Chapter 2………. Let’s begin

Morning dew hit upon Sunset's face as she stood silently in a grassy field. Birds sang beautiful songs as the sun grew in the mighty ocean sky. Specs of grass hit against her feet in what could only be seen as an act of retaliation. Clouds drifted lazily in the sky, every now and then bumping into each other. The bright blue sky shimmered of future promises, promises of future catches. It was lovely today, until…

“Hey! You were here the whole time? You missed breakfast!” a raspy voice broke the calm atmosphere, causing Sunset to turn around with a start.

After having woken up Sunset found herself shoved around by said overly excited friend. Wanting a break, Sunset left to be outside. It was nothing against Rainbow, just she tended to wake up before even the sky did. Let alone play video games all night under the excuse of ‘turning off lights’.

“Oh- I'm fine with that,” Sunset muttered, getting an unhappy look from her friend. Rainbow loved breakfast, always claiming it was the most important meal of the day. The same ideology never quite hit Sunset.

“Ya, well… the others are coming out soon! Do you have the right materials?” Rainbow asked, stepping beside Sunset. Sunset simply nodded a response before dropping her bag to the floor. It was a simple bag, brown with red straps. A sun-shaped pendant sat calmly on one of the straps, the words ‘I love you’ imprinted on it.

“Great!” Rainbow chirped as three other girls approached them. Said girls were Twilight Sparkle, Juniper Montage, and Starlight Glimmer... Now, Starlight and Juniper were not as close to Sunset as Twilight and Rainbow, but they were still amazing to have around. They were first years, fresh out of the oven as the Pies may say. Not that there were anything wrong with that!

Starlight was a tall lean girl like Twilight, the main difference being her hair. Long locks of blue and purple curled at the end, all done to slightly brighter purple skin. Starlight was also smart, reasonable with her actions yet sometimes clueless towards social situations.
Juniper was another case, outgoing and friendly. Peach yellow skin with long hair tied in pigtails, large glasses plastered on her face. She was great with social situations but when it came to statistics in battle she needed some help… Even though she won’t accept said help most of the time.

“Hey! Who's ready for the first hunting day!” Juniper excitedly took out her camera. Juniper had a weird way with hunting, taking pictures and videos first before she got into the real deal. She always claimed it was the inspiration for a monster movie she was going to make someday, which was cool to think about.

“Whoa, before anything, what is everyone hunting? Maybe we can all help each other.” Starlight spoke, getting a nod from Twilight.

“I agree, so what is everyone's monster clan? Mine is Salty Shores'' Twilight said, a smile on her face wavering slightly. Twilight didn't like water, hell she hated it.

“I got a Mindful gaze.” Starlight mumbled, getting a few sympathetic looks her way. Mindful Gaze was the type of monster who used trickery and mind control, all things Starlight hated. The clan itself once tried to get her to join them, when she was younger that is. However she never spoke much about her past and why they would want a human, Sunset found it best not to pry.

“I believe I got Shadow Gates.” Juniper hummed, some nodding in approval. Shadow Gates were humans turned monsters. Werewolves, and such. If she had the right materials her task would be a breeze.

“I got Walking yard! Sunny got Cavern Green.” Rainbow but in, much to no one's surprise. However, the announcement of Cavern Green caused eyes to fall on Sunset. For a second no words were spoken, only the sound of Twilight's breath rapidly increasing.

“Cavern Green?! Are you serious? Why was that even an option?!” Twilight screamed panic painted on her face. Starlight stood motionless for a second before placing her hand on Twilight's shoulder, muttering calming words.

“Look I get it- Cavern Green is the worst of the worst- I can just aim for an org!” Sunset stuttered, trying to defuse the situation. This seemed to work as Twilight began to breathe slightly better, only slightly.

“Cool- I always wanted a picture of a Cavern Green clan member!” Juniper hummed, eyes now being sent her way. “What.”

“Look, everyone has their materials- Let’s go!” Rainbow growled, having grown tired of the unmoving conversation.

“Hold up Rainbow- we should go in groups to help each other.” Twilight squeaked in surprise from Rainbow's anger. For a second Rainbow locked eyes with Twilight, before talking again.

“Teams right.” was all Rainbow said before she grabbed Sunsets hand and began to run towards the woods. Voices of disapproval and good luck wishes drowned out once the forest was entered. The Everfree forest.

