La Bruja Enojada

There is no such thing as an easy hunt…

It was a saying that she had heard from the very first moment she heard her father’s voice growling in the echoing confines of their small but sturdy stone den. She had not yet even been able to open her eyes before her father communicated that snarling lesson, the harsh reality of survival and individual domination being delivered long before she could understand it and well beyond. As she aged under her parents carefully guiding paws she heard that very phrase repeated over and over again, each reiteration pounding another nail into her mind; a massive scaffold for future information and lessons being formed upon a single all encompassing thought…

There is no such thing as an easy hunt.

Because of this groundwork she was taught from a very early age how to hunt, her sire and her bearer grinding the art of the kill into her head with the same unrelenting and tireless work that one would use to crack the thigh bone of an elephant. Over and over they drilled the skill of silence in her steps, the ferocity of fire in her fangs, the cruel casualty into her deadly claws, all because of that one unending truth…

There is no such thing as an easy hunt…

When she was first allowed to attend and participate in the social hunts of her kind she came face to face with a monster of her species, a massive specimen whose hunting prowess and past victories brought him to near god-like status among them. Along with the title also came a sense of overly inflated pride and entitlement, his growling and postulating causing one to think he expected all to fall at his feet from a mere glance. She remembered his attitude, his face, his pride; it all spoke of the single defining fact of his own life.

My hunt is always easy. I’m the best there is…

When the day had come to its close she remembered him pridefully trotting around his trio of adult cockatrice, their necks slashed and snapped for good measure rendering their petrifying stare moot. She remembered the gawking of her kin, their mouths open and their eyes wide as if this singular male had come and graced them with the pleasure of a miracle. All of them, except of course, for her. She remembered as he swaggered over to her, the only one of her kind not groveling at his feet, and waved his prize in her face. It was clear from his actions that she was supposed to bow to him; his wickedly crimson eyes demanding her submission to his whims and to his godly seed. She remembered looking him directly in the eyes, her own glittering gold gaze asking a single question, ‘was your hunt easy?’

The response was easy to glean from his that the response was a sound and resounding, ‘Yes.’

She remembered her own fearsome smirk as it came across her lips, rows of bloodied fangs bearing themselves as she gave a small and simple nod over her shoulder. She remembered leading the male and several others deeper into the forests, their silent paws sticking to the ground more and more as they entered the swampy and marsh covered territory found near the heart of their wild homeland. She remembered watching with glee as that infuriatingly pompous male dropped his trio of serpent birds to the ground as she happily hopped upon the skull of her own prize; a juvenile but incredibly large hydra. It was easy to read the question in his eyes, his ruby orbs looking up at her with disbelief and fear, ‘How?’

She snarled loud and roared proud, her eyes always glaring into his as she took a vicious bite of the beast’s thick neck, ‘It wasn’t easy.’

She remembered being addressed with great respect and fear from that point, her skill in the art of the hunt and her formidable record of various defeated foes causing many of her kind to bring gifts and offerings. Each and every one she would turn away, calmly and respectfully sliding the gifts and treasures back to their owners with a firm gaze offering no argument against her obvious wishes. She needed not pity as if she were some young kitten and nor did she need tribute like a power hungry god. All that she needed was prey…

And the knowledge that the hunt would never be easy.

So it was a rather unique experience that she found herself in this early morning; freshly woken from a deep summer evening sleep by the cacophonous sound of thunder and lightning she had gone to investigate a rather loud crash deep in the heart of her territory. To her great surprise she found a being unlike any she had found before, something that she tried to equate to some sort of forest ape but finding several differences between it and the tree dwelling snacks she so happily devoured. For the most part the creature seemed to be lacking a great deal of hair or any other covering for that matter.

To be honest all she saw to cover the skin of the creature were a few scraps and remains of some sort of second skin that had once covered it; a small scrap or two adorning its shoulders with a few more pieces covering its hips and each of its flat footed legs. Taking a brief sniff of the air her mind was flooded with scents, but none were more prevalent than the fragrant aroma of blood and the harsh odor of ash. Indeed the creature seemed to be covered head to toe in various wounds, scrapes and cuts of all shapes and sizes decorating its skin in ways that made her wonder how the creature was still standing. She also could see where the smell of ashes was coming from, if the creatures smoking head fur and cindering second skin were anything to go by she might have thought that the creature had been struck by a wayward bolt of lightning.

