//------------------------------//
// 13. Ice Kitty 
// Story: Monster Huntress Diamond 
// by HappyPillz 
//------------------------------//

An upbeat tune streamed through the air of Rarity’s home, floating out of the music box stationed on the table by her bed. Cinnamon lay on her back nearby, staring upside-down absentmindedly at the multifaceted box. She smacked it over onto another side, changing the music with amusement.
“This thing is pretty cool,” she observed lazily, whacking it over onto another of its facets, once again changing the tune.
“I’m glad you appreciate it,” Rarity commented without looking up, her gaze steady on the cloth she was sewing. “It was a gift from my sister; she’s very much musically inclined, so it’s the perfect thing to remind me of her.”
Cinnamon regarded it for several moments more before pawing it onto another side, earning a cross growl from Rarity.
“Would you please stop that? Goodness, I am trying to retain some semblance of my sewing skills here and that makes it extremely difficult to concentrate. Not to mention that sewing with hands is definitely different from what I’m used to.”
“So, what are you making?” Cinnamon scooted over on the bed toward the table where Rarity sat so she could see better.
“Super comfy pajamas.” 
“Sounds nice! So is this your favorite color, then?”
“Oh, no, these aren’t for me,” Rarity shook her head. “I’m making them for Syd.”
“Uh, why?”
“No reason, really, I just have material to use, I need to keep my skills sharp, and I figure I may as well make things for our friends from time to time. That would probably be the best way for me to keep my talents from wasting away over time, and I also tend to go a little crazy if I can’t give people gifts every once in a while.”
“I can’t wait to see what pajamas and clothes you come up with for Renny.”
Rarity paused and bit her lip.
“I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to make anything for Renny… she’s a bit… volatile. I don’t know, I just get the feeling that if I tried to give her any clothes, they would get thrown back at me with curse words.”
“You’re probably right,” Cinnamon agreed. “I think you’d be better off just buying her drinks when we go out if you want to give her something.”
“Booze for Renny, clothes for everyone else,” Rarity said. 
“And dung bombs for Lycadran,” Cinnamon added.
Rarity snorted.
“Shut up! You’re going to make me screw up this stitching and Syd’s gonna end up with a third leg hole in his pajamas or something!”
“Make sure it’s super small so it fits right,” Cinnamon snickered.
“Dammit, you gross little cat!” Rarity threw a nearby wad of cloth at Cinnamon and hit her in the face. “You know what I meant!”
“Sorry, sorry,” Cinnamon laughed, calming down somewhat. “I couldn’t help myself, you just made it too easy. Speaking of Syd, though, do you think we’ll go on another hunt sometime soon? It’s been weeks since we took out the diablos.”
Rarity inspected her handiwork. “I think I’ll be ready to go out again soon. I’m sorry you all are waiting on me like this, really, I am. I just want to be better prepared after that last hunt; I almost got killed twice.”
“You did fine, really. What happened was because we were fighting an aberrant, we didn’t know what to expect, either. Seriously, you’ve been training your ass off every day since that hunt, I honestly think you’re more than ready for the next one.”
“If you think so, I guess I can let Cyr know that I’m ready to take on another one.”
“I definitely think so, so get on that. I want some action again. Fighting alongside you is the most exciting thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
“Well, thank you; I’ll admit it’s rather exhilarating for me as well.”
Neither of them spoke for several moments, and the music continued to flow around them.
Cinnamon hit the music box with her paw, changing the music once again. She grinned. 
“Can you emboss ‘King of the Asses’ on Syd’s pajamas?”
She received another wad of cloth to the face.

**********

The early morning air was crisp as Rarity, Cinnamon, and Sydreol made their way to the mountain-bound wingdrakes, all three of them wearing thermally protective gear in addition to their armor. 
“Remember to be cautious of ice and winds,” Sydreol warned. “Barioths use them to their advantage, and can create vicious winds of their own. Who knows what an aberrant is capable of.”
“Got it,” Rarity confirmed. She repositioned her switch axe and adjusted her armor. “I wish this armor looked a little nicer, though. It’s absolutely atrocious looking.”
