Godzilla in Equestriaby Algernon97ChaptersAwakening ArrivalShockWeaponryBriefingCounterRepercussionsFirepowerEndgameAfter...Awakening Awakening THE GREAT OCEANIC TRENCH 40 MILES FROM THE EASTERN EQUESTRIAN SHORE Nestled inside a deep scar on the seafloor, he slumbered. If it weren't for the occasional shift or twitch, the leviathan could be mistaken for a rock formation, the jagged plates on his back pointing up towards the surface. His tail, in a reflexive motion, swatted at any creature foolish enough to approach him. As for what exactly he was, that was difficult to say. An evolutionary fluke? A relic from some bygone era? Part of a series of super-predators, only waking when nature was imbalanced? It doesn't matter. He existed, and he was quite content with that. He had existed for a long time, albeit much of that time was spent in his hibernation. And as long as he slept, he was harmless, aside from the rare earthquake caused when he shifted to a better position. Of course, something had to wake him up sooner or later... *** DEEP SEA RESEARCH VESSEL MIR ABOVE THE GREAT OCEANIC TRENCH 1500 HOURS Red Sky was decidedly not enjoying the view as he leaned over the railing and allowed his stomach to empty its contents for the fifth time in seven hours. The grey earth pony, having regained control over his stomach, turned back from the rail and, after cleaning his snout with a hoof, made his way back to the metal door he had thrown open on his sprint to the railing. Closing it behind him, Red made his way back to a small room that he had called home for the past week. When he trotted in, he found a light green pegasus mare with an unkempt brown mane still laughing at him. Red Sky sighed. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up Buzzy," He said. "I'm sorry, it's just, jus- your face, Red, it looks so silly every time!" Pollen 'Buzzy' Bee stammered, trying, and failing, to stop laughing at her roommate's misfortune. Red couldn't quite remember why he was such good friends with her. "I mean really, how the ha-hay have you not gotten your 'sea legs' yet?" She continued. Red waited until she had calmed down before he tried saying anything else. "I'm glad you find my suffering so hilarious, Buzzy, but can we try to continue with what I was telling you before I was-" Red coughed into his fore hoof "-interrupted?" Buzzy, still wearing a grin, said, "Sure. But do you want a barf bag just to be safe?" Red glared at her, before trotting over to a diagram hanging from the wall. The blue sheet represented Red's greatest achievement: A 'submarine', those rare, underwater ships that could, potentially, discover all the secrets that the oceans held. And this was one he had designed himself, capable of going to depths nopony had ever dreamed of. That was why the Mir was above the Great Oceanic Trench at this very moment. And, unfortunately for him, Buzzy was going to be the pilot. It was that or run the risk of getting seasick in the sub's cramped control compartment. "Now, you should know everything about the sub's basic operation, but I haven't gone over the emergency protocols yet." Buzzy gave an exasperated sigh. "I know you're bored by this point Buzzy, but I will not have you fly my baby around and not know every single thing about her. Now then,"- Red pointed at a small weight attached to the bottom of the sub- "this is the escape ballast. Should you find yourself in a situation where you need to surface faster than normal, simply pull this lever," -Red pointed to a lever next to the pilot's seat before letting his hoof fall back to the ground - "and the escape ballast will detach from the sub and allow you to return to the surface at a far faster speed." "Okay, got it...There isn't going to be a test on this, right?" Buzzy asked. "If by test you mean memory recall in the field, then yes, there's a test. Now, I think they should just about have the sub ready. C'mon, let's go see how much you remember," Red said as he trotted out of the room and down the narrow hallway, with Buzzy soon following him. *** While Buzzy was climbing into the egg-shaped vessel hanging from a crane with the help of the Mir's crew, Red Sky was once again bent over the rails, puking his guts out. He turned back, walking over to the bulky machine that, apparently, could transmit his voice down to Buzzy in the sub, and vice versa. Personally, he regretted having to include it in his design, since it only made the sub bigger than it needed to be. Unfortunately, it would be highly impractical, not to mention time-wasting, to use dragons and their special fire spells in this situation, so he was stuck with the huge transmitter. Once Buzzy was inside and the crew had sealed the hatch, Red gave the signal and the sub was released into the water, where it slowly sank out of sight. Red flicked a large switch on the transmitter, and heard static and crackling sounds as the machine warmed up. When the noise became a low hum, he leaned close to his microphone, pushing the 'send' button as he did so, and said, "Everything okay down there, Buzzy? Over." He released the button the second he finished talking like he was told to do. "Yeah, your little dreamboat's working like a charm, over." She replied, using the little code the technician had told them to use, with 'over' meaning a pony had finished talking and was waiting for a response. "How far from the trench do you think you are?" "Honestly, this thing's dropping pretty quick. By the way, did I really need to be lying down for this?" "Yes, and don't worry about the speed of descent. It ought to slow down once you reach the trench." "Right. I'll let you know when I get there, out." And that was it. Buzzy was on her way to the bottom of the Great Oceanic Trench, while Red was stuck up on the ship with nothing to do but watch the transmitter. Well, that and throw up, but he didn't particularly like doing that. It was almost fifteen minutes before Buzzy's voice came through the transmitter, "Hey Red, I'm entering the trench now, over." Red moved back over to his microphone and pushed the button down before speaking. "Well, Buzzy, I think congratulations are in order. I'm pretty sure you just beat every single diving record in existence. What's the trench like?" Red was looking down at the table his microphone was on, wondering what sort of party the crew'd have for Buzzy's new record. "Great, now I'm supposed to say something for the history books, aren't I? Well, I guess I'd like to thank my mom, my dad, and all the good folks in Cloudsdale, or something like that. Oh, and the trench looks strange." "Define 'strange'." "Well, Red, the whole place is empty. I don't think there's a single fish living in this thing." Red flicked his eyes up at that. Surely Buzzy was mistaken, all the research he had done showed that some deep-water fish had to live in the trench. Maybe she just couldn't see out of the tiny windows. "Are you sure about that Buzzy? Or can you just not see anything?" "Red, if I wasn't sure I wouldn't have said there was nothing down here. So yeah, there's nothing down here. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nothing. Wait... Wait a minute."- Buzzy's distorted voice took on a concerned note- "Uh, Red, I just landed on something, and it ain't the bottom of the trench." "What do you mean it isn't the bottom of the trench?" Red forced himself to stay calm. Panic in this situation would not lead to anything good. "I mean whatever I landed on is starting to mo- oh my Celestia! I'm pulling the release lever! Red, get the crew on the crane ready right no-" A brief moment of static, then nothing. "Buzzy? Buzzy, please respond, over." Red started to shiver, and his eyes grew wide. "Buzzy, respond, over!" That was when he heard it. A deep rumbling behind him, growing louder with each passing second. While the crew of the Mir panicked around him, Red Sky turned to see something bigger than anything he could ever imagine violently surface uncomfortably close to the ship. And before he would turn to run for the lifeboat, before he would see a ship of steel snap like a toothpick and before he would struggle to survive in the ocean, he saw something that he would never forget until the day he died. Red Sky saw the square head of a titanic creature, with eyes glowing like fire, its back glowing blue, and its jaws firmly locked around the crushed remnants of an egg-shaped submarine... ArrivalMANEHATTAN DOCKYARDS 1100 HOURS "What do you mean, 'he hasn't sent a report'?" Chalky Sky was not a happy pony. Well, he had been happy, until his brother had failed to send a report from sea for a whole week. If his big brother was anything, he was punctual, and he always sent a report each day at noon, unless he was sick. And even then, Red still sent a report as soon as he could, along with an apology for how late he was. He had only missed one day the previous week, and that was apparently due to some 'teething problems' with that submarine the two of them had built last summer. But a whole week without any reports at all? That just didn't make any sense. "I meant exactly what I just said, Mr. Sky. Red Sky, or, well, anypony on the Mir, has not sent any reports since last week," The brown unicorn droned, more interested in a clump of dust that had somehow appeared on her desk than the grey and blue earth pony standing in front of her little shack. She lazily lifted her head from its balancing point on her right hoof, and said, "The proper authorities have been alerted and are currently searching the area around the Mir's last known location." Chalky snorted, and said, " Okay. So, do you want me to just, I don't know, wait here until they get back?" The mare returned her attention to the odd little clump of dust, and grunted indifferently. It was around this moment that Chalky Sky decided he did not like this mare whatsoever. He placed his fore hooves on the mare's desk, causing her to shift her attention back to him. "Look, I just want to know if my brother's okay. Isn't there something you can do?" Chalky said. "If it really bugs you that much, I'll see if I can send somepony to tell you when the patrol boat gets back." She said, before once again focusing on the dust clump. Chalky took his hooves off the mare's desk, sighing. Clearly he wasn't going to get anywhere by talking to this mare. He turned and walked down the little street between the city of Manehattan and the wooden piers that stuck out into the ocean. He wasn't particularly fond of the city, but it had grown on him since he had moved there to help Red build that submarine. He had a nice little apartment, a construction job with steady pay, and there was that cute waitress in the cafe on seventh street. One of these days he'd work up the nerve to ask her out, and then Red would stop teasing him about it. Or, wait, wouldn't he just move to teasing about Chalky's activities with her? He hadn't thought about that. Chalky also didn't pay much attention to an odd bulge out in the ocean, barely visible even if he had tried to look for it, that was steadily getting bigger and moving closer to the docks. Had he cared, he might have figured that such an oddly shaped wave would reach the shoreline in about an hour. *** MANEHATTAN, DOWNTOWN DISTRICT 1200 HOURS Chalky sat on the old brick sidewalk, leaning against the wall of some office building. He made a mental note not to run the entire length of the city next time he wanted to exercise. He had, in a fit of sheer brilliance, run from the dockyards to his apartment complex, and then straight to downtown, without any breaks. It was a wonder he hadn't keeled over from exhaustion. On the plus side, he had finally figured out what he would say to the waitress the next time he saw her. Now if he could just figure out how to deflect Red's innuendos he'd be fine. Chalky was so focused on what Red would say and how he'd respond that he didn't notice the slight tremors going through the ground. He did notice, however, the countless ponies screaming behind him, in the general direction of the dockyard, followed by the sound of a building collapsing. Ponies started running around him, flocking towards the edges of the city. He slowly turned around, and immediately wished he hadn't. He saw something, he wasn't sure what, moving in a debris cloud. It was taller than the biggest skyscraper he had ever seen. It surged forward, and nudged said skyscraper with a short forearm. And Chalky saw the Glass Tower, the crown jewel of Equestrian architecture, the tallest building in the world, destroyed by this behemoth in a motion akin to a pony swatting a fly. Chalky froze up, eyes wide and mouth open in shock. He had to move, he knew that in order to survive he needed to move. Everypony else was galloping as fast as they could, all trying to get away from the monster shrouded in smoke. He had to do the same. He had to. He needed to move. He needed to move right now! But his hooves refused to listen to his brain, and he remained rooted in place. The beast moved out of the smoke, and Chalky's brain neatly shut down, the only thought coming to mind now being the word 'dinosaur'. And then it leaned its head forward, opened its maw that looked big enough to swallow the sun, and roared. Chalky felt the thick, humid air blast him for what felt like an eternity, and was fairly certain that a warm liquid was now running down one of his rear hooves. Once more, he ordered his body to move. And once more, his hooves refused to obey. The titan was moving towards him now, the ground lurching with each step the monstrosity took. His eyes slowly moved up as the creature towered over him. For some reason, he thought of the mare at the dockyard. There was a moment of intense agony, and then Chalky Sky was no more. Shock35 MILES FROM THE EASTERN EQUESTRIAN SHORE 1130 HOURS Red Sky hated lifeboats. He despised them, not because they had crackers made out of cardboard for a food supply, not because the amount of fresh water in those supplies was so small, and not because they had no cover from the blistering heat. No, he hated the lifeboat he was in because it would not stop rocking back and forth. Though he supposed that those other points were definitely valid reasons to hate lifeboats. The last week had been the worst one of his life, by far. He was completely alone in a small boat in the middle of the ocean, with no way of telling how far he was from land, and with the knowledge that something had come out of the water, had killed one of his friends, destroyed his life's work, and snapped a state-of-the-art ship like it was made of balsa wood. A small portion of his time adrift had been spent trying to figure out just what that thing was. A dragon? Well, that might be, but to his knowledge dragons didn't live underwater or have their backs glow blue when they breathed fire. A dinosaur? But how would it have survived so long if that were the case? Some freak of nature Discord had created? That was entirely possible, but surely it would've popped up before now... He had gone through this little guessing game for a day before he ran out of ideas. Then he actually thought about what had happened. His good friend Buzzy, whom he'd known since his days in the university, was gone. Not on vacation. Not visiting her parents. Gone. He knew it wasn't his fault, after all, nopony knew what would be down in the trench, but Goddesses did it feel like he had sent Buzzy to her death. The ponies on the Mir might be gone. He didn't really know for sure. All he knew was that he wanted to go home. He wanted to talk to Chalky, to joke around with his little brother like he always did. Tell him how right he was not to go on this trip. Tease him about his crush on that waitress. Hay, he wanted to drink a cup of the coffee they served at that cafe. He wanted to sleep in the fold-out bed he had in his apartment. Red wanted to go see that musical on Bridleway he had heard so much about. He wanted to do anything other than lie in the bottom of a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. But the fact remained that he was lying in a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. He was going to be in that boat for days. And, he had realized, if he ever wanted to see Chalky and do any of those things, he needed to buck up and survive long enough for a rescue team to come and find him. So he had rationed his supplies, and had kept a constant watch for any sign of a passing ship, keeping the small flares from the boat's supply chest close to him at all times. And his vigilance payed off today. Because today, he saw the sleek form of a patrol boat a short distance away. *** PATROL BOAT 24109 20 MILES FROM THE EASTERN EQUESTRIAN SHORE 1245 HOURS "So, you're telling me you saw a gigantic, black, lizard-thing with glowing scales sticking out of its back, it breathed a jet of blue fire, and that's what destroyed the Mir?" "Yes, captain, that's right...Are you sure you haven't seen any other lifeboats?" Red asked the orange and blue pegasus sitting at the opposite end of the small table inside the patrol boat's cabin. The captain responded, "No, Mr. Sky. Your lifeboat is the only one we've found this whole week. I'm sorry, but we've searched the entire area where the Mir went down." Red's eyes looked at the floor, and his ears drooped back. He had hoped that at least some of the ponies on the ship had made it. Now that he knew he was the only survivor... His eyes snapped back up to look at the pegasus. He'd missed a question. "I'm sorry sir, could you repeat that?" The captain sighed. "I said, are you absolutely certain about what you saw? It sounds a bit far-fetched to me." Red was starting to get annoyed with how many times the captain had asked him about the monster. There were only so many ways he could say it. Red wondered if the stallion across from him was hard of hearing. "Yes. I am absolutely, one hundred percent sure about what I saw. I thought we established that some time ago. Now, can we please talk about something else?" "Certainly. Since you're the only pony to survive, I think you'd better talk to a psyc-" A unicorn stallion ran into the room, stopping once he was next to the captain. Hastily performing what even Red would call a sloppy excuse for a salute, he stammered out, "Cap-ptain Ironclad, s-sir, you, uh, y-you may want to, uh, take a look at this," The stallion levitated a small scroll he had with him over to Ironclad. Red looked on as Ironclad's eyes rapidly moved left to right, growing wider as they flicked from line to line. Ironclad hoofed the paper back to the unicorn, thanking him, before the unicorn left the room just as quickly as he had appeared. Captain Ironclad returned his attention to the now thoroughly confused Red Sky. "Well, Mr. Sky, it seems like this, ah, 'monster' of yours has attacked the city of Manehatten." Red's eyes almost popped out of his head. *** MANEHATTAN DOCKYARDS 1400 HOURS Ironclad, now wearing the armor issued to him by the military, led Red Sky onto the one pier that wasn't a pile of crushed planks littering the water around the patrol boat. They, along with the twenty or so ponies from the crew, started walking into the devastated city. Once he was on the little street the docks were next to and saw the ruins of Manehattan, Red's mind finally caught up with what was happening and he frantically asked the captain, "Where's the refugee camp you mentioned?" Ironclad looked at the nervous earth pony, and said, "It's downtown, by the Bridleway theaters, wh-" Red galloped off into the city, ignoring the shouts of the soldiers as he weaved his way through a literal concrete jungle. The streets were covered with all manner of debris, and Red had to take an extensive detour around the top half of the Glass tower, now lying across several streets and carving its way into an apartment complex. He didn't feel the broken glass embedding itself into his hooves. Nor did he care that several of the buildings he ran by were missing large chunks of their foundation. The only thing he was thinking about was that he had to get to that camp, as fast as he could. He passed the apartment building he called home, now little more than a crater with some piles of bricks in four spots. He passed the little cafe on seventh street, a short, friendly little beacon amidst the destruction, somehow standing in pristine condition. He turned the corner, and found himself on main street, with the Bridleway theaters in sight. In front of the theaters there were rows upon rows of white tents, the refugee camp that he was looking for. He slowed to a brisk trot as he entered the camp, looking for someone in charge. He moved down the rows, apologizing to anypony he knocked aside in his haste. Eventually he came across a square tent larger than the others, and stepped inside it, figuring it would be where the ponies in charge would be. Once he was inside, he froze. Two rows of cots were laid out in front of him, all filled with the forms of injured ponies. The ones that didn't have missing limbs or hooves set in casts were burned beyond recognition. And the noise, sweet Celestia, the noise! He hadn't heard it before walking in thanks to the bustle of the refugees outside, but inside this, this field hospital... He would've immediately left the horrid place had he not seen the brown unicorn mare in a nurse's uniform tending to them. Red steeled himself, and walked towards her. She turned her head when she heard his hoofsteps, and when she spotted him she turned to face him. "C-can I help you, sir?" Red paused, feeling an odd stinging in his hooves, and said, "Yeah, I'm Red Sky," - The mare's eyes widened- "and I'm looking for my brother, Chalky. I was wondering if, uh, you'd seen him anywhere?" The stinging sensation in Red's hooves was getting worse. The unicorn's mouth opened and closed for a few seconds, and then she said, "I-I'm sorry sir, but...Chalky Sky died in the attack. I-I saw it happen while I was running from the monster..." Red's mouth slightly opened, and his rear hooves slid out from under him. He said, in a wavering tone, "What?" "I...I said Chalky Sky's dead." Red stared at the tent wall behind the nurse. His mind was on the verge of a total collapse. Chalky was dead. His little brother was dead. The little foal who used to build model skyscrapers out of toothpicks and earned his cutie mark helping Red build