//------------------------------//
// Stand Up To Them... 
// Story: As a Family 
// by Dashzilla93 
//------------------------------//

Marabunda's ear twitched, signaling him something was wrong. He looked behind himself, but, once again, was caught off-guard. Normally, he would easily take on a group, but this one was working together from all sides and forced him to put more effort into his actions. He growled in anger and made swipes at the earth ponies first, but yipped in shock when one of them somehow zoomed closed to him, smiling at him somewhat disturbingly. He blinked a few times before this pink pony pulled a blue cannon out of nowhere from her odd mane and immediately blasted him in the face with confetti. He roared in hysteria and frantically rubbed at his muzzle, spitting out some that got in his mouth before glaring back at the one responsible for this without a shred of fear -- though he was still confused how this pony did that. And why wasn't she showing fear towards him? He took great pride in intimidating others, so why wasn't this one afraid?

"Surprise!" Pinkie Pie grinned once he saw her. She opened up a random birthday gift and showed it to him, much to his already noticeable confusion. He looked inside, but a thick-layered cake launched itself out and splattered all over his face, making him roar in agitation, "Hehe!~ Double surprise!" Pinkie Pie chuckled at the manticore, showing no fear herself.

Marabunda groaned in irritation as the sweet's frosting stung his eyes. He quickly wiped at his eyes so he could see his attackers; the repeated attacks to his face, he quickly figured out they're aiming there so he wouldn't see the others coming – something he found clever, but not clever enough. He took one step, but his eyes bug out as suddenly tripped. He slammed to the ground with decent force, but it wasn't enough to knock him out. Out of the blue, something wrapped around his feet and pulled them out from under him? Just how fast are these little morsels? He looked to the right and saw the fleeing rainbow tail of a cyan Pegasus before he noticed his hind legs were tied up by a rope. Guess earth ponies and unicorns aren't the only ones joining in this fight.

Rainbow Dash smirked proudly as she managed to knock him off his paws, and Applejack managed to stall him with her lasso, "Nice work of that rope, AJ."

Applejack pulled her rope loose. She nodded proudly and smugly smiled at Marabunda that's stalling the monster, "Not so bad yourself with that rainbow wrap around the front." She complimented, pulling her attention away from Marabunda as Rainbow Dash landed right next to her.

Marabunda growled in fury as he got up and raised his stinger. An opportunity presented itself to him. Like the miserable dragon, he was gonna impale these mares and knock them out, for good. 

Gilda quickly noticed Marabunda's sneak attack and gasped. Instincts kicked in and she dashed over to her friends and tackled the two away as she spouted, "LOOK OUT!" The stinger stabbed into the ground, narrowly missing them.

Marabunda increasingly grew frustrated every minute. For such little morsels and playthings, these beings were quite a slippery bunch. However, his frustration vanished when an oddly familiar voice yelled to him. 

"Hey, you overgrown inbred of a scorpion and a lion!" 

Marabunda paused, feeling truly insulted by that; it infuriated him! Calling him ugly was one thing, but to mock his appearance by labeling him with such a vulgar term easily riled him up. He growled lowly and looked to the voice. He found a pegasus pony and an earth pony armed with weapons. He tilted his head, getting an odd sense of déjà vu.

"Remember me?" The pegasus pony smirked at him and turned his head, revealing the scar on his face. 

Filthy stood by and glared at Marabunda. He kept a tough exterior going, but deep down he was terrified. It's been a long time since he and Drift ever did something like this -- and this was the very creature that ended it. He hoped to Celestia he hadn't lost his touch. 'I think he doesn't remember me,' Filthy thought, 'I should be happy, but I'm not.' He felt a bit of jealous from Drift, but chuckled to himself. Figured the one with the scar would have the bad-stallion moment.

He took a minute to think, but Marabunda actually froze when he figured it out and his eyes widen in surprise and recognition. And for good reason. He knew there was a reason why he felt he knew these creatures from somewhere, and by encountering this pony – it came to him. 

Years ago, he had fought a group of ponies, and this group had two specific ponies that look just like the pegasus and earth pony – even their features are the same. But when he fought their group, he took one of their own out as his meal for the day and left them, scarred, literally for one of them. He looked on in shock as he quickly connected the pieces – these two ponies before him are the same ponies he fought years ago. The scarred one proved it. 

He gave a low growl, narrowing his devilish eyes at the Pegasus, his tongue lightly rubbing against his chipped fang and extending a claw further from one of his paws – he definitely remembered him alright. Same goes for the earth pony next to him. He let out a roar at both of them, ready to settle this once and for all.

"Well, say ‘Hello' to my little friend!" Drift shouted as he pointed his wrist crossbow at Marabunda.

"Oh? He does remember me?" Filthy said, surprised for a moment. "I guess I should feel honored." Filthy pointed his wrist bomb-flinger at Marabunda as both of them fired their respective weapon. Drift launched steel pebbles at Marabunda and Filthy fired a gas-bomb afterward.

Marabunda roared in agony as their shots manage to hit their mark, backing him up a decent distance away. The pebbles struck him in his furless spots and made him yip; they felt like hard pinches, but not enough to make him bleed or anything; they were just annoying. Marabunda roared in annoyance and tried to get them to stop, but was suddenly met by a green football-shaped object that soared up and crashed onto his snout, causing him further pain as it exploded on impact. 

Marabunda howled in shock, confusion, and agitation as to what the heck just happened and wondered what was just thrown at him. He was stunned as an unknown green mist appeared and circled his head. Marabunda had no clue what those ponies just did, but that was very annoying and very new to him. He didn't think much of the green mist, so he tried to fix his muzzle by giving it a whiff of air -- huge mistake! He snapped his eyes open and mental glass broke as he grabbed his snout, clenching it hard as he howled in unbridled pain and irritation. 

Of all pains he could've taken, he would've gladly taken the pain inflicted by the object or the explosion that came after, or even both! Granted, it would still hurt like a mother, but it would be better than whatever this smell was. It reeked so bad that it threw his senses in a whirligig of uncomfortable nausea and pain. He didn't know what those ponies threw at him, but it was unbearable and he came close to feeling dizzy from being in this mist. It didn't seem poisonous, but it sure left him wanting to backtrack what he was thinking for even taking a whiff of this ungodly painful mist. Then he started to feel the skin on his face get irritated and itchy for some reason and his breathing started to slow. He had to think of something fast!

This was great for Drift and Filthy as that gas bomb was strong enough to cover any other scent Marabunda could pick up -- meaning they now had another advantage, but for how long was the real question. It wasn't gonna be enough to take the rogue manticore down, so they needed to find further weak points or make new ones.

The ponies and griffon yelled as they maneuver their attacks on the manticore while keeping a distance from his claws, his teeth, and his tail. Once they got away and saw what just occurred, they were shocked to find that they managed to make Marabunda howl in agony. But how?

Even Filthy was confused by this. Just what did he launch at Marabunda to make him acted like a cowardly kitten? "Drift, what was that I just launched?" Filthy asked, confused by what he did. Of all the weapons he seen back in the day, he's never seen a gas bomb powerful enough to cause that much pain to a creature like Marabunda.

To say he was proud was an understatement. Drift knew this new ammunition would work, but never anticipated it would work that well, "I can't explain too much, but I had a lot of time on my hooves and I may have made a couple of tear gas bombs."

This caught Filthy by surprise. Gilda and Rainbow Dash overheard this and listened in on their conversation, "You made tear gas bombs?!" Filthy said in shock from this revelation. "Just what did you put in these bombs to make them stronger?" This was beyond anything he remembered when using weapons like tear gas bombs. He recalled them able to stun ponies, but nothing of the sort that would affect animals. Just what was Drift hiding?

Drift was silent for a moment as he calmly looked to the side, but hesitated to reveal just what he used to make those powerful versions of the regular tear gas bombs, but to put it simply, he quickly explained in a slight hesitant tone, "I... uh... may have used raw lemon juice, pepper spray, and skunk fumes to make those."

Filthy just looked at him blankly and blinked several times to process what he just heard. He was about to speak, but Rainbow Dash cut them off before they could continue the fight.

"Are you kidding me right now, Drift?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell anypony about this?" Gilda just gave Rainbow Dash a confused glance, wondering why she would ask that when clearly there was no reason for Drift to tell anyone. It was just a coincidence that this was brought into play.

