My Little Pony: A King Arises

by Aaron1248

Chapter 6: Airport Chaos

Dusk began as the sun lowered over the horizon. On the Saddletoga, Serizawa and Graphic huddled before a glowing monitor in the ship’s war room as a helpful petty officer uploaded the base’s data onto the display screen. Luna watched as the doctor’s worked, she too watching the glowing monitors. Even though she’s been back in Equestria for almost four years, this day’s and age technology was still a fickle for her. Who can blame her when she was banished from a time that technology didn’t exist. The two scientists studied the telltale waveform as it plotted out across the screen. Serizawa tapped his hoof impatiently against the floor. This was taking too long.

“Keep scrolling,” Graphic instructed. “Near the end, before the EMP—“

Serizawa’s eyes widened. “There!” he blurted, pointing at the screen, where, just before the end of the graph, one peak was followed directly by another—as if in reply. Graphic gasped out loud. The evidence was undeniable, the conclusion inescapable.

“Something responded,” Serizawa said gravely. Luna looked from Serizawa’s grave expression towards the screen. Whatever frightened him made Luna even shudder at the thought.

Graphic lowered her voice. “You don’t think it could be…?”

He knew she was thinking of the unknown leviathan from fifty years ago, but he was reluctant to jump to conclusions. Perhaps there was another explanation.

“Search for this pattern,” he instructed.

Graham regarded him quizzically. “Where?”

“Everywhere,” he said.

Another petty officer came up behind them. Serizawa did not know his name, but could tell that he approached with urgent business.

“Doctors, your highness,” the stallion said. “You need to see this.”

Hustle and bustle was all around at the Honoluna International Airport. Outside the main terminal, the Mane Six as well as the CMC were saying their goodbyes to Chief Tiki Wiki and Coral. It was sad that they had to leave today, but all good things must come to an end.

“Thank you, chief,” Twilight said. “This was a swell vacation.” Tiki smiled before giving a minor bow.

“It was my pleasure,” he said. “We only hope that you all come visit again in the near future.” Twilight smiled before looking to Nyx and the CMC talking with Coral.

“I think that’d be swell,” Twilight said.”

“I guess this is it,” Coral said looking at her friends. Nyx and the others nodded.

“Yeah,” Nyx said. “Who knows maybe you can come visit in Ponyville?”

“Hey yeah,” Scootaloo exclaimed. “Then everypony can meet you, plus Pinkie would throw you a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party.” Coral couldn’t help but smile at that thought.

“That would be nice,” she said before tears starting to fall. “I’m going to miss you guys.”

“Hey it’s okay,” Sweetie Belle soothed. “No matter the distance, we’ll always be friends. Besides we all have something to give you.” Coral blinked as Apple Bloom then pulled out what appeared to be a red cape with the insignia of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Sweetie Belle cleared her throat before continuing.

“As one of the three founders of the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” she announced. “It is with great heart and pleasure that we give you, Coral Reef, an honorary cape of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. With this cape, you are now part of our group as well as the current leader of the Haywaii faction of the CMC.” With that, they placed the cape on Coral, who looked at it with breaming pride.

“The original coronation was longer,” Scootaloo pointed out. “But given the limited time, we thought this would be just as good.” Coral smiled at each of them.

“Thank you,” she said. “Now it’s my turn to give you all something.” With that said, she reached into her bag to pull out necklaces where they adorned sunny yellow shards in the shape of stars. “I want each of you to have this. These are Star Shards, objects that have been said to have fallen to our island during meteor showers. When you and a friend wear one, it is said that they’ll guide you to them. No matter how far away you are, you’ll always be connected.”

Coral then placed each one around their necks, which brought a smile to their faces. They then all shared a warm group hug with one another. The hug then ended as they all smiled. The Mane Six couldn’t help but smile at the warm scene as well.

With that, everypony gave their goodbyes. The group of friends gathered their bags and headed for the terminal. Nyx looked back to Coral, who was waving goodbye. She waved back before following after her mother and friends into the airport.

The young petty officer led Serizawa, Graphic and Luna across the CDC to another work station, where Celestia and Admiral Stall awaited them, a grim expression on the admiral’s weathered features. He and the princess wasted no time bringing them up to speed on the latest development.

“We’ve received word from a local whale watching boat in Haywaii that witnessed an animal attack,” he said. Celestia then looked to the group.

“One of the watchers was able to take this before the boat sailed to safety,” she said as a picture appeared on the screen showing the MUTO in flight with the Cetus in its limbs. This made Luna’s eyes widen in shock.

“It killed a constellation animal!?” she almost shouted. “It’s done something so simple that would have been a challenge for us.”

Stall nodded as he then turned to a young analyst manning the console. “Martini?”

