Twilight’s POV.

We had been walking for a while, we were getting quite deep into the forest as I followed a tracker spell I was using, the arrow pointing the way. The spell would track whatever creatures were not documented species of the forest as I thought this was my best bet to find the creature responsible for entering pony civilization. Before we left I added some hair I found from the canine and added it to the spell.

The Royal Sisters wanted this creature brought back unharmed, but I had to keep Rainbow Dash in check as to not harm the canine, despite its rampage on Fluttershy’s animals.

“Come on Twilight, when do we find that thing!?”

I sighed at Rainbow’s zero patience.

“We get there when we get there, Rainbow, and remember what I said, the Princesses want it unharmed.”

A lot of the other scientists were a little annoyed at Rainbow Dash’s need for vengeance and a desire to hit something.

the tracker began to alert me we were in the presence of the creature, but what was odd was I was getting something else, it clearly was here, and it clearly wasn’t alone. It was alerting me that there were several creatures in the vicinity. I didn’t account for this to happen as my spell was pointing in all directions. To ease my mind, we would only be focusing on one target, but we would be wary of anything strange to be on the safe side.

“Okay everypony, we’re going to have to do this manually.”

I soon took notice of where we were, as scientists went to set cages for the creature, our extra griffon guide Thorn, and Fluttershy, helped point out likely trails. We were in front of the Castle of the Two Sisters, but why in all places would it go here? But then my previous investigation reminded me that this creature most likely was raised within a house, so it would most likely seek refuge in structures. I was unsure how smart this creature was, if this was its home, setting a trap within its domain would make it never return and we could lose the opportunity to research this specimen.

I told everypony to avoid placing traps within the castle. Marking down locations on my note pad, the other scientists doing the same.

“Okay, let’s pull out of here, we’ll camp out in the forest and wait for it to set off the traps, Thorn will keep watch over us for the night.”

Several screams rang out in the distance, although not too far from here.

“That can’t be,” Rarity muttered.

“It’s Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo!”

*Intense music of your choice begins*

We all ran as fast as we could to their location, soon we entered a clearing to see them standing in one place, shaking as if they witnessed the scariest nightmare imaginable.

“Girls, are you okay?”

“They looked so traumatized, but what could have done-.”

I smelled something, something dead, it wasn’t bad yet but I knew it was going to be. What confused me was it was in the direction the frightened fillies were looking at. We all turned to where they were looking and our eyes went wide, many of us wanted to puke.

It was a dead manticore, whatever killed it slaughtered it ruthlessly, it looked like a battle for dominance.

Fluttershy fainted on the spot, rarity did her very best not to throw up.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were in pure shock, maybe a little bit of fear. The scientists were dumbfounded, Pinkie’s mane had deflated and her vibrant pink fur faded.

“What on earth could have done this, asked one of the scientists.”

“I’ve never ever seen something kill a manticore in this fashion,” said another.

“Twi, what do you suppose did this?”

I remained silent, my heart beating a thousand miles per hour. We were in a lot more danger than we could even dream of. Most Predators usually killed their prey quickly, this creature just straight up massacred its feline assailant. Predators within respect each other’s presence and only fight when absolutely necessary, not what I’ve seen here.

I could only give one answer.

“An apex predator.”

*Dramatic music intensifies*
______________________________________________

My POV.

It was nearing dusk, I was out testing my hunting skills as I chased a doe. The most frightening thing on my mind was the doe was able to talk like most animals, as it could communicate with me as if it were speaking English.

“It was clearly frightened, but the cool thing was my consciousness was cloudy, my predator instincts ignoring the poor scared deer, it allowed me to focus on the hunt and the prey, it was just the circle of life.”

Regardless, I wasn’t the one who was going to kill the deer. Out of the blue, the deer was bulldozed by an immense amount of force, it didn’t even see the 2,500 pound god bear coming at it, orchestrating a strategic ambush, our efforts were successful. We began eating the insides of the deer, but being a bear of his size, Kenny still wanted more. Seeing he needed to eat more than me, I let him have most of the deer’s meat while I just cleaned off the legs and minor areas.

Probably wondering how we are tolerating eating raw meat. Honestly I’d prefer what my pony friend made last night, but hey, adapt or die. Another trick was just to eat the more appetizing parts of the animal.

After the death of the manticore, most of the predators became aware of Kenny’s presence and minded their own business or face his wrath. Didn’t know he’d become the talk of the woods. I had to do a number 2, being still human inside, I wanted my privacy so I went into the bushes.

As I did my business, a little ways from the kill site, I heard something. Out of the surrounding bushes came a group of ponies and some odd bird thing. This had to have been the science brainiacs who wanted to catch me. I noticed some were the ones I did know, such as the orange pony. I gave a warning growl, to make them back up, but this didn’t deter them, it only seemed to make them more defensive as they held shields.

