Rainbow Dash finds an unusual write it yourself storybook in Twilight's library. Deciding to check it out, she takes it home to give it a whirl. What she wasn't expecting was for the book to be enchanted, bringing her to a new world.
After much coercing from Twilight, Rainbow Dash decides to read a book other than Daring Do. Looking around in Twilight's library for any sort of book that catches her interest, Rainbow comes across an odd untitled book. Looking within reveals information on all sorts of monstrous creatures, and the odd beings that hunt them. The rest of the book however, is completely blank, which confuses the pegasus, thus she brings it to Twilight. Though confused by the book's presence in her library, Twilight informs Dash that the book is most likely a write your own adventure story, with the information within the book being the setting and elements within the plot. Intrigued, Rainbow decides to give the book a whirl, and takes it home with her to write her own adventure.
However, upon getting ready to write, the enchantment upon the book activates, pulling Rainbow Dash within. Now Rainbow Dash must embark on a quest to hunt and slay the most powerful monster in order to leave the book. Within this new world she'll face great dangers, see amazing wonders, and meet new friends, and who knows, maybe this adventure will be better than anything Daring Do will ever experience.
I do not own the cover art. My little pony is copyright of Hasbro, and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is copyright of Capcom. I own nothing.
"So Rainbow, find anything you like?" Asked Twilight as she looked up at her friend, who was hovering in the air while perusing the top shelves.
"Nothing yet." Rainbow replied. It had taken a lot of convincing, but Twilight had finally managed to talk Rainbow Dash into reading something other than Daring Do. Currently the two were at Golden Oaks library, and had been there for at least an hour trying to find a book that caught the rainbow maned pegasus' attention. Unfortunately, if the book didn't sound completely awesome, Rainbow wasn't interested.
"Come on Rainbow, we've been at this for an hour now. Just pick something already." The alicorn said in exasperation.
"Hey, we're not all eggheads here Twilight. If I'm gonna read something it's gotta be at least as awesome as Daring Do." Rainbow retorted. Twilight let out a frustrated grunt, to a bookworm like her, this was madness.
"Fine, I'll be helping Spike reorganize the shelves. Come get me when you've found something." She replied with a huff, and trotted off, leaving Rainbow Dash alone. Rainbow Dash continued to look for another fifteen minutes, and grew more and more bored with each passing second. Just as she was about to call it quits, a small stack of books collecting dust on top of one of the bookshelves caught her eye. Deciding there was no harm in checking it out, Rainbow Dash flapped over to the stack and began looking through it. It wasn't a large stack, only ten books, and Rainbow Dash was quickly losing interest as she looked at the titles. Most of the stack comprised of outdated textbooks and such, and a few old novels that didn't sound all that interesting. However, the last book at the bottom of the stack caught her eye. It was the only book in the stack, in the whole library actually, that did not have a title on the spine. Curiosity piqued, the pegasus pony retrieved the book and found no title present on the cover either. The cover itself was a dark navy blue, with gold bands along the spine. Flipping it open, Rainbow raised an eyebrow at what she saw. The book was describing some sort of coastal village nestled on a deserted island, inhabited by strange bipedal creatures. Leafing through the pages, she saw information on other locales and environments, none of which matched anything found in Equestria. Flipping through the pages a bit more, Rainbow found something that really looked curious.
"What's this?" She muttered as she read into what she was seeing, which was some kind of drawing of a strange creature. "Ooh-rah-gun. Lives in volcanic regions. mainly travels by curling into a ball and rolling. Subsists on metal ores found in bedrock, and welds stones onto it's body with lava for purposes unknown. What kind of creature is that?" Leafing through the pages once more, Rainbow found information on more and more strange creatures. However, once she got past the information on all the creatures, the rest of the book was empty. The book itself was not light, and only a small portion was filled with the information she had leafed through. "Maybe Twi'll know what this book is." She said to herself, and with that in mind, went over to her alicorn friend, who was just finishing her book sorting.
"Oh hey Rainbow, find anything?" Twilight asked, to which the pegasus nodded and handed the strange book over to the librarian.
"Yeah, I found this weird book with all this cool info in it." She said as the book became cloaked in soft magenta light and floated over to Twilight. Opening the book, Twilight's face creased in confusion, and grew only deeper when she looked through it further. When she reached the blank pages, she closed the book and looked it over, turning it this way and that, trying to make sense of it.
"Where did you find this book?" She asked Rainbow Dash.
"It was on top of one of the bookcases in a stack of other old books. I brought it over to you to see if you knew what it was about." Rainbow replied.
"Huh, I've never seen this book before, but if I had to guess, it looks to be a write your own adventure novel." Upon seeing the pegasus' face, Twilight knew she lost her. "You write your own story in the book with the information it gives you." That got Rainbow Dash interested, and although she wasn't sure of her story writing skills, the book sure sounded a lot more interesting than anything else she had seen in the egghead's library.
"Hmm, I think I'll take it." She said with a grin.
"Are you sure? I mean, you do realize you have to write the story, right?" Twilight asked.
"I know, and it sounds fun."
"Well if you're sure, alright then. Just wait a minute ok." With that, Twilight walked over to her desk and levitated out of it a bottle of ink, and a quill pen. Both items were then obscured briefly by a flash of light, and Twilight brought them over to the confused pegasus. "Here you go Rainbow. I put an enchantment on the ink and quill so that if you brush at whatever you've written with the feather, it erases it, just in case you make a mistake or want to change something."
"Hey, thanks Twilight." Said Rainbow with a grin as she took the book, ink and quill and put them in her saddlebag. With that done, Rainbow Dash raced home, appearing to the ponies below as a rainbow blur. Soon she was within her home, book open to the first empty page, and Rainbow tapping the book furiously with the feather of the quill as she tried to think of a way to start her epic adventure. Soon she had set the quill down and had started flying around the room trying to think of a way o start the story. "Ooh, how do I start this? Maybe I start off as a rookie hunter rising to the top. Or maybe I'm already a pro and am going to hunt something huge." As she thought out loud, the open book began to emit a soft light. Said light began to increase the more Rainbow Dash spouted out ideas, and soon the pegasus began to take notice. Rainbow Dash approached the glowing book warily, remembering her other encounter with such a thing that involved her and her friends getting pulled into one of Spike's comic books. Looking at the glowing pages, Rainbow's jaw practically hit the floor, for she was staring into another world. Her vision raced across a rocky coast, as sea monsters swam through the waters. Suddenly it shifted as she witnessed a large flying monster try to snatch a sea creature out of the water, but missed, only for a massive sea monster to rush out of the depths and breach the surface, it's prize gripped in it's jaws. Once more Rainbow's vision took to the skies, and she was flying away from the ocean and towards the land, towards a group of hunters fighting a pack of small monsters led by a much larger one. Suddenly, she was underwater, the sea monster from before chasing her to shore. Reaching land, her vision turned back to see the monster breach the surface, blue lightning dancing over it's body. Then she was on land again, the flying monster from before slamming down on the pack leader, and spitting out a fireball which impacted one of the hunters, sending him flying. Again the scenery shifted, this time to a scorching volcano, where she was cornered by a monster with blunt forelimbs that pounded the surroundings, leaving a green slime behind. just as the monster went in for a strike, the spell faded and she was once again in her room
"Whoa." She said in a daze. "What was that?" Looking back at the book, she was shocked to see words on the page when she hadn't written a thing yet.
Do you desire adventure? Was what was written upon the page.
"Do I desire adventure? What kind of question is that? Of course I do." She answered aloud. The words on the page then faded, and were replaced by new ones.
Then defeat the living disaster, and let your story unfurl. Before Rainbow could even question what that meant, the book exploded into light, pulling the startled pegasus within before she could make any kind of reaction. The light then faded, and the book snapped shut, a title upon it's cover where there once was none.
The salty breeze of the ocean, combined with the sounds of distant waves crashing upon a beach were what brought Rainbow Dash back into consciousness.
