Raiga had been cursing up a storm for the past seven minutes straight after she got one look at her body, both at how she looked right now, who was looking at her, and how she'd gotten where she was now. Starlight Glimmer calmly sat on her haunches through it all, trying to filter out the torrential downpour of expletives flying around with less, profound words, to try and hear anything that made sense. That and it was highly amusing.
"WHAT THE fudge gaseous phalanges pass RENDING dewdrops!? HOW IN THE slag ridden REALMS OF DAIEI hay sandwich MY fantastic LEGS?! WHERE THE cardiovascular ARE THEY?! I'M A fun loving TANAKA adorable SEAPONY OR fundamental convertible car SOMETHING?!-"
The swearing siren was cut off by a veil of magical aura wrapping itself around her. Lifting Raiga up a few feet, the unicorn gently rocked her back and forth for a few moments. Starlight hummed calmly despite sporting a slightly embarrassed look on her muzzle. She kept rocking the former kaiju until the latter stopped cursing and quieted down. After which Starlight put her back down. Raiga sat up on her tail and hooves, taking in several deep breaths with widened eyes despite the bright sun being in them.
-Must have hit her head when she dropped down and the world's just in a spiral, poor girl.-
Starlight trotted over to her and nudged Raiga's shoulder with her hoof.
"Better?" she murmured in a half muted voice, ears still flopped down just in case Raiga decided to burst out into shouting again.
Raiga took in one deep inhale and let it slither out between her two remaining fangs.
".... Thanks... Turned into a blabbering dork for a moment there."
"You're just surprised, that's all. It did kinda sneak up on you. And actually you're a siren, not a seapony. There's a big difference. But, never heard of either kind in these woods. What are you doing way out here? Can you remember?"
"Where exactly is here? I can't exactly recall trekking inland."
"We're west of Manehattan and Fillydelphia, near Hollow Shades in northern Equestria."
Raiga's mind took a moment to process that last word. Memory rushed back to five days prior to a night on Solgell Island. Zilla came and brought her out of her trench home to a meeting Gamera had called in. A meeting that ushered in both hope and utter bewilderment. Turns out Zilla, whom had been the first to be told, had a good reason for being so frantic. Godzilla, Lea, Rodan, Anguirus, they were all still alive. Just, in a realm and state no one saw coming. Everything said about magical equines and transformed bodies came flooding back in with that one word, 'Equestria'.
Raiga's widened eyes twitched.
-Oh good Tanaka I was afraid of that...-
Giggling a tad awkwardly, Starlight opted to ignore the half shattered look on the siren's face and continued on.
"You seem, lost. I was heading towards Manehattan to meet up with someone. It's close to the ocean so-"
The siren in question was half listening and half frantically brainstorming through her own mind.
-Alright... Aaaallllright, if I'm stuck in magical loony pony world thanks to some magical timey whimey bulls***ery, then that means I'm in the same place as those four... Pheeeeew. Okay, new plan Raigy. Step one, find Junior, Lea, and the others. Step Two, kick their ***es for getting stuck here in the first place and giving everyone a heart attack, or at least commence kicking when I get my legs back. Step three, find a way to drag them back to Terra.-
"-you want to come with me?"
Starlight quipped with a little smile. Shifting fully back to the reality around her, Raiga shrugged her shoulders.
"Eh, maybe. I guess you could say I'm looking for someone too. Just not exactly sure where they'd be."
"Well Manehattan's a big city, maybe they're there? And if not, I'm sure we can help you find something to point you in the right direction while over there."
-Big cities tend to attract kaiju like flies, whom tend to draw in Lea and Junior. Well it's a start.-
"Meh, getting my bearings should help."
Starlight Glimmer beamed and nodded, hopping back up to her hooves. She turned around to start off on her way, giving the orange hued sky a worried glance.
"Alrighty then. If you don't mind I'd prefer we run to make up for some lost time. It'll be night soon."
Raiga raised an eyebrow. Forgetting most herbivores didn't have night vision, day or night never made much difference to her one way or another. If one could see at the bottom of the ocean, they could see with the moon out just fine. Someone showing concern about it being night time made about as much sense as being worried there was a bird overhead. Raiga muttered with a slightly confused shrug.
"...So?"
Starlight shuddered slightly, ears twitching about in varying directions to home in on any creaks and crawls in the forest around them. Usually, the night was as fine a time as the day. But after the attempt on Canterlot and disappearances in the rural lands lately, all that had changed. And she knew exactly why.
"Something... Somethings, that are really bad tend to come out at night..."
Raiga sighed as she got up the best she could with only one pair of limbs, carefully trying to balance on a hoof to pat Starlight on the back reassuringly.
"Alrighty then, just don't give ye'self a heart attack. If anything shows up I'll clobber em'-!!"
She lost her balance and would have kissed the game trail dirt had a quick-reacting Starlight not snapped to action, grabbing the siren in a magical aura to levitate her up. Raiga grumbled, angrily flailing her hooves.
"Okay how in the circles of Daiei am I supposed to run like this?!"
"Umm, I don't think you really can."
"But you just said we should run."
"I know I did but uum-uuh I hate pressure.."
Starlight shied back slightly, knees shaking a bit. For a brief moment, her magic canceled out and Raiga plummeted a few inches before being recaught. Looking at her companion with a slight groan after that startle, Raiga reached out and patted the unicorn's head with her hoof.
"Not really a social type but I'm not gonna take your head off, chill out."
"S-Sorry, I was being metaphorical. I g-guess you forgot a lot when you crashed."
She meekly said with a stutter, cursing herself for it all the way. Raiga groaned, rolling around in midair under Starlight's hold.
"Well what exactly am I supposed to do? High speed flopping?"
"N-no, sirens do have a way of traveling overland; I know they must have."
