“Why the hell did you let Rarity and Cinnamon leave?” Lycadran screamed angrily.
“We’ve already been over this, Ly,” Sydreol hollered, rolling past the ibushi’s tail as it slammed behind him and firing several shots when he regained his footing. “A teostra invaded her home world!”
“They’ve got all kinds of magic shit there! Didn’t you say their Princess could move the sun? Why can’t she just kill it?” Lycadran retrieved her kinsect from the ibushi, gaining a red extract from it. A glow surrounded her, and she vaulted herself back into an attack.
“She can move the sun, but she can’t kill things like Rarity can!”
“You’re telling me Rarity is more dangerous than their god-princess that can move the sun?”
Sydreol reloaded his heavy bowgun with cluster rounds and prepared to launch them upward. “In terms of raw destructive force? Yeah, that about sums it up. Majorly, really. At this point she could probably destroy anything that moves in their world.”
“Well without her here, we’re fucked. And don’t you dare tell her I said that.” She paused. “Syd!” she yelled, panic creeping into her voice, “I just stabbed it, and it’s closing up! Why is it closing up?”
“What do you mean it’s closing up?” he responded anxiously.
“What else would that mean?” she yelled frantically. “It healed itself! It glowed white and healed itself!”
Sydreol paled. “Shit! Celestia fucking dammit!”
Lycadran almost dropped her glaive. “What did you say?”
“It grows on you, ok? Hang around her long enough and it grows on you!”
“Dumbass” She shook her head and dove out of the way of a blast of red energy sent hurtling from the ibushi’s mouth. “Now what? We’re double fucked, we don’t have our strongest hunter - and I swear I will kill you if you tell her I said that - and this thing can heal itself, I honestly have no clue what to do!”
“Aw, that’s sweet of you to say, Lycadran!” Rarity chimed in, dropping from Rainbow Dash’s hooves as they arrived. She smirked, seeing the features on Lycadran’s face contort at the realization that Rarity heard her. Rarity’s grin, however, was short lived; she quickly adopted a serious expression.
“So you said it is healing itself? Like the astalos was?”
“It seems like it,”
“That… is about the worst possible thing!” she emphasized.
“Uh, duh!” Rainbow chimed in. “That means it’s invincible! You’re not killing it without the staff thingy!”
Rarity stared at Rainbow. “You’re right… but we can’t bring the staff here.” She jumped to the side; the ibushi had begun summoning more shirlwinds at her feet. “Shit! I hate this thing!”
“So bring the ibushi there!” Lycadran yelled. “Do something!”
“Ugh, we can’t talk and fight at the same time!” Rarity yelled. “We need to retreat! Cinnamon, do you have any smoke bombs?”
“Of course I do, who do you think you’re talking to?” she scowled, insulted.
“Well, let ‘em fly! Everyone, make for that cave close over there as soon as it can’t see us!”
Seconds later gigantic, billowing clouds of smoke filled the area, obscuring the ibushi’s field of view; the hunters and Rainbow made a mad dash to the nearby cave, ducking deep inside and around a corner just before the monster conjured strong winds, dissipating the smoke in an instant. It bellowed in fury, searching the area in a frenzy.
“Ok, we need to figure this out, and fast,” Lycadran demanded.
“I’m working on it, ok?” Rarity snapped.
Scenarios and strategies flew through her mind, ranging from the insane to the impractical, and she buried her head in her hands. Suddenly her head shot up, but her stomach turned.
“I think I have a plan,” she announced hesitantly. “I don’t like it, but I have a plan. Rainbow, I need you to fly each of us to the portal; one of us is going to need to be a lure to draw the ibushi to the rift. We’re bringing it to Equestria.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Rainbow blurted. “First off, you can’t bring that thing to Equestria! We had enough problems with the lion thing! And number B, I’m not a ferry service to cart these guys back and forth! Or monster bait, for that matter!”
“Rainbow, we need to drain its magic with the staff! After that I plan to lure it back through the portal again, because we can’t use our potions in Equestria. As for you helping us out, I have one word for you.” Her eyes narrowed. “Charcoal.”
