Deep Within the Bowels of the Forgotten Castle

Twilight's breath hitched within her chest, her ears listening to that terrible screeching, her heart pounding rapidly as the screeching slowly began to die down. Her ears swiveled upon her head, the faint sound of disappearing footsteps behind her signaled that the crew had at least gotten away from the area. Her horn was a lit with light once more, the light much brighter than last time as she illuminated the entire room. Her eyes were once again met with the dank prison, mindless words scrawled among the place, chains slowly swaying in the non-existent breeze. Yet, that figure that had once been resting against the wall had disappeared from it's resting place.

Twilight's eyes quickly darted around the room, violet scanning every inch of the circular room before she turned her gaze towards the rest of the dungeons behind her. One of her eyebrows raised, she was sure that she would have been able to hear the creature run past her so it should have still been contained within the cell. Her head turned back towards the prison, her horn had lit every inch of the prison which made it impossible for the creature to hide.

The soft sound of a bell echoed out within the cell.

It was at that point that realization had hit Twilight over the head and her eyes went as wide as dinner plates as she allowed the muscles in her neck to constrict. Slowly her head tilted, eventually taking in the ceiling above her, alongside the strange creature which lived in this pitiful cell.

It appeared to be planted rather firmly into the ceiling, two large wing like appendages keeping it secured to the ceiling as that horrid mask only stared back at the Alicorn below. The very sight of that mask would forever leave an imprint within Twilight's mind.

Her mouth slowly opened into a silent scream, every nerve in her body trying to get her to move away from the beast which eyed her as it's next prey. The 'wings' upon it's back twitched as they pulled from the ceiling and it fell to the ground with a rather loud and wet smack. It's tail rose into the air behind it, curling into a crescent moon as a small golden bell tied to the end of it's tail came into view. Twilight began to back away from the beast as it lowered it's front down to the ground slightly, it's head bowing to the ground as it's tail twitched and the bell jingled softly.

A sphere seemed to encompass the beast in an instant, the sphere completely see-through as it seemed to slowly revolve before it violently erupted from it's resting position. The sphere smacked Twilight head on, the force seemingly matching the very strength of the wrath of a god. Twilight found herself spinning away from the creature in the air, various cuts and bruises covering her body as she hit the ground with a loud smack and slid three feet further. She found herself almost half way to the stairs, the strength behind that simple attack rather astonishing for the small pony.

Her hooves shifted beneath her, planting themselves firmly into the stone floor as she attempted to rise up once more. Eventually she found herself standing once more, her legs shaking with quite a bit of strain beneath her as they attempted to hold her weight in their weakened condition. Her eyes slowly looked up from the ground as she took in ragged breath after ragged breath and they met a sight that she wished was nothing more than a dream.

It was standing directly in front of her, it's mask only inches from it's face as it seemed to scan the purple Alicorn from head to hooves. Twilight remained completely still as it slowly began to pace around her, those empty eye holes seemingly glaring her down as it sniffed at the air around her. Those 'wings' seemed to flex slightly, the corner of her eyes picking up on the faint glimmer of metal as it slowly passed around her once before stopping behind her. She twitched in fear as she felt one of the wings slowly run against her side, a soft yelp of pain escaping her lips as her observation was correct. Each individual 'feather' and 'bone' upon it's 'wings' were blades fashioned into the shape of wings. She could feel each individual 'feather' slicing only skin deep into her haunch as it seemed to examine her. It was then that her ears picked up on something, a soft mutter as it seemed to regard her as something else.

"Q-Queen..."

"Princess Sparkle!" She heard a voice, her head quickly swiveling upon her neck as she looked behind her and witnessed a sight that she believed was brought upon by the very god of fortune itself. A loud cracking noise rang out within the halls of that desolate prison. The white form of a pony crashed directly into the creature, both forms tumbling a few feet away from Twilight as the pony rose above the creature. A wide grin was adorn on his face as he began to lash out at the creature below him, his hooves striking at any point they could lash out at.

The creature below the pony released a loud screeching noise from behind it's mask, blood visibly leaking from beneath the mask as the pony above it continued to violently lash out at it. The creature began to squirm, it's form writhing in what appeared to be agony, as it attempted to push the pony away. Yet, the pony above wouldn't budge and it fell on relying on a different tactic as that bell rang once more.

"Look out!" Twilight called out, her voice echoing out within the prison as the pony looked back at her from the darkness before glancing to the creature.

In an instant he was sent flying from the creature, an unseen force tossing him high into the air before he landed with a loud thud against the stone below. Twilight called out in fear as the creature slowly stood up, it's legs shaking violently as it tried to find footing on the ground before it began to visibly heave. It began to violently vomit on the ground in front of it, a mouth visible beneath the white mask as a pitch black fluid gushed from it. The pony on the ground slowly stood, backing away from the creature as he took a spot next to Twilight and tried to catch his breath from being flung towards the ceiling.

"W-What is this thing?" The pony said, his teal eyes looking towards Twilight as she finally took the time to process just who this pony was. It was strange to see a guards pony without their armor as it seemed he had discarded them above ground in favor of being able to move quickly to Twilight's side.

"I'm not quite sure Lieutenant Swift Blade, but I certainly intend to find out." Twilight said, her violet eyes darting to the guard next to her before they returned to the creature in front of them that only seemed to continue in emptying it's bowels of that foul looking liquid. "I don't think it will let us go without a fight, so I believe it best that we attempt to knock it out and chain it up." Twilight muttered under her breath, her eyes catching the brief movement of the guard's head next to her.