a boat. The colt who had been so proud of working on a real skyscraper not three weeks ago, who could never work up the nerve to ask out that waitress. Dead. Red could feel his eyes watering. He blinked, and felt the tears roll down his face. He didn't care about the stinging in his hooves anymore, not even when the brown unicorn gasped at the glass sticking out of his bleeding hooves and led him to a cot. All he could think about as he lay there was the fact that if he had never designed that stupid submarine, that abomination never would have been found, and his little brother would still be alive... WeaponryMANEHATTAN, DOWNTOWN DISTRICT (REFUGEE CAMP) 1450 HOURS "What's wrong with him?" "He, uh, he had pieces of glass stuck in his hooves, sir." "Can he walk?" "I suppose, but I wouldn't recommend it." "Duly noted." Red felt somepony prodding his side with their hoof. He ignored it, keeping his eyes shut. After the fifth prod, he realized that whoever it was wasn't going to go away anytime soon. He cracked his eyes open to see an armored pegasus standing next to his cot. It took him a moment to realize it was captain Ironclad, who looked rather irritated for some reason. "Get up," Ironclad ordered. Somepony behind him, a mare if the voice was anything to go by, started to protest before Ironclad snapped his head around. Whoever it was stopped talking immediately, and Ironclad's head snapped back to look at Red. Red's bloodshot eyes blankly stared at Ironclad, before Red moved to place his bandage-covered hooves on the pavement serving as the tent's floor. All four of his hooves burned when he shifted his weight, but he ignored it and stood next to the cot, facing Ironside. "New orders came in. Any military units on the ground are getting transferred to deal with that monster. Command wants to talk to you for some reason, and we need to be there yesterday. Get anything you want to take and meet me outside." Ironclad trotted out of the tent. Red saw that the brown unicorn who had patched up his hooves had moved on to helping another patient. She didn't turn to look at him. Red slowly cantered down the space between the two rows of cots filled with crippled or burned ponies. With each step, a sharp pang ran up his hooves. It wasn't really that bad, though. It was more of a dull, constant sensation that never really went away. He exited the tent and found Ironclad waiting for him. The captain started walking, and Red followed him, paying more attention to his hooves than the pegasus in front of him. Ironclad spoke first, "Any particular reason you ran off into a crumbling city like a bat out of tartarus? Or do you just have a death wish?" Red looked up, and muttered, "My brother lived here." "Oh. Did you find him?" Red didn't answer. Ironclad paused, looking back at Red. The earth pony's face told him all he needed to know. "I'm sorry." Neither pony said anything else. Ironclad started walking again. The two of them walked through the camp, Ironclad clearing a path through the refugees with Red following behind him. When they were out of the camp, the fallen bricks and grit cracking under their hooves, Red finally spoke again. "Where are we going?" "Train station. A unicorn's going to teleport us to a position southwest of Neighagra Falls. That monster's heading straight for Canterlot, and the military's hoping to intercept it before it gets there." "Canterlot?" Red was now focused on the captain. If that thing got to Canterlot...Red didn't want to think about that. "Yeah. Canterlot. Estimates say it'll get there in about five days." "Okay...And why do I need to go, again?" "Dunno. The message only said the ponies in charge wanted to talk to you," -Ironclad turned around a street corner and quickened his pace- "and there's the train station. Let's go." Red followed Ironclad up the steps leading into a squashed, crumbling building that had once been the train station. Inside, he saw that the ceiling had been smashed in, leaving the floor covered with steel cross beams and glass, while light shone through the eviscerated skylights above. Memories stirred in his head. This was where he had welcomed Chalky to the city. Chalky had looked like a foal in a candy shop, staring at the way the metal beams curved up into crosses and semi-circles filled with panes of glass. And now, like him, it was gone. Red was brought out of his memories by Ironclad waving him over to some unicorns by the platforms. He trotted over to them, starting to realize that he was about to go through teleportation. For a moment, he wondered what that would be like. *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NEIGHAGRA FALLS 1510 HOURS Red Sky decided that he did not like having every molecule in his body disintegrated and then re-integrated at the speed of light. The process could best be summed up by him standing in the station in front of a unicorn, then seeing a bright flash, followed by excruciating pain in every part of his body and the disturbing sensation of everything inside him being ripped apart and reassembled at the same time before a loud pop!, and he found himself in the middle of a camp filled with soldiers. He decided that, in the future, he'd stick to trains. He stopped wobbling on his hooves and looked around. He was currently in the center of a large field, surrounded by boxy tents and what must have been hundreds of armored ponies playing cards, reading, moving crates around, chatting with each other, and one group being trained how to defend themselves from fresh fruit. He had to look back at that last one just to confirm it, wondering just what that had to do with anything at all, and if the soldier's expressions were any indication, he wasn't the only one. He almost forgot that Ironclad had been with him when the captain said, "The generals' tent is this way." Ironclad started trotting off to the left, and Red had to run for a moment in order to catch up with him. The constant sting in Red's bandaged hooves grew to a burning sensation before he matched Ironclad's pace and walked next to him. As they walked along, passing by soldiers preparing for the inevitable fight against that creature, Red couldn't help but feel out of place. Here he was, a designer of marine craft in the midst of the entire Equestrian armed forces. His mind tried to come up with some possible reason for the military to be interested in him. He had designed some of the ships the Royal Navy used, and had written a few papers for them, that much was true, but never anything he had thought would be important enough to warrant him being involved in an actual operation. Except for that one certain...project he had been in. But that was shelved many, many years ago, with everypony on that project sworn to never continue it, or even talk about it. Surely they wouldn't be willing to use it. Then again, that was the only real reason why they might want to talk to him. Ironclad stopped in front of a large, drab green tent. He told Red, "Wait here." And then he went into the tent. A few seconds later, and he opened the tent flap up, telling Red to get in. Red walked in, and saw a group of three ponies in non-armored uniforms discussing something over a table inside. Red figured they had to be the generals. A white unicorn on the right side of the table said, "I say we move now. Swarm the head with the thirteenth to sixteenth to confuse it, then topple it with a ground assault led by the first and fifth, with the ninth and tenth providing support." A brown earth pony on the left side of the table said, "If we do that we'll lose all the pegasi. No, I think we should wait for the eighth artillery to get here. Use the seventh, ninth, and tenth to lay down a constant barrage of spells and support the cannons. That way we'll be able to take it out from a safe distance." "The eighth isn't going to get here for two days! Do you want us to just sit around with our hooves up our plots while that thing -" The unicorn was interrupted by the third pony, a tan pegasus, clearing her throat. She had seen Red and Ironclad entering the tent. "Captain Ironclad, that's this Red Sky we've been asking for, right?" Ironclad nodded, "Yes ma'am." "Good. That will be all, captain. You," -she pointed at Red with her hoof for emphasis- "come here." She gestured to the empty spot at the table. The other two had finally noticed the two ponies that had entered their tent, looking over at them. Ironclad saluted, then turned around and trotted out of the tent. Red hesitantly walked up to the table, and sat at the empty spot. The table had a map on it, along with some folders on each pony's side, except Red's. The pegasus spoke first. "Now then, Red, may I call you Red?" -Red nodded, while the generals each opened one of their files and started reading. The pegasus looked at Red after glancing at the file- "You designed four ships for the Royal Navy, and three submarines on your own, the latest of which you tested one week ago, correct?" Red nodded. She glanced at the file again before asking him, "You were part of the team assigned to the Manehattan Project before it was discontinued roughly fifteen years ago, were you not?" Again, Red nodded, afraid of where the conversation was going. The unicorn to his right asked him, "Do you remember the details of it?" "I remember some government representatives coming to my apartment and asking me if I'd be interested in working on something that could change the world. They took me to the royal castle in Canterlot, where I met five other ponies who designed or built things for the Royal Military. We were told very little about what we were making, but the bits of information we did get made it sound like something that nopony in their right mind would ever make. But if we asked Princess Celestia about it whenever she came down to the labs to check on us, she'd always change the subject to, cake, or something, and never responded to any letter we wrote about it. And when we had finally figured out how to build it after oh, five years, right after Princess Luna returned, both of them came down to the lab one day and told us that the project was scrapped. They said there was no further use for it, and practically threatened all of us with imprisonment if we ever told anypony about it." The pegasus said, "Are you aware of what this 'device', as you call it, would do if it were complete?" "No. That was one of the many questions we asked the princess." The three generals glanced at each other, before they closed their files. The earth pony said, "That 'device' was a weapon conceived for the chance of the elements of harmony failing to pacify Princess Luna. The proper term for the concept is 'megaspell'. If the elements had failed, and you had figured out how to build it, it would have been set off in the Everfree. The resulting blast would have wiped the entire forest and the nearby town of Ponyville from history and left a wasteland behind." Red felt panic start to take over. That was what that thing was for? Goddesses, no wonder the princesses wanted to keep it a secret. But that left a few unsettling questions... "Why are you asking me about this? I mean, for the love of Celestia, Luna, and Faust, you're not seriously considering using it against that thing, are you?" The pegasus simply looked at Red, and said, "We're asking you, Red, because out of the six ponies on that team, you're the only one that wasn't at a formal party in the Glass Tower's observation deck today. Consequently, you're the only one not dead or in the hospital, and still capable of working. As for the use of the megaspell against the target, if we can't stop it with any other method by the fourth day, yes. We fully intend to use it." BriefingEQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, COMMAND TENT 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NEIGHAGRA FALLS 1540 HOURS Red Sky had to put his fore hooves on the table to keep himself from falling over. Even though it sounded like a last resort, the very thought that this 'megaspell' device was even considered for use terrified him. And then he realized something: If the other ponies from the team were dead or in the hospital that meant... "Red, we have one of our best scientists trying to finish the megaspell as we speak, but she needs help in order to meet the deadline. We want you to help her complete it. After all, you should know it better than anypony else." Red looked at the pegasus across from him, horrified. He opened his mouth to say 'no', but the unicorn to his right, wearing a smug grin, spoke first. "Before you say anything, Red, I think I should explain what Ms. Point isn't telling you. You see, our pony simply will not be able to complete the megaspell without help from somepony who's already worked on it and knows everything about it. Now, if we have to force you to do it at spear-point, believe me, that's exactly what will happen. So, what do you say?" "I...I don't have much of a choice do I? ...Fine, I...I'll help you build it." The pegasus, Point, grinned. "Good. Now, here" -General Point pushed one of her files, bigger than the rest, over to Red- "are the notes from the Manehattan Project. The megaspell is being developed in the large tent with hazard markings on it. Turn right once you're out of this one and keep going until you see it. That will be all." Red took the file, holding it in his mouth, turned around, and trotted out of the tent. The moment he was out, the generals started talking. The brown earth pony said, "West, I don't care how close that thing gets to Canterlot, I'm not changing my mind." West Point looked down at the map on the table, moving her hoof to a small town between Manehattan and the camp's position. She tapped the name with her hoof, before saying, "Pat, do you see this spot? This little town, 'Hollow Shades'? My parents live there. And right now, that monster is razing it. Do you think it'll stop once it gets to Canterlot? Without the Princesses there, it'll tear the place clean off the mountain. What happens if we can't stop it with anything other than the megaspell? Do you want us to just sit and watch it run wild across the country?" "Have you ever stopped to consider what would happen if the megaspell doesn't kill it? We could cause the worst ecological disaster in history, and still have a monster tearing the country apart!" Before West Point could reply, the unicorn to her left said, "General Patter, surely you realize that if we can't kill it in four days, then we're just going to use the megaspell, regardless of your concerns. Honestly, you should just agree to it so we can do it without all this hassle. The Princesses' orders clearly state-" "I know what our orders are, you arrogant twit!" -Patter was leaning over the table, practically yelling in the unicorn's face- "And I don't care if you're her nephew, if you try to tell me how to do my job one more time, I swear I'll-" Pat was interrupted by West Point pushing him back to his side of the table. She said, "Pat. Calm down. If any of the soldiers out there overheard us fighting like foals..." Patter glared at the unicorn, then, turning to West, he said, "I'm calm. I'm calm. It's just..." Patter glanced over at the unicorn, then trotted to a corner of the tent a short distance from the table. West Point followed him, leaving the white unicorn at the small table. When she was standing next to him, Patter said in a low voice, "West, I've been through a lot in my career. Desert foxes in Zebrica, hydras, the changelings, and now this thing. I can deal with that stuff, it's part of the job. But putting up with him"-Pat tilted his head in the direction of the table, where the unicorn was trying to clean Patter's spit off his brand new uniform- "is driving me insane. Does he really need to be here?" West said, "Yes. You know how the Princesses are always trying to get him to do something important. I don't like it any more than you do, but we're stuck with him." "Yeah, 'stuck with him' sounds about right. Hey, why don't we-" "Believe me, I already tried to get him transferred to Canterlot, but apparently one of the ponies in charge of the defenses there hates him more than you do. She sent the transfer request back with the word 'no' stamped all over it, and also wrote that sending him there would be 'the worst possible thing'." Patter sighed, "Great. Figures we're stuck with him. My mane's going to turn white by the end of this week, I just know it..." "At least he's not completely incompetent at strategy. C'mon, he's probably starting to think we're plotting an assassination or something." "Fine. But he stays out of the briefings." The two of them trotted back to the table, and sat at their respective positions. The white unicorn, having cleaned his uniform to his liking, said, "I'll just pretend that whole mess didn't happen. Now then, shall we continue discussing plans for the attack?" *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, MEGASPELL DEVELOPMENT TENT 4 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1550 HOURS Red Sky found the large tent with hazard markings rather easily. He ducked inside, and found several tables arranged in a square around a central workbench, along with two cots, one on each side of the tent. While the tables in the outer square held what must have been millions of spare parts, the central workbench held the megaspell device. It looked like someone had taken a large pipe,sawed the top half off and set it to the side, added a cone to the front, and a box kite to the back. But the inside seemed...different from what Red remembered. A pink and blue unicorn was standing in front of the workbench, using both magic and hooves to work on the guts of the device. Occasionally, she would stop and float a notebook in front of her, before she continued her work. Red set the file he had down on the nearest table, wiping any spit from his mouth off of it, and coughed to get the pink unicorn's attention. The unicorn twisted her head around, and Red saw that the pony had an eyepatch over her right eye. The unicorn waved Red over to the workbench, then continued her work. Red trotted through a gap in the outer square of parts-tables, and moved to where he was standing next to the mare. The pink and blue unicorn, still focused on the megaspell, said, "I'm very busy. What is it you want?" "I'm Red Sky. I was told you needed-" Red was cut off by the unicorn putting down her tools and turning to face him, saying, "Apologies, I didn't recognize you. You're the one who was on the Manehattan project and designed the megaspell, yes?" "Uh...Yeah, I helped design it...and you are...?" "Ah, where are my manners? I'm Seri. It will be an honor to work with you, Mr. Sky." "Just...Just call me Red, okay?" Seri nodded.The eyepatched pony levitated her notebook over to Red. "These are my notes on the megaspell. I believe you'll want to look over them." -Red sat down and grabbed the notebook with his hoof- "I have done some calculations based on the megaspell's projected power, and I've reached a disturbing conclusion. I'm afraid that the megaspell, as currently designed, will not be enough stop Gojira." *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT 4 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1600 HOURS Captain Ironclad was sitting in the large field just outside the camp. Around him, sitting in disorganized rows, were the armored pegasi of the Royal Air Corps. Ironclad had been reassigned to the thirteenth squadron, comprised of twelve ponies, including himself. Along with some other units, his squadron had marched out to this field, where a large projection screen had been set up, along with a makeshift stage. The only things missing from the briefing were the generals themselves. Ironclad looked around at the ponies in his squadron. Due to a rank difference between forces, he now held the title of 'group captain', which meant he was now the leader of the the eleven pegasi clustered around him. Ironclad was starting to miss his patrol boat... Two of the generals, a brown earth pony and a tan pegasus, generals Patter and West Point, trotted out of the camp and onto the small stage in front of the soldiers. Any idle chatter in the group stopped instantly. General West Point trotted out to one side of the stage, just a little bit to the right of the screen. General Patter trotted to the opposite side of the screen and nodded to somepony in the back. Ironclad heard a small click, and the screen lit up with a slightly fuzzy photograph of the beast as it lumbered away from Manehattan. It was the first time Ironclad had actually seen the creature, a towering, pitch-black leviathan with jagged white spines jutting out of its back and tail. General West Point said, "Ladies and gentlecolts, this" -West Point pointed at the picture on the screen- "is the creature responsible for the attacks on Manehattan and Hollow Shades, code named 'Godzilla'. At this time, it is heading straight for Canterlot. It will take Godzilla five days, including today, to reach the city at its current pace. Under normal circumstances, the Princesses would deal with a threat like this. Unfortunately, they're mediating negotiations between two warring states in Zebrica. The 'heroes of Equestria', as the media likes to call them, are split between the Crystal Empire, the badlands, and Canterlot. They will not be able to assemble before Godzilla reaches the capital. Discord is assisting the rescue teams sift through the ruins in Manehattan and Hollow Shades, and will also be unable to intercept Godzilla in time. Therefore," -West Point nodded at the pony behind Ironclad's group, and the picture slid to the right, replaced by a map covered with arrows, blocks, and a red line- "we are all that stands between Godzilla and Canterlot. When Godzilla reaches this valley," -West Point pointed at a spot on the red line- " at 1800 hours, we attack. "Welcome to Operation Anguirus." *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, MEGASPELL DEVELOPMENT TENT 4 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1600 HOURS Red fumbled with Seri's notebook, having nearly dropped it at her statement. When he was certain he wasn't going to drop it, he asked, "What do you mean, 'it's not enough to stop Godzilla'? And why are you calling it 'Godzilla'?" "I mean that as it is currently designed, and from what I can