Rainbow gulped. “Oh, yeah… hehe, kinda… forgot already. Alright, I owe ya, I got it. So, who goes first?”
“Take Cinnamon, she can warn everyone to get ready to drain it when it comes.”
“Gotcha.”
Cinnamon gave a cheer and a hop. “Leave it to me! We’ll be ready!”
“Come straight back, we’ll have to take turns flying over, and I’m not sure which one of us will have the ibushi’s attention. Just grab us one at a time, and when the ibushi follows, that person will draw it through the portal. Once you have all of us, you can come through, too.”
“Oh, can I? Joy.”
“Oh, shut it. I know you’re raring to kick the shit out of it, too.”
“Heh, yeah… maybe a little.”
“Then take Cinnamon and go! We don’t have forever! We’ll cover you so it doesn’t chase you! Alright, Lycadran, Syd, let’s go.”
Loading a clip of pierce ammo, Rarity rushed out of the cave, immediately veering to the side to pull the ibushi’s attention away from the opening. She fired several rounds to attract its attention, instantly garnering the ire of the monster.
“Now, Rainbow!” she yelled.
The pegasus took flight with Cinnamon astride her, and the two vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.
“Shit, she’s fast,” Lycadran exclaimed.
“That’s actually about half speed for her,” Rarity commented. “If she went as fast as she could, she’d be setting off sonic booms and probably be destroying things in her wake.”
“Damn.”
A large groaning noise surrounded them; they looked around frantically to see boulders and trees being ripped up from the ground by the ibushi, and the monster began surrounding itself with them, the ibushi itself curling up in a writhing ball and hovering above them.
“Shit! Run!” Sydreol yelled. “Watch behind you, but don’t go into a cave unless you want to get entombed! It’s going to start hurling that stuff at us!”
The trio split up at a dead run, weaving in and around trees. Rarity’s hooves pounded the earth, and she glanced over her shoulder every few seconds. A crashing noise arose behind her, and she pushed herself harder, looking back to see a boulder breaking and splintering trees as it hurtled her way.
“Dammit!” she gasped, diving to the side. The boulder slammed by, smashing her legs as it passed. She screamed in agony, feeling the bones in her legs crack and fracture in multiple places. She looked down and felt a wave of nausea wash over her; one leg was bending in a way legs do not normally bend, and she could see a bone jutting out slightly from her other. The pain in her legs stabbed at her violently, and the overload to her senses caused her to vomit to her side.
Recovering from her nausea, she reached for her potions, feeling her pockets for any she could find. Her hands found empty space. Anxiety growing, she searched further pockets, but her search remained fruitless.
What the… I can’t have…
Panic began to set in. Her mind flashed back. She had already used potions earlier, for herself, Syd and Rainbow. Her hand found the shattered remains of a bottle in a pocket.
That explains another. I must have dropped my last one. Where did my bag go? I need my bag…
She started desperately searching the area nearby for her saddlebag; though the area was overgrown, she was able to see her pack through gaps in the brush a way ahead of her, apparently thrown when she dove out of the way of the boulder. She attempted to focus her magic, trying to lift the bag, but the pain in her legs flared, disrupting her concentration and producing a nauseating feedback loop; her head pounded in reciprocated pain, and she vomited again.
Ok, magic’s out for now.
Mustering her strength and suppressing her pain, she propped herself up on her elbows and began dragging herself forward slowly, inching her way toward the bag. Suddenly another crashing sound stopped her short; a tree, sent flying by the ibushi, came smashing through, landing directly in front of her and likely on top of her bag, or at least cutting off her route to it.
“Oh, come on!” she yelled in a perfect imitation of her sister.
