A pair of figures stepped off the transport carriage. The ride from Canterlot to here was a long one for a pair that couldn’t fly, needing to take the train to the end of the tracks and then a four-hour ride to the northern coast to get here. The atmosphere was dreary and almost depressing to look at. The setting looked almost like it had a gray filter cloaked over all in sight, with an ashy sky and dull, near-lifeless shore that spurred the larger of the two travelers to wonder why ponies would ever settle there as the only greenery was some patchy shrub and dune grasses breaking up the bleak, slate sand shore. Bits of snow dotted the beachline and bordering hills as well as casting a white cap to some boulders lodged deep in the calm surf. The only places that indicated settlement were the three dozen or so tents clustered ahead of them. The only permanent structures were aged, sunbleached, and snow-clogged ruins that had once been a small village. The buildings, most of them now missing walls or having the roofs caved in, were anything but spectacular. The only construct of large scale was a towering, long pier that stretched out a hundred meters into the ocean. Though it too showed signs of damage from negligence and other factors, as the middle had been torn open entirely and the boathouse connected to the pier was only recognizable as such due to the decaying remains of a sailboat lodged into the fallen lumber. The only other boats as well as the only ones still in use were the ski boats and skiffs those in the tents had brought with them.
Captain Blueberry Frost was the first to approach the tent complex and abandoned village. She was an earth pony mare of average height with a drawl accent in her perky voice, a blue coat below a dark blue and white-striped, stringy mane. One wouldn’t have assumed her rank had they not seen the distinct purple and gold hued armor she wore, given how unimposing she looked otherwise. Then again, few mares walked around comfortably with a lance almost as big as they were strapped to their armor-covered flank.
“Come on now, this’ our stop!”
She pipped, trotting along towards the camp. The figure behind her was the oddity however. While it was cold outside it was still bearable to most, meaning the fact the very large form stepping off the transport being covered from head to toe in thick sun goggles, medical wraps, a scarf, and a long sleeved cloak was a very curious choice. Sheer size and, judging from how much the transport popped back up from the ground level when he stepped off it, weight was extremely large for a pony. Either due to whatever they were hiding under the cloak or some other odd trait, they towered over Captain Blueberry Frost with the leader of the royal guard barely reaching where their shoulder seemed to be.
The covered figure looked about the abandoned village, mentally going off all the damage. While a caved in roof on account of snow or a beached dingy boat was perfectly explainable by bad weather or neglect, the number of smashed buildings, relative lack of boats for a seaside settlement; and the massive chunk missing from the pier were setting off plenty of mental cause for alarm.
“Something has been happening here and it started suddenly. What was in the reports?”
They muttered. Captain Frost put a hoof to her chin and recalled all the details Princess Celestia had given them as she had no time or will to dig out any paperwork in her saddlebags.
“Started about a year ago, but this region’s been reputed to have problems for decades. Boats started goin’ missin’, sea life behaving erratic like something spooked them; then during a storm somethin’ caused a whole freighter passin’ through to go missin’. After that the locals grabbed anyth’ang not nailed down and bailed. That was four months ago and a few vessels in this region have still been disappearing without a trace. When scouts came here, found the place like this. We’re here to find the ships if we can, or find what’s the cause of it cus’ it sure as Tartarus ain’t the weather.”
Her companion looked upon a larger house that crumbled over entirely. Rather than toppled over in a set direction or two, as was the case with wind, it looked more like some fantastic force had pushed down on it from above and crushed the structure out in all directions. Such damage was looking very familiar to them.
“Do they think it’s tied to what happened back at Canterlot with the gyaos?”
“Not likely given time frame, but nothing’s impossible.”
When they got to the edge of the tent encampment, two of those present walked up to the duo and briefly saluted Captain Frost. The earth pony smirked and nodded to give them signal to be at ease, a gesture they returned.
“Ah, you two must be the monster hunting experts who’ll be with us on the scoutings’.”
She muttered, looking the pair over.
“Hey there!” Spiral Tooth waved eagerly. “We’ve been waiting for you, much like the others here.” He tapped his chin momentarily, as if his memory had suddenly gone blank. “You are the two that were sent from Canterlot, right?”
“Yep,” Frost answered. “I was tol’ there would be two grandmaster rank monster hunters here.”
