Monster Huntress Diamond

by HappyPillz

18. Making Plans

“I just can’t believe all you’ve had to go through!” Fluttershy gasped. “I can’t even imagine if that had happened to me.” She shuddered involuntarily, clenching her eyes shut. “All those wild beasts, and none of them are friendly? It would be like a nightmare…”

“It definitely wasn’t a picnic.” Rarity said. “But I am glad it was me, not you. If it weren’t for my skill set and magic, I wouldn’t have survived.” She turned to Applejack. “I owe you a large amount of thanks, as well. I doubt I’d be here if not for your survival lessons, though I probably should have paid closer attention to you at the time.”

“You actually learned something from me?” Applejack asked in shock. “I figured you were just standin’ there thinkin’ about yer hair or somethin’ while I showed everypony else stuff.”

“Yes, well, I did retain a bit of your lessons, and if I hadn’t, I’d be dead by now.”

“Well, I’ll be fit to be tied. Glad to be of service, then!” Applejack smiled broadly.

“So when do we get to go kick some monster butt?” Rainbow asked excitedly.

“Pardon?” Rarity asked, startled.

“You heard me!” Rainbow said, rearing up on her hind legs and punching the air with her front hooves for emphasis. “I want to beat some monsters down with you! When are we going?”

“I was wondering that too, though in a less violent way than Rainbow,” Twilight said. “I’m sure we’re all willing to come help you deal with your monster problem; more help would be welcome, I’m sure.”

“No, you-“ Rarity attempted to respond.

“Well, what sayest thou, sister?” Luna asked, pulling everyone’s attention. Luna sat staring at Celestia with a devilish grin, and Celestia held one of her own.

“I’d say they won’t know what hit them.” Celestia replied. She looked over to a shell-shocked Rarity. “Count us in.”

“Oh no you don’t!” Twilight butted in, earning death stares from the other two princesses. “Don’t give me that, you two! You know exactly why you can’t!”

“Yes, yes, the same reason you never let us do anything, my faithful pupil,” Celestia said through gritted teeth. “We need somepony to run Equestria and raise the moon and sun and everything.”

“That’s right. Somepony needs to do it.”

“Fine! You can!” Celestia said angrily. “You seriously are just as powerful as me by now! Don’t try to deny it! And if you need extra magic power to make it easier, you have probably half the magic of Equestria saved in that staff now! So you go do it and let Luna and I live for once! Even if it gets us killed!”

Twilight paled. “Don’t be crazy! I just… couldn’t! You know exactly what you’re doing and I haven’t got a clue what to do! Plus, with the elements together, they may magnify or something there! We need to test it to see what happens! It may become super powerful!" she smiled overly wide in an attempt to be convincing.

“This is all just crazy!” Rarity yelled. “You just can’t-“

“See?” Twilight laughed triumphantly. “Rarity agrees with me!”

“No, I didn’t-“

“Celestia fucking dammit!” Celestia yelled.

Everyone stared at her.

“What? Everyone else can use my name to swear! Why can’t I? It’s my own Celestia fucking name!” Celestia said angrily.

Sydreol walked over calmly and put his arm around her neck casually.

“Too damn right, it is. Sucks to be you.”

“We shall miss thee, Tia.” Luna said.

“Fuck off, Luna.” Celestia said in a huff.

“That’s enough from all of you!” Rarity yelled, her chest heaving and her eyes clenched in frustration. A poignant silence followed her outburst, and she could feel the confused stares boring into her soul.

“You’re right,” she started, “we could use all the help we can get, and you guys would be an immense boon to our fight. And I’m extremely proud and blessed to have friends that are willing to put themselves in harm's way to help others they’ve never met. But, as appreciative as I am, none of you can come with us.”

“What?” Rainbow shrieked. “What in Equestria do you mean we’re not going? We’re coming to fight with you, and that’s final!" she asserted. “What the hay, Rares? I thought you trusted us! What, do you think we’d be in too much danger? We’ve been through enough together, you know we can hold our own!”

“Dash’s right!” Applejack said forcefully. “We’re not sittin’ here while you risk your life! We’re comin’ to help ya, Rares, whether you want it or not!”

“You’re doing no such thing!” Rarity stared at her angrily. “All of you are staying right here for now!”

