on a pier on Horseshoe Bay" he explained as he lightly jerked his head toward Fluttershy without her noticing "However, I don't believe that Teal was the one that cause the Lagiacrus to attack Baltimare, but someone, or rather something else."

"If you trusted her, then why did you-"

"Tell you to stay away from the Lagiacrus? Routine" he finished her sentence "I assure you that I'm on your side. I'll forwardly say I can't prove it to you physically, but you must take my word for it."

"Alright, I'll trust you..." spoke Twilight in a skeptical voice "So, before I go, why was Teal accused of bringing the Lagiacrus here?"

"The town is gullible, somepony was drunk" Taco said in a flat tone "Put those two together and you got a recipe for disaster. I believe every week somepony is accused of something. It's just the way things are around here."

"You seem like the only sane pony here" the lavender mare pointed out "Why haven't you done anything about it?"

"Believe me, I have" Game Taco said "But everypony here is just too stubborn. Anyways, enough about me. You should get along and defeat the Lagiacrus with Teal. Bring back something from it's body to prove it's defeat, and Teal should be home free."

"Should be?" she asked.

"Well, stubborn ponies and everything" the good doctor shrugged "Either way, it will at the very least cease all these earthquakes so I can begin working on my experiments again. I'm trying to peel the scales off of a Tigrex to make an easier potion. I'm also trying to rip out the eyeballs of a Jaggi and use them for medical uses."

"Ah, right..." the purple maned Unicorn slowly stepped backwards out of the doctor's home. As soon as she did, she made a b-line for the pier where Teal was waiting for her.

XXXXXX

"About time you showed up, baby!" Teal, who was currently out of her armour unlike Twilight, smiled as she saw her partner running towards her on the pier next to the Dragonship "So, how was your little visit?"

"Well, Fluttershy's okay now" the lavender hunter said as soon as she reached the teal mare "But I learned that underneath Dr. Game Taco's calm exterior lies a demon of unimaginable insanity."

"Nice to know..." said a slightly nervous Teal "Anyway, I took the liberty of disguising myself and buying some potions to help us defeat the Lagiacrus, hence why my armour is off."

"And how well did that work out for you?" Twilight deadpanned with a eyebrow risen.

"There's the traitor! GET HER!!" someone from behind them shouted. The two hunters turned around and their faces lost all colour as they saw a huge mob of angry townsfolk with torches and pitchforks running towards them. Screaming, they immediately took the ropes off their ship and got onto it. Twilight pulled the lever at the top, raising the mast and unfurling the sails while also starting the engine. They managed to tug their way out of the port before the mob got to them. After a huge sigh, they began laughing as they sailed the sea to the lair of the Lagiacrus.

"Actually, where IS the Lagiacrus anyway?" the Unicorn hunter suddenly stopped laughing and asked her partner.

"I have a rough idea" the teal mare said "Just follow my directions and we should be there in a jiffy."

Behind them, they could feel another small earthquake begin to happen. Twilight began to feel worried for the ponies of Baltimare. How long would they be able to hold up with the thought that a building could come down onto them at any time? She tried her best to erase these thoughts from her mind as she sailed onwards to the home of the Lagiacrus.

XXXXXX

Teal had led her partner to a large crag of rocks a little ways away from the bay. It was more of an island than anything else, due to it having a beach and even a visible grove of grass. However, the absolutely gigantic spires facing outward from the grove made the 'island' more of hardened and old meteor crater.

Since the isolated isle had clearly nowhere to dock the ship entirely, the two mares threw over the ship's anchor before Teal flew Twilight over to the beach. They roamed around for a bit, admiring the scenery.

"Heh, some place for a monster's home, eh?" the Pegasus said with a smirk.

"Even monsters have a sense of cleanliness I suppose" the lavender hunter replied. She then looked forward and saw some Aptonoth that she hadn't seen on the island yet taking a rest. However, as she got closer, she learned that the cow-like parasaurolophus creatures were covered in blood, their insides spilling out. One was even torn in half, much to Twilight's disgust.

"Ew..." Teal stated "That's just gross..."

"It's the w-way of life, I suppose..." the Unicorn felt like vomiting right then and there, but she did her best to at least look nothing how she did during her fight with the Dah'ren Mohran. Her thoughts of throwing up quickly cleared away when she saw a large shadow creep up behind her and Teal. They both looked back with fear in their eyes as they saw a monster as long as the Dragonship standing there, angry at the two that they invaded it's nest. It had a blue hide on it's back and head with a beige underbelly, a long neck, four large webbed & clawed feet, terrifying fangs, and a long tail. It had two faded red horns and dark red crystals on it's back, along with two piercing and intimidating yellow eyes staring at the two mares, telling them it wasn't infected. It was the Lagiacrus, tremble of the sea and land.

It let out a ferocious roar, forcing the two to cover their hears, before turning around and quickly jumping back into the water. Twilight and Teal hunters brought out their weapons with their magic and wings respectively and prepared to face the beast.

The creature suddenly burst out the water from their left side in an attempt to eat them. They barely had any time to react, but they managed to move themselves away, avoiding the leviathan's attack by a hair. The wind from the speed it was going still knocked them back, but did no damage. It then turned and faced them while once again letting out a roar. It dashed forward the two hunters and tried to bite them again, but Twilight pole vaulted over the beast and onto it's back.

"Stay still, I'll only be on here for-" Twilight didn't even finish her sentence before she heard a crackling sound behind her. Sher turned and saw that the crystals on the Lagiacrus's back were beginning to spark. She couldn't get off in time before the crystals let out a giant electrical charge, shocking the lavender mare and sending her flying down onto the ground, now with Thunderblight.

"Twilight!" Teal shouted out before getting whipped by the leviathan's long tail, landing right beside the Unicorn. The Lagiacrus jumped over their lying bodies and dove into the water. The two then got up and watched as the monster swam around, taunting them and waiting for a chance to strike. Then Twilight had an idea.

"We have to swim down if we're going to continue fighting it" she said, earning a surprised look from her partner "Hear me out! I can use an air spell to allow us to breath underwater, but I hope you can swim and fight at the same time."

"Swim and fight is my middle name, baby!" smirked the teal Pegasus "Let's beat this baddie down harder than an Uragaan's hide!"

The purple maned hunter nodded before casting the spell on their heads. A bubble of air formed around each of their heads. Teal poked it a bit and giggled before snapping back into reality and charging into the vast ocean where the Lagiacrus waited for them, Twilight following right behind her, allowing her Kinsect to fly off her and wait for them on land. They delved deeper into the sea until they were relatively close to the blue beast. It immediately spotted them and sent out a wave of electricity before swimming circles around them and attempting to bite their heads off.

"Go for the crystals!" Twilight said in a slightly muffled voice to her partner. Teal seemed to hear her as she nodded and swam around to the back of the monster. The lavender hunter distracted the Lagiacrus by flailing her insect glaive around, angering it to where it threw out a wave of electricity from it's mouth at her. She took the hit because of her poor swimming, and due to her Thunderblight she was stunned for a while. However, Teal came up to the leviathan's back and activated her demon mode, slashing away at her opponent's crystals. She managed to chip them, but they didn't fully break before the monster loop-dee-looped it's way in the ocean to face Teal.

"GAH!" she shouted as she dodged a ball of electricity from the Lagiacrus's mouth "Jeez, that was close..." she then saw a certain lavender silhouette get closer to her opponent and smiled before turning back to the leviathan "Hey you! I think you better watch you back!"

The Lagiacrus never had time to react (nor could it understand Teal) as it was hit in the back by Twilight's insect glaive, it's crystals shattering off and it roaring, not from pain, but from anger. It turned around to face the lavender mare, now no longer with Thunderblight, and charged forward, hitting her in the process.

"I hope we don't have to fight underwater for much longer..." she said to herself before drinking a potion "I really hate underwater combat. Okay, gotta focus now..."

She swam forward as fast as she could to try and attack the Lagiacrus's body, while at the same time Teal had tried to slice off it's large tail off to no avail. Twilight decided to help her, but before she could, she was blown away by the monster's sudden movement through the water.

"Please tell me you brought shock traps, baby!" Teal shouted at Twilight through her muffled bubble. That's when the purple maned Unicorn remembered she actually did have some shock traps that she bought before she went into the swamp. Quickly, she brought one out and set it up before the Lagiacrus could come back. The set up was quick, and she finished it just in time as well; their opponent dashed forward at Twilight with every intention of eating her, only to be shocked by the trap and giving the two hunters time to cut off it's tail. With a little effort, they sliced it off, earning a roar from the creature as it destroyed the shock trap and fled to the isle.

"Where do you think it's headed?" Teal asked her partner.

"I'd say there's some kind of cave under the island" the lavender mare speculated "We have to follow it!"

"Don't have to tell me twice, baby!" she smiled as she swam as quick as she could to the centre of the island.

XXXXXX

They eventually did find an underwater cavern with air in it. Their bubbles popped with a quiet popping noise and they looked forward into the decently large cave. Low and behold, their target was waiting for them to arrive. As if on cue, Twilight's Kinsect flew down through a crack in the ceiling and landed on her back where her insect glaive was in her magical grasp. Teal readied her dual blades and smirked, knowing that this was the last straw for the Lagiacrus and all it's ever done to her. The beast let out a roar before it blew out another ball of electricity at the two hunters, them managing to dodge it more easily now.

"I don't know what else we can break off of it!" Twilight spoke in a worried tone.

"Try scarring it's belly" her partner suggested "That usually gets them in a fit."

"Right..." the lavender hunter nodded before facing her target again. It let out a loud growl as it charged forward at them. They rolled out of the way and it bit into the ground where they were standing, not being able to get unstuck and giving the two mares a perfect chance to strike the leviathan's belly, finally scarring it and making it rip it's jaw out from the rock, a few of it's teeth along with it, giving Twilight the opportunity to pole vault onto it's back.

"I think you owe me something" she said before taking out her carving knife and stabbing it as many times as she could into it's back. It tried to shake her off, but she thrust one more time before it finally went down.

"This is for pissing everypony off, you son of a bitch!" Teal shouted before thrusting her dual blades into the Lagiacrus's heart, making it roar in pain one last time before going limp and having all life drained away from it's body. It's reign of terror was finally over.

(Music stop)

Teal never even said a word as she smiled and fell on her back, laughing as the realization that the source of all her problems in Baltimare was finally dead. There would still be more Lagiacrus in the world, but she was happy that she could finally live a normal life in her city once again.

"Looks like we're done here" Twilight smiled as she overlooked her friend on the ground "Be sure to grab whatever carves you can so we can prove the defeat of the Lagiacrus, okay?"

"Sure thing, babe..." was all the teal mare could say as she laughed at her new found freedom.

(Music stop)

XXXXXX

The two had arrived back at Baltimare with as many Lagiacrus scales as possible stored on their ship. They entered the pier where the mob of ponies with torches and pitchforks patiently awaited Teal's return so they could torture her. They prepared themselves as the Dragonship docked, let down the sails and mast, and allowed the two hunters, as well as the bag full of scales, off the deck. The townsfolk stared at the scales in astonishment.

"Ponies of Baltimare!" Twilight announce "Teal has personally slayed the Lagiacrus! Your days of fear from earthquakes are now over!"

There was an uproar of cheering coming from the crowd as they dropped their weapons and tried their best to congratulated and apologize to Teal as best they could. The lavender mare moved beyond the large group to see Dr. Game Taco and Fluttershy awaiting her.

"You and Teal have done good" Taco smiled "But you seem upset. Are you not happy with your victory?"

"Oh, yeah, of course I am" Twilight said before sighing "But something has been bothering me since Teal and I got to the Lagiacrus's home."

"And what could that be, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked kindly.

"How was there an earthquake when we left, if the Lagiacrus was waiting for us at it's isle?"

The second she said this, all of Baltimare heard a loud noise coming from the ocean. Everyone looked over at Horseshoe bay to see what was the matter. Then, all of a sudden, a giant white whale monster leaped out of the water, revealing itself to the entire city. It was very, very light blue with two horns on the side of it's head, one larger than the other and covering it's eye. Two fins were at it's side as well as a long tail with a fin at the end and a majestic beard. No one, especially Twilight, Teal and Taco could believe what they were seeing. The monster that had revealed itself...

...was none other than the great Elder Dragon, Ceadeus.

Author's Note

Oh, we aren't finished this yet. You think I'd let my story go on if I didn't mention the monster that made underwater combat fun for me, therefore being one of my favourites? I didn't think so. There's one last battle to be had until peace is finally restored to Baltimare.

I'll be honest, I didn't think I'd get this chapter out today. But I guess I was incorrect!

Tell in the comments what monsters you want Twilight fight!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, happy hunting everyone!

[Act 3] (Chapter 5) Moonquake

Twilight and Teal were patiently awaiting their trial in jail. They had been accused of angering the god of the sea enough to attack their fair city and cause all the earthquakes, a claim the lavender mare of the two tried her best to deny. All of it was in vain however due to the townsfolk's stubborn beliefs, and they were thrown into custody with all their armour and weapons taken away. Even Taco tried to help them, but to no avail. They were stuck until someone broke them out.

"Nopony knowz th' trouble I've seen..." Teal was singing as she was drunk from all the beer the guards had given them "Nopony knows mah sorrow... Y'know, Twi, I wuz ah hunter once..."

"I'm aware, Teal" Twilight couldn't help but giggle from her friend's stuttering and tumbling around "As am I... sort of..."

"Mah, mah, youz be lookin' like a fine mare..." the hammered pony laughed "C-Can I touch yer... yer butt?"

"And all the humour was washed away..." the Unicorn sighed "Why did you have to drink all those bottles of beer?"

Teal never answered her question. Instead, she tackled Twilight lovingly and toppled her over onto her back. Teal was now on top of her, them both blushing for different reasons. Then, the teal mare closed her eyes and kissed Twilight on the lips quite passionately. The lavender mare was surprised at this, but ended up kissing her back. The two mares continued before they opened their eyes and stared at each others beautiful orbs. Finally, Teal decided to take it to the next level by walking a bit backwards between the lavender pony's thighs and...

"OI!" shouted a guard as he saw them start to do it "No fooling around in there!"

Teal immediately heard him and bounced off her partner in surprise. She then stared at him and nodded before he scoffed and walked away to check on other prisoners, she still being drunk as all hell. Twilight soon got up as well and faced her Pegasus friend.

"You weren't actually going to... y'know... do it to me, were you?" she asked, a huge blush covering most of her face.

"Baby, I'll be th' ferst to admit I'm drunk as balls" Teal giggled with a blush of drunkness "I wuz gonna go at ya like a wild Zinogre, I wuz..."

That last part made Twilight blush even more, if that was possible. She would never engage in such an activity when she was only 20-years-old, even if it was for the name of science. But what if she went insane in this cell? What if she was locked in here forever? Suddenly the thought of lesbian sex wasn't exactly a bad thing... No, she had to stay focused. She took a few deep breaths and her blush slowly went away.

"Okay Teal, we have to find a way out of this cell" the lavender mare said "Are there any cracks or anything in the walls?"

"...I don't... I..." was all the teal Pegasus could say before she collapsed in her tiredness. Twilight quickly checked her sleeping body to make sure she was still alive before smiling. Teal was out like a light. Hopefully when she woke up, and when she was a bit more sober, she could formulate a plan with her to escape the cell and defeat the Ceadeus that threatened to ruin Baltimare.

XXXXXX

The night had come around and Twilight was out like a light on the floor, Teal sleeping right next to her peacefully. Nothing had disturbed them up to this point, which for the lavender mare was good; she would need time work the gears in her head and make a plan of escape. She thought of everything from distracting the guard to even digging a tunnel, but all would eventually prove fruitless to the two mares. They would be caught, put back in jail and given an even bigger sentence! It was all over for them. As she slept, she let out a defeated sigh and tried her best to think of something else.

That's when a familiar roar woke her up. Teal, somehow, managed to sleep through it, but the lavender Unicorn heard it clear as day. She got up carefully as to not wake her sleeping partner and she trotted over to the window looking out onto Horseshoe bay. The Ceadeus was splashing around again, but the roar she heard wasn't the whale-like one of the Ceadeus. It was very tyrannosaurus-like. Her eyes widened in realization as she came to terms with what the source of the beastly roar was.

Slowly, Twilight backed away from the wall as she heard four feet quickly dash towards her and the teal mare beside her. She then picked her up and brought her away from the wall, waking her up.

"Eh? Twilight?" she groggily asked "Why are you holding me in the middle of the night? If you wanted to get down, you could've asked... Though, I honestly don't have a problem now."

"Not the time, Teal" the purple maned hunter said "Something's coming and I don't want you to be hurt."

"Babe, I'm invincible" Teal chuckled "What could possibly-"

At that exact moment the thumping of claws and feet got closer and closer until finally the wall with the two ponies' window burst in a flurry of stone and dust. Once the dust cleared, Twilight and especially Teal saw that the thing that saved them was none other than the Diorekkusu. Hopping off it's back and onto the cell's ground was a familiar light brown teenaged filly with a long and messy pale blue mane. She gave a smile to the two hunters in greeting.

"Ma, here, say, sorry" she tried her best to speak to Teal from what she's heard from the two, surprising them both"Eggs, gone, by, bad, black, monster. Came, village, mad. Kill, everypony. She, just, mad. Forgive?"

"So even the Diorekkusu's life was taken away by the Gore Magala..." Twilight figured out what the filly meant with her very first sentences "Having her eggs, her potential children killed by anything would crush anypony's heart. Even a monster's, it would seem."

Teal heard her partner's speech before looking at the filly and Diorekkusu, finally realizing what this was all about. The Diorekkusu's eggs were destroyed by the Gore Magala, making it destroy everything mindlessly, including her village. In the wreck of it all, and after it calmed down, it found an infant and raised her as it's own child. Then the teal mare came to another realization; there was only one foal in the entire village that fateful day.

Her sister.

Without a second wasted after the discovery, Teal crouched down and hugged her sister tightly, slightly crying all the while. After a second, the light brown filly hugged her sister back, though a bit unsure about what it meant.

"Of course I forgive you and your mother..." she cried before letting go of the hug and looking right at the filly "I'm so sorry, Sun Stone... I'm sorry I wasn't there sooner..."

The moment of sadness was promptly interrupted as a siren suddenly went off. The whirring noise came from the prison security system, and before everyone knew it, countless townsfolk rushed over to kill the monster 'invading' their city. The mares and dragon looked over and either growled or sighed.

"I, take, ponies, battle" the now named Sun Stone said "You, fight, water, dragon."

"I'll join you" Teal said as she stepped forward, now no longer with tears in her eyes "I want to do the best I can to protect my little sister. I won't lose you again, is that clear?"

The young mare nodded in agreement before whistling over her 'mother' and climbing on her back. She then offered the teal Pegasus a ride, to which it she agreed and flew onto the Diorekkusu's back. It then ran forward at the approaching townsfolk, leaving Twilight alone. She didn't waste any time however as she quickly ran out of the now giant hole in the side of the cell.

She went back into the now empty-of-ponies security hold and reclaimed all of her items, including her armour, insect glaive and Kinsect. Then she saw her necklace that she made back in Hollow Shades when she first became a hunter. She took it with her magic and smiled, placing it around her neck before heading out of the prison.

She made a mad dash for Horseshoe Bay, using an air spell on herself which formed a bubble on her head and allowed her to breath whilest under the water. She ran along the boardwalk and beside the Dragonship before jumping into the water and swimming downward to find the once-thought-extinct Elder Dragon.

XXXXXX

"Okay Twilight, it's a giant whale dragon" she said to herself as she swam deeper into the large lake "It couldn't possibly be that hard to find, right?"

Just as the lavender hunter said this, two giant horns, one bigger than the other and covering one of its eyes, slowly came out from an underwater cavern, followed by a very light blue and white body after them. Then Twilight noticed something about its other eye; it too was red with a purple shadow around it. It was infected by the Frenzy Virus, meaning the Gore Magala somehow came down here and spread it's scales. It probably reawakened the Ceadeus as well, placing the blame on Teal unintentionally.

Being infected usually meant that it was overly aggressive, but this was not the case for the Ceadeus. It seemed to mind its own business as it swan through the lake, almost as if it had complete control over the virus. Were Elder Dragons capable of immunity, or at the very least, control over the Frenzy Virus? Twilight only had one way of knowing for sure: she had attack the creature.

Taking a deep breath, she pulled out her insect glaive and swam over to the dragon. Once she got close to it, she noticed the skin behind its beard was a lot softer than the other tissue over its body. With a mighty swing, she attacked the Ceadeus's beard, but got no reaction from the Elder Dragon. Seeing that it was just going to keep swimming and pay no mind to Twilight, she sent her Kinsect out, which apparently could live in the water, to give her a buff. Said insect flew out, bit the dragon's head and brought back an attack boost for herself.

To her surprise, this was when the great sea god finally noticed her whittling away at it's beard. It thrashed about and flung her away from the force of the water, but it never actually hurt her. The lavender Unicorn shook her head a bit before going back to its beard and trying her best to take it off. She slashed upwards with her new-found strength and managed to scar the Ceadeus, making it thrash about again in pain and of course sending her flying through the water.

"You really do like to shake around, don't you?" Twilight asked the dragon "For such a big guy, you're pretty pathetic. Almost as if... you're a peaceful creature..." she thought for a moment about her theory "What if you ARE a peaceful creature? I don't want to kill what may be the last of your kind, even if you're infected with the virus... I'll probably regret this later, but I hope I can somehow drive it off without fatally injuring it..."

As the purple maned Unicorn was speaking to herself, she noticed the Ceadeus slowly swim away into another underwater cavern. Snapping herself out of her trance, she tried to quickly swim back up to it, and thanks to its slow speed, that wasn't a difficult task for Twilight to accomplish.

Once again, she slashed away at the Elder Dragon's beard and she noticed it was starting to come off a bit. Before she could finish the job however, the Ceadeus quickly rolled around and entered yet another cavern that appeared to go under Baltimare. Scratch marks where all over the walls, meaning something the beast did here was causing all the earthquakes. Before popping the question aloud, she got her answer as the Elder Dragon skid its horns across the walls, making the water and earth rumble around quite violently.

That's when Twilight got an idea.

"Its horns are the source of all the earthquakes" she pointed out to herself "Somehow I'll have to cut them off if I'm going to drive it away and cease all this ruckus. But how? I'll need something big, like a Dragonator! But the only one I know of is the one on the Dragonship. I hope to god that there's an ancient one somewhere in these caves..."

She swam up to the Ceadeus again and began to slash at its beard again. Slowly but surely, she gave the Elder Dragon a nice trim to its majestic beard. Finally, she was able to cut off most of the hairs from its body in an explosion of fur and fluff going everywhere. In anger from the loss of it's hair, it smashed a hole through a weak-looking wall in the cavern, revealing another cavern to which it could escape. It suddenly moved very quickly into this cave, Twilight in pursuit.

(Music stop)

XXXXXX

The lavender mare eventually swam into the end of the cavern to find an ancient city buried by time. The area was large with loose pillars and decaying bricks, this place more than likely the home of smaller monsters. Twilight snapped out of her curiosity and looked around for the for the giant dragon whale, but it could not be found.

"You'd think you wouldn't lose something that big..." she deadpanned to herself "Then again, Teal and I did lose the Dah'ren Mohran that one time... I really stink at finding monsters, don't I? I can find any book in the library, but I can't-"

A loud, echoing cry was heard by the mare's ears. She turned around and gasped as saw the Ceadeus curled up into a ball, patiently awaiting for her to enter its domain. It stared at her with its one good eye in pure rage.

The Ceadeus stayed there for a few more seconds before rolling around itself and moving into an upright stance, sucking in as much water as it possibly could into its mouth. It then stopped and bent down forward at Twilight, releasing a huge torrent of water straight at her, hitting her and sending her tumbling around until she hit an ancient wall behind her. Parts of the Elder Dragon's belly then turned red as it turned to face the lavender mare again, ready to attack.

"It's times like this when I wished Teal, or really anypony was here to help me" Twilight muttered to herself as she got off of the wall "Alright, I've think I've fought an Elder Dragon before. Does the Dah'ren Mohran count? Either way, I've fought bigger. But that was because I had cannons and..." she looked down and gasped as she saw some ballista binders sitting on a rock "Perfect!"

She quickly swam back down to use the binder, but not before the Ceadeus inhaled another massive amount of water and fired it straight at Twilight. The lavender hunter was more prepared this time as she moved out of the way of the dragon's attack and got herself onto the ballista.

Aiming the thankfully still functioning binder at the Elder Dragon, she fired away and dug a harpoon into the skin of the beast, a small trickle of blood seeping out of it's small wound. The Ceadeus flinched from the sudden impact of the underwater shot, but was otherwise unfazed by it. It swam forward at her and crushed all the remaining ballista binders.

"NO!" Twilight cried out as she saw bit and pieces of her only means of defeating the infected monster float around the water. But she didn't give up. She kept her head held high and tried to swim around and find something else to fend off the creature. In the meantime, she slashed her insect glaive across the creature's belly, doing minimal damage, but she thought it was at least something as an alternative.

The Ceadeus finally swung it's tail around, sending the purple maned Unicorn flying upwards to the top of the cavern. She shook her head and looked down to not only see the whale dragon swimming closer to her, but also a very, very old Dragonator. She prayed to god that it still worked as she tried to swim up close to it and use it.

The Elder Dragon opposing her swam along the same wall as the Dragonator and Twilight awaited for it to get closer to her. Her muscles tensed as she prepared for the arrival of the dragon to her. Inevitably, the lavender mare preemptively triggered the Dragonator a bit too early and it came spiraling out like a drill at the beast. Thankfully, she was able to break off it's horns this way. It let our a whale-like cry of pain as it felt and saw its horns fall down into the abyss. It shook its head and faced Twilight again.

"Uh oh..." she said "Look's like it's a bit mad... Thanks for stating the obvious, Twilight!"

Before she knew it the Ceadeus was charging yet another burst of water from its mouth, which the lavender Unicorn managed to dodge. Finally not being able to take the fight anymore, she swam up to the dragon's head, brought out her glaive and thrust it right into it's skull without damaging its brain. The Elder Dragon let out a cry of pain as the redness and infection from its eye slowly went away.

(Music stop)

Twilight gasped at this change and watched as the peaceful creature slowly turned away from her and swim off to another place of the caverns, never to been seen again by the eyes of ponies.

"Oh boy..." she sighed "Goodbye, Ceadeus! Thanks for the battle! Please don't come back!"

While she was relived that the Ceadeus would never attack the bay again, she couldn't help but feel bad for it. It was more than likely the last of its kind. To wander the land without companionship was a terrible feeling for any creature, even a monster. Speaking of companions, she remembered she had to go and meet with Teal again and try to help her fend off the townsfolk from hurting the Diorekkusu.

(Music stop)

XXXXXX

Twilight climbed onto the beach of Horseshoe Bay soaked head to toe. She panted as she walked on the cool sand in the dead of night. However, before she went to take a rest, she heard the terrifyingly loud roar of a Diorekkusu. But it wasn't a roar of victory. It was a roar of pain.

The lavender mare rushed over to the town square and saw a hoard of felynes and ponies pulling the creature down to the ground onto a spire they had set up, Teal and Sun Stone being held by four guards and forced to watch. She saw that the wild filly was going berserk in the hold of her captors trying to get to her mother and help her.

"NO! STOP!!" the purple maned Unicorn shouted to try and stop them.

But it was too late.

The townsfolk pulled the blue dragon down and pierced its neck on the spire. Sun Stone let out a scream of sadness as she watched the Diorekkusu, the creature that raised her thus far and was practically her mother, die right in front of her. Teal let out a defeated sigh as the last breath of the mighty dragon was given, it's body nothing more than an empty husk of which to feed off of.

The town cheered with excitement at their new victory. They began taking out their own carving knives and carved the Diorekkusu's body for their own benefit. All ponies and felynes had smiles on their faces, save for two mares behind the crowd, the elder one comforting the younger, who was crying in her hooves. Twilight approached the two and was about to speak before Teal shook her head and stopped her.

"Thank you for trying, Twilight..." she smiled weakly as she patted her long lost younger sister on the back "You tried your best, and that's all that matters."

"But I-" was all the lavender mare could say before she interrupted by her partner shaking her head. Twilight lay quiet and joined in on the hug, trying her best to comfort them both.

XXXXXX

Dawn had come up over Baltimare, and Twilight, who had taken her armour and insect glaive off and put them into storage, was preparing to go on her Dragonship back to Ponyville to meet with the princess. She and a felyne helper were bringing in some crates filled with her carves of Lagiacrus scales and Ceadeus horns. Earlier that day, she had gone over to Dr. Game Taco's house and picked up Fluttershy, who was now resting in the lower decks of the ship.

As she was putting one of the last crates on board with her magic, she then turned to the dock and saw Teal, who was also out of her armour with her little sister hiding behind her back legs.

"Hi, Teal" the lavender mare greeted with a smile "Are you ready to go?"

"Actually babe, I wanna talk to you about that" the teal hunter let out a sigh "I've decided to stay here in Baltimare."

"W-WHAT?!" Twilight was shocked by her partner's statement "B-But, didn't Baltimare accuse you of a crime you didn't commit? Didn't you say you didn't like this place? Don't you have a crush on me?!" she blushed as she said that last bit.

"Baby, I have the biggest crush on you since that one filly from High School" Teal chuckled before patting Sun Stone on the head "But my sister needs somepony to take care of her, and I being the responsible mare I am," her lavender partner let out a small giggle as she said that, earning an eye roll from her "I have to take care of her. Besides, the townsfolk aren't that bad! At the end of the day, they too were trying to protect their families from any danger."

"Wow, you've really matured, Teal" smiled the purple maned hunter "I mean, seriously! You went from a mare who's only purpose was to swoon other mares, into a mare who takes some responsibility. I'm proud of you, Teal."

"Aww, thanks... Though I think I'm still pretty into you" the moss green maned Pegasus blushed and chuckled before looking down at her Unicorn sister "Sun, do you want to say anything before Twilight leaves?"

"G-Goodbye, miss, Twilight..." she softly spoke, still a little shaken from the loss of her guardian "We, will, miss, you, much..."

"You're getting very good at vocabulary, Sun Stone" smiled Twilight.

"Alright, alright, no need to jam her head with big words" chuckled Teal before she turned to start heading off with her sister in close proximity "Now, I believe you have a princess to get to, and I have a few G-Rank quests to catch up on. See you around!"

That last sentence froze the Unicorn mare in place. She watched as the two wandered back into the crowd of ponies and felynes. Then, a smile crept onto her face as she let out a soft giggle. Finally, Twilight turned back to the Dragonship, walked on board, paid the felyne helper and took position at the helm. She let out a sigh and a smile as she flicked the switch to her right, raising the mast and sails, and letting the two platforms come out from both sides of the ship. The ship began to move as the engine began to whir.

"Next stop: wherever the wind takes me" the lavender mare said with confidence before remembering something and nervously chuckled "Well, first stop: Ponyville, then next stop: wherever the wind takes me. My bad!"

The ship finally pulled out of the ocean and tread along the land to her home and back to the princess. She still had two more friends to find plus defeat the Gore Magala, so a busy schedule was ahead of her. But with the power of friendship and magic she could...

"Really?" Twilight broke the fourth wall and spoke to the narrator "I'm fairly certain that monsters can be defeated with weapons and armour. You know, practical things?"

"Look, you're a magical talking horse" the narrator grumbled as his assistant narrator narrated for him "I think you can cut me some slack here."

"Sure, sure, sure" she rolled her eyes playfully before looking out into the vast land yet to be seen by her eyes.

Author's Note

A perfect blend of sadness, comedy, action and romance all wrapped into one chapter and I love it! Speaking of which, sorry for being late, but life got in the way and you know the drill. :ajsleepy:

But I'm here now finishing off Act 3! This one was fun, even if it did have Underwater Combat... :flutterrage:

You can still suggest monsters for Twilight to fight! So be sure to comment down below to tell me!

Also be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow me, and until then, happy hunting everyone!

Oh, and I have a top ten list of my favourite monsters from Monster Hunter on my blog, so be sure to check that out and tell me what your favourite monsters are well.

[Act 4] (Chapter 1) A Trail of Dust

The Dragonship sailed through the river that ran through Ponyville and it's somewhat small pier. As small as it was, it was just big enough for Twilight to dock her ship. She lowered the mast and sails, retracted the two platforms at the side of her ship and lowered the staircase onto the small pier. She finally tied the rope around said pier and began walking towards the still-being-rebuilt Ponyville only to see Celestia and Rainbow Dash in their wheelchairs with their mouths agape at the sight of the giant sand ship.

"Hello princess, hello Rainbow" Twilight greeted "I see that you two are up and about, and doing quite nicely."

"Sh-Sh-Ship..." was all the rainbow maned Pegasus could say to Twilight.

"T-Twilight, wherever did you acquire such a magnificent vessel?" Celestia asked her student.

"This thing?" she lavender mare questioned as she looked up at her ship "I found it with another mare when we were looking for a way to defeat a giant sand whale that was going to destroy Appleloosa if we didn't stop it." she looked back at her friends "Oh yeah; I fought a giant sand whale before I even got to Appleloosa."

"Whoa!" Rainbow Dash snapped out of her trance and looked excited "That sounds awesome! I wish I could've been there to see that! Did you do anything else?"

"Well, I went to Baltimare with that same mare, and found Fluttershy, who's sleeping in the hull right now" explained the most recent hunter of the three "That's when I learned the place was being terrorized by a Lagiacrus. Naturally, we defeated the Lagiacrus only to learn that a Ceadeus was-"

"A Ceadeus?" the cyan mare interrupted "Twilight, I'm not a scholar or a nerd like you are, but I'm pretty positive that Ceadeus are extinct. In fact you were the very same pony who told me that."

"Well, I recently discovered a new one that was infected with the Frenzy Virus" explained Twilight "But somehow, I was actually able to remove all traces of the virus from it, letting swim off never to be seen again."

"And that's it?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow "It just left with no repercussions? Nothing happened after that?"

"Well, the mare I was working with decided to stay in Baltimare with her sister, but other than that-" she then remembered something very important and facehoofed herself "Oh yeah... I was arrested for summoning the Ceadeus..."

"You were what?" Celestia's eyes grew slightly cross, but not with her student "Those ponies of Baltimare... I told them to cease with their accusations with their church and beliefs! I'll be having a talk with Baltimare's mayor later..."

"Thank you, princess" Twilight smiled "Now, why don't I tell you the whole story in a more comfortable area?"

"Agreed..." the Princess of the Day was trying to get over the fact that the ponies of Baltimare would imprison her student. As the three walked/wheeled themselves away, Fluttershy emerged from the bottom of the Dragonship onto the deck and yawned.

"Ahh... What a nice nap..." she softly spoke "Oh, we appear to be in Ponyville again... um, why is it being repaired? Twilight? Anypony? Ohhhhh..."

XXXXXX

The three mares reached the hospital where Rainbow and Celestia got back into their beds and settled down. From there, Twilight told them about the Dah'ren Mohran, the ancient ruins, the Dragonship, Applejack's whereabouts, her meeting with Faust and Nyx, Fluttershy's amnesia, the swamp, the Diorekkusu and it's untimely fate, the filly named Sun Stone found in the swamp, her sister Teal Speck, and the fights with the Lagiacrus and Ceadeus, right down to the two Dragonators she found.

Celestia, who was sitting up on her bed with her pillow, took a sip of tea from her magical grasp after her student finished her stories. She let out a sigh of enjoyment from her drink and smiled at the lavender mare.

"From the sound of things, I'd say you had some very interesting adventures throughout Equestria, Twilight" she said "It seems you have grown as a hunter exponentially. I'm so very proud of you!"

"Th-Thank you, princess" the purple maned Unicorn blushed lightly and bowed.

"No need for formalities, Twilight" giggled the white Alicorn, to which Twilight stood back up and chuckled nervously "Now, as you know, I am the guildmaster of Ponyville and Canterlot's branch of Guilds. As a special mission, I'd like for you to take the day off and enjoy yourself in White Tail Woods for a harvest tour."

"But princess," Twilight spoke up "what about Pinkie and Rarity? They're still missing and they could be anywhere!"

"Calm down, my dearest student" Celestia chuckled a bit "While yes, I think it would be wise to search for your friends, it's even wiser to take a short break. You have trekked through sand and sea to find your friends so far, and you have had little rest from the sound of it. So, I wish for you to just have a relaxing quest, okay?"

"Okay, your highness..." the lavender mare let out a defeated sigh and nodded.

"Thank you for understanding, Twilight" the white Alicorn smiled "Now, the Gathering Hall in Ponyville was unfortunately destroyed, so I'll just give you this..." she opened a drawer next to her with her magic and brought out a small slip of paper. She read through it for a second before nodding and passing it over to her student.

"Princess, what is this?" the Unicorn asked her teacher.