“That’s us!”
“Us?”
Frost flinched briefly when she realized a tall creature was standing right next to her with a spear in its right hand. It wore a full-body plate armor and was covered head-to-toe in weapons. The spear in her right hand, a sword on the waist, bolas wrapped around the left leg, a large crossbow on the back, multiple pouches around the waist, and a tube of metal encased in a ramp of wood placed atop the crossbow.
“This is Zealos. She’s a diamond dog,” Spiral Tooth presented. The diamond dog said nothing, the only sounds coming from her being breaths reverberating within her helmet. “A very SILENT diamond dog,” he pouted.
“An’ you are?”
“I am Spiral Tooth, also a grandmaster.”
Spiral was a sky-blue earthpony with a muzzle, curly mane, and curly tail, colored white. His eyes were equally white but brightened by the vim and vigor that coursed through his body. He wore armor with a brown leather inner layer and a thin metal sheen constituting the outer layer. Much like Zealos, he held a spear in hoof for his fights, but his had some unique properties to it. Most notably, a spiraling list of unknown, curved runes along the metal body whilst the head of the weapon thrummed with red magics. There was one thing that set him apart from other ponies, and this was made more apparent by his smiles.
“Got some fangs on ye’ I see,” Frost started.
Spiral tapped his teeth briefly and shrugged. They were spiraling teeth that had grown out of his upper jaw and stopped at the base of his lower lip. “I’ve always had these. A genetic defect, so when I became part of the guild, I chose this name. Quite befitting, huh?”
“Yep…” Frost sighed. “Now! We didn’t come here ‘round these parts to play games. We came here to find the source of the problem! Where’s the leader of this operation?”
Frost scratched the back of his head then looked behind him. “It’s the largest green tent further down that way. Go left at the second pile of rubble, then take a right after you pass three houses, and you’ll see it there.”
“Thank ye’.” Frost nodded then gestured to her companion to follow her.
Although he did as ordered, there was something off about him. This was compounded by another heavily clothed pony clearing his throat and lifting a hoof.
“What is it, a recruit?”
Spiral Tooth chuckled but complained when he was aggressively pushed aside by Zealos. She pointed her spear at the giant recruit, but Frost put herself between the two.
“What in tarnation goin’ through your head chickadee!? Are you trying to kill a member of the Royal Guard? I’ll put you down here and now if that’s the case.”
Zealos did not answer. Instead, she turned her head to the left and stared. Frost followed her gaze and saw that the recruit had not moved, in fact. He was still there.
“What?” She looked back to the one standing next to her and jumped back to get herself ready for battle. “A changeling, and so obviously placed.”
“Fyx! Stop that,” Spiral ordered.
The two newcomers both stared at the stallion in confusion. Disgusting, resounding cracks and snaps easily associated to bones breaking, started coming from the copy recruit until it became a gigantic, aggressive looking spider. It was easily pony-sized, if not slightly moreso.
“What is that thing?” Frost asked.
“A throos. You know, those changeling-hunting spiders. I got lucky when I found his egg. They’re SUPER rare, I hear!”
The giant pony approached the throos, but the spider did not take kindly to his presence and spat white venom at him. It didn’t require much effort on his part to dodge the venom. Zealos noticed the intricate movements and locked onto him.
“Woah,” Spiral shouted. “Nice dodge...Wait, who are you again? I don’t think I asked you?”
Frost quickly replied in her companion’s stead. “He’s some new hired help I got to tag along. Just in-case. He’s the silent type, so don’t expect much in way of talkin’ from him.”
“If you say so. Fyx! Let’s go get ready!” Frost took one step before stopping and spinning back around. “Everything you need to know will be explained by the head guy...Maybe. I wouldn’t know. Our organisation told us everything in advance.” He shrugged and hurried off into the desolate village.
The mare was about to move forward, taking Spiral’s instructions to heart, until she noticed the other hunter. Zealos was looking at the recruit, but Frost knew, just from the diamond dog’s positioning, that she was glaring aggressively at the stallion who reciprocated the fear. He was never one to back down or let himself be rolled over so easily. Much like his past, he felt an aura of suspicion, mistrust, and a need for blood coming from the hunter.