"What was it?"
"Lemme think uuuuum..."
Starlight puzzled, quickly trying to comb through her memory while stealing glances at the darkening sky above. Her pulse was quickening with each glance. This debacle had slowed her down so much she knew she wouldn't clear the forest by nightfall, something she had intended to have been very keen on doing. Safety in numbers was her best bet, that and the fact she wasn't one to just abandon some poor soul in the middle of the woods. Raiga had to get moving and Starlight could have sworn she remembered something to help the lost siren regain mobility. She was straining to remember, cramming her eyes shut and tapping the base of her horn.
"U-Um.. uuuuh!! Ahah!"
She popped back up, a small smile crossing the unicorn's lips when memory trailed back to her mentor's history lessons.
"Duchess Chrysalis, my teacher, once told me about the Muses!"
"The who?"
"A trio of sirens from one thousand years ago. Their names were Adagio, Aria, and Sonata."
"Musical names? On Muses? Cute. How does this help us? Did they master teleportation between song writing sessions?"
Starlight giggled, shaking her head a few times before continuing. Some of her panic was slithering away with each word.
"They went on tour across Equestria during King Sombra's reign, giving their musical performances to inspire others and strip away hatred. Chrysalis told me about the time she met them, how they could swim through the air like they were underwater using their magic."
Raiga looked upwards and rubbed her chin, thinking it all through. Some concepts weren't exactly alien to her here, and this was one of them. This was sounding a lot like what Manda did when she got herself airborne, or how King Ghidorah could get off the ground with minimal wing flapping.
"Flight through levitation eh?"
-Could work. Maybe if I alter around the outputs on my energy spheres I can pull it off? If this body can levitate naturally, maybe it could work as a substitute?-
Shrugging, Raiga closed her eyes and focused. She homed in on every pulse, reading her own heartbeat to its distinct rhythm. Every beat was another charge of mana pumping through her system. Concentrating, she redirected the mana into the spheres mounted upon her form. Tiny arcs of electricity arced within the ruby-like pearls, casting invisible strands both across Raiga's body and through Starlight's bizarre magic, pouring to the ground beneath the new sapphire siren. A subtle, red glow cast itself across her form, Terran mana pushing away incompatible Equestrian magic. Starlight's hold vanished, but Raiga merely bobbed up and down slowly mid-air, carried upon invisible waves.
Starlight's eyes and smile widened, clapping her hooves a few times.
"Ah good, you're doing it!"
"..Huh wha?-"
Raiga's eyes snapped open and in brief surprise, the energy cut off and she plummeted. Snapping back into her previous state, the siren caught herself about a foot off the ground. Refocused and rearmed, she smirked and rose back up, fanning her tail to swim around and do rolls about a meter off the ground.
"Ha! Nailed it!"
"Okie dokie then!-"
Starlight beamed, her nerves calmed slightly. Strange as her magic was, it seemed like the siren's self assurance was infectious.
"-if you're situated, I'd like to head out now."
"Lead on McPony!"
With that, they set off at a quick pace. A quick pace they maintained for a good five minutes before a bored Raiga found her eyes trailing off to the side to have a look around. Amidst the thought of counting trees or fancying the thought of letting loose a stray blast to blow something up and kill the mediocrity, a small glimpse caught her attention. For a split second her vision freeze-framed between a set of tall trees. Amongst the trunks, about fifty yards from the beaten path, briefly illuminated by a dying sunbeam, was a blurred figure. The details were vague aside from it being a quadruped, as Raiga had been moving too quickly and the shape was too far into the corner of her eye for the siren to make it out. She thumbed through her memory to try and identify it. This was a deep forest, deer maybe? Seemed to have something poking out of its head. Raiga grumbled, pushing away the thought, but still looking at the passing pillars of oak and leaf as they rushed by it. After all, said forest was in a bizzarro world with talking ponies; it could have been anything for all she knew. She just bumped into a unicorn for Tanaka's sake, anything was possible.
Still, didn't stop some of her atavistic nerves from firing off. A curiosity that kept it in the back of her mind.
"So, Starry Gal; what exactly makes you so scared of sun down? You mentioned something comes out at night."
Starlight, even amongst the effort of running at near full speed, visibly shuddered before speaking in a haste.
"Huf- All the attacks by the kaiju have been at night. Hef! And recently there has been some disappearances after dark."
Raiga looked forward with narrowed eyes.
-Kaiju attacks... So those punks that got hit with Dimension Tide afterwards also ended up here. Alright let's see how many skulls I'll have to punch in, time for a headcount.-
"Which kaiju? Who’s the most dangerous?”
Starlight Glimmer had to resist the urge to change her expression entirely to frantic shock. The one thing keeping it from that was the knowledge that the poor siren next to her seemed to have memory problems. Still, she distinctly recalled her cousin’s broadcast and interview with Dame Destroyah being shown around as far as Yakyakistan and Saddle Arabia; it was anything but low profile. Reigning in her voice to the level of slightly less shouting, Starlight turned her head to answer.
“Godzilla and his cohorts of course! Who else would try to level Canterlot?!”
Raiga blinked her eyes, tilting her head over in such befuddlement that her neck creaked. After a few moments of mental reboot, the siren floated upright; waving her hooves back and forth in the universal gesture for denial.
“Whooooooooooooooa whoa whoa whoa! Seriously? Good Guy Goji? Junior? Chief? You think HE'S going to wreck some city?”
“The capital!”
“Even more bullsheetzu!”
The look upon the unicorn’s face couldn’t have been more of a mix of shock and confusion even if it had spontaneously started raining statuettes of Queen Trixie constructed out of jell-o. Now thinking the siren must have really hit her head hard, repeatedly, Starlight went on to state what she felt was the obvious.
