Of Biological Terrors and Mechanical Beasts
The quiet before the storm, literally.
Twilight Sparkle mused silently, watching from her Palace of Friendship, the storm brewing high above the town of Ponyville was massive. It had been a very dry summer, the weather factory had suffered several coincidental breakdowns which resulted in its shut down for almost the entirety of summer. Break downs weren't rare exactly, as the weather factory worked day and night, but to have several components fail all at once?
If not for the fact that Twilight had overseen an investigation and found that the increase of cloud sales to the neighboring Minotaurs (which had resulted in a further increase in production and greater strain upon the equipment), along with a small clerical error that had taken almost a week to find (resulting in a mix up of replacement parts), Twilight may have assumed something darker.
But now, sitting on a large cushion under an almost invisible purple shield on her balcony, Twilight watched the Pegasus team work in perfect harmony to create a massive storm, one the lands of Ponyville hadn't seen since its settlement, when the Everfree had been quiet a bit larger.
The difference between this storm and an Everfree storm however, was its tameness, sure the winds whipped around the castle and howled through the streets, but no lightning rained down upon the houses, and no torrents of rain beat down upon Twilight shield. This storm was massive, but it may as well have been Fluttershy's bear friend, Harry, for all of its ferocity.
A tiny part of Twilight wished she could fly as well her friend Rainbow Dash, who she could periodically see as a rainbow contrail dipping in and out of the massive storm, so Twilight herself could do tests on this gargantuan storm, but the thought of the massive gales that would greet her and the constant dodging of clouds, fit to burst with lightning, quickly stifled that voice.
Silently the rainbow trail burst from the storm, disappearing as her friend hovered in place, Twilight could just make out Ponyville's veteran Pegasus team observing the storm, checking it over for inconsistencies and problems only an experienced Pegasus could catch. Satisfied with their work the group split apart, most heading home while one went to Town Hall to tell the Mayor.
Naught but a minute later the town's bell started to toll, a slow swing that let the ringing fade before calling out again, a calm but insistent sound that was known to the citizens as 'Go Home'. Right before it ended two smaller tugs were given to the rope, causing two quick rings, meaning it was 'Last Call' before the storm started. This system had been implemented not long after Twilight had ascended, creating a much more orderly town during times of Crisis.
Nodding in satisfaction Twilight stood, stretching her wings for a moment and yawning before standing, grabbing the pillow with her magic Twilight moved back into the castle, letting the shield fade after closing the door. Yawning again Twilight tossed the pillow onto a nearby couch, magicking her blankets back and sliding into bed.
With one last burst of magic, Twilight turned off the lights and settled into a long, quiet, sleep...
_________________________________________________________________
Twilight shot up as a primal roar ripped through her mind, sparking icy fear and dread that shot through her body before settling into her gut. It rushed through her very being, screaming at her to run, to hide, to lash out at anything and everything. Her mind locked up for a moment at the onslaught of these feelings before instinct started to kick in, and she went through a checklist she had created not long before creating the Town Panic System.
Step 1. Check on Spike.
This was the first thing on her list because it allowed her to latch onto something solid, but also very important, a thought she could anchor her mind to. Without it any attempt to cast would only end in her unfocusing and the spell ending in a panicky fizzle. Pushing through the panic in her mind she remembered that Spike had gone to the Dragon Lands again to check on Ember. The panic subsided a little, but still pushed against the walls of her mind, threatening to send her into a state of helplessness. Twilight quickly moved onto the second thing on her mental list.
Step 2. Check for Magical Manipulation of self or others.
Looking inward and battling the slowly rising fear and dread, Twilight cast a quick and simple scan on herself, sure enough there was a strange magic affecting her, pressing in on her mind like a heavy blanket. The fact that it radiated from something outside her mind however, gave Twilight her answer.
Gritting her teeth in determination, Twilight slowly and carefully cast a mental shield spell around herself, instantly feeling like weights had been lifted from her mind. She sunk back into her bed for a moment, sighing in relief, before jerking up and remembering to check off number three on her list. (Step 3. Protect against MM)
Taking a deep breath and sitting up properly, Twilight focused again with a more powerful scan spell, this time projecting it outwards, testing the magic around her. If it was familiar it would give her a better reference to counter the magic, while also giving her clues to who was behind it, and how the town should respond. Upon closer inspection however, the magic was almost foreign... Untamed, directionless, it was an aura surely, and powerful enough to send normal ponies into a stampede, but not a particularly powerful one to protect against for somepony like Twilight. In fact it had probably been so effective because it had caught her unawares and defenseless. More than likely the local Garrison, while primarily new recruits, had already begun shielding themselves. Surely the Captain, a ten year veteran, had been almost unphased by this aura.
Worryingly, it wasn't instantly familiar, the closest thing she could compare it to would be Sombra's dark magic, which was tightly controlled, trying to constantly break free of its Master's will, but with or without its users direction it would actively seek out things to corrupt, and only its user's will kept it in check. This magic however, while it did actively seek out things to corrupt, (Proven by the tendrils bouncing off of the shield around her) wasn't constrained, almost like Discord's magic, (which was instinctual and almost had a mind of its own) meandering almost lazily around the room, spreading and constantly moving at random.
