• Published 28th Nov 2022
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The Bridge: Call of Titans - AJoltOfDapper



Titanus Gojira's arrival to Equestria years after the Solgell Island incident brings about a plethora of questions and one harsh reality...

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Chapter 2: Rocky Reunion

-Somewhere in the Zap Apple Orchards-

Destroyah hummed softly to herself as she bumped a hip against the trunk of an apple tree, working at a moderate pace while still taking everything in. She'd elected to stay in Equestria once a way back to Terra had been found, and she still wondered from time to time if that was always the best choice on her part. It was a lot of new, overwhelming feelings that she sometimes felt frustrated with, but the oxygen destroyer-incarnate never stayed annoyed for long. This world had undoubtedly taught her a lot of patience, patience she had never dreamed of having up to this point. With nobody else around, Destroyah allowed herself a soft smile as she moved around the tree, carefully (so as not to puncture the skin with her fangs), lifting apples off the ground that didn't make it into the baskets and dropping them in.

It was here though, that the peaceful serenity would be quickly broken as a large brown shape raced by her, catching the kaiju completely unawares. "Hi, Des! Bye, Des!" Anguirus' voice shouted before the shape skittered to a halt and the earth pony rushed back up to greet her. "Hey, so ya remember Gojira?" he asked her anxiously, giving zero context as to what he was on about.

Destroyah looked down at Anguirus with a neutral expression before she deadpanned, an unamused look clad upon her crimson muzzle. "What are you on about, now?" she grunted, noticing his frantic demeanor as he looked over her shoulder at something out in the distance. Destroyah raised a brow and looked behind her, the only emotion she now possessed being pure, unadulterated confusion. "Yes, I remember him, why?" she finally answered.

"I don't know how, but he's here, and absolutely livid. Some kind of miscommunication, or he's changed a lot in the last coupla years, either way, he... He's up the ridge!" Anguirus exclaimed, his eyes widening as he saw the behemoth stallion charge down the hill upon noticing the duo. If there was one thing the Alpha Predator was good at, it was hunting. The MUTOs in 2014 proved that he had perfected tracking prey across vast distances and it would seem that an Equestrian form did nothing to hinder that ability. Unfortunately, Anguirus was his next target. He was being hunted now.

Destroyah's eyes went wide for a brief moment at the sight of the stallion thundering toward them, hearing the bellowing cry that heralded his arrival. Even from a distance, she could see that he was her own height, but even so, he was built a bit more muscularly. And this was a veteran kaiju who had been around since the creation of every kaiju that had landed in Equestria, a fact that he often, unfortunately, took full advantage of.

"Well, I suppose the orchard has been a little void of action, hm?" Destroyah finally snickered, turning fully and taking a step back. She may have changed for the better, but the oxygen destroyer incarnate still enjoyed a good fight to break up some of the monotony of her new lifestyle, and good Tanaka if this wouldn't be a good fight. She wouldn't kill him... Just force him to back down.

A sentiment that the juggernaut seemed to share with the two kaiju down the hill...

There were about 40 feet between them when Gojira came to a slowing stop, his fangs bared as he growled at Destroyah. "That one..." he grumbled plainly, gesturing towards Anguirus. "He has caused me much grief, alongside his cohorts. Turn him--"

Destroyah cut him off with a snort and an eye roll, shaking her head. "You'll settle your grief with me, Gojira," she scoffed, deliberately calling him by his name in some kind of attempt to either work a reaction out of the old king, or snap him to his senses. Evidently, she'd receive the former, as the stallion squinted at her and growled.

"You know the name I am referred to as... Then you know what I'm capable of," Gojira growled, a slight breeze ruffling their manes as he steeled himself. His whole body tensed as he waited for a move in what could be equated to a western stand-off, his eyes narrow as, from somewhere, a tumbleweed blew by. This oddity was either ignored or not noticed, as none of the three kaiju looked down to watch it.

-Road to the Crystal Castle-

Mothra Lea walked alongside Twilight Sparkle and Xenilla, a small smile creeping upon her muzzle as she enjoyed the brief silence that had passed over them. While her unease towards Xenilla had calmed, something else seemed amiss. This fact became all the more noticeable as she noticed Twilight rubbing the base of her horn whilst grimacing slightly. "Twilight, you've been rubbing your head for the last half hour, is something troubling you?" the changeling asked, furrowing a concerned brow as she knelt down and touched her horn to the alicorn's a spark of magic shooting through them in a brief spell that would quell her headache.

