-Manehattan, Mirror Universe Equestria-
The muscularly built, green-grey kirin stallion trudged down the road, taking in the sights and smells around him. Not far off, he could see, even through the heavy downpour, smoke rising from the landscape. He was confused, to say in the least, and his body ached from the strike he took from a crash landing into a building and then a long fall to the ground below. It was no miracle that he'd survived... The stallion had survived much worse than a 500 foot drop before. Doesn't mean it didn't hurt like hell to walk.
Rolling his shoulders and allowing the rain to cleanse the street grit off of his hide, the stallion slowly walked by a couple of equines who were sheltered under the canopy of a closed cafe. He didn't notice the slightly fearful, and yet worried expressions they gave as he passed, nor did he care to. These ponies meant little to the large being. He didn't know them, so why should he?
Another few minutes of solemnly trudging along carried out, water dripping from the stallion's mane and into his eyes, before he paused, leaning against the brick wall of a skyscraper and heaving for breath. He didn't notice the approaching mare, an umbrella over her head, until she'd already made it to him, a worrisome look spread across her muzzle.
"Erm... Excuse me, Mister?" she queried, having to raise her voice over the pounding rain.
The stallion slowly turned his head and glared down at the mare, his eyes devoid of kindness or compassion and only bearing loathing and anger. His mouth was hidden by a relatively long beard, but even in the slight darkness, the mare could see that he was frowning at her. His snout was scarred, with some small, and some larger outlines visible pushing aside his fur. His left eye bore twin scars that ran down the length of his face and the wrinkles of age were not curved joyfully, but with foreboding. A bony nasal ridge ran up the length of his snout to where it was hidden by his darkly colored, grey streaked mane and his right ear was torn. The kirin's gaze was extremely unsettling, an inner fire blazing in the amber and gold in such a way that his eyes seemed to pulse with a pent up energy.
The mare swallowed before clearing her throat. The situation was swiftly growing uncomfortable, as the stallion said nothing, but only leered at her, eyes studying. "Uhh, S-sir? Are you... okay?" she gulped, subconsciously cowering slightly. Not only was his gaze piercing, but the stallion was absolutely massive! He seemed to easily dwarf even the royal sisters both in height and weight, as his body was knotted with dense muscle.
"Vacate," she heard him finally say in a deep, gruff baritone, dragging her attention from his appearance to his face. His voice, though not a shout, was definitely more than enough for the stallion to get what he wanted, and with wide, fearful eyes, the mare slowly backed away from him before turning and trotting away.
The stallion watched her leave for a moment with a hardened expression, pushing himself away from the brick wall before he continued on his way. After another moment had passed, the limping kirin gave himself a once-over with an expression as deadpan as it could be without his brows furrowed to form an annoyed glare. He'd gotten used to walking on all fours without issue, but the fact that he even was on all fours to begin with was what confused him most.
Lifting his head, the green-grey being scanned his surroundings, taking note once again of the smoke that had since ceased in the backdrop of the city. Flicking his torn ear up, the stallion grumbled quietly to himself. He'd been told of the human weapon that had fired off on Terra and transported several kaiju to a new land, but he didn't expect himself to be in the same position.
Slowly, The Ancient began the trek towards the location of the smoke, ignoring the wayward glances from what few equines were still out and about in the city. He was oblivious to the the familiar sense that helped him locate his species finding one of his kind as he walked, the only goal for the kaiju to find out what had happened that had caused the smoke. Find out what happened and act accordingly, find his bearings.
-An Hour Later-
The large stallion stared down at the landscape with a blank expression. There was clearly signs of struggle, a struggle between titans by the looks of the area. The marked off area was all rubble and dying fire before him, sparks from electrical systems sporadically visible across the battleground. Lucky Dragon could see equines dressed in the equivalent of firefighter uniforms moving amongst the rubble, shoving aside large slabs of concrete and throwing rebar out of their way. Stepping on the police tape to move it out of his way, the kaiju kirin made his way down the wall of the debris filled crater, sliding down with a minimal plume of dust trailing him as a result of the rain.
As the God of Destruction made his way down, a unicorn stallion in uniform approached him with a firm expression upon his face. "Sir, didn't you see the tape? You're not supposed to be down here," he explained as The Ancient slowed to a stop and leered down at him.
The kaiju kirin growled softly, curling back his bearded lip to reveal a set of serrated teeth embedded in his jaw.
The stallion merely deadpanned. "Sir, I'm married... You don't scare me," the unicorn said with a roll of the eyes, not noticing the glow that was slowly trailing up Lucky Dragon's slightly matted dorsal fur.
"Get out of my way," the kaiju snarled in a deep voice, looming over the emergency worker as his eyes took up an electric blue glow.
Before the stallion was able to duck for cover or do anything to protect himself from the onslaught he only just saw coming, he heard a demanding voice call down to the aggressor. "Lucky Dragon!" it shouted, drawing his attention to a formally dressed unicorn behind the green-grey kirin.
Lucky's expression gradually grew enraged as he slowly turned to face a navy blue stallion clothed in a dark, royal blue suit with a white trim. He need not recognize the unicorn through appearance... Just his voice was enough to remind The Ancient of what he'd done. The glow of his mane never died down as Sir Xenilla gazed down at him before slowly making his way down to the duo.
"Lucky, I must say, this is a... pleasant surprise. Seeing another kaiju capable of reas-" Xenilla was cut off as a torrent of blue erupted from the kaiju's maw. The unicorn leaped out of the way just as the beam of blue collided with the bank of the crater beside him. "Okay, Lucky isn't capable of reason anymore," Xenilla said to himself with wide eyes as he rolled to his hooves, facing the infuriated kirin with shock lacing his expression.
"You do not speak to ME of reason, you pathetic fool!!" The Ancient roared, eyes blazing as he surged towards his cousin.
"Run!" Xenilla shouted to the emergency worker whilst the God of Destruction charged him, a red glow enveloping his own mane and tail. "Lucky! Cousin!" he exclaimed, ducking down as the kirin lurched forward and slammed his jaws shut on air, though intending on taking Xenilla by the throat.