"Oh hay feathers, my head." She groaned, her voice as dry as her throat. "What the hay happened? First the book showed me that awesome world, then that question appeared, and then..." Looking around, Rainbow then realized she was not anywhere close to Ponyville, nor was she in the Everfree Forest. Neither locations were near the ocean, and she definitely smelt the salt upon the air, and heard the waves breaking upon a beach. "Where in Equestria did that book send me?" She wondered aloud, scratching her head with a hoof. Unfurling her wings she began to take to the air, only for a strong wave of dizziness to hit her, sending her back down to the ground.in a heap. "Okay," She muttered, "no flying for now." Deciding that finding water was amongst her best interests at the moment, Rainbow Dash listened for the sounds of rushing water, which wasn't as easy as she first thought, considering the sounds of the ocean were drowning out other sounds. After wandering around a while and keeping an ear open, she finally managed to find a fast flowing river, a large waterfall feeding it from a cliff face.
"Oh finally, water." Galloping over to the river, Rainbow stuck her muzzle right in, allowing the fresh cool water to rush down her throat. Drinking her fill, the pegasus sat down on the ground with a contented sigh. "Ah, that's much better." Said Rainbow Dash, her voice no longer raspy from a parched throat. Looking around, Rainbow's eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets at what she saw. A small herd of large quadruped creatures lumbered their way to the river. they were a slate gray color, with black stripe patterns across their backs. Their tails were adorned with bony protrusions, and their heads were crowned with large crests. Happy to have found some locals, Rainbow Dash spread her wings once more, and flapped over to the creatures, the dizziness from before no longer present.
"hello " said Rainbow as she hovered in front of one of the creatures, which looked up after being addressed. "Hi, could you tell me where I am? I'm a bit lost." In response the creature let out small grunt, and went back to drinking from the river. "Hay, I'm talking to you here. What's the matter, don't speak Equestrian?" With a small bellow, the creature simply walked off, causing Rainbow to bury her face in her fore hooves and groan in frustration. "Oh fan-pony-tastic, I'm lost in a place I've never seen before, and the locals are complete morons. This day just can't get worse." She was proven wrong on such a statement, when a shrill yelping howl reverberated through the forest, the sound making her fur stand on end and every fiber of her being want to run and hide. The creatures from before must have felt the same, because they bolted, grunting and bellowing in their hurry to flee. Gulping, Rainbow turned to where the sound originated. "Oh that can't be good." The sound of breaking branches and thrashing foliage gave way to a group of small orange lizard like creatures with purple frills, led by a much bigger one that was purple with some orange here and there. The thing Rainbow noticed about it most though, was the pair of drooling jaws filled with razor sharp teeth. "Definitely not good!" Screamed Rainbow, and flew off, another howl sounding from the monster behind her. Flying above the tree line, she was soon well away from the group of carnivores. Alighting upon a branch, she let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew, that was close." She sighed, only to let out a scream of pain as something from behind stung her. Instantly, every part of her body seized up and she fell uncontrollably out of the tree, landing on the ground with a painful thud. No matter how hard she tried, Rainbow could not move a muscle, and it was made all the more humiliating when she heard laughter behind her.
"Hahahaha, monster got stung-alaka by Bnahabra. Went all stiff stiff and hit the ground, cha-thud." said an odd voice from behind her. "Hmm, Cha-Cha never seen monster like this before. Wonder if it tastes good." Rainbow Dash's heart went wild at that. Whatever was behind her was going to eat her!? Desperately she tried moving something, anything, but still she was completely paralyzed. Soon she heard whatever it was getting closer. "Ooh lala, maybe Cha-Cha could use feathers and fur of monster for new mask. Make flashy shakalaka statement.." Tears were pouring from Rainbow's immobile eyes, and desperately she tried to will herself to move, and was rewarded when she began getting a bit of movement back in one of her legs. Soon she felt some kind of stick prod at her, spurring her even harder to regain mobility. Suddenly, she heard several familiar shrill barks, the thing behind her leaping back as a group of orange and purple lizards surrounded them. "Ack! Help, Cha-Cha about to become monster chow chow." While most of the lizards focused on the screaming thing, one of the smaller ones turned it's attention to the immobile pegasus on the ground. Darting over, the small monster seemed to loom over Rainbow dash, teeth exposed for a killing bite. Just as it was about to lunge, A blue hoof collided with it's snout, causing it to reel back in pain and surprise. The strike was not strong by any means, but it gave Rainbow time to try and gain more movement from her other limbs. Just then, the big lizard monster from before burst onto the scene, it's howl seeming to draw the lizards around it to it's command, as it charged right for her.
'So this is it huh?' Rainbow thought to herself as she tried getting up.'This is how I die? Food to a giant monster, far away from my home, from my friends, and all because of a stupid book. I should have just stuck with Daring Do.' Knowing there was no way she could fight the monster before her, Rainbow braced herself as best she could and shut her eyes tight, when a pained screech caught her ears. Cracking an eye open, it shot wide open along with it's partner when she saw what was going on. One of the biped creatures the book had described was fighting the whole group of lizards, and was completely kicking monster flank. The hunter wore metal armour comprised of sections of both plate and chainmail (Chainmail armour set), and wielded two metal blades. One was big and thick, the other was slimmer with a trio of spikes on the spine (Dual Slicers). The hunter used the blades like it was a dance, darting this way and that, with sweeping and spinning blade strikes. Smaller lizards went flying, mortal wounds laid down upon them, and even the big one was sent flying back a ways. Getting back to it's feet, the monster hobbled away, pained yelps emanating from it's maw. Soon the area was silent once more. Rainbow Dash was about to gush over how totally awesome the hunter was, but soon found those twin swords pointed right at her face.
"Ack! W-wait! Don't swing!" She shrieked in terror, putting some distance between her and the hunter, though it wasn't much due to her legs still being stiff, and her wings still fully paralyzed.
"Jumping Jaggi, you talk?" Said the hunter with no small amount of surprise.
"Yes, I talk! So can we please just talk and not wave those swords around, I don't wanna die!" Much to Rainbow's relief, the hunter sheathed his blades.
"So, who and what are you?" The hunter asked.
"The name's Rainbow Dash, and I'm a pegasus pony from Equestria." Replied Rainbow.
"Never heard of either a pegasus pony or this Equestria place. What brings you into Moga Woods?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. I can't believe it myself, and I was there." Just then, a yelping howl could be heard throughout the forest, snapping the two's attention back to the environment.
"Right, first things first. Where'd that Shakalaka go?" Asked the hunter as he looked around.
"Shakawhatta?" was Rainbow's response.
"Shakalaka, Short thing wearing a full head mask. It was just here a minute ago."
"Well sorry, but I only just got my mobility back, and it was behind me the whole time."
"Ugh, where could it have gone?" Asked the hunter. Neither he or Rainbow expected an answer.
"Ack! Cha-chock full of monsters!" screamed a voice some distance away.
"Well, duty calls." Said the hunter, and headed for the origin of the scream. Rainbow however, had no desire of being left in a dangerous forest she knew nothing about and promptly followed the hunter.
"Mind if I tag along?" It was more a statement than a question. The hunter let out a sigh.
"Fine, but stay out of danger." With that, the two headed for the Shakalaka.
"Ha ha! Well how 'bout that? the 'creature' was just a Shakalaka kid who couldn't find his way home." After rescuing the Shakalaka, the three came to Moga village. Rainbow immediately recognized this village as the one in her book, and seeing it in pony made it all the more amazing. Currently, she and the hunter, who's name was Raiden, were currently speaking to the village chieftain. Said man gazed hard at rainbow Dash. "As for your question, kid, I'm afraid I've never heard of this Equestria place, nor have I heard of a creature like this one 'til now." A devious glint then played in the old man's eyes. "Well, you know what this means... Cook 'em alive!"