"Y-yeah, thanks, Lea... There's just... I didn't think I'd have to feel that again," she chuckled sheepishly, looking up at her friend and electing a raised brow from Xenilla.

"Feel what, Princess?" the stallion inquired as the four walked, craning his head down to look upon Twilight.

The alicorn rolled her eyes at the formality, despite having given Xenilla a name to call her instead, and answered his question, biting her lip for a brief moment as she did her best to dispel her concerns as to what exactly she was feeling. "When you guys first got here, we alicorns knew before we even saw you. We're very attuned to the magic of this world and, well, it caused our own magic to flare up and we were all affected... I... was just feeling that again," she explained with a sigh and a slight look of concern, just as Mothra's ears flicked to attention and she looked over at Xenilla.

"Mothra? Something to add?" Xenilla mused, raising a brow at how the two mares were behaving. It was here that his own senses flared up and his pace slowed to a stop alongside the rest of the group. No words needed to be said, but the stallion spoke regardless, his expression taking on something more serious as he looked over at his fellow kaiju. "That signature isn't my brother..."

"No... Anguirus was just talking to me... Gojira."

"Who in the name of Faust is that?" Spike chimed in, raising a clawed paw to gain the attention of the others.

Xenilla grimaced as he looked down at the young drake and sighed. He didn't answer immediately and turned towards Lea. "What did Anguirus say exactly?"

"Something about Gojira being out for blood? I don't know he seemed panicked when he was talking to me, I couldn't quite catch it all," Mothra explained whilst a worried expression crossed her muzzle, brows raised as she looked out back towards the train station from whence they came. Oh no, Angy... Hold on just a while longer, she thought to herself.

The son of Godzilla Senior could sense her unease and placed a hoof on her shoulder in some attempt to reassure the changeling alicorn. "If he's still at the orchard, Destroyah should be there with him... There's no way he can take them on both..."

"Who is Gojira?!"

"Us kaiju refer to him as The Ancient, but a more apt name, at least I always found... was God of Destruction..."

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Knotted muscle bulged and tensed as Gojira reared back into his hind legs and lurched forward, jaws wide as he sank his fangs into Destroyah's shoulder blade, eliciting a shriek of pain from the other kaiju as he pushed forward, using his tail to counterbalance his weight and keep him upright, even as he leaned against and continued shoving her back.

In an attempt to free herself of the steel trap that was the titan's jaws, Destroyah beat her wings and began to lift off the ground, but like an angry pit bull, Gojira pulled against her, to the point that he was visibly dragging her down. Biting through the pain, Destroyah snarled and threw her jaws open, firing a burst of micro-oxygen at her aggressor whilst her mane crackled with pink and white lights.

Gojira bellowed in rage and pain as he released her shoulder, shaking his head from the burst of energy that struck his face. Stumbling back, the stallion squeezed his eyes shut and snarled through gritted teeth, his face burned to look like a mask as he lifted a hoof to his eyes and snorted, nostrils flaring. After a moment, his eyes snapped open, revealing the bloodshot gold against fiery amber that pulsed with anger. "Who do you think you are to stand against me?!" the behemoth roared as Destroyah beat her wings, grimacing at her bleeding forearm.

Looking down, she noted just how terrifying the stallion looked with the fur around his face blackened and his eyes bloodshot, pulsing dangerously, though before she could retort with a sly quip or enraged snarl, a wheel of fire clashed against Gojira's side, tearing at his fur and ripping against his skin, eliciting a hellish shriek from the monster stallion as he fell sideways, if only briefly.

As Anguirus hopped backward, uncurling from his attack, the giant kirin turned to leer at him, his legs spread to widen his stance as he lowered his head. Gojira wasn't unaccustomed to a quadrupedal form. He took up all fours when he fought on occasion, as it allowed him slightly better maneuverability, and this hunched, bestial form also wasn't too dissimilar to how he looked now, his fur bristling as his pupils constricted to pinpricks and he looked back and forth between the two kaiju.

