//------------------------------// // Chapter 23: Babes Gone Wild Episode 1 A New Nope // Story: The Bridge: A Godzilla-MLP Crossover // by Tarbtano //------------------------------// ================================== Munchkins run amok, 30 minutes earlier ================================== The Cutiemark Crusaders were utterly speechless. They'd seen a lot of things in their day, despite having a combined age of under thirty two. But a swarm of babies suddenly materializing out of mist? This was new. The trio looked at the mass of dark crimson fur and short, shaggy manes; recognizing them and the small nub of a fiery horn despite the inexplicable diapers they were all wearing. Somehow in the span of a few moments there was a horde of baby kaiju sitting before them, at least five dozen in number. "What the... Um.. Miss Des? Is that you?" Sweetie Belle uttered as she slowly walked forward to the foremost infant, who was busy sucking on her hoof. The little thing looked up at her with bright yellow eyes, blinking occasionally as she sat on her rump. The tiny Destroyah let go of her hoof and for a moment cracked a very familiar, Destroyah trademarked scowl. Image Link! Before her expression instantly softened. The infant curiously tilted her head and squeaked at the filly. "Auuaah?" The young unicorn was about to turn back to her compadres when she noticed the baby doing something. Tiny sparks of purple danced across her little mane as she closed her eyes and cheeks inflated. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo dashed forward and yanked Sweetie Belle down with them as they hit the deck, dodging a micro-oxygen charged baby belch that fried a passing fly to nothingness. The fillies barely had time to look up when the baby started happily clapping her hooves together. That however wasn't the most important detail, the fact that half the crowd behind the first baby had glowing manes was. Scrambling up to their hooves, the trio hollered and screamed as they had to dodge oncoming projectile fire that evaporated portions of the ground and surrounding forest. Ducking into a trench they'd previously dug to watch the mare who stopped existing a minute ago, they clung to the front wall as flashes of purple fired off above in all directions. A stray blast gutted an apple tree so badly it fell down onto its hollowed trunk and crashed onto the trench, raining a shower of dirt and falling leaves on top of the ducking school kids. After several long moments of mortar fire, the noise above ground ceased. Scootaloo uncovered her head and shook her hair and fur out to clear it of some debris as the other two did the same. Her exasperated expression was universal. "WHAT THE HAY IS GOING ON?!" "I DON'T KNOW!?" "Well she's still spitting energy blasts... And Scoots we are 'lone and old enough, you can cuss if yah want." "NOT NOW APPLE BLOO-" “Anababa!” All three fillies froze in place and looked to their left in sheer horror. Either one of the babies had followed them into the trench, or one had happened to have been there earlier and they didn’t notice before they'd dove inside for safety. Currently however, the infant was too preoccupied with an apple. Holding it gingerly in her hooves, the curious little thing squeaked a few times as she tried to find a way to get the fruit in her mouth. She just managed to start gumming it when her little eyes looked up to the school fillies. Summoning herself back to motion, Scootaloo slowly made her way forward towards the little one. Something they didn’t understand was happening and the quicker they figured out what, the better. After all, one baby was better than a horde. And the little one seemed happy enough, wagging her tail as she looked at the pegasus while gumming the apple skin. Then a stray thought crossed Scootaloo’s memory. -Waaaait a minute… Miss Des never acts so happy around us…- The infant destroyah’s horn sparked to life, a sheath of energy coiling around it and extending the horn’s reach by a few inches as an energy blade took form. Scootaloo’s eyes widened and she backpedalled away. But before one could find out if the infant wanted sliced fruit or chicken wings, a new tiny form dove into the trench and tackled the baby. A second baby collided with the first, the apple rolling away. There was a flash of purple light and white smoke on impact. When the startled CMC opened their eyes to look, the remnants of the mist faded into wisps. What was left standing was, between the more developed horn, newly present short wings, and fang filled scowl was unmistakably Destroyah. Still far from her full form, she looked like she was a tad larger than the previous infants, but still smaller than the crusaders; about toddler age. And few words could describe how angry her tomato red face looked. Applebloom cautiously spoke as she addressed the disgruntled munchkin. “M-Miss Des? Is that YOU-you or psycho-baby-you?” The practically chibi version of her once enormous self scowled, almost the point of steam blowing out her ears. “Yes it’s me! Appawently the only one it seems!” Sweetie Belle brushed aside the urge to squeal. For someone who could have previously walked through town holding a sign with the letters “B.A” written on it and it be completely accurate, the being before her was just plain adorable. The fact Destroyah had previously been the largest equine she'd ever seen was now a full head shorter wasn't helping her look anything remotely close to intimidating. Shaking her head to clear it, she stammered a bit while looking around at the surface of the trench. The energy fires that had been sailing overhead stopped. "Desotoroyah what's going on?", the young unicorn asked while looking up at the now clear sky. "I twied to use a division abiwity and lost contwol of the swarm! Dang body!... Dang?... DAAAAM-NG!?" Destroyah snarled, almost looking like she was about to bite off her own tongue. Only a world of magical technicolor ponies would give someone young a subconscious censor. Energy started crackling across her mane, the crusaders getting a horrible case of déjàvu. A frustrated, high pitched shriek of a roar tore its way out as she fired a lightning-like beam of violet hell into the sky. "FUUUUDGE THIS BODYYYY!" She cut off the death ray, panting and shrugging through growls for several moments. "Now... I am going to fuse back togedder and you thwee are NEVER going to pester me AGAIN." She climbed up the side of the trench, fumbling a bit due to her short limbs. When she managed to pop her head above ground level however, her jaw dropped. "Oh fudge nyo..." The trio started climbing their way up as well, Scootaloo calling out as she scaled the trench. "What's wro-" She cut herself short upon seeing it. Or rather, not seeing it. Aside from a large cluster of footprints littering the ground, heading down the road and towards the fringes of the orchard, there was not a soul to be seen. "Wow...They can move pretty fast for little things." Applebloom cocked her head to the side, rubbing her chin. "Wait a minute, isn't that the road back to Ponyville?" There was silence. Slowly, all four in attendance felt their eyes widening. "....!!!!!!!!" Destroyah had already scrambled out of the trench, sprinting as fast as her short legs could take her down the path. "COME BACK ME!" ==================== Several Minutes Later ==================== The magic propelled kart rumbled down the beaten path as it made its way to Ponyville, towing a wagon with the words 'Apple Peelcore 8000' stenciled into the side. Flim turned the steering wheel to round the bend, the kart creaking as it rumbled over the bridge. Flam pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time. "Near 5 o'clock on the dot! I would say dear brother mine, we're making good progress to Canterlot!" Flim looked up from the straight road, the distant mountain capital visible through the trees. "Indeeed brother mine! We'll collect our dues for that scoundrel's property damage by the night's eve!" He chirped while nudging his sibling with his elbow. His tone shifted to barely above a whisper. "Just be sure to keep the details off about the 7000 being scrapped before the rumpus. We going with one of those birds landing on it or that forty story fiend stepping on it?" The duo had previously been on the outskirts of Canterlot a few days ago. Publically they departed to receive the new shipment of the Peelcores. Privately they'd skipped town due to the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 7000 breaking down, leaving them to hide it in the foothills as they left for parts unknown before someone came at them. Fortunately the kaiju attack had been a blessing in disguise. Having a bunch of monsters start tearing each other apart tended to make any folks who might have gotten sick over a defective batch of cider forget about the latter, and the silver lining would be the 7000 was reasonably close to the fight. As such any damage could easily be passed off in responsibility to the Princess' new guest. No need to owe up, and free insurance claim on something already busted. Win-Win situation, for them. Flam drummed his chin for a few moments. "Best blame the overgrown iguana. And not a worry, this is foolproof. Already made sure the records lack any sort of details about our leave. We were merely just outside of the city to restock and sell a new product." He said with a laugh, patting the dash box. Flim cracked a grin. Both brothers held their heads to the sky and clapped one another's hoof. "Righteo then! To Canterlo-" "Gagabu?" The duo opened their eyes and looked down at something unexpected. A dark red baby sitting on its haunches in front of the windshield, looking at them with blinking eyes. The brothers collectively raised an eyebrow, tilting their heads slightly as Flim partially put the brake on for the kart to slow them. The little Destroyah wagged her tail as she pawed at the windshield. "...Is that a baby?" "Little one, where did you come from and how did you get up ther-" A chorus of new, squeaky voices identical to the first cut them short. "Kiniaba!" "Shuu shuu pana!" "Aba ba ba ba ba." There was a bizarre menagerie of giggling behind them, the kart shifting and jostling slightly under a new weight. Flim and Flam looked behind themselves, and directly into the eyes of a horde of eager infants, all identical to one another, climbing or already climbed onto the kart. The duo were utterly flabbergasted, but managed to snap back into sense as some of the infants either began teething on or playing with the Peelcore boxes. "Hey, put that down young lady!" Flam grunted as he attempted to reach back at one infant who was trying her best to gum the cardboard box to death. Upon seeing him reaching for her however, the destroyah held her new toy away and shook her head. Flam frowned, his horn glimmering with green light and trying to grab a hold of the box. "Give iiiit!" "Na-naquista! Just as he managed to pry it free however, the infant started her own glow. Flam barely had time to jolt to the side before a burp of purple energy shot