Monster Huntersby Blazing_StarChaptersPrologueMonster HuntersThe Longing WitnessPrologueDear Princess Celestia… I wish I could still write down those words and give a simple report on something new I learned about friendship. I wish I could just write to you, I have so many doubts in my head right now. My dear Princess, that only the thought that you one day will return to us and help your subjects, that thought gives me strength to dust off my scarf, adjust my arbalest and hunt onward. I do miss you dearly… None the less. It seemed like it happened yesterday, when Luna finally decided to manifest, everypony from Fillydelphia to Hoofington loved her, she was a new face and they wanted to give her a chance to be the main ruler of Equestria. The public pressure was too much and she took your place, I guess Ponies do grown ungrateful in time and I do understand your reason to abandon us, all of us… Popular demand won in the end. It all started like a fairy tale for our new Princess, the changes were good and Ponies felt like the Social Classes barriers were part of the past, new borders lurked on the horizon, Ponies were eager to conquer new frontiers to built new cities, and then… It came E – Day Everfree swarmed Equestria from all sides, our frontiers are now pouring with nightmarish creatures I never dreamed they even existed… When the Ponies required our Princess to stand up and defend us, she fled to Canterlot and locked it tight with ALL the Royal Guard… Leaving us and everypony else stranded, abandoned to our fate, and only then they noticed your absence. And now, that Moon… That accursed Moon! Is nothing more than a bell, that tells the Everfree that is time for Dinner! Those monsters that your presence scared away from our beloved lands are now running wild under the moonlight seeking Ponies to feast on and hiding underground when your Sun is high in the sky, The Lunar Princess has abandoned us, we are on our own... I cleanse blood daily with Celestium, A magical imbued Poison I created thanks to my Magic manipulation mixing with science about brewing Poison I learned on my books, I really don’t know if I could have survived the 1st year without my friends, never mind the 1st month… We carry on in your name, that's why we don't bury the death anymore... because under the ground, beneath us... lies Hell and high in the sky, towards the heaven... and your Sun, lies Heaven. Your Faithful Servant and Monster Hunter, Twilight Sparkle.~ As Twilight finished writing her letter, she stared at it seemingly lost in her thoughts realizing how futile this was, hate started building up as her expression stoned up into pure Anger, a knock in the door returned her attention to reality as she yelled out loud. -Come in!- The Purple Unicorn said as she closed the scroll and hided it in her desk, it was her beloved assistant Spike, now a bit more grown up dragon, he had proven his worth and loyalty several times by now, her expression softened up as she looked shyly at him, since it seemed to think she was angry. – Oh Spike, what’s going on?- She smiled at him as the bad thoughts disappeared from her head. -Oh Twilight! Sorry to interrupt you but you have a new assignment- Spike said as he delivered another scroll to Twilight Sparkle, as the Purple Unicorn used her horn magic to open it and started reading it. For a bit, Spike lost himself a bit on the beauty of Twilight, tough he would always consider her a mother, he couldn’t deny she was getting prettier every grim year that passed by, her purple coat was in perfect combination of beautiful well taken care of mane, the scarf she worn was made of Ursa Major Skin and it was quite long it could be easily mistaken for a cloak, the stars light shinning made the looks over her precious face and deep purple wisdom radiant eyes more noticeable, her smile died on her lips as she finished the letter, looking seriously at the young Dragon. Spike then spoke up again –The Sun is setting Twilight. -Prepare my gear Spike, tonight I hunt “alone”, these fiends will be Purified- Twilight said in a tone as cold as Ice, as Spike nod and bowed to her as she returned to her room, closing the door behind her, he started preparing Twilight’s Arbalest and other things, knowing her life would depend on all of them being perfect for her skirmishes with the Everfree under the moonlight. Back in the room, Twilight opened up the desk to look for the letter, only to find an old picture of all her friends with Celestia on one of her visits before she disappeared and some of her friends seemingly followed her… She looked at the silver bracelet on her hoof, the partying gift she received from Celestia, with some words encrypted into it in Old Equish, which was translated as “…and Magic makes it all complete…” Twilight laid on her bed, looking up to the Bracelet on her hoof, lost in her thoughts again, until the twilight settled in, and she knew it was time, she stood up and grabbed her trusty book binding it to her side flank with a leather strap, adjusting her Arbalest with the Celestium bolts on the hoof without the bracelet, and her trusty boots, she was now ready to hunt under the Moonlight, she looked up at Spike, and she knew the young Dragon was scared, of her fate, but she smiled to him and cutely hugged him, telling him on his ear. -Once you walk in the shadows, you learn to never fear them again Spike, I will be back with some trophies in the Morning- Twilight Sparkle said as she departed into the wild, Spike closed the door still wondering if there was something else he could do but once again nothing came to his mind, just let the Purple Unicorn do her job … alone, she would hunt the evil creatures of the Everfree to the ends of Equestria, she will, as long as she lives. As the Monster Hunter charged into the dark woods, leaving the safety of the walls and pits of New Ponyville behind, the Moon manifested itself clearly in the night sky, relishing into the carnage that was about to happen … in Twilight’s mind at least, as she waited for her prey in the Dark... Where All is laid bare… Monster HuntersMonster Hunters~ Chapter 1: The cold breeze of the night ran over her mane, it brought the smell of blood, whispers of nameless fears, and the freshness of the summer, her scarf shined over the moonlight and waved against the winds, Twilight Sparkle took a deep breath and entered the now huge Everfree Forest, Largest Forest of Septentrional Equestria. Twilight Sparkle hooves made sound as she entered the woods, the moonlight seemed to dwindle, as the trees became bigger and their numerous twigs blocked the moonlight, Twilight silently casted a spell on her eyes that gave her enhanced vision, the darkness and moonlight mixing, since she was looking for clues about his prey. She tried to remember the letter as she checked her surroundings for any leads or worse things that could be waiting since she was starting to stop completely at times and do a good searches in open glades, since the Everfree most of the time feasted on their victims under the moonlight, a breeze of cold wind made her scarf wave as she finally felt it again, the smell of blood. -Guilt Feeder, a creature that uses past memories to torment it’s victims, before… - Twilight Sparkle was remembering about this certain monster when she spotted it, a trail of soaked blood, she followed it keeping her arbalest ready, until he spotted it, some lump of clothes surrounded by fresh blood and tentacle tracks in the dirt and mud… But after a second analysis she realized that it was not a lump of clothes, she had found the Victim, insides sucked out… just a sack of skin and robes, she tried to contain herself, as she casted a spell and ignited the remains of the Poor Pony that had gone missing on the letter, she watched it burn opening the letter