“Dagnabbit girl, this ain’t no time to be all heroic and proud! I should know, of all ponies!” Applejack yelled, throwing her hat on the ground in annoyance.

“We really could use their help, Rares…” Sydreol interjected.

“Don’t you think that I know that?” Rarity snapped.

“Well why don’t you let them help us, then?”

Rarity growled in frustration. “Twilight! Why don’t you enlighten us as to why Celestia and Luna just happened to be in Ponyville together right now?”

“Because of those lizard things, we couldn’t handle them on our own, and if more showed up we’d have a major catastrophe on our… hooves…” she trailed off as she realized what she was saying.

“Mhm. Just like I thought. And if our world’s most powerful and ONLY defenders left to fight monsters in another world and more of those lizards, or say, AN ASTALOS, came through the portal without proper preparation, what would happen?”

“Untold death and destruction?” Twilight said weakly.

“You’re damn right. So you’re all keeping your fucking asses here to keep everypony safe until the rift is secured on both sides and there are safeguards in place. Trained guards. Multiple barricaded containment units surrounding it in case something comes through.”

“Those do sound like good ideas,” Celestia sounded impressed. “It seems like you’ve given this a fair amount of thought.”

“I have,” Rarity admitted. “I want to make sure everything is safe and secure for us to use.”

“Couldn’t we just try to close the rift once you’re done and you come home?” Twilight said optimistically.

Rarity fidgeted uncomfortably and looked away, unwilling to make eye contact with any of them. She went silent, and beads of sweat formed on her brow. Unfortunately, her actions said more than anything else she could have said.

“You don’t intend to come home, do you?” Twilight said slowly in dawning realization.

A cacophony of gasps and denials erupted through the group, but Rarity’s pained and guilty expression confirmed their deepest fears.

“How can you not come home?” Fluttershy stared at her with tears in her eyes. “We’ve all missed you so much, and now you’re finally here! And it’s not just us! Your family, your Ponyville friends, your Canterlot friends, your clients, everyone! It’s like you died that day, and now that you’re back, you’re just going to disappear again?" she began crying. “Why? Why won’t you stay?”

Rarity’s expression of pain intensified. “You would have to cry, wouldn’t you, Fluttershy? There’s nothing more heart crushing than watching you cry, you know. It’s complicated, though my biggest reason is simply physiological. When I got sent through the mirror portal, it changed me into a half human, half pony hybrid like you see now. But, as you can see, the rift didn’t change me back.”

Twilight nodded. “The mirror portal is different like that, it’s a special kind of portal that alters form to fit the dimension. A tear in space-time does not.”

“And, since we have no idea how the mirror portal connected to their world, and especially since I got incorrectly transferred, am I correct in assuming that I’m pretty much stuck this way?”

Twilight cringed. “Um, probably? Yes?”

Rarity sighed. “So, please don’t be offended or grossed out by this…”

“Oh Rarity, you couldn’t possibly…” Twilight began.

“I eat meat.” Rarity blurted out with her eyes closed.

There was no sound except for one small gagging cough from Fluttershy, and Rarity kept her eyes clamped shut. After several tense seconds, a small cough echoed through the room, followed by Sydreol’s voice.

“Well, that’s awkward as hell. You know, she eats meat, she doesn’t murder kittens. Cinnamon and I eat meat, too, you know.”

“Yeah, but you’re a human and a cat!” Rainbow Dash protested.

“Felyne,” Cinnamon corrected.

“And thanks to an accident, Rarity’s half human, too.”

“I really tried to avoid it,” Rarity sniffled. “I almost starved to death, and that was the only thing I had to eat that actually satisfied my hunger. Nuts, berries, and vegetables lost a lot of appeal and didn’t provide me with nearly enough energy to survive. So not only do I enjoy meat, I have to eat it to survive, and in decent quantities.”

“Decent, nothing. I’ve seen her eat, she needs huge quantities.”

“Celestia dammit, shut the hell up, Syd!” Rarity snarled. “Anyway, I can’t do that here. I literally couldn’t survive in Equestria without killing and eating animals, and that’s not something ponies would ever accept.”

“That’s true,” Celestia nodded. “Even if I explained the situation myself, I doubt many ponies would be very understanding of the situation if a half pony hybrid showed up and began killing animals to eat, even if they knew that pony was you.”