tell about Gojira, the megaspell will not be able to kill it. As for the second question, I said 'Gojira', not 'Godzilla'. And in my country there is an ancient legend about a monster that rose from the depths to destroy an arrogant pony's empire. This creature roughly fits the description of the beast in the story, so I named it after the legend: 'Gojira'." Seri started working on the megaspell again, using her magic to float the tools in place and make adjustments to the bomb's insides. Red put her notebook down on the workbench, and said, "In your country?" "Neighpon." "Oh..." Red looked around, the conversation ending in an uncomfortable silence. Seri's eye glanced at him, before she said, "Are you going to help me or not?" Red jumped a little, and said, "Y-yes. Yes I am...I've got some notes around here..." Red trotted over to the table near the tent's entrance, grabbed the folder he had, and returned to the workbench. He put the folder down on the workbench, placing it on the mostly empty side. Seri looked at the large folder, pausing her work, and said, "Those are your notes?" "Yeah." "May I?" "Sure, go ahead." Seri pulled the folder closer to her, opened it, and then floated several of the documents inside it in the air around her. She examined them as they floated by her head, her eye narrowing in concentration. Red took the opportunity to check the inside of the megaspell device. The bits and pieces inside it looked...different from how he remembered the design. In addition to the small wires, containers, and the timer, there was an odd, unfinished thing that looked like a tube with a large bulb in the middle of it. Curious, he moved closer to get a better look at the thing. The bulb looked like it had a crease in its center, and now Red could see there were some small tanks attached to the pole. "Do. Not. Touch. That." Red's head shot up to see the eyepatch-wearing unicorn looking at him from her position on the opposite side of the workbench. The folder had all the documents back in it, and was floating by Seri's head. Her expression was a mixture of concern, anger, and terror. Red glanced down at the bomb's innards, confused. He looked back up at Seri. "Why, what is it?" Seri placed the folder on the workbench. She leaned over the bomb, her eye narrowing at Red. "It's why I can't complete the megaspell without your help. And right now, that's all you need to know." CounterEQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, THIRTEENTH ROYAL AIR CORPS SQUADRON TENT 4 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1730 HOURS Ironclad was sitting on one of the twelve cots inside the small tent. The other members of the squadron were playing a card game behind him. For what felt like the millionth time, he went over the plan in his head. Along with three other squadrons, his group would lie in wait atop the clouds in the valley to the east. When Godzilla entered the area, they would dive and attack, hopefully blinding it with their spears. After that, they would try to cover a ground-based effort to topple the beast. Of course, a plan never went right. So, Ironclad had spent some time going over the many ways this plan could go belly-up. It hadn't been a pleasant way to spend the time, but he had abysmal luck when it came to poker. So, not having much else to do, he had gone over to his cot, and thought about the plan. His mind was coming up with the three-hundredth possible way for the plan to fail when somepony trotted next to his cot and said, "You're a terrible poker player, you know that?" Ironclad turned his head to the right to see a yellow pegasus sitting down on the cot next to his own. The yellow pony continued, "I mean, I thought I was bad at poker, but you, you take the cake, sir. I don't think I've ever seen anypony bust out less than a minute after the start of a game. Name's Lucky, by the way. Sergeant Lucky Strike." Lucky lifted a hoof, holding it in front of Ironclad. Ironclad hesitantly brought his own hoof up to meet it, and shook hooves with Lucky. Ironclad, smirking, said, "Your name's 'Lucky', but you're a bad poker player?" Lucky grinned, and said, "My mother was one of those ponies who go out of their way to avoid black cats and ladders, sir. Thought naming her son Lucky'd give him some sort of protection. Long story short, it ain't come close to doing that." "Fair enough. What's on your mind, sergeant?" "Well, sir, it's this mission. It.." -Lucky's grin vanished, replaced by a fearful look- "I've got this really bad feeling about it. Like...like it's going to be the last time I fly, sir." Lucky said. Ironclad hesitated before saying, "Well...What makes you say that?" "Can't rightly say, cap. It's just this...feeling in my bones, or something. Don't really know what to do about it. I was kind of wondering if you had any advice." "Well, sergeant, I can guarantee you that I will do everything in my power to keep everypony in this squadron alive. Maybe you should try thinking about something else in the meantime...you have a family?" "Yes sir. Got a wife and two foals." "Well, try thinking of them instead of that, uh, 'feeling'. Will that be all, sergeant?" "Yeah, I think so sir. Thank you, sir." And with that, Lucky Strike got up and left the tent. Ironclad looked back over at the ten ponies playing poker in groups. It'd be difficult to keep that promise, he thought. On a patrol boat, he could make that kind of promise and keep it, thanks to the relatively low-risk jobs facing patrol boats. But now, he'd be leading these ponies straight towards a giant monster that had leveled Manehattan. A very high risk job, for sure. "Uh, cap?" Ironclad turned his head back to see Lucky coming back into the tent. He had a pair of mailbags draped across his back. "Yes, sergeant?" "Well, before I go deliver the mail for the squad,can I ask a favor?" Ironclads eyes slightly narrowed in confusion. He said, "Sure..." "You got any family, cap?" "Yes, why?" Lucky trotted back into the tent, sitting on the cot next to Ironclad's. Lucky said, "Well, here's what I'd like for you to do. If this feeling of mine turns out to be true, would you...would you tell my wife what happened?" -Lucky took a small piece of metal hanging off a wire tied around his neck, and hoofed it over to Ironclad- "I know it probably won't happen, but, y'know, just in case..." The small, metal tag would tell who somepony was, where they were from, and their service number. The sole reason for their existence was to help identify bodies, and locate the pony's next of kin. Ironclad hesitated for a moment, then reached up and took the tag, saying, "Sure." *** VALLEY TWO MILES NORTHWEST OF HOLLOW SHADES 4 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1750 HOURS Ironclad, along with the thirteenth squadron, stood ready atop the clouds. The armored pegasi had one spear strapped to their sides, and a small sword holstered beneath their spear. It was utterly silent, anxiety spread throughout the entire squad. Ironclad looked side to side, making sure that the three other squadrons were in position. He moved to the edge of the cloud, where sergeant Lucky was lying, binoculars pressed up against his eyes. Ironclad lay down next to him, whispering, "Any sign of it?" "No, sir." Lucky didn't take the binoculars away from his eyes for a second. "Be sure to let us know when you see it." Ironclad got back up, and moved back to where he had been standing. Sergeant Lucky Strike slowly moved the binoculars from side to side, scanning the forest below and in front of them for any sign of Godzilla. At first, Lucky thought that something as big as the creature would be spotted instantly, no matter how far away it was. Now, though, with the sun nearly setting and painting everything in a golden shine, he found that little theory proven false. The fact that the monster had churned up a huge dust and debris cloud that obscured half the forest probably had something to do with it. He slowly moved his magnified gaze to the left, watching the dust cloud. Dust...dust...debris....dust...Wait... He snapped his gaze back to the right, seeing the dust swirling around, being kicked up by something. Something really, really big. A shape started to form. An impossibly tall, upright shape, moving towards the edge of the dust with thunderous booms accentuating each step. And then Lucky could actually see it. The titan, with pitch-black scales covering it, bone-like spines jutting out of the back, surging forwards. Lucky dropped the binoculars, slack-jawed at the sheer power the thing carried. That distressing feeling from earlier returned to him in full force. He turned his head back to the ponies behind him. He said, "Captain. It's here." Ironclad zoomed forward to the edge of the cloud, along with the ten other pegasi in the thirteenth. The leviathan lumbered out of the dust cloud, crushing massive clusters of trees with each step. Ironclad said, "H-hold. We can't attack until it's in the open..." The beast moved agonizingly slowly, lumbering on, gradually getting closer, and closer to the edge of the forest. Ironclad tensed, preparing for the moment. "Remember, we need to blind it. On my mark, dive in attack formation..." In his peripheral vision , Ironclad could see the squadron at the ready, wings outstretched. Below, the beast was nearing the edge of the forest, nearly into the grass plains making up the valley. Just a little bit more and it'd be out of the forest... "On my mark. Five..." It was approaching the edge, leaving the dust cloud behind. "Four..." The creature flattened the line of trees making up the edge of the forest. "Three..." The pegasi crouched, leaned forward. "Two..." The monster moved out of the forest, stepping into the valley. "One..." It surged forwards, thunder striking with each step. "MARK!" The pegasi of the thirteenth shot downwards. Ironclad heard the wind scream as he dove, leading the eleven ponies towards the monster. Its head became larger as they approached, growing and growing till he had to violently turn right to avoid hitting the side of it. The pegasi separated, all four squadrons surrounding the head while the monster continued marching, trying to move its head out of the swarm it found itself in. Ironclad circled around the back, moving around the titanic spines jutting out. The beast twisted its head, roaring at the pegasi. Ironclad was now flying by the right side of the monster's head, keeping his distance as it lurched and twisted about. Ironclad moved back, pulling his spear from its position on his side. He'd have to time it just right. The creature's eyes were enormous, and he'd need to move quick in order to take one out. Movement caught his eye, and when he looked to his right he saw the sixteenth, in a tight cluster, moving in fast towards the creature. When they were close to it, and the leader was about to throw his spear, the beast suddenly lunged its head at them, jaw snapping open and shut rapidly. The lead pony didn't move in time. He was gone in the time it took Ironclad to blink. Ironclad shook his head, he needed to focus on the mission. Any moment now, when it looked away, he'd be able to move in. Now! He zoomed forward, racing toward the eye. The creature's eyes shifted over to Ironclad, and he had to roll to the right to avoid the beast's arm from swatting him away. He heard what happened to those that weren't as quick. He flew up, above the monster. Shifting the spear in his hooves, he looked down for a spot to land. The fifteenth and sixteenth were moving in a V-formation, attacking the front of the beast from two angles. That was when Ironclad saw that the spines on the creature's back were glowing a deep blue. Too late, he tried to scream a warning. The beast leaned forward, towards the two squadrons, and opened its maw. A river of blue flame erupted from the creature's mouth. It turned its head side to side, arcing the river across the sky. Most of the ponies in the two squads were vaporized instantly. The others, screaming as they burned, plummeted to the grass fields far below. Only the thirteenth and fourteenth were still in the fight. Ironclad flew up, hovering far above the monster. He held onto the spear as tight as he could, and then he dove down towards the beast. The wind blasted against him as he dove, forcing his ears to fold back. He made a final course adjustment, before he slammed down onto the creature's head. The spear barely broke the monster's skin, stopping far too short, causing Ironclad to jerk to a sudden stop. The beast roared in anger, turning its head rapidly in an effort to dislodge Ironclad. Ironclad's grip on the spear faltered, and he was flung from the head, correcting his tumble into a hover, far from the monster. Drawing his sword, holding it in his mouth, he launched himself back to the fight, banking towards the creature. It swatted most of the fourteenth with its tail. They were flung almost a mile away, with no chance of rejoining anytime soon. Ironclad could only see five pegasi still flying around the creature's head. It snapped forward again, swinging its clawed arms as it did so, and now only two pegasi were left. Ironclad pushed himself to his limits, his wings burning as they propelled him. He saw sergeant Lucky trying to move in, spear ready. The beast twisted its head to the left, and lunged. Its jaws snapped shut on Lucky's right wing. Ironclad heard the screams as he closed the distance between himself and the monster. He saw the blood staining Lucky's yellow fur a dark crimson. The monster shook its head like a dog with a chew toy, and Lucky, still screaming, was thrown from the creature, his right wing tearing off. The other pegasus raced forwards, caught Lucky, and, spotting Ironclad a short distance away, flew over to him. Lucky had already lost consciousness, hanging limply from the pegasus' back. The three ponies were now hovering a good distance in front of the creature, which was getting closer by the second. Without some form of distraction, it wasn't likely that any of them would get away. Ironclad made a decision. He sheathed his sword, and said, "Get the sergeant to the field hospital. And" -Ironclad tore a small wire, with two metal tags dangling on it, from his neck, hoofing them over to the pegasus- "make sure he gets these. He'll know what to do. Now get going!" The pegasus flew off in the direction of the camp. Ironclad drew his sword again. He turned to face the monster, now closing in on him. Ironclad closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He exhaled, opened his eyes. And then, Ironclad charged. RepercussionsEQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, COMMAND TENT 4 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1900 HOURS The three generals sat around the small table in the center of the tent. Patter sat on the right, West Point at the center, and the white unicorn on the left. A pegasus with a blood-soaked back stood in front of them, finishing his report. When he was done, West Point dismissed him, and he trotted out of the tent. The three generals looked down at the map on the small table, with nopony saying a word for what felt like an eternity. Then, West Point raised her head, looked across the table at the white unicorn, and growled, "Get out." The unicorn looked up, confusion flashing across his face. When he didn't move, West leaned over the table, and yelled in the unicorn's face, "Get out!" The unicorn stumbled backwards, before he ran out of the tent. West sat down at her spot, staring down at the map draped across the table. She closed her eyes. Of the forty-eight pegasi sent out, only two had returned. Just two, out of forty-eight. Every single squadron sent to help deal with the monster, gone in just one hour. And she was the one who gave the order. Not Patter, not the unicorn. She gave the order. She had seen ponies die in action, that was true, but to know that her orders caused the deaths of forty-six ponies, half of which burnt as they fell from the sky... "West?" West Point opened her eyes, and looked over at Patter. She said, "I'm fine, Pat." "You don't look 'fine' to me. If you need to talk abo-" "I said I'm fine, Pat. And that's all there is to say about it. Now," -West rubbed a hoof over her eyes, her voice cracking for an instant- "What can we do to slow th-this thing down?" Patter hesitated, concerned, before turning to the map. He pointed his hoof at a spot near the camp's location. "The eighth artillery's moving as fast as they can . They think they'll be here by tomorrow afternoon. With any luck, they'll be set up and ready by nightfall." "Okay. So, we set them up, use the cannons to take down the monster from a distance? Avoid any more...casualties..." West's voice cracked on the last word. Something started welling up in her eyes. Patter was still focused on the map. He said, "Yeah, that sounds about right. If we do that then..." -Patter looked back up to see West Point wiping tears out of her eyes- "West. Trust me on this, it's better if you just talk about it right now." West Point nodded her head. She said, "O-okay...It's just that...I approved Anguirus. Not you, not...him, me. Even though that idiot came up with it, I...I had the final say on whether or not we used it. And I gave the order that sent them to...to..." West Point broke down. She tried to continue talking, but her sobs made it impossible. She was surprised when Patter hugged her. "West. It's okay." She slowly returned the embrace, crying into the earth pony's uniform. "But-" West was cut off by Patter saying, "But nothing. Listen, this is the first time you've screwed up, right?" "...Yeah..." "And how long have you been a general?" "N-nine years..." "Do you know how many screw-ups I've had in nine years? "No..." "Five, all in the Badlands. I lost twenty five-ponies clearing out caves. It's not good, but this kind of thing just happens." "And how do you deal with it?" Patter hesitated, before he said, "I go out and console the families. I... I don't think you want to do that. It can get...stressful, at times." Both ponies didn't say anything else for a minute or two. Then, after a small hesitation, West said, "...Pat?" "Yeah?" "This... This doesn't leave the tent, okay?" Patter chuckled, and said, "Whatever you say West. Whatever you say." *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, MEGAPELL DEVELOPMENT TENT 3 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 0415 HOURS "Red, pass me that sixteenth-by-fourteenth, would you?" "Oh! Uh... Which one's that, again?" Seri looked up to see a now-awake grey earth pony stumbling around the spare parts tables. She sighed, and placed the tools down on the workbench. "Red, that's the third time you've fallen asleep. You sure you don't want to get coffee or something?" "Nah, no, I'm, uh, I'm good. Just need to... Ah ha!" Red pulled a short wrench from the spare parts piles and carried it over to the workbench. He dropped it next to the megaspell. Seri glanced down at the wrench in front of her, looked back up at Red, and said, "Red. This is a fourteenth-by-sixteenth. I asked for a sixteenth-by-fourteenth. Go get some coffee from the mess, will you? Last thing I need is for you to drop something into the megaspell." "Speaking of which, are you going to tell me wha-" "No. Now go get some kusokōhī." "...What?" Red soon found himself magically hurled out of the tent by the one-eyed pink unicorn. Not having anything else to do, Red got up, and trotted the short distance from the megaspell tent to the giant area that the other ponies in the camp called the 'mess'. It was a large field on the edge of the camp, filled with makeshift tables. When he got there, he found only three other ponies in the mess. Of course, Red was far too tired to care about the number of ponies who were eating breakfast. Finding the coffee pot, half-empty thanks to other drowsy ponies, he grabbed one of the small paper cups and filled it to the brim. Carefully holding it in a hoof, he slowly made his way over to a nearby table, and plopped down next to a yellow pegasus. Red took a swig of the bitter, foul-tasting beverage in his cup, before the pegasus to his left said, "Morning, sir." Red stopped drinking, and turned his head to the left. Now fully awake, he finally figured out why the pegasus had been sitting by himself. Bloodshot eyes, a tired, somber expression plastered on his face. And, Red noticed, the pegasus was also missing his right wing, and seemed very focused on an envelope on the table. Red said, "...Morning...Uh...could I ask-" "No." The pegasus' growled at Red. Red took that as his cue to get up, and go back to the megaspell tent. As he entered, he saw that Seri had continued working without him. He trotted back to the workbench, standing on the opposite side from Seri. Even though the mare was secretive, Red found the work to be a nice distraction from thinking about...other things. Except for fetching the tools out of the parts tables. He didn't particularly like that. Seri glanced up at him, and said, "I need a fifteenth-by-thirteenth, Red. Mind finding one for me?" Red Sky groaned, before trotting over to the tables. This was going to be a fun day... *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, MESS AREA 3 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 0430 HOURS Sergeant Lucky Strike was not a happy pony. After all, he'd just learned that he would never be able to fly again. Also, everypony he was playing cards with and talking to last night were dead. To top it all off, he'd probably get discharged if he couldn't find a new position quick, since the Air Corps didn't have much use for a flightless pegasus. Come to think of it, not many places in Equestria had a use for flightless pegasi. Perhaps he could take up farming. That'd be relatively peaceful... Lucky looked down at the wire necklace on the table. The captain had left him these tags, and Lucky was pretty sure he knew why. He checked the small print on the metal tag once more: Ironclad, Captain... Fillydelphia... A street address, and...that was it. Nothing about the next of kin, so he'd have to find that out when he got there. He pushed the metal tag to the side for a moment, focusing on the envelope next to it. The letter had arrived in the middle of the night, right after Lucky had discovered his itching wing no longer existed. The letter was from Hollow