//------------------------------// // 9: Ogasawara Island // Story: A King Unmatched // by Mister Friendly //------------------------------// Morning broke anew over Neighpon. For the first time since arrival, Twilight found herself waking up without incident, rather than some world-shattering calamity. It was a nice change of pace, all things considered. She groaned petulantly and rolled over, not ready to greet the new day just yet. If the world wasn’t in imminent danger of blowing up, a few extra minutes of sleep wouldn't hurt anypony. Twilight was distracted, however, when she bumped into a fuzzy back lying on her other side. That was not something she’d been expecting, not in her half-asleep state of mind. Curiously, she lifted her head and cracked open an eye. Rarity lay beside her on a futon that had been laid out for them the night before. On the other side of her, two lumps lay curled up underneath a similar blanket on a neighboring futon, a splash of rainbow mane eclipsing a cloud of pink curls. Rarity’s breathing was slow and even; Twilight’s slight nudge hadn’t disturbed her in the least. For such an early riser to still be sleeping like the dead, she must have been very exhausted indeed. For Twilight, the previous day had passed in a flash, thanks to the copious notes on Serizawa’s research that he’d gladly provided her with. She’d stayed shut up in a quiet room – which she would eventually learn was Serizawa’s study – and kept her nose buried in the intriguing information laid out in front of her. By the time she looked up again, Emiko was announcing dinner. Of course, her friends had kept plenty busy in the meantime, but whatever they’d gotten up to in order to fill the day, Twilight had been deaf to it. According to her friends, as recounted over a boiling pot of savory noodles unlike anything she’d ever had before, Fluttershy had stayed mostly with the injured ponies, namely Applejack, who was languishing under a sleep ban. Thankfully, her condition hadn’t worsened, but she was still noticeably out of sorts, and in a very grumpy mood. Rainbow had spent most of the day stretching her wings, or else lazing about above deck, much to the fascination of Serizawa. Apparently, seeing ponies napping on a sail boom was worthy of scientific documentation in a book curiously labelled "Pegasi Study Reference". Pinkie Pie had generally done her best to keep everypony lively and upbeat. She’d put on an extra dose of bubbliness all for the sake of Applejack, too, which had helped keep her from getting too dour. When the sun came out for a sparse few hours, she’d dragged Rarity above deck for a little sunbathing, which was right up the fashionista’s alley. Whenever Rarity hadn’t been catching some rays, she’d been interrogating Emiko with an unwavering persistence. The dress she wore – apparently called a kimono – was the subject of endless fascination for Rarity, and once her fashion sense was kicked on, it would not be kicked off. Everything from how one moved with fabric sheathing one’s hind legs, to the style of stitches in the seams was gone over in explicit detail, whether Emiko wanted to or not. Even at dinner, Twilight could see the creative cogs whirling in Rarity’s head, but with a lack of supplies to carry out whatever visions plagued her, she was left to sketch her visions on a scroll of paper, all the while looking dissatisfied and listless. All in all, it had apparently been an eventful and cathartic day for everypony, just what they’d needed after their encounter with Godzilla. Even Twilight felt more invigorated than she had in the last few days since setting out on this quest. Things still weighed on her mind, true, but at least it didn’t feel like she was being crushed by them anymore. Twilight stretched her legs luxuriously, then carefully extracted herself from the blankets wrapped around herself and Rarity. Accomplishing that, she headed for the door, quietly pushed it open, and slipped out into the hallway beyond. She walked to the end of the hall, then up the small flight of stairs, up onto the ship’s deck and into the fresh morning air. She barely even noticed the saltiness of it anymore. The first thing she did upon stepping into the open air was cast her eyes warily to the sky. The morning was still young, but the steely grey overhead was not promising regardless. If Twilight squinted, she just thought she could actually make out blue skies far overhead, but a thin veil of mists made it hard to tell. It was just another day in Neighpon, it seemed. It wasn’t truly fog, not really. Wisps of greyness hung in the air, clinging to the gently rolling surface of the water, hanging motionlessly all around as the boat sailed ever onward through the uneven banks. Sometimes, Twilight could see out over fifty yards across the calm waters. Sometimes, the clouds would move in, and she could barely see the edge of the boat. Nothing made a sound, save for the creaking of the ship as it rocked in the waves, and the slap of water against the bow. Twilight was growing so used to the sound by now it was almost background noise. “Good morning, Sparkle-san,” spoke Serizawa from behind her. Twilight hadn’t even seen him sitting near the rear of the ship, a cup of tea in one hoof. Behind him, the rudder moved and swayed in an unnaturally controller manner, as if manned by an invisible sailor. “G-good morning,” Twilight stammered, recovering from her surprise. “Sorry, I didn’t think anypony else was up yet.” Serizawa actually smiled at that. It was small, almost imperceptible, but Twilight still caught it nevertheless, and frankly it surprised her a lot more than it should have. “It is difficult for me to rest with so much on my mind,” Serizawa mentioned. Twilight nodded, completely understanding. “Yeah… I know the feeling.” Serizawa gave her a look, then motioned towards the floor beside him. Taking the invitation, Twilight stepped closer and took a seat next to him. She accepted a cup when it was offered, and for a time the two of them fell into silence. Twilight continued to look around through the swirling mists choking the air, until she chuckled humorlessly. “Does Neighpon ever have good weather?” Serizawa huffed – a sound that came dangerously close to an actual laugh. “Occasionally.” Any further comments were interrupted by a distinct and rapid clicking sound that cut through the air, causing Twilight to look around quickly. On Serizawa’s other side sat a plain wooden box that had obviously been built around something. Nodes protruded through cut holes. Two rods jutted up into the air at slightly angled directions, each glowing with a weak field of iridescent magical light. On the box’s front was a simple readout not unlike a radio – a long ruler-like bar marked with varyingly sized marks, with a single red needle moving lengthwise up and down the meter. Currently, the needle was spasming wildly around the sixth to eighth marker. Then, as Twilight watched, the clicking sound died down, and the needle drifted down towards one end, settling lazily between the second and third markers from the end, but never actually bottomed out. Twilight turned towards Serizawa for an explanation, only to find him gauging the sky overhead critically, eyes narrowed. Once the abrasive sound stopped, he relaxed again and looked down. “What was that?” Twilight questioned. Serizawa glanced at her, then moved slightly so as he could indicate the strange device. “This is something I built myself,” he explained. “It detects ether levels around it and it triggers an alarm whenever it detects feedback.” Twilight glanced at it, then up at the sky. “So… that just now…?” Serizawa nodded grimly. “A small disturbance. They have been happening regularly for the past two hours.” Twilight turned nervously towards Serizawa. “Is it anything we should be worried about?” she asked. He glanced down at the instrument’s front, looking speculative. “I hope not. The epicenter appears to be many miles from here. These disturbances are only echoes of that event, but it is difficult to know where it is headed. For the time being, we are safe. Still, this disturbance has been manifested for a long time.” Twilight looked at him, worry etched into her face. “Is… is that normal?” Serizawa shook his head slightly. “It is… new.” He then glanced up towards the sky, scrutinizing it carefully. For