Monster Huntress Diamond

by HappyPillz

3. Fighting for Survival

Rarity woke the next morning with a growling stomach and a crick in her neck. She rose groggily, taking several seconds to remember where she was and what was going on; for a fleeting moment she thought she was at home and had fallen asleep at work in her sewing room. It would not have been the first time it had happened, after all, and slipping out of her chair onto the floor felt quite similar to how she felt now. Unfortunately, she was far from home, and her current surroundings were much less pleasant than her sewing room. She rubbed her neck with a wince, and her stomach rumbled again, reminding her just how displeased it was with her lack of attention.

Yes, yes, I know. It’s not like I have much to go on, you know.

She pulled her saddlebag over and fished out the other greens she had brought, thankfully not kale this time. She held her breath, took an experimental nibble, and then let out a sigh of relief as she realized that it was still palatable. She ate slowly so as to sate her appetite better, though when she finished she found it still largely unfilling.

Argh, what is wrong with these bodies? Do they not run on plants at all or something? It barely felt like I ate anything! That would have been quite substantial back home! Stupid body.

She pulled out the last piece of her fruit and began eating it sulkily, barely enjoying it as she mulled over the unfairness of her new apparent aversion to vegetation.

I had better find some massive source of food, and soon, or I’m going to be in some big trouble. I need to keep exploring, too, if I’m going to have any hope of finding any other ponies? People? Inhabitants? I honestly don’t even know who, if anyone, might live here, to be honest. I just hope somebody does, and that they’re friendly.

She finished her meager breakfast, then packed up her campsite, making sure to bring her fire starting kit with her. She slipped on a fresh set of clothes, ensured her fire was put out, planted one of her flags, and set out upriver, venturing into the jungle’s interior as she went to search out food on the way.

She trekked on, occasionally finding more bushes, most often ones she had already identified, sometimes not, and usually none that contained anything edible. Minutes stretched on into hours, though most time was spent searching rather than traveling; she had managed to put some distance between herself and her starting point, but her gathering satchel remained low; she found that her hunger returned often and in force, resulting in her stores being depleted just as fast as she was able to replenish them. It seemed that her body’s metabolism just wasn’t made to run on nuts and berries, and that fact worried her greatly.

Her stomach grumbled yet again as she pushed her way past some vines and through a thicket. She swore inwardly, glancing down at her abdomen.

For Celestia’s sake, would you stop already? I just fed you a few minutes ago, at least give me an hour of rest before you bother me again with your incessant rumbling, will you? Honestly, I’m trying my best, you know. This isn’t easy.

She looked back up from her inner conflict just before straying into an open glade, and stopped short, her breath hitching as she took in what was in front of her. A group of large birds was grazing on vegetation about fifty yards from her, though they were unlike any birds she had ever seen. These birds were massive, reminiscent of ostriches in size and shape, though more brightly colored in hues of yellows and greens, and had larger heads with a crest on top and a broad, flat duck’s bill. However, these birds were not what had caused her to catch her breath; it was what was behind them.

Creeping up in the tall grasses silently was a pack of what appeared to be massive reptiles, though they looked more like wolves in how they carried themselves. There were three of them, green in color, with blue and red stripes down their sides, and they had frighteningly sharp teeth that she could see glistening from where she stood. She silently thanked Celestia that they weren’t facing directly at her, and she stayed where she was, perfectly still, hoping that she wouldn’t be noticed off to the side.

The predators fanned out slightly, putting their focus on one bird in the back. The only sounds that could be heard were the odd grunts made by the birds as they ate, and the wolf-lizards continued their silent approach. When they were within striking distance, they lunged forward, the rear one striking at its legs, while those flanking it attempted to prevent any attempts at fleeing. However, Rarity was surprised to see that these birds were less docile than they seemed. While the rest of the birds did flee, the bird under attack stood its ground at first and aimed a clawed foot at the head of its attacker. The lizard took the blow hard, falling to the side seemingly dead or unconscious. Another of the lizards hissed, jumping at the bird and raking a claw across its body while the other sprang forward and clamped its jaws around the bird’s leg.

The bird gave out a loud squawk, shaking itself violently and kicking the lizard at its feet in the process. The reptile rolled away limply, but returned to its feet and quickly rejoined the fray. Its companion hissed again, turning quickly to whip its tail around, slashing the legs of the bird with the strong appendage. The bird’s legs buckled for a moment, but with surprising speed it regained itself and ran toward the far edge of the glade, away from Rarity, much to her delight, in a desperate bid for escape. The wolf-lizards followed closely after it, growling and hissing as they ran, though Rarity could see that they were going to have a difficult chase on their claws.

