Wrath

A girlish giggle sounds from above Twilight, Luna, and me as we stand in the doorway, Twilight in front with me directly behind her, and Luna to my immediate right. My eyes flick upward for a moment and see nothing but the tree-house that Twilight calls home.

My instincts know better than that.

Today had been well. I think.

Acting quickly, I lean forward and shove Twilight out of harms way. She lets out a brief cry before hitting the neighboring house. I move to do the same to Luna before the noise of something sharp slicing through the air reaches my ears. I am too slow, the beast's strike is about to land.

I'm too late. I internally wince, bracing for the blow.

It never comes.

I look up to see a shield of blue magic, two long claw-like cracks on the right and left side of it. I look to Luna and see her horn alight, glowing furiously. Her face is strained into a grimace as she glares upward. The shield begins to slowly lower, flickering. The force pushing down slowly overpowering Luna.

I raise my arms to support it. Almost right as I begin to aid, Luna's shield stops flickering and turns an almost opaque teal, the cracks mending completely.

Together we push back, raising until my arms are fully extended, as we hold it there Luna eyes flick to mine.

"Is this the beast you were speaking of?" She asks, strained.

"Probably," I respond, shifting my weight. "But I know not why it is here"

We hear an enraged shriek above us. The shriek lasts several seconds before morphing into a bloodcurdling roar. I look back up and see the wood of the tree-house tear violently as the creature re-positions itself, before a great deal of additional force slams into Luna's Shield. This time the force concentrated in six separate points on the barrier, cracks emanating from each point.

"This barrier wont hold," Luna grunts. The hidden creature presses down further, I am forced to one knee and Luna's face is contorted in agony.

Her horn sparks once. The barrier is about to break.

I release my hold on the barrier and dive toward Luna. Her grimace gets even wider for a brief moment before the barrier collapses and she is tackled to the side.

A loud thud sounds behind us. I scramble to my feet and assume a defensive position over the still recovering Luna. Two claw-shaped indents can be seen on the dirt where the beast is standing.

"Was that really necessary?" Twilight's voice asks from the other side of the indent, her having recovered from being thrown like a rag-doll.

A sickening swooshing sound begins to fill the air. Where have I heard this before? It sound like something very sharp is whipping through the air. Oh

My grim visage falls to horror as I realize what the sound is.

"Twilight get down!" I bellow. She looks at me curiously before obeying and dropping down. A moment later the wall behind where her head just was is cleaved horribly, a massive gash marring the wooden home.

I turn my attention back to the indents on the ground. I can at least track its feet. The indents disappear as the creature moves. A claw-mark lands closer to Twilight then before, then another.

I glance at the still recovering Luna, whom was rubbing her horn in anguish, before bringing my left arm to my face and sinking my teeth into my own flesh.

I hardly feel it anyway.

As blood begins to trickle down my arm I launch into a dead sprint at the tracks. A very worried Twilight just a few paces beyond them. She looks conflicted a moment, before her horn lights up and she disappears in a puff of lavender magic. I smile darkly. Good girl.

As Twilight teleports away I reach where the tracks imply the creature is, I dive into it with arms wide open. My chest meets carapace and my arms swing around to its front. As my blood touches the creature its illusion fades, revealing the Maiden in all its grotesque glory. The Maiden then begins to thrash about wildly, trying to dislodge my grip of its throat.

Two sharp gasps sound behind me followed immediately by feverish muttering, but they are ignored as I put my all into wrestling the fiend, blood pouring down my arm and onto the creature.

My teleportation spell lands me right next to Princess Luna, who has just ambled to her hooves. She looks down to me and smiles before the seriousness of the situation hits us. We both gasp as we see what has happened.

Wrath appears to be hanging onto nothing in the air, but his body is flailing around like somepony possessed. His arm is dripping blood, and as it stains an invisible surface near it something begins to come into view. From invisible to translucent and then finally to opaque the creature from Wrath's story comes into view, looking just as terrifying as he had said it did.

From his position on its back, Wrath starts to try to strangle the massive thing, much to its displeasure.

