Ponyville, 23 of September, 1000 SR, Afternoon
I found Fluttershy in her cottage, just as I suspected. She was a little bit startled by my visit, since it was basically the first time I went there alone, without Twilight accompanying me. However, as I was one of the small group of ponies (dragons) she was comfortable with, even more so than the others (which in itself was both a blessing and an insult –she was more open with me, but she also sometimes treated me as if I was one of the critters she usually took care of), and she quite quickly invited me inside. As the good hostess as she is, she offered a cup of tea and something to eat, but as the matter at hoo(you know what buck it, I’m going to use claw from now on) was a rather urgent one I politely declined and went straight to the point.
I mentioned, that I found a series (more like a pair but that’s beside the point) of weird tracks that I had problems identifying, and that I wondered if she could try and discern what kind of animal could leave them. I quickly drew a sketch of them on a piece of paper she provided me, trying to include as many details I could think of. Once I was finished, I presented her the drawing and patiently waited for her conclusion. What I received… well, let’s just say I didn’t expect that kind of answer.
“I’m terribly sorry Spike, but I’ve never seen tracks like these before.” She said in her small, soft voice, as if she was afraid I would grow angry with her because of that. “Whatever left those definitely isn’t something that lives in these parts.”
“Aw man! That’s a bummer.” I muttered dejectedly. This of course prompted another volley of apologies from the yellow pegasus. “It’s alright, don’t worry about it. At least I know that it isn’t anything common around here. But… is there anything else you could tell me about it by just looking at the tracks? Every little bit could help.”
“Well, I can try.” She said almost in a whisper and again looked at my sketch. After a few moments she looked at me again, a slightly perplexed expression on her face. “You said, that there were only two of those tracks, yes?” I nodded my head in answer. “So the creature is a biped… not many of those around, it’s not exactly the favored shape for animals to take, aside from birds. Hm… Judging by the size of the print (I provided a comparative scale in the form of my own footprint size beside the sketch) I can wager, that the creature that left those is at least eighteen hoofs tall, if not more.”
“Whoa… That’s a really tall guy!” I exclaimed surprised. A typical pony is about six-seven hoofs tall, Princess Celestia herself is about fourteen, but eighteen? That’s tall! Fluttershy also noticed that, because she grew a bit more nervous and stuttered a bit from there on out.
“D-do you remember h-how d-deep were those tracks?” I nodded in response and answered, that they were about an inch deep. Fluttershy looked for a short moment to be deep in thought, muttering silently to herself some sort of numbers, and finally opted for a small ‘eeep’ and a really shocked expression appeared on her face.
“What’s the matter?”
“Oh, um… I… I-I think I know h-how heavy the c-creature was.” She answered and visibly gulped. I nodded, indicating that I was listening to her. She took a few deep breaths and continued: “If m-my math is correct, then the c-creature weighs about s-six hundred p-pounds.”
Now I knew why she looked so shocked. Not only was the creature I was searching for huge, it was also really heavy. I mean I doubt the Princess weighs that much, even considering she’s larger than the average pony. And, as Fluttershy quite quickly noticed, the type of tracks the creature left indicated that it had some sort of claws on its legs, making it probably some sort of carnivore.
A giant, two-legged, winged and capable of using magic carnivore was running around Ponyville.
What was I doing here again? Oh yeah.
I thanked Fluttershy profusely for her help and excused myself. I left her cottage, trying to look like if everything was in absolute order, nothing bothering me at all. I kept this up until I was certain that I was out of both site and earshot of the butter-coated mare, after which I did the only sensible thing.
“Aaaaaaaaa!!!” I ran, flailing my short arms in blind abandon, screaming my lungs out. I know, not the most glorious of my moments, but that was I to do? I just found out that something potentially murderous was in the town I lived in, that it probably could break into any house with ease and kill/eat its inhabitants in a manner of seconds. This was code red if I ever saw one.
I ran for a good moment, feeling my legs getting more and more sore with each passing step, my throat burning from all the screaming. After a few moments I reached the Golden Oaks Library, the place where Twilight and I lived, and as soon as I could I barged inside, slamming the door shut behind me and as quickly as possible locking every single lock in it (two in total, and if the creature could teleport it would be an effort in vain, but it’s the thought that counts). Finally, I let myself lean on the door, sliding to the floor and breathing hard, borderline hyperventilating.
“Spike?” I heard Twilight ask. I looked up and met her surprised gaze. She was standing in front of her desktop, a thick book resting on top of it, as if she was just reading trough it. “What happened? And why are you wearing a Sherlock Hooves cap?”
“Twi… huh… there’s a… huh… really big… puff… problem… huh…” I managed to wheeze out, still trying to catch my breath. Twilight obviously noticed my problems with breathing, because she quite quickly provided me with a paper bag, which I accepted right away.
“Now, now; you need to calm down Spike.” She said soothingly, although her face was still one of mild confusion. I don’t blame her really, if I was in her place I would probably react the same.
