//------------------------------//
// Predator vs Applejack 
// Story: My Little Pony vs .......... 
// by Ecthelion_Yuda 
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Applejack stumbled through the jungle, forcing her way through the tentacle-esque vines and branches that snatched at her legs every few steps. The air was hot, thick and humid, plastering her mane to her forehead and causing her tail to droop to the floor. The sun dappled forest floor seemed to buzz, a sensation that the deafening roar of thousands of insects surrounding her exacerbated. A large mosquito landed on her flank, causing Applejack to jump with shock as the long thin mouth piece pierced her solid flesh. Batting the insect away with her tail, Applejack stopped walking.  Clearly just picking a direction and heading off had been the wrong option.

Taking a minute to make herself a bit more comfortable, Applejack sat down and tried to formulate a plan. What did she know so far? She was in a jungle and somewhere hidden in the trees around her someone or something was trying to kill her. She also knew that if she wanted to escape and see her friends again, she would just have to kill that thing first. Applejack let out a deep sigh and tried to get herself into a fighting frame of mind. Just like the pony pioneers who had to defend their lands and families from timberwolves, she was now going to have to fight for her friends.

In the distance, Applejack could hear a waterfall emptying itself into a pool of water. The orange mare got up and started trotting towards the sound, desperately need of a drink. When she got to the pool, she could see just how large it really was, it was more like a small lake. She took of her hat and laid her rope down by a rock before stepping into the warm clear water. A shiver of pleasure shot up her body as she immersed herself with the water, taking a few moments to enjoy herself. It was delightfully refreshing despite the temperature. Little fish swam around Applejack while the chorus of insects and wild birds resounded overhead. The pool was thunderously loud due to the waterfall, but it seemed to be a peaceful place none the less. Around the periphery the pool was little more than a foot deep, but the middle was almost black it was so deep. Applejack let herself drift around gently, assisting the water only every so often. She let herself take in these moments, because she was going to have to start hunting soon.

Suddenly, Applejack’s eyes flew open. She frantically searched the area around her, almost sinking in the process, but she saw nothing. Her head now fully above the water, Applejack canned the jungle with her eyes and ears, checking for anything strange, but still she saw nothing and heard nothing.

But there could be no doubt, there was definitely something out there. The farm pony could feel its eyes drinking her in, observing every element of her being, waiting for just the right moment to strike.

That was when she saw it, little more than a shadow gliding across the edge of the pool with incredible speed. The jungle shimmered behind it, only vaguely revealing where the beast was. Applejack followed it as far as she could with her eyes, but the vision vanished into the undergrowth too quickly. Not satisfied that she had avoided the monster, Applejack swam to the edge of the pool and climbed out. Putting her hat back on, Applejack heard a soft clicking noise amid the din of birds and bugs. Relying solely on her instincts, Applejack crouched close to the ground and leaned heavily to the right. A millisecond later she felt something rush past her head and slam into the rock right beside her.

Before her eyes a long spear materialised, the camouflage fading away revealing a solid shaft that still vibrated a little from the force of the impact. Applejack tried to find her attacker but the world around her was completely still. Behind her, Applejack could hear a faint whirring sound and she jumped out of the just in time as a large disk hummed past her cheek. While she didn’t really have the time to analyse the finer details of the disk, she knew that the thing had a blade and that made it very dangerous.

Applejack landed in time to see the disk spin around in mid-air and buzz off back towards the trees. Without even thinking, Applejack span around and kicked a large stone in the same direction as the disk. She heard the clang of something hard striking metal followed by a satisfying thud as her opponent fell from its perch onto the solid ground beneath. Applejack smiled and turned around to grab her rope. A loud popping noise stopped her and she fell to the ground, covering her head with her hooves as a ball of blue light flew over her head. The ball hit the water of the pool, sending a cascade of boiling liquid high into the sky. Applejack turned around and saw the shimmering figure of her enemy walking slowly towards her. It was almost completely invisible, bending the shape of the jungle behind it to blend in. Without warning, it bolted forward with incalculable speed. Applejack tried to dodge, but she wasn’t fast enough this time and a large red wound opened up in her leg. Applejack lashed out with her remaining uninjured hind leg and sent the creature flying towards the water behind her. The skin that she made contact with felt thick and leathery, but it was softer than Applejack had imagined it would be.

