Temple of the Kongs

“They are here…”

Like a devilish serpent, the Voice slithered throughout the towering rooms and halls of the abandoned temple. And yet… it was not so abandoned after all. In every corner, at every turn, the Darkness manifested itself and shrouded the withering hearts and minds of the unfaithful, speaking to every last one of them.

“The heretics of the Above… come to invade us… to kill us…”

In that moment, their lack of faith no longer mattered. Their questions and concerns over ancient prophecy was an afterthought. For such a time as now, their lord called to them through the Voice each pony could plainly and clearly hear. No more silence. No more abandonment.

Their lord called to them.

“Rise now… defend your sanctuary. Defend your people. Defend… your lord.”

The shattered remnants of the throne room took an unnerving turn toward something no creature could fully explain. It was if every heart had been blanketed by shadow, a darkness that was beyond cold. A darkness that was beyond understanding. The likes of the Young Six and many T.I.T.A.N. and Royal guards were perplexed of the sudden, inner turmoil that affected them.

Celestia and Luna, Shining and Cadance, Lyra and Bon Bon, Daring Do, and the Council of Friendship felt differently. They knew that cold. They knew that darkness. That evil was familiar to them.

And it came not in the image of a three-headed dragon draped in gold, but of the numerous ponies emerging from the shadows.

From every conceivable entrance, they appeared. Even from what was not even considered a functional entrance or exit, they emerged. Flying down from the many floors above them, appearing in flashes of unicorn magic, and slowly trotting into the throne room, the Occult of the Dragon no longer remained in hiding. To the heretics of the Above, they finally unveiled themselves.

Instinctually, the heroes took up defensive positions. Some words and sounds of confusion came from the ponies, specifically the Young Six, but adrenaline kicked in shortly after. Unicorn and Alicorn horns were bright and at the ready. Pegasi shot out their wings and lowered themselves in pouncing positions, ready to kick off the ground and take flight at a moment’s notice. Earth ponies stamped their hooves harshly into the ground, snorting and darting their eyes in every direction.

T.I.T.A.N. guards raised their rifles. Royal Guards formed a defensive perimeter around Princess Twilight, Cadance, and Prince Shining Armor, shields and spears at the ready. But even the guards, loyal to the end, were counting their odds as the number of the masked strangers only continued to grow and surround them.

Those odds quickly shifted when Kong snorted in mild irritation, and then he raised his eyes to the growing number of the dark ones. The ones greatly outnumbering the equines that followed him. The ones that were currently surrounding Fluttershy.

Eyes growing wide, stamping the butt of the axe against the stone floor, Kong snarled and shot up to his feet. Taking only two steps forward, he bent down and released a threatening roar, and one that shuddered the entire temple. Axe still gripped in his right hand, Kong’s towering and intimidating presence was enough of a threat to halt the dark ones instantaneously.

Silence was instilled in the throne room. Skeletal masks from nearly every variety of animal covered the faces of the ponies, dark cloaks shielding their bodies. They were like a sea of black amidst towering pillars and bones, dotting the ground as well as the air. But not a sound was made from them. Not a single move was taken.

“Uhhh… Twilight… Daring… any idea what we’re dealing with here?” Rainbow nervously questioned, afraid even a single sound might set off the masked ponies.

“Your guess is as good as mine, Dash,” Daring Do responded, holding her defensive stance and keeping her eyes focused on them.

Twilight didn’t say a word.

Instead, she turned to Celestia and Luna, but they seemed to share her own thoughts: those of shock and confusion. Bewilderment and wonderment. Slight apprehension and curiosity of who the ponies were and what they were there for. The thought of making first contact with inhabitants of the Hollow Earth came and went, when the threat of their numbers and the unsettling presence they brought with them loomed like an omen.

Yet, they did nothing but stand and stare. Kong’s presence certainly may have helped to prevent what the ponies’ intentions originally were.

Within the line of golden masks, one pony stepped forth. He broke their line and made those first steps onward since Kong took his stand. Beneath the mask bearing an antlered creature, draped in Darkness, Emrick stared solely onto their unwelcome, mongrel guests. The Immortal Priest of the Occult of Ghidorah took his own stand, and his eyes settled on the purple Alicorn. He saw her crown.

