Twilight's book of the most dangerous creatures in Equestria

Chapters

The beasts of Armageddon
Desert traps
Stripes and slaves
Ice and flight
Unholy spirits and desert brews
The 9 magic beasts
Toxic Mist
Lesser size
Living Shadows
Ancient Elders (Don't look...You shouldn't see...)

The beasts of Armageddon

Twilight was standing in the classroom, having brought a giant book that she had placed on the desk of Ms Cheerilee. Most of the students knew who Twilight Sparkle was and were sure she was just going to talk about something boring like the history of Equestria or just history in general.

"Okay class," Cheerliee started. "This is Twilight Sparkle."

"Hello Ms Sparkle," the children shouted in union. The sudden uproar caught Twilight off-guard.

"Woah." she said with a nervous chuckle following.

"She is going to teach you all about the most dangerous creatures living in Equestria."

Coincidentally, everypony's eyes lit up and they stood up in excitement and eagerness, making Cheerliee jealous of this sudden burst of energy to learn.

"Hmph. They never did that when I gave them a subject to learn about."

Twilight chuckled. "I guess they just like monsters."

"Probably."

Twilight picked-up the giant book from the desk of the violet-colored mare with her magic. It had the face of some sort of wraith on it, with the title: 'Equestria's most dangerous creatures', spelled in melting, golden letters .

"Just so you know, if you want to learn about the less dangerous monsters, I have five of these books at the library. I'll only tell you about the most dangerous creatures known yet to pony-kind, though," Twilight explained.

"Which one shall we start with?" Cheerilee asked.

"One that everypony certainly knows about, the Ursa Major."

"Yeah. We know about it, but, can you tell us about others that we don't know about? Maybe a plant monster or something," one of the students shouted.

Twilight gave a malicious grin.

"Funny you should ask that. I do, in fact, know of a plant monster." Twilight started to flip through the pages. "Pumppumpum...ah! Here we go; The Ivamora."

"The what?" Cheerilee asked confusedly.

"I'll explain it afterwards, Ms. Cheerilee. Have some patience," Twilight suggested as kindly as she could. "Thank you. Now then, have any of you heard of this creature?"

Nopony answered.

"And that's why you've gotta read books," the unicorn grumbled. "The Ivamora lives right here in Everfree forest." The students gasped. "It lives in the middle, to be exact. This is what it looks like."

The unicorn released a spell into the air, slowly morphing into what looked like a carnivorous plant. It appeared to be growing everywhere like vines, and it had several small heads with either dangling blue petals, or sharp yellow petals. Most of the heads looked much different from each other due to the amount of jaws they possessed, ranging from two to three. A remarkable aspect of it was the giant head staring at the little ponies. The thing was quadruple-mawed, had a row of sharp yellow petals sticking straight forward, and blue ones that seemed to drip some sort of poison like rain water.

"The Ivamora has several special traits. It usually has seven heads, but sometimes there can be more or less. Those yellow petals around its head are extremely sharp and can easily carve through magic shields, while the blue ones are like poison darts. It is said that just one drop of that poison is potent enough to kill a thousand adult ponies. I know the way I say it is bad, but you've gotta know.

The only way for you to see it is if you find its garden. This garden is full of yellow and blue flowers inside of what looks like a crater. In the middle of this place stands a mount of dirt. That is where the Ivamora rests. It is usually quite calm, but the second you approach the garden, it starts to get mad, and the main head begins to move and watch your every movement. When this happens, gallop as far away from it as possible. Why, rumors and legends say that it is capable of eating whole dragons, and it will still be wanting more! Another trait, that makes this thing extremely dangerous is its ability to move wherever it wants despite being a plant. So, if you step on its garden flowers by accident, gallop as far and as fast you can. It can also make a roar that will give you a spasm. No pony has figured out how that is possible in itself.

Now, the final thing that puts this creature at the top of the most dangerous creatures list, is a sort of 'second form' it has. When it dies, it spits out a seed that turns into the Ivamora Draygon. An Ivamora of colossal proportions that only looks for vengeance on the ones who killed it. The immense size is temporary, and, after absorbing enough sunlight and moisture in the air, it spits out a second seed back into the forest. The Draygon then starts to wilt, and finally becomes one with the ground."

Everypony was starin at a smug Twilight with their jaws gaping wide open.

"Wow. I suppose there are more?" Cheerilee asked, her eyes about to exit their resting spot.

"The Windigos."

"Ah yes. The creatures that bring about the freezing of everything when there is turmoil."

"Oh. You know them too? Shoot. Umm..." Twilight was dissappointed, but started to fumble through the book, until finding something else.

"Aha! The Pourpros."

"The what?" one of the students asked.

"This."

The Ivamora morphed into what looked like a giant deer with clawed feet and gigantic bat-wings on its shoulders. The horns on the head of this creature were nothing but straight and white.

"The Pourpros is a creature the size of dragons who lives in the mountains. This gigantic beast is said to be able to fly in space. With its claws, it defends its territory and can summon thunderstorms around the mountain it inhabits for extra protection. The Pourpros are also very capable flyers. Able to turn easily at extreme speeds that could tear any pegasus in two.

Unlike the Ivamora, this thing actually eats. It usually just hunts for the creatures in caves and/or forests, but can also hunt for ponies when needed. Apparently, this thing is so powerful it hasn't been stopped yet and has destroyed countless villages. Sometimes, if it is known that the beast is coming, an offering of meat is enough to quell it, and it will return to the mountains without so much as an inhale. Not much is known of this creature besides what I told you, but some reasearchers believe that the creature only has one child every one-hundred years, and that that infant is the sole remainder of the species."

"Miss Cheerilee where-" a filly tried to ask.

"No. You'll learn when you're older. What else is there Twilight?"

"Hmmm. Well, there's the Sinister."

"What kind of name is that? I know the other two had strange names, but this one is just-"

"It's a type of lost spirit that will turn you into a lesser slave of its own."

Cheerilee put a hoof to her neck as the Pourpros changed shape to show a wierd creature. It seemed to be in a cloak, but looking at the gray arms, it seemed more like the cloak came from the creature's body. It had no legs, and its hands both held five digits that ended in the revealing of a bone tip. Only half the face showed from beneath its cowl. That half of the face looked somewhat normal, if not for the little pieces of stretched skin revealing more boney pieces. This creature was humanoid, and the hidden half of it's face showed a glowing red pupil through several threads of black cloth that stretched like melted cheese.

"Why is it sad?" a filly asked.

"Well, the Sinister is a lost spirit of sadness and anguish. Whenever it senses somepony who has lost something dear to them, or , perhaps, that 'special pony' broke up with them, it sneaks up on the pony and starts to feed on their sadness without them noticing. It's like a leech, basically. A notable trait of this creature is that it can suck your soul out if you don't get over your dilemma. Once your soul is gone, you turn grey, your skin shrivels up, and your left eye turns red. You become a zombie that does whatever it wants you to do.

It is about the size of Princess Luna, and magic doesn't affect it seeing as it's halfway in our world, and halfway in the after-world. You've gotta use things like bright colors and happy thoughts to keep it away. When one is near, it usually announces its arrival by bringing about a large fog. So, once you see it, gallop away in the opposite direction. They are easy to destroy, though, but only once you trap it in our world. There are always places where they have broken through to reach our plane of existence. Once you close that door, they're trapped here and they materialize."

The children were shaking in terror.

"Here is another one. The Mer-Auder. Vicious beast of the sea and rival of the Kraken of oceans."

The image once again morphed into something blue with many tentacles ending in a clamp. The beast that these tentacles belonged to looked horrifying. A horn was passing through the back of its head and passing diagonally through the left eye. This creature was mostly white with two eyes where only one was necessary. Not only did it have many tentacles ending it clamps, but it possessed four arms ending in single claws. It even had gigantic, webbed tail in the back to help with aquatic navigation. It was shown destroying boats, even holding one in its mouth which opened from the sides and not from the top and bottom. Only the right side of its mouth seemed to be composed of two separate segments.

"When you go out to sea, you have to smell the air. If it's salty and stinks of fish, then everything is good, but if you smell something sweet like cotton candy, then the Mer-Auder is near. Nopony really knows why it smells like this when it lives in the same environment as fish, but..." Twilight shrugged. "It lives near under-water volcanoes as it hates the cold, which is why it hibernates during winter. Its skin is as thick as mountains are tall, and it has an impressive size to boot! Whenever a boat traverses its territory, the creature rises up from its resting spot and tears the thing into tiny pieces with no effort at all. Although, some who lived to see it and tell the tale say that it actually just observes them curiously and the destruction is an unfortunate clumsiness from its power and size.

There have been fleets that have gone to destroy the creature, but none have ever been successful, let alone return. It IS extremely vulnerable to magic, however. So your best chance of survival would be to have quite a few unicorns with you."

Twilight cleared her throat. "Legends say that the seas and oceans were created when the Mer-Auder and the Kraken met each other and started to fight. The battle was titanic, and the ground cracked open, allowing the water to seep through. Unfortunately, too much passed through, and the lands became engulfed with water, so the two creatures quickly evolved to become aquatic. Soon after, the world began to calm down, and most of the waters seeped back into the cracks.

This separated both beasts that chose their separate bodies of water to live in. The Kraken lives in the oceans while the Mer-Auder inhabits a new sea every year. Be careful when you go to said seas and oceans," Twilight warned.

Most of the students seemed to have been panicking, while the rest were excited at these beasts.

"Thank you, Twilight." Cheerliee said before turning to the class with a forced smile. "I hope you all learned quite a lot. There aren't anymore of those kind of dangerous creatures...are there?" Cheerilee asked with a nervous smile and a forced, static body twist towards the lavender unicorn.

"I just spoke of a few. There are quite a lot more. If you want to know, then you've gotta read this book." Twilight smiled maliciously as she shook her book from side to side. "Goodbye, foals."

"Bye, Ms. Twilight!" the students answered.

They all started to gossip about that book while their teacher just slouched against her chair and gulped nervously. She was beginning to calm down when she heard something whisper in her ear like an exhale:

"Are you sad?"

"AAAAAH!" the teacher screamed as she jumped off her chair and scuttled backwards towards the door. There was nothing there.

"Are you okay Ms. Cheerilee?" one of the colts asked.

"Y-yes. I'm fine. I'll be okay in a moment. Just...just keep talking about that book while I recompose myself."

Desert traps

Author's Note

I lied about the previous chapter being the only one. U mad?

Desert traps

Another day, another visit to the Ponyville school by the local librarian. When Twilight walked in, the class greeted her loudly, just like before. Unlike yesterday, she was fully ready and prepared today. She smiled as she opened up her book and recreated the morphing orb. Cheerilee couldn't help but start sweating again through some sub-conscious fear.

"So then, what did you think about the monsters from yesterday?"

The students each took turns in talking about their viewpoint:

"They were awesome!"

"They were scary."

"They were intriguingly complex and evolved." The small filly adjusted her glasses.

Everypony turned around and stared at her in confusion and disbelief.

"What?"

Twilight was amused by the reactions but still shook her head in disappointment. "Never mind about that. How about I tell you about the Geradin?" Twilight suggested with a very low and dark tone. Her eyes bolted from one student to another to add to her attempted 'creepiness'.

"Is that, like, a lava beast?" a little orange colt asked.

"Nope. Let me show you."

This time, Twilight was going to go to greater lengths to add realism to the orb's transformations. It slowly descended onto the floor, dragging everypony's eyes with it. The silvery orb exploded into a mound of sand all over the floor around Cheerilee's desk and the entrance, but going no further than the front desks of the students. A few of them were disappointed by the rather bland demonstration until they all heard a type of high-pitched scream akin to broken class scraping against a chalk-board. The sand burst upwards, revealing a very strange creature. The creature was colored like the sand, but it wasn't made of the substance entirely. Some of its parts were made of stone, most notable parts being its fingers; Eight in total.