Seeing this was not going to work, and I didn’t want to be put down by whatever authorities lived in this land, I backed up and began to run. They gave chase, although they could barely keep up, although I noticed a flying rainbow colored one that was able to match my speed. It began trying to hit me as I dodged most of its blows. She looked really pissed off.

“Get back here you mutt, I’ll teach you not to kill my friend’s animals!”

“But… they were woodland animals, not pets, you things are crazy!”

I felt a hard blow on my head as my vision was a bit hazy.

Hearing the sound of a sliding door closing, I turned around to see more ponies, including a purple one looking at me with a sparkle in its eye.

Man they really can come in all colors of the damn rainbow.

Me being placed in a fucking cage pissed me off as both the purple pony and the yellow pony put their noses up to my cage and looked me over with astonishment. I let out a snarl and snapped at them, causing them to reel back in fright and surprise.

“Let me out of here right now, I do not consent to this!”

“Easy Ms. Twilight and Fluttershy, we mustn’t approach it like that, it needs space and time to cool off, we should send it off to Canterlot with haste,” said a female scientist.

“So that’s what purple’s name was, Twilight, well good work, Twinkie, you just signed your death warrant.”
______________________________________________

As Twilight supervised the science team as they loaded the dog into a carriage, one of the mare scientists, Whistle, came up to her.

“Ms. Twilight, I haven’t seen my partner, Whirling Creek, it’s been at least an hour and I am getting worried, we’ve been partners for a long time.”

Twilight became more concerned.

“When was the last time you saw him?”

“It was when we were setting traps, that’s when I lost contact with him.”

“Which way did he go?”

The mare pointed the way and Twilight walked towards the trail he took. The trail led her to an opening in the trees.

“Whirling Creek?”

“Whirling Creek, you there?”

“Whirling Creek!”

Twilight squinted as she saw something running towards her position from a distance, her eyes grew unimaginably large, true fear was etched onto her face. The fear she felt was nothing compared to the changeling invasion, this was a different kind of fear, raw primal instinct fear! She bolted back for the carriage, running as fast as her little pony legs could go as the oncoming beast behind her, pursuing her at the speed of Mach Jesus.

It let out a deep ear splitting roar that rattled her very being to its core, the roar alone instilled more fear into her bloodstream as she pushed herself to run even harder.

“Everyone, in the Carriage now!”

Usually, having her friends with her and being one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria would make her turn and fight this aggressor, but this creature, this animal, was pants-shittingly terrifying to her. This creature made her animal instincts resurface like nothing else ever had. Nearly on top of her, she got into the carriage and closed the door as what they all could describe as the scariest and most nightmare-inducing bear they’ve ever seen slammed its face against the window, blood smearing against it, foreshadowing the fate of the missing scientist.

“Oh Whirling Creek… I’m… I’m so sorry, the mare scientist mumbled.”

The bear’s paw broke through the carriage as it nearly hit one of the ponies. Unfortunately they were hanging off a ledge and soon the wagon fell, the wolf, the ponies, and the griffon inside.

The bear stood on the top of the cliff and stood on its hind legs and let out a roar of rage.
______________________________________________

“Ms. Sparkle!”

“Ms. Sparkle!’

“Twilight, can you hear me?!”

The sound of her brother Shining Armor was enough to wake her. Opening her eyes, she saw the concerned face of her brother and another guard, a medic. Shining Armor sighed in relief. Getting to her feet, wincing at the various areas where she was hurt.

“I literally thought I lost you.”

Twilight smiled but soon that smile faded.

“Where’s my friends!?”

“Are they and the scientists okay?!”

“Don’t worry, they are alive Ms. Sparkle, we sent them to Canterlot to get treated, they only suffered minor injuries,” said the medic

“We can’t say the same for the dead body of the stallion we found, he didn’t make it.”

Twilight looked down in shame, knowing his family would be upset by this. The medic checked her out and told her she might want to take it easy for a few days.

“Twilight, I know this sounds like a lot after such a stressful day, but the princesses are waiting for you to report back.”

She nodded to Armor but before leaving she looked at the back of the carriage to where the wolf was held. She was in shock that it had escaped its cage as the front was busted open upon impact.

“No no no no no.”

“What is it, Twilight?”

“The creature they wanted captured has escaped once again.”

One of the guards looked at a blood trail.

“He’s injured but he survived, sir.”

“I’ll alert the town, let’s get you to Canterlot, little sis, mom and dad are not going to be pleased with me.”

Twilight, Shining Armor, and the guards that were present, got into a chariot and took off to Canterlot.
______________________________________________

Celestia’s POV

I was worried, although worried would be an understatement, I was literally pacing back and forth, something I’d rarely do. I had received the news that the trapping of the wolf, dog, canine, whatever it was, did not go as planned.

