//------------------------------// // Clash Between Two Monsters // Story: Sparky's Journey // by General Sparky //------------------------------// 7. 40 AM A massive tidal wave appeared in front of Manehatten. The tidal wave splashed on the coast as Clover swam towards the city. Ponies on the beaches started to run for their lives as the waves approached. When Clover reached the city's coastline, she stood up. Seeing all those ponies running away brought a smile to her face. Sirens started to sound, a variety of alarms started to go off, including the air raid siren, to warn ponies to get out of the area. The Military HQ located in Canterlot was flooded with activities as the generals started to give orders to dispatch or scramble the different units under their command. Air bases located in Equestria was ordered to ready their planes, Army bases was to supply their troops (reserved or active units) with the necessary equipment, Navy bases was told to deploy the battleships out to sea. However, in the midst of preparations, the sky above Griffonstone was filled with the roar of jet engines, warships moving into the Celestial Sea, Tanks in carriers ready to be deployed in Equestria. On 8 AM, The gryphon warships has reached within the range of Baltimare. A intense bombardment of Baltimare with shells fired from the warships quickly followed. Gryphon jets fighters entered Equestrian airspace around the same time and started to destroy Equestrian warplanes on the ground. Due to the sudden and drastic change to the situation, the Equestrian military mobilised. Equestrian Tanks started to roll out of their sheds, airplanes was scrambled to engage the Gryphon fighters and that the ships was loaded with live rounds before setting out on an intercept course with the Gryphon Navy near Baltimare. 3 Gryphon Amoured Division landed on Baltimare at around 9 AM, after the Pre-bombardment by the Gryphon Navy. The Gryphon land forces managed to overwhelm the Equestrian defenses located in Baltimare and advanced inwards. The Equestrian Military redirected all their efforts to counter the Gryphon threat, leaving the northern part of Equestria to be Clover's playground. That was supposed to be how the events would have played out, if it wasn't for the fact that the Gryphon military is incapable of commencing such a large operation. Upon Clover's arrival on Manehattan's shores, The Equestrian Military reacted quickly. Jets were scrambled, Battleships was sent out to sea to rain shells on her and that the Army units used Artillery and their Heavy Tanks to start throwing shells from a considerable distance. The civilians were evacuated in a swift and orderly manner, leaving her alone in the city. Although the shells does not penetrate her thick scales, that does not mean it does not hurt a bit. It feels like a someone pinching her every time a shell exploded on her scales. She walked towards the middle of the city before siting down, letting the Equestrian Military to continue to fire shells at her. Meanwhile, in the Canterlot, Queen Ditsy was listening to a pony who was trying to convince her to increase the amount of the national budget for economic development. "Your Majesty, if we could have more resources for Research and Development,we could expand our economic development by 20%." "I agree, but you are asking for 5% increase from the national budget. I don't think that is reasonable. Even the Military, which is growing its capabilities at an exponential rate, only asks for 2% increase from the national budget. I am afraid that unless you reduce the amount to be given to the Economic sector, I will have to reject your offer." "The Military only needs to buy new Equipment and upgrade existing ones, how is that more important than improving the economy of this country?" The pony argued. Ditsy was about to retort when General Rommel came barged into the throne room and shouted, "Your Majesty, your presence is needed in the War Room at once!" Ditsy nodded, "I am sorry, I am needed elsewhere, we will continue this conversation later, okay?" Ditsy said, before donning her golden armor and leaving the throne room. In the War room, top military leaders of Equestria gathered around a round table, each waiting patiently for the Queen to arrive. They have mobilized the forces even before coming into the War Room. They are now waiting to start discussions on how to defeat the monster in Manehattan since conventional weaponry does nothing to it. Ditsy entered the War Room with General Rommel. "Rommel has already brief the situation to me. This is not good. If that creature advanced deeper into Equestria, Equestria will turn into a land of chaos." Ditsy said. "How do we stop it, Your Majesty?" An Admiral asked. "By using our own monster." Ditsy took out a photograph showing Sparky using her atomic breath. "She is so small, how could she even defeat the one in Manehatten right now?" A Captain asked. "Trust me, you wouldn't be saying that if you seen her in her true form." Ditsy replied. "Anyone got any better ideas or objections?" The Room maintained its silence. "Good. Rommel, tell Night Light to light up the little spark." Sparky was walking alone in the badlands. The rainbow dress she wore was the opposite of what her mood currently is. Her gut feeling was never wrong. Her horn was constantly appearing and reappearing. She