"We have never seen a horror that is that monstrosity's equal." Luna mutters quickly from beside me.

"How do we get rid of it?" I ask. Could I just teleport it away?

The Maiden begins to attack Wrath with its tail, and lashes him violently as one would with a whip. This does nothing to deter Wrath, as his grip only seems to tighten as his blood is spilled. I can see the chitin around the Maiden's neck beginning to crack and give way.

The Maiden flexes all six of its claws at once, and brings them back as far as it can, crushing Wrath from both sides. Wrath howls in agony and releases his hold on the Maiden's neck, and grabs a the base of the Maiden's uppermost right claw. As it regains its breath Wrath gets into position on the shoulder.

I realize what he is about to do and can only stare slack jawed. Wrath heaves with all his might, and a sickening crack echoes throughout Ponyville followed immediately by a hellish roar that would make a hydra envy. Wrath lands on the ground with his prize before being beset on by the creature, who turns and back-claws him fiercely with its three left claws, sending him crashing through the Library wall.

A look a fire comes into Luna's eyes as the crash echoes throughout the town.

Lights begin to turn on in neighboring houses and Luna begins charging up a spell, white light emanating from her eyes. I begin to back away as I see the amount of magic running through her horn. I glance at the now wounded Maiden, who is clutching its stub with a shocked expression.

This is going to end badly. I think. I begin channeling a shield spell while running toward the Library where Wrath was thrown.

"FIEND! WE SHALL OBLITERATE YOU WHERE YOU STAND!!!" Luna bellows with the royal canterlot voice as she releases a shaft of pure white magic at the Maiden. It barely has time to shield itself with its five claws before the blast hit in a blinding flash of light.

Oh and hit it did, right as I reach the hole in the Library and activate my spell. The explosion sounds as my forward shield surrounds the library.

The blast-wave explodes outward from the Maiden, breaking windows and knocking anything and everything aside as it goes.

As my vision returns I see the creature in the same position, five claws acting as a shield and the rest of its body crouched behind it. Luna is also in the same spot, panting with the magic having left her eyes.

Time seems to slow down as the Maiden stands.

Its claws retreat to its sides and dig into the ground raising it back to its feet. The claws themselves seem no worse for wear, however the same can not be said for the rest of the creature. I feel some bile in my throat is I watch. The Maiden stands, its carapace charred and cracked. Bits and pieces of its outer shell fall to the ground, revealing the vulnerable flesh beneath. Its face opens in a silent snarl, chipped and broken teeth stare at me and Luna, no less fierce than before.

The Maiden takes a step back, and begins to become translucent, but somethings wrong with its natural ability. The parts of its carapace that fell off are not invisible, they are hidden from view but emit a strange blackish light, strangely illuminating the surrounding area as the wounded Maiden takes careful steps away from us.

My magic thrums slightly as I quickly scan the light. After half a moment the spell tells me the light is on the fringe of being ultra violet. If this was not so terrifying this would be the most exciting and bizarre scientific event I have seen since the Elements of Harmony!

"What the buck is that thing!?" A stallion shouts from a nearby window.

"Dear Celestia!" Another voice.

"Horrible!" Another.

This is getting out of hoof. A look back toward the hole in the Library wall tells me nothing but dust can be seen. Luna is recovered and is now marching toward the creature, sending up small, blue pulses of magic. A distress signal to call the guards! Why didn't I think of that?

Ponies begin to peek out of their homes, watching and chatting quietly as the Princess marches toward the retreating maiden, the black-light still erupting from its unseen wounds, it looks more like some strange ghost than a living thing, the large stub of its missing arm shining like a beacon.

The Princess follows the creature, the Royal guards that had been stationed in Ponyville arrive. Twenty strong with the majority being pegasai, the creature is soon surrounded from the air. The unicorn guards take position around the creature, erecting magic barrier on top of barrier.

"FEAR NOT MY LITTLE PONIES. THE CREATURE SHALL BE DEALT WITH. RETURN TO YOUR HOMES." Luna bellows in the Royal canterlot voice.