"Waah!" Screamed Rainbow Dash, and she shot into the air so as to not be captured. The chieften let out a boisterous belly laugh at the pegasus' reaction.
"Ha ha, just kiddin' you two, just kiddin'. In Moga Village we welcome all visitors with open arms, whether they be Shakalakas, Lynians, or Ponies." Rainbow glared at the chieftan, before chuckling and coming back down. Grinning, the old man then leaned back, and began smoking his pipe. "besides, I like these two. The kid's got a sense of humor, and the girl's got guts. So... how do ya think ya'd feel about lookin' after 'em for a while?" At this Raiden got an incredulous look on his face.
"You want me to babysit a kid Shakalaka and a lost pony?" He asked.
"It'll be good for 'em. Take 'em huntin' with ya. They've clearly got the guts for it, and you'd be givin' 'em experience that'll last 'em a lifetime." Raiden's face contorted in aggravation, but the chief wasn't having any of it. "Now don't give me that look. I mean, look at the three of ya. You're pretty much a terrifyin' trio already." Raiden however, didn't exactly feel the same way, but the chieftain would not be swayed on the matter. Thus with great reluctance, he agreed.
"By the way chieftain, what of Rainbow's story, of how she got here. No offence, but a magic book? That has to be the worst woven yarn I've ever heard." Said Raiden. Rainbow Dash gaped like a fish at that, the jerk was accusing her of lying?"
"Aye, I'd agree with you there kid, save for one single fact." The chieftain then grinned, his pipe clutched between his teeth. "She ain't lyin'." That statement threw Raiden completely out for a loop.
"Chieftain, she has to be. It's just impossible."
"Kid, when you get to be as old as I am, you see things, crazy things, things you can't explain with reason. Also, when you get to be my age, you become a darn good judge of character. Tell me kid, for what reason would that mare have to lie to us?" Answered the chieftain in complete seriousness.. Try as he might, Raiden could not come up with a reason. Upon seeing the hunter's defeat, the chieftain nodded. "I thought so, kiddo. Now I know, her story sounds downright impossible, but sometimes truth can be way stranger than fiction." Raiden couldn't deny the chief had a point, and with that, left the old man for a quiet place to wrap his head around everything.
"Jerk." Rainbow muttered after him, and Raiden winced a bit. In all honesty, he deserved that though. After finding a nice spot at the end of a pier, the hunter sat down and looked at the picture of nature before his eyes. Thinking about it all, Raiden knew the chieftain had a good idea, but how was Rainbow Dash supposed to fight monsters? He wasn't terribly worried about Cha-Cha; Shakalaka were inhumanly durable, and their masks could be imbued with powerful abilities. What did Rainbow Dash have though that could allow her to combat monsters? He decided to visit the old forge artisan to see if he could make something for her. But that could wait for tomorrow as it was getting late, and the sun was beginning to disappear over the horizon. heading back for home, he bumped into Rainbow.
"Oh Raiden, I was just looking for you." She said. "I don't got a place to stay so I was wondering..." Raiden stopped her with an outstretched hand.
"Follow me, I'll take you to my place. You can crash there whenever and however long you need." Rainbow was shocked at that. She wasn't expecting Raiden to offer his home to her whenever she needed it.
"Gee, thanks Raiden," She said, her tone portraying her thankfulness, Soon the two were inside Raiden's home, the Felyne caretaker there having brought in a bed for Rainbow Dash. Said Pegasus was intrigued by Raiden's house. The place only had three walls; the entire back of the house being open to the outside. The house was spartan in furnishings, having only the beds, a rack of some kind, a table, and an odd lamp of mushrooms that glowed in different colours. Dinner that night was delicious; nothing beat farm grown vegetables, and soon the two were in bed, Raiden snoozing like a log, while Rainbow looked up at the starlit sky from her bed.
"I wonder if it's night now back at home? Has any time even passed in my world?" She asked herself aloud. Deciding that now wasn't the time to dwell on things that couldn't be changed, Rainbow got herself comfortable, and was soon sleeping away.
"Will ya stop fidgetin', sprout? This be hard enough as it is." Grumbled the wyverian artisan as he gathered measurements for Rainbow's set of armour. Said mare however, was not liking the fact she had to stand still while the artisan measured, it reminded her too much of her time in Rarity's boutique for her liking. The only thing that made her comply was that she was getting a badflank suit of armour out of this and not some pointless dress. Finally the artisan was done measuring.
"Ugh, finally." said Rainbow as she spread her wings for take-off, but a green claw in her face stopped her.
"Hold it there girl, one last thing before ya go" With that, a heavy load was dropped on her back, sending her flat on her stomach with an audible oof.
"What the hay was that for?" Rainbow ground out as she struggled to stand back up despite the load. Fortunately, the weight was immediately removed.
"Hmm, looks like ya can't wear blademaster armour. Too heavy for ya." Was what the artisan said as he went to his forge. With nothing holding her back, Rainbow was soon in the air. Doing small tricks like flips and twirls, she felt a grin spread across her muzzle as she heard the cheers from the kids below.
"Hey Rainbow, come down here for a minute." She heard Raiden call, and saw him over by his house waving at her. Shrugging, she flew down to the hunter, hovering at eye level with him.
"Yeah, what do you need?" She asked. Raiden beckoned her inside the house, bringing her to his storage chest. Opening it, he brought out several different looking weapons. There was a large metal spear-like one with a blade attached to the underside of a large tube, which was connected to a cylinder of some kind. A shield also rested on it (Iron Gunlance). The next one was something she had never seen before. It was long and made of both metal and bone of some kind, with a metal tube sticking out one end, and the other was attached with an oddly shaped piece of carved bone (Bone Blaster). The third weapon looked similar to the second, only smaller and less heavy (Cross Bowgun). The final weapon was something she was most familiar with; a bow. This one was made of bone, and had an odd piece that hung near the grip where the arrowhead would sit (Hunter's Bow 1).
"While the smith makes your armour I figured you'd like to find your weapon of choice. The artisan notified me that you could only wear gunner armour, so these are all my ranged weapons. I don't use them, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to give you one." Rainbow was puzzled at that.
"If you don't use them, why do you got them?" She asked.
"The hunter academy trains initiates in every weapon type until they've mastered the basics of it. After that it's up to the student to figure out what he or she works best with. I myself prefer the dual swords." Deciding to give it a whirl, Rainbow Tried the first weapon, only to stagger and flail at it's weight. She was also unable to grip the thing right. After managing to set it down, she tried the second weapon. this one was also a bit difficult for her to hold, and while the weight she could deal with, it would definitely keep her landlocked. Setting it down, she picked up the third one. The weight was not a bother for her both on the ground and in the air. but the problem came to actually using the thing. The weapon wasn't designed with a pony in mind, thus Rainbow had no way of firing the weapon. That only left the bow. Rainbow had dabbled a bit in archery before, so she knew how to aim and use it. She was also able to load the bow and decently fire it, which surprised Raiden due to the fact she had hooves and not fingers. One thing about the bow still puzzled her however.
"So what's this doohickey here for?" She asked, indicating the piece hanging off the grip.
"That is for arrow coatings." Raiden replied, and showed her how to load it. It took a bit of practice, but she was able to do it with little trouble. "Well, it looks like the bow suits you best Rainbow, though if you don't mind my asking, how is it you can grip the thing with those hooves?"
"Well it's not like they're stiff or anything." Replied Rainbow, showing Raiden her hooves. Raiden was surprised to see that Rainbow's hooves were actually soft and flexible. "It takes a bit of practice to learn how to grip the arrow and bowstring, but once you get that down there's nothing to it really."
"Impressive. Well the smith should be done with your armour by now, so lets not keep him waiting, or he'll chew both our ears off." The two shared a laugh at that, and returned to the smithy. Soon, Rainbow was decked in her new chainmail armour, Raiden having helped her get it on, and she was loving it.
