Greetings, Twilight.
I am grateful that Cozy Glow's sinister plan was foiled. To think a pony so young could go so far as to attempt to remove magic from our world in search of power...
Be that as it may, I sincerely fear that it may have long reaching consequences...
High above Equus, as spheres of magic returned to their homes after the mad plans of a demented filly were ended, some failed to fade back into the world.
Magic is a fundamental part of our world, to tamper with it may have grave consequences...
One of the spheres of magic drifting high above began to crackle with chaotic lightning, its form growing darker and blacker. It finally began to slowly drift down to the world below like a snowflake that had finally became too heavy.
My findings are showing erratic spikes in certain areas. I'm concerned that not all the magic has restored stably.
Drifting down to the ground, past the skyscrapers of Manehatten, the little tainted ball of magic found its way to the Central Park Zoo. It drifted through the bars and landed on the head of a slumbering Manticore, fading into its skin with a dark ripple.
This unstable, wild magic is unpredictable. While it is too early to be certain...
The hybrid beast's eyes suddenly snapped open, glowing a crimson red and narrowing into a ferocious glare.
I fear Cozy Glow's mad plan may have had far deeper consequences than she intended or we could imagine...
===
Twilight Sparkle looked down at the letter for a few moments at her desk in the School of Friendship's office. “...This isn't good...”
“What isn't good?” asked Starlight Glimmer, her graduated student entering with a pile of forms in her telekinesis.
“Starswirl's studies indicate that Cozy Glow's plan may have caused a huge spike in wild magic...” the Princess of Friendship explained, worry etched on her face.
Spike tapped his chin from the nearby file cabinet where he was handling a mound of paperwork. “So is that bad?”
“It's impossible to tell,” Twilight replied, grabbing books off her shelves in her telekinesis and looking through them. “Wild magic is called that because it's incredibly unpredictable. Everfree Forest is completely full of it, and from the sound of it these levels might be unprecedented. There's no telling what might happen...”
“Geeze, that crazy little filly really made a mess, didn't she?” the little drake asked.
“That's an understatement...So I take it we're canceling the field trip to Manehatten tomorrow then?” Starlight asked, starting to help look through the books.
Twilight blinked for a moment...then facehoofed. “I totally forgot about that! We went through all the trouble of getting their families' permission for the trip...” Having to get signatures from all over the world from multiple different species, some of which had their own written languages, had been far from easy. Especially when it came to Grandpa Gruff (the more she found out about that little griffon's home life, the more she felt sorry for him). The Princess opened a map of Equestria and looked it over. “Cozy Glow's plan used the school as the nexus of her spell...The students might actually be safer far away in Manehatten. I'll stay here and analyze the situation to report to the Princesses, I'll send a dragon mail if I find anything...I just hope we can find a way to solve this without a disaster...”
===
Night Shift, a black furred unicorn with a white mane and tail, walked through Central Park close to midnight. Some days he wished he had been a 'night' unicorn like many people expected hearing his name. This was one of them.
“Come on, it's just a big kitten...” he muttered, trying to reassure himself.
Being part of the Park Enforcement Patrol had never been exactly the safest of all jobs. That went without saying when your job was to keep every creature safe in the parks of one of the most densely populated cities in Equestria. But most of the time that didn't include an escaped Manticore from the Central Park Zoo that made even the fully grown stallion look tiny in comparison to it. Granted, the ponies at the zoo had said the creature, named Geryon, had never caused any trouble and should be fairly docile, but the fact his cage had been found torn wide open didn't invite confidence in that assumption.
Still, Night Shift had a tranquilizer crossbow and could always teleport away if things got too out of hoof. Besides, if Geryon wasn't recaptured, it'd disrupt business at one of the city's biggest attractions, and that's not something his bosses would be happy about in the slightest. So despite his misgivings, he continued to search the park in the dead of the night for the big Manticore.
It decidedly didn't help that there was barely a sound in the entire park. Not even the nocturnal wild life. While expected considering late night visitors were kept away due to the potential danger, it still put him on edge.
“Normally I like it when this place is quiet, but this just doesn't feel right...” Night Shift muttered, continuing his patrol and keeping his eyes open.
Suddenly, the unicorn caught sight of something moving out of the corner of his eye. Spinning around he it was already gone. Turning around slowly, trying to get a bead on it, he saw a dark shadow dash through the trees. A big shadow. He quickly drew his tranquilizer crossbow and took aim. “Geryon? That you big guy?”
He heard the wind of the thing's movement behind him and spun, firing a bolt...and hitting a tree. As he reloaded, he felt the ground shudder as something landed behind him. He spun around, finding two red glowing eyes gazing back at him. Far wider apart than one would expect.
Night Shift took aim with his crossbow...only for the creature to rise up...and up...and up. He took a step backwards as the creature finally rose to it's full height. Reaching the canopy of the trees.
===
In the depths of Everfree, the Tree of Harmony set in its cave and began to spark and glow. A glimmering approximation of Princess Twilight manifested on one of the branches, concern appearing on the entity's face. Or at least as much as possible given its alien nature.
“It has begun...the First Beast has come into being...” the entity said. “...I must begin preparations...”
===
“Alright, everycreature,” Applejack said as the group departed the train in Manehattan. “Stay close, Manehattan is a big place and we don't want ya tah get lost...”
Ever excitable Silverstream walked off the train and gasped with her typical excitement. “What are those?!” she exclaimed, looking up at the towering buildings.
“Skyscrapers,” Rainbow Dash answered with a smirk.
“They're so huge!”
“Eh, I've seen dragons almost as big as that...but guess it's kinda cool,” Smolder commented with a smirk.
“Oh darling, it's more than 'kinda cool!' There's a lot of history behind this place,” Rarity replied with a smile she said as the group began walking into the city. “For example, right down that street there is the Manhattan branch of the Rover Street Market. The Rover Street Market in the Gritish Isles was ranked the second best store in the world. They sell both high fashion, young creations, and street wear.”
As the Bearer of Generosity kept going over the history of a fashion store, Gallus leaned over to Smolder. “Who knew talking about fashion history would turn Professor Rarity into Principle Twilight,” he whispered to the dragoness with a chuckle and a joking elbow.
Smolder, who'd been listening closer to Rarity than one would otherwise expect, gave a chuckle. “Yeah...”
“I've been here before with my family, we went to Carny Island together,” Sandbar replied. “This place is awesome.”
“Yona likes city! But Yona wishes it were colder!” Yona replied, sweating and trying to find some shade, only to give a smile as Fluttershy held a fan up she'd brought with her for just this occasion. “Thank you!”
“You're quite welcome,” Fluttershy replied with her usual sweetness.
Ocellus gave a smile. “Manehatten is actually a very fascinating place. I've been studying it since this was announced! Did you know that Central Park is the first landscaped park in an Equestrian city? It looks natural, but it was actually constructed completely by ponies!”
“Amazin' what creatures can do when they work together, huh?” asked Applejack with a smirk.
The Young Six nodded and continued following through the city. As they walked, Gallus blinked, eyes glowing with a magenta aura briefly. He groaned, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes.
“You okay, dude?” asked Sandbar, turning back to look at him.
The griffon gave a shrug. “Yeah, just felt a little weird for a second. Probably the glare off the buildings...”
===
Twilight rubbed her eyes, looking over the books on wild magic once more...then rubbed her horn due to the forming headache from the many scanning spells she'd been casting in her attempts to figure out this problem.