“You are royalty… it would seem,” the pony with the antlered skull mask declared. His voice stretched and echoed, radiating with that same unnerving coldness and raw evil the heroes felt before. Twilight tensed up, never breaking her stare from his eyes, each orb nearly black beneath the skull.

“And yet… standing with heathens all. No crown… no throne… makes you higher than them. You remain unchanged: intruders standing on holy ground,” Emrick said, pacing back and forth before the intruders from Above.

Then, Twilight noticed it. Everypony slowly but surely noticed it all the same. With what little light they had from the glowing lavafalls, it was just strong enough to shimmer off the surface of the ancient talisman dangling from the neck of the masked pony. They noticed and recognized it instantly, and it made Twilight gasp. It brought Celestia and Luna’s hearts to a standstill.

The Bewitching Bell.

Here… all this time. With them.

She was horrified. Suddenly, despite the horror, it all began to piece together for Twilight. Whoever these ponies were, they were the ones who infiltrated Canterlot. They were the ones who somehow broke Star Swirl’s seal over the Bell and used it to resurrect Ghidorah. They were the ones who empowered Ghidorah enough to warp and control Godzilla’s mind.

“How is it that you managed to enter the vortex?” Emrick questioned. “I can see the power burning within you. You hold not our magic, our protection, from the powers of this earth… and yet… you are here.”

“Glad we could surprise you,” Twilight retorted, taking a first step forward despite the guards in her path. With narrowed eyes, adrenaline pumping and giving her the courage to push on, Twilight’s gaze fell down to the Bell once more. “Now then… who are you?”

Emrick could see her eyes retreating and returning to the Bell every few seconds. Its mere presence left her shaken, and it made sense. Why else would they keep the Bell locked away, if for no other reason than fear? Still, he would share with her the bright future that lied ahead, and the fate in which had already been given to his people.

He held out his hoof, swaying it across the mighty army of darkness that surrounded the intruders. “The rightful reckoning of your world… and the new Order… of which will replace yours.”

“Fat chance, edgelord,” Rainbow Dash snorted, earning the attention of the masses. “Only way you’re setting hoof in Equestria is through us!”

That bold and daring declaration was made. That line in the sand was drawn, despite what Twilight or anypony could have objected to, and for what felt like forever… nopony made a sound. Nopony moved in inch. Even Kong held his ground, eyes washing over the army in the shadows to see what they would do.

Then, he chuckled. Then, Emrick unveiled a blade from the glow of his horn. The gold and black aura of his magic forged a sword in a swirling twister, the weapon shimmering bright and levitating beside him. The sound it made as it came to life pierced the ears of the Council, of the directors, of the Young Six, and everypony surrounded by the Order of the Dragon. Like it screamed to life, and continued to hiss as a serpent.

“Good…” Emrick hissed all the same, each step he made being closer to the crowd of heroes. “Our victory has already been promised to us. What have you been promised that could ever challenge the words of our lord and our god?”

Their god… it has to be him, Twilight imagined. It was the only logical conclusion. Whatever this Order was, it venerated Ghidorah as some sort of god, as if the demon could ever stand as an idol of worship and praise. Then again, the rulers of the old world worshipped many Titans as deities, like Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, and even Kong.

But to imagine a tribe of ponies willfully worshipping Ghidorah of all creatures… it was almost unthinkable. It was deranged. It was evil in its purest form.

And that was why it was going to lose. Twilight made sure they understood that when she boldly said, “The only promise that’s been fulfilled time and again.” She ceased her approach when she stood together with the rest of the Council, with the rest of her friends. The fire in her eyes and the power in her heart strengthened tenfold, as did the rest of her friends’, when they were united, when they stood against darkness.

When harmony itself was threatened, the Guardians, Champions, and Elements wielding its power rose together.

“If anycreature would make war against my little ponies, against my world, against my friends… they will face the most powerful magic of all.”

Together, they rose up. Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle. All six of them holding their ground and taking their stand against the forces of darkness that dared to threaten all they held dear. Instantly, the balance of power in the room shifted, and every last creature felt it in their innermost being. A rising light to combat the Darkness. A harmony to stand in opposition to the chaos.

And six friends… withstanding the might of an army.

Twilight flared her nostrils, shot out her wings, and ignited her horn’s magic. “And they will lose.”