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh, this is so cool!" She screamed in excitement, rocketing around in the air doing flips and spins, moving so fast she was a grey blur with a rainbow contrail.
"Settle down Rainbow and follow me." Said Raiden, motioning for rainbow to follow, which she did. Walking down to the other side of the village, Raiden brought her before a large stall full of different goods stacked upon shelves. "This, Rainbow," He began waving an arm at the stall, "is the general store. It supplies all the basic necessities you and I will need during our hunts. Coatings for your arrows, whetstones for my blades, and an assortment of other helpful items. Understand all that?" Rainbow nodded, and Raiden led her to a counter with a large board beside it. "And this is the quest counter. You go here to sign up for guild quests, which is how you earn zenny."
"So why are you showing me all this?" Asked Rainbow.
"Well I thought it would be obvious Rainbow. I'm not going to do everything for you, you know. You're earning your own keep with me. I've had a word with my guild liaison here in the village and I've managed to set you up as my hunting apprentice. This means you will be a licensed hunter while in my presence during quests. This means that you can take a quest for yourself as long as I accompany you. I expect you then to earn your own zenny and not mooch off others." At this, Rainbow winced. She didn't exactly like the idea of mooching all that much, and this did sound pretty fair.
"Well I see where you're coming from, but I don't have any bi-er, zenny to my name here. I heard there was a fee for taking quests, so how am I supposed to take quests if I can't pay for them?"
"You make it seem like I'm going to leave you high and dry. You're coming with me on my next quest and we split the reward. You'll use those funds to earn your own keep, got it?" Rainbow saluted at that, and Raiden smiled. "Excellent. Now, as for that quest." He then went over to the girl standing behind the counter, who was poring over a book. "Hello sweetheart, what's the word with the guild?" The girl looked up at him and smiled.
"Well once again you've gotten incredible results." She replied, then looked over at Cha-Cha, who was dancing around with a couple of kids. "Who'd have thunk there actually was some mysterious thing in the woods, two at that." Then she saw the dour face of Rainbow. "Uh, no offence." Rainbow just huffed and turned away. Nervously chuckling, the guild liaison turned back to Raiden. "Anyway down to business. Letters from all across the land have come singing your praises. Know what that means? Drumroll... Presenting...A new hunting ground! The guild has authorized you to be able to visit and take quests in the Flooded Forest." At Raiden's interested look, the liaison smirked. "Wondering what sort of place it is? Yeah, me too. According to my in-depth guidebook..." Muttering something else Raiden didn't quite catch, the girl hefted a large tome from underneath the countertop. Setting it down with a large thud, she began flipping through it until she reached what she was looking for. "Aha! Here it is. Flooded forest. A forest flooded with water." Rainbow's jaw hung wide open at that. That book was huge, and all it had to say about that place was the complete obvious.
"What the buck! That's all there is on that place. Nothing on what lives and grows there? No monsters, nothing!?" She exclaimed.
"Hey, don't get at me, I didn't write the thing. Anyways, if you are headed there, don't forget your towel." Raiden sighed at this. He had nothing against them, but harvest tours could be so boring. The liaison then looked through a few documents, until one caught her interest. "Oh, the guild also wants you to hunt down a big monster in the Sandy Plains called a Qurupeco. Time to strut your stuff!" At this, Raiden's mood lifted considerably, a grin of anticipation wide on his face. Rainbow was also grinning, she'd get to participate in some real action. With that, Raiden accepted the Qurupeco quest, filled out the paperwork for it, and paid the fee. The liaison then stamped the document, making it official. Something about the paper caught Rainbow's eyes.
"Hey Raiden," She said, getting the hunter's attention. "What was with that big red question mark on the paper?"
"That Rainbow, meant the hunting ground was unstable." He replied, causing Rainbow to give him a baffled look. Realizing his error, Raiden sheepishly continued. "Right, sorry. Unstable hunting grounds mean that there might be another monster in the area who might crash the party. Given the fact that it's a Qurupeco we're up against, I'm not surprised at all."
"Any idea on what it's gonna be?" Rainbow asked, causing Raiden to shrug.
"Not a clue, though I highly doubt it's gonna be something extremely dangerous, like a Diablos, or worse, a Deviljho." That got Rainbow confused. The book that brought her here had information on the Diablos, but the other one was new to her.
"Um, what's a Deviljho?" She asked.
"Trust me when I say, Rainbow, you don't ever want to know. If on the astronomical chance that Qurupeco summons something like that, we turn right back around and get the heck out of there. Quest or not, we are nowhere near ready to fight something like a Deviljho." That got Rainbow frightened. Usually she would have boasted about how she could take it, but Raiden's tone told her if she were to try and mess with that thing, she'd be dead with no ifs, ands, or buts about it. On the subject of death though, what would happen to her if she did die here? would she be ejected out of the world, or would she really die. With no way of knowing, she wasn't going to risk it.
"Okay, got it. So, we heading out?" That grin of anticipation was back on Raiden's face with a vengeance.
"But of course." He said, twirling his dual blades in his hands with flourish.
The Sandy Plains looked pretty awesome to Rainbow. Craggy sandstone cliffs rose out of the ground with stiff and hardy grasses and shrubs growing out of them. Below, she could see a crystal blue lake with lush vegetation growing around it.. and beyond the plains stretched a massive desert as far as the eye could see.
"So where is this Qurupeco thing anyway?" She asked as her eyes roamed the land below, trying to pinpoint the monster, without success.
"No clue, but finding it is half the fun." Said Raiden with a grin. the two were currently at what Raiden called the basecamp; a sort of safe zone for the hunting group. Here was where a hunter was supplied and could rest during hunts. Raiden immediately went over to the big blue chest by the cliff edge. Opening it, he reached deep into it, his whole upper half nearly fitting inside, and came back out with a bunch of odd looking items. "Okay, the guild supplied us both, thank goodness. Here's your map of the area Rainbow. Don't lose it." Nodding, Rainbow took the item and placed it in her bag. " Okay, these are mine." Raiden placed four small stones into his pouch. "Let's see, we can ignore the torches and the bowgun ammo as we have no need of them, but these are yours." With that, he handed Rainbow two coating bandoliers, both filled with fifteen phials of a purple liquid. "Careful with those, those are poison coatings for your arrows. Oh, and here are some empty phials for making your own coatings, be sure to root around the areas we're in for ingredients and the like. Let's see here, ah, these are all yours. Six first aid medical drinks in case you get pretty banged up, and four ration bars to keep you going. I would suggest eating one right now to bolster your energy. Don't worry, they're completely meatless." Doing as Raiden said, she unwrapped one of the large bars and bit into it. Her eyes immediately widened, and she spat the piece out of her mouth.
"Oh sweet Celestia, that's disgusting!" She shrieked, trying to spit out the repulsive flavor of the bar.
"Yes it is. And your going to eat it as it's all you can eat on these quests unfortunately." Rainbow was crying tears of agony as she consumed the bar, her tongue screaming at her to stop, and her stomach threatening to send it back the way it came. Somehow, she managed to hold it down.
"And what about you?" She groaned out, still struggling to hold down the disgusting ration. Raiden just grinned at her.
"Lucky for me, I'm not strictly herbivorous." With that, Raiden pulled out of his pack a cooked piece of meat, still on the bone, and devoured it with a speed and ferocity that would have made Rarity utterly furious with the lack of manners. "Oh that was good." Said Raiden as he patted his belly in contentment.
"I hate you, so bucking much right now." Rainbow ground out, and Raiden just laughed. With that out of the way, the hunter once again went through the pile.
"Okay, lets see here. Two sonic, paint, and dung bombs for the both of us, and the most important thing of all, cool drinks." Rainbow's brows raised in confusion at that.
"Cool drinks?" She echoed.
