Friendly Chats
Hong Kong Shatterdome
Time Plus: Five Hours Post Dimension Tide
It didn’t take a psychic to know that Stacker Pentecost, military commander of the Global Defense Force, was furious. If one knew where to look, then the tense neck muscles, narrowed gaze, and stiff posture of the British combat veteran were akin to an air raid siren at full blast. General Gordon himself was careful to stand a few feet away, leaning ever so slightly away from the man as Pentecost stared daggers at the members of the UN Security Council on the wall monitors.
“Marshal, we understand your reluctance to have used the Dimension Tide System,” the Secretary of State for the United States announced, glaring at Pentecost. “But the chance to eliminate key kaiju that presented the greatest threat to humanity was too good to pass over.” Off to the side, Miki Saegusa shuffled away from Pentecost, her expression pained.
“Mister Secretary, I am well aware of the status of SpaceGodzilla and Destroyah in the Mutant leadership,” Pentecost drawled, his eyes looking over the council dangerously. “I am also aware that when you voted, I cast my vote against using the Dimension Tide. Several others voted against it in fact. So please, explain to me why you thought it best to not just authorize the weapon, but to fire it where we still had soldiers and civilians in the blast zone.”
The Council was silent for a moment before the Mysterian representative spoke. “Marshal Pentecost,” Spokesman 480 stated, “We are aware of your hesitance on the matter. But the greater good of Terra was, and is, at stake. The lives of a few people who would have died regardless are-”
“One hundred and sixteen.”
480 looked at Pentecost, confused. “...excuse me?”
“A hundred and sixteen people were caught in ground zero alone, dumbass,” Gordon stated in annoyance. “Most of them were soldiers, yeah, but from what we can gather from a few reports coming in, about twenty or thirty of them were civilians. Civilians that we could have saved, had you dumbasses waited a few more fucking minutes!”
“General,” Pentecost warned with a low growl. Gordon shut up, letting the Marshal have the floor again. “The General is mostly correct, crass as he said it. A hundred and sixteen souls, in exchange for two Mutants, is not a price I would consider as fair. Nor would I consider the losses of Anguirus, Mothra, Zilla Jr., Raiga, and more importantly, Godzilla himself, to be worth the deployment of the Dimension Tide.”
“Pentecost, thousands of people are dead!” the US Secretary snarled.
Pentecost snapped his head at the Secretary, eyes narrowed in fury. “AND HOW MANY MORE WERE WE ABLE TO SAVE?” he bellowed, silencing the room as his staff flinched. “We sent in an entire task force! Fourteen guided missile destroyers, twelve frigates relegated to anti-air defense, two carriers! In naval assets alone, we lost close to eight thousand personnel!” Pentecost pointed to a map of San Francisco, his expression stern as he continued.
“On the ground, we sent in well over three hundred armored support platforms, along with maser tanks and various armored vehicles to aid in civilian extraction. Members of the California National Guard and fresh recruits who were enroute to deployment in the Pacific. I don’t know the specific numbers yet, but they suffered at least fifty percent losses. And despite all of that, councilors, they and the Defenders saved hundreds of thousands of others. So please, enlighten me on how you justify the loss of another one hundred and sixteen souls that we could have saved.”
The room went quiet, both from those present, and from the council. From behind them, Tendo Choi cleared his throat nervously. “M-Marshal?” he said, making Pentecost look at him. “Umm… I hate to be the bearer of worse news, but… Major Hopkins was… he’s not among the last group of survivors.” The mood in the room plummeted like a stone as everyone looked at Pentecost, the man clearly stunned at the news.
“...damn,” he swore. The Marshal walked over to a nearby table and leaned over it, his expression grim. “Terra just lost her best defenders. And the only ones to blame are us.” He sighed. Damn. First the loss of Godzilla, now Hopkins? Christ, can this day get any worse?
“Marshal, we just got Wylder on the line,” Choi reported. “He… doesn’t sound happy.” Pentecost closed his eyes, mentally preparing himself for the incoming migraine.
I had to say it, didn’t I? “Council members, a moment please.” Pentecost clamped his fingers in the air, the speakers of the Council shutting off as they were muted. “Mister Choi… put him through.” Choi nodded, and at once, the room was filled with the rants of a more… independent member of the Council. Pentecost waited for the other man to take a break in his rant before finally speaking. “Mister Wylder. I understand that this call is not in good faith, is it?”
“No fucking shit it’s not!” To the side, members of Pentecost’s staff tried to keep calm, even as the speaker continued. “I knew the situation in San Francisco was bad, but really Marshal? REALLY?! You fired the Dimension Tide on the city, and you didn’t even call me to get my fucking vote?!? What the fucking hell?!”
“Mister Wylder, as furious as you are at me and the Council, I am in no mood to pander to you or anyone else in the Council at this time.” For the first time, a hard edge had entered Pentecost’s voice, cutting any possible resistance off. “Right now, I have to look over the casualty reports of this disaster, and find a way to tell the world that Godzilla, Mothra, and various other Defenders, are gone because a few politicians with more money than sense got scared. On top of that, we just lost an Omega Black strategic asset. Now, you and Langoud can either assist in the recovery however you see fit, or you can stay out of the way. Am I clear?”
The room was dead quiet as everyone processed the rant that the normally composed Pentecost just let out. “...I’m sorry Marshal Pentecost. I… may have reacted a bit too harshly,” Wylder said finally. “I didn’t bother to think of how you were holding up. I’ll have Langoud assist in post-battle recovery wherever we can. Wylder out.” The line clicked, and Miki cleared her throat.
“Sir… the Council?” she inquired.
