//------------------------------// // More Prey, More Prizes // Story: Tonight, We Hunt // by ShadowFall //------------------------------// At this point, Rengar began to rush his pace. The beast had caught onto something that the lion was not aware of. Could it have found other prey? Maybe it's rushing towards a mate. It didn't matter to Rengar. He was determined to fix a solid stone skull onto the wall of his den. Oh how that would make such a fine addition to his other trophies. Perhaps he would mount it above his newly acquired Mantacore skull. "Grawwww!!!" Rengar's ears shifted towards the distant noise. The hunter smiled. "Looks like it found something before me...", Rengar thought to himself as his pace increased its speed even further. He leaped through the trees rapidly, his primal instincts kicking in. Rengar, though he only had one functioning eye, was able to 'see' much more than what the average pony could ever imagine. Being born with this sense, Rengar was able to combine his hearing, smell, and sight into one sense, and amplify each one. The hunter was able to see nearly all that was in front of him, and nearly everything that surrounded him. Through fog or darkness, he was able to discern any color, scent, sound, and object that lay around him. The trill of the hunt further heightens his senses, easily highlighting the cragadile's tracks and the smell of burning foliage pointed towards its whereabouts. Now, Rengar was able to hear something that he wasn't able to hear before. Heartbeat. It was all around him. Birds, lizards, squirrels, little tiny thumps surrounded Rengar, his ears shifting to and fro trying to pick up the right pulse. It wasn't too hard to discern where the cragadile's pulse was coming from, as it was the largest and slowest of the surrounding forest life. However, Rengar also managed to decipher another heartbeat nearby. It was much smaller and much more rapid. Too tiny to come from a pony. A favorable condition to Rengar. It must be coming from another animal. Possibly a rabbit or a weasel. The beast that the lion was stalking must also be hunting for its own food. Or it has probably already found it. Rengar could sense the dull and powerful heartbeat getting closer to him as he began to close in towards his prey. Suddenly, something stood in front of Rengar that caused him to stop in his tracks, nearly making him fall straight out of the tree he had landed in. It was something that Rengar tried his best to never ever come near while he inhabited the Everfree. It was the very edge of the forest, breaking its barrier towards the town filled with the most pathetic and weak civilization Rengar had ever had the misfortune to know about. Ponyville. If he was spotted by the ponies, a giant commotion and panic would occur, driving the local inhabitants to possibly drive Rengar away from his den and forcing him to be exiled from the Everfree forest. He would have none of that. In order for his hunting grounds to remain undisturbed, Rengar must avoid contact with the obnoxious inhabitants that surrounded the forest. Unfortunately, his prey was beginning to move further and further away from the forest, towards the possibility that ponies could find the beast before he did. The lion decided that he would have none of that. If he could track the beast and kill it before it got too far, then he would still retain his secrecy, and his prize. Rengar, once again, quickened his pace. If Angel's heart could beat on par with the amount of fear and distress that inhabited the poor critter now, it would have exploded and left a bloody crater in the place of his chest. But, the bunny knew that if he even dared to look backwards, then the cragadile would make him into the same thing into the ground, perhaps with a bit more incinerated grass to that. The reptile composed of stone let loose another fur-shaking roar as it continued it pursuit of Angel. The distance of the roar wasn't very far from Angel. It was getting close. Angel had begun to tire out, slowing his racing more and more, and bringing himself closer towards the cragadile's snapping and smoking jaws ready to deliver 4,000 pounds per square inch down onto his tiny and fragile body, in addition to grilling him until he is well-done. Angel looked back, and he wished that he never had. The monster was mere feet away from him, never giving up on its pursuit of the rabbit. Hot and smoky breath was exerted from the beast's maw as its eyes seemingly locked onto the rabbit, determined for a quick meal. The cragadile didn't even acknowledge that it was quite a bit of distance away from the Everfree at this point, its determination possibly have been going on far too much at this point. Nevertheless, the monster opened its jaws, ready to snap Angel in half. Then, Angel managed to see a familiar sight rapidly approaching. Fluttershy's cottage. Immediately, his hopes returned to him as he could see Fluttershy begin to appear near the house. Fluttershy was an animal caretaker, and she had dealt with numerous large beasts before. Angel knew that if there was one pony that could keep him safe from getting eaten, it was her. "GRAWWWWWW!!!", the cragadile let loose another bloodthirsty roar. He hoped. The white maned lion burst out of a forest clearing, quickly sensing what lay ahead of him. The cragadile had strayed quite a distance away from the Everfree, something that Rengar, no matter how more thrilling a hunt could become, wish could not happen. If he went after the beast, then his secrecy could be exposed. His