//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 - Two Heads: Are They Actually Better Than One? // Story: Monster Hunter Pie // by BronyArmitage //------------------------------// Three weeks. Three. Whole. Weeks. Pinkie had sat through three weeks of Lyra giving her lessons from the Hunter's Compendium. The Hunter had tried to seem interested, she really had, but she always had difficulty sitting still for more than an hour, let alone three weeks. At one point, about a week in, she confronted Lyra about the Doctor. "He was able to fix me last time. Can't he just come do it again?" Pinkie asked, wide-eyed. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take. The reviewing, and the quizzing, and the studying. It was like being back at the academy without the option to ditch out. Lyra had stopped reading when Pinkie spoke, looking over to her and sighing. "The Doctor is the only one in the Guild who can perform any sort of healing. No one else, save for the Guildmasters, can do this. I assure you, Pinkie, that they don't have time to hover around you every time you screw up and break something. Moving on..." Pinkie slumped back, defeated. Lyra was right, she almost always was. Pinkie conceded and decided it was best to just listen to her friend read. Best case scenario, she'd learn something new. Worst case, she'd die of boredom. /) (\ The Hunter had eluded the boredom reaper, at least for now. Her arm had mended quite nicely, and while it was a little sore, she'd gone out on a gathering quest to test the waters. She had returned, mission accomplished, and with no cuts or bruises. It felt good to finally get out of the village again. She walked up to Lyra's office and leaned on the counter. "What's on the roster for today, boss?" she smiled at the liaison, who dug a piece of paper out from inside her desk. Lyra's eyes scanned over it before handing it to Pinkie. "Time for you to actually get away from the island." Lyra said as Pinkie read the bulletin. "The Guild is shipping you off to the Tundra to fight a Gigginox." she hoisted the Compendium up and flipped through it, reaching the page with the Gigginox on it. Her eyes scanned the paragraphs, picking out keywords. "Venomous...Cold weather...Skin turns black...Two heads...Wait, two heads?!" she did a double-take, making sure she'd read that right. She had. "'The Gigginox possesses a head at the front and back of its body'...Just like my mother-in-law." Lyra muttered before closing the book again. "Think you can handle it, Pinkie?" "Duh! I'm good as new, Lyra. Better now than before. Let's do this!" Pinkie paid the fee and was about to make for the transport when Lyra stopped her. "Do you have everything you need?" the liaison had grabbed the back of Pinkie's skirt. She had brought the Hunter to a halt a lot easier than Pinkie thought she'd be able to. "You'll need Potions, Antidotes, and something to help keep you warm. The cold in the Tundra is life-draining. Last thing you need is to be tired when you fight this thing." Pinkie sighed and turned, making her way to Rarity's shop. After purchasing the necessities, she walked back to the boat. "Let's try this again." Pinkie spoke as she climbed into the boat. The Felyn hoisted the sails and the boat departed from the dock. Pinkie watched Moga fade into the distance, wondering how long this boat ride would take. /) (\ Pinkie was staring up at the sky. She guessed that about two hours had passed since she boarded the boat. It was then that she noticed her breath starting to form clouds in the air. She stood up and turned, seeing her destination before her. Her eyes grew wide as the towering mountain came into view. The sky got steadily more overcast as snow started to fall, gently at first, then whipping icy daggers against her exposed skin moments later. The closer they got to the dock, the colder it felt. She disembarked at base camp, helping the Felyn tie the boat to the pier. She made her way up to the supply trunk, opening one of the jars that contained a steaming liquid. She took a huge draught from it, feeling its warmth course through her body immediately. She placed the empty jar in the trunk and pulled out a map. Pinkie chewed on her cheek as she walked through the snow-covered areas. She would, occasionally, get a reprieve from the biting wind, but they were brief. This environment was vicious, and she didn't know how long she'd be able to stay out here. As she was walking for a new area, she noticed a lumbering group of furry herbivores. She recognized them as Popos. She'd seen a few in books, but they were considerably bigger than the Aptonoths she'd seen back at Moga. Their large, curved tusks brushing against the ground as they walked to the next place where they could eat. Pinkie turned her gaze away and stepped into a large, natural valley. The mountains rose up on either side of the open field, and while there was snow, the wind was unable to reach her down here. To her left, her eyes fell upon a cave entrance. Across the field, she could see two more. The area seemed to be shaped like a diamond, and she glanced around for any sharp drop offs. Noting that there were none around, she started to make her way across the field to the cave furthest from her. The Hunter had managed to get about halfway across before she heard wings beating against the air. She turned to face the noise, watching the white skinned monster descend from the sky, slowly. Sure enough, at the end of its tail, or neck, maybe, was another head. She couldn't really tell if the monster could see her, but it turned so its top head was facing her, eyes glowing purple. It had a circular mouth that was lined with hundreds of teeth, built for shredding up its food. The Gigginox raised the head closest to Pinkie and let out a horrendous shriek. Where the Rathian and Lagiacrus roared, this monster sounded like a person being tortured. In addition to almost deafening her, it made Pinkie uneasy. She reached back and drew out the axe, bringing it to bear and preparing to strike. She took note of how it moved very much like a Tigrex, using the fingers on the folds of its wings like