"Our world no longer needs Ultraman"

Chapter 1: “Our world no longer needs Ultraman.”

“See you later, Cory.”

He saw the outline of a what appeared to be a horse, or some type of small pony. It’s coat was a light, almost minty green color, and her irises were a shade of gold mixed with orange. Between her ears he saw what appeared to be some horn like protrusion. The strange image alone was enough to pull him from his exhausted stupor.

He sat up from the grass as these words met his ears. He turned to face the woman next to him, his eyes meeting hers. She smiled and stood up, giving him a light bop on the leg with her foot.

“ I told you I’ve gotta go. The deadline for that online test is tonight, remember?”

Cory rubbed his brown eyes as he yawned, “This damn class is kicking my ass.” He sat his hands in the grass, “I’m surprised you’re still here.” He gave her a slight smile.

She smiled and rolled her eyes, brushing her bangs from her eyes, “You were mumbling in your sleep again.”

“Oh really?” He laid back down, putting his hands behind his head, “What about?”

“Whoever the hell this ‘Lyra’ person is.” She teased, “Didn’t expect you of all people to grow that infatuated with someone.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he chuckled, “I don’t even know anyone by that name. What kind of a name is that?”

“You tell me, you’ve been saying a lot of weird shit lately.” She bent over to gather her books, placing them in her satchel.

He snickered at her, “Like what?”

“I dunno, names, people, what sticks to me is this Lyra person you keep talking about. Some ‘pony’ as you call her.” She finished gathering her books and turned away from him, “See you in class.”

“Right.” He sat up, grabbing his bag. As he walked to his class, he couldn’t stop thinking about his most recent dream. Apparently what he saw in his dream was a pony, but one with the name of Lyra, that could speak to him in a clear, female tone of voice.

“Just what do these all mean?” He gripped his forehead as he entered the class room, taking a seat right next to his friend Emma. She offered him a pen.

“Since you can’t remember to bring your own.” She teased.

He raised his brows and smiled, “I dunno about that,” he pulled out a pouch loaded with freshly bought pens and pencils, “I came prepared for a change.” He looked to the professor who was using a laser pointer to read line by line what appeared on the smart board.

“Who here has heard of the Phantom time theory?” He waited for a student to raise their hand. None of them did, and he continued with his lesson. “First published in the early nineties, it hypothesizes a conspiracy by the ancient Romans, who fabricated our dating system to reach the one thousand year mark. This, and the absence of medieval art and records from centuries ago leads us to wonder, what caused this era of so little innovation? Why did our world stagnate artistically, economically, and population wise?”

The class remained silent, the only sound was a the subtle taping sound of another student’s nails against the screen of their smart phone. The Professor chuckled and placed his smartboard remote on the computer desk, “Well, how about we take a break real quick from the subject. James, you and I discussed the recent struggle going on in the Pacific with the sudden reemergence of monsters within that vicinity.”

James was always the teachers pet. First to raise his hand and never hesitated to share his knowledge with the class, no matter how irrelevant it was to the material. “This new monster has been attacking oil rigs out in the Pacific ocean reporters claimed. The SSSP believes that the monster is a descendent from the monster Pestar that appeared in the mid 1960’s.”

“Any updates on it?” The Professor asked.

“It was quickly dispatched by the search party with their new XK19 Bomb, a weapon that was once classified by the United nations. Personally that tells me that they must have a new, more powerful anti-monster weaponry is they’re letting us in on those details.”

“Fascinating isn’t it? For years we put our lives in the hands of the silver giant ‘Ultraman’. Now it appears that we no longer have need for him.”

The topic made Cory uneasey for some unknown reason. Ever since his grandfather joined the SSSP years ago, he always exhibited strange powers since the day he retired. His family chocked it up to perhaps he was exposed to some sort of radiation that increased his physical and mental abilities. Or, he was subject to some experimental tests during the age of monsters that plagued earth during the 1960’s.

“These idiots could go on for hours,” Emma mumbled. A half hour went by before it was the end of the class period.

“For a history teacher he seems way more obsessed with monsters” Cory mumbled, resting his head on his hand.

“Dr. Owens gets a hard on for that crap.” Emma raised her brows for a brief second.

Cory nodded in agreement, “I’ve learned more about government inside jobs and monsters than I have about the roman empire.”

“Remember his gay frog tirade? I’m surprised he kept his job after that.”

Emma smiled, “there might be some truth to it, it might be why you can’t grow a beard.”

“Touche.” He leaned back in his chair.

Later that night, he walked back with Emma to his dorm room, the brisk wind of fall scrapping dried leaves against the darkened streets. They were about half way when Emma decided the wind was too much for her, and she decided to go her own way.

“So much for a early release.” Alex fiddled with his smartphone, snapping back his sibling as he attended a house party on his own campus.

“Why can’t we have a party like that?” Emma frowned her onyx lips, brushing her hair back.

“Wanna have one of our own?” Alex smiled, jabbing her in the shoulder.

“Not even in your wildest dreams. Maybe you can have one with your ‘Lyra’ friend.”

He shook his head, “Emma, I don’t know anyone by the name of fucking Lyra!”

“Well, I’m starting to freeze my ass off.” She zipped her red sweatshirt up all the way. She hugged Alexander, “Goodnight” she whispered.

“Goodn-“ he stopped. When he opened his eyes, the street lamp illuminated a dark figure in the apartment window across the street. He saw something, or someone, with a silver, almost featureless face staring at him as he stood by his car. It had large, glowing eyes, and what appeared to be a gem on its forehead. Cory’s hug loosened around Emma, his brows furrowing as the figure stared back him, feeling as if this beings eyes burned right through him.

“Cory?”

He broke from his trance and looked down at Emma, a look of concern on her face, “What are you looking at?”

“There was a man across the street staring at us from the window.” He looked back to where he saw the figure, but to his surprise, and somewhat horror, it was gone. All he saw was a vacant window.

“Yeah, real funny. Nobody lives in that apartment, not since the beginning of last semester.” Emma tapped a finger against his chest. She broke the embrace and smiled, “Try and rest tonight, you’ve been allover the place these past few weeks.”

Cory nodded, “Easier said than done, but I’ll try.” And with that, Emma turned and started walking for her dorm, turning around to smile back at him one more time. Upon entering his house, ascending the stairs. He undressed and stepped into the shower. He couldn’t stop thinking about his current dream.

“Lyra huh?” He rinsed the soap from his eyes, “Just what in the hell are these dreams about? First I dream about monsters, and now horses?” He laughed to himself at the absurdity of it all. But deep down, he felt a growing paranoia in his stomach.

After drying himself off and getting dressed in his pajamas, he laid down in bed. Turning off the lamp, he listened to the howl of the wind outside. It was cold, that’s for sure, and through the old dorm window pane he could feel a drift of cold air waft in. The rhythmic howl of the wind and his clock slowly ticking helped him fall fast asleep.

It was happening again.

A silver and red giant through off an equally towering foe with a shout, the two rising to their feet and squaring off with each other. There was a ringing, echoing sound that was emmited from this black and white monster, it’s hands relaxed at its side. The silver and red giant formed his hands into a cross, firing a white hot ray of blue and white energy at this beast. The monster brought its knuckles together and absorbed the ray, much to the shock of his foe. Before the silver giant coud counter attack, the monster thrusted his hands forward, firing a wave like ray that struck the silver giant in the chest. The blinking light that was there shattered, causing the giant to yelp. He swayed back and forth for a few moments before falling back. His eyes were dim, his hands placed across his chest. All the while the black and white monster bellowed it’s own name.

“ZET-TON… ZET-TON…ZET-TON…”

Cory awoke in a cold sweat, gasping as he sat up in bed. He could feel adrenaline rush through his body, his senses heightened. He breathed heavily as he grasped his temples. When he managed to calm down, he went to his bathroom and splashed cool water onto his face.

“Again.. I’m having that weird dream all over again.” This dream occurred infrequently throughout his life for as long as he could remember. When he spoke of it to his father, he usually brushed the topic off. He always knew his dad knew something was wrong, hell, he even remembered his dad talking about having a similar one to his mother. But he never could get answers as to why only they in their entire family had them. He laid back down onto the mattress and closed his eyes. He wasn’t exactly sure when, but he managed to find sleep once more.

He opened his eyes and saw the dark interior of his bedroom. However, something was off, his hair felt like it was standing up, like a ripple of electricity ripped through the air. He was paralyzed, he tried to scream but the sound never came. Hell, it was almost impossible to breath. He gasped for air as a bright flashing light enveloped the room. The last thing he heard was a low, guttural roar that was deafening. Somewhere along the way, he reappeared elsewhere in a forest, the gentle breeze brushing over him as he lay unconscious. The alien sky showed a moon that was too large to be that of earths, its light dimly illuminating the canopy where the calls of owls and tree crickets filled the cool, damp night air.

Several miles from where he lay, the stars shined brightly in the dark abyss that was the sky. The town, its architecture resembling gothic style buildings and castles, were scattered along the landscape and mountain side. Canterlot was the name of this great city, its name was known throughout the land. Its name dripped wealth, class and culture. Home to the finest in all of Equestria, this was the final frontier to those who yearned to become the very best.

Atop one of the castles that leaned out towards the star clad horizon, an ivory mare with a flowing, teal and pink mane stared from her window pane. Without her sun, she could not properly look over her kingdom in order to discover just what this disturbance was. Just, what was this knot she was feeling in her stomach that was causing such paranoia and unease.

A Blue mare, complete with a horn and wings just like her sister entered the bedroom. Where a sun was on the flank of the white mare, hers was a crescent moon. "Sister, pray tell, what has thee worried at such a late hour?"

Celestia closed her eyes and turned away from the window sill, "I sense a disturbance of some sort, an, imbalance."

"Whatever do you mean? All is well across the land." She stood by her sisters side, "I remember looking upon those rolling hills. Remember him? That foal, well, boy as they called him that would always nap facing the castle?"

Celestia nodded, "It's been almost a full millennia."

"If only," Luna said solemnly, "If only there was another way for it to end."

"They were a violent people Luna. It pained to see the good ones, the ones that also served us well go to. But, in the nd they would have sided with their own people."

Luna nodded in agreement, "Do you think we will ever cross paths with them again?"

"While they're in their own little world?" Celestia giggled, "I don't see that happening. Even though stranger instances have occurred before."

"Indeed they have." Luna turned away from Celestia, "Come sister, it is time that I take charge of things. You need your rest to raise your sun."

"I will try Luna." Celestia closed the curtains and walked to her bedroom. Her stomach felt uneasy... Something was horribly wrong. When the time came for her to raise the sun, she would send for her protege to assist her in getting to the bottom of these recent “occurrences”.

XXX

Somewhere in his unconscious state, Cory floated in a dark abyss, his eyes darting around, looking for a way out of this place. It was all black, nothing penetrated through the darkness. No wait, there was something in the darkness. An image appeared faintly in his unconscious mind... A horse, no a pony... But it was different than a pony. Its eyes were far too large, and human like. It had a warm, welcoming smile, a red bow in its sea blue mane. Another pony flashed through his mind. It had a horn on its forehead, a two tone mint green mane, and yellow, golden eyes. Her coat was a minty green color, much different in contrast to the almost grey one of the previous mare. The next one was what surprised him the most. A Unicorn like the one before, her mane was an electric blue, her eyes showed from behind her retro style sunglasses. They were a bright, neon red along with her off white coat. The last ‘person’ he saw was a stern looking anthropomorphic wolf, or was it a dog?. Based off of her features he assumed it was a female. . Who... Just who were those creatures? Why was he seeing them in this dream like state?

Different world, familiar faces?

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Different world, familiar faces?

He had no idea how long he was out of it, it could have been minutes, hours, and days even. Upon his awakening, his eyes examined the canopy of moss entangled trees, they grey sky in the center. Rubbing his eyes he examined his surroundings. Lush folia, moss that hung from tree branches, and a somewhat grey sky overhead. He shook his head and stood up, his body somewhat sore from that strange phenomena. The air was thick with humidity, and gnats attacked his ears in no time.