"That is a makeshift quest note should the time for anypony to want to take a quest here in Ponyville come" she answered "I've already marked a harvest tour quest on it, so there's nothing else to say but have fun!"

"Take care out there, Twi!" Rainbow called out from her bed.

"Rainbow, I'll be fine" Twilight giggled "It's just a little harvest tour. What's the worst that could happen?"

XXXXXX

White Tail Woods was a peaceful place known by all yet visited by few. The trees were always clean and the grass always healthy, as well as the monsters themselves living within the forest were all but hazardous. Even larger monsters, such as the Nerscylla and Seltas, would stay underground to leave the woods alone. Twilight took a deep breath in and out as she smelled the cool spring air of the quiet forest.

Before she even got to the area, she had her armour and insect glaive upgraded from all the Lagiacrus scales and Ceadeus Horns she had on her ship. As of now, she was wearing a full Lagiacrus armour set and Ceadeus insect glaive, which, with her Kinsect, was currently on her back.

"Maybe Princess Celestia was right" Twilight sighed with a smile "It would be nice to have a break after fighting two Elder Dragons and, well... just about everything else I fought. And in the meantime, I can get some materials for potions and all that good jazz... wait, did I just say that? I guess Teal must have rubbed off me a bit..." she giggled as she bent down and picked some herbs and blue mushrooms.

XXXXXX

As Twilight continued through the forest, she saw a herd of Aptonoth running away from something. By reaction, she withdrew her insect glaive with her magic and readied herself. Rustling could be heard through the bushes around her. Finally, the thing circling her stopped moving and shook around in just a single bush.

Slowly and carefully, the lavender hunter approached the rustling bush. Taking a deep breath, she opened the bush up to reveal the monster. She expected a huge and terrifying monster to pop out at her. Instead, she saw a harmless little rabbit look up at her before bouncing away.

"D'aww..." she cooed as she put away her glaive and Kinsect "I can't believe those Aptonoth were running away from a harmless bu-"

Twilight never even finished her sentence before she was tackled by something on her left. She never even got to see what it was that attacked her before she had to shake it off. After a short while, she was eventually able to get a better glimpse at her attacker. It was a scrawny, raptor monster with red scales and a purple crest on it's head.

"An Iodrome?" the lavender mare recognized the monster "What's an Iodrome doing in White Tail Woods?"

Her question was immediately answered as countless Iopreys, an Iodrome's underlings, ran around her. However, what made these particular monsters special was that each and ever Ioprey was mounted by a dark grey pony-like thing. Each of them wore simple leather armour, but that's all that was truly needed if one managed to tame and control a monster. They had bug-like wings sticking out of their armour, and all of their eyes were blue. They bore sharp fangs and had holes in their legs. They were Changelings, an intelligent subspecies of pony and rulers of the Badlands.

The purple maned hunter took out her insect glaive again, but the Changelings and Iopreys continued to circle her with no fear whatsoever. Suddenly, all present in the area heard a horn sound. They stopped and, with the Iodrome, looked up to the direction of the sound. Twilight did the same and saw a much taller Changeling female with a full leather armour set and a lance on her back walk out from the treeline. She had bug-like wings and a crooked horn which was capable of magic as she held a small bone horn in her magical grasp. She eyed the Unicorn and smirked.

"Sick her!" she laughed.

As the taller Changeling watched the Changelings, Iopreys and Iodrome circled Twilight again, the lavender mare swung her insect glaive around to try and knock a few of the bug ponies off their mounts. She took a few down, but after a while the riders became just too much for her to handle. She grabbed her glaive with her hooves and pole-vaulted over the Changelings before running away as fast as she could.

"Intriguing weapon..." the taller Changeling thought with a smirk "I'd like to see that in the arena... AFTER HER!!"

The riders nodded and began to chase after the Unicorn hunter. She tried with all her might to keep running, but the Changelings inevitably caught up. She prepared herself for another pole-vault, but one of the Ioprey riders shot a tranquilizer bomb at her, slowly putting her to sleep.

(Music stop)

"A shame somepony with your type of weapon would go down so easily..." the taller Changeling spoke over the sleeping body of Twilight before turning back to her Ioprey riders "Take her back to base and await for further instructions."

"Sure thing, boss" a Changeling spoke with a hiss to his voice. He and a few others put her weapon back onto her back and brought her up onto a spare Ioprey. Finally, the leader Changeling mounted herself onto the Iodrome and called out to her troop to dash back to the Badlands. What they didn't realize was that Twilight's Kinsect had escaped and saw the whole thing, a worried expression on it's face. It began to follow the Ioprey group in an effort to save it's master.

XXXXXX

Twilight awoke uncomfortably and felt as if something whacked her in the back of her head. She rubbed her forehead with her front left hoof and looked around her still in her lying down position. She was in a tinted red, stone cave lit only by a single torch. The room-like cavern was semi-circled and not exactly large. Behind her was a metal prison gate that looked sturdier than a Basarios's rocky hide. However, what caught her attention was the four ponies lying on the wall of the room, staring right at her. One was a bright pink mare with a poofy darker pink mane. Beside her was a heavy bowgun.

"Hiya, Twilight!" she bounced "It's good to finally see you up and awake! Welcome to the Badlands! We're going to have so much fun here! There's parties, jousting, cake, friends, more parties... It's all I could ever ask for! Well, maybe not EVERYTHING I could ask for, but it's a lot! And now you're here to join me and my new friends! We're going to have-"

"Oh my god, will you shut-up?!" shouted one of the ponies. He was a Pegasus with a light yellow coat and a long mane that was a slightly brighter yellow. He wore a full set of Kecha Wacha armor, pants and all. His helmet was off currently and next to him was a Brachydios switch-axe.

"Hey jackass, don't be an asshole!" shouted another pony. He too was a Pegasus with a light blue coat and a decently long brown mane with a streak of red down the middle. He wore a full set of Zinogre armour, and his helmet was off as well. He too had a switch-axe, but this one was more Zinogre-like.

"Well at least I wasn't the one who got us into this mess!" the first one shouted back.

"I was picking some blue mushrooms for some more potions" the second argued "I would have been just fine if you didn't run ahead and try to take the Tetsucabra all by yourself!"

"They're easy monsters!"

"We were fighting it in High rank!"

"We would have lost it if you fell behind!"

"And we would have lost you if I hadn't been there to save you, dammit!"

"ENOUGH!!! For the love of Christ, will you two shut-up?!" yelled the final pony. He was a Unicorn with an ash grey coat and a short black mane with a few red highlights at the ends of his hairs. He wore some Stygian Zinogre armour with his helmet taken off as well. Beside him was a Brachydios longsword.

The two lay silent after the ash grey stallion, who appeared to be the leader, spoke. He let out a huge sigh before getting up and turning his attention to Twilight.

"I'm sorry about them" he apologized "They bicker a lot. Allow me to introduce myself" he bowed for a second "My name is Dark Thunder, and these two idiots are my team. The yellow one is my brother Butter Hero, and the the blue one is my friend Rage Quit. Together we make Team Brachydios, a semi-successful team currently in High rank."

"Pleasure" Twilight smiled "My name is Twilight Sparkle, student and friend of Princess Celestia."

"And I'm Pinkie Pie, the best party planner EVER!!" the bubbly pink mare beside her lavender friend bounced up and down.

"We know who you are" Butter said "You've only been saying your name for the past hour..."

"So you're a student of the princess, eh?" Dark ignored his brother's comment and continued speaking with their new guest "I guess if even a top hunter from her highness herself was caught, there's not much we could do now..."

"Oh, I'm not a-" Twilight froze once she realize what he has said "Wait, what do you mean by 'caught'?"

"You mean you don't know?" Rage Quit spoke up "The Changelings around here like to wrangle hunters up and use them for hunting monsters. After that, they like selling their body parts on the black market. The monsters, not the hunters. Don't worry. They're like rogue hunters, if you want to get technical."

"So, in short, I'm a slave?" the lavender mare asked with worry in her voice.

"Afraid so, honey" he sighed "But I suppose it isn't so bad. We get to keep our weapons, for one. Looks like they even let you keep that pole thing over there..." he raised a hoof and pointed to her insect glaive leaning on the gate, much to the purple maned hunter's surprise.

"You five! You're on a mission today" hissed a Changeling guard with leather armour from the other side of the cell gate, getting all of their attentions "We want you to take out a Tetsucabra. You will remove its tusks and you will bring them back to our boss. Is that perfectly clear?"

All five of them nodded, some with scowls on their faces, and some with crossness in their eyes. The Changeling laughed and walked away, preparing to get the five ready for their new quest. Rage and Butter stood up, put on their helmets and equipped their switch-axes. Dark sighed and went to go and get his longsword before Twilight stopped him.

"Are we really hunting that Tetsucabra for them?" she asked.

"No, we're escaping this hellhole" he smirked "And I have just the plan for it."

Author's Note

Hello, hunters of all ages! Tis I, your humble guildmaster for this evening, and I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for not putting out a chapter yesterday. I was sidetracked. But it's okay since I'm here now!

So rogue Changeling hunters? The idea was suggested by DarkThunder144 and I really liked it, so I put it in and made a good story! Will our heroes escape from their Changeling captors? Who knows? This story really can go either way!

Place a comment down below for what monsters you want to see Twilight fight in the future. As long as that tag down there doesn't say "Complete", you're free to say any suggestions you want!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, happy hunting!

Oh, and if you happened to leave a Favourite, leave a Like as well. I have a bit of OCD when someone doesn't add themselves to the collective, but if you want to give me a hard time (which you can, by the way. :rainbowlaugh: ), then you don't have to take my advice.

[Act 4] (Chapter 2) Tusked Toad Turnabout

The five ponies, now all equipped with their respective weapons and armour, were set free under the watchful eyes of multitudes of Changelings mounted on Iopreys. They, the ponies, knew better than to engage the dozens of guards right now; they knew that they would be overpowered in an instant by the sheer amount of the bug-like ponies and raptor-like monsters. Even Pinkie Pie, one of the loudest and craziest mares in the land of Equestria, stayed quiet. Their plan to escape couldn't go wrong, or they'd be sleeping in the dust for the rest of their lives.

"Move along..." hissed one of the Changeling guards as they all traversed through the tinted red tunnel "Don't want to keep the boss waiting... You lowlifes couldn't imagine her power when she becomes angry."

Dark Thunder flashed Twilight a smirk, telling her that his plan was going smoothy as per planned. Before they even left, he had told his team and the two female others of his idea on how to escape, in a whisper of course. The lavender mare tried her best to keep the plan in her focus. She did this by remembering the entire conversation.

XXXXXX

Earlier...

XXXXXX

"Bro, we've been trying to escape from this place ever since we got here" spoke Butter Hero "All of your plans have failed so far, and to be honest, I'm getting kind of sick of them."

"Butter, for just one day can you not be an ass?" Rage Quit asked him before turning back to his leader with a smile on his muzzle "What's the plan this time, boss?"

"Well..." his voice went into a whisper, quiet enough so the guards couldn't hear but loud enough for Twilight and Pinkie to join in on the conversation "I was thinking we'd try number five again."

"Any reason why?" the light blue Pegasus asked.

"The only reason that plan failed was because we were short a few hooves" Dark explained before turning to the two mares joining them "But now that we have these two lovely ladies, the plan is ninety-nine point nine percent flawless."

"And the other point one percent?" Twilight spoke up.

"We're captured, each thrown into different cells, or prepared for execution" he listed the possibilities of failure "Or all of the above, exclusively in that order."

"Reassuring..." the yellow Pegasus of the five said "And what makes this plan any different from the others? We're still going to get caught, and even with some extra help, there were still a lot of flaws with with plan number five, such as the area, the monster we were fighting, the massive amounts of guards patrolling the area, and how could I have forgotten the-"

"DON'T SAY IT!!" Rage Quit shouted, breaking out of his whisper. He quickly shut his mouth with his left hoof and looked around the cell hall. After seeing no guards coming, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Sorry..." he whispered again "But I can't bear to even speak its name. Just explain your plan to the mares, okay?"

"Right" Dark nodded and turned back to the two females in the room "Plan five goes like this..."

XXXXXX

Currently...

XXXXXX

Twilight went over and over the plan as many times as she could. Just as she thought that this plan was stuck in her head, Rage Quit came up to her and tried to converse with her.

"Sorry about earlier" he said "Allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Rage Quit, and I'm the team's strategist. I'm the one who finds monsters' attack patterns and uses them against them. Although, not too many of my plans are set in stone because of a certain somepony's enjoyment in doing his own thing..."

"I'm guessing you don't like Butter too much?" Twilight wondered.

"What? Oh, no, sorry" the light blue Pegasus chuckled sheepishly "While it is true he can get on my nerves sometimes, he has massive amounts of potential. I can see it in his eyes. I only yell at him because of the stupid things he does sometimes. He's a good kid. Kinda have to act like I'm his father sometimes... Well, gotta practice anyway."

"Hmm? Why's that?" the lavender mare asked.

"My wife back home is seven months in" he smiled "We're both really excited, but I think she might be getting worried for me. I've been gone for a while, and being caught by Changelings doesn't exactly help me get back to her."

"Congratulations!" Twilight smiled "Not about the Changeling thing. Do you know if it's a filly or colt yet?"

"We talking about Unity?" Dark Thunder interrupted the conversation before Rage Quit could answer "Fine mare she is. Just don't stay around her in one of her mood swings... not pretty..."

"Well, we WERE talking about Butter before this" Rage said before cracking a smirk "Hey, do you remember when he nearly killed us a while back when we were fighting that black and purple dragon?"

"Wait, did you say black and purple dragon" the purple maned hunter spoke again "Oh no... Where did you see it last?"

"See it? Rather heard it" the ash grey Unicorn smiled "It was flying over us not a yesterday. Sprayed this mist all over the place and made some nearby Jaggies go insane."

"First time I ever felt bad for a monster" the Pegasus rolled his eyes.

"Will you three shut your mouths?!" shouted one of the guards escorting them to the hunting zone "At least your yellow and pink friends over here are staying quiet, or I'd have to personally execute all of you!"

All three of them shut their mouths as soon as the Changeling guard finished his sentence. The last thing they wanted was to ruin their plan. They should've known better. Even Pinkie Pie was staying quiet for this one. They just had to wait a little longer...

XXXXXX

"Greetings, one and all to the Changeling Gathering Hall" said the tall female Changeling Twilight saw earlier as she and the others entered the large, circular tinted red rock room "I am Queen Chrysalis, but I can allow you worms to call me either ma'am, or just Chrysalis is fine. I understand that two of you are new here, so I'll explain the rules" she turned toward the pink mare and the lavender one "You are not to disobey my orders, you are not to deviate from your mission, and you are not allowed to harm any of my boys. Failure to obey will result in death" she got up close to Twilight's face "Do I make myself clear, hmm?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am..." the frightened mare nodded.

"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie Pie smiled, gaining Chrysalis's attention.

"My, my, you certainly seem very chipper..." she smiled darkly "You'll be quite the addition to the troop."

"I'm just here to make everypony smile, smile, smile!" the pink mare hopped up and down.

"Right..." the queen rolled her eyes "Anyway, all of you have a mission today. I want you to exterminate a Tetsucabra that we've been eying for a while. However, this Tetsucabra is... different..."

"How much different are we talking about here?" Butter Hero asked.

"As in subspecies different" Chrysalis looked at the yellow Pegasus. All at the same time, the three stallions shuddered in fear and sighed nervously from the mere mention of the word 'subspecies'. Twilight looked confused, but Dark Thunder noticed and began explaining it to her.

"Subspecies are rare versions of monsters that, to this day, have not been recorded by scientists" he said "Some ponies don't even believe that they exist! A shame too; they're dangerous creatures, and I'd honestly love to know more about them and how they tick."

"Do you mean like how a Diorekkusu and Tigrex are related?" the lavender mare asked.

"Sort of" he nodded "Those two species are considered cousins do to their similar body shape yet different attacks. Subspecies look almost exactly the same as normal monsters, only they have different colours and all of their attacks are the same, if not stronger than normal."

"Interesting..." the female Unicorn said with eyes of intrigue.

"If you're done your little biology lesson, mind if I continue?" the tall Changeling leader suddenly asked, gaining the five ponies' attentions "Good. Now, as I'm sure my boys have told you, I want the Tetsucabra's, or in this case, the Berserk Tetsucabra's tusks. They're selling huge right now and I don't want to miss out. Is that clear?" they all nodded their heads "Good. Now, guards, if you will escort them to the zone of the monster, that would be lovely."

The Changeling guards currently on their Ioprey mounts nodded and began to take the five to where they need to be. The 'queen of the hive' just watched them leave with a smile on her face.

XXXXXX

"You four remember your roles, right?" Dark Thunder asked his team whilst they hid behind a rock to protect themselves from the Tetsucabra, to which they all nodded.

The Changeling guards had left them to do their business and hunt the Berserk Tetsucabra, but hadn't ceased watching them. Fortunately, they hadn't bothered to listen in on what their prisoners were saying, making it so their plan could be executed much easier. Patiently, they awaited for their target to appear. Finally, after a tediously long five minutes, all five ponies heard the ground shake.

"This is it, everypony" Butter said as he stood up a bu"I can't wait to fight the-"

"Stay on plan, Butter" his brother reminded him "I don't need more of your rushing into battle. Not when we're so close!"

"...fine" he rolled his eyes and sat back down with his team.

"Ooooh, I'm super duper excited!" Pinkie squirmed around in her seat with a huge grin on her face as she pat her beloved heavy bowgun at her side "It's been forever since I spilled blo- I mean, had some fun hunting monsters!"

Everyone looked at the pink mare when she had her slip of the tongue in either shock or confusion. Nevertheless, they shrugged off their suspicions and turned to see that the Berserk Tetsucabra had already emerged. It was toad-like with a large hump where its shoulders were, not to mention its two large, rock-like tusks on its lower jaw and its spiked tail. It had a green hide on its back and tan scales on its belly. But its most defining feature was its seemingly painted orange face.

"What a marvelous creature..." Twilight studied it as best as she could "The shape is almost identical to a normal Tetsucabra, only green with an orange face and squinted eyes. My theory is that it-"

"Will you shut it?!" Butter loudly whispered before turning to his brother "Execute plan?"

"Three... Two... One..." he began to count down tensing the team up and readying themselves for battle "...NOW!!"

The second he shouted that word, the five ponies picked up their weapons and charged at the green monster. The creature immediately noticed them and roared, letting out a belch out from its mouth.

"Rage, Butter, the legs!" Dark shouted at the two Pegasi wielding switch-axes in the grip of their wings. They nodded and began slashing their weapons at the Tetsucabra's back legs, eventually cracking the scales on them and making the monster flinch before roaring and picking up a large hunk of rock with its jaw tusks. Somehow, it made the rock look just about ready to explode if it touched anything. It lined up with the majority of the five before jumping up and smashing back down with the rock in front, causing and explosion in the monster's face and making it glow more orange than it already was.

"Fascinating..." the lavender hunter stared in awe before shaking her head "Stay focused! Stay focused! You can't let a rare discovery get the better of you! Stay focused!"

"Twilight, distract it!" Dark called out to her, to which she nodded. She was about to send out her Kinsect only to learn that it was nowhere to be found. She slapped herself in her mind as a small punishment for not realizing until this second. Improvising, she stuck her glaive into the ground, grabbed onto it and pole-vaulted onto the monster. She took out her carving knife with her magic and began repeatedly stabbing its back. It tried its best to shake her off by flipping in the air and fidgeting violently. But the Unicorn managed to stay on long enough for her to knock the Berserk Tetsucabra over on its side.

"Two steps in one, I guess" the ash grey leader of the group spoke before turning to the awaiting pink mare to his side "Pinkie-"

"Already on it!" she smiled before standing up on her back hooves and taking the heavy bowgun in her front ones. She aimed up at some stalagmites overhead the Changeling guards and fired a few rounds, letting loose the giant rocks and crushing the bug-like ponies. She laughed like a maniac before Twilight came over and calmed her down.

After that, the five ponies put away their weapons and jumped onto the downed monster's back, riding it around the place. Dark Thunder was in the lead and trying to control it the best he could. Just as it seemed out of his power to do so, the rest of his team tried to slow it down at the same time as he did. Eventually, they gained total control over it.

"Okay folks, this next part is gonna get a bit bumpy..." he smiled as he kicked his back legs on the Tetsucabra's back, making it move forward an smashing a wall down, revealing a secret passage way they could escape through "One thing to note about the Badlands; there are caves and tunnels everywhere. HIYAAAAAA!!!" he got the monster moving again through the tunnel.

(Music stop)

"I can't believe we did it!" Rage Quit said with a sigh as he held onto the back of the Berserk Tetsucabra "Man, if Unity knew that I was caught by Changelings and rode a Tetsucabra to safety, she'd never believe me or I'd never hear the end of it... or both..."

"We'll get home soon enough, old friend" the male Unicorn chuckled "Right now, we need to get as far away from this place as possible."

"While we're here, mind if you tell me a bit more about yourselves?" Twilight asked the three stallions.

"Since you already had a conversation with them, I think it's my turn now" Butter Hero, who was right in front of the lavender Unicorn, turned to speak with her, taking off his helmet in the process "My name's Butter Hero, but you can just call me Butter. I'm the brawn of this team and I never fail to take down an enemy, which is why I wonder why my brother and his friend hold me back!" he called behind him, earning an eye roll from both of them.

"How long have you been a hunter?" she asked.

"Eh, about three years now" he answered with a smirk "I consider myself a master Monster Hunter, but they still say I have tons to learn. God, they can be so annoying sometimes..."

"Butter, while yes, some ponies may be next to impossible to get along with," began Twilight, remembering a day way back when "there's always something in their hearts you can enjoy and have in common with. In short, once you get to know them better and understand why they do what they do, you'll get along with them a lot better. I learned that a long time ago at a slumber party."

"Ew... Filly stuff..." Butter stuck his tongue out before sticking it back in "But I don't know what you're getting at. These guys will always be dumb and stupid to me, always slowing me down and stopping me from doing what I want..."

Twilight couldn't help but sigh from his response. Before she could relax again, she felt Pinkie Pie, who was behind her, have a spasm in her body. It was her Pinkie-sense, and the lavender Unicorn knew that whenever this happened, something terrible would go down very shortly.

"Uh oh..." the pink mare said "That was my super-duper danger shake! Something's about to happen, Twilight!"

"Oh no..." she sighed.

"There! I see the light at the end of the tunnel!" Dark shouted out "We're finally free!"

The female Unicorn was half expecting for there to be countless Changeling guards by the exit. But, to her surprise, there wasn't a single bug-pony to be seen as the Tetsucabra jumped out of the hole and landed on the ground. The green toad monster laid down and let the five off to view the sights of the lava-covered Badlands. There were mountains of lava and dead trees everywhere. Beside them was a river of the glowing red, orange and yellow goo, hot as the sun.

"...ahh... Will you just smell that air?" the ash grey Unicorn sniffed "So sooty and burned, just how I like it!" he then turned back to the Berserk Tetsucabra "As for you, thank you. May you have a safe jour-"

The stallion didn't even finish his sentence before the monster they ponies had previously rode on was crushed by the silent wings of a purple and black dragon. No one moved. No one breathed. They were in too much fear from the sight of the destructive creature in front of them. It was the Gore Magala, nemesis of Twilight Sparkle and destroyer of Ponyville. And the worst part was...

...it was looking right at them.

Author's Note

Chapter good much? One doesn't need a long chapter for it to be good.

So today, we learned that Butter Hero is self-centered by young and still shapable to be a great hunter, Rage Quit is a bit of a jerk but only does it because he doesn't want Butter to die and is agitated he can't see his pregnant wife yet, and Dark Thunder is a respectable stallion that gets the job done while also making fun of everything he sees. :ajbemused:

I changed Dark Thunder's species to a Unicorn as per my friend's request, so don't be alarmed! :twilightblush:

Comment down below to tell me what monsters you want to see in the story!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, happy hunting!

[Act 4] (Chapter 3) The Living Nightmare

Of all five of the ponies present in front of the monster, it was Twilight that was the most terrified. That's not to say the others weren't shocked in pure fear, but the lavender Unicorn truly got the worst of this monster. She looked at the eyeless head of the black dragon that had caused her so many problems in the past. Slowly, it circled them, their eyes following its body and its head watching them closely. It stopped as soon as it reached the opposite side from where it landed and spread its dark and ragged, yet strangely majestic wings, its 'arms' then smashing down into the ground. It just stared at Twilight for the longest time.

"W-W-What do you want...?" she nervously asked.

"Maybe it wants to be our friend?" Pinkie suggested with a smile before approaching the dark dragon "Hi, friend! I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?" the Gore Magala simply continued to watch the five ponies in its current position "Don't have a name? Then I'll call you... Wingie! Because of your big wings!"

"To hell with this" Butter exclaimed as he walked toward the dark dragon. However, Rage Quit and Dark Thunder stopped him immediately.

"Butter, no!" his brother shouted "You can't take that thing on! You're going to get us all killed!"

"NO!" he shouted back "I'm tired of you and Rage constantly holding me back from killing monsters! I'll kill them all! Why won't you just let me do it?! So from this point on, you two aren't the bosses of me anymore!" he held up his switch-axe over the Gore Magala's head "Now I will be the hero!" he brought his weapon down onto the dragon's face, forming a scar over its forehead.

Needless to say it wasn't happy with the yellow Pegasus, or any of the five ponies for that matter. Its under-wings became a bright purple colour and it grew horns on its head. Twilight had never seen this form of the black dragon before, and merely believed it to be its rage state. But something was different than a normal rage mode. It seemed to expel more infectious scales than in its normal state. The lavender Unicorn decided to call this state: Frenzy mode.

"You idiot!" the light blue Pegasus with the Zinogre armour on yelled at his other Pegasus companion "Everypony run! We can't hope to even scratch it in this form!"

Immediately, the five began running away from the monstrosity. In an attempt to slow it down, Pinkie loaded her bowgun and fired some rounds at the Gore Magala's head, making in wince in pain a bit. However, no major damage seemed to be inflicted onto the beast, so the attempt was ultimately fruitless. It roared again before charging at the team in pure anger.

"Look out!" Twilight called out just before Rage Quit was struck by the Gore's attack. He heard this and swung his switch-axe around, slamming right into the creature's head and toppling it, giving the team just enough time to gain some ground.

"Thanks!" he called back "There's gotta be a cave around her somewhere where we can hide..."

"How about that one over there?" the pink mare in the team suggested as she nodded her head at a small cave entrance.

"Nice thinking, Pinkie!" Dark smirked "You heard the mare; head for the cave, everypony!"

Just as the ash grey Unicorn said this, the downed Gore Magala managed to pick itself up and fire three large consecutive fireballs at the five ponies. Twilight turned around to see that these 'fireballs' were glowing dark purple and black, meaning they were infused with the Frenzy Virus. The attacks never hit, but they did explode dangerously close to the five, making clouds of dust, or rather scales, where they were set off.

"Almost there..." Rage grit his teeth together as he and the others approached the cave.

"Just a little longer..." the lavender hunter huffed.

Finally, they reached the small cavern and jumped into it as quickly as they could. Rage Quit was the last pony to enter, but before he could the dark dragon chasing them caught up to them. It let out a screech of anger as it raised its front legs and arms up in the air before smashing them back down, forcing the light blue Pegasus to tumble down into the cave. Shortly after, rocks came crashing down onto the entrance, blocking their way out.

(Music stop)

The five could hear a faint grunt coming from the dragon outside, sounding almost like a chuckle before it slowly began walking away. The next thing they heard was the flapping of wings of it taking off and flying away. Dark sighed in relief and took a look over at his blue Pegasus partner, who had been injured from the rocks. He held his back left knee with his front hooves and sighed.

"Sorry, Dark" Rage chuckled as he removed his helmet "Looks like I'm out for awhile... AH! Christ, that hurts..."

"You'll be fine, old friend" the leader of the group smiled as he lightly patted his friend's back "Looks like just a scratch anyway."

"Heh... I thought I was the one who's supposed to make the jokes around here..." the injured Pegasus laughed before once again wincing in pain "Right, I should shut-up now..."

"Just stay still for a bit, okay?" Dark said with a smile before that smile turned into a scowl as he turned to his younger brother "As for you, as soon as we get home I'm revoking your hunters license."

"Wha- But why?!" Butter shouted as he took off his Kecha helmet.

"Because I can't trust you with being on my team, that's why!" the elder brother shouted back "Ever since you joined you have caused nothing but problems for us all. You rush ahead, you disobey orders and you never listen to the valuable information Rage Quit has to offer!"

"What, you mean all the yelling?" the yellow Pegasus rolled his eyes.

"While yes, I don't believe that Rage's... unique way of teaching is all that appropriate, he's still teaching you advice" Dark's voice calmed down a bit "I also understand that some lessons you MUST learn from your mistakes. But when you constantly repeat those mistakes, that's where I draw the line! We nearly got killed out there, Butter! We've nearly got killed on several occasions because of your rashness!"

This was the moment when the yellow hunter finally stopped to think about what he's done to the team. He hung his head and remembered all the times he was too impatient and rushed into battle, nearly costing everyone their lives because of his stupidity. Twilight saw his gears turn. She wondered how much of a difference it would be if he hadn't been hasty all the time. She wouldn't have gotten out, that's for sure.

"Butter, I'm you're brother, and by the gods I love you more than anything else in this world" the ash grey Unicorn sighed "And that's why I want to protect you. And yeah, it's because I don't trust you enough. So please, Butter; be reasonable for just one day and listen to-"

"No YOU Listen!" Butter shouted at his brother, taking him and everyone else aback "Every time this happens, all I hear out of you is yelling and shouting! At ME no less! You don't love me; I'm just around to be yelled at! So you know what? I'm leaving myself!" he began storming off down into the depths of the tunnel connecting with the room they were currently resting in.

"Butter, wait!" Dark called out to his brother, but it was already too late; he had gone deeper into the cave to face what dangers awaited him "...Butter, I'm sorry..." he spoke normally the last three words of his sentence.

"I'm sorry about him, Dark" Twilight spoke up "I can't say I know what it's like to have a younger sibling, but I can only imagine it's not the easiest thing to be an older brother. Give him some time, okay?"

"Yeah, you're right..." the ash grey stallion sighed "But I still have to make sure that he doesn't get into trouble, or worse, eaten by some hungry monster. Tetsucabra, Brachydios and even... them, lie within the confines of the Badlands."

"Them?" the lavender mare asked curiously.

"You'd rather not know" Rage spoke up, turning her attention to him "They're beasts. You want to know a monster that is pure evil and not just angry because it's protecting its young or something? Look no further. If we find one, I'll tell you."

"No, I'd rather not know..." she sighed "Well, c'mon. Butter isn't going to find himself, now is he?"

"I suppose not" Dark chuckled "Alright everypony, let's get a move on. Rage, can you walk?"

"I might if I can..." he stood up and bent his back left leg upwards "Yeah, this should be fine."

"Hold on..." Twilight took a long bandage out from her inventory and, with her magic, tied his broken leg to his back "There we go. Feeling better?"

"Much..." the light blue Pegasus smiled "Though, I could just fly."

"Not with that heavy thing on your back" the leader of the group said "Damn those switch-axes for being so heavy..."

As the three traveled down into the depths, Pinkie Pie was left taking a small snooze on the rocks. She made the cutest noises as she slept, but a small rock trickle awoke her from her slumber.

"AAHHH!! PINEAPPLES!!" she shouted frantically as she opened her eyes. She looked around to make sure that no one was around to hear her. She let out a sigh before picking up her heavy bowgun and placing on her back. Just then, Twilight emerged from the tunnel and saw her pink friend, freezing the happy-go-lucky pony in place.

"What's this about pineapples?" the lavender Unicorn asked with an eyebrow raised.

"NOTHING!!" the pink mare abruptly shouted before calming back down to her normal Pinkie self, smiling happily all the while "I mean... Nothing in particular! I just like thinking about Pineapples sometimes! Yeppity yep yep! Yes I do!"

"Well, alright..." Twilight sighed "Let's just get a move on, okay?"

XXXXXX

The deeper the four ponies went into the cave, the hotter it became. Of course, most armour was suited for surviving hot temperatures, but soon enough it got to the point when they needed cool drinks. Thankfully, Dark Thunder had a few in his saddlebag.

"Ah... Thanks, man..." Rage said before drinking the refreshing beverage held in his wing "Ahhh... Much better..."

"It's... slightly bitter..." Twilight analyzed after taking a sip from the drink in her magical hold "But yet, it's very refreshing! What's in it?" she took a large swig of the concoction.

"A few ice crystals" Dark explained before cracking a smirk "One or two bitterbugs..."

Twilight immediately spat out the drink all over the ash grey Unicorn's face. He merely wiped it off, still with the smug grin on his face. He decided that the lavender mare had enough and took the drink out of the stunned hunter's grasp with his own magic. He then threw it into a nearby river of lava. The female Unicorn just stood there for a while before Pinkie snapped her back into reality... kinda...

"Cheer up, silly filly!" she bounced around her Unicorn friend "At least you didn't eat any bitterbugs not ground up, right?"

"Ohhhhhh..." Twilight held her belly and felt like vomiting.

"Actually, I wonder how good they would taste NOT ground up?" Pinkie wondered "I bet they would taste great! Well, they must taste great if somepony tried them! I only guess that somepony tried them since they're called bitterbugs. Does that mean they taste bitter? Oooooooh, then in that case I'm sure I'd like to try and eat one to taste that crunchy goodness!"

Twilight lost it. She couldn't suppress the puke in her stomach anymore and she lost her lunch all over the ground.

"Gross..." Rage Quit said as he stared at the chunky green substance "Just hope we can find Butter before Miss. Puke over here

XXXXXX

After a while longer, they appeared to have reached the end of the cave; a large room with a rocky bridge to a stone island surrounded by lava. The island was perfectly flat, almost as if it was artificially created by something. On the far side of the decently large island was a small mound of rocks. However, what caught the ponies' attention was the yellow Pegasus with Kecha Wacha armour on in the middle of the isle.

"Butter!" Dark Thunder ran forward to help his brother out, checking his pulse "Oh thank god..." he proceeded to embrace his unconscious brother "I'm so sorry for yelling at you... I promise, I'm going to get you out of here and-"

Everyone heard a slight rumbling on their feet.

"That rumbling didn't sound natural" Twilight pointed out "No seismic power or eruption could have that low of a power down here. Something's very close to us."

"You guys don't think that..." Rage spoke with a look of fear on his face.

"I damn-well hope not..." Dark said "The thing is that it's possible. We have to get out of here now."

"Don't have to tell me twice!" the light blue Pegasus said before turning away from the island and limping away.

"Wait, before we go," the lavender mare spoke up "do you mind if you tell me what exactly we're running from?"

"You really don't want to-"

"Tell her, Rage Quit" the ash grey Unicorn spoke as he carried his brother with his magic "After helping us escape, I think she has the right to know our worst fear."

"...if you say so..." the Pegasus took a deep breath "Well, we think we might be running from a-"

The stallion was interrupted by yet another shake of the ground. Only this time, the stone on the far side of the island began moving. It got up to reveal itself as a creature with a large body, tiny arm, long legs, a tail even bigger than its body and a small head covered in spikes around the lower jaw, which were actually teeth. All along its very dark green body and tail were spikes that also happened to be made of the same stuff as teeth. It was basically a giant hungry mouth with arms and legs. There was only one monster that fit this description. The great devourer know as the...

"DEVILJHO!!" Pinkie Pie screamed at the top of her lungs before running away at the speed of Pinkie "EVERYPONY RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!"

The three conscious ponies wasted no time in running away from the beast. Immediately, the Deviljho turned around and saw its potential next meal. The bane of hunters itself was in constant need of food due to its high body heat, meaning it could eat creatures to extinction. It could eat anything if it was desperate: Aptonoth, Tigrex, Seltas... Not even its own tail was safe from its hungry jaws. It was an eating and killing machine.

"We have to run!" Dark shouted as he ran away with his team from the Deviljho now in hot pursuit of the five ponies for a light snack "There is no way in hell we're fighting that thing! Not with our armour and weapons!"

"Then maybe we don't have to fight it..." Twilight said to herself as she too ran before looking at her pink friend "Pinkie Pie, any way you might be able to knock some stalactites down on top of the Deviljho?"

"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie smiled before turning around, running backwards on her hind legs and aiming her heavy bowgun at the ceiling where a few of her target stalactites lay dormant. She fired a few rounds at them and let them come crashing down onto the devil monster, causing it to roar in annoyance. Just as the Earth Pony was smiling, she saw that the creature had entered rage mode, its body lighting up red and sparks of electricity coming out of its mouth, not to mention its now glowing red eyes.

"Lemme guess..." Rage Quit ran perfectly normally despite his back leg being broken "Rage mode, right?"

"Yep..." Pinkie nodded.

"Red sparks of electricity?"

"Uh huh..."