“There’s no time!” I answered forcefully between gasps. “There’s an emergency! A really big one!” That took her by surprise. She cocked her head to one side and looked at me questioningly.
“What are you talking about? What could possibly happen in the span of…” here she looked at a nearby clock “…ten minutes?”
“Big, giant, magic-using, pony-eating… wait, what?” I trailed off, only after a moment realizing what she said. “What do you mean ‘in the span of ten minutes’?”
“Well, you left the library not ten minutes ago, after our little ‘discussion’.” She answered, and I quickly noticed that her mood soured at the mention of that. I was about to ask what she meant by that, when she continued, as if she figured me out or something. “Oh, I get it… You want me to show Trixie up by tricking me into believing that something’s happening in Ponyville. Well, I already told you: I’m not going to do that. I don’t want to look like I’m bragging like her. And that’s my final word!”
I stared at Twilight, genuinely confused. What was she talking about? I was out the whole day, and I wasn’t with her for almost the whole time. How could I have a conversation with her ten minutes ago if ten minutes ago I was at Fluttershy’s place? How was that even possible? How…
“Oh horseapples.”
“Spike! Language!” Twilight scolded me, tough I didn’t pay her much attention. I figured out what happened, and I was scared out of my mind by my own conclusion.
I looked at the lavender mare that was glaring at me for my choice of words and gulped. Either she was actually clueless to what I just discovered, or she knew precisely what was going on and was trying to lower my guard, so she may do with me what she pleases. I hoped, for both my and Twilight’s sake, that it was the former.
“What if I told you that ten minutes ago I was with Fluttershy in her cottage?” I asked carefully, looking for any signs of deception on her face. She made a genuinely surprised face, that is for all I know.
“What do you mean? You were here, with me. We were arguing about Trixie and the way she humiliated Rainbow, AJ and Rarity and why I wasn’t going to retaliate with my magic.”
“Wait, she humiliated Rarity and the others? How?” It was my turn to look surprised. My surprise however only made the perplexed expression on Twilight’s face grow even more perplexed.
“What do you mean how?! You were there, you saw everything! It was you who told Rarity that Trixie turned her mane green for crying out loud! Stop playing this stupid game already!”
“Rarity’s mane’s green?” I couldn’t help but ask. I wondered for a brief second how she would look with green hair, but I was brought out of my revere by Twilight’s frustrated groan. Once I looked at her again, I was beginning to wonder if getting eaten by this mysterious two-legged monster wasn’t the better option here, that’s how angry Twi looked.
“Listen Spike, you were with me the whole time. You were bugging me to do something about Trixie. I had to zip your mouth shut, literally! So stop lying already!”
“I’m not lying!” I snapped finally. I must've looked at least as frustrated as her, and judging by the way Twi took a step back it must have been surprising to her. “I saw something before we went back in front of Trixie’s stage and went to check it out! I thought I saw something strange, like if somepony tried to break into somepony else’s house. I thought that it was some kind of scheme that the showmare cooked up with some kind of her associate, but it turned out more complicated. I found only a pair of weird tracks, so I went to Fluttershy’s to ask if she didn’t know any creature that could leave them. She didn’t know what it was, but she informed me that it probably was an eighteen hoof tall flesh-eating monster, and that whatever it was, I know it certainly can use magic. It teleported Pinkie Pie before my very eyes!”
“Spike, that’s the most ridiculous story I have ever heard.” Twilight gotten over her initial shock and looked at me in such a way that it was clear she wanted to say that she was disappointed in me. “Not only are you lying to me for no apparent reason, not to mention you’re trying to get me to do something I don’t want to do, but you’re trying to got our friends involved in this! I am really disappointed in you Spike.”
“But I’m not lying!” I protested. “Ask Fluttershy, ask Pinkie Pie! They'll both confirm my words!”
“No Spike, I won’t.” She replied evenly, turning her back to me and pointedly looking at the pages of her book. “It’s obvious you’re lying. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were with us in the crowd the whole time. I had to stop you from making me compete with Trixie the whole time. And you even thought up an imaginary creature… I don’t get it. Why are you lying so much? Are you so desperate to get rid of Trixie as to try and trick me to do so?”
I didn’t know what to say. I was so angry at Twilight that I was surprised that I didn’t burst into flames then and there. I was at a loss. Why didn’t she believe me? I was telling her the honest to goodness truth, but she kept believing that I was lying to her. She couldn’t trust me this one time. The one time I had really important news, something that could possibly save lives if she decided to help me, and she acts like I’m a no-good liar?
“You know what?” I asked, my voice trembling from rage, trying to hold back the angry yell I would unleash otherwise. “You don’t have to believe me. You hear me? You can disbelieve all that I say, I don’t care. But hear this: I am not going to let somepony die just because you choose to ignore me and not lift a damned hoof to help me! And if I die, be prepared to never sleep again, because so help me Celestia, I will come back as a ghost and haunt you for the rest of your life!”
“There are no such things as ghosts Spike.” She retorted with an even voice, just like if my declaration didn’t make even the slightest impression on her.