"What the, where the hell am I?" He stood up and wiped the water from his hands, his shoes somewhat wet from the humidity that clung to the grass. It looked like the kind of forest you'd see in a medieval fantasy movie. Thick green forest, a grey, hazy sky, but the air was heavy, hot and moist.

Suddenly, he felt something prick his back. He turned around to see a horse, or pony due to its small size, holding the iron lance like a human would. He was clad in gold armor, with a blue plume on top of his helmet, exact to the ancient Greeks warrior style. His expression was what shocked him the most, not only was he angry, but it showed. He did not have his ears back and head raised like a normal horse would, his brows were furrowed and his nostrils were widened, a mixture of both a horse and human.

"Stay where you are." he commanded, poking Cory in the gut. He stumbled back with his hands up, at loss for words. Did that pony just speak to him in perfect English?

From the sky descended several more of these ponies, or in this case "Soldiers" carrying a gold and silver clad chariot of some sort that lacked wheels. How they were able to land it was a mystery, but he watched as they slowed down their flight speed, the chariot illuminating with a white aura before settling on the dampened grasses. Stepping out of the chariot was a larger, and leaner, her mane was flowing by itself, and looked like the colors of the rainbow. Her coat was whiter than snow, and behind the Tiara she wore on her head was an Ivory unicorn horn. There was another mare whose coat was a night blue, a crescent moon adorned her flank. She was a tad smaller than her white counterpart, her eyes were a dark green, almost blue color. Her mane also flowed like the others, but it too like her coat was a dark blue. Both were an absolute sight. They looked exactly like the Pegasi he had seen in children’s books years ago and in medieval lore, like they were taken right from some old fairy tales. The larger white one approached him with a blank expression, but he could see it in her eyes that it was question time.

Another soldier stood in front of the human, holding the same type of lance the one behind him wielded. His glare was solid stone, his eyes were bloodshot in self perpetuated anger, its only purpose to make him all the more intimidating. Cory raised his hands to the sky even higher, careful not to move even when the larger, ivory mare inspected him. She used her magic to levitate his shirt up.

"What’s the deal?" he shouted. Her expression hardened briefly, but soon returned to one of peace when she took a deep breath, "Do you have any sort of wand?"

"Wand?" He repeated, "Of course I... No, I do not have one."

She stepped closer to him, nearly eye to eye, "Do you practice any sort of sorcery, witchcraft, do you know of any warlocks?"

"Warlocks... But those aren't..." he froze up when he felt the cold tip of a spear poke his back.

"You answer the Princess when she asks you a question." The soldier demanded.

He swallowed despite the fact his mouth had gone bone dry, "No... But they aren't real."

The Night blue Mare stepped down from their carriage, "Does thou take us for fools!? To deny the existence of blatantly real beings is a cause for great suspicion."

The white mare laid a hoof on her sister’s shoulder, "You are telling me the truth. Are there any magical humans in your world?"

Cory was confused, how did she know about humanity? "No, there aren't any wizards or witches, they're just legend."

The two sisters looked at each other in surprise. The darker one was first to look back to him, "Would thou please come with us?" Cory nodded, even if they were going to kill him it would be a far quicker death than starving out in the wilderness.

XXXXX

The next morning in Ponyville at the golden oaks library, Twilight trotted back and forth, the kitchen rug becoming flat and matted by her constant pacing. She had received a letter the night before about Cory, or “visitor” as he was labeled and how he would be staying in Ponyville with a few ponies to get him acquainted with life in Equestria. "Spike, Spike!" she called, having grown a tad annoyed with her assistants sluggish pace.

"I'm coming I'm coming," The small purple dragon mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"There you are," She trotted over to him, "Seems you've been up late."

"Well, not really. That letter I burped up gave me a wicked stomach ache." He grimaced. He fell back and sighed, head throbbing from the lack of his sleep.

"So it seems." She broke from her pacing and levitated her satchel onto her back, "The visitor is coming to Ponyville today."

He sat up from laying on his back, "And we are the ones to give him a warm welcome, right?"

She placed a few food items in one side of her satchel before zipping it shut, "Not quite, a few mares who volunteered for community service accepted that job."

"Why's he staying with them?" he scratched his head in confusion, "You're her student, don't you think it would make more sense if this visitor stayed with you?"

"I understand Spike, I thought the same thing too. But I am needed at the Crystal Empire with Cadance. Plus with it being Apple buck season, fall weather coming, and Rarity's boutique making a lot of business, it’s just better if he stays with someone else gets him acquainted. They all know he'll be in town and can help out the volunteers if needed."

He slumped down onto the floor, "I guess that makes sense." He yawned and stretched his arms.

Twilight giggled and levitated him onto her back, he yawned once more and fell asleep. She trotted out into the early morning rays of sun. The mornings here were always peaceful. She loved the smell of dew in the late summer, the warm yet not overbearing sun always sent barrages of positivity in the townsfolk, despite a few occasions such as the temporary reign of Discord. Nonetheless, she was always able to wake up and marvel at the earth's beauty.

XXXXX

"Lyra!"

A mint green unicorn froze up when another mare screamed her name, she fell onto her back, her light brown colored hoof becoming stuck to the floor. The other pony, whose hair was both a dark navy blue on one side and pick on the other, trotted over to her dazed friend. "What did I tell you about sneaking into the kitchen? And what’s that on your hoof?"

"Aheh, um," Lyra sat up from the floor, pulling her hoof free from the hardened candy mixture, "Lets just say i got a little too impatient this time."

"Lyra! Because you had to go and put your dirty little hoof in there the candy batter is ruined!" She pressed her nose against her roommate.

Lyra winced and looked to her right, "Sorry Bonny..."

Bon Bon sighed and put a hoof to her forehead. She grabbed some money from her drawer and put her satchel onto her back, "I'm gonna go get some more ingredients. And next time Lyra, just wait..."

Lyra saluted her friend with her candy coated hoof, "Got it!" She glanced at it before happily licking away. After cleaning herself up, she too exited her home and trotted down the streets, growing more and more curious about what her friend Sapphire was up to that day.
Her eyes were closed, her breaths slow, yet focused. The smell of the incense wafted into her nostrils as she relaxed every muscle from her head all the way down to her flanks. With her mind clear, she could sense that she was almost there, at last she could accomplish what she so longed to do. Her mind was slipping away into a state of subconscious, dipping into a mental realm, almost a dimension that few ponies had ventured into. She was going to finally experience an out of body experience and...

"Hey Sapphire!"

Her eyes snapped open as she squeaked in surprise, turning her head to see Lyra smiling at her from the doorway. Sapphire groaned, "I was so close..."

"Close to what?" Lyra asked, her head tilting to the side.

"Nothing." Sapphire stood on all fours. "I at least wanted to get some decent meditation in before I head off to Canterlot this afternoon."

"Oh yeah!" Lyra's eyes brightened up, "I remember now. With the Elements of harmony busy and with Twilight and Cadence at the Crystal Empire there's no one else to help get this new pony settled here. Where did she say he came from again?"

"She didn't really say," Sapphire adjusted her bow, "She just said he was a, visitor." She lowered the paper with her magic.

"Hm,” Lyra sat back on her haunches, "I wonder if he's a griffon! Or maybe a Zebra?"

"Or maybe a human." Sapphire joked, rolling her eyes and smirking.

"Hey! We've already talked about this!" Lyra pouted, her face flushing red.

Sapphire giggled, "I was only kidding Lyra, but at times you're a bit too into your cryptozoology."

"This is coming from the meditator."

"Well I... Never mind." Sapphire gave up, her comment would have only turned the situation ugly. She sat up from her pillow and gestured for Lyra to follow her. Lyra trotted by her side through town as they made their way to the train station.

"You'll be nice to him right?" Lyra asked, her eyes narrowing just a tad.

"Maybe, we'll see. It’s already a burden sharing my space with you and Ditsy half the time." She chuckled.

Lyra turned her head away and rolled her eyes, "I'll take that as a no."

XXXXX

Cory stood with Celestia at the station, two guards on each side of him. Their expressions were solid stone, along with that their armor clad bodies were motionless even as they occasionally glanced over at him. Their ruler wasn't making any of it easier. In fact, she seemed a bit annoyed that whomever they were meeting was late. Even though it’s only been one minute.

"We are a tad early." She murmured, "Perhaps I should let it slide."

"So, uh," Cory stood awkwardly between the two guards, "How long you two been doing this?" He asked lamely. As he predicted, he got no response from either asides from a grunt in annoyance.

After another minute passed, that’s when he saw them, two mares walking along the dirt path at a fast pace. One wore a red bow in her sea blue mane. It had a horn on its forehead just like Celestia and the guards. The other, a unicorn mare with a two tone mint green mane, and yellow, golden eyes. Her coat was a minty green color, much different in contrast to the almost grey one of the previous mare.

"I'll be damned..." He remembered the dream he had before he awoke in this world, "It’s them, but, but how?"

The two of them bowed to Celestia, "Thank you two for coming here. Your help is much appreciated. Something strange has certainly fallen upon us, and, with the Crystal Empire in need of Twilight's assistance and my own, I have left it to you to help our visitor." She stepped to the side, "Please come forth and..."

"Incoming!" Shouted a somewhat nasally voice. Coming in hot was a gray Pegasus mare, her blonde mane flowing in the wind. She tried to brace herself for her clumsy impact, only to crash and slide on her bottom, coming to a sliding stop next to Sapphire. Her eyes went crossed as she smiled at Celestia.

Celestia returned the expression, "Well, it seems you three are here after all." She finally stepped aside, reveling the human that stood behind her, "Please come forth."

When they locked eyes with him, the shock Cory had felt earlier was now mutual, "He's a..." Sapphire's jaw was agape in disbelief.

"A human!" Lyra's eyes were wide with excitement, "She tackled the human and sat back on his lap, but soon hopped off as a guard thrust his lance towards her.

"Keep your distance from him until the Princess allows it." The guard demanded, retracting his weapon.

"You three are aware of why you're here, correct?" Celestia asked.

Derpy bounced up and down like an eager child, "I know, you wanted us to watch the visitor right?"

"Right you are Ditsy, not only do i want you to watch him, I want you to also get him acquainted with his new..." She paused for a moment, "Residence. For the time being that is."

Sapphire raised her left brow, "So, we're babysitting?"

"Excuse me?" Cory snapped. He felt the cold tip of a lance poke his back he raised his arms back up, but not without rolling his eyes. Even though the guard wouldn't dare impale him without Celestia's consent, Cory figured that it'd be best to stay on her kinder side to ensure his survival.

Sapphire turned her nose to the air away from Cory. He could tell they were going to get along “great”. As Celestia and her guards made their way towards the Princess' carriage, the white mare stopped and beckoned for Cory to come closer. Cory looked back at the three mares before he walked to Celestia.

Her face hardened a tad, her eyes looking into his as if she was scanning them for the least bit of deceit. "I have one more question for you. Will you answer it honestly?"

He nodded, "Yes I will Princess Celestia."

"In your realm, do you have any legends that include bipedal Titans?"

"Yes we do, but they're mainly fairy tales for children."

"Mhm," Celestia bit her lip, "Thank you. Enjoy your stay here."

"Well that was, weird." He thought to himself.

"Hey biped, still with us?" Sapphire asked, her voice growing impatient. Her friend Lyra nudged her shoulder, "Remember what Celestia asked? Hospitality!"

"Whatever," she snorted, keeping quiet on their way back to Ponyville. As they walked through the town, ponies looked at Cory with suspicion, worry, and some with fear. He didn't blame them at all really, from what he could gather most have never seen one quite like him, and save for a few, most were fairly small compared to the equines back at home.

"Boy, you seem pretty popular!" Ditsy smiled, looking up at him with her wall eyes stare.

"Not the kind of attention I wanted." He said nonchalant.

"Well, you dos tick out like a sore thumb." Sapphire added, "Not only are you freakishly tall, but you're also, well, bald everywhere."

His face grew red, "Boy, you know how to make a guy feel welcome."

"You could say that, that is, if you were welcome." Lyra bumped his side and gave him a more reassuring look. Her smile faded when she saw the uncertainty in his eyes.

"You ok mister?" Disty asked, her eyes going crossed again, "Does someone need me to hug them?" She bounced up and down.

