"Here we are, ponies!" Twilight happily declared as she, her friends, and the Mane 5, along with Jet Jaguar and Anguirus, finally exited the Everfree Forest. Upon exiting the forest, the ponies were met with a clear and breathtaking view of a small, rural town that was only about a kilometre away.
"Welcome to Ponyville!" Pinkie exclaimed happily.
To Sunny and her friends, Ponyville seemed primitive compared to Maretime Bay, but more advanced than Bridlewood in terms of development. The town consisted mostly of medieval village-style architecture, filled with timber-framed cottages that had distinct thatched roofs and overhanging upper floors. Although lacking more advanced technologies that Maretime Bay had such as streetcar lines, Sunny and her friends were nevertheless awed at the sight of Ponyville. Their astonishment only grew when they spotted a towing large castle that appeared to be made of crystals residing further away from the small town. So astonished were Sunny and her friends by the sight of the town that they didn't even notice the various types of ponies roaming it.
The town was filled with Earth ponies, Pegasi, and unicorns who were interacting with each other happily and peacefully, with no animosity or bigotry between them. They saw a cream-colored Earth pony, who had a mix of dark blue and pink in her mane and tail, walking closely with a unicorn mare who had mint-green fur and white haired mane and tail; the two ponies appeared to be a couple. Above them, a gray pegasus mare with a blonde mane could be seen delivering mail to a nearby cottage. And finally, various ponies of all races, genders and ages were purchasing food and other items from various stands in a market place.
Sunny felt pride and excitement swelling up inside her at seeing how ponies were living together with each other peacefully.
"Come on. Let's get going." Twilight said as she resumed heading toward the town, joined by her friends. The Mane 5, stared at the town for a little longer before following after the Mane 6, with Jet Jaguar and Anguirus close behind.
.
The Mane 6, Mane 5, and their kaiju companions soon entered Ponyville — and as soon as they entered the town, all activity came to a halt when the resident ponies spotted Jet Jaguar and Anguirus walking down the street, alongside the Princess of Friendship and her friends.
"Wow. We really make an entrance, don't we?" Izzy asked, noticing all the attention in the town was focused on them.
"I think they're staring at Anguirus and Jet Jaguar." Hitch noticed, pointing at how the ponies were indeed looking at the humanoid robot and quadrupedal dinosaur in curiosity and awe.
"Yeah~..." Rainbow awkwardly spoke. "Before we met, there was sort of an... incident involving Anguirus. Namely, we kinda provoked him and nearly got ourselves killed because of it."
"Wait, what!?" Sunny exclaimed.
"But it's okay!" Pinkie chimed in. "We cleared up the misunderstanding and we're friends now!"
Sunny, Hitch, Zipp, and Pipp stared at the pink pony awkwardly. "Whew. Glad it worked out!" While Izzy smiled happily. "I sure wouldn't wanna make him angry." She laughed playfully while pointing at the huge ankylosaur.
"Believe me, you wouldn't." Pinkie grinned.
At that moment, Twilight suddenly stopped and turned to look at them all. "You know, how about we split up? I'm sure our new friends would want to learn a lot from the past, so how about we split up for now and meet back at the Castle of Friendship later?"
Hearing this, both the Mane 6 and Mane 5 smiled enthusiastically.
"That's a great idea!" Sunny exclaimed eagerly. "I'll go with you, Twilight. I'm super eager to learn all about friendship and what else the ponies of my time never knew!"
"I'll go with Zipp." Rainbow said, landing next to the white pegasus. "I wanna know if the Wonderbolts still exist in the future." She said, causing Zipp to look over to the side and cringed uncomfortably.
"Ah'll go with ya', too." Applejack volunteered. "Ya' don't mind, do ya?"
"Sure. The more the merrier." Zipp smiled.
"If they're from the future, then it'd be my pleasure to show them around the past and what they missed out on!" Pinkie Pie yelled excitedly while wrapping a hoof around Izzy.
"Aww, you didn't have to." The lilac unicorn smiled.
"Well, I'm doing it anyway!" Pinkie said proudly.
"If you don't mind, might I ask how you did your mane, darling?" Rarity asked Pipp, marveling at princess' mane. "It looks absolutely fabulous!"
"Well, I don't mean to brag, but my mane and tail have always been exceptionally eye-catching in Zephyr Heights." Pipp said somewhat egotistically, making her sister roll her eyes.
"Oh, you must tell me all about it!" Rarity squealed.
"Say, you mentioned you have an animal sanctuary, right?" Hitch asked Fluttershy.
"Why, yes. I do." The yellow pegasus answered. "Unfortunately, it's under quarantine because the water in the sanctuary is contaminated with Archetype."
"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that." Hitch said sympathetically.
"It's okay." Fluttershy smiled. "You can come to my cottage, if you like."
"Sure, sounds good to me." The stallion smiled.