“YES! After they struck a deal with Empress Cadenza, Godzilla marched upon Canterlot and attempted an assault. It was only due to some quick work between Chrysalis and the other kaiju that they were repelled. After the failed plot at Canterlot, Godzilla, Cadenza, and the others have been laying low for the past week. I’ve been doing-”
Starlight hopped over a fallen log as Raiga hovered above it. Despite the confusion racing across her mind, Raiga’s subconscious picked up on more surrounding details. Time again had slowed to a crawl as Raiga fought between finding what unknown danger her instincts were trying to alert her by taking in her surroundings, and trying to listen to the raving of a unicorn she now was questioning the sanity of. Rather than having tumbled over with age, the trunk of this oak was shattered; gouged into with fresh, white wood jutting out of the cutoff point. The tree hadn’t fallen over, it had been torn down. They crossed over another one several dozen meters down the speeding trail in the same condition. Before Raiga could focus on the thought however, Starlight continued on.
“-studies on the reports and after listening and researching them I’m certain. Godzilla is going to attack Manehattan next!”
“Wh-WHAAAT?! Why in the three eras of Daiei would he do that?! Seriously your bright colors couldn't have ticked him off THAT much!”
“Because he’s a monster! Do you have any idea what he tried to pull at Canterlot?! He freed Empress Cadenza and charged the palace! The entire capital might have been destroyed if he landed one good shot! And the reports-!”
Raiga’s eyes narrowed and she threw out her hoof in front of Starlight whilst putting on the air brakes. After a bit of skidding on Starlight’s part, the duo pulled to a halt that the unicorn was not happy about.
“What are you doing?!”
“LADY!-“
Raiga barked, practically snapping her jaws shut an inch in front of Starlight Glimmer’s muzzle. The siren put her hoof on Starlight’s shoulder. The expression crossing the former kaiju’s face could best be described as a bizarre mix of annoyance, stubborn confusion, and just plan stubbornness.
“-Is your head lodged up where it is for the warmth?! All of that is bullsh**! His old man mighta not been the nicest type from what I've heard, but I've known Chief for the better part of a decade. If a city is in trouble, he's been known to beat me to a fight just to keep it from spilling into a populated zone. Now THAT's an achievement!"
The gears behind Starlight's head were turning in all sorts of ways she didn't like. Half of her brain was in shock and the other half was scrambling through her memories for a specific spell. Raiga, oblivious to all of it, only rambled on.
"Who gave you those fake a** reports anyways?"
"X-Xenilla! He's been in correspondence with Chrysalis ever since they met! He's the one who gave us the detail about all the atrocities Godzilla would reap and what he's done before. He was going to join me with Chrysalis in Canterlot to formulate up counter measures!"
"Not f***** likely!"
Raiga snarled, grabbing Starlight and pinning her against a tree trunk, electricity beginning to spark across her fins. The unicorn's mind was in freefall as she desperately tried to remember a spell she hadn't yet mastered; all while she was trying to make sense of how a random siren who didn't read the news could know so much.
"Y-Y-You're... Oh M-M-McCarthy!"
Her voice quivered as she finally remembered the spell. Horn glimmering like her namesake, Starlight cast a harmless, brief wave across Raiga. The pulse of energy was brief, all she could manage; but it did its job. A detection spell King Sombra had originally invented, it scanned one's aura to reveal their true self. Handy against shape shifting alicorns as well as changeling friends. When it washed over Raiga, revealing a reptilian form very much unlike anything that should exist in Equestria; Starlight's heart froze.
"... Who the f*** is a McCarthy?"
"YOU'RE ONE OF THEM!"
Starlight's face flushed with adrenaline after she screamed, her eyes slamming shut and her form disappearing in a green flash. Reappearing several feet behind Raiga, the unicorn was about to run when the siren snapped around amongst crackling energy. Raiga didn't know if she should be angry or confused. Usually most Mutations allies were prideful or brutish before they were cowards. This was new.
"Hey get back here! I'm talkin' to you!"
Starlight Glimmer scrambled back, terrified tears blotting her vision and flowing down her cheeks.
"NO! STAY AWAY! PLEASE STAY AWAY!"
She could hear her pulse pounding in her ears. The unicorn's horn began to spark and glow in a counterattack, but before anything could happen, a magic blast shot over Raiga's shoulder and hit Starlight's horn. The unicorn shrieked and fell to the ground, convulsing from the shock as if electrocuted. A slithering voice trailed it, going around Raiga to the left.
"Well well, seems fortune favors the progressive. I come to pick you up, and I end up finding two things we've been looking for."
Raiga froze up, slowly training her vision into the direction of the voice. She both knew and didn't know it. As much as she butted heads with it before, the voice always was characterized by its warmth. The tone was in familiarity, but the feeling was frigid. Her vision granted her the sight of a new pony, one covered in smooth exoskeleton broken up by jagged spines. A crown of horns sat atop a brow as threateningly vibrant wings shimmered in the glowing moonlight.
"L-Lea?!"
"Hello there Raiga, just when we were beginning to think Gamera didn't spread the memo."
===============================================
One Hour Earlier, The Thicker, former Deer kingdom
===============================================
A bestial roar rattled the old oaken halls, sending any birds and beasts that dared come nearby scrambling for cover. A wise decision in the wake of the king's roar. Chitin covered hooves nudged the desolated palace's doorway over, Lea briskly walking inside with a casual image painted across her face despite the summoning's power. The smell did bother her enough to scoff as she walked in.
-One week later and it still smells like burnt deer in here...-
Stepping over a regalia clad and thoroughly charred elk skeleton, it didn't take her long to see the host of the realm. He was still venting off glowing, irradiated blue steam from his mouth.