“Are you okay, Twilight?” asked Spike, flying over with more books.
“I'm fine...but I have to figure out what's going on with this wild magic or it could cause a disaster...” muttered the Princess of Friendship.
“I know, but if you wear yourself too much you won't be able to help anyone,” her trusted assistant replied, landing on her back.
“Thanks for worrying about me, Spike, but-” Twilight continued...then felt a now familiar sensation on her flank and looked back to find her Cutie Mark glowing. “Maybe the Tree has some idea of what's going on...”
With one quick teleportation spell, the two were in the throne room with the crystalline magic map in its center that had guided them on many adventures now. Twilight raised an eyebrow as noticed both the location of the floating mark and the mark next to hers. “It wants me to go to its chamber...with...”
“Me it would appear,” said a wizened old voice at the door.
“Starswirl!” the Princess of Friendship shouted, rushing over to the stallion she'd spent a large part of her life studying religiously.
The older unicorn nodded, levitating his robe up to show his glowing Cutie Mark. “It appears the Tree of Harmony has need for you and I...”
The two's eyes suddenly lit up briefly with a magenta aura, leaving them rubbing their heads for a moment.
“...We should hurry...”
===
“What do you mean Central Park is closed?” asked Rarity, understandably enraged. “We reserved time at the zoo!”
“Sorry, ma'am. A Manticore escaped the other night and has become aggressive. We can't let anypony...I mean anycreature in until it's recaptured...” said the police officer standing at the entrance. “For your own safety.”
“A Manticore's on the loose? Maybe I can help,” Fluttershy replied, worry on her face as Applejack started talking to Rarity about something. “An animal like that might be scared and upset thanks to all the noise of the big city. I'm an animal expert.”
“Sorry, ma'am, we've got our own animal experts we're paying to do it,” replied the police stallion, before giving a grateful smile. “But we appreciate it. If we need help, you'd be on the short list.”
Rarity gave an irritated sigh, stepping back with Applejack. “Sorry students, it seems we won't be able to get into the zoo today...”
She frowned at the predicted disappointed mutters and groans.
“But me and Applejack have an idea instead: we know a lovely little theater nearby called the Midsummer Theater, we can easily get free tickets,” the fashionista replied. “So come along...”
As the group lead the way, Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy, noting her worried expression. “You okay, Shy?”
“I know that Manticore from when I've visited the zoo before. His name's Geryon and he's a big sweetheart...” muttered the pegasus, feeling a growing sense of unease. “Something's very wrong here for him to act like that...”
“Well given how things normally go, we're probably going to end up having to solve it anyway if it does end up going that wrong...just kinda how things go,” the Wonderbolt replied with an encouraging smile.
===
“The Tree of Harmony doesn't normally call us here,” Twilight explained as they arrived at the Castle of the Two Sisters. “With the wild magic phenomena happening, it can't be a coincidence.”
“My thoughts exactly...” muttered the old unicorn. “Coincidences are rarely just coincidences, especially in a world such as ours.”
The two entered the cave housing one of the most powerful artifacts in the entire land cautiously. After all, for all they knew it might have been calling them to save it from something else.
“Welcome to my cave, Twilight and father...”
Twilight blinked, looking around the chamber as they came up to the giant crystalline Tree. “Was that my voice?”
“Indeed. I hope you do not mind. Your form seemed like a logical basis for my manifestation...”
With a flash, the Tree's avatar appeared in front of them. It looked unblinking towards Starswirl, seeming to pause for a moment to completely take him in. “It is good to meet you, father.”
“Father?” Starswirl asked, noting the alien way the manifestation spoke. Then again, what would one expect from a sapient tree?
“You and the other Pillars of Old Equestria watered my seed with your virtues and sparked the beginning of my growth,” the avatar replied. “By the common definition of the term, you and the other Pillars are my parents...Sadly, while there is much I would like to say to one of my creators, there is no time.”
“So you're the Tree of Harmony?!” Twilight asked, eyes going wide as she looked over the glowing, sparkling manifestation of herself.
“Correct. I have grown and changed, and recently gained the ability to create a manifestation of myself,” the Tree explained. “I know you have many questions, but this situation is becoming more dire as the moments pass.”
The Princess of Friendship had her mouth open her mouth to ask a million questions in the space of five minutes, only to be forced to close it. “...What's happening?”
“As you know, Cozy Glow's plan has created massive amounts of wild magic all over Equestria,” the Tree explained, looking up as its magic created an illusion of the magic orbs high in the sky. “As time goes by, this wild magic will become more and more unstable, chaotic. Eventually, it will fall to the ground, and its effect on living creatures will be incredibly violent and destructive...”
The two mages watched as one of the floating spheres turned black and floated down to the ground...where it suddenly erupted into a pillar of chaotic energy that gradually shaped itself into a massive beast, towering over a projected city.
“They will become gigantic creatures and destroy everything in their path.”
“I believe looking at recent movies that Flash Magnus seems to adore, such a creature would be called a 'Kaiju'...” Starswirl stated, narrowing his eyes. “Something like that could cause untold havoc...and if there will be more than one...”
“How can we stop this?!” Twilight asked, understandably beginning to panic as she looked to her doppelganger.
“I am afraid it has already begun...the First Beast has already been born...” said the avatar.
===
Manehatten's animal control surrounded Clovedere Castle Castle in Central Park, looking up at the impressive monument.
“If the report is right, how could it be hiding inside this place?” asked one of the officers, an Earth Pony stallion named Dogcatcher, the group having followed tracking dogs and their griffon members to the castle by scent.
“Eh, poor guy was scared half to death, probably exaggerated, no way a Manticore could grow that big overnight,” a unicorn mare leading the team named Wild Fang (her wild mane and tail supporting that name) replied...before a shout nearby called their attention.
Following it, they began to note the ground seemed somewhat more irregular than any of them remembered from their many visits in the past. Finally, turning the corner around the castle, they found a huge hole in the ground next to it, concealed from the air by trees, but far, far larger than any common Manticore could create.
“Or maybe not...” Wild Fang muttered, looking at the hole in wide-eyed shock.
“...That hole is even bigger than the report said he should be...” Dogcatcher replied, examining it closer.
“...I think this just got out of our league...” the wild-haired pony replied, putting the team's safety first. “Pull back and call the guard, we're not equipped for this.”
The rest of the team could only nod, preparing to back off and secure the area for better equipped groups to deal with the situation...only to find the ground trembling beneath their hooves, beginning to rise up. Chaotic magic erupted out of the ground like twisted lightning around them.
“Unicorns! Grab everybody and teleport out of here!” yelled Wild Fang, grabbing Dogcatcher and a few others and teleporting away. Arriving at the edge of the park she quickly did a head count and noticed three of the team hadn't teleported. Looking back, she noticed a young unicorn stallion, a new recruit, struggling with the teleportation, leaving himself and the other two stranded as the ground erupted upwards with more chaotic lightning. Teleporting back quickly, Wild Fang grabbed them, having to reach out and catch an Earth Pony officer from falling off the new rising ground. “Hang on, rookie!” she yelled before just managing to teleport back right as chaotic lightning burst out of the ground they'd been standing on.
Wild Fang, panting from exertion, fell to her haunches.
“You okay?” Dogcatcher asked, putting a hoof on her shoulder.
“Yeah...just tired...” the mare replied...before looking back as the castle and the surrounding area for about one hundred meters began rising up and breaking apart. “...That's not good...run!”