past him, evaporating away a chunk of the windshield and taking half his mustache with it. Flim was so surprised at what he saw, that he lost grip on the steering wheel. The kart hit a bump, jostling the rest of the infants on board. More importantly it shook the one sitting on the windshield. The baby was rattled and fumbled, loosening some gastric gas. Noting the purple glow, both brothers bailed out and jumped out of their seats as the kart went over another bridge. They got soaked and drenched in mud from landing in a creek, but it was worth not getting hit by a micro-oxygen flare that burned a hole through the windshield, the seats, and the bottom of the kart beneath them. The windshield baby looked through the hole curiously, before crawling through it. Fumbling through the hole and falling onto the seat, eyes tracked motion and locked onto the steering wheel above. Two more babies crawled down from the wagon, roaming about the interior of the kart. The first destroyah had just managed to stand on her tippy hooves and grip the wheel when one of them leaned against the brake pedal until it released. The windshield destroyah didn't care if she couldn't see over the wheel, the sudden burst of speed she felt the hijacked kart going through as it rolled down hill was enough to make her happily squeal. Weaving down the trail as if it had a drunk behind the wheel, the kart kept its momentum and sped through Ponyville, barreling at town hall. ========================== Ponyville, Ki Seong's Restaurant ========================== Ki Seong hummed to herself as she escorted Cloudchaser out the door and locked it behind her. Relaxing her body some, she shrugged out a long sigh. It had been a productive, but long day. Seong reached back and undid her hair tie, dropping the pins on a table while shaking her hair out. Was closing time, and at last she could start to unwind. She'd just started walking away from the front door when a stray memory crossed her mind. -Hmm... Quill probably will be stopping by later, and I did just lock up..- She looked back at the door, whapping the lock with her tail to unlatch it. Seong cracked a smile and headed back for the counter to start cleaning up. -Always did like the shy types...- She just reached her destination when the metallic crash of a dropped pan sounded off from the kitchen. Raising an eyebrow, Seong rounded the corner to check. Sure enough, a sizable skillet had fallen to the floor, evidently having bounced off the stove and was wobbling against the floor. Antlers encased themselves in a gold hued glimmer before doing the same to the pan. Seong looked it over with a scrutinous eye, tracking where it tumbled from. Between its hanging kin lining a shelf rack, she could see an emptied hook -Strange, how'd it fall down from there?- She levitated the pan back up to the rack and rehooked it. As soon as she did however, a new sound called out. "Aguugabu!" Seong's eyes widened briefly from the surprise. Something on the other side of the rack nudged several of the pans, visibly pushing them out. Noting its location behind her broadest skillet, Seong reignited her magic and lifted the kitchenwear aside. What she found behind it was a baby, plopped down on the shelf and teething on some of her spice rack's host. "Oh?" Seong gently wrapped her magic around the little one's tail and rump, levitating her out of the shelf. She puzzled at the infant as said baby seemed determined to open up a pepper container. "How'd you get up there little one? Were your parents just here?" Just as Seong stopped to ponder who in the world could be forgetful enough to leave their baby behind, the infant managed to pop open the canister's lid before the restaurant owner could stop her. She poured a big mouthful of pepper into her eager maw, but it seemed some of it went up her nose. Babies sneeze a lot. Most younglings however don't sneeze dissolving, plasmatic micro-oxygen. Seong only barely managed to duck out of the way of an energy shot that burned a hole through the floor behind her. She dropped the baby a few inches onto the main counter as the latter giggled maniacally, clapping her hooves before another sneeze started to build up. "Dodaeche?!" Ki Seong stopped herself as the entire kitchen started to come alive. Baby destroyah started piling in from literally out of the woodwork. In the span of 4 seconds the entire kitchen turned into chaos. Destroyah were hanging on the walls, play-dueling with utensils, crawling and swinging around the rafters, putting themselves through the wash, and knocking anything that wasn't bolted down over. One infant sat at the base of a table as it chugged the tea pouring down from above, giving a satisfied belch that evaporated a hole in the roof when she was done. Seong rapidly back stepped away as several devious looking babies came charging towards her with fork-skewers. In the span of a second, Seong changed. Her typically calm face hardened to granite with a piercing glare. She stomped her hoof. ============================== Outside Carousel Boutique, Present ============================== Anguirus was just about to punt the soon to fire, glowing maned baby away when an identically colored crimson blur tackled it. Another destroyah, slightly larger than the first and sporting wings, wrestled with its counterpart for a moment, forcing the younger one's head away to fire its destructive ray skyward before the two were enveloped in a violet flash of light. The air shifted and blew back slightly, lingering mist still slithering through the wind. Only one destroyah remained, looking mostly like the second individual but slightly larger than before. Rarity and Anguirus were still gathering their thoughts when the Cutiemark Crusaders came running up in the same direction the destroyah had come. "RARITY!", Sweetie Belle shouted as she practically flew. She dived into and under Rarity's legs, hiding beneath and behind them. Her elder sibling was quick to figure out the trio's associating with the youngling. "Sweetie what's going on?!" All three fillies pointed to the now slightly older toddler. "SHE DID IT!" They shouted in unison as Destroyah advanced forward, trying and failing to look intimidating as usual. "I twied to use my division abiwity, but somet'ing went wrong! Now they're all gone and doing who knows what!" The little one rambled. Anguirus raised an eyebrow. He remembered a certain three way fight outside of Manila, when the Serizawan Legacy made her grand return to the world. He'd been there and encountered the division powers first hand when he suddenly found half a dozen aggregate forms trying to dog pile him. He spoke with a gruff voice, looking the micro-kaiju over. "I remember last time you did this, I thought you had a hive mind where you could control them all." Destroyah snarled, flailing her hooves angrily but was unable to reach so much as Anguirus' collar. She pouted and crossed her hooves, sitting back down. "I don't ha'be any control in this swupid bucking pony body! They all got minds of their own now! LITTLE KID MINDS!" She growled with a sneer. Anguirus cracked a smirk, lowering down to the grumbling three year old's height. "Heh, someone need a diaper change?" Destroyah's eye twitched noticeably as she got up and ripped the thankfully clean but still inexplicable attire off her before stamping her hooves. Image Link! "We don't habe time for this! Just bwing them to me before they eat awot and start multiplying or else! Get them all back here as fast as possible!" Rarity took a moment to look around town. While the FlimFlam's accident had caused a minor ruckus, things seemed pretty peaceful despite not too many folks being around at this moment. True, could be because some of the town like Pipsqueak's family had temporarily cleared out to keep away from Canterlot; but if there was mayhem at hoof surely someone would be yelling by now. The Flower sisters hadn't even acted up yet. Anguirus had the same observation. Aside from just now, they hadn't seen a single baby. "Or else what? How bad could a bunch of babies be? Aside from that random wreck, things seem pretty placid so far. Rest of them are probably just off waddling after a milk kart and we got a straggler... Besides-" Anguirus chuckled into his smirk as he poked the toddler with his hoof. "-I think I like you in a more manageable form." Destroyah hissed and bit his hoof... Which considering she still only had tiny baby teeth fangs and was biting a hard part, the assault was completely ineffective. Anguirus had to resign himself from cracking up. "Awww someone need's a time out." Destroyah let go and pointed to the town behind her. Almost on cue, dozens upon dozens of baby destroyah popped out of every hiding place imaginable. Swinging and subsequently breaking down patios, riding stolen tricycles and bicycles, firing burp born beams into the air, tearing apart and trying to eat gardens, and singing badly dubbed carols. Ponyville turned to pandemonium. "Naa naa naa naaa na-na! Naa naa naaaa na-na!" The toddler Destroyah, evidently the only one not acting with a psyche that was a mix of an out of control infant and rampaging kaiju, pointed to the chaos with a grim expression. "See that?! If they eat a wot of somet'ing, anyt'ing, they'll get bigger! And if they get bigger in these bodies, they'll gwow! And if they gwow like this you are gonna have a WHOOOOLE LOT more of ME walkin' awound! You don't wike one of me, imagine five dozen of me!" Rarity and Anguirus' faces froze, eyes widening to dinner plates, the former trying to wipe away a train wreck of déjàvu. Anguirus' head snapped up to his full height, with a particularly horrified and shell-shocked expression. "...We have to get them all back here as fast as possible." Rarity looked over the situation, trying to think up something quickly. Infants or not, these things were dangerous. There had to be some way to get in close enough to grab and hold them safely. She'd already seen what a single adult could do, and even if these were babies there was dozens of them. All it might take is one stray blast at close range and... She shuddered at first, but upon thinking about the destroyah, the toddler's recent words came to conscious. "Little kid minds.... You!" Rarity shouted as she pointed to the toddler. "You said they are all behaving like little ponies. That means they might do stuff normal foals do right?" Destroyah bit her lip, mulling the thought over for a few seconds before nodding. "Mm-hm, why?" Without skipping a beat, Rarity turned to Anguirus as she nudged Sweetie Belle to him with her snout. "Anguirus, take the little ones and keep them safe. ONLY go after any of the babies if it's absolutely safe alright? I'll meet you all in a few minutes!" "Okay but where are you going?" "Getting something that might help from the grocery store! Be back soon!" Scootaloo bounced up and punched at the air as Rarity bolted away. "ALRIGHTY! CUTIEMARK CRUSADER KAIJU KNAPPERS!" Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom enthusiastically joined in. "GO!