The Bridge: A Godzilla-MLP Crossover

by Tarbtano

Chapter 56: Burning Skies, Part 1

Cyan scales reflected burning lights as reptilian wings flapped against volcanic air, carrying their owner across the sky at a low altitude and a leisurely pace. Somewhat serpentine in body shape and just a few meters long, with curved almost ram like horns growing from her cranium, the young dragon bore a very distinctive scowling visage that made no illusion to her ongoing disgruntlement.

Especially after watching two other dragons, each easily the size of a house, hissing in a dispute over a lava pool. On impulse she wanted to intercede, only to remember that common chaff had eyeballs bigger than she was.

Ember grumbled and snorted, opting not to step in over some petty squabble between two drakes her ego told her she could take in contrary to her brain.

She absolutely loathed being so small.

Ember could suppose life could be a lot worse. She was the daughter of the current Dragon Lord, who had ruled securely for centuries. She was constantly training to be fighting fit to either succeed him when the time came, or pummel down whosoever got between her and what she saw as her birthright. Lordship of the dragons was not hereditary, but decided by merit. It just so happened her father had raised her to have such merit and would be a folly for anyone else to think she would just get the title because of her sire.

But she still absolutely loathed being so small. Yes, she was only 67 years old, but given how gigantic her parents were, she was thinking something was bound to have started by now.

-Damn growth spurt is taking forever to kick in!­-

Gliding on warm air currents across the volcanic range, watching various dragons go about their business which ranged from tending to nests to squabbling over space, Ember passively thought back to her father’s scepter. Barely a toothpick compared to Lord Torch’s physical greatness, she’d barely ever seen him hold it himself and yet she was always barred from wielding it as any others were. “Can’t show favoritism” was the reason given.

But it hadn’t stopped her wondering about the feel of it in her claws. That ancient power within that so very rarely ever got used. Torch had it under lock in the volcanic range at the heart of their territory, and a few times she could almost detect something radiating out of its storage. It was an odd sensation, not really describable, but to the young dragon it sounded like a fun way to kill the boredom right about now.

The explosion behind her was so sudden and violent that the rush of air knocked her out of the sky. She beat her wings on impulse and reaction, dodging multiple airborne boulders she only now noticed were flying past her like a barrage of cannonballs. She avoided the projectiles, but couldn’t avoid the blast wave overpowering what her relatively small wings could manage in output. Tumbling end over end, she glimpsed an exploding volcano- no. Multiple volcanoes erupting so violently that each caldera was blasted apart.

A cornucopia of alarmed yells and roars called out at something. Something which shrieked back in a way Ember hadn’t ever heard before.

Pinwheeling through the air, she almost hit the flat of a mountainside before a mass got in the way. An enormous span, revealing itself to be a gigantic hand through the glimpses of clawed fingers at the corners of her vision, was careful to try and match her speed before slowing down and catching her.

There was volcanic ash and haze everywhere, making it almost impossible to see what was going on. All Ember could see clearly was the horned visage of the mightiest dragon she knew looking more alarmed than she’d ever seen him before.

“Get the scepter! The others are already on their way out!” Lord Torch barked to his comparatively diminutive daughter after putting her down and pointing at the repository volcano for their kind’s biggest treasure.

“W-What!? The eggs, the hatchlings?!” Ember squawked, her mind working on autopilot and going to the first thing that came to it.

“Already being taken away, it’s not going for them!”

“Sir-Father?! What is it?! What’s attacking us?!” Ember shrieked as she got her wings working again to hover into the air.

A bellow cried out and eyes looked towards the latest explosion. A large red dragon, very big for their kind at about half the size of Torch himself, came tumbling out of the ash clouds and pyroclastic flows obscuring the airspace. Numerous cuts and burns, impossible as that seemed, upon them as they crashed into the ground. Several other dragons who weren’t fleeing were also trying to get airborne and react to the incursion, but there wasn’t an ongoing gathering and there were barely half a dozen adults in their heartlands at the moment. Torch spread his own wings and let out an earth-shaking roar that sounded like a whole horde of elephants calling out at once.

His eye diverted back to his daughter briefly, “Go! You’re ready for the trials and traps! Just get through, get the scepter, and go! Reconvene with who the accords list!”

“The what?!” Ember yelped as she furrowed her brow.

“You’ll see them with the scepter! There’s no time to-“

The alien, monstrous shriek of a roar. It tore through the sky again as a dark shape sailed through the ash layer and towards the scepter’s location.

Ember didn’t have time to think. Didn’t have time to worry if she really was up for the trials she had been training for. Didn’t have time to ponder or question what exactly was happening. All she could think of was, as powerful as his war cry was, she’d never seen her father that tense in his life. Not against a storm. An earthquake. Or about a dozen upstarts all trying to gang-up on him at once with greed-induced mania.

That roar wasn’t a rallying cry commanding others to fall in line and fight alongside him. It was a retreat order to be obeyed as he held the threat off.

She just followed through, rushing away from the erupting volcanoes as Torch flew upwards as fast as he could to head off the incoming threat. She only caught a glimpse of the battle. Her father rushed into the ash and fires to tackle something as big as he was out of the air. Most of the other dragons were running, thankfully more than a few taking the eggs or youths with them to scatter in all directions.

She reached the entrance to the bloodstone scepter’s resting place, following the sensations she could feel in the air. An enormous mass, Torch and his foe, came tumbling out of the sky in a tangle of fire and limbs. Ember could hear the tunnel she flew through collapsing from the sheer weight striking the ground and barreled forward faster still. It was a very rare thing for her father to be so strained. It was an even rarer thing since she was a hatchling to have a fearful tear in her eye.

==============

In an isolated, abnormally large, hollowed-out tree might not be the typical abode for megalomaniacal n'ere-do-wells. Though, there was a reason both of them had opted for current accommodations over the typical kingdoms and castles, in one form or another. The area was absolutely inundated with dark magic. From the eerie glow that some of the plants gave off, to traces of black aerenth crystals in both the bedrock and sediment; the entire region was saturated.

Coated with enough ambient dark magic to the point that most passersby would get uncanny vibes and wisely turn away, and at any more pressing scouters and surveyors would have a very hard time distinguishing one or two potent dark magic sources amongst all the background noise. The world thought that one of them was dead, but the other was still very much at large and had been for centuries. And Queen Chrysalis hadn't survived the way she had by being careless.

“And you are certain that this works?” King Sombra said dryly as his horn remained a constant shimmering red.

The flow of magic from him linked itself together across the room via a tether which terminated at Chrysalis's own horn, with the magical current shifting from bloody red to emerald green at the middle of the length. Converse to the rules of color fusion, at the epicenter, there was a light that could only be described as black. What almost looked like a black hole in the empty space two meters above the floor. They were situated in a mountainous cave not far from the changeling queen's current hive, both for privacy and perhaps a vague sense of nostalgia. It was an unstated remark by Sombra that Queen Chrysalis' plan had situated him in the exact same place he had been in just over a thousand years ago. Back when two had the company of two more and they received what some might call a mandate of heaven if it were.

The physical testament of that mandate was present as well, with the Tome of Lust opened beneath the dark epicenter of their conjoined magic. This was after all the very place it and its three siblings had been distributed by the will of Grogar and the hand of that dark deity's then-strongest remaining subordinate.

"I can't believe this thing is still standing," Sombra grumbled, telekinetically flicking a bit of swamp scum off of his armor after noticing it, as he loomed over the wooden table parked into the tree itself.

"Our master chose wisely. Not even his enemy tended to look into this region. Not sure why, I didn't really remember asking when his emissary brought me here and he said something about a painful memory for her," Queen Chrysalis huffed back.

Sombra, who had been working a crystal over a map like he was looking for something as he kept himself tethered to Chrysalis with the flow of magic, perked his eyebrow, "You were having a conversation with a god's right hand and you don't remember their exact wording?"

Chrysalis could vividly recall the biting cold of westerly winds when that apparition of a bygone time appeared before the wayward then-princess. She had been journeying to learn and strategize how the hive might react to the newcomers starting to immigrate decade by decade further and further south into what would one day be Equestria. Stability only came with power and power only came to those who sought it, craved it, and were not afraid to always indulge in it. Sake of others regardless.

In another life she might have learned more empathy and course corrected. But in this life, Zephyrus had seen her potential and Lust found its bearer.

Sombra had received the worst kind of guidance more indirectly. Perhaps by design considering wrath differed from the other sins and how it relied less on wanting something regardless of what someone else experienced and more about hating what others had. How potentially poetic, in how such a horrid trait would manifest amongst the very species that bore Harmony's first generation of champions.

He had run away from what should have been a prosperous life as the court magus. Ran upon beating hooves away from what could have been a happy life in a just empire. All because he thought a station admired by so many wasn't enough and that there had been those of lesser quality and breeding being put well above their place. Whereas his cohorts largely saw all equines as the same race, Sombra's obsession with dividing himself from others had resulted in him clinging to past hatreds and fixating on the most minor of inconsequential details.

It had been enough that he could take the plunge accepting the Tome of Wrath when he discovered it out in the snows. It had helped refocus his wrath, strike back at the slight he had lied himself into believing, and for that he remained loyal. The absence of said book was a mildly bitter reminder of how much things had changed. Just because circumstances had allotted them freedom from the yoke of time and age, didn't mean he liked it.

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes and moved her own Eldritch book, the Tome of Lust, closer to put it up to the map after this trip down memory lane, "I was a half-dead wandering princess at the time, I didn't even know deities actually existed beyond legend, so my priorities were elsewhere when Zephyrus brought me the book and it led me here."

“This would be much more assured and go by quicker if somebody hadn't lost one of the four most precious items in the world," Queen Chrysalis grumbled and she let her words hang over her cohort’s head, giving him a glance upon hearing a barely restrained snarl.

She perked her brow slightly as if to ask the simple question of 'are we about to go again?'. It would have hardly been the first time they had come to blows. But the very same thing that had kept them from killing each other in those times managed to win through a bruised ego. A measure of success working together. The scrying crystal worked over the map and Tome of Lust had a lock.

Sombra trembled from the power flowing into him, a stream of dark magic tethering Chrysalis’ horn to the Tome of Lust, then to his own horn, and finally to the scrying crystal he was moving across the continental map to try and get a lock. Yes, he smiled slightly, he could feel a pull in a certain direction as the crystal started to guide them towards the center of the continent in a small town to the south of Canterlot.

“Gluttony is…” Sombra leaned in to read the name, before the crystal dangling over the map very abruptly darted in a completely different direction.

Then it pointed in another direction. And then another. And then another. And then started making nonsensical spiral patterns. It almost seemed to be tracing pictures in how it moved in random directions.

Sombra and Chrysalis both lowered their brows for the exact same reason, speaking in deadpanned unison, “Discord…”

Chrysalis huffed and chittered her wings, “Idiot. Hedonist idiot…”

Sombra glanced at the map and the crystal, which was currently doing barrel rolls trying to lock down upon a location of a book that wasn’t even in their current realm.

“He always was too distracted with that void he found. He must’ve stashed the book there.”

“Well he’s also thrown his lot in with the ponies,” Chrysalis shrugged, “We’ll capture the traitor later and skin it out of him if we have to. Tirek was the better first bet anyways.”

“Right then,” Sombra grunted as he casually flung the out-of-control crystal over his shoulder and ignored it as it started doing spirals on the wall. He always kept a backup and soon the process was repeated, only this time looking for a different counterpart to their own dark magic sources.

“Greed is…..”

“…..”

“….You have got to be joking. What does that even mean?!” Chrysalis shrieked in exasperation as she pointed at the map.

The scrying crystal, meant to indicate exact location, was moving around on its own again. In a less erratic and chaotic fashion, granted, but still like it couldn’t make up its own mind. It darted between the Crystal Empire, Canterlot and the surrounding area, and a seemingly random locale marked for airshows. Very briefly it also went to the Everfree Forest and what appeared to be an innocuous location out in the rural “badlands” as the map called it that got Sombra’s attention.

“Wait, that’s near your hive. He couldn’t be there,” Sombra muttered.

“Gee, you always were the smart one of us weren’t you?” Chrysalis deadpanned before going through all the locations in her head.