wanted to ignore it and pretend it wasn't there but she couldn't. Internally, she wanted to engage that creature in Manehattan. But she could never bring herself to do it. She stared at the sky, something was approaching her and fast. She barely dodge the object when it landed on the ground. The object spewed huge amounts of dust into the air. When the dust had cleared, Night Light stared back at her. "Night Light? Is it really you?" Sparky slowly approached Night Light. Not seeing him for 3 years since that incident has only made Sparky missed Night Light more. Night Light gave a slight nod. "I am sorry Sparky. I am here for serious business, not to catch up." Night Light said, putting on a serious face in front of Sparky. "It is the fight in Manehattan, isn't it?" Sparky asked. Night Light nodded. "You are the only one who could defeat her." Night Light stated. "But what if I don't want to?" Sparky asked. "Then Equestria would be destroyed completely." Night Light said. "That serious?" Sparky asked, making sure that Night Light cannot see her eyes. Night Light nodded again. "Let's get this over with, I suppose." Sparky said, before climbing on Night Light's back. Night Light spread out his wings and flew Sparky to Manehattan. On the way to Mantehattan, they had a little conversation. "I see you are wearing the rainbow dress I made." "Yes. I was the perfect size for me. At least I don't have to wear those childish clothes and dresses anymore. Thank you Night Light." "You are welcome. So, how are you going to defeat her?" Night Light asked, suddenly changing the topic. "By doing what I do best. Using my atomic breath and *Gulp* letting myself have some 'fun'." "You need to do more than having 'fun'. You need to be the complete opposite of yourself. You need to be the Sparky that isn't Sparky." "But how can I be that when I couldn't even overcome my own fear?" "Trust me, in the heat of combat, your fear will gradually go away. When I first started to wear my weapons all the time, I was scared of injuring ponies around me due to the fact that there is live ammunition on me. But after the war, I became accustomed to the weapons I operate, and have accepted it as a part of me now. In dogfights, it is either you or them. The same applies here." "Thanks for that I guess." "Don't mention it, besides we are both monsters right? You have blue flame, I have blue flame, we both have spines on out backs and a pretty long tail if you ask me. So I will go through this fight together with you, Sparky. Even if you hide behind your own shadow during the battle, I will be there to pull you out of it." Night Light said, sounding optimistic about the situation. "Thanks a lot, Night Light. You really are my best friend. Not like me......" "That's not true. Sure, you have ignored me most of the times but at least whenever I need you, you are always there for me. That is why I treat you like my best friend, because you really are my best friend." "So Friends?" "Friends." Sparky said in agreement. Whatever happens next, she and Night Light will face together, against all the odds stacked against them. Night Light landed on one of the Manehattan skyscrapers to plan their attack against Clover. The barrage of shells had ended and the Army units had withdrawn to get ammunition for their main gun. Clover stood up and started walking deeper into Equestrian territory. When Sparky got down from Night Light's back, she stared in awe as Clover resume her advance into Equestria. "Sparky, how are we going to take that monster down?" Night Light asked. Sparky did not reply but kept her gaze on Clover. Night Light, noticing that Sparky is gazing at that monster, asked "Sparky?" to get her attention. "That monster name's is Clover, and she is not born like that. She must have taken some kind of spell or potion to make her turn into this form. Clover is wearing an earpiece, which means that she is likely to be taking orders from someone else." Sparky said. "How did you come out with that?" Night Light asked. "By using my eyes to look for minute details on her physical body. It is one of the skills that I have inherited from an alpha predator." Sparky explained. "Also, she has not noticed my presence yet, which means she is not naturally born like that. I have detected her presence since midnight." "So how are we going to defeat Clover? If she has some of your qualities, being resistant to conventional weaponry, having a huge stature and also walking bipedal." "She does not have the same level of awareness as me. Clover probably had the 'alpha predator' part removed to allow her to become submissive to other creatures' commands." Sparky said, analyzing the situation. "If what you say is true, we can take her by surprise. Attacking her when she least expects it. Sparky, you could overwhelm her using your atomic breath." Night Light concluded. "But there is one problem, in order to do that I have to be in my full form." Sparky said, her eyes looking downwards. "How is that a problem exactly?" Night Light asked. "I cannot control what I am doing in my full form. Ditsy said that if I were to use my full form, I will become very 'predator- like' and I will do things based on my instincts instead of thinking it through." Sparky explained. "It's okay, Sparky. Sparky, everypony in Manehattan has been evacuated, no one is going to get hurt." Night