The Arthanian pod hummed before it blew apart. The deformed creature groaned as it rubbed the side of its head. The crash had rendered it unconscious, and now the scouts were missing.
"Vruuk dreesh. Vuk infotog (Damn things. Lack hearing)" The creature murmured, raising it's snout and taking severals whiffs.
Blood of his own kind lingered, even in the damp conditions of the forest. The creature growled angrily and sprinted on all fours towards the source. It reached the small clearing, where five of it's underlings laid dead. Growling loudly, it devoured the five snacks and began looking for a sign of the attacker. Another scent, bloodied, lingered. The misshapen wolf snarled as a third, fourth, and fifth scent reached its nostrils, and it turned to the sight of three manticores. The animals surrounded him, roaring lowly at the stranger creature.
The Alpha pulled a bright blue sword out, then roared as it charged forward.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
Draco's sighed softly as his ears picked up on the door knocking.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
"Draco!"
Ember's voice and scent reached him, and he yawned before stretching his arms. Rainbow murmured softly as she woke up as well, sitting up from his body and rubbing her eyes. With a loud, and cute yawn, she scratched her mane and looked down at him with a soft smile.
"DRACO!"
"Coming!" Draco called, waiting for Rainbow to climb off of him.
"Got anything in the-"
BANG!
Draco and Rainbow spun around to Ember, who had kicked down the door. She stared momentarily at his naked torso and to her frazzled coat and mane.
"Ember, what in Tartarus?!" Draco shouted.
Ember pushed that aside and looked to him. "It's Moon! I-I was out last night and he came from the Everfree bleeding and…"
Draco's eyes widened as he heard about his cousin, and he bolted into his room to grab a shirt. "Rainbow, come on!" Draco called as they ran out of his house.
They found their way quickly to the hospital, where a crowd of guards and ponies were. Draco pushed rudely through the crowd until he got to the guards, who allowed them entry. He threw the doors open and followed Moon's scent upstairs, the two behind him doing their best to keep up. Draco could see his mother, aunt, Twilight and her friends all outside. Rarity looked like she was consoling the shy mare while Luna was arguing with her sister. Celestia spotted her son bolting down the hall and galloped over to stop him, with a majority of assistance from her magic.
"Where is he?!" Draco shouted, trying to push past his mother.
"Draco, he's just gone through surgery, and he's heavily sedated-"
"I need to see him!" Draco shouted, pushing harder even as she hugged him an attempt to comfort him. "Ma, I NEED TO SEE HIM!"
Celestia held him, refusing to let go as his struggles became less and less violent. He eventually gave up, returning the embrace and clenching his fists. When he had finally relaxed enough, Celestia let go and looked at him.
"What happened?" Draco whispered. Luna trotted over and shook her head, her eyes irritated from her own tears.
"We have no clue," Luna sniffled. "Ember had said he came from the Everfree-"
"Why would he be in there?" Draco interrupted.
Ember placed a claw on his shoulder. "He must have had a reason," she assured him.
"It could have been timberwolves o-or a Manticore," Rainbow suggested. Draco shook his head.
"Timberwolves wouldn't attack him, and if a manticore did then he would have probably called the wolves for help," Draco said. "He went there for a reason. I just need to know why."
A brown stallion in a doctor's uniform walked over, frowning a bit at the sight of the crying prince and princess. "Your Majesties," he bowed. "My name is Dr. Gooding. I performed the operation and saw to his wounds."
Draco wiped his eyes and turned to him. "How bad is it?"
"He sustained several stabbings to his sides and a few in his stomach, and his leg was broken worse than most I've seen," Gooding sighed. "He lost a ridiculous amount of blood, but he's stable now. I checked him an hour ago, and though he's unconscious, he'll be fine in a few days. He's healing faster than any pony I've ever treated."
"He was born with some of the most powerful magicks from before my banishment," Luna smiled. "I believe it is those properties that are quickening his recovery."
"Maybe a healing spell per day would help, too," Twilight said. "I'm glad he'll be okay."
"Yeah…" Draco muttered, glancing into the room through the small window. Moon was wired to a machine that checked his heart rate and another that pushed oxygen into his lungs. "…but I still want to know who did this."
The others looked worriedly at him. "Draco, you don't-"
"Somepony's gonna pay for this," Draco said loudly, his fist clenched in rage.
"Draco," Ember sternly said. "Let the guards handle this. You-"
"THIS IS HOW YOU LOST YOUR MEMORY!" Draco bellowed glaring at her face to face. "BECAUSE I WAS TOO BUSY GIVING A DAMN ABOUT ME AND NOT EVEN CHECKING ON MY COUSIN! I'M NOT LOSING HIM TOO! YOU WERE ENOUGH!"
He was panting by the end of it, and he began to stomp down the hall. Rainbow flew past him and stopped his advance. "Draco, c'mon. We'll get the flankhole that hurt him, but you sound like you're gonna kill him!" Rainbow exclaimed, placing both hooves on his shoulders.
Draco went to speak, but screams coming from outside caught each of their attention. The group hurried outside, gasping at what they saw. Four Solar Guards laid dead around a beast about as big as them. It was currently thrashing its head about as it tore out the neck of another, horrifying the crowd and the guards still present. What Ember noticed immediately was that it was bleeding in several spots, but the weapons hadn't hit it. And it was blinded, with four slash marks going across its face. Ember growled and readied to move forward, but Draco wasn't moving. From what Moon had told her, he was very dangerous and vicious when angered, and she expected him to be enraged by the beast that looked like it fought Moon.
