“Princess, where are we going?” Twilight asked.
“I never showed you this section of the castle in all the days you’ve been my student, Twilight. But it appears you are ready to know the truth. Quickly, now.” Celestia said, descending down a flight of steps. The two alicorns reached what appeared to be a catacomb of sorts. The walls were encased in dampened rocks containing pieces of crystalline material, while the floor was made up of marble. Celestia stopped trotting and turned to face a worn-out slab of stone embedded in the wall. Twilight followed the Sun Diarch’s gaze. She laid eyes on several cave paintings of the same dragon she saw in her dreams. The dragon in question was depicted destroying countless civilizations and laying waste to Equestria. There was another painting depicting what looked like two alicorns fighting off the dragon with their magic.
“Celestia, what... what is this?” Twilight asked.
“The dragon that appeared in your dreams is a powerful extraterrestrial Titan our biologists designated as Titanus Ghidrah. However, the ancients gave the creature a different name. A name so frightening, no one even dared to mention it. The creature was named Ghidorah. We don’t know much about his kind, but what we do know is that Ghidorah is a member of a powerful hyper-aggressive invasive superspecies that invades inhabited planets and wipes out the dominant lifeforms and recreating the planet to their liking. Thousands of years ago, Ghidorah crash landed in Equus, travelling around the world until he reached Equestria. He decided to make a roost there and began the process of recreating the world to suit his needs. He destroyed hundreds of villages, decimated entire civilizations, and slaughtered thousands upon thousands of innocent ponies. All seemed lost until Queen Diurna and Queen Nocta, the current rulers at the time, stepped in and valiantly battled against the great beast. The ensuing fight was not only brutal, but it proved to be deadly when Queen Nocta was tragically killed during the fight. Overcome with grief and rage, Queen Diurna summoned all of her power to encase Ghidorah in a prison composed of rock and banished him to the farthest regions of outer space.” Celestia explained.
“So the meteor is really his prison?” Twilight asked.
“Yes. However, that very meteor is heading straight for Appaloosa. I already sent a message to the mayor to evacuate the town. With any luck, all the ponies should have reached a safe haven by now.” Celestia said. As the two Alicorns headed towards the upper floors of the castle, the catacombs suddenly began to tremble. The muffled sound of explosions quickly grabbed the two Alicorn’s attention.
“What is going on up there?!” Twilight exclaimed.
“Canterlot’s being attacked! We need to get outside now!” Celestia replied. Without a moment to delay, Celestia and Twilight quickly ran out of the catacombs.
***
Twilight and Celestia ran out towards the street, gasping in horror as the majority of Canterlot was reduced to smoking debris. As the duo frantically began searching for survivors, a piercing metallic roar caught their attention. Turning their bodies around, the two alicorns spotted the towering form of Kiryu decimating a nearby block with a single swipe of its huge tail. Kiryu opened its jaws, revealing rows of razor-sharp titanium teeth. Seconds later, the metal titan fired a massive crimson laser beam on the city, obliterating three more blocks. Twilight could only gasp in horror as Kiryu kept unleashing his wrath on Celestia’s city.
“Am I crazy, or does that mechanical beast looks like....”
“Godzilla, yes. But what in Faust’s name is such a beast doing here?!”
Kiryu turned around, resting its crimson optics on Twilight and Celestia. The two alicorns backed up anxiously, watching the mechanical monster approach them with an angry step in its gait.
“Well, well, well, look who decided to step off her comfy little throne and take a breath of fresh air!” Onix exclaimed through Kiryu’s built-in megaphone.
“Onix Star?! You were supposed to be serving a six-year sentence in prison!” Celestia yelled.
“Wait, what? Oh, oops! Was I supposed to wait another four years to get my revenge? Oh, darn it, I messed up! How silly of me! You know what, where are my manners? I’m supposed to bow down, aren’t I?” Onix mocked. Onix bent his upper body down while holding his hoof before his chest in a mock bow, which Kiryu imitated.
“My humblest of apologies, your dictatorship. I simply couldn’t wait any longer to see your face once more.” Onix said, uttering a short laugh.
“Get out of the mech and face me, Onix!!”
“As you wish.”
Kiryu bent down, smashing a clawed fist in the pavement just inches away from Twilight. Lowering its head, Kiryu’s face opened up and unfolded a ladder to allow Onix to descend towards the floor. At that moment, the rest of the Main 6 approached the trio, gasping in shock at the sight of Onix.
“Hey, it’s that jerkface with the exploding rocket things!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“Hello, girls. It’s lovely seeing you all again.” Onix said, his voice dripping with venom. He turned to Fluttershy, who was hiding behind Applejack while grimacing at the red stallion.
“Hello again, little miss. Hey, where’s your pet lizard? Oh, that’s right! He’s DEAD! HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Onix laughed, a wide grin on his face. Fluttershy’s face hardened at the remark, grinding her teeth in anger.
“Don’t be upset. That worthless sack of scales is better off lying around in the trenches, rotting away while eels pick at his remains.” Onix continued.
“You take that back!” Fluttershy yelled. Onix simply laughed at the pegasus’ feeble threat.