Shades. His home. He hadn't really thought about what the attack on the town meant. He knew it might be bad, but he simply had to assume that his family made it out okay. He needed to, because thinking about his family got him through that giant screw-up of a mission. Heck, for a moment after he realized he'd lost his wing, he'd thought about how his family would react. Ember would probably think it was 'cool', or 'awesome', little guy always liked that kind of thing. Rose, tiny little foal she was, she'd probably say how gross it was...right before she poked the little nub on Lucky's back. And Pinewood... Well, Piney would probably slap him for scaring her to death, and then kiss him because he made it back. And then the letter had arrived. Lucky flipped the envelope over in his hooves, considering what it would contain. When a pony in this situation got a letter from a devastated town, it meant one of two things: One, his or her family was alive and well, and had sent a 'wish you were here' card. Or, two, there was a somber letter that started with 'We regret to inform you that...', and only went downhill from there. Lucky hadn't opened the letter since he got it over six and a half hours ago. He didn't want to know what was in the envelope. But at the same time, he had to know. Lucky tried to steel himself for what might be in the envelope on the table. He ripped the top of the envelope off, and pulled out a folded piece of parchment. His ears folded back, and his eyes grew wide. Piney knew about the card and letter 'system'. Lucky had explained it to her very well before he shipped out. She promised him that no matter what, she'd always send the silliest card she could find. But if there was no card... "Oh no... Please, Goddesses, no..." Lucky muttered under his breath. He moved quickly, almost ripping the parchment in half as he unfolded it. He eyes sped across the letter, reading as fast as they could. Lucky read it again, trying to make sure he wasn't misreading the content. The letter fell from Lucky's hooves. His head crashed into the makeshift table, hooves folding around his head. First his wings, then his friends, and now... Lucky Strike sobbed into his hooves. He cursed the cruel joke he had for a name. He cursed the generals for coming up with that stupid plan. But most of all, he cursed that abomination for destroying everything he loved. And he swore that, no matter what, he'd see it die. FirepowerEQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, MEGASPELL DEVELOPMENT TENT 3 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1000 HOURS Red Sky was still trying to figure out just what the tube-bulb thing inside the megaspell was. He briefly considered asking Seri again, but since she'd refused to explain it every other time, he decided not to. He glanced over at the pink unicorn, who was studiously going over the contents of a little notebook floating in front of her. Red looked back down at the tube-bulb thing. Upon further inspection, he found that the megaspell had no payload. Instead, the timer and detonator were clumsily wired straight into the recently-completed device sitting right in the middle of the megaspell. As for the device itself, Red couldn't figure out why such a simple-looking device was worth being kept a secret, or why the bomb's components were wired to it. A narrow tube with a large bulb in the middle, connected to a couple of small tanks at the bottom of the megaspell's insides, that's all it was. So why was it inside the bomb instead of the payload? He glanced back up. Seri was still going over something in her notebook. Red looked back down at the device. The bulb in the middle of the tube looked like it was supposed to split in two... Why would it do that? He leaned in closer to get a better look. If he could just- "Are you finished with your inspection yet?" Red froze. Slowly, he looked up to see Seri looking straight at him, her notebook still floating beside her head. Red stepped back from the workbench holding the bomb, saying, "Uh... Yes?" Seri trotted over to the workbench, and quickly checked the bomb's contents. She told Red to come back to the workbench, and he trotted over to stand next to her. She said, "Red, I need the timer and detonator wires properly attached to the device here." -Seri pointed at the tube-bulb thing inside the bomb- "I'm awful with wires. Simply attach the wires here," -she pointed to a small receptacle where the wires were connected to the device- "and let me know when you're done. I need to test this to make sure it'll work." Seri trotted over to her cot on the right side of the tent, leaving Red to work on the megaspell. Red looked down at the innards of the bomb, and saw that the wires were in a giant ball that had been crammed into the receptors. A small tug showed that they were firmly lodged in that spot. Offhoof, Red estimated that it'd take him almost an hour just to get the wires out in the first place. Then, he'd have to separate them all and reconnect them where they belonged. Red was almost certain he heard Seri suppressing a laugh when he tried to untangle the wires. *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT 3 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1100 HOURS Lucky Strike watched as the line of six huge guns rolled past him, each pulled by four-pony crews. When they stopped in the field just outside the camp, Lucky looked on from the edge of the camp. He saw the two generals, Patter and West Point, trot out to the field, and talk to somepony who Lucky assumed to be the commanding officer of the eighth artillery unit. Lucky had entertained the thought of trying to sneak out and follow the artillery unit, but that'd be a bit too drastic. While he had sworn he would see that monstrosity die, that didn't mean he had to march out and fire one of the guns. He just had to see that monster suffer and keel over, and he could do that with a good pair of binoculars, especially if the guns were going to be deployed on Foal Mountain. The spot where his wing used to be itched like crazy. It wasn't like the 'phantom limb' stuff the doctor had told him about, that was when he felt like he still had his right wing. This was in the actual spot where that thing bit Lucky's wing off, and it was itching like he'd rolled in poison ivy or something. Lucky tried to ignore the constant itch and turned back, heading for the mess area. If his memory was right, then he ought to be able to see the monster with his binoculars in a day. That left him plenty of time to come to terms with some recent events... *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, MEGASPELL DEVELOPMENT TENT 3 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1350 HOURS Red plugged the last wire into the proper receptacle on the tube-bulb device. He turned his head to the right, and said, "Done." Seri got out of her cot, and trotted over to the workbench, stopping next to Red. She gave the device a quick inspection, and nodded in approval. She said, "Good work. Now we just need to finish the bomb itself." Red sky coughed. He said, "Yeah, uh, about that... Why isn't there a payload in this thing? Isn't that, I don't know, critical for the whole thing to work?" Seri turned her head to look at Red. She said, "I thought I told you the megaspell's original design wouldn't kill Gojira." "Yeah, you did... Wait..." -Red's eyes widened- "Oh, please tell me you didn't-" "Modify the megaspell? Yes. Yes I did." Red glanced at the bomb sitting on the workbench in next to him. He pointed at the tube bulb device, saying, "Then that's..." "Something capable of killing Gojira. I call it the 'oxygen destroyer'." "The...'oxygen destoryer'?" "Yes. A terrible creation that never should have seen the light of day." "Why? What's it do?" Red asked, looking between the one-eyed unicorn and the oxygen destroyer. Red had a good idea of what something called the 'oxygen destroyer' would do, but it didn't hurt to ask. Seri looked down at the device nestled inside the megaspell, and sighed. She said, "It's powerful enough to stop Gojira. That's all you need to know." *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT 3 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1350 HOURS Lucky Strike was sitting in the mess area, thinking about anything that popped into his head. The thoughts that came to his mind the most were rather elaborate ways of making the monster suffer a slow, painful death. That, or frustration at the itchy spot where his right wing used to be. The constant itch was starting to worry him. For a moment, his mind turned to a pulp novel he'd read where somepony turned into a fifty-foot monster just because an alien bit them, or something like that. Or those superhero comic books Ember used to read. Lucky smiled at the thought. Then he actually considered the fact that a giant monster of unkown origin had actually bitten his wing off. Lucky got up and started trotting towards the field hospital. Better safe than sorry, he thought. He was almost out of the mess area when he felt a small, barely noticeable tremor run through the ground under his hooves. Lucky froze. A short time later, and he felt it again. Lucky ran to the edge of the camp, picking up a pair of binoculars on the way. When he reached the edge, he lifted the binoculars, looking out at the valley near Foal Mountain. He could see the eighth artillery stopped mid-way to the mountain, rushing to load the huge guns. He could barely hear a faint thudding sound, perfectly timed to the faint tremors he felt. Then, one of the huge guns flashed, with a loud crack! startling almost everypony in the camp. Lucky shifted his gaze to the left. Lucky lowered the binoculars. He could see the creature without them. He watched as the titan marched towards the eighth artillery, caught in the open. Lucky raised the binoculars again, silently urging the gun crews to run as he did so. The gun crews stayed with the cannons, firing shells at an incredible speed. For a moment, Lucky thought they might have had a chance at hurting the creature. Then, through the binoculars, Lucky saw the jet of blue flame sweep through the gun line. He saw the gun crews burn. A moment later, he heard the screams. EndgameEQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, MEGASPELL DEVELOPMENT TENT 1356 HOURS "All I need to know? Seri, you said a megaspell wouldn't be enough to kill Gojira. And now you say that this," -Red pointed at the oxygen destroyer, sitting inside the megaspell- "this, oxygen destroyer, can kill it?" Seri, still looking at the device inside the megaspell, closed her eye, and said, "Yes. And tha-" "No, that's not all I need to know!" Seri flinched, and turned to look at Red. The grey earth pony, ears flat against his head and teeth bared, said, "My life's work is destroyed, my home's a pile of rubble, I'm working on a doomsday device, and both my best friend and my brother are dead! Everything I've ever known is gone. I think I've earned the right to know just what this damn thing does!" Seri simply stared at the fuming pony in front of her. She cleared her throat, and said, "... Okay, Red. You want to know what it does? Fine. It does exactly what the name suggests. When set off, it disintegrates the oxygen molecules in an area equal to that of one mile. The lack of oxygen causes the blood vessels of anything within the blast zone to rot, causing massive internal bleeding, followed by a total shutdown of the organs. It is a slow, extremely painful death that I wouldn't wish upon anything, including Gojira. Does that answer your question?" Seri turned back to the megaspell, fiddling with the timer. Red could only stare, his brain slowly processing the information it had just received. He had thought that the megaspell was the worst weapon ever created. But this... What kind of sick, twisted pony came up with something like that? His thoughts were interrupted by a loud crack sound, which repeated in a quick pattern for a few minutes. He turned his head in the direction of the noise, not noticing the look of utter terror growing on Seri's face. He also didn't hear her mumble, "No... No, we need more time..." Red turned his head to face the one-eyed unicorn, and said, "What was that?" "Cannons. Red, I need your help for this." Red trotted over to the workbench, stopping when he stood next to Seri. The pink unicorn started putting several loose sheets of paper and notebooks, all covered with designs, into a pair of saddlebags she levitated next to the table. She looked at Red, saying, "There's a matchbook over on that table, could you grab it and bring it over here?" Red trotted over to the table in question, found the little cardboard packet of matches, and brought it over to the workbench. Seri thanked him, before putting the matchbook in one of the saddlebags. She placed the bags on the ground, returning her attention to the bomb. "Now, Red, everything should be good, but we need to test this timer. If it doesn't work, the-" A tan pegasus, general West Point, burst into the tent. She nearly knocked one of the parts-tables over, before stopping in front of Red and Seri. She said, "In less than an hour, Godzilla's going to be tearing this place apart. Everypony's falling back to Canterlot. That megaspell needs to be in position, now." She ran back out, yelling something at somepony outside as she left. For a moment, both Seri and Red were speechless. Then, in a frantic rush, Seri put on the saddlebags from earlier, and the two ponies lifted the megaspell-oxygen destroyer off the workbench. Balancing the heavy device on their backs, they slowly moved out of the tent. *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT 1410 HOURS When Red and Seri exited the tent, they saw a yellow pegasus waiting for them. In the distance, they could hear the rest of the soldiers marching out of the camp, heading towards Canterlot. The pegasus introduced himself as sergeant Lucky Strike, and asked the two bomb-laden ponies to follow him to the target area. Red could've sworn he'd seen Lucky somewhere before, but the heavy weight on his back was a more pressing issue than a familiar face. As the three ponies moved through the empty camp, they could feel the earth shake beneath their hooves, and head the thunderous footsteps of the creature. Every second, the sounds grew louder. Lucky Strike tried to forge as straight a path as he could to the outermost edge of the camp. The itching sensation that had plagued him for the past few hours had escalated into a burning sensation, and it kept getting worse by the minute. When he turned to the left, finally on a path leading straight to the edge of the camp, he collapsed. When the two ponies who he didn't really know stopped in front of him, and asked if he was okay, he nodded, and said, "Yeah, yeah, just... Just give me a second. The target area's straight ahead, that way." Lucky raised his head from the ground, looking over at the small clearing. The two ponies moved on without him, with one of them, the grey earth pony, promising they'd come back and get him. After a short time, Lucky lowered his head back to the ground, and groaned in pain. Something was seriously wrong where that monster bit him. It felt like something was trying to grow out of the place where his right wing used to be. The pain spiked to an unbearable level, and Lucky Strike blacked out. Red Sky felt like his back was going to break if he had to carry the bomb any further. Beside him, Seri was tying to use her magic to help them carry it, but it wasn't really helping much. The two ponies finally reached the sandbags marking the edge of the camp, letting the megaspell drop off of their backs. Red sat on the ground, trying to catch his breath. He looked up, and he froze. Not even a mile away, coming straight at him, was the monster. It loomed over the camp, growing larger with every step it took. For a moment, he dumbly stared up at the approaching behemoth. Then, he heard Seri yelling his name. He shook his head, and trotted over to stand next to the megaspell, where Seri was making last-minute adjustments. She turned to him, and said, "I just need to set the timer. I'll grab the sergeant with my magic on the way. That work for you?" "Sure does. Now set that thing so we can get the hay out of here. " Seri moved a dial on the timer back, and flicked a small switch to the 'on' position. Nothing happened. Seri's eye widened, and she frantically tried setting up the timer again. She cursed, muttering something in her native language. Red moved next to her, asking, "What's wrong?" Seri, a somber look on her face, said, "The timer isn't working. It'll only go off if somepony manually detonates it." It took a moment for the statement to sink into Red's mind. He yelled, "What?!" "We never had a chance to test the timer, and now it won't work. It's too late to fix this, Gojira's right there, getting closer by the second. So, one of us isn't making it out of here..." Seri sighed, looking down at the megaspell, then looked back to Red. She took the saddlebags off, and floated them over to Red. Dropping them on his back, she said, "Do me a favor, and burn everything in there. I want the destroyer's design to die with me." "Seri, you don't-" "Red, would you be willing to do this, knowing what the destroyer does?" Red didn't say a word. "Exactly. Now go on, get the sergeant and get out of here. You've only got ten minutes." Red stared at the one-eyed pink unicorn for a moment, while the shadow of the monster started crawling over the camp. He silently extended a hoof to Seri. The pink, one-eyed unicorn met it with her own, firmly shaking it once. Then, Red Sky ran down the path into the camp. He skidded to a stop to lift the unconscious pegasus onto his back, and continued running down the twisted maze of the camp. He ran past the mess area, turning to his left, then right, leaving the shadow of the monster behind. He turned again, and he saw the exit ahead of him, the soldiers a speck on the horizon. As he ran out into the field, he heard the monster roar behind him. Red kept running until his hooves gave out from under him, falling in a field a short distance from the retreating soldiers. Setting the pegasus down, Red rolled onto his back, lying in the tall grass. His bandages had come off in the sprint, and the cuts in his hooves had opened. The creature roared again, faintly this time. Red raised his head off the ground, and finally saw just how far he'd gone. He could barely see the camp itself, and the monster almost looked like a toy from this angle. Something flashed at the camp, and the monster roared again. It raised a leg to step forward, and then, it fell. It crushed the camp beneath it as it fell forwards, the loud crash of it hitting the ground echoing all the way to Canterlot. Red stared at the fallen titan for a long time. He almost expected it to get back up, but it never did. Red rolled back to his hooves, sitting up. He took the saddlebags off, and dropped them in a nearby patch of dirt. He fished the matches out of them, lit the whole pack, and dropped it onto the cloth saddlebags, watching as all the work that went into making the oxygen destroyer crumbled into a pile of ash. Red Sky trotted over to the yellow pegasus, placed the unconscious sergeant on his back, and trudged forward. After...FORMER LOCATION OF EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NEIGHAGRA FALLS ONE MONTH AFTER THE DEATH OF GODZILLA 1300 HOURS General West Point stood behind a podium on a small stage in a field where the creature labeled 'Godzilla' had fallen. It had taken teams of engineers weeks to haul the carcass off, the massive creature still causing problems after its death. West looked down from the podium, at the crowd gathered in front of the stage. She saw many familiar faces out in it, and some she didn't know, carrying notepads and cameras. From the moment she had started to walk onto the stage, the cameras had flashed, clicked, and whirred nonstop. She swallowed a small lump in her throat, looking down at the little cards stacked on the podium. West looked out into the crowd again, this time focusing on the first row. She saw the ponies who she would be be giving medals to, the megaspell designer, and Pat. The brown earth pony smiled encouragingly, nodding for her to go on. West flipped through the small stack of cards in front of her again, before looking out to the crowd. She pushed the cards to the side, and then she made up the best damn speech she ever gave. *** Red Sky walked for two miles before he reached the military's fall-back position. After putting sergeant Lucky Strike in a field hospital, he gave a brief report to generals West Point and Patter. After attending the memorial service for the ponies KIA in the operations carried out against Godzilla, he was tried for the destruction of the plans for the oxygen destroyer. He was acquitted of the charges after a two-month long trial. He currently lives in Neighpon, where he designs marine craft, and writes books about oceanography. Sergeant Lucky Strike woke up two days after Red dropped him off at the field hospital. The painful sensation in his back turned out to be a relatively harmless mutation, which gave him small replicas of the spines on Godzilla's back. He received two medals for his actions in Operation Anguirus during the memorial ceremonies, shortly before being honorably discharged from the Royal Air Corps. Lucky would later testify in Red Sky's trial, where he thanked the earth pony for saving his life. Lucky currently lives in Dodge Junction. Generals West Point and Patter voluntarily retired shortly after the memorial ceremonies. They married a year later, and now live in Hollow Shades. The remains of Godzilla are currently being studied by ponies from the Equestrian Historical Society, who are trying to find out as much as they can about the creature. There are plans to exhibit the bones of the creature in the Canterlot Museum of Natural History when the study is complete. The Great Oceanic Trench, along with many of the deep scars on the ocean floor, has remained unexplored since the emergence of Godzilla. It is unknown at this time if any further attempts to explore the depths will be made in the future... Author's Note And that's it folks! Thanks for reading the first story I've written here all the way to the end!
