BOOM!

The sound of Rainbow Dash going past the speed of sound pierced the outskirts of Ponyville, followed by a trail of rainbow streaking across the sky. "Aww yeah!" She screeched through gritted teeth as the daredevil painted the sky with her patented Rainboom. Today was the day she beat her record of consecutive Rainbooms; after experiencing what it was like to do a Double Rainboom, she couldn't help but push herself to her limits without breaking the laws of space/time. Hence her practice- every Sunday afternoon, the Pegasus headed to the outskirts of the Everfree, but close enough to Ponyville just in case, to test her limits of chaining Rainbooms together. She figured, instead of trying to go fast as possible, why not practice on endurance?

Definitely a change of pace for her, that's for sure! After the first few weeks, she noticed that compared to regular exercise, trying to chain together Sonic Rainbooms really took a toll on the body! With every attempt, the cyan mare came closer to her ultimate goal before promptly blacking out from exhaustion and waking up at Ponyville General embarrassed and berated by the medical professionals that now had a personal emergency code for her by name. It was a good month of practice before hearing "Code Dash" became too annoying even for her ego. Panting from exhaustion, Rainbow Dash zoomed back around to her starting point at the entrance of the forest and all but collapsed on the soft grass below. "How was that, Fluttershy? Any closer?"

"You were thiiiiis close, Dash!" The cream yellow Pegasus motioned with her hooves. "One second faster than last week!"

"One second?!"

ROOOOAR!

"Manners, Dash! No need to yell!" Her friend berated.

"Uh, Fluttershy, that wasn't me..." The duo stopped what they were doing to listen closely.

"......"

"......"

After a few minutes of silence, they both shrugged their shoulders. "Must've been the wind, 'shy. I'm thinking we oughta move our training area anyways- the Everfree is putting both of us on edge." Nodding her head vigorously in agreement, Fluttershy wrote down Rainbow's latest time on a clipboard she had been carrying then began to pack her saddlebags and broke down part of the obstacle course. Since it was endurance training, there wasn't much: a few water troughs, tire swings, and one makeshift treadmill made up the impromptu course. Rainbow made quick work of the tore swings and the treadmill, while Fluttershy emptied the troughs and collapsed them to fit in her saddlebags, her friend handing her the small logs and canvas for the treadmill. They'd both come back for the tires once they found a new spot.

"Hmm, watching you go through that course gave me a good idea on where you could practice, Rainbow! That is, if you don't mind of course..."

Dash punched the mare in the shoulder playfully. "Come on, Fluttershy! You know I don't mind! Now where's this new spot?" She stretched, arching her back like a cat would. "Ahh, I'm itching to go again!" She smiled.

"Well, I was thinking the Animal Sanctuary would work, given we talk to all my animal friends to see if they're okay with the noise your Rainboom makes, that is." She rubbed the back of her hoof shyly.

"Are you sure, 'shy?" The cyan Pegasus looked into her friend's eyes. "I don't wanna force you into doing something you're not okay with."

"I-it's fine. I'm sure my animal friends wouldn't mind- in fact, I'm sure Mister Bear would definitely cheer you on, Dash!" She beamed.

"Well if that's the case, then what are we waiting for?! Come on, we have an audience waiting!"

It took a good hour to get set up, but the duo was finally done. Their improved obstacle course definitely would help this time; Using some of the various pieces of driftwood and vines around the sanctuary, the new course featured an extra part where Dash would have to fly through dense foliage- the ultimate test of endurance for a Pegasus! Hopping about excitedly, she waited for Fluttershy to start the timer. "Alright! I'm pumped and ready to go!" The Rainbow maned Pegasus got into position.

"..."

"Uh, Fluttershy?"

"......"

"Any day now..."

"............"

Tired of waiting, she turned around. "Ugh, come on! What is the...big..." The sanctuary was deserted. No birds chirping, no enthusiastic bears cheering her on... Not even her friend was there. "Fluttershy?" She glanced around. The water in the pools were still, and the air hung silent. She began to panic. "Fluttershy!" Zooming this way and that, the cyan mare looked everywhere for,her shy friend, only to find her clipboard and a trail of hoofprints, pawprints, and various others leading to a shivering oversized bush nearby.

Trotting over, Dash poked her head through. "What the heck, Fluttershy? Why are you in a bush when you can see how awesome I am!" She beamed.

"M-m-m-muh" The trembling Pegasus shivered with fear, holding her animal friends tightly to keep herself somewhat calm.

"What's going on? You were fine a minute ago!" Looking at her friend, Dash was now full of concern. Suddenly, that's when she noticed it- a piece of something lay at her feet. It was a strange stone, glimmering with some sort of artificial light. "What is-"

BOOM

SCREEEECH!

