A loud knock rang out, causing a pair of red eyes to flicker open in the dark. Through the blurry perspective they saw the world in, the room looked to be filled with monsters of all kinds and sorts. Giving a yawn, she spread her bat-like wings and reached out, grabbing a small pair of blue glasses.
The room came into focus as she put those thin layers of glass between her eyes and the world around her, revealing...the room still looked to be filled with monsters of all kinds and sorts, now more clearly simply statues and Nightmare Night costumes. On the wall above her bed was a diploma for a PhD in Comparative Studies with a Concentration in Folklore. A bookshelf next to the bed was filled with numerous horror titles, with one open on the nightstand to a passage of a young pony trying to escape a giant pony-eating bat in the Amarezon rainforest.
The dark blue thestral rose from her bed, which entirely unironically was shaped like a coffin. Not because of any truth to a misconception her kind were vampires, but rather out of personal taste. That and she always found it rather funny to startle ponies who found their way in while she was sleeping, which considering her home's nature happened more often than one would expect. Her mane was black with lighter blue stripes through it, and her cutie mark was the image of a black book with a blue will-o-wisp on the cover.
“Dr. Ghost Story?” called a voice from the other side. Giving a yawn that exposed her fangs, the bat pony spread her wings and flew over, opening the door to reveal a teenaged unicorn. Her fur was white and her mane was black, her attire rather Gothic in nature.
“Good evening, Witching Hour,” the thestral replied with a friendly smile.
“Hey boss,” replied the teenaged mare. “You said you wanted me to wake you a couple hours before dusk.”
“Thank you,” Ghost Story said with a grateful nod, quickly grabbing a spider themed brush and doing her best to get her mane in order. “I need to be in Canterlot by nightfall if I want to get that new shipment of books right as they get in.”
Following her employee down from the upper floor where the bat pony's living quarters were located, the two entered the main building. The Mare in the Moon bookstore's décor gave the appearance that Nightmare Night was celebrated year round, with cobwebs, fake bats, mock skeletons, and other monsters lining the walls. Along with some posters for popular horror novels that were currently on sell. The ceiling also had plenty of exposed rafters, which the owner often used to swing down and give unsuspecting patrons a friendly fright. And sometimes her employees. But always in good fun. After all, life's no fun without a good scare.
“So, did I miss anything?” Ghost Story questioned, collecting her things for her trip to Canterlot. Being nocturnal had advantages and disadvantages, one of the latter naturally being needing filled in on the events that happened while the majority of the population was awake.
Her dayshift worker took her place back at the register and began helping ring up a customer's book. “Nothing much, though there's still rumors flying around about that attack at Camp Evergreen.”
Ghost Story nodded, remembering a few days ago when she'd first heard of it. Few things truly frightened her (except clowns), but that had. Though not for just the event itself. “I'll have to ask a friend of mine about that, her niece was there for it.”
“Oh...You mean that Kirin that runs the tea shop, right? Tea Song?”
Ghost Story gave a small chuckle. “Ki Seong, but yes, that's her...” she replied, putting her saddlebags on and giving a wave. “Make sure to close up shop when your shift ends.”
Witching Hour nodded, giving a wave. “Got it, boss.”
The thestral stepped out into the sun, shielding her sensitive nocturnal eyes with one of her wings against the bright light of Celestia's sun. She quickly rummaged through her bag and produced a pair of prescription sunglasses she swapped out with her normal ones and headed for the train station.
Ghost Story laid her head back at the train chugged along, letting the rhythmic beat slowly relax her and help her fall asleep. For most ponies, this was evening, but for her, it was very early morning, and she was hoping to rest before arriving in Canterlot. However, some whispers she heard did peak her interest.
Namely, something about a 'flock of big angry bats' in Appleloosa.
Giant bat. Her tired mind racked itself for something that fit that description. There was a rainforest dwelling beast known as the Ahool. Mothmane and Owlmane were mistaken for bats. Whatever it was, it was lost to her as she slowly slipped into slumber.
Ghost Story's red eyes flickered awake as the train whistle blew, signaling her arrival in Canterlot. Departing the Friendship Express, the thestral looked up as dusk began to fall, taking in the coming of the night which her people called home. The dark shadows of the alleys and nocturnal animals dashing or flitting about as their time began to come may have unnerved someponies, but it put a smile on her face.