Awakening Awakening THE GREAT OCEANIC TRENCH 40 MILES FROM THE EASTERN EQUESTRIAN SHORE Nestled inside a deep scar on the seafloor, he slumbered. If it weren't for the occasional shift or twitch, the leviathan could be mistaken for a rock formation, the jagged plates on his back pointing up towards the surface. His tail, in a reflexive motion, swatted at any creature foolish enough to approach him. As for what exactly he was, that was difficult to say. An evolutionary fluke? A relic from some bygone era? Part of a series of super-predators, only waking when nature was imbalanced? It doesn't matter. He existed, and he was quite content with that. He had existed for a long time, albeit much of that time was spent in his hibernation. And as long as he slept, he was harmless, aside from the rare earthquake caused when he shifted to a better position. Of course, something had to wake him up sooner or later... *** DEEP SEA RESEARCH VESSEL MIR ABOVE THE GREAT OCEANIC TRENCH 1500 HOURS Red Sky was decidedly not enjoying the view as he leaned over the railing and allowed his stomach to empty its contents for the fifth time in seven hours. The grey earth pony, having regained control over his stomach, turned back from the rail and, after cleaning his snout with a hoof, made his way back to the metal door he had thrown open on his sprint to the railing. Closing it behind him, Red made his way back to a small room that he had called home for the past week. When he trotted in, he found a light green pegasus mare with an unkempt brown mane still laughing at him. Red Sky sighed. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up Buzzy," He said. "I'm sorry, it's just, jus- your face, Red, it looks so silly every time!" Pollen 'Buzzy' Bee stammered, trying, and failing, to stop laughing at her roommate's misfortune. Red couldn't quite remember why he was such good friends with her. "I mean really, how the ha-hay have you not gotten your 'sea legs' yet?" She continued. Red waited until she had calmed down before he tried saying anything else. "I'm glad you find my suffering so hilarious, Buzzy, but can we try to continue with what I was telling you before I was-" Red coughed into his fore hoof "-interrupted?" Buzzy, still wearing a grin, said, "Sure. But do you want a barf bag just to be safe?" Red glared at her, before trotting over to a diagram hanging from the wall. The blue sheet represented Red's greatest achievement: A 'submarine', those rare, underwater ships that could, potentially, discover all the secrets that the oceans held. And this was one he had designed himself, capable of going to depths nopony had ever dreamed of. That was why the Mir was above the Great Oceanic Trench at this very moment. And, unfortunately for him, Buzzy was going to be the pilot. It was that or run the risk of getting seasick in the sub's cramped control compartment. "Now, you should know everything about the sub's basic operation, but I haven't gone over the emergency protocols yet." Buzzy gave an exasperated sigh. "I know you're bored by this point Buzzy, but I will not have you fly my baby around and not know every single thing about her. Now then,"- Red pointed at a small weight attached to the bottom of the sub- "this is the escape ballast. Should you find yourself in a situation where you need to surface faster than normal, simply pull this lever," -Red pointed to a lever next to the pilot's seat before letting his hoof fall back to the ground - "and the escape ballast will detach from the sub and allow you to return to the surface at a far faster speed." "Okay, got it...There isn't going to be a test on this, right?" Buzzy asked. "If by test you mean memory recall in the field, then yes, there's a test. Now, I think they should just about have the sub ready. C'mon, let's go see how much you remember," Red said as he trotted out of the room and down the narrow hallway, with Buzzy soon following him. *** While Buzzy was climbing into the egg-shaped vessel hanging from a crane with the help of the Mir's crew, Red Sky was once again bent over the rails, puking his guts out. He turned back, walking over to the bulky machine that, apparently, could transmit his voice down to Buzzy in the sub, and vice versa. Personally, he regretted having to include it in his design, since it only made the sub bigger than it needed to be. Unfortunately, it would be highly impractical, not to mention time-wasting, to use dragons and their special fire spells in this situation, so he was stuck with the huge transmitter. Once Buzzy was inside and the crew had sealed the hatch, Red gave the signal and the sub was released into the water, where it slowly sank out of sight. Red flicked a large switch on the transmitter, and heard static and crackling sounds as the machine warmed up. When the noise became a low hum, he leaned close to his microphone, pushing the 'send' button as he did so, and said, "Everything okay down there, Buzzy? Over." He released the button the second he finished talking like he was told to do. "Yeah, your little dreamboat's working like a charm, over." She replied, using the little code the technician had told them to use, with 'over' meaning a pony had finished talking and was waiting for a response. "How far from the trench do you think you are?" "Honestly, this thing's dropping pretty quick. By the way, did I really need to be lying down for this?" "Yes, and don't worry about the speed of descent. It ought to slow down once you reach the trench." "Right. I'll let you know when I get there, out." And that was it. Buzzy was on her way to the bottom of the Great Oceanic Trench, while Red was stuck up on the ship with nothing to do but watch the transmitter. Well, that and throw up, but he didn't particularly like doing that. It was almost fifteen minutes before Buzzy's voice came through the transmitter, "Hey Red, I'm entering the trench now, over." Red moved back over to his microphone and pushed the button down before speaking. "Well, Buzzy, I think congratulations are in order. I'm pretty sure you just beat every single diving record in existence. What's the trench like?" Red was looking down at the table his microphone was on, wondering what sort of party the crew'd have for Buzzy's new record. "Great, now I'm supposed to say something for the history books, aren't I? Well, I guess I'd like to thank my mom, my dad, and all the good folks in Cloudsdale, or something like that. Oh, and the trench looks strange." "Define 'strange'." "Well, Red, the whole place is empty. I don't think there's a single fish living in this thing." Red flicked his eyes up at that. Surely Buzzy was mistaken, all the research he had done showed that some deep-water fish had to live in the trench. Maybe she just couldn't see out of the tiny windows. "Are you sure about that Buzzy? Or can you just not see anything?" "Red, if I wasn't sure I wouldn't have said there was nothing down here. So yeah, there's nothing down here. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nothing. Wait... Wait a minute."- Buzzy's distorted voice took on a concerned note- "Uh, Red, I just landed on something, and it ain't the bottom of the trench." "What do you mean it isn't the bottom of the trench?" Red forced himself to stay calm. Panic in this situation would not lead to anything good. "I mean whatever I landed on is starting to mo- oh my Celestia! I'm pulling the release lever! Red, get the crew on the crane ready right no-" A brief moment of static, then nothing. "Buzzy? Buzzy, please respond, over." Red started to shiver, and his eyes grew wide. "Buzzy, respond, over!" That was when he heard it. A deep rumbling behind him, growing louder with each passing second. While the crew of the Mir panicked around him, Red Sky turned to see something bigger than anything he could ever imagine violently surface uncomfortably close to the ship. And before he would turn to run for the lifeboat, before he would see a ship of steel snap like a toothpick and before he would struggle to survive in the ocean, he saw something that he would never forget until the day he died. Red Sky saw the square head of a titanic creature, with eyes glowing like fire, its back glowing blue, and its jaws firmly locked around the crushed remnants of an egg-shaped submarine...
ArrivalMANEHATTAN DOCKYARDS 1100 HOURS "What do you mean, 'he hasn't sent a report'?" Chalky Sky was not a happy pony. Well, he had been happy, until his brother had failed to send a report from sea for a whole week. If his big brother was anything, he was punctual, and he always sent a report each day at noon, unless he was sick. And even then, Red still sent a report as soon as he could, along with an apology for how late he was. He had only missed one day the previous week, and that was apparently due to some 'teething problems' with that submarine the two of them had built last summer. But a whole week without any reports at all? That just didn't make any sense. "I meant exactly what I just said, Mr. Sky. Red Sky, or, well, anypony on the Mir, has not sent any reports since last week," The brown unicorn droned, more interested in a clump of dust that had somehow appeared on her desk than the grey and blue earth pony standing in front of her little shack. She lazily lifted her head from its balancing point on her right hoof, and said, "The proper authorities have been alerted and are currently searching the area around the Mir's last known location." Chalky snorted, and said, " Okay. So, do you want me to just, I don't know, wait here until they get back?" The mare returned her attention to the odd little clump of dust, and grunted indifferently. It was around this moment that Chalky Sky decided he did not like this mare whatsoever. He placed his fore hooves on the mare's desk, causing her to shift her attention back to him. "Look, I just want to know if my brother's okay. Isn't there something you can do?" Chalky said. "If it really bugs you that much, I'll see if I can send somepony to tell you when the patrol boat gets back." She said, before once again focusing on the dust clump. Chalky took his hooves off the mare's desk, sighing. Clearly he wasn't going to get anywhere by talking to this mare. He turned and walked down the little street between the city of Manehattan and the wooden piers that stuck out into the ocean. He wasn't particularly fond of the city, but it had grown on him since he had moved there to help Red build that submarine. He had a nice little apartment, a construction job with steady pay, and there was that cute waitress in the cafe on seventh street. One of these days he'd work up the nerve to ask her out, and then Red would stop teasing him about it. Or, wait, wouldn't he just move to teasing about Chalky's activities with her? He hadn't thought about that. Chalky also didn't pay much attention to an odd bulge out in the ocean, barely visible even if he had tried to look for it, that was steadily getting bigger and moving closer to the docks. Had he cared, he might have figured that such an oddly shaped wave would reach the shoreline in about an hour. *** MANEHATTAN, DOWNTOWN DISTRICT 1200 HOURS Chalky sat on the old brick sidewalk, leaning against the wall of some office building. He made a mental note not to run the entire length of the city next time he wanted to exercise. He had, in a fit of sheer brilliance, run from the dockyards to his apartment complex, and then straight to downtown, without any breaks. It was a wonder he hadn't keeled over from exhaustion. On the plus side, he had finally figured out what he would say to the waitress the next time he saw her. Now if he could just figure out how to deflect Red's innuendos he'd be fine. Chalky was so focused on what Red would say and how he'd respond that he didn't notice the slight tremors going through the ground. He did notice, however, the countless ponies screaming behind him, in the general direction of the dockyard, followed by the sound of a building collapsing. Ponies started running around him, flocking towards the edges of the city. He slowly turned around, and immediately wished he hadn't. He saw something, he wasn't sure what, moving in a debris cloud. It was taller than the biggest skyscraper he had ever seen. It surged forward, and nudged said skyscraper with a short forearm. And Chalky saw the Glass Tower, the crown jewel of Equestrian architecture, the tallest building in the world, destroyed by this behemoth in a motion akin to a pony swatting a fly. Chalky froze up, eyes wide and mouth open in shock. He had to move, he knew that in order to survive he needed to move. Everypony else was galloping as fast as they could, all trying to get away from the monster shrouded in smoke. He had to do the same. He had to. He needed to move. He needed to move right now! But his hooves refused to listen to his brain, and he remained rooted in place. The beast moved out of the smoke, and Chalky's brain neatly shut down, the only thought coming to mind now being the word 'dinosaur'. And then it leaned its head forward, opened its maw that looked big enough to swallow the sun, and roared. Chalky felt the thick, humid air blast him for what felt like an eternity, and was fairly certain that a warm liquid was now running down one of his rear hooves. Once more, he ordered his body to move. And once more, his hooves refused to obey. The titan was moving towards him now, the ground lurching with each step the monstrosity took. His eyes slowly moved up as the creature towered over him. For some reason, he thought of the mare at the dockyard. There was a moment of intense agony, and then Chalky Sky was no more.
Shock35 MILES FROM THE EASTERN EQUESTRIAN SHORE 1130 HOURS Red Sky hated lifeboats. He despised them, not because they had crackers made out of cardboard for a food supply, not because the amount of fresh water in those supplies was so small, and not because they had no cover from the blistering heat. No, he hated the lifeboat he was in because it would not stop rocking back and forth. Though he supposed that those other points were definitely valid reasons to hate lifeboats. The last week had been the worst one of his life, by far. He was completely alone in a small boat in the middle of the ocean, with no way of telling how far he was from land, and with the knowledge that something had come out of the water, had killed one of his friends, destroyed his life's work, and snapped a state-of-the-art ship like it was made of balsa wood. A small portion of his time adrift had been spent trying to figure out just what that thing was. A dragon? Well, that might be, but to his knowledge dragons didn't live underwater or have their backs glow blue when they breathed fire. A dinosaur? But how would it have survived so long if that were the case? Some freak of nature Discord had created? That was entirely possible, but surely it would've popped up before now... He had gone through this little guessing game for a day before he ran out of ideas. Then he actually thought about what had happened. His good friend Buzzy, whom he'd known since his days in the university, was gone. Not on vacation. Not visiting her parents. Gone. He knew it wasn't his fault, after all, nopony knew what would be down in the trench, but Goddesses did it feel like he had sent Buzzy to her death. The ponies on the Mir might be gone. He didn't really know for sure. All he knew was that he wanted to go home. He wanted to talk to Chalky, to joke around with his little brother like he always did. Tell him how right he was not to go on this trip. Tease him about his crush on that waitress. Hay, he wanted to drink a cup of the coffee they served at that cafe. He wanted to sleep in the fold-out bed he had in his apartment. Red wanted to go see that musical on Bridleway he had heard so much about. He wanted to do anything other than lie in the bottom of a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. But the fact remained that he was lying in a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. He was going to be in that boat for days. And, he had realized, if he ever wanted to see Chalky and do any of those things, he needed to buck up and survive long enough for a rescue team to come and find him. So he had rationed his supplies, and had kept a constant watch for any sign of a passing ship, keeping the small flares from the boat's supply chest close to him at all times. And his vigilance payed off today. Because today, he saw the sleek form of a patrol boat a short distance away. *** PATROL BOAT 24109 20 MILES FROM THE EASTERN EQUESTRIAN SHORE 1245 HOURS "So, you're telling me you saw a gigantic, black, lizard-thing with glowing scales sticking out of its back, it breathed a jet of blue fire, and that's what destroyed the Mir?" "Yes, captain, that's right...Are you sure you haven't seen any other lifeboats?" Red asked the orange and blue pegasus sitting at the opposite end of the small table inside the patrol boat's cabin. The captain responded, "No, Mr. Sky. Your lifeboat is the only one we've found this whole week. I'm sorry, but we've searched the entire area where the Mir went down." Red's eyes looked at the floor, and his ears drooped back. He had hoped that at least some of the ponies on the ship had made it. Now that he knew he was the only survivor... His eyes snapped back up to look at the pegasus. He'd missed a question. "I'm sorry sir, could you repeat that?" The captain sighed. "I said, are you absolutely certain about what you saw? It sounds a bit far-fetched to me." Red was starting to get annoyed with how many times the captain had asked him about the monster. There were only so many ways he could say it. Red wondered if the stallion across from him was hard of hearing. "Yes. I am absolutely, one hundred percent sure about what I saw. I thought we established that some time ago. Now, can we please talk about something else?" "Certainly. Since you're the only pony to survive, I think you'd better talk to a psyc-" A unicorn stallion ran into the room, stopping once he was next to the captain. Hastily performing what even Red would call a sloppy excuse for a salute, he stammered out, "Cap-ptain Ironclad, s-sir, you, uh, y-you may want to, uh, take a look at this," The stallion levitated a small scroll he had with him over to Ironclad. Red looked on as Ironclad's eyes rapidly moved left to right, growing wider as they flicked from line to line. Ironclad hoofed the paper back to the unicorn, thanking him, before the unicorn left the room just as quickly as he had appeared. Captain Ironclad returned his attention to the now thoroughly confused Red Sky. "Well, Mr. Sky, it seems like this, ah, 'monster' of yours has attacked the city of Manehatten." Red's eyes almost popped out of his head. *** MANEHATTAN DOCKYARDS 1400 HOURS Ironclad, now wearing the armor issued to him by the military, led Red Sky onto the one pier that wasn't a pile of crushed planks littering the water around the patrol boat. They, along with the twenty or so ponies from the crew, started walking into the devastated city. Once he was on the little street the docks were next to and saw the ruins of Manehattan, Red's mind finally caught up with what was happening and he frantically asked the captain, "Where's the refugee camp you mentioned?" Ironclad looked at the nervous earth pony, and said, "It's downtown, by the Bridleway theaters, wh-" Red galloped off into the city, ignoring the shouts of the soldiers as he weaved his way through a literal concrete jungle. The streets were covered with all manner of debris, and Red had to take an extensive detour around the top half of the Glass tower, now lying across several streets and carving its way into an apartment complex. He didn't feel the broken glass embedding itself into his hooves. Nor did he care that several of the buildings he ran by were missing large chunks of their foundation. The only thing he was thinking about was that he had to get to that camp, as fast as he could. He passed the apartment building he called home, now little more than a crater with some piles of bricks in four spots. He passed the little cafe on seventh street, a short, friendly little beacon amidst the destruction, somehow standing in pristine condition. He turned the corner, and found himself on main street, with the Bridleway theaters in sight. In front of the theaters there were rows upon rows of white tents, the refugee camp that he was looking for. He slowed to a brisk trot as he entered the camp, looking for someone in charge. He moved down the rows, apologizing to anypony he knocked aside in his haste. Eventually he came across a square tent larger than the others, and stepped inside it, figuring it would be where the ponies in charge would be. Once he was inside, he froze. Two rows of cots were laid out in front of him, all filled with the forms of injured ponies. The ones that didn't have missing limbs or hooves set in casts were burned beyond recognition. And the noise, sweet Celestia, the noise! He hadn't heard it before walking in thanks to the bustle of the refugees outside, but inside this, this field hospital... He would've immediately left the horrid place had he not seen the brown unicorn mare in a nurse's uniform tending to them. Red steeled himself, and walked towards her. She turned her head when she heard his hoofsteps, and when she spotted him she turned to face him. "C-can I help you, sir?" Red paused, feeling an odd stinging in his hooves, and said, "Yeah, I'm Red Sky," - The mare's eyes widened- "and I'm looking for my brother, Chalky. I was wondering if, uh, you'd seen him anywhere?" The stinging sensation in Red's hooves was getting worse. The unicorn's mouth opened and closed for a few seconds, and then she said, "I-I'm sorry sir, but...Chalky Sky died in the attack. I-I saw it happen while I was running from the monster..." Red's mouth slightly opened, and his rear hooves slid out from under him. He said, in a wavering tone, "What?" "I...I said Chalky Sky's dead." Red stared at the tent wall behind the nurse. His mind was on the verge of a total collapse. Chalky was dead. His little brother was dead. The little foal who used to build model skyscrapers out of toothpicks and earned his cutie mark helping Red build a boat. The colt who had been so proud of working on a real skyscraper not three weeks ago, who could never work up the nerve to ask out that waitress. Dead. Red could feel his eyes watering. He blinked, and felt the tears roll down his face. He didn't care about the stinging in his hooves anymore, not even when the brown unicorn gasped at the glass sticking out of his bleeding hooves and led him to a cot. All he could think about as he lay there was the fact that if he had never designed that stupid submarine, that abomination never would have been found, and his little brother would still be alive...
