//------------------------------// // Chapter 26 – In Times of Shadow // Story: The One True King // by JDPrime22 //------------------------------// Chapter 26 “We will neglect our cities to our peril, for in neglecting them we neglect the nation.” — John F. Kennedy Foal Mountain, Equestria “What… just… happened?!” Rainbow Dash’s exclamation found no answer, for even the rest of the Council of Friendship spent the next several minutes in silence, wondering what in the world they had just witnessed. As for the remainder of T.I.T.A.N. and its allies, the skies had never felt more silent. They had never felt so empty, with so much loss of life. Ghidorah’s banishment was not a moment of celebration, for what was accomplished to achieve it left a growing shadow of dread billowing in their hearts. It was all vanity, for what they had witnessed was not to be taken in strides of comfort or good tidings. It was meant to be dreaded. The dread gave birth to the fear, which tore through their spirits and unleashed a wave of growing peril among the ships. In the Radiance most of all. Following Rainbow’s question, Bon Bon answered her, which sparked the following discussion. “Nature taking its course,” the special agent noted, still finding it quite troublesome to admit it even to herself. She shook her head, inhaling sharply through her nostrils. “Nothing we could have done to stop it.” There were many who agreed with her. As there were many who disagreed. The most vocal of the latter batch planted her fists into the center map, Ember clarifying, “Oh, there was something we could’ve done.” “Like what?” Bon Bon asked, twisting her neck back to eye the Dragon Lord. She turned her glare to meet Bon Bon, her lips tightening in a stern look of disapproval. “Like utilizing this Spirit of Chaos we were raving about no more than a couple hours ago! Remind me again why he’s so powerful but couldn’t have done anything to stop this?” Discord scoffed from his position leaning against the wall, earning the Dragon Lord’s eyes. “Unless you want a world drowning in more chaos than there already is, I think sitting this one out was the best course for all of us involved. Little less traumatic for the bigger world out there,” Discord tried to tell her, but she would have none of it. “And now look where we are!” Ember shouted, breaking her distance from Discord by stomping away from the center table. The atmosphere in the bridge suddenly rose from the piercing cold of the night to the rising heat spewing from Ember’s nostrils. Shining Armor and Cadance halted Ember before she could have reached Discord. Before she could have done anything she would have regretted. Ember grappled and tried to shove Shining out of the way, ignoring Cadance’s pleads for her to ease herself. To try breathing. To cut off all rising qualms with her allies. Discord watched it all with an amused grin and crossed arms. The tension was growing so hot that Celestia finally stepped in to intervene, reaching Ember and telling her, “Ember, please, calm down—” “Calm?” the Dragon Lord repeated, releasing her grasp on Shining Armor with a forceful shove. She eyed Celestia and the darker Alicorn behind her, her glare only brightening in fury. “Calm?! How can I stay calm after what happened to the Dragon Lands?! How can I stay calm when the beasts that caused it all are no sooner to being stopped?! How can I possibly stay calm when that hydra is still out there, Sombra is still alive, and our best hope for stopping them both is dead!” Her ferocious discourse was met with little resistance, none really having the same fire to match her in strength. Yet Celestia was resolved, meeting Ember’s fire with her cooled attitude, choosing instead to retort in a way that did not dissuade their alliance. But to help it remain in balance. So, Celestia told her, “There is no guarantee on Godzilla’s fate. He could still very well…” Her voice, instead, betrayed her and trailed away. Found no solace or victory on the path she intended for it to travel. It was that alone that terrified Celestia more so than the horrors of the prior battle she had paid witness to. For it terrified her in the way that she did not even trust her own language, her own resolve, or her own mindset. All it took was a little seed of doubt, planted softly into her heart to sprout into a budding, black flower. Where each petal spelled out the name of fear. “Sister…” And it was that fear that silenced Celestia for the time being, made her lose even her voice, and instead left her for her younger sister to press the reality further into her. Turning to the rising voice, Celestia, Ember, and the bridge all faced the young former Princess of the Moon. Luna, facing down the crowds of what could have been a million lost faces, inhaled gently and breathed out to her heart’s content. Luna faced only her sister when she told her, “I know it is painful, for we have all seen the same truth unfold before us. Every nation has seen it. Whether he is alive or dead means nothing to the beasts that still stand and breathe before us. We cannot deny it any further, sister.” The look in