The Pony Beast

by HareTrinity

The first day

"She's getting worse."

In a dark room with stone walls a large beast sobbed. It was crouching in a corner and from it came occasional bursts of untamed magic, warping the room near it. The wall zapped into life, a huge mouth growing to swallow the creature whole; then another bright burst and the wall grew into scenery, a fantasy landscape growing out from the tower, spreading out into the night! Yet before its great forests could span far another spark of rogue magic turned the wall into a vertical lake...

"...Sir, somepony will notice if we don't do something soon..."

"Worse than that," a gruff voice replied, "Take a hard look, colt. What you see before you is the end of Equestria, mark my words."

"The... The end? But, sir, my family! My-!"

"Calm down colt... I have a plan... Go to the late general's house. Ask for his sister. Equestria will not fall on my watch, but... What we must do... It's a sin, colt. You will tell no one of this. You will let us old stallions and mares carry the burden and, in return for your silence... I will see peace reign again."

The young colt looked uneasy but nodded and turned to leave, pausing to add, "I will do as you say, sir... I... No one shall know."

With that he left the room, leaving the old stallion alone with the creature whose uncontrolled magic fits seemed to have died down with the sobbing as it finally cried itself to sleep.

"My..." he went over to it. Some starlight shone through the transparent wall, lighting the large being. It looked strong and healthy, in its sleep seeming as vulnerable as a foal... Yet it was more than that. Much more.

"You are a foal to come here..." murmured the stallion to the sleeping beast, "What brought you to us? We were safe... And you do not belong... You crash here, a formless beast, and steal our very shape... A mess that you are now, did you mean for this to happen? Surely not, for you cry so long and hard... And I, I heard you... I..."

He shook his head and looked through the rippling surface of the wall, the night's scenery barely visible through it. Sighing, he continued to mumble to himself, "We said we'd take you in, as you were alone, confused... Our god's word was that we must do so, and you... You destroy half the village... So MANY lives lost... But not you, you could not even be damaged. Not a scratch... And yet," he looked back down at the creature, "I heard you... Did I not? Or were you only echoing those around you? I thought I heard you say sorry..."

"Is it safe to be so close to that... That MONSTER?"

The stallion turned to the mare. As always she was upright and calm, her face a perfect mask for the grief she must feel. Smiling, the stallion returned his gaze to the "monster" at his feet.

"The temple of our god will become a palace..."

"What are you talking about?"

"Our god has arrived."

"Our- no..."

"...The old prophecies are true at last..."

The mare's voice took on a panicked tone, "You cannot MEAN that, has this chaos taken your mind? Please, tell me tha-"

"WHAT CHOICE DO WE HAVE!"

The stallion's composure had finally cracked as the day caught up with him; the confusion, the curiosity; then the shock and finally... The horror, the overwhelming terror... He took a few deep breaths and then, with a worried glance to check the beast still slept despite his outburst, approached the mare to continue in a frantic whisper.

"Of course I don't think... None of our stories, it... But we cannot kill this beast. They tried. She takes no wounds from the guards and now... Now she is with me, and did I not take the oath? To look after the lost souls of this world... If I fail, the others will run, but first we must TRY... We must keep our people calm. Canterlot must stand."

The mare's eyes showed in the faint starlight and her visible fear at his words comforted him. She had always been a steadfast source of sanity.

"...Will they believe it? And... The creature itself? It too?"

The stallion nodded, "They will have no choice... And as for this terrible beast... She IS young, I believe, despite her looks now... If her form is stable, she can even be shown to them. A god among us, the power would be immense... But not just a god. A child god in a palace... The... Outburst only started when she was distressed. We should try to keep her sheltered. We will make this young god our princess; we will save her and ourselves from the nightmare she has brought upon us! ...I think it will work."

The mare paused and then, almost to the disgust of the stallion, nodded. If she was agreeing to such measures then it had truly come to this...

"We shall form a small group, us and a select few... A sisterhood to know her secret and to look after her... I'll have the village fixed as quickly as possible, we can tell her that today was... A dream. A terrible dream. Convince her she is sinless and she will work harder to keep her slate clean. She is young and confused enough for that to work, is she not?"

"I believe so..."

The mare looked to the small creature sleeping in the starlight, "Its-... Her mane, it flows so oddly... Almost looks like the sky... How fitting. I'll see to it the neighsayers are silenced. Whatever ponies saw I shall make sure that everypony knows our truth; Canterlot's greatness is confirmed, for today the celestial heavens birthed us a god. A god in pony form."