//------------------------------// // Upptäckt // Story: Björn // by The_Chill_Author //------------------------------// “Come on, Sweetie Belle, keep up!” Applebloom giggled, the poor Unicorn filly stumbled over a branch and nearly face planted onto the icky mud. “I’m doing my best, slow down you two!” Sweetiebelle called out, listening to her friend, Applebloom halted and Scootaloo did the same. The filly dragged her hooves across the dirt and stopped before her much more active friends. “Why are we out here anyway?” “Did you forget? There are rumors that a giant lives here, the last of its kind!” Scootaloo said excitedly, “So, we’re gonna capture it!” “If it’s the last of its kind, then shouldn’t we leave it alone?” Applebloom asked, tilting her head to the side. Scootaloo scoffed, “Of course not, how else are we gonna be ‘Cutiemark Crusaders, Giant Trappers!’” “That doesn’t really roll off the tongue, what about ‘Cutiemark Crusaders, Giant Thieves?’” Sweetiebelle suggested. “Naw, that’d sound like we’re the giant and we’re thieves. What about ‘Cutiemark Crusaders, Giant Grabbers?’” Scootaloo rolled her eyes at Applebloom’s suggestion. “Can we just move on?” Scootaloo began to continue her trek. “We can think of our cool name after we capture the giant.” Applebloom and Sweetiebelle both nodded in agreement and continued to march.  The trio of young adventurers ducked and dived past the obstacles in the way such as the infamous danger to all - a tree branch in the middle of a path. Who knows what mass destruction it could wreak if it wasn’t avoided? Thankfully, we’ll never have to find out. Many other dangerous objects emerged, as the fearsome pointy pebble and the loathsome acorn. However, the trio of “pro” adventurers passed them without too much issue. Though, as they were trekking deeper into the forest, Sweetie Belle sprung up with a conversation starter. “Girls, who do you think would win if they fought against each other; A Grizzly Bear or a Manticore?” She inquired, which brought attention from her peers in front of her. “The Manticore,” Applebloom said, “Manticore’s have wings and a huge scorpion tail, the Grizzly wouldn’t stand a chance.” Scootaloo scoffed, “Wrong, a Grizzly Bear is way more stronger than a stupid Manticore, they’re also really big. I remember seeing one that’s ten feet!”  “Height doesn’t mean everything, Scoots,” Applebloom objected, “Not when it comes to the advantage a Manticore has, a Manticore can fly.” “So? A Grizzly Bear could swipe it out of the sky!” Scootaloo said. “Grizzly Bears are only ten feet if they stand on their hindlegs, and they’re pretty exposed like that.” Sweetie Belle added. “And a Manticore could fly out of reach and swoop down to attack it.” Applebloom said. Scootaloo crossed her hooves and huffed, “Grizzly Bears are cooler…” “No they’re not!” Applebloom exclaimed. “They are too!” “They’re not!” “They are too!” “Not!” “Too!” “Not!” “Too!” Scootaloo and Applebloom kept on bumping heads against each other, and Sweetie Belle trotted up to them to break them up. That was when they heard a roar so loud and so fierce it put hurricanes to shame. The sudden roar raised the hair on the back of the fillies as they huddled close to one another. Primal instinct had told them to scatter; run as fast and as far as you can as to not die from what beast had been angered. But these ponies weren’t feral, these were young ponies who could make their own decisions! Unfortunately, they chose the unwise one and kept marching forward, each with a different expression. Scootaloo had excitement; she couldn’t wait to tell Rainbow Dash what she was about to see. Sweetie Belle was afraid; whatever made that sound was angry and likely would attack them. Applebloom had regret; why did she decide to listen to the girls and join them on this quest to find what could be the source of the roar? Eventually, they were close enough to hear the sounds of combat, of two beasts competing for survival. The view of this spectacular battle was hidden by two bushes, blocking their view from the carnage. As Scootaloo was about to part the bushes like the red sea, Sweetie Belle held her hoof. “M-m-maybe we shouldn’t try to capture the giant…” Sweetie Belle whimpered, her hooves quaking in fear. “What? You chicken?” Scootaloo began to make clucking sounds and flaring her wings up. “You are the one who has wings, Scootaloo.” Applebloom said, to which she received a glare from Scootaloo. “But she’s right, we should head home.” “Aw, come on! Don’t tell me y’all have cold hooves when we’re right about to see it?” Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “What’s the worst thing that could happen? YOLO!” And thus, she parted the bushes… …And saw a six-foot-nine beast with a massive, fresh, and bleeding claw wound across its chest vertically. Its pants, forged out of bear fur and having no shoes, and from its fingertips to its elbows were Grizzly Bear claws. On its back close to its ass was a small poofy Grizzly Bear tail, but the main piece was the head of the beast. The maw overflowed with saliva mixed with blood with its claws drenched in the crimson liquid. What surprised them the most was that the beast was standing on top of a Manticore corpse with its chest ripped, roaring into the heavens and making itself known to all over the Everfree Forest. The beast snarled, sniffing the air before turning its head towards east of the fillies and lunging in that direction. Having left to wreak more havoc. Their jaws touched the ground, and their eyes were wide like they became Looney Toons characters. Hearing in the distance only roars and the falling of trees, they all turned their heads slowly to look at each other. Their jaws slowly lifting up from the floor, their eyes slowly turning into stars, and their smiles slowly becoming wider. “THAT-” Applebloom began. “-WAS-” Sweetie Belle added on. “-SO-” Scootaloo pitched in. “COOL!” They all harmonized, all jumping high into the air with grins ear to ear. They began to trot around each other as if they were singing ring around the rosie. “I’m definitely going to tell Rainbow Dash about this!” Scootaloo declared, “She’d be so proud of what I found!” Golden Oaks Library had never been stuffed fuller of concern than right now. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were shoulder to shoulder, sitting on the floor with their ears folded over their heads. Their eyes glued to the floor as Applejack paced in front of them and behind her, in the air, was Rainbow Dash crossing her hooves with Rarity by her side huffing. As for the ones who lived here, Twilight was searching for books while Spike was armed and ready to write anything he was told to. “I can’t believe y’all girls. First, y’all went to the Everfree Forest, then, y’all encountered a Manticore-killing monster, and survived!” Applejack exclaimed, “You better thank the makers y’all aren’t hurt or worse!” “B-but-” Scootaloo attempted, but Rainbow Dash cut in before she could. “But nothing, Scoots, what you girls did was not cool.” Rainbow Dash had steam come out her nostrils, her eyes furrowed in disappointment. ‘They should have invited me…’ She thought to herself. “I agree, for putting yourselves in danger and going to the Everfree Forest, Sweetie Belle, you are grounded for a month.” Rarity declared. “WHAT?!” Sweetie Belle shrieked. “That goes for you too, Applebloom.” Applejack narrowed her eyes at Applebloom, who collapsed under her stare and averted from her gaze. “Scoots,” Rainbow Dash began, “Remember the Wonderbolts show I was going to take you to? That ticket is gonna go to someone else who can act responsible with themselves and to others.” “B-but…” Tears were welling up in Scootaloo’s eyes, and briefly, Rainbow Dash’s poker face faltered. “You can punish them later,” Twilight said, trotting up to the crusaders with Spike by her side. “I need you three to describe the monster you saw in vivid detail.” “What does vivid mean?” Applebloom asked, tilting her head. “Yeah, what does that mean?” Spike tilted his head, turning to Twilight. “Never mind that, just describe the monster.” Twilight pinched her nose - I don’t know how though, she has fucking hooves - and shook her head. “Well…” Sweetie Belle put a hoof to her chin, “The monster was big, that’s for sure.” “Almost as big as Celestia!” Scootaloo added. “It had blonde hair, like Applejack’s,” Applebloom closed her eyes as she pictured the monster. “It… Wore pants, like… Grizzly Bear pants.” “It wore Grizzly Bear pants? You mean it’s fur as pants?” Spike inquired and received a nod from Applebloom. “It stood on two hooves, er, well, its legs were shaped like Spike’s but it’s longer. It’s forelegs- I mean, weird things it has on its body is just like Spike’s, but longer. Its claws were Grizzly Bear ones, it had a cute little puffy tail, and its head was also just like a Grizzly Bear!” Scootaloo said. “Are you sure you didn’t see a Grizzly Bear and mistake