”Does she know? The other one didn’t seem too bright in that regard, let alone anything else. Best keep an eye on her.”
Sure enough, Spiral Tooth’s instructions bore fruit, but Frost and her companion felt somewhat melancholic looking at the state of the village. So many homes destroyed and nopony left. What could they have left behind in their rush to flee this unknown threat? So many ideas went through the captain’s mind, and she felt anger welling up inside her. The recruit, however, felt familiarity. He knew what he saw but could simply not reciprocate the same feelings his superior felt.
The large tent stood closest to a large pier of rotting wood where three large galleons rested. Many ponies in red armor carried large wooden boxes both to the pier and then upon the ships. Their armor had a robe-like appearance, and both their sleeves and hoods ended in a lining of white cloth. It was both for protection against danger and the erratic, local elements.
“Those boats are strange,” the recruit mumbled. “I have never seen those things on their stomachs.”
Frost looked closer and realized it too. “Are those skis?” She shook her head. “Can’t they just navigate on the water?”
“That’s not water,” the large stallion corrected.
“We’ll add those to our questions when we enter the tent, and try to keep a low profile. I’ve already noticed many of the ponies here looking at you with curiosity. We don’t need somepony to rip off your disguise because they couldn’t control themselves.”
The recruit nodded and followed Frost inside the tent. Much like the hustle and bustle of ponies outside, there was much activity inside as well. Shelves were lined with parchments and quills in a messy order, and there were ponies at the edges taking care of sorting the many supplies and letters coming and going from the small base. At the right of the entrance was a squarish table completely covered with papers and a map. Several ponies were standing around it, trying to figure out what to do. Most notable was an elderly stallion of brown with blue hooves and mane but no tail. He was yelling the loudest.
“-and that’s why spreading is a stupid idea! We have a better chance of surviving an unknown element by grouping together.”
“Commodore Boulder Brash?” Frost queried.
“Yes. What is it? Who are you?”
“I am Captain Frost of the Royal Guard,” she saluted.
“Oh. OH!” He bolted to his hooves and saluted her. “Hey! Stop what you’re doing and salute Captain Frost!” he ordered the other ponies around. They complied nearly in sync.
“At ease,” Frost said. “So, what seems to be the problem?”
“If you could come to the table, we can explain.”
Frost went to it but noticed that Boulder Brash stared at the giant accompanying her. “Something wrong?” she asked.
“Hey, giant. You don’t need to wear all that. It’s not that cold. You don’t need to worry about getting sick.”
The recruit waved a hoof, stating that he was fine as is, but the commodore was insistent. Frost had to step in to stop him. “He’s very easily chilled, and I would mighty thankful if ye’ just ignore him.” She leered at the stallion who immediately went back to the table.
Boulder cleared his throat and adjusted himself. “Apologies for that mishap. Before we start, I trust you met the two monster hunters we hired?”
“Yes. They are...unique.”
“The pony acts like a foal, especially for somepony with his rank,” one of the ponies at the table commented.
“I take it you are the captains?”
They nodded.
Boulder brought back attention to the matter at hoof. “We’re arguing over separating and staying closely knit together in-case we meet the threat residing in these...these things.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask. Why do your ships have skis and what is with that water?”
“That’s not water,’ a captain answered. “We call that ‘nyus’. It’s replaced parts of where the ocean was not long ago.”
“Nyus?”
“Yes. We don’t know what it’s made from, but they’re these white orbs the size of golfballs, and they’re halfway between warm and cool. Almost like the perfect temperature. The Nyubet is made of nothing but that stuff. Nothing but skis are capable of staying on its surface without inevitably sinking.”
Frost had a clear expression of perplexity. She was lost, and Boulder knew it.
“To alleviate some of your confusion, the Nyubet is what this region is now called. It has a bizarre effect on the weather around it. A massive desert to its right, this...bizarre, sporadic dropping of snow. We don’t really know what’s going on.”
“So you were sent here to figure out what the problem was and to, hopefully, get these ponies back to their homes?”
“Ehhhh...Not quite.” Boulder Brashly tapped his fore hooves together. “The...This region is a crossways between Equestria and five other countries.”
“It was a trading crossroad,” Frost realized.
“Precisely, but now that this thing appeared here, merchants have had to take more dangerous and longer routes to get to their destination.”
