7: King of Monsters
The morning mists felt cold and bitter upon Tezuka as he and a select group of soldiers moved noiselessly up a mountain path. Even through his gleaming armor, the damp tendrils chilled his hide.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the grey world slipped into view as they moved forward. They were all tense, keyed for action at a moment’s notice. But the chilled air was as silent as the grave, betraying nothing but the occasional palm tree and bush.
Tezuka knew they were drawing close. He’d heard the sounds of battle the previous night; anypony could have. The explosions, the crashes… the terrifying roars… And then, all at once, nothing. He’d waited as long as he could, until the last barge had set sail from Odo Island’s only other surviving fishing village. Then he’d waited, expecting at any moment to find an unstoppable titan bearing down on them all, offering nothing but fury.
He’d waited… and waited… until the black night gave way. After the last raindrop fell and the dense morning fog was illuminated by the ghostly grey dawn, he held his ground with what few soldiers remained fit for battle, bracing… always bracing…
But the beast never came.
At last, unable to take it anymore, he’d rounded up the few bravest souls left in an already diminished cohort and set out up the path, feeling more a foolish stallion than a courageous one.
The island now felt abandoned. It was too quiet, too still. Even the birds in the trees had fled. After the frenzy and panic of the night before, the catatonic stillness was eerie and unsettling.
But Tezuka couldn’t contain himself any longer. He had to find out what had happened.
He did not know what fate had fallen his ship… but he had a good enough idea. So, when he came upon the shattered golden figurehead lying twisted and mangled upon a mound of upturned earth, he only felt a grim sense of closure.
The Amaterasu laid destroyed upon the crest of the ridge interlocking the two mountains of Odo Island. Only bits and pieces remained, scattered across hundreds of yards downhill. The plated, reinforced bow remained mostly intact, scarred and disfigured as it was. Behind that, only chunks were left.
At the heart of it all was a crater; a gouge in the earth, scooped out as if by some huge spoon and dispersed across the whole hillside. Here, the ground was charred black, and yet oddly smooth to the touch, as if its surface had been turned to glass.
He surveyed the scene from afar, the acrid burn of smoke choking his nostrils. He knew his crew had done everything they could. Their actions would be remembered, their honor preserved. It was… the least he could do.
But now, he had other things to deal with. There were other questions to answer – particularly, six foreign ones.
“Any signs of them?” he shouted. His voice echoed in the fog off of twisted beams of wood and metal struts.
“Nothing yet, sir,” called back an unseen soldier, hidden by the fog. “I don’t know if they were even here.”
“They were,” Tezuka said with absolute certainty. He’d seen that princess’s head moving through the crowds fleeing the temple. Since neither she nor any of her friends turned up in the village, he had a feeling he knew exactly which way they’d decided to charge off. “Find them! We cannot fail the Emperor!”
For many long minutes, the group of soldiers sifted through the wreckage. The torrential rains the night before had scoured the mud of any tracks… well, most of them. It would take a flood of epic proportions to erase the gargantuan craters scarring the earth here and there. Just the sight of them sent a chill down Tezuka’s spine.
Tezuka soon discovered that not all of the wood littering the slope came from his battleship. He kept coming across twisted tree limbs still bearing leaves, whole uprooted trees lying sideways in piles, shattered stumps, and so many more little bits and pieces of wooden slivers than Tezuka would ever be able to identify.
Those fools… Did they actually try to fight Him? Surely they had more sense in them than that…
But the ravaged landscape was making it hard to find any other explanations. The entire hillside was virtually unrecognizable now, and that cemented an uneasy feeling deep in his gut.
The Equestrian princess, Twilight Sparkle… she’d struck him as somepony with more sense than this. For all her faults and obliviousness, she had a good head on her shoulders at least, though he’d never admit to as much. She was clever, at least cleverer than this hours-old demonstration hinted at.
Had he assumed incorrectly? He quailed at the thought. No, something must have gone wrong beyond anypony’s control.
The question now was what…
“Sir?”
Tezuka snapped around towards the speaker, hoping for some kind of good news. The face of the one he saw, however, pulled him up short.
Private Ogata stood at attention, looking like a half-beaten dog wrapped in gauze while wearing the tatters of a military uniform.
“Private,” Tezuka said, “What are you still doing here? You should be with the rest of your company.”
Ogata winced. He was well aware of what he should do, but the fire in his belly would not accept it. “Forgive the insubordination, sir, but I’m not at my limit yet. I can still be of some use.”
Tezuka sighed. He admired the young stallion’s tenacity, at least. “Very well. Do you have anything to report?”
“Yessir,” Ogata replied immediately, straightening up. “The last ship is ready to disembark at your command.”
Tezuka hesitated, then swept his eyes across the desolation he could see through the swirling fog. It didn’t feel right to just give up on the search, not yet. But where could they have gone?
“Sir, if I may ask a question.”
Tezuka turned back towards Ogata, who had a careful look on his face. He almost declined the request, but caught himself. “Very well. What is it?”
“… What do we do if we can’t find them?” Ogata asked carefully.
Several soldiers lifted their heads, looking towards Tezuka without a word. On their faces was the same question – the same looming desperation. The last hope they’d had at saving their home… If it truly was snuffed out…
Tezuka took a moment to choose his words. He was a military pony, through and through. Getting caught up in the heat of the moment was something he’d tried very hard to avoid all his life. So when it came to this dreadful uncertainty, he approached it as best he could by focusing on what needed to be done.
“We regroup with Nakajima’s forces on Ogasawara Island,” Tezuka said. “We focus on getting the refugees to safety, first and foremost.”
Ogata didn’t look so confident, but he nodded regardless. “Y-yes sir.”
He about jumped out of his skin with Tezuka clapped a hoof on his shoulder as he made to walk by. “One step at a time, Private,” he muttered to him. “Stay focused. We will persevere. We will see the Empire through this, or die trying.”
Ogata’s jaw tightened, his responding nod a little more fervent. “Yes sir. I know we will.”
Tezuka nodded sharply, then continued on by. Despite what he might say, however, dread ate at his heart. Was Celestia’s chosen agent really so easily cast down? Had the last hope of Neighpon really been stamped out so swiftly?
A chill ran down his spine. Wherever those five mares were… whatever had become of them… he could only pray that everything was not as dire as it appeared.
~~***~~
Several hours earlier…
~~***~~
Fluttershy stood ankle-deep in mud, feeling chilled to her very core.
But it wasn’t caused by the icy rain water soaking her coat and mane. It wasn’t the cold wind gusts blustering about through the dark night.
It was caused by the pair of gigantic legs towering on either side of her and the rest of her friends, barely illuminated by an ethereal purple glow. They were great columns of ashen scales bulging with muscles and brimming with untold strength. But even for their gargantuan proportions, each trunk of a leg was only a distraction compared to the hulking form they were attached to – the same form that was looming directly over them.