She watched them disappear, then breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Goodness, that was terrifying. I hope I never have to face one of those… beasts, whatever they are, let alone three of them.

She shuddered.

If I can figure out how to keep myself fed, I’m going to have to start looking into ways to defend myself, too, if there are monsters like this prowling around.

She continued staring into the distance, watching the point where the two wolf-lizards had disappeared.

Wait. Two wolf-lizards… What happened to the third one?

The third one, it so happened, had been knocked out by the blow of the bird, and had since regained consciousness, noticed Rarity, and had begun advancing toward her while she had been staring off into space.

Rarity’s attention was snapped back to reality as she found herself looking at a hissing wolf-lizard quickly moving toward her, now only about fifteen yards away. She gave the most terrified scream she had ever uttered in her life, turned one-hundred eighty degrees, and ran as hard as she could, not caring two bits that she dropped her gathering basket behind her or that her stomach was grumbling again.

Branches and leaves whipped her face as she ran, ducking and turning along paths she had taken earlier and still remembered. She heard gallops and hisses behind her, sometimes closer, sometimes getting farther behind, but never disappearing. Her mind raced as fast as her hooves, trying to come up with some plan to avoid being mauled and eaten. She saw a fork in the path and hesitated for a moment, her brain firing a thought at her at the last second. She chose her path, knowing well what she would find along it at some point. She heard gnashing jaws and hissing closing in behind her as she ran. Her hooves pounded the earth, and her legs ached like never before.

Where are you? WHERE ARE YOU?! CELESTIA DAMN IT I KNOW YOU ARE HERE SOMEWHERE! she shrieked inwardly. BWAHAHA! PURPLE!

Coming into view was a familiar bush with eight lobed purple berries; she continued to run, but the moment she saw it, she enveloped the entire bush with her magic aura, pulled a large mass of the berries off, mashed them together into a big lump, made sure they were squished as much as possible, and the turned to face her assailant. The wolf-lizard was close behind, and Rarity had to dive and roll out of the way as she launched her magically held corrosive payload at its head.

Rarity fell hard on the ground, landing amid rocks and branches and twisting her leg against a stump as she rolled. She was entirely out of breath and could barely move. To her side she could hear a shrieking growl along with a sizzling noise, the corrosive berry must have hit the monster like she had planned. She turned her head to look and was horrified by what she saw.

The wolf-lizard was limping her way.

Its head was missing half of its scales, and one of its eyes looked as though it had been burned away; the scales going down its front leg were also burned away and it was limping on that leg, but its teeth were still deadly sharp. It growled and hissed at her as it moved, and it sidled up alongside her body as she lay there, her muscles too weak to move.

This can’t be it, can it? I can’t move a muscle, what can I do?

She would have slapped herself if she could move.

You’re a unicorn, silly filly. You don’t need to move a muscle.

The reptile opened its maw wide above her head, glistening fangs ready to bite, when a large blue glowing branch wedged its way into the beast’s mouth. It struggled, pushing down towards Rarity as hard as it could while she held the branch there with her magic. As it fought with the branch, a large blue enshrouded rock, traveling at a generous speed, made contact with the side of its already injured head. Rarity’s eyes clenched shut as a sickening crack echoed through the jungle, and a spray of a warm fluid hit her across the face, accompanied by a thump and a heavy pressure falling across her. She opened her eyes to see the dead wolf-lizard, half-laying on her, and all-bleeding on her. She gagged, using her magic to push it off of her.

Really, the least you can do is not bleed on me. Bucking rude.

She lay her head back, covered her eyes with her arm, and remained silent and motionless for a minute.

Well, Rarity, you just ran for your life, fought a giant lizard, burned its face off, murdered it right above you by bashing its head in, and then had it fall on you and bleed all over your face. What are you going to do now?

She laughed dryly.

She then rolled onto her side and threw up.

**********

Rarity sat next to the body of the wolf-lizard in the midday heat of the jungle, staring at it in disbelief, wonder, and thought.

I was able to defend myself against this? How? And what should I be doing next?

She looked down at her leg, still injured after her fall.

I’m not going to be moving very quickly like this. I’m going to have to camp here tonight, which means I should start clearing out a bit of the debris from around here and gather up a few supplies.