Sydreol laughed. “It’s the cost of gearing up appropriately, I’m afraid. If you want to be powerful, you must look ridiculous to do it. I think it’s a rule that Renny has, probably just to spite us. Wouldn’t put it past her, honestly. At least your weapon looks absolutely kickass. How in the hell did you get it, anyway? I mean, I know some parts came from the diablos, but I know some parts in there are way more rare than that. How in the hell did you manage to get Renny to make that for you?”
Rarity’s eyes darted back and forth nervously. “Oh, I, uh, guess she… must have had some extra parts? And she wanted to make sure that we took down the aberrant, so she said I could use up what was left.” Sydreol looked at her skeptically. Rarity began to sweat, and she grinned a little too widely. “But… she swore at me nonstop for making her use up her stash, even though it was her idea.”
“That sounds like Renny. Offer something and then bitch about somebody taking her up on it.” Sydreol turned back to the wingdrakes, not seeing Rarity heaving a sigh of relief that she didn’t give away the secret of Reneris’ gift of a custom weapon; the blacksmith would have never forgiven her if Sydreol had figured it out. He adjusted his own hammer and stepped into the footholds. “You had them make you your own hoofholds, right?”
“Yeah, I’d prefer not to repeat what happened last time. Falling was mostly because I shut my eyes and didn’t know what was happening. Coming back, though, was still a pain in the ass getting out of those things.” 
“You about ready too, Cinnamon?”
The felyne stepped into her own pawholds and threw a look over her shoulder. “I’m ready as soon as you two are done talking. So, who knows when that will be since you never shut up.”
“Funny stuff, furball,” Sydreol quipped. “Fine, let’s get going, then. See you all there!" he gave his rope a tug and was airborne within seconds and quickly disappeared from sight.
“That’s our cue, then, Rowrity. See you at the mountain camp.”
Cinnamon’s wingdrake took flight, followed shortly after by Rarity’s; they soared from the platform, shrinking in the sky rapidly before vanishing into the clouds.

**********

Snow crunched under Rarity’s hooves. Or, rather, under Rarity’s entirely functional yet horrifically ugly hoofwear. Reneris had made her special hoofwear for the mountain climate; intended to give her proper traction on the ice and snow, and with the proper abilities to keep her from sinking in the deeper snow banks. She was extremely thankful, and she was sure it was absolutely necessary, but… Celestia dammit, they were beyond hideous. She sighed. Just like Syd said. The price of gearing up appropriately.
“Holding up ok over there, Rares?” Syd called, yelling to be heard over the howling of the wind. The mountain climate was inhospitable at best, and the blowing snow was not helping make the hunt any more pleasant for them at the moment.
“Oh, I’m fine!” Rarity lied, inwardly cursing the cold. “I would prefer that we didn’t have to keep backtracking to find different routes to get to this damned barioth, though.”
“Well, teach your horn how to tell if there are cliffs and mountains and shit between us and the aberrant, then,” Syd yelled back.
“Kiss my ass.”
“You wouldn’t let me, anyway,” he joked.
 “Rowrity, are we getting any closer to it, at least?” Cinnamon asked.
Rarity’s horn pulsed again, and her eyes widened in alarm, her head jerking upward.
“I’d say so, it’s coming our way! It’s above us! I think it heard us yelling and is on the offensive!”
The group pulled out their weapons, peering into the swirling flurry of the peaks above and trying to discern any moving shapes. Rarity kept her horn pulsing, following the movement back and forth, but was unable to see any visible sign of the monster yet. A single roar echoed through the mountain peaks, chilling their blood more effectively than the cold and snow had already done. They exchanged anxious glances with each other before returning their gazes upward, when a sudden burst of activity entered their view.
The massive saber toothed monster pounced into their midst with blinding speed, giving them little time to react; Rarity was able to roll away just in time to dodge a swipe from its claws as it landed, though Cinnamon was knocked away by its wing, and Sydreol was battered by its tail as it landed. 
It rapidly rushed forward to attack, slashing at her with its claws; she nimbly avoided the swipes and countered with a quick attack of her own, her swing connecting with its paw and leaving a vicious gash.