The Ancient snarled as the space born kaiju dodged aside, avoiding striking the enraged stallion to the best of his ability. "I'M NOT YOUR COUSIN!!" Lucky Dragon bellowed, whipping around and catching Xenilla's chest with his long tail.
The kaiju was thrown back, where he tumbled across the ground and stumbled back to his hooves, coughing at the sudden, jerking pain in his lungs at the force of the attack. "Lucky!! I don't want to fight you!!" Xenilla shouted at the enraged stallion whilst he swiveled around with a deep growl and fierce glare.
The Ancient snarled. "My name is not Lucky. And if you gave half a kaiju's ass about me or who I am, you'd know that!" he snapped, baring his fangs.
Xenilla defensively lifted his hooves and cowered back slightly, not out of fear, but in submission. He needed Terra's oldest kaiju by his side, and fighting the stallion was no way to make that happen. "Gojira," he corrected, shaking his head with a grimace. "Godzilla, my brother, and your cousin, is not one of the heroes anymore," the navy blue kaiju unicorn clarified.
The Alpha Predator paused for a moment, hiding his fangs once again to cover his lips with his heavy facial hair. "You lie," he growled lowly. "Just as you always have."
"No! I speak the truth! Gojira, Junior is working with this world's enemy to take Equestria for himself! He put this hole here trying to kill Raiga, his ally!" Xenilla explained, gesturing towards the rubble that was scattered beyond. "Please, Gojira... You have to trust me."
Lucky Dragon's expression flattened, his gaze locked on the eldest son of Godzilla Senior, studying. The expression on Xenilla's face was certainly convincing, but he still didn't trust him. "So you are telling me that the very being I entrusted the role of Terra's protector with, has abruptly taken a turn for the worst? SpaceGodzilla, you can try to fool me as you once did all of those you took under your wings as slaves, but I will not be subdued by such a cheap, imbecilic trick as they were," he retorted.
"It is not a trick!" the unicorn barked. "He's using dark magic to prevent us from finding him! Mothra isn't herself either! She... she's a Battra now!" he snapped, beginning to grow irritated as he brushed back his pale ivory mane with an annoyed grimace.
The Ancient glared harshly at the navy blue kaiju, clearly not believing a word of what the bastard child of the old monster king was saying. "Show me Raiga," he commanded in a demanding voice.
Xenilla simply nodded and cautiously approached the ancient kaiju stallion. "Very well," he acknowledged, giving his body a quick shakedown to free as much of the caked on mud from his form as possible. The unicorn sighed upon his advance, disappointed for dirtying up the suit that Suri Polomare had spent so much time on.
-An Hour Later-
Xenilla slowly led the heavily built kirin down the sidewalk, casting a cursory glance over his shoulder at the Alpha Predator to see him bearing a scowl upon his scarred muzzle. It begged the question of what had happened to The Ancient on Terra that had changed who he was. The kaiju Xenilla remembered was a noble, earth shaking being. Sure, he was rough around the edges and less than friendly towards most, but he was obviously a Terran Defender, like his successor, Godzilla Junior. Xenilla had once entertained himself imagining what some of the kaiju would look like as Equestrians, and this violent, grizzled warlord was nothing like how he had seen Lucky. Now... Now he seemed to be a darker personification of Lucky's undesirable traits. "L-Gojira... What happened to you?" Xenilla queried, more to himself than to his cousin.
Gojira sneered, having heard the question. "You know nothing, SpaceGodzilla. You are a naive fool, just like your younger brother," he growled whilst they walked through what was now only a light drizzle, eliciting a confused expression from Xenilla that said kaiju did well not to let show.
"When did you become such a displeasing kaiju to be around?"
"When I woke up and saw the world as it truly is," the kirin growled. "I've fought far too many battles on Terra, battles that were not worth my time... So what if a few people die? As far as I see it, the humans are a disease that deserve whatever they have coming. You, of all kaiju, should know that, SpaceGodzilla," Lucky Dragon explained while firing a glare at the navy blue stallion. "I don't need to explain myself to a being with the toxic personality you have in the first place."
Xenilla paused in front of a large building laden with layers of marble, turning to face the stallion. "Gojira... I don't know what happened, maybe it's this world bringing out who you really are. That doesn't matter. It's more important that we can stop Godzilla before he causes any damage worse than what you saw a little while ago," he retorted, squinting at the stallion in annoyance before turning and walking up the stairs. "Raiga's inside," Xenilla said, beckoning The Ancient to follow.
As Xenilla reached the door, he paused and turned, seeing Lucky still going up the stairs. "Age has not treated you well, I can see," he suggested.
"If you value your shoulder pylons, I suggest you keep your mouth shut. I am in no mood for a smart-ass kid like you to be disrespecting me," the God of Destruction snapped with a growl as Xenilla pushed open the large, double doors and revealing a large foyer.
Lucky paused at the doors. "Bring her out here," he directed gruffly.
Xenilla simply nodded. "She's right there," the stallion explained, pointing to a blue siren with slightly pulsing rubies running down the length of her body, dark blue dorsal fins with a pearl colored webbing, and a white mane, who was looking around curiously at her surroundings. She did so, seemingly without noticing the two male kaiju, until Xenilla cleared her throat. "Raiga," he mused.
"Xenilla," she nodded as she turned her head to face the navy blue unicorn. The siren ushered a slight smile before noticing the bearded, green-grey kirin Xenilla was with. His scars, coupled with a nearly black mane and amber eyes, were all Raiga needed to see before realizing who was before her. "Lucky," the kaiju exclaimed with a smile before she frowned and hovered towards him. "You look... horrible," Raiga exclaimed with slight disgust laced across her muzzle as she gazed down at the stallion. "Nice beard. Considered shaving?" she teased before noticing the swiping motion Xenilla was making at the base of his throat.
"Raiga," Gojira grumbled. "Disrespectful as always, now aren't we?" he barked, eliciting a frown from the siren in question. "Now then, what happened here? SpaceGodzilla tells me you were fighting your king, hm?" The Ancient leaned back on his haunches and crossed his arms.