Giving another quick scan of the creature solidified her suspicions of this creature’s dubious nature especially considering her knowledge of this wicked forest. This creature lacked horns, claws, scales, fangs, hair, any sort of extraordinary muscular structure, and anything else that could possibly aid it in survival in this ferocious landscape. If anything the creature seemed scrawny and undernourished; a fact that when combined with the creatures obviously weakened physical state sent her stomach into a violent growl. It had been a long time since she had such a defenseless meal…

Perhaps, she thought, just this once…

The hunt would be easy…

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“Twilight yah ain’t makin a lick a’ sense!” Applejack shouted, her hooves thundering over the dirt path as she raced after her violet furred friend, “What’d y’all talkin’ about the Everfree Forest for!?”

Twilight said nothing as she continued running for the border of Everfree Forest, her teeth grit hard and her horn leading the way and she continued to follow the source of the mysterious pull. It was as if some sort of clawed hand had reached out from the forest itself and ensnared the whole of Twilight’s corporeal form, slick transparent fingers sliding around the center of her magical being and reeling her in like a fish on a hook. Thoughts came and went across Twilight’s mental eye without recognition, her focus turned away from her normally analytical mindset and instead being enthralled with the goal of her accelerating path. For Twilight it mattered not what force was in her way, what dangers or perils she might befall, all that mattered was running and running towards this mysterious phenomenon.

It was at this moment that Twilight’s force of will and determination was put to the test when the orange coat of Applejack flittered into her vision. The firm emerald eyes of her friend locked with her own as she raced ahead of the charging mare. When there was a good distance set between them Applejack quickly spun on her rear hooves, the earth beneath her feet giving way but her practiced balance holding her aloft as she turned to face the quickly oncoming purple unicorn.

With her feet firmly planted Applejack thrust her entire body forward, her hat flying from her head as she made a brief but agonizingly painful impact upon Twilight’s own skull. Twilight gave out a yelp of pain as her head made contact with Applejacks, the farm mare’s headbutt powerful enough to cause her a substantial loss of balance thus leading to her falling to the dusky ground in a heap. For her part Applejack only seemed mildly perturbed at the strike, her nostrils flaring and giving a quick snort to forget about the pain before focusing on her true mission, “Now I ain’t gonna ask again Twi, what’s this all about!?”

Twilight groaned as she rubbed the now sore spot on her skull, the tender area just beneath her horn pulsing with every heartbeat as she tried to register the world around her. It was through this pain that the world took on some semblance of normality, the ache in her mind forcing her logical thoughts to work overtime and thus gain some leverage over the pull that continued to tug at the edge of her senses, “Ugh…what are you talking about? Oww…and what just hit me?”

Applejack trotted up to her friend, gracefully scooping her hat from the ground and placing atop her head as she spoke, “That’d be a good ’ol fashioned Apple family apple noggin knocker…be glad I took it easy on yah Twi, most ponies get knocked out from one’a those.”

Twilight slowly cracked open one violet eye, her body slowly rising up to sit upon her haunches as she massaged at her temples, “I can see why but why did you just hit me?”

Applejack sat before her friend and gently reached out with a comforting hoof, “In tha hospital yah went and just stared out tha winda for a couple a minutes before you suddenly whispered somethin’ about the Everfree Forest and ran off. I could barely keep up with yah, yah were runnin’ so fast.”

“Huh?” Twilight spoke in confusion, her mind trying its best to rewind time between the throbbing in her brain and the drain of some unknown force on her senses, “Wait…I…I think I’m remembering…Yes! Now I’ve got it.”

“Er…Twilight,” Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow, “What do yah got?”

