The Mane Six made their way back to the train tracks and managed to catch a train. While five of the Mane Six sat comfortably on the seats, Applejack walked tediously back and forth. They had received the reply letter, but have yet received secondary letters regarding their new locations. In that light as well, the train took a different route to Canterlot, not Ponyville.
“Applejack darling, you must really calm down.”
“How can Ah calm down when my family and close friend are missin’ because of some monster?!”
“Maybe this monster Cosgrove described was just exaggerating. Nothing can stand over thirty stories and live.”
“Perhaps it is a big thing of burnt pudding!” The other five, especially Applejack, gave Pinkie the look. “That… Shoots… Lasers…”
As the train passed through a tunnel, Fluttershy looked to the window to her left and saw something that made her eyes widen.
“Um girls… there is something you have to see.”
The rest of the group alongside everypony else on the train looked and saw it. The monster was just as Cosgrove described it, although there are now patches of charcoal black here and there on the skin. Every soldier stallion was hard at work driving it away from Canterlot’s general direction. With no logical reasoning of building a Burmese Tiger Trap of that size as has been done to Schnookums, there were more electric netting entangled in the spines to attract the lightning.
But even this proved entirely fruitless. The monster merely walked it’s way through the army before turning around and sweeping it’s tail against any and all siege machines. Monster Zero continued walking towards Canterlot while emitting a short grumble. At the city ramparts, unicorns lined up ready to unleashed their magical payload at the beast.
Suddenly, the ground erupted underneath Monster Zero’s feet, causing it to plummet to the ground. The dust and gravel cleared very soon. Schnookums, now somehow thirty eight meters tall, had arrived just in time. Giving a bellow and shaking off the dust, the Brobdingnag faced his newfound opponent, who in turn gave a short gruff snarl. Schnookums charged at the monster before being given an uppercut, sending the former flying down to a mountain face.
The train made it to it’s destination. Everypony wanted to go to the ramparts, but aside from the Mane Six, none would make it past the guards. Rainbow Dash gave flew to a higher latitude to have a much better view. The two beasts can be faintly heard down below. Applejack eyed Twilight, while raising an eyebrow.
“I stand corrected…”
As Schnookums tried to get up, he was kicked by Monster Zero. The red beast, with his newfound strength, grabbed a massive boulder and flung it at Monster Zero. While no bruise can be seen, the patched monster emitted a groan. Schnookums bellowed twice before receiving a roar back. The fight was on! Schnookums enclosed his mask and charged. The two clashed their bodies together, slamming their fists, heads, and legs constantly. Monster Zero, with his size advantage, bit Schnookums by the back of the neck and flung him to the mountain again. The red monster began seeing three Monster Zeroes as the beast walked towards him, growling. The full Monster Zero roared before giving a good tail reverse, making Schnookums fall to his belly. The larger monster cracked his neck in mere agitation, groaned, then made another roar before stomping on the Brobdingnag.
Schnookums would just as well have been killed had it not been for a sudden Rainboom to the back of Monster Zero’s head. Enraged at what he believed a blue fly, the beast snapped back at Rainbow Dash. The beast’s dorsal plates began to glow green this time, but was interrupted when Schnookums turned him around and upchucked a yellow bile at his eyes. Rainbow sniffed the air, noticing a familiar scent. Upchucking caused Schnookums to shrink in size until he was his original ten meters.
In a fit of literal blind rage, Monster Zero kicked Schnookums a good distance. The soldier ponies at the ramparts began to fire their magic at the larger beast. Schnookums bellowed in pain as he began to burrow to a safer distance. Monster Zero screeched at the city before changing course into further wilderness.
“That… was.... AWESOME!!!”
Meanwhile, much further away, the group of circus ponies both current and former arrived at their destination. It was a simple two floor cottage, akin to Fluttershy’s though the outside was a simple brown. While Chelsey, Diver and Zipper walked into the home to settle in, Lion Tamer and Loopty Hoop lead Cosgrove to the back yard. Looking ahead, the colt saw a stone sticking up in the shade of a large tree. The three ponies walked up to the stone and looked at the writing.
Night Dancer
Hopeful Daughter
Faithful Performer
“And loving mother…”
Upon saying that, the colt lowered his head, his purple mane softly pressed against the stone. Lion Tamer and Loopty Hoop Dancer slowly looked at each other before giving a weak smile. The elderly stallion placed his hoof on the colt’s shoulder. Cosgrove looked back and walked towards the house.
The following evening, everypony was asleep after their long journey. Chelsey had a blanket wrapped around her as she slept on the velvet rug. Zipper and Diver slept on opposite sides of the couch, to much of their slight discomfort; Zipper subconsciously pushed Diver’s tail with one of his legs while did the same with her tail. Mr. and Mrs. Night Dancer slept their bed in a cuddle.
To the room of their left, a door slowly opened revealing Cosgrove. The colt quietly walked across the short hall and down the stairs. Chelsey, hearing a little sound, slowly opened one of her eyes and saw Cosgrove walk outside. Not wanting to disturb the others, the young horse slowly got up.