A low growl prompts Hitch and Fluttershy to turn and see Anguirus approaching them. "You want to come too, Anguirus?" Fluttershy asked, to which the dinosaur nodded. "Okay then." The ankylosaur to let out a light roar of satisfaction to express his happiness.
"Jet Jaguar, you can come with me and Twilight, if you want." Sunny said to the tall robot, who promptly nodded.
"Then it's settled." The Princess of Friendship declared. "We'll meet up at the Castle of Friendship when you're all done."
With affirmative nods from everypony, the Mane 6 and Mane 5 split up to go in their different directions, with Anguirus joining Hitch and Fluttershy while Jet Jaguar accompanied Twilight and Sunny to the Castle of Friendship.
Rainbow Dash, Zipp Storm and Applejack arrived at Saddle Lake, a small remote lake located in the wilderness further away from Ponyville, surrounded by trees and hills. The only thing that was different from usual was that the lake itself was crimson in color, as was the case with nearly all the water in Equestria by now.
"So, how's the world like where you come from, Zipp?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously. The cyan pegasus decided not to hover in the air like she usually does out of respect and sympathy for Zipp's recently losing her ability to fly due to the Archetype.
"Well, as we already told you, we didn't have magic for most of our lives. Which means unicorns couldn't levitate stuff with their horns and Pegasi couldn't fly." Zipp said. "That is until me, Pipp, Sunny, Hitch, and Izzy reunited the three crystals we told you about and got out powers back... only to lose them again when we fell into the sea." She sighed softly as her ears flattened against her head in disappointment.
Rainbow Dash looked at Zipp sympathetically; she knew how miserable it was for a pegasus to be unable to fly. She remembered the few times she was forced to be grounded, such as when she broke her wing and had to stay in the hospital for a few days, or when Discord temporarily removed her wings back before he was reformed. In both those cases, she could barely tolerate her flightless condition, and so she could empathize with Scootaloo and Zipp for their unfortunate predicaments.
"Ah'm sorry to hear that, partner." Applejack said sympathetically.
"It's alright." Zipp smiled. "Besides, I learned that wings have lots of good uses aside from flying: I can use them to balance myself when climbing steep mountains, use them like a parachute to slow my descent when I jump from a tall perch, and I can use them to glide on air currents thanks to a large fan I have."
"That's pretty cool." Rainbow said, genuinely impressed. "Scootaloo can't fly either, but she still uses her wings for propulsion when she's riding her scooter."
"Heh. I guess not being able to fly for most of our lives made us more creative with how we use our wings." Zipp chuckled to herself. "Well, that and the fact that I'm also a pretty big fan of science."
"Really? Then maybe you should've went with Twilight, instead. She's all about about the science." Rainbow joked.
"She and I have more in common than our love for science — namely that we're both princesses." Grinned the white pegasus.
"WHAT?!" Rainbow and Applejack cried out in unison.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold on a moment. You're a princess?" Applejack asked, barely able to wrap her head around Zipp's statement.
"Yup." The white pegasus casually replied, amused by the astonished reactions they were giving her. "My mother, Haven, is the queen of Zephyr Heights and Pipp is my younger sister."
The two ponies continued to stare at Zipp Storm in astonishment and bewilderment, barely able to believe what they just heard. "But... I thought only alicorns can become princesses," Rainbow said. "And to become an alicorn, you need to preform a special royal-worthy duty, like what Twilight did."
"Funny you mentioned that, because Sunny became an alicorn when we reunited the three crystals and brought the ponies together." Zipp revealed. Rainbow and Applejack looked at each other for a moment and then back at the white pegasus.
"But we didn't see any wings or a horn on her." The farm pony pointed out, understandably confused.
"Well, they don't seem to be permanent." The white pegasus explained. "They just kind of appear whenever Sunny wants them to. Even Sunny doesn't really know how that works."
"Huh," Rainbow muttered.
"By the way, you said something about the Wonderbolts, right?"
"Oh, yeah! They're the best, most awesomest squad of pegasus in the whole of Equestria! And I'm part of that awesome squad!" The cyan pegasus exclaimed proudly. "So I'm curious if they're still around in your time."
"When I was a filly, I loved hearing stories about the Wonderbolts. I researched and studied everything I could find about them from Equestria's past." Zipp smiled, only for her smile to turn into a sad frown. "Unfortunately, the Wonderbolts don't exist in my time. My guess would be that they've been disbanded since the disappearance of magic." Rainbow cringed in horror upon hearing this, as if she had heard the worst thing in her life, prompting Applejack to pat her on the back for comfort. "And to make things worse, my Mom got the 'brilliant' idea to lie to her subjects by pretending she, Pipp, and myself can still fly using wires and good lighting."
"What? That ain't right." Being the Element of Honesty, Applejack frowned in disapproval upon hearing this.