“There’s a connection to the goddess’ realm in the Everfree. And a portal to our… benefactor, back at the hive,” She rubbed at her chin, “Add in they’d have to have picked up what would’ve been your cold rotting corpse had they not been faster back in the Empire, I think I’m seeing a pattern.”

“Being?” Sombra cocked an eyebrow.

“These are spots where something was moved between realms. You saw the last crystal had a hard time pinning down the entrance to the chaotic void, where Discord no doubt stashed the Tome of Gluttony. It moving around like that? Maybe he was picking up all the places he had appeared in from that place?” Chrysalis hummed as she looked over the map again, “Drag it across again.”

Sombra did so and the results were more or less the same, but the crystal locking on to specific locations.

“My spies told me that old coot Starswirl invented at least two mirror portals. One was broken back in Canterlot, the other is in the Crystal Empire,” She narrowed her eyes in frustration, “Someone wised up however, put wards that disrupt common changeling disguises around the whole castle. Can’t find out anymore after my attempt at the wedding.”

“Yes, such is the pity you cannot attempt to bed-trick another clod of a prince-“ the bolt of magic was aimed right between Sombra’s eyes and it was only dodged by merit of knowing Chrysalis well enough to know a bolt was coming. Turned into a mist-like, shadowy form, Sombra waited the requisite 10 seconds before becoming solid again and casually continued talking like nothing happened, “-So, it appears after getting out of that Tartarus cell his brother threw him in, Tirek has found himself somewhere indeed. And wherever he wound up, his signal is getting scattered around every exit point from one realm to another.”

Chrysalis snorted and weighed the options of hitting him again, but decided to just get on with matters.

“Then we’ll have to find the strongest access point to bring him out, using the link between our magic. Those new pet monsters the Princesses have allied with, they seemed to have been mostly around the center of Equestria. So they, like the mirrors, goddess’ tree, and Empire with Tambelon, can be ruled out,” Sombra continued on as he went over each spot the crystal locked onto, “That idiot centaur owes us for the effort…”

The crystal suddenly snapped onto the map, wrenching itself out of Sombra’s telekinetic grip and stabbing its pointed end into the table. Chrysalis and Sombra glanced at one another before leaning in to see the point it was stuck on.

“... So, I take it that means we’re going there?” The Changeling Queen hummed.

“Seems the dimension tear at the airshow field moved as the realms stabilized. I am unfamiliar with this modern city,” Sombra poised before reading the name aloud, “Las Pegasus?”

Queen Chrysalis’s face was in a deadpan but she shrugged casually, taking it as not the worst place to go, “Alright, been awhile since I was there. I’ll maintain the disguises so nopony recognizes your big face, but you’re buying slot games if I get bored.”

“Slot games? Before? What were you even doing?”

The changeling queen retrieved her book of dark magic and rolled her eyes, “I got bored fifty years ago waiting for you idiots to come back. Won big.”

“And that factors how?”

“Let me introduce you to a saying we have in the modern age about Las Pegasus…”

Art by Faith-Wolff!

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Las Pegasus
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Underneath the original pegasus city the land was named for, partially shaded by the clouds and formations that constantly hovered overhead with connections to sea level, the grounded part of the city was bustling as much as its upper half was. Originally a pegasus establishment near exclusively, Las Pegasus' growth, jumpstarted by a massive series of wins fifty years prior, had made it a bustling hub for the otherwise rural southern deserts and badlands. Other ponies, many a gryphon, and plenty of others had moved shop their or came to the establishment for trade, events, or just to sight-see. Pegasi still made up the largest demographic even in the lower city, which was exactly why a massive project had been moved here.

“All right Ms. Flamez, Equestria is grateful for your contribution! Please get in the appropriate line and consult the safety pamphlet!” Princess Twilight Sparkle noted aloud for the 50th time that day with the only difference being the name stated, though with no less enthusiasm than the first time.

Phoenix looked at her card and the safety pamphlet with a widening smile. She felt such a rush she was actually trembling even without a personal chat and meet with royalty!

A project to help potentially all of Equestria? And she was a part of it… A small part maybe, and the pamphlet had a lot of material in it but- still.

Memories of watching a certain airshow up close, seeing fantastic abilities and feats, was a near omnipresent thought in the dancer’s mind. She saw and she admired. And she wanted to feel like she was contributing herself.

-They fly high.. I want to fly alongside them… Here’s my shot!-

“If you’re concerned with the pamphlet being so big, it’s not due to concerns,” A male voice perked from the other booth beside Twilight’s, “It’s because she wrote it to exhaustive detail.”

Twilight Sparkle growled briefly in a huff, but Phoenix was too starstruck and gleeful to notice, eagerly bowing a thank you before heading into the operation’s gathering grounds.

The operation was no small feat and certainly had gathered large crowds. A good number of said crowds were a steady stream of pegasi filing through medical tents, before zigzagging through a wait line for final check-in. After that it was off to where she had just directed the pink pegasus mare from Appleloosa. The gathering location could be summarized as something of a small fairground, with various volunteer booths and amenities to keep those checked in entertained and occupied. All in the shadow of the very reason they were here to begin with.

Towering almost 30 stories high, the seamless expanse of quartz crystal was meticulously carved to have a perfect octagonal pattern of flattened faces, the smooth expanse of which was only interrupted by studying of various other crystals set in six bands stretching around the quartz’s circumference from top to bottom. It was a master craft tier work by the best lithomancers in the northern empire, and their newest associate who had personally delivered the crystal by flying it in and putting it down. Currently the giant quartz was idly hovering over a forged pedestal of surge crystals, conducting energy occasionally sparking in the air and slowly rotating the construct.

Two giant footprints some distance behind the crystal had already been filled in with water by some enterprising merrymakers, and were occupied mostly by gaggles of children splashing in the new pools to beat the Las Pegasus heat.

Twilight could admit some passing desire to goof off and jump in, but remained focused on the task ahead. Not only because of the potential importance to Equestria as a whole, but because she also knew the stallion sitting at the booth next to hers would love any chance to rib her for slacking.

“Ah your eyes tracked over there for a moment, getting idle thoughts of neglecting your royal duties again, princess?” Xenilla casually snarked as he went through various papers to double and triple check notations, “Or are you hoping to need rescue again whilst you see about recruiting the fiends responsible for splashing in the pool to your side?”

After the dust had settled so to speak on the kaiju being in Equestria, and especially after Twilight managed to get herself kidnapped within a day of stepping through that portal, Xenilla had scarcely let her hear the end of it. Even if time dilation made her absence shorter than it otherwise might have felt like in the human realm, the fact it was the princess arguably the most like himself in respect to research detail was the one who wound up in that situation had been the source of much ribbing.

Twilight actually did enjoy the crystal kaiju’s presence and investigative mind, even passingly wondering for a time what it might’ve been like had he gotten partnered up with her instead of Lea by chance.

She had a pretty good idea now. They would’ve accomplished great things together and probably tried to kill each other at some point.

“Truly, the bowl cut hairdo’d colt who keeps kicking around mud in your footprints is yet another scourge from your world I must recruit to my cause,” Twilight Sparkle snorted, “Don’t you need to check your papers with Key Ring or the others anyways so this thing won’t explode in our faces?”

“I’m looking for my circuitry layout of the energy pathways for the crystal, to ensure safety in the first rule of research to ensure your magic is aimed properly…. And answer your question, you are third-lin-line for the Imperial Throne, and after the last fiasco I simply must ensure your safety. For all we know there could be a kaiju on its way right now because you have the face of someone who spited them,” Xenilla shrugged, passively glancing at the crowds, “I have noticed a few very similar faces and hairstyles since I got here after all.”

“To Las Pegasus?”

“To Equestria, Princess,” It was almost miraculous. Twilight had heard from Cadance how he stubbornly refused to call her by her actual title many a time, and yet whenever he actually did use it in reference to her it almost always sounded like he was humoring her.

Twilight Sparkle lowered her brow, “So if the whole reason you’re going to be like this is because my brother got hitched with Cadance, why don’t you call me Imperial Heiress then? Smart mule?”

“Ah, got eyes on the throne already I see?” Xenilla smugly sniggered, “Well you are only third-in-line, so I would notice any schemes pretty early.”

“As if I would ever- wait, third?” Twilight Sparkle mentally counted to four, which was harder than one would think when trying to factor in variables like whatever the hay Xenilla’s crazy logic was working with today.

“Should anything happen to Empress Cadenza, and ItWouldGetExtremelyDangerousForAnyoneAroundMeIfItDid,” Xenilla cleared his throat, “The order of succession goes-”

“Shining?” Twilight perked an eyebrow, trying to cut him off.

“Goodness no! The Imperial Heir comes first, then the consort,” Xenilla huffed.

“Wait- But they’re not even born yet!”

Xenilla’s head craned over with a very, very tired look evident in his eye, “I have gone through so many books and references, Third-In-Line. Many… According to my calculations about hypothetical fetal development for an alicorn and the proper implementation of certain surge crystals, if anything happened to Empress Cadenza, I am confident I could save the life of her child with a mildly negligible chance they’d wind up with the same crystalline mutation you see upon me!”

Twilight Sparkle just blinked, before waving her hooves in front of her, “Waaaait wait wait. Alicorn? Cadance can’t be pregnant with an alicorn! Unicorn or pegasus probably, given my brother and what Cadance used to be. Earth pony maybe, given my and Shining’s grandmare. And what was that about mutations?! And why isn’t Shining first?! He’s her husband!”

“Hey I didn’t write the rules on royalty, so I don’t see why you’re getting huffy with me,” Xenilla shrugged like he hadn't just said something insane earlier, “I was merely referencing the de facto rules set down by the first Crystal Princess. Your brother is the commoner who married into royalty, his problem he wound up where he did. I even tried to see if their was a rule I could ensure the empire might be my problem if the situation came to it until the heir was of age, but my hands are tied.”

“And what about the problem with him being first in line over a literal unborn baby- who is not an alicorn?”

Xenilla just shrugged, “Because I wouldn’t be this stress-free and feel content leaving Empress Cadenza's side if a rule did put Prince Consort on the throne so quickly! I mean could you imagine! He wouldn’t even want it so badly he’d probably beg you or the baby to take it anyways!”

“I….. Fair, that’s actually fair,” Twilight deadpanned before snorting, “Still got veeeery close to seeing me practice my latest concussive spell for the kids… And why even bring this nonsense up around me anyways?”

“Third-in-line, remember? It would take something catastrophic for you to be on the throne and I would much rather my presence not allow catastrophe to happen … Unless you are implying you intend a coup against the currently seated royal?” He turned to face her, expression artificially hardened to look more serious than it actually was.

“Of course, I know that is not in your conduct,” Xenilla humored, closing his eyes and looking smugly prim for a moment as he motioned backwards at the object of so much intrigue by so many, “I am merely here, beyond your safety, to ensure your magic is properly aimed to make sure this grand experiment of ours doesn’t literally blow up after I spent that long flight carrying it here.”

A magically levitated paper, folded into a paper airplane, was launched when his eyes were closed and lightly rammed into his face and forced him to back up and swat it off. He quickly recognized the layout on the page, showing directional flows for magic to be stored and exerted in the crystal constructs.

“This is-“ Xenilla was about to mutter to himself before Twilight cut him off.

“I think my magic is aimed just fine, thank you very much,” Twilight snorted before smirking, “The blueprints for the energy pathways for our little science project. I borrowed them.”

Xenilla grumbled and narrowed his eyes , “You didn’t ask.”

“Didn’t ask you, Sunburst was all too happy to let me borrow it,” Twilight shrugged as she got up from her seat after checking in the last of her waiting line, tilting her head up primly, “And you didn’t ask if I had it.”

“… There’s writing on it.”

“Notes to make sure everything goes well, always have your math checked by somepony else. Second rule of research,” Twilight lectured before trotting away with a hop in her step and upturn in her smiling muzzle.

Xenilla rolled his eyes and glowered, but couldn’t fight a small chuckle.

Oh yes, he still much preferred the fate that had been left for him. But it was fun to think it would still be amusing in this world no matter where he wound up. Now though he needed to catch up. He was not about to let her make the announcement all alone and get all the credit. Yes, Twilight was not likely the type to do that, but he’d been alive all this time by being the cautious type. Caution and paranoia were but a thin line.