Twilight offered a small smile to the orange mare as she stood up, one hoof continuing to rub at the freshly forming bump on her forehead as she spoke, “Well you see, earlier today, just as the storm was ending and Rainbow Dash crashed into the library, I saw something fall out of the sky and land in the Everfree Forest.”

“Somethin’?” Applejack said with confusion, “Like somethin the storm picked up or somethin else?”

“Something else,” Twilight elaborated, “I mean, I am only hypothesizing but the only reason I saw it was because it produced a strange aura, almost like it was magical. I feel that this can also be supported by my observation that it seemed to be on fire when it fell but the fire looked to be green in color which, as we both know, is an indication of flames from a magical source. It also appeared to be of substantial size, though I can’t be entirely sure about that since I didn’t have a known object nearby which I could use to calculate its average size-”

“Uh, Twilight,” Applejack spoke up, her voice pulling Twilight’s attention back to her explanation and away from her theoretical ramblings.

“Right, right, sorry,” Twilight said with a sheepish smile, “anyway, as I said before I sensed some sort of aura around the object when it fell but I lost track of it when other matters became more important.”

“Yah mean Rainbow right?”

“Exactly, but earlier in the hospital the aura that I felt from the object came back but stronger. Much, MUCH stronger,” Twilight said with an almost palpable sense of worry, the pain in her head fading and the pull on her senses being put on the back burner as her logical mind went into overdrive at the implications of such data.

“So…?” Applejack said with uncertainty, a touch of worry in her tone at her friends gradually accelerating apprehension.

Taking a slow breath Twilight closed her eyes, her mind focusing on her own internal magic and the innate flow that it held. Sure enough Twilight felt a slight oddity in her magical stream, a slight pull that seemed to originate in the direction of Everfree Forest, “The aura that the object is resonating seems to have a sort of magnetic effect on my magic, almost like it’s drawing in magic from the surrounding area and centralizing it on a singular point.”

“So what yer tellin me is that this…whatever it is, is suckin up magic?” Applejack responded with wide eyes and her own nervous tone. While it was true that many ponies didn’t think about the words magic and earth ponies in the same sentence there was an undeniable connection between the physically powerful pony breed and the magic of the earth that they worked.

“Yes…and if my assumptions are correct that isn’t even the worst of it,” Twilight said gravely, a heavy sigh escaping her lips as she continued, “The best case scenario is that the object itself simply landed near a large magical energy source and is overloading on the nearby supply; kind of like gorging itself on a huge meal and using that energy to try and pull even more in. That would definitely be the easiest to deal with and the cleanup would be the quickest with the least amount of collateral damage.”

“And tha worst case?” Applejack questioned, her emerald eyes turning from her friends to the looming forest in the distance.

“Worst case,” Twilight sighed, following Applejacks line of sight and setting her eyes upon Everfree and the enigma contained within, “whatever the object was is alive and it is consuming magic to grow stronger. This in turn would cause it to send out a larger aura and pull in even more magic which would power an even stronger aura and so on until it either was defeated or consumed all of the magic in the world. Earlier in the hospital I was also theorizing on if the object was carrying any sort of foreign disease which would compound upon the previous hypothesis and create a situation that I’m not certain we would be able to handle.”

For a great long while Applejack was silent, her mind racing over the information that she had gathered from Twilight’s monologue. Despite what some ponies might have called her the orange mare was very sharp, her practical knowledge of magic and how it affected her life causing her to realize how dire of a situation this was. With a heavy sigh Applejack adjusted her hat on her head, allowing the shadows of her Stetson to swallow her eyes as she spoke, “So why ain’t we seein a bunch of other Unicorns makin a break for the forest?”

“If I had to guess then I would say it had to do with my training,” Twilight said with a halfhearted shrug, “Princess Celestia made sure I knew how to sense and counter any kind of magic so I guess whatever beacon that this object is making is just ringing on a level that I can sense and the others in town can’t. I can’t imagine how much worse this would be if every unicorn in Ponyville was affected…”

“Right,” Applejack said with a nod and slight shiver, her mind picturing dozens of mares and stallions charging the forest and what could be their inevitable doom, “So next question is, what’er we gonna do about this?”

