//------------------------------//
// Lesser size 
// Story: Twilight's book of the most dangerous creatures in Equestria 
// by The Psychopath 
//------------------------------//

The lavender unicorn hurriedly closed the book and tapped the floor of her home, clearing her throat in the process. Spike was leaning, rigid, against a book case, mentally hyper ventilating.

"You're...too good when it comes to displaying what's inside books, Twilight."

"And the author did tell us not to read it..."

"What if we...went elsewhere in the chapter, huh? A nicer place, maybe?"

"I...I guess so."

The two briefly had their vision impaired by the clouds outside blocking the sun, and while any normal person would be resting after that debacle, they needed to take a nice break. The unicorn tapped her chin pensively.

"What about smaller creatures? We've been looking at all the big monsters. Why not the smaller ones?"

Spike nodded. "Yeah. That could work. Would be a nice change of pace, I think."

"Alrighty then. Just give me a moment to search through the book's notes and see what I can find."

Twilight hurried through several pages of the journal, coming upon many creatures she had shown in the past with additional details and many more large creatures she had not yet read, but Spike was right. They really needed to scale down a bit on size.

"Oh. I found an interesting one. The Throos."

She hovered the book down to display the sketch to Spike, and his excitement turned to sentiments of betrayal.

"Hey, what's this? It just looks like a giant spider with a cute face."

The spider had a head similar to that of peacock spiders, but its body was very large and bulky yet hairless, something unusual for a spider. Twilight noticed and couldn't stop herself from commenting on that one detail.

"Looks like he forgot the follicles, maybe? I've never seen a spider without them."

Spike crossed his arms and pouted. "Fine. Let's just see what he has to say."

"Umm...The Throos is spectacular hunter prized not for some venom that is touted as a 'miracle cure' or their bodies for the 'hunter's trophy', value, but indeed for their hunting. These spiders are nigh impossible to acquire, but their eggs can have values upwards of several hundred thousand bits, provided they can even find one. Just saying 'It's extremely rare' won't befit the actual rarity of finding a throos egg in nature. It's not because they're well hidden or because the throos are very protective of their eggs: It's because they almost never leave their home. For as close an approximation as I can make, one of two-point-five million throos ever leave their home."

"Huh," Spike commented. "I wonder where they live that wouldn't let ponies try to go there instead."

"Anypony would wonder why nopony goes to the home of the throos anyways...and they're wrong. Hundreds go there. It is a great crater sitting underneath a giant mountain, and this place is only accessible via a hole in the mountain base. Next is the multi-kilometer drop. The exact distance is unknown, but I would safely put it at above twenty kilometers."

Twilight widened her eyes a moment. "Wow. That is very, very far."

"If you can get through that, then you'll have to deal with intense winds. The next part would be the thick jungle underneath filled with beasts other than the spiders."

"What's so special about the spiders, anyways?" Spike wondered. "Seems rather stupid to have an entire section dedicated to just them."

"The next part talks about it, Spike," Twilight explained. 

The dragon frowned. "Funny how every question I made so far had an answer immediately after it."

"Yeaaaah...It's almost like somepony is writing this journal as we read through it," Twilight mused. "Anyways, the Throos are known for their hunting abilities since they can change their shape and...appearance?"

"Like the changelings?" Spike shrugged.

"Unlike changelings, they do not use magic to transform, so you get to hear all the lovely cracks and snaps of bones and exoskeleton." The two cringed. "They are also employed as changeling hunters seeing as the black bugs are a delicacy of these spiders. I've also noted that they can also turn into ponies and, like all their transformations, the individual studies its target before turning into them. Unlike animals, though, they're too stupid to allow for a full transformation befitting from language and behavioral patterns." Twilight read further along and gasped with surprise. "Oh ho. This part is very interesting."

"And I was right about it answering my questions immediately after I say them," Spike stated with an annoyed frown.

"Anyways," Twilight continued. "I've also seen enough to make a size comparison to ponies. The average throos is the size of an adult pony, but some can be bigger and some can be smaller. The biggest I've ever seen was the size of Princess Celestia?!" Twilight's eye twitched. "That's a huge spider..."

"Not to mention she could be replaced by one and nopony would notice if the holder is skilled enough."

"Hmmm...It says here that a throos cannot change its form into a creature bigger than it but anything smaller than it to an extent," Twilight read on. "An interesting creature I'm certain."

"Twilight. There's more." Spike pointed to the inside of the book.

"Hm?"

It was a drawing of a pony hugging a throos its size, but the pony in question wasn't detailed enough to make anything out.

