Beasts from Within

Rain, thunder, and lightning plagued the world that was once filled with life. The sun which once shined brightly in the sky had been completely covered by thick, black clouds, casting the land in darkness with the only sources of light being the occasional strike of lightning. Fire spread throughout the forests and mountains, reducing any and all plant life to a heaping pile of ashes. The world which once was at peace was now a battleground for the first, last, and greatest war to ever grace its surface. All brought upon by the very same creatures who were meant to bring balance to the land that would become Equestria.

Life was now unsustainable on the planet which was shrouded in death and despair. The creatures that once thrived were forced to either die from starvation or flee from the battle that was ravaging the entire valley. Mountains were reduced to rubble, entire lakes were all but disintegrated, all plant life became withered and frail, and any titan who was unfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire would be instantly killed. The same creatures meant to restore balance were now bringing the end of the world. The only two Monarchs to ever exist were now competing to see who would be the last one standing.

Despite the devastation, a few kaiju were fortunate enough to keep their lives even after all of the destruction. But now they were forced to survive in an environment plagued by war. One such kaiju was a slim, bipedal, reptilian creature with a long tail and three rows of shark-like fins on its back. The creature had burrowed underground to avoid its own demise. Its limbs ached as his legs struggled to support his full body weight. It was incredibly malnourished from staying underground for so long, its eyes struggled to adjust to the bright flashes of light and fire that could be seen beyond the horizon.

The creature, however, wasn’t focused on the final war, but instead on the titan lying on the ground. It was a smaller kaiju when compared to him that walked on all fours and consisted of a lighter body color; a female. However, the most striking part of the kaiju were the pale eyes which accompanied the lifeless corpse. The larger titan stood over its dear mate before raising his head up and letting loose a weak, saddened cry to the black sky over her depressing demise. By this point, his legs couldn’t sustain his weight as he then collapsed on to the body of his partner, sliding in and out of death as his lungs became filled with smoke and ash.

Right as life began to leave the creature’s eyes, he was able to see two silhouettes illuminated from the lightning. The sight of the two monsters that had turned the world into the hellscape that took his partner’s life. One of the Monarchs was of a creature not of this world, a titan who threatened the very planet he was trapped inside. Its three heads firing streaks of light and electricity at its opponent. The second Monarch would quickly retaliate, however, as it gathered enough energy to cause the surrounding mountains to glow bright blue from the spines along its back. The two creatures' beams collided, creating a shockwave powerful enough to cause tremors which shook the entire continent and create an explosion that could be seen from outer space.

And then, everything went dark.

Junior abruptly awoke from his nightmare, causing him to breathe heavily and work up a sweat. He frantically looked around, seeing that he was still inside the cold and dark interior of the mountain with the only source of light being the lit wax candles surrounding him. Fear and confusion quickly turned into fatigue and annoyance as he placed a hoof against his temple. Ever since he had adopted a kaiju spirit, he had suffered from repeated nightmares that plagued him every time he attempted to sleep. Junior rested his head in his hooves, allowing sleep to slowly encompass his body and allow him to lay down on his makeshift bed. Unfortunately, right when he was drifting off, his new roommate had woken up.

“Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!”, exclaimed Discord. This startled Junior and caused his emblem to flash, allowing several patches of scales to form all across his body. He did calm down once he saw Discord in a chef’s outfit, holding a breakfast tray in front of him.

“Sweet Celestia, stop doing that!”, shouted Junior as his emblem flashed and his scales retreated back into his body.

“But you would’ve missed breakfast”, said Discord. Junior looked down, seeing how Discord made a pumpkin shaped pancake with eggs as the eyes and bacon as the mouth. He looked back up at Discord with an eyebrow raised.

“It’s holiday themed”, added Discord. Junior rolled his eyes.

“I’m not exactly in the mood for breakfast”, he said before lying back down in his bed.

“Nonsense! Didn’t your mother ever tell you how it’s the most important meal of the day?”, asked Discord. Junior stared at him blankly.

“My mother’s dead”, he said, coldly.

“Well, at least that’s one thing we have in common”, said Discord. He flew over to the kitchen which he had summoned and was seemingly preparing another breakfast plate of food for himself. Discord’s colors were a bit disaterrated, courtesy of the events that comprised days before, but his personality had stayed the same; much to the annoyance of his roommate.

“That was quite a bit of tossing and turning you did there. Somepony must’ve had one exciting dream”, said Discord.

“It was a nightmare and nothing about it was exciting”, said Junior.

“Surely it must, after all, that’s the fourth time this week you’ve woken up from it”, said Discord as he cracked an egg over a pan, only for a small chick to fall out of it.

“Would you like a chicken breast with your breakfast?”, asked Discord as he scooted the chick closer to Junior, “careful, it might be spicy.” Before Junior could say anything, the small chick opened its mouth, letting loose a torrent of fire that flew right by Junior’s head.

“I’ve lost my appetite”, he said as he patted out a part of his mane which had caught fire.

“Nonsense, according to the boss, you’ll be experiencing an increase in metabolism. Which means, you’ll have more than just an appetite”, said Discord.

“I do not!”, retorted Junior, however the grumbling of his stomach proved otherwise. Discord gave him an amused smirk.

“You were saying?”, asked Discord, smugly. Junior merely pouted before pulling the tray towards him and taking a bite out of the eggs. Discord flew back to his makeshift kitchen before using the chick to light the stove with its fire breath.

“Eat up while you can, tonight is the big night”, said Discord as he flipped a couple flapjacks.

“Nightmare Night?”, asked Junior as he bit into his pancakes.

“The night we make our first stand”, called out a voice. Both Discord and Junior’s attention were brought to the entrance of their chamber where Des walked in.

“Lord Des!”, exclaimed Junior, scrambling to his feet in order to bow in front of him. Des didn’t pay him mind, at first, as he looked at Discord.

“What is your current state, element of chaos?”, asked Des.

“Just splendid! In one more day, I’ll be back at my full strength”, said Discord as he prepared a large stack of pancakes for himself. Des then turned toward Junior who stayed in his bowing position.

“Stand up, Junior”, demanded Des. Junior did as he was told. Des seemingly eyed Junior up and down, noticing the changes in the colorization of his fur.

“Have you experienced any changes courtesy of your kaiju spirit?”, asked Des.

“A few, my lord”, answered Junior.

“Explain”, commanded Des.

“Well, I’m not entirely sure how to describe it, but I feel…overstimulated. It’s like my brain is trying to process more sensory information than it can handle and thus I’ve had this headache ever since I got this stupid spirit”, said Junior. Right as he said that, his head started rushing as his emblem flashed. The spirit that had been summoned from yesterday formed from his mane.

‘Watch your tone.’

Des stared at the kaiju spirit. “Titanus Juvenile, am I correct?”, he asked, catching the kaiju spirit’s attention.

‘Indeed, and by the looks of things, you’re either a living tumor, or Titanus Destroyer.’

Des chose to ignore the insult. “You would be correct on the latter”, he said, dryly.

“He’s been like this ever since he was summoned, my lord”, added Junior. Des was all the wiser to the personality of this spirit. He noticed how the kaiju spirit’s movements seemed a bit sporadic.

“Tell me, Juvenile, is there a reason as to why you appear to be antsy?”, asked Des. The spirit stopped moving and stared at Des with its pale eyes.

‘It’s not everyday you’re revived after being dead for millions of years.’

“You’re welcome, by the way!”, exclaimed Discord as he prepared himself a glass of coffee, only to drink the glass and bite into the coffee.

“Do you suppose you’re eager to see what the world we created is like?”, he asked.

‘Absolutely! For eons I have been trapped in a plan of non-existence. I’m more than just eager to see our world, I’m eager to live in it.’

Des smiled, showing his mangled sharp teeth. “Would it please you if I said that tonight, you will walk on Equestrian soil once more?”, he asked. Juvenile’s pale eyes slightly widened, along with Juniors.

“My lord, what are you talking about?”, asked Junior. Des stood to his full height as he wore a composed expression.

“Follow me, both of you”, he said before walking out of the chamber.

Juvenile retreated back inside Junior’s mane who stood up and followed behind Des. Leaving Discord behind who ate his entire stack of pancakes in a single bite, including the tray it was on. Des led Junior to the entrance of the mountain before coming to a stop. Junior’s emblem flashed as Juvenile sprouted from his mane. The kaiju spirit overlooked the valley ahead of him, a sight he thought he would never see again. The vast forest, the clear blue sky, the hundreds of clouds, the sun that shined brightly. Juvenile stared at the scenery for what felt like hours, he felt as though he was finally home.

“Ever since your passing, Juvenile, the world you helped to create has been overruled by the current dominant equine species. They’ve dubbed your home as there’s and have named it Equestria”, said Des. Juvenile turned towards Des.

‘Equestria? My home?’

“Indeed, however, I intend to repair this imbalance. And you can help with that”, said Des. “You see, you have been interlinked with my loyal follower here’s soul, giving you the full range of his mind while he has full control of your powers and abilities.”

Juvenile looked down at Junior who appeared offputted by his presence.

‘You mean…he…has full control over me?’ Des replied with a nod. Juvenile merely scoffed. ‘Clearly the only thing you know about me is merely my name. I’ve never been too keen on being under anyone’s rule, and I’m not going to start now. I don’t care what you or whatever you call your cronies have to say, I’m not your peasant or anyones.’

“Hey, watch how to speak to the lord that helped to set you free!”, exclaimed Junior. Juvenile turned to face him with incredible speed that caught Junior off guard.

‘I will speak to your “lord” however I please! There’s nothing that he can do to change my mind!’

“Oh, but indeed there is, Juvenile”, said Des as he continued to stare across the horizon. The kaiju spirit slowly turned to face him.

‘Oh please, don’t make me laugh.’

Des didn’t look at him, his pale yellow eyes reflected the valley. “If I were to promise you that one day this land will once more be yours to freely roam, would you be willing to listen to what I have to say?”, asked Des. Juvenile stared at Des, his pale eyes slightly raised.

‘How do you plan on making that a reality?’

A smile crept on to Des’ lips. “Every year, a settlement named Ponyville holds a festival to celebrate a holiday that they have called Nightmare Night”, said Des.

‘What about it? The last thing I would care about is some tradition I couldn’t give two shits about.’ Despite Juvenile’s remark, Des continued.

“You see, Ponyville houses one of the largest populations in all of Equestria, and during this holiday, everypony in town will have gathered out in the open”, he said as he turned toward Juvenile. “They will be caught by complete surprise once they see you trampling their township.”

Junior’s eyes widened. “My lord…you couldn’t possibly be suggesting that-”

“Juvenile, tonight you will merge with Junior in order to allow you to walk on your world’s surface once more”, interrupted Des as he finished. Juvenile’s blank eyes widened a bit. The possibility of being able to not only exist but to live as well sounded very promising.

‘How do you intend on making that possible?’

“Junior here not only acts as your vessel, but also your gateway to the land of the living. When we’re ready, yours and Junior’s consciousness will become one to allow you to transform back into your physical body. This process is what we refer to as merging”, said Des.

“B-But in order for the process to take full effect, the vessel needs to prepare itself and establish a connection with its kaiju spirit”, added Junior, a little frantically. Des, appearing slightly annoyed, turned toward Junior.

“Juvenile is a Dweller class titan, his effects won’t be as drastic. You’ll be able to handle them”, he said. Junior still didn’t appear too keen on what was being said.

“B-But, my lord”, he said”, surely we can come to a better solution than thi-”

“I HAVE MADE MY DECISION!”, exclaimed Des. His voice sounded more akin to a roar as it echoed throughout the mountain. Even Juvenile was taken aback by Des’ outburst. Des managed to recompose himself as a few sparks shot from his mouth.

“So, Juvenile, what will it be?”, asked Des.

Juvenile looked back at the sight of the vast land of Equestria, the land he helped create. Memories of a time forgotten flooded his mind. His habitat, his prey, his fellow species, his mate, his offspring; all taken away and forgotten by creatures who couldn’t care less about them. But now he was presented with the possibility to reclaim his territory and start what he could only presume as a revolution which would allow him to be free once more. Des took note of how Juvenile’s eyes slowly began to furrow the longer he remained silent, causing a smug look to be drawn on his face. After a while, Juvenile’s eyes blinked and he faced Des. Pale white and yellow eyes stared each other down for what felt like hours until-

‘…when do we start?’

A toothy grin formed on Des’ face. “Tonight, you will get your vengeance”, he said. With that, Juvenile retreated back into Junior’s mane who wasn’t as excited for Nightmare Night as his spirit was.

“My lord, I’m not too sure about this. I mean, are you sure that you aren’t rushing this or anything?”, asked Junior.

“Whether I am or not doesn’t matter, the perfect opportunity is upon us; one we may never get again”, said Des as he continued to stare out across the valley.

“Well…I understand”, said Junior, “however, I do hope that you realize that you are potentially endangering my li-”

“Do you remember when I told you, Junior, that the time to repay your debt was approaching?”, asked Des. Junior remained silent as Des glanced back at him.

“Today is that day”, he said. Junior tried saying something else, but Des ignored him as he stood back to his full length and walked inside of the mountain.

“You should prepare yourself for tonight, Junior, because once that sun sets…everything will change”, said Des before walking back inside the caves and toward his chamber. Junior was now forced to face the reality of what was happening.

Tonight, he would be the first legend to merge with their kaiju spirit, despite being a vessel for not even a week.

