//------------------------------//
// 21. Showdown 
// Story: Monster Huntress Diamond 
// by HappyPillz 
//------------------------------//

“Whoa, nelly,” Applejack said, picking up her hooves and inspecting them closely. “This place feels weird.”
“I know,” Rarity said, “I told you to expect that, it definitely is a change from Equestria. It has a completely different feel to it altogether.”
“No, that ain’t what I mean at all,” Applejack said, staring at the ground. “I mean, I can feel the ground. Like, feel feel it. Like, in Equestria, earth ponies are really good at listenin’ to the earth; it feels like here, the earth wants to listen back.” She looked at Rarity. “This is really weird, Rares.”
Behind her, Luna’s eyes darted back and forth wildly, then she whipped her head around, up and down. Her horn glowed, and her entire body blurred for only a moment, then she calmed considerably.
“Very peculiar,” she mused with a grin.
Next to her, Celestia inspected herself carefully. 
“I… feel like I should not cast any magic in this cave…” she said cautiously. 
All eyes turned to her.
“I can feel the magic fields that I usually use to cast spells, and they are almost unbearably strong. If I were to cast something in here, I have no idea just how destructive it may be.” She grinned. “I may just be a force to be reckoned with, after all.”
A growl came from the back of the cave, and the group turned their attention to Twilight, who sat staring at the ground sulkily. 
“I feel the opposite! I feel weird, too, but my magic field feels weaker overall! My magic feels more like before I was an alicorn, before I trained my magic, before I gained the majority of my skill! What gives?
A giggle lit up the cave and sent odd shivers up their spines, and somehow they felt their minds sharpen with Pinkie’s outburst of sonorous sing-song laughter.
“Twilight, silly! Your magic’s been nerfed!” She laughed riotously and fell to the cave floor in stitches at the stunned look on Twilight’s face.
“It’s been... what?” Twilight screeched.
“Nerfed!” Pinkie laughed again, sending more shivers. “Nullified! Ended! Revoked! Failed! This world said nuh-uh, she’s too strong, and it nerfed you!”
“That’s bullshit,” Twilight cursed.
“Is that all there is, Twilight?” Rarity asked. “Do you feel anything else, other than your magic being faded?”
Twilight concentrated for a moment, lighting her horn.
“I can tell there are a lot of plants and rocks nearby with magic stored in them,” she said confidently. “That’s kind of odd, though, isn’t it? I thought that Equestrian magic was gone from this world?”
“Maybe you’re not detecting Equestrian magic then, we have plenty of magical stuff of our own, you know,” Lycadran said haughtily. “They can be damned useful too, if you know how to use them.”
“That’s right!” Rarity’s eyes lit up. “Faan gave me a book on how to make things from raw materials!”
“YOU HAVE A BOOK?” Twilight gasped. “GIMME!”
Rarity dug in her bag, producing the tome shortly and handing it to Twilight, who received it greedily. She flipped it open, then lit her horn and pulled several items to herself from nearby.
“Shit, you gathered all that stuff already?” Sydreol gawked.
“I told you, I could feel the magic in them,” she said in annoyance, trying to focus on finding the items in the book. “All I had to do was get them.”
“I want magic,” he pouted.
“Silly Siddy!” Pinkie warbled, sending more odd feelings through the group. “Maybe Twilight could figure out how to reverse the mirror portal and she can make you a pony person!”
“I don’t think it would work that way,” Rarity commented. “I do think, however, that it’s safe to say that whatever happened to Pinkie made her laughing and singing do something to us.” She looked at Celestia and Luna. “Luna only knows what.”
“Hey!” shouted Celestia. “What happened to me?” 
“It’s Luna’s turn,” Rarity smiled.
Luna stuck her tongue out at Celestia.
“How ‘bout you, Fluttershy?” Applejack asked. “Feelin’ any different?”
“Um… yes,” Fluttershy said softly, turning around slowly and looking herself over. “I don’t know how, though. It just feels… nice? Warm? Kind of like I’m in a constant soft, calming hug, almost.” She smiled genuinely. “I really like it here.”
“Well, hold on to the warm fuzzy feelings,” Cinnamon offered. “I can still hear the ibushi nearby, so we’re going to get to play with whatever you can do soon.”
