Celestia kept a wary eye out for any hint of movement as she swooped down closer to the treetops. The trail of loose sticks and brush scattered on the old road below her indicated that she had had finally reached the spot where she had last seen the monster. It seemed as good a place to start looking as any.
Hovering safely out of harm's reach, the filly carefully levitated one of the many sticks from the road and brought it close. As far as she could tell it was just an ordinary piece of wood. There appeared to be nothing special about it at all.
This was going to make tracking the creature much trickier. If there was one thing that was not in short supply on the forest floor, it was ordinary sticks and leaves. However she knew something that big would have to leave some signs of its passing. Unfortunately looking for such signs would mean searching on foot.
As Celestia was gathering up her courage to land, a familiar howl wafted across the forest. Zipping high up into the air, she looked around frantically, wondering which direction the noise had come from. The next two howls gave the filly her answer.
She shivered as she realized that there had to be more than one of the beasts out there. Maybe there was a whole pack of them just waiting to pounce. Even the Rainbow wouldn't do her much good in that case.
The thought of just going back home crossed her mind. Maybe Topsoil was right. It wasn't like anyone had ever seen one of these things anywhere near the village. Maybe if she left them alone then they'd do the same.
A faint shout ended her hesitation. Somepony was in danger out there. She had to do something and she had to do it now.
The white alicorn took off like a shot. Her large wings cracked like whips as she recklessly flung herself through the air, knowing that every second counted. She could hear more shouting now and could only hope that she wouldn't be too late.
A stray blast of magical energy roared past her as she neared the source of the commotion. She veered off to the side to get out of the line of fire as she took in the situation below. A small band of ponies was surrounded by three of the great beasts. It looked like the hapless ponies had damaged the nearest creature, but on the other side two monsters were still lumbering towards them unchecked.
Not wasting any time, Celestia hurriedly activated the rainbow locket hanging around her neck. To her relief the locket clicked open immediately and shot forth the brilliant Rainbow of Light. At her command it headed for the two creatures that were still undamaged and whipped across their noses. The creatures seemed mildly irritated as they struck out ineffectively with their wooden claws at the flittering ribbon of light.
Celestia descended towards the now panicked ponies and gave them what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Don't worry," she announced as she put herself between the ponies and the pair of creatures, "I'm going to defeat these monsters!"
"Hey, isn't that her?" she heard one of the Pegasus ponies demand.
"Hush!" Captain Sterling hissed. "Get back in formation! Let her take care of those two, this one's not down yet!"
Celestia frowned as she noticed the pointed looks passing between the ponies, but she had more pressing concerns at the moment. Though the Rainbow was able to slice through the wood with ease, at its present size it wasn't doing a whole lot of damage. She was going to have to help it out.
She rotated the locket around so that the twin heart shaped mirrors faced her and carefully poured her magic into the reflective surfaces. She could see the Rainbow growing steadily longer as she concentrated on keeping the power flowing. Soon it stretched many times its previous length; a long thin band of multicolored light that flowed freely through the sky.
Once she felt the Rainbow had reached a suitable size, Celestia commanded it to attack.
The Rainbow raced forward at a dizzying speed and pierced one of the creatures in the chest. There was a long pause as the band of light disappeared into the dark interior of the creature, then with a blinding flash the beast simply disintegrated. A light hail of broken bits of wood and foliage rained down up the road and surrounding trees. The Rainbow, its strength spent for the moment, rushed back into the locket.
The other ponies momentarily paused to gape at the Rainbow's destructive power, but a strangled roar forced their attention back to their injured but still dangerous foe. The guards were shocked to see that the branches they had managed to destroy were slowly starting to mend themselves. As the monster's shattered leg reformed, it rose back up to its full height and let out another of its fearsome howls.
"It's no good!" Captain Sterling shouted. "Fall back towards the alicorn!"
Celestia paused in her recharging of the locket and glanced back over her shoulder at the backpedaling group. "No! Keep him busy over there until I can finish this one!" she ordered. "I just need a couple more minutes."
Sterling glared at the filly but held up a hoof for the others to halt. "Understood," he replied as he advanced on the now mostly recovered monster. "Continue to focus on those front legs," he ordered the Unicorns. "Fliers, get above it and try to keep its attention."
The pair of pegasus ponies flew off in unison and buzzed as close as they dared to the enraged wooden beast. The earth pony likewise closed in and while the monster was distracted gave the creature several more of his hardest bucks. Taking care not to hit their commander, the trio of unicorns resumed their magical attacks.
"Come on, come on!" Celestia murmured as she poured more and more magic into the locket. She was sweating now, not having used this much magic for months. As the minutes ticket by her horn started sparking more and more violently; a clear sign that she was over exerting herself.
Finally, just when her magic was starting to flicker, the Rainbow emerged anew. It gleamed brightly as ever, though it was noticeably smaller than before. The Rainbow wasted no time but headed like an arrow for the remaining creature in front of Celestia. The beast attempted to bat the Rainbow away, but the ribbon shot straight through its paw and into the monster's forehead.
