The Monster in the Twilight
Hunted
The Everfree Forest was alive.
Not in the sense of having lungs, a heart, and various squishy bits wrapped in a fragile shell, but alive with motion and life across miles of swamp, forest and grassland. Every inch of the Everfree either buzzed, or stung, or bit, or clawed in an unending fight for survival. Not all the life was small, either. Hydras lurked beneath the shallow pools, manticores made their dens among the thick forest scrub, snakes as large as houses slowly wound their way through the bracken, while star-beasts curled in their dens to sleep away the centuries. The outpouring of magical energies from millennia ago still echoed in the very soil and resonated across the waters, bringing forth creatures from the muck and mire that had only previously been seen in nightmares.
Still, within that primordial chaos of reddened claw and sharpened tooth, there was order. The Ursa drowsing in her den was not attacked by the other lesser beasts; the Hydra kept his distance from the Urlock⁽*⁾, and the Wyvern hers. Over the centuries, many researchers had plumbed the depths of the forest⁽¹⁾, seeking knowledge of its secrets, but they all came to the same conclusion after even a short period within its shifting borders: Leave.
(*) You don’t want to know.
(1) A notable number of which wound up plumbing the depths of the forest creatures’ digestive systems.
Some researchers ignored the subtle suggestion, staying for years in the mysterious swamps and forests for whatever reason. Those who looked for their own advantage, seeking ways to exploit the resources and secrets of the magic-soaked land, vanished into thin air over time, leaving only slightly damp spots and abandoned camps. Those who truly wanted to understand heard a different voice calling to them, saying: Stay.
Biologists know the larger an organism grows, the slower it reacts to stimuli. Mosquitos can react before a slap is even halfway to them, while Mountainosaurs tend to go centuries between pain and reaction, to the great relief of miners who may not even realize their mistake.
One would think a single being the size of the Everfree would be even slower to react to a foreign body intruding on its territory.
One would be very wrong.
* * *
The small group of Royal Guard trudging cautiously through the Everfree bore almost no resemblance to the shining white and grey ponies clad in golden armor who decorated the Canterlot castle in such great abundance. Not a single gleam of gold broke their carefully camouflaged bodies, clad universally in green and brown mottled armor that only vaguely resembled that of their normal jobs.
All of them were past that young and fearless age where no danger could be considered actually dangerous, and only other ponies ever got killed. Some of them passed it by themselves, some by traveling into the Everfree one too many times and seeing things they really should not have seen at any age.
Two ponies in particular stood out. The first one was far too pink, female, and winged to be a normal Royal Guard, even though she was clad in exactly the same embrace of mottled steel, marked in places by repaired damages indicating potentially lethal blows turned aside. The tiara indicating her place as royalty was likewise missing, replaced by a neatly-fitting helm with cheek and nasal guards, and her delicate hooves encased in enchanted armor up to her shins. Like the rest of the armored ponies, she carried no deadly weapons, but on her back was a small bag, containing a lumpy object that she touched gently on occasion while blinking back tears.
The second pony almost fit in. Although he was a strong stallion clad in the same mottled armor and what little showed of his shining white coat was smeared with a noxious coat of brown goop like the others, he was a unicorn much older than his companions in age. To his misfortune, he was far younger than them in other regards, which showed in the rather negligent way he regarded his dangerous surroundings and the sharp tone he took with the Princess.
“Princess Cadence, with all due respect, I think this charade has gone on far enough.” Baron Chrysanthemum spoke quietly, but still loudly enough that both Cadence and her husband gave him identical looks of irritation. “There is nothing at all out here to see but endless swamp and biting insects. Parliament has far too long tolerated your husband’s frivolous habit of monster hunting in this forest. You’ve been traveling out here every few months with a Royal Guard protective detail for over ten years now, and have yet to adequately inform any section of Parliment just why these trips are necessary. My committee oversees the budget for your household regiment of guards, and I assure you—”
“Sergeant Chives,” said Shining Armor in a flat, commanding tone that brooked no discussion. “Keep our guest out of my mane, and quiet.”