Approaching hysteria, she whipped her head around, looking for any solution that could help her. Her eyes roamed the area, and she spotted a particular plant that looked familiar. “An herb!” she laughed crazily. “I’m saved! They make potions out of those!” Her ears picked up a faint buzzing noise behind her, near the tree, and she turned to see a beehive on the ground, knocked from the tree and broken open when it fell. “And honey! Combining them will increase the potency! Thank you Faan and your book!” She looked up, seeing the moon up above. “Thank you, Luna! You get credit for this one! Even though you’re not even in this world!” She laughed hysterically again.
Pulling herself along the ground, ignoring the agony in her legs, she made her way to the herb plant and picked it clean; next, she dragged herself along the ground to the hive, ignoring whatever stings the pesky bees gave her as she raided the hive for as much honey as she could grab. Without any fanfare, she smashed the herbs and honey together and ate them, praying that they would help as much as she hoped they would.
The mixture soothed her throat as it slid down, alleviating pain immediately in her head and spreading the relief as it reached her stomach. She watched in tearful joy as the wounds on her legs quickly healed; the bone retracting inside, her other straightening, the bones knitting themselves together, all without pain.
“I love this world’s medicine,” she mused aloud. She slowly stood, finding her strength returning and her legs just as strong as they had been before her injury. Glancing to the side to check for more oncoming oversized projectiles, she vaulted over the tree and retrieved her bag; luckily nothing seemed broken or out of place. She restocked her potion supply and was about to head back when a raspy voice halted her.
“Rares! There you are! I’ve been looking for you!”
Rainbow dove down through the trees, watching behind her cautiously.
“We gotta get goin’, and we need to get that snaky thing to follow us! Are you ready?”
“Wait, already?” Rarity stared agape. “What about Syd and Lycadran?”
“I already flew them over! That thing attacked Syd for a bit so I flew the girl over. She’s a real piece of work, by the way. Real bitchy. When I came back Syd was still fighting it, but then it just turned its attention toward where you went. It chucked a tree over in your direction, then started looking around. I took advantage of that to take Syd, then came back for you. Now here we are, so come on, let’s move!”
“Good work, Rainbow!”
Rainbow puffed out her chest. “Wasn’t easy, those guys are heavy.”
“Alright, let’s go pull an ibushi to the portal.”
“Lure patrol, away!” Rainbow said wryly.
Rarity grabbed onto Rainbow’s neck, hanging below due to her larger size, and they took flight, returning to the last place the ibushi had been seen.
It wasn’t difficult to find. With the roaring, the destruction, and the overall general noise, they found it almost immediately.
“Are you ready, Rainbow?” Rarity shouted.
“Uh, duh!”
“Keep far from it, I’m going to shoot it one handed, don’t go until I put my gun back and grab onto you again! I’ll yell go! Got it?”
“Yep!”
Hanging onto Rainbow tightly with one arm, she aimed and fired several rounds rapidly at the ibushi, striking it just behind the head.
“Come on, stupid!” she yelled. “Come and get us!”
The monster’s head snapped in their direction with a growl, and it gnashed its jaws at them, showing off the second set of jaws hidden within.
Rarity shuddered at the sight but quickly stowed her weapon and threw her other arm around Rainbow, then raised her legs to hook around Rainbow’s lower half.
“Now, Rainbow! Go!”
Rainbow balked at the positioning, but did as she was told, speeding off while taking care not to throw Rarity off.
“You know, this is kinda uncomfortable!” she complained loudly. “Were you really that scared I was going to throw you off? I’m not that inexperienced, you know!”
“It’s more that I don’t know if we’re going to need evasive maneuvers against this thing,” Rarity yelled to be heard above the wind. She peeked to the side to see the ibushi following behind them closely, its size allowing it to compete with Rainbow’s speed. Its eyes glowed red as it flew after them, and Rarity could tell something was off.
“Rainbow, I think it’s doing something!” she yelled.
“It is, trust me, I’m well aware!” Rainbow yelled back. “This thing attacks with winds, doesn’t it?”
“How did you know? Did the others tell you?”
“Hah! Of course not! Rares, I’m a pegasus! We can read air currents and pressure like it’s nothing! I can feel this thing changing pressures around me, it’s starting to make winds and tornadoes and stuff. It thinks it’s going to catch me in them, what a laugh! I can tell exactly where all of these things will be!”