The beast recoiled from the pain; it prepared to attack again, but before it could its attention suddenly was drawn to its rear. Sydreol and Cinnamon were attacking its tail, attempting to break off and nullify some of its spiny arsenal. The barioth whipped its tail around, yanking it out of their reach and sending it crashing down at them; they scattered, dodging the flail-like appendage as it struck the ground with amazing force.
This, however, provided Rarity with a perfect distraction. As the barioth was focused on the hunters by its tail, she was afforded the brief opportunity to attack uninhibited, and she intended to capitalize on that opportunity.
Hauling her switch axe up, she rushed up to the barioth’s head, using her momentum to swing fiercely. The axe severed one of the monster’s saber teeth and cut deeply into its jaw, and on her it sliced along the side of the monster’s face, leaving a long wound on its cheek. 
Her opening over, she leaped backward as the barioth’s attention was ripped back to her. It roared furiously, blood dripping down its face, and lunged at her with its claws bared. She dodged a swipe by inches, but a second claw followed swiftly after, catching her in the side and sending her rolling through the snow before colliding with a wall of rock.
She groaned in pain and looked up to see the barioth continuing its advance, swinging its winged paw down at her from above; without a moment to spare she rolled away, narrowly avoiding its strike. She pushed herself to her hooves and took stock of her surroundings; she had little room in which to maneuver, the barioth had trapped her against the large rock face she had crashed into.
“Rowrity! Cover your eyes!”
“ARE YOU INSANE?" she screamed.
“DO IT RIGHT NOW, DAMMIT!”
Rarity quickly shut her eyes and pressed her arm over them, and moments later a small sphere bounced in between her and the barioth’s face; mere seconds passed, and then the sphere burst into a blindingly brilliant flash of light. The barioth reared back in dazed confusion, shaking its head violently in its temporary blindness. 
“I blinded it, get out of there while it can’t see you!” Cinnamon shouted before running back in to resume her attacks.
Rarity ran past the flailing monster, rejoining her companions.
“Thanks, I owe you one,” she gasped, out of breath.
“Save the thanks for later,” Sydreol hollered.
“Killjoy!” Cinnamon shouted back.
“What a stupid name to give a monster! I’ll happily kill it, though!” he yelled back jokingly.
“When this thing’s dead, you’re next, dumbass!” Rarity threatened.
He shook his head. “I swear, everyone’s a critic.” He stared at the floundering beast; the barioth was starting to regain its senses, and he decided to take his chance while he still had it. “I’m going up! Make sure to take advantage of any openings you get!”
Rarity paused mid-attack on the barioth’s winged front leg. 
“Going up? What do you mean, going up?”
Her question was answered as she watched him take a running leap at the barioth, grasping at its scales and fur tightly, and climbing up until he was atop the monster. 
It roared in anger, shaking back and forth in a vain attempt to dislodge the human from its back, but he held fast. He grabbed a long hunting knife from his belt, stabbing multiple times between its shoulder blades, all the while keeping a firm grip with his other hand. With practiced experience he rode the monster, biding his time as it tired itself out from thrashing about; as soon as he felt it show signs of exhaustion, he made his move.
Releasing his grip and stowing his knife, he grabbed his hammer and stood tall, balancing expertly. Quickly channeling his strength, he let loose with a mighty overhead smash above its shoulder blades and right at the base of its neck. The barioth crashed down, stunned heavily for the moment. 
“Now! Give it hell!" he yelled.
Rarity nodded with a grin, running toward the hind paw that she had ended up closest to when it collapsed. She took several swings with her axe, then as her swing was coming around she triggered it to morph into its sword form; with the blade rotating forward as she swung, it added an additional component to her attack before she continued with faster sword slashes, charging up her weapon.
Her grin was short lived, though, as she noticed the blue glow beginning to encompass the barioth as she swung.
“Shit! Guys! It’s powering up! We need to retreat, we have no idea what this thing can do!" she looked over to see Sydreol, still attacking with full focus. Either he hadn’t heard her, or hadn’t cared, but regardless which it was, he wasn’t moving. “Syd! Cinnamon! We’ve got to get back!
She saw Cinnamon give her a nod and start running, though Syd still apparently hadn’t heard her.
“SYD!" she screamed.
Startled, he looked her way.
Beginning to run back, she yelled, “Get your ass out of there! It’s preparing something big!”