"So you have chosen to die, and for what?!" he bellowed at them, abruptly rushing Anguirus and shoulder-charging the stallion that, unbeknownst to him, was once an ally. Anguirus yelped in surprise as Gojira slammed him against a tree, taking a step back before once again lurching forward like an angry bull. A loud crack was audible, and Destroyah couldn't tell if it was Anguirus' rib cage or the tree that was beginning to give way first.

She didn't give it much thought before ushering a hellish shriek and diving towards Gojira, her horn taking up an equally hellish glow before it sliced cleanly across the stallion's back, bringing a roar of pain to his lips as the ridge of fur running down his back and the corresponding area of impact began to turn red with his own blood.

Craning his head over his shoulder, Gojira snapped his jaws down on the recurved edge of her horn just as it came, only to immediately reel back with a screech as it burned his mouth, causing him to stumble away and briefly trip over Anguirus.

The stallion in question was coughing for breath, blood running down the corner of his maw as he dropped back to all fours and turned to glare at Gojira, his breathing ragged as he growled. Looking up at Destroyah, the two exchanged glances before coming to a silent agreement and looking back at the enraged form of the Alpha Predator, who was grimacing through the pain of his burned mouth.

Looking up at the two, he spat, blood lathering his fangs as he reeled his head back and inhaled, his mane beginning to flicker in a similar fashion to how it had been previously. The beast's nostrils flared as he huffed, and just as he took aim at Anguirus, Destroyah leaped forward. Rather than pulling what would be a rather stereotypical act of shoving Anguirus aside to tank the blast, she went one step forward and rushed the problem head-on, whipping around and throwing her hind legs at the stallion's chest. He was launched backward on impact, the wind knocked from his lungs as the breath died in his throat and he smashed into a tree.

The stallion fell with a ragged gasp, his eyes wide as he fell to his side and clutched at his belly, tail thrashing as his ears flattened. Anypony who has had the wind knocked from their lungs knows the agony of struggling to catch one's breath, and as the old king struggled, Destroyah looked down with a snort.

After a brief moment, the stallion had seemed to settle, his breathing shallow, but now there as he laid on his side, chest heaving as he took in large breaths through his open maw.

"Pathetic," Destroyah grunted, looking over at Anguirus and seeing him slouched over, leaning back on his haunches, each breath a ragged gasp. "You gonna make it, tough guy?" she snorted with a dull chuckle, punching his shoulder.

"Ow, yeah..." the Guardian Beast of Fire grimaced, squeezing his eyes shut before looking over at Gojira, whom was now working himself up to his hooves with renewed vigor. His growls sent a clear message as he snarled at the two. This wasn't over until he was dead or unconscious.

"I... did not start this fight... But I shall finish it!!"

-Ponyville-

Godzilla and Luna walked down the streets of a bazaar, simply enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of such a gathering. It wasn't anything too special, just a regular Saturday afternoon for the residents, but even so, it felt special, especially to Godzilla. He'd been to a small number of these market-style gatherings since his arrival to Equestria, and yet they never failed to bring a smile to his muzzle at how culturally rich they were.

Mariner "Chibi" Moon seemed to also be quite excited, as she was bouncing up and down on Junior's back in child-like glee. If he didn't know any better, the kaiju would think she was going to go into a sensory overload and pass out, thankfully though, she didn't, and as they walked, Godzilla leaned in close to Luna and smiled to himself, cracking a small chuckle.

"Doth that be laughter I hear from thine maw?" Princess Luna teased, playfully nudging his shoulder as she cracked a smirk of her own.

"Now what would bring you to that conclusion, Lulu?" the King of the Monsters chuckled in return, his stance swaying, but only briefly with the playful shove that Luna had directed his way. "My maw has been perfectly sealed up to this point, such accusations, I'm afraid I won't stand for," he grinned, just as a burgundy-colored blur landed before his hooves, revealing that Rodan had managed to meet up with them after all.

"Hey, Chief," the gryphon smiled, falling into line alongside his compatriot and walking alongside them.

Godzilla beamed and looked over at his friend, allowing himself a further laugh as he tossed an arm around Rodan's neck and ground his hoof between his crests. "What took you so long?" Junior laughed before Rodan managed to break from the noogie, eliciting a childish giggle from Chibi Moon as Rodan gasped for breath.