He stifled the thought for now as the Third-In-Line took to a small podium before the assembled pegasi and company in the waiting area fairgrounds.

“Attention all volunteers, attention all volunteers please!” Twilight started, speaking with a minor projection spell that worked like a much less intense version of the Royal Canterlot Voice to perk everypony’s notice.

“Thanks!” She beamed upon getting it, “I’d like to thank each and every one of you once more for your time and efforts! We will begin with what we all came here for, shortly.”

Noticing a few press badges and note takers, she smiled and felt the need to reiterate, “As outlined in the volunteer pamphlets, lightning contains a massive amount of power that has largely been only mildly tapped into. A single lightning bolt contains massive amounts of amperage and voltage potential, let alone a whole storm! The problem has long been capturing it safely and keeping it usable. Even magic-based batteries can only hold so much and capture so quickly… That is where this comes in!”

She motioned to the towering crystal construct that required a kaiju to pick up and move it here, “The Amalgamated Mass Potential Energy Repository or ‘AMPER’! Made from the best of the best engineers, theoretical magicians, crystal sculptors, and imperial maguses-“

A slight cough to the side caused her left ear to flop slightly and her brow to lower just a few millimeters so that he noticed but the audience didn’t. Twilight Sparkle’s Royal Composure classes have been paying off given her tone barely shifted even after talking out the side of her mouth, “-… and a certain kaiju-“

She perked back up, “-To all collaborate together for this project. The goal is simple. Collaborate with as many pegasi as possible within safety, work together to create a massive thunderstorm, and then capture all of the electrical potential energy in the AMPER… And now, a demonstration by my… collaborator.”

She stepped aside and let Xenilla pace onto the stage.

“Salutations. No good experiment like this worth its salt would’ve proceeded of course without a test run,” Xenilla said aloud as he drew out from a bag what clearly looked like a simpler, and at the size of a hoofball, much smaller version of the AMPER, “This prototype was created weeks earlier and successfully charged with a mock storm provided by the Pegasi members of the Crystal and Canterlot royal guard, led by one Colonel Blade Dancer specifically.”

Somewhere in the audience, a red haired pegasi mare in Crystal Empire guard armor blushed about as red as her mane was.

“Now, to prove this is a working concept and will not, in fact, be a danger to anypony by means of… potentially exploding, a demonstration,” Xenilla noted as he drew up a small pedestal to put the glowing prototype AMPER onto which was connected to a large cable going off stage.

He looked to where the cable was plugged in, a towering Ferris wheel which had none of its lights on. And he watched… And he watched… And he watched, not quite knowing why there were some audible snickers coming from the audience, including Blade Dancer.

It didn’t take him long to realize and when his face formed a deadpan expression at Twilight Sparkle holding the connector for the cables apart for a bit longer to further throw off his timing; before hooking end to end. Instantly the Ferris wheel kicked on, much to the cheers of many awaiting children who were eager to get on board.

“By our estimates, this prototype crystal could run that wheel for several months straight on top of providing excess power for other amenities. And we tested this further with the second model which was made even smaller but with even more energy storage,” Twilight Sparkle keened as she showed off the back-up AMPER which she had been carrying in a saddlebag as further proof of safety, taking back control of the audience from her verbal tug-of-war with her cohort, “At full charge, the current AMPER might well be able to run the whole city for several years between charges.”

Xenilla pushed up next to her to get the next word in.

“Yes, all without any chance of disastrous outbursts or dangerous runoff… And for further safety, you lot will also be nowhere near the AMPER once the storm you create is put in motion to charge it. That is why the demonstrations are taking place outside of the city in particular. No nearby settlements, lots of insulating rock, no risk of floods from the storm; and with plenty of safety on-site for assurance.”

Twilight took the reins of the discussion back, pushing up against Xenilla with her smile looking just a bit forcefully widened, "Yes! All safeties have been accounted for and we have plenty of facilities already set up just in case. This experiment is anything but reckless and might prove extremely beneficial for Equestria and beyond’s future! Still, we fully understand if anypony wishes to bow out, there is no judgment whatsoever."

She let the question hang in the air, letting it settle over the crowd to ensure they had time to converse between themselves. Plenty of discussion, plenty of opinions. Phoenix Flamez, amongst the crowd, pleasantly smiled as she heard the conversations. Concerns were voiced, and addressed. Rodan had told her and Rainbow Dash a bit of context about Xenilla’s history back on Terra. Initially it was nothing good and he’d been a bit cagey about the details. Phoenix had the feeling he was trying not to unnerve them. It was a strange conversation and Rainbow Dash feeling the need to vouch that Princess Celestia had shown she could keep a lid on things implied a lot. About Xenilla and about the two knowing something she didn’t feel the want to press about.

-Your friends have secrets.-

The thought briefly stung but she pushed it aside.

-Stay on topic…-

As she watched Xenilla she tried to focus on the niggling fears signing up for the project. Later Rodan had seemed open to the possibility of the crystalline kaiju being trustworthy. Or at the very least he seemed hopeful to the idea. So she could try and put those concerns to rest.

The image of Xenilla stepping forward to say something else, only for Princess Twilight to have the gall to pop her wings open in a gleeful expression. The action consequently blocked him entirely and completely accidentally whap him in the face. Phoenix couldn’t stifle her giggle.

“The test will begin in about three hours! I and others will be available for concerns if you have any!”

Xenilla never got to speak and Phoenix caught a glimpse of his perturbed expression that seemed inches away from sticking his tongue out at her.

Her giggle grew to a laugh.

-Okay… if he’s with her enough for that to happen, maybe he is on the up and up after all!-

“S'cuse me, pardon me, press coming through!”

Phoenix perked her brow up to glance aside at the mare pushing her way through the crowds. Whilst there were a few unicorns and earth ponies milling about in the fairgrounds, family of the volunteers, almost all of them were enjoying the festivities or seated aside as it was the volunteers being addressed directly. And despite her press badge, the dark-haired mare seemed all too willing to ditch her pen and paper in her bid to sprint for the podium.

Phoenix took notice of her, and so did somepony else advancing on the backstage whilst Twilight was busy talking with Xenilla about something.

“-And it’s not like you exactly had public speaking classes back on Terra. Do you have any idea how many times Cadance drilled me on this?” Twilight lightly fumed through a smile, trying not to have this kind of argument in front of everypony at the moment.

Xenilla shrugged, “Yes I do, 4 hours, 32 minutes, fifteen seconds. I watch everything the Empress does, lest I lapse on her safety and your’s.”

Twilight didn’t even question it, “She’s several hundred kilometers away, how are you doing that now?”

Xenilla’s horn’s left prong blinked twice in a way Twilight recalled an electric car key working in the other world, “... She’s having a large brunch, on top of early breakfast. Her appetite is holding within expected levels for her stage of pregnancy.”

“H-How did you?-” Twilight’s face changed to a deadpan expression as she faced away from the crowd, “... You bugged the whole crystal castle, didn’t you?”

“Tore off a piece of my horn to ensure a tether… I told you, ensuring the Imperial royal line is my biggest concern as of now. Including right now when I stopped a random potential assailant from rushing the third-in-line, Third-In-Line,” Xenilla shrugged.

Twilight’s brow perked before she glanced aside to follow his line of sight.

A dark haired, lavender coated earth pony mare with a press badge was frozen to the ground, barely visible lines of telekinesis coming from buried crystals holding her hooves down.

“Um… Princess could you-” Lucky Lead grimaced, “-um.. Help me? I have something urgent to tell you.”

A few minutes later and put out of public view, which was done carefully so as not to give away the fact the mare was still restrained via telekinesis that Twilight only got Xenilla to drop once they were out of sight, the meeting was right to the point.

“Your Majesty, I come to report a crisis!”

“Crisis?” Princess Twilight Sparkle blinked before leaning in carefully, still a bit unused to being addressed by anything resembling a royal title. Cadance told her she’d get used to it in a few years, took her four.

“Yes,” Lucky Lead drew out a few photographs from her saddlebag and placed them on the table before them.

“Where were these taken?” Xenilla said as he eyeballed the photographs, getting a distinct case of familiarity.

“I got here as fast as I could! I was chasing a story about a laboratory explosion with a botanist in the southern swamps, real comic book stuff, when I stopped at a buffalo community. Nice folks, but right now,” She put another picture down on the table, showing multiple small tents and structures knocked over by some tremendous force, “They are folks who really need help.”

Princess Twilight’s eyebrows shot up to the top of her head as she looked at the destruction. Tents flattened, thatch splintered, wooden post houses shattered, and her first thought instantly went to one thing, “Did anypony get hurt?!”

“A few, no losses, thankfully. But between the lack of flyers and the need to care for the wounded, none of them could make a break for the nearest city like I could! And when I remembered you’d be here, I knew you’d be the closest princess available!”

"And you arrived just now, how?" Xenilla said with a raised brow.

In the distance, a personally powered rail cart slowly slid down the tracks, stretching from the south to the outskirts of the city. The metal was red hot and smoking from extreme use.

Lucky lead awkwardly sniggered and rubbed the back of her head, "I er- booked it……. My arms feel like they are about to fall off."

"Xenilla, blue and yellow crystal," Princess Twilight deadpanned.

"Combination #3 or 4?"

"4, she's not missing a limb."

"So you did read the manual published on it," Xenilla huffed as Lucky perked her brow at the kaiju-stallion reaching up to his shoulder.

The hardened, almost crystalline white fur pulled and he drew out a blue surge crystal like he was pulling an arrow from a quiver. Twilight promptly ignored the niggling question of where the hay Xenilla found the time to publish a book on surge crystals, levitated the crystal overhead of Lucky, and cracked it like she was splitting a pill capsule open.

The combination energy and health bolstering crystal shattered into fine powder that dazzled around the reporter as her body absorbed it rapidly. Her fur stuck out on end, a shiver and rattle traveled up her hooves, through her legs, up her back, and shook her head; and she shot up into the air. Landing in her hooves, hair still frizzed out, and had her mouth agape as she tested her arms.

"Wow! WOOOW! Warn a girl next time you put something in her but-"

Twilight's brow lowered at the stupid snigger Xenilla had on his face, "-phrasing."

Lucky was none the wiser, "-that stuff really worked! If we could get a lot of those for the buffalo, I think they'd be right as rain!"

"We'll need a whole lot more…" Xenilla noted grimly as he looked at the photographs again and noticed something in the background, "You hadn't said what attacked the buffalo."

"That's… kinda it though," Lucky shrugged, "I was off conducting an interview with a herbalist when it happened and it wasn't the dead of night. Almost nobody got to look at it besides it being big and leaving as suddenly as it arrived."

"It wasn't interested in the people, thank Faust, but did it take anything? I know rogue dragons sometimes range pretty far," Twilight frowned.

As they conversed, someone couldn't resist eavesdropping. Phoenix had a funnel to her ear and was situated a short ways away, brow perked and curiosity perked.

"The buffalo had beautiful craftwork to them, including a few nice pieces of turquoise. It ignored all of that too. The only thing it took was a bigger version of this," Lucky Lead said as she pulled a very tiny sliver of polished slate stone that seemed to glow along its edges. On its own nothing more consequential than a reading light.

"There was a much bigger version of this, an old family heirloom. They used it as a lightning rod as well as keeping the homestead nice and warm at night. Whatever it was that attacked, grabbed it and left in an instant."

"That doesn't line up for a dragon… they will hoard anything they think is valuable, but their eye always tends to go towards precious metal and gems," Twilight frowned as that possibility was scratched off the list, "And from what I know, the areas around here aren't known for ores or gemstones till you reach the dragonlands."

Xenilla hummed, "So it wasn't a dragon…"

"No," Twilight Sparkle glanced at Xenilla, who was actually being cooperative and showing her a photo that caught his attention. In the background of some of the devastation, you could see a path in the trees that had been blasted down from some great force going in a straight line. One that would go directly through the heart of the settlement, where the enchanted magical slab would have been.

There was one type of entity that almost always gunned for the nearest large source of energy it could detect.

"Kaiju," Xenilla frowned, "And not one of ours."