What ruled out both Sombra and Discord however, was the lack of hate or shenanigans, (One time Twilight examined Discord's magic, and tiny, magic Discords acted out the entire Hearth's Warming Play. There were no further attempts.) and just overall power of the magic. The strength itself wasn't even approaching Sombra, much less Discord's level of power, it was just very persistent. Sombra's magic however required the user to be angry, unhappy, or at the very least mildly upset for even the smallest of sparks.
This magic wasn't like that, it was like some sort of instinct... Just existing for the sake of existing. Worse, it seemed to act negatively to Twilight's own poking and prodding, disrupting and lashing out at her magic, like how a Timberwolf might react to being caged... This gave Twilight a clue to the identity of the caster, and a headache. With a frown Twilight shut off the spell, muttering "An animal with powerful aura magic, great..." Wild animals weren't usually that dangerous, but caused a lot of panic, and with aura magic it caused even more injuries due to the initial panic than the actual attack.
Step 4. Find the source of Magical Manipulation.
This is where her list diverged, in this case the spell had to be stopped before she could check on her friends, otherwise she would be more focused on trying to help her friends, rather than end the spell itself. On the other hoof if it couldn't be stopped then she would have had to gather and help her friends first, as that was the most likely reason for her panic.
Powering her horn again Twilight started to cast, frowning as the strange magic continued to interfere, resulting in the complex scrying spell taking a bit longer, as well as a little bit more mana, than normal to cast as she galloped towards the doors to her balcony. Twilight turned the handle on the doors with her hoof, only to be thrown aside, her spell only half cast, as the doors slammed into the walls with a resounding boom. Twilight yelped as she was tossed back, wind howling through the room and rain pouring in through the open doors.
Recovering from her fall, Twilight pushed her magic to power the spell on her balcony, after a moment the shield flickered into life and the room was once again calm, albeit a bit damper than before. Growling Twilight stomped towards the balcony, having to consciously feed the spell with mana to keep it from unraveling due to the strange aura's effect. Twilight froze and gaped up at the storm as it came into view, her eyes wide...
What had been a rather calm, for its size anyway, storm, now sat a roiling black ocean of barely contained fury. Rain poured from the clouds in torrents, if not for her balconies spell, Twilight and her room would have been fetlock deep by now. Even so she and her room was soaked...
Step 5. Activate Panic System
Shaking some of her wet hair from her eyes Twilight glanced over at the distant Town Hall, quickly sending a spell out to activate the Towns bell, formally the Clock Towers bell. It started to ring wildly, magically amplified to ring loudly even inside the homes of sleeping ponies. The tolls were quick and frantic, but short, like a cowbell. The length of the ringing would tell the citizens where to go in times of crisis, and how dangerous the threat was. This time it was telling them to get to Princess Twilight's Castle as quickly as possible. It was the safest place in Ponyville thanks to its out of the way placement and being layered in protective shields, needing only Twilight, or any Unicorn really, to activate them once everpony was inside.
Step 6. Stop the Magic Manipulation
To do this you first had to know more about the magic, and, turning away from Town Hall and taking a cleansing breath, Twilight guided her magic to cast the scrying spell again. Before her eyes the world transformed from a barely visible night, to a massive roiling amalgam of magic. The lightning crackled silently with a cold blue energy, the storm itself was covered in a mishmash of woven Pegasus magic, the clouds inside represented by cores of red speckled with blue fire, dozens of different colors that barely held the now violent storm together.
At the very center of the barely restrained storm, was a massive amount of power, in fact it was the only reason the lightning hadn't burst free, some sort of power was drawing the excess lightning into... a rift of some sort... The rift itself was deep purple, like bruised skin, with flecks of dark red and gold that flashed across it at random intervals. At the center sat a barely discernible hole, like some sort of vibrating purple void, where the energy that had been assaulting Twilight's mind now poured out of like water.
The rift suddenly strengthened considerably, absorbing more of the lightning and using it to fuel an actual spell. Twilight narrowed her eyes, watching as the wild magic was 'tamed' by its caster, or casters. Which is to say it looked like a child using a hammer to build a sandcastle... Even so Twilight could see what faintly resembled a Gateway spell, this realization left Twilight gaping, unable to do anything but watch in, slightly impressed, horror as the spell expanded and slowly took shape. Its construction seemed rather crude, chaotic, almost out of control. The magic itself fighting its user's will... Worse were the implications, this wasn't the same as the magic that had attacked Twilight, that magic was just a wild animal attack, this was planned and coordinated. To create such a powerful spell with out of such chaotic magic, there must be a group of ponies, or other sapient creatures, working together to hold it together... But who?
Twilight frowned, thinking back to old foes, she had only two true enemies that she wasn't certain had been dealt with, and Chrysalis had no where near the power to do this unless she had somehow found another pony to feed off of that would give her pure love. Sombra may have the skill to construct something of this size, but the power? Maybe with a little help he would have been able to create this large of a spell, even so his magic wasn't anything like this...
Twilight had had no time to truly study Changling magic as she had with Dark Magic and Discord's magic, Sombra's Dark Magic had stayed even after his... Disappearance... Needing to be cleaned away from the palace, even now there resided small pockets of Dark Magic in the extensive mines beneath the palace. But the Changlings had disappeared or fallen apart after their Queen had been flung from the Capital, leaving nothing left of them, not even ashes.
