It was many hours later, since that fateful battle between Celestia and the massive beast of the Everfree, it that caused so much death and carnage, and now seemed unable to be stopped. Her wounds from the previous fight had rendered her flight quite the unbearable task, as many bones had been broken, and many slashes adorned Celestia's skin. But Celestia was now so very close to Ponyville, home to her student and most of her friends, she could see it in the distance, becoming closer and closer each passing second. And finally, at last, Celestia finally reached the air over Ponyville, where she could contact Twilight Sparkle, and lowered her altitude, making preparations to land.
However, as she tried to hit the ground on her feet, her grievous wounds caused her legs to give out, so instead of landing, Celestia crashed into the dirt like a ragdoll, and proceeded to skid, bounce, and roll a solid twelve feet away from her intended point of landing. But despite this, Celestia still struggled to her feet, and after getting up and dusting herself off, she shakily made her way to the library at the other end of town, ignoring the gasps and stares of her subjects as they noticed her multiple wounds from her "encounter" with the creature that was killing her ponies. Finally, after an hour or so of walking in the heat of the day, while putting up with such a massive amounts of cuts and bruises, she finally walked up to the library, knocked on the door, and Twilight eventually walked up to the door and answered it, immediately gasping afterward and reeling back at the sight now before her.
However, despite the unusual welcome and her incredible pain, Celestia managed to strain a weak smile, and spoke:
"Good evening, Twilight. Could you kindly help me with something?..." Celestia managed, and then she passed out from blood loss. Thankfully, Twilight managed to catch Celestia before she could hit the ground, despite her utter shock that the ruler of Equestria was at her doorstep, looking like she stepped into the ring with a meat grinder. Still, she carried her inside and laid her on the couch, hoping she wouldn't bleed out before she could get some help.
"Spike! I need bandages, now!" Shouted Twilight.
"What? Bandages? Why?" Asked spike from another room upstairs.
"No time! Just get me some, now, please!" Twilight shouted with a hint of impatience in her voice.
"Alright, alright! Geez, you don't have to get mad about it." Called Spike from upstairs. After finding the bandages, Spike carried them downstairs, and found Celestia on the couch, dying from blood loss.
"Holy...!" Began Spike, before he was interrupted by Twilight.
"Spike! Language!" Snapped Twilight as she took the bandages and began to dress Celestia's wounds.
"Sorry," said Spike sarcastically, as he stood there, uneasily glancing at the princess of the sun. "It's just that it's not every day you see the leader of the country, sprawled out on the couch, and looking like she lost a fight with a blender." Twilight shot him a glare that made him wince before returning to Celestia. Seriously, What caused these wounds? They didn't look like they were caused by anything she could think of, and they were incredibly serious. What manner of creature could do this to the Princess of the sun, She wondered? Whatever it was, It did a number on poor Celestia, and she needed a hospital, and soon.
"Spike, I'm going to take Celestia to the Hospital! Don't burn the place down while I'm gone." She called. Spike rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say." Twilight then closed the door, as she began to hoist Celestia on her shoulders, and prepared to take her to the hospital.
Much later, at the Hospital
Celestia awoke slightly, her eyes failing to stay open, then she finally opened them to what appeared to be a hospital.
As she looked around, Twilight jumped up and went to her.
"Princess are you okay?!" Asked Twilight exasperatedly. In truth, Celestia couldn't possibly be in any more pain, but her pride wouldn't let anyone else know that.
"I'm fine, Twilight, just fine." She said through gritted teeth and a pained smile.
"But,Twilight, mind telling me why I'm in a hospital?" Celestia asked.
"I don't know, you showed up at my doorstep a few hours ago all beat up, and you asked me for help, but you passed out before you could say anything else." Replied Twilight. Just then, Celestia remembered why she went to see her student in the first place, and immediately faced Twilight, eager to voice her request.