"I've got my own throos named 'Fyx', and he's my best bud." Twilight rolled her eyes. "That's cute, I guess."

"Spiders the size of the princess? That's a disturbing thought," Spike whine. "Uhh, what's next?"

"I saw this earlier while going through the pages. It's called the 'Twin-Lock Mazeiyan'."

"The what?"

"A bipedal creature left over from civilizations past, the Twin-lock Mazeiyan is a creature with two large legs and two torsos: One facing forward, and the other facing back. They both have two arms and a single head for both torsos, and they also carry heavy weapons as well as decorative armor pieces. The colors vary but are usually split between both torso, affecting the legs. The front torso carriers a macuahuitl and shield, both made from stone -save the blades- and decorated with ancient inscriptions, pictographs, and deep engravings befitting of the time."

"What's a macuahuitl?" Spike asked.

"An old weapon used by the Meyi civilization. It's a flat plank of wood with sharp, obsidian stones placed into its side. It's a very dangerous melee weapon." Twilight rubbed her chin pensively. "I didn't know they lade things like this." She cleared her throat. "Anyways, the front torso wears a cubic head of armor, encasing it completely, while the one in the back prefers to wear a head-crown of feathers. Unlike the front torso that prefers to use defensive attacks, the back prefers full offensive. It carries two, two-handed macuahuitls like they're some kind of toy. They both wear a single waist cloth with the little tongue of cloth both in front and the back." Twilight blinked several times. " 'Little tongue'? Very specific."

"Still better than giving them a name like 'macuahuitl'."

"It is a very dangerous opponent to face as the torso twist and spin during combat. The Mazeiyan is easily capable of fighting off up to fifty opponents at the same time, its legs moving about with precision so that both torsos can fight and counter any one pony going to attack them." Twilight hummed the further she went. "Despite their combat prowess and abilities, they have no defense against magic. Depending on the locale they were found in, they can go from top B ranks to lower A ranks in the monster hunter classifications. There have been rumors of a possible S rank in the Neighpon lands, but the possibilities of the Meyi civilization being there is improbable."

The lavender alicorn levitated a notebook, a quill, and some sink towards her to write down the rumor. 

"You're planning on going there?" Spike asked.

"The idea of finding them in Neighpon would be an archaeological marvel! It would completely rewrite history!" Twilight shouted enthusiastically. 

"Well, before you have an aneurysm, why not look for more things in the journal? You didn't find much."

Twilight shrugged and went through a few more pages. "I still find it weird why the writer specified the 'rank' of this creature and not the throos."

"Maybe because they aren't conventional monsters to fight? He never really mentioned anything aside from them just...hunting changelings in the woods."

"True...Hmmmm. There's this bizarre creature."

There were two images for this bizarrety. The first displayed a wide, fleshy funnel from the front, its form tightening towards the bottom. The second showed a headless creature with a large mouth lined with sharp teeth and filled with even more teeth. On the sides were six arms ending in a large, sharp protrusion, and the top and bottom of its body had multi-jointed legs ending in downward-facing 'tacks'.

"The Sonkol: A night hunter. It climbs on walls, trees, and anything it really can. Its limbs allow it to grab onto whatever surface; Its boneless body allows it to twist and reposition itself; Its 'wings' only serve as a measure of protection and camoflauge since these folds of skin can also change color and visual 'texture' when needed. Despite their bodies resembling a giant mouth with many fingers on them, they are not voracious eaters. They are more akin to snakes in that they...swallow their prey...whole."

"Mmmm...tasty..." Spike stuck his tongue out.

"They are very clumsy and rely on a surprise pounce to catch their prey, preferring those of large size. They do prey on ponies and griffins, often setting up shop in populated cities."

Spike audibly screeched.

"It says 'cities', Spike. Not villages." Twilight shook her head. "Anyways, the Sonkol hide in the most populated zones and grab an unsuspecting passer-by, making them rather easy for hunters to find. It is strictly a C class, as it is clumsy, slow, and does not have any true abilities aside from camoflauge. A hunter experienced enough with camoflauge can easily see where they are, especially from their greedy hunger that sets them in populated areas."

Twilight nodded and closed the book. "Wow. That was a lot to take in."

Spike nodded. "I really wanted to hear more, though. That last one didn't have much on it."

"Well, I'd rather go to bed, but what if I find a creature that I haven't looked at yet for tomorrow?"

"That sounds like a great idea!"

Twilight laughed and gestured to spike. "Okay, okay. Calm down. Let me see." The mare fumbled randomly through the pages with her hoof and stopped it with a gently stomp. "Hm? What's this? Hecatonchires class? The Yuhis?"