In a massive eruption of rock and the shattered remains of the castle, something gigantic burst free from the earth.
Nearby, the School of Friendship students screamed as their teachers jumped in front of them at the sudden blast.
“What the hay is going on?!” Applejack asked, looking over as the massive plume of dust rose into the air, far too close for comfort.
“I'll fly up and look!” Rainbow Dash called, the pegasus soaring skywards and looking down on Central Park as ponies and other creatures quite understandably panicked and ran for their lives.
Everything went silent as an unearthly growl radiated outwards from the plume, two gigantic red eyes snapping open and glaring outwards at the city. Two gargantuan wings resembling a Manticore's spread out impossibly far before flapping and sending a sudden gust of wind that would've sent a less skilled Pegasus than Rainbow flying head over heels over even at this distance.
The dust clearing, the First Beast finally came into clear view.
At its base body, it resembled a Manticore, but twisted and corrupted. Its exoskeleton now extended up its back all the way to its head, with three large, backwards curving spines erupting from between its shoulders. Another spike on each front shoulder and its horns having become more devilish and made of the same chitin as its armor. All four paws and ankles replaced by gauntlets of exoskeleton. It's long, crimson scorpion's tail still ended in a stinger, but it was now more dramatically curved and fierce. However, it was the size that took everycreature off guard. Standing on all fours, it was still taller than many of the surrounding buildings, over one hundred meters long. So large Smolder imagined many dragons would struggle to match its size.
“...Geryon?” asked Fluttershy, eyes wide in shock at the friendly Manticore she'd seen many times at the zoo.
“...Okay, no pony panic! Maybe he's friendly!” Pinkie Pie called.
Geryon reared his head back and let out an earth shaking roar before his stringer arched up over his back, crackling with violet chaotic energy. A beam of destructive magic erupted out, swinging across the park in front of him and leaving a glowing violet trench before explosions rivaling himself in size erupted into the air, the group feeling the ground rattle beneath their feet even at that great distance. Chaotic lightning crackled around his wings before arching off and plunging the thankfully evacuated park into more titanic blasts. Within moments the beautiful centerpiece of Manehattan was a blazing inferno.
Rarity quickly huddled the understandably terrified students together, covering them with herself. “He's not friendly!”
“Alright, now we can panic...”
Rainbow Dash saw civilians still running away from the gigantic beast. Geryon seemed to notice at the same time and took aim with his stinger, energy building. The pegasus gave a resolute glare. “No time to panic! There's still ponies down there!” she yelled, taking off as fast as she could go and gathering the group of civilians on her back the moment Geryon's beam reduced that portion of the street to blazing rubble. She continued through the streets around the park, picking up as many on her back as she could manage like a blue streak and depositing them with her friends at a safe distance before flying back in to try and rescue more.
“Come on, gang! She can't rescue all those ponies by herself!” Applejack shouted, producing her rope and rushing off with the rest of the Mane Six and Starlight in tow.
“...Should we do something?” Ocellus asked, shuddering at the chaos that suddenly unfolded. The previously bustling city now thrown into panic as ponies screamed and tried to escape by any means necessary as Geryon continued his assault.
“Not sure what we can do...” Smolder muttered, before looking out at the panicked crowds and giant monster attack. A normal dragon would probably just leave them to whatever happens... “...But we won't know if we don't try. Come on!”
Gallus nodded, likewise not being a normal Griffon. “Come on everycreature!” he called, the other students outside the Young Six nodding along with them.
===
“If this is true, we're going to need to borrow the Elements of Harmony,” Twilight replied to the manifestation.
“I am afraid that while the Elements are capable of defeating the First Beast, they are not an ideal solution,” the Tree replied. “There is no telling when these creatures will appear or where. If for any reason one of you six are separated from the rest, there would be no means of countering them before massive damage has already been done...something must be created that can fight them on even footing and lure them from populated areas until they can be purified. As well as weaken them so that process can be done safely.”
“That's a good point, but what could do such a thing barring a dragon of Torch's size and caliber?” asked Starswirl, looking back over the projection.
“We will create something that can...” replied the Tree, holding out a hoof as a massive flash of light went off, forcing the two to cover their eyes. When it faded, they looked and found her holding a small crystal shaped like an egg, the Element of Magic's crest emblazoned on it. “I have been experimenting with something since this threat came to my attention.”
“The strange sensation we experienced earlier I surmise?” asked Starswirl, looking the strange object over.
“Correct. As I was watered and grown by the Pillar's virtues, so too can something else be. This crystal egg can be fed by the light of your connections to the Element of Magic, and Gallus' as well, to birth a Guardian Beast to defend Equestria from these wild magic creatures...however, there is an additional requirement...”
Twilight took the egg in her magic and blinked. “What's that?”
“I cannot simply create a 'Kaiju' as Starswirl put it whole cloth from nothing. The egg will also require a piece of the First Beast to grant it the basic biology to sustain itself at the necessary size...”
“Then we'd best get a move on and find Gallus and this 'First Beast,'” Starswirl stated, now dead serious. “Where is it?”
“It is currently attacking the city of Manehattan...” the Tree replied.
Twilight's eyes widened as her irises shrunk to pinpricks. “...The field-trip!”
===
General Shield Strike, a gray furred mountain of a pegasus with a golden mane and tail, Cutie Mark shield with the same coloration, sat in his office. His day was doing what it was after every single crisis: doing lots of paperwork. The Bearers and other heroes handled actually taking down villains, somepony had to handle the paperwork. The annoying, boring paperwork. Still, at least unlike Sombra and Chrysalis, Cozy Glow was safely confined to Tartarus. Despite some complaints of Cerberus leaving his post, that place had an extremely good track record for keeping its prisoners incarcerated. Tirek was the only escapee in a thousand years.
There were also complaints about putting a filly down there. Ponies tended to forget that Cozy Glow was a criminal mastermind and child prodigy who'd intentionally desired to erase magic from the world (which would be incredibly catastrophic for many, many reasons) and nearly succeeded. In the time they'd had her in captivity she'd nearly sweet talked several guards into letting her loose, and not for incompetence on their part. Of course Tirek was her mentor, so what else would you expect? There were some creatures who the only rational way to lock them up was inside a place they couldn't talk their way out of.
While it was normally some time before the next crisis, his mentor Shining Armor had made one thing abundantly clear when training him: never tempt fate. Chrysalis was still out there somewhere, and Equestria had a very strong habit of throwing a new disaster your way at the drop of a hat.
Almost on cue at that thought, alarms blared in the base and the general jumped to his hooves, rushing out the door without a moment's thought. Seeing soldiers running down the same direction as himself, sped up to keep pace with them. “What's going on, Sergeant Fire Starter?!”
The soldier, a white pony with a fiery mane and tail, Cutie Mark under the armor an inferno, looked back. Fire Starter was a bit of an oddball in a lot of ways, but he was a good guard. Even if he had a habit of lighting himself on fire. Not on accident, on purpose. Shield Strike would be more concerned if he also didn't have fire proofing magic and if it weren't quite effective a trick in a fight. No one really had a good strategy for fighting someone who was on fire given how rare of a situation that was. “Word is some giant monster is attacking Manehattan, sir!”
Giant monster. That narrowed it down, at least a little bit. “Dragon? Roc? Kraken?”
“No, sir. Reports say it's a giant Manticore! Thing has already destroyed a most of Central Park!”