The worldwide phenomenon of a holiday known as Nightmare Night had finally arrived. Everyone in Ponyville had prepared for such an event in all kinds of different ways. Some had prepared attractions such as haunted houses and tents with games inside of them. Others had fixed Nightmare Night themed treats such as caramel apples in the shape of jack-o-lanterns or sugar cookies designed to look like skulls. But for the most part, everyone participated in the festivities by dressing themselves up in all kinds of costumes. Some were spooky, others were elaborate, but all embodied the spirit of Nightmare Night. However, one pony was finding it incredibly difficult to pick a costume that would work for her; even despite the large rack of costumes that Carousel Boutique had in store.

“Mummy? No. Black cat? No. Vampire fruit bat?…ugh, definitely not”, said Rarity as she pulled costume after costume off of the rack for her pegasus friend to pick from. Unfortunately, Fluttershy was proving to be picky in a unique way; not out of indecisiveness, but out of fright. Rarity noticed this as she wheeled the entire rack away with her magic.

“Thank you for helping me pick a costume, Rarity, but do they have to be so…scary”, Fluttershy said softly as her eyes were more so focused on the rack of creepy masks that were being hung right next to her.

“Fluttershy, the beauty of Nightmare Night is that you don’t have to dress up as something scary. After all, just look at me”, said Rarity as she gestured toward her costume which depicted a mermaid’s tail with several sea shells sewn on the side.

“Do you have any of those?”, asked Fluttershy. Rarity looked delighted at first.

“I’m glad you asked”, she said before quickly turning around. Unfortunately for Fluttershy, the tail on Rarity’s costume was quite loose and swung right across her face. It didn’t hurt, but it wasn’t enjoyable either. Rarity soon pulled another costume out, although this one appeared more as a dress rather than a Nightmare Night outfit.

“Oh, yes, this one will look gorgeous on you! Period costumes are all the rage this year”, said Rarity as she floated the puffy dress toward Fluttershy. However, Fluttershy didn’t seem incredibly thrilled, something Rarity noticed.

“What? No good?”, she asked.

“It’s just that, what if we encounter something terrifying and need to get away quickly? All these layers could slow me down, or worse, make me trip!”, exclaimed Fluttershy, distress building in her voice. A look of disappointment formed on Rarity’s face.

“Oh, I…never considered that. But never fear, there are plenty more where that came from”, said Rarity as she turned around, once again accidentally smacking Fluttershy with her tail.

“Ooh, now this one is a real stunner! I call it…Masquerade”, said Rarity as she pulled out an entirely black dress with a vibrant mask. “Just a simple black dress underneath, with this ornately decorated mask.” Although Rarity was pleased with her choice, Fluttershy however wasn’t.

“A mask?”, she said, fearfully.

“…no?”, asked Rarity, wearily.

“T-They can just be so difficult to see out of”, added Fluttershy. Rarity faced the mask toward her.

“Yes, but this one has eyeholes”, she said, placing the mask on her face to prove her point. Fluttershy, however, still wasn’t fully onboard.

“W-What about being able to see what’s to the left or right of me?”, she asked. Rarity took the mask off and let out a sigh.

“I suppose your vision would be somewhat obscured. Never fear, darling, we’ll keep picking between costumes until you find one you’re comfortable with”, said Rarity as she put the mask away.

“Oh, it’s alright, Rarity, I think I’ll just wear the dress”, said Fluttershy as she took the plain black dress in her hooves. Rarity had to do a double take by looking back at her display of vibrant costumes.

“Oh, sure dear…that’s…fine”, she said, forcing a smile as Fluttershy walked into one of the fitting rooms. When she was gone, Rarity’s smile quickly faded.

“It’s so plain, it's almost frightening”, she said.

The sound of a bell ringing brought Rarity’s attention to the front door of her shop. The sight of a certain group of ponies and a small purple dragon fully dressed up brought a smile to her face. Twilight’s costume resembled a gladiator with golden armor and a bright red crest. Applejack wore a mostly full body lion costume with pointy ears and a black nose. Pinkie’s costume was the most elaborate as she resembled a pony ripped out of the eighties with roller skates, her mane having two head bands in it, and a purple lightning bolt painted on her face. Rainbow Dash had dressed as an astronaut with a space helmet, boots, and a full white suit with holes in it to allow her wings to fit through. Spike’s costume was of a two headed dragon with two tails and three legs. Despite that, however, Spike’s costume was the only one that was the most obviously handmade.

Nevertheless, Rarity beamed at the sight of each one of them. “Oh, my; look at all of you! My costumes fit you to a T!”, she exclaimed with pride.

“Ahem”, coughed Spike, “what do you think about mine?” Rarity looked at Spike’s shoty work with noticeable pieces of tape and staples.

“It looks…devine, Spike”, answered Rarity through a forced smile. Spike responded with a smile of his very own.

“Hoo-wee! We’re gonna have the best time!”, exclaimed Applejack with excitement. Shortly afterwards, the doors to the fitting room opened and out walked Fluttershy in her costume. For being the first time her friends had seen her out during Nightmare Night, the mane six and Spike were a little disappointed.

“Uhh, Fluttershy, where’s your costume?”, asked Rainbow Dash.

“I’m wearing it”, answered Fluttershy.

Pinkie Pie scratched her chin before letting out a gasp. “Oh, I get it! You’re a robber escaping into the night?”, she asked, only for Fluttershy to shake her head.

“You’re a ninja escaping into the night?”

Head shake.

“You’re…black licorice escaping into the night?”

Head shake.

“Close, I’m going to a masquerade ball; without the mask”, corrected Fluttershy. Everyone looked at her with confusion and, in the case of Rarity, embarrassment.

“Oh…that’s great”, said Twilight as she looked at each of her friends with a small smile. “Isn’t it great?”

Everyone else gave minor agreements, even if some were more forced than others. Nevertheless, Fluttershy’s smile remained strong, even though she was still partially nervous about how the night would play out.

“You’re gunna’ have to show it off to Lisa and the boys; we promised to meet them at Sugarcube Corner”, said Applejack.

“Then let’s get going, girls, don’t want to keep them waiting”, said Twilight as she led the group outside and into the festive night. Despite her confidence at first, Fluttershy was the last one to leave the safety of the indoors.

Meanwhile, at the Zawa residence, Lisa was helping Rodan out with his costume. Lisa herself was dressed up as a superhero with a blue, skin tight suit that had a silver star on her chest and holes to allow her wings to pop out. She was wearing star studded boots on each of her hooves along with a mask that covered her eyes. Rodan’s costume was a devil with a bright red cape, a chained necklace, and a headband that had two sharp horns on it. His wing was holding a red, plastic trident while Lisa helped with tieing the chain around his neck.

“And, there you go, what do you think?”, asked Lisa as she showed Rodan a mirror. He looked into the mirror where a smile formed on his face.

“It looks great! Rarity did a really nice job”, said Rodan.

“I know, she made all of our costumes and they all look fantastic”, added Lisa. Rodan stared at himself in the mirror, checking every detail in his costume.

“Man, if only my childhood self could see me now”, he said.

“I still can’t believe you’ve never celebrated Nightmare Night before”, said Lisa.

“I can’t believe it either, our parents just never seemed to like that holiday”, said Rodan.

“How come?”, asked Lisa.

“Oh you know, razor blades in candy and stuff like that”, joked Rodan.

“Well, I’m glad you and Anguirus will enjoy your very first Nightmare Night together”, said Lisa, until a frown formed on her face. “But I still feel bad for Gojira. It’s a shame he had to get sick on the worst possible day.”

“Yeah, a real shame”, said Rodan, a bit dryly. The events of a certain night played in his head a few times. His eyes became slightly downcasted as he remembered what he had said.

“Rarity had even designed him a costume and everything”, said Lisa as she lifted a massive full-body costume. It appeared to be a cute, green dinosaur with a broccoli-like head, paper spines along its back, and a short, stumpy tail.

“I don’t think he would’ve worn it anyway”, said Rodan.

“It was more so meant to be a joke”, added Lisa. “But anyways, we need to be leaving soon if we want to meet the others at Sugarcube Corner.”

Rodan looked upstairs. “Anguirus! Hurry up!”, he shouted.

“I’ll be down in a second!”, Anguirus shouted back, a little muffled due to the door being closed. His costume resembled that of a lumberjack with a plaid shirt, thick overalls, leather straps, a brown beanie, and a fake ax that was attached to his flank. He was in his room adjusting his costume in front of a mirror, but he wasn’t alone.

“Now all you need is a goatee and a beer belly and then you’ll look perfect”, joked Gojira.

“Haha, very funny”, Anguirus said with sarcasm. Gojira lightly chuckled in response before putting on a more serious expression.

“Just be careful tonight. I want you to have fun, but also be on the lookout for any strange activity”, he said. Anguirus turned to face his brother.

“Are you sure you don’t want to join us? I mean, this will be our first Nightmare Night ever, don’t you want to spend it together as a complete unit?”, asked Anguirus. Gojira looked down in thought. A small part of him did genuinely want to spend time with his brothers, but the other much larger part of him knew what he really needed to do.

“Sorry, Aang, I’d like to, but I don’t want to skip a full day’s worth of training”, he said. Anguirus appeared disappointed by his brother’s answer, but he also knew he shouldn’t have expected much else.

“Alright, Goji, if that’s what you prefer”, said Anguirus, sadly. Just then his door opened which revealed Rodan. Gojira noticed how Rodan was specifically looking at Anguirus and barely acknowledging him. He wasn’t surprised by this, but was also a little saddened by it.

“You ready, Aang?”, asked Rodan.

“Yep, I can’t wait for tonight”, replied Anguirus. Rodan smiled at his younger brother before leading him downstairs; he didn’t look at Gojira once. Before they both left, Anguirus turned around for a moment.

“See ya, Gojira!”, he exclaimed.

“Bye guys, have fun, don’t get into trouble”, exclaimed Gojira. The sound of the front door closing signaled that Gojira was now alone in his house. Or at least, that’s what it seemed like.

‘I apologize for keeping you from joining your brothers for Nightmare Night.’

“Honestly, I think I prevented myself”, said Gojira. “What if Rodan’s right? What if I am taking our training too seriously?” Gojira’s emblem flashed as Alpha sprouted from his mane.

‘You must take merging training seriously if you want to handle the full extent of my power. If you want to become the next Alpha, then you must take what is necessary to ensure your potential of retaining balance.’

“Even if that means sacrificing my life?”, asked Gojira, although he didn’t say it as a question, but more so as a remainder of Alpha’s statement.

‘Being Alpha is full of sacrifices; all to maintain balance in this circle of life.’

Gojira sighed as he looked in the mirror. Images of a younger, happier version of himself with brighter colors stared back at him. Big, colorful eyes filled with so much energy and joy were now replaced with older, amber eyes that were almost unrecognizable. Gojira had finally taken into account the true extent of the effects of his training. Although he appeared physically healthy, he was mentally exhausted. He had been doing merge training for nearly two months and had only slept for barely a week’s worth of hours; using the solar energy he received from the sun to keep himself awake. It was tiring, strenuous, and even at times painful. But Gojira knew that he was far too deep now to stop, and not even a holiday like Nightmare Night was going to change his mind.

“What’s the agenda for tonight?”, he asked himself.

‘It’s time we finally begin the process of merging that we have been working towards the most: the transformation.’

Gojira’s eyes slightly widened over this statement. “Really? Tonight?”, he asked, incredulously.

‘If what you say is true about the strange phenomenons you’ve been sensing, then the time to reach the final parts of your training is now.’

“Am I even ready for this?”, asked Gojira. His emblem flashed as Alpha retreated back into his mane.

‘While I’m more than certain, there’s only one way to truly be sure.’

Gojira took that as a sign as any to begin. He exited his brother’s room, went out the back door, and walked far out into the Everfree forest; ready to prepare for the final stages of his training.

All throughout the streets of Ponyville, the spirit of Nightmare Night was strong and very contagious. The townspeople had all gathered to celebrate the night filled with festivities, sweats, and spooks. There were hundreds of ponies either handing candy to young fillies and colts, working stands that featured fun games to win prizes, or taking part in all kinds of activities such as dancing and trick-or-treating. Not to mention the costumes which made everyone look completely different from one another. Some dressed as animals, some as monsters, others dressed as provisions they were interested in, and others dressed as historical figures. Nevertheless, they were all filled with the Nightmare Night spirit as Lisa, Rodan, and Anguirus made their way down the streets to Sugarcube Corner. Lisa watched as the two brothers looked around the decorated town as if they were children; a small smile formed on her face.

“Enjoying yourselves?”, she asked.

“You kidding, look at this place!”, exclaimed Rodan as he gestured to his surroundings. There was a stage playing creepy music, hay rides, and dozens upon dozens of tents.

“None of the villages we lived in ever went all out for a holiday”, said Rodan.

“Welcome to Ponyville, where we’ve got all kinds of fun and games”, said Lisa. Though she too was excited for what the night had to offer, she was more so happy to be spending it with the pony she cared possibly the most about.

“So, what exactly do you do during Nightmare Night?”, asked Anguirus. The sight of a bakery that resembled a gingerbread house eventually came into view and standing in front of it were six ponies and one small dragon.

“You’ll see”, teased Lisa. Rodan and Anguirus looked at each other and shrugged before following Lisa. As they got closer to Sugarcube Corner, one of their closest friends caught sight of them.

“There they are!”, exclaimed Pinkie Pie as she rolled towards them on her roller skates. This caught the attention of the others as they followed shortly afterwards.

“Ooh, your costumes look dazzling as well!”, exclaimed Rarity as she saw how great her outfits fit the two brothers.

“Thanks, Rarity, your picks were perfect”, said Anguirus.

“You got that right. You are practically the devil, Rodan”, joked Rainbow Dash as she floated in the air.

“And I can see why you’re an astronaut, Rainbow. The number of times you’ve fallen on your face is truly astronomical”, retorted Rodan. Although it was a joke, Rainbow Dash didn’t take too well.