As Rainbow predicted, vortices began forming before them, directly in their path, to the sides, everywhere, and Rainbow expertly dodged each and every one of them as though nothing was out of the ordinary. The cave quickly came into sight, and Rainbow made a beeline for it; a flash of red illuminated the air behind them, and a rush of superheated air knocked Rainbow from the sky. Rarity fell to the ground and rolled to her hooves as Rainbow skidded along the forest floor.
“What the hay was that?” she groaned, bringing herself up to all fours.
“We almost got blasted,” Rarity grimaced, seeing the area of destruction behind where they had been. “You ok?”
“Been better,” Rainbow replied, “but still alive.”
“Good. Get moving, then, we’re almost to the portal.”
“Uh, Rares, the dragon thing’s coming! Really fast!”
“Then get moving really fast!”
Before Rarity could react any further, the ibushi charged over her, knocking her to the ground, then it turned in her direction, preparing to attack.
“Hey! Stupid dragon thing! Over here!” Rainbow shouted angrily, attempting to draw its attention. “Get away from her! Celestia dammit, you stupid giant lizard!”
She rushed forward at its lowered head, turned and reared her legs to give a massive buck at its face; however, at the last moment, the ibushi moved its head, and Rainbow’s hooves met air rather than the monster.
Rainbow, however, did not notice the difference, and a loud crack emanated through the air as the ibushi recoiled from a harsh blow to its head.
Rarity stared from the ground at Rainbow.
“What the hell did you just do?”
“What do you mean? I kicked it.”
“No, you kicked the air. Then the air by your hooves kind of rippled, and the next thing I know, the ibushi had something explode into its face. What the hell, Rainbow!”
“I don’t know, don’t ask me! I told you this place makes me feel weird!” Rainbow shouted. She stopped to think and then grinned. “That sounds sweet, though!”
She experimentally turned and bucked her legs out as hard as she could toward the ibushi; her legs met resistance, and another loud crack echoed through the forest as they watched a small pair of rainbow colored rings appear, signaling sites of impact; the monster’s flesh rippled, and it bellowed and growled in response.
“Whoa, sweet!” Rainbow breathed. “Alright, we got it’s attention and an opening, hop back on, let’s get to the portal!”
Rainbow took to the air with Rarity grabbing hold and they shot forward; only moments later the ibushi’s tail slammed into the area they had occupied seconds earlier. The monster roared furiously, giving chase once again and following them into the gaping maw of the rift cavern.
Rainbow flew quickly directly up to the rift, both she and Rarity watching as the ibushi made its way toward them, malice in its eyes as it charged with increasing speed.
At the last moment, before the ibushi reached them, they darted inside.
**********
“You know, you two could have stayed behind to help Rowrity and Rainbow get the ibushi into the portal,” Cinnamon said crossly.
“No shit, cat,” Lycadran replied dryly. “But we’d be better off preparing these…whatevers for the ibushi.”
“For the twentieth time, we’re ponies. Ain’t that hard,” Applejack interjected in annoyance.
“I know what you are!” Lycadran snapped. “It’s just weird as fuck to say, because you’re all weird as fuck, period!”
“An’ you’re one big freakin’ ray of sunshine yourself, sugarcube. Rude as hay, foul-tempered as a bull with his nuts in a twist, an’ I’ve seen tomcats in bathtubs that’ve been happier’n you are.”
“Eh, why should I care what you think, stupid little horse thing? You’re full of shit anyway.”
Applejack’s eyes narrowed. “I’m the element of honesty here, sugarcube. I’m not one to tell lies. An’ you’re headin’ to be a mite lonesome for a long while the way you’re goin’. Ain’t nobody gonna wanna be ‘round a lemon sour as you, so ‘less you wanna grow old and die as a wrinkly old lemon alone, havin’ everyone else around ya lookin’ forward to chuckin’ your rotten old peel on the compost pile, you might wanna think twice ‘bout how you treat folks.”