her eyes, the loss in her voice, all of it told Celestia more than she ever needed to know. Led her away from the lost path her mindset was trailing and focused on the darker, more realistic journey ahead. A dark, lonesome path where the King of the Monsters no longer reigned over the beasts of the earth. The minimal years of steady peace, of that fragile balance, had finally ended. And Celestia nodded dejectedly. “The king has fallen.” She nodded in return. “The king has fallen. The throne is empty,” Luna mused, gazing out the windshield to stare into the night sky that was once her domain. Stared even further beyond to something she could not see. “Soon… one will rise to claim it.” The atmosphere had lost its heat and that piercing coolness returned in full fury, like the icy winds of winter washing over the foolish inhabitants who had failed to properly prepare in time. And perhaps the forsaken lost more than any other were the Council of Friendship. Twilight and Spike were huddled close together, staring out together into the dark clouds and even darker earth. Both watched as Sombra in his newest form rose up among the beasts that came to his aid. They watched as the Titans proceeded to kneel appropriately to the king who had called them. All it left was a growing pit of despair in Twilight’s stomach, her heart aching for Godzilla’s fate and falling deeper and deeper into the darkness of her pit. Just as Godzilla fell into the darkness. Rainbow and Applejack were certainly shaken to their cores for what they had just seen. Never in their lives had they witnessed such ferocity, such beasts of monumental size and strength rip and tear each other apart with years of undying hatred fueling their actions. Rainbow Dash’s face was pale once Godzilla had ripped Ghidorah’s left head clean off with a single pull. She never really recovered from that. She only got worse. Applejack’s face was filled with graven tones that emanated throughout her body, from the beginning of the battle to its shocking end. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy would have been greatly needed to lighten the mood, but no amount of confetti or comforting hugs from either pony could have cleansed the shadows that clouded everypony’s hearts. The butter Pegasus sat with her hooves shielding her lips, the subtle sniffles and whimpers followed silent cries as Pinkie Pie leaned against her. Rested her head against her friend’s shoulder to comfort her. To ease her. So they could both find some solace within the dark days ahead. Rarity seemed even whiter than usual, her coat as clean as a ghost’s and her breaths quiet and trembling. Never had she paid witness to such ferocity and bloodshed. She nearly gagged when Monster Zero’s head was torn clean from his neck. She yelped the loudest when it was Sombra who destroyed Godzilla’s dorsal plates with a mere scream. Even Rarity shed a tear to join Fluttershy when the giant was dropped from the very sky, like a meteor, striking the earth in a gust of silence. For even if she did not particularly like Godzilla or any of the Titans for that matter—Mothra being an exception to some degree—she still could not bear the horrific treatment of a creature in pain. Then, she whispered so very softly, “Look…” But loud enough for the entire, deathly-quiet bridge to hear. They all gathered around the Council. They all watched in stunned, unnerving silence as Sombra communicated with the Titans that came to his aid. With subtle growls and soft cries, the beasts turned to one another before they fell to Sombra once more. And it was Sombra who turned his attention to the T.I.T.A.N. fleet. It was him who began to growl so very suddenly, so very threateningly. His servants responded in kind. Amhuluk began to crawl up the side of a mountain to reach them. Yamata no Orochi slithered closer beneath the fleet. Typhon slowly unfurled his wings. Sombra’s horn began to glow, his jaws separating and a raw glow of dark magic billowing between his teeth. Bon Bon broke free from her eclipsing stupor, blinding her to the world and only focusing on the shocking, mortifying events that had played before her. The burning fireball consuming Godzilla’s body as he fell from the heavens would continue to sear deeper and deeper into her mind, but Bon Bon turned it aside and instead turned to the broken T.I.T.A.N. fleet outside of the Radiance’s windshield. They were scattered. They were wounded. There was enough death for today. “Send out an order to the remaining fleet,” Bon Bon declared, the communications officers turning her way. After a moment’s hesitation, Bon Bon regathered her resolve and tightened her stance. “Begin an immediate retreat to Ponyville. We’ll regroup and strengthen our forces there. Contact Starlight Glimmer and tell her to secure our holdout.” “Yes, ma’am,” each communications officer repeated, turning away from the special agent and reaching for the radios on their consoles, for the pieces of parchment paper and ink. While they did so, while they called out to the other airships both royal and T.I.T.A.N., one other pony finally broke free from her