as she read it again. “Dear Twilight Sparkle. I am sorry to sent you a letter in such a rush after your last adventure but you, of all Ponies in Equestria must know this, Princess Luna has disappeared as well, just yesterday I summoned to Canterlot since the situation is worse than ever, Canterlot is crumbling from the inside, Princess Luna has been missing all along! Since the start of this mess... They need somepony with experience to take lead of it for now, we have no Royal guidance and strangely both Sun and Moon are still changing themselves right on time, something strange is up and I want you to find out what’s up with that, the Sun's light has been dwindling and the Moon's light as well, their light can't pierce the dark gloomy clouds that are starting to cover all of Equestria. This last year I have been leading my own Guard company that remained loyal to me the 1138 Fillydelphian Company, my “Outriders” we have earned our keep and a fair degree of fame, and now I am going to try and talk with other Guard leaders and as well as the Nobles that are now trying to take the throne for themselves, they waited all this time to make their move, since the Princesses are assumed as offically lost now, officially dead to them, I hope I will soon be able to restore Order in Canterlot and rally the Guard to push back these Everfree Monsters from out Lands! And maybe hunt them down back to the hell they once came from. Now back to you, I need you to find the rest of the Elements, I need you all 6 to rally the Guard and then you will have your revenge, because I will sent you and your team to look for our Princesses and then, strike at the heart of whatever is behind the Everfree invasion, this offense against Ponykind will not go unpunished. A Royal Stalker agent was tracking an important Spy that holds information regarding Princess Luna’s whereabouts, I am not completely sure about this, she fled into the Everfree forest before the Stalker could catch her without revealing himself, go ahead and scour the woods and see if you can find her before she gets killed, try your best to get that piece of info… Keep up the good fight Twilight Sparkle, I am sure Celestia is proud of you! ~ High Lord Judge Cloud Chaser” Twilight Sparkle started crying, tears flooding remember it all in some seconds as she fells down on her rump sobbing… E-Day, she would never forget it… some images still haunted her dreams, those 2 Ponies she saw laying on the ground holding hooves as they were dying… She didn’t even want to remember their last words, she close her jaw to avoid sobbing in a very enraged way, holding back anymore tears, her face turned into stone as her rage took over her sadness. -Never again!- She screamed in fury, slamming her hoof on the ground with magical imbued force on her pool of tears, she didn’t liked breaking down even at home alone in her room, much less in the Middle of the Everfree Forest, she was sick of feeling so weak, lost and alone deep inside. She breathed deep and loaded her Arbalest as she knew all that noise and the burning of a corpse would only spell one thing, the arrival of Everfree Monsters, she could only pray she would be lucky enough to get the one she was looking for... eventually something entered the glade, it was a Yellow Pegasus that had clearly seen brighter days, her mane was a mess, totally discolored it looked almost white and her wings seemed injured as they were folded in a funny way, Twilight Sparkle recognized something that made her halt her fire. -Fluttershy!?- She shouted lighting up her horn towards her, still aiming at the Pegasi with her Arbalest, not sure what to do. Twilight Sparkle hold her aim steadily at the Pegasus, she stared deeply into her white eyes, like empty wells made of a blank stare of nothingness, she started trying to move in the center of the glade, the Pegasus quickly reacting to each of her moves, the both ended up making circles around each other, as neither of them wanted to reveal their intentions just yet. The Purple Unicorn used these precious moments to finish reading in her mind the chapter about Guiltfeeders in the Bestiary Book. "Guilt Feeder, a creature that uses past memories to torment it’s victims, before feasting on them alive, sucking their innards from inside out while holding them in place with their tentacles, these Monsters have a very tough skin and are very agile and slippery, as they often appear mimicking another sentient being of our imagination, how quick they react to any of your movements it’s the best way to tell the difference between another illusory monster and a Guiltfeeder. Fights with these creatures are best keep being resolved quickly, the more time you give him to spy into your mind and give it a chance to find a memory that would make you crumble for the second it needs to kill you, proceed with extreme caution and hit it with all you have, at the first opening you see!" Twilight Sparkle decided to make her first move and opened fire at the Pegasus whom quickly lunged forward, spreading its wings menacingly; the Celestium Bolts glancing off the skin of the creature, clearly showing she was not a normal pony, the Purple Unicorn tumbled some steps backwards, still raining bolts from her Arbalest at the creature, as it deflected them with their wings, some getting stuck in the creatures wings, Twilight noticed how it groaned in pain as the Poison she brewed on the bolts entered it’s veins, the illusory veil broke down and the Guilt Feeder true form was revealed, a horrible Everfree monster with tentacles among it’s abnormal long limbs to strangle it’s victim, eyes void of any emotion and a skin as dark as its soul. -You know you face extinction Little Pony, give up as I did and embrace the oblivion that awaits us all! - The Guiltfeeder called out in a voice that was no other than the one of Princess Celestia herself. NEVER! – Twilight Sparkle roared at the top of her lungs firing a single Celestium bolt at the monster’s left eye, empowering it mid air with time magic, making it move at incredible speed, exploding on the monster’s face, the poison coating showering its eyes with the deadly brew, blinding it temporarily as it lowered its defense in pain. This was the Monster Hunter’s chance, she remembered the spell from the book and charged forward, her horn glowing like a star just like her scarf, goring the beast with her horn, imbued with magic, it caused a explosion that launched the beast back, black blood spilling everywhere, covering some of Twilight Sparkle’s purple coat. She felt dizzy and temporarily blinded herself a bit as her pupils were covered in the Guilt feeder’s blood and by the recoil of the explosion her Magic Spear spell, which successfully pierced the monster’s skin. as the beast limbs and tentacles tried to grab the Unicorn Pony, Twilight Sparkle managed to teleport with her Unicorn magic at the last second, her react time was flawless, the second she could feel the fiend’s grip almost around her coat, she teleported over its limbs gracefully kicking him in the face with her back hoofs, making it fall down, exposing it’s wound. The Pony and the Beast exchanged sights for a second, both trying to magically invade each other’s thoughts, as Twilight Sparkle jumped back, a cold conviction on her eyes and a small smile on her lips, as she ruthlessly filled the wound of the beast with dozen of dozens of Celestium bolts before landing a few steps back of her fallen foe. The Purple Unicorn powered up her horn, mimicking the spell of another kind of Everfree monster, a Mind Render “Mental Blade”, and pierced the head of the dying Guiltfeeder with an Ethereal Sword from her horn, the poison was already weakening it, now it was a flood of death for the beast, Twilight Sparkle easily extracted the only recent