"We're screwed now right?"

"Tighter than a lightbulb..."

Rage Quit sighed and continued running from the now enraged Deviljho. Twilight looked back and screamed as she saw the monstrosity chasing them. At long last, a safe area was scouted where they could hide. Not wasting anymore time, Twilight rushed for the safe little cave and tripped over, knocking her necklace of her neck. It bounced around on some rocks in a large lava lake next to them before finally landing on a larger rock, safe and sound.

"C'mon Twilight, forget about it!" the light blue Pegasus shouted to her "It isn't worth it!"

"Yes it is!" she shouted back "Without that necklace, I might not be able to learn more about the Gore Magala and how to beat it! Besides, its very important to my personal life..."

"There's no time!" Dark Thunder called out. However, as soon as he did, the enraged monster appeared, angry and hungry. It spotted the four hiding ponies first, but then noticed the easier lavender one standing out in the open and decided to snack on her instead. Thinking fast, Twilight looked around frantically to try and find an escape from the slowly approaching demon. Finally, she looked behind her and saw the stepping stones over the lava. With no time to lose, she hopped on the first one just in time to escape the beast's jaws.

"Stay focused, Twilight..." she said to herself before hopping onto the next one. Unfortunately for her, the Deviljho had begun to follow her as well, slowly stepping on each of the stones over the skin-boiling hot lava. At long last, she grabbed the necklace when it was in range of her magic. She looked back and saw the devil begin to wobble a bit. It then slipped into the lava, which began eating away at its skin.

(Music stop)

It roared and yelped in excruciating pain as its flesh was burned off and it slowly melted into a horrifying display of blood and bone. Eventually, it stopped roaring, signalling to the lavender mare it was dead as its now lifeless corpse slowly burned away into the lava. She used its remaining body to cross the river back to her team.

"Twilight, that was super-duper incredible!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed in her usual bubbly voice "You actually beat a Deviljho!"

"Well, I didn't technically beat it" the Unicorn mare blushed a bit "It fell into the lake on its own since it was too heavy for the stones to-"

"Oh, quit being a nerd and lighten up!" Rage Quit laughed "Right now though, we need to get Butter back home to base, or he might not make it. Last thing we need is an angry boss, so let's get there on the double, okay?"

"Right!" Twilight nodded.

XXXXXX

In the shadows of the underground cave were three figures cloaked in darkness, one of which was clearly taller than the other two. A feminine laugh came from the tall shadow, followed by the laughs of the other two shortly after.

"She actually managed to defeat a Deviljho, on accident no less!" the tall female figure said with a smile "I'd love to see what she'll be able to do next. A shame I'll have to kill her... But I can't have anypony in my way of finding the rare monster of the Badlands."

Author's Note

And that's that! Hey, I'm back on schedule! I'll try my best to post a chapter every single day so you guys can enjoy it. If for some reason I can't, then that means I'm probably doing homework. Eh...

So yes, my OC's name is Rage Quit, who is also me! And yes, Unity is my girlfriend's OC. No, she is not pregnant in real life, but I like kids, so all the more for those who want, right? I just thought that... yeah... you know what I mean.

Write down in the comments below to ask what monster you want to see in the story and I'll put it in!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, happy hunting!

[Act 4] (Chapter 4) Secrets of the Necklace

After their terrifying run-in with the bane of all hunters itself, the Deviljho, the four conscious and one unconscious ponies continued their trek back to the three stallions' home base, a little town that they called Dracoville, during the night. Twilight had heard of such a place before; a village on the edge of the Badlands that worshiped some sort of dragon god. At the same time, she heard they cared for tamable monsters, such as Congalala, Yian Kut-Ku, Jaggi, Aptonoth, and even Rathian. Needless to say, the lavender Unicorn was very excited to visit the town.

"I can't wait until we get there!" Twilight gushed as she bounced around the two conscious stallions "Think of all the research I can complete in a closed and safe environment!"

"Weeeee! I'm excited too!" Pinkie Pie bounced around with her Unicorn friend "I get to have fun with all the cute animals!"

"It's like traveling with two schoolfillies who just had their first kiss..." sighed Rage Quit as he limped along the pathway.

"Now, now, Rage" Dark Thunder chuckled "Anypony who's a research-o-holic like our little purple friend here would go crazy for a place like this. Think of it; the tame monsters, their lifestyle and what they eat can all be seen up-close. It's an egghead's dream..."

"Hey!" the purple maned mare stopped jumping, making Pinkie Pie bump into her, causing her to tumble down and break into a laughing fit "I'm not an egghead! Who are you, my friend Rainbow Dash?"

"You know Rainbow Dash, the Dual Wind?" the light blue Pegasus asked "She's infamous for her Dual Air Spin, able to cut through a monster's hide in a single cut!"

"I'm guessing you're a fan?" Twilight asked him.

"Here's an example... He has several plush dolls of her, along with a pillow in the shape of her, multiple pictures of her on his bedroom's walls, and a multicoloured wig."

"D-Dark!" blushed Rage "You said you'd never say that to anypony!"

"Ah, yes, but I never Pinkie Promised" the ash grey Unicorn smiled devilishly, gaining Pinkie's attention.

"You didn't Pinkie Promise?!" she got up close to him with a cartoonishly elongated neck "That's one of the fastest ways to lose your friends! YOU WILL PAY WITH YOUR LIFE!!!"

"No, no, no, NO, NO, NOOOOOO!!!!!!" the stallion yelled out before getting tackled by the very angry party mare. Twilight took the sleeping body of Butter Hero with her magic before she and Rage Quit did nothing but watch the two fight it out. They soon began to laugh a bit at how silly the purpose of the fight was.

"So, do you actually have plush dolls of Rainbow Dash?" the lavender mare giggled a bit.

"Y-Yeah..." the light blue stallion blushed a bit in embarrassment "I have a lot of the stuff is in storage now. Ever since Unity got pregnant and had all those mood-swings, she thought I'd leave her for Rainbow, so I had to hide all my stuff away."

"Remind me never to have kids, okay?" Twilight asked him with a smile.

"I'll be sure to..." Rage laughed as he watched the two other ponies fought it out in a cloud of smoke and dust.

XXXXXX

At long last, Dracoville was only metres away from the team. The town was not so large as it had only seven wood plank houses and a stone town hall. However, what it lacked in housing it made up for in fields. As far as the eye could see, there were green groves filled with tamed monsters, including some Great Jaggies, a very young Basarios, and, surprisingly, a sleeping Rathian. Twilight immediately ran towards the field with a look of excitement plastered upon her muzzle.

"Look at them all!" she gushed "So many research possibilities!"

"Slow down there, Twilight" Dark, who had a few scratches over his body, spoke "We still have to get Butter over to the infirmary."

"I understand" she nodded "Family comes before research... no matter how tempting the latter may be..."

XXXXXX

They had gotten the young yellow Pegasus over to the rather small hospital and laid him on one of the beds in the recovery room. After waiting for a while, a female doctor with a white coat and a green mane with a nurse's cap on emerged from the room and sighed at the four patiently awaiting ponies. They all perked up and looked to her position to hear what news she had to offer.

"The patient suffers from severe burns on his back legs" she explained "He also suffers from minor burns all over his body, but those are curable. What I'm truly concerned about is his back legs though..."

"They're just severe burns, right?" Dark asked hesitantly "They're curable, right? Right?!"

"Mr. Thunder, please calm yourself!" the doctor shushed him, calming him down "Yes, his leg burns are treatable, but that's not what worries me. What worries me is how badly his legs have cracked. Aside from the burns, the tissue has large bite marks in it. Something extremely powerful bit into him and completely crushed his both tibia and fibula on each of his legs, making them untreatable."

"No..." Twilight gasped.

"I'm not very good at anatomy, doctor" the ash grey Unicorn said "Can you tell me what the hell that means for my little brother?"

"Dark Thunder," the doctor sighed "this means Butter Hero will never be able to walk on his hind legs again..."

Nopony in the room said anything. They were all either saddened or shocked by this news. Even Pinkie Pie stayed silent. After a while, Dark let out a deep breath as if to get all of his anger and sadness out of his body before he lightly pushed past the doctor and entered his younger brother's room. As he closed the door behind him, the doctor turned back to the other ponies.

"I think it would be best if you left them be for the time being" she suggested "It would be the nicest, and wisest thing to do."

The remaining three ponies nodded and walked/limped away out of the hospital.

XXXXXX

Dark Thunder entered his brother's room to see that he was already awake and sitting up, playing with a ball. He showed a mixture of both sadness and boredom on his face as he bounced the rubbery ball back and forth between the wall and his hoof. Eventually, he threw it too softly and the ball didn't reach him to allow him to bounce it back. He sighed and laid back onto his bed. This was when he noticed his brother and sighed again.

"If you keep sighing, we'll have to call you Mr. Sigh" he tried to joke with his younger brother, trying to lighten up the mood "How're you feeling?"

"Take a guess..." Butter said sadly.

"...I warned you, didn't I?" Dark asked, to which the young yellow stallion nodded "And now you know. I guess some lessons really are learned the hard way..."

"But now I'll never be able to become a hunter" Butter Hero sighed once again "Look at me; I have two broken legs and the doctor says I'll never be able to walk!" he began to cry "I'll never be a great Monster Hunter like you, or dad, or grandad..."

"Maybe..." the ash grey Pegasus said with a sad smile "...maybe you were never meant to."

"...what do you mean?" the younger brother sniffed.

"Just look at your cutie mark..." Dark opened up his bed sheets to show not only his horribly burned and bitten legs, but also his cutie mark, which was a cooking bowl with a wooden spoon and some butter in it "Kind of a big difference between cooking and monster hunting, wouldn't you say?"

"B-But... the line of hunters..."

"Butter, just because you deviate from a long line doesn't mean you can't live your life" the elder brother patted his brother on the back "I'll be honest, when I heard you'd be a cook and not a Monster Hunter, I was sad that you wouldn't be fighting alongside me. So, I smuggled you into training and you became a hunter regardless. But when I saw why fate chose you to be a cook on the battlefield, I was beginning to think maybe fate was right."

"Don't remind me..." Butter scoffed with a small smile, showing Dark that he was cheering up a bit.

"The point is, the reason you were failing and why your legs are now broken was because you just weren't cut out for fighting monsters" the ash grey stallion said before patting his little bro on the back again "But something tells me you'll be a great chef. Your dishes taste amazing! Imagine what power-ups you could give to hunters before they went out on a hunt! You could make a nation-wide business and become famous!"

"All for the cost of my legs..." the yellow Pegasus let out the truth of the matter. Dark sighed before giving his brother a kind smile.

"Lemme tell you something..." he said "Not everything is sunshine and rainbows out there. Life will beat you to your knees if you let it, and nothing will ever hit harder than life. But it's not about how hard you're hit; it's about how hard you can GET hit, and keep moving forward."

"What are you trying to say?" Butter asked.

"What I mean is, well," the ash grey stallion took a deep breath in and out "Just because you have a problem with your legs now doesn't mean that it'll stop you. In fact, I think this injury will push you forward to greater heights."

"You really think so?"

"Bro, I know so."

Butter began to tear up again. Only this time, it was of happiness. He reached over the best he could and gave his older brother a hug. Dark Thunder wasted no time in hugging back.

"I-I-I'm s-so s-s-sorry..." the young Pegasus cried.

"There, there..." the elder stallion hushed his little brother in his front hooves.

XXXXXX

Night had fallen over the village, and Twilight, now with her armour off, was in the guild's guest room sitting at a desk next to a window, looking at her crescent-shaped Gore Magala scale that she made into a necklace. With her room's lamp and the reading glasses so graciously provided to her by the guild, she looked at the scale's textures. She ran a hoof over it and felt the hardness and roughness of it. As rough as the top was, the bottom was extremely soft, meaning it could shed off at any time whilst still on the dark dragon.

As she continued to study the scale, she heard knocking at her door, which startled her a bit. Nonetheless, she took off her glasses, put them and the scale down and went to answer the door. Behind it was a familiar light blue Pegasus.

"Hey" Rage Quit greeted "Any luck in finding anything out about the scale?"

"...no" Twilight sighed "The scale looks like any other scale, besides its unique shape and softer underside."

"Well, there's two things right there!" he laughed a bit "Why not work off of those things, and maybe you'll find something. Then again, it's not exactly the easiest thing to do to learn about a monster with just one scale..."

"I'm not getting more, if that's what you're saying" the lavender mare shook her head with a chuckled.

"Wha- No!" the brown maned stallion was taken aback "Alright, lemme say this then: maybe the scale has more in it than just looking pretty. Maybe it has something you can't see without tampering around with it."

"You think so?" the purple maned Unicorn asked.

"Eh, who knows" Rage Quit smiled before walking away "I'm just a guy who hunts monsters. See ya!"

Twilight closed the door and looked back at the scale resting on her table. She let out a sigh as she thought what she could do with a seemingly useless object. Somehow, someway, she had to discover the scale's secrets so she could eventually defeat the Gore Magala and bring peace not only to Ponyville, but to the entire land of Equestria. She walked over, turned off her light and was about to go to bed when something caught her eye. In the window shone down the moon, and in the light of the lunar object in the sky, the scale lit up and became near transparent. This raised the lavender mare's curiosity by a thousand fold.

"Interesting..." Twilight analysed as she watched the scale glow "But what does moonlight have to do with the-"

She never even finished her sentence before the scale suddenly and violently exploded, destroying the desk and anything on it. She screamed in shock, waking the entire village and a few of the nearby monsters in the fields up. Pinkie suddenly burst in her room holding her heavy bowgun and looked around frantically.

"WHO'S HERE?! I swear if it's another monkey again... darn those primates..."

"P-Pinkie!" Twilight looked at her friend and sighed in relief "Thank god you're here..."

"Who was it, Twilight?!" she asked in a concerning tone "Was it pirates? Aliens? Monsters?!"

"Pinkie, it wasn't anything, I'm fine..." the lavender mare began laughing a bit before looking at the now wrecked scale "But I think I figured out the Gore Magala's weakness..."

XXXXXX

The next day, Twilight, still with her armour off, had spent most of it running and frolicking in the monster fields for her study. From the elders, she learned a lot about each and ever monster they had to show, including the Rathian and a powerful Tigrex. She even found out it was possible for different species of monsters to breed with each other, creating an entirely new species. After a while, Twilight decided to ask a question that had been on her mind for quite a while.

"Elder..." the Unicorn got the attention of an old and scrawny, dull red Earth Pony mare showing her around the place.

"Yes dear?" the elder turned to the lavender mare with a smile.

"Have you ever heard of a monster known as the Gore Magala?"

"Gore Magala, Gore Magala..." the old mare pondered for a second "I can't say that I have, dear." Twilight let out a sigh of disappointment "However, that last name you said... Magala, was it? That I have heard of."

"You heard... wait, what?" Twilight was confused as to how the elder knew of the last name, but not the first.

"You must've heard by now that we worship a monster here as our god, correct?" the old Earth Pony asked, to which Twilight nodded "Well, it is known as the Shagaru Magala, and since the dawn of time it has brought this village prosperity and peace. However, in a much darker time, it was known to ponies as the lord of all, the king of beasts and the bringer of ruin. It was a creature to be feared, but one day a legendary hero came and slayed the creature and giving the world each a piece of its hide. We worship that old hide now in the centre of the village."

"Interesting..." the lavender mare wondered "So there was another species of Gore Magala called the Shagaru Magala? Was it more powerful than what I'm dealing with now?"

Before the elder could answer, an alarm was sounded, scaring many of the monsters away. The elder simply sighed and began walking back to the guild.

"Wait, what does that siren mean?"

"The Changelings got in... again..." the elder rolled her eyes in annoyance "They're more of a pest now than an actual threat. They're probably taking something back to their camp for their hunter slaves."

"Do you think I should go after them?" Twilight asked.

"If you so wish..." the old mare spoke "Not much of a bother to do so, but what do I know about you foals these days?"

Twilight knew that whatever the Changelings stole, they would use it for something dastardly. She saw the evil glint in Chrysalis's eyes when she stared at them. She was planning something big. The question was, what was it?

Author's Note

And there you have it! This chapter was more about character study than actual battles. But I promise you that more battles will be in the next chapter! Sorry that it's short, but at least it's sweet.

Butter is out of commission, but he's finally learned his lesson and found where he was supposed to be. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you...

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!! :pinkiehappy: :rainbowkiss: :twilightsmile: :ajsmug: :raritystarry: :fluttershyouch:

Write down in the comments what monsters you want to have seen in the story!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow me, and until then, happy hunting!

Finally, thank you all so much for over 2000 views! This is amazing! You guys have done so much for this story, I don't even know what to say! Thank you! :twilightsmile:

[Act 4] (Chapter 5) Critical Power

Twilight immediately rushed over to the recently raided guild and saw shattered glass spread all around the floor and a bit outside as well. She carefully tread around the glass as to not cut her hooves and rushed over to the young, pale red coated and green maned Unicorn Guildmaster to see if he was hurt. He was lying on the ground, covered in his own blood, but after checking his pulse, the lavender Unicorn noted that he was fine.

"Thank the gods..." she sighed as a relived smile appeared on her face "I don't know him too well, but something tells me if this Guildmaster dies, the entire Equestrian system breaks down, and them I'm blamed for it, and it all goes full circle again..."

"...uh... huh...?" the Guildmaster awoke from his slumber "Wha- oh... the Changelings... They got away with it..."

"Hey, hey, try and focus, okay?" Twilight shook the stallion "What did the the Changelings take? What did Chrysalis take?"

"Sh-She took the... the... relic..." was all the pale red Unicorn could say before drifting off into unconsciousness again.

"The relic?" wondered the lavender hunter "I'll have to ask somepony about this..."

XXXXXX

Dark and Butter had slept in the same room the night prior. The elder stallion couldn't bear to leave his injured brother alone that night. He would need all the comfort and company he could get. Suddenly, the ash grey Unicorn heard a knocking at the door of the recovery room. He got up from the floor where he slept and went to answer it, only to find Twilight looking at him with a face of interest.

"Dark, have you heard anything about a relic here before?" she asked curiously.

"The relic? It wasn't stolen, was it?" he asked concernedly, to which the lavender mare nodded slowly "Oh... This isn't good, um... You ever hear the elder ramble on about a Shagaru Magala scale?" she nodded again "Well, that's your relic for you. It was being cared for in the guild as of this time. I suppose the captors thought it would be easier to snag it when nopony was around. Who was it, by the way?"

"Take a wild guess" Twilight deadpanned.

"Oh..." the ash grey stallion sighed.

"Chrysalis has no idea what she's dealing with" the lavender Unicorn spoke in a worried tone "Please tell me that scale can't corrupt any monsters around it anymore!"

"I-I'm sorry, Twilight" he said, raising his voice a bit "I don't know!"

This last loud sentence awoke the sleeping Butter Hero behind the elder brother. He yawned and sat up in his bed, looking straight at the two and smiling.

"Good morning... I think?" he wondered "How long have I been asleep?"

"You couldn't have better timing, Butter" Dark said with a small smile "The scale was taken by the Changelings."

"It was WHAT?!" the yellow Pegasus shouted "What could they want with it anyway?"

"My guess is that they want to use it to awaken something" the ash grey Unicorn grimly spoke "The scale still holds a tremendous amount of power within it. Imagine what they could do with it if they used it correctly."

"And now imagine what they could do if they didn't..." Twilight sighed "I have to stop them! If that scale really does have unimaginable power, I fear what could happen to the Badlands, or even Equestria for that matter. Kind of makes you wonder why the elder wasn't all that concerned..."

"Because she's old" Butter chuckled a bit before becoming more serious "But you're right. That scale needs to be brought back. And I think I can help you with that..."

"Butter, didn't we just-" Dark spoke before being interrupted by his younger brother.

"Not like that, I swear!" the yellow Pegasus assured his elder sibling "What I meant to say was that, since I'm going to be a cook and I'm fairly good at preparing meals, I could give Twilight a boost in strength."

"Not a bad idea" the male Unicorn nodded his head in acceptance "It's always a good idea to eat before going out onto a hunt. My and Rage's mentor, ProJared, taught us that a long time ago. In fact, back when-"

"Sorry, Dark, but are you guys going to save the scale now?" spoke Rage Quit who had entered the door and heard everything "You have a tenancy to ramble on."

"R-Right..." Dark Thunder nodded before turning to Butter Hero "Wanna hop out of bed then?"

XXXXXX

The four ponies walked over the village's canteen after putting Butter in a wheeled stand for his back legs. The canteen itself was a decently sized, canoe-shaped building filled with chairs and tables currently exhibiting no life bustling through them. All around designated food court were several restaurants that specialized in different things, such as one specialized in rice and eggs, while another did bread and milk. Slowly, the yellow Pegasus trotted his way over to a seemingly abandoned restaurant with a picture of his cutie mark hanging overhead it. He looked up at the sign and smiled.

"Never thought I'd ever use this place again" he chuckled before turning his head towards the other ponies "Could you three help me get behind the counter?"

"Sure thing, little bro" Dark Thunder nodded before walking over and lifting his younger sibling and his wheel stand with his magic and levitated them behind the counter separating the kitchen in the back and the food court before releasing him. That's when Butter smiled and began to work his magic on the ingredients present. Chopping onions and quickly slicing cheese with the knife in his left wing, he prepared a dish for the two hunters in-shape for hunting. He added some spices, added the final touch of parsley on each of the dishes, and served them to the lavender mare and the ash grey stallion.

"My personal recipe" he smiled "Eat up! If I'm right, this should increase your stamina and defense, as well as give you the Felyne Firestarter ability, decreasing fire damage by half."

Twilight took one bite of the meal and instantly fell in love with the heavenly taste. It was slightly spicy with a hint of garlic and onion, but the cheese cooled it down, resulting in the perfect blend of succulent flavours. After her little bliss moment, the lavender Unicorn gobbled her food down faster than a speeding Zinogre until there was nothing left. A flash of light enveloped her, and she felt a lot stronger than before.

"That was the most incredible thing I've ever had in my life!" the female Unicorn exclaimed "I feel like I can take on ten Rathalos at the same time!"

"Hmm... Maybe my food was a little bit too good..." skeptically spoke Butter before turning to his brother, who had also finished his meal "And what did you think of it, Dark?"

"Delicious as always" he smiled "See now why you'd be better as a cook?"

"Yeah, I guess I have a knack for it..." the yellow Pegasus blushed with a small smile "Now, are you guys ready to-"

"WAAAAAAAAIIIIIIITTTTTTT!!!!!" shouted another voice from the other side of the food court. All four of the ponies looked over to see a certain pink mare bounce on over to the restaurant "You forgot about me!" she said once she got there.

"Wait, you're going too?" the chef asked Pinkie Pie.

"Well duh!" she giggled "Nopony is as good a sniper than me! I'm the best sniper in all of Equestria!" she giggled again "I sounded a bit like Rainbow Dash there. I wonder if that's what she would have said if she wanted a heavy bowgun instead of dual blades... Yeah, it probably was! In wonder if she'd still say it! Would she? Probably! Or maybe not. I dunno, I'm completely clueless! Well, not completely clueless, but you get my point. Just in case you don't, I meant that-"

"YES, WE GET IT!" the three stallions present shouted at the bubbly mare.

"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie jumped up and down with a smile.

XXXXXX

After waiting for Pinkie to finish her meal, the three able ponies had armored up and begun to prepare themselves for the upcoming battle against the Changeling rogue hunters. Dark had sharpened his longsword to its fullest potential, Pinkie had loaded her heavy bowgun with as many bullets as possible as well as filled her bag with shells and bombs, and Twilight stocked up on as many potions as she could carry in her bag. For some reason, she could only carry ten potions and ten mega potions. She shrugged this off as limited storage space.

As the lavender mare was organizing her items in her room, she felt something land on her back. Terrified, she turned around to see what horrors would befall her poor soul. She expected the worse, but the second she saw the object that landed on her she let out a sigh of relief. On her back was her missing Kinsect that found its way to her.

"I was wondering where you'd gone off to" she smiled as she petted her bug helper "Please tell me you got somepony to help us on our journey."

The Kinsect stood still with blankness on its face before facepalming itself with one of its legs. Twilight did the same to herself with her right hoof.

"So, you took all that time to try and find me without alerting the princess?" she asked her purple bug, to which it nodded in sorrow "Aww, don't be sad. That was really sweet of you..." she gave a light peck on the bug's cheek as a thank you to it. It then began to blush before tilting over onto the ground and fainting.

"Twilight, you ready to go?" an armored up Dark Thunder said as he entered her room and saw the purple Kinsect on the floor "Umm... What is that?"

"This?" she questioned as she kicked the fainted insect "It came with my insect glaive. I lost him a little while ago, but he's here now. If you're wondering what it does, it-"

"And I'll just stop you right there" the ash grey Unicorn smiled a bit "Let's face it, Twilight; you're going to go full-on nerd on me if I let you continue talking."

"H-Hey!" Twilight shouted.

"Now hurry up!" he spoke with a smile "We'll waste time in getting that scale back the more we ponder around."

"R-Right..." the lavender hunter nodded "Just let me get something, okay?"

"Don't take too long!" Dark called down from the hallway.

Twilight sighed before walking over to her desk. With her magic, she pulled out the drawer to reveal the crescent-shaped black scale of the Gore Magala that had recently exploded, still attached to the string that went around her neck. However, the scale was no longer destroyed. In fact, it was no longer black. It was now very pale, as if it was nothing more than dead skin. The purple maned mare took out the scale and placed it around her neck. She picked up her glaive and her Kinsect and placed them both on her back before heading out to retrieve the relic scale stolen by the Changelings.

XXXXXX

After fully stocking their healing items, sharpening their tools and saying goodbye to the ponies of Dracoville, including Rage Quit and Butter Hero; Twilight, Dark and Pinkie began their journey back into the Badlands. However, it wasn't until later on in their journey when Twilight remembered something extremely important.

"Wait, how are we going to find their base?" she asked, stopping the other two ponies in their tracks. They looked right at her before letting out a sigh of realization. They couldn't go back to Dracoville now, not when the Shagaru Magala scale was still at large and in the hooves of the Changelings.

"Well, what do you want us to do?" Dark asked "We can't go back home, we can't set a trap... Any ideas?"

"I have an idea!" Pinkie exclaimed "Why don't we let somepony get captured?"

"Pinkie..." the lavender Unicorn sighed "I've known you for a long time. Remember all those times you tried to get me into hunting monsters? The time we we chased away by a nest of Remobra? The time we nearly got burned by a Rathalos? How about the time we nearly got rammed by a Diablos? What I'm trying to say is... You're crazy, I understand that. But this is absolutely insane!"

"Aww, cheer up, silly!" the bouncy Earth Pony jumped up and down "This plan can't fail!"

"And how?"

"...How well can you fit in ropes?"

XXXXXX

Twilight lay in the scorching heat of both the sun and the lava around her, tied up in ropes supplied by her pink friend. Her skin was sweating and her face showed an expression of exhaustion and crossness. She was chosen to be the hostage, and she wasn't happy.

"Ahhhh. Help me. I'm so scared..." she deadpanned, trying her best to act whilst she was angry at her friends.

"A little more enthusiastic than that, Twi?" the ash grey stallion hiding behind a rock shouted.

"Oh, sorry, I'm trying" she called back sarcastically "It's just that I'm really angry that I was bound up by my friends and left in the blazing heat to be captured by bug ponies."

"Sorry about that!" Pinkie Pie apologized from behind the same rock as Dark.

"Fine, fine, I forgive you..." Twilight sighed before trying to act a little better "Ahem... SOMEPONY!! PLEASE!! HELP ME!!"

As if on cue, two Changeling riding on Iopreys and wearing leather armour approached the scene. They saw the tied up lavender mare immediately and smirked at their new prey.

"Look, and unsuspecting new hunter..." hissed one of them with a grin.

"I see her, I see her..." the other laughed "Let's take her back to our boss and see what she thinks."

"Good idea!" the first nodded before they got off their mounts "Great minds think alike!"

"Fools seldom differ..." Twilight giggled to herself. The two bug ponies approached the tied-up mare and picked her up, bringing her back to the Ioprey and attaching her to the side of one of them. They finally mounted the raptor-like monsters before taking off back to their base. As soon as they did, Dark and Pinkie poked their heads out from behind the rock and smiled.

"Is the paintball on Twilight tracking her?" Dark asked the pink Earth Pony.

"Like a radar" she smirked as she looked at her map.

"You know, I never understood how those maps worked" the ash grey Unicorn wondered "Is it magic maybe?"

"Oh silly, it can't be magic" Pinkie laughed "In the real game, there's no such thing as magic, so players instead just use a map system to the side of their screen to track their prey!"

"Um... What?"

"Oh, just ask the reader. Maybe he or she knows something" she turned her head toward the reader of the story "Right guys? Have you always wondered how that works? Place it down in the comment section below and tell me your ideas!"

"Pinkie Pie, you are so random..." Dark Thunder rolled his eyes.

XXXXXX

After a grueling and bumpy ride through the Badlands, the two Changelings and Ioprey plus one lavender Unicorn entered a small cave entrance that lead into a massive collections of caverns and tunnels, almost like a beehive. The bug pony guards wasted no time in throwing Twilight into a prison cell all by herself. She hoped that her friends would get there sooner rather than later; she didn't exactly want to spend any more than five minutes in that cell.

Fortunately, or unfortunately for her, a certain tall Changeling wearing female leather armour approached Twilight with a huge grin on her face. She looked down at the still tied up pony in her Lagiacrus armour and glaive on her back before laughing.

"Well, well, well" she spoke "Look what the Nargacuga dragged back in. You're in big trouble, little missy. Running away and helping others to do so as well? Tsk, tsk, little one. I'll have to give you the ultimate punishment."

"W-What are you going to do?" the Unicorn stuttered in slight fear.

"You're going to be facing off against the ruler of the Badlands in a one-on-one battle to the death!" laughed the Changeling leader before turning slightly more serious "In another sense, I'm going to execute you. I'll even even out the odds of you winning by letting you use your armour and weapon. Not that they'll help you much, now that we have the relic."

"No! You can't use the-"

"Relic? Oh, how little you know..." smiled Chrysalis "Did you really never consider the fact that maybe I might know a thing or two about the Shagaru Magala scale? It's ability to corrupt anything it touches? What a truly devastating object... Just imagine a Shagaru Magala in Equestria! Even I would shudder at that thought... Nonetheless, you'll be on in five!" she began to walk away "Don't forget to do your hair so you can get eaten pretty! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"What could she possibly have in store for me?" wondered Twilight "An Elder Dragon? No, even she couldn't wrangle something like that. So then what's the next most powerful thing in the-" a realization struck her harder than a freight train "Oh no..."

XXXXXX

The hour came when Twilight was dragged off by two Changelings by her front hooves to face her inevitable doom. She sighed before thinking back on life and how good it was until this moment. There was a small chance that she could keep it away until her friends got there, but she could never hope to defeat what she thought Chrysalis had in store for her.

The three entered the arena, already filled with countless Changeling guards and families cheering like mad. Remembering from watching Star Wars, she noted it looked a lot like the Geonosian arena from episode two, grand viewing stand, gates around the arena, pillars and all. Speaking of which, the grand viewing stand was currently taken up by the queen herself. As soon as the two guards dragging Twilight pushed her to the sandy floor of the arena, the tall bug pony began to speak.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts!" she cried out "Welcome to the 1000th annual Monster VS Hunter live show!" the crowd went wild before calming back down again to let their queen speak "Yes, that's right! One-thousand years we've been doing this, and for that I'm going to put on one heck of a show for you all! Today, we have the hunter known as Twilight Sparkle, a hunter from Princess Celestia herself! Twilight, do you have anything to say before your untimely doom?"

A jumbo screen came down from the top of the stadium and projected Twilight's image on it. Looking around, she saw that a Changeling newscast with a camera and microphone was near her. The one with the microphone approached her and put the object right next to her muzzle.

"Um..." was all she could say.

"And there you have it, everypony!" Chrysalis spoke again with a smile as the crowd around her laughed "Our great hunter's last word is 'um'! How pathetic... Well, I'm sure you want to meet our current champion, right?" the Changelings went berserk in cheering "Well, how can I say no to that? Fillies and Gentlecolts, I present to you, the Earl of Explosions, the Dark Blue Devil, the Supreme Slime Successor who's already succeeded, none other than..."

The gates opened up in front of the lavender mare now cowering in place as she shakily brought out her insect glaive and let her Kinsect fly around her. It too hid behind Twilight and watched as the large doors swung open. At first, nothing happened. However, a faint stomping could be heard slowly getting louder and louder. Eventually, a large, bipedal, dark blue dragon-like monster stepped out from the shadows of the gated cavern. Its body was rocky and it had a huge horn on its head covered in green slime. Its two arms shaped like fists were also covered in slime and its tail was hexagonal pointed. Its eyes glowed red as it stared at the trembling Unicorn and her buggy helper. It let out a ferocious roar and spattered some of its slime to its sides, eventually hardening and exploding.

"...THE BRACHYDIOS!!" the Changeling queen finally shouted after a dramatic pause. The rows and rows of Changeling watchers cheered at the sight of their champion roaring and preparing to face off against Twilight. Said lavender hunter did nothing but stare at the incredibly powerful monster. She had taken on a Zinogre, a Lagiacrus, and two Elder Dragons, but nothing could compare to the Brachydios. Its power was only matched by the Deviljho, and that scared her. Just what powers could lie within this brute wyvern.

Then, things took a turn for the worse.

"It gets better, my hive!" the queen of the Changelings held up something golden and sparkly with her green magic "This is Dracoville's relic, an ancient item that corrupts any living tissue it touches, increasing its strength! Now what would happen if I placed it on the Brachydios's chest?"

"NO!!" Twilight shouted out, but it was too late. The tall bug pony levitated the scale down onto the slime dragon's chest and firmly inserted it in. This caused the beast to go berserk and flail around its arm, spraying the explosive slime all over the floor of the arena. Then, it just stopped and bowed its head, its arms going limp and its eyes closing.

"Interesting..." Chrysalis said with an eyebrow raised "I thought the legendary scale of the Shagaru Magala would-"

The bug queen never even got a chance to finish her sentence before the Brachydios opened its now glowing green eyes. Purple smoke slowly resonated from the eyes and the slime on its horn turned from light green to purple in a near instant. It raised its head to reveal the scale glowing proudly in its chest, cracking the skin around it and allowing golden light to seep through. It let out a bellowing roar, and Twilight noted its cry sounded more like a Gore Magala than anything else now. It was like a whole new monster.

It turned its attention to Twilight before roaring once again. This was it; the time the lavender mare had to summon up her courage and face the monster. She took a deep breath in and out before levitating her glaive at the now transformed monster. It ran straight at her as if it held no amount of intelligence within its brain. Of course, Twilight was able to run underneath it and slice its underside. However, as she turned back from the slide to see the beast in pain, she only stared danger right in the face. Her attack was payed no mind to the slime dragon and it stuck its horn in the ground before lifting it back up and causing a line of explosions to head toward the Unicorn, hitting her and sending her flying against the now closed gate the monster came out of.

"AHHRRGGG!!" she cried out in pain before getting back up and facing the monster "O-Ow... M-Mustn't give u-up..."

"What power! What strength!" Chrysalis laughed "Looks like our little hero isn't going to live much longer! Not in the state she's in now! AHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Twilight believed this. The combined power of the Shagaru Magala scale and the Brachydios's raw power were too much for her to handle. Just as she was about to give up, a bullet shell hit the monster's left eye, blinding it permanently on that side. Twilight saw the beast go insane from the hit and looked up to see that Pinkie Pie had sniped it from a vantage point.

"Never missed a shot!" she smiled happily.

"W-What?!" the Changeling queen shouted in shock "That's cheating!"

"Says the pony that infused a monster with the Shagaru Magala scale" said a smirking voice behind her. She turned around to see Dark Thunder had found his way onto the platform and had his longsword at the ready with his magic.

"How did you-"

"I sneaked in. It wasn't all that hard. Your guards were pushovers."

"You little..."

"Twilight!" the ash grey Unicorn called down "I've got bug bites over here! You and Pinkie deal with that Brachie!"

"Aye, aye!" Twilight nodded before turning her attention back to the monster in question. It has gotten over the loss of its eye and turned to face the lavender mare again, angrier than ever. However, for some reason, Twilight didn't feel scared. Having her friends fight alongside her was a comforting feeling, and it helped her face off against the monster.

"Twi, distract it for me pretty please?" the pink mare lining her next shot up yelled down.

"You got it Pinkie!" the purple maned Unicorn nodded and shouted back. She sent her Kinsect to buzz around its head and make its arms flail around, trying to get the bug away from itself. This gave Pinkie a clear shot at the monster's body, so she loaded her heavy bowgun with Pierce Lv3 ammo and fired away. The blast from all of the five shots fired was so powerful, it knocked the Brachydios over and gave Twilight a chance to mount it. She jumped on its horn just before it got up and began stabbing away at it. The slime beast tried to shake her off with a wide array of spastic movements, but couldn't before she broke its horn off and forced it to the ground again, where Twilight had an easy chance of attack.

