Braeburn
Anguirus
Rainbow Dash
Mothra
Gentle Leaf
Twilight Sparkle
Xenilla
????
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{-Cue up the fight song!-}
Anguirus charged through volley after volley of fireballs that harmlessly exploding on impact with his reinforced scales, not paying them any mind as the kaiju leaped up into the air. Tucking his legs and head in as he wrapped his tail around himself while puffing out his back carapace, Anguirus rolled himself into the thunderball. Closing in on the dragon flock in a spiny, blurry wheel, the ankylosaurus threw his full weight and momentum into his rolling death ball. Vex didn’t have enough time to react other than widening his eyes while his cohorts dove to the side or took to the air, before the thunderball slammed into him full force and running him over. Halting his advance, Anguirus spun at high speed while the drake was pinned below him. Recurved batteries of spikes slashed at the gem eating beast’s chest and stomach, ripping off scales harder than solid rock and stabbing into the exposed skin. Vex wheezed and roared as the wind was knocked out of him and his blood was spilt. Puff cackled in a mix of horror and rage at his friend’s assault, tucking in his wings to dive bomb the dinosaur. Anguirus already knew the outcome of this battle. This gang of dragons would give him trouble if they were trained adults, but he knew exactly what they were. A group of young delinquents who got a power boost. To put it in terms he knew, a pack of Gabara, vile little cowards who's ego was four times their size. He on the other hand, knew exactly what he was doing, it was his purpose after all. This wasn't a fight. It was a seasoned veteran doing pest control.
Launching himself off the near unconscious Vex and uncurling from his ball, Anguirus pounced at the descending Puff amidst a mutual roar. It was mutual no more when the dinosaur buried his forepaw in Puff’s face and grabbed his head. Anguirus twisted his torso in midair and put the dragon beneath him while outstretching his arm. The two’s combine multi-ton weight came crashing down with a reverberating boom right on Puff’s head and chest, half the albino dragon’s teeth shattered on impact.
Growling as he almost casually tossed the albino away, Puff crying out as his body skid into the camp’s kayak dock and lake, kicking up torrents of water and wood splinters, Anguirus caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Quickly shifting his shoulder forward, the dinosaur kaiju’s armored carapace blocked Clump’s swung thagomizer with an almost metallic crash.
The roars and bellows of battling kaiju and dragon didn’t detract Rainbow Dash’s attention for longer than a few instants, only looking up every few moments to ensure the fight hadn’t gotten close to their building. Still shaking and wincing with every step, the pegasus mare was frantically looking around the edges of the counselor building they’d been set on, trying to spy any ramp or stairs they could use to get down. The spiking pain in her wing every time she tried to stretch it out told her she shouldn’t even try gliding, so climbing was the only option. The bellowing call of the pony’s savior caught her attention.
-It might have protected us, but if it loses or the brawl gets closer I don’t want us anywhere near it or the drakes… What the hay takes on a whole flock of dragons alone?! I’m not sure if you can beat all of them alone, whatever you are, just… just hold them off a little longer until we get down!-
Glancing back to the rescued filly, Dash was about to call out and ask Gentle Leaf to help her in finding an escape route. What she saw left a feeling of embarrassment sinking in with a bead of sweat dropping down the side of her face. Gentle Leaf sat on the edge of the roof top, waving her arms and shadow boxing at the air in mute cheers, mimicking Anguirus’ motions like a giddy sports fan.
-GET EM ANGY! KNOCK THAT B*****D’S BLOCK OFF!!-
Anguirus, oblivious to the two ponies, had grabbed Clump by the tail and yanked the fat dragon back and into the air. Cocking his shoulder back, the ankylosaur hissed before burying his forepaw in the brown beast’s large belly in a single punch strong enough to crack Clump's lower ribs and knock the wind free from his gullet. Staying reared up on his hind legs to charge forward while knocking the dragon back, Anguirus snarled as he twisted his shoulders to and fro, repeatedly striking Clump’s stomach and face in a series of punches, smacks, and shoulder rams too quick for the brown dragon to counter or too powerful for the drake’s untrained attempts at blocking to make any difference. The air itself was filled with booms and cracks as scales were knocked loose, muscles bruised, and bones cracked. Anguirus opened his jaws through his assault and began to take a deep breath. Landing one final, booming tackle into the beaten and battered Clump's now bloody stomach, Anguirus spun around as the largest of the dragon gang was sent toppling through a water tower. Still taking in a breath, the kaiju shoved his arms upwards and intercepted the diving forms of Fume and Shakes. Locking his forepaws with drake's outstretched talons, Anguirus gritted his fangs as he slid back into the ground, his feet digging trenches through cobblestone. Hissing through his inhale, Anguirus hopped up slightly, using the dragon's own momentum to shoot them below himself. Turning himself around mid-drop, Anguirus let go of their hands as he let his multi-thousand ton body use the pair as landing gear, dropping his spike covered hip into Shakes' back as he greeted the back of the now wheezing Fume to his elbow.