Comprehension gripped his features as the barioth’s glow intensified and he backpedaled fearfully, already lagging far behind Rarity and Cinnamon. Snapping out of his daze, however, he wheeled around to flee, sprinting as quickly away from the enraged monster as he could.
Before Syd could get far, though, the barioth roared and took flight; with its powerful winged forelegs it propelled a ferocious gust of wind before it landed back on the ground. Though most barioths would have stopped at sending blasts of wind like that, it appeared the aberrant was far from finished. The beast’s glow intensified, causing the gales it created to warp into a tornado centered around it, churning inwardly. Snow surrounding the area rose in response to the barioth’s aura, forming itself into densely packed icicle-like projectiles before joining the swirling vortex, creating a truly terrifying storm. 
Rarity watched horror stricken as Syd struggled just beyond the reach of the tornado, slowly losing ground, until he was sucked into the raging winds with a strangled yell. Tense seconds passed as Rarity and Cinnamon watched the raging winds, unsure of what to do next, when they suddenly abated; confused, they strained to see why the winds may have stopped. What Rarity saw caused her heart to stop as well. 
Syd had made his way to the eye of the tornado, and the barioth had turned its attention to him. It was no longer channeling the storm; instead it was now approaching his motionless body lying a short way away. Rarity had no idea if he was still alive, but if she didn’t act now, it was guaranteed he wouldn’t be.
She threw her pack at the felyne next to her. 
“Cinnamon! Take my bag, give him any potions he needs! You know I’ve got virtually everything in there, keep him alive no matter what! I’m taking that fucker down.”
Cinnamon grabbed the bag and nodded, then they both ran toward the barioth, Cinnamon breaking slowly to the side to make for Syd, and Rarity making a beeline straight for the monster.
The barioth quickly noticed her running and turned its attention to her, baring its teeth and letting loose a massive roar. The wound Rarity gave it earlier still oozed blood, and she intended to add another several wounds if she could help it. With her switch axe still in sword form and a fair amount of elemental energy charged, she stormed at the barioth fearlessly. It raked at her with a claw, but she dove under it as it swung, rolling back into a standing position before it could recover, she let loose with a volley of swings, slashing deeply into the barioth’s side.
It rounded on her, quickly spinning in an attempt to smash her with its tail, but she jumped backward, flipping out of the way before it could connect its hit. She noticed she was close to a bare rock face; she had room to run, the barioth was approaching, and she had just charged her sword to full capacity. She grinned.
As the barioth neared, she took off running toward the rock face and leaped at the slanted surface at high speed. Granted traction thanks to both her hooves and her hoofwear, she ran up the wall, gaining height until she finally pushed off hard, jumping back toward the barioth from far above. With her sword pointed down, she landed on the barioth, stabbing it in the back; it shook violently, but she held on until the shaking slowed. With her weapon firmly planted in the barioth, she activated its elemental discharge. The sword unleashed its charge, causing multiple explosions to rip across the blade and into the barioth. Rarity repeatedly unleashed charges until all were spent, leaving her switch axe humming with elemental energy. 
With the switch axe emptied it reverted to axe form, pushing itself from the barioth as the blade rolled back. The barioth shuddered underneath her, trying to limp away, but there was no way she was going to let that happen. She jumped down at its head, evoking a vicious snarl from the injured creature. Before it had any chance to do anything else, she struck as hard as she could. All the elemental energy that had accumulated from the sword discharging converged onto her blade for the single strike, and with a fiery blast it cleaved through the barioth’s growling maw, finally bringing it down for good.
“Well, that was fuckin’ sweet,” a weak voice offered from behind her.
She whipped around to see Syd sitting up with Cinnamon beside him, the felyne still rummaging through Rarity’s satchel for more appropriate healing items to use.
“How do you find anything in here?" she complained. “Yeah, you can hold a lot, but finding it is another thing.”
“It’s organized chaos,” Rarity said haughtily. “I have a system, I’ll have you know. You just don’t know it.”
“Whatever. You can find him stuff, then.”
Sydreol laughed as she made her way over to Cinnamon and retrieved her bag. He motioned to the barioth. “You just going to leave your switch axe embedded in that thing’s face?” 