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The Everfree forest, a place of mystery. The land of the largest number of monsters… the home of monsters, as ironic as it was, right next to the hunter’s headquarters.
Taking in a deep breath of the life-rich air, Sunset sighed. As bad as a reputation Everfree may have, it was peaceful. Now, the bad reputation was mainly humans going in and finding monsters by accident, but hunters loved it.

Rainbow and Sunset slowly walked through the damp woods, birds screeching angrily at the intrusion. Hums of insect wings flew by disturbed yet unmoving from their work. Each girl had a bag strapped to their back full of weapons. They didn't have a destination, they just wandered. Trees passed them as squirrels ran by, soft songs of nature keeping a calm mood.

The woods were large, covered in green that history could be learned from. History of monsters who didn't belong on this planet.

Pulling her bag higher up her back Sunset growled. Monsters, a plague upon this earth. Creatures so heartless that not even the kindest of beings could tame them. But the worst was by far the Kitsun, those horrible beasts caused nothing but pain. They did it- they are to blame. They are monsters- wait… why was Sunset thinking about this now?
It wasn't rare for Sunset to fall into her hatred but here? Now? Maybe it was just the stress of the case hitting her.

Shaking her head, Sunset kept to her silent march. Rainbow, close behind her, kept humming a rock song under her breath. This wasn't unwelcomed by any chance from Sunset for the two shared a love for rock.
Marching like in a parade the girls passed by many trees and mossy rocks. Animals would pop up from here and there, always managing to scare Rainbow which she would quickly deny after calming down. Even the animals didn't seem convinced.
A certain animal, a white fluffy bunny, found Rainbow's reactions hilarious. So funny in fact that every time the poor athlete calmed down the bunny would hop from its hiding space to scare her again. The bunny was even starting to get annoying for Sunset, which the bunny seemed to catch and back off. Well backed off reluctantly.

Hours passed as the two only seemed to run across animals and insects, no monsters in sight. This was odd, monsters usually roamed the woods like there was no tomorrow but today, something was keeping them hidden. Fear perhaps? What was there to be scared off.
Before Sunset could continue the maze of her mind however, a soft whimper was heard near two small bushes. A small spec of yellow gleamed through the hidden holes of the bush as another whimper caught Sunsets ears.
Slowing to a stop both of the novice hunters eyed the bushes, awaiting a monster to jump out and attack. This didn't happen. For five minutes the whimpering continued, it was almost pathetic.

Rainbow growled as she began to approach the bushes, gun in hand. Sunset tensed as the whimpering stopped, seeming to sense Rainbows' approach. The world fell silent like it would in a horror movie. Awaiting the response Sunset tightened her grip on her gun, only to find Rainbow signal her to approach.

“What is it?” Sunset muttered, getting a shrug from Rainbow, “you don't know?”

“Look I don't study nature monsters, I've always been more interested in the air anyway… also this seems to be a mix of many monsters.” Rainbow reacted, causing Sunset to freeze. A mix of monsters? Now that was new.

Stepping closer herself, Sunset did indeed see a mix of monsters. A wing of a butterfly and a wing of a bat, the neck fur of a moth and the eyes of an owl, a leg of a crow and a leg of a cat followed by an arm of a human and an arm of a monkey this thing truly was a sight to behold. Reaching into her mind Sunset tried to remember monsters that were a mix, and a mix to this degree! However nothing came to mind.
The creature seemed to be cowering from the two, one of its legs caught up in a rusty trap perhaps set by a local human, so it was no threat. Both lowering their guns, Rainbow got on her knees to check the monster's injury. It was deep and scarred, tissue almost ripped from its inner walls, but fixable.

As Rainbow examined the cowering monster further, a certain tree caught Sunset’s eye. A single letter sat carved in it, the single letter of C. Somewhere, somehow, this didn't feel right. Something about this didn't sit right. Sunset could have sworn the letter was bleeding sap.
Before the poor hunter could react a dark figure ripped from the letter grabbing her head and tackling her down. The creature yelped in surprise and Rainbow immediately jumped into action. None of this came to Sunset, however, she was too far gone in her own mind. Sleep overtook the hunter as she felt her soul be dragged somewhere else.

Author's Note

I'm sorry if its slow so far, I plan for it to get more upbeat in chapter 3 and beyond. I hope you like it- tough you dont have to!