That was a new one.
As the soldiers filed in for briefing, Shield Strike looked to the technician preparing for the take off. “Get everypony the high grade armor! We'll need it!”
Magic was a wonderful thing. Even with armor, getting hit by a dragon would normally be a death sentence, but with the right enchantments, you got a magical shield that protected from conventional damage. You weren't invincible, but it'd saved those guards that got blasted by Nightmare Moon at the Summer Sun Celebration from serious injury, and turned a hit from a dragon from 'death' to 'a rough landing.' You still didn't want to take a direct hit, but it might just save your life.
===
Rainbow Dash grabbed another group of civilians, banking up to avoid another beam from Geryon...only for two to lose their grip and fall. The Wonderbolt gave a gasp, preparing to bank back to catch the falling ponies...only for Gallus, Silverstream, and a few pegasi students to fly up, grabbing falling ponies and joining her.
“Don't worry, we've gotcha!” Gallus called, the students flying up.
Ocellus transformed into her bugbear form so she and Smolder could pick up as many ponies as possible to help get them out of harm's way while Sandbar rode on Yona's back with several Earth Pony students and helped ponies climb on as she bulldozed her way through rubble and debris.
“Good job kids!” the cyan pegasus called with a proud smile.
“You did teach us top help everypony, what else would we do?” Silverstream asked.
Meanwhile, Applejack panted as she ran back to drop off more civilians as Starlight landed with a large group in her telekinesis. “Got some more...” she started, then cringed as Geryon roared and turned, taking aim at a building with his stinger. “But no way everypony's getting' out of here if he's bored tearin' up the park!”
“STOP!”
Geryon's eyes crossed to see Fluttershy flying right in front of him, eyes locked in the Stare.
“Geryon! I don't know what's happening, but this isn't you! Stop this!” Fluttershy pleaded as everypony's eyes widened at where she was.
Geryon...paused. For a few moments the glowing red faded back to normal eyes and he gave a whimper.
The cream color pegasus gave a grasp. “What's that?”
The giant beast whimpered something else...but before anything else could happen, he roared out in agony, paws clutching his head as he crackled with chaotic energy.
“Geryon! Fight it!” Fluttershy pleaded, reaching out to try to touch him, but his eyes each larger than herself snapped open to reveal them once more glowing blood red. With a roar he raised a massive paw to swipe her with deadly intent.
Fluttershy tried to escape, but was too slow...until a flash of magic saw Starlight appear behind her, grabbing her and teleporting her to safety, the paw slashing through the side of a building like butter.
“Are you okay?!” Starlight asked as they appeared on another building.
The pegasus had to quickly settle herself down, understandably hyperventilating. “Y-Yes, but he's not!”
“What?”
Fluttershy turned back as Geryon roared to the heavens, energy crackling about his form as he towered above them like ants. “...Something's wrong with him, he doesn't want to do this! He said something's making him!”
“But what? What turns a Manticore into a giant monster and sends it on a rampage?!” the unicorn questioned...then facehoofed. “We live in Equestria, that barely narrows anything down...” She then saw Geryon begin slashing into the building again, hearing ponies screaming. “...Well whatever it is, we need to keep him busy or ponies are getting hurt or worse! Keep saving civilians!”
Starlight teleported and reappeared in front of the creature's face. “Sorry Geryon!” she yelled, letting loose a massive magical beam directly in his face. The blast didn't even make he flinch, only roar in rage and swipe at her. The unicorn grabbed herself in her telekinesis and flew to evade, having to recover from being sent spiraling from the wind of his claw's passing. She caught herself quickly before rapidly firing magical beams at him. “Come on big guy, follow me!”
The monster turned, forcing her to dodge another swipe (this time getting further away to avoid being sent spinning) as she slowly lead Geryon back into the ruined park. After dodging several swipes, her eyes widened as his tail shot up, crackling with energy. She put up a shield as the violet energy beam was unleashed right at her. Starlight strained, quickly sweating as the beam sent her and her barrier back several hundred meters. The barrier barely lasted a few seconds before it began cracking, forcing her to teleport away at the last second.
Reappearing nearby, she quickly had to fire a massive beam to use her own recoil to cancel out the sheer momentum the beam had given her. “That was close...” she muttered, before giving a scream as she had to dodge a pounce that shook the earth and sent a massive explosion of rock into the air as it shook several city blocks. She nigh instantly had to weave and dodge to evade bolts of wing lightning that blew away what little was left of the park around her, the heat forcing a shield spell to protect her from getting third degree burns.
“Alright, let's try this!” the unicorn exclaimed, charging up her magic and creating a sphere of light she threw in his face. As it collided with his face, the sphere exploded in a blast of hypnotic light. The creature's eyes briefly glazed over and he stopped his rampage...but before she could give an order, his eyes crackled with red chaotic energy and shattered the spell, roaring and sending her flying back head over heels. As she caught herself, she just barely dodged a tail beam in time.
“Okay, that didn't work...let's try brute force,” Starlight muttered before she charged up and put as much force as she could into a gigantic energy beam point blank in Geryon's face.
The creature roared in pain and flinched back...but only as much as a pinprick might hurt a pony, after which he quickly recovered and forced her to dodge a swipe through the attack or be bisected.
Starlight looked down at his paws and flew down to dodge a bite, quickly firing rapid-fire beams. The massive claws were quickly encased in purple crystal...for only a few moments before it easily broke free in a rain of glimmering shards and nearly swiped her out of the air. Teleporting several times, she got distance and kept letting loose as powerful of spell blasts as she could, managing to make Geryon flinch but failing to do much more than that.
This continued for several minutes until Starlight began panting, sweating heavily while the monster had received next to no damage. The mare looked around, seeing her friends and students still getting civilians away from the rampaging monster alongside police and rescue workers...
Starlight took a deep breath and put as much power as she could into her horn and let it loose full blast at Geryon, who retaliated with his stringer beam. The two energy blasts collided...and Starlight's began to swiftly be overpowered, no matter how much she strained and pushed back against it. It finally completely overtook her beam, Starlight closing her eyes as the purple beam engulfed her vision...
Only to feel nothing. Had she been vaporized?
Opening her eyes, she found herself in Rainbow Dash's hooves, the mare's tail burned half way off and still smoking but flying her swiftly away.
“T-Thanks Rainbow...”
“No problem! What are friends for?!” Rainbow Dash asked with a smirk.
Starlight smiled...then promptly passed out from the sheer strain.
To Be Continued.
Rainbow Dash sat Starlight down next to some civilians a safe distance away in a structure the group had made a makeshift evacuation shelter.
“She alright?” Applejack asked as she ran over with several ponies on her back.
“Yeah, she just tired herself out,” Rainbow Dash replied, looking impressed.
“What was she thinkin'? She could've gotten killed!” the farmer shouted worriedly as she sat her passengers down.
“Yeah, but she kept that thing from attacking the city for a while,” the cyan pegasus looked back to Geryon, the rampaging beast turning his attention back to the city itself. She prepared to fly into action herself to pick up where Starlight left off when the sound of airship engines filled the air. “Looks like long enough for the cavalry to arrive.
“Sweet Celestia, do you see the size of that thing?!” Fire Starter asked as the airships arrived and began surrounding Geryon. “Its head has to be bigger than the ship we're in!”
“Stop gawking! That mare was brave enough to fight that thing, so now it's our turn!” Shield Strike bellowed. “Everypony, battle positions now!”