...But as she trotted along, she noted something in those around her, specifically the royal guards on their patrols. Her Special Talent was storytelling, and that came with a very important skill: the ability to read one's audience. And right now, she could tell there was a sense of unease, or tenseness. As if something had them on edge.
Then again, apparently a camp in Equestria had been threatened by several Dragons with rumors of some other large creature having been involved and there was some kind of swarm of big angry bats in Appleloosa, but still, it made her have a small sense of unease, and not of the type that made the thestral laugh...
“Alright, Dr. Ghost Story, there you go,” replied a brown furred Earth Pony with a black mane and tail, both having 'skunk stripes'. He wore brown glasses and his Cutie Mark was a darker brown book with 'private eye' symbol on the cover. He lifted up a box of books onto the counter...then blinked, noticing she was gone. “Dr. Ghost Story?”
“Boo!” shouted the thestral, suddenly jumping up from below the counter, causing him to jump with a scream. After catching his breath, both shared a small laugh. “Sorry, Sherlock. It's just things seem rather tense around here tonight, I felt like a good scare might lighten the mood.”
The Earth Pony gave a small chuckle. “Quite alright, and you're correct.”
“What's got the guards so on edge? Was it the dragon attack at Camp Evergreen? Or what happened in Appleloosa?” Ghost Story inquired.
“Not to my knowledge. There was quite the uproar at the castle a few days ago, and rumors Princess Luna was involved in a fight,” the book distributor explained, giving a worried look towards the castle through a nearby window. “Wish I could tell you more, but that is all I know.”
The dark blue bat pony gave a nod. “I see...Well, I take it she won, given as things would probably be more than a little uneasy if something that strong was still running around and beat a Princess. Though I'm sure whatever happened must be quite the story.”
Sherlock gave a nod. “Indeed. Well, I hope your customers enjoy the new books, Dr. Ghost Story.”
“Oh, I'm sure they will. After all, Nightmare Night is soon, and that's the day everypony loves a ghost story.”
Trotting along through Canterlot's streets with saddlebags full of new books for her shelves, Ghost Story turned her head towards the Castle. Had Princess Luna really engaged some strange creature in the middle of the castle? One frightening enough to unnerve the guards of this city? Her mind was aflame with guesses and ideas of what it might be. Years of folklore study raced through her mind as she put a good deal of thought into what kind of creature could stand toe to toe with one of the Princesses. Queen Chrysalis came to mind, but this didn't fit her MO, and Canterlot would be in a much larger uproar if she had returned...
The bat pony shuddered. She still remembered the stories of what Chrysalis had done to Timbucktu, her family having been civilians who after the Night's Rebellion had helped build the new pegasi capital of Cloudsdale with many other thestrals afterwards. She hadn't been in Canterlot during the wedding (again, nocturnal), but she knew enough of the event to understand the fear of the Changeling Queen and her people.
Still, Ghost Story had to admit, the story had her hungry to learn more. And evidently the Princess had come out on top, so what harm was there in being excited to learn the tale?
Before she could make any further progress on that thought, the bat pony's eyes noticed something very strange. In the shadows of one of the towers, she saw something barely visible and still as a statue. In truth, Ghost Story only noticed something amiss from how often she trotted down this very path doing this vary errand, often looking up at the castle in hopes of seeing her Night Guard kin or even the Princess of the Night herself. It also helped that nocturnal eyes allowed her to naturally see things hiding in shadows better than the average pony. Looking closer, she noted the head of what many might see as just a stray statue was pointing towards the window of one of the buildings, where a towering shadow was silhouetted by the light inside. Height wasn't the easiest thing to gauge at this distance, but it was clear they were not an average stallion.
Whatever it was, it simply gave a nod towards the figure and turned away. The figure just flew back into the castle and vanished.
“...My my, this story becomes more intriguing by the moment...” Ghost Story muttered, guessing one of the figures to be a Night Guard or Luna herself, given their preference for hiding in the shadows. But who had the other been? Certainly not an enemy, or else Luna or a guard wouldn't have reacted that way...but if not an enemy, then who?
Stopping to get donuts was a recurring ritual every time the thestral came to the town. There were plenty of places to eat in the capital city of Equestria, but none of them really appealed to her very much, as they were for the most part too formal and serious. Ghost Story never really liked serious and uptight, as she liked seeing ponies enjoy themselves. That and Donut Joe's was the only restaurant in town that really played up her favorite holiday that was soon coming with specialty foods, and that she knew the owner well enough to get one early since she wouldn't be in town for Nightmare Night.