Dark had already begun his duel with Chrysalis's Brachydios dual blades. The three swords clashed with sparks and slime flying everywhere, some harmless specks getting on the two's clothes.

"You can't fight forever!" the tall queen laughed.

"Look at me!" the ash grey Unicorn smirked, pointing at his armour "I think I've defeated a few Brachydios in my time. What makes you think I can't step on a little bug, eh?"

"Enough! I grow tired of this battle!" Chrysalis swung her blades down onto Dark at the same time, resulting in him being disarmed and her knocking him to the side over the edge of the viewing platform "Hmm... How weak... Now to finish off that little brat of a hunter."

Twilight attacked the Brachydios's head as much as she could with her sharp glaive before she was forced to back off from its awaking body. Just before Pinkie got another shot onto the slime monster, Chrysalis jumped onto its back and began riding it around.

"Chrysalis, no!" Dark shouted as he ran to Twilight's side "It's too dangerous! You'll get killed!"

"So long as I can kill you, I couldn't care less what happens to me!" she laughed, her pupils dilated to the size of pin pricks "You will all be crushed by the power of the Brachydio-"

The Changeling queen never even finished her sentence before the mounted Brachydios shook her off onto the floor and slammed its arms around her area, leaving behind several large globs of slime that slowly hardened over time. Chrysalis looked around her and panicked.

"Oh no..." was the last thing she said before the slime around her exploded and effectively killed her, sending her green blood and remaining body part all over the place, much to the disgust of Twilight. The rest of the Changelings gasped at the loss of their queen before running out of the arena in a panic.

"Ew..." she said before calling out to her friends around her "Okay, important safety tip everypony: don't get any slime on you."

The two others never even got a chance to say anything before the Brachydios roared its terrifying cry. Twilight knew there had too be a way to finish this off faster. She looked around and, low and behold, a Dragonator was positioned facing diagonally downwards above the entrance she went through to enter the arena. She smiled as the plan formed in her head. She turned to call the monster over.

"Hey you!" she shouted as she slowly backed away from it, getting its attention "Over here!"

The beast slowly followed her and attempted to crush her with its slime-infused fists as it did so, which Twilight fortunately managed to dodge. Finally, the Brachydios was right under the Dragonator, but then the lavender mare remembered she had no idea where the activation button was. However, she saw the Dragonator fly out and drill into the slime dragon's chest where the scale was infused. The giant drill eventually shattered the relic and pierced its heart, letting purple blood loose. It let out a final roar of agony before slumping down onto the ground and dying.

(Stop music)

"We did it!" Twilight beamed in joy "I can't believe we actually defeated the Brachydios! But, the relic..."

"Twilight, don't feel down" Dark came over to her and patted her on the back "I'd actually rather have that thing destroyed rather than have it fall into the wrong hands. You dun good, kid."

"That was super-duper-awesome-spectacular Twilight!" Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared beside the lavender pony, surprising both her and the ash grey Unicorn "You were all like 'Raaaah!' and he was all like 'Grrrr', but then I shot the button overhead the big spiny thingie and it came out and killed it!"

"You mean...?" the female Unicorn looked above her and saw the button her eyes totally missed "Oh... heheh..."

"Well, that doesn't matter now" Dark proudly said "Now, all I want is to go home and enjoy one of my brother's meals, as well as enjoy spending time with him WITHOUT having to worry about rogue hunters."

"Right, lead the way!" Twilight nodded before all three of them began walking out of the arena.

(Music stop)

XXXXXX

Deep below the floor of the arena laid a great beast of fire. Its force so powerful, it tainted the very seas around it. Its power so great it has long been considered the creator of the world and the bringer of Armageddon. It lay still, like a dormant volcano awaiting a spark to set it back to life. That spark just so happened to be the remains of the scale recently shattered...

Author's Note

No, this act isn't over yet. There's still one more thing to do...

OH MY GOD!! I'm so sorry for taking so long!! :applecry: :pinkiesad2: :raritydespair: :fluttercry:

If you want more details on why I was so late, check out my most recent blog post and comment your thoughts there. Seriously, this one is important. Well, I made up the time gap with my greatest chapter yet! Hope you enjoyed!

Put in the comments below what monsters you want to have seen in the story!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow me, and until then, happy hunting!

[Act 4] (Chapter 6) Dire Circumstances

The rest of the hive had been absolutely abandoned since the queen's demise. Where the Changelings went and how they were faring were honestly of little concern to the three ponies as they happily walked out of the base. They had defeated a corrupted Brachydios, destroyed the Shagaru Magala scale and killed Chrysalis (though she really killed herself). Little could ruin this joyous day. They had already drunken some of their potions to heal up from the battle, and they felt as if they could take on anything now.

As they walked through the halls of the tinted red rock, Pinkie Pie began to feel twitchy all over her body. Her spasm went all over the place until she eventually stopped and took as many deep breaths as she could. After her little moment, she turned to the shocked and worried faces of Twilight and Dark Thunder.

"That means something very strong is gonna be here soon!" the pink mare exclaimed in worry "Oh no, oh no, oh no! We're not ready! We don't have enough potions! We've already used some of our cool drinks! Our weapons aren't at full sharpness! We-"

"Pinkie, calm down!" the lavender Unicorn present spoke up "How big are we talking about here?"

"Super-duper-elder-dragon big!" Pinkie shouted in fear.

"Oh, don't worry about it Pinkie" smiled Twilight "I've already taken on a few Elder Dragons in the time I've been a hunter. How bad could this one possibly be?"

Suddenly, a hissing puff of steam came out from the floor right beside the purple maned hunter, causing her to yelp and jump right onto Dark's back. The ash grey stallion smiled at this.

"Y'know Twilight, if you wanted to get this close to me, you could have just asked..." he snickered a bit, causing the lavender mare to get off of him immediately and blush angrily.

"O-On a more serious note, what caused that puff of steam?" she wondered "This mountain is too far into the Badlands to have water in it... What kind of Elder Dragon has the power to create steam?"

"Ohhhhhhh..." Dark finally realized what Pinkie was talking about "Yeah, it might be a good idea to run now..."

"Why?" Twilight asked "Is it really that b-"

The purple maned hunter never even got a chance to finish her sentence before she was lifted by the male Unicorn's magic and levitated off with him and the pink mare joining them.

"You've never had to see one, Twilight!" panicked Pinkie Pie "They're big, ferocious, scary, and they're terrible bakers!"

"Well, would you do me the honour of reminding me what kind of monster we're dealing with here?" the lavender Unicorn deadpanned as she was carried along with the running group "I'm sure once somepony says its name, we can all stop panicking and-"

A loud stomping sound stopped Twilight from speaking further. Following it was another stomp, followed by another, and then another. The sounds we getting closer and closer to the fleeing party, and showed no signs of ceasing. The corridor behind them began to crumble away, being replaced with a burning hot, rocky body covered in lava. Suddenly, Twilight knew exactly what she was about to face.

"No... It can't be..." she looked at the immense body of the Elder Dragon and trembled a bit "The Dire Miralis, creator of the world and bringer of Armageddon..."

"Right! So now you know why we need to- RUN!!!" Dark looked back at the monster in horror just as he was finishing his sentence. The made him and Pinkie run faster than ever before.

XXXXXX

The three ponies finally exited the abandoned hive of the Changelings and looked up at the crumbling mountain overlooking them. The beast slowly rose from its ancient prison and began to walk forward, leaving the mountain nothing more than a small hill of rubble and revealing its full body. It was dark red with rock-like scales all over its body. It walked on its four legs, but the front ones appeared to double as hands. Running all through its body were streams of lava that seemed to be its blood, and its wings looked too deformed to be capable of flight. However, a cannon-like appendage was on both of them, giving up flight for control on the ground, and its head was large with two rocky frills on its sides. It was literally a living volcano. The two mares and stallion simply watched as the monster stomped toward its destination.

"The Dire Miralis..." Twilight spoke again after being put down "An ancient beast once thought to be merely legend until an old, but very much alive specimen was discovered two years ago. From what we know, the Dire Miralis has a constant high body temperature. But unlike the Deviljho, which also has high body heat, this one has literal body heat. It needs to be in a constant state of cool water for it to live without experiencing pain."

"Thanks for the lesson, Twi!" Pinkie smiled.

"You're very welcome, Pinkie!" the lavender mare nodded.

"Where do you think its going?" Dark asked the group.

"Since the Dire Miralis needs constant cooling from water, my guess is that it'll be heading off to the nearest water reserve" shrugged the female Unicorn "So long as it doesn't disrupt the natural ecosystem, which is one in a-million by the way, we'll be good."

"Twilight?" the pink mare spoke up as she stared at the monster's head "Why are its eyes all crazy-looking purple-y?"

"Crazy what now?" Twilight wondered before she too looked up at the Dire Miralis's eyes and gasped "Oh no... You don't think..."

"The shattered scale must've seeped through the cracks of the arena when the Brachydios made all those holes with its slime" Dark stomped his front hooves down "Damn! Well, I guess if it doesn't do anything too bad..."

"Oh no!" Pinkie exclaimed "Look where its heading off to!"

The two other ponies looked over at the Dire Miralis's path and gasped in horror. It was headed straight for Dracoville. Of course; it was the only source of fresh water for miles!

"We have to defeat it before it gets to the village!" Twilight exclaimed the obvious "Pinkie, shoot a shell at it!"

Without question, the pink mare nodded and aimed her heavy bowgun at the towering giant of a monster. She fired at its torso and literally bounced off of it, causing the three ponies to tremble in fear. It slowly turned around to face them.

It looked them dead in the eyes before letting out a bellowing roar that echoed throughout the Badlands, more than likely signalling Dracoville of its presence. Twilight, Dark and Pinkie covered their ears to shield their lobes from the sound until it diminished. When it finally did, the lavender one saw that energy was beginning to channel through the Dire Miralis's cannon-like wings. She immediately understood what the beast was about to do.

"EVERYPONY RUN!!!" she yelled. The team took no time in processing what she said and immediately followed her away from the gigantic Elder Dragon. As soon as they ran behind a rock to safety, Dark spoke up.

"Great plan for Celestia's finest" Dark huffed.

"Oh, you mean you haven't figured it out yet?" Twilight blushed in embarrassment "You see, I'm not exactly a high guard or anything..."

"You're WHAT?!" the ash grey Unicorn shouted in frustration "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I guess I kind of just... forgot" the lavender mare nervously chuckled "Sorry... You and Rage Quit kinda just went with your own thing, and I thought that so long as it didn't affect you guys too much, then we'd be okay."

"You know what? Fine" Dark rolled his eyes "This is the least of our concerns right now. Right now, we have to deal with a gigantic Elder Dragon on a collision course with my hometown!"

"Right" Twilight nodded "First, I think we should- GAAAAAAAH!!" she never finished her sentence before huge balls of lava came raining down onto the group, forcing them to move to another location. Once the rain of fire subsided and they found another place to hide in (a very small cave).

"As you were saying?" one of Dark's eyebrows raised up.

"As I was saying," the purple maned Unicorn sighed "Do you see that giant lava spot on its chest?" the two looked out of the cave before nodding "Somehow, someway, we have to aim our attacks at that. That's where its lava flow comes from. If we can destroy that, it'll harden and it'll go slower!"

"I'm game" the Unicorn stallion smirked "But how are we supposed to get close to it?"

"...Maybe we don't have to" the other Unicorn smiled as she saw Pinkie's heavy bowgun "Pinkie, I think you know what I'm about to say next, right?"

"Oh yeah... Let's do this! Pinkie Pie style!" grinned Pinkie before she ran out of the cave and stood on her hind legs before waving at the Dire Miralis and getting its attention, turning its face and torso towards her "Hey you! Yeah you, you big party pooper! Come and get some, hot n' ready!"

She fired off a few inaccurate but powerful rounds that hit the beast around the chest area, but they had so far completely missed the glowing yellow and orange spot that was clearly its weakness. During this time, the monster had slowly approached three on its hind legs as well. But it wasn't until the final round of her shells until she finally hit the monster in glowing part of the chest, making it stumble around until eventually falling on its side, allowing the two other ponies to climb out of the cave and slash away at the weak spot. However, it didn't take long before the Dire Miralis gained enough energy to stand up again. As it was getting back up, Twilight never even thought twice before hopping onto the beast's back and running along its spine.

"Twilight, what the hell are you doing?!" Dark shouted at the now struggling mare.

"I don't kno-whoa-WHOA!!" she tried her best to hang onto the rocky hide of the monster's neck "Somepony HELP MEEEE!!!"

"What was she thinking?" the ash grey stallion asked the pink mare next to him.

"I don't have a clue" shrugged Pinkie "Sometimes, she's even crazier than me!" she giggled "I wonder what that would look like?"

"No time, Pinkie!" Dark said "We have to get her down!"

"Or the Dire Miralis could help..." she pointed at the giant dragon, turning the Unicorn's attention towards it again. There he saw that Twilight had been flung off the creature's back and was about to land in a small mound of dirt, which she did harmlessly, but hilariously. It took every ounce of strength inside him to refrain from laughing, and even then the occasional chuckle came out. Snapping back into reality, Pinkie and Dark rushed over to see if Twilight was okay.

"I-I'm fine..." she huffed as she got up "But hey... guess what I... put on its back?"

The two were about to guess until they heard a loud explosion behind them. They turned around to see that the Dire Miralis had toppled over and was allowing them to attack its weak point. Twilight and her friends wasted no time it attacking the chest. She sent her Kinsect out to attack the beast before the three could do so. Finally, the Elder Dragon could take it no more and shielded itself with a grey, hardened outer coating. They were finally able to put the creature into a weakened state. Just before they were about to cheer, they noticed that the creature had gotten back up and was once again headed for Dracoville at the same pace it was before, now paying no mind to the three hunters.

"Twilight, I thought you said it would go slower!" Dark shouted at the lavender mare.

"It was a hypothesis!" the female Unicorn argued "The thing has only been discovered a couple of years ago! How am I suppose to know what hasn't been written in a book?!"

"Ladies, ladies, let's all try to stay calm..." Pinkie calmly smiled and pulled the two apart, before her face went completely carefree again "Now, let's try to kill it again!"

(Music stop)

"Pinkie," Twilight sighed before looking her bubbly friend dead in the eye "the thing is covered in armour, its going the same speed as it was before; if not faster, and all we have are a bug staff, a gun and an unnaturally long sword."

"So, in other words... We're screwed?" the ash grey Unicorn somberly asked.

"Yeah..." the lavender mare nodded. The thought of realization finally washed over them. They really were screwed. They had small weapons, a three pony army, and NO Dragonator whatsoever. The monster was virtually indestructible now. They all had a moment of silence for Dracoville and its inhabitants.

That is, until something wonderful happened.

They all heard a loud, fiery explosion come from Dire Miralis, followed by a roar that most certainly didn't come from the Dire Miralis. The three looked up to see a Rathian flying around the beast. But that wasn't what was important to Dark. To him, what was important were the two stallions riding on the back of the dragon queen.

"Deus ex machina, bitch!!" shouted Rage Quit, smiling all the way as he held the reigns of the great green dragon "Ha HA!! Never once in my life did I think this was going to be so much FUN!!"

"Rage Quit, I think I'm beginning to feel a little sick again..." Butter Hero spoke to the light blue Pegasus driving the monster to victory.

"Eh, quit your whining" laughed Rage "Think of this as payback for taking on that Pink Rathian with negative thirty-nine fire resistance a little while ago, kay?"

"Rage Quit! Butter!" Dark looked up in hope "I knew you two wouldn't be useless! C'mon you two; I think those two have it covered from here."

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Twilight scrambled out of there as fast as her legs could take her. She reattached her insect glaive and Kinsect before heading on back to Dracoville to watch the battle take place. Of course, she couldn't help herself to watch the spectacle from where she was right now.

"And... FIRE!!" Rage Quit shouted to the Rathian, to which she did as instructed and fired another shot of fire at the Dire Miralis "Great! Now, go melee!" he shouted again before the green monster attacked the Elder Dragon with her claws and teeth, toppling it and making it squirm.

"Now, finish it!!" the yellow Pegasus joining the light blue hunter smiled as he finally got the hang of things. The Rathian did as it was told and relentlessly attacked the opposing monster, finally digging into its neck and ripping off its armour, to which it then quickly turned it, effectively and quickly killing the monster for good.

(Music stop)

"HIP-HIP-HURRAY!!" Pinkie Pie shouted in glee "The Dire Miralis is finally down! We did it, we did it, we did it!! This calls for a party! Ooooh, what colour streamers should I get? Maybe red since the Dire Miralis was red, but maybe green since the Rathian was green... I can't choose both because it would seem too much like Hearths Warming!"

"Alright, Pinkie" giggled Twilight "Let's get back to Dracoville so we can plan your party."

"Don't forget to carve!" Rage Quit shouted as he, Butter and the Rathian flew overhead the three ponies.

"Oh, right! I need some new armour anyway" smiled the lavender Unicorn "Hate to sound like Rarity here, but blue isn't exactly my colour. Oh, that reminds me! In the heat of battle, I totally forgot! I have to find out where Rarity is now!"

"But now, I think you guys need some rest" Dark said as he approached the two mares "After we carve, it's an all-day snooze for me."

(Music stop)

XXXXXX

The celebration was short, but every but sweet. Pinkie managed to cook her famous cupcakes for everyone to eat, and Butter prepared only the finest of dishes comprised of the finest hay cooked and marinated in the hottest of Dire Miralis scales. To the village, it actually wasn't as bad as they thought. Dark Thunder stayed true to what he said and slept through the whole thing, much to Butter's dismay. He had hoped that he could taste some more of his wonderful dishes.

After the party, all of the villagers turned to Twilight to tell them about what happened to the scale. They were less than pleased with the answer, and were about to deem her guilty as betrayer of the village until Dark finally woke up and defended her, stating that it was better off gone than in the hands of someone else. The townsfolk backed off after that.

Night fell over the village and every living being around was asleep. Everyone except Twilight. She laid awake lying in her bed with her armour off (obviously), examining the repaired Gore Magala scale with her magic.

"There is no physical way this thing could have repaired itself" she spoke to herself "I don't know, maybe it's just how things are. Mom always said I had a big brain, but there was no way I could fit everything in there... But I have to know. If I don't, I might fail my mission to defeat the Gore Magala. Equestria could be in ruin, and it'll all be my fault!"

"Do you freak out a lot?" asked a familiar voice outside her bedroom door. She got out of bed and opened it to reveal that Dark had overheard her most recent rant.

"Oh, hey Dark" she sighed "And no, I don't freak out... too often..."

"Right" he rolled his eyes "Well, we're heading back to Ponyville on the Rathian tomorrow. Might want to get some sleep."

"But if I don't-"

"I know how important the scale is to saving this world" the ash grey Unicorn interrupted the mare "But you in fighting shape is even more important. Besides, you just helped beat that Dire Miralis!" he chuckled "You should feel especially exhausted."

"Yeah, you're right" Twilight smiled "I'll head off to bed. Goodnight, Dark."

"G'night, Twi!" Dark gave off a smug grin before walking away. The lavender Unicorn closed the door before sighing and going straight back to the scale. She looked and looked but found nothing. Perhaps Dark was right about sleeping. She shrugged and put the scale on her table before heading off to sleep.

The second her conscious mind slipped into rest, moonlight shone down onto half of the scale, turning that part golden.

Author's Note

Ooooooooh! Mysteries! More mysteries! Even MORE mysteries!! What will happen now? Find out after the Canadian spring break. LOL :rainbowwild:

But seriously, this is the end of the longest act in the story. I already have the next act in place, along with the LARGEST number of suggested monsters right on its way, including ones from...

tealspeckles
DarkThunder144
Dark Dienen
rst64tlc

Since a lot of you guys suggested the same thing (and since I'm REALLY lazy), I'll just say that some people suggested these ideas, and you know who you would be. UNLESS I remembered who said it. Sorry, but that's just my life and stuff.

Anyway, thank you all so much for the 21 follows! Really, thank you! You guys are awesome! :pinkiehappy:

If you have any suggestions for monsters for Twilight to fight, I'm still open to suggestions!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow me, and until then, happy hunting everyone!

[Act 5] (Chapter 1) Temperature Change

Princess Celestia had certainly gotten better over the course of the past few days. She was able to finally get out of her wheelchair and walk around, albeit with help from some crutches. The doctor said she could fly, but it wasn't advised. Rainbow Dash on the other hand was still suffering the worst. The doctor said that while her wounds would eventually heal, her injuries were more severe than Celestia's, so she was still bound to her wheelchair, much to her dismay.

The two were currently sitting on the rooftop of the hospital, overlooking the semi-repaired Ponyville. Celestia smiled as she thought about how this all began; the Gore Magala, Twilight becoming a hunter, and now this.

"Speaking of which, I wonder how Twilight is doing right now..." she thought aloud "I haven't heard from her in a while..."

"Eh, she'll be fine" smirked Rainbow as she relaxed in her wheelchair "Knowing her, she's probably riding a Rathian like a boss!"

XXXXXX

"HOW DO I FLY THIS THING?!?!" Twilight exclaimed as she struggled to control the Rathian covered in leather armour and reigns, signalling it was a carrier dragon "Why couldn't you fly this thing, Rage?!"

"I wanted you to try and learn" chuckled Rage Quit, who was sitting behind the lavender mare with all of their supplies, thankfully safely and tightly wrapped around the Rathian's back "You can't be a Monster Hunter if you can't even fly a Rathian. A tame one at that!"

After saying farewell to the ponies of Dracoville, Rage Quit and Twilight prepared for a long ride back home on the carrier Rathian that helped defeat the Dire Miralis. Pinkie had decided to stay in substitution for Rage so he could go home, see his wife and relax. After loading their stuff on the dragon queen's back, the light blue Pegasus had graciously allowed his lavender partner to fly the creature, to which, of course, she accepted. It wasn't long until she learned that she sucked at driving Rathians.

"Can't you just take the reigns and fly her?" politely asked the purple maned mare.

"I could do that, yes..." smiled the Pegasus before slowly shifting to the front of the dragon and taking control "Easy girl..." the Rathian began to stabilize "There we go... I guess she just likes me more."

"I could tell..." Twilight rolled her eyes before looking down onto the earth below her "Wow... We're really high up!"

"You're not afraid of heights, are you?" smiled Rage Quit.

"N-No!" slightly blushed the Unicorn "I'm just pointing out something."

"Alright, alright" the stallion chuckled "No need to ruffle your feathers."

"That's a joke only used on Pegasi, Rage" Twilight deadpanned "Not like I'll grow wings anytime soon."

"Speaking of princesses," he tried to begin a new conversation "Dark tells me you know the princess, but you're not an elite guard for her. How is that possible?"

"I'm one of her students and friends, in terms of studying about monsters" explained the lavender mare "Actually, I never had any intention of even becoming a Monster Hunter. But an attack on my town that left everypony injured left ME no choice but to buckle up and learn what it's like to be a hunter. I've only been a hunter for a few days, in truth."

"What, really?" Rage Quit said in slight surprise "Well, you're pretty damn good for somepony who just began a few days ago. It's like it's in your blood or something."

"In my... blood?" wondered Twilight before spotting a familiar sight below "Hey, look! It's Ponyville! That's where my home is!"

"Really? Huh... It's it pretty bad shape..." noted the light blue stallion "Seems like things are getting better though."

"Wow... They've really done some work on it since I was last here!" smiled the lavender Unicorn before her face became one of deep thought "Since I was last-" she gasped "PRINCESS CELESTIA!!"

XXXXXX

"Your highness!" a hunter guard with Gypceros armour and lance came onto the rooftop of the hospital where the princess and her dual blade using companion were relaxing "We have just received word from our scout team that a monster, a Rathian, is headed this way! What are your orders?"

"There's a what?" Celestia got up from her seat and stood with her crutches, facing the hunter "Sound the alarm! We've come too far to allow a Rathian to destroy this town. Especially if it's infected with that virus..."

"At once, milady!" the hunter bowed before rushing off to tell the other hunters of the danger. It wasn't long before she and Rainbow heard an alarm echoing through the town to warn them of the danger about to befall them. The ponies scattered and scrambled through the construction to try and find a safe haven for them to stay while the monster threat had either gone away or the hunters had dealt with it.

The Rathian finally came into view of the whole town, and that was the exact moment when Celestia realized that the dragon was nothing more than the carrier dragon from Dracoville. Even more importantly, on the back of the green dragon queen were two lavender and blue dots. The princess of the sun put two and two together...

"Mother of mercy!" she exclaimed "Twilight's on that thing!"

"She's what?" Rainbow asked before cracking a smile "Well, I guess I wasn't too far off... heheh..."

"HUNTERS!! CALL OFF THE ATTACK!!" the white Alicorn shouted over to the hunters setting up the cannons to fire at the Rathian, but they were out of earshot "This isn't good... She could get blasted out of the sky!"

"Princess, chill, okay?" the cyan mare calmed the princess down "Wow... I've never seen you so agitated before. Twilight's gonna be totes fine. She IS your student after all, right?"

"I suppose I acted rashly... My apologies..." sighed the solar princess "I know she's fought many monsters before. There has to be a way out of this. I hope those hunters understand the situation soon enough..."

XXXXXX

"Hey, is that the dragon alarm?" Rage Quit asked as he looked over the edge of the Rathian "And are those hunters preparing their cannons and ballistas to fire at us?!"

"Oh no..." Twilight gasped "Quick, we have to do something! Can't you steer the Rathian closer to the hunters? Maybe that will tell them we're no harm!"

"Those heavy bowguns say otherwise!" Rage shouted.

Twilight looked around the Rathian for anything they could use. She scrambled through the supply boxes, going through potions and Dire Miralis scales until she finally found something of use: a Farcaster. Without question, she fired the Farcaster up into the air, resulting in a firework display of red and blue, telling the Monster Hunters to back down.

"It's a Farcaster!" stated one of the mares ready to fire the cannons "Somepony's on that thing!"

"Hunters, at ease..." the commanding hunter calmed his troop down, putting away their bowguns and cannons "It's just a carrier dragon..."

XXXXXX

After that fiasco was over with, the carrier Rathian landed in the centre of Ponyville and let the two ponies off. With some help from some of the nearby hunters all dressed in Gypceros armour, they brought the supplies down from the dragon queen and began to unpack a few things. Twilight smiled as she took a deep breath and looked around the area, suddenly seeing Princess Celestia limp her way over to her with her crutches.

"Twilight" the Alicorn smiled before embracing her student "I was becoming worried about you..."

"Heh, worried isn't exactly the word I'd use" chuckled Rainbow Dash, who had approached the two who had now exited from their hug "She freaked out, Twi! It was crazy funny!"

"Y-Your highness... Miss Twilight..." the commanding hunter approached the three conversing mares "I on behalf of the entire squad would like to send our deepest apologies to you two. After the attack not a week ago, you must understand we are quite riled up at the moment."

"Really, it's no-" Twilight began before Rage Quit entered the scene, his back leg still tied close to his torso.

"You better be sorry!" he crossly spoke "You nearly shot us out of the sky!"

"Rage, they didn't know!" the lavender Unicorn scolded, immediately shutting the stallion up "Now..." she turned back to the hunter commander "We accept your apology. We understand that, after the Gore Magala attack, you'd be very concerned for the ponies of Ponyville."

"Thank you, Miss Twilight..." the commander bowed.

"Sir! This crate is full of Dire Miralis scales!" shouted one of the Monster Hunters unloading the carrier Rathian "Miss Twilight, shall I get these to a blacksmith for immediate armour forgery?"

"Um... sure!" Twilight looked slightly confused at first "Yeah, go ahead. Make those scales into armour and stuff."

"You fought a Dire Miralis?" Celestia perked up "Care to explain just what happened on your trip?"

"Oh... Heheh..." the Unicorn mare sheepishly laughed "Well, why don't we head on inside?"

XXXXXX

Once the four were back inside the hospital, Twilight began telling her everything that happened. It took a good hour to explain everything to Princess Celestia, but she thought she got the gist of it. The white Alicorn slowly nodded her head in confirmation, telling the lavender hunter that she understood and got everything.

"So what you're telling me," the celestial mare began to speak "Is that you were captured by a group of rogue hunters, thrown into slavery, found Pinkie Pie and three stallions willing to help you, defeated a Berserk Tetsucabra, clashed with the Gore Magala again, ran from a Deviljho, found Dracoville and defeated a Brachydios and the rogue hunter leader all the while trying to retrieve a scale that was ultimately destroyed and used to summon the Dire Miralis which you managed to defeat. Am I right?"

"One-hundred percent, your highness" Twilight nodded.

"Well, I'm come across stranger..." reminisced Celestia with a smile "I suppose you two are headed for the Crystal Empire next?"

"How did you know?" Rage Quit asked.

"I can read minds. Did you not know that?" Celestia smiled.

"Y-You can?" the light blue Pegasus was amazed by the princess's powers.

"No, not really" she giggled "Twilight told me whilst you were still limping your way to the hospital."

"Of course she did..." he sighed before looking at Twilight, who only gave him a shrug in return.

"Now, you should know that the Crystal Empire, though in the Frozen North, is heated up by a few generators and Alicorn magic" Celestia explained "So don't be bringing any heavy clothing for this occasion, okay?"

"Well, we might just do anyway" spoke the purple maned Unicorn present "We'll STILL be traversing through the Frozen North anyway. Knowing my bad luck, some monster is going to terrorize the town and drive me crazy!"

"Then perhaps you should take some hot drinks?" the princess of the sun suggested "They keep your body nice and toasty warm, even in the harshest of cold weather. They even come in different packets and flavours! Hot chocolate, apple, banana..."

"Hey, you guys?" Rainbow spoke up "I haven't had a chance to talk yet y'know! Actually, that necklace around your neck Twi. It's a different colour than before."

"It is?" the lavender mare asked in confusion before looking down and noticing for the first time that the colour had changed from clear to pale yellow "How interesting... It looks just like the Shagaru Magala scale, but I don't sense any sort of corrupt powers coming from it. Is it faulty, or is it just waiting?"

"Wait, Shagaru Magala?!" Celestia shouted in shock.

"Yeah, that's the original owner of the scale we were trying to save before it became absorbed by the Dire Miralis" explained Twilight "Apparently it's very closely related to the Gore Mag-"

"I know what it is, Twilight..." sighed the celestial Alicorn "Long, long ago, this world was befallen by a great evil that plagued monsters and ponies alike. We would know it as the Great Calamity, but the legends write it as a single entity."

"The Shagaru Magala..." spoke the lavender Unicorn quietly, but loud enough so the others could hear.

"Correct" the princess nodded "But for now, it would appear that we have a subspecies of the Shagaru Magala on our hooves. We must defeat it at all costs!"

"So, we're heading off to the Frozen North then?" Rage asked.

"You seem slightly hesitant..." Celestia remarked.

"Sorry, your highness..." the light blue stallion bowed "But my wife and unborn child are waiting for me there, and I'd very much like to go as soon as possible."

"Of course..." she smiled kindly "Well, I think you two should hurry should you wish to save Rarity from whatever perils she may have gotten herself into. Then, of course, she might have just discovered the boutique there."

All ponies present shared a hearty laugh at Celestia's joke before the lavender one and the light blue one finally decided to head out. They grabbed their armour and weapons before waving goodbye and walking out the door. Twilight heard something behind her as she traversed through the halls. She turned around and saw her baby Azure Rathalos, which she, until now, thought his colour was just a rare coloration of a normal Rathalos.

"Hello there, Spike" she bent down and gave him a hug "Guess what? I found out you're a subspecies today!"

The baby dragon, which had grown a bit since she last saw him, growled in joy as she spoke and hugged him. However, the time had come for her to head off. She gave her pet one last hug and walked away, leaving the baby monster curious to where she was going off to.

XXXXXX

The lavender Unicorn visited the blacksmith before heading out to retrieve the Dire Miralis armour promised to her from earlier. She put it on (not her helm as to see properly) and was about to join up with Rage until the brown coated and white maned smithy with a wondrous beard and goggles stopped her and took a good look at her insect glaive.

"That's one mighty fine glaive you got there, missy" he let out a chuckled "I gots some spare scales from your hunt. Wanna upgrade?"

"Well, I am going to an ice place..." though Twilight aloud "Sure, why not. Just don't take too long, okay?" she passed him the glaive but allowed the Kinsect to stay on her back. The smithy didn't even take a thirty seconds until he was done with the weapon. It was silver and red, and had fake lava running through it, just like her armour. It was a perfect match.

"Wow! Thank you, sir!" the lavender mare smiled in joy.

"Anytime!" the smithy let out a hearty laugh before Twilight waved him goodbye. She at last met up with Rage Quit who, with the assistance of some nearby hunters, was repacking the Rathian for the trip to the Crystal Empire.

"Ah, Twilight!" he greeted "Sorry that we have to take the Rathian again. The hunters say that the train tracks were eaten by something and the train is stuck in Appleloosa right now. What kind of crap answer IS that anyway?! What monster is actually big enough to eat train tracks?"

"Um... No idea!" nervously laughed the purple maned hunter "A-Anyway, are we just about ready to take off?"

"Yep!" the stallion nodded before looking at the hunters next to the green dragon queen "Just let these big, kind and strong fellas get all of our stuff onto the Rathian and we're good to go."

"Why did you say that like you were checking them out?" Twilight wondered.

"Oh, did you not know? I'm Bi" he smiled as he said this, surprising the Unicorn "What? What? Is that a problem?"

"What? No, no!" she calmed him down a bit "I was just surprised was all. You can be bisexual all you want! I don't have a problem with it."

"Ah, okay..." Rage smiled before going back to helping the hunters.

"I think I saved that one..." Twilight sighed to herself.

XXXXXX

The Rathian and the two hunters were finally up into the air and heading towards the Crystal Empire with haste. As the two rode the dragon and slowly approached the Frozen North, the air around them began to feel cooler and easier to breath in. Twilight's teeth began to chatter as the cold wind blew past her body and nearly froze her to death. She sipped one of the hot drinks the hunters back in Ponyville supplied to her by request of the princess and began to feel a bit warmer.

"Hey, you doing okay back there?" Rage asked as he piloted the dragon queen to their destination.

"Y-Yeah..." Twilight spoke, still slightly cold "I'll b-be f-f-fine..."

"We're almost there, okay?" he smiled "They have hot chocolate and heating, so all the more reason to look forward to it. I personally don't mind the cold, but hey, that's just me. I was actually born here, believe it or..."

Rage Quit's voice was drowned out by Twilight's interest in looking at the scale around her neck. Still so many questions were left unanswered. Why did the scale turn a light gold colour when exposed to moonlight? Why did it explode before that? What WAS the Gore Magala? An alien? A beast from tartarus? Who knew?

"Twilight? Equestria to Twilight?" Rage Quit spoke up, gaining Twilight's attention again.

"What? Sorry?" she stuttered a bit.

"We're almost there, I said" the light blue stallion smiled "And finally too! I can't wait to see my wife again!"

XXXXXX

Thankfully, the ponies and felynes of the Crystal Empire didn't seem too fazed that a Rathian had landed in their city, meaning stuff like this must have happened often. The two hunters got off their ride and patted her on the back before she was treated by some of the felyne helpers roaming around. Rage never even got to walk two steps forward before he was tackled by an dark grey blur.

"You stupid idiot!" the blur shouted at Rage's face in a feminine voice, signalling she was a mare "You left me and this kid alone for months! What the hell were you doing this whole time?!"

"Nice to see you again too, Unity..." he smiled as the mare proceeded to slap him across the face. Twilight now got a better look at this Unity mare. She was a Unicorn with an dark grey coat and an orange mane, and very, very pregnant. This made the lavender hunter wonder just where she got all this energy to clomp her husband with all that weight on her.

"You stupid, stupid idiot!" she proceeded to kiss him "I hate you so much!"

"I love you too, Unity..." Rage grinned again "Now, do you mind if you get off me? My leg is broken."

"It is?!" Unity gasped in shock before slowly getting herself back up and hugging her mate "Oh, you poor thing... You shouldn't push yourself like that!"

"And you shouldn't hop around like that" the light blue stallion smiled before remembering something "Oh! Right!" he turned to Twilight, turning Unity with him "Twilight, this is my wife Unity. Unity, this is NOT your replacement, Twilight Sparkle; protector of the princess."

"Hello there!" the dark grey Unicorn mare nodded at the lavender one "Welcome to the Crystal Empire!" she then got very close to her "Stay away from my husband, you got that?"

Twilight terrifyingly nodded.

Author's Note

I'M BACK!! :pinkiehappy:

Now, you might be wondering: Kamek, why is it that you posted this chapter when you have clearly stated that you wouldn't post another one until AFTER your spring break? Well, we recently hit 3000 views! WOO!! Thank you guys so much for everything, and I hope this story continues to thrive!