“...we can continue this discussion later,” Pentecost replies after a moment. “Right now, I have no desire to deal with politics.”
“Amen to that,” Gordon commented, picking up his katana and following Pentecost as he left the room. “Still, that Omega Black asset… what the hell is it?”
[][][]
Equestria
Hopkins resisted the urge to sigh, even as the pony in front of him paced back and forth while Twilight Sparkle sat on the side, the baby dragon next to her and looking at him in awe. “Okay, look,” he said, grabbing the attention of the equines, “Let’s just start from the top, and go from there. Cause you’re panicking, the purple one is about two seconds away from a panic attack, and the dragon is looking to start an unhealthy fascination with trying to emulate me and my soldiers.” Hopkins paused, shifting in his seat before hissing in pain. “Oh, and I have a hole in my gut. So, please, let’s get on with it.”
“Oh, umm… how is that healing by the way? Shouldn’t you have a healer look into it? what’s the typical healing process for your species and-“ Twilight started to rattle off before Hopkins held up a hand to quiet her.
“Miss Sparkle, in the order of questions, better than normal, no, and usually not any faster than you,” he told her. “But what I want to know is why in the fuck a pony was ordering executions in full view of Canterlot, and why has the sun not bothered going down in the last five fucking hours.” Twilight looked at the cream colored mare, confusion clear on her face. Spike sighed, face palming.
“Well, Mister Shine was trying to find some rebels, and he was like, waaaay out of line when he hit Twilight!” the dragon said, jumping off his seat and going to hug Twilight. “And I don’t know, maybe Daybreaker’s in one of her moods, I can’t say for sure, cause-!”
“Spike!” Twilight admonished. “Language!” Spike pouted, even as Twilight turned to look at Hopkins. “I’m sorry, my little brother here is… sir?”
Hopkins had paled, looking at Twilight in stunned horror. “Did… did you just say Daybreaker? As in, crazy cackling bitch mare with a literal mane of fire, poor impulse control, and a ‘holier than thou’ attitude? THAT Daybreaker?!” Twilight looked to the other and nodded, slowly as Hopkins swore. “Oh sonuvafuck!” The human stood up, clutching his side and hissing in pain. “We all need to leave, now.”
“What? Why?” Twilight asked before the other mare stepped forward.
“You… you know of the Empress?” the older mare asked, suddenly fearful. Hopkins held up a finger.
“I know of her,” he corrected. “Reputation only. And what I got isn’t all that good.” Hopkins raised a hand, finger pressed against his earpiece. “Sergeant Hatake, rally all forces in the square, I need to do a head count, now!” The mares and dragon watched as Hopkins nodded, then stiffly went to collect his weapon off the wall.
“And what about us?” the older mare asked, stopping Hopkins in his tracks. “What will you do about us?”
He turned around, looking at her. “You… wouldn’t happen to be a civil official here, would you?”
The mare nodded. “Mayor Mare, yes. But please… can’t you help us? You took on Governor Shine’s forces, surely… surely you can fight back against the Empress?” Twilight gawked at the hopeful look on Mayor Mare’s face, only for her heart to twist in her chest at how fast it fell in the face of Hopkins’ resigned sigh.
“...we can’t,” he said simply. “I wish we could, but… there’s a difference between a surprise attack on an unsuspecting garrison, and taking on a physical goddess in direct combat. I’m sorry, but the only course I can recommend to you Mayor is the same I’m taking. To get as far away from Daybreaker as possible, and hide.” He looked at Twilight, eyes narrowed. “And I know of you by reputation as well. Hell of a smart mare, socially awkward, you think time with other beings is time wasted on not researching the intricacies of magic and getting the approval of your teacher. In this case, Daybreaker. How close am I so far?”
Twilight stood there stunned, even as Spike chuckled. “Heh, wow, you’re really well informed!” the young dragon commented. “Tartarus, he’s pretty much got you filed away like your books!” Twilight’s horn lit up, lifting Spike off the ground with a cry of protest before depositing him on her back.
“Okay, I don’t know where you get all that from, but that’s just… it’s absurd!” Twilight protested weakly. “I’m a proud attendee of the Empress’ galas after all!” Hopkins gave her a look that even Twilight, socially inept as she was, knew was pure disbelief.
“Uh huh. And the fact that you got slapped in the face by an asshole shows how much of a social butterfly you are,” Hopkins deadpanned, walking to the door. “But I digress. Mayor Mare, my suggestion stands. Get as many villagers out here as possible, and run as far as you can.”
“She can’t, considering that the Empress’ legions are all over the known world, with garrisons in Carrea, Neighpon, the Aegean Isles, and in the Griffon Lands,” Twilight stated on reflex, Spike facepalming in annoyance.
“...Twi, I don’t think that’s helping,” he said, much to Twilight’s annoyance. Twilight opened her mouth to retort before Hopkins cleared his throat.
“In any case, leaving here before it gets nuked off the map would be a good idea,” Hopkins commented. “That said, Miss Sparkle, you’re staying with us.”
“Oh sure, I mean, you- wait what?!” Twilight exclaimed. Hopkins put his helmet on, heading to the door.
“Miss Sparkle, I’m not dumb enough to let an asset like you gallop off and warn Daybreaker,” Hopkins said. “You’ll be treated with respect of course, but rest assured, you will be watched like a hawk.”
Twilight frowned, trotting behind him as they stepped outside. “But, I’m the personal student of the Empress!” she protested. “If I don’t let the Empress know where I am or how I’m doing, she’ll send out her agents for me, if she doesn’t come herself!” Turning a street corner, Twilight would have continued had she not caught sight of what was now in the town square. Beyond the remaining gaggle of ponies all over the place, Twilight noted that there were more bipedal creatures like Hopkins, many of them less armored than he. In the back, she saw what were superficially carriages, only she saw no ponies or signs of a steam engine that could operate them. Mana-driven, maybe?