As she ate the skull and spider decorated donut to sate her hunger, Ghost Story contemplated how to sate her curiosity. She'd need to be back in Ponyville soon, these books wouldn't stock themselves. But the story had peaked her interest. Not only did it have an air of fright to it (as any creature capable of fighting one of the Princesses had a pretty big aura of intimidation to it), but also included Princess Luna, somepony the thestral admired and looked up to, possibly even more than average for her people. And then she'd saw that figure in the window and the one in the shadows, just a brief glimpse of something mysterious.
“Maybe I can come back another night and really investigate...” the bat pony muttered… Then jumped as the sound of alarm bells cut through the capital. “What the...”
The mare rushed to the door and threw it open, seeing ponies rushing about in response to the warning bells. She'd expected to see coming the likes of a dragon or even the Changeling horde, things that while frightening and dangerous, were familiar. What she saw instead was something alien entirely. She dropped the bag of donuts she'd taken for her breakfast instantly.
The stars in the distance began to be blotted out by countless giant wings. Hungry screeches tore through the air that made every instinct in her body scream 'run.' The situation unfolding before her was one she'd normally only would find in one of the horror novels she adored so much. As she'd always known, it was far less fun in real life.
Ghost Story forced herself to fly up to get a better look out of morbid curiosity. The creatures were only a mile or so away, and the screams of panic and fear around her added to the feeling it was straight out of some horror story. The beasts all shared a triangular head and bat-like wings...and sharp teeth that gnashed as they grew closer. That alone was frightening, but not something that would be entirely unexpected to exist in Equestria. It was their size that made her blood run cold. Their size and their numbers. The smallest of the lot were believable, being only about the size of a bear or manticore. The biggest, however, were massive enough that many dragons would be intimidated by them. And there wasn't just one. Just one would've been like just one dragon, frightening, but not unheard of. There were hundreds. Hundreds of hungry mouths full of razor sharp teeth. Hundreds of ravenous, winged beasts ranging in size from the size of the beasts of Everfree to bigger than a dragon.
Her mind wandered to a Saddle Arabian legend of a bird so massive it could carry off an elephant with ease. So huge that their egg could be mistaken for a building. So gigantic that it could destroy entire ships with little difficulty. This creature was known in their literature and myth as the Roc.
And Canterlot was now baring witness to several hundred such creatures descending upon it.
This wasn't fun. This was just scary. And Ghost Story had to put all her will power into not wetting herself where she flew as the beasts drew closer. She didn't stop to think what, or why, or how. She only turned to fly to cover, to a shelter. Anywhere that was safe. The caves deep into the mountains the capital stood on seemed the best safe haven, but could she hope to get to one in time? Her heart raced and she flew towards one of the entrances used for tourists that she'd taken tours of in the past, praying it was too cramped for the behemoths to fit...
But before she could reach it, Ghost Story noticed a golden light glimmer around the edge of town, between her and the cave she'd planned to seek shelter. Celestia's glimmering magic slowly began rising up around the city, and the thestral allowed herself to calm slightly...only slightly. Ponies had faith in their Princesses and she was no different, but did Celestia have the power to hold off that many of these horrid monsters that were growing closer and closer with each passing second? She still trembled.
The thestral blinked at a sudden glow, looking back towards the castle in time to see a blue spark fly past the city borders and into the valley nearby, right as the horde of vicious monsters arrived...
“What was that?” Ghost Story muttered, then shielded her eyes as a pillar of blue magic erupted skywards, piercing the heavens. The glow dimmed just enough for her to see the geyser of light and power condense into something huge. Something so massive that even the creatures she'd been terrified of a second before seemed small in comparison.
It was bipedal, a dinosaur. Ghost Story couldn't guess the exact type, as her knowledge of them was limited to the most well-known and those believed to potentially still live to this day. Though the arms instantly told her this was no T-Rex, if the size hadn't already done so. It was definitely a saurian, with charcoal gray scales and a three rows and sharp, white, maple leaf-shaped dorsal spines running the length of his back.
For a moment, she wondered how Canterlot was going to survive this...
A pair of fiery orange eyes opened in the darkness...and the leviathan turned towards the flock of ravenous giants, letting out a deafening roar. The spines lining its back ignited blue as azure flames licked its jaws. The look in those massive eyes, each larger than her entire body...