stupor. Fluttershy lowered her hooves from her lips, spinning accordingly to turn her accusatory gaze to Bon Bon. Then, the Radiance lurched forward. Its engines cried and the airship spun around. Every other airship followed behind the Radiance. With confirming replies received from the rulers and commanders of every airship, there was nothing more that could hold them back. The fleet spun quickly and broke off from the immediate area, high into the clouds and vanishing from Sombra’s sight. And in doing so, Sombra slowly closed his jaws, his horn’s light dying. His eyes remained narrowed, however, as he watched the last of the T.I.T.A.N. airships disperse from his glare. His Titans froze where they stood, watching in tune as Sombra’s mind flowed within their own, easing them. Ceasing their actions from pursuing any further. T.I.T.A.N. would no longer be a threat to his rule. Sombra believed that. Their fear of him led to their retreat, and that was all Sombra needed to defeat them. Though they didn’t know it yet, soon they would. Soon, they would know that they had already lost, and Sombra reigned supreme. Soon enough, all the world would know. As for one lonesome soul in the Radiance, it was Fluttershy who felt less afraid than everypony present. She was terrified, yes, but not for Sombra. Not for Ghidorah. But for the well-being of the Titan they witnessed fall from the clouds. It was that fear that kept her momentarily paralyzed, shocked by the mere fact of how quickly they had all forgotten about Godzilla and chose instead to save themselves. It was their fear that drove them away. It was their fear that could very well lead to Godzilla’s death. Because even now, Fluttershy still held onto the hope that he was alive. “No, wait! Bon Bon, please, we can’t leave Godzilla behind!” Fluttershy begged, rushing forward to the center table, to where Bon Bon placed herself after giving the order. “Our fleet has suffered enough losses for now, Fluttershy. We can’t tackle another battle, especially with somepony like Sombra and the monsters that follow him,” Bon Bon replied, her eyes not to the Pegasus but instead centered on the map. On their oncoming destination of Ponyville. Fluttershy furrowed her brow and questioned, “You’re just gonna leave him?” Finally, she lifted her eyes, met Fluttershy’s with an equally-pained pair. Yet somehow, she had the strength to tell her, “I don’t think anything could have survived that fall.” “Well, I don’t believe that!” Fluttershy claimed. Surprising the masses, shaking the foundations of her name and identity to the many, many ponies in the bridge, Fluttershy expressed her courage when it mattered. And it was now, more than ever, where it mattered. To herself, yes, but to something greater than herself. To the world. To nature and its fine balance with their kind. Most of all, it mattered to him. And he was counting on them. Turning to the rest of the bridge, pleading to them, Fluttershy proclaimed, “And none of you should, either! He could be gone, or he could be alive! We’ll never know if we don’t try! It’s your job to try, to go against the odds stacked so high against you but persevering anyway! Because you all swore an oath… to protect this world just like Godzilla protects it.” Her words reached the hearts of many, to each individual pilot surrounding the control consoles of the Radiance. Ponies turned to one another, felt the guilt and shame as they pressed on the engines and kept the airship steady on a course for retreat. The agents of T.I.T.A.N. fell in unsettling, disturbed silence, and Bon Bon was trapped in the heart of it. Forced to listen to Fluttershy’s words sounding more and more righteous than ever before. “If we run, if he’s still alive and we’re too late… then we’ve lost. Mothra won’t be enough on her own. Please… he may be a monster… but he fought for us… for our home. Beneath all of that… he’s still an animal.” There was stillness, and Bon Bon turned to face it. Met the tearful eyes of the Pegasus and saw the hope slipping so very steadily from her expression. Pouring forth to be offered to the many, free of charge, in a sharing of hope that they all could bask in. That they all could benefit from. So they could all know and see the world that Fluttershy saw. “And he needs us now more than ever.” But Bon Bon already did. She saw the love, care, and hope that Fluttershy did and sought to enlighten it all the same. Their methods may have been different, but their goals were the same. And there was a fragment of a second, a moment in time where Bon Bon stopped what she was doing. Ceased in what she believed to be the right course of action and thought differently, thought in that shred of hope Fluttershy had for the Titans. For Godzilla. But it was then that they heard the cry. It was then that they heard the ear-splitting cry tear through their airship, through their windshield, and their very souls. As did the rest of the world hear the cry, but not in the way ponykind knew. Not in the way they ever could have fathomed. It was not a cry to the rest of the world. Instead, the world itself heard the call.