The Cine-magic Series: Godzillaby FilmicTwilightChaptersPart 1: The Frustrations of a Timid PegasusPart 2: Meeting the BrodysPart 3: Nuclear MeltdownPart 4: Boiling PointPart 5: Infiltration of RealityPart 6: Rise of the MUTOPart 7: Nature's BeastsPart 8: Horror in ParadisePart 9: The Tensions WorsenPart 10: InterceptionPart 11: Taking a StandPart 12: The King of the Monsters RisesPart 13: Showdown in San FranciscoPart 14: Saviors' ReturnPart 1: The Frustrations of a Timid PegasusThe bright, spring sun shined over the mellow town of Ponyville. Everything was lively and dandy. Ponies were bustling about with all sorts of errands and agendas. It was just another fine day for the citizens of the bright, little town. All seemed peaceful, especially for a certain bright yellow pegasus. Fluttershy was making her way through the town, intending on traveling to the market to purchase more carrots and other vegetables for herself and some of her animal companions. She felt to warmth of the sun seeping into her coat. It felt quite nice being out on such a beautiful day. Fluttershy felt that nothing could ruin her day. "Hey, Fluttershy!" "EEP!" The yellow pegasus squeaked and jumped into the air. She turned around to see that it was just her best friend, Rainbow Dash, standing behind her with a smile. "O-Oh, hello, Rainbow,” she composed herself and fluttered to the ground. "What brings you here?" "Oh, nothing much,” Rainbow lazily flew around the yellow pegasus. "I just noticed you walking about and thought I'd say hi." "Oh, well, thanks, and hello,” Fluttershy said. "But, you know. I couldn't help but noticed you got scared from me greeting you," Rainbow landed to face Fluttershy. "Well, you know I startle easily,” the timid pegasus responded meekly. "Right, I know that,” the rainbow-maned mare affirmed. “But, I guess what I'm trying to say is that you seem to get scared more easily than before." That was shocking news to Fluttershy. She had found that she was getting more timid and scared easily, and she couldn't figure out why. "I..." Fluttershy sighed. "I know, and I don't know why." "Is it because of the new friendship missions we've been going on?" Rainbow asked. "I don't know," Fluttershy answered. That seemed to be the most reasonable explanation. She still occasionally had nightmares of fighting of that dragon creature with Cloud and the others. "Did something else happen that I'm not aware of?" Rainbow pressed on. "I don't know. I really don't know, Rainbow," the animal caretaker said, raising her voice just a little too loudly. Rainbow just gave an unsure look. Fluttershy, realizing that some other ponies around them were staring, hid her face behind her pink mane. After what felt like hours, Rainbow decided to speak up. "Well, whatever it is, I just hope you can figure it out,” she soothed. Fluttershy smiled graciously. However, she knew that Rainbow wasn’t exactly the soft type. "Thank you,” the skittish mare said. “But if I may ask, why? You've never really had too much of a problem with my timidness. Outside of some...specific circumstances." The cyan pegasus drew in a breath and sighed. "I'm willing to admit this, that's an understatement, Flutters." Rainbow said matter-of-factly. "Secondly, I'm...kinda worried about you Fluttershy." Rainbow hesitated on the last part. She never painted herself as being soft, especially to others. But, seeing her friends in distress, she knew she should make an exception. "W-Worried? About me?" the butter-yellow mare asked. "Yes,” the Element of Loyalty confirmed. “Ever since this period of time, you've also grown a lot more...what's the right word? Infrequent with us, I guess. Well, I mean to say is that you haven't been as active, especially with me and the girls." "I guess I haven't hung out with you girls as much as of late," Fluttershy admitted. "Yes. That's what I'm trying to say,” Rainbow said with concern. “And I'm not the only one who's picked up on this. The others are worried, too." "I appreciate you and the girls' concern,” Fluttershy smiled. "I-I'm sure I'll get over this." Rainbow didn't seem entirely convinced. "Are you sure?" she asked. Fluttershy hesitated for a second. Not even she was fully convinced with herself. But, she also didn't want to worry her friends even further than they already were. "Yes, Rainbow,” she finally spoke. “I promise everything will be fine." "All right. If you're certain,” Rainbow conceded. "Well, I'm off to Sweet Apple Acres. I agreed to help Applejack with watering her crops and whatnot." "You mean you're forced to help her after you lost the bet between you and Applejack on who could drink to most cider without passing out,” Fluttershy smiled wittily. "Ha, ha. Thanks for reminding me," Rainbow said dryly. "Perhaps humor is the medicine you need." She leaned closer to Fluttershy's face, a cheeky smile on her face. Fluttershy stepped back bit, not out of fear, but to hide the bright, crimson blush beginning to coat her face. "Heh. Cya around, Flutters,” Rainbow took off towards Sweet Apple Acres. "Bye, Rainbow," Fluttershy waved goodbye. "That was close." She hated keeping it hidden, but she was too scared. Ever since the first met in Flight School, Rainbow and Fluttershy had been pretty much inseparable friends. But, as the years went by, Fluttershy's feelings slowly shifted into something else. At first, she didn't want to admit it, citing the fact the Rainbow likely didn't share the same feelings, but she couldn't deny it any longer. Fluttershy had a crush on Rainbow. She was willing to admit the she loved her. She loved that she was loyal, understanding, and, when she needed to, Rainbow could sweet, too. Sure, she was brash and overly-energetic, but Fluttershy always found it more endearing than most. Ever since she came to terms with it, Fluttershy did her best to keep her crush on the cyan pegasus hidden, especially around Rainbow herself. Fluttershy still worried that Rainbow didn't reciprocate the same feelings for her. She also didn't want to risk ruining the friendship she already had with her. It was painful and she hated hiding it. She hated being so scared so much of the time, too. No one liked being scared and Fluttershy was no exception. She hated to fact that she always got startle by the most miniscule things. Her getting scared by Rainbow Dash earlier was proof of that. At the very least, her friends didn't give her any grief over it, expect Rainbow, but Fluttershy knew that Rainbow's pushiness came from a good place and she didn't mean anything bad by it. Regardless, she hated being timid and nervous pretty much all the time. Of course, the were times where she was fearless, I mean she mouthed off a dragon for crying out loud. But, she really wished she was just more calm and relaxed in such situations, instead of cowering behind her friends. Oh, colt, she was mentally going off on a tangent. She needed to focus on what she needed to do at the moment instead of falling into needless poignance. It was a brand new day, and Fluttershy intended in being in a happy mood. The purposive pegasus continued her journey through town, finally making it to the market. She scanned through the tents and stands, searching for Carrot Top's stand. Eventually, she found it and made her way over to it. "Good morning, Carrot Top," Fluttershy greeted. "Oh, jeez,” the yellow earth pony whispered to herself as she lifted her head over the countertop. "Yes, good morning...Flutter-shee." Fluttershy looked at the carrot farmer with confusion. Carrot Top was usually in a good mood in the morning. Combined with the fact that she got her name wrong didn't sit well with the pegasus. "Um, It's Fluttershy,” she corrected. "O-Oh, right, Fluttershy,” the mare chuckled sheepishly, starting to sweat. "What brings you here?" "I'm just need to purchase some carrots. If that's all right with you?" Fluttershy asked timidly. "O-Of course,” the earth pony said a bit too quickly. "Uhh, here. Have some." Carrot Top hastily shoved a hooful of carrots onto the countertop. "Uhhh, four bits, please,” she said. Fluttershy skeptically put four bits on the counter and scooped the carrots into her saddlebag. She could see Carrot Top was sweating. "Um, are you okay, Carrot?” she asked worriedly. “You seem a bit off today." "Yes, I'm fine," Carrot Top said sharply. "You can go now." The farmer mare waved Fluttershy away. Fluttershy, deciding not to create a scene, quietly trotted away. However, she knew that Carrot Top was not being herself today. Maybe she wasn't feeling well or perhaps she didn't sleep well last night. Whatever the case, Fluttershy ultimately decided not to think about it for the time being. She had other things to do. Later Fluttershy was on her way back to her cottage, content with herself. She double-checked she had everything in her saddlebag. Carrots, cucumbers, onions, parsley, grapes, beets. Yep, that was everything. As she neared her home, Fluttershy remembered Rainbow's words from this morning. "Well, whatever it is, I hope you can figure it out." That stuck with her the most out of the rest of the conversation. She just couldn't figure out why she had gotten so jumpy and on-edge as of recently. The only plausible conclusion she could make was the new missions through the Friendship Map had brought out an increased sense of alertness and anxiousness. In her head, it made sense. She considered all the truly deadly situations she and her friends were put through: Fighting a half-god experimental being with magical powers, almost being sacrificed by a hunger-driven fish, dangling over a misty gorge to rescue somepony...or some-Tigger. They were all incredibly dangerous and Fluttershy and her friends barely scraped by those circumstances without getting killed. "It's not like I haven't put myself in danger before,” she said to herself Being an Element of Harmony, Fluttershy always put her life on the line whenever something really bad came up in Equestria. Tirek's invasion, Nightmare Moon's return, the Everfree Forest overgrowth. Bottom line was, Fluttershy had put herself in dangerous situations before, even before the multi-dimensional travels. So, why was she getting more panicky as time went on. Maybe it was because those situations were in different worlds instead of Equestria. Unfamiliarity could become a catalyst for fear and uncertainty. Fluttershy knew that, and she supposed that was the explanation to this unforeseen fear increase. Fluttershy then began to ponder what she could do to correct such qualms. Perhaps she should go into therapy. BUMP Fluttershy stepped back in surprise and in pain. She had gotten so distracted with her thoughts that she hadn't realize she was already at her cottage. She had bumped her muzzle against the front door. "Oh. These thoughts are really eating away at me," she thought to herself as she rubbed her nose. No matter, she was back home now. She opened the door and was swiftly greeted by some of her animal companions. Birds, mice and even Angel Bunny same to greet her. "Hi, Angel,” the yellow pegasus greeted. “Uh, hello to you, too, Constance. Hey, Mr. Mousey, how are you feeling?" The animals all greeted her kindly. "Oh, and Angel,” Fluttershy pulled a hoof-ful of carrots out of her saddlebag. “I did promise you these like you want." Angel impatiently tried to nab them, but Fluttershy was quick to lift them out of his reach. "Ah, ah, ah. This is for later,” she asserted. The white bunny grumbled in annoyance. Fluttershy smiled in reassurance, he would get the carrots. Just not now. "Now, what else did I plan on doing today?" she said to herself as she place her saddlebag on a table. Gathering veggies at the market was really the only errand she had to do today. The mare figured she could tend to her flower garden out back and then, after that, meet up with Rarity at the spa as they often do. Today seemingly summed up to be a laid-back day for Fluttershy. She was happy with that. It was bright, sunny day today, and she was going to spend it fittingly. Fluttershy groggily opened her eyes, allowing them to refocus. She realize a number of things wrong. For one, she no longer felt the comfort of her bed, instead, her body was met with cold, rough ground. There was also the sound of crackling and snapping, at least that what it sounded like to her. The confused mare propped herself up, trying to make sense of the indescribable situation. As her eyes adjusted, she realized with horror what was making the crackling sound: Fire. Fire all around her, burning along the ground and around gigantic buildings. "W-W-What is this?” Fluttershy questioned. “Where am I?" Fear began to boil deep within her. A primal sense that told her that she was in mortal danger. But, she didn't know how to react. Fluttershy was frozen in place and unable to fulling comprehend what was happening. Where was everypony else? Where they all gone? Where was this place? Why was it on fire? Then, all of a sudden, screaming began reverberating throughout the burning enviroment. Screams of panic, anguish, and pain. It only frightened Fluttershy further. She instinctively took to the air in an attempt to escape this place. "I need to get out of here!" she cried out. But, no matter where she went, all she could see were burning buildings and wreckage strewn across the melting streets. Then, as if the situation coulnd't get any more terrifying, a massive stomp resonated from, what seemed like everywhere. The sheer air displacement rattled the poor pegasus to her core. Fluttershy lost balanced and tumbled onto the rubble-covered road. She held her aching head and sat up on her rump. She had intended on taking off again, now more determined to escape upon learning of the possibility of something big roaming around, But her eyes landed on something that made the mare's blood run cold. A creature of sorts, the even dwarfed some of the buildings was quickly stepping through the area, tearing down buildings in it's wake. It was hard to make out through the dust and smoke, but Fluttershy concluded it's shape closely compare to a bat. It's head was long and smooth, and had a ominous, orange glow that made up it's slitted eyes. Fluttershy's mouth hung wide with horror as she watched the creature let out a demonic screech. Suddenly, a much larger shape rammed into it, setting at tumbling toward Fluttershy's direction. "Eeep!" Fluttershy shrieked. She leapt behind a pile of twisted metal and concrete. She curled up into a ball and winced as the monstrous creature collided with the ground. It felt that the entire world shook on contact. Then, there was silence, aside from the sound of the raging flames. Gathering enough courage, Fluttershy slowly and fearfully stepped out from the pile of rubble. She looked back, where the creature had landed. It was struggling to get up. Fluttershy wondered if she should help it. "What would I even do? There's no way I'd be able to lift it up myself,” she thought to herself. Then came another stomp and this one sounded a lot heavier. Fluttershy's pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks. She had forgotten the being that shoved the other creature down. She turned and, well she didn't think she could get anymore scared than she already was, but that turned out to not be the case as she began to shake. The second was much larger than the first one. It was bulkier and was bipedal unlike the first creature. It's body shape was more comparable to a lizard if it was standing upright. And, Fluttershy didn't know why, but she felt it's eyes boring down straight into her soul. Then, it let out a mighty roar. The sound was deafening. Fluttershy covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut, but it did next to nothing to muffle the horrific sound. She felt that her head was about to explode, the roar was so loud. Tears began welling up in her eyes, both from pain and fear. Whatever these beings were, they were not Equestrian. The mortified mare opened her eyes and was greeted with the creature still standing there, but something was changing about it. Its back began to glow a bright blue. It traveled up it's back where it stopped just below the head. Then, the creature opened its mouth which was also beginning the glow blue. Fluttershy's ears flattened against her head in dread. She knew what was about to happen. Unfortunately, before she could do anything, the creature unleashed a great bout of blue, fire like energy surged out of it's mouth. "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Fluttershy let out a blood-curdling scream as she was bathed in fire. “…AHHHHH!” Fluttershy reeled from her covers, screaming. She stopped when she realized she was back in her bed, in her cottage. Her body was drenched in sweat and tears, her heart was racing, and she was hyperventilating. Fluttershy worked to calm herself down. She slowed her breathing and did her best to relax. It was all just a bad dream. A really, really bad dream. But, at the same time, it felt so real to her, like she was actually in that situation. More importantly, though, why did she have a nightmare like that? Fluttershy couldn't think of anything that would happen to her that would cause her brain to form something so horrific. The distraught pony let out a sigh. No way she was going to able to fall asleep again, not with all the nightmarish sights and sounds still fresh in her head. She begrudgingly got up from her bed, intending on heading to her kitchen. "Perhaps a cup of fresh tea could help calm myself down,” she quietly whispered to herself. Celestia's bright, ethereal sun rose above the horizon, bathing the lands in light. The incoming morning light seemed to act as a starter for the town of Ponyville. Ponies began leaving their homes and the town was buzzing with activity. However, despite the new wave of livelihood throughout the town, there was one inhabitant who wasn't in the best of ways. Fluttershy watched the light stream through the curtains of her windows. Since the nightmare, the poor mare was unable to get a wink of sleep. She was exhausted, her eyes had dark circles underneath them, and she had no motivation to do anything. But, that last part, she knew, could not go unexplained. Whether she truly wanted to know or not, she needed to know why such a horrible nightmare had occurred, and why she was the one to have it. If she was going to figure out the truth of her nightmare, there was only one mare that could help her. However, said mare resided all the way in Canterlot, and Fluttershy was not too keen on travelling all the way there, especially in her condition. Thankfully, she knew another way to get into contact with the pony she needed. The tired, but determined Fluttershy left the comfort of her cottage and headed for her destination with the intention of getting to the bottom of this. As the demure mare made her way through the town, she noticed some of the ponies watching her with concern. They could clearly see the dark circles under her eyes, as well as distraught look on her face. Some would ask if she was okay, to which Fluttershy would respond with something around the lines of, "I'm okay." or "Yeah. Just a little tired." and end it there. She had a specific place to be and she was going to get there, despite having to hide her nervousness and shyness from the others, even if she wasn't very good at it...at all. "I need to get to Twilight's and found out what that nightmare meant,” Fluttershy said to herself to stay focused. Normally, if she even had a nightmare, she was try her best to forget about and move on with her life. However, there was something about this nightmare in particular that disconcerted her. The most prominent thing being that it involved things that she had never seen, heard, or even thought about. On top of that, having a nightmare so graphic didn't seem fitting for somepony as timid and kind as her. And thirdly, the creature that tried to kill her, it was nothing Fluttershy had ever seen before. It first, she thought it was a dragon, but when really thinking about it's structure, it was much to burly to be a dragon, and it didn't have wings either. With all that spread out in her mind, Fluttershy knew there had to be some kind of explanation to this nightmare beyond it just happening. She would get her answer soon. She could see Twilight's castle in the distance. The resolved pegasus quickened her pace to the castle. She would find her answers even if she had a bad feeling about it. Once she was there, Fluttershy knocked on the door and waited patiently for somepony to answer it. Or, in this case, somedragon since it would be Spike that would answer the door. "Good morning, Fluttershy,” the baby dragon greeted politely. "Good morning, Spike,” Fluttershy greeted back. "Is Twilight available?" "Oh, well," Spike hesitated for a second. "She's actually talking with Princess Luna about something. I don't know what, but it seemed kind off serious. "Princess Luna is here? Could that mean she already knows what happened to me?" Fluttershy thought to herself. "Actually, I needed to talk to Princess Luna about something, too, which is why I came to Twilight,” Fluttershy said quietly. Spike nodded, but his attention wasn't on what Fluttershy was saying. He saw the dark circles under the mare's eyes, she mane was a bit unkept, she just looked greatly fatigued. "Um, are you okay, Fluttershy?" Spike asked worriedly. "You look like you haven't slept in a week." "Yeah...about that..."Fluttershy said solemnly. “I have a lot to unpack, but I really want the Princess to hear about, too. Could you, if you can, let me see Princess Luna? If that's alright with you." "Of course, Fluttershy. Follow me,” Spike let the mare in and led her to the main library room where Twilight and Luna were discussing something. Spike opened the door to reveal the two princess's talking with each other, and, like Spike has said, Luna was indeed their in all her nightly, ethereal beauty: Dark cerulean fur, a flowing mane that resembled the starry night sky, and the night-themed regalia that seemed to glow like moonlight. The two princess turned, seeing the dragon and pegasus at the doorway. "Ah, dearest Fluttershy, it seems that you have come at a crucial time,” Princess Luna spoke first. "Crucial?" Fluttershy wondered curiously. "You know of the nightmare I had last night?" "Yes, and I have reason to believe theirs more meaning to it than any other dream," The Night Princess said gracefully. "I assume that is the reason you wanted to come to Twilight?" "Y-Yes, your majesty," Fluttershy said bashfully. "Luna told me of how she was unable to enter your dream while you were asleep, Fluttershy,” Twilight stated softly. “From what she's been able to share, it sounds pretty serious." "Potentially,” Luna clarified. "But, Twilight is right, the strange nature of your dream had gatekept me from intercepting or interfering." "That would explain why you didn't show up,” Fluttershy said to herself. "But, that means you didn't see what happened, did you?" "No, unfortunately, I was unable to see what had transpired,” Luna spoke solemnly. "However, that's the reason why have travelled here to speak with Twilight and be able to help you in understanding the meaning of this unforeseen nightmare. To do that, You may have to explain what happened in your dream." Fluttershy frowned slightly. She didn't want to think of the horrible nightmare she had last night, much less talk about it. However, seeing as it may lead to the answers she needed, perhaps it was best to let it all out. "O-Okay. I'll tell,” the yellow mare said hesitantly. And so, Fluttershy explained her nightmares, from the burning buildings, the two titanic creatures fighting, and the second creature burning her to death. After, Fluttershy's explanation, the room fell silent. Twilight and Spike were both horrified and sympathetic for the pegasus for having to go through something like that. Princess Luna, on the other hand, was carefully mulling over Fluttershy's dream description in her head. "No wonder you look so under the weather,” Twilight place a hoof on the fatigued mare's shoulder. "Maybe it would be best if you lied down for a while, Fluttershy." "Really, Twilight, I'm fine,” Fluttershy said, not sounding very reassuring. "No, you're not, Fluttershy,” the Princess of Friendship spoke firmly. "You're clearly distraught over this and it's taking a toll on you and your sleep schedule." "It may become more of a problem than that, dear Twilight,” Princess Luna declared. The others turned to her in confusion and apprehension. By how the princess put it, it sounded more serious than any of them could of presumed. "What do you mean by that, Princess Luna?" Spike asked. The Night Princess cleared her throat. "When I first discover Fluttershy's nightmare, I was unable to enter it,” the night-themed alicorn explained. “However, it had this...unique energy to it, of sorts. It was an energy that was foreign to Equestria, and upon hearing of what the dream contained, I can only come to one conclusion." Twilight, Fluttershy, and Spike leaned in to hear what Luna had to say. "Fluttershy's dream was not just a dream, but a vision, as well,” the princess declared. A chorus of gasps echoed through the room. "A...A-A vision?" Fluttershy stammered. "Yes,” Luna confirmed. “Judging from the nature and the energy of the dream-slash-vision, it seems somepony or something had given that to you. For one reason or another.” "Wow, that's weirdly cool," Spike said, which earned a judgmental glare from Twilight. "But...But, why have Fluttershy receive the vision?” the violet alicorn asked. “Why not me or you, or even Celestia?" "I am unsure, dear Twilight," Luna said. “That is something we may never know. However, one thing of for certain, from the description Fluttershy has shared, it appears that her, and perhaps your other friends, are needed somewhere beyond Equestria." "Like, in a different world?" Spike asked. "Call it tuition, but I think that is the case,” the Princess of the Night responded. Fluttershy gulped. If her nightmare was anything was go off of, which was definitely the case, she knew this would be a terrifying mission. "U-Um, d-do I have to go on this m-mission?" she stammered. "Well, the vision was targeted at you,” Twilight hypothesized. “If you were the one to receive, it would imply you have some vitality in this new mission." "Are you really that scared of it?" Spike asked with concern. "Y-You didn't see what I saw in that nightmare, Spike,” Fluttershy trembled. “It w-w-was terrifying, e-even beyond w-words." Then she remembered what she told herself yesterday. She wanted to stop being so scared all the time. But, this something else entirely. those two creature were beyond terrifying for her. Even now, she didn't think she could muster up the courage to enter a world that inhabited them. But, at the same time, their was clearly a sense of urgency from the vision. Seeing the burning buildings was evidence enough. Fluttershy sucked in a breath. She could be scared, but she could also do the mission. Being scared didn't exactly stop her from any missions before. Then again, those missions consisted of problematic relationships and dark ulterior motives, not a giant, fire-breathing monster. "But, I suppose a mission is a mission,” she conceded. Spike patted Fluttershy back to comfort her. "We'll be okay, Fluttershy,” the purple dragon soothed. “We'll protect you. How bad could it be?" "But, wait, why didn't the Cutie Map alert us?” Twilight asked. “That's what it did with the prior missions." "I'm afraid I don't have an answer to that, Twilight," Luna said earnestly. "Maybe the map didn't pick up on it,” Spike suggested. "If what Celestia said is true, there's a lot of different worlds out there." Twilight pondered for a second. That was definitely in the scope of being a possibility. Though, now after everything that has come to light, the map thing was really important right not. Fluttershy received a vision from somewhere, and that place clearly needed help. "Spike, go get the others,” she said firmly.” We've got another friendship mission on our hooves.” "On it," Spike saluted and raced out of the room to fetch the rest of the Mane 6. "Princess Luna, thank you for your help," Twilight thanked. "It is my pleasure, Twilight," Luna bowed. "I believe I’ve done all I can do. Now, it is all up to you and your friends. To that, I wish you luck." "Thank you, Princess,” Fluttershy said happily. "Anything to help the Elements,” the night Princess said. “Now, I must return to Canterlot." The three mares shared a final goodbye before the cerulean alicorn left the castle to return to Canterlot. That left Twilight and Fluttershy by themselves. "I suppose we should head to the Cutie Map while we wait for the others," Twilight proposed. "Good idea," Fluttershy said quietly. The pegasus and alicorn made their way down the hall toward the Cutie Map room. "Um, Twilight, where's Starlight?" Fluttershy asked. "Oh, she's with Sunburst and Trixie,” Twilight answered. “They're having a little get-together." "Oh. Doing what?" The pegasus asked further. "Well, from what Starlight told me, Trixie bought this new card game,” the friendship princess explained. “I think she said it was called Uno or something.” "Oh, I see,” the timid mare said. The two mares made it to the map room. From there, they waited for the rest of their friends to arrive. "Uhmm, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked nervously. "Yes, Fluttershy?" Twilight said. "I don't mean to sound doubtful or anything, but...what could we even do against those monsters?" the worrisome pony asked. "I mean, I saw them first-hoof, I don't even know how we would be able to do anything to them." Twilight didn't answered immediately. Truth be told, she didn't exactly know what they could do. From how Fluttershy described it, it sounded downright apocalyptic. Still, she knew something could be done. "I really don't know, Fluttershy,” she finally said. "But, we're the Elements of Harmony, and we've been able to do some pretty impossible things. I mean, you stared down a dragon once. If you could do that, I have no doubt in my mind you could do it to those creatures, as well. It's likely the reason you received the vision." "Huh, I didn't think of that," Fluttershy admitted. "Maybe you're right, Twilight." Being reminded of the dragon stare-down gave Fluttershy a tiny confidence boost. Her Stare could potentially set those creatures straight. But, then she remembered she tried the Stare on both Sephiroth and that dog in Tom and Jerry's world and it didn't affect either of them. What if... Before she could think about those growing concerns, the door flew open revealing Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and a worn out Spike. "Spike explained what happened with Fluttershy and Princess Luna," Rarity said with concern. "Is the poor darling all right?" "For the most part," Twilight turned to the exhausted pegasus. "Y-Yeah. Even now, it still feels a little surreal,” Fluttershy said. "Don't worry, Fluttershy,” Rainbow wrapper a hoof over her the mare’s shoulder. “Whatever creatures we have to go against, they'll have to go through me before they can even think of laying a hoof, or hand, on you." She spoke with such confidence and bravado, it actually made Fluttershy a little bit better. The feeling of Rainbow’s hoof on her soft neck caused Fluttershy to blush like mad, but she covered her face with her mane to hide it. "Yeah, We've got each others' backs," Spike wheezed. "Don't worry, Fluttershy,” Pinkie said. “There's no way we're going to get killed off. The narrator wouldn't allow it." The others all looked at the pink mare with bewildered and unsettled looks. "Pinkie, why would you say something so...unhinged?" Rarity asked. "Oh, don't worry. I'm sure HE knows what I'm getting at,” The party pony stared at no-pony in particular. Though she was staring at someone. Just not anyone in their plane of existence. The young being could feel the mare's expectant eyes drilling into his soul. One if these days she's going to be the death of me. I just know it. "He, he. You're so funny, Mister Narrator," Pinkie said quietly, so that nopony could hear her. "Well, 'nough bout that,” Applejack changed the subject. “If this visions of yers is that serious, we should prolly get a move on." "Sounds like a plan," Twilight turned to the Cutie Map. Concentrating her magic, her horn began to glow brightly. She concocted up the spell and aimed it at the map. Like last time, the portal began to form on top of the table. Soon, it enveloped it and consumed the map and chairs. Now laying on the floor, the portal glowed welcomingly. "Well, let's get this party started," Rainbow immediately dove in. "Yee-haw!" Applejack leapt after her with Rarity and Pinkie following up. "Hearing of how Fluttershy described how dream, I kind of nervous of what will greet us on the other side,” Spike admitted to himself. "I'll protect you, Spike, I promise," Twilight softly, wrapping a wing around him. The baby dragon smiled, feeling safer with Twilight. "You coming, Fluttershy?" the alicorn asked. "Y-Yeah, you go on ahead,” the hesitant mare insisted. “Don't wait on me." Twilight was concerned for Fluttershy, but she thought it best not to push it. The alicorn simply nodded, and she along with Spike jumped into the portal. Fluttershy was now the only one yet to enter. She was still pretty scared of what was to come, but she knew her friends and whoever else in that world was likely counting on her. She drew on a deep breath and jumped into the portal. Maybe this mission won't be as bad as she would think. They were all in for one monstrous adventure. To be continued Part 2: Meeting the BrodysA young man was making is way down the darkening streets of his home city. His name was Ford Brody and he was on his way home to reunite with his wife and five year