“The only thing we can do is get information,” Twilight said with a sigh, her eyes closing as she felt the tug on her magic become just a bit stronger, “Applejack, can you look for the othrs and give them a heads up on what happened to Rainbow Dash and this object?”

“Ah’ course Twilight but what are you gonna do?” Applejack said, a knot forming in her stomach as she anticipated Twilight’s next words.

“I’m going to see what this object is,” Twilight said with a tone of determination, “I know enough counter spells to magical absorption that I should be safe-”

“Should be?” Applejack cut in with blunt skepticism, “that’s all nice ‘n good with yer fancy theories and mathematics but it ain’t flyin with me Twilight. Yer comin with me tah tell our friends about all this THEN we’re ALL goin tahgether. Like you said before we fought Discord, nothing can beat us as long as we stay tahgether!”

Twilight smiled softly, remembering that battle from so long ago. The lessons they learned, the trials that they had overcome. Shaking her head slightly Twilight sighed, turning her gaze from the forest to Applejack and offering an apologetic grin, “I’m sorry Applejack but I don’t want to risk hurting anypony else.”

Before Applejack could say another word Twilight was engulfed in a sphere of lavender energy, her body vanishing in the blink of an eye and revealing nothing but a softly smoking patch of grass where she once stood, “Aw pony feathers….”

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With every step towards his goal he felt a new strength surge throughout his form, a fresh rush of energy that turned his blood to fire and fed the fanatic flames of his fury with an ever rising vigor. Had he looked upon his body he would see the miracle of his numerous cuts clotting before his very eyes, wide gashes and lacerations of all kinds sealing with a plug of solidified blood. He would be dumbfounded at the sudden evenness in his own gait, his steps coming with greater reliability and firmness despite the fact that not a few moments ago it was an almost assured fact that at least one of them had been broken. Even the ugly scar upon his cheek seemed to be in the process of fading, the marring mark gradually melting away as new, supple flesh bubbled up and buried the area which it once lie.

And yet these would pale in comparison to the other changes he would see.

It would be assured that he would scream in terror at his new face, an amalgamation of his own human features and the elongated snout of some vicious bull-like creature. This alteration only seemed to be accentuated by his new ornate cranial decoration, a pair of foot long bull horns sprouting from his temples and giving him the silhouette of a demonic monstrosity from the depths of hell itself. And yet, while this change was drastic and rather dramatic it only seemed to be a precursor to the rest of his body, each step seeming to send a pulse of metamorphosis along his earthly form and causing new transformations to occur by the second.

With a sickening tearing sound and a fountainous spurt of blood his musculature changed in an instant, his once smaller and streamlined human muscles giving way to an almost juggernaut level of physical fitness; his skin stretching tight and snapping from the strain only to mend seconds later with multiple bandages of coagulated blood. For a moment he stumbled and fell, the first error in his strengthening steps caused by a sudden repositioning of his flat footed legs; knees bending backwards with a violent crack and feet melting to form a pair of monstrous cloven hooves at the end of his now digitigrade limbs.

As his legs repositioned themselves and forced him to the ground so did the rest of his skeletal system take the opportunity to mold into its new terrifying form; a multitude of splinters and snaps echoing in the clearing only to be silenced as their instantaneous rearranging gave birth to something monstrous. In as much time as it takes one to blink he found his way back to his feet, his new hooves finding greater purchase as his hunched body gave a snort of displeasure. As one final pop filled the air his transformations seemed to come to an end; a thin tail tipped by a small tuft of pitch black hair waving back and forth from the base of his spine crowning his rapid transmogrification. With his transmutation at an end he turned his deep ochre eyes towards the monster before him, his rage mounting to a pitiless peak and causing is body to begin a charge of pure instinct and full of boundless fury.

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For her part the Manticore could only watch with an astounded gaze at her prey’s sudden metamorphosis, the feeble creature that had stood before her peeling away piece by piece and becoming something unlike any she had seen before.