"Yup. Feel how hot it is out?" At Rainbow's nod, he continued. "Well, when we get into the desert areas, this heat's going to amplify, a lot. You might as well be in a stone oven, 'cause you will get cooked alive out there. Cool drinks stop that nasty process from happening, so for future reference, make absolutely sure you bring cool drinks to any mission involving the Sandy Plains, got it?" Rainbow nodded, already planning to do so the moment Raiden mentioned being cooked alive.
"One question though. What the hay are the dung bombs for?" Asked Rainbow, her snout crinkling in disgust at the thought of chucking an animal's crap around.
"That's in case any unknown monster in the hunting ground decides to crash the party. Chuck one of those at it and it'll be gone faster than you can say, 'get lost'." Nodding, Rainbow took her share of the equipment.
"Just one last thing before we go." Said Rainbow, getting Raiden's attention. "Why the hay is the idiot with us?" She asked, pointing a hoof at Cha-Cha,
"Cha-Hey! Cha-Cha not idiot! Cha-Cha demand minion apologize-alaka right this instant!" Screamed the Shakalaka in fury.
"Aside from the fact that he'll annoy Junior to absolutely no end if I left him behind, Cha-Cha has his uses. Shakalaka dances have an odd shamanic power to them that have a variety of beneficial effects for them and their allies, mainly healing, so I would suggest you keep on his good side." He then leant over to Rainbow Dash's ear, and continued in a whisper. "plus it gives our quarry a target other than us to attack." Rainbow Dash couldn't help it, she erupted in powerful belly laughter.
"Cha-Hey! Cha-Cha hope minions not be joking about me behind back-alaka."
"Of course not Cha-Cha, wouldn't dream of it." Replied Raiden, though he himself was barely containing his own laughter.
The hunt for the Qurupeco wasn't as fast as Rainbow would have liked. They had spent their time looking around in the plains section of the hunting grounds, with no luck in any of the sections.
"Well it's official, the thing's hiding out in the desert areas." Said Raiden as they checked sector four, again.
"Yeah, but which one?" Asked Rainbow, not liking the idea of looking through a desert to find one stupid bird, even with cool drinks.
"Hmm, I don't know for certain. It could be anywhere in there really, and monsters can take the heat of the desert way better than we can, lucky jerks." Rainbow let out a slight giggle at that. Suddenly, she heard something. It was faint in the distance, but it was unmistakable. It was the same yelping howls of that big carnivorous monster back in Moga Woods.
"Raiden, you know that monster you saved me from, the big one."
"The Great Jaggi? Yeah, why?" He asked, confused as to what the pegasus was getting at.
"I just heard it's calls. They were coming from that way" She answered, pointing towards sector eight of the hunting ground. Raiden had heard nothing, but his gut told him to trust Rainbow's words. nodding, he led the group to the area.
"Raiden, why are we going after the Jaggi? Shouldn't we be looking for the Qurupeco?" Rainbow asked as she and Cha-Cha followed the hunter.
"I would explain, but you'll learn better if you see for yourself." He replied. The trio soon entered the area, and Rainbow realized that Raiden may have been understating things about the heat. She was just about to pull out a cool drink, when Raiden stopped her, and pointed at a spire of rock. Looking at it, she saw a Great Jaggi and his pack barking and looking about in confusion. Just before she could ask Raiden what was going on, the yelping calls of the Great Jaggi reverberated through the area, but the Jaggi didn't make them, the bird on top of the spire did. It was a bright green colour with a flexible bill-like beak. Bluish grey scales covered the arms of it's winged forelimbs, and on the end of each wing was a strange dark red lump of what looked to be an odd cross of bone and stone. The wings themselves weren't feathered like she expected them to be, but the weren't completely like a bat's either as there were no support bones running through them. As the Qurupeco made it's call, she noticed a portion of the neck had inflated like a red balloon .
"It can copy other monster's cries?" She asked in amazement.
"That's just one of the things it can do. Now look sharp, it's flying away." True to his word, the Qurupeco abandoned it's perch and took off. Rainbow however had other ideas, and promptly shot off after the bird. "No Rainbow, wait!" he hollered after her, but it was futile. "Dammit, she has no idea what that thing can do. Okay, it was flying south, and a little to the east, putting it on a course to... sector three. Come on Cha-Cha, let's pull Rainbow's meat out of the fire." As he said it, Raiden could only hope it wouldn't become literal.
Landing with a thud, the Qurupeco strutted over to the water. It could see the fish swimming just beyond the muddy flooded banks of the lake, and it was hungry. Suddenly, a piercing pain hit the Qurupeco in the back like a Bnahabra sting. Squawking, it spun around, only to see nothing. Then a second sting struck it, then a third. no matter where it turned however, it could not see it's aggressor. Deciding enough was enough, the Qurupeco inflated it's vocalizer, flexed it's bill into a trumpet shape and let out a Great Jaggi distress call that echoed for miles. Rainbow Dash, who was shooting the bird from it's blind zones while keeping out of sight, just snickered. All the thing could do to fight back was imitate some kind of barking call? This was going to be too easy, Continuing her current strategy, Rainbow lined up a shot for the Qurupeco's back, only for pain to flare in her left hind leg. Shouting in pain and surprise, she involuntarily fired the arrow off course. Looking down at her leg, Rainbow was surprised to see a small Jaggi gnawing at it. The armour kept the fangs back, but the pressure from the biting was still painful.
"Let go you stupid thing." She gritted out, trying to kick the lizard off of her, but the thing held on for dear life, applying even more pressure. Suddenly, Rainbow's ears caught the sound of flint clicking together. Glancing at the source, Rainbow's eyes widened when she saw the Qurupeco leap straight for her, forelimbs pointed forward. Due to the Jaggi holding her, Rainbow couldn't get out of the way, and the two bone lumps on the birds wings slammed together right in front of her, hitting her hard with an explosion of force and fire that sent her careening backwards, her body smoldering. Just as Rainbow recovered she was hit by the attack again, this time the blast sending her into the muddy banks of the lake, which thankfully doused the flames. Groaning, Rainbow Dash struggled to rise, but was slammed into the ground repeatedly as the Qurupeco brought it's bill down on her with the force of a hammer blow. After finishing with smashing the pegasus into the ground, the monster leaped away from her and hovered in the air, allowing the group of Jaggi it had summoned to rip at the defenseless mare. Rainbow screamed as she was beset upon by the group of carnivores as they bit and pulled. Her armour was doing it's best to keep the teeth away, but the fangs were tiny enough to slip through the loops. One jaggi caught one of her exposed wings in his jaws, the fangs easily punching through her skin, and she screamed in pain, the reflexive flapping of her wing only making things worse.
Just as the Jaggi began pulling, it let go with a shrieking cry as a blade carved a deep gash into it's side. A dervish dance of metal soon surrounded the downed pegasus, sending the group of Jaggi everywhere. The ones not killed by the furious attack scampered off, their prey now guarded by a furious hunter. The Qurupeco, it's plan foiled, hopped about in anger, it's wings flapping furiously, However, Cha-Cha whacked it with enough force to send it toppling to the ground, flailing and squawking as it tried getting to it's feet. Raiden was on it in a second, slashing, hacking, and whirling as he laid into the stunned bird, dishing out as much damage as he could before it rose. Managing to get up, the Qurupeco spread it's tail wide and spun, whacking Cha-Cha away from it. It spun again, the wind generated blowing Raiden back, halting his offence. Targeting Raiden as he had established himself as the most dangerous, the Qurupeco fired off a barrage of odd green liquid, which Raiden easily avoided. Clacking together it's flint stones once more, The Qurupeco lunged for the hunter. Raiden rolled away, avoiding the first blast, and rolled again, avoiding the second. On the bird's third lunge, Raiden simply backed up a bit, giving himself enough room to avoid the Qurupeco's final strike, but also kept him close enough to immediately go back on the offensive. Rainbow Dash then looked over at Cha-Cha, and saw that the Shakalaka had begun to dance, if one could call it that. when the dance was completed, Rainbow suddenly felt rejuvenated. Everything still hurt, but nowhere near as bad as before. Casting her attention back to Raiden, she saw the hunter mercilessly slash at the Qurupeco's wings.