They were not the hungry ones of the countless beasts descending on them. There was no hunger in those eyes. Ghost Story was good at reading her audience, and those eyes weren't just those of a feral beast. Those were not the eyes of a hungry predator, but something that thought. They had a certain fierce nobility to them. And boundless determination.
A beam of azure energy pierced the night, and into the swarm of beasts, making it clear her reading was not unfounded. Even if this second beast was not on their side, it was not on the birds' either. If nothing else, the enemy of your enemy was your friend.
As the leviathan's azure flames burned through the dark beasts, her mind let itself wander to another legend.
In many eastern cultures, four guardians were spoken of in myth. To the north was the Black Turtle, to the south was the Vermillion Phoenix, and to the west was the White Tiger. But the part of the myth that resonated in her mind, however, was the final of the four, the guardian of the east: the Azure Dragon. A fearsome and mighty creature, but just, benevolent, and noble.
While there were clear differences (such as the Azure Dragon symbolizing wood, not flame), Ghost Story dared hope the first myth that sprung to her mind was the closest to the truth.
Author's Note
Thanks to Tarbtano for approving and beta reading this!
As ponies stared in shock throughout Canterlot while creatures the likes of which only appeared in myth, legends, and horror films battled it out, Dr. Ghost Story hovered fixated on what was unfolding before her.
The Azure Dragon unleashed streams of heat that roasted the deadly flying beasts, who returned fire with streams of yellow light that earned bursts of sparks on impact with the charcoal hide. She recoiled as a loud, bellowing roar emitted from the gigantic creature and he entered melee range.
Transfixed on the spectacle before her, Ghost Story followed the enormous creature's eyes as he grabbed one of the larger beasts by the neck and used it as a makeshift weapon. “...You're not a dumb brute, are you?” she asked to no one but herself. She'd already seen the fierce nobility in that creature's eyes, but the looks and body language, and the way in which he fought. They weren't an animal's. They were that of a thinking creature.
Her thoughts were broken when she heard the commanding, Royal Canterlot Voices ring out.
““CITIZENRY OF CANTERLOT, NOW IS NOT A TIME FOR THOU’S RATIONAL AND WIT TO FALTER! A SWARM OF MONSTERS CALLED GYAOS ARE ATTEMPTING TO BESIEGE THE CITY! ANOTHER CREATURE CALLED GODZILLA HAS AGREED TO FIGHT ON CANTERLOT'S BEHALF AND HAS ENGAGED THE SWARM, BUT YOU ALL MUST SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY! THIS IS A ROYAL DECREE!”
Agreed to help. With those words Ghost Story couldn't help but smile and give a cheer. “He really is on our side!” she cheered, noting while a relative minority, she was not the only one...before the overall situation registered in her head.
The bat pony saw ponies rush and panic as they sought shelter. She looked between nearer shelters and further ones with higher vantage points...and instantly started towards the latter, eyes remaining on the battle. She saw several of the gyaos as she now knew what they were called land on the barrier and try their hardest to rip into it, only to be repelled by pulses of magic. For a moment she stopped to catch her breath, feeling if nothing else she was safe for a moment. Safe enough to stop, produce some note paper from her bag and make a quick log as she flew.
'Dr. Ghost Story's log:
Canterlot is under attack. Gigantic beasts known as gyaos, unknown origin at this time, have descended on the city. In all my years of folklore study I have never heard that name before. Their size varies from a bear or manticore's to larger than a dragon, and the look in their eyes is one of pure hunger. However, when it seemed we'd be an all you can eat buffet for these horrible creatures, a second creature, a gigantic saurian creature known as Godzilla, arrived. He is fighting to defend us. Like Neighpon's legendary Azure Dragon, he is here to protect us...'
“Ghost Story!”
The thestral turned at the familiar voice and saw a certain book distributor waving from a nearby door. “Sherlock!”
“Ghost Story, come on! The Princesses called for us to take shelter!” the Earth Pony called back...then blinked, looking Ghost Story in the face. With all these things adding up, the Bat Pony's expression had let fear ebb and be replaced with an expression he decidedly recognized from his long friendship with her. And it made him give sigh. “...Oh no...”
Ghost Story chuckled. “Don't worry, I'm going to take shelter...in the higher buildings, preferably with a good vantage point,” she said, a more energetic but somehow still nerdy and curious tone worming into her voice.
“Ghost Story, there's a giant monster fight going on outside the city!” Sherlock pointed out in a tone somewhere between annoyance and genuine fear. As if to punctuate the it, a thunderous crash resounded in the background.