Raiga's expression swiftly transitioned to that of anger. "What are you talking about? H-he's... That wasn't Junior that I fought, Dragon!" she snapped angrily, using the second part of the Alpha Predator's name to address him. "And frankly, I've been dealing with far too much to be treated like shit by my only real friend in this stupid world!"
The Ancient cocked a brow and retained a flat expression. "Friend? Is that what you think we are, Raiga? I trust you, yes, but I wouldn't go as far as to call you my friend."
Raiga snapped her head to face the kaiju stallion, a look of genuine hurt upon her face. "Then what are you doing here?" she grumbled.
Lucky simply scoffed. "I don't trust SpaceGodzilla enough to believe that my cousin is a tyrant."
"You're no different than him then," Raiga muttered solemnly, dipping her head before turning to move away.
The expression upon the stallion's face remained emotionless, devoid of sympathy as Xenilla shot him a glare. With that, the God of Destruction rose to his hooves and swiveled around to trudge away.
"Do you believe me now?" Xenilla growled at him as he moved
"Unfortunately," he replied. "Now then, do you know where Godzilla is, exactly? If you do, could you kindly point me in his direction so that I may give him a proper kick in the tail?" Lucky asked sarcastically.
Xenilla sighed. "We don't know where he is, and if we did, you wouldn't be able to take him on your own," the unicorn explained. "He's only been getting stronger. The dark magic Empress Cadenza has been providing Godzilla is only making him more and more dangerous."
Gojira only seemed to ignore him, moving down the stairs with his tail swishing back and forth.
"Lucky! Be reasonable!" Xenilla called after him.
The stallion stopped in his tracks with an annoyed sigh. "My name... is not Lucky," he growled softly before continuing his advance.
-Unknown Location-
Godzilla Junior smirked as his eyes snapped open, a deep exhale audible as he chuckled quietly to himself. "Perhaps now, we can have a real guest and not another phony like Raiga," the kaiju unicorn said to himself as he rose to his hooves.
Battra Lea flicked an ear up at the words, shifting her view over to the formerly resting stallion and cocking a brow. "Goji?" she quipped, approaching the stallion.
"Do you recall who The Ancient is?" he questioned, shifting his view down to the changeling mare with a snicker.
Lea fanned her wings slightly. "The grumpy old fart that Xenilla tried to kill?" she queried. "Yes, I do... What about him?"
Godzilla inhaled, allowing his species compass to locate the kaiju in question. "He is in Manehattan, walking away from my idiot brother and the traitor," he explained, eliciting a mischievous smile from Battra Lea. "I would like you to find Gojira, and bring him to me. He would make a more-than-worthy ally to us, if you can get him here," the tyrant King of the Monsters ordered.
"Your wish is my command, My King," Battra Lea snipped with a snicker before turning and sauntering away.
"Oh, and Lea," Godzilla called after the changeling, drawing her attention back towards him. Seeing this, he spoke again. "Don't provoke him."
Battra Lea gave a sarcastic eye roll as she left the room. "Why would I do such a thing?" she giggled slyly before making her way by the clear covered coffin that confined an unconscious King Sombra and Empress Mi Amore Cadenze. "I'm headed out to fetch a friend," she clarified to the dark alicorn, giving her a subtle nod. "How is everything coming?"
"How do you think?" Cadenza barked, eliciting a snicker from Battra. "Doesn't matter, but who is it that you are going to retrieve? Hope it's not another kaiju like that last one," she grumbled.
"Nonsense, Dragon is a much wiser soul," the changeling assured.
Cadenza cocked a brow. "He's a dragon?"
Battra groaned and slapped a hole-filled hoof to her face. "No, that is his name... Lucky Dragon. He's older than all of us combined, so try to play nice when he gets here," the kaiju said mockingly before exiting the cavern.
-Unknown Location... Again, Hours Later-
The kirin stallion knew not where he was, only that powerful gales of wind had just started to lash at his tough hide and threatened to knock him off of his hooves. The threats meant nothing to The Ancient as he marched forward, clambering over sharp, stony outcroppings after having emerged from the cool, calming river that had provided his aching body some relief. He wasn't wounded, but being millions of years old, definitely tired.
All the while, the kaiju kirin had been subjected to several different images, most of which he was unable to discern. A tough, rugged build and strong mind was all that kept him from losing his sanity as a maraud of images flashed across his vision. He did not know how long he had been walking, nor did he care. His only point of focus was forward.
After some time walking through the desert gales, Lucky Dragon began to see an all-too-familiar shape. It was simply a stony spear sticking out of the desert floor to most, but he'd seen it already during his trek.
Gojira cocked a brow and slowly approached it, a slight hum rising from his dorsal fur as he advanced towards the pointed stone. The stallion ushered a quiet growl and glared down at the rock, nostrils flaring as he took in the smells surrounding him, even as sand slowly caked the inside of his snout. Through said sand, he smelled something unfamiliar, alienating, and altogether foreign. It was an energy field of unknown origin, and it was unsettling.
The Ancient growled and lifted a clawed hoof before rushing forward and charging the mineral protrusion. Upon doing so, rather than an explosion of stone, as he'd been expecting, the "rock" simply turned into dust that Lucky Dragon bowled through before his momentum sent him sprawling.
The kaiju stallion snarled in annoyance as he stumbled back to his hooves, whipping his head over his shoulder to find that the rocky hedge had reappeared. The God of Destruction cocked a brow before scanning his surroundings for some sign of life in the desolate, wind-ridden desert. He saw nothing, only sand and the wavering visages of jagged boulders.
Shaking his head to clear his swimming vision, Lucky Dragon growled, blinking several times. When he looked up, he spotted a silhouette through the gales of sand, eliciting a confused grunt from his throat.
