The Battle of the Bell. The day the world stood united against the Legion of Doom. When the Magic of Friendship prevailed in the face of what seemed hopeless odds. A victory that should have been remembered for all time. Long after those who were there have passed on.

Now? Now it is known only as a footnote, a prelude. To the nightmare that was to come. When Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow were sealed away for all time, we unleashed something that we thought only existed in our worst nightmares.

The ancients called it the Shadow of Evil. I'm inclined to believe them. We thought that Grogar was the Father of Monsters. Maybe he was. But I cannot believe that he created these.

So many lost. Our innocence, our joy. The dead we cannot count. The world we knew died in the fires of Baltimare. All the promises and new beginnings that were hoped for when Celestia and Luna retired, lost.

We will rebuild, and Equestria will live on. But it can never be what it was meant to be now.

Shadows of Evil: A Memoir of the Dark Days. By High Princess Twilight Sparkle.

***

Twilight sighed as the last of her friends entered the Council Chamber for their monthly Council of Friendship meeting. All but one that is. "Fluttershy still hasn't returned from her trip?"

Rainbow chuckled. "I don't think even Discord could get her away from seeing new animals. You know how she can be, Twilight. And a whole new island full of them? Yeah. Good luck getting her away from that."

Rarity nodded. "Indeed, darling. And she isn't missing anything as it is. This is just a glorified excuse for all of us to get together now, am I right?"

Twilight grumbled as she crossed her hooves in a pout. She was still sore about that. The whole point of the Council of Friendship was for her friends to have as much say in running Equestria as she did. They deserved that honor as much, if not more than she did.

But it had taken only one meeting to show that Twilight had put too much faith in her friends' ability to rule alongside her. The less said about what Pinkie and Rainbow had tried to do, the better. That didn't mean she had to like it though. "Okay, fine, I get it. But I want this to work. We should all have a say in this, not just me."

Applejack's brows rose, as she smirked. "Last ah checked, sugarcube. Celestia and Luna only made you Princess of Equestria. Not all of us. Ah ain't got no interest in politics, and ya can take that to the bank. Ah could just use a break from the farm. What with Big Mac helping Sugar Bell in settling down."

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, and the Wonderbolts have a full schedule coming up. Heck, I won't even be here for the next meeting since we got a stop in the Crystal Empire that day."

"And I've got a date with Cheese Sandwich planned!" Pinkie added. "In fact. I've got them planned out for the next year or so!" To prove her point, she pulled a calendar out of her mane. The girls could see all the dates marked on it, and the next council meeting was indeed falling on a day on which Pinkie had a date.

Rarity nodded. Her smile softened as she saw the loss in the alicorn's eyes. "Twilight. You know we love you, right? We would never abandon you or our friendship. But we each have our own lives. We can't always drop them for you. A day will come when we won't be here, and you will have to stand on your own four hooves."

Twilight sighed, her ears falling. She didn't even want to go there. There was still a debate about whether she was immortal or not. But the simple fact was that nopony knew for sure. Not even Celestia and Luna had been able to give her a firm answer. "I know, Rarity. But I want this, us, to work. You girls deserve this as much as I do. I don't care what someponies say otherwise. I wouldn't be here today without you."

The girls all smiled. They couldn't argue with that. "I just hope Fluttershy's alright," Applejack said after a moment, looking over at the empty chair at the table. "Feels weird with her not being here."

Rainbow scoffed. "Relax, AJ. She's got Ocellus with her. Those two are made for this kind of thing. I'd be more shocked if they don't stay for a long time. Seems like something they'd do."

The group giggled. It was true. As they settled down once more, Pinkie did have one thing to add Rainbow's statement.

"Besides. What's the worst that can happen?"

***

Fluttershy ran as fast as she could, the rain coming down in sheets and lightning momentarily lighting up the jungle around her. Next to her, Ocellus flew as fast she could. Neither of them looked back, as the trees cracked and groaned as something huge flew over them.

"How can they be so fast?" Ocellus asked, trying not to look at what had just passed over them.

Fluttershy shook her head. "I don't know! Let's just get back to the boat, and we won't have to worry about them anymore, okay?"

Ocellus only nodded. A high-pitched shriek behind them made her blood run cold. Only a demon from the lowest levels of Tartarus could have made a sound like that. But these were real. She had seen what they could do to ponies. It made her sick just to think about it. Out of an expedition of a dozen ponies, only she and Fluttershy were left.

Fluttershy blocked the sound from her thoughts. It did her no good now to think about it, or where and why this had all gone so wrong. Once they made it to the boat, then everything would be fine. Equestria had to know about this.

Finally, after what felt like hours of running and avoiding wide open spaces, she saw the shoreline in the distance. "We're almost there now, Ocellus. And then we can get away from this nightmare."

The changeling nodded. She wanted to turn and fight these things. But she was too scared. She would need all of what Councilor Starlight could give, and she had a feeling the same went for Fluttershy as well.

As they came to an opening that lead out onto the beach, the pair saw that the boat was still there. How or why they didn't know. But right now, neither cared. All they cared about now was getting away from this island.

Before they even had a chance though, the demon's cry came once more, and a golden beam of energy cut the boat clean in half. Fluttershy and Ocellus watched in mute horror as their only means of escape sank beneath the storm-tossed waves. Behind them, the ground shook as the beast landed.

The pair turned. The creature's beady eyes bored into them, a look of hunger in them. The monster seemed like an enormous bird. But it had no feathers. It seemed like something only a demented madpony could have conceived in their worst nightmares. In the sky behind it, several more like it flew on past them.

Heading straight for Equestria.

Fluttershy turned to the young changeling. "Ocellus. Get out of here! One of us has to live. Get back to Twilight. She has to know about this. Equestria needs to know about this."

Ocellus shook her head. "I won't leave you."

Before Fluttershy had a chance to respond, the bird attacked, leaning down and scooping Fluttershy up in ts mouth. Ocellus heard the sickening sounds of bones being crushed before the beast swallowed. Fluttershy didn't even have time to cry out.

That was all it took. Ocellus couldn't believe what she had just seen, but she had to escape. Her friends, all of Equestria. They depended on her to warn them of this. She turned and ran for the ocean's edge, hoping against hope that one would satisfy that thing's hunger.

It was a vain hope. The monster let her run for a few meters before it struck out once more. It had seen the bug transform before, so it knew not to play with its food this time. It bit down, ending the creature's life swiftly, before swallowing. Very little meat on these two.

Taking to the air, the monster headed in the same direction as its kin had. It hoped there would be more food in that direction.

Author's Note

Alright. I've noticed a distinct lack of pure Gamera crossovers on this site. Time for that to change. In this case, this is using the Heisei Gamera trilogy as its basis. Not the Showa era. So no painfully kid-friendly Gamera here.

Fluttershy and Ocellus' fate shows that. No one and I mean no one will be safe and immune to Gyaos. As it should be. Characters shouldn't be exempt just because they're some of the main characters in the show.