it for something else?” Twilight quirked an eyebrow. “No, it looked different.” Sweetie Belle assured, “It didn’t have any fur except for the Grizzly bits of its body. It was all tanish-whitish. Its eyes were blue, last time I checked Grizzly Bears can’t have blue eyes.” “It also looked pretty angry, I know Grizzly Bears can get pretty angry, but not THAT angry.” Applebloom shuttered, “It also looked kinda sad too.” “Angry, sad, hairless parts, pants…” Twilight muttered, piecing together a puzzle in her mind. “Spike, did you write all this down?” “Did I?” Spike turned the scroll and revealed a detailed drawing of the descriptions the Crusaders gave. “Good,” Twilight cleared her throat, “Now, at the bottom get ready to write.” Spike nodded as he prepared himself.  “All set, Twi.” Spike grinned. “Dear Princess Celestia…” The training field has never had so many guards in it before. Both Day and Lunar Guards stood shoulder to shoulder and stared ahead at a wooden podium. Celestia stood tall with Luna by her side, joined by the Royal Day Guards and the Royal Lunar Guards as well as their captains. “My little ponies,” Celestia began, “There has been a report that there is an unknown beast in the Everfree Forest. My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, and her assistant, Spike, drew a photograph of this creature.” Her horn lit up and the drawing of the beast was faced towards the guards. Murmurs ran throughout the guards, some were curious, others were ready to put the beast down. Celestia breathed in and continued her speech. “My faithful student has theorized that this creature might be a shapeshifter, since the bear features it has does not match with the rest of its body. Be wary, this might not be its true form. It could be intimidating, it could be cute, but if you approach this beast, approach with caution. We do not know what it's capable of, but from eyewitnesses, the beast slayed a Manticore.” “A Manticore?” “On its own, that’s dangerous…” “We should kill it.” Celestia did her best not to frown at the mention of the killing of the beast and cleared her throat. “It hasn’t made any moves to leave the Everfree Forest, it could be that it doesn’t want to approach civilization and remain isolated. Other beasts from the Everfree Forest sometimes go astray, but there has been no reporting of the beast leaving the forest, most intriguing is it not?” She tilted her head, gauging the reaction of the guards. The response she was given was mixed, with some adamant on dealing with the issue permanently, and with some even more curious than they were before. “I believe we shouldn’t mindlessly kill this creature, it could be an endangered species, and might be the last of its kind.” Celestia said. “Endangered or not, ‘tis dangerously close to the elements,” Luna spoke up, causing her sister to spare her a glance. “We believe ‘tis better to be safe than to be sorry.” “So, you recommend we kill this creature?” Celestia inquired. “If this creature is capable of shapeshifting, it could hold far more intelligence than a typical animal. Possibly, it has the potential to be even more dangerous than an Ursa Major.” Luna said. Celestia let out an internal sigh, “Which is why I will select the most dependable guards to spy on the beast, to see if it shows any threat to my little ponies.” “Dear sister, if we may,” Luna began, “We would like to select our guards to spy on it instead. Our guards have been trained especially to blend into the night, and based on the drawing thou hast shown our subjects it appears not to have the ability to see through the darkness.” Celestia hummed and considered her sister’s suggestion. “That… Is wise, dear sister, very well; select from your guard.” Celestia stepped back from the podium and Luna took Celestia’s place on it instead.  