A flicker of red caught the kaiju's attention as he got to his feet, stepping off the gasping and choking Fume. Before he had the chance to move, diamond hard claws slashed at his face. Shutting his eyes behind armored eye lids, Anguirus held his breath as talons raked across his face in a shower of sparks as they met his scales. Stumbling back and shaking his head, Anguirus glared at his attacker. Garble snarled as flames ripped out of his maw and streamed out like a tidal wave from hell. The fire was the hottest the drake could muster and it eclipsed the entire top half of the kaiju's body. Maintaining the assault as he roared in victory, Garble's eyes widened as the dinosaur before him advanced forward through the inferno. Anguirus marched closer, still just a black shape in the blaze, as his lungs filled to their maximum capacity. Thoughts briefly flickered back to a familiar blue ray of heat. The kaiju nearly laughed at the comparison.
-I've been hit with an inferno a hundred times stronger than this-
Garble's pupils shrunk in shock as what he intended to be a barbecued dinosaur reared up out of his blaze, only slightly singed. Anguirus's chest puffed out. Intuition flared up in the ponies, Rainbow Dash and Gentle Leaf quickly covering their ears. The dragons were not as attentive.
-Time to show you how I responded back then-
The kaiju threw his jaws open as a hurricane of wind and sound erupted from them in a roar hundreds of times louder than the strongest lightning crack. Anguirus had unleashed his sonic roar... right in Garble's face.
The shear gale force and sound shouted the dragon's fire out quicker than it ruptured his ear drums. The powerful gust firing out from Anguirus' maw impacted and dented in Garble's chest, throwing him backwards with more force than if Anguirus had rammed into him. Anguirus ceased his roar before dropping down on all fours to pursue the falling drake. Thundering the ground with each step, the ankylosaurus lowered his head and pounced forward. The kaiju head-butted Garble in the back, plowing them both into the lake with a monstrous splash as the recovered Puff and Vex tailed them to try and aid their leader.
A flash of purple magic grabbed Rainbow Dash’s attention as the familiar form of her friend Twilight settled down on the roof several feet away from her. Twilight Sparkle’s eyes ripped open with shock and surprise as she threw herself forward and embraced her wincing fellow element.
“Rainbow!”
Rainbow Dash cringed but returned the hug, glad something good had happened today in her life.
“Eh-eh-ey Twilight, I think I have a few broken ribs, would you mi-nd?”
Twilight quickly took note of the pegasus’ state and eased her hold on her. Concern warped the alicorn’s face as she began checking over her friend.
“What in the name of Faust happened to you?!”
Rainbow’s macho and pride overrode her previous weakness.
“Eh, crashed into somepony, saved a kid, and got into hoofticuffs with a dragon, you should see the other guy.”
A tall form walked up beside them.
“I believe that ‘other guy’ is indeed contending with far worse.“
Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened as the all too familiar shape of the hole filled legs, crooked horn, and towering height behind the young alicorn however nearly caused the heavily damaged pegasus to attempt a aerial tackle. Twilight read the quickly growing expression of surprise and anger forming on her friend’s face and quickly shifted herself between them.
“WAIT-WAIT-WAIT-WAIT! She’s a friend!”
Mothra looked down and nodded to the wounded pegasus with an assuring nod and smile.
"I know my appearance is only the most recent of the odd events entering your life recently, but I'm sorry I don't have much time to explain. My name is Mothra and I am no threat."
Rainbow Dash's face relaxed a bit, still more flabbergasted and confused than she was relieved.