“Aha!” came the out of place cry from the rear of the cave. 
“I figured out how to make something!” Twilight gushed.
“Were you listening to anything else that happened after I gave you that book?” Rarity asked.
“Hmm?” Twilight mumbled, looking up from the pages.
“Never mind!” Rarity growled. “What did you make, anyway?”
“Um…” Twilight checked her book. “A demondrug… and an… ancient potion? I think I can potentiate their effects, too; it feels like the effect this world has on me allows me to augment the magic in these items tremendously!” She trotted in place giddily.
Lycadran stared at her.
“An ancient potion? You just made an ancient potion? Just like that, without moving from that spot?”
“I think so, does this look right?” Twilight floated the bottle she had conjured over to Lycadran.
“I’ll be damned… it is…” she gawked. 
“You can keep it,” Twilight said cheerily. “I think there was another of the horns it used nearby, let me check… yep! There is! Let me make another!” She fidgeted around a little more and produced an identical vial. “There we go!” Her horn lit up and the vials glowed. “And now they should be even more potent!” She grinned.
Lycadran stared at her.
“These could heal you completely if you were an inch from death, how could you make them more potent than that?”
Twilight shrugged. “I dunno. I guess maybe it’s not so useful on that specific item. Maybe on explosive things? I saw most stuff uses barrels, but I could just contain the explosives in my magic, float them close, then set them off.”
A roar drew their attention from their introspection; the ibushi glided past the entrance of the cave, its eye roving the depths as it passed.
Their hairs and fur stood on end, and an uneasy feeling passed through them.
“Guys, we need to move, and fast,” Rainbow ordered. “It’s building static electricity in here! I can feel an electrical charge building, the cave feels like the inside of a cloud when we set up lightning storms! This place is going to sizzle our flanks any minute now!”
Hooves and feet stomped, carrying them to the cave’s entrance, where all flew or jumped free of the cavern; not more than twenty seconds had elapsed after they fled as lightning jumped from the opening in the rocks. A crackling sound filled the air and the smell of ozone permeated the forest.
“Well, that’s new,” Sydreol wrinkled his nose at the smell. “Never heard of an ibushi that could do that.”
“Probably will see more crazy shit,” Rarity said grimly, unhooking her bowgun. “Let’s get to it, this thing isn’t going to get any easier for us.”
“Alright!” Sydreol agreed, getting out his own bowgun. “Let’s fill it full of holes!”
“And we’ll show it what ponies can do!” Celestia added.
“For cupcakes!” Pinkie screamed.
Everyone looked at her.
“What? I like cupcakes,” she said with a shrug.
Rarity shook her head, then wordlessly shouldered her bowgun and fired off several piercing rounds, running toward the ibushi. Sydreol followed suit, while Cinnamon brandished her sword and Lycadran vaulted herself forward with her glaive.
“Alright, ponies, let’s make it our time to shine!” Luna shouted. 
The group dispersed, each going their separate ways around the monster, surrounding it on all sides and above. 
Letting out a thundering bellow, the ibushi curled its body, smashing its tail to the ground violently. Applejack dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack as dust climbed into the air from the impact. She coughed as it worked its way into her lungs.
“Damn lizard. This earth works with me, not against me.”
She looked around at the dust and earth, thinking and focusing on its use; she felt a pulse in her chest and a sharp sensation in her mind. With a knowing grin, she watched as the grit and dirt in front of her swirled and danced up into a semi-contained spherical cloud, then flew with the wind straight up and into the eyes of the ibushi. The monster screeched, convulsing and swiping its tail from side to side. In the way of the appendage, Applejack dodged underneath it, now joining Sydreol on one side, while Pinkie Pie was now on the other, leaping backward out of its reach.
“The hell did you just do?” Sydreol yelled, shooting the ibushi with several rounds of spread ammo.
“Just doin’ what earth ponies do best!” Applejack smiled proudly. She glanced at the ground, noticing all the grasses and vines blanketing the forest floor. She grinned again. “I reckon this varmint moves too much! Probably should lasso him down a bit!”
The vines immediately jumped up from the ground, wrapping themselves around the ibushi’s tail and anchoring it to the ground. More vines and tendrils appeared, strengthening the bond.
“You ponies are crazy as shit.”