"Jeez, you're lucky I don't have feathers that can get ruffled!" Rodan snorted, looking up at the behemoth unicorn with a roll of his eyes before he spoke again. "You seem to be in a good mood! Have you heard anything from Anguirus?" Rodan inquired, looking around him as if searching for the earth pony in question.

Godzilla looked over at Luna and furrowed a brow before he shrugged. "Now that you mention it, no, I haven't... That's... odd. He should have been here before you, considering he's just down at the orchard."

"Maybe he got busy with work, Sensei!" Chibi Moon chirruped in response, a big grin on her face as she climbed up his mane and rested her chin between his ears.

"Hm... Maybe," the stallion replied, unconvinced. Junior lifted his head, though gingerly as not to disturb Chibi Moon as his expression went from the relaxed jovial nature he'd allowed himself earlier to something far more serious upon seeing the disheveled form of Applejack come galloping up to meet the group, panic alight on her face as she paused, only long enough to gasp for breath.

"Yer Majesty! Godzilla, th' farm, some nasty stallion..." she panted, sweat beading on her brow as Godzilla and Luna exchanged glances. "Anguirus is fightin' 'im right now, but we're not sure how long he can hold 'em off! Feller's bigger than you, Godzilla!" the earth mare exclaimed, her tone conveying that of great urgency as she pointed off towards the farm.

Without a second thought, Godzilla Junior leaned over and gently slid Chibi down his snout and onto Luna's back before he stepped forward and spoke in a voice that commanded respect. "Rodan, you're my bird's eye view. Luna, Applejack, you two stay here, I'm gonna go and see what's going on down there and I don't want either of you caught in any potential crossfire."

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Godzilla moved full sprint towards the barn, his brows knitted into a stern expression as he charged across the farmland with Rodan flying over his head. You see anything? the kaiju king asked his cohort telepathically, looking to the sky at the gryphon expectantly as he slowed to a halt.

As if to answer before the guardian beast had the chance, a hellish roar screamed above the sounds of conflict that were neither distant nor close. Godzilla snapped his head towards the direction of the sound and the familiarity of it, a look of confusion crossing his muzzle.

Was that-?

Yes, I believe so... Rodan, on me...

With this, Godzilla charged down the hill, Rodan in tow, his hooves kicking up dust as he rushed into the orchard, passing half-filled baskets of apples. His run slowed as he noticed a partially cracked apple tree and smelled the blood around it, his nose scrunching up as he lifted his head and reeled back slightly. They were here, he surmised.

Rodan, with his view in the sky, had since noticed a nearby pond with what looked like Anguirus at its edge. A frown made its way across his beak as he looked down at Godzilla and garnered his attention. Chief, on your nine! There's a pond to your left and I see Anguirus, the pterosaur kaiju said telepathically to his cohort before folding his wings into a dive and making his way down towards the other kaiju.

Noticing this, Godzilla lifted his head away from the cracked apple tree and moved to a trot to meet up with the others, confused as to why the sounds of conflict had seemingly died down.

After a moment, he moved up alongside Anguirus, a stern look clad upon his muzzle as he looked over to the Guardian Beast of Fire. He was quick to notice that the kaiju seemed to have sustained serious injury from some foe, his chest bruised and neck bleeding from some kind of presumed bite. His mane was matted, and his ribcage burned. "Anguirus, what happened? Applejack came rushing into Ponyville about some stallion, what's--?"

Godzilla cut himself off as Anguirus slowly lifted a hoof and pointed toward the large pond. In the center of said pond, the water seemed to be boiling, bubbling violently as if the catalyst of something below the surface. On cue, a beam of white and blue erupted from the water and pointed directly to the sky as a large crimson alicorn erupted from the water's surface, a look of panic alight upon her face as she beat her wings to escape the beam.

Destroyah shrieked with a grimace as the beam clipped her wing and sent her into a spiral before she clumsily managed to land, panting for breath.

"Will somebody please tell me what in the name of Tanaka is going on?!" Godzilla shouted as what looked like a tail with glowing blue feathers broke the tension of the water, slapping the surface before it disappeared. Junior went silent and narrowed his eyes at this point, as Destroyah limped up to the trio of Godzilla, Anguirus, and Rodan, a grimace twisting across her face as she snarled.

"It's Gojira."