memory that had an affinity with her Pony mind, and stored it on a blank page of her trusty spell book for further analysis later. She kept her soft smile as she knew it was time to leave, she turned around and left the glade, as the Guiltfeeder exhaled it’s last breath, it ignited in flames, purified by the magical poison that it was its doom, Twilight Sparkle breathed deep into the freshness of the trees and the coldness of the night, the moonlight disappearing as she galloped trough the deep woods, she knew the stench of the burning fiend would only lure more Everfree monsters, worse than a Guiltfeeder if unlucky. Twilight eventually left the Everfree forest behind, much to her relief, the sun was rising, but it was quickly covered by dark winds carrying gloom clouds over Ponyville, she sadly walked back to her home, noticing how the sunrays couldn’t pierce the dark clouds gloom, she remembered the old days, when the sun reigned the sky with no gloom or shadow… those days were nothing more than a fading memory now. She reached Ponyville and the city gates opened for her, she smiled for the guards as they saluted her, clearly still covered in black blood and showing signs of exhaustion, she walked around, no pony in the streets just yet, in their sleep, it was the only times the Ponies were actually as happy as they were before, she sighed happily as she spotted the Tree House Library, the place she could still call Home. As she open the door of her Home, she realized Spike had waited for her for several hours and was still sleeping, smiling happily at the sight of her trusty friend, leaving her sobering worries behind, she took of her saddle and the rest of her blood stained gear, scarf, boots, arbalest, bracelet and left the spell book over the table, she gracefully went into the bathroom making not a single sound, and entered the shower. Twilight Sparkle sat over her rump, cutely hugging her hind legs with her front hooves, closing her eyes and moaning softly in delight as the warm water started washing away the filth out of her purple coat and mane, she felt her mane get wet, feeling free once again of burden, she flipped her wet mane to the side and casted a bubble spell, foam soap bubbles pouring out her horn, as she closed her eyes and laid down on the shower over her back, crossing her hind legs and her front hooves holding her shoulders, letting the water and bubbles ran down all over her body, blushing and shivering softly in the delightful feeling over her exhausted and sore body, leaving all burdens behind for this moment, before heading to bed and dream of brighter days to come. The Longing WitnessThe Longing Witness~ Chapter 2: The smell of food being cooked woke up Twilight Sparkle, she felt a drop of sweat fall down from her brow, she took a deep breath closing her eyes, trying to get away her usual nightmare from her head, she poked her head a bit with the Knife she used to sleep with, as she felt the weight of memories turning the taste in her mouth into a bitter taste. -Get… Out- Twilight Sparkle whispered as she emptied her mind after poking her head with the Knife, blessed with many incantations to scare away the Mind Renders and Abyssal Horrors, both very dangerous creatures to be assaulted while sleeping, the thundering sound of their wings or slashes smashed even the happiest dream into pure despair. Twilight breathed deep as she relaxed and laid down on her bed, looking at the roof of her bedroom as she smiled for a second, she thought of her new quest, find her friends… she felt the burden of guilt once again strike at her heart, she remembered when she and her friends did their best to preserve the town they had shared for so long, and they succeeded. But in time, slowly but surely, change followed, her friends disappeared or left Ponyville to pursuit their own goals, how she expected letters to arrive, but none ever came, she knew the situation was bad, Ponies were stranded on their places, the risk was too big for the messengers, Security got tighter and eventually towns became fortresses, were Ponies were safe, but isolated from the rest of Equestria, nightmarish horrors lurking on every horizon. Twilight Sparkle couldn’t help but smile no matter what, she shed no tears because for better or for worse, things were going to change a lot, she turned around and laid her head between her hind hooves, playfully moving her mane and back hooves a bit, she took a deep breath and started writing a letter, reporting what happened to the Spy and the subsequent skirmish, she stood up and brushed her morning hair, put her Ursa Mayor Scarf around her neck, and went down to get the page with the stolen thoughts of the Guiltfeeder to send it alongside the letter to Judge Cloud Chaser. As the Purple unicorn was coming down the stairs, carrying the letter besides her with her unicorn magic, she lifted the book that was still in the same place she left it on table earlier that day in the morning, still stained with the stench of the Everfree blood that was cleansed out of it, most likely Spike did that but didn’t put it elsewhere so Twilight could easily found it if she needed it, as well as cleaned the rest of the gear. Twilight smiled happily at the handiwork of her trusty companion, she casted a spell that purged the Everfree smell of blood out of the house, for an enjoyable sweet scent of cinnamon, recognizing that smell, Spike stepped out of the kitchen to greet his beloved Twilight Sparkle. -Good Afternoon Twilight, it’s good to see you are awake! I…- Spike was saying as Twilight Sparkle left the letter and book on the table, pounced forward and snuggled her cheek against Spike’s own check, his thoughts vanished, he smiled and snuggled with the Purple Unicorn. -Thanks so much for cleaning the fiend’s blood, you didn’t had to but you did either way, I can always count on you- Twilight Sparkle said stepping back and smiling for the little Dragon, Spike was too surprised to reply to her instantly, he hadn’t seen her this happy in years. You are welcome Twilight! I was preparing a meal, are you hungry?- Spike asked feeling like it was the good old days when she would have slept all morning because studying too much, not anything else but that. -I want you to send a letter to Canterlot… Yes, the fiery magical way, this is the address, do you think you can do it?- Twilight Sparkle asked him, the little dragon blinked for a sec, once again surprised by Twilight’s radiant happiness, she looked much prettier when smiling. I can try, but do you think somepony will read it? - Spike asked realizing Twilight just started dictating the letter so the Dragon started writing it down, she talked in a bit of a cryptic way, making him bold out words at random in the sentences she was dictating it, when done she told Spike to sent it along with a page from her book, the Dragon decided to ignore Twilight’s secrecy on this matter and obeyed her orders, sending the Letter with his magical fire as he hasn’t done so in years. -Thanks Spike! - Twilight Sparkle said happily as she gave a soft smooch on the cheek of her little assistant, which honestly shocked him a bit, with a radiant smile afterwards- I am so hungry, thanks also for starting to prepare the meal already! This afternoon I will spend it on Gardening, had to stockpile my deadly brews from today onward! - She said happily trotting to the kitchen to help with what she could. The letter appeared in Celestia’s room, where no pony was in sight, it’s darkness being broken briefly by the magical flames that vanished in an instant after carrying the letter to its destination, but before it hit the ground in was intercepted by a Guard that was hidden in the darkest corner of the abandoned room, he was wearing a very different armor from the usual Royal Guards, it was