"Yeah. If I lost my ability to fly, I'd much rather let the world know I can't fly than pretend that I can." Rainbow Dash agreed with her friend.
"Me, too. I was so tired of living that ridiculous lie." Zipp sighed. "Mom also got arrested when the truth came out that we couldn't fly."
"Ah'm sorry to hear that." Applejack said softly.
"Don't worry, she got back to being queen when me and my friends returned magic to Equestria."
"That's nice... I guess." Rainbow said hesitantly, not quite sure how to feel about this. Suddenly, an idea came to the cyan pegasus' mind. "Hey! Since Pegasi can fly again, you could re-assemble the Wonderbolts in your time! I'll help you teach the Pegasi of your time how to be super cool, awesome, death-defying flyers like the Wonderbolts are today!"
"That's a great idea!" Zipp smiled in excitement. "Thanks, Rainbow!"
"Don't forget, we still have the current problem of dealin' with the Archetype." Applejack reminded them of the current situation. "If it continues spreadin', Pegasi won't be able to fly again. Both here and in Zipp's time."
"Oh, right. I forgot about that." Zipp slapped her forehead before remembering something equally-important. "And I can't imagine how devastated Mom must be right now. She probably thinks we're dead." The white pegasus looked down at the ground sadly, her ears flattening against her head, and could only think about the grief and pain Haven must be experiencing at the moment. She and her mother may not always have seen eye-to-eye, but she still loved her dearly like any child should love their parent.
The princess of Zephyr Heights felt a hoof gently wrap around her shoulder, prompting her to turn her head to the right and see Rainbow Dash standing next to her, giving her an encouraging smile. "Don't worry, Zipp. We'll get you back in your own time."
"Like Twilight once said: When there's a will, there's a way." Applejack said, wrapping her own foreleg around Zipp's other shoulder.
Seeing the support and encouragement they were giving her, the elder princess of Zephyr Heights couldn't help but smile softly. "Thanks, guys." The cyan pegasus and farm pony removed her forelegs from her. "Now then, can you tell me anything about the human world Twilight mentioned earlier? I'm curious to know what it's like."
"Only Twilight and Spike have been to the human world." Rainbow revealed. "But from what they told us, that world is dominated by humans; creatures that walk on two legs, wear clothes, and have hands. And they're apparently more technologically-advanced than Equestria is right now but don't have magic."
"Huh. They sound like an interesting race." Zipp said, intrigued by the description of these creatures and wondered if she could ask the Princess of Friendship to visit the human world. "Also, who's Spike?"
"Oh, Spike's a dragon that Twilight hatched and raised. He's basically her adopted brother." Applejack explained with a smile.
"Wait. He's a dragon!?" Now was Zipp's turn to be surprised. "You mean there are real dragons here?"
"Well, yeah." Rainbow answered matter-of-factly. "Aren't there dragons in the future?"
"No. At least, not any that I'm aware of. As far as I know, dragons haven't been seen in Equestria for thousands of years." The white pegasus explained, still unable to believe that there are actually dragons in this time.
"Thousands of years?!" Rainbow and Applejack cried out in shock and disbelief.
"But... how's that possible? Even if ponies have been separated, how can dragons not be seen for such a long time?" Applejack was now extremely baffled, her mind racing with countless questions as what could have occurred to cause not only ponies to be divided, but also for dragons to not be seen for thousands of years.
"You at least gotta know about griffins, changelings, kirins, yaks, or seaponies?" The cyan pegasus said.
"I have heard of some of those creatures, like yaks and griffins. But, like with the dragons, we've never seen them for who-knows how long." Zipp stated.
"Just what happened between Twilight's rule and your time...?" Applejack couldn't help but ask, even though she knew she would not get an answer immediately.
"Believe me, I wish I knew..." The white pegasus said solemnly. "Your guess is as good as mine."
"Oh. My. Gosh!" Pipp gasped in amazement as she entered Rarity's boutique. Almost immediately upon entering it, the young princess of Zephyr Heights was mesmerized and awed by the room that was stocked full with materials and supplies for fashion such as mirrors with movable screens, mannequins and even a small display stage. But above all else, she was especially amazed by all the beautiful dresses that would make even the best fashion designers in Zephyr Heights envious.
"Do you like it, darling?" Rarity asked curiously, standing next to Pipp.
"Like it? I love it~!" The pink pegasus sang and jumped forward in excitement. "I've never seen dresses so beautiful in my entire life! And coming from me, who's been to every single boutique in Zephyr Heights, Maretime Bay, and Bridlewood, that's saying something."
"Oh, I'm so delighted to hear that!" The white unicorn squealed excitedly.
"I wish my phone was still working..." Pipp sighed solemnly, disappointed that she couldn't take pictures or record this dream-come-true with her mobile phone and share it with her pippsqueaks on social media.