-Nor one of those in the human world.-

Twilight thought to herself, both remembering her new compatriots made there even if they did once kidnap her, as well as their oath of nonaggression.

"Kaiju go for the most potent energy source they can detect to siphon from it. That’s why it ignored any treasures or the buffalo themselves. Reactors, storage facilities, high populations. Chances are what took the slab tried to or did manage to drain it and then moved on," Xenilla said plainly, "Which means it'll be going for the next thing it detects."

"All the more reason we need to dispatch aid to the buffalo and anypony else who gets caught up in this!" Lucky shouted slightly, not appreciating the seeming hesitancy.

"We’ll dispatch scouting teams immediately, we got multiple flight teams like the Wonderbolts nearby to cover the most ground,” Princess Twilight said with a nod, “Would also be a good idea to cycle the AMPER down and forestall the activation.”

Xenilla bristled slightly but Twilight shot him a look, “The last thing any of us want if there is something unknown running around out there is for us to draw it into a populated area.”

“It already has a latent charge from the earlier safety tests,” Xenilla grunted as he looked at the Princess for a moment to see if she would change her mind or be cowed. Her refusal to budge earned a grunt of acknowledgment from him, “… Very well, I’ll begin siphoning and downcycling sequences.”

“What about you though?” Lucky motioned to Xenilla and to Twilight, “If there is a giant monster on a rampage and he’s the closest kaiju nearby, wouldn’t it be best to send him after them before they get near a city or another town?”

“It’ll take time and it would be best for me to remain here anyways, should this interloper decide to come barreling in this direction. Then I can protect where we are sure to have a lot of already-wounded if we funnel the victims this way. And I’m not the fastest flyer anyways-“

Xenilla’s ear perked as he noticed the presence of someone nearby, someone whom he’d detected a brief, familiar scent on earlier. He drew up the prototype AMPER and nodded his head towards the outside in the direction of a hidden eavesdropper.

“-there might be a way to call upon the skills of someone more appropriate.”

===============

An hour later after being found out and sent out, Phoenix Flamez was still flying as fast as she could at a pace and stamina that surprised even herself. Holding onto the AMPER and a gifted energy surge crystal, she was able to continually go at top speed for quite a while. She wasn’t necessarily a speedster, though she did have the potential had she decided to cultivate that skill over choosing dancing, but she was going at a respectable rate and knew exactly where to go. That last part was the main reason she was the one taking this venture.

Her heart never stopped racing however, not with what was at stake.

She had felt no small amount of benevolent pride when Princess Twilight made the announcement of changed plans. What started as a mass volunteer exhibition had quickly turned into a disaster relief venture. The medically trained volunteers and accompanying families jumped at the chance to help, and with facilities already set up to feed and safely house potentially hundreds of volunteers, and there were ample medical supplies prepared close by if something went wrong.

She had gotten word that the Wonderbolts had already been dispatched and found the buffalo herd that had been following the same route one of their benefactors had. They were already getting help as others who might have been caught up in this mess.

That left her flying off alone in a specific direction. Alone carrying a high-powered object that even she could feel the magic radiating off of. And the direction she was flying to get help just so happened to be the same direction a magic hungry monster was also roaming. It was like flying around with a giant ‘Eat Me!’ sign, and the fur on the back of her neck still hadn’t gone down from anxiety. The various mountains and canyons making up the southern highlands and badlands seemed poised to unleash just about anything at the drop of a hat.

It was a strange coincidence that she was so focused on looking around for surprises or threats, that at least one of those burst out in front of her with very little warning. A high-speed blur shot out from a canyon crevice and barreled right at her at blistering speed. The tops of the canyon itself fractured from the shockwaves of the rapid flight, before exploding in the wake of what was chasing the blur.

Phoenix yelled out in surprise as the high-speed blur looped around to fly directly into her, a pair of hooves grabbing onto and whirling her around to yank her inside of the speed cone. Amidst the brief delirium and chaotic division, she looked up to a rushing pegasus saying something amidst a near-blinding light. Phoenix could clearly see their lips moving, but the jet stream of air was too intense, and she couldn’t understand anything. Even with them seemingly over doing it on the mouthing out for the syllables, whilst looking backwards, what the speedster flyer was saying was unknown.

Eyes quivering and her head tilting in a dumbstruck expression, Phoenix tried to yell out “WHAT?!”, but they were going supersonic already and she outpaced her own voice.

Phoenix didn’t know the flyer trick of how to talk whilst going supersonic, but someone else did.

And in a situation like this, that was a good thing.

A mountain seemingly exploded when a pair of enormous wings shot over the peak. A burning furnace of a maw snapping open and calling out in a thundering roar Phoenix couldn’t hear.

The pegasus who grabbed her dove downwards in a sharp decline, like the fastest, most vertical roller coaster imaginable; with the snapping jaws of the kaiju hot on their literal heels. And what came down, barreling at the ground, had to come up; the sudden decline building speed into a sharp ascent.

Phoenix could feel the slowing in a palpable way, spiraling around and looping about.

And then she felt it all go in one direction when the pegasus lost their grip on her. Phoenix spun in the air, careening off into a random direction in a wide arc. In her delirium and dizziness, she glimpsed an enormous shape bearing down on her and the AMPER crystal. She reactively clutched it to her chest as everything went dark.

It seemed like a minute had passed by the time she realized she’d come to a total stop. Sitting on a vast, red carpet with a familiar voice yelping atop her.

“SORRY! ‘NIX?! NIX!? Talk to me!”

Phoenix, no longer blinded by what she now realized was a burst of color, blinked in surprise as she looked up to see Rainbow Dash above her. The cyan mare was rapidly going over her, checking pulse and feeling her forehead for problems.

“Wh-Why are-what?” Phoenix winced and felt at her temple, “OOooh… Dash? What happened?”

“Hahaaaaa! Awesome prank, right? Right?” Rainbow Dash grimaced painfully as she rubbed at the back of her head.

Phoenix Flamez was in a blurry tizzy, but even she could see through that.

“D-Dash… I know you like pranks but….”

Dash’s ears flopped downwards, “... Okay the best ride ever was kiiinda an accident, BUT IN MY DEFENSE!.... Do you even want to know what woulda happened if I flew into you full force without room to dodge? I had to decelerate you slowly somehow!”

“Decelerate?” Phoenix snapped to awareness, “THAT was slowing down?! And what was that giant…”

Phoenix deadpanned and felt the ‘carpet’, realizing the filaments felt slightly different than fur. And it was unnaturally warm. And it was still flying.

“How long was I out?” Phoenix winced.

“Aboooooout… Three minutes.”

“WHAT?!”

Three minutes earlier, Rainbow Dash was screaming her head off and mouthing words to literally throw her voice backwards to her cohort as she tried to keep a firm hold on Phoenix Flamez.

“SHE’S OUT! SHE’S OUT! OH MY GOSH! I’M SO SORRY!”

The gigantic titan of the skies, Rodan, was in full kaiju form and flying up behind her, trying to prepare to catch the mare in case something went wrong. With them outrunning any voice he’d have, he clacked his beak up and down in a way his best friend understood. What Phoenix had glimpsed and took for a ravenous beak snapping for her was actually Rodan being exasperated in a mute exclamation.

‘IS THAT PHOENIX?!’

That Dash could understand him was a testament to how much practice they had. That she realized he was right because she could understand him made her yelp go up an octave.

Back in the present, Phoenix Flamez looked around herself and realized she was atop the slowly gliding back of Rodan, who was lazily soaring over the southern badlands with only an occasional wing flap keeping them aloft. It was a remarkably smooth ride, especially for pegasi used to being able to walk on bouncy clouds.

All the same, considering the delirium she’d just been through, Phoenix was quick to ask them to land so she could explain what was going on all the same. They found a rocky ledge on a cliffside soon after for the pegasi to hover over to.

“So there’s another kaiju out there and on the loose?” Rainbow Dash perked her brow up, rubbing at her chin, “We’ve been out here all day practicing and haven’t seen hide nor hair of a problem.”

“That’s what both Princess Twilight Sparkle and Ambassador Xenilla seem to think it is,” Phoenix Flamez explained with a shrug, “It does line up. Whatever it is, it seems to like high concentrations of magic and the only thing around here in Equestria that flies and gets big enough is a dragon.”

“I mean, ransacking things for no reason does… kinda fit the M.O. of some dragons I know,” Rainbow Dash frowned, remembering how she first got wrapped up into this kaiju business so long ago, “But you did say it ignored treasure and, thankfully, those buffalo.”

Rodan’s cackling call drowned out all noise briefly, the enormous pterosaur chimera still in full form and standing inside the canyon to be on level with his compatriots.

“Huh, so it’s not one of your family, ey? Well that at least means we didn’t miss a Gyaos,” Rainbow Dash pondered in response, tapping at her chin.

Rodan’s drone chirped again, unintelligible as speech to most.

“Right I forgot those bats well-… eat ponies, eheh,” Rainbow Dash shrugged as she looked up at him, “Well lucky us I guess! Anypony else who might fly fast and like energy?”

Rodan went silent for a spell and whilst Phoenix Flamez could read that he was clearly thinking things through, eyes moving side to side and his beak moving slightly, the cawing cry he gave out after was still unintelligible.

“Um… Do you really get any of that?” Phoenix Flamez winced, looking at Rainbow Dash.

The cyan mare perked up, “Oh, he just says it might fit this big bug, dragonfly I think, but I can’t understand names when he’s like this.”

“But, you can understand him at all?”

Rainbow Dash blinked, one ear raising and the other flopping, then alternating as she tilted her head, “I mean… Yes? We’ve been practicing for the better part of a month for shows and half the time he’s like this.”

Phoenix Flamez pursed her lips as the glimmering mass in her saddlebag, which survived the chaotic flight, perked her attention back to it.

-”Give Rodan this, it’ll allow him to change into his true form and deal with the kaiju, should the need arise.”-

She’d accepted that precious cargo hoping it would give her, in a manner, her moment. Her contribution besides just being a message courier because she happened to know where the two speedsters trained. The dancer looked at the pegasus and kaiju still wrapped in a conversation she only understood half of, unable to fight a small frown. In their midst, she felt a bit useless…

The prototype AMPER pulsed several times dimly, its energy radiating out into the world.

A distance away, a pair of glowing eyes pulsed in an identical sequence. The massive form they were mounted on turned around from their prior path and barreled towards the biggest source of magic they could detect nearby. The distance between them and the AMPER began to shrink, and shrink rapidly.

==============

To say there was no small amount of commotion when a bunch of dragons really did show up outside the city limits would be an understatement. To say said commotion, especially in the midst of the refugee camps got even crazier when the answer happened, would also be an understatement.

Twilight and Xenilla, for all of their sniping, could work in quick cohesion when the situation called for it. A single look, a burst of magic across the alicorn’s horn, and Xenilla grabbing onto her was the only signal needed. Twilight teleported them high above the city and hit Xenilla with a full burst, carefully calibrated after much practice with Lea.

The incoming dragons stopped in their advance, all half dozen of them, when a form even taller than they flew out and stomped down on the desert grounds between them and the city. Xenilla hissed and readied himself, not attacking just yet but making it plainly clear he could. Usually he’d have gotten right to the business of dispatching the invaders, but their numbers and Equestria rubbing off on him encouraged pause. Pause that was well made when he quickly noticed how battered, bloodied, and bruised these drakes were.

Missing horns, broken teeth, burned wings on a species that usually swam through magma. That rang a few alarm bells. Not the least of which was when the largest of the dragons, who had to be carried by his fellows, almost instantly collapsed to the ground unconscious.

Twilight Sparkle, who’d been riding on Xenilla’s brow, perked up her eyes and teleported down in front of the fallen dragon’s face.

“L-Lord Torch?!” The young alicorn yelped, recognizing the face and form from many a brushing up on known world leaders.

“Hey! Hey! We-We’re not here for a fight!” A voice called out as a small form which had been helping hold up Torch’s head flew down to meet with Twilight, “We’re not going to pillage and plunder you, relax!”