old son. Ford worked as in the explosive ordnance disposal, which was part of the military. That meant his specialized in disarming bombs of all kinds. He was eager on coming back to his home, seeing as how he was away for fourteen months. Ford was excited to see his family again. That was until he noticed a mysterious glow forming in the air in front of him. Ford stopped and stared at it with confusion. Alarms bells immediately began ringing in his head. Was this some kind of attack? How coincidental for it to happen right after his deployment. What happened next shocked him. The glow turned into some kind of bright opening and six multi-colored ponies and a purple lizard dropped out of it. Ford could hear groaning from the newly-made pile. His first thought was to move on and act like nothing happened, but, something about them looked familiar. He remembered his son, Sam, talking about a certain show about ponies and something about friendship. Now, he didn't know why his son was interested in such a show, seeing as how it was likely targeted at girls, but still, if he remembered the descriptions his son had given of the characters, this was who he was talking about. It answered what they were, but it didn't answer why or how they were here. On the other hand, the Mane 7 were still laying in pile, dizzy from the inter-dimensional travel to lasted not even fifteen seconds. "Uoh,” Twilight groaned and shake her head. "I swear this portal thing might be the death of us." "Maybe not the death us, but it's the death of my perfectly kept mane!" Rarity wailed dramatically. "Why!? Why-y-y-y-y!?" "Leave it to Rarity to somehow blow things out of proportion," Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Rainbow, I cannot stress enough how many times we've had this discussion,” the put off unicorn said. "And I can't stress enough how many times I didn't listen." Rainbow said with a smirk. Rarity growled angrily. “Oh, hey another cityscape,” Pinkie stared off at the tall buildings in the distance. “That’s another for the books.” "Ah don't think arguin' is a good way to start off in'a new world,” Applejack then pointed to where Brody was standing. "Or to make a good first impression." The other ponies and Spike took notice of the young man standing not even five feet away from them. "Oh...um...Hello,” Twilight cautiously greeted. “Wait, you're a human, aren't you?" "...Yeah,” Ford answered, not knowing what to expect. "Huh, There's lot more human-centric worlds than I thought,” she said to herself. "Oh, sorry, I'm Twilight Sparkle and this Spike, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy." The ponies and dragon all waved. "Yeah, I kinda know about you,” the bomb expert said. "Wait, you do?" Rainbow asked. "Kinda. My son watches the show sometimes,” Ford explained. "Show? What are you talking about?" Twilight asked. Ford didn't answer at first. They don't know they're cartoon characters? "The show you're in, he said. “Heard it's pretty popular.” The Mane 6 and Spike looked among themselves in complete confusion. Well, except for Pinkie, for obvious and metaphysical reasons. "We're...in a show?" Fluttershy asked. "Of course we are, silly, Pinkie squished Fluttershy’s cheeks. “Who do you think I've been talking too when it looks like I'm talking to nopony?” Confusion turned to disturbed as the realization slowly came upon the rest of the group of friends. "I'm getting a headache,” Spike held his head. "Look, we can worry about that a different time,” Twilight said, turning to Ford. "Uhm, Mr...." "Brody. First name's Ford,” the man said. "Mr. Brody, do you know where we are?" the alicorn asked. "This is San Francisco,” he replied plainly. "That doesn't sound familiar in anywhere," Rainbow said. "Probably because it's a different world. Have yah forgot'n?" Applejack asked. "No, I just..." Rainbow kept quiet, unable to think of anything to retort. "Why exactly are you here?" Ford asked suspiciously. "The Cutie Map summoned us here,” Twilight begun to explain. “Basically it senses potential missions from different worlds and transports us there to try and help or solve whatever problems are there." "Well, there's nothing going on now. So, I don't see why it brought you here,” Ford said bluntly. “Listen, I need to get home. I haven't seen my wife and son in over a year. I have to get going." He was about to walk past when Twilight was brought back to his attention. "Wait! Before you do, you wouldn't happen to know any place we could stay,” she pleaded. "One that would let us in without much question?" Ford thought it over. There weren't any hotels around this part of San Francisco for miles. And, while they he and them weren't exactly acquainted, they shouldn't left out in the cold dark, especially since it was San Francisco. The one other option he had was one he wasn't a fan of. "I know a place,” he relented. Ford knocked on the door of his home and waited. "Are you sure you're okay with letting us stay with you?" Rainbow asked. "Well, my drill sergeant always said to help allies no matter how you feel about them," Ford said. "But, we aren't exactly allies,” Twilight pointed out. “You just met us." "Yeah, but my son has grown attached to your cartoon,” the army man said. “I'm sure he would be ecstatic to meet all of you." The door opened to reveal a young woman a pink shirt and a pair of jean shorts. "Oh, Ford!" she practically jumped into her husbands arms. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't come back." The two share a long, passionate kiss. "Well, I have a reason for not showing up earlier,” he said with a smile. That's when his wife noticed the Mane 6 and Spike standing sheepishly behind Ford. At first she was confused, but then, she too, recognized them. "Wait, are those ponies from that cartoon Sam likes to talk about?" she asked. "Apparently," Ford said. "This is my wife, Elle, and these Twilight and her friends. It was the only name I remembered." A rally of greetings were shared. "But, I thought they were just cartoon characters,” Elle said. "Why are they even here?" "There's a lot to be explained," Ford said. "We'll try to explain everything as best we can,” Twilight said. "Yeah, and we can meet your son, too,” Pinkie said excited. "That definitely puts a spin on your little welcome home party," Elle stated to Ford only. "There will be time for that...and other things,” he said with a passionate. His wife smiled back and they shared another deep kiss. "Uhm...I don't mean to i-i-interrupted, but s-should we head inside?" Fluttershy asked with a blush. "Yeah, it's starting to get cold out here," Rainbow shivered. The proper pleasantries would have to wait till later. For now, Ford wanted to see his son again, while having some fun with him, his wife, and their new guests. Well, sufficed to say, Sam was indeed beyond ecstatic seeing the Mane 6 and Spike. Best day ever!" the five year old say, hugging both Fluttershy and Applejack. "Woah, nelly,” Applejack said in surprise. “Ya weren't kiddin'." "Like we said, he really does like the show," Elle said with a shrug. "Yeah, even have the dragon with you,” Sam gasped. "Heh. Nice to meet you too, buddy,” Spike shook his hand. “Cool to meet a fan from another world. "Yeah, about that,” Twilight said parenthetically. “Would you mind showing us this...show?" Elle was about to say something, but Sam acted first. He grabbed the remote off the coffee table and turned on the television. The ponies and dragon watched as the young boy flipped through a couple channels before reaching the one that was airing the My Little Pony cartoon. "See? There you guys are," He said happily. My Little Pony, My Little Pony Aah, aah, aah, aah My Little Pony! I used to wonder what friendship could be... The opening theme sang from the TV. The Mane 6 and Spike were awestruck and shocked. "So, it's true,” Twilight said quietly. “In this word...we're just a cartoon." "It’s more shocking that you’re real,” Ford said. "Well, that brings up a lot of existential questions," Rarity spoke in astonishment. "Existential? This is awesome!” Rainbow flew right up to the TV. "Think about it, all our greatest moments being seen through this magic box." She gave the TV unit a good pat. "It's just a TV,” Ford said rather flatly. "I don't think we have those in Equestria," Rarity said. "I think I saw one once," Twilight spoke up. The others turned to her. "You did?" Fluttershy asked. "Yeah, but that was when I was in Sunset's world,” the princess explained. “I kind of remember seeing some large boxes that showed, what I'm assuming were, cartoons." "Come to think of it, I think I remember seeing them, too,” Spike concurred. "Ah! There I am!" Pinkie pointed to herself on the TV screen. "This is the most amazing thing ever! Why haven't you told how amazing this!?" "I know, me. Even now I'm still reeling from it," Pinkie literally reeled back with a bright smile on her face. "Ain't that the time ya discover you and ah are loosely related?" Applejack asked. "Sure is,” the exhilarated mare responded. "But, how do they know all that happened?" Twilight asked. "Coincidence maybe?" Fluttershy suggested. "Well, that's one giant coincidence if it gets all of our life experiences correctly,” the mulberry alicorn said. "How about we worry about that later,” Elle suggested. “Sam and I prepared something for Ford when he got home." "Oh, really? As if this day couldn't get interesting enough," The army worker said. The other ponies and dragon were still having a hard time coming to terms that they were a cartoon, at least in this world. That left a tin of questions for them, some they weren't sure they wanted answers to. "Ah just don't get'it,” Applejack rubbed her head. “It's all so hard ta process." "Um, maybe we should discuss this whole thing later,” Twilight suggested. “Wouldn't want to put a damper on this homecoming party." Though it was a topic that plagued their minds, the others begrudgingly agreed. "I suppose you're right, Twilight," Rarity said. "Now that I think about it, it's a little endearing seeing foals looking up to us like Sam does." "Ah 'sppose that's true,” Applejack agreed. "I...I guess,” Fluttershy added. Wait, why was she scared of the fact up over foals looking up to her. "Snap out of it!"she thought to herself. She shut her eyes tight and shook her head. "I hope this can be explained later,” Spike turned to Twilight. "I hope so, too, Spike,” the alicorn said. "We're gonna have so much fun!" Sam said happily. "I love you guys already!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I can't tell you,” Sam giggled. "Can I see it?" Ford said. "Don't let him see. Don't let him see,” Elle carefully brought a chocolate frosted cake right to where Ford was sitting. "Woah,” Ford said in surprise. “Oh my god." "It's a welcome home cake," Elle set the cake on the table. "Look at that," Ford said. "Ooo. That looks real good,” Rainbow licked her lips. Pinkie didn't say anything. Instead, leaning over so slowly towards the cake. Applejack pushed her head down, as if to tell the pink mare to not get any ideas. "Seems like you also added some decorations, as well," Twilight turned to the hand-drawn banner hanging over a sliding glass door. "That's you,” Sam pointed a tall stick figure drawing, which was referring to Ford. "And that's me." "Ah, how sweet," Rarity said softly. "What's it say?" Ford asked. "Welcome home, Daddy,” Sam read the banner. "Daddy's home. Cake every night,” Ford said with a smile. "Really?!" Pinkie asked with excitement. "Yeah, that's not happening,” Elle laughed. "But, what if,” Rainbow chuckled. The group shared a round of laughter. "Daddy's home equals cake every night," Ford played on with the joke. "How did you manage to get chocolate on your eyeball?" Elle rubbed the frosting off her son's eyelid. "Daddy did it," Sam answered innocently. Ford just gave a mischievous smile. "Subtle," Rainbow lightly punched the guy's shoulder. "You know. It's nice this mission is lot more calmer than the others," Twilight mentioned. "I mean, we're making new friends while sharing a cake." "Can't go wrong with that," Spike licked the frosting off his slice. "Best mission ever!" Pinkie cheered. Chocolate frosting covered her mouth and muzzle. Later Ford and Sam were having a playful moment on Sam's bed. After bring away from his son for fourteen months, it was long overdue to spend a little personal time with him. And with Elle preoccupied with her hair and the ponies preoccupied with the TV, Ford was going to make the most of it. "I can't sleep with you making all this noise," he said playfully, tickling Sam. Sam laughed uncontrollably. At this point though, he was all out of energy, what from getting see his daddy again and meeting those cartoon ponies he'd grown so attached to. "Come on, let's get you into bed," Ford laid the covers over the young boy. "Time to hit the rack." He gave his son a kiss on the forehead. As he made his way out of Sam's bedroom, the boy time on his side to face his father. "Dad?" he softly called out. "Yeah?" Ford turned back just outside of the doorway. "Are you still gonna be here tomorrow?" the little boy asked hopefully. Ford seemed to hesitant for a second. He didn't expect that kind of question from Sam, but, then again, he had been gone overseas for a really long time. No doubt his son missed him deeply during that time. And perhaps he had grown a slight fear that he would leave him again. Ford knew that wasn't going to happen. He was complacent on staying for as long as he could and give Sam the best life a father could bring. "Yeah,” he finally said. "Come on, let's get some sleep." Ford turned off the lights and slowly closed the door to Sam's room. With his son asleep and the ponies and dragon still glued to the television, now it was time for some personal time with his wife. First order of business, tell her all the funny stories and shenanigans that happened while on duty. The couple were in the lounge room, laughing up all hilarious stories Ford had to tell. "Turns around, nose-to-nose, he says, "At ease, lieutenant,” he reenacted the story he was telling, holding a half-empty, stemless wine glass. Elle was laughing up a storm on the couch. Ford came down and sat right next to her. Both were looking at each others' eyes lovingly. "God, I missed your laugh," Ford said. "I missed you," Elle said, her thumb hooked on her upper tooth in a teasing manner. The two shared a quick moment of silence. They both knew it was time for the frisky stuff. Ford set the wine glass on the table, which Elle took as a sign to get started. "Let's not get too heated now. We still have guests here,” she advised. "Don't let that stop us," Ford gave a sly grin. "Well, ah'll be. this Andy Griffith fella sure is a remarkable, stallion...or man, I should say," Applejack’s complimentary remark could be heard across the hallway. Despite that, Ford and Elle went pretty much all in. Elle straddle against her husband and the two locked lips. She placed her hands over Ford's head. Ford turned on his back against the couch, keeping his hand firm on his wife's back. He placed his other hand behind her thigh, right where her shorts ended. Before things could get more risqué, the phone began to ring. Elle was about to get up and answer it, but Ford playfully rolled her back onto the couch, their lips still locked together. Elle chuckled at her husband's playfulness, but there was also the possibility of the phone call being important. "I should get that,” she said. Ford didn't really respond, instead opting to lay himself on top of her to keep from getting up. "No, it could be work," Elle said teasingly. "I need to get that." She slipped past and made her way to the table where the phone was laying. "You don't need to. Come on," Ford moaned. With the intimate moment put on hold, he could begin to overhear some of the ponies. Somehow, it devolved into fighting over the remote. "It's my turn with the remote,” Rainbow demanded. “I wanna watch something more cool." "But, I wanna watch more of our show," Pinkie complained. "Consarn it, ya two,” Applejack tried to break the fighting mares apart. “We ain't arguing over this, especially since we’r guests." "Can't we just watch something we all agree on?" Spike vainly suggested. Consequently, the TV changed from channel to channel as the mares fought over the remote. "I'll be back." Save big money at Menar- Here there are 100 species of hummingbirds alone... "Hi, Phil Swift here w- "Thomas is a cheeky engi-" Given that those ponies were all adults, they sure acted like children. Ford just shook his head. Meanwhile, Elle picked up the phone. "Hello?" she answered. "Yeah, this is Mrs. Brody." "Tell him you're busy tending to your husband's needs," Ford impishly got grabby-grabby with his wife. Elle pushed him away, quietly snickering. "Yeah, he's my husband, she said through the phone. "Tell them we're not gonna buy it,” Ford rummaged through one of the cabinets, assuming it was a salesperson on the other end. As the call continued, however, Elle's smile turned to a uncertain grimace. "Yes, sir. Could you just hold on one moment?" she lowered the phone. She stared at her husband with a perturbed look. "It's the consulate. Joe's been arrested in Japan," Elle informed him. There was a brief, pregnant silence shared amongst the two, until Applejack trotted into the room. "Sorry if ya overheard all that,” she apologized. “Pinkie and Rainbow got inta ah fight with the remote thing. We thought it was time to lay off the TV, so we..." She realized that the atmosphere with Ford and Elle had...changed, to say the least. "Ehh. Everything all right ya two?" the farm pony asked. Ford exhaled deeply and sighed. "Not really, he said solemnly. Did...Did ya two get into ah fight?" Applejack asked with concern. "No. It concerns Joe," Elle said. By this point, the other ponies and dragon had came into the room alongside Applejack. "Joe? Who's Joe?" Twilight asked. Pinkie drew a deep breath, readying herself for the incoming joke she was about to make. "My father,” Ford answered. Ahhhh," Pinkie said sadly, her face deflating like a balloon. "What happened to your father?" Spike asked with concern. Ford looked back at his wife. They exchanged troubled looks. Ford frustratedly rummaged through his clothes drawers, trying to find what he need. "Elle, I can't find my pants,” he said. "They're in the other drawer,” Elle replied. He opened the second drawer in the hallway and, of course, there they were. A fresh pair of grey jeans. "So, why was he trespassing in the quarantine zone?" she asked. "Ugh. Why do you think," Ford responded flatly. "Trespassing? Quarantine? What in Equestria happened?" Twilight asked. She and her friends followed Elle down the hallway. Ford picked up a plastic packet and headed into the bathroom. "It's a lot to explain," Elle said. "And now he's become this," Ford added. "The lone crusader for the truth. All his crackpot cuckoo theories." "Oh. Really? I had a cousin that was like that," Pinkie mentioned. "Yeah, Bluestone was a real loopy one." She twirled her hoof around to emphasize her point. Meanwhile, Ford stuff a hair comb, a toothbrush, and a few other toiletries into his packet. "That's...informative, Pinkie,” Twilight said. “But not that right time to be talking about it." "Your father is a good man. He just needs your help right now," Elle said to her husband. Ford didn't respond. He had heard the same sentiment plenty of times. "Ford, he's lost everything,” she continued. "E-Everything?" Fluttershy asked, crestfallen. "Yeah, so did I. But you know what? I got over it,” Ford interjected, adding a slight tad of harshness to his tone. "Right. I can see that," Elle just smiled. The military worker finished packing his suitcase, then let out a sigh. "Listen, Sugarcube, it's clear as day that this’s bothering’ ya," Applejack spoke kindly. "Whatever it is, ya can share it with us. It's kinda our jobs to help fix these kind of situations, bein the Elements and all." "Elements?" Elle asked curiously. "We’re like protectors of our world," Twilight briefly explained. Ford looked back at the group. Perhaps it was best to just air things out a bit, so as not to cause tensions. "I'm sorry. It's just..." he paused briefly, thinking of the right words to say. "Every time I let him in close, he always tries to drag me back. And I can't. I can't put our family through that." "But...why?” Rainbow asked, wanting answers. “What did he do?" "Did he wrong you somehow?" Twilight presumed. "Not really,” Ford said. “It's complicated personal stuff." "Well, he is your family,” Elle argued. She walked up to him, while he was finishing his packing. "Hey, come here,” she hugged him in a loving embrace. "You know you're only gonna be gone for a few days, right? And then you are gonna come back to me." Yeah. Yeah,” Ford smiled. "Pardon me, you two, but should you gave you some space?" Rarity asked. "Please do,” Rainbow murmured silently. She was not interested in seeing the two humans being all lovey-dovey. "Oh, no, it's all right," Elle figured it would be a bit rude to start getting too romantic with their guests standing right there. So, she resorted to giving Ford a comforting hug. Ford gladly accepted it. "It's not the end of the world,” she assured. "Besides, maybe it's a good idea to share what happened to them." Elle turned to the Mane 6 and Spike. "They did say they were here to fix a problem,” she reminded. “Maybe that's what they're looking for." "Family issues,” Spike stated. “We've done that before." "Yeah, whatever you and your old man are going through, I'm sure we'll be able to help,” Rainbow concurred. Ford was still debating if it was really a good idea to share the traumatic experiences he had with people, or perhaps in this case ponies. But, his wife and the ponies raised a good point. They were here for a reason, surely this must be it. Maybe with their voices of reason, his father would snap out of his deluded conquest and come home. Plus, it might be therapeutic for him, as well. "Please, Mr. Brody. We really want to help,” the Princess of Friendship implore. After much deliberation, Ford drew in a breath and let out another sigh. "All right. This is what happened,” He began. And this was the story he told. To be continued. Part 3: Nuclear MeltdownJanjira, Japan 15 years ago The quiet town was in the midst of waking up. The early morning hours were plagued with dark, misty clouds, threatening to spill precipitated payload. In one such home, a young boy crawled out of his bed to start the day. He navigated through his room, dodging all the space and military-themed toys strewn about. There was one item in particular that he needed: A paper banner that read "Happy Birthday." This kid's name was Ford and today was his father's birthday. As he picked up the hand-made banner, the phone rang. "I'll get it," Brody heard is father say. "It's probably for me." The little boy made his way out of his bedroom, dragging the line of strung, paper tiles behind. As he drew closer, he could hear his father speaking about something in Japanese. Despite living in the first world country for as long as they had, Ford still had a difficult time understanding the language, especially when it came to when his father would speak in Japanese to his co-workers at the Janjira nuclear power plant. "No, Takashi," he heard is father protest. "No. Takashi, just listen to me for a second. I'm asking for the meeting because if I have to shut the reactor down, you're not gonna want to read about it in a memo." The boy peaked behind the slightly ajar sliding door. He saw his father, Joe, on the phone with his back facing toward him. "I've been following these tremors since they started in the Philippines and now they're in our own backyard," Joe informed. ... "No, no, no. Hayato says I need to go through you about this." Ford just looked on at his father with a disappointed, yet glassy eyes. He wanted to surprise Joe before he woke up with the decorations he made for his father's birthday. But, with him awake and on the phone, that didn't look to be possible anymore. "Look, I'm just" - Joe turned around, forcing Ford to duck behind the door panel to keep from getting caught - "I'm just trying to follow protocols set forth by the company. That's all. It's my job." Just then, Ford's mom, Sandra came around the corner, wearing a casual suit. "He's awake," the boy whispered. "Oh, I know," his mom replied, whispering, as well. "He got up early." "What are we gonna do?" Ford asked, still rather upset the surprise was in spoils. Sandra sighed. "Get dressed. I'll figure it out. Okay?" "Okay," Ford walked back to his room to prepare for school. By the time the family was ready to leave, the clouds had begun to let forth the inevitable rain. Thunder rumbled in the distance, notifying the inhabitants of a possible storm. Later, Dad," Ford raced off to the school bus on the other side of the road. His father waved him goodbye. "With all due respect, Takashi, and honor..." Joe tried to pull the car door open, but it wouldn't. He signaled this to his wife, who pulled at the keys and unlocked the car. "...respect and honor, with all of that, I'm an engineer and I don't like unexplained frequency patterning near a plant where I'm responsible," Joe said calmly, but forebodingly through the phone. "I need a meeting. Make it happen." He and Sandra climbed inside the car. As Sandra set her purse down, Joe had resorted to arguing in Japanese, again. She turned to car as she watched Ford race toward the bus. "Bye, Mom!" He waved at her, his voicing barely discernable through the car. She waved back with a smile on her face. Sandra turned back to her husband, who, by this point, ended the call and was stuffing the cell phone in his coat pocket. "He made you a sign," she clipped Joe's identification card on his coat." "What?" Joe asked in confusion. "Your birthday sign," Sandra clarified. "He worked so hard." Joe stared off into space, quickly realizing that it was his birthday today. "Oh, god," he mentally beat himself up for his neglectful mistake. Joe watched as the bus slowly rolled away from it's stop. He wouldn't be able to appreciate his son's work until after a long shift at the power plant. "I'm gonna come home early," Sandra said. "I'll take the car and pick him up and we can get a proper cake. Okay?" Joe looked at his wife, caressing her cheek, then began rubbing her upper-back. The idea was great, but some work-based things needed to be done. "Listen, I need to know that it's not the sensors," he said. "Okay?" Sandra lightly nodded in understanding. "I can't be calling this meeting and look like the American maniac," he continued. "So when we get there, don't even bother coming up. Just grab a team and go down to Level 5." "You're not a maniac," Sandra shook her head. "I mean, you are, just not about this." Joe groaned as they both put on their seatbelts. She wasn't on the same level of urgency as her husband, but she knew that their was something else behind all those tremors. Something...unnatural. "Must be something we're not thinking of." Joe said. "Happy birthday." Sandra said melodiously. He turned back to her. He realized it sooner, but it didn't fully register inside his head until now, until his wife practically had to say it. Joe was slack-jawed for a second. "What? Is it--?" he said in surprise. "Yes, it is. Ha, ha," Sandra laughed and hugged him. "Oh, I forgot all about it." Joe said. The two hugged and shared a quick kiss. "Happy birthday," she said again. "Thank you," Joe said, mostly at a loss for words. Sandra began peppering him with more kisses. "I should have a birthday more often," Joe joked and laughed. Sandra chuckled in amusement. The two pulled out of the driveway and toward the nuclear power plant. "What is this?" Joe asked as he was handed a packet of papers. "Seismic anomaly," the worker replied. "This graph is minutes." He pointed to the lines that made up the info graph on one of the sheets. "X is minutes, not days. This is now." "Wait, hold on," the executive said, following closely behind Joe and the worker. "Seismic activity? Seismic like an earthquake? You're talking about earthquakes." "No, earthquakes are random, jagged," Joe answered, studying the papers. "This is consistent, increasing. This is a pattern." Meanwhile, in a different part of the power plant, Sandra had readied a team to investigate the goings-on in the reactor area. She put on a protective suit and breathing ventilator to protect herself from the radiation. "All right," she got the others' attention. "Let's make this quick." One of the member pressed a red button and the giant, steel door connecting the containment seal to the reactor room hallway opened. Sandra and her team of four made their way down the static white corridor. Giant pipelines ran down the hallways on the walls adjacent on each side. Their were going into the heart of the power plant. While their task had begun, the three men entered the main control room of the entire plant. Dozens of workers bustled about, monitoring each and every screen on the control panels. "Takashi what the hell is going on?" Joe asked. "Have you seen this?" He held out the papers to the man standing in the middle of the room. "Yeah," Takashi replied grimly. "Maybe not such a good time for a meeting." Takashi directed Joe to a computer screen monitoring the seismic readings. The lines spiked on two separate occasions, which was followed with a large, wide rise. The lines peaked and stayed that way for a while before dropping back down to near zero. "What's the source?" Joe asked, unsettled with what he was seeing. "Where's the epicenter?" "We don't know," Takashi said. "But it keeps getting stronger." "It's gotta be centered somewhere," Joe stood back up. Both men didn't know what to make of this. It was unexplainable, which was what made it so concerning. "Hayato." Joe called out. "No one else is reporting it," an older man turned from his computer screen. "We are contacting every other plant in the Kantō region." Joe walked up to one of control panels along the wall. He eyed the bright gauges and graphs that were fastened in the sea green metal paneling. All the while, Hayato tried to add logical sense into this unnatural phenomenon. "Tōkai, Fujiyama. They're unaffected. But my guess is these readings are just aftershocks from the Philippine earthquake." "Are we at full function?" Joe asked. "Yes, we are," Takashi answered. Joe turned around to face him. "But, perhaps we should be drawing down, to be safe," the lab-coated man suggested. Then, things fell into chaos. The entire room began to shake, bad enough to the point everybody was struggling for balance. The lights and screens flickered. "Take us offline," Joe said. "Now, Joe, we gotta-" the executive tried to argue, but Joe wasn't hearing it. "Do it!" he said, a sense of urgency in his voice. "Now. Wind it down." He raced over to a walkie-talkie while saying something in Japanese. He grabs one of the radios. "Sandra," he says into it. "Sandra, are you there." Then there was another, more violent, shake. This times, the lights flickered out completely and the screens went black. Sandra and her team were right outside where the reactor sat when the corridor walls began to shake shake and shutter. Alarms went off and red lights blinked, signaling an emergency. "We're turning back," Sandra waved the others back. "Let's go." As her teammates fled down the corridor, another quake occurred. A nasty hissing sound could be heard. Sandra looked back and saw a giant plume of steam blast from the reactor room and straight down the corridor. That meant that the reactor had been damaged in some way and was now leaking dangerous amounts of radiation. "Oh, my god," she hurried after her team. "Joe, are you there?" Back with Joe, the control room was beginning to crumble from the unforeseen tremors. He heard Sandra through the walkie-talkie and quickly picked it up. "Joe, there's been a breach. We're heading back to the containment seal." "Sandra, listen to me," Joe said stoically, but he was scared for his wife. "You need to get out of there. Run. If there's been a reactor breach, you won't last five minutes with or without the suits. Do you hear me?" "I hear you," she glanced back at the wave of steam and radiation roaring toward them. "We're coming!" Suddenly, a third, even more powerful, tremor occurred. People were knocked off their feet, windows shattered, equipment fell to the floor, and the ceiling began to crumble. Warning lights painted the room red. Workers fled out of the control room for safety and shelter. Joe stood back up and looked at Takashi. "I'll meet them down there myself," he said in a low tone. "Put the safety doors on manual override." He raced for the double doors. "Joe, I cannot do that!" Takashi shouted. "Keep the doors open," the distraught man demanded. "My wife is still in there!" He barged through the doors, leaving Takashi with a terrified expression plastered on his face. Joe dashed through plant, panting as he passed by dozens of plant workers seeking safety. Warning lights shined and alarms blared, like they were yelling at him to turn around and run away from the danger. He wouldn't falter, he wouldn't turn back, not with his wife in serious peril. Speaking of which, Sandra was still running for her life with her teammates. She looked back to see the wall of steam gaining on them. She was starting to get the sinking feeling that they weren't going to make it. "Come on, let's go!" she exclaimed. Joe rounded a corner, a worried expression etched on his face. Finally, he reach the containment seal. The door was wide open, exposing the corridor within. But, there was no sign of Sandra or her team. Joe pushed a button to communicate with Takashi. Takashi, tell me this door's on manual," he pleaded expectantly. "Manual. Yes," Takashi's voice sounded