hands. Its mouth stretched open as it made a charge for Pinkie. Just the sight of this thing made the Hunter shiver. She rolled out of the way and took a swing at the back head. Pinkie's weapon bounced. It hit the Gigginox right in the top of the back head and bounced. She almost lost her grip on the weapon, but was able to regain some control. "What manner of sorcery is this?" Pinkie asked herself as the rear head lunged at her. She made a small squeak as it tagged her in the side, knocking her off balance. She dropped heavily to the ground as the Gigginox planted its head perpendicular to the ground. She heard something she never hoped to hear again. There was a disgusting sound coming from the Gigginox's rear head. She looked over in horror as it regurgitated a giant pile of purple goo onto the ground about five feet from the Hunter. Pinkie watched as it jiggled for a second before exploding into a toxic cloud. She coughed, throwing her hand up over her mouth to try and avoid inhaling anymore. She looked ill as she made a break for it, putting as much distance between her and the monster as possible. How was she supposed to fight this thing? She ran over possible strategies in her mind as she popped the lid off an Antidote and downed it. Tossing the empty jar aside, she drew her weapon again, the Gigginox already charging her down. She dove under its wing, rolling to her feet and taking a swing at the monster's leg. This time, she didn't bounce off. "So that's it, then..." Pinkie spoke to herself once more, then started evading the Gigginox's attempts at fending her off. She kept striking the legs, until finally, with one well-aimed strike, she knocked the monster over. The Gigginox fell onto its side, rolling onto its back and flailing as Pinkie climbed up onto the monster's stomach. She raised the axe above her head and started bringing it down with as much strength as she could muster. Each swing burying the axe head deep into the soft underbelly of her foe. She had gotten five or six clean strikes before the beast threw her off. It rolled up onto its feet and its skin turned jet black. It let out another bellow, the screech forcing Pinkie to cover her ears. She set her jaw, watching the monster rushing her down. It stopped short and leapt into the air, performing a graceful mid-air flip and regurgitating poison onto the Hunter. Pinkie was stunned into non-action, the purple goo running down her armor and sliding onto the ground. She'd never felt more disgusting in her life. She downed another Antidote, feeling the monster's eyes still on her. She wasn't sure why, but she felt like it was laughing at her. "It's funny now, mister..." Pinkie cranked the weapon to sword mode. "It's not about to be." she charged forward, blind rage consuming her. The Gigginox attempted another jump, but Pinkie went airborne and slashed into the monster's head, leaving a deep cut and throwing it off trajectory. It spun through the air, slamming into the ground and wailing in pain as Pinkie charged at it again. She slashed at its wings, breaking the fingers on them, climbing up onto its stomach again and stabbing the blade into it, making gashed where she hadn't last time. In a panic, the Gigginox threw her off, getting to its feet and taking to the skies. Pinkie recovered in time to watch it fly to the cave farthest from her. She trudged through the snow, large drifts making a map of their battle. The Hunter ducked into the cave, her weapon still drawn. There was no sign of the monster, and the cave was well lit enough that she had no trouble seeing anything. She walked in, slowly, checking every direction. She stopped when she'd reached the center of the cave. There was nothing else in the cave with her. She decided it might not be a bad idea to catch her breath. She pulled another Hot Drink from her pouch and opened it. As soon as the lid was off, she heard the sound of something dropping into water. She looked at her drink and saw saliva in it. Her face scrunched up in disgust before realization dawned on her. She snapped her head up just in time to see the Gigginox's open mouth descending upon her. In an instant, her entire body was inside the Gigginox. She could hear its rattling breaths and started to feel the hundreds of tiny razors closing in on her. She'd already had the weapon in sword mode, and she slowly started to move her body so that the blade was pointing straight up. "Do or die, Pinkie Pie." she spoke to herself in a sing-song voice and thrust the blade up into the monster's throat. She felt the teeth compact around her, slicing away at anything exposed. She could feel the monster's teeth slicing into her face as she started to rev the weapon. The vibrations sent waves of pain through the Gigginox, and it was attempting to kill her before she could kill it. With each surge of energy from the Switch Axe, Pinkie felt the teeth cutting deeper and deeper into her. Her world was fading to black and sounds were becoming distorted. It wasn't until the last burst if energy blew the back half of the Gigginox towards the cave's entrance did she finally get relief from the monster. She had to saw her way out of it, cutting down through its soft insides until she freed herself, dropping to her knees and gasping for air. Her blood ran in thick streams down her face and arms, and she was drenched in Gigginox saliva. "Never...Again..." she panted heavily after each word before collapsing, her world fading to blackness. /) (\ Pinkie was awoken by water splashing on her face. She sat bolt upright, looking around frantically. She saw the Felyn driving the boat, and she had to try and remember what she was doing here. The Gigginox! That's what she had done. She remembered blacking out, but she had also remembered blowing that monster to pieces. She wiped her face with her hand, drawing in a sharp breath. She was still covered in cuts. She blinked, staring at the open ocean. She saw Moga coming into view and wondered how, exactly, she'd ended up back on the boat. "Well...You should never look a gift horse in the mouth." she leaned back, staring at the sky, waiting to dock at Moga.