“Also, the rift won’t be closed. That means I can visit you and you can visit me, anytime! At least, as soon as our monster problem is more under control. There could even be trade between us, inter-dimensional relations and more, provided we secure routes as monster free zones.”

“Think of it, sister!” Luna said excitedly. “An entire new world we could have trade and contact with!”

Twilight gasped. “The knowledge we could share! Omigosh! Do they have schools there?”

“We have a girl there that virtually lives in her laboratory-slash-library, does that count?” Sydreol said in annoyance.

“She does? Me too!” Twilight said exuberantly.

“You can’t be serious…” he mumbled.

“She totally is,” Rarity whispered. She cleared her throat. “I think it’s vital that I keep protecting the village, as well. Our defenses there are sparse, and I’ve learned lately that if anything, my talents are just as strong in hunting now as they are in fashion. I need to keep them safe, and even if I didn’t need to stay to survive, that’s enough reason to remain in their world.”

Sydreol and Cinnamon beamed at her, and if she hadn’t known better, she would have thought she saw a tear in Syd’s eye.

“My last reason is more of a business one, and will let me regain my identity from before all this happened,” she finished. “One of the most glaringly obvious things I learned right away when I arrived in Miliesu was - no offense - they have absolutely no sense of fashion whatsoever. It’s not that they wouldn’t want it or appreciate it, but I don’t think they have anyone that can provide it, and I can fill that role. I gave the girls some of my clothes, and you should have seen how happy they were! Their expressions! Their pride in appearance, the decadence of comfort, their joie de vivre! They deserve to have that experience; Equestria has hundreds of fashionistas, but Miliesu will have nobody unless I stay.” She grinned. “Besides, Reneris’ armor is ugly as sin. I need to start a layered armor business to make it look better.”

“But you’re still going to be gone!” Pinkie wailed, her hair deflated and hanging down in sheets.

“I can still visit,” Rarity reassured her. “With the rift so close, it doesn’t take that long to reach Ponyville, after all.”

Sydreol’s head jolted at that, and he whipped his head around to face Rarity. “Hold up a minute, Rares. Why can’t you live in both places?”

“Pardon?”

“Well, seriously, think about it. You have a home here, right? And you have a home back in Miliesu. Both are close to the rift, only a walk of a couple hours there from Miliesu, and what, an hour to your pony village here? Why not live in Miliesu most of the time, but keep a second home in your pony place here and travel back for a few days at a time? Just bring food with you when you come. It’s not like it’s a huge distance to travel or anything, and then you can spend time with family and friends frequently without leaving us eith-ghhh!”

He was cut off as Rarity launched herself forward and hugged him exuberantly. “Syd, that is the most thoughtful and brilliant thing you’ve ever said! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Um, you’re welcome? Didn’t really think we were quite on hugging terms though.”

“Oh shut up, ass, it was an excited ‘you’re amazing’ hug, not because I’m attracted to you. Get over yourself.” An amused snort from behind her reminded her that she was most certainly not alone in the room. “The rest of you can take your matchmaker thoughts and stuff them where the sun doesn’t shine, too.”

“Don’t worry! I wasn’t thinking anything like that!” Twilight attempted to assure her with a devious grin. “So, you’re going to continue to live here in Ponyville occasionally, then?”

“I think so, actually,” Rarity smiled. “Considering what Syd said, I could probably stay for a few days a week. That would actually be beneficial to replenish my stock and find materials here that I can’t get in their world, as well. I definitely need to gather equipment and materials from Carousel Boutique to bring back to Miliesu; I have virtually nothing there to make things from.” She shuddered with excitement. “Oo, I just can’t wait to see the looks on everyone’s faces when I tell them I can make them whatever clothes they want! We are going to have a village-wide clothing spree, and nobody is going to pay anything. I don’t care how much fabric I have to buy here, I’m giving everyone in the village outfits for free at the start!" she rubbed her hands together in excitement.

“Heh, that’s our Rarity!” Pinkie chimed in.

“Well, now that we have that all settled.” Rarity commented, glancing back and forth among her friends, “shall we move on to dealing with the monsters caged nearby?”

Celestia’s demeanor brightened. “Could… could I block an attack from one of them?”

