Monster Hunter Stories: Shadows of Equestria
[Prologue]
Load Full StoryForewarning: There will be Monster Hunter X spoilers in this story in the form of different kinds of monsters. But honestly, if you don't know what's in the game by this point, I don't know what to say.
Also, if you don't like the prologue, I URGE you to at least check out the first real chapter before touching that Like/Dislike bar. This is just a bit of the story, and I don't want you judging something only on its prologue, yeah?
Equestria.

Supposedly named after a god of thunder and lightning, for millennia it was known as a land of peace and prosperity. It is home to hundreds upon thousands of ponies all living quietly under the comfort and safety of the twin princesses. Great towns and cities rose from the earth and supplied everyone with roofs over their heads, while the waters gave the people food and, thus, the energy to live.
But there were always those who wished to disrupt the peace.
Monsters.

Creatures believed to be born from darkness, they plague the land in hopes of destroying pony kind. They ruin villages, kill innocent lives, and annihilate any who stand in their way. They range from mere pack leaders to bringers of the apocalypse. Some are even so powerful as to cause natural disasters. From the moment these monsters first appeared, things looked bleak for the world.
That is until the M.H.A.E., or May, was founded. Commonly known as...
Monster Hunters.

The Monster Hunter Association of Equestria was created for the sole purpose of going out and hunting these foul beasts. Hundreds of Monster Hunters are spread through the land, each equipped with the latest in hunting technology and their own incredible willpower to take on any threat to the world. Be it minor inconveniences or instances where the fate of the world is at hand, they will always be ready for anything.
"And that's why we're here today," spoke a young Unicorn mare with a lavender coat underneath her red and black striped cloak with velvet gloves, a bronze breastplate and puffs of white fur coming out of her hip armor and her back hoof armor. She also had a bit of purple mane coming down from her hood and over her forehead, as well as a purple tail sticking out the back of her hind cloak piece. She was currently sitting down with a few others, telling some children something important.
"We're here about to protect your little village from that little monster problem of yours!" a cyan Pegasus mare with a rainbow mane and tail with black armor covering her wings, head, torso and legs grinned ecstatically. Her helmet had two horns sticking out on the sides that spiraled upwards. She had claimed that they were there simply to look 'awesome'.
"Ever since that beast moved in, no doubt you all have had terrible nightmares," a white Unicorn mare slightly older than the others with a curly purple mane and tail and what appeared to be very fancy tribal leather armor over her entire body. The back of her mane was braided into a bun with only a bit of hair curling over her left ear and face, and a beige veil over he muzzle.
"I dunno about you guys, but this whole 'Twilight does a monologue' thing sounds awfully familiar..." a pink mare with a silly and puffy darker pink mane and tail said with a hint of suspicion in her voice. She wore a purple coat covering her front body and legs and a tan pair of pants on her hind body and legs. She also wore a silly-looking pointed hat that had a small drooping tip. It seemed as if she could barely contain herself during the meeting.
"Um... Sure, Pinkie," the lavender one, now known as Twilight, answered with a confused tone.
"Miss Twilight?" asked an orange filly with small wings and a purple mane hanging over her face a bit "Is it really true? About the monster that came to our village?"
"O' course it is, Scootaloo!" another filly with a cream yellow coat and bright red mane and tail, both braided into a ponytail, scolded a bit "Haven't ya heard thems sounds in the night? The howlin' and... and..."
"Girls, girls, relax," Twilight did her best to calm them down "Yes, it's true; a monster has appeared near this village, but rest assured that we'll be able to drive it off. Or better yet, defeat it."
"SO!" the cyan mare clapped her hooves together "When can we go?"
"Still yourself, Rainbow Dash," the white mare calmed her friend down "It's nighttime right now, and I think we all deserve a good night's rest, wouldn't you say?"
"...fine," Rainbow Dash groaned "But I'm leading the group in the morning, Rarity."
"Very well," Rarity rolled her eyes a bit "Not as if it matters much so long as we defeat the monster blighting this village. After all, this is my home as well as Applejack's. Not to mention everypony else here's..."
"Okay, everypony, it's time to head to bed now," Twilight politely told all the fillies and colts in front of her, much to their displeasure "I know, I know, but everypony's gotta do it sooner or later. Besides, we need to head to bed as well. You all wouldn't want tired hunters protecting your village, now would you?"
All the kids shook their heads.
"Super glad we could meet you all though!" Pinkie spoke bubbly.
"Um... excuse me?" spoke a rather quiet voice from within the crowd of children, eventually revealing themselves to be a white coated Unicorn filly with a spirally pink and purple mane and tail "Can I just ask one more question?"
"Oh, Sweetie Belle, of course you can!" Rarity smiled kindly.
"Thanks, sis," Sweetie nodded "Since you four are here, where are your other two teammates? Where's Fluttershy and Apple Bloom's sister Applejack?"
"They're out on a secret mission," Twilight winked "They'll be back by morning, I would assume."
"Ah, okay..." Sweetie Belle retreated back into the crowd.
"Well, that's all, fillies and gentlecolts," Twilight wrapped everything up "Everypony have a safe trip back home!"
The gathering of colts and fillies soon dispersed out of the gathering hall. Along with them were three fillies in particular; all of which everyone in the village knew about. There was Apple Bloom, technical leader of the three and the most outgoing of all of them; Sweetie Belle, the quiet and reserved one who wasn't shy, but simply believed she had nothing really interesting to say; and Scootaloo, tomboy of the pack and the one to get in the most arguments with her friends.
Waiting outside for them were their two other friends, both fillies. One looked as if she didn't really want to be there, yet went anyway as to keep her friends happy. She had a pink coat and a violet and white swirled mane and tail. She also had a small crown on her head that seemed to be attached to her mane like a hairclip.
