Hunters and Tamers

by Phil the Time Wizard

Rating: teen
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance, Fluttershy, Gilda, Adventure, Zecora
Length: 6647

After being chased into the Everfree forest, Gilda makes a connection with a very unlikely pony.

An unknown creature has caused the already chaotic Everfree Forest to become even more hostile. Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle are there to help set things right, but so is Gilda after having been chased there by some guards while up to no good. Gilda still bubbles with resentment over the loss of Dash's friendship, while Fluttershy can't forget how the griffon treated her and her friends. However, after Fluttershy unwittingly saves Gilda's life, maybe all these ill feelings will being to transform into something else. That is, if they can survive the horrors of the the Everfree long enough.

Published 2012-07-04 16:34:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-12 03:26:44 UTC

Chapter 1

Hunters and Tamers

Chapter 1

Gilda the griffon never had a whole lot of luck. That's how she saw it at least. Things tended to just not exactly go her way. An observer might instead argue that it was all her fault. Luck had nothing to do with it, Gilda simply had a bad habit of always making exactly the wrong decisions. Of course Gilda would probably make that observer regret saying such a thing.

Half eagle, half lion, griffons were a race were proud, noble creatures. Strong, agile, fierce; they were natural born hunters. Gilda had all the pride of her race, but exactly none of the nobility; and while quite fast for a griffon and adequately strong and fierce, she wasn't perhaps the best example of the hunter's spirit. She had always been a rogue, an outlier, a lone wolf. She was too caught up in herself to make many friends and too aggressively proud to even think of backing down. As a result, she became a bully and a trouble maker. Being sent to live amongst ponies at a Cloudsdale flight camp had been the harshest of punishments in her parents' eyes, but for her it was one of the better things that happened to her. Flying from cloud to cloud in the rainbow-filled skies of Equestria had been something of an awakening for her.

Now, even those memories had become somewhat blurred and murky. She had a love of flight, but a disdain of menial work. She lived a life without stability: no permanent residence, no steady job, just a lot of wandering and a lot of stealing and grasping at straws. If her continued failures affected her, she surely didn't show it--even when it ended up leading her deep into the heart of the Everfree Forest.

"Ha... Good work, Gilda. Finally lost 'em," Gilda spoke to herself, smirking at her apparent success. Back in FIllydelphia, the crafty griffon had set her eyes and eventually her talons upon some rather expensive looking jewelry. Then some dweeb had to come along, caught her in the act and blew the alarm. Before she knew it--and more importantly before she had secured her prize--she had a pack of three fully armored pegasus guardsponies hot on her trail.

Taking to the skies, she entered into the race of her life. Luckily she was good with races; flying was her strong suit. Unluckily perseverance was evidently the strong suit of her perusers. They chased her through the sky well past the point where most, be they pegasus or griffon, would be reeling from sore wings and showed no signs of letting up.

Eventually the chase brought Gilda to her current location. Everfree was one of the most feared places in Equestria, and for good reason. The guards likely figured being chased into Everfree was enough of a punishment for attempted thievery. Or perhaps they were just cowards. Gilda didn't care to postulate; she was just relieved that they were gone.

That said, the circumstances weren't exactly the best. Gilda detested Everfree for a couple of reasons. For one thing, it was one forest where a griffon was just as likely to be the hunted as she was to be the hunter. Perhaps more importantly though, Everfree was just far too close to Ponyville. Ponyville happened to be number one of Gilda's list of places to never return to ever, right above Cloudsdale which was right above her home town. Ponyville, to her, was, in its essence, betrayal.

It went without saying then that the griffon was quite eager to be rid of the unsettling wood. She moved quickly through the misshaped trees and dark shadows, hurriedly with little regard to the noise she made. Only on occasion did she look behind her, afraid she might find some terrible fanged beast she'd never heard of but perhaps even more afraid that she might find a certain rainbow-maned pegasus.

The ferocious howling of some huge beast could be heard from not much deeper in the wood, causing the griffon to pause. The sun was well on its way down; dark was settling in and the forest would soon go from unsafe to actively hostile. Flying straight up through the trees' canopies seemed like the smart thing to do, but Gilda's wings were tired, and she wasn't entirely convinced the guards from earlier weren't waiting for her to do just that.