"You know, if you need to call for me you don't need all the theatrics. I'm just down the road in the study. Cadenza still isn't quite used to the noise."
"She'll get used to it."
A deep snort punctuated the response. Feeling a warmth on her hoof, Lea trailed her eyes down to the floor amongst the dying sunlight, only to groan in mild disgust when she noticed a trail of blood starting to trickle towards her hoof. Lea groaned and stepped away, wiping the crimson off as her face twisted in disgust.
"Urf! An entire kingdom to roam and you're still a sloppy eater. Never did understand your liking to this stuff."
There was a low chuckle, the beast with glowing eyes only finding humor in the situation.
"Flesh is solidified energy. Foolhardy to ignore one's proper place in the food chain. Even in this state."
"Still, isn't your species omnivorous? If you feel like you need an edge against Xen by chewing on something, just munch on this place. The entire palace is just a tree."
"Live game is more fun. This one was another straggler come to reclaim their king's regalia. A bit stringy. Admittedly, only two fangs makes it a bit slower though."
"Eating or... preparing, the food?"
There was a wet squish of gnashing fangs followed by her host tilting his head up to swallow a hunk of venison, before he responded bluntly.
"Yes."
Lea snickered, waltzing over to the now vacant throne and seating herself. She reclined across it after a good stretch, lazily pawing at the ornaments overhanging it.
"Well if you want your mouthful of pointy pearly whites back, we're close. Would be closer if you didn't suddenly call me in."
Lea rolled her eyes and looked over at her friend, scrunching her nose from the predatory stink coming off him. Relaxing, she flipped back her mane to stretch out. Her voice was a chorus of dangerous slyness and seducing whispers.
"Why did you call me over Goji? Were you about to offer me the liver and choice cuts?"
Godzilla Junior hissed through a low laugh, walking off to the main window to the chamber. Even in the dim evening light streaming through the unmaintained windows, the creature standing in the light barely resembled anything equine. Charcoal gray fur broken by a massive scar covering half his chest, and the gray being blotted out by crimson across his maw and throat. He held himself high as he looked across his domain. Ignoring the vines overhanging it and the burn marks clad across the walls around it, he peered out to the north. Godzilla spoke in calm stoicism.
"I can sense another of my kind nearby."
The assured smirk across Lea's muzzle vanished and she picked her head back up. She sat up slightly.
"Xenilla? Did he find us?"
"... No, Cadenza's enchants are doing their work. The newcomer is female."
Lea snickered whilst shaking her head, the brief unease she had vanishing.
"Ah; it's just Raiga then. I was wondering when we'd get some back up. Could have asked for someone who actually liked fighting buuut beggars can't be choosers I suppose."
The changeling rocked her hooves and flapped her wings to pick herself up and into the air, hovering over to her ally's side. She rubbed up against him slightly, a smile forming across her face upon feeling at his fur. Godzilla kept his eyes trained on the horizon.
"She's there, about five kilometers away. I'd like you to retrieve her."
"Consider it done my king~..." She quipped, pulling away with a slinking walk. She pitched her head around for a tease despite the feigned disgust in her tone.
"Oh, and take a bath, I could smell you from outside..."
"Didn't stop you from approaching."
"I have practice."
With that, Lea smirked and headed back the way she came. Godzilla's low voice chased her down and pounced before she could leave.
"Lea, how is the project coming?"
"A bit more work and we can finally make an attempt. We'll have to find a unicorn with a certain talent for magic to test something."
"Does one exist?"
Battra Lea snickered in a manner very unbecoming of what she had planned for the desired test subject, her tongue drawing around every letter when she spoke.
"Our dear friend Cadenza knows of one under the good Duchess' instruction that fits the bill."
=========================
Manehattan, present time
=========================
Duchess Chrysalis jolted up so fast her glasses flew off and landed on Suri. The seamstress squeaked shyly as the image of her eyes became enormous. Gingerly taking them off, the earth pony mare pawed at her friend's shoulder to offer them back.
"U-Um, Duchess? Chrysie? Are you okay?"
The showroom floor was empty aside from the duo, the lights streaming from above illuminating the nearby collection of elaborately designed dresses, gowns, and a few suits. The gorgeous designs were strung up on racks or mounted upon oversized mannequins. Chrysalis shuddered and vibrated her wings as a cold snap trailed down her back. Slipping out a slightly exasperated sigh, the regent levitated her glasses back onto her face while trying to get back on topic.
"Sorry Suri. Just a, sudden jolt I suppose. Call it a vibe. The suits and dresses based off the kaiju look great. Wouldn't expect anything less from the best dress maker in Manehattan!"
Suri blushed and muttered a tiny, mouse-like squeal in a manner that would likely cause insulin stocks to rise by the second, fumbling up on a stepping stool to put a regal, crystal bejeweled navy blue suit with a red trim back onto a mannequin that was nearly double her size.
"Least I could do after Sir Xenilla saved my shop in Canterlot from getting, well, stepped on.... A-Anyways I just hope this helps out, they could use all the good PR they could get!"
The beautiful changeling's face was still wrought with unease. A prickling feeling in the back of her mind refused to give her any real calm. That and her maternal instincts were going so ballistic that it threatened to give her a migraine. She hadn't felt this strained since the alicorns crashed Trixie's coronation and nearly made off with the Queen-To-Be while the Duchess was unconscious. While circumstances said a repeat incident wasn't likely, she was still certain. Something was very, very wrong.
"Suri-"
Chrysalis muttered with masked distress as the seamstress was about to present Dame Destroyah's dress.
"Hm? Yes mi'lady?"
"-You said you were in contact recently with Sir Xenilla earlier. When was the last time again?"
"Oh, just before you arrived actually. He called while on the Northerly train, on his way here with some of the others."
