Invasion of the Astro Monster: All Out Attack

Chapter 6

Underbelly

Ghidorah reclined on a comfortable chair in the Canterlot Gardens. Well, it had been a comfortable chair. Until it collapsed. Under his weight. Now he sat, his legs sticking out at an awkward angle, his tails draped under the seat of the chair and splayed out in front of him, and his wings folded in a noticeably uncomfortable position. If anypony had walked by, they would ask why he chose to sit in such a bizarre fashion. Upon receiving no answer, they would realize the depressing truth of the matter. King Ghidorah, famed throughout the galaxy for his prowess in combat and destructive, god-like power, was stuck.

Perhaps he really should go on a diet.

He huffed, musing. It could be worse, he figured. He could be stuck and somepony could be here, making fun of  him. That would be quite embarassing. Or if one of the Princesses saw him like this? Or worse, what about -

"Ghiddy? Is that you?"

Damn. Speak of the devil and he shall come.

"Not now, Rodan," Ghidorah shouted as the pterosaur hovered above him.

Rodan looked at Ghidorah in confusion, not understanding the sight before his eyes. Then, as predicted before, it dawned on him.  A malicious grin crept across his face as he began to snicker. "Don't laugh, you miserable whelp!" Ghidorah shouted.

As if on que, Rodan burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. As a matter of fact, it was so uncontrollable that he promptly fell from the sky and landed in front of King Ghidorah, rolling and clutching his stomach. Ghidorah scowled at him, before returning to... well, one cannot call it "relaxing," because there was nothing relaxing about it. It wasn't "reclining," because the foldable, reclining chair had broken to a point where that was simply impossible. Perhaps the most fitting word would simply be "suspended," because that is what Ghidorah was. And so, ignoring the fairly annoying new arrival, Ghidorah returned to be suspended.

Finally, after calming down, wiping a tear from his eye with a single claw, Rodan addressed King Ghidorah. "Should I even ask how you got in that mess?" he asked.

Ghidorah grumbled. "I may have... sort of... fallen through..."

This only elicited further uproarious laughter from Rodan. "You fat idiot! I can't believe you didn't see that coming!" he shouted.

Ghidorah shot a glare at him with the precision of a sniper. "I don't appreciate comments like that. If you're going to be here, pull up a chair and shut up. I was having a nice moment, regardless of my position. If not, get out of here," he said in an assertive tone.

Calming down, Rodan realized there was no point in further mocking the three-headed kaiju. Sighing contentedly, he found another reclining chair and dragged it next to the wreck of Ghidorah's seat. Now positioned in its proper place Rodan plopped onto the chair and laid back, resting his hands behind his head.

Closing his eyes, Ghidorah's surroundings returned to a state of silence. It was nice. For a while. Rodan, however, was getting antsy. The noise of the other kaiju squirming in his seat filled the air, a deafening cacophony to the ancient dragon. Finally, after what felt like a mere second to Ghidorah but an eternity to Rodan, and was in actuality a space of about half a minute, Rodan spoke and shattered the silence. "So, anything new?" he asked.

Ghidorah sighed, opening his eyes. "No Rodan. Everything is adequate," he said.

Rodan nodded. "Yeah, yeah. That's good, I guess,"

"Mmhmm,"

"Say, Ghidorah?"

"Mm?"

"You remember back in the other place?"

"Mmhmm,"

"And how, like, every once in a while, you'd get mind-controlled by something or other?"

"Mmhmm,"

"Do you remember what any of that was like?"

"Mmnmm,"

"Yeah, I don't either. Hey, remember that time Godzilla and I got sent to Planet X to kick your sorry flank?"

"Mmhmm,"

"But it was really just a trap to mind control us?"

"Mmhmm,"

"Man, that feels so long ago. How time flies, eh?"

"Mmhmm,"

"Um, hello. What are you guys doing?"

The pair's "conversation," if it could be called that, was interrupted by the sudden arrival of another being. Looking up from their seats, the owner of the voice was revealed to be none other than a certain Princess of Friendship.

"Oh, hey Twilight. Ghiddy and I were just chatting, remembering old times and all that stuff. What about you? What're you up to?"