-Rainbow Changelings and giant monsters... just when I thought this day wouldn't get odder... Then again compared to that Chocolate Milk incident this is still only a close second-
Mothra eyes calmly shifted upwards as a small smile etched across her face.
"Rainbow, what all happened? We saw some beam of light all the way from the library!"
Twilight frantically resumed trying to check over her athletic friend's body, mentally going down a mental list of healing spells she could try. As her gaze shifted, Twilight's eyes locked onto movement and glanced to the side. It was only now she'd noticed a green filly, joyfully throwing her hooves through the air in what the young alicorn could only guess was inaudible cheers, sitting several feet away from them. Twilight looked up to match Mothra and the filly's line of sight, and what she saw made her eyes expand into dinner plates.
A massive, grey-brown creature stood bipedally amidst camp ground ruins as it hoisted up a pair of dragons Twilight recognized as the greed-grown Vex and Puff by their necks, its paws grasping their throats. The dragons struggled in its choke hold, blowing dual jets of amber flames into their attacker's obscured but seemingly unharmed face. The choking grew tighter and the flamethrowers grew weaker.
"Eh, my guess, probably him."
"WHAT is THAT!?"
Mothra chuckled lightly to herself as she saw the injured and recovering forms of several other dragons in what had been for the last few minutes the most brutal beating of their greed and pride filled lives, the latter trait surely was being broken.
"THAT would be one of my friends from my home realm, an Terran kaiju. Guardian Beast of Fire, Anguirus."
Puff and Vex's flames weakened to embers as they gasped for breath; their limbs beginning to slack, the weakened flames revealing Anguirus's snarling maw. The dinosaur kaiju uttered out a single, powerful roar before tossing up the duo of dragons and spinning around. A spiky tail tipped in a hundred ton thagomizer ripped through the tree line, snapping and hurling up 6 foot thick oaks like tooth picks. Anguirus slammed his tail into Puff's back, jolting the dragon forward into the still falling Vex as the attack shoved them forward, sending both hurtling into the trees on the opposite end of the camp ground.
Mothra gave a bemused nod after making sure there were no ponies in danger of getting caught in the crossfire, watching her friend work.
-Huh... This is actually the most fun he's had in months-
"Don't worry, he's far more benign once you get to know him."
Gentle Leaf gave a single, agreeing nod to the changeling's words, beaming happily.
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Back at the Apple Farm
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Xenilla’s eyes twitched and his lips cringed slightly, baring his noticeable fangs as the blackness that was once the Apple Family barn and Fluttershy’s concerned face warped and twisted. He wasn’t able to move as the world reshaped around him. The space born kaiju knew this realm well, it was the only form of entertainment he had on his sometimes near-half decade long flights through the cosmos. Right now though, he could deal without it.
-Oh look, a dream… And I was just ready to try and sleep peacefully. What’s happening this time?-
Just as he was ready to embrace the vague and twisting realm of his subconscious, the world around him was filled with detail, far more than he was accustomed to. Waves crashed all around him as he stood hip-deep in the nightly seas. The cold water and distant ice sheets told him he was somewhere in the northern or southern reaches of Earth’s oceans, or at the very least in a mental realm that closely resembled them. It was in the dead of night amidst the gales of a polar storm, 4 story tall waves, torrents of rain; and hurricane force winds all harmlessly slamming into him from multiple angles. In the far distance a small island’s outline was visible in the dim light, but almost everything else in the storm was a blur.
Suddenly, Xenilla felt his leg shift from the inside and his body began to move on its own power. It wasn’t an uncontrollable muscle spasm, but a stable, slow walk that advanced him through the shallows of the storm. His head moved despite his commands to reign in its control, scanning the dark waters with a glare.
-Wait a minute… This is no fiction… The details are too precise, my body isn’t under control; and I’m at a task. This isn’t a dream, it’s a memory. But why can’t I recall whe-
Xenilla’s thought was cut short when he felt his jaws open and a roar echo loose from his throat, calling out in a rage filled tone to the storm.
“Show yourself! You will not escape me!”
Xenilla raised an eye brow. Something about his voice was off, it didn’t sound right but he couldn't put a claw as to what was wrong with it. Before he even had time to contemplate what in the realms of Tanaka he was calling out to, a haunting cry cut loose through the gusts of wind and water. To a human, it was a hellish scream. To a kaiju, it was a demonic, echoing voice.