Twilight was jerked from her thoughts as the mental shield around her suddenly weakened, her eyes refocusing on the rift as it started to grow marginally. Clearly whatever was casting the mental magic was now inside said rift, and was coming through. It was growing more powerful as it grew closer, but only slightly with each passing moment, either it was only marginally stronger than before or it was traveling slower. Twilight didn't know which was better.
Shaking her head and getting back to the task at hand, Twilight quickly started to analyze the magic in depth, her mind working frantically, taking any piece she could grab and tearing it to pieces, trying to find a better way to counteract it. Within moments Twilight had devised a new shield spell, it was rudimentary, but it would keep the magic confined to whatever was exuding it, which was currently the hole. However, it would only work with her constantly powering it and keeping it under control, if Twilight tried to preform any other magic she would only disrupt her hold on the new spell, weakening it and potentially dropping it entirely.
Bracing herself, Twilight's horn glowed and her eyes flashed, the new spell shooting up into the portal, covering it and stopping the flow of the mental magic. Heaving a sigh of relief Twilight leaned over the edge of her balcony, expecting to see the road already covered in, albeit wet, ponies heading towards her castle. Blinking in surprise Twilight saw nopony, only the cobbled path, stained with mud...
Worry starting to grow in the back of her mind, Twilight leaped off the edge of the balcony, her wings tight against her side as she plummeted to the ground, snapping them out at the last second to catch herself, stumbling to the ground she took a moment to check on the spell, she could easily multitask with magic, but Twilight wasn't willing to take chances.
Thoroughly soaked now she started galloping towards the rather new guard barracks, looking around at the strangely empty streets as she ran, worry growing as only now did lights start to flicker on inside the homes, the bell still tolling loudly throughout the town.
After a few minutes Twilight reached the guard's barracks, situated on the outside of the square around Town Hall. Pausing for a moment, Twilight glanced up at the storm, the hole having continued to widen during her midnight run. The hole looked like some sort of giant cloud monster that wanted to eat Town Hall, but could only fit the very top of it into its mouth, but with every minute the hole got larger, and it wouldn't be long before it could swallow all of Town Hall...
Twilight turned away from the frightening sight and pushed against the door, practically kicking it open with her front hooves, and bursting into the lobby, shouting for the Captain.
"C-captain Storm Shear! Captain! We have to-"
Twilight's words froze in her throat, her pupils dilating, her wings snapping out and propelling her back outside, with a strangled scream Twilight started to back pedal, the freezing rain having shocked her body into mobilization... Twilight continued to stare at the open door, only moving when the light from the room was shut off with a small thump as the door swung shut... Twilight's heart beat in her chest like a drum, her breathing ragged and her eyes still glued to the now shut door, a scream bubbled up from deep inside her lungs, and for a moment it almost got out, but only a few strangled sobs escaped before she collapsed to the rain soaked cobblestone, her mind in chaos, unable to focus on anything except what she had seen...
In the back of Twilight's mind the shield wavered, constantly fluctuating and weakening from lack of power, right before it gave way however, Twilight jerked her head away from the tumultuous thoughts barreling around in her mind, and focused once more on the shield, this gave her mind something solid to anchor to, and her mind slowly stopped whirling as she focused on the only thing keeping her sane.
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Twilight slowly turned her eyes back towards the door, taking a step forward, only to stop. "I-i... I have to... Make sure if... if a-anypony is... is alive..." She whispered to herself, taking another step, slowly, she approached the door again, swallowing the dust that had settled in her mouth. She pushed the door open slowly, stopping half way as the first sign of her distress appeared, a pool of dark red that stained the ornate carpet of the lobby...
Twilight's breath hitched and she almost backed out again, knowing what was next, shutting her eyes and whimpering, Twilight forced herself to stay calm, taking several cleansing breaths she opened her eyes again, her eyes widening as the door opened a little more, and a hoof, stained red, came into view. Twilight steeled herself, forcing herself to remember her trip to the morgue after the Changling attack on her sister's wedding. Hoping that it would help her...
_____________________________________________________________
"You do not have to come, my Dear Student... What you will see in there is not for the faint of heart..." Princess Celestia, Coruler of Equestria and Raiser of the Sun, looked... Ashamed, sad, concerned, and worried all at once. Her student, Twilight Sparkle, wanted to come with her into the Canterlot Morgue... Twilight only smiled sadly up at her teacher, gently leaning into her shoulder in comfort.
"Princess... I know what is in there, but I've read about what you do Princess, after battle you go into the morgue, or field hospital, and you remember the dead... Princess nopony has ever joined you, thinking it was a private affair despite you never claiming it as such... Princess I've known you my entire life, I know you hurt just thinking about the ponies that are in there, I know you don't want to, but you force yourself to!" Twilight looked up imploringly at her mentor, her eyes starting to water. "I-i can't let you do this alone... Please... L-let me come with you..."
Celestia looked taken aback, for Twilight, someone normally more in familiar with the complex workings of a Thaumographic Analyzer than simple conversation, had seen right through her carefully constructed mask... She must be out of practice after almost a thousand years of peace...
