//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: The Monster of Canterlot // by drnkntst //------------------------------// Chapter 8 The whole next year, we are all pretty familiar with. Twilight’s exploits along with the other Elements of Harmony have been published all across Equestria and become the stuff of legends. Sometimes literally. She made Celestia, Luna and I all very proud. There are, of course, some things nopony knows. For one thing, the reason Spike was away during Twilight’s first sleepover was because he was visiting me. The reason Celestia invited Twilight for the Grand Galloping Gala was because I asked her to, and it was a riot, in more ways than one (especially when Rarity told Blueblood off). Luna wasn’t missing during the attack on Canterlot during Shining and Cadence’s wedding, she was protecting me up in her tower at Celestia’s direct orders. It was even my suggestion that Cadence and Shining took control of the Crystal Empire, though I’m sure that would have been the result in any case. Now I was twenty years old. Twilight had become princess. Discord was good. The Crystal Empire was hosting the Equestria Games. Luna was talking like a normal pony, most times, though it was pretty funny when Celestia told her to use the Royal Canterlot Voice. Things had started to look up for everypony. Well, almost. I was feeling more cooped up than ever. As a result, I was sneaking out into the Whitetail Wood more often. I was always careful not to be seen, but nopony’s perfect. Reports of ‘the Monster of Canterlot’ and ‘Bighoof’ had made their way back into the tabloids and rumor mills. This meant Celestia was a little upset with me but she couldn’t fully blame me. Then, one morning, it all went down the drain. I was woken by Bunny, showered, shaved and went off for breakfast. When I reached the door, something stopped me dead in my tracks. “HOW COULD YOU BE SO SELFISH SISTER?!” Luna’s booming voice came from inside. I pressed my ear to the door so I could hear better. A bit underhanded I know, but I wanted to know what was going on before I rushed in. “I… I needed him.” Him? Him who? “AND HE NEEDED HIS OWN KIND!” She couldn’t be talking about me, could she? “I know, I know, but I couldn’t let him go. I’m his mother.” “NO, YOU ARE HIS ADOPTED MOTHER! HIS REAL MOTHER IS IN ANOTHER REALM!” “NO! I AM his mother! I am!” “And if he know you could have sent him back to his own world, do you think he would still want to call you mother?” No. There's no way that could be right. There's no way Celestia would have kept information like that from me. "That is why he must never know. He may want me to send him back now and that would... I don't even want to think about it." I could practically feel my world shattering around me. It was true. Both alicorns stopped their argument and turned to the door that I had just slammed open. Hard enough to chip the marble, too. “How long?” “Honey,” Celestia started to approach me. “HOW LONG?!” She stopped, she looked at Luna for support. Luna’s face was one of concern. Celestia turned back to me, “twelve years.” “TWELVE YEARS?! TWELVE BUCKING YEARS!?!” She could only nod as tears started to fall from her eyes. “I could have gone back to my family, I could have had a life, I could have gone outside without being called a monster. Now, they probably think I’ve been dead for years. Can you imagine how hard that whole thing must have been for my mom.” Celestia was trying to come closer, but I backed away from her, shaking my head. “Luna’s right, you’re not my mother.” That was the final nail in the proverbial coffin for Celestia. Her knees shook before failing completely, sending her to the floor. Her mane and tail paled and went limp shortly after. I didn’t see much of this though. I was already sprinting down the hall, heading for the nearest exit. From there, I made a bee line for the woods. I didn’t really have a destination in mind, I just wanted to put as much distance between me and the palace as possible. Though, after the first day, I decided I should pick a point on the map and go for it. I picked Ponyville, Twilight made it sound like a place I could find hope. Besides, my cousin lived there. It wasn’t all easy going though. Celestia and Luna had both sent out their guards to look for me and bring me back. Luckily, Gurfon had taught me to hunt and Shining and I played hide and seek often, this gave me a huge advantage. I hid my tracks by walking on stones often and walking through rivers to disguise my scent and hide my unique tracks. Any time one of them would get close, I would hide up a tree, or under a bush. I had managed to avoid being detected for three days and Celestia was getting more and more worried with each passing hour. The only thing she knew was that I was still alive. Or at least, she knew that every time a report came in about the search. They were finding footprints and not much else. Problem was, they were finding so few they could only determine that I wasn’t headed for the palace. Celestia decided she needed to call in her best weapon. Discord could probably find me in no time, but he was far more likely to help me run than bring me back to her just for the fun of it. No, her best weapon was her newest princess and most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. She sent a letter telling Twilight to report to the palace ASAP. Shining would probably be the best choice, but Twilight was far easier to reach. Besides, Twilight had never let her down before. I was approaching the edge of the woods, I could see Ponyville through the trees. I could only hope they would be as friendly there as Twilight made it seem. Also, I hoped they would be generous with the grub, I didn’t exactly take the time to grab something on the way out the door. Of course, I could have done some hunting, but I wouldn’t feel right doing something like that to the Equestrian wildlife. Due to the saturation of magic in the land, they all had mild intelligence, unlike everywhere else in the world. Before I came out of the brush, I saw three little fillies playing. They looked familiar, but I couldn’t place where I knew them from. I certainly hadn’t met them before, that’s for sure. From what I could tell, they were having a picnic. I could only