The pony hit the ground ungracefully with a dull thud. Slowly, she got up and turned towards the pool where her opponent had landed. Initially, nothing happened, but then like a sea monster from one of Granny Smith’s stories, the creature rose up out of the water. Like the spear it had thrown earlier, the monsters façade began to melt away, revealing a tall and impressively built predator. Its face was hidden behind a thick, unmarked metal mask with a slight bulge where the creature’s mouth presumably was. Tendrils of what resembled hair hung down in braids from the beasts head. Its arms were the same size as a pair of barrels and its torso was a mess of muscles, glistening in the midday sun. Its hands were clenched into fists with a pair of nine-inch blades protruding from each hand. A small black cylinder buzzed and twitched on the monsters right shoulder. Seemingly frustrated with the device, the beast reached up and crushed it in his fist before discarding the crumpled mess of metal into the pool. Aside from the mask and a thick leather loin cloth around its waist, the thing appeared to be completely naked.

Applejack took her rope and stared down at her opponent. Neither of them moved for a few minutes, they just stood there waiting for the other one to make the first move. The monster raised its claws up to its mask and hissed menacingly. Swift as the wind, the monster lunged at Applejack with its claws extended. The farm pony tossed her rope, catching the creature around the ankle. Her opponent stumbled and crashed to the ground, striking its head on a large rock. As it stood back up, Applejack noticed that one of the eye holes in the mask was seriously damaged. She wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so she cast out her rope again and wrapped it around the creature’s neck. With a single tug, she brought the thing back down to its knees.

But before she could do anything else, the monster swung its arms around in front of its body. The blades on its fists sliced through the rope like a warm knife gliding through butter. As the little pieces of what had once been Applejack’s rope drifted gently to the ground, the creature placed its hands either side of its head and unclipped some of the tendrils that were holding the damaged mask in place. The creature grabbed its mask and pulled it away from its face, revealing the grotesque animal within. The mouth was abhorrently hideous with four pincers protruding from what vaguely resembled lips at odd angles. The lower jaw seemed covered in a thin flap of skin rather than an actual lip and two rows of teeth that could rival a timberwolf’s glistened with saliva. Two grey beady eyes glared at Applejack, hatred pouring out of them like a waterfall. The sheer desire to kill in the monsters face was almost enough to make Applejack run screaming into the jungle. The pincers around its mouth separated and the beast let out an almighty roar that shook the jungle.

Without giving her time to react, the beast threw itself at Applejack, driving one set of claws deep into her flank. The orange mare bellowed in agony and fury as the smooth claw retracted from her flesh. Her adversary lashed around again with the other arm, but Applejack managed to roll out of the way. She lashed out with her remaining uninjured leg and smashed the monster right in the back of the knee, causing it to stumble and almost fall.

Enraged, the beast span around and sent its right hand towards Applejack. The mare could only shuffle backwards just enough to avoid being impaled by the alien in front of her. However, as the first set of claws made contact with the earth, the second fist was already flying towards Applejack’s face. Applejack managed to keep shuffling backwards, leaving a trail of blood from her wound as fist after fist narrowly missed her body. Suddenly, she felt water on her mane and realised that she had hit the pool. She couldn’t go much further back without drowning. The ultimate predator before her raised both of its arms above its head and almost seemed to smile at Applejack before throwing its arms down again towards her.

Applejack had no time to think, she just knew she had to do something to avoid being filleted. In a last ditch effort to save her life, Applejack struck with her front hoof in the hopes of knocking the monster off balance. By some miracle, her attack struck the beast on one of its arms. Applejack heard the sharp crack of a bone breaking and smiled. The broken arm slid across the monster body, colliding with the remaining good arm. As the blades slid into the monster flesh, Applejack was splattered with foul luminescent green liquid. There was a loud splash as one of the creatures arms landed heavily in the water beside Applejack’s head, no longer attached to the body.

The monster let out a horrified roar as it registered the loss of one arm and the uselessness of the other. It stumbled forward and fell face first into the water. Applejack wasted no time in rolling over onto the beasts back and forcing its head under the water completely with her front legs. The monster writhed and thrashed as it tried to displace the orange mare, but without the use of its arms, it couldn’t shake her off. Eventually, the creatures body went limp and stopped moving.

Applejack didn’t move immediately, wanting to be certain that the monster was in fact dead. But when she was satisfied that she had one, she hobbled off of the muscular back and limped onto the shore. Waiting for her on dry land were three more monsters that looked almost identical to the one she had just killed. Absolute terror filled her senses, she had only just been able to defeat one, now there were another three and she was still injured. One of the creatures glanced from the corpse in the water to Applejack and back again. It reached for something on its belt, a long chain with a crescent moon shaped blade on one end. She shut her eyes and waited for death, allowing a tear to roll down her cheek. She was surprised to hear the clank of metal in front of her. Opening her eyes, she realised that the monster had dropped the chain at her hooves and had gone over with the others to retrieve the body of their kinsman. Applejack saw the portal open in front of her and grabbed the chain in her mouth before limping into the light to face her next ordeal.