--" Anguirus cut the crusader's cheer off mid-sentence, shepherding them back inside. "Ooooh no you don't! Nobody wants you kids in the crossfire. YOU. STAY. IN. HERE." Rarity whispered a not so small prayer as she galloped to the store fast as possible, having to dodge oncoming hijacked traffic. It was good the mayor wasn't in today... ================================= Other side of Ponyville, 5 minutes later ================================= Rainbow Dash reclined on her miniature cumulus as if it were a comfy couch, drifting along in a slow breeze about fifty meters off the ground. It had been a tedious but fairly stress free day for the weather mare, and after packing away some spare clouds and sending them out over the Everfree, she was ready to kick back. Or rather she would have had a shrill scream not echoed up to her cloud. A second scream followed suit, Rainbow Dash jolting up from her seat with waving ears to hone in on the noise. It seemed to be coming from below and to the south of her, on the outskirts of town near the bridge. Rolling off her cushion while spreading her wings, Rainbow Dash flew down with a rapid acceleration, prepared to snap into action. A grin crossed her face while a thin rainbow hued contrail followed her dash. -OOH! I hope it's another monster! Round two with Cerberus would be awesome!- She rounded a corner and did see ponies running away, a trio of earth pony mares to be precise. Daisy Wishes, Roseluck, and Lily Valley came stampeding across the bridge and away from where their flower stands were. "RAVENOUS!" "SO CUTE AND FLUFFY!" "THE HORROR!" Rainbow Dash smirked and looked to where they'd been running from, thinking over the best way to box a three headed canine. Unfortunately for her and fortunately for Ponyville, there was no Cerberus or any monster for that matter in sight. Aside from its attendants leaving, the trio's flower stands looked completely unmolested. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "What the buck?..." Hovering down and landing in front of the stands, she tilted her head and looked it over. It took her several moments to spot something moving amongst the flora. She instantly braced again for whatever might come as the shifting got close to the front. But just when she began to wonder if she'd prefer it to be a cloud gremlin or a cockatrice of some sort, she got her second let down in the last 30 seconds when a baby popped up with half a bouquet of lilies in her mouth. The baby idly munched and chewed on the soft petals, looking up at the pegasus with occasionally blinking eyes before lifting her little hooves up to her. Rainbow Dash, still thoroughly confused, hovered low to the ground and picked the little one up. The baby didn't struggle or attack, just look at her placidly while gumming the remains of the last flower. "Hamuumumuun" Rainbow Dash almost pouted. "Um.. hi there little gal, who the hay left you here? You see what those bimbos were running away from?" The foal swallowed the petals and shook her little head. Rainbow Dash grumbled. -Least she's old enough to understand that... ish...- "Can you talk yet?" Another head shake. The weather mare glanced back at the bridge the flower mares had ran over. It was only now she noticed something odd. There were several cavities in the ground a few meters away from the stands. At an angle but nearly a perfect circle, like a cookie cutter. They all looked fairly deep too. Guiding her vision upwards, she spotted a similar hole in, or rather going through, a nearby oak tree. -Did the thing they were running from do that? Whatever it was?- Just before she could puzzle some more, the baby in her hooves began to shake slightly, her mane flickering with a purple light RD spotted out of the corner of her eye. Rainbow Dash had been looking away before turning around, and thus had her head tilted to the side when the baby burped. Just enough to only have half her mane get blown off by the micro-oxygen stream. "WHAT THE, HUH?!" Rainbow Dash only managed to glimpse what was left of her hair when the giggling baby started glowing again. The pegasus was quick to put both hooves back on the baby to hold her mouth closed to avoid any repeat fire. "Okay little missy, what was that?!" The baby's glow settled down, grumbling at Rainbow Dash while squirming in her grasp. The latter was beginning to get a few ideas of what chased off the flower mares now. Suddenly, more noises erupted from in and around the stand before Rainbow Dash had time to continue her thought. "Ginataba!" "Ninbabu!" "Grush! Nah!" "Oh no..." Several more infants popped out, chewing on petals, swinging on the stands' shelves, or hurling bouquets at Rainbow Dash. More importantly however, as Dash dreadfully noticed after ducking to dodge a hurled cash register, every single one of the babies' manes were starting to crackle with violet energy. Rainbow Dash was just about to fly up and out of firing range when half a dozen objects cloaked in a familiar blue aura zoomed past her and into each baby's mouth. The purple glows dissipated one by one as each destroyah began to nibble and suck on her pacifier, calmly sitting down amongst the flora. Rainbow Dash looked in the direction the plastic saviors had come from and spotted Rarity galloping up as fast as she could, a bag and several pacified infants hovering behind her in a magical aura. "Oh thank Faust! Rainbow Dash!" "Rarity! GimmeOneOfThoseThingsQuick!" The unicorn obliged, passing a sucker to Rainbow Dash who was quick to plop it into the first infant's mouth. Near instantly the destroyah stopped struggling and silenced herself, the pacifier doing exactly what was implied. Rarity had just magically grasped and levitated the six infants free of the flower stand and placed them and her previously collected three, along with Rainbow's incidental capture, on the ground when a larger destroyah charged up to them and tackled the cluster. All ten were enveloped in a flash of violet light and mist, before a single filly remained. Destroyah shook herself off. Judging from her size, she'd just grown from toddler to an elementary age filly slightly younger than the crusaders. She snapped up to her sadly still short full height before spitting out the remaining pacifier that somehow ended up in her mouth. "I can't believe these things worked." She grunted with squeaky disgust. Rarity merely rolled her eyes, pulling a fresh one out of the bag. "They might be kaiju, but they are still little foals. So what works on foals works on them I suppose." Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves and grumbled, too thoroughly confused to be fully annoyed. "Okay WHAT is going on?! WHAT happened to those death babies?! And WHO is this?!" She ranted, pointing to the disgruntled looking filly. "She's Destroyah. Remember? We met her back at Canterlot and she's been staying at the Apple's farm. Power mishap. Apparently she can divide into smaller monsters but in this new body it backfired. Now it's raining babies." Rarity almost bluntly responded. "Wait a minute, that gigantic mare with anger issues?" Rainbow Dash looked down at the sneering filly. The crimson hues, orange horn, and bat-like wings were enough to bring back some memories. It was the sneering glare the filly gave that confirmed it. Several moments passed before Rainbow Dash began to snicker. Destroyah's eye twitched and her hair stood up on end. "SHUT UP YOU WANCID WUNT!" Rarity was quick to jump between the two, putting her hooves on their muzzles and pushing Destroyah and Rainbow Dash away from each other. "Ooookaay now, let's keep on the same team before a bunch of ravenous monstrosities eat Ponyviiiiille!" She quipped with a chirping, sing-songy tone. Rainbow Dash batted Rarity's hoof away, pointing to Destroyah. "Waait wait wait wait. There's MORE of these things little trogs running around?" "-Hey!" "HOW MANY RARITY?!" "At least five dozen." Destroyah jumped up between the two, flapping her short wings to try and hover briefly to keep her height. "We have to catch them all before they eat anything edible in town! I do NOT want them growing bigger!" Rainbow Dash snorted at the humorous sight, hovering over the ticked off pipsqueak as she regained her composure. This wasn't exactly the first time Ponville had been attacked. "Well okay miss prissy, what sort of things would they go after?" The weather mare quipped, nudging the filly back to the ground. Destroyah growled, gritting her teeth before shooting a short puff of micro-oxygen to the side and disintegrating a passing dragonfly. "They all have the mentality of young equines, so they'll be eating like equines, going after what they like. Starches, high energy grains, sugars-" She stopped and flicked her ears at the sound of distant screaming. It wasn't quite a painful shriek, but the sharp shrill definitely was a hallmark of danger. It was coming from the center of town, right in the direction of a well known establishment. Rainbow Dash snapped up to alertness, speaking quickly without looking down. "....DidYouSaySugars?" "Mm-hm." And with that went any of her collective, cool headedness. "Oh good Faust no..." Lurching out, Rainbow grabbed as many pacifiers as she could from Rarity's bag before rushing past her and into the interior of town. The sudden burst of speed sent Rarity and Destroyah spiraling. It was only after she fumbled back to her hooves that Rarity reached the same conclusion as her fellow Element. A few minutes ago numerous infants had vanished, like many of them had gone and converged somewhere. Now, Rarity had a pretty good idea where. Rarity rushed off in pursuit of the rainbow contrail, yelling behind her as Anguirus and the crusaders rushed up to her and Destroyah. "ANGUIRUS! COME ON!" Anguirus was quick to push himself, sprinting after the unicorn for what he knew was an emergency. The two adults longer strides meant the kaiju filly lagged behind. It was fortunate actually, as otherwise Destroyah might not have noticed a small crowd of crimson shapes moving between the buildings and heading outside of town. She threw on her brakes, hooves digging into the dirt below. -Can't let any escape! If even just one gets out...!