"Wha...What is that thing?"

Fluttershy asked with a bit of fear in her voice as she looked at the unconscious, bipedal creature in front of her. She knew all of the animals that populated Equestria; it came with the duties and responsibilities of being a caretaker. Over her years of treating animals, she has come upon various types of reptiles, mammals, amphibians, birds, and other form of life; but never, in all of the time she spent dedicated to the health and safety of animals, did she ever come upon a creature that looked even remotely familiar to what was several feet in front of her.

"That is...my friend. I honestly do not know what it is, but he is responsible for saving the lives of thousands of innocent animals, including you ponies.

Vekk said that last sentence with a hint of uncertainty. He was still confused as to what he saw happen to the Hulk several minutes ago. The once giant and powerful green creature that stood before him was now much smaller, scrawnier, and lighter then what he appeared to be when they first met. Vekk had to be certain that this was, in fact, the same being that saved him earlier today.

Vekk approached the light skinned creature that was lying on the ground. As he began to inspect every inch of him, he noticed some odd physical features that this 'new' Hulk had. He was indeed smaller, that one was obvious, but his skin was much thinner and did not look as tough as before. This became evident as Vekk accidentally scratched him when he flipped him over to lie on his back. His hair was slightly shorter then it was before and less thick. Fluttershy came over to also take a look at the body, or more specifically, what his diet normally consisted of. She carefully opened his mouth to look at the type of teeth he had, the faint smell of fruit caught her attention, so he must be a herbivor-

"He's an omnivore? That is certainly interesting. At least I know he wont immediately eat any of my animal friends."

"Well despite him being smaller, in all areas, he does still have the same smell as the Hulk, but he is still...different then before.

"I've...never seen anything like this before. He looks so...weak and small. Vekk, don't tell me...Did he do all of this?"

Fluttershy looked around at the massive crater they were standing in, charred and burnt with no sign of forest life anywhere. It was very frightening scene to look at. Then Fluttershy noticed the burned and smashed 'remains' of another creature who looked not friendly at all.

"Oh my Celestia..."

Fluttershy trotted up to the dead remains of Valids, not even blinking as she came upon the horrifying deformed corpse. She was completely overwhelmed by the scene in front of her. She was not expecting to see such violence and brutality, not even in the Everfree forest. It did not even look recognizable to appear as a corpse, it looked like a mangled up pile of burnt flesh. Limbs twisted and broken in ways the timid pegasus never thought was possible. It's lower jaw was missing, teeth either burned or completely gone. One thing was noticeable though, it still had one eye left. They say that the moment of your death, your last emotion is visible on your face. The only type of emotion on the creatures face was of pure fear.

"What type of monster would do this...Vekk, don't tell me your friend did this. Did he cause all of this damage?"

Fluttershy looked at Vekk, a mixture of sadness and anger starting to appear in Fluttershy's voice. She was absolutely against any type of animal  violence, and the body in front of her pushed her to the edge. Vekk though, just started at the corpse of his once evil ruler, looking upon it with doubt and uncertainty, almost unable to comprehend the scene.

No Way....Hulk did it. He killed him.

Vekk tore his gaze away from the corpse to look at Fluttershy. His face displaying a mixture of peace and sadness. He knew that to Fluttershy, it appeared as though his friend was the evil one-

Fluttershy...he might of caused this forest a great deal of damage and destruction, he even killed some of my pack mates, but one thing is certain Fluttershy. That corpse you are looking at, it is the dead body of a creature who is nothing but pure evil. A spawn of hell itself. He is the real monster. No, this creature here is not a monster. He is my friend, and more importantly, he is a hero.

Fluttershy looked at the dead corpse one more time, examining it to a more intimate level. She looked deeply into the face of the creature, holding her breath so to not smell the burning and rotting flesh that protruded out of its openings. She looked closer and closer until-

"AAHH!"

Fluttershy jumped back, starting sweating profusely and absolutely horrified. She felt something evil as she was close to the body of Valdis. Almost as if he was trying desperately to absorb her very life essence, even while in death. It was one of the perks (or curse) of being a Bearer of the Elements of Harmony. She had a closer connection to the spirit realm, but this also meant that sprits had a closer connection with her as well. And if the spirit was evil, it left a chilling imprint upon the shy and timid pegasus.

"Who is that Vekk? I never felt something so...evil and cruel before."

Vekk walked up to Fluttershy, who was still completely shaken up and terrified at the interaction of the spirit, and laid his paw gently on her shoulder. It was a sign of comfort and Fluttershy very kindly accepted the gesture, feeling more comfortable with someone she could trust around.

That...is the same monster who killed my family. His name is Valdis, ex-ruler of the forest, and the same beast who was going to kill all of the ponies in your little town not to far away from here.

Fluttershy was stunned at the words that left his mouth, almost unable to comprehend them.

"Y-you mean he was going to attack Ponyville! But why! Why would he want to do such a horrible thing?"

"Valdis was nothing but pure evil, his motives were to just spread chaos and destruction everywhere he went. Fluttershy...he just wanted to see the whole world burn.

"I-"

Huh...Fluttershy wait.

Vekk looked up at the still dark sky. He was confused, flopping his ears back and forth, trying to tune in on a sound he just heard. Fluttershy, out of curiosity and a bit of fear, did her part and remained absolutely quiet. Vekk closed his eyes, trying to amplify his hearing by shutting off all other senses. Then he heard it-

Fluttershy we need to leave now, something is coming. I hear it faintly, but it does not sound like my pack mates or anything that regularly appears in the forest. Please, can you help my friend, you promised right?