The other looked more enthusiastic of being there. She had a silver coat with a light grey mane and tail, the former of which was tied into a ponytail held together by a pink hairband. She wore a light blue pair of glasses positioned on her muzzle and a pearly necklace of beads around her lower neck.
"Hey Diamond Tiara! Hey Silver Spoon!" Scootaloo greeted in the order of which she saw them "I know you weren't really interested in the whole story thing, but thanks for waiting for us anyway."
"Anything for a friend," Diamond smiled "Or in this case, three."
"I wanted to go in, but Diamond needed some company," Silver explained "You know how she gets when she isn't around somepony she knows."
"I-I didn't really need you around, it was okay..." Diamond stuck her nose in the air a bit, all the while blushing "I would have been okay on my own. You could have gone and seen the dumb presentation."
"Diamond..." Silver sighed, shaking her head a bit.
"Well, Twilight was right," Apple Bloom yawned a bit "Ah am gettin' purdy tired. 'Sides, we need ta rest up fer tomorrow. Ah have somethin' planned that'll blow y'all away!"
"As long as we're not trying to wrestle a Jaggi again," Scootaloo brought up "Remember when we tried to do that a year ago? Man, our parents were pissed."
"Scootaloo, language!" Sweetie Belle spoke up.
"Oh, right... sorry," Scootaloo sheepishly grinned.
"See y'all in the mornin'!" Apple Bloom waved as she headed back to her house.
"Later!" Scootaloo nodded and walked away. Soon enough, the others had said their goodnights and farewells to their friends as well and proceeded to turn in for the night, blissfully unaware of the day they would have tomorrow. They would go on the mightiest quest of all! At least in Apple Bloom's eyes.
Meanwhile, a few miles away from the village in a dense forest that was darker than the night itself, two mares were scouting the area around for any signs of the monster they were about to take on with their team.
The first had an orange coat and a blonde mane and tail braided much like certain other redheaded filly in the village. She wore iron armor all over her body with the exception of her head and face. Her breastplate armor was a more tan color than the rest of her set, and on her waist was a short skirt once again made of iron. Despite the heavy metal attempting to weigh her down, she wore it as if it was a light feather on her back.
The second had a cream yellow coat with a long pink mane and tail, as well as wings neatly folded on her side. She wore a dress with a cape that had butterfly wing patterns adorning it, as well as a piece cloth on her ear of that had a strand of metal stick up into the air as if mimicking an antennae. Her actual dress was more native than anything else.
Both held their weapons, the powerful switch axe and supportive light bowgun respectively, in preparation for anything they may come across. The second mare was shivering in her armor, while the first was simply rolling her eyes, clearly having done this before.
"Fluttershy, ifin ya keep shakin' like that, yer gonna attract the monster even more," the first mare half seriously and half jokingly alerted her partner.
"I-I-I can't h-help it, A-Applejack..." Fluttershy shivered some more "I-I d-d-don't like these m-m-missions..."
"Relax, Shy," Applejack chuckled a bit "We've been on these kinda missions before. Ya know we jus' scout out some monsters and no danger wi-"
A loud stomp was heard in the distance.
"W-What was that?!" Fluttershy had begun to panic.
"Probably jus' a Rathalos landin'," Applejack shrugged "Could be our monster though, so let's go an-"
Another loud stomp was heard by the two, this time slightly closer.
"A-Applejack, I-I-I don't kn-know if that w-w-was a R-R-Rathalos..." Fluttershy was now grinding her teeth together and praying for the stomping to go away "I-It sounded t-to b-b-big..."
"Or jus' too loud," Applejack brought up "Could be a monster stompin' through the woods. Ah know only a few monsters that do that..." she licked her hoof and stuck it up into the air "...weather's nice and warm, so ah wouldn't be surprised if... Yeah, it's gotta be that time o' year again, then."
"O-Oh dear, y-you don't mean-" Fluttershy could barely move she was so scared.
Before Fluttershy could finish her sentence, a loud canine howl echoed through the night. Electricity crackled through the air and a large monster jumped down in front of the two, causing Fluttershy to scream a bit and hide behind her friend. Applejack had already prepared herself for this particular monster, knowing exactly what it was.
What she wasn't expecting however was the way it looked.
A Zinogre was usually a large, blue, wolf-like wyvern with fierce claws, white-ish blue fur all down its back and front legs, and a thick tail waving around its backside. Spikes would be protruding from the shoulders and back, and two horns would don its head. A notable feature it had was its unmistakable ability to control a type of bug that produced electricity. It used this power to catch prey and fake other monsters out.
This Zinogre looked radically different. Instead of blue scales and white fur, it's entire body was covered in gold scales and brighter gold fur sticking up from the insane amount of electricity stored in its body. Its horns were much larger, the right one being exceedingly larger than the other. It had been a long time since a Zinogre of all monsters had scared Applejack.
"What in tarnation?!" she shouted her question over the intense crinkling of the electrical currents passing through around the monster "Ah ain't never seen a Zinogre like that before! How in the-"
Before she could finish her sentence, the Zinogre swiped at her with its glowing golden claws and knocked her and Fluttershy back. Way back. They had crashed into a tree and fallen to the ground, feeling extremely weak from the blow. They both struggled to look back up only to see the monster escape the scene.
"Hey! Y'all git back here!" Applejack had now stood back up and yelled at the Zinogre. But it was too late.
(Music Stop)
It was gone.
"Damn..." she muttered to herself "What the hell was that? Why did that Zinogre... Gah! No time fer questions! We need ta git back ta the village and warn everypony!"
"Applejack..." Fluttershy had now gotten back up and joined her friend "Do you, um... remember where the village was?"
"...no," Applejack sighed "...damn. Twilight, Rarity, Dash, Pinkie... Y'all better kill that thin' or so help me..."