- "HEY YOU TWO!!" Unfortunately, Anguirus' and Rarity's tails rounded a corner and left earshot, and in her current state there was no way to catch up. Destroyah looked back to the cluster of baby-her heading to a hilltop. It was at that point the Cutiemark Crusaders, having disobeyed Anguirus' demands to stay at the boutique, caught up. Curious as to why Rarity had run off and why Destroyah had stopped, they slowed down upon advancing. "Desotroyah what's wrong?" The questioned party didn't answer, hardly even noticing Scootaloo's inquiry before she took off towards the hillside, half running and half flying to try and move as fast as she could. =============================== Ponyville outskirts, moments later =============================== Snails attempted to start pedaling away as fast as he could, Snips having already been overtaken. Unfortunately he wasn't quite quick enough to dodge the pipe that had been hurled at his face, clobbering him hard enough to knock the colt right off his bike as his hijackers made their escape. The duo had just managed to get up when a half sprinting, half fling filly bowled them over. Destroyah launched herself off her stepping stones, lunging after a group of her rolling down the road on a skateboard. Unfortunately, shorter legs and even shorter wings could only do so much. Try as she may, especially as the wheeled getaway started going downhill, she couldn't catch up. Destroyah reluctantly began to slow. "Dang!... It! Get! Back here!" She wheezed, with the only response from the addressed was to sit backwards and idly wave goodbye. Destroyah had to catch her breath, and might have stopped entirely had something not come up behind her. There was a rolling of wheels upon dirt before two pairs of little hooves grabbed her from behind and scooped the little kaiju aboard their wagon. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom hoisted Destroyah in amongst them as Scootaloo beat her wings to speed them up. Going over the edge of the hill, the wagon jostled violently, forcing those on board to grab onto the edges to avoid being thrown off. Sweetie Belle helped Destroyah to her feet, yelling to the wagon's propulsion. "HIT IT SCOOTS!" Scootaloo grit her teeth, buzzing her wings at an increased pace, allowing the small convoy to catch up to their speeding quarry. "WE'LL COME UP BESIDE EM! GET READY MISS DES!" Destroyah climbed onto the side of the rickety wagon, taking sharp inhales to steady herself while trying not to inhale any insects caught in the wind. "JUST GET ME CLOSE!" Scootaloo towing them along in conjunction with gravity allowed them to catch up to the first infant quickly. One of Snip's attackers had a rather unorthodox way of traveling in a skate. Namely, due to her small size, the baby was sitting on the skate itself as it rumbled downhill, seemingly unaware of anything going on around her. The infant didn't even notice the scooter and wagon as it rolled up alongside her. Destroyah pushed as far onto and soon over the side as she could, putting her back hooves onto the edge to try and reach over and grab the infant. Unfortunately, each time she inched closer, the skate shifted its course and inched away in one direction or another. Beating her wings to keep herself propped up, Destroyah tentatively stood on the edge of the wagon and reached out. It was then the wagon wheel hit a rock, rattling the structure and sending Destroyah over the edge. She might have fallen off, had Sweetie Belle not lurched forward and grabbed onto her tail and haunches. The unicorn braced herself against the wall, Destroyah's weight pulling on her as Applebloom grabbed onto her back to hold her in. Destroyah ignored the pain in having every single strand on her tail and her left leg being pulled on, as she steadied herself vertically on the side of the wagon. All she worried about was how close she was. She reached out as the skate rolled closer before throwing herself forward. But just as her hoof grazed the infant head, the little one rolled over a bump. Startled, she ducked down and tilted the skate so much it flew under the wagon. "HANG ON!" Destroyah barked at she clambered under the left side of the wagon. Sweetie Belle yelped as she was half forced over the edge of the wagon. Apple Bloom grabbed onto her friend's legs, gritting her teeth as she braced against the wall and held on for dear life. Destroyah clawed her way along the bottom of the speeding wagon, half squinting to keep the flying dirt and pebbles kicked up by the wheels out of her face. Through squint and snarl, she spotted the skate bound infant rolling backwards and pursued. The shifted weight began to cause the wagon and scooter to tip to its left, the right wheels of the former at times skipping off the ground. Scootaloo, who couldn't look back or risk flying off the road, didn't notice the tipping at first until the ground began to creep up the left side of her vision. Wide eyed at first, she quickly realized they were teetering and worked to fix it. The little pegasus grit her teeth, pounding her wings to try and level them back out. "WHATEVER YOU THREE ARE DOING BACK THERE, STOP DOING IT OR DO IT LESS!" Scootaloo barked between grunts, fighting gravity to avoid a spill. It was at that point that Destroyah managed to catch up to and grab her quarry. Grabbing the infant with one hoof while hooking the other over the right edge of the wagon, Destroyah was enveloped in a flash of purple light. The scooter and wagon drove through the puff of white mist just fine. It was the burst of energy caused by a growing filly that jostled the Crusaders. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were both briefly tossed up and lost their grip. Apple Bloom crumbled into the back of the wagon, falling flat onto her back with her legs sticking up, forcing the wagon to level again. Sweetie Belle however had worse luck than a minor bang to the head, tumbling off the side. "OOF!... Uuuaah...!!! Sweetie Belle?!" She groaned, taking note of her friend's absence. There was a loud screaming and the youngest Apple sibling lurched up to see... Sweetie Belle stand up outside the wagon, somehow moving just as fast as they were, screaming all the way with her eyes closed. Applebloom crawled up to the edge of the wagon and looked over. Instead of falling and kissing the dirt, the little unicorn landed on something back hoof first. Sweetie Belle opened her eyes and looked down. By sheer chance or Bonnie's grace, she landed hoof first on the previously occupied roller skate. That said, her stability hopelessly precarious, weaving around in every direction. "Whhoo-ooOAAA! GET ME OFF THIS THIIING!" Sweetie Belle shrieked while waving her free leg and forelimbs in a desperate attempt to keep her balance. Apple Bloom leaned over the edge as much as she could, outstretching her hooves to the flailing unicorn that was just barely out of reach. "GRAB ON TA' ME!" As Sweetie Belle attempted to weave closer and do so, a slightly larger Destroyah clawed her way back into the topside of the wagon. It didn't take her long to notice the unicorn, Sweetie Belle always did have a strong pair of vocal cords. Acting on instinct, Destroyah quickly found herself beside a now only slightly larger Apple Bloom and reaching for Sweetie Belle before her thoughts had a moment to catch up to her. By that point Sweetie Belle was managing to lean over and reach for the duo. However, just as the trio were about to touch, Scootaloo, the only one looking forward, called out over the rushing wind. "INCOOOOOOMING! HERE COMES TOM!" Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Destroyah all looked forward at the stationary and yet seemingly oncoming half ton of mineral death rapidly coming closer. More importantly, seated on the interior of the left road half, getting closer to said side of the wagon. Earth pony, unicorn, and pegasi eyes widened to beacons. Scootaloo tried and failed to get to the right side of the road in time to avoid the boulder. The right side was too wide for Sweetie Belle dangling off the side, and the left opening was too narrow for the wagon. -But if we go both ways...- "PUSH HER! PUSH HER! PUSH HER! BREAK OFF!" Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle reluctantly but rapidly agreed and shoved away from each other as Destroyah let go of the latter. Scootaloo banked a hard right tilt to move as much to the side as possible. Sweetie Belle miraculously kept her balance despite her rapid arm flailing as she rolled backwards and to the left. Thankfully Tom, the inexplicable terror, claimed no tribute. After some distance, both parties caught their breath and with no stony walls of death in sight, tried again. Apple Bloom reached forward with Destroyah steadying her. Shifting her weight and angle to close in, Sweetie Belle inched her way to them despite wobbling significantly. And then the first terror struck again. The second that the fillies' hooves were a hair's width from each other, a sharp impact jostled the wagon convoy from scooter to wheel. Snail's bicycle had returned and was running alongside the wagon with no less than four infants on board, one on the seat, another on the handle bars, and a duo spiraling up and down on the pedals. The baby seated on the handlebars shifted, tilting the bike's forward wheel into the side and banging into the wagon yet again with more force. Sweetie Belle was thrown free from Apple Bloom and Destroyah's grasp, panicking as she tried to keep herself from being united with the dirt below. Unfortunately, the impact had a worse effect on one of the baby destroyah. The sudden jolt startled the little foal, sending her diaphragm into a spasm. She got the hiccups. Scootaloo ducked down the moment she saw a purple flash fly out of the little one's mouth. "WHOA! HEADS UP!" Each sudden spasm indicated by a surge of violet light bled into an equally rapid, energy fueled exhale. Spheres of detonating glowing micro-oxygen were soon flying at and over the wagon every few seconds before they exploded. Shockwaves from the detonations rattled the trees behind them, blowing apart branches and scattering leaves. Everyone on board the wagon was having to play dodgeball with potentially lethal results. A grapefruit sized sphere flew over the wagon as Destroyah and Apple Bloom ducked. Sweetie Belle grit her teeth as it sailed towards her, throwing her weight and form back to dodge an oncoming blast with incidental nimbleness that would make a ballerina applaud. Splinters and branches rained down on the trail behind them as the blast felled an oak tree, the baby squealing happily between hiccups. One hiccup born death ball flew into the upper part of the wagon, burning through the metal instantly like flash paper before arcing up and exploding in the air above. Apple Bloom and Destroyah fortunately looked up in time to see the falling scraps of what used to be a tree crash down around them, frantically dancing and darting around the wagon to dodge from both a horizontal and vertical plane for several moments. Sweetie Belle, who'd kept low to avoid projectile fire, had been trying to return to the wagon to haul herself back in, but the shower of debris had sent her spiraling back. The little unicorn dizzily yelled as she fought to say upright, starting to unwillingly work away from the wagon and near the edge of the road. With the pebbles and dirt clumps growing larger beneath the skate wheels the further from the middle road, the fight for balance was rapidly becoming that much harder. She was out of reach and going to fall soon one way or another. Still, getting rained on by forest had one benefit. Scootaloo nearly got clobbered in the face by something useful and was thanking Faust she was wearing her helmet Shaking herself off from a shower of leaves, Scootaloo held onto the scooter's handlebars with a death grip with her right hoof as she clutched a fallen branch that had bounced off her head with the left. "BLOOM! THINK