WeaponryMANEHATTAN, DOWNTOWN DISTRICT (REFUGEE CAMP) 1450 HOURS "What's wrong with him?" "He, uh, he had pieces of glass stuck in his hooves, sir." "Can he walk?" "I suppose, but I wouldn't recommend it." "Duly noted." Red felt somepony prodding his side with their hoof. He ignored it, keeping his eyes shut. After the fifth prod, he realized that whoever it was wasn't going to go away anytime soon. He cracked his eyes open to see an armored pegasus standing next to his cot. It took him a moment to realize it was captain Ironclad, who looked rather irritated for some reason. "Get up," Ironclad ordered. Somepony behind him, a mare if the voice was anything to go by, started to protest before Ironclad snapped his head around. Whoever it was stopped talking immediately, and Ironclad's head snapped back to look at Red. Red's bloodshot eyes blankly stared at Ironclad, before Red moved to place his bandage-covered hooves on the pavement serving as the tent's floor. All four of his hooves burned when he shifted his weight, but he ignored it and stood next to the cot, facing Ironside. "New orders came in. Any military units on the ground are getting transferred to deal with that monster. Command wants to talk to you for some reason, and we need to be there yesterday. Get anything you want to take and meet me outside." Ironclad trotted out of the tent. Red saw that the brown unicorn who had patched up his hooves had moved on to helping another patient. She didn't turn to look at him. Red slowly cantered down the space between the two rows of cots filled with crippled or burned ponies. With each step, a sharp pang ran up his hooves. It wasn't really that bad, though. It was more of a dull, constant sensation that never really went away. He exited the tent and found Ironclad waiting for him. The captain started walking, and Red followed him, paying more attention to his hooves than the pegasus in front of him. Ironclad spoke first, "Any particular reason you ran off into a crumbling city like a bat out of tartarus? Or do you just have a death wish?" Red looked up, and muttered, "My brother lived here." "Oh. Did you find him?" Red didn't answer. Ironclad paused, looking back at Red. The earth pony's face told him all he needed to know. "I'm sorry." Neither pony said anything else. Ironclad started walking again. The two of them walked through the camp, Ironclad clearing a path through the refugees with Red following behind him. When they were out of the camp, the fallen bricks and grit cracking under their hooves, Red finally spoke again. "Where are we going?" "Train station. A unicorn's going to teleport us to a position southwest of Neighagra Falls. That monster's heading straight for Canterlot, and the military's hoping to intercept it before it gets there." "Canterlot?" Red was now focused on the captain. If that thing got to Canterlot...Red didn't want to think about that. "Yeah. Canterlot. Estimates say it'll get there in about five days." "Okay...And why do I need to go, again?" "Dunno. The message only said the ponies in charge wanted to talk to you," -Ironclad turned around a street corner and quickened his pace- "and there's the train station. Let's go." Red followed Ironclad up the steps leading into a squashed, crumbling building that had once been the train station. Inside, he saw that the ceiling had been smashed in, leaving the floor covered with steel cross beams and glass, while light shone through the eviscerated skylights above. Memories stirred in his head. This was where he had welcomed Chalky to the city. Chalky had looked like a foal in a candy shop, staring at the way the metal beams curved up into crosses and semi-circles filled with panes of glass. And now, like him, it was gone. Red was brought out of his memories by Ironclad waving him over to some unicorns by the platforms. He trotted over to them, starting to realize that he was about to go through teleportation. For a moment, he wondered what that would be like. *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NEIGHAGRA FALLS 1510 HOURS Red Sky decided that he did not like having every molecule in his body disintegrated and then re-integrated at the speed of light. The process could best be summed up by him standing in the station in front of a unicorn, then seeing a bright flash, followed by excruciating pain in every part of his body and the disturbing sensation of everything inside him being ripped apart and reassembled at the same time before a loud pop!, and he found himself in the middle of a camp filled with soldiers. He decided that, in the future, he'd stick to trains. He stopped wobbling on his hooves and looked around. He was currently in the center of a large field, surrounded by boxy tents and what must have been hundreds of armored ponies playing cards, reading, moving crates around, chatting with each other, and one group being trained how to defend themselves from fresh fruit. He had to look back at that last one just to confirm it, wondering just what that had to do with anything at all, and if the soldier's expressions were any indication, he wasn't the only one. He almost forgot that Ironclad had been with him when the captain said, "The generals' tent is this way." Ironclad started trotting off to the left, and Red had to run for a moment in order to catch up with him. The constant sting in Red's bandaged hooves grew to a burning sensation before he matched Ironclad's pace and walked next to him. As they walked along, passing by soldiers preparing for the inevitable fight against that creature, Red couldn't help but feel out of place. Here he was, a designer of marine craft in the midst of the entire Equestrian armed forces. His mind tried to come up with some possible reason for the military to be interested in him. He had designed some of the ships the Royal Navy used, and had written a few papers for them, that much was true, but never anything he had thought would be important enough to warrant him being involved in an actual operation. Except for that one certain...project he had been in. But that was shelved many, many years ago, with everypony on that project sworn to never continue it, or even talk about it. Surely they wouldn't be willing to use it. Then again, that was the only real reason why they might want to talk to him. Ironclad stopped in front of a large, drab green tent. He told Red, "Wait here." And then he went into the tent. A few seconds later, and he opened the tent flap up, telling Red to get in. Red walked in, and saw a group of three ponies in non-armored uniforms discussing something over a table inside. Red figured they had to be the generals. A white unicorn on the right side of the table said, "I say we move now. Swarm the head with the thirteenth to sixteenth to confuse it, then topple it with a ground assault led by the first and fifth, with the ninth and tenth providing support." A brown earth pony on the left side of the table said, "If we do that we'll lose all the pegasi. No, I think we should wait for the eighth artillery to get here. Use the seventh, ninth, and tenth to lay down a constant barrage of spells and support the cannons. That way we'll be able to take it out from a safe distance." "The eighth isn't going to get here for two days! Do you want us to just sit around with our hooves up our plots while that thing -" The unicorn was interrupted by the third pony, a tan pegasus, clearing her throat. She had seen Red and Ironclad entering the tent. "Captain Ironclad, that's this Red Sky we've been asking for, right?" Ironclad nodded, "Yes ma'am." "Good. That will be all, captain. You," -she pointed at Red with her hoof for emphasis- "come here." She gestured to the empty spot at the table. The other two had finally noticed the two ponies that had entered their tent, looking over at them. Ironclad saluted, then turned around and trotted out of the tent. Red hesitantly walked up to the table, and sat at the empty spot. The table had a map on it, along with some folders on each pony's side, except Red's. The pegasus spoke first. "Now then, Red, may I call you Red?" -Red nodded, while the generals each opened one of their files and started reading. The pegasus looked at Red after glancing at the file- "You designed four ships for the Royal Navy, and three submarines on your own, the latest of which you tested one week ago, correct?" Red nodded. She glanced at the file again before asking him, "You were part of the team assigned to the Manehattan Project before it was discontinued roughly fifteen years ago, were you not?" Again, Red nodded, afraid of where the conversation was going. The unicorn to his right asked him, "Do you remember the details of it?" "I remember some government representatives coming to my apartment and asking me if I'd be interested in working on something that could change the world. They took me to the royal castle in Canterlot, where I met five other ponies who designed or built things for the Royal Military. We were told very little about what we were making, but the bits of information we did get made it sound like something that nopony in their right mind would ever make. But if we asked Princess Celestia about it whenever she came down to the labs to check on us, she'd always change the subject to, cake, or something, and never responded to any letter we wrote about it. And when we had finally figured out how to build it after oh, five years, right after Princess Luna returned, both of them came down to the lab one day and told us that the project was scrapped. They said there was no further use for it, and practically threatened all of us with imprisonment if we ever told anypony about it." The pegasus said, "Are you aware of what this 'device', as you call it, would do if it were complete?" "No. That was one of the many questions we asked the princess." The three generals glanced at each other, before they closed their files. The earth pony said, "That 'device' was a weapon conceived for the chance of the elements of harmony failing to pacify Princess Luna. The proper term for the concept is 'megaspell'. If the elements had failed, and you had figured out how to build it, it would have been set off in the Everfree. The resulting blast would have wiped the entire forest and the nearby town of Ponyville from history and left a wasteland behind." Red felt panic start to take over. That was what that thing was for? Goddesses, no wonder the princesses wanted to keep it a secret. But that left a few unsettling questions... "Why are you asking me about this? I mean, for the love of Celestia, Luna, and Faust, you're not seriously considering using it against that thing, are you?" The pegasus simply looked at Red, and said, "We're asking you, Red, because out of the six ponies on that team, you're the only one that wasn't at a formal party in the Glass Tower's observation deck today. Consequently, you're the only one not dead or in the hospital, and still capable of working. As for the use of the megaspell against the target, if we can't stop it with any other method by the fourth day, yes. We fully intend to use it."
BriefingEQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, COMMAND TENT 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NEIGHAGRA FALLS 1540 HOURS Red Sky had to put his fore hooves on the table to keep himself from falling over. Even though it sounded like a last resort, the very thought that this 'megaspell' device was even considered for use terrified him. And then he realized something: If the other ponies from the team were dead or in the hospital that meant... "Red, we have one of our best scientists trying to finish the megaspell as we speak, but she needs help in order to meet the deadline. We want you to help her complete it. After all, you should know it better than anypony else." Red looked at the pegasus across from him, horrified. He opened his mouth to say 'no', but the unicorn to his right, wearing a smug grin, spoke first. "Before you say anything, Red, I think I should explain what Ms. Point isn't telling you. You see, our pony simply will not be able to complete the megaspell without help from somepony who's already worked on it and knows everything about it. Now, if we have to force you to do it at spear-point, believe me, that's exactly what will happen. So, what do you say?" "I...I don't have much of a choice do I? ...Fine, I...I'll help you build it." The pegasus, Point, grinned. "Good. Now, here" -General Point pushed one of her files, bigger than the rest, over to Red- "are the notes from the Manehattan Project. The megaspell is being developed in the large tent with hazard markings on it. Turn right once you're out of this one and keep going until you see it. That will be all." Red took the file, holding it in his mouth, turned around, and trotted out of the tent. The moment he was out, the generals started talking. The brown earth pony said, "West, I don't care how close that thing gets to Canterlot, I'm not changing my mind." West Point looked down at the map on the table, moving her hoof to a small town between Manehattan and the camp's position. She tapped the name with her hoof, before saying, "Pat, do you see this spot? This little town, 'Hollow Shades'? My parents live there. And right now, that monster is razing it. Do you think it'll stop once it gets to Canterlot? Without the Princesses there, it'll tear the place clean off the mountain. What happens if we can't stop it with anything other than the megaspell? Do you want us to just sit and watch it run wild across the country?" "Have you ever stopped to consider what would happen if the megaspell doesn't kill it? We could cause the worst ecological disaster in history, and still have a monster tearing the country apart!" Before West Point could reply, the unicorn to her left said, "General Patter, surely you realize that if we can't kill it in four days, then we're just going to use the megaspell, regardless of your concerns. Honestly, you should just agree to it so we can do it without all this hassle. The Princesses' orders clearly state-" "I know what our orders are, you arrogant twit!" -Patter was leaning over the table, practically yelling in the unicorn's face- "And I don't care if you're her nephew, if you try to tell me how to do my job one more time, I swear I'll-" Pat was interrupted by West Point pushing him back to his side of the table. She said, "Pat. Calm down. If any of the soldiers out there overheard us fighting like foals..." Patter glared at the unicorn, then, turning to West, he said, "I'm calm. I'm calm. It's just..." Patter glanced over at the unicorn, then trotted to a corner of the tent a short distance from the table. West Point followed him, leaving the white unicorn at the small table. When she was standing next to him, Patter said in a low voice, "West, I've been through a lot in my career. Desert foxes in Zebrica, hydras, the changelings, and now this thing. I can deal with that stuff, it's part of the job. But putting up with him"-Pat tilted his head in the direction of the table, where the unicorn was trying to clean Patter's spit off his brand new uniform- "is driving me insane. Does he really need to be here?" West said, "Yes. You know how the Princesses are always trying to get him to do something important. I don't like it any more than you do, but we're stuck with him." "Yeah, 'stuck with him' sounds about right. Hey, why don't we-" "Believe me, I already tried to get him transferred to Canterlot, but apparently one of the ponies in charge of the defenses there hates him more than you do. She sent the transfer request back with the word 'no' stamped all over it, and also wrote that sending him there would be 'the worst possible thing'." Patter sighed, "Great. Figures we're stuck with him. My mane's going to turn white by the end of this week, I just know it..." "At least he's not completely incompetent at strategy. C'mon, he's probably starting to think we're plotting an assassination or something." "Fine. But he stays out of the briefings." The two of them trotted back to the table, and sat at their respective positions. The white unicorn, having cleaned his uniform to his liking, said, "I'll just pretend that whole mess didn't happen. Now then, shall we continue discussing plans for the attack?" *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, MEGASPELL DEVELOPMENT TENT 4 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1550 HOURS Red Sky found the large tent with hazard markings rather easily. He ducked inside, and found several tables arranged in a square around a central workbench, along with two cots, one on each side of the tent. While the tables in the outer square held what must have been millions of spare parts, the central workbench held the megaspell device. It looked like someone had taken a large pipe,sawed the top half off and set it to the side, added a cone to the front, and a box kite to the back. But the inside seemed...different from what Red remembered. A pink and blue unicorn was standing in front of the workbench, using both magic and hooves to work on the guts of the device. Occasionally, she would stop and float a notebook in front of her, before she continued her work. Red set the file he had down on the nearest table, wiping any spit from his mouth off of it, and coughed to get the pink unicorn's attention. The unicorn twisted her head around, and Red saw that the pony had an eyepatch over her right eye. The unicorn waved Red over to the workbench, then continued her work. Red trotted through a gap in the outer square of parts-tables, and moved to where he was standing next to the mare. The pink and blue unicorn, still focused on the megaspell, said, "I'm very busy. What is it you want?" "I'm Red Sky. I was told you needed-" Red was cut off by the unicorn putting down her tools and turning to face him, saying, "Apologies, I didn't recognize you. You're the one who was on the Manehattan project and designed the megaspell, yes?" "Uh...Yeah, I helped design it...and you are...?" "Ah, where are my manners? I'm Seri. It will be an honor to work with you, Mr. Sky." "Just...Just call me Red, okay?" Seri nodded.The eyepatched pony levitated her notebook over to Red. "These are my notes on the megaspell. I believe you'll want to look over them." -Red sat down and grabbed the notebook with his hoof- "I have done some calculations based on the megaspell's projected power, and I've reached a disturbing conclusion. I'm afraid that the megaspell, as currently designed, will not be enough stop Gojira." *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT 4 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1600 HOURS Captain Ironclad was sitting in the large field just outside the camp. Around him, sitting in disorganized rows, were the armored pegasi of the Royal Air Corps. Ironclad had been reassigned to the thirteenth squadron, comprised of twelve ponies, including himself. Along with some other units, his squadron had marched out to this field, where a large projection screen had been set up, along with a makeshift stage. The only things missing from the briefing were the generals themselves. Ironclad looked around at the ponies in his squadron. Due to a rank difference between forces, he now held the title of 'group captain', which meant he was now the leader of the the eleven pegasi clustered around him. Ironclad was starting to miss his patrol boat... Two of the generals, a brown earth pony and a tan pegasus, generals Patter and West Point, trotted out of the camp and onto the small stage in front of the soldiers. Any idle chatter in the group stopped instantly. General West Point trotted out to one side of the stage, just a little bit to the right of the screen. General Patter trotted to the opposite side of the screen and nodded to somepony in the back. Ironclad heard a small click, and the screen lit up with a slightly fuzzy photograph of the beast as it lumbered away from Manehattan. It was the first time Ironclad had actually seen the creature, a towering, pitch-black leviathan with jagged white spines jutting out of its back and tail. General West Point said, "Ladies and gentlecolts, this" -West Point pointed at the picture on the screen- "is the creature responsible for the attacks on Manehattan and Hollow Shades, code named 'Godzilla'. At this time, it is heading straight for Canterlot. It will take Godzilla five days, including today, to reach the city at its current pace. Under normal circumstances, the Princesses would deal with a threat like this. Unfortunately, they're mediating negotiations between two warring states in Zebrica. The 'heroes of Equestria', as the media likes to call them, are split between the Crystal Empire, the badlands, and Canterlot. They will not be able to assemble before Godzilla reaches the capital. Discord is assisting the rescue teams sift through the ruins in Manehattan and Hollow Shades, and will also be unable to intercept Godzilla in time. Therefore," -West Point nodded at the pony behind Ironclad's group, and the picture slid to the right, replaced by a map covered with arrows, blocks, and a red line- "we are all that stands between Godzilla and Canterlot. When Godzilla reaches this valley," -West Point pointed at a spot on the red line- " at 1800 hours, we attack. "Welcome to Operation Anguirus." *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, MEGASPELL DEVELOPMENT TENT 4 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1600 HOURS Red fumbled with Seri's notebook, having nearly dropped it at her statement. When he was certain he wasn't going to drop it, he asked, "What do you mean, 'it's not enough to stop Godzilla'? And why are you calling it 'Godzilla'?" "I mean that as it is currently designed, and from what I can tell about Gojira, the megaspell will not be able to kill it. As for the second question, I said 'Gojira', not 'Godzilla'. And in my country there is an ancient legend about a monster that rose from the depths to destroy an arrogant pony's empire. This creature roughly fits the description of the beast in the story, so I named it after the legend: 'Gojira'." Seri started working on the megaspell again, using her magic to float the tools in place and make adjustments to the bomb's insides. Red put her notebook down on the workbench, and said, "In your country?" "Neighpon." "Oh..." Red looked around, the conversation ending in an uncomfortable silence. Seri's eye glanced at him, before she said, "Are you going to help me or not?" Red jumped a little, and said, "Y-yes. Yes I am...I've got some notes around here..." Red trotted over to the table near the tent's entrance, grabbed the folder he had, and returned to the workbench. He put the folder down on the workbench, placing it on the mostly empty side. Seri looked at the large folder, pausing her work, and said, "Those are your notes?" "Yeah." "May I?" "Sure, go ahead." Seri pulled the folder closer to her, opened it, and then floated several of the documents inside it in the air around her. She examined them as they floated by her head, her eye narrowing in concentration. Red took the opportunity to check the inside of the megaspell device. The bits and pieces inside it looked...different from how he remembered the design. In addition to the small wires, containers, and the timer, there was an odd, unfinished thing that looked like a tube with a large bulb in the middle of it. Curious, he moved closer to get a better look at the thing. The bulb looked like it had a crease in its center, and now Red could see there were some small tanks attached to the pole. "Do. Not. Touch. That." Red's head shot up to see the eyepatch-wearing unicorn looking at him from her position on the opposite side of the workbench. The folder had all the documents back in it, and was floating by Seri's head. Her expression was a mixture of concern, anger, and terror. Red glanced down at the bomb's innards, confused. He looked back up at Seri. "Why, what is it?" Seri placed the folder on the workbench. She leaned over the bomb, her eye narrowing at Red. "It's why I can't complete the megaspell without your help. And right now, that's all you need to know."
CounterEQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, THIRTEENTH ROYAL AIR CORPS SQUADRON TENT 4 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1730 HOURS Ironclad was sitting on one of the twelve cots inside the small tent. The other members of the squadron were playing a card game behind him. For what felt like the millionth time, he went over the plan in his head. Along with three other squadrons, his group would lie in wait atop the clouds in the valley to the east. When Godzilla entered the area, they would dive and attack, hopefully blinding it with their spears. After that, they would try to cover a ground-based effort to topple the beast. Of course, a plan never went right. So, Ironclad had spent some time going over the many ways this plan could go belly-up. It hadn't been a pleasant way to spend the time, but he had abysmal luck when it came to poker. So, not having much else to do, he had gone over to his cot, and thought about the plan. His mind was coming up with the three-hundredth possible way for the plan to fail when somepony trotted next to his cot and said, "You're a terrible poker player, you know that?" Ironclad turned his head to the right to see a yellow pegasus sitting down on the cot next to his own. The yellow pony continued, "I mean, I thought I was bad at poker, but you, you take the cake, sir. I don't think I've ever seen anypony bust out less than a minute after the start of a game. Name's Lucky, by the way. Sergeant Lucky Strike." Lucky lifted a hoof, holding it in front of Ironclad. Ironclad hesitantly brought his own hoof up to meet it, and shook hooves with Lucky. Ironclad, smirking, said, "Your name's 'Lucky', but you're a bad poker player?" Lucky grinned, and said, "My mother was one of those ponies who go out of their way to avoid black cats and ladders, sir. Thought naming her son Lucky'd give him some sort of protection. Long story short, it ain't come close to doing that." "Fair enough. What's on your mind, sergeant?" "Well, sir, it's this mission. It.." -Lucky's grin vanished, replaced by a fearful look- "I've got this really bad feeling about it. Like...like it's going to be the last time I fly, sir." Lucky said. Ironclad hesitated before saying, "Well...What makes you say that?" "Can't rightly say, cap. It's just this...feeling in my bones, or something. Don't really know what to do about it. I was kind of wondering if you had any advice." "Well, sergeant, I can guarantee you that I will do everything in my power to keep everypony in this squadron alive. Maybe you should try thinking about something else in the meantime...you have a family?" "Yes sir. Got a wife and two foals." "Well, try thinking of them instead of that, uh, 'feeling'. Will that be all, sergeant?" "Yeah, I think so sir. Thank you, sir." And with that, Lucky Strike got up and left the tent. Ironclad looked back over at the ten ponies playing poker in groups. It'd be difficult to keep that promise, he thought. On a patrol boat, he could make that kind of promise and keep it, thanks to the relatively low-risk jobs facing patrol boats. But now, he'd be leading these ponies straight towards a giant monster that had leveled Manehattan. A very high risk job, for sure. "Uh, cap?" Ironclad turned his head back to see Lucky coming back into the tent. He had a pair of mailbags draped across his back. "Yes, sergeant?" "Well, before I go deliver the mail for the squad,can I ask a favor?" Ironclads eyes slightly narrowed in confusion. He said, "Sure..." "You got any family, cap?" "Yes, why?" Lucky trotted back into the tent, sitting on the cot next to Ironclad's. Lucky said, "Well, here's what I'd like for you to do. If this feeling of mine turns out to be true, would you...would you tell my wife what happened?" -Lucky took a small piece of metal hanging off a wire tied around his neck, and hoofed it over to Ironclad- "I know it probably won't happen, but, y'know, just in case..." The small, metal tag would tell who somepony was, where they were from, and their service number. The sole reason for their existence was to help identify bodies, and locate the pony's next of kin. Ironclad hesitated for a moment, then reached up and took the tag, saying, "Sure." *** VALLEY TWO MILES NORTHWEST OF HOLLOW SHADES 4 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1750 HOURS Ironclad, along with the thirteenth squadron, stood ready atop the clouds. The armored pegasi had one spear strapped to their sides, and a small sword holstered beneath their spear. It was utterly silent, anxiety spread throughout the entire squad. Ironclad looked side to side, making sure that the three other squadrons were in position. He moved to the edge of the cloud, where sergeant Lucky was lying, binoculars pressed up against his eyes. Ironclad lay down next to him, whispering, "Any sign of it?" "No, sir." Lucky didn't take the binoculars away from his eyes for a second. "Be sure to let us know when you see it." Ironclad got back up, and moved back to where he had been standing. Sergeant Lucky Strike slowly moved the binoculars from side to side, scanning the forest below and in front of them for any sign of Godzilla. At first, Lucky thought that something as big as the creature would be spotted instantly, no matter how far away it was. Now, though, with the sun nearly setting and painting everything in a golden shine, he found that little theory proven false. The fact that the monster had churned up a huge dust and debris cloud that obscured half the forest probably had something to do with it. He slowly moved his magnified gaze to the left, watching the dust cloud. Dust...dust...debris....dust...Wait... He snapped his gaze back to the right, seeing the dust swirling around, being kicked up by something. Something really, really big. A shape started to form. An impossibly tall, upright shape, moving towards the edge of the dust with thunderous booms accentuating each step. And then Lucky could actually see it. The titan, with pitch-black scales covering it, bone-like spines jutting out of the back, surging forwards. Lucky dropped the binoculars, slack-jawed at the sheer power the thing carried. That distressing feeling from earlier returned to him in full force. He turned his head back to the ponies behind him. He said, "Captain. It's here." Ironclad zoomed forward to the edge of the cloud, along with the ten other pegasi in the thirteenth. The leviathan lumbered out of the dust cloud, crushing massive clusters of trees with each step. Ironclad said, "H-hold. We can't attack until it's in the open..." The beast moved agonizingly slowly, lumbering on, gradually getting closer, and closer to the edge of the forest. Ironclad tensed, preparing for the moment. "Remember, we need to blind it. On my mark, dive in attack formation..." In his peripheral vision , Ironclad could see the squadron at the ready, wings outstretched. Below, the beast was nearing the edge of the forest, nearly into the grass plains making up the valley. Just a little bit more and it'd be out of the forest... "On my mark. Five..." It was approaching the edge, leaving the dust cloud behind. "Four..." The creature flattened the line of trees making up the edge of the forest. "Three..." The pegasi crouched, leaned forward. "Two..." The monster moved out of the forest, stepping into the valley. "One..." It surged forwards, thunder striking with each step. "MARK!" The pegasi of the thirteenth shot downwards. Ironclad heard the wind scream as he dove, leading the eleven ponies towards the monster. Its head became larger as they approached, growing and growing till he had to violently turn right to avoid hitting the side of it. The pegasi separated, all four squadrons surrounding the head while the monster continued marching, trying to move its head out of the swarm it found itself in. Ironclad circled around the back, moving around the titanic spines jutting out. The beast twisted its head, roaring at the pegasi. Ironclad was now flying by the right side of the monster's head, keeping his distance as it lurched and twisted about. Ironclad moved back, pulling his spear from its position on his side. He'd have to time it just right. The creature's eyes were enormous, and he'd need to move quick in order to take one out. Movement caught his eye, and when he looked to his right he saw the sixteenth, in a tight cluster, moving in fast towards the creature. When they were close to it, and the leader was about to throw his spear, the beast suddenly lunged its head at them, jaw snapping open and shut rapidly. The lead pony didn't move in time. He was gone in the time it took Ironclad to blink. Ironclad shook his head, he needed to focus on the mission. Any moment now, when it looked away, he'd be able to move in. Now! He zoomed forward, racing toward the eye. The creature's eyes shifted over to Ironclad, and he had to roll to the right to avoid the beast's arm from swatting him away. He heard what happened to those that weren't as quick. He flew up, above the monster. Shifting the spear in his hooves, he looked down for a spot to land. The fifteenth and sixteenth were moving in a V-formation, attacking the front of the beast from two angles. That was when Ironclad saw that the spines on the creature's back were glowing a deep blue. Too late, he tried to scream a warning. The beast leaned forward, towards the two squadrons, and opened its maw. A river of blue flame erupted from the creature's mouth. It turned its head side to side, arcing the river across the sky. Most of the ponies in the two squads were vaporized instantly. The others, screaming as they burned, plummeted to the grass fields far below. Only the thirteenth and fourteenth were still in the fight. Ironclad flew up, hovering far above the monster. He held onto the spear as tight as he could, and then he dove down towards the beast. The wind blasted against him as he dove, forcing his ears to fold back. He made a final course adjustment, before he slammed down onto the creature's head. The spear barely broke the monster's skin, stopping far too short, causing Ironclad to jerk to a sudden stop. The beast roared in anger, turning its head rapidly in an effort to dislodge Ironclad. Ironclad's grip on the spear faltered, and he was flung from the head, correcting his tumble into a hover, far from the monster. Drawing his sword, holding it in his mouth, he launched himself back to the fight, banking towards the creature. It swatted most of the fourteenth with its tail. They were flung almost a mile away, with no chance of rejoining anytime soon. Ironclad could only see five pegasi still flying around the creature's head. It snapped forward again, swinging its clawed arms as it did so, and now only two pegasi were left. Ironclad pushed himself to his limits, his wings burning as they propelled him. He saw sergeant Lucky trying to move in, spear ready. The beast twisted its head to the left, and lunged. Its jaws snapped shut on Lucky's right wing. Ironclad heard the screams as he closed the distance between himself and the monster. He saw the blood staining Lucky's yellow fur a dark crimson. The monster shook its head like a dog with a chew toy, and Lucky, still screaming, was thrown from the creature, his right wing tearing off. The other pegasus raced forwards, caught Lucky, and, spotting Ironclad a short distance away, flew over to him. Lucky had already lost consciousness, hanging limply from the pegasus' back. The three ponies were now hovering a good distance in front of the creature, which was getting closer by the second. Without some form of distraction, it wasn't likely that any of them would get away. Ironclad made a decision. He sheathed his sword, and said, "Get the sergeant to the field hospital. And" -Ironclad tore a small wire, with two metal tags dangling on it, from his neck, hoofing them over to the pegasus- "make sure he gets these. He'll know what to do. Now get going!" The pegasus flew off in the direction of the camp. Ironclad drew his sword again. He turned to face the monster, now closing in on him. Ironclad closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He exhaled, opened his eyes. And then, Ironclad charged.
RepercussionsEQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, COMMAND TENT 4 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1900 HOURS The three generals sat around the small table in the center of the tent. Patter sat on the right, West Point at the center, and the white unicorn on the left. A pegasus with a blood-soaked back stood in front of them, finishing his report. When he was done, West Point dismissed him, and he trotted out of the tent. The three generals looked down at the map on the small table, with nopony saying a word for what felt like an eternity. Then, West Point raised her head, looked across the table at the white unicorn, and growled, "Get out." The unicorn looked up, confusion flashing across his face. When he didn't move, West leaned over the table, and yelled in the unicorn's face, "Get out!" The unicorn stumbled backwards, before he ran out of the tent. West sat down at her spot, staring down at the map draped across the table. She closed her eyes. Of the forty-eight pegasi sent out, only two had returned. Just two, out of forty-eight. Every single squadron sent to help deal with the monster, gone in just one hour. And she was the one who gave the order. Not Patter, not the unicorn. She gave the order. She had seen ponies die in action, that was true, but to know that her orders caused the deaths of forty-six ponies, half of which burnt as they fell from the sky... "West?" West Point opened her eyes, and looked over at Patter. She said, "I'm fine, Pat." "You don't look 'fine' to me. If you need to talk abo-" "I said I'm fine, Pat. And that's all there is to say about it. Now," -West rubbed a hoof over her eyes, her voice cracking for an instant- "What can we do to slow th-this thing down?" Patter hesitated, concerned, before turning to the map. He pointed his hoof at a spot near the camp's location. "The eighth artillery's moving as fast as they can . They think they'll be here by tomorrow afternoon. With any luck, they'll be set up and ready by nightfall." "Okay. So, we set them up, use the cannons to take down the monster from a distance? Avoid any more...casualties..." West's voice cracked on the last word. Something started welling up in her eyes. Patter was still focused on the map. He said, "Yeah, that sounds about right. If we do that then..." -Patter looked back up to see West Point wiping tears out of her eyes- "West. Trust me on this, it's better if you just talk about it right now." West Point nodded her head. She said, "O-okay...It's just that...I approved Anguirus. Not you, not...him, me. Even though that idiot came up with it, I...I had the final say on whether or not we used it. And I gave the order that sent them to...to..." West Point broke down. She tried to continue talking, but her sobs made it impossible. She was surprised when Patter hugged her. "West. It's okay." She slowly returned the embrace, crying into the earth pony's uniform. "But-" West was cut off by Patter saying, "But nothing. Listen, this is the first time you've screwed up, right?" "...Yeah..." "And how long have you been a general?" "N-nine years..." "Do you know how many screw-ups I've had in nine years? "No..." "Five, all in the Badlands. I lost twenty five-ponies clearing out caves. It's not good, but this kind of thing just happens." "And how do you deal with it?" Patter hesitated, before he said, "I go out and console the families. I... I don't think you want to do that. It can get...stressful, at times." Both ponies didn't say anything else for a minute or two. Then, after a small hesitation, West said, "...Pat?" "Yeah?" "This... This doesn't leave the tent, okay?" Patter chuckled, and said, "Whatever you say West. Whatever you say." *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, MEGAPELL DEVELOPMENT TENT 3 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 0415 HOURS "Red, pass me that sixteenth-by-fourteenth, would you?" "Oh! Uh... Which one's that, again?" Seri looked up to see a now-awake grey earth pony stumbling around the spare parts tables. She sighed, and placed the tools down on the workbench. "Red, that's the third time you've fallen asleep. You sure you don't want to get coffee or something?" "Nah, no, I'm, uh, I'm good. Just need to... Ah ha!" Red pulled a short wrench from the spare parts piles and carried it over to the workbench. He dropped it next to the megaspell. Seri glanced down at the wrench in front of her, looked back up at Red, and said, "Red. This is a fourteenth-by-sixteenth. I asked for a sixteenth-by-fourteenth. Go get some coffee from the mess, will you? Last thing I need is for you to drop something into the megaspell." "Speaking of which, are you going to tell me wha-" "No. Now go get some kusokōhī." "...What?" Red soon found himself magically hurled out of the tent by the one-eyed pink unicorn. Not having anything else to do, Red got up, and trotted the short distance from the megaspell tent to the giant area that the other ponies in the camp called the 'mess'. It was a large field on the edge of the camp, filled with makeshift tables. When he got there, he found only three other ponies in the mess. Of course, Red was far too tired to care about the number of ponies who were eating breakfast. Finding the coffee pot, half-empty thanks to other drowsy ponies, he grabbed one of the small paper cups and filled it to the brim. Carefully holding it in a hoof, he slowly made his way over to a nearby table, and plopped down next to a yellow pegasus. Red took a swig of the bitter, foul-tasting beverage in his cup, before the pegasus to his left said, "Morning, sir." Red stopped drinking, and turned his head to the left. Now fully awake, he finally figured out why the pegasus had been sitting by himself. Bloodshot eyes, a tired, somber expression plastered on his face. And, Red noticed, the pegasus was also missing his right wing, and seemed very focused on an envelope on the table. Red said, "...Morning...Uh...could I ask-" "No." The pegasus' growled at Red. Red took that as his cue to get up, and go back to the megaspell tent. As he entered, he saw that Seri had continued working without him. He trotted back to the workbench, standing on the opposite side from Seri. Even though the mare was secretive, Red found the work to be a nice distraction from thinking about...other things. Except for fetching the tools out of the parts tables. He didn't particularly like that. Seri glanced up at him, and said, "I need a fifteenth-by-thirteenth, Red. Mind finding one for me?" Red Sky groaned, before trotting over to the tables. This was going to be a fun day... *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, MESS AREA 3 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 0430 HOURS Sergeant Lucky Strike was not a happy pony. After all, he'd just learned that he would never be able to fly again. Also, everypony he was playing cards with and talking to last night were dead. To top it all off, he'd probably get discharged if he couldn't find a new position quick, since the Air Corps didn't have much use for a flightless pegasus. Come to think of it, not many places in Equestria had a use for flightless pegasi. Perhaps he could take up farming. That'd be relatively peaceful... Lucky looked down at the wire necklace on the table. The captain had left him these tags, and Lucky was pretty sure he knew why. He checked the small print on the metal tag once more: Ironclad, Captain... Fillydelphia... A street address, and...that was it. Nothing about the next of kin, so he'd have to find that out when he got there. He pushed the metal tag to the side for a moment, focusing on the envelope next to it. The letter had arrived in the middle of the night, right after Lucky had discovered his itching wing no longer existed. The letter was from Hollow Shades. His home. He hadn't really thought about what the attack on the town meant. He knew it might be bad, but he simply had to assume that his family made it out okay. He needed to, because thinking about his family got him through that giant screw-up of a mission. Heck, for a moment after he realized he'd lost his wing, he'd thought about how his family would react. Ember would probably think it was 'cool', or 'awesome', little guy always liked that kind of thing. Rose, tiny little foal she was, she'd probably say how gross it was...right before she poked the little nub on Lucky's back. And Pinewood... Well, Piney would probably slap him for scaring her to death, and then kiss him because he made it back. And then the letter had arrived. Lucky flipped the envelope over in his hooves, considering what it would contain. When a pony in this situation got a letter from a devastated town, it meant one of two things: One, his or her family was alive and well, and had sent a 'wish you were here' card. Or, two, there was a somber letter that started with 'We regret to inform you that...', and only went downhill from there. Lucky hadn't opened the letter since he got it over six and a half hours ago. He didn't want to know what was in the envelope. But at the same time, he had to know. Lucky tried to steel himself for what might be in the envelope on the table. He ripped the top of the envelope off, and pulled out a folded piece of parchment. His ears folded back, and his eyes grew wide. Piney knew about the card and letter 'system'. Lucky had explained it to her very well before he shipped out. She promised him that no matter what, she'd always send the silliest card she could find. But if there was no card... "Oh no... Please, Goddesses, no..." Lucky muttered under his breath. He moved quickly, almost ripping the parchment in half as he unfolded it. He eyes sped across the letter, reading as fast as they could. Lucky read it again, trying to make sure he wasn't misreading the content. The letter fell from Lucky's hooves. His head crashed into the makeshift table, hooves folding around his head. First his wings, then his friends, and now... Lucky Strike sobbed into his hooves. He cursed the cruel joke he had for a name. He cursed the generals for coming up with that stupid plan. But most of all, he cursed that abomination for destroying everything he loved. And he swore that, no matter what, he'd see it die.
FirepowerEQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, MEGASPELL DEVELOPMENT TENT 3 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1000 HOURS Red Sky was still trying to figure out just what the tube-bulb thing inside the megaspell was. He briefly considered asking Seri again, but since she'd refused to explain it every other time, he decided not to. He glanced over at the pink unicorn, who was studiously going over the contents of a little notebook floating in front of her. Red looked back down at the tube-bulb thing. Upon further inspection, he found that the megaspell had no payload. Instead, the timer and detonator were clumsily wired straight into the recently-completed device sitting right in the middle of the megaspell. As for the device itself, Red couldn't figure out why such a simple-looking device was worth being kept a secret, or why the bomb's components were wired to it. A narrow tube with a large bulb in the middle, connected to a couple of small tanks at the bottom of the megaspell's insides, that's all it was. So why was it inside the bomb instead of the payload? He glanced back up. Seri was still going over something in her notebook. Red looked back down at the device. The bulb in the middle of the tube looked like it was supposed to split in two... Why would it do that? He leaned in closer to get a better look. If he could just- "Are you finished with your inspection yet?" Red froze. Slowly, he looked up to see Seri looking straight at him, her notebook still floating beside her head. Red stepped back from the workbench holding the bomb, saying, "Uh... Yes?" Seri trotted over to the workbench, and quickly checked the bomb's contents. She told Red to come back to the workbench, and he trotted over to stand next to her. She said, "Red, I need the timer and detonator wires properly attached to the device here." -Seri pointed at the tube-bulb thing inside the bomb- "I'm awful with wires. Simply attach the wires here," -she pointed to a small receptacle where the wires were connected to the device- "and let me know when you're done. I need to test this to make sure it'll work." Seri trotted over to her cot on the right side of the tent, leaving Red to work on the megaspell. Red looked down at the innards of the bomb, and saw that the wires were in a giant ball that had been crammed into the receptors. A small tug showed that they were firmly lodged in that spot. Offhoof, Red estimated that it'd take him almost an hour just to get the wires out in the first place. Then, he'd have to separate them all and reconnect them where they belonged. Red was almost certain he heard Seri suppressing a laugh when he tried to untangle the wires. *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT 3 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1100 HOURS Lucky Strike watched as the line of six huge guns rolled past him, each pulled by four-pony crews. When they stopped in the field just outside the camp, Lucky looked on from the edge of the camp. He saw the two generals, Patter and West Point, trot out to the field, and talk to somepony who Lucky assumed to be the commanding officer of the eighth artillery unit. Lucky had entertained the thought of trying to sneak out and follow the artillery unit, but that'd be a bit too drastic. While he had sworn he would see that monstrosity die, that didn't mean he had to march out and fire one of the guns. He just had to see that monster suffer and keel over, and he could do that with a good pair of binoculars, especially if the guns were going to be deployed on Foal Mountain. The spot where his wing used to be itched like crazy. It wasn't like the 'phantom limb' stuff the doctor had told him about, that was when he felt like he still had his right wing. This was in the actual spot where that thing bit Lucky's wing off, and it was itching like he'd rolled in poison ivy or something. Lucky tried to ignore the constant itch and turned back, heading for the mess area. If his memory was right, then he ought to be able to see the monster with his binoculars in a day. That left him plenty of time to come to terms with some recent events... *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, MEGASPELL DEVELOPMENT TENT 3 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1350 HOURS Red plugged the last wire into the proper receptacle on the tube-bulb device. He turned his head to the right, and said, "Done." Seri got out of her cot, and trotted over to the workbench, stopping next to Red. She gave the device a quick inspection, and nodded in approval. She said, "Good work. Now we just need to finish the bomb itself." Red sky coughed. He said, "Yeah, uh, about that... Why isn't there a payload in this thing? Isn't that, I don't know, critical for the whole thing to work?" Seri turned her head to look at Red. She said, "I thought I told you the megaspell's original design wouldn't kill Gojira." "Yeah, you did... Wait..." -Red's eyes widened- "Oh, please tell me you didn't-" "Modify the megaspell? Yes. Yes I did." Red glanced at the bomb sitting on the workbench in next to him. He pointed at the tube bulb device, saying, "Then that's..." "Something capable of killing Gojira. I call it the 'oxygen destroyer'." "The...'oxygen destoryer'?" "Yes. A terrible creation that never should have seen the light of day." "Why? What's it do?" Red asked, looking between the one-eyed unicorn and the oxygen destroyer. Red had a good idea of what something called the 'oxygen destroyer' would do, but it didn't hurt to ask. Seri looked down at the device nestled inside the megaspell, and sighed. She said, "It's powerful enough to stop Gojira. That's all you need to know." *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT 3 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1350 HOURS Lucky Strike was sitting in the mess area, thinking about anything that popped into his head. The thoughts that came to his mind the most were rather elaborate ways of making the monster suffer a slow, painful death. That, or frustration at the itchy spot where his right wing used to be. The constant itch was starting to worry him. For a moment, his mind turned to a pulp novel he'd read where somepony turned into a fifty-foot monster just because an alien bit them, or something like that. Or those superhero comic books Ember used to read. Lucky smiled at the thought. Then he actually considered the fact that a giant monster of unkown origin had actually bitten his wing off. Lucky got up and started trotting towards the field hospital. Better safe than sorry, he thought. He was almost out of the mess area when he felt a small, barely noticeable tremor run through the ground under his hooves. Lucky froze. A short time later, and he felt it again. Lucky ran to the edge of the camp, picking up a pair of binoculars on the way. When he reached the edge, he lifted the binoculars, looking out at the valley near Foal Mountain. He could see the eighth artillery stopped mid-way to the mountain, rushing to load the huge guns. He could barely hear a faint thudding sound, perfectly timed to the faint tremors he felt. Then, one of the huge guns flashed, with a loud crack! startling almost everypony in the camp. Lucky shifted his gaze to the left. Lucky lowered the binoculars. He could see the creature without them. He watched as the titan marched towards the eighth artillery, caught in the open. Lucky raised the binoculars again, silently urging the gun crews to run as he did so. The gun crews stayed with the cannons, firing shells at an incredible speed. For a moment, Lucky thought they might have had a chance at hurting the creature. Then, through the binoculars, Lucky saw the jet of blue flame sweep through the gun line. He saw the gun crews burn. A moment later, he heard the screams.
EndgameEQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, MEGASPELL DEVELOPMENT TENT 1356 HOURS "All I need to know? Seri, you said a megaspell wouldn't be enough to kill Gojira. And now you say that this," -Red pointed at the oxygen destroyer, sitting inside the megaspell- "this, oxygen destroyer, can kill it?" Seri, still looking at the device inside the megaspell, closed her eye, and said, "Yes. And tha-" "No, that's not all I need to know!" Seri flinched, and turned to look at Red. The grey earth pony, ears flat against his head and teeth bared, said, "My life's work is destroyed, my home's a pile of rubble, I'm working on a doomsday device, and both my best friend and my brother are dead! Everything I've ever known is gone. I think I've earned the right to know just what this damn thing does!" Seri simply stared at the fuming pony in front of her. She cleared her throat, and said, "... Okay, Red. You want to know what it does? Fine. It does exactly what the name suggests. When set off, it disintegrates the oxygen molecules in an area equal to that of one mile. The lack of oxygen causes the blood vessels of anything within the blast zone to rot, causing massive internal bleeding, followed by a total shutdown of the organs. It is a slow, extremely painful death that I wouldn't wish upon anything, including Gojira. Does that answer your question?" Seri turned back to the megaspell, fiddling with the timer. Red could only stare, his brain slowly processing the information it had just received. He had thought that the megaspell was the worst weapon ever created. But this... What kind of sick, twisted pony came up with something like that? His thoughts were interrupted by a loud crack sound, which repeated in a quick pattern for a few minutes. He turned his head in the direction of the noise, not noticing the look of utter terror growing on Seri's face. He also didn't hear her mumble, "No... No, we need more time..." Red turned his head to face the one-eyed unicorn, and said, "What was that?" "Cannons. Red, I need your help for this." Red trotted over to the workbench, stopping when he stood next to Seri. The pink unicorn started putting several loose sheets of paper and notebooks, all covered with designs, into a pair of saddlebags she levitated next to the table. She looked at Red, saying, "There's a matchbook over on that table, could you grab it and bring it over here?" Red trotted over to the table in question, found the little cardboard packet of matches, and brought it over to the workbench. Seri thanked him, before putting the matchbook in one of the saddlebags. She placed the bags on the ground, returning her attention to the bomb. "Now, Red, everything should be good, but we need to test this timer. If it doesn't work, the-" A tan pegasus, general West Point, burst into the tent. She nearly knocked one of the parts-tables over, before stopping in front of Red and Seri. She said, "In less than an hour, Godzilla's going to be tearing this place apart. Everypony's falling back to Canterlot. That megaspell needs to be in position, now." She ran back out, yelling something at somepony outside as she left. For a moment, both Seri and Red were speechless. Then, in a frantic rush, Seri put on the saddlebags from earlier, and the two ponies lifted the megaspell-oxygen destroyer off the workbench. Balancing the heavy device on their backs, they slowly moved out of the tent. *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT 1410 HOURS When Red and Seri exited the tent, they saw a yellow pegasus waiting for them. In the distance, they could hear the rest of the soldiers marching out of the camp, heading towards Canterlot. The pegasus introduced himself as sergeant Lucky Strike, and asked the two bomb-laden ponies to follow him to the target area. Red could've sworn he'd seen Lucky somewhere before, but the heavy weight on his back was a more pressing issue than a familiar face. As the three ponies moved through the empty camp, they could feel the earth shake beneath their hooves, and head the thunderous footsteps of the creature. Every second, the sounds grew louder. Lucky Strike tried to forge as straight a path as he could to the outermost edge of the camp. The itching sensation that had plagued him for the past few hours had escalated into a burning sensation, and it kept getting worse by the minute. When he turned to the left, finally on a path leading straight to the edge of the camp, he collapsed. When the two ponies who he didn't really know stopped in front of him, and asked if he was okay, he nodded, and said, "Yeah, yeah, just... Just give me a second. The target area's straight ahead, that way." Lucky raised his head from the ground, looking over at the small clearing. The two ponies moved on without him, with one of them, the grey earth pony, promising they'd come back and get him. After a short time, Lucky lowered his head back to the ground, and groaned in pain. Something was seriously wrong where that monster bit him. It felt like something was trying to grow out of the place where his right wing used to be. The pain spiked to an unbearable level, and Lucky Strike blacked out. Red Sky felt like his back was going to break if he had to carry the bomb any further. Beside him, Seri was tying to use her magic to help them carry it, but it wasn't really helping much. The two ponies finally reached the sandbags marking the edge of the camp, letting the megaspell drop off of their backs. Red sat on the ground, trying to catch his breath. He looked up, and he froze. Not even a mile away, coming straight at him, was the monster. It loomed over the camp, growing larger with every step it took. For a moment, he dumbly stared up at the approaching behemoth. Then, he heard Seri yelling his name. He shook his head, and trotted over to stand next to the megaspell, where Seri was making last-minute adjustments. She turned to him, and said, "I just need to set the timer. I'll grab the sergeant with my magic on the way. That work for you?" "Sure does. Now set that thing so we can get the hay out of here. " Seri moved a dial on the timer back, and flicked a small switch to the 'on' position. Nothing happened. Seri's eye widened, and she frantically tried setting up the timer again. She cursed, muttering something in her native language. Red moved next to her, asking, "What's wrong?" Seri, a somber look on her face, said, "The timer isn't working. It'll only go off if somepony manually detonates it." It took a moment for the statement to sink into Red's mind. He yelled, "What?!" "We never had a chance to test the timer, and now it won't work. It's too late to fix this, Gojira's right there, getting closer by the second. So, one of us isn't making it out of here..." Seri sighed, looking down at the megaspell, then looked back to Red. She took the saddlebags off, and floated them over to Red. Dropping them on his back, she said, "Do me a favor, and burn everything in there. I want the destroyer's design to die with me." "Seri, you don't-" "Red, would you be willing to do this, knowing what the destroyer does?" Red didn't say a word. "Exactly. Now go on, get the sergeant and get out of here. You've only got ten minutes." Red stared at the one-eyed pink unicorn for a moment, while the shadow of the monster started crawling over the camp. He silently extended a hoof to Seri. The pink, one-eyed unicorn met it with her own, firmly shaking it once. Then, Red Sky ran down the path into the camp. He skidded to a stop to lift the unconscious pegasus onto his back, and continued running down the twisted maze of the camp. He ran past the mess area, turning to his left, then right, leaving the shadow of the monster behind. He turned again, and he saw the exit ahead of him, the soldiers a speck on the horizon. As he ran out into the field, he heard the monster roar behind him. Red kept running until his hooves gave out from under him, falling in a field a short distance from the retreating soldiers. Setting the pegasus down, Red rolled onto his back, lying in the tall grass. His bandages had come off in the sprint, and the cuts in his hooves had opened. The creature roared again, faintly this time. Red raised his head off the ground, and finally saw just how far he'd gone. He could barely see the camp itself, and the monster almost looked like a toy from this angle. Something flashed at the camp, and the monster roared again. It raised a leg to step forward, and then, it fell. It crushed the camp beneath it as it fell forwards, the loud crash of it hitting the ground echoing all the way to Canterlot. Red stared at the fallen titan for a long time. He almost expected it to get back up, but it never did. Red rolled back to his hooves, sitting up. He took the saddlebags off, and dropped them in a nearby patch of dirt. He fished the matches out of them, lit the whole pack, and dropped it onto the cloth saddlebags, watching as all the work that went into making the oxygen destroyer crumbled into a pile of ash. Red Sky trotted over to the yellow pegasus, placed the unconscious sergeant on his back, and trudged forward.
After...FORMER LOCATION OF EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NEIGHAGRA FALLS ONE MONTH AFTER THE DEATH OF GODZILLA 1300 HOURS General West Point stood behind a podium on a small stage in a field where the creature labeled 'Godzilla' had fallen. It had taken teams of engineers weeks to haul the carcass off, the massive creature still causing problems after its death. West looked down from the podium, at the crowd gathered in front of the stage. She saw many familiar faces out in it, and some she didn't know, carrying notepads and cameras. From the moment she had started to walk onto the stage, the cameras had flashed, clicked, and whirred nonstop. She swallowed a small lump in her throat, looking down at the little cards stacked on the podium. West looked out into the crowd again, this time focusing on the first row. She saw the ponies who she would be be giving medals to, the megaspell designer, and Pat. The brown earth pony smiled encouragingly, nodding for her to go on. West flipped through the small stack of cards in front of her again, before looking out to the crowd. She pushed the cards to the side, and then she made up the best damn speech she ever gave. *** Red Sky walked for two miles before he reached the military's fall-back position. After putting sergeant Lucky Strike in a field hospital, he gave a brief report to generals West Point and Patter. After attending the memorial service for the ponies KIA in the operations carried out against Godzilla, he was tried for the destruction of the plans for the oxygen destroyer. He was acquitted of the charges after a two-month long trial. He currently lives in Neighpon, where he designs marine craft, and writes books about oceanography. Sergeant Lucky Strike woke up two days after Red dropped him off at the field hospital. The painful sensation in his back turned out to be a relatively harmless mutation, which gave him small replicas of the spines on Godzilla's back. He received two medals for his actions in Operation Anguirus during the memorial ceremonies, shortly before being honorably discharged from the Royal Air Corps. Lucky would later testify in Red Sky's trial, where he thanked the earth pony for saving his life. Lucky currently lives in Dodge Junction. Generals West Point and Patter voluntarily retired shortly after the memorial ceremonies. They married a year later, and now live in Hollow Shades. The remains of Godzilla are currently being studied by ponies from the Equestrian Historical Society, who are trying to find out as much as they can about the creature. There are plans to exhibit the bones of the creature in the Canterlot Museum of Natural History when the study is complete. The Great Oceanic Trench, along with many of the deep scars on the ocean floor, has remained unexplored since the emergence of Godzilla. It is unknown at this time if any further attempts to explore the depths will be made in the future... Author's Note And that's it folks! Thanks for reading the first story I've written here all the way to the end!