from the speaker. "But, Joe, we are starting to breach." "I'm right here," Joe replied desperately. "Soon as they're through, I'll seal it." He held the radio to his mouth. "Sandra, can you hear me?" Joe asked "I'm at the door. Sandra, I-I'm waiting for you." Sandra and her team were still nowhere near the containment seal, but the steam was hot on their heals. More tremor shook the corridor causing pipelines to rupture, spewing out more steam. "I'm at the checkpoint. But you have to run as fast as you can." "I am!" Sandra exclaimed. Another tremor knocked one of Sandra's teammates off balance, causing them to trip and smashed into a pipe. The metal pipe broke, gushing steam everywhere. The teammate ricocheted off the pipe and into Sandra, which caused her to fall. The two other teammates ran past them as shattered concrete rained down on them. "Kenji," Sandra tried to pull him back up, but he was out cold. "Kenji, we need to go!" She froze upon seeing the wall of steam now just feet away from her. Back outside in the containment seal, Joe was still waiting for his wife to arrive, growing more worried by the second. "Joe," Takashi said through the speaker. He then started speaking in Japanese. Joe answered back, also in Japanese. "Close the door!" Takashi demanded fearfully. "Seal the corridor or the whole city will be exposed." Joe slowly turned back toward the empty corridor. His wife was still nowhere in sight. The mere thought of locking her in there with no chance of escape...it just couldn't happen! He didn't want it to happen. "Sandra?" he spoke into the walkie-talkie again. No response. Joe was beginning to assume the worst had happened. "Joe?" Sandra's voice finally broke through. "Joe, can you hear me?" "Yes," he whispered. "Are you there?" "Sandra. Sandra, I'm here. Can you hear me?" "Yeah," Sandra said, sounding out of breath. "Joe, it's too late. We're not coming." "N-No, don't say that!" Joe shouted, his voice growing shaky. "Don't you say that! Run as hard as you can, honey." "Joe, you have to close the door." his wife pleaded. "You have to live for our son." Joe was on the verge of tears hearing her say that. He wanted her to live. He wanted her to make it through this so they could be a happy family. He wistful thoughts were cut short when yet another tremor occurred. Joe stumbled on his feet. The he saw it, the massive wall of steam heading right for him like a tsunami. "Joe, seal the door!" Takashi shouted through the speaking, outright panicking. "Now!" "Oh, my god." Joe murmured. "Five seconds! Four seconds!" Joe screamed as he stared at the cloud of radioactive death baring down on him. He pushed the red button hard and the containment door slammed shut just as the wall of steam blasted into it. Warning lights illuminated the corridor, coloring the steam in a demonic red. Joe leaned against the wall, beginning to sob. That's when he heard a faint banging against the door. Opening his eyes, he slowly turned around, praying that he was just hearing things. Through the circular wall, he saw two men in their protective suits desperately banging on the door, begging to be let out. "I'm sorry." Joe said so quietly, the words barely came out of his mouth. Then, Sandra appeared through the window. Joe gasped, covering his mouth. He almost wanted to puke. Sandra was panting, on the verge of crying herself. She took of her helmet. Joe just started to cry harder, seeing his wife practically dying right in front of him, and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. A second protective door began to close, leaving Joe and Sandra's time thin. "Take care of Ford," she said, starting to sob. "Be a good father." "I will." Joe whispered. "We didn't make it," Sandra joked, weakly chuckling, just so the final moment could be positively reminisced. The protective door closed and clamped shut, leaving the soon-to-be-widowed Joe alone. He quietly sobbed against the door, tears streaming down his face in a cascade of guilt, shame, and regret. The depressing moment was interrupted by another powerful tremor. Joe stumbled back, hearing the building beginning to groan and strain. Outside, plant workers ran for their lives as the massive cooling towers began to crumble and collapse. One of which fell right on top of the main building. Meanwhile, Ford was in the middle of class. They were watching a documentary of the life cycle of a butterfly when all hell broke loose. The TV went dead, the lights flickered, and the entire building shook. An alarm rang out through the entire school. The teacher began instructing her students to vacate the building, both in Japanese and English. "Let's go out!" she exclaimed. The class of boys and girls began hastily racing out of the classroom and into the outside where it was safer. As Ford was frantically stuffing his supplies in his pencil pouch, he looked outside. Amongst the obstructed view of the window, thanks to the numerous jarred and plants and paper origami, he saw the entire power plant crumbling apart. "Hurry!" the teacher urged. "Come on! Ford!" But, the young boy didn't move. Instead, he slowly inched to the windows, watching as the massive cooling towers fell apart like sandcastles. A look of devastation was painted on his face. His parents were somewhere amongst collapsing structures, but he didn't know if they were even alive at this point. Ford didn't scream in despair, he didn't fall into a heap to start crying, he didn't even say anything, just a distraught, horrified look, seemingly frozen in time. All the while, watching the buildings and smokestacks of the power plant shatter to the ground. To somewhat to his relief, Ford did later find out his father survived the plant's destruction. Only for that relief but replaced with heartbroken anguish when he also learned his mother did not survive. It took years of pain, therapy, and acceptance, but Ford was eventually able to move on with Sandra's passing. Joe, on the other hand, didn't. He needed to find out what caused such violent tremors. They weren't natural, it had to be something else. Joe pretty much dedicated his life to figuring out the cause of the entire ordeal and Sandra's unfair demise. To give him some credit, Joe mostly blamed himself for losing his wife. Perhaps this was his way of finding closure. However, this created a rift between him and Ford. There wasn't a brutal falling out, but Ford thought it was best to keep his distance from his father, especially when he married Elle and welcomed Sam into their lives. It was sad to his father like this, but he knew there wasn't much he could do. Present day "That's pretty much what led to all of this," Ford finished his story. The Mane 6 and Spike were...well, there was a lot of amotions going on with them: Sadness, devastation, confusion, sympathy. It was all there. "That's...That's a lot to take in," Twilight said. "What an absolute travesty," Rarity lamented. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through that." "Hey, like I said, I've been able to get over it," Ford said calmy. "But, it certainly sounds ya father hasn't," Applejack reminded. "He blames himself, doesn't he?" "...Yeah." Ford sighed. "When mom died, things just weren't the same." "I don't even think a party can fix this, "Pinkie mumbled sadly. "But, that don't mean yer relationship is gone," the farm pony impeded. "Look, ah understand yer pa may not be in the best state of mind, but ya got to at least try ta have some sort'o semblance of a relationship. This comin' from somepony who last their ma and pa at a very young age." "Applejack's right," Twilight concurred. "Being his son, you're the best chance of making him see sense." "I've tried to," the military officer said. "But, he's adamant on searching for unneeded answers. And every time, he's roped me into it, which has landed us both in trouble." The was a brief pause, the ponies and dragon took in the words Ford just shared. "Even so, this may end up being the last time you'll get to see him," Spike spoke up. "What do you mean?" Elle asked. "I don't mean to sound morbid, but, who knows when the next time you'll get to see him again," the baby dragon explained. "For all you know, he might not be...alive the next day." "Spike!" the alicorn reprimanded. "We're supposed to smoothly encourage Ford to fix his relationship, not plague him with horrific "what if" scenarios." Spike stepped back a bit, a look of regret quickly forming on his face. Then, Rainbow came between him and Twilight. "No, no. He has a point, Twi," the cyan pegasus came to the defense of Spike. "There's only so much Ford has to mend the relationship between and his father. This might be his last opportunity. I don't mean to play devil's advocate, but he may not get this opportunity again, and he might live with that regret for the rest of his life." Ford really soaked in Rainbow's words. This could be his final shot to safe his and Joe's deteriorating relationship. It would've been like with his mom's death fifteen years ago; living with the painful thoughts of wishing things had been different and having sleepless nights, racking his brain with 'what ifs" and "should've beens." Then he felt a tug on his pant leg. Ford looked down and saw Fluttershy staring up at him. "Um, forgive Rainbow and Twilight for the heated discussion," she said. "It sounds like you've about to give up with your father." "Well, that's the blunt way of putting it," Ford grumbled. "Listen, I've witnessed families having this kind of dynamic; having an estranged family member," Fluttershy said sadly. "It creates this wedge between the rest of the family. I've seen it tear them apart. I can tell you don't want that." "But, I also don't want Joe to make things worse, either," the conflicted family man said. "Yes, but, what Twilight said earlier; you have the best chance of getting your father to come back, put the past behind him, and be a prominent part of the family. None of us want to see this relationship fall apart and do nothing about it. Elle's right, it won't be the end of the world if you just try again." Once again, Ford was silent. All that was being said, held true, strong purpose and aspiration. Deep down, he wanted his father back, so did his wife and their new friends. This was the golden opportunity that presented itself, and, perhaps with the help of these ponies and dragon, maybe Joe might succumb to the acceptance and come back into their lives. While Ford and Fluttershy were having a moment, Rainbow was putting an end to her argument with Twilight. "You know there's, at least, a little bit of validation in what Spike said," she said firmly. "Even then, shouting at him like that was not necessary." Twilight sighed in embarrassment. Morbid as it was, Spike's words were a reality. "I know," she said. "And you're right. You're both right. I'm sorry, Spike. I didn't mean to snap like that." "It's okay, Twilight," the baby dragon said softly. "I know you only meant well." The two shared a brief hug before turning back to what was more important. "I'll do it," Ford said. "Wait, what?" Twilight said confusion. "You guys are right," Ford declared. "It's better to try and help my dad instead of letting this fly past. I am hoping you'll come along to help." "Of course, dear," Rarity said cheerfully. "What friends would we be if we didn't." "Huh, seems like that's been resolved," Spike turned to Twilight. "Yeah," the purple alicorn said. "Seems like it has." "Yes! Another mission in the bag," Rainbow pumped her hooves." "Ah do hope Joe as a somewhat reasonable stallion," Applejack said. "Deep down he is," Ford said. "I know he is." "Woohoo! Now this is party-worthy!" Pinkie hopped around in excitement. "Maybe we should prepare for the trip?" Fluttershy suggested. "I think that's a good idea," Elle smiled. "Actually, I still have one question," Rainbow said. "What is it?" Ford asked. "What the hay is a nuclear power plant?" she asked. "Way to be facetious, Rainbow." Applejack rolled her eyes. "Hey, I'm just curious," Rainbow spat back. "You know, that's something I'd like to know myself," Twilight pulled out a notebook. "Would you mind explaining." She had the biggest, gleaming grin that practically begged Ford to share the information with her, look puppy-dog eyes but with her mouth. Ford just sighed in bemusement, his wife chuckling at the alicorn's antics. "Twi, this is serious," Applejack argued. "I know," she said. "This could be crucial information." The orange-furred cowgirl rubbed her face in annoyance. Things seemed to just turned away from the discussions of fixing relationships into something more light-hearted by comparison. Of course, Applejack took issue with it, knowing things were still needing to be resolved. Rarity and Fluttershy were just stood by. "Perhaps we should get prepared," Rarity grabbed Spike in her magical grasp and put him on her back. "We're mostly going to be in for an emotion-heavy day tomorrow." The two mares left the bedroom. "Oh, oh, I'll go pack my party cannon," Pinkie followed after them. "Wait, you've had that the whole time?" Fluttershy asked. "Duh, it's where I always put it," the nonsensical mare giggled. "A place called "undisclosed." Elle turned to Ford with a softening expression. It won't be the end of the world," she said. The two shared a loving embrace. Perhaps things wouldn't so clear-cut after all, though. Elle's word may have been an expression, but it perfectly encapsulated what was to come for our friends. To be continued. Author's Note I, for the life of me, couldn’t find out what was being said for the Japanese dialogue. Part 4: Boiling PointTokyo, Japan When the Mane 6 and Spike were first introduced to the tightly-built community that was Tokyo, well, it was a quite a lot to take in, in such a small period. It was loud, busy, and bustling with urban life. Pedestrians overloaded the streets, the roads were flooded with cars and buses, and elevated railway lines weaved overhead the streets and across the countless buildings that made up the city. The language, new. The culture, foreign. And, on top of that, many of the residents quickly turned heads to the cartoon group. Turns out the cartoon is relatively popular in Japan, as well. While being bombarded with fans young and old, Twilight and her friends took and greetings and compliments in stride. Assuming they were greetings and compliments. It was pretty hard to tell since the people were speaking an unknown language to them. Thankfully, Ford was there to keep them from getting overwhelmed and stay on course to their intended destination, that being the Tokyo police station where Joe was being held in. The group were forced to wait in the front desk area. On the plus side, it did provide them with chair to sit on. And so, they waited patiently. "I'm guessing there's a lot of things you want to say to your dad, right?" Twilight turned to Ford who seemed to be deep in his thoughts. Ford let out a sigh, ignoring the mundane, undiscernible chattering around them. "I don't know where to start," he finally said. "I haven't seen him in so long. And every time he gets himself into these situations, it frustrates me." "We understand, Sugarcube," Applejack scooted closer to the pair. "Though Ah can't truly know how ya feelin', Ah don't remember any close family members being closed off, but, ah come from a close-knit family. I can get a good understandin' of how hard it can be gettin' ta meet estranged family members after so long." "Shikibetsu." The group turned to see a Japanese police officer standing in front of them with an expectant look. "I...um..." Rarity fumbled. She was prepared to speak on her friends behalf, but she swiftly realized she didn't know what the officer wanted. "Could you repeat, sir," "Shikibetsu," the officer said again, this time with a bit more emphasis. "He's not mad at us, is he?" Spike asked. "No worries," Pinkie stepped in. "I got this." "But, you don't know what he wants," Rainbow said. "Nah, I'll just hoof it," the pink mare pulled out a small card and handed it to the police officer. The officer took it and studied it. It was Pinkie's identification card, or at least what Pinkie wanted it to be. What it actually was, was hoof-written info on a card with a tiny photo of the party mare...when she was a filly, which also had old, crumby frosting smeared on it. Favorite color: Yellow and green Favorite holiday: Hearth's Warming Eve Profession: Baker/Party Planner Was just a little bit of the personal info written on the paper card. The officer slowly turned to the front desk with a perturbed and skeptical look. Another officer, sitting behind the desk, just shrugged. The first officer handed the card back to Pinkie and walked away, acting like he wasn't starting to question his purpose. "Have a nice day," Pinkie happily waved to the man. The others looked amongst in bewilderment. "Huh, well that did the trick," Rainbow said, mildly astonishment. "How'dya do that, Pinkie?" Applejack asked in shock and confusion. "Don't know," Pinkie gave an exaggerated shrug. "Guess I'm just an upstanding citizens." She lowered down close to the floor, a skeptical look in her eyes. "Unless they find the the party supply contraband." "Did you say something, Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked. "Upstanding citizens!" the outgoing, pink mare almost shouted as she straightened back upright, causing the others to look at her with confusion. Just then, a buzzer went off. The group turned back to the far wall where a reinforced door opened up. A male cop and said something into his radio. He was followed by female with black hair and eye shadow. Near the front entrance of the station, older man and woman sat. "Papa," the woman nudged the man's arm upon seeing the black-hair girl. The two got and up and made their way over to the emo girl. The man began angrily reprimanding her. While the gang didn't know what he was saying, they could tell from his tone that the man was very angry and upset. The emo girl said some things, also in Japanese. The three made their way out of the station, all the while, the man still yelling at the younger woman. "Yeesh," Spike winced. "What do you supposed happened there?" "Teenagers being teenagers most likely," Rarity presumed, letting out a sigh. "I admit, I was quite rebellious during my teen years." "Rarity? Being not so "lady-like?" Rainbow asked playfully with a snarky smile. "If only I was around to see that." "Don't push it, Dash," the unicorn hissed. The cyan pegasus giggled deviously while swaying on her seat. "Heads up, ya'll," Applejack got their attention. "Ah think ya father's next ta leave." Ford snapped his head back quickly. Through the reinforced, barred window, the ponies, dragon, and human could see, aside from the two police officer, an older looking man wearing a long-sleeved back shirt, and a dark blue jacket vest. The older man looked distant, like he was void of emotion, until he saw the group through the window, primarily Ford. There was a brief moment of silence before the older man weakly smiled and nodded toward his son. And was then led over to the door. Ford didn't give a response to his father's silent greeting. He looked down on the ground and let out a long exhale. Despite working in the military, Ford couldn't help but grow a little wary. "So, that's your father?" Twilight asked. "...Yeah," Ford said despondently. "Huh," Rainbow said with a mixture of curiosity and disappointment. "I thought he'd look a little worse-for-wear." "You thought he would look like a grey-haired hermit?" the bomb expert asked. "No!" the defensive pegasus exclaimed. "...Kinda." "He seems like a nice guy," Fluttershy quickly changed the topic. "He is," Ford affirmed. "When he's not drowning himself in his work and conspiracy." "Have faith, Ford," Twilight assured earnestly. "I'm sure all he needs is a little heart-to-heart." "And then you can all be a great big, happy family," Pinkie said cheerfully. "And a great big, happy family deserves a big party to celebrate and..." By this point, Ford had decided to stop listening to that part of her speech. He knew there was chance to bring Joe and back and be a happy family for sure, he just needed the right words. "Ready to go?" Applejack asked. Ford turned to see his father standing around with the others. "Hello," he said as warmly as he could. There was a lot to be said for sure. The journey to Joe's apartment was awkward and silent, with the exception of Pinkie going off on countless tangents on the most random things. Sufficed to say, the motley group learned about her obsession with chocolate frosting. Once they did eventually make it to Joe's living quarters, things started to get more lively. The retired plant worker unlocked the door and allowed Ford, the Mane 6 and Spike inside. Once everyone was inside, Joe closed the door and turned on the lights. "This place is small," Rainbow observed. "That's what catches your attention?" Applejack asked incredulously. "What are you getting at?" the dubious pegasus questioned. "Take closer a look around," Twilight gestured around the room. The walls of Joe's apartment were littered with paper; news articles, notes, printed surveillance footage, graphs, diagrams. It all almost completely covered the warming comfort of the beige-colored walls. "Oh," Rainbow said, slight unsettled. "He takes obsession to a whole other level," Spike quietly commented. "No kiddin'," Applejack agreed. Ford turned back to his father, who was setting some personal items on the floor. He stood to meet his son's judgmental gaze. "Honestly, Mr, Brody, how do you live like this?" Rarity criticized. "I don't get many visitors," Joe answered bluntly. "Clearly," Ford muttered. "Do you need...help cleaning up?" Twilight asked. "No, no," the older man refused. "Everything's fine. This is you here," He gestured over to where is bagged items were laying. Ford set his bag down next to them. "Don't you get, like, annoyed with how you living arrangement is?" Rainbow asked. "Not really. Can't really help it anyways," Joe replied. "Even, uh, Ph.D.'s...don't get much teaching English as a second language." "So, you've resorted to detective boarding?" Twilight cautiously questioned. "It's not a job," the truth-obsessed man said. "But, it's something that must be done. For closure. For answers." Ford couldn't help but notice all the newspaper articles pinned to the walls. All of the them being themed around the nuclear meltdown fifteen years ago. "Oh, my, even after all this time, he still can't get over it," Fluttershy said sympathetically, peaking her head over Ford's shoulder. "Here we go. And a towel," Joe rummaged around. "All right." He made his way over to the other side of his apartment. There, he pulled a small packet of coffee mix from a box and put in a coffee maker. "So...how's the bomb business? It must be a growth area these days." "Bo-Bombs?" Fluttershy said, slightly aghast. "It's called "explosive ordnance disposal." Ford clarified, his eyes still glue to the old articles. "My job isn't dropping bombs. It's stopping them." That sounds incredibly dangerous," Twilight said worriedly. "That's the military for you," the army man said. Pinkie slid over to him, the side of her face making contact with his. "Can you get me into that program?" she asked, her tone implying an unsettling amount of interest. Ford just gave the pink mare a weird look. Then he turned back to the pinned articles for a brief second. This crusade for the truth was getting out of hand. He turned to Joe. "Dad..." Hey..." Joe interrupted. "...how's Elle doing?" He headed to another part of his apartment to gather a few more things. "And Sam. Oh, my god. He must be what? Three? Three and a half?" "He's almost five," Ford walked over to the shelf that almost separated the room in two. "Yeesh, this is all incredibly disorganized," Twilight viewed the shelves, overloaded with books and binders. "You really should tidy this place up." She grabbed a handful of books in her magic. "I thought you were over this," Ford grabbed a book of the shelf. "Echolocation"? "Oh, hey," Joe hastened over. "Parasitic communication--" "Please don't, if you don't mind," the older man grabbed the books and placed back on the shelf. "I have everything the way I like it." "But, it's so messy," Twilight complained. "I get a headache every time I look at it." "I concur considerably," Rarity said. "All of this is incredibly unhealthy." "I just..." Joe gestured to the shelf. "I'm studying bioacoustics." "Does that have anythin' to do with yer "searching fer the truth" stuffs?" Applejack interrogated. "You told them about that?" Joe turned to his son. "They want to help as much as I do," Ford replied. "What were you doing, going back there?" "This trespassing stuff, that was bull," the older man said dismissively. "You broke the law," Ford said bluntly. "And got thrown in jail for it," Twilight added. "I was trying to get back to our old house," Joe argued. "In a quarantine zone," Ford argued back. "Precisely," Joe barked. "The new readings are exactly like they were on that day and I can prove it to you." "Readings?" Spike asked in confusion. "I think this guy's too far gone," Rainbow whispered, which earned a jab to the back of her head from Applejack. The older man tore one of the sheets of paper off the wall. "With a little bit of luck, if I can get back to my…the house...I can show you and the world..." "Dad, no." "...this was not a natural disaster." "Mr, Brody, please..." Twilight tried to interject. "This was--" "Dad!" Ford yelled. Silence reigned throughout the apartment. Nobody spoke, or even dared to move in that brief moment of emotional tensity. "T-This might be harder than we thought," Fluttershy muttered quietly. "You can hear their anger right now," Pinkie whispered to the butter-yellow pegasus. Indeed, there was a faint whistling reverberating around the room. Joe slowly made his way over to the other side of the room again. An electric kettle was sitting on the tiny table right next to the coffee maker. Steam whistled out of the opening, until the estranged father turned it off. The whistling died down, drowning the room with silence again. "Look, Mr. Brody, from what your son has explained, you've been through a lot," Twilight finally spoke up. "I can only imagine what it's like loosing a loved one. The grief, the heartbreak, the belief that you were to blame. I understand you want some semblance of closure, but this is doing too much. And it's hurting you, it's hurting your relationships and that's not healthy. You can't keep living like this." Joe just stared out through the window. "I can't live normally until I get the truth," he said quietly. "Your mom's out there, Ford. To me...she'll always be there." "Ah understand, Sugarcube," Applejack consoled. "Believe me, ah lost mah parents at a very young age, and it took ah very long time to completely move on. Ah like ta believe they're lookin' down at me, seein' all mah accomplishments and work ah done on th'farm. It ain't easy sometimes, but it can be done. S'long as ya can accept it, ya can live on normally and peacefully." "But, I can't accept it, AJ," Joe said sadly. "They evacuated us so quickly. I don't even...have a picture of her." The mood seemed to have become disheartened. "No mementos to remember her by," Spike said grimly. "Okay, that's...that's pretty depressing," Rainbow admitted sadly. "But, that doesn't give you the right to trespass." "This has to stop," Ford added, turning to his father with a stoic, yet empathetic expression. He, too, missed his mom as much as his dad did. It was all the more reason he wanted to help Joe, bring him back onto his feet and find peace and acceptance. It's what his mother would've wanted. "You know I did everything I could. You know that, right?" Joe turned back to face Ford, his more vulnerable side beginning to break through. Ford did really respond to his father's question. He looked down, refusing to meet Joe's gaze. "Ford, you don't actually blame Joe for your mom's death, do you?" Twilight asked, sounding crestfallen. "Of course not. It's just...a lot to think about, even now," the non-employed soldier said. Ford looked back up at his dad. "Let me take you home." Joe looked up at him with a dispiritedly. "Come home with me," Ford urged. "I got a little boy who's desperate to see his grandpa." "Yeah, and who doesn't like being a grandparent?" Pinkie asked playfully. "You still have family that want you back," Twilight said solemnly. "We can help you move on from all of this." Joe couldn't help but smile a little bit. Despite being estranged and overly-focused, his son still wanted him back. "We can leave tomorrow," Ford said. He also began to smile. "Is it settled then?" Rainbow asked. "...Yeah." Joe said. "Hoo-we. That went better than ah thought it would," Applejack wiped her brow. "And here ah was worried this would devolve inta a huge fight." "You said we'll leave tomorrow, right Ford?" Rarity asked. "Yes," the army man replied. "Well, I suppose we'll have to stay here for the night," Rarity rolled her eyes. "However small and cramped it is." "Eh, we've had worse," Rainbow said coolly. The Mane 6 and Spike shared a brief round of chuckles from the pegasus' boisterous statement. Rainbow Dash was certainly right on that. The group decided to get more situated for the night. During which, Pinkie approached Joe. She stared at him with a void expression. Joe just looked around, feeling himself getting more uncomfortable. "Can I...help you?" he asked. "Do you have any blue crystals lying around?" the party mare asked quizzically. Joe wasn't sure to be either confused or disturbed by such an odd question. He also couldn't think of anything he said, did, or had that would imply he did have blue crystals. "No. No, I don't." Pinkie then let out a giggle. "Just making sure." she turned on her back hooves and cartoonishly skipped away. "See ya around, Walter." "My name's Joe," the mentally-disheveled widower said. Either Pinkie didn't hear or chose not to respond. Despite the early morning hours, the city of Tokyo was like a non-stop machine, people were hustling and bustling about preparing for work and school. The morning sun had barely climbed past the hulking mountains in the misty horizon. Ford along with Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Spike were sleeping on a makeshift futon, a traditional Japanese floor bed, while Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie made comfort with sleeping on the floor with blankets, plenty of blankets. While his mind was still hazy, Ford was able to pick up a quiet voice coming from somewhere. He blinked hard to snap the sleep away and slowly got up from the makeshift bed, somehow avoiding waking up the others. As he slowly crept around the large bookshelf, he noticed Joe sitting at his computer while taking to someone through a radio in Japanese. He couldn't translate what his father was saying, whatever Japanese he learned had rusted away through time. Joe finished speaking with whoever was on the radio and put it away along with his glasses. As he turned to get up, he found Ford standing beside the shelf. The two stared at each other for what seemed like forever. "What are you doing?" Ford questioned. Joe seemed to hesitate for a second, but quickly sat back up. "I'm heading back out there, Ford," he put on his black jacket vest. He was heading back out? To the quarantine zone? Whatever happened to agreeing to come back with him. Ford didn't know what his father had found, but he wasn't going to let him spiral again, not with them being so close to finally burying the hatchet. "One hour, in and out," Joe declared. "No. I don't think so," the military officer said firmly. "I have to go!" Joe raised his voice, which woke up some of the others. "Ugh, what is going on?" Twilight asked groggily. "Joe wants to head back out again," Ford explained. "What?" the alicorn asked incredulously. "Did I just hear that right?" Rainbow took to the air and zipped over between the father and son. "You're deciding to double-down on your quest for answers? Really? Whatever happened to getting back with the rest of the family?" "Exactly," Ford agreed. "Wait, what's going on?" Fluttershy slowly got to her hooves. "Apparently Joe has had second-thoughts about returning home," Twilight grumbled. "Seriously? Did ah'r words just fly right over ya?" Applejack asked critically. "Something new came up," Joe accounted. "Something that changes everything." "Oh, for heaven's sake," Rarity grumbled under her breath. "Is closure that much of a desperate need for you." "What I think you need is therapy," Twilight said sternly. "Or just a friend," Pinkie zipped around and wrapped a leg around the older man's neck. "Free 24/7." "What I need are answers," Joe said defensively. "I came back here and wasted six years staring through that barbed wire, thinking it was a military mistake or some horrible design flaw that they were covering up." He let out and exasperated sigh. Ford and the Mane 7 remained silent, anticipating that there was more to be said on Joe's end. He paced back to the end of the room and pulled out a pair of heavy-duty overalls. "One day, I met a guy who runs a cargo boat offshore. Every day he goes right past the reactor site. So he places a couple frequency monitors on buoys for me." "snort Bouys. That's a funny word," Pinkie giggled. All judgmental eyes were on the pink mare as she laughed and giggled. "Keep that to yourself next time, Pinkie," Rainbow deadpanned. "Anywhere," Joe continued, amidst putting on the protective overalls. "Two weeks ago, because I check this thing like every other day just for the kick in the teeth, two weeks ago, I'm tuning in...and, oh, my god...there it is." By this point he had closed the gap between him and the rest of the group. "What is? What did you found?" Twilight asked, sounding more interested