“Hey! I’ll have you know, that I’ve…”

“Calm down fellers, instead of ye’ both chewing each other's ears off, why not save that energy for apple bobbing instead”, said Applejack as she stood in between them.

As the two pegasus argued, Anguirus noticed how Fluttershy was standing by herself, frantically looking around. “Hey, Fluttershy, nice to see you here too”, said Anguirus, catching Fluttershy’s attention.

“Oh, yes, I even picked out a costume”, she said. Anguirus looked at her puzzled for a moment.

“You…did?”, he asked.

“Yeah, take a guess what I am”, said Fluttershy as she gestured to the black dress she was wearing. Anguirus stared at her for a while, and he just couldn’t come up with anything.

“Umm…black licorice?”, he asked.

“Nooo, try again”, said Fluttershy. Seeing as how Anguirus was struggling, Twilight quickly whispered the answer into his ear. To say the least, Anguirus wasn’t impressed.

“You’re a masquerade dancer who isn’t wearing their mask”, he said, incredibly confused.

“Yes, how’d you know?”, asked Fluttershy as she wore a smile.

“Lucky guess”, said Anguirus, bluntly. Twilight lightly chuckled from his response. However, Fluttershy wasn’t the only one looking around frantically as Twilight noticed Spike doing the same thing.

“Hey, Spike, is something wrong?”, she asked.

“Where’s Gojira, shouldn’t he be here?”, asked Spike as he continued to look around. His question didn’t go unnoticed as Rodan’s ear twitched.

“Oh, Gojira…he unfortunately got sick and couldn’t make it”, he answered. Once Spike heard this, he wore an incredibly disappointed look.

“Aww, really?”, he asked.

“Sorry, Spike, he got incredibly unlucky”, said Rodan, despite the fact that he knew it was impossible for Gojira or any of them to get sick.

“And I was so looking forward to showing him my costume”, said Spike as the second Spike head also looked down, looking equally as upset.

Although Spike was visibly saddened, Twilight managed to hide her disappointment much better. She too was looking forward to seeing Gojira outside of his house. Although, she couldn’t help but find it a little odd that now of all times he had come down with an illness. Nevertheless, Twilight walked up to Spike before lifting him on to her back.

“Don’t worry, Spike, I’m sure he would’ve loved it anyways”, she said, which seemed to bring a small smile to the young dragon’s face.

“Well, what are we waiting for, gang? Nightmare Night has just begun!”, exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

Everyone in the group couldn’t help but agree as they all left Sugarcube Corner and headed for the streets to see what exactly the night had to offer. Despite originally traveling as a unit, the group quickly split into several subgroups as they each wandered around main street to see what each tent had to offer. There were also larger games set up such as one with three catapults with the objective being to launch a pumpkin into a target. Rodan, Lisa, and Pinkie Pie watched as several ponies set their pumpkins flying in the air.

“This is one of my favorites”, said Lisa as she leaned toward Rodan.

“What’s the point of it?”, he asked with an eyebrow raised.

“It’s easy!”, exclaimed Pinkie Pie as she rolled up to one of the catapults and placed a pumpkin in it. “You grab a pumpkin, place it in this doohickey, and then…let it go!” The pumpkin flew through the air in a perfect arc before landing just shy of a bullseye on the target.

“See?”, said Pinkie Pie excitedly. However, Rodan didn’t seem as impressed.

“Kinda seems like a waste of vegetables to me”, he replied.

‘Fruits, actually.’

“That’s the side of you that isn’t filled with the Nightmare Night spirit”, said Lisa as she led Rodan over to one of the catapults. “Just come on, give it a try.”

Although Rodan still didn’t get the game, the smile on Lisa’s face was enough for him to play along. He grabbed a pumpkin and placed it in the catapult before pulling it back. Right as the arm was bent as far back as it could go, Rodan let it go. Unfortunately, unlike Pinkie’s attempt, Rodan’s pumpkin completely overshot the target and flew over it before splattering against the ground. He was upset, until he heard the sound of snickering from behind him.

“Nice job Rodey, just remember to hit the target next time”, joked Pinkie Pie. Rodan rolled his eyes.

“Ignore her, for a first try, that was actually pretty good”, reassured Lisa.

“Thanks, Lilly”, replied Rodan.

“How about I help you this time?”, asked Lisa.

“Oh, no, I can get it”, said Rodan as he tried grabbing another pumpkin. However, as he did so, the two of them ended up grabbing the same pumpkin and locked hooves. They both stopped and stared at each other for a brief moment. Rodan gave a small smile while Lisa lightly blushed. Their moment was interrupted, however, by the flash of a camera, catching them both off guard. Lisa turned toward Pinkie, who had seemingly pulled a camera out of nowhere.

“Pinkie!”, she exclaimed.

“What? Just capturing some memories”, replied Pinkie Pie as she gave her an innocent smile. Rodan instead merely rolled his eyes.

“Do you want to help me land this shot?”, asked Rodan. Lisa’s attention was brought back to Rodan.

“S-Sure, yeah, let’s do that”, she said. Rodan grabbed a larger pumpkin than before and placed it in the arm of the catapult.

“Now, you don’t want to pull the arm back that far or else you’ll overshoot it”, said Lisa. Rodan merely scoffed.

“Learned that the hard way”, he said. He made sure to pull the arm not as far back as he did before.

“Adjust how you feel and when you feel comfortable, that’s when you let it go”, said Lisa. She watched as Rodan slowly adjusted the direction of the arm. With Rodan’s vision being superior to a normal pony’s, he found this incredibly easy as in a matter of seconds, he got the aim essentially perfect. However, he was so concentrated on the game, that he didn’t notice the small black cloud that was over his head, nor the pegasus that was on it.

The sound of thunder caught Rodan by complete surprise, so much so that a patch of scales appeared on his hoof. He shouted in surprise and abruptly let go of the arm, sending the pumpkin flying through the air. Surprisingly, its arc and trajectory were even better than Pinkie Pie’s, causing it to land perfectly in the center of the target. Several bystanders cheered as Rodan managed to gather his breath and also try to hide his hoof before anyone noticed how weird it looked. The sound of hysterical laughter caused his attention to be drawn to the small black cloud. Once he saw who it was, he couldn’t help but be very unsurprised.

“Rainbow!”, he exclaimed. Rainbow Dash was laughing so hard, she nearly fell off her cloud.

“Hahaha! You should’ve seen your face”, exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she continued to laugh. Unfortunately for Rodan, she wasn’t the only one.

“Hehe, that’s a good one, Rainbow”, laughed Pinkie Pie, only for her laughter to be cut short by Lisa glaring at her.

“You nearly made me mess up my shot!”, exclaimed Rodan in frustration.

“Calm down, old-timer, this is the best time of the year for pranking”, she said. Despite that, Rodan still didn’t seem happy as he turned toward Lisa and Pinkie Pie.

“Can we go do something else?”, he asked in an annoyed tone.

Lisa nodded as she, Pinkie, and Rodan walked away from the laughing rainbow pegasus perched atop her cloud. However, she did stop laughing once she caught a glimpse of Rodan’s hoof which appeared to be covered in maroon-ish scales that quickly disappeared. Rainbow Dash was so confused, she had to lift the front of her space helmet to make sure it wasn’t playing tricks on her.

Meanwhile, everyone else was exploring the different tents that were set up. One tent featured apple bobbing buckets filled with water and several different colored apples. Naturally, for being part of the apple family and working on Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack and Anguirus gravitated towards that tent with Fluttershy trailing close behind.

“Loosen up a bit, Fluttershy, nuttin’ bad is gonna happen to you”, reassured Applejack.

“A-Are you sure?”, asked Fluttershy.

“Of course, here, why not try bobbin’ for apples with me?”, asked Applejack as she rushed over to a barrel filled with water and apples. Although she seemed enthusiastic, Fluttershy didn’t share the same energy.

“Don’t you want to try it?”, asked Anguirus.

“I do, but, what happens when my head is deep down in the water, some kind of scary monster appears and I’m unable to scream for help?”, asked Fluttershy as fear riddled her eyes. Anguirus and Applejack both looked at each other with unsure looks.

“Oh, right, almost forgot”, said Applejack. “What about you then, Aang, wanna bob some apples?”

“Uhhh, sure”, replied Anguirus as he stepped up to the barrel.

“All ya’ do is try ta’ grab as many apples as ya’ can”, said Applejack.

“Ok, doesn’t sound too hard”, said Anguirus, a little confused on what the point of the game was.

A smirk formed on Applejack’s face. “But ya’ can’t use yer hooves”, she added.

“Wait, then how do you grab apples?”, asked Anguirus with an eyebrow raised.

“Like this!”, said Applejack before dunking her head in the water. She resurfaced a second later with an apple in her mouth. Anguirus had to admit, he was a little caught off guard.

“Now you give it a try”, said Applejack.

Anguirus looked over the barrel, he saw nearly a dozen apples floating around with several colors and shapes. With a mere shrug, Anguirus bent over and reached his head inside the barrel. He managed to grab an apple with his maw before pulling his head out of the water. He spat the apple out of his mouth as it landed on the ground.

“See, ain’t that easy?”, asked Applejack.

“I suppose so, it’s actually a little fun”, said Anguirus as he wiped water off his face. Applejack then turned her attention towards Fluttershy.

“Come on, Sugarcube, it’s all in good fun”, said Applejack. Though it seemed innocent, Fluttershy still wasn’t entirely sure. Seeing the nervous look on her face, Anguirus stepped forward.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep guard for any monsters”, he said. That small bit of reassurance seemed to do the trick.

“Oh…ok, I’ll try”, said Fluttershy as she stepped toward the barrel.

She overlooked the apples, seeing her own reflection in the water. To most, they wouldn’t be too bothered, but for Fluttershy, this only caused her to shake more. She slowly outstretched her neck and tried to bite the stem of an apple which was poking out of the water. Only for a figure of sorts to pop out of the barrel, catching Fluttershy by complete surprise and causing her to stumble backwards. She would’ve fallen on her back, had Anguirus not been behind her to catch her. But unlike Fluttershy, Anguirus recognized the figure in the water almost immediately.

“Derpy!”, he exclaimed. The light gray pegasus barely paid him any attention before pulling on what she thought was an apple. However, the apple was actually the plug that was keeping the water in the barrel. With it now gone, water quickly gushed out of the barrel and on to the ground.

“Oops”, said Derpy, “sorry.”

Anguirus looked down at Fluttershy. “Are you alright?”, he asked. Fluttershy’s face began to blush as she quickly got back on her hooves.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine…thanks”, she said, shyly.

“Well, there goes apple bobbin’. How’s ‘bout we go find ourselves something ta’ eat?”, asked Applejack.

Both Anguirus and Fluttershy nodded as they walked over to some of the other tents. One of the tents featured a ring tossing game where you could score prizes based on the number of rings you managed to one on the bottles. Both Twilight and Rarity were playing the game as Rarity tried and failed at landing all of her metal rings, only managing to score two.

“Congratulations, miss, you won yourself one of our small prizes”, said the show pony who had orange fur and a green mane. He also wore white overalls and striped cufflinks around his hooves. Rarity looked at the small prizes which consisted of bouncy balls, ornament sized plushies, and rubber ducks. To say the very least, she was a little unimpressed.

“I’ll take one of the bracelets”, she said. The show pony nodded and handed her a purple and blue bracelet with a silver charm on it.

“Five bits for a children’s accessory”, said Rarity. Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You could’ve landed them all in to get one of the big prizes”, she said.

“You make that sound easy”, said Rarity. The show pony handed Twilight her five rings.

“Alright, your turn, little miss”, he said before backing away from the bottles.

Twilight took each ring and observed the board of bottles. The bottles were arranged similar to a dart board with the ones in the center being worth more points than the bottles on the outside. There were only five bottles creating a cross in the center and Twilight had only five rings. She looked at the board carefully before lining each one of the rings up. She threw each one in succession, letting them fly toward the bullseye. Unfortunately, only three of the rings landed while the other two bounced off the bottles. Fortunately, the three that landed made a perfect line in the center of the board. Rarity stared with wide eyes, even the show pony was admittedly impressed.

“Well…alrighty then, you just won yourself a big prize, miss!”, he said before gesturing to the top of the tent.

“How did you do that?”, asked Rarity.

“It’s actually quite simple”, she started, “first, I judged exactly how hard and how far I would need to throw the rings to land on the bottles in the center by taking into account the weight of the rings and the strength of the wind so I could get a clear idea on what trajectory I needed. Once I got that, I then made sure to use the perfect throwing position in order to land as many rings in the center as I could without overshooting, which was done by taking many factors into consideration such as strength, angle, speed, and most importantly-”

“Are you gonna pick a prize or what?”, asked the showpony who was getting impatient. Seeing as how she was rambling, Twilight smiled bashfully.

“Oh, sorry”, she said before looking up at the large prizes. They mostly consisted of large stuffed animals of multiple colors and shapes that were very obviously meant for small children. Despite that, Twilight looked at each of them thinking of somepony who would probably like to have one.

“Hey, Rarity, which one do you think Gojira would want?”, asked Twilight.

“Oh, I’m not entirely sure, darling. He doesn’t seem like he would want any of the brighter color ones so maybe pick-”, Rarity stopped talking as Twilight’s question registered in her mind.

“Gojira?”, said Rarity, confused.

“Yeah, I wonder which one he would like”, said Twilight. Confused at first, Rarity’s expression soon changed to a cheeky smile.

“Now, why would you want to do that?”, she asked.

“Because I feel bad that he couldn’t join his brothers for their first Nightmare Night and so I want to get him something that’ll make him feel better”, answered Twilight. She continued to look through the plushies until one caught her eye. It was of a bright green reptile like creature with bat wings under its arms, a short tail, and a single row of dull fins traveling down its back.