This was the last straw. I was not going to stay there any longer, not if Twilight was going to act like she did. I turned around, facing the door, I unlocked it and stepped outside, shooting my lifelong companion one last, angry glare. She had her back still turned to me. Angry with her beyond belief I let out a groan of frustration and slammed the door behind me as hard as I could.
“And stop slamming the doors! It’s getting annoying!” Twilight’s voice reached me from the other side of the wooden door. I was seriously tempted to open the door again, just to slam it shut once more, just to annoy her, but I didn’t. I was too angry to think straight.
Why, out of all the times to disbelieve me she choose to do it now? I mean yeah, I do sometimes lie, like everypony. Usually those are small things however –I shift the blame for say staining a book with juice or something like that, but not when it comes to important things like somepony’s life! I just wouldn’t lie about something like that! And to think that Twilight believed that I was capable of something like that, it… it hurt so bad. I knew her all my life, she was the one to actually hatch me from my egg, she was like family to me, she was my family… Why didn’t she believe me?
It was all the creature’s fault. It must have either placed an evil enchantment on Twilight and changed her memories or something, or it created some kind of illusion of me, Pinkie, and Fluttershy that stayed with her the whole time and confused her into believing that we were there. It could do magic, it teleported Pinkie, so why not manipulate somepony’s thoughts or create phantoms? Yes, it must've been something like that, and I shouldn’t be so angry with Twi for not believing me. Not that it made it hurt less, it was still not fair, but it wasn’t entirely her fault.
Twilight’s refusal to help me made the whole situation all the more complicated. I was hoping that she could use some of her awesome magic and banish the monster or whatever it is, or at least capture it for long enough that I could send a letter to the Princess and ask for help, be it her personally or by sending the Royal Guard. Now however I would have to improvise. I couldn’t just send a letter informing the Princess about our predicament, to do that and for the request to be taken seriously I would have to have some solid evidence and Twi’s approval. In other words: military help was a big no-no. Announcing that some sort of monster was stalking Ponyville’s streets would be also counterproductive, not to mention nopony would believe that. And even if they did believe me, it would throw the townsponies into a state of panic, and that would be probably even worse. My only hope was to ask the others for help.
It was easier said than done.
Figuring that the monster was probably really strong, given its size and all, I tried to convince the most athletic of my and Twilight’s little group of friends first: AJ and Rainbow Dash. Well… let’s just say that it didn’t go that well. Apparently Trixie humiliated both of them enough to make them a little bit… unsettled. Applejack was nowhere to be found; Big Mac, her brother, a large red-coated earth pony stallion didn’t have the slightest idea where she was. All he did say was that she trotted angrily trough the apple orchard some time ago, muttering to herself under her breath, and after that she just up an’ disappeared. RD… well, I hadn’t that much of a problem finding her. She was in her cloud-house. Only problem is, she refused to talk to anypony. Even when I said that it was an emergency and that her awesomeness would greatly help us (I figured, that it was a good idea to stroke her ego a bit) she flat-out refused, claiming that she wasn’t going to show her face as long as Trixie was in town.
Having those two out of the question I decided, that if not by force, we should try and at least limit the creatures magical abilities. Unfortunately, Twilight wouldn’t be of any help, refusing to even acknowledge the threat, so my only shot was to try my luck with Rarity. I actually wasn’t sure if it was that good of an idea. I mean yeah, she is perfect in almost every single way, but I knew for a fact that compared to Twilight, her magical abilities were decent at best. Still, I knew that the only way to prevent somepony (or something) from using magic was to block that ability using magic of your own, and that meant a unicorn was required. So I went to her home to try and convince her to help me. Sadly, I wasn’t even able to get inside the house. The door was locked, and for a good moment nopony was answering it once I started to knock on it. After a few uneventful moments the door was finally opened, but not by the unicorn I was expecting.
It was Sweetie Belle, Rarity’s filly sister who answered the door. She was still getting used to me, me being a dragon and all, but she was friendly enough, if not a bit distraught at the moment. She told me pretty quickly that Rarity didn’t want any guests at the moment and that she was busy trying to get her mane back in check. I tried reasoning with her, telling her that I had really important business with her sister and all, but she was adamant in her decision. Finally she said that Rarity took the color change really hard, and that she was having a mental breakdown of sorts at the moment (she used the term “really upset”, but I know how Rarity can act at times). As if on cue I heard a loud “Of all the things that could happen, this is The! Worst! Possible! Thing!” I figured out that not only was Rarity out of commission, but she also didn’t particularly like the color green, not on her head at least. A shame really.
My options were running short. Out of four mares I could ask for help, one thought that I was lying, the second one was nowhere to be found, the third was refusing to show in public and the fourth was having a mental breakdown. This left me with only two, desperate one would say measures: Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.