But he was hyperventilating.
He had seen that… thing before. His dreams… the monsters… it was one of the monsters. The ones in the burning forests… the ones eating the bodies. The ones… the figures had fought.
They were real. It was real, the thing in front of him.
"Draco, snap out of it!" Ember growled, whipping the air in front of him. He was shaking helplessly, and he stumbled backwards as the creature began nearing them.
"Draco, what's wrong?" Celestia asked, worrying over his stunned behavior. "Draco!"
"Its… its real… the monsters…" he whispered, cowering back until he was against the wall of the hospital.
GET ON YOUR VRUUK FEET! IT IS A SCOUT! ONE! GAVOJ! SCOUT!
Its alive… its here…
DAMN IT! GET UP YOU COWARD! USELESS AGAINST ONE! HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO FACE THE SOBALKA?! OR THE GOVEK?!
A louder, much more ferocious roar drew thier gazes. Dragging the head of a manticore and a sword, a beast that towered over Celestia, Luna, and Draco stomped forward. It tossed the manticores head up and ate the head in front of them. Rarity and Fluttershy, along with several ponies in the crowd, fainted at the sight while the others ran. Draco breathed even quicker and more frantically when the bigger wolf came. Another one… this one just as real.
Celestia and Luna were horrified at the amount of blood in its coat. It clearly wasn't its own blood, and it was staring right at Draco. Celestia stood in front of her son and charged her horn.
"I don't know what you are, but you and that beast will not touch him!" Celestia bellowed.
The creature snarled, glancing down to the injured wolf. It whimpered in pain, hoping to be able to rest. They gasped as it sliced its head open then fed on it, turning back as if it never happened.
"Sister, this creature seems very powerful," Luna said lowly, charging her own horn.
"But we're both here now. It won't be able to take us both," she whispered.
Contrary to their belief, the Alpha didn't need to fight them. It raised a hand-like paw and the ponies were pushed to the side, while the princesses cast a barrier. Ember grunted as she found moving hard, as did the others.
"I can't move!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Me neither!" Applejack grunted.
"Princess!" Pinkie shouted. "Behind you!"
The princesses gasped as another deformed wolf jumped down on them, and they redirected their magic to send a blast towards it. The after-image dispersed from the beams, and with a growing horror they turned back to the creature. It sideswiped Luna, then grabbed Celestia by the throat. After headbutting her, it tossed her to the side and walked over to Draco, grabbing him and slamming him into the wall.
"Jrom ut Doshu'um? (You're the Doshu'um?)" It chuckled, placing the sword above his heart. "Vakotno (Disgraceful)"
YOU FOOL! FORGET COEXISTENCE! I AM ASSUMING CONTROL!
Celestia shook from her daze beside her groaning sister before looking over to see the creature over her son, it's sword aimed at his heart. "DRACO!"
The Alpha roared and pushed, but only a centimeter entered it before a hand stopped it. Draco roared in pain and anger as a silver metal split gashes open in his body and crawled out, covering a majority of him. The Alpha gasped as the Doshu'um's ability came to face… along with his other half.
"GROAAAAH!"
The ponies were released when Draco socked the creature in its face, sending it sailing backwards into a tree. They watched in horror as Draco grabbed the fallen sword and advanced on the wolf. Unlike his previous victims, the Alpha jumped up and roared as it tackled him and began furiously punching his stomach. Draco jerked around as the strikes hit him, but he willwd himself to punch it again. The Alpha stumbled backwards, and Draco slashed its chest and legs, expecting it to fall.
It didn't. The Alpha snarled and raked its claws over his chest, scraping the metal and cutting some of his exposed skin. It uppercut Draco and sent him skyward, and to their surprise it chased him. Before he could go any further, the Alpha grabbed hold of him and body slammed him into the ground, eliciting a scream from Draco.
Celestia fired a beam with her full power and sent it straight into the side of the Alpha's head, causing it to roar in pain. Luna did the same, but blasted it's torso and tossed it into a wall then onto the floor. Ember ran forward to attack, but even in it's damaged state, it was able to grab her arm before she could scratch it. It sent a fist into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her, then bit into her thick scales, its teeth shredding the scales. Ember roared in pain, and the Alpha readied to dig a dagger into her throat before a sword stuck out of its chest.
Then… a tail.
Celestia watched in terror as a second tail protruded from Draco's tailbone and wrapped itself around the creature's throat. It carried the creature to Draco, bringing it face to face with him. Her son let loose a deafening, horrible roar that shook her to the core. Rainbow and Twilight's jaws were dropped in terror as Draco drove his fists through the animal's body. It roared in agony, but he bit into it's throat to silence it. Even as it went limp, Draco began to tear it limb from limb, starting with its arms. He wildly scratched, sliced with the sword, and bit into it with a fury he had never shown his other victims. There was no stopping him, only waiting for him to finish.
The beast inside of him was in full control, and Celestia watched helplessly as Draco turned it into a hunk of meat. The slash marks and cuts over his body sealed shut, and the metal began receding.
You worthless drek trarg. You're a disgrace to your own kind, to your father, and to me. I'm done protecting your useless body. May Minira grant you a quick and painless death.
Draco felt his body return to him, and he stopped his incessant punching and stood up, struggling to face his friends and family. The black blood over his body stained his clothes, and the smell was that of death. A hoof touched his shoulder, and he did the only thing he could think of.
Run.