Light said, trying to alleviate Sparky's fears. "What if I couldn't get back control in time? What if I become a raging beast? I won't be stopped and I will become Equestria's enemy instead of their saviour." "Sparky, you are more likely to run away rather than face ponies' mass rejection of you. Your star-shaped pendant will give you control of yourself. No matter what you become, so long as you wear that pendant, you will be in full control of yourself. Ever since wearing that pendant, have you ever use your atomic breath when you didn't want to use it?" "No." "That pendant was created to help you to have better control of your powers. So don't worry about losing control when going up against Clover." "Thanks, Night Light. You really are my guardian angel." Sparky said, before giving Night Light a hug. Night Light blushed briefly before recalling that Sparky was still wearing a dress. "Before you go up against Clover, remove that rainbow dress that you are currently wearing. I am not spending more sleepless nights to make you another one." Night Light said. "Here you go, Night Light. Keep the dress safe, I want to wear it again after the battle you know." Sparky said, taking off her dress and tossing it into Night Light's claws. "You got it Sparky! So what's your plan to defeat Clover?" Night Light asked. "I will ...... and you will fly above her and distract her with your guns and missiles if I ever need time to get back up in the battle." Sparky said, detailing her plan to Night Light. "Sparky, you ready to grow?" Night Light asked. "As ready as I will ever be." Sparky replied. Sparky looked up at the ceiling, the ceiling which taunted her since she took that potion. Night Light proceeded to exit the building. Now that the building is clear, here goes nothingSparky thought. Sparky started to grow, though not as quickly as she hoped. She was growing 0.9 meters (3 feet) per second which is slow but that is an effect of controlled growth. As she grew taller, she started to destroy the ceiling of every storey. It felt kinda nice to Sparky. The falling rocks of concrete felt like running water to Sparky. It was pleasuring Sparky to the point that Sparky almost wished it didn't have to stop. But it eventually would, after the building run out of stories, she would be able to see the light blue sky again. For now, Sparky enjoyed the action. After 2 minutes, Sparky broke through the roof of the building and continued growing taller, until she reached her full height of 350 meters (1150 feet). She inspected the results of her growth. Her star-shaped pendant had grown with her and is still on her neck. The building which she was on has become debris underneath her feet. Her tail, has pierced several buildings behind her. She tilt her head and saw that her tail has pierced through at least 5 buildings adjacent to each other. Sparky's eyes had change colors from her normal blue to gold. While Sparky was getting used to her new size, Clover took notice of Sparky and asked her commander, "Sir, Sparky is here and is at her full size! What should I do now?" "Attack her and defeat her now! We can't afford Sparky to survive." The commander replied. "But Sparky is *gulp* at least 2 times my size. How am I suppose to defeat her?" Clover retorted, looking at Sparky. Clover is awed by Sparky's size which makes her not wanting to go up against Sparky. To say she was scared of Sparky would be an understatement, she was terrified of Sparky and if not for her commander would instantly run away from Sparky. "I don't care! Just kill her!" Her commander said. Despite the fact that Clover mentally rejected the idea, Clover sighed before saying "Yes, as you wish Sir." Clover charged towards Sparky, hoping to catch Sparky off guard. Clover charged towards Sparky, hoping to catch Sparky off guard. Sparky's ears twitched as Clover continue to advance towards her. Sparky swung her tail to intercept Clover's charge. However, Sparky's tail was unable to intercept Clover in time. Clover managed to use her body to hit Sparky but Sparky did not move an inch. Upon impact, Clover instinctively move back, her whole body aching as though she had been charging at a solid wall. Meanwhile. Sparky did not feel much except for something punching her legs. Sparky looked down to find Clover slowly walking away from her, Clover herself regretting she made the charge. "It is going to take more than charging at me to hurt me, Clover." Sparky commented. Clover grunted. Clover proceeded to take a cart on the street and threw the cart at Sparky eyes. However the cart only hit her chest instead of her eyes. I am going to need a lot more firepower to take down Sparky. Hmm, she has atomic breath, since I am her, I could my atomic breath Clover thought to herself. Clover's dorsal spines became blue as she use her atomic breath.The blue flame hit Sparky's legs but it did not do much to push back Sparky. Clover's flame has no effect on Sparky and Sparky started walking towards Clover. Clover increase the intensity of the flame but the flame still has no effect on Sparky's advance. The atomic breath drains massive amounts of energy from Clover, despite briefly using it, Clover felt as if she had run 100km in just five minutes. Clover stop using her atomic breath and started to pant. Clover bent slightly forward, trying to regain energy to continue the