The ground shook, and then Twilight stopped, Spike staring alongside Twilight at the metal colossi strolling into town. “Holy Faust,” Spike said aloud, and Twilight couldn’t bring herself to correct him as her brain went into overdrive, looking at the new arrivals, trying to file the details away for proper research later. Each of the mechanical titans were shaped much like her new captors, two arms, two legs. Twilight didn’t see any heads on them, but the odd, swiveling lights kept sweeping from side to side, almost like proper eyes. One of them stomped over to Hopkins, and Twilight flinched away from it before with a hiss, it’s chest opened up and revealed another one of Hopkins’ species inside it.
“Sergeant, please give me some good news,” Hopkins said, looking over the square. The other soldier shook his head.
“Sorry Major, wish I could,” they said, Twilight assuming male from the voice. “But we got only about seventy-four boots, and about ten of them are drivers for the armor. And sir… we’re missing boots.” Hopkins swore, Twilight leaning away from him as Spike watched, fascinated.
“Shit… well, keep channels open, see if we can’t get anyone on the air,” Hopkins said. “With any luck, they haven’t dropped too far off from us.” Hopkins tapped Twilight on the shoulder, making the mare jump, nearly making Spike fall off. “Miss Sparkle, if you please?” She nodded, trotting beside him as Hopkins walked through the crowd to the podium where Twilight had almost been blown up. The trio got up, Twilight and Spike stopping at the stairs as Hopkins took the stage. In moments, the entire square was looking at him expectantly, and the human sighed.
“Alright, listen up, all of you,” he yelled. “None of you can stay here. From what I’ve been told from your mayor, Governor Shine is on his merry way to Canterlot where he’ll spill his guts to Daybreaker. And even if he doesn’t, I’m willing to bet a fair chunk of pocket change that any pegasus worth their wings saw the shit we just did not too long ago. So our best, and only course of action, is to get the hell out of here before shit comes down on our heads.”
Twilight saw a pegasus, either one of the town’s militia or a weather pony based on the storm resistant garb, fly up to Hopkins’ face. “What? We can’t just leave!” the mare cried out, rolling her eyes and brushing a lock of her prismatic mane away. “You have your… things! You could totally kick the flanks of any of Daybreaker’s losers in like, five seconds flat! Why the Faust are you guys turning tail?!”
“Because we are in no way, shape, or form in any capacity to engage an entire empire for longer than a skirmish,” Hopkins said coldly. A deathly stillness went over the square. “What’s your name?”
“Rainbow Dash, the best damn flyer in Equestria, and I ain’t leaving Ponyville just because some hairless monkey is afraid of a good fight!” the pegasus declared, doing a loop proud and crossing her forehooves over her chest. Hopkins grunted, visibly facepalming.
“Dash, look around you. How many soldiers do you see?” Hopkins asked. Rainbow opened her mouth to speak, only for him to cut her off. “Now, imagine the number of soldiers in a legion. At best, my forces are outnumbered maybe about… ten or twelve to one. Actual odds are closer to twenty or thirty to one.”
“But you have those super awesome cool things!” Dash pointed out, several townsponies murmuring in agreement. “Can’t you just kick their asses with that?”
Hopkins grimaced. “...no.” A collective gasp from the town echoed in the square as Hopkins continued. “We don’t have the munitions in place to do so first off. And that’s not even getting into the fact that we physically cannot maintain our equipment for longer than a week at best. Miss Dash, and every other pony here, let me spell it out for you. My men and I absolutely can NOT stay here and engage Daybreaker’s forces. From a tactical, strategic, and logistical level, it’s outright impossible. And, looking over everyone here, I’m going to guess that you have maybe less than two hundred ponies in some sort of auxiliary militia, right?” The square was dead silent. “Then I wish you the best of luck. I recommend you get out of town within the hour.”
The assembled ponies murmured to each other, many of them clearly uncomfortable with the idea of just running away. Mayor Mare stepped up onto the stage, clearing her throat. “The Major is right,” she said, silencing them. “If they can’t fight the Empress’s legions, then we can’t either. Grab whatever you can fit in a saddlebag, and then start leaving! Maybe to Apploosa.” Mayor Mare looked at Hopkins. “And… where will you go?”
Hopkins pointed to where the Everfree was clearly visible. “There.”
“What? Why?!” Twilight asked, alarmed.
“Well, maybe they live there,” Spike commented, making Hopkins chuckle as the human shook his head.
“We don’t,” he answered, another mechanical construct slowly walking over to him. “That said, I do have an idea of what, or rather, who is in the Everfree.” The construct stopped next to the stage, chest opening up and Hopkins jumping in. Twilight saw glimpses of some kind of apparatus around the seat before the hatch closed, the thing standing up just a bit straighter. “With luck, it’s someone who actually stands a chance against that bitch up there,” he added, pointing at Canterlot.
Mayor Mare, Spike, and more importantly, Twilight, all looked at him stunned. “Wait, you mean… the Mare in the Moon? You know where she is? Oh Glorious Radiance, what do you know about her, how comparable is she to the Empress, Spike, make a list, we need to archive EVERYTHING where was I oh right and how doyouknowwheretheMareintheMooniswhenalltheothermagesinthecollege-!” Twilight found herself silenced by a metal digit very gently pressing itself against her mouth.
“I have an idea of where to find her, and as for everything else… that’s need-to-know.”
“But… but… but the academic understanding!!!” Twilight whined, pointing up at the sky with her hooves.