Then she saw it happen like it was in slow motion. The smaller of Raiden's blades came up spikes first, and struck the bird's flint stone, the sound of cracking stone reaching Rainbow's ears. The blade then came down in a slash on the same spot, causing the cracking sound again. Finally, Raiden spun in a slash with the second, more weighty blade, and upon striking the stone, shattered a large chunk of it into pieces and sending the bird sprawling once more. Instead of hurling himself into a full offensive however, Raiden sheathed his blades and brought out one of the stones he had taken from the chest back at camp. Taking his blades off his back, he quickly sharpened them, finishing just in time as the Qurupeco was getting back up. Reaching into his pouch once more, Raiden pulled out a paint bomb and lobbed it at the monster, the item successfully impacting the monster a moment before it leaped high into the air, and flew off when it gained enough height. Satisfied that the coast was clear, Raiden turned his attention to Rainbow Dash, his eyes displaying his anger loud and clear to the pegasus.
"That, was the stupidest thing you could have possibly done." Said Raiden, the anger in his tone causing Rainbow to flinch. "If I wasn't an excellent aerial tracker, those Jaggi would have torn you apart." Reaching the pegasus, he hauled her roughly to her hooves. "You broke no less than four major rules of hunting. First rule, never separate from the hunting party. As soon as the Qurupeco took off, what did you do? You completely left me and Cha-Cha behind. If I wasn't as good a tracker as I am, I most likely would never have gotten here in time to save your sorry hide." Rainbow winced in shame, her ears folded back, but there was still more to come. "Second rule, never underestimate your quarry. I'll admit that strategy of yours had some good merit to it, but when that bird called for help, you just snickered and kept attacking, never once exhibiting any sort of caution as to what that call could have been."
"Wait a minute, how did you know about that? you just showed up when the Jaggi were all over me." Rainbow asked.
"I actually got here when the buzzard began calling for help. As for why I didn't immediately step in, well, why do you thing the big one didn't show?" Rainbow winced again, realizing just how big she had screwed up with that one. Raiden however, wasn't done there.
"Third rule, Never, under any circumstances, ever, ignore your quarry. So you had a Jaggi holding onto your leg? Suck it up and keep your focus on the bird. Because you decided that the Jaggi was more important, that Qurupeco's ambush plan went off like clockwork. If you had kept focus on the bird, it would never have gotten you into that position in the first place." Rainbow was feeling like she was in a hole of her own making she couldn't get out of, and Raiden was still going.
"Finally, rule number four, always mark you quarry before engaging it. This may not seem important, but it is. We are on a time limit with every quest we take, and if times up, the guild sends us home. Furthermore, time we have to spend hunting the thing down is time it can spend recovering. By marking our quarries, we can easily give chase to the damn thing even if it flies or burrows, thus being able to intercept it should it try to recuperate. Even now, I have to waste limited time pounding all this into your brash dense head. Don't you ever try to hunt on your own again. You are the apprentice here, so you will follow my lead, Am. I. Clear!" Rainbow nodded furiously, feeling like the postermare for biggest idiot ever. Raiden had just given her a dressing down that put every single one of captain Spitfire's to absolute shame, and she deserved it all. Raiden was right about everything, and it hurt her to see the sheer amount of risk she had put on not only the quest, but her own life as well.
"and here I was this morning, telling myself to play it safe. I'm such an idiot." Just then, Rainbow felt Raiden's arms wrap around her in a hug.
"Now listen," He said in a much gentler tone. "I know I just made you feel like utter crap, but I did that because I care about you. Right now, you're my responsibility, and because of your actions, you put yourself in huge danger. The thing is, this is just as much my fault as it is yours. I forgot that not only have you never been to the monster hunter academy, but you're a complete stranger to our very world. I just threw you into this without even teaching you the most important things about this job. So, don't go feeling too bad, cause I'm just as big an idiot as you right now. Let it be said now that when Raiden joins a hunting party, every member is a family member, so if you're ever in danger I'm coming for you, and nothing is going to get in my way. Heck, I think that's the fastest I've ever taken down a Great Jaggi. Just please, make my job easier and use some common sense next time." Nodding, Rainbow returned the hug, the tender moment helping her feel better.
"Blech, Cha-cha's stomach can't take all this mushy-mushy. Me going to puke-alaka." And just like that the mood was destroyed by rapid fire crag shot. Both a fist and a hoof collided into the Shakalaka's masked face, sending him flying.
"Again, why did we take him along?" asked Rainbow Dash as she and Raiden separated and got up.
"You know, I thought I had a good reason, but now not so much." The two then remembered what they were here for. "Right then, let's bring that buzzard down." Said Raiden, and the hunt was resumed.
"Damn it, what does it take for this stupid thing to go down!" Screamed Rainbow as she continued firing arrows at the Qurupeco, her entire coating stock having been depleted a while ago. The trio had been chasing and fighting the monster all over the plains area, and now they were currently in sector seven, and hopefully at the end of this hunt.
"Bloody hell, that's it." Snarled Raiden as he was once again forced to disengage to sharpen his blades. "Next quest I take is that harvest tour of Flooded Forest. These damn swords can't keep their sharpness for any decent length of time." Over the course of the hunt, Rainbow and Raiden had laid down the hurt on their quarry. Both it's flint stones were broken, it was barely coherent and couldn't stop swaying and drooling, and it was getting a whole lot easier to knock the thing around. Just as it puffed up it's vocalizer to call for Melynx reinforcements, Rainbow shot the red organ with as much strength as she could muster. The strike stopped the bird's cries cold, and had it scampering away, though exhaustion caught up with it quickly and it tripped. Raiden was once again on the monster, dealing massive damage. As the Qurupeco rose back onto it's feet, it once again tried flying away, but Rainbow was tired of this game. Flying above it, she used an arrow to slash at it's back as it rose, then fired the arrow, sending the thing careening back to the ground. Pulling the string back as far as it could go, Rainbow delivered a wide spread of arrows into the grounded Qurupeco. With a final shriek, the bird collapsed, groaned, and laid still, dead.
"Final-bucking-ly." wheezed out Rainbow Dash as she hovered down to Raiden. "Now what?"
"Now we call the Felyne team to cart the monster's carcass to the collector's office here in the hunting grounds. He'll then supply us with our cash reward and a bunch of choice materials from the carcass that can be used to make armour and weapons."
"Well what the hay are we waiting for? I'm exhausted, and can't wait to crash into bed when I get back." With that, Raiden blew some sort of small whistle, and a minute later, four Felynes with a large cart came rushing to the site. Gathering up the monster's carcass, the four Felynes then rushed to the collection office, the trio following at a much more leisurely pace. Upon getting their reward and spoils, the two were soon heading back home.
The sun was just touching the ocean when the group of three returned back home to Moga Village. Rainbow was practically dead on her hooves as she stumbled for the home she was currently sharing with Raiden. Raiden himself was also tired, but was way better off than Rainbow, and Cha Cha was already asleep, a snot bubble expanding and contracting out through a breathing hole in his mask.
"So kid," Said the village chief as Raiden walked by, "how went the hunt?"
"Well we had a rocky start, but we pulled it off." Was the tired reply.
"And did the pony learn anything?" Raiden smirked.
"Oh trust me, she learned a lot. Some of it was easy, the rest she learned the hard way, but she learned all I had to teach her for today." Smiling, the chief clapped Raiden's shoulder, giving it an encouraging squeeze.
"See, I told you bringing her with you was a good idea. Now I'll let you know that Junior's been hearing weird calls from the forest during his resource gatherin' forays, and we think the culprit's a Qurupeco. He'll let you if he hears another one in there if you're goin' in." With that, the chief walked off. Unfortunately for Raiden, he was ambushed by the village children pleading him to recount the tale of his finished hunt.