Sapphire shook her head, "Let him alone Derpy, its going to take more than that to get this weight off his shoulders."

"Hey! It’s Ditsy! Not Derpy!" She huffed, her eyes cork screwing in frustration.

They came to a large, almost medieval style house. A garden of various spice plants and flowers surrounded the housed perimeter asides from the entrance where a large wooden door stood. Sapphire used her magic to unlock the door, stepping followed by the two other mares and the human who had to almost duck down when he entered. Disty trotted up the stairs into her room, coming down not even a minute later with an empty satchel and blue mail man cap.

"Well, I gotta deliver mail today. By Cory!" She gave him a hug, much to his surprise and discomfort. She was surprisingly warm to him. She let go of him and trotted away from the house happily humming to herself. For such a troubled looking mare she seemed so, happy, even in the presence of an alien such as Cory. Lyra also trotted by his side with a small basket in her mouth. She giggled and placed it down, smiling at him and nudging his side, "I'll just be outside, and I think it'd be best to talk Sapphire for a bit."

Either Cory gave her a funny look or she could read minds, "She's not that bad once you get to know her." Without saying another word, she too exited the house and tended to her spice garden, collecting mint leaves and pruning off dead growth.

He sighed and walked to where Sapphire sat on her pillow, flipping through the pages of her book. She seemed very absorbed into what she was reading, her eyes danced across the pages of the book. She glanced up at him with her eyes and then back down at the book. He sat down instead, growing rather impatient with her sour attitude. The other two mares had been kind to him, the grey one named Ditsy Do especially.

She lowered her book just enough to peer at him just above the pages, "Is it normal for your kind to just stare at others?"

His brows furrowed, "You don't like me at all, don't you?"

"Not that I don't like you. I'm like this to everyone." She giggled.

"So, plainly you're a bitch?"

She nodded, "You could say that."

"What good will acting that way do?"

She closed her book, shooting him a cold glare, "Another thing about me, I don't have to explain myself to you at all. I am who I am, got it?"

Cory smirked, "Is that so?" In a way, her snooty attitude reminded him of his sister whenever they argued back at home. A knock at the door followed by Lyra opening the door caught their attention. Smoke billowed into the room which brought both Cory and Sapphire to their feet.

"Ok I screwed up." she coughed, rubbing her teary eyes. They followed her to the kitchen where Derpy still in her postal uniform blew out the flames with a fire extinguisher, granted most of it missed its intended target.

"Open a damn window," Sapphire coughed. Cory opened the front door while Lyra pushed open the kitchen window shutters. She hung her head outside while wheezing for fresh air. Cory stood outside spitting the taste of smoke from his mouth.

"Well..." BonBon stated plainly, "Guess its takeout for tonight."

XXX

"What the cinnamon toast fuck is this?" Cory thought as he looked at the spread before him. An assortment of hay, grasses, and a few bits of fruit here and there were splayed out on the table. There was a center dish that had several blocks of different cheese that he eyed as he sat down. He eyed the corn husk wrap in front of him. It almost looked like a tamale dish. Lyra gave him a worried look, "Is something wrong?"

"Er, no, I'm good." He said plainly. "No I'm not fucking good, I have no idea where the fuck I am, I'm starving, and the only food here is livestock feed." But still, the food smelled amazing. He grabbed his utensils and cut into the dry husk. It was indeed like a tamale! He put the first bite into his mouth. The flavor was amazing, but the texture, hell he thought, it was like eating crunchy lawn trimmings. He chewed it slowly, the whole dinner table watching him as he did so.

"How is it?" Sapphire asked, raising her eyebrows.

Cory swallowed it begrudgingly, "Its, great!" he forced a smile.

"You're not supposed to eat the husk." Lyra plainly stated.

"Balls." he thought, removing the husk and eating the seasoned pepper within. He grabbed an extra block of cheese off the center of the table and altered between bites of that and the tamale.

"You're odd mister." Derpy said. BonBon jabbed and elbow into Derpy's side, eliciting a small paned grunt from her friend.

"I'm gonna get some rest. I'll, see you all in the morning." He sat up from his chair, leaving his plate on the table.

"Weirdo." Sapphire mumbled, levitating an apple to her mouth.

Lyra shot daggers at the two and walked towards Cory's bedroom. She sat down on his bed as he stared up at the ceiling.

"You enjoy dinner?" She asked, smiling warmly as she sat down on her rump.

"Yeah. I was actually able to eat a little something for once."

Lyra's ears slightly dropped down, "You seem, bothered by something. And I don't mean bothered from being away from home. Did what Sapphire say really bother you that much?"

Cory put his hands behind his head, "Not really, Just trying to figure out, just, what the hell is going on."

"Like what?" She tilted her head.

"I don't belong here, this isn't home hell this isn't even my world! None of this makes any sense and I know for a fact I'm not dreaming!"

"Here," her forelegs wrapped around him. This shocked him, she seemed far more comfortable around him than he had imagined. He lightly returned the hug and felt his hand trace her side as she pulled back. She had a warm look in her golden eyes, they sent him a clear message that he had her hospitality, "I'm so sorry, I know we don't have answers either but if there's anything I can do, please tell me." Her eyes were warm and had tears on their corners. She was surprisingly empathetic towards him. He could hear her heartbeat, her breathing. She was real, that much was certain.

"Thank you." He felt his spirit being lifted. Since he met her and the wall eyed winged equine, a warm sense of security washed over him. As he thought over their hospitality, her eyes trailed amongst his form. He certainly was different, but it peaked her interest, "Raise up your arms."

He gave her a puzzled look but obliged, raising them from his sides. She inspected them with her large, amber irises. His form peaked her interest, the veins in his arms stuck up in some places underneath his skin. he pulled them back a bit as her hoof traced the small bit of hair he had on his arms. He placed his hands down onto the mattress that was a tad bit small for him, making his feet hang off the edge. She blew out the candle but allowed for her horn to illuminate the room as she turned to leave for the night. However, She noticed Cory's stare in both amazement and confusion.

"How do you do that?"

"Magic!" She chirped, "You humans are like earth ponies, right?" By the look he gave her she could tell he had little idea of what she was talking about. "What I mean is, humans don't have magic, right?"

"I guess you didn't hear me talking to your ruler early." He sat up, bringing his feet in closer, "Its all just a gag where I come from. How are you so sure that your horn isn't bio-luminescence?"

She giggled, "Could bio, whatever it is do this?" She levitated him from the mattress, making him flail his arms in annoyance. She toyed with him for a minute before she dropped him back down.

"Ok ok, I get it now." He rubbed his eyes, his head aching slightly from being toyed with. Lyra giggled and illuminated the room once more before leaving, "Sweet dreams."

She stopped in the doorway and awaited his reply. He nodded, "Goodnight. And, thanks."

"No problem. Now get some sleep you." She smiled. And without another word she closed the door. Finally alone in the bedroom, he looked out the window that allowed from moonlight to spill onto the floor. Sighing as he lay his head back onto the pillow, he slowly, but surely, fell asleep.

Lyra trotted to her bedroom just down the hall when Sapphire stopped her, her expression was one of mischief. "So, you seem rather concerned for his well being. I know you're thrilled to see your little 'crypt' turned out to be real, but you seem to have a whole different kind of interest in his well being."

Lyra's face flushed red, "I'm just doing what Celestia asked of us."

"She said to just watch him and make sure he stays out of trouble, not to baby him just because he thinks my jokes are mean spirited." Sapphire rolled her eyes and trotted away, "Goodnight Lyra, make sure you stay in your own bedroom."

"Funny." Lyra mumbled. Illuminating her horn, she closed her bedroom door and turned in for the night. As she lay in bed, a touch of giddiness brewed in her. She giggled and rubbed her hind legs together, "He is real, I knew it all along!" She nuzzled her pillow before drifting off to sleep.

XXXXX

"Do you really think he's returned?"

"It is hard to say Luna, a human has not existed in Equestria for almost a Millenia." Celestia flipped through the pages of her book, "Mother of me, I know this is the book, where, just where is the end of the prophecy!?"

Luna stood by her side, eyes also glued to the book, "You’re truly resorting to those dusty old books? This could have been a freak phenomenon. The most we should do is keep an eye on him, at least until we can confirm he is not like the others."

"Here it is," Celestia sighed in relief. She tried turning the page of the book, but a crimson feather bookmark stuck the pages together. She used her hoof to split the two pages, and casted the feather away. As it fell to the ground, she gasped in shock at what she saw "Wait, what is happening?" The lettering on the page began to morph into a variety of symbols, a different language unknown to modern ponies. Both of them could read exactly what it was, and what they read made their blood run cold.

"GREAT WAR CHIEF."

The two gasped as celestia dropped the book. Her horn burned from holding it with her magic earlier. She felt sick, and her legs turned to jello. Luna cried out her sisters name as she knelt by her side. Celestias hoof began to darken as she lay unmoving, sweat beading her forehead. On the ground, a small feather had fallen from the book. She examined it cautiously.

She gasped in horror as she realized what was happening. The feather, her sister suddenly being poisoned, and more importantly, the words on the page. The book had finally finished displaying it's message."

"GREAT WAR CHIEF GERONIMON."

All Monsters Attack Part 1

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Chapter 3: All Monsters Attack Part 1

Cory laid staring up at the ceiling. His hands were behind his head, flexing his ankle joints as his feet dangled off the bed. It had been two days since he first arrived in their world, and on that night his senses were extra sharp. They came and went like that time to time. Somedays he swore he could hear a pin drop from the other room. He explained this to others, who seemed to brush off his experience as him imagining things. He was about to doze off when he saw someone staring from behind the opening of the bedroom door. He sat up in bed and furrowed his brows, squinting through the dim light. He saw a familiar face in the shadows.

“Emma?”

He heard a giggle, followed by the sound of quickened footsteps on the wooden floors. He jumped out of bed and raced down the hallway after her. It was indeed her, or someone who looked like her. He chased her outside of the house and into the streets.

“Emma, wait! Where are you going?” He heard no response. He followed her to the edge of the village and through a small field. She glanced back at him briefly and laughed. She ran deeper into the forest ahead of them as Cory trailed not far behind her. The shrubbery grew thick and the sound of tree crickets was almost deafening to his sensitive ears. His stamina was greater than that of the average person, but even then he found himself barely able to keep up with her. Finally she came to the entrance of a cavern. She stopped and turned around, allowing for Cory to catch up.

“Emma, what’re you, well, how did you get here?” Cory felt happy to see his friend, but was simultaneously unnerved to see her in the alien realm with him. She smiled and turned around once more, bolting for the interior of the cavern. He chased after her, calling her name.

He lost her somewhere along the way, but found himself inside of a large, temple like room. Torches roared to life on the caverns walls, illuminating the room with a dim light. There were paintings that adorned the walls, on them were ancient scriptures. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the characters. He recognized it from one of his history classes. It was cuneiform, an ancient writing style of the Akkadian empire. There was all sorts of ancient writings on the wall, ranging from Arabic to Greek. What did it say? Did these writings all tell the same story? How could it possibly be here? This wasn’t the earth that he knew.

“What the hell is going on here.”

That was when he noticed the pillar in the center of the room. It looked like a type of torch. It was U shaped with a two silver stripes going down the middle. The small relic almost seemed to beckon for him. Cory slowly approached the gold and silver piece, his eyes transfixed on it. When his hand touched it, it glowed with a blinding light as wind began to rip around the room, casting dust and other bits of debris into the sky. He shielded his face and reeled back, absolutely terrified at the scene before him. To his horror, his limbs began to dissolve into particles of light, as did his legs. He screamed for Emma to save him, even screamed for Lyra, and the others back at the cottage. His screams faded as he was absorbed into the relic.

Warm light bathed his entire being as he was suspended in midair. He felt calm, relaxed, and, happy? A positive array of emotions swept through his body as he hung his head low, bathing in the warm light. That was when he heard a voice.

“Cory… Cory…”

“Who’s there?” He groggily raised his head up, “Where am I? Who’s calling my name?”

