The large spire rose from the floor of carved faces. It was made of myriads of lanterns not unlike the ones the survivors were carrying. Despite its imposing stature, it could not pierce the entirety of the darkness but it provided warmth and a large enough space to settle. Huddled around the lantern hoard were eight scared ponies. At the sight of the arriving survivors, the bravest rose to meet them and investigate the pile of offal they carried. They could not communicate with each other, therefore confusion and suspicion arose quickly. The survivors gesticulated and made sound with their mouths, imitating the roar of the monster that had attacked them, attempting to explain their situation but in vain.

The cacophony lasted until one pony stomped her hoof and stepped forward, wordlessly commanding the others to listen. She had a tricolored mane, pink with streaks of white and light blue, and a light yellow coat. Her front legs were poorly bandaged from the terrible swat she received from the beast earlier. Her dark purple eyes frowned with determination. She worded sounds, pointing at objects, naming them.

“Light”. “Darkness”. “Monster”. “Death”. “Pony”. “Friendship”. She took the name of Nova Star. The other ponies listened; they learned, and spoke with her. It took a long time, “days” and “nights” as they were now called, for every pony to understand each others. Then, the survivors convened in a council to determine what they should do next. They knew not where they came from, or why they awoke in such a place, but quickly concluded that they would need to hunt the beasts of this world for their resources if they wanted to survive in the place of Death and Darkness.

“This Beast, this White Lion, must have been roaming the darkness in search of easy prey.” The blue Pegasus stallion wondered, his gold colored eyes looking at a long strip of white fur they had collected. His mane was orange with mustard yellow streaks. He had taken the name of Comet Flash. “There might be others like it. Its hide is strong and could make for great defense if worn as a coat of some sort. And the claws are sharp and cut deeply. They could be used as weapons.”

“Indeed,” concurred the large brown stallion. His mane was light grey and contrasted with his dark shaded eyes. “but before we face another one of its ilk, we should think about our day to day survival. We need food first, and water.”

“I think I saw a stream nearby when I was scouting earlier.” Said the cyan coated Pegasus mare. “I could go search for it. I’m fast and can fly to avoid monsters.”

“That’s a good idea, Rapid Meadows, but you shouldn’t go alone. In fact, none of us should ever wonder outside of the Sanctuary alone.” Warned Comet Flash.

“You should bring Thunder Storm with you, then.” Suggested Nova Star, pointing at a twitchy lemon maned stallion. “He too can fly. That would settle the water issues, but what about food?”

“I could take the other normal ponies and look around for sources of food.” Suggested the brown stallion, called Stone Hoof. “We are strong and resilient. We would be able to defend ourselves in case another monster attacked.”

From the group that hid near the Lantern Hoard, half of them were hornless and wingless, but what they lacked in aerial and telekinetic gifts, they made up with physical prowess. The largest after Stone Hoof was a Beige stallion with straw colored mane called Golden Sea. Always sticking close to him was a purple mare called Lavender. The smallest earth stallion, who was still bigger than the rest, was brown coated too with a green mane and called Grassy Knoll. The last of the group was a smaller blue mare who opted to be named Blueberry.

“Good, but you should move as a group just in case.” Advised Comet Flash. “Meanwhile, me and the rest shall see what we can come up with all this.” He pointed at the bounty of slowly decaying gore collected from the defeated monster.

Every pony agreed on their task and went their separate ways. As soon as the council was over, Nova Star tapped the blue stallion on the shoulder. With a nod, she asked him to follow her. She guided him near the Lantern Hoard and began unwrapping his bandages. They were bloody and flies had started to swarm the gashes previously inflicted by the lion. The pink mare levitated a particularly foul smelling organ near him. She soaked fresh bandages with the beast urine and applied them on the wound. She was unsure of the effectiveness of the liquid but thought its terrible odor would at least keep the insects at bay.

On the other side of the luminous spire, three ponies were sorting the recently acquired monster resources. Picking through the pile, one of them grabbed some bones and sinew with his blue aura, an idea forming in his brain. He was a unicorn with jet black hair and an off-white coat. He was bigger than most of his brethren, about the same size as Grassy Knoll. At the tip of his horn was a black dot, and for that he called himself Onyx Blade. He fancied himself leader of the horned ponies and was suspicious of the winged and large ones. He didn’t like the idea of mixing the different breeds of ponies, and was glancing angrily toward Nova Star and Comet Flash. During the foundation of language, he had suggested the other unicorns to strike out on their own but they were too afraid to leave the safety of the Lantern Hoard. Besides, there were only four of them and the Lion had devoured more than that before it could be stopped. He relented, cooperation with the other tribes would be beneficial, but to him, the unicorns were the only ones who should be in charge.