FAST!" She barked before tossing the branch behind her, having to do so quickly as to duck under a sphere of energy flying past her and destroying half a spruce tree in the resulting explosion. Apple Bloom closed her eyes while she got rained on in a downpour of falling woodchips, but managed to catch the branch nonetheless. She kicked some debris aside and held out the stick to Sweetie Belle. Taking mind to keep her head low just in case, she held out the stick and gently put it behind Sweetie Belle's back. With the branch against her, Sweetie Belle grabbed onto it and stabilized, before slowly reeling herself in hoof over hoof. Destroyah meanwhile clambered over to the right edge of the wagon, reaching over the side and swiping at the quartet in an attempt to grab the living mortar cannon. Try as she may however and as much as Scootaloo attempted to lean the scooter and wagon over to get her in closer, the infants just barely managed to stay out of reach. Rather, Destroyah's attempts only succeeding to draw the spasming infant's attention to herself. The baby looked at her older counterpart curiously, still plagued by hiccups. Unfortunately this attention only resulted in forcing Destroyah to dodge oncoming micro-oxygen grenades. Between a potentially lethal game of dodgeball and Destroyah painting a big enough bullseye on her head to draw away most of the fire, Apple Bloom managed to load Sweetie Belle back onto the wagon. The unicorn, having to avoid a micro-oxygen flare that nearly singed her mane, fumbled over on top of the earth pony. The branch Apple Bloom had been holding onto rolled across the floor and thumped against the wall. This got Destroyah's attention, and she wasted no time grabbing it. The miniature kaiju scowled in frustration, swinging the branch rabidly at the infantile attacker. The bicycle, having been forced to the side of the road, rattled at its wheels ran over pebbles and gravel. The hijacked vehicle's movements became erratic, throwing off Destroyah's aim as she repeatedly swung down. She hit seat, she hit frame, she hit gear; but try as she may she ended up hitting everything but the prize in this game of whack-a-mole. Scootaloo, still fighting to keep control over a finicky convoy, yelled out between ducking to safety. "STOP SWINGING LIKE---- THAT YOU'RE THROWING OFF O----UR BALANCE! TRY TO SLOW THE BIKE DOWN!" Destroyah snarled at the filly, ignoring the request and swinging away in failure. The infants' cackling laughter taunting her efforts enough her nerves broke. Destroyah got angry. An angry kaiju acts impulsively. And anyone acting on impulse doesn't think. "FINE! I'LL STOP THE BUCKING BIKE!" She took aim and fired. Stabbing forward with the branch, Destroyah jammed it in between the spokes of the bicycle's front tire. The branch was torn from her grip as the wheel spun around until the stick hit the frame. The wheel locked up and the bike flew up, slamming the branch into the underside of the wagon just as the convoy ran over a large bump. The wagon and scooter doubled over, sending babies, crusaders, and kaiju flying. The world slowed down as the Cutiemark Crusaders and Destroyah tumbled through the air in an arch, the trio getting more airtime than a certain last Hearts and Hooves day. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle flailed their limbs as the horizon spun as many times as they tumbled head over tail, Scootaloo and Destroyah instinctively beating their wings in a vain attempt to gain control. The infants didn't react in the slightest, just sitting still as they soared through the air. It all happened so quickly that the group didn’t have time to be thankful that they landed in a pond. Apple Bloom was the first to break the splashing surface. She ruffled her soaked mane, shaking off the lilypad that covered up her bow. She looked to her sides, seeing two ascending masses flanking her and putting the little filly’s fears to rest. “Well, who’s still breathin’? Sound off.” The pair of groans from the surfacing Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were the only response. The unicorn grumbled, picking twigs and pond muck out of her mane. “Well, least that was only the second or third worst spill into this pond we’ve taken.” Scootaloo removed her helmet and wrung her hair our, looking about to see where the scooter and wagon had ended up. Fortunately, the convoy hadn’t seemed to have taken too big of a tumble and plowed into a batch of fallen leaves just off the road. “Well either this or the zip lining polo for third worst at least.” “Uuurg, don’t remind me.” “Hard choice.” Sweetie Belle mumbled as she took a moment to notice what was different about the situation this time around. She looked for a patch of disturbed water or bubbles to no avail. The water was fairly shallow, but the impacts had churned the bottom so much the pond was an inky mess. “Wait… Where’s Des-“ Her answer arrived with a flash of purple light shooting out of the water behind them. All three crusaders looked back in time to see mist melt off the water’s surface with a cloud of bubbles. It was only after when the light that engulfed half the pond ceased that Destroyah surfaced. Except, now she looked different again; entirely different. Having apparently absorbed the infants either during or soon after crashing, her horn had grown a bit longer and wings broader. Overall, she’d grown. The mutated kaiju was now on par with, or even slightly larger and older than the crusaders themselves. But the size change wasn’t what made the youngling virtually unrecognizable, it was her expression. Destroyah was grinning ear to ear. Not a manic bloodthirsty one like the smile Scootaloo or Sweetie Belle had seen during the bout with the timber wolves. She didn’t have so much as a hint of malign intent or disinterest, her calling cards thus far, stenciled onto her face. For the first time since they met her, the Cutiemark Crusaders saw Destroyah genuinely happy. And happy she was upon swiping at the air with an honest smile, the adrenaline rush of the chase still pumping through her veins. Her voice had grown deeper from the previous squeaky toy, but still clearly child-like. "WOOOOHOOHOOO! Who's up for round 2?!" The crusaders sat still, dumbstruck. Destroyah similarly froze up, hoof held high. She slowly closed her mouth and melted back into a neutral stance. She turned and looked blankly at the crusaders. For a moment it looked like the kaiju filly was about to say something to the baffled trio. Whatever it was died in her throat. Destroyah turned back towards town, flapping her now useable wings to give a boost assisted double jump. Clearing her way out of the pond, Destroyah shook herself off, speaking as she slowly walked back to Ponyville. Pitch withstanding, her tone returned to exactly what the crusaders remembered. "We're wasting time, we need to get back to town and get this over with." The Cutiemark Crusaders were still stiff as statues for a moment, for the sudden child-like outburst had been jarring. It was one thing to see an adult they knew as a child. It was another to see said adult actually behaving like a child. They barely spoke above whispers, watching Destroyah walk back to town. For a split second her wings were drooping before perking back up to formality. "D-Did that just happen?" "Was she just-..." Scootaloo finished Apple Bloom's sentence, frowning slightly. "Happy?...." ================= Sugar Cube Corner ================= Rainbow Dash dived in through the front door so quickly she nearly knocked it off its hinges. Her haste could be forgiven. The outside of everypony's favorite bakery was coated in little hoofprints, infantile cackles, and portions of the roof still smoking from being evaporated. The exterior had nothing on the interior however. Baby destroyah were absolutely everywhere. With Mr. and Mrs. Cake out of town, Pinkamina Diane Pie had been the only pony manning the sweetshop. True, saved the couple from a heart attack; however this meant Pinkie was attempting to fend off the swarm the only way she knew how to deal with young attackers. A line of infants sat across the room, holding their mouths open as they wagged their tails happily. The first in the line doubled over from a vanilla cake to the face, making no attempt to free herself as she started gumming the sugary snack. The other babies in the line eagerly held their mouths open as Pinkie Pie reloaded from the counter. Just as she was going to attempt to clobber another invader with a chocolate cupcake, a wide eyed Rainbow Dash grabbed her hoof. "NOO NONONONO PINKIE! STOP FEEDING THEM CAKE!" Pinkie Pie snapped up at the pegasus, barking her retort. "I'm NOT feeding them cake! I'm assaul-" Rainbow plugged Pinkie's gob with her hoof, shooting a glare. "DO.NOT.EVEN. This is worse than last time! Feed them and they might multiply!" Spotting motion to their left, both mares ducked as a bag of flour sailed over them and out the window. "Then what are we supposed to do?! That was my last bag of flour!" Pinkie shouted, motioning to the window. "Rarity and some of the kaiju are on their way to fix this, we just gotta keep them from eating anything!" The Pie sister's face became sullen and her eye lids drooped in annoyance, pointing to the cafe area behind Rainbow Dash. Having tunnel vision upon entering, Rainbow Dash hadn't noticed it on the way in. When she turned around her bottom jaw became acquainted with the floor. The destroyah seemed even more active than when she came in. Climbing over the tables, swinging on the ceiling fan, knocking over anything not nailed down, playing with cooking equipment, chugging bags of sugar, or chasing Gummy around the floor space as pies, cakes, cupcakes; and all manner of pastries flew around everywhere. Recovering quickly, Rainbow Dash zipped over to the crowd and grabbed as many oblivious babies as she could, Pinkie Pie galloping over to join her. All while having to dodge purple energy bursts that spewed out with every hiccup or burp. "Get as many as you can! Keep their mouths shut and don't let 'em belch on you!" Pinkie Pie grimaced upon snatching up one hiccuping foal who'd been guzzling the sweetener packs, a burst of micro-oxygen evaporating half of her tail hairs. It was amongst this chaos that chaos itself arrived. Just when the duo of Elements had resorted to throwing rubber bands over the foal's jaws, there was a flash of yellow and white light. Everything in the cafe stopped, the infants looking up, or down in the case of those swinging from the fans, curiously at the new arrival. Standing nonchalantly amongst the horde, Discord looked around with a bemused expression. Rainbow Dash clutched three foals up high, one kicking her in the cheek as another gummed her tail, looking to the draconequus with a face of bewilderment. "DISCOWRD!" Discord grinned, putting his leonine paw to his chest, not seeming to even notice the crowd of infants. "Aaahaah! Hellooo my little ponies, I sensed quite the party going on in town and tracked most of it to these parts an- Oh monster baby!" He looked down and snatched up one foal that was curiously pawing at his hoof, holding it up in front of his face. He knew the instant he saw the crowd that something was different about these foals. The destroyah limply hung in his paws as she looked at him, letting her hooves dangle. "Who's a cute little monstrosity?