Luna cleared her throat, “Since we do not know our guards well enough, we shall pass it over to Captain Umbra Eventide.” Captain Eventide inhaled and exhaled; she really wanted to kick in her Trottish accent, but with the Princesses nearby it didn’t seem captain-like. “This mission is of the utmost importance, so, I will be selecting the very best in my eyes.” “Lunar Gaze,” A Bat Pony walked out from the crowd, she wore a different set of armor than the normal Lunar Guard. While the others had dark blue colored armor, she had dark purple. To start, her helmet was Spartan-like, with a purple mohawk at the top going all the way down to the back of the helmet, and the space for her mouth to be seen. Her chest plate was a bit more impressive, with holes in them for her wings, it also had something of note. It had runic patterns engraved into it, they all were different, some were square shaped, others like a triangle. Lastly, at the bottom of her boots were spikes, very cool, huh? The Bat Pony walked in front of the podium and took a sharp turn to face the crowd, all with a hardened gaze. “Crimson Moon,” A red Unicorn made herself known by walking towards where Lunar Gaze stood at attention. As she walked, ponies nearby noticed that her armor shifted colors when light hit it. Every time she walked past a torch light, her armor became crimson red, befitting of her name. Her armor wasn’t really dissimilar from Lunar Gaze’s, but she lacks the cool Spartan helmet. “Stormy Weather,” This time, it was a Pegasi who began walking towards the group. Befitting of her name, she had gray and cloudy-like hair underneath her helmet. Her coat had a light gray with a hint of blue, and her eye color mimicked the rain. Meaning, it was blue. “Ivory Shadow,” From way in the back was a big black Earth Pony, his armor covered nearly his entire body with some spaces for him to move his hooves. His helmet covered his entire face and left his eyes, nose and mouth a mystery. With every footstep came a boom, as he made his way next to the group. From afar, it would look like he and Luna were the same exact height, however, he was just off by a mere millimeter. “And Darkest Vesper.” The Pegasi we all know, and love has been called - and he couldn’t be more terrified. In front of the princesses, he steeled himself and marched confidently, trying to not appear cocky while also trying to look cool. It was a strange sensation how everyone looked at him, it was so stressful, but it made him feel so good. “That is all, my princesses.” Captain Eventide took a bow, stepping back into the position she stood prior to her selection. Briefly, Luna and Celestia shared a glance, and in that short glance, a whole conversation was spoken. “So, are you going to announce the date of the search?” Celestia inquired. “I am not sure, dear sister, for you started with the announcement of the monster.” Luna replied. “And so, you shall finish what I started.” Luna gave her sister a curt nod and cleared her throat. “Our dear scouts,” The selected guards all took a sharp turn to meet Luna’s eyes. “Thou shalt head into the Everfree Forest in three nights! Prepare for thyselves for the worst. Be it so, and let it be. Dismissed.” With that, the sounds of clanking armor and hoof steps rung throughout the training field. The Princesses turned to leave with their respective Royal Guards by their side. As they left, Captain Eventide glided down in front of her selected scouts. “A'richt, thae three days shuid be ample time fur ye back a prepare yourselves. If it wur up tae me, we wid be starting th'day. Gilravage thae few days o' rest 'n' prepare fur th' days efter that tae be hell. ” Captain Eventide huffed to which they all gave a salute. “Ma’am, yes, ma’am!” They all spoke with vigor booming in their being, to which Captain Eventide smiled. “Take this time to form a bond with yourselves, we work together better when we’re all friends.” Flaring her wings, Captain Eventide took to the skies, and left the five to their own devices. Almost immediately, Stormy Weather took the initiative, her voice reminiscent of a Valley Girl or Valley Mare in this case, horse puns, they’re bucking hilari- KILL ME! “Oh my gosh, girls - and guys - I’m SO glad we’re scouting together!” “I… Regret being selected.” Ivory uttered, his voice shaking the earth underneath them. Stormy Weather zipped up to Ivory, flying up to his face to see eye to eye - well, more like eye to helmet. “Aw, why? Are you, like, sad?” She proceeds to do the classic YouTube thumbnail face, “OH MY GOSH! I could be your best friend, that could, like, make you un-sad!” “I do not wish for a best friend.” Ivory uttered, glancing to Lunar Gaze for assistance. “Alright, Weather, simmer down.” Reluctantly, Stormy fluttered bad down to the ground. “Okay, but, like, call me Stormy.” Stormy insisted before bringing her attention back to Ivory. “Hey Ivo - Wait, like, can I call you Ivo?” “No.” “IVO!” Stormy beamed lunging towards Ivory and barely being able to wrap her hooves around his neck. “Luna bucking damn it.” “Let us please focus,” Crimson Moon interrupted… Whatever this was. Her accent was - unfortunately - British. “We must do this thing called ‘bonding’ . I do not know what that is, but I do have a spell that could fuse us together.” “Not that kind of bonding,” Vesper face hoofed, “She meant making friends.” “Which I’m totally, like-” Lunar Gaze put a hoof up to Stormy’s mouth and muffled her voice. “I believe we should head to a tavern, as most friendships spark there.” Lunar Gaze said. “Then let us start now, the sooner the better.” Ivory turned to march out of the training field, unaware that Stormy was sitting comfortably on his back. This managed to make Crimson Moon to snicker, “I will quite enjoy this ‘bonding’, if it involves more of that.” She followed after Ivory and was joined by Lunar.  Vesper watched as they moved on, his hoof hesitant to move forward. “Well, you miss every shot you don’t take…” And so, Vesper took a step forward, for the better or the worse. The moonlight shimmered through the branches of the Everfree Forest’s trees and hidden underneath one of them were six ponies. Stormy, Crimson, Vesper, Lunar, Ivory, and Captain Eventide. With Captain Eventide’s and Lunar’s night vision, seeing through the dark was like daylight to them unlike everypony else in the group. Crimson remedied that issue quickly and casted a spell to allow them all to see clearly into the night. She added some more buffs to Ivory by granting him a silence spell to prevent his armor and footsteps from clanking, she also made him lighter than he was heavy. She also made gravity lighter on herself, and casted a simple camouflage spell. With the preparations all set, they began their move. The flyers took to the trees instantly and perched on the branches like a leopard. As for Crimson Moon and Ivory, they began to hide among the bushes, Ivory’s armor worked in his favor as being dark in the night served as good camouflage. Like thieves in the night, they snuck through forest, and with a motion of her hoof, Captain Eventide made her guards halt. “Over there,” Captain Eventide whispered, she faced North-East and narrowed her eyes, making out a cabin in the distance. She sniffed the air, the scent she picked up was foreign, it was like a Grizzly Bear’s and another strange alien scent. With a nod from her comrades, they stalked onwards towards the scent. As they got closer, they saw light from a fire, they all began to take locations to spy. Ivory hid inside of a bush, Stormy hid inside a hollow log, Lunar, Vesper and Captain Eventide took to the trees, and Crimson hid behind Ivory. What they saw was a campfire, a log to sit on, and behind the fire, two cabins, both the same size. Lunar narrowed her eyes in suspicion, no monster could ever create structures like this, or so she thought. As footsteps were heard towards their left, all of their heads snapped in that direction, their eyes locked in the shadow. Walking out the darkness was a six-foot-nine fur-less - with the exception of the fur on its head - and horn-less minotaur, who held a giant Alpha Timberwolf corpse in his left hand. It held the Alpha by its ear. This was in fact the monster, it had Grizzly Bear pants, but why was it carrying an Alpha Timberwolf corpse? They got their answer when the monster used its right hand to dig into the neck of the Timberwolf and rip its head clean off. Each of their eyes widened as the monster held the Alpha’s head with one claw before tossing it into the campfire, causing the head to erupt in flames. The monster slowly walked over to a log that rested by the campfire and sat down, staring into the eyes of the burning Alpha Timberwolf. They were silent, as in, their thoughts were silent, this monster had built a cabin, made a campfire, and had the intelligence to add fuel to it. They were even more shocked when they saw what looked like tears escaping its eyes, raising one of its burly claws it held onto its face. Sobbing silently in its hand. The scouts didn’t know what to think, they could only slowly and silently back away, making their leave to report what they saw. And as they left, the monster continued to cry, until it heard snarling. It dropped its claw from its face and peered into the darkness around him, seeing pairs of fiery green eyes. More and more of them appeared, surrounding him completely, and as they closed in, the light from the fire revealed them to be Timberwolves; eager to avenge their Alpha. With a heavy sigh, the monster went to its feet and its arms raised in a defensive stance. “Come at me.”