Applebloom ran, screaming at the top of her lungs, in the direct opposite direction of the monster that had obviously eaten Zecora and claimed her house for its new den. What other explanation could there be for such a humongous creature sitting in her hut and snarling so ferociously at her when she had intruded upon what looked like him eating her Zebra friend? Tears poured from her eyes--which were clenched firmly shut in a base instinct to hide from the threat--as her hooves pounded a trail through the thick underbrush of the Everfree with no discernible destination apparent.

She just had to get away from the monster that had eaten Zecora, then tell Twilight so that the powerful Alicorn could gather up her friends and wrangle the mean ol' monster, because that's what her sister had always told her to do if she ever ran into a monster while going to her lessons with Zecora. So intent was she on her blind dash to safety, she didn't even notice the obstruction in her path until she ran face-first into it with a dull thud and a good deal of pain as her muzzle flattened against something that felt slightly squishy, mostly solid, and very warm.

She stumbled back a good few steps and landed squarely on her butt as she rubbed her sore muzzle with both hooves, wondering what in the world could have stopped her dead like that without even budging, and really hoping that it wasn't what she thought it was. She opened one sunset-colored eye before she immediately opened both, her irises and pupils shrinking to pinpricks as she swiftly scooted back away from the one thing that she had been told to absolutely, positively, never under any circumstances, disturb while it was sleeping.

An unhappy snarling sound emanated from the massive Manticore as it turned its gargantuan head to gaze upon the idiot who had dared to wake him up from his afternoon nap. He shook out his sanguine mane and yawned, exposing two rows of razor-sharp teeth that were made for ripping through muscle, sinew and bone. He extended two large, bat-like wings in a stretch as he got to his feet and turned to face the easy prey, baring his teeth afterwards as he raised his prehensile scorpion tail in preparation to strike at the little pony that had been stupid enough to stumble into his napping spot.

Applebloom came to her senses just in time to dive out of the way of the strike, causing the poisonous tip to embed itself in the root of a tree as she scrambled to get her hooves underneath her and began to run away from the dangerous predator. Instead of trying to dislodge his tail, the Manticore simply ripped the root out of the ground and flicked his tail in a practiced motion, flinging the root into the underbrush as it let out a roar of displeasure.

Applebloom looked behind her to see the massive beast pouncing at her, propelling itself with its massive, leathery wings. Just before it was upon her, the filly rolled to the side and scrambled to get back up and keep running the way she had rolled, forcing the predator to land and skid to a stop. It began loping along after the young pony, its jaws now slavering at the thought of the delicious morsel that awaited it once it got its paws on the tender young explorer.

Applebloom was crying harder than ever now, mostly from the impossible terror that had gripped her very soul as she literally ran for her life from the apex predator of this forest. She weaved and dodged around boulders, trees, and anything else that provided just a little bit of cover, just barely staying ahead of snapping jaws, reaching paws, and that incredibly dangerous tail. But, eventually, her unfamiliarity with the terrain proved to be her undoing.

The Manticore managed to back her into a small divot in a sheer cliff face, giving her nowhere to go as it stalked forward and snarled menacingly with each step it took towards her. Applebloom ran side to side as she searched desperately for a way out, but found nothing and collapsed to the hard ground, covering both of her eyes with her forehooves so that she wouldn't see her death coming. The predator crouched down low and readied its pounce, rolling its shoulders a few times and extending both of its wings, before it leaped forward with a mighty roar and murderous intent.

Applebloom flinched and waited for the pain to start... but it didn't, and she instead heard a massive thud followed by a second, slightly more solid thud that sounded more than a bit like something being hit, then hitting the ground. The young filly pulled one of her hooves off of her eyes and cracked the optic open to look, only to see the monster that had been sitting in Zecora's hut now standing over the prone body of the Manticore, which looked to be recovering from a particularly nasty blow from the hammer that the monster held in its right paw.

The monster holstered the hammer that it held in a spot on its back, next to a dangerous-looking sword, and gave the massive beast that had been chasing Applebloom a solid kick that sent it tumbling into the clearing surrounding the cliff face before it rolled to its feet, giving the dichromial monster a look of pure malice. Applebloom let out a quiet whimper upon seeing the look, not knowing whether to be more afraid of the monster that she had been running from to begin with, or the one that had started trying to eat her afterwards.

"Stay behind me, young one. I am getting the distinct impression this beast wants us for lunch, and I don't intend for you or me to get put on the menu," the first monster said as it shifted into a weird stance that kinda reminded her of Rainbow Dash's Karate positions. She decided to listen to the one who hadn't chased and attacked her on sight and kept it between her and the Manticore as much as possible, her hooves shaking quite ferociously as she prayed to Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and any other powers that there were that she would get out of this in one piece.

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Lang had never seen any creature quite like this one before, and that was saying quite a bit considering his time spent wandering the wilds of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. Its body was that of a lion, but it seemed that a toddler had been given that basic template along with a bunch of animal parts and told to go crazy with the design. He knew he had enough Chi to send this thing packing in a few minutes, should he fight it one-on-one, but he was currently protecting the filly that had run screaming into the woods after their encounter.

It was the second scream that had caused the Zebra and the Pandaren to leap out of their respective positions and tear off into the woods in search of the filly, and it had been sheer luck that allowed him to stumble upon the attack just before the filly was killed. Now, he was gathering his Chi as he kept himself between the monster and the pastel mini-horse, or "Pony," as Zecora had so politely informed him was their species' name in the brief time before they had heard the small one's scream.

