It was a few days later that Applejack and Fluttershy had gotten together. Actually, Fluttershy had gotten her things and moved somewhat closer to Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack was stumped at how she was able to move her whole house, but whatever.

Anyway, the two were chatting about what you might expect, Fluttershy said that she'd also met up with Rarity and Pinkie Pie briefly, and they'd given her the rundown. She suggested that they get together soon, like not-so-old times.

Meanwhile, Applejack had managed to clear most of the trees in the orchard of their produce in that time. Enough that Granny Smith said that she deserved a couple days of rest.

Suddenly, the two heard the pounding of hooves. When they turned in that direction. As it turned out, Zecora was making for their location. When she arrived, she stopped on a dime, the dust that was following her going a short distance further.

Applejack spoke up. "Zecora? What's the matter?"

"Applejack and Fluttershy. For your assistance I must cry! An evil presence has neared my home. It must be driven away, but i can't do it alone!" Zecora pleaded.

Fluttershy asked, "What kind of... evil presence?"

Zecora replied, "I fear it isn't just a massive boar; The creature I speak of is a Duorduor! It'll take over the forest, and if left unchecked, I fear that Ponyville will be next!"(1)

Fluttershy said,with a determined expression, "Don't worry, oh stripy friend."

Applejack finished, "When we find it, its life will be at an end."

Zecora smiled, both out of relief and amusement. "That is comforting, I say. When you are ready, let us be away. A Duorduor has a massive territory; It more or less becomes ruler of all it does see!"

Applejack asked, "Say, wouldn' a... hydra 'r manticore take it down?" as she grabbed some medical supplies. She had the feeling that they would need them.

Zecora shook her head. "Alas, I fear not; the creature would kill them, if caught. Ergo they will likely avoid it. In one habitat, the lot of them wouldn't fit." Then she asked in return, "Fluttershy, my dear, something feels off about your air. I'm not sure what it is; the difference is faint, but it's there."

Fluttershy grinned nervously. "Yeah... about that..."

Applejack cut in, "Le's jus' say that we've been experiencin' some changes lately. Are we gonna do this, 'r what?" She'd gathered her monster hunting supplies and all.(2)

Forthwith, they were at the edge of the Everfree Forest. As they stepped a short distance in, Applejack and Fluttershy felt a shiver go down their spines; a wave of energy run through them.

"S-s-s-shy?" Applejack spoke up first, "Are y-y-ya feelin' that too?"

Fluttershy confirmed, "I think so. It feels... kinda wr-r-rong, but right at the sane tine."

Zecora tilted her head. "Are you alright, friends of mine? Should we do this another time?"

Applejack shook the shivering off. "No, no. We're good. But Ah think we can ac-cess our powers here."

Flutttershy nodded at that. "It must be the Forest's magic. Good thing too, I suppose."

Zecora breathed a sigh of relief. After that, they moved on. Eventually they found the (current) territory of their mark. It was pretty obvious that something quite large had been moving through the area, judging by the collapsed trees and churned-up dirt.

Fluttershy sniffed at the ground briefly. {Scent the Prey}

After a moment, she pointed in a direction. "There! It's close!"

The trio followed the trail, soon finding what they were looking for. As it turned out, it had been waiting for them. For some time, it seemed.

Fluttershy spoke up first. "You! You're the one that's been causing all of this!"

The creature only snorted in response. Whether this was affirmation or indifference, or something else entirely, one couldn't say.

Applejack said, "Ah don' s'pose we kin convince ya ta clear out? Ya ain't the only creature usin' this place. Th' other critters need this place too."

The Duorduor glared intimidatingly. Clearly it wasn't going to back down.

Suddenly, it actually projected an answer. "NO. THIS LAND IS MINE."

Apparently it was intelligent too, to an extent.

Fluttershy shook her head. "It was worth a try."

Applejack nodded, "We knew that this was likely to happen, though."

Fluttershy sighed. "Well, good thing we can access our new powers."

Applejack looked toward their zebra friend apologetically. "Please don' be too freaked out by this. An' mebbe back up. Way back, jus' in case."

The two closed their eyes and concentrated. They felt for that familiarly foreign power that they'd discovered. When found, they pulled on it.

The effect was immediate; Applejack's changes started from her hooves changing to claws. Fluttershy's started with her coat bushing out, her tail also changing. After that, the opposite changes occurred. Then their ears and eyes changed, their muzzle changing, their teeth sharpening. The last change that occurred was to their Cutie Marks, Fluttershy's now looked like a pink wolf's head, howling at the moon; Applejack's was like three reddish brown paw prints.

The two howled at once. "AOWOOOO!!!!!"

Zecora was incredulous. "Could it be?! A pair of PonWolves stand before me!"

Applejack quickly assuaged, "Don't worry. We have no ill intentions fer ya. Despite how we look, we're still yer friends, who plan to help... solve a problem."

Fluttershy simply nodded, getting into a battle ready stance.(3)

Combat Sequence: Begin!

Applejack first tried to intimidate the enemy {Snarl of the Predator}

This, however, was easily resisted. The Duorduor, in return, charged, nearly striking Applejack, but going past the duo. Zecora drew her shamanic staff and struck the beast solidly, but didn't even make it flinch.