This was a boring chapter I know, but I promise things will perk up in the next chapter. Also, Derpy is going to be in this place somewhere! :derpytongue2:

This is the last act for suggestions, so place them in the comments below if you want to see them. Now this one is important because I'm too lazy to look through everything. So, tealspeckles, DarkThunder144, rst64tlc, and Dark Dienen, please type your suggestions into the comment box below so I can get a better look at them. This is requested, but I'd seriously like you to do so. Thank you!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, happy hunting!

[Act 5] (Chapter 2) Fossil in the Rabbit Hole

Unity and Rage Quit had invited Twilight back to their home for some tea and a warm bed until she found her friend. Unity explained they already had someone staying there for the time being, much to Rage's surprise, but allowed her to stay with them anyway while she looked for Rarity. They at long last reached their home, a simple crystal house in the housing district of the empire.

"Oh you'll love her!" Unity squealed in joy as she picked up her keys from under the welcome mat to unlock the door "She's such great company. Always so polite and ladylike... Sorry for not telling you about her in my letters, Ragey, but I suppose it's revenge for not coming home for three whole months."

"Unity, I was imprisoned by rogue hunters!" Rage explained for the umpteenth time.

"Yeah, and my name is Princess Cadence" the dark grey Unicorn rolled her eyes right before she finally unlocked the door "C'mon you two, let's get inside."

Once inside, Twilight noticed immediately that one entire side of the house (the kitchen, dining room and living room) had been cleaned exceptionally, while the other side (the workroom, bedroom and gallery-filled-with-monster-horns room) was covered with cloth and string. Mannequins were scattered everywhere on the side that was messy, while three teabags could be seen in the kitchen quite clearly. Twilight knew only one mare capable of doing all this in such a short amount of time.

"Unity, you're back!" Unity's guest came from around the corner to say hello to her roommate "How was your trip to-" she immediately saw Twilight and screamed in joy before going to hug her "Oh Twilight! I thought you'd NEVER come here! Of all the things that could've happened, that would have been The. Worst. Possible. Thing!!"

"Same old Rarity, I see" Twilight smiled before hugging her friend back "How've you been? Why didn't you call us back to tell us you were okay?"

"Oh, darling, I've been just fine" she finally let go of the hug "As for not contacting you sooner, oh, I just had so many things to do here! The Crystal silk they supply here is top-notch quality, and I was so entranced by the materials that I had completely forgotten to tell you I'd be staying here for a while. I'm sorry, darling."

"It's okay, Rarity" the lavender Unicorn accepted her apology "Well, my mission here is pretty much complete. I have no idea what to do now..."

"You could always stay with us for a while" Rage suggested "I mean, seeing as how my wife has no problems with allowing somepony to come into our home and leave mannequins all over the place, why not make a family of four and a half, eh?"

"Sounds fine to..." Unity spoke before she looked at the object around Twilight's neck "...me... Miss... Twilight, was it? What is that necklace around your neck? It looks very... odd."

"Unity, manners please" Rarity corrected her "I think what she meant to say was 'What is that beautiful necklace around your neck? It gleams with such passion and power!'. Actually, where did you find that incredible gem? Such a shine! It truly feels as if you have endless amounts of power!"

"Well, I-" she was about to answer her fashionable friend before having Rage's hoof stuck in her mouth via, who else? Rage.

"She got it from me" he answered "I thought it'd be nice to give something to the pony who saved me, right?"

"Aww, well that's sweet" Unity cooed before smacking her husband across the face "Now don't you buy anymore presents for any more mares now, or I'll kill you dead!"

"Y-Yes dear..." the light blue stallion held his cheek in slight pain before he mumbled something about 'getting that kid out as soon as possible'. As soon as the dark grey mare and the white mare went off to chat about stuff, Twilight picked Rage up and began a conversation with him.

"Why did you say that?!" she whispered loudly in a cross tone.

"Do you want them to know that the scale is a Gore Magala scale?" Rage questioned "Didn't you say on the ride here that Rarity was taken by the Gore Magala? How do you think she would react if you told her that scale came from her captor and the sole reason you're on this quest in the first place?"

"...point taken" the lavender Unicorn gave up "She'll have to know eventually though."

"True, but now's not the time" he explained "I still have to try and mend my relationship with my wife."

"That might take a while..." honestly said Twilight.

"...yeah, true..." Rage nodded.

XXXXXX

Night fell over Equestria once again, and Twilight was still up looking at her scale. She knew that the secret wouldn't be revealed anytime soon, but anything she could learn about the Gore Magala she would soon have to go up against would be helpful to her. She didn't even feel drowsy in the slightest. She was just too concerned with the scale to even think about sleep.

Suddenly, a knock was heard at the guest room's door, the door of the room she was currently staying. Once Twilight gave the go ahead, it slowly opened to reveal the co-owning dark grey pregnant mare of the house.

"Hey, Twilight" she greeted "How're you doing? I actually wasn't expecting you to be up at this hour."

"Well, I can't exactly sleep when I have this thing to worry about" Twilight showed her the scale she was currently looking at.

"Oh, you mean the Gore Magala scale?" Unity asked.

"Yeah, exactly tha-" she paused and thought for a second before finally realizing what the pregnant mare just said "Wait, how do you know about the Gore Magala?!"

"Shhhhh... Quiet down, okay?" the sort-of motherly mare hushed the lavender hunter "I'm guessing you heard about the Ponyville disaster that happened not a few days ago?"

"Heard about it?" chuckled the purple maned "More like I was watching the whole thing. Thankfully, nopony was killed, but just about everypony was injured one way or another. So, yes, how do you know about the Gore Magala?"

"Word travels faster than you'd think" Unity giggled "Anyway, back to more serious matters. That scale is dangerous. While Ragey was away, I snuck out of the Crystal Empire and found some ruins in the snow."

"All by yourself?!" Twilight asked concerned "What about all the monsters?"

"It was hibernation season for most of them, so I needn't worry" she smiled "But, as luck may have it, I want to go back to the ruins and-"

"Hibernation is over, right?" the lavender mare guessed with an eyebrow raised.

"Please, please, please!" the orange maned Unicorn begged "I need to figure out the last puzzle of the ruins!"

"Unity, you're seven months pregnant!" spoke Twilight in a concerned tone "Rage would have a heart attack if he found out you've been going out into the Frozen North carrying his child!"

"Which is exactly why he can't know about this!" Unity explained "I'm so close to finding out the secrets of the Gore Magala, and need that scale and my brilliant mind to unlock the final door. Please, do this for me!"

"Did you say, secrets of Gore Magala?" the bookworm hunter perked up a bit.

"Um... Yes?" the pregnant mare was slightly confused.

"I'll do it!" Twilight nodded "But if only you can unlock the door, then you have to be extremely careful and be sure not to strain yourself or hurt the foal, okay?"

"I understand" Unity nodded.

"But you might need some help from me, darling" somepony appeared in the doorway of the guest room the two were currently chatting in. They both turned around to see that Rarity had been listening in on a bit of their conversation.

"R-Rarity!" the lavender Unicorn present said in a surprised voice "How long have you been-"

"Long enough, Twilight" the white mare spoke "And I just needed to say that I am quite appalled by this course of action. However, if it's anything to rid this world of that wretched Gore Magala... thing, then I will do anything to help. Even if that means putting a mare with a child at risk. I cannot believe those words escaped my mouth..."

"So you're coming with us then?" Unity asked.

"I suppose I am, darling" Rarity smiled "Well, shall we get a move on?"

XXXXXX

Quickly and quietly, the two hunting-capable mares retrieved their belongings (which included their weapons, armour and certain items they may need, like potions) and headed out the door with Unity to find the secrets of the dark dragon hidden away in the old ruins. As they walked farther and farther away from the Crystal Empire, they immediately noticed the sudden change of temperature.

"I forgot how cold it could become out here..." Rarity, now dressed in Bhanabra armour and carrying her Rathian bow, commented as all three of them traversed through the snow "And night is worse... Or better? I suppose the sun isn't blaring in your eyes all the time at night, but it's bone-chillingly freezing..."

"Rares, I'm the moody one here, and even I don't find it that cold" Unity let out a small chuckle "Though, maybe my foal is keeping me warm. And there's your cheesy line of the day, folks!"

"Something tells me I'm going to like your company, Unity" Twilight smiled.

"What can I say? I'm a likable mare" the dark grey Unicorn grinned devilishly "Well, mostly likable..."

"So, where do you believe these ruins to be, darling?" the curly maned hunter asked "Is there a set path or some landmarks?"

"Well..." Unity looked back and saw the city now a few miles away from their position before looking back and seeing a small crag in the ground and smiling "This crag here is a landmark. We should turn left here."

"You're the leader here" Twilight nodded before following Unity's orders and turning left at the landmark "So, after the landmark, then wh-"

"Shhhhhh...." the pregnant mare suddenly shushed the lavender mare "Do you hear that?"

The two other mares listened very closely to what Unity may have been hearing. They listened for a good, solid minute before a small sound could be heard. It almost sounded like...

"A baby..." Twilight said.

"Not your usual child cry, darling" Rarity said "This one sounds much like a baby Lagombi. But something is quite different from this one... Could it be hurt?"

"I'm going to go and help it" Unity finally spoke, alerting the two hunters.

"Unity, you're pregnant!" the lavender one spoke "What if something's in there? You could seriously hurt yourself and the foal!"

"And that Lagombi could be seriously hurt too!" the dark grey Unicorn argued "Anything could be out to hunt it and we'd just walk away without a care in the world! I'm personally going to help it!" she stormed off to the sound of the child rabbit monster. Twilight tried to stop her, but Rarity halted her from doing so.

"Twilight, darling," she began "she IS pregnant. She will be a happy mother soon, and I think she wants to do this for practice. That, or she's just having another one of her mood swings."

"Either way, we should follow her" Twilight said "Last thing I want are two less ponies in the party."

XXXXXX

A rather large cavern was discovered by the pregnant Unicorn of the party. It was absolutely stunning with shining crystal walls and gleaming snow, with icicles that hung from the ceiling in power and extravagant gorgeousness. The light from the moon also seeped into the area, lighting it up and making it even more beautiful. The three mares stared at the glowing beauty in awe as they walked through the cave, looking for the owner of the cries that echoed through it.

"Truly a sight to behold..." Rarity commented "Remind me to come back here for inspiration, darling. Oh, never mind; I have an idea!"

"I think the noise came from here..." Unity said, completely ignoring the white mare completely, ticking her off slightly.

"Well, I never..." she stuck her muzzle up in the air.

"Unity, are you sure this is a good idea?" Twilight asked the dark grey Unicorn "What if its parents come back? Or worse... What if something else comes back? From what I've read, I think that-"

"NERD!!" Unity shouted before laughing "Okay, I had my fun. Let's find that baby Lagombi!"

"I'm not a nerd..." the lavender Unicorn mumbled to herself as she continued to walk with the group. It wasn't long before they found the source of the crying. True to Unity's ears, it was indeed a baby Lagombi, no longer a pink newborn but still quite young. Its fur was white and its grey ears were drooped down in an admittedly cute way. What wasn't cute however were the two dead, bloody bodies of its parents around it.

"That's horrible..." Rarity said in horror.

"It's the circle of life, sorry to say" Twilight sighed as she looked over the bodies "Monsters need food just as much as we do."

"...I'm taking it with me" Unity proclaimed, picking up the baby with her magic and putting it on her back, stopping it from crying and utterly shocking the two hunters.

"You can't possibly be serious, Unity!" the white Unicorn gasped.

"Unity, this is incredibly dangerous!" the lavender one tried to talk the soon-to-be mother out of doing this "That baby has been crying for who knows how long, and could have attracted anything from a Barioth to a..." she gulped "...Tigrex."

"Oh chill, Twi" the pregnant mare laughed a bit "I'm sure whatever... ate these Lagombi, its belly is fuller than mine."

"But these corpses are fresh" Twilight analyzed "Just because it ate doesn't mean-"

All three of them heard a ear-shattering roar echoing from around the cavern. The three mares covered their ears, as did the baby Lagombi with its paws. After the roar was over, they all heard stomping slowly heading towards them.

"...that the monster's gone..." Twilight finally finished her sentence "We need to run now! That roar sounded like a Tigrex! That's honestly the LAST thing I want to deal with right now!"

"I second that option!" Rarity hesitantly said before bolting out of there. Unity and Twilight nodded at each other before running out as well, confusing Twilight. How could a mare THAT pregnant with THAT much weight in her belly and on her back run as fast as her? She didn't have time to stop and think about it; the stomping got faster, louder and closer.

As they ran through the halls, they saw a large, dragon-like silhouette following them above them. The baby Lagombi on Unity's back looked up and gasped. It cowered on the mare's back and tried its best to cover itself from the approaching beast.

"The entrance is right up ahead, everypony!" the white mare ahead of the hunter and mother-to-be shouted back to them, pointing at the entrance not a few feet in front of them "Quickly, we mustn't-"

(Music stop)

Before Rarity could even finish her sentence, a great dragon landed down hard in front of the entrance about its size, which was at least four meters tall. Its hide was orange with blue stripes all over it, and it had flimsy wings with powerful-looking arms attached to them and three claws on each arm. It had a long tail with a single spike at the end and short but strong legs. But its most defining feature was its T-Rex-like head with a mouth riddled with teeth, and green eyes that pierced all four souls opposing it. This was the Tigrex, the alleged king of monsters. It slipped inside the cave and looked at the white pony nearest to it.

"Oh... Um, hello d-darling..." nervously chuckled Rarity "My, w-what wonderf-ful eyes y-you have..."

The Tigrex looked at the mare before growling a bit as if it had some semblance of intelligence. It finally stomped its two arms down in a small one-two fashion before raising its head up and letting out a ear-bleeding roar.

The Tigrex charged forward straight at Rarity and spun around its tail, nearly hitting Unity and forcing the wind around her to knock her on her flank. She quickly got back up and took the baby monster back on her back before running away from the battle as fast as possible.

"I wish you two luck!" she called back in concern for the two hunters.

"That was for the better, I suppose..." Twilight spoke before turning to the Tigrex "Hey you! It's us you want!"

The winged tyrannosaurus perked up at the lavender mare's voice and turned around to face her and her friend. It growled before roaring, blowing the two away from it and outside into the cold outside of the Frozen North. They were able to recover quickly, but the Tigrex came leaping out of nowhere and nearly crushed them, creating a huge puff of snow.

"Go for the tail, darling!" Rarity called out "I'll try and hit it from a distance!"

"Got it!" the lavender hunter nodded before rolling around the beast, trying to get at its tail. However, the monster kept turning and smashing its arms down into the ground, trying to knock her over. The white mare present, however, shot her bow straight at the Tigrex and got its attention, allowing Twilight to pole-vault onto its back and attack it. It tried its best to shake her off by going absolutely wild across the ground, but she managed to stay on it and deliver the final attack to knock it down. She then unleashed hell onto its tail until she was finally able to cut it off. It didn't stay down for long however, as it quickly got back up to roar ferociously. Its veins turned bright red and its eyes began to glow the same colour.

"Twilight, go for its legs and knock it down again!" Rarity shouted to her partner.

You don't have to keep yelling! Just shoot it!" the purple maned mare yelled back.

"Right, of course darling" sheepishly chuckled the white Unicorn before drawing her bow back with her magic and letting loose a flaming arrow, digging into its back and doing minimal damage, but distracting it long enough for Twilight to strike its feet and knock it over. However, before she could hit it again, the Tigrex got back up and spun its body rapidly, hitting the lavender hunter and sending her flying against a rock behind her. She began bleeding a bit from her nose.

"That thing isn't infected with the Frenzy Virus, right?" she questioned herself and she looked at the beast before denying her suspicions "No, it isn't... How much raw power does it have? No, I'd rather not know..." she slowly got back up and faced the monster before swinging around her insect glaive "Go, Kinsect!"

Her buggy friend shot out rapidly and buzzed around the Tigrex before finally landing on its head and taking a nibble of it, taking a buff and flying back to give it to Twilight. She then felt energized as soon as she felt the buff flow through her veins. Her nosebleed stopped shortly after.

"Okay, let's go!" she nodded before heading straight toward the T-Rex monster and slashing at its legs again. Rarity did her part as well by firing upward and letting a rain of flaming arrows dig into the beast's body. Finally, the Tigrex fell over again, and Twilight got a nice shot at its head, slashing away at it until its crest broke off and the redness of its skin went away. It panted before trying to escape by limping away. Twilight was about to hit it again until a large blast of fire hit the beast and sent it toppling over.

"What the?" she looked around frantically to see what caused the explosion. Her question was answered when a white Pegasus stallion with a black, spiky mane, a full set of Tigrex armour and a Tigrex gunlance appeared out of the blue and held his weapon up with his wings. He put his gunlance away before setting a pitfall trap by the monster's feet and sinking it into the ground. He then pulled out two large barrel bombs and set them down before placing a smaller one down and blowing the Tigrex up, effectively killing it.

(Music stop)

Blood from the beast sprayed across the once untainted snow of the Frozen North, and all that was left of the monster was an empty, soulless husk of which to carve from. The unknown stallion of course did this before turning to Twilight and Rarity, who were now right next to each other.

"Um, thank you for helping us" the lavender mare smiled as she put away her glaive.

"Darling, you simply must tell us your name!" the white one spoke ecstatically.

"My name?" he smiled like an idiot "The name's Bright Light, but you can call me Bright Light!"

Author's Note

Another OC? LE GASP!! :pinkiegasp: But this one was requested... I feel as if I'm missing someone... Anyway, Bright Light is owned by, who else? BrightLight46. Be sure to follow him!

So yay, I'm back and finished my very important test! Now I MIGHT have more time to do my story to your guys' request! Double yay! By the way, I passed with flying colours! Triple yay! :pinkiehappy:

The Tigrex was suggested by DarkThunder144 and Dark Dienen. Please support them! They're both making Monster Hunter stories other than me and I think you should at least check them out!

Unfortunately, from this point onward, the request box is closed. Thank you SO much for everyone who suggested and requested monsters! Hope I use your ideas somewhere!

We're SO CLOSE to our goal of 50 likes, guys! Thank you so much! Be sure to continue liking even after we've reached our goal!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, happy hunting!

[Act 5] (Chapter 3) The Blind Plague

Inside the cave next to the three hunting ponies lay Unity and the baby Lagombi she saved from the Tigrex not a few minutes ago. She had escaped to save her new kind-of-foster-child and was trying her best to play with him. She had decided to name him George, and she would hug him and pet him and love him to bits. She smiled as she rubbed his surprisingly soft grey belly, making him purr in satisfaction. Trying to mimic her, he rubbed her own belly, making her giggle.

"Silly George" she petted him again "Actually, I wonder how well you two would get along? Hopefully decently. You two would be the perfect match. I wonder if it's illegal to take in monsters as pets in the Crystal Empire... If it is, will you be a good big brother?"

George's stomach growled in response, causing the pregnant mare to chuckle again.

"You must be hungry. I'm not exactly sure what I can-" she felt a nudge under her legs "O-Oh... Um... Well, I've never exactly done that before..." the Lagombi didn't listen to her "Okay, yep, there you go... Something tells me you aren't going to stop anytime soon..."

At that moment, much to Unity's embarrassment, the two hunters plus one reentered the cavern and caught her in her act of feeding the newest addition to her family.

"Unity? Are you-" Twilight began before getting interrupted by the dark grey mare.

"NO!!" she shouted before realizing her tone of voice and calming down "I mean... This isn't what it looks like."

"Nothing wrong with that!" smiled the stallion not familiar to Unity "But boy, never thought I'd ever see somepony breastfeed a monster!"

"George is NOT a monster!" Unity shouted again before petting the calmed creature "He's just a baby..."

"George, darling?" Rarity wondered "A highly uncreative name if I do say so myself. I was thinking something perhaps more along the lines of Rasputin, or Wolfgang Amadeus. Are you sure George is a good name?"

"Thanks for the suggestions Rarity," Unity smiled "but I've already decided on George."

"Very well" the white Unicorn sighed "I'm not one to conflict with your final decisions..."

"Now, moving away from feeding a rabbit," the pregnant mare turned to Twilight "Who's your new friend?"

"Him? Oh, right!" Twilight began "We were having some trouble fighting the Tigrex, then out of the blue this stallion comes out of nowhere and kills it! We owe him our life. His name is Bright Light."

"WOO!! I'm a hero!" Bright shouted in glee.

"...right" Unity stared at him skeptically "Well, I think we should start moving out again. Now that the Tigrex is gone, and since we have two new additions to the group, no point in staying here any longer."

"Wait, so I'm a part of the team now?" the white stallion asked "Yay! I get to be with the baby Lagombi!"

"He's like a child..." Twilight sighed whilst next to Rarity.

"I think he might have ADHD, darling" the white mare said "I just hope that doesn't interfere with anything too important."

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Rarity" the lavender Unicorn said with a smile as she watched the Pegasus jump around like a loon "Ponies are ponies, no matter if they have a few... differences."

"Well, let's get a move on then!" Bright gleefully said as he skipped out of the cave and into the snowfield where the Tigrex still lay bloody and dead. The three mares and Lagombi, now finished with his meal, just stared at him in confusion and worry.

"Let's hope..." Unity spoke before she got up from her position and began walking forward again. The baby rabbit monster followed her as if she was his own mother. Twilight smiled at this.

"I guess the Lagombi found a new mom" she said to Rarity.

"Now how are we supposed to explain this the legal system, darling?" the white Unicorn questioned in worry.

"The legal system can't say no to a pregnant mare with puppy dog eyes, right?" grinned the lavender mare.

"I suppose you took a bit of Rainbow Dash's personality when you left Ponyville" Rarity rolled her eyes "By the way, darling, how is Rainbow Dash? Is she well?"

As the two talked it out, slowly walking towards the cave exit, they never noticed the squishy stepping sound or the dark, gecko-like shadow on the ceiling, following them. It silently watched its prey with its no eyes, waiting for the perfect time to strike and tear them to shreds. Two spots where its eyes should have been began glowing purple, as did the two on its tail, which looked just like its head. It slowly walked away to try and follow the group with out getting noticed.

XXXXXX

"...and then, I blew its face off! Wasn't that exciting?!" Bright Light explained how he defeated the Tigrex as the five traveled through the cold harshness of the Frozen North.

"It sure was... the first ninety times you told us..." Unity deadpanned.

The group had walked far away from the cave they fought the Tigrex next to and found the baby Lagombi in. Since then, they had used up a few of their hot drinks and were beginning to run dry. This was one of the few times Twilight wished Teal was still with her. Her handy bag of just about everything; her interesting yet still lovable nature; her warm body; her soft lips... The lavender Unicorn slapped herself across the face.

"Bad Twilight, bad!" she scolded herself "Teal is not a love interest! You're straight! Um... I think. Yeah! You're straight! Books! Libraries! Egghead stuff!"

"Twilight, are you alright?" Rarity asked in concern.

"Y-Yeah, Rarity..." the glaive wielder sighed "I'm just thinking of somepony I left behind a while back. She opted to stay, but I can't help but feel that maybe I left her just... stranded there."

"How long have you been thinking this, darling?" the elegant archer asked her friend.

"Only recently... Like, two minutes ago recently" slightly chuckled Twilight before going back to her original sort-of down mood "I just... W-Well, you see, um..."

"You have feelings for her?" Rarity asked her with a smile.

"I... I don't know..." she sighed "...maybe..."

"Twilight, that's precious!" the white Unicorn made a 'D'aww' sound as she smiled "I'm sure that whoever this pony is, you should go back to her and confess your true feelings for her."

"N-No, it's nothing like that at all!" Twilight argued with a blush on her face redder than a cherry "It's just... She really helped me get where I am now. I feel as if I should owe it to her that she-"

"Is she a fillyfooler?" Rarity wondered.

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!!!" the lavender hunter shouted rather quickly, as if covering something up. Her face was as red as Big Mac's coat as everyone, including the Lagombi (though slightly not-understanding of the situation), looked straight at her in confusion. Twilight looked around her and let out a nervous chuckle.

"Um... Sorry..." she sheepishly smiled.

"Right... Well, we're almost there" Unity proclaimed, still giving a funny look towards Twilight as she pointing to a cave nearby them "Through there should be the ruins. Even further is the final seal, which I need the Gore Magala scale to open."

"Gore-what-now?!" Bright Light spoke up with a surprised look on his face "I have no idea what that is!"

"Let's put it this way..." Twilight began explaining to the white Pegasus "It's a great dragon that terrorized and destroyed my hometown of Ponyville, and now I'm out to hunt it."

"Ooooh, sound interesting!" he said with curiosity before his ADHD got the better of him "Hey look, a cave! We should go explore it!"

"I don't know why I even bothered..." the lavender Unicorn sighed with a small smile.

XXXXXX

The cave looked near identical to the one they were in before. So much so, they once thought they accidentally turned around and found themselves in the exact same cavern. What set this one aside from the last was the traces of frozen chiseled stone, meaning there was once a civilization here. Twilight was absolutely fascinated by it all and skipped around the area, marveling at the sight.

"This is incredible!" she pranced around, starry-eyed as she looked at the ancient stone "Do you know what stories these ruins might contain within them? The good, the bad, the incredible, the fascinating! I have to come back here and research when I get the chance."

"I never understood your interesting knowledge, um... fetish, darling" awkwardly smiled Rarity.

"It's not a fetish!" argued the egghead "I merely have a highly curious interest in the subject."

"I think that's a fetish, Twi" giggled Unity.

"No, a fetish is a-"

"NO!!" everyone present stopped the lavender Unicorn from finishing her sentence. Twilight slumped back down and continued to stare at the stone, albeit now more normally.

The party went silent as they explored the cave around them. It was then when Twilight heard a squeaking noise from around her. She looked back and saw that the others were looking around the place as well, their backs turned at her. Shrugging, she went back to looking at the relics until a quiet growl came from above her. She saw purple water drip down from the ceiling which, when it hit the ground, was too thick to be water. Slowly, she looked up and came face-to-face, or rather face-to-mouth of a monster hanging on the ceiling.

The lavender Unicorn backed up immediately. She saw more the creature as she did so; a grey hide with a softer, red underbelly and a tail that looked the same as its head. It had no eyes, so in their place were small blotches of glowing purple skin on its face and tail. It had a circular mouth with dozens of razor-sharp teeth lining it, and on its front legs were wings more than likely used for gliding and gecko-like feet for its claws. From some pores on its body, it seeped poison onto the ice below it.

"W-Well..." Twilight stuttered as she stared at the beast in awe "T-There's something you d-don't see e-everyday..."

"Twilight, darling, whatever do you-" Rarity turned around and saw the creature hanging on the ceiling, to which she shrieked in fear "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!! G-G-G-GIGGINOX!!"

The other two ponies turned around hastily to witness the blind monster in all its glory. It sniffed the air to sense where its five preys were before finally picking up their scent again and roaring at them, its mouth expanding to impossible sizes as it did.

"And now's my time to run" Unity spoke surprisingly calmly before picking up her pet George and hightailing it out of the cave until the monster was exterminated. The three hunters continued to stare at the Gigginox before snapping out of it and bringing out their weapons. The monster latched off of the ceiling with a disgustingly wet popping noise before crawling towards the hunters, all the while releasing more poison from its pores. It dashed forward at Bright Light, trying to eat him. However, Twilight swung around her insect glaive right onto its head and knocked it on its back.

"Thanks!" the white Pegasus present smiled before facing the monster again "Now, BOMBS AWAY!!" he laughed as he threw two large barrel bombs at the monster's head. They landed right next to it and he whipped out his gunlance, firing at the bomb and blowing them up. The Gigginox writhed in pain before finally getting back up and latching onto the ceiling again. It began crawling around, looking for a good time to strike.

"Oh no you don't..." Rarity lined up her bow, took aim and fired a flaming arrow right on the monster's head, knocking it back down onto the floor. But instead of staying down, it landed on its feet and let out a terrifying roar before spinning around in a rapid motion, the weight of both its tail and head sending the three flying against the wall, forming cracks in the ice where they landed.

"Ugh..." Twilight groaned "That was a hard hit..." before she could even think about getting back up, she heard a cracking sound. She looked up and saw that the wall of ice she and the others crashed into began to crack. Above her were about ten giant icicles waiting to fall on their heads. That's when Twilight got an idea.

"Bright Light!" she called out the white Pegasus now just getting off of the wall "Fire your shells at those icicles!"

"Sure thing!" he gleefully said before aiming his gunlance at the ceiling and aiming. The Gigginox wouldn't have any of it though, and it pounced onto him without question. Just before it landed onto him, Twilight ran out and slashed her insect glaive upwards against the monster's body, flipping it on its side right underneath one of the giant frosty stalactites. Bright fired at the icicle and it came crashing towards the beast. However, it managed to roll out of the way before the object pierced its heart. It then placed its tail on the floor and, with a disgusting wet gushing noise, laid an egg.

"How revolting!" Rarity cried out before aiming her bow at the monster's head "I simply shall have none of it!" she fired away at its face and hit the glowing purple spots where its eyes should be. The purple light of them slowly faded out as blood began to trickle down its face from the arrow wound.

"Nice shot, Rari-" Twilight was about to finish her sentence until she heard another cracking sound. However, this one didn't come from the ceiling, but rather the egg the Gigginox recently laid. The egg hatched and out came seven little Gigginox larvae known as Giggi. The parasitic monsters began bouncing around the arena to try and latch onto the three hunters for food. Fortunately, the hunters managed to repel them long enough to evade the Gigginox's next attack; a large glob of poison headed straight for them. They dodged, but the surrounding larvae instantly died from the overdose of its mother's venom.

"So even young Gigginox aren't safe from this thing" the lavender Unicorn noted.

"Hey, guys, I have all these shock traps I haven't used yet!" Bright Light spoke up as he was standing on his hind legs with about five shock traps in his hooves "You think we should use them on the Gigginox?"

"Use them!" Rarity spoke a bit quickly and hesitantly "Use them now and end this retched thing!"

Bright nodded and grinned before throwing one of the traps underneath the Gigginox, paralyzing it. Twilight looked up and saw it was once again underneath a icicle.

"Bright, fire at that icicle above it!" she shouted. The white stallion did as he was told and fired another shell at the ceiling. This time, the icicle came crashing down onto the Gigginox and impaled it. Blood sprayed everywhere on the ground as the beast struggled to stay alive until it finally gave up and crashed its head onto the floor. It was finally dead.

(Music stop)

"Well, that certainly takes care of that problem" Rarity commented "Well, I do believe we should retrieve Unity and... George, and proceed onward, should we not?"

"No need to, Rares" Unity came out from behind a wall "George and I saw the whole thing. You three are absolutely beastly as hunters! I feel really safe when you guys are around."

"Really?!" Bright joyfully said "Wow! I feel so honored!"

"Well, I'm not really that important..." the pregnant mare blushed, and the baby Lagombi beside her growled in joy "Well, I guess George here thinks I am. You're a suck-up, you know that?" she petted him on his head "Alright, let's get a move on."

Just as the five were about to continue onwards, they all heard a groan coming from the seemingly dead Gigginox. They all turned to see that it had risen its head and was just barely clinging onto life. Twilight sighed and walked over to it, whipped out her insect glaive and impaled the blade straight into its head has hard as she could, finally killing it for good.

"What a strike, darling" Rarity commented "You would have made quite the addition to the team if you decided to go into the Monster Hunter profession sooner."

"Well, this is only temporary" explained Twilight "I need to defeat the Gore Magala, save Equestria and finally, I'll go back home and study more about the monsters."

"Hmm... How unfortunate..." sighed a slightly disappointed Rarity "Well, I suppose that's that then."

"Right!" Unity nodded "To the final seal!"

As the five began walking off to their destination, they never noticed the creature following them. This appears to happen a lot to them, but this time the monster wasn't looking at the entire party for food. It was looking straight at Twilight. Why? It had a score to settle with her.

Author's Note

That took FFFFFOOOOOOORRRRRRREEEEEEEEEVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEERRRRRRRR!!! God dammit, school and homework! :flutterrage:

But the next chapter is here! YAY! And, with Easter Monday and Good Friday coming up, I get four days off to do more of this story! DOUBLE YAY!! That is, if I'm not nose-deep in G-Rank quests. Yes, I'm G-Rank now. Not gonna brag because I know there are still people out there not in G-Rank, but just thought I'd let you know. :twilightsmile:

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, happy hunting!

Oh, and you'll like the next chapter... :raritywink:

[Act 5] (Chapter 4) Behemoth Awakened

The party of five, consisting of a nerd, a fashion designer, a pregnant mare, an autistic and a baby monster, delved deeper and deeper into the cavernous and freezing trial set before them. The air around them slowly became colder and colder to the point where hot drinks just about had no effect anymore. If they stayed down there, they would freeze to death. Fortunately, by a stroke of pure luck, they found a small heat-pocket. They decided to rest there until they warmed up.

"I never thought it would have been this cold" Unity said before turning to her pet Lagombi "George, hug me! Make me warm!"

The baby rabbit snuggled closer to the pregnant mare and made her and her own baby very warm. Unity sighed with a smile as she too cuddled up with her pet for extra warmth.

"Unity, how much farther is the final seal?" Twilight asked "We've been walking for a while."

"Well, there were a lot of seals" the dark grey Unicorn recalled "But if memory serves, we shouldn't be too far now. If anything, that scale around your neck would glow the closer we get to the seal."

"Do you know that for a fact?" the lavender hunter raised an eyebrow.

"Well... no..." Unity slightly blushed from embarrassment "But let's face it; half the stuff in Equestria glows when its brought near something important."

"She does have a point, darling" Rarity spoke up "Our cutie marks glow when they appear on our flanks. Our horns glow when we use magic. I'm sure just about everything glows."

"Do wings glow?" Bright Light suddenly said "That'd be so cool if my wings could glow!"

"I'm not exactly sure that-" Twilight began before being interrupted by a glowing golden light below her "Oh, yes, of course, because that makes sense..."

"I guess I wasn't too far off" Unity smiled devilishly before getting off George and back into a standing position "Well, I'm all warmed up and ready to go. I think we should get moving. I'm super curious as to what lies just after this!"

"I think we all are, darling" the white mare among the group said as she looked at Bright, who was bouncing everywhere around the heated room.

"Right, let's go" the purple maned mare nodded, following the light from the scale tied around her neck. The scale lead to the exit of the heat pocket, and from there the group merely followed the pathway downwards.

XXXXXX

Darker and darker, colder and colder the cave became. It proved to be a worthy test for the five. No more heat pockets appeared before them, and they had used all of their hot drinks. They just had to hold onto what they had left. George had snuggled underneath Unity's belly as to keep her foal warm. She appreciated the gesture, but she wasn't sure how long they would last by this point.

"This s-seal better b-be here sooner r-rather than l-later, Unity" Twilight spoke, slightly cross and very cold "I'm f-f-freezing c-c-cold..."

"R-Relax T-T-Twilight" the pregnant mare smiled weakly "W-W-We're almost th-th-there..."

"Th-This isn't f-f-fun anym-m-more..." Bright Light sighed as he used his wings to warm his face up.

"T-T-Took the w-w-words r-right out of m-m-my mouth, d-darling..." Rarity shivered.

"W-Wait" Unity perked up "I-Is it getting w-warmer to anypony?"

"Y-Yeah!" Twilight noticed it as well as she also saw something coming from the end of the large tunnel they were going through "And look! Light! Th-This tunnel is almost done!"

The five quickly rushed to the end of the cavern to finally feel the warmth of whatever room awaited them. The smiles on their faces grew larger and larger as they approached their destination. At long last, this gruesome journey would come to a close.

But that's what they originally thought.

The second they exited the cave into the rather large and icy room, they skidded to a complete stop. Their smiles turned into gaping mouths and their pupils shrank as they witness the thing right in front of them. It was turned around, but no one could forget the black scales and dark mist surrounding it. While all the ponies (plus one Lagombi) were either curious by the creature or completely terrified of it, Twilight was the one struck the most by fear. She knew what it was; it has followed her through her entire adventure. The dragon took out its wing arms and slammed them into the icy floor before using them to turn around. With all six of its limbs, it approached only Twilight until it was right dead in front of her, staring at her with its no eyes. She swallowed her fear and began to speak.

"Fancy seeing you here, Gore Magala" she looked dead into its face. The creature merely growled at her before opening up its mouth to attempt to eat her. Twilight braced for the worst until a voice called out behind the dark dragon.

"Hey you!" shouted Bright who had sneaked around the dragon and called it, to which the Gore turned "Yeah you! Big, fat and ugly! Come and get me, ya big wuss!"

The Gore Magala turned around quickly, swiping the three ponies and one monster with its tail against the wall. The beast ran after the white stallion before taking off and dive bombing right into him. He managed to dodged the attack, which hit the ice instead, cracking it.