Artificial rain dribbled off of its titanic profile, falling to earth in cascades laced with salty sea spray that stung any eye they fell into. It was the only downpour that reached the group; not even the wind made it around His frame. For the five ponies standing below, it was like standing in the eye of a terrible storm.
Fluttershy could only look straight up through the darkness at the towering monster as it looked down the length of its broad chest right back at her from an incomprehensibly lofty vantage point. It was like being stared down by a skyscraper – a skyscraper that was producing an ominous, reverberating growl she could feel thrumming through the ground underneath her.
He stood almost directly over them, but even then all she could see of Him were his muscle-bound ashen grey legs and stubby claws the size of trolley cars. Not even Twilight’s magical light had enough throw to reach higher than halfway up His broad chest, and that fact alone was alarming. But even with His head in shadows, Fluttershy could still see the twin gleams of light far overhead staring down at them. Though, a part of her wished she couldn’t. Because it was those pinpricks that gave the towering creature life to her.
Lightning exploded across the heavens, making her jump, and for a moment she could see Him; his broad shoulders and thick torso, powerful forearms rolling back in burly shoulders as He reared up to His full, impressive height.
And then, in the time it took everypony to flinch from the thunderclap, He was nothing but a monolithic shadow once more.
From beside her, Fluttershy heard Applejack whisper, “Whoa nelly…” in the smallest voice she’d ever heard the confident pony use.
The rest of her friends were all just as motionless as her. Pinkie and Applejack were both at the sides of the sorceress’s maids, who were doing their very best to strangle their agonized voices around their hooves while writhing in anguish in the mud.
Twilight sat hunched several feet ahead of her, cradling the injured sorceress to her chest. Neither was moving an inch, but over the pounding rain, Fluttershy thought she could hear one of them hyperventilating.
Or maybe that was her. She was a little too distracted to think to double check.
Fear pounded through Fluttershy’s veins. She’d known the creature would be big, but this was far, far larger than she’d ever imagined. It made a fully grown dragon look like a petite kitten by comparison. Next to Him, she and all of her friends were hardly bigger than motes of dust – and likely half as threatening.
And yet, Godzilla wasn’t taking their presence lightly.
The terrible creature stared down at them, motionless, uttering its warning. It was like He was waiting to see what the little points of light far below would do; would the puny dust bunnies be foolish enough to challenge Him?
Fluttershy could see the signs in what little of His body language she could perceive. He was bristling in response to a threat while rising to his full height. But why? How He was even aware of their presence, let alone considered them dangerous, was truly baffling – and very worrying.
It was Twilight that made the connection.
“Rarity,” she breathed, her voice strangled.
Fluttershy automatically glanced to her side, and found the pearly unicorn standing rigidly beside her, head turned as far upwards as it would go. Her eyes were huge and her mouth was slightly agape.
“R-Rarity,” Twilight called again, louder this time.
She heard her friend squeak in surprise that time. “Y-yes?”
“Turn off your horn,” Twilight said slowly, levelly.
Everypony turned to look at her with varying degrees of alarm. “D-do what?”
"T-Twilight?" spoke up Spike nervously from her back. "Is... is that a good idea?"
Internally, Fluttershy panicked, but she was too scared externally to make a sound. If there was one thing worse than a giant, angry monster, it was a giant angry monster lost in total darkness. Rarity’s and Twilight’s horns were the only light sources they had; without them, they literally would be going in blind.
She was distracted when Godzilla uttered a snarl. He was backing off, not ceding ground to them, but moving into a better position to bring all of His formidable might to bear. One thunderous step hit the slope like a bomb, nearly throwing them all over again.
It was then that Fluttershy realized what the problem was. Godzilla wasn’t reacting to any of them. He must be reacting to the sight of their magic.
If there was one thing Fluttershy knew about animals, it was that they were quick to associate something as being good or bad. Raise a hoof to strike a dog enough, and they learn what to expect every time somepony does something similar. But some animals react to such threats with violence of their own instead of tolerating the abuse.
If Godzilla’s only experience with magic had been through the Neighponese military’s attempts to kill Him, then there was no doubt in her mind that His perception of the two twinkling lights far below was that of hostility in the making. But that still didn’t explain how He’d noticed such small points of light in the first place…
“Turn off,” Twilight said again, speaking as clearly and firmly as she could without turning away from the bristling monster, “your horn.”
This time, Rarity did not object. She hesitated, fear of the pitch black, sightless night eating at her, but after a moment, her horn darkened.
Fluttershy braced, hugging herself tightly with her wings as, after too short a pause, Twilight’s horn went out like a snuffed candle.
Darkness. Total, complete darkness instantly wrapped around them all. Fluttershy couldn’t even see the tip of her own muzzle. The only light at all was a faint reddish glow far off to her left; the embers of the burning village, now too weak to provide any illumination at all. All it did was remind Fluttershy what this creature was capable of.
She started breathing faster, her heart racing out of control. They were all alone with a monster the size of a mountain without any way of knowing what it was doing. All they could do was wait, cross their hooves, and pray…
Even if she couldn’t see it, she could hear it. Somehow, that was worse. The rumble that cut through the air, a loud rattling chatter that pounded in her ears… The creak of massive bones, joints popping like little muffled explosions in their sockets as the creature shifted its incredible weight. The grating scrape of a massive tail grinding across the earth, scouring it of all features. Heavy, billowing breaths like tiny windstorms ushered into being with every exhale…
Every sound Fluttershy heard frayed her timid nerves more and more. Why was it just standing there? What could it be doing?
The drawl of the rain, fitful breathing, and blindness were all her senses told her. Fluttershy felt like she was about to black out, but well… it was hard to say for sure when everything was already black to begin with.
And then, from far overhead, she heard Him snort.
Something whirled over Fluttershy’s head, passing so close over her and her friends that she could have sworn she felt something brush harshly passed her hair.
Screams of fright burst out through the night – hers included – as the thing passed over them all, going further, further, until with a resounding crash, Godzilla drove His foot down into the earth, heaving the soil and tossing the tiny creatures below right off their hooves.
This time, Fluttershy was positive she’d nearly passed out. She didn’t need her eyes to feel the sudden onset of lightheadedness. The only thing that kept her from dropping in a dead faint was when, all at once, the icy downpour found her again and proceeded to beat a hypothermic tattoo into her back. Yes, that did wonders for rousing her.
Her senses back on track and plenty frazzled regardless, Fluttershy nervously rose to all fours and turned blindly in the direction of the rumbling now coming from behind them all.
He was on the move again, headed inland. Headed north, her internal compass told her. Fluttershy wasn’t much of a pegasus, but she was a pegasus, and her sense of direction had never failed her.
But the only thing that was to the north was… was the villagers…
Oh no…
Godzilla was undoubtedly headed straight for them, and if the soldiers tried to fend Him off with more magic, she had no doubt how He would react.
Twilight must have come to the same conclusion at the same time, because a heartbeat later she was speaking.
“Is… i-is everypony alright?” she called through the roaring rain.