“What have I done to wrong you beast?”
Xenilla felt his body whip around, his tail smashing through an ice flow as he looked quickly through the storm. For a split second, he could have sworn he saw something moving in the darkness before it ducked down into the surf. A few moments later, it called out again, this time from his side.
“Why do you wish to destroy me?”
Xenilla’s eyes narrowed as the memory kept talking under its own control.
“It’s not what you’ve done it’s what you’re going to do!”
“That hardly seems like the choices of a beast.”
The crystal dinosaur’s mind was alight with shock and confusion.
-This is definitely a memory, but where was this!? When was this?!-
His own voice called out again, but this time, either through the roar of the storm or some fading to the memory, the on-looking Xenilla couldn’t catch all the words.
“Neither is murdering every soul in my territory, and since you reek of ________ essence and the _____ told me that was its goal, I know you intend to do that as well!”
The seas were silent of voices for a moment Xenilla almost wished lasted longer. A slow, deep laugh boomed in through the storm. It was in the gradual, mocking tone that would have made many souls' blood run cold. The voice called out again, replacing the hellish cackling.
“I underestimated your intuition beast; I thought you too primitive to figure out my motives.”
Xenilla’s eyes locked onto a distant form rising up from the surf, its vague, completely foreign outline visible against an iceberg it was standing in front of. Bright yellow energy crackled along its body like arching bands of electricity as its eyes glowed the same color.
“But since you have, I have no choice but to silence you!”
The beast roared a midst the thunder and threw its arms out. Before Xenilla had time to dodge, a beam of yellow energy shot forth from its torso and launched forward. Eyes widening, Xenilla put his arms up to block the attack with an energy barrier. Despite his best efforts though, no projection was brought forth and the blast surged into his arms. The energy was as cold as the dead, but burned against his scales. The crystal kaiju gritted his fangs as he held back the beam, despite his arms becoming alight with pain, his footing beginning to slide back across the ocean floor. Eventually the assaulting beam ceased, Xenilla’s arms were left smoking and burnt down to the rapidly healing muscle, igniting more pain to shoot through his body. The mutant Godzilla was enraged in both mind and memory. Energy surged through his body and Xenilla could feel the seas heated up and boil as he felt his back spines begin to flicker to a glow. Still, as raging thoughts ripped through his mind, he felt a familiar heat begin to build up in his throat.
-When did this happen?! Who is that?! Territory?! I never lived at the poles! What’s going on?!-
A roar ripped forth from his body under its on admission, shaking the air and blowing back rain drops.
“You can try, you can fail!”
All of Xenilla’s thoughts were silenced as a beam shot forth from his maw and struck his attacker dead center on the chest, blasting them through the shattering iceberg in brilliant display as the fragments of ice reflected the light. It wasn’t the act that silenced him and left him internally gawking, it was his attack. Gone was his beloved beam of beautiful, spiraling, red corona. In its place was a straight, streaking, blue ray of nuclear fire.
Xenilla’s eyes snapped open as he awoke in a cold sweat.
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Global Defense Headquarters, Central Command situation room
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The points of argument and tension were so thick in the room you could cut them open with a hacksaw. General Taizo Tachibana studied his PDA while his colleagues debated amongst themselves. He only needed to casually listen in to know exactly what was being discussed, though as tempers flared he could physically feel the professionalism shoot out of the room at an accelerating pace. Flicking some data logs and maps onto PDA, the general looked up briefly to make sure the projector was working, the flickering green light indicating the files had been sent. Just as he felt Pentacost about to get into a shouting match with Akane, Tachibana calmly stood up and smashed his PDA on the hard wood table with enough force to shatter the tool and silence the room in the resounding crack.
"Now..."
Taizo walked around the table after pulling out the projectors remote. Standing at the front of the room the war veteran pulled down a white projector screen as the projector itself flickered to life, spewing forth the image of a globe.
"We all know and discussed the ramifications of Dimension Tide's misfiring, the last batch of which is still going on right now. Some of you believe our systems were malfunctioning with the A.I., similar to the Kiryu event several years back. Others say it was a hacking attempt by the Red Bamboo. I don't know exactly what to make of it all, but there's a correlation I'd like to note."