Lycadran’s mouth opened, then closed again; she stood silent for a short while, then slowly turned away and rummaged through her supplies to keep busy.
“A little harsh, wasn’t that, Applejack?” Twilight asked tentatively.
“Yep, it was. Thing is, sometimes it has to be told straight up, harsh as it is, to do any good.” Applejack answered, ensuring she was loud enough to be heard.
Sydreol and Cinnamon simply exchanged glances, and Sydreol mouthed the word ‘wow’. Cinnamon nodded wholeheartedly.
Fluttershy walked over to Lycadran, looking up with a smile.
“What do you want, stupid little horse? Want to tell me to eat shit, too?”
“Oh, of course not!” Fluttershy answered with a huff. “You know, not everyone is out to get you, or make enemies, or be mean. You looked sad and upset, so I wanted to come over and see if you were ok. If you want, I could stay and keep you company and we could chat for a bit. I may not be the most interesting, but it might take your mind off things.”
Lycadran calmed down slightly at the hushed tones of Fluttershy’s voice and glanced back at the rest of the group.
“You know, that might not be a bad idea.”
She waved back at Sydreol with one finger.
“I’m going to chill over here with the nice one! You can sit over there with the shithead!”
“Ugh, she really is somethin’, ain’t she?” Applejack muttered.
“Try living next to her for your entire life,” Sydreol deadpanned.
“So, what are we really preparing for, anyway?” Pinkie cocked her head to the side. “I mean, we’re just getting out of the way and zapping it, aren’t we?”
“In a nutshell, yes,” Sydreol nodded, glancing over at Lycadran’s sulking and silent form. She wasn’t looking at them. “We don’t want it here any longer than necessary, so we don’t want to actually attack it. But, we do need to be ready to defend ourselves. This thing can create winds, hurl objects around, shoot energy balls, and just plain physically whack the shit out of you. And it’s huge as hell. So, I want you guys to be ready and watching for it to do any and all of that so you can get out of the way. Got it?”
A chorus of yeses responded.
“Alright, who’s going to be holding the staff thingy?”
“I’ll take it again,” Twilight volunteered. “I’ll fly above the portal so I can drain it from above when it comes.”
“Sounds like a plan. Everyone else, let’s clear off for when they-“
Without warning, the rift spewed out Rainbow Dash and Rarity, who crashed into Sydreol as he spoke. The remainder of the group scattered immediately, and Twilight darted upward with the staff as quickly as she could.
“It’s coming!” they managed to blurt out simultaneously, shouting over each other as they tried to scramble off Sydreol and out of the way.
“Well, fuck, thanks!” he shouted from underneath their hooves and tails, rolling away himself just as the ibushi came pouring out of the rift.
It crashed into the ground and slid along as the remainder of its body followed after it, providing a rather comical looking extremely dangerous near-calamity.
“Twilight!” Sydreol yelled. “What are you waiting for? Start draining already!”
“Oh! Right!” The alicorn adopted a sheepish expression and turned the staff on the monster under her, beginning the siphon; a large aura enveloped the ibushi and funneled into the crystal on the staff.
The ibushi spasmed under Twilight, releasing a tremendous roar and flailing its massive tail upward in response to the outgoing surge of magic. An audible slap echoed across the field as its tail connected with Twilight from behind, cracking her wings and flinging her forward. The staff was jerked from her hooves in the impact; spinning out of control and tumbling downward, it struck the ibushi and lit the area in a blinding flash.
A rumbling groan filled the air.
Accompanied by Luna and Celestia, Rarity and Rainbow Dash struggled to get to their hooves; opposite them, Sydreol stumbled away from the ibushi toward Lycadran and Applejack, while Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Cinnamon rushed toward the crumpled form of Twilight lying in the distance.
And in the middle of them all was a violently glowing ibushi that was slowly rising into the air.
“Did… did we just power it up?” Rarity asked tremulously.
“I believe we did,” Luna replied quietly. “I felt a powerful magical flux when the staff hit it, and that aura around it does not look weak by any means.”