"I'm not familiar enough with phones to know how to feel, but I am more than happy to let you have some of my dresses and take them back home!" Rarity offered with a bright smile.
"Really?" Pipp perked up in excitement. "Thanks so much! Uhh... How much do they cost, by the way?"
"Normally, 6 or 7 dresses would cost around 7-10 bits, but for this special time-traveling occasion, I'll allow you to take them for free!"
"Oh, my gosh! I can't thank you enough!" Pipp zipped forward and hugged the white unicorn in a soft embrace. "I just can't! These dresses will go perfectly when I sing for my next performance!"
"You're most welcome, darling." Rarity smiled as Pipp let go of her. "Also, you mentioned that you sing?"
"Of course! I'm both a pop singer and a princess!" The pink pegasus declared proudly.
"You're a princess?!" Much like Rainbow and Applejack, Rarity found herself shocked and dumbfounded to hear that the pegasus was a princess.
"Yup! I'm the younger princess of Zephyr Heights; Zipp's my older sister!" Pipp explained.
"If that's the case, then these dresses will never do!" Before Pipp could ask what she meant by that, Rarity zipped past her. Turning around, the pegasus saw the white unicorn on a nearby table, already in the process of sewing another dresses with her sewing machine. "You must be at your absolute best if you are to preform, darling! For that, I will make a dress that will be just for you!"
"Rarity... I... I can't thank you enough!" Pipp felt like she could almost cry out in joy. Not only was this pony willing to offer her some of her dresses for free, but she even went as far as to start making a very special, princess-worthy dress just for her, and asking nothing in return. Pipp had never met a pony so generous and so thoughtful of others. "You a really are the Element of Generosity, like Sunny said."
"That I am, darling." Rarity simply smiled back at her as she continued sewing.
A light purring sound caught Pipp's attention, prompting the pegasus to turn and spot a cat with white fluffy fur, wearing a purple opal-studded collar around its neck and a purple ribbon on the top of the head, sleeping soundly on the back of one of Rarity's mannequins.
"Ahh~... What a cute kitty!" Pipp cooed and walked over to the sleeping feline. Just as she raised her hoof to pet the cat, Rarity spotted this and immediately became alarmed.
"Oh, darling, be careful! Opalescence can be—" Before she could finish her warning, the cat woke up and — upon seeing Pipp's hoof over her head — hissed and swiped at the pegasus' hoof with her paw. "Feisty..." Rarity finished with a wince.
Pipp quickly retraced her hoof from the hissing feline, surprised by the cat's aggressive response. "What's her problem? I was only trying to pet her." She said in confusion, watching as the cat leaped off the mannequin and walked away from her.
"Don't take it personally, darling." Rarity assured her, resuming her work. "Opalescence doesn't really like anypony, not even me. Well, except Fluttershy."
"Meh. I've always been more of a dog pony, anyway. Cloudpuff usually loves it when I pet him on the head." Pipp commented, already missing her beloved pet.
"I assume this 'Cloudpuff' is your pet dog, then?" Rarity surmised, her eyes still focused on her work.
"Yeah! He's a flying Pomeranian." Pipp said happily.
"Wait. A flying Pomeranian?" This time, Rarity looked over at the princess in surprise and confusion.
"Basically, a Pomeranian with wings."
"I've never heard of such a creature. Much less a pet." The fashion designer admitted. "Come to think of it, I don't think even Fluttershy has such an animal in her care."
"Really?" Pipp looked at Rarity in equal-surprise. "Well, maybe something happened in the time between Twilight's rule and our time to make them appear."
"It's certainly a possibility, darling." Rarity shrugged and resumed her work. "After I finish your dress, would you like to go shopping with me? Canterlot has some of the finest boutiques in Equestria."
"Do I?!" Pipp practically squealed in excitement at the offer. "I would love to~!"
"And this is called the School of Friendship!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she and Izzy Moonbow stood before a massive, castle-like school campus that was built into a mountainside, complete with a waterfall parting past its doors (with the water being red due to the Archetype). They saw ponies of all different races chatting, playing, and rushing into the school. For the last 34 minutes, Pinkie had been enthusiastically taking Izzy to different locations in Ponyville, including the Day Spa, the Schoolhouse, Sweet Apple Acres, the town square and town hall, and many other places. Each place they visited was more fascinating and intriguing than the last for the lilac unicorn.
"Wooow..." Izzy gazed in awe at the School of Friendship. "This place has everything! Except for the things Maretime Bay and Zephyr Heights have. No offense, Pinkie."
"None taken, Izzy!" The pink pony cheerfully replied.
"I didn't get a chance to tell you this before, but you have the brightest luminescence I've ever seen in my life!" Izzy said as she stared at Pinkie with starry eyes and a bright smile.
"My luminescence?" Pinkie tilted her head in confusion.
"Yeah, every creature has one. And the happier they are, the brighter it shines." Izzy explained. "And your's is totally glittering right now, like a super shiny rainbow!"