"Uh-huh," responded Spike unevenly.
“A part from feelin’ like Ah lost a couple of years off my life,” Applejack responded shakily off to Fluttershy’s left. “Ah’m fine.”
“I will be,” Rarity said from a few feet to Fluttershy’s right.
“C-can we not do that again?” Pinkie inquired nervously, also on her right. “That was not fun at all…”
Fluttershy was only capable of an incoherent squeak-squeal, but hopefully the others could extrapolate her agreement.
It was comforting, at least, to know that her friends were still right there with her, so far uninjured. It helped to quell the terror rising inside her, but not after Twilight’s next words.
“I’m afraid we have to,” Twilight said seriously. “We can’t let that thing get to the other village.”
“Ah don’t mean ta gripe, but how are we supposed ta corral somethin’ that big?” Applejack inquired incredulously.
“We aren’t,” Twilight responded. “All we have to do is distract it until Tezuka can get everypony evacuated, or else get it to change course. It’s… well, it’s about all we can do, but I think we can manage it. Fluttershy?”
The mere mention of her own name sent her shrinking to the floor. Maybe if she just didn’t say anything Twilight would forget she was there and move on to somepony else.
No such luck. Regardless of not receiving an answer – Though frankly speaking, Twilight would’ve been surprised to get one in the first place – Twilight went on with her strategy. “We need you to be brave right now, Fluttershy. You’re the only one who can stop Godzilla before it reaches all of those ponies headed for the north.”
“C-could you need me to be scared instead?” Fluttershy squeaked shrilly, hiding behind her hooves. “I think I can do that much, much better right now!”
“Fluttershy, if y’all don’t go talk ta that thing and soon,” Applejack pressed, “there’s no tellin’ what it’ll do ta all those innocent ponies! Well… actually there is, but Ah’d rather not think about it right now.”
“Applejack’s right, darling,” Rarity said, sounding more on the encouraging side at least. “Think of all those ponies who might get hurt!”
“We’ll get its attention, just like we planned,” Twilight reassured. “All you have to do is get up there and try to calm it down.”
“Easy peasy cheesy squeazy!” Pinkie cheered in a brave attempt at her normal manner. “You do that all the time!”
“Pinkie’s right,” Applejack put in supportively. “There ain’t a critter in Equestria that won’t warm up ta ya. Don’t see no reason why it can’t be the same way over here, too.”
Fluttershy whined through the darkness. Her failure to communicate with that cute moth was still fresh in her mind, and now she was expected to console – or even scorn – something incalculably larger, something that had just smashed a Neighponese battleship to splinters without breaking stride.
But if she didn’t, and all of those poor, innocent ponies got hurt because of her cowardice…
Fluttershy picked herself up off the cold, slick ground in resignation. There was only one thing to do.
“Okay… I’ll do it…”
She turned in the direction of the monster. Perhaps it was just her eyes playing tricks on her, but she just thought she could make out the barest profile against the sky. But there was no way the creature had been that big.
“It’ll be okay, Fluttershy,” Twilight insisted. She sounded so convincing too, like she always did. Fluttershy found herself believing her, even if only a little bit. “We’ll be watching you, just in case anything goes wrong. AJ, Pinkie, Spike, get the sorceress and her maids to a safe distance. Rarity, you and I are going to get its attention. Just… be ready to run, juuuust in case.”
“It won’t come to that, darling,” Rarity said through the darkness. The shakiness of her voice somewhat ruined it, however. “I’m sure Fluttershy will do just fine.”
Fluttershy gulped. “I-I’ll do my best…”
She forced open her wings, testing the air weakly. She could do this… her friends believed in her. She flapped once. She could do this…
Lightning exploded overhead, momentarily turning the world stark white. The concussive boom of the thunderclap startled Fluttershy so much that, without meaning to, she shot into the air with a frightened squeal, wings working as hard as they could through empty darkness.
Rain stung her face as she gained elevation. Her alarm helped urge her on; there was no turning back now, anyway. The black night pressed down on her eyes worse than ever. She couldn’t see her own hooves stretched out in front of her, couldn’t even make out the shape of her own muzzle.
But the creature was not a very quiet one. Over the howl of the wind rushing around her ears and her own thundering heartbeat, she could hear His grumpy rumbling from dead ahead.
Up, up, up she went through the blacked out sky. Higher… higher… how high up did she have to go? Was she too high? It felt like she’d climbed half a mile at least by now, probably more, and she was swiftly gaining more altitude with every passing second. She didn’t want to completely overshoot her target, so she hesitated, slowing a modicum.
That was when a light bloomed in the darkness.
From far below, Twilight’s horn burst to life, burning brighter than a bonfire. Before Fluttershy could be distracted into turning around, the light gushing from her horn coalesced into an orb the size of a volley ball, perched for a moment upon the tip of her horn, and with a loud bang, fired high into the sky.
It passed Fluttershy within a heartbeat, sailing so high she felt like it would pass into the clouds and out of sight.
Almost a thousand feet in the air, the orb slowed, reached the top of its arc, and exploded into a luminescent shower of lavender sparks, bathing the world below in eerie purple light.
Fluttershy never thought to look around, however. Because as soon as the magical flare burst overhead, she caught sight of Him.
She was flying only twenty some feet from His immense side – a wall of ashen scales and rippling bands of muscle the size of blue whales each that flexed with every motion. It was like flying alongside a cliff face of granite, only this one was moving.
With a horrified jolt, she realized she hadn’t even reached His elbow yet. For all the distance she’d covered, she wasn’t even passed the halfway point. She realized this when one powerful arm suddenly turned to intercept her, forcing her to shoot straight up to avoid smacking into it.
But Godzilla wasn’t interested in her. No, He hadn’t even realized she was there.
As Fluttershy angled her nose straight up in a steep climb, she saw a massive, blocky shadow twist around over her as a head turned in the direction of the explosion of light. The sheer size of it was intimidating; there were multi-million-bit mansions back in Equestria that had less square footage.
A screeching bellow ripped passed His teeth, battering her eardrums. It was almost enough to pin her wings to her side out of fright and send her plummeting to earth, but she persevered – that very same fear that would undo her forcing her muscles to go even faster.
She was almost there now. Her wings were burning from the exertion as she shot up over His shoulder and alongside a broad, burly neck. He was standing in place, scrutinizing the shower of glowing sparks with hateful suspicion.
Godzilla’s head loomed ahead of her, monolithic in size. His teeth were bared in a threatening snarl, and even though each was relatively small in comparison to the rest of His body, a single tooth was much larger than Fluttershy – or a cart, for that matter.
His eyes were hidden under low brows, but Fluttershy could still see the violet reflections off of them, gleaming in the otherworldly light. For one terrifying moment, Fluttershy thought she’d blundered into His line of sight, but the monster didn’t once turn in her direction or give any indication of being aware of her presence. All the same, she flitted just a few feet closer to the wall of rough hide beside her.