She just had to chance it. She had to hope that, for once in her life, luck was actually on her side long enough for her to make it through this. She was sure she could make it through this and keep flying forward. She just needed to--!

A howl far, far louder than the last sounded, disrupting the griffon's train of thought. Gilda froze, her eyes darting around. This was close; too close for comfort. She backed up quickly as her eyes settled upon a single spot in the bushes which seemed to be moving.

"Who's there?!" she shouted. "Show yourself already!" she added as the bushes rustled some more and something started to step forward.

"GRAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWR!" a harsh, deafening roar greeted the griffon, causing her to wince and fly up into a tree in fear for her life. A cough then sounded from below followed by a voice. "Oops. Sorry about that. Just now I was using my magic to mimic the calls of various creatures in this forest and I didn't realize the spell was still active..."

At the sound of the voice, Gilda decided to go ahead and looked downward, and found herself looking at a rather lame, dorky looking purple unicorn mare. Gilda felt as if she could die from embarrassment. She flew down from the tree and gave a huff as she faced the mare down.

"What's the big idea, pony? Trying to give me a heart attack, are you?" she shouted, leering at the pony violently.

"N-no... of course not," the pony started as she backed off, shaking her head. "I was just--!" the pony cut off suddenly. "Wait a second, I know you. You're Gilda!"

Gilda's anger gave way to a grimace as she suddenly recognized the pony in front of her. She had been there. She was one of Rainbow Dash's lame little friends. Ugh. Suddenly the griffon was disappointed it wasn't some horrible, gigantic monster in front of her instead.

"So, what if I am?" Gilda shouted, raising one of her talons and pointing it at the mare. "Doesn't have a thing to do with some lame-o pony like you!"

"That's more than fine with me," the purple unicorn shouted back with surprising force. "It's probably best for everypony if this is as close to Ponyville as a bully like you gets!"

"Don't go worrying your dweeb-pony head about that. I'm out of here, and I don't plan on coming back," the griffon scoffed. "Your lame little Ponyville, it's nothing but losers like you, Dash and that pink one. Why would I even be interested?" She gave a huff and turned around before continuing, "So you can forget this all even happened!"

With that, Gilda began to stomp away fiercely, thinking the encounter done. To her unending surprised, the pony called after her. "Wait!"

Gilda looked over her shoulder, glaring at the pony. "What could you possibly want?" she shouted.

"It's not really my concern," the pony said, rolling her eyes. "But I just thought you should know that this forest has been really dangerous lately. More so than usual. A still unknown creature has been on a rampage, which has been causing the rest of the wildlife to become on edge and considerably more vicious. That's why I was making beast calls. I'm trying to draw the offender out."

"And what's a lame little pony like you going to do about a beast fierce enough to disrupt a place like this?" Gilda said, laughing harshly.

"You shouldn't worry about that," the pony said with confidence. "I have a number of spells prepared for when I find it."

"Well good luck," Gilda said, rolling her eyes and giving another mocking laugh. "Hope the blasted thing doesn't eat you whole. Not that I would particularly care if it did."

Those cold words said, Gilda rushed off. She wasn't too worried by the pony's warning, but perhaps her steps through the forest were a little quicker and a little more tentative. Aside from the sense of freedom she had managed to maintain, her life didn't have that much going for it, but all the same she sure didn't want to die there in those woods.

That was her chief priority at first, at least. Concern for herself was where it started, but the more she mulled over the purple pony's warning the more she became angry. She was one of them; she was one of the "friends" who had caused Rainbow Dash to betray her. Just thinking about that made the griffon seethe with anger. It was possible for her to stay away from it all and convince herself she was completely over that rainbow pony, but it was all too apparent that this was just a game. Her mind just couldn't outrun or escape the fastest friend she had ever had, no matter how desperately she wanted to put it all behind her.