Slowly, Gojira moved towards the shape, noticing a clear definition of movement from the blurred shadow that drew a sense of caution from the back of his mind. He saw what appeared to be limbs, and even a pair of oddly shaped wings whilst he moved, keeping his thermonuclear breath at the ready, should the being, if it was even that, turn out to be a foe. With a growl, The Ancient bared his fangs slightly and crept forward, slowly beginning to make out some semblance of color from the shape, a dark, dirty brown-grey, yellow, and red becoming visible as he advanced.
The kaiju stallion slowed to a stop at seeing the shape also halt its movement, seeing a crowned head swivel slightly.
Lucky Dragon's pupils constricted as he crouched down behind a rocky outcrop before, with a sudden surge of strength, he leaped forward with a thundering, hellish roar, slamming headlong into the being and knocking it to the sand-ridden ground. Landing on top of it, Gojira pinned the equine beneath a sturdy, unmoving hoof and glared into its eyes. "WHO ARE YOU?!" he roared in its face, a powerful glow settling across his mane and tail that transitioned to his orbs.
The being defensively lifted a hole-filled hoof over its face in response.
"ANSWER ME!!" the God of Destruction bellowed before noticing a crown of horns above the being's brows, and a pair of red and yellow wings that he was currently pinning beneath his hind hooves. The stallion growled as he noticed the being, which he determined was female based upon longer lashes and a more rounded off head, staring up at him with wide, fearful eyes and clenched teeth.
At seeing his own face, the being's expression softened considerably, eyebrows furrowed to form a worried gaze. "Dragon?" she choked, studying his face.
At first, Battra Lea was unsure what to make of the being pinning her against the sand. His voice and scars clued her in that this stallion, who was larger than even her king, was the one and only Lucky Dragon. But he certainly had not aged well, possessing a grizzled beard that completely hid his bottom jaw and much of his top lip. His eyes, which had since gone from burning, radioactive blue to amber and gold, were slightly bloodshot and had even whitened slightly with age.
A gruff, demanding voice interrupted the changeling's musings however, giving her no further time to examine his face. "Yeah, I'm Dragon. Now answer me! Who are you!!" the stallion belted, not moving off of her or even lightening his hoof from her chest as she struggled to breath.
"It's me, Lea!" she gasped, grabbing the hoof that held her pinned and straining to push his heavy weight off of her.
The Ancient's hoof remained unmoving. "Do you think I am a fool?!" he snarled. "You are not Lea! Now tell the truth, or lying to me will be the last mistake you ever make," the kirin roared in her face, forcing his weight upon her to the point that her chitin armor cracked slightly, eliciting an agonized cry from the changeling.
"But I am! Lucky! It's me, Lea. You saved me from a pack of MUTOs when we met!" she choked before feeling green blood run down the corner of her jaw.
At hearing the words, The Ancient's expression calmed, if only slightly, the force he was applying decreasing significantly, even if not completely. "What in the name of Tanaka happened to you, Lea?" he growled, his eyes widening with shock. Xenilla hadn't been lying to him when he said Lea was now a Battra.
"Change of scenery does funny things to a kaiju's body," the kaiju changeling choked as a response, now able to push Lucky's clawed hoof off of her chest as he stepped off of her wings and allowed her her to rise to her hooves. "As I am sure you know by your own body," Battra Lea continued.
Lucky's expression returned to a hardened visage, what little shock he gave previously evaporating away. "Unfortunately," the kirin grunted before remembering what he had been doing before spotting the changeling. "Where's Godzilla?" he asked with a soldiers determination, and with little respect towards Battra.
"Ah, yes. Goji wanted to speak with you. Thought you were in Manehattan talking to Xenilla and the traitor, from what I was told," the changeling explained, beckoning him to follow as she turned and started walking. "Follow directly behind me. This place is riddled with traps," Lea said. "It's a miracle you weren't driven insane being stuck out here in the first place."
The Alpha Predator scoffed at her tone. "You doubt that I could have survived? Sickeningly adorable, but foolish nonetheless," he growled, eliciting a raised brow from his escort.
"Nonsense. I never said you wouldn't survive, but this place was meant to be untraceable by Xenilla, and you almost found it merely by wandering through a new land in a new body. You impress me, Dragon," she snickered, not looking back at the heavily built stallion.
"Sounds like something a coward would do. Hide from your problems rather than face them head on? Just... disappointing. I thought I taught you Earth Defenders better than that," Lucky Dragon argued, tilting his head at a sharp angle with a crack as he loosened his stiff neck.
Battra Lea rolled her eyes. "Condescending as ever, Dragon," she grumbled to herself.
Having heard that as they walked, The Ancient scoffed. "Maybe stop giving me a reason to be condescending in the first place," he snarled at her. "And start treating me with the respect that I deserve." A few minutes of walking in silence carried out before Lucky spoke again. "Now then, what's this I hear about Godzilla trying to kill Raiga?" he grunted.
"Raiga arrived to Equestria and tried to kill Godzilla... twice. From what our sources say, she's now working with Xenilla," Battra acknowledged.
"And Godzilla had nothing to do with the giant hole that I found in Manhattan?" Gojira growled, an uneasy feeling settling over him as the gales of wind died slightly to reveal a stony ledge and an almost just as still, winged being that leapt into a defensive pose upon seeing the two kaiju, a glare upon his face before he recognized Battra Lea and returned to a more neutral stance whilst receiving a nod from the gryphon.
Battra grumbled to herself at his question. "Dragon, Godzilla has been trying to return us to our previous forms. That crater was the result of Raiga and Xenilla trying to stop him from doing so," she snipped rudely as the duo walked into a large cavern.
"Why would Xenilla try to stop him, hm?" The Ancient grunted, working to pry information from the changeling. "From what the bastard told me, Godzilla is a tyrant who resorted to murder to get what he wanted."
The kaiju changeling sighed in annoyance before she swiveled around and fired a fierce glare at the million year old kirin. "Dragon, have you completely lost faith in your king? Has your blue and orange morality pushed you so far that you don't have any faith left to give?" Battra Lea snapped. "And to be completely honest, even if Godzilla had resorted to murder, what would make him any different from you, a kaiju with no more regard for life than the greediest humans?!"