A low, chortle of a noise resembling a huffing snort from Xenilla was audible high above as he continued to look at the sorry lot which so obviously looked ready to lay waste to all of those before them. The biggest threat these dragons’ posed was damaging the complex desert rocky architecture when they collapsed face first into it. Some of them looked seconds away from doing just that.

Twilight Sparkle felt many an eye on her, not just from the dragons who naturally seemed to assume the first alicorn they saw was in charge. She could feel the towering gaze from Xenilla seeming to bore into the back of her head. It was ironic, that the kaiju who was so loyal to her sister-in-law was arguably less reverent of alicorns than the dragons were.

For all his tests and sniping at her, Twilight was keenly aware Xenilla had picked up on her comparative inexperience as a princess compared to the more experienced alicorns.

She subconsciously glared back in defiance and bravado, stepping forward and suffocating some anxiety.

“I am Princess Twilight Starla Sparkle. What is it you come to us for then?” Twilight Sparkle perked her eyebrow as she looked at the blue, bipedal form of what was clearly a young dragonness very far from her growth spurt.

“As acting Dragon Lord due to my father being incapable of ruling, I, Ember, enact the Treat of Stability!”

“....” Twilight and Xenilla both blinked.

“The… What?” Twilight Sparkle questioned, one ear raised and the other flopping as she tilted her head.

-Treat? Is she asking permission to eat somepony?-

“I enact the Treat of Stability, signed by my father and your ruler to ensure in the event of catastrophe, we could seek sanctuary with your type,” Ember explained, trying not to winge as she pulled out and presented… well, it took Twilight a moment or two to figure out what it was.

It was evidently at one point some kind of scepter or staff with a blood-red crystal upon it, but the shaft had been broken and hastily repaired and the crystal looked half-covered in char. Ember, biting her lip and looking between Twilight and the staff, seemed to offer it with no small amount of pain in doing so.

Art by Faith-Wolff!

Xenilla let out a low rumble, leaning over to inspect the object for potential threats at first and consequently looming over Ember perhaps a little bit too much. Some of the other dragons, injured as they were, stiffened and braced, a few standing up as if to rouse to the defense of their acting leader.

“Please, call off your monster! We can repay for the act later but we need your he-... we need your heel-..” Ember seemed to be trying to force the word out but it was binding up on her tongue, “We need you ponies’ heelp-”

“Wait, are you trying to say ‘Treaty’?” Twilight yelped as she shot up, “I never knew Equestria had a treaty with the Dragon Lordship.”

Ember paused from looking like her tongue was trying to tie itself in a knot just saying the word ‘Help’ to a pony, blinking in stupefaction, “... But… My father signed it with your queen, back when he first became dragon lord! It was during the chaotic times in the aftermath of the reign of ice and storms.”

“Equestria hasn’t ever had a queen though,” Twilight Sparkle noted, “I mean, they tried to elect Princess Celestia as one several times; but she turned it down each occasion and she’d never use that on a document like a treaty… When did your father become Dragon Lord?”

Ember obviously wasn’t alive back then but she at least did know that bit of history more-so than the embarrassment of not even knowing what the word ‘Treaty’ meant. Ember stole her sire a concerned glance and frowned, before looking back to the alicorn.

“1,125 years ago. He has since rewon the title each time it was contested.”

Twilight looked about at the other dragons who’d arrived with the posse, none quite as large as Torch but still plenty magnitudes bigger than Ember. And yet, all of them showed some signs of injury; but far less so than their leader. She could quickly deduce that whatever happened, Torch had taken the brunt of it for his fellows.

-That might explain the loyalty the others have to let his daughter lead in this sort of emergency. This must be serious though.-

“I’m sorry, but I think you got the wrong nation. Equestria wasn’t founded until about 1,000 years ago and we’ve never had a queen. As a Princess of Equestria, I cannot act upon a treaty that doesn’t involve me,” Princess Twilight Sparkle, wings spread, noted astutely with a tiny hint of the Royal Canterlot Voice, not aimed at Ember but more directed upwards so the larger dragons could hear, “However-”

Ember clutched the scepter and flinched, unable to hear. For the briefest moment she thought a rare sensation, dread, might befall her. Torch was both an archetypical and atypical dragon, and he had instilled a lot into his daughter. There were reasons beyond prowess he remained Dragon Lord for so long and concern for his people and their stability was one of them. The idea of failure, especially with his father so close to being on the line, would have been crushing to Ember’s confidence in her ability to succeed him one day.

Which is why it was good a sudden tap with her hoof allowed Twilight to jog Ember out of her mental funk.

“Acting Dragon Lord Ember? I said we have medical equipment, professionals, and lots of tasty quartz crystals on-hoof for all your needs. Please follow me so we can find a spot big enough for you all!” Princess Twilight Sparkle said with a wide smile.

Ember blinked, trembling, “W-What?”

“Come on, I need you to lead the dragons so we can get you all the help you need!”

Ember was still stupefied, “But... I have no treaty…”

“Then consider our agreement one until we can get it in writing! I am a Princess of Equestria,” Twilight nodded, gently putting a hoof to the scepter and nudging it back into Ember’s claws so as to make sure she held it firm, as it belonged with its rightful owner, “And Equestrians don’t abandon others."

A few moments passed before Ember straightened back up, chest puffed out once again and standing as tall as she could. She hit the end of the royal scepter on the ground and roared out with a jet of flames from her maw. She beat the side of a fist across her chest several times.

“DRAGONS! SHOW EVERY HOSPITALITY TO OUR HOST, THE MOST ESTEEMED PRINCESS TWILIGHT AND HER PONIES! IF YOU CAUSE A PROBLEM, I WILL BURY YOU IN THE MANTLE MYSELF!”

Princess Twilight Sparkle giggled a bit awkwardly and took to the air to lead the similarly flying Ember to the best spot, next to the other refugee stations.

“Bury you in the mantle?” Twilight whispered out the side of her mouth.

“We chuck our dead into volcanoes,” Ember shrugged before her face hardened with determination again, “And I vow I shall enact a demonstration should any of my drakes cause any issues to your lands, your highness!”

"Oh that's - appreciated! Well, we can start by assessing your wounded and getting proper treatment. We also will need details as to what attacked you, we are compiling witness reports from other refugees. Xenilla!" Princess Twilight Sparkle puffed her chest out and shouted backwards without turning her head, "Ready a batch of healing surge crystals! We're going to need a lot more and we cannot dawdle!"

Ember, dragon and from a completely different culture as she was, understood gratitude and loyalty. As far as she was concerned, if anyone disrespected her new favorite foreign royalty, they were going to have to deal with her.

"Now you, you are a pony princess I think we can deal with! Any chance I could get the scepter repaired?" Ember whispered to her new company.

"Only if I get to see that old treaty, you got me curious! But first, let’s figure out what we can about what attacked you like the rest of these refugees. We can hash it all out whilst everybody is being tended to," the awkward giggle the young alicorn had whilst trying to stoke bravado returned before Twilight’s ears perked upon hearing the faintest noise of a sound most uncommon.

Low, huffing, chortling. She glanced back to catch the sight of Xenilla chuckling to himself at her display and handling of the situation. Even with the laugh, he made his approval of it obvious with a nod when he tapped at his chest in a copied gesture from Ember. He followed a pace behind, knowing his presence helped to reinforce Twilight’s authority if he humored her in letting her appear to be his superior. For any drakes who might waver, it gave quite a sight to see him tower over a nearby plateau as they returned to the AMPER testing grounds.

====================

Under a moonlit sky, several nights prior on the nearby plateau outside of Las Pegasus, Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra paced across the surface with one eye on a certain book of dark magic and another eye on where the black crystal Sombra had been manipulating was pointing.

“I don’t see him here, but there definitely is a high amount of ambient magic,” Chrysalis hissed, her eyes flashing green for a moment and changing what was in her line of sight, able to perceive and detect auras given off by magical fields.

Sombra’s scrying crystal was pointing at a nebulous mass of magic imperceptible to the normal eye like a compass pointing due north.

“So, there is a weak spot between the realms here,” Chrysalis hummed, squinting her eyes and looking at it a bit closer.

The odd gathering of ambient magic had evidently moved here after drifting across the world. Looking past it like there was a small smoking trail, it appeared the origin point was somewhere further north and up in the sky.

Sombra, blinking his own eyes to cast the exact same spell and perceive what his companion saw, hummed affirmatively after studying the odd magic.

“Something punched a hole between the barrier for different realms up in the sky. With the monsters from another world becoming so common here, it seems crossing between realms has become much more tenable,” He studied the mass further, just barely perceiving what almost looked like a shape in the otherwise amorphous mass. A central body with multiple outwards pointing protrusions, like a head, tail, and limbs. Two of presumably the latter group were especially large, wings perhaps.

To compare a tear in the dimensional fabric to looking like something out of a cartoon Sombra didn’t even know existed, with someone having smashed through a wall and left an exact outline of themselves, would’ve been appropriate if lost on the audience.

Still, the scrying crystal looking for Tirek was right on point.

“Unite your magic with mine,” Sombra huffed as he readied a spell, fur bristling and his horn starting to crackle.

“The idiot is lucky we need him,” Chrysalis hissed, her wings snapping open to the full extent and buzzing rapidly as she drove her own power.

They put the tips of their horns together and cast directly into the dimensional rift. Even though their inherent magics were different respectively, they were still fundamentally similar in regard to origin point. Both were students of Grogar, having a shared commonality in their works between that. Casting through the rift, Lust and Wrath sought a similar commonality in Greed.

And to compare such a cast to a fishing line, they soon got a bite.

The strange mass of distortion magic ripped open and became visible, a twisting nether between realms that could boggle the mind if looked into for too long. One thing that was visible soon however, was the form that had grabbed onto and was rushing up their torrent of magic. Despite not really having a floor to run across, hooves galloped as fast as they could as a twin-horned head became visible in the backlighting of Sombra and Chrysalis’ energies.

Lord, formerly Crown Prince, Tirek was rushing forth to storm into the world.

Sombra snorted and Chrysalis rolled her eyes as their magic seized him and started to drag him out at a quicker pace. The distortion realm between realms was constantly releasing a strange cacophony of noises, but amidst all of the auditory chaos the two villains did become privy to something they recognized.

Tirek screaming his head off, his voice distorted and echoing uncannily.

“RRruruRNRURUN!”

The backlighting behind him, formerly a mishmash of greens and purples on account of Sombra and Chrysalis’ magic, abruptly turned red. An uncanny hue of it that looked off even against the mostly red-and-black simian centaur. Having gotten closer, Tirek was clearly not in a good way. It was a rare thing to see him truly terrified.

The redness spilled forth as the dimensional tear grew and grew in size. The odd, mostly nebulous shape from earlier swelled up to magnitudes larger than it had been. What started out as a roughly pony sized, six limbed outline one could take for a pegasus or gryphon; dilated to be larger than most of the plateau. Six limbs became four, the body form changing into a strange bird-like outline.

Chrysalis squinted at the image, vaguely recalling it from somewhere.

-That’s not a bird…-

Red, glowing dust spilled out of the portal Tirek was making a break for, his screaming now much more audible.

“RUN! CLOSE IT! CLOSE IT!” Tirek shrieked as more red dust blew past him with a surging tide.

The red, glowing particles spilled over the plateau. With Sombra still having his vision set to perceive magical auras, he caught a glimpse of it. Just a glimpse, because the energy coming off them was unlike anything comprehensible and totally alien, alien to the degree it hurt to look at in that way. It was like trying to understand all four states of matter at once, constant oscillations at the same instance.

"THEY'RE COMING!" Tirek shrieked and at this point, Chrysalis let go of the tether trying to pull him out. She'd glimpsed what was appearing behind him and didn't like it.

Dozens of glimpses, sights and sounds. All showing different permutations and incarnations of the same terror in the skies.

A form appeared behind Tirek, wings spread and coming right up on him. The red dust seemed to be coming from it specifically.

Tirek had called out something as he turned around, the sun between his horns igniting to fire upon what snapped red dust covered jaws; an enormous beak covered in teeth all across the interior, upon him. It didn't eat him per se, but there was a brief blinding flash of light as magic and the various archetype particulates reacted to each other.

And there was always a bigger fish when a jagged, almost rocky beak snapped shut upon the entity emerging from the singular point with Tirek still in its mouth.