Geryon's massive head turned, looking up at the incoming airships as their armament ports opened. Unicorns with destructive magic, Pegasi armed with thunder clouds, and ordinary cannons were all aimed his way. His lips pulled back as he let out a fierce snarl.
“Fire!”
The airships began opening fire on the creature from all directions, earning a bellow of surprise. The airships kept up their offensive, circling him as fast as they could. Trying to find any weak spot as they hammered him from all sides, explosions and sparks of lightning blazing. This continued for several moments until Geryon was covered in a veil of smoke.
“Cease fire!” Shield Strike ordered, prompting the bombardment to cease.
Fluttershy whimpered, watching. “Geryon...”
“I'm sorry, Fluttershy, but that creature is too far out of control,” Rarity comforted as the two deposited another group of civilians.
“I know...but it's not his fault...”
“Did that do it?” Fire Starter asked from up in the cockpit of the ship...
Suddenly, a beam of purple energy erupted from the smoke, aimed right at one of the ships. The crew attempted evasive action, only succeeding in limiting the damage to the rear section. The portion was still blown to pieces with several ponies only surviving due to the enchanted armor taking the blast and being reduced to sparking charred metal.
Shield Strike's eyes widened as the ship began to naturally crash towards the ground, Geryon snarling as he emerged from the smoke unharmed. Energy crackled through his wings, taking aim at the plummeting aircraft. “Fire on it! Distract that thing!”
Lightning bolts slammed into Geryon's face, prompting him to spin around and fire his wing lightning, barely missing the maneuvering airship. The First Beast spread his wings, taking to the sky and flying over the airship, tail swinging down and snapping it in two, the crew having to quickly bail out as their ruined ship crashed to the ground. Many having to quickly pull unconscious or injured crew members from the crippled ship in the chaos.
Geryon flew up and spun around, energy crackling into his tail as another beam erupted, piercing straight through another of the ship's balloon, lighting it aflame and sending it crashing to the earth below.
Diving down like a bird of prey, the beast pounced on another airship.
“Oh no you don't!” Shield Strike yelled, taking a cannon and firing at Geryon's eyes in a desperate attempt at distracting him. The beast spiraled around and whipped the ship with his tail, sending it spiraling out of control and crashing into a building as its crew bailed out.
“Everypony, bailout!” called Shield Strike, shoving the pilot out of his seat and taking his place.
“What about you, Sir?!” asked Fire Starter, eyes wide.
“Go! I know what I'm doing!” the head guard shouted at his subordinate sternly.
Fire Starter nodded and used a blast of fire magic to blow a hole in the haul and allow the crew to eject.
“Let's see how you deal with this, you ugly monster!” Shield Strike called, putting the ship's engines on full blast and directing it into a head-on collision with Geryon's face. As soon as he knew it would be a direct hit, he surrounded himself in a sphere of wind and sped through the hole as quick as he could, diving down after his men. The now empty ship slammed into Geryon's face going as fast as its engines could manage, its munitions stores detonating on impact in a huge explosion.
“Think that did it, sir?” asked Fire Starter, a pegasus guard hanging onto him as a makeshift parachute as Shield Strike dove down and soared beside them.
“It'll at least distract him long enough for us to land...after that I don't know. We might have to call Celestia to hit that thing with a solar flare...” muttered the general, looking back at the smoke. “I just hope we bought the ponies enough time to evacuate...”
High above, the smoke cleared to reveal Geryon more or less unscathed except for a crack through one of his horns. The beast gave a bellowing roar as he looked around for more threats, but saw none.
“Alright, we're in Manehatten, now we just have to find a giant rampaging monster and my friends, who knowing them are in the immediate area,” Twilight said as she and Starswirl arrived in a flash of teleportation.
The two jumped at an explosion, snapping around and looking up. Their eyes widened as they saw Geryon emerging from the explosion of Shield Strike's ramming maneuver. Even at this distance, it was clear the beast was massive, and both were more than capable of calculating his size in their heads.
“That thing has to be at least 100 meters tall,” Starswirl said in disbelief.
“Come on! We need to find my friends before that thing destroys the entire city!” Twilight screamed, the two taking off in a full gallop, only not teleporting due to the chaos at their destination making that too dangerous a prospect.
“...Well, that didn't work,” Gallus observed bluntly as the School of Friendship students and Mane Six helped the guards that had bailed out of the ships to safety.
“Yeah, I'm pretty sure even a lot of grown-up dragons wouldn't be able to take that thing...” Smolder reluctantly admitted.
“It bought enough time to evacuate the area around Central Park,” Rainbow Dash pointed out, landing and dropping off the last ponies she could find.
“And not a moment too soon, look!” Sandbar shouted, pointing back towards the park.
Geryon roared, diving down from the sky and banking around one side of the park, the shock waves of his passing flight and lightning shooting from his wings shattering windows before several buildings detonated in a series of huge explosions, forcing the creatures watching to take cover. The First Beast flew up and hovered over the park, energy collecting in his tail and wings before it let loose and spinning, racking his beams and lightning over the buildings surrounding it. Manehatten was shaken by explosions, fire and debris flying everywhere as the area around Central Park began to be reduced to blazing ruin.
Miles away, Babs Seed screamed as she and her parents rushed towards a disaster shelter, only to hear the massive explosions in the distance. She looked back that direction and her eyes widened. “Ma! Look!”
Aunt Orange turned back just as Geryon landed directly on top of a building and crushing it to rubble before beginning to tear through buildings with his claws and teeth. The family nearly tripped and fell as the sight of the behemoth stunned them, but the mare quickly recomposed herself. “I know, Babs, don't look back!” she yelled, putting her daughter on her back as the group ran.
They were far from alone, the streets filled with panicked civilians all over running for their lives as their city was being attacked by a beast unlike any they'd ever seen. It took every last stallion the police force had just to make sure no pony got trampled in the stampede.
“At this rate, all of Manehatten is going to be leveled!” Rarity exclaimed, understandably panicked.
“And he'll have leveled the part we just helped evacuate and move on to the places there are still ponies!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Smolder, did Spike ever teach you how to do the dragon mail thing?!”
Smolder blinked. “Huh? No! It never came up!”
“Dang it! If we could get a letter maybe we could call Torch to come kick his butt...”
“You all should get out of here...”
The group turned to see General Shield Strike make his way over.
“Name's General Shield Strike, and thanks for helping my men...” the military stallion said gratefully. “But we're getting in contact with Celestia. The only option we really have left here is to have her solar flare that thing...If she does, we'll get a bad sunburn if we're standing here...”
“But that will level half the city!” Applejack replied in horror.
“I know...but better than all of it and wherever else that thing heads next...” Shield Strike muttered, clearly every bit as horrified.
“But...but that will kill Geryon! He's not in control of himself! Something's controlling him!” Fluttershy argued with a whimper.
“...And I'm sorry about that miss, but unless somepony here has a better idea, we have to stop that thing ASAP.”
“Well I could try to greed growth out and fight 'em, but I don't think I'd win,” Smolder admitted. She knew how to fight, yes, but in that state, she wouldn't be anything except a feral beast. And that's if she could even do it that fast in the first place.
“No way, we're not sendin' one of our students to fight that thing,” Applejack said definitively.
“Come on, girls! Think! We're the heroes, there's got to be something we can do!” Rainbow Dash encouraged, wracking her brain as Geryon tore through another building.