Tensions rose to uncontrollable levels. Each side readied themselves for the inevitable, for those declarations of war firmly proclaimed. Dahlia stood alongside many other members of the Order, alongside many great warriors among the Harbingers, and still her hoof trembled around the sword she held. She was thankful for the mask she wore; it hid her fear well.

And yet… she heard the call of her lord as clearly as everypony else. As a warrior of the Order of the Dragon, she would gladly lay down her life for her god. Before any of this madness, before the Bewitching Bell, she would have gladly done so, without question. Now… she couldn’t understand where her heart was pulling her.

But it wasn’t toward Emrick or the Bell he wielded. Or, perhaps, it was the Bell that wielded him.

If she was to die today, she would die protecting her people. Nothing more.

Kong’s grip around the axe handle tightened, baring his teeth and fangs and growling ferociously in the back of his throat. Though they didn’t see it, the Council of Friendship were supported by the six, young creatures that bore the titles of Element bearers all the same, each one standing behind one of the six ponies.

As for Emrick, he did not waver. He did not submit. He instead chuckled once more, his hoof cradling the Bewitching Bell that hung around his neck.

“Child… the most powerful magic of all controls life and death,” Emrick muttered darkly, raising his eyes to his intruders. His opposition. His enemies. “And look before you… Who wields it now?”

He waited. For his Voice, he desperately waited for the call to action. Only, there was no Voice he could hear. There was no valiant cry from his lord that urged him and his people onward. Instead, the Darkness was stilled and the Voice was silent. It was beyond Emrick’s understanding, and for so long, he stood there without an order. Without a guide. Two forces poised for battle but neither one daring enough to make the first step or take the first shot.

Beyond Emrick’s will, the Darkness was at war with itself.

It was losing control. Control of the Usurper and his mind. What will it wielded over Godzilla was fragmented and broken, withering away the closer he came to the temple. And he was coming. Godzilla was near and there would be no stopping the wrath and vengeance he would enact upon Ghidorah. The Darkness needed to make a choice, here and now, while Ghidorah remained unfinished.

But soon… after so much and pain and suffering… Ghidorah would be finished. His final evolution was near, but he just needed more time.

Time… and a distraction.

So, the Voice spoke, and it told its cult, “It is time.”

Emrick froze. His heart nearly stopped, his eyes nearly bugging out of his skulls. Those three words were shared among every last member of the Occult of Ghidorah, whispered in each of their ears, echoed in every last mind. For it was more than a battle cry. It was a final declaration of the rise to Zenith. The New World.

It was time.

“My lord…” Emrick gasped, but was immediately silenced.

Because Ghidorah erupted from the ground, bursting through the throne of the tyrant ape king and letting his cry be known to all the world.

Kong flinched to the fragments of rock pelting him and spun around, his expression shattering and his eyes growing in shock and horror. At the mere image of the three-headed beast that came from below the earth. Its armor was gold and black, wings with extended arms and claws tipping each end. All three heads bore a crescent moon crown, eyes still as deathly red and pale and horrific as the cry that came from the maws.

The maws were covered in jagged points, as were the clubbed tails twisting and curling behind the dragon. In his new form, in his third evolutionary phase, Shin Ghidorah rose and pounced upon Kong with a savage and uncontrolled might. It was so much that Kong was thrown backward, pelted with so many claws, teeth, and screams that he could barely keep track.

He could just barely stay alive as Ghidorah raged against him.

And just as rageful, the cult attacked the heroes.

With golden weapons forged out of pure magic. With actual swords, daggers, spears, and shields as well, they followed their lord’s cry with their own and charged the small group of intruders and enemies. They would not remain within their holy temple. Their bones would be dashed to the stones in the abyss beyond the valley, so swore the Order of the Dragon.

Emrick led the charge with the Harbingers of Zenith, each one of them wielding great, magical swords, axes, spears, and so many more weapons of war. Dahlia charged, apprehensively, alongside the warriors of her people. All together, all as a wave of darkness, they met their foes with pointed tips and wrathful roars from their jaws.

But their enemies were undeterred. They did not wither and they did not die.

They fought on with equally as much ferocity and power as the Order’s own.

The T.I.T.A.N. guards fired the first volley from their rifles, the bullets tearing through many cultists and killing them instantly. The bullets merely deflected off the magical shields from Emrick and the Harbingers, the shields that sprouted from the power of the Bell. The Royal Guards kept their defensive positions around the royalty, meeting the flying and stampeding cult warriors with spears and shields of their own.