made of a darker different alloy, it’s design seemed to emulate a dragon with its pieces, clearly a relic of ancient times, the War Hammer he was carrying was made of some black material, which clashed with the blood red of his cape, nothing else could be easily seen as the room was lightless again. The Pony took the letter and smelled it, given his odd special talent, High Lord Cloud Chaser could almost taste that familiar incantation on the page that came with the letter and the Unicorn who casted the spell, he quickly left the room, to avoid any questionable eyes seeing him with such important piece of information, he has to get it all translated and then hopefully the Stalkers would get him a new lead to also sent in the same new letter to Twilight Sparkle, Celestia trusted her completely, so he had no choice but to do the same, and trust the new Paragon of Equestria… After a nice meal, Twilight Sparkle took her herb collecting saddlebags, her boots, and some auxiliary tools, just in case, she told Spike she would be off for a couple of hours, she knew she might had a long journey ahead, so she needed to stockpile as much materials she could for her deadly brew, the Celestium poison she impregnated the bolts of her Arbalest with, She made a quick list of the plant she was lacking in her storage, she knew where could find large amounts of them, the old Froggy Bottom Bog, now infected by Everfree taint, the old name was kept just because it was relatively safe during daytime. -Mandrakes… - Twilight Sparkle said to herself as she arrived the desolated swamp that was once a place one could play with frogs and other aquatic creatures that didn’t mind a little mud, now it was nothing more than a deserted swamp with Everfree taint making magical plants grow in large quantities, useful indeed, but dangerous as well. Mandrakes have always been used in magical brews for several reasons, there were a lot of dark magic myths surrounding them, but Twilight only wanted them because they were a key component to Celestium Poison, one plant had enough juice to create quite a few vials, she started to pick them up one by one with her Unicorn magic and placing them on one of the 2 saddlebags she had, her boots started to get deeper in the mud as she keep going deeper into the swamp, careful of not sinking down into a pit meanwhile collecting as much Mandrakes as she could, she wanted to fill both saddlebags completely. The purple Unicorn was having a good harvesting today, one bag was full, and the other was soon on its way of being full as well, it was clear the Everfree taint was spreading over Equestrian lands in a stronger way than ever, she could imagine Poison Jokes and other even more dangerous plants would start to grow here if this wasn’t stopped, she had a vague memory of the incident with the Poison Joke… She hoped Zecora survived the crisis just right, she never heard or saw her again since E-day, during this time thinking, Twilight was almost done filling her second saddlebag, she didn’t realize the wind direction changed, carrying her scent into the deepest part of the swamp… By the time she realized it, it was too late. Twilight Sparkle barely managed to tumble out of the way of a gigantic tail that just tried to crush her, she scrambled to recognize what kind of creature was lumbering over her longing to feast on her flesh, it was a Carrion Wurm, A dragon who had fallen from grace losing its wings, limbs and power, nothing more than a huge snake like creature now, zombified by the Everfree taint, Twilight tried to buy sometime running away but the huge beast was forcing her into going deeper into the bog instead of towards the sides, towards her only chance to escape this beast in dry uncorrupted land, she teleported to gain some distance as she tried to consider her options. Twilight knew she wasn’t prepared to face this risen foe, all she and at hoof was the knife she would use to cut down the plants that she couldn’t harvest with just her magic, she tried to remember some words of the bestiary book, but all she could think of is that Wurm scales were like Dragon scales, her magic would simply fizzle when clashing against them, there was no way she was going to slay this beast, she would be forced to ran away and abandon her harvest of the day or force the beast to retreat, every step she spent running away, was deeper she was getting into the bog, as the Carrion Wurm was catching up to her, even with her invigorate spell making her run faster, the creature only eat carrion, but it seemed quite willing to make some on its own right now. The purple Unicorn halted her movement and teleported behind the beast trying to confuse it, only to be swept aside in a very brutal way by its long tail, she fell into the mud slightly bruised and covered in mud but fine, clearly zombification did nothing to hinder the monster’s agility, Twilight Sparkle suddenly remembered the Equestrian Manual of Arms and tried to look on its some pages some tips she could use to face the beast, she took off her saddlebags and left then in the ground, with a shield spell on them, she was not going to lose this precious cargo, not even with this inconvenience on her way, the Wurm roared at her, like it was expecting her to scream in terror and let herself be devoured. Instead she remembered a couple of lesson from the Manual of Arms, she took of her boots and let her hooves feel the swamps mud in them, “When fighting on uncharted land, stand on your bare hooves” she read it on her mind, wielding the long Knife, when the Wurm assaulted her with its complete body, Twilight tumbled to the side a lot easier now, and teleported perfectly to avoid any tail swipes as the creature was trying trap her and crush her along its serpentine body, Twilight Sparkle kept evading her foe assaults using her small size, magic and being harder to see as she was covered in mud, while she analyzed her foe, looking for a weakness, she knew she couldn’t kill this beast, but if she could find a way to hurt her, it might be enough to discourage her from further trying to kill her for a meal. Then she saw it, the zombified Wurm’s scales were a bit loose in the stomach side of the beast, she know just needed on chance, after evading another head assault from the beast, she stood still and let the tail swipe come her way, only to tumble over it and teleport forward, avoiding being crushed and standing over the beast exposed loose scales, she imbued with fire magic her knife and cleaved it with all her strength on it, managed to break open one scale, exposing the Wurm’s soft inner skin as it was struck with blazing flames, the beast screamed in agony as it turned around trying get the Unicorn off before more damage was done, this launched Twilight to the side, but she managed to fall into a puddle of mud, avoiding with the use of her magic softening the impact, the Wurm jumped into the mud to extinguish the flames and vanished deep inside the ground, making a tunnel to escape. Twilight breathed deep and closed her eyes, feeling exhausted after such tough and unexpected encounter, she was lucky to only have sustained minor bruises that she could mend with her invigorate spell, and being covered in mud nothing a bath couldn't fix, she tiredly stood up and realized that nighttime was closing in, later she would have time to rest, she broke the protective ward spell of the saddlebags and put them back on, she put her muddied boots on her dirty hooves and ran all the way back to Ponyville, things were getting worse by the day, Everfree monsters were being more bold and attacking during daylight now, if she didn’t hurry up to gather the other Elements of Harmony so the cleansing of Equestrian lands could begin, soon there would be nothing left to save, for better or worse, this was going to be the beginning of the end.