some reason, Twilight got a sense of why Serizawa was actually up while everypony else slept. He wasn’t enjoying the early morning peace at all. He was keeping watch, tracking the disturbance as it progressed in case it headed in their direction. For a time, they fell quiet again. Twilight’s mind slowly shifted back towards the problems that surrounded them, and the insurmountable task of fixing them. Just thinking about it made her feel less rested than before. “Did you sleep well?” Serizawa asked, breaking the silence. Twilight jolted and looked up at him. She recovered quickly and jumped at the change of topic. “Yes. Thank you for all of the hospitality.” Serizawa smiled, completely out of the blue. It was small, but it still took Twilight by surprise, and it was gone just as quick. “There is no need to thank me,” he said. “It is the least I could do. After all, you and your friends have travelled a long way to help us. Perhaps I should be thanking you.” Twilight smiled sheepishly, suppressing nervous laughter. “Well, it might be a little too early for that. We still have a long way to go before we save the day this time, and so far we’re not exactly off to a great start.” “You’ve done better than most that have tried,” Serizawa said grimly, “Oh, did my notes help you at all?” Twilight nodded. “I think so. It took me a little bit to familiarize myself with the language, but I think I’ve got the hang of it by now. I wasn’t expecting so much detail, either – I-I mean, considering what you have on hoof to work with.” Serizawa nodded understandingly. He wasn’t exactly in possession of cutting edge instruments; most of his tools he’d either salvaged or cobbled together himself. Still, for Twilight to familiarize herself with a foreign writing system in such a short time span was astonishing. Twilight leaned back, frowning into her cup. “But… I don’t know, something is still bothering me. I feel like we’re overlooking something, but I don’t know what.” She looked up towards the sky, lost in thought now. “I’ve only dabbled in ether studies from time to time,” she admitted. “I’m not very familiar with the field. I actually learned a lot more yesterday than I have from any of the books back in Equestria. Most of those were just magical theory, hypotheses, things like that. Your notes are really the first actual data I’ve ever gotten my hooves on. But… I don’t know. As I was going through the data yesterday, something kept nagging at me.” Serizawa remained silent while she spoke, though his features arranged themselves into a thoughtful frown. “What?” Twilight caught his eye, then waved her hooves. “Well, the thing I remember most about ether destabilizations is that once they occur, there is no predicting when or where they will occur within the affected area. At least, no reliable way. It’s like trying to predict where ionization would manifest a lightning bolt.” As if to prove her point, Serizawa’s ether detector went off again, chattering noisily as the needle shot up towards the sixth and seventh marker. A moment later, it drifted back down towards the neutral second and third. Twilight just gestured at it without saying a word, her expression meaningful. Serizawa nodded. “Yes, that is correct.” His answer only seemed to make Twilight all the more confused. “Then how is Godzilla always where they are occurring? How is he predicting where a disturbance will form ahead of time and intercept it?” Serizawa frowned even deeper at that. The revelation that Godzilla wasn’t the catalyst for the storms was still somewhat fresh in his mind; he hadn’t yet wrapped his head completely around the implications and adapted his way of thinking. Instead, he’d focused on what they might do to stop it. Twilight, on the other hoof, hadn’t been as set in her way of thinking on the subject. She was raising a very good question, and now that she’d voiced it, he couldn’t help but ponder over it himself. “There must be some reason,” Serizawa said after a moment. “Maybe Gojira is feeling something we cannot? A… pattern of some sort?” Twilight nodded. “That’s what I was thinking,” she said. “If the storms are forming in such a way that he can predict them, then there must be some principle system of symmetry underlying every event, otherwise Godzilla would never be able to keep up with them.” She looked away, out over the morning mists surrounding them. “If Godzilla can predict these disturbances, maybe that means there’s something directly causing them. If there is a cause, then there must be a source.” “And if there is a source,” Serizawa put in, “does that mean we might be able to fix it?” Twilight smiled slightly. “Yes, and more importantly, there might be a way to track it. That is what I think. The trick is going to be finding this source. And, you know, reversing whatever damage there might be. But if I can get my hooves on it – metaphorically speaking – I think I can do it.” Serizawa gave her a speculative look. “Are you always this optimistic?” Twilight’s smile grew wider. “Spend a couple days with Pinkie and you will be, too. That, or she’ll drive you insane. Whichever comes first.” This time, Serizawa’s laughter was clear as could be. The two were even almost able to pretend they didn’t hear another chattering alarm ringing through the air. Almost. ~~***~~ Spike tossed and turned fitfully in his little nest of blankets. He grunted, rolled over, kicked a little, rolled over… All at once, he was awake. With a startled yelp, he shot into the air, hit the ground sprinting, and tore out of the room at top speed, leaving five bleary-eyed and dazed mares blinking after him in confusion. “Whaz gotten into him?” Rainbow mumble. “Nature calls, ‘spose,” yawned Rarity, already halfway asleep again. With that little mystery solved, Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Emiko all plopped their heads back down and were out like a light moments later. Only, the mystery was anything but solved. Spike sprinted down the long hall towards the top deck, heart hammering in his chest. As he passed, a confused Applejack pried open her door, watching him go with no small amount of worry. “Bad, bad… this is bad,” Spike hissed to himself the whole way. On he sprinted, taking two steps at a time, until he flew out into the open air – much to Twilight’s surprise. “Spike?” she gasped, taken aback. “What’s the matter?” “Bad… trouble… feel… it!” Spike wheeze. “What?” Twilight asked, now looking very worried. That was when the alarm went off again, louder and more grating than ever before. Twilight look around, eyes snapping onto Serizawa's device as the needle pegged on the opposite end of the readout from where it had been – all the way up to the twenty-fifth marker. Over twenty five magic units, beyond eight times normal ether levels. “Uh oh,” she squeaked as the wind began to howl. “You two,” Serizawa ordered sharply, “get below deck.” The wind was already picking up, waves slapping louder on the side of the ship. Off to Twilight’s right, darkness was swelling through the mists as some great shadow moved to swallow the morning light. “What about you?” Twilight asked quickly. “I will stay,” he said quickly. “We should almost be to Ogasawara. If we are lucky, we can get into the cove before the storm hits.” Thunder cracked through the sky. A bolt of blinding light slashed through the heavens, the report only a split second behind. “If we are lucky,” he repeated. Twilight didn’t like those odds. She’d seen how swift the storm had formed last time; far too fast to outrun. Serizawa’s and Emiko’s ship was stout, but its fitness for high seas was questionable. They’d need a small miracle to make it there before the storm overtook them. “Hey! What’s going on?” Twilight spun around, just as Rainbow Dash poked her head up into the open air and took one bleary look around. Right behind her came Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity and even Applejack, who had deep bags under her eyes. The only one missing was Emiko, possibly because she’d picked up on the hints of what was happening. Twilight looked at them all, all the while trying to keep her balance as the ship’s pitching grew worse. “It’s happening again, isn’t it?” Fluttershy whimpered. A deafening thunderclap was the answer she got. Twilight turned her eyes upwards, nervously chewing her lip. The sky had turned dark and moody, and each second saw it grow darker still, the worst of it overtaking them from the west. “Serizawa,” she spoke up, “how much further to Ogasawara Island?” “A few miles,” Serizawa responded. He’d set aside his tea and had jumped up to put a hoof on the rudder. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Rainbow thought to point out, “but we don’t have ‘a few miles’.” A wave hit the side of the boat, a big one, one big enough to slosh ice cold sea water over the side and douse them all – much to Rarity’s horror. The ship rolled with a groan, nearly tossing the lot of them over as it pitched back the other way. “I have to change course,” Serizawa said. “Those waves will capsize us if I don’t turn into them!” “But we’re almost there!” Twilight said anxiously. “Who knows how long this disturbance will last, and how far off course it’ll push us.” “We don’t have a choice, Sparkle-san,” Serizawa said, already throwing the rudder as hard to one side as he could. “The storm is too powerful.” Twilight looked around, out towards the bow of the ship. To her surprise, she found Spike there. He was leaning forward, body tensed, head tilted up towards the sky, his eyes intense. “Spike!” she shouted at him as another wave crashed over the side, “What are you doing?” The young dragon didn’t turn around, or show any immediate sign of having heard her. He just stared up, eyes huge, as if transfixed by something far overhead, something worse than the storm. “Can’t you feel that?” he shouted. Twilight turned to follow his gaze, up into the storm clouds overhead, at the exact moment when the rain came down in one big sheet. She recoiled from the cold droplets – too cold, as if they’d passed through a freezer on the way down. Instinctively she ducked back into the shelter over the entrance to the lower decks, her eyes flashing back towards Spike, who was still on the bow. She was about to ignite her horn and snatch him up when, all of a sudden, Spike snapped his head to one side, his attention falling to sea level. “Wait!” he shouted. “Stop turning!” Serizawa didn’t have time to react. All a sudden, a wave broke across the rear of the ship, bashing into them hard enough to stagger them all. “Where did that come from?” Rainbow complained. But it wasn’t just the waves, Twilight realized. The wind had changed direction. The storm wasn’t blowing in from the west anymore. It’d changed nearly ninety degrees, slamming at them from behind so hard the sails were going taut, ropes and rigging straining audibly. Twilight turned back towards Spike, who was still keenly focused on the sky above. Moreover, how had he noticed it first? “Hey! Hey, I see something out there!” cried out Pinkie unexpectedly. Somehow, she’d managed to scale one of the swept back, angular sails and was perched as high up as she could go. How she could see anything through the torrential rain was anypony’s guess, but nevertheless she was pointing at something dead ahead. Twilight glanced at her, then followed her indicating hoof. She narrowed her eyes, trying her best to pierce the mists and obscuring downpour… The beach came out of nowhere. One second there was nothing but heaving, roiling waves and their white, foamy crests. The next, white sand covered in driftwood and flotsam – and lots of pointy, jagged rocks. Before anypony could do anything more than take a deep breath and brace their hooves, boat met solid ground, and it was not a peaceful meeting. Everypony was thrown over as the keel dug into soft sand, scraping and grinding jarringly across the sea bottom. It only lasted a second or two before the ship came to a complete stop, nose pitched high into the air with a purple dragon hanging on for dear life. “Land-HO!” Pinkie cheered, waving a hoof merrily through the air. “Thanks, Pinkie,” Rainbow growled from the floor. Meanwhile, Twilight had turned to give Serizawa a look, which the older stallion was trying to avoid. “It appears,” he grunted, “that my calculations were a little off.” ~~***~~ Thunder boomed across the sky as Twilight, Serizawa and her friends hit the rain-soaked sands of the beach. Waves sloshed around Twilight’s hooves, chilling her to the bone, but she ignored it. Instead, she cast her eyes up and down the shore, squinting through the curtains of falling rain. Palm trees stood in a line a few dozen feet away, standing like swaying sentinels in the turbulent wind. Through the haze of falling rain, Twilight just thought she could make out a shape beyond them; a large, low dome, like that of a squat hill. “Where are we?” Twilight said over the pelting rain and crashing waves. “Ogasawara Island, I think” Serizawa reported. “It is the only island close to Odo that is this large.” Lightning lanced across the sky, booming out loud enough to leave Twilight’s ears ringing. “Well we made good time,” Rainbow commented, “Now how about we find that healer pony and fix up Applejack? You know, before this weather gets any crazier?” That was when it started to snow. “Oh come on!” Rainbow screamed furiously at the black sky as the pounding rain gave way to fat, blustery clusters of white cottony coldness. The temperature was dropping fast enough for them all to feel the change. It was like getting hit by a blast from an open refrigerator door situated above their heads. And the colder it got, the windier it got. “Welp, least we ain’t gettin’ rained on,” Applejack commented wryly from behind. “I hardly see how this is an improvement,” Rarity snapped as she shivered like a naked lamb in the harsh wind. “Snowball fight!” cheered Pinkie as she dove for the first of the forming drifts. Fortunately for all, only a thin dusting had stuck to the sand, but it was getting thicker by the second. Twilight observed all of this with more than a little trepidation. “I’m going to assume this is new, too?” Twilight muttered to Serizawa, who was craning his neck back to stare at this more recent phenomenon. “Yes. Very new,” he responded. “And very bad.” He swiftly redirected his attention towards Twilight, urgency in the set of his eyes. “We should not stay here long. Whatever this new development is cannot be good, but more importantly, Gojira will not be far behind us, not after a disturbance this big.” Twilight nodded, her heart stuttering tremulously. She’d come to that particular conclusion some time ago. There was no way they were ready for another encounter with that monster, so they would have to make the most of their time. Quickly she turned back around, and met the expectant looks from all of her friends, all waiting for her orders. “Serizawa, do you know anypony on this island who could help us?” He nodded. “I do.” Twilight nodded in response, then turned towards the others. “Okay. Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack, go with Serizawa and find doctors,” she ordered. Applejack gave a sour look, but she made no comment. There was still a disoriented dullness in her eyes, though that could have been from a lack of sleep. “Rainbow? Pinkie? You two see if you can get this boat dislodged before they get back. We might have to get out of here really fast if Godzilla shows up.” Rainbow bristled, puffing up as much as she could. “If I see that overgrown lizard anywhere near us, I’ll kick ‘em so hard his mother’ll feel it! Nopony hurts my friends and gets away with it!” “Rainbow,” Twilight said with an edge of exasperation. Applejack cracked an appreciative smile, but was in no mood to encourage the temperamental mare. Rainbow just threw up her hooves. “I know, I know. I’ll get the stupid ship unstuck. But don’t think I’m gonna go running with my tail between my legs every time Tall-Dark-and-Spiny turns up.” Twilight really tried not to entertain that thought. If Godzilla really did make landfall here, at a time like this… That was a scenario she just couldn’t put herself through, not yet. Because she knew it wouldn’t be pretty. “Um… what about you, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, voicing the million bit question on everypony’s minds. Twilight frowned, and turned her eyes up towards the boiling storm clouds overhead. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this,” she said determinedly. “The sooner we figure out what’s causing these storms, the better. And in order to do that, I’ll need to find the heart of this storm. Spike!” She aimed her last word up at the prow, were a baby dragon was still clinging on. He looked down at her, anxious and stressed. “Uh… yeah?” “You’re coming with me,” Twilight said. “I don’t know how you’re doing it, but you can feel these things coming better than I can.” Twilight jumped into the air, lit her horn, and dropped Spike onto her back – much to his unease. “I don’t know about this, Twilight,” he mumbled uncertainly. “I’m getting a really, really bad feeling from this storm.” But Twilight was unmoved. She was focused now, and nothing would change her mind once she’d decided upon a course of action. “It’ll be fine, I promise. We’re just going to find the center of the disturbance, take a few readings, and come back. Nothing to it!” A great peal of thunder rang across the heavens, loud enough to rattle the teeth in their mouths. “… Probably.” Spike, meanwhile, had turned very, very white. “N-nothing to it. S-sure…” Twilight flapped her wings a couple times, then threw herself forward, working herself hard to get elevation in the icy, turbulent winds. The rest of her friends watched them go, trepidation weighing on them all. “You sure she’s gonna be alright?” Applejack asked. “We don’t have much of a choice,” Serizawa said grimly. “This may be our only opportunity to study a disturbance up close. It is dangerous, but doing nothing would be even more dangerous.” Rarity turned to watch the purple shape overhead as it disappeared beyond the streaming curtains of snow now descending from on high. It was only getting worse; soon, they’d be wading through knee-deep drifts at this rate. And she hadn’t thought to pack galoshes… Not that they’d be of much use, she reminded herself bitterly, considering their luggage had all been aboard the Amaterasu. “We should hurry,” Serizawa said, apparently sensing the urgency in the air. “Before the storm grows any worse.” ~~***~~ Emiko watched from the bow of the beached ship as the group split up to carry out who-knows-what. If Serizawa was involved, however, there must be some kind of plan in the works. She’d just have to have faith. She nervously bit her lip, shifting apprehensively from hoof to hoof as her eyes turned up towards the island that lay splayed out in front of them, slowly but surely turning bleached white underneath the first snowstorm it’d likely ever experienced. She shivered again under another blast of arctic wind, and decided then that standing around doing nothing wasn’t helping. A part of her wanted to follow the retreating form of Serizawa as it vanished into the underbrush, headed deeper into the island… but she thought better of it. Somepony had to stay to look after the sorceress and her maids, after all. It wasn’t much, but it was something. Please hurry, Serizawa-sensei, Twilight-san… ~~***~~ The snow had only grown thicker while Serizawa led three mares down a narrow, winding trail that snaked through a dense jungle of fan-shaped fronds and towering palm trees. It was a tropical paradise filled with bright, vibrant flowers and choked with more greenery than seemed possible, all slowly being buried beneath smothering blankets of bitter cold snow. Fluttershy kept glancing up at the dark, dark skies and the treetops thrashing in the cruel wind. All around, flowers were already closing, retreating as best they could from the lethal cold. But if the snow didn’t let up soon… Behind her, somepony groaned. She looked around, as did Rarity and Serizawa, as Applejack wobbled. Her face was pale, eyes unfocused, a queasy look on her face. In an instant, her friends were at her side. “Applejack,” Rarity said worriedly, “maybe you should stay back with the ship. You shouldn’t overexert yourself in your condition.” “’M fine,” Applejack mumbled, shaking her head from side to side. “Just… just got a little lightheaded, that’s all.” Fluttershy bit her lip. “Head injuries are really serious, Applejack,” she mumbled. “You need to rest.” Applejack huffed. “All Ah’ve been doin’ is restin’. Look, y’all are goin’ ta find a doctor, right? Ah can either wait around like a useless lump for them ta get here or Ah can go with ya ta find ‘em. Either way works, right? So let’s just… get this over with.” She squared her shoulders, forced herself to stand up straighter, and forged ahead, avoiding all looks as she caught up to Serizawa. “Honestly, that mare,” Rarity sighed, but she knew it was futile. Applejack was not one to simply wait around for something to happen, and considering she’d been doing nothing but lie in bed for the past day, her restlessness was understandable. But really, she could pick the worst times to be stubborn. “W-what should we do?” Fluttershy mumbled, turning towards Rarity apprehensively. “About the only thing we can do, darling,” Rarity sighed. “We’ll just have to keep an eye on her, and if she passes out, never let her live it down.” Fluttershy didn’t look too thrilled about that plan, but she kept it to herself. Still, worry over Applejack ate at her. She really was in no condition to be walking around like this… She and Rarity fell into step behind Applejack and Serizawa. All the while, they kept their attention squarely on their bullheaded friend, acutely aware of every little stumble or grunt she made. ~~***~~ Pinkie stared over the nose of the boat, down at a grunting and cursing Rainbow, who was currently throwing her shoulder against the prow of the ship in an effort to get it dislodged from the beach. As far as they could tell, only the front end was stuck, likely lodged deep in the soft mud. But there was a whole lot of ship in need of shifting, and right now it didn’t feel up for it. “Come on… just a little…!” Rainbow growled from below. Her wings worked hard, beating the air with a small hurricane of their own. Snowflakes swirled and danced on the turbulence, and the boat gave an inch… but that was all she accomplished. And the moment she let off the throttle, it rocked forward into the silt again. Finally, wheezing and panting, Rainbow floated back, tongue lolling from exhaustion. “Almost… almost got it… just a little more…” “You can do it, Dashie!” Pinkie cheered. She waved and whooped, doing her level best to be a one-pony cheerleader squad. It was about the only thing she could do; the ship was lodged too far off shore for her to lend a hoof, not with the tide coming in. Rainbow wiped her forehead of non-existent sweat, slinging off accumulating slushy snow instead. She frowned at it, then up at the clouds overhead. What she wouldn’t give for some decent weather right now… Rainbow frowned to herself, returning her attention to the boat. She couldn’t just sit around here doing nothing; all of her friends were out there, doing their best. So she would, too! “Alright, one more time,” Rainbow growled in pure determination. “I got this… Just one… more… push!” She marked each word by backing up, building up for her lunge. Out of nowhere, a wall of wind slammed into her. It hit broadside without any warning, crashing over her and the ship like a howling, rampaging beast. Even the stuck boat groaned and lolled to one side under the sheer force of it slamming into her sails. Rainbow yelped in surprise as she tumbled, falling all the way down to the churning, icy surf below. Pinkie squealed and skidded five whole feet on her tummy across the boat. Trees bowed in surrender to the tumult, flexible trunks groaning and leafy fronds whipping wildly. Within a heartbeat, the gust was gone, leaving the air eerily still in the aftermath. Rainbow gasped as she darted up out of the icy ankle-deep water below. She didn’t know water could hurt, but that water below her was so cold it felt like fire on her skin. “Pinkie! You alright?” Rainbow shouted. “Uh-huh,” Pinkie called back, hanging half on, half off the side. With a little scrabble from her hind legs, she clambered back up onto the boat, then turned and beamed at Rainbow. Rainbow shook herself, flinging clawing sea spray in every direction. “Celestia, that was cold… Where’d that even come from?” Together, she and Pinkie both looked up towards the sky, shooting an accusation. The undersides of the clouds were churning oddly, roiling and swirling. That gave Rainbow pause, confusion scrunching up her brow. She’d never seen clouds do that. It was as if something had just blown through it, something bigger than a mere gust of wind… ~~***~~ For