Drift rolled his eyes and glared back at Rainbow Dash, "Now is not the time, Rainbow Dash. I'll explain everything when Marabunda is dead!" He glared back at Marabunda who flapped his wings and blew the gas away. The gas may be gone, but the sight of Marabunda's face all red and near bubbly from the gas was unnerving. 

"Drift, buddy, is there something else you're not--"

"Less talky, more fighty!" Drift interrupted as Marabunda wiped his eyes before finding Drift and Filthy and roared in mass annoyance.

Everyone went back into battle mode as they prepared for Marabunda's next attack, but it seemed he was more focused on Drift and Filthy rather than Applejack and the others.

"Get him, daddy!" Scootaloo cheered her father on.

"Go, daddy, go!" Silver Spoon agreed as she cheered for her dad as well.

Drift and Filthy heard their children cheer for them, but they remained focused on Marabunda. Having their attention away for only a second would spell disaster.

Drift spoke to Filthy while he kept his focus on the enraged manticore, "Filthy, let's change things up a bit. I'm only going to explain this once." Filthy glanced at Drift, wondering what he meant by that. "Our wrist weapons can change ammunition with just a switch."

Filthy took a look at his weapon and noticed there were three extra tubes around it. They weren't opened like the one above his hoof, but they seemed to act as storage. How many, he didn't know, but with what he launched at Marabunda seemed light, so that explained why it didn't have much weight to it and why it wasn't holding him back. How he hadn't noticed this was beyond him, but it was the least of his problems right now, "I can see that, but what are you planning?" Filthy asked.

"We just used defense, now we go offense," Drift suggested as he clicked the switch on his weapon to change the ammunition.

Filthy went on ahead and did the same thing and clicked his switch. Whatever was the next ammunition in this thing, he was more than anticipated to see. How Drift managed to make these devices seemed impossible to him. Nopony has ever once made weapons quite like them; he was truly blown away, but he didn't show it to Drift or anyone else, but another thought did cross his mind and it made him itch for an answer, "Drift, who did give us that contract, anyway?"

Drift paused for a moment, it never occurred to him who gave them the contract, but it's been years since it was given, "I don't know who gave it to us, but I get the feeling we might find out soon -- if we succeed."

Filthy nodded and turned his attention back to Marabunda, "Right."

Without hesitation, Marabunda charged at the former trophy hunters, roaring in absolute fury.

Drift quickly barked "Break!" as they managed to dodge in time just as Marabunda landed a strong swipe at the ground, leaving a deep claw mark. The manticore growled, only to see his two assailants run in opposite directions of one another. He would be confused, but the tactic they seemed to use felt familiar to the rogue -- go separate so one can be a distraction while the other attacked. As if that tactic would ever work on him. So, he waited them out, waiting for one to make the first move. Sure, he wanted to tear them apart, but he wasn't gonna be fooled easily. He glanced at the two circling around him, but which one was he gonna go first? Or should he do a fake-out and go for the other, leaving the second one thinking he was going for him. Yeah, that's the plan.

Filthy was determined to find out what else was in his weapon. He clicked the switch and now he was eager, but a bit hesitant, to fire it. He didn't know what other ammunition was in this bomb-flinger, but he was about to find out once he found his target of range. He and Drift kept running around Marabunda in hopes he could find the right target. There was no telling who this beast was going after first, but a voice in the back of his head asked, 'why isn't he attacking right now?' and 'Is he going to attack Drift first?' The latter question was soon answered.

Gilda and Rainbow Dash were just as eager to join in the fight. Like Spike and Smolder, they were ready to jump into action when Marabunda or the two stallions decide to make a move.

While ready if needed, Applejack, Big Mac and Rarity were too fixated on the fight at hoof. All three of them were capable fighters, but if they joined in right now it would be overcrowded. Besides, they had to keep their unconscious dragon friend safe for the time being and Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom would gladly take that mission while the adults kept watch in case the fillies were needed for the fight. 

Spoiled Rich was stunned by what she was seeing – her husband, showing a side she had never personally witnessed before. She remembered him telling her of his stories back in his trophy hunting days, but she thought all of that was just a fluke; just stories to make him sound cool. Truth be told, the reason she married him was just for his bits, nothing more, nothing less; she wanted to feel like she was on top. But, to now see him unleash this side on this beast? It was real! He wasn't faking it. It was happening as she watched, out the window, her own husband fight off a monster like he said in his stories. She couldn't believe her eyes, nor could she keep them away from him. Needless to say, for the first time since they married, her heart started to pound in an odd rhythm and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks; a genuine loving smile formed on her face as she witnessed this hidden personally, swooning over her husband's bravery. "That's my stallion…" she whispered softly to herself, falling in love with her husband all over again. She may be in trouble with him, but this new side of his sure got her attention and made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and she didn't care if anypony saw her.

Diamond was amazed to see her father fight with Drift against the monster she had summoned. While she loved her father with all her heart, she had never seen him get so physical before. This made her respect her father even more, although she knew she was in for quite the punishment afterwards. "Please make it out okay, dad…"

With a few more laps around Marabunda, the beast made a move going after Drift. He let out a roar but Filthy whistled to him loudly to get his attention -- it worked. Marabunda turned around and saw the other pony stand and glare at him without any hint of fear, but he could smell it from him. If this pony was willing to die now, he'd be obliged to do so. Marabunda cackled a bit and made a toothy grin at Filthy before noticing him lift the strange weapon up at him. Maranbunda covered his muzzle, expecting this one to launch the same thing he launched before. His muzzle slowly recovered, but he was smart enough to learn from his first mistake. He was ready for him, this time.

Filthy focused his aim at Marabunda before Drift shouted at his friends to "Look away!" Marabunda heard that and glanced at Drift, but then heard a loud foomp. Quickly, he turned his head just in time to see a pineapple-shaped object fly up to his forehead and barely tap between his eyes.

Having heeded Drift's words, all their friends and family looked away or ducked for cover. Drift and Filthy averted their eyes away while Marabunda kept his attention on this second strange object the pony flew. Instincts told him to quickly get out of there when he realized this could be another explosive object -- but it was too late. The odd-shaped object exploded in his face and creates a powerful blast of light, brighter than the sun's morning rays. Those who weren't caught in the blast, looking away and/or ducking cover, still had to cover their eyes due to the intense light the projectile emitted. Marabunda howled in agony yet again and grabbed his eyes, but the damage was already done. His eyes felt like they've been jabbed with daggers and he could not pull them out. Out of desperation, Marabunda started swinging his paws randomly, hoping to hit something. He roared in irritated panic. First his snout, now his eyes?! He was fooled, yet again! Okay, that tore it right there. No more games, all these ponies will die by his teeth and claws! Everyone dies! He didn't care who he hit.

It lasted for a few seconds, but the flash ceased and the offensive allies went for the attack. Drift aimed his dart launcher and fired first, planting a pin needle-like dart dead center in Marabunda's right paw. A perfect shot, but Marabunda felt the sting on the needle and instantly headed to the direction where the dart was launched. He swiped but hit nothing as Drift dodged to the right and fired his weapon again; launching two more pin needle darts at Marabunda's shoulder and hip. Marabunda tried to jump at Drift, but with fast reflexes, Drift evaded the assault like a salmon evading the jaws of a shark. Drift ran to the left this time and fired again, launching three more pin needle darts with pinpoint accuracy. The darts pierced themselves into a bald spot on Marabunda's right arm, his right thigh and achilles heel. Drift glared determinedly as he heard Marabunda howl each time a dart was planted into him. A dragon's wrath, tag-teams from the other groups, but this was the tag-team that needed to end this. There was no way Marabunda was gonna survive this kind of tag-team assault for long. They were not gonna get up close -- it was all about long-ranged assault. Drift and Filthy had to finish this now and avenge their fallen friend. The thought of that contract meant nothing to them.

Like Diamond and Spoiled, Fluttershy and Scootaloo were in awe as they watched Drift fight off against Marabunda. Like the Riches, they got to experience they're loved one in action -- and they were in awe by what they were watching.