Twilight and Rarity turned to Unity who, unfortunately, got the worst of it. Her left eye was a shade of purple now and her front left leg looked broken. But the worst part was the huge gash across her belly. It wasn't deep enough to hurt the foal, much to the relief of the two hunters, but it was large enough to cause great pain to the dark grey mare.

"AAHHH!!" she cried in pain and fear for the well-being of her child "N-NO!"

"Shhhh, shhhh... I want you breath now, darling..." Rarity tried to comfort her by rubbing the part of her belly not wounded "The wound isn't large enough to hurt your foal, I promise."

As Rarity was busy trying to relax the mare, Twilight noticed a small puff of black dust around the scar left by the Gore Magala. It faded away so quickly that she was unsure if it was even there at all. But she could have sworn she saw it, and within it held horribly dark powers.

"Twilight, deal with that... thing" the white mare caring for the injured soon-to-be mother said as she pointed at the black dragon currently being distracted by Bright Light "I'll help Unity" she took the dark grey mare and began walking her out of the room. Twilight turned to the Gore Magala and took out her insect glaive with her magic, swung it around a bit and aimed it straight at the dragon.

"Hey you!" she shouted, making it turn around to face her "I'm the one you want!"

The dark creature let out a horrifying screech and extended its purple horns at the lavender mare, making her slightly flinch. She quickly got back into posture though.

"Alright, that's new" she said in slight amazement before going back to her original scowl "But you hurt my friends, and now you're going to pay the price!"

The beast charged straight at Twilight and attempted to crush her with its giant arms. She rolled out of the way to avoid them and was currently behind it. It quickly turned around and roared at her again. By this point, the purple maned hunter was in the centre of the room. Seeing this, the Gore Magala flung itself into the air and shot its body straight at Twilight. She was knocked back from the force of the hit, but got back up quickly to see that it had cracked the ice below it.

(Music stop)

It stopped to stare deep into the cracked ice before letting out a growl that sounded like it was laughing. Twilight, soon joined by Bright Light, was confused on why it would laugh at something as meaningless as breaking ice. Her thoughts were interrupted when it extended its wings again and flew upwards at the speed Rainbow Dash would usually go, shattering any ice in its way and letting down a ray of sunlight onto the area. It was already morning, which meant a certain light blue Pegasus would be searching for his wife right now.

That was the least of her concerns though. What she was more focused on was the cloud of black dust seeping into the cracks of the ice. Something was below the room.

"Of course" Twilight sighed "Every time I want to get something done, the Gore Magala comes around and infects something for me to fight. Well, at least it can't be any bigger than a Dire Miral-" the ground below her shook violently "What the? Is it actually something giant after all?"

"This is gonna be so exciting!" Bright Light squealed with excitement.

"Quite the contrary!" Twilight shouted as the rumbling got louder and louder.

"What does that mean?" the white Pegasus asked curiously. Just as Twilight was about to answer, the cracked ice burst and out flew a gigantic monster aimed to landing right on top of the two hunters. They quickly ran out of the way to avoid the heavy and loud stomp of the beast. After it landed with booming thud on the surprisingly stronger ice, it turned around to reveal itself to Twilight and Bright.

It was large for starters, and it was covered in light grey scales presumed to be harder than diamond. It had a long, thick tail which to hit things with, forelegs larger than its back ones and protruding scales of the same colour coming out its back. But its most defining features were its giant shovel-like chin and glowing red eyes. After a while, it got up on its hind legs and let out an ear-shatteringly loud roar, forcing the two hunters to cover their ears.

Once the roar subsided, the beast smashed its forelegs down onto the ice, finally cracking it and sending the ponies flying across the ice from the force of the shock wave. Once they got up, Twilight took the time to analyze the monster before them.

"It's a Ukanlos..." she stared at the monster in awe "I've heard about them in my books, but they're pretty rare. I've read they're very powerful, yet not strong enough to be considered an Elder Dragon. They're forces of nature not to be reckoned with..."

"...let's kill it!" Bright said with a smile after a short pause.

"WHAT?! Are you-" the lavender Unicorn shouted at the white stallion, but he was already off, to which she sighed "I guess we're killing it then... Wait for me!"

The behemoth monster stared right at the hunters before standing on its hind legs again and opening its mouth before letting out a high-pressured beam of icy wind at them. The beam struck the ice floor and forced the hunters back again, albeit only slightly this time. Once the beam stopped, the Ukanlos stomped back down onto the ice and flung them back once more.

"We can't even get close to that thing..." huffed Twilight as she got up from the ice yet again.

"Then we don't have to!" grinned Bright as he brought out his gunlance and fired a shell at the Ukanlos's head. He laughed as he thought of all the damage he could do with this weapon. His mood reversed as soon as the shell bounced off its body, leaving it unfazed.

"Uh oh..." he said before running off to where Unity and Rarity were hiding away from the creature.

"Oh, yeah, thank you! That really helps!" Twilight shouted sarcastically at the fleeing pony before turning back to the Ukanlos "Alright big guy. You want to play by your rules? Then lets play by your rules then!"

Twilight immediately ran forward with her glaive in her magical grasp at the beast, flinging her Kinsect at the Ukanlos's belly. The bug managed to bite into it, signaling its underside was softer and therefore easier to deal damage to. The purple insect friend of Twilight's came back to her and gave her a defense buff. Feeling stronger, she continued to charge right at the beast. However, before she could get close enough to hit it, it began digging into the ice and charged at her from underneath. Only its back scales protruded from the floor as it dug its way toward the lavender mare, who had stopped to quickly turn around and run for her life.

"Hold on, darling!" Rarity, who had come out from the cave exit, shouted before firing a barrage of flaming arrows in the direction of the Ukanlos. While they merely bounced off, the beast came to a complete stop to jump out of the ice and stare right at the white Unicorn. She made a mad dash to make it stare at her and not at the cave which she just came from, where the injured Unity was.

"Rarity, what are you doing out here?!" Twilight asked in a tone of both confusion and slight anger.

"Well I couldn't leave you to fight this alone, Twilight" she reasoned with her bookworm friend.

"What about Unity?"

"Oh, Bright Light is taking care of her. What a darling stallion he is."

"Rares, he has ADHD" deadpanned the lavender mare "Are you sure that was a wise idea?"

Rarity was about to answer her, but the Ukanlos staring at them made the first move. It dug its chin into the ground only to flip them back up, with it three huge chunks of ice headed straight for the two. They dodged out of the way just in time to avoid the approaching ice destined to either crush them or freeze them.

"There must be a way to hurt it, darling" Rarity said "But what could we use? Our weapons would bounce right off of it, and any softer spot we found would result in taking far too long to rid of it."

Twilight frantically looked around the large room covered in ice and snow. She then noticed that under the ice were the same old ruins she saw when fighting the Gigginox not a few hours prior. Searching further, she noticed the large and spiky needle-like weapon protruding from the frozen arena. It was a Dragonator, and by the looks of it, it might still be functional.

"There!" she pointed at the Dragonator, gaining her fashion designer friend's attention "That Dragonator might still be usable! If we can get the Ukanlos close enough, we could either shoot out the Dragonator or impale it into the Ukanlos."

"Um... May I ask, what is a Dragonator, darling?" Rarity asked "You mean that large spike from the ice?"

"Yeah, that!" Twilight nodded

"Darling," the white Unicorn tried to reason "I'm not exactly sure if it'll work after however long this place has been hidden from us."

"Do you have another idea?" the lavender mare questioned, to which Rarity let out a defeated sigh and shook her head "Okay then. You distract it and I'll... Well, I'll improvise."

"Wait, darling!" the purple maned fashion designer shouted at her friend who was currently rushing forward to 'improvise', to which the former sighed again "Wasn't she the one calling Bright back not a few moments ago? No matter. I suppose I have to distract it now..." she too ran off to try and gain the monster's attention.

As Rarity waved her front hooves up in the air to distract the Ukanlos, Twilight saw an opportunity to jump onto its back. Once she did with the power of her insect glaive, her plan came to a complete stop. Now what was she supposed to do?

"TWILIGHT!!" the white mare shouted at her friend in fear and anger "What in the lord's name are you doing?!"

"I HAVE NO IDEA!!" she shouted back, struggling to stay on the Ukanlos. Finally, she managed to find a way to tilt the monster in the direction of which she wanted it to go. She made it slowly approach the Dragonator, much to all the struggling it did to shake her off its back. Finally, it was right next to the weapon, but Twilight had no idea how to effectively kill it. Of course, there was an answer for everything. She took a hold of her glaive and dug it slightly into the monster's thick skull before dragging its head down onto the spike, impaling its brain and killing it instantly. Gore spew out the top of its head, a bloody Dragonator following soon after.

(Music stop)

"Twilight, you did it!" Rarity smiled in glee as the lavender Unicorn came down from the body of the creature, embracing her in a hug "Never do that again, okay darling?"

"S-Sure, Rarity..." Twilight let out a gasp for breath, signalling the white Unicorn to stop the hugging.

"My apologies, Twilight" she professionally spoke right after letting go of her friend "I was just so excited to see you safe and uninjured."

"Speaking of injuries," the purple maned bookworm remembered "I think it's time we see how Unity is faring. I'm not exactly sure how well she'd last with Bright Light as company."

(Music stop)

XXXXXX

Unity sat in a corner, taking deep breaths through her nose as Bright treated her wounds. He smiled kindly as he gently rubbed a potion on her belly, making the mare feel slightly uncomfortable but certainly better than before. He finally wrapped a bandage around her back and abdomen to seal the wound before lightly rubbing the uninjured parts of her enlarged midsection.

"Like Rarity said, the wound isn't too deep" the white Pegasus surprisingly calmly spoke "Your foal is totally safe and you should be too. Be sure to get plenty of rest and don't go out trying to unlock ancient seals in the future until this little rascal is out, okay?"

"O-Okay..." Unity smiled "But, wait... Don't you have ADHD?"

"I do" he replied simply and nodded "But, that doesn't mean I can't recognize when somepony is hurt or in trouble. That's why I'm usually the medic when I go on hunts with other ponies; I know my medicine, and I can be funny as well."

"There you guys are!" Twilight came into the cave, followed by Rarity "We defeated the Ukanlos, so you can come out now."

"Darling, did you bandage Unity up?" Rarity asked as she saw the pregnant mare treated belly.

"Yeah, he did" the dark grey Unicorn smiled as she rubbed her abdomen filled with her foal "He's actually a pretty good doctor."

"Yeah! I'm a doctor!" Bright saluted in joy before he packed his healing items up "Now, with my special, super-duper permission, I will allow you to do one last thing before you take plenty of rest."

"Right, I'm on it" Unity slowly got back up from her resting position to open the final seal. She politely asked Twilight for her necklace, to which she gave it to her. The pregnant mare smiled and took the scale with her magic before she and the others, including George, headed out towards the large area where the carcass of the Ukanlos lay. Underneath the impaled monster and the Dragonator now covered in blood was a door that Twilight was surprised she hadn't seen prior. But what was taking her attention the most was the bright glowing coming from the Gore Magala scale. Soon after, the door began to glow as well.

"Well, I suppose everything DOES glow in Equestria..." Twilight finally understood her homeland's biggest cliche ever. She continued to watch the scale and door glow brighter and brighter until, at long last, the door's light faded away, and with it the door itself. Behind the door (now said four times in this paragraph) was a surprisingly not icy room. It was small and circular, and in the centre was a weapon resting on a pedestal. It was long and golden with two pointed sides and a handle in the centre with a brace on one side of said handle. A blue colored blade surrounded the two ends and brace.

"A weapon?" Rarity wondered "But, it's unlike anything I've ever seen before..."

"The shape, the handle..." the lavender Unicorn analyzed the new-found staff "This is an insect glaive, like my weapon. But, that means Luna didn't make it. Somepony else, somepony very ancient created it first. Either way, this thing will help me defeat the Gore Magala and finally bring peace to Equestria."

"Yeah, you're welcome by the way" Unity laughed a bit, making Twilight blush from embarrassment.

"Oh, sorry I-"

"Twilight, it's okay" she chuckled some more "I think saving the world should come before a thank you. Now take it and take out that bastard for nearly killing my foal and terrorizing Equestria!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" nodded the purple maned Unicorn before taking the legendary weapon with her magic and placing it on her back with her other glaive "Alright, let's go and-"

"Have a word with Unity's husband..." said a rather cross voice from behind them. All five of them turned around to see that Rage Quit and his team of six hunters all clothed in Khezu armour had followed them into the depths of the Frozen North. The light blue Pegasus, still in his cast but rather unfazed by it now, was wearing his armour and switch-axe on his back. He was also extraordinarily cross with his wife for going out into the wild and risk getting her and their foal seriously injured. However, he did his best to contain his anger as he was in front of both his troop and his wife.

"R-Rage Quit!" nervously laughed the dark grey mare "Heheh... What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was just curious as to where my pregnant wife had gone when I couldn't find her in her bed when I woke up" Rage Quit said, his voice calm yet still very angry "Wanna know how angry I was when I learned she went out into the Frozen North with our unborn child?"

"Ragey, I can explain!" hastily spoke Unity before being stopped by Twilight.

"Rage Quit, don't blame her" she sighed "I dragged her into this... She said she could open the door to something that could save Equestria from the Gore Magala! Of course, I agreed and we went out together."

"Darling, don't blame yourself; I was the one who never stopped this foolishness" Rarity spoke up "If I did, we would have still been at your home, Unity and the foal completely out of harm's way."

"No, it was I who did it!" Bright Light shouted "Wait, what are we talking about again?"

George simply made a cute growling noise, rolling around on the ice and making all of the ponies present make a 'd'aww' noise. Rage got back into a cross expression once the d'aww-ing was over with.

"I should arrest all of you, save for Unity" the light blue Pegasus said in a rather cold tone "However, I won't, because one; I would never arrest the ponies who not only saved my life, but protected my wife from certain danger, and two; I'm not the police, I don't have that right."

"Rage Quit, we are forever in your debt" bowed Rarity.

"Hey, no problem" he smiled "But you all know you're still in huge trouble, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Big time..."

"Vast amounts..."

"A little..."

XXXXXX

After the team got the five out of the temple, passing the dead Gigginox body and Tigrex carcass missing a head until they finally reached the Crystal Empire. Rage Quit dismissed his team back to their posts before taking Twilight, Unity, Rarity, Bright and George back to his and his wife's house to talk with them. He sat them all down on his couch, where they all saw that his eyes weren't as intense before, but Unity has seen them slightly less angry. All in all, he wasn't impressed.

"What were you thinking, Unity?" he finally spoke after a long pause "You could have gotten you and the foal killed! Yeah, stuff about saving the world and stuff, right? I don't care! You and that child are, without a doubt, the most important things to me. To hell with the world! If I know that you two are safe, I can sleep easy!"

"Rage Quit, please!" Unity argued back "You're beginning to act like your father!"

The light blue stallion took a long pause before finally letting out a sigh.

"...You're right" he finally spoke "I'm sorry... It's just, if something happened to you, I don't think I could continue living. You know I love you, both of you. I just never want anything to happen to you two..."

The pregnant mare simply smiled before getting up and giving her husband a hug, then a quick kiss on the lips. Rage began to hug back before softly crying. Unity patted him on his back.

"There, there..." she softly spoke "Don't cry, baby..."

"Thanks, honey..." he sniffed before letting go of the embrace and looking back at the other four, sniffing once more to act more professional and not a complete wreck "Now, as for you lot, while I'm not particularly impressed by your reluctance to stay here and keep Unity out of harm's way, I AM grateful that you did such a good job protecting her. You have my thanks."

"You're welcome, Mr. Quit!" Bright beamed.

"Second," Rage Quit cleared his throat and raised his voice "who the hell are you?!"

"A friend, Ragey" Unity calmed her husband down "He helped me when I was injured. He's a good stallion.

"Oh..." the light blue Pegasus calmed down "Sorry..."

"Quite alright, sir!" the white stallion smiled.

XXXXXX

It was at long last time to head home. Only one problem; Twilight had no idea how to get back home. The carrier Rathian had gone back to Dracoville, and, because of a raging Elder Dragon in the desert, no trains would be going through the city anytime soon. She sighed in her seat at the train station. Joining her was the to-be-mother and father, the autistic, the fashion designer and the pet that all played an important role in her adventure so far.

"I have no idea why the train isn't coming..." Rarity pondered "Perhaps it's merely late?"

"Yeah, by an hour..." Unity sighed.

"Well, funny you should mention that..." nervously chuckled Twilight "You see, I kinda-"

Her sentence was interrupted by a loud horn that blew from a distance. The group looked around to eventually see a ship sailing towards them. It was wooden, but had platforms on its sides, a large mast with a silk sail attached to it and a hunting gong on its bow. But what got Twilight's attention the most was the familiar teal silhouette driving it.

"...Teal?" she guessed.

The ship, now recognized to the lavender mare as the Dragonship, pulled up to the train station and docked itself. The staircase to it came down and out hopped Teal Speck, in the flesh and blood. Following her was her younger sister, Sun Stone.

"Hey, babe!" she chuckled "Miss me?"

"Miss Twilight" Sun Stone now spoke a little more clearly "How are you doing?"

"Teal? Sun Stone?" Twilight was amazed by the sight of the two "What are you doing here?"

"Thought we could give you and your pals here a ride back to Ponyville" the teal Pegasus laughed "When I heard from good ol' Celly that you went and rode a carrier Rathian to get here, I couldn't leave you abandoned like that! I just had to swoop in and save the lovely damsel in distress."

"Since when have I been a 'damsel'?" Twilight smiled. She had missed her friend's unique personality.

"Since, like, forever!" Teal smiled "Now c'mon; we have a lot of work to do!" she turned to the others behind Twilight "You coming as well?"

"I suppose I shall..." Rarity said, still shocked by the appearance of the Dragonship.

"We'll stay" Rage Quit spoke for the rest of the ponies there "I think we've had enough excitement for one day."

"Well, fair enough" the slightly more mature Teal spoke before going back to her usual self "Now, who's ready to get hammered?!"

"But, sister, didn't you tell me that 'hammered' means to get drunk?" Sun Stone questioned her sister's choice of words, to which she merely let out a sigh and a smile.

"I know what I said, kiddo" she said "That's just me talking, okay?"

"Twilight, was this the mare you were speaking about earlier?" Rarity asked her bookworm friend.

"Yeah..." the lavender Unicorn said with a small smile "I guess she is..."

"All aboard the S.S. Funtime, bitches!!" Teal laughed before starting up the Dragonship's engines again, raising the sails and withdrawing the side platforms. The ship slowly began moving through the ground on its long voyage back to Ponyville. This was it; the final battle was about to unfold, and Twilight couldn't be more excited!

(Music stop)

Little did she know that this final battle would change her life forever...

Author's Note

Big ass chapter calls for big ass apology! I'm sorry for the rather lackluster frequency of these chapters. School and work had been hitting rather hard, but now that Easter is here, I have more time to write! YAY!!

So yes, this is the second-last chapter not including the epilogue or the possible bonus chapter. One more chapter remains. It's been a long ride guys, but we all knew it had to end eventually. But, I'm happy to announce that the next chapter will be the longest one yet. A lot of story means a lot of time, so this might take a while, but I promise it will be well worth it.

Comment down below if you want a sequel to this story! Basically, its eighteen years later. This means new faces, new towns, and, of course, new monsters. But I'm planning to spend more time developing my OCs in my sequel than in this story here. Character builds better stories, and better stories means I can please you all!

The new season of MLP comes out today! Is everyone excited?!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, happy hunting everyone.

Ukanlos was suggested by... Everyone. Seriously, everyone wanted me to put this asshole in my story. I almost didn't after the crap he pulled with me, but hey, a request is a request, right?

Oh, and this is what the ancient weapon looks like:

[Act G] (Chapter G) Destiny

"Life."

"What is life?"

"None truly know what life is as a whole. None have experience all that life has to offer. But all have experienced a taste of life. Yet, as much as we have tasted it, tried it, lived it and loved it, we do not know what it is, or more importantly, where it came from. How did we, living organisms, come into existence? How did we begin to thrive, and when will we stop? That is a question that is, unfortunately, even out of my reach. Wouldn't you agree, Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight floated in a vast sea of darkness. Nothing was within her sight but pitch black space. She felt as if she was in water, yet at the same time felt as if standing on land. She didn't know where she was or what she was doing here, but one thing was very clear to her: the voice around her expected an answer.

"I... I don't know..." she spoke, still unsure of her surroundings or what impact her answer would leave upon this world.

"You sound troubled" the voice, now recognized to be female, spoke in a rather soothing manner "There is no reason to be troubled, my dear. I am merely asking a simple question. Do you perhaps know what life is?"

The lavender mare became even more confused and terrified of where she was and what the voice was asking her. She struggled to give out a proper answer, her hooves trembling and her teeth chattering. This was unreal to her. This had to be some sort of a dream.

"L-L-Life?" she repeated the voice's question "W-Well... Life is... well, you see..."

"Relax, my child" the voice calmed her down "I was merely wondering if you knew the answer. It is okay if you do not. I can-"

"No... I got this one..." Twilight spoke after a while, letting out a sigh "Life is... Life is what we choose it to be. It binds us and helps us make friends. It's what we live every single day and shapes us into the ponies we are destined to become!"

"That is your answer?" the voice curiously spoke with a bit of venom, frightening Twilight a bit.

"Y-Yes" the purple maned Unicorn nodded in confirmation.

"I see..." the voice sounded less than pleased now before becoming more angry "You stupid, stupid excuse for a-" the voice calmed down "No. No, you'll understand one day. Your life will change, Twilight Sparkle, for better or for worse. And it all depends on what you choose at the end of your journey. This is not the end, my dear. You will follow your destiny soon enough."

"What?" Twilight questioned "What does that mean?! Hey, answer me! I NEED TO KNOW!!!"

XXXXXX

Twilight awoke quite abruptly from her slumber in the lower decks of the Dragonship with a gasp. She looked around and saw her bedsheets had been shifted quite drastically, telling her she was shaking in her sleep. She let out a sigh once she gathered the voice and the sea of nothing was but a dream. She needed a breather, and the upper decks of the ship were just her ticket.

She was already out of her armour, obviously. Only a fool would sleep for hours with their armour still on. She wore some comfortable purple pajamas that had been given to her by Teal. The latter said she looked good in them. Twilight couldn't imagine why. Slowly, she went out onto the deck where the soft wind of the night brushed by her face in a soothing manner. She let in a deep breathe and and let out a deep sigh before heading to the forward-most point of the ship accessible to her. She stared out into the huge land before her, the stars of night glistening and dancing above her. She didn't know why, but she always preferred the night over the day. Perhaps it was the near quiet tone of things? She supposed she would never figure out truly why.

"You can't sleep either?" a familiar voice behind her spoke. The lavender mare turned around to see Teal also without her armour on, wearing a dark green onesie and a cup of hot coffee in her left wing. The teal mare smiled at her crush.

"No, sorry..." Twilight sighed.

"No need to be sorry, babe" Teal smiled as she got closer to her potential marefriend, wrapping her right wing over her back "I can't sleep either. Though, that's mainly because you talk in your sleep."

"I-I did?" gasped the lavender mare "S-Sorry about that..."

"Again with the apologies, eh?" chuckled the moss green maned Pegasus "Well, I forgive you. And I'm sure everypony else does as well. Now, I believe you owe me something."

"What?"

Teal said nothing as she leaned in to give Twilight a passionate kiss on the lips. The Unicorn was shocked at first, but soon began kissing back. Their session continued for a few more moments until Twilight pulled off, and looked the other way, confusing Teal.

"Are you okay?" she asked her crush.

"Yeah, sor- I mean, yeah..." the purple maned mare stopped herself from apologizing "I've just been a little... agitated recently... Like, a few minutes ago recently."

"How so?"

"Well..." Twilight was about to tell her friend, but ultimately chose not to "...no, it's nothing. I'll be fine."

"Twilight, I know what happens when somepony gets agitated and doesn't talk about it" Teal gave the lavender hunter a concerned glare "They start melting into sticky goop stuff that's hard to wash out. Or, is that something else... Either way, you can't keep your feelings stashed up inside you like that. Twi, I'm your friend! Albeit a friend you haven't had for a while, but a friend nonetheless. You can tell me anything."

"Teal, it's okay" the agitated mare sighed "Go back to bed, okay? I just need some time alone."

"Eh, fair enough" she shrugged "Just don't be too long, okay? You're gonna need the rest if you want to kill that Gore Magala thing dead. I mean, you've come this far! Wouldn't want its trump card to be you half asleep."

"Okay" giggled Twilight before going back to staring out the front of the Dragonship. Teal smiled before going back down into the lower decks. Once Twilight heard the door close, she sighed.

"What is life?" she pondered "I mean, I have my own idea, but I wonder if there's a set answer? Whoever that pony was who contacted me through my dreams was probably has the answer..." she sighed again "Teal's right, I best get to bed..." The lavender mare nodded to the land in front of her before turning around and heading back to the lower decks. This was going to be a long battle, and she needed all the rest she could get.

XXXXXX

Arrival in Ponyville came early the next morning. The Dragonship, steered by none other than the great and amazing Teal Speck herself, slowly docked right beside the train station, much like it had in the Crystal Empire. The stopping thud had awoken Rarity from her 'beauty sleep' and greatly enraged her. She emerged from the lower decks still in her frilly pajamas with a scowl across her face.

"Teal Speck!" she huffed "What is the meaning of this?! Can't you see I'm trying to get my beauty sleep?"

"Well, your 'beauty sleep' will have to be put on hold" the teal Pegasus had already taken a somewhat disliking attitude towards the archer "Look around you, honey; we're already in Ponyville!"

"Oh, so we are..." Rarity finally realized after taking a small look around.

It wasn't long before Twilight and Sun Stone had come up from their sleeping quarters. In such a short time, the little light brown filly had picked up some words from her elder sister and began speaking much faster then she had before. Some words Twilight wasn't too proud of came out of Sun's mouth, but she was nonetheless very impressed. Since they got up, they had talked all about their interests.

"...and from what studies show, a Diablos actually has a second stomach!" the lavender mare gushed "One is for consumption, and the other is for digestion! It's all so fascinating!"

"Tell me more, Miss Twilight!" Sun Stone was highly curious about what her sister's crush had to say.

"Well, a Diablos can-"

"I think that's enough egghead stuff for one day, wouldn't you agree, babe?" Teal suddenly interrupted the two from continuing their conversation "Besides, I think Celly wants to talk with you. There were, like, a million other ponies there who wanted to speak with us, so no point in wasting anymore time then we need."

"But, Teal, Miss Twilight has so much things she wants to speak!" the light brown filly didn't quite say a perfect sentence.

"I know, Sunny" the teal hunter sighed as she got her armour on "But this is important for saving the world and such. Now how can Miss Twilight tell you all the amazing things about... um... Diablos guts-"

"Stomachs" Twilight corrected.

"Right" Teal nodded before going back to her original sentence "-when there's no world left, eh?"

"I guess you're right..." Sun Stone sighed.

"Wanna come with?" the teal mare asked her now saddened sister, to which she immediately perked up and nodded furiously "Great!" she turned back to Twilight "The princess is in the hospital, obviously, but like I said, there are others there."

"Like?" the lavender mare asked Teal.

"Like a bouncy pink one, an ash grey Unicorn, a blue Alicorn..." she listed a few off the top of her head "Oh, and cute yellow one who introduced me to everypony."

"Even Fluttershy, huh?" Twilight thought to herself.

"Anyways, the more time we waste here, the less time we'll have to discuss what to do with ol' Gorey" the teal mare continued "Let's head on downtown and meet up with Celly and her friends, why don't we?"

"I don't think she'll appreciate you calling her Celly, but sure, why not?" Twilight shrugged before nodding.

XXXXXX

After a tediously long walk to the hospital, what with all the bickering from both Teal and Rarity, the four finally reached their destination. They entered the hospital to see that, much to Twilight's surprise even though she was told not a few minutes prior, Luna and Dark Thunder had come to Ponyville, both of which were wearing their armour currently. Luna immediately saw the lavender mare and embraced her in a hug.

"Twilight!" she smiled "It's been so long! And now look at you; all suited up and ready to fight anything!"

"Luna, it's been a while" Twilight smiled before realizing Teal had never met her, finally turning to her and beginning the introductions "Luna, this is my friend Teal. She's been with me on many of my adventures. And Teal, this is Luna, the pony who trained me to be the mare I am today."

"Pleasure!" Teal extended a hoof in friendship "Anypony who's a friend of Twilight is a friend of mine" she then turned to Rarity before looking back at Luna "Well, almost anypony..."

"Excuse me?!" Rarity shouted in frustration.

"Quite the interesting characters you've come across, Twilight" nervously chuckled the princess of the night "Do tell me that you've met... others on your journey."

"That would be me" Dark spoke up "She and I along with Pinkie helped destroy a Changeling hive and defeat Dire Miralis."

"Ah yes, you were telling me about that" Luna recalled "Well, I think we're all quite familiar with each other now. My sister, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash are waiting upstairs."

"You're sister?" Teal asked curiously.

"Um... Never mind" the blue Alicorn covered up her secret "I forgot she wasn't coming."

"Well, hey, you can borrow MY sister then!" the teal mare laughed before nudging Sun Stone, who until this point had been dead scared of everyone, towards Luna "Don't be scared, kiddo! Just say 'hello', okay?"

"Um..." the light brown filly began "He... Hello...."

"Aww, how adorable..." Luna gushed "Do you wish to accompany me up the stairs?"

Sun Stone merely shook her head and rushed back behind her big sister's leg, slightly disappointing the princess of the night.

"Sorry about her" Teal smiled as she shrugged "That's what happens when you're raised in the wild, fearing all ponies and watching both her mothers die right in front of her."

There was an awkwardly long silence. No one said a word as they all just stared at Teal in either anger, confusion, sadness or disbelief. Finally, Rarity broke the quietness.

"Well, I do believe we should head up now" she said as she made her way to the stairs.

"Agreed."

"Yep!"

"Without a doubt."

"Okay..."

All of the mares left for the second floor where Celestia and the others were waiting, leaving Dark Thunder in confusion about what just happened. He was left mouth wide open at the mention of how Teal's sister came to be here.

"So, is anypony gonna tell me what the hell just happened?" he asked no one in particular "Hello? Anypony? No? Okay..."

XXXXXX

"Twilight! So very nice to see you again" Celestia smiled as her student and said student's friends, including Dark Thunder who had rushed up the stairs as fast as he could, entered the room "I've heard you've met many ponies on your travels and defeated many great foes, like the legendary Dah'ren Mohran and the powerful Dire Miralis. I'm so proud of you! However, there is something of extreme importance I must tell you."

"Is it about the Gore Magala?" Twilight asked.

"Something like that..." Rainbow spoke up, letting out a nervous chuckle "Well, you see... The hunters in Canterlot found something in the Canterlot caverns."

"Oh no... Don't tell me the Gore made its nest there!" the lavender Unicorn worried.

"Fortunately, no, it hasn't" the princess of the day sighed with a smile, much to the relief of her student "However, we have discovered something far, far worse than a nest or a hive of sorts."

"Wait, are you telling us there's something worse than a Gore Magala out there?" Teal questioned with actual concern in her voice.

"Perhaps not..." Celestia said, to which everyone in the room sighed in relief "...but it is most definitely a close second."

"WHAT?!" everyone yelled in shock and fear, with the exception of Pinkie, Celestia and Rainbow Dash.

"Y-Y-Y-You mean th-th-there's something.... w-w-worse?!" Fluttershy managed to say from the initial reveal of the new threat.

"Unfortunately, yes" the white Alicorn sighed "After searching through the Canterlot caverns not a few hours prior for any traces of the Gore Magala being there, my hunters discovered traces of tar. Now I understand what you may be thinking, and I can assure you we had no part in putting it there. However, after doing a bit of research on the subject, apparently 1000 years prior to today, a great beast said to be so powerful, it could control the very moon itself. It was known as-"

"The Gogmazios..." Twilight finished her mentor's sentence with awe in her eyes "According to ancient lore, it was considered the king of monsters for its sheer strength and incredible resilience to anything inflicted onto it. It ravaged the land and was the Faust and Nyx's greatest challenge yet, and even they could only seal it away, not kill it. Since then, it's the seal has been protected by those of the royal line, and all that is known of this monster is its terrifying howl and its ability to control a tar-like substance. In many respects, its just like the Gore Magala."

"I see you're quite educated on the matter" Celestia nodded with a grin, to which the lavender Unicorn blushed with a smile on her face "Yes, it's true; the Gogmazios has been under the watchful eye of the royal family for generations. But to have it awakened in my time... I'm sure you must all know what I ask of you to do, correct?"

Everyone able nodded, some courageously, others quite hesitantly.

"I'll stay behind, your highness" Rarity suggested "I don't wish to be involved with anything relating to tar. And Teal and I have some... differences..."

Celestia let out a sigh and nodded as well. No one said anything as the uninjured hunters left the hospital to defeat the beast opposing against them. As soon as the door closed behind all of them, the princess of the sun sighed before realizing something interesting.

"Wait... The Gogmazios was firmly sealed in the cavern since I checked it last..." she thought "It had a few thousand years left on it, so it wouldn't have been opened unless... unless... a member of the royal blood-line opened it themselves..."

She shuddered at the though. She just hoped that worst fears weren't true...

XXXXXX

The express train to strictly Canterlot and Ponyville was, much to the satisfaction of the group, still running. If it wasn't, the trip all the way up the mountain would've taken too long, and the Gogmazios broken loose would have destroyed Canterlot, or worse. Thankfully, that wasn't the case as the train sped towards Canterlot Mountain posthaste. As most of the group formulated a plan to defeat the Gogmazios, Pinkie stuck her head and tongue out the window of the train car, causing a few ponies to giggle.

"Pinkie..." Twilght smiled "I'm not sure that's socially appropriate."

"What? Nah, it's okay!" the bouncy mare grinned "Besides, what's the worst that could-"

"DON'T!!" everypony in the car stopped her from finishing her sentence. Pinkie merely shrugged and went back to sticking her tongue out the window like a dog. The lavender pony present sighed and went back to discussing the plan of attack, but not before Teal expressed her thoughts on a certain subject.

"Still can't believe we couldn't bring the Dragonship with us" she sighed in disappointment "Do you know how badass it would've been if we went into Canterlot, cannons ablaze and killing dead that Gog-massie-oes thing!"

"While I would have loved to bring it as well, we need to keep it a secret to everypony" Twilight explained "No particular reason, but I'd just feel safer if we were to hide the ship for now."

"Fair enough..." the teal Pegasus rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Now, the Gogmazios has control over an odd tar-like substance that stops you in your tracks... theoretically..." the lavender mare continued.

"Theoretically?" Dark Thunder's left eyebrow rose up.

"Dark, this is a thousand-year-old monster we're dealing with, perhaps even older!" Twilight did her best to explain the situation "Doesn't help that its been locked up for a while and nearly nopony knows anything about it!"

"Alright, alright, calm yourself..." the ash grey Unicorn hushed "So it uses tar, right? I'm sure it's just like getting webbed by a Nerscylla web. Just shake it free and it won't harm you."

"But... what if it does something else?" quietly asked Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy states a good point, Twilight" Luna spoke "Not even I know what the Gogmazios is capable of. True, I am a descendant of the legendary hero Faust, but even I'm clueless as to the extent of its power."

Suddenly, Twilight felt a cold wind flow over her. It was dark and foreboding, filled to the brim with hatred, anger, and just flat-out darkness. But for some reason, it felt so warm and familiar to her. She felt it call out to her and her alone, as if a mother awaiting for her child to return. It was an odd feeling to describe, but anyone who ever had a mother who loved them would know exactly what Twilight felt.

"...babe? Twi!" called out the familiar voice of Teal Speck "Are you okay? You kinda zoned out there for a second."

"Hmm? What?" the lavender hunter snapped back into reality "Oh, sorry about that... I was just thinking about something..."

"What were you thinking of?" Luna asked politely and curiously.

Twilight didn't want to tell her friends about the odd wind flowing through her body. She had to think of a lie quick. Before she was about to give her answer, a thought struck her mind: who or what released the Gogmazios? He/she/it couldn't have gotten far in such a short amount of time, which meant the freer might still be on the mountain.

"I was just thinking about a possible theory..." she began "What if the freer of the Gogmazios was still on the mountain? Surely with such a small timeslot, he/she/it wouldn't have been able to get down from the mountain."

"Unless it WAS an it" Dark reasoned "What if it was the Gore Magala? It could already be gone by now."

"I don't think so, Dark..." Twilight thought aloud "I've also been thinking about the necklace I used to get the ultimate weapon. I know I left it back at the ruins, but I distinctly remember it looking like a-"

"Moon" Luna finished "I was there when you first picked it up. Didn't you say it had become something more brilliantly shining than what it was before?"