~" "Aawh?" Discord tossed the little one up and down a bit. Evidently however, she didn't like being shook. The destroyah's cheeks puffed up for a moment, causing a curious Discord to stop. Raising an eyebrow, he leaned forward just as she burped. A flare of violet destructive power enveloped Discord's head, evaporating everything from the neck up as well as taking out the wall behind him. Discord's headless body stood still. Just before anypony could scream however, the decapitated body shifted. Removing his scaly limb from the confused infant, Discord snapped his fingers and warped his cranium and neck back into existence. Rainbow Dash was slack jawed, Pinkie Pie was unimpressed, and the infants were all eagerly applauding. Discord smirked, taking bows despite not putting the held infant down. "Thank you, thank you! You little trogs are too kind." The mares grumbled, but were ready to call for aid from most anyone at this point. "Discord stop showboating and stop them!" "They're eating all the food! The Cakes are gonna flip! Sugarcube Corner can't be without sugar!" Discord halted mid-bow, grunting in a confused manner. He rose up, putting the first infant down and snapping his fingers. "Sugar? No no that can't be right..." Instantly a pair of reading glasses and a bizarre, book shaped object appeared in Discord's paws. The spirit of chaos mumbled to himself as he put his leonine paw's index finger to the Kindle-Fire. "Have they tried to eat anypony?" Rainbow Dash looked up as she got back to banding some infants, glad the chaos ironically had toned down with Discord's arrival. Still, knowing the newest guest, she was well aware it might not last. Destructive as they were, least as infants, they thankfully hadn't grown up into mare eaters just yet. "Um.. No? They just seem to like the sweets." Discord puzzled, scrolling through on his device. "Strange, Tohokingdom says they should be going after all food around them, mostly seafood or other meat. Micro-oxygen is supposed to eat through almost anything so they shouldn't be so focused on sweets." "...Toe-what now? What are you doing?" "Checking the TVTropes page aaaand AH! I've got it!" "WHAT?!" "Ulti and Lance's addition to the pages, the secondary powers requirement clause. Nooow it make sense." By now Rainbow Dash had effectively given up on trying to understand what was going on. "What secondar- URG forget it! Can you get them to stop?" "Stop sweet guzzling?" Pinkie Pie shot up behind them, holding onto the second MMM super cake in a tug of war with no less than twenty destroyah. "YES! CAN YOU DO IT?!" Discord rolled his eyes before chuckling. "I've physically morphed bunnies into deer and buffalo into ballerinas of COURSE I can do some simple chemical work. ALAKAZAP!" A flare of yellow light surged out of every destroyah in the diner, momentarily blinding all in attendance. It took a few moments for Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie's vision to clear. When they did, everything changed. All the infants who'd previously resumed their sugar craving rampage halted where they stood. The crowd Pinkie had been dueling with even let go of the MMM mk 2. Pinkie Pie grunted as she yanked the cake away and hoisted it to safety. Rainbow Dash glanced around at the seemingly placid crowd. "... Wow!... That actually worked." "Thanks Discord!-" Pinkie Pie stopped beaming and shoved her hoof in her mouth to cut herself short. -ICan'tBelieveIJustSaidThat...- "What exactly did you do?" "Fixed a power shortage so to speak." The chaos lord's horns suddenly glowed with a dim light, inexplicably ringing and buzzing like an alarm clock. Discord stood up straight, looking to the horns. "Oh! Would you hear the time! Late for my tea time with Fluttershy." He summoned a wooden mallet and whapped himself on the head between the horns, cutting off the ring. "Tah-Tah! I'll love to see the end result of this!" Discord waved with his wrist before teleporting away. Several long moments passed as Rainbow Dash's mind tried to play catch up. "Well... That happened. Least he got them to stop eating." Pinkie Pie's conscious bounced back quicker, grabbing an oven tray and collecting up several stunned babies. "Well weirdness solves weirdness I guess." Rainbow Dash nodded, unable to disagree with that source on weirdness, hovering back up before she began to scoop up destroyah left and right. "Alrighty, let's collect up these tikes then. Rarity and the others got a way to get rid of the swar-" Movement returned to the crowd. A foal looking at the roof that Rainbow had attempted to pick up rattled as her mane crackled with purple energy. The pegasus dived to the side for safety as the infant spewed a ray of violet energy resembling lightning at the roof for several seconds. The death ray punched through floor after floor before shooting up into the sky like so many before it. Unlike those before it however, a thick cloud of mist followed the destruction after the beam was cut off. The infant eagerly held her mouth open and swallowed the mist, gumming it happily. "Amnumnum!" The instant she devoured what used to be roofing, every baby in Sugarcube Corner burst into action. Tearing apart and toying with everything in sight as they built up in energy. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash's eyes turned into dinner plates as each one's mane glimmered with light, a violet flare coating the cafe's interior. They dived out the back door before the glow reached its peak. ========== Library ========== A ringing chime and flare of purple and rainbow light blinded the library. Two alicorns and a dragon re-emerged in the empty interior, touching down on the carpet. Mothra Lea stood back a bit, uncrossing her horn from Twilight's and shaking herself off. The changeling in disguise was still working on getting the teleportation spell down so a combine effort was necessary. Certainly left Twilight less winded than the rapid fire warps from the Everfree to Canterlot. Twilight meanwhile levitated her book bag behind her desk, giving herself a satisfied stretch in the company of home. "Aaaah much better. As much as I love the Canterlot library, it's good to be back here." She cooed before instinctively startling back at the sight of green flames in the corner of her vision. Mothra grunted, putting a hoof to her forehead and grimacing momentarily as green sparks raced across her body. Butterfly wings turned to aquiline feathers, velvety fur to smooth chitin; and back as she crossed back and forth as a bizarre hybrid of an alicorn and changeling queen. It took several moments and the constant glow of her alternating jagged and smooth horn for Lea to get her disguise to stop glitching. The 'alicorn' took several deep breaths, closing her eyes and concentrating while lowering her heart beat. It only took a moment for both Twilight and Spike to come running up to her. "Are you okay?!" "Miss Lea what's wrong?" The little dragon yelped as he came up to her. Lea caught her breath, reopening her eyes as she batted the air with her hoof. "I'm fine... No need to worry. Guess just trying that new teleportation spell kinda winded me. Lost concentration for a moment." Twilight pouted as Spike gently put a hand on Lea's hoof, clad in a similar expression. During their time together, the former kaiju became well aware of certain misgivings from changeling to equine. Didn't help that with a dash of black and blue across her palate, and Lea knew she could easily be mistaken for the most dangerous changeling of them all. This was exactly why she tried to disguise herself. It would come out sooner or later, depending on plans, that she was just an avatar of a much larger true self. The best she could do was to try and make herself seem more presentable. As a novice changeling, she hadn't learned how to cloak her horn or wings. An alicorn wasn't her most ideal choice, but it was the only real option. In hindsight she thought the Equestrians might respond to it a bit better, giving the race's current track record. It just might do the trick, if she could keep it reigned in. Twilight reluctantly had her doubts. "Lea, you sure you want to go in public like this? We could change some plans and keep you hidden until things cool down." The Element said under her breath. The taller alicorn smiled lightly, shaking her head. "It's okay, don't worry about me. Given circumstances, we need to cool things down fast as possible. If this form can help in that, I'll take the chance. Besides... folks tend to take better to a monster that looks beautiful than a monster that looks like a monster." Twilight couldn't disagree, putting a wing across her friend's back in a hug before heading back to her things as she talked. "If you start feeling any problems next time we're in public though, signal me and I'll get us out of there... But at very least it seems to be working so far. Our walk back to the train station and the sightings of a fifth alicorn did grab some attention away from a certain over sized unicorn." Lea listened while she leaned down, giving a little dragon who hadn't let go of her leg a soft nuzzle. Twilight smirked at the cute sight before Spike released his hold and got to some of the luggage, an admirable task given the royal library got raided by Twilight and Lea more than the gyaos ever could have. Lea levitated some of the brick sized books off Spike's pile, hovering them up to and setting them down near Twilight's bed. "Let's just hope Goji is up to it when he steps out of the castle. He and crowds never did mix well without me around." Twilight combed her memory, recalling a conversation she had with her mentor a day prior. "Last I heard from her, Princess Celestia did say she had an idea in mind to make him more presentable. It should all work out fine, she knows what she's doing." She noted, still a tad confused as to why Celestia was very uncharacteristically smirking after telling her that. When the elder alicorn headed off to her own matters, Twilight could have sworn she heard Celestia snickering. "We'll get the public part worked out as we focus on the kaiju issue at hoof-" The young alicorn jumped up like a cat, clinging to a shelf when two ponies rammed open the front door she was standing next to. "ROWR!" Rarity and Anguirus bolted inside, the former appearing so frazzled her hair was just as spiky as Anguirus'. And her voice could have given Luna's shout last Nightmare Night a run for its money. "TWILIGHT!!! PLEASE TELL ME YOUR-" The unicorn shouted before she noticed the startled alicorn. She took her hoof off the door and set it down as her hair noticeably flattened back down into its normal curls. "-oh good you really are home." "Hi Lea." "Salutations." Twilight let go of the bookshelf and hovered back down to the floor space in front of her guests. Something big had to be going on for Rarity to not notice the second alicorn in the room. Though the unicorn looked outwardly calm, the jittering in her knees and the fact she seemed to barely be fighting off the urge to walk in place were the calling cards of stress. It was just then Twilight noticed the weird bag Rarity had slung over her back. Peering down, the youngest alicorn was more than perplexed upon seeing her friend hauling an entire grocery bag full of pacifiers and nothing else. -Rarity is running around, with a small town's worth of one foal care product... Yep, definitely big trouble in little Ponyville, again... I think we're at the third time this year by now...