Sugarcube Corner, the local bakery and the place the pink party pony was working and living was the closest of the two. I entered the confectionery trough the front door, earning a small dingle from the bell over the door, and was quickly greeted by a rather tired blue earth pony mare, Mrs. Cake, one of the owners of the shop. I quickly explained that I wasn’t buying today and asked if Pinkie was in. She noticeably deflated once she heard that, but she pointed me to the back room of the shop, which doubled as a place for organizing parties. Before she let me in however she asked if I could try and talk some reason into Pinkie, who as it turned out was in hyper mode, putting together a party of epic proportions, or so she told me. Prepared for the worst, I opened the door.
Pinkie Pie was a blur, literally. The way she moved around the room, hanging streamers, inflating balloons and all around preparing decorations was truly a site to behold. I quite quickly noticed that a fair number of the decorations was either blue or white, borderline silvery, so I quickly deduced, that she was actually going to prepare a Welcome to Ponyville party for Trixie. A bit strange if I were to be honest, but she didn’t see how she acted towards our friends, so I guess she was still convinced it was a great idea. Then again, I didn’t see that either and I only knew what little Twilight told me, so I wasn’t one to talk. Either way, I was starting to get the idea why Mrs. Cake has asked me to talk some reason into her. Sadly, I forgot all about it once I saw one of the banners Pinkie prepared.
It was nothing special, really. It was your typical banner, a white one at that, with colorful letters spelling out a simple ‘Welcome to Ponyville…’ exclamation. What took me by surprise however were the names written on it. One name, written in blue was obviously Trixie. Pinkie apparently dropped the ‘Great and Powerful’ bit to save the space, and with good reason. The second name, if you could call it that, was definitely a mouthful that only Pinkie Pie could come up with. It spelled in a multitude of colors: “…and The-Two-Legged-Thingy-That’s-Too-Shy-To-Show-Up-In-Public-And-Scared-Spike-Into-Thinking-It’s-A-Burglar!”.
She was actually trying to throw a welcoming party for the thing! At first, when she told me that when we found its tracks I was half expecting her to be just joking about that. Now however, looking at the banner and the way the pink mare was preparing the room for a party I had no doubts in mind that she was insane enough to pull that off. I mean who in their right mind invites a carnivore to a party with only herbivores as guests? Well, there was this one time with Gilda, Rainbow's friend, or rather ex-friend, who was a griffin, but everypony knows that griffins are omnivorous and can live off mostly pony food. Heck, I was an omnivore, a multi-omnivore even, me being able to digest practically anything, including gemstones (which are for dragons as both candy and normal food for ponies). But a straight up carnivore? I mean Fluttershy said it was most likely a flesh-eater, and she was an expert in that regard, so I had no doubt in mind that what Pinkie was planning was going to end in a disaster.
I really, really tried to talk Pinkie Pie out of this, but she wouldn’t listen to reason. I warned her, told her that it would probably not end well, that she was planning on inviting a possibly murderous creature that could create the biggest massacre in known Equestrian history, but all she did was laugh and tell me to ‘stop being silly’ and not to worry. She also said something about Solars not being mean and it being a ‘great honor to be able to greet a celestial being’ or something. The point is, all I managed to do was return her cap and pipe and confirm my belief of Pinkie being a bit too random for her own good. My only hope at this point was Fluttershy.
By the time I arrived at her cottage the sun has already set, making place for Princess Luna’s moon and stars. If I wasn’t in such a hurry I would probably notice how beautiful the night sky looked, especially the stars forming the Big Dipper seemed to shine unusually brightly. As I said however, I was in a hurry and didn’t have the time nor the head to look at the stars. I needed to see Fluttershy, she was my and possibly Ponyville’s only hope.
I rapped on her door as hard as I could, urgency clear in every knock. I was hoping that she would answer quickly and would agree to help me, despite the possibility of running into a probably deadly beast. I mean she was the best there is when it comes to interacting with animals, I hear that she even was able to tame a furious manticore, surely something like the beast in Ponyville wouldn’t be that much different for her, right?
The door to Fluttershy’s cottage opened, but it was not the butter-yellow mare who did that. It was her white pet bunny, Angel if I’m not mistaken, a peculiar rodent with an attitude to boot. He shot me a clearly annoyed look, tapping his foot on the wooden floor in wait as if he expected me to say something. I momentarily felt stupid for considering something like this, but I saw Fluttershy do things like that the whole time, so I decided to give it a try. I lowered myself to be about Angel’s eye level and asked:
“Hey Angel, is Fluttershy home? I kind of need to speak to her, it’s really important.” I really felt dumb doing that, but that the hay?
Angel was still tapping his foot and glaring at me in an annoyed manner, but he gave me an answer nonetheless. He shook his head no, and pointed somewhere behind my back with one of his paws. I looked in the direction he was pointing at and quickly guessed what he had meant.
“She’s in Ponyville? Oh man! I must've missed her on my way here!” I mentally gave myself a nice strong kick while I actually facehoofed (faceclawed actually sounds stupid now that I think of this). Angel was still looking at me with that annoyed gleam in his eyes, but he smirked once I did what I did.