“Twi, give it a rest will ya?” Spike sassed, laying on her back. “Faust knows we’ll run into something.”
“Language young drake,” Hopkins said a full second before Twilight could interject. “You can swear when you’re older.” Spike paused, looking at Hopkins for several seconds.
“...I’m older now.” Hopkins chuckled, stepping away as he shook his head.
“Hehe, well played, well played.” Spike grinned cheekily as Hopkins looked over the crowd. “Miss Sparkle, you will be staying close to Staff Sergeant Foley over there, the soldier standing next to that post over there.” Twilight looked over and saw a soldier with darker skin, talking with two more soldiers before checking some kind of list in their hands.
“Umm… is this because I know the Empress?” she asked nervously.
“Yes. That, and you’re the smartest pony in this village by far. We run into anything, we have an encyclopedia and a mage at the ready.”
“But, but, I don’t know how to fight!” Twilight stammered. Hopkins chuckled as he started to walk away.
“Could have fooled me with that shielding spell earlier,” he said. “Anyway, report to Sergeant Foley. We move out in thirty.” Hopkins walked away, checking his ASP’s systems as Julian’s avatar popped up on his screen.
[Big risk taking her along, you know that right?] Julian asked.
“No worse than some of the other shit we’ve done,” Hopkins retorted. “Look at Sarah for fuck’s sake.”
[Gabe, she’s a hybrid on the same threat scale as you,] Julian pointed out as Hopkins checked the background radiation. [That, I can handle. Being in magical sugar colored horse land with a physical god controlling it? That, I don’t like.] The ASP stopped at the edge of the square, turning and looking back over the crowd. [Besides, wasn’t Luna crazy when her sister sealed her into the moon?]
“Yeah, but that was in the show,” Hopkins pointed out. “Here, Daybreaker’s in control. There’s no telling which version of Luna is in the Moon, but I can almost guarantee that between her and Daybreaker, I’d rather deal with Luna.” Julian sighed.
[One of these days your guesses are going to bite you in the ass, flesh bag.]
“Oh, so you do care after all,” Hopkins teased, much to Julian’s visible irritation, considering the glare his avatar fixed him.
[Shitbag.]
“Love ya too, you digital shit-puppet.” Hopkins sighed. “So… Count all IFFs, see who we got, and then try to get the stragglers on the horn. We need something to get through all this fucking static.”
[Fair enough. And Gabe… your injuries.]
“Hmm? What about it? Can barely feel it now, so I know it’s healing well enough.”
[Gabe, you heal from that in normally three days. You’re almost healed now.] It was silent in the ASP as Hopkins looked at the ragged hole in his armor.
“...okay. So, what, best guess is the air here agrees with me then?” Julian chuckled.
[Maybe. Processing power is limited in this thing after all, but I can guess that your access to whatever it is that gives you psionics is vastly easier here than on Earth. Other than that? Who the hell knows. That said…]
“I know, I know,” Hopkins said as he leaned back in his chair, Julian taking control of the ASP. “We’ll need to be careful with the inhibitor. Christ, things were so much easier years ago. Didn’t have nearly all this shit to handle.”
[Well, you still have me to bitch slap some sense into you, celibate bastard.]
“Mhmm.” Hopkins sighed, reaching to a small pouch on his chest and pulling out a hand rolled cigarette. “Damn, so damn tempting…”
[An Elerium cig this early?]
“Oh come on, I hunt monsters for a living. Cancer is the very least of my worries.” Julian chuckled at the macabre joke Hopkins pointed out, one that was true in more than a few ways. While Hopkins enjoyed the bitter taste of the cigarette, Julian went to work. A cursory check of the ASP’s systems showed that the reactor core was stable, holding at 87 percent draw. A few armor panels had suffered minor structural fatigue, but it was nothing that would completely compromise the integrity of the combat vehicle. All told, the inspection of the ASP’s hard and software took Julian a grand total of 0.0067 seconds, and then he was bored.
The AI then went and used the ASP’s IFF reader to do a headcount on the assembled soldiers, only to freeze for a full half second. Then he checked the roster another twelve times, each time narrowing his criteria. Each result in the span of the five seconds it took to complete each scan came up the same. There were only eighty-three soldiers present, and of the thirteen missing, only one of them raised an immediate red flag for the AI. If he were capable, Julian would have gulped. This… is problematic.
There was a commotion outside of the ASP, and Julian focused the ASP’s optics onto the source of the issue. [Oh fuck, Hopkins, we got a Code Pink.] Hopkins sighed irritably, blowing the smoke of his cigarette out.
“Pinkie getting into Twilight’s face?”
[Mhmm.]
“Probably about to burst into a musical number with too much cheer for where we are?”
[Oh come on, it’s fucking PINKIE PIE.]
“Mmm.” Hopkins took another drag of his cigarette. “Good point. Well, let’s have Pinkie have some fun before we crack down on her.” Julian’s avatar nodded, before the AI sighed. “...Julian?”
[Gabe… we might have a problem.]
“Might?”
There was a solid five seconds of pause. Five seconds in which Hopkins was now completely focused on the AI’s avatar. “Jule?”
[...I can’t locate Private Monnot on the local IFF sweep.] There was dead silence in the cockpit as Julian continued. [It’s… possible that he may have died, or is just out of range. Either way, I… I’m sorry.]
“No, no he’s got to be alive,” Hopkins said, sitting up and about to extinguish his cigarette. “He’s a tough kid, he can make it back.” The hatch opened up, letting him flick the still smoking butt out. “Okay Jule, keep an ear out on the comms, see about getting a message out to anyone within normal range. Keep it on a loop.”