“Oh thank Celestia you're all alright!”
“Twilight!” the group yelled, collectively turning as Twilight and Starswirl ran up. The Princess of Friendship quickly engaged in a group hug with her best friends.
However, Twilight quickly looked around in panic when she noticed who didn't run up. “Where's Starlight?!”
“She's fine, she just wore herself out keeping the big manticore busy,” Rainbow Dash explained, pointing to the resting unicorn.
“A noble effort, she definitely continues to prove my initial thoughts about 'once a villain, always a villain' wrong,” Starswirl admitted with a smile.
The Princess of Friendship gave a relieved sigh and smile. “Good, you're all okay then. I was so worried when it turned out that monster was attacking the city.”
“And we were worried sick too darling!” Rarity replied, then smiled to the kids. “The students did handle themselves remarkably as well, they've saved plenty of lives today,” she praised, earning a mix of blushes, sheepish looks, and prideful smiles from the students.
“Hey, you taught us well,” Sandbar replied, something the rest of the students nodded in agreement with.
“You all did wonderfully for ones so young,” Starswirl said with a proud nod.
“This is sweet and all, but unless the Princess brought some magical superweapon, we need to get out of here before Celestia brings the sun on that thing,” Shield Strike interrupted. “And I mean that in the least sarcastic way possible.”
“Actually, yes I did,” the Princess of Friendship replied, holding up the crystal egg and Elements of Harmony which she levitated to her friends' necks. “The Tree of Harmony gave me this! It's the egg of a guardian it designed to fight monsters like that!”
“Thank Celestia, I don't want to be the general who requested Celestia to hit Manehatten with a Solar Flare and I don't think she'd want to have to.”
“Alright! So how do we get it out of there and kicking Geryon's butt?” Rainbow Dash cheered as she looked closely at the egg.
“That's the hard part: we're going to need a piece of...Geryon if we want to create the Guardian,” Twilight explained, looking back to the massive beast and trying to think of exactly how she'd manage that.
“Darling, I don't know if you've noticed, but everypony's been throwing everything we've got at that creature, how are we supposed to break a piece of it off?” Rarity asked.
“Hey! When I crashed my ship into, I cracked its horn,” Shield Strike explained, thinking. “Maybe we could knock that piece off?”
“That might just be our best chance, but what can we use?” Starswirl replied, using a binocular spell to zero in on the crack on the behemoth's horn.
Rainbow Dash looked at Geryon, noting the horn, and an idea clicked in her mind. “Hey, I've got an idea! You get ready to do what you need to do!”
“...Yah do actually have a plan, right?” Applejack asked, knowing her pegasus rival well enough to worry about what she might do.
“Of course I do! It's called 'Quit Hitting Yourself!'” the heroic pegasus called before flying off.
“...Sounds like a good plan to me,” Gallus commented with a chuckle.
Shield Strike looked over his stallions who were still battle-ready. Many of them had taken a nasty beating and survived only because of their armor, but some were just fine. “Alright, any soldiers with destructive magic who can still walk or fly, we're gonna back her up! Aim for that horn and keep the lady out of danger when you can! Am I clear?!”
“Sir, yes, sir!”
Twilight nodded with a worried look before returning to the task at hoof. “Gallus! Can you please come here?”
The little griffon blinked and flew over. “Yes, Principle Twilight?”
The lavender Alicorn turned to Starswirl. “The Tree said we need to water the egg like you watered its seed. How do we do that?”
Starswirl nodded. “Alright, listen closely...”
“Hey! Geryon!” called Rainbow Dash zooming in as the creature was smashing another building and stopping right in front of his eye. “Tag! You're it!” she called, bucking him in the huge orb. Her mass compared to his didn't let her do much in the realm of actually causing him pain, but it definitely got his attention. She quickly dodged his counter swipe and flew around his head and stuck her tongue out at his other eye. “You're too slow!”
Another massive swipe forced her to dodge and land on his forehead. “Up here!”
Unfortunately for her, Geryon tried swiping her off rather than slam his paw into his face like she was expecting, forcing her to fly up to dodge. The massive creature's scorpion tail arched up and charged with purple energy, preparing to fire...when a massive fireball slammed into his face, causing Geryon to snap to the side and send the beam off course into the ground rather than at the tiny pegasus.
Firestarter smirked and fired several more fireballs, this time directly to the cracked part of the horn. Several other unicorns with destructive magic did the same thing with various spells, together managing to put a few more cracks in it. As lighting crackled about his wings in their direction, Rainbow Dash grabbed a storm cloud and fired a bolt into his eyes to distract him and get him to fire her way rather than at them. She banked sharply to avoid, allowing the cloud to take the hit and be left crackling with purple lightning.
As Rainbow evaded, testings Geryon's reactions, Shield Strike saw the cloud and quickly flew up, using wind control and a swift buck to launch the chaotic clump of water vapor into the First Beast's horn. The chaotically crackling cloud detonated in a huge explosion of thunder and lightning that Geryon's roar indicated he actually felt. Rainbow noticed as the smoke cleared that the cracks in the horn had greatly worsened.
Geryon, unfortunately, also noticed Shield Strike and roared, turning and firing his tail beam. The general banked sharply to avoid but cringed as he was still close enough for his armor to have to take the brunt of the damage and be left scorched and crackling. While hanging on enough to glide back down, he was still a sitting duck as Geryon prepared another stinger beam.
Rainbow Dash flew straight up then banked back down to perform a Sonic Rainboom directly into the damaged horn, causing a prismatic mushroom cloud like when she'd done it to destroy Applejack's old barn. Geryon roared, shaking his head violently as the building energy faded.
Rainbow Dash panted as she hung on for dear life to the now thoroughly cracked horn as Geryon tried to buck her off. “Come on big guy! If you want to get me off you're going to have to try and hit me!”
Geryon snarled in rage, attempting to bash his horn into a building. While Rainbow had to take cover and avoid getting crushed, she managed to grab back on and keep a grip on...until she noticed his stinger charging up.
The cyan pegasus smirked. “That's it...”
As the beam fired she sped off and let it strike the monster's already damaged horn, causing a large explosion and earning a roar of stunned pain. Geryon was left frantically pawing at his broken, aching horn as shards of it rained down around him.
Rainbow Dash wasted no time grabbing as big of a piece as she could safely hang onto and flew back to Twilight.
“Got it!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew down to Twilight and company with the horn piece, the others having evacuated the civilians further away in case they failed and Celestia really had to solar flare Geryon.
“Good job, Rainbow!” Twilight exclaimed, taking the still smoking horn fragment. She placed it on top of the egg, prompting it to crackle with chaotic energy...before harmonic light shone, dispelling it and causing the horn fragment to dissolve into particles of light that were absorbed by the egg. Slowly, the crystal turned more opaque and began to glow.
“Alright! Let's do this!” Twilight called, holding out a hoof to Starswirl and Gallus. The three held hooves and claws, encircling the egg and concentrating.
Rainbow Dash heard thundering steps and turned, looking out of the building. “Uh hurry up! Geryon's back up and he's angry!” she warned as the massive monster began a snarling dash towards their position as if following the scent of his own blood.
“Remember, focus on the virtue you feel when channeling the Elements!” Starswirl instructed, holding his journal. He focused on the camaraderie he felt with the other Pillars. Something he'd never felt in all the years he was alone. The friendship that helped beat back the Sirens...and his new friendship with Twilight that had helped him open up his heart.