the second time in just under a minute, Twilight shrieked as she tumbled, the baby dragon on her back clinging on for dear life. She’d thought the wind had been bad on the ground. Up here, though, it was in a league of its own. They came and went without so much as a warning, smashing into her from every angle again and again as if actively trying to thwart her attempts to move through the storm clouds. Twilight was an adequate flyer, but the storm was putting her skills of flight to the test. She gritted her teeth and steadied herself, doing what Rainbow had taught her to keep from spinning out of control. As long as she didn’t nose down, she would be fine… she hoped. After recovering from the latest attempt to toss her from the skies, Twilight clenched her teeth tight, then brought her horn to life. A small purple sphere wrapped around her, giving her just enough room to flap her wings. All at once the wind died around her, thought she could still hear it and, in a way, feel it bashing against her protective bubble of magic. “There,” she grunted. “That should do the trick.” “Next time,” Spike groaned, looking nauseous, “can we do that first?” Twilight gave him an apologetic look over her shoulder, then started working her wings as hard as she could. She steadily started gaining altitude, but even with her barrier in place, she still felt herself shifting and wobbling in the air as the unstoppable force of the wind met the immoveable object of her magic. “Sorry, Spike. I would have, but the less magical interference I have, the easier it’ll be to pick up any anomalies in this disturbance. Once we find the epicenter, I’m going to have to drop the shield again, or else I might not be able to pick anything up.” Spike looked less than thrill by that prospect. His apprehension only got worse when Twilight glanced at him again. “Alright, Spike. Which way is it?” she asked. “Do you feel anything?” “Yeah,” Spike mumbled, almost too low to hear over the howling, furious wind doing everything in its power to get at them. He glanced to his right, a look of pure unease on his face. “There’s something over that way. Something really bad… Twilight, I really don’t think…” “Right, that way,” Twilight said with a nod, and without waiting for Spike to finish his protest, she darted off, deeper into the dark heart of the storm. ~~***~~ The snow was coming down thick and heavy when Serizawa, Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack all rounded a bend in the jungle and found themselves presented with the first actual evidence of civilization. Ahead of them stood an archway, not unlike the ones that’d lead the way to the Odo Island shrine. Only this one had been completely stripped of paint, leaving its bleached and warped wood cracking and white. Snow was already piled three inches deep atop it, and the beginning of a fringe of icicles was forming under its eaves. “This should be it,” Serizawa said, stepping forward. The three mares following him hastened to keep up, though each continued to cast an eye up at the dilapidated archway as they passed underneath it and out of the jungle. Just beyond it were shacks and thatched roof huts, all standing in neat, orderly rows along a valley floor. An eerie silence hung in the air, marred only by the crunch of snow beneath the four ponies’ hooves as they stepped further into the village. All four turned this way and that, glancing at the many squat huts as they passed. No lights were on. No voices were on the wind, or the sound of pattering hooves or activity of any kind. Every window they passed was dark and lifeless, like the empty sockets of a skull’s eyes. The streets were all empty. There wasn’t a soul in sight. “Is it just me,” Applejack commented, “or does this place feel abandoned?” Fluttershy shifted nervously as she glanced around. A rustling curtain spanning the entrance to a doorway caught her attention as it moved in the wind. It was the only thing showing any signs of life. “M-maybe they’re all… um… sleeping in?” Serizawa’s eyes narrowed as he looked around. “No. Something is wrong here.” Rarity edged a little closer to her friends, eyeing the empty houses all the while. “Do you think they evacuated after the storm hit?” she speculated aloud. Serizawa frowned to himself. That was the logical answer, but… for an entire village to be evacuated in such a short amount of time… No, something wasn’t adding up. There would still be ponies in the streets, some stragglers, something. If this was caused by the storm’s appearance, it’d happened far too fast. But if it wasn’t the storm, what could be the cause? And, more importantly, where did everypony go? As he swept his surroundings with a critical eye, something caught Serizawa’s attention in the distance. Far off, just visible through the sheets of white cascading from the sky, there was a black cloud gushing skyward, too black to be a part of the storm. “There,” he said, pointing in its direction. All three mares stopped and turned, blinking at the smoke in the distance. “What is that?” Applejack asked. “The refinery,” Serizawa answered. “There is a mine not far from here. That is where they bring what the miners dig up and have it processed for shipment.” “The villagers must’ve taken shelter there after the storm hit,” Fluttershy deduced. “It must be nice and warm in there.” That made sense, Serizawa reasoned. Yet still, the timeframe was all wrong… Rarity, on the other hoof, looked crestfallen. “Do we really have to go to such a dirty place? It will take me weeks to get all the soot out…” “Beats standin’ out here in the snow,” Applejack grunted, and already she was headed in the direction of the billowing smoke of the refinery. Even so, Rarity waffled on what she despised more; ash or ice. Serizawa lead the way, but on the inside, his mind was working frantically. Something wasn’t right here… ~~***~~ The Ogasawara Refinery was an old thing that was more patchwork repair jobs and additions than whatever it’d been before. At its heart was a towering smoke stack that belched great volumes of pitch black smoke that stank of burning coal. Grates all along its impressive length occasionally burst with angry red fire, creating roaring and popping sounds that were disconcerting to hear. The entire exterior was made up of mismatched plates of iron all bolted, welded, or riveted together with no clear pattern of any kind. In other places, wooden beams and pylons stood in a haphazard framework of splint-like supports just to keep parts of the refinery from collapsing altogether, or else to outline yet another undergoing renovations. The result resembled an uneven, eccentric upturned bathtub with a towering chimney stack fuming worse than a volcano. As the group approached, their noses wrinkled from the stench of burning soot and acrid fumes, Fluttershy couldn’t help but notice the dual set of railroad tracks trailing out from behind the refinery and winding up into the foothills surrounding the village. They’d just stepped out into the clearing surrounding the refinery when Serizawa pulled to a halt and turned to face the mares behind him. “You girls should wait out here,” he said. Applejack cocked an eyebrow. “Why’s that?” Serizawa’s eyes briefly drifted towards Fluttershy, namely her wings, before coming back to Applejack. “Three Equestrian mares could cause a scene right now. Let me talk to them first, and I will come get you.” Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack exchanged looks, then all three glanced towards Fluttershy’s wings with some confusion. When they looked up again, Serizawa was already trudging away. “Does he really expect us to stand out in the cold in the meantime?” Rarity said, looking appalled by the thought. Her horn began to glow, and a veil of sapphire light appeared above her; at the very least, she’d keep the bitterly cold snow off of her, but it did little against the frigid air slowly choking the life out of the land. “Serizawa seems ta know what he’s doin’,” Applejack grunted, watching the stallion in question go. “He’s probably just trying to be careful,” Fluttershy offered. “If these ponies are scared, making them more scared won’t help at all.” Rarity frowned at that. She turned her gaze towards the refinery, scrutinizing it from afar. It must just be her imagination, but seeing how thick those steel plates on the structure were, some nagging voice in her head couldn’t help but wonder if the villagers had fled here for some other reason besides it’s warmth. She glanced to the side, and noticed Applejack staring at the armor-plated structure with a small crease on her brow as well. They both exchanged a loaded look before turning to survey their silent, still surroundings with an all new apprehension. ~~***~~ The refinery was filthy. In its interior, soot and slag piles stood to the ceiling in places amidst massive boilers and furnaces that fumed with intense fire. Overhead, a conveyor belt was in motion, moving huge pots full of glowing molten soap to and from the great forges on one end of the refinery floor. They produced an awful racket from protesting hinges and squeaky gears as each cauldron moved along above Serizawa’s head. Somewhere far away, in another chamber, he could hear the explosive hiss of superheated metal striking ice cold water with a reaction no less violent than a warhead going off. He could just see all of this taking place through the gaps in the machinery to his right; a procession of great glowing sheets as thick as his foreleg and as wide as a galleon sliding down a large shoot and into an artificial lake of half-frozen water. Each sheet threw up a cloud of angry steam that shrieked and grated against Serizawa’s ears. And the heat of the place… compared to the frigid air outside, the wall of smothering humidity was a complete system shock. It was so intense and heavy, like a sauna that never let up. Serizawa forged ahead, glancing around carefully as he made his way further and further into the loud, hot interior. At first, there was nothing except automated machinery humming with magical life. Serizawa couldn’t help but entertain the thought that nopony actually was here; that the refinery was operating purely under its own power, regardless of whether ponies were around to monitor it or not. Had the villagers fled in such a hurry that they’d left everything on? That was a disquieting thought, one he very much didn’t want to muse over. “Hello?” He shouted over the clatter and squeak of moving machinery. The only response he got was a furnace venting an intense blast of fiery air out of a hatch on its top, scorching the roof high overhead even more. Then Serizawa rounded a corner – and came face to face with five burly stallions, who all looked just as surprised to see him as he was to see them. If he had to guess, he’d say they were all miners; each was solidly built and bristling with well-toned muscles. Every one of them was covered in black soot, making it impossible to tell what their actual coat colors were. Even their manes were filled with the stuff. Only their eyes showed any uniqueness, and they were all currently looking straight at him with wide-eyed surprise. Two were in the process of throwing huge shovelfuls of coal into the hellish burners beneath a furnace. Blistering heat poured from the open grates, and Serizawa immediately felt himself start to sweat. Behind them was a crowd of ponies; twenty, maybe thirty, with more peaking around the smelting equipment further along the rows. Young and old alike craned their necks to peer at the newcomer that’d stumbled into their midst. One of the miners regarded Serizawa for a moment, then turned to face him. He planted his shovel on the ground with a firm, threatening clack. “Who are you?” he asked. “Where did you come from?” Serizawa bowed respectfully. “My apologies for the intrusion,” he said humbly, hoping to diffuse the situation. “My name is Serizawa. I was hoping I could speak with Naoko, a friend of mine.” The burly stallion eyed him with some suspicion and did not budge. “Serizawa, eh? Never heard of you. How do you know Naoko? And you still haven’t told me where you came from. You better start talking, or else.” “Give it a rest, Goro.” The five miners jumped as if they’d been shot at, quickly swiveled their heads around, and adopted very diminutive poses indeed. Beyond them, looking more than a little irritated, stood a glaring mare. She was short and thin, her body lean and muscular from years of toil. Her black mane was long, wild and unkempt, and had a bad habit of falling in thick locks around her muzzle and eyes, partially obscuring her intense, fiery eyes. But it wasn’t her rough, untamed appearance that was the first thing most ponies noticed about her. What most saw first was the fact that she was walking on only three legs. An empty sleeve hung from her right shoulder like a banner, limp and disconcerting. The mare sidled up passed the five miners without giving them a second look. Her gaze stayed riveted on Serizawa, her eyes as sharp as her scowl. She moved with only a faint limp, her one and only foreleg having to work a little extra hard to keep her trotting. “Well, well, well,” the mare said, cracking a toothy grin. “If it isn’t the prodigal son. Been a while since I’ve seen you on my island, Serizawa. Come to enjoy this fine weather we’re having?” Serizawa inclined his head respectfully. “Lady Naoko. It’s been a while.” “Oh spare me the formalities,” Naoko scoffed. “What, still walking on eggshells around me? Here I thought we were friends. You’re starting to make me think you’re trying to call in a favor.” There was a piercing look in her eyes now, like she could see straight through Serizawa. Naoko wasn’t dumb, and Serizawa knew it; she was as sharp as a sickle. Somepony like her had to be to stay at the top on such an island as Ogasawara, where if you weren’t a miner, a fisher or a cook, you were dead. “There are four ponies with me in urgent need of medical attention,” Serizawa stated. “I need to borrow a doctor.” Naoko raised an eyebrow. “You make that sound like it’s no big deal,” she said, her smile gone now. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re in something of a crisis right now.” “I have,” Serizawa answered. Naoko’s eyebrow rose even higher at that. “Oh?” The five miners glanced between their boss and the newcomer, confused as to what was going on. For several seconds, the two just stared each other down, as if waiting to see if one would back off. Then, abruptly, Naoko huffed. “Oi, you idiots. Go get Kano.” The five miners looked at each other with mixtures of shock and uncertainty. “L-Lady Naoko, Kano is the only doctor we have. The miners will surely die without her here.” Naoko craned her neck around to give the big stallion a look that could’ve melted a glacier. “Hah?! That wasn’t a question. Now shut up and get to work before you run your mouth anymore!” “Y-yes ma’am!” The group of big, beefy stallions yelped like school fillies, turned, and scampered away at full speed, nearly bowling over curious onlookers and each other in their frantic haste. “Honestly,” Naoko growled at their retreating backs. “You’d think they’d know to just shut up and follow orders by now.” Serizawa looked at her searchingly, his own scowl deepening. “Did something happen?” he asked. Naoko sighed without turning around. “Yeah. There was some kind of accident in the mine; a collapse I think. Dang Imperials didn’t tell me squat, of course, but we felt the earthquakes, and of course we’re picking up the pieces of their mess, as per usual.” Serizawa raised his eyebrows in surprise. “The Imperials? I don’t remember them being involved here.” “They weren’t,” Naoko spat. “But about six months ago they just moved in like they owned the place. Took over the mine without telling us why. They send us shipments to process and that’s it; ain’t got the foggiest clue what they’re doing in my mine, but I can tell you one thing. We’re not getting nearly the number of raw ore compared to what they’re shipping out themselves. Seems like a whole lot of hassle if you ask me, but whatever they’re digging up, they don’t want us upstanding common folk anywhere near it.” Serizawa frowned even deeper, if such a thing were possible. Another mine, gobbled up by the Empire… “Tell me; what kind of injuries did the miners get?” Naoko scratched her head, balancing herself only on her hind legs. “A couple scrapes and bruises, a broken bone or two, but… half of them are really sick. Really sick. Some of them look like they’ve been burned by something, but they ain’t any burn marks I’ve ever seen before. The Imperials are telling us nothing, of course, but… They’ll be lucky