"Thanks! In fact, seeing a rainbow is what made me smile for the first time and changed my life! Ever since seeing that particular rainbow, I wanted to spread happiness to all ponies in Equestria." The pink Earth pony explained. "And see? You do have something that I don't. Now I wish I could see other ponies' luminescence, that way I'd know how to make them happier!"
"Haha! I guess we both have something that we don't have." Both ponies laughed at the irony.
"I gotta tell you, Pinkie. I haven't had this much fun since I arrived in Maretime Bay and when I met Sunny, Zipp, Pipp, and Hitch." Izzy said after calming down.
"Well, you and your friends are welcome in Ponyville at anytime!" The party planner declared. "And after we're done here, I'll take you and your friends to Manehattan, then Yakyakistan, then Seaquestria, the Dragon Lands, and lots of other places!"
"Wow~! Those places sound amazing!" The lilac unicorn felt giddy from hearing the names of the aforementioned locations, and she knew for a fact that her friends, especially Sunny, would be more than excited to see them, as well.
"They are! My personal favorite is Yakyakistan, home to the yaks!" Pinkie explained. "Seaquestria is an underwater kingdom, home to seaponies, who can also turn into hippogriffs! Long story short: they were hiding from a villain called the Storm King as seaponies, but when me and my friends beat the Storm King, they became hippogriffs and started living both in the sea and on land! The Dragon Lands are pretty self-explanatory — but just in case — they're home to fire-breathing dragons, and ruled by Dragon Lord Ember!"
Izzy's eyes widened with overwhelming awe and curiosity, growing excited about the prospect of visiting these places each passing second, especially now that Pinkie had told her what creatures were living in them. She had heard about dragons, but they haven't been seen in Equestria for thousands of years, according to Sunny. Yaks were another species that she had also heard of, but never met. And the seaponies/hippogriffs were something she had never in her life heard about until now. The lilac unicorn hasn't felt this giddy in a long time, and was looking forward to meeting all of these potential new friends.
"I can't wait to go to those places!" Izzy declared. "Thanks for telling me this, Pinkie!"
"You're welcome again, Izzy!" The pink Earth pony happily said. "Say, did you make that bracelet?" She suddenly asked, noticing Izzy's multi-colored bead-bracelet.
"Yeah. You like it?" The lilac unicorn asked, holding up her left hoof.
"Do I?!" Pinkie exclaimed in enthusiasm. "Can you make one for me and my friends? Personally, I'd like mine to be made out of candy."
"Can do!" Izzy nodded.
"Awesome! Just follow me to Sugarcube Corner." With that, the pink pony turned around and began playfully bouncing up-and-down to her destination. Izzy followed suit, mimicking Pinkie in her movement and staying close behind the pink pony's trail. "Oh, and if you see a big hole on the side, Anguirus made it when we were having our misunderstanding."
"Okay." The lilac unicorn cheerfully replied without missing a beat.
Speaking of the armored kaiju, Anguirus was currently following Fluttershy and Hitch to the former's cottage, which was located just outside of Ponyville. The interaction between the two ponies was very peaceful as they had friendly conversations about different creatures, which was more than enough to convince the quadrupedal dinosaur that Hitch was a sincere pony with no ill will towards him or Fluttershy. Honestly, for some reason, whether it'd be his charismatic personality or non-threatening appearance, the Ankylosaurus was starting to like the sheriff as well. Of course, Anguirus had to make sure that they weren't any threats nearby by periodically peering into the future with his special ability.
"I gotta say, that's one impressive and loyal friend you have there, Fluttershy." Hitch complimented the pegasus as he walked by her side, glancing back at their massive bodyguard that was following them close behind.
"Why, thank you." Fluttershy smiled. "My friends and I met him just 4 hours ago."
"I still can't believe that he can actually see the future, though." Hitch said, in awe that the creature behind them was capable of such a feat.
"So, what do you do in your time?" Fluttershy asked curiously, changing the subject.
"Well, I'm the sheriff of Maretime Bay. I enforce the rules and keep everypony, and critter, safe." The Earth pony declared proudly.
"That sounds like a very important job you have." The yellow pegasus softly replied.
"It is." The sheriff nodded affirmatively. "Because nothing escapes my radar. Especially not litter!" He exclaimed melodramatically, which earned a soft chuckle from Fluttershy.
After a few more minutes of walking, they finally arrived at Fluttershy's home; it was a small, woodland cottage with a multitude of animal burrows and birdhouses located all around the cottage, filling the air with the chirps, squeaks, chitters, and whistles of the animals that called this place their home. A small bridge was present over a stream that flowed.
"Welcome to my ho-" The words caught in Fluttershy's throat when she and her friends saw something unsettling: the stream that Fluttershy knew for most of her life was now crimson red, just like the water in her animal sanctuary and all over Equestria. "Oh, my!"
