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.”
'Only slightly different than real mountains'
I would pay to see one of those.
Poor shiney. Fighting Feral Twilight like that must be hard.
Dang-a-lang... Twi, what's going on with you (Beyond the obvious)? I really hope that she's not completely lost. How else is she going to help stop NMM when she returns?
Time jump... I enjoy this story and will keep reading it. I like the AU setting and love where you are taking this. I hope you put Zecora into the story and have her be a friend to "the monster", that would make for some good interaction.
Keep up the good work!
An excellent chapter. Good descriptive of what it's like to try an hunt a feral, critical powered Twilight.
you know, i wonder how shiny and cadence like all the guards referring to twilight as "monster"?
I'm wondering where this starts off timeline wise. Shining and Cadence are already married, and expecting it would seem, and there was mention of Shining creating a barrier over all of Canterlot, so I almost want to say that this is sometime after the end of season two, but that leads to the question of what happened with NMM and Discord. Trixie apparently became Celestia's student, so did she perhaps take on the element of magic in Twilight's absence? I suppose I'll find out.
2025125
I'm not completely sure about the normal timescale, but I would imagine that Nightmare Moon has already been dealt with considering Shining Armor normally wouldn't have married Cadence until the end of Season 2. Admittedly there might be some changes on account of Twilight's "event", but considering that the search has been going on for almost 11 years and presumably Shining Armor wouldn't have the authority to start such a large search until after becoming the Captain of the guards (which, I believe, canonically happened just before Episode 1). With all of that together, I wouldn't imagine still being earlier than the start of the series and can't think of any reason Twilight being feral could delay Nightmare Moon's return.
This story has my interest I kind of want to say that the Zecora bit was too early for a "cryptic foreshadowing" scene, but I can't, really. It's after the whole establishing phase and before a huge time skip, so... I don't even know why i'm mentioning it
2025238
I can certainly see the shared desire to retrieve Twilight (plus the absence of a young filly around) leading to their relationship advancing faster than it would have otherwise. That's my guess, anyway. I'd just chalk up the mention of his shield being able to cover the city as common knowledge. He is the captain of the guard, after all.
can you send me a pm on what exactly an urlock is? I can't seem to be able to google it.
also I bet twi is now powerful enough to challenge both princess celestia and luna and win considering how powerful her magic is in the everfree forest.
2025289
Yes, I suppose that the circumstances, such as their mutual drive to find and retrieve Twilight, would probably help any feelings they had advance at a faster pace than in the canon. Perhaps Chrysalis did attack during the wedding, and because the elements didn't play such a large part in that conflict beyond Twilight's role, then all of those events happened basically as they would have, which would mean that Shining did barricade Canterlot. I don't know, this is all just speculation really.
Dang... Already 11 years into the future?
2025442 But the thing is, we don't know how old Twi was/is in Canon. For all we know, she IS only 17 in the show. She had to be at LEAST five or six when she got her cutie mark, possibly older, since the CMC don't quite act like they're only five or six. Oh well. Speculation-Station AWAY! 8D
Poor Twilight...
I want to know what this "Urlock" is.
damn this story's good! when's the next chapter due to be posted?
2025283
I was under the impression that the start of FiM was greater than 12 years from the date of the rainboom.
In a League game otherwise would discuss more at the moment
Damn! Twi's years in the Everfree HAVE made her magical power shoot up to "moster" levels... I think even Discord would wet himself in sheet terror if he came face to face with her.
On another note, nice nod to your other story "The Traveling Tutor and the Librarian" by mentioning Baron Chrysanthemum (to anyone who has yet to read it, go check it out as it is one heck of a hilarious ride).
Cannot wait for the next chapter.
2025283 I think that they might've become closer due to the trauma and losing twilight, possibly getting married before S1 started.
I'm saying this in hopes that NMM will show up, Trixie'll show up where Twilight should be, try to go for the elements, they'll get their asses kicked, then Twilight'll come in and just be all
And turn the entire castle into a glassy crater as an afterthought.
Also, 2025117, I think something like this:
piclair.com/data/raw00.jpg
I wonder how infamous Twilight has become over the years. What will happen when Nightmare Moon shows up?
2025826
Oh my god no!
I want an animal-mountain, now!!!