Directors Celestia and Luna pelted many of the forces of darkness with bright, powerful beams of magic straight from their horns. The powers that once wielded the might of the sun and moon were unleashed upon those who would bring harm upon the directors’ friends, and they did not hold back.

They were joined by Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, the princess offering spells of her own that launched back and petrified many cultists. Shining got up close and personal with his sword, fending off a Harbinger or two.

When the distance was broken between the two forces, Lyra and Bon Bon joined the T.I.T.A.N. guards in brandishing their bladed gauntlets and meeting the cult head on. Their extensive training paid off, and it saved their lives, as the numerous cloaked figures were gunned down and sliced from the speed and precision of Special Agent Bon Bon, Agent-in-Training Lyra, and their fellow T.I.T.A.N. defenders.

Daring Do handled well on her own merit. Her past adventures and battles had forged her into a force to be reckoned with, and she delivered resounding punches, kicks, flying divebombs, twists, and turns that left the cult utterly outmatched. They couldn’t touch her. They could barely see her for how fast she was flying and fighting.

The same could be said for the Council of Friendship.

The Elements of Harmony had faced many fights before. Against Ghidorah before, and now once again, plus even before that. On equal ground and against foes that were more personal, more deliberate against them. Such as Sombra, Tirek, Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, and many others. Though they didn’t look it, Twilight and her friends held their own as well as any warrior. They were fighters. They were defenders of peace and hope, in Equestria and beyond.

It showed in their actions, with Rainbow Dash matching Daring’s speed and agility, perhaps even surpassing it. She flew through entire hordes of cultists, blowing through them and knocking countless aside, to the stones, where the wind was literally knocked out of them.

Pinkie Pie was perhaps the fastest of all, her antics and complete disregard for the laws of physics going beyond anything the Order was trained against. Her party cannon erupted countlessly, as she appeared and reappeared to any cultist that dared raised their blades against her. They met a sticky end from the power of her party cannon blowing a cake or pie or several other delicacies into their faces.

Rarity and Applejack fight side by side, back to back, as AJ supplied the muscle in her bucks while Rarity provided the magical offense and defense that kept them safe. Her magic created shields that deflected any sword and spear that was thrust their way, and Applejack instantly retorted with a buck that sent cultists flying back in innumerable numbers.

Fluttershy, normally not one for fighting, would instead hit and run any dark pony that dared to attack her friends with their backs turned. She would fly toward them, thrust her body and knock back a cultist or two that got too close. She would then utilize her signature Stare that stopped any cultist in their tracks, forcing them to drop their weapons and flee in terror.

As for Twilight, she battled Emrick himself. The Immortal High Priest and his personal guard of Harbingers. Dodging the swings from the Harbingers' magical weapons, Twilight deflected the daggers that were flung her way with a shield concocted of her own magic. She then fired a volley of paralysis spells, hitting several Harbingers and freezing them on the spot. The rest were blown back by an explosive burst from her horn.

But they weren’t done. Raising that magical bubble shield once more, Twilight blocked the downwards swing from the golden blade belonging only to Emrick.

Face to face at long last, all Emrick could do was grin beneath his mask. “You feel it, do you not?” he growled to her, watching in sick satisfaction as his blade was beginning to crack through her shield. “The Darkness… the Voice… the Bell, it calls out to you. Do not resist its alluring strength. Submit, and join us in a glorious new age. Submit… and your young ones will survive.”

Twilight’s eyes burst open, and she spun her head around to see them. The Young Six, trapped amid the chaos, running away from one battle to another, almost daring to join the fight they were hopelessly unprepared for. And the cultists were beginning to notice them.

“Oh, no…” Twilight gasped, and just as quickly teleported. Emrick’s golden and black blade struck solid stone where she once was, and then he felt a flash of magic behind him and watched as her purple aura wrapped around his entire body.

He was ripped off the ground and flung far away, and Twilight immediately took in a gasp of air. The reach and call of the Bewitching Bell was as real as the cultist leader had told her. She instantly felt that shadow flee from her heart as the distance between them was lengthened, and Twilight took that momentary peace to twist her head back and scream.

“Sandbar!” she cried. The pony called by name stopped running, turning to that familiar and comforting voice and seeing the princess amid the clashing swords, screams, and blood. “You and the others have to go, now!”