With another flash the creature's entire head was reduced to splinters. The remainder of the creature slumped forward into an inanimate pile as the Rainbow once more returned to the locket.
Captain Sterling dodged a swing from the remaining creature and risked a look back. The alicorn was already fervently sending her magic into the Rainbow again, but it was clear that she was exhausted. Only a weak stream of magic sputtered from her horn to the heart-shaped talisman.
"Help her recharge the Rainbow!" he shouted back to the unicorns. "We'll hold the beast back as long as we can!"
The unicorns hesitated, but one by one they broke off their attack and rushed to Celestia's side to add their own fading magic to the locket.
"What if this doesn't work?" one of them asked. "We won't have anything left to fight that thing!"
"It has to work!" another one replied. "It took out those other two with no problem."
Celestia's magic finally gave out. She let out a surprised gasp as her knees buckled, and she fell limply to the rough dirt road, struggling for breath. The bright glow of the locket faded away as it clattered to the ground beside her.
Golden Apple winced as he felt another one of his creations flicker out of existence. It looked like he was going to have to handle whatever was doing this himself. It was more than a bit irksome that two of his timber-beasts had been dispatched this quickly. He idly wondered if perhaps a stray dragon might have shown up.
The timber-beasts were still a bit of a rough draft, sure, but he had overall been pleased with his work. They were fully autonomous, self-healing, and should have been powerful enough to repel even a large number of ponies. They were simple, but they took orders well and didn't stray from their mission.
The timber-beasts had one simple job: to keep intruders from reaching Everfree. Despite their great size, he felt fairly safe letting them work independently. The creatures had been instructed to stay well clear of Everfree, and months of covert observation told him that the villagers never ventured far into the forest. If everything went to plan the simple ponies should never even realize their hidden guardians.
Taking wing, Golden whizzed through the forest towards the intruder's location at high speed, his slender body allowing him to weave through the thick trees with ease. Whatever was out there, be it ponies or a monster, he knew he had to stop it quickly before it came any closer to his beloved's village.
Golden was not prepared for the sight that met his eyes when he emerged from the forest. His beautiful angel lay motionless across the ground; her slender white legs sprawled out ungracefully on the hard dirt road. The presence of other ponies hardly registered on him as he charged out into the open and rushed to Celestia's side.
"Oh, please tell me you're ok!" he pleaded as he carefully scooped her head up into his arms. "Please, please, please!"
The remaining creature had paused in its attempts to swat the Earth Pony when it saw its master arrive. It gave a gentle inquisitive sounding howl, seeking further instruction.
"Did you do this?" Golden Apple asked the beast as he tore his gaze away from the alicorn's still face, his golden eyes incensed with anger. He lowered his eyes and regarded the haggard assortment of ponies for the first time. "Or was it you?"
The timber-beast shivered as it sensed its master's mood. With a yelp it turned tail and fled into the trees, crashing through the brush as it got as far away as possible.
The unicorns had wisely backed away from the unconscious filly upon Golden's arrival. "What is that thing?" one of the unicorns asked hesitantly.
Laying Celestia's head gingerly back down on the road, Golden raised to his full height, looming over the frightened ponies. "Well, was it?"
"How about you answer our questions first, monster," Captain Sterling growled as he galloped up to put himself in front of his troops. "Are you the one controlling those beasts?"
The earth pony suddenly found himself hovering upside down. "Hey! Let me down!" he demanded.
Golden's eyes narrowed. "No, I don't think so," he replied in a cold tone. "What did you do to my Celestia?"
"We didn't do anything to her!" Sterling snarled as he tried to land a hoof on his adversary. "She wore herself out trying to fight your monsters!"
Golden was speechless for a moment, but quickly recovered. "Well, why was she out here in the first place?" he demanded. "And who are you? Why are you after her?"
"That's none of your business," the captain answered defiantly. He kicked at Golden's face, barely missing his opponent's snout. "A little help here?" he called out as he was levitated at a safer distance.
Golden smirked. "Oh yes, by all means. Please try to stop me," he taunted. "I could use the exercise." With a wave of his hand the other five ponies found themselves unable to move. "Oh wait, you can't."
"Let them go!" a weak but defiant voice piped up from behind.
Golden's smile disappeared. "Celestia?" he asked as he turned around. "Oh, thank the stars that you're ok!"
"I said let them go!" Celestia repeated as she tried to hide the wobbling in her legs. "Right now!"
"But they were up to no good!" Golden protested.
"Let them go, or I'll use the Rainbow on you too!" the alicorn filly bluffed as she levitated the locket off the ground. "I don't know what kind of monster you are, but I'm not going to let you hurt these ponies!"
"Monster?" Golden repeated dumbly as he held out his hand towards her. "Celestia, wha-." He glanced down at his golden talon. "Oh."