than she'd want to admit. "Some form of communication," the untidy researcher clarified. "Whatever "it" is that's in there. Whatever it is they're guarding so carefully...started talking again. And I mean talking." "What did it say?" Pinkie asked in a hushed tone. "Can it hear us right now?" "I don't think he meant literal talking, Pinkie," Rainbow rectified. "And this "communication" is what's driving you to start investigating again?" Rarity asked. "Yes," Joe said, a defiant smile forming on his face. "Ha, ha. I have to go back to our house." The older man put on a thick coat. All the while, Ford had a look on his face that read "You can't be serious right now." Communications or not, it was all just a major stretch. The only thing Joe was going to get out of this was another trip to jail. "I need my old disks, if they're still there," Joe said. "I need the data to be able to prove a baseline here that this isn't a fantasy," - he pointed over to all the articles and photos pinned on the wall - "that I'm not what you think I am." Fluttershy deciding to be more courageous, stepped in away from her friends. "I think that you need to talk to someone about this," she said in firm, yet shaky voice. "I-I'm talking about a professional, by the way." "I just think he's cuckoo," Rainbow snickered. "I don't need professional help and I'm not a cuckoo," Joe said, a tinge of anger sizzled in his voice. "I'm gonna find the truth...and end this. Whatever it takes." "Let's not go there," Twilight tried a smooth out the situation. "Why can't you just let it rest?" Ford asked. "Because I sent her down there, son," his father replied. Ford exhaled through his teeth. It wasn't Joe's fault. He couldn't have ever been able to foresee any of what happened. He was letting his guilt drive his want for answers and closure. "This wasn't just a reactor meltdown," the older man said. "I don't want to hear this," Ford said blatantly. "Ah'm gonna have ta agree," Applejack added. "This ain't right. Yer lettin' yer emotions cloud ya." "Yeah, like Ford said, we didn't come here to hear you go on about breakthroughs in your search," Spike added. "I know. I know you don't," Joe admitted. "I know that's not what any of you are here for. But, Ford, you can't keep running away. And, son, you can't bury this in the past." "But, why not?" Rarity asked. "Why is it so hard for you to move on from this?" "Some things need to taken head-on. Whether you want to admit it or not," the ex-plant worker said judiciously. Ford looked down. He knew what he was about to agree to was stupid and dangerous, but, at this point, if it meant his dad would finally get closure and come back to him, then he'll do it this final time. "Fine," he conceded, looking back up at Joe. "I'll help you with this." The Mane 6 and Spike were flabbergasted by this sudden change on behavior. "You can't be serious," Rainbow said with dismay. "Ford, what gives?" Twilight asked in surprise. "I thought you were against Joe going back to the quarantine zone, much less yourself." "Yeah, ya said that it was breakin' the law," Applejack added. "I know what I said, but it's apparent to me that dad isn't going to let this up until he finds what he needs," Ford explained solemnly, turning to his father. "If you finally get the answers you want, will you come back with me and the others." "...Yes," Joe replied without emotion. "Just in and out. That's it." "B-But, Mr. Brody, this is what you didn't want to happen," Fluttershy said. "I know that, and I don't like it at all," the army man said. "But, if I'm being honest, I guess deep down inside I also want answers to the truth. I'm not tunnel-visioned on it, but there have been times in my left where I wonder to myself as to what happened on the day of the meltdown." "But, you've been so against your father with finding out the truth anyways," Spike pointed out. "That's..." "I understand it's hypocritical, but it's the truth," Ford said. "It may not be wise, but I feel it's for the best." "You ponies said you wanted to help, right?" Joe asked. "Yes?" Twilight asked cautiously. "What are you getting out?" "Would you be willing to come with us?" Joe asked. "WHAT!?" the ponies and dragon all exclaimed. "You're asking us to come along with you to some dangerous, closed off area for some disks?!" Twilight asked in complete shock. "Are you crazy?" Rainbow questioned. "There is no chance I would do such a thing!" Rarity exclaimed. "To do something so dangerous and illegal." "Plus all that radiation," the purple alicorn added. "We may not be familiar with that stuff, but, from Ford has explained to us, it's nasty stuff." "We have protective suits," Ford pointed out. "You have protective suits. We don't," Twilight said, her tone becoming more protective. "Look we came along to help fix the relationship between you and Joe, not dive into some highly-dangerous island that we have to protection from." "Hold on," Spike interrupted. "Twilight, what if a magic bubble could shield us." "What? You mean like the magic shields I use?" Twilight asked. "Yeah, maybe that could shield us against the radiation," Spike propose. The alicorn princess gave it some thought. In theory, a magic shield would protect them from anything in Equestria. But, in a different world, would that still apply? "Maybe, but there's no guarantees it will," she said. "Why exactly are you asking, Spike? Are you saying you want to go to the quarantine zone?" "Well, no, not exactly," the little dragon said sheepishly. "But, I did some thinking. If we really want to help mend this father-son relationship, might have to "take the plunge." If you catch my drift." The Mane 6 looked amongst themselves. Was Spike unto something? "Spike, I don't think we can take that risk," Twilight said. "Yeah, that's like incredibly dangerous. And that's coming from me," Rainbow added. "We can cheer from the sidelines," Pinkie held up a banner that said "Go Ford & Joe!" on it. "Or we could sit here and wait until they get back," Rarity suggested more realistically. Ugh, boring," Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Guys, I know it's a huge risk, but it's not like me and Joe are going to be safe," Ford said. The ponies and dragon, feeling conflicted, all configured into a team huddle. "Are we really doin' this?" Applejack asked. "We would be doing them a pretty big favor," Spike said. "We weren't doing this as a favor to begin with, Spikey." Rarity reminded. "Well, we won't be much help if we stand around in here," Pinkie said. "Besides, since when did danger become a discouragement for us." "Wut do you think, Twi?" the orange farm pony asked. Twilight was deep in conflicting thoughts. On one hoof, they would be helping Joe get the answers and closure he desperately wanted and indirectly helping fix Ford's relationship with him. On the other hoof, they would be throwing themselves into a place that was protected by law and overflowing with radiation. As they thoughts raced in her head, Twilight remember something Ford said earlier. "It may not be wise, but I feel it's for the best." The violet pony princess let out a long sigh. It may not be the smartest or safest decision, but, as the Elements of Harmony, it was their duty to help in any way they could on friendship missions. "We're the Elements of Harmony," she said. "Dangerous or not, we promised to keep harmony and fix any problems or threats that came out way. I know this won't be easy or safe, but it's something to show the power of friendship. The rest of the Mane 6 took in Twilight's words. While none of them liked the idea, they knew she was right with the whole "friendship mission" duty and the promise to bring harmony to anycreature. "All right, but ah'm still wary 'bout this," Applejack was the first to agree. "You know what, the more dangerous, the merrier," Rainbow said confidently. "Count me in." "Count me in, too," Pinkie added joyfully. "I'll come, too," Spike said. Rarity let out a sigh of defeat. "For friendship," she smiled. The others turned to Fluttershy, who was shaking a little bit. She really, really didn't want to go on this journey. "Remember. You wanted to stop being so scared. This is your chance." she told herself. The apprehensive pegasus swallowed hard. "Okay," "Then it's settled," Joe said. "We'll leave as soon as possible." He stepped around the group of ponies and dragon and to the other side of the bookshelf. "Just get what you need and then we'll leave," Ford followed after." "In and out," Twilight muttered quietly. "Ah really hope ya know what yer doin', Twi," Applejack spoke up ardently. "I do, Applejack," the princess reassured. "Once this is done, everything will fall into place and Joe and Ford will be back with a happy family." "And as long as we lie low, this will go without a hitch," Joe called out. "Whatever you say," Rainbow said dismissively. "Hopefully this will work," Twilight's horn began to glow brightly. Concentrating, she created a magic shield that cocooned around her and her friends in a half-circle. "We stay close," she said. The others nodded, knowing what was at stake here. They all hoped things would be an in-and-out operation, swift and easy. Unfortunately, none of our friends knew just how bad things were going to get. That island was hiding something. Something none of them could even imagine. To be continued Part 5: Infiltration of RealityThe mission was simple. Get to the infected area without getting caught, get Joe his data disks back, and then we can all go back home and everything will go back to normal. That was the idea for the Mane 6, Spike, and Ford, but as the transport boat carried them across the coast and into the quarantine zone, it felt so much more intimidating than they first anticipated. As the boat progressively inched on, the surroundings became more foreboding: Chain-link fences lined the dry ground with rusting signs that warned of the radioactivity of the long-since abandon metropolis. The Mane 6 and Spike couldn’t help but grow apprehensive of it all. Combined with the hazy mist that coated the flooded shores, it was nothing short of eerie. "This is...a lot more surreal than I thought it would be," Twilight said, maintaining the shield over the rest of her friends. "You get used to it," Joe eyed the aging buildings around them. "That's easy coming from you," Spike rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "How far do we have to go to get to the house?" "Not too far," Joe replied through his protective suit. "As long as we stay together we should be fine." "Fine?" Rainbow asked skeptically. "Look, I'm all for helping someone who his grieving and all, but I feel like we're crossing boundaries that we should not be crossed." "I'm away of the risks," Ford spoke up. "And I know you all knew of it too before you decided to come along, Rainbow. Like I said, just this one last time, and that's the end of it." "That doesn't really make it any less discomforting," Twilight looked around the flooded neighborhoods. "What's the worst that could happen?" Pinkie optimistically asked. "We get caught and thrown in jail for trespassing," Ford answered leisurely. "Like I said, doesn't make it any less discomforting," the purple alicorn deadpanned. The boat was docked and the team soon found themselves traversing the overgrown ghost-town. Nature was slowly regaining it's natural footing. The old buildings became elevated homes for vegetation and sheets of vines hung over walkways and bridges. Joe, Ford, and the Mane 7 carefully made their way through the radioactive wasteland. "Ohh, this place is really giving me the creeps," Fluttershy shook with fear. "Tell me about it," Rarity said with dread. "Everything's so dreary and dead-looking." "Have no fear, Rarity, I will protect if anything happens," Spike was at her side, taking on a heroic swagger. That was quickly cut short when several feral dogs raced toward them, barking and yelping. fear struck the ponies and dragon like lightning. The prospect of being attacked by wild animals hadn't ever crossed their minds. "Stand back, this could get ugly," Twilight took a defensive position. Though her magic shield provided protection, the young princess didn't want to take any chances with a group of angry dogs heading right for her. However, the dogs ran right past them, not even bothering to acknowledge the group. The canines darted off and disappeared amongst the stagnant vehicles that littered the streets. "What spooked them?" Ford continued on. "Dad, guys, come on. Let's go. It's only another two blocks." "That's a relief," Applejack said. "Both the dogs and the house." "Quite so, Applejack," Rarity turned to Spike, who was holding onto her. His valiant bravado had completely vanished. The snow-white unicorn gave the dragon a deadpanned glare. Spike quickly climbed off her and smile sheepishly. "Regardless, girls, that proves that we need to tread carefully," Twilight warned. "We don't know what else is out there." "Twilight, it's a literal ghost-town. Aside from the radiation, I seriously doubt there's not much out here to be worried about," Rainbow said. The protected group continued their trek across the, all except for Joe. Who stood in place, deep in thought. The dogs that the ran into, not even a few seconds ago, looked completely normal and healthy. There were no signs of radiation poisoning or alterations to there anatomy or biology. That didn't make any sense to him. Joe pulled out a Geiger counter from his coat pocket and turned it on. The readings show zero amounts for radiation in the area, not a single fraction of it. "Dad!" Ford was growing impatient. The older man turned his eyes away from the Geiger counter and over to his son and the Mane 7. "Are we going home, or what?" "Honestly I wouldn't mind that," Rarity said timidly. "Every second spent here makes me more terrified." "I can't help but agree with you, Rarity," Pinkie slid to the mare's side. "This place is really giving me the heebie-jeebies." "But, it wouldn't make any sense ta just turn back now, "Applejack claimed. "Right," Twilight agreed. "Mr. Brody, are you coming." Joe didn't answer. Instead, he grabbed his gas mask and peel it away from his face, sending the rest of the team into a panic. "Whoa, whoa! Hey what are you doing," his son said, shocked and confused with his father's actions. "Are you crazy?!" Twilight shouted. "What about the radiation?" "Heaven's sakes, darling, what are you thinking?" Rarity asked, horrified. "P-Put the mask back on!" Fluttershy desperately demanded. Joe drew a line of long breaths, as if it was relief for himself that the gamble he just took didn't end up dooming him. Or perhaps it was hard to breath with a thick mask on. "Dad?" Ford said worriedly. "Dude, tell us if you're dying," Rainbow said. "It's clean," Joe muttered. "I knew it." "What? What are you talking about?" Twilight asked, now even more confused and scared. "You said this place was loaded with dangerous radiation." "That's the thing, there is none," the analyst said. "The radiation in this place should be lethal, but there's nothing." "Wait, so, no radiation?" Spike asked. "How can you tell?" Joe pulled his Geiger counter back out. "See this," he pointed to it. "This is a Geiger counter. It measures how much radiation is in the area. Right now, it's showing zero, which means there is no radiation here at all." "But...the meltdown," Ford pulled off his gas mask. "Does that mean we don't need the shield anymore?" Rainbow asked, turning to Twilight. "I...suppose not," the faint glow of Twilight's horn faded away, causing the shield to vanish. "It was getting stuffy in there," Spike grimaced. "Sorry," Pinkie smiled meekly. "Heh, ta think we were gettin' worked up over nothin'," Applejack chuckled. "This place is still scary," Fluttershy said, who was curled up with Rarity and Pinkie. Rainbow rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Look, now that we don't have to worry about the nonexistent radiation, can we just continue on with our mission?" "If it means getting out of here faster, then yes, let's keep going," Rarity said. And so, with the overbearing fear of radiation poisoning out of the picture, Joe, Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike made it the rest of the way to the old Brody household. It wasn't a pretty sight. The house was left victim to natural erosion. "Yeesh, this place is a dump," Spike said. "It's been sitting here for fifteen years without any upkeep," Ford said. "Should that really come as a shock?" As they treaded inside, the group was met with the earthy stench of rotting wood. Alongside that, the walls were slick with moisture and moss, and debris, organic and inorganic, littered the floor. "Be careful not to step on any glass," Joe warned. He search deeper within the home. Ford, flashlight in hand, shined it throughout the rooms. It was a haunting sight to be sure. "Do you have any fond memories of this place?" Twilight asked dolefully. Ford's answer was given in the form of his old toys strewn about his old bedroom. Plastic tanks and dinosaurs lay on the floor covered in dust and grime with cockroaches scurrying about. "Ew, ew, ew!" Rarity shrieked, tapping her hooves as the little armored pests skulked past. "Oh, Joe better find those disks soon." She grumbled in disgust, not wanting to be in this abhorrent place any longer. "Not especially," Ford answered to Twilight. "Just average childhood memories. Back when mom was around and dad wasn't all "truth crusading." "Do you miss living here?" Fluttershy asked. The Navy officer sighed in thought. There was no doubt that he missed his childhood home. There always a sense of completeness, mostly due to the fact that the family was whole. "Yes," Ford finally answered. Meanwhile, Joe was rummaging through his desecrated office space. He tossed aside pieces of wood and cardboard until, lo and behold, there was a stack of plastic cartridges that held the disks that he need. Joe hastily grabbed them. "Thank god," he mumbled quietly. He placed into inside his bag and looked around for anything else he possibly needed. That's when Joe spotted it. Amongst the shattered glass and mold-covered plaster sat a broken picture frame depicting him, his wife, Sandra, and Ford when he was just a child. The aging man picked it up and swept away the broken pieces of the frame, leaving only the intact photo. Joe's gloved hand lightly trailed against the part of picture that showed Sandra. He missed her, he missed her so much. Not a day want by that he didn't think about her at least once. The painful memories of losing Sandra brought back a suppressed feeling deep inside him; the feeling or guilt and remorse. There were times in Joe's life where he wished he was stronger, wished that his wife's passing didn't eat so much away at him. Maybe then he would've been a better father to Brody and not let such a wedge get driven between the two. While Joe was bitterly reminiscing, Ford was also getting a dose of dulling memories. He picked up a plastic soldier off a table and stared at it. It brought back memories of his younger self playing with all the toys he had, acting out war scenarios. "Everything okay, Ford?" Applejack asked softly. The Navy bomb expert couldn't help let a tear trickle out from his left eye. "Yeah, just..." he looked back down at the toy soldiers. "...a lot of suppressed memories coming back up. "Ha, ha. take that, Pinkie. Pew!" Rainbow said playfully. "Here I come, Dashie!" Pinkie giggled. The two were playing with some of the toy soldiers. They clashed them together like they were fighting. "Honestly, you two, this is now time to be playing around," Rarity reprimanded. "You don't even know where those things have been." "Uh, they've just been sitting on the ground collecting dust, duh," Rainbow emphasize by shaking her head. "Yeah, very dusty," Pinkie drew in a deep breath and blew hard on the plastic soldier. A small plume of dust flew right into Rainbow's face. The surprised pegasus was taken off guard. She crinkled her nose has the dusty caked her nostrils. She drew in a shallow breath, then another, until... "Achoo!" Pinkie fell onto her back and laughed like a mad-mare. Rainbow, despite still reeling from the nasal assault, couldn't help but laughed at the unexpected play. "All right, Pinkie, you got me," she smiled in defeat. "At least they're having fun," Twilight grumbled. "Just makes the mission a little more worthwhile," Ford said. "Wait, so you don't mind them messing with your old toys?" the studious alicorn asked. "I mean they've just been sitting on the floor for fifteen years," the military officer said. "And I'm not really interested in bringing them back." "Really? I would think you'd want to bring 'em back fer ya son," Applejack suggested. "Hmm, you have a point there," Ford gave it some thought. Back with Joe, he was still holding the photo. He held it against his chest before his eyes fell on something else. Hanging on the wall was a string banner that read "Happy Birthday Dad!" It didn't take much thinking to know that Ford was the who made that for his father. It had just been standing there from the day it was hung. At this point, Joe felt teary-eyed himself. Ford did all that for him, wanting to make his birthday special. But, that never ending up happening thanks to the so-called "nuclear disaster." With all that out in the open, Joe only wished he noticed it sooner, at least they would've shared another loving moment. The heartbroken man looked back down at the photo, a sad frown growing more raw on his face. The storm of emotions was interrupted when Joe heard rustling through the broken windows. He looked out and saw the bushes shaking and dancing. Then came the sound of thunderous whirring. "What's going on?" Spike asked. "Helicopters," Ford replied. "Oh yeah, we kinda have those in Equestria," Twilight said, but quickly realized the implication. "But, what are they doing here?" "Only one way to find out," Rainbow zoomed out of the house. The rest quickly followed. They left the ruined house and stepped out into the leaf-littered street. Several helicopters zoomed overheard. "Where are they going?" Rarity asked. The followed the same direction. As they rounded a corner, they were met with something shocking. Across a body of water was another part of the quarantine zone, which was where the nuclear power plant used to be. But, instead of that, there were some facility buildings with nearly a dozen cranes seemingly in a circular formation. "What? Seriously what is going on?" Twilight was now completely confused. "Are they rebuilding the plant?" Ford turned to Joe. "I don't know," Joe replied, just as confused. "I haven't seen-" As he turned back he saw an armored security truck pulled up toward them. He closed his eyes and sighed. They had been caught. Ford groaned and turned toward the officer who were exiting the truck. "Oh, no," Fluttershy whimpered. "Well, that's just great," Rainbow huffed. "Stand back, I'll take care us this." "No!" Twilight cried out. "Do you want us to get into more trouble." "Well, then what's the contingency plan?" the daredevil pegasus questioned. "There is no contingency plan. We have to let them take us into custody," Twilight said solemnly. "What?! I can't go around with a felony on my record," Rarity resisted. "We aren't even in Equestria," Rainbow deadpanned. "A crime is still a crime," the fashionista whined. "Just do what they want us to do," Joe said. "It's better than to alternative." He lightly gestured to the guns the officer wielded. They were demanding something in Japanese, but it was apparent what was needed to be done. A round of defeated sighs came from the ponies and dragon. "Can we at least take this to our graves?" Spike pleaded. "I don't think that's the right thing ta do," Applejack said. Left with no choice, the group was led into the back of the patrol truck, where they were cuffed. "This is no way to treat a lady," Rarity quietly whined. "To be fair, we we're trespassing," Twilight said. "Not helping," the agitated mare replied through gritted teeth. The doors slammed shut and the truck rolled off toward the site. It took longer than the group thought. It had already grown dark as the truck trailed down the bridge leading to the facility. Joe, Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike all sat quietly in the back. It was a frustrating turn of events, a simple retrieval mission turning into a cart off to interrogation and, inevitably, jail. "Dad? You okay?" Ford finally broke the silence, worried for his father. Joe was just muttering to himself, not of it discernible. "Joe, come on, talk to us," Spike encouraged. "...Should've never involved you in this," the older man spoke quietly. "I never meant any of you to get in trouble. I'm insane. I'm completely insane. It's the same as it was fifteen years ago, now I'm going to lose you." "Hey, hey, Joe. Come on. That's crazy talk," Applejack condoled. "Nah, this is crazy talk," Pinkie began spouting gibberish nonsense. "Plpfft. Mu-mu-mu. Blalalpbla!" Rarity swiftly covered the mare's mouth with her hoof. "That's enough, Pinkie," she said, trying to sound as calm as possible. "Okay-dokey," Pinkie's answered was muffled against the unicorn's hoof. "Yeah, nopony's losing anypony," Rainbow added. "They're not letting us out of here," the older man said, dread filling his tone. "Any of us. Now that they have the disks..." "The disks?" Ford questioned. "What about them?" "Why would they care about the disks?" Twilight added her own question. Joe just began muttering incoherently again. "Dude, you're like starting to freak us out," Rainbow said. Ford leaned closer to his father. "Look at me. I'm listening now. Tell me what's going on." "I'm cursed, Ford," Joe grunted. "That's all I am. I'm so sorry." "Tell me what you know!" Ford outright demanded. His outburst startle the ponies and dragon. "Whoa, nelly," Applejack said. "Ah wasn't expectin 'im to be so forward now." "Animals, Ford," Joe finally said. "Animals. Birds, mammals, insects, reptiles, whales, bats, you name it. All of the speaking, making noise, echolocation. Imagine that on a more...epic scale. That's what's on those disks, Ford. the sound of an animal screaming." "S-Screaming. Screaming for help?" Fluttershy asked. "No, it was more broad," the old plant worker said. "I couldn't figure what it was saying, but, there was communication." "Do you know what was making it?" Twilight asked. "No," Joe answered. "But, one thing I know for sure is that if get those disks, we're not getting back out." "Why?" Rarity asked apprehensively. "Because they'll want answers. They'll want more info," Joe said. "They will demand answers out of all of us, even if we have them or not." "But...But...we barely know what's going on," Fluttershy whimpered. "They'll just get you for experimental reasons," Ford said grimly. "You guy's aren't from this world after all." A new wave of dread and horror washed over the Mane 6 and Spike. Stuck in some facility with no possibility of returning home with the grave thought of what the people will do to them. "We should've never came along," Twilight chastised herself. Her wing wrapped around a frightened Spike. The rest of the ponies didn't even know what to say. The sheer thought of what could happen to them couldn't be put into words. "W-We have to get out of here!" Rainbow exclaimed. "This is an armored truck. There's no getting out of here," Ford said sorrowfully. "Says you," the determined pegasus starting ramming against the reinforced doors, but of course, they wouldn't budge. "Come on, open!" she shouted. She rammed into the doors again and again. Growing frustrating, Rainbow tried slamming her hooves against the steel doors. She began to grind her cuffs against them, but that obviously did nothing, either. Not a single thing Rainbow tried worked. The frustrated pegasus began yelling in anger, as if that would do anything. “Come on! You can’t do this to us!” “Rainbow…” Fluttershy tried to get her friend to stop. “You’ll never take us alive! Do you hear me?” the mare continued to shout. “Jūnbun!” one the officer yelled back, having had enough with Rainbow’s fruitless antics. Rainbow slowly turned back around. She was upset. She turned back to her friends. “There’s got to be something we can do,” “It’s military-grade steel,” Ford hinted at the doors. “Plus, even if we somehow get out, we won’t get far and we’ll all be in even deeper trouble.” Rainbow looked back to the others, who had their heads down in defeat. “Best to just save your energy, Dash,” Twilight said woefully. Rainbow let out a defeated sign and sat back up on the seat. There was nothing for it, they were in big trouble and there was no way out of it. “This sucks,” the perturbed pegasus said. “What else is new?” Spike asked rhetorically. The only thing our heroes could do now was sit and wait for the inevitable interrogation and imprisonment that was to come. Though it seemed things were bleak now, nobody truly knew just how dire and chaotic things were going to get. To be continued Author's Note Big thanks to kaiju and pony fan for the some of the quotes in this chapter. Part 6: Rise of the MUTOTo say being taken to a top-secret facility in a foreign countries to be interrogated and likely imprisoned was on the cards for the Mane 6, Spike, Ford, or Joe was a lie. But, it was happening now and the only thoughts simmering with the group was nothing but of dread and fear, and perhaps a bit of annoyance. Except, Joe, of course. He subconsciously knew there was the possibility he was going to get the answer he pined for, for the last fifteen years. The truck rolled into the grounds of facility. Suited guards directed the driver over to a holding area guarded by two armed guards and a gate. One of the guards came up to the passenger side where the officer showed his identification. The guard walked aside allowing access through. "This is it, huh?" Spike glumly held his head with his hands. "Being put in a cell for trespassing. Didn't know I had it in me." "You actively choose to join in on this retrieval mission," Rainbow pointed. "We all did," Twilight corrected. "And now we're all paying the price." "I guess crime really doesn't pay," the cyan pegasus sulked. "You don't say," Rarity groaned sarcastically, really emphasizing to the sell the point of Rainbow's obvious statement. "Um, g-girls?" Fluttershy spoke up meekly. "As bad as being jailed is, c-can I bring attention to what they're hiding. If that's all right with you." "She's right," Joe looked out through the thick windows of the containment doors. Through it was the clear sign of something abnormal. The rest looked with mortification. It was hard to describe; it was black with a red-orange glow pulsating through the middle. It looked to be made of some kind of rock-like material. "What the hell is that?" Ford asked. "I don't know," the old plant worker replied. "Neither do I," Twilight added. "But, I have a really bad feeling about it." "Maybe it's some kind of power source," Ford hypothesized. "Of what?" Applejack asked in confusion. "I really don't know. I really drawing blanks here," the army worker said. "You know what I sense?" Pinkie said cryptically. "...What?" Rarity asked, almost too worried to be willing to even ask. "I don't know. But, I do sense something," the pink mare responded. "Ten seconds. Ten seconds," a man said over the PA. Dozens of workers scramble over to the formation, which was beginning to pulsate and emanate faster. Some workers set down cases which held special instruments for gathering info on whatever the mass was doing. They opened the cases and held the instruments towards the rocky mass as it emanating grew more rapid. They watched with bated breaths as the pace quickened further and further until it sent out a great pulse of energy. The thing that was effected from the blast was the electronics. Lights and computer screens flickered, then returning to normal. Above all the hustle and bustle was the main monitoring area that overlooked all the goings-on around the facility. "Seven-point-two seconds and getting stronger," a bearded man, the head researcher, pointed to one of the computer screens showing the energy waves. "We're trending exponentially. That's our new curve." Two men stood upon the surveillance deck as they eyed the rocky mass. The one on the left was Gregory Whelan, one of the scientists leading the examination of the unknown mass. On the right was Dr. Ishirō Serizawa, another scientist. "Jesus, it's worst than we thought," Whelan stated desolately. "Excuse me, Dr. Serizawa?" a man came up to the pair. Dr. Serizawa turned his head so he could just barely make eye contact with him. "Two men, and a group of colorful animals were just arrested in the Q-zone." "You arrested animals?" Whelan asked, put-off by the fact that the team wasted their time to do such. "They're more than that, it seems," the man replied. "They have the ability to talk. Despite that, it's clear just by looking at them that they are not natural. They are...cartoonish, so to speak." An uneasy silence extended throughout the room. "We've got bigger problems here," Whelan rolled his eyes. "Have Dr. Graham take a look." "She did, sir. She sent me," the man answered. "Of the two men, one of them says he used to work here, doctor." Dr. Serizawa had, by this point, fully turned around to face the messenger, showing his interest had spiked. While the information alone wasn't that significant in the grand scheme of things, the seasoned scientist knew that this man could have insightful info on the power plant that went down fifteen years and, by proxy, might know about the truth behind the mass they were monitoring. With that in mind, Dr. Serizawa followed the man deep into the out facility. He was soon led to a small janitor's room where Joe was being kept, while being interrogated by two other men. He found Dr. Vivienne Graham in front of a table examining the disks that were on the mystery man. "You're not fooling anybody when you say that what happened fifteen years ago was a natural disaster," the two doctors could hear Joe's resolute defiance through the giant glass window. "Found these disks in his bag," Dr. Graham held up a hard drive. Dr. Serizawa took it and studied it along with the other belongings found in Joe's bag. "Not sure what to make of it." As they two looked through the new info, Joe was slowly growing more impatient with two men inside with him. "Not an earthquake, it wasn't a typhoon. Okay? So stop--" the old worker growled in frustration. "Look, I'm tired of talking to you about this. I want my son...and those ponies and lizard, too. I wanna see my son. I wanna know that they're all right." He turned his attention to the armed, Japanese guard standing beside the interrogator. "This guy, this guys knows," he points to him. "He knows where he is." The disgruntled man then said something to the guard in Japanese. "I want my son. And I want my bag and my disks." Joe angrily got up from his chair. "And I wanna talk to somebody in charge, not you." "Sir, please," the bald man tried to calm him down. "No, not you," Joe snapped. "I'm done talking to you. All right?" He turned to the window to see Graham and Serizawa looking through his disks. "You're looking at me right now, like I'm in a fish tank, right? That's fine. Because I know what happened here." The two scientist looked up to meet Joe's gaze. "And you keep telling everybody that this place is a death zone, but it's not. You're lying. Because what's really happening is that you're hiding something out there. I'm right, aren't I?" Not only was Joe losing his cool, he was also starting to get emotional. Tears threatened to spill from eyes as the agonizing seconds of recalling all the heart-wrenching memories. "My wife died here!" he screamed. "Something killed my wife." Serizawa's studious gaze began to soften as he continued to hear more from Joe. While knowing of the treasure trove of new information was at the forefront of his mind, he was a sympathetic man and he couldn't feel but feel a little bad for Joe. "And I have a right to know! I deserve answers!" Joe turned away from the window and paced around to try and recollect his thoughts and emotions. While he was doing that, Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham went back to viewing through the confiscated items. What caught there attention the most were the cartridges. "All these items they found on him," Dr. Graham said quietly. "And the date. Look, fifteen years ago." "I thought all of the data from that day was lost," Serizawa whispered. "I guess not," the female scientist said. Then they turned their attention the old graphs that showed all the readings on that day. All of a sudden, the lights began to flickered and buzzed. "You see? You see?" Joe said. "There it is again. That is not a transformer malfunction. That is an electromagnetic pulse." Serizawa looked back to the old readings. They bared a striking similarity to the current readings they were getting from the mysterious mass. He took off his glasses, dumbfounded by what he was learning. "It affects everything electrical for miles and miles and it is happening again. This is what caused everything in the first place. Don't you see that?" Joe stomped over to the window. His face was not even a few inches from the glass. "And it is gonna send us back to the Stone Age. You have no idea what's coming." Graham turned to Serizawa, who just stood in silent astonishment. She was getting freaked out, not from what Joe was saying, but the fact that he was right and the implications of such. Then the lights began flickering again, along with the entire facility began rumble. The electromagnetic pulses were getting stronger. In the main control room, things were falling into chaos. The entire room shook as alarms blared of an emanant danger. The readings on the computer screens spiked to an all-time high. "The pulses are seconds apart," the bearded scientist declared, racing around the room. "They're getting stronger. It's affecting the power grid." "Any radiation leakage?" Whelan asked. "Gamma levels are still zero," another scientist answered. "It sucked all three reactors dry." Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham hurried into the control as the situation was growing more dire. The pulses were coming in faster like an increasing heartrate. Another electromagnetic pulse rocked the facility. It had gotten strong enough to the point that the rocky outside of the mass was beginning to crumble and fall apart. At ground zero, researchers and scientists alike scurried back the broken pieces of stone crashed to the ground. "It's done feeding," Dr. Serizawa said. Whelan caught sight of the old readings in the older scientist's hand. "What's this," he grabbed the papers and looked through them. "Jesus, it's the same pattern." "Fifteen years ago. It's what caused the meltdown." "It's an electromagnetic pulse," Graham explained. "That's what it's building to. Converting all that radiation until it hatches." The other scientist were astonished, yet horrified at such a revelation. "We have to shut down," Serizawa notified. Knowing of the potential dangers that was to come, Dr. Whelan began barking out orders. "Secure the grid. Wildlife protocols." The lab-coated scientists began scramble to initiate the emergency protocols. Things were getting out of control and fast. They were running out of time. One scientist grabbed a speaker to the PA and also began stating orders to everyone down below. "All personnel, clear the first perimeter immediately!" More alarm went off as the security protocols went into action. The giant cranes that overlooked the perimeter were to string over a fixed construction of high-tension wire of the rocky mass. The idea was that it would act as a net should things get even worse. The crane operators worked carefully, but quickly to secure the area, all the while, everyone down below began evacuating the perimeter. The driver of the truck shouted something in Japanese before abandoning the vehicle, leaving behind Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike. "What's going on?" Ford banged on the windows. "Hey, where you going?" "Wha...Did the guy just abandon us?" Twilight asked angrily. "Whatever the reason, it doesn't look to be good," Rarity indicated skittishly. Through the thick glass, the group could see the people hurrying about, wires being covered over the mass, and even a helicopter was getting a visual over the isolated area of chaos. "What in the hay is going on?" Rainbow asked, growing more frustrated over the fact that she wasn't getting answers, and terrified over the fact the said lack of answers possibly meant worst-case scenario. "Where the hay is Joe, as well?" "Didn't they take him to be interrogated?" Spike quizzically reminded. "I want out! I want out!" Rarity frantically began banging on the doors. "Let us out! You can't keep us in here!" The rest of the Mane 6 joined her in trying to break open the doors. Outside, things are coming to a crescendo. The masses pulses were becoming more and more frequent. Every jolt of electromagnetic forces caused the entire electric grid to flicker and sputter. Finally, however, the wire net was now completely casted over the perimeter. Researchers raced along the elevated catwalks to reach safety. One smashed an alert button, signaling the protocol's completion. An alarm blared and warning lights in the control room lit up, casting the room into a lurid, ghastly red. "Grid's secure," the head researcher said. Whelan, who by this point was stressed beyond belief, had taken off his glasses. Upon hearing the researchers confirmation of the grid's protection, he lowered his head. The bald scientist felt a small wave of relief wash over him, but Whelan knew this wasn't the end of it. Dr. Serizawa stared at the pulsing mass with sorrow and trepidation. He didn't want to do what he was about to do, but it was necessary for their safety. "Kill it," he said, his voice barely above a gruff whisper. Graham and the other scientist stood in regretful silence. Like Serizawa, they knew it had to be done. The head scientist weakly nodded and mashed his palm against the failsafe button. Within seconds, massive bolts of electricity sprouted from the electric lines. They crackled and sparked as they pierced through the orange-glowing mass. Everybody was forced to shield their eyes as the bolt lit up the facility. "What'n Celestia's name are they doin'?" Applejack asked in stunned horror. "Ooh, must be a lightshow," Pinkie seemingly grabbed a basket of popcorn out of nowhere and starting munching on the popped kernels. They watched as the bolts danced across the mass. "What the hell?" Fordy said to himself. The rocky mass could no longer take the electric onslaught. Large chucks of the jet-black stone broke free and crumble to the ground. Once again, everyone on ground level rushed away to avoid getting crushed. Finally the shocking stopped and everything went silent. The massive spike readings on the computer had dropped completely, showing no sign of life whatsoever. "All readings are flatlined," the head scientist announced. Whelan cleared his throat and put his glasses back on. "Get a visual." Down below, the researchers stared at the seemingly inactive mass with stunned silence. One unlucky fellow ventured up through the catwalks for a closer look. He shined a flashlight at the mass. The first thing he noticed was the black, sludge-like goo that ran down the mass. Then he spotted something moving amongst the stone and slime. The suited researcher leaned closer over the edge to try and get a more clear visual. Suddenly, whatever was moving violently lurched out and the rest that was attached to it followed. The rocky mass exploded as the creature inside burst out, letting out a triumphant roar. The creature was gigantic, grey and black in color. It's head was flat and triangular, and it's four forelimbs end on a long spike. It slammed it's front leg into the ground, sending out a invisible wave of electromagnetic force. "Jesus," Whelan said, horrified by what he was witnessing. "Check the grid. Hit us with an EMP. We're losing power!" The lights and machines throughout the facility all went dead, flooding the facility in darkness. Meanwhile, Joe was mopingly sitting down in a chair. He was still stuck in the storage room with no sign of when he was being let out. The lights then flickered before dying completely. Joe looked up in surprised, then he heard a click. He turned his head to see the lock had deactivated. The door swung open just a hair, just enough to see people running around in a panic. "Let! Us! Out!" Rarity feebly pounded on the doors, but it had become blatantly apparent that no amount of pounding or begging was going to open them. "Ugh, I feel so useless just sitting in here," Rainbow crossed her front hooves. "Hello? Is anypony there?" Twilight called through the doors. However, all she could see was the people running away along with the industrial lights turning off. The alicorn could hear screaming and yelling outside. What about? She couldn't discern. "Seems like somethin' spooked 'em," Applejack observed. "What did spook them exactly?" Spike asked. The group of ponies, dragon, and human heard a loud, titanic growl coming from where the rocky mass was supposed to be. "That answers that question," the young dragon shuddered, fearing the worst. "W-What was that?" Fluttershy asked fearfully. "I have no idea," Ford said. "Whatever it was, it didn't sound good," Twilight said with concern. Back up in the control tower, the scientist were scrambling to get electrical systems back online. "Get the backup generators online," Whelan instructed. "Were working on it. That pulse fried every circuit," one of the scientists said. "Check the cage." "Trying the backup generators," another scientist flicked a line of switches. Finally the power was back up and running. The lights turned back on, illuminating the facility and displaying the giant creature breaking from it's stone cocoon. It shrieked and roared as it finally broke free. The scientific team were immediately frightened over the hulking creature's presence. The tower shook as the creature stomped around. "Everybody out! Now!" Whelan exclaimed. Nobody needed to be told twice. The researchers made a mad dash to the emergency exits. Dr. Graham was still too shocked to move with the crowd. Only as her fellow acquaintances pushed by her, only then did she realize that she needed to escape, too, less she be in harm's way. The gnarly being stomped it's forelimbs against the ground and shook around to get the excess rock and slime off of it. Joe found himself on a catwalk. He saw numerous people scaling down the flights over stair on the towers. One group hurried past him, to scared of their endangered lives to even give the old plant worker a second glance. Joe looked around to find what was going on that was causing such a panic. Then he heard the angered wailings of the creature. He turned to the center to see titanic being trying to break free of the wire net over it. Joe stood in complete shock. Was this the creature that was responsible for the nuclear meltdown? He looked down to the ground and saw the containment truck that brought him there. Joe knew that his son and those ponies and dragon were likely still in there. He had to save them. Inside the truck, the Mane 6's futile attempts of breaking out had degraded into an all out panic. "Get us out!" Twilight slammed her hooves against the doors. "Don't let that monster eat us!" Rarity wailed. "What even is that thing!?" Applejack asked, terrified, while at the same time trying to comfort a scared Pinkie. "I can't unsee it, I can't unsee it!" the cheery mare had turned a complete 180 and was in utter hysterics. "We'll be okay, Pinkie. Ah won't let that thing git ya," Applejack bravely comforted. "I doubt you'd have any say in the matter!" Rarity shrieked. "Have you gotten a look at this size of that horrid thing." Fluttershy, on the other hand, was not helping her friends out in trying to break open the doors. Instead, she was too freaked out by the monster, her eyes still glued to it. She recognized the creature, the one that was taking on the larger, reptilian one in her nightmare. It was right there, in reality, likely to kill them all. "Fluttershy, why are you just staring off into nothing?" Rainbow asked in frustration. "We need to get out of this stupid box." "I-I...I've seen that creature before," the frozen-still pegasus squeaked at. The ponies and dragon stopped what they were and turned to her. "Wait, you mean that's the creature from your dream?" Twilight asked. "Yeah," Fluttershy said weakly. "But, what change does that make?" Rainbow asked. "That thing is clearly not friendly." "I-I don't know, but...I..." Fluttershy couldn't think of anything to say. She had to face the facts. Confronting the creature would led to their deaths, and hoping it would save them from the clutches of this research facility was just disgustingly wishful thinking after seeing how violent it was being. "I don't know," she finally said. "But, that creature holds some significance here." "She's right," Twilight backed her up. "If the vision showed the creature, then it plays some part in the conflict." "Clearly the bad side," Rainbow said. "That's the most evil-looking thing I've ever seen." "Well, maybe it's just scared that it's trapped," the violet alicorn looked the creature as it tangled with the wire net. "So, you're saying we should free it?" Rarity asked incredulously. "Twilight, have you gone mad? That thing is not friendly." "I mean, we won't really no that for sure unless it's free," Spike argued. "No," Ford spoke up after remaining silent for the better-half of the discussion. "I'm inclined to agree with Rarity. With all the damaged it's caused, it's not here to make friends." That's when the sound of sirens could be heard getting nearer. The facility's fire department had arrived to assess the situation. The group watched as the fire engines raced by. "Hey! Let us out! Hey" Ford pounded on the windows to get their attention. "Help us, please!" Twilight shouted. The ponies and dragon went right back to trying to break open the doors. The firefighters exited the vehicles and stormed the caged area, but immediately stopped. Two spike limbs slowly crept over the containment walls the grasped the high-tension wires. The creature pulled down on the wire net. The crane holding the portion of the wire cage was forcibly bent forward. It creaked and groaned as it was being pulled down. The tower section snapped into and the entire machine collapsed. As it went, the second crane tipped over and fell against the third which caused a domino effect. The cranes tipped and fell. The final crane began to collapse over the catwalk Joe was standing on. He quickly realized that it was going to fall on top of it. "No! No! Wait, wait, wait! Stop!" he tried to stop the workers from running past him, but it was no use. The tower fixture slammed onto the catwalk, taking out several people in the process. Joe managed to hold on to the guardrail. He was just a couple feet from being crushed. However, it wasn't the only thing it was about to land on. Ford saw the falling crane about to land on the truck. "Get down! Brace!" he ordered. "What? Why?" Twilight questioned. "Just do it!" The massive crane arm slammed against the truck, sending it careening across the pavement. The Mane 6, Spike, and Ford were thrown around like they were in a tumble-dryer. "Ford!" Joe shouted, scared for his son. The ponies screamed in fear and agony as they flipped end over end in the truck. Thankfully, it came to a stop, leaving it's occupants disoriented. "Gah! What'n tarnation was that?" Applejack looked around. The doors to the truck had been broken open, only for it to show the destroyed crane slowly being dragged over the edge of the containment hole. The crane operator screamed and banged on the cracked windows for someone to save him. But, it was far to late for him. The group stared in stunned horror, Fluttershy buried her face in Applejack's chest, not wanting to witness the operator's demise. The machine went over the edge. "Oh, dear Celestia," Twilight muttered in shock. Applejack lowered her hat in sorrow. "We...Wha..." Rainbow was still in shock of what had transpired in the last several seconds. “He just…t-the screaming…hrrk,” Spike had to keep himself from vomiting. Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy started crying, both out of sheer terror and the fact the they just witnessed an innocent fall to their death. They were all distraught. This was the first time they ever witnessed an actual death. Unfortunately, things were about to get much worse. The wires from the net were still attached to the tower. When the crane went over the wires were stretched as far as they could go. "Oh, no. Girls," Spike pointed to the collapsed tower that was lying over the catwalk Joe was standing on. The others turned to find the former plant worker standing on the damaged walkway. Ford and Joe stared at each other. The realization of what was about to happen hit them both at the exact same time. In the blink of an eye, the catwalk gave way and Joe plummeted into the pile of twisted metal. "Dad!" Ford screamed. "No!" the Mane 7 all shrieked in despair. "Joey!" Rainbow took off to try and find him, but more parts of the tower fell atop the pile. Ford and others were about to race over to rescue his father when the roar of the creature stopped them in their tracks. "Oh, no," Rarity squeaked. The team of friends slowly turned around to see one spiked limb creep over the edge and planted itself on the pavement. The flat-headed creature rose above it's containment and let out a monstrous roar. Fluttershy swore she felt herself pee a tiny bit. The creature second front limb slammed to the ground, breaking a pipeline. Poisonous gas blasted from the broken pipe. Firefighters and EMS ran for the lives as the creature stomped away from it's wired prison. Some were unlucky enough to be crushed as it walked across the crumbling pavement. "Merciful Celestia," Twilight said in terror. "Rainbow, get back here quick!" "But, Joe!" the rainbow-maned pegasus hovered over the mess of crane parts. "There's gas spilling out!" Ford crawled back into a truck and put on a gas mask. "Twilight, get that shield up again!" "Rainbow!" Twilight shouted, sounding more frantic. Rainbow wanted to find Joe, but with Twilight imploring her to come back, she forced herself to fly back to her friends. She trotted into the truck where the others were hiding. "Girls, come on. The thing isn't that scary," the raucous mare said. "It's the gas I'm worried about," Twilight conjured up her magic and enveloped her friends in the protective bubble. "That pipes been broken." She pointed to the shattered pipeline that was now spewing clouds of gas the air. "We'll get Joe back, Dash. Don't worry," Applejack reassured. "I just want to go home," Pinkie fearfully shivered in the farm pony's embrace. "There, there, sugarcube. We'll be okay," Applejack soothed. The group of scared friends could only watch now as the gigantic, bat-like creature let out a mighty roar. Facility personnel ran off in different directions to escape the being's stomping ire. Then, the creature opened up a second pair of limbs which turned out to be a pair of giant, leathery wings. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike went wide-eyed as the creature took to the skies and disappeared within the dark clouds. San Francisco, California "Well it was absolutely unlike anything I've ever experienced before," a woman explained her experience of the earthquake that tore through Japan. The TV showcased the damage left by the tectonic tremor. All the news outlets were broadcasting the unforeseen tragedy, and for Ford’s wife, Elle, it was the stuff of her worst nightmare. "Yeah, it's, uh, Ford Brody," she said through the phone. "Japan to San Francisco." When she caught wind of the earthquake that caught all of Japan off-guard, her first thoughts were of the safety of her husband. Followed by the safety of the Mane 7. Now she was on the phone trying to find any info of Ford's well-being. So far, she was turning up with nothing. "Okay, could I at least...If you could let me leave you my cell-" The call ended, leaving Elle with the faint, crackling hum of an empty phone call. "Hello?" the nurse was on the brink of breaking down. "Damn it!" She slammed the phone down and sat down on a chair. Elle put her hands over her face and exhaled. She was on the brink of an emotional breakdown. Her husband and friends were stuck in Japan where a massive earthquake occurred, and she was getting no answers on what happened to them or if they were even alive. Elle removed her hands from her face, trying so hard to keep from crying. She turned to Sam, who was standing in the kitchen. While he was fairly young, he was old enough to know something was wrong and it involved his dad and pony-slash-dragon friends. It upset him and seeing his mom so upset as well made Sam feel even worse. "I'm sorry," Elle got up from the chair and walked over to her son. "Hey, it's okay." She pulled Sam into a comforting hug. "It's okay. Daddy's gonna be okay." "What about the ponies?" Sam croaked. "Yes, they'll be okay, too," Elle reassured. "Daddy's gonna be okay, and our little pony friends are gonna be okay." She held her son as tight as she could. she didn't know if Ford and the others were going to be okay, but Elle was not going to tell Sam that. She was going to hold on to the hope that they will come back to them unscathed; Ford, the ponies, dragon, and Joe. All of them. To be continued Part 7: Nature's BeastsAuthor's Note Once again, big thanks to kauji and pony fan for some of the quotes and jokes in this chapter. Part 7: Nature's Beasts The morning sun did very little to ease the grim aftermath of the creature's destructive wake. Rescue efforts had kept on through the night into the early hours, helping the victims unfortunate enough to be on carnage's path. Paramedics and doctors worked tirelessly to treat the wounded and bag up the deceased. Helicopters of the American military soon made their presence as they surveyed the smoldering, twisted remains of the research facility. "This area is now under Naval military jurisdiction. All personnel must report to the duty office for debriefing," a man announced from the PA, before repeating it in Japanese. Dr. Serizawa stood blankly amongst the wreckage. Medical personnel, firefighters, and cops were hard at work securing the sight and treating the wounded. But, in his mind, the seasoned scientist was only concerned of what all the destruction all meant. The creature was awake and it was not going to play nice. "Dr. Serizawa!" Dr. Graham was hastily making her way to her colleague. "Dr. Serizawa! Dr. Serizawa!" Dr. Graham touch his arm to get his attention. Serizawa turned around to face her, a perturbed look on his face. Beside her was a taller, African American male in a U.S. Marines uniform. "Captain Russell Hampton," he introduced himself. "Glad to find you, sir. I've been briefed on your work with Operation Monarch." As the captain spoke, Dr. Graham eyes turned to the rows of deceased workers in body bags, waiting to be carried away. All this death happening so quickly. She never could have anticipated something so raw and horrific on such a scale. "Now, I'm told your organization has situational awareness of our unidentified creature?" Captain Russell asked to Serizawa. "Is that right?" The older scientist nodded weakly. "I'm here to inform you that we are now taking over operational authority from Monarch. So I'm gonna need you to come with me. Is there any other personnel you need?" Dr. Serizawa’s eyes scanned through the wake of twisted metal, medical personnel and body bags, looking for at least one specific person. Not far off in the distance stood an ambulance were Joe was carefully being loaded into. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike were by his side, worried for his life. Trails of dried blood winded from Joe’s mouth and head. "They'll take care of you. I'll be right next to you," Ford reassured his injured father. "We'll all be here," Twilight added. "You'll be okay, I'm sure of it." "Hang'n there, partner. You'll make it through this," Applejack said. "Okay," was all Joe could croaked out. "I-Is he really going to be okay?" Spike asked. "He's a strong man, he'll pull through," Ford said, though he didn't sound to sure himself. Dr. Serizawa pointed them and turned to the captain. "Them." One thing led to another and the group found themselves being taken into the skies by helicopter. To where, was yet to be answered. But, since the Japanese scientist was adamant they came with him, clearly it was of some important to the group. The helicopter zoomed across the vegetative ruins of Janjira before reaching the open ocean. "It's cramped in here," Rainbow remarked, try to get comfortable. "Our choppers aren't designed for large-scale transports such as this," one of the medics turned his attention back to Joe. "Let's get his vitals." Joe couldn't do much aside let out the occasional pained grown. He could feel himself slipping, he wasn't going to be around for much longer. "Shh. Shh," his son soothed. "Dad. Dad." "Mr. Brody, please be okay," Fluttershy quietly pleaded. "Radial pulse is weak. I'm counting 125." Dr. Serizawa stared at the Brody's intently, knowing they were likely to key to answer all the things that were yet to be explained. "It's okay," Ford said softly. "Um, if I may ask," Rarity said to the medics on board, "may I ask where we are being taken?" "Yeah, why are you guys being so secretive about this?" Rainbow asked further. "We're being transported to the USS Saratoga. It's now the main hub for uncovering the events that transpired last night," one of the medics explained. "Isn't that obviously?" the cyan pegasus asked rhetorically. "Giant, evil monster breaks from it's stone prison, causes destruction in it's wake, and flies away, likely to cause more chaos." "It's not that simply," the medic said. "What do you mean "it's not that simply?" Twilight asked suspiciously. "Seems pretty clear-cut to me." "Girls, look," Rarity pointed to a weakly stirring Joe. "Ford, guys, listen to me," the injured man groaned. Ford took off the breathing mask. "You were right. I'm sorry." "W-We're all sorry we didn't fully believe you," Pinkie added, her tone devoid of any sense of positivity. "We should've at least considered it more of a possibility," Twilight said sadly. "I mean, come on, we've should've known better." "Yeah. So much for benefits of other worlds," Rainbow bowed her head. "Ya didn't deserve this. Ya just wanted to learn the truth," Applejack said gently. "And all you got for yer troubles is fallin' off ah tower." "It's okay, girls," Joe said feebly. "I didn't expect much belief from anyone." He turned his attention to his son, who looked to be on the verge of tears. "Go home to your family. You keep them safe. Okay?" "Okay," Ford nodded. "But, what about us?" Spike asked. "Go home. Return to where you came from," Joe implored. "W-Wha...w-we couldn't," Twilight said, shocked by Joe's request. "We could never just leave you like this." "Especially when that monster's out there," Rainbow said, fighting back tears. "I swear, I'll make that thing pay." "Guys, this is more than I could've ever anticipated," Joe said. "This is bigger than me, or you, or Brody. Please, for your safety, it's best you let this be." There was a stunned, brief silence shared amongst the ponies and dragon. What Joe said was true, this was bigger than anything they've ever been through, but that didn't mean it was any reason to stand down. "No, we are the Elements of Harmony. Our duty is to protect and to help fix any problems," the mulberry alicorn said in resolute defiance. "We were brought here for a reason. We can't just walk away from this just because things have gotten out of hoof." "What kind of Element of Loyalty would I be if I just ran away with my tail tucked between my legs?" Rainbow said. "No matter how big the issues git, we ain't backin' down," Applejack put her hoof down. "Yeah, they've dealt with big, scary monsters before," Spike advocated. "Protection is pretty much our middle names by now," Pinkie chuckled weakly. Seeing the Mane 6 and Spike refusing to back down and showing such protective devotion did warm Joe's weak heart a bit. Knowing their tenacity and bravery, Joe could only bring himself to say one last thing. "Keep yourselves safe. Whatever it takes. Whatever it ta-" He stopped and his eyes closed shut. "M-Mr. Brody?" Fluttershy said, fearing the inevitable. "Hey, stay with me," Ford prodded his father's shoulder. "Dad? Dad?" "N-N...No," Twilight lightly gasped. "Please no." "Radial pulse is weaker. Barely feel it," the medic said. "We're losing him. Joe, can you hear me?" He lightly shook he to try to wake him back up. Pinkie, at this point, was sobbing up a storm. Rarity snaked a hoof around the crying mare's neck, allowing Pinkie to cry against her shoulder. Rarity, herself, was struggling to hold back the crumbling floodgates. "First the operator, and now him," Fluttershy sobbed hard, hiding her face within her long, pastel pink mane. It was bad enough witnessing a strangers morbid death, but to see somepony, or in this case, someone they knew dying in front of them, it felt like the entire world was breaking apart. "He's going into A-fib," the second medic said. "Give me another epi, one milligram, and 40 units of vasopressin." "What are we going to do now, Twilight?" Spike asked hopelessly. The young alicorn looked down at him, his eyes leaking the salt tears as they stream down his cheeks. Twilight could only hold him in a comforting hug. "I don't know, Spike," she rested her head in top of Spike's. "I really don't know." Ford leaned back, rubbing his hands against the side of his head. This was all too much for him and he was not handling it well. Dr. Serizawa turned to Dr. Graham. She looked back at him with a woeful look, then turned her eyes away. The situation was becoming more and more plaintive and with their main key likely dying, it was only going to become more downhill. USS Saratoga Coast of Japan The helicopter made a quick and safe landing aboard the aircraft carrier. While Joe was being carried away to receive more treatment, Rainbow couldn't help herself with inspecting the massive ship. It looked familiar to her somehow, but, for some reason, she couldn't put a hoof on it. "I swear this shape feels so familiar," she said to herself. She eyed the fighter jets parked side-by-side and the control tower that was perched in the back corner of the ship. "Rainbow, we need to go," Applejack called out to her prismatic friend, she was already out on the runway, following after the others. "Oh, sorry," Rainbow took off after them. Meanwhile, in the control tower, a debriefing was going on. The admiral of the ship was describing everything that went down at the now defunct research facility. Monitor showed the footage taken of the giant creature taking off from the shredded ground level. "This is our needle in the haystack, people. MUTO. Massive unidentified terrestrial organism. It is, however, no longer terrestrial. It is airborne." The admiral marched around the main control room, making sure everything was in order and that everybody was listening. "Now, the world still thinks this was an earthquake and it would be preferable that that remain so. Before we lost sight of it, it was headed east across the Pacific and had emitted enough EMP disruption to create havoc with our radar and satellite feeds and reduce us, for the moment, to a strictly visual pursuit. I emphasize "for the moment" because we will get on our game and we will find this thing. It is imperative that we do so." The admiral turned to the captain. "Captain, I want any and all search options on this table ASAP." "Yes, sir," Captain Russell nodded and made his out of the control room. The admiral then stepped over to Dr. Serizawa who was watching the MUTO footage on-loop. Despite having witnessing it in-person and watching the footage dozens of times, it felt like a nightmare. Every second, every frame felt like reality was playing some kind of sick joke. The bat-like creature's existence felt like a gut punch to what all of what Serizawa was researching originally. "Dr. Serizawa. Admiral William Stenz," the admiral held out a hand of greeting. The Japanese scientist lifted the strap bag in his hand onto his shoulder and shook Stenz's hand. "Nice to meet you," he said. "Glad to have you on board," the admiral said. "Sensei," Dr Graham quietly called to Serizawa through an opened door. "Excuse me," the despondent scientist left the admiral and made his way over to his colleague. Once he was through, Graham told him the bad news. "Mr. Brody's dead," Serizawa lowered his head mournfully. The two exchanged silently. Dr Graham pointed down the hall, directing the doctor where to go. The two left the control room. While Joe might be dead, Ford, and perhaps those ponies and dragon, could be helpful in sharing what Joe had uncovered. There was a desolate silence as Joe's lifeless body was slowly zipped up in a body bag. While Twilight and her friends were quietly sobbing over losing their friend, Ford remained silent and despondent. No tears were shed on his end, but that was because it was all happening on the inside. The young soldier didn't want to believe, he didn't want to think that his father was truly dead. Yet, there he was, deceased on the metal, infirmary table. After pretty much ostracizing Joe for some many years and getting the chance to try and make things right, it gets snuffed out from a disastrous monster attack. It wasn't fair. Even when Ford realized he had been wrong all this time, apologies felt too little, too late. "He didn't deserve this," Twilight sobbed. "This shouldn't have happened," Rainbow said through gritted, guilt-ridden teeth. "I-If I had just-" "No. Don't blame yerself fer this, Dash," Applejack was quick to shut down the pegasus's self-torment. "This wasn't yer fault. It was too sudden." "But...I should've...I should've been faster," the teary-eyed mare sniffled. "You can't save everypony, darling," Rarity said between choked sobs. "That's just one of the unfortunate things about...life...sob*" "Are you going to be okay, Ford?" Twilight turned to the silent man. Ford didn't give a reply, only staring at his dad's bagged-up body. The whirlwind of emotions in his head prohibited from registering anything going on in the outside world. That was until a naval officer entered the room. He lightly knocked on the steel door to get the others' attention. "Lieutenant Brody?" The group all turned to the naval officer. "Can't you see we're grieving here." Pinkie sniffled, now wearing a black funeral dress. "I understand that, but, Dr. Serizawa says he needs to see you all," the naval officer said. "Who now?" Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Come with me," the officer said. despite their uncertainty, the Mane 6, Spike, and Ford followed the naval officer through the ships corridors. Soon the officer opened a door to a small meeting room. There, Dr. Serizawa, Dr. Graham and several secretaries sitting around a meeting table. Dr. Serizawa closed the filed he was studying and stepped over to the group. "My condolences." "We are deeply sorry for your loss, lieutenant," Dr. Graham said. "But I'm afraid we need your help." "Uh-hu. You first," Rainbow said suspiciously. "Who are you guys exactly?" "And what do you need from us?" Fluttershy asked. "Forgive me," the older scientist bowed his head. "I'm Dr. Ishirō Serizawa and this is Dr. Vivienne Graham." "We were conducting research on a mysterious spore-like mass that cropped up near Janjira, Japan," Dr. Graham added. "Hence the facility?" Spike concluded. "That is correct," the female scientist replied. "Okay, but what exactly do want with us," Rarity asked, hardening her dubious look. The two doctors shared a look. "I think it's better if we showed you," Dr. Serizawa said. The Mane 6, Spike, and Ford sat down around the table. The lights were turned off and a projector displayed old footage on a projector screen. "This is the USS Nautilus." Dr. Serizawa began to explain. "In 1954, the first time a nuclear submarine ever reach the lower depths—it awakened something." "The Americans first thought it was the Russians," Dr. Graham preceded. "The Russians thought that it was them. All those nuclear bomb tests in the 50's...? The footage changed to the old bomb test footage taken not long after World War 2. The utter annihilation the nuclear bombs created was unprecedented, especially in the eyes of the Mane 6 and Spike. "Woah, nelly," Applejack said quietly. "You were testing bombs?" Spike said, a mixture of shock and excitement. "No. Not tests," Dr. Graham said. "They were trying to kill it," Dr. Serizawa. "K-Kill?" Fluttershy squeaked. The footage froze right as it showed a gigantic creature breaking through the ocean's surface. "Him," the older doctor pointed to it. The ponies, dragon, and human leaned in their chairs to get a closer look. Fluttershy, however, was the only one who remained still, a horrified expression on her face. That creature...that was the one that tried to kill her in her dream. The craven pegasus could still vividly remember the creature deafening roar and the wave of blue energy that blasted from it's mouth. Should she speak up about it. If she did, Fluttershy knew all attention would be on her then and she was too shaken to handle that. Her mind was practically yelling at her to speak up, but that just made her more conflicted. It didn't help that constantly looking at the still image of the creature brought her back to that horrible dream. Fluttershy cowered behind her voluptuous, pink mane, shielding her eyes from the stagnant horror on the screen. "What is that?" Twilight asked. "An ancient alpha predator," Dr. Serizawa answered. "Millions of years older than mankind," Dr. Graham added. "From an age when the Earth was ten times more radioactive than today. This animal and others like it consumed this radiation as a food source. But as the levels on the surface naturally subsided, these creatures adapted to live deeper in the oceans. Further underground. Absorbing radiation from the planet's core." "So, that ther' nasty stuff Joe talked about was a source of food for those ancient animals?" Applejack summarized. "Yes," the female scientist said. "The organization we work for, Monarch, was established in the wake of this discovery. The discovery of the creatures. A multinational coalition formed in secrecy to search for him. Study him. Learn everything we could." The film continued to roll, showing scientists using special instruments and old facilities. Then, it changed to recorded footage of the giant creature swimming across the ocean, it's massive, black spikes protruding through salty waves. "We call him...Gojira," Dr. Serizawa said. "He's a gorilla crossed with a whale?" Pinkie asked in confusion. The others turned to look at her, conveying different looks of confusion. "What? I've been taking Neighponese classes," the pink mare shrugged. "In English, it translates to Godzilla," one of the secretaries said. A round of "Oh's" came from Twilight and the others. "That sounds much scarier, though," Fluttershy said meekly. "But, is it still a gorilla-whale cross?" Pinkie asked "No. it is not cross between a gorilla and a whale," the aging researcher said. "That's pretty obvious," Spike said. "Truth be told, we don't know what it is exactly." "What we do know is that it's the top of the primordial ecosystem," Dr. Graham said. "A god, for all intents and purposes." "Hence the English name," the secretary added. "A monster," Ford muttered. "Fifteen years ago, we found a fossil of another giant animal in the Philippines," Dr. Serizawa said. "Like Gojira. But this creature died long ago. Killed by these." He pointed to the screen, which was now showing footage of a cave. Large, black, thorn-like masses were scattered throughout the walls and ceiling. "Ugh, revolting," Rarity said in disgust. "What even are those wretched things?" "Parasitic spores," Dr. Graham said. "One dormant. But the other hatched. Catalyzed when a mining company unknowingly drilled into it's tomb. The hatchling burrowed straight for the nearest source of radiation..." She pointed to the screen. It showed the hatchling's course to Japan. "...your father's power plant in Janjira and cocooned there for fifteen years, absorbing it's radioactive fuel to gestate, to grow." "Until it hatched like a butterfly into the creature you saw today," Dr. Serizawa added. "So, that meltdown story Ford talked about it. The one that killed his mom. That creature caused that," Spike concluded. "And that rocky mass we saw back at the sight was it's cocoon," Applejack said additionally. "So, let me get this straight," Twilight said, a hoof against her head as if to massage her growing frustration and anger. "You guys not only knew about all of this, but ultimately chose to keep them secret? Because, what? You feared causing a panic?" The two scientists could sense the alicorn's frustration and so did her friends. Dr. Serizawa knew there was no more hiding anything at this point. "You would be correct..." "Yeah, I could list off all the wrong things with that plan on one wing, but I think I can boil it down to the most glaring. The public is going to find out! And, let me tell you, secrets have a way of coming out into the public eye...and they come out hard." "You know, Twilight's right," Rainbow raised her front hooves onto the table. "You created this whole cover story of bomb testing just to hide something potentially dangerous from the public. Not cool. What if the creature decided to become hostile, huh?" "We never wanted to cause a mass panic," Dr. Serizawa retorted. "Do you have any idea how fragile and precarious the human race is? If people learned of the existence of giant, ancient creatures capable of destroying cities, society would fall into chaos. Public outcry, outrage, riots. We, as humans, are just specks to those creatures. They are almost unstoppable." By this point, Ford was now digesting all that was being shared with him. Like Twilight, he too didn't exactly why this was kept from the public eye. "Wait. You knew about this? This thing? The whole time? Why didn't you just kill it when you had the chance?" "Exactly," Rarity agreed, but felt she needed to clarify. "Granted, I'm not advocating for killing, but that monster left an entire city in ruin." "And it killed Ford's mom," Pinkie sadly added. "It was absorbing radiation from the reactors," Dr. Graham replied. "We worried killing it might release that radiation and endanger millions." "That's why our mission was to contain it," Dr. Serizawa said. "To study it's biology, to understand it." "We knew the creature was having an electrical effect on everything within a close proximity. What we didn't know was that it could harness this same power in an EMP attack." "EMP?" Twilight said. "An electromagnetic pulse," Dr. Graham clarified. Twilight pulled out a notebook and a feather pen. She opened to a blank page. "What is that exactly?" "Basically they are the electrical and magnetic forces and effects produced by an electric current," Dr. Serizawa explained. "Say an x-ray, for example. It uses electromagnetism to create pictures of inside the body." "Fascinating," Twilight wrote the info down in her notebook. "All right, enough with the eggheaded-ness," Rainbow rallied. "Back to this "Godzilla" creature." She turned to Fluttershy, who was had her mane covering her face. "You okay, Flutters?" she asked. Fluttershy was snapped out of her protective oblivion. She removed the pink hair strands from face to look at her prismatic friend. "Y-Yeah, I'll back okay." She was still on the fence on telling them about connection between the creature and her dream. "We didn't know any of the creature's capabilities," Dr. Graham turned to face Ford. "But your father did. He predicted it." "What else did he say?" Dr. Serizawa said. Ford leaned back against his chair. He recalled what Joe said to him and others back at his home. At first, he thought it was all wishful nonsense. But, now, after everything that's happened, there was true legitimacy to it all. Ford's father was onto something, and he brushed it all aside. "Please try to remember, Mr. Brody. Any of you," Dr. Graham said. "Anything that would help us. Anything at all." The Mane 6 and Spike wracked the brains to try and remember anything the Joe said that could've been of any significance to the issue at hand. "Maybe something about crystals? Blue crystals?" Pinkie wondered aloud. "That was you, Pinkie," Applejack said. "Oh, yeah, right," Pinkie giggled. "I've got nothing," Spike said. "I just thought it was rambling nonsense," "Well, clearly it wasn't now that we know the truth," Twilight said. "Did you get anything from him, Ford?" Rainbow turned to the lieutenant. "I didn't listen. I just thought he was crazy." Ford bowed his head in shame and regret. The ponies and dragon all looked at him. They all felt bad for him. "We don't blame you, dear," Rarity sympathized. "We all thought he was a little out of his mind." She put a hoof on Ford's shoulder to try and comfort him. "He was obsessed with all this..." Ford let out a sigh. "Said something about an animal call. Something talking." "Talking?" Dr. Serizawa asked inquisitively. Twilight's eyes widened, remembering what Ford was saying. "That's right. Those readings he talked about. They were showing a form of communication from something." "Yeah, he said he was studying something," Ford continued. "Echolocation." "And ah bet that creature back at the facility was the one that was talkin'," Applejack wagered. "And...for a reason," Fluttershy added. "If the MUTO was talking that day, your father must have discovered something talking back," the aged doctor said. "Hold up, Doc," Rainbow said. "Are you saying there's more than one of those "MUTO" things out there?" "There's only one way to find out," Dr. Serizawa said. "Check again. Search for a response." Dr. Graham nodded and went over to one of the computers. The male scientist then turned back to the projector screen, which was now showing footage of the MUTO's cocoon. "This parasite. It's still out there," Ford said. "Where's it headed?" "The MUTO is young...growing," Serizawa eyed the footage. "It will be looking for food." "Sources of radiation," Dr. Graham clarified. "We're monitoring all known sites. But if we don't find it soon--" Then what?" Ford straightened back up. "We'll just have to take it down ourselves," Rainbow punched both her front hooves together. "It's what we're here for after all." "No," the Japanese scientist halted Rainbow's heroic platitude. "Nature has an order. A power to restore balance." He turned back to the screen. "I believe he is that power." "What? I thought he was considered dangerous." the cyan pegasus reminded. "Dangerous, yes. But not evil," Dr. Serizawa reiterated. "I believe Gojira was biologically tasked to take down any creature that could threaten the balance of nature." "Like the MUTO," Twilight said. Serizawa nodded. "Lame! What are we doing here then?" Rainbow asked crossly. Once again, Fluttershy wanted to speak up. But the seemingly unending fear kept her mouth shut. "Why is it so hard not to be scared?" "So, what's going to happen now?" Spike asked. "You will be transported back to your residence," Dr. Graham replied. "What? You're not going to let us stay here?" Rainbow asked with disappointment. "I mean, I get that you said Godzilla is the balancer here, but we were brought here for a reason." Dr. Serizawa turned to the willful pegasus with a serious look on his face. "How exactly do you plan on taking down the MUTO?" he asked severely. "That thing is hundreds of times your size with the power of electromagnetism." "Well, we took down Tirek together," Rainbow turned to the others. "But he was know where near as big as the MUTO creatures. Even at full strength," Twilight pointed out. "Yeah...well..." "I implore you all, please, for your safety, return back home," Dr. Serizawa said. "We must put faith in Gojira. Only he can correct this biological imbalance." "What if he end'sup failin'?" Applejack asked. The aging scientist was quiet. He knew that Gojira was a very powerful creature. But Applejack did bring up a valid point. If Gojira was unable to take down the MUTO, what was the next best option? "May God have mercy on this planet," he finally said. "How reassuring," Rarity said sarcastically. With not much else to discuss, the Mane 6, Spike, and Ford were to be lead a way back home. In this case, they were running to a helicopter ready for the transport. A naval officer was with them explaining what was planned. "Sir, right now we're 50 miles from Hawaii. This transport will take you all there. You're catching a commercial flight back to San Francisco." Ford nodded in understanding as the group shuffled into the chopper. "Perhaps it's better this way," Fluttershy said. "I don't think it is," Rainbow crossed her hooves sulkily. "For crying out loud, we've dealt with giant creatures before. I mean, you remember talking down that dragon once before, Fluttershy, right." "Yeah. How could I forget," Fluttershy said sheepishly. "Right. We're more than capable of taking down that MUTO. With or without Godzilla." "Hold on, Rainbow," Twilight spoke up. "Remember that those MUTO feed on radiation. That stuff Joe said that destroys us at the atomic level." "Yeah, I remember, Twilight," the cyan pegasus said. "But you can just shield us from that." "I wouldn't be able to do that individually. That requires too much concentration in a hectic fight. The only way we could theoretically take the MUTO is with the Elements of Harmony. But we don't have those with us." "Ah hate to admit, Dash, but there ain't much we can do by ourselves against a massive, armored monster," Applejack said. "We could giving it a peace offering," Pinkie suggested. "I'm sure it like a classic, chocolate-frosted-" "It only feeds on radiation, Pinkie," the ponies and dragon all said. "Oooooohhhhhh, right." Rainbow groaned in frustration. "Ugh, why must we always back down in these situations?" "We have to have some boundaries, Rainbow," Rarity said. "Otherwise we probably wouldn't be here today." As the ponies continued their discussion, the helicopter lifted into the air and flew off to Hawaii. Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham watched as the helicopter left the perimeters. Despite what he said earlier, there was something nagging at the back of Dr. Serizawa's mind. Those ponies and dragon, as it constantly said, had so form of importance, but he just didn't know what. Back in the Brody's residence, Elle was getting Sam ready for bed, which meant making a game out of brushing his teeth. "I'm gonna need you to brush your teeth," she said playfully. All the while, Sam was giggling up a storm. "Disgusting! Those are terrible!" Elle chuckled. "We gotta brush them!" Her phone went off, receiving a call from her husband. However, because it was sitting on table far away and it was on silent, neither she or Sam could hear it. Hundreds of miles away, Ford was anxiously waiting for Elle to answer. But the only thing he received was a recorded message. "Hey, this is Elle. You missed me. Please leave a message." The satellite phone beeped once, allowing Ford to leave a message. "Elle...I don't...I don't know what they're saying on the news. There was an accident in Japan. Dad's gone. I'll explain when I see you. I'm headed to Hawaii. I'm gonna catch a flight from there. I'll see you soon." With that, the lieutenant ended the call. "How do you think she going to take all that's happened?" Spike asked. "I doubt she'll believe the MUTO part," Ford sighed. "The media is probably telling everyone it was an earthquake." "What if the MUTO come here?" Fluttershy quivered. "Take the advice from Serizawa; pray that Godzilla can handle this." Meanwhile, back on the USS Saratoga, Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham were looking through the readings Joe had collected from his investigations. His personal belongings and his disks were strewn across the table. The two scientists stare at the computer screen was the combed the readings for a possible response. "Keep scrolling," Graham said. Serizawa keep scrolling, keeping an intense focus on the passing wavelengths. He held the original paper readings in his hand as basis. "Near the end. Before the EMP," his colleague said. As the aging scientist scrolled on and on, he found a pair of similar looking readings on the screen. The computer beeped, signifying that they had found what they were looking for. "There," he point a studying finger against the screen. "Something responded." Honolulu International Airport Honolulu, Hawaii Holiday-goers and tourists piled into the monorail train as it sat waiting at it's scheduled stop. The Mane 6, Spike, and Ford all quietly sat in the train carriage as people squeezed by. Sufficed to say, it was not the most pleasant thing in the world. "As if being stuck in that boat wasn't cramped enough," Rarity complained. "I'm not complaning. It's so shiny and smooth in here," Pinkie said, mesmerized. "This is incredible," Twilight's eyes wondered around the monorail and the airport. "I've never seen anything like this. What powers this train?" "Electricity," Ford mumbled, his hands covering his face. The young alicorn let out a gasp. "Harnessing electricity. Brilliant!" She furiously scribbled notes down in her notebook. While Pinkie and Twilight were distracted, drinking up the new sights and sounds, Ford remained still. He rubbed his face to reduce stress and keep himself awake. "Feelin' the day catchin' up to ya?" Applejack asked, a comforting smile on her face. "...Yeah," was all the young lieutenant could say. "Ah understand, partner. Whenever we have a really busy day on the farm, it has a way of creepin' up on ya. Like a Timberwolf sneakin' up on ya." "Weird analogy," Ford said. "Git's the point across," Applejack slumped the seat. She point hoof around Fluttershy, who had just fallen asleep. Just then an announcement came from the PA. "Aloha, and welcome aboard. the train will begin moving shortly. For the comfort of others, no smoking, please. Thank you." Ford then pulled out a toy soldier from his coat pocket. He had picked it up from when he, Joe, and the Mane 7 were searching his old, abandoned house. "Ah thought ya said ya weren't interested in takin' those things back," Applejack said, puzzled. "I decided to take one as a souvenir...and a memory," Ford said. "And you did say it would've been nice to perhaps give them to Sam." The honest apple farmer smiled softly. She did remembered proposing the idea to him. It was nice to see Ford be so considerate and compassionate to his son. As Ford looked at the toy, he spotted a young, Japanese boy in a red-striped shirt and blue cap off in the corner of his eye. He was standing just behind the monorail doors, eyeing the plastic toy. The young lieutenant gave a smile at the boy before returning to the toy. Spike, meanwhile, scooted closer to Rainbow. "Hey, Rainbow." "Yeah, Spike." "Remember when you went to that airport with Dusty on our first mission?" The cyan mare had to take a few seconds to remember the exact memory. She did remember flying to a large airport with a weird name. "Yeah. Why do you ask?" She perked an eyebrow. "Well, I couldn't help but wonder if you saw any of those large machines there, too," Spike turned to see through the train's windows. Rainbow turned her head. Her gaze passed through the terminal where giant windows were set at the end. The prideful mare could just barely see a line of giant, commercial jets parked at the end of the airport. They looked familiar. From the long, cylindrical shape, to the silvery sheen that bounced off the body, and the bright, prismatic paint jobs, each one differing from each other. Then it came to her. "...then, Taxiway Alpha forks off to the left. But don't go that way. You want to veer right and if you get to the orange barrels, you went to far. So-" "Just go straight ahead. To the right." "Oh, yeah," Rainbow remembered the exact memory. "Yeah, I met one of the. He was a pretty chill guy. And now that I remember, I also remember why that boat looked so familiar." "Really?" Spike said, mesmerized. "Yeah, we had to land on it. He wasn't much of a talker, though." "Cool," Spike said. "Akio!" a man's voice said in a panic. The group turned to see the little boy from earlier had strayed into the monorail. The doors to the train closed shut, separating him from his parents. "Mama!" the boy cried out. "Mama!" The boy tried to pry the doors open while his mom and dad were banging their hands against it. "Oh, no, the poor dear," Rarity said in surprise. Ford was quick to be at the kid's side. "Hey, hey, hey!" He tried to get the doors open himself, but they wouldn't budge. Rainbow and Applejack helped by try to pull them open with all their might. But still, the doors remained locked. "Oh, come on! Open!" the pegasus gritted her teeth as she pulled. "Mama!" the boy cried. Suddenly, the train lurched forward. "Hey, wait. No!" Twilight exclaimed. "Who's driving this thing? Tell them to stop." "No one's driving. It's all computerized," a passenger said. "We can't open it," Ford said. "What do we do? What do we do?" Rainbow asked in concern. "Look, don't worry. Just wait here," Ford reassured the boy's parents. "I'll bring him back. Okay!" "Mama!" the boy sounded like he was on the verge of tears. As the train picked up speed, he raced down the carriage to try and stay with his mom and dad. "Sugarcube, it's too late," Applejack paced after him. "You'll have to wait for the return trip." "Hey, hey," Ford tried speaking to the boy in Japanese, but it he couldn't recall the exact words. "Mama!" the boy was nearing the end of the carriage. "Woah. Kiddo, hold on," Rainbow zipped in front of him. "There's nothing we can do now." "Woah. Hey, kid," Ford grabbed the boy to stop him. "It's okay. I'm gonna bring him back." He set the boy down on an empty seat. "All right. I'm gonna set you down here." "It'll be okay, sweetheart. We'll get you back to you mom and dad," Fluttershy reassured softly, sitting next to the young boy. The boy seemed apprehensive but remained calm. "We're gonna get you back to your mom and dad," Ford assured. "Okay?" The young boy nodded. "Yeah. You'll be back with them before you know it," Rainbow patted the boy's head. "What's your name, dear?" Rarity asked sweetly. "A...Akio," the boy squeaked. "That's a nice name," Twilight smiled. "Well, Akio, just stay with us and we promise we'll keep ya safe," Applejack said. "And we'll bring you back to your parents," Spike added. "Here. Is this what you want?" Ford pulled out the toy soldier and handed it Akio. the boy gingerly took it. The young lieutenant figured the toy was the reason Akio even entered the train. He probably wanted a better look at it and got stuck behind the doors when they closed. "Take good care of him for me." The young Akio stare at the toy figure and messed around with it. "Well, things just took an interesting turn," Twilight said. "We better not miss our flight, kid," Ford playfully tipped the boy's cap. "Oh...right. I suppose we should get used to all the sheen and bright lights here," Rarity said flatly. "Oh, please. You would enjoy that," Rainbow said coyly. The Mane 6 and Spike all shared a laugh. However, they would all soon use realized that missing their flight would be the least of their worries. Threats were coming from both sides and they were set for a collision course. To be continued Part 8: Horror in ParadiseThe Mane 6, Spike, Ford, and Akio all settled down for the comforting trip through the airport. For what it was worth, it was a good way to calm down and unwind from all that had transpired in the past 24 hours. However, back on the USS Saratoga, things were starting to get heated. "Admiral, received an intel report," a naval officer said to the admiral. "We lost track of a nuclear Akula 50 nautical miles northwest of Hawaii. Could be the MUTO." While it was targeted at him, Dr. Serizawa's attention was brought over to the advisory. Setting down his pen and paper, the Japanese scientist got up from his seat and approached Admiral Stenz. Dr. Graham had been standing a few feet away, just as intrigued of what the officer had said. "Just got word of a missing Russian sub in the North Pacific," Admiral Stenz relayed. He turned to some of the other officer working in the control room. "Martinez?" "Aye, sir." the female officer responded. "Special Forces Team Sparta 1 is picking up a distress signal northwest of Diamond Head on the island of Oahu. They're on the ground, headed to the beacon." Some of the monitors displayed the helmet cams on the search team as they search for the missing submarine. "--on 5.23 north-northeast of the last beacon. Moving in on foot." The team of soldiers trekked through the rugged, tropical landscape. They only thing keeping them company was the distant calls of the birds and insects. Despite their orders, a few of them couldn't help but think of the absurdity of searching for a missing seacraft in the middle of jungle. "Wanna tell me why we're looking for an Akula in the jungle?" one of the them asked, unassumed of the fact that were tasked to venture into a muggy region with heavy, clunky gear. "Probably a glitch," a another presumed. "Russians said they got a ping from this location." The soldier holding the tracking radar was also receiving a ping near the location they were in. Though, the glitch idea became the untold consensus amongst the team. "Hey, I got a reading. It's right up ahead." Up above, search and rescue helicopters shined their search lights down through the thick trees, slicing through the sweltering darkness of the evening sky. "Sparta 1, this is Hawkeye," one of the pilots said. "We're getting the same ping off the transponder. Range 30 meters. Looks like you're getting warm." The team of soldiers treaded through the lush vegetation. The tracker began beeping more rapidly as they got closer to the location. Their weapon lights then luminated something abnormal amongst the tropical brush. They were torpedoes. "What the hell?" one of them said. The soldiers holding the tracker cautiously approached the pile. Large gashes had been sliced into the shells and they were coated in a white, viscous slime. The soldier wiped away some of the gunk, showing the black and yellow warning label for radioactive material. "Jesus," he said in disgust, the substance clung to his glove. That wasn't the worst part. strands of the weird substance dripped onto the torpedoes from somewhere up above. The team raised their lights up and saw, to their shock, a massive ship propeller covered in the slime. Worse still, the propeller was still attached to something. "Oh, my god," one of the soldiers gaped. The helicopters' search lights came back on. The lights trailed up an entire Russian, Akula-style submarine perched up on a hilltop. The search team were in complete disbelief. It was no glitch, it was legit. A whole Russian sub beached amongst the Hawaiian native trees, coated in a mysterious slime. "Guardian 3, we located your Russian sub." one of them announced, but there was more. "You're not going to believe what else we found." "Holy shit," one of the helicopter pilots muttered. On the far side of the shredded seacraft, the MUTO was munching down on a torpedo. It seems relatively unbothered from all the blinding lights shining on it. "It appears to be rising approximately 20 to 30 meters above the tree line. We can't tell how wide it is," the soldier's description could be heard through the ship's control room. Admiral Stenz was alarmed, but remained stoic. He turned back to Dr. Serizawa. "Cat's out of the bag, doctor. No more secrets. Our highest priority now is safety. There's close to a million people on that island." Dr. Seriawa remained silent. He lowered his head, not out of shame but of thought. With the MUTO's reappearance mulling over in his head, the seasoned researcher could only think of when Godzilla was going to arrive. Admiral Stenz came over to Captain Hampton. "Get me eyes in the air." While he was giving out orders to the captain, another one of the naval officers was picking up something on the radar. "We're picking up something else. Approaching from the Pacific." That was the piece of news Serizawa was inevitably waiting for. Godzilla was on his way. "We need to check out that object," Stenz said. "General quarters." Dr. Serizawa hurried out the door with Dr. Graham following after him. Captain Hampton picked up a phone to contact the bridge. "Bridge, this is the captain..." Dr. Serizawa hurried through the tight corridors. He was carrying a jacket and a pair of binoculars. "Where you going?" Dr. Graham asked. "Up to the flight deck," the older scientist said. "I think he is coming." "What are you doing?" Graham asked, sounding more concerned. "I have to see this." Serizawa motioned her to stay put. On the flight deck, fighter jets scrambled into the air. They zoomed toward the location of the MUTO for interception and likely extermination. Along the shores of the Hawaiian beaches, people were leisurely enjoying themselves as the setting sun cooled the fresh tropical air. Some of them were ending their day with a relaxing visit to the surf bar and grill sitting not far from the shore. However, the site of military helicopter flying overhead, stained the atmosphere with confusion. Some of the people got up from their chairs as the watched the choppers hover over several buildings. SWAT teams fast-roped from the copters, landing on the building roofs. They quickly and expertly armed their guns and got into position. The team of specialized officers remained still, pointing there guns to the mountains where the MUTO approximately was. Meanwhile, the airport rail link train chugged along the bridged line. Pinkie was currently having fun with Akio, playing around with the boy's hands. "Are we there yet?" Rainbow groaned. "Considerin' we haven't stopped, Dash, I'd say no, we haven't," Applejack answered flatly. "Ugh, this is so boringggg!" "You can play with me and Akio," Pinkie joyfully suggested. "With what? There's nothing to have fun with," Rainbow whined. "Maybe to you," the party mare went back to waving her hooves with Akio's hands. "Bloop, bloop, bloop..." "So, would thank Godzilla our ally?" Twilight quietly said to herself. "I mean, worst case scenario, we are needed to help take down the MUTO, would he help us? Or would he see us as enemies as well?" "I-I...I would rather not think about that," Fluttershy hid behind her mane. "Oh, sorry, Fluttershy, I didn't know you could hear me." "If you ask me, I think he wouldn't care," Spike said. "That's...pretty bold," Twilight reproached. "Well, think about it, Twilight. These creatures we're dealing with are gigantic. It's like us with flies, we see them as a nuisance and not a threat." Both the alicorn and pegasus shared quizzical looks. Spike did raise a decent point. Compared to the MUTO and Godzilla, the Equestrians were tiny, almost unnoticeably so. In nature the large creatures usually ignore the tiniest animals, and it would likely hold up with the likes of the creatures they've seen today. "Hmm, biologically speaking, you're kind off onto something, Spike," Twilight said. "But would it still be wise to be around if they were to...fight? That would be pretty dangerous." "uh...moral support," Spike shrugged with a innocuous smile. This lead Twilight to giggle. "Um, there's something else I think you should know," Fluttershy said. "What is it, Fluttershy?" the young princess asked. "W-well, I...I was too scared to say anything on the ship, but..." The wavering pegasus was suddenly interrupted when several fighter jets zoomed past the train. It caught all the attention from the passengers as they watched the jets roar past. "Woah!" Akio and Pinkie said in amazement. "What in the? What's going on?" Rarity asked. "And what'n tarnation are those things?" Applejack added. "Ah remember seein' 'em back on the boat, but I have no clue what they are." "They're fighter jets. Aircraft designed for battle," Ford explained. "B-Battle!