"By your command, Princess. Though, try to stay out of this Princess, I don't know if it will attempt to attack you if you get involved." Lieutenant Swift Blade said, his wings flaring outwards as he took to the air, his fore-hooves taking hold of his trusty spear just as the creature righted itself once more. It appeared to have finished expelling it's body of the taint, it's mask once more resting comfortably over it's entire face as it's own wings flared out at it's sides. Each individual feather seemed to glint softly in the faint light that Twilight's horn gave off as it seemed to only stare at the current threat which remained within the air above it. The only movement it made, though, was the faint rising and falling of it's chest and the occasional twitch of it's wings.

Lieutenant Swift Blade decided to begin the assault, his wings flapping violently as he took himself into a dive with his spear at the ready to lash out at the being. The creature itself only seemed to hiss in response to the movement as it quickly dashed forward, each hoof creating a soft clopping sound against the stone as it dashed in Swift Blades' direction. As Swift Blade moved in for his attack, it quickly bent it's legs and sent itself into the air with a quick thrust of it's legs. It's wings lashed out at the guard who could only gawk as it seemed to float gracefully through the air. It's form took the spear to it's side, the tip easily slicing through it's skin which only caused blood to splatter to the ground below.

Lieutenant Swift Blade wasn't as well off as the creature seemed to be.

He found himself within a flurry of blades, each individual feather seemed to flex outwards from it's wings and slice through his skin like butter. He cried out in pain as he quickly took to the air before too much damage was sustained and he found himself panting softly as blood slowly oozed from a multitude of cuts all around his body.

"Sweet Celestia, this thing hurts." Swift Blade said, grunting softly as each cut burned against the damp air within the cell block hallway. Twilight could only look on in interest as the creature landed on the ground, it's left side seemed to crumble for a moment as the deep gash opened and spilled out more blood onto the ground below. Yet, even with so much damaged dealt to it, it righted itself once more as it looked towards the Pegasi who only remained close to the ceiling. It's tail rose to the air once more as the soft chime of a bell rang out within the cell block.

"Why would it try to hit him with that attack? He is well outside of the range of such-" Twilight's muttering was quickly cut off as a crackling light began to fill the hallway. In almost an instant, the form of a lightning bolt seemed to form atop the bell, the creature continued to watch Swift Blade who could only look on in fear as it's tail slowly lowered.

"Watch out!" Twilight yelled, her horn quickly sending a quick burst of magic towards the creature, said being crying out in pain once more as it stumbled and it's tail flicked towards Swift Blade. The lightning bolt was sent soaring, though was slightly off due to the sudden attack from behind. The lightning bolt struck the ceiling next to Swift Blade, the pegasus looking at the deep hole that had been formed within the stone.

"This is so unreal!" Swift Blade said, hardening his stare at the creature below as it slowly rose to it's hooves and turned towards Twilight with a soft hissing. "Don't you dare turn your back to me!" Swift Blade called out, diving down towards the creature who only seemed to stare intently at Twilight as it began to slowly trot towards her.

"Q-Queen..." It's voice rang out, soft and raspy much like the night breeze as it attempted to once again move to Twilight in such a nonchalant fashion. It's ignorance was met with a very sharp pain which only seemed to radiate outwards from two points on it's body. It slowly turned it's head to look at the pegasus who was growling at it, it's eyes drifting to the spear which impaled it from one side of it's body to the other. The spear itself had lodged itself straight through where it's heart was and in shock it only seemed to slowly turn it's head turned towards Twilight before attempting to take another step towards her. Then just like that, it's body gave out as it dropped to the ground before going completely still.

Twilight could only look on in terror, the once substantial threat having been put down by the Guards Pony who had took it upon himself to violently rid the world of the creature. She slowly trotted over to the body, it's form remained still as she looked over it with her eyes before turning her gaze to Lieutenant Swift Blade.

"I am sorry, Princess. I thought it was going to attempt to hurt you so I put it down." Swift Blade said, landing on the ground next to Twilight who could only look at him for a brief moment before looking back to the corpse in front of her.

"I understand Lieutenant Swift Blade, it was a swift decision and one that might have saved my life." Twilight said, her voice was soft as she found herself tearing up slightly at the form in front of them. For the length of time she had been alive, she had never witnessed something's life so quickly extinguished. Despite having saved Equis many times in the past with her friends, never once had they ever killed or witnessed the death of something. She closed her eyes and allowed her head to bow down to the creature in a way of showing respect for the creature, despite it having been violent with both herself and Swift Blade earlier. For all they knew, it could have only been protecting it's home.

Her ears twitched atop her head suddenly, a soft sound ringing out as her eyes quickly darted open. What she noticed was jaw dropping.

Slowly the creature seemed to stir, it's hooves twitching softly as it's chest began to once again rise and fall as the soft sound of breathing began to radiate from it's form. Yet, it only laid there as it seemed to twitch occasionally.

"What?! How?!" Twilight yelled, her eyes wide as dinner plates as Swift Blade could only stutter next to the princess in a mixture of fear and shock. "You stabbed it through the heart! How is it still alive!" Twilight exclaimed, her horn flaring up as a bubble of magic quickly surrounded the creature and lifted it from the ground.

"Lieutenant Swift Blade, we must leave this place, now, before it awakens. I think it is best we take it back to the camp and chain it up before transporting it back to Canterlot." Twilight said, her eyes now as sharp as a blade as she began her trot towards the staircase, the guards pony only watching on in shock before he shook his head and began to follow Twilight.

"Hopefully, Princess Celestia will be able to shed some light on this thing..."

Author's Note

Well... That certainly escalated quickly...