Scootaloo smiled excitedly and cheered for her father. Seeing him like this made her respect him for more than she should. He was fighting a monster and injuring him. Not only that, but he was gonna help her get revenge for what that monster did to Spike. "Get him, daddy! You can do it!" Scootaloo cheered. She didn't know what Filthy was doing, but she didn't care because whatever her daddy had planned, it was working.

Fluttershy just remained silent, but she would be lying to herself if she said this was not the most coolest thing she's ever seen her stallion do. Drift ran around, dodging swipes and tail lashes while fighting back without throwing a punch. As much as she wanted to stop him, she was not gonna do just that; she knew what Drift had to do and she couldn't be more proud of him. She hated this fact, but rogues had to be put down. It hurt her because they were animals, too, but she understood they were a threat to other animals; she wanted to help them turn back to what they were and help them have a better life, but it just pained her to know that some rogues just can't see reason and the best way to take care of them, and put them out of their misery, was to put them down. And it seems Marabunda was a lost cause and beyond redemption because from what she witnessed from him during this fight, while he still has his sanity, he doesn't even regret what he does or who he kills. Marabunda needed to be put down. Even with this caring side of her going on, another side of her loved seeing Drift take action and fend off against Marabunda. It was so mesmerizing - it made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside, too. 'Please, be careful, Drift,' Fluttershy thought as she kept her attention to her stallion.

Vinyl was overjoyed when she managed to get a view of what went down outside. It didn't take her long to rush outside to see the action. Granted, she should be inside, but she didn't want to miss any of this. She stood next to Fluttershy and Scootaloo, but never kept her eyes away from Drift who was kicking serious flank right now. "Get him, D-Bro!" Vinyl cheered. "Take him down!" 

She witnessed the dragons had their round, then Applejack and her family along with Rarity and Sweetie Belle, but now she anticipated this moment. With what she did to bring Drift's weapons over here, she hoped it paid off. She smiled excitedly and felt herself get pumped watching this fight. Drift was already in combat with Filthy and she loved what she was seeing. 

But the fight was about to end shortly...

Drift ran around Marabunda and glared at Filthy. Filthy glared back. Drift motioned him away and Filthy nodded, quickly leaving the fray to get back to his daughters and wife as Drift straightened his arm and fired one more dart, planting it right onto Marabunda's chest. His wrist weapon suddenly beeped and a red button flash on the right side of it. He looked down at it for a moment then back at Marabunda, but the rogue manticore heard it and tried to land a bite for it. Drift flinched and side-stepped out of the way; Marabunda just inches away from him. But a hardy, buck to an injury on his muzzle, Marabunda was stunned momentarily. Drift jumped a good few feet away from his foe and glared at him with no hint of sympathy, at all, as the beast howled in pain from the kick and being turned into a pincushion. 

Drift stood there for a moment to let Marabunda soak in the pain he and Filthy gave him, glaring coldly down at the monster who scarred him, "Yeah, it hurts doesn't it?" he said to the beast as everyone watched with anticipation. "Go back to Tartarus where you belong, you murdering bastard." Drift turned around and looked at his marefriend and daughter and smiled at both of them. Both looked at him back and wondered what he was planning. Marabunda was blind temporarily and everyone knew that, but Drift inhaled and shouted "Hey!" to get Marabunda's attention. Marabunda heard him and roared right behind him, but a quick slam on the button and the red tips on all the darts turned into a beeping frenzy.

Marabunda's ears twitched and flopped from the unusual beeping. He groaned confusingly until the one dart in his right paw beeped faster until it exploded with strong force, pushing his paw away, then the one on his shoulder exploded; the darts exploded a trailed on Marabunda left by Drift. And Drift stood there facing away from Marabunda and hearing his cried pains of agony from the timed and controlled explosions.

Fluttershy, Scootaloo, Vinyl, everyone there who stayed behind watched as Marabunda was bombarded with explosion after explosion. Could this be it? Could this be the moment that Marabunda finally goes down? They couldn't tell, but from the wails of Marabunda, it seemed like it was.

The dart that sunk into Marabunda's achilles heel was next to explode and the force pushed his leg up before the next needle exploded and lifted him up a few inches. He slammed to the ground on his back and groaned groggily. Marabunda actually whimpered in pain and tried his darnedest to withstand the blows, but it was more than he could handle. How many explosions was he gonna take? Marabunda felt like he went through a swamp full of crocodiles and thorn bushes. Two ponies bested him in a short amount of time? How stupid can that get? He was still alive, so he could get back up and -- ....then he heard a louder version of the beeps he heard seconds ago and opened his eyes and looked down. With his vision coming back to him, he could finally see. But what he didn't want to see was a larger dart planted in his chest. The beeping stopped. Marabunda widened his eyes in shock and let out a quick grunt before an explosion with greater magnitude erupted and overtook his body, rocketing a large smoke plume in its wake.

Drift stood there when the explosion went off, never looking back and not even acknowledging the last cry of his fallen enemy. He felt the force of the blast but kept his ground, staying strong as he felt his mane flow with the wind. He and Filthy had won. 

The explosion echoed across Ponyville. Those who managed to get away from the fight and outside of Ponyville heard the blast, but didn't want to see the result. They were only concerned about their safety and that's it.

With the explosion having done its job but kept that smoke plume in play, Drift just walked away, heading back to his friends and family. All while they had faces like they've just witnessed the end of an action film taking place -- but this actually happened right in front of them.

They were also confused by what just happened, too. Did they win? They weren't sure. Marabunda didn't jump out of the smoke plume to ambush Drift. So, they must've won!

Drift approached a flabbergasted Fluttershy, Scootaloo and Vinyl. All having slack-jawed mouths and dinner-plate-sized eyes. Drift chuckled and jokingly teased them, "You know you girls'll catch flies if you keep your mouths open like that." But he was immediately tackled by a pink blur and pinned down rather easily.

"That was awesome, Drift!" Drift flinched as he was caught off-guard and facing a very relieved and thankful Pinkie Pie. She looked at his weapon and asked him dozens of questions, like "What is this?" and "How did you make this?" Drift tried to answer her questions as best he could, but with fighting Marabunda he was well exhausted. Lucky for him, Rainbow Dash came by and pushed Pinkie pie off him.

"Come on, Pinkie, give him some space."

"Aww, come on Dashie! Aren't you curious, too?"

Drift blinked in confusion, wondering what just happened before a talon reached out to him. He looked up to see Gilda, before offering a hoof up. The Apple family soon followed. Rarity and Sweetie Belle had Smolder in their magic grasp before placing her on a bench.

Drift smiled a bit and happily took Gilda's talon, getting up as he dusted himself off. "Thanks, Gilda."

"Pfft, more like we should be thanking you and your friend," Gilda retorted as he pointed to Filthy hugging his wife and daughters. 

Drift smiled as Dash gave him a light punch on the arm with a proud grin as she agreed with Gilda, "I gotta admit man, that was 200% awesome!" He blushed bashfully, wanting to say that it was nothing and that he was simply keeping everyone safe until Gilda asked, "But Pinkie does have some good questions. Just what the heck are those things?"

Drift looked at his Dart launcher and tried to come up with a good explanation, but none didn't really seem to come to mind, "It's kind of hard for me to explain just exactly what I used to construct these weapons. I was just in the zone and used my free time."

"Heh, apparently ya'll use your free time rather well if you made those do-hickies. Ammunition like that is not something I've ever seen before," and with the weapons Applejack and her family have in their barn, that's saying something.

"Eeyup," Big Mac said, agreeing with Applejack.

Drift rubbed the back of his head and chuckled a little. He didn't really think much of what he made. When he set his mind to what he wanted to make, he does it. And it just so happened he had those wrist weapons in mind. But, he didn't know if he made them out of revenge for his fallen friend or not... but, if it meant anything, he was glad he made them and used them against the very monster that killed him. Drift looked over to Diamond and Spoiled in a conflicted glare. What those two did was outright stupid and would've gotten tons of ponies killed, but on the other hoof, he wanted to thank them for letting him have the opportunity to get his revenge. He raised a brow to himself; best not to say that in front of his family. But, speaking of family, he glanced over to Fluttershy and Scootaloo who rushed him and hugged him close. He saw his step-sister approach him and give him a light hoofbump on the shoulder.

"D-bro, that was one of the coolest things I've seen you do, ever," Vinyl complimented. Throughout her life, she's never seen anything like that before from Drift. If this was what he did before, he would've been a champ at this.