Sombra felt Chrysalis tackle him as she teleported them out of the way, the dimension barrier exploding outwards as a titanic mass flew out of it. Contrails of red dust, magic, broken portal magic that was like shattered glass, and burning embers rained down from the site.

The malefic unicorn and changeling both popped their heads up as the flying titan flew off southward. The discarded scrying crystal, rolling across the ground, snapped into a direction to point directly at Tirek's location and essence. Directly at what just came through the dimension rift another version of itself had torn open.

Chrysalis, more aware of modern tongue, put it best. "............. Shi-"

==============

Two high-speed objects rapidly streaked through the air, one leaving behind a trail of rainbows and the other parting clouds and creating gale forces as they went. Rainbow Dash and Rodan zoomed across the sky at blistering speed… Before Rainbow Dash gave a signal Rodan recognized before they changed direction. They doubled back and homed in on the third flying object moving significantly slower. Phoenix nearly got another heart attack seeing Rodan especially zoom directly towards her before both speedster flyers pulled off some complex mental math to come to a halt in front of her.

Phoenix still had to flutter her wings and recombobulate herself after getting blown backwards slightly.

“Hey um-“ Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head and glanced back at her kaiju companion, “Las Pegasus is that way, right?”

She indicated directly northward with her hoof eyebrow raised, “I mean it could... you know... get pretty serious if there’s some big meanie we gotta wail on.”

Rodan squawked briefly, spurring Rainbow Dash to crack a deadpan expression and backtalk him, “Oh don’t start with me about that again.”

Phoenix Flamez tilted her head whilst frowning, “What did he say?”

“Well somebody seems to be forgetting that with both of us flying we’re more likely to notice things,” Rainbow Dash huffed.

-Notice things like me lagging behind…-

Phoenix Flamez hid her inner thoughts and ensuing pout as Rainbow rolled her eyes after Rodan grunted back to her. She turned her back, not seeing Phoenix’s saddened visage as she waved her hooves at the kaiju, “Besides Ro’, if you run out of steam, who’s going to recharge you, you big lummox?”

Rodan snorted and clacked his beak several times whilst squawking, shaking his head, and nudging it towards Phoenix. Clearly seeing his line of sight on her, Phoenix perked her ears up and held just a bit of hope he was vouching for her to come along. Let her have a chance to be useful like she wanted to be. Seeing them so in sync even when they squabbled was a reminder of missing out on some things between friends.

Rainbow Dash shrugged aloud, brow lowered.

“Wh-what was that all about?” Phoenix muttered, forcefully hiding her expression back behind a mask of neutrality as Rainbow turned around.

Rainbow Dash’s brow was so lowered it was threatening to touch her cheeks and close her eyes entirely, “He wants me to escort you back to Las Pegasus, which I think is code for getting rid of me too.”

The air shuddered with Rodan grumbling in a manner identical to Rainbow Dash. If one looked closely they could see he literally had almost the exact same expression she had on his face, which was surreal on the pterosaur chimera’s grill.

“Oh, would you stop trying to be a macho-hero?” Rainbow Dash huffed as she whirled around, “I squared up with dragons twice your size before and dealt with crazy stuff around here on the regular before the kaiju even showed up! And I know how tired you get after doing flight maneuvers for four hours!”

Rodan snorted, blowing a gust of wind into the two pegasi and nudging them along. Phoenix was pushed back, but RD responded by zooming upwards and latching onto his face just above the beak, arching her back whilst looking him right in the eye like some kind of angry cat.

“Quit focusing on trying to get rid of me and focus on the big problem we gotta chase down!”

Rodan squawked in response, slightly shaking his head side to side both in disagreement and to jostle her around some. Phoenix watched the exchange with a complex mishmash of confusion, bemusement, and slight bitterness. A comparatively tiny mare, though one with extraordinary talents in one regard, having an argument with a giant monster bigger than anything Phoenix had ever seen before; and the conversation only got more and more lively even as she could scarcely understand any of it at this point.

Rainbow Dash had gone to the level of clearly mimicking some of Rodan’s noises, and Phoenix wasn’t sure if the speedster was somehow bilingual in “kaiju” or if Rainbow Dash was just antagonizing back the well intended dismissal she was getting.

They clearly understood each other and she was the third party.

So she put her hoof down after both of them pointed due north and what she took as references to her in the discussion, like they were arguing over her behalf. All of it was just making her pulse hurt with how much it was straining.

“THAT’S NOT EVEN THE WAY BACK!”

Both Rodan and Rainbow went quiet as Phoenix flew up above them. Her face was a contorted mishmash of painful frowns that looked like she was on the verge of stress tears. She hated being spoken for.

“Las. Pegasus. Is. THAT WAY!” Phoenix Flamez instead motioned in a very specific direction towards the northwest, “I have lived. In the southern lands. MOST of my life!”

She spat slightly in her words, punctuating the end of each sentence and commanding the attention. The AMPER inside her bag was glowing brightly, backlighting her all the while.

“Xenilla and Princess Twilight told me which way. That THING is going. The reason I was heading after you all is because you two were going the WRONG WAY!”

Rainbow and Rodan looked to one another, both clearly winding down from prior anxieties and intensity. The former swiveled her ears down and held up her hooves in a placating manner after hovering up to join her friend. Rainbow stayed in place a bit above Phoenix, shading her from the sun as she put her hooves on Phoenix’s shoulders.

“Phoenix, I know you want to help… Maybe our sense of direction isn’t as good as yours out here, but we can cover a lot more sky than you can. Even if we were off by a bit, we were doing it as a sweeping pattern so we could look around,” Rainbow Dash said with a growing frown, “We just… fly a lot faster than you do and wanted to get to this thing lickety-split.”

“You could have-“ Phoenix hitched in her voice briefly, some of her vision starting to get cloudy from stress-induced tears, “Carried me. Kept me along, you did before and I could keep up- and be useful…”

“But-“ Rainbow Dash bit down on her tongue to keep from blurting out the fact that the last time Phoenix was moving that fast in their midst, she passed out. Some flyers just couldn’t take the g-forces as much. But she got one look at her friend being on the verge of tears and tried to redirect, “I’m just trying to keep our friend safe.”

Rodan’s shadow engulfed all of them as he did what Rainbow did, shading them from the sun by putting himself at a higher level. It wasn’t meant to be making any kind of statement, amongst pegasi it was a comforting gesture given the omnipresent potential for sun glare in the eyes when you lived up on the clouds. Amongst fellows it was something friends did for each other.

“I-“ Phoenix looked at them both, “I know I’m being silly… But I really want to help, and I know I can.”

Trying to be useful ferrying the AMPER had wound up being redundant, and with all the things that have been happening in Equestria ever since the kaiju showed up; she wanted to contribute. She’d been in Appleloosa when the Gyaos briefly attacked and she was part of a group hiding inside Thalia’s tavern back then. She felt so useless, even if nopony got seriously hurt. And with her friends having such fantastic abilities as they did, sometimes being in their midst she felt less like a companion and more like a fan.

It wasn’t jealousy or pride, but a potent selflessness begging for action.

==================

Xenilla’s face pitched lower into a frown after a solid minute of analyzing a cross-section of the eyewitness reports, composited together by the best artist they could find. The yellow stallion who had given him the sketch at first didn’t know why the former kaiju was looking as contemplative and unnerved as he was. But Twilight, who had spent the better part of the day and days prior having to put up with his sass and sniping knew something had to be very wrong for his demeanor to change so much. That much was confirmed when he put the picture down depicting a winged entity with large horns.

“I do not know this kaiju,” Xenilla grunted, eyes still affixed on the picture.

“Are you sure? With how paranoid you always are and prepared you try to be, I thought you knew every single monster back on Terra and some beyond?” Twilight Sparkle said with a lowered brow, for once not trying to fire back at her mutual antagonist of a working partner and instead trying to be as thorough as possible.

“I do and I have,” Xenilla shook his head, “This is... I know of multiple avian-like kaiju, but none of them with these characteristics. Which can only mean one of two things-”

Far away from the AMPER base camp, on the fringe of Las Pegasus and out of Xenilla’s crystal-based detection field, two disguised ancient evils grimly looked out into the horizon. Under the guise of changeling magic, they looked like a perfectly normal stallion and mare looking between a compass and tourist map. In the sight of truth, Sombra and Chrysalis were still mulling over the scrying map and crystal, seeing the crystal lock on to a point on the map in the south.

“That portal leads to other realms, but also other worlds like other Equestrias,” Sombra grunted as he looked back to where the obscured distortion in reality which this giant monstrosity had come through was. Right now, it was invisible to both sight as well as virtually every detection method. Far off in the distance he could see the AMPER and the traces of one he loathed almost as much as the Crystal Princess.

“But because it came from that portal and we know the magic involved, we can trace it,” Chrysalis muttered before snorting, “Fat lot of good that does us even if we got close to that thing.”

“Not entirely for us perhaps….” Sombra glanced at the AMPER crystal, where an alicorn and that wretch of a kaiju was. A tantalizing creation, a prize they sought, and something he would very much like to see dead all in one location. They couldn’t make a move right in the open like this, couldn’t get close to the detection field without causing much more problems than it was worth.

But…

“But if we coaxed something to return from whence it came and it found something along the way...”

Chrysalis looked to her compatriot, the map, and then where Sombra was looking with the AMPER and grounds around it. The sheer number of potential bodies in the way didn’t even factor to her mental math as she grinned. The scrying crystal started to glow with a spell that would take a long time to cast.

Back at the AMPER site, Xenilla looked grimly into the horizon.

“Either that thing is from this Equestria or another, or it’s from somewhere other than my Terra…”

=============================

The mountains behind Phoenix exploded and all eyes looked to the horizon.

Rodan shrieked and took to the air, looking pointedly at Rainbow Dash and Phoenix Flamez before flying off.

“HEY! I WILL NOT JUST HIDE!” Rainbow Dash yelled back before bolting after him in a small burst of rainbow light exploding off the ground.

Rodan squawked and flapped his huge wings in a clapping motion once, creating a gale force of winds that momentarily blew the pegasus backwards end over end. With her pushed back, he turned his focus to the dark clouds and pyroclastic flows billowing over a mountain ridge. The broad expanse of a dark shape was invisible in outline through the smoke, fire seemingly raining down from it. A totally unfamiliar bellow of a roar rattled heaven and earth as it coursed over the valley.

Sombra and Chrysalis’s spell had reached into a very specific rift between worlds. One where the dimensional barrier had been perforated before. And with the essentially Rodan-shaped hole left in it when that hero was unwittingly spirited to another world; the space between spaces sought to course correct. And so, it searched across various Equestrias to find equivalency. One was found in a dimension all to its own, emanating from a singular point. That was the genesis of the red dust. But there was another still.

Another force had been pulled across from another Equestria, where the stories of a bygone age closely mirrored those of another version of Terra. Ancient Titans, some benevolent but some not so, that hailed from an age far before any sapient life called Equestria home. A war from a bygone time was resurrected in the modern day. Ferocious titan against maddened god.

Entire cities besieged by walking mountains, desperate counterattacks by the comparatively tiny sapients trying to reclaim dominion of their world. Only for another calamity in and of itself to occur when one of the greatest of the titanic monsters was merged with one of the greatest civilized monsters. In the war of walking thunder, that world’s King Sombra had his own part to play. The duel between the fallen star and the ancient sea monarch became the clash of three kings, with many a hero and heroine caught in the crossfire. That the final battle when the heroes combined their magic with the monster king was fought in the very same empire that Tambelon lay beneath in this very Equestria might not have been coincidence. Fate rarely had such drastic measures of irony.

And even after the seeming final battle was resolved, that didn’t mean that Equestria completely returned to a life of quiet. There were still giants roaming the earth in those days.

Like a glitching machine that didn’t know what wasn’t a correct command or not, the open gateway the two villains had cast their metaphorical fishing line into ended up dredging forth something else entirely. And it threw everything that tried to come spewing out together.

Looking at it from head on, the outline resembled and was nearly the same shape as the Guardian Beast of the Skies himself. But as the moments ticked by and they bore down closer to one another, the dark veil and silhouette morphed and changed. Growing larger, and larger still. Enormous, black horns stamped out from the smoke cloud like twin shark fins; a burning sphere of blazing heat and physics-warping archetype nested between them. Rodan surged forward courageously nonetheless, meeting what was obviously a battle cry with his own.

