Chapter 1
Fluttershy screamed in horror at the Jaggi chasing her, jaws snapping hungrily at her heels. She bucked the bird-wyvern back, gasping in shock when it snapped again and bit down on her haunch. She gritted her teeth as the monster's fangs dug deep into her flesh, ripping and spilling blood. Unsheathing her knife, the pegasus dug it into the throat of the pink reptile, squealing when its jaws only tightened on her flank.
"Let me go!" She cried, bucking the dinosaur. It held firm, pulling on her leg to dislodge flesh and spatter blood across its muzzle. She quivered in agony as a hunk of her leg pulled free, disappearing down the monster's throat. Fluttershy collapsed, feeling nauseous, and she looked up the the sky as the screams of other Jaggi filled the area.
Fluttershy woke up with a scream, throwing the covers off herself to inspect her leg. It was perfectly find, and she felt no pain. Looking around, she saw a pony sleeping on the opposite side of the hut. The mare was a unicorn, her lavender fur illuminated by the sun rising in the east. Fluttershy yawned and rose from bed, happy to find she could walk normally, and nudged the mare.
"Um, Twilight? It's time to, um, wake up." She immediately faltered, looking away for a moment. "I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to but I-"
"Fluttershy, I'm up." Twilight snickered, already standing next to her. Fluttershy gasped, taking a step back in a startled state. Regaining her composure after half a minute, she smiled sheepishly at Twilight. Trotting past her, she pushed aside the cloth curtains that served as her door, followed by Twilight.
Canta Village was busy as ever, ponies bustling about from trade-place to trade-place and some ponies walking by in heavy armor. Fluttershy shuddered when one armored pony walked right past her. "Excuse me, ma'am." The pony apologized, just making her retreat back inside. Raising an eyebrow, he looked to the unicorn who simply sighed.
"She's scared of hunters." Twilight explained, giving an embarrassed smile. "To be fair, she's scared of everything."
"I see.." The hunter nodded in understanding. Turning to walk away, he stopped and looked back at her with a smirk. "All good hunters start that way, you know." He smiled and trotted off.
Twilight was speechless, watching the pony join a large group of hunters before walking back inside. "Fluttershy?" She called, seeing the pegasus cowering under her blanket. Pulling back the covers, Twilight rolled her eyes at the mare quivering on the bed. "You can't be scared of hunter forever. They're good ponies."
"They're also extremely SCARY good ponies." Fluttershy shot back, pulling the sheets back over herself. Twilight groaned in frustration and grabbed the pegasus by her hind legs, dragging her out of bed. "Don't make me go out there, Twilight!" Fluttershy whined, shaking.
"We have to go get more supplies, Fluttershy. We ate the last of our fish yesterday, and we need to get mo-" Twilight was silenced by the ground beginning to shake violently, the lights in the house going out and the windows breaking from the vibration. "Out now!" She screamed, and the two ponies dashed out of the house, barely making it out before the weak foundation gave way and it crumbled behind them. Fluttershy was horrified, watching the house cave in on itself like a house of cards.
Ponies were running everywhere in terror, rushing to put out fires caused by the quake, and lookouts screaming from their posts. Looking out on the horizon, she nearly fainted. A massive pillar of spines and scales was rising from the ocean, towering over the village like a beacon of death. Lightning spewed from its mouth, seeming to attract storm-clouds which rained and thundered upon the ponies. Hunter ran to the boats, rowing out and firing harpoons at the dragon, but the sharpened steel bounced off its scales.
Roaring in rage, the dragon raised a giant flipper and brought it down on one of the ships, shattering it and crushing the hunters aboard. Twilight watched in terror before she saw the village leader, Mayor Mare, yelling for her. Grabbing Fluttershy, she bolted around small fires and other ponies to her. "Mayor! What is that thing!?" Twilight screamed in fear.
"A Lagiacrus, Twilight! We must tell the ponies to evacuate!" Mayor Mare responded, galloping toward the village's center. "We must evacuate to the Guildhouse, everypony! Single-file lines please!" She bellowed, looking nervously at the panicking ponies. Twilight took a step toward the Mayor, hoping to warn her of the Lagiacrus heading toward the village, but she was too late and saw a bolt of lightning shoot from its mouth at the foundation holding up the village. The wooden beam broke, and the village began to dip toward the icy ocean below it.
Turning to find Fluttershy, she gasped when a falling lookout tower crashed down in front of her, burning fiercely. "Fluttershy!" She screamed to the pegasus on the other side. "You have to get out of here! Get to the Guildhouse in Canta Woods!" Tears stained her face, knowing the worst was about to happen.
"I won't leave you, Twilight!" Fluttershy cried back, trying to fly over the flames. She couldn't see her friend through the smoke, and dread filled her as crackling energy filled the Lagiacrus' mouth again.