In the simplest sense, part of her still needed Dash's friendship. For that reason she couldn't help but resent these new "friends" of hers. Most of it was aimed at the abundantly annoying Pinkie, but the pony she had just run into was more than enough to set her off. Talking all tough and then showing concern for no good reason? That pony was the lamest. Her anger became more intense as she continued, until soon she was stomping along with little regard for her surroundings. It was all just infuriating. Though what should she really expect? Ponies as a species were weak, meek and useless. That was something Gilda should have learned a long time ago.

The griffon let out half a sigh before another loud roar sounded from just nearby. Gilda jumped, choking on the rest of her sigh. She coughed and trembled for a moment before her expression flattened and her eyes began to glare toward the area from which the roar had come. She rolled her eyes.

"Okay, pony, you can go ahead and cut it out!" she shouted. "I know it's you! You gave me that stupid little warning to get me all on edge, and now you're following me trying to give me a fright to get back at me!" She gave a harsh laugh. "I know your game. One of the oldest, lamest pranks you could pull, and it certainly ain't gonna work on this griffon!"

Huffing and stomping her talons to the ground, she stared the rustling bushes down as she waited for the pony to show herself, but nothing came. She stomped her talon fiercer and shouted. "I said, show yourself pony. You got a problem with me, why don't you say it to my face?" she shouted with all of her anger. "I'll show you who's better. I'll show you what a useless dweeb you are!"

She smirked as something started to emerge, but her beak fell open when it revealed itself to not be a pony. No, this was a bear... but not like any bear Gilda had seen before. It was eerily translucent, with fur resembling the night sky high above the trees. It was also massive; many times larger than a griffon. It greeted Gilda was a massive roar that she could feel through every inch of her body.

Gilda gave a muted screech, too afraid to even make much sound. She then turned around, and just flew as fast as she could. The immense bear chased her, it's bulking form allowing it to plow through the trees in its path with little effort. Gilda took seldom a moment to breathe as she attempted to flee the creature as it bounded toward her. As fast as she were, she had to navigate thick foliage and it didn't; it was gaining on her.

To make matters worse, Gilda had seemingly reached something of a dead end. Right ahead of her, she could see nothing but a cliff wall. Recognizing this, she started change her angle of flight and head upwards, but before she could do much, the bear stood and swung its giant claw at her, throwing her violently to the ground. She caught herself just before impact, and prevented serious injury, but now she was on the ground, completely cornered.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a small crevasse in the cliff that was just big enough for her to slip in. She jumped through it, convinced it was her last line of defense. She sunk back into the crevasse as the monstrous bear clawed at it, trying to get to her. The griffon panted heavily cowering as with each ferocious movement of claw the beast tore away more of her cover. She was just biding her time now; there was no escape. No one would know and no one would probably care, but she was going to die here today.

"There you are," a voice started suddenly, catching Gilda entirely off guard. She looked outward but could not see from whom this voice had come. "I don't know what's gotten into you now, but that's about enough of this, okay? You shouldn't bully somepony just because you're bigger than them, you know that."

The bear turned its head away from Gilda and gave a ferocious roar in the sound of the voice.

"No, you listen, mister!'" the voice started, becoming considerably more fierce and intense. Gilda could see the bear's fearsome anger visibly give way. "This is absolutely no way for you to behave! What would your mother say if she saw you acting like this!"

The bear looked down and then gave a weaker, angry growl.

"I don't care if you are all scared of the monster. That doesn't make this okay!" the voice continued with the same intensity. "Besides Twilight, Zecora and I are all working super hard to fix all of that, so you don't need to worry. Everything will be back to normal soon."

The monstrous creature made some smaller grumbles as it looked back up at the other.

"I promise, it'll all be okay," the voice said, losing its stern edge and becoming gentle again. "Now be a good Ursa-wursa and run along now. Your mother will protect you, okay?"

The creature nodded its head and then turned around. Gilda could hear and even feel it bounding off into the distance.

"You can come out now," the kind voice spoke. "He's kinda big and scary, but once you get to know him, he's really not all that different from a normal bear."