As far as I know, they got attacked by something else in the forest, but the Elements were still a little traumatized by the incident, more so the fall than anything else it seemed. Luna was next to me, just as concerned, I had told her the dilemma. What we did know was that the sisters of Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash (surrogate sister) had found a dead Manticore that had been killed in a way I’ve never seen a predator do.

I knew each predator of that forest had some semblance of respect towards each other and stayed out of each other’s way, but I’ve never heard of something like this. The sisters were okay, but still quite traumatized, more so than the Element bearers. I still had no clue what was going on, but I know Twilight could explain this.

“Princess, I’m here, I have a lot of things to warn you about.”

Looking behind me I saw my brightest student.

I rushed over and hugged her, breaking my Royal demeanor.

“I’m so glad you're safe, now, what did you want to warn us about?”

“Twilight cleared her throat and prepared to explain what had transpired hours ago. During the capture of the wolf, which we are now calling it, we had caught it.”

Celestia had no doubt she would succeed, Twilight was the most remarkable and smartest student she had ever had the pleasure of teaching.

“But as we were heading back, one of the scientists you had sent to work with us lost track of her partner.”

“I went out to look for him but there was no sign of him. I saw something running at me and I just lost all control of my will to defend myself.”

“I ran from what I could only describe was the biggest, the scariest, and most bizarre bear I’ve ever encountered, of course that wasn’t an Ersa Minor or Major.”

“And Fluttershy didn’t calm the creature?” Luna asked.

We didn’t have the time and I wasn't going to take chances, this was undoubtedly the fastest bear I’ve ever heard of.

“It was at least nearing 40 miles per hour or more, give or take.”

Me and Luna looked at each other. We knew bears and had seen them run down prey, but this was a little faster than a brown bear, especially for a bear of this scale.

“And did you say, bizarre?”

“Yes, it’s body was raised off the ground, more so than a brown or polar bear, its posture was kind of tilted upward due to its overly long front legs.”

“It also had a short muzzle, we could tell that when it rammed into the glass window of the carriage.”

‘It was ungodly strong as it only took one good swipe to rip a hole in the carriage, it wasn’t acting predatory.”

“When I visited Fluttershy in the hospital, the one thing she said was it was acting more out of unbridled fury.”

“She said bears don’t display this kind of behavior, especially the bears she had taken care of.”

“W-what color was it?” I stuttered.

“It was a black color with a brownish muzzle, kind of like a black bear.”

“When it smashed into the window, blood was smeared onto the window, this proves that this creature will hunt and kill ponies when given the opportunity.”

I nodded, worried for my little ponies, this creature had to be tracked down and captured immediately, it and the wolf.

“Twilight, please follow us to night court, the nobles will have to hear about this, this way we can decide on what to do.”

Twilight began to get worried for both sides, knowing this conversation was going to take an unexpected turn.
______________________________________________

Within a very fancy upper class house In a dimly lit room, a chair was thrown at a wall as it shattered upon impact. The cause of this was a middle aged mare that wore a fluffy coat and other expensive accessories.

Half of the living room was destroyed after a violent meltdown.

If she were a dragon, smoke would literally be coming out of her mouth at this point. Her eyes were dilated, all she saw was red, but that red soon faded as a tear went down her face, as she looked up at a picture of her and the scientist who had died.

“Mommy is so sorry my dear Whirling Creek…”

“How could this happen, who or what could have done this?”

A knock on her door was heard and she glared at the door.

“Storming over, the upper crust pony opened the door forcefully, ready to give whoever a piece of her mind, but instead she looked over another noble she knew.”

“Deep pockets?!”

“Indeed it is I, Ms. Orchid.”

Deep pockets was a silver furred stallion with a black mane that was combed upward at the front and back.

“There is a rallying of nobles in Canterlot’s courtroom, I think you’d like to hear what the Princess has to say.”

A small devilish smirk grew on Orchid’s face, but it was more of a mischievous one.

“I’m eager to find out what the Princesses have to say.”

“Afterwards meet me in one of the castle’s private rooms, my boss wishes to discuss some things.”

Since the shadows of the house no longer engulfed her, the mare was now more noticeable by her stunning snow white coat and blonde mane, Her eyes were ice blue to match such elegant fur. They headed down the streets of Canterlot and to the castle.
______________________________________________

All the nobles and the Main 6 had arrived in the courtroom. Celestia and Luna had recently been seated, Raven standing next to them, holding various papers.

“Luna, I must ask, can you enter the dreams of animals?”

“I suppose so, I’ve never really actively tried it, but with such a situation on our hooves, I may not have a choice.”

“What do you think you’ll find?”

“Well, I’m not entirely sure, maybe what the animals are thinking about, food, water, what it’s favorite thing is to do, simple things like that.”