What came bursting forth from the smog, legs kicked down and talons bared, was totally unlike anything that had ever existed before. Trailing embers of red dust, swirling masses of fires across lava-like hide, an eagle-like form crowned with an evil lord’s horns and colors bearing the blazing crimson sun.

Art by Faith-Wolff!

The harbingers from the archetype void, a fire demon from a bygone age, and a monstrous servant of evil gestalt it into one. And they were ravenous.

===============

Some additional art after the oopsie-daisy summoning by Chrysalis and Sombra, by LordShrekzilla20! Posted here to avoid spoilers

Art link!

Author's Note:

Lucky Lead is a delightful original character from a delightful story, Stallion of Tomorrow, by a good friend of mine, check out Jade's handiwork!

Phoenix Flamez is a beautiful original character from many beautiful pieces of art, check out FallenAngel5414's gallery to see her and many other creations!

Artwork by the ever magnificent Faith-Wolff (LOVE YOU HONEY!) and the ever creative LordShrekZilla, who spoiled you all with this artwork!

And yep, this chapter is a stealth-crossover with another fun Godzilla-MLP crossover, One True King by JDPrime22, check him out if you are a Monster'verse fan!

Proofreading done with much appreciation by LanceOmikron and Faith-Wolff!

Comments

[Shrekzilla]

The official crossover of The One True King
Happy to be part of this collab.

[JDPrime22]

Looking forward to reading this little crossover arc with my story! Great work, Tarb!

[Moongaze14]

This chapter is very worth the wait. The most intriguing part of the story is the mysterious entity that attacked the dragons and the buffalos, so unraveling the mystery will be entertaining. My favorite part was the interactions between the characters, particularly Xenilla and Twilight Sparkle. I love how Twilight and Xenilla throw verbal jabs and teasing insults at each other to the point that a new reader starting from this chapter would think of them as a married couple even though Xenilla is with Blade Dancer. It was adorable to see Xenilla complimenting Blade Dancer to the audience and I laughed when Twilight pranked Xenilla by turning the prototype on late and then hitting him in the face with her wings during the presentation.. I also love how the two of them worked together and how Twilight showed her greater confidence with the way she made a treaty with Ember and the dragons.

In the case of Chrysalis and Sombra they have an entertaining dynamic. Both of them work together and almost seem like frenemies, but the story reminds us that they became evil by choice and their cooperation is mainly due to an obligation to their master. Their attempts to help Grogar by finding the other two tomes is interesting, especially since they know that Discord’s tome is carefully hidden between dimensions, so they focused on Tirek’s. The fact that Tirek was in another dimension and running away from Kaiju from a different dimension was a very entertaining twist, especially since the Kaiju will now fight Rodan.

Finally, I enjoyed the return of Phoenix and her dynamic with RD and Rodan. She feels helpless compared to the latter and it doesn’t help that Rodan and RD have bonded enough that RD can understand Rodan even in his Kaiju form. Nevertheless, it’s quite moving that Phoenix wants to face danger to help her friends and I hope she is okay.

Faith did an amazing job depicting the new Kaiju as it looks like a beast that came straight out of Armageddon and is far more threatening than the pic of a curious Sombra and a smirking Chrysalis planning their next move. Unrelated, but the pic of Ember offering the Spike to Twilight while Xenilla’s Kaiju foot is on the frame is uplifting yet a bit funny. Overall, thanks for giving everyone an early Christmas present, Tarb. We can’t wait to see the next chapters of this arc.

[redandready45]

I'm glad to see some new content and in time for the Holiday Season! And it's a crossover with another great Godzilla crossover.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

[Temnizziv]

Just finished reading. And this chapter was great, I liked the dynamic between Xen & Twilight. And the diplomacy between Twilight & Ember was a great character moment.

The opening with Ember was also good with establishing tension & mystery into what was going on. And I'm curious as to whether the entity that attacked the Buffalos & the one we see at the end are one and the same.

Sombra & Chrysalis were entertaining to read in their dialogue. And we finally get an answer as to where the hell Tirek has been all this time. I loved the Singular Point reference & I'm wondering if it's a potential clue that we'll be seeing more from that in the future. Certainly wasn't expecting Tiradon.

It was also great to see Phoenix back into the forefront. And I'm curious to see what you'll be cooking up with her in the future.

[Dragon-from-down-under]

So, two rodans. Interesting, jdprime rodan, mixed with archetype and tirek.

Oh no
For tirek.
Audience: oh yeah

[Dragon-from-down-under]

I’ve just realised this, but this technically mean (not saying that is going to happen anytime soon) raiga can get in from the mirror dimension when the time comes.

[Charedfirescale]

Its a Christmas miracle, especially since i'm currently rereading the previous arc

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

O_O
Oh lordy.... Tirek combined with Monsterverse Rodan? This is gonna be one heck of a pickle to deal with!

[Shrekzilla]

11781886
Not just any Monsterverse Rodan
But Rodan for JDPrime’s story

[Moongaze14]

Forgot to add, I laughed at the Archer reference of phrasing and that Twilight, of all people, was the one that used it. Was kinda betting that Xenilla would use it when BD said something sexy or an innuendo. Anyway, hope you have a happy Christmas Eve.

[Thebobkiller]

Oh, archetypes. cool.

... wait. Oh FUCK!

[The Voice in the Water]

So, Tirek and a version of Rodan from another world jogressed? That's bad.

[Azurelong]

“I got here as fast as I could! I was chasing a story about a laboratory explosion with a botanist in the southern swamps, real comic book stuff,

i.pinimg.com/originals/d5/ea/d8/d5ead85146001741a48f8610b864cf0f.jpg

[SuperSaiyanGodzilla]

HOLY SHIT, TIREK AND MONSTERVERSE/JDPRIME RODAN FUSED TOGETHER! THAT'S ALL SORTS OF BAD NEWS!

[Red Hearts]

Well, what I liked most about this chapter: the friendly rivalry of Twilight and Xen, it makes sense to see them together more, they are nerdy geniuses addicted to books but incredibly powerful and that makes it fun to see them interact and it was nice how Xenilla mentioned Blade Dancer (if this pegasus keeps blushing, she will be permanently red one day)

2 Rodans huh? That will make Rodan have more prominence, I'm glad to see Phoenix again and see the Rainbow Dash Pony.

Chrysalis and Sombra were the best to see, at least if you take advantage of their interactions and not like in the Canonica series (although well, they supposedly say that these two will return in MLP G5), it would be great to see a Round 2 between the kings of the crystals (Xenilla vs Sombra 2)

Well let's see how Godzilla Junior and Lea get involved in this arc (although it seems that Twiligt and Xen will have more prominence)

and finally Ember, one of my favorite dragons, I don't know why but seeing her and Chrysalis gives me the false sensation of seeing Thorax although well it's just me xd

Anyway, good chapter and merry Christmas, hopefully next year we will see more of this incredible story and Faith's beautiful art

[CrystalMaster76]

A Bridge chapter that’s mostly free of word bloat? It’s a Christmas miracle!!!
Jokes aside this was pretty fun. Chrysalis and Sombra causing incidental problems as they try to get the pieces of their plan together is a good set up, and I enjoy the dynamic of barely contained hatred they have with each other.
Twilight and Xenilla’s dynamic is also amusing, as is their cooperation. Xen’s clearly not used to people who can keep up with him mentally.
Ember was an unexpected surprise, but the dragons are used to good effect here. Good to show off crossover Rodan’s threat level but also how it operates. Neat to bring in a crossover version of the character as Legendary Rodan likely wouldn’t be much of a treat on his own.
Phoenix was also a nice return, though Rodan starting in Kaiju form limits their interactions. The only thing I’m not huge on here is Rainbow. Her “prank” feels a little too mean even for her, her being “fluent” in Kaiju felt a little too detailed, and I know Rainbow is reckless but she should know be now that fighting another Kaiju is suicidal.
Overall fun chapter, looking forward to more.

[Booster Spice]

Xenilla is gonna need that crystal with every safety feature inverted, cos a Kaiju tirek absorption beast is going to take singularity class just to get working on it?

[mjadino8823]

Loved the banter between xen and twilight early into the chapter. This chapter is a great early Christmas present.

[Supersonic]

Top Gear style recap 56 (from Goji's POV):

Tonight, Twilight and Xenilla argue over succession, Phoenix and Rainbow Dash argue over directions, and Sombra and Chrysalis argue over lack of intelligence.

[CalvinZilla]

Ooh, looks interesting. Is Rodan a fusion with Tirek, or is it just him on his own?

I suddenly want to read One True King.

[hydra30]

Great update. That thing is like a walking polymerisation

[thatguyvex]

I do enjoy the banter here, both between heroes and villians. Twilight and Xen bounce off each other in a way that feels like friends in the same field of expertise having fun verbal sparrage. Weirdly enough there's a similar vibe from Sombra and Chrysalis trading barbs, with the distinct difference that its clear those two would knife each other if given half a chance, they've just worked alongside each other long enough to know how to avoid it.

I also now have this notion in my head of Xen and Twi working together to make educational videos on countless magic and science subjects, all with good natured ribbing each other through the process.

I certainly sympathize with Phoenix. It's not an uncommon feeling to want to do ones best and be helpful, even when you feel like you can't keep up with the very people who inspire you to want to do that.

Also that's a heck of a Rodan design. Good advertisment to get me wanting to check out JD's story, that's for sure.

[Escalator]

Oh yay, a demonic version of Rodan.

i.pinimg.com/736x/c6/a7/b2/c6a7b27fed653385400ea91ae6e8b97e.jpg

[Zillafreak825]

Sorry I'm a little late with this but...
Belated MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
And HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

[Guardiansentry]

Ok I thought it pulled mothra's great times infinity grandfather or something

[Chaos Bringer]

Is that a custom Rodan Ultima?!?!? Cause like I know the Archetype has to do with Godzilla Ultima in Godzilla Singularity Point so like is that essentially Rodan Ultima.

[Shrekzilla]

11788846
Pretty much
It's a mixture of Tirek, Singular Point Rodan, and JDPrime's Rodan

[Seraphem]

Okay, let's get to the fun! Winter War is over, let's see what happens next and get back to Equestria!

impulse she wanted to intercede, only to remember that common chaff had eyeballs bigger than she was.

Ohhhhh Ember! So, setting up more Kaiju VS Dragon fun times?

and a few times she could almost detect something radiating out of its storage.

Ohhhhh…. Ancient, powerful artifact, full of magic, and that wouldn't obviously require messing with the Ponies or their new allies… wonder where this might be going….

The explosion behind her was so sudden and violent that the rush of air knocked her out of the sky

Wow…that was sooner then expected. So which of his minions is getting to show off now that the Hunters are mostly sidelined? Legion is busy setting up with Chryssi, I don't think Hedora is a good match up here with all the heat and fire and lava… who else did he even have?

Reconvene with who the accords list!”

Oh…. He's treating this extra seriously…. Damn. Also, good on him for having these backups in place just in case. And gee, I wonder who she'll have to go get help from……

was a retreat order to be obeyed as he held the threat off

Damn… but epic on Torch

Back when two had the company of two more and they received what some might call a mandate of heaven if it were.

So, I was going to make a “Meanwhile, in the Legion of Doom” quip given that opening kind of have of the vibe…. Then I realized they are in the HQ from season 9 which was designed to give off exactly that vibe. So great setting the stage well right off!

been distributed by the will of Grogar and the hand of that dark deity's then-strongest remaining subordinate.

Hand? So…. Tirak or Scorpan?

didn't really remember asking when his emissary brought me here and he said something about a painful memory for her,"

This where G3 ended?

Chrysalis could vividly recall the biting cold of westerly winds when that apparition of a bygone time appeared before the wayward then-princess.