Once or twice she had come upon a fabled Minotaur, the hulking bull-like creatures able to back up their musculature with a surprising amount of cunning and skill. Their strikes were powerful and precise, their defense physically impressive and tactically ingenious. Yet, they always seemed to suffer from some sort of egotistical weakness, their arrogance begetting their downfall and lending her a rather handsome meal with every encounter. However, with this new creature there was none of that egotistical hesitance, none of the overinflated confidence that drove many to ‘toy’ with her in battle. No, not only did this new creature seem to physically tower over the Minotaur’s of her past but it seemed to lack any of the higher brain functions that would lead to an over inflated ego. In fact, it seemed focused…

Worst of all, it seemed focused on her.

She was just barely able to give a quick leap to the side to avoid the creature’s goring horns, the sharp protrusions of bone able to eviscerate her in seconds and with minimal effort. However, while she did avoid an instant death she was far from the danger zone as one of the creatures massive hands swung to the side, catching her in the barrel of her body and pulling a squealing yelp of pain from her mouth before throwing her away like a rotten piece of flesh. For a few seconds after the hit she floundered through the air, the force of the strike sending her aloft for quite a distance before gravity took hold and returned her to the floor of the forest.

Her body continued its path and rolled on the ground form the force of the hit but after a second of mental reorganization she found her bearings and hopped to her feet, her teeth clenched as a wave of pain washed over her from her now bruised, if not broken ribs. With her body once more on its feet the creature turned its gaze toward her once again and began to twist its massive body to face her position. With keen eyes she watched as the meager scraps of cloth it once wore pulled tight against its newly formed legs causing its mobility to be reduced; a fact that she intended to exploit in great detail.

As the creature kicked up dirt in preparation for a wicked charge her paws dug into the soil below her and she prepared to enact her plan with cunning vengeance…

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Twilight let loose a grateful sigh as she peeked out from behind the tree, her violet eyes watching with restrained hope as Applejack argued with herself for a few moments before she finally raced off in the direction of Ponyville. No doubt the sherbet farm mare had just been debating over following Twilight or rounding up their mutual friends to do the same. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was thankful that Applejack had decided to go gather their friends first before attempting to follow her, if this did turn out to be a worst case scenario then they would definitely need the teamwork…

If she lasted long enough for them to get to her that is.

Shaking her head to clear that grim thought from her consciousness Twilight turned to the source of the magical pull that she had felt, her eyes squinting in determination as she raced toward the epicenter of its signal. When she had first sensed the broadcast she couldn’t help but be attracted to it, her long time in Ponyville lending her a sense of complacency and relaxation that she couldn’t afford back in Canterlot…or at least that is how she felt it was.

No matter what the case had been when she had first sensed the magical phenomena the irresistible pull easily squirmed its way into her brilliant mind, her lack of practice in resisting magical effects on the mind causing her to lose her senses and mindlessly search for the source. However, after Applejack’s impromptu attack on her head her logical mind reset itself, the pain drowning out all external input and giving her time to prepare a mental ward against the overwhelming pull of the eldritch beacon.

With this in mind Twilight raced towards the center of the beacon, surely if she could sense it then other creatures of Everfree could as well. Worst case it would be a dragon that found itself drawn to the beacon, the greedy and gluttonous creatures being pulled towards the signal in hopes of finding some sort of glorious treasure or even another dragon to either fight or mate with. Best case scenario she was the only one that had felt it due to her training and her own mind had made a mountain out of a mole hill in terms of threat level. No matter what the case she had to press on, her surprisingly athletic leaps and bounds carrying her over many of the forests many hazards and bringing her ever closer to the source of the beacon.

It was at that moment that she felt the beacon change position, the pull of the object moving a short distance to the side rather quickly before coming to a slow stop. This immediately caused her heart rate to skyrocket and her pace to hasten even more; had something found the beacon? Was it trying to make off with it and harness its power? Or…or…was the beacon itself alive? As Twilight allowed her mind to become slightly more sensitive to the beacons pull she could feel it move again, a slow and laborious shifting in its position leaving no doubt at her assumption. The movement felt too smooth, too natural, too organic to be something else carrying the beacon.