- "Um, Hello Rarity, where's the fire?" In perfect synchronization, Rarity and Anguirus stepped aside from the doorway and pointed outside. Twilight and Lea needed only a moment to see all the commotion to have both of their jaws hit the floor. Spike, unable to see amongst a sea of legs, squirmed his way through. "What's going on no-.....whoa..." Baby destroyah were in every conceivable place in town. Bursts of micro-oxygen shot through various walls and roofs, with the infants firing them devouring everything from restaurants' food stocks to the restaurants themselves. Those that weren't eating seemed to be doing everything in their power to turn the town into chaos. Reversing signs, playing in and with the market stands, chasing animals from mice to grizzly bears about, skeet shooting, running with scissors, playing haywire with the light's wiring, running after townsfolk with scissors, and grand theft and/or devouring of left horseshoes. The normally calm Lea shot up like a rocket, her mane looking like it was about ready to ignite. "HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!" Apparently the Royal Canterlot Voice was innate to all alicorns as all around soon found their ears ringing. Anguirus shrugged off the siren in his head after a few moments. "Destroyah tried to use her division ability and she ended up turning into a bunch of babies!" He grunted in response, eying the mayhem outside. Spike evidently was still deafened, wobbling on his feet. "WHAT!?" Rarity, either ignoring or not hearing Spike, continued where Anguirus left off while still covering her ears. "She lost control over all of them and now they're running amok! At first it was just food and now it's just everything! If they eat too much she says they might grow into adults!" "We gotta gather them all up for Destroyah to reabsorb before they risk spreading! We spotted the magic flash while running by and Rarity hoped you'd returned!" "....WHAT!?" Twilight metaphorically picked her jaws off the ground and literally popped her ears to fully regain her hearing, looking out at the town with a dumbstruck expression. She was getting the worst sense of déjàvu right about now. Springing back to her senses, Twilight looked over to Rarity. "Quick! Did Pinkie try her one-pony-polka-band like last time!?" "It got eaten with Sugarcube Corner!" Before Twilight had the time to start panicking, broad hooves grabbed her and Rarity, pulling them back into the library to safety. The larger alicorn galloped out the door and into the chaos outside. "Lea what are you doing?!" Lea skidded to a halt about four meters away from the library, turning around and calling out amongst the mayhem around her as her horn began to glow. The door to the library became cloaked in a rainbow aura and started closing. "Anguirus stay inside and keep them safe! I have an idea!" Both Anguirus and Twilight barged out of the door, forcing it back open as they both ran up to the alicorn. Even in the body of a equine, Anguirus knew that look on Lea's face well. "You're not handling this alone." "Lea whatever you're doing we can work together!" Lea's face momentarily flashed a saddened, drooping expression before she closed her eyes. The glow on her horn grew magnitudes stronger. A glow encircled Twilight and Anguirus , yanking them off their hooves and gently but irresistibly shoving them back inside. This time the door slammed shut behind them. Terran magic worked through Lea's horn, causing the tree that composed the library itself to grow slightly and seal in the doorway. Twilight frantically scrambled back to her footing and slammed into the door. The frame, now sunken into the bark, didn't even budge. Magenta magic crackled across her horn, Twilight reluctantly taking aim at her own front door. A concussive blast was fired, ramming into the gateway, and stopped. The teardrop of magical energy swirled as it tried to press against the frame. But as the moments ticked by, it vanished into nothingness and fizzled out. All that remained was an archaic symbol, Mothra's emblem, stenciled onto the door. Twilight tried again, Rarity following suit and working in tandem despite not quite having the same skill with the spell. But the failure was all the same. They tried twice more, but each time the glowing symbol swallowed up the magic. "You two best stop..." Anguirus grunted as he approached the symbol, practically smelling the mana coming off of it that fueled his world's spells. "This is sealing magic, Lea's forte. Strong one too. She's enchanted the entire tree by the looks of it. Seems like Terran and Equestrian magic don't mix." "M-Meaning?!" Anguirus calmly turned around, hiding a lot behind the slow tone of his voice. "Judging from how your spells worked, Terran and Equestrian magic must work off different sources. She couldn't open a locked door you ponies could make with a hex from Mu, you can't open a seal she made with a spell from Canterlot. Unless one of you has an Atlantean anti-charm up your nonexistent sleeve we're not getting out." Twilight Sparkle responded to the information with a grimace. Her friend had told her once that Terra was magically inert from a catastrophe long ago, with only a few dozen or so places or beings with enough mana to use what was left. Lea also told her she was probably the strongest magic user left. Mothra's familiar voice chimed in, not from speech but within the group's minds. -"Just hang on in there, I'm going to collect them together."- -"Lea let us out! We can help you!"- -".. I'm not risking that Twily. I'm sorry. A calm Destroyah is one thing, but I can't risk you running around in the midst of a rampage!"- At this point Twilight was instinctively shouting as hard as she was thinking. -"Lea we've dealt with plenty in the past! We can do this, I handled some gyaos remember!?"- It took a few moments for Lea to respond, she was hesitating. -"That was different, I didn't know you'd go after them. I'm not taking that risk again... Just, just stay with Anguirus and I'll handle this. I got a lot more practice with division than she does."- -"Wait! WHAT?!"- Lea unfolded her wings, hovering up as her horn gleamed with magic from two worlds. There was a flare of green and white light outside of the library. The miniature sun beamed for several long moments, before slowly dissipating. There was no alicorn anymore. In her place was a living, moving cloud. In her true state, she could divide into hundreds of hawk sized 'fairy' Mothra to swarm a foe or literally spread herself out over a region. But once again, Equestria had a funny way of messing around with transformations. Where a changeling masquerading as a tall alicorn once flew, were dozens and dozens of ..... breezies. Twilight and company watched from a window with a near flabbergasted expression. One of the breezies, evidently the leader, hovered up in front of the flock on buzzing wings. She looked around too and fro, clearly more than a bit surprised as to what just happened. Image Link! Still, determination took root quickly and she looked out at the town defiantly before turning and addressing the flock. Lea's usual voice was very calm, quiet, and mature while still seeming fairly youthful. Now, she sounded like a squeaky toy. "GO GET EM, ME!" The breezie swarm scattered across town, moving quicker than their natural counterparts before mixing in with the infantile destroyah horde. Anguirus cracked a deadpan expression. "Well there goes the neighborhood..." =========================== Ponyville, Vinyl Scratch's Studio =========================== "Heellooo everypony! Your host DJ-Pon3 here with the next playlist of wubs and beats, dropping the base line on the heads of Ponyville and neighboring curbs on top of the hour! But first, we got call-in requests! Line five you just found yourself on live!" There was some static as the phone clicked on. "This is-" A crashing sound akin to splintering wood echoed out from the background. The voice, clearly more panicked than before, shouted into the receiver. "This is Aloe from the Ponyville Spa! We're under attack by monsters!" "Wooooooah there, I know folks can be jumpy, but you need a chill pill. Calm down already, we've had like what, six of those in the last year? What's attacking this time?" "Babes! We're being swarmed by babes!" "...Well, don't pretty mares typically go to the spa a lot? What, did you refuse them a sponge bath?" "Not those kind of 'babes'! I meant babi-" A second voice, apparently in the background of Aloe's call, yelled out loud enough to be picked up. "YEAAAAAAH!" "BULK LOOK OUT!" Vinyl Scratch tilted her head in confusion as a second crash, this time like shattering porcelain or pottery blotted out Aloe' voice. It had been a long time since she'd been to the spa, mostly due to her roommate dragging her along. Didn't seem this lively last time. "NOOOOOOO!" "Um... Is this some sort of movie tie-in advertisement? You gals pitching a Horson Wells drama or something? Because that last one he hosted with the fallout was good but a tad too apathetic for my liking." Instead of a response, the DJ only got more shouting along with loud blast sounds that charioted more crumbling sounds. There was a loud bang that signaled a dropped phone. Vinyl continued to verbally muse over the distant yelling. "Oh good Faust! It's the Parasprites all over again! ... Lotus, they ate the WHAT?!" "-Don't get me wrong, the writing was great, better than most anypony! But I think it and the fan sequel tried too hard to be edgy at times. Dark writing is hard." The phone cut off, but a new sound stole the DJ's attention and spirited her away from her musing about horror writing. "Kanabu." Vinyl Scratch looked over and realized she had a guest. While her back was turned to the phone. Sitting in the spare chair and wearing a pair of headphones far too big for her was a little crimson filly. The tiny destroyah looked up at Vinyl blankly, sucking on her hoof as she blinked. The unicorn DJ puzzled for a moment, turning her microphone off and yelling at the partially opened doorway the baby seemed to have come from. "Hey 'Tavia! Who's baby is this? It another cousin of your's? And why is it wearing my spare headphones?" Vinyl called out to the open door. The lack of response caused the unicorn to shrug. -Huh, guess she stepped out to find the parents