Cosgrove walked back to the burial site with the apple blossom in his mouth and placed it in front of it. The colt then lied down on the ground and slowly closed his eyes. He slowly opened his eyes when he heard grass rustling again with a series of loud thumps. Cosgrove looked to his side as Chelsey sat down next to him. She grabbed part of her blanket and slid it down to cover up the smaller pony. Cosgrove began to lower his head when Zipper crawled underneath the blanket between him and the larger mare. Diver hobbled over and scooched herself to Cosgrove’s left side. The striped colt wore a curved smile on his face as his looked at the stars before going back to sleep. Mr. and Mrs. Night Dancer looked out from the window to see the four foals sleeping outside next to the burial site. The then looked at each other before rubbing their heads against each other.
In his dreamland, Cosgrove rubbed his head on the past image of Night Dancer herself. While not actually feeling her soft hair on his face, it was still more strong a feeling between a mother and child. As the image faded away, Cosgrove walked over to a vision of an apple tree and sat down.
“She really loved you didn’t she?”
The colt’s ears pricked up and looked behind him to find a pair of dark violet wings on the other side of the tree.
“Yeah.... It’s something that I will have a hard time forgetting…” The colt said before giving a deep breath. “How’s Schnookums?”
“He fought valiantly to keep Monster Zero from reaching Canterlot." Luna tilted her head to her left We are currently pushing him to the south, towards the frigid ice caps of Shetlandia.”
“What will you do there?”
“My sister and I shall transport him to another realm.”
“Definitely something easier than done." - Cosgrove moved his head around -"Need my help?”
“...Nay…” Luna rose up from her haunches and began to walk from the tree. “Rest well for now child… You deserve it…”
To her credit, the Alicorn does speak a good truth. The two princesses have fought much larger beings thanks to their godlike powers. Cosgrove, whatever thing he be, is just a small foal and fighting a thirty story monster is just too much.
Resting his head against the dream tree, Cosgrove gazed at the dreamscape around him as the view pulls back into the real world. There is now a soft red glow coming from the rising sun. The young ponies were still asleep, though they are now in different sleeping positions.
A while later a shadow loomed over them, causing Cosgrove to open his eyes. It was Schnookums. He was badly bruised from his fight with Monster Zero, alongside claw and tooth marks. Cosgrove squinted at his large surrogate son, causing the Brobdingnag to pull back. The colt looked down before resting his head back on the ground. The large creature closed his mask and sat down.
A few hours have passed as we look at the open sea. The waves are calm as one can tell with the slow breeze. From the horizon, an albatross flies towards the viewer and lands on a rock. It isn’t alone on the rock, as the view draws out to reveal terns, gannets, pelicans, and cormorants on not one, but the entire dorsal column of spikes that were disturbing the seafront.
As Luna has spoken, Monster Zero is indeed traveling south. And he is not alone. A vast armada of Victorian Era style steamboats and galleons surrounded the beast, each with their own crew of soldier ponies armed and ready to the tooth. Strangely, the monster does not attack them, then again, so doesn’t the armada.
Over the course of two months, the whole armada made their journey to the south pole. However, three fourths of the way there, they lost the monster’s visual in the wind and total darkness of the south hemisphere winter. This was the perfect opportunity. When they decided to turn back, one of the shipmates spotted a blue glow in the ocean, followed by another, and another from out of the water. The captains of each ship began shouting orders as the blue lights revealed the monster’s silhouette. The ships moved too late when the beast fired a blue fire from it’s mouth, vaporizing a few unlucky ships.
The unicorns unleashed their magic on Monster Zero, causing the beast to flinch and begin to move towards the interior of the frozen wastes. Princess Celestia and Luna, donning heavy layers of clothing, took flight after him. The wind was far worse deeper inside than it was at the shore. Their horns were constantly alit to guide their way. The only form of evidence that would betray Monster Zero’s presence is an occasional howl, but even that was largely masked by the wind’s howl as well.
Perching on a mountain sheltered from the wind, Luna fired a blast into the air. At the peaks of it’s ascent, the blast exploded and flared slowly. As the flare descended, they saw the beast as it’s back plates pumped with blue lights. The princesses took evasive action and attacked the beast. Using the wind and snow to cover their vision, they made hit and run attacks. The beast merely bellowed in pain and anger as it could not see it’s opponent’s.
It looked up to the sky and fired it’s dragon fire at the clouds, creating a large enough hole to see the two alicorns. The Princess of the Night was spot on in his point of view. The monster began to charge it’s attack when Princess Celestia appeared right behind her, raising the sun. The light, combined with the reflecting ice caps, produced a blinding effect. The monster howled in pain and in blind rage fired around it’s general vicinity, trying to get at least one of the Alicorns. However, hitting the snow at the tops of the mountains, the monster’s feet got buried in snow.
Luna and Celestia looked at each other and gave themselves a nod of approval. Swooping around the monster, they fired at the surrounding mountains. Gradually, the snow and ice immobilized the beast; it couldn’t turn around and use it’s tail. The monster became covered in ice, leaving only the head and neck exposed. The two Alicorns lit up their horns and shot a spell at the beast. The magic pulsed through the monster and gave the monster a rainbow color. Rays of lights shined vertically from the monster. As it faded out, the monster made the largest roar. Even when the beast has vanished, the roar can be heard in echo.
“And so it ends…” Celestia whispered