Previous>>3355416

There was more conflict happening than the hulking mass that was Bulky trying to smash Spitfire into cold, hard, snow-covered dirt. Chrysalis had suffered a casualty, and others had been injured, though the significance of their situation was unclear. However, one windigo had been not only removed from battle but the destructive and horrific capabilities of The Darkness had been revealed in the windigo’s downfall, allowing for its ultimate demise. The changelings had tipped the scales in their favor, but Bulky was still struggling with his battle with a certain Wonderbolt, and he wasn’t about to let another pony make a fool of him. Not again. Not while his Queen was still watching.

Bulky swung down hard, striking the ground and chipping away a chunk of the ice after missing another blow on his target.

“Rah! Stop hopping around, Ya little runt!”

Spitfire kept her wings open. Even if their mass of missing feathers gave her less of the balance and acceleration she was used to, she still kept her cardio better than she had last time going one-on-one in a fight like this. Even still, she could feel her strength leaving her. Now, she could see why combat sports had rounds go for only a set number of minutes.

“How about you stop swinging your hooves around like a rock on a slinky?” She mocked. “You don’t actually expect me to stand still for you to hit me, do ya? I mean, I know a lot of you changelings are dumb, but come on. Really?”

Fed up, Bulky stood ready to accept his shortcomings in this matchup.

“Alright, so you’re tougher than you look and quick on your hooves to boot. I’ll give ya that much, but I got plenty of tricks of my own.”

A swirl of green lights engulfed Bulky, fanning out and rising up eight feet high before dropping down to reveal his new form of a manticore.

“Brute strength and unrelenting assault. I’ll crush you eventually.”

Inside Spitfire’s mind, she was panicking but knew better than to show any weakness.

“Unrelenting? Such an intelligent word for such an underdeveloped mind. Do you keep changing into bigger creatures to make up for your lack of intellect?”

Bulky roared like a lion, his rage boiling over as he fanned his wings open and drew his claws into the icy dirt.

“I’m gonna tear you apart!”

Both charged at each other, Bulky wanting nothing more than to beat the cocky Wonderbolt into a pulp and Spitfire knowing she couldn’t keep up her previous tactics with this new form.

Next>>3355470

Funny how a manticore is essentially a chimera, because that’s what most of my pictures end up becoming. I had to piece a lot of this creature together to get what I needed. Hif muzzle, mane, front paws, back paws, scorpion tail, all different sources. That, and like so many other fuck-ups, he only came with one wing. Couldn’t get the horns right originally, either.

The biggest challenge was matching what I needed to fit the body for this Bulky’s altered appearance as a manticore. Scaling the paws, for some reason, gave me the most trouble. That, and I don’t think the tail really ended up matching the same style as well as everything else. Not as well as it should have at least.

Overall, better I think it turned out better than I would have thought, but not the pose I originally intended.

Again, just working with the limitations of what I’m given.