A titan bathed in light appeared before him. He couldn’t make out it’s features due to the light, but he felt calm in the presence of this being. “My name is Tiga, or, one whom you may know as Ultraman. To the beings of this world, I am known as Prometheus.”

“Prometheus?” The titan who showed mankind fire, he thought. “Was it you who led me here?”

Tiga nodded, “I am the ancient guardian of this world. I’m afraid a new age of monsters that plagued your home is soon approaching this land.” He extended a hand towards Cory, and a small object floated towards him, “I would like to borrow your strength. Use this when precious lives are in danger.”

When Cory grasped the object, another blinding light obscured his vision before everything faded to black.

He awoke with a start. He was back in the cottage, except now it was the crack of dawn. He slowly sat up in his bed, looking around slowly for any trace of Tiga’s presence. The room was quiet, asides from the call of morning birds outside. There was a knock at his door, when he got out of his bed to see who just it might be, he heard something fall to the floor from his bed. What he saw on the ground shocked him. It was the same relic that he saw in that temple. He could hear it pulsating as it lay there on the floor. HE slowly reached for it, drawing his hand back as he felt it ‘pulse.’ He slowly grabbed it and held it in his hand. The pulsing died down, and it became warm to the touch.

“Hey Cory.”

Cory rolled his eyes at the all too familiar voice, “What do you want Sapphire?”

“Town book worm and her pet dropped off a letter for you from Celestia. She says she must speak with you about something important, or whatever.”

“Great, time for being held prisoner part two.” He mumbled. Sapphire opened the door and trotted in, carrying a few articles of clothing with her. She levitated them to Cory’s side. He picked them up and examined them. It was a T shirt, a pair of ‘pants’ that had no pockets, but a suede jacket that did. There was also a pair of ‘shoes’ to top everything off.

“Where did you get these?” He asked.

“I had Rarity make them for you. They may not be a perfect fit but it was best we could do.” I can’t have you wearing PJ’s all the time like a freak.” She smirked.

“Thanks…” He was honestly at a loss for words. She had been cold towards him for the past few days, making him feel unwelcome. Maybe there was a warm side to her afterall?

She broke away from him, “Now, lets get you to the station. One of the queens students will be there to guide you.”

XXX

At the station, Cory stood waiting by one of the benches. The air had a slight hint of coolness to it, the precursor to fall weather he assumed. As he waited, he heard a womans voice say his name.

“You must be Cory!”

He turned to see a purple mare approaching him. She reached her hoof out to him. He grabbed it and briefly shook it, a smile spreading across both of their faces. She had a dark blue mane with a purple highlight, on her hip was a star mark. Her eyes were a deep purple color, much like her coat.

“My name is twilight Sparkle. Pleased to meet you. You probably heard from your friend Sapphire that I’d be your guide to the Queen’s castle.” She pushed her bangs away from her eyes, still giving him a small grin.

“She did, my name is Cory Anderson.”

The train arrived moments later, the two immediately boarded and found their seats according to their tickets.

“So, what did you do before you came here?” She asked, breaking the somewhat awkward silence.

“Oh, I was a fulltime college student. I’m on, or I was on, “ He began to laugh nervously,” My last semester.”

“That’s amazing! What field of study?” Twilight asked. Cory had a hunch she was the nerdy type of girl. But he couldn’t help but find her energy charming.
“I was a anthropology major. It’s the study of ancient human, which is what I am, yeah.” He brought his hand to his temple as his face turned red. “Christ I hate small talk.” He thought.

Twilight laughed and placed a hoof on his shoulder, reassuring him he was ok, “You don’t have to be embarrassed, small talk has never been my strongpoint either.”

“Er, yeah.” He chuckled. He laid his head back and dozed off after a while. Twilight followed suit minutes later, finding herself leaning against him for ballast as she napped.

XXX

Cory stood in the large hallway of the Castle with twilight. It was huge, stained glass paintings adorned the wall and marble pillars paved the walkway of the castle.

“Well, here we are!” she bit down on Cory’s hand lightly and led him to the throne room. He pulled his hand back and wiped the saliva from his hand. He noticed that besides Sapphire, these ‘people’ were very trusting of each other. None of them seemed to know any strangers, or at least most of them. Sure he got weird looks once in a while, but he wrote it off as being something they’ve never seen before. Celestia sat on her throne looking down at the two.

“Thank you two for coming, Twilight,” her student nodded, “May I please have a word with Cory in private.”

“Of course,” She grinned at Cory before trotting her way out of the room, closing the door behind her.

“I’m sure you’re aware of why I asked for you.” She walked down the stairs, her face was stern, whereas it was warm towards her student moments earlier.

“I can’t say that I am.” He shrugged.

“It’s to how you’ve got here, and the power that you now obtain.”

“Power?” He stopped when he felt the relic in his pocket pulsate.

“I can hear it, the Spark Lance. So you are the new inheritor.” She said in a matter of fact manner.

“Inheritor of what?” He asked, slowly growing furious with the Princess.

“You were chosen by the light to become Ultraman. I can’t quit say why, but you are indeed him.”

“What? No! I’m not this Ultraman or whoever, I am Cory Anderson.” He shot back at her.
Her disposition didn’t change despite his outburst, “The Spark Lance in your pocket is proof that you are indeed Ultraman.”

He pulled the device from his pocket and through it to the floor, “I don’t need this!” He glared at her.

Celestia sighed and closed her eyes, “Come with me.” Cory followed her to another hallway. The stained glass portrayed several titans standing amongst crowds of equines, along with what appeared to be humans. Each glass seemed to tell its own part of a story.

“What is this all about?” He asked.

“Twelve hundred years ago, your kind and my own, once lived in harmony in this land. The titans guarded and watched over humanity and ponies alike. Tiga, the being you are, known as Prometheus by the humans, descended from the heavens and brought with him fire. He was scolded by the titans who forbade interacting with humans and ponies. Tiga could not dwell on this earth without a human form. His light was passed down generation through generation, teaching mankind and ponies of civilization, of peace.”

“And then what happened?” Cory asked, “If humans and ponies lived together in perfect harmony then why are our worlds split?”

She closed her eyes,“Differing ideas of creationism, religions that tainted the hearts of man and made them hate took hold. They warred with each other and lost the way of the light.”

“Why wasn’t Tiga able to help them?”

“Ultraman never interfere with the decisions of man or equine. Because they are beings of light and hope. But you Cory are different. You are both flesh and light.” She placed a hoof over his heart.

She lowered her hoof and wiped a tear from her eye, “Tiga used what was left of his light to split our worlds, and wiped our memories, save for my own and Luna’s, so that both our civilizations would carry on without the trauma of such dark times. It was for the better for both of our kind.”

“He has the power to do such a thing?”

“He did, as he is now, I imagine his power is very weak. His presence tells me that he we are going to need his power once more as we near a new age of monsters.”

Cory nodded slowly, trying to take in all of this new information. Suddenly he heard something faint in the distance. It sounded like a roar, albeit it was very quiet. He looked towards the window as goose bumps formed on his arms.

“Do you hear it?” She asked.

“Yes…” He furrowed his brows furrowed, “A monsters voice.”

“You must return back to Ponyville.” She bowed to him, much to his surprise, “Good luck.”

XXX

He sat on the train while it went about its stops on its way back to Ponyville. He put his hand to his forehead as he heard the roar once more. It was getting closer, it was faint when he heard it at first but its volume had increased. “It’s coming, almost like it’s calling out to challenge me.”

“Sir?” the train stewardice nudged his shoulder. She held a cool rag in her hoof. She gestured for him to lay back. “You’ve seemed very worked up this whole train ride. Here,” she placed it onto his burning forehead.

“Thank you,” he exhaled. Still, even with the soothing coolness of the wash cloth, there remained a pit in his stomach. Something was going to happen, every nerve in his body screamed it.

XXX

After arriving at the train station, he was met by Lyra. She smiled at him and guided him through the crowd of onboarding passengers. “How’d it go?” she asked.

“It went well.” He kicked a small stone in front of him away, thinking of ways to steer the conversation in another direction.

“Are you alright?” She tilted her head to the side, “What’s on your mind?”

“Its nothing really, seriously.” He gave her a small grin, “Don’t worry.”

“I wasn’t born yesterday, I know somethings up with you having to see the princess and all.” She tilted her head down and blinked her big eyes up at him, “Now tell me.”

“You’re a nosy one.” He chuckled, “She just wanted to make sure my current living arrangements are working out is all.”

“Alright,” She nudged his forearm as they walked through the town, walking only mere inches by her side, “Come with me!” she used her magic and lifted him into the air.

“Is this really necessary!?” he shouted, fighting against his magic restraints.

“No,” She stuck her tongue out and giggled. She trotted off with him towards a nearby hilltop and laid him down beside her. The two sat beneath a large white oak tree as they watched the sunset.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” She asked.

“Oh fuck small talk.” He thought, “It is, yeah. Not the prettiest, but its kind of the nicest.” He stopped himself, “Fucking Christ.” He thought as he held a hand to his temple.

Lyra grabbed hold of his arm as she laughed, burying her head into his upper arm as he cackled, “Cory, you’re way too much!” She caught her breath and smiled.

“Glad my stuttering entertains somebody.” He said grinning back at her.

“Tell me about you.” She placed a hoof on his hand. Her smile was warm and inviting, it had almost a maternal feel to it, he couldn’t quite explain it. He never met anyone back home who looked at someone this way. She wasn’t the only one. These people were trusting, warm, and inviting. Even Sapphire who has fairly abrasive, went through the trouble of getting Cory proper clothing, with her own money no less.

He heard it again. The roar reverberated in his ear. What he though was a star on the horizon came screaming down to the earth, trailing a green and blue flame behind it was rock and alloys burned off the comet. It hit the earth’s surface with a thunderous crash, casting a shockwave that leveled the forest around it. The entire village shook, knocking Sapphire from her bed and onto the floor. BonBon oepend the door to Sapphires room, a mixing bowl overturned on her head.

“What was that?” Sapphire rubbed her head.

“A meteorite said the neighbors, come on, let’s go take a look outside.”

“What’s going on?” Lyra pulled her face away from Cory’s jacket, her eyes filled with fear.

“He’s here.” Cory stared towards the horizon. He began running for the village with Lyra following not far from behind. She barely found herself keeping up, his speed was inhuman.

“Cory, wait! Who’s here, where are you going?” She called out to him but received no response. She stopped in her tracks as she heard an earth shaking roar. Her heart skipped a beat from the sound. She could feel it in her chest as it echoed through the hills behind her. She ran even faster towards Cory as he sprinted for the village.

The townsfolk left their homes to find the source of the explosion and loud roar that followed. Through the dim light on the horizon, they saw the outline of a towering, reptilian figure. It’s eyes glowed in the dark, on its head was a large crest that extended towards the end of its snout. Its fangs extended past its lips where the beast bellowed another roar. It was the space monster Earthron.

“Everyone go, now!” Cory yelled, gesturing everyone to run for the opposite side of town. Ponies grabbed their children and few precious possessions and tried evacuating the town. Earthron brought his foot down upon a house before firing a ray as hot as magma towards the street. His beam set fire to several home as he roared with glee. However, he sensed something off in the midst of this village. He looked for the culprit, his roars almost beckoning for this being to show itself. He fired another beam to goad whoever this being was out into the open.
His beam ripped through the village, turning an acre of it into a pit of flames.

While Earthron rampaged, Cory and Lyra helped others stuck in their homes. Cory used his strength to hold the threshold of a burning house as Lyra helped out victims who were trapped inside of their caved homes. He grunted as his muscles began to ache. Lyra had already dragged out most the family members save for their father who was stuck under a collapsed support beam. The smoke and flames were closing in, obscuring Lyra’s vision as she used he strength and magic to pull the older stallion from the ruins. She began to cough and wheeze as she grew light headed, the lack of oxygen making her grow weak and light headed. She panicked for a moment as desperately tried to breath. It was no use, the hot air burned her lungs and the smoke chocked her as she began to lose consciousness.

“Lyra!” Cory called to her, “Hey!” he shouted, “get up, come on!” She didn’t respond. The flames were rapidly approaching her. He ran into the house and used every ounce of his strength to push the beam off of the stallion. When he turned to the doorway to carry them both out, the doorway collapsed, trapping him inside of the inferno.

