It has been roughly two days that Rengar has been away from the Everfree Forest. From supervising the recovery of Wolf, as well as recovering from his own wounds, Rengar continuously felt the urge to once again break away from civilization to do what he did best: hunt.
At least Wolf would very soon make a full recovery from Lamb's healing, and Rengar had convinced Celestia to re-establish inter-dimensional communication with the League of Legends. So far, no response has been given, though Rengar knew that the majority of the summoners were the suborn type, to say the least. Thoughts flooded Rengar's head. He was heavily out of touch from fighting in the League, and he knows how much rules can change, as well as new champions that are accepted into the League, a well as new enchantments and items coming into the scene.
As well as the dreaded "meta" of which champions seem to be stronger right now than others.
However, he wanted to get his mind off of such things, and what better way to do that then to hunt to his heart's content? Brandishing his Hunting Knife in one paw and a bag full of hunting supplies in the other, he set off towards his home away from home.
"Hmmm... let's see what's on the season today."
He took the scroll listing every animal known in the Everfree Forest. With his eye looking over the various animals and beasts, he crossed each of them off mentally. He didn't have a desire to hunt basilisks at the moment, and cragadiles... he'll be taking a break from them for obvious reasons. Dragons would surely take far too much time to prepare.
A mantacore is a simple hunt, and their species are plentiful. They still pack quite a danger within them, however.
"Perfect.", Rengar muttered as he stowed the scroll away, "Time to hunt myself a new pelt."
Rengar shuffled into the brush of the forest, keeping still as well as closing his one eye. He listened around himself. He listened to all of the sounds coming from the forestlands. Heartbeats of all sizes and speeds thumped around him. His ears shifted back and forth picking up every tiny sound as if he was a living sonar device.
When he couldn't detect anything around himself, he quickly took to the trees, leaping and running along to get a better vantage point faster. Arriving at a new location deeper within the Everfree, he paused his movements and listened.
More sounds flooded his ears, as well as the smells of everything around him.
Where he was, he was close to the badlands of the over-breeding and aggressive mantacores, so a straggler should be around somewhere. He listened more, sure that a mantacore would be nearby...
...until he caught the whiff of the unmistakable smell of the very same lion-bat-scorpion hybrids he was looking for. He also smelled the horrid stench of rotting flesh. Perhaps this mantacore was scavenging off of something. They'll eat anything, anytime, anyways.
Rengar leaped down from the tree that he was perched in without sound, and quietly crept towards a plumage of bushes to get a view of his potential prize. Drawing his Hunting Knife prematurely, in case if another beast got the drop on him, he approached towards the smell of fur. The knife silently humming from its sharpness in the air, it rested firmly in the hunter's paw as he got to the edge of the brush.
A blue eye with an orange eye-binding peered from the foliage as he could now glimpse on the manatacore.
Only the mantacore wasn't moving.
Rengar knew he smelled rotten flesh, but now it was as pungent as it could be. Laying on its back, belly up was the regrettably large mantacore. Something else had killed it before Rengar.
"Damnit. Too late. And such a prize that beast would have been...", Rengar sheathed his knife, "Wait... the manatcore breeding gounds are nearby... why don't I hear any of the beasts?"
Breaking from the brush, Rengar sprinted on all fours towards the badlands of the mantacores. As he ran along, he could sense more bodies around him, growing more and more in number as he got close. Emerging from the forest, he laid his eye on the badlands...
...and every single dead mantacore sprawled out everywhere.
There were hundreds of thousands of dead beasts laying around, with a smell so unimaginably terrible that Rengar couldn't even come any closer in fear that he might actually damage his sensitive nose. He couldn't believe his eye. Every single mantacore was dead.
He had no idea how this could have happened, and especially how this could have gone unnoticed. Then again, no ponies even came into the Everfree, save for Zecora, who lived far away from the badlands.
"How could this be possible...", Rengar was absolutely baffled at the massacre of these monsters.
Then, he knew what he had to do.
There was one pony out of the other that knew anything about every animal that lived on this nation, as well as possibly any sort of disease or predator that could take them out in the manner of this caliber. Turning tail from the scene, Rengar made a break out of the Everfree Forest.
He sprinted past the foliage as fast as he could, sweat escaping from under his fur. It didn't take him too long for him to make it out of the dreaded forest, and towards the edge of it.
His eyes rested a familiar cottage.
The place where all of this began.
Rushing up to the door and sending the surrounding animals into hiding due to his appearance, he knocked three times and called out.
"Fluttershy! Open up! There is a dire situation that needs attendance to!", Rengar shouted as he forcefully knocked three more times, each hit on the door with more strength behind it than the other.
Then, the door opened, revealing the confused yellow pegasus behind it.
"Rengar...? What are you doing here? Is something wrong?", Fluttershy seemed to have just woken up from a nap and was trying to recover from being woken, a luxury that Rengar had no time for.
"Pegasus, I know you have the knowledge of monsters and beasts of this world even more than I do. You must come with me right now. Something has happened to every single mantacore. They appear to have been killed by something, all in a short time frame."