“No kidding, Siddy!” Pinkie laughed, hopping over. “I don’t think I’m going to do much with attacking this thing, but I do think I know what I can do to help! Know what that is?”
“Treat the wounded?”
“Nopey nope! I can sing!”
“The fuck?” 
Sydreol stared as Pinkie trotted off merrily as though she was in the middle of a carnival when a sudden wordless melody reached his ears as she sang. His body trembled for a moment, then he felt every aspect of his body and mind increased; his strength felt bolstered, his agility peaked, his thinking sharpened. It was as though she had taken all of the best parts of a hunting horn and amplified them. He reloaded his gun.
I fucking love these ponies.

**********

Rarity unloaded another clip of ammo into the ibushi, running along its side and inspecting it as she did so. 
It has specialized inflated sacs in spots… I wonder if we destroy those…
She loaded her bowgun with slice ammo. 
Heh, hello again, little buddies. Keeping you away from my leg this time.
The ibushi bellowed, and Rarity saw a cloud of dust around its face.
What in the…?
Tearing her eyes away, she resumed her own task, placing several shells directly into the sac in front of her. Seconds later the shells exploded, ripping the sac to shreds; the ibushi let out a cry of pain, and Rarity watched as the part of the ibushi’s body in front of her sank out of the air.
So those control it being able to fly.
“Everyone!” she shouted. “If we can destroy the sacs on it, we can take away its ability to fly!”
She resumed her way around the ibushi, when a brilliant flash lit the sky, followed by an ear splitting boom, as a lightning bolt slashed through the air to strike the ibushi on the side.
“Holy fucking shit!” Rarity dove for cover, watching the sky to see if the storm clouds were still producing bolts, but the sky was completely clear.
“Sorry!” Celestia called. “I told you my magic seemed more powerful! I took out one of the sac things! I’ll lay off the lightning, though!” She turned back to the ibushi, summoning a large ball of fire that rocketed forward, sizzling into the side of the ibushi.
The monster jerked at the attack, and a red aura pulsed violently. 
Oh, shit.
Rarity watched, horror-stricken, as red spots appeared all over the ibushi, then individual scales began pulling out and soaring through the air at them. A nearby scale targeted her, spinning dangerously as it flew at her. She dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding a direct hit but taking a deep gash to her side.
She quickly grabbed a potion and drank it, when a thought occurred to her. 
None of my pony friends have potions.
As the frightening realization hit her, numerous screams and cries punctuated the early morning air.
How could we have been this careless?
She raced down the side of the ibushi toward the closest of the screams, stopping only when the origin came into view. 
A yellow and red form lay crumpled in a heap, and Rarity’s breath hitched in her throat. She dashed forward, with a cry of anguish.
“FLUTTERSHY!”
Rarity knelt next to the downed pegasus, inspecting the wound inflicted by the scale. It had been severe, slicing a major blood vessel; she had bled a large amount already, and appeared to be barely clinging to life. Her breathing was shallow, and her pulse faint.
Rarity looked at her potion pockets. 
One ancient potion left. Thank all the alicorns in Equestria.
She held the potion to Fluttershy’s lips and forced it down her throat, watching as the wounds closed up and healed. She waited for Fluttershy to get up and recover fully.
She didn’t.
Her breathing slowed more, and her face paled, and her pulse grew even more faint.
Rarity’s heart pounded, and panic gripped her. Her mind raced for any options that she could think of, and in a single moment of clarity she grasped onto the only thing she could think of to save them.
“LYCADRAN! HELP! PLEASE!”
The desperation in her voice couldn’t have been more evident, and she prayed that the hunter would both hear her and be willing and able to come.
A thump shook the earth behind her, and the familiar voice of Lycadran adopted an unfamiliar tone of concern.
“What did you need?” she said softly.
Rarity looked at her in shock.
“Your friend - the nice one - is covered in blood. I’m not going to be an ass. What do you need?” 
“The ancient potion - the one Twilight gave you - do you still have it?”
“Yeah, but… what’s the difference? Ancient potions already can save you from pretty much anything.”
“They didn’t save her from this,” Rarity motioned to Fluttershy. “I think it’s the blood loss. Remember how long it took me to recover every time I lost so much blood? Healing wounds is one thing, but apparently massive blood loss is different in the eyes of the potions.”