Gilda smiled, still in disbelief. She laughed and stepped ahead, grateful whoever was out there was there to save her feathers. "Whoa, how in all Equestria did you do that? I mean, that thing was crazy..." Gilda said as she pulled herself out from the crevasse, to find a pink-maned, yellow pegasus standing before her.

"Oh, it was nothing I'm just good with--!" the pony started still smiling off in the distance. Her head slowly turned toward Gilda, and when her eyes finally met hers the pony cut herself off entirely.

"Yeah?" Gilda started, tilting her head.

"Y-you....!" the pony yelped, lowering her head and beginning to step back. "I-I... er... uh..." she said before mumbling out something entirely unintelligible.

"Do, I know you... or...?" Gilda started, when suddenly it hit her. This pony had been there too! Wait, wasn't she that impossibly meek one who had bawled like a little foal when Gilda told her off? But that just didn't compute with the impressive feat the griffon had just witnessed. This couldn't be the same pony, could it?

"Well... bye..." the pony mumbled out shyly and then let out a small cry before flying off as fast as she could.

Gilda just stared ahead, feeling more than a little dumbfounded by it all. "Well... er... thanks..." she said, though the pony was far away by then and certainly couldn't hear it.

Stumbling ahead, Gilda could only shake her head in disbelief, lost as to how to feel about the whole matter, though definitely glad she had come away from it alive. She sighed and looked upward. Her left wing was in pretty good pain from contact with the bear's claw; she doubted she could fly very good with it. She was also tired and now disoriented, not entirely sure where she was. She sighed and shook her head. That strange yellow pegasus may have saved her from death's jaws, but she was not out of this horrible forest yet. Slowly she stumbled ahead, keeping close to the hope that she didn't run into whatever it was that had frightened the monster that had nearly just ended her.

Chapter 2

Hunters and Tamers

Chapter Two

To an observer, a pegasus like Fluttershy might seem something of an outlier. She was one of Ponyville's--and by extension Equestria's--six heroes, the Elements of Harmony, yet there was something separating her from her five greatest friends. Applejack was a town hero, Rarity a fashion star on the rise, Pinkie could accurately be described as being the joyful ever-beating heart of Ponyville itself, Twilight was the town's link to Princess Celestia, and as for Rainbow Dash, she was loved enough to have her own rather sizable fan club. Fluttershy alone had stayed out of the limelight for the most part, and the reason was simple: she actively avoided it.

Sure, there had been a brief--although not brief enough, if you were to ask the pegasus herself--stint as a fashion model of some note, and if a pony from town were to want a pet practically anypony would point them in her direction. Even still, Fluttershy had for the most part successfully avoided the fame and notoriety her friends had attracted, despite being no less incredible than any of them. One might stop to ask why, and there might be many answers that could appropriately be given. The simplest of them all being that the yellow pegasus was simply shy.

Though perhaps that didn't explain it far enough. Most ponies could get a little shy at times, but few would go so far as to make their home well outside Ponyville, at the edges of the Everfree Forest. Most ponies feared what lurked in the darkness of those woods far more than they feared interacting with their own kind, and for good reason. Fluttershy wasn't like most ponies though. Her timid heart favored the company of animals. From little critters to wild beasts, she simply resonated with them. She could understand them. She could communicate with. She could tame them with a smile and a kind or stern word (and in extreme cases, her famous stare). Ponies on the other hand, were much harder for Fluttershy to understand and communicate with; and the uncertainty of dealing with them pushed her even closer into the world of her animal friends.

Her friends and a number of events had helped Fluttershy start to step out of her shell, but it remained a matter of degrees. She could become ever more comfortable in her own skin, but she was never going to be Rarity. Not that that was anypony's expectation for her. No Fluttershy was mostly expected to simply be Fluttershy; of course being Fluttershy sometimes included doing some rather extraordinary things.

That's why the meek pegasus had been called into the dark depths of the Everfree Forest by Princess Celestia herself. Something was disrupting the balance of the wood, causing the creatures, from the smallest parasprite to the Ursa Minor himself to go wild with fear and anxiety. This had lead to a number of monsters leaving the forest and putting innocent ponies in danger. The princess had put Fluttershy and her faithful student Twilight Sparkle on the case.