Oh… no… one of the Windbags

Perhaps by design considering wrath differed from the other sins and

And it is really hard to hear talk of the Seven Deadly Sins and not just think Helluva Boss right now. So, Tirak has got to be Greed, Discord.... huh... Sloth? Gluttony maybe? I'd say that was The Smooze if we didn't know the G4 Smooze is a just a fun little blob boi that just wants to party with his buddies. Hmmm, what about the other three? Nightmare Moon.... first thought is Pride but really, Envy works better for her. Pride.... does seem like it fits with what we saw of Daybreaker. So who would be a fit for Sloth?

stream of dark magic tethering Chrysalis’ horn to the Tome of Lust, then to his own horn, and

Doing better at keeping the unneeded wordiness down, though that one is a tad redundant

Gluttony is…” Some

Yeah that kind of tracks for Discord. Going for the not so much 'eating everything' type as just, full hedonism of fulfilling your every whim with no self control.

the bolt of magic was aimed right between Sombra’s eyes and it was only dodged by merit of knowing Chrysalis well enough to know a bolt was coming.

I am loving this!

Las Pegasus?

Ohhhhh fun times!!! And I just had the mental image of Sombra being a grumpy, complaining stick in the mud about what a waste of time and energy this place is.... only to end up enraptured by the sight of an escalator.

Memories of watching a certain airshow up close, seeing fantastic  abilities and feats, was a near omnipresent thought in the dancer’s  mind. She saw and she admired. And she wanted to feel like she was  contributing herself. 

Awwwwwww that is amazing! Love to be back in Equestria and seeing how the Kaiju are just, being appreciated and inspiring Ponies! Now.... inspiring to do what?

“If you’re concerned with the pamphlet being so big, it’s not due to concerns,” A male voice perked from the other booth beside Twilight’s, “It’s because she wrote it to exhaustive detail.” 

Heh..... yeah that tracks. I need but also dread a Cosmere crossover.... one because all reality in all multiverses might be at risk if Pinkie Pie ever encountered Whimsy and gained any of that Shard's power..... But if Twilight and Sterris ever met.... they would just spiral each other into teaming up to create the ultimate checklist of disaster preparation EVER! They would create stellar level mega-structures just to have enough space to write it all down....

Currently the giant quartz was idly hovering over a forged pedestal of  surge crystals, conducting energy occasionally sparking in the air and  slowly rotating the construct. 

What the hells did Zen dream up this time? And what cosmic force of dramatic irony decided that it should be situated just oh so conveniently where Chryssi and Sombra were heading?

Two giant footprints some distance behind the crystal had already been filled in with water by some enterprising merrymakers, and were occupied mostly by gaggles of children splashing in the new pools to beat the Las Pegasus heat. 

D'awwwwwwww

  “Or are you hoping to need rescue again  whilst you see about recruiting the fiends responsible for splashing in  the pool to your side?”

Dangit been too long since we had Xen..... my mind is auto filling him in as Puppyverse Sombra.. the two are pretty similar.....

  They would’ve accomplished great things together and probably tried to kill each other at some point.

And also discovered great things in the midst of trying to kill each other.

Twilight had heard from Cadance how he stubbornly refused to call her by  her actual title many a time, and yet whenever he actually did use it  in reference to her it almost always sounded like he was humoring her. 

Well, in Twilight's case.... "Princess" is actually the appropriate title. I'm kind of surprised he doesn't insist on referring to Celestia and Luna as 'Queens'. Though I still maintain "Princess" is in fact the proper title for Cadance, it's calling the place she rules an 'empire' that is the improper naming at work.

According to my calculations about  hypothetical fetal development for an alicorn and the proper  implementation of certain surge crystals, if anything happened to  Empress Cadenza, I am confident I could save the life of her child 

It is sweet how devoted he is to protecting them.... in his own way. Also, good news for Flurry, she's going to have an uncle that is immune, or at least highly resistant, to getting blown up by random alicorn baby laser blasts.

  I even tried to see if their was a rule I  could ensure the empire might be my problem if the situation came to it  until the heir was of age, 

Regent Xenilla...... oh I kind of want to see that... if, there is a way without you know, something happening to Cadance. But still, the image of him running the government is..... oh that would be such a glorious fiasco! But also a very orderly one.

“Notes to make sure everything goes well, always have your math checked by somepony else. Second rule of research,”  

Otherwise you might start some bizarre urban legend about how even testing something like this could ignite the atmosphere or something.....

  Collaborate with as many pegasi as possible  within safety, work together to create a massive thunderstorm, and then  capture all of the electrical potential energy in the AMPER

Are they trying to turn this crystal into a massive battery to power Las Pegasus with?

  It didn’t take him long to realize and when his face formed a deadpan  expression at Twilight Sparkle holding the connector for the cables  apart for a bit longer to further throw off his timing; 

I see Purple Smart has been taking trolling lessons from her mentor...

“At full charge, the current AMPER might well be able to run the whole city for several years between charges.” 

Yeah.... they are........ and that much energy concentrated in one place is going to really tempt a certain God of Extinction that is looking for some more snacks.....

  Twilight took the reins of the discussion back, pushing up against  Xenilla with her smile looking just a bit forcefully widened, 

heh...... these two really shouldn't be allowed to work together without somepony to serve as a buffer between them.

Yes I do, 4 hours, 32 minutes, fifteen seconds. I watch everything the Empress does, lest I lapse on her safety and your’s  

Okay Xen, I'd say this is teetering on the line between sweet and obsessive, but you crossed that line a long time ago. 

  Xenilla’s horn’s left prong blinked twice in a way Twilight recalled an electric car key working in the other world, “... 

Okay, we need a cutaway to Cadance looking up and wondering what the buck that beep-beep noise she just heard was and why it the doors on the room she in just locked.!

  dark haired, lavender coated earth pony mare with a press badge was frozen to the ground, 

Damnit Xen.....

  chasing a story about a laboratory explosion with a botanist in the southern swamps, real comic book stuff

Swamp-pone rises!

In the distance, a personally powered rail cart slowly slid down the tracks, stretching from the south to the outskirts of the city. The metal was red hot and smoking from extreme use 

Pfffffffft, okay, that was perfect!!!!

So you did read the manual published on it,” 

Xen…. You are too smart to have spent more then five minutes with Twilight and be honestly thinking she might not have read the thing. 

Twilight promptly ignored the niggling question of where the hay Xenilla found the time to publish a book on surge crystals, le  

Dude has some S tier time management skills. 

Would also be a good idea to cycle the AMPER down and forestall the activation.” 

Hey good on Twi for thinking of that right away. 

That said, if it's going for the biggest energy source.. knowing exactly where that is and having your own Kaiju on standby might be useful…

  there might be a way to call upon the skills of someone more appropriate.”

Ohhhh, Xen and Rodan? Nice. Makes sense given the whole Dragonlands opening. 

  onto the AMPER and a gifted energy surge crystal

Ohhhhh, those mini ones going to become portable Kaijufication devices? Okay, if this becomes something they can do at any point they want… we better get a full on Henshin scene of them transforming!

What started as a mass volunteer exhibition had quickly turned into a disaster relief ventur 

And everypony readily helping out. Because Pony. 

Hahaaaaa! Awesome prank, right? Right?” 

Damnit Dash!.... she powered up Rodan just to have this race with him, didn't she? Still, good news, you found him!

Whatever it is, it seems to like high concentrations of magic and

So is the crystal not too power up Rodan, but for him to use as bait for the creature?

  Phoenix Flamez pursed her lips as the glimmering mass in her saddlebag, w

Okay so it is to power him up… also, it's in her saddle bag? That does make sense, but earlier it said she clutched the gem to her chest….

The massive form they were mounted on turned around from their prior path and barreled towards the biggest source of magic they could detect nearby.  

So acting as bait either way. Though do question why it just now noticed it. 

  look, a burst of magic across the alicorn’s horn, and Xenilla grabbing onto her was the only signal needed 

I love how reflexive they've gotten with “time to make my Kaiju grow”. Any sort of more then minor threat, make with the embigining.

  recognizing the face and form from many a brushing up on known world leaders

Huh… guessing this is changed due to the whole Kaiju thing making other leaders want to talk?

Treat? Is she asking permission to eat somepony?- 

No, “treaty” is just one of those words Dragons don't really have much call to learn. 

but the shaft had been broken and hastily repaired and the crystal looked half-covered in char.   

Wow… they really had “fun” getting away. 

  need you ponies’ heelp-” 

Try “assistance” maybe?

  Equestria wasn’t founded until about 1,000 years ago and we’ve never had a queen. 

It's clearly more then that, since we know Celestia had been in charge for over 1100 years. And I'm guessing this was Queen Platinum in that period between the tribes moving in, and the Sisters taking over. 

Also, it's not like you really need a treaty to make Ponies want to help you out. 

And Equestrians don’t abandon others.” 

Hell yeah Twinkle Sprinkle!

As far as she was concerned, if anyone disrespected her new favorite foreign royalty, they were going to have to deal with her 

Dawwwwww, in Dragon terms, that is extremely sweet!

Something punched a hole between the barrier for different realms up in the sky. With the monsters from another world becoming so common here, it seems crossing between realms has become much more tenable,” He   

So, is this something new that came through without being sent by Bagan? They mentioned giant insect, but I really don't see Megaguirus being able to mess up Torch that badly. 

Tirek screaming his head off, his voice distorted and echoing uncannily. 

Okay then so… maybe the Megaguirus shows up first and is what attacked the Buffalo, and something worse showed up behind Tirak that is what went for the Dragons?

even against the mostly red-and-black simian centaur.  

Okay, my mind locked on “simian” and I thought we were getting a return of Bagan's land aspect. 

Chrysalis, more aware of modern tongue, put it best. "............. Shi-” 

Yeah… sounds about right. 

And I'm not sure if it should be obvious who the Kaiju is and I'm just not getting it.. or that's still a reveal to come….

Besides Ro’, if you run out of steam, who’s going to recharge you, you big lummox?” 

Oh I don't know…. And totally unrelated to that, my that is a lovely super energy charged crystal you have up there on the mantle…

arching her back whilst looking him right in the eye like some kind of angry cat. 

As noted many times… Equestrian Ponies are at least 40% feline… pegasi up that to at least 60%

  THAT’S NOT EVEN THE WAY BACK!”

Oh no… they have Zoro's sense of direction, don't they?

but we can cover a lot more sky than you can. Even if we were off by a bit, we were doing it as a sweeping pattern so we could look around 

1. Well gee, if only one of you was nice and massive enough to easily carry the slower pony with you. 
2. Yeah, that was totally your plan RD… yup…

It wasn’t jealousy or pride, but a potent selflessness begging for action 

I do love this, giving her a bit more focus, and just, her wanting to be helpful, to do something that matters. Which, she is totally getting to do by the end. I'm guessing Rodan starts to lose power, and she swoops in at the last second to recharge him with the AMPER. Still, loving this set up!

“I do not know this kaiju 

Ohhh… that's interesting…

  couldn’t get close to the detection field without causing much more problems than it was worth.

Yeah… Xen could give Harry Dresden lessons on how to be properly paranoid in making your magical detecting nets thorough. 

  might not have been coincidence. Fate rarely had such drastic measures of irony.

I am heading all this in the Watcher's voice from What If,  and it is kind if epic. 

So we have a Rodan that seems more like Monsterverse Rodan, merged with Tirak, and I'm guessing something from Singular Point… oh this isn't going to go good….

[Charedfirescale]

Just finished the new chapter have no idea what this thing is, but I can’t wait to see the battle

[FiredragonX]

Oh damn another crossover episode!

[Dragon-from-down-under]

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Don’t forget Iroh from avatar

[Evowizard25]

Finally caught up to this. It feels fantastic to be back with this story. As well, it's nice to see the mlp villains here again. They bounced off each other well and their hatred of each other as well as their enemies is going to be a hilarious clusterfuck moving forward. Speaking of relationship, the surprise interactions between Xen and Twilight are a definite spotlight. I love how these two scholars are basically trying to one up each other with their intellect. It's not too spiteful but it's the start of a good friendship of sorts. Surprised it took this long for them to really have this but a lot has kept them apart. So I can't wait to read more of this. (Also nice bit with Xen's compliment towards Blade. Cute.)

Also neat to see a crossover Rodan. Wonder how this'll play out. Still, overall a great chapter. Love seeing more of Ember and fantastic work. Keep it up.