Twilight focused on that night in the Everfree. When they bonded while battling the insane lunar goddess Luna had become. All the many, many misadventures they'd had since. All the simple, friendly moments.
Gallus, genuinely surprised himself the Tree had dubbed him, a Griffon from greedy old Griffonstone, as worthy of the Element representing Friendship of all things, focused on the time he'd spent at the School of Friendship. The only time in his life he'd felt like anyone at all cared about him. Friends who made him...feel like somegriffon rather than just another faceless chick without a family.
The three began to faintly glow with the magenta aura of the Element of Magic.
“Uh, he's getting closer!” Rainbow Dash warned as Geryon continued his charge, ignoring the Guard's attacks on him and any building in his way as he did so and got ever closer.
The trio continued focusing.
'With my friends I can conquer foes I could never best alone,' Starswirl chanted in his head, magenta energy beginning to trace out something on the ground around them.
'With my friends I can do so much more than I could alone,' Twilight mentally recited, the energy continuing to form around them and the group now beginning to glow with a magenta aura.
'My friends are my family...they make me feel wanted...' Gallus repeated in his mind as the aura grew louder.
“He's almost here!” Rainbow Dash shouted, spreading her wings and preparing to fly out and distract the charging monster as it reached the home stretch to their location.
“And...” Twilight started, opening her eyes as they glowed white.
“Friendship...” Starswirl continued, following suit.
“Is...” Gallus added, eyes igniting along with the others.
The line of energy completed itself, forming the Element of Magic's symbol beneath them.
“Magic!” they called together, magenta energy flowing from them into the egg.
Rainbow dash looked back at them. “Huh?”
Back at the Tree of Harmony, the incarnation of it looked up as she glowed with a magenta aura. “It is time to awaken, Guardian Beast of Magic. Awaken and face the First Beast.
The energy filled the egg, causing it to turn lavender and the Magic symbol to turn magenta before finally cracking and shattering to reveal a glowing mass of magenta magic within. The shattered shell reconfigured itself, forming and solidifying into a brace along Twilight's foreleg. Its base was golden metal resembling that of the Elements, with a magenta gemstone similar to the one in her crown in its center.
Twilight blinked, finding herself floating in a void like the one she'd ascended in. Her eyes widened as she looked up to find two glowing magenta eyes with the Element of Magic's crystal inside floating above her.
“What is my name?” asked a voice similar to her own, but with a confidence she recognized from Starswirl and a stand-offish nature she recognized from Gallus.
“Your name?” the lavender Alicorn asked, realizing what she was talking to. A name for a Guardian of Friendship...
The jewel in the brace let off a repeated musical tone as the jewel glowed with a rotating light, magenta energy flowing through lines inside.
The magenta energy erupted, flying out of the room and into the sky as the trio powering it were panting from exertion.
The magical force snaked skywards, exploding in a blast of light so bright Geryon was forced to roar and recoil, covering his eyes. The energy began to slowly take form, a serpentine body shape. Avian legs formed underneath while great wings formed above, a clutch of feathers at the tip. A head -like an elongated owl's forming atop its neck. Energy and magic turned to flesh and feathers. The base coloration with lavender, with the underbelly dark purple along with the almost mask-like markings on its face. The feet were a dark purple, while the talons, beak, feathers at the tail tip, and the markings on its wings were magenta. Draconic but somewhat feminine magenta eyes opened as magenta energy traced the Element of Magic symbol on its chest. A jewel like the one in the Element of Magic formed on its head, a golden headdress that curved back and up like twin horns formed on her head. In total it was 100 meters tall if it stood up straight on its legs.
“Whoa...” Rainbow Dash muttered in amazement.
“We made that?!” Gallus asked, eyes wide in shock.
Twilight nodded, catching her breath. “The Guardian Beast of Magic...Philia...She's amazing...”
Philia hovered in the air, glaring down at Geryon as the First Beast snarled back. The mutated manticore roared in fury and challenge, being met in kind with a high pitched roar resembling a mix of an owl's screech and a dragon's roar.
Shield Strike panted, forcing himself up on the roof he'd landed on. “...Glad that thing's on our side.”
Energy surged into Geryon's tail, being met with the facial markings on Philia igniting magenta before the energy flowed into her eyes. The violet energy beam from Geryon was met with powerful beams of magenta energy from Philia's eyes, colliding between them with a visible shockwave and battling back and forth for dominance. After a few moments, the growing energy detonated in a blast that forced the creatures behind Philia to cover themselves for protection.
“Get him away from the city!” Twilight called to Philia, hoping to somehow make her hear the Alicorn from down there...during which the jewel in the foreleg device to glow in unison with the jewel on Philia's head.
The giant creature nodded, looking back directly at Twilight.
The lavender Alicorn looked down at the device then back to Philia. “Did this let you hear me?”
The beast nodded with an almost snarky smirk before turning back to Geryon and giving a roar of challenge, soaring skyward with the First Beast in hot pursuit.
Twilight stared after Philia in awe for a few moments before shaking herself out of it. “Let's find the others! We'll need to use the Elements to purify Geryon after Philia beats him!”
Philia continued soaring up until they were hundreds of meters in the air before finally turning and standing her ground. The First Beast likewise stopped, noting this as a challenge and the two sizing one another up for a few moments. Finally, they roared in challenge and dove straight at one another, Geryon like a pouncing lion and Philia like an owl swooping down at her prey. The two finally collided with a visible shockwave that blew away the clouds, Philia's talons trying to bite into Geryon's shoulders as his claws tried to rip into her legs. The two spun around, each trying to throw the other before finally separating and launching one another several hundred meters away.
Both kaiju managed to catch themselves before flying in to clash once more. Geryon earned a roar of pain from Philia by biting her leg while Philia retaliated by clamping her beak down on his shoulder, the two ripping into each other but failing to do much damage due to the other's hide. The Guardian Beast of Magic noticed Geryon's stinger rise up and had to let go to avoid being stung, but forced the First Beast to let go in kind to evade her optic beams. Philia turned and flew, trying to get some distance on the behemoth, but Geryon was hot on her heels.
Babs Seed and her family were about to enter the shelter when they heard the roars of battle and looked up just in time to see Philia pass over head with Geryon in hot pursuit, the wind the two generated in their wake rattling parked carriages and forcing them to take cover.
The First Beast roared, letting loose his tail beam and wing lightning, only for Philia to bank out of the way to dodge. This continued until Philia's head spun around like an owl's and let loose her optic beams, forcing Geryon to bank to evade as she tried to lead the fight higher into the sky. This dogfight continued until Philia finally did a loop over Geryon and landed on his back, biting and slashing with her beak and talons. Each strike resulting in a cascade of sparks.
Geryon roared in pain, thrashing to try and get her off before his stinger swung up and drove into her right hip. Philia roared out in pain before Geryon spun around, biting her leg and throwing her off. As she caught herself, the First Beast slammed into her and the two tumbled, biting and clawing at each other.
Twilight cringed, feeling a phantom pain in her hip as she and the group flew off to meet up with their friends. She spun around to see Philia manage to redirect her fight with Geryon to land back in Central Park when it became clear they were landing one way or the other. Philia was pinned underneath Geryon, having to dodge several bites before landing a full blast of her optic blasts to his chest and blasting him off, sending him crashing to the ground. The Guardian Monster stood back up, noticeably favoring her right leg. It didn't take the lavender Alicorn long to notice the sting.