"Landed in the Apple family's barn and one thing lead to another, he don't recognize Destroyah and I, so we'd just been tryin' to render him unconscious until you showed up. Bastard won't budge though, and after Des tossed him into th' lake, he's only managed to gain the advantage..." Anguirus finally explained, his purple eyes never straying away from the water as he growled.

"Wait, Gojira, as in The Ancient?" Rodan said, an edge of panic growing in his tone. If there was one thing about the new world kaiju when compared to this behemoth, it was that they didn't always get along. Gojira and Rodan in particular seemed to be at odds. On one side of the coin, Rodan didn't like his black-and-white moral compass, with the added bonus of not being able to understand him half the time. On the other side of the coin, Gojira wasn't ever fond of the cocky arrogance and urge to protect humans that seemed to overwhelm Rodan. Humans were a liability to Terra, so while the old king didn't go out of his way to be malevolent toward them, he was still indifferent to their presence. "That one?"

"Yes, that Gojira," Destroyah grunted, leaning back slightly with a chuff. "He's far more... brutal... than I remember him being. Even in our battle on Terra, he never acted with this level of aggression."

Anguirus nodded in agreement and glanced up at the oxygen destroyer incarnate. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right. "He's more cunning too. Before it always felt like he was just, avoiding attacks and hoping to strike with his own, but now... Good Tanaka, he plots... You'd think a 250 million-year-old titan would be easy to fight, but no... He keeps showing us up."

Godzilla Junior huffed with a growl. Seeing somebody of Destroyah's stature on edge brought to his mind a new sense of caution, but he still needed to throw that caution out the window. It would seem Gojira had retained his ability to breathe underwater from Terra, so Junior was going to have to go into the depths and try to force The Ancient to shore or deal with him there. Unfortunately, the latter seemed like the option he'd have to resort to... "Okay, here's the plan. I'm gonna try to force him to shore, see if we can't at least try to reason with him. This is the old king, we're talking about. He doesn't just lash out. There had to be a misunderstanding," Godzilla exclaimed, trying to maintain at least somewhat of an encouraging outlook on the situation, as risky as it was.

Anguirus and Rodan shared a mutual grimace as Godzilla waded into the waters, while Destroyah continued to simply try and keep from passing out. As Gojira had since seen her as the biggest threat during the brawl, he'd focused on targeting her and simply swatting Anguirus away whenever possible, so she'd received the worst of the beatings.

As Godzilla dipped below the surface of the water, he let his eyes adjust to the murky depths. Unfortunately, it was now late afternoon and the sun was now beginning to set, so unless Gojira showed himself, he wasn't going to be easy to find. Fortunately, though, he wouldn't have to look, as an absolute behemoth of a stallion was swimming just below the surface, a long tail swishing back and forth and propelling him like a crocodilian of some kind. Applejack hadn't been kidding, this stallion was massive, eye level with Destroyah, at least, and built more bulky.

Telepathy was weaker with Gojira than it was with Godzilla and his cohorts, given his age, so the only way to coax his attention would be to draw closer in the hopes that he wouldn't be seen as a threat.

It was here that Gojira noticed Junior, his eyes snapping over to the fellow kaiju and his head craning downwards. A growl rumbled through the water as the behemoth stallion angled himself and began swimming toward Godzilla. Junior remained firm in his stance, hoping that the calm, unthreatening nature of his position would help in also calming the injured stallion. The Ancient circled around Junior for a while, studying him. His nostrils flared and Junior couldn't help but feel like he was this stallion's prey, with how he acted in such an animalistic manner.

After a moment though, the two stared each other down, Gojira's amber and gold eyes meeting the more fierce red and gold of the King of the Monsters. Gojira's eyes narrowed. He recognized those eyes...

Godzilla steeled himself and awaited some kind of reaction from his cohort, whom just hovered in the water before him and studied the stallion who had been so bold as to enter the waters. The reaction he got was not at all what he expected as Gojira's eyes widened and his bearded jaw lowered slightly, a mixture of disgust, shock, and confusion clad upon the scarred muzzle.

"Junior?"

Author's Note:

It should be noted that this chapter takes place right in Chapter 43 of The Bridge! And thank you guys SO much for the wonderful reception on the first chapter. It was wonderful and heartwarming to see all the comments.