[Consider it done,] Julian said as the hatch closed up again. [Just… just don’t keep your hopes up. He’s not like you, you know that.]
“I do,” Hopkins replied in agreement. “He’s going to be better.”
[][][]
Twilight was wondering just how in Tartarus she was in this situation. This morning, she had been on a train to come to this little town to supervise a festival, and to indulge in a bit of research for the betterment of her Empress’ empire. Now, she was not only held captive by creatures calling themselves ‘humans’, but was also being dragged around the town by a hyperactive bundle of… pink shaped like a pony. That in itself wouldn’t have annoyed the young Mystic too much. No, what was annoying her was being forced to mingle with ponies who looked at her with undisguised disgust, or in rare cases, gratitude. For what though, she had no clue.
“Whatcha ya thinking about?”
“GYAH!” Twilight exclaimed, nearly ‘porting out of her coat as Pinkie Pie got in her face. Sucking in panicked breaths, Twilight had to reel in the desire to hit Pinkie in the face with a basic shove spell, the still grinning earth pony looking at her expectantly. “Empress of all, what is WRONG with you?!” Twilight said, trying to back away from Pinkie.
“Well, a short answer is that I’m a happy pony in a grimdark universe created by a jaded, cynical entity!” Pinkie explained, looking up at the sky. Twilight looked over her shoulder, not seeing a thing as Pinkie continued. “Long story, I was born in a-!”
“Okay okay, I don’t need the life story!” Twilight shouted, slamming a hoof over Pinkie’s mouth. Twilight felt the pink earth pony still talking, and then against her better judgement, removed her hoof.
“-so I went to my parent’s room, where I saw them-!” Twilight immediately slammed her hoof back on Pinkie’s mouth, groaning. Around her, other ponies were giving her looks of… was that sympathy? Her hoof slipped off the still rambling Pinkie, leading her to say, “...then I was involved with a tribe of cannibal pygmies, who made me their chieftain with a giant-!”
“Oh come on, I said I didn’t need the life story!” Twilight begged, trying to shut up Pinkie. “Just… take me back to the scary bipeds!”
Pinkie shook her head, pulling away from Twilight. “But I didn’t even get to tell you about the time I was engaged to a griffon who was part cockatoo!”
Twilight sighed, hanging her head down as Pinkie beamed at her with a wide grin. “Miss Pie, please,” Twilight started to say before Pinkie interrupted her.
“Call me Pinkie, all my friends do!” Pinkie explained. “And everyone’s a friend, even the ponies and the griffons and miniature giant monsters and trigger happy humans and-!”
“PLEASE, FOR HARMONY’S SAKE, JUST STOP!” Twilight begged, letting herself fall to the ground in despair. A pair of orange legs came into view as the unicorn tried not to have a mental break.
“Wow, that was mighty rude there.” Twilight looked up and saw another earth pony, this one with an orange coat and wearing a wide brimmed hat. “Ah mean, Pinkie here can be a bit… much, no offense there Pinkie-”
“None taken!” Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing on her hooves as the other mare continued.
“-but that ain’ no reason at all to treat her like that, miss city mage.” Twilight groaned, standing up and keeping her head down.
“Well Miss… umm, I’m afraid I don’t exactly have the privilege of knowing your name,” Twilight pointed out, gesturing to the hat-wearing pony with her hoof. “I mean… everyone in town already knows who I am.”
“Between them fireworks at the square, and Pinkie, can’t say that I blame everypony for knowin’ you better than you know us.” The farm pony held her hoof out. “My name’s Applejack. You’ve already met Pinkie, and you saw Dash a few minutes ago arguing with the weird two-legged one.” Twilight took Applejack’s hoof in hers, and then stifled a yelp of surprise at the unusually strong grip that the farmer gave her. “And now that we all know each other, please, for Faust’s sake, apologize to Pinkie for being a horse.”
Twilight looked at Pinkie and gulped. “Umm… look, I’m sorry I was so… y’know. Angry,” Twilight said to her, feeling Applejack’s eyes practically burn a hole through her coat. “I’m just a little caught up in what’s going on here and umm… look, it’s no excuse, but-”
“Apology accepted.”
Twilight blinked, stunned at how fast Pinkie had accepted her apology. “...say what?”
“We’re all friends here, and arguments happen all the time!” Pinkie explained cheerfully. Twilight felt her eye twitch at how unnatural it seemed for the pony to be THAT chipper. “So don’t worry about Twilight, I’m not mad at all! Not everyday that the stability of Daybreaker’s empire goes belly up like a dead fish!” Twilight nodded, then froze, gaping at Pinkie.
“Wait, what?! What do you mean the empire’s stability is falling?!?”
Applejack snorted. “Oh come on there Miss Twilight, ya gotta admit,” she said, turning Twilight in place to look at the giant bipedal constructs walking around. “Ya really think that’s normal?”
“Well… no, but-”
“And then there were all them falling lights, one of which hit Canterlot for sure,” Applejack continued. “Another almost did, but that one didn’t look like it landed more than a mile away a’ most.” Twilight looked at the castle nervously as Applejack stepped away. “Plus, let’s face it. Everypony knows Gov’ner Shine’s all horseapples and brown nosing. He’ll do everythin’ to try and get us all killed anyway.”
“But… the Empress… I mean, she has a temper, but she’s not…” Twilight tried to say, her body quivering as she looked at the distant capitol. “She… she’ll listen to me, she, she… she has to, I’m her student…”
“And she always listens to you?” Applejack’s question cut through Twilight with a quiet chill. “Are ya sure you can get her to not turn us into another Neighpon?” Pinkie tapped Applejack on the shoulder. The farm pony looked at her and saw a surprisingly serious look on the normally upbeat mare’s face. Applejack stared at Pinkie, alarmed at the glare she was getting as Pinkie went and stood next to Twilight.
