//------------------------------// // Chapter 26 – Hope // Story: A King to a God // by JDPrime22 //------------------------------// Baltimare When the Young Six entered Baltimare, they didn’t really know what to expect. Every story they had heard, every news article from every newspaper stand they passed by only spoke of devastation on a global scale. Their journey across Equestria led to a few familiar sights, as well as something new here and there. Equestria was not the home to some in their little fellowship, but it was home to others. With Sandbar leading the group, they had that minimal assurance they wouldn’t get lost. Ocellus brought a map just in case, and Sandbar may have looked a couple dozen times, just to be safe. Silverstream gawked and squealed at every new location her eyes could wander, with Gallus and Smolder flying begrudgingly alongside the overexcited Hippogriff. First came some mystical ruins at the end of the Everfree. Then came Dodge City, where they restocked on food and other necessities. Then, they traveled down the river to the East where they could finally see the smoke in the clouds. It was just as enthralling to travel together and discover new and old places alike. Even if the journey was growing long and tiresome. Yet they trudged on, with only Harmony’s words being the guiding beacon that led them: Baltimare had endured Godzilla’s destruction. There, they would find everything they needed. She called them her “Champions”, and wished them luck on their journey. But when they reached the smoke, Baltimare barely even looked alive. From the heavy, gray and black clouds above, to the pillars of smoke rising from the ruins, each of the six creatures halted appropriately just to stare. Not to speak. Not a word. Just to stare. Even Silverstream’s unbeaten smile seemed to rest, and her expression paled. For a city that endured Godzilla’s path of rampage, they would have dreaded to see what city hadn’t survived. The smoke came from the extinguished fires on the far south of the city, surrounding Horseshoe Bay and the T.I.T.A.N. outpost that used to stand there. There was nothing anymore. Nothing but a black, scorched ruin flattened to the land. The lands surrounding the burned ruins were closed off, a steel fence recently erected with warnings signs shrouding every ten feet of the fence. Each one warning of high levels of radiation poisoning passed that point. The Young Six didn’t traverse any further south. Much of Baltimare had survived—thank Twilight, Sandbar imagined—but there were still clear signs of aggression dealt to the city when it tried to defend itself against the King of the Monsters. Homesteads remained standing on the outskirts of the city, but in the inner workings, walking into the hold of Baltimare in the empty main street, it looked like a ghost town. Towers and skyscrapers seemed gutted, ripped by multiple slashes of gargantuan claws. Some had fallen days ago, back during the initial attack, while others had miraculously maintained their foundations. One skyscraper leaned against another, with nothing but fog filling the air and ash falling gently in the weak breeze. Horseshoe Bay had turned black from the dark clouds above, with littered remains of battleships and other sea-worthy vessels smacking gently with the soft waves against the coastline. Seagulls cried and flew all around, as even the beaches were both littered and desolate; not a soul. Not a pony other than Sandbar leading his small band of friends through the skeletal remains of the city. Stepping back onto the main street and walking almost aimlessly through the fog and aftermath, the Young Six took their time to coalesce. Resting his wings, Gallus stumbled back onto solid ground. He strode slowly alongside Sandbar and Ocellus, turning his head from side to side. Eyeing every dead structure, every fallen building, every mound of rubble gathered together by the efforts of a now empty civilization. Growling in dissatisfaction in the back of his throat, Gallus shook his head. “Don’t think there’s anything we need here. Thanks a lot, Harmony,” the griffon said. Sandbar snorted, tightening the strap of the saddlebags on his back. “We’ve barely even looked around. There’s gotta be something else here; I mean, come on, when has Harmony ever steered us wrong?” “Well, she did trap us under the school and said we’d be stuck there forever if we didn’t solve her test,” Ocellus noted with an evident shiver at the memory. “Good thing we did though!” Silverstream said after finally landing on the ground, wrapping her foreleg around Ocellus’ withers. “If ya think about, she was steering us toward the right path all along! How else would we have known that friendship was in our nature if we didn’t overcome our fears?” “Just saying… it’s a pretty intense first test,” Ocellus mumbled against Silverstream’s unnatural strength. “If this is another test, Harmony sure isn’t making it easy. Least this time we’re together at the start…” Gallus muttered aloud, unsure if any of them were even listening thanks to the stifling silence that followed. Not keen on listening