“I’ll take that one”, said Twilight as she pointed at it. The showpony used his magic to pull the green lizard plush off of its strap and handed it to Twilight.

“Here you go, miss”, he said.

“Thank you, sir”, replied Twilight as she and Rarity walked away from the tent. As they walked, Rarity saw how happy Twilight seemed to be for having won the plush despite her planning on giving it to Gojira. If anything, she looked excited to give it to him. This caused a brief chuckle to escape from Rarity’s lips, something Twilight heard.

“What?”, she asked.

“Nothing, deer, I just think it’s very sweet how, even when Gojira isn’t here, you still think about him”, said Rarity.

“Well, of course I do, he’s my friend after all”, said Twilight.

“Your…special friend?”, asked Rarity, emphasizing the word special.

“…no?”, replied Twilight. “He’s just somepony that I care about, just like you Rarity.”

“Hmm, alright then, deer, if that’s what you say”, said Rarity as she shrugged, even though the thought never left her mind. “We should probably get something to eat, I’m feeling quite famished.”

“Sure thing, one of these tents probably has som-”, Twilight was cut off mid sentence once she caught a glance at her trusted assistant. Spike was sitting at one of the wooden tables chowing down on a tall pile of candy. Although Rarity found the sight cute, Twilight couldn’t help but feel dumbfounded; she had looked away for only a second.

“Spike”, said Twilight in a disapproving tone, catching the young dragon’s attention.

“…what? He was hungry”, replied Spike, pointing to the second head that was part of his costume. Twilight let out a sigh while Rarity held back a chuckle.

“Do you want some?”, asked Spike. Shortly afterwards, Rodan, Lisa, and Pinkie Pie showed up. They were each carrying either prizes that they won at games or small treats such as pretzels and caramel apples. But the first one to appear was Pinkie Pie once she saw the mountain of candy in front of Spike.

She gasped at the sight of it. “You won the jackpot, Spike!”, exclaimed Pinkie Pie before shoving her head into the candy.

“You got that right!”, replied Spike as he threw another candy bar into his mouth.

“I can’t believe what I’ve been missing out on, Nightmare Night is awesome!”, exclaimed Rodan as he sat down at the table with Lisa on his right.

“I knew you would like it, it’s easily Pinkie’s favorite holiday”, said Lisa. Pinkie Pie retraced her head from the mountain of candy to nod in agreement.

“Then consider it one of my favorites too”, said Rodan as he took a bite out of his pretzel. Soon, Anguirus, Applejack, and Fluttershy arrived with treats of their very own.

“And how’s Nightmare Night treating you three?”, asked Twilight.

“Well, apart from apple bobbing, I’d say it’s been pretty good”, said Anguirus.

“Yeah, I haven’t gotten scared as much as I thought I would”, added Fluttershy as the three of them all sat at the table.

“I’ll tell you one pony who did get scared”, said Lisa as she bumped Rodan’s arm.

“What do you mean?”, asked Rarity.

“Let’s just say, Rainbow Dash pulled a good one on Rodey”, said Pinkie Pie before throwing a hoof full of candy into her mouth. Rodan grumbled as it was brought up.

“I thought we agreed not to mention it”, he muttered.

“Actually, speaking of Rainbow Dash, where is she?”, asked Twilight.

“Probably off scaring other ponies knowing her”, said Lisa.

Her guess couldn’t have been any more accurate. Unbeknownst to the group, a small black cloud was slowly floating toward them before being positioned right behind one of them; the one that Rainbow Dash knew she could get the best reaction out of. Before anyone could say anything, Rainbow Dash jumped on to the black cloud hard enough to cause lightning and thunder to spew out of it, creating an incredibly loud noise that caught the entire group off guard as they shouted in surprise. None more so than Fluttershy who leapt from her seat and screamed out of fright before ducking underneath Anguirus. Everyone managed to find out who had done it once very familiar sounding laughter quickly drowned out the thunder as it dissipated.

“Haha! I can’t believe I got all of you!”, laughed Rainbow Dash as she fell on her back laughing so hard. Pinkie Pie was the only other one laughing as everyone else either regained their breath or glared at the rainbow-mane pegasus.

“Rainbow Dash! That wasn’t very nice, look what you did to Spike”, scolded Twilight. Spike, in question, was coughing profusely having eaten a mouthful of candy once the lightning struck.

“But it was hilarious”, replied Rainbow Dash as she continued to laugh.

“Just ignore her, it’s Rainbow Dash ya’ gotta keep in mind”, said Applejack as she took a bite of her caramel apple. Anguirus looked down at Fluttershy who took shelter in between his legs. She was lying on the ground with her hooves covering her eyes while trembling slightly; letting out faint whimpering noises.

“I-…Is the monster…gone?”, asked Fluttershy, faintly. Anguirus looked up at Rainbow Dash who had since stopped laughing and joined them at the table.

“It’s not a monster, just some silly spacepony trying to scare you”, he said as he helped Fluttershy up.

“Hey! I heard that”, called out Rainbow Dash.

The sound of music quickly filled the air as everyone looked toward the stage that had been set up in the center of Ponyville. An entire band was on stage along with a unicorn with green fur and a curly orange mane at the mic. She was wearing a green robe along with fake pointy teeth to give her an old and decrepit look. As she stepped up to the mic, the music slowly built as she began to sing her lyrics.

🎵 “I put a spell on you”

🎵 “And now you’re mine”

As soon as the lyrics left the singer’s lips, Pinkie immediately perked up and gasped at the sight. “It’s the Nightmare Night Spooktacular Bash!”, she exclaimed.

“What’s so special about it?”, asked Anguirus.

“It’s the best part of Nightmare Night!”, exclaimed Pinkie Pie as she practically hopped out of her seat. She then zoomed over to both Lisa and Rodan. “We should totally take part in it!”

“Wait, us?”, said Lisa, caught very off guard by how forward Pinkie was with the idea.

“Of course, after all, it’s the perfect way to spend time with your special somepony”, Pinkie hinted before nudging Lisa’s shoulder. It was as if both Rodan and Lisa’s minds were linked since they both looked at each other and thought the same thing.

“Uhh, Pinkie, I don’t think that’s necessary”, said Rodan. Unfortunately for him, she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

“Come on, it will be fun!”, exclaimed Pinkie Pie. Before either of them could protest, Pinkie wrapped her hooves around both Rodan and Lisa and pulled them along with her to the concert that was being held. The rest of the group watched unsure if they should step in or not.

“Should we do something?”, asked Anguirus.

“Naaa, they’ll be fine”, said Applejack.

Junior paced back and forth in his chamber with nervousness trickling down his face. It seemed as though the day had gone by even faster than normal as they were now mere minutes away from making their first stand. Although a monumental moment for the Legends, Junior was the only one who couldn’t stop stressing over it. For what took Des several years to master, he would have to take control of his kaiju spirit in less than an hour.

“Only a few minutes and I’ll be the first Legend to merge with a kaiju spirit”, Junior said to himself before panic slowly began to settle in.

“It might seem a bit extreme, but surely Lord Des has thought this whole thing through. Surely he isn’t just doing this to me as if it’s all part of the process”, he said to himself. Junior would like to believe that was the case, even if he partially didn’t believe it.

“I am more than positive that by the end of tonight, I’ll have proven myself to be a worthy adversary for Lord Des and his quest for revolution”, said Junior. He stood still for a moment, nothing but the sound of crickets filling the air. Until the reality of his situation hit him with the force of a truck as all he heard was the sound of glass shattering.

“Oh, who am I kidding!?”, he exclaimed before planting his head against his makeshift bed. What was even worse was that, despite being alone, he still wasn’t given a moment’s worth of peace.

‘Are you done, or are you gonna keep bitching?’

Junior grumbled as he felt his headache return. “Oh, don’t mind me, I’m just coming to terms with my reality”, he said.

‘Of all the creatures in the world I had to be paired with, why did it have to be someone so pathetic?’

“Please, spare me the insult, I already have to deal with everypony else’s nonsense”, retorted Junior. “None of them now have to deal with a millennial spirit who’s as charming as head lice and also be forced to tear themselves apart in order to terrorize a few locals.”

He could sense Juvenile rolling his eyes.

‘How did I get stuck with such a whiner?’

Junior growled over this response, which caught him completely off guard as he grasped his throat. “Wh-What was that?”, he asked.

‘Oh yeah, you’ll be doing that a lot.’

Another growl escaped from Junior’s lips which once more caught him off guard as he cupped his mouth. “Why are you so passive about this? You’re acting as though tonight is going to be some kind of game”, he said, his voice muffled. His emblem flashed as Juvenile sprouted from his mane and stared him directly in the eyes.

‘If you were given the chance to escape the land of the forgotten and walk amongst the living once more, you wouldn’t spare a second thought.’

“My life is on the line here!”, exclaimed Junior.

‘And if you were to stop complaining, then perhaps you can see the many benefits that will arise from tonight.’

“Everything that I have worked for will be all for naught just because I was the unlucky bastard who got stuck with you! The last thing I would expect is some bastardized ghost to understand the pain I feel!”, retorted Junior as scales spread all across his body. Juvenile jerked forward, increasing the intensity of Junior’s headache.

‘Millions of years…I have been trapped in an endless empty hell for millions of years. Must I need a reason to feel exhilarated for once in my existence?’

Juvenile’s eyes were capable of staring directly into Junior’s soul.

‘You act as though you have it rough, as if no one understands your pain. Shall I describe the feeling of creating a world filled with peace and harmony, only to watch it go up in flames?’

Junior didn’t say anything as Juvenile slowly approached him.

‘May I express the betrayal one feels as the creature they call their leader destroys what was once their home?’

The two of them were mere inches apart as Junior clutched his head.

‘Must I have the displeasure of narrating one’s final moments where they watch their beloved die in front of their very eyes while the world burns around them?’

Junior’s reflection could be seen in Juvenile’s eyes as they stared each other down for what seemed like hours.

‘Don’t act as if you feel pain...all I know is pain.’

Unsure of what to say, Junior remained silent as his scales slowly disappeared, showing his new deep gray fur color. He looked down in thought, a scowl present on his face. He wanted to snap back at Juvenile, to tell him how wrong he was about what he had lost, but he was unable to put it into words. That was, until the sound of heavy hoofsteps could be heard approaching his chamber, causing Juvenile to retreat back into Junior’s mane. Junior stared at the entrance to find Orga standing there with a blank expression.

“You ready?”, he asked. They both stayed silent before Junior walked towards him.

“No…”, said Junior as he walked past him, “…not like you care.”

Orga didn’t say anything, he only replied with a scoff. They both walked through the halls until they reached the main entrance of the mountain where everyone else had gathered. Unfortunately for Junior, the one who was the first to notice him was the one he didn’t want to see.

“There’s our stallion of the hour!”, exclaimed Discord, drawing everyone’s attention to Junior. Everyone except Des as his back was facing Junior.

“How are you feeling?”, asked Biollante.

“Oh, as peachy as one could be when they’re facing their mortality”, replied Junior. Though Biollante could tell he wasn’t exactly in a talkative mood, someone else didn’t get the message.

“Hehe, that’s Junior for ya; always positive!”, exclaimed Discord as he patted Junior on the back.

Junior rolled his eyes as he continued to walk toward Des. He didn’t bother glancing at Gryphon, though the amused look on his face was able to say more than he ever could. Before Junior could say anything, Des stood to his full height which towered over the stallion turned vessel. He turned to face Junior, his pale yellow eyes completely expressionless and yet filled with pride. After a few seconds, Des’ eyes were followed by a small smile. A rather odd expression for someone of Des’ stature, but a small signal to let Junior know that there truly was no going back.

“My lord”, said Junior, weakly. Des turned back around.

“Stand here”, he demanded. Junior complied and stood beside his leader. The two of them overlooked the lush green land accompanied by the lunar sky.

“Tell me, Junior, what do you see?”, asked Des.

“I see forests, mountains, rivers, stars…I basically see Equestria”, answered Junior. Des’ smile faded as he stared across the valley.

“That’s what anypony sees, only what’s on the surface and not where it came from. Do you know what I see; I see history”, he said. “History that has been buried and forgotten. For centuries, we have treated this world as if it were ours, following the rule of one individual who’s just as clueless as the rest.”

“Indeed, my lord, it’s a very grim reality we live in”, added Junior. He had heard this talk before, ever since he and Des first met. Each and every time, Des wore the same expression and tone. However, this time, the pale yellow eyes seemed to have emotion in them as they glanced down at Junior.

“Until now”, said Des as he turned toward everyone else. “My fellow Legends, our time of reckoning is now! Through the power of our newly acquired vessel, we shall make the entire world bow to their true gods!”

“And take over Equestria!”, interjected Discord. Des was partially thrown off his game as he placed a hoof against his brow and sighed.

“…And…take over Equestria”, he added, coldly.

With that, Discord threw his hands up in excitement as confetti and streamers went flying. Even a few fireworks, which appeared out of nowhere, were set off and filled the sky with bright colors. Biollante, Orga, and Gryphon all looked at each other and shrugged before giving off light clapping. Throughout all of it, Junior couldn’t shake the incredible amount of anxiety he was feeling. He wanted to be of use to his lord and provide assistance for a major cause, but his life was now at risk. The effects of merging were completely out of his league of understanding so the most he could do was speculate.

“My lord, if I may ask, would you be so kind as to give me a rundown on what exactly will happen?”, asked Junior, wearily. Des glanced down at him before snapping back to someone in the group.