Giant bracelets, slowly rotating around its wrists, possessed stems that came out randomly from any inner area and into the creature's said wrists. They seemed to be made of a black stone that hadn't been carved to be smooth, so several portions popped out, were uneven, or were simply 'raw', as some sculptors would say. The outer surface of this jewelry was just as tan as the sand and possessing asymmetrical shapes. The final trait of this jewelry were the strange runic symbols carved into the black, inner surface.

As for the rest of its body, the Geradin looked to be mostly made of sand rather than stone, and the sand perpetually slid down with a notable 'hissing' noise. Some portions, as mentioned prior, were also made of stone, but only the head was made entirely of it. This head seemed to be plastered with a face of eternal worry. It was made from the same black stone as the bracelets, setting it aside from the tan-colored rocks that comprised the rest of its solid body parts. The eyes had no pupils, but the mouth was open and possessed some sort of dark abyss within it. It did not have any ears, however, and the head seemed to spike up randomly with what appeared to be a miniature mountain range, from which the sand poured like a slow, volcanic eruption.

"The Geradin." Twilight announced proudly. "This being is a monster of the eastern deserts, but more specifically, the Sorpion deserts. Many hundreds of ponies have seen it, but only thirteen have ever survived an encounter. It is said that this creature protects a certain area of the desert for some crrrazy reason. It tends to make a low-toned, ghostly wail while it moves, so take that as a queue to make a wide berth if you hear it.

Many scholars and researchers haven't been able to figure out if this creature is carved and animated by magic, or a real creature. Whenever a piece of it chipped off, the piece would disintegrate into sand. However, a few of the scholars recognized the runes on the bracelets. They are of an ancient language known as the 'Vectma'. It has just been recently discovered, and soon, we'll be able to understand what the bracelets say."

"Maybe they say 'stay outta mah sand'!" a colt joked.

"Yes, well, those bracelets, along with its hands, seem capable of controlling the desert. It has been seen creating gigantic sandstorms and sending them randomly everywhere. The only real way to get rid of it is to throw some water. Any amount will have it fleeing. That being said, the more water you use, the more time you have to flee the area. Being in a desert, it is a tough choice to make. If you dilly-dally, and the water dries out...BAM!"

"Ms Twilight, these beasts seem absolutely terrifying," Cheerilee said as she stared at the creature in concern.

"There's more where that came from."

"Really? Like?"

"The Yusimon."

The orb morphed once again, dragging all the sand within it, then rising into the air and exploding into a beautiful cosmic tapestry. There, some sort of creature began to approach. It looked like some sort of spider, although the two front legs had three metallic claws that formed a sort of pyramid when put together. The creature rose up violently, opening its mouth to reveal that it, in fact, had two of them: One within and one without.

The Yusimon's body looked like that of a millipede with six legs instead of dozens. It was of a sickly green color and seemed to be expelling fumes of some kind around it. The head was indeed that of a spider, showing off ten beady black eyes.

"Um, Twilight, what is that thing? It doesn't seem that scary," one of the students asked.

The foals in the classroom weren't too impressed by a six legged, millipede spider.

"Oh really? You know about the great plagues, right?" Twilight said with an annoyed grin.

"Yeah..." Cheerilee's pupils shrunk. "You don't mean to tell me that--"

"Yes. It is the cause for forty percent of the world's population dying off on multiple occasions. This beast was confronted by the thousands of creatures that remained, mainly minotaurs and giants, and was finally sealed away within the Astral Crypt; a place made to seal it for all time and to never let it or its diseases to run rampant ever again. The magics meant for opening were purposely destroyed, and that's a good thing. If we were to open it up again, the diverse diseases and toxins that have piled up and evolved in that place would flow over our world like a tidal wave.

This creature is the reason why there are colds and many other heavily weakened bad viruses floating everywhere, but, don't worry; we've found ways to counter many of them. That's what hospitals are for. All in all, the Yusimon is NOT something that should ever be seen directly."

The orb morphed again into what looked like a white transparent white cloth with a torn hole made to look like a mouth. Everypony leaned forward in confusion. What was so special about this one?

"Before you ask me about it, just know that these creatures can take over your body and eat your soul. These are Clothlings. Yes, I know, it's a weird name." Twilight shrugged. "Clothlings are, supposedly, the energies left by evil spirits that were captured by the underworld's minions. All these negative energies form into this cloth, and they hunt for a new body to inhabit in order to cause mayhem and other horrible things. I won't go THAT far in detail, but they ARE very cruel.

When a Clothling comes near you, it immediately gets into your body. They are relatively weak, but when you start to feel like your body isn't answering anymore, then you are lost. The only way to be saved is to be immersed in pure light or have a very strong willpower. Once they capture your body, they eat your soul and take your memories which they use to sink into your life and torture those that are close to you. It isn't too hard to destroy them or trap them in your mind once you know they are there, or you have the aforementioned willpower."

Usually, once they are created, the Clothlings just wander aimlessly for a night, and once the sun comes up, they are burnt away."

"Then how come the princesses don't keep the sun up forever?" a filly asked.

"For several reasons, but one related to them is that, eventually, when the moon has to come back up, thousands of them will spawn at once. So, inadvertently, the princesses destroy evil creatures without actually knowing that they are there."

"Cool," the same filly said.

"Now then, for the last monster of the day; here is the Vesuvius Vulcan."

The cloth started to vibrate and soon exploded into a ball of searing hot flame and magma. It showed the heart of a volcano, with the rocky walls red with heat. There was a creature in the lava with strange growths all over its body which seemed to be absorbing the molten rock. These growths looked like a veiny extension of the body of sorts, and the creature sitting in the pool was not friendly looking at all. It had four eyes, and the eye in the middle was protruding out like an antenna. The mouth was pushed forward and was drooling what appeared to be flaming saliva.

The arms were triple-jointed and very long, even ending in six digits for each hand. It only had two, but it also seemed to have four legs made for swimming through large deposits of magma, as much as anypony could tell, at least. The coal black toes of each foot had the appearance of a drill, with a hole at the end of each. This was certainly where the 'propulsion system' -as absurd as that sounds- of the Vesuvius Vulcan was. As for the color, the giant had the same flaming orange as the molten rock in which it lay, as well as several bumps and lumps on its skin.

"These creatures love extreme heat and actively search for volcanoes big enough for their bodies. The problem is, they cause volcanic eruptions when they find a suitable home." Twilight scratched the back of her head while looking downwards with melancholy. "They ARE the reason for the fertility of the grounds, however. The only problem is, once an eruption occurs, they are likely to follow the trail that might lead them to inhabited areas. They usually only feed on rocks and other mineral deposits, which means they'll attack houses to eat them, causing lots of destruction on their way to their new home.

This doesn't mean that they will ALWAYS leave the volcanoes once installed in on, but they will inevitably. The Vesuvius Vulcan are also a reason why volcanoes 'slumber'. Once they reach the end of their life-time, they start to freeze up. Thus, the volcano solidifies and keeps anything from getting through it ever again. It's rare, but, other Vesuvius Vulcans can find the volcano and light it back up. There are other times when the volcanoes simply become dormant naturally, forcing the Vesuvius to search for a new one to live on."

There IS an extremely rare variant of them called the 'Gigantis Vesuvius Vulcan'. They inhabit super-volcanoes, making them an extreme threat. It usually takes them awhile until they manage to dig deep enough into the body, but, once they are at the breaking point, the eruptions are terrible and devastating. These variants live for extreme amounts of time, much like their homes. Going to about one hundred thousand years at most while the normal Vesuvius only live a century."

Twilight finally closed the book and dissolved the orb.

"Well, that's it for today," Twilight said. "I hope I can see you again tomorrow."

"Sure. If the students want--"

"YES!" they all shouted loudly, nearly breaking the windows in the class.

"Wow. Well, you got your answer," Cheerilee added with a smile.

"See you all again tomorrow, then."

Once the librarian was gone, Cheerilee checked around her seat and desk for anything that might be out of place, only to see a cloth floating towards her. She yelped and slapped it away. Apparently, the students pulled a prank on her. She didn't appreciate this at all, but she couldn't yell at or punish the students for a simple prank.

"Just you wait. I'll pull a good prank on you all," she thought to herself with a menacing grin and teeth clenching. "Surprise quiz!" she shouted.

Stripes and slaves

As had become the norm, Twilight was standing in front of the class with her book in levitation magic while the silvery orb floated tirelessly in the air.

"Well then, what are we going to talk about today, Twilight?" Cheerilee asked with a smile.

It seemed she had grown jealous that the students preferred listening to the librarian than her. If one looked closer at the little ponies, they could see that quite a few of them had made themselves costumes. Some had even gone so far as to try and look like the Ivamora. Twilight chuckled seeing their creativity welling up and started to read through her book again.

"Well, today, we're going to talk a bit more about the creatures of the shadows and darkness. First up, is the Drewcifier."

The orb twisted and spun bizarrely and uncontrollably into a creature with only three limbs and two very strangely placed yellow eyes. These eyes even sported a weird type of purple pupil with an aspect of twisting metal. The limbs were long, chubby extensions of the main body that ended in a thin, stick-like grasp. The rest of this blob was colored in vertical stripes of white and red.

Twilight just stared at it with a big smile. Ironically, everypony in the class stared at it lovingly for some reason as well. The creature then seemed to open a mouth the size of its body, knocking everypony back to their normal mindsets.

"Ah! Sorry about that. Drewcifiers are all about hypnotizing and controlling, and when they find you, they look deep into your mind and find the perfect pony for you."

"But...then they have no gender?" Cheerilee wondered.

"No, but they can...well...you know." Twilight lowered her head and shrugged silently multiple times. "Seeing as they have morphing powers..." Twilight began to glow red.

Cheerliee gasped. "Oooohhhhh. Let's not go that far into it then..."

"What?" a colt wondered.

"Nothing!" the two mares shouted in unison. Twilight continued. "Now then, these creatures are similar to Changelings, in the difference that they only morph based on the prey's 'perfect pony'. Once it is done, the victim becomes entranced by a type of perfume that only they can smell. The victim slowly becomes a mindless slave to the monster after extended exposure. Once you have reached that state, they reach for your lips and, with a kiss, 'drink' all brain activity, turning you into a mindless husk. Only vital brain activities, like those controlling heart-pumping and breathing, still work. After its meal, the Drewcifier goes away for the next.

Seeing the difficulties at fully controlling its victim, the Drewcifiers go to extreme lengths to quicken the zombifying...such as...well, you are too young to know what they do," Twilight quickly closed.

The students mostly pouted about this, but, later on, they would realize what Twilight meant. VERY far later on. Provided they remember, which is doubtful. Unless maybe they have good memory?

"As for fighting them; you just have to see if the pony is becoming weirder and weirder around the possible Drewcifier, such as being completely entranced by them, heeding to their every beck and call, or losing the ability of speech. Then you just get rid of them while restraining the victim. It's...ah...not a very easy thing to do.

Now then...hmhmhm....what else is there...ah! The Crystallion. Nnnnooooo. It does not look like a stallion...entirely."

The orb returned to its natural state, then started to to crackle as pieces of it started to jolt outwards, only to start to transform into what appeared to be a stallion alicorn with no mouth, a crystal body, and glowing lights in them at the 'head' meant to represent eyes. It was transparent, yet it still looked like it was filled with a cloud of unmoving darkness.

"Crystallions are some of oldest creatures known to us. They may look nice, and even have the appearance of an alicorn, but they are pure concentrations of darkness and evil. Whenever one left the dark underground, they brought mayhem and destruction with them. The time they spend underground imbues them with darkness, which is where they get their power. In order to communicate, they vibrate their bodies to produce sounds similar to speaking. They are capable of making creatures from the shadows within them, and the amount of darkness they have affects the monsters they create.

