Misty Glory let out a groan of exhaustion, her grey fur covered with spots of ink from the pile of reports she finally finished. Two short knocks at the door pulled her back into focus, her cyan orbs fixing on the heavy oak door. Fixing her light blue mane, she sat upright and cleared her throat.
"Come in" She beckoned, uttering a silent prayer that she wouldn't have to do any more paperwork today.
"Commander" Storm Leaves, a green pegasus, saluted as he entered Misty's 'office'.
"As you were soldier," Misty said, Storm dropping his hoof back down as she did, "What is it you needed?"
"M'am, reports from Ponyville" Storm replied, holding out a messenger's satchel.
Misty let out a sigh and took hold of the bag with her magic, levitating it onto the desk she sat at.
"Anything else, soldier?" Misty asked, doing her best to keep a professional tone.
"No m'am" Storm saluted quickly before turning and exiting the room through the same door he came in through, the heavy wood slowly swinging shut and closing with an audible click.
Misty bit down on her hooves and let out a muffled scream. She was supposed to be off-duty by now, but with this new delivery of reports, her plans of going into Ponyville for some much needed cider and time away from her station now postponed. Misty set to work, wanting to finish these reports and find someone to relieve her of her station before another messenger came to her office.
Mindlessly, Misty poured over line after inked line of patrol reports. She had thought that rising to her station would have made her life easier, and while it was true her legs didn't ache from patrolling all day, her brain was slowly turning to mush reading over the same report details.
Monsters, brigands, movements and predicted movements of enemy forces. It was always the same.
Something caught her eye in the report she was currently reading though. Descriptions of monster corpses found deep in the Everfree, their bodies covered in deep gashes and hacked to pieces in some cases. Not only that, but signs of camps that were no more than a few days old leading towards Ponyville, the most recent site being only a half-day from the border of the Everfree.
Misty finished the report with wide eyes, reading over it again quickly to make sure she had gotten the details right before quickly standing up and donning her armor. With her sword at her side, Misty rushed to the barracks to rally a unit of guards to investigate the contents of the report.
"At attention!" Misty bellowed into the room, the ponies quickly snapping into straight standing lines. "Gear up and meet me at the front gate in five"
Misty finished giving her order and left the room, the soldiers inside quickly readying themselves to follow their commander. She stood outside the raised portcullis, Storm Leaves joining her after a short wait.
"What is it m'am?" Storm asked.
"I'm not sure, something in the Everfree" Misty replied, staring out at the looming forest beyond, the moon peeking out from between the twisted trees of the forest.
"Whatever it is," Misty said, looking back at Storm, "It's slaughtering monsters and heading towards Ponyville"
"Understood m'am" Storm saluted.
Minutes later, the rest of the unit joined Misty and Storm. Iron armor clanked and torches crackled as the score of soldiers headed to intercept whatever was tearing a bloody trail through the Everfree Forest.
Misty and her soldiers trudged through the underbrush, branches reaching out and scraping against their armor like wooden claws. Even with the moon above and the torches in hoof, the darkness in the Everfree Forest was oppressive, barely being held back by the amber glow of flame and silver moonlight above.
"Commander!" A scout called out, getting Misty's attention "I've got something here"
The scout held her torch over a spot on the coarse dirt, the flame illuminating strange tracks and traces of blood. Whatever it was out here was traveling alone, an even more unsettling discovery given the detailed reports of monsters like manticores and hydras being left bloody messes.
Misty swallowed her fear and steadied her voice.
"Keep your eyes peeled soldiers, whatever it is out here is dangerous"
The unit behind her nodded their heads in response. Misty could tell they felt her fear too. Trying her best to push the thought from her mind, Misty lead the unit forward, now following in the tracks of whatever they were after.
Every sound that echoed out in the dark woods now caused Misty's eyes to dart back and forth, her breath catching in her throat. Barely able to swallow her fear, she continued forward, leading her unit with as much visible courage as she could muster.
That courage left Misty as she heard the blood-curdling scream of one of her soldiers behind her. Turning back, Misty witnessed as another soldier was snatched up in a spray of crimson. Misty's own blood ran cold as she realized what had already consumed two of her soldiers.