At this, Fluttershy suddenly got to her senses.
"Huh? The manatacores are... dead? All of them?", she asked with fear behind her throat.
"Yes, that's what I believe. I need you to come with me right now to investigate. If my fears are correct, the entire mantacore species could be extinct or threatened with such a possibility.", Rengar replied.
"Okay. Just let me get my friends-"
"There isn't much time. They won't be much help compared to your expertise. We must leave now.", Rengar stated.
Fluttershy bit her lip, then agreed. She got inside inside her house, and came out with what seemed to be some sort of crude gas mask.
"What the... you have respiration equipment?", Rengar questioned.
"Yeah. Sometimes I have to bury some animal friends who lived their lives to the end, and contamination from germs in the air isn't good for anypony around me. As well as the possibility for all of these mantacores to have... well... passed away could have been from something deadly in the air. Maybe... anthrax.", Fluttershy explained, "I don't seem to have a mask for you."
Rengar shook his head.
"We'll think of something when we get there."
Fluttershy donned her equipment and stepped alongside Rengar.
"Ready?"
"I'll lead the way."
The two set off towards the Everfree Forest, fearing the worse for the fate of an entire ecosystem.
"Let's make a quick stop here. Perhaps she'll be of good help to us."
"I couldn't agree more, Rengar."
The lion walked up to Zecora's hut and knocked the door several times.
"Zecora, are you home? Something has happened and we need your help.", Rengar spoke out loud so that the occupant inside could hear him clearly.
As Rengar continuously knocked, something caught Fluttershy's eye. She turned away to see a dead rabbit...
It wasn't Angel, thank goodness, but it still drove a spike into her heart to see something dead like that.
That was, until she saw a dead fox next to the rabbit. Now, she was concerned about this. Why would there be a dead fox next to a rabbit? Shouldn't the fox have just killed the bunny? If so, what ended the fox's life?
Then, she saw it. The fox had been cleaved into two separate pieces. The shy pony gasped and nearly fainted from the horrid scene that lay in front of her, until she looked around that area as well. More and more small creatures were dead.
She followed around with her eyes, walking around the back of Zecora's hut with Rengar still attempting to get contact with her.
Then, she found her.
"D-Dear Celes- Rengar! Help!"
Rengar's ears shifted towards the direction of FLuttershy's cries. He drew the knife in his paw and rushed around the hut.
"What is it?! Fluttershy!", he rushed around to find Fluttershy staring at the back of Zecora's hut. The back was in complete splinters. Broken furniture and glass was everywhere. Giant burning gashes had been made on the walls. It would appear if something had blasted a hole in the back of the hut, and gone on a rampage inside.
Then, both the lion and the pony got a dredging realization in their hearts.
"Zecora!", they both shouted as they rushed inside.
It didn't take long for the two to find her. Or... what was her body, anyways. The Zebra was stretched over the table, eyes open with fear and clutching a knife in her hoof, apparently taken in self-defense. Her mouth as open and her eyes were wide as if she had screamed before her apparently gruesome death.
"Oh my gods... Zecora...", Fluttershy choked a sob as a tear ran down her face. She touched her forehead to her friend's as she began to let her emotions take over. Rengar looked over the body of his old friend.
Zecora was the first one to ever accept Rengar for living alongside her, and helped him settle into the Everfree Forest. She was the first living soul that Rengar ever told of his origins whence he came from. He'd shared a memorable moment or two with her, and was the first he could truly call a good friend to him.
Now, she was gone. Gone from Fluttershy, gone from him.
Then, Rengar notice something across her body. Long and deep slashes, with a slight purple light coming from them. She didn't even bleed despite the severity of those cuts. Instead of blood being spilled, that purple glow was emanating from her mortal wounds.
A purple glow coming from slashes...
He knew where this came from... but it's been so distant in his memory.
Then, his memory had worked its gears and delivered him the culprit of the slaying.
It was him.
He had come to this world.
And soon, he was to do the exact same from Zecora to every single living thing on this world.
"Fluttershy."
She sniffled and looked up at Rengar.
"Y-Yeah?"
"I know what killed Zecora, and every single thing that has died in the Everfree."
Rengar grit his teeth and the grip on his Hunting Knife tightened.
"I should have known. He took my eye."
"Please, please tell us again. Just so that we are clear, Rengar. You're saying that a League of Legends champion has come to our world, and is responsible for the deaths of the numerous beasts of the Everfree Forest, and if we don't stop him, then every single living thing on this nation will be next?", Celestia asked with mortal concern in her voice.
Rengar had immediately reported his finding to Princess Twilight upon discovering the killer of Zecora, who sent a letter to Celestia to warn her of the news. Not long, Rengar was urged to arrive in Canterlot along with Wolf and Lamb, who had recovered from the battle with Golden Might.
Alongside the meeting, Luna, Shining Armor, and Princess Twilight were at the discussion as well.