“Draconequus”, he called for. Discord flashed a toothy grin and zoomed over to the two of them. In doing so, he summoned himself a baseball cap and whistle which hung around his neck. He had also summoned himself a white board with several drawings on it such as a mountain on one side and a couple of houses on the other side.

“So, here’s the game plan. We are here…”, said Discord, pointing to the mountain, “…and Ponyville is here”, he pointed at the houses.

“You will use a transportation crystal to get to Equestria where you’ll then find yourself a secluded spot in order to transform. And then, once you’ve done that…KA-POW!”, exclaimed Discord as he punched through the part of the white board with Ponyville on it. Despite Discord’s enthusiasm, Junior seemed more stoic than usual, something that Des picked up on.

“Is there something you would like to add, Junior?”, he asked.

“My lord…I don’t think I can do this”, said Junior. “I feel as though we’re moving too fast and I haven’t been given the time to fully process this. I mean, I don’t even know how to control my kaiju spirit, let alone merge with them.” Whatever was left of Des’ smile completely faded as he looked down at Junior, almost with dissatisfaction.

“The point of this mission is to make our presence known throughout the land. We have been presented with a perfect opportunity for greatness and I shan’t have you ruin it because you were nervous”, replied Des with wisps of anger in his tone.

“B-But, my liege, what if the effects prove to be more drastic than you planned”, asked Junior, a little frantically.

“If you keep your kaiju spirit at a specified limit, you’ll be able to mitigate the damage done to your body. However, any lasting impact this will have on you will be but part of the course as soon we’ll be planning our attacks all across the world!”, exclaimed Des as he stared back out the star studded sky. Junior was left speechless, he could barely take transforming once, now he was being told he’d have to do it several times. He wanted to retort, but he knew that anything he’d say would fall only on to deaf ears.

“Sir…I can’t-”

“Do you have the transportation crystal ready, element of chaos?”, interrupted Des.

“Oh, why yes, of course”, said Discord as he took off his baseball cap and reached into it. He pulled out several items and animals, including a long string of multi-colored rags tied together and a wizard's hat with two black circles on each side.

“Ah, here we are!”, he said before pulling out a blue crystal. He handed it to Des who used his magic to split the crystal in half.

“My lord, how exactly will Junior be able to merge if he’s only had his kaiju spirit for a few days?”, asked Orga.

“Junior must allow Juveniles and his consciousness to become one by granting himself a certain degree of Juvenile’s power. This way Junior will transform into Juvenile while also retaining a level of control”, said Des. “Of course, Juvenile will retain some control over Junior’s mind and actions.”

“Would this lead to any harm on Junior’s end?”, asked Biollante. Des remained silent as he glanced down at Junior. Before he was introduced to Destroyer, Des was somewhere around Junior’s height.

“That depends on several factors, but as of today, I’d estimate he could handle only two percent of Juvenile’s full potential”, replied Des.

“Two perce-, that’s barely anything. Are you sure?”, asked Orga. Discord started to laugh once he heard that.

“Oh, you’d be surprised”, he said.

Des took one half of the crystal and threw it on the ground. The shattered pieces quickly turned into a blue portal which led straight to Ponyville. Junior stared at the portal as if he were staring at a tombstone. He hadn’t even seen the full body of his kaiju spirit and now he was gonna turn into him in just a matter of minutes. His anxiety was getting to a point where he was visibly anxious and was breathing heavily. It was as if the full realization of what was about to happen was finally beginning to take its toll on him. Junior stood frozen until he felt a hoof be placed on his shoulder. He looked up at Des who wore a blank expression.

“For a means to an end”, he said with little to no emotion in his words.

Junior stared at the portal, his heart about ready to burst out of his chest. He took a deep breath and slowly but surely walked through the portal. The last thing he heard before the portal closed behind him was a voice in his head that he continued to loathe.

‘How joyous.’

As the portal closed and silence filled the caves of the mountain, the rest of the group could only wait until morning to see if their plan had succeeded. Orga and Biollante had to admit, they did feel slightly concerned about the fate of their fellow companion. The fearful expression Junior wore and the way he acted hinted that he wasn’t fully prepared for what was to come.

“Do you think he’ll be alright?”, asked Orga.

“Of course he will!”, interjected Discord, “titan skin is dense enough to survive any forms of pony weaponry and magic…except my own that is. I’m more than positive that Junior will be fine.”

Discord turned toward Des who continued to overlook the valley. “Isn’t that right, boss?”, asked Discord. Des’ response was as cold and empty as his eyes.

“Crystal.”

Gojira swam beneath the surface of the massive lake in a snake-like motion, using his tail as a rutter of sorts. His gills flapped as they took in oxygen while Gojira swam deeper and deeper until he hit the floor of the lake. The bottom of the lake featured several cracks which seemed to be emitting steam and heat. Once Gojira got close to them, his mane and tail flashed bright blue for a moment before he swam back up to the surface. Once he breached the water and made it back to land, his gills stopped flapping as he breathed through his nostrils; this time his breaths were long and felt more natural.

‘How are you feeling?’

“More energized than usual”, answered Gojira. “It’s almost as if I actually got a good night of sleep.”

‘That’s energy absorption, the heat coming from the bed will aid in refilling your body with energy. It may not be much when compared to what you receive from the sun, but it can act as an alternative.’

“Sure does help not having to spend bits on caffeine”, said Gojira as he began to step out of the water. “What’s next on tonight’s agenda?”

‘Gojira, if you may, I want you to swim back down to the benthic of the lake for our next…and potentially final task.’

Gojira stood puzzled for a moment over Alpha’s reply. “What are you talking about?”, he asked.

‘I want to see exactly how far you have come by moving on to the final stage of your training…the transformation process.’

Gojira stood silent for a moment, taking in what Alpha said. “Do you genuinely think I’m ready?”, he asked.

‘Though there’s no doubt in my mind that you are, it’s best we put our ambition to the test.’

Though he didn’t appear to be so, Gojira was speechless; he was about to fulfill the reason why they came to Ponyville in the first place. Though his brothers were still behind, he would now be able to show them the true payoff for all of their training. Of course, this also led to many questions such as the full effects the transformation would have on his body and for how long he would need to merge with Alpha for? Luckily for him, he thought these questions out loud and someone managed to hear them.

‘We’ll keep the transformation at only one percent of my power so you’ll have an idea of how merging works. The transformation itself will last for a few seconds where you should feel some form of strain, but nothing painful; as long as you stay at what able to handle.’

“Ok”, said Gojira as he stepped back into the lake, “how do I even start it?”

‘You must allow our souls to link so we can share a consciousness. This process does require large amounts of energy, which is why we’re doing this in the lake; the heat from the bed of the lake should aid you in transforming.’

“But how? How do I know what I’m capable of? How do I allow our souls to link? What if I’m not ready?”, asked Gojira. This level of self-doubt was rather unusual for the stallion, something that Alpha took note of.

‘You’re so worried about whether or not you are capable that you’ve forgotten what you are capable of. You are the key to bringing balance to Equestria, and this is another step toward that goal. There’s much more to you than you realize, Gojira; I and many others have seen it first hand. Only you have the power to make us become one, because you are Alpha.’

Gojira looked down at the lake, seeing his reflection in the water.

‘Remember your promise.’

Gojira’s expression changed as his brows furrowed. He knew what his role was in this world and, just as he told his late father, he would fulfill that role. Gojira took a deep breath as his emblem flashed, causing scales to form all across his body and gills to form on his neck. His mane and tail slowly glowed bright blue as Gojira swam under the surface of the lake and back down to the crevice. His gills flapped consistently to the point where they too began to glow the same color as Gojira’s mane.

Once he reached the floor of the lake, he felt the heat all across his body and was absorbed through his mane. Several patches of scales flashed bright blue as the energy spread throughout Gojira. He floated motionless for a moment to allow himself to relax and stay calm as well as soak in as much energy as he could. His emblem started to glow, but instead of a single flash, this time it stayed glowing and even increased in brightness. Gojira slowly started to feel the gradual build of strain and heat as energy coursed through his body. Unlike when he fired the atomic breath or used the nuclear pulse for the first time, this process would prove to be more so an endurance test.

As Gojira’s mind continued to race, a deep sensation could be felt unlike anything he had felt before. Energy continued to build to a point where Gojira’s entire body was now beginning to glow blue. His eyes, once a deep amber, were now a yellowish brown with dilated pupils. The scales across his body became sharp and jagged. His mane became rigged as if it were made of stone. Even his ponytail was becoming slim and increased in length. Soon, the glow became so intense the lake began to emit a blue aura. Gojira shut his eyes for a brief moment, an animalistic grunt escaped from his lips as a short flash of energy sparked from his mouth. And that’s when he felt it, the presence of a second soul.

His mind stopped racing, almost as if it was at whole. When he opened his eyes, Gojira felt no strain of any kind. Not only that, but he could see almost perfectly underwater, even being able to see the heat emitting from the hot springs at the bottom of the lake. In fact, all of his senses were incredibly enhanced to the point where he could pick up on each of his brother’s positions. He tried to move his body and that’s when he finally realized the true extent of merging; his hooves no longer felt like hooves. Gojira looked down and what he saw caused his new, yellowish, brown eyes to widen. His hooves were gone and in their place were a pair of four-digit hands covered in dark-gray scales with sharp, razor-like claws in the end of his fingers. Even with only one percent of Alpha’s power, Gojira had still experienced some form of transformation. He could only watch in amazement as he moved his newly clawed hands.

‘What…the…hay?’

Unfortunately, the amazement didn’t last.

All of a sudden, Gojira faced an incredibly painful headache that broke his concentration. It was so sudden that this time Alpha couldn’t pretend that he didn’t notice. It was a similar sensation to what he felt at the gala, but the signal he got was completely different; almost as if it were a different kaiju that he still didn’t recognize. There was another bright flash of blue light as Gojira was turned back to normal. His claws were gone and replaced with hooves, his dark gray fur was back, his eyes became amber again, and his gills disappeared into his neck. This sudden change caused Gojira to choke on water before he swam back up to the surface as fast as he could. Once he breached the surface, he took a deep breath of fresh air and repeatedly coughed. He treaded back to dry land before allowing himself to take a breather.

“Wh-What just happened?!”, exclaimed Gojira. “It…it was that feeling again, only different! A-And we nearly had it, we almost transformed and-”

Gojira stopped talking once he realized he wasn’t getting any response from his kaiju spirit.

“Alpha? Are you there?”, he asked.

There was still no reply. Shortly afterwards, however, Gojira soon found out why. He could detect where his brothers were, but he could also sense the presence of a third vessel that he didn’t recognize. But perhaps the strangest and most terrifying part was that it was also in Ponyville and was gathering energy quickly. Gojira didn’t even have time to gather his thoughts as he finally got a response from Alpha. It was short, but the tone of his voice and the few words he used did little to nothing to calm Gojira’s nerves.

‘…It can’t be.’

“Alpha”, said Gojira, “what was-”

‘Head to Ponyville.’

“What?”

‘NOW, GOJIRA!’

Alpha’s voice was so intense that it caused Gojira to strain. Nevertheless, Gojira got the message and he started sprinting out of the Everfree Forest and into Ponyville. Little did he know what sort of monstrosity would be waiting for him.

Meanwhile, the spirit of Nightmare Night was still kicking in Ponyville as many ponies walked through the streets playing games, gathering candy, and having an all around fun time. Anguirus, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash each stood in front of a tent that featured a game. The goal was to throw the ball and knock down as many stacked cans as possible. Fluttershy went first, however she was more so distracted by the showpony who was dressed as a freaky looking bear wearing a top hat and bow tie. As such, her throw had barely any power to it and only bounced off the side of the table the cans were on.

“Nice one, Fluttershy, now try and hit the target”, said Rainbow Dash as she stepped up. She threw her ball perfectly at the stack and managed to knock down two out of the three cans. Rainbow Dash was proud of herself while Fluttershy felt disappointed in her own throw, something that Anguirus picked up on.

“Don’t stress about it, it’s all in good fun”, he said. Fluttershy flashed a small smile at Anguirus, it seemed that he always knew what to say in order to make her feel better.

“Good luck beating that, Aang!”, exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she was given her prize which was in the form of a slap bracelet.

Anguirus merely scoffed as he stepped up. He eyed the stack of cans, looking for the right can to hit. He decided to just wing it and reared his hoove back before chucking the ball at the cans with tremendous force. The ball crashed through the cans, knocking them all on the ground and slapped against the back of the tent before hitting the ground. The throw was already impressive, until one of the cans that went flying ended up hitting Fluttershy’s stack of cans; knocking the whole thing down. In a span of only a couple of seconds, the only can left on the table was the one Rainbow Dash failed to knock down. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and even the showpony were surprised by this.

“Well, damn”, said the showpony before turning to Anguirus, “guess you won yourself a prize and one for your girlfriend.” Both Anguirus and Fluttershy stiffened once they heard that. They looked at each other and then immediately looked away, their faces incredibly red.

“Uhh…”, stuttered Anguirus, “s-she’s just my fri-”

“Here you are!”, exclaimed the showpony before handing Fluttershy both a stuffed rabbit and a stuffed bear. The plushies did a nice job at distracting Fluttershy and also hiding the blush that was on Anguirus’ face.

“Here, you can have one”, said Fluttershy as she tried handing Anguirus the bear. Instead, Anguirus pushed the plush back to Fluttershy.

“No, you can keep them both”, said Anguirus. “Besides, they’re not nearly as cute as you are.”

Anguirus’ words just came out without him having any control over them. It took him only the briefest of moments to fully realize what he had said, causing his already red face to become even redder. Fluttershy followed suit as she stared at Anguirus partially taken aback; her face showing more rose than her mane. His words didn’t go unheard either as, behind them, the rainbow-haired pegasus was laughing her flank off over what she heard.