Drift merely chuckled at that, and rewardingly joked about himself, "You think so? I thought I was rusty there with my aiming."

"Rusty my flank!" Scootaloo spouted excitedly, wagging her tail like a puppy. "You were awesome, daddy! You dodged those attacks as fast as Rainbow Dash dodged lightning one time."

Dodging lightning? Drift blinked a few times and gazed at Rainbow Dash who promptly looked away, nonchalantly whistling. Drift just chuckled and looked back at Scootaloo, "Guess your old stallion still has some fight left in him, huh?" Scootaloo just smiled excitedly and hugged her dad close, happy to know she came from a stallion who just did what he did.

Then Drift gazed to his marefriend and smiled lovingly, happy to see her in one piece, "Sorry you had to see all that, babe," Drift softly apologized, knowing that watching the fight may have been hard for her, due to her care of animals – she may have had some sympathy towards Marabunda, but it was also probably not worth it as she must've figured out. "I bet it was tough for you to --" he noticed the flutter in her eyes and how glossy they looked '--Oh, I think I know what she's thinking right now.' She leaned close to him and nuzzled against him like a lioness would rub against her pack leader. She was also glad that he kept his promise and made it out alive.

"I'm just glad you did it, Drift," Fluttershy said, with a little worry in her voice. "If it wasn't for you, Filthy and everyone else, Marabunda would've caused severe damage to Ponyville."

Ain't that the truth. He was relieved they managed to pull off taking down Marabunda. But, then it dawned on him, "Oh yeah, we need to get Spike and Smolder to the hospital. Let's hope they have anti-venom for Spike." Drift gazed over to Spike while the others did so, too. He was right, Spike was out of commission and Smolder was unconscious.

"Oh, Twilight is not gonna be too happy to see this," Rarity said before everyone else had the idea of Twilight going in a fit of rage. If a manticore wasn't bad enough, a rage-filled alicorn would be just as bad.

"Wait, where is Twilight, anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked, confused by her absence. "I thought she'd show up by now?"

"I think she went to a royal gathering with Princess Celestia and Ember," Applejack recalled. At least, that's what she thought.

"Well, either way, we need to get them to the hospital, fast," Gilda suggested.

Fluttershy nodded, "Right, I'll see if I can extract --" Fluttershy looked ahead to where Marabunda was... until her eyes widened and the look of panic on her was known. Drift saw this and quickly turned around. Everyone else did the same thing.

Filthy and his family looked as well, but they were none too pleased.

The smoke plume nearly faded, but that didn't stop Marabunda from slowly walking out as if nothing ever happened to him. He looked more damaged than usual thanks to the explosions; smoke trailed flowed out of his fur, while some were singed off and his skin was burnt, bleeding and bruised, but he was all too alive and ready to resume his warpath. He glared coldly at them, baring his fangs.

"Oh, come on! Can't this guy stay down already?!" Rainbow Dash barked in frustration. After all that, he still won't go down? What was this manticore's damage?

Drift looked on in shock and dismay. His tactic didn't work? But how? He could've sworn he made those weapons powerful enough to take down animals like Marabunda. Just what happened to him over the years? Drift growled and shouted, "Why won't you die?!" as Marabunda let out a loud primal roar, ready to resume the fight.

"Yelling at him is not gonna bring him down," Gilda exclaimed, "We just have to keep fighting until he goes down. Who has more fight in them?" 

Of course, she had Rainbow Dash eagerly by her side ready to fight, but Drift and Filthy gave their battle-ready glares and prepared their weapons. As much as their families didn't want them to continue, they had to. The Apple Family was more than ready to join in. Rarity and Sweetie Belle used their magic to levitate Smolder and Spike back into Sugar Cube Corner, but Vinyl followed them and headed inside. Gallus was already inside before anyone noticed. It didn't take long for the Cake family to quickly come by and help Rarity and Sweetie Belle take Smolder and Spike up to a guest bedroom and place them on separate beds. The cake twins were being tended to by Pinkie Pie, who rushed in before anyone else could, in the master bedroom. She held them close to her while the roars of Marabunda went off outside; they were not gonna have the twins watch any of what was happening outside.

Fluttershy and Scootaloo followed next, but Fluttershy looked back and gazed at Drift, 'Be careful, honey,' she thought as she went into Sugar Cube Corners.

"I'll cast a shield spell around the bakery if things get out of hoof!" Rarity suggested and announced to her friends.

But in no time, at all, Marabunda's persistence showed and, like a crazed rhino, charged at his seven opponents, intent on killing them all. No more stalling, playing, nothing. He was out for blood now. ‘That's it! No more fooling around!' He thought in fury. He was done playing games – these seven were going down and he will not quit until they fall.

Like Marabunda, Gilda and Rainbow Dash flew first after the manticore, but Sweetie Belle, wanting to have some action of her own and rushed to the entrance of Sugar Cube Corners and used her own magic to fire a single blast of magic. That blast turned out to be useful as it flew passed Gilda and struck Marabunda in his charred cheek, catching him off-guard.

Gilda took this advantage and swung her claw at him. She got a hit in and sliced some bits of charred fur off of the manticore's cheek, right on the spot Sweetie Belle blasted, drawing some blood. But seeing as how this beast was larger than her, she made sure to fly back a distance to avoid the claws. "Punch and run!" She was going for a hit and run tactic, only she wasn't going to run, she was hitting and getting distance. 

Dash smirked as she taunted him, sticking her tongue out at him "Nyah-nyah!" She ducked her head down and barrel-rolled to the side, dodging a swing from that scorpion tail. "Missed me a mile!" Rainbow Dash taunted.

Gallus peeked over the window and watched the fight. He saw his Glinda's sister and cheered for Gilda eagerly, pumping his talon as he grinned, "Get him, Gilda!"

Scootaloo hoped her idol would come out okay after witnessing that near dodge from the tail, "Come on, Dash… get him…!" She uttered in worry.

Gilda smirked when she heard Gallus cheer for her and dove down to Marabunda, slicing his left flank and his wing with her talons. If he can't fly, he'll be grounded. Then that's the plan! "Rainbow, Drift, Filthy, go for the wings! If he can't fly, he won't have an -- ack!" She was struck hard in the side and gut by a charred wing.

Marabunda growled as he pulled a cheap shot by swinging his wing and knocking Gilda away with powerful force. Gilda let out a screaming squawk as she is sent flying back.

Fluttershy and Gallus looked horrified when that happened, calling out in worry for her, "Gilda!"

Gilda crashed into a wagon and managed to knock it over. Thankfully, there was a hay pile to cushion her crash, but it was still a sore crash-landing either way. She let out a dove coo of pain once she hit the ground, sprinkling hay on herself.

Rainbow Dash winced and flew over to her best friend within minutes and shook her on the shoulder, worried deeply that the manticore may have hurt her bad, "Gilda? Are you alright?"

Gilda groaned and opened her eyes, dazed a little. She sat back up and rubbed her head and holding her gut. She nearly had the wind knocked out of her but she miraculously avoided the claw tip on the wing; she was down, she was sore, but she wasn't completely out yet. "Geez, that hurt. How can a manticore be that tough? Where is he from, the darkest parts of the Everfree?" She wiped the sweat off her forehead and caught her breath a bit slowly so as not to increase the pain from getting knocked in the gut by a rogue. 

Gilda was tough and considered herself a fighter, but if she got struck like that again, it could only end badly for her.

Rainbow Dash was relieved her best friend was alright but she growled as she looked back at the fight, watching her friends giving it everything they've got against the persistent manticore. "We gotta take him down one way or another…"

"Come on ya'll, don't let this buzzard anywhere near us!" Applejack commanded. "Give him all ya got!" Applejack and her siblings launched more pies and fritters at Marabunda and Drift aided them by launching more iron pebbles. Marabunda blocked his face from being assaulted, but his arms were bombarded with pastries and pebbles, juices splattering and crumbs flying while pebbles bounced off of him. Filthy was about to get in the fray, but Marabunda roared loudly at them which got them to stop and cover their ears. But Drift took it like a champ and stepped ahead a bit.