The map flickered, several red dots appearing on several locations across the globe, most at sea.
"These are the areas Dimension Tide has targeted. The Challenger deep, Hokkaido, Antarctica, and the Caribbean have already been hit. At first the locations seem hopelessly random and in areas of little importance. This wasn't a terrorist attack. If it was they'd know Dimension Tide would be taken out of commission by this overuse. They can't be warning shots and they are too far away from population centers for groups like the Red Bamboo to benefit."
Waiting several seconds amidst the thankfully silent room, Taizo clicked the remote once again. Dozens of black dots were summoned forth, some replaced their red brethren.
"According to satellite mapping and GPN tracking systems, the black dots are known kaiju locations. Several of which have already been hit and the remaining three in the process of being locked onto. This is far too precise for it to be an A.I. system or a series of misfires. Whoever took control of Dimension Tide showed obvious intent to target and eliminate several groups of kaiju, regardless of affiliation. Anteverse portal from the Challenger Deep, an infestation of an unknown insectoid species in Hokkaido; even a possible Xilian outpost in the extreme South have all been hit."
Shin Hayata guided his eyes to the upper extent of the map, keying in the sole remaining red dot in the Bering Sea.
"And Attu Island? It's a US wildlife preserve, nothing else. No base, no kaiju, no outposts. If this is a conscious culprit to this misuse of Dimension Tide, who? The island must have some hint to it, but what motivation could there be to firing upon that location? If they were aiming at kaiju and knew exactly where the monsters were, why waste a valuable shot in what's otherwise an empty island when so many kaiju were left unmolested?"
Taizo took in a deep, slow breath before he shook his head slowly.
"I can't say I know the culprit, the pattern is unknown to me. But Hayata is right-"
He looked up at the red dot and narrowed his eyes as a cursor indicating Dimension Tide's targeting computer homed in on the mid-Pacific.
"Attu holds the key."
[-DIMENSION-TIDE-LOCKING-ON-]
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Back at the Campgrounds
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Anguirus had just twisted himself around to hurl Clump into Shakes when he heard the air begin to shift, a distant hissing sound growing louder rapidly. Garble paid it no heed as he dropped down on all fours, charging the ankylosaurus from behind, intending to lock his jaws down on the relatively unarmored throat. Fate was most certainly against the dragons today.
High above, the air split itself in two as a beam of purple energy sliced itself downward and hit the ground in front of the dragon, forcing Garble to halt. The heat ray broiled the air and melted the dirt and rock on impact, igniting a semi-circle of fire around the red drake. The clouds above shot open as a high speed blur of red larger than a 747 shot down and put its feet forward, landing on Garble and plunging the red dragon into the dirt and stones while it skid to a halt.
Mothra rolled her eyes as taloned feet calmly stepped off the now still Garble, crimson wings spreading.
-Show off...-
Anguirus called out to his ally in an almost chuckling laugh, and Rodan answered in full.
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Outskirts of Appalossa after nightfall
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Braeburn yawned to himself as he stretched his neck and cracked his joints after a long and arduous day of work. After quickly taking a mental checklist of the apple pie ingredients he and the town's folks had gathered, the tired stallion took his hat off and puffed out the flickering lantern.
-Yeeeeeeep, Ol' Thunderhooves and Miss Strongheart gonna have themselves a heapin' helping come dawn-
Ignoring the slight blush that formed on his cheeks from the last name, the Apple cousin had just shut his eyes when he heard something outside the cabin. It was a swishing sound, akin to somepony swinging around a tarp or blanket in different directions. Getting up out of his cot, Braeburn rubbed the back of his head as he looked out of the small window that was in the direction of the noise. Sure enough, he could make out something moving outside, but it was moving too erratically and too quickly for him to make out. The sound shifted to his roof and four loud thumps pinged through the top of the cabin, heavy footsteps knocking dust loose on the wooden roof. The pings continued as something walked itself towards Braeburn's front door.
"Now what in tarnatio-!"
Then it all happened at once.
The front door screeched as something rammed into it with such force it began to crack the framing.
More of the flapping sounds rang out all around the cabin with cackling shrieks ripping through the night sky, like an entire flock of hell had descended.
And a monstrosity with an arrowhead shaped skull with a flat top rammed its head through his window, cackling maniacally.....