“So the Merchant and Country leaders are complaining about loss of revenue…”
“Not just that. The Nyubet is expanding ever slowly outwards, and, so far, we’ve found no way of stopping it, let alone push it back.”
“Why not just fly over it? Some of your kind have wings?” the recruit muttered.
“Your kind?” Boulder narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t pay him mind. He’s got a unique way of talking,” Frost explained. “Please, continue.”
Boulder sighed. “We’ve tried getting ponies over, but they just disappeared as well.”
“And we’re all here to see what the problem is.”
“That reminds me. Why ARE you here? We’re certainly enough for this job. Do the princesses not trust us?” Boulder queried.
“They do, but...we’re a bit of ‘insurance’. Plus, direct experience of the scene will provide her with a much quicker report rather than waiting for y’all to write everything, send it to the mailing services, and then wait for it to reach the princesses,” Frost explained.
“Right, well, that doesn’t solve our formation problem.”
“Then might I suggest keeping the ships one-thousand meters apart with a five hundred meter advantage on each other? This way, if there’s a threat that arises, we can react to it accordingly and let the others catch up.”
Boulder nodded. “What do you think, captains?” They nodded. “Then we’re ready. Meet us at the docks. We’ll escort you to my ship. The monster hunters will be on another.”
“What are you going to do in the meantime?”
“Some finishing touches, such as potential escape routes if things get too dangerous and assessing if we have enough ammo for our cannons and weapons.”
Frost nodded and left the tent with her recruit. Once next to the pier, the two both stared at the Nyubet lying before them while ponies worked in the background.
“So, what do ya think, ‘recruit’?” Frost asked quietly. “Ye’ think there’s anything them ships can’t handle?”
“I wouldn’t be so sure. The hu--” The stallion cut himself off. “Those at my home often created great weapons with which to fight, but they did not often bear the fruit they hoped. And these ponies seem to have only just started developing gunpowder. For their sakes, I hope this is just weather native to this world.”
Frost chuckled. “Don’t count on it. Even our weather isn’t this weird.” She stretched herself a bit and stood up. “Well, if there really is something in there, let’s crack some heads. Wadda ya say?”
The recruit nodded quietly. There was a moment of calm, then a familiar voice greeted the two.
“Ready to go on the ship?” It was Spiral Tooth. “Don’t worry. Any sickness you feel should be brief.”
“You’ve been on these rigs before?”
The stallion nodded, shrugged, and tilted his head from side-to-side. “Somewhat. It was during another mission far south of here. I don’t expect the sensation to be the same, what with this strange ‘nyus’. Before I leave, don’t forget to stock up on explosive pouches. I have a feeling we’ll need them.”
“Explosives, huh? I know that’ll bring joy to my ears.”
Spiral Tooth waved them as he returned to his companion currently battling with the throos.
The large stallion looked at them and snorted. “They are...strange,” he mumbled.
“Well, it makes everypony unique, and uniqueness creates talent.”
The small group of ski boats rocked across the waves as they transitioned from the wet slaps of rocking seawater into the noisy rattle of going over the nyus. The shuddering and shaking was enough to make one’s teeth clack should they hold their jaw together and carried on for hours. And yet even hours later and maintaining a steady pace of a few knots, there was still nothing but the white and gray of the nyus in every direction along with a slight fog that blocked sight after a few hundred meters. The sky was eventually blotted out by the misty overcast, making the entirety of the scape around the formation nothing but the same bleak and paleness. Spiral Tooth pulled out a map and compass, using some mental math to figure out where they were supposed to be around. His discovery left the fanged pony twisting his lips in mild confusion.
“Huh, according to this we’re supposed to be bordering the steppe bordering the desert right now. This place is supposed to be full on hot or full on cold.” He attempted to scratch the back of his head but forgot about his helmet. “This is really...weird. I’ve never seen this kind of environment before.”
He muttered, holding a hoof up into the air and confirming the temperature which could be described as mild at worst. Taking note of his words, Captain Frost had done the same.
“Think it’s the nyus? Ye’ said they got a neutral temp’. If they’re causin’ the temp to equal out from hot an’ cold, could explain this fog.”
“Eh, possible but nyus usually don’t do nearly this much,-”
Spiral Tooth grunted, eying the scenery they’d been stuck in all this time.