“Hey, it’ll be fine,” Pinkie told her. “Besides, know what I think the Empress is doing right now?”
Twilight looked at Pinkie morosely. “What?”
Pinkie smiled at her. “I’m betting that she’s face first in one of those giant cakes!” she whispered conspiratorially. “Aaaaand… she’s totally acting like a silly filly doing it while nopony is watching!” The mental of Daybreaker, regal, composed, and always ready with a scathing retort acting like a filly with a giant cake flashed through Twilight’s mind. And then, unable to hold it in, she let out a laugh. And then another laugh tore it’s way out of her throat as the stress of the last couple of hours leached out of Twilight. Pinkie smiled, reaching over and holding her still as the Mystic laughed, tears coming down her eyes as Applejack watched.
Soon, Twilight managed to compose herself, wiping her face clean of the tears running down her face. “Thank you, I… I think I needed that,” she said, glancing over at Pinkie with a tired smile. “I… Goddess, it’s been a day so far, and I just…”
“You’re welcome,” Pinkie told her sincerely, cutting her off. “Everypony needs something to cheer them up and laugh! And make the scary things look not so scary.” Twilight nodded, looking back at the still stern expression on Applejack’s face.
“Umm… I’m sorry for freaking out at Pinkie Pie, really,” Twilight told Applejack. “And… and I’m sorry that you’re all being forced to leave your village. I never thought that… I didn’t…” The young mage looked away, tucking her legs up against her chest in shame. “I didn’t want to think that any one like Governor Shine could be so cruel.”
“Well, there are,” Applejack commented dryly, moving to bite into a loaded saddlebag and slinging it over her back. “But… Ah’ll be honest, you at least are a wagon load better than he is.” Finally, Applejack cracked a small smile at Twilight. “You did go and help save Gentle Leaf and her folk.”
“But… the Major, the uh, you know… he did all the saving,” Twilight muttered, looking at the humans wandering around and getting their equipment ready. “I just cast a shield spell my brother taught me.”
“One buck of a brother,” Applejack commented as she guided the unicorn back to the square. The trio reached the square, avoiding a walking machine as it strode by, its ‘head’ looking left and right carefully. Spike spotted Twilight and ran up to her, Applejack holding Pinkie back from rushing over to grab the young dragon, latch on tight, and apply far too much pressure in an enthusiastic hug.
“Twi, Twi!” Spike cried out, hugging her forelegs. “You gotta see about getting a ride on the walking things! It’s just so cool!” Twilight smiled, just as Hopkins walked over to them. “Hey Major, I was just telling Twi about riding your thingamajigs!” The ponies saw Hopkins chuckle at Spike’s exuberance.
“Well, being in an ASP is pretty cool,” he agreed, looking at Twilight and then Pinkie. “I see you met her. My sympathies.”
“Wait, how d’ya know about Pinkie?” Applejack asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Hopkins shrugged.
“Ask me later when we’re not in imminent danger,” he answered, just as Spike looked quesy, holding his stomach. “Hey, you okay?” Spike nodded, and then loudly belched out a jet of green fire, a sealed scroll coming out and hovering in the air for a moment before Twilight quickly took it in her magic and tore it open. “The fuuu-uuudge?” Hopkins swapped out at the last second as he watched Twilight read the scroll. “What is it?”
“It’s a message from my brother!” Twilight said automatically, pacing back and forth as she read the missive. “Something happened in the castle, the Empress… she’s… recovering?” A cold silence dropped onto the others as she read on. “Anyway, Shining’s got all the legions and the guard on high alert, and he wants me to return home as soon as I can, but-.”
“Shit!”
The ponies looked at Hopkins, who looked at the direction of Canterlot. “You can’t be fucking… fuck!” The walker looked at him in visible alarm as Hopkins brought a black box on his shoulder close to his mouth. “All units scramble, we have… we may have battalion strength hostile forces inbound shortly. I want all assets heading to the forest now!” he ordered sternly, hopping into his machine.
Twilight watched in confusion as the humans all started to leave the square, waving for the ponies around them to follow, most of whom were.
“What’s going on? You’re leaving already?”
“We are leaving missy,” one of the humans near her said, waving his weapon slightly. “And you probably should come with us, especially if you wanna keep asking questions.”
“She’ll have to,” Hopkins said, the walker’s hatch sliding shut. “I am not wasting that brain of hers.” Twilight blinked, unsure as to whether she should have been complimented or offended when a pearl colored unicorn ran up to Applejack, fear splattered all over the former’s face. “Ma’am, is there a-?”
“Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo, and Applebloom are missing!” Twilight saw Applejack flinch in terror, even as Hopkins winced.
“...oh fuck.”
(Break)
Xenilla had very little experience with trees. Mostly, they were simply things that were underfoot as he battled the humans, the Defenders, and of course, his icka’brod. He knew they were green, and pointy sometimes. He did not know how big they could be until he had been shrunken down to… whatever it was he and his lieutenant were now. It also came to no one’s surprise that the normally hundred meter tall crystal/Godzillasaurus hybrid was also unprepared to be the size of the very beings he usually gave not a single concern about.
“What’s that thing?” he heard Destroyah asked, forcing Xen to sigh and look where she was pointing.
“That’a bird. I believe a blue jay, given the color.”
“Think it tastes good?”
Stars have mercy on me. “Des, we don’t even know what your current body has for a digestive tract, but if I were to guess I would say that your usual method of eating likely won’t work. Not without me constantly patching you back up.”