“Well, thanks anyway Angel. Good-“ I was cut off by the door slamming in front of my face. I clearly annoyed the little fellow more than usually, and considering he usually gets quickly annoyed even with Fluttershy… well, let’s just say I wasn’t that much concerned about that.
It was just my rotten luck. Why couldn’t Fluttershy stay in her cottage this one time when I really needed to find her there? Why did she have to go to town at such a late hour? This just didn’t add up. It was like if fate decided to pull a fast one on me and make everything an uphill battle for me today. I just hoped I would be able to find her in time, otherwise something horrible could happen. Pinkie was probably about to start her party and knowing her, she probably was able to find the monster-thingy by now and give it an invitation. Man, why is everything so messed up?!
Suddenly I heard a sound that made me stop in my tracks. It sounded awfully like somepony’s terrified scream. I looked around, searching for the origin of that scream, and I quickly discovered the source of it. It was Snips and Snails, the infamous duo from earlier today, running and screaming their heads off, just like if they were chased by a hungry manticore or something.
“Hey guys, where are you going?” I asked surprised as they passed me by in full gallop. I should've sensed that something was up then and there, but I didn’t for whatever reason.
“Uh… Can’t talk now!” Yelled Snips, not slowing down in the slightest.
“We got a major problem!” Added Snails. It was probably the fastest he ever talked in his whole life.
“Yeah… Ursa Major to be exact!” Supplemented Snips again before the two were too far for me to understand what they were talking about. I looked after them confused, having no idea what they were talking about, until I heard it too.
It was something I have never heard before. It sounded like a roar, a roar that could only come from a being of tremendous size. The sheer volume of it was enough to shake the very earth I was standing on, not to mention make my blood run cold. Prepared for the worst, I turned around to face the source of the animalistic scream.
I’m sure my eyes must have looked like they were gonna pop out of my head from the sheer terror I felt right then. Before me, not twenty hoofs away stood a being as large as a mountain. It’s black nose wrinkled in anger while the creature growled maliciously, showing off its sharp teeth the size of full grown ponies. Its deep, bluish fur was dotted with a multitude of small, glowing sparks, giving off the impression of the night sky in a physical body. The most prominent features were however the large, white, eight-pronged star adoring its forehead and two large, sickly yellow eyes with red irises, glaring at me with the intent to kill.
For a split second I was petrified with fear. It hit me like a ton of bricks –this was an Ursa Major. Snips and Snails somehow found a friggin Ursa Major! Not only that, the two idiots (there was no denying that at this point) got it furious somehow and led it out of the Everfree Forest, straight onto the path leading to Ponyville! All thought of the creature that I thought I saw in town escaped my mind once I realized what was standing in front of me, and to make matters worse, the constellation embodied was reaching its massive paw with over six hoof long claws for me, intent on crushing me.
I did the only sensible thing that came to mind: I ran as quickly as possible, trying to get away from the raging beast. The large paw missed me only by a couple of inches, I felt the wind it created upon its descent and how much the ground trembled beneath the mighty stomp. The Ursa roared once it realized that I managed to dodge its blow, its stinking breath reaching me despite me running away from the beast, and began chasing after me and the two unicorn colts that were the initial reason of its ire.
The Ursa chased after us, its massive bulk enough to uproot trees in its wake. Snips, Snails and I were trying our best to keep the distance between us and the massive stellar bear ever increasing, or at the very least as large as it was, but it was an uphill battle. The sheer size of the thing was enough to keep up with the tree of us without even breaking into a run, and the only reason why it didn’t in fact catch up to us earlier than before reaching Ponyville was probably due to it being still a little bit… drowsy? Did Snips and Snails wake it up from its nap or something?
The two young unicorns were calling for Trixie, as if she was able to do something about the beast. They probably believed that she was actually able to vanquish the creature like she claimed. I on the other claw knew that the only one able to do something about the creature was Twilight. I only hoped that I would be able to convince her that I’m not lying before something terrible happens.
The two colts and I parted ways once we reached Ponyville; they headed for Trixie’s cart and I went straight for the library. I was almost there when the Ursa managed to make its way to mane street. I also heard a high pitched, clearly feminine scream. Against my better judgment I took a look in that direction. All I managed to see was the beast crushing the boastful unicorn’s cart and a blue-and-silvery blur running in my direction, away from the raging constellation. So much in terms of greatness and power.
I finally reached the library and I unceremoniously tackled the door open, the high speed I was going at compensating for my small size. Once inside I looked frantically for Twilight, only stopping once my eyes fell on her surprised form. It looked like if she was still reading when I came back and only just looked away from her book when I came inside. Her expression was quickly morphing from one of mild surprise to slight annoyance.
“As if slamming the doors shut wasn’t enough, now you’re going to open them up that way as well?” Yep, she was definitely still upset about what I said. It didn’t matter however, we had bigger problems.
“Twilight! You gotta come, quick!”