Next in line was a small stallion, coal colored with a maroon mane, called Last Ember. He didn’t expect too much out of this whole cooperation thing. Ponies were small, weak and ignorant. Last Ember was certain the group wouldn’t last for long, the others fight for survival was merely an exercise in futility. Still, he had nothing better to do before his inevitable, and most certainly bloody, demise. He picked some leftover bones within his magenta aura and grinded the tips with a stone to sharpen them. Mimicking the sharp stone used to kill the Lion, he tried to make them into some kind of dagger, thinking they could be thrown at the very least.

The last tribe member was a unicorn mare, snow white with ice colored mane. Winter Light was her name, and she seemed rather uninterested to cooperate with others. Nevertheless, she knew she couldn’t survive alone and that the others were less likely to share with her if she did not at least do some of the work. She grabbed some skin, tendons, cloths and a sharp stone, and secluded herself from the others.

Rapid Meadows led Thunder Storm back in the direction they came from. The nervous dark gray stallion was quickly glancing at every movement, fake or real. He was the first to reach the Lantern Hoard and not too keen on leaving its safety. The blue mare was joyously flying circle around him, retelling the grandiose tale of their first (and hopefully not last) victory.

“And then I was like, whoosh! On its back! And then I was like: Stab! Stab! And the monster was all like: Rawr! Rawr! And then Nova’s magicked her stone and it was all swoosh! In the lion’s mouth! And then… then… Hey look we’re here!”
The energetic mare pointed at the stream of water flowing out from the mouth of a large carved stone face. The river was curving around into the darkness and on its bank grew some vegetation. Rapid Meadows was about to lower to the ground near the literal mouth of the river when the twitchy hoof of Thunder Storm stopped her.

“T-t-t-trouble!” He exclaimed, pointing at a moving shadow.

Promptly, the two winged ponies hid behind a large rock, peeking at the approaching creature. It was taller than the two pegasi, but not by that much, with slender legs and large antlers on its head. The animal nervously looked around, then, once it was certain there was no predators around, lowered its head in the river and drank until satiated. It then ran back into the darkness. Sighing in relief, the two ponies walked out of their hiding spot. The small mare trotted up toward the river.

“Well, now we know the water is safe to drink.”
To punctuate her statement, she took a large gulp of the refreshing liquid. The yellow maned stallion was more prudent, gingerly drinking by small drops.

“All right! Now we should bring back some for the others at home.”

“H-h-h-how are we going to do that?” Questioned Thunder Storm. “W-w-we didn’t bring anything with us.”

“You know what, this is a very good question.”

Stone Hoof was walking in the leading position. Behind him, on each flank was Golden Sea and Grassy Knoll. Closing the rear were the two mares, Lavender and Blueberry. They would not venture too far, this time, but they could not afford to take any risks. If a monster would attack, their best bet was for the males to keep it away while the mares would flee back to the Lantern Hoard.

The group reached a point where the carved stone faces were more interspaced and the ponies walked on soil for the first time. Somehow, the sensation of dirt under their hooves felt blissful, like they had found something they missed their entire lives. They all stood still, feeling the wind brush their faces and the damp earth muddying their fetlocks. Blueberry first rose to attention, a strange but not too unpleasant shiver running down her back. She looked to her right at something she could not see but felt deep within her core.

“Over there!” She said, pointing with her snout. She walked in that direction and the others followed naturally. It took the others some times but eventually they all felt the same thing. A large bush, its branches heavy with small red fruits. Blueberry picked one and gingerly bit into it. She let out a delighted moan, closing her eyes, fully enjoying the flavor. Stone Hoof picked one and gulped it down. It was, indeed, quite delicious.

“Good find, Blueberry, we should bring some back to the Sanctuary,”

“And I think I know… how.” Added Lavender, extending that last word more than necessary. She picked some long dried grass and starting weaving them in a semi spherical shape. “Grassy… Can you help me with… this?”

“Sure thing.” Said the brown stallion.

The two of them worked in tandem to craft some baskets while Blueberry was already picking the berries to bring them back home later. Golden Sea was further away, investigating the tall grass. He called over Stone Hoof, who was monitoring the others. When the larger pony was close enough the beige stallion pointed at the ground. Stone Hoof gasped at what he saw.