This just great twilight destroying everything that stands in her way. I feel sorry for who ever oppose her
2025857piclair.com/data/bjno9.jpg
Try this one. See that dip to the left? that's the Uncanny Valley.
Wow, feral Twilight is even more of a powerhouse then I was expecting. I suppose she doesn't have an ounce of the "don't want to show off" baggage that canon Twilight had at the beginning of the series, and living in the Everfree must have taught her to strike fast and strike hard. Overkill is better than underkill, after all, especially if the other side usually wants to kill and probably eat you.
Really have to question the logic of chasing a scared filly, and trying to trap her. Would have thought the far better solution would have been to set up camp and hope she'd come to them out of curiosity. or maybe hunger if you mad a habit of keeping a good full pot of savory foodstuff on the fire. To late for that now.
2025844
"Sir! The dark Alicorn has gone into the forest!"
"Then start team casting a stunner, and overload it. I want us to be ready to take her down when she gets thrown back out!"
"How long sir?"
"Ten minutes. Any longer is a waste. If she's still in there by then, her corpse is never coming back out. That mad zebra will have told her pet to kill instead of eject."
2026010 Um, yeah. Setting up camp in the middle of the Everfree Forest filled with hungry monsters, with something nice and tasty smelling on the fire. I think I see a logical hole there....
2026011 More like "Sir, Nightmare Moon has gone into the Everfree Forest."
"Oh no. Quick, put together a team. We need to rescue her."
2025710 Note: Unicorns in the Everfree Forest are considerably *less* powerful due to the changes in the way magic works there. If she comes outside the borders....
2025668 Actual placement of the chapters in the MLP timeline will be fuzzy. I have the Changeling Queen chapter outlined, and the CMC are an organization at this point.
2025972 She's just a frightened animal now. Well, until next chapter.
2025608 No you don't. You really don't.
2025182 With what she can do and has done? I think they're OK with it, as long as it doesn't interfere with their job. And it hasn't.
2025117 There's one up in South Dakota called Mount Rushmore. It's going to be awfully peeved when it finds out somebody's been carving on it while it was asleep.
2026129
Gotcha! Question, if you can't answer it no big deal, though. So Twilight is still lucid, she's just been alone for so long in the wild that's she's a bit loopy?
2025125 The last chapter indicated that Trixie will be taking on the role of element of magic for this story.
First off, tell us what an Urlock is. Inquiring minds wish to know.
Secondly, that got real fast paced real fast, and I appreciate that. Well done.
2026169
That was just it, though. She still had her narcissistic personality. So unless she has an abrupt character change I don't see how she could harness the power of friendships. Obviously this is AU, but from the glimpse into her personality it doesn't seem like she would be a good focal point for the elements.
And just because she became Celestia's protege doesn't mean that she is going to become the element of magic. From what I recall Twilight became the element of magic(At least the latent element of magic) then became Celestia's student so that she could be trained (show-wise). Her (Trixie) cutie mark is still the canon one for illusion. Author also seemed to imply that time events are not passing at the same rate or order as in the show.
Obviously I'm just speculating and I could be totally wrong, but that's half the fun.
2026129 I'm one of those kinds of ponies who are hard to creep out. So if its creepy, the creepier the better. So I want to know.
2026137 I think it was clear that Twi was basically burned away, leaving her with her instincts, which in turn results in her acting like a feral animal.
Also, a bit more indication of the timeskip at the beginning would have been nice. If I read it right, then the first indication was Cadance being married, so it really threw me off.
2026512 Every single thing you say is true.
2026524 No, you really don't. Honest. They're even more frightening than Tax Season. They're so frightening that they're an endangered species, because they even scare themselves. They're easy to protect against, though. Just put a couple mirrors up around your house. Of course that can attract Illimups though, and they're even worse
I could make the excuse that I never suggested making camp 'in' the forest, bu I'll be honest. You got me. Dumb idea. Still think there could have been a better way than chasing after her. You do imply that there are those who embrace the forest and can live in it as a result.
I'll direct you to one of my all time favorite poems. I think it could apply to a certain type of Pony and the Everfree
http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/service_r_w/spell_yukon.html
2026554
I read that as Celestia's assumption that she was burned away. Celestia assumed that was the case because it had happened prior, but from what I inferred she was "written off" prematurely. Now obviously there wasn't time enough to check to see if she was still in there, so Celestia just teleported her away to be on the safe side.
