Monster Hunter Pie

by BronyArmitage

Chapter 12 - Brute Bashing

Pinkie and Wookie were sitting at the cantina, the Felyn chef opposite them hard at work on a meal. The grill hissed as a few steaks were dropped onto it. Tanzia had several accommodations that Moga had lacked. One of them being someone who could actually cook. Pinkie had to stifle a yawn. Yesterday had been extremely stressful and was starting to take its toll on the Huntress. Her eyes wandered around the tavern, listening to the conversations of the nearby Hunters. A few were deep into the stages of planning how to fight some of the more dangerous monsters, while others were taking inventory on what they needed to forge new armor or weapons. Pinkie kept to herself though, turning around and looking at her new hunting partner. Wookie had sat motionless, in complete silence, watching the Felyn cooking on the grill.

"What made you decide to become a Hunter?" Pinkie's question drew Wookie Love back into the real world, and he paused before answering her.

"My cousin, Gene, was one of the Hunters who was wrapped up in the incident at Pokke Village. After he and his partner had hunted down the Tigrex and ended the creature's reign of terror, something happened." Wookie's expression grew grim, and he looked down at the plate of food that had been placed in front of him. He picked up his utensils and cut into the perfectly cooked steak. "Communication with him grew more and more scarce as he started doing more work for the Guild." he put the piece of steak into his mouth, chewing quietly. His eyes seemed to glaze over as he finished chewing.

"I became a Hunter because something told me there was more at work here than what the surface of all the Guild's messages suggested. Why would someone who was able to best a Tigrex suddenly drop off the face of the earth? Make that two people. No one saw hide nor hair of his partner long after that. We only knew that she was a Longsword user." Wookie finished his story, Pinkie had been so enthralled by it that she hadn't started eating. "Your food's gonna' get cold." he said flatly, resuming the consumption of his own meal. They ate in relative silence. The only sounds coming from other Hunters and clinking utensils. Wookie finished first and pushed his plate away. The Felyn gathered the dirty dishes. "What about you? What's your story?" Pinkie looked at him, a questioning look in her wide eyes, then she remembered what they'd been talking about.

"Oh! Well, when I was younger, I worked on a rock farm. Not the most exciting lifest-"

"Rock farm?" Wookie deadpanned.

"Yeah." Pinkie waved an armored hand dismissively. "That's all in the past, now. After that period of my life, I became somewhat of a party planner, if you will. I ran about throwing parties for people of all ages."

"You're really not selling me on this origin story, Pinkie."

"That's because you aren't letting me finish!" Pinkie snapped, exasperated. "Seriously. Aaaaaanyway. I ended up planning a party for a big wedding. Famous rich people and all that. Not my usual scene. I was used to planning parties for a younger audience. Games, piñatas, dancing and so on." disbelief was still plastered across Wookie's face. "Don't give me that look." she pointed at him, continuing. "Despite the more upscale crowd, everyone seemed to be enjoying the party. That all changed when the Fire Na-I mean, something attacked the wedding. It was...Huge. Or, maybe it wasn't. I don't remember getting a very good look at it. All I know is that it brought a storm with it. The sky had blackened and lightning and fire rained down on the gathering." the disbelief had left Wookie's face, replaced with genuine interest. He'd never heard of such a Monster from Gene. "I barely got away with my life, I never turned back to try and see what it was. I just ran. It wasn't long before monsters started to become a big problem around my hometown. Though, to be fair, there was a large group of talented Hunters that lived near me. I decided to become a Hunter to try and track down the thing that ruined my career."

"See, after whatever it was attacked, I had a stigma attached to me. Seeing as how no one had seen anything like that before, they assumed that I was cursed. That some, reaper from the sky, was following me around, waiting for its next victims. No one would even consider hiring me to plan parties anymore. Hell, it was a good week before anyone even dared to speak to me." Pinkie shook her head, sighing. "I haven't seen or heard from that thing since that night. I mean, even getting into the Academy was difficult, because they knew who I was through the grapevine."

"Wow. That's...I don't know what that is. It's almos hard to believe." Wookie spoke, folding his hands in front of his face. "Not that I'm doubting the legitimacy of your story, but I've never even heard of a monster that could do what you described." he reached up and adjusted his pompadour, making sure it sat neatly in place. "It was good to hear your story, though. You've got good motivation, and so do I." he stood up, stretching. "So, let's see what's on today's agenda."

The pair made their way over to the girl with the two-toned purple hair. Her nose was burried in a book, and her uniform matched Lyra's, but it was a light purple in color, as opposed to the shocking mint of Pinkie's first liaison. The Huntress realized that Wookie had always talked to her before, so Pinkie held out her arm to stop him as he approached. She stepped forward and cleared her throat. The girl lifted her head from her book, her violet eyes focusing Pinkie with a determined stare.

