Twilight Sparkle: Monster Hunter

This was it.

Twilight stood near the entrance to a cave, a heavy blade strapped to her back. She had appropriated it from a guard shack, the weapon used more for making threats than actual combat.

A wyvern, which had long been considered a foal's story, had attacked Ponyville. Half the town had been destroyed, with a dozen dead and another two dozen injured.

The wyvern, red in color, was clad in magic-immune scale. Twilight herself had to drive it away with heavy wooden beams and other assorted objects, slamming them into its face and body. The alicorn managed to drive it back after it threw several fireballs at her, her own shielding spells managing to deflect or otherwise absorb them.

Now the ascended princess was here to end it, before the wyvern decided to come back.

...as distasteful as the mare found it.

Twilight was, unfortunately, alone.

Fluttershy refused outright to come along, while Rainbow Dash and Applejack were amongst the injured. Pinkie was more focused on keeping the injured in a good mood, while Rarity was stressing over the state the demolished Carousel Boutique. Spike was, naturally, roped into helping.

The hospital had also been hit, causing the denizens of Ponyville to use Twilight's library as a secondary staging point. Golden Oaks managed to come through the attack without any damage at all, as miraculous as it seemed.

Twilight shook her head, bringing herself back to the now. Just outside the cave was a dead dragon, chest bloody with several quills lodged deep inside. An injury like that shouldn't have been enough to kill the dragon on its own.

The sound of breathing came from inside, deep and slow. Twilight would have assumed it was asleep if she hadn't heard it walking around inside. A peek inside, and the pony's heart stopped.

Two.

The red one, sleeping on the floor with a half-eaten goat nearby...and a green one, tending to what appeared to be a nest. Complete with eggs.

A female?

Twilight could maybe take one of them, but...both at the same time?

Suicide, pure and simple.

Still...it had to be done.

"Ugh. Alright, here goes nothing..."

Stepping into the cave, Twilight immediately attracted the attention of the green one. She growled, warning the mare to not come any closer. The she-wyvern also nudged the male with her tail, who in turn grunted and stood. A short yawn, and a quick loving head-rub with his mate, and he looked right at Twilight.

He growled too, a bit of flame leaping into his mouth at the mare's transgression of HIS territory. Twilight continued her slow walk forward, her every instinct *demanding* that she flee. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.

The female wyvern bellowed at her, the rock walls reverberating with the sheer strength. Twilight winced, pinning her ears to the side of her head. The red one followed, roaring in kind. He was even louder, and Twilight was certain she'd have temporary hearing damage after this.

The she-wyvern charged Twilight, closing the gap quickly. Twilight pulled the blade off of her back, then teleported. The bright flash blinded the green scaled fire drake, causing her to recoil and trip mid-stride. Twilight reappeared in the air, angling herself like a falcon with the blade ahead of her.

The red wyvern watched the mare as she dove...

...then leapt back with a beat of his mighty wings and spat out a fireball, one Twilight slammed right into. The mare quickly cast a defense spell before impact, dropping the sword in favor of saving her own hide. The momentum of the blast still threw her into the wall, however, the impact dazing her.

She fell to the floor, shaking the stars out of her eyes. The she-wyvern recovered, turning to face the lavender pony with rage etched in her every feature. The green-scaled drake screamed in anger, the flame-scaled wyvern following seconds later.

He rose into the air while the she-wyvern charged at Twilight. The mare dove to the side, only to gasp as hate given form rained down from above.

The first fireball missed its mark, the second caused Twilight to recoil...and the third caught her right in the back, finally shattering her magical ward. The flames licked at her coat, Twilight shouting in pain as she dropped and rolled.

Shakily standing, Twilight rolled for the sword on the ground and brought it in a wide horizontal arc. The momentum pulled the mare onto a single back hoof, and there was a satisfying sound of metal embedding in flesh.

The charging she-wyvern suddenly slumped over, colliding with Twilight and sliding them both into the far wall. Twilight felt a rib break, as white hot agony blinded her.

The multi-ton drake on top of her...wasn't moving.

The sword had embedded itself through the roof of the wyvern's mouth, piercing its braincase if the heavy bleeding was any indication. Total silence took over for a moment. Wing beats could be heard coming nearer, quickly followed by the sound of a heavy wyvern landing.

A short, distressed whine.

The male pressed against the wyvern on top of Twilight, and Twilight felt yet another rib snap as more weight was shifted on top of her.

Twilight screamed.

A devastated moan came from the male, as he looked straight at Twilight. Pure hatred was in his eyes. Twilight had to leave, she was in no condition to continue the fight.

She teleported outside, limping off before the male could attack. Twilight heard the male scream in outrage from outside the cave as she limped away. They may have been mythical creatures come to life...

...but they weren't invincible, that much she knew.

The mare spat blood out of her mouth, limping back to the Everfree. She occasionally teleported, in the event the male was tracking her. Twilight came to rest in the Castle of the Two Sisters, knowing for a fact that, despite the damage time had wrought on the place, the place was nigh immune to flame attacks. It was made of stone, after all.

She would take some time off, cast a few healing spells for her ribs, then go back and finish the job.
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