As for acting like a feral animal in this chapter I don't think it's so much that she is nothing like normal Twilight, but rather she acts that way because she has had to act like that for survival. She is a solitary unicorn surviving arguably the most hostile location in Equestria. She relies on instincts because that's what keeps you alive. Also, if you have no contact with creatures that don't want to kill and eat you you would probably assume that this new creature (Shining, Cadance, and the guards) is just something new that could harm you and you have to survive and escape.
2026561
Woot! Keep up the good work. You are making this highly entertaining to speculate about. Looking forward to the chapter!
http://paizo.com/products/btpy8ffo?Fantastic-Races-of-the-Otherverse-The-Urlock
Ammirite?
Knew I have heard of one before.
Otherswise, poor Twi
Excellent work! This is the kind of action that we want from this story, It'll be interesting to see how she and Trixie play into their roles and how that changes things! Have a moustache
2025477 from the data on the canon series, this would be around 5-6 years, maybe less, BEFORE the events of season one... but that's just my guestimation based on the fact that Twi was around 20-25 when NMM returned, and was probably between 4 and 12 when she took that (in this universe, horribly gone right) test.
It seems to me that knowing the current situation, I'm actually worried that Nightmare Moon returning would end up making Celestia crack like so much glass... Nightmare goes to Everfree, finds monsterlight, they fight, probably kill each other and reduce the entire forest into a nice flat piece of bedrock, and Celestia and Twilight's family have lost everything... Celestia lost her sister and the filly she thought was her only hope to save her sister, and shining and Cadence lose their sister,
Talk about a heinous turn of events... I can't even imagine how the mane 6 would react to learning that Nightmare Moon is Luna, and Monster is Twi... it hurts to think about.
2026759 Well, why would the mane six care at all? They'd have never met her, and Trixie would have only heard a few stories about Twi. They might feel sad for Luna, yes, but there wouldn't be any PERSONAL emotional value from Twi. They would feel bad because a pony was killed, yes, but since they didn't know her, it wouldn't be as... You know?
Still, just gotta wait for the next chapter! :3
handled right.. NMM might have a ready made pet monster in the everfree when she returns.... even if Twilight is a bit damaged from events, she knows Celestia tried to kill her and has her guards hunting for her for years...... with a little empathy for the damaged mare she could easily convert to the Nightmares side against the Sun Tyrant....
202612
What exactly has she done? I was under the impression that everypony in the tower was saved by shining's shield?
2026831 hmmm... perhaps, unless they learned the whole story from Celestia or Shining/Cadence.
To learn that in another life, they would have been the best of friends... heroes... it might sting a bit. Especially learning what Celestia did.
that was great! twilight's a real powerhouse, can't wait to see some semblance of higher intelligence (when she's not merely a wild animal anymore) in her!
encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR2HPjoCZTMHjiIVGX-W6SrQw4y_62uJ7sADQJEXTnBSIcJknEp3w ...
to write more
2026129
Mt. Rushmore in 60 years:
fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/170/6/1/earth_colossus_by_chase_sc2-d3jdoxw.jpg
2026842
Which leads me to a question, did Twilight get her cutie mark? Because if she did:
Thus Ferrelight is mistaken for Nightmare Moon's minion...
Inaddition a full blown Alicorn might have more power, it'll comes down to the Everfree homefield advantage. Will any magic reduction on Nightmare Moon bring her within shouting distance of a Pony of Mass Destruction that spent the last decade living there?
And what about Fluttershy's, her critters, and the 'mad mare of the Everfree'? Any near Twilight encounters?
hmmmm .. beautiful beautiful Twilight speculation ...
A few months ago i read a story where when Fluttershy fell out of the sky during RD's rainboom race she fell into the Everfree forest and as time passed she eventually became something like the Spirit of the Forest.
I wonder if Twilight could do the same. NMM comes back (fleeing a vengeful Luna/Celestia) looking for a host only to run smack into Twilight. NMM looses but the conflict (external and internal as NMM tries to take over Twilight's body) turn Twilight into the Alicorn of Everfree (the same way Celestia has the sun and Luna has the moon).
I can think of very few things scarier than an alicorn of Hunt/Kill!
in any event i cant wait to see things from Twilight's POV.