“Philia, if you can do magic, use this spell on your wound,” Twilight said, pressing a hoof to the device on her foreleg.
The heroic kaiju nodded, turning and looking at her hip as energy charged into her eyes. Firing the beam, it hit the wound and cast an anti-poison spell. She gave an almost grateful sounding roar before turning back to Geryon. As he charged, she flew over him, wrapping her long tail around his neck and dragging him over, sending him crashing on his back. Geryon retaliated by biting down on her tail, causing her to roar in pain and letting him get back up before swinging her around and tossing her across the park.
Twilight observed and looked towards the bay. “...Philia, you're faster and more agile than he is...”
Philia nodded and flew up, once more leading the battle into the air and heading out over the bay. As the two flew, she banked sharply, coming around and slamming into his side before kicking off to get distance and avoid his claws, but being blasted back by his tail beam. As he charged her, the Guardian Beast let loose her eye beams at an angle that forced him to stop his charge and fly back. Capitalizing, Philia flew forwards and under him, looping back over top to blast him in the back with her optic beams and for him downwards. As he caught himself, the two circled, Philia carefully leading things towards the bay and out over the ocean. The two finally slammed into one another once more, Philia using their clash to lead things higher and higher into the sky before breaking off.
Philia launched her optic beams, forcing Geryon to evade and retaliate with his own energy attacks. This dogfight continued for several moments before Philia took a hit in the chest and fell from the sky, Geryon diving after her in hot pursuit. The water's surface grew closer and closer...until Philia's eyes snapped open and she smirked, spreading her wings like a parachute and stopping as Geryon's greater bulk and momentum sent him flying past her. Going into a dive to pick up speed, she finally launched her talons out at the Manticore still attempting to stop and grabbed his tail. Diving straight down she dragged him along using his own momentum before banking up at the last second, slamming him straight into the water's surface with enough force to send a huge pillar of water into the sky.
“Whoa nelly!” Applejack exclaimed, the rest of the Mane Six and Young Six watching from a safe distance. “That was some fancy flyin'...”
“I hope Geryon will be alright...” muttered Fluttershy, knowing despite everything Geryon was a victim in this too.
“Girls!” Twilight called, flying down with Starswirl on her back as Rainbow Dash and Gallus touched down. “Did Philia just win?”
Philia having to dodge several tail beams as Geryon erupted from the water answered that. The First Beast was battered and wounded, but far from finished. The mutated manticore snarled, charging massive amounts of energy into his wings and tail while Philia did the same with her eyes.
The two kaiju let loose their beams, the mightiest they'd fired in the entire fight. The energy attacks collided, once more fighting back and forth at a stalemate. Energy building greater and greater.
“Come on, Philia...I know that you can do this...” Twilight muttered, holding the brace on her foreleg. The Element of Magic and her eyes began to glow, the jewel on Philia's head doing the same.
Philia gave a mighty roar, her optic blasts increasing in intensity and beginning to force back Geryon's beam. The First Beast roared in fury, pumping as much energy into the attack as he could but was gradually overwhelmed. With a roar of pain, the beam struggle was forced all the way into him, slamming into his chest and resulting in a massive explosion visible from far into the city.
The group watched with bated breath as the smoke hung over the bay and slowly settled...to reveal Geryon floating unconscious on the ocean's surface.
“She did it! She won!” Twilight cheered, swaying and tired on her hooves from an energy drain. The rest of the group soon joined in.
Shield Strike smirked, his troops cheering behind him. He did a respectful salute.
From across the city, Babs hugged her family, in the shelter as the beast's defeat was announced. Coco Pommel relaxed in the boutique she ran for Rarity. Manehatten cheered, its citizens seeing their city scorched and wounded...but not destroyed.
The fight was over. Something Philia made clear when she reared her head back and roared to the heavens in victory.
Swooping down, Philia dragged Geryon to shore and sat him on the shore.
“Alright girls, let's heal one last victim here...” Twilight said, exhausted but the job was not yet done.
The six floated up into the air, elements glowing and the power growing until finally, their eyes snapped open glowing white. The rainbow arched upwards and slammed back down, washing over Geryon's form. Tainted magic rose off of him, crackling and writhing until it burned away in the river of harmony.
As the light faded, the monster's body shrunk down, mutated features fading until finally, a normal manticore lay unconscious before them.
Fluttershy carefully approached, putting a hoof on the big animal. “Geryon? Are you okay?”
Geryon's eyes flickered open, back to those of a normal manticore. He looked over at the mare...and licked her face, prompting her to laugh and hug him.
Rainbow Dash smiled...before turning to notice the state of the city. Central Park was completely thrashed, with the fire department moving in to put out the many, many fires blazing. The city surrounding the park had many buildings reduced to rubble, his path of destruction cut through the city when he chased them down visible from here. But...everyone had been evacuated in time.
“So...looks like the Elements can't purify that much corrupted magic and restore the city at the same time...” the cyan pegasus muttered.
Twilight nodded, trotting over to look. “Yeah...but that just means if another monster shows up, we'll have to be ready, and we did manage to save a lot of ponies lives...their lives are what matters. We can rebuild the city, but we can't bring ponies back to life.”
Rainbow nodded, watching the Young Six congratulate Gallus on helping save the world again and Starswirl gave a proud smile to Twilight. She turned to Philia, who'd curled up on the beach, being surprisingly friendly towards the civilians who dared approach. “Thanks! We couldn't have done it without you!” she called with a wave.
Philia nodded, showing a bit of pride...then dipping the tip of her wing in the water and splashing the pegasus.
“Hey!”
To everypony's surprise, the massive creature seemed to give a vocalization roughly comparable to laughing and certainly looked like she was at her little prank.
“...Okay, she has a bit of a mischievous streak,” Rainbow muttered, shaking herself off. Everypony gave a look at Gallus for that one.
“I like her!” Pinkie Pie cheered.
“...So, where are we going to keep a giant bird...dragon...thing?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.
Twilight's eyes widened. “...That's...a good question. One I'm going to answer after a nap...” she said, feeling drained and simply trotting over next to where Starlight was still sleeping and flopping to the ground next to her to sleep.
Shield Strike looked out of Canterlot Castle, Ponyville still visible...and a mountain overlooking the town now having a giant monster curled up in a nest on top of it. “Thanks for the invite princess...” he said, turning to face Princess Luna, seated on her throne. “But I don't think you invited me here for a nice chat and see where the savior of Manehatten decided to roost.”
Luna nodded. “You were valiant during the rampage of the First Beast. You kept your head in a bad situation, and managed to be instrumental to the creation of the Guardian Beast of Magic...” she explained thoughtfully. “But Equestria will need to pull its weight now that she has been born. In a world of monsters, we must have a means to at least keep them busy until Philia can arrive to defeat them.”
“What do you suggest?” Shield Strike asked, raising an eyebrow.
“A shield to halt the dragon's fire until the sword can slay it,” the Princess of the Night said, trotting over and handing him a badge depicting a shield stopping the fire of a dragon.
In its chamber, the Tree of Harmony's incarnation looked up at itself. “The First Beast has been defeated...but more will come. Philia is enough for now...but the time will come when she alone will not be sufficient...” the incarnation said, looking over...to see five more crystal eggs inside a chamber, each with the symbols of one of the other elements emblazoned on them. Crystal grew and covered the entrance. “And she won't need to face it alone...”
The End.