Finally, she reached Godzilla’s jaw line. Fluttershy forced herself not to look at the savage teeth lining His maw, and instead concentrated on her breathing as she pulled to a stop.
“U-um… excuse me, mister Godzilla… sir?” she spoke up.
Godzilla didn’t react.
To her confusion, He continued staring up into the sky warily. At no point did He show any signs of having heard her, or anything unusual.
Was He ignoring her, too? How could that be?
M-maybe I’m not close enough…
With a nervous gulp, Fluttershy edged just a little closer in the direction of His ear. Or, where she hoped an ear was. “U-um,” she spoke up, as loud as she could manage – which wasn’t spectacular by anypony else’s standards –, “Excuse me.”
Godzilla snorted again, emptying a lungful of billowing steam to the night air. But before Fluttershy could get her hopes up, he simply turned back around and continued walking away.
Fluttershy hovered in place, completely taken aback. He was ignoring her! Panic welled up inside of her as her brain scrambled for explanations. But she couldn’t think of anything. No animal had ever just ignored her before. Once in a great while she’d be told to go away, or even threatened to keep her distance by some of the rowdier denizens of the Everfree, at least until they got to know her better.
But never before had she simply been ignored. That was so… so… troubling.
So, Fluttershy tried a different tactic.
Putting on a burst of speed, she accelerated to overtake the perplexing beast. She came to a stop directly in His path, right where he’d definitely see her at the very least.
“Um, pardon me,” she persisted.
Godzilla kept coming. Another thunderous footfall shook the countryside far below. He was almost at the Amaterasu now, and he showed no signs of stopping.
And still he showed no reaction to her presence. The light from Twilight’s flare was starting to fade, but as the shadows grew softer across His face, Fluttershy thought she could just see a set of burning eyes glaring off into the horizon, right around her. She was in his line of sight, and yet He didn’t even seem distracted by her. Was she so insignificant in His eyes that she didn’t warrant the least bit of attention?
But Fluttershy held her ground. Maybe if she was a little firmer…
“Excu—”
Whack!
Scales slammed into her as Godzilla collided with her, but for all the reaction He gave, Fluttershy might as well have been a bit of string floating in the wind.
She found herself smacked right in between His eyes, smashed up against feverishly warm scales. Rain hissed and spat all around her, vaporizing against His hot hide within moments of making contact. The scales were like cobblestone pavement underneath her, albeit ones warmed in a sauna.
Fluttershy jolted back, so completely at a loss that for a moment her brain just stalled. Had He really just walked into her without once noticing her?
Godzilla jolted unexpectedly, and for a moment Fluttershy thought the jig was up, right up until she was nearly thrown clean off His head when Godzilla turned in the direction of a sapphire nova in the night sky.
A rattling quake ran through Him, shaking Fluttershy so bad she saw double. But whether it was two bursts of magic or twelve that were lighting up the rainy night sky, Rarity’s spell reminded her of her friends. She couldn’t just sit here doing nothing.
But what else could she do?
Tentatively, she leaned back. “Um… There, there?” she tried, stroking the rough scales gently. “It’s okay. Can you, um… please calm down now?
Again, no response. The scales under her hooves were so thick it was unlikely He felt anything she did, even if she put all her weight into it.
Something was wrong, terribly wrong, but Fluttershy was at a loss about what it might be. Panic welled up inside of her; the entire plan hinged on her being able to converse with the terrible creature, something which she was failing miserably to do, and she couldn’t figure out how or why. It was as if Godzilla was so single-mindedly focused on whatever mission He was on that He simply couldn’t spare such a tiny creature like her a second look. It was either that, or somehow Godzilla couldn’t understand a word she was saying. That was a terrifying prospect, one she fearfully refused to consider.
Another earthshattering step reminded her that she didn’t have time to be asking all of these questions. Godzilla was still very much on the move, and He was threatening to crest the ridge between the two mountains completely.
Somepony was hollering far below, trying desperately to get His attention. But it did no good.
There had to be something Fluttershy could do. Well… there was one option. And it wouldn’t require words, either.
Another flare exploded overhead, but this time Godzilla hardly glanced in its direction, giving it only a token snarl without missing a step.
But the light was just the thing Fluttershy needed. Mustering up as much courage as she could, she breathed in deep, held it, and jumped back into the air. She darted ahead of the goliath by a few cart lengths until she was right on the edge of His nose.
There, she turned around, braced herself, and gave Godzilla the Stare.
This time, she got an immediate reaction.
With a tremendous bellow, Godzilla reared back so suddenly Fluttershy was nearly thrown out of the air by the draft. His eyes snapped shut as He recoiled back a full step, letting out a roar of surprise, confusion and alarm.
But all too soon, a new tone filled His voice. He stood up tall, bristling with furious indignation. And when His maw fell open this time, the sound it produced was that of pure fury.
SKREEEEEEEEEE-OOOOOOONNNNKKK!
It was about that point that it truly sank in that she’d made a big mistake.
Now His eyes didn’t look passed her. Whatever insignificance He’d placed on Fluttershy was reevaluated. Now, she had Godzilla’s undivided attention.
So, step one accomplished. Step two, however, was going to be considerably more difficult.
Fluttershy felt the blood rush out of her face when she saw those giant jaws swing open, revealing an expansive tongue and a cavernous throat as big as a train tunnel.
Some peripheral part of her brain heard screams far off in the distance; familiar voices trying to get her attention, to tell her something important. But she was paralyzed in place.
His jaws opened wider and wider, all savage teeth, pink flesh and saliva.
The only thing to pass through her stalled mind was a confused question; where had she gone wrong?
She couldn’t think or move around the binding terror engulfing her as that monstrous maw lunged in a sudden burst of speed, coming straight at her.
A sudden impact, but not from the direction she was expecting. Fluttershy watched as if trapped in a surreal dream as, out of nowhere, she shot off to her right, just as twin jaws snapped together with a loud clap, missing her by feet which felt more like inches.
Somepony said something in her ear, something that she missed. Fluttershy blinked, however. That voice was familiar…
“Hey! You okay, Fluttershy?”
She blinked again, and turned. It was about then that she realized somepony was hanging onto her while flying and dizzying speeds. Somepony with a bright chromatic mane that had been dyed many different shades of blue and purple in the light of Rarity’s and Twilight’s flares.
“R…Rainbow?” Fluttershy managed to squeak.
Rainbow Dash flashed a grin. “Didja miss me?”
Fluttershy didn’t answer. She fainted before she could.
Rainbow blinked at her, then chuckled. “Yeah, you missed me.”
An angry howl behind her caught her attention. She looked over one shoulder, and immediately veered as a massive claw came hurtling down from above. It just barely fell short all the same, but not by much.
Rainbow pulled to a stop midair, an unconscious Fluttershy clutched tightly to one side. “Okay, big guy. You wanna do this? Let’s do this.”
~~***~~
Twilight watched helplessly from below, horrified as a distant rainbow-hued speck bobbed and weaved around the immense creature’s head.