“And what are you gonna do? Sic a rabbit on me? HA!” Onix teased.
“THAT’S IT! NOBODY INSULTS MY FRIEND LIKE THAT!” Rainbow yelled, charging straight at Onix. Applejack grabbed the cyan pegasus by her tail and held her down.
“LET ME GO! THIS GUY NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT A LESSON!” Rainbow yelled.
“Can it, Dash! Sit yer blue hiney down and don’t start pickin’ a fight you can’t win!” Applejack stated firmly. Onix began backing up towards Kiryu’s cockpit, uttering a sinister laugh as he sat back down in his seat. Upon re-entry, Kiryu’s face closed itself up.
“Okay, that’s a seriously cool robot.” Rainbow stated. Kiryu stood back up, recharging its weapons systems.
“Why, thank you. Unfortunately for all of you, flattery won’t save your lives. Princess Celestia, I thank you in advance for the wonderful ten thousand-year reign. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to order pretty flowers for your funeral.” Onix stated, charging up Kiryu’s maser cannon. Celestia ignited her horn in a golden aura and took to the skies, firing volleys of magical projectiles at Kiryu. Kiryu was forced to back up, using its arms to block the projectiles from striking its faceplate. Onix growled in frustration as he flipped several switches to boost Kiryu’s power.
“Do you seriously think that a little magic’s gonna be enough to...”
Celestia let out a deafening war cry as she threw her head back and flung it forward, firing a massive beam of magic directly into Kiryu’s chest plate and sending the mech flying into the ground.
“HA!” Rainbow shouted.
“Holy Faust, I did not see that coming....” Onix mumbled as he managed to right himself back on the seat.
“Onix Star, I order you to stand down NOW!” Celestia angrily demanded, standing in front of the downed mech’s faceplate.
“Of course, I’ll stand down.... WHEN YOU’RE DEAD!” Onix shouted. Kiryu lifted its head and opened its jaws, firing a maser blast at Celestia. The Sun Diarch immediately formed a shield around her, but that wasn’t enough to keep her from being violently shoved backwards. Celestia grunted as she used all of her strength to keep her shield from shattering under the power of the maser cannon. Kiryu approached Celestia, raising its metal fist to strike the Alicorn down. Before the mech could crush Celestia, its fist was suddenly encased in a raspberry aura.
“The hell? Why can’t I move the arm?!” Onix demanded, turning his attention to the airborne Twilight holding Kiryu’s arm back with her magic.
“Oh, so you want a piece of the action too?” Onix snarled. Kiryu’s right arm converted into an automated plasma cannon, aiming the weapon at Twilight.
“Sayonara, princess.” Onix said with a smug grin.
“Oh, I’m not done just yet.” Twilight said, controlling Kiryu’s left arm with her magic. With a grin of her own, Twilight forced Kiryu’s left arm to start repeatedly punching Kiryu in the faceplate.
“AGH, HEY! KNOCK THAT OFF!” Onix yelled. Celestia swooped in on Kiryu, grabbing the mech’s weaponized arm with her magic. With a sharp jerk, Celestia managed to tear the arm right out of its socket.
“NOOO! DO YOU KNOW HOW EXPENSIVE THIS MECH WAS?! DAMMIT!!’ Onix angrily screamed. Twilight and Celestia charged their horns to full power, both firing a combined super-charged magical beam at Kiryu. Kiryu was sent flying into the ground for the second time, letting out a metallic shriek. The massive mech stood back up on its feet, with Onix now beaming with anger.
“Why you son of a....” Onix’s sentence was cut off when he suddenly turned his gaze skywards, noticing a fiery orange light careening into Equestria.
"What in the hell is that...?" Onix asked himself. Everypony looked up to see the ball of fiery light getting closer and closer by the second.
"Oh, Faust, no...! It's too early...!" Celestia gasped. The object in question was, in fact, a massive meteor hurdling towards Appaloosa at great speeds.
"That's odd, the next meteor shower's not scheduled until another three months-" Onix stated before another golden beam of magic struck Kiryu in the face and sent the mech sprawling into the ground.
"AAAAGHH, NOT AGAIN!" Onix yelped. Celestia urged the Main Six to move with a nudge from her snout before charging towards the train station.
"We need to move NOW!" Celestia exclaimed. The rainbow-maned Alicorn spotted two of her soldiers rushing towards the group at great speed.
"Your majesty! The meteor, it's..."
"I know. Gather three squadrons and meet me in Appaloosa and hurry!" Celestia ordered, receiving a salute from her soldiers before they took off. Without further delay, Celestia and the Main Six rushed to the train station and jumped on one of the accessible cabs.
"To Appaloosa, please! Hurry!" Celestia spoke to the conductor in an almost panicked tone.
"Right away, princess." The conductor replied, immediately igniting the train's engine. The massive locomotive trudged off at great speeds as it raced towards the desert region of Appaloosa.
"DAMN THAT PRINCESS!!!" Onix yelled while still struggling to get Kiryu back on its feet. Onix grabbed the radio as he activated it.
"Maverick, Kiryu needs repairs and I need pickup. And send a squadron to Appaloosa..."