Before Luna and Celestia came to life, there was a war with the Crystallions. They were extremely powerful with the minions of shadow that they created, and of them all, the most powerful was Abstract the Dark; a Crystallion with two horns; a jagged, sharp body that was the darkest you would have ever seen. When the Crystal wars ended after an alliance between griffons, minotaurs, and a long-since-extinct civilization, he disappeared. Some believe that Abstract has retreated into the grounds, and is awaiting the best moment to return. He looks through the windows and all that is crystal, which means he might even be watching us now."

The colts and fillies looked at the windows and started to gulp nervously.

"Now for one of the giants you love so much. The Fulser."

The orb had disappeared, but came out of the ground in the form of something purple and pink. The face was slightly pushed forward, and the fur appeared extremely silky and smooth. Its expression was very calm and of great elegance. The muzzle was very straight forward, similar to a cone. It had two eyes, both of a crimson red, with pupils that looked like a strand of DNA. Such a creature would leave one stunned by both beauty and disbelief. It had ears, and these two protrusions looked a lot like pegai feathers. However, the second it passed its hands through the ground, everypony nearly fell off their chair. They were webbed, strangely, but these webs were made from a non-flexible metal. The claws went even further to accommodate such a creature's immobility.

"The Fulser. The main reason as to why everything is shaken by earthquakes everywhere. They are known as the 'Earth molders'. These beings aren't evil, but when you get them mad, they can split a whole mountain in two by the sheer force of their hands. Those little things there are mainly used for digging through the ground, but, when they slam them together, it creates a huge shock wave that can blast everything away.

Like I said, they aren't particularly evil, and some have been shown to become great friends with whomever they meet...but, like the Mer-Auder and the Kraken, the Fulser and the Pourpros are dangerous rivals, and they have created many environments as time progressed."

Twilight continued.

"Then there's the Nyubet. It is a strange place where gold-balls sized orbs of white, called 'Nyus', lay. This place is only fifty years old, but it appeared out of nowhere and gradually expanded. Despite its somehow temperate and dry climate, nothing grows there, and no pony has ever managed to obtain a sample."

"Why not?" one of the foals asked.

"Because of the Nyum-Bunet."

The orb transformed once again, smothering the ground in very large, white sand-grains. These grains were almost as big as pearls, and just as white. The weird development of this...thing, bothered Cheerilee. It wasn't forming right, and the pieces seemed to not connect to each other.

"Twilight, there's something wrong with your spell. The pieces are just floating there."

"I know." Twilight was bearing a smug expression.

It was a bunch of pieces of rocky ice floating separately from each other, yet also connected via unknown methods The Nyum-Bunet's arms were composed of three pieces of irregular sized stones that rotated slowly in place as well as rise and lower gradually. The main body was composed of one extremely large stone floating in place, accompanied by smaller stones around it all slowly rotating in place. The hands weren't composed of multiple segments, but of one 'carved' ice block each, and both finished with seven digits.

The head seemed to have been destroyed by something, as only the portion holding the eyes and upward was still intact. Said portion possessed two, blood-red eyes and black iris as though it were filled with intense rage, and the top of its head gave it the appearance of a crown. Just like the rest of this creature, the legs were comprised of large, disconnected pieces of ice-covered stone. It was massive in height and easily capable of stomping on Canterlot if it so chose.

"This is the Nyum-Bunet. It guards the Nyubet fiercely, and the second you touch the Nyus, it knows where you are, and it won't stop chasing you until you're dead. It usually only pops up with its torso, rarely taking the time to emerge completely. If so needed, it can summon a blizzard that brings in a huge wave of Nyus with it."

"Are they the reason for the blizzards then?" a little colt asked.

"No." Twilight chuckled. "As I said before, the Nyum-Bunet lives within the Nyubet. No pony really knows why or how this place managed to become so gigantic in such a short time, how the Nyum-Bunet can survive magical attacks and cannon balls with little-to-no damage, nor why it is so aggressive and mean. A few have tried to befriend it, thinking they 'knew better'." Twilight 'air-quoted' with her hooves.

"Needless to say, the encounters didn't end well. So far, we haven't figured out much of this thing except how its roar is like metal being put into a grinder. The only way to survive an encounter is to go to the edge of the Nyubet. For some reason, it doesn't go further, so once you've reached the edge, it will stand in place and stare at you from its colossal height and expect you to come back eventually. Once you don't, it stomps one of its feet on the ground, causing a minor shockwave, then it sinks back into the sands.

The only possible explanation for its aggressiveness is that it is extremely territorial. A reason as to why it never leaves the Nyubet is also something thought to be related to the climate. Whatever explanations are given, they don't disprove that it lives to the north near Disirva, blocking off multiple major trade pathways. It is left of a massive line of high, desert cliffs, and despite being right next to a desert, it barely holds any major heat itself. It is quite far away, so don't go there unless you really want to. I suggest you don't, heheh." Twilight's nervous laugh and smile irritated the students a bit.

"Ms Twilight, how come we've never heard about the monsters in the forest?" a filly asked. The others nodded in agreement.

"Well, that wasn't the subject for today, but why not. I'll tell you about the Forest Guardians." (The Forest Guardians are from Samaru163's deranged mind. Yes, I will take a creature and put it here if it fits the theme and the ponyverse.)
However, this time, the orb returned to its regular state and did not morph into anything.

"Um, is it broken?" Cheerilee asked.

"Nope. Its just that they have never been seen, so to say. They are fierce guardians that protect forests from intruders and are quite powerful, in fact. The only way to truly 'see' one is by listening to the wind whispering through the leaves. Supposedly, this is their voice, and you should be careful when entering their domains. Legends say that they reveal themselves only to their victims, and erase their forms from the target's mind. The best glance anypony has had of them is a two-second glance at a foot, which was said to be the merging of all beings into one with green skin possessing the texture of tree bark.

They distrust anything not of their kind, no matter how much you respect them or their homes. Signs that a forest is under their protection is the existence of an eternal spring, which is covered by a very thin layer of snow during winter, a sweet honey-like smell in the air, and the sound of silver bells when the wind blows. If you are caught doing any harm to their home, be it intentional or not, they will transform you into a forest life form; such as a bird, rabbit, or even a tree. They can even make you something of the opposite gender, which I find is rather disturbing.

Exactly what they make you into is decided by five of them. Any pleading or begging falls upon deaf ears. One example of this was a stallion whose brother was trapped under a fallen tree. He cut around the tree to save him, but the guardians were angered by the destruction of the home of insects and fungi and turned the poor stallion into a worm.

Victims are left with their memories, and if the guardians allow it, their speech. It is thought this is a message to would-be intruders. After your transformation, the guardians will watch you for the rest of your new life, but you will never see them again.
So, it is best if you not intrude upon their territory. That's it for today. See you tomorrow."

"Goodbye Twilight!" the students all roared.

Twilight smiled internally as she knew that she gave some more images to the little colts and fillies there. Hopefully, they wouldn't try and seek those things out.

Ice and flight

Twilight was, once again to her amusement, in front of a class dressed as the monsters shown to them before. Cheerilee was disturbed by the large amount of Nyum-Bunets in the class, however.

"Okaayyyyy...I can see that you all like these monsters," Twilight spoke with a tremor in her voice.

"Yes!" the students roared.

"I've never see them so enthusiastic before. I hope that you have something very special to show them."

"Of course I do. Now then,for today, the main subject will be the ice creatures and even the flying ones!"

The students eyes widened with curiosity.

"Well, which one should I talk about first? Hmm. So many in this category...Ah! Why not the Pum'Pon?"

Not only did the students laugh at the name, but Cheerilee, being positioned as she was, actually fell off her chair during a snort laugh where she forgot to breathe.

She rubbed her head and grunted in pain. "I'm sorry, Twilight, but that name is simply too ridiculous. It couldn't be real."

"Oh really?! Then take a look at it."

The orb morphed into a six legged-beast. It had traits of a bull, such as the head and the legs, but its skin was as white as snow and appeared to be made of chains. The eyes of this simplistic beast were as blue as frozen water. As Twilight walked towards the image, she looked back at the class who was still chuckling.

"Do not underestimate this creature, for it is a master of ice. It lives near the town of Boromir, a very dark region home to some of the toughest individuals in existence. However, they are nothing compared to the Pum-Pon. When it enters a region, the skies darken with winter storm-clouds, and only a dark light of blue permeates the landscape. This creature, when it begins to gallop, throws about sheets of ice that creep along the ground to great distances.

When it becomes angry, it begins to charge violently at the sources of its fury, and every stomp brings a loud clap of thunder. The worse part is, sometimes, a stomp will drag up a new glacier of massive proportions. Nobody knows how this is possible, but it IS one of two masters of ice."

"Two? Who is the other?" Cheerilee asked.

"The Piut."

The orb morphed again into what looked like a giant blue phoenix made of snow and ice. The Piut had four wings, and the tip of the wings, the beak, and the tip of the claws engulfed by ice that was as thick as steel.

"The Piut is the one that creates snow storms and brings about icy catastrophes and shouldn't be left alone when found because of this. Once a Piut is seen, you have to attack it with fire to make it leaves the area, otherwise, it will cause tornadoes of snow to form, and hail the size of a house will fall from the skies. The most notable feature of the Piut is its bizarre caring for babies and infants. Many times has a full-grown adult gone to face it, only to be cast aside...or worse. However, whenever a child wanted to try and succeed where the adults failed, they ended up becoming friends with the Piut.

Even after they have become adults, the Piut recognizes them and listens to what they have to say. Thanks to this 'friendship', several crisis revolving around the Pum-Pon have been averted. While both creatures are masters of ice and frequently follow each other around, they are far from being friends, although they will not fight each other unless given a really good reason to do so."

"They don't seem that impressive," a student pouted.

"Well, what about the Gomariyas?"

"The Gomaru, the gumarey, whatever you said?"

"The Gomariyas."

A four legged beast of unimaginable size appeared within the side of a glacier, and it seemed to be sleeping. It had a snout, a strange one at that. It curved upwards, yet there was no sign of nostrils. Its body seemed to be composed of several twisting segments, leaving empty, hollow areas. It didn't seem to have arms, although the gigantic amount of weaponry with it inside the wall would suggest that it had a way to hold things despite this 'limitation'. It was mostly white, and the Gomariyas seemed quite angry, even when they slept, as attested to the rancid frown it displayed. On its head was a long mane of grey hair that reached all the way to the waist-line. The mouth however, stuck out of its resting place, showing the gums and the rest of the very sharp teeth the creature had.

"Something that has been sealed away by magic long since forgotten. The Gomariyas was a beast of war created for who knows what purpose. It suddenly appeared five hundred years ago and started destroying everything in its path. It would somehow bring all pieces of metal it would find into a levitative state and mashed them all together to create a terrifying weapon. It had created cannons, armors, swords, spears, and things we don't even understand!" she bellowed. "And it used them all against anything and everything. When Celestia rose to stop it, she needed the help of all the royal guards and powerful unicorns, as well as the aid of the griffins to deal with the aerial threats it would conjure with its weapons.

The battle lasted for weeks, and the Gomariyas showed no signs of fatigue. It was even reaching densely inhabited regions, and it needed to be stopped somehow. In a last ditch attempt to stop it, Princess Celestia, along with the other unicorns, teleported the creature and themselves to a frozen tundra where a final battle pushed the monster back into an iceberg. There, a final spell sealed it away forever, and, hopefully, nothing will ever free it from its slumber, as the spell needed to seal it has been forgotten, and the being will not rest until everything is destroyed."

The image of the Gomariyas opened its eyes and began to break through the ice in a fit of rage, only to dissipate and become the orb again.

"Heh. You all want to know what the rival of dragons are?"

"There's a rival?" Cheerilee asked.

"Yes indeed, and they're called 'ejge'."

The orb turned into a being with gigantic wings in the place of arms. These wings ended in long digits that were folded inwards like fingers. Additionally, it had a very long tail ending in a blade, and a face with no eyes but two mouths. Surprisingly, though, the top part was red, and its scales and 'pupil', which shone brightly in the middle of its forehead, resembled flames. Around it came other ejge which all had their own traits, but looked the same overall. They each represented a specific type of environment and that associated with it, such as poison for swamps and electricity for the skies. These creatures had entered a fight with dragons nearby and little flashes were being created by the orb to simulate dragon breaths being expelled as well as various explosions.