Drift was out of explosive darts, so he had to come up with another plan. He snorted disappointedly to himself, 'Bummer, and I thought those darts would do the trick,' he thought to himself as he rushed toward Marabunda, firing more iron pebbles. Filthy had more ammunition to use and the thought of using his third round would be an ace in the hole. He gave his weapon another click as it switched ammunition. He was about to aim, but a sudden pained scream from Drift caught him by surprise.

Marabunda swung his left arm as hard and fast as he could and actually managed to strike Drift. To his luck, the manticore had him in his palm; he could've grabbed him right then and there, but instead, he launched him back with powerful force. Big Mac and Applebloom got out of the way, but Applejack and Filthy weren't as lucky as Drift crashed onto them with a hard thud, all three screaming or yelping in pain as they hit the ground in a heap. Marabunda smiled evilly; proud he managed to get a hit in this time.

Scootaloo gasped in horror, "Daddy!" but she wasn't the only one to get a jolt of horror as Diamond and Silver screamed to their father to get back up and fight, but it didn't look too good for him or Drift or Applejack. They were down, and they didn't seem to be getting back up. The force may have momentarily knocked them out, or at least dazed them good.

Marabunda then turned his attention to Big Macintosh and Applebloom near a tree. With them left, there was no way they were gonna win.

"Uh-oh…" Applebloom gulped as Big Mac winced once the manticore set his sights on them. Big Mac stood protectively in front of his sister as they started to back up when Marabunda began to approach the two to trap them. The look of death was all the Apple siblings could see from the approaching abomination.

"Applebloom, stay behind me…" He ordered while glaring at the beast.

Having no other ideas to take on this monster, Gilda growled in frustration, "Argh! What is up with this thing? Why is he so hard to take down?" Gilda glared at Marabunda wishing he'd just fall over and die already because this was not normal for any animal. 

Rainbow Dash shrugged, feeling defeated, "How should I know Gilda? Fluttershy might know, but she's in Sugar Cude Corner. If we even move, that freak of nature will come after us." She dropped on her butt next to Gilda and just watched. She could fight back, but what would she do? "Wait..." then it just occurred to her. A smiled rolled on her face, "Maybe I can use my sonic rainboom? With that kind of power, it can surely take him down, right?"

Gilda shook her head, "Doubt it. You could risk causing more damage than that thing over there. There has to be another way."

Suddenly, an eerie hiss filled the air and caught Rainbow Dash and Gilda's attention. They looked to their left and found something quite unexpected and shocking.

Big Mac and Applebloom were backed into a corner. They didn't know what else to do in this situation. It'd be suicide to fight this beast with bare hooves. Their long-ranged fighters were out of commission and they were almost out of pies to throw. Gilda and Rainbow Dash could keep him at bay, but they didn't know for how long. They look to see their friends watching in dismay. 

Big Mac gazed sadly at his Little Sugarcube, silently apologizing that he couldn't stop this monster and that she had to see him and Applebloom perish like this. But if he has to fight up close, it's a risk that he'll take to the end. ‘Little Sugarcube, if this is the end… then I'm glad that the last face I ever see along with my family's is yours.' He glared at the beast lightly and prepared to face him head-on.

Applebloom saw Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle watching helplessly, but she kept a firm smile on her face determined to fight till the end. She looked back at Marabunda with her big brother by her side and watched as the rogue manticore charged, aiming to finish them both off.

Both Apples braced for the worse, but to their surprise; to Fluttershy's and Scootaloo's surprise; to everyone's surprise who was still watching through their windows; a large lizard-like creature came out of nowhere and rushed Marabunda with a loud hiss, jumping onto him and forcing him to roll away, saving Applebloom and Big Macintosh.

Scootaloo gasped again, but this time with pure excitement and joy, "Varan!" 

Everyone watched in awe as they were about to watch nature fight nature. The whistle did the trick and now Varan came and joined the fight.

Both animals rolled against one another in a vicious tumble-fest, but it was Varan who came out on top and pushed Marabunda away and forced him on his back, but the manticore quickly got back on his feet and growled as he watched this new challenger stand in front of the ponies like a guardian among mortals. This was a perfect opportunity for Gilda and Rainbow to get out of harm's way as they swooped by and got Applejack, Filthy and Drift to safety while Big Mac took Applebloom and rushed away, leaving Varan to fight Marabunda. But Applebloom and Big Mac stopped a good few feet away to watch the fight take place.

Varan took a defensive stance, glaring daggers at the Marabunda. Having answered the whistle's call, Varan followed his instincts and raced for the location it came from – and when he heard fighting going on, he noticed it was a huge battle in the middle of town. And when he noticed his owner was in the middle of it, shaking in the middle of a sweets building; he glared and charged in to take part in the fight. 

Finally, another animal from the forest had arrived to fight him. He admitted these ponies put up quite a fight, but they were no match for his ferocity, stamina, and determination; he was injured to no end, but that was never gonna stop him. 

Perhaps this one could offer a challenge. It was a Komodo Dragon, so this had to be fun. Marabunda let out a deep roar to challenge the mighty lizard. The komodo immediately responded back with an intimidating hiss. 

Perfect.

Hissing loudly to Marabunda's challenge, Varan lunged with incredible speed and tackled the manticore by the front, pinning him down once knocking him off his feet and catching him completely off-guard by making him emit a sudden shocked yip. Varan started clawing at Marabunda, raking his front and back claws against Marabunda's charred skin. Marabunda repeated that same tactic with his claws, raking against Varan's thick hide.

The ponies and griffons could only watch as Scootaloo's pet fought against the manticore. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Gilda were happy to see him here, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were less than enthused but relieved someone came to the rescue, the others had no idea Varan was Scootaloo's pet; they just assumed a random Komodo Dragon showed up and wanted to fight. But with how Scootaloo was reacting, they trusted her motives to know that the Komodo Dragon was on their side.

"Go, Varan! Get him, boy!" Scootaloo called ecstatically. "Show him no mercy!"

The two beasts tussled with one another, swiping their respective claws at one another. Varan hissed aggressively as he tried to use his tail, but ended up smacking Marabunda's scorpion tail away with his claw. He was lucky, but he wasn't gonna celebrate just yet. Varan twirled around, slammed his powerful tail onto Marabunda's midsection and threw him onto his back, causing the manticore to howl in pain. Quickly, Varan ran up and slammed his talon-like claws onto Marabunda's cheek and pinned him down as he opened his jaw, ready to give a bite to his throat. Unfortunately for Varan, Marabunda slammed his fist into his face and knocked him off, making the Komodo squeal in pain. Varan backtracked and shook his head to null the pain away and watched as Marabunda got back up.

Gallus looked confused by what was going on. He looked to Scootaloo and pointed to Varan, "Wait, that's your pet?" Gallus asked, curiously.

Scootaloo turned to Gallus and gave him a confused look, "Yeah, why?"

Gallus shrugged nonchalantly, "No real reason. I'm just wondering how he's gonna take that thing down when Smolder, Spike, and your father and his friend couldn't take him down. All that and he's still standing. What does your pet have that they haven't tried?" 

Scootaloo would be insulted by that question, but Gallus knew nothing about Varan and his abilities -- even she doesn't know about them. But she had to think why she called him here, "I know I called him to help us. He's fast and strong."

"And scary," Silver Spoon pointed out.

"But, if I know Varan, he has abilities we don't even know, yet. Mom and I are trying to figure out what they are," Scootaloo said as she watched Varan tussle with Marabunda. As long as she's known the large komodo, she's wanted to know exactly what he's capable of -- this would be that opportunity. "But more importantly, I want him to help me get revenge for what he did to our friends, but this is also an opportunity for him, too." She gave Gallus a serious, determined glare, "Don't you want to get back at him for hurting Smolder and Spike?" This was a win-win for her and Varan. If Varan won, and she hoped he did, then they'd both get their revenge and everything would be at peace, again -- with her dad back in the picture, she'll have another to care about. But, the thought of seeing Spike getting better crossed her mind, as well.

As much as he wanted to hide it, she was right. He wanted revenge for what that manticore did to Spike and Smolder. They were his friends and now they were out of commission -- Spike being worse than Smolder. He felt useless right now and he was ashamed he didn't help but cowered like a scared little fledgling, but what else could he have done? All he'd do was just get in the way. "Fair enough, Scootaloo." 