An impressive array of data and video screens faced Martini, an alert young officer in her early twenties. She was focused on various screens displaying what appeared to be night-vision feeds of a platoon of Equestrian Royal soldiers trekking through a dense jungle. A spectral green glow tinted a view of dense bamboo groves and underbrush.

“Aye, sir,” Martini reported. “Sparta One is tracking the Cetus’s residual magic trail northwest of Diamond Head.” Disbelief registered on her face as she confirmed the location. “In the midst of Haywaii.”

Serizawa inhaled sharply. Haywaii was no abandoned temple or remote mining came. It was a very populated island.

The MUTO and ponykind were on a collision course.

The Green Berets advanced through the nocturnal jungle, knitted out with hazard gas masks and night-vision goggles. The dense bamboo forest was lush and fragrant, abloom with wild orchids, hibiscus, and plumeria. Hidden waterfalls cascaded in the background, but any wildlife was unusually silent, as though the local fauna had made themselves scarce. They were only miles away from lively beaches and night life of Waikiki, but, from the looks of things, they might as well as been deep in the Amarezon rain forest. The dense underbrush made for hard slogging, but the soldiers maintained a brisk pace. They hacked their way through the jungle with machetes.

The leader of the team, Captian Buck Calzone, was a combat veteran who had taken part in wide variety of missions over the years, ranging from counter-terrorism to ponitarian assistance, but this assignment was a new one. Nothing in his extensive training and experience had involved tracking down a monster, let alone a constellation whale. He used his horn to guide them through the jungle. The spell he was currently using clicked faster and faster as they zeroed in on their objective. Spotting something ahead, through the green-tinted view of his goggles, he raised his hoof to signal a halt.

‘Whoa,’ he thought. ‘There’s something you don’t see every day.’

The Cetus, the largest of the marine constellations, was standing upright among the trees, as though dropped above. Nearly six hundred feet tall and more than forty feet across, the whale was encrusted with a hardening resinous secretion that dripped slowly down its side. Its eyes had lost their light, signifying that it was dead. Its agape jaw was filled with streaks of coagulated blood, causing him and his team to shudder.

The twelve-pony team spread out around the base of the dead whale, gazing up at the surreal sight. Calzone didn’t like the look of this. Whales belonged in the ocean depths, not perched upside-down in the Haywaiian jungle, only a short hop from Diamond Head. This was wrong with a capital W.

“Guardian 3, this is Sparta 1,” he responded via radio. “We’ve located the Cetus, Break—“

Something stirred above the jungle canopy high overhead. Craning his head back, Calzone spied the MUTO itself, crouched above the upright whale. Despite his earlier briefing, the soldier was taken aback by the sheer size and freakishness of the winged monstrosity, which looked like a cross between a giant bug and a dragon. Its shiny black wings were folded in behind it like an ominous dark cloak. A thick orange secretion oozed from the creature’s segmented underside. The photos he’d been shown before had failed to capture how truly monstrous this “organism” was.

‘Sweet mother of—“

“Guardian 3, you’re not going to believe what else we found.”

The command center aboard the Saddletoga immediately responded. “Sparta 1, Guardian 3. Six Actual requests a sit-rep, over.”
To Calzone’s relief, the MUTO ignored the stunned Green Berets down on the forest floor. Instead it had torn open the side of the Cetus’s body and was gorging on the magic-enriched meat, gobbling down the fleshy chunks like a pelican downing a fish. Calzone and his team was suddenly nauseous at the sight, a few of them were green in the face.

He tried to convey to Command what he was seeing.

“Guardian 3, tell the Six it’s… uh… well, it appears to be eating the whale.”

‘Of course,’ Serizawa thought. ‘Just as it fed on the artifact’s magic at Hoofishima before.’

A momentary hush fell over the CDC. Admiral Stall looked at Serizawa, who nodded grimly in confirmation of the Green Beret’s on-site assessment of the situation. Stall absorbed this new intel with admirable calm and efficiency. He looked to Celestia, who was focused on the screen before turning to the admiral. She gave him a firm look before nodding, giving the OK. He stepped briskly to the center of the war room and raised his voice to be heard above the general hubbub.

“Cat’s out of the bag, ponies,” he declared. “New protocol is safety, not secrecy. Get me eyes in the air. Notify Coast Guard District Fourteen and Haywaii Guard. There are a million ponies on that island.”

Serizawa recalled the devastation at the M.U.T.O base and in the Fillyppines years ago. He could only imagine the consequences of the creature invading a major population center. They were looking at a catastrophe in the making.

“Admiral,” an analyst announced. “We’re picking up a message.”

“Where’s it coming from,” the admiral asked.

“It’s from Fort Bray, sir,” the analyst said. The admiral nodded.

“Put them on-screen,” he ordered. The analyst nodded before typing into his keyboard and the large monitor above came to life to showing the caller.

It was Stella, the griffon private from Fort Bray. She saluted to the admiral, who saluted back. “This is Private Stella at Fort Bray,” she said. “I’m calling to report an important message.”