Fluttershy looked down at the still unconscious new creature in front of her, and trotted over closer to the body. Getting closer to the body like she did with Valdis, she placed her forehead on his own, trying to get a deeper understand of the type of being he was. What she sensed was sadness, isolation, depression, but most of all, anger; but nothing evil. She backed away from the body, looked back up at Vekk, and nodded her head up and down showing approval that she would help his friend.

Thank you so much, we don't have much time, lets go hid in those bushes on the edge of the crater. I will put him on my back and meet you there. Its still dark so I doubt we have been seen yet.

Once Vekk put the body on his back and made sure he was secure, him and Fluttershy quickly ran to the bush that was seen by Valdis. It was big enough to hold both Vekk, Fluttershy, and the strange creature on his back, but most importantly it would hide them from what was approaching.

*Several Minutes Later*

A small group of Royal Guards landed in the center of the massive crater. Two Pegasus and a Unicorn were from Princess Luna's Recon Unit. They were trained in conducting surveillance of an area and identify possible threats and handle the situation as quickly as possible. While the Pegasus were trained not make a single sound, the unicorn had a bit of trouble hiding his presence while levitating himself, never the less it was impossible to hear unless you had extremely powerful senses.

The group began to examine the area, looking at the scorched earth to the destroyed trees and forest life. Normally it would be difficult for them to observe an area while it was night, but the Shadow Guard genetics enabled them to easily see in the dark. They were sent to investigate both the seismic activity and the flaming object that entered their atmosphere. They were easily surprised by seeing the amount of destruction that was caused to the forest. The unicorn of the group levitated out of the bag on his back a small dark red vile. He poured the liquid contents on the ground and formed a circle of intricate patterns on the ground in front of him. One of the pegasus looked back to see what their unicorn comrade was doing-

"Major Aru, are you sure we should use the summoning circle? It will cause a lot of attention and we are already in timber wolf territory. Our secrecy might be compromised."

One of the pegasus asked the Unicorn as his horn was starting to glow a faint grey, charging up the mystical natural energy that their species were gifted with.

"Are you questioning me rookie? I know what I am doing, besides, this is big. We are looking at a high priority area that needs to be properly examined and analyzed. I am going to notify the General about this. If you don't believe me take a look at that body over there"

Major Aru pointed a hoof to the right to indicate where the pegasus was suppose to go. Trotting over to the location his commanding officer pointed out, the rookie found himself to be soon be looking upon a burnt and decrepit looking corpse. He thought it was not that big of a deal to notify the general about, until he inspected it to a closer level and-

"Dear Celestia! Is that who I think it is!? Ok, now I can see the urgency in using the spell Major. I did not think a creature so powerful could look like...this, especially if it is a God. Hey Night Wing, c'mon lets secure this area and guard the Major while he's setting up the spell."

The two Pegasus shot up into the sky with extreme skill and speed, not even leaving a cloud of dust as they hovered in the sky. It was their duty now to guard their superior while he was setting up the spell to aid them in their mission. It was critical that he was not interrupted or moved from his position during the process.

The unicorns horn glowed brighter, as did the circle on the ground. Channeling the magical energy in his body, his muscles began to ripple and glow the same color as his horn, visibly noticeable through his skin. It was a very risky spell to perform for only one unicorn, but he was part of an elite unit and was trained to be able to operate magic even if it caused the body great physical and mental stress. His organs began to hurt and his blood nearly doubled in speed circulating through his body. The major gritted his teeth as he unleashed as much energy as physically possible until finally the circle on the ground began to actually separate itself from the ground. The circle lifted itself into the air and began to form what appeared to be a portal, big enough to fit several ponies through at once. After several seconds of the portal being open, dozens of ponies in armor were sprinting out of the portal, each of them with various pieces of equipment, weapons, and other items.

"MOVE MOVE MOVE!!! We got our orders! Set up a magic barrier around the area, this is hostile territory! I want guards set up in a 5 miles radius from the blast point! I want the forensics team to examine the body! I need a team to examine the soil composition! I want this area clear of all rodents, wildlife, animals-

Orders left and right were being yelled as dozens upon dozens of guards arrived thought the portal to the crater. The unicorns from the Elite Barrier Unit began to get to work, each horn glowing with tremendous power as a dark black dome was forming around the crater. Small streaks of lightening skittered across the surface the newly formed barrier as the unit added a few more 'lethal' touches to it. Once the area was secure and all of the ponies were at their new stations, the portal offered one last pony to come through.

"AAAATEN-HUT!"

All of the Shadow Guard ponies stopped what they were doing immediately as the last pony stepped through. He was massive, a lot bigger then the average unicorn nearly rivaling the height of Princess Celestia herself.  Being nothing but muscle and testosterone, a dark black and red pony with silver armor walked out of the portal to greet his fellow soldiers. His eyes glowed a very dark shade of red that offered a glimpse of how powerful he was. His name was General Night Fury, commander of the entire Shadow Guard Military Force.

"Well this better be good Major, you used a pretty risky spell that is guarantied to get a lot of attention. What have you found out....is that-"

The General walked over to the burnt and dismembered corpse that several ponies were already analyzing and gather samples of. He took a good look at it, and sniffed the broken body. Lifting his head and coughing in disgust the General turned to face the Major.

"This is big. Alright Major, this is going into the black files, meaning this area and all of you now are strictly top secret. We need to notify the Royal Sisters...Valdis The Destroyer...is dead."