And so the journey begins anew.

In a desolate clearing a monster sat, coughing and hacking. The surrounding forest had been decimated. His raging had destroyed a small open field in the middle of the dense forest. Wood and bark had been scattered across the area, splintered fragments of boulders had been thrown as if they were made of cloth. The ground was scorched and wide trenches had been torn in the dirt. In the very center of all this devastation sat the monster, his front legs were pulled close to his throat as he hacked, small puffs of smoke shooting out of his nostrils. His prismatic, multicolored eyes opened wide in shock and pain, before they closed once again as he coughed. He pressed one front hoof down on the ground, before the other.

It took him a while to crawl out of the pit he had sat in, his front left hoof was cracked right down the middle, he hadn't noticed it until his throat had been roasted by all the fire-breathing he had done. As he reached the edge of the crater, he turned to look back, the only thing remaining in the pit being the steaming liquid that had dripped of him. He took a moment to sit down, and take a look at his surroundings. His gaze panned over across the clearing, a grimace on his face, before he looked down at his torn apart hoof, and then back up. His eyes narrowed as he looked over at the large path of crushed trees leading through the forest. It seems as though that magic ball was a bit stronger than first thought. The fringes of the great, glittering ball had singed the trees it had passed and scorched the ground that it rolled on.

He took a cautious step, placing his left hoof down first, which proved to be a bit of a mistake. Bristling pain ran up his leg as he stepped, a gasp of pain escaping his sharp-toothed mouth. The gasp set off a chain reaction the resulted in him hacking and wheezing as his behind hit the ground. Tears ran down his muzzle like rain as he held his left hoof tightly to his fluffy chest, blood smearing on his jet black coat and covering the brilliant neon fur with a dark red sheen. After several minutes of hacking and harsh breathing, he began to limp along the path made by the ball, holding his leg close to him. His stumbling three-legged gait resulted in him tumbling a few times, before he got the process down. He limped off, eyes constantly flicking to and from either side of the path, taking in the destruction he had caused.

A tiny whimper escaped the monster, his eyes watering as he watched little woodland creatures run from him in terror. Something about other living, thinking creatures running from him felt wrong, it hurt deep down for some unknown reason. After a while, the only sound that spread through the forest was the quiet thumps of his footsteps, and the howling, whistling wind. He could see light ahead, a large arch covering the path, and a lantern hanging from it. A bright flash encompassed the sky, followed by a roar of thunder, sending the monster tumbling forward under the arch. He quickly realized his mistake as his left hoof erupted in a swamp of pain. He let out a pained gurgle as he sunk to the ground, sobbing horribly. His fragile mind could hardly take in what was happening as a single raindrop plopped down onto his muzzle.

His eyes turned to the sky, watching as clouds raced across the sky, he caught a glance of more lightning flashing across the sky. He thrust his eyes back down to the ground and covered his head with his wings, the entire length of them hiding his body from the rain. He shook and shuddered as the sky ruptured once again, quiet sobbing the only sound escaping him. Rain began to splatter against the scorched ground, ashes and dirt mixing with rain water. He slowly, carefully, peeked out from behind his wing, being rewarded with a drop of rain directly into his eye. He hissed in frustration, before settling down once again, laying his wings against his body and resting his head on his front hooves. He looked down at his reflection, the water beginning to pool on the ground around him.

Bright, prismatic colors met him, constantly shifting and changing, spiraling around his iris, which was a dark shade of green. Flecks of gold and ivory danced in his eyes as he watched, he looked over at his wings, seeing that the feathers were also a changing myriad of colors. He hummed to himself, his primitive brain delighted in the colors as they changed a moved, an almost childlike expression of wonder took over his face. His eyes lit up in shades of gold and light green, spots of orange and pink sparkling along with them. His wings took on a change too, purples and pinks lighting the edges, the center being a bright red, and then fading into black as it got closer to his body.

And just like that, the monster fell into a deep slumber, a small smile on his face as he slept. To anypony else, he simply looked like a rainbow colored lump on the ground.

Light...

What is it with light and waking him up...

The monsters brilliant prismatic eyes stared up at the sun with a scathing glare, before he grumbled, coughed once, and then let out a long yawn. His hoof was still cradled to his chest, dried blood caking the limb, his licked away most of the blood, that being the only solution his primitive mind could think of. With a tired sigh, he stood, noticing the hoof marks on the dirt along the path, leading directly in the direction he was planning on walking. He tilted his head to the side, brought his muzzle low to the ground, and inhaled deeply through his nose. Instantly a bright blue mist surrounded the hoof marks, the mist continued further down the path. He began to wander along, following the hoof tracks.