Rarity looked back and shrugged. “It looks good there for the moment. Savor the view while I fix up your stupid ass. Next time listen the first time when I tell you to move.”
He saluted and winced from the pain of the sudden movement.
“Lesson learned.”

**********

Aerylla sipped her coffee slowly.
“So, Syd still had some sort of injury, then?” Rarity asked, absentmindedly poking at her food with her fork.
“Mhm.” Aerylla confirmed. “Barioth winds can usually send projectiles pretty fast, if hunters get hit they can get seriously wounded. The tornado created by the aberrant was strong enough to embed shrapnel into various places on his body. He’s lucky nothing hit any vital organs or blood vessels.”
“Shit.” Rarity stared at her food and continued poking it.
“Don’t worry about it, Rarity. You guys got him back here, I got everything out, and he’s fine. This is all par for the course in the life of a hunter. Sometimes you really get hurt out there, and there’s a very real chance of dying. He knows that, Lycadran knows that, and I’m sure you do, too.”
“I know, this just… drives it home? Like, you don’t really realize the danger fully until someone doesn’t come home safely? Does that make sense?”
Aerylla nodded. “It gives it more of a real feeling when the consequences follow you home. There’s a reason we don’t send all three of you on hunts together, you know.”
Rarity perked up slightly. “I was kind of wondering about that, actually. It would make sense for all of us to take out an aberrant together, considering the danger.”
“It certainly would make it easier for you,” Aerylla agreed. “But, if a monster happened to come into the village while you were all away…”
“Oh.” Rarity’s eyes widened. “Oh my. I hadn’t really thought about that.”
“Those monsters aren’t just dangerous out there. They’re dangerous everywhere, and they can go anywhere they please. Quite often they cross paths with our trade routes, or main roads to other villages, or people have just encountered them doing whatever it is they were doing out where they were. That makes the danger real everywhere.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean…”
“I know you didn’t, and I’m not mad at you or anything,” Aerylla calmly sipped her coffee again. “I just figured you might not have considered that perspective, and it’s a good one for a hunter to know.”
Rarity quietly nodded in contemplation.
“Finally! Glad I found you!” a voice shouted, breaking the calm silence.
“Cyradel? What’s got you so excited?” Aerylla queried.
“Rarity!" she said spastically. “I need Rarity!”
“Well, you’ve got her,” Rarity said crossly. “So what is it?”
“I found a connection!”
“You did?” Aerylla and Rarity gasped in unison.
“Yeah!” Cyradel could barely contain her excitement. “And it explains why you can find them, too!”
“Well, out with it, Cyr!” Rarity exclaimed impatiently.
“So, I noticed that all of the monsters we brought back had extensive scarring in random places on their hides. It seemed odd, but at first glance nothing seemed out of the ordinary about the scars, other than the fact that it was a big coincidence they all had them. But then I took tissue samples from them. I had to look really closely, it was almost impossible to tell, but under magnification I found tiny fragments of machalite ore embedded in their tissue. Like, everywhere. All of them, wherever the scarring was, they had tiny machalite fragments peppered everywhere. So, you’ve been able to track the aberrants because they’ve literally had machalite tracking signals on them.” Cyradel beamed proudly at her discovery.
Both Rarity and Aerylla stared at her agape.
“That’s amazing!” Rarity applauded giddily. ”So, what does that mean?”
“Huh?” Cyradel looked confused.
“Does that explain how they’re so powerful?” Rarity asked.
“Uh… No…” Cyradel admitted.
“How did the machalite get there? Any idea?” Aerylla looked hopeful.
“Um… N-Not yet…” Cyradel stammered. “I’m still working on that. But I wanted to make sure you guys knew that I made progress!" She looked slightly deflated.
Rarity quickly picked up on her response. “And you did a great job, Cyr! I’m sure we’ll figure something out soon, just keep researching, and we’ll keep hunting, and something will turn up!”
Cyradel brightened. “Thanks! I know that I’m going to-“
“Rarity! We need you fast!” Faan ran up, clearly out of breath.
“What’s going on?” Rarity asked in alarm.
“We’ve had reports of an odogaron attacking people along a main road that goes close to the caverns. From how aggressive it is, it’s probably an aberrant, and it’s currently got some people stuck off the road. They’re not being actively attacked, but they can’t move from where they are without getting too close to where the monster patrols. If they try to leave, they have a good chance of running into it.”