PrologueDear Princess Celestia… I wish I could still write down those words and give a simple report on something new I learned about friendship. I wish I could just write to you, I have so many doubts in my head right now. My dear Princess, that only the thought that you one day will return to us and help your subjects, that thought gives me strength to dust off my scarf, adjust my arbalest and hunt onward. I do miss you dearly… None the less. It seemed like it happened yesterday, when Luna finally decided to manifest, everypony from Fillydelphia to Hoofington loved her, she was a new face and they wanted to give her a chance to be the main ruler of Equestria. The public pressure was too much and she took your place, I guess Ponies do grown ungrateful in time and I do understand your reason to abandon us, all of us… Popular demand won in the end. It all started like a fairy tale for our new Princess, the changes were good and Ponies felt like the Social Classes barriers were part of the past, new borders lurked on the horizon, Ponies were eager to conquer new frontiers to built new cities, and then… It came E – Day Everfree swarmed Equestria from all sides, our frontiers are now pouring with nightmarish creatures I never dreamed they even existed… When the Ponies required our Princess to stand up and defend us, she fled to Canterlot and locked it tight with ALL the Royal Guard… Leaving us and everypony else stranded, abandoned to our fate, and only then they noticed your absence. And now, that Moon… That accursed Moon! Is nothing more than a bell, that tells the Everfree that is time for Dinner! Those monsters that your presence scared away from our beloved lands are now running wild under the moonlight seeking Ponies to feast on and hiding underground when your Sun is high in the sky, The Lunar Princess has abandoned us, we are on our own... I cleanse blood daily with Celestium, A magical imbued Poison I created thanks to my Magic manipulation mixing with science about brewing Poison I learned on my books, I really don’t know if I could have survived the 1st year without my friends, never mind the 1st month… We carry on in your name, that's why we don't bury the death anymore... because under the ground, beneath us... lies Hell and high in the sky, towards the heaven... and your Sun, lies Heaven. Your Faithful Servant and Monster Hunter, Twilight Sparkle.~ As Twilight finished writing her letter, she stared at it seemingly lost in her thoughts realizing how futile this was, hate started building up as her expression stoned up into pure Anger, a knock in the door returned her attention to reality as she yelled out loud. -Come in!- The Purple Unicorn said as she closed the scroll and hided it in her desk, it was her beloved assistant Spike, now a bit more grown up dragon, he had proven his worth and loyalty several times by now, her expression softened up as she looked shyly at him, since it seemed to think she was angry. – Oh Spike, what’s going on?- She smiled at him as the bad thoughts disappeared from her head. -Oh Twilight! Sorry to interrupt you but you have a new assignment- Spike said as he delivered another scroll to Twilight Sparkle, as the Purple Unicorn used her horn magic to open it and started reading it. For a bit, Spike lost himself a bit on the beauty of Twilight, tough he would always consider her a mother, he couldn’t deny she was getting prettier every grim year that passed by, her purple coat was in perfect combination of beautiful well taken care of mane, the scarf she worn was made of Ursa Major Skin and it was quite long it could be easily mistaken for a cloak, the stars light shinning made the looks over her precious face and deep purple wisdom radiant eyes more noticeable, her smile died on her lips as she finished the letter, looking seriously at the young Dragon. Spike then spoke up again –The Sun is setting Twilight. -Prepare my gear Spike, tonight I hunt “alone”, these fiends will be Purified- Twilight said in a tone as cold as Ice, as Spike nod and bowed to her as she returned to her room, closing the door behind her, he started preparing Twilight’s Arbalest and other things, knowing her life would depend on all of them being perfect for her skirmishes with the Everfree under the moonlight. Back in the room, Twilight opened up the desk to look for the letter, only to find an old picture of all her friends with Celestia on one of her visits before she disappeared and some of her friends seemingly followed her… She looked at the silver bracelet on her hoof, the partying gift she received from Celestia, with some words encrypted into it in Old Equish, which was translated as “…and Magic makes it all complete…” Twilight laid on her bed, looking up to the Bracelet on her hoof, lost in her thoughts again, until the twilight settled in, and she knew it was time, she stood up and grabbed her trusty book binding it to her side flank with a leather strap, adjusting her Arbalest with the Celestium bolts on the hoof without the bracelet, and her trusty boots, she was now ready to hunt under the Moonlight, she looked up at Spike, and she knew the young Dragon was scared, of her fate, but she smiled to him and cutely hugged him, telling him on his ear. -Once you walk in the shadows, you learn to never fear them again Spike, I will be back with some trophies in the Morning- Twilight Sparkle said as she departed into the wild, Spike closed the door still wondering if there was something else he could do but once again nothing came to his mind, just let the Purple Unicorn do her job … alone, she would hunt the evil creatures of the Everfree to the ends of Equestria, she will, as long as she lives. As the Monster Hunter charged into the dark woods, leaving the safety of the walls and pits of New Ponyville behind, the Moon manifested itself clearly in the night sky, relishing into the carnage that was about to happen … in Twilight’s mind at least, as she waited for her prey in the Dark... Where All is laid bare…
Monster HuntersMonster Hunters~ Chapter 1: The cold breeze of the night ran over her mane, it brought the smell of blood, whispers of nameless fears, and the freshness of the summer, her scarf shined over the moonlight and waved against the winds, Twilight Sparkle took a deep breath and entered the now huge Everfree Forest, Largest Forest of Septentrional Equestria. Twilight Sparkle hooves made sound as she entered the woods, the moonlight seemed to dwindle, as the trees became bigger and their numerous twigs blocked the moonlight, Twilight silently casted a spell on her eyes that gave her enhanced vision, the darkness and moonlight mixing, since she was looking for clues about his prey. She tried to remember the letter as she checked her surroundings for any leads or worse things that could be waiting since she was starting to stop completely at times and do a good searches in open glades, since the Everfree most of the time feasted on their victims under the moonlight, a breeze of cold wind made her scarf wave as she finally felt it again, the smell of blood. -Guilt Feeder, a creature that uses past memories to torment it’s victims, before… - Twilight Sparkle was remembering about this certain monster when she spotted it, a trail of soaked blood, she followed it keeping her arbalest ready, until he spotted it, some lump of clothes surrounded by fresh blood and tentacle tracks in the dirt and mud… But after a second analysis she realized that it was not a lump of clothes, she had found the Victim, insides sucked out… just a sack of skin and robes, she tried to contain herself, as she casted a spell and ignited the remains of the Poor Pony that had gone missing on the letter, she watched it burn opening the letter as she read it again. “Dear Twilight