//------------------------------//
// Meet the Carnivorous Pests 
// Story: Monster Hunter P - Friendship is Survival 
// by LakieLegion 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 3 : Meet the Carnivorous Pests

Ian hastily put his Gauntlet and Helm back upon himself and kicked open the door of the Library, the wooden jamb splintering with the force behind the limb, he looked towards the direction that the panicking ponies ran from and quickly spotted his prey, the large carnivorous raptor was charging through what looked like a marketplace, a pair of Jaggi following him and snapping at the heels of the fleeing equines.

The armored human quickly jumped to action swinging his lance ad sending a Jaggi flying into the side of a building, this quickly gained him the attention of the Alpha male, it growled and barked at him, but it did not faze him, the hunter had many slain Great Jaggi under his belt, the large frilled lizard let out it's warbling call.

What startled Ian the most was the reply it got, five more calls sounded back, one the same, but the other four made of two different tone variations, out from a few intersecting streets burst more monsters, one was another Great Jaggi and it's Jaggi entourage, but the others were slightly different.

The first was an orange variation of the purple Jaggi with a bulging purple sac around it's throat, this subspecies was known as the Great Wroggi, a variant of it's purple cousin that spews poison, each Alpha was accompanied by it's smaller brethren, simply known as Wroggi.

The third species was a dark blue color with an icy blue underbelly, it sported a Mohawk-like crest on it's head, this species, known as the Great Baggi, lived in the tundra and had it's own ability, the Baggi and their Alphas could spit globs of a chemical that could render the victim in a painless coma as the Baggi feasted on it's still warm flesh.

Never before had Ian seen all three subspecies in one place before, due to their usual habitats being so far between, being deserts, forests and the tundra respectively, Ian extended his lance as the six large carnivorous raptors and their inferior counterparts circled him, barking their own warbled cries at the hunter, he wasn't used to this many large monsters focusing on him at once.

But the calm before the storm of the predators circling their chosen prey was short lived as a small flying cyan blur charged for one of the Great Jaggi and kicked it in the face, as the blur retreated to Ian's side he recognized it as Rainbow Dash, he scowled from under his helm at the brash pegasus mare.

"Rainbow, that was a bad move, you just angered not one, but six large monsters, two of which spit poison and another two spit a numbing agent, not to mention the two smaller counterparts of each of them." he stated calmly to the speedster, whom was sporting a determined look, she looked to the armored hunter with a scowl.

"As if I'm going to leave all the glory of protecting Ponyville to you, besides, you need somepony watching your back while you are surrounded" she said, a fire burning in her rose eyes, Ian chuckled before glancing at the cyan mare.

"Try not to be left behind then Rainbow, because it looks like shit is gonna get real" the armored warrior quipped as he charged the nearest circling raptor, he slammed his lance into the side of the Great Wroggi's poison sac, a small burst of poisonous gas escaped it's jaws as it recoiled from the blow, just as quickly, Rainbow Dash unleashed a flurry of hooves into the Great Jaggi beside it, making the large raptor skip back a step as it barked in annoyance.

With that the combat began in earnest, Ian spun to block a glob of numbing agent spat by one of the Great Baggis as Rainbow Dash flew over a cloud of poisonous gas spat by the second Wroggi, as the remaining raptors charged and leaped at the duo.

Rainbow bucked at a Jaggi that leaped high enough to snap at her as Ian rolled out of the way of a lunging duo of Baggis, another pair of ponies decided to join in on the fray, charging at the larger monsters from behind before pivoting and bucking them.

Ian took notice of the brawl's newcomers, one was Applejack, with her iconic stetson, while the other was new to him, this new pony was bright red and much larger than the two lithe mares also participating in the combat, this new pony also had a more angular snout than any of the mares and wore a large wooden yoke around it's neck, sprouting out from between it's lips was a long piece of straw.

Rainbow Dash also took notice of the newcomers and called out to them.

"AJ! Big Mac! watch out for the orange ones, they spit poison! and the blue ones put you to sleep!" the brash mare called out as she whipped her hooves at the smaller raptors that were jumping and snapping at her.

"Thanks fer the advice RD! we'll keep that in mind!" Applejack replied as she dodged a snap from a Great Wroggi, the red pony simply replied with a deep, rumbling 'eeyup' as he stared down a growling Great Baggi.

Ian grunted at the onslaught of the Great Wroggi and Baggi upon his shield, he forced the large orange monster to back off with another smack from his lance, he growled at his ineptitude against multiple foes at once.

"Darnit! this weapon was never built for combat against this many monsters! i need my damned switch axe!" he growled, at that moment, a bright bust of light blinded him and his foe, once his vision returned, Ian was shocked to see his most powerful switch axe of the fire element.

In his hands he held the powerful Crimsidian switch axe, a powerful axe crafted from the parts of a Dire Miralis, with a grin on his face the armored warrior switched his axe into Sword Mode, adjusting his grip and stance as the weight of the blade shifted, with a powerful upward slice he sent the pair of smaller raptors flying into the air, with a powerful horizontal swing he cut into the poisonous sac upon the Great Wroggi's throat, bursting it apart.

Finally, with a powerful stab into the gut of the creature, Ian activated the explosive expulsion of the substance powering the powerful swings of Sword Mode, the pulses of power into the monster's gut quickly increased in severity before exploding violently, blowing the beast back and creating a sizable hole in it's bowels as the weapon switched back into Axe Mode.

One was down, but Ian knew that the fight was only just beginning.