“Then again, not seen so much of them before, judging by the few pictures we got of this place months ago.”
The recruit grunted, stepping up beside them and nodding forward.
“There’s something ahead.”
All eyes scanned forward to see what broke the monotony. Finally the scenery was given some uniqueness, but in a most grim manner. Looking through telescopes, Captain Frost and Spiral Tooth surveyed the large objects coming into view. Across the mist’s edge emerged dozens of them; many ships big and small partially sticking up out of the nyus. Captain Frost looked over the hulls and recognized numerous symbols and letterings.
“Trade and armed ships. Gryphon, minotaur, yak, think ‘ah see an Arabian galleon; Equestrian too. There’s ships there from half dozen places.”
“Every nation that traveled through this place,” Spiral Tooth lamented and started feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stick up from excitement both benign and more. Zealos and the recruit were letting their eyes and senses wander. The throos was picking up on it as well. There was something very wrong here.
There was suddenly a fantastic crash coming from the left. Without warning a ship on the far flank was destroyed in an instant, snapped so violently and quickly it looked as it if had exploded. Shattered wood and twisted metal were thrown into the air. Zealos, who’d been standing further to the left on the frontal ship quickly noticed how the nyus pellets seemed to be engulfing the ship’s remains whilst taking on the shape of a massive hand. Thinking quickly she lurched to the side, shoving a cannoneer off his post, aiming and firing a swivel gun at the festering mass of nyus just ahead of the shattered ship. The explosive cannonball rang out, tossing nyus every which way and scattering the cluster. There was silence for a time, as panicked survivors from the lost ship were fished aboard the other boats.
Then came a loud screeching that permeated from all directions. The nyus partially retracted, sea water they once coated even becoming visible in a few places. The nyus that retreated compiled together, linking together like brickwork to assemble an ever growing mass. A facsimile of a head, shoulders, part of an upper torso, and then arms formed from the nyus mass pooling itself together. The new titan, a sort of enormous beast later called Nyum-Bunet, was easily sixty meters tall from the base of its submerged chest to its head. Its body was comprised of solid stone covered in various places with thick sheets of ice, but the stones were not interconnected directly. Instead, they floated apart from each other yet remained connected. Smaller shards floated next to the more solid masses, adding to the strange ‘damaged’ appearance the Nyum-Bunet held. Its hands ended in seven massive digits each, while its arms were composed of three massive stones, each easily enough to crush any boat that came its way, be they metal or wood. Its head was a more interesting trait among its pieces; While it did not connect to the main, single stone that comprised its torso, multiple smaller rocks floated in-between as if something had destroyed it. A wave of rounded stone rose from the lower-right to the upper-left of its head, somehow emphasizing the top from which jutted a few longer elevations, giving it the appearance of a crown. Its massive red eyes were trained upon the intruders to its domain, and its screech reminiscent of sharpened metal being cut through by a saw attested to this rage.
Nyum-Bunet hoisted its enormous arms up as multiple ships began to open fire on it with their explosive cannons. While the giant did flinch on the impacts, the slow rise of its arm wasn’t impeded, nor was their descent.
“Abandon ship!”
One of the ship leads barked, leading her subordinates in bailing out to avoid being crushed like their skiboat was as the vessel burst on impact with Nyum-Bunet’s fist like a bowling ball dropped on balsa wood. The remaining ski boats put full power into reverse, dodging and weaving out of the way as the Nyum-Bunet waded after them with sluggish swats and smacks. Some boats were keeping up the firepower best they could, but the explosive cannonballs were inflicting minimal damage on the creature. Some would crack the outer nyus layers, but nothing was penetrating as the ice sheets and stone would reform.
Captain Frost hung onto the rails of the ship. Gritting her teeth after seeing Nyum-Bunet withstand a shot she’d fired directly into its face, she ignored the monster wading towards them and looked to the recruit. No words needed be said, just a nod.
“Alright! S class command if ye’ wanna live! All unicorns, fire a telekinesis beam at that there recruit and think happy thoughts!”
At this point even Spiral Tooth was confused as to what brain dead ploy the mare was after, but the Captain’s enraged expression caused several unicorns in the cannon loading team to drop what they were doing and salute.