A single tear traced its way down her cheek as she leaned her down, gently nuzzling Twilight's own, speaking quietly into her ear. "Thank you... Twilight... But be warned... You will not see anything like you've ever seen before, or anything you'll want to see again... So please... If it gets too much, tell me, and we may leave..."
Twilight nuzzled back and nodded, taking a deep breath they both stood, and Celestia slowly opened the door before stepping inside. The first thing that always shocked visitors, was the cold... The morgue had to be kept at nearly freezing temperatures at all times, the ponies inside degrading without proper maintenance...
Wrapping a wing around Twilight, Celestia guided her young Student to the first door, opening it revealed a small room with a single bed, a lump with a golden cloth covering whatever was underneath. Celestia stopped as she felt Twilight stiffen, then slowly relax. Once she was ready, Twilight nodded, both took a step forward and Celestia shut the door.
Pulling Twilight closer, now for her own comfort as well as Twilight's, Celestia took a deep breath, slowly pulling the golden cloth from the still form... Twilight's breath froze in her throat, and she started to tremble, she pressed into her mentors side, starting to sob quietly...
Upon the table lay a blue stallion, laying on his his stomach, flecks of his sea green mane could still be seen in patches on his neck and at the very back of his skull, but not much. His head was caved in in several places, parts of his face was missing, and his muzzle was crushed completely, teeth spilling out and sticking up through the mass of dried blood and tissue. Skin was missing from large parts of his skull, and his horn was broken off at the base. The rest of his body was not any better, his back was twisted in the wrong direction, his spine even sticking out in some places, several of his ribs poked out from his coat, while still more seemed to press against his skin, trying to get out...
Celestia gazed long and hard at the stallion, letting Twilight sob her heart out into her coat, she memorized every detail she could about him, etching it into her mind his Cutie Mark, a brown buckler with a golden spear behind it, just as she had done for every soldier, guard, and innocent to die for her and her subjects, for the last two thousand years... "His name was Stalwart Shield, he was a Palace Guard who died after being stampeded by what may as well been half the Changling army... He guarded one of the back entrances to the throne room, and tried to stop the Changelings from entering... He was one of the first casualties."
By the end of Celestia's speech Twilight had calmed down partially, still letting out chocked sobs now and again as she glanced over at the body, her fur matted with tears. She continued to stare, before taking a deep shuddering breath, and whispering his name... "Stalwart Shield... Thank you..." Both ponies bowed their heads, pressed against once another in silence...
___________________________________________________________
Twilight took a deep breath, relaxing slowly as she raised her hoof to the door again, her mind going through the names of each of the twenty-two ponies that had died during the invasion. It was a miracle the Changlings hadn't actually been trying to maim or kill, just stun and shock, a few ponies had died of course, but most had died due to accidents, only four guards had actually died during the conflict, and Stalwart Shield was by far in the worse shape...
What she had seen inside? It was on par, or worse than the Morgue... But she was a Princess now, and she had a duty to these ponies... Taking another deep breath Twilight slowly opened the door, pausing only for a brief moment as the hoof once again came into view, but Twilight pushed on this time, and more of the hoof was revealed. Then the fetlock, the knee, and then only more blood...
The limb was not connected to its owner, as stained with blood and cuts as it was, it was impossible to tell who it may belong to anyway, only the fact that not but a foot away sat the body of a sky blue Earth Pony, her face covered in cuts as it lay against the carpet, pure horror and pain etched into her face as she seemed to reach out for the door with her only remaining forward limb.
Twilight gasped, freezing place as she noticed what had caused so much damage... Sticking out from the mares back, keeping the Earth Pony upright as it stabbed through her back, out of her chest, and into the wooden floor, was a sword. It wasn't the sword itself that caught Twilight's eye, but the Sun engraved upon its pommel. This sword was one only given to members of the Royal Guard... 'Why would anypony, especially a Royal Guard, do this...?'
Her body was covered in cuts and bruises, and her glasses had been shattered upon the ground by her own head. She must have thrashed around on the sword, 'Trying to get away.' Twilight thought with a cold chill, her stomach roiling as she carefully moved passed. Upon passing the still body, Twilight noticed the Cutie Mark upon her flank, barely discernible through the blood, was a closed book with a simple yellow bookmark hanging out.
Twilight swallowed the bile rising in her throat, avoiding the larger splatters of blood and heading towards the actual barracks, her eyes on the floor, and shuddered again... Twilights eye's flickered up to the sword, and she froze. Staring at the sword again, her mind jumped back back to earlier that night, when she had been awoken the first time... How terrified she had been, ready to lash out at anything and everything, how helpless she had been at first to stop it... Twilight gulped softly, her mouth going dry as she realized the implications... If SHE, Celestia's personal student once upon a time, an Alicorn, and a trained Mage, had been barely able to stop this magic from controlling her... What hope did normal ponies have...?
Twilight's eyes finally pulled away from bloodied sword, only to notice the door that lead to the barracks, was already open. Moving closer Twilight noticed something else... Chunks of wood were littered around the entrance, and the door was partially destroyed. What caught her eyes was the body of a yellow Pegasus stallion, hanging limply over the top of the heavy door with an ax hanging from its strap around his hoof. The Pegasus was impaled on the massive splinters of the partially destroyed door, blood seeping down the door and onto the carpet below. Twilight couldn't see the back half of his body too well, but judging by how deep the splinters that littered his chest, forelegs, and neck were, Twilight doubted the rest of him was much better...