fight. Sparky walk up in front of Clover and sat down to lower herself to Clover's eye level. Sparky's golden eyes showing sympathy for Clover. "You are tired, Clover, so why do you continue to fight?" Sparky asked. Clover turn around to look away from Sparky's gaze. Clover removed her earpiece and toss it somewhere in the city. Clover turn to face Sparky, her eyes filled with anger and despise. "What are you waiting for? Go head, blast me with your atomic breath and kill me this instant!" Clover exclaimed. "If I want to kill you, I would have done so, but I didn't. I just want to....." Sparky said, before getting interrupted by Clover. "I don't want to hear it. You are my mission and I am here to kill you. I have failed that. Why are you so kind, even to your enemies?" Clover said. "You are a monster! Nothing more, I doubt you even had a heart in your chest. So tell me, why are you so nice?" "I just don't want to be a monster okay?" Sparky replied. "Really? Are you sure you really don't want to be one? Than you won't mind me doing this." Clover said, as she use her tail to destroy the first level pillar of a nearby building, causing the building to collapse on Sparky. Clover quickly ran as far away as she could from Sparky. Sparky winced in pain as the building collapsed on Sparky, causing her to bend forward. Sparky quickly break out of the debris formed by the building when it collapsed on her. Sparky got back on her two legs and stood upright. Noticing Clover running away, Sparky shouted, "Night Light, intercept her!" Night Light dive from above and fired missiles at Clover's head, causing her to to be irritated and stop her from leaving the city. "It's going to take more than missiles to take me out! So why little dragon, do you wish to fight me?" Night Light grunted in response, he has fired all his missiles on his wings, which means he can only use his machine gun to distract Clover. Night Light landed on top of Clover's head and fired his machine guns at Clover's eyes. Clover yelped in pain as the bullets started to hit her eyes. Clover is unable to bear the pain Night Light is giving her and kneel down. Clover tried using her claws to swipe Night Light of her, but Night Light is too high for her scrawny claws to reach. Night Light intensified the firing of the machine guns, which leads to Clover finally collapsing on the road, unable to withstand the amount of pain Night Light is giving her. Seeing Clover's collapse, Night Light stopped firing his guns. Night Light flew in front of clover and said, "Stay down, soldier, I don't want to hurt you anymore." "You may not want to hurt me, little dragon, but that doesn't mean I want to do the same to you." Clover said, grabbing Night Light in her claws. Clover smiled, sure the bullets did hurt, but it only hurt her a little. Clover faked the bullets causing her suffering so she could get the dragon. Clover use her claws to grab Night Light tightly. "How do it feel, little dragon?" Clover asked, taunting Night Light. "Sparky, you claim to not be a monster, so how do you feel about this little dragon?" Clover asked. Clover had the upper hand now, which gives her confidence to threaten Sparky. Clover had Night Light as hostage, if Sparky wants to come closer to her, she will squish the dragon and kill it. Sparky look at Clover and use her predator eyes and realized that Night Light was in Clover's claws now. Sparky started to reconsider her options. Before she could even being to respond accordingly, Clover shouted "If you come any closer Sparky, I will not hesitate to kill this little pet of yours." before breaking into a run, her claws clutching tightly on Night Light. Sparky could only watch as Clover ran away. She has failed, she has led Clover to succeed, Clover will no doubt bring destruction to Equestria now, and it was all due to her failure. All hope was lost. Sparky, in the heat of the moment, dropped a tear out of her eyes. The tear dripped on the surface of her star-shaped pendent, causing it to glow blue. Sparky glanced down at the red pendent on her neck, and it caused energy to be transferred to her body. Her wings started to glow, the light shifted, concentrating on her horn. The energy caused her dorsal spines to have a blue glow, with her atomic flame rushing up to her mouth. Sparky open her mouth to let the atomic flame to gush out of her, hitting its target. The atomic flame hit Clover and pinning her down. Clover tried to resist the force of Spark's atomic breath but eventually succumb to it. The constant stream of the blue-colored flame forced Clover to fall down, causing the road beneath her to crack. The sounds of glass breaking and concrete cracking covered the sound of Clover's fall. After a while, the glow on Sparky's horn dimmed until it disappeared completely, which ended Sparky's atomic breath attack. The buildings surrounding Sparky was all but obliterated when Sparky use her atomic breath. Rumble and Debris littered the road, which itself was not spared from Sparky's atomic breath, the road which Sparky stood on was filled with cracks, and in some sections craters. Sparky did not care for the destruction she have caused and was only focused on the condition of her friend Night Light. She walked towards the currently unconscious Clover as quickly as she can and pried Clover's claws open with her own claws. Night Light