Des snorted dismissively, sending a small ball of micro-oxygen at the creature, which fluttered away as its former seat was eaten away. “Wasn’t hungry anyway,” she said petulantly.
“Of course,” Xen allowed, returning his focus to the path ahead. What that path was… he was still deciding. He paused as he heard a shrill cry in the distance, feeling his new ears actually changing orientation to track the sound better. “Hmm… seems we aren’t alone out here.”
Des perked up at that, a smile full of sharp teeth appearing on her face. “Think it’s any of those Defenders? I’m itching for round two, even if we’re shrunk or whatever.”
“If it is then certainly, but I shall ask that you hold off if it is not,” Xen said quietly, moving through the brush towards the sound. “Until we know more about our situation violence should not be our first answer to new situations.”
Xen ignored her annoyed snort, as he knew she would listen to his orders, even if she didn’t like it. She trusted him that much at least, which was… oddly heartening, now that he thought about it. She’s about the only one that does…
The two marched through the wood, ears on a swivel as they moved, up until Xen entered a small clearing and found himself with three smaller bundles of limbs and fur crashing into his side. “I do believe we-,” Xen started to say before he heard several deep snarls come from the direction the three small things came from. He looked up, spotting a pack of eight canines made of tangled knots of wood, grass, and dirt… and one big wolf with green, baleful eyes dripping with bestial malice.
“...Des.”
“Violence, got it.”
On the ground, Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo, and Applebloom watched as the two larger adult ponies did battle with the Timberwolf pack. The stallion with the fork-shaped horn stood like one of the older apple trees on the farm, his horn glowing just a bit. Two of the timber wolves sprinted to flank them, only for massive crystals to erupt from the ground and skewer the canids through the torso, lifting them up off the ground to struggle uselessly. The others had to contend with the closest thing the trio of fillies had ever seen to the Empress herself. Massive, built even wider and stronger than even Big Mac, and with a mouth full of…
“Eeeep!” Sweetie Bell squeaked as she grabbed her friends and pulled them close, watching in terror as the giant of a mare lunged forward and literally grabbed a timber wolf with her mouth, and then whipped her head back and forth. The magical canine stood no chance, its body flying off into the brush as its head fell from Destroyah’s maw, the kaiju grinning darkly as a deep rumble echoed in her chest.
The remaining timberwolves bolted, leaving their crumbling comrades behind with frightened howls and yips. The giant red mare spat out a bit of remaining with and put on a ferocious victory grin.
“Weak, but fun to destroy. I think I like it here.”
The unicorn turned to look down at them, the girls staring at his weird crystal horn and deep red eyes.
“Hello young ones. My friend and I seem to have gotten ourselves lost. Since we just protected you from those… monsters, I am guessing, would you be kind enough to help us by answering our questions?”
“Uuuuuh….” Applebloom, sweet little filly that she was, could only utter a single, stretched out syllable of awe mixed with terror before Scootaloo stepped up, her diminutive wings stretched out in an attempt to make herself ‘bigger’.
“And how do we know you won’t do something worse to us?” she asked hotly, trying to ignore how badly she was shaking in fear. “Kinda suspesh… sus… uh…”
“Suspicious, and I suppose you have a point.” Xen glanced at his partner, who appeared exceptionally bored now that the action was over. “Myself and my friend do seem to… stand out somewhat around here. That being said, you have my word that no harm shall come to you just by answering our questions. We simply desire some information, and we can part ways from there should you like.” He paused, a smirk creeping onto his face. “That said, splitting up might not be for the best, for what if those monsters should return, hmm?”
“Y’know, he’s got a point there Scoots,” Applebloom commented shyly, looking up at Xen. “He and his… uh… mare friend migh’ be our only chance outta here.”
“But what if he’s lost too?” Sweetie Bell asked, unaware that the others could easily hear her ‘whispering’. “We’re still stuck in the Everfree, and we don’t have any exploration Cutie Marks! We’d be stuck here forever!”
“The forest can’t be that big if you came from somewhere outside of it,” Xen said. “Unless you mean to tell me you’ve been wandering in here for days?” The girls collectively shook their heads. “Alright then, so we find a vantage point and attempt to gather our bearings. And based on my previous observations…”
He let his voice fall away as he turned to point towards what the Sun - which oddly hadn’t moved at all even in the short time they’d been here - seemed to suggest was East.
“The land seems to slope downward from that direction, suggesting that there may be hills or mountains we can climb to get a view outside of the forest, and from there we can determine our next destination.”
Sweetie and Apple Bloom seemed impressed at the reasoning, but Scootaloo took a second look at the large mare with a confused expression. “But, uh… can’t she just fly up and look herself?”
Four pairs of eyes turned to Des, three confused, one amused. Des looked back at them all with a sneer and rolled her own eyes. “Don’t wanna.”
“But…”
“Don’t wanna, not gonna.”
“As she says,” Xen said, as if that was enough. “Now then, let’s get moving. Want to be able to see something before the sun eventually sets.”
“Sets?”
Xen felt a prickle on the back of his neck as he turned back to look at the bewilderment on the childrens’ faces. “Yes… the Sun does eventually settle beyond the horizon, removing our ability to see save for the rare nights when the moon is near fully waxed.”
The girls looked at each other, each shrugging in turn to show they didn’t know what to say. “Uh… we don’t know what you mean, mister,” Apple Bloom said slowly. “The Sun… is always up. Never goes down all the way.”
Des barked out a laugh as she was suddenly in Applebloom’s face. “Doubt it,” she said. “Sun always goes down. And night time makes the fighting better.”
