Equestria Girls: Hunting Season

Chapter Five Two Steps Back

Twilight

The sun shown just barely over the horizon draping a soft light across my face rousing me awake. Yesterday had been my first kill on a real two star monster. It was both invigorating and terrifying at the same time. Here I was a million miles from home slaying beasts to save a world and to return to where I came from, but killing had always been something I shied away from. My father and brother had gone hunting in the past and I had seen the kills; I wasn't overly joyed with seeing the dead dear or wild boar but I had grown use to it. I guess I would just have to get use to this to.

As I got up I noticed Sunset still asleep. She looked.... tranquil. I couldn't help but think my mind was going somewhere else with that so I shook my head and walked towards the center of the camp where a bunch of logs had been placed for seats. Sitting there was the three hunters we had started traveling with. There was Cheka the only female hunter from Moga Village. She sat closest to me with her back turned, she was very muscular for having such a small frame. I could see the dense muscle around her arms from years of wielding her bow gun. Her hair was a dark brown and her skin was tanned. When she heard me approach she turned and I could see her deep brown eyes. I gave her a polite wave and took my seat on the log next to her.

Across from me and to my left were the Totoa Twins. They were hunters from a village in the north called Shoti. They both used long swords and tended to be very playful towards one another and any poor soul that got friendly enough. Both of them had reddish hair cut short and pale skin. Their eyes met mine as I reached for a plate for breakfast it almost gave me a heart attack. They had very light pale blue eyes that seemed to make you freeze whenever they even glanced in your direction. The one to my left 'Tikia' spoke first.

"How did..." He took a bite

"...you sleep?" His brother Tokia finished.

I spoke while filling my plate. "Pretty good, the sleeping bags are comfy. What did you say they were made of again?" I took a bite of the Jaggi stew. Despite still questioning myself over how right I was to kill it the thing tasted... well, "Great" heh.

"A creature called a Blango, it is an arctic ape monster." Tikia replied.

"Our region has many." His brother said.

Rolling my eyes at there ongoing finishing each others sentences joke I went back to my thoughts. Here we were in a new land, a very dangerous one at that, and no matter how much I tried to not believe it I felt accepted for the the first time in my life. Here I fit in, the schematics the planning and all the scientific documentation probably helped. If I could meet with my other self on making a portal to here: after we hopefully get back to our worlds of course, maybe I could even see myself coming and going regularly. I got a little giddy at that thought. A whole world to explore! New frontiers around every corner! It may be dangerous but here I was free, free from all the criticism on how I acted and what I said. Honor was what mattered here above all else. With that on my mind I finished my plate and got up. Putting my plate in the fire dish rack to burn off the germs, I went back to my gear and grabbed the duel blades that had become my new partners in combat and survival. The chief had told me that each blade had its own soul just like me and to bring all three souls together in harmony would be the first step to mastering them.

Deciding to start my practice for the day I equipped my armor pieces. They were weighted so that my body would grow stronger. Supposedly eating the meat from the monsters helped to build denser muscle and that would allow us to fight just like the other hunters. With that knowledge on my side I went to the field near our camp and took a stance. I steadied my breath until I could no longer feel any tension in my limbs. Feeling for my blades I tried to understand them, which direction they would like to go, how they would like to dance with one another and me in turn. Smiling I started, my right arm raising with my left going back I did a side flip twirling them around me in a wide arc, as my foot made contact with the ground again I continued my spin on my knee and foot switching between them to propel myself forward in a quick low dash. I finished with a front flip rotating the blades in my hand to face downward mid way bringing them down quickly. Right before they reached the ground I gave the one in my right hand a spin facing it up again. Putting my blades pommel together to form a sort of staff stance I twirled them around me in a figure eight. I had quickly lost myself to an adrenaline rush so when I saw the tree in front of me I didn't register my own actions. With a Hard stomp I propelled myself forward throwing the sword in my right hand and spinning to release the one in my left, both made solid impacts into the tree digging halfway in, right before I finished my dash I landed a solid punch in between them breaking the tree in half. As I continued past the stump I had created, my hands went for my swords grabbing them neatly before I came to a halt.

