The

Stress Eater

.





Twilight didn’t want to do this one. Not at all. She didn’t like snakes; she didn’t like legless reptiles. Anything that moved in a seemingly nonsensical way but still made faster progress on no legs than some animals made on four did not make sense to her. And snakes she’d always seen as slimy. But she

The Riddle Master.





Twilight stared at the unmoving statue in front of her. Her guide had to be pulling her leg. That was a statue. She knew sphinxes were real. Right? AK Yearling wrote about one in her books. If she’d encountered one, they had to be real. But this was just a statue. The head was pony like with a lion’s halo of fur rather than a pony’s stripe of a mane. The body was lion. The ta

Gastric Gryphons.





Rainbow sighed. She volunteered to do these entries for the Bestiary. She said she would help Twilight. It was only natural that she was the one who was chosen for this. After all, she had history with them. She flew into the old cloud bank they used to hang out in. She didn’t expect the creature she was looking for to be here. Landing on the nearest cloud to the entrance, she stared stra

Sometimes Stoney Stomachs.





Twilight stared at Princess Luna for a long time. Longer than most ponies would usually be comfortable with.

“While Celestia is… indisposed…” Luna paused to cast a long stare at Discord. “I will be assisting you with your update of the Bestiary. You say your next entry is gargoyles. Then I have the perfect volunteer.” A cl

Dragon Diets.





“I don’t know about this Twilight… I can’t control myself when I give in to dragon greed.” Spike said, staring at the jewels and gems kept just out of his reach behind a bubble of magic.

“I know. I’m counting on it. That’s why we’re all out here. Far away from the castle and Ponyville. So that when you get bigger, you d

A Chaotic Meal.





“So let me see if I got this right. You want me to eat one of you, no takesies backsies, because you want to write about my insides?" Discord asked, pacing the length of the map table. At least his legs were. His top half remained in place, staring at Twilight. His arms were mixing tea with Fluttershy and Rarity while his tail "arm wrestled” with Rainbow Dash.

A Mare’s Best Predator.





Rarity walked through the diamond dog tunnels. She’d volunteered for this rather than waiting to be asked. She knew Twilight was going to ask somepony, so she felt it polite to just volunteer. She did have ulterior motives to be here, however. Without Spike, some creature was going to have to haul the gems back. Her predator would do just fine.

She kn

Inside A Changeling.





Twilight stood still as the only creature she could think to help with this experiment paced in front of her.

Queen Chrysalis had been freed from her stone prison for this moment alone and she seemed amicable to the idea. For the most part. The biggest issue was she wanted to be alone with Twilight when they did it. Twilight’s friends insisted they be with her

Bugbear’s Return





Bonbon sighed as she and Princess Twilight strolled through Tartaros. She knew why she was chosen for this. She also knew that Lyra would have stopped her if she’d told the mare. She didn’t need Bonbon for this. Here in Tartaros, Bonbon was a hazard to the mission. Sucking in a bracing breath, she steeled herself as the two ponies walked forward. A single cage sat in the center

The Stink of the Swamp.





Fluttershy had volunteered to do this one alone. Twilight didn’t allow it. Celestia sent a guard. He was silent, but he’d get her out of danger if any came. Fluttershy and the guard walked in silence as they approached the more bog like part of the swamps. Froggy Bottom Bog had multiple different “levels” of bog. There was the dry swamp. Mostly a lot of mist and br

An Ahuizotl Excursion





Rainbow hauled the suitcase below her while she flew to Daring Do’s cabin. Twilight had specifically told her to find Daring Do for this update to the bestiary. Its entrant would be more apt to cooperate if she was involved. Rainbow had a script. She was allowed to read the whole thing while the cameras did all the recording work.

Landing outside the cabin, Ra

A Study on Male Dragons.





It had taken quite a bit of convincing. Celestia and Luna were with her this time. Twilight was the one doing the study itself. The three of them had taken every precaution. They weren’t sure how magic would work inside a dragon. On the trip to the dragon lands, by train most of the way, the three Alicorns cast powerful reformation spells. Twilight sat in the middle of a small circ

Three Headed Hound





Luna stood to the side while Twilight, Rainbow and Applejack stood just a few feet away from the gates of Tartaros. For a slight change, Luna was going to operate the camera equipment. She would also be accompanying them into Tartaros. Twilight breathed in slowly and exhaled just as slowly, calming her nerves. Did Luna know why they were here? Yes. Did that make it any less nerve wracking to h

The Bull Snake.





The Ophiotaurus was a… difficult creature to study. Solitary, elusive, and fast, the half bull half snake beasts that lived in forests near the borders of Equestria were hard enough to find, let alone capture for study.

That’s where Fluttershy came in. Friend to all creatures, she and Twilight had decided they would be the ones to find an Ophiotaurus. They we

Sliding in the Serpent





Twilight only knew one Sea Serpent willing to go through with her little test. Steven Magnet. The mostly friendly serpent that lived in the Everfree and frequented Ponyville from time to time. Rarity and the Spa Sisters were the only ponies who knew how to properly coif his mustache. Quite proud of his mustache, his weekly visit to Ponyville was altered just slightly by a pernicious purple

Cragadile Wrestling.





Applejack had volunteered for this one as well. Normally, she would bring a much larger audience for her yearly “Cragadile Wrastle”. This time was a bit different. This time she was supposed to lose. On purpose. It left a sour taste in her mouth, giving up her record like that. Twilight had assured her that she wouldn’t be giving up her record though. With no other witnesse

Couples Chimera.





“Are you sure this is safe Twilight?” Applejack asked as the three ponies walked into the Fire Swamp. Twilight was there with her camera and her notebook. Applejack was with her because she knew the area and would be part of this experiment. The third pony was younger and had volunteered.

“O’course it is AJ. Twilight wouldn’t lie to ya.&rdq

Quantifying the Quarray.





Twilight, Pinkie and Maud walked through Ghastly Gorge, Twilight’s camera floating beside her. “You’re both sure you’re ok with this?” Twilight asked and the two Pie’s nodded. Pinkie had volunteered simply to hang out with Maud. Maud was the one who volunteered to be eaten by one of her own neighbors. “Ok. So let’s go over the plan one more

Testy Timberwolves.





Twilight huddled down in the nearby bush, not moving a muscle. Her magic allowed the camera to float freely and still catch her voice as if she was standing right next to it. This entry to the Bestiary was far too dangerous to attempt with a pony.

“Here we see a small pack of Timberwolves. These particular Timberwolves have been harassing the local farm for som

Hungry Quadra-head.





Twilight and her three guests hid in the bushes near a large mound of dirt. The Everfree Forest wasn’t exactly the best place to be caught off guard. “Today, we are exploring the apex predator of the Everfree Forest. The Hydra. Most of the time, hydras are the most dangerous creature living in the Everfree Forest. However, we found that during the evening, they are sluggish and qu

Manticore Mating Press.





Twilight was prepared this time. It had been hot and tight in Manny’s belly, and she’d come out sticky and smelling awful. But the bestiary got updated and now ponies would know the inner workings of a manticore if a medical emergency ever came up. Next was something she wasn’t entirely excited about, but Doctor Stable had caught wind of her self-appointed task and asked

Updating the Bestiary






Deep Dive into the Manticore.





Twilight fidgeted with the camera as she made sure everything was set up properly. The record function was working, the camera was in focus and the settings were set to autofocus and x-ray when appropriate. Satisfied that everything was ready, she stepped back