“Is that who I think it is?” Rarity inquired from her side.
Twilight gulped. “Know any other rainbow-maned ponies that crazy?”
“Point taken.”
The joy of seeing her friend alive and well was almost entirely eclipsed by the sight of her milling tauntingly around the titan’s head, goading Him on still further.
Godzilla roared again and again, pursuing the duo no matter where they went. Rainbow was so busy avoiding jaws the size of airship hangars and even lashing forearms that sent curtains of rain water arcing through the air with every vicious swing that she just couldn’t open up the distance. Not that she seemed in any rush to.
To Twilight’s horror, she watched Rainbow suddenly veer in closer, so close that she must have struck Him right on the nose. Considering He didn’t react in the slightest, it hadn’t been a very successful endeavor.
Rainbow was doing everything she could to pummel the beast, but He only needed to get lucky once.
“We have to do something!” Rarity cried out. “She’s only going to get herself and Fluttershy hurt at this rate!”
But what could she do? With Rainbow so close, she couldn’t risk any large spells. And if it did draw His attention, the odds of her getting out of the way in time weren’t much better than Rainbow’s.
Again Godzilla lunged, and again Rainbow veered in a wide arc around His gigantic maw, this time shooting off past His cheek. Almost immediately she was shooting off in the other direction as a sprawling tail came flying up from below, missing her by the skin of her teeth.
The beast roared in frustration and whirled around faster than Twilight would have believed possible. His tail flew over her head with such force that the gale nearly toppled her. It collided with a stand of trees, flattening a huge swath of the jungle in the blink of an eye with horrifying ease, easier than if they’d all been made of dried twigs.
Twilight heard a crash to her right and snapped her head around just in time to see a shattered tree trunk flying through the air at her. All she could think to do was hit the deck and pray she was small enough.
She was not expecting the loud thud of wood-on-hoof.
Twilight looked up and found Applejack standing over her. Her hind legs were braced against the side of the broad hunk of wood, muscles flexing for all they were worth. She’d nevertheless skidded a good five feet through the mud as she took the full force of the impact, leaving twin gouges in the earth from her forelegs.
As she came to a stop, the log fell harmlessly to the ground with a heavy thud, and Applejack straightened up with a huff. “You alright, sugarcube?” she asked.
Twilight blinked, then remembered to pick her jaw up off the floor. “Should I be asking you the same thing?”
Applejack cocked half a grin at that.
“Where’s the sorceress?” Twilight inquired, looking around. “And Pinkie, for that matter?”
“We got ‘em a good distance towards the village,” Applejack said. “Pinkie and Spike are lookin’ after ‘em. Ah figured the safest place ta be right now is behind that brute. Then Ah heard this big fella raisin’ a ruckus, and here Ah am.”
Twilight winced. “Well… thanks.”
Applejack flashed another grin, but was distracted by a terrific bellow overhead. She and Twilight both turned in time to see Godzilla straightening up again after another failed attempt to catch the prismatic streak still fleeing through the air.
Now it seemed like Rainbow was intent on opening up the distance to give herself some room to breathe, but the sheer scale of her adversary meant that it took very little effort on His part to close the gap again. The ease at which He wielded His immense girth was unnerving; bursts of speed came seemingly out of nowhere, propelling claws and jaws forward so fast they whistled through the air. And the angrier He got, the more accurate He was becoming. His heavy feet thundered across the ground, dispelling any illusions of a slow, lumbering brute.
“Landsakes,” Applejack gasped, “is that who Ah think it is?”
Twilight nodded. “Well, on the bright side, we found Rainbow.”
Applejack was anything but relieved. “That dang featherbrained, good-fer-nothin’… What in tarnation is she doin’?!”
“If I had to hazard a guess,” said Rarity as she came trotting up, sounding slightly nauseous, “she’s invoked plan B of ‘keeping him distracted’.”
Applejack’s horror redoubled. “By puttin’ her own life on the line?!”
“I didn’t say I agreed with it,” snapped Rarity. “But what can we do? It’d take a miracle for us to draw that monstrosity’s attention.”
“Rarity’s right,” Twilight said, scared. “Whatever Fluttershy did to get it so angry, it’s going to take something worse to get its attention off of them. And… I really don’t think that’s going to improve anything in the long run.”
Applejack looked around quickly, weighing her options. She was strong, yes, but at best she’d only be able to make one of His toes mildly uncomfortable. She’d do more damage to her own legs by kicking Him, more than likely.
Rarity’s arsenal of spells hardly extended beyond the everyday life of a fashion designer, so unless Godzilla was only angry because his look was so last season, she would be of little help in actually subduing the beast.
Twilight had the best chance of the lot, but something told Applejack that if she had some trick up her sleeve for dealing with humongous monsters that weighed more than some islands, she would have broken it out by now.
But as Applejack looked around, her eyes fell on something lying not far away. what’re the chances…?
But she didn’t have a whole lot of other options. Overhead, Rainbow let out a cry as she lost nearly two hundred feet of altitude, having been knocked out of the sky from the turbulence of one of His massive forearms that had come way too close for comfort. It was that sight that made up her mind for her.
“Or maybe it’ll take a battleship,” she said.
Rarity turned, a confused “what…?” on her lips, only to see Applejack’s backside as she sprinted away through the rain.
“Applejack!”
~~***~~
Applejack sprinted through the rain, eyes set on the upended wreck of the Amaterasu. Of all the hair-brained ideas she’d ever come up with, she was certain that this would be one of the worst. But she had to do something to draw the heat off of Rainbow and Fluttershy before one of them got hurt.
Her idea was simple; find a working gun or weapon of some kind, and hope the sound would at least draw His wrath for the time being. The trick was going to be getting out of the way when He retaliated.
Guided by the light of Twilight’s and Rarity’s flares, she could see that a safe escape might not be the only thing she had to wish for.
The ship really was demolished. It’d been crumpled like a tin can, entire decks smashed together in a snarl of jutting wooden planks. How anything could still be intact was beyond her. But she had to keep hoping.
Another ear-splitting bellow caught her attention. She turned and found the monstrous creature turning around, away from the rainbow contrail that had resumed its harassment. Apparently chasing her around had worn on His patience. He would not be delayed any longer.
Applejack swore under her breath and put on an extra burst of speed. As big as that thing was, it’d only take it one or two strides to completely pass them all by, and then there’d be no stopping it. The northern village would burn, just like the one behind her.
What few options she’d had just became more limited, her chances more-so, but at least trying to do something wouldn’t keep her up at night afterwards. And if those cannon muzzles protruding from the side of the ship were any indication, her best bet at protecting her friends was in there.
Instead of trying to pass through a door or window, Applejack crawled through one of the many gaping wounds in the battleship’s hull. Inside the ship, she found herself in a topsy-turvy chaos of wrecked upside-down halls interspersed with fallen support struts and full of treacherous footing.