“What is the message, soldier,” the admiral asked.

“Last night,” she explained. “The fort was attacked.” This caused many in the war room tense a bit. “The thing that attacked us wasn’t an army, but a monster. It decimated the fort and practically brushed off our forces.”

“Can you describe it, Private?” Celestia then asked. The griffin nodded before continuing.

“It looked like a dinosaur, your highness,” she answered. “But it could breathe fire like a dragon.”

This made Serizawa and Graphic tense immediately. A dinosaur that could breathe fire like a dragon, it had to be him.

“Tell me, Private,” Serizawa said. “Did it look anything like this?” He then held up a picture taken back in 954, featuring the said creature.

“That’s it!” she exclaimed. “That’s what attacked the base!”

“What was its heading?” he immediately asked. The griffin thought a bit before answering.

“It was heading south, I believe.”

Serizawa immediately trotted over to the illuminated map in the center of the room. He traced his eyes from Fort Bray and continued down south. His eyes then widened as they landed on the next landmass on the creatures path. Haywaii.

“We’re picking something up,” an analyst cried out. This caused everypony to look up on the screen. A large blip was heading right towards them from the north. Whatever it was, it was huge. “It’s approaching from the Neighsianic.”

“We need to check out that object,” Stall said as he looked at the screen. Celestia nodded in agreement as she had a distinct feeling about what it was.

Serizawa then trotted out of the war room heading for the flight deck. He knew that he was coming. Right now, he had to witness the monster’s arrival. Graphic followed after the unicorn stallion, hoping to catch up. Luna then took this chance to follow after both unicorns. She was hoping to witness this as well.

“Where are you going?” Graphic asked.

“Up to the flight deck,” Serizawa answered. “I think he’s coming.”

“What are you doing?” she asked again. Serizawa turned to her with a serious look.

“I have to see this.” He simply said. Luna then trotted over to the two.

“Doctor, wait,” she shouted a bit. Serizawa turned to the princess as she stopped next to him. “We wish to join you. We would like to look upon the beast that approaches.” Serizawa thought a bit before nodding to the princess. They then make their trek to the flight deck with post haste.

At the beach, Coral was trying to settle a dispute between two Elephant Seals. It was irritating that the two bull seals were bellowing in each other’s faces. If they continued this, Coral would eventually end up with a migraine.

“Okay,” she said. “The reason you two are fighting is because Bulk stole your fish pile?” Both seals nodded before glaring back at each other. She sighed before continuing. “Okay. Bulk, you apologize to Blubber here for stealing the fish.” Bulk bellowed flaring up his trunk-like nostril. “I don’t care if your pride is on the line. Either apologize to each other or I’m—“

Her attention was then shifted when she heard the sound of subsonic flight zooming overhead. She looked to see a flight of pegasi heading inland from somewhere out at sea. Sonic booms shook the night. The pegasi came in so fast and so low that their passage whipped up the sand on the beach. This caused nearby tourists to look up in surprise. Even the hula dancers stopped swaying and stared up at the pegasi. Contrails of clouds streaked the night sky. Bartenders stopped serving drinks.

‘Strange,’ Coral thought. ‘Nopony said anything about an airshow happening tonight.’

The previous flight of pegasi was just the beginning. More pegasi arrived next, swooping in from downtown. Haywaii Guard members, equipped with crossbows and armor, each landed on the hotel rooftops, staking out sniper positions. They aimed their weapons at the wooded slopes of the Koolau Mountains, almost as though they expected something bad to attack from the hills any moment. Small airships buzzed above Waikiki.

Coral felt suspicious of the current activity. She looked around at the other ponies to see looks of worry and were whispering amongst themselves. Something was going on and right now she needed to find her grandfather. She looked to the seals, who looked as frightened as the ponies.

“Boys,” she said getting the seals attention. “Go home and we’ll discuss the issue later, okay?” The seals nodded before hobbling over the water and swimming away. With her own hobbling, she trekked to find her grandfather, hopefully he could ease her suspicions about what was happening.

The train glided toward the next terminal along, the elevated track, which ran approximately thirty feet above the tarmac below. Rows of airships were parked, balloon to balloon away from the runways. Twilight was currently reading a book, looking up from the pages to look at Nyx and her friends, who were gabbing away about their experiences in Haywaii. She then turned her gaze to her friends. Rarity and Spike were enjoying each other’s company. He was practically asleep while leaning into Rarity, while she gently stroked his scaly head with her hoof as she smiled. Applejack and Pinkie were chatting, mainly about the sweet delights they got to eat. Fluttershy was asleep as well, leaning next to Rainbow, who didn’t mind, as she read one of the Daring Doo books. She couldn’t help at smile at the scene before she felt a hoof wrap around her shoulder. She looked to see Flash smiling at her. She smiled as he nuzzled her as they enjoyed the ride to their terminal.