“Don’t tell the others, Boss.” Whispered Golden Sea. “We don’t want to risk a panic.”

“You’re right,” the larger stallion agreed. “But don’t call me Boss. We’re all equal here.”

In front of them laid a large paw print, not unlike the ones from the beast that had previously attacked them. Wordlessly, they both took position at opposite ends of the group, standing watch for any potential danger. The three smaller ponies filled their improvised baskets full of delicious berries, unaware of the potential danger. Blueberry wanted to bring back the bush and it took some convincing to make her realize it was impossible at the moment. Before leaving, she grasped a branch with her mouth and buried it partly in the soil. For some reason, she knew it was the thing to do, as if the plant itself had told her to.

They took the way back home, Golden Sea and Stone Hoof forming the rear this time, glancing around to ensure the beast wasn’t following them. Once they were back walking on the cold and rough surface of the carved faces, they were filled with an uneasy feeling of wrongness. They pressed on nevertheless. The others needed the food more than they needed the comfort.

The earth ponies arrived back first with two full baskets of berries. It was enough for this day but they would need to find more for the next. Nova Star divided the rations while Stone Hoof took Comet Flash aside. He told him of the paw print Golden Sea had found near the tall grass.

“That’s a good starting point to find our first prey. I will thank Golden Sea for this find.” Concluded the blue Pegasus.

“We still need weapons, and to decide who will come for the hunt.”

“And at least some manner of training. In that last fight, we were quite disorganized.”

Stone Hoof eyed the bandages wrapped around his companion. He had taken most of the damage during their struggle against the lion. If anyone would get too injured during the fight, the hunters would quickly become the hunted. If at all possible, they needed to stop the lion from focusing on only one of them.

The two Pegasus came much later, and in a strange manner. Thunder Storm was walking backward, face to face with Rapid Meadows who was guiding his steps. Between them, their intertwined feathers formed a makeshift bowl half full of water. The liquid was splashing around at each of their movement, wetting the ground in their path.

“Hello-oh! We got water!”

“W-w-w-we already lost half of it! I t-t-t-told you it was a bad idea!”

“Oh shush! How else we were supposed to bring it back?”

“L-l-l-literally any other way than that! Pl-pl-plus, how are they supposed to drink it now?”

“I got you two idiots covered.” Responded the cold snapping voice of Winter Light.

The white unicorn levitated a pouch of leather between the Pegasi feathers and scooped the liquid with it. She brought the waterskin to her mouth and took a swig. She then passed it to Nova Star.

“You’re so smart, Winty!” Exclaimed the bouncy Pegasus, in awe. She rushed the white mare, pouncing in for a hug but the expected recipient of uninvited affection simply dodged to the side, leaving a cyan blur crashing into the hard ground.

“I also made this.” Said the unicorn, showing the loincloth wrapped around her barrel. “Fashionable, easy to move in, and protective. Of course, I’ll be doing one for everyone. As for the Lion’s rough skin, I got some ideas but it may take some time. I’ll be off, then.” She levitated her share of the food and trotted back toward her side of the settlement.

Life continued without any incident. Comet’s wound healed quickly and Nova Star partly attributed this to the use of monster urine. She experimented on any other possible application for the foul liquid. The three winged ponies would regularly fly to the river for water, while the earth ponies gathered fruits. At some point they even brought back a sapling so they could grow food at their home.

Last Ember finished his darts and Onyx Blade presented the group with a nasty looking tool. With a flat bone blade tied to a femur with sinew, it looked sharp and could tear flesh as well as it could fell trees. He called it an axe and was particularly proud of it.

Winter Light made clothes for the tribes and with the monster skin, made a tough, but quite rough, rawhide headband and tunic. Rapid Meadows was the first to wear the pieces of armor. The swift mare task in the upcoming showdown would be to attract the quarry’s attention so the others could take it down safely. The white unicorn had set aside the long strip of white fur, stating it was still too rough to work with. She would need more resources and better tools to work this into something. Alas, the settlement was now lacking materials and it was time for a new hunt.

Comet Flash, Rapid Meadows and Stone Hoof were selected, having the most, though little, experience fighting a lion. Nova Star stepped down, she wanted to better organize the settlement in preparation for the incoming influx of resources. Onyx Blade took the last spot with his axe, from which he refused to be separated. He also argued that all tribes should be represented during a hunt as to show unity between the three kinds of ponies. Deep down, it was more for the glory and the influence a successful showdown would bring him.

“Take care, Comet.” Said the light yellow unicorn.

