//------------------------------// // The Hunt // Story: Friendship is a Croc // by TheSuperiorVision //------------------------------// The Everfree forest. A dark forest filled with mysteries sensible ponies are too afraid to discover. Inside, you would find some of the most dangerous animals in Equestria. Ponies tilt their heads in confusion when they hear of a place where plants, animals, and even the weather takes care of itself. They would say it's crazy, but when they get a first hand look of the forest, they would beg you to never take them back. If they survive. A massive, clawed paw slammed down on the ground. Crushing the foliage beneath, it lifted the dead plant up to a massive snout. It sniffed it, snorting in disgust as it threw the dead plant away as it began to march through the woods. This creature looked like any average lion except for two differences. It possessed a massive pair of leathery wings and a long black scorpion tail. The beast itself was massive, possessing scars across its body, showing its experience in battle. This monstrosity, known as a manticore, stomped through the forest, looking for its next meal. As it sniffed the air, it looked around in confusion. There was nothing. The forest was completely empty. Its usual prey was nowhere to be seen. The manticore smirked, its pride swelling up as it realized that all of the animals in its presence fled. Truly, it was on the very top of the food chain. It was the king of the Everfree. It was feared throughout the forest as the most vicious and blood thirsty predator. Now even the wretched ponies that kept invading his territory would think twice. The manticore stiffened. A smell. A faint smell. It was a smell the manticore was unfamiliar with. This surprised it cause he knew the smell of almost everything in the Everfree. He was especially familiar with the smell of ponies, and that was no pony. As it followed the scent, it took to the shadows so it could sneak up on its prey. The closer it stalked the stronger a new particular smell became. This scent was coming from its prey too. It was pungent. This time it was familiar. It was death. It was the smell of death and decay. Like rotting flesh. Maybe its prey was already dead? Peering through fauna, the manticore's eyes widened as his gaze fell upon a foreign creature collapsed on a stream. Stepping out into the open, the manticore inspected its potential lunch. The strange creature was covered in scales, but most of its lower half was obscured by poorly stitched together cloth. The best the manticore could surmise was that this creature was a wingless, bipedal dragon. It sniffed the air, the smell of decay was definitely coming from this dragon. More specifically, its mouth. The new adversary was still alive, the slow rise and fall of its chest was evident of that. Smirking, the manticore raised its tail into the air. Ready to inject venom into its prey, the manticore failed to notice the foreign creature beginning to stir. As it slammed its tail's fine point, the manticore congratulated itself for its easy kill. When it attempted to remove its tail it was surprised to find that it wouldn't budge. The manticore looked back down at its tail. A pair of scaly hands wrapped around the end of its tail. The hands moved the tail, revealing a pair of cold yellow eyes. Roaring, Croc lifted the beast high into the air by its tail. He threw the creature with all of his might, slamming it into a tree. Standing back up, it flapped its wings to gain a quick burst of speed. Croc barely dodged the beast's claws. He stepped back as the winged lion/scorpion hybrid continued to swipe its razor sharp claws. It finally landed a hit across Croc's chest, but to the manticore's surprise it could barely pierce the thick scales. Smirking, Croc released a right jab across its jaw. The manticore growled in rage, that wingless dragon was mocking it. The manticore roared as it pounced onto Croc. It dug its claws into his scales, latching on. Its tail's poison tip was aimed at Croc's neck, but he managed to grab it before it pierced his flesh. Grunting with effort, Croc lifted up the manticore high above his head and slammed it onto the ground. As it tried to crawl away, the manticore was pinned to the ground by Croc's foot. Croc's fingers wrapped around its tail, and with all his might he tore off the manticore's tail. Roaring in pain, the manticore wrestled against Croc's strong grip. Without even trying, Croc ripped off one of its wings. He released it and laughed as he watched it crawl away. The manticore couldn't believe what was happening, how quickly the tables turned on it. How fast the once fierce predator became the prey. Croc stomped towards the beast, writhing in agony. Croc chuckled darkly, “Time for breakfast.” A group of six colorful ponies marched through the woods, four kept to the ground, one was flying, and the other was monotonously bouncing humming a happy tune to herself. “Oh why is that every time Princess Celestia requests our aid it is always in the Everfree,” Rarity complained, grimacing as she stepped into a mud puddle. “Rather be at the spa relaxing than doing any heavy lifting right?” Applejack smirking playfully. “No! Just a change of scenery would be nice,” Rarity half lied. “Maybe it likes chocolate!” Pinkie appearing between Rarity and Applejack, despite being in front of them a second ago. “Why the hay would you think that?” Applejack inquired. “Cause everypony likes chocolate silly!” Pinkie simply answered. “I think we should refrain from party planning until after we find out this creatures intentions,” Twilight said. “Whatever its intentions are it better not plan on causing any problems for Equestria or else it'll have to deal with me!” Rainbow Dash boasted, puffing out her chest. “If he tries anything I'll give 'em the ol' one-two!” Fluttershy remained silent which was nothing particularly odd. She was always a quiet pony and the looming threat of the Everfree wasn't helping. But this time, Fluttershy was cluttered with thoughts of the oncoming