"Woot woooooot!" I heard Sunset call from a safe distance.

Calming myself I made my way over to her. Her face seemed to be a mixture of impressed and giddy. I smiled and gave her a fist bump.

"Girl that was amazing! If Rainbow or AJ saw that they'd piss themselves!"

"If I saw me do those things before we came here I might as well." I chuckled at how ridiculous this situation really was.

"Well I ate already want to spare?" Sunset asked looking confident.

"Sure I'd love t......" I was cut off by the sound of a loud crumbling sound.

Looking over to the north west mountains a large crevasse was forming in the ground coming right towards us. Looking closer I could see a large monster flying above it forming the crack with its wings.

"RUN! ITS A KUSHALA DAORA!!!!!" I heard Cheka yell.

"YOU TWO..." Tikia started

"...RUN TO THE RUINS!" Tokia finished.

I had already started to gather my supplies with Sunset. Calling out to them in worry. "What about you all!?"

Cheka smiled as she armed her bowgun. "We'll meet you at the next village you have the map! The ruins are a short cut just don't go to deep!"

Sunset was already heading for the mountain ruins far in the distance. I looked back at our friends hoping that this wasn't the last time I would see them. Turning on my heals I bolted after Sunset catching up easily to her and her heavy great sword she was still adjusting to. We would probably not reach the ruins for another two days so when we were far out of range from the fight we slowed our pace to conserve energy.

Two Days Later Outside of The King Ruins

We had camped out for a few hours every twenty or so miles just like we did with our caravan so we made it in pretty good time. Sunset had been quiet and I knew she was worrying about or hunter friends. So when we had reach the cave I pulled her aside to try and cheer up.

"Hey Sunny?" I said to get her attention. She looked up at me quizzically.

"Yeah Twi?"

"I know your worried but they'll be fine they are professionals after all and if their weapons don't work I'm sure the Twins could pun the monster to death!" That got a laugh out of the former unicorn.

"I know but worrying is kind of my thing and it use to be yours until you became Twilight Monster Slayer" She stuck her tongue out at me and winked playfully.

"Hey I had no idea carrying giant oversize weapons around would be a confidence booster either!" We laughed together as we made our way inside the ruins.

Sunset had lit a torch using a flint and steal from her hunters pack. The light glittered off the walls reveling them to be more metal then stone. The ruins looked more modern then the current villages we've seen. The writing on the walls looked similar to runes from a spell book then words. We we're about to reach a dead end when the floor suddenly became a ramp, we slid trying to grab onto anything but soon it let us out above a giant pool of water. We fell so quickly that we didn't even have time to scream splashing into the crystal clear underground pool.

Pulling our self's from the water we made our way to the center of the not so dark caves floor. The walls were covered in some sort of gem that glowed a dark blue. revealing the middle of what seemed to be some sort of control center. Before we got a chance to look around more a portal suddenly sprung to life right above us.

We both jumped back drawing our weapons. The room went silent as we waited to see what might come through or be shown. Several seconds passed before the portal flashed and a body dropped from it. As the body was about to hit the floor it pivoted landing on its hands and feet like a giant humanoid cat. Meanwhile up above the portal closed.

I looked closely to see who this new person was as they stood dusting off their pants slowly coming to their full height, they were huge! It was definitely a human but with how little light was here it was hard to make out the face. I could see a red cloak and as they came closer they wore silver armor and what appeared to be a crown. When they came into full view I could make out their features. They were male and had lightly tanned skin with hard looking muscle underneath. He had shaggy black hair and red eyes that seemed to shine. Even with how far he was from us I could tell he could easily make Applejacks brother look average in size. What probably stood out the most was the way he carried himself. Like strength was a birthright to him. He looked down and address us.

"Little one's I am known as King Sombra! and I would like to know where I am and what this form I have taken is?"

While I looked confused at this "King" I heard a thud and laughing, looking over I saw Sunset on the floor in hysterics.

Glancing back at Sombra and seeing his questioning facial expression and thinking on how I could explain this I just shrugged. Could this adventure become anymore weird? I guess i'll just have to wait and see.