Fluttershy had been a little scared going in. She was always a little scared when it came to things Everfree related, but she wasn't about to tell the princess no, and having Twilight there made things much easier. She didn't know what to expect, but she was eager to help her forest friends as best she could. She didn't know what to expect, but one thing she certainly hadn't expected was to see that griffon.

Apparently she had once been a close friend of Rainbow Dash, but by the time Dash and Gilda had met in Cloudsdale, Fluttershy was already spending most of her time on the surface meeting new animal friends. As a result, Fluttershy didn't really know her. Her impression of the griffon hinged entirely on two instances not very far apart. One ended with her in tears, the griffon pushing her around and yelling in her face, and the other ended with the griffon saying terrible thing to two of the pegasus' best friends.

Fluttershy could only conclude that this was an awful, mean bully who she was best off having nothing to do with. She was happy at the least to help someone in need, but just seeing that griffon had caused the timid mare to turn tail and run away. Fluttershy just didn't have any use for intimidating and unpleasant individuals. She'd rather talk to a rampaging Ursa any day.

Since the Gilda encounter, she had calmed down a bit, and had just returned to Zecora's hut to meet up with Twilight. They had both agreed not to venture off too far into the forest all on their own; currently they were mostly sticking to the area immediately around the hut for their search. While she had ventured a little further than she was supposed to in pursuing the Ursa, she had since decided it was time to regroup.

She knocked at Zecora's door softly, looking downward. The zebra appeared shortly and smiled upon seeing her. "Ah, Fluttershy, you have returned," she spoke in her usual rhythmic tone, as she stepped to the side and showed the pegasus in. "Tell me, child, what have you learned?"

Fluttershy smiled when she noticed Twilight was already inside. She nodded softly toward her and then glanced back toward Zecora. "The creature even got to the Ursa Minor it seems, I had to get him to calm down," she said in a gentle voice.

"Ursa Minor?" Twilight started, stepping toward her friends, already intrigued. "This might be more serious than even the Princess thought... I hope we can handle it on our own. If not, we may have to gather the others and use the Elements."

"The cruel one in this forest does hide," Zecora started, nodding. "We must find it swiftly for the danger to subside."

Fluttershy glanced downward. "Cruel one"? There certainly was one cruel one in these woods, and Fluttershy had just saved her from the Ursa. Fluttershy was pretty sure Gilda didn't really have anything to do with this though.

"Is something wrong, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked, stepping toward her friend. "It looks like something's got you worried."

"Anypony would worry with things so bleak," Zecora countered. "Would it not go without saying for a friend so meek?"

"I-I..." Fluttershy started, averting her eyes.

"Did something happen out there?" Twilight asked, head titled, unconvinced. After a pause, a somewhat frustrated look appeared on her face. "You ran into her, didn't you? That griffon?"

Fluttershy gave a timid nod before speaking. "You mean you met her too?"

Twilight nodded back. "I ran into her right before returning here. I have to wonder why she would show up back here after all that happened." She gave a sigh and then added. "Well, whatever it is that compelled her into these woods, with things like they are, she picked about the worst possible time for it."

"Griffons are a fierce and cunning breed," Zecora said. "But against Everfree in this state much help would one need."

"I warned her about the forest. If she's smart she'll listen and get out of here," Twilight said, nodding. "Though I guess if you ran into her after that, Fluttershy, perhaps she's not the type to listen to others..." The unicorn nodded again and sighed. "What did you say to her Fluttershy?"

"Um..." the pegasus started, clearly hesitant to speak. "Well..."

Twilight shook her head. "You ran away from her, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry, Twilight. I know I'm supposed to be trying to assert myself more, but somepony as mean and awful as that... I just didn't have anything to say... not to her..." Fluttershy said in a quiet voice.

"That's fine. She was pretty terrible to you, to Pinkie and to Dash," Twilight said, smiling at her friend. "Even if it does seem a little strange..."

"What's strange?" Fluttershy asked, tilting her head in curiosity.