“Smooth, very smooth, Aang”, said Rainbow Dash. Anguirus only looked away, pretending to be looking for someone.

“Uhhh…I think Rodan is calling my name…I-I’ll be right back”, he said before zooming away, leaving nothing but smoke in the shape of himself.

“Did somepony call my name?”, asked Rodan, standing in the complete opposite direction of where Anguirus ran off to.

Fluttershy stood holding the two plushies with both of her wings. She held them close and nuzzled her head against them, allowing a small smile to appear on her lips. Though they seemed to be normal plushies, the fact that a certain somepony went through the trouble of winning both of them for her made them more special. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes before walking back toward the table where the group had gathered at before. The only ones still there were both Twilight and Applejack who were in the middle of a conversation. The two of them stopped talking once they noticed their pegasus friend.

“Howdy, Rainbow, how’s the night been treating ya’?”, asked Applejack.

“Eh, it’s alright, though I only managed to pull like two pranks which is not nearly enough for me”, said Rainbow Dash.

“You do know there’s more to Nightmare Night than just pranks, right?”, asked Twilight.

“Well duuuuuh, but they’re so much more fun to pull off during Nightmare Night”, replied Rainbow Dash. “I mean, what would you rather do, go around scaring the daylight out of a group of children or tossing rings at bottles?”

“Hey, tossing rings at bottles nabbed me this little guy”, said Twilight, gesturing to the green lizard plush she had won.

“By the way, I was kinda wondering, of all the prizes you coulda’ gotten, why’d you choose this one?”, asked Applejack.

“Oh, I didn’t pick it for myself”, replied Twilight.

“Spike?”, asked Rainbow Dash.

“Nope, I picked it out for Gojira”, answered Twilight. Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked confused.

“But, Gojira isn’t here”, said Rainbow Dash

“Well, of course I know that. I plan on giving it to him after Nightmare Night since I feel bad that he couldn’t celebrate the holiday with us”, replied Twilight. Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked at each other with bemused looks on their faces. They couldn't help but feel as if there was some alternative motive.

“Ya’ positive that’s the only reason?”, asked Applejack.

“Yes? Why would there?”, asked Twilight.

“We’re just saying, out of all of us, Gojira talks to you the most by far”, said Rainbow Dash.

“Yes, and?”, said Twilight, unsure of what they were trying to hint at.

“You know, a girl getting a boy a gift could have some special meaning behind it”, gestured Rainbow Dash. Twilight was slowly starting to piece together what she was hinting at. Luckily for her, the helmet she wore managed to somewhat obscure the blush that was forming on her face.

“I’m just doing what normal friends do for one another, and that’s all”, said Twilight. Rainbow Dash and Applejack shared a quick laugh.

“Oh, we’re just messing with ya’, Twi”, said Applejack.

The three of them laughed it off. After a while, Rainbow Dash looked over at one of the tents, specifically the one that Rodan and Lisa were at. The sight of the maroon pegasus reminded Rainbow Dash of what she saw earlier tonight. She couldn’t get the image out of her head which made her think of other times when she caught sight of their oddities. The abnormal strength, the way they spoke, she couldn’t recall the last time she saw any of them actually hurt. Rainbow Dash had her suspicions, but they were only increasing instead of diminishing.

“Hey, girls, can I…ask you both something?”, she asked, catching both Twilights and Applejack’s attention.

“Sure, what’s on ya’ mind, RD?”, asked Applejack.

“It’s about the boys”, added Rainbow Dash.

“What about them?”, asked Twilight. Rainbow Dash appeared to be unsure about addressing her concerns.

“Have either of you noticed anything…weird about them?”, she asked. Twilight and Applejack looked confused.

“Why ask?”, said Twilight.

“It’s just that…do they show any strange traits?”, asked Rainbow Dash. “Like, AJ, Anguirus works on your farm, have you noticed anything unusual about him?”

Applejack thought about it for a moment. “Not much from what I recall, though, there was that one time on his first day when he bucked a tree so hard it fell over”, she said. Both Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked surprised when they heard that.

“He did that on his first day?”, asked Twilight, incredulously.

“According ta’ Applebloom, yes”, replied Applejack. “But, he’s a hard working feller, so I don’t hold it against him.”

“Ok, but what about Gojira, you gotta admit, there’s something up with him”, said Rainbow Dash.

“Well…I’ll admit that Gojira does come off a little…odd”, said Twilight.

“That’s an understatement”, added Rainbow Dash, bluntly.

“But he’s honestly pretty nice once you get to know him”, said Twilight. “Remember when he stood up to a dragon for us?”

“Alright, sure, but what about Rodan?”, asked Rainbow Dash.

“He don’t seem too bad, Lilly seems ta’ really like him”, said Applejack.

“Everypony knows that, but he’s just so cocky, and brash, and overconfident, and arrogant; I mean, who would put up with that?”, asked Rainbow Dash.

“We put up with you, don’t we?”, asked Applejack. Rainbow Dash glared at her to say that she didn’t appreciate the comment.

“Look, Rainbow Dash, I understand that the boys are rather…unique in many ways, but they’ve been with us through thick and thin and they seem like genuinely nice ponies”, said Twilight. “From what I’ve been told, they’ve been through a lot and were never really given the chance at a proper life, so perhaps it’s best we act a bit more lenient for them.”

“Yeah, and besides, we’re friends with Pinkie Pie, and I can’t think of anypony as strange as her”, added Applejack. As soon as the words left her mouth, Pinkie Pie rolled past them on her roller skates, juggling three pumpkin shaped cupcakes before tossing them each into her mouth, wrapper and all.

“What we’re trying to say is that they’re our friends, Rainbow Dash, and I trust them”, said Twilight. Rainbow Dash still seemed unsure, until Applejack nudged her with her hoof.

“Come on, sugarcube, why don’t we go get ya’ some apple cider to cheer you up, on me”, said Applejack. The notion of cider brought a smile to Rainbow Dash’s smile.

“Alright, thanks, AJ”, she replied. Though her friend’s reassurance was comforting, Rainbow Dash still couldn’t shake her suspicions. The image of Rodan’s hoofs covered in scales was still stuck in her mind. Perhaps her eyes were playing tricks on her or she might’ve tricked herself into believing that there was anything wrong with the boys in the first place. Little did she know, however, her suspicions had an actual base.

Further up the street, a group of fillies and colts were having a wonderful time tricking and treating. The group consisted of all three members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and other children with each one of them dressed up in all kinds of costumes. Due to their original chaperone being unable to make it, the children were given a secondary one who didn’t seem to be as hooked on Nightmare Night as they were.

“Come on, Granny Smith, we need to catch all the good houses before anypony else!”, exclaimed Applebloom as she tugged on her grandmother’s hoof. She herself was dressed as a platypus with a long beak and tail.

“I’m moving as fast as I can! It’s not easy when your legs are becoming fragile!”, replied Granny Smith as she followed behind the entire group. Just then, both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo ran up to the two of them, they were dressed as a princess and a Wonderbolt respectively.

“Hurry up, Applebloom, Miss Cheerliee is handing out gift bags for everypony!”, exclaimed Scootaloo.

“Gift bags!”, exclaimed Applebloom in excitement.

“Yeah, knowing her, they’re probably filled with all kinds of stuff!”, added Sweetie Belle.

“Then what are we waiting for?”, said Applebloom. She, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and several other children all ran ahead, leaving Granny Smith behind.

She let out a sigh. “I shoulda’ been asleep five hours ago”, she said to herself before slowly chasing after them.

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to Granny Smith, she had accidentally forgotten about one member of her group. Trailing behind was a young, small colt dressed up as a pirate with a red bandanna on his head, an eye patch covering his right eye, and a plastic sword. He had white fur, a light brown mane, and a large brown spot on his left eye. He had gotten himself distracted by playing with his sword; tossing it in the air and balancing it on his nose. He was so focused on his sword that he didn't pay attention to where he was going and accidentally bumped into the hind leg of another pony, causing him to jerk his head back and send his sword flying in the opposite direction.

“Hey, watch it, buster, I’m walking here!”, shouted the pony with a thick New York accent. He wore a red T-shirt, gray cap, and a chained necklace.

“Oh, sorry, sir”, said the colt before standing up straight. “Pipsqueak the pirate, at your service!”

“You can do me a service by staying out of my way, chucklenuts!”, replied the pony before he walked away.

Pipsqueak, feeling a little embarrassed, turned around and was about to rejoin with the group, until he realized that his sword was gone. He looked around in hopes of finding it, but he couldn’t spot it anywhere. That’s when he noticed the large building sitting in front of him. Not only that, but he also noticed how the doors to the place were open. They had been sealed shut using a chain and a lock, but surprisingly, or concerning, the chain had been completely torn apart. It didn’t look as though they had been cut through, but rather bitten through. Pipsqueak, however, didn’t notice and instead pushed the doors open slightly and decided to walk inside.

The building itself seemed to be a restaurant with several tables, chairs, plants, decor, and other pieces of furniture. But none of it mattered to Pipsqueak as he searched for his plastic sword. Luckily, it didn’t take long as he managed to find it sticking out of a potted plant. Proud in himself, Pipsqueak was about to leave until he heard a clattering noise coming from the back. Although the noise spooked him, he didn’t think much of it; believing the sudden sound to be caused by a rat. However, this theory was quickly dismissed as he heard another sound coming from the back. And this time, it was followed by a painful sounding groan.

“H-Hello? Is anypony there?”, Pipsqueak called out. He received no reply.

Little did he know, there wasn’t just another pony inside the building with him, but a being of completely unknown nature to him. Junior had found his way inside the restaurant and traveled to the back of the kitchen in order to use it as a hideaway and transform inside of it. However, right when the process was about to begin, Junior had backed out and was now battling the spirit within him for control, thus leading to all of the noise. Junior threw himself into a nearby counter, causing several utensils to fall in the ground, including a knife which landed on his hoof, leaving a nasty cut. He winced in pain as he clutched his damaged hoof.

‘Are you kidding me, you’re only now deciding to back out?!’

“I can’t do it! What if merging with you ends in my demise? What if it doesn’t work, and I’m left without a brain entirely? Or what if I lose my entire identity and I’m left as just a hollow shell?”, exclaimed Junior. Dark purple scales popped in and out of his body almost uncontrollably.

‘I and I’m sure many others would prefer that instead of dealing with your BULLSHIT!’

“I just can’t!”, exclaimed Junior, “I-I’m just too…”

‘Scared?…Afraid?…Have you ever thought that perhaps I’m feeling the same?’

Junior’s emblem flashed and Juvenile formed from his mane.

‘I’ve only been given a couple of days to process the fact that I’ve not only been reborn, but am also a spirit who is housed inside of an equine’s body. Not only that, but I’m also told that through some kind of witchery, I can become my normal self again. Do you really think that I know what the hell I'm doing?’

Junior’s scales remained on his body as his mind started to race and he felt incredible strain.

‘But despite all of that, I’m still willing to go along with this insanity, while you, someone who’s been alive for dozens of years and knows more about this than I do, is all of a sudden too chicken to commit to it.’

Junior started to feel a burning sensation in his chest.

‘So tell me, Junior, are you gonna sit there and cower like a child, or actually grow some sense and man up?’

Junior knew that Juvenile was right, now wasn’t the time to start second guessing since there was too much on the line. Exposing the history of the titans, igniting the rise of the Legends, even the very future of Equestria were all at risk. Unfortunately, so too was Junior’s life. Everything that he had worked to help build would potentially be for naught if he was unable to properly merge with his kaiju spirit. It was a massive risk that Junior simply didn’t have the courage to take. He wanted to do it, he wanted to get revenge on the people that had ruined his life; and yet, he couldn’t. Whether it was out of selfishness or genuine fear, Junior couldn’t risk his life.

“I…I’m sorry”, he said softly. Juvenile stared at him completely motionless. His pale eyes didn’t show any emotion, but Junior knew they were filled with disappointment. The kaiju spirit looked down, blinked, and then looked back up.

‘Very well.’

He retreated back into Junior’s mane.

‘I’ll do it.’

In a matter of a second, Junior could feel nothing but excruciating pain all across his body. Scales formed all across his body, face, and even tail. His eyes began to change colors and gained thin slits for irises. Junior clutched his head, only to feel sharp claws pierce his skin, and then said pierces heal instantly along with the cut that was on his hoof. He thrashed his body around, emitting animalistic grunts and growls along with a couple sparks that shot from his mouth. Meanwhile, Pipsqueak heard all of the commotion and started to back away out of fear; whatever was back there was definitely not a rat. He got his answer when a figure burst through the wall separating the dining room from the kitchen before lying on the floor. Pipsqueak was shaking in fear as he saw what looked like a pony of some kind with alien skin.

“Uhh…m-mister?”, stuttered Pipsqueak as he slowly approached him. “A-Are…you a-alright?”

The little colt got his answer as Junior jerked up and started to glow bright green. Pipsqueak stared in horror at the orange eyes of Junior as a sadistic grin filled with sharp teeth crept on his lips.

“Hello little one.”

Outside of the restaurant, Rodan stood at a shooting gallery with a plastic rifle. Using it, and his impeccable eyesight, he managed to knock down a few ducks with little effort; beating out his little brother with ease. Standing next to them was both Lisa and Rarity who clapped for Rodan.

“That makes three to zero, meaning Rodey is the winner!”, exclaimed Lisa. Rodan wore a cocky grin.

“That’s right, you heard them, now pay up”, he said as he looked at his brother.

“Oh, come on, best five out of seven”, replied Anguirus.

“You already owe me, like, twenty bits, just pay up already”, said Rodan.

“I’ll double or nothing, winner takes all…or are you afraid that you’re gonna lose?”, asked Anguirus.