“You too, Nova. Make sure everything is ready for us when we come back.”

“I’ll have new exciting tales to tell you, Twitchy!” Exclaimed a cyan ball of energy.

“Oh d-d-d-dear me!”

“… and if were not back in seven days send a team, to find us.” Stone Hoof ordered to his beige comrade.

“Don’t worry Boss, we’ll find you, alive or otherwise.”

“Please, don’t call me Boss. We’re all…”

“Equals, yeah, I know. Bring them back, Boss.”

Onyx Blade simply nodded at the other two unicorns. The coal colored stallion replied with a slight nod of his own while the white mare simply scoffed. With that, the group was off into the darkness, their path illuminated only by the light of their lanterns.

It didn’t take too long for them to find the valley of tall grass where Golden Sea had discovered the paw prints, many weeks ago. They were obviously gone with the passing of time and so, the ponies searched around for any clues of the White Lion’s whereabouts. Stone Hoof called for the others to come. Before him, a small effigy was standing. It was decorated with small metal trinkets, pony hooves and stuffed with dried grass. Their quarry’s sculpture confounded the ponies. They gazed at its appearance, attempting to glean the substance of the White Lion’s bizarre intelligence.

“Well, I guess it might somewhat mark the creature’s territory.” Advanced Onyx Blade.

“Or maybe its some kind of worship thing. The other one seemed fond of pony meat after all.” Said the brown stallion.

“Either way, it’s a confirmation that our quarry lives nearby. We’re on the right track.” Concluded Comet Flash. “Let’s move on.”

“Yeah, let’s go. It’s giving me the creeps.” Shivered the cyan mare.

The hunters ventured further away in the darkness. They found more traces of the beast presence. Prints, claw marks, some feces. The ponies were right on track. They got surprised though when a strange pony shaped form walked up to them. Fully covered in a loose mantle, the stranger was wearing cloth wrapping on its face and in its bags he carried many masks.

“I have a very special ware for you.” Said the wandering pony looking at Onyx Blade in particular. “You, come closer.”

Warily, the hunter watched the mask vendor unclasp its saddlebag and pull out a mask. It was made of wood painted forest green and carved to represent the featureless visage of a pony. He presented the mask to the off-white unicorn and instinctively he knew what to offer in exchange. He unwrapped the loincloth from his barrel. It took a lot of willpower for Onyx Blade to part with Winter Light’s craftsmanship, one of the first items produced by a unicorn from their settlement. The silent barter took place and the vendor waved goodbye at the hunters.

“Wowie! That was strange!” Exclaimed the cyan mare.

“Yeah. Hope it was worth it.” Sighed Onyx Blade while tying the mask around his face.

“It wasn’t that costly.” Consoled Stone Hoof.

“You have no idea.” Mumbled the unicorn.

The ponies moved on with their hunt, picking back the beast trail. It wasn’t long until a light breeze blew from behind them. The ponies found this refreshing; the White Lion picked their scent in the wind. The hunters camped for the night but the monster was closing in on them, the roles of predators and preys reversing themselves. In the morning, the ponies ate some rations they brought with them and continued their search, unaware of the fact that their quarry was also looking for them.

Some times later, the group came across a small prospector, his body slumped on a large rock, riddled with arrows. As they came closer, the dying pony growled a warning, weakly waving a sharp stone shard at them. When he saw that they weren’t monsters, he calmed down and offered the group a small key.

With his dying breath, he said: “This is the key to the portcullis, without it, you will never get through.”

The hunters took the key and placed it somewhere safe. None of this made any semblance of a sense but if a pony died for it, it had to be quite valuable. They concluded that the key should always be brought by the hunting parties, in case they ever come across this fabled portcullis.

“Can’t we make even one step without bumbling into some manner of strange pony?” Asked Rapid Meadows to no one in particular.

A powerful roar cut short any possible reply. The maned monster the group was hunting emerged from the tall grass behind them. It was large and muscular, bigger than the previous one the ponies had faced. The hunters quickly recognized their mistake. The first Lion was still juvenile, a young adult who had lucked into a group of weakened and confused preys. But this one was the real deal. An experienced hunter, king of the savannah, with scars proudly displaying the tales of many previous successful hunts.

There once was a beast who wanted to feel how soft its fur was. Since it could not reach its own back, it killed many other creatures and spent time rubbing its paw over them. They say that when the monster finally killed a pony, it fell in love with their soft mane and its paws grew long fingers to better caress their hair.