The light of the twin sapphire and purple flares bled in from the countless openings in the ship’s body, filling the damaged passageway with just enough light for her to find her way.
She had no idea where she was going, but she couldn’t let that slow her down. Ducking and weaving in and out of the debris littering the hall, she pushed ahead, located a door on her right that wasn’t filled with rubble, and poked her head inside.
Something steely gleamed back at her through the pervasive darkness. A vast series of metal coils, rods and pistons all connected to some kind of casement that ran tens of feet left and right along the ship’s interior.
A light was glowing near one end; a gemstone of some sort that emitted a potent blue light. It was flickering unsettlingly and the glass case surrounding it was badly cracked, but Applejack was willing to bet her life on it… somewhat.
Applejack sighted down one length of the machine, then the other, and with a jolt, she noticed the opening at the far end, out of which a massive javelin was thrust.
The main gun…
What was more, through that narrow gap where the reinforced bow had been pulled away slightly, she could just see something moving through the night; a humongous leg, coming her way.
She had no idea how this machine worked, or even if it still did work. After the beating the ship had taken, it’d be a miracle if it didn’t blow up in her face the moment she pulled the trigger, let alone function in any capacity.
All in all, she’d had better odds. Of course, she’d also had worse ones.
“Welp,” Applejack mumbled nervously. “Here goes nothin’.”
Applejack darted forward, quickly scanning the complex machinery. All of it was an alien amalgamation of tubing, gears, pistons and cranks unlike anything she’d ever seen before. The outer casement was badly dented and ruptured here and there, and she was pretty sure there were supposed to be a symmetrical number of pistons on top of it, but she was no expert.
But she wasn’t here to survey the damage. She was looking for one thing in particular; some way to fire the dang thing.
She pulled on something that looked like a lever, only for it to snap off with a weak clink. Hopefully that hadn’t been important.
The ship shook, raining debris from above as another footstep quaked the earth.
Applejack shielded her eyes, narrowly avoiding a chunk of floor paneling as it came crashing down from above.
above…
Of course! The ship was upside down, meaning…
She looked up, rapidly whipping her head this way and that. After only a few moments, she spotted something promising.
A few feet away was a huge, partially snapped off lever. Gold engravings still gleamed in the uneven light, which was the only reason Applejack spotted it in the first place.
If she could just get up there…
Instead of casting her eyes up, she turned them down, searching through the clutter around her hooves. If she could just find something good and heavy…
Another quake. He couldn’t be far away now.
Applejack was forced to settle for the heaviest bit of lumber she could heft with one hoof; it’d have to do. Winding back, she stuck the tip of her tongue out of one corner of her mouth as she carefully took aim, tensed, and threw her projectile with all the force she could muster.
She heard it clang against something long before she was able to get her eyes back up to see what had happened. She looked up, but the lever remained only slightly out of place.
Quickly she hefted a larger hunk of wood, lifted it over her head, and flung it with a bellow of effort. It missed, barely grazing the lever and knocking it another inch or in the right direction.
She was running out of time. Without even paying attention to what she was grabbing, Applejack grabbed one last projectile; a solid length of metal that looked like chunk of a bulkhead. Adrenaline thundering in her veins, she heaved it back like a spear, aimed down one foreleg, and threw.
The heavy metal shard arced through the air and barely clipped the lever on its way back down. But it was enough. The lever had flipped positions, and as it did, the whole inside of the Amaterasu began to shudder to life.
Gears began to spin with a building whine. Machinery began to hum and rattle, building in pitch with every second. The massive spring coil wrapped around the weapon began to compress with unsettling pops and groans as it was wound tighter and tighter.
Applejack couldn’t help but smile, suppressing a whoop. That is, until something banged.
Something shot out of the machinery – a gear, a shaft, who knew – and sailed through the nearby wall, punching a new hole.
Lose wires began to spit with renewed life, firing first sparks, then whole bolts of power into the surrounding environment. Within moments, fires were breaking out all around.
The smile wilted on Applejack’s face as the firing mechanism began to produce a horrible screeching whistle of pent up pressure. Jets of steam tore through the casement, whole pipes rupturing.
Pistons whirred, faster and faster, regardless of how many tore themselves out of their housings. Rivets tore themselves out, firing like bullets in every direction. Loose debris in the ceiling came crashing down as a consequence of the weapon’s worsening shaking.
The stone powering it all burned brighter and brighter, pumping out more and more power without restraint. Burning bolts surged across the metal encasement, front to back, as the inner workings of the great machine began to glow an ominous red.
It was about that point that Applejack knew it was time to go. With the whole weapon shaking itself apart and fires beginning to spread uncontrollably, Applejack whipped around and bolted for the door just a split second in time.
~~***~~
Rainbow was panting heavily. Her wings were seizing up from her exertions as she banked hard and fast around a powerful tail. The sheer force of it whipping through the air was almost enough to toss her to the ground; only her flight experience kept her from doing just that.
She flapped once, flipped end over end, and touched down on the ground in a long backwards skid, wings flared to slow her down. This thing was a tough nut to crack, she’d give Him that. But He had to be wearing down by now.
She still clutched Fluttershy to her side, but she had to admit that continuing to put her in harm’s way wasn’t the best course of action.
“Come on, Fluttershy,” she complained, poking her friend in the side, “Wake up already. It’s just a giant monster trying to kill us all; what’s the big deal?”
No response. Fluttershy was just as out cold as before.
As she set the catatonic mare down gingerly, lightning lashed through the rain-filled skies as Godzilla moved away, His broad back the only thing she could see. Only… He’d paused.
She paused as well, confused, as Godzilla turned, snarling all over again, towards – of all things – the demolished battleship.
Only… something was happening to it.
With a shriek of complaining gears, the upside-down figurehead facing towards them was grinding open, flipping down towards the soggy earth as a savage point was thrust further into the night air. And it was spinning.
Godzilla saw it, and His eyes were narrowing. He turned to face the destroyed vessel fully, squaring board shoulders and throwing out His chest with a challenging bellow.
The javelin spun faster, faster, sending sparks flying in every direction. It shuddered and bounced wildly in its housing quite alarmingly, unnerving everypony that looked at it.
And then, after a moment longer, something audibly snapped deep inside the vessel. In the next instant, the javelin came screaming out at full speed, a blur of deadly motion like an out of control train.
Right past Godzilla’s hip.
He turned a fraction of a second too late, watching the fast-moving object go. It sailed through the air, arching as it lost momentum, before colliding with a distant stand of trees.
The moment it hit the ground, the night was filled with a resounding explosion the likes of which none of the six mares had ever seen before. The incredible concussive force slammed into Rainbow, throwing her and Fluttershy back as the blast wave hit them both like stampeding bulls. They were flung helplessly several yards backwards, sailing through the blistering hot air filled with raining debris.
Trees were flattened. Boulders upheaved and flung like little pebbles through the air.
A short ways away, Rarity clung to the ground, as a rush of hot wind surged passed them, drowning out her scream.