Fluttershy admonished lightly, "Right Idea; Wrong caliber." She then leapt at her target, simultaneously kicking and slicing the Duorduor for a fair bit of damage, but not nearly enough to stop it.

Applejack charged her energies. {The Pack Triumphs Together}

An orange glow surrounded the lot of them, heightening their power and allowing them to attack in unison, hitting the beast three ways.

Fluttershy wasn't to be outdone. {Fog of War; Hunting Ground}

A dense fog began to envelop the area, obscuring them from sight, a large runic circle also forming around there.

The DorDuor inhaled deeply. {Heavy Snort} Then it exhaled just as sharply, clearing most of the mist, also briefly stunning the trio, long enough for it to slam into Applejack hard, sending her flying back.

She, fortunately, was made of sterner stuff, and her enhanced agility enabled her to land on a tree. She said aloud, "Ah 'spose it's time ta step thangs up a touch." {Urshul Form}

Her fur began to bush out even more, herself growing in size somewhat. Her claws and teeth were sharper too. She then leapt off the tree, Jumping back into the fray.

Zecora was singing something softly, a greenish disc shape forming underneath her. Finally, she finished casting the spell that she had formed. {Needle Storm}

A thousand thorns appeared from the aether, slamming into the Duorduor's side, causing it to roar in pain. Zecora began forming another spell.

Fluttershy then began leaping about the beast, using another Gift. {Feet of Mist} Misty shapes began to form in the afterimages she left (nine of them). In sequence, they all attacked.

The Duorduor couldn't tell which was which, but none of them, naturally, did any damage. Fluttershy, though, was able to leap on its back, slashing at it furiously, before it shook her off. {Writhe}

It then roared into the air, suddenly suummoning several enthralled critters (mostly what looked like large squirrels)

Applejack leapt onto two of the smaller creatures, taking them down in an instant. She tore into one of them, using its vital energy to boost her strength. {Drain}(4) Then she used the blood of the other to soak the ground. {Black Earth; Red Hunger}(5)

Thorny vines began to snake from the earth, wrapping around the Duorduor's legs. It struggled fiercely, tearing at the vines, but the more it struggled, the more damage it caused to itself.

Now having a clear shot, Zecora unleashed the spell she'd built up. {Cleaving Wind!} Blades of wind energy began to cut into the Duorduor, causing it to bleed profusely.

Fluttershy said, eyes glowing now, with the thrill of the hunt, "As fun as this has been, I think it's time for the hunt to come to a close." {End of Story}

The Duorduor was completely depleted of its defenses and the duo landing clean strikes to it caused it to slump to the ground.

However, its eyes glowed briefly before it leapt back to its beet and charged at Zecora, slamming into her and sending her flying back through a tree and landing on a large rock.

However, since it tried to run from the two PonWolves, it was, indeed, the end of the story for the Duorduor

Hunt Ends

The hunt was over and now they were left with what to do with the remains of the massive creature. After a moment of thought, Applejack said, "Y'know... Ah think some bacon is in order."

Fluttershy smiled at that. "The weak are meat so the strong can eat. Eh, Zecora?"

They looked back, noticing that Zecora was unconscious, bleeding grievously. Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Oh, no! What do we do? We can't get her back home in this condition! She'll die before we can get there!"

Suddenly, an idea came to Applejack's mind. "There is one thang we CAN do. Ah'm not sure if this'd be enough under normnal cirsumstances, but with the two of us workin' together, Ah think this might work."

The plan, Applejack suggested, was to share some of their blood with their stripy friend. Fluttershy agreed readiny. They shed some of their own blood, to cause it to seep into her wounds.

The effect was immediate. The blood of two PonWolves together was enough to heal her, to some extent. Her wounds began to close, slowly. It wouldn't bring her to 100%, but she'd live. There was the chance that what happened to them would happen to her, but that was a calculated risk.

"Shy? Why don'tcha bring Zecora home, now? Ah'll drag this lump of flesh back home afore somethin' else comes ta eat it."

Fluttershy lifted Zecora onto her back. She then nodded and dashed for Zecora's hut.

Applejack brought the slab of meat back home, only then returning to her regular Pony form,

Granny Smith and Big Macintosh came out first. Granny Smith whistled. "Whoo-ee! Ya shore don' do anythin' by half measures, do ya, AJ? Ya went a'huntin', ya bring back a whopper!"

Big Mac was inclined to agree. "An' no mistake."

Aple Bloom came out to see what all the fuss was about. When she saw the Duorduor's remains, her eyes widened. "Whoa! That thar's either a display piece or tha biggest pig Ah EVER did see! An' Ah'm leanin' t'ward the latter."

The other three laughed together. "Why don' Ah ell y'all about it while we deal with this thang?"

Suiting words to action, they went to work at it.

Author's Note

1: It's a mythical beast, but i'll be using the Octopath Traveler 2 version.
2: Fluttershy considered asked why Applejack even HAD Monster Hunting gear, but thought better of it.
3: Time to break out the D10s...
4: I say she can do that to lesser creatures. Which is part of why she didn't/couldn't use that on the manticores.
5: I WPULD have her use Bloody Handed Hunter here, but it can't be used against the target of a hunt.