“Shit...” he trembled, “Shit shit shit shit shit...” He looked for an escape, but all he saw was thick smoke and embers. He was about to panic at the thought of burning to death, but then remembered the words of the Tiga when they first met.

“Use this when precious lives are in peril.”

“The Spark lance.” He pulled the relic from his pocket. The gem in at the top glowed as the handle pulsated in his hand. He raised it over his head and pressed the switch. His entire body glowed a light that purified the air and dispersed the flames. From where he stood, a column of light rose towards the heavens as he took a new form. He grew to a height of fifty meters, towering over the village houses as the light slowly faded from around him. From where Cory once stood was a new being. It’s body was red, blue, and silver with a U shaped piece of armor on it’s chest. Its face was smooth and featureless, but it has two large oval shaped eyes that glowed in the dark. A gem on the middle of it’s forehead reflected the sea of flames before it as the titan brought his hands down to his side.
The villagers stopped in amazement at what they saw. Some looked on in fascination, others weren’t sure what to make of this new being. It didn’t seem menacing like the beast that was currently attacking their homes. The titan looked towards the hills where the townfolk had fled and raised his hand towards them. A ball of light formed and departed from his palm. The ball landed and revealed Lyra and the stallion Cory and Lyra had tried saving.

“Lyra!” BonBon cried, running towards her unconscious friend with Derpy and Sapphire in tow. They held their friend as she groaned, wincing once as she came too. She looked around groggily as she regained her senses, “Guys, I, wait, wheres Cory?” she asked exasperated. As she looked around she noticed the Titan standing between them and Earthron. She looked on in amazement.

“Cory was just there, could it? No…” She thought, “Who is that?” she asked out loud.

“We don’t know. It saved you so I want to believe that its one our side.” Sapphire held up her friends head as the two looked onward.

Earthron roared challengingly at Tiga, who went into a battle stance in return. Tiga nodded and leapt toward earthron, landing a chop to the monsters head. He spun around and landed an elbow on the beats chest with a shout. Earthron tried swatting at the giant who blocked it, tucking earthons arm to his side as he then kneed the monster over and over.

Earthron reared up, breaking the hold that Tiga had on him and firing a heat ray at him. The beam struck Tiga in the chest, the heat making him yelp in shock. Earthron placed his foot on Tiga’s back, forcing the warrior of light into the dirt. Tiga grunted as he wrestled himself onto his back. Grabbing hold of Earthrons foot, he pushed the monster off of him with a shout, getting back to his feet.

Earthrons tail crashed into Tigas side, causing him to one knee. The space beast lunged at him before a right hook sent the beast reeling back in pain. The village witnessed the spectacle, this otherworldly battle between space monster and humanoid. A second heat ray struck Tiga who blocked it with a shield made purely of light energy. A second ray was blocked as well, but after a third time the blue light on Tiga’s chest began to flash.

“What is this?” Cory thought from within, “My strength is leaving faster than I thought it would.” He looked towards the villagers, “I have to end this quickly.”

He flipped his way over the Earthron and landed his heel on the monsters head, a shower of sparks erupting from the very spot. Earthron let out a high pitched roar of pain. Tiga landed another chop to the head of this monster, breaking off it’s crest and making it rear up in pain. It turned to flee from Tiga, roaring in pain and pawing at it’s bleeding head.

“I can’t let it escape.” Tiga grabbed Earthrons tail, using every ounce of his strength to lift the monster and slam him into the ground. “That’s it!” BonBon cheered, “Get him!”

Tiga placed his arms in an X formation in front of him before spreading them apart. As he did so, white energy collected into his color timer. He formed a capital L with a forearms, his left fingertip connecting with the tip of his right elbow. From his vertical right forearm, a stream of energy shot forth and struck Earthron as he stood up. He roared in pain as he was flooded with destructive energy that tore him apart at a cellular level. He let out one last weak roar as he fell back, exploding into thousands of pieces before he could even touch the ground.

Tiga gave a satisfied nod before looking towards the sky. With a shout, he leapt towards the sky, taking off towards the stars like a rocket.

“Who is he?” Lyra asked as the crowd cheered.

“I’m just glad we didn’t have to deal with him.” Said Sapphire.

They heard a shuffle from behind them and saw a familiar face that smiled.

“Hey, what I miss?” laughed Cory. His brow was covered in sweat and dust.

Lyra broke down into tears and hugged him, having thought he didn’t make it through the monsters rampage. He patted her mane as she pulled away.

“Are you alright?”

“A little sore,” He smiled. Derpy, BonBon, and Sapphire looked relieved to see him unscathed. They all looked solemnly towards their village. A dozen or so homes were gone from Earthons rampage, the town hall was turned to ashes as was most of the town square. They all waited till the crack of dawn for help where they saw the royal guard bringing supplies, rations, and building materials for the village.

As the five of them departed towards the village, Cory heard a voice within. He turned his attention to the rising sun as the voice spoke

“Cory Anderson, I am Ultraman Tiga.”

“Ultraman Tiga?”

“Yes, you’ve witnessed just now why I have given you my life.”

He nodded to himself, “I see, you need me to protect these people.”

“I cannot stay in this world in the form you just used to fight. Which is why you are now Ultraman.”

“Yes, I’m willing to accept that now.”

“This is our secret. You and I will fight for this world, no matter the cost.”

“I’ll fight as Ultraman. That is the reason why I was brought here” he turned from the sunrise and followed his four friends towards the village. There was work that needed to be done.

Chapter 3, END

Next chapter: In All Monsters Attack Part 2; Tiga’s presence awakens two foes once sealed away centuries before, Golza and Melba. With the two closing in one Cory, he must fight them one on one lest Equestria be destroyed.

All Monsters Attack Part 2

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All Monsters attack Part 2

It had been a week since the arrival of Earthron and Ultraman’s reappearance. The entire planet was in a state of panic. Different species feared if they were the next ones to be subjected to such a fate as Ponyville. They would wonder if there was more than one Earthron and would is make its way towards their pocket of the earth at any given moment. It was for this reason that Cory, Lyra, and Sapphire were called to Canterlot along with several other species to meet with Celestia, the Griffin kingdom, the yaks, and even the diamond dogs were offering one of their “champions” to this cause.

The trio arrived at the castle and were greeted by the Royal guard. The guard members didn’t say a word and escorted them to a large auditorium. Pillars aligned the rear of the stage, and flags of all the planets nations/clans were hung from the ceiling.

“Attention everyone,” Celestia spoke proudly, “As we are all aware, our world was attacked by a space traveling monster, who experts have given the name ‘Earthron’. Fortunately, the arrival of an ancient guardian, one whom most of know as Prometheus. However, during our mission he will be given the name Ultraman. Now that we have covered those recent events, the reason why you are all here is because I fear a new age of monster related attacks in imminent. The elements of Harmony have been assigned to keep the Crystal empire safe. In their place, we will deploy a team of well trained monster exterminators. Everyone, the Equestrian Monster Extermination Party will be a cross species joint effort to ensure the protection and survival of our world. Will our members please rise as I call your names.” She looked at her list,” Cory Anderson.”

Cory raised his brows in surprise but stood tall. There were some whispering from behind him, but he did his best to block it out.

“Lyra Heartstrings.” Lyra beamed and grabbed Cory’s arm in excitement.

“Relax..” Sapphire muttered.

“Sapphire Libra.” Sapphire’s jaw dropped, “Wait wait wait, I’m on this team? I’m not even trained!”

“You will be soon.” Celestia giggled. She glanced back to her list, “Marlin of the Griffon kingdom.”

A dark grey Griffon stood up. His wings were black, but his eyes were a piercing green. He had a prominent tuft of black feathers on his head that curved upwards.

“Aurora of the diamond dog clan,” Celestia lowered the list to see who stood. It was the female diamond dog. Her features compared to the other who looked unwashed and rough were soft. Her eyes were a dark blue, her coat was grey with crème colored spots. Her trim underbelly was white. Her onyx hair was draped over to one side, slightly obscuring one of her blue eyes. Her face was a mix of femineity and sternness, and there was a no nonsense energy around her. She was certainly the Alpha female where she came from.

“Lastly, Hademchuk from the Yak Kingdom.” A large Yak stood from his creaking chair. His locks and fur coat were a golden blonde, his eyes a dark brown. He wore a red bracelet around his front right leg, and a red bandana wrapped around his left horn. His stature was rather imposing, just on his hind legs he easily towered over the ponies Cory had met. He grunted and nodded at the Princess.

She Celestia smiled, “These six warriors will be entrusted with the lives of us all during these trying times. We have combined our most advanced technology to combat these beasts should they ever return.”

“So when does our training begin.” Cory asked, raising his hand.

Celestia looked at her watch, “Now.”

The wooden double doors kicked open, making the six contestants jump in surprise, save for Hademchuk. In walked a rather short stallion who’s screams bore and uncanny similarity to R. Lee Ermy, “Get your sorry asses outside!”

The six of them rushed outside to greet their instructor. He went down the line giving them clothing, toiletries, and olive drab green training uniforms.

“I am your Instructor Sergeant Holt, for the next six weeks you will complete your basic combat and weapons training. None of you will like me by the end of this training, that much is sure, but you best get your sorry asses over it, because by the time this course is done, I will be your Captain. That’s right, I will be in the shit with all of you till graduation.” He pivoted on his hooves and turned to face Cory, “Hairless ape, where you from?”

Cory’s brows furrowed, did he really just call him that? “I am from,”

“I’m gonna tell you what candidate, you’re gonna speak at a loud an estate voice, you got that?” Holt barked.

“Yes sir!” He responded.

“Now what is your name!?”

Cory stuttered out his response which angered Holt further, the instructor did a mock stutter back to him and ordered him onto his face, “Your ass is gonna push this castle to the south seas by the time I’m done with you, ahahahaha!”

He turned his attention to Lyra, “What about you wide eyes, what’s your story?”

“Sir my name is,”

“Another soft voice, you make me wanna fucking vomit!” He sneered, “get on your face!”

Next was the Griffon, “What’s your story?”

“Story for what sir?” Marlin said back at equal volume.

Holt clapped his hooves together, “Well slap my ass so hard that my grandbabies are born with a handprint, that’s what I like to hear! Are you that loud with your boyfriend sweet heart?”

Marlins brows furrowed while Cory stifled a giggle, “Sir?”

Holt’s face was an inch from Marlins sweating face, “Sir what, were you about to insult me?”

“No sir!”

Holt but Marlin down on his face. Next was Hademchuk, “You come here to die!?”

“Yak just got here yesterday!” Hademchuk bellowed.

Holt smiled, “Well, looks like we’ve got ourselves a real smartass. Do you like running son, because guess what?” He gestured to the castle, “You are gonna run laps till sundown.”

Hademchuk gulped and began trotting around the perimeter. Holt went around putting the rest of the team on their faces while Hademchuk ran laps, sweat pouring down his forehead in the late fall sun.

“For the next six weeks, you will be the finest team, no, warriors this earth has ever damned seen!” He placed on his sunglasses and grinned.

XXX

For six weeks the team trained on different modern weapons, which to Cory’s surprise resembled that of earths. The team had three jeep like vehicles that held two people each. Each member was issued a pistol fired a ray of white hot energy. The other Lyra and Sapphire were given rocket launcher type weapons that syphoned magic from their horns and into the cannon, concentrating just a small amount into a powerful energy based blast capable of shattering even the largest of boulders. The headset part looked like a cross between a night vision goggle set and a gas mask, covering everything except their muzzles which allowed them to breath freely. Hademchuk bore a dual cannon that could be mounted to his uniform and allowed the connectivity of Lyra and Sapphire’s Headsets for more powerful monsters. Marlin had a special ray gun capable of melting steel. However, it could only fire continuously for five minutes before it ran out of energy. It was simple in design, dual pistol grip, a red dot sight, and a large opening for the beam to exit. Aurora voiced his displease at not receiving a special weapon, but was told her marksman ship would be all she needed along with Cory. Holt kept two of the standard issued pistols, dubbed the MERG MK2, who he demonstrated with expert precision.