"Heheh. Sorry. I just wanted it to look cool."

"No, no. Go ahead. That is actually very interesting. What exactly IS this rivalry between these creature and dragons?"

"Well, the ejge and the dragons appear to have similar ancestors, yet they look over the same types of territory and food supplies. Both have managed to destroy whole mountains with their fights, and the sheer variety of both races brings about fights in just about every region of our world. Like dragons, ejge are prone to living very long lives, and thus, know quite a lot. However, unlike dragons, their powers and growth depend on generosity, which is why they all live so close to each other. They may not seem much different from dragons, but they are definitely much more polite. The only problem is, the ejge like to live in areas that are almost impossible to reach for normal creatures.

So, to simply reach them is a feat in itself, and to speak with one is a great honor. They are not mean, but they prefer to not talk with others not of their race. There are those who will still speak with one who seeks an audience, and they will gladly talk about anything and everything, if they so choose. While this seems to not put them at any higher level of threat from dragons, the ejge have a single trait, excluding their appearance and attitudes, that place them above dragons. While dragons have extremely thick skin and are usually always alone, they can breath fire, ice clouds, or anything they are associated to, for that matter. The ejge, on the other hoof, can cover themselves entirely with their respective element and still find the strength to exhale their powers. This is why they are more dangerous than dragons. They may have very thin layers of scales, but their ability to cover themselves in their own power puts them in another category than dragons, not to mention the extreme speeds at which they can fly turns them into deadly blades.

One thing that some ejge like to do, despite the region they are best associated with, is to sleep on clouds. Even those associated to wind prefer to live at the top of high mountains. I guess that they just like to sleep on those fluffy white pillows as some type of vacation or solution for insomnia. One more thing, while the dragons voice sounds like a brutish roar, the voice of an ejge is similar to that of a smooth and magnificent singing voice. I can't describe it better than that."

The orb dissappeared once more, and Twilight left the school in the same manner as before. Cheerilee grinned and rolled her eyes as the students gossipped about going to see the ejge or being able to defeat the Gomariyas without any problems. That is, until the sound of a chiming flap rang through the air. Everypony ran towards the window to see a grayish ejge zipping through the air thanks to its large, dextrous wings. Everypony in the school awed at the sight of such a beautiful creature, although they began to worry that a dragon would fly by and attack it, dragging the battle into the town. Fortunately, nothing happened.

"That was a close one." Cheerilee thought as she wiped her forehead.

Unholy spirits and desert brews

Today was particularly scary thanks to a loud and powerful thunderstorm outsiden and its every crackle sounded like the roar of the Pourpros. Twilight slammed the door open while wearing a black cloak, giving her the apperance of the reaper. Her book floated in the air as did her trademark orb.

"Tonight is the time of the fallen souls." Twilight muttered. "The time where those who were too greedy or bad come back to seek revenge on the living."

"Twilight?"

"Today, I speak of spirits!" she yelled. Thunder emphasized her fearsome demonstration.

"Okay then. Which one first?" Cheerilee inquired.

"How about the Dorammo?"

The orb morphed into what appeared to be an armor from the far-east. Beautifully decorated and standing with pride, but, there was nopony inside. It did not move, yet it could stand upright perfetly with no supports. It was not tarnished either despite the gold and red linings shining brightly despite the lack of light. It had the shape of a pony, but seemed to morph into the shape of a griffin, then a centaur, and so on and so forth.

"The Dorammo is a spirit of vengeance and comes when a pony wishes for revenge. While they aren't very quick, they are very dangerous and have been known to destroy entire buildings just to get to the one that summoned them involuntarily. Why am I saying that they attack the one who seeks vengeance when they are, themselves, spirits of vengeance? Because they don't like it, and were cursed because they did something horrible during their lives to end up like that, so they prefer killing the one that has a powerful need for vengeance instead of having the pony become just like them."

The children and Cheerilee didn't seem to budge. Apparently, they didn't find this one to be too scary, and Twilight frowned in response.

"Hmm. How about the Stifus?"

The orb twisted and reshaped itself again into a very tall creature with flabby, grey skin. Its arms nearly reached the floor and ended in four very long digits. Its face displayed the wrinkles and fatigue characteristic of very old ponies, and its three eyes did not stray from this appearance. It was also slightly hunched over as if its back had just 'blown out', as some would say. As the children leaned forward to get a closer look, its mouth opened to such a size that it managed to reach the beginning of its legs.

"The Stifus. They shouldn't be confused with trolls. These spirits, unlike the others, are still exist in the physical realm. What makes them truly terrifying is their size. They can be found in areas that are generally perceived as 'dark', such as caverns and thick forests. They usually just wander around, doing nothing useful, until they spot something to eat. When that happens, run as fast as you can, because the second you hear a bellowing moan, it means one has found you and is now chasing after you..

Run towards light, and make sure that it isn't a small patch in the forest, because they can and will wait forever if necessary for you to leave your perch. What is intriguing about them, is that, once they find a prey, they walk through everything like a ghost despite being solid like us. It will keep chasing you and chasing you, and, once they catch up, they open their insanely huge maw and devour you whole."

"Twilight, that seems a bit violent for the children," Cheerilee disapproved.

"Well, they ARE scary beings," Twilight scoffed. "They're supposed to be like that. Well, the next one is simply called 'traveler'."

The orb morphed into something very short but clothed in a massive amount of clothes and cloaks of various colors. Some were degraded, others were new. One thing in peculiar was where the face was and the fact that it was bipedal. Two glowing white eyes were on the right side of its face and placed vertically upon it whilst the other side was blank. The face itself was hidden in a black veil of shadows. The hands of this creature, which barely left the clothing, were small, lumpy, and black, and held a staff made of bones in the right hand.

"The traveler. There is only one in the whole world. It is named such as it goes around everywhere without paying attention to any species present in that location. It travels during the night, and rests at the spot it last was when the sun starts to rise. The traveler can be linked to the deaths of several ponies, griffins, and other creatures, because the places that it rests at see a brutal carnage occur suddenly, out of the blue. When it is attacked, it ignores everything but what attacked it. However, there are those that it attempts to warn. Seeing as it doesn't talk, it hasn't had much progress using just body language.

The few who have managed to annoy it found themselves ripped of all their bones in front of many spectators. It then eats them or uses them as ornaments for its staff and outfit. Those who see it eat the bones say that it integrates them into its own ethereal body. While it is debatable if this spirit is an actively dangerous one, the few times that it stayed in a town or city for more than a week, said location found that it had become a ghost town soon after."

Twilight readjusted her cloak a bit.

"Now, for the final lost spirit, I'll talk about the Ghajit."

The orb morphed into a tripedal lizard-like creature with a face so twisted it looked like there was a singularity in the middle. It had two very long arms that were quadruple segmented and ended in bladed fingers.

"The Ghajit is considered a demon by many ancient civilizations and has been known to bring out your innermost darkness. They creep on you during your sleep or while you aren't looking, and pierce you with their bladed fingers, slicing up all the good within you and allowing the evil to come out unhindered.

They can even tear one into two, leaving the good in one body while the evil gets its own. They can only be scared away by using a white filly with a singing voice."

"What? Why a white filly? And why a singing voice?"

"I don't know. There are several mysteries surrounding demons, and this one has a great mystery surrounding it. No pony knows why they strike at random, nor how they have come to be, but I think it is another spirit created from the amalgamations of twisted desires and hatred." She coughed "It would kind of explain its face, honestly." She grabbed her book and looked at its contents again. "Now then...how about I tell you about the creatures dwelling in the desert?"

"Yes please! Those monsters are scary," one of the foals whined.

Twilight let out a single laugh. "Let's see. How about the Pama'Di'eye?"

"The what?" CHeerliee repeated.

The orb morphed itself into a pile pf sand that spread all across the floor. After a brief wait, several tentacles that looked like they were armored by scaley armadillos erupted from the eroded stone. They were the same color as the sand and began to swing around the air, searching for something to grab. When they didn't, a gigantic beast armored just like its tails erupted from the ground, revealing tentacles to be part of its back. It was a quadruped, and had no eyes, and had three rows of very sharp teeth in its mouth.

"A desert hunter, these beasts stay in the sand until they detect movement on the surface. When they do, their tentacles erupt from the ground to ensnare its prey and drop them into its mouth. When the tentacles can't grab anything, and this is rare, they come out of the ground to sniff around. They can literally smell fresh blood, which is pretty nasty if you ask me. If the prey is too fast on the surface, it dives down and takes off like a cannon ball, allowing it to easily catch somepony and devour them. Some say that they can cause small, local sandstorms.

They sometimes walk out in the open if they need some more heat, but usually hide in the same spot of sand for the majority of the day. If you can get one, and make a suit out of their scales, you'll be able to walk in any desert under any intensity of heat, as the scales block the majority of heat, and leaves a minimum to keep you from freezing. Next, we have the Buzzard."

The orb turned into a simple vulture. This confused everypony.

"Hold on. Let me throw this nonexistent piece of meat."

Twilight gestured her hoof, and a piece of meat magically appeared close to the vulture. As it sniffed the meat, it suddenly grew to enormous sizes. It was now more a sickly greenish color, and, for some reason, it had a surprisingly, zombie-like appearance. Holes and rotting bits of flesh everywhere, two new arms that ended in gray claws dripping a brownish-green liquid. Its yellow beak now became jagged at certain points, while another part had rotted off. The kids and Cheerilee all nearly vomited at the sight. The wings, which were bare-bone at some areas, were now on the back.

"This disgusting creature is a creature of decay. They contribute to nature more than any vulture. Unfortunately, they are extremely violent and vicious, as well as being very big. Some say that they like to fight the Ejge associated to poison, thinking that the rotting juices they secrete are corrosive enough to kill them. Unfortunately, every encounter ends in disaster for the buzzard. The Ejge may be fragile, but they are still the true rivals of the real dragons.

They have a nasty habit of going to the towns in deserts and spreading virulent diseases and death at their leisure. They then feast on the corpses they created by taking this form. When you are cut, you die, although some say that you actually become zombie. The goop they secrete is so corrosive that it can easily melt through a magical shield made by a professional group of unicorns. In order to scare one, you must use fresh, fruity odors and perfectly ripe and fresh foods. It hates those."

The orb disappeared, and Twilight bowed before disappearing after another flash of lightning, making everypony wonder where she had gone.

"W-well. That was interesting. Now then, back to--" A ticking sound entered Cheerliee's ears, and they immediately perked up. "What is-AHHHH!"

"AHHHHHH!"

There was a vulture tapping on the window outside, and it didn't seem too "fresh". It squawked loudly once, before flying back towards the forest, leaving everypony to wonder why there was a vulture at Ponyville.

The 9 magic beasts

Author's Note

Nearly two years ago, Samaru163 asked me if I could write his creatures into this "story"...Like an inconsiderate prick, I never did. I had started the chapter, but deleted it quickly after because I didn't know what to do. Instead of figuring out a solution, my word document stayed hidden in my computer. Since he keeps giving and I've never done so in return, I'm going to make up for it with this. Do note that these are his old works and do not reflect his incredible advancements in both drawing and literature. I've spruced up some of the old descriptions a bit.

It will not, however, have the same "Twilight goes to the school to explain everything" style to it. It will still have Twilight with a book, but, well, you'll see.

The 9 magic beasts

The library had been left in quite a mess after Twilight's last experiment. It was rather dirty, dusty, and books were everywhere. Her attempt to extract magic from the scale of a watyer ejge proved too complex, and her spell backfired, destroying the lab and everything everywhere. Reassuring Spike after plucking him out from the book-alanche. Spike had to dust himself off, with muffled annoyance and went to pull the blinds open, bringing in a blinding sunlight.