to survive ‘till nightfall, with or without Kano’s help.” Serizawa’s expression momentarily turned stricken. Then, he composed himself. “Is that why you’re letting me borrow your doctor?” “No,” Naoko said. Now turning to face Serizawa, she fixed him with a hard, piercing gaze. “I’m doing it because I want you off my island A.S.A.P.. You and the Emperor’s lackies don’t mix, and the sooner you’re gone the better off the rest of us will be. I won’t get my ponies wrapped up in whatever hissy fit you and the Emperor are throwing. If you and your crew need any supplies, help yourself, but don't dawdle.” She took a step forward, eying Serizawa critically. “I don’t know what you have planned, Serizawa, but I know you well enough to know you’ve got something up your sleeve, and that it’s no coincidence that you’re here during this freak storm. So whatever it is you’re going to do, get it done and make tracks. You hear me?” Serizawa nodded sincerely. “I do, Lady Naoko.” Naoko glared worse than ever. “I told you not to call me that.” “One last question,” Serizawa interjected. Naoko sighed. “What is it now?” “This sickness the miners have come down with… what is it?” To that, Naoko gave him a grim look. “You know exactly what it is.” Serizawa closed his eyes, pinching them tight as the sound of hoof steps approached. “You’d better get a move on,” Naoko pointed out as the five stallions – plus one nervous looking middle-aged mare – came bustling around the corner and back into sight. “Oh, and do me a favor, since I know how you get. Stay away from my mine, Serizawa. As soon as the earthquakes hit, those Empire thugs cleared out. If something was bad enough to get those dimwits to bolt, you’re better off not poking your nose in it, either. Whatever is down there, it may just bite it off.” ~~***~~ “Are you sure this is the right direction?” Twilight said over her shoulder. Spike gave her an irritated look in response. “Look, Twilight, instincts don’t lie, especially dragon ones. And right now they’re telling me there is something really bad over there that we really, really should get away from.” He pointed out over Twilight’s side, far off to her left. “As in, right now. Now would be good.” That only made Twilight frown. “Well then it’s a good thing I’m the one who’s flying. But are you positive? It feels like we’ve been going in circles.” Spike glared at the back of her head. “Hey, I’m not a radar dish! There’s a bad feeling up here, but I can’t pinpoint it.” Twilight tried not to growl in frustration. The heart of the storm was constantly shifting location as it swept over Ogasawara Island. She should have expected as much, but in practice it was a lot more frustrating than she’d been banking on. And even with her shield up, the wind was buffeting them around like a balloon in a jet-stream, throwing them this way and that through the air. At least Twilight could keep herself stable in the air, but she was starting to wear down. She was getting close, however. The disturbance was turning more violent the further in she went. The clouds had turned as black as smoke, and snow circulated all around her on turbulent, hurricane force winds no pony could ever hope to weather without some assistance. Even her barrier was warping and bowing under the terrific gales slamming into it, which only heightened her sense of urgency; something in the air was eating at her shield, something that was making it harder and harder for her magic to coalesce. Only ether could do such a thing. She was getting close. Twilight turned to follow the direction Spike had indicated. One way or another, she was going to figure out what this was all about. “Alright. We’re almost there, Spike. Just a little bit –” Twilight felt it long before she saw it. Her barrier shrieked – literally shrieked, like nails on a chalkboard. She whipped her head around with a gasp in the direction of the noise, her body tensing. Her shield was dissolving like it was made of sand in the intense wind, eroding away right before her eyes. She heard Spike shouting in her ear, panic in his voice. She saw his claw out of the corner of her eye pointing in the direction she was looking, just as something blew past her. It was barely a shadow, hardly more substantial than the darkness engulfing her. But when it passed, the clouds were torn open by a blast of wind, tearing whole cloud banks asunder and scattering them like wisps of vapor. All of a sudden she was in a vast gorge made of shredded clouds and swollen thunderheads almost half a mile wide, the cold sun beating down far overhead. But what Twilight felt most of all was when something much more solid than wind clipped the corner of her shield and tore it open. She’d never know what it’d been; all she registered was the sharp impact on her magic for the barest instant, the glass-like shattering sound of it shearing open like tinfoil, and then the punch of wind slamming into her body as, at long last, the violent tempest found her and pummeled her and Spike for all it was worth. Her shield shattered into a thousand shards of magic, and the next thing Twilight knew, she was falling back into the oppressive dark storm. The wind was simply too powerful to harness; it wasted no time in sending her whirling through the sky like a dead leaf, tumbling and flipping and spinning out of control. Spike clung on for dear life, his claws digging into her neck and shoulders. Her call for him to hang on, therefore, was wholly unneeded, but it came out anyway. Twilight knew she had to act fast. In seconds, she’d be on the ground again in the worst possible way. But every time she extended her wings, another blast of wind struck them so hard they felt like they’d snap, and she’d be sent tumbling all over again. Out of sheer desperation, she ignited her horn and threw another wall of condensed magic in front of her. It absorbed the shock of the wind, and finally she was able to get her wings open and hold them taut. She extended the barrier, forming a dome in front of her that shielded her from the worst of the storm’s fury. Finally she leveled out, straining her muscles to their utmost degree. She’d built up so much speed in the fall that it was physically painful, but she managed, somehow. “Spike!” she shouted over the howl of the wind. “Are you alright?” “M-minus one lunch, but I’m fine,” he shouted back. “What the hay was that? Did ether do that?” “No,” Twilight said back. “That was something a lot worse.” Spike paled, his eyes growing huge. “Y-you mean…” Twilight nodded. “We’re not alone up here.” She slackened her wings slightly, dumping air from beneath them as she dropped altitude. “We’re getting out of here. Hang on, Spike!” Twilight clipped her wings, nosed down, and dove. She was leaving the disturbance behind, she knew that, but it wasn’t something she was willing to risk her and Spike’s lives over. There would be more to analyze. Spike and her only had one life, by comparison. “Twilight!” Spike yelped over the howling wind, his claws clenching even tighter. “Behind us!” Twilight threw a glance over her shoulder, and promptly felt her heart stall. A shadow – a humongous shadow – was surging through the dark clouds behind them, throwing them into turmoil with the force of its draft alone. She could barely see it, but she could see enough to gauge its incredible size. That, and the fact that it was diving on them, a titanic condor on the world’s smallest mice. It was gaining on her with frightening speed. And if she looked hard enough, she just thought she could make out a cavernous maw opening wide behind her. And if she could see that, she knew she was way too close. “Hold on tight, Spike!” Twilight shouted, and veered. She’d built up enough speed in the dive to go rocketing in a tight arc across the sky, blowing through cloud banks as she went. A terrible sound reached her ears; a shrieking cry so grating and harrowing it sent a chill up her spine. It was less of a roar and more of a blood-curdling scream. She glanced over her shoulder, but all she saw was masses of uniform grey and the hole she’d bored through the storm. No giant monster. “Where’d it go?” she shouted. “Spike, do you see it?” “No,” Spike hollered back. “But I think it's off to our left. I… I think it’s circling around!” “We’re not sticking around to find out,” Twilight said back. She started to angle