An otherworldly howl broke the silence, piercing the ears of everyone. Following that, a rumble in the ground could be felt before a large mass broke the ground behind them with a large thud. Dash, now joining the others in being paralyzed with fear, slowly turned around. Every step made the rumble louder, slowly revealing what it was- the growl of something big and mean.Ripping the bandaid off, Rainbow Dash spun around the rest of the way as quick as she could, determined to defend her friend, no matter how much she wanted to join her in huddling with fear.

The sight before her made her heart stop- it was a massive bird, easily dwarfing an Ursa Major in size, its wings blocking out the sun. Growling, it breathed out a fume of flames not unlike a dragon, painting its red scales with a menacing look. "Oh yeah?! You think you're so tough, picking on somepony three times small than you?"

The growling worsened, and the beast before her sharpened its claws on a nearby boulder, slicing it into pieces. It began to circle the group in a predatory fashion- like a gazelle that wandered too close to the lion's den. It flicked its tail impatiently behind it, the spikes glistening in the heat and revealing a small coating over it- most likely the unfriendly kind, given the situation.

Rainbow took the first swing, uppercutting the monster as swift as she could before retreating in front of the busy protecting Fluttershy and her animal friends. "Agh!" The beast took the next swing, flicking its tail in the air like a club and knocking the brave pony back a few feet before landing back in the same spot.

"Rainbow!" Fluttershy began to rustle in the bush, catching the eye of the monster.

"Stay still! I'm fine, just got smacked around a bit." The last thing she wanted to happen is have the monster start attacking them. "Hey ugly!" Rainbow grabbed a nearby rock and threw it at the monster's head.

Focusing back to the cyan Pegasus, it reared its head, building up a massive amount of fire in it's mouth.

"Horseapples, I gotta move!" Fanning her wings open, Rainbow took flight before falling back down recklessly. Why do I feel so dizzy? her vision started going fuzzy. Glaring back at where the monster hit, she noticed purple slime coming out of the scratch on her side. Taking a closer look at the spikes on the beast connected the dots for her: they were coated in poison!

"Oh great..." Was all she managed to get out before collapsing into unconsciousness.

"Rainbow!" Fluttershy leapt out of the bush she was cowering in and rushed to her friend's side. The cut from earlier didn't run deep, but now fizzled with a bubbly purple liquid. Lifting up her friend's hoof to check for a pulse, she could barely feel it and it only got dimmer every passing second. The Pegasus cried, clutching her friend tightly.

ROOOAR!

Rathalos didn't care about the feelings of these lesser creatures, it was given a name not for niceties such as that. The King of the Skies had only one goal: make it known who ruled these skies. The violation of the Everfree's ecosystem didn't matter to him- the only thing that mattered was marking his territory and claim what was rightfully his, and to do that, the monster needed a nest, and a big one.

The sanctuary was perfect. Perfect distance from its territory, perfect size to nest, and perfect balance of food and water. The only thing left was to eliminate the competition, and get a snack out of doing so. He faced many Hunters and fellow monsters in his time, but none compared to these tiny quadruped creatures. All the same, they were in the way.

Growling, Rathalos centered himself to prepare for a charge at the two ponies, and with a powerful roar it lunged at them, jaws open and belly empty. Fate gave him the perfect meal!

...only, when the other creature- the yellow one- stared up, it was as if he was frozen in place. Only one other thing put him in place like that, and he knew no one could dethrone him as ruler; Nergigante was too powerful to oppose.

Or so he thought. This tiny little thing, this Pegasus, had the same effect. It stared into his very soul like a heap of scraps that got in the way.

"You will apologize to Rainbow Dash right now and fly both me and her to Ponyville right now!" The creature stamped its hoof down, indicating "no" was not an answer. But to demand he use the skies to take them?! Blasphemy if he ever heard it. Appalled, it began to charge again, this time preparing his club of a tail for another attack.

...it bore through him even harder than before, but Rathalos was not scared this time; she challenged his rule over the skies. A bold move, even for somebody as small as her facing something as giant as he.

Flinging his tail forward, the monster was determined to put the threat before him in the same position as her friend underneath: in a comatose, but alive state. He needed food, after all. But before his attack connected, something large tackled him in the side, knocking Rathalos off his balance. Struggling to right himself, he flicked his tail and head in several directions to try to poison the new assailant, only to discover it was one of the other animals the Pegasus was hiding with! Finally recovering, he shook his head and roared louder than ever.

"Mister Bear, what are you-"

The bear in question rumbled something in Bear Speak.

"I- thank you, Mister Bear."

A pair of squeaking and chattering could be heard behind her as well.

"Slithers? Thornburg? You too!?" Slithering beside her was an Everfree Python and along his back was a courageous porcupine that was too proud of his thorny glutes in every way. Fluttershy looked like she was about to cry. "Oh, thank you! Thank you all." Nodding their heads, they slid over to Mister Bear to join him.