Lightning struck the second beam, and a large portion of the support beams collapsed from the explosion it caused. The boards supporting almost half the village snapped under the weight, plunging ponies in houses into a perilous stormy sea. Fluttershy reached hopelessly with a hoof toward Twilight, only seeing her for a second before the unicorn fell into the sea along with the burning tower. "Twilight NOOOO!" She screamed in terror, tears pouring down her face as her only friend was lost in the waves.
Feeling a hoof on her shoulder, she turned to see a female pegasus with the oddest rainbow-colored mane. "We have to get out of here, miss!" She almost ordered, trying to lead Fluttershy away, but the cream pegasus held firm. "Your friend's gone, ma'am! You have to save yourself!" The mare with the rainbow mane barked in fury, dragging her away from the ever-increasing hole in the boards. As they stepped off the stairs leading down to Canta Beach, Fluttershy looked back as the last of her home crumbled away.
"I'm really sorry about your friend, miss." The cyan pegasus tried to console Fluttershy, her own expression glum. "I really am."
Fluttershy didn't care, looking away from the mare. "She was my best friend, and you made me leave her.." She choked out, tears dripping onto the dirt of the forest path they walked.
"Hey, that village was about to fall and take you with it! You would've gone yeep the moment the boards under your hooves broke, and then where'd you be? Drowning with a massive dragon on the way!" The mare barked in frustration. Moments later, she sighed and looked back at Fluttershy with apologetic eyes. "Sorry about that. I just get a little riled up sometimes." She held out a hoof. "I'm Rainbow Dash. You?"
"...Flut...hy."
Rainbow Dash stopped, looking at her confused. "What was that?"
"My name is Fl..te..hy."
"Your name is what?" The cyan pegasus asked again, mildly irritated.
Fluttershy grimaced in frustration. "My name is Fluttershy!" She answered quickly before looking down at the ground.
"Well it's nice to meet you, Fluttershy." She smiled before sighing. "I just wish it had been under more pleasant circumstances."
Fluttershy nodded solemnly, stopping when she arrived at a sign. "Here's the Guild, I guess." She pouted at the thought of staying with the hunters in their home. "Are you sure we have to say here? I mean, the hunter are so scary and I don't think it's they best place for me to be while the village gets repa-"
"Don't get your tail in a bunch, Fluttershy! The hunters are really cool ponies. I mean, you're talking to one right now!" Rainbow Dash chuckled. "And look how AWESOME I am!"
"You're a hunter!?" Fluttershy asked, taken aback by Rainbow Dash's statement. This pony couldn't possibly be a hunter, she thought. She isn't very scary at all.
"Sure am!" Rainbow grinned sheepishly. "Well, I'm a hunter in training, but I'll be one real soon!" She sighed dreamily. "And then I'll be able to hunt with the best bowgun-hunters in our Guild; the Wonderbolts!"
Fluttershy giggled at Rainbow Dash's expression as the rainbow-maned mare was lost in a dream-world. As they trotted into the Guild, Fluttershy felt she had less to fear of these armored ponies, because they were just that: ponies in armor, and nothing more.
Of course, it felt even better to know that she'd be staying in Rainbow Dash's bunk-room along with some other pegasi. As she settled into bed, she began to think of a possibility of learning some hunting skills from Rainbow - in case she needed to use them in an emergency, of course. Smiling at the thought, she felt the warm embrace of sleep take her.
Fluttershy walked slowly through Canta Woods, smelling the air and listening closely for the sound of animals moving in the dense forest that surrounded her. Suddenly, as if for dramatic effect, a trio of small pink bird-wyverns charged from the bushes. Rolling to dodge the first of the Jaggi, Fluttershy smirked and pulled out a bowgun, firing a round into the beast's chest and blowing it apart. Ducking under the claws of a Jaggi attempting to jump on her, she fired a round into its back, the lizard groaning before collapsing with a hole in its torso.
Finally, the third Jaggi roared and then changed before her eyes. It doubled in size, a mighty crown spreading from its head. The newly-made Great Jaggi charged, the ground thundering with each step. Fluttershy gritted her teeth and flew upwards, the massive reptile passing underneath and butting heads with a nearby boulder. In its daze, Fluttershy fired several explosive rounds into the mighty bird-wyvern, each one making it buckled under the force until its tough hide was singed and torn by the pellets exploding again it.
As a last-ditch effort, it opened its mouth to call for more smaller Jaggi. Fluttershy fired a round down the beast's throat before it could make a sound, and it violently shook before resting limp on the dirt. Landing and trotting over to her kill, Fluttershy smirked. "You can't scare me anymore, big monster. Hunter Fluttershy fears nothing!" She grinned and unsheathed her carving knife before beginning to carve up the beast that haunted her nightmares for so long.
For the rest of the night, Fluttershy dreamed peacefully.