A sob escaped Twilight as she stared at the body, taking a step back as more blood dripped from the limp pony's form... Finally Twilight sat down, sobbing softly as a thought struck her, 'Is this how everpony is? Having been hurt or.... Killed... By a loved one, neighbor, or just by accident in their own desperate attempt to escape?'. Whimpering Twilight stared down into her own hooves, paralyzed by fear... Only for her friend's faces to flash past her mind's eye.
Twilight gasped, climbing unsteadily back to her hooves, turned and galloped towards door. 'Nononono! Sweet Celestia let them be ok!' So focused on her new goal she almost tripped over the secretary, using her wings to propel her over the still body, Twilight dived through the open door, nearly slamming her wings into the sides of the door, but tucking them tight to her sides in a move that would make Rainbow proud.
Outside it was still raining, the bell was still tolling, and the massive hole had widened to the point where it could probably swallow Town Hall twice over, but Twilight ignored both of these, instead taking off as fast as she could towards Rarity's Boutique, the closest of her friends to the guard barracks. She got as far as the bridge before she was shocked to a stand still by a sound... A Roar... Not just any roar, but the roar, the roar that had awoken her to begin with, the one that had shocked her awake, the roar that had started this nightmare. Now, it shocked her from her single minded task of finding and making sure her friends were OK, to slowly turning her head in horror and gaping as a massive shadow filled the hole in the clouds, solidifying before it came down with a massive impact that shook the ground, Town Hall being totally decimated by the massive creature with an even bigger crash, the Town Hall's bell finally being silenced...
Silence reigned, even the rain slowed to a stop for a brief moment, the world itself seeming to hold its breath as Twilight stared, her wings flared and her stance wide, her body starting to tremble, even so she instinctively held the shield, now centered around the thing inside of what was left of Town Hall. Through the dust and debris Twilight could not make details out, but whatever it was, it was big, easily the size of a house, even pressed into the ground after its dive...
Twilight took a step backward, only to freeze, a noise coming from inside the debris, it started softly, a low pitch throbbing that quickly escalated to a high pitched keening as something slowly climbed out of the crater, stumbling for a moment as it crested the small ridge, quickly righting itself.
The first thing Twilight noticed, as her body rooted itself to the ground beneath her hooves, was its size. It was easily the size of the Town-hall it had just demolished, dwarfing the buildings around it like Celestia among foals... Twilight probably didn't even come up to the tops of its feet... Despite Twilight's fear, part of her mind, probably the part still powering the spell and keeping her from collapsing in a heap of gibbering panic in front of this colossus, started to dissect this creature visually, treating it more like a science experiment than a massive monster that she should be running away from... That part of her mind quickly designated it 'Mutare Enoch' in Trotin, a translation of 'Behemoth Changling'.
Twilight stared silently, her eyes climbing the Behemoth's body, taking in the strange greenish black armor that resembled Changling skin. Unlike the Changlings however, this monster's chitin was many times thicker, and was covered in scorch marks and small pockets where it looked like somepony had chipped away at random spots with a magic blow torch. Twilight's eyes continued to climb the Behemoth's body, pausing as she took in the elongated, thick torso, adorned with even thicker overlapping plates of deep green chitin.
The torso itself held six limbs, the back two being its massive legs, tipped with hooves that split down the middle like a goats, each small step making the ground tremor. The middle two being another pair of massive legs, but at the tip of each was a pair of massive claws that would have made even the largest of dragons envious, but seemed to be primarily used for movement along with the previous pair. What worried Twilight the most however, was the front two limbs, easily twice as muscular as the middle pair, these limbs were adorned, not with hooves, claws, or even hands like a Minotaur... But blades... These two blades were each taller than a house, even dug deep into the ground as it held the Behemoth up.
Strangely, the creature seemed to be inspecting the hole it had dropped from, which was still undulating and flashing with powerful magic. Its head, adorned with a pair of massive spikes on either side of its neck, twisted slowly back and forth as it made a low grumbling sound, like an avalanche heard at a distance. It let out a huff and withdrew its blades, slamming back into the earth with a mighty crash that shook the square.
That, is when it noticed Twilight. Once again freezing, its massive head, devoid of any noticeable eyes and covered in rigid chitin, peered at her from across the square, despite the distance Twilight doubted she would get very far before it had her, at least if she tried running... But what about flying? With a quick flap Twilight took to the air, adrenaline and desperation fueling her ability to ignore the heavy weight of her soaked feathers.
Caught off guard the Behemoth roared in fury, its hooves and claws ripping great furrows in the earth as it charged towards her. Twilight to yelped as the monster moved much faster than it should for its size, and a blade whipped through the air towards her, but being much smaller than the Behemoth had advantages, and thanks to Rainbows constant training, Twilight just managed to avoid being ripped horn to tail by the massive scythe like blade of the monster.
With a yelp Twilight flapped harder, rising above Ponyville at the massive Behemoth, it roared and stomped on the ground below, shaking its head in fury before it turned away, finally noticing the town around it. With a roar the chilled Twilight to the bone, it spun around, the massive tail that Twilight had been obscured by its body, swung around, plowing into buildings and cutting many of them in half.