Chrysalis raised a curious eyebrow. Least she didn't have to worry about requesting his arrival a tad early, seemed he was doing that himself. Why bring along more of his kind with him then?
"Oh? He didn't have to leave Canterlot until the morning. Why is he heading here early? Eager to try on your suit?"
Suri Polomare, having not yet turned around and noticed any of the duchess' distressed body language, only snickered and waved her hoof while keeping her head half buried in a fabric rack.
"Said he sensed something a tad funny a bit ago and wanted to come here early to check it out."
-Fortunate...-
"... When should he arrive?-
"Oh, he said sometime around midnight as the train rolls."
-...Very fortunate indeed..-
Damn, this chapter was filled with many plot twists. I got to say that I enjoy Mirror Lea, Duchess Chrysalis, and Mirror Godzilla's personalities. Likewise, Raiga's string of profanities at Starlight's accusations and her new Siren form was hilarious. Thank you so much for this chapter.
Excellent chapter. I do have one (non-serious) question, though: How long after she gets back from this adventure beyond the looking glass before someone starts calling Raiga Alice?
SO RAIGA IS IN THE MIRROR UNIVERSE?!?!?!
Quote from M night shyamalan:
Wow, you totally surprised me. I had assumed that since this story takes place a week in the future: the barrier healed, causing Raiga to transform; Queen Chrysalis had infiltrated the Crystal Empire, presumably by replacing Blade Dancer, to glean info about the Kaiju from Xenilla, which you would then show in a future chapter of The Bridge (I've been waiting for Chrysalis to appear ever since that scene from "Rainy Days" where a Changeling said it had to warn her about the new players in town after it almost got killed by Destroyah. Plus, it would have been awesome for Xenilla to eventually realize he was being tricked, curb-stomp Chrysalis, and then rescue the imprisoned Blade Dancer.); and Starlight Glimmer was an unwitting pawn to Chrysalis.
Damn, I'm going to have to give the TV Tropes character sheet a major overhaul tomorrow if someone doesn't beat me to it.
But on a happy note, the evil ones are in for a rude awakening when they learn this version of Raiga isn't a peace loving wimp.
And here I thought it took placed in the main setting? What's next?
First of all, awesomeness with the mirror-verse. Second,
And third, what's Raiga gonna do now that she's stuck in the dark, twisted version of Equestria?
Well... that was a twist I wasn't expecting.
So it's okay for me to say it this time old Tarby? Good, cause I totes called it last time. Then again, I have a bit of an advantage in that my mind in unnaturally good at remembering random details (e.g. the blog you did on the mirror!verse months ago) so I had a guess right off the bat.
That was what I also guessed as well, I spoke of it as an Alternate Universe while forgetting to call it the Mirror Universe
*reads Chapter 2* Oh sonuva- Well, Raiga is gonna have a headache when she learns everything ain't what it seems
I give you full credit for surprising me, as I didn't see this twist if events coming. I was eager to read this before but now I'm even more buzzed at the prospect of seeing how the Mirrorverse will play out. Makes me wonder if Bagan's faction us also mirrored here?
Ah well then, it shouldn't be too hard for Raiga to get the upperhand. The good thing about stable universes, the villains outnumber the good guys by a large margin. The only reason why they don't win is becuase they go at each other's throats. This time around, they good side has the numbers and some major firepower. Of course, the good guys are power houses in the main U, so they still have enough power to hold off for some time until the villains can readjust. Of course, if this is after Luna and Celestia's reformation, the villains of the AU are down two major heavy hitters.
Brilliant start and play on the character personalities. Loved every second of it and it's always good to see Starlight in a more heroic role.
I haven't read any of the comics, so once I had the title of the story line that Mirror! Equestria appeared in I looked it up. One of the complications in that story was that any injury to one of the princesses would affect her counterpart in Equestria proper.
Please tell me that either A) this effect is limited to the Celestial Sisters or B) that it was caused by the relative closeness of the two worlds and no longer applies.
I'd hate for Raiga to play a nice game of "Bug Zapper" and then have the Mothra from The Bridge suffer for it.
Wait a sec. Are you saying this is in line with the main story or some Bizarro universe where they were actually sent to the Reflections Arc of the comics and Goji and Lea are both evil with Cadence?
MIRRORVERSE!!!
Yeah I was a bit confused, but when I realized that this was the Mirrorverse it all made sense. Poor Raiga it's going to be a while before she understands what is going on.
6460450
Yup
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Indeed. Mirror!Junior is a homicidal sociopath, Mirror!Lea is a Battra instead of a Mothra and is just as bad; and Mirror!Cadance is about as bad as the main world's Chrysalis.
6460196
B. At the end of the comic arc the connection between the two worlds was severed so the events in one will no long reflect upon the other. Main!Terra and Mirror!Terra might be exact opposites still, but uniqueness would settle in for the transported kaiju as soon as they hit their world's respective Equestria. So for an other example, Main!Destroyah was homicidal monster upon entering Main!Equestria, but has since mellowed out. Mirror!Destroyah is a friendly heroine and would have stayed such because Mirror!Equestria is disconnected. So no, if Raiga shocked Mirror!Lea, Main!Lea wouldn't suddenly look like she was being attacked by a bug zapper.
6460110
A very astute and good observation. The only thing not taken into account is that Bagan's invasion might not have a full counterpart just yet. That and with a very different hero and villain roster, different souls might have been present when Dimension Tide fired. There is also the matter that Mirror!Junior is a much more, let's say 'upfront' villain than Main!Xenilla was. Remember that rampage Xenilla pondered about going on after he crash landed but brushed off as needless? Yep, Goji had no qualms.