She set about the task, getting her gear out from her saddlebag, making enough space to start a fire without setting the forest ablaze, gathering stone and wood, and clearing a spot for her to be able to sleep for the night. She then sat down next to the wolf-lizard and contemplated it for a while.

“Well you were a right nasty beast, weren’t you?" she said to it haughtily. “Serves you right, getting what you got." She tilted her head to the side and pondered to it aloud. “Though you do have a lot of useful tools to help you survive out here, don’t you…?" Her eyes roamed over its body, taking in the many traits of the reptile while her mind worked furiously at how they might be beneficial to her. “Strong, lightweight scales,” she murmured to herself, “long, sharp claws…” she inspected its mouth. “Thick serrated teeth." Her stomach growled loudly. She looked down at it, then at the wolf-lizard. Her mouth dried up. She gulped nervously.

“Meat…”

She stared blankly at it for a long time, not moving an inch, and it was as if her brain had completely shut down. She couldn’t fathom that she was even considering eating a part of this creature, but now that the thought had occurred to her, she had to admit that it sounded very tempting. Regardless of what she decided, though, that was a future choice, because it would require fire and tools to make happen, neither of which she had right now. However, she intended to fix that problem right now. She did not have knives, but by Celestia this lizard definitely did. All she had to do was free them from its cold dead body, and she had a fine enough tool for that.

Rocks. Maud would be proud.

Gathering up some large rocks, she moved over to a large claw on the lizard’s hind foot. She positioned one rock underneath the toe, behind where the claw would attach, being careful not to hit the claw itself. She prepared herself and raised her other rock high, making sure she had a pointed end positioned down, then swung it down with a loud and sickening crunch.

It was not a pleasant sight.

It was, however, very effective in liberating the claw from the foot, at least enough that she could pull it free with minimal effort. She gagged slightly at the sight, and may have thrown up again if not for the fact that she had nothing left in her stomach, but given her recent adventure, she was beginning to get used to some of the less pleasant things she might have never tolerated before. With her prize claimed, she moved on to the head of the beast, repeating her trick to free a number of large serrated teeth. Smiling broadly, she turned away, admiring her trophies. It was then that she noticed her hands were smeared with the creature’s blood. She had a reflexive repulsive shudder and wince, but then realized that, for some odd reason, it didn’t really bother her. She looked down, seeing blood splattered across her shirt and pants as well. She shrugged, wiped her hands on her pants, and limped back over to her bag.

At her bag, she gathered up some fabric and thread, then levitated over a bundle of hefty sticks she had gathered. She sorted through them to find some that fit her hand size just right, then used strips of fabric and thread to affix the teeth and the claw to them. They were nothing professional or even extremely functional, but they would suffice for now, and she could reattach her “blades” at any time.

She turned back to her saddlebag, pulled out her fire starting tools, and set her kindling ablaze shortly. Her gaze fell back to the wolf-lizard, and she hesitated again. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

I said I was not going to eat a defenseless animal, and this was not a defenseless animal. This was a hulking brute that attacked me and I am not going to feel guilty at all for eating it.

She nodded resolutely to herself. She gulped.

I hope.

She approached the monster with purpose, makeshift knives in hand, preparing for what was undoubtedly going to be the most difficult task she had ever undertaken.

Celestia, please give me the strength for this.

She knelt next to it, closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, chose a spot far from any vital organs, and began to carve.

It was difficult, to be sure. The monster had a very thick, tough hide, and its scales were extremely strong.

I will definitely need to make use of these later.

Her inexperience with cutting meat made the task even more difficult, compounded further by the inadequacy of her tools, but she pressed on, knowing that this was now her only source of food, especially since her gathering bag had been lost in the attack and strain on her leg was going to keep her from traveling far for the rest of the day. She succeeded in sawing out a large chunk of flesh and set it behind her on a rock she had cleaned off. She stared at the slab, unsure whether she should be hungrily salivating or preparing to retch. She put the thought from her mind and retrieved a long stick, then began to use one of her knives to thin and sharpen it. She cut a modest slice from the slab of meat, slid it onto her skewer, and with little fanfare, moved it out over the fire.