Whatever it was, it was alive and it was on the move.

A sudden flash of ice water raced through Twilight’s veins, her entire body shivering and her hair rising on end as the implications of this fact invaded her thoughts. Whatever it was, was indeed alive and, despite the fall that it had suffered it was apparently on the move. This fact brought even more thoughts to Twilight’s mind, her scientific self beginning to theorize on the exact nature and composition of a creature that could withstand a fall from over a thousand hooves in the air. What was it made of? How big was it? Was it sentient? What was its diet? What is its natural habitat? How did it get here?

That last question was currently the main source of Twilight’s mental inquiry as she broke through the edge of a rather large clearing, the pull of the beacon becoming almost overwhelming as she happened upon something that nearly caused her to faint on the spot…

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Thunder seemed to come from the ground as the creature charged her, its pitch black hooves splitting the earth and shattering rocks with each powerful stomp. Its head was lowered in typical goring position but she could still see those dark brown eyes, staring at her with unwavering attention and unbreakable concentration. The fury of the creature was palatable as it rushed forward, its monolithic form bursting with surprising speed as a bone shivering howl of horrific fury flowed from its bloody lips. Despite this display she waited with practiced patience as the creature drew near, her back legs wavering back and forth in preparation for her plan. She would only get one chance at this and given what she had seen of this creature it was a very slim chance that it would work but she had to try.

After all, it wasn’t easy.

Just at the creature was upon her she leapt not to the side but directly upward, her powerful legs and strong wings granting the lift she needed to leap up and above the monstrous creature’s monolithic body. Just as her plan had predicted the monster continued its charge unabated and it drove the full force of its body into the tree she had cunningly positioned at her back. The monster hit the tree with enough force to send the organic pillar flying, ancient wood and weather toughened bark being torn asunder by the creatures iron hard horns and flailing limbs. For a moment she allowed herself a small smirk at the creatures befuddled floundering, the constraining and shockingly resilient tatters of cloth causing just enough pause in the creatures movements to enact the second part of her devious plan.

As the monster rose from the wreckage of the tree it had just demolished she landed on the creatures broad back, her tail lashing out with lightning like speed and implanting the tip of her venomous stinger directly into the side of the creature’s thick neck. The monster grunted in pain at the sudden sting moments before it screeched in agony from the influx of venom in its veins. She could feel her tail lighten just the slightest bit as she poured every last drop of her potent poison into the monster, her once smirk turning into a full on grin as she gave even more toxin than twenty Minotaur’s could handle directly into the beasts blood stream.

In the blink of an eye the creature would surely peri-

GHACK!

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Somewhere in the back of her mind Twilight knew it would be smart to backpedal with all of the speed she could utilize and hide behind some trees, her survival instincts and her logical mind teaming up and shouting with all of their combined might to have their host show some sort of initiative for self preservation and run like the fires of Tartarus were nipping at her tail. However, no matter how much she ordered her body to move she couldn’t even twitch a muscle, she was barely able to breathe given the circumstances of her situation.

Standing only a short distance away was a huge Manticore, a vicious predator of Everfree Forest that seemed to tower over the Manticore she had faced when she had first come to live in Ponyville. In fact, this Manticore made the other look like an infant; its rippling muscles, vicious fangs and claws, gigantic wing span, and the terrifyingly large scorpion tail causing Twilight to freeze with fright in a way that her previous Manticore experience hadn’t even come close to doing. Given that this Manticore was lacking a mane also caused a brief pause for thought only for it to be absorbed in a silent mental scream of horror that she quietly emitted at the sheer sight of the monstrosity. However, while this sight was shocking on its own it was what the Manticore was perched upon that truly caught Twilight’s attention and the subsequent fear that followed.