The Young Six attempted to come together, but they were interrupted, bringing their attention to the horrific sounds of Shin Ghidorah’s cackles filling the temple. They watched on in shock and terror, Twilight joining them, as Ghidorah bit down on Kong’s axe and flung him clear across the temple, through a towering pillar, and bringing them both down into a tumbling ruin across the bones.

The temple responded, trembling even to the roots of its foundations. Maintaining her footing, Twilight knew it wouldn’t stand for much longer. Everything was crumbling down faster the longer they battled needlessly within the ancient ruins. It wasn’t just her safety and her life she had to watch over, it was all of theirs.

Gritting her teeth, turning her frightened expression away from Kong’s wounded form, Twilight wanted to believe it was the spur of the moment that made her act the way she did. In reality, it was the fear that dictated her actions, though she would not admit it now. Not with so much else to focus on, so much else on the line.

“Go… Go! Get back to HEAVs! Everypony, retreat! This temple is coming down!” Twilight exclaimed, eyes darting in every direction to see stones falling from the ceiling, to see slabs of earth shoot upward from every thundering stomp Ghidorah took. Now, strategically, it wasn’t wise to leave behind the Bell, but in her mind, if they could get to safety outside the temple, it was better than being buried alive or dead.

Then, her eyes settled on them. “Kids, you have to get out of here!”

“But, Twilight—!” Sandbar tried.

“That’s an order!”

But that order never came to pass. Not yet. For something else overcame the hearts and minds of every last creature present in the ancient temple grounds. It came first as a roar many of them knew, then it came as a thundering in the earth the once more shook the temple to its foundations. A rumbling that trembled every creature to their bones, to their spirits, and bringing the chaotic battle to a shocking standstill.

A reckoning... that even caused Shin Ghidorah to cease.

He stopped in his approach to the fallen ape. He stopped from finishing the foe that laid before him, and instead raised his heads to the roar he knew. The call of the Usurper. The threat of Godzilla made real. Each pale-red eye brightened, the heads of the Shin growling and hissing in agitation.

He wasn’t strong enough yet, and Ghidorah hated that fact. He wasn’t yet complete, but the time was near to finish what he began. To finalize the last evolutions and bring about a new age to the world.

The time had come for Kong and Godzilla to destroy each other, and then for Ghidorah to destroy whoever was left standing.

Then, shocking them all, Shin Ghidorah hastily spun around and fled. Retreating right through the agape doors that stood between him and the outside world of Hollow Earth. His massive size and length were still not enough for the doors, and he burst through them so as to launch countless fragments of stone and earth across the death-filled valley outside the Temple of the Kongs.

Just like that, and Ghidorah was gone. The Occult stared and stood in silence, in confusion, as the battle remained at a standstill. The Elements of Harmony came together just as the Young Six came together, and they turned to each other for an explanation. One none of them had.

“Uh, did he jus’ run away?” Applejack asked aloud.

“Twilight, that roar,” Fluttershy exclaimed, earning the eyes of every Element. They all immediately knew what roar she was talking about. “Is he…?”

They heard it. There was no denying it. The atmosphere began to change, began to shift from the harsh and violent red from the lava to a soft and haunting blue. The ground began to glow beneath their hooves, and to their shock, the stones shimmered to form an image around the former throne that was eerily reminiscent of a radioactive lizard, one they all knew, and one that brought forth horror instead of awe.

They weren’t the only ones to notice. Rising from the fragments of stone, Kong grunted out a gasp of air and coughed, his eyes flinching to the sudden emergence of a blue glow. Not only from the floor beneath him, but from the very weapon he wielded. The axe head started to pulsate, started to resound with an energy that Kong knew. He raised it and stared deeply, curiously, almost agitatedly to the weapon acting on its own. It burned just as brightly blue as the floor around him.

It burned just as brightly blue as the atomic beam blowing through the opposite wall of the temple.

It came with destructive force and resounding energy. No longer did the forces of good clash against the forces of evil, for they were all caught under the heat and fire of the radioactive blast ripping through the temple walls and tearing apart the remaining pillars. Screams of terror, confusion, and madness quickly spread, Kong collapsing from the sudden brightness of the explosion and falling flat on his back.