A Team Brachydios Production...

AppleBloom
Sweetie Belle
Scootaloo
In...

Shadows of Equestria
Starring:
Diamond Tiara
Silver Spoon
Twilight Sparkle
Rainbow Dash
Rarity
Pinkie Pie
Applejack
Fluttershy
And...

The Flagship Monster
Everything:
SuperKamek
Team Brachydios is a group of stupid idiots, especially that guy Kamek, who thought making a group about themselves was a good idea. Therefore, they are in no way affiliated with Capcom, Hasbro, or any other of those greedy companies, like Konami. Speaking of, did you hear Konami denied Kojima from accepting an award he deserved? Man, those guys are pricks. Oh, sorry, getting off topic. Monster Hunter is owned by Capcom and My Little Pony is owned by Hasbro. Please support the official releases.
Author's Note
Seriously though, #FuckKonami
Welcome one and all to another great story! This is one that many people have been asking for... kinda, and now I've delivered! This story will follow the adventures of the CMC and their friends. What those adventures are, however, I won't be able to say. Will they be sad, will they be happy? Only one way to find out! Stay tuned, everyone!
A big thanks to "Dark Thunder 144". Without him, this story would not be possible. It would be awesome if you guys could go and follow him. Seriously, he needs all the help with his stories as he can get! He's trying everyone, so just be patient with him.
Be sure to Upvote/Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, dream on everyone!