"Yes, and I'm afraid that if that does happen, Celestia, then the entire world of Equus will be ravaged by this individual.", Rengar nodded.
"I don't get it. Who is this 'champion'?", Shining Armor asked.
Rengar looked over, then back at the meeting.
"He is Kha'zix. A creature from The Void, a realm of unimaginable horrors, with each of its creatures wanting nothing more to consume anything they come across. Doing so makes them more powerful, and Kha'zix is a voidling so dangerous, he's become one of the most potent and deadly League of Legends champions.", Rengar explained.
"I have heard of Kha'zix from Bard. He is an individual that not even we should take lightly.", Lamb echoed.
"Even he has eaten more than me...", Wolf growled.
"I don't get it. This... bug couldn't have killed hundreds upon thousands of mantacore within a few days. No creature could do that.", Luna argued.
"Kha'zix most certainly can. And, if he's killed enough, he will undergo evolution, something that we cannot afford to happen.", Rengar added.
"Evolution? He can change?", Twilight asked.
"Yes. The more he kills, the more his body will gain strength and morph into tools of destruction. Soon, Kha'zix could become the literal embodiment of biological perfection, turned into a killer.", Rengar continued, "Know this, whatever threat you have faced before. Whether it was Discord, Nightmare Moon, King Sombra, or even Tirek himself will pale in comparison to the capabilities of Kha'zix. He will mercilessly slaughter all of us if we do not kill him before he evolves."
The ponies all looked at each other with dread.
"How do you know so much about Kha'zix?", Twilight asked.
Rengar looked down at the floor and breathed in heavily.
"He's the one beast that I have yet to slay. We fought before. Once before I joined the League. That was how this happened.", Rengar traced a claw over his eye-binding, "And many times in the League, though in the League of Legends, they often contain the true power of champions so that they don't become too destructive, especially so with Kha'zix."
"So with Kha'zix loose on Equestria... his full power is within him.", Luna connected the dots.
"Precisely, and it is growing rapidly the more we wait.", Rengar shook his head, regrettably.
"Well, if that thing bleeds, then it can die. Do you have any idea how to kill him, Rengar?", Shining Armor asked, looking back at the picture that was taken of the slaughtered mantacores.
"He can most certainly die, but chances are, you will before you even get a scratch on him.", Rengar spoke again, "However, he has a weakness. Kha'zix is a coward. If he sees something that has the remote possibility to kill him, he will only attack them alone, and away from any help that threat to Kha'zix could call upon. He isolates, then consumes."
"I see. But none of us will be a match for Kha'zix alone.", Lamb replied.
"Exactly, that is why to fight Kha'zix, we must lure him into a sort of trap. He's dangerous, but not as dangerous as he could be right now. We must use that to our advantage.", Rengar places both of his paws on the table in front of him.
"Do you have a plan?", Twilight asked.
"I've given some thought to it, but it isn't final. My plan was that we can lure Kha'zix into a secure location, then have the Elements of Harmony spring a trap to contain the monster. As such, while he is captured by the Elements, I will kill him, ending all of this."
"It really is the best we can do at the moment...", Twilight sighed, "Nevertheless, I'll get my friends together. We'll be at your side, Rengar."
"As will we.", Lamb took her bow while Wolf circled around her.
Then, a guard broke straight into the meeting room. He had the look of horror in his eyes, along with a shaking spear in his grip.
"Sergeant! What's the meaning of this?", Celestia commanded.
"Y-Your highness... it's... Ponyville..."
She heard screams coming from her parent's room. She had no idea what had happened ever since ponies had suddenly sprawled into a panic around Ponyville. The tiny filly knocked on the door of her parents' one more time.
"Mom? Dad...? Are you okay?"
Ponies outside were screaming as they discovered more and more ponies laying in the streets, not moving. The citizens were crowding around them, some crying. The tiny filly didn't understand. Why didn't those ponies get up? Why did they just lay down like that?
Was that what her parents were doing?
Then, she put her hoof on the door, and slowly turned the doorknob.
Her parents were still in bed.
They were not moving, and blood was thrown all around the room, the same red stuff that came out of her knew when she tripped on the school playground.
She rushed over to them, rubbing her father's forehead with her hoof.
"Dad? Please wake up...", she cried as ponies outside still descended into chaos and panic.
"Mom? Are you okay?", she went over to her mom, her hoof now covered in her parent's blood.
Then, a shadow loomed over her.
When the filly turned around, she saw something that could only come out of nightmares.
A purple shelled insect-like creature towering over her with two gigantic scythe blades for its arms that crackled and sizzled with energy and blood from her parents. The needle-sharp teeth stretched into a gruesome smile with blood dripping onto the floor, "pitter-pattering" on the wooden floor of the room.
Green eyes and a twisted smile came closer to the child as she stared at the monster, frozen in fear.
"One by one, little pony... one... by... one..."
Kha'zix's claw extended out as he slowly approached the filly, dragging along and incinerating the wooden floor with void energy as the tiny pony could literally see death, a smile born on his face, ready to let her join in her parents' fate.