Sparkle. I am sorry to sent you a letter in such a rush after your last adventure but you, of all Ponies in Equestria must know this, Princess Luna has disappeared as well, just yesterday I summoned to Canterlot since the situation is worse than ever, Canterlot is crumbling from the inside, Princess Luna has been missing all along! Since the start of this mess... They need somepony with experience to take lead of it for now, we have no Royal guidance and strangely both Sun and Moon are still changing themselves right on time, something strange is up and I want you to find out what’s up with that, the Sun's light has been dwindling and the Moon's light as well, their light can't pierce the dark gloomy clouds that are starting to cover all of Equestria. This last year I have been leading my own Guard company that remained loyal to me the 1138 Fillydelphian Company, my “Outriders” we have earned our keep and a fair degree of fame, and now I am going to try and talk with other Guard leaders and as well as the Nobles that are now trying to take the throne for themselves, they waited all this time to make their move, since the Princesses are assumed as offically lost now, officially dead to them, I hope I will soon be able to restore Order in Canterlot and rally the Guard to push back these Everfree Monsters from out Lands! And maybe hunt them down back to the hell they once came from. Now back to you, I need you to find the rest of the Elements, I need you all 6 to rally the Guard and then you will have your revenge, because I will sent you and your team to look for our Princesses and then, strike at the heart of whatever is behind the Everfree invasion, this offense against Ponykind will not go unpunished. A Royal Stalker agent was tracking an important Spy that holds information regarding Princess Luna’s whereabouts, I am not completely sure about this, she fled into the Everfree forest before the Stalker could catch her without revealing himself, go ahead and scour the woods and see if you can find her before she gets killed, try your best to get that piece of info… Keep up the good fight Twilight Sparkle, I am sure Celestia is proud of you! ~ High Lord Judge Cloud Chaser” Twilight Sparkle started crying, tears flooding remember it all in some seconds as she fells down on her rump sobbing… E-Day, she would never forget it… some images still haunted her dreams, those 2 Ponies she saw laying on the ground holding hooves as they were dying… She didn’t even want to remember their last words, she close her jaw to avoid sobbing in a very enraged way, holding back anymore tears, her face turned into stone as her rage took over her sadness. -Never again!- She screamed in fury, slamming her hoof on the ground with magical imbued force on her pool of tears, she didn’t liked breaking down even at home alone in her room, much less in the Middle of the Everfree Forest, she was sick of feeling so weak, lost and alone deep inside. She breathed deep and loaded her Arbalest as she knew all that noise and the burning of a corpse would only spell one thing, the arrival of Everfree Monsters, she could only pray she would be lucky enough to get the one she was looking for... eventually something entered the glade, it was a Yellow Pegasus that had clearly seen brighter days, her mane was a mess, totally discolored it looked almost white and her wings seemed injured as they were folded in a funny way, Twilight Sparkle recognized something that made her halt her fire. -Fluttershy!?- She shouted lighting up her horn towards her, still aiming at the Pegasi with her Arbalest, not sure what to do. Twilight Sparkle hold her aim steadily at the Pegasus, she stared deeply into her white eyes, like empty wells made of a blank stare of nothingness, she started trying to move in the center of the glade, the Pegasus quickly reacting to each of her moves, the both ended up making circles around each other, as neither of them wanted to reveal their intentions just yet. The Purple Unicorn used these precious moments to finish reading in her mind the chapter about Guiltfeeders in the Bestiary Book. "Guilt Feeder, a creature that uses past memories to torment it’s victims, before feasting on them alive, sucking their innards from inside out while holding them in place with their tentacles, these Monsters have a very tough skin and are very agile and slippery, as they often appear mimicking another sentient being of our imagination, how quick they react to any of your movements it’s the best way to tell the difference between another illusory monster and a Guiltfeeder. Fights with these creatures are best keep being resolved quickly, the more time you give him to spy into your mind and give it a chance to find a memory that would make you crumble for the second it needs to kill you, proceed with extreme caution and hit it with all you have, at the first opening you see!" Twilight Sparkle decided to make her first move and opened fire at the Pegasus whom quickly lunged forward, spreading its wings menacingly; the Celestium Bolts glancing off the skin of the creature, clearly showing she was not a normal pony, the Purple Unicorn tumbled some steps backwards, still raining bolts from her Arbalest at the creature, as it deflected them with their wings, some getting stuck in the creatures wings, Twilight noticed how it groaned in pain as the Poison she brewed on the bolts entered it’s veins, the illusory veil broke down and the Guilt Feeder true form was revealed, a horrible Everfree monster with tentacles among it’s abnormal long limbs to strangle it’s victim, eyes void of any emotion and a skin as dark as its soul. -You know you face extinction Little Pony, give up as I did and embrace the oblivion that awaits us all! - The Guiltfeeder called out in a voice that was no other than the one of Princess Celestia herself. NEVER! – Twilight Sparkle roared at the top of her lungs firing a single Celestium bolt at the monster’s left eye, empowering it mid air with time magic, making it move at incredible speed, exploding on the monster’s face, the poison coating showering its eyes with the deadly brew, blinding it temporarily as it lowered its defense in pain. This was the Monster Hunter’s chance, she remembered the spell from the book and charged forward, her horn glowing like a star just like her scarf, goring the beast with her horn, imbued with magic, it caused a explosion that launched the beast back, black blood spilling everywhere, covering some of Twilight Sparkle’s purple coat. She felt dizzy and temporarily blinded herself a bit as her pupils were covered in the Guilt feeder’s blood and by the recoil of the explosion her Magic Spear spell, which successfully pierced the monster’s skin. as the beast limbs and tentacles tried to grab the Unicorn Pony, Twilight Sparkle managed to teleport with her Unicorn magic at the last second, her react time was flawless, the second she could feel the fiend’s grip almost around her coat, she teleported over its limbs gracefully kicking him in the face with her back hoofs, making it fall down, exposing it’s wound. The Pony and the Beast exchanged sights for a second, both trying to magically invade each other’s thoughts, as Twilight Sparkle jumped back, a cold conviction on her eyes and a small smile on her lips, as she ruthlessly filled the wound of the beast with dozen of dozens of Celestium bolts before landing a few steps back of her fallen foe. The Purple Unicorn powered up her horn, mimicking the spell of another kind of Everfree monster, a Mind Render “Mental Blade”, and pierced the head of the dying Guiltfeeder with an Ethereal Sword from her horn, the poison was already weakening it, now it was a flood of death for the beast, Twilight Sparkle easily extracted the only recent memory that had an affinity with her Pony