With a gasp Twilight realized, if it couldn't get her, then it would simply destroy the town! Twilight quickly dropped down to the square again, her voice barely audible as she tried to get its attention. "H-hey!" Twilight winced, her voice cracking and diminishing as another building was ripped to pieces, thankfully it was late at night, and nopony was inside. "H-HEY!" Twilight tried again, this time the Behemoth turned, its head tilted to the side as it heard her, clearly not expecting its prey to challenge it. With another roar it turned and charged towards Twilight, its massive tongue lolling out and splattering saliva all over the square, its jaw held wide, teeth as big as Twilight herself glinting in the occasional flashes of lightning.
Twilight yelped and turned, galloping over the bridge and towards the outskirts of Ponyville, for a moment the ground trembled with the steps of the monster, and all Twilight could think about was running, but a moment later a second explosion ripped through the square, drowning out the monster's roar for a moment, and the square only echoed with the sound of a bell softly tolling once...
Twilight continued to run for a moment, but, upon not hearing the monsters massive shuddering footsteps she turned her head, only to see the monster stopped right at the edge of the bridge, frozen in place. Its head was twisted back to peer back into the square, and Twilight slowed to a stop. Twilight followed its gaze and saw a massive amount of dust, similar to when the monster had first landed, but this time two golden orbs blazed out from inside the dust cloud like twin suns, and again, a bell tolled, this time a little louder... A soft humming started inside the cloud, slowly something stood up inside the cloud, rising slowly the hum deepened, and black smoke belched out from the dust with a soft roar, like a train engine starting...
A third and final bell tolled out, the loudest of them all, and the Behemoth charged with an earth shattering roar that echoed throughout the square. Twilight gasped and stumbled as the monsters innate magic suddenly beat against her shield, aimed directly at whatever was now charging out of the dust. Before it had simply lay dormant, happy with simply existing, but now it was directed, and it beat against Twilight with a fury.
Twilight was so focused on keeping the shield up, that she could only watch in awe as another creature, almost as foreign as the first, responded in kind to the Behemoths challenge. Striding forth from the dust cloud with a roar akin to a blast furnace, belching smoke and flames from strange smokestacks atop its back. As the newest creature broke free from the dust, Twilight noticed it wasn't actually a creature, but more akin to a massive Golem made from Train parts, painted white and gold. Twilight had researched Golems once, as a science experiment in fourth grade, and concluded they were interesting, but ultimately useless.
Usually Golems were small earthen creations made from pebbles or clay, then animated to carry out a very simple function, like fetch paper, or write down what somepony was saying. They were rather expensive to make mana wise, using up mana just by existing, and almost depleting it if they weren't made of gems or crystals, which was incredibly expensive in a time when Golem's were relatively common. (Before the Era of the Two Sisters) Which is why they were eventually replaced with spells that could simply call paper from another room or somepony could simply cast an animation spell on the quill itself.
There were some exceptions of course, in ancient tomes you could find stories and even recordings of massive, plodding Golems that stood as tall as a house, filled to the brim with the ancient unicorns most potent gems and crystals, and used in times of war with the Earth Ponies. Even then these massive creatures were usually just chunks of rock magicked together, with four massive columns for legs and a stubby torso.
This Golem however, was made entirely out of metal, and, while smaller than the Behemoth, towered over the buildings around the square. The design for this Golem was rather abnormal, having two massive legs instead of four, each leg having four smaller blocks of metal around the base, (Probably for balance) instead of the four legs that the Golems Twilight had researched. It had two massive shoulders that jutted out of its torso, each one swinging independently of its torso, giving its movement an almost life like fluidity as it loped towards the Behemoth. It's torso was the strangest part, it was massive, sloped like a beetles, and at the top, rather than a head, was a large box with holes dotting its face. Thick arms hung from each shoulder, one holding a large metal club with a two holes on one end, the other connected to what seemed to be a Minotaur hand. The head itself was situated in what would be the area of a Minotaur, set inside the body of the Golem itself.
The Golem's only weapons seemed to be a Minotaur hand and a large club, which it seemed to be holding incorrectly. The thicker portion of the club being near where the arm and club connected, rather than out in front...
As the two titanic beings closed the distance, Twilight noticed the glowing Suns again, they seemed to be the creatures eyes, set behind a strange helmet that formed a T on the front. Twilight whimpered and placed her wings over her ears, waiting for the scream of metal and roar of the Behemoths victory. Only to gasp in surprise as, at the last second, the Golem slammed its large leg into the dirt and spun around the Behemoth's head, the Behemoths massive spike screeching as it skittered across the Golems lower body!
Mid dodge the Golem's arm suddenly exploded, a deep thrum filling the air for the briefest of moments as purple fire spilled from its right arm, with a skull splitting shriek the Behemoth stumbled away, whipping its tail around at the Golem, only to roar in anger and pain as the massive spiked tail slammed into a shield of some sort and slowed, but continued through, only for the Golem to bat it away with a loud electrified punch from its Minotaur hand.