“Good enough for me. Here.”
Lycadran handed over the vial, and Rarity unstoppered it immediately, placing it to Fluttershy’s lips. The liquid flowed through her mouth, and a purple aura not unlike Twilight’s followed the course of the potion, from the tip of her muzzle until it reached her stomach, at which point it spread to envelop her entire body. She pulsed purple for a moment, then her breathing intensified until it returned to a normal rate; her eyes fluttered open, and she stood shakily, regaining her stability a moment later.
Rarity gave her a tight hug.
“I’m so glad you’re alright!” she said tearfully.
“Yeah, me too,” Lycadran said uncomfortably. “But, uh, we should probably get going. There’s a lot of others that are injured, too. I don’t think anyone else is as bad as Fluttershy here, but I think about everyone got hurt somehow, and none of your friends have potions. That’s a big bad on us. Thankfully the flying shit stopped, that purple one sent some magic explosives up to its face and that calmed it down. Impressive that she could do that with her legs gashed open, but I guess that magic doesn’t take your legs.’
“Goodness, everyone is hurt that badly?” Fluttershy gasped. She walked forward with a thoughtful look on her face, and she appeared to be concentrating on something; her eyes darted back and forth at different points in the trees, at the ibushi, or off in the distance, seemingly at random.
She stopped and spread her wings, ruffling her feathers slightly.
“Um, Fluttershy, what are you doing?” Rarity asked in confusion.
“I figured out what my gift was,” she replied softly, looking back with a small smile. She closed her eyes and hummed slightly, and a dim yellow glow shone from her trembling feathers, growing from the tips. Slowly they grew outward until they detached one by one, small glowing feathers that drifted outward until they floated in streams toward the places she had been looking, each stream finding an injured friend and surrounding them. The ethereal feathers emitted a soft light, fully healing the wounds of each person, pony, or felyne.
Fluttershy finished her humming, and the glow faded from her wings; her feathers stopped rustling, and she relaxed and turned back to Rarity and Lycadran.
“There, I think that everyone should be safe for now,” she said with a smile.
The two openly gawked at her.
“Did you just…” Lycadran started.
“Heal everyone?” Rarity finished.
“Yes?” Fluttershy responded curiously. “I mean, that’s a good thing. Why shouldn’t I?”
Lycadran shook her head. “This kid’s amazing. Rarity, can we keep her here?”
“No.”
Fluttershy looked startled at Rarity’s firmness. 
“Sorry, I suppose that’s not up to me to decide, is it?”
“No, no it is not,” Fluttershy stated hotly. “Not that I plan to stay here, but if I want to stay here with Ly, then I most certainly will. Hmph.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow, but noticed that there was a hint of a smile on Lycadran’s face.
Fluttershy, you saint. You’re taming her.
A sound drew their attention upward.
Rainbow Dash appeared over the top of the ibushi’s tail. “I thought I’d find you here! I saw the feather things coming from this way! Flutters, was that you? Holy hay, that was so awesome, you totally saved my flank!”
Fluttershy smiled. “I’m just glad that everyone is safe.”
Rainbow grinned. “So, you guys need to get over here! Pinkie is singing and it makes you stronger, and AJ tied the lizard thing’s tail down, and then she blinded the thing!”
“What? How?” Rarity stood stunned.
“Talk later, action now!” Rainbow motioned. “You said there were some sac things to break?”
Rarity straightened up.
“Yes, it has these wind sacs lining its body, we can take them out to keep it from flying. I think.”
“Alright, follow me, the rest are meeting up over here,” Rainbow jerked her head.
The three followed her, seeing that the group had convened at the tail, still lassoed to the ground courtesy of Applejack.
“So we’re planning on takin’ out these sac things?” Applejack queried. 
“Yes, that should keep it from flying any more,” Rarity confirmed once again. 
“Good, then maybe I can hit it a little more,” Cinnamon complained. “I pretty much just came down here to whack its tail because that’s about the only thing on the ground.”
“Then we shall focus our efforts on these sacs,” Luna said. “Rarity, I would like to place my support in helping you on this.”
“Uh, ok?” Rarity said. “What kind of support, exactly?”
“The speedy kind,” Luna said mischievously. “Now that we all know what we are doing and all have received Pinkie’s blessing of song, are we ready to go?”