Battra received her answer in a way she might have expected, had she been a tad more knowledgable of Lucky's past. Surging towards her with an infuriated roar, The Ancient snatched the changeling by the neck and threw her against the opposite wall of the cavern, eliciting a pained gasp from her. "I will not hesitate to kill you, Battra," the kirin stallion hissed as she struggled against him. "You helped the being who swore to protect Terra wreak havoc upon a land and murder countless beings!" he roared.
"You have n-no regard for the life of those beings! They mean nothing more to you than the dirt un-der your feet, if you would... be so quick to kill y-yo-," Battra Lea choked, cut off as the pressure against her throat increased and she grew unable to breathe. It was with this that Lea realized just how strong the God of Destruction really was. He was easily physically stronger than Godzilla Junior himself, likely as a result of less distance combat than the kaiju king and more close quarters combat.
Lucky watched with a sneer as the changeling's eyes slowly began to roll back in her head, her limbs beginning to go slack as her attempts to free herself of his grasp weakened. "I am not a guardian, nor am I a tyrant, but I will act as death towards those foolish enough to get in my way," the ancient kaiju snarled softly.
"H-heelp," Battra gasped in a raspy, strained voice, pain visible twisting across her face before the Alpha Predator cocked a hoof back and threw it forward, striking her face with enough force that she was knocked unconscious almost instantly.
Releasing the unconscious changeling from his grasp, Lucky Dragon glared down at her with a growl before hearing heavy hoofsteps approaching his direction. Looking up and towards the source, the militant war-veteran leered up at a heavily built grey unicorn stallion with a large, ugly keloid scar clad across his chest, a glare of his own visible stretching across his face.
Godzilla glowered at the massive kirin stallion with a quiet growl slithering from his throat at seeing the unconscious form of Battra Lea at his hooves. The stallion himself was easily weighed as much as himself, and then some, a long tail thrashing behind him. His dark grey mane, which ran all the way down his spinal column, held together for a very spiky appearance and his hide, a green-grey in color, was pitted with scars. The God of Destruction bore dirty brown chest scales that ran down all the way to the base of his tail. His face was heavily scarred, with old claw wounds burrowing into his mane and facial hair slightly. His jaw was chiseled and possessed a quality to it that could be deemed handsome to some, in spite of his facial hair, which was streaked with light grey. His face was subtly wrinkled with age and his right ear was torn slightly. Lucky Dragon's fur was slightly matted, which gave him a dirtied appearance, and his general form reminded Godzilla of a military general of some kind.
"Lucky Dragon," he called out to the infuriated kirin, softening his expression slightly. "So I see you've not had a particularly pleasant experience her in Equestria so far, based upon the fact that my best friend is unconscious on the floor?" he exclaimed, gesturing towards the changeling in question.
"Do not speak to me," The Ancient snapped, bearing his fangs.
Godzilla dipped his head with a slow nod and bemused snort. "What cause have you to feel such hatr-?"
"You, a being who swore to protect Terra from its threats, a being whom I trusted to do that, arrive to a place like this and resort to murder to get your way!" Lucky roared. "I have made many mistakes in my time... Killing you for what you have done will not be one of them!"
The King of the Monsters simply let a malefic smile creep across his muzzle before he whipped to the side and threw a hoof against the wall of the cavern. "Have it your way then... Traitor," the kaiju unicorn growled, turning his back on Lucky and walking away.
"Do not turn your back on me, boy!!" The Ancient roared after him, his pupils constricting with building rage before he took a leaping bound forward, a blue bioluminescence trailing up his spine as he surged towards the unicorn.
Before the Alpha Predator could reach Godzilla, a large, rotating wheel of quills erupted from the ground and slammed into him, sending the kirin hurling against the opposite wall. He struck said wall with an echoing bang, and Anguirus uncurled from the thunderball with a growl.
Shaking his head to clear his vision with a slightly surprised expression, Lucky Dragon swiveled his skull to face a dirty brown earth stallion whose mane was laden with pale ivory spines, spiked gauntlets protecting his forearms and violet eyes glaring up at his rival. The kaiju kirin cocked a confused brow and tilted his head. "Anguirus?" he exclaimed with a growling edge on his voice.
Said kaiju snorted, taking up a battle stance with his eyes never straying from the larger stallion. "Traitor," Anguirus growled, curling back his lips to reveal his short fangs as Gojira recovered from his assault.
At the words, Lucky's shocked expression vanished to make way for an unbridled anger, eyes blazing. "Very well," he snarled. "I can see that Godzilla and Battra are not the only ones who I need to kill." With the words, kaiju ankylosaur and godzillasaur began to circle each other, a chorus of growls audible as they waited for their adversary to make the first move.
When no move came for a few minutes, Anguirus rushed towards The Ancient, jaws wide as he leaped forward.
Lucky Dragon snarled and sidestepped the attack before lunging forward and sinking his fangs into Anguirus's neck, ignoring the stabbing pain of his quills poking the roof of his mouth and corners of his jaws.
The earth stallion shouted in pain as the God of Destruction threw him to the cavern floor with a growl, rearing up onto his hind hooves with a roar. Anguirus's eyes widened in momentary fear before he rolled out of the way just in time for Lucky's full weight to be thrown back down. The floor cracked where his head was as the kaiju kirin snarled again, whipping to face his foe.
"I never intended on killing any of you, but I will without remorse!" The Ancient bellowed, lunging towards the now bleeding Anguirus with a growl as an electric blue glow settled over his mane. Anguirus was unable to react swiftly enough to avoid a powerful strike to the ribs from Gojira's clawed hoof, which threw him into the wall.
The Guardian Beast of Fire felt a jolt of fear run down his spine as the massive stallion charged him. This juggernaut of an equine, Lucky Dragon or not, was fighting with brutal vigor, fully intent on not only defeating, but straight up killing him. Anguirus could see it in the kirin's blazing eyes as he lurched forward, muscles bulging from the strain as time seemed to slow to a crawl. With this, the dirty brown stallion could see all of the hatred and murderous intent in Lucky's eye, seeing not, the noble being he'd known on Terra, but a true monster.