“So,” he said. “Was this vacation what you asked for?” She nodded.

“Yes it was,” she replied. “A tropical getaway was something the doctor ordered.” He chuckled.

“Yeah,” he said. “Considering that one night when we were alone.” Twilight’s face immediately went beet red as she tried to hide her face into her book.

Suddenly the sound of excitement from the CMC was heard as most of the group look to see them pointing outside. They looked and saw a flight of pegasi roaring past the airport toward the densely forested hills beyond. This peaked Twilight and the other’s interest.

“What tha hay was that,” Applejack asked. “Those pegasi seemed in ah hurry like cattle in ah stampede.” Rainbow Dash narrowed eyes a bit.

“I think I recognize them,” she said. “I think that was the Lightning Strikers.” Twilight raised a brow at her.

“Lightning Strikers?” she asked. Rainbow nodded.

“Yeah,” she explained. “They’re like the Wonderbolts but they lean more to the marines. I heard from Spitfire that they take care of things that would be too much for the Wonderbolts.”

Twilight simply nodded before turning to the direction the pegasi zoomed off. Rainbow said that they were only sent to handle things that the Wonderbolts couldn’t. She wondered what in the forest was so important. Whatever it was, she had a bad feeling about it.

Streaking through the sky, the Lightning Strikers flew in formation towards the mountain range overlooking Honoluna. The lead pegasi, Captain Donut Latigo, readied himself for combat against an entirely new type of threat. As they crested a rocky jungle ridge, the MUTO came into view, crouching above the bamboo trees like the world’s biggest praying mantis. Despite being prepped for this mission, Donut gulped at the sight of the enormous winged monster. It was hard to believe that such a creature actually existed outside of books and movies. Yet there it was: right in front of them, rippling with some sort of eerie bioluminescence.

The squadron armed themselves by coating themselves with lightning with the use of their pegasus magic, which ought to be more than enough to take out the dangerous creature. “Niner-niner,” he reported over the headset radio. He aimed himself at the MUTO, suddenly the magic induced lightning around him started to dissipate. “What the--?”

As the squadron passed overhead, the MUTO immediately switched its focus from its meal to the pegasi, bellowing at the winged ponies before going back to eating. The sound of incoming subsonic flying deterred its attention again, it looked and saw the same squadron flying above it. It gave a creaking bellow where a piece of Cetus meat dropped out of its beaked maw. The large hunk fell down where the Green Berets were located, causing them to scatter from the fleshy object.

“Be advised,” he said over his headset. “Preparing to engage target.” The squad took a different approach this time. They each gathered a clump of black cumulonimbus clouds, pushing towards the MUTO. Hopefully multiple lightning strikes will do the job.

“Guardian 3,” Calzone reported in the headset radio. “We’re getting movement down here.”

Just as the report was given, the MUTO reared up one of its fore limbs and began glowing brighter than before. A rippling aurora charged the air around it, only a heartbeat before it slammed its limb down, generating a visible EMP. The pulse spread out, hitting the Green Berets as well as the Lightning Strikers. The pegasi instantly felt heavy as they dropped from the sky like flies from a bug zapper. Right now, Captain Donut was panicking as he tried to stabilize himself.

“Control, I’m losing altitude,” he shouted over the radio. “Again, I’m losing—“He and the other Lightning Strikers crashed through the Haywaiian canopy, a few of them landing on some the Green Berets. It was there the captain’s vision began to blur before passing out.

All at once, the entire airport lost power.

Agitated voices filled the train as the overhead lights sputtered out, leaving the passengers in darkness. The train slowed to a stop upon the track, stalling between stations. Twilight place a hoof on her head as a headache was felt immediately after the power went out. She wasn’t the only one, though. Mostly everypony seemed to have weird symptoms. The unicorns looked like they were suffering from collective headaches. The earth ponies looked like their strength was sapped away from their bodies. She even saw a pegasus foal, who she saw fluttering earlier, suddenly appeared to be grounded.

“What the hay was that,” Rainbow asked.

“I don’t know, sugercube,” Applejack replied. “But for some reason I feel like I just went through ah county fair rodeo ten times straight.”

“And I feel like I have the most irritating of headaches,” Rarity whined as she rubbed her hoof to her head. “My head feels dreadful!”

“I feel like I went through one hundred parties while taking care of Pumpkin and Pound Cake at the same time,” Pinkie Pie added with a yawn. “Then again I could add a few more parties—“

“We get it Pinkie,” Rainbow said with a frown before turning to Twilight. “Do you have any idea what caused the power to go out?”

Twilight’s brain went into overdrive. She factored everything. From the instant the power went off to the symptoms the various ponies had. She tested her theory and tried casting a spell, to which her friends watched in confusion. Her horn glowed but instantly flickered out. She then turned to her friends believing she had an answer.