As the tremor came and went, the atomic fire ceased. And from the hole in the opposite wall of the temple, the charred stone fell away to unveil the piercing blue eyes, the pulsating dorsal plates, and the emergence of the King of the Monsters.

Entering the temple of Kong’s ancestors, Godzilla fiercely stamped his foot on the stone beneath him, trembling the shattering foundations once more. In the chaos of the crumbling temple, Godzilla chose to settle his eyes not on the equines, nor the army of darkness, but on the rival Titan. On the giant ape lying down and lifting his head to meet Godzilla’s ferocious glare.

A ferocious glare that fell to the weapon in Kong’s hands. He saw the axe, the executioner’s weapon of choice, and settled on the familiar dorsal plate attached to it. Godzilla saw the bones of his fallen kin. He saw the infernal place brought to fire and ruin and it still wasn’t enough to satisfy his rage.

That rage, that vengeance, it had changed course and settled instead on the rival that wielded the weapon of his enemies. For just a moment, Godzilla let that Darkness take hold and satisfy his wrathful urges. For just a moment, Godzilla let go, and let his anger wash forth across the earth. His ferocious snorts transformed into hyperventilation, then seething, and then it was unleashed as a roar that held nothing back.

The armies fled in terror as Godzilla leaped off the stone and clashed with Kong.

It was all coming down. The pillars had fallen and the ceiling was caving in, Godzilla’s actions destroying what little was holding. Despite that, Godzilla focused his malice, his hatred, and his revenge solely on Kong, as if he had forgotten the sole reason he had ventured into the Hollow Earth in the first place. And yet, Kong held his own, fending off the biting, slashing Titan with the axe, kicking and punching him off to create some distance between them. Distance that Godzilla would close every single time.

With the sudden and ferocious clash of the Titans, Twilight turned back to her friends. Turned to all the world around her crumbling quickly, tried to find the Bewitching Bell in the midst of it all, and shook her head. Her decision was resolute.

“Come on; let’s go!” Twilight warned, ushering everycreature to follow her. And follow they did. She led the way, with Celestia and Luna, Shining and Cadance, and her guards clearing the way to the HEAVs.

All while Emrick watched from a distance, his glare narrowing with flaming hatred. For the intruders that invaded their home, brought it to destruction, and led the Usurper to burn the rest down. He turned his eyes to his people, and sought to ensure they all made it out alive. He would deal with the rulers of Above later.

The journey to the HEAVs was quick but definitely not clean. It was as if a constant earthquake was rumbling across the temple, as pillars and monuments dedicated to the great apes fell in tandem. But the heroes escaped in the end, each party reaching their dedicated vehicle as the pilots urged them to quickly get inside. They made it.

All of them did, from the Council of Friendship, the Young Six, Celestia and Luna in one vehicle, and Shining and Cadance, Daring Do, and Lyra and Bon Bon in the other. They lost some brave T.I.T.A.N. and Royal guards, but a few remained to finish their duties. No matter the cost.

With the occupants secured, the power cores ignited and the HEAVs rose from the earth. All the temple cracked and shattered around them, but the pilots were the best of the best. They ensured not only themselves, but the ponies under their care that they would make it out safely. They barely did. The twin HEAVs tore across the raining debris and falling rock and slipped past the entrance.

Out into the blinding lights of the crystals reflecting the planet’s core. Out into the valley of lost creatures. Just as the front gates exploded with the ferocity of a flying ape being flung right through them.

What was left of the front gates were eradicated, Godzilla having thrown Kong clear across the temple grounds and to the nearest wall he could target. That wall happened to be the temple entrance, and Kong crashed and rolled several hundred feet before finally coming to his senses. He turned back, blood dripping from his lips, when he saw Godzilla tear through the falling walls.

The ancient temple of his ancestors was lost, falling into a ruin of dust with Godzilla charging out of its hold.

The last fragment of his people and his history was gone.

Kong barred his bloody fangs, and he roared.

He flinched to the sound of the HEAV flying overhead, his eyes suddenly fascinated by them, and the Pegasus that was safely inside. His fury almost dissipated in that moment, but Kong needed to focus. Godzilla was on a rampage, and he would care not for any living creature that got in his way. So, with axe in hand, Kong got back up and held his ground, pounding his chest with a trembling roar to get Godzilla’s attention.

His attention was on no one else.

Leaving Shin Ghidorah to finish what he started.