"The water! It's red just like in Maretime Bay and that lake we emerged from!" Hitch exclaimed, recognizing this as the identical phenomena that happened to the sea in Maretime Bay, as well as the lake he and his friends emerged from.
A small white rabbit hooped his way over to Fluttershy and hugged her right foreleg tightly. "Angel!" The yellow pegasus smiled and picked up the small animal. "Don't tell me the Archetype already spread here, too." She said worriedly, to which the rabbit nodded in response. Angel then pointed up ahead, showing many of the other animals looking wary and frightened of the contaminated stream, trying their best to keep their distance from it. They were behaving as if they had seen something very scary in the water.
"They look scared of the water." Hitch noted, also concerned about the animals' behavior.
"Let's ask them what's wrong." Fluttershy said as she and Hitch walked up to the frightened animals.
While he trusted Fluttershy's judgment, Anguirus still made sure to peer into the future, just to be safe. Thankfully, he did not see anything that would warrant his immediate protection, thus he allowed the two ponies to interact with the animals.
"What's wrong?" The yellow pegasus softly asked her quivering animal friends. Harry the bear growled softly and pointed at the stream with his claw behind her. "Something came out of the stream and flew off?" Fluttershy asked as she turned to look at the stream, to which the bear nodded.
"Did the 'something' that came out of the water happen to have wings and a long beak? And look kind of like a reptilian bird?" Hitch asked the bear, getting a bad feeling about what the animals here saw.
When Harry nodded in affirmation, Fluttershy was surprised by this and turned towards the sheriff. "You know what they saw?"
"Yeah, unfortunately. Remember the Rodans we mentioned?" Fluttershy nodded. "Well, what we forgot to mention is that we also saw them emerging from the red water."
The yellow pegasus gasped in surprise and a bit of fright upon learning this. "Really?" She softly asked. "That sounds scary."
"Yeah." Hitch nodded. "And worst of all, they didn't listen to me when I tried to communicate with them. Heck, they were looking forward to eating me!" He shouted at the last part of his sentence for emphasis.
"Well, not every creature listens to reason. Even an animal-lover like me knows there are some creatures you just can't be friends with, no matter how much you want to or try." Fluttershy said with a humble smile. "I know several creatures that attacked me, like a hydra, flash bees, and a bugbear. But I'm not angry at them, because I know that's just their nature."
"I don't know about the last two animals you just mentioned, but I get your point." Hitch said, and then smiled back at her. "I guess it's because this is the first time this has happened to me, I'm still processing it."
"It's okay. You'll get used to it, sheriff." Fluttershy smiled and wrapped a hoof around Hitch's shoulder to comfort him. "Knowing there are animals you can't befriend and accepting that is what makes us better ponies." As she said this, she also recalled the first time she went to the Grand Galloping Gala in Canterlot with her friends, hoping to befriend the animals that live in Canterlot's gardens, only for them to avoid her whenever she approached them. This resulted in her slowly losing her temper, which eventually lead to her trying to trap them against their will. As much as Fluttershy dislikes to bring those unpleasant memories to mind, they still served as a valuable lesson that not all creatures can be befriended or tamed, even if you are an animal expert with high patience.
"Yeah. I guess sometimes, you gotta let nature be nature." The stallion smiled in acknowledgment. "And please, just call me Hitch."
"Okay, Hitch." The yellow pegasus chuckled lightly.
Sunny was doing her best to not go all fan girl again, as she tried to keep her excitement under control. But considering her current exuberance stems from being in the presence of her life-long idol, whom, up until just an hour ago, she thought it was an impossibility for them to ever meet in real life, keeping herself from going all motormouth with questions on the Princess was easier said than done.
Jet Jaguar followed close behind the two ponies as they all entered the Castle of Friendship, with the former needing to kneel down in order to fit through the entrance doors. Even before entering the castle, the apricot Earth pony awed and marveled in amazement at the castle's stunning outward appearance, and as soon as they were inside, her eyes widened even more and she felt like her heart skipped a few bits.
The inside of the castle was even more visually-stunning and awe-inspiring, with several rows of tall crystal pillars located close to the long walls of the entrance hallway, while smaller crystals attached to vines hung from the ceiling like chandeliers.
"Is.. is this where you live, Princess?" Sunny couldn't help but ask as she and Twilight headed further down the hallway.
"This is where I used to live. After Princess Celestia and Luna's retirement and me becoming ruler of Equestria, I now live in Canterlot." Twilight explained. "My castle, along with the School of Friendship, are managed by Starlight Glimmer. She's currently at the school, in case you're wondering."
"Woow~..." Sunny breathed in awe upon hearing that Twilight even established a school for friendship.