"Hydra!" Misty yelled out, drawing her sword with her magical grasp.
The rest of Misty's unit followed suit, dropping the torches in favor of swords and spears. The dulled flame caught on the brown scaled feet of the beast, wicked claws digging into the dirt as it moved forward. Its green eyes glowing in the dark as pair after pair came into view. Misty's unit took a defensive stance, creating a semi-circle around their commander.
The hydra let out a long, low hiss, its heads moving to find an opening in the unit's defenses. Without warning the hydra swung its long tail at the line of armored ponies, sending a few flying into trees nearby, the sickening sound of bones breaking and metal cracking as they fell limp. Misty watched in horror as what little safety she had was torn out from under her. The hydra struck at multiple soldiers, snapping them up in its serpentine jaws. Misty saw Storm Leaves mouth something, screaming at her, but she couldn't hear anything other than the sound of her unit being massacred by this creature.
"Run!" Storm yelled into Misty's face, shaking her by the shoulders and snapping her out of her mortified daze.
Misty ran from the hydra as what remained of her unit tried to do the same, some fled deeper into the Everfree, while others were torn apart by the hydra. The beast let out another long, low hiss and gave chase after Misty and Storm. Misty galloped as fast as her hooves could carry her, her lungs burning and eyes blurred by tears. She could hear the hydra right behind them, the steady, heavy thuds of its feet pounding into her mind.
"We're almost to the edge of the Everfr-" Storm began, but was cut short when the hydra's mouth closed around his haunches.
Storm's hopeful words changed into horrified screams as he was hoisted up and feasted on by the hydra, each of its serpentine heads tearing off different parts of the pony's body. Misty backed up against a tree and collapsed, unable to look away from the horrific display of gore. Misty's bladder released itself, warm urine running down her thighs and forming a puddle where she sat sobbing, muttering silent prayers to be saved.
The hydra let out a hiss that sounded like a laugh, rearing its heads back like a snake poised to strike. Misty closed her eyes, readying herself for the strike. Seconds passed and nothing happened, curious, Misty opened her eyes. She saw the hydra, turned around and facing something deeper in the woods, letting out a long, low hiss at whatever was in the darkness. Misty could barely make out the familiar sound of metal on metal, the sound of armor moving. Her eyes grew wide as she was filled with hope.
"H-Here!" Misty cried out, "I'm here, please help me!"
The hydra hissed and lunged into the dark forest to strike at whoever came to rescue Misty, disappearing into the thick woods and darkness. Misty heard the sounds of battle, hissing and metal on monster. Then, there was silence. The Everfree fell dead silent, Misty's shaky breathing was all she could hear as she stared into the darkness before her, waiting for something to emerge. Her eyes went wide with terror as she watched a pair of glowing green eyes peer at her from the woods.
"Nononononono" Misty sobbed as the hydra slithered its head back out of the wall of trees.
The hydra stared at Misty with dull eyes, looming its serpentine heads above her. Misty's mouth open and closed silently, unable to even scream as she stared into the face of death, tears running down her blood-matted cheeks. The hydra reared back to strike, but as it did, its eyes rolled back into its head and collapsed just inches from her hooves. Misty looked on in disbelief at the felled creature at her hooves. Looking up, Misty noticed a large axe, larger than anything a pony could feasibly use, embedded in one of the heads of the hydra.
The sound of armor moving came from the woods as her savior approached, Misty's legs refusing to move. She watched as the snout of a snarling wolf peeked through the trees. Only after whoever, or whatever, rescued her entered the clearing did Misty realize that it was something foreign to her.
It stood on two legs like a minotaur, but lacked the extra joint. Its entire body was covered in armor unlike any she had ever seen, the helmet sporting the facade of a snarling wolf. Misty's mouth opened and closed, a thousand questions running through her mind.
"Rest easy," The armored creature said, its voice low and gruff. A stallion, Misty guessed.
"You're safe now"
Misty made to say something, but the exhaustion of the day caught up to her, her eyelids growing heavy and sliding shut. The last thing she saw was the 'wolf' retrieving his axe from the dome of the hydra before she drifted off to a dreamless sleep.