focus on their meal and how much I wanted some for myself. In hindsight, I could have handled it better. I burst out of the bushes, covered in dirt and small cuts, and stinking to high heaven. “Thank goodness I found you girls! I’m sooo hungry!” Yeah, not the best first impression ever. The second their eyes started to widen, I knew I blew it. All three of them screamed at the same time, in the same cadence no less, “AH, A MONSTER, AND HE WANTS TO EAT US!” I started to protest, but they were already buzzing back to town in wagon attached to a scooter. ***** Twilight had just received her letter from Celestia in her library. Her five friends were already there helping her reshelf all the books, again. “Oh my. This is bad. Spike, I need to get back to Canterlot immediately. Can you take care of things here?” “Sure thing, Twilight, but what’s so urgent?” “It’s…” she looked around at the ponies in the room, knowing she couldn’t tell them, “it’s a family thing. Um, my cousin has run away.” It took Spike a second or two, but he figured it out and simply nodded with a stern look on his face. “Oh no.” Fluttershy spoke up, “we’ll come help search too.” All the others agreed. “I appreciate that, really I do, but you can’t.” They were all shocked and about to argue when the door shot open. “Twilight, Twilight, you have to help us!” Sweetie Belle yelled. “What is it?” “There’s a monster!” Scootaloo called out. “It tried ta eat us!” Apple Bloom added. “Well, I uh…” “Don’t sweat it, Twi. We got this,” Applejack told her. “That’s right, Darling,” Rarity said. “You need to go back to Canterlot to find your cousin.” “Are you sure?” Twilight asked. “Yep-er-oonie!” Pinkie answered. “Thank you, girls. I promise I’ll come back as soon as I can.” After she teleported away, the others turned to the three little fillies. “Alright, now tell us about this monster so we can kick its flank back to where it came,” Rainbow Dash said. The three fillies told them about the giant monster that burst out of the woods and charged right at them. How it said it was hungry and was going to eat them. How it walked on two legs and had claws like Spike. This got the little dragon’s attention. “Say what now? That sounds like-” “C’mon girls, let’s get this creature before it comes into town!” Rainbow shouted. “Yeah!” came four more voices just before they galloped out of the library. “No, wait!” Spike called after them but he was too late. He knew he couldn’t catch them with his little legs, so he went back inside and started to frantically write a letter for Twilight. ***** “Princess, I’m here!” “Twilight, thank goodness. I only wish this meeting could be under better circumstances.” “How can I help?” Celestia smiled for a second before she went back to her somber expression. Her mane was still limp, her eyes were bloodshot, and her fur was matted and her normal sheen was gone. “Chris has run off and we aren’t certain were he’s gone. You know him as well as anypony could. Please, help me find him and bring him back to safety.” “Of course, Princess. I will begin my search immediately.” A thought occurred to her, “perhaps, if I brought my friends in on the search, we could find him faster.” Celestia was about to protest, but Luna jumped in before she could, “I believe that would be for the best.” Twilight nodded and turned to leave, “keep in mind, he may not be willing to return.” “Why wouldn’t-” Suddenly, Spikes letter appeared before her. She read it quickly. “Oh no, I, uh,I have to go.” Twilight teleported back to Ponyville. “Curious, what could have gotten Twilight Sparkle to leave so abruptly?” Luna wondered as she walked over to where Twilight teleported away from and picked up the letter. “Oh no.” “What? What is it, Sister?” Celestia snatched the letter from Luna’s magical grasp before she could stop her. Twilight, I think the monster the girls are going after might in fact be Chris. Please get back here before they do something to him. Spike For a moment, the only sound that could be heard was the shaking of the parchment. A second later, the parchment burst into flames. Celestia’s coat began shine and her mane seemed to be made from multi-colored flame. With her eyes blazing, she began to power up her teleportation spell. “Sister, wait!” Luna tried to stop Celestia from doing anything rash, but she was already gone. “This shall not end well.” ***** I was making my way across the large field between Ponyville and the Whitetail Wood. I was a little stung by the fillies running off like that, but I was used to it by now. I only hoped that the mares and stallions in town would be a little more receptive. Heck, when Twilight showed up, she immediately made five friends and got a party. I was just hoping for an apple and a glass of water. Sadly, it seemed I would not be getting any of what I wanted. I approached the town, but I was cut off before I could even reach the first building. Twilight’s friends, the other Elements of Harmony, came galloping up the road and they did not look happy. What’s worse, they started coming right for me as soon as they saw me. They all looked like they were itching for a fight. “There it is!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Oh, it’s so… tall,” Fluttershy pointed out. “That jest means it’ll hurt ‘em more when he falls,” Applejack threatened. “That’s right,” Rarity said. “We cannot allow that monster to reach Ponyville. It’s already tried to devour our sisters, who knows what would happen if it got past us.” “Wha… but I didn’t-” I tried to defend myself, but they weren’t giving me the chance. “Don’t try lying ta us! Our sisters told us everythin’!’ “I’m not-” I could feel magic being used on me, but nothing happened. “I-I don’t understand. My magic isn’t having any effect on him.” Rarity observed. “Then we’ll just have to do this the old fashioned way!” Rainbow Dash said as she started flying right for me. I managed to dodge her attack by rolling in the grass. “I was only trying to get something to eat! It’s been three days.” “That don’t mean ya’ll can eat our sisters!” Applejack shouted as she tossed two apples into the air, spun and bucked them both. I only managed to dodge one. The other glanced off my shoulder, stinging like you wouldn’t believe. That was the moment I decided to run.