After a while, the two ponies and the robot entered a room which had seven crystal thrones encircling a small but wide table. Each of the thrones had a symbol of one of the Mane Six's cutie marks, with the exception of the relatively small throne that was next to (what Sunny accurately guessed to be) Twilight's. Like a sponge soaking water, Sunny's eyes absorbed the beauty and majesty of this room, and thanks to the countless stories she had heard and read about the Guardians of Harmony, she quickly deduced that this must be their throne room where they oversee Equestria via a magical map.
If she was being honest with herself, Sunny thought she deserved a gold medal for resisting the urge to start jumping off the walls in excitement and curiosity, as tempting as that was.
"This is — or, was — the throne room where my friends and I used to—"
"Oversee Equestria through that map, detecting any friendship problems that might arise, and then going to those locations to solve them." Sunny finished, much to Twilight's pleasant surprise.
"Wow! You sure know a lot about us, don't you?" The princess smiled.
"I'm only the biggest fan of you that's ever lived in my time." Sunny proudly declared.
"Have a seat." Twilight offered before turning to look at Jet Jaguar, who had been silently standing behind them. "Sorry, Jet Jaguar, but I'm afraid there aren't any seats here big enough for you. But don't worry, I'll make you one." With those words, Twilight's horn ignited, and a bean bag sofa suddenly appeared before the tall robot via a purple flash of light. Sunny awed at the impressive magical feat the alicorn just demonstrated. Even though this wouldn't be considered anything special by present Equestria standards, it might as well be something out of a fantasy movie to the apricot pony, given that magic is a relatively new and recent phenomenon in her time.
Jet Jaguar examined the sofa by lightly pressing it with his arm; it was soft like a marshmallow. With that, the robot sat down on the sofa and made himself comfortable. Seeing that their robotic friend was content with his seat, Twilight smiled before she went and sat on her throne while Sunny sat on Rainbow's throne.
"Now then, Sunny, since we both have a lot of questions for each other, we'll take turns asking each other questions. Does that sound good to you?" The princess asked.
"U-huh!" Sunny nodded, eager to start.
"Alright. I'll let you go first. Ask me anything you want."
As soon as Twilight said those words, Sunny took a very deep breath, filling her lungs to their absolute limit, before softly exhaling, all in an effort to keep herself calm and prevent herself from exploding with a plethora of questions that she so eagerly wanted to ask the princess. After calming herself down, and keeping the fact that she had plenty of time to ask Twilight many of her questions in mind, Sunny found herself unable to decide on which question to ask the princess first, oddly enough. After a little more time of pondering, the first question finally came to the apricot Earth pony's mind.
"Princess, what was it like for you to make friends for the first time?"
This question somewhat surprised Twilight; whether it was due to being such a long time since anypony asked her about that particular feeling or perhaps because it came from a pony who had already made many friends, therefore knowing the feeling herself, she could not quite tell. Either way, the princess was more than happy to answer the young Earth pony's question.
"Well, before I was sent to Ponyville by Princess Celestia, I considered friendship as nothing but a waste of time, distracting me from my studies. I didn't have an easy time making friends, either. It was only when Nightmare Moon returned and we had to find the Elements of Harmony to stop her did I learn the true meaning and value of friendship. I can honestly say that I wouldn't be here, having this conversation with you, if it weren't for the friendships I've made with all of my friends. Each one of my friends has taught me something about friendship that I otherwise would never have known had I dismissed them and continued on my lone path. So, to answer your question Sunny, making friends for the first time was the best moment of my entire life, and it will probably stay that way long after I retire."
Sunny listened to every word the Princess of Friendship spoke and was deeply entranced by what she heard. She always knew that the Princess of Friendship was a pro at making friends (it was in her title, after all) but she was surprised to learn from the actual princess herself that she initially didn't regard friendship as anything valuable, instead viewing it as a waste of time. Especially in contrast to herself, who was eager to make friends with the other pony races since she was born. Of course, Sunny knew that she herself wasn't perfect, either: she was quick to give up on the idea that the three pony tribes can be reunited when bringing the three crystals together initially failed to bring back magic.
"Now that I've answered your question, it's my turn." Twilight said.
"Go ahead, princess. Ask me anything you want!"
"Also, please just call me Twilight. The whole 'Princess Twilight' is getting pretty old, even if I am technically the ruler of Equestria." The alicorn said with a light-hearted chuckle.
"Okay, Twilight." Sunny chuckled herself.
But before Twilight had a chance to ask her own question, a loud beeping sound came from Jet Jaguar's 'mouth', which went in sync by a blinking light flashing inside the robot's blue eyes.
"Huh? What is it, Jet Jaguar?" While Twilight was understandably confused by this, if a bit startled, Sunny became alarmed as she now realized that this was probably some kind of built-in alarm system to alert them of any dangers or threats nearby, as Sunny and her friends discovered when their robot friend detected the approaching Anguirus seconds before he appeared before them.