Twilight shrugged. "Nothing much, really. Everypony in Canterlot is getting ready for the Grand Galloping Gala, but all I'm going to have to do is stand next to Princess Celestia and greet ponies. There isn't particularly much for me to do, so I figured I'd take a walk. Why are you two here in the Gardens? And why are you sitting like that, King Ghidorah?"

At that, Ghidorah shot a venomous glare at Rodan, who smirked smugly. "Don't worry about it," he said to Twilight, who remained oblivious to the interaction between the two kaiju.

"Oh, okay then. So, what're you two talking about?"

"Oh, I was just chatting with Ghiddy here about this one time we fought. It was pretty crazy, wasn't it Ghids?"

"Indeed,"

"Oh really?" Twilight asked. "Could you tell me about it?"

Rodan beamed. "Could I? Twilight, I'd love to tell you about it. One of my favorite stories, you know!"

Twilight sat in between the kaiju, listening attentively as Rodan began to tell the tale.

"So, like fifty years ago now, there I was, just having a nice day. I think I was hunting a whale or something. I'm not sure, I lose track. Anyways, it all was good, until one day this flying, saucer-shaped thing showed up. It zapped me with some ray, and I was completely paralyzed!" Twilight gasped at this part. "Luckily, it didn't really hurt, but I couldn't move a muscle. Then I got picked up by the flying saucer, using some sort of force field or something. I don't know, I never listened to the old coot who explained all this technology stuff to us. Anywho, up ahead of me, another of these flying saucer things had done the same to my old buddy Godzilla! They took the two of us into space, and I kinda forget the entirety of this part, but in any case, we ended up being dumped on some dump of a planet. Rocky, dark, dreary, it was a mess, really. And then low and behold, our old pal Ghiddy showed up!"

Ghidorah rolled his eyes. "What Rodan has failed to mention is that I was being mind controlled. On this planet - Planet X, it was called - were a race of beings. They mind-controlled me, then made contact with the humans of Earth in an attempt to 'borrow,' if you will, Godzilla and Rodan. They took the pair of them to Planet X, had them fight me, made me lose intentionally, and then 'returned' them to Earth."

"Wait, what's a human?" Twilight asked.  Ghidorah rolled his eyes again. "Nothing important," he said.

"Hey, I'm the one telling the story, remember?" Rodan interjected. "Anyways, Godzilla and I got taken back to Earth. It was all fine and dandy, until those damn alien bastards started mind-controlling us. I don't' really remember anything after that, until the humans found a way to break the mind control. Then, the three of us were free! And man, Ghidorah was not happy. He threw a fit, tried to kill Godzilla and I, but we beat him and sent him packing into space with both tails between his legs!"

"That's not how it happened, you arrogant liar!" Ghidorah interrupted. "I will have you know that I was quite surprised at suddenly being on Earth again, especially with you and Godzilla before me and ready to fight. They attacked me, and I was so confused I was unable to fight at my full potential. I ended up retreating just to collect my thoughts again," he said.

Rodan rolled his eyes. "Sure, Mr. Destroyer of Worlds. Whatever you say," he retorted.

Twilight, for her part, has having difficulty in absorbing much of the information. "Wait, so there are races in your universe capable of mind-controlling kaiju to do their desires? Even kaiju as strong as King Ghidorah?"

Ghidorah scowled. "As much as I hate to admit it, yes, there are," he said.

Twilight rubbed a chin with her forehoof. "That's fairly concerning. Well, I guess it's a good thing none of them have shown up here yet, huh?" she said cheerily.

For once, Ghidorah actually smiled. "Indeed, Princess. It is a very good thing," he said.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

"I'm home!" Trixie called out, entering the small apartment that served as her abode. She was immediately greeted by a small voice shouting back with a "Yay!" Within a moment, a small purple unicorn came bounding towards her, tackling her to the ground with a strong hug. Trixie landed with a hoof.

"Dinky! Where is your mother?" she asked.

Smiling, the filly responded "She's got overtime! She'll be back home a bit later today!"

Trixie smiled, before standing up. "Well then, I guess she doesn't want any of these muffins, now does she?" she asked, levitating the bag of muffins before Dinky's eyes. The young unicorn smiled wide, her eyes locked onto the bag. "What a shame. Now I don't have anypony to share with!"