“Yessir.” The burly earth pony who stepped to the baron’s side was even bulkier than his counterparts, with heavier armor that looked softer on the surface as if it were insulated, and with a magic suppressing horn-ring with throwing handles slung on each flank. Chives appeared to have the dangerous task of either attempting to fling his weapon over the horn of an opposing unicorn, thus rendering it magically helpless, or the extremely dangerous task of galloping right up to his prey to apply the ring directly. From his attitude, it appeared the sergeant was more than willing to apply his skills to either the fictional creature they supposedly were tracking, or any annoying nobleponies who were along for the trip.
The baron stewed in anger but held back his tongue. There would be plenty of time when they returned to Canterlot to properly respond to this slight. A hefty cut in the household allowance for the young Princess and her wastrel husband would be a nice starting spot, followed by massive budget cuts in the ludicrous amount of bits used to create these ridiculous suits of armor. Admittedly, they were more comfortable than the standard Royal Guard armor he had worn in his prime, even though he had to take all the straps out to make this set fit.
It was only blind chance that he had heard of this latest hunting expedition at the same time one of the Prince Consort’s household regiment had taken ill. The baron had been waiting in the chariots when they tromped out in the morning dew, determined to fight tooth and hoof to oversee another one of these boondoggle trips, and had been greatly surprised when the only response he had gotten out of Shining Armor was an extremely short glare. Half of the guards that accompanied them were not even on the ground, but were simply content to drift aimlessly around the Everfree sky like vultures over the ground-bound ponies, nearly invisible against the sky in their slate-grey uniforms.
Baron Chrysanthemum fell into reluctant step with the hefty guard, noticing his eyes were in constant motion, scanning the thick forest as if it were dangerous instead of the quiet yet odd carpet of green he had been looking out into for the last few hours. With a light flick of his horn, the baron cast a quick spell while keeping an eye on the Princess and her Consort to make certain they would not notice.
“Sergeant Chives,” he whispered. “I put a privacy spell on us, so we can talk without being overheard.”
The guard gave him a quick glance during his scanning of the area. “I ain’t supposed to talk.”
“Well, you’re supposed to keep me out of Shining Armor’s mane, and if you won’t talk to me, I’m going to talk to him again.”
The guard thought on the idea for a while, finally giving a terse nod. “K. But only on my conditions. First, you obey the captain and what I say immediately, without question, no matter how dumb it may sound.”
“I most certainly will not! I am the Baron of—”
The earth pony cut him off. “Look, Pops. You do everything the captain says, when he says it, and you might just get out of this thing alive if we find Monster. He says flatten, you better be so flat that earthworms will think you’re short. You understand?”
His first instinctual response damped quickly as the baron took another look around at the guards. Despite the ongoing conversation, not a single one of the other guards was paying him the least bit of attention. Every armored guard was looking out into the woods as if they knew they were being watched by something that scared the horseshoes off them.
“I suppose. What else?”
“What else, sir. Right?”
The baron ground his teeth briefly. “I will not call you sir. I will go as far as to call you sergeant.”
“That’ll do. Second, you use that point on top of your head to cast anything but a stunning spell on little Monster, and Captain Shining Armor will rip it off your head and stick it up your… Well, you won’t like it. I don’t care how scared you are, you put one scratch on Monster’s hide and you’re a dead pony, and I mean dead, gone, and I’ll help bury what’s left of the body, if anything.”
It was far from the conversation Chrysanthemum was expecting, and the sinking feeling that Chives was telling the truth from experience began to soak in. It twigged a little-used section of his hindbrain, formed when ponies were helpless prey, making the baron look out into the forest with more respect for unseen dangers as they walked. “Yes, Sergeant Chives.”
“Thirdly, you screw up the captain’s chance to catch Monster, and there will be no hole deep enough to hide you. There is one reason and one reason only we have eight unicorns including you in our merry little band, and only two earth ponies. If the captain needs help with his shield, it is your job to pour as much power into his spell as you can.”
Startled, the baron stared at Captain Shining Armor, who was whispering something to his wife at the head of the column. “But he can shield an entire city. With his wife to back him up, nothing could break through his spell.”