Just as he prepared to have every rib in his chest shattered and skull crushed, Anguirus saw a burnt red shape hurl towards the kaiju stallion and slam into him, clawed forelimbs connecting with Lucky's torso and knocking him away from his ally.
Everything returned to its normal speed and Rodan landed before Anguirus, glaring at the enraged, Old World kaiju whilst he recovered. "You saved my life," Anguirus exclaimed with a heavy sigh or relief, lifting a hoof to his chest to steady his beating heart.
"Don't start celebrating yet," Rodan acknowledged, his view still trained on The Ancient as he stumbled to his hooves with a rasping cough, blood staining the kaiju's medium length beard as it ran from the corner of his jaw slightly.
Lucky's gaze fell upon the two kaiju as he ran the back of his hoof across his mouth to wipe away a small amount of blood. "You two are unbearably naive," he growled. "Anguirus, I would've expected more from a 20,000 year old kaiju created to protect. Not to help a tyrant."
"The only tyrant here is you, Dragon," the earth stallion retorted. "Now leave, and we won't kill you."
The Ancient furrowed his brows to form a piercing glare, a deep, guttural growl slithering from the back of his throat. "Then do it!" the kirin snapped with a nasal snarl, his mane humming and eyes glowing as he readied himself for the coming fight.
Author's Note
Artwork by Mickeymonster on Deviantart. PLEASE check him out, his rendition of Lucky is absolutely amazing!
-Unknown Location, Equestria-
The sounds of battle echoed through the large cavern, roars and growls audible as they reverberated off of the cave walls. The massive, green-grey kirin held Rodan in an unbreakable headlock, his thermonuclear breath on constant standby as Anguirus glared at Lucky Dragon with a bestial snarl. "Do not doubt that I will kill him!" The Ancient bellowed as the pterosaur gryphon struggled to escape his grasp, clawing at the twisted, powerful muscle of his rival's forearm in a desperate attempt to free himself.
Obvious signs of battle littered the area, formerly nonexistent cracks visible in the walls, blood that belonged as much to themselves as it did their adversary's staining the kaiju's hides and the floor, and all three looked well beaten and battered.
Anguirus, heaving for breath with a grimace, simply stood, contemplating his next course of action. "What is it that you want, Traitor?!" the earth stallion spat, baring his fangs.
"Don't do anything he says!" Rodan choked to his cohort, clawing and scratching at Lucky's arm with a clenched beak as he kicked. "Anguirus, don't listen-"
Gojira growled and jerked his arm, eliciting a pained gasp from the pterosaur gryphon whilst he was cut off. "Keep struggling and you die," he sneered before shifting his gaze back up to Anguirus. "All I wanted was simply to pay my dear cousin a visit and give him what he deserves!" the kaiju kirin barked. "I never planned on killing you two, but if this is how it has to be, then very well." With the words, the God of Destruction threw his arm, twisting his hostage's neck with a brutal snap and an expression devoid of regret upon his face.
Anguirus's eyes widened as he watched Rodan's lifeless body collapse to the cavern floor with a dull thud, his heart pounding in his chest.
"You gave me now other choice. You have not seen the suffering Godzilla has caused... If I don't kill him, who else will?" Lucky Dragon leered down at the kaiju stallion and nonchalantly stepped over the gryphon's body. "Don't make me kill you too," the Alpha Predator growled as he advanced towards Anguirus.
Anguirus was unable to respond, teeth clenched as he shifted his gaze from Rodan to his foe, a fierce, unwavering glare crossing his muzzle. "You-you're a monster," he said as Lucky leaned down to look the earth stallion in the eye, beard soaked with blood, but not nearly to the extent that Anguirus's body was. "You never cared about humans, Dragon. You deserve to be killed."
"Perhaps I don't care about humans, and perhaps I do deserve to die, but I am not one to stand by while my supposed successor breaks his promises and uses his allies," Lucky retorted in a stern voice, but one that was slightly calmer than he'd used previously. "Now let me through, or I will get by with force, whether I have to kill you or not," he growled, grabbing Anguirus by the mane and lifting his head.
"Go to Hell," he choked with a grimace, eliciting an eye roll from the titan of a stallion.
Lucky Dragon sighed in disappointment before he spoke again. "I'm already in Hell," he growled before rising to his full height and shoving the earth stallion aside with little effort. "You're fortunate that I haven't killed you already," the kirin said over his shoulder as he trudged away from the bloodied cavern and into a deeper cave.
As he walked, he could hear the voices of other kaiju echoing in his mind, reminding him of what he'd become. "Has your blue and orange morality pushed you so far that you don't have any faith left to give?" The kaiju sighed, on Terra, he remembered the same, but different, beings words. "There is a guardian's soul inside of you, Lucky, but it is wrestling with a monster," Mothra Lea's words echoed in his mind. Lucky Dragon ushered a heavy, regretful breath as he trudged on, even the words that Anguirus, the first friendly kaiju he met, once spoke torturing him. "World's changin', Mister Dragon... You need to change with it."
After another few minutes of walking, the kaiju stallion came upon a cave lit by a green and violet glow that seemed to pulse from a crystalline structure in the center of the room, distracting him from the none-too-pleasant memories of a time when he was younger and less reserved.
Looking down at the structure, Lucky Dragon momentarily forgot his goal of Godzilla Junior at the sight of a comatose unicorn trapped inside said structure, only then realizing that it resembled a coffin. The large kaiju gazed down and tilted his head curiously, feeling a strange surge of energy pulse through his veins and reinvigorate him. Lucky's eyes glowed slightly with this newfound strength, feeling a wave of relief wash over him before the relief was shattered.
The unicorn trapped within the crystalline tomb was suddenly staring at him, unblinkingly. The God of Destruction subtly jerked his head back in slight shock before he heard a painful, muffled scream from within the casket. Taking a step back, Lucky Dragon swiveled his head and blinked, unsure what to make of the sight before him. It was in this moment that the comfort of the energy boost made way for a cold pulse through his body, causing Lucky to subconsciously shiver slightly.