Celestia nodded and both turned to the courtroom.

Seeing this was Luna’s time, her thestral guards at her side, she gave Luna the floor as Luna raised her hoof into the air, silencing the nobles.

“Thank you everypony for being here, me and my sister here have urgent news to discuss.”

Luna gave a nod to Celestia who understood her nod.

“Recently a wolf-like creature has been terrorizing the residents of Ponyville. I had sent a crew of scientists and the Elements of Harmony to capture it and bring it back to Canterlot for further study.”

Some nobles, most that didn’t like wild animals and ponyville bickered in disgust.

The creature was caught, but unfortunately it didn’t stay that way.

“To our shock, the largest bear ever recorded, aside from the Ursa Major, attacked the Elements and killed a scientist. For the family of the scientist, you have our deepest and most sincere condolences.”

The nobles went into an uproar.

“These creatures must be put down!”

“Absolutely atrocious!”

“What is to be done about it?”

“Order order!” Yelled Raven.

Celestia picked that one over the other screaming nobles who now silenced themselves.

“I have talked to my sister, she will enter their minds and see what she can find. This will also help us track the creatures.”

“As for my plan, Twilight, please step forth.”

Twilight nodded and awaited her mentor’s response.

“Yes, Princess?”

“I know you have had a rough day, I suggest you take a rest before the coming night.”

“I will be sending you and your friends to capture the creatures and bring them back to Canterlot, I will have a large group of Royal guards seeing we are dealing with a very aggressive and large bear.”

“Why can’t we just make friends with them, your highness?” Said Fluttershy, surprisingly loud enough for everypony to hear.

All the nobles yelled at Fluttershy and her idea, Fluttershy hid behind her mane and whimpered while the five Mares glared at the crowd.

Celestia didn’t take the nobles’ responses too kindly either.

“Enough!!!” Celestia shouted in the Royal Canterlot voice, something she would rarely do.

The courtroom went silent.

“Thank you, as for what you said, Fluttershy, I’m afraid the bear will have to be put to sleep and subdued by any means necessary.”

“Oh my….. I-i see, if you so wish Princess.”

“However, Fluttershy, I will put you in charge of helping calm and feed the creatures and get them accustomed to my ponies to avoid any unwanted accidents.”

“Oh, that would be perfectly fine, your highness, I’d be honored.”

“Twilight, you will be the head of the research on these creatures.”

Twilight beamed with excitement, excited to study the animals.

“Whistle, you had something to say.”

A slightly depressed looking Whistle, the scientist from earlier, stepped forth, trying her best to seem professional.

“Yes, your highness, I had come to ask if I could place these animals in a sanctuary I am building within the Everfree forest. I have several animals already, all are raised by ponies.”

“Well, until we learn more about them, I think having them in a secure environment that doesn’t lead to civilization or have any impact on wildlife would be the best way to go, so I will approve of this Ms. Whistle as long as they are separated.”

Luna decided to end the conversation.

“Now that me and my sister have a plan, this meeting has come to an end, you may turn in for the night.”
______________________________________________

As the nobles left, a furious Orchid left the room with Deep Pockets.

“I can’t believe a filthy animal was responsible for my son’s horrible death.”

“My deepest sympathy, Ms. Orchid, but my boss wishes to talk about that matter.”

In reality, Deep Pockets didn’t really care about Orchid’s son’s death, Orchid merely rolled her eyes as they continued to walk down various hallways until they arrived at a door. Knocking, the door opened to reveal a security guard.

“Come on in, the boss is waiting for you two.”

Nodding, they entered the room to see a larger pony, his back turned to them.

“Welcome, so sorry about Whirling Creek, he was like a son to me.”

“Thank you, your highness.”

The pony turned around to reveal Prince Blueblood, nephew (distant nephew) of Princess Celestia and Luna.

“We have some things to talk about, but first, I think we all know this poaching business is a little… illegal, but we do sell the best furs and scales, and frankly, we operate in the shadows.”

“Yes, I know, I too joined the industry and began my own fashion business, now I make a fortune, illegal as it may be, but no bit will ever replace my beloved son, I want to hunt the killer of my son, and I wish for your help, your highness.”

“Gladly, Ms. Orchid, I too wish to have the furs of these rare creatures, but I will let you mount the bear’s head on your wall, consider it a gift for your son’s demise.”

Orchid gave the same devilish smirk and chuckled.

“Oh I’m going to enjoy this.”

“In honor of Whirling Creek, I will host an event, honoring his work that would have benefited all the nobles in Canterlot.”

Author's Note

Dun dun dun, Blue Blood is the antagonist of this story, Along with a few of his cronies. What’s worse is he is head of an illegal poaching operation. How was that for a chapter? Was it too short or just right? If you have any thoughts please let me know, I’m open to any and all criticism.