“I think it was an EMP,” she answered to her friends. They all looked at one another with raised brows.

“A what?” all answered. She sighed before looking to her friends.

“An EMP,” she continued. “It stands for electromagic pulse. It’s a pulse of high-level magical energy that can spread out for miles. It’s known to shut down anything powered by magic. It’s also known to temporarily affect a pony’s natural abilities.”

“What kind of things?” Fluttershy asked timidly.

“Well,” Twilight continued. “If an earth pony was hit by it they would lose their strength. Pegasi would lose their ability to fly and unicorns would lose their magic.”

“Does that also apply to alicorns, darling,” Rarity asked. Twilight nodded.

“Yes it does, Rarity,” she said. “Since alicorns represent all three breeds they would lose strength, flight and magic altogether.”

“How long does this last?” Rainbow asked. “I don’t want to be a pegasus that’s grounded.” Twilight thought a bit before answering.

“It really depends on the strength of the pulse,” she replied. “Since the power’s off and we appear to be affected by it on a small scale, I’d say it won’t be long before both the power and our abilities come back.”

Everypony in the group nodded and patiently waited. The sooner the power comes back on the better. Twilight then stared into the forest beyond the airport. She had a deep feeling that whatever those pegasi from before went in there to face, was possibly the cause of the EMP she and her friends experienced.

Chief Tiki Wiki looked onward to the ocean. His eyes focused on the waters of his home. He could feel something amiss. He didn’t have to be a unicorn to know something was wrong.

“Grandpa!” a young voice called out. He turned to see his granddaughter, Coral Reef, bounding over to him.

“What’s wrong, Coral?” he asked. Coral panted a bit before catching her breath and looked up to the earth pony chief.

“Grandpa, something weird is going on,” she said through breaths. “I just saw some military pegasi fly inland.” The chief nodded to this.
“I noticed that too,” he said before looking to the sea. “I can feel it in my old bones that something is amiss.”

“But what—“ she was cut off as she gasped while looking at the water. The tide appeared to be retreating rapidly, ebbing back into the bay. “Grandpa, the tide!”

Tiki Wiki noticed it as well. The waters on the shore continued to recede into the sea. This reminded him of the old legend of their island where the guardian first appeared. He and Coral then heard the sound of emergency sirens indicating a typhoon approaching. Tiki knew something was approaching, but it wasn’t a typhoon.

“Coral,” he said. “You get everypony to higher ground inland. I’ll go to the village and warn the others.” Coral immediately nodded before hauling off towards inland.

“Target spotted offshore,” a surveillance pegasi reported from above. “Two knots due east of your position. Could be a second bogey.”

Aboard the Saddletoga, Serizawa and Luna stood near the ships runway. Serizawa commandeered a pair of binoculars from a passing worker. His eyes peered through the long-distance lenses and looked upon the moonlit sea. Luna peered out to the sea as well, spotting a darkened shape in the distance.

“Here,” Serizawa said handing over the binoculars to the lunar princess. She took them and looked into the lenses and gasped at what she saw.

She quickly located the mysterious shape she saw before, only to discover the jagged protrusion had been joined by two smaller points on either side. Recognition dawned in her eyes as she grasped what she was seeing: a row of gigantic dorsal fins.

Racing straight toward the fleet.

Warning sirens sounded as observers aboard the various ships spotted the oncoming threat and braced for impact. Luna and Serizawa suspected that few aboard the vessels, except perhaps Graphic, Celestia and a hoofful of others, knew exactly who or what was surging their way, but it was obvious something very large and solid was on a collision course with the Saddletoga and the other ships. Luna wrapped her hoof around a safety rail, not that she expected it would do much good. She looked over to Serizawa, who didn’t move an inch, only to continue to watch the incoming object heading right for them.

Then, at the last minute, before the mighty battleship could even attempt to avoid the collision, the fins dipped rapidly beneath the waves, diving beneath the Saddletoga and the rest of the strike group. The ship pitched back and forth as something impossibly massive passed beneath it. Baffled flight crews shouted to each other in confusion. Only Serizawa understood the awesome force that had just passed them by. Luna, however, sensed the power from the creature that passed under them. A strong and ancient power that outrivaled her and her sister’s combined power. The enforcer of balance had spared them, at least for the moment.

Both drained, Serizawa and Luna inwardly sighed in relief. Luna was a little disappointed that the owner of the fins had not revealed himself, but he suspected that the fateful moment would be upon them soon. Both the princess and scientist turned onward toward the unsuspecting island only a few miles away. Both had visited the island before, separately. It was a beautiful island, full of friendly locals and vacationing tourists.

Little did they know what was heading towards them.

“Come on, everypony,” Coral shouted to the crowd of fleeing ponies. “Quickly to higher ground! This way!”