"Oh, Twilight, I just remembered: I need your help with something involving the Everfree forest." Twilight was taken aback.
"W-what!? The Everfree? Why were you in there!?" Celestia sighed.
"Because, Twilight, that's where the creature that's been causing all those disappearances lives. Turns out, its like nothing I've ever seen before, nothing ANYPONY'S seen before. You see, I can't take it on alone, but I have full confidence in you six." Celestia said between pained breaths. Twilight cast a confused look at Celestia.
"Uh, if you couldn't beat this thing by yourself, what makes you think the six of us can?" She asked. Celestia sighed.
"Because, Twilight, I'm old. You happy? 'Cuz there it is. I'm not able to take care of every problem this damned country throws at me by myself, and I sometimes need some help with things. There, I said it. Happy? Because I'm not." Twilight stared in shock as the Princess of the sun just chewed her out.
"Wow, princess, I..." Twlight started. Celestia interrupted her.
"It's fine, Twilight, I'm just in a lot of pain right now. You don't have to fight this thing if you don't want to." Twilight put her head back up, then replied.
"No, I'm getting the others, and we're gonna defeat this thing. Whatever did this to you, it's gonna pay." Celestia smiled.
"Thank you, Twilight, and I'm sorry for snapping at you. It's the painkillers, see?" They both laughed a bit, then Twilight gathered her friends, who were waiting outside after hearing about the incident, and gave them a briefing on the situation.
"So, the creature is in the Everfree forest, and we have to kill it." Concluded Twilight.
"Okay, but how do you reckon' we find this critter, Twi?" Inquired Applejack.
"Anything able to do that to Celestia has to be really big, maybe we can track it?" Replied Twilight.
"I say we call it out. Anything that strong has to have an ego to boot, right?" Asked Rainbow Dash. The five argued for a while about how to find this creature, when Fluttershy, at last, managed the courage to speak up:
"G-girls? I-I think I know how we can find it..." Said Fluttershy nervously. Everyone looked at her quizzically.
"Fluttershy? You've seen this thing before?" Asked Twilight, shocked. Fluttershy blushed.
"N-no, but I've seen it's tracks. I... I think it's hunting my animal friends... It already got a few..." Fluttershy began to tremble at the thought of what could be hunting and killing her poor little furry friends.
"Now, now, Fluttershy. Just show us the tracks, and we'll beat up this nasty monster so he never bothers anyone again!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed heroically, striking a pose for emphasis.
"Indeed! This ruffian will soon know to think twice before messing with one of us!" Said Rarity. Fluttershy smiled a little, then finally replied.
"O-okay. Follow me, please." With that she led them to her house, hoping to arrive before the monster got anymore of her animal friends.
Meanwhile, At Fluttershy's cottage
The lone human stalked among the trees of his beloved Everfree toward his destination, his timber wolf pack-mates at the ready, prepared to strike on a moment's notice. As he stalked, he at last saw his prey after a moment's search: a small group of happily oblivious rabbits near the cottage he was accustomed to hunting near, as it held the most prey, and they always seemed so well-fed.
So at last, his targets sighted, the human jumped from the bushes, startling the various animals near the hut into fleeing, and cast a spell from his staff, which was adorned with many unicorn skulls of various age and gender. The spell itself took immediate effect, causing the grass and tree roots to pin the rabbits down while his pack-mates grabbed the hapless prey animals, finally able to gorge their bellies of the best and fattest of the animals ensnared.
And so, the first phase of his hunt concluded, the human then ordered his pack-mates to return to the cave to feast, as he himself had been planning on going after a larger specimen to feast on, like a fox, or a deer. Before he could even begin his own hunt, however, he soon heard six female equines talking, but he could not understand what they said, only that they were close. Before he could run, however, he heard one of them cry out, then turned to see the yellow one pointing at him, and the other five looking right at him. Seeing no other option, the human quickly waved his staff into the air, and cast a spell he hoped would slow them down, then took off, hoping desperately to have left his would-be pursuers behind.
