Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Broadside

The creature's charge was more akin to limping than anything. It did not move any faster than a pony might have while keeping up a moderate gait, and certainly slower than a proper sprint. Shining was aware not all soldiers had grown mutated in such a way, but he was glad the one they'd ran into specifically had. Especially when their group was still small, something they could outrun or at least maneuver around was far preferable to something that could outrun them instead.

From the back of the group, Cadence fired a beam from the horn aimed at the creature's chest. It struck its target, but did not do any damage. Like a stream of water hitting a rock, magic simply parted and slid off against the thing's skin, and continued on behind it without leaving any signs, eventually being consumed by the air it passed through. The creature kept on limping, undisturbed.

Shining grit his teeth. "Back away and spread out!" he said, turning slightly to more properly address the other guards. His horn shone and he lifted Luna off his back, and levitated her to the other unicorn. "Keep her safe, stay the furthest away but don't go out of sight." He knew they couldn't just blindly run away or spread themselves too thin. They could lose sight of each other or of their path, and worse they might run into another one of those creatures. Best to figure out a way to deal with them when faced with one they could manage.

The remaining ponies spread out and backed away from the creature, while Shining remained to face it down and Cadence came to his side. Magic wouldn't work, that was clear, but he could certainly think of something else. He raised his shield, and his wife split her powers between aiding him with it and reading a teleportation spell in case things went wrong.

A few, slow seconds later, the creature was finally on them. It barely stopped its forward stumbling, and chose to attack by swinging one of its stretched arms towards the shield. If the sight hadn't been so deeply disturbing, it would have probably been quite comedic. It struck, and for a moment it looked like it would bounce off. But then it kept pushing.

They shield didn't properly break. It bent, warped, shifted around the appendage like it was being repelled by it. If the previous spell had flown like water, the shield acted more like honey or mud or a thick glue-like paste. Somewhat like chewing gum, perhaps, perhaps it was just the colour giving that impression. The bubble bent as the arm pushed inside, and then began to part around it, making its skin visible to the ponies.

Cadence got both of them out of there and where the creature had been when they'd first spotted it in a flash. From there, Shining fired another small blast merely to catch its attention, so it would focus on them and not on the other ponies nearby. The creature turned after being harmlessly hit in the back of the head, and once it spotted Shining again it once more began to limp forward.

Comments

[Speckle]

Magic resistance; Nightmare Moon thought of everything, it would seem. If direct magic attacks won't work, then it's time to get creative.