The ponies promptly scattered around except for Rapid Meadows who made a great show of attracting the monster’s attention. It certainly worked as the beast barrelled straight at her. “Yikes!” She exclaimed as she barely dodged the lion’s oddly shaped grasping paw. Fumbling backward, the cyan mare tripped in a mound of debris. Raising to her hooves, she grabbed a long bone that had dislodged itself from the pile and, banging it on the ground, she made a cacophony to retain the beast attention.

Leaping from behind, Onyx Blade swung his axe at the monster’s side, wounding the beast between the ribs. The Lion roared in pain. Sensing an opportunity, Comet Flash perched himself atop the large rock upon which the dead prospector was slumped. He threw a dart with deadly precision into the wound and it tore the gash further open, a piece of entrails dangling from the opening.

The beast was enraged by its preys furious and unexpected offensive. Its mouth foamed and its eyes glinted with murderous intent. It threw both front paws at Rapid Meadows, desiring to make the ponies suffer before making a meal out of them. The first blow missed its target by a wide margin but the second caught the cyan mare in the back legs, causing her to fall to the ground in pain.

Onyx Blade made his move, believing the lion distracted enough that he could finish it off with a swift slash to its jugular, but the beast saw him coming and simply bounced away, dragging the prone body of the cyan mare. With a ripping sound, her rawhide armor got torn by the carved faces snouts.

Seeing her friend in danger, Stone Hoof charged out of the tall grass. Stopping suddenly right next to the monster, he spun around using his momentum to violently buck the beast’s back leg. Its knee cap made a popping noise while the force of the impact made the lower end of the Lion jump in the air. Rapid Meadows took this opportunity to crawl away.

Recovering from the brown stallion’s kick, the White Lion spun toward him, viciously clawing him in the front leg, blood spurting from the gash. It rose another paw, intent on finishing him. Stone Hoof tried to move away but slipped in his own blood. That was it, thought the large pony, looking up at the descending clawed hand. Instead, an expertly thrown dart lodged itself in the beast’s brow, a mere inch over its furious eye. Stone Hoof looked towards the large rock, where Comet Flash was waving at him.

“That makes us even!” He said at the large stallion.

Unsurprisingly, the monster wasn’t particularly appreciative of being almost blinded. It rushed at Comet Flash, blood gushing all around from its open wounds. Spotting an opportunity, Onyx Blade lunged at the Lion. His axe penetrated deep into the beast’s elbow, jamming itself in the wound. Before he could even regain possession of his weapon, the monster turned around towards him. Its strange paw grasped the unicorn by the barrel and it ran away from the rest of the ponies. The beast wanted to kill, and at this point, any pony would do.

The jet maned unicorn body was tossed to the ground, bruising his left back leg. The beast stood atop of him, pummeling his torso with heavy blows. Onyx Blade could only roll with the hits to avoid any grievous injuries. Seeing his comrade in danger, Comet Flash threw his last dart at the beast and it struck in its jaw but it did not deter the monster from ravaging the unicorn.

“Get up, Onyx! You don’t want to die here!” Screamed the blue Pegasus.

At that, the hunter’s eye shot wide open. He couldn’t be the first to die. He was a unicorn, the superior breed of pony, the others should be ones laying their lives for him. Catching an opening between two attacks, he rolled away from the beast. Blue aura surrounded the bone axe and yanked it out of the beast’s elbow with a long spurt of blood. Using the momentum, it made a wide arc and slashed at the lion’s throat, ripping it wide open. A great gush of red liquid painted the pony’s coat crimson. The white lion fell to the ground, dead in a matter of seconds.

A cyan blur leapt towards Onyx Blade, going for a hug.

“Whew! You did it Nixie!”

“Don’t touch me!” Recoiled the unicorn. The other ponies froze at the sudden outburst. Luckily for him, his mask covered his expression of abject disgust at the idea of getting touched by an inferior being. He coughed in his hoof, regaining his composure. “I’m covered in blood. You don’t want to dirty yourself. I think there was a river nearby, I’ll go wash myself.”

“What’s wrong with him?” wondered Rapid Meadows, watching the unicorn walking away from the group.

“He almost died there. Poor guy must be traumatized. What about you, are you alright?” Said Comet Flash, leaping down from his rock. The other two ponies nodded. They were battered but mostly in piece. Stone Hoof was already bandaging his wound. The blue stallion pointed at the long, flat bone the mare was still holding. “What did you got there, Rapid?”