"You can tame a fear inspiring creature like the Ursa Minor but a simple loud, obnoxious griffon has you running scared," Twilight said in a low voice. "I think most ponies would sooner face a common bully than a deadly beast."

"Well..." Fluttershy started, pulling her head back as her eyes darted around. She thought for a moment, but didn't really have a good answer. "I just couldn't... not with someone like that."

"She must have been really mean to you..." Twilight said, sighing.

"Umm... Not really," Fluttershy said, shaking her head. "She thanked me and then I ran away."

"Thanked you?" Twilight started, shocked. "Wait, don't tell me the Ursa was after her?!"

Fluttershy just nodded softly.

"That's crazy! You save somepony's life and then just immediately run away without a word?" Twilight spoke, still quite surprised.

"Well... I kind of didn't know it was her when I saved her..." Fluttershy admitted shyly.

"I'm sure you would have saved her even if you did," the unicorn said steadily. "Even a bully like her doesn't deserve to get eaten by an Ursa."

Fluttershy couldn't argue there. She believed in helping others in need, no matter who they were. She nodded shyly as she looked at a far corner of the hut.

"Ursa Minor, of Everfree's creatures, it is a fearsome one," Zecora started in. "But if she remains in these woods, your griffon's plight has only just begun."

"Yeah..." Twilight said, sighing. "Hopefully she's already made her way out."

"Umm..." Fluttershy started, looking down. "I don't know... I only saw her for a moment, but... I think she's injured..."

"Well that's just great," Twilight said, sighing yet again. "And I suppose we can't just leave her out there alone?" Hanging her head, she then added, "Well, I guess we have to go out there and look for the monster causing all this anyway. We'll look for Gilda while we're searching for it and just hope we find one of them before they find each other."

"Okay..." Fluttershy said in a soft voice, giving a mild nod.

"You coming along, Zecora?" Twilight asked, looking toward her zebra friend.

"In my home for now I'll stay," Zecora replied, "in case either for which we search should come this way."

"All right. That makes sense." Twilight nodded, as she moved toward the door. "Let's go then, Fluttershy."

"Okay, Twilight," the pegasus responded, following after her friend.

Thus the two young mares left the hut and ventured off into the depths of the Everfree. Fluttershy did her best to keep her wits. In a lot of ways, she had come along way. She had faced down many scary things recently, from cockatrices to fully grown dragons. The forest had once really terrified her, but that was lessened now. For the most part, its creatures weren't all that different from the type she dealt with regularly, just bigger and scarier looking. These days, the meek pegasus had enough confidence to even pacify Cerberus himself. All that said, going through the woods, listening to roars and howls in the distances, she was still a little scared.

Twilight was there, and she looked very composed. Twilight always had things together. Well, not always, but it usually took the prospect of disappointing Princess Celestia to make her completely fall apart. In all other cases, she was enviably confident in a way that might impress even Rainbow Dash. She was an incredible pony, and with her there, Fluttershy felt considerably more secure, even as the forest got darker and creepier.

The sounds of creatures slinking and slithering through the foliage nearby was distinct. It felt like everything was alive and watching them, even the trees themselves, which made Fluttershy wish for a moment that Pinkie Pie was there to lighten their spirits with a song and some good cheer. As it was, she was beginning to need something to keep her mind off it all. Talking to Twilight was the obvious solution.

"So... um... Twilight... What do you think this monster is?" Fluttershy asked in a quiet voice.

"Well, I don't really know," Twilight admitted quietly. "I've never read about anything like this. It only comes out at night, it gave no response to any of the common beast calls I made earlier and nopony has seen it but your animal friends. I honestly don't know where to start here. I just hope it's something we can handle."

"If you can't handle it, I don't think anypony can," Fluttershy said, nodding.

Twilight shook her head. "You may be the more important part here, Fluttershy. I can't do what you can when it comes to animals after all."

Fluttershy nodded just as something came rushing toward them. She stepped aside, just as she noticed it was a timberwolf. The usually fierce pack hunter was all on its own, and was running without regard for anything, looking deathly frightened. Fluttershy couldn't help but feel sorry for it.