Then both of them heard Varan hiss outside. They quickly looked out the window and saw Varan dodge a claw swipe from Marabunda then twirled around and gave Marabunda another solid smack to the thigh with his tail, forcing Marabunda back onto the ground. This got them to cheer some for the lizard, encouraging him to kick this monster's tail and grind him to dust.

"Hit him where it hurts, big fella!" Gallus called out to Varan while Scootaloo cheered in happiness.

Marabunda grunted in pain but he easily got back up. He bared his teeth and glared coldly into the Komodo Dragon's eyes, somehow sending a cold chill down his spine.

Varan froze a little from that cold glare as his own eyes widened from such a look; something about this manticore didn't seem quite right. That evil look in his eyes. Something about them felt familiar, but how? They reminded him of… the beast who killed his family and friends when he was young. 

Gallus looked confused by what was going on. They were just standing there not doing anything, but staring each other down, "Uh, Scootaloo, what's your pet doing?"

Scootaloo tried to figure that out herself, but then it dawned on her that the pieces she was trying to figure out earlier were not yet solved, but now she tried to think back to what she tried to remember what she got out of talking to Varan and her father. Then the pieces came back together. She gasped out loud and immediately rushed to the doors, heading outside.

Gallus flinched and widened his eyes in shock, "Scootaloo, what are you doing?!" Was she nuts? There was a monster out there that could tear her to pieces easily. 

Sweetie Belle and everyone else who saw her tried to get her to come back, but she would not listen. She stood in front of the door and gazed upon the two animals glaring at one another

Fluttershy, having been with her unconscious stallionfriend the whole time when Gilda placed him down next to her, Filthy was placed by Rainbow Dash in front of his family to be tended to by them, had noticed and heard everyone freaking out and then saw her daughter rush out the doors. Mother instincts quickly snapped on and she gasped in horror before rushing over to the doors, but it was too late. "Scootaloo, no!"

"Varan!" Scootaloo called out, getting his and Marabunda's attention. Varan looked at his owner confusedly, until he heard her shout to him, revealing the truth to him about what she has found out, "Varan, it was Marabunda who killed your friends and family, not Harry!"

Fluttershy opened the doors and yelled at Scootaloo to get back here, "Scootaloo, get back here this instant. You are gonna get yourself hurt!" But her words go by deaf ears as Scootaloo continued.

"Your trauma, your childhood, everything that was taken from you was because of him," she pointed to Marabunda, who was about to go after her, "Marabunda took it all away, so don't hold back anything. Take him down and avenge your friends and family!" Fluttershy rushed up, grabbed her and took her back inside.

Varan listened very closely before seeing his young master go back inside. He heard everything and the memories of his childhood came crawling back to him as his eyes slowly widened. 

The tree, the branch, the massacre, the monster, everything came back to him and what he saw attacking all his friends and family was not a bear... it was a manticore. 

A manticore that looked identical to Marabunda.

Varan stood there, shocked, but he came back to his senses and slowly gazed his vengeful eyes on Marabunda as he hissed in rage and realization. 

Now it all made sense why Angel and the others doubted that part of his tragic backstory about his supposed hatred for bears, he had been missing that one remaining piece of the puzzle and now his young master had completed it. The truth is right there, standing in front of him – his anger had been directed at the wrong creature! This behemoth was the one who took everything away from him and ruined his life, not Harry.

Marabunda looked back at Varan as he hissed at him furiously, ‘So, it was you, then. You took everything from me. I'll kill you, you demon! You killed my family! You killed my friends! You'll pay!' he hissed at him, letting Marabunda know of his rage. But Marabunda was unfazed.

The Manticore smirked at him, growling mockingly, ‘Well, well… now that the little speck mentioned it, I do recall one little lizard that slipped through my grasp years ago. And look at you now, all grown up and wanting revenge.' He could care less about any changes, but it was interesting to recognize the komodo that got away came crawling back as a full-grown adult. It pleased him to see the komodo was rearing for a fight, ‘Shall we finish what we started, then?' He licked his lips, rubbing his tongue against his teeth, leering at the lizard. ‘Komodo meat is considered a delicacy where I'm from~' He purred, chuckling darkly at Varan who glared viciously and furiously at him.

He ignored that last bit and growled lowly and angrily, 'Lets,' Varan hissed as he immediately charged and swung his claws, but Marabunda countered with a slash of his paw, managing to knick him on the shoulder.

Varan bellowed in pain and backed a step away, looking at his shoulder, he saw two cuts on his arm, yet he can still operate it. He glared and charged, tackling the manticore forcefully. He furiously hissed as he sliced at the bare spots that were missing fur and were charred, actually managing to cut into skin as he dug his claws in on them, causing Marabunda to roar in agony as warm blood started to pool under the komodo's claws. Varan desperately tried to latch his jaws on the beast's throat, but Marabunda was too quick and pushed his jaws away. 

He had to avenge his loved ones… he had to avenge his friends…

He gazed over to see Scootaloo near the window inside a building along with kind master looking to him with hope and shock in her eyes. Then he noticed others with young master -- those must be her friends.

…He had to protect his owner and her friends. ...He had to protect his new family!

However, he flinched as he was suddenly knocked off of his target due to being distracted, wheezing as Marabunda smacked him off of him. He tumbled on the ground and looked a bit dizzy but growled as Marabunda approached him to cause further damage.

Marabunda growled lowly to Varan, ‘I will give you this… these ponies are really starting to piss me off… but they got guts. Even ruffled me up something good.' He smirked evilly down at the lizard as he pinned him down with one paw by his head to prevent him from biting. He looked worse for wear, but this lizard was never gonna get that chance to kill him, ‘But too bad you can't do what they did.' He reared another paw up to deal a painful swipe to a struggling Varan.

Applebloom watched as she heard Varan whimper and struggle to break free. She heard Scootaloo got all preacher to him and wondered if she was friends with the big lizard. If she was, then it was hero time! 

She rushed up to Marabunda, shocking Big Mac, "Hey! Leave him alone, ya big bully!" She yelled at the rogue before giving him a head-butt to the leg, letting out a squeaky grunt once she literally hit her target head-on. 

Everyone who saw Applebloom watched on in absolute terror and dismay. They didn't know what to do to save her. Big Mac was the only one out there and he didn't seem strong enough to fight off that monster himself. Can this day get any worse? Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle freaked out and went into panic mode as they tried to go out there and help her.

"Okay, what is that kid doing?" Gilda asked, freaking out that a filly would throw herself out like that in front of a monster.

"Is she crazy?!" Scootaloo said in a panicked tone.

"She's gonna get herself killed!" Sweetie Belle said as they made an attempt to go for the door, but Fluttershy and Rarity intervened and grabbed them so they would leave; they wanted to protect them from getting hurt. Outraged, the fillies tried to break from their grasp but all their struggling managed to wake up Applejack.

"Oh, my head. What happened?" she looked over to find Fluttershy and Rarity trying to stop Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo from leaving. But she looked to her left to see Pinkie Pie tending to the cake family and caring for the twins. She didn't think much of it because she was too groggy from being used as a cushion for Drift, but reality set in and she shook her head to wake herself up and got up, wobbling a bit. 'Oh shoot, that manticore is still around!' She managed to right herself and rush up to the front, only to see Applebloom standing in front of the creature. Her heart skipped a beat and her whole orange color turned pale-white; now all she could think of was hoping this was a nightmare.

Curious, yet unfazed by the sudden bump to his hind leg, he turned his head and looked over his shoulder to see Applebloom rubbing her sore head. He smirked darkly as he growled to get the young filly's attention. Varan widened his eyes and attempted to hiss, but with his head pinned under his paw, there was nothing he could do to save the filly; his struggling would go unnoticed by the monster. All he could do was watch in fear and defeat as she looked up at him.

Applebloom rubbed her head to soften the pain, groaning softly. She knew that was a dumb move on her part. "Not one of my better ideas…" She wasn't as strong as her brother and sister, but she was getting there the more she trained, but she was still pretty young. Now she wondered if she got this varmint's attention long enough for Scootaloo's pet lizard to do something. A gust of hot air made her think otherwise. She looked up to find the nightmarish beast staring down at her with the intent of flattening her; that dark smirk still on his face, his teeth shining as he growled at her. Applebloom gulped as she could see her reflection in his teeth, blinking in worry, she sheepishly smiled and nervously waved at Marabunda, "Um, hehe…hi...?"