"Ooh! Ooh! I want some!" Dinky shouted, positively bouncing with energy.

Trixie grinned, but put the open paper bag onto a table out of Dinky's reach. "Alright then. If you want one, you'll have to get it yourself from this bag using only your magic," she said.

Dinky groaned loudly at that, causing Trixie to raise a hoof. "Now, now, Dinky. You know I promised your mother I'd help you learn how to use magic, and we can't very well do that if you never practice, now can we?" she asked.

Dinky sighed. "No, Ms. Trixie," she said dejectedly.

Trixie smiled. "Good. Now, have you been practicing that levitation spell I taught you?" she asked.

Dinky rubbed her hoof in a slow circle on the ground. "A little..." she said slowly.

"Very well. Now, try levitating a muffin out of this bag and it's all yours,"

Dinky groaned. However annoyed she may have been, though, did not compare to her almost hereditary desire for a muffin. Slowly, her horn sparked to life with an amber glow. The glow flickered, unstable, but Trixie could tell that it was at least functional. Not a moment later, a muffin slowly, strenuously, began to be lifted from the bag, encapsulated in the same glow as Dinky's horn. Trixie beamed as she saw the filly struggling, but succeeding, to lift the pastry. This was a marked improvement from prior attempts at levitation, and Trixie couldn't help but feel proud for her young protege. Finally, as the muffin reached the climax of its ascent, and seeing Dinky struggling to bring it closer, Trixie grabbed hold of it with her own magic, effortlessly floating it into Dinky's waiting hooves.

"You did very well, Dinky. Much better than before, in fact! I'm confident that, in a few months time, you'll be doing things like this as easily as walking or talking!" Trixie said.

Dinky, for her part, was exhausted. Panting, she still smiled. "Thank you, Ms. Trixie. I promise I won't you or mama down!" she said, before grabbing her muffin with her mouth and running off to her room.

Trixie's grin was wide as she saw the filly run off, sighing contentedly. Despite all that she had been through, she had somehow managed to find a place she was happy. She swore to herself that nothing would ever take her from this place.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Scuttle stood before a cave, his solid gold eyes scanning for a certain rock. These caves existed beneath the city of Canterlot, seemingly once serving as mines. Now, however, they were abandoned. They had served as a suitable base of operations, hidden in plain sight as they were. Finding the rock he needed, Scuttle tapped it three times, and it sank below the ground. Upon this, a section of the earth seemed to part, revealing a secret entrance and a stairwell. Going down the metal stairs, Scuttle was surrounded in darkness as the secret entrance closed behind him.

It was not long before the darkness was replaced by a red light. The lighting washed over the colt, revealing a long metallic passage. Walking through, a white light was visible at the end of the tunnel. Finally, he reached it, entering a massive, well-lit room. It was pure white in color, almost sterile in appearance. Silver technology lined the walls, any of their functions entirely unknown to the uninformed observer. Several ponies, all dressed in sterile white coats, manned each station, furiously working away at whatever they worked upon. Sitting in the center of the room was a male unicorn with white fur and a dark black mane and tail. He did not turn to acknowledge Scuttle's entrance, but from the subtle shift in the way he sat Scuttle knew that his presence was known.

"Commander Xander. I bring news," he said.

The white unicorn made no movement, but didn't tell Scuttle anything to the contrary. The orange pony continued. "It would seem that the rulers of this land have kaiju under their control. Just recently, I saw the one from Earth the humans called 'Rodan,' Flying westward. Whatever the cause for this, I can only guess. I recommend we redouble our efforts in bringing our own kaiju to this dimension," he said.

Commander Xander nodded. "I am aware of this," he said simply.

"Give me the word, Commander, and I will send for reinforcements.

The Commander was silent for a moment, before speaking again. "We will wait. The energy required to come here alone was immense, and our forces are not yet capable of a hostile take-over. Our simian allies in the forest will see to it that, when the time comes, the enemy will be unable to stop us. For now, we must only lay low. "

Scuttle bowed his head in supplication. "Of course, Commander. Your word is my command,"

Commander Xander smiled. "And when we arise, nothing will stand in our way."