Right now, Coral was motioning the crowd of locals and tourists to safety. However, it was hard considering everypony was panicking at the moment. She kept a strong face and motioned them the best she could.

The sound of large amounts of rushing water reached her ears as she turned around and gasped in fear. Right there, the tsunami roared over the beach to flood the crowded streets and buildings beyond. The raging water washed over blocks of bars, night clubs, shops, and restaurants. Telephone poles and power lines snapped one after another, causing a total blackout to envelop Waikiki. Coral immediately started hauling herself towards inland, hoping to stay ahead of the wave. Luckily for her, the wave finally spent itself, only a few blocks behind her, which Coral slowed to a stop. She panted in relief as she looked at the dying wave. However, the sound of the wave died, only to be supplemented by a series of thunderous impacts, like slow, ponderous footsteps of a giant, getting closer and closer. Thoom. Thoom! THOOM!

The footsteps were accompanied by a deep, churning rumble that sounded like a giant breathing. Coral stared wide-eyed into the darkness behind her, seeing a looming shadow that stood bigger and taller than any of the blacked-out hotels overlooking the beach. A shadow with legs, arms, and a head like a dragon’s.

Several flare spells shot up like fireworks from the hotel rooftops. Flashes of blood red light offered glimpses of the gigantic creature emerging from the bay and stomping through the flooded streets. The monster was literally too big to take in all at once. Coral caught bits and pieces of the colossal whole with recognition in her eyes.

Three rows of jagged fins running down the creature’s mountainous back.

Two clawed hands with four fingers each.

An endless, spiny tail that looked as long as a train.

It was him. The guardian of their island from the Haywaii founding story.

“It’s him,” she muttered in awe. “I never thought I’d actually get to see him in my life.”

Suddenly, the pegasi with crossbows opened fire from the rooftops. Several unicorns also stationed there casted bolts of magic. Arrows and magic bolts split the darkness, but the giant sea-monster kept striding forward, squashing carts, wagons and carriages and small buildings beneath his mighty tread. His mammoth tail swung back and forth behind him, wiping away bars, boutiques, and coffee shops. The furious barrage, however, had no effect on the monster, which seemed to be heading toward the nearby hills, heedless of whatever structures got in his way. He paid no attention to the insignificant stallions, mares and foals frantically running from him, or even the armed troops trying and failing to repel him. Mere equines seemed beneath his notice.

Fleeing tourists and locals scrambled to get out of the way of the monster’s path of destruction. Coral quickly ducked into an alley and watched as the lumbering beast passed her by. She stayed there for what felt like forever until, finally, giant footsteps seemed to recede into the distance. The deafening spell casting died away as well.

Coral ventured out of the alley and looked around. The power was still out all over Waikiki, but numerous small fires blazed inside the ruins of trampled buildings. As the smoke from the spells began to clear, blown away by the wind from the ocean, Coral and the other survivors gaped in astonishment at the cataclysmic view before them.

The monster was gone, heading northwest towards the hills above Honoluna, but he had left a trail of destruction in his wake. A swath of flattened buildings and carriages, at least three blocks across, stretched from the sea to the jungle beyond. The invincible creature had cleared a path through the heart of Waikiki, crushing everything in his way. A trolley carriage was ground into the pavement. A giant footprint was sunk deep into the luxury golf course. Neither tourist traps nor residential neighborhoods had been spared. Palm trees littered the rubble like broken toothpicks.

Coral looked from the destruction to the patch the monster created. It was heading northwest into the hills. Coral then tensed as the answer appeared before her. She knew where it was heading. It was heading for the Honoluna International Airport.

The Green Berets composed themselves after that whole ordeal. Captain Calzone did a quick head count and confirmed that his entire group had survived. A few of them were tending to the injured pegasi from the Lightning Strikers. Most had injured wings but nothing a healing spell couldn’t fix.

“Anypony hurt,” he called out to his group. Most of them shook their head. “Anypony get an eyeball on the bogey?”

Suddenly, a clicking bellow was heard from a distance. Calzone jumped to his hooves, armed and ready, while his team did likewise. His night-vision goggles penetrated the murky night, revealing a leveled stretch of the jungle leading down to the coast. His heart sank as he spied the flickering lights of the Honoluna Airport in the near distance. Thousands of civilians passed through that airport every hour.

And the MUTO was on its way.

Gasps of relief echoed inside the train as the lights began to flicker back to life throughout the airport. It appeared the power had been restored and the blackout was over. The train started moving forward again.

“See,” Twilight spoke up. “What did I tell you?” The others just smiled, knowing Twilight would be right about the situation.

Nyx then looked ahead on the track as the lights on it started to flicker back on. Several meters ahead, she could see something large moving through the darkness. Unlike most ponies, her eyes could see pretty well in the dark. Her eyes at the moment could see something large walking through the airport.