Marabunda didn't have to think twice as he roared down at the little filly and swiped her with his paw as if she was nothing but a gnat to him. The strong smack didn't seem much for the manticore, but for a small filly like Applebloom, it was a lot and it sent her flying back and crashing into the wagon full of leftover pie. 

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo called out in fear as they felt their own hearts break, thinking their friend just got killed. 

"APPLEBLOOM!!!" Applejack looked horrified while Big Mac immediately rushed to the wagon. She then heard magic go on before she looked to Rarity who just snapped her magic off and sighed in relief. "Rarity, what did you do?" Applejack asked, wondering in a state of panic.

Rarity gave a light chuckle and rubbed her horn to ease any stress from using that spell, "Shield spell. And just in time, too." Rarity had to act fast before that monster could -- and it paid off well. Though, as she cast her shield spell on Applebloom, she too felt the force of the strike; it almost felt like she got hit by a locomotive. But, now she just wished Applebloom made it out alright.

Applejack sighed in relief. She was gonna thank Rarity later for this.

Big Mac quickly reached into the pie wagon and pulled his little sister out; worried out of his mind. He looked down at her. Applebloom was out cold and a pie-covered mess with noticeable claw marks and bruises on her little body. Tears slowly ran down her face; even out cold, she was in deep pain. Big Mac placed an ear over her chest and heard a heartbeat; she was still alive. That protective shield of Rarity's never ceased to amaze them. He examined her body and saw that the claw marks ranged from her leg, torso, and cheek. She was nicked pretty good and bleeding a little, but she'll live.

Upon holding her unconscious form, he didn't look away as he felt his body go cold; he was in a strong case of guilt and shock. He didn't know if Applejack woke up and saw what happened, but if she was, she'd feel the same. 

The Apple Family looked out for each other through thick and thin and to see his little sister like this, hurt him to no end. He didn't focus on anything else around him -- not even the monster that struck her. He didn't know if Applebloom would make it or not. The eldest of the apple siblings started to tear up as he felt useless because he couldn't reach for his little sister in time. 

Why didn't he go after her? Why didn't he take her place? 

Big Mac felt near broken, until something in him snapped like a branch. That cold feeling he felt started to quickly warm up, his muzzle sneered and his eyes reddened. He got up and placed Applebloom back in the wagon; not on the ground. Then, all of his attention... now turned to Marabunda who felt nothing more than glee from what he did.

Applejack was indeed watching this and she wanted to go out and retrieve Applebloom, but she had to wait for the fire to cross by. She tensed up and her eyes spoke fear and shock when she saw the look in her brother's eyes, "Oh no...." 

Rainbow Dash noticed Applejack's unusual behavior and looked at her in confusion, "Uh, AJ, are you okay?" Other than witnessing her little sister get swatted by the manticore, Applejack should be mad, not scared.

Big Mac stood tall and growled angrily. He furiously turned to face Marabunda with a soul-piercing glare; his eyes glowing red with pure hate and unhinged rage. Marabunda noticed.

She didn't give much of an explanation, but she spoke as best she could while a few others were confused by her behavior, too, "Okay, y-ya'll know how Big Mac is usually quiet and friendly, but mostly keeps to himself?" Applejack asked to anyone who could answer her.

Not surprised, but expected, nonetheless, her friends that knew Big Mac for as long as memory served nodded to her. Well, yeah, it was no surprise.

Aside from Gallus, Vinyl, Smolder and Gilda, everyone knew Big Mac long enough to know he was a genuinely sweet, chilled guy with a gold heart. A hard worker and loved to help those when he can, but he never spoke out or said anything rebellious to them; he just went along for the ride, unless it was something very serious, but that was very rare. But, they have noticed his silent tongue before, but they never thought to ask why he was always quiet, but they also did not force him to speak – that one was his call; they just appreciated his help, company, and so on. Heck, to some of them, he was like a big brother no one ever had. 

But then, it slowly crept up onto them. They never once saw Big Macintosh in a fit of rage. Not one hissy fit, not one fury-filled scowl, not even a smidge of anger, or outburst, nothing. He had always had that calm smile on his face – but now as they watched, that calm smile had been replaced by a demonic snarl. 

A cold chill emanated within Sugarcube Corner. Gears turned and unsettled fears took over. It never occurred to them how Big Mac felt around them when they asked for help; now they wondered if they ever thanked him or appreciated him for the efforts he brought to help them with whatever they needed. Now the question that loomed in everyone's minds were: how long has that bottle been filling up? 

They all look to Applejack who nodded nervously in return before they looked out the window to see what was about to unfold.

"I… I never thought about it, Applejack," Rarity worriedly said. "You never brought it up when we were on our trip."

"That's cause it wasn't a big deal until now," AJ whimpered out, gripping her hat, tempted to pull it down and shield her eyes – but she couldn't. She's witnessed his rage moments before and it was no rocket science that he got it from their dad. Now she'll get to see it at its fullest.

"It's always the quiet ones, isn't it?" Silver asked nervously and scared to even find out what Applejack meant by what she said.

Scootaloo looked scared herself. She knew her older brother-figure could get frustrated, which she knew quite well, but she never saw what he was like at his breaking point. She kept her eyes glued to the window, watching and waiting with maxed anticipation.

"Wait, I'm confused," Gilda said as she scratched her head. "Why are you guys getting so nervous?"

Gallus raised a confused brow and joined in on Gilda's little confused boat, "Yeah. Professor Applejack, you told us before your brother was a hard worker and other stuff. You're making it sound like he's a time bomb. He can't be that dangerous, can he?" But Applejack only responded with a serious look and nod as she simply turned his head back to the fight – if he doesn't believe her, surely what was about to occur will convince him.

Seeing this stallion stand up to him without fear made the manticore a bit curious, raising a brow at the furious look on his face. But he couldn't help but smirk and chuckle darkly as he listened to Applebloom's soft whimpering – he only intended to strike fear into the filly's heart by faking her out with a mock swipe, but it looked like he got himself too carried away; it felt like he hit nothing but a mere fly. ‘Here I was just expecting to scare that little runt into fainting on the spot…' He chuckled within his throat, ‘Silly me. I'm such a butter-claws.'  He sarcastically thought to himself through his smirk.

He didn't know if his strike left a mark, but it did reward his ears with pained whimpers. A deserving tune for him, but now he wanted to add more to it as he gave the stallion before him an eager glare. He taunted the stallion with a low groan and a swiping paw to the ground – the very same paw that he used to swipe at Applebloom with.

The mock went noticed, but that was a mistake Marabunda would regret. He was used to seeing families of any species tremble and fall under his paws and he held no remorse for them, but he was unaware of the hard lesson he was about to learn. If vengeance took form, it wouldn't just be Varan, Filthy and Drift, but it would take on the new form of an elder sibling's wrath. 

Big Mac considered himself a reasonable, responsible, sensitive and understanding pony. He loved his family, he cared for his friends, and he would not let anything dangerous harm them. That especially included protecting his siblings, including his Little Sugarcube. He would do what it took to protect them at all costs, but today he failed. Two of his siblings were hurt and he couldn't do anything to save them. 

He wasn't just mad at himself, but he was pumped with rage at the monster that was responsible for this was before him. To see Applebloom in a state of pain threw his nerves all out of whack, and the mental bottle that he had built up over decades finally shattered. All sense of sensitivity and reason was thrown out the window. He lost all sense of control as to what was happening now – Big Mac was nothing more than a red juggernaut ready to mow down anything in his path. 

This manticore was going down and he'll make sure he stayed down!

His breathing intensified and his chest heaved some as he struggled to try and keep his anger down, but it was to no avail. All Apple Family members had one shared trait: they were all stubborn. But unlike Applejack and Applebloom, who were very expressive with their stubbornness, he was stubborn through action -- it would've taken a lot to make them get over their stubbornness. But in a situation like this, no one was gonna stop Big Macintosh.

He had kept his anger in for a long time, but after what this manticore had done, he finally let all of it out. He stomped his hooves on the ground and let out a rageful cry that would've made a dragon drop bricks in fear.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"

His roar echoed. Everyone in the bakery was stunned and shocked by what they heard; it was as if a warrior had joined the fray to take on the beast. Varan winced deeply and laid completely still, fearing if he moved, he would tempt the beast within the earth pony.