“Ma’am, yes ma’am!”
They did as told, half a dozen rays of light converging on the giant pony’s form. The covered recruit seemed to absorb the magic itself, building a glow of neon blue visible through the shrouds. After several seconds of charging, the unicorns cut the beams off and stumbled around, clearly in a slight daze from exertion. Before anypony or any diamond dog could ask what in the world was going on, the recruit ripped his cloak off to reveal his entire body was covered in blinding light from horn to hoof. He jumped off the edge of the boat and sunk through the nyus and the seawater below them.
There was a fantastic flash of light across the ocean surface, shining through the nyus with a dazzling glow that danced across both the boats and Nyum-Bunet. The latter still focused on the lead ship, waded closer and raised its arm to smash it under fist. While the expressions on the ship ranged from battle ready with the hunters, to fearful with some crew; to the point of bailing out with others; Captain Blueberry Frost just smirked. There was a very particular reason she’d picked this particular new recruit to come with her.
A beam of burning plasma glowing with neon blue light burst out of the nyus and sea, striking Nyum-Bunet in the chest and causing the titan to stumble back, smoking and groaning in pain. Swimming up from the bubbling sea and churning nyus, a reptilian form burst to the surface with an air rattling roar Equestria hadn’t heard since the gyaos incident at Canterlot. The newcomer was enormous, easily 100 meters tall from foot to head. Double rows of fangs, four taloned fingers per hand, charcoal gray scales, battery rows of jagged maple-leaf shaped dorsal spines; and golden irises with a burning red background. Godzilla Junior’s long tail thrashed, splitting apart some nyus behind him as he waded over to Nyum-Bunet.
Nyum-Bunet seemed to almost recoil in surprise at the newcomer, having expected this to merely be another ship stomp like before or with the seaside village.
Being stunned momentarily by the giant that appeared before, the Nyum-Bunet stared at it for a lengthy period before resuming its attack on the ships. It didn’t know where the monster came from, but it was certain that it wasn’t real. Nothing like that had ever come to its home, but its stubbornness found itself damaged when a fist destined for one of the ships found itself stomped down into the nyus. Nyum-Bunet clumsily threw another fist intended for the giant and successfully punched him off its arm. The sheer size of the stone giant’s fist made any attempts to dodge at point-blank range nigh impossible, but Nyum-Bunet was determined to crush the invaders of its home whether they had another giant with them or not. Godzilla wasn’t about to let that happen and hurried towards the stone giant, kicking it in the torso and pushing it further back. Nyum-Bunet had no idea how to react to Godzilla and randomly threw punches at him, certain that its size and strength would chase whatever the thing was. Being at a greater distance, Godzilla carefully sidestepped away from each strike before returning. The King of Monsters knew not to underestimate something simply because of size, as his experience with humans would attest to, but Nyum-Bunet was getting angry and annoyed at this bizarre foe. It couldn’t hit him properly and he was taller than it.
Clearly more desperate measures were needed. The entirety of the nyus shifted and moved around and off its body as Nyum-Bunet arose from the depths with the help of its arms. Godzilla Junior snarled with bared fangs, slowly raising his head higher and higher to track the growing foe. Nyum-Bunet revealed the rest of its torso, then its ‘hips’, then its legs; until it slowly stood up to its full height and towered over the King of the Monsters.
The Nyum-Bunet trudged in movement, like a mobile mountain in mass and action. An avalanche of a swipe was thrown. Godzilla, while still outsized by a margin of at least three to one, nevertheless held his ground and tried to catch the blow. The mistake was obvious when it was made evident that Nyum-Bunet’s strength scaled with its size. The King of the Monsters’ titanic strength might have slowed the blow down somewhat, the force of impact ripped him off his feet and sent the dinosaur sliding backwards several hundred meters and through the wreckage of a large galleon. Seawater, scattered nyus, and wood splinters fell back down in torrents and Nyum-Bunet looked back down at the small hunter fleet. A foghorn-like bellow muttered out from the colossus and it raised another skyscraper-sized arm to take a swipe at the boats peppering it’s chest and face with explosive cannonballs.
Another roar rattled the sea and churned waves and attracted the attention of Nyum-Bunet.
“SHROOOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEENK!”
READ PART 2 HERE