"So you didn't die," a baritone voice exclaimed, a slow clap echoing out as The Ancient's pupils constricted to snake-like slits, his lips slowly curling back to reveal his glistening fangs. "I have to say, Dragon, I was sure that Rodan and Anguirus would manage to bring you down," Godzilla Junior said as he emerged from the shadows with a malefic grin.
"I don't die easy," Lucky snarled forebodingly, slowly turning to face the charcoal grey unicorn stallion.
Godzilla scoffed. "No, I can see that. Two young, strong kaiju couldn't kill an old, tired veteran like you!"
"And now Rodan is dead for your insolence and cowardice," the God of Destruction taunted with a grumble, standing over his tyrannical cousin with wisps of blue smoke slithering from his nostrils.
The King of the Monsters took a step back, shaking his head, not in disbelief, but disappointment. "Well then... that should make killing you all the more entertaining, now shouldn't it? No fun to kill somebody without a good, solid reas-" He was abruptly cut off as a powerful hoof connected with his jaw, sending the kaiju staggering for a moment as he slammed into a wall. Looking over to the kirin stallion, Godzilla's expression was that of unbridled shock at the pure force of the blow, a hoof to his face. Shifting his bottom jaw, the unicorn spoke. "Unexpected. Perhaps I underestimated you, Dragon," he exclaimed.
Lucky Dragon leered over at him, eyes seeming to pierce Godzilla's soul. "The next hit will break it," he grunted.
"Ah, yes. The promise of death. How should you like to die then, hm? I've really been looking forward to a good fight since Raiga and you should be more than a challenge," Junior smirked malevolently.
The Ancient couldn't help rolling his eyes at the prideful, smug demeanor of the unicorn. "You talk far too much for your own safety," the green-grey equine growled, setting himself up into a battle stance and cracking his neck with a bestial grumble.
Godzilla snarled in response, his mane flickering with burning blue lights as he bared his teeth. "Do you really deem it wise to face me?" he barked.
"I'll take my chances," Lucky Dragon replied in a gruff voice as Godzilla took a heavy step forward, defensively ducking his head. "Go ahead... Take your shot," he muttered quietly, moving sideways with his clawed hooves moving carefully over each other. "Take your shot!!" he shouted suddenly, his voice a growling roar as his lips curled back to expose rows of serrated teeth.
The King of the Monsters responded, taking a single, leaping bound forward too swiftly for Lucky to react and slamming his jaws shut around The Ancient's throat.
Gojira bellowed in rage as he reared back. Thankfully, the tougher scales that ran down his underside largely protected his windpipe and esophagus from the majority of damage, though Godzilla's fangs did sink into his hide slightly. With a slightly pained roar, Lucky Dragon jerked back, instinctively throwing a hoof at the unicorn stallion's chest with all of the force that he could muster.
A loud crack rang out as Godzilla released his grasp with an afflicted shriek, his ribs having been largely shattered and a lung pierced. Godzilla coughed blood and gasped for breath, a pained grimace twisting across his muzzle as his lung agonizingly pushed a shattered rib back into place before it too, healed. Glaring up, the kaiju unicorn snarled. "I'm curious... after killing me, what is it you planned on doing?" he barked in a ragged voice.
"Could ask you the same thing!" Lucky Dragon roared, surging forward with his head low and throwing his skull, slamming Junior against a wall once again. Not giving him the chance to recover, the Alpha Predator rushed him, throwing a hoof at his face. His clawed forelimb struck with immense force, knocking several bloodied teeth from Godzilla's maw.
As he went to take another swing, Lucky's adversary ushered a bestial snarl and ducked slightly before throwing his hoof upwards and sending him staggering as the uppercut struck his chin.
It was a miracle that Gojira didn't bite his tongue clean off, as his mouth had been slammed shut by the strike. Stumbling back, the kirin shook his head and looked up just in time to see Godzilla lunge forward again, mane glowing with a fierce blue and jaws wide. The kaiju kirin jerked aside as Junior bowled past him before he slammed his jaws down on the unicorn's tail and yanked him down with an unparalleled strength. The tyrant kaiju snarled as he fell to the floor, flipping over and kicking a hind hoof at Lucky's face.
The Ancient released his hold and reeled back, just avoiding having his nose shattered as Godzilla stumbled back to his hooves, beginning to practically foam at the mouth as he took a swing at his foe.
Lucky Dragon simply took a step back with a flat expression, pulling his head back slightly as Junior almost frantically tried to take him down. "You always were a more desperate fighter... No patience," the God of Destruction mocked scornfully, cocking a brow and shaking his head with disappointment. As Godzilla swung his hoof again, hoping to catch Lucky's jaw again, the kirin ducked slightly and threw a hoof at the unicorn's ribcage, ushering a loud crack as the stallion howled in pain and rage. The Ancient lifted an arm to dodge a weak swing from his rival before jerking his skull forward, his forehead making powerful contact with Godzilla's face and bloodying his snout, causing the kaiju's vision to blur momentarily as he stumbled backwards.
The Alpha Predator stood stoically, watching the King of the Monsters lift a hoof to his mutilated, offset snout before painfully snapping it back into place with a growl, as it had been broken with little effort from Lucky's attack. Junior snarled and spat a glob of blood laden saliva at his rival's clawed hooves whilst his ribs painfully mended back together once again. "You will not win!" he screamed with a wheezing roar, red ichor lathering his bared fangs and spattering the floor cave floor.
Gojira growled back at him before he took up the offensive, surging forward and slashing at Godzilla's shoulder with his claws. The kaiju unicorn jolted back just in time to avoid the blow, ushering a roar very unlike an equine before he reared onto his hind hooves and lurched forward, head low.
The Ancient's reaction speed was not swift enough to avoid having his chest impaled by Godzilla's crooked horn. The heavily built stallion roared in pain and threw his head back before Junior brutally yanked away, a torrent of blood spouting from the stab wound before Lucky held it with his hoof and stumbled over King Sombra's aerenth casket, his weight cracking the cover slightly as he fell.