Everyone covered their ears, but it wasn't enough to drown out the anger-released roar. Rarity stayed away from the window and Sweetie Belle just stayed by Scootaloo's side as they covered their ears, but kept watch. The sisters never anticipated such a thing from such a kind-hearted stallion, it almost horrified them. Guess it was true about gentle giants having a savage side. 

"Poor Marabunda…" Sweetie Belle squeaked out quietly in fear, eyes wide in shock and fright.

"He knows not what he had done…" Rarity dramatically yet rightfully concluded as she bared witness to a stallion's inner rage.

Applejack stood there and withstood the noise ringing in her ears. With a response like that, her brother was gonna show no mercy to that varmint. She had no intention of stopping him, but she was gonna get Applebloom out of there. Then she noticed Fluttershy approaching her with ears dropped down to drown out the howling. Applejack raised a brow at Fluttershy. What was she doing? What did she want? The cowgirl pony and nature pony stared at each other momentarily. The urge to talk to one another was out of the question, but Applejack noticed Fluttershy motion to the doors and motioned to the whistle Scootaloo had. Applejack could barely understand what Fluttershy was getting at, but she nodded to her anyway. They had to move, now!

Pinkie Pie's frizz was freaked yet she was wide-eyed and grinning wildly as the Cake Twin's looked on in confusion, holding their ears closed as Big Mac roared in fury against the manticore. "Oh, yeah, Maccy-baby!" Pinkie Pie called out as she could only hear herself, but she got an earful of that monstrous call. Mr. Cake ran in to get the twins, but it gave Pinkie Pie the signal to go and check what was going on. She zoomed out of the master bedroom and back down to the main hall where everyone was. She was not gonna miss this.

The sound of that roar immediately roused Smolder out of her semi-coma. She gasped as she sat back up and breathed in slow breaths to ease herself. She didn't know how long she was out, what was going on or how she got in this room, but she did know that whatever was making that battle-harden call made her not want to know who or what was making it. She noticed Spike next to her on another bed on his stomach. Worry and sadness waved over her as she saw the hole in his back. She tried to reach for him, but to her shock and relief, Spike slightly opened one eye and looked at Smolder. Smolder smiled in relief, but Spike was none too happy as everything was still fuzzy to him and his body hurt like Tartarus. 

Everyone in Sugarcube Corner shook in fear – aside from Pinkie Pie who was enjoying this – and were almost white as ghosts from hearing this call from Big Mac. If this was one side of him that was lying dormant for this long, they never want it to come back. They were just happy he was gonna take his anger out on Marabunda. But the call not only woke Smolder and Spike, but it shot Drift and Filthy out of their dazed state, as well. 

Diamond Tiara and Spoiled Milk were almost horrified and rendered speechless. Normally, Spoiled would've taken any moment to insult the Apples because of how they lived and how unclean they looked. For the longest time, she had no idea why her husband would ever want to start a business with them when they seemed like they had no idea what business was; even respecting them felt wrong to her. She just saw them as ponies to stomp on and nothing more. She never wanted to interact with them and only focused on what she wanted; that was one reason why she was with Filthy, to begin with -- or so she thought. But, upon seeing Big Mac's anger being displayed, she worried if had that happened if she pushed him over the edge, she'd suffer the same fate. She wasn't just scared, but she was relieved as all Tartarus that she dodged a severe bullet like that. But, then again, she and her daughter shot themselves in the hooves for bringing that monster here, to begin with. Spoiled Milk thought to herself that she didn't really dodge any bullets, at all. The pressure of guilt rang true over her form.

Fluttershy stood with Applejack as they watched out the window on the left. The shy mare was absolutely stumped by Big Mac's raw anger. 'He's bottled in that much anger?' she felt bad for him for doing such a thing. It wasn't healthy, but she could understand, too; she bottled in her own anger when something frustrated her. And she had a feeling Applejack was the same way. Perfect example would be to scold that manticore for going after Applebloom, but it looked like Big Mac beat her to it. She winced a little, thinking that she did not want to be in Marabunda's paws right now. But the plan was set in motion and she quickly snatched the whistle from Scootaloo, much to her daughter's confusion.

Marabunda was caught completely off-guard by this outcome. For once in his very existence, he actually became a bit concerned for his own safety as this stallion roared a roar that sounded like it came from a beast of a million years ago. He actually flinched in slight fear from the reaction of the earth pony and tried to take flight to avoid what this stallion could do to show his rage, but he yelped in shock when the red stallion made a mad dash after him and was quickly grabbed by the tail with his jaws. Marabunda let out a small kitten mew and widened his eyes in shock.

Varan took this opportunity to crawl away before anything could happen to him. Hurrying to the tree with the wagon Applebloom was lying in, he curled around it and watched all Tartarus break loose.

The stallion was seeing red. Nopony hurts his sisters! With inhumane strength, he pulled the manticore back down and slammed him to the ground, then lifted him right over his head and slammed him to the ground, again. Then he used the same tactic back and forth, over and over, slamming him on the ground face-first.

Scootaloo went wide-eyed and slacked jawed from what she was looking at. In fact, everyone else who was watching was the same way. Confused, blown away, and flabbergasted – every pony and every creature had no idea how to react to something like that. Big Mac was slamming Marabunda around like a colt slamming an easily broken toy on the ground in the form of a tantrum.

"Whoa-ho, remind me not to get on his bad-side," Vinyl quipped, asking a rhetorical question while trying to be funny, yet no one was laughing.

Gallus and Gilda were just as surprised as their pony friends; actually, they were stunned. Gallus had to think twice about who to anger from now on. Sure, hotheads like Smolder, Garble, some of Ocellus's siblings and a bunch of griffons were easy to anger, but now he had to take into consideration that maybe friendly ones like Silverstream, Gabby, Ocellus and a few other students might not be a good idea to push them over the edge. He'll still joke and crack snarky remarks, but he'll definitely see that line. Gilda was no different. She was tough as nails, but she knew when she was beaten – especially when it came to stronger foes. But back then, messing with ponies was fun and she could always get away with it because she was so strong. Or, at least, that's what she thought until Big Mac showed otherwise by using Marabunda as a hammer. Now she wondered what would've happened if she came across a pony like him in High School. Pretty sure the outcome would result in the same way. Gilda winced at the mere thought and felt genuinely glad it never did happen. She appreciated herself even more for letting time and age change her the way it did. She was also thankful that her little sister would not be able to witness this since Rainbow's parents took Glinda in for a few days; this whole experience could traumatize the poor runt.

Big Mac swung the beast over his head like a lasso at a dizzying pace. His jaws locked tight on that scorpion tail and he made sure he would not let go until the momentum was right. Marabunda let out a dizzied lion howl and felt like he was gonna barf. But he soon felt the red psycho let go of his tail and threw him. Marabunda roared and crashed onto the town well, causing him some bruising to the back. A crack was heard yet went momentarily unnoticed by all due to this unnatural and unexpected scene that just occurred. 

Marabunda groaned in pain and felt dazed by what just happened. First, an orange dragon pummeled him down and burned him alive. Then, he was used as a pincushion for exploding needles. And now, he's being thrown around and tossed aside by a red stallion? In what world could a picture like this be so wrong?! This was insane! And he thought he was the rogue one?!

Marabunda winced and twitched, but grunted as he tried to get up. He was not down yet, but a sharp pain in his back went off and ultimately pinned him back down. Could something be wrong with his wings? He tried to look back and find out, but he opened his eyes to the sight he didn't expect so soon. His eyes bugged out when the crazed stallion dashed after him and tackled onto him, slamming his bulk and further pinned him down to where he could fall into the well. He didn't get a chance to utter out a sound as the stallion already started throwing punches down and not giving him a chance to counter.

Applejack lightly bumped Fluttershy, "Alright, let's go." Applejack signaled.

"Right," Fluttershy followed her as friends and family watched them, already confused by what was going on. What were they doing?

"Hey, where are you two going?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Rainbow, stay back. Don't get involved," Applejack barked as she rushed to Applebloom. That just made Rainbow even more confused, but none more so than Scootaloo when she noticed her mother heading away from everyone with the whistle. 

"Mother?" Scootaloo said as Drift limped to her and watched as Fluttershy left. Not even her family knew what she was about to do.