Twilight stared in surprise as the Golem not only managed to inflict damage to the Behemoth, but also revealed that it wasn't a club that its right arm held, but some sort of spell casting weapon! Not only that but its Minotaur hand was electrified, and it had some sort of Magical shield! (Although the shield only slowed the tail down, and the hand only seemed to annoy the Behemoth) The fact that its creator had not only managed to create a Golem of such power and agility, while augmenting its already massive strength inherit in all Golems, and make it smart enough to deploy multiple weapons as well as tactics, made Twilight's scientific side shiver in excitement!
Pulling herself away from her thoughts Twilight noticed something was off about the Golem, it stumbled away, its massive footsteps shattering the cobblestone with every step, its strange head, the twin suns now resembling spluttering torches, it's head twisting and turning, confused before it slowed to a stop. Tilting her head Twilight frowned, the Golem was now 30 feet away from the bridge that Twilight stood upon, and it acted like a newborn animal trying to walk, taking hesitant steps, staggering slightly, its head twisting back and forth as if to shake itself free of some sort of net...
Gasping Twilight yanked her attention back to the Behemoth, realizing the Behemoth's aura must have tampered with the Golems spell matrix, only for her eyes to widen as the Behemoths back split open, a massive flesh like tube sprouting from its back, glowing softly in the rain as the Behemoth dug its giant blades into the dirt, bending down slightly. "LOOK OUT!" Twilight screamed, the Golem's head jerked towards her, then with an astounding amount of speed it whipped around, once again the strange shield appeared, deflecting the strange projectile fired by the Behemoth.
The projectile screamed into the shield and deflected into the dirt below the Golem, for half a second nothing happened, then it exploded in a green light and massive explosion that blinded Twilight, forcing her to cover here eyes with her wings.
Ears ringing, Twilight checked on the spell she was holding, quickly tightening it back around the Behemoth, assuming that was the cause of the Behemoths earlier distress. Slowly Twilight started to open her eyes, only to blink, as not two inches from her hooves sat a massive piece of metal, it was embedded into bridge, smoking and sizzling as rain pattered down onto it. Twilight could see the liquid turn to gas as it hit the scorched metal, but not hear it, the ringing in her ears still too loud.
Twilight slowly peered around the large metal plate and stared in awe as the Golem and Behemoth once again charged at one another, this time the Golem firing as it lumbered towards the Behemoth. The strange spell fire clipped the Behemoth's body, but its constant dodging resulted in most of them only glancing harmlessly off the beast.
The Golem seemed unconcerned about this, as at the last second, instead of dodging around the Behemoth like before, it leaned away just as the Behemoths massive blades shot forward, (the Behemoth learning from the last encounter worried Twilight) the Golem missed the first blade only for the second to slam into its shoulder, above its spell arm, creating a horrid shrieking sound that even Twilight could hear from her position near the river. Covering her ears Twilight watched in amazement as the Golem grabbed the blade that had missed, quickly firing a shot that tore up and out the back of the leg, reminding Twilight of the poor mare that she had seen earlier that night. With furious roar that shook the ground, the Behemoth reared back, slamming its second set of claws into the Golems legs and trying to push it away, only for the spell arm of the Golem erupting up into the underbelly of the massive beast.
Shrieking and roaring the beast finally managed to rip its sole remaining blade from the thick metal shoulder, the massive metal arm coming with the blade, leaving the Golem's left side bare. The Golem, strangely, instead of pressing its attack, stumbled back several dozen meters, its hand reaching up and clutching at its stump. Twilight's eyes widened as the Golem stumbled into the river, dropping down to its knee with a massive splash next to the bridge. Twilight's ears perked as she heard a deep metallic groaning coming from the Golem, its golden eyes dimming and flickering.
Parts of the Golem's armor was stripped away, one of its legs was totally bare, strange pistons and wires hanging loosely from it, and the other had long gashes from the Behemoths claws. Twilight gulped softly, the Golem seemed much different up close... Slowly taking a step forward, making her way to the bridge to get a better view of it, the back of Twilight's mind focused on a question that had been bugging her since she had seen the Golem's first attack.
Was it a sapient construct? Or even a creature, simply made from metal instead of flesh? It could use advanced tactics, multiple weapons, predict what its opponent would do, and even make mistakes based on those predictions... Golem's were, at least from what Twilight knew, non sapient constructs, only capable of following orders, the most intelligent of which were capable of only simple communication such as "Yes" and "No", but any attempt at something more intelligent had simply resulted in wasted crystals...
Twilight slowly moved closer, the bridge just barely up to the creatures chest as it crouched in the creek. With another low groan the Golem slowly, started to move, placing its hand upon the bridge, crushing the railings like toothpicks as it slowly lifted itself up. Twilight stared as the creature slowly rose to its full height, only for it to pause as it noticed her...
"Equo? Quod sit facere ut hic sunt...?" It's voice was deep, mechanical, and sounded weary, filled with pain... Its strange head was tilted slightly, its dull golden eyes freezing her in place as it spoke. Twilight's mind reeled as she realized it was speaking, not only the fact that it was speaking, but the fact that is sounded incredibly close to Trotin, a language the powers of Harmony could translate, but not very well... Harmony allows all sapient creatures to communicate by the intent of their words, they could speak in their own language, and as long as it was directed at somepony else, they could understand it, but if they wanted to keep it private, Harmony prevented those who didn't know the language from listening in...