or somethin'- "Keeeheeee!" "Ababa." "Nitaba!" Evidently, her guest wasn't alone. Three more infants, all identical to the first save for slightly smaller size, crawled out from the doorway and into the studio before Vinyl Scratch could react. Two started climbing onto the turntable as the other hauled herself onto the top of her predecessor's chair. All looked at the music tracks with wagging tails. Vinyl Scratch looked the situation over, and then calmly shrugged. "Huh, knew I had some young fans but the wublings keep getting younger..." The unicorn's horn glimmered, switching her microphone back on. "Well folks, sorry for that. Had a new development in studio. Until some ma or pa who's missing a set of quadruplets calls, I guess I got some little cohosts for the day- what the..." Anypony listening in would have heard a loud crackling sound accompanied by a momentous crash. After the rumbles settled down, DJ-Pon3's voice returned to the airways, speaking in a bemused tone. "There goes that wall. Huh, outdoor studio... Well here's our first track. Anypony misplace a laser spewing baby or four?" ======= Zenith ======= Irys and Megalon crouched and sat alongside each other, looming over an unconscious Gigan as the elder cyborg lay slumped against the wall. Gigan's cycloptian visor had gone dim, only occasionally blinking with a low, red pulse that indicated he was resting. He'd passed out shortly after finishing his tale, one of a monster that dwelled within their... friend. Irys closed her eyes and pondered. She might have only been close to their little posse for the past week, but she'd memorized their personalities and behaviors like a book. The idea one of them could metamorphose into some rampaging behemoth would have seemed impossible had she not seen 'X' flip out earlier and try to mangle someone he'd referred to as his closest friend. Still, even with his previous experience, Gigan only knew so much. Thoughts trailed to someone else who'd been there that day so long ago. Someone who was in Zenith right now... Irys opened her eyes and straightened up, walking towards the doorway. Her departure didn't go unnoticed. Megalon shifted, tapping his drill to the ground to get the gyaos' attention. "Where are you going? We need to stick together." He inquired, some hints of worry evident in his usually amicable voice. Irys looked back at the cyborg, keeping as placid a look across her face as she could with fangs and a hooked beak. She barely spoke above a whisper. "I'm getting answers. I'll be back soon." With that, she strode out into the dark halls outside. Pacing turned to running, and with a leaping bounding on expanding wings, running turned into silent flight. Near undetectable sounds slipped out every few moments in rapid echolocation, practically giving Irys an x-ray map of the entire temple as she passed by. Quiet as a passive breeze, she honed in on the pattern of a familiar shape. A shape that in nearly any other circumstance her instincts urged her to avoid like the plague. Irys flew into the chamber under the cover of shadows, spinning around midair and anchoring herself to the roof like a bat in a cave. The being before the gyaos either hadn't noticed her, or didn't care. She took her chances. "Ghidorah..." The King of Terror slowly stretched up to his staggering full height, turning around towards the door way but not necessarily the source of the voice. "KING- Ghidorah... and I was wondering when one of you would come crawling in here." He hissed, an unimpressed expression clad across his three heads. "I was expecting better. I presume, the older cyborg is still out of commission then? He'd have barred you from coming here." Irys sneered, clawing her away silently across the ceiling. She constantly kept herself in random movements, circling the behemoth below as she retorted. "Enough!.. Tell me what you know about X. Lie to me and I'll slice your heads off one at a time." King Ghidorah was still unmoved, casually flapping his wings slowly. His very scent was igniting every atavistic instinct Irys had, mentally begging her to get away from this monstrosity. She hadn't felt the very air reek of danger to this degree other than the last time she'd been near the master's chamber. Reigning in her nerves, Irys mentally held her ground. Ghidorah needed no concentration to do the same. "A substantial boast from malformed filth. I have no time for your ordeals. Your master's attention is elsewhere at the moment, I recommend you leave..." The hydra-like dragon turned away from where he estimated Irys was, walking towards the chamber's entrance. There was a loud hissing sound that grew in strength by the moment. "Don't turn your back on me!" There was a shriek and flare of light that split the air in two. A purple beam of plasma and sound tore down into the floor and wall, cleaving them as a butcher's knife would venison. Severed obsidian tumbled from the wall in torrents, burying the doorway in rubble and snuffing out almost all light in the chamber. King Ghidorah paused before the rubble as the beam cut off. Standing in near total darkness aside from the glowing, spilled coals from a lantern that had been overturned by the falling wall; he barely even budged. He was annoyed, but unimpressed. A golden glow began to build from his form as Irys circled around. "Said the cockroach to the god..." The gyaos' eyes widened, launching herself away from the ceiling before said ceiling ceased to be. King Ghidorah cackled, firing graviton beams alternately between his left and right maws in bursts. Irys rapidly flapped her wings, weaving and dodging to and fro to avoid the barrages that hit everything around her as she constantly kept ducking into darkness. Ghidorah sneered as more energy danced across his wing membranes, rays of lightning joining the gravitons and lighting up the chamber. Eventually, the sheer volume of beams became too much to avoid. Irys braced herself as she saw a graviton stream sailing towards her in slow motion as lightning cut off her exits. Spreading her wings out, a wave of purple energy swung across them in a shield. The sonic barrier blocked the gravitons, but due to her not bracing enough, Irys couldn't defend herself from their momentum. The albino gyaos was hurled across the chamber, the reverberating crash indicating she'd been thrown against the back wall. Grand King Ghidorah cut off his assault momentarily, manipulating the gravity around him to hover into the air. There was a moment of silence in the dark chamber, the dragon focused on looking around in the dying light for his target. Little by little however the embers died out, and the isolated chamber in Zenith became darker than any span of outer space. It was pitch black all around but the small glow emanating from Ghidorah's form. Though he could smell her and sense her life force, the King of Terror had lost all sign of the gyaos. There was a shifting in the darkness, echoing off the walls and roof. Something was moving around out there, circling him. Ghidorah turned to face it as it moved around him constantly, as if jumping from wall to wall and making it difficult to pin down exactly where Irys had gone. That was when he began to hear something else. Nearly silent, high frequency pinging calling out every few seconds from a different angle. Every time he heard it, he could feel something shift across the floor. It reminded him of something a certain, seemingly insignificant life form from Terra. Bats, and exactly how they could move around in the dark. -Echolocation... And that means...- Ghidorah frozen, before growling and narrowing his eyes. Why was it these pests always had such gimmicks?! -She knocked the lights out on purpose!- The pinging and shifting halted, several long moments passing in complete darkness and silence. Then there was a low hissing sound from high above. Ghidorah looked up and to his left just in time to see a purple glow barely illuminating Irys as she half climbed and half across the wall and ceiling, a sonic ray spewing out of her mouth and slicing into the floor. Swinging the ray wide like a harvester's scythe, she darted her head to the side and swung the beam at Ghidorah. =================== Reader Works Section =================== It never ceases to give me a proud papa moment upon seeing the stuff so many of you great guys and gals do, both directly tied to my and my co-creators' story and many other projects I've seen some of you under take that I like to think Bridge had a hand in inspiring. But enough from me, let's see you! As a big suggestion, I highly, highly suggest following these gals and guys and looking at the rest of their galleries. It's great stuff. Two Crazy Cuties! FallenAngel never ceasing to be adorable in her cute art style. Here we have a next Gen with a Sunset-DuskShine and Xenilla-BladeDancer duo. Humanized Bridge - Anime Style Zeroviks man, I could literally make an entire gallery of this series and I've loved every entry. In the interest of not piling up the entire gallery I'm going to leave the link and picture here and tell everyone reading this to do what I said above and check out each of these artist's galleries. This series literally has almost every single one of the core roster. Let's Get Ready to Rumbllleeee Isaacholt supplies us with the 'What If' fight that I'm sure someone definitely wanted to see and preferred I not throw a curve ball. 神聖なたわごとは、これは正しい東宝の外に見えます!!! WOW. Just WOW. I haven't seen vector art this good in a long, long time. I could easily see something like this coming out of Hasbro's Japanese side or a Toho distributed animation. Very easily. That's One Big Flame A body at rest tends to stay at rest. A Pyrus in motion tends to end up on these sections. Universal constant people, thanks Bill Nye. Pyrus has done a great series of kaiju concept art and original artwork, but here it stuck out to me a lot as it's something of an illustration of a sequence directly lifted from the story. Bravo buddy, bravo. Hello Beautiful~ A female Destroyah (or the other 5000 ways of spelling that name) was something I worried wouldn't be very well received. Thankfully, seems I was wrong and Johng117 (author of Arrogance of Man, check it out) helped further prove me the fool. But whatever you do, don't look directly into her eyes! "Go Get 'Er Angy!!"-Gollum123 Gollum here reminds me yet again who one of my favorite designs in the story is. Thank you my friend, my friend thank you! Ensemble Darkhorse (see I DO read the tropes) Monster X is best fur-less ape. I see Faithy and I's design is popular, he's popping up a lot recently. And Branded here definitely doesn't disappoint with the three she's made. What did I just Say? Yah double posting might be cheating but this is a commission so I'll count it separately. Branded's artistic talent and Vampy's fangirlism combine to give me a grin. New update from across the Bridge! Chapter update from BlazingPheonix's spinoff 'Humanity's Stand' Villain Episode! A wordy work by Kahnac detailing what he sees as going down on Attu Island thirty years ago.