"Can I help you?" the liaison's voice was genuine. Pinkie was ready to be bombarded with sarcasm, but to her great surprise, the liaison had started to smile. "Where are my manners? I haven't even met you before. Are you new here? My name," she placed her hand on her chest. "Is Twilight Sparkle. I am a student under the tutelage of the current Guildmaster, Lady Celestia." Pinkie felt like she may have detected an air of arrogance, she glanced at Wookie, who rolled his eyes slightly. "I've met your friend." Twilight spoke up again, motioning towards Wookie. "You, though, are new here."

"Yep! My name is Pinkamena Dianne Pie. You can just call me Pinkie. It's great to meet you, Twilight." Pinkie had extended her hand across the counter and found that Twilight was not returning the gesture. Pinkie's smile dropped, and she lowered her hand, a confused look on her face. Twilight looked like she had seen a ghost.

"You are the girl with the black beast?" Twilight's voice shook, and Pinkie suddenly found the floor very interesting. "Celestia permitted you to be a Hunter?" Pinkie nodded. At that, Twilight shook her head, clearing the offending thoughts from her mind. "Well, my mentor hasn't steered me wrong, yet." Twilight reached into her desk and pulled out a piece of paper, handing it across the countertop. Pinkie took it and paid the liaison, mumbling a hurried "Thank you." before she made her way to the boats.

"Holy shit." Wookie spoke once they were out of earshot of Twilight. "I thought you were exaggerating. She was terrified. Did your other liaison act like that?" Pinkie shook her head, then perked up, a confused look on her face.

"No...She sure didn't. I wonder why..."

/) (\

As the boat neared its destination, the two of them could feel the temperature around them rising. Pinkie had removed her hat and was fanning herself with it, sweat streaming down her face.

"You were in a hurry, so I'm going to take a wild guess and say you didn't read what this quest entailed. Am I right?" the only response Wookie got was a wadded up ball of paper to the face. "That's what I thought." he picked up the paper and unfurled it. It was crinkled, but he could still read most of it. "Hunt a Barroth. Daytime - Desert." he read outloud, then looked over at Pinkie. "You ever fought a Barroth?" the Huntress shook her head, and the boat came to rest at the dock. They disembarked and gathered the supplies from the trunk. They split them evenly, each of them immediately drinking a Cool Drink, finally getting relief from the blistering heat.

They were looking over a map as they left the base camp. This area was unfamiliar to both of them. The sun hammered down on them, and while they no longer felt like it was going to melt them on the spot, it was still causing them a relative level of discomfort. They walked into an area that actually gave them a good vantage point. They were able to see the great expanse of the desert below them. Large rock formations jutted up from the sand in no particular pattern, and the heat distortion made it look like they were dancing. Pinkie shook her head and turned her gaze away from the sands below. She started following a trail that dipped down into a cooler area. There were a few plants scattered about, but this area was mostly shaded by a large rock that formed a natural shield against the sun. The Hunters both turned and gazed at a mud hole. They approached it, watching the gray mud shift and bubble slightly. Pinkie's eyes fell upon an odd rock, or formation of rocks, rather. They were shaped like an arch, and were cratered at the tops.

"Check those out." Pinkie motioned for Wookie to look at the rocks that were out in the middle of the mud hole. He narrowed his eyes, gazing at them. There were a dark amber color, in stark contrast to their surroundings.

"Something's odd..." Wookie spoke. No sooner had the words left his mouth than the rocks turned. They appeared to be pointing at the pair, and they started to drift closer. Pinkie had chalked this down to hallucination. Wookie was skeptical and started backing up.

"Wait...You can see them moving, too?" Pinkie asked her partner, noticing him move with increased urgency. She looked down as the front rock bumped against her foot, and the world came to a halt. There was nothing except Pinkie and the rocks for a brief second. The ground trembled and an entire monster, taller than a Rathian and almost as long as a Royal Ludroth burst upwards, throwing Pinkie high into the air. She landed a few yards away from Wookie with a heavy thud.

"I'm not even going to ask why you didn't move." he spoke, drawing the Arca Raptora from his back. The Barroth stood tall for a second. Its back, head, and extremities caked with mud. The brute wyvern in front of them was huge. It appeared to be made of solid stone, and the cratered rocks that formed the ridge of its scalp appeared to be letting off steam.

"It's fine..." Pinkie grunted, getting to her feet. "My neck broke my fall." she drew her axe as the Barroth let out a roar, now fully aware of the pair's intrusion into its territory. Wookie fired an arrow that bounced pointlessly off the the monster's head and Pinkie took off towards the brute. As she closed in, the monster raised its head. Wookie took this time to put a shot into its neck. The Barroth went off balance, slightly. This creature was far more durable than the last one they had faced. Pinkie rallied her strength and struck out at the Barroth's thigh. She cracked the mud that had encased its leg, and she reeled back, taking another swing. The mud shattered, exposing the leg. Pinkie had no time to rejoice, and hit the ground quickly as the Barroth's tail swept over her.