hunting expeditions could come to a complete close at that point if he was discovered. "Grawwwwww!!!" Rengar quickly turned his head and was able to pick up the sound. At this point, Rengar would have very little time to study for a weakness of the beast. Or possibly no time at all. However, this did not faze the lion. Nothing was going to come between him and his hunt. If there was a witness, he'll find a way how to deal with them later. Rengar was not going to stop until he had his new trophy. With renown effort, he broke out into the clearing, dropped on all fours, and sprinted low to the ground. He will have his prize. Angel managed to break the distance between the cottage and himself, and much to his relief, he saw Fluttershy still eating at the picnic with her animal friends. Angel sprinted, and sprinted, and sprinted until he could leap straight into Fluttershy's tail. Once she felt the bunny nestle in, she quickly looked down. "Angel? Is that you-" "MMMRAARRGGGG!", the cragadile gave an earth-shaking shout as it barreled straight towards the gathering of animals. At the sight and noise, the critters turned tail and dashed away in every direction away from the monster of stone. Even the bear knew of the imminent danger and made a break away from the picnic. Fluttershy's eyes widened to the size of dinnerplates and her heart attempted to leap straight out of her chest when the monster charged straight for her. She screamed and turned around in an attempt to fly away to escape the beast's clutches, but the cragadile managed to close in far faster than Fluttershy could have ever thought and slammed its tail straight into her wing with a quick and precise action, sending her back to the ground and rolling until she smacked against a wooden fence. The pegasus yelped as her wing throbbed in agonizing pain, it having been twisted in the complete wrong direction from the shock of the cragadile's attack, and from rolling and smacking the fence while her wing was still unfurled. Clutching her now bleeding appendage, the pony looked up at the beast that was once again, closing in on her. Angel emerged from her tail and wildly chattered into her ear, trying to tell her to get up and move. Still frozen in absolute fear, she couldn't even recall when she helped ease a mantacore from its rage. At this point, the cragadile had its eyes fixed on charring the pony. The monster opened its maw, and a noxious fume began to vent out. It was a natural ignition gas which got Fluttershy to quickly bolt to the side, just as the fence behind her was incinerated by a blast of fire. The pony galloped as hard and fast as her body could take her, but the pain in her side flashed again, causing her muscles to spasm and let her give another screech of agony. Fluttershy had fallen to the ground and bit her lip as the pain still coursed through her wing, looking up to see the monster approaching her, opening its mouth again to burn her to a crisp. Angel then hopped out of Fluttershy's tail, puffed up his chest, and stomped his tiny foot on the ground. He narrowed his eyes as he attempted to intimidate- "MMMGGRRAAAAAWWWW!!!", the cragadile roared straight into Angel's tiny figure. The bunny instantly passed out. The cragadile then moved towards the much larger meal, the pegasus that was shaking in absolute terror, shocked to all depths of what any living thing could withstand. The beast opened its mouth to bite the pony in half, and clamped down towards her. Thankfully, she managed to roll across the ground to avoid the first attack, but as a result, she pushed her injured wing into the ground. Fluttershy screamed again in pain and watched upwards as the beast tried again to devour her. It opened its mouth, and lashed at the now tear-stricken pony. Suddenly, a roar, far outmatching the cragadile pierced over the cragadile and the pony. The roar had the distinct pitch and tone of a lion, or a mantacore. However, it sounded much more savage and at the same time, controlled. A white blur flashed out of a tree, combining and mixture of a white mane and grey armor. Fluttershy managed to catch a glimpse of the figure as it leaped out of one of her planted trees. She could only see a white mane, a long tail, bared teeth, and a massive knife that was clutched by the other assailant. The white blur amazingly tackled the large and hulking creature, sending it on its side. The new figure recovered and bared its teeth at the predator that had attacked Fluttershy. In full detail, Fluttershy now bared witness to a creature that quite possibly far outmatched the fire-breathing cragadile that had just tried to eat her. Standing in front of her was a massive white lion, sporting armor that differed far greatly from the Canterlot Royal Guardsponies. Things that protruded out of the shoulder plates were what Fluttershy could guess were giant teeth. Weapons adorned the back and waist of the lion. The mane was something that peaked her curiosity more than her terror at the presence of this creature. It was braided into dreadlocks, something that an animal couldn't do on its own. Not to mention, the lion was standing on its hind legs, and holding the knife as a clear weapon. Such signs pointed to it being much more intelligent than other lions and mantacores that Fluttershy had encountered. The next thing that happened confirmed the lion's sentience. "Come on beast! Let's see what you're made of!", the lion's voice shouted in a terrifying, deep growl, complete with bared teeth and pointing the wicked knife at the monster. Now