The kaiju kirin grimaced with an agonized shout as blood poured over his hoof and stained the fur surrounding the injury. Looking down, Lucky slowly lifted his clawed forelimb with a pained growl, revealing a deep, piercing stab wound that bled profusely.
Godzilla rounded the crystalline prison and gazed down at the kaiju kirin, his former rage replaced with a demonic smile. "You're old, Dragon. Don't have the fighting stamina you used to," he grinned tauntingly as said stallion leered up at him, breath shaking as he struggled to breathe.
"And you are a disappointment, Boy," The Ancient snarled with an unbridled sense of loathing on his voice. "You have failed Rodan, you have failed me, you have failed your mother, and you have failed the being who willingly took you into his arms when he easily could have left you to die," he choked whilst baring his bloody fangs.
Godzilla's smile vanished as he leapt on top of his cousin. "You do not speak to me of failure when it was you who failed your family by allowing them to die!!" he roared with unconfined fury, grabbing Lucky by the scruff of his neck and throwing a hoof at his face. All sense of demonic, unnatural joy Godzilla had shown during his battle with Xenilla was replaced with a rage that would strike fear into the hearts of all who witnessed it...
Except Lucky Dragon.
Blood spattered the floor as the tyrant King of the Monsters took multiple swings at his face, each impact drawing more blood than the last strike.
Leering down at Lucky Dragon with blazing eyes, Godzilla paused and stared fiercely at his bloodied, damaged face. The Ancient's beard was soaked with blood to the point that there was more red staining it than there was grey. One of his eyes had swiftly swollen shut and several of his teeth had been knocked loose or thrown from his maw completely, lips cracked and bleeding as well.
Lucky's gaze fell on his cousin as his eyelids dropped slightly, his breath ragged. "Y-you've lost," he breathed with a weak growl, lifting his hoof to Godzilla's throat. His lips curled back in a snarl as he heaved for breath, the stallion's blood staining his rival's neck. "You've lost," Lucky repeated as blood pooled in his mouth. "Just as I knew you would... You let Rodan die and left your supposed allies to die as well," he choked.
"I've lost? You think that I've lost when you are on the floor choking on your own blood?!" Godzilla Junior growled in Lucky's face. Godzilla cocked a hoof back in preparation to finish the stallion before Lucky's next words stopped him.
"Go ahead and kill me... It will only prove my point," The Ancient breathed weakly. "You'll only prove yourself a tyrant and a killer."
The King of the Monsters let his grip weaken before Lucky slipped out of his grasp with a wince as his back impacted the floor and elicited an explosion of painful, wracking coughs that did not cease for a good few minutes, blood running down his chin.
Before long, Lucky was lying in a pool of blood, his breaths weak and straining. His mind was echoing back his morales as he struggled to hang on to what thread of life was still raveled to his heart.
"I never wanted to kill you, you fool," Godzilla muttered, staring down at the kaiju kirin with slight disgust. "You brought this on yourself, Dragon."
Lucky Dragon cracked a broken toothed, bloodied smirk as his strength left his body, the warmth of his blood soaking his body now of little comfort. The stallion's heart had been pierced, and he'd since accepted the fact that this was something he wasn't going to walk out of. "I brought this on myself?" the once mighty, awe inspiring being echoed in a dying voice. The Ancient slowly shook his head, unable to muster even the slightest amount of energy to feel enraged at the words.
Slowly, Godzilla reproached his dying cousin, staring down at him with a flat expression. "Maybe we can still save you," he suggested in a calm voice.
The green-grey kaiju scoffed and dragged himself up slightly before slumping back against the wall of the chambers, in spite of the pain that the action elicited in the process.. "I don't need your help," Lucky grunted whilst he lingered, leering up at the King of the Monsters. A moment of silence passed. He understood everything now. The Ancient was never meant to survive this. He had already been sick with age, and this was just a way of cleansing him of all that had been torturing the kaiju kirin. At the realization, he spoke; "Y-you know what the worst... the worst part of all this is?" Lucky breathed raggedly, with one final, bleak smile that depicted a sense of understanding and unsettling contentment.
Godzilla gazed down at the Alpha Predator blankly and awaited his words.
"SpaceGo-SpaceGodzilla was r-ight," he gasped, struggling to swallow before the typical light that was visible in the kaiju's crimson and amber eyes dulled, his limbs slackening as he ushered one last dying breath, his chest going still.
The unicorn stallion dipped his head and stared down at Lucky Dragon's lifeless body, a deep sigh slithering from Godzilla's nose. Slowly, the kaiju leaned down and closed The Ancient's eyes. Lucky had provided a good fight that Godzilla had been slightly worried of losing. Rising back to his full height, the King of the Monsters slowly trudged from the room, the metallic scent of his dead adversary's bodily liquids beginning to grow unbearable even to him. As he moved from the chamber and walked a small distance, the crooked horned stallion looked up to see Anguirus and Battra Lea knelt down beside a burnt red shape.
Godzilla advanced slightly faster and came upon his allies's side, looking down with growing guilt at seeing the red ichor surrounding him and the beaten, bloodied form of Rodan, whose head was swiveled in an unnatural manner and eyes sealed shut. The unicorn shook his head and closed his eyes, a deep sigh slithering from his nose.
"Is that bastard dead?" Battra Lea muttered solemnly looking up at her king.
"Yes, he is," Godzilla assured her with a slow nod.
"Did he suffer?"
The kaiju stallion dropped his gaze to the floor, fully understanding that his ally wanted to make sure Lucky paid for what he did with more than just death. "I think he was fully aware that he was going to die, so no... I don't think Lucky experienced much suffering," Godzilla said, much to Battra's disappointment.
And thus, the kaiju who'd hoped to teach his successor well, the lesson of betrayal, was killed, unable to see his last sunrise or feel the ocean's cool water surround his scales. The Ancient Alpha Predator had been struck down without mercy, leaving nobody to carry on his lineage and nothing to remember him for except his attempt to kill the very being he entrusted to protect Terra.