“That’s what I was afraid of. We need to get to the staff quickly, we have to drain it before it has a chance to-“
And as she spoke, the ibushi turned and vanished through the portal.
“Fuck.”
**********
“What the hell do you mean, ‘we just made it stronger’?” Lycadran ranted.
“Exactly what it sounds like! Our plan backfired! I’m sorry, there’s no way we could have predicted it was going to break Twi’s wings and make her drop the staff!” Rarity huffed.
“Well now we’re completely fucked! We’re doomed! Thanks a lot! Way to go!” Lycadran was fuming, pacing the field.
“Thanks for your input, ass! But I’m not giving up!” Rarity countered. “We siphoned some of it first, maybe it removed the healing! Maybe not! I don’t know, but I’m not going to just give up! So get your shit together, we’re going back, and we’re going to fight it again, and we’re going to take it down, one way or another!”
“Tch! Fine!” Lycadran spat on the ground, then stormed off toward the portal, standing beside it by herself.
Rarity turned to face her friends with pleading eyes.
“I know this is presumptuous of me to ask, but… can we count on all of you to help us fight it?”
A multitude of confused eyes stared back at her.
“I thought you didn’t want us to leave Equestria?” Applejack pointed out. “I mean, not that I’m not willin’ to help, but I thought we were supposed to stay here.”
“Not only that,” Twilight said, stretching her recently healed wings, “I’m not sure how much help we’d be. I mean, we’ve ‘fought’,” she made air quotes with her hooves, “two monsters with you now, and both times we’ve done almost nothing to them compared to you. We zap them, kick them, blast at them, but all the real damage comes from you guys.”
Rarity’s heart plummeted and she felt her shoulders sag slightly.
“I really do believe that you’re selling yourself short… and I have a feeling that you may find yourselves stronger on the other side of the rift. Rainbow commented that she felt odd over there, and she seemed to have some sort of new ability…”
Rainbow cut her off, flapping in excitedly. “Oh yeah, you shoulda seen it! I was kickin’ like, these sonic aura blast things! I actually knocked that thing’s head away from Rares without even touching it! It was awesome! I mean, scary as hay, but awesome!”
Rarity looked at Rainbow with a mixture of fondness and annoyance. “Yes, thank you, Rainbow. I suppose that does prove my point, however. Something was different over there for her, so maybe it will be for all of you, too. As for leaving Equestria, I think that if we fight the ibushi outside the rift, we’re still guarding the portal, so we’re fine.”
A silence passed through the group for a moment, before Fluttershy stepped forward.
“I’ll come.”
Rarity stared at her in shock.
“You will?”
“I may not be able to fight, but I can still support you. Cinnamon supports you all the time, even though she knows she can’t do the damage that you can. But she fights anyway. Even if she doesn’t fight directly, she helps from the sidelines, with traps, or bombs, or healing. I can do that, too. Even if going to the other side of the rift doesn’t make me stronger, I can still support you.”
Rarity shed a tear and knelt to give Fluttershy a tight hug.
“Dagnabbit, girl, can’t none of us stay back after ya put it that way,” Applejack threw her hat on the ground, then smirked slyly at Fluttershy and Rarity. “Guess we better get goin’ and find out what’s on the other side of that there portal, then, huh?”
“What say you, sister?” Luna turned to Celestia with a grin.
“I’d say it’s about Celestia damned time for us to get some action,” Celestia responded.
Luna buried her face in her hoof. “For the love of… would you stop that? You’re completely ruining all the joy I had in using your name to curse.”
“I know,” Celestia grinned. “Isn’t it great?”
“If we’re all agreed, then, we’d better get moving before the ibushi decides to leave the area,” Sydreol pointed out, walking up behind Rarity.
“All right, let’s get going, then. Any last questions?”
“Oo, oo, pick me, pick me!” Pinkie shouted, jumping up and down, waving her hoof in the air.
“What is it, Pinkie?” Rarity asked in exasperation.
“If we get super powers, can I have a costume?”
“…no.”