having its attention diverted to the larger threat and a possibly larger meal, the cragadile roared back to the other beast, opened its mouth, and let loose a jet of incineration towards its opponent. The lion did not hesitate to dodge effortlessly, kicking his body to the side to let the jet pass by his right side. The cragadile let loose another solid jet of fire, making sure to sweep it to the side in order to catch the lion. Fluttershy could notice a tiny smile on the lion. The lion then hopped up into the air and drew a weapon composed of three sections of rope intertwining together with three stones meant as a weight mounted on each end of the strings. A bola. Giving a quick spin, the lion hurled the weapon towards the cragadile, giving a very snide, "Let's shut you up now." The bola sailed accurately towards it target, snaring around the cragadile's snout and wrapping around the beast's mouth, effectively sealing it shut. The jet of fire quickly vanished as only ember could protrude out of the beast's nostrils. Fluttershy could only watch as two massive beasts did battle with each other, both seeming like savages in their own fashion, though the lion clearly knew how to speak and quite possibly knew what it was doing, finding his bola's use to clamp the mouth of the cragadile's mouth shut. Then, the lion charged straight for the cragadile, the giant knife drawn and ready for the kill. Even though it was a cragadile, Fluttershy wished that the monster didn't have to die. She knew that nearly every animal could be tamed and made calm without having to resort to violence, but she wasn't given too much of a chance when the cragadile ambushed her in an attempt to swallow her. Now, a lion was attempting to gut the beast that attempted to gut her. Could this beast have come to save her from the other? Her train of thought was interrupted when the lion pounced on the cragadile, the knife ready for the killing blow. Fluttershy closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to witness the bloodshed that was about to unfold before her, but something wasn't right. The lion seemingly had no idea where to stab. The reptile was covered in skin made of solid rock. When the white creature tried to bury the knife in the cragadile's head, it simply bounced off, sending tiny bits and pebbles off of the cragadile. The lion's eyes widened as his knife bounced off no matter where he tried to stab. Then, the stone beast's mouth snapped the bola into ribbons, its maw now free from its binding. Giving a roar, the cragadile suddenly shook its opponent off of its back, sending the lion momentarily airborne with a quick jolt of its upper body. Then, the reptile smacked its tail into the airborne lion, sending it tumbling down towards the ground. Surely a blow like that would have knocked the lion out, Fluttershy's thoughts raced around in her head as she lay there. Quite the opposite. The lion was back up, wiping his whiskers from the dirt and dust that collected on it. Giving another lion's roar, it charged straight back into the fray, a smile now fixed on its face. Fluttershy suddenly got a twisted realization in her head. "It's enjoying the fight." That never could have been more true, as the lion gave a hearty and menacing laugh as it continued its charge straight for the beast. "Ah-hah! You'll make a very nice prize on my den! It's gonna be a greater challenge than this fight to decide where to mount your head!" Such a phrase uttered by the lion suddenly shook Fluttershy to her core. The lion wasn't here to rescue her, it was here to kill the beast and take a trophy. She realized that this lion was something that Fluttershy absolutely despised to see inhabiting this world. A hunter, something at the complete opposite that she was. Somepony who instead of letting beasts grow up healthy and happy, tracked them down and slayed them for the prospect of having their poor heads mounted on a wall. No matter how disgusted she was at this lion now, quite possibly more afraid of it than the cragadile that had attacked her before, she could not take her eyes off of the fight. Throwing another bola, it wrapped around the cragadile's mouth again, sealing its mouth shut from another blast of fire. Only embers could escape through its nose as the lion then took out its massive knife and slashed at the cragadile's back after leaping on it again. Once again, the knife bounced off and the hunter leaped off before the cragadile could shake off it off again. "Arrgh! I'll find the perfect place to plunge this knife into you and make it all the more painful!", the lion snarled at the cragadile, which had just gotten free of its second bola snare. The phase that the lion uttered further gave Fluttershy a distaste for this hunter. However, at this point, an impasse had been created. The lion could counter nearly every attack that the cragadile threw at him, but the cragadile's skin prevented any damage to it whatsoever. Fluttershy couldn't root for either of them, until she realized something. If the cragadile won, then she would be next on the dinner menu. And quite possibly, the rest of her animal friends. She took the thought even further by believing that it could go on and seek ponies to eat and kill. If the hunter defeats the cragadile, then she would let an animal be subject to a horrendous act of being mounted as a trophey. But maybe the lion would just leave after that. It wouldn't harm ponies, would it? Each side was a big gamble. Either let the cruel hunter meet his end, or let the cragadile die