“I, uh, guess you could,” Rarity slowly responded. “Is there a reason you want to?”

“I don’t need to kill it or anything,” Celestia said. “I just… want to fight. Some action. I’ve sat on a throne for a thousand years with barely any involvement in anything. Can I just block it and counterattack once?”

Rarity smiled.

“Sure.”

**********

A clearing by Fluttershy’s cottage held two large cages, each surrounded by carcasses of small animals that happened to have wandered too close and ended up within reach of the jagras’ long claws.

The monsters hissed and screeched as soon as the group came into sight, and all but three of them cringed at the sound. Rarity walked up a modest way from the cages, well out of reach of the monsters within. The remainder of the group stayed a long distance away and watched her curiously but expectantly.

“So,” Rarity began, “I haven’t told you my plan for what we were going to do here on purpose.”

“Aren’t ya going to just kill one of ‘em in the cage and let the princess block the other before killin’ it?” Called Applejack.

“No.” Rarity said.

A general murmur of confusion worked its way through the small crowd.

“I want to teach you a lesson about why we are hunters. It took me a while to learn, and it’s vital to know. Can I have a brave pony come down here? Emphasis on brave.”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash punched and kicked each other, both scrambling in a flurry of hooves, until both of them landed in a heap next to her.

“Good enough.”

She walked about halfway to the cage, then way off to the side. “Syd, can you come here for a second?”

“Uh, yeah?" he walked over with a shrug.

She whispered something in his ear. His eyes went wide, and he whispered something back. She simply nodded, and he muttered something under his breath.

Everyone then watched breathlessly as he walked over to the jagras cages.

He opened one of the cages.

There were multiple shrieks, the loudest of which came from the two brave ponies in a heap, which were the closest to the jagras, and which it was making a dash straight for. It started racing toward them quickly; the cage was only about a ten second run away, and Rarity was just as far away when Syd had opened it.

She met the jagras before it was halfway to Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

A quick slash of her switch axe ensured it never made it the remaining distance.

“What the hay did you do that for?” Rainbow demanded furiously as she tried to untangle herself from Applejack. “I almost had a heart attack!”

“Because,” Rarity said calmly, “killing that monster in the cage would have shown you nothing except that I learned how to kill a monster. Being a hunter isn’t about killing things. It’s about protecting things. Protecting villages. Protecting loved ones. That’s why I’m continuing to hunt right now.”

“Now you’re going to make me feel evil for wanting to fight one. Thanks.” Celestia grumbled.

“Not at all,” Rarity laughed, “that’s not to say fighting monsters can’t be exhilarating, too. We’re not doing this for sport, anyway. We do need to kill it, these are untameable and much too dangerous to allow free in Equestria. They would easily kill just about anything they came in contact with, especially ponies. We might as well take advantage of the moment to watch an attack from it and allow Princess Celestia to experience a little excitement in the process.”

“Thank you for making me feel like less of a monster myself,” Princess Celestia said, walking toward the remaining cage and positioning herself a comfortable distance away.

“Do not worry, dear sister! If it takes a chunk out of thy flank, we have plenty of cake to replenish it, and most ponies will likely not notice that anything is missing!” Luna taunted.

“Brutal.” Cinnamon shook her head.

“Shut up, Luna!” Celestia seethed as Sydreol released the jagras. It hissed, lurching forward and aiming a leaping bite at her chest. Without thought she placed a barrier in front of herself; the jagras bounced off harmlessly. Within an instant she had slashed it upwards into the air with fire, skewered it midair three times with ice, and struck it back to earth with a bolt of lightning.

The jagras stood no chance.

“Shit!” Sydreol stared at her slack-jawed. “Where was that when we were fighting the astalos?”

“What makes you think I wasn’t doing that?” Celestia asked. “You were busy doing your own thing, you didn’t see what I was doing.”

“Because if you had been, you would have immolated it instantly!" he said in frustration. “That kind of magic would have fried it!”

“I assure you, it looks far more impressive than it actually is,” Celestia said calmly.

“Huh?”

“It is very strong, yes,” she said, “far stronger than any other unicorn, but, for example, the lightning is nowhere close to actual lightning. Everything has the same properties as the original, but is more like… a watered down version, if you will.”