“Yes, and the bigger one is on our side,” was the reply. “Come on, you can't tell me you're not curious! This is the most interesting thing to happen in awhile!”
The Earth Pony cringed at the sound of a roar and a flash of azure light signaling the obliteration of another group of gyaos. “Yes, and the 'good one' is a killing machine!”
“...Sherlock, you're smarter than this, do you honestly see any other way we'd get out of this mess except for what he's doing?”
Sherlock raised a hoof and opened his mouth...then blinked, repeating the gesture several times before looking back at the hundreds of gigantic, blood thirsty beasts besieging the city that the Princesses' barrier kept at bay...but his analytic eyes told him would not hold forever. Ghost Story could see gears turning in his head as her friend seemed to go through hundreds of possible situations in his mind. Sherlock's special talent was an eye for details and a mind to interpret them. She saw emotions, he saw details. In a way, it was little wonder they were good friends. “...That's...sadly a good point...”
“Come with me or don't, I'm getting a better look at this! This is too good of a story to pass up!” Ghost Story replied, continuing towards the taller buildings.
Sherlock looked back and forth between her and his perfectly safe shelter, then back to her, then to the warring titans. He finally gave an annoyed sigh and followed. “This better turn out better than the time you got worked up like this over the Sass Squash!”
“Oh come on, that went fine!”
“There were squashes everywhere! And neither of us like squashes!”
“No, but the ponies we sold them to did.”
Sherlock facehoofed between gallops. “That's not the point! And what about when you got obsessed with that one skunk creature?”
Ghost Story only gave a laugh. “The Aniwye, and that didn't end so bad. Nothing a few herbal tomato juice baths didn't fix.”
Sherlock gave a shudder and sigh. “I hate it when she gets like this...”
The two heard a loud impact and looked out of the city (Ghost Story taking the path that gave them the best possible unobstructed view that wasn't in an instant death zone if the gyaos pierced the barrier, she was enthusiastic and excited, not stupid) as a particularly large gyaos slammed into the back of Godzilla's head before he was dogpiled by several who bit and clawed into his hide. Both didn't breathe for several moments, especially when they started to see blood emerge from the wounds. Both winced as the gigantic creature shattered one's neck and skull, then hammerfisted the second to the ground and finished it with a stomp they could feel the vibrations of from here. Sherlock's eyes went wide as the saurian titan jumped and landed backfirst on top of the two hanging onto his back with an impact akin to an earthquake, spines putting an end to them.
“...Glad he's on our side, aren't you?” Ghost Story replied, her fascination with horror leaving her no stranger to gore, but obviously that was a completely different thing than actually witnessing it in real life. Needed or no, she understandably was unnerved.
Sherlock's face turned green and he put a hoof to his mouth, but managed to keep himself from losing his dinner. “Y-Yes...surprisingly agile for his size...I would wager given his size comparable to the nearby mountains and structures he is about 100 meters tall, can't guess too much about weight from here, but he can't be light for his impacts to have such...well, an impact...”
Ghost Story quickly wrote down his words... “Interesting...anything else?”
Sherlock watched Godzilla charge up and put his breath to good use against the swarming behemoths. “...That isn't dragon fire. It's something completely different...very hot as well, I'd wager some kind of heat ray. The beam those creatures fire is...I'm not sure, but it has cutting properties...” the earth pony replied, looking over the landscape below and noting that objects hit by the gyaos' beams were sliced clean through. “Never seen anything like it...But the fact they can't cut very deeply into Godzilla would imply his hide is far tougher and denser than any animal's hide....”
Sherlock narrowed his eyes, getting a look not out of place on a collage professor's face as he looked closely at some of Godzilla's wounds, seeing them closing up. “And even the wounds they have inflicted appear to be sealing up very quickly. What a creature, I...” The Earth Pony blinked, then glared at Ghost Story, who was presently writing down literally every word he said. “You got me in analysis mode...”
“Yep, but come on, you can't say it wasn't fun,” the mare replied playfully, then looked at the creature. “Notice something else? Look at his eyes...”
Sherlock looked back at Godzilla, watching his eyes move. Watched them observe... “...He's thinking...”
“Well it'd be hard to agree to help us if he couldn't...but yes...” Ghost Story said. “He's sapient...”