"The things I do for kids." Raiden muttered before he began.
"So what's happening today Raiden? Another Qurupeco? A Great Jaggi? More Arzuros?" Asked Rainbow excitedly as she and Raiden donned their armour for another day of hunting. It had been a week since they had taken the Qurupeco mission, and Rainbow had learned a lot about hunting since then. The biggest thing she had been taught was about the monsters themselves. They were not dumb animals driven by base instinct as she had first thought. They were intelligent, they could plan and adapt, and that was why they were hunted. Monster hunters hunted the monsters who had proved themselves extremely dangerous to settlements and populations, or an extreme disturbance to the land they resided in. Qurupecos for example, could very well disturb the ecosystem of a region simply by imitating the call of a super predator, and attracting one into the region. Thus they had to be removed as soon as possible before such an event could occur. Monsters also were hunted to keep their numbers in check. If populations got out of control it could mean very bad things for regions and their villages.
During the course of the week, Raiden had taught Rainbow as much as he could that was necessary to know. He taught her how to track quarries down, how to properly fight them, and what parts of them were vulnerable and could be broken off for materials. He taught her how to capture, how to set up traps and lure the monsters into them, how to tell if a monster had been weakened enough for capture. He drilled into her his personal hunting rules, and made sure she always followed them. Now the week had passed, and left it's changes behind. Rainbow Dash no longer wore her chainmail armour, but had had a new set of armour made for herself. The armour was comprised mostly of bone and Jaggi hide, and only really covered her barrel. A pauldron of bone sat on her left shoulder, and her lower legs were also shielded by bone, save her left foreleg, which was fitted with a gauntlet of hide. Upon her head was a horned animal skull, which served as a helmet, and upon her flanks was another skull, it's horns wrapping around her waist alongside a leather utility belt (Bone gunner armour set). Her bow had also been upgraded, though there was no drastic change in appearance (Hunter's Bow 2). Raiden likewise, had also gotten new arms and armour. Hard blue plate carapace trimmed with white fur comprised most of the armour, with durable bone shells comprising the greaves and left vambrace. The helmet was a bone forehead plate with an open carapace face guard (Arzuros armour set). Upon his back rested two spike pole axes (Dual Hatchets).
"Easy Rainbow, we need to see what's available first." Answered Raiden, running a hand through his reddish orange hair. The two then left the house and into the busy center market of Moga. The villagers all greeted the two hunters as they passed, while Black and Redspear would once again demand some kind of competition between them and Raiden to prove the fishing fleet superior to the hunter, this time it being an arm wrestle. Raiden refused, saying he was on business. soon the two met up with Cha-Cha, and the trio made it to the quest counter. It was a big shock to both Raiden and Rainbow Dash, when they saw that the fishing fleet had put up a quest for them to slay a Royal Ludroth. Apparently they needed the materials from it to rebuild Redspear's boat.
"Wow, those guys must be desperate if they're coming to you for help." Remarked the pegasus.
"Tell me about it. We really can't refuse it either; Moga needs it's fleet restored as fast as possible. With only the Captain able to fish, it's cutting at the village's food supply. Getting Redspear out there with him will help the village immensely." With that, Raiden filled out the paperwork and paid the fee, and the liaison stamped the quest form, making it official. "All right Rainbow, we're off to Flooded Forest."
"Oh come on, I hate it there. It never stops raining, and my wings get totally waterlogged. Plus this armour isn't exactly made to keep the rain out."
"Well get used to it. Part of being a hunter is to hunt in areas you don't enjoy, and at least the base camp's dry. Besides, don't you find it unsettling that you're wearing animal bones?" Rainbow shrugged in response.
"So? It's not like they've been pulled right out of the carcass or anything. Plus, this set looks totally awesome." Raiden could only sigh at that.
"What is it with you and awesomeness?" Then another thought occurred to him. "Furthermore, why did you insist on the male version of the set?"
"Because the girl's set is degrading. Honestly, what kind of self respecting mare of your kind would wear something like that?" Was her answer.
A forest flooded with water was how the Flooded Forest was first described, and while accurate, it was a colossal understatement. Flooded Forest wasn't so much a forest flooded by water as it was a forest growing atop the water. The forest was located in a massive waterfall basin, the cascading water feeding the forest rivers to overflowing. The cliffs surrounding he forest were also so massive, that they constantly trapped rainclouds overtop the already waterlogged forest, putting the region under a near constant deluge of rain. No matter where you went in this forest, it was guaranteed to be wet, muddy, and overall unpleasant. The base camp was located in a rocky outcrop beneath a natural overhang that kept out the waterfall and rainwater. Amazingly enough, the night was actually clear this time, so Rainbow didn't have to worry about rain. The last time she was here, she had tried removing the clouds from the area, without success. Apparently her pegasi magic couldn't affect the clouds of this world, which was also putting a kill on her napping. All those fluffy clouds, and she'd just fall right through them.
"So Rainbow, any idea where this bad boy might be?" Raiden asked his apprentice after they finished packing their supplied materials.
"Hmm, I think sector four would be our best bet. Ludroth always stick around the shore." Nodding, the three headed for sector four. Getting there was rather simple, with only the ludroth in sector one being any sort of dangerous. Moving through sector two, the three reached their destination.
"Well, this looks like the right spot. There's a pack of females there." Said Raiden as the party kept out of sight. Just then, a massive ludroth with a yellow sponge-like mane erupted out of the water and slid onto shore. "And there's our quarry. So how do you want to do this?" With a smirk, Rainbow knocked an arrow into her bow and shot the Ludroth right in his mane. Letting out a screeching roar, the monster set his sights on the group's hiding spot. Rainbow immediately flew out, grabbing the ludroth's attention, and peppered the beast with harrying fire. While Rainbow kept the royal ludroth busy, Raiden and Cha-Cha came charging out. Nailing the monster with a paintball, Raiden then sprang into action, hacking and slashing his axes into the beast's spongy hide. The ludroth retaliated by suddenly rolling into Raiden, sending the hunter back, and then followed up with a barrage of water shots, sending Cha-Cha flying. Raiden hauled himself to his feet, and once again went on the offensive, or at least tried to. He was barreled over by the royal ludroth once again as it rushed forward, firing water shots up at Rainbow Dash. Said pegasus avoided them all, but the ludroth turned back and began firing again, the speed of it catching her by surprise. Thus, one of the shots found it's mark, drenching Rainbow and sending her crashing to the ground, coughing up water. No matter how much she tried to expel it, it was like her lungs were constantly filling with water, threatening to drown her. Raiden was by her side in an instant.
"Rainbow, eat this." He told her, offering her a large blue fruit. taking it, she managed to get it down despite her coughing, and immediately her lungs stopped filling with water, allowing her to expel it all from her lungs.
"Where's the ludroth?" Asked Rainbow, still coughing somewhat.
"It ran to sector two after it shot you down." Answered the hunter.
"What was all that just now?'
"That, was a nulberry. It's used to cure blight conditions. What was happening to you was what's called Waterblight. It causes your lungs to start filling with water, causing you to have trouble breathing and be constantly coughing water out, thus impairing your constitution. While I'm on the topic I might as well explain blights. There are five in total; fire, water, ice, thunder, and dragon. Fireblight ignites you in powerful flames, Iceblight freezes you to your bones and rapidly depletes your energy, Thunderblight makes you far more easy to be dazed and stunned by powerful attacks, and Dragonblight causes you to be weakened severely. You've already experienced Waterblight." Nodding, Rainbow Dash rose to her hooves.
"All right, I'm good now. Let's get that Ludroth." Nodding, Raiden sharpened his blades and the trio headed after their quarry.
It had been a hard fight, but the group soon had their quarry on the ropes. There was just one problem.