“Look, there he is!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, wrapping her hoof around the pilot’s shoulders and pointing obviously to the three-headed dragon. “RELEASE THE PAYLOAD!”

“No, wait!” Twilight warned, wanting to see what Ghidorah’s intentions all along were. Soon, every eye was captured and every creature watched to see what he would do

None of them expected it.

As he stood over a mound of earth, Shin Ghidorah centered all three heads solely onto it. Deep beneath him, he sensed it. An abundance of energy, pooling like a well deep within the hold of the earth. A vortex of magic, of which the destination was unknown. A wormhole, like hundreds of others scattered around the globe, led to the world below and to the world above.

He could feel it. The pain was building, roaring inside of him, so excruciating that he couldn’t hold it back any longer. His next evolutionary phase, the fourth phase, was coming, tearing through his scales and ripping through his bones. Ghidorah needed more time, and Godzilla would soon be upon him if he did nothing.

“What’s he doing?” Shining Armor muttered aloud, and nopony had an answer.

All they could do was watch as Ghidorah slowly raised all three heads, each towering neck electrifying with that familiar golden glow. All three jaws fell open, the dragon taking in the deepest breath he could ever fathom. Until his whole body was practically aflame, glowing brighter than the crystals hanging above.

Then, he unleashed it. Driving his enhanced gravity beams directly down onto the earth by his feet, Shin Ghidorah released a screech of sheer agony as his next evolution was taking hold. But still, he fought on, ensuring all three gravity beams would reach their target with precise accuracy. And as accurate as ever, he reached it.

The scorched hole he had created held a swirling, multicolored wormhole at the very bottom, beckoning to him. Calling to him in that voice that raged in his shared mind. Shin Ghidorah could not hold it back any longer, and he dove straight into the hole without a second thought. Entering the wormhole to reach the world above, and entering the next evolutionary stage on his path to total conquest.

His assured victory was near. Not even Godzilla could stop him now.

Not even Kong could stop Godzilla, as he was thrown violently across the earth once more, landing just on the edge of the freshly burnt abyss.

The occupants of the HEAVs turned their attention back down, seeing as Kong struggled to pick himself up. Fluttershy, especially, pressed her hooves to the windshield and bit her lower lip, praying with all her might that Kong was all right. He made a sign, a movement that he was still alive, and Fluttershy breathed a breath of relief.

Cringing at the fresh cuts on his body, Kong leaned his head back and gazed down into the hole, spotting that familiar wormhole swirling at the bottom. His eyes widened, the realization kicking in that this was a pathway back to the surface world. And seeing Godzilla pressing on with his rampage, his bloodlust focused only on him, Kong propped himself on one two hands and waited.

Watched as Godzilla drew nearer, roaring viciously with every stomp closer. Just as he was about to pounce and finish him, Kong reared back, planted his feet on Godzilla’s abdomen, and flung him clear over his head. Down into the hole and into the wormhole he fell, Kong rolling over and watching Godzilla shrieking wrathfully, clawing at the rocky walls, but to no avail.

His roar was silenced as the vortex devoured him.

Huffing at that, Kong didn’t hesitate either. He was intent on finishing it with the Titan who destroyed the last remnants of his people. So, with axe in hand, Kong stood up and took that first brave step. He leaped high and fell fast, down into the awaiting wormhole where he, too, was taken to the world above.

“Everypony, hold on!” the pilot declared over the shared radio. The occupants immediately sat back down, strapped in tight, and watched on as the inevitable happened once more. The return journey, back up thousands of miles in seconds, to finish the war and save their world.

Both HEAVs followed after Kong, and they were taken into the light all the same.

And yet, they still weren’t the only ones.

It took quite some time, but the Order of the Dragon followed the carnage, and they happened to come across an abyss crafted from their lord’s power. Emrick led the way, with the remaining Harbingers by his side, loyal to the end, and Dahlia lagging behind. A look of shock had almost permanently been etched on her face, with her mask lost during the battle.

Still, they weren’t out of the fight. The battle had just begun, and the greater war for the fate of their world and the world Above would be determined now. With the unicorns casting a protection spell around the remaining cultists, and the Pegasi grabbing as many as they could, the Occult of Ghidorah embarked down into the abyss.

Down in the vortex.

Where the city of Shanghay would receive the rudest awakening they had ever known.

Author's Note

Artwork by Shrekzilla