“This again? Listen Spike, I am not going to upstage Trixie and that’s my final word. And stop making up lies, please…”
“No, you don’t understand! There’s a Ursa Major rampaging in Ponyville, and…”
“Stop that Spike, please.” Either I was hearing things or I detected a bit of desperation and actual pleading in Twi’s voice at that point. Still, I was again getting frustrated by her refusing to listen to me, so I did the first thing that came to my mind.
I run up to Twilight, grabbed her head with my claws, lowered it to my eye level by force and looked with as much conviction as I possibly could muster at the moment straight into her eyes.
“Ursa Major in Ponyville! It’s not a lie! Do something before somepony gets hurt!” Twilight looked more than spooked by the way I said those words, but I really needed her to understand the gravity of the situation at hoof. Fortunately, that exact moment the Ursa decided to roar again, serving to emphasize what I was saying.
“Ursa in Ponyville. Right.” She said it like if she was in a slight daze and after I let go of her head she went in a brisk canter towards the still open door. Satisfied with my success I went after her.
What we saw once we exited the library was something that chilled the two of us to the bone. The Ursa, big as a house, stood in front of a cornered Trixie, who was accompanied by Snips and Snails. While I would be the first to admit that I didn’t exactly like the silver-maned unicorn mare, I definitely did not want to see her (or the two colts who were the reason that the beast was even here) ripped to shreds by a furious constellation. That definitely was a fate that I did not wish on anypony.
To Trixie’s defense, she did at least try to deal with the Ursa, even though she could probably run away, as well as the fact she knew her chances of success were slim to none. Still, a rope trick and a minor weather manipulation spell weren’t enough to stop a rampaging beast of that size. Irritate it yes, but not stop it. Snails and his companion weren’t exactly that helpful either. They both though that all this was a game, that their lives probably weren’t on the line here, and that Trixie was just goofing around instead of actually dealing with the thing. I mean I know Snails was slow on the uptake, and that Snips usually had ridiculous ideas, but how dumb can you get?
Trixie’s antics did have an ulterior motive to them however. In the end, the creature, aside from being incredibly enraged by her ‘attacks’ was also distracted from the mare herself, as well as from the two colts. Twilight and I watched in disbelief as the tree unicorns ran between the Ursa’s legs and under its belly, avoiding its massive jaws and sharp claws. A cunning and daring escape route to be sure. Unfortunately, it served to further fuel the beasts anger.
The Ursa let out a massive roar, waking all the ponies who decided to go to bed early. Lights were being lit up in the windows and curious equines stepped out of the relative safety of their homes, searching for the source of the unknown sound. It was probably the dumbest thing they could do in a situation like this. Once the ponies noticed what was the cause of all this commotion, they quickly went into panic, running for their lives, the further from the Ursa the better. Streets, now filled to the brim with terrified ponies were a real nightmare to traverse, and the fact that the rampaging constellation began tearing houses apart with its mighty claws and teeth only added to the difficulty.
At some point of time I managed to plant myself on Twilight’s back, figuring that it was the fastest way to travel with her. My short, reptile legs weren’t exactly built for speed you know. Either way Twi managed to somehow navigate her way between the fleeing ponies and the debris the Ursa was tossing around, and the two of us managed to get ourselves to Snips, Snails and Trixie. Twilight skidded to a halt and I quickly dismounted her, not wanting it to seem like I was using her or something.
“What’s going on?!” Asked Twilight. Well, obvious questions are obvious.
“We brought an Ursa to town!” Exclaimed Snips proudly. I suspected as much, the Ursa just randomly chasing those two would be too big of a coincidence. It was however a real shocker to Twilight, who looked like if she was just informed, that they burned down the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the royal Canterlot library.
“You what!?!” Well, my sentiments exactly.
“Don’t worry, the Great and Powerful Trixie will vanquish it!” Answered Snails with conviction. It really seemed that the two of them were in their ‘hero worship’ mode and just shifted to high gear. And their hopes were about to be crushed by their own hero.
“I can’t.” Trixie admitted, looking at the ground. That little confession was enough to bring the two colts from sky-five back to reality.
“What?!?” They both asked in unison, eyes widening in horror.
“I can’t! I never have. No one can vanquish an Ursa Major, I just made the whole story up to make me look better.”
“Made it up?!?” Aaand finally they had a reality check. Hearing that from the mouth of their own ‘hero’ was enough to make them both realize how totally screwed we were at the moment. By the way, I was genuinely surprised that Trixie actually admitted to her lie. Then again, if I was in a situation I thought I would not live trough I guess I too would be confessing things like that.
It didn’t take long for the Ursa to catch up to us. The great beast emerged from behind one of the houses, rearing up in its hind legs and towering above us all, its great bulk obscuring Luna’s moon as it glared at us. It felt almost surreal to be in a position like this, being just moments before a great, terrible beast decides to descent on you with the force of an erupting volcano. It didn’t help any that the stellar bear let out a mighty roar at us, making most other ponies run for their lives but making the five of us freeze up in horror.
