Invasion of the Astro Monster: All Out Attack

Chapter 2

Stargazing

The next morning, Princess Twilight Sparkle was on a very dangerous mission. Deep down, she didn't really want to do this. But she knew she had to, for the name of science. If she didn't do this, who knows when an opportunity as good as this shows up again? She swallowed hard, not sure she could go through with it. No, no, she had to. She forced her eyes shut, before knocking her hoof heartily on the door in front of her.

"King Ghidorah!" she called. There were sounds of struggle, as though some titanic struggle were happening inside the room. A crash, a thud, and suddenly the door opened revealing a very disshelved Destroyer of Worlds.

"What is it?" the grouchy dragon asked, eyes opening and closing as he tried to force himself awake. Stupid mornings. As Ghidorah woke up, he realized just who exactly stood in front of him.

"Princess Twilight? Why are you botheri-I mean, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked, voice dripping with sarcasm and malice.

Twilight grinned awkwardly. "I think I may have caught you at a bad time. Do you think you could join me for lunch today in the library? I've been meaning to ask you a few things, and I'd like to have a private discussion about them," she said.

Ghidorah scowled, annoyed to be bothered this early for something so menial. "Very well. I will meet you there," he said.

As far as Ghidorah was concerned, this exchange was over. He slammed the door shut in Twilight's face. Twilight flinched, but remained standing. She smiled to herself. "Well, that went better than expected!" she said, before trotting off back to her room.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Celestia and Luna sat in the throne room, sipping tea. It was a pleasant day outside, with the winter chill kept safely at bay by the glass barriers of the stained-glass windows. The sun's warming rays were obscured by the light gray clouds, and a light breeze caused the temperature to drop. It was cold, but with a light coat, not a problem. "How goes planning for the gala?" Luna asked, admittedly rather bored.

Celestia sipped her cup. "Oh, you know. Same old, same old," she said. "The rich elite want it to stay the same, the younger commoners want something more accessible. Problems trying to please everybody, the works,"

Luna nodded. "So what are you going to do?"

Celestia shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. I figured I'd just have Twilight and her friends figure it out. It's worked before, I'm sure they won't let anybody down,"

Luna made a small sound of approval. "I suppose. What about the kaiju? I imagine they'll be rather difficult to get to the gala. And Ghidorah isn't exactly the social type,"

Celestia nodded in reply. "Indeed. I honestly don't know about the kaiju. Rodan would probably make a mess, or go off and start trouble with Discord. Ghidorah..." she paused. "Ghidorah's his own situation entirely. As good as it may be for his image, I doubt he'd care enough to make an appearance. Biollante may be slightly interested, but probably wouldn't mix well with the guests. Perhaps it would be best if they were simply not a part of it?"

Luna shrugged. "Perhaps. But you know what I think. You can please some ponies some of the time, you can please some ponies all of the time, and you can please all ponies some of the time, but you can't please everypony all of the time,"

Celestia nodded again, sipping her tea. "Wise words, sister. Wise words indeed,"

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King Ghidorah met Twilight in the library. He was late, mostly because he didn't really care. The mare demanded his assistance with some.... actually, he didn't really know what she needed. With something. Whatever, it wasn't like it really mattered.

Twilight was sitting in a large chair, pouring over some large, dusty book. He had no idea what it was about, but frankly that was probably irrelevant. He approached the purple mare. "You desired to see me?' he said.

Twilight looked up, jumping in surprise. "Oh, Ghidorah! Finally, you're late!"

Ghidorah merely grumbled in response.

"Anyway, I'm glad to see you could make it! Please, take a seat!"

Ghidorah looked down at the small chair. That wasn't going to work. He hunkered down next to the chair on the floor, where his considerable bulk was more efficiently supported. "Well? What is it?" he asked.

Twilight leaned forward, her inner scientist gleaming. "What can you tell me about space?"

Ghidorah chuckled, slightly amused.

"Get comfortable. You're going to be here a while," he said.

Twilight simply grinned widely in response. "Is that supposed to be a threat?"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Deep in the void of space, a massive object spun. It was the planet Equus, upon which the ignorant Equestrian civilization blossomed and flourished in bliss. Other species vied for power, but at the moment they were equally as irrelevant as the ponies that dominated the planet. Indeed, the magic of friendship was a powerful weapon. Unfortunately for Equestria, ignorance only lasts so long, and the denizens of this relatively uninteresting planet had no idea that they were now part of something much bigger.

Before any true action could be taken, however, things had to be set in motion. They had been through this before - they knew the steps and motions, and each cog knew its place to make this well-oiled machine dance. A small flare popped in the inky darkness of the void. A smaller, seemingly unnoticeable object began hurtling towards Equus.

Below, on the planet, no one would've believed that they were not alone. That, as ponies and other species went about their petty affairs, they were being scrutinized and studied, as one with a microscope studies the creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. Few even considered the possibility of life outside their home. And yet, across that immense black gulf of space, minds immeasurably superior to theirs regarded Equus with envious eyes. And slowly, and surely, they were drawing their plans against them.