“Pa-lease, that’s the last thing I’m worried about”, scoffed Rodan. As the two brothers argued, Lisa and Rarity stood on the sidelines.

“Oh, boys, I will never understand how they can get so competitive”, said Lisa. Rarity laughed at her remark.

“That’s just what siblings do, they fight over everything”, said Rarity, recalling memories from her past with her little sister. As the two brothers started another round, however, Anguirus struggled with a nagging feeling in his head.

‘Anguirus…I’m sensing something.’

Anguirus grimaced as he missed his first shot. “Can it wait till later?”, he asked.

‘It’s rather important; something isn’t right.’

Anguirus stopped shooting entirely as his eyes slightly widened. “Wait…what do you mean?”, he asked, only to receive no reply, “Fierce…what’s going on?”

“Yeah, I won again!”, exclaimed Rodan. “That makes forty bits for this gu-”

Rodan stopped gloating once he noticed the concerned look on his brother’s face. “Hey, Aang, you ok?”, he asked. Anguirus didn’t say anything, only looked at his brother with his face growing with distress.

“…R-Rodey”, he said. A single glance at Anguirus’ face and Rodan immediately knew what he was thinking. He too shared a look of disbelief.

“Hey, guys!”, called out a voice. Lisa and Rarity turned to see the rest of the mane six and Spike walking towards them. They were holding either prizes, snacks, or, in the case of Twilight, a napping Spike.

“We were thinking about calling it a night and heading back home”, said Twilight.

“Oh, sure, I suppose we’re all feeling a little tired, right Ro’?”, asked Lisa. However, she never got a response. Once she noticed the expression on Rodan’s face, Lisa started to frown.

“Hey, Rodey…is everything alright?”, asked Lisa. Rodan could only glance at her, unsure about how to respond. Lisa wasn’t the only one who noticed the brothers' sour mood.

“Anguirus”, said Fluttershy as she approached him, “…are you feeling ok?” Once more, Anguirus gave no response.

“Pipsqueak!”, called out a voice. All of them turned toward Granny Smith and other fillies and colts seemingly looking for something.

“Granny?”, said Applejack before she ran up to her family. “Granny, what’s wrong?”

“It’s this lil’ colt named Pipsqueak. I turned my back for one second, and the lil rascal decides ta’ run off”, said Granny Smith as she looked around. Applebloom looked around, until she noticed the pair of doors to a building that were open slightly.

“Hey, Granny, do ya’ think he went in-”

Her question was quickly answered when the doors burst open and out popped Pipsqueak, sprinting as fast as his little hooves could carry him. He was panting heavily as he found the rest of his group and sprinted over to them.

“What in the-!”, exclaimed Applejack.

“Now then, young man!”, exclaimed Granny Smith in a stern tone, “just what were you doing-”

“Run…run!”, shouted Pipsqueak as he ran past them.

While everyone nearby shared looks of confusion, Rodan and Anguirus looked on in horror; their truest worst fear had come true. Deep from within the building that Pipsqueak had run out from came a deep groan that echoed throughout the streets of Ponyville, drawing an even bigger crowd. Ponies running tents, games, even the performers on the stage stopped singing and looked toward the large building where the bellows had come from. Each one was growing louder, more violent, and more animalistic. No pony dared to even approach the building out of fear for whatever could possibly be inside. Then, all of a sudden, the noise stopped and silence took over. Though everyone started to murmur amongst themselves, Rodan and Anguirus could do nothing but wait and listen.

“What was that?”, asked Lisa. Rodan could only give one single word in response.

“Bad.”

And then, without warning, there was a flash. A bright flash engulfed the entire building, causing everyone close by to scream in shock and panic. The light grew in intensity as everyone shielded their eyes, even Rodan and Anguirus were forced to shield their eyes. The mane six each had their own reactions, whether it be Applejack shielding both Applebloom and Granny Smith from the light, Fluttershy hiding behind Anguirus, or Pinkie Pie pulling out a pair of shades from nowhere and placing them on her face. Suddenly, the entire building from which the light came from started to collapse. The entire front of the building blew apart, sending wood, steel, and dust flying in all directions. Applejack luckily reacted in time and shoved both Granny Smith and Applebloom out of the path of debris, causing her lion costume to receive several tears.

Finally, the light started to die down enough to where ponies could see what was the cause of both the flash and the destruction. What they didn’t expect was the massive figure that stepped out of where the restaurant originally stood. Everyone watched in awe and amazement at the sight in front of their very eyes. Never since the incident at the Summer Sun Celebration had the entire population of Ponyville been faced with such an intimidating threat; a threat that was unlike anything they had seen before. Rodan and Anguirus, however, were the only ones who knew what this creature was, despite every fiber in their being praying that they didn’t. The darkest day was among them, the kaiju had returned to Equestria.

At fifteen feet in height, the creature stomped its large, trex feet out from the wreckage. Its long, slender body was more than double in length thanks to its long tail that wrapped around its circumference like a snake. Its body was covered in desaturated purple and gray scales all across its body with darker colors on its upper body and clawed hands and lighter colors on its underbelly. Along its back were several spikes in the shape of shark fins which had a dark, cyan color to them with the largest being found near its head. Although it appeared to be completely natural, no one knew of the true origin of the creature, nor of the tragic soul that was trapped inside of it.

Junior’s red eyes surveyed his surroundings, looking over the equines that stared at him with mixtures of awe and fear. He waited, almost dared for any of them to make a sudden movement. Fortunately, no one was willing to. An endless face off between the creatures of the past and the creatures of the present commenced and everyone was committed to it. Whether it be out of fear of gaining a reaction from the monster, or out of complete incredulous shock from what they were seeing, everyone didn’t move a muscle. Or at least, mostly everyone since a certain young child decided that now would be the best time to wake up from their nap. Spike raised off of Twilight’s back and let out a deep yawn before rubbing his eyes.

“What was all that noise, did I miss anything?”, asked Spike, still feeling drowsy. Luckily for him, it didn’t last long once he turned and saw the monstrous creature in front of him.

“………WHAT THE-!!!”

That was all that Junior needed to slam his foot down and let loose a powerful roar.

Everyone stayed still for about a second, enough time for Rainbow Dash to put her space helmet on, before complete chaos broke loose. Everyone screamed, shouted, and ran as fast as they could to get away from the monster. Junior stomped forward before diverting his attention to the streets of Ponyville. His large legs made it incredibly easy to catch up to any pony who had to leap out from Junior’s path of destruction. All the while having to dodge flying debris courtesy of Junior using his claws and tail to destroy any nearby buildings. He then came across the stage that had been set up earlier. The performers watched in fear as they witnessed Junior’s spikes light up for a few seconds before his eyes lit up as well.

Anyone on the stage lept for safety as Junior opened his mouth wide and unleashed his most powerful attack. A stream of green flames exited his mouth and managed to engulf the entire stage in flames. The fire was so hot that the wood instantly disintegrated and the metal bars started to bend and warp from the heat; causing the entire stage to collapse to the ground in a flurry of ashes. Junior reared his head up and unleashed another roar, almost as a calling to the sky above. As this was happening, the mane six, Spike, Lisa, and the two brothers watched in horror at the monster.

“What the hay is that thing!?”, shouted Rarity.

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen anything like it before!”, Twilight shouted back. She would’ve asked Fluttershy if she had any knowledge, but she was too busy cowering under Anguirus. Speaking of, Anguirus was so stuck in his astonishment that he didn’t even notice Fluttershy right beside him.

“What do we do?”, asked Pinkie Pie, the tremors caused by the beast caused her to roll all over the place.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not gonna stand still and watch my home get destroyed!”, exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she took to the air. This broke Rodan out of his trance as he saw Rainbow Dash prepare to fly at the creature.

“Wait, Rainbow, don’t!”, he shouted, but to no avail.

Rainbow Dash flew at Junior with incredible speed, managing to cross the same distance in only a couple of seconds. Which was fortunate as she managed to save a cowering Daisy from being stomped on. Junior was caught off guard by the rainbow maned pegasus, especially when, after setting Daisy down, she flew right past his head. The gust of wind from the speed managed to slightly disorient Junior as he took a step back, stomping right on the apple display that Mr.Lapiz had ordered for his store. Rainbow Dash flew back into the air before turning around and flying at Junior with great speed and her hooves extended.

“Take this you lizard freak!”, she exclaimed.

Rainbow Dash hoped to strike the monster on the back of the head in an attempt to knock it out. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t take into account the likelihood of which would be able to withstand the blow; her hoof or the monster’s skin. The outcome was not in her favor. Once her right hoof made contact with Junior, a loud pop could be heard as Rainbow Dash felt shocking amounts of pain. The blow was enough to cause Junior to stumble, but in retaliation, he started to swipe his arms rapidly and managed to strike Rainbow Dash, sending her crashing down to the ground. The collision was enough to shatter her glass space helmet and leave several cuts along her body and face. The group saw this and gasped out of fright.

“Rainbow Dash!”, they all cried out.

Fortunately, before Junior could take advantage, a rope was wrapped around his neck, catching him off guard. Applejack was incredibly thankful that the apple family always carried a spare lasso on themselves at all times. With a mighty heave, Applejack managed to pull the beast just far enough to allow both Rodan and Lisa to swoop in and grab the injured Rainbow Dash. She was reunited with the rest of the group, feeling both shocked and confused.

“Are you alright, Rainbow?”, asked Lisa.

“I’m fine”, said Rainbow Dash before clutching her wing, “although, I think I sprained my wing.”

“How did that even happen?”, asked Rarity.

“I…I don’t know. That thing isn’t as big as the dragon we saw on the mountain, and yet my punch hurt me more than it hurt him”, said Rainbow Dash.

“Because that thing is a kaiju”, said Anguirus, bluntly. The rest group looked at him with confusion while Rodan stared daggers at him.

“Aang!”, he exclaimed.

“Wait, what are you talking about?”, asked Twilight. Anguirus noticed how everyone was now staring at him and he didn’t know how to respond.

“Uhh”, he stammered, “well…y-you see-”

“Incoming!”, exclaimed a voice.

Right before anyone could react, Applejack came plummeting down and landed right in the center of the group. Many of them rushed to her aid while Rodan looked back at the creature. Unfortunately for the farmer’s pony, Junior proved too much for her as Junior brought the rope to his mouth and easily bit right through it with his sharp teeth. He then turned his attention to where Applejack had landed and noticed how she was with other ponies, including the pegasus that hit him earlier. Junior started to march his way towards the group, but didn’t get far as a beam of magic struck him right in the face, causing him to stumble and cease his march. Twilight had managed to react faster than Junior and had shot him with her horn which was steaming due to the decent amount of magic she fired at him.

“Nice shot, Twi!”, exclaimed Spike.

“Thanks, and by the way it’s moving, looks like it can still be hurt”, said Twilight. The smoke caused by the shot clouded their vision so the group couldn’t see where the beast was. All except for one.

“That didn’t hurt him”, said Rodan, catching everyone’s attention, even Twilights.

“Wait, then what did it do?”, asked Lisa. Right when she said that, the sound of heavy stomps could be heard as the smoke started to clear up. Even more concerning, the stomps were getting louder and closer.

“Piss it off”, answered Rodan. Junior roared through the smoke with his jaw wide open. He attempted to bite down on the group, but this time another shot of magic hit his inner mouth, causing him to lose focus and roar in annoyance. Twilight’s horn barely had time to cool down as she turned to face her friends.

“Run!”

Without further question, everyone in the group ran as fast as they could to get away from the monster. Pinkie, however, was running in place due to her roller skates. This quickly changed as Rodan ran back and grabbed her with enough force to cause her skates to fly off of her hooves, right as Junior’s claws smashed against the ground from where Pinkie Pie once stood. At that point, it was a full blown chase as the group ran away from the monster that was in hot pursuit. They ran past buildings, tents, and carriages, all of which Junior managed to demolish with no effort. They rounded a corner in an attempt to out maneuver the beast. Which seemed to work as Junior just barely missed the tail of Fluttershy when he tried to bite down on her.

As the chase went on, Junior was becoming more and more aggressive as the group continued to avoid him by constantly taking sharp turns whenever they could. Unfortunately, this strategy would only last for so long before someone made a mistake, which wouldn’t be long. When the group rounded another corner, Rarity felt something grab her from behind, causing her to trip and fall. She looked back to find that her mermaid tail had gotten snagged on a stone. This would’ve been a minor inconvenience, had it not been for the monster that wasn’t far behind. Rarity was so struck with fear that the thought of screaming for help or using her magic completely left her mind as she instead tried to force her costume’s tail free. Luckily for her, someone had noticed what happened.

“Rarity!”, exclaimed Spike. Without a second thought, Spike hopped off of Twilight’s back and ran as fast as he could to Rarity. The sight of the small dragon brought a sense of both relief and terror to Rarity.

“Spike, what are you doing, go back to the others!!”, exclaimed Rarity.

“No way, I’m not leaving you behind!”, replied Spike as he tried to untangle the mermaid tail from the rock. Unfortunately for him, he never had the time to even start as the stomps became slower and louder. Both Rarity and Spike looked in horror at the beast that stood above them. The two of them screamed in fright, which caught the attention of one of their closest friends.

“Spike! Rarity!”, gasped Twilight, as she came to a screeching halt.

Everyone else in the group stopped soon after and they each shared looks of shock and horror. Junior stood right overhead Rarity and Spike, staring them down with anger. Spike stood in front of Rarity and tried to wear a brave face, but he was barely holding it together. And soon, not at all once Junior unleashed another roar, causing Spike to jolt back and fall over his own tail. The rest of the group stared in horror, none more so than Twilight as the monster raised its foot and attempted to step on them. Twilight tried thinking of ways to save them, but she had nothing. Her magic was useless, Rainbow Dash couldn’t fly over to save them, and Applejack was out of commission. She cried out as Junior, with nothing but vindictive instinct in his eyes, slammed his foot down in the ground as both Rarity and Spike braced for impact.