Godzilla stood completely unaffected, breaking the blast and dust-filled winds across His chest like it were little more than a gentle breeze. He stared at the devastation for a moment… before rounding on the thing that would dare challenge Him.
On the ground, Twilight felt it long before she saw it.
It was like a burning, feverish sensation sweeping through the air; a fiery power totally unlike magic. Frenetic, uncontrollable… For some reason, it reminded her of the sorceress and that unsettling energy she’d tapped into. But this… this was several orders of magnitude more intense.
And it was building.
That was when His spines began to crackle.
One by one, they began to hum deafeningly, filling the air with a horrible thrumming sound that only got louder and louder.
Twilight watched as, starting from His powerful tail, each spine began to superheat an intense ghostly blue light. The burning light swept up His back, surging brighter and brighter as ragged spine after ragged spine glowed with an alien power that burned against Twilight’s mind, like fire without a flame. She had no words to describe it, other than fury personified.
Twilight didn’t know what was going on, but her primal instincts were screaming alarms at her as the great kaiju stood up tall.
Godzilla reared up, His maw falling open as He inhaled deeply. And the next thing Twilight knew, the night was dyed a blinding, burning white. Something roared as it tore out of His throat; a pillar of light and power burning as intensely as the heart of a star.
What remained of the Amaterasu never stood a chance. The intense surge of raw power tore through it like a white-hot scalpel, vaporizing wood and metal like ice in a blast furnace.
The ship succumbed to the intense unnatural fire as every point of magic within its heart detonated with a mute boom. Twilight could feel it happening, aghast as the fires consumed it all, burning every mote of magic away like scraps of paper and intensifying somehow more. It wasn’t the intense torrent of hellish flame that scoured the Amaterasu off the face of Neighpon, but the terrible explosion that followed as ammunition, magical power sources – all of it detonated with a force that shook all of Odo Island.
Without warning, the burning light disappeared as Godzilla closed His maw. He didn’t even seem fazed by the raining rubble peppering His great head as He surveyed the final verdict laid down upon the would-be challenger.
Fire, ruin, and scorched earth were all that met His gaze; a burning expanse of superheated glass and melting rock, metal and the burning vestiges of a once-proud vessel, blasted to dust in a hot wind.
Satisfied with the result, He tilted back His head and belted out a cacophonous roar to the night sky that would be heard for miles in every direction, shaking the very skies above.
~~***~~
Rainbow blinked blearily up at the rainy sky, blinking as fat droplets pelted her face. With a groan, she flipped over onto her belly, dislodging a small mound of dirt that had come to rest upon her.
The air burned with an intense heat, like she’d just stuck herself into an oven. Fires raged across the hillside, whole trees engulfed in a wall of crimson flames that shot dozens of feet into the sky. She shielded her eyes from the glare with one hoof while she continued to blink, trying to focus her eyes.
Rubble was everywhere, some of it still crashing to the ground all around her. Wood, metal, rocks and all manner of unidentifiable debris covered the land in a tangle of wreckage like some kind of demented obstacle course.
Groaning again, she forced herself to rise. She staggered, but stayed upright at least. The whole world just kept spinning…
Not far away, a board flipped over, catching her attention.
Twilight stood over Rarity and Fluttershy, her horn sputtering as the shielding spell waned. She nearly collapsed on top of her friends, but she caught herself.
“Are you guys alright?” Rainbow shouted over the roaring fire and pounding rain.
Without warning, Fluttershy popped up into a sitting position, wide-eyed with alarm. “Oh my, um… Um, did I miss anything?” she inquired, scanning the devastated environment slowly.
“A few weeks-worth of nightmares,” Rarity answered.
Twilight shook her head, as if trying to clear it. “Ugh… I think we’re all in one piece. Are you okay?”
Rainbow blinked, then looked herself up and down. “Yeah, I’m good.”
It was Fluttershy who brought the group to a standstill. “Um… Where’s Applejack?”
The drone of the rain was the only response she got as three friends stared wide-eyed and ashen faced at one another.
“She… she couldn’t have still been in there… could she?” Rarity breathed, her eyes turning towards the smoldering crater where the Amaterasu had been. The scorched earth still glowed fiery red, steam rising in great curtains off of the blistered land.
“No… no, she got out,” Rainbow said. “She had to… right?”
Twilight’s mouth moved, but nothing came out. Horror was taking hold, and it was proving very difficult to speak around it. Just as the thought truly started to sink in, something caught her attention.
Not far away, on the other side of a skid mark created by a chunk of the ship the size of a house, somepony was moaning.
None of them had rushed forward faster in their lives. All four ran full tilt towards the sound, shouting Applejack’s name.
Around the other side of the wreckage, they found a heap of smoldering ruin – and a single orange hoof protruding from a gap. It was moving, but only barely so.
With a flash of lavender and sapphire light, the many boards and blackened logs were flung away with reckless abandon, revealing a battered orange pony lying in the dirt.
Applejack was a mess, but she was moving. Her body was covered in cuts and burns, and there was a particularly unsettling splash of dark red running down one side of her face.
“Applejack!” shouted all four as they rushed closer, but it was one in particular that the wounded pony focused on.
“Ru…Rainbow? That you?”
The pegasus skidded to a halt beside her. She bent down, propping Applejack up with a hoof. “Yeah, I’m here.”
Applejack blinked, slowly. And then, with the suddenness of a snake strike, she thwacked Rainbow on the forehead.
“OW! What the hay was that for?!” Rainbow complained.
“That was fer worryin’ us ta death, ya dang lousy good-for-noth…nothi…” she trailed off with a groan, pinching her eyes closed weakly. “Landsakes… Any… Anypony else taste metal? Or… ‘sthat just me…?”
Rainbow looked over her shoulder towards her other three, equally apprehensive friends. “We need to get her out of here,” she said urgently. “I know a place. We just have to—”
BOOM…
The heavy footfall drove them all into silence. Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight and Rainbow all turned, slowly, fear pumping in their veins as their eyes turned up towards the sky.
Godzilla stared back contemptuously, His body wreathed in raging fire and billowing smoke. He snarled, standing tall over them all, unbowed. For all they had done, for all that had happened, there was not as much as a cut upon His burly frame or a dent in his immaculate armor. But His patience had officially run out.
“Whas goin’ on…?” Applejack mumbled, blinking in an effort to get all the yellow, white, blue and purple ponies into focus. “Did… d'we win?”
The four mares tensed, bracing for the oncoming behemoth. He was advancing again, as unstoppable as a tidal wave.
“No,” Twilight gulped. “We… we didn’t.”
One foot heaved into the air, swinging in their direction. All four flinched into one another, closing their eyes, bracing…
BOOM!
All four, Applejack included this time, yelped and shrieked as a massive foot struck the earth mere feet from where they were, colliding with such force that the rush of air alone blasted them over backwards like stray leaves on the wind.