I swallow loudly then approach her, stepping over broken glass. I blink twice before casting repair spell after repair spell, looking for where glass had been before Luna's spell. My repair spell is not powerful enough to fix anything other than glass, but that will have to do.

"Princess!" A royal guard approaches Luna. Typical white fur and blue mane but with a small orange feather behind his ear, testament to his rank as an officer.

"Corporal." She responds. Still eyeing the strange sight within the many shields.

"What are your orders?" The apparent Corporal asks.

"Keep the 'creature' contained. We will send word to our sister immediately and the two of us shall discus on a course of action from there."

The Corporal and Luna move closer together and continue to talk, but I get sidetracked by a certain pink mare.

"Heya Twi!" Pinkie greets. How she got behind me I don't know. Don't question it, just don't question it, remember last time.

"Hi Pinkie." I greet. "I take it the noise woke you up?" I ask with a sad smile.

She chortles, ending with a snort.

"No I wasn't sleeping. I just had my entire left leg go itchy for like THREE whole seconds. I knew something bad was gonna happen but I couldn't tell where so I couldn't sleep!"

Pinkie looks around rapidly.

"Where's the big guy?" She asks, one ear flopping back and forth.

I point with my hoof toward the tree house, and the gaping hole in the wall. The dust now having settled, the innards of the tree can now be plainly seen. A whole lotta books.

Pinkie looks to be, confusion and sadness evident on her face.

"What happened?"

"That." I point with a hoof toward the Maiden, who I see has now abandoned its 'invisibility' and is lying on the ground, steam still rising from the cracks in its carapace. "...hit him through the tree house wall." Pinkie's mane deflated slightly.

"He is ok right?" She asks. Umm, I never did actually check. I'm sure he is fine.

"I'm sure he is Pinkie, he said he had fought one of these things before! I bet he is fine." I smiled a false smile. Now that I think about it, he said he barely survived an encounter with one, and that he did not kill it.

But Pinkie does not need to know that.

Just then I feel a scaly set of arms hug my foreleg. I look down at the small dragon and quickly nuzzle him.

"You ok Spike?" I ask. He had not been in the Library at the time, he had been with Rarity.

"Yeah" he responds, wiping away some residual mist from his eyes. "I just had this really bad feeling, and then there was this horrifying sound, and then I came out here and heard an explosion and I got thrown to the ground and then I saw the hole in the library and, and, and.."

I cut him off with another nuzzle.

"Its ok Spike, I promise." The little dragon nods happily, then climbs up my leg and sits on my back, hugging the back of my neck.

I feel something large pat the entirety of my back, Spike and all. Spinning my head I see a colossal snow-white wing. A snow-white wing attached to none other than...

"Princess Celestia!" I gasp, spinning around into a bow.

"Sister!" Luna calls from behind me.

"We have captured the creature responsible for the San-Palamino village abductions." Luna gestures with a wing to the bubble of magic. The creature was not laying or standing, it was in an odd limbo of the two, it is laying horizontal as it was before but has now proped itself up on its three left claws.

Its eyes are glued to Celestia, with its jaw slack.

"I see." Is all Celestia says. She approaches the dome with an expression unlike her normal self. Her princess smile is gone, replaced by a faraway glare. It sends shivers down my spine.

As she reaches the magical barrier she lights her horn in a powerful magic.

"Lower the shield!" She commands. The guards ponies hesitate briefly before complying and lowering the shield.

What is she thinking?!

The Maiden tries to rise from the ground but is unable, its body is too wounded. After struggling it finds itself perched on 7 limbs, slanted slightly due to the missing arm. It looks up at Celestia, who lets her glare fade back into her normal smile.

The spell on her horn brightens.

"Make it quick." The creature requests, with the small voice of a filly.

Celestia blinks twice and all the guards show different levels of bewilderment. Ranging from a slight confusion to full blown slack jawed astonishment.

Spike moves around on my back and Celestia clears her throat. Her spell activates and a great many golden chains appear around her, each thrumming with powerful enchantments.

"I'm not going to kill you."