Still, very true about the two celestial alicorns now being good. Or at least in a similar reformation situation that Sunset was in during EG2.... Wow kinda weird thought that the species seen emphasizing, power, unity, and beauty in the main world would likely be seen as monsters in the Mirror one. Until Queen Trixie, their hadn't been any wholly benign alicorns in Mirror!Equestria for a very, very long time.
6459958
Mirror Universe. Duchess Chrysalis is effectively Celestia, Cadance is effectively Chrysalis, and Godzilla Junior is pretty much the GMK Godzilla.......
.........
Oh, and the Mirror versions of the Terran Defenders pretty much wrecked the deer kingdom. That barbequed skeleton in the throne room? It was King Aspen.
6460528 You forgot the AU tag then.
Yiss, so much yiss...
Oh... *smiles evily* this should be fun
Oooh... so that's how it is. Looks like Raiga has her work cut out for her.
Side note: now that I've had time to think about it, it would have been kinda funny if Mirror!Destroyah's name was "Creaytah", or something like that. ^_^
6459677 What?
I forgot you were going to do mirror Equestria with this one. But will Raiga at some point end up in the main one or not can't remember if oyu mentioned that
While Raiga will likely have a hard time accepting that someone who's seemingly Mothra is attacking an innocent person, I imagine that beating up an evil Lea will be majorly cathartic...
Freaky fact? I'm a big believer in that ones upbringing can drastically effect one's final morality, especially in the early years. Yes it is completely possible to have a horrible early life, having just one thing to grab onto can pull you out. But, one way or another, those around you when you first form memories will affect your worldview. Main Universe Godzilla Jr. spent effectively the equivalent to his 0-8 year old time in Kyoto Institute under Azusa and her colleagues. Yes he did have some rough times and was mistreated by some humans, but most that he met were introduce to him by someone who was a fantastic adoptive mother. So unlike every other Godzilla in history, he grew up knowing that, as a majority, humans are good. This, along with other experiences and his time with Azusa is what helped mold the moral center he kept to this day.
Mirror!Junior had the opposite experience, where he was abused and exploited for much of his early life, and this gave him a world view that turned him into a complete monster, hating 95% of everything around him and barely caring for anything but himself.
Mirror Universe or not, this exact outcome easily could have happened to the Godzilla Jr. we know and love, had the staff at the institute been different. If say, Mitsuo Katagiri had been put in charge of Junior's care instead of Azusa.
I actually got the idea to bring in the Mirror'verse as a gag/jab at a very vocal detractor I got early in Bridge's run. I fully admit, my versions of the kaiju can diverge wildly from other popular fan iterations and it's not for everyone. This guy, whom I will not name, routinely attacked my story for daring to have a Godzilla who didn't instantly go murder mode on everything in-sight, whether said sights had done anything wrong to him or not like humans had in most versions. They wanted a anti-social, malign, "Force of Nature"*, full on monster that was going to try and level Equestria. And when said person wouldn't shut up about said detraction, no matter how polite I tried to be at their
whining demandssuggested changes to my story; they kept being rude.So yah, as a minor "F*** You" to that hater, I wrote in their Godzilla... as the exact polar opposite of mine.
*(forces of nature are True Neutral, what they were asking for was Neutral Evil. Last I checked that hurricane I slept through wasn't trying to flood my house out of spite)
Oh man, not more Mirror nonsense.
This was quite a clever plot twist. I was in the camp of those thinking that this was still in the main Equestria until Mirror Starlight called Chrsyalis "duchess", Explained to Raiga why she was travelling to meet up with her mentor and the scene showing Mirror jr and Lea in the deer kingdom.
Nice chapter.
6461094
The sequel of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was titled Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. In it, Alice was a white pawn in a game of chess, and after becoming a queen captured the Red Queen to put the Red King in checkmate.
Raiga is in a Mirror! world; or to put it another way, she has traveled through a looking glass. The portal that transported her seemed rather deliberate, which would make her the pawn in someone's game. If the goal is to remove the evil Kaiju, then Raiga may well be the "Piece" that wins the game, much like putting the King in a game of chess into checkmate wins the game.
So, how long until someone associates Raiga with Alice?
Question 1: How does Godzilla sense the presences of Xenilla and Raiga? The normal Godzilla never displayed this ability.
Question 2: Would I be correct in saying Battra Lea contacted their version of Gamera and asked him to find a way to send more Kaiju to Equestria to help them conquer it?
Question 3: What did you think of my (incorrect) guess about what was going on with Queen Chrysalis that I put in Post #63 (Post #4 if you're on Chapter 2)?
Would you envision Mirror Zilla as having plenty in common with Starscream from Transformers personality wise, Tarb?
6464909
In Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II it was determined that the godzillasaurs had a "homing sense" relative to each other. This is how the Godzilla of that movie tracked down the newly hatched future Godzilla.
6464909
1. As Jacen stated previously, actually yes the species has. In GvsMG2 and following movies it's established that the Godzilla species has a sort of 'homing' sense that allows them to detect others of their own kind even are a large distance. It's even implied as early as Godzilla vs. Biollante, as to being the reason why Godzilla approached the hybrid. I also used this as a means to justify how, despite being way out in space, Xenilla managed to find his way back to Terra and the first place he touched down on was the island Senior and Junior were on. It's also how Senior knew which direction Junior was heading when the latter first was heading north, and then towards Tokyo to head off Destroyah.
2. Yes.
3. Very inventive and it certainly could have gone that route. However in terms of fighting I think it was best to give Xenilla some time to rest and focus on character development, seeing as he just got done with Sombra. There actually was a plan for that in the story, but I decided against it as for one, it wouldn't make too much sense for Chrysalis to head to the empire first to investigate the kaiju seeing as she wouldn't even know one was there to begin with; and two because I had plans for her elsewhere.