Using her magic to lift and organize everything alphabetically, Twilight suddenly came to a stop on a rather thick tome. Its hide was of a copper color and similar in consistency to leather, although it seemed to be made out of plant materials. Many parts of it were peeled off by age. It also wasn't saved from the dust devil flying around the library. On the cover of this heavy book were written, in shiny green characters: "The 9 magic beasts."

"Huh? Hey, Spike, have you ever catalogued a book called 'The nine magic beasts'?"

"No. And before you ask, I checked your list listing the lists listing listed books that are themselves listed in lists."

The dragon put a claw to his forehead. That's alot of lists!

"Then how long has it been hidden? I think I'm going to explore it a bit before reorganizing everything. I need to know about every book here before organizing them alphabetically. It will give me a good way of cataloguing them them in specific categories."

Walking towards her only table in the library area, the lavender unicorn used her magic to bring the lamp closer to her. She then flicked the switch with a quick hoof gesture, and the book was now illuminated. The little dragon was also curious. The title intrigued him mostly, but he didn't have much patience to read with what Twilight just did and what was to come, and he knew that Twilight had the nasty habit of speaking the contents of a book aloud whenever there was somepony nearby to hear it, so with a flipping sound and the creaking of old paper, the unicorn began her lecture.

"Let's see here."

Reality is made of two plains of existence. The realm of life, full of the universes, and the realm of magic, full of the endless void. The two are connected to one another by cosmic rifts, and it is through these rifts that magic is transferred between the plains. The energy given off by Life is given to Magic, allowing it to grow. In exchange, Magic gives some of its energy to life to assist in the evolution and survival of species. However, Life cannot hold too much magic at one time or it risks destroying itself. As a solution to this problem, Life evolved certain species and gave them unique abilities, the most important being the ability to feast entirely on magic. This way the levels of magic would not exceed the limit Life can hold. Nine of these special creatures are native to Equestria, and they are the following:

"This means there are nine in Equestria. I wonder where the others are. This als gives an interesting conceot of magic, although I wonder what is so special about magic if 'Life' cannot hold it all."Twilight wondered aloud.

The Mak'thri.
Highly intelligent and savage hunters. They have the appearance of a bipedal lizard with bat-like wings as well as a body of blue genstones fit together to resemble the scales of reptiles. Their "eyes" also appear to be two purple gems. The Mak'thri are entirely blind, but they possess the ability to smell magic, for it is their sustinance. Their usual habitat is in mountainous regions, or anywhere magic can be found in high quantities, though, curiously, many sightings have been made elsewhere after a thunderstorm has passed. Being relentless predators that won't stop a hunt until the prey has been claimed, they have a specific method of feeding. Once the prey has been caught and restrained, the Mak'thri extends a sharp, needle-like tongue from their mouths and plunge it into the 'food's' body. They then suck out all the magic from this creature. Usually, the prey is then allowed to leave, although they can be held captive for up to a month so that the Mak'thri can determine if this creature is a good source of replenishable magic. The older Mak’thri are said to have the ability to control some forms of magic, most notably combat and illusion. The only way to kill one is to feed it blood, a substance of extreme toxicity to any and all magic hunters. Just its smell alone is usually enough to send one running if you are attacked.

"Wow. That sounds terrible. I'm glad I'm a dragon." Spike said.

The Bolongi Eel.
One of the nine species of magic hunters, adults can be large enough to swallow ponies whole. These hunters possess a telekinetic magic, which gives them the ability to "swim" through the air, thus explaining the illusion of their flying. The eels are dark purple in color with blue spines and teeth. Their teeth are retractable to allow them to suck magic out of a source without drawing blood, which, as stated earlier; is toxic to this category of creatures. They live around water to lay eggs in but are most commonly found hanging in trees, bushes, and rocks. The eels usually get their magic from eating gythilium crystals, which is magic in a stunning and beautiful crystalized form, unfrtunately for some, they won’t hesitate to pursue magic users if the opportunity presents itself. Even so, they are probably the safest of the nine to fight directly.

"A flying eel? That sounds like it would be funny." Spike laughed.

"It's big enough to swallow ponies whole. How big are you, Spike?"

"I'm not...as...tall..."

"And dragons are known to be great sources of magic."

The little dragon become silent and his eyes widened. Twilight knew she had scared him and gave an evil smirk as recongition of her work.

"What else is there."

The Gas'pidu.
Magic hunters that possess the head of a featherless bird, with long wrinkled bodies shaped like a rotten fruit, and huge, purple eyes. This creature feeds by filtering magic out of the air itself and storing it in large sacks on its body. These sacks allow the Gas’pidu to travel vast distances without ever having to touch the ground. In fact, it is believed that some individuals have never felt land. Because the magic is so widely dispersed in the air, the Gas’pidu always flies with its mouth open. Like all magic hunters they prefer to hunt species that can manipulate magic. When they find one they inhale deeply and the magic simply exits their victim like evaporating sweat. They are able to defend themselves with high pitched shrieks that will bring most creatures to their knees. Unsurprisignly, they also possess the ability to cast lightning magic with great ease. Other magic hunters, such as the Mak’thri, often follow them to steel their prey.

"Ew. I don't think there will ever be a monster as gross as that if I ever see it." Spike shuddered.

Twilight looked down the list, gave a little gasp, then looked evil over her shoulder to look at er assistant who was twiddling his thumbs.

The Dafaldara.

As the name suggests the Dafaldara resembles a large water plant, but it is actually a magic hunter. It has a row of purple ‘petals’ around its head and a long thin tongue in its center. BElow the ground sits their long spidery legs which allow them to outrun any creature. This magic hunter feeds off of magic in the water, so they are almost always found in areas of high humidity, such as swamps and lakes. If you are captured by one, it will trail its tongue over your skin and lick up the magic exiting through your pores. They rarely stay in the same area for long and frequently move around. You can usually tell if they are in an area because the normal animal life will be scarce around the water. The Dafaldara is also nicknamed the 'Hunter of magic hunters' due to its method of reproduction. To procreate, it will capture a magic hunter and lay its egg on them. Once a victim is caught by the host, the absorbed magic is, instead, diverted to the egg which then hatches when it has absorbed sufficient energy. The young will still cling onto its host, although it will leave when it is more than capable of fending for itself.

"Sounds alot like what some wasps do to caterpillars, without the brainwashing chemicals. It also makes me think of the Ivamora" Twilight laughed.

Spike just sat in his corner of books, trembling.

Altrox, the boldest of magic hunters. They have the appearance and shape of a huge yellow serpent possessing four purple claws at the end of two short appendages. Their face is eteched with four pink eyes along with a pink crest, and their tail breaks into two separate ones near the end. They feed on magic in decaying matter as well as those in living creatures. Because of this, despite their homes being in caves above the ground, they are often seen traveling to cemeteries and crypts to absorb the "ripe" decaying magic. Bizarrely, they do this during times when they can be spotted. This does not faze them in the slightest as they actually want to be spotted. Thanks to their hunter species' innate magic, they can control the mind of any who stare at them directly in the eyes. Once subdued, you will remain its servant until its death. Victims of this magic can be identified by a yellowing of their iris and a lack of any thinking or free will. A single altrox will usually have up to twenty servants to help dig up the corpses it seeks. They are also the most dangerous of the hunters to fight as, unlike the other hunters, it will not hesitate a second to kill you, but they usually prefer methods without bloodshed due to obvious reasons.

"That one is dangerous. I'm pretty sure you'll love this one though, Spike," Twilight taunted.

"Really? What is this one?"

The Hesili.

An odd beast that is little more than dozens of blue-green eyes with red pupils attached to many, many long pink tendrils. This whole mass is balanced on a single purple leg.It prefers to live in populated areas where it feeds off the creativity and imagination of ponies' minds. The hesilli has the magic of shape-shifting. This magic allows it to hide in plani sight of the general populace. Once somepony's imagination sparks, or somepony falls asleep and begins dreaming, it comes out to feed. It is thanks to its many eyes that it can do this, as they see into the pony's mind and can literally suck out thoughts. As they feed, one of their many eyes rgows bigger and bigger until it breaks off, giving birth to new Hesilli. How? I don't know. I'm just writing this for others to be aware of the beasts, so leave me alone.If feeding is plentiful, then a town can be infested with hesilli in mere weeks.

This is dangerous as they can reduce any thoughts and creativity in a town to absolute zero, practically turning them into mindless zombies. Due to their shape-shifting abilities, they are difficult to fight. However, remaining uncreative for a time will starve them and makem desperate to feed, making them stand out more, and, in the process, allowing one to easily fight them off.

Twilight looked at Spike and laughed to see his face repulsed by the thought of what the thing could look like and if it touched him. The lavender unicorn chuckled quite a few times, although the idea of losing her creativity scared her.

Cadasava

These large insect beasts are the size of a pony. They possess dual scythe-esque claws, spiked tails, and feeding beaks attached to tubes in their throats. Their bodies are also completely transparent, making it impossible to keep track of them during fights. As they mainly absorb magic through plants, they can usually be found in large forests, although they are more than capable of draining a magic user dry. The cadasava always travel in groups of of up to ten relatives. Despite their somewhat frightening appearance, they are actually the most social and caring of the hunters. When they find a food source, they will share it equally between every member, and if one of those members is attacked or threatened in any way, the others will go all out into helping them. Their magic control is that over wind. This allows for quick movement and to strike at deadly speeds and with great accuracy. Despite this, they are often mocked by other hunters due to them being the smallest of the bunch. A usual show of force will keep them away, but blood is always the best method.

Jofa'korah.

This huge beast is as large as a hydra, with a red blob-like body, a mouthless head, and dozens of tentacles tipped with long purple hooks with another tentacle growing every year of its life. It lives underground in a series of tunnels that it dug so its tentacles can erupt from hhe ground anywhere and snag a hapless magic user. Their magic is attuned with the earth. This is how they're capable of digging tunnels so easily. Once a victim is in its grasp, a Jofa'korah will pierce its victim's skin with its hooks and suck up all the magic it wants. They also have a nasty habit of fighting with their victims to get more magic, so many never truly escape its grasp. Possessing earth magic abilitites, the creature can absorb needed sustenance through the soil, but only if magic users are far and few in-between. These hunters are also extremely territorial, attacking anything non-magic that comes into their domain. You will know if you are nearing their lands when you find a large rock in the shape of the letter T. This is called the border stone, and should not be crossed at all. They are one of the hardest magic hunters to escape from as the only method to kill them is by putting blood on the tips of their tentacles. All of the tentacles. This becomes more than impossible for the elderly Jofa'korah.

Eru'Dia.
The most powerful of the nine magic hunters. Unlike the others, there is only one in all of existence. It was originally the size of an average lizard, but recorded documents of its last sighing put it at an imposing size rivaling that of a dragon. Its maroon body is adorned with long glowing lilac fins. These fins store immunity to individual spells, and it has thousands along its body. Every spell it has immunity to it can cast with a master level of intelligence and skills. The Eru’Dia, like all magic hunters, feeds only on the purest forms of magic in the world. Unlike the others however, it is unaffected by the smell of blood due to the huge wealth of spells at its command. It is so powerful that the other eight species of magic hunters run away from fear of it. Fortunatly the Eru’Dia has one weakness; Like us it can get sick. It gets sick when forged spells (spells that have been created by ponies and other races) are used against it. Due to this weakness, since its birth, races have kept the beast at bay with this knowledge. This is only a temporary solution however, for when it gets sick the Eru’Dia goes into a state of hibernation. During this time it builds up immunity to the spell, and when it awakens it is larger, stronger, and has more fins on its back. It is unknown if one can truly kill the Eru’Dia.

"Welp, I guess that's it. I'll put this in the 'Creatures and mythos' section." Twilight said calmly.

"But...what if we ever find one?"

"I doubt they would ever come to Ponyville."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Canterlot is a more likely target, but there are plenty of defences up there."

"I hope you're right."

"I hope so too. Let's just clean this up and I'll send a letter to Princess Celestia just in-case."