Before either pony could say another word, Jet Jaguar suddenly got up from the bean bag sofa he was sitting on and began racing for the exit doors.
"We have to follow him, Twilight! I think he detected something coming outside!" Sunny exclaimed before sprinting after Jet Jaguar to the exit doors. The princess of Friendship could instantly tell that this was serious and urgent, so she also got off her throne and ran after them without questioning it.
.
As soon as all three of them were outside the Castle of Friendship, initially nothing appeared to be amiss as all the ponies around stared at them awkwardly. For a moment, Sunny thought about scowling Jet Jaguar again, but both she and Twilight fell silent when the robot turned west and pointed a finger up at Canterlot castle that was atop the huge mounting in the far distance. Much to Twilight and Sunny's horror — and the confusion of the ponies around them — they saw a crimson cloud of Archetype slowly growing within Canterlot, partially obscuring some of the towers as it expanded. The fact they the could see this growing cloud all the way from near Ponyville with the naked eye only raised their concerns even more, because it was an indicator of how big, and therefore, how serious this unusual anomaly is becoming.
In an instant, Twilight also remembered that Spike was still sleeping in the castle and Moon Dancer was working in her home, not to mention all the other unsuspecting ponies who are likely about to experience the surprise of their lives.
"We have to alert our friends and help the ponies in Canterlot!" Twilight exclaimed, earning a nod from both Sunny and Jet Jaguar.
With that, the two ponies and the robot quickly raced off to find their friends and head to Canterlot to help the citizens there before things get even worse for all of them.
Elsewhere, the petrified form of Godzilla Amphibia stood like a statue amidst the crimson dune that covered the beach of where he made landfall and battled the Princess of Friendship. Believing that the giant monster was defeated (even if they didn't know exactly how), the Mane 6 left, leaving Godzilla to remain as the petrified obsidian statue he now was. Unfortunately, what Twilight and her friends didn't realize was that this was in fact all part of the Monster King's plan to help him reach the next stage of his life cycle. Upon seeing the magical power the alicorn displayed, Godzilla very deliberately cleared away the cloud of Archetype that surrounded him, making himself open to her magical attacks, before attacking her with his freezing vapor in order to provoke the pony into striking him with her magic, knowing full well what will happen when the powerful magic ignites his flammable vapor.
While it seemed like he had unintentionally turned himself into an obsidian statue, this was actually a development stage, akin to a caterpillar becoming a chrysalis before emerging as a butterfly after some time. And the time for this 'chrysalis' was just about over as a tiny chunk of Godzilla's crystal encasing broke off and fell to the ground. This was followed by another piece of mineral that broke off and tumbled down the quadruped's crystal-covered bulk. And then another, and another. More and more pieces of black, reflective material started to break off and fall down as Godzilla's crystalline cocoon gradually began to crumble away, filling the air with echoes of loud cracks from within the layers of breaking crystal-like minerals.
As the cocoon was crumbling away, the once frozen Godzilla started moving.
The Monster King slowly began rearing up off the ground, rising taller and taller as even more and larger crystal-like chunks of black mineral fell off of his body and landed on the ground around him, giving way to reveal the transformed monster underneath.
What was previously a horrifying demonic quadruped, vaguely resembling an iguana, now looked more like a bipedal crocodile with a very long tail and maple leaf-shaped spines protruding from its back.
In his new form, most of Godzilla's body was covered in jade-green scales while his underbelly was a yellowish color. Whereas his previous form was a quadruped that walked on all four legs, now he stood only on his digitigrade hind legs, which were lithe and strong, with three-toed claws on each foot. By contrast, Godzilla's forelegs had transformed into long, but significantly smaller arms with four curled fingers at the ends that were tipped with sharp claws. His long tailed had lost its three-barbed tip and was now more akin to that of an ordinary lizard. But it was Godzilla's head that had undergone the most drastic change of all; the kaiju's head now resembled that of a crocodile, with elongated and powerful-looking jaws that were filled with conical teeth, with a pair of abnormally long fangs located on the upper jaw directly beneath the nostrils. What's more, his eyes were now set very forward on his skull, close to his nostrils, and the eyes themselves were tightly close to one another. All the facial spikes from his previous form had completely disappeared.
The only thing that kept Godzilla still recognizable from his previous two forms were the unmistakable dorsal spines along his back. However, instead of just one row, there were now three rows of maple leaf-shaped spines running along the back of the transformed beast. What was once a quadrupedal, semi-terrestrial creature had now transformed into a bipedal, fully-terrestrial monster resembling a theropod dinosaur.
He was now... Godzilla Terrestris!
At the same time the kaiju finished his transformation, the reflective pieces of black mineral that were his former cocoon, as well as the crimson sand on the ground, reverted back into plumes of red dust expelling into the air like gusts of wind. The transformed Monster king stood to his full mighty height and let out a mighty mountain-quacking roar.
"SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEONGK!"