“Not quite yet,” Rarity declined. “First we need to decide how to handle any future damage control. We left you all defenseless, and I don’t intend to repeat that mistake. What are we going to do in case someone gets hurt again?”
“I’ve got plenty of potions to share,” Sydreol offered.
“Me too,” Cinnamon added.
“Shit, I can give some of mine, too. Even to shithead, there,” Lycadran smirked.
“Thank ya, ya wrinkly lemon,” Applejack doffed her hat momentarily with a smirk of her own. “I think we have a bit of a problem, though. How do we carry ‘em? Dunno if ya noticed, but we don’t really have bags. Or armor. Or clothes.”
“Well, shit. That is indeed a problem,” Rarity acknowledged. “I mean, we could make small loop belts to tie a few potions to your legs, that would be simple enough, but I don’t have any fabric.”
Sydreol thought for a moment. 
“Here.” 
He removed his armor and ripped the layers of inner lining from the cuirass.
“Syd? What are you doing?” Lycadran gasped. “If you tamper with the construction of your armor, it removes all the enchantments Reneris put on it!”
“I don’t give a shit. These ponies have more power in one hoof than I do. I’m keeping them alive no matter what, if that’s what it takes to kill this damned ibushi.” He held the cloth out to Rarity. “Make those belt things and take whatever potions they need.”
Rarity looked at the strips cautiously and accepted them hesitantly with only her thumb and forefinger.
“Ew, Syd, they’re all sweaty…”
“Don’t you dare be a bitch about it. Make the damn belts.”
While Rarity set to work with a grimace, Fluttershy stepped forward.
“As long as I remain conscious, I can heal anyone as well. If you get hurt, yell out and I’ll heal you right away; you can even try before your potion if you think you have time. I think it’s still necessary to have the potions, though, just in case I can’t hear you, or I’m hurt, too.”
“I may be able to make my own potions wherever I’m at, anyway,” Twilight said, “but I can’t count on having materials within reach, so I’d better take some just in case.”
Rarity stood up after a couple minutes, wandering from friend to friend and attaching potions to their legs. She then turned to Luna.
“Ok, I think we’re ready now. So, what exactly are you going to be doing?” 
“Channeling. And you will be moving. Very fast. So make the most of it, because I can’t do anything else while I channel any of these new spells.”
“Spells? As in multiple? What else can you… do?” Rarity’s words were cut off as the entire world seemed to almost stop moving. 
I guess this is what she meant.
Rarity loaded her bowgun and ran as fast as she could along the side of the ibushi placing shells in sacs as she went. She had made her way from the end of the ibushi’s tail all the way to the front of its body, placing shells in every sac along one side when the entire world shifted back into place. Several seconds went by, and then every shell she had placed exploded simultaneously in one glorious burst of shrapnel; the ibushi roared furiously and listed to its side, dropping from the air heavily. Rarity heard a cheer from far behind her, and saw Luna slumped over in exhaustion, while the remainder of the group stood in awe. 
“Well that made it fucking easy,” Sydreol said morosely. “Kinda anticlimactic.” 
“Shut up, you fucking moron!” Lycadran backhanded him upside the back of his head. “You just cursed us!”
“What? How?”
A white aura formed around the grounded ibushi, and they watched in horror as gashes filled in and wind sacs reformed and inflated.
“That’s how, you jackass!”
“Nuh-uh, not on my watch!” Pinkie announced with all the ferocity a baker could muster. “Time for me to sing my ‘Nope nope nope!’ song!”
At that, she jumped onto the ibushi’s tail and sang an odd tune composed of nothing but the word ‘nope’ while bouncing along the monster’s body, then back to the group. They watched as the newly healed sacs deflated and the white aura faded, replaced with a pink aura that covered all the wounds as though blocking them.
“How…?” Lycadran began.
“Shhh!” Sydreol hushed her. “We do not question the Pinkie Pie.”
“But she just…!”
“Eh eh eh! Do not question!”
“I hate you.”
A groaning growl emanated from the ibushi, and it ripped the attention of all present back to the fight at hand. 
The monster flexed and convulsed, and its tail ripped free of the vines tethering it to the ground; curling itself into a partially floating ball from its few remaining wind sacs, it began glowing a fierce red. Winds tore upward around it, bringing with them rocks and trees that were juggled about in the wind. 