mind, and stored it on a blank page of her trusty spell book for further analysis later. She kept her soft smile as she knew it was time to leave, she turned around and left the glade, as the Guiltfeeder exhaled it’s last breath, it ignited in flames, purified by the magical poison that it was its doom, Twilight Sparkle breathed deep into the freshness of the trees and the coldness of the night, the moonlight disappearing as she galloped trough the deep woods, she knew the stench of the burning fiend would only lure more Everfree monsters, worse than a Guiltfeeder if unlucky. Twilight eventually left the Everfree forest behind, much to her relief, the sun was rising, but it was quickly covered by dark winds carrying gloom clouds over Ponyville, she sadly walked back to her home, noticing how the sunrays couldn’t pierce the dark clouds gloom, she remembered the old days, when the sun reigned the sky with no gloom or shadow… those days were nothing more than a fading memory now. She reached Ponyville and the city gates opened for her, she smiled for the guards as they saluted her, clearly still covered in black blood and showing signs of exhaustion, she walked around, no pony in the streets just yet, in their sleep, it was the only times the Ponies were actually as happy as they were before, she sighed happily as she spotted the Tree House Library, the place she could still call Home. As she open the door of her Home, she realized Spike had waited for her for several hours and was still sleeping, smiling happily at the sight of her trusty friend, leaving her sobering worries behind, she took of her saddle and the rest of her blood stained gear, scarf, boots, arbalest, bracelet and left the spell book over the table, she gracefully went into the bathroom making not a single sound, and entered the shower. Twilight Sparkle sat over her rump, cutely hugging her hind legs with her front hooves, closing her eyes and moaning softly in delight as the warm water started washing away the filth out of her purple coat and mane, she felt her mane get wet, feeling free once again of burden, she flipped her wet mane to the side and casted a bubble spell, foam soap bubbles pouring out her horn, as she closed her eyes and laid down on the shower over her back, crossing her hind legs and her front hooves holding her shoulders, letting the water and bubbles ran down all over her body, blushing and shivering softly in the delightful feeling over her exhausted and sore body, leaving all burdens behind for this moment, before heading to bed and dream of brighter days to come.
The Longing WitnessThe Longing Witness~ Chapter 2: The smell of food being cooked woke up Twilight Sparkle, she felt a drop of sweat fall down from her brow, she took a deep breath closing her eyes, trying to get away her usual nightmare from her head, she poked her head a bit with the Knife she used to sleep with, as she felt the weight of memories turning the taste in her mouth into a bitter taste. -Get… Out- Twilight Sparkle whispered as she emptied her mind after poking her head with the Knife, blessed with many incantations to scare away the Mind Renders and Abyssal Horrors, both very dangerous creatures to be assaulted while sleeping, the thundering sound of their wings or slashes smashed even the happiest dream into pure despair. Twilight breathed deep as she relaxed and laid down on her bed, looking at the roof of her bedroom as she smiled for a second, she thought of her new quest, find her friends… she felt the burden of guilt once again strike at her heart, she remembered when she and her friends did their best to preserve the town they had shared for so long, and they succeeded. But in time, slowly but surely, change followed, her friends disappeared or left Ponyville to pursuit their own goals, how she expected letters to arrive, but none ever came, she knew the situation was bad, Ponies were stranded on their places, the risk was too big for the messengers, Security got tighter and eventually towns became fortresses, were Ponies were safe, but isolated from the rest of Equestria, nightmarish horrors lurking on every horizon. Twilight Sparkle couldn’t help but smile no matter what, she shed no tears because for better or for worse, things were going to change a lot, she turned around and laid her head between her hind hooves, playfully moving her mane and back hooves a bit, she took a deep breath and started writing a letter, reporting what happened to the Spy and the subsequent skirmish, she stood up and brushed her morning hair, put her Ursa Mayor Scarf around her neck, and went down to get the page with the stolen thoughts of the Guiltfeeder to send it alongside the letter to Judge Cloud Chaser. As the Purple unicorn was coming down the stairs, carrying the letter besides her with her unicorn magic, she lifted the book that was still in the same place she left it on table earlier that day in the morning, still stained with the stench of the Everfree blood that was cleansed out of it, most likely Spike did that but didn’t put it elsewhere so Twilight could easily found it if she needed it, as well as cleaned the rest of the gear. Twilight smiled happily at the handiwork of her trusty companion, she casted a spell that purged the Everfree smell of blood out of the house, for an enjoyable sweet scent of cinnamon, recognizing that smell, Spike stepped out of the kitchen to greet his beloved Twilight Sparkle. -Good Afternoon Twilight, it’s good to see you are awake! I…- Spike was saying as Twilight Sparkle left the letter and book on the table, pounced forward and snuggled her cheek against Spike’s own check, his thoughts vanished, he smiled and snuggled with the Purple Unicorn. -Thanks so much for cleaning the fiend’s blood, you didn’t had to but you did either way, I can always count on you- Twilight Sparkle said stepping back and smiling for the little Dragon, Spike was too surprised to reply to her instantly, he hadn’t seen her this happy in years. You are welcome Twilight! I was preparing a meal, are you hungry?- Spike asked feeling like it was the good old days when she would have slept all morning because studying too much, not anything else but that. -I want you to send a letter to Canterlot… Yes, the fiery magical way, this is the address, do you think you can do it?- Twilight Sparkle asked him, the little dragon blinked for a sec, once again surprised by Twilight’s radiant happiness, she looked much prettier when smiling. I can try, but do you think somepony will read it? - Spike asked realizing Twilight just started dictating the letter so the Dragon started writing it down, she talked in a bit of a cryptic way, making him bold out words at random in the sentences she was dictating it, when done she told Spike to sent it along with a page from her book, the Dragon decided to ignore Twilight’s secrecy on this matter and obeyed her orders, sending the Letter with his magical fire as he hasn’t done so in years. -Thanks Spike! - Twilight Sparkle said happily as she gave a soft smooch on the cheek of her little assistant, which honestly shocked him a bit, with a radiant smile afterwards- I am so hungry, thanks also for starting to prepare the meal already! This afternoon I will spend it on Gardening, had to stockpile my deadly brews from today onward! - She said happily trotting to the kitchen to help with what she could. The letter appeared in Celestia’s room, where no pony was in sight, it’s darkness being broken briefly by the magical flames that vanished in an instant after carrying the letter to its destination, but before it hit the ground in was intercepted by a Guard that was hidden in the darkest corner of the abandoned room, he was wearing a very different armor from the usual Royal Guards, it was made of a darker different alloy, it’s