The fact that this Golem... No... This Sapient creature, was speaking directly to her in a language Harmony could only vaguely translate, meant that it had yet to be properly exposed to Harmonies magics... Twilight stood, the back of her mind dissecting everything this strange creature said and did, eagerly awaiting more even as Twilight stood rooted to the spot.
"Nulla materia, hac village protegas no nulla materia sumptus!" The words were becoming more coherent with every passing word, if it had been talking during the fight it would have been understandable by now, but it had remained silent other than to shout and groan.
The Golem's head jerked up as something exploded and the bridge beneath her dissolved into debris, Twilight, once again deaf and partially blinded, flailed around as she fell, only to scream as she landed sideways on something hard, crushing her wing beneath her. Whimpering and panting heavily Twilight opened her eyes, blinking away tears and looking around, she realized she was now sitting upon a giant hand, just below where the bridge once was.
Twilight looked up at the Golem, trembling in its grasp, only to stare open mouthed in shock as she took in the damage the Behemoth had caused to the Golem... The entire left side of the Golems 'face' was missing, its helmet cracked down the middle and sheared off on the left side, a massive rend in the metal that went from the top of its carapace, and down into its head area marked where the projectile had gone... Its single remaining eye flickering and sparking with light, staring off into the distance.
Following its single remaining eye Twilight spotted the Behemoth, it crouched amid the remains of Ponyville Square's buildings, apparently having thrashed around after getting away from the Golem. Strange blood leaked from its underbelly, and the strange protrusion on its back was smoking once again, giving Twilight a clue as to what had happened at the bridge.
The two monsters stared each other down, neither moving... Confused, Twilight glanced up at the Golem, only to gasp as she noticed a golden aura surrounding the Golem and herself, she had not noticed it before, to preoccupied with her wing and the damage to the Golem, but now she felt it... Delving into her own magic Twilight started to cast her previous scrying spell, letting out a soft gasp as she saw where the magic emanated from. From the massive portal flowed an aura of golden magic, flowing smoothly, strongly, and seemingly without interruption by Behemoths own magic, it coalesced around the Golem and by proxy herself, protecting them both from the power of the Behemoth...
As Twilight's hearing returned she noticed the Golem was talking... In a deep, mechanical voice that slowly rose in volume, the Golem stepped from the river, gently placing Twilight on the ground, its single eye riveted to the Behemoth still as they dueled in a contest of wills...
Finally able to hear the Golem, she leaned forward a little, listening to what sounded like a well rehearsed line... By now the Golem was fully in the embrace of Harmony, and its language was translated easily from the Golem's mind to all those nearby... "-blood to the Emperor, I pray that it quenches His thirst." The Golem spoke, not to itself, or to Twilight, but to everything and everyone, she could feel the strength in the creatures voice, the pure magic that radiated from the metal warrior as it spoke. "I offer my body on the altar of the battlefield!" The Golem raised its remaining arm to the Behemoth, as if to challenge it. Its stance wide and evoking an air of strength that Twilight thought would have been impossible at this point, and it started to step forward...
"I pray He grants me a noble death!" Its voice rose in volume, raising its hand into the air slowly, pointing to the sky as it clenched around something... Twilight stared as lightning flashed down from the now boiling sky, striking its outstretched hand. The very sky seemed to stretch and shake, the ground rumbling and magic exploding around the Golem as it roared.
"I pray for His protection" The sky heaved and the hole shuddered as the Golem's hand pulled something from the magic coursing through its body, a massive solid gold sword slowly being drawn from the very sky as if from a scabbard. With a roar that rivaled the Golem's own, the Behemoth pushed itself forward, its blade barely able to raise and its strides unsteady, blood pouring from its wounds. The Golem charged forward as well, the sword held in an outstretched hand towards the Behemoth! "As I offer all that I am!"
Twilight could only watch in awe as these two titanic creatures clashed once more, and for what was likely that last time... Closer they came, the Behemoth slowly shaking off its wounds as the light of battle reignited its fury, no longer did either falter in their steps, and just as they reached one another, the hole came crashing down onto them, surrounding them both in a storm of magic. Through the howling winds and dust kicked up by the storm, Twilight could only watch as the two titans struck one another, and Twilight's world turned golden...
Author's Note
Criticisms Encouraged and Appreciated! Probably plenty of Spelling, Grammar, etc, errors as I didn't have anyone to help edit.
(Edited 2/2/18)
For anyone unfamilair with Warhammer 40k, this is a link to what the "Behemoth" is, and this is a link to what the "Golem" is.
As you can see the Behemoth is MASSIVE. Space Marines are on average seven feet tall, and this thing easily dwarfs Space Marines. (Btw Ponies on average come up to a little bit taller than a Space Marines knees.)
I did this to answer some questions; A. How well can I do Action scenes? B. How comfortable am I writing gore/Sad Ponies? and C. Could I write a WH40k fic?
I tried to be unedgy as possible, but I'm not sure its possible to completely avoid edgyness in a fanfic with a lot of death.
_______________________
Writing this taught me A. Up to you to decide how well the action was B. Don't put Gore into The Knight C. This was not truly a Warhammer fic, but I think if I realllly wanted to I could write one.