It was graduation day, and Holt marched them to the parade field. All different species of creatures cheered and through confetti as they passed by. Every member cracked a smile as they walked by. They finally were out of their Olive drab training uniforms and wore their combat outfits. They were silver and blue, with a stripe of gold lining the seams on the sides. Their helmets were reminiscent of a Vietnam era helicopter pilots with a face shield you could drop of retract with the push of a button. The face shield also allowed for night vision upon voice demand. When they neared the parade field, Celestia stood proudly at the podium, nodding at all of them, but she smiled at Cory. This surprised him for a moment, seeing as he was used to her more cold demeanor.

“Everyone, from all walks of life on this earth, we bring to you our special force of warriors who will guide us through this coming war. Everyone, I give to you our first line of defense, the Equestrian Monster Extermination Party!” The crowds cheered from all around, hooves, claws, paws clapping in near unison.

XXX

The six were showed their next headquarters. To the convenience of them, it was the friendship castle that the elements of harmony used for their home base while they were home. Given that they were stationed at different parts of the earth for keeping watch, the place was renovated for EMEP during this age of monsters.

“So,” Holt began, his voice was stern, but nearly as harsh as it was during their training, what we have here is the Everfree mountains. Seismic activity has upticked here within the last several weeks. It’s been said that these mountains hold the bodies of two ancient beasts.” The image from the center of the table changed to a winged beast. It was a dark orange in color, it’s wings folded to its side. Its head was small compare to its body with a sharp beak at the end. The other beast was reptilian, dinosaur like monster. It was slightly shorter than melba, but was more stout and sinister looking.

“These tow monsters, Golza and Melba, once sealed away from the titan Prometheus, or code name, ‘Ultraman.’. Our goals is to ensure her and Golza are contained and if necessary, terminated at all costs.”

“Aren’t we fresh out of training?” Sapphire said with a slight bit of nervousness.

“We’ve trained hard for this,” Aurora interjected, brushing her bangs from her eyes.

“Hademchuk ready!” He banged his hooves on the table, snorting as he did so.

“I’m game.” Marlin leaned back.

Lyra grabbed Cory’s arm, “So are we.” She smiled up at him. Cory nodded in response.

Holt cracked s small smile, “That Princess saw something in you guys after all.” He stood up from his seat and called the room to attention, “Standby!” He shouted.

“EMEP, rolling out!” The six shouted in Unison.

XXX

The jeeps hummed as they moved along the rocky canyons, the sounds of their engines echoed through the vast rock formations. Marlin held his ray gun as he scanned the mountainscape, his goggles scanning for any signs of activity.

“We’re going off of seismic activity alone right?” Marlin retracted his helmet visor, “Is that really any reason to waste our time out here?”

“You don’t question orders tweety," said Holt, not taking his eyes off the rocky path before them.

Marlin sighed, “Hopefully our company doesn’t burst from the mountain side. We’re sitting ducks as we are now.”

Holt looked at his watch, “Oh crap. Alright, pull over here. Hope you all remembered your rations.”

They came to an open valley, it was huge, a green tree line adorned the horizon as the sun shined from above. As they sat eating their food, Cory nearly dropped his ration as he heard a voice in his head.

“So you’re Ultraman?”

“Who’s there?”

“Your Princess sent you to your deaths in this valley. Poor shame, such a promising idea she had. As you are, you stand no chance against us.”

“Us?” Cory looked around the valley before his eyes saw a dark figure out in the distance. He focused his eyes using his visor to zoom in. He could make out the figure of a cloaked man, on his head he wore a Lakota style feather headdress, which casted a shadow over his face. From his Lakota style robe, he saw a dark hand protrude from it. The hand began to glow as it made a half fist, and from Cory’s head he could hear the mysterious being chant an ancient language. Who was this being?

“Cory must eat! Unless Cory give the rest of his food to Hademchuk!” Hademchuk patted Cory on the back.

“Quiet,” Aurora sniffed the air, “Somebody’s out there.”

Holt put down his food and grabbed his binoculars, scanning the horizon. His eyes finally came upon the cloaked figure the two had picked up on.

“Weapons ready, we’ve got company.” Holt turned the ignition and floored the keep, the Jeep driven by Lyra following suit. They had only driven fifty meters before the earth around them began to shake. Fissures formed as smoke and dust billowed from the newly formed crevices that obscured their vision. From the mountain side arose a reptilian monsters, its head covered in a armor like hood that extended down to its abdomen. It let out a fearsome roar that shook the valley. On it’s shoulder stood the cloaked figure.

“It’s him!” Cory pointed.

“EMEP is your team right?” Spoke the man, he grabbed his cloak and threw it off his body. He wore ancient Apache armor along his eagle feather headdress, his sleeves were similar to that of a kimono. His face was adorned red and black war paint with white stripes underneath his eyes. His eyes were cold and reptilian, his nails long like claws. In his right hand he held a grotesque whip with a bone handle, the whip itself made out of connected vertebrate from what the team suspected was equine.

“Who are you?” Lyra demanded, “Are you the one behind all this?”

“I am the Great War Chief Geronimon. It’s nice to finally meet all of you face to face.” He looked to Cory, “Especially you, Prometheus, or as they call you, Ultraman Tiga.” He spoke telepathically. Cory sneered in response.

“As much as I’d like to stay and watch the fight,” A shadow was casted over the valley. The team looked up to see Melba landing besides Golza who glared menacingly at EMEP, “There is much work to be done elsewhere.” His whip elongated as he cracked it at Golza, the beast roaring in response. Geronimon disappeared in a purple glow, leaving behind EMEP and his two monsters.

“Everyone scatter, now!” Holt ordered as he unsheathed his pistols. The team took their defensive positions in the rocky formations, opening fire on the beasts. Marlin used his ray gun on Golza while Sapphire and Lyra used their cannons on Melba, Melba was taken back by the sudden onslaught, causing her to stumble back. Aurora tapped Cory on the shoulder, “Come with me!” The two ran to Marlins place of cover, “I’ve got an idea.” She spoke.

“I’m desperate enough to hear it,” Marlin replied.

“These guns run on the same energy right? What if we combined them together? Form one straight beam of energy?”

“Ooo,” Marlin gestured a talon at Aurora, “I like that.”

Cory nodded, “We’re going for the right eye,” the trio focused their guns on Golza’s eyes as Cory counted down. One three, the three ray guns fired, combining a spiral type gun that lanced into Golza’s eyes. The beast clamped his hand over his now bleeding face, roaring in anger.

“Not so tough after all,” Marlin grinned.

Golza looked down at the three, his left eye burning with hatred. How could these worms possibly be putting up and type of fight? The armor around his head glowed purple while it channeled up to his forehead.

“Ooo, I don’t like that.” Marlin said plainly, “We gotta run guys.” He looked to his vacant side, “Guys?”

“What’re you waiting for, Aurora shouted, “Get moving!”

Marlin made a mad dash away from their cover as golza unleashed a purple wave of energy from his head. It racked across the ground, incinerating rock and soil alike. When his onslaught finished, there was nothing but scorched earth and debris in his wake. The shockwave of the attack caught the trio who managed to avoid the beam itself, but were down from being tossed around like rag dolls. Cory regained his conscious as he heard Golza rumbling towards him. Sapphire, Lyra, Holt, and Hademchuk were bogged down by melba who had taken to the skies, firing blasts of energy from her eyes that blossomed explosions from around their position. Cory felt a pulsation in his pocket, He reached into it just as Golza was about to stomp him into dust. He pressed the switch and was bathed with white light. The light filled the valley with a blinding flash as a pillar of light knocked Golza onto his back.

Standing tall was Tiga, going into his battle pose and Golza tried to stand. Tiga didn’t hesitate to leap forward and drop his elbow on the beast, causing Golza to fall back into the dirt and roar in surprise. Tiga lifted Golza back to his feet and began landing knees to his chest, nearly crushing the beasts ribs in the process. Melba saw this and came to her allies aid, firing a volley of eye beams at Tiga who rolled out of the way. Golza also fired his ray at Tiga who rolled out of danger yet again. Melba landed next to Golza who nodded to her, the two of them roaring a challenge at Tiga.

Holt and the others recovered marlin and Aurora. They slowly regained their consciousness from the sounds of the ongoing battle between Tig and the two monsters.

“So that’s Ultraman.” Marlin inquired.

“Can he really take on both of them?” Aurora asked concerningly.

“He’s saved us before.” Said Sapphire, Lyra nodded in agreement.

The gem on Tiga’s head flashed red. As he stood up, a wave of red light flowed down his body. The teams jaws dropped, it was still Tiga, but his muscle mass had tripled in size, and gone was the blue on his body. He was now entirely red and silver. Gola rushed forward and received a thunderous punch to his gut that caused his eye to buldge from it’s socket as the wind was knocked out of him. An elbow to the back of his head caused him to fall forward, grunting in pain as he did so. Tiga grabbed the beats as he tried to stand, hurling him towards the mountainside with ease. Melba tried to flee, But Tiga grabbed the winged monster’s clubbed feet and brought her crashing to the ground.

“You’re not getting away from us.” Tiga Broke the wings of melba over his knee before lifting up the cripped monster and tossing her away. Tiga turned to see Golza burrowing away from him. Tiga went to halt him but he was struck in the back by melba’s eye beams. He had no choice but to let Golza escape. He turned his attention back to Melba who roared defiantly at him.

“Its time I end this…” Tiga brought his arms down to his side, gathering red hot solar energy into a sphere that he held to his chest. He tossed his attack, the Delacium light stream, into Melba’s chest. Melba’s limbs went limp as she cried out one last time before being reduced to charred chunks of flesh from the explosion within her.

The team covered their faces to not get covered in monster gunk , save for Holt who looked on in disbelief.

“I’ll be damned, he really is our only hope.” He felt a smile creep on his face as Tiga nodded to him. Ultraman looked towards the blue sky and took off like a rocket, leaving behind the empty valley. As the team watched him fly away, they heard footsteps from behind. They turned to see Cory slowly make his way towards the, holding his helmet to his right side as he staggered towards them.

“Well, that takes care of that” He said, using his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his brow.

“Cory!” Lyra embraced him while the other team members patted him on the back, making him cringe slightly from the pain, “Ah, ok, maybe later…” he grimaced.

“You had us worried there son” Holt extended his hoof towards him which Cory shook.

“I couldn’t believe my own eyes for a second,” Marlin looked back towards the sky, “I figured he was strong, but to take on two monsters like that?”

“But his colors were what perplexed me.” Sapphire put a hoof to her chin, “As soon as he changed his form, he suddenly had almost no trouble dealing with them.”

Holt nodded, “We will review our findings and the footage we gathered from our helmets back at the base.” He gestured back to their vehicles, “Lets move out.”

XXX

On the farthest outreaches of the earth, a wasteland adorned with ancient Greek style pillars adorned the face of a plateau. The sun was setting, casting long, haunting shadows along the landscape as it dipped below the horizon. Large dead or dying trees reached for the heavens in this near desolate land. Among the landscape atop of the pillars stood a large, muscular figure. His body was covered in thick, jet black armor, A helmet that had two forward facing horns that seemed like the mandibles of a large Ant. He had robust facial hair and dark, piercing green eyes.

“Melba is dead…” He spoke, his deep voice echoed to his comrades.

“Yes,” replied another man. He wore leather armor, but on his back was a jagged tortoise shell that acted as a piece of makeshift armor. His brow was large and covered in scars, “As of now, Golza fled from the valley, he must be in recovering somewhere in the everfree mountains”

“What are we to do with such low class beasts. We must strike now while Prometheus is still weak!”

“What are you saying, Antlar?” Bellowed another voice. This being stood from his pillard and glared. He wore a black cape with a red underside, his helmet had three forward facing horns. He wore Greek like armor on his torso and black, knee high boots. His skin was a dark tan, brows were thick, with several scars running down his forehead. His silver shoulder pads gleamed in the dim sunlight, “Are you to stand against the War Chief?”

“I’m just being smart,” Antlar sneered.

“Smart about what exactly, Antlar?” a voice echoed.. The three looked towards the top of the plateau. The telltale feather’s moved softly in the wind.