The Pandaren batted aside a strike from the scorpion tail with a deft hand, causing the stinger to embed in the ground, before he rushed forward and focused a large amount of Chi in one hand while the beast was still recovering. He struck forward with all of his might and released the Chi, performing a Tiger Palm Strike that sent the beast skidding in the opposite direction. The Monk heard a few ribs creak as it hissed at the pain, coming to a stop a full seven feet away. Lang shifted back into position quickly and the beast hissed spitefully at the Windwalker, causing him to smirk and give a "bring it" gesture with his outstretched hand.

The beast snarled and charged forward, using a serpentine pattern to make it harder to defend against its strike before lunging forward with the full intention of tackling the interloper to the ground and ripping him open with its powerful jaws. Unfortunately for it, Lang was used to fighting creatures much nastier, stronger, and craftier than it could hope to be if it lived a hundred years more. The Pandaren performed a beautiful roundhouse kick that caught the beast full in the jaw, sending it tumbling away before finally stopping a good distance away.

It scrambled back to its feet and rushed him again, this time utilizing its wings to pounce at him and attack from above, which was quickly proven to be a bad idea when the Monk pulled out his hammer and hit the creature full in the face with a swing that he knew knocked a few teeth loose. The beast was knocked straight to the side and hit the ground so hard it bounced a few times, actually making Lang wince in sympathy as it tumbled over the grass. He felt slightly bad as he realized that this creature, while very fierce in appearance, stood very little chance against his training and experience in combat. Honestly, compared to fighting an adolescent black dragon in the heat of the Wound in Kalimdor, this beast was barely even a warm up for him.

The beast shook its head and growled, getting up to prepare to charge again, before it suddenly gave the gentle warrior a confused look that was reciprocated by his foe. The beast looked at its flank, drawing attention to the feather-tipped dart that now protruded from its left flank. It let out a groggy Mrow before its eyes slowly closed and the beast slumped over, falling to the ground in a heap in an action that caused Lang to half-lower his guard out of pure shock. The answer to what had just happened materialized out of the underbrush that surrounded the clearing, as Zecora stepped into the light with a blowgun made out of Bamboo in her teeth and several more darts with multi-colored feathers on the end strapped to her left foreleg.

"You know, I could have handled that one," Lang said with a mirthful grin as he slipped out of his pose, giving Zecora a mock-reproachful look. The Zebra merely grinned as if to say, "Of course you could," before she slipped the blowgun into a slot in the brace on her left foreleg and rushed forward to see to her young apprentice, who was currently looking more confused than ever. In that moment, the young filly asked a question that could best be described as the single most pertinent query that had been posed in his entire time spent in this world.

"What in the name of Celestia is goin' on?"

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Celestia and Luna returned to their physical bodies, which were currently in the northernmost tower of Canterlot Castle, in a room that was guarded by two pairs of Lunar and Celestial Guards and only accessible by the royal sisters. Celestia let out a sigh of frustration as Luna grit her teeth slightly, a rare moment of emotional display between the two as they allowed themselves to show what they felt in the security of the most private room in the entire Equestrian Empire. "This is not good, Lulu," Celestia murmured as she reverted to the childhood nickname she had given her sister, showing just how concerned she really was. "The last time something like this happened..."

"I know, Tia," Luna said, not using the royal "we" in front of one of the only ponies she considered her equal, removing the need for the solar Diarch to finish the thought. "The ether hath been much disturbed by this creature's arrival. However, you know as well as I what the consequences may be should we not handle this with care. We cannot leave Canterlot undefended, nor are we aware of this creature's abilities. If we meet him with force, there is no telling what he may do," she mused as she bit her lower lip, looking down at the crescent moon design that she stood upon, the symbol of her domain. "Perhaps... Twilight Sparkle, she resides near the Everfree, doth she not?"

Celestia looked up and was about to flat-out refuse the very notion of sending her student, almost her surrogate daughter, but she bit her tongue and forced herself to give Luna's train of thought credence. She looked up to the ceiling, where a spiraling pattern of azure, slightly cloudy skies and starry night skies swirled until they met in the middle, where a silver crescent moon rested over a golden sun that both glowed slightly due to enchantment, giving the room a soft, soothing light.

Twilight was a Princess now, the Alicorn whom embodied magic and friendship. She was still coming into her full powers, true, but she was still a magnificently powerful individual who could handle most any threat with ease. She knew the Everfree forest better than even she and her sister, due to her long time spent within the forest whereas the two of them had avoided it like the plague due to the horrible memories they had there. She had a friend who lived within the Forest, a Zebrican Shaman, and the Elements of Harmony to help her should the creature prove hostile.

"You know as well as I that it is our best option, Tia," Luna murmured when she saw the conflict upon her sister's face, reaching out with a wing and placing it upon her sister's back. Celestia's bright pink eyes regarded her for a moment before she closed them and sighed, nodding her head in assent. "I shall write the letter, sister. Thou must prepare to lower the sun in a few hours, and then I shall send two of my Lunar Guards to aid Twilight however they can. She will be as safe as I can make her, I swear it upon my honor as Princess," she said as she placed a hand over her heart before getting up to walk out of the meditation room, leaving her sister to her thoughts.

Celestia looked off into the distance as she thought on what was happening, wondering if she was ready to face the storm that she could sense on the horizon. She could only hope that she was, and she could only pray to her mother that her nation was ready as well.

Author's Note

Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was a real doozy to write. I hope you liked the fight scene with the Manticore, but if you didn't please comment and tell me why! As always, I am open to criticism and input, and will definitely use whatever comments I get to improve the story and my writing.

As always, I am still looking for a beta reader and an Editor. You would get to read my stories before they became published, and have input on the course of the story. Please, send me a message or comment if you are interested.

Regards,
Stigma