down, preparing to dive once again – when Spike was suddenly yanking on her mane. “Two-o-clock, two-o-clock!” Twilight was just starting to turn around, utterly bewildered and a little panicked by Spike’s strange proclamation of the time – when she saw the darkness off to her right coalescing into something big. Out of pure instinct she pitched to her side, just as the clouds were blown open wide, parting around an immense shape. It blew passed her like a freight train, narrowly missing her and Spike as it tore apart the sky, blasting away clouds as it went. It was like just barely missing a whole castle by mere inches. That was the sense Twilight got; of avoiding something of epic proportions by a scant few feet that might as well have been millimeters. Twilight glanced at it as it passed, but all she registered was a blur of motion and a howl of wind. And perhaps it was her imagination, but she could have sworn she spotted something that glittered in the darkness… In an instant, it was passed her. The sheer force of its tailwind hit her barrier so hard it flattened to a disk, smashing Twilight in the face. “I thought you said it was on our left!” Twilight snapped. “It was!” Spike said, his voice an octave or two higher. Twilight glanced behind her – around Spike, and into the unfathomable clouds beyond. If she squinted, she just thought she could see something; flashes in the darkness, like distant lightning bolts slashing through the storm far behind them. Yet, there was no ozone in the air. In the next instant, she was in the open air beneath the clouds. Without even realizing it, she’d punched all the way through the storm, and found herself surrounded by the tumultuous downpour of blinding snow. Far below, the white shape of a winter-locked island stretched out beneath her. Twilight wasn’t feeling picky; she didn’t care where she landed, as long as she got out of the sky. She pinned her wings and legs to her body and shot like a rocket towards the ground. Far below, she could just make out a hillside sheathed in ice and snow. Even with all the speed she’d built up, it felt so far away. Behind her, she could hear the thunder of powerful wings as something pursued her down. She didn’t dare turn to look; she was going too fast. Any lapse in concentration would spell the end for her. Nevertheless, she could still feel the way Spike was urgently tugging on her mane, his voice urging her to go faster. Just a little further… a little more…! Somewhere just behind her, she felt a pair of jaws slam shut just short of her tail. The sound of clashing gums and teeth was terrifying enough to spur her on faster. Four hundred feet… Three hundred feet. “Twilight!” Spike cried out, terror in his voice. She didn’t need to turn around to look. She could practically feel the jaws spreading above and below her, ready to snap her right out of the air. Two hundred feet… NOW! Twilight’s horn ignited with a blinding surge of light, throwing sparks in every direction with her urgency. In an instant, violet light wrapped around her, and with a pop, she vanished from sight. The mountainside, however, did not. Traveling as fast as it was, the gargantuan creature could only shriek in surprise and try in vain to pull up before it plowed head-first into the frozen earth at terminal velocity. ~~***~~ Serizawa felt the quake hit, as did the four mares behind him. They all shrieked and yelped as the whole island quivered. Trees shook off their blankets of freezing snow, dumping some on an unsuspecting Fluttershy below and burying her with a startled squeak. All five heard the explosive impact echo across the sky with the sound of a bomb going off. “What in tarnation was that?” Applejack cried out as the tremors died down. “An earthquake?” Rarity speculated. Kano trembled in fear on the ground, her hooves over her head as she babbled in Neighponese – a prayer of some sort, by the sounds of it. But Serizawa’s eyes narrowed. A chill ran down his spine that had nothing to do with the cold weather. “No. That was something else.” ~~***~~ Rainbow looked up as rumbling reached her ears, as did Pinkie. “What was that?” Pinkie asked, cocking her head to one side. Rainbow frowned. Unease was building inside her worse than ever, a terrible premonition in the back of her mind. … Where’s Applejack…? The same feeling from when she’d heard those two words was stealing through her again; a nasty sinking, crushing sensation. And no matter how hard she tried, she could not throw off that feeling now. “Pinkie, stay here,” Rainbow instructed. “I’ll go check it out.” Pinkie snapped her head around, eyes wide with alarm, but already Rainbow had taken off. “Wait! Dash, wait!” But she was already gone. ~~***~~ Twilight hovered in midair, panting. Orchestrating a teleportation spell while moving that fast had not been easy. The velocity involved was almost too much to compensate for. But she’d done it; she and Spike had rematerialized just beneath the cloud cover, giving her plenty of space to slow back down before she crashed as well. She’d reappeared just in time to see the humongous cloud of dirt and snow that had been thrown into the air from the meteoric impact that’d occurred below her. By the time she’d spiraled her way back down to hover at skyscraper height above the ruined hillside, clots of earth and slush were still tumbling through the air. A thick column of dust hung in the sky, brown in a grey and white world. “D-did you get it?” Spike asked tentatively, peering around Twilight’s shoulder. “As big as that thing was, and as fast as it was going,” Twilight panted, “there’s no way it could’ve survived a crash at that velocity. We… we should be good.” “I sure hope so,” Spike muttered, clinging to the back of her head. “Cuz I still feel on edge.” Twilight was slowly descending now. “Don’t worry, Spike, I’m sure it’s over,” she said. The sound of shifting, grinding rock said otherwise. Twilight’s eyes widened in disbelief as an immense shadow righted itself with an angry, indignant growl. Up… up… higher and higher it rose into the sky. Twilight was still more than three hundred feet from the ground, and still she found herself tilting her head upwards as the great shadow loomed over her. A cry rent the air then; a bone-chilling, cackling sound that rang in Twilight’s ears. It sounded taunting, maniacal, and to Twilight, it was absolutely terrifying. “T-Twilight,” squeaked Spike. “I-I don’t think it’s dead.” Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. In front of her, the dust cloud was billowing. Something huge was leaning forward, towards her. And through that shroud of dust came a massive golden head. It was like finding herself suddenly in the path of an oncoming cruise liner. Its eyes alone were larger than she was, and they were currently glaring irritably at her. The head was adorned with a swept back crown of golden horns that glinted in the gloomy daylight. Its long, golden snout was curled up around the lips, bearing an arsenal of ship-crushing teeth more than capable of ending a puny pony’s existence. It stared Twilight down with a hateful accusation, a snarl ripping through its long, powerful neck. “Twilight,” Spike whispered. “I think now is the time to get out of here.” Twilight gulped – as the dust on either side of her bulged outward. She turned stiffly, heart skipping a beat. For a moment, she thought she was seeing things. The kaiju’s head was in front of her. So… why were there two more to her left and right? The answer was as simple as it was terrifying. The creature had three heads. Twilight hung in midair, her eyes huge as all three heads of the gold-plated daikaiju inhaled, then shrieked their fury for all to hear. ~~***~~ Pinkie stood propped up on the guard railing on the edge of Serizawa’s ship, a deep look of worry on her face. She, along with everypony else on the island, had heard that terrific cackling roar. Pinkie considered herself an expert on all things laugh related – from chortles to snickers to guffaws and so on – but that… that had most definitely not been laughter of any sort. She stared off deeper into the island, fidgeting restlessly as she tried to figure out what to do. Pinkie was so distracted that she didn’t feel the way the ship started to sink deeper into the mud as the high tide began to recede all up and down the steadily growing beach.