"Exactly!" the bookworm nodded "Just like phases of-"

"The moon..." Teal gasped in realization "But, there are only two mares in all of Equestria that can control the moon, and one of them is with us right now. Does that mean one of them is a traitor?"

"WHAT?! HOW DARE-" Luna began before being hushed by Fluttershy softly, calming her down "...what I meant to say was, surely you don't believe I or my sister was the one who released the Gogmazios."

"It's okay, Teal" Twilight nodded "I think I might know who did this. Does anyone remember the final battle recorded in Equestrian history?"

"You mean between the two sisters?" Dark asked before chuckling a bit "Who doesn't? It's, like, the most famous story ever! They teach it in schools, clubs, and even cooking shows!"

"Right, so I was- wait, really?" questioned a confused lavender mare "Um, never mind. Anyway, I was thinking... We never did find out what happened to the younger sister Nyx, right?"

"Babe, you're not implying that she was the one behind this all, are you?" the teal mare present asked her crush.

"I might just be" nodded Twilight "Any number of things could have happened to her! She could have been sealed away, eaten by a monster, or anything really! But I know one thing for certain; Faust would never kill her sister or put her in danger."

"Which means..." Teal's eyes widened.

"It couldn't be..." Luna gasped in worry.

"Do you mean to say..." Dark questioned.

"Yes" the lavender Unicorn backed her thoughts "I have reason to believe that somewhere on that mountain, Nyx is still alive. And worse yet, I think she's controlling the Gore Magala to do her bidding."

As if on cue, a screech was heard above the train. Everyone stopped in their place, for they knew exactly what flew overhead them. Nonetheless, they peered their heads up out of the windows and saw none other than the Gore Magala flying towards Canterlot Mountain. Mouths agape, they stared at the dark beast set to terrorize the land should it continue attacking it. They watched as it majestically glided through the air, a trail of black scales following it and gently falling down from the sky. It was terrifying.

"I'm going alone..." Twilight said, earning a gasp from all ponies present, including Pinkie "All of you can take out the Gogmazios, but I need to do this alone."

"But Twilight, we're your friends!" Teal argued "We're coming with yo-"

"Teal, no!" the female Unicorn shot back "Sorry, I just... need to do this by myself."

"The Gore has taken more than just your home, Twilight" Luna added "It nearly took mine as well."

"It was the reason my brother lost his legs in the first place!" Dark Thunder exclaimed.

"It distracted you, which in turn prevented you from saving my sister's mother figure..." Teal sighed.

"Look, I know the Gore has done terrible things to us" Twilight sighed "But... Something's calling to me. It wants me..."

"Do you think it's Nyx?" Fluttershy asked "Or... s-s-something worse?"

"I don't think the beast is intelligent enough for manipulation" the blue Alicorn of the team once again spoke "I know it's smart enough to fight, taunt and kill, but I'm fairly certain manipulation is far out of its reach. My ancestor must be doing this, should she still exist. Perhaps somepony else is doing this? I'm sorry, Twilight, but I'm just having a hard time believing that over the course of a thousand years, my greatest aunt Nyx survived the time and is now using the Gore Magala to do her dirty work."

"I know it's difficult to believe, but when you put all the pieces together, it starts to make sense" the lavender mare tried to explain "We all know that Faust and Nyx fought a long time ago when the latter betrayed the way of a Monster Hunter. But what exactly happened was never recorded. Whatever happened that allowed her to stay alive would, without a doubt, force her into enrageme-"

The train suddenly shook violently, interrupting Twilight's sentence and bouncing the ponies up into the air a bit. The stomping of four distinctly familiar legs made its way across the locomotive and right on top of the team's car.

"The Gore came back?" Dark questioned "But, surely it couldn't have known we were talking about Nyx, should she actually still live."

"I think this proves my theory, guys" Twilight's voice rose up a bit.

"Twi, that could mean anything" Teal rolled her eyes with a smile, slightly worrying a certain shy yellow Pegasus mare "It could be that it's hungry, bored, angry. But I'm not sure that-"

Two more claws could be heard on the roof of the train car, more than likely the dark dragon's wingarms crashing down as well. Another screech, higher in pitch than the first one, was let out from the Gore Magala. Twilight knew what this meant; frenzy mode had been activated. Before anyone could react, the beast put its arms into a hammer-like fist and smashed them down into the car, creating a giant hole. It stared with now protruding purple feelers sticking out of its head before gripping the sides of the car with its arms and screeching at the party.

The team was blown back by the force of the roar, all the way back to the end of the train car. Well, everyone but Pinkie Pie. She just removed her head from the window, analyzed the situation with an eyebrow raised and whipped out her heavy bowgun, firing several rounds at the beast with a completely straight face. The Gore lost its balance and fell off the train, pleasing the pink mare before she smiled and went back to sticking her head out the side.

"Pinkie, that was incredible!" Twilight said, shocked at what her friend had just done.

"It isn't over yet..." Dark looked outside the car and saw the Gore Magala getting back up and dashing towards the train. Twilight and the others peeked out as well and gasped.

"Get ready, everypony!" Luna shouted right as the dark dragon jumped back onto the top of the car. Twilight wasted no time in pole-vaulting up to the roof and engaging the beast, her friends following not too far behind. But without warning, the Gore Magala fired a blast of dark fire at her, knocking her all the way back to the caboose.

"Twilight!" Teal yelled at the lavender mare in concern before turning to blind dragon with a face of pure hatred "Hey you! Yeah you! You break my mare, I break your bones!"

The teal Pegasus whipped out her dual blades and went into demon mode, a red light enveloping her and making her angrier than before. She rushed towards the Gore Magala with rage in her eyes and slashed its face, knocking it off guard and sending it tumbling off the left side of the train. However, using one of its wingarms, it held onto the roof of the car, the train dragging it along the ground.

"I got this one!" Dark nodded before pulling out his longsword with his magic and rushing towards the dragon. Luna, whipping out her charge blade, rushed ahead of the Unicorn and positioned herself in front of him before launching him up into the air. Flipping in the sky like a graceful dancer, he brought his sword down onto the Gore Magala's arm and knocked its grip off of the train car, tearing off some scales in the process and forcing the beast to be flown back all the way back to the caboose.

"Ugh..." Twilight shook her head "That was a doozy... I wonder how the- GAH!!!" she looked up and saw the Gore Magala staring right back at her "Oh, this isn't good..."

The dark dragon screeched in her face, forcing her to cover her ears. Looking to her side, she saw her insect glaive lodged in the roof of the caboose. However, before she could reach it, the Gore pressed her body down with its good wingarm and drooled dark saliva all over her. Suddenly, it became confused, which in turn confused the trapped lavender mare. She took this time to use her magic to levitate her glaive over to her and slam it down on the creature's head, scarring it and releasing her from its grip.

(Music stop)

"Ha HA!! Take that, you jerk!" Twilight laughed in triumph as the beast stumbled around the roof. It shook its head as to remove fatigue from itself before extending its wings weakly flying away from the train, heading towards the mountain.

"Twilight!" Teal called out, rushing towards her before giving her a big hug and a kiss "Are you okay, babe?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine" the lavender hunter blushed and smiled "But the Gore Magala is still at large."

"At the very least, we managed to injure it and ward it away from us for the time being" Luna looked at the silver lining "But Twilight is right; so long as it lives, it poses a threat to us and Equestria."

"We have to take it out as soon as possible" Dark agreed.

"Or Equestria is DOOMED!!" Pinkie Pie, who had joined up with the group, panicked.

"At least we know that it lives in or on Canterlot mountain" Teal confirmed with a smile "It'll be easier for Twilight to take it out."

"So... you agree with my plan then?" Twilight wondered.

"While I'm slightly disappointed that you would decide to do this by yourself," Luna sighed before letting out a smile "I think we'll be willing to accept and understand your choice. While it may not make any sense to us, we trust you."

"We'll go for the Gogmazios while you head for the Gore" Dark Thunder nodded "Give it a good blade to the head for me, okay?"

"Will do, Dark" Twilight smiled. The team stayed silent for a while, pondering on what to do next. It was then when Twilight realized just exactly where they were pondering, and a blush appeared on her face again.

"Um, guys?" she gained her friends' attention "Maybe this isn't exactly the best place to be thinking about what to do next."

Everyone perked up to the lavender Unicorn's note. They soon looked around as well and sighed, all giving out a collective "Yeah...". They all headed back to the car with the ripped open roof.

XXXXXX

The train finally arrived in Canterlot, heavily damaged and completely wrecked. The conductor, who had no idea the Gore was even on the train in the first place, was thoroughly shocked and quite surprised to find out that his train had been nearly destroyed and almost irreparable. In other words, he went completely insane.

"MY TRAIN!!!" he shouted as he stared at the wreck he was driving this whole time "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY TRAIN?!!"

"Sir, calm down" Teal began to hush him "I'm sure we can-"

"MY LIFE IS RUINED!!" the conductor sobbed "I HAVE NO WIFE OR KIDS!! THAT TRAIN WAS MY SOUL MATE!!"

As he continued to weep, the team simply walked away. They finally met with a hunter with Yian Garuga armour who appeared to be the captain of the squadron. He saluted the group and began to explain the situation.

"Good thing you showed up" he said "Princess Celestia messaged us and told you were the finest hunters she had."

"Well, I dunno about that..." Teal blushed with a cocky smile "But we're certainly all you got left."

"Celestia says that the Gogmazios has awakened, correct?" Luna questioned "Where was it last sighted?"

"Unfortunately, just outside the city" the hunter sighed "We managed to trap it in the stronghold, however the hell we did that, but I'm not sure how long that iron door is going to last."

"Right, we'll take out the Gogmazios, and Twilight over here will take out the Gore Magala on top of the mountain" Dark Thunder nodded.

"So the Gore has taken residence on top of Canterlot Mountain?" the hunter commander sighed "Very well. Defeating these dangerous monsters at the same time would prove to be a wise strategy. But, will it only be you going up there?"

"Yes" Twilight nodded "I know it sounds weird, but I feel as if this is something I have to do alone."

"Well... suit yourself..." the hunter nodded before turning to the others "You lot. The Gogmazios, like mentioned before, is in the stronghold. The stronghold has a few ballistas and cannons to shoot at the beast, as well as a Dragonator to-"

"Wait, how did you guys get a Dragonator?" the lavender mare spoke up.

"Oh, right..." Teal scratched the back of her head with her front right hoof "When you were away, we took a look at the Dragonship and discovered how Dragonators worked. We sent the message out across the land, and everypony began making their own Dragonators."

"Our Dragonator is merely a prototype" the hunter explained "We haven't even tried it yet, but I doubt it won't malfunction."

"True, true" Pinkie nodded "This chapter can only go on for so long, and the last thing we need is some kinda shocking twist where the Dragonator doesn't work and all who's left is Teal to save it, and she sacrifices her life to move the Dragonator into the Gogmazios's heart, which makes Twilight sad because they have a thing going on!"

"P-Pinkie!" Twilight shouted, blushing at that last part of her sentence "I-I... You... But... WHY?!"

"Babe, it's okay" the teal Pegasus hugged her crush "Besides, I think everypony knew by now."

"R-Right..." the Unicorn sighed and nodded. After a small break of getting prepared and upgrading armour, it was at long last time to engage the Gogmazios and Gore Magala. After Twilight put her full armour on, said her farewells and made her way to the mountain lift, Teal caught up with her. This was the very first time Twilight saw legit worry in the mare's eyes.

"Do you have to do this by yourself?" she asked.

"Yeah..." Twilight nodded with a sad frown "Sorry, I-"

Her sentence was interrupted when Teal all of a sudden removed her crush's helmet and gave her a passionate kiss. This kiss was different from any other they shared; it wasn't filled with cockiness or smugness, but rather filled with love and sorrow. Teal legitimately loved her, and only now did the lavender Unicorn fully realize this. Soon enough, Twilight began kissing back as well, wishing her luck fighting the great Elder Dragon. Eventually, they parted and smiled at each other.

"See ya later, Twi" the teal mare grinned before putting Twilight's helmet back on.

"Thank you, Teal" she nodded and smiled behind her helmet before quickly hugging Teal and heading off to fight the dark dragon that haunted her since the beginning of her adventure.

"I love you, Twilight..." the Pegasus smiled quietly before she too turned and walked away.

"I love you too, Teal..." Twilight smiled, not directly hearing her marefriend, but knowing confidently that's exactly what she said.

XXXXXX

Luna, Dark Thunder, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and, of course, Teal Speck reached the Stronghold just out of the city where the Gogmazios was being held captive, a term all of them took lightly. This thing would escape if they didn't kill it now. Only problem? This was a monster from day's past. Who knew what it even looked like, let alone how it would attack. Teal had to be smart this time.

The team got over to the main gates, where a tar-like substance was oozing out of the cracks. Fearing the worst, they slowly backed away from the doors. They were thankful they did that in the long run, as the second they started backing away, a giant black beast emerged from the gates.

Its body was huge, with six limbs; two for its giant wings and the rest for its legs. Its Lao Shan lung-like head had a glowing red pattern underneath it, as well as what seemed like thousands of spines all across its head and body. The wing fingers were spiky and the elbows had claws, giving a more Gore-like appearance to it, and its eyes glowed blood red. However, two features stood out: the tar-like substances dripping from its pores, and the giant spike in its back. Teal gave a closer look at it, and gasped in horror at what it was.

"That's... That's the Dragonator in its back!" she exclaimed "How powerful is that thing?!"

"Powerful enough to shrug off a Dragonator attack, it would seem" Luna noted before beginning a strategy "Okay, Dark and Pinkie? Go around it and try to distract it. Teal, Fluttershy and I will- Wait, where's Fluttershy?"

Before the search for the timid mare could commence, a gigantic red laser came forth from the Gogmazios's mouth, forcing the party to dodge out of the way. They were flung from the force of the impact, creating a giant crater in the ground. Afterwards, the dragon moved slowly towards Canterlot, not caring what got in its way.

"We have to slow it down, first of all" Dark shouted to his teammates "If that thing makes it all the way to Canterlot, it's game over!"

"You think we don't know that?!" Teal shouted before looking at Pinkie's general direction "Pinkie, bring its attention back over here!"

"Okie dokie lokie!" she grinned before lining her shot up with the Gogmazios and firing several large shells at it. Naturally, they did a decent amount of damage, but failed to gain the attention of the beast.

"Uh oh..." Pinkie worryingly said "Well, I'm all out of ideas. Thoughts, anypony?"

"We'll need something stronger than a Dragonator to gain its attention" Dark pointed out "But what's the one thing that can gain a monster's attention more than that?"

"Pinging?" Teal suggested.

"That's an urban myth, Teal" Luna sighed "I still don't understand why ponies ping at a monster when it clearly doesn't work."

"Why don't we try music?" Pinkie suggested.

"But Fluttershy isn't anywhere to be found" Dark sighed "I'm guessing she fled when the Gogmazios appeared. Honestly, I don't blame her. Being timid and seeing something that big appear in front of us is a pretty big deal."

"Still, we're kinda lost without her!" Teal worryingly shouted "FLUTTERSHY?! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"O-Over here..." the soft voice of the timid mare spoke up behind a few barrels of gunpowder.

"Fluttershy, you must come out to aid us!" Luna shouted as nice as she could.

"B-B-But... T-That monster..." she whimpered "It's s-s-so... big..."

"Flutters, look," Dark tried to reason with her "if you don't help us distract the monster, a lot of ponies are going to die."

"W-What?" the yellow Pegasus nervously asked.

"Yeah!" Teal confirmed "If that there monster gets to town, everything will go to hell. Ponies, houses, animals, you name it! Nothing will survive so long as that elder dragon stays up!"

"Ponies will... die?" Fluttershy's anger began to build up inside her "No... no..." she dropped her hunting horn and flared her wings before flying right into the Gogmazios's face.

(Music Stop)

"Now you listen here, Mister!" she spoke down to the large tar dragon "Just because you're big, doesn't mean you get to bully others, let alone kill them! Now you go right back to where you came from, or we. Will. Hunt. You. DOWN!!"

The Gogmazios simply stared at Fluttershy with a stare that could kill if it was possible. The usually timid mare, however, didn't flinch. She simply stared back. This was when the ancient elder dragon snapped and let out a horrifyingly loud roar, letting tar force its way out of its mouth.

Slowly, it turned back around to face the other hunters ruining the time out of its prison. It growled before spreading its seemingly thin wings that turned into gigantic ones. It then began flapping them, creating a huge gust of wind that blew everyone around, slowly rising from the ground and into the air. Despite its huge size and heavy weight, it was apparently capable of flight. It flapped upwards until it finally reached a point where it turned around and began heading towards the city.

"Okay, I definitely wasn't expecting that" Teal stood in awe and horror as the great dragon headed toward the city.

"We have to stop it!" Luna exclaimed.

"Yeah, thanks captain obvious!" Dark shouted before sighing "Well, that was a fruitless attempt at stopping it. What are we supposed to do now, eh?"

"We stop it" Fluttershy bravely nodded "Most of us have wings ourselves. If we fly up and land on its back, we could have a shot at it."

"Interesting idea..." Pinkie thought "Okie Dokie Lokie! You guys go on ahead! Darkie and I will stay on the ground and prepare the city's front defenses should that super huge dragon thing get through you!"

"A wise idea" the Unicorn nodded in agreement "That means you guys, Teal, Flutters and Luna, will be up there. Be safe, okay?"

"We will" Luna nodded before she spread her wings and took off. She was soon followed by the other Pegasi. After taking a bit of time to wave them off, Pinkie and Dark headed for the city defensive walls.

XXXXXX

"I'm staring to think this was a bad idea!!" Teal complained as the team of winged horses were blown around by the force of the Gogmazios's wings, the loud flapping noise nearly channeling out their speech.

"We have no other choice!" Luna reminded the teal Pegasus before looking over the beast's back "There! A see a place we can land!"

"This better be worth it!" the moss green maned mare sighed before she and the others landed on the somewhat sticky back of the beast, the wind and flapping no longer affecting them as much "Eww... This stuff is gross..."

"We must stop complaining and find this thing's weakpoint" the princess of the night stated "Perhaps its head? No, that would be too obvious... And its back seems very hard... Unless..." she fiddled with a loose scale before tearing it off, revealing a steaming red body underneath "Aha! Strike the dragon here!"

"Whatever you say, boss" Teal nodded confidently before unsheathing her dual blades and ramming them down into the Gogmazios's back. The beast let out a terrible roar of pain before it slowly began to descend back down to the earth.

"Um... I'm not sure if, y'know, one stab will quite do it..." Fluttershy pointed out, now back to her timidness.

"Right... Maybe a few more?" the teal mare suggested before ramming the weak point again multiple times, causing immense pain for the Gogmazios and forcing it to descend faster "Nah, I don't think its working. Dearest Lulu, will you be so kind as to apply light pressure to the wound?"

"Gladly" Luna smiled before whipping out her charge blade, switching to axe mode and forcing the edge down into the fleshy red part of the beast, finally forcing it down to the ground "And like that, we're finished."

"Um... Doesn't look like it!" Teal exclaimed as she noticed the dragon was still moving forward, albeit crawling, taking little consideration for its wounds despite the pain flowing through its body "Well, I'll give it one thing; its persistent."

"Now's not the time for jokes, Teal" snapped the lunar princess "Hopefully Pinkie Pie and Dark Thunder have the defenses ready."

(Music Stop)

"Y'know, I think I found out why the sisters couldn't defeat this thing..." a familiar voice spoke rather calmly. Teal, Luna and Fluttershy looked up and saw that not only were they right next to the Canterlot defensive wall, but Dark Thunder and Pinkie Pie standing on top of it. Below them were what seemed like thousands of cannons, all aimed at the Gogmazios.

"They didn't have loads and loads of FIREPOWER!!" the bubbly pink mare hopped up and down excitedly "GET 'EM, BOYS!!"

One by one, the cannons fired their shots at the beast, doing powerful impact damage unto it. Some of the cannonballs went straight into the Gogmazios's chest, others hit its head and limbs, but all of them did some form of damage. Finally, after about 2067 shots, the great elder dragon told in legends as undefeatable, was defeated. It let out a powerfully loud cry of pain before finally falling to the ground and dying with holes and cracks in its body and scales.

(Music Stop)

"No way... We actually defeated this thing?! HA!" Teal laughed as she, Luna and Fluttershy slid down its body and onto the soft ground "Some legendary monster, eh?"

"That was quite the feat, Dark Thunder and Pinkie Pie" Luna applauded.

"Well, it was nothing, really..." the ash grey Unicorn rubbed the back of his head and blushed "Pinkie and I just warned the defensive guards and prepared the cannons."

"But however did you get there so quickly?" Fluttershy asked the pair.

"Well... You might have to ask Pinkie Pie about that..."

"Truth is, I don't really know myself!" she giggled. With this, all the ponies present began to have a good chuckle. As they did, Teal stopped for a moment to think about how her marefriend was faring.

"Twilight..." she sighed with a smile "Best of luck to you, babe..."

XXXXXX

Twilight, clad in her Dire Miralis armour, walked around the Canterlot caverns that were underneath the mountain. She stared at the beauty of the caves. She had only been there once before; on a school trip with Princess Celestia. However, she was too young then to truly appreciate the caverns.

"Maybe I should go here for my wedding..." Twilight thought aloud, blushing slightly "I mean, it would be pretty interesting, and effective! Everyone would have a good time, and I'd have a chance to study the crystals. Perfect!"

As she smiled and giggled at the thought, she saw an ancient plaque a little further through the tunnel. Approaching it curiously, she saw what appeared to be a story drawn out in pictures. The colours were faded a bit, but the lavender mare could figure out the meaning behind the plaque anyway. She took off her helmet and began looking. The first picture showed two Alicorn sisters, one black and one white, fighting off hoards of monsters on their own.

"Faust and Nyx" Twilight noted "They seemed like nice mares. I wish I could have stayed back in time a little longer, but oh well- wait, what's this?"

The second picture showed the two sisters engaging a black dragon of sorts. It had giant wings and purple horns, with a long tail. Its most defining feature was its lack of eyes. The Unicorn shuddered in fear, knowing exactly what this monster was.

"The Gore Magala..." Twilight sighed "But, how is it that it lives to this day? I mean, sure, we don't quite know its age length, but they couldn't live for a thousand years. That's impossible!"

Her questions were answered as she gazed over to the third and fourth pictures. The third showed the sisters fighting a golden beast with brown horns instead of purple, with giant wings and bright orange eyes. Purple mist spewed forth from the creature. The fourth showed the black Alicorn greedily absorbing the dragon's mist and becoming corrupt.

"I've never seen that thing before" Twilight analysed "And could that be the reason Nyx rebelled against her sister? She was simply corrupted..."

The final picture showed the two Alicorn sisters fighting under a pile of corpses. However, what gained Twilight's attention was the fact that the corpses weren't just of monster-kind, but pony-kind as well.

"That battle must have been grueling for both of them..." Twilight sighed.

"It was" spoke a familiar voice from behind her. She turned around to see that a very old black mare with a long and messy purple mane and a dirty cloth over her body was watching her. Twilight gasped, but quickly took her stature again.

"Nyx" she said simply.

"Twilight" Nyx calmly spoke before slowly approaching the Unicorn "My, what a fine creature you've become..."

"Take one more step and I'll-"

"You'll what, deary?" the Alicorn smiled "Kill me? Oh, I'm afraid that won't accomplish anything now. Perhaps if you were born a few hundred years ago, you could've stopped me by killing me, but it's too late now."

"So, what now?" Twilight asked "Are you gonna monologue about your evil plan?"

"I think we both know what I plan to do, Twilight" the old mare cackled "I plan to ruin this world by spreading the frenzy virus and corrupt all who touch it. Besides, mares my age don't monologue. They tell stories."

"I'm listening..."

"Let's begin where that plaque there leaves off, hmm?" Nyx smiled "The battle was won by my sister, as you can see, and she was about to finish me off. But the poor thing couldn't. So instead, she trapped me inside this wretched mountain alongside my lover. He was the only thing I could hold onto then... Of course, we had a child soon after, but I couldn't bear to watch it grow in this hellhole. So, my lover escaped and raised her himself. Overtime, I grew old, as did the child. The child had another child, which had another, and the cycle repeated itself."

"Why are you telling me this, exactly?" the lavender Unicorn asked curiously.

"Very well... I'll finish this up" the black Alicorn sighed disappointingly "The line was lost to history, but I always remembered. Have you ever wondered why you were never affected with the frenzy? Why whenever you touched that little scale of yours, you wouldn't become some mindless zombie?"

"How did you know about the-" Twilight was about to argue until she finally realized where Nyx was going with her story "Wait, you aren't implying that..."

"Yes, Twilight" Nyx gave off a toothy grin "It's your old grandma. Wanna come over and give me a hug?"

"I-Impossible..." the lavender mare denied this fact "H-How... WHY?!"

"You must be so confused. You poor thing..." the old mare shook her head in worry "Stay with me, and I'll answer all your questions."

"N-No..." Twilight shook her head "NO!! I have a life to live, thank you very much! Not to mention a marefriend I would much rather like to stay with than you!"

"Aww, you poor thing" Nyx chuckled "Actually, speaking of life, remember when I asked you what it was to you? Now, why don't you answer that question correctly, hmm?"

The Unicorn thought long and hard about her answer. Finally, after a bit of suspense, she let it out.

"I stay true to my previous answer" she nodded confidently.

"Ugh... Again, you get it wrong!" Twilight's great grandmother sighed angrily "I'm disappointed in you, Twilight. Perhaps a small fight with the Gore Magala will perk your memory..."

"The Gore Magala?" Twilight questioned "How many times do I have to fight that thing before it dies?"

"If my calculations are correct, you shouldn't be fighting the beast for much longer" Nyx cackled "But this time, you'll be fighting a different variation of it. Unfortunately, when I revived the Gore, it was imperfect..."

"Revived it?" Twilight asked.

"Of course, deary" the Alicorn nodded "Why do you think its scales are shaped like the moon? I was the original Princess of the Night, if you put two and two together. I had to recreate its physical body, the poor thing. I thought everything was going just fine, until it attempted metamorphosis..."

"Meta... Wait, what?"

"You ask too many questions" Nyx groaned "I think it would be better to show you..." she let out a very well mimicked Gore screech. Soon enough, they both heard stomping on the floor, more than likely coming from the star of the show itself. The sound came from a very dark tunnel off to Twilight's left, but when she looked over she didn't see a jet black monster ready to kill her. No, she saw one singular red eye ready to kill her. The Gore stepped out from the darkness and revealed its new body. Its left side was mostly the same, but on the entire other half and a bit of its wing, was golden with spines all along its wingarm and a fixed brown horn on its head. On the golden part was a single eye. Just what had it become.

"While part of the reason it couldn't change properly was because you injured it," the old mare next to the lavender one spoke "I blame myself for making it imperfect. Now look at it; it's dying because it couldn't transform..."

"Then put it out of its misery" the Unicorn suggested.

"And waste what little time it has left?" Nyx cackled "I feel sorry for it, great granddaugher, but I won't let that get in the way of my plans. Besides, it's too powerful to waste its potential. Now, attack her!"

The Gore Magala let out a horrifying screech, something unlike anything Twilight heard before. It sounded like the Gore's original, yes, but this one was darker and more possessed than the previous one. The lavender mare had no time to think on it however, as the beast slammed its wingarms into the ground and charged forward, forcing her to dodge out of the way.

"You two have fun now, okay?" Twilight's great grandmother laughed "I must be on my way now. Farewell!"

"Nyx, you get back here!" Twilight yelled. In her distraction, she was hit in the back by one of the Gore's breath shots. She tumbled to the ground and hit a wall. The dragon let out something resembling a laugh, but the lavender pony wasn't too sure.

"Fine, you wanna do this the hard way?" the mare asked before putting her helmet back on her head "Then I guess it's finally time to finish you off for good. This is it; the final battle! Let's make this count!"

Suddenly, the monster began flapping its huge wings, lifting it off of the ground. It fired white balls of frenzy with purple highlights around them at Twilight, every single one of them she dodged. She finally ran forward and released her Kinsect at the Gore, distracting it long enough for her to pole-vault onto its back and mount it. She then proceeded to stab its back with quick thrusting motions while the beast itself tried to knock her off. However, Twilight successfully completed the mount and the Gore was knocked on its side, allowing her to attack it.

"This was for the Badlands, and this was for the Ice Ruins..." the lavender mare chanted every time she landed a hit on the Gore's head "So long as I live, you will never hurt anypony again! Do I make myself clear?!"

The dragon, becoming frustrated with Twilight's bickering, slapped her out of the way with its untainted wingarm and got up before attempting to fly away. Realizing this, the lavender mare pulled out a paintball from her pouch and threw it at the Gore, marking it. It finally went away from the field of battle, but Twilight pulled out her map and followed it to its next location.

XXXXXX

The Unicorn got there just in time, in a fortunate turn of events, as the beast had just arrived as well. Growling, it turned back to Twilight before slamming its claws into the ground again and letting out that very same terrifying screech. A purple horn grew on the other side of its head as the air around it became darker and harder to breath in. It charged up a breath attack before letting it go and causing a massive explosion around its mouth, knocking Twilight backwards.

"Ugh... I don't have time for this!" she rubbed her head as soon as she got up and stared at the Gore Magala "You're going to pay for everything you've done to this world!"

Once more it let out a screech before charging right at the mare. However, Twilight pole-vaulted over it and onto its back. Unfortunately, she was quickly knocked off by the constant shaking of its body. It slammed its wingarm down onto the lavender mare's fallen body, trapping her. Finally, it began charging up a breath attack. Twilight simply closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. However, it never came. In fact, she felt the Gore's pressure lift off of her. Opening her eyes, she saw that her Kinsect had buzzed around it, making it become very agitated .

"Of course... My Kinsect..." the mare huffed in relief before getting back up and attempting to attack the creature. But she stopped in her tracks when the Gore jumped up and ate the purple bug, swallowing it and growling in dissatisfaction. Twilight couldn't believe her eyes; the bug that had been with her for her entire adventure was just eaten alive and killed. While it was merely a machine, she couldn't help but feel sorry for it. However, remembering her partner would have to wait. She whipped out her glaive and pointed it straight at the beast.

The Gore Magala did nothing but screech again before it turned around and blasted a wall with its breath. The wall crumbled down and revealed a passage outside the mountain, to which it began to take off. Not having any of it though, Twilight hastily grabbed onto its tail and was pulled along with the creature.

Slowly, she climbed along the tail of the Gore until she finally reached its back. She began stabbing the living hell out of it, forcing the Gore to fly out of control. It continued to do this until it landed on the very top of Canterlot mountain; a flat surface of dirt with a singular brown rock in the centre. Nyx was awaiting them at the top as well.

"Well, well, well..." she chuckled "Good to see you two are playing nicely."

Getting up from the fall, Twilight ignored her grandmother's comment and looked dead in the eye of her arch enemy, before charging right at each other one last time.

"Get ready, you overgrown lizard" Twilight's face became very cross before her voice became very loud "This is for Ponyville, you son of a BITCH!!!"

(Music Stop)

Time seemingly stopped for all living beings present on the mountain. Nyx stared in horror and Twilight stared in anger, whereas the Gore Magala simply stared in shock. A blade had been impaled through its head. Twilight's blade. Slowly, the dragon stumbled over on its side and let out its final breath, closing its one eye for good. Twilight kneeled on all four of her legs, dropping her glaive and sighing. Soon enough, she began to laugh. Nyx looked up and saw this before becoming very angry.

"You laugh after you've killed a creature?" she asked her granddaughter.

"N-No!" the lavender mare continued to giggle "I'm laughing because it's finally over! Finally, I can go back home and live my life with my marefriend, go on hunts with my friends now, and maybe do a bit of relaxing. I'm laughing because I won! Because I deserve it! But not just me... My friends got me this far. Without them, I'd still be locked in a Changeling cell, or trapped in a prison, or inside the belly of a Dah'ren Mohran. Heck, I bet I'd still be learning how to hold a sword without help! Everypony... thank you..."

Suddenly, some clouds moved out of the way to reveal the night sky and the moon within it. Without a word, Nyx began to laugh. A confident smirk came across her face.

"Perhaps it's not quite over yet..." she smiled before looking straight at the Gore's corpse. Confusingly, Twilight did the same. Her expression was wiped clean off her face as soon as she saw the Gore Magala's body twitch. Slowly, its black scales exploded in tiny little explosions as it began standing up again. It became shrouded in darkness, concealing its identity.

"Once I saw that scale of your explode, Twilight," the old Alicorn laughed "I knew there was another hope for this beast should it fall in battle. I must say though, colour me impressed. You've finally 'killed' your enemy. Only... you haven't."

"What are you talking about, Nyx?" the Unicorn's face became very cross again.

"I'm talking about the-" was all the old mare could say before the beast cloaked in darkness dashed forward and ate her whole. It let out yet another dissatisfied growl. Frozen in shock, Twilight simply stood there, giving the beast plenty of time to dash forward again and knock the Unicorn back, putting her into an unconscious state.

XXXXXX

As soon as Twilight came to, she once again found herself floating in darkness. Only, this time was different. This time, she could see a glowing golden figure standing in front of her. The figure wasn't bright, but at the same time the lavender mare couldn't make out any details on its body, other than its upright stance, its arms and legs, and oddly small head. She identified it as a humanoid figure, but nothing else.

"Who are you?" she asked the figure.

"I am the one you call Gore Magala" it spoke in an intimidating male voice "I have lived for centuries awaiting one to revive me and allow me to take my rightful place among gods."

"You're the... Gore Magala?" Twilight questioned "But how? You don't look like a dragon at all."

"This form is temporary. We are currently in your mind" the voice spoke again before getting back on topic "You have followed me and stopped my every attempt to infect this world. Why? Do you not appreciate a world where ponies and monsters live side-by-side?"

"Not like this!" the mare argued "Was this really your plan the whole time?! I don't buy it."

"But alas, this was my plan" the Gore confirmed "Though, I can agree perhaps it was not the best of my plans. However, I will not stop until every living thing on this planet has been infected with my power. Would you care to join me?"

"Wha- NO!" Twilight yelled "Why would I want to join you?!"

"Because you are the only one capable of surpassing my past master and becoming my new one" the figure revealed "This is why Nyx asked you that question. The correct answer, to her at least, was destiny. This is your destiny, Twilight."

"No..." Twilight shook her head "I refuse! I've come too far, and I'm not stepping down now" holding out her hoof, her insect glaive somehow came into her grasp and she pointed it at the figure "You will pay for what you did."

"That is your answer? Very well then..." the figure raised its arms into the air "I needn't a master anyway. You are of no use to me now. Face the wrath of me in my true form. I am Shagaru Magala, and I will finish what I have started all those years ago!"

XXXXXX

After a while, Twilight came to in the real world. Getting up and looking around, she saw her insect glaive on the ground next to her. After picking it up, she noticed her helmet was missing, as well as the rest of her armour and a bit of her skin was slightly scratched up. Her face was covered in dirt, but she looked forward and pressed onward toward the black shadow in front of her.

This is a cutscene. Please ignore the human figure and pretend that's Twilight, kay? Thx! Dialogue is below should you want that instead...

Twilight walked along the ground, continuing to stare at the black shadow in front of her. Finally, she stopped to look at the smoke. What could possibly be behind it? The figure said it was the Shagaru Magala, but that creature was ancient. Could it be that the Gore and Shagaru were one in the same.

Her question was answered when the black shadow stirred, causing her to gasp a bit. The shadow finally blew off when the Shagaru Magala flapped its giant wings, revealing its golden body and spikes along its back. It stepped forward and analyzed Twilight with its intelligent and orange eyes. Suddenly, it stopped and stared at her for a brief second before slamming its wingarms into the ground and boosting itself into the air, flying right over the lavender mare. It spread its wings once it reached a certain altitude, blinding its opponent with the moonlight's brightness reflecting off its scales. It continued to look at her before growling and charging right at her.

Twilight moved out of the way as quickly as she could, nearly getting caught by the claws of the now deemed-to-be elder dragon. It skidded along the ground before roaring at the Unicorn in rage. The two stared intensely at each other for a moment before the Shagaru Magala roared once again, this time more loudly.

The beast dashed forward at Twilight, forcing her to dodge once again. However, it was smarter this time. It grabbed Twilight with its wingarm before smashing her into the ground brutally. Somehow, Twilight managed to recover from that, and roll out of the way just before the Shagaru Magala slammed its wingarms down where she was laying.

"Not this time!" Twilight shouted before pole-vaulting onto its back and attempting to stab the everliving hell out of it. Just before she did however, the dragon brushed her off and attempted to breathe some of its frenzy on her whilst she was still in a knocked down state. She was able to roll out of the way, but just barely.

"How many times are you gonna do that, huh?" she shouted again "Aren't you supposed to be some kind of ancient elder dragon hell-bent on infecting the world? What else do you have for me?"