“G-Great war Chief!” Antlar immediately bowed. The other smaller, rodent like being bowed as well. However, the third man stood and nodded to Geronimon.

“Black King,” Geronimon spoke, “Were you and Antlar conspiring?”

King closed his eyes, “No, Great War Chief.”

Geronimon looked to Antlar, “Antlar, you do understand the reasoning for resurrecting these monsters?”

“Yes,” he trembled, “To defeat Prometheus, but sir, our strength alone-“

Before he could finish, a feather from Geronimon grazed the exposed skin on his shoulder. He gasped and clung his arm as he felt a fire like pain grow underneath his skin.

“You understand only half of it. Prometheus’s light is the source of his power, but like all light, there is darkness as well. This light must become stronger, so that our Master can take this strengthened light for himself. It will become his Darkness, and with such power, he will send this world into a thousand years of chaos.” Geronimon stared at him coldly, “But Antlar, should you ever conspire against me, your life is mine.”

Antlar shook in pain as sweat dripped down his face. He nodded in response and looked at his master through pained eyes.

“Magular, Black King,” The two men kneeled as their names were announced, “I must go, tend to Antlar in my short absence. Should he die now, we will be left at a large disadvantage. Those equines seem to possess weaponry never before seen. Along with Prometheus, they may prove to be troublesome for our conquest.”

“Yes, Great War Chief.” They replied in unison.

“Now then, “ Geronimon glowed a deep purple as he began to disappear from the feet up, “Let’s see what the Everfree mountains have in store for our friends.”

The Forbidden Monster Valley

View Online

The Forbidden Monster Valley

“So,” Holt began as the screen flashed to life, showcasing the fight between Tiga, Golza, and melba. The scene where Ultraman dropped his elbow upon Golza played while the team watched.

“It appears that Ultraman has a plethora of light based abilities, three of which we know of now. Our research team has determined that Ultraman has the ability to manipulate various forms of light for a different array of weapons. In Ponyville where the first monster, code named ‘Earthron’, was taken down by a photon based ray made of the element ,Zepellion’, a rare but destructive isotope which destroys organic matter at a cellular level. However in this battle, Ultraman used ultraviolet radiation from the sun to destroy Melba.” The footage paused where Tiga was in his powered mode, “Here his body changed at a molecular level. His cells tripled in density, giving him the superior strength needed to handle both monsters.”

Marlin raised his taloned claw, “So if he’s stronger in that form, why doesn’t he just use it from the get go?”

Holt nodded, “I wondered the same thing. But as it turns out, this form drains his power at a much faster rate than his multicolored form. He couldn’t pursue Golza when he fled, because Ultraman lacked the energy to do so. Therefore he prioritized on destroying Melba after he incapacitated her.”

“He also has the color blue on his body,” Lyra observed, “Would this mean he has a form we are yet to see?”

“Inconclusive,” spoke a familiar voice to Cory. From the entrance trotted a small alicorn. She wore a pair of glasses and a white lab coat, her hair done up in a ponytail.

“Twilight, thank you for joining us.” Holt extended his hoof, “Thank you for coming all this way from the Crystal Empire.”

She grinned, “Of course, and to answer Ms. Heartstrings question about Ultraman, we currently don’t know about the potential for other combat forms. But since we see he has a form for facing stronger or numerous opponents, we’ve come to the conclusion that he has the ability to tailor his body and abilities to his opponents.”

“And the light on his chest?” inquired Marlin.

“We have found that the light flashes when his energy levels are depleted to a certain level. We believe this light acts as an audible and visual gauge for Ultraman when he’s nearing his active limit.”

“He can’t fight for as long as he wants?” Aurora asked somewhat annoyed, “What’s his limit?”
Twilight flipped through her papers, “We estimate about three minutes.”

Sapphire exhaled in disappointment, “We get someone who can kill these things in one shot but only for three minutes, what a catch.”

Cory sat with his brows furrowed, it fascinated him to hear about this strange giant who shared his life with him. What was it that limited Tiga’s power? Was it his own mortality?

XXX

In the busy city streets, Cory and Lyra walked side by side back to their cottage. Cory held the majority of the bags while Lyra used her magic to levitate a few items she had purchased having got her first pay check from EMEP. Her hair was done up in a bun, her makeup looked its best to match her new level of confidence.

“Sun shine always seems brighter on pay day.” She sighed, gazing up at the blue sky.

“I wouldn’t know.” Cory mumbled, carrying a stack of boxed goods.

“Oh hush,” she giggled, using her magic to lift a few more boxes from his stack, “There, have a little natural light.”

He dramatically gazed up at the sky before cracking a grin. She rolled her eyes and laughed, “You’re horrible.”

“Yeah but I’m still carrying your stuff.” He winked.

“Touché’” She turned to trot along towards their cottage.

“Incoming!” shouted a familiar voice. Both and human and equine ducked as Ditsy Doo swooped down and crash landed. A few stray letters slowly settled on the ground where she lay in a heap, smiling awkwardly, “Whoops, my bad.”

“Looks like the mails on time today.” Cory thought.

“Smooth landing, huh Derpy?” Lyra snickered.

“Don’t call me that.” Ditsy’s ears flopped down in sadness.

Lyra and Cory laughed, “We’re kidding, we got something for you.” Cory kneeled down and picked up a box. Derpy whinnied in happiness and grabbed the box and opened it. She snorted as she pulled out a red scarf that she wrapped around her neck, “It’s pretty, it’ll make my routes easy when its cold, thanks again Lyra!”

“Cory bought it for you.” Lyra nudged him with her elbow.

Derpy smiled but then felt a bit of guilt twinge her chest, “I’m sorry I called you odd Mr, I, us, Cory.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He smiled, patting her bowed head. His smile faded as he heard from far away the deep roar of a monster. It echoed through his ear, a shrill, roar that sounded deep but got progressively higher pitched.

“What is this?” He looked towards the Everfree forest, “Its roar isn’t that threatening but I can feel an intense sense of dread, no, malice.”

He snapped back to his senses when he noticed Lyra giving him a puzzled look, “What?” he asked.

“I should be asking you that.” she said plainly, “Sometimes you get this weird look on your face like you can sense or hear something we can’t.”

“Er, no, I just thought I forgot something back at the base.” The roar echoed in his ear again. This time it was different. It was calling for him, challenging him. He ignored it as he, Lyra, and Derpy entered their home.

XXX

In the mountains beyond the everfree forest, a group of scientists were documenting a list of newly discovered plant species in the mountain crevices. The team was hiking up a mountainside with their equipment, using ropes to help scale some of the steeper parts. The sun was starting to set on the horizon when the finally made camp. One of the researchers perked his ears, hearing a rumbling from not far off.

“Did you hear that?” He turned towards his teammates.

“I felt that actually.” A grey haired stallion stood up. Moments later, a thick fog billowed into, catching the team off guard.

“What the hell?” The team lead stood from his seat and glanced around. His eyes caught the confused face of one mare, her eyes looking at the compass in confusion.

“I don’t know what happening, the Compass it darting all over the place. It’s like we are in some magnetic field.”

“It’s this fog,” The team lead began gathering his items, “Everyone grab your stuff, we are getting out of here.”

A shrill roar echoed through the mountain, paralyzing the team in fear. Their greatest fear came true as a tall, segmented monster stood tall over them. It’s hands were silver, crab like claws, and it’s head was oblong with two yellow piercing eyes. It roared while the team screamed in fear and tried to flee while the beats arms extended towards them, grabbing members and stuffing them into its maw. This beast, Sadora, roared with glee as he pursued the team members, filling the night sky with terrible screams and roars of sadism.

Miles away in Ponyville, Cory lay in bed covering his ears, their screams died down, but he could hear the beast roar tauntingly. “It knows I’m here.” He walked to his window and opened it, letting the night air waft in, his eyes filled with anger.

XXX

The next morning, Cory, Lyra, and Sapphire sat in the EMEP headquarters as Holt entered the room. Aurora blew bubbles with her gum as Hademchuk snored in his seat loudly, jerking awake as his snot bubble popped, “Like hell you’ll get Hademchuk, monster!” he snorted. Marlin lifted his head from his forelegs and gestured at the Yak in annoyance. Hademchuk blushed red as he placed his hooves at his side, smiling awkwardly.

“I hope you all got plenty of sleep,” Holt looked at the Yak with a side glare, “We’ve received reports of a missing research team in the Everfree mountains. We’ve attempted to make contact with the team, but there appears to be an electro-magnetic blight surrounding the area. The rescue team is currently stationed there as we speak. It’s up to us in order to supply a defensive perimeter should we encounter any monsters.”

“In other words, boxed nasties for lunch?” Sapphire inquired.

Holt looked at his report, “Yes.” The team groaned in unison.

XXX

The team arrived through the temporary entry point from the royal guard. The team holstered their weapons and dismounted their vehicles as they were guided to the head of the rescue effort. Twilight trotted through the crowd along with her small companion, Spike, who rode upon her back.

“Thank you all for coming, we’ve set up the station as fast and best as we could. Spike, “she gestured him to step forward, “Meet EMEP.”

Spike looked through the crowd, “So a Yak, two Ponies, a Griffon, a diamond dog, and, uh, you?” he raised a brow at Cory while pointing at him.

“Human.” Cory said plainly. He sensed just a bit of cockiness from the small dragon. Hell, even a hello would do.
“I haven’t seen anything like you before, which part of the earth do you come from?”

“Spike,” Twilight snapped, “What did I tell you about asking Cory too many questions?”

“That’s Cory?” Spike gestured at him, “Uh, sorry about that.”

Cory chuckled, “Its alright bud,” he held out his hand, “Nice to meet you.”

Spike returned the handshake, “Pleasures all mine friend.”

Holt had just finished consulting with one of the Guard members, “Alright, we are going to set up a search party, Cory, Lyra, and Sapphire will come with me. The rest of you will stay with Ms. Sparkle.”

“Copy!” the team responded. With a nod, Holt led the four of them and several guard members down the valley. They slowly approached the maw of a large cavern, the guard members using their horns to illuminate their way. Cory held a small flashlight and scanned the cavern walls, using his ears to listen for that same mysterious roar.

“He’s making that face again,” Sapphire whispered to Lyra. Lyra looked concerningly at Cory as he froze in place. The Guard members looked back in annoyance as they noticed him stop dead in his tracks.

“What’s the matter? Why’re you not walking?” One bellowed.

“That can’t be,” Cory said out loud in disbelief, what he was hearing wasn’t the same roar he had heard the day before. This one was shrill and its, no, their aura dripped with malice.

“I can hear it, a monster’s voice!” he yelled back to them. Sapphire and Lyra exchanged looks.

“All I can hear is tinnitus,” Holt stuck a hoof in his ear.

“What’re you on about? Any monsters worth worrying about wouldn’t able to fit in the cave. You’re supposed to be a monster extermination expert, if you’re afraid of the dark just say so.” He laughed, a few of the other guard members joining him as they turned and ventured deeper into the cavern.

“I’m not lying, there’s something in this cavern! Let’s grab the rest of the team and then continue, come back!”

They scoffed at him, looking about the cave as their horns lit the way. Cory felt Lyra grab onto his arm, her eyes were filled with fear.

“Can you really hear something?” Sapphire asked.

“Yes, just a little further in this cavern.” He ran towards the Royal Guard members who stood in place gazing up at the caves ceiling. Holt gave Cory a pensive stare, something was either very off, or very special about this man, he thought.

“What’s wrong?” Cory looked at the lead who looked on in horror. Cory looked to where they gazed, and to his horror saw several pairs of yellow eyes with blue pupils staring back at them. It’s head entered the light and roared menacingly, invoking a scream from the royal Guard. One moved from the ceiling and lunged down upon them. It’s head was narrow and had a segmented body, almost reminiscent of a worm. The monster descended upon the lead guard who screamed in terror as the beast clamped down upon his head, crushing it in his maw. Several other of these wormlike reptilian monsters burrowed through different angles of the cavern, roaring at the intruders. One lunged at Cory who unsheathed his ray gun, blasting a sizeable chunk from the beasts shoulder.