Standing with a hand around the throat of the Manticore and a venom filled stinger in its own vulnerable neck was a Minotaur like creature, the monsters physical build and facial features reminding her of a Minotaur called Iron Will that Fluttershy had shown her in a picture only a few months before. However, if the picture were anything to base her calculations off of then this Minotaur seemed to be about twice the size of Iron Will and with about three times the musculature to boot. Not only that but this creature seemed to lack any sort of body fur whatsoever and, even more disturbingly, it was covered in a thick layer of dried blood. Whether it was its own blood or that of another creature was left up to debate but that was far from Twilight’s most prominent observation.

One such observation was that the creature was larger than the Manticore, its muscle-bound body outweighing and outsizing that of the poisonous feline that it now had in an unbreakable grip. Given that the Manticore itself was already gigantic it compounded another level of terror onto her already petrified mind. Another factoid gained from Twilights frightened focus was that it seemed to be ignoring the effect of the Manticores venom, an impossible feat that Twilight found on par with discovering how Pinkie Pie did what she did. Manticore venom was one of the deadliest poisons on the face of the planet and even the smallest of doses were enough to kill a large number of ponies in a few quick heartbeats. Not only that but Manticore venom was commonly called the Bloodfire Fever, its effects on the body being so painful that the few that have survived it have described it as your blood transforming into liquid flames; a sensation that caused many to reenact the pain by lying down on the ground and screaming with all of their might.

However, it was Twilight’s final observation that caused her breath to halt in her throat and every last thought in her mind to stop on a bit. A single and all encompassing truth that tugged at her senses as well as her innate magical being…

This creature WAS the source of the magical beacon…

And it looked very, very angry…

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He turned to the creature in his grip, his massive fingers wrapped around the creature’s neck and holding on with as much strength as he could possibly muster. Despite the venom coursing through his veins and vicious rending that the monsters claws were doing to his arm none of it mattered. Nothing of the pain seemed to pass through his senses, no signal from his body at how wide spread the poison had become, no message from his heart at how little blood was left in his body, nothing…

Nothing but rage…

Rage and revenge…

His hand tightened even more and the creature let loose with a painful wheezing snarl, every bit of air being squeezed from its lungs as its once powerful struggles began to falter Somewhere in the back of his mind the voice of mercy spoke, telling him he had won and there was no reason to continue to fight. In fact, the voice spoke, it would be much smarter to retreat and find aid for his wounds than continue with this battle.

The cacophonous crack of his partners’ clawed hand on the cheek of this soft reasoning filled his skull, the greedy lizard like grin of his silent friend looking down at the fallen notion before giving his own nod of ascent towards his actions. Where was the mercy when this creature attacked? Where was the kindness when it saw him bleeding and broken? What good would forgiveness be in this situation?

It was only a weakness to be cleansed in the flames of rage…

He felt whatever blood was left in his body quicken at the thought, his hand continuing to squeeze as the shadows of his anger danced through his vision. Swirling patterns of inky blackness flittered in and out of his gaze, their shapes growing and becoming more defined as he focused the full force of his anger at the creature in his grip. For once it was no longer looking at him with eyes of arrogance, no stare of superiority glared down its nose at him from behind two cat-like eyes. There was only pain and terror.

With grit teeth he watched as the shadows in his vision began to concentrate, their once hazy visage gaining higher levels of opacity as he spoke one word and one word only, “Morir.”

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For a moment Twilight could have sworn that the beast that held the Manticore in its grip had said something but this was quickly forgotten as something completely and utterly unthinkable happened before her very eyes. With the speed for a striking snake the shadows at the monsters hooves turned as dark as the bleakest night sky, the once docile grey toned shade cast by the duo of monsters forming the blackest of black before it began to shift and twist like a living, breathing creature. Twilight watched as the shadows seemed to coil in upon themselves, twisting and turning in a tensing pile before all at once they sprang forward, tearing themselves from their complacency on the ground and reaching out with a lance like tip towards the dangling Manticore. She could hear the muscular flesh of the Manticore tearing and multiple bones snapping as the lance pierced the apex predator from chest to spine, its entire body tensing from the agony and its mouth opening wide in a futile attempt to voice its pain.