6464928
Yup. In fact Gen 1 or Prime Starscream would likely be a good reference for Mirror!Zilla Jr.
6465084 Thank you.
6465134 Thank you.
6465134 This just occurred to me. Does Raiga share this ability to sense other Godzillasaurus?
6465363
Faith and I discussed this and the short answer is, yes. The reason she hasn't picked up Mirror!Junior yet is to due to the previously mentioned enchants Cadenza put on their hideout to block Mirror!Xenilla from doing the same. It's like a one way mirror in that respect, which is also why Mirror!Junior knew where Mirror!Xenilla and could tell what he sensed wasn't him, but not the other way around.
Additionally, the remote sensing might work a tad different in their Equestria bodies, like some of their other abilities. This means it might require a bit of re-cordination and practice to readjust for the difference.
Long ramble short, Raiga can use the remote sense as she's the same species; she just might need some focus to use it in her siren form.
Wait, this is based off the comics? An alternate Equestria?...ok I think I need an asprin cause I'm getting a headache trying to wrap my head around the continuity of this story...
6467354
Yes this is based off the comics, specifically the aftermath of the 'Reflections' arc. Long story short, moralities are flipped so heroes are villains, and villains are heroes. Only exceptions is Mirror!Sombra absorbed the evil in Mirror!Celestia and Mirror!Luna to purify them, and went into exile to keep the others safe. Since then, Mirror!Equestria and Main!Equestria got disconnected so any change that occurs in one can no longer influence the other.
At the same time the original 6 kaiju ended up in Equestria, their counterparts from a Mirror!Terra, where Godzilla Jr. is a villain and Xenilla is a hero, ended up in Mirror!Equestria. And now Raiga from the main timeline is in this mirror world.
The Bridge
Terra --(Godzilla and company)--> Equestria
Sound of Thunder
Terra ----------------- (Raiga)
\/
Mirror!Terra ---(Mirror!Godzilla and company) -> Mirror!Equestria
Will a mirror version of Tirek appear in the story or be mentioned?
Okay, question, could it be possible for Godzilla Sr. to still be possibly alive and have ended up in the other version of Equestria like Raiga? When Sr. "died" he got transmuted into energy. Matter is just another form of energy and when the main 6 kaiju were sent to Equestria they were turned into energy before reforming as Equestrian beings. So its quite possible that when Godzilla Sr. was vaporized, Harmony could have used that to send him to Mirrorverse Equestria.
No offense but Godzilla Sr. is a grumpy hermit, its quite possible that after arriving, he would find a quite place away from civilization and just claim it as his territory. And honestly Raiga is going to need all the help she can get. Plus time between dimensions aren't linear or clear-cut. Godzilla Sr. could arrive the day after Raiga shows up or even before the Mirrorverse main 6 show up. Hell if no one disturbs his territory, Godzilla Sr. could be completely unaware of the events around him while he spends time in a crude hut/cave out in the wilderness!
6468560 Sorry to tell you this, but Senior didn't transmute into energy. His inner heat melted his body. We even saw his flesh come off his skeleton.
6467425 not sure I follow how Raiga could end up in Mirror!Equestria, but I won't question the author's choices. Thanks
6468620 There goes my head-canon. Thank you for the reminder and the clarification.
6468689
Don't worry, it's supposed to be that way. There will be hints here or there, but I felt not blatantly giving the answer right off the bat was the best course as the story is supposed to be confusing at first.
Wow.
I didn't pick up on this twist at all in the first chapter. When Starlight Glimmer mentioned Chrysalis, I just figured the changeling queen was somehow manipulating the unicorn. And then, as I was reading this chapter, things started making less sense, especially when I got to the dark scene with Junior and "Battra" Lea... BATTRA?!? That's when I suspected that Raiga had somehow wound up in an alternate universe. Finally, your Author's Note confirmed it.
I gotta say, this is quite a twist. I wonder if Lea and Junior realize that Raiga is from an alternate universe and is opposite of what they were expecting, and vice versa for Raiga. Needless to say, it's not gonna be pretty when both side find out.
Great stuff, Tarbtano. Looking forward to how this plays out.
I didn't catch on that this was the Mirror-Verse until "Duchess Chrysalis". Once I read that I tilted my head and went, "Wait . . . what? Duchess? I know Tarb isn't going to make such a simple mistake as calling QUEEN Chrysalis a Duchess so . . . Oh My God, this is the Mirror-Verse . . ."
Like many I thought that mentioning Chrysalis in the original chapter was just you putting these two characters together for whatever insidious plots you had.
On the notes of the Mirror Characters, I like them a lot. All of them are cruel and directly opposite in their own interesting ways. Mirror Junior seems to fully embrace his monstrous instincts while Mirror Lea is more seductive and manipulative; on an off note I would've had her nibble on Mirror Junior's ear before leaving the room.
And, lastly, I'll have to be honest, I wouldn't have revealed in the second chapter that this was in the Mirror-Verse. You really should've kept it going and make EVERYONE confused on what was going on. Have so many things not add up just right, but be explained in such a convincing way we can't openly say, "Yeah this is happening in another another dimension." For instance, have it just explained that Junior nearly destroyed Canterlot instead of having outright attacked it.
I would've loved to be eight or nine chapters in, thoroughly confused as to why things aren't adding up, and be told, "Uh . . . yeah . . . this is all happening in the Mirror-Verse."
6459966
Looking back over the comments from the first chapter, it looks like you and I were the only ones to figgure out that Raiga was in a Mirror! verse.
Nice deduction.
Given my usual track record of predicting things, I'm frankly shocked that I got it right; if it weren't for a freaky memory that can pull odd trivia up in an instant but never remember phone numbers and a childhood watching Godzilla and Star Trek, I probably would have had a harder time figuring it out. (Yes, Star Trek helped. Let's just say, I half expect Xenilla to have a goatee, and leave it at that.) That said, the clues were there. Nice job catching them.