At some point, I’m not entirely sure when, our friends arrived to probably try and help us somehow. Rainbow Dash apparently decided that the lives and wellbeing of her friends meant more than her wounded pride, Applejack stopped sulking in her apple orchard and Rarity managed to get her hair under control. Even Fluttershy showed up, and Pinkie Pie, a rare serious expression on her face, was standing not too far away from us. Sadly, none of them seemed to be able to help us. Even Fluttershy’s vast knowledge of animals would be useless when confronted with a being made out of a fragment of the night sky itself. If anypony was able to do something about the Ursa, our best bet was for it to be Twilight.
Twilight herself seemed terrified at the prospect of dealing with the Ursa. Her teeth were audibly clattering and her whole body trembled at the site of the great beast. I was getting pretty terrified too; if Twi was nervous like that, it could lead to serious problems. She had a tendency to mess up spells while under too much pressure, and this situation could be counted as stressful without any doubt. Still, she was the only one that could help us right now, and I hoped to Celestia she would be able to pull it off.
I nudged Twilight gently, reminding her, that she was supposed to try and deal with the monstrous beast. At first she seemed a bit dazed, fear still gripping her hard, but after but a few seconds she gathered all her courage. With a loud and still nervous gulp she trotted in front of the Ursa, a steely look in her eyes showing more confidence than she probably actually had. The constellation in physical form looked at her as if surprised that somepony was brave or stupid enough to approach it, and it began growling even louder, thick strands of slobber trickling from its teeth.
I was scared out of my wits at this point. I just realized that I practically sent Twilight to her doom. There was no possibility that even she, the most powerful unicorn I knew was strong enough to do something about an Ursa Major. Still I watched in silent fascination at what was about to unfold, unable to tear my eyes from the spectacle that was most probably going to end bloody. And that’s when I saw it again.
Something shone in one of the alleys connected to mane street. I may have been focused primarily on Twilight and the gigantic bear before us, but I was still able to notice that, and it made me worry even more. The mysterious creature was lurking around, probably waiting only for a moment of carelessness on our part and it would probably lunge at us given the chance. It didn’t attack just now only because it was waiting for the Ursa to soften us up no doubt. Yet I couldn’t do anything about that, I was only a baby dragon, and the living constellation was a more urgent problem at the moment. I only hoped we would be able to do something about the creature before it was too late.
My attention went back to Twilight. She scrunched her face in concentration, summoning as much magical power as she possibly could. In only a few second a soft wind began blowing, moving the leaves and branches of the trees as well as bending and breaking off pods of bulrush. What’s surprising was that the wind itself, in conjunction with the broken off corn dog grass pods was able to produce a soft, soothing tune. What’s even more surprising was the fact that the melody was actually able to calm down somewhat the raging beast. If I recall it correctly, Twi practiced today something similar, but on a smaller scale. Eh… I can’t seem to remember what the spell was called, only that it was the sixteenth one that day.
I noticed that Twi was getting tired really fast, her horn shining with a double… no, triple aurora, a feat I never before saw. It must've meant, that she was using more magical power at that moment than ever before. She had however trouble keeping it in control, if the fact that she was literally swaying on her hooves and covered in sweat was any indicator. Still, she knew exactly what would happen if she failed, so she pushed herself to her limits, trying to ensure that nopony would get hurt.
A loud grinding sound came from the direction of the town’s water tower. I whipped around, looking for it, and once I noticed it I also saw Twi’s lavender aura surrounding it. In a feat of incredible control over her telekinesis magic she managed to lift it from its resting place, screw the top half of it off and pour its content in a place where it wouldn’t make any damage. With that accomplished she moved the water tower towards one of the local cowsheds. What happened then… well, it might sound strange, and I didn’t exactly see the feat itself because of obvious reasons, but she managed to milk the cows and fill most of the tower with it. It definitely was a new one, that’s for sure.
A pained grunt brought my attention back to Twilight. She was getting weaker and weaker with each passing second, the multiple spells she had to maintain at once taking their toll on her. The vibrant glow of her horn, the many layers of magical power surrounding it and forming a semi-transparent halo were dimming, fading into nothing, her strength doing the same, mirroring her magic. The girls and I noticed that, and in spite of us being stunned by the power Twi showed up until now we all gathered around her, offering at least our moral support, knowing that we would be useless in any other way. Still, it seemed that Twilight’s magic was running low and she would cease the flow of it sooner rather than later.
“Come on Twilight, you can do it!” I whispered, trying to reassure her and not to disturb her concentration in the same time. Rarity and the others did the same, offering as much support as they could. And it even seemed to work!
Twi’s magical aura strengthened significantly, the faded glow replaced by a bright, almost blindingly bright shine. She must've tapped to her reserves I reasoned, remembering what she once told me about unicorn magic. Twilight herself seemed surprised by this turn of events as well, her eyes opening suddenly in shock. It seemed like if she didn’t know what was happening… I should have been more cautious at that, but the vision of being consumed by the Ursa was too frightening to let me think straight.