The Shagaru Magala let out something like a laugh before flying up and spinning around for a sec before expanding its wings and letting out a blood-curdling roar. As it did, thousands of scales brushed off its body, each that landed created an explosion of purple and white on the ground. One fell under Twilight and launched her skyward, where the elder dragon caught her and flew higher into the air, right before throwing her back down onto another scale and doing massive damage to her.

"I-I see... you d-don't... mess... around..." the lavender mare huffed as she now struggled to get back up "But it'll... take a lot more than that... to keep me down..."

The elder dragon landed right in front of her and growled before charging right at her. However, Twilight remembered this moment, and immediately pole-vaulted over it and onto its back. But instead of stabbing it, she instead forced it over to one of the mountain's edges.

"Let's finish this... Together!" she shouted just as she pulled the beast down the side of the mountain. That didn't stop them from fighting however. As they tumbled, Twilight slashed at the Shagaru's back legs while the creature in question attempted to grab her again. The lavender mare, having enough of the foolishness, grabbed onto the dragon's belly and rode its body like a sled down the mountain, ripping away and crushing the spines on its back, as well as scar its head.

The elder dragon tried to stop this however. It pressed its wingarms down and slowly began to stop falling. It then rolled back around and knocked Twilight over before it fired a frenzy blast at her. The explosion sent the mare flying down the mountain once again, the elder dragon in hot pursuit. Thinking fast, the lavender Unicorn pressed her glaive into the stone and jumped right at the beast, bringing her blade down onto it and knocking it down, sending them rolling down the mountainside again.

What came next even surprised Twilight. They shattered through some glass and went into the vacant throne room of Canterlot Castle. The Shagaru and her, both torn and rattled by battle, stared at each other, completely exhausted. Finally, Twilight got back into a proper stance and charged right at her nemesis, the beast doing the exact same thing. Her glaive and its wingarm clashed multiple times until finally the Shagaru got a hit on her and sent her flying backwards.

"N-No..." she panted "I can't lose now... I WON'T LOSE NOW!!"

With the last of her strength, she pole-vaulted right on top of the dragon and stabbed it not with her carving knife, but her glaive, pure and true. This pain forced the beast out the window and made it fall down into Canterlot.

(Music Stop)

Everyone in the city watched as the golden monster fell from their castle. Teal watched especially as a certain purple pony fell down with it. She gasped and hoped Twilight for the best.

"Everything you've done..." Twilight began "Every crime you've committed, every creature you killed, every single pony's lives you made miserable... Your legacy ends today. Now, for the love of god, just give up and DIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!"

As soon as the elder dragon hit the bottom of its fall, it was impaled in the chest by the sheer force of Twilight's insect glaive. It let out a terrible roar of pain before the call died down... and the Gore Magala, now Shagaru Magala, withered away. The Unicorn who committed the act held no remorse for it. She breathed heavily before she fell to the side of the beast. The last word she heard before going into unconsciousness was...

"Twilight!"

XXXXXX

Twilight slowly opened her eyes and let out a groggy moan. She felt warmth and comfort underneath her, and after shuffling around for a moment she realized she was in a bed. Looking around, she quickly came to terms she was in a hospital. No heart monitor was heard to her ears, but deafness wasn't an issue, as she could hear the birds singing from outside the open window. But once looking over to said window, she saw a teal mare with no armour on and wetness in her eyes.

"Teal?..." Twilight asked, still half asleep.

"T-Twilight?" Teal asked, now beginning to cry more "You're awake? Oh, thank god..."

"Teal, are you... crying?" the lavender mare asked.

"No... I'm just, y'know... sweating through my eyes..." the moss green maned Pegasus denied her crying "But you... You've been asleep for two days, Twi. I thought I lost you..."

"But I'm here now" Twilight smiled kindly.

"Yeah, you are..." Teal sobbed before bawling her eyes out and hugging her marefriend "Don't you EVER do that to me again, okay?! Please... I love you too much..."

"Teal..." the Unicorn smiled "I love you too..."

XXXXXX

After that moment happened, Teal calmed down and, with some help from Twilight, stopped crying. They then began to talk about what happened after the fight.

"There was this huge party!" Teal excitedly nodded "There were games, and treats, and cake! But best of all, the little kids got toy swords and beat the living crap out of that dead golden Gore Magala thing. It was awesome! Oh, that reminds me!" she brought out her bag and pulled out a slice of cake "Here, I saved a slice for you."

"Thanks" Twilight smiled before calmly eating her cake "So, what happened next?"

"Next it was pretty normal" Teal grinned "Ponies got back to work and living in peace! All thanks to you, babe. Wish you could've been there, but, y'know... You were asleep and stuff..."

"Right..."

"But hey, you're awake now! Doctor says you just suffered from minor burns and cuts, and a broken leg... But besides that, you should be A-OK by this week."

"That's nice to know" Twilight nodded "Honestly, I can't wait to get out of this place and just relax..."

"Or we could make out..." Teal suggested nervously.

"Or we could make out" the lavender mare rolled her eyes and brought her marefriend in for a kiss, surprising her. Nonetheless, it didn't take long for her to start kissing back. They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity.

After all the crap they had to go through, this was their moment.

And nothing could ruin it.

Nothing.

Author's Note

That was such a cheap-ass ending, but I think it was swe- Actually, hold on a moment. I'm not doing this AN normally. This is special.

This is the end to the greatest project I've ever done. Period. I started this story off thinking no one would enjoy it and it wouldn't be as good as my other story. No, it wasn't as good. It was even better. But if it wasn't for all the support you guys have given me over the time it took to finish this, this story would be nowhere. From the bottom of my heart, thank you... Everyone...

In other news, we hit 50 likes! I already mentioned this, but this means I can do the bonus chapter! Just for you, tealspeckles! I hope you enjoy!

There are two more chapters after this (epilogue and bonus), so stay tuned. Oh, and again, sorry for the cheap ass ending. I'm good with action, not so much with endings. Sorry! :twilightblush:

Until next time... Thank you, and have a beautiful day.

SuperKamek

[Epilogue] Two Years Later...

Hero, welcome to the end of our tale. You have done well to reach this far, despite the many mistakes and errors the creator has made. I think it's only natural that you should be given a reward for your efforts. However, I'm not too sure what... Oh, why don't I tell you how this world has fared since then two years afterwards? Seems okay? Good. It has been two years since the defeat of the Shagaru Magala. Since then, everyone's been doing very well in their lives, but I think you would rather see them for yourself, would you not?

XXXXXX

Let us begin with the lunar princess, hmm? After the defeat of the Gogmazios, none saw her leave. Like a specter, she disappeared without a trace, but I can safely tell you she went back to her village of Hollow Shades. None saw her after these two years, but everyone knew she would return one day...

Luna wandered around Hollow Shades, looking at all the villagers setting up defenses for the town. A small smile came to her face, as well as a feeling of accomplishment. It had taken many years, but she was finally able to bring courage to the townsfolk's hearts and help them fight invading monsters.

"Cherry, could you move that fence over to your left?" she called out to one of her female villagers.

"Of course, Miss Luna!" Cherry nodded before going off to complete her boss's orders. The lunar princess took a deep breath in and sighed. This was how the village should have been years ago to her. This is what she was supposed to do.

"Luna, we have a problem!" called out a young male villager as he ran towards his boss "Like, a super huge monster problem! BIG monster!!"

"For the love of..." Luna shook her head and sighed "How big?"

"Um... Maybe kinda sorta... Rathalos big..." the villager quivered in fear. The Alicorn perked up at this monster's name. It was no doubt one of the grown-up chicks Twilight found just before fighting the Zinogre.

"Send in the ballistics. I'll be there shortly" she answered after a moment of thought.

"Of course, Miss Luna" the villager nodded before rushing to prepare the defenses. Luna walked back to her room and opened her blue hunter's chest, revealing a full set of Brachydios armour, as well as her Brachydios charge blade. She stared at that armour for what felt like ages.

"It's been a while since I used this set" she said before a small smile came to her face "Perhaps one day, dear sister, once everypony has been trained, I will return."

She took her clothing out and got dressed immediately. After looking in her mirror to make sure she was adequately prepared, she ran out of her home only to see the Rathalos had gotten through the defenses with complete ease. Luna did nothing but shake her head letting out a disappointed sigh.

"I truly hope you have a high patience level, dear sister..." she spoke before grabbing her charge blade again with her magic, switching it to axe mode, and charging straight at the Rathalos "...because I might be here for a while."

XXXXXX

While Luna was quite happy in her village, she was saddened she couldn't see her sister until Hollow Shades was protected and safe. Nonetheless, she loved being the one who could teach ponies with such potential. Now, onto more endings, hmm? Far, far away, in the kingdom of the Crystal Empire, there lived a mare, a stallion, and a filly foal. I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to know who they are...

"Rage Quit, get your ass down here, or so help me!" Unity called up her husband over the sound of their daughter wailing "You know I'm not good with kids!"

"Then why did you want them, huh?" Rage Quit flew down the stairs to meet with his wife.

"I didn't, you did!" the Unicorn argued "Yet I was the one who had to carry her everywhere I went, vomit every two second, and constantly get angry with you!"

"I see not much has changed" he snickered.

"Just take care of her while I get dressed for my meeting tonight, okay?" Unity sighed before kissing Rage on the cheek and going upstairs to fulfill her claim. The light blue Pegasus walked over to where his daughter was crying like a maniac.

"Hey there, Razor Wind" he spoke calmly with a smile, stopping the foal from crying. She was familiar with that voice, she had heard it so many times in the past. She quickly began gurgling in affection. Rage picked his two-year-old daughter up and began playing with her, making her laugh.

"Still a daddy's girl, eh?" he chuckled as he bounced around his green coated, white maned Pegasus daughter "Lemme tell you, you're gonna go on to do great things. I just know it! You'll become a better Monster Hunter than your old man! Heck, you might even go off and save the world!"

Razor Wind simply laughed at this. Suddenly, Unity, who had come back from upstairs, wrapped her front hooves around Rage Quit and hugged him.

"You're so good with kids" she whispered in his ear before turning him around and forcing him to look at her new dress "Well, what do you think? Am I sexy enough?"

The Pegasus had no words as he simply stared at his wife with Razor in his wings. She was beautiful with her curly orange mane, red lipstick and long black dress over her grey coat. Finally, something escaped from the stallion's mouth.

"Beautiful..." was all he said.

"Thought so" Unity giggled before winking and sticking out her tongue playfully "Well, I shouldn't be long. Just gotta make this as quick as possible and we'll be off on our little date. Which reminds me, is the babysitter still on tonight?"

"Hmm? Oh, right" Rage snapped out of his trance "Yeah, Butter's still on. He's just gotta finish things up at Dracoville's bar and he'll come dashing here faster than light."

"Rightio!" the mare nodded before heading for the door "See you two later. Love you!"

"Love you too, honey" the stallion smiled before beginning to play with his daughter again. Just as Unity closed the door, a certain Lagombi bounced right onto Rage Quit, knocking him over but keeping Razor safe with his wings. The monster, now half-way grown, licked his co-owner's face affectionately.

"Geo! Geo!" Razor laughed as she touched George's soft fur.

"Hahaha! Okay, George, you can stop that now" the light blue Pegasus laughed before the rabbit monster hopped off him "Boy, you sure are getting big, aren't you? Soon enough, we'll have to make the entire backyard your home."

George growled playfully before walking away somewhere else in the house. Rage Quit just rolled his eyes with a smile before rubbing his daughter's head.

XXXXXX

Rage and Unity's family are doing quite fine, but I'm not sure Rage Quit was joking about George's new place to live. In any case, I suppose you'd wish to move on, correct? In a village close to a volcanic wasteland, there lives two brothers and an unsatisfiable amount of customers. The younger was enjoying life normally, but the elder was about to have something amazing happen in his life...

"NUMBER 34, ORDER UP!!" shouted Butter Hero as he slid a completed meal down the side of his cafeteria counter "That's the last one you're having, Striker."

"Yeah, yeah, don't git yer panties in a bunch..." Striker rolled his eyes as he placed the tray with food on it on his back and walked away.

"Keep that attitude up, and that'll be the last one you have indefinitely..." the light yellow Pegasus muttered to himself before turning back to the crowd of ponies desperately wanting his food "Alright, who's up next?"

"That would be me" Dark Thunder approached his younger brother.

"Ah, Dark! What do you fancy, today?" Butter asked his elder brother.

"Same as always."

"One heaven bread sandwich with Kirin butter, coming right up!" the Pegasus nodded and immediately went straight to work. With his knife in his right wing, he chopped the veggies, sliced the butter and pressed them all into two warm slices of bread. He then gave his work to Dark.

"Thanks, bud" the Unicorn smiled before heading off to eat his meal in peace.

"Come back soon!" Butter called out waving before redirecting his attention back to his customers desperately awaiting their orders to be taken "Whoa, whoa, okay, I get it! It's the Shagaru Festival and all that jazz, but please try to stay in an orderly fashion... oh, who am I kidding? FOOD FOR EVERYONE!!"

The crowd of ponies let out a cheer of happiness as they tossed up their hats and helmets, if they had any. Butter regretted his decision immediately, but anyway to get back home and celebrate the defeat of the golden death was okay by him.

Outside the cafeteria in the dark of night, Dark Thunder smiled as he heard the cheers of each and everypony, villager and hunter alike, celebrating this joyous day. He took another bite of his sandwich and sighed. He loved his days with his brother and fighting monsters, but he wished for a bit more excitement in his life. An adventure was what he needed.

Suddenly, he heard the rustling of bushes near him. Fearing it to be a monster in the village, he levitated over his longsword and prepared himself for battle. The rustling continued around him for a while longer until it finally stopped. Hoping whatever it was had screwed off, he went back to his sandwich with a hungry smile on his face. However, his sandwich was no longer there. Another rustle of bushes was heard, and he just caught a leg with his eyes heading back into the wild.

"Hey, get back here with my sandwich!" he called out as he sheathed his longsword and gave chase. The creature ran and ran for a while, surprising the Unicorn. However, the creature tripped and let out a small feminine gasp of shock before falling to the ground. Dark finally caught up with it only to find out that...

"P-Please don't hurt me..." the female Changeling about his age cried desperately "I'm s-so cold and hungry..."

"A... Changeling?" Dark questioned.

"J-Just let m-me have this one t-time, okay?" she continued to cry "M-My entire colony w-was obliterated by a great f-flaming elder d-dragon, and I was t-the only one to escape..."

"Only you?" the Unicorn asked, him as well feeling a tear down his cheek, but keeping his posture "Can't you go to another Changeling colony?"

"N-No..." she shook her head "They would j-just kick m-me out... I'm n-not one of them..."

"Would... would you like to, y'know..." he inhaled before asking his question "...like to stay with me?"

"What?" the Changeling curiously asked.

"Well, just for a little while..." Dark rubbed the back of his head "But we have food, and water, and love! You need those, right? We also have comfy beds, and an amazing chef, and-"

"Thank you..." she smiled before giving him a hug.

"You're welcome" the ash grey stallion smiled as well "The name's Dark Thunder, by the way. What's your name?"

"My name?" the Changeling questioned before giggling a bit "My name is Fuchsia. Very nice to meet you, Dark Thunder..."

"You can just call me Dark" he laughed. An adventure, he thought. Perhaps this was the adventure he was looking for after all? Only time could tell...

XXXXXX

Both the smell of food and love was in the air there, and even I wasn't sure what would happen to Dark and Fuchsia. But they pulled through. Oh, was I not supposed to tell them that? A thousand apologies. What I meant to say was they would find a way to live somehow... but let's face it, you all knew they'd find a way. Now, onto the next story, hmm? A team of elite hunters was just stationed at Whitetail Woods after sightings of a terrible monster were recorded there...

"Ugh... Do we have to hunt tonight?" Rainbow Dash complained "It's the Shagaru Festival, and I want my cider!"

"Rainbow Dash, I must insist that you stop your bickering" Rarity hushed her teammate "We will get to the festival soon enough, but if the monster here is a terrible as it was said to be, we might have a serious problem on our hooves."

"Ah gotta agree with Rares on this one, Dash" Applejack agreed "This monster 'ere ain't gonna kill itself, an' who knows ifin it's some kinda elder dragon?"

"Pffff! Yeah, right!" the cyan Pegasus laughed "An elder dragon! In Whitetail Woods! That would be the day, huh?"

Rainbow Dash was interrupted from her laughing when a gust of wind blew her out of the way, forcing her back onto a tree. Shaking her head a bit, she looked up to see that stormy clouds have cast themselves over the forest. However, a huge gasp of shock came out of her mouth when she saw the black shadow slowly descend. As it came into view, she noticed its gleaming metal body and spiky scale, not to mention its ginormous wings. The beast landed on its four feet and let out a haunting mechanical roar.

"A Kushala Daora!" Rarity gasped in surprise before turning back to the fallen mare behind her with a devilish grin "You were saying, Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah, yeah, you were right and stuff..." the rainbow mare rolled her eyes "But now's not the time for that! We have to beat this thing before it does some serious damage to Ponyville!"

"Couldn't agree more, Dashie!" Pinkie smiled before aiming her heavy bowgun and firing away at the metal dragon. The beast simply reflected these shells before firing a shot of icy breath at the five, knocking them down.

"Well, I mean, it IS a metal dragon" Rainbow shrugged before getting back up and pulling out her dual blades "But now, I think it's time for ol' Kushie here to go to sleep. Permanently!"

The cyan Pegasus rushed forward and striked the elder dragon on its leg, causing little damage to it. However, she put her blades away for a brief second to use her wings and fly up, right before unsheathing them again and cutting off a few of the Kushala Daora's pointy head scales. This attack also scarred its face, leaving it blind on one eye.

"Ha HA!!" Rainbow laughed as she pointed her blades at the dragon "Take that, you overgrown tin can!"

(Music Stop)

The Kushala Daora did nothing more than roar at Rainbow Dash before turning around and flying away, the dark clouds following it soon after. She took a deep breath before her friends came to her aid.

"Rainbow, are y'all alright?" Applejack asked in a concerned tone.

"Oh, I hope that bad old dragon didn't hurt you..." Fluttershy checked her cyan friend's body for any wounds.

"Nah, I'm fine..." Rainbow chuckled off her pain before looking in the direction the Kushala Daora went "But that Kusha... When I find it again, I have a score to settle with it... Now, how about we get some cider to ease off the night, eh?!

"YEAH!!" the team cheered before rushing off back to Ponyville.

XXXXXX

These five had begun a brand new adventure after the defeat of the Shagaru Magala. The monsters were tough, and the trials were near impossible, but they pulled through every time. But even adventurers need a break, and that's where our final ending comes into play. Three mares are enjoying their time at the festival. To most, it was a happy time. But to these three, it was, simply put, the best day ever...

"Jaggi plushies!" Sun Stone shouted in a chipper voice "Get your very own Jaggi plush! Limited offer, 20% off!"

"Wow, she's really pulling through as a salesmare, huh, Twilight?" Teal smiled as she watched her sister sell her toys like hotcakes "Who knew she had a knack for it?" she stopped when she realized her marefriend wasn't speaking to her anymore "Twilight? Twilight?!"

"Over here, Teal!" the lavender mare called out from a hill not too far from the teal Pegasus's location. The latter raced over to her and landed beside her, giving her cheek a nuzzle.

"Hey babe, what's up?" she grinned cockily.

"Just looking at the stars..." Twilight answered "I always found them to be so beautiful... What about you?"

"Eh, I suppose they could be better" Teal shrugged "Alright, ready for a corny joke? You're the brightest star in MY sky, Twilight... Wow, can't believe I just said that!"

"I'm not sure anyone would" the Unicorn giggled "Hey, Teal? I've, um... I've been meaning to ask you something..."

"Hmm?" the teal Pegasus wondered "Sure, shoot!"

"Well, you see, I-"

"Hey you two!" Sun Stone called out as she approached her sister and friend "Having a bit of a romantic date, are we?"

"You could say that, yeah" Teal laughed "But, wait, aren't you supposed to be-"

"Those plushies sold, like, super fast!" the light brown teenaged mare laughed "I got some time off until those Felynes can restock them. Cheers to cat slavery!" she let out a giggle "Nah, just kidding. I pay them."

"So... Twilight..." the teal mare awkwardly spoke "That question?"

"Ah, right, sure!" Twilight nodded "Look, Teal, we've been together for a while, and, y'know, I was just wondering-"

"Oh, spit it out already!" Sun kicked the lavender Unicorn's flank, causing her to yelp and shout the last few words.

"WOULD YOU MARRY ME?!" she quickly covered her mouth and blushed deeply. To these three mares, the world went silent from those four words spoken. Sun Stone simply stared in shock, but Teal looked at her marefriend with both sparkles and tears in her eyes.

"I-I mean, um..." Twilight nervously laughed as she ruffled through her saddlebag and pulled out an earring of yoldspar she helped craft herself "I made this for you, as a sign of-"

Teal did not care what her marefriend was about to say. She simply rushed forward and kissed her passionately on the lips. While at first being very surprised by this action, Twilight soon kissed back. It got to the point when they fell over and began rolling down the hill, continuing to kiss. Sun Stone merely watched them and giggled.

"How cute..." she smiled with a small tear in her eye "They were pretty much meant for each other anyway. Well, I better get the wedding ready or something like that. YO! YOU TWO GONNA STOP ANYTIME SOON?!"

Their body language told the teen no.

"Well, have fun then, you lovestruck losers" she giggled jokingly before walking off back to her plush stand.

XXXXXX

Were those endings to your liking? I hope so. This world has done so much since I had first created it alongside my sister. However, I fear this peace will not last long. I sense a great calamity arising again... Hmm? You wish to know who I am? While I would very much love to tell you, I must not. Even I know the dangers should I tell you this particular information. However, you will learn eventually, I promise you that. Now, this story has come to a close, and while I do not wish to say goodbye, I must... for now, at least. Until next time, hero. May your adventures soon pierce the Frontier.

Author's Note

And with that, the story finally, truly comes to a close. Thank you one and all for reading, and may your adventures continue in the sequel...

"Monster Hunter MLP: Frontier"

[Act 2] (Chapter 2) The Serpent of the Ruins

Twilight, Teal and Applejack had all entered the village elder's home which was thankfully two houses down from the train station. The elder's home had clearly seen better days with all the cracks and dust floating around his home, but so long as he didn't mind it, then everyone was okay with him. After a quick walk through his wreck of a home, the three mares finally found him sitting on a large red pillow, smoking a pipe. He was a scrawny old Earth Pony stallion with a dull green coat and long greying mane and beard. He was in fact so skinny that one could see his bones stick out from his flesh.

"Now Twilight," Applejack spoke "elder Crab Apple 'ere is mah great, great, great, great, uh... very great grandpa. Ah'm jus' gonna tell ya this now so ya dun freak out later, but he's so old 'at he's actually met with the original Monster Hunter."

"He what?!" Twilight's eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Yeah, now please dun remind him o' his age unless he jokes about it, understood?" the orange mare's voice got strict very quickly, to which her lavender friend piped down and nodded in agreement, as did Teal "Thank ya kindly, Twi. Ya too, Teal. He's blind too, so jus' a head's up..." the country mare smiled before turning to to Crab Apple "Hello? Great grandpa Crabby?"

"Eh? Who's 'ere?!" Crab Apple shouted "Show yerselves!"

"Mr. Apple?" Teal began, clearing her throat "I'm a representative for the town of WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT THING IN THE SAND?!!"

"Hmm?" the old stallion was a tad bit confused "Ah'm not sure ah've heard o' 'at particular town... Is it one of 'em new ones ya darn kids are buildin' 'ese days? Back in mah prime, we only had a simple name fer our towns, like this 'ere Appleloosa!"

"No, great grandpa, we're talkin' 'bout 'at monster y'all were tellin' me 'bout a while back" Applejack intervened "Y'know, the one from the great war?"

"Oh, ah think ah 'member now..." the elder recalled "Yer talkin' 'bout the Dah'ren Mohran, right?"

"Is that what the monster out there is called, sir?" Twilight asked Crab Apple, trying her best not to breath in the smoke emanating from the elder pony's pipe.

"Darn tootin'!" the elderly stallion cackled "The Dah'ren Mohran is as ancient as me, ah'm afraid! It was sealed up a long time ago 'cuz it did sum purdy bad stuff back in mah day!"

"Is 'at ALL ya know 'bout it, grandpa?" Twilight's country friend asked.

"Youngin', ah may have fought the darn thin' back when ah was in mah prime, but ah dun know too much 'bout it other than it's pure evil, it is!" Crab Apple chuckled "But, ah suppose ifin ya REALLY want ta know more 'bout it, ah'd suggest headin' off to some old ruins 'bout a few kilometres down south o' 'ere. Y'all should find somethin' o' importance 'ere."

"Thank you, sir" Teal spoke after being quiet for a while "Well, I guess it's time to go cave exploring with two very, very attractive mares..."

"Teal, do ya happen ta be a fillyfooler?" Applejack deadpanned her question.

"Take a wild guess and let your heart decide the answer, baby..." the teal Pegasus winked at the orange mare, making her blush a bit.

"L-Let's jus' git this overwith..." sighed the blonde Earth Pony.

"Before ya head off, can ah see 'at staffy weapon o' yers, ya purple filly?" the elder suddenly asked, surprising Twilight, not because his voice was sudden, but because if what Applejack said was true, how could he have known what Twilight and her weapon looked like, let alone that she even had a weapon?

"How did-"

"Ah may be blind, youngin'," Crab Apple smiled "but ah've lived so long, ah've grown somewhat o' a connection ta the world, lettin' me technically see mah surroundin's'. How else would ah know where ta pick up mah pipe, eh? Now, the staff, ifin ya will..."

Twilight nodded and let the elder pony take a closer look at her staff. In ran his hoof over the surface of it and the Kinsect before nodding and preparing to give his final verdict.

"A fine weapon indeed... jus' gimme a sec..." Crab Apple said before turning around and tampering with the glaive for a bit. Before the owner of the insect glaive could say anything, the elder turned around and revealed to her that he had upgraded her weapon to look a bit like a Zinogre if it had turned into a glaive.

"M-Mr. Crab Apple" the lavender mare said, amazed that he managed to upgrade a weapon he clearly hadn't seen before "Thank you so much!"

"Ah may be blind, but ah have some experience with tamperin' with weapons you youngin's' are wieldin' nowadays..." the elder smiled.

"Again, thank you!" Twilight said before she got a closer look at the old stallion's eyes "How intriguing... Would you mind if I asked you a few questions about your eyes and your past?"

"C'mon!" Applejack, despite being in crutches, pulled the lavender Unicorn out of her grandfather's house "Thank you, great grandpa!"

"Anytime..." the old stallion chuckled.

"Bu- Wait!" the curious newbie hunter struggled to break free "I have so many questions! How old are you? What's you're blood type? How did you defeat the Dah'ren Mohran? Did you have a relationship with the elder first hunter?"

"The elder first hunter?" wondered the town's elder "Oh, ah 'member 'er... What a beauty she was, ah tells ya!"

"WHAT WAS HER NAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaammmeeee...." Twilight's voice faded away from the old stallion's ears. He just wore a goofy grin across his face as the sound drowned out.

"What were we talkin' 'bout again?" he asked no one in particular.

XXXXXX

Applejack had opted out of joining Twilight and Teal due to her injuries and hoped for the best of luck to them. After literally everyone in Appleloosa refused to take Twilight and her friend to the ruins, the two had no choice but to walk their way to the ancient site, and already they were exhausted and thirsty from the dryness of the desert.

"Twilight, I need water..." whined the teal hunter "It's hot and I'm thirsty... I wish those jerks back at Appleloosa actually let us get a ride there. It would have been quicker, easier, and not as hot. Seriously, I need something strong right about now... How about some mega juice?" she took out some mega juice from her saddlebag and took a swig "Ahhh... Das sum good ass crap right there..."

"Teal, you're not addicted to mega juice, are you?" Twilight asked her partner "If not, could I have some as well? We need as much energy as we can get on our way to the ruins."

"Hmmm? Oh, yeah, sure..." Teal Speck spoke before going through her bag, pulling out another mega juice and tossing it over to the lavender mare "Drink up and stuff."

"Thanks..." the lavender hunter smiled before she tilted the bottom of her glass up and let the juice come flowing into her mouth, giving her extra stamina "Ahhh... I needed that..."

"Race you to the ruins?" the moss green maned Pegasus asked as she prepared herself to run.

"Eh, sure, why not?" Twilight grinned before getting into position "Ready? Five, four... GO!" the lavender mare ran on ahead of a surprised Teal.

"H-Hey! No fair!" Teal laughed as she as well ran ahead to try and catch up with Twilight.

As they ran, they failed to noticed the long, serpentine silhouette staring at them from behind a rock formation, it's two glowing red eyes glaring at the duo in both hunger and rage. Slowly, the shadow began to dig underground and follow the mares to their destination.

XXXXXX

Eventually, as the two mares traversed though the sand, they found something emerging from the great desert. On closer inspection, they realized that it was in fact two tall and decaying pillars, signalling that they found the ruins they were searching for. Getting even closer to their newly discovered location, they found a small natural-cave-like entrance to the ruins.

"You ready?" Teal asked her partner "If it gets too scary in there, you could always hold me..."

"I'll be fine, Teal" Twilight assured with a smile "No matter how hard you try, you'll never get me to like you."

"...damn..." the teal hunter sighed.

As the two entered the extremely dark cavern, Twilight cast an illumination spell to see a bit better. It was there where they found a long hallway going downwards deeper into the old building. The corridor itself was covered in cobwebs and more than likely littered with scorpions and snakes, which, once she realized might be down there, freaked Twilight out.

"Y'know, maybe we can find another way to defeat the Dah'ren Mohran..." she chuckled nervously "That train cannon seemed to do the trick, right?"

"Are you afraid of something, baby?" Teal Speck chuckled as she put one of her hooves over the back of her neck "Could it be the spiders? The scorpions?" she got close to her ear and whispered "The snakes?"

The teal mare felt a shutter down Twilight's neck as she held it. She just gave a quick smirk and proceeded to hug the terrified lavender, nipping her ear with her teeth lightly and sensually, which sent more shivers down her spine. Twilight let Teal have her fun for just a few more seconds before pushing her off and taking a deep breath.

"I-I'm fine..." she said "Maybe, y'know... They won't be so bad. Maybe I can get through this. Yeah, I can get through this!"

"If you insist..." Teal rolled her eyes "But remember, if you start to feel scared, you can always hold onto me, okay?"

"F-Fine..." Twilight blurted out her answer, blushing all the while as she turned around and began walking down the hallway "B-But... please don't n-nip my ear again, o-okay?"

"Fine, fine, I follow" the teal hunter nodded her head, not really making any promises.

XXXXXX

Finally, after traveling down the hallway for what seemed like an eternity, the two mares found themselves in the heart of the ruins. The room was large and circular, with sand as the floor and a rectangular plaque in the centre. On closer inspection, Twilight was quite surprised to see that the word on the plaque were written in modern day Equestrian, meaning whoever wrote this was a time traveler, or the language hadn't changed much. The lavender hunter agreed that the latter was more likely.

"Teal, this is written in a legible language!" Twilight's nerd mode was currently turned on, as they say. Her eyes had lit up and her smile had expanded considerably.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Teal grinned "Read it!"

"Right" Twilight nodded before turning back to the plaque and starting to read "By the power of the gods, I have blessed this place with a sacred weapon powerful enough and fast enough to defeat the Dah'ren Mohran should it ever arise in future generations. In order to awaken this power, one must-"

Before Twilight even got a chance to finish what the script had to say, a large snake-like monster dug out from the centre of the room, destroying the plaque and with it, the key to defeating the Dah'ren Mohran. The monster then placed it's body on the floor where it belonged. It had long green scales that came out of the back of it's neck that blended into yellow and red as they went up. Surprisingly, it had four legs for support, despite being a snake, and two teeth-like tusks coming out of it's lower jaw upwards. The scales running along it's long body were dark green, with the end of it's tail having five of the large yellow and red scales protruding out from it, and it's underbelly being brown in colour. It's most notable feature were it's red eyes with purple highlights around them, signalling it was infected with the Frenzy Virus.

However, instead of roaring like the other monsters Twilight had encountered, it stuck out it's tongue to 'smell' it's surroundings before slowly slithering around the edge of room before picking up speed and making moat of sand, preventing Twilight and Teal to escape. It finally stopped and turned to face them before glaring at them with it's piecing red eyes, striking fear into the mares, especially the lavender Unicorn.

"Nope!" Twilight shook her head "I don't do snakes! Not after the first time Pinkie Pie tried to get me into hunting monsters! We found a Remobra colony that was really pissed that we found them and they chased us until we left their habitat!"

"Twilight, snap out of it!" Twilight's teal partner shouted "Think of it as a, um... banana with legs!"

"What?!" the lavender mare shouted.

"Just do it!" Teal shot back. Sighing, Twilight tried her best to imagine that the beast in front of them was a banana with legs, as silly as that sounded. Though, it eventually did work.

"Okay, I'm good..." the purple maned mare sighed before looking at the snake wyvern for real and learning about it's species "It's a Najarala, if I recall. It's a snake wyvern with the ability to paralyze and squeeze the life out of somepony."

"Well that's-"

Before Teal managed to finish her sentence, the Najarala hissed and lunged forward at the moss green maned Pegasus, trying to bite her head off. Thankfully, she managed to whip out her dual blades with her wings and swing them at the snake monster's head, making it flip upward before facing the duo and hissing once again.

"C'mon baby, I wanna see how your weapon works!" the teal mare winked at Twilight. The lavender mare just rolled her eyes with a grin before taking out her recently upgraded insect glaive and Kinsect. Immediately, she sent her Kinsect flying at the snake, landing on it's head and taking a small nibble before flying back to Twilight and giving her an attack buff.

"Hey, nice one!" Teal praised "But let's see you try and do this!" she became enveloped in a red glow and started to attack the Najarala without thinking, but seemingly doing more damage to it. The snake wyvern hissed in pain before it decided to try and wrap the Pegasus hunter with it's body, giving her a good look at it's eyes.

"What in the..." was all she could say before Twilight jumped up and slashed the snake in the side, releasing her partner "Twi, what's up with the Najarala's eyes?"

"My guess it's infected with the Frenzy Virus" explained the lavender hunter.

"The Frenzy what?"

"I'll explain later! Try to stay focused!" she shouted. Teal Speck nodded and readied herself to engage the monster again. It gave off an enraged hiss before coiling around the two once again. However, this time Twilight wanted to see what new features on her weapon were given to her by Appleloosa's elder. She saw a new button on the hilt and, without hesitation, pressed it. The bottom of the insect glaive fired off a round of flame that, if used correctly by her calculations, could send her flying upward into the air. The lavender Unicorn grabbed onto her glaive with her hooves, pointed the hilt downward and pressed the button, sending her flying into the air and onto the Najarala's head. She took this time to stab the crap out of it with her carving knife, eventually knocking it down and making it flail on the ground, giving both Twilight and Teal a chance to attack it. After a while, Teal jumped up and forced both of her blades into the chest of the monster, letting purple blood fly and finally ending the life of the monster.

(Music stop)

"Wow, what a battle!" the teal hunter laughed "What do you think Twilight? Twilight?"

The dual blade wielder looked over to where Twilight was; in the centre of the room mourning over the absolutely destroyed plaque that was their only way of finding out how to defeat the Dah'ren Mohran. All the more reason for her to hate snakes.

"Twi, I'm sure there's another way" Teal, truly for the first time since she met the lavender pony, spoke in a reassuring and concerned tone of voice "Look, there's another room just up ahead. What do you say we check that out first before sobbing over a glass of spilled milk, okay?"

"Yeah, okay..." Twilight sighed before standing back up and following her partner into the next room. Said room was significantly smaller than the previous room, but in the centre stood a pedestal with a white potion sitting on top of it.

"You think that's the supposed sacred weapon?" Teal asked.

"Only one way to find out..." Twilight began walking forward to the vial, but Teal stopped her, turned her around to face her and kissed her on the lips. She only did this for a few seconds before pulling off.

"I know you don't have feelings for me, but I am a fillyfooler, and I'm obliged to kiss you" explained the teal hunter "Promise you won't die?"

"I-I promise..." Twilight said as she blushed as red as a cherry. She finally turned away from her partner and grabbed the potion with her magic, popped the cork off and started drinking it. After a few seconds, nothing happened.

"I don't feel any differe-" was all Twilight could get out before her eyes began glowing and she fainted onto the floor.

"TWILIGHT!!" Teal shouted as she ran over and checked her body "Oh thank goodness; she's still breathing... I wonder what that white stuff did to her..."

Author's Note

This one wasn't my best chapter and you could tell it was rushed in a few areas, but I think it turned out pretty well for the most part.

So, white potion? Glowing white eyes? Sound familiar to anyone?

Write in the comments below to ask what monster you want to have be seen in this story and I will put it in there without question.

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, happy hunting!