As the spotlights reawakened, each flickered on around the curve to reveal…

The MUTO, straddling the track directly in front of them! It gave out a mighty clicking bellow, alerting the ponies on the train.

Pandemonium erupted aboard the train as the other passengers spied the gigantic winged monster directly ahead, but the automated train kept gaining speed, heading straight toward the creature. Twilight and the others were shocked at the sight of it. Fear-crazed passengers rushed toward the opposite end of the train. Twilight quickly grabbed onto Nyx, but the panicky stampede tore the filly from her grasp. Nyx was swepted away by the mob, even as the train sped toward the monster. She then quickly concentrated her magic in her horn and casted a Levitation Spell, causing Nyx to be enveloped in a purple glow and pulled directly to her mother.

Suddenly, a small but agile airship swooped down from the sky, adding to the tumult. The wash from its rotors rattled the train’s windows. It soared past the head, right overhead. The flying battleship’s sudden arrival elicited more screams than cheers. Ordinary travellers suddenly found themselves in the middle of a battle between the armed forces and a giant insect-thing.

The airship then opened fire upon the MUTO, various cannons firing at the beast. The MUTO howled in protest, swiping at the ship with one of its enormous forelimbs. The elusive airship dodged the swipe, flying away before making a u-turn back to the MUTO. The monster shrieked but its attention then caught the incoming train. It roared at the metallic transport and went in for the attack.
“Everypony,” Twilight shouted. “To the back! Now!”

The MUTO then bit through the front of the train as well the elevated track beneath it. Horrified screams were drowned by the din of shredded metal and shattered concrete. Tons of debris, mixed with falling bodies, crashed down onto the tarmac more than two-dozen feet below. The rest of the train continued over the edge of the splintered track, but caught on mangled steel supports and dangled precariously over the rubble below. Gravity seized the survivors who didn’t have wings and tumbled helplessly out the severed end of the train, screaming all the way, even as the recorded voice kicked in automatically: “Please watch the gap…”

“Rainbow, Flash, Fluttershy,” Twilight called out. “Get everypony here down to safety.”

“On it, Twi!” Rainbow saluted before letting go of the railing. She and the other pegasi proceeded to setting down the surviving ponies.

Twilight then unfurled her wings and proceeded to the ground while carrying Nyx in her hooves. As they settled down, Twilight looked at the MUTO several yards away, perched on the other side of the severed tracks, snapping angrily at the buzzing airship. Twilight stared at the creature with peaked curiosity. She hadn’t seen a creature like that in her entire life nor had she found anything match its description within “Equestria’s Monster Encyclopedia”. Whatever it was, it was must have been an undiscovered species. This made the inner researcher in her to squeal with glee.

“Twilight,” Applejack called her attention. “What tha hay is that thing?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “Whatever it is I don’t think it’s friendly. Its characteristics, however, make it similar to various forms of insects, while also being a mix of some form of reptile.”

“Forget the science lesson,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “What are we going to do about it?”

“Yes, darling,” Rarity added. “Do you have a plan?” This caused Twilight to think before immediately thinking of a plan.

“I got it,” she said. “Fluttershy and Rainbow, you two head it off so Fluttershy can talk to it and convince it to leave.” This caused Fluttershy to shudder a bit but Rainbow assured her causing her fear to dissipate. “Pinkie Pie and Rarity, you two try to evacuate the other ponies to safety.” Both of them nodded before galloping off to do their task. “Applejack and Flash, you two stay with the kids and make sure they stay put.” Both ponies nodded and attended to the children. Twilight then looked as Rainbow and Fluttershy flew off into the direction of the MUTO.

The MUTO howled at the airship as it dodged another swipe. This flying thing was irritating it to no end. It will see to it that this thing will never fly—

“Um, excuse me sir,” a timid voice called out. “Could I talk to you for a second if you don’t mind me asking?”

The MUTO turned its head to see both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash hovering eye level with it. Its head tilted in confusion at the action of these two creatures. To it they were nothing but food. So why were these two trying to talk to it?

“I’m sorry to say this,” Fluttershy continued. “But, could you go somewhere away from ponies? It would be most appreciated and give other ponies relief.”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash added. “So move your flank out of here before I have to kick it out.”

The MUTO growled menacingly at the rainbow-maned pegasus. It let out a howl at both pegasi, covering them a bit in its drool. Fluttershy shook herself of the substance before glaring at the monster.

“There’s no need for that tone, mister,” she scolded the monster. “You shouldn’t roar at ponies trying to ask you kindly to leave. If you don’t behave and heed our advice, I’ll use… the Stare!”

The MUTO then growled at the pink-maned pegasus, hoping to intimidate her. Fluttershy then proceeded to give the MUTO the Stare. Instead of being frightened, the MUTO tilted its head in confusion. Within its vision, it couldn’t make out the visual expression Fluttershy was displaying. All it could see was her pink aura shimmering within its vision. Looking at it made it feel one thing: hungry.