The guard chuckled grimly. “Unicorn magic is severely warped out here. The other unicorns say it takes a lot more effort to cast even simple spells in the Everfree without practice, and your recharge rate is out of whack. Princess Cadenza and Captain Shining Armor have that kind of practice and more. They’ve been doing this nearly twelve years, and so far they’ve gotten Monster inside his shield four times. Twice she tricked her way out, and twice she broke out.”
Chives flinched momentarily with a glance into the underbrush before resuming his deliberate tread behind the rest of his squad mates. It took a few moments for him to resume speaking, but when he did, it was in a voice pitched lower and with considerably less confidence. “I was inside one of the breakouts, and I can tell you, I never want to see that again. If they can get her down unconscious or stunned, I can put this baby on her horn, and Monster should turn into a kitty cat.” He reached back and patted the fat magic suppression donut on his flank as if he were ensuring it was still there. “Celestia tested and approved.”
A voice inside his helmet crackled to life. “Captain, I might have something.”
* * *
One extremely careful hour later, the group edged up onto a small ridge that overlooked a shallow pool and a sparkling stream. The slow circling of pegasi overhead had stopped, from the possibility their prey might spot them and escape before the slower ground-bound ponies could reach their destination. In practiced unison, the rest of the squad hunched down to stay under cover while three of the unicorns crept to the ridge with binoculars.
“See anything?” whispered one of the guards before being hushed.
“I see her,” whispered the center guard. “Or at least her magic. Purple aura around roots by the riverba— There she goes!”
“Shield!” shouted Shining Armor as the pink hemisphere of his shield spell dropped around the area.
“I think I got the teleport damper up quick enough,” panted Princess Cadence as she poured energy into her magic. “There’s… Ow! She’s loose! Ow!” The Princess tumbled to one side, holding her head as purple sparks flew from her horn.
The ear-splitting sound of air being cloven in twain by a powerful teleportation spell echoed around the inside of the nearly half-mile in diameter bubble, followed by a second explosive sound, and a third, until the ground beneath them shook with a rolling thunder of sequential detonations. Baron Chrysanthemum covered his ears with his hooves like the rest of the guards until the noise died away, leaving Shining Armor with a grim smile.
“No weak spots in the shield this time, sis. Cadence, it’s your call. She’s inside the shield somewhere. What now?”
“Now we wait. She’s very frightened.”
“She’s very frightened?” croaked Baron Chrysanthemum before he realized he was talking.
“Yes, she is,” said Princess Cadence levelly. “Now shush. She’s close, and hasn’t started throwing things. That’s good.”
“We’re trapped in here with it, and you say that’s a good thing?” Baron Chrysanthemum stared in growing amazement as the Princess reached into her bag and removed an object with her magic. “You’re going to fight that thing with an ugly stuffed animal?”
“We’re not going to fight her. We’re going to talk with her.”
The baron glanced nervously out into the forest. “So what do we do?”
“Wait.” The Princess placed the stuffed animal down at the top of the ridge, motioned all of the guards back, and began to hum a foal’s lullaby.
“For how long?”
“Until she moves.”
“How long is that going to take?”
“As long as it takes.”
* * *
Baron Chrysanthemum huddled with the rest of the guards, all spread out behind the ridge so they could studiously observe as much of the forest as possible. Few words had been spoken among them since Shining Armor had cast his protective shield around the immediate forested vicinity, mostly ‘Do you see anything?’ and ‘No. Do you?’ It took little effort to convert his privacy spell into an eavesdropping spell, and he quietly listened in on the conversation the Princess was having with her husband.
“Cadence, are you certain you’re going to be all right?”
“Shiny, honey. Don’t worry. I’m only a few months along with the foal, and this is as important to me as it is to you. Do you think we finally have a chance at breaking through to her?”
“Maybe. She didn’t seem to be trying the strength of my shield spell today. Perhaps—”
An anguished cry of pain roared out from the surrounding forest, a bellow straight from the soul of some giant beast in terrible agony. The ground shook when a giant tree as thick as a full-grown pony ripped itself from the earth and flew at the pink shield spell, gathering immense velocity in flight and leaving a trail of burning leaves in its wake…
...until it struck the shield.