The following battle was a very epic one, told in every bar from here to Canterlot to this very day. Mister Bear, now joined by his comrades Slithers and Thornburg, faced down the Monster with newfound determination. Seeing this, the beast turned its attention away from the two ponies and to the trio of furred friends instead. Nodding both to Slithers on his shoulder and Thornburg huddling close to his hind leg, he grabbed the snake and stretched him stiff, his other leg holding his tail in place and grapped the eager porcupine. Pulling back on Slithers' back with Thornburg in place, he closed one eye and aimed for the tail.

"Your spikes aren't as sharp as Thornburg's! He polishes every day!" the brave bear yelled heroically in Bear Speak, letting loose the makeshift arrow. It connected, sticking to the tail like glue before the porcupine grunted and shot his quills out and promptly ran away. Surprisingly, something could be heard being broken and the monster reeled back in pain.

The Hunter, or what he assumed was one, shot his piercing arrow into his tail, breaking his precious spikes away. Wailing in agony, Rathalos held back a tear. He was properly mad now!

Growling, the monster charged up the heat in his breath, ready to sling out a flurry of fireballs, when suddenly:

"STOOOOP!"

Shocked, both parties turned to the Pegasus. Trotting away from her friend, she gave her animal friends The Stare to tell them they took it too far, then turned to the would-be King. Growling, it still kept it's guard up.

"You're hurt." She stared at the now broken tail. Sliding it away from view, he changed positions to face her without exposing his now weak appendage.

"It's okay! It's okay..." She approached cautiously. A wise move, Rathalos thought.

"My friends didn't mean to hurt you that much." She fluttered her wings to get a bit closer, taking a look at the weathered scratches and bruises Rathalos had seen over the years. "They only meant to scare you away." She rubbed a particular large scar on one of his flame accented wings. That one was a reminder Nergigante left to make sure he understood that the skies were the only thing he was meant to rule.

Still leering at the Pegasus with caution, he let his guard down some more. She flew closer to the tail, now freshly broken and tender. "Does it hurt?" She poked the tender flesh, only for it to be raised as a threat.

"I'll take that as a yes." She glared up into his eyes. The look of death was gone from before, replaced by caring eyes- like those of his mother when he was barely a hatchling. "Can you talk? Just not your head if you can."

Nodding, he tried to rumble something in his native tongue. "Yyyyyeeeessssss." He chittered out.

"I couldn't understand that. How about a different language-" she motioned to hee animal friends now at attention in fear of upsetting Fluttershy. First she pointed to the big one. "Can you speak bear?" Nodding her head, the creature spoke. He shook his head, the bear was too much like the Great Jagras, and their language was easily forgotten. Next, she pointed to the small thorny one, the one responsible for his injury.

"What about porcupine?" The critter chittered in reply. Another no. Surprisingly, it sounded foreign enough to be unintelligible, but also had some hints of Nergigante in them. Must be the thorns.

"Alright, what about Snake?" The snake hissed a barely understandable hello, but it was similar enough to his language to understand.

"Yesssssss, but language isssssss hard for ussssssss wyvernsssssss."

"That's alright, nodding your head is fine." She smiled. "My name is Fluttershy, what's yours?"

"I have no name."

"Come on, everypony has a name!" She giggled. "What to most things call you?"

"...Rathalos." It wasn't his name, but he took claim to it all the same, he supposed. Suddenly, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye before being hit in the head by what felt like a Mega Barrel Bomb.

"Take that, you stupid monster!" Rainbow Dash somersaulted in the air and landed next to Fluttershy with the biggest grin. "Sup?"

"Rainbow Dash!" She fumed at the cyan Pegasus. "You hurt him!"

"Uh yeah, he kinda ruined your animal friends' place!"

"That's not the point, Dash! I was talking to him!" Glaring at her, Fluttershy motioned to the monster now utterly confused, yet pensive about what was going on.

Looking back at the huge monster, She did notice how it wasn't attacking anymore...

Then utterly facehoofed. "Ughhhhhh, do you have to make friends to every animal we beat up, 'Shy?!"

Only getting a glare in response, Dash flew up her hooves. "Fine! I give up! You win, we can keep it around!" When it came to the skies, Rathalos was king, but even then it seemed there was only one Queen of the Rainbows, and her name was Fluttershy.

Author's Note

Resources obtained:

1 Research Ticket
3 armor spheres
5 Rathalos scales
Rathalos Tailspike (obtained by befriending Monster or breaking parts)
500 bits= (2000-1 faint) /2 party size

Hunting Awards:

Rainbow Dash- Marathon Runner (time spent depleting stamina), 10 minutes

Fluttershy- Call of the Wild (use of endemic life to defend oncoming attacks), 3 animals successfully befriended

Research Updated!
Rathalos- Level 1
You are now able to identify and follow its tracks!

Hunter Rank up!
HR 10
You are now able to tame Low Rank Monsters!

New idea I had after playing Iceborne expansion for Monster Hunter: World. If you like it, please leave a comment down below.

Hope you enjoy!