"You got it!" Spike hopped up and saluted with glee.

What they didn't notice was a book on the floor of the room crawling like a caterpillar towards a pile of its dusty brethren.

Size comparison.

Toxic Mist

Author's Note

From now on, I won't be doing the "in school" scenario. It becomes mildly irritating to do the same thing over and over again, so I apologize to those who liked those scenes.

Toxic Mist

Spike was busy noting down all the new books Twilight had received for her library in a recent shipment. It was always necessary to catalogue everything in-case a book went missing in the future or hadn't been delivered with the rest. It had been about an hour since the crate had been delivered, and three since Twilight left for the market, so she was due any second now.

The little dragon look up, bemused, when the door slammed open by an overly excited Twilight. "Yes, it's here," he sighed.

The lavender unicorn teleported right in front of him and levitated all the books around her, each passing book obscuring her face and revealing a bigger smile to Spike every time her face was freed.

"I can't wait to read these and add them to the library. 'Cosmic science and the astral bodies they are tied to' with all twelve, one thousand two hundred page volumes! 'Astral magics of forgotten civilizations' by Ripe Ofver!" She hugged the book close to her chest and moved on, but the magic merry-go-round stopped when an unusual book caught her eyes. "What's this?" She wondered aloud.

The book in question was a hard cover colored a golden brown, but the insides were a sickly, bright green with words written in a deep, nigh blackened yellow. The unicorn looked more closely at the strange material and shrugged it off. It would be a unique addition to her library, but the title was even more odd.

" 'Spiral Tooth's catalogue of monsters and specters'. Who is 'Spiral Tooth'?" Twilight asked rhetorically.

Spike shrugged. "Maybe there was an accidental mix up and the pony's information is in the book?"

Twilight scratched the back of her neck. "I don't know if I should. I mean, it's not mine."

"But If you don't do that, you'll never be able to return it." Twilight opened her mouth to interject, but Spike stopped her. "Just putting flyers in Ponyville won't help. There might be information in there that could help us find it. Plus, there's also the possibility that it was purposefully sold."

"But there's only one, and I didn't order it."

Spike pursed his lips. "Ah...Well..."

Twilight sighed. "Fine. I'll look in it. I might learn something new, too."

She flipped through the first few pages until reaching one with an illustration made with the same golden lining coloration. The name read 'Zak', and the illustration was just a still pool. Twilight passed her hoof over the drawing and jumped back and dropped the book in fear when the lines started glowing. Whilst Spike went to Twilight's aid, the illustration poured over the ground like mist and showed a slimy pool bordered by swamp grass and dirt.

"What in Equestria?" Twilight spoke almost inaudibly. "This is amazing. The author had a Portrait Plusle," Twilight cheered in amazement.

Spike stared at er blankly and silently. "Pretty sure you made that up."

"No. I'm serious! They are EXTREMELY rare and are even harder to make! There's only a few in the world. This must be an amazing pony to have such a thing in their possession."

Words appeared above the writhing pool, describing its name and many other features which Twilight started reading aloud.

"The Zak lives in the swamp lands bordering the tip of the frozen north as well as the large islands to the far west of Equestria. While they have been seen elsewhere, these are unnatural occurrences and must be taken care of as quickly as possible to avoid imbalance."

"What does that mean?" Spike wondered.

"It probably has to do with the local ecosystem." She refocused on the words in the air. "A Zak is a semi-sentient puddle similar to mercury, and much like mercury, it will infiltrate your body through the skin and kill you in mere seconds due to the amount. I've discovered that it drains all minerals and liquids from a body once it has been killed, turning it into dust to feed the lands around it."

The two saw what looked like a giant bird poking the ground in search of insects while the liquid slowly ebbed towards the bird's feet. Mere seconds after contact it dropped dead and was engulfed by the Zak before receding back into its pull and growing slightly, visibly pushing the dirt away during the growth.

"The Zak expands with every meal it has had and can, theoretically, grow infinitely. The best way to destroy one is to throw phosphate and sulfur, and cave salts into an explosive ball. It will become so aggravated at not being able to digest the substance that it will focus entirely on it then suffer the explosion, at which point it implodes upon itself and vanishes."

Twilight and Spike blinked several times.

"Yeah. I don't get it either."

"At least he's honest about it," Spike said.

Twilight nodded in agreement. Without her input, the pages flipped further away, and some sort of bubble surfaced from the Zak. The text changed as well, depicting more information once again.

"Hmmmm. It says that this is a "Zakander: Parasite of the Parasite."

The bubble rose up more, showing itself to be an inflated creature with multiple eyes in a horizontal ring on its body. The eyes were puny and had no features, but it didn't remove the creepiness. It jumped up momentarily to spit some of the Zak at Spike, scaring the little dragon and causing him to tumble onto his rear. It had a gigantic, circular mouth that it used to suck in lots and lots of air so it could float around like a balloon. Meanwhile, hardened, crystallized shards of mercury floated in the air around it and served as its tentacles.

"Much like how Zak is a parasite to living creatures it infests, the Zakander inhabits the Zak and uses it to live and thrive. Were it not for this weird octopus things, I think that my theories on the Zak's expansion would become absolute. I learned that the liquids they spit out were indeed Zak, but the creatures have such an immunity to the liquid that they can ingest it and use it without fear. The second the Zak enters their bodies, they use it. Their tentacles are also invisible and are used to carry hardened shards of the liquid as weapons. Plus, seeing those things floating around like they have psychic powers is pretty intimidating."

Twilight and Spike coughed.

Spike reluctantly commented on what Twilight had just read. "I think he was trying to make a joke."

"I'm not seeing it."

"Feels like someone without humor trying to force a joke somewhere. So, what else is in there? That can't be it."

"You just need to pop these guys with something sharp. They're basically like giant balloons."

Twilight flipped through several pages then arrived at another illustration depicting a giant, dead tree. She didn't understand what it was until the projection was created.

"The Uyt...The ubte...The U-Y-B-Y-E-T-K-R. Mostly found in the Zebra lands, the uybyetkr is an amorphous creature that places its young upon trees where the grow and grow and devour all the bark. There is a benefit for the tree, however: The creature's hide takes the appearance and consistency of bark, but it is much tougher and protects that tree much better. In return, the uybyetkr gets a place of warmth and life to live off and it's the best way to ambush unsuspecting prey."

The bark of the tree pulled off of it and showed itself as a bizarre, practically flat monstrosity with a chest and stomach lined with purple, outward facing spines, all dripping in an equally bright poison. It had a yellow eye on one of its 'branches' and on its back. Twilight was certain there were more, but she couldn't find any. Every extension of its body was made to wrap around the tree branches of its respected tree, and it would grow more as time passed, as indicated by the information.

"The poisons on its stomach serve to protect its home and the sap it drains from the tree but also have the added use of being like teeth, something I learned the hard way. The poisons on its 'teeth' have varying results; From paralyzing something to outright causing it to melt into a fleshy slag. The outcome usually depends on both the size and endurance of the victim. The Uybyektr has several 'mouths' hidden on its stomach which it usually uses to drink the sap it is draining from the tree, letting it nibble vast quantities of anything that comes too close to it or its home." Twilight tapped her chin. "Well, that was interesting. I can't say I was expecting something so...strange. You'd think it drinking the sap would eventually kill the tree."

"Hey wait, the text is scrolling down," Spike pointed out.

Twilight turned back to the floating letters and widened her eyes. "Whats written here? Mmmm...P.S. I've often been tasked with hunting and killing these things by farmers, which isn't too hard if you have good armor, but I still find that they would be more useful to the farmers alive than dead. Several biologist colleagues of mine have noted that the uybyektr's saliva has an acidic effect on many strains of fungus and bacteria, as well as having a flavor that deters most worms and beetles from nibbling on the fruit."

Spike grinned. "Hey, you should bring one to Applejack. Then you'd be able to see if that's true."

"And risk getting kicked into the sun? No thank you."

Spike raised his claws and displayed an air of innocence. "It was only a suggestion."

"What else is in here?" Twilight wondered as she flipped through the page.

She arrived at a red page with the words 'Star monsters' on it. She tilted her head confusedly.

"What are 'star monsters'?" Spike wondered.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out."

She skipped a few pages that didn't interest her then arrived at one that she kept a secret from Spike, and, with a mischievous smile, let the book display the illustration inside. The light became a twisted formation of rock and stone whose most notable features was a large base and an arc jutting out in front of it in a manner similar to the Ponderer sculpture.

"What's that?" Spike asked.

Twilight giggled. "You'll see."

A white horizontal line glowed along the top of the structure while a ball of the same color light pulsated left and right until stopping when it noticed the young dragon. The body crackled and gittered as it broke out of its slumber and stood up. It was still made of stone, but its body inflated until it was at least ten meters tall, practically dwarfing Spike. Two drooling mouths, both vertical, opened and closed individually on the sides of the main mass of stone. The center of the creature had the aspect of melting wax, but it became clear why it was like that when the light added details. A toxic smog emanated from that spot, causing everything in a large area to instantly rot and decay. Its five limbs all had uneven shapes, were placed seemingly randomly on its body, and were transferring the gasses from it body away from it.

"Wh-wh-what in Equestria is that monstrosity?!" Spike stuttered.

"The Gh'n Jaka. This creature is classified as two-star danger level from four, and it barely passes as a star creature at all. Its movements are sluggish, it is dim-witted, and its rocky body, although appearing to be dense, is surprisingly soft. I classify this discovery as a two-star because of the toxic gasses this thing emits, and with its limbs it will catch the gasses and toss them in every direction away from it. This foul toxin is so corrosive that any natural thing and pony-made object will shrivel and poof into dust. Only magic and magic imbued items can kill it...that, or you stab it hard when you discover it before it wakes up."

"Some of these things have weird names," Spike noted.

Twilight scrunched up her lips. She agreed, but she didn't want to ignore anything. "I don't know much else about these things as I only hunted and killed one. At least they aren't titan or hecatonchires class. Ha ha ha..."

"Did he really just write 'Ha ha ha'?" Spike sighed.

Twilight glared at the text with narrowed eyes. "I would say so...I'm starting to want to rescind my comment about this author being 'amazing'."

"You think there's more?" Spike asked.

"Why yes. I do. I believe it's a few hundred pages long."

Lesser size

The lavender unicorn hurriedly closed the book and tapped the floor of her home, clearing her throat in the process. Spike was leaning, rigid, against a book case, mentally hyper ventilating.

"You're...too good when it comes to displaying what's inside books, Twilight."

"And the author did tell us not to read it..."

"What if we...went elsewhere in the chapter, huh? A nicer place, maybe?"

"I...I guess so."

The two briefly had their vision impaired by the clouds outside blocking the sun, and while any normal person would be resting after that debacle, they needed to take a nice break. The unicorn tapped her chin pensively.

"What about smaller creatures? We've been looking at all the big monsters. Why not the smaller ones?"

Spike nodded. "Yeah. That could work. Would be a nice change of pace, I think."

"Alrighty then. Just give me a moment to search through the book's notes and see what I can find."

Twilight hurried through several pages of the journal, coming upon many creatures she had shown in the past with additional details and many more large creatures she had not yet read, but Spike was right. They really needed to scale down a bit on size.

"Oh. I found an interesting one. The Throos."

She hovered the book down to display the sketch to Spike, and his excitement turned to sentiments of betrayal.

"Hey, what's this? It just looks like a giant spider with a cute face."

The spider had a head similar to that of peacock spiders, but its body was very large and bulky yet hairless, something unusual for a spider. Twilight noticed and couldn't stop herself from commenting on that one detail.

"Looks like he forgot the follicles, maybe? I've never seen a spider without them."

Spike crossed his arms and pouted. "Fine. Let's just see what he has to say."