“Scatter!” Lycadran yelled. “It’s going to start throwing things!”
The group separated immediately, just as the shrapnel began to fling outward, seeking its targets.
Rarity dodged through trees, narrowly avoiding rocks as they smashed and gouged their paths behind her.
Ugh, I just did this, why am I running from rocks again? Stupid ibushi!
She changed course, turning ninety degrees and running toward the side rather than away; ahead she spotted Twilight, limping as she tried to avoid more of the rocks and trees that were coming her way. Rarity watched helplessly as Twilight dove out of the way of a large boulder only to have a tree barrel down toward her. A small purple orb floated out to meet the tree before it got to Twilight, and it suddenly exploded into a cloud of smoke and ash.
Rarity rushed forward.
“Twi, are you ok?”
“Not really, but better than I could be.”
Rarity looked at the pile of ash. “What the hay was that? We don’t have any bombs like that here.” 
“Just your regular explosives. I told you I can augment them. Apparently, by a lot. Did you know that your book has ammo recipes in it?”
Rarity’s head snapped toward Twilight so quickly she could have sworn she almost broke her neck.
“I need you to make me some. The most powerful ammo you can. In fact, make it sticky ammo.”
“Can do. I’m kinda hurt, though. Hold on.” She pulsed her magic and smiled. “I think I should be fine.” Several plants flew in her direction and she spun them in a magic field with barely a second glance, then gulped the resulting mixture down. Her wound healed instantly and she gave a pleased smile. 
“Have I mentioned that I love the magical properties of the plants and minerals here yet?” 
“You may have,” Rarity said, giving her a side eye.
Twilight pulled out the book and flipped through it.
“Ammo… Ammo… ah! Here we go! Sticky ammo… I assume rank three?”
“Yes!” Rarity said greedily.
“Should be doable, I think I felt these things around here. Let me see…” 
She pulsed her horn again, frowning. 
“Well, I can feel the blazenuts for the gunpowder to upgrade the sticky ammo from rank one to three, now I just need blastnuts to just make the ammo itself.”
She levitated a large bundle of nuts to herself from far off, and Rarity deposited them in her bag for later. 
“Let’s go, hopefully we’ll find some near the rest of our friends.”
They followed the path of destruction back to the clearing near the ibushi, noting that the winds had calmed considerably; the monster appeared to be exhausted and recovering from its ferocious attack. It had fallen back to the ground, its tail fallen toward them and its top half folded back, resting on itself, growling but otherwise unmoving to attack. The remainder of the group also seemed to be returning none the worse for the wear, though Rarity couldn’t help but notice that potions were missing from the belts of almost all her friends.
“I think it’s time we try to finish it off,” Rarity announced. “If we all aim for its head while it's resting, I think we stand a good chance of killing it.”
“Agreed,” Sydreol nodded.
“Twi, can you find any of those nuts around here?” Rarity asked eagerly.
“Nuts?” Lycadran deadpanned. “You want… nuts?”
Twilight pulsed her horn again and her face lit up. Another bundle of nuts flew her way, and Rarity quickly handed her the rest from her bag; within a few moments Twilight floated back a large amount of glowing ammunition.
“Oh.”
Rarity turned to Luna. 
“Luna, you mentioned ‘spells’; what is it exactly you can do?”
Luna grinned evilly. “Manipulate time.”
Everyone took a step back in shock.
“The fuck?” Sydreol gaped, then relaxed slightly. “Ah, you’re joking. No way that’s possible, and I’ve been around you enough to know you like to fuck with people.”
Luna’s horn glowed and Sydreol completely stopped all motion. Lycadran waved a hand in front of his face. He did not react. She tried pushing him backward, but he remained immovable. 
“Should we tell Luna to let him go?” Twilight asked.
“No, no,” Rarity said. “I want to see where this goes.”
Lycadran stared at Sydreol for a few moments, then grinned wickedly. She pulled his armored leggings aside, then kicked him as hard as she could in the crotch. She then replaced the leggings and turned to Luna. 
“Could you please release him?” she asked sweetly.
Luna’s horn stopped glowing.
A screech could be heard in Miliesu that morning that would haunt dreams for years to come.