to the distant whispers of the haunting wind, Gallus cleared his throat. “Just doesn’t seem there’s anything here that will help us… or help Godzilla. It’s all just… dead.” Even Smolder started to cough at that comment, and for a dragon especially, that didn’t spell anything good. “It’s like the air is poisoned. Bettin’ the ground is, too…” she exclaimed. Yona answered her friend’s open concerns by plopping a nearby rock into her mouth and chewing away. “No poison!” she declared with a swallow, but just as suddenly gagged. “Least tasty rock Yona had, though!” “Didn’t ask you to do that, but great, thanks,” Smolder murmured with a deadpan look glazed in her eyes at the yak’s bizarre actions. Eating crystals was one thing, but rocks… Biting his lower lip, Sandbar pushed down that gut-wrenching feeling of doubt trying to arise. “Let’s keep at it, guys.” In the northern section of the city, the Young Six kept on in their silent journey. Checking every nook, every cranny, and coming up with nothing. All they really found after nearly an hour of searching was the distant sound of a bell ringing in the distance. And growing closer to it, following it, they realized it was the warning bell of the Baltimare train station. Finally, they found survivors. Lines and lines of them. Appearing out of the smoke like dark silhouettes painted against a white, lifeless backdrop. They were packed together, families of ponies having come to one place to gather their livelihoods and all they cherished for the long journey ahead. Where that journey led, none of the Young Six knew. So, they began to ask around. Unfortunately, nopony was in a talking mood. Their gravely expressions, sunken eyes, and bodies coated in several layers of clothing and rags told the Young Six everything they needed to know. It especially hurt for Silverstream, the usually enthusiastic and positive Hippogriff losing her breath when a small filly turned her way with a bloodied rag wrapped around one eye. Silverstream fell silent after that, backing away from the line and letting it move on without her. The ponies of Baltimare had faced the worst of the worst when it came to a Titan attack. The structural integrity and security of their home had been breached, and all that was left for them now was a trip to Canterlot. The train station on the edge of the city only had one destination, and the royal capital would provide them the necessary aid, as promised by the Princess of Equestria. Sandbar learned all that from the conductor announcing to the crowds the train’s purpose from then on out. And each car kept getting boarded, leaving, and returning empty. One by one, back and forth, until all who suffered and endured were safe in the capital city of Equestria. “Godzilla did all this…” Standing far off from the lines of survivors, the Young Six turned appropriately the sound of that voice, realizing it was one of them. It was Gallus who just shook his head in disbelief and asked, “How… how can he be innocent for any of this?” For too long, nocreature said anything, and Gallus was tired of the silence he received. He looked directly at Sandbar when he shouted, “Huh?!” Sandbar blinked in surprise, and just as quickly scowled. “What, you want me to defend his actions? I can’t, Gallus, okay! You think I know why Godzilla is doing any of this?! That’s the whole reason we came halfway across the continent, remember?!” “Yeah, and look at all the good that did us—!” “You guys, stop!” Ocellus screamed, pushing the two apart, their snout and beak nearly pressed to one another. “Harmony was right. We can’t look at this the way the world looks at it.” She pointed back at the survivors. “This is the whole reason the Hall of Unity wants to go to war with Godzilla. They’re not looking at this with an innocent heart.” “Even an innocent heart can tell when people are hurting, Ocellus,” Smolder retorted, her arms crossed and expression hard, if not heavily wounded. By everything they had seen, it was difficult for Smolder to stay strong, and her friends definitely noticed that. It didn’t stop her though, and the dragon continued. “We can keep searching this city… but if ya ask me… we’re not gonna see anything except more of this,” she muttered, pointing her thumb back at the lines boarding the train. There was the bomb. There was the pained reality they each kept in the back of their minds the entire journey. Always vigilant of it, but never wanting to fully face it or accept it as fact. But that reality was slowly becoming their reality, and there was no amount of innocence in any of their hearts that could rise to counter it. It was as some of them feared from the beginning, and what the others were slowly coming to accept. Harmony had led them through thick and thin before, but this was a conflict that threatened not only their lives, but every life. To imagine that six young creatures could have made a difference in a coming war that was mightier than any of them was seeming now as nothing but a falsehood. A dream. One by one, they were beginning to slowly falter, reality setting in and caring not for their fantasy. Fear