Wookie's attention was drawn to the exposed leg, and he started to solely target that limb, careful to steer his arrows away from Pinkie, who was doing her best to keep the Barroth's attention away from her lightly armored partner. She took heavy swings at the leg that was still encased in mud. She had broken the shell just as the Barroth stopped trying to stomp her. Confusion crossed the Huntress's face and she saw the monster hunker down, then start to shimmy. It was flinging large globs of mud everywhere, and one landed on Pinkie. In addition to making her feel disgusting, the mud hardened immediately, locking up her arms. She rolled away frantically, putting distance between her and the brute. Try as she might, the mud would not come off. She struggled for a few seconds before she felt a heavy blow on her left side. She looked at the ground, an arrow laying at her feet, and the mud cracked slightly. She was able to move enough that the rest of it crumbled away.

"Let's try not to make this a regular occurrence, yeah?" Wookie yelled. Pinkie nodded, turning her attention back to the Barroth, which was now rolling around in the mud. They both just stared at it, until it had rolled back into its feet. It was caked in a fresh coat of muddy armor, and it turned on them again. Wookie's next arrow was perfect. It sunk into the Barroth's right eye, sending the monster careening away from them. Pinkie ran in immediately, attacking the monster's ankles and sending it crashing to the ground. Pinkie moved to the back of it, snapping the Dragonmaiden Axe to sword more and cleaving at the tail. She could faintly hear the hollow thuds of arrows hitting the Barroth. The monster was flailing, its tiny forelimbs scraping at the ground as its legs kicked, trying to get the leverage to return to its feet. It had just gotten upright as Pinkie's last swing cleaved the end of the monster's tail off. The brute stumbled forward, turning as it did so to stare at the end of its own tail, which lay, useless, in the mud.

A maniacal grin had spread across Pinkie's face and she charged in. The Barroth was expelling large amounts of steam from the rocks atop its head. It was enraged, and it let out a ferocious roar. The air around the Barroth quivered and the beast charged the Hunters. Its head was bowed low to the ground and it caught Pinkie full-on. She was lifted off her feet, but slammed the axe head into the Barroth's back before it could throw her into the air. She held on for dear life as the monster attempted to throw her from its back. Pinkie could hear the distinct sound of arrows streaking through the air, and knew Wookie was having a hard time drawing a bead on the monster. She set her jaw and threw out her left hand, managing to catch an arrow mid-flight. She whirled the projectile in her hand and rammed it into the back of the Barroth's head, at the base of its neck. The monster ceased moving immediately, dropping onto the ground. Pinkie still stood atop it, eyes wide. She heard arrows hitting it again.

"Don't stop! It's just stunned!" Wookie yelled from across the area. Pinkie pulled her axe free and started slamming it into the top of the creatures head. She'd shattered the mud armor and broken off the tip of its scalp, a cluster of the cratered rocks flying away from the monster's head. Pinkie had drawn back to strike again when the brute heaved her off of its back, throwing her to the ground. She rolled along the ground, her axe clattering down next to her. She stood up just in time to see the monster digging into the ground. It burrowed out of sight and was gone. She felt the ground tremor lightly as it made its escape. Pinkie picked up her axe and looked over at Wookie, who was downing a Psychoserum. The look on his face gave Pinkie a case of sympathy nausea, but she shook it off. "It retreated into this cave." Wookie motioned, a look of disgust still plastered on his face. They descended deep into a cave. They could hear a group of Wroggi calling to one another. The Wroggi were the poison-inducing cousin of the Jaggi. Red creatures with raptor-like bodies and purple pouches behind their cheekbones. They could spit poison for a fair distance, but that wasn't the pair's main concern. The Barroth snacking on a pile of ore was a much more pressing matter.

Pinkie ran up and rolled between the monster's legs, stabbing the tip of her weapon into the Barroth's soft underbelly. She tore it away as Wookie's storm of arrows began to strike the monster, and she moved quickly out of the way. She stopped in a crouched position, spinning up to her feet as one of her partner's arrows struck the monster perfectly and sent it tumbling to the ground. It landed with its back towards Pinkie, and she started to cleave at the helpless monster in front of her. She'd managed to shatter its back armor before it could stand, and the monster was falling into a state of deadly poison. It tried to limp away, but Wookie had run up and draw an arrow out of the quiver. He thrust it up through the Barroth's chin, puncturing into the monster's mouth. It turned away from the pain quickly, and was met with a furious blow from Pinkie's axe, sending the monster spiraling to the ground, helpless. The Barroth tried again to get to its feet, but the poison from Pinkie's weapon had rendered it helpless. A few shuddering breaths later, and one more mighty blow to the skull, and the Barroth fell victim to them.

Pinkie stood up pulling her axe from the monster's skull. The axe compacted and she slid it into place on her back, Wookie doing the same with his Bow. A few minutes of carving all the pieces of the monster, and they were heading back to Tanzia. Pinkie stared out to sea, a blank expression on her face. She swore she could see black storm clouds rolling over the horizon.

Comments

[The Serpent Mage]

Well, shit.

It's baaaaack...

[Grif_Bladefeather]

.... okay now pinkie really needs help.

[Regal Shadow]

DIS GON B GUD