“You are officially the best princess ever,” Lycadran gasped amid peals of laughter.
“I hate you all…” Sydreol croaked from the ground. “Fluttershy… help…”
“Honestly…” Fluttershy hummed slightly, sending a few glowing feathers Sydreol’s way and bringing him back to the land of the living.
“So, you can manipulate time,” Rarity confirmed. 
“Only for single people or small areas, though,” Luna qualified. “I’ve toyed with it a little since I figured it out, and it’s very draining, and requires all my energy and focus. I have to continually channel it, and can’t move while I do it. That’s why I was so exhausted after you had been hastened.”
”Would it be possible for you to stop time for only my ammo when I place it? Twilight gave me enhanced sticky ammo, but sticky ammo explodes after a time. I was hoping to leave it active until everyone could do whatever they do, then let it blow up at the same time.”
Luna nodded. “I think I can handle that.”
“Let’s get moving, then!” Rarity said forcefully. 
A cheer erupted, and everyone set to motion.
Fluttershy stayed at the base of the ibushi’s tail, humming with her golden glow as PInkie sang cheerfully, bouncing along the ibushi’s lower half. Rarity, Sydreol, Lycadran, and Cinnamon ran along the top of its body toward its head; Lycadran vaulted up and attacked, slashing and stabbing her glaive repeatedly into its head, while Cinnamon stabbed from where she stood on its back. Rarity and Sydreol jumped atop its head; Sydreol planted wyvernblasts into its flesh, while Rarity unloaded every sticky shell that Twilight had given her onto the ibushi.
The hunters then scrambled away, leaving the area as fast as they could before any of the others could begin attacking; before they had made it off the ibushi’s back, they could hear Applejack yelling.
“Y’all ain’t the only one that can use trees as weapons, ya know!”
They watched as branches and logs rolled toward the monster, then jumped and jutted upward from the ground, stabbing into the ibushi where it lay, still too fatigued to move.
“What the hell?” Rarity stared.
“Yeah, I know,” Rainbow Dash laughed next to her. “Bizarre, isn’t it? She got all these weird ‘control earth’ things. I guess it makes sense for the earth pony, but still.” She shrugged. “I still like my super aura punch thing better. I’ll take brute physical force over that any day.” She saluted the hunters. “See ya!”
She took off into the sky like a rocket, flying high above the treeline, then broke into a sharp dive, directing herself directly at the ibushi’s head. Gaining speed, she aimed, then broke her dive off with a strong kick mid-air, rebounding back up and turning back around to land by the ibushi’s tail. A booming crack resounded through the forest, announcing the connection of Rainbow’s kick, and the ibushi’s head could be seen forcibly being driven downward further into the logs Applejack had summoned, further impaling it.
“Guess it’s my turn!” Twilight called. “I’m not setting these off, I’ll leave that to Celestia!” 
She flew down, depositing what seemed to be a massive amount of explosives.
“Where the hell did you get all those?” Lycadran yelled.
Twilight shrugged. “I’ve been farming!”
“For five minutes?”
“I’m good at it!”
“Damn it, you suck! And don’t you dare ruin our economy!”
“Sorry? Don’t worry, I don’t care about your markets, I’m a princess with a castle already.” 
She soared down next to Lycadran.
“You really are a wrinkly lemon.”
“I hate you all, except Fluttershy.”
“Yeah, we get that a lot.”
Celestia flew overhead. “You about ready to release the sticky ammo, Luna?”
“Mmhmm!” she grunted. “Hurry up!”
“Ok! I’m trying something new, I hope this works.”
“New?” Rarity questioned as Celestia flew up and out of earshot. “I, uh, think we may want to back up.”
Celestia positioned herself high above the ibushi, in full view of the sun’s rays. Her horn glowed, and slowly a cone of light began to funnel into her horn from the direction of the sun, swirling and pulsing as it entered. 
Celestia herself began to glow white, brightening until she was almost unbearable to look at, at which point the cone vanished and the light began to fade from her, only to begin appearing in a singular point above the ibushi’s head.
“FUCK! MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE!” Rarity yelled. “Someone help me grab Luna!”
“What’s going on?” Sydreol asked in a panic, grabbing one side of Luna while Rarity grabbed the other.
“She’s basically making a miniature solar flare. It’s about to get really hot, and I don’t want to be anywhere close to there.”