"Umm...The Throos is spectacular hunter prized not for some venom that is touted as a 'miracle cure' or their bodies for the 'hunter's trophy', value, but indeed for their hunting. These spiders are nigh impossible to acquire, but their eggs can have values upwards of several hundred thousand bits, provided they can even find one. Just saying 'It's extremely rare' won't befit the actual rarity of finding a throos egg in nature. It's not because they're well hidden or because the throos are very protective of their eggs: It's because they almost never leave their home. For as close an approximation as I can make, one of two-point-five million throos ever leave their home."

"Huh," Spike commented. "I wonder where they live that wouldn't let ponies try to go there instead."

"Anypony would wonder why nopony goes to the home of the throos anyways...and they're wrong. Hundreds go there. It is a great crater sitting underneath a giant mountain, and this place is only accessible via a hole in the mountain base. Next is the multi-kilometer drop. The exact distance is unknown, but I would safely put it at above twenty kilometers."

Twilight widened her eyes a moment. "Wow. That is very, very far."

"If you can get through that, then you'll have to deal with intense winds. The next part would be the thick jungle underneath filled with beasts other than the spiders."

"What's so special about the spiders, anyways?" Spike wondered. "Seems rather stupid to have an entire section dedicated to just them."

"The next part talks about it, Spike," Twilight explained.

The dragon frowned. "Funny how every question I made so far had an answer immediately after it."

"Yeaaaah...It's almost like somepony is writing this journal as we read through it," Twilight mused. "Anyways, the Throos are known for their hunting abilities since they can change their shape and...appearance?"

"Like the changelings?" Spike shrugged.

"Unlike changelings, they do not use magic to transform, so you get to hear all the lovely cracks and snaps of bones and exoskeleton." The two cringed. "They are also employed as changeling hunters seeing as the black bugs are a delicacy of these spiders. I've also noted that they can also turn into ponies and, like all their transformations, the individual studies its target before turning into them. Unlike animals, though, they're too stupid to allow for a full transformation befitting from language and behavioral patterns." Twilight read further along and gasped with surprise. "Oh ho. This part is very interesting."

"And I was right about it answering my questions immediately after I say them," Spike stated with an annoyed frown.

"Anyways," Twilight continued. "I've also seen enough to make a size comparison to ponies. The average throos is the size of an adult pony, but some can be bigger and some can be smaller. The biggest I've ever seen was the size of Princess Celestia?!" Twilight's eye twitched. "That's a huge spider..."

"Not to mention she could be replaced by one and nopony would notice if the holder is skilled enough."

"Hmmm...It says here that a throos cannot change its form into a creature bigger than it but anything smaller than it to an extent," Twilight read on. "An interesting creature I'm certain."

"Twilight. There's more." Spike pointed to the inside of the book.

"Hm?"

It was a drawing of a pony hugging a throos its size, but the pony in question wasn't detailed enough to make anything out.

"I've got my own throos named 'Fyx', and he's my best bud." Twilight rolled her eyes. "That's cute, I guess."

"Spiders the size of the princess? That's a disturbing thought," Spike whine. "Uhh, what's next?"

"I saw this earlier while going through the pages. It's called the 'Twin-Lock Mazeiyan'."

"The what?"

"A bipedal creature left over from civilizations past, the Twin-lock Mazeiyan is a creature with two large legs and two torsos: One facing forward, and the other facing back. They both have two arms and a single head for both torsos, and they also carry heavy weapons as well as decorative armor pieces. The colors vary but are usually split between both torso, affecting the legs. The front torso carriers a macuahuitl and shield, both made from stone -save the blades- and decorated with ancient inscriptions, pictographs, and deep engravings befitting of the time."

"What's a macuahuitl?" Spike asked.

"An old weapon used by the Meyi civilization. It's a flat plank of wood with sharp, obsidian stones placed into its side. It's a very dangerous melee weapon." Twilight rubbed her chin pensively. "I didn't know they lade things like this." She cleared her throat. "Anyways, the front torso wears a cubic head of armor, encasing it completely, while the one in the back prefers to wear a head-crown of feathers. Unlike the front torso that prefers to use defensive attacks, the back prefers full offensive. It carries two, two-handed macuahuitls like they're some kind of toy. They both wear a single waist cloth with the little tongue of cloth both in front and the back." Twilight blinked several times. " 'Little tongue'? Very specific."

"Still better than giving them a name like 'macuahuitl'."

"It is a very dangerous opponent to face as the torso twist and spin during combat. The Mazeiyan is easily capable of fighting off up to fifty opponents at the same time, its legs moving about with precision so that both torsos can fight and counter any one pony going to attack them." Twilight hummed the further she went. "Despite their combat prowess and abilities, they have no defense against magic. Depending on the locale they were found in, they can go from top B ranks to lower A ranks in the monster hunter classifications. There have been rumors of a possible S rank in the Neighpon lands, but the possibilities of the Meyi civilization being there is improbable."

The lavender alicorn levitated a notebook, a quill, and some sink towards her to write down the rumor.

"You're planning on going there?" Spike asked.

"The idea of finding them in Neighpon would be an archaeological marvel! It would completely rewrite history!" Twilight shouted enthusiastically.

"Well, before you have an aneurysm, why not look for more things in the journal? You didn't find much."

Twilight shrugged and went through a few more pages. "I still find it weird why the writer specified the 'rank' of this creature and not the throos."

"Maybe because they aren't conventional monsters to fight? He never really mentioned anything aside from them just...hunting changelings in the woods."

"True...Hmmmm. There's this bizarre creature."

There were two images for this bizarrety. The first displayed a wide, fleshy funnel from the front, its form tightening towards the bottom. The second showed a headless creature with a large mouth lined with sharp teeth and filled with even more teeth. On the sides were six arms ending in a large, sharp protrusion, and the top and bottom of its body had multi-jointed legs ending in downward-facing 'tacks'.

"The Sonkol: A night hunter. It climbs on walls, trees, and anything it really can. Its limbs allow it to grab onto whatever surface; Its boneless body allows it to twist and reposition itself; Its 'wings' only serve as a measure of protection and camoflauge since these folds of skin can also change color and visual 'texture' when needed. Despite their bodies resembling a giant mouth with many fingers on them, they are not voracious eaters. They are more akin to snakes in that they...swallow their prey...whole."

"Mmmm...tasty..." Spike stuck his tongue out.

"They are very clumsy and rely on a surprise pounce to catch their prey, preferring those of large size. They do prey on ponies and griffins, often setting up shop in populated cities."

Spike audibly screeched.

"It says 'cities', Spike. Not villages." Twilight shook her head. "Anyways, the Sonkol hide in the most populated zones and grab an unsuspecting passer-by, making them rather easy for hunters to find. It is strictly a C class, as it is clumsy, slow, and does not have any true abilities aside from camoflauge. A hunter experienced enough with camoflauge can easily see where they are, especially from their greedy hunger that sets them in populated areas."

Twilight nodded and closed the book. "Wow. That was a lot to take in."

Spike nodded. "I really wanted to hear more, though. That last one didn't have much on it."

"Well, I'd rather go to bed, but what if I find a creature that I haven't looked at yet for tomorrow?"

"That sounds like a great idea!"

Twilight laughed and gestured to spike. "Okay, okay. Calm down. Let me see." The mare fumbled randomly through the pages with her hoof and stopped it with a gently stomp. "Hm? What's this? Hecatonchires class? The Yuhis?"

Living Shadows

"Alright, let's see what we have now!" Twilight shouted in eager glee.

Spike jumped out of his bed in a panic. Clutching his chest, he looked around to see that Twilight had woken him up in the very early morning, and the hourglass said that it was barely even five on the morning! The sun had hardly even been raised and was only giving the faint, golden light choked by the horizon.

"Why already? Can't we sleep some more?" he complained whilst wiping his eyes.

Twilight bounced up and down in her seat and stared at her assistant with giant, sparkling eyes and a wide smile. "Getting up early in the morning means you can read more books during the day!"

Spike stared at her, bags under his eyes. Reluctantly, he pulled his bed up and laid down in it. "Fine. Go ahead."

Twilight flipped through the pages until she found something that might've been intriguing. "This part says that there's a lot of creatures in the dark," she explained.

The tiny dragon scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Of course there are. Lots of spooky monsters in the dark. Like in the Everfree Forest."

The lavender unicorn shook her head. "No, no. As in in the dark."

Spike's mouth took on an 'O' shape. "Ooooooh. I get it now. Well, what's in there?"

Twilight took a while to go through notes and scribbled nonsense until finally, she fell upon something new. "Well then."

The journal had something called the Samsa Sa in it. The drawing depicted a black vortex between trees with a yellow light in it. In the next drawing Twilight could see a creature coming out of the vortex whose body was made up of intertwined tendrils, each one as thick as her foreleg. A solid yellow eye was kept in a protrusion to the side of a 'torso'. It was bipedal and had a similar body structure to the minotaurs, save for its false hands ending in three wriggling digits.

Twilight began to read the description. "The Samsa Sa is a purple-blackish creature held in the mythologies of the minotaurs. There's apparently over seven hundred of these things each with a different designation after 'Samsa', but no way am I going to look for all of them when I only hunted this one thing. I'm not insane. I leave that to our scholars."

"He's got a point," Spike said in agreement.

Twilight frowned. "Well, I don't think it would've been that much of a waste of time, but he's a hunter, so I suppose I can accept that," the unicorn grumbled. "But it's still such a bizarre creature."

"These wormy things hide in vortexes of darkness that they make through means I don't understand. The scholars do, but for me it just goes in one ear and out the other. They do this at night until they spot large prey or a large amount of small prey, at which point they emerge from their portal and catch their target to munch on them. Their bodies reform and reshape based on what they need, but a few tend to go after minotaurs because of their incredible bulk. I guess that is where all these myths and legends come from.

"Samsa Sa each seem to have their own shapes, colors, and whatever attributed to them based on what Samsa it tends to be. The one we hunted constantly reshaped itself and wriggled about incessantly, swinging around its yellow eye all over the place!"

Twilight raised a brow. "It's just filled with a lot of..." She cleared her throat. "Colorful terminology, to say the least." As she flipped through the pages her eyes gradually grew wider and wider.

"Wow. He was really angry."

"They're really annoying! They jump into dark places and vanish into tiny vortexes that barely stay open for a few seconds, and they always go in with that gem thing of theirs first. Needless to say, after venting, that they're extremely annoying to hunt, but at least we know now that we need to ambush the bastards or we go into that game. Their gems are extremely sturdy as well, but after destroying it we were given only more questions when the wormy tendrils split apart and scattered into the plateau.

"Some of the minotaurs say that it's the gem-thing that is the samsa while others say it's the worms, and yet more say that the gem creates the worms or the worms join together to create that gem. I have no clue and the scholars at the guild don't know either. Regardless, if there really is seven hundred types of these things I'm going to die if the minotaurs ask for me and Fyx again... He's made for hunting changelings, not worms with glass hearts living in a vortex of shadows."

"Fyx?" Spike repeated in confusion.

Twilight shrugged and went through more of the text.

"Gholyacrux. Giant and nasty, this massive beast is covered in a very thick hide oozing black slime that it throws around."

There was an illustration of a massive creature dwarfing armored ponies confronting it. Its body was covered in multiple, overlapping layers of thick armor, and the rear of its head rose of in a multi-layered crown of ridges with pale outlines. It stood on four legs, but its two forelegs were capable of raising up and being used as hands. Behind was a cloud of sparking black smoke serving as its tail. Its thick head was devoid of any eyes, making Twilight wonder how it navigated. Another illustration showed that it was a gateway to a pocket reality that was dark, barren, and filled all manner of twisted abominations.

"This thing is one of the more fun creatures I ever fought. While it throws that weird goop on you so it can solidify and freeze you in place, it also shoots out beams of darkness that drain you of life and turn you into a desiccated, black statue."

Twilight shivered. "What kind of weird creatures are these ponies finding?!" she shouted.

Spike took a few moments to recover and looked at the illustrations again. "Then what is that thing behind it and why did the hunter draw that afterwards?" He looked at Twilight. "Couldn't be fan art, could it?"