design seemed to emulate a dragon with its pieces, clearly a relic of ancient times, the War Hammer he was carrying was made of some black material, which clashed with the blood red of his cape, nothing else could be easily seen as the room was lightless again. The Pony took the letter and smelled it, given his odd special talent, High Lord Cloud Chaser could almost taste that familiar incantation on the page that came with the letter and the Unicorn who casted the spell, he quickly left the room, to avoid any questionable eyes seeing him with such important piece of information, he has to get it all translated and then hopefully the Stalkers would get him a new lead to also sent in the same new letter to Twilight Sparkle, Celestia trusted her completely, so he had no choice but to do the same, and trust the new Paragon of Equestria… After a nice meal, Twilight Sparkle took her herb collecting saddlebags, her boots, and some auxiliary tools, just in case, she told Spike she would be off for a couple of hours, she knew she might had a long journey ahead, so she needed to stockpile as much materials she could for her deadly brew, the Celestium poison she impregnated the bolts of her Arbalest with, She made a quick list of the plant she was lacking in her storage, she knew where could find large amounts of them, the old Froggy Bottom Bog, now infected by Everfree taint, the old name was kept just because it was relatively safe during daytime. -Mandrakes… - Twilight Sparkle said to herself as she arrived the desolated swamp that was once a place one could play with frogs and other aquatic creatures that didn’t mind a little mud, now it was nothing more than a deserted swamp with Everfree taint making magical plants grow in large quantities, useful indeed, but dangerous as well. Mandrakes have always been used in magical brews for several reasons, there were a lot of dark magic myths surrounding them, but Twilight only wanted them because they were a key component to Celestium Poison, one plant had enough juice to create quite a few vials, she started to pick them up one by one with her Unicorn magic and placing them on one of the 2 saddlebags she had, her boots started to get deeper in the mud as she keep going deeper into the swamp, careful of not sinking down into a pit meanwhile collecting as much Mandrakes as she could, she wanted to fill both saddlebags completely. The purple Unicorn was having a good harvesting today, one bag was full, and the other was soon on its way of being full as well, it was clear the Everfree taint was spreading over Equestrian lands in a stronger way than ever, she could imagine Poison Jokes and other even more dangerous plants would start to grow here if this wasn’t stopped, she had a vague memory of the incident with the Poison Joke… She hoped Zecora survived the crisis just right, she never heard or saw her again since E-day, during this time thinking, Twilight was almost done filling her second saddlebag, she didn’t realize the wind direction changed, carrying her scent into the deepest part of the swamp… By the time she realized it, it was too late. Twilight Sparkle barely managed to tumble out of the way of a gigantic tail that just tried to crush her, she scrambled to recognize what kind of creature was lumbering over her longing to feast on her flesh, it was a Carrion Wurm, A dragon who had fallen from grace losing its wings, limbs and power, nothing more than a huge snake like creature now, zombified by the Everfree taint, Twilight tried to buy sometime running away but the huge beast was forcing her into going deeper into the bog instead of towards the sides, towards her only chance to escape this beast in dry uncorrupted land, she teleported to gain some distance as she tried to consider her options. Twilight knew she wasn’t prepared to face this risen foe, all she and at hoof was the knife she would use to cut down the plants that she couldn’t harvest with just her magic, she tried to remember some words of the bestiary book, but all she could think of is that Wurm scales were like Dragon scales, her magic would simply fizzle when clashing against them, there was no way she was going to slay this beast, she would be forced to ran away and abandon her harvest of the day or force the beast to retreat, every step she spent running away, was deeper she was getting into the bog, as the Carrion Wurm was catching up to her, even with her invigorate spell making her run faster, the creature only eat carrion, but it seemed quite willing to make some on its own right now. The purple Unicorn halted her movement and teleported behind the beast trying to confuse it, only to be swept aside in a very brutal way by its long tail, she fell into the mud slightly bruised and covered in mud but fine, clearly zombification did nothing to hinder the monster’s agility, Twilight Sparkle suddenly remembered the Equestrian Manual of Arms and tried to look on its some pages some tips she could use to face the beast, she took off her saddlebags and left then in the ground, with a shield spell on them, she was not going to lose this precious cargo, not even with this inconvenience on her way, the Wurm roared at her, like it was expecting her to scream in terror and let herself be devoured. Instead she remembered a couple of lesson from the Manual of Arms, she took of her boots and let her hooves feel the swamps mud in them, “When fighting on uncharted land, stand on your bare hooves” she read it on her mind, wielding the long Knife, when the Wurm assaulted her with its complete body, Twilight tumbled to the side a lot easier now, and teleported perfectly to avoid any tail swipes as the creature was trying trap her and crush her along its serpentine body, Twilight Sparkle kept evading her foe assaults using her small size, magic and being harder to see as she was covered in mud, while she analyzed her foe, looking for a weakness, she knew she couldn’t kill this beast, but if she could find a way to hurt her, it might be enough to discourage her from further trying to kill her for a meal. Then she saw it, the zombified Wurm’s scales were a bit loose in the stomach side of the beast, she know just needed on chance, after evading another head assault from the beast, she stood still and let the tail swipe come her way, only to tumble over it and teleport forward, avoiding being crushed and standing over the beast exposed loose scales, she imbued with fire magic her knife and cleaved it with all her strength on it, managed to break open one scale, exposing the Wurm’s soft inner skin as it was struck with blazing flames, the beast screamed in agony as it turned around trying get the Unicorn off before more damage was done, this launched Twilight to the side, but she managed to fall into a puddle of mud, avoiding with the use of her magic softening the impact, the Wurm jumped into the mud to extinguish the flames and vanished deep inside the ground, making a tunnel to escape. Twilight breathed deep and closed her eyes, feeling exhausted after such tough and unexpected encounter, she was lucky to only have sustained minor bruises that she could mend with her invigorate spell, and being covered in mud nothing a bath couldn't fix, she tiredly stood up and realized that nighttime was closing in, later she would have time to rest, she broke the protective ward spell of the saddlebags and put them back on, she put her muddied boots on her dirty hooves and ran all the way back to Ponyville, things were getting worse by the day, Everfree monsters were being more bold and attacking during daylight now, if she didn’t hurry up to gather the other Elements of Harmony so the cleansing of Equestrian lands could begin, soon there would be nothing left to save, for better or worse, this was going to be the beginning of the end.