Twilight and her friends first saw the strange, bipedal creature after Fluttershy had pointed it out, and quickly moved to pursue it, though it didn't look like anything that could do any real damage, let alone put such grievous injuries on Celestia. However, since this creature seemed out of place on its own, Twilight was quickly led to the conclusion that it could lead them to the creature Celestia sent them to defeat, so the Mane Six tried to pursue.
However, seeming to detect much hostile intent from the normally well-meaning mares, it quickly brought up and waved it's staff, which, by the way, was covered in pony skulls, and the vines, grass, and tree roots began to wrap around the six mares' legs, causing them to trip as they moved to pursue the creature. But as the strange creature bolted into the forest, The Mane Six soon freed themselves from the floral snare the creature trapped them with, and they tried desperately to catch up to the creature fleeing them. However, they soon found that the beast was just too fast, even for Applejack or Rainbow Dash, and it seemed to know this forest really well.
"Hey, you! Stop!!!" Shouted Rainbow Dash to the muscle-bound, bipedal creature, but alas, it did not stop.
"We just want to talk!" Cried Twilight, exhaustion in her voice. Even so, the creature still ignored their pleas, fleeing deeper into the forest and gaining more distance between it and the mares, until it reached a cliff face, where it was forced to stop.
"Now we have ya, you varmint!" Exclaimed Applejack, and the six heroes moved in to capture the strange, ape-like creature, moving slowly, as not to spook it.
As the human ran, the six creatures behind him somehow managed to escape the root trap he'd hoped to keep them with, and now chased him as fast as he could run, despite the dips and turns he made to lose them. As he ran, they yelled some things at him, but he could not understand what they said; he only knew that they sounded threatening, and he needed to retreat faster, lest they catch him, and do god-knows-what with him once they had him.
Perhaps they wished to kill him for killing them, though it was they who trespassed on his land? Whatever the reason they had for disturbing him so, however important to them it was, it mattered little to him; he needed just to escape for now. However, his path ran into a cliff face, and he was forced to stop. Now, he was practically at their mercy. One said something in their odd language, and they closed in on him like predators. And so, with very few options left, the human glared at the six ponies, now so sure of their victory that they closed in on him like manticores, and he finally raised his staff, prepared to cast a spell that was sure to hold the six interlopers where they stood...
Twilight and the others stopped when the creature raised its macabre staff into the air, and began loudly chanting something in a strange, odd language, unknown to the six mares.
"Uh, What's it doin' Twi?" Asked Applejack.
"Ooh, maybe he's celebrating!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, who was bouncing up and down.
"I don't know, but I don't like it! Back up!" commanded Twilight as a red light began to emanate from the skull at the tip of the staff, giving the six an imminent feeling of dread as the light grew brighter and brighter.Finally, after observing this odd ritual, the other five did as Twilight told them, and they ducked when red light finally exploded outward, engulfing them with a red flash, and an overwhelming sense of numbness.
As the human finished his chant, he unleashed his built-up spell upon the interlopers from his staff, something guaranteed to keep them busy while he escaped; a simple polymorph chant to temporarily turn them to shrubs while he escaped.
Unable to move, Twi-shrub and her friends simply watched as the creature who did this to them escaped, and once he was far away, they began to change back into their normal selves. However, though they now were free, and knew that more odd creatures lived in the Everfree forest than they previously thought, they now had lost their only chance of finding the creature who almost killed Celestia, and now had to track him again, as he was very unlikely to fall right into their hooves like last time ever again. luckily, though, the thing had left unique footprints as it ran, which at least made it easier to track. So, with that in mind, Twilight sighed, focusing on where the behemoth went, and called for her friends to follow.
"C'mon, that thing's not gonna capture itself..." Sighed Twilight, as the six then slowly made their way in pursuit of the thing that was now proving itself to be more dangerous than they previously thought...