"No hunter w-mmmm..." Twilight retracted her statement after realizing just who's journal she was reading.

"Gholyacruxes can also slam their heads into the ground, deforming the ground around them with the darkness that comes from the creases of their armor plating. The best part is when you get caught in that wispy tail of its. You get pulled into some sort of arena in a pocket dimension, I believe, where it usually feeds on prey, but that's when you can go all out since there's no worry about collateral damages!"

"Battle hardy, much?" Spike mocked.

"I don't know how it opens these or how it enters itself, but it gets much more violent, making pillars of darkness erupt from the ground beneath your feet. When I told the scholars back at the guild about everything, they theorized that we could see in what would logically be a pitch-black place because of the monster. Would explain why we couldn't see when we got there first. Double negatives make a positive, I guess.

"Regardless, we killed it by breaking its armor with our weapons or explosive, then chopped up the soft bits beneath. There were many skeletons around, though, and we decided it best to leave them here rather than drag them with us through the portal. Oddly enough, the tail doesn't dissipate when the creature is killed, so the portal is still active. The scholars and supplymasters have been making use of it and its little pocket dimension, I think. Saves money on storage. Been looking for more ever since because they have a nice bounty, but they travel in the shadows of creatures, literally, and you can't detect them in those...yet."

Twilight tapped her chin. "I've heard of creatures getting pulled out of thin air in old tales." She gave Spike a side glance. "I'm wondering if all these creatures this hunter has been finding are responsible for such a thing."

Spike shrugged and gave out a long yawn. "I have no idea. I didn't even think something like that could even be killed. How is he even doing it? He doesn't really say what he did to even get to them."

Twilight nodded in agreement. "They probably have a bunch of weapons that we don't know about." She patted the journal with a hoof. "I mean, there's so many things in this journal that weren't in the books I went through for Miss Cheerilee's class, and I even went out of my way to check that they were real."

"And are they?" Spike asked. Twilight nodded. "Wow. Well, one more?"

"Sure. Why not?"

A new illustration, this one of an insect-like creature. It was standing upright, seemingly clinging to shadows between to stones, judging by its body floating out in the open. Its body was comprised of three portions, each connected by tube-like protrusions, some dangling about. All along its underside were gems it had absorbed into itself. Its head was completely encrusted with them, replacing any natural organs it might have had. More disconcerting was the double set of large mandibles: One in front of its mouth and two more where the eyes should be.

Twilight wiped her eyes and leaned in closer. None of this creature's parts were connected together directly. Without the tubes she had no idea how they would be joined, but then how did it function? The tubes were clearly wobbly.

"The Bilgeling, named after the tiny changelings my Fyx likes to eat. These creatures are supposedly not from our world, whatever that means. Alone, they can still be a threat, but not something an experienced hunter needs to fear. At least, not the small ones. The big ones are twice as tall as any pony and even longer. Their bizarre bodies allow them to separate their pieces when about to be struck, then they hit you back. We haven't figured out how they even work this way, but that's not really a proper issue if there's enough of you and you're quick enough.

"Bizarre little things, those jewels somehow fuse to their bodies and serve as eyes. I don't know if those second sets of giant claymores that serve as mandibles grew as a consequence of not needing their normal eyes, but they can see wherever those things are. Still not sure to what extent. Then there's those mandibles. Blasted things cut through stone with ease but still have issues cutting through metal.

"The best part is that these things bend and twist and shift their bodies around like they're a toy or something, and they spew these smelly smoke into the air that turns into some kind of floating gelatin that blocks out most of the light enough to project weird shadows everywhere. Turns out the tiny ones are hard to catch because they climb the shadows and run away despite them being in a 2d space. They baffle everyone, but we figured that as long as there's a shadow they'll just climb an infinity of height, so we just shine a bright light on it and it falls down. Splat!"

Twilight held back some bile. "That's rather gruesome. Unnecessarily so."

"Wha...is there no story behind the name?" Spike complained.

"Depending on who you ask, these things have either been seen living alongside changelings or fighting them. Surprisingly, bilgelings can handle a changeling transforming into a giant creature like a dragon or manticore. I happened to come across such a fight when I went hunting with Fyx for a potential spy. Those segmented bastards are pretty quick and nimble, owing to their weird, disconnected bodies. They liked to roll around in the remains of the changelings before eating them or just leaving them behind. I don't understand that behavior, and it's very gross."

Twilight pursed her lips and slowly closed the journal.

"I agree. That's enough for today," Spike said as he tucked himself back into his bed. Twilight gently placed the journal back on a table and slowly made her way back to her own bed. Spike became slightly worried. "Twilight?"

"I'm...just going to go to bed," she mumbled.

Author's Note

I can always make more, and maybe try more extravagant designs, but I need something to look forward to for the motivation.

Ancient Elders (Don't look...You shouldn't see...)

Spike was bouncing in place on his tiny chair. "What's next? What's next?" he repeated in quick succession.

Twilight stared at him. "I thought these scared you." She pointed at the book.

"They did, but now that I know they're fake, I want to see more!"

The unicorn shrugged. "Well, maybe I can look through more of these 'stars'?"

Spike pondered for a moment, then gave his answer. "Sure, just leave those 'four star' things for last. We should see the normal stars and the other creatures as well."

Twilight nodded in agreement. "That's true. It's always more fun when the big things come last."

She fumbled through the pages once more, finding the ideal place to stop at and let the illustrations do their thing. This time, they took the shape of a being comprised of multiple blue tendrils floating haphazardly in the sky. Multiple segments would find themselves focusing and reflecting the blue of the sky. The head was almost flat and diamond shaped with the rear point being rounded down to a curve. It only had two, barely open eyes and seemed to be in bliss. From the back of its head grew four, very long blue tendrils flapping innocently in the wind.

"The book says that it's called a Silicyn. They are very passive creatures preferring to float eternally in the skies rather than deal with what is below them. In fact, they are so large that legends say an entire civilization lives on its back." Twilight blinked a few times. "That's absurd."

"Why?"

"No creature could be big enough for such a thing let alone not react to it." She groaned loudly and resumed the description. "I've yet to figure out what miracle gives them the power of flight, but I learned the hard way that their tendrils will burn whatever they point at. One had been flying around a growing city and shooting everything in sight. I and a few of my colleagues went to kill it with the help of airships. It turns out, the Silicyn body is quite valuable and makes an excellent additive for things metallurgy and leather. I even added some oil and a thin sheet of its skin on my spear, and the blade remained sharp and durable three times longer than usual.

This thing is a one-star because of the dangers of its powers and its tentacles as well as its size and the methods required to kill it. It is still a very passive creature that emits some kind of low-frequency hum that calms everypony around while it travels, though. Something cool, for sure."

"That was...disappointing," Spike complained.

"There's one more thing at the bottom. Umm; Many legends mention that Silicyn as an eel of the sky that brings the soothing calm of the White Winds to all those in its presence. It has often been described appearing above fields of battle where everypony stopped fighting, and the leaders consolidated their points not through shedding red, but by shedding black."

Spike scratched his nose. "Okay, well I like this more."

Twilight felt a warm feeling of calm joy, but she didn't like what she find a few pages later. The illustration took the shape of a black equine with green, featureless, slanted eyes. Atop its head were deer antlers spreading and growing in multiple random directions, then receding, then repeating in different directs and shapes. Its hind legs were nonexistent. Instead, a dress of darkness took their place. Its entire body was nothing but black, with no other notable traits save for its glowing green eyes, as mentioned earlier. Between the name and the description of the creature were flashing letters in red.

"That's strange," Twilight commented. "It's called a Qwantum Fy, but this warning." She passed for a moment and placed her hoof on her chin slowly. "This is an occultist class monster and should, under NO circumstances, be faced by regular hunters and people of this world."

"What does the author mean by that?" Spike wondered.

Twilight narrowed her gaze as she both thought deeply and felt worry grow as the illustration remained there. She cleared her throat and rotated her shoulders a few times to regain her composure. "The Qwantum Fy is an unknown creature classified as a two-star Dwolcraeft(Occult). She -Yes. A she- looks for somepony or something else to haunt and will follow them forever. Reports suggest that she can possess multiple ponies at once, and one survivor recalled how she crawled out of one of their loved ones' mouth after warping their body into stretched, tendril strands of bone and meat which actively chased after them. My occult colleagues have mentioned that a spying spell allowed them to see 'her' coaxing a blue orb towards her after pushing a pony to killing themselves and 'lovingly' hugging it into her chest.

When confronted by a group of specialized chasers and myself, we cornered her to the point where her dress and dark form slightly unraveled, revealing thousands upon thousands of souls trapped within her body, all wishing for release and freedom to rest. Curiously, she seemed overly protective of them and refused to let us free them, but we still managed to jink her inner body, release a few hundred souls to the afterlife. She tried harming us with those strange antlers, but she was almost sealed away in the process. We now have a piece of her growing and reforming antler to track her, but it's difficult. Fortunately, this isn't my job. I'm busy fighting the usual monsters and trying to avoid quad-stars.

Effects of its haunting start with brief visions of it around the general area, then it appearing on regular objects and appliances, then behavioral changes amongst subjects important to the victim. The stronger the Quantum Fy's hold becomes, the worse the subjects become until they become these...warped things I have to kill. Good thing I have my throos with me."

The two remained silent for a very long time, and spike was quaking in fear.

"Moving on..." Twilight exhaled.

She was about to choose something, but in the process, she dropped the book, unintentionally letting fate choose for her. Unfortunately, it was another one of the creepy 'Occult class' monsters. This time, the creature was covered almost entirely in a blanket of orange, brown, and purple. Only a thin line exposed a portion of the face. More specifically, it exposed a left nostril with no nose, its left eye, and two teeth without an upper lip to cover them. The eye wasn't abnormal in any real manner and the iris was colored bright brown.

Twilight gulped loudly. "Voy Min Opsh. No pony really know this thing's story, but we know what it does. I found this sucker whilst wobbling around for an infestation in a city. I saw this sucker stalking somepony, and when they eventually confronted it, it opened up its blanket and whatever they saw made them scream. It engulfed the poor thing after expanding exponentially and random things around it, and when it finally released them, they were melded randomly and haphazardly together. An eye here, a lightbulb there, a bench plank jutting out somewhere, a twitching leg elsewhere with organs somehow still functioning and pulsating when they were outside of the body. I ended up having to kill the pony as they had gone completely insane from the transformation and their state. I found that strange for a monster and brought in some colleagues from the occult branch after finishing my hunt--"

"He seriously took hunting some tiny rodents precedence over calling about this horrible thing?!"

Twilight didn't removed her eyes from the letters, but her response was pursed lips and a slow, disappointed nod. "When confronted, it turns out that the body we see is just a front. There's a strange, fleshy creature glued to the blanket, the surface of said cloth being attached to a line of 'gum', it looked like, what with a long, smooth surface and multiple 'webs' of flesh hanging from them. The middle of it was a giant hole with teeth randomly placed around, and various elevations and roundings of darker colored meat. It did have two legs, but much like the rest of it, they were 'pushed' open to add to the gum-like appearance. At least, this is what my colleagues told me, and I've since recorded it in this journal.

I didn't remain to see what they did nor did they tell me what happened. No pony was lost, so I assume it was a good result. Probably more of their 'If you know it, you'll die by it' mumbo-jumbo. I took the liberty of naming it and found this to be a fitting name. It roughly translates to 'Flesh Welder' in a language of a country far to the east. I only knew a few words and searched in a book for this. I find it befitting."

"This...this guy...he's really unfazed by these things, let alone anything," Twilight sighed. "I'm not sure if he's serious or if he's just trying to be a...a..." Twilight thought for a moment. "A 'cool cat'," she joked.

"Don't make it worse, Twilight."

The mare closed the journal and out it on the desk. "I think we can go to sleep now. It's getting late."

Spike looked outside the windows to see only darkness. "C-can I sleep with you?"

Twilight looked over her should her smiled. "Sure. I think we both need something to help us sleep."