Twilight renewed her efforts, her magic augmented making the spells she already cast work even better than before. The once rampaging Ursa seemed to be slowly drifting to sleep, lulled by the soft notes of the song the bulrush and wind were playing. It wobbled a bit, shifting from side to side, and finally it half-closed its yellow and red eyes, falling on its right side. Seeing this Twi concentrated a bit of her newfound power on the beast itself, catching it in her magical aura and breaking its fall, lifting the whole creature in the air as if it weighed but a few pounds, not multiple tons. It was a good thing that she caught the Ursa too; if she didn’t do that, the embodiment of a constellation would surely crush Trixie, who stood there in stunned silence, watching wide eyed the display of real magic performed by Twilight.
What happened next was all sorts of weird. I was wondering for a moment there why did Twilight need the water tower filled with milk. I mean that was so random, that I would probably attribute something like that to Pinkie Pie, not my lifelong companion. As it turned out, it was all part of a plan Twi developed in her head.
The milk-filled water tower served as a gigantic milk bottle, a milk bottle that was soon in the Ursa’s grip. The gigantic stellar bear, which at this point was almost completely asleep acted like an overgrown cub, gripping at its “bottle” and drinking it’s still lukewarm content with a satisfied expression in its muzzle. It was so engrossed in its drink and so comfortable in Twilight’s magical grip, that it let itself be flown over half the town, over the small portion of the Everfree Forest and straight into a great cavern which was as I was guessing its home without even noticing.
It worked. It actually worked! Twilight did it, she stopped the Ursa Major from destroying Ponyville! And she did that before the beast was even able to seriously hurt anypony! I knew she was great with magic, but this was something truly unbelievable. She managed to stop a friggin constellation! There was nothing she couldn’t do. There was… why is her horn still glowing?
Twi’s horn, even though she managed to put the Ursa down in its layer was still glowing with a bright, magical aura. It was as if she was still concentrating on something, though what she was focusing on was not clear. What gotten to me, and the rest of the girls too, was that once Twilight opened her eyes, they were filled with dread and confusion. It was definitely clear now that whatever was happening right now, she didn’t have any control over it. And the last time something like that ever happened was the day I was hatched, and from the stories I've heard, it wasn’t very nice.
She took a step back, looking at her horn with both fear and confusion, and she scrunched her face in concentration, trying to regain control over her magical powers. It was an effort in vain unfortunately, for the glow of her horn only intensified, coating it in yet another layer of mystic powers. This one however differed from the three previous ones; it was wild, uncontrolled, looking like a waggling, constantly warping and rippling something, I’m not even sure how to describe it better. It was also way brighter than her normal magic, going from a soft purplish-lavender hue to a more flaming pink, a pink that over time brightened even more, paling before our very eyes and warping into a dazzling white. A white that I recognized.
“Twilight?” Came the rather spooked voice of Applejack. She took a tentative step in Twi’s direction, her eyes betraying the fear she was feeling at the moment. “Are ya alright sugarcube?”
“Don’t… come… any… closer…” Twilight managed to gasp out. Her voice sounded like if she was trying with all her might to regain control over her magic. “Don’t… want… anypony… hurt…”
“Are you nuts?! We’re not gonna leave you like that, no way!” Proclaimed Rainbow Dash, flying closer Twi. At that precise moment her magical aura became almost white, and little arks of “electricity”, or rather pure magical energy, began flying out of the tip of her horn, keeping everypony at a distance.
“Can’t… control… magic… overload…” Twi scrunched her face even more, adopting an almost pained expression as she tried to keep the power at bay. “Something’s… interfering… with… my… magic…”
“Darling, what do you mean?” This time it was Rarity that took a step in her direction, despite the electric-like arcs of magic striking the ground furiously. “What ever could interfere with your magic?”
This time Twilight didn’t respond, letting out an actual pained grunt. Her horn, now an ardent point of white in the black of night seemed to pulsate in a threatening manner, as if ready to explode at any given moment, picking up the pace with each passing second. Most ponies that weren’t that close to Twi began backing up from her, fearing that she might actually do something like that. I however, as well as the girls wasn’t about to abandon her in a situation like this. She needed us, her friends, even if we couldn’t help her in any way aside from keeping on believing in her.
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, extreme panic gleaming in them. She looked at us all, her lavender pools filled with dread and pleading.
“Run!” Was all she managed to shout to us, before her horn glowed a bright, blinding white, showering everything within a thirty hoofs radius in white and consuming her in a ball of pure light.
“Twilight!!!” I screamed and against my own self-preservation instinct I ran in the direction I last saw her. Not only I did that, the girls followed soon after, even Fluttershy seemed to forget all about her fear and rushed to help Twi. We weren’t going to let anything happen to her, not if we had anything to say in that matter.
We neared the orb of white light, forgetting all about our own safety, trying to reach to Twilight. We needed to help her, and nothing could stop us from doing this. Not an Ursa Major, not the fear of the unknown and definitely not the white-feathered creature I saw just before all this happened. We could almost touch it now, all we needed to do was reach out.
And then, the world went black.