“Shit,” he fired his gun at the beast as it tried to lunge once more at the human, “We’ve entered a hornets nest.”

“Hornets nest?” Lyra shouted.

“These are Teresdon Larvae, according to EMEP records. We can handle them at this size, but any larger they can become a real pain in our ass.” He fired his ray gun once more, downing another, “Retreat! Get back to the cave entrance!” Cory and the others dashed for the entrance, all the while carrying both Sapphire and Lyra under each arm.

“When did he?” Sapphire asked in confusion, gesturing towards Cory. Lyra shrugged in response. Cory glanced behind him to see the guard members taken out one by one, screaming while they were dragged back into the caverns depths. He swore to himself and carried his team mates to safety. They exited the cavern with Holt aiming his gun at the entryway, eyes fixed through his gun sights as the eyes of a Teresdon burned towards him.

“I’ll hold them off!” he screamed to Cory, “You go and tell the others!”

“Captain,” Cory began to protest, but noticed that the beast within the cave didn’t pursue them outside the cave. It stayed there with its eyes glowing with hatred, roaring challengingly at the trio.

“That’s it,” said Holt, “These things hate sunlight.” He looked over his shoulder, “Grab the rest of the team and get as many explosives as you can. We’re sealing this cavern off.”

XXX

The team had converged on the cavern and gathered the entire rescue teams explosives, setting them around the cavern entrance and its sides. TNT was also strategically placed on the top of the hill, making sure to cave the entire hill upon this hellish nest. Once they were in place, Marlin held the detonator in his claws while Sapphire counted down. It was at the moment when she said zero that a pair of glowing yellow eyes appeared in the darkness, roaring menacingly at them. Marlins feathers stood on end as he pressed the switch, detonating the explosives and sending the entire cave crashing down upon the Teresdon nest. Cries could be heard from inside of the cave as it came crashing down, crushing the miniature monsters under tons of rocks and debris. One monster attempted to flee, but was caught under the collapsing entrance, crushing half of its body. The wormlike reptilian gave a weak cry before it succumbed to it’s injuries, its eyes slowly glossing over as it stared at the team.

“That settles that.” Lyra retracted her visor.

“No, we are yet to find the research team.” Holt reholstered his gun, “Our job is far from over.”

Cory nodded in agreement, the monster who he knew was responsible for the teams disappearance was still out there, waiting for him. He was yet to hear its voice that given day, but he knew it was out there in the mountains, just waiting for the right moment to attack. His train of thought was halted the ground beneath his feet began to shake.

“Now what?” Aurora shouted, nearly losing her footing.

“Did we somehow trigger and earthquake?” yelled Marlin, gripping onto a boulder.

The ground shook as fissures formed from the trembling. An earth shattering roar erupted through the air and froze the team in place. From the earth rose the mother of the previously destroyed nest, a fully grown, and rather ticked off Teresdon. She roared in anger from the sudden destruction of her children who she gazed down upon, roaring in anger as he bloodshot eyes locked on the equines beneath her.

Marlin used his front paw to block the sun from his vision, “Ooo, I don’t like that.”

“Open fire!” Holt fired his gun at the subterranean kaijin who roared in annoyance, but was taken back by the sudden onslaught of the five different ray guns that burned across her body. Cory helped Twilight and Spike to safety, rejoining them with the other team research members.

“Thank you,” She hugged him and lifted Spike onto her back who looked at the battle between EMEP and Teresdon in awe. Before Cory could respond, a shadow was casted from behind a small mountain. A familiar roar echoed through the air as Cory looked up in shock to see the beast which had challenged him. The fog monster Sadora roared as he kicked away rocks that lay in his wake while swatting away an entire mountainside with his claws, roaring towards Teresdon who bellowed at her new foe.

“Retreat!” ordered Holt, getting his team from between the rampaging monsters.
Teresdon and Sadora converged on each other, exchanging roars before ramming their bodies against the other. Sadora swatted Teresdon across her face with his clawed hand, using his other to clamp down on her throat. A kick from Teresdon sent Sadora stumbling back, and a swipe from her tail sent him reeling back in pain once more.

“Should we get out of here while we still can?” Aurora said from behind a shrub, holding her gun as she watched the battle from over her shoulder.

Marlin recorded the whole fight from his helmet, “I’m as terrified as can be! But crap is this fun to watch!” He said, holding a foam finger with Sadora’s face on it.

“We’ve gotta get the research team out of here,” Cory glanced over to the survivors who huddled together in fear. The rest of the team followed suit except for Marlin who had to be pulled from the action by Hademchuk.

Sadora saw them trying to escape, roaring in annoyance whilst kicking several boulders in their direction. The shockwave casted dust and debris, with the sizeable rocks crushing several of the rescue team members in the process. Sadora swatted away Teresdon who roared is pain as she was once more overpowered by the Fog beast. As Sadora lumbered over to the team, Cory came to his senses and noticed an injured Lyra next to him. Her visor was cracked as he bled from an unseen wound on her forehead. The rest of the team managed to make it to the safety of their jeeps, With Hademchuk and Sapphire searching for the lost team members. Cory shook his comrade, screaming her name as he did so. He looked on in anger at the advancing monster who pinched his claws in anticipation. Cory pulled the Spark lance from his pocket and pressed the switch, enveloping him in light. From a blinding pillar of light came a front kick that sent Sadora onto his back, roaring in surprise. Squaring off to the downed beast was Tiga, his armor shining in the mid-day sunlight.

Holt smirked towards the giant, “It’s about time.”

Twilight looked at the titan in awe, “Is that Ultraman?”

“Where’s Cory and Lyra?” asked Marlin as Hademchuk and Sapphire returned.

“No luck, too many rocks and debris,” Hademchuk replied through winded breath.

Tiga looked to wear EMEP stood, casting something from his hand towards them. The ball of light raced for them at breakneck speed before landing softly, revealing Lyra whose eyes were wide with horror. She sighed in relief after looking herself over, brushing the dust from her uniform.

“Lyra!” Sapphire embraced her, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Did you see Cory anywhere?” Holt asked, holding his gun.
“He was with me when that monster kicked the rock towards us.” Her eyes widened once more at the grim idea of him possibly being crushed, “No, we have to go back there!” she tried to run but Hademchuk held her back, “Lyra will stay! Can’t lose another team member!”

“We have to look, let go!” She thrashed about in his iron grip before making eye contact with Tiga who watched the scene. There was something about his stare that calmed her. She looked into his eyes and felt her muscles relax. Was there something this giant knew that she didn’t?

“Why are you still here?” Cory thought, “Get out of here!” He heard Sadora roar and a barely managed to dodge the beasts claws as it extended its arm towards him. A second extended arm nearly caught him in the chest. Tiga rolled out of the way and fired a hand slicer that cut into Sadora’s hide, making him stumble back.

He heard a low rumbling and looked t his left to see Teresdon’s maw churning with fire, her eyes locked onto him. The stream of nearly white hot flames nearly caught him should he hesitated to bring up his barrier. Another claw from Sadora crashed into his chest, sending him onto his back. He grunted while standing on one knee. His chest heaved as both Kaiju roared in defiance.

The gem on his forehead flashed blue, cascading the same color down his body as the red disappeared. Sadora launched another attack but Tiga swiftly leaped into the air, landing behind him and delivering a side kick that sent Sadora onto his face. He jumped onto Sadora’s back and landed chop after chop to the beast as Teresdon charged. Tiga rolled off Sadora and towards Teresdon who landed an elbow from his right hand a palm from his left, his bodyweight and momentum making the beast double over. Tiga stood up promptly, driving a left elbow into Teresdon’s jaw and a right palm to her throat. She roared in pain as she fell to her back.

Lyra looked on in amazement, “His color changed again,”

Marlin recorded the whole event from his helmet, “Not only that, but his fighting style too. His reflexes have more than tripled”

“Yeah! That’s it!” Hademchuk stomped his hooves, snorting in excitement.

Sadora launched his clawed hand at Tiga once more, only to have the titan grab it and crush the appendage between his elbow and knee, breaking him. Before Sadora could counterattack, Tiga’s chest armor glowed white. Bringing his hands to his chest, he threw his fingertips forward, launching his Tiga guillotine at Sadora. The blade cut through the beast with ease, his body going limp and his head fell to the ground. A familiar rumbling caught Tiga’s attention, and he turned to see Teresdon conjuring up more fire. Tiga brought his fingertips together and then moved his arms back out at the elbow. Light gathered into his color timer as he charged up his Rambolt Light Bomb, casting the energy bolt at Teresdon who stumbled back from the shock. Her eyes glowed yellow as she was blown to pieces, letting out on last roar of surprise before being casted throughout the valley in burnt chunks.

“There’s a finisher in every form he takes.” Holt smiled, “He’s resourceful, I’ll give him that.”

“Yeah, rather than put on a show!” Aurora stood, covered in Teresdon remnants, “Why can’t he just use those, ‘Lasers’, to just kill the damn things to begin with!?”

“Enough,” Holt gestured with a hoof, “We need to do a headcount of the survivors.” His face grew solemn, “Cory has died, lets get a headcount and search for…”

“Heyyy!” called out a familiar voice. The team turned around and saw a bipedal figure standing atop of Sadora’s corpse. It waved to them as smiles spread across their faces.

“Cory!” Lyra called, eyes watering with happiness.

“I’m alright!” he waved. He jumped down from the downed beast and rejoined his team members who play slapped him lightly on his back and shoulders. Holt smirked at him.

“You must have an angel watching over you, or you’re immortal.” He chuckled and patted Cory on the shoulder.

Spike hopped on Lyra’s shoulder, his body still shaking from the adrenaline, “Don’t tell me you missed any of that, I may have peed a little but heck, that was amazing!”

“Had a front row seat hiding over in the rocks,” he stuck his fist out with Spike bumped with his own. The team, Twilight, and Spike laughed together as they walked away from the battlefield. Two more beasts were slain, and the team could sleep a little more peacefully that night.

XXX

In the streets of Canterlot walked a small man amongst the alleyways. At night, he ventured out to spy amongst the sleeping equines and would watch the castle from afar. It had been several days since he reawakened from what he thought would be an eternal slumber. He scratched at the festering acne on his left side, his dry, jagged nails digging into his inflamed and infected flesh.

“Thanatos, was it?” said a voice from behind him. He quickly turned around to see a man standing in the shadows. He could make out what appeared to be a feather headdress. In the dark. The figure stepped out from the shadows, revealing itself to the mysterious man.

“You?” it spoke, it’s voice raspy, “ War Chief Geronimon.”

“It’s been a while, child of Nyx.” Geronimon extended a hand towards the leper.
“What is it that you want?” Thanatos hissed, eyes ablaze, “Do you intend to kill me in this state?”

“My me,” Geronimon put his hand to his chest in feigned innocence, “I simply come to bring you news and ask for your help.”

“Start with the news,” Thanatos looked towards the street, uncertain of the War Chief’s intentions.

“As you may have, or have not heard, the fire thief has returned.”

Thanatos’s eyes were ablaze with rage at the mention of that name, “Prometheus…” he hissed, scratching at his face violently, groaning and grunting in anger as his breaths became raspy and shallow.

Geronimon nodded, “Yes, the titan that has made you what you are. They now refer to him as Ultraman.”

“And for what reason would you need my help? Surely you and your monsters could make short work of him.” Thanatos inquired.

“I ask that you aid me in my plan to rid ourselves of him, once and for all. As you stand now, you are weak. Which is why I am here to make an offer, I will restore you to your youth so long as you use your forbidden demonic powers.”

“You need my power of the Kyrie?” Thanatos scratched his dry neck as he pondered, he did not trust the native American man before him, but if he could have his youth restored, he could wield his power of the Kyrie once more. Once Prometheus was killed, he could get rid of Geronimon as well and rule over even the gods.

His brows furrowed, “You’ll restore to me to what times and Prometheus have stolen?”

“That and more,” Geronimon extended his hand, “You shall become Kyrieloid once more, and wield the greatest power of all titans.” Thanatos looked at Geronimon’s hand, shaking it. The two departed the area as Geronimon glowed, leaving behind the empty alleyway.