"Mr. Timberwolf, are you o--?" she started, as it neared, but the beast didn't even begin to slow, it just zoomed past them, running as if for its life.

"That's definitely a sign were headed in the right direction," Twilight said. "Something's up ahead."

Fluttershy gulped, suddenly quite scared. "M-maybe we should head back? Maybe we should come back tomorrow and bring Rainbow Dash and the others along?" she said, turning around, ready to run and hide.

"Come on, Fluttershy. We've already come this far!" Twilight started, sternly, grabbing Fluttershy by the tail and pulling her back before she could botl. "Turning back now would be a mistake. Even if we can't do something about this thing, knowing what we're up against would be a great help for the future."

"Umm... but..." the meek pegasus began to speak, but couldn't think of anything to say. Twilight was of course right, whatever Fluttershy's overwhelming fear was telling her. She struggled to find her hooves, and her body shaking noticeably, stepped forward. "Okay Twilight," she said. "Let's continue..."

Twilight nodded and the two continued their trek. They didn't get very far before the scenery changed drastically. The wild and overgrown forests were replaced with death all around. All the plant life in the area was dead, brittle and withered. While the rest of the forest had been rife with the sounds of wild life, this area was practically silent. It was still and lifeless, and somehow that was even more frightening.

"This is terrible..." Fluttershy said in awe, looking around.

"If this is what our monster is capable of, the forest's inhabitants are right to be scared," Twilight started, a quiver of uncertainty entering her voice. "If this spread, it could destroy the entire ecosystem and displace them all..."

Flutttershy gulped and looked downward. "You still think we should continue, Twilight?" she asked, tentative.

"We have to, Fluttershy," the unicorn replied. "We need to stop this before it gets worse."

"I was afraid you'd say that," the timid mare said, sighing as she tried her best to push herself ahead despite everything inside her screaming for her to flee.

Just then, a harsh cry could be heard. It was a cry of pain, and it didn't sound like it came from a beast. No, the tone sounded much like the sounds Fluttershy had earlier heard from Gilda, as she met with the Ursa. Twilight seemed to recognize the sound as well, as her eyes widened.

"She's in danger! We have to hurry, Fluttershy," Twilight started in alarm, before breaking into a gallop. The pegasus nodded and followed after her, running as fast as she could until she suddenly had to stop herself.

She had been expecting a lot of things when it came to their mysterious monster, but not this. It was massive, taller than the tallest trees and wider than it was tall. It seemed to be composed of a viscous red slime that was quite transparent. it had a single giant yellow eye and from its central body protruded several tentacle like appendages. These tentacles flailed about, latching onto trees and causing them to wither and die almost instantly as fogs of a red gas were released. Inside the creature's main body, several beasts, including a number of timberwolves could be seen floating perfectly still. Lying prone and motionless in front of the creature was the griffon, Gilda. The creature lumbered toward her slowly, it's eye staring at her prone form while its mouth stay opened wide, dripping with goo.

"I won't let you!" Twilight started, teleporting suddenly between Gilda and the beast.

She fired a magic blast just like the kind she had used against the changelings squarely at the slimy creature and then grabbed hold of Gilda and teleported back toward Fluttershy. The pegasus watched as Twilight's magic ripped a large whole in the creature's middle, only for it to reform almost instantly. The unicorn's eyes went wide.

"My magic's ineffective... " she said as she watched.

"What should we do?" Fluttershy asked, terrified, cowering behind her friend.

"Well..." Twilight started, looking at the creature. "It does have an eye...." she said, teeth clenched. "Use your stare. If it can't be beat by force, that might be the only way!"

"I don't know, Twilight.... This is..." Fluttershy spoke, timid. "I don't think... I can... I-I..."

"If anypony can it's you, Fluttershy. Besides, I'll come help you if it doesn't work," Twilight said, offering her best reassuring nod.

"Well... all right..." Fluttershy said with a gulp. "Here goes nothing..."

That said, Fluttershy took one last extended gulp and then zipped toward the massive terrible creature on her wings. She stopped right in front of it, her eyes locking with the big yellow eye of the monster. This was it. She had to try her best to make this work.