as a shadow slithered into their veins and made them tremble, leaving Ocellus and Silverstream shivering where they stood when they finally realized they stood on the ashes of dead ponies. Dead ponies from Godzilla’s attack. Could he have still been innocent in the grand scheme of things? Was there even a grander scheme at play? After being instructed to come to Baltimare and following through with that, finding nothing but destruction and misery in a city gravely wounded, the Young Six began to realize… that they didn’t really know what they were doing there. When nothing seemed clear to them, they realized they were trapped in a fog, and the only way out was back home. The only way out was to walk away. Yona asked the question they were all thinking. “What should we do?” The answer most imagined was to do just that: walk away. Go back home. Enjoy the start of their summer and stay out of whatever was coming. Maybe Harmony was misled this time around, and Twilight and her friends would handle this with the plan T.I.T.A.N. had. That was what most of them felt, now allowing their fears and anxieties to rule. Despite her better judgement, Smolder wouldn’t let her fear get the better of her. In the end, if nothing else worked, logic would dictate that they go back home, not fear. And so, she gritted her teeth and shook her head with a sigh. “We can give it another hour. Maybe there was something we missed back there. Guess it wouldn’t hurt to…” Lifting her head from the mounds of ashes by her feet, Smolder suddenly felt her voice trail away from her. Her words were taken alongside her breath, leaving the young dragon gazing off wondrously to the distance. Gallus noticed her change in appearance almost immediately. “Hurt to what? Smolder?” But she wouldn’t answer. Ocellus and Yona had turned as well, with Sandbar joining them. Silverstream grabbed the griffon’s head and spun him around to the direction where she, Smolder, and now the rest of the Young Six were staring. And seeing the mare in red. The fog that tried to suffocate them had been forcefully opened by a force none of them could fully understand, and in the direction they all stared, there was an opening in the whiteness. An image of a mare standing on a distant hill overlooking the once great city. All together now, they seemed to abandon their fear and ignore the anxious thoughts gnawing at the back of their minds, for something more had called to them. They heard no voice, saw no light in the dark, but it felt different. And yet so similar all the same. The Young Six stumbled out of the hold of the dying civilization and walked on living, breathing grass once more. If but to hesitate when they approached the mare’s back. Now closer, none of them really had a clue as to why they all came together to the mysterious figure on the top of the hill. Neither the pony, the dragon, the Hippogriff, the changeling, the yak, nor even the griffon knew. But for some unspoken reason… it felt calmer than suffocating and succumbing to fear. Just seeing the dark red cloak flow from her back, tugging at the soft breeze that picked up every second or two, was almost magical. Where she stared, they could not fully see. The city that survived Godzilla’s attack, maybe, and there she stood on the edge that led to desolation. She stood on that edge and stared to the East. To something far beyond any of their understanding. It was then that the mare realized she had company. And so, she turned to them, and slowly pulled back her hood to unveil the face beneath. The most striking feature about her were her eyes: radiant and brilliantly amber. Almost gold in a sense, and sparkling with the same priceless intensity. A stark contrast to her ghostly pale coat and black mane. Not only that, but dotted on her cheeks, her forehead, and down her neck to even her forelegs, her coat was covered in black tattoos. Sandbar almost scoffed at the sight of them. He had seen a plethora of intricate and stunning cutie marks before, but nothing like this. They were mystical in a sense, written in a language none of them could understand. She was Neighponese, that much they could deduce. But everything else about her seemed so completely alien. Not in the sense of like Ghidorah, but unheard of. Unseen and unknown. Finally being unveiled to the world for the first time. Judging by the expression on her face, the kind and warming smile, the Young Six appeared to be the first faces she had unveiled herself to. Not only that, but the smile came when she sensed something about them. A certain quality, though cracked at times, still holding strong in a fellowship that was harmonic. Deterred, but not lost. Confused, but not gone in the Darkness. Despite all their backgrounds, their personalities, their histories, they came together. They faced the tide and stood now before her. That harmony was not lost on the Second Sister. Harmony, she mused. Then, she asked calmly, “Why are you here, little ones?” Her voice alone was enough to wash away whatever fears were left crawling back at the Young Six. If there was a heaven to any of them, its beckoning