Sherlock observed for a few moments...then raised an eyebrow, slowly walking forwards to get a better look as he watched the movement of Godzilla's head and eyes. “...He's looking for something...”
The thestral blinked, walking over. “What?”
“Every time he doesn't need to be looking at one of these gyaos creatures directly, he's keeping his eyes open for something in the swarm...” the Earth Pony observed. He then remembered. “That big one?”
Ghost Story linked, then remembered the gyaos that had struck him before until he'd been dog piled by the other four. “The big one from before?”
“Yes...It was the largest one in the entire swarm, logically the biggest threat of the individual ones, but not by such a huge margin that it would be a chief threat...as far as I can tell, given I know nothing about gyaos,” replied the Earth Pony, his own eyes scanning the swarm and noticing the largest one flying under the cover of the rest of the flock, not attacking, more screeching to the others. “...It must be the leader...”
“An alpha?” asked Ghost Story, knowing from her studies of monsters, both mythological and real, that many pack creatures would have such things. Though many did get it wrong that they were always just the strongest, often times it was the eldest or the parent to the rest. In this case, it seemed to be genuinely the mightiest Gyaos present that took the lead unless these things were extremely explosive breeders on a scale that terrified her to think about. “That would explain a lot.”
Sherlock gave an intrigued look. “It's like you said, Godzilla is a thinking creature, he knows what to target...This is rather interesting...”
The thestral chuckled. “See? I told you.”
The two, however, were soon reminded they were still very much in the middle of a crisis.
Coming to a street, it was clear the panic had hit it hard. No rioting and looting, but panicked ponies had trampled or torn down market stalls and other structures, leaving the place a mess.
“...Okay, life can go without this much of a scare...” Ghost Story admitted, surveying the damage.
“Can you blame them for panicking? Canterlot is being besieged by giant monsters and even if he's on our side, Godzilla is terrifying...” Sherlock replied, using some water from a fountain and a bucket to dump on a small fire that'd been started by a knocked over candle. He cringed at the screech of one of the gyaos. "Though not as much as the gyaos."
Ghost Story nodded with a sigh. “True...speaking of which, do you think Godzilla was the mystery creature that appeared in the camp back near Ponyville?”
“I would doubt it, given I imagine Godzilla would've drawn too much attention marching all the way to Ponyville and back. A 100 meter tall dinosaur isn't exactly inconspicuous...unless with that pillar of light he was summoned here, but if he was I've never heard of a summon spell that can bring out a creature that huge...”
The thestral nodded. “...But there were the 'giant birds' in Appleloosa.”
“Likely the gyaos...” her friend replied. “Though I imagine a much smaller flock, if not just a couple. If it were this same one, there wouldn't be an Appleloosa left anymore...”
Ghost Story gave a shudder at that thought. “I don't doubt that...lucky these things came for Canterlot with the Princesses and Godzilla instead of Ponyville.”
She hoped that was the case, anyway...after all, Ki Seong was still there to her knowledge, along with Witching Hour and her other workers and friends.
The two continued along the path to the safer vantage points they sought...until Ghost Story's ears twitched and she heard a noise. She stopped and slowly walked over shop that one of the stalls had toppled backwards in front of the entrance of a store in the panic...and her nocturnal eyes picked up a small figure curled up trembling on the other side of the door. It didn't take a genius to read the little one was scared and huddled down trying to hide. The continuing sounds of the monster brawl happening outside the barrier reminded her quite vividly of why. She tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge, blocked by the fallen stall. "Sherlock! There's a foal trapped in here!" she called, trying to lift the stall out of the way but straining to budge it.
"Here, let me try!" Sherlock called as he ran over. Ghost Story moved out of the way to let the earth pony put his enhanced strength to good use to lift the obstruction out of the way with far less effort than she ever could.
"Are you alright?" the book seller asked, throwing open the door.
The small foal jumped and ran over…but stopped and backed up upon seeing Ghost Story's red eyes and bat wings. His horn began to shine with an icy blue glow, the air around it becoming foggy and his breath becoming visible.
The bat pony quickly read her audience and folded her wings and raised a hoof. "It's okay, I'm nothing to be afraid of…" she said gently, trying to make her look as unthreatening as possible. "I'm just a Bat Pony, see?" she asked, giving as relaxing a smile as she could given she had fangs.
The frightened foal cautiously approached, moving into the light coming from outside and finally being plainly visible to Sherlock. He was a little unicorn colt, white fur with an ice blue mane and tail. His Cutie Mark was an ice burg with beams of light radiating off of it. Ghost Story didn't need her special talent to tell that he was scared to death.