“A solar flare.” He looked back, watching smaller orbs and rings forming around the center as it grew in size, with more and more appearing by the second. “Yeah, get me away from that shit.”
Moving quickly, they all reached the edge of the mountain face when a voice called out. 
“It’s finished! Luna, release the ammo, we have… where are you guys?”
Luna released her time spell, while Rarity called out loudly, “we’re over here!”
“Oh for… it’s not going to explode instantly,” Celestia said, flying down and enveloping them all in a shield. She walked inside. “We still have-“ 
An explosion shook the forest, and a blast wave washed past them.
“Well, we would have had plenty more time if you hadn’t all run away.” Celestia grumbled. “Did you really think I’d knowingly blow you all up?”
“Yes,” they answered unanimously.
“Screw you all.”
The shield dissipated and they walked forward; the forest in front of them was no longer a forest. There were no longer any trees for the first several hundred feet, and for about a quarter mile every tree had been blown down. In the center of the carnage was a headless ibushi.
Sydreol whistled. “Overkill much?”
“Shut up. You know, that wasn’t all me. A lot of that was Twilight’s ammunition and explosives, and who knows how large it would have been if they hadn’t been stacked on each other. That’s not to mention that Pinkie Pie boosted all of our abilities immensely, I’m positive I would not have been able to do that if not for her.”
“True. And I guess overkill is better than underkill for that thing.”
“Lycadran?” Rarity asked, turning to the hunter, “would you like to carv-“ she stopped short. “Lycadran? You ok?”
Everyone turned to face the hunter, who stood staring at the portal cave with a worried and frightened look on her face.
“Can… Can I make a request?” she asked hoarsely.
“What is it?” Rarity questioned in concern.
“Can you not let any other ponies in here?”
“Why would you not want us to have any other ponies visit here?” Rarity asked in surprise.
“I know ya don’t like me all that much, but ya don’t need to shut yer whole world off to all of us,” Applejack said.
“It’s not that; I can handle you, shithead. I actually like you.”
“Wha-?”
“Some people use insults as terms of endearment. It’s a fucked up human thing,” Sydreol explained.
“Oh.”
“The thing is… you ponies are super powerful. Like, damn near godlike. I’m a hunter, this is all I do, all I know. If other ponies come here, maybe they’ll want to be hunters. If they’re anything like your rainbow friend here, I’m sure they will be. And with god-pony hunters, I’d be useless.”
“I have to disagree with you there, Lycadran,” Twilight interjected. “It’s true that we’re all much more powerful here, but like Princess Celestia mentioned earlier, we were working together. Pinkie boosted our strength. Our abilities played off each other and synergized well. Individually, I still think we’re less dangerous than each of you. We also have one specific niche that we fill. You can be flexible for any situation.”
“That’s true… but it still worries me,” she said. “Working together or not, you’re still strong as hell.”
“I don’t think you have to worry anyway, sugarcube,” Applejack reassured her, walking up next to her.
“How on earth could you be sure?”
“At the risk of sounding cliche, we’re special. What ya got here are the elements of harmony and the two celestial sisters. We’re the most powerful ponies in all of Equestria. I’m sure Rares has told ya all the stories about us savin’ the world multiple times? And how those two Princesses move the sun and the moon?”
“Not really, no. I heard one of them moves the sun, but that’s about it. I… honestly avoided Rarity like the plague. Hated her, really. Up until now.”
“You… what?” Rarity gasped.
“Yeah, you’re growing on me. Get over it.”
“So yeah, ya got yerself the special ones of the bunch here, so we’re bound to be the super strong ones. I doubt any other ponies comin’ here will be quite this strong. At least, not enough to endanger your job. If they do, I’m sure the Princesses will make some laws about limits on how many hunters will be allowed. Ain’t that right?”
“You have my word,” Celestia nodded.
“Likewise,” Luna said.
“I don’t make laws,” Twilight chirped. “But me too, because I want to be included.”
“I think I can accept that.” A smile graced her face. “Thank you all. We honestly would never have done this without your help.”
“No problem, and you can feel free to visit us any time,” Twilight offered.
“That’s right! We’ll have cupcakes ready!” Pinkie offered cheerily.
“I may have to take you up on that.”