and let the hunter go and kill more things. Obviously, letting the hunter live was a far better option when she considered what kinds of lives were at stake. Even though she was the shiest of the shy, she could find a way to confront to hunter later. She snapped back to reality, now seeing that the cragadile was beginning to outdo the lion. The stone lizard was fixed on top of the lion, snapping its jaws downwards at its head. The lion tried its hardest to move his head to the side with each snap, him becoming more and more increasingly tired. Suddenly, Fluttershy took a deep breath of air, tried her hardest to suppress the pain, and screamed at the top of her lungs one bit of knowledge she knew about cragadiles, being an animal caretaker that has studied Everfree animals before. "Cragadiles have a soft underbelly! Kill it from there!" Her eyes widened. She never thought that she would ever had to mutter a thing about killing another animal. Especially helping another pony, or lion perform that action. From the sickness that she suddenly felt after shouting her advice, she could notice one of the lion's ears turning towards her direction. Instantly, she could see a pair of blades sprout from the lion's wrist. The hunter then plunged the blades upwards into the cragadile's stomach, sending the beast to writhe in agony from having its vulnerability exploited by blades being inserted. The lion withdrew the blades and plunged again, earning another roar of pain and a river of blood to flow down the blades and onto the lion's arm. Suddenly, the cragadile rolled away from the hunter and attempted to make a break for the Everfree forest, bleeding a great amount from its wounds. Despite leaving a bloody trail in its wake, it moved surprisingly fast from the lion. "Hmph. Try to feed on a pony like an alpha predator, yet you flee from a fight? How pathetic!", the lion shouted after the animal as it readied its last bola. With a smile that gave the aura of sadism and entertainment, the lion let loose the bola with a snide, "Don't trip." The bola sailed true towards its target, finding its mark around its hind legs. Such a narrow shot under its tail to the cragadile's legs had to be scored by a hunter with great skill and expertise. Something that made Fluttershy dislike the hunter even more. The stone beast tried to crawl towards the Everfree, but its hind legs now bound by the bola slowed the cragadile greatly. It couldn't look back as the lion approached it from behind, and Fluttershy couldn't bare to watch what was about to happen next. The lion hunter rolled the cragadile onto its back with a white and clawed foot, knelt down and eyed the beast. It was hardly remaining conscious at the moment with the blood that it had lost and with the fatigue of the fight that occurred before hand. Then, the lion lightly placed his paw to the cragadile's chest. Too tired and too weak to do anything about it, it couldn't stop the lion from feeling where its heartbeat was centered. It couldn't even breath its fire as it was far too weak for its internal organs to create the combustible gas, let alone make a pilot flame. The lion kept moving its paw over the beast, until it stopped over a certain spot on the cragadile's chest. Fluttershy knew that the lion had found it. With one great plunge of the giant knife, the cragadile twitched suddenly, then after a few seconds, fell completely limp. "Ah, another prize." The hunter had claimed its prey. Fluttershy let her head droop down, letting an animal die to such a creature, let alone it being a hunter. However, at the same time, she was relived a tiny bit at the lives of ponies and her animal friends that had just been saved by the vanquishing of the cragadile. Then, the hunter looked over towards her. She could see a piercing blue eye and an eye binding fit with some sort of orange object in the place of its other eye. It was too far to tell what it was, but it wasn't too far to tell that the hunter was now eyeing the injured pegasus while he was untying the bola that was fixed onto the now dead cragadile's legs. Suddenly, Fluttershy's fear returned to her as the lion began to approach her. She got up on her legs, bit her lip to stifle the pain in her wing, then attempted to move away from the lion as it approached. Right when she was able to break into a painful gallop, the lion unleashed his dreaded bola. "Not so fast!" The ropes suddenly bound her four legs together, causing her to fall face-first into the dirt and tumble on the ground. She yelped from the sudden hindrance of her movement and her fall to the ground. She tried to move her legs and struggle, but the bola held firm around her. Then, she was picked up by her legs, hanging upside down face to face with the menacing lion. Warm breath washed over her face as the lion spoke in a low growl. "You're coming with me, pony." Then, the lion quickly pulled two pieces of cloth from a pouch on his waist. He bound one inside of Fluttershy's mouth, stifling any sort of sound she could possibly make. The other was quickly made into a blindfold that got Fluttershy to see nothing but darkness. As she squirmed and screamed through the gag, the lion took her over to the dead cragadile, amazingly took the tail of the beast with its free paw, and dragged the cragadile and carried the dangling pony into the depths of the Everfree forest. From the blood now flowing away from Fluttershy's head from being hung upside down, to the pain in her wing growing again, Fluttershy began to slip away into unconsciousness...