Rarity held Spike close in a vain attempt to protect him and stayed that way for several seconds, anticipating their inevitable demise. But it never came. After several seconds, Rarity slowly opened her eyes to see what had happened. What she saw brought her jaw to the floor. The group who was left on the sideline shared similar expressions. From Twilight who felt both bewildered and relieved, to Fluttershy who felt fear, to the two brothers who were astounded, to Spike who, after opening his eyes, couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Even Junior was surprised to see that his foot never made contact with the ground. Instead, an abnormally tall stallion stood in his way.

Gojira strained as he held back the full four ton weight of the creature. His body had managed to absorb most of the impact as the entire side facing the creature was shrouded in dark gray scales. His hooves left indents in the ground as he continued his battle of strength with Junior. The group found the sight to be completely unbelievable, aside from Rodan and Anguirus who were more so shocked to see their older brother in the first place. But even they were surprised to see that Gojira not only withstood the beast, but managed to overpower him. With a mighty heave, Gojira thrusted his body forward against Junior’s foot. The force was enough to catch Junior off balance as he let loose a surprised roar and fell on his back, creating a mighty tremor that could be heard throughout Ponyville. Gojira breathed from exerting so much force before turning to face the two he had saved.

To say the very least, they were still shocked in amazement and traumatized from their near death experience.

“…G-Gojira?”, said Spike, incredulously.

“Hey Spike”, Gojira panted, “…nice costume.”

“Uhhh…thanks”, replied Spike. Gojira looked back to see that Junior was starting to get back up.

“We gotta get going, where are the others?”, asked Gojira.

“They’re down the street, but my tail is caught”, said Rarity and pointed to her mermaid tail. Without a second thought, Gojira slammed his tail down on the fake one, tearing it in half like a hot knife through butter. Rarity didn’t know what to be more shocked by, the fact he made it look so easy, or the fact he ripped it in the first place.

“Come on!”, exclaimed Gojira as he, Spike, and Rarity ran up to the rest of the group. They were thankful that their friends were alright, they were too distracted to notice Gojira’s scales retreat back into his body. Twilight ran up to Spike before bringing him into a tight embrace.

“Thank Celestia you’re alright!”, she exclaimed, even allowing a couple of tears to fall from her eyes. Though Spike was still shaken by the event, he instinctively returned the hug. Gojira, meanwhile, walked up to both of his brothers.

“Is anypony hurt?”, he asked.

“Some of us are, but nothing too major”, answered Rodan. “How did you get here so fast?”

“I managed to sense the presence of a vessel before it merged with its kaiju spirit”, answered Gojira. His question caught both of his brothers off guard.

“Wait, you what?”, asked Anguirus.

The sound of heavy footsteps caught their and everyone else’s attention. Junior managed to get back to his feet as he let loose another roar before glaring at the group again. Gojira signaled for everyone to start moving again, which they enthusiastically obliged. Once more, Junior gained chase as his stomps left footprints larger than a fully grown horse. Everyone knew that they couldn’t keep running and thus started to look for a hopeful hiding spot. Luckily for them, Pinkie Pie recognized the street they were on.

“Down this way, we can hide in Sugarcube Corner!”, shouted Pinkie Pie.

The group rounded another corner, just sharp enough to where Junior couldn’t see them. Enraged, Junior fired his power breath at the building, causing the entire thing to erupt in a massive fireball. As the building burned to the ground, Junior stepped around the corner thinking that he had managed to scorch the life out of the group of ponies that have been annoying him throughout the night. Unfortunately for him, or fortunately for them, not a single charred corpse could be found. Despite not confirming their deaths, Junior grunted before returning to his rampage. He didn’t bother taking into account neither the gingerbread inspired bakery nor the pairs of eyes peeking through one of its windows.

“Alright, he’s gone!”, Twilight called out. She received several sighs of relief.

“Wh-What…even w-was…that th-thing?”, stuttered Fluttershy, her entire body trembling in fear.

“Beats me, a dragon maybe?”, said Applejack.

“If it is, it’s unlike any dragon I know of”, said Spike as he looked out the window with Twilight.

“That’s not a dragon”, said Rodan.

“Wow, really, I had no idea~”, said Rainbow Dash with heavy sarcasm.

“We gotta do something, we can’t just let it run rampant and destroy everything”, said Anguirus.

“But what can we do, that thing almost cooked us alive”, said Rarity, who was still a little shaken by her encounter with the creature.

“Everypony, calm down, we’ll just have to ensure that it doesn’t hurt anypony and wait until the Royal Guard shows up”, said Twilight.

“How long do you think that’ll take?”, asked Lisa. Twilight looked back at her friends, even she was unsure of her plan.

“I…I don’t know, but surely they’ll be able to take care of it once they arrive”, she replied. Although everyone in the group felt a sense of reassurance, one of them wasn’t so enthusiastic.

‘Even if the Royal Guard gets here in time, they won’t be of much help. Even for a titan as slim as Juvenile, his skin could withstand any of the army’s conventional weapons.’

“Can’t we try leading him away from Ponyville?”, asked Gojira. His sentence caught Anguirus’ attention.

‘That could work as a distraction, but only temporary. Juvenile is a fearsome, yet aggravating titan. Once he sets his eyes on a target, he’ll stay persistent until it’s either subdued or destroyed. So even if we do lure him away from Ponyville, there’s nothing stopping him from turning around and returning.’

“Then what do you suppose we do?”, asked Gojira.

“Goji?”, said Anguirus.

‘The only way to prevent Ponyville from being destroyed is to force Juvenile to retreat or surrender.’

“How do we do that?”, asked Gojira. His conversation with himself was now drawing the attention from everyone else in the group.

‘Simple, present Juvenile with a force stronger than him and beat him into submission.’

“Ok, like what?”, asked Gojira.

Alpha stayed silent, waiting for Gojira to tell him. Gojira’s eyes widened once he realized what Alpha was implying. No one in Ponyville had shown the strength necessary to defeat a creature like Junior, all except for one. Gojira wanted to object or propose other solutions, but even he knew that there was no other option. He wasn’t worried about the transformation since he showed earlier that night that he could merge with Alpha. What made Gojira hesitant was where he would have to transform. All of his friends were standing around him and they would all bear witness to what he and his brothers truly were. He knew this revelation would have been inevitable, but why did it have to be now? As he stood with his thoughts, everyone else watched him quizzically.

“Gojira, are you alright?”, asked Twilight as she approached him. Before she could get close, however, Gojira turned around and walked toward his brothers.

“Stay here and protect the girls”, said Gojira, catching both his brothers by surprise.

“Wait, what?”, asked Anguirus.

“I’ll take care of the kaiju”, said Gojira. His sentence caught them both by surprise.

“What! What are you talking about?”, asked Rodan.

“The only way to save Ponyville is to force the creature to leave”, said Gojira.

“Hold on, you’re telling me, that you are gonna fight that thing?”, asked Rodan, incredulously.

“That thing’s like five times your size”, added Anguirus.

“As I am now, yes it’s bigger than me, but Alpha, however…”, said Gojira as he trailed off, not sure if he should say it out loud. Despite that, both Anguirus and Rodan instantly knew what he meant as their eyes widened.

“Y-You mean”, said Anguirus. Gojira nodded slightly.

“Goji…you’re not suggesting-”, said Rodan. His sentence was cut short when an explosion could be heard from outside. The shockwave from it was enough to shake the entire bakery as everyone hollered out of shock and fear. Another ear splitting roar filled the air from the monster outside that was tearing apart their home.

“There’s no other way, the kaiju will just destroy anything in its path”, said Gojira.

“We don’t even know what the full effects of merging can do to our bodies yet”, said Rodan. Their conversation didn’t go unheard as Rainbow Dash glanced at the brothers, wondering what they were talking about.

“I do, I’ve been training to withstand them”, said Gojira. His response was a realization to both of the brothers.

“Wait, is that why you’ve been so adamant about training?”, asked Anguirus.

“What are you three talking about!”, exclaimed Rainbow Dash, catching the attention of everyone else.

“There’s no time to talk about this! Just stay here, stay safe, and don’t go outside!”, exclaimed Gojira before he started to walk to the front door. Not before he felt his tail get tugged on and saw his brothers holding him back.

“Gojira, listen to us, what you are suggesting is suicidal! You can’t go out there, you’ll be killed!”, exclaimed Rodan. Gojira had to actually try to maintain his composure as, for once in his life, he saw fear in his brother’s eyes. He took a deep breath before bringing both Anguirus and Rodan into a strong hug.

“Being Alpha is full of sacrifices.”

The three brothers stayed in their embrace for a while; they were worried it would be their final one. Gojira let go of his brothers before presenting them with a small smile. Both Rodan and Anguirus took it as a sign of promise, a promise that their older brother knew what he was doing. However, despite Gojira’s reassuring expression, his look changed once he had his back turned. Gojira was confident he could take the kaiju, he was more worried by the consequences that it would inevitably bring. Once the rest of the group saw Gojira make his way to the front door, they were all taken aback.

“Goji, what are you doing!”, exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

“I’ll be back”, replied Gojira, bleakly.

“What do you mean?”, asked Twilight. Gojira didn’t respond, instead he opened the front door of Sugarcube Corner and walked outside.

“Gojira? Gojira!”, shouted Twilight as she tried to follow him outside, but Rodan stood in her way.

“No, stay here”, he said.

“Are ya’ crazy! He’s gonna get himself killed!”, exclaimed Applejack.

“He knows what he’s doing, but it’s important we stay inside”, said Rodan. Twilight wanted to argue more, until she heard and everyone else heard another roar from outside.

“Umm…guys”, said Fluttershy as she looked out the window.

Everyone quickly ran to any window they could find to watch the scene that was about to unfold. What they saw left them shocked. Gojira, a stallion who, as far as they were concerned, didn’t even know the definition of fear, was now walking up to one of the largest and monstrous creatures they had ever seen. They all had seen him pull off incredible feats, but never had any of them seen Gojira do something that they could only see as a self-sacrifice. Even Rodan and Anguirus, his very own brothers, were scared for his life. The only one who was genuinely confident was the voice that was inside Gojira’s head.

‘I know Juvenile, he’s not going to submit easily; although, that’s more so due to stubbornness rather than sure strength.’

“Well then, someone doesn’t seem to like their long distance relative”, remarked Gojira. He could feel Alpha shrug.

‘Bad history, let’s put it that way.’

Junior roared again as he bit down on a nearby carriage, sending its luggage and decorations flying.

‘I’ll bump the max power you can withstand up to five percent.’

“Are you sure? That doesn’t sound like a big leap”, said Gojira.

‘You’ll just have to see for yourself.’

Everyone inside the bakery watched in horror as Gojira came to a stop, glaring daggers at the beast that dared to attack his home.

“Hey, look at his cutie mark”, said Spike as pointed at it.

Gojira stood still as his cutie mark started to glow bright blue. In a matter of seconds, Gojira’s entire body became shrouded in dark gray scales as he began gathering energy. With there being no deep water geysers to feed him, Gojira was forced to gather all the energy needed in order to transform by himself. Surprisingly, however, it seemed as though he was going through the process faster than he was before as he felt a burning feeling deep within his chest. He took several deep breaths, flashing his teeth which had sharpened and even gained a brand new pair of fangs. The group watched in horror as Gojira’s body changed right in front of their very eyes. Some found it hard to look at, while others couldn’t look away. Meanwhile, Rodan and Anguirus knew that any second now, their brother would reveal their secret to the world.

For a brief moment there was silence.

And then, there was a bright flash of blue light. The sudden explosion caught everyone by surprise as several townspeople feared for whatever it meant. Even Junior was caught off guard as he turned to face the bright light, his eyes widening as a result. He could feel the energy and power coming from the light and it was increasing. Junior came to a complete standstill, flabbergasted to discover that there was another vessel like him in Equestria. While he found it unfamiliar, Juvenile recognized it in an instant. It was a small trace of the full potential of what would become one of the most powerful creatures to ever walk on Equestrian soil. Soon the light started to dim and everyone could see what had been the cause of it.

Everyone wore horrified expressions to discover that it was another giant monster; even worse, it was larger than Junior. The creature stood at twenty feet in height, but the sheer size and mass of it made Junior look minuscule in comparison. Its charcoal gray scales caused it to almost blend into the night, apart from the rows of sharp, jagged, white dorsal plates that ran along its back from the base of its head to the tip of its long tail. Its massive legs and four clawed feet created large footprints as it stomped against the ground. It flexed its muscular arms before standing to its full height. Its reptilian head stared down Junior with its brownish amber eyes filled with anger while a growl emitted from its mouth filled with sharp teeth. Junior was intimidated, but Juvenile refused to back down; forcing a roar out of Junior’s mouth to show it wasn’t willing to surrender.

Everyone in Ponyville stared in awe and horror at the battle that was about to commence. Two ancient beings that had been lost to time, revived by the very inhabitants of Equestria and the living spirits of the titans that once ruled the world. Everyone in Sugarcube Corner couldn’t believe what they were looking at. They had never seen anything like the creatures that stood outside. And even more unbelievable, one of them used to be someone they had known ever since he had first moved to their hometown. Rodan and Anguirus were just as bewildered as they were, they were finally seeing what they were fully capable of.

“What…is that?”, asked Twilight. Rodan had an answer for her, but it was drowned out by the beast’s mighty roar that shook all of Ponyville.

“Gojira.”