Equestria Rising

     I woke up early that morning, really early. I was surprised to find my dad still

sleeping, he's usually the first one up. I figured I might as well get ready, since Pound and I won't leave until 8:45. My mornings are always the same, shower, do hair, get dressed, eat, practice for training. Yea, you have to train for training, that's how intense it is.

The rest of the morning I just stared out a window. The city of Canterlot was huge,

bigger than any city I've seen.

     My family used to live in Ponyville, long before the depression and all through

it until the invasion. We've been living off the land for so long I almost forgot what it was like to live in a real

house. Life in Ponyville was great until the decline. Everything sucks after that. Probably the worst moment in our now miserable lives was when our mom was swiped away by one of those monsters, I'd never seen my parents cry until then, it was so horrible. It was like getting kicked in the stomach and then stabbed in both eyes. At least I assume that's what it feels like. Maybe I'll find out today.

     We had the usual for breakfast, biscuits and gravy. I was by no means opposed to having it everyday, it's a hell of a lot better than wild berries and canned beans.

I could tell Pound had been up for a while last night, he almost slammed his face into his food. I couldn't blame him though, I also thought about what we might experience today, training had given us a pretty clear picture of what some of this monsters look like, but to see one for real. Of course I've seen a couple monsters from a distance in the past, but now we will have to get close up and actually fight them.

For a while the dining room was quiet. Then dad spoke. "So. How was your night Pound?" He asked looking concerned.

"Shitty" Pound mumbled. The room feel quiet again for a few moments.

"I am really proud of you kids.." Dad said "you'll be out there in the world, and you may just find your mother". He grinned at the thought of us finding Mom, he simply refused to believe she was dead. Pound and I smiled back, it was always a relief to see Carrot smile.

     "Alright hunters!" Sergeant Braveheart shouted over the roaring engines of the truck carrying us. "Once we get to the Las Pegasus ruins you will be split up into your squads and armed!". We've been to a lot of cities before, but never to any of the really big ones to the east, like Manehatten and Las Pegasus. I can't even imagine what they could look like now.

     Two hours later we were at Las Pegasus. Just as Braveheart said, we were split up into five groups. Pound and I were in group Echo.

During the ride I obtained some pictures in my head from stories the other ponies in the truck were telling me, but somehow the city look five times worse than I imagined! Almost every building had trees and vines poking out of them, all the asphalt and concrete that made up the roads and sidewalks had been almost completely replaced with grass and weeds, several buildings had fallen on top of each other and into the streets that were once below them. Hundreds of trees poked out of the ground and reached up to the sky, forming a large canopy above. In the distance we could see weird, twisted versions of boars with horns of varying sizes covering their heads.

"Woah..." Pound said in surprise. "....This place looks fucking cool!". He has a tendency to swear a lot. "This doesn't make any sense" I said. "What doesn't make sense?"

"This place... I did the math and, the city couldn't have gotten this overgrown in only twelve years..."

"I don't know what, but I think something may ha....". Pound hadn't even been paying any attention to what I've been saying, he was to busy admiring the work nature has done to Las Pegasus.

     Braveheart told us to stick to our groups and check the entire city, and kill anything that came charging.

The city was huge, maybe three times the size of Canterlot. Some buildings were still more or less untouched by nature, like many of the casinos and apartment buildings. We had to deal with at least thirteen of those boar things in the Lucky Horseshoe Casino. Which was actually a really good name for a casino.

Apparently we were looking for something a lot bigger than pigs, "Ripper" they called it. The only details we were given were "it's a giant Python" and "it's brown". A. Giant. PYTHON. Frankly, that is not something that I would like to tango with.

     We looked for this snake for about two more hours, I kept jumping at sudden noises and movements thinking it was Ripper, but every time it was just another boar.

At this point we were moving through the streets towards a restaurant that team Bravo heard strange noises in. A thin fog began to fill the area and rain began to sprinkle over us. As we got closer to the middle of the street, the rain started to fall faster and harder. Rustling started to emanate from the canopy above. Our squad leader held her hoof up and then gestured it downward, telling us to stop and get low. But before we could a voice came from far in front of us. "ECHO!". It was Braveheart. "GET OUTTA THEIR!!!" he screamed. The very moment I looked up I Screeched and ran for my life from the gargantuan snake that fell from the building above us.

     Ripper landed on the ground with a long and loud THUMP. Shots rand out as my comrades opens fire upon the snake. An ear crunching screech rang from behind me and Ripper slithered down the grass covered street in pursuit of the remaining hunters. "Pumpkin, hold still!" my brother shouted. I stopped in my tracks, almost slipping in a patch of mud, and Pound flew down and swept me off my hooves. "HEY!" I yelped, "We're going to rendezvous at Lucky Horseshoe to cut Ripper off from the camp!" he yelled over the roaring rainstorm. "When we get there, find some cover and wait for me!".

About three minutes later he dropped me off at the casino and flew back to camp to resupply. I took position behind a stack of fallen trees. The rain began to fall even faster now, flooding the streets and giving us one hell of a disadvantage.