Here you are, cooking your first, what did the humans call it? “Steak”? Probably not how they do it, but eh, what are you to do? Who knows how long I’m supposed to do this for or what I’m supposed to look for to know when it’s done, though. At least I’ve seen enough of Sweetie Belle’s cooking to know what qualifies as burnt. I probably should have spent more of my time listening to mom’s cooking lessons myself, though. I can handle myself in a kitchen, but I was never much of a gourmet chef, either. I…

Her thoughts were interrupted as a smell began to permeate her senses; the meat was beginning to cook, and its aroma was evoking something altogether new in Rarity. Never before had she encountered a scent quite like this one, and she had to admit it smelled absolutely delicious; her mouth began to salivate, her head swam with thoughts of eating, and she wanted nothing more than to explore this newfound foodstuff she had just discovered. Gone were any and all inhibitions she previously had that surrounded her fear and dread of eating meat; that smell had activated a psychological trigger in her mind that said “meat is good”, and she did not care. Her concentration on the delicious smell, however, became her undoing as an acrid aroma soon broke her from her trance.

Oh! Buck! BUCK! NO! DON’T BURN!

She blew on the meat, which had caught fire while she wasn’t paying attention and was now turning black.

Bad steak! I did not tell you that you could burn! Argh! Buck.

She looked at the blackened lump on the end of her stick, pouted sulkily, then removed it and tossed it aside. She cut a new piece and slid it on her skewer.

Lesson learned. Pay attention if you want to eat.

She pushed this piece out over the fire as well, soon being rewarded with the aroma of cooked meat once again. This time, however, she stayed focused, and brought her skewer back frequently to look at it.

I’m not sure what specifically I’m looking for, but if it starts red and black is burnt, then brown is probably good.

She inspected it closely.

It’s really hot, so that means it should be sufficiently cooked, too, and it smells great, so I’m going to count that as done. All that’s left now is to try it.

She brought over one of her knives, cut off a piece, and once it was cooled enough to eat, she popped it in her mouth. She chewed slowly, unsure of what to expect; she had never had anything outside of fruits and vegetables before, so the flavors and textures were completely alien to her. Her eyes widened as she took in the unique taste, feeling the juiciness and tenderness of the steak that provided a lasting and unctuous satisfaction that fruits and vegetables never had. She swallowed the bite with relish, then voraciously devoured the remainder of the piece she had cooked.

Celestia, I am so getting banished to Tartarus for this. I need more.

Her head whipped around; locating the remainder of the meat she had cut, she levitated it over as quickly as she could, skewered as much as she could fit, and began cooking it with rapt attention. Her second course was just as delicious as the first, and disappeared almost as quickly, soon followed by a third helping. For the first time since she had arrived she felt full and satisfied, and she leaned back to ponder her next move in light of this new development.

Well, I think it’s safe to say that I know where I should be getting most of my food from now on. The question now becomes how I should be getting it. Of course, I need to keep searching for some form of settlement, too, I’m not trying to permanently live out here after all. But, I do need to prioritize figuring out how to get my food going forward… What would I be doing? Hunting? I guess that would make me a huntress?

She chuckled.

Alright, “Monster Huntress Rarity”, how are you going to do this? It looks like these things aren’t going to go down without a significant fight, so you’d better get ready to bring the fight to them. And as nice as your magic is, levitating objects at them isn’t going to do the job; you can throw things with a bit of force, maybe lift or nudge them a bit, but that’s about it. You’re not going to be able to do any significant damage to them with magic. With that being the case, you’re going to need some sort of weapons, and some sort of defensive gear, and you’re going to need to practice. And lucky you, you’re not going anywhere today, so you have all day to figure this out. So, first things first: what do you have for materials?

She looked around her campsite. Obviously she still had all the regular wood and stone she had been using, in addition to any other flora she could find. She had any materials she could glean from the wolf-lizard: there were more claws and teeth, but also bones, scales, hide, and sinews. She also couldn’t forget all her sewing materials she had brought from home; of course her fabrics, but she also had scissors, thick and thin pins, needles, rotary knives, and pinking shears, most notably. Most importantly, she had her own experience, ingenuity, and inspiration. While she may never have made weapons or armor before, she certainly knew what they looked like, and that was plenty for her to work off of. She was Rarity, creator of fashion, master of the design, and if she wanted to make a weapon, by Celestia it would slice some monsters open.

With that in mind, she gathered her sketchbook, her pencils, and every material she could get her hands and magic on, and set to work.