The world seemed to tilt sideways for a moment while the magic shell flared a brilliant pink, tumbling all the guards along the ground like bowling pins. Shining Armor winced in pain as his four hooves plowed a short path through the rugged sod, dragged by the immense power released on his shield.
“Captain! I see her!” one of the unicorn guards shouted while holding onto a tree for stability. “By the pool!”
“I’ve got the shield,” he gasped. “Stun spells only! Volley fire!”
Baron Chrysanthemum stumbled to the ridge and aimed his horn at the pool in the bottom of the valley like the rest of the guards. The air was filled with stunning spells pounding downrange, and he struggled with the awkward feeling of Everfree magic that gripped his own unfamiliar spell before Sergeant Chives caught him in a long, flying tackle, screaming, “DOWN!”
The world turned white with splinters and smoke while the baron gasped for breath, half trapped under the hefty earth pony. His ears were ringing, and the tree he had just been using for cover was snapped off just a few feet above the ground by what appeared to have been a small forest moving at high speed.
“I told you to stay DOWN!” bellowed the sergeant, grabbing the baron by the mane and shoving his head back down just in time to miss a second shattering blast of magic-propelled trees and boulders that smashed into the ridge protecting their group, this time just a bit lower. “Monster likes to shoot twice!” he shouted with a grin.
“Princess down!”
“I’m all right!” came an almost immediate response from behind a pile of trees glowing bright blue with alicorn magic as they were thrown to one side. “Shiny!”
“I’m fine,” shouted Shining Armor just a bit too loudly, pulling his hooves out of the holes they had dug when he was dragged across the clearing. “That was just a warning shot.”
“She’s going for an overload!” One of the guards pointed at a section of shield that had taken on a purple glow as rocks and trees began to streak across the sky, pounding into the rapidly weakening section while Shining Armor buckled to his knees in recoil.
“Suppression squad, down into the valley!” snapped Princess Cadence, suddenly looking much older. “Our only chance is to get those rings on her while she’s concentrating. The rest of you, support Shining! We’ve got to keep the shield up!” The Princess leaned into her husband, actually crossing horns with him and pushing into her magic with an intensity that made the air shimmer with pink. The rest of the unicorn guards followed suit, pouring their own magic in turn into the shield spell.
The old reactions to his guard training kicked in, allowing the baron enough sense to focus on adding his magic to the spell. The hammering impact of stones and trees into the shield made ordinary conversation impossible, but he had one job to do, and he tried his best to keep his magic channelled into the shield despite everything that was going on around him.
Behind him, Sergeant Chives and his counterpart galloped into the maelstrom of smoke that just moments ago was a peaceful valley, giving the baron a brief hope that whatever they faced might possibly be overwhelmed by their presence. That hope vanished in the incandescent glare from the overstressed shield. It flared abruptly while a second stentorian bellow of rage sounded from inside the valley, and then an almost soundless explosion of light threw all of them through the air.
The baron’s ears had quit ringing by the time he staggered to his hooves, picking his way out of a pile of shattered trees with the rest of the unicorn guards. Princess Cadence had already taken to the air after a momentary hesitation between flying down into the smoke-filled valley and staying with her husband, her mind apparently made up by the whip-crack of a teleportation spell in the distance.
“She’s gone. Again.” The Princess stumbled on landing and flung herself into Shining Armor’s embrace with a sob. “I lost her!”
The baron shivered in fear as he limped past shattered rocks and trees to look down into the once peaceful valley. A hole that could have held several buildings in Canterlot had been casually dug out of the backslope of the hillside opposite them, cut off in a razor-sharp curve from where it intersected with Shining Armor’s shield. At the bottom of the hole, water hissed into steam when it dripped onto the red-hot rocks that littered the ground. Occasionally one would explode with the temperature change, making sharp little cracking noises that spat rocky fragments around the bottom of the hole. Not a single intact tree remained within the area covered by the shield spell, only snapped trunks and discarded root balls, including a forest giant that would have been old in his grandparent’s days, smashed into a half-dozen chunks and still smoldering.
“What kind of monster could do all this?” asked Baron Chrysanthemum, coughing a little from the smoke.
Shining Armor loomed up beside him, looking down into the destroyed valley without a single tear forming in his eyes. “That monster is my sister.”