All four scrambled upright, Applejack failing in her attempt to do so, hearts hammering in their chests.
But whatever was supposed to come next, didn’t. To their confusion, Godzilla stood towering over them, suddenly motionless.
Everypony exchanged fearful, apprehensive looks, breathing fitfully. He was so close, so very close… Each of them could hear the rain plinking hollowly against His scales. They could hear the way the ground cracked underneath His colossal weight. But He just stood there, fury forgotten.
Then, with a rumble deep in His throat, He turned His head – not down towards the group of friends, but up towards the sky.
Twilight blinked, confused, as He surveyed the heavens with an intense scrutiny. Confused, she followed His gaze, but only found blackness overhead. But after a moment, something started to catch her attention, something that confused her even more.
The rain was stopping.
What was once a deluge had devolved into a light drizzle, and even that was starting to peter out. The wind had gone from ferocious gusts to a lazy breeze far too fast. Thunder continued to rumble in the distance, but overhead, the sky was dark and silent.
Godzilla let out a terrible sound, His head slowly turning towards the west. Meanwhile, four ponies stood petrified in His shadow, too afraid to move.
“Wh…what’s he doing?” Rainbow whispered. “What’s going on?”
“I-I don’t know,” Twilight hissed back. “Something must’ve caught his attention.”
“No duh,” shot Rainbow. “But what?”
To that, Twilight had no reply.
All five watched intently as the colossus surveyed the skies, then turned back towards them. They jumped, tensing all over again.
Godzilla stared at them, glaring an accusation. Then, without any further notice, He suddenly turned. His tail lashed over them, pinning the group of friends to the ground by the windstorm it created.
When Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity and a bleary-eyed Applejack looked up again, all they saw was the retreating back of a migrating mountain as it lumbered away, passing into the blackness of the night once more until only the tremors of His footfalls remained. Soon, even those faded, leaving only the roar of a wildfire in the five mares’ ears.
All five just stood there, paralyzed, as the first rays of moonlight cut through the vaporizing clouds overhead. It was Rainbow who eventually broke the silence. “What… just happened? Why did he just… just… leave?”
“I… don’t know,” breathed Twilight. She tilted her head up, looking towards the sky. The storm clouds were receding, fading into the west. “But I have a very bad feeling about all of this.”
~~***~~
Serizawa watched from the stern of the boat. His eyes weren’t turned towards the devastated village or the burning hillside, but instead he watched the sky, his brow furrowed.
“Emiko,” he called over his shoulder. “Did you get that?”
“Yes, sensei,” Emiko responded from behind. Back under the ship’s canopy, Emiko looked up from the many gemstone-laced devices and glowing nodes pulsating with magic. “We recorded everything.”
Serizawa nodded, eyes still studying the dark heavens.
“Serizawa,” Emiko started meekly, “These readings… We've seen them before, but... they’re not connected to Gojira, are they?”
Serizawa took a moment before answering. He pulled off his grimy glasses and wiped them carefully on his chest before replacing them again. “No… I don’t believe they are. Not anymore.”
“Then… what does that mean?” Emiko asked, fear in her voice – fear of the unknown, among others.
“It means,” Serizawa said, his shoulders sagging slightly, “that we were right. Gojira isn’t creating these storms. He is following them.”
“Why?” Emiko asked. “What does it mean?”
Serizawa glanced down, turning towards the far off shapes of several ponies rapidly approaching. In the lead, a rainbow contrail headed straight for them.
“That Gojira is only a symptom of a greater problem,” he said finally. “One, I fear, we may not be able to fix after all.”
He turned towards Emiko, meeting her frightened look. “Let us hope that Rainbow Dash-san’s friends are even greater than she says. With any luck, they may just be the miracle we need.”
~~***~~
Imi sat beside the prayer stone outside the monastery, casting her eyes out over the darkened ocean. She was soaked to the bone, but there she remained, as did the brightly colored moth on her shoulder.
“Hmm… So, the gods have set things in motion without my help anyway,” she cackled. “They found their way to the one they needed to find most. Hmhm… finally, a little good fortune.”
On her shoulder, the moth batted its wings dolefully.
“No,” Imi sighed aloud. “I suppose nothing is for certain yet. But a chance yet remains, don’t you think?”
Another lethargic bat of the little insect’s wings.
Imi beamed to herself, nodding privately. “Yes indeed. There is always hope.”
She picked herself up off the ground with a little effort, knobby knees quivering as she stiffly shuffled in the direction of the temple. “I will say a prayer for them, old friend. The next time they meet face-to-face very well could be their last.”
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Oh wow. Excellent stuff :D
Waiting to find out Spike is the Son of Godzilla.
My reaction to this chapter: media.giphy.com/media/CzgpJO6D9CFi0/giphy.gif
APPLEJACK! :flail:
Nice, I had incorrectly assumed the storm was following Gojira, not the other way around. Feedback from the enclosure magic, I still think.
Gojira's fear and hatred of pony magic helps my hypothesis, but I bet there is more..... Maybe the magic of the enclosure was channeled through Gojira and his existence directly affects the enclosure enchantment's existence.
Hmmmm.... The storms are weak spots in the enchantment and Gojira wants out which was prevented by unicorns. So............Technically... Tezuka is responsible for the destruction on the island; but it had to be done to request aid.
Yeah, the Mane 6 have something they need to do or an ELE(Or close enough to it) will occur.
Where's Spike? Oh, once they do solve it, will the Emperor try and do the same thing with Spike to erect the enchantment again?
Its funny how often people fail to learn the lessons of step one.
Instead of seeing that they failed and should not do such a thing ever again they insist that they have a better way and repeat the process.
Didn't Vaas ever teach them the definition of insanity?
Excellent chapter once more. These mares were lucky to make it alive, if not unscathed.
Well hopefully they now learned that Godzilla is NOT like a dragon. A dragon is just a smart lizard with wings and can breath out cute little flames to Godzilla.
Now then unless you plan to get your own Godzilla to fight this one it best to not go directly at the monster, cause no kids not even getting another Kaiju to help will solve this. All you get is a big brawl and a ripped apart corpse...only Godzilla can beat Godzilla and even then it a toss u on which one will win.
By the by
'Dear Celestia...
I SHAT OUT MY HEART TONIGHT!
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle'
And that was when they learned that Goji is not a "critter", for He is no mere animal.
He is a god.
Isn't that right, Usagi?
bit.ly/19Btr51
It's very rare that I read a chapter that is so tense and awesome all the way through as this one. Job well-freaking-done my good sir/madame!
Can't wait for the Mane 6 and the rest of us to get some answers.
So....the twins and Mothra are in this as well?
Following storms? Hmm... Storms...
If anybody's read Godzilla: Awakening, then they might not be surprised to learn what I'm suggesting; that the 'storms' are really Shinomura. Just a thought.
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Didn’t read Awakening, but I’ve heard of Shinomura before. Thought that too, huh? However, something tells me that Shino would be the preferable adversary.