Ya know, I’m nearly of the mind that these ponies, from either side, wouldn’t have a conception of profanities like we do. But do you think they might refer to Changelings as ‘chiggers’? That would be [buy some apples] interesting.
So now we have at least 5 Equestrian realms in official material, with a potential total of 8 I can think of.
I’m not quite sure how I feel about Raiga’s tirade, in fact I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about most of this chapter. Perhaps it’s because we’re still getting used to the new dynamic of this story, or maybe it’s because as a reader, I have to stop and reorganize my entire understanding of the world the character is in. So I may get as into TSOT as I am the Bridge, but for now I’m still adapting.
In any case, we drop in on our siren and unicorn starlets as they deal with the former’s identity freak out. The thought kept occurring to me that we’re dealing with a younger Starlight Glimmer than we saw in the season opener of the show. Just how she talks reminds me of Twilight in season 1, as opposed to the methodical, devious Starlight who ran a whole cult. Accounting for at least the time it must have taken to establish the community up to the point seen in the show, Maine!Starlight has to be a full adult, opposed the young adult Twilight.
I find this version of Starlight refreshing, sort of like being introduced to a brand new character in a pilot. Since Raiga is the main focus of this spin-off, we’ll be getting to know her better throughout the course of the story, I’ll hold off on my appraisal of her so far. But I will say that so far she seems to be a capable protagonist, which isn’t something we get to see much with female characters in stories. Though one might chalk that up to her familial heritage.
And before I go on, can I just mention something that came to me rather randomly. To me, for some reason, it strikes me that Raiga and Rodan could be an interesting ship. Their personalities seem amenable, and the range of their combined powers sets is impressive. I’m going to think that Raiga’s personality template is an anime character, which means that I would have no idea who the character was even if mentioned. But I do know the Flash, whom Rodan’s character seems to be played on.
And so going from what we’ve been treated to so far, I think they’d get along great. And like RoJack and RariGuirus, I feel comfortable shipping them as friends. The previously mentioned, er, shall we say cultural difference between Kaiju and equine affixing a barrier to romantic inflexions among Kaiju preventing them from overtly developing an attraction to each other. Though the effect that being in the equestrian realms has been shown to have might be a catalyst for change in that dynamic.
But, back to the story. I know that this story isn’t exactly the same level of viewer rating as the show, and so I have to make the allowances for the creative liberties that Tarb has taken. But something that strikes me so far, is not the context of Raiga’s use of profanity, (understandable given the shock) but the frequency of it. If it’s her character to be so liberal with coarse language, than that’s fine, but I found it’s rate here… distracting. But we’re still new to her in this 2nd chapter, so I’ll hold off on making that an ‘official criticism’ of her character.
I thought the exposition of how Raiga learns how to levitate was well done, how it was used to mention some history of other characters. And I’m not sure if it was mentioned or not, but it seems like Raiga will get to a point where she can utilize versions of her energy attacks in the siren form, perhaps even thundercloud control.
Some further exposition later, we learn that the Mirror! versions of Godzilla’s crew have been wrecking their own brand of terror, and that Starlight is horrified to see a shade of Raiga’s true form. And in the confusion, another made themselves known. A very ‘sithery’ alternate version of Lea.
Smash-cut to the decimated city-state of The Thicket. Ya hear that Tarb? THE THICKET!
Lea and Jr. now “rule” the Deer’s kingdom in a semi-casual relationship. Reminds me of Superwoman and Owlman from the Syndicate, the evil version of the Justice League. I find this interesting, as it explores aspects of the potential relationship Lea and Jr. could have. And I don’t just mean that because they’re evil-alternate versions, Mane! Godzilla and Mothra could have a more intimate relationship, particularly now as they’re in more *cough* ‘compatible’ bodies.
The slaughter of the deer, or at least those who did not flee into the Everfree, came as a logical but unwelcome development. I say unwelcome because I think the deer kingdom is a criminally underused element in the FiM mythos, and seeing them knocked off here, if just a device used to illustrate the malign nature of the two, was kind of a ‘disappointed awww’ moment for me.
Suri? Is this a new OC? Interesting. Oh wait, she’s the seamstress who tried to steal Rarity’s work. Still, an interesting choice for scene companion for the duchess.
I’m intrigued by Duchess Chrysalis, she’s an unknown quantity. I know she isn’t going to be a character-transplant for Celestia, especially since Celestia here isn’t evil anymore. So that does indeed leave us in an interesting place. I believe the only bit of her we see in the comics is a quick depiction in a stain-glass window (I believe).
I know this is a short review. And for me this felt like a short chapter. So, in lieu of going through the scenes bit by bit, which I have deliberately avoided doing in my reviews, we get a review correspondent to the size of the chapter, and however much thought it evokes in me. This was a decent chapter, a few cool reveals about the nature of things for our protagonist, and further establishing the story as a whole.
So the SOT is still young, still getting it’s legs under it, and I suspect that once the story picks-up speed and events start to happen in earnest, they’ll be a lot more to say about the SOT.
Tarb, If you think I glossed over anything you think should have gotten some attention, or even if you were hoping for a reaction to some particular item that hasn’t gotten it in the comments yet, let me know.
The Magnificent Machine is pleased with this chapter, and has decided not to destroy you with finger missiles and belly lasers… today.
Bomp bomp bomp.
6470064 Five Equestrian realms? Let me guess: regular Equestria, the Mirror Universe, Power Ponies, the Equestria Girls world, and the Equestria Girls version of Power Ponies. When you say potential total of 8, I'll assume you mean the Mirror version of Equestria Girls and the two Power Ponies worlds.