**********

Rarity looked around and wiped the sweat from her brow. The light was beginning to fade, but she had made the absolute most of her day, that much was certain. Next to her lay the remains of the wolf-lizard, barely recognizable any more; she had removed as much of the meat as she could, cooked it and wrapped it in large leaves, then stored it in a satchel she made for her food. After removing the meat, she had harvested as much as she could from the remains as she made her gear, which she now looked at with pride.

Several were blades, made with bone; two made up a set of short swords, while a third was a longer sword. Each was made with a wooden hilt, she had heated her thick sewing pins in the fire and used them to burn through the handles and bone to create sturdy physical connections, then wrapped the handles in fabric to make them both comfortable and easier to grip. She sharpened them using her rotary cutter; using her magic to spin the blade allowed it to work similar to a grinder, and was remarkably effective in putting a sharp edge on them without weakening the bone. Next came a shield, intended to be used in conjunction with the longer sword, made from a sturdy but lightweight piece of wood she had found.

To round out her offense, she had also made several bomb bags, as she referred to them, out of the purple berries. She made small sacks, filled each with a generous amount of the caustic devils, tied them off, and kept them slung on a small branch a safe distance away from herself. No sense keeping them and having them go off on her, after all.

Finally, she had made herself a set of scale armor to be proud of, stripping the hide of the wolf-lizard and making a set of clothes that not only protected her, but looked fabulous while doing it. She had a green shirt and pants, both with blue scale accents, with blue scale hoof cover boots, blue scale arm guards, and a green and blue scale cowl. She had even made scale belts for holding her weapons and other items.

She surveyed her gear with a smile. It had been a long time since she had done something that had felt this fulfilling, and she fully enjoyed every minute of it. Turning back to the fire, she tossed a few more pieces of wood on, and prepared to go to sleep for the night, when a brilliant flash lit up the night sky, followed shortly after by an ear splitting boom.

Buck.

She knew it would rain sooner or later. She had just hoped it would be later, after she had figured out a way to make some sort of waterproof shelter. She still had canvas, but it was only going to be resistant at best. Still, it was better than nothing, but she was going to have to work quickly if she wanted to get something up before rain fell. She quickly gathered together fabric for ropes, making several lengths and tying them between some trees above her and the fire at an angle to allow smoke out and water to run off. She then cut off some pieces of canvas, draping them from the ground up over the ropes and back down again, overlapping a couple pieces like shingles in hopes of improving its functionality. She weighed down the edges with stones, and added a perpendicular piece to form somewhat of a door and back wall to help keep out some of the wind when it started to pick up. Then, she sat by her fire and waited.

It wasn’t long before she began to hear the patter of raindrops on the canvas overhead, accompanied by the occasional flash of lightning visible through the makeshift door and the boom of thunder resounding in her already sensitive ears.

If it weren’t a lightning storm, I might be tempted to take a shower out there in the rain, she mused. It would do me good, I’m an absolute mess after all this work I’ve been doing.

She looked down at herself, finally having the full realization of being covered with blood and other questionable substances hit her more like it might have before.

Oh ew, this is disgusting! I know I’m going to get bloody if I’m going to be working on things like this, but really, this is just too much! Ugh, these clothes are completely ruined now; I guess these will have to be my “crafting clothes”, so to speak.

She caught sight of her arms and squealed in dismay.

And now my beautiful fur is all bloody too! And I don’t even have soap to get it out!

She folded her arms and pouted.

I’m going to have to scrub my fur extra hard in that freezing river, and I’m probably going to be all pink for a while! Hmph!

A drop of water hit her on the muzzle. She looked up to see water beginning to slowly seep through the canvas, dripping down on occasion to plonk her on the nose.

Et tu, canvas?

Droplets became more frequent, but the canvas still held the majority of the rain out, providing a serviceable shelter for the time being.

She shivered as the nighttime chill began to creep in and huddled closer to the fire. Her gaze returned to her bloodied clothes and fur, her newly made weapons and armor, her newly acquired store of food, and was struck with a sharp pang of homesickness simply from the stark contrast it all provided. She held no regrets, but she felt acutely aware of just how much change she had been forced to undergo in such a short time, and it was a frightening thought. A tear slipped from her eye and she scooted over to her saddlebag to retrieve her pillow and blanket for the night, ready to turn in and rest her aching muscles, when her hand bumped a small box. A tiny smile played across her muzzle as she held up the music box gifted to her by Sweetie Belle; she switched it on, turned it over to a classical selection and let the soft, lulling tune carry her off to sleep while the lightning flashed around her. She paid the dripping water no mind.