Fluttershy took a big breath of air and then sunk into it, giving her best stern yell, her magical taming stare in full effect, "Now listen here, mister slime monster! You've been really bad killing all these trees and eating all these creatures. You better stop being such a big, mean bully right now or you'll be sorry!"

The gelatinous monster's tentacles stopped moving for a moment as the pupil of its eye followed the pegasus. It seemed to calm down, and Flutershy was confident for a moment that it had worked. Then suddenly, the main body of the creature began to jiggle about as its mouth opened up to let out a gargling laugh. Fluttershy froze up and then turned to rush away, but it was too late. A tentacle reached right at her and coiled around her waist, constricting her painfully.

"Twilight..." Fluttershy muttered, barely able to speak as the slimy tentacle got ever tighter. Then it released its red toxin cloud and Fluttershy was forced to hold what little breath she still had.

"I'm coming, Fluttershy!" Twilight started as she galloped back toward the creature. She shot a magic blast at the tentacle holding Fluttershy, but the monster shifted it away before impact. "No..." the unicorn muttered.

She made several more shots, but now the monster was reshaping its body specifically so that they passed right through her. Then, suddenly the slime monster opened its mouth and spat out a volley of red slime, covering the unicorn from head to hoof. Fluttershy could only watch as one of the most formidable unicorns in all of Equestria instantly collapsed under the effect of the no doubt toxic sludge.

"Twilight!" she called, mistakenly opening her mouth. She coughed terribly as some of the red cloud started to fill her lungs. Luckily for her, the toxin was evidently worse for plants than it was for animals as she did not wither and die instantly like the trees. That was about the extent of her luck though, as the noxious gas and the crushing weight of the tentacle combined had her feeling faint. She was losing her strength. Her eyes were starting to close.

Suddenly, something flew into her line of sight with wings spread wide and strong. With great ferocity, it slashed the slime beast's eye with one of its talons, causing the creature to temporarily freeze up and loosen its grip. The attacker, who Fluttershy could now make out to be the griffon Gilda, then flew toward her, and sliced through the tentacle holding her where it was at its thinnest. Fluttershy fell downward, unable to move. Gilda caught her before she hit the ground, but she remained barely cognizant of what was happening, her entire body feeling numb and heavy.

"Heh. Now we're even," the griffon said as she flew downward, placing Fluttershy's hooves on the ground though she was too weak to stand on them very long. If Fluttershy were stronger, she might have been more surprised to have been saved by this griffon. It was shocking, but in her current state, there was only so much shock she could muster.

Unfortunately it was right then that the creature began to move again, and from the sound of its gurgling it was clearly angry. A tentacle came flying toward the pegasus, but she remained helpless. A blast of magic stopped the tentacle before it hit her. Fluttershy glanced to the side to see that Twilight was awake and had managed to lift herself, if barely, onto her hooves in time to fire the blast.

"Gilda, take Fluttershy and get away! I'll hold this monster off and then try and get away on my own," Twilight shouted out, as loudly as she could manage, still clearly weakened.

"Grr.... Right," the griffon started, grabbing Fluttershy as best as she could by the leg and pulling her away.

She couldn't fly very fast, high or straight. She still had injuries, still she managed to pull the pony up into the air, though escape remained uncertain. After a moment, she started to pull Fluttershy toward a large rocky hill, where some kind of small cave could be seen at the base. Noticing this, Gilda darted toward it, but a massive tentacle followed hot on her trail.

At the last second, the weakened griffon evaded the beast and slipped into the cave with the pony. The powerful slimy appendage continued after them, however, and with incredible force, it slammed into the hill, causing the entrance to the cave to instantly collapse. Rocks poured in after the pegasus and griffon, causing Gilda to fall and tumble to the ground, Fluttershy after her.

Fluttershy didn't see much after that. They were safe from the monster for now, but she just didn't have any strength left. The heaviness of her body was finally taking its toll. She soon found herself unable to keep her eyes open. Shortly after that, her consciousness faded out entirely.