threat. She observed the banter of her closest friends. Judging by Twilight's explanation, none of them knew about the monster's presence prior to Celestia's message. “Why could I sense it while my friends could not?” has plagued her mind since she entered the forest. “Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy was brought out of her thoughts, her attention shifted to her surroundings. She gasped as her eyes came across the butchered corpse of a manticore. At least she thought it was a manticore. She ran to its body, inspecting the damage. The beast had a huge chunk taken out of its side, massive teeth marks were imbedded into its side. It was missing a wing and its tail, the latter laying on the other side of the clearing. Fluttershy wimpered, trying not to cry as her friends surrounded her. They knew her love of animals is strong and hated to see them in pain. But this was a massacre. “Are ya gonna be alright, sugarcube?” Applejack asked concerned. “If we want to stop anymore unnecessary deaths than we need to hurry and find that thing.” Twilight stated, catching everyponies attention. Fluttershy sniffed, wiping away any remaining tears from her eyes and nodded. “I-I'm a-alright righ-” Clang Clang Clang The group perked their ears. “The heck was that?” Rainbow asked. “Morse code?” Pinkie guessed as she hit a tree, making a 'clop' sound that matched the rhythm of the clanging. “Whatever it is we should check it out,” Twilight said, running deeper into the forest before her friends respond. “Hold on, shouldn't we make a plan first?” Applejack said trying to catch up to the alicorn. “Buck that!” Rainbow laughed as she flew next to Applejack. Pinkie giggled as she kept bouncing, easily keeping up with the others. Fluttershy and Rarity were father back, having trouble keeping up. “Darling, could you please slow doooowwwnnn!” Rarity collapsed to the ground, tripping over something. “Oh Rarity, are you alright?” Fluttershy asked, checking Rarity for any injuries. Rarity got back onto her hooves and regained her composure. “Thank you Fluttershy, I must have just tripped over somethi-aaaauuugh!” Right behind her, laying on the ground was the skeletal remains of a wing. “Ew ew ew ew ew ew EW! I can't believe I touched that!” Rarity screamed in horror. “What's wrong?” Twilight asked, luckily the rest of the group weren't ahead too far. “I th-think i-it's the r-rest of the m-manticore's wing,” Fluttershy shook as she stepped away from the appendage. “Whoa, the bone looks completely picked clean!” “Come on, we have to hurry!” Twilight yelled as she and the rest picked up their pace. “Son of a BITCH!” A scaly behemoth slammed into a tree, his hands wrapped around its metal color. He convulsed as he attempted to rip the offending contraption from his neck. Slamming into another tree, it collapsed to the ground due to his might. His eyes were darting side to side frantically. His mind was racing, thinking of ways to get the collar off. He spotted a massive boulder, an idea quickly formed in his head. Kneeling, he got into a sprinting position. With a surprising burst of speed, he hit the boulder neck first. It hurt like a bitch and left a huge crack in massive rock. He repeatedly rammed his neck into the bolder, a loud clang kept reverberated off the rock. One final powerful clang later and the collar fell apart as well as the bolder. Killer Croc was finally free. Laughing to himself, Croc walked in a random direction to search for civilization. Suddenly an ear piercing and whiny scream flooded his ear drums. Croc clutched his abused ears and growled to himself. Sniffing the air he was bombarded by a group of scents. One scent reminded him of dusty old books, while another of apples. His nostrils contorted in agony as he smelled something akin hot pepper and sweat, a combination he did not care for. Next he nearly gagged when he smelled layer after layer of expensive perfume and make up. The next just left him disgusted, it was sweet, too sweet if it was possible. He felt like he was getting diabetes just by smelling this thing. The last one, he had mixed feelings to. It was sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. It had a simple scent, vanilla and pine. Odd combination, reminded him of nature. Whatever these creatures were, they were coming closer. He used the shadows of the forest due to there not being much to hide someone of his size. His plan went as such: demand them to tell him where he can find civilization. If they are uncooperative, force the information out of them then kill them. If they comply, kill them anyway. No witnesses. And maybe take one of them as a snack for the road. The sick chuckle died in his throat when his prey finally revealed themselves. Now Killer Croc has seen some weird things in his life, especially living in Gotham City. But this had to take the cake. The creatures looked like a bunch of genetic experiments gone wrong. A group of six technicolor ponies with misshaped heads, large eyes, horns, wings, and one with both walked over to the previously intact boulder. But what surprised him even more was that one of them started to talk. “This is where I heard the noise, but nothing is here,” said the pony with both wings and a horn, inspecting the area. “What's this thing,” Applejack said, picking up a metal object off the ground. “Ooh is it a necklace?” Pinkie asked grabbing the object and wrapping it around her neck. It didn't stay on for long as it slid off her neck. “Aww it's broken.” “Just leave it Pinkie. It looks absolutely atrocious,” Rarity said as she eyed the object. “It looks more like a collar than a necklace. That must have been what we heard, an animal was probably trying to get it off.” Twilight said inspecting the broken collar. “Fluttershy do you think you could track the creature?” All eyes fell on the shy mare, but she was facing away from them and into the forest. She was violently trembling as she looked wide eyed into the darkness before her. “Hey Shy, what's the matter?” Rainbow asked. “I-it's still h-here.”