call was her voice. Majestic, otherworldly, peaceful in every sense and banishing every evil intent of the heart and mind. The voice of a mother to a crying child. The voice of a guardian angel defending the light. The voice almost eerily similar to a certain Spirit of Harmony they knew. But still unique enough to call her own. For quite some time, none of them could answer her. Her question in their minds was slowly transforming into more of a statement, as an answer to themselves on why they were there. Their purpose, their journey, finally becoming clear again once they were free of the desolate death. Ocellus was the one to tell her. “We’re here to prove Godzilla is innocent.” The first to step forward, and the first to receive the mare in red’s arching brow. “Is he, now?” she asked aloud, much to Ocellus’ surprise. “Are any of us truly innocent?” The changeling was at a loss for words, but thankfully she had a good friend by her side to defend her. Sandbar stepped forward to join the changeling. “Well… we just want to know why he’s doing this. I mean… after everything, he would never turn against us… right?” Sandbar said, but even he was beginning to doubt once more. Once the mare’s overwhelmingly amber eyes turned his way. “Unless the creatures of this earth gave him a reason to,” she answered, and then smiled reassuringly with a single nod. “But you are right. He would not without necessary reason. I intend to prove it.” What felt like the biggest breath of fresh air was shared among the six. Not only a breath of relief, but rejuvenating hope. The fear that they were sent on a fool’s errand all the way to Baltimare just to reach a dead end had suddenly opened to a brand-new start. And one that left them all equally rejuvenated and perplexed. “Oookaaay… how can you prove it?” Smolder asked. Just as suddenly as her smile came, it left her. Leaving an infamous look of dread the Young Six were all too familiar with, for they felt it not too long ago. She stared solemnly to the North, to the land swallowed in darkness and flame. To the distant land that was once Fillydelphia, and had now become a black mark drenching the coast of Equestria in a permanent shroud of eerie desolation. Her voice mirrored such terror. “I have seen the true evil with my own eyes. It is an evil I have known and can call by name. An evil this world endured… and will face again. I have felt and seen it first in Fillydelphia… where this all started… and I feel it returning. Do you know what I speak of?” Her words were minimal and shrouded in mystery, yet for some unknown reason they could feel what she felt. Almost see what she saw. It went deeper than a mere physical understanding, or psychological. It was a spiritual distress that warred in each one of them, threatening to awaken the fear once more now that the thought had been reignited. Now that the image of the Three-Headed Tyrant had been brought to life in each of their minds. Gallus gulped. “Yeah… I think we do,” the griffon shuddered. The mare in red stared at each of their expressions and nodded, shutting her eyes. She just as suddenly opened them and said, “Then you understand my plight. I must take this warning to the rulers of this land before it is too late.” “We can take you to Canterlot!” Silverstream suddenly interrupted, instantly earning the interest of the mysterious pony. “We know Professor—er, Princess Twilight personally! That train over there can take us to her, and you can tell us all about what you saw on the way! Sandbar, how many bits do we have left?” “We don’t need any bits to ride this train,” Sandbar explained, gazing down the hill where the train station remained. Where the lines of survivors undoubtedly stood. Where the distant ring of the bell continued to haunt the streets. “Everypony rides free for now.” “Oh, sweet! Sooo… what do ya say?” Silverstream said with a large, hopeful grin, fluttering her wings close to the mare. She stared at the Hippogriff, turned to the others, and mulled over the proposal. The bell of the train continued to sound, forcing the mare to shut her eyes. Not the sound of the Bell. This one led to safety. This one led to sanctuary. This one led to the next step of her journey. Opening her eyes, the Second Sister smiled at the Young Six and bowed her head. “I say lead the way, little ones.” There was a certain excitement among the children now, a clearer path laid forth. A tangible purpose that they could finally see, with no fear left to dictate their actions. Harmony was right once again to urge them onward to Baltimare, for they found what they were looking for. And they would sooner understand the greater conspiracy shrouding Godzilla and his innocence that shined through it all. Now, they believed that more than ever. As for the mare in red, her thoughts were elsewhere. To somepony else. She stared to the West, and let grow a small, comforting smile even in the tide of coming Darkness. A smile she felt deep in her soul was shared so many hundreds of miles away, deep below the earth, hidden and defended from the evils above… under the light of the great moth.