Fluttershy immediately took notice that her Stare wasn’t working on the creature. It rose up with a mighty roar ready to chomp down on the pegasus. Fluttershy screamed before she was grabbed by Rainbow as they zoomed away from the monster. It roared at the two before giving chase.

“Fluttershy! Rainbow!” Twilight shouted as she then galloped towards them.

She took to the air and charged her horn, casting a bolt of magic at the MUTO. It hit the monster’s side causing it to howl. It then turned to Twilight, whose aura was purple and large in quantity. It drooled at the sight of it and started giving chase to the purple alicorn. Twilight gasped in fear before trying to fly away from the MUTO.

Nyx gasped as she watched her mother being chased by the winged monster. Without hesitation, she galloped after her mother hoping to help her. Flash noticed this and called out to her to come back. Nyx ignored him and continued onward.

The MUTO made several snaps at Twilight, who dodged each and every one. Twilight tried to think of a plan on how to stop it but she couldn’t think fast enough when the monster was right on her tail. The MUTO was about to snap at her again but was stopped as a small bolt of magic hit it in the face. It howled in irritation before looking in the general direction of where the bolt originated from.

The origin of it was Nyx, whose eyes were filled with an intense glare at the MUTO. Her horn was glowing with a midnight blue aura ready to fire again.

“Leave my mommy alone, you big bully!” she shouted. The MUTO creaked and clicked at the alicorn filly with interest.

Like Twilight, Nyx’s aura in its vision was as abundant. Unlike Twilight, Nyx’s aura was colored midnight blue as sparkles were glimmering like specs of starlight. The MUTO forgot the mare as it decided to go after an easier meal. With a shriek, it charged after the young filly.

Nyx’s eyes widened and her magic aura dissipated from her horn immediately as she started galloping for her life. Behind her the MUTO gave chase. Twilight immediately noticed the monster’s change in targets and saw with eyes in horror that it was chasing her daughter.

“Flash,” she shouted. “Save Nyx!” Flash showed no hesitation and took to the air after the young filly.

As he was closing in, he didn’t notice the airship from before closing in on the MUTO. Without time to react, the pegasus stallion was knocked away and fell to the ground below. He luckily landed on luggage which cushioned his fall but immediately passed out.

“Target in sight,” One of the airship pilots reported as they closed in on the MUTO. “Two o’clock, 300 meters. We’re on 6-X-01. Target confirmed.” The ships cannons then opened fire on the MUTO as it continued its chase.

Suddenly, a massive object rose up next to it forcing the pilot to take momentary evasive maneuvers. The airship continued towards the MUTO, but lost control and ended up crashing into the MUTO’s wing as it continued its chase. Nyx took this opportunity and concentrated magic into her horn and in a flash she teleported a distance away from the MUTO near the large airships. The MUTO roared in confusion as it tried to find the alicorn. It however was repelled back as the airship from before crashed into the larger airships, igniting them.

Thanks to the flames, the airships started exploding one by one, spreading fire and napalm like a wall. Nyx tried to outrun the flames but unfortunately they were starting to close in on her. Her eyes widened in horror as time seemed to slow down as the flames etched closer and closer. She knew she wasn’t going to make it out of this. Her magic was practically spent thanks to the magic bolts and the teleportation. She looked to see her mother being held back by the others as she desperately tried to reach her and called out her name. Right now, the alicorn filly closed her eyes shut with tears at the edge waiting for the flaming embrace of pain and death.

THOOM!

A deafening sound of a large object striking the ground could be heard around the airport. Nyx slowly opened her eyes and looked to see she wasn’t charred or burned. She heard a massive growl and looked up, causing her eyes to widen in awe. There a meter or two near her was an enormous scaly foot. Everypony in the terminal watched in silenced shock as the owner of the foot lumbered into the airport with a grunting growl. Twilight, the Mane Six and the CMC watched in silence as the massive creature approached the MUTO.

The MUTO immediately realized something approaching, and it turned to face it. It flared its wings and released a howl, trying to intimidate the larger creature.

Twilight looked at the larger creature facing the MUTO. She couldn’t believe something that huge existed. Her head then tried to wrap around the entire description of the monster before her.

It was saurian in appearance, around 108.2 meters in height, with thick and highly muscular legs leading into a beefy torso. Its arms looked almost like those of a primate in relative size to the body, but slightly shorter. It had four claws on each, with a prominent collar bone at the base of the throat similar to that of a dinosaur. The shoulders were slightly forward, also similar to a dinosaur. On its back were three rows of spines, with the center row being the longest. The monster’s neck tapered up into a head which looked almost like that of a bear from the front. A fairly small snout leading into high cheek bones with prominent brow ridge. The nose and lips curled into a snarl, and the creature’s head was rearing back.

What happened next literally shook the earth and everypony’s soul. He roared.