"Hey little guy, my name's Dr. Ghost Story, this is my friend Sherlock, what's your name?" asked the folklorist.
"I'm G-Glacial Glow…" the little colt replied, still trembling. "We were shopping and then the monsters showed up and...and I ran in here to hide…"
"I see," Sherlock said. "Then the stall fell over and trapped you...where are your parents?"
"...Probably looking for me…"
"Then come with us, we'll help you find them," Ghost Story replied sincerely. "Or find a Royal Guard that can."
"O-Okay…"
The small group continued making their way to the safe vantage point, now keeping an eye out for the small colt's parents or a Royal Guard to help find them.
They heard Godzilla's roar and turned to see him knock one of the gyaos to the ground and finish it with a repeated tail slam before intercepting another diving for his head. Glacial Glow, seated on Ghost Story's back, trembled and whimpered, covering his ears and keeping his eyes clinched shut.
"Why are there monsters everywhere?!" he asked.
Ghost Story looked back to him with as reassuring of a smile as possible. "Glacial, don't worry, the Princesses and Godzilla will protect us."
"But Godzilla's scary!"
"Yes, but not all scary things are bad," the storyteller replied, using her wing to move the colt's muzzle to look her in the eyes. She thought back to her well of folklore knowledge to find the perfect story for the situation. "Would you like to hear a story?"
Looking for anything to take his mind off the chaos and monsters, Glacial gave a trembling nod.
"A long time ago, a pony named Posey loved to garden, loved flowers of all sorts. She was a nice pony, kind of like Miss Fluttershy of Princess Twilight's group. Well one day she came across these little flower creatures called the Flores. They were beautiful, but looked sick and unwell. Weak. So she let them into her garden…" Ghost Story began, doing her best to keep the colt's focus completely on her.
"That was nice of her…"
"Yes, it was...however, then these huge crab monsters called the Crab Nasties came and the ponies thought they were monsters-"
Suddenly, one of the gyaos gave a nightmarish screech, flying past the barrier. The sound of its sonic cutter as it blasted Godzilla piercing their ears and causing Glacial Glow to panic and look back to it.
"Hey hey, eyes on me, you wanna know what happens next with Posey, right? She was in a scary situation too," Ghost Story said, using her wing to move his muzzle back to look her in the eyes.
"Yeah, I w-wanna know the rest…"
"Good...Now, the Crab Nasties were big, mean looking, seemed dangerous, and well their name was nasty after all, so the ponies locked them in a cave with a big bolder," the storyteller continued, putting energy into every word now that she had his attention hooked on her.
"I don't blame them…" he said with a shudder.
"It's hard to...but with the Crab Nasties now out of the way and them having nothing more to fear, the Flores revealed they were anything but the harmless creatures they appeared to be and their beauty was only skin deep. That night they began draining the life from the soil wherever they went, using it to become bigger and stronger. They were pretending to be nice the entire time to get Posey's sympathies and trick the ponies into dealing with their enemies for them…"
She kept locked eyes with him even as a gyaos let out a screech and dive bombed Godzilla...only to fly face first into his heat ray. Glacial was enraptured enough with the story to keep himself from looking.
She saw the little colt's eyes widen in realization. "So the big ugly Crab Nasties were the good guys?!"
Ghost Story nodded with a chuckle...and finally let herself redirect his attention to the battle going on as Godzilla bit down on the wing of a Gyaos latched onto his shoulder and swung around, sending it crashing into a nearby mountain. "So they set things right: freeing the Crab Nasties to fight the Flores. They won and saved the valley from the Flores' hunger."
The folklorist looked to Glacial Glow as the saurian let loose atomic death on the monsters. "Sometimes beautiful things can be terrors and scary things can be guardians. It's not the outside that counts, it's what's on the inside...And Godzilla is fighting to protect us, the Princesses said he agreed to. So maybe he is a little scary, but he's here to help...just like me," she said in a cheerful tone as she let her fangs show in her smile.
The little colt seemed to calm down and looked out as Godzilla kept fighting against the hordes. Now seeing him like the scary looking but heroic police crabs from her story. "Go get 'em, Godzilla!" he called.
"That's the spirit!" Ghost Story chimed in, sharing a smile with Sherlock as they continued on.
Author's Note
Thanks to Tarb for giving this a pre-read!