Nose to the ground, he continued, stumbling occasionally. The tracks led through the forest, before he encountered a fork in the road. He sat down, sniffing one set of hoof tracks, before moving to the other and comparing them. The right one smelt a bit like honey and mint, while the left smelt of cherries and something spicy. He compared them two more times, before stomping his hooves a few times in frustration. His eyes flicked from one path to the other, and back again. He whined lightly, before pressing his nose back to the ground and following the path he smelt first. His throat had begun to ache horribly, and an empty feeling settled deep in his torso.

Suddenly he flattened himself against the ground, his ears pinned to the back of his head and a growl escaping his throat. Voices... He heard voices up ahead, speaking something he couldn't understand. Shouting and screaming soon reached his ears, accompanied by the sounds of steel against steel. He was on his feet in an instant, the singular track now melding into many, alongside talon like marks in the ground. He began to run full steam down the path, his injured leg the last thing in his mind. For some incomprehensible reason, he felt a pain in his heart at the cries of pain and screaming, worry spread through him like fire in oil. The sounds began to grow louder, sprinkles of blood along the path leading to a pony with his throat torn out, a line carved into the poor stallions neck.

Another whine escaped him as he nosed the body once, before he began running again. He passed three more pony corpses before passing by a bird-lion hybrid body, the creatures skull caved in, most likely from an earth pony kick. He ignored that corpse, continuing onward before coming to a clearing. Another one of those large bird-lions stood over an armored earth pony stallion, his spear glancing off the heavy steel plates. The monsters, guided by instincts, body slammed the bird-lion, hearing something crack in the creatures body as they slammed together. The sheer force of the bash was enough to drive the creature deep into a tree, his left foreleg bent at an awkward angle. Ignoring the now still bird-lion, the monster leaned down to pull the earth pony up, nosing him forward.

The earth pony spouted some words, before rushing off and doing the same body slam to another bird-lion, this one with a spiked mace. A small group of ponies held off a wave of bird-lion, three unicorns firing burning magic arrows into the griffons, some hitting, and some simply thumping against bird-lions leather armor and dispersing. The three unicorns were guarded by a group of four pegasi and two heavily armored earth ponies. The earth ponies were unarmed, but the pegasi held a shield and a spear on either wing. They were being attacked by a group of five bird-lions, all of which were armed with short curved swords. Our protagonist focused hard, imagining a blazing fire burning the bird-lions, before a brilliant orange light cascaded over the clearing.

Another orb had appeared over the monsters head, bright yellow and burning. The battle briefly paused, all in the clearing taking a moment to marvel at the hulking monstrosity, before a pegasus lodged his spear deep into the throat of a bird-lion.
That set of a chain reaction, the monster roaring loudly and letting loose the ball of flame. The orb flew straight and perfect, passing through one bird-lion, and then another, before lodging itself in the third in a bright explosion that left the ponies unharmed, as the last bird-lion simply cawed in shock and flew away. Or he would have if a pink spectral arrow hadn't lodged itself into its spine.

A cry distracted the monster, his head turning to spot a dark green foal cowering under a bird-lion. The monster charged the bird, his razor sharp teeth clamping down on the lion-birds raised claw, and bringing it back with a tug. The tug had unexpected consequences, the bird-lion bringing its other claw down to slash across the monsters face, though that didn't stop the creatures arm from getting torn off with sheer force. Blood ran over the monsters eyes as he threw the corpse aside, spotting a blurry blob notching an arrow aimed straight at the foal. A croak rippled from the bow as it was fired, followed by a muffled thump, and a whimper.

There the monster sat, his wing extended and his body covering the foal, multiple arrows splintered into his outstretched wing, one actually piercing through and poking out the other side. Despite all of that, the monster cooed softly to the foal his fluffy body covering the young filly. His nose prodded the foal, a giggle escaping her mouth as he did so.

Slowly, he closed his eyes, silence spreading through the clearing as he began to lay next to the foal, his wing still outstretched, and place his head onto her front hooves.

Light...

What is with light and always...

Author's Note

No spooky chaos speak in this one, sorry bud.

Point out any mistakes I made if you'd like, I'll get to em eventually.

Thanks for reading.