please tell me your not hurt from my actions. When she found Night Light on one of Clover's claws, she lifted his body with her claws and look at his body. Night Light's body did not move an inch, and appear to be unconscious at the moment. She hugged Night Light before placing him on top of the rumble. She used her horn to do a scan of Night Light, the scan showed that Night Light is breathing and his heart is beating, which means he is alive! Sparky breath a sigh of relief. Night Light was alive and that was all that mattered to Sparky at the moment. Sparky horn glows again, and before she could react, Clover claws clutched tightly around her neck. Sparky yelled in surprise, but she slowly felt herself losing her consciousness. Just as her eyes was about to close fully, a barrage of shells hit Clover, causing her to loosen her grip on Sparky. Sparky smiled. Rachel, I owe you a favor. Sparky used the opportunity to coil her tail around Clover's neck and plunged her horn through Clover's body, the tip of her horn coming out the other side of Clover's body. Sparky proceeded to remove her horn from Clover's body, leaving a stunned Clover to fall to the ground. The potion that Clover drank has lost its ability to repair and maintain Clover as a Godzilla-like creature due to the damage Sparky's horn has caused and caused Clover to to return to being a draconequus. Sparky stare at the insect-sized Clover and use her horn to levitate Clover to her eye level. Clover was sweating profusely, her plan has failed and it has failed so badly. Clover looked up to meet Sparky's gaze. Sparky examined Clover closely, making sure that Clover does not have the Godzilla-gene in her anymore. After her examination, she put Clover back on the ground. "Clover, get as far away from here as possible, I don't want to see you again." Sparky said sternly, her face not betraying her emotion. Clover snapped her claws the instant Sparky said that. Clover appeared teleported to a place where the tanks were reloading their ammunition. "Hello, Clover, I have been waiting for you." Rommel said. Oh boy, this is going to be a long day, isn't it. After Clover teleported away, Sparky look at her surroundings of her battle with Clover. Almost the entire Manehattan skyline was perished in the battle. Only a few skyscrapers were left standing, but the foundations of the skyscrapers were heavily damaged and made the building unstable. Without thinking, Sparky used her tail and destroyed the remaining buildings which are still standing. She stood there, admiring the sight. The city which was full of high-rise buildings was now full of broken pieces of concrete. The buzzing metropolitan life which filled the city was now empty of life. Sparky stood alone, there was no one around her, no sign of life except for the blue sky above her. The sky was relatively unaffected in the battle. With a glow of her horn, she made the sky full of dark clouds, and before long, the clouds drop their water droplets onto the lifeless city. Even when the water droplets hit her, she felt nothing. She was alone, no one to talk to, no one to celebrate this victory with her, she was all alone. Was this what her father felt all the time? At least no one would fear her. Sparky frowned at the thought of it. A being of so much power would have no friends, no enemies, no loved ones, no one to fight for, no reason to live for. She lie down on the debris, using the debris as a make-shift bed. She grabbed Night Light's body and hug him tightly before letting her tears fall. A true monster never cries, but Sparky still did it anyway. At this moment, she was not a monster. She is the very thing she wanted so long ago, so why is she crying? As she went deeper and deeper into her own thoughts, the rain that she has created got heavier and heavier, eventually turning a thunderstorm. I tried so hard to be something I'm not. Is it worth it? No. I am what I am. No matter how much I change or hide, I will never become the thing I wanted. That's because what I really wanted, was the freedom to be myself. Sparky smiled briefly. So that's what you want to tell me, Night Light. I can be myself no matter what other creatures say. But will anyone other than Night Light accept me for what I am? Probably not. *sigh* What's the point of being myself if only 1 creature accept me as his friend. Sparky's thoughts ended as she slowly fell asleep, with Night Light as her bolster. Meanwhile, Rachel was sailing closer to Manehattan's shores. The sky is crystal clear and now that Sparky has defeated her opponent, she wanted to congratulate her on her victory. But suddenly, it started to rain, and it got heavier and heavier, till it became a thunderstorm. The ship begin to roll around due to the change in weather, which caused the sea state to change. Rachel, in the bridge, was being tossed around the room like a doll as the ship swayed from side to side. Rachel used her horn to pin herself on the wall, which caused her to be fixed in one location. The water started to spray on the deck of the ship, and her main guns was splashed with large amounts of seawater. Rachel use her necklace to command the ship to move forward at full speed, even if it wasn't a good idea. Despite facing large resistance from the sea, the ship followed its directive, moving ahead with the ship continuously pitching up and down.