“Oh. I got that from a pile of refuse. I thought it was just a bone but it looks more like a blade. Aww geez! I could’ve gone stabbity-stab-stab on the monster with it.” She gave a few swing of the ivory sword to punctuate her statement.

“Can you lend it to me for a while?” Requested Comet Flash.

“Sure, I think its too long for my taste anyway.”

Grabbing the bone blade with both hooves, he struck at the corpse’s belly, where the axe and dart had previously opened a large wound, and gutted the monster. Entrails and gore spilled on the ground and from the stomach slid a familiar looking skull. The ponies were quite disturbed at finding what the lion’s previous meal consisted of.

“Maybe the previous owner of that sword.” Commented Stone Hoof.

“Whoa gross! I got some of him on my hooves.” Said Rapid Meadows, retching.

“Stop talking and help me out.” Demanded the blue stallion, feeling just as queasy as the others. “We better finish this quick before any scavengers come around.”

The ponies got to work, using sharp stone to cut the monster into transportable pieces. Stone Hoof collected some bones and the skull. Rapid Meadows yanked the tail off and collected in her empty waterskin some strong smelling fluid. Comet Flash cut long strips of fur.

Onyx Blade came back in the middle of it and, not willing to dirty himself again, used his axe to shave the beast’s mane and plucked its whiskers to keep as trophy. The others cleaned themselves in turn and the hunters started the long trek home. It took them two more uneventful days until they could see the Sanctuary in the distance.

A pony shaped cyan mass zipped through the settlement. It tackled an unaware lemon maned stallion into the ground.

“Twitchy! I’m so glad to see you again!”

“Oh, hey, R-r-rapid. Y-y-you’re back.” He noted, half relieved, half anxious. “What happened to your tunic.”

“It got torn during the fight, but I’m fine. I just hope Winty won’t be mad about it. Whoo! I got so many awesome things to tell you about, but first… Hey every one, we’re back!” Loudly announced the over-excited mare.

The settlement stirred and came at the call, leaving their task to meet with the returning hunters. The Sanctuary had greatly changed in the past few days. At each corners of the lantern hoard stood dedicated workshops, each with sets of tools and a bench specific for their intended works: tanning hides, sharpening bones or grinding organs. They also had prepared a place where they could find uses for the more exotic parts of the White Lion. The survivors called it “The Catarium”.

Nova Star was the first one to reach the returning hunters, rushing to grasp Comet Flash into a hug. Onyx Blade looked in disgust, though his mask hid his facial features. The earth ponies swarmed Stone Hoof in a joyous chorus of hugs, mane ruffling and so many questions.

“Glad you’re back, boss! How’d it went?”

“Please, don’t call me boss. And, well, let’s see…”

“I gave the finishing blow with my own axe!” Proudly proclaimed the jet maned unicorn.

“And we’re never going to hear the end of it.” Sighed the white mare, rolling her eyes.

“Whatever, if it’s not this monster who gets to kill you, it will be the next.”

Nova Star insisted on carefully examining the blue stallion for any wound, despite the later pony’s objection. The hunters laid before the other survivors the resources they had acquired after the showdown. Most of them were in awe but some, mostly the unicorns, were already thinking on how they could use it.

The pony skull unsettled all, except for Last Ember who requested it to use at his bone crafting shop. While the crowd’s excitement was at its peak, a great flash burst from over the ponies’ head. A spectacular light show erupted against the limitless darkness above. Swirling vivid trails streaked overhead. Everyone’s spirit lifted at the show, and all concluded that this was a good omen.

Author's Note

Whew! What a strange first hunt. The mask salespony part blended so well with what I had already established for Onyx Blade's character and I got the portcullis key in my first lantern year. For those unaware of the game's mechanics, it's part of a series of two random events that needs to happens in order which is much rarer than you would expect. Getting the first part of it in my first real hunt is such a huge stroke of luck. Plus, the payoff is great to boot. I won't go into spoiler territory there, you guys will just have to find out on your own, or during this playthrough if I keep getting this lucky (I won't).

That first lion was also kind of a pushover too, despite getting its enraged buff in the second round. I also had to justify why Rapid Meadows found a bone sword in the first round and never used it the whole fight. Also, Onyx delivering the finishing blow after getting encouraged by Comet Flash was gold.

And I got the Lights in the Sky event, which didn't do much at this point of the campaign, but at least it was not a negative one. Boy, it's getting so well I can't wait to have all of my hopes and dreams crushed into fine dust.

As usual, don't hesitate to like and comment. I'd like to gauge the reception I get before publishing more chapters.