"Buck! It just had to go underwater didn't it?" Rainbow was not liking this situation at all. Pegasi wings were only water repellant when it came to rain. Fully submerging them would make them waterlogged and completely unusable until dry. Furthermore, Rainbow was not a trained hunter, and couldn't hold her breath anywhere near as long as Raiden could. Thus she was confined to stay near air vents if she wanted to spend any major length of time underwater.
"I know it's inconvenient Rainbow, but we got to go after it. If you really want to, I can take things from here." Assured Raiden.
"Whoa whoa, back up there buddy. Rainbow Dash doesn't run from anything, especially a little water. I'm just mad that I'll have to dry my wings, again."
"Well then, after you." Sticking out her tongue like a child at Raiden, she dove into the frigid river, the water beginning to soak into her feathers. Raiden dove in right behind her, and they caught up to the royal ludroth. Rainbow had always found fighting underwater to be a lot more difficult than on the surface. The most obvious reason being, most of the time she could stay in the air while her target was helpless from below. No such advantage in the water. Furthermore, her shots were less powerful underwater, and didn't have the same range.Finally, after getting into position, she was about to fire a spread of arrows, when suddenly the ludroth was taking off again. Chasing after it, the two were unable to pursue when it squeezed through a side tunnel. Raiden pointed towards the surface, and the two soon brought their heads out of the water.
"I know where it's going." Said Raiden. "If we hurry we can catch it on land again." Nodding, Rainbow signaled Cha-Cha and the three swam through the river and back into sector one. Following Raiden, the three soon came to a ledge with a lone Bnahabra resting on it, which Rainbow promptly killed; she hated those things with a passion. Raiden hopped up and grasped onto the ledge, then heaved himself up.
"Uh Raiden, little help." Rainbow unfortunately, could not do the same as he had done, and was unable to fly up like she usually did. Getting on his stomach, Raiden reached down and held out a hand, grasping the offered hoof when it came up. He then pulled Rainbow up onto the ledge with him, and Cha-Cha simply sprang from the ground behind them. The group then headed down the path and came into a cave. They were on the top of a cliff overlooking the cavernous alcove, and below them they could hear the the steady breathing of a sleeping monster. Leaping down, the two saw their quarry curled up, asleep. Creeping over to it, Raiden brought out his blades and brought them down hard on the sleeping ludroth's tail, severing the tip right off of it and sending the Ludroth tumbling back, completely awake. Firing a spread of power coated arrows, Rainbow shattered the ludroth's horns and tore his mane apart. Another combo from Raiden finally ended the fight, and the Ludroth collapsed onto the ground, dead.
"Yes, we took it down!" Cheered Rainbow, causing Cha-Cha to leap about gleefully, and Raiden to chuckle in amusement. Taking out his whistle, he gave it a blow, summoning the felyne team, who proceeded to collect the carcass. After receiving their reward, the two headed for home, the satisfaction of another successful hunt following them.
Two days had passed since Raiden and Rainbow took down the royal ludroth, and Redspear was currently admiring his fully rebuilt boat. As soon as he noticed the two hunters walking by, he called them over, showing off his fully repaired boat. As thanks, he promised to help the two by helping gather resources from the depths for them, be they fish or treasure. after that the fleet captain called them over.
"Avast! You did it hunters, you really did it! The Redspear is repaired thanks to you both." He said joyously.
"I know, I know, I'm awesome." Said Rainbow, soaking up the praise. Raiden just rolled his eyes at his apprentice's ego. After the praising had died down, the captain turned to look out to sea.
"For the time being, we'll be fishing with my boat and the Redspear, but two boats does not a fleet make. Thinkin' about the Blackspear left in our wake, all alone... makes me weepy." He then turned back to look at the two hunters. "Now I know the hunting fleet's been trying to one-up you hunters for years, but will you help the Blackspear?"
"Of course. Rainbow Dash doesn't leave anyone hanging." Said the Pegasus, and Raiden concurred. Soon the two fishermen were off to sea for fish and plunder, leaving Rainbow and Raiden to themselves. just then they were approached by Junior.
:"Hey Junior, how's it going?" Asked Raiden with a smirk. Junior, predictably, blew his top.
"Don't call me Junior!" He hollered, getting a belly laugh out of Raiden, and a giggle out of Rainbow. Eye still twitching, he continued. "Anyway, I came to you two to tell you something important. While I was patrolling Moga woods yesterday afternoon, I saw a royal ludroth."
"What?" Raiden said in surprise. "They never come this far out to sea." Junior shrugged and shook his head.
"I dunno if it's on account of the earthquake or what, but the food chain of the entire forest is out of whack."
"So what does that mean for us?" Asked Rainbow.
"It means that you may start running into royal ludroth when you're out in Moga woods, so be careful out there."
"Thanks for the head's up Junior." Said Raiden, causing yet another tirade from the chief's son. After Junior left the two alone, Raiden looked over to Rainbow, who was hovering in the air at even level with him. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Terrorize the woods?" Rainbow asked with a grin, which was soon matched by Raiden's own.
"Um, Twilight, I hope I'm not intruding." Stammered Fluttershy as she crept through the door of the library.
"Not at all Fluttershy, what do you need?" Replied Twilight as she helped Spike re-shelve the last of a pile of books.
"Oh, um, have you seen Rainbow Dash anywhere? I haven't seen her all week." Asked the pegasus, causing Twilight to hum in thought. Truth be told, she hadn't seen mane or feather of Rainbow all week either, though she suspected she knew the reason why.
"Huh, I guess she's really having some fun with that book then?" She answered, causing Fluttershy to tilt her head in confusion.
"Book?"
"Oh. right, I should explain. Last week I managed to convince Rainbow to try other books besides the Daring Do series, and she found this interesting write your own adventure novel and decided to try it. I bet she's holed herself up in her house all week working on it. You know how she can be." Fluttershy nodded at the explanation as it made sense.
"I didn't know Rainbow liked that kind of thing." Remarked Fluttershy, having never seen Rainbow take any sort of interest to writing before.
"I think the world the book portrayed really appealed to her, so she might be getting more enjoyment out of it than a different novel." Responded the alicorn.
"Okay then Twilight, thank you for your help. I'll head over to Rainbow Dash's then."
"You're welcome Fluttershy. Have a good day." Nodding, Fluttershy left the library, and headed for Rainbow's cloud home. Upon reaching the cloud structure, she gulped in anxiety, having never liked heights despite being a pegasus. Steeling her nerves, she alighted into the air, and flew up to her friend's home. Knocking on the door garnered no response from within, so Fluttershy tentatively let herself inside.
"Hello, Rainbow, are you here?" Called Fluttershy, but received no response. Looking around she immediately noticed Tank, Rainbow's pet tortoise, flying about the house. As she headed for Rainbow's room, she noticed Tank's food bowl was completely empty, though he still had water. "Oh you poor thing," said Fluttershy in shock, "you must be hungry. Has Rainbow not been feeding you?" After rummaging around the house, Fluttershy found some pet food for Tank and filled the tortoise's bowl. She also filled up his water bowl as well. After Tank was looked after, Fluttershy trotted up the stairs to Rainbow's room. Pushing the door open, the butter yellow pegasus came face to face with... nothing. The room was completely empty of a certain cyan pegasus.
"That's odd." Fluttershy remarked to herself. Looking around, she saw a thick book on the table that was currently closed, an inkwell and quill beside it. "This must be the book Twilight was talking about." While she was worried over her friend's whereabouts, Fluttershy was also rather curious of Rainbow's progress within the book. Deciding to take a quick peek, she opened the book up, and leafed through it to find where Rainbow had started writing. Upon finding it, she began reading. Twenty minutes later, she finished.
"Wow, I had no idea that Rainbow could write so well. If she isn't here, then I suppose I must have missed her in Ponyville somewhere. When I find her I'll have to remind her not to neglect Tank for a book." With that, Fluttershy closed the book and left the house, completely missing the faint glow of the page she had left off on, and the words materializing upon it, continuing the story.