Yet, this was far from the end of whatever the creature was doing as the spear like shadows began to recoil, pulling free from the Manticore and, terrifyingly enough, beginning to pull something with it. At first the Manticore struggled and twisted with a renewed vitality, trying its level best to slice itself free not only from the monsters grip but also from whatever the lance of shadow was doing to it. This proved to be a futile effort unfortunately as the spear of shade continued to pull, the Manticores clawed paws passing through the bleak javelin as though it weren’t even there while the monster continued to ignore whatever pain the Manticore had to dish out. Harder and harder the spear seemed to pull, drawing out even more of the mysterious substance that seemed to be colored a similar, if a bit lighter shade of black than the tendril that had ensnared it. As this substance was pulled from its body and the Manticores struggles became ever weaker Twilight realized what was happening and her head lurched forward, releasing the contents of her stomach onto the ground before her.

Not only was the source of the beacon alive but it was devouring magic directly from other living creatures.

As Rarity would say, this was

The.

Worst.

Possible.

Thing.

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Bit by bit the monster in his grip began to weaken, its once hearty struggles fading faster and faster until at last it felt limp in his hand leaving its full weight to dangle like a dead man hung upon a noose. Beyond the range of his vision he couldn’t see the last bit of the shadowy substance being pulled from the chimera nor was he able to watch as it was drawn into his own shadow, the raven pool at his feet absorbing the writhing shade in its grip before returning to a dormant state of natural grey. He was also unaware of the unnatural lack of shadow beneath the Manticores limp form, its deceased body casting nothing but a few errant splatters of crimson liquid upon the ground below. Nevertheless he felt a small touch of pride in his work, a grim smile crossing bearing his bloodied teeth moments before he swung his arm to the side and cast the carcass along with it.

This was only a small sample, a meager taste of his wrath.

That pompous gilipollas would get the full force of his anger…

He could…count…on…

A sudden wave of vertigo crashed across his senses as he felt his body give way beneath him. His senses became so scrambled that he couldn’t hear the thunderous thud that happened when he fell.

But he certainly felt the pain that followed.

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Twilight was somewhere between trying to wrangle her stomach into some form of working order and trying to get her legs to stop shaking enough to run when the monster that had only seconds before slaughtered a fully grown Manticore and devoured every last bit of its magical aura fell to the ground in a wrecked heap. Twilight could almost feel the earth beneath her hooves quake at the force of the fall, trees from around the edge of the forest shivering and earth being kicked up from the massive weight of the titans’ tremendous collapse. For a moment Twilight was confused at the creatures’ odd behavior until it let loose with a wail of pain, a pitiful call that seemed to stem from the multitude of snaps and cracks that were originating from its body.

Sure enough Twilight watched with wide eyed fascination and a still queasy stomach as the beast began to shrink, its hulking form quickly being reduced by the rapid transformation that it was undertaking. Bit by bit its bones and muscles snapped and shrunk, its skin bonding back together and its skull reshaping into something she had never seen before; all of it happening in a matter of seconds and with the constant scream of pain that continued to echo from its open mouth.

Twilight felt her heart and mind pulling in two different directions as the beast continued to shriek; her logical senses telling her to run as fast as she could and never looking back while her heart reached out to the being in pain only a short distance away. The two played with her sense of survival and her duty as an honorable and compassionate pony. Over and over they debated facts and observations, ideas and possible scenarios that could happen until at last Twilight’s heart won out and she approached the agonized being, her ears held flat against her skull and concern growing in her eyes with every step.

By the time she was standing next to the being it had shrunk to barely a quarter of its original size, the once titanic terror that had caused her vomit in fear and horror being reduced to what appeared to be a hairless and rather weak looking ape. Swallowing back her fear she leaned in just the slightest bit closer, the back of her mind just barely noting the lack of any sort of magical aura as she meekly asked, “H-Hello?”

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A muffled voice called out from the edge of the ever growing void that was his vision, his neck muscles just barely acknowledging his order as they weakly turned his head to face the voice. Upon being greeted by the owner of the voice all he could do was exclaim his surprise before the world finally went black and he sunk into blissful, painless unconsciousness, “P…Potro?”