Rarity nodded. “Alright, I can take it on.”
Aerylla sucked in a breath of air. “Rarity, you need to be really careful. odogarons are extremely dangerous. They can give people wounds that bleed extensively, and they’re insanely fast and agile. I can only imagine what an aberrant one would be like.”
“We can’t just leave the people stranded, though,” Rarity sympathized. “They can’t hold out there forever, and if they leave whatever hiding place they found, that thing will rip them to shreds. We can take it out.”
Aerylla eyed her warily. “You guys had better stay safe.”
“Of course.” Rarity replied matter-of-factly. “Has anyone seen Syd?”
“I saw him talking with Leonis on my way over here, actually,” Faan said. “They looked kinda agitated. No idea why, but I was in a bit of a hurry, for obvious reasons.”
“Right, well, where were they?” Rarity asked. “I’d better go find-“
“Rarity!” Sydreol shouted, running up to the now very crowded canteen. 
“DAMMIT! DOES ANYBODY NOT NEED ME TODAY?” Rarity yelled.
“I don’t need you, fuckwad!” Reneris shouted from her smithy down the road.
“Thank you Renny, I needed that!” Rarity shouted back.
“Anytime! Go fuck yourself!” Reneris shouted merrily, waving her hammer before going back to work without another word.
Rarity breathed deeply. “At least it’s you, Syd, I needed to find you anyway. What’s up?”
“Bad news, and we need your help.” Sydreol explained. “There’s a glavenus that’s been spotted along a trade route outside the village, and there’s a caravan due to be coming any day now. It doesn’t seem to be an aberrant, at least, from what they can tell, but those things are nothing to be trifled with. They’re damn vicious.” He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “To be honest, Lycadran is probably going to be taking it on, but you know how she is, like hell if she’s going to come and ask you for help.”
Rarity exchanged a serious look with Aerylla.
“Shit.”
“Um, did I miss something?” Sydreol looked back and forth at all the faces now staring at him. 
Rarity rubbed her forehead. “You came at the worst possible time, Syd. We now have two monsters that need to be dealt with immediately.”
“Oh.” Sydreol stood speechless for a moment. “Shit.”
“Yes, quite the ‘oh shit’ moment.” Cyradel agreed. “So, what are you guys going to do?”
“You said the glavenus wasn’t an aberrant?” Rarity asked.
“Probably,” Syd corrected. “We don’t know for sure, but it doesn’t seem to be acting like one. I mean, we still have to deal with normal ones too, you know.”
“Right,” Rarity nodded. She closed her eyes and sat silently for a moment, apparently deep in thought.
“You’d better not be thinking what I think you’re thinking.” Aerylla warned.
“Well, I probably am,” Rarity said, opening her eyes. “So, sorry.”
“Don’t you dare.”
“What are you talking about?” Faan asked, concern edging her voice.
“Taking the only option we have,” Rarity said simply. “Lycadran takes the glavenus, Sydreol defends here, and I take the odogaron.”
Silence reigned for several long seconds.
“By yourself?” Cyradel nearly shouted. “Are you insane?”
“Probably,” Rarity admitted. “I mean, I won’t be alone; Cinnamon will come with me, I’m sure. I hope.”
“Regardless! One hunter against an aberrant odogaron is borderline suicide!” Cyradel argued.
Faan looked about ready to cry. “I was coming to get you for a group mission! I didn’t want to send you out alone! No, no, no, no, no! You can’t go out solo on this one!”
Rarity sighed heavily. “Syd, can you back me up, here?”
“I can say that we have a duty to keep everyone safe. I can also say that you’re batshit crazy and I think your plan sucks ass. But you’re right, it’s the only one we have right now, so unless someone else decides to become an insanely talented hunter right now, or can figure out how to put off one of these missions, that’s what we have to go with. I can also say, though,” he addressed the rest of the group, “after watching her fight that barioth, I think she can pull it off. Or at least not get killed.”
“You’d better be right.” Aerylla narrowed her eyes, then turned to Rarity. “I expect you home, in one piece, still alive. That’s an order.”
Rarity gulped. “Got it.”