“Why in the world would you do that?” Sydreol asked in annoyance.

Celestia tapped her chin with a hoof. “Not so much why would we, it’s not like we have a choice. We’re weaving this magic out of thin air based on our own personal ability, and its power is limited to what we can supply over the time it takes to create it. Quick spell: small power. Long spell: bigger power. But regardless of all of that, there is still a limit to our power. Providing another push to the sun is relatively easy compared to creating energy where there was none. So, yes, I can cast powerful spells, I can do damage, but nowhere near immolate massive monster levels.”

“But then why did it look so damned impressive then? Overkill much?" he complained.

“Tell me, in what circumstances would I be using those spells?”

“Uh, fighting shit?”

“Right. Pretty intimidating, wasn’t it?”

“Oh.”

“Would you want to be fighting me after seeing that, if I hadn’t just told you what I just told you?”

“To be honest, I still don’t.”

“Good. Because I could still immolate your scrawny ass.”

Sydreol glanced over at the rest of the crowd. “You can all stand up and stop laughing now.”

**********

A very somber group gathered outside the rift as evening fell over Equestria.

“Well, pony people, it’s been… strange.” Sydreol said. “Assuming I don’t get turned into a smear on the ground by the ibushi, I’ll be sure to come back to hang out with you guys. You’re pretty cool to be around, definitely more fun than sitting around the village all day. I’ll just have to make sure to bring snacks, hay and flowers don’t sound that great to me, though your pastries are the best I’ve ever had.” He looked at Rarity and Cinnamon. “Don’t tell Zuny I said that.”

Pinkie beamed.

“I’d love to come back, too,” Cinnamon added. “This world is really peaceful and beautiful, I can imagine coming back here for every vacation I ever have again.”

“Oo! Oo! You can stay with me, kitty cat!” Pinkie hopped up and down excitedly.

“Um, Pinkie, she hates being called a cat,” Rarity pointed out.

“Oddly enough, coming from her, it doesn’t bother me,” Cinnamon said with a confused expression. “I don’t know why, it just doesn’t.”

“It’s Pinkie Pie, that’s why,” Rarity said. She turned to her Ponyville friends. “Remember, I want you all to prepare. You have no idea what or when something could be coming through this rift. Hopefully never. There is a road from the cave this rift leads to that goes to Miliesu village. Turn left out of the cave and follow the road if you need to find us, but don’t all come, only send one; I’d recommend Rainbow so she can fly. Rainbow, if you do come, only do so in dire need, and do not do any rainbooms.”

“Understood,” Rainbow saluted.

“One more thing,” Sydreol stepped forward. “From what I gather, you lot are pretty much pacifists. You seem to avoid conflict, don’t like violence, capture versus kill, so forth and so on.”

“That’s quite accurate, yes,” Celestia nodded.

Sydreol pointed at the rift. “If it comes through that, unless it talks, forget all that bullshit. These things will all kill you. Do not try to reason, do not try to capture. You kill. Do not hesitate. YOU FUCKING KILL IT. Understand?”

“We understand,” Celestia responded. “I’ll be sure to convey this order to our guard, and we’ll begin construction of barriers and defenses as well. Rest assured, we don’t want to close this rift, but even if we did, we wouldn’t know how to in the first place, so this is a matter of national security of the highest priority.”

“You can use my castle for guard housing, Princess,” Twilight offered. “I’d prefer not to have army drills going on in Ponyville as it would alarm everypony, but they can be stationed here and stay in the castle.”

“Thank you, Twilight. I’ll discuss the specifics with Shining Armor, but that will be extremely useful, I’m sure.”

“Alright, I think that about does it, then,” Rarity rubbed her arm uncomfortably. “I… really don’t want to have to say that we have to leave, but… we do.” Her eyes teared up and she ran back to her friends. “One last hug before we go! Sheesh, this is so much more uncomfortable when I’m bigger than all of you!” She awkwardly grinned with moist eyes, then stepped back toward the portal.

“Ready to go, Rowrity?” Cinnamon asked, padding up to her side and giving her hand a comforting squeeze.

“I think so, thanks,” she said, looking downward. “I hope I get to see you all soon, under more favorable conditions.”

A sniffle escaped her muzzle as she followed Sydreol and Cinnamon through the rift, and she was gone.