“...you hit your head or something?” Scootaloo asked, tilting her head. “Cause ain’t no way you can’t know about Solus Primus and Secondus. That’s like… you HAVE to learn that in school, right?”
“Scootaloo, you ditched that class, remember?” Sweetie Bell told her. “I had to explain it to you.” Scootaloo pounded as Xen raised a hoof to stroke his chin in thought.
This world is drenched in magic as it is, so the possibility that the celestial bodies operate differently can’t be discounted. I need more information.
“Come girls, we should move swiftly. I have questions for you and we have a lot of ground to cover.”
“I think we should just head that way,” Scootaloo said, pointing in the opposite direction Xen had pointed. “I know Ponyville should be lower down than Everfree, so if we go that way we can get home quicker!”
Xen’s smile grew just a bit strained and a bit of energy played over his crystal horn. “Oh, but your home isn’t where I want to go, as I doubt its answers will be as interesting as the place I am seeking.”
“Y-you’re not gonna let us go home?” Sweetie asked in a whisper.
“You’re free to leave,” Xen assured them with a false grin, “So long as you wish to take your chances without the two of us. I plan to see just what kind of strange magic is hiding deep inside this forest. If you could perhaps give me a hint of what that is I might be willing to lend you aid in returning home after it is thoroughly explored.”
“...well fuck.”
Scootaloo and Applebloom both looked stunned at Sweetie Bell’s utterance. “Sweets! Language!” Applebloom exclaimed loudly, even as Scootaloo looked between Xen and Destroyah.
“Bloom, hate to tell ya, but I think we should just, you know… do what the unicorn says,” the Pegasus filly pleaded. “I don’t want to be timber wolf chow…”
“Or a manticore’s scratching post,” Sweetie Bell added.
“Or turned to stone by a cock’trice,” Applebloom added in turn, making Xen’s eye rise up even higher in both curiosity… and sheer befuddlement.
“I want to fight all of those,” Des declared suddenly.
Xen waved her down from her typical aggression. “In due time. For now, let us move. The sooner my questions are answered the sooner these… children can go back to their homes under our protection.”
Des grumbled to herself as she fell into step behind Xen, both moving off through the underbrush at Xenilla’s lead. The crusaders had to scramble to catch up, throwing looks back and forth between their supposed ‘guards’ and the direction they thought was towards home, but not daring to say a word in protest.
“For being a princess and her guard they’re really kinda mean,” Sweetie said under her breath.
“Better a mean princess than a bitchy evil queen,” Scoots said back to her.
“True…”
“Language.”
“Oh shut up AB!”
“Make me!”
Xen tuned out the childish squabbling behind him, while Des looked over her shoulder with the smallest of appreciative grins.
A nexus of magic exists at this location ahead. One that may explain just how we came to be here… and hold the key to returning to our home. Once that’s secured…
Xen closed his eyes, feeling that faint connection he had to the one thing in life he would throw everything away for, no matter how dire or confusing.
It will be time to search for Icka’brod…
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Daybreaker is crazy, but also awesome. Wait, if the sun never sets, shouldn't it be really hot?
Magic A is Magic A. Plus, Daybreaker has had a thousand or so years of practice, so, the first few decades were, admittedly, a bit warmer than normal, everything is more or less fine now. Days are more similar to summers in Alaska where you have a twilight period for nights.
So just wandering, what's the update rate in terms of days, or weeks?
yep, ya got me hooked m8
Hey man, so I know that you've decided to do some major rewrites and reworking on this story. I, and hopefully others, understand that this process will and has been taking awhile. Well I just wanna support you and this story here as much as I can because I've been really enjoying it so far and personally see a goldmine of potential here, so I just wanna say keep moving forward and keep doing what you can here.
Either way though, take it easy man. Although I'd like you to stay determined and keep going, I don't want it to come at your expense. I find your health far more important than your story. So take breaks where you need them and try not to stress too much.
You have yourself a good day and a good night.
-TheUnfitComedian, aka JonBovi
8950964
Wow, I seriously didn’t know what a nanometer was back then. Shows what I knew about non visible light
Alright, Chapter 3 and we're now introduced to not only the CMC, Des, and Xen, but even Mr. Theodore Wylder. As always, the GDF brass are all distinct and incredibly fun to read about, with the "jerkass with a heart of gold" Gordon and stoic Pentecost having to deal with the fallout of the loss of Junior and the defenders along with Hopkins and the gang. As for Mr. Wylder himself, he does do a good job at portraying the potential utter distress at losing someone he considers a brother, but also some of the greatest kaiju in the world. Meanwhile, back in Equestria, Twilight meets up with AJ and Pinkie, which leads to a very nice conversation. While Pinkie was, admittedly, a little annoying at first, she luckily calmed down enough to where we can see some honestly wholesome interaction with Twilight, with AJ also serving as a very nice down to earth third party and mediator between the two conflicting personalities. Speaking of conflicting personalities, Julian and Hopkins' interaction was also fun as always, with Hopkins' quips shining through despite the dour circumstances the Pale Horsemen are in. One quick thing is that this story also introduced me to Elerium and my utter bewilderment of using Elerium in a cigarette. I guess Hopkins is just badass enough to take it. Finally, we're introduced to Xen and Destroyah, who both have an amazing chemistry here that I can't help but adore. Destroyah's sarcastic "fight everything" attitude contrasts so well with Xen's more pragmatic thinking while still having enough of a kind heart to admire the CMC's little quips and protect them. One other thing I'm still hoping for is finding where Zilla and Raiga fit into the equation or if Raiga's going to go on a "Sound Of Thunder" style escapade. Either way, I'm excited to see what comes next as the rest of the Kaiju make their own appearances and Monnot enters the Equestrian Capital.