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "Your society has an over-the-top answer for everything, huh?" Spike said in bemusement. "Oh, yeah," Twilight's eyes lit up. "You told us about meeting a couple them with Dusty back then. Didn't you, Rainbow?" The cyan pegasus had to think for a quick second for the memories to come to the forefront of her mind. "Yeah, yeah! I think their names were Bravo and Echo." "Okay, present talk here. Why are they flying around if they're made to fight?" Rarity asked more critically. Ford's face expressed a mixture of confusion, anxiety, and worry. Those jets were deployed out here for a reason and it wasn't a positive one. "I don't know. But I have a bad feeling about this." The battalion of fighter jets raced to the location of the MUTO. Their mission; take down the the giant beasts before it can reach the city. "Two Charlie Six, we are circling the target," one of the pilots said. "Go on your command." His eyes narrowed on the raging creatures, the choppers' lights illuminating it's dark silver body against the mountains of green. "Stand by, got a visual. Bogey at my 12." The jets zoomed past the location point. The MUTO snarled threateningly before chomping down on another torpedo. More fighter jets whizzed overhead, provoking the MUTO even more. It dropped the torpedo, sending the decommissioned weapon falling to the ground. The soldiers on the ground braced as the missile smashed into the dirt. "Be advised. Prepare to engage target," another one of the fighter pilots said. "We're getting movement down here," one of the soldiers on the ground warned. The MUTO raised it's right front leg into the air. It glowed an ominous orange. It let out a enraged shriek, which was all the telling to the soldiers that the MUTO was about to attack. "Take cover!" The MUTO slammed it's spiked leg to the ground. The search team were knocked off their feet from the impact. An electromagnetic shockwave rattled throughout the entire area. One pilot's fighter jet was hit point blank. The machine immediately died and began to plummet to the ground. "Control I have no power!" the pilot yelled. "I say again, I've lost all-" The jet sliced through the tree tops and smashed into the forest floor, creating a brutal explosion and lighting up the compromised area. Several soldiers were knocked back several feet. But, the chaos didn't end there. The electromagnetic pulse traveled throughout the island, killing all electrical devices for miles. Cars died, lights went dark and the airport rail link came to a jolting halt, catching all the passengers off guard. "What the hay?" Twilight said, startled. "What the heck was that?" "There train's stopped," Fluttershy said quietly. "You all right?" Ford held Akio securely. Akio didn't give a response. He looked down the front of the front, confused to what was going on. "Hey, why did the train stop?" Rainbow asked. "We've got places to be." "It's probably just an electric malfunction." Ford assured. "You give it 10 seconds, lights gonna come back on." Akio turned back to him, still a bit unnerved. The young soldier held the boy's hand to keep him calm. "It's okay." "I don't mean to be pessimistic, but is it normal here for a city's lights to just go dead like this?" Rarity pointed to the darkened city. Not a single bit of the light came from any of the buildings. Seemed like the entire power grid was shot. Ford took notice. Of he wasn't already on edge from the dead train, he sure was now. "Something's wrong. Very wrong." "Ya'll don't suppose them MUTO is the cause of all this," Applejack hinted, slightly unedge, herself. "Dr. Serizawa said the MUTO let out electromagnetic pulses, which kills all electrical devices," Twilight recalled. "I think it's safe to say that, yes, this is the MUTO's doing." "But, that means it's here on this island," Spike said fearfully. Rainbow immediately took to searching for it. She scanned her eyes through the train's windows to try and spot it. "Where is it? It's bound to be around her somewhere." "Let's not cause an unnecessary panic in here, please, Rainbow," Ford said. "I suggest we just sit here and wait for the train to start up again. It's not like we're going to be here for long." The stalwart pegasus let out a conceding huff and flopped back down on her seat. "Fine, but I don't have to like it." "We wouldn't expect you too, Dash," Twilight said. "Don't worry, Dashie. You can still play with me and Akio," Pinkie grinned excitedly. "Pass," the prismatic mare said. The tropical beaches were lined with confused and concern bystanders. From their point of view, they could see the mushroom cloud from the jet crash rise above the hilly slopes. Within the dozens of people, a young girl's attention was turned back to the shore. The girl in question wore a yellow shirt, jeans, and with a lei around her neck. She removed herself from her mother's grasp and curiously stepped closer to the ocean. The tide was rapidly receding, so much so that hundreds of fish now lay hapless on the newly exposed seabed. "Dad!" the girl called out. A man in a bright blue shirt and lei turned to see her daughter standing away from the crowd. "Zoe?" he quickly jogged over to her. "Zoe!" The father hoisted her daughter up. That's when he too noticed the ocean tides retreating farther and farther away. "Oh, my god." He knew what a receding tide indicated. Weather sirens started going off, warning everyone of the impending tsunami. "Run. Run! Tsunami! Tsunami!" the father cried out, running with the crowd as the frantically vacated the premises. Up above, more military helicopters were heading toward the ocean. "Bravo, Bravo. Target spotted offshore two knots due east of your position," one the pilots radioed to the Saratoga. "Could be a second bogey." Dr. Serizawa had made it up to the main deck of ship. One hand firmly grasping his jacket and the other holding a pair of binoculars. All the was going on was soldiers yelling and more helicopters taking off from the deck. But, then the doctor spotted something in the distance. He looked through his binoculars to see a chopper shining a light down on something in the water. Large, black spikes protruded from the surface and they were moving toward the ships. The water swashed and bubbled as everyone aboard the Saratoga stopped and watched the spectacle. Dr. Serizawa lowered his binoculars, a horrified expression on his face. "Gojira." The giant creature wasn't slower down and it was heading toward the massive carrier. The personnel crouched and braced, expect Godzilla to crash into the ship, but massive beast dove down at the last second, swimming underneath the ship. The searchlights pierced through the water, highlighting Godzilla's reptilian body as he slicked through the frigid depths. The ship's personnel, along with Dr. Serizawa, raced to the other side of the aircraft carrier just in time to see Godizlla resurface. The watched in disbelief as the lizard-like beast breached through the surface, casting aside several military ships like they were toys in a bathtub. Back on the Hawaiian island, the shores had been completely deserted save for one occupant. A dog leashed to a tree was barking and whining as the raging wave of water rushed from the shore. The dog barked to try to scare the tsunami away, but this obviously didn't do anything. As the unstoppable wave mowed down chairs and beach umbrellas, the abandoned pooch made a break for it. Luckily the cheap leash easily snapped free of the tree. The dog raced down the streets and quickly caught up from the panicking mob of people. The monstrous wave was quickly catching up to them. The young girl from earlier was being carried by her father as he and his wife ran for their lives. She could see the tower of water getting closer, taking down everything in it's path. People stuck in there cars could only watch and brace as the tsunami smashed into their vehicles. The family of three quickly made it inside a coffee shop. Just as the glass door closed shut, the raging torrent rushed passed. The family raced to the back of the shop. The reinforced glass began to creak and crack under the insane weight. Most people were not so lucky, however, as they were swept up in the water. The few that managed to escape onto the tops of buildings watched the streets were bathed in the freezing seawater. Cars, trees, and telephone poles were swept away and disappeared within the frothing waves. The people were aghast of the tsunami's destruction, and as the last of the remaining building lights went out, the soldiers that were posted on the rooftops shot off flares. The immediate area was alit with an ominous red. It also illuminated the giant, reptilian creature that lumbered through the flooded streets. The citizen's astonished attention was now glued directly on Godzilla as he stepped past the buildings, not seeming to care of the dozens of eyes watching him. Suddenly, gunfire. Citizens ducked down as SWAT members rained a bullet hell on the lumbering beast. However, the bullet only bounced off Godzilla's armored skin. The assault rifles might of well have been airsoft guns. The SWAT members stopped shooting, quickly realizing the meaningless affect of their weapons. They could only watch was Godzilla carved a path through the streets, tearing down chunks of buildings in search of his prey. Meanwhile, back at the beach submarines, the search team on the ground were surveying the destruction and injuries from the subsequent MUTO attack. The MUTO in question seemed to have disappeared during the chaos. "Anybody hurt?" the sergeant radioed to the team. "Anyone get an eyeball on the bogey?" "Where is he?" one of the party members asked. No one seemed to have an answer. Nobody saw where the MUTO went. That was until they here the faint snarling coming from way behind them. The group turned. One of the soldiers took of his gas mask and walked over to the edge of the hillside. From their vantage point, they could see the city's electric system turn back on. The buildings' lights flicked back to life like the sun's sweeping light. That included the airport rail link. The train's lights turned back on, much to the relief of the passengers. "Finally!" Rainbow said, glad that they were finally getting going. "We've had enough inconveniences for one day." "All say. It was starting for feel surreal in here," Twilight said. "And humid. It's ruining my mane!" Rarity haplessly stroke her brilliant, violet mane, which was starting to frizzle. "There you go," Ford said to Akio. "What did I tell you?" "So, maybe it wasn't the MUTO after all?" Twilight asked conclusively. "Well, the power turning back on doesn't really prove or disprove anything. But, I doubt we'll have to worry about them anyways." Akio watched as the lights on the bridge lit back up, illuminating the railed path to the airport gate. The lights also lit up the MUTO's hulking frame as it stalked along the bridge. It let out a roar, causing everybody to panic. "You were sayin'!" Applejack exclaimed fearfully. "Gah! Why is that beast here?!" Rarity shrieked. "It's gonna eat us!" Pinkie cried out. Suddenly the train lurched forward, heading toward the agitated MUTO. "No, no, no, no, no!" Twilight held her head in horror. "Tell the conductor to turn the train around." "There is no conductor! The train's completely automated!" Ford exclaimed. The other passengers began screaming and crying as the train closed in on the MUTO. Ford stood up upon seeing the massive creature. He held Akio close. "What do we do!?" Spike asked, panicking like he never had before. "Somepony open one of the windows" Twilight ordered, a magenta glow emanating from her horn. "I'll try to distract it." "You can't be serious, Twilight!" Rarity gaped. "Taking on that thing by yourself?" "I have to do something!" the alicorn argued. But before Twilight could even think of a way to break through the train window, gunfire rained down from high above. "Get down!" Ford forced Akio to the ground, shielding him. "Eep!" Fluttershy squealed and practically flattened herself to the floor. The others did the same, ducking to avoid potential friendly-fire. Attack helicopters swooped in from right to intercept the parasitic monster. Bullets pummeled the MUTO's body. It let out an agitated growl before setting it's sights on the on-coming train. "Where's the brakes to this thing?" Rainbow searched for any kind of lever or button that signified a braking system. All Ford could see was the gaping maw from the train's front window. Akio let out a scream, causing the young soldier to take action. "Let's go! Twilight, everybody, get down!" The Mane 6 and Spike acted with question and braced against the floor. Ford barricaded Akio against the seats and used his body as a shield. The sound of shattering glass and crumbling concrete filled the panic-stricken air. The train car leaned down causing some of the passengers to slip and fall to the pile of rubble now sitting on the tarmac. The MUTO had torn open the train car which was now teetering over the edge of the broken bridge. Ford was able to grab onto a row of seats to keep from falling. "It's okay! We have you!" Twilight managed to nab a young woman in her magic, keeping her from falling. "Please wake up! Let's just be a nightmare!" Rarity lightly bashed her hooves against her head. "That we be to good to be true," Rainbow said, holding the unicorn's tail. "Please remember to stay clear of the automatic doors," The PA said in a robotic tone. "That's not helping!" Akio was unable to hold on to anything and began sliding to the gaping hole at the end of the busted train. "Akio!" Fluttershy wailed. Ford, however, was to grab the young, Japanese boy from falling. The horrified pegasus breathed a quicky sigh of relief, which was quickly snuffed out when the train lurched further over the edge. "If this train continues to lean, it'll go over entirely!" Ford warned. Twilight, thinking on her hooves, came up with a plan. "Rainbow, come with me!" The young princess zipped through the opening. "On it!" Rainbow quickly followed, a streak of rainbow colors trailing behind. "Twilight! Rainbow! Where are ya going!?" Applejack called out, but received no reply. Once outside, the alicorn princess iterated her plan to Rainbow. "We need to get this train back on the tracks. We'll try to push back on from the bottom," she pointed to the undercarriage. "Woah, hold on, Twi," Rainbow said. "I know I'm a very capable pony, but I don't think we'd be able to push an entire train back." "We have to try!" Twilight exclaimed urgently. " Even if we can't get it back on the track, we have to keep it from falling off the bridge. If we don't, everypony inside is a goner!" The purple alicorn pointed to the smoldering pull of steel and concrete where one train car sat, twister and broken. Rainbow quickly got the message and steeled herself. "All right, let's save these ponies and humans. And dragon, too." Twilight and Rainbow zipped underneath the teetering railcar. They pressed their hooves against the undercarriage. Together, the alicorn and pegasus heaved with all their might to keep the train from going over. "Put you back into it!" Twilight yelled. "I'm trying!" Rainbow answered back sharply. The two ponies were being pushed beyond their limits to keep the train and everybody inside safe. On the tarmac, ground control had gone into complete panic. Airport workers run and dove underneath parked airplanes to hide from the aggrevated MUTO. "Go, go, go!" one of the workers yelled, ushering the entire team to take cover. The monster roared and stomped around the open flight line. To make matters worse, seawater came flooding in. Not on a tsunamic level, but it wasn't something ground personnel needed nor wanted. The one saving grace were the attack helicopter circling the MUTO's path. "Target in sight--two o-clock, 300 meters," one of the pilots said through the radio. "We're on 6-X-01. Target confirmed," the co-pilot added. They fired more rounds at the MUTO. The MUTO, however did not seem all that effected. Without warning, a large column of black spikes rose in-front of the chopper's path. The pilots violently swung the aircraft left to avoid collision. "Jesus!" They swung back toward the MUTO, but they had flown too close. Now they were on a collision course for the MUTO itself. The two pilots tried to avoid it, but it was too little, too late. The giant, silver beast let out a defiant roar and bashed it's right wing into the helicopter. It burst into flames and spun out of control toward the ground. The flaming chopper smashed into a parked commercial jet, leading to a massive explosion. People inside the terminal began screaming and panic as they watched the white-hot mushroom cloud consume the massive plane. Fiery debris flew everywhere, chain-reacting into another parked aircraft, which also burst into flames. And then a third plane exploded, it was utter pandemonium. That's when a gigantic, reptilian foot stomped onto the tarmac. Everyone in the terminal went dead silent, stun and horrified by what they were seeing. Twilight and Rainbow, who were stilling holding the train, couldn't believe what they were seeing. Everyone in the train couldn't believe what they were seeing. "Oh...my...gosh," Rarity said, barely even able to say the words. Spike let out a horrified squeak and ducked underneath the blanching unicorn. Pinkie just had her mouth wide open, maybe emotions whirled around in her head. Applejack stood completely stunned. "He's even bigger than ah thought," she muttered fearfully. Fluttershy hugged the apple farmer pony like she was her stuffed animal. Once again, it was like her nightmare was coming to reality. But, seeing him in real life, Fluttershy wished it was all a nightmare. "No," she began to cry. The MUTO let out another might roar and flared out it's wings, as if to tell the creature approaching it to back off. The monstrous, black, lizard-like creature didn't back down. It glared at the MUTO with the fury of a thousand judges. Rainbow was finally able to find her voice to ask one, simply question. "Twilight...is that..." The last word died in her throat, too overcome with astonishment and dread. Twilight gulped, sweat racing down her face like a river. In a quiet, barely audible tone said... "It's Godzilla." Sam was lazily laying on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, military and dinosaur toys on the coffee, watching the evening news on the TV. Okay, well that last part doesn't sound in-line for a young boy, but Sam was entranced of the even broadcast solely for the fact that they were airing live footage of Godzilla fighting the MUTO. All the while, reporters and witnesses going over the current chaos ensuing on the tropical island. "Sam, please turn that TV off," Elle came into the kitchen area and through down a couple articles of clothing onto the counter. Her son didn't give a response, instead keeping his eyes firmly staring at the TV screen. She let out a sigh as she grabbed a nearby cup and filled it with water. "Hey, did you hear me?" Sam just sat upright. Whether she couldn't hear his mom or flat out chose to ignore her, it was hard to tell. Elle wasn't having any of it, either way. "Off," she said more sternly. Again, nothing. Sam watched as the TV showed the MUTO take to the sky and flee of over the ocean with Godzilla in pursuit. "Come on, Sammy. Let's go," the young nurse, with Sam's clothing in-hand saunter toward his bedroom. "Let's go. It's bedtime." She turned back around to Sammy who was still on the couch. "Sammy." "Mommy, look," the young boy pointed to the TV. "Dinosaurs." Elle dismissively looked at the TV for barely a second, before looking back at her soon. If she didn't know any better, she thought she saw a giant, prehistoric-looking creature on the news. Elle did a mental double-take and looked back at the screen. Sure enough, there it was, Godzilla taking to the seas to chase after the MUTO. Of course, she herself didn't know what the creatures were exactly, just that the chaos occurred in Hawaii. Dread formed in the pit of her stomach. Not too long ago she got a message from Ford explaining that was heading to Hawaii to catch a flight. The horror hidden in her expression was indescribable. Was her husband okay? Was he even alive? Are the ponies still with him? Those questions only fueled her anxiety and dread. Combined with the fact that giant, destructive animals were now roaming the earth, she couldn't fathom a reality even if she wanted to. But, here it was, and Elle and her son were bystanders of such a terrifying reality. Worse of all Ford and the ponies could possible be victims, dead or alive. "Oh, Ford," she held to doorframe to keep from collapsing and having a meltdown. Things have gone from bad to worse to even worse for everyone involved: Ford, Elle, the Mane 7, Dr. Serizawa, everyone. However, this hell was far from over and the real danger was only just beginning. To be continued Part 9: The Tensions WorsenFluttershy felt a sick sense of déjà vu as she along with the rest of the gang trudged with the crowd through the destroyed island coast. The streets were littered with shattered glass, steel, and concrete, buildings stood with shredded pieces missing, and the air was saturated with aging smoke and dust. She felt like she was back at the research facility when the MUTO first rose, except this time it was ten times worse. The water had long since dissipated allowing reasonably safe travel through the destroyed streets. She turned to look at Ford, who was carrying Akio. She turned her sights to her other friends. They were, for a lack of a better term; miserable. Rainbow and Twilight were the most spent, having to heave an entire transport train from falling. As for Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, and Spike, they weren't really faring any better. None of them had been able to get a wink of sleep since the near-death experience with the MUTO. Pinkie was really the only one trying to keep everyone's spirits up. Godzilla's arrival had been a blessing and a curse. He was able to chase away the MUTO before it could cause any more death and destruction, but at the cost of Fluttershy's ability to sleep. “So, that happened,” Spike spoke, breaking the aching silence. Seeing Godzilla in person for the first time was…surreal, to say the least for our heroes. The experience was hard to put into words, what with the crisis that was occurring at the same time and that Godzilla’s introduction was something the Mane 6 and Spike had never had the pleasure, or in this case displeasure, of experiencing. Even knowing Godzilla was a villain, the sheer magnitude shook everybody to their bones. “He was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before,” Twilight said with a mixture of shock and curiosity. “And let it be that last,” Rarity grimaced. “Good guy or not, that was utterly nightmarish.” “I’m starting to see why you’re were so afraid of him in your dream, Fluttershy,” Pinkie said, her facaded cheeriness, masked the fear and unsettlement gripping the mare eternally. Fluttershy glanced at the rundown earth pony. Pinkie’s mane, once puffy and bright, mirroring her personality, was now sunken and dark. Not to the point of full, monotonous flatness, but it was getting there. By that only, Fluttershy could tell of Pinkie’s struggles of grasping the situations they had experienced in the last 12 hours, but even she was struggling with her emotions. Despite being told that Godzilla was more or less the equalizer of nature and that he wasn't here to cause intentional harm, the panicky pegasus still couldn't bring herself to not be afraid of him. Fluttershy hounded on herself to try and be more courageous, but having to go through such chaotic events, one's as unique as this, made it seem like an impossible climb to even consider trying to be more valorous. "How will we ever find Akio's parents now within this sea of humans?" Fluttershy's internal conflict was interrupted by Rainbow's hopeless-sounding question. "That's what these stands are for," Ford pointed out. As the team made their way through the injured and lost, they could the sound of a man's voice speak of a PA system. "Attention, please. Incoming patients please proceed..." "Do they have anything to treat headaches, cuz it feels like my head is literally splitting open," Twilight rubbed her forehead, trying to soothe the pain. "I doubt it. These stands are for the injured and lost only," Ford said. They came up to one of them where a medical coordinator and a doctor were standing, discussing something on a clipboard. "Hi. Excuse me. I'm sorry. This boy's been separated from his parents." "And do you guys have an icepack or something," Twilight added. "Just fill out this form. Will be with you in just a minute," the female coordinator pointed to another clipboard. Ford took the clipboard. Meanwhile, the Mane 6 and Spike group together for a private discussion. "What are we doing here, honestly?" Rainbow grimaced. "All we've been doing is following Ford around and getting caught up with everything without actually doing anything." "Well, we did keep the train from falling?" Twilight argued. "That's all we've done so far!" The cyan pegasus was getting agitated. Applejack then came up to here. "Rainbow, is this about what happened to Ford's father?" "Yes! Well, on my part anyways," Rainbow said, her tone unchanging. "This discussion is a collective thing." "There is some truth to what Rainbow is saying," Rarity sadly admitted. "All we've done is run or cower in fear." "Well it's kinda hard to kick to creature that's thousands of times your size," Pinkie said. "Unless we were back in the early days when they were much smaller." "Ya mean like when they'ere young?" Applejack asked. "Nope," Pinkie shook her head. "Then what did ya mean by..." "Look that's besides the point," Twilight interjected. "I just...I have no idea what to do or what we should be doing. Fluttershy, did the mean hint at anything that could be helpful to us." Fluttershy was forced to think back to the dream again. But, all that she could remember was Godzilla, the MUTO, and all the fiery destruction that came with them. "No. Nothing that I can remember." There was a grim silence within the group of ponies. "What if we were just here to help with evacuation or something like that," Spike perked up. "Maybe were to save the humans instead of actually defeating the creatures themselves." "Ugh, that just feels like a cop out." Rainbow grunted. "We would still be doing an awful job," Rarity said. "I mean, look around." She raised her hooves up, implicating all the destruction that lay about them. As the Mane 6 and Spike continued to discuss, Akio unknowingly slipped away. "Hey, you got service on that cell phone?" Ford asked another man. "No. The pay phones don't even work," the man replied. The young soldier let out a disgruntled sigh. He turned to where Akio was supposed to be standing to try and reassure him, but found the young boy had disappeared. "Akio?" Ford looked around. "Girls, where's Akio." The group of ponies and dragon stopped their discussion. They too noticed that Akio was gone. "He should've been..." Twilight's heart sank to the pit of her stomach. "Oh, no." Why wasn't anypony keepin' an eye on 'im?" Applejack glowered. "Hey, you never said anything about that," Rainbow argued. Ford put down the clipboard and quickly paced around to try and spot the boy. Rainbow, Twilight, and Fluttershy took to the air. "Akio!" Twilight called out. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," Pinkie chanted. "This isn't a game of hide-and-seek, Pinkie," Rarity said with frustration. "Akio!" "Akio!" A pair of voices could be heard in the distance. Through a break in the crowd, the group could see Akio's parents reuniting with their son. "Mama! Papa!" Akio raced over to them. The parents held the boy, relieved to finally get their son back. Ford and the Mane 7 were equally relieved. "Well, at least he's save now," the fashionista unicorn smiled. "Yeah, that sure was lucky," Spike added. "We still shouldn't have let him out of our sights," Twilight said solemnly. "No denyin' there. We just got really lucky," Applejack agreed. "If only that luck was there back at the facility," Rainbow said bitterly. "Rainbow, that wasn't your fault," Pinkie assured. "Is it? If I had just noticed sooner or just flown faster, Joe wouldn't have fallen. If I had just done something! Joe might have survived." The boisterous pegasus had tears starting to prick up from her eyes. Rainbow fought hard to keep them from falling. She had felt responsible for Joe's death. She was the fastest living thing on this planet and the fact she wasn't able to do a thing to save Joe, it shook her in a way that she never felt before. "Rainbow, Joe's death was rough on all of us, especially Ford," Twilight said. "But, you need to understand that, under those circumstances, you couldn't have known that the walkway was going to collapse until it was too late. You can't live the rest of your life feeling like your responsible for everypony, or everycreature for that matter." "But, it's our duty to protect everypony." Rainbow Dash said sadly. "That doesn't mean we're capable of saving everypony." By this point, the purple princess had tears falling from her eyes. "I don't blame you for my dad's death," Ford spoke up. "Even now, I'm still grieving. But, we can't just sit in a corner and beat ourselves up over this. We need to find a way back home before the MUTO and Godzilla really start to wreak havoc." "Ford's right, we can't be here mopin' when we still have to do something about this monster problem," Applejack tipped her hat. Rainbow took in a long, snot-riddled inhale through her nose, then exhaled out through her mouth. "Okay, worry about the monsters now." "That's the spirit," Twilight said. "Now, anypony have any idea how we're going to get off this island?" Rarity asked. "Those planes won't be flying any time soon," the bright, blue pegasus said. "Maybe we should take a boat." "That could take days," Ford said. That's when a army truck pulled up nearby. "Corporal, load up, load up," a man ordered. Two rows of soldiers then marched by, heading to the truck. "That might work," Ford said. "But those vehicles can't swim," Pinkie pointed out. Ford walked over to one of the soldiers; the sergeant. "Sergeant. Lieutenant Brody, U.S. Navy. Listen I need your help. I'm trying to get to the mainland." "Welp, it's your lucky day," the sergeant broke from the formation. "Everything not tied down is moving east." "East? That is to the mainland, right?" Spike asked. "Correct," the sergeant answered. "Whoa, whoa, is that where they're heading?" Ford asked. "Yeah. I guess we're monster hunters now." the young sergeant left to catch up with the rest of the passing soldiers. "That's sounds like our ticket to me," Twilight said. "But, monster hunters? Are they follower the MUTO and Godzilla?" Fluttershy asked. "Sounds like it," Ford said. "Let's go. The sooner was reach California, the better." And so, it was decided. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike were boarded unto a large, Boeing C-17 Globemaster, a military transport jet. From there, the took to the seas toward the west coast of the United States. The choppers and warships converged and traveled through the vast blue waters. What came to a shock to the ponies and dragon was how close they were to Godzilla. The kaiju itself was tepidly sailed through the water, he's massive back spikes poking out from the water. He wasn't going fast and he didn't seemed to bother of all the ships around, almost as if he was taking he's time in tracking down the MUTO. Fluttershy watched through one of the aircraft’s windows. The gargantuan beast remained stoic and methodical, but it brought the pegasus great fear. And she hated it. Godzilla wasn't doing anything dangerous and scary, yet Fluttershy felt her heart raced like she was running a marathon. "Everything all right, Sugarcube?" Applejack sat right beside her. Fluttershy let out a defeated sigh. "No, it's not." "What's the matter, Flutters?" "Well, it's just that...I can't help but be afraid of Godzilla and, for the life of me, I can't understand why. Dr. Serizawa said he was tasked to balance nature. He only takes monsters that threaten nature as a whole." "Yeah, he did say somethin' like that," Applejack said. "I guess that makes Godzilla a protector in a way." "That's just it. He's trying to protect this world and yet I can't bring myself to be amazed or curious. I'm just scared of him." Fluttershy put a hoof between her eyes. She let out another sigh, this time a little more frustrated. "Fluttershy..." Applejack sigh solemnly. "It's okay to be scared of things. Bein' scared doesn't make ya weak." "But, I'm scared of everything, Applejack," Fluttershy said. "heights, large crowds, I even panicked when a leaf fell on my back. I was even scared of that dragon that was sleeping on that mountain." Applejack remembered all too well. The girls were tasked to shoo away a fully grown dragon from a cave at the top of a nearby mountain. The slumbering beast bellowed tons of smoke, blinding the entire town of Ponyville. Applejack could remember the adversities they went through making it up to the top: The rockslide, the gap, waking the dragon. Fluttershy ending up reprimanding the dragon for trying to hurt her friends, but leading up to that was frightened resistance. "But, Fluttershy, you've been, uh, skittish when it comes ta dragons." "Not all. I don't have any problems with Spike," Fluttershy said. "But still, that dragon was just sleeping. It wasn't doing anything wrong aside from the smoke problem. Yet I was a shaking mess. It was only when you girls were in serious danger that I finally put more hoof down. I'm tired of being so skittish over things like this. I want to be more courageous." Applejack understood where Fluttershy was coming from. Even she knew there was cause for concern in the situation they all were in, but she couldn't imagine how Fluttershy felt, and it seemed that the pegasus was frustrated with how she felt. The apple farmer wrapped around the animal caretaker's shoulders. "Fluttershy, ya can't force yerself to not be afraid. It's something that happens deep within ya, like when ya stood up that dragon. All ya need to do is find that part of ya within ya." "But, what if I can't?" Fluttershy asked hopeless. "Yer a lot more capable than ya think, Fluttershy. I lot braver, too. There will come a time where your scared, but you put on a brave face and push through those fears despite everything your mind is tellin' ya. All ya really need is a little transparency and patience." Fluttershy looked back to Applejack, then back down to the floor. She was still a little unsure if she was capable of pulling that off again. "Listen, bein' brave doesn't mean being fearless," the humble earth pony said. "Bein brave means to face something even if ya do feel scared. Fear is a part of life. The real question is if you able to overcome it to do the right thing." The timid mare was left to marinate those last words. Would she be able to overcome her fears to keep her friends safe? Would she be able to be more mellow and out-going instead of being so shy. Applejack did give some assurance, so perhaps it was all helpless. "Thank you, Applejack," Fluttershy smiled. "Anytime, sugarcube," Applejack smiled back. On the USS Saratoga, the control workers were in the workings of mapping out the predicted location Godzilla and the MUTO were heading. Admiral Stenz study the computerized map intently while one of the workers instigated the satellite trackings. "Satellite transfer complete. Simulations uploaded." The indicator narrowed down on Godzilla's current position, which at the moment was heading toward the California coast. "Last satellite tracks predict the MUTO continuing due east," the female worker explained. "All our models have the targets converging on the Pacific Coast. As of now, it looks like Godzilla's still following the MUTO." "He's hunting," Dr. Serizawa entered the control room followed by Dr. Graham. Admiral Stenz turned him, not entirely understanding what the doctor was implying. Turning his attention away for a quick second, the admiral began making out orders. "Have all vessels maintain current distance from target. And plot the speed and heading of these things. I wanna know exactly when and where they'll make landfall." "Yes, sir," one of the naval officers said. Stenz then turned his attention back to Serizawa. It had become clear he knew some discovered details. "Doctor, what did you mean by "hunting?" the admiral asked. "You think it's chasing this MUTO?" Dr. Serizawa didn't answer at first. He was too busy with his thoughts. "But if the MUTO is his prey..." Dr. Graham spoke up. "The signal shows a call. Why call up a predator?" "No, It didn't. I think Godzilla was only listening," the languorous researcher replied. "The MUTO was calling something else." A tense silence hung in the air. No one's expression changed, but the minds were analyzing what Serizawa was implying. There was a guaranteed possibility of a third monster existing. Even with the lurid revelation, Dr. Serizawa's mind was still reeling in more information. Information that was buried deep within the recesses of his brain, casted aside as nothing more than documented info of a bygone time. Now, he wondered if it wasn't so extraneous after all. "The pattern," the older scientist said in a sharp whisper. "Focus the search on Nevada." He hurried over to the room's mapping table. "Nevada? Why would it go to Nevada?" Captain Hampton asked. The captain and the admiral were left confused. However, Dr. Graham came to the same conclusion as Dr. Serizawa. She, too was aware of vestigial data the had uncovered long ago. "It can't be. It's impossible," she said in disbelief. "What's impossible?" Admiral asked expectantly. "There was another spore, intact, found in the Philippine mine." She turned to Serizawa. Like with him, she was there when they researched the spore. "But we vivisected it. Ran every test on it for years. You confirmed it for yourself. It was dormant!" "Maybe not anymore," Serizawa said grimly. "This spore. Where is it now, doctor?" the captain asked. "It was highly radioactive. It was disposed of," Dr. Graham explained. "The Americans, they took it." "Doctor, where is it?" the admiral asked. Dr. Serizawa slowly raised his head, staring grimly to the eyes of Stenz. "Where you put all your nuclear waste." Once again, another cold silence washed over. Both the captain and the admiral knew exactly where the Japanese researcher was talking about. Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas A group of army trucks and a pair of helicopters were dispatched to the lonely repository. The trucks kicked up clouds of sun-bleached dust as they raced through the arid, dry desert. Soldiers geared up in protective uniforms and masks for the probable radiation-heavy death zone. They also armed guns, just in case the creature was feeling extra cranky. As they neared the facility, specialized personnel threw open the bard-wired fence gates, allowing entry into the tunnel drilled through the mountain. "Go, go, go!" they directed the trucks inside. The helicopters made swift landings. The heavily-armored soldiers rallied out and entered into the tunnel. The trucks came to a stop as soon as they reached inside. More soldiers climbed out. "All right, let's go! Give me a Mark 1 eyeball on every vault," the leader ordered. the team of soldiers hurriedly marched down the ghostly-green lit corridor. Each soldier took a vault door. They would slide open a small, metal covering, allowing them to look through a windowed slot into the storage units. As one of the soldiers shined his gun-mounted light through the opening, all he could see was drum of nuclear material and decommissioned warheads. "Clear!" he yelled. One by one, the soldiers opened the slots to each and every vault. So far, all that was found were untouched missiles, drums, and storage tanks. "Clear!" "Clear!" "Clear!" "Clear!" The individuals soldiers shouted confirmation for unscathed vaults. One particular soldier open the covering of one vault. Only to be met with the blinding rays of sunshine. It didn't take a genius to know something happened to this vault. "Hey!" he got the others' attention. With everyone's cautious focus now on the one vault, now it was time for a further investigation. Two of the soldiers opened the heavy vault door, while the rest readied their guns, expecting the worst. Once the door was opened the soldiers swarmed inside the fault...or what was left of it. The entire vault had been completely destroyed, along with several dozen others with it. All that remained was a giant hole in the mountain, exposing the metallic skeleton of the underground facility. Through the lingering smoke and dust, the soldiers sauntered outside. It was obvious that something had come alive and was now somewhere out in the desert. One soldier had a pair of binoculars and began searching for the creature. It didn't take much to find another, larger MUTO lumbering through the sandy biome. Worst of all, however, was that it was heading straight for downtown Las Vegas. By this point, it was too late to do but watch the inevitable. The luxurious city of Las Vegas was teeming with life. Being the midday, the casinos were abuzz with people hoping to be lucky enough to score a big buck. In one such casino, the visitors were glued to their slot machines and staff were too busy with customer's needs to notice the TV's broadcasting news footage of the MUTO laying siege on the city. Suddenly, the electricity cut out, drowning the rooms in darkness and killing all the machines. People groaned and clamored with the inconvenience. That frustration and confusion turned to terror when one of the MUTO's feet crashed through the roof. Steel and concrete showered from above and people screamed in terror as the massive creature roared and stomped a path through the expensive city. Panic ensued and emergency personnel were immediately dispatched. The MUTO continued it's stubborn warpath through the city, tearing down buildings and landmarks in the process. From within one of the countless, luxury apartments, banging resounded from the front doors of one. "Is anyone in there?" a man yelled. The knocking turned to banging when answer came. Then the doors burst open. A trio of firefighters entered and began searching for possible victims. All they could found was an empty room, the sound of slow, Elvis Presly music, and a gaping hole on the far end of the apartment. The firefighters stared in shock seeing the crumbling hole showing the carnage outside. Military helicopters zoomed by in pursuit of the MUTO. It was being bombarded with artillery, but it appeared to have little to no effect as the hulking monster continued it's unbothered trek tearing down buildings. Back on the USS Saratoga, the situation had come to a head. "Captain, our UAV's have footage of the new MUTO," one of the naval officers revealed. "Let's have a look," Admiral Stenz said. "Yes, sir," The main computer screens changed to show the new footage of the MUTO knocking down Paris Las Vegas's replica of the Eiffel Tower. "This is from five minutes ago," the officer said. "My god," the shocked admiral muttered. He turned to Captain Hampton, who shared the same somber look. "Playing all we have now," the officer said. Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham studied the footage with shock and amazement. "It's almost 300 feet," Graham said. "It's far bigger than the other one." "But this one doesn't have any wings," Stenz pointed out. "A different sex?" "A female," Serizawa concluded. The three turned back to the computer monitors. Both footage of male and female MUTO were showing, comparing the two monsters. "That's who he's been talking to," the younger scientist said. "It must be a mating call," Serizawa said. "The female remained dormant until the male matured." "Now they're seeking radiation. To reproduce." The two researchers were left awestruck and horrified at the same time. The discovery of a second MUTO was alarming enough, but them being male and female, there stood a scarily probable possibility of them mating and reproducing more MUTOs. A meeting was held with the headmen of the ship along with Serizawa and Graham. Already the military analyst had an idea to take down the MUTO and Godzilla. He laid down map of California on the table of the meeting room. Captain Hampton, Admiral Stenz, and several others circled the table. "Current tracking models indicate that all three targets are converging here: San Francisco Bay," the military analyst said. "But if we rig a nuclear warhead with a shielded timer, put it on a boat, and send it 20 miles out, the radiation lures the MUTOs and the MUTOs lure Godzilla." "And we detonate, with minimal fallout risk to the city," Hampton advocated. "You can't be serious." Dr. Graham spoke up with opposition. "They feed on radiation." "Correct. That's why we use the bomb as bait," Hampton explained. "And kill them with the sheer force of the blast," the analyst said. "This is crazy," Graham groaned. "Doctor, if you have any other ideas, I am all ears," Stenz said. "Admiral," Serizawa spoke firmly, yet stoically. All the attention was brought to him. "Yes, doctor," Stenz said. "Gojira may be the answer," Dr. Serizawa stood up from his seat. "I believe he's here to restore balance. He can defeat them." "And what? We just stand by and watch?" the admiral questioned roughly. "I'm sorry, doctor. I can't take that risk." The seasoned admiral turn his priorities back the other officers. "We'll need to prep the warheads and get them moving to the coast." "Yes, sir," the stoic captain said. "Yes, sir," said another. With that, the naval soldiers shuffled out of the room with paperwork in-hand. Stenz, Graham, and Serizawa were the only three left standing in the room. The admiral looked at the Graham, who had a look of stunned disbelief in the sense of the she could understand why they would think this was a smart plan. She shook her head and made her way out. Stenz could still sense the protest from the Dr. Serizawa. "Doctor, I know you don't agree with this. But my first priority is to safeguard our citizens." The geriatric researcher didn't give a reply. Instead, he held out his hand, which was holding something. Curious, the admiral reached out and took it from the doctor's hand. It was a pocket watch frozen in time. The hands were frozen into one position. "It's stopped," Stenz observed. "Yes," Serizawa said. "Eight-fifteen in the morning. August 6, 1945." "...Hiroshima." "It was my father's." Serizawa took back the watch and closed it. He stared hard at the admiral, not muttering another word before walking out of the room. Admiral Stenz was left alone. The doctor's message was clear to him: He had traumas with nuclear warfare and had given him a bad taste of the Americans. Yet, he was willing to look past that to help them with the their current monster problem. Serizawa wanted Stenz to do the same; look past Godzilla's damages and let him battle the MUTO. He wanted nature to do it's part, uninterrupted. Godzilla was their ally, not their enemy. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike were finally started to relax in the transport jet as it zoomed over the Pacific Ocean. It seemed that everything was finally going the way they wanted and were on their way back San Francisco. That’s when the sergeant showed up in the passenger gallery. “All right, heads up. We got new destination new orders. Let’s get geared up.” “Wait, hold on. New destination?” Twilight asked incredulously. “Does…that mean we’re not going back to San Francisco?” Fluttershy said, disheartened by the sudden change of plans. “Are you serious?” Rainbow asked angrily. “Can’t one thing go right for us?” “Settle down,” Ford said. “I’ll see what’s going on.” The Lieutenant got up from his seat as did the other soldiers, preparing to disembark the jet when it landed. “Hey. Hey, tech sergeant.” The sergeant turned to Ford. “What’s the word?” Ford inquired. The tech sergeant seemed to hesitate for a second. He wasn’t all too thrilled with the info he had received. “Another one of those things popped up in Nevada, sir.” He turned back to prepare the rest of the soldiers. Ford stood dumbstruck with the sergeant had shared with him. The Mane 6 and Spike shared the same feelings. “Another one?” Twilight parroted. “Another MUTO?” “Now that’s two monsters on our hooves,” Rarity stated worriedly. “Not to mention Godzilla,” Fluttershy added fearfully. “As if one MUTO wasn’t enough.” “What’s next? The end of the world?” Rainbow said rhetorically, clearly upset over the unfortunate news. Some of the soldiers turned to her with unamused looks. “It may very well be if something isn’t done about it,” one of the them. “Godzilla can handle it. That’s what Dr. Serizawa said,” Spike reminded. “Yeah, but with two of those giant creatures?” Applejack said. “He’s got his cut out for ‘im.” “Unless we think of something to help,” Twilight said solemnly. “We’re really being pushed into a corner here.” “Not to mention we’re not going home still,” Pinkie pulled out a paper that listed all the current problems the gang was having. “Amongst all the other issues at hoof.” It seemed to roll out for an eternity, weaving around other soldiers’ feet. “Er…right,” Twilight eyed the mile-long paper. “Like I said, we’re really grasping at straws for solutions.” “This really is starting to feel hapless,” Fluttershy said solemnly. “Ah hate to say it. But ah can’t help but agree with ya, Flutters,” Applejack said There was nothing for it, unfortunately. The plane was diverted to a new location. All our gang of friends can do now is think of another way back home and, from there, a way to take down the MUTO. Lone Pine, California About 250 miles southeast of San Francisco The town of Lone Pine was...tense, to say the least. All of the residence had long since evacuated and now the streets were overrun with soldiers and military vehicles. Fires burned greatly in the distance, creating a wall of black smoke that put a blight on the cloudy sky. One of the transport trucks came to stop in the middle of the swarmed street. Two soldiers opened the tailgate for the soldiers inside to disembark. Ford and the Mane 7 climbed out after the armed soldiers. "Okay, everybody out," one of the soldiers said. "Can't fly any further. We're well in range of it's EMP. So from here on out, it's on the ground or it's not at all. Let's go!" "On the ground or not at all?" Rainbow asked incredulously. "Lame! They really like sucking the fun out of everything." "This isn't about having fun, Rainbow," Twilight interjected. "It's for safety reasons. Besides, I'm pretty sure they were referring to the planes they transported us with." "Yeah," Ford said. "They're affected by the electromagnetic pulses." The gang noticed the mangled, smoldering remains of a crashed helicopter sitting on the road. It had been hit by a prior EMP before it had a chance to land safely. "Case and point." "Oh, my godness," Fluttershy clasped her front hooves over her mouth. Rarity then dropped to her knees. "It's hopeless. It's absolutely hopeless! All forms of transportation on this world is useless now, we're stuck in this accursed town with monsters roaming about, and we still have no way to go back home!" The ivory-colored unicorn began cry hysterically. "We're doomed!" "Oh, boy," Spike muttered. "Welp, better can this franchise while we're still alive," Pinkie said rather absentmindedly. "What are you even saying, Pinkie?" Rarity asked between choked sobs. "We're going to die?!" Fluttershy exclaimed now in a full-blown panic. "Uh, Twilight." Now even Spike was getting scared. "Uhhh...I, uh..." The pink-striped alicorn struggled to think of a solution or even any kind of answer at all. Everypony seemed to be at a loss of what to do at this point. For all that could be gathered, the odds were constantly stacked against and the issues seemed to be piling. Twilight was barely able to keep herself together, much less calm down friends from their respectively breakdowns. "Uh, guys," Ford tried to interject, but either he wasn't being heard or he was ignored. It seemed the Mane 7's mentality was dwindling, all except for one who decided to put her hoof down. "Everypony, simmer down!" Applejack's firm voice echoed through the streets. For a brief moment, everything went still and silent. Even the soldiers nearby stopped what they were doing. The rigid apple farmer put a hoof up to then, signifying they weren't who she was talking to. Dismissively, the soldiers continued on with their work. Twilight, Rainbow, and the others were as still as kids who had gotten caught from stealing from the cookie jar. Applejack then cleared throat before speaking. "Now ah understand that things are not favorable at the moment..." "That's an understatement," Rainbow muttered quietly. A harsh glare from the earth pony was enough to shut up her up. "Things may be dire and unresolvable, but cryin' ain't gonna fix nothin'. Look, we're as close to San Francisco than we've ever had. We just need some way to git there." "Are you proposing that we walk there?" Ford asked. "I don't know," Applejack answered plainly. "How far away are we?" "Like 250 miles." Once again, Rarity started up her waterworks. "Oh, this is travesty. There's no way we can walk 250 miles." "Well, maybe there's another way?" Twilight intimated. "Like what, Twilight?" Rarity glared at the alicorn. "You expect some kind of magical form of transportation to just appear from the heavens?" Suddenly, the sound of horn blared loudly. Through the smoke and dust, a diesel locomotive methodically chugged down the tracks. Behind it, specialized flatbeds carrying silo missiles followed the engine. Armed soldiers were perched on the cars' platforms, guarding the volatile load. What...What is that?" Spike asked, offput by the machine's appearance. "It's a train," Ford said flippantly. "Do you not have those back in your world?" "We do, but" - Twilight's eyes examined every part of the locomotive - "they aren't anything like that. And, furthermore, what is it carrying?" "Those are silo missiles. They're weapons." "O-Oh...my," Fluttershy stammered. The train come to slow stop right at a railroad crossing. "All right, listen up!" one of the ground soldiers announced. "This train and these weapons are headed to San Francisco. Anyone not part of this mission, disembark now!" The ponies and dragon's eye lit up upon hearing San Francisco was the trains destination. "Well, ah'll be an Apple's uncle," Applejack said brightly. "We might've just found our way back." "And at the best possible time!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Here I was thinking the series would've ended prematurely." "You...mean our lives?" Fluttershy asked cautiously. "No, not especially." Rainbow turned to Rarity with a knowing smirk. "Well, here's our magical ride back. Happy now?" "Yes, yes, our woes have been answered," Rarity rolled her eyes. "But, hold on a minute," Twilight spoke conspicuously. "One of the soldiers said those not on the mission weren't supposed to be on the train. That means we probably won't be allowed on it." "So we got our hopes up for nothing?" Spike said in despair. "No, I think I can get ourselves in," Ford said. "How? Those guys are strict, stricter than even Spitfire," Rainbow said. "I work in explosive ordnance disposal, remember?" "Well, with a name like that, it is kinda hard to." "I know how these things work," Ford said. "I'm thinking that with my expertise I might be able to convince them to be a part in the mission. I'll be able to vouch for you guys from there." "Will there even be receptive of us?" Twilight questioned. "We are from another world after all." "They don't seem to mind us now," Spike mentioned. "But, this is a huge step up. And Rainbow is right. This guys are strict." "We have to at least try," the prismatic pegasus said. "Strict or not, this might be our only way back home left." Weighing the thinning options they had, Twilight was forced to agree. "All right. We'll do it." "Who do we talk to about this?" Applejack asked. "The master sergeant," Ford said. "They're the one in charge of the decision-making." "How are we going to convince them to let us board the train?" Fluttershy asked. "That's quite easy, Fluttershy, Rarity said shrewdly. "All we need is the right words and a little bit of charm." "Negative. Can't do it, sir," the master sergeant said as he entered a hardware store. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike followed. "Oh, come on," Rarity whined. "I've tried tactic in the book." "Yah really thought that would work?" Applejack asked sarcastically. "This is a high-risk mission. That train is a national asset, not Amtrak." "But, but..." Rainbow tried to argue. "Guys, let me handle this," Ford said to them. "We good to go?" the master sergeant asked to a pair of soldiers. "Just about," one of the soldiers said. They loaded a control module inside a giant, plastic case. "From the look of the casings on those Minuteman ICBMs, I'm guessing the digital module's been bypassing and you're prepping for full analog retrofit," the lieutenant said. "Woah," Twilight said, gob-smacked. The master sergeant turned to face the lieutenant, an unimpressed look on his face. "Is my mouth supposed to drop?" "Like this," Pinkie's jawed seemingly unhinged and dropped to the ground. "See, I would be more shocked if I actually knew what any of that meant." "The missiles being detonated by hand instead of by remote control," Ford paraphrased. "Look, I get it, you're EOD," the master sergeant began making his way out of the store. "But, I already got my crew and they know what they're doing." "Aim the pointy end at the monsters, right, sarge?" one of the soldiers said. the high-ranked officer playfully slapped his clipboard against the soldier's chest. "Seems rather obvious," Rarity said bluntly. "And that's the other thing," the master sergeant said. "What about those pastel-colored ponies and lizard." "I...am not...a lizard," Spike angrily interrupted. "I am a dragon." The master sergeant looked down at him with an unconvinced look. "Seriously?" "Do you want me to prove it?" Spike's nostrils began emitting smoke. The sergeant cocked an eyebrow, trying to determine if that was a threat or not. "Okay, let's not do something we'll regret," Twilight put her hooves on the baby dragon's shoulders. "My point still stands," the sergeant said. "From what it appears they're not in any kind of military and have no knowledge of missiles whatsoever." "Yeah, but how often do you see someone able to fly super fast and keep a watchful eye out," Rainbow flared out her wings to solidify her argument. "Or can breath fire," Spike held his glare. "Or can levitate things or teleport," Twilight added, grasping a couple of tools in her magic. "Unorthodox, sure. But useful nonetheless," Ford stepped closer to the sergeant's face. "When was the last time you let one of your guys put their fingers in a live bomb?" The master sergeant didn't give an answer. "Look, this is what I do. This is my job," Ford said. The master sergeant turned away and was about to exit the hardware store. "Master sergeant," he turned back around, annoyance creeping up on his face. Ford let out a emotional sigh. "My family's in the city. Okay? I need to get on that train." "Darn tootin', here's got a wife and son desperately waitin' for his return," Applejack said. "surely ya understand the importance of family." "And need we tell of the of horrors we had to go through just to get this far?" Rarity added. "My blood pressure has reach an all-time high." "And we just really want to go back home," Fluttershy fiddled with her front hooves. "And getting to see Sammy again," Pinkie added. The master sergeant surveyed the motley group. He may be strict, but he was reasonable, too. He too had a family of his own, so he could sympathize with Ford in that department. But of the ponies and "dragon." Granted some of their said abilities could be useful for something. "I doubt we have uniforms that will fit," he said to the ponies and dragon. Rarity let out a chuckle. "Not to worry about that, dear. All I need is some fabric and a sowing machine." "You know how to make uniforms?" "Darling, I'm a fashionista. I can make any article of clothing." The master sergeant mulled over the choice a little more. "And having a couple extra pairs of eyes couldn't hurt," Rainbow said with a smirk. "All right, all right. I may come along." "Yes!" the victorious pegasus exclaimed. "Finally. We're going back to San Francisco!" Spike said happily. "Yay," Fluttershy said. "But, I want to make things perfectly clear," the master sergeant's words cut through the celebration. The Mane 6 and Spike's attention was solely on the officer. "This is not a free express ride to your destination. This is a high-risk mission that requires your full attention and willingness to follow orders. You are to listen to what is ordered without question. Do you understand that plus the risks?" The group of ponies and dragon looked amongst themselves. Even before the advisory, they understood the severity of the circumstances. Fluttershy, however, was uncomfortable being around explosives like that. "Sir, yes, sir," everypony, minus Fluttershy, all exclaimed. "Good." the master sergeant turned to Rarity. "Now get to work on those uniforms." "Will do. I'll have them ready in a jiffy," Rarity saluted. Fluttershy silently scooted closer to Rainbow, decided it best to confide with her bestest friend. "Dash, I really don't know about this." "We've already gotten this far," the athletic mare said. "Are you seriously chickening out now?" "No...w-well, um," the timid pegasus stammered. "You heard the master sergeant. This is a high-risk mission." "It's not like our missions back at home weren't dangerous." "I know, but, this feels different." "Come on, Flutters, how is this different from talking down that dragon a couple years back? Or when we took down Tirek?" Fluttershy turned her gaze away. Her body was racked with doubt and uncertainty. She looked back into Rainbow's big, scarlet eyes. They must've had some kind of superpower to her because she could begin to feel the germinating fear wither away. She felt safe in Rainbow's confident gaze. "I guess this is all so suddenly new." "It's new for all of us, Fluttershy," Rainbow said. "Come on, just put on a brave face." "O-Okay," fluttershy steeled herself and gave the bravest look she could muster. But, to Rainbow, it look more like inquisitive scowl without the angry eyebrows, like how someone would interrogate their sibling for something they knew they did, but try not to make it obvious. Rainbow shook her head to rid the thoughts. "Uh...we'll work on that." "And you just heard the spokesman say that the White House has not ruled out the use of nuclear force." The TV showed the footage of the female MUTO's rampage through Las Vegas. All the while the news reporter was informing of the governments decisions of the monster attack. The hospital was abuzz with nurses, doctors, and patients heading to where they needed to be. Not many people were paying attention to the television. Sam, on the other hand, was. He was fixed on the raw footage, being it the only form of entertainment he had while sitting behind the receptionist deck. Just then, one of the phones rang. "Sam, you mom's gonna be right back," one the female receptionists assured. She picked up the phone. "Emergency, can I help you?" ... "Hello?" ... "Oh, yeah, just a sec." The woman turned to the back of the room where Elle was helping wheel patient to the surgery waiting area. "Elle, for you," she held the telephone out to the young nurse. "Tell them I'll be here in a minute," Elle said. "Elle." The nurse looked back upon hearing her friend's tone take on a more conjuring manner. "It's your husband." Elle's eyes widened in shock. Despite the startling the revelation, she still had a duty to uphold on keeping her current patient safe. Still though, she couldn't help herself in being quick to finish the relocation of the patient. Once that was completed, Elle hurried to the break room phone. She pressed the redirect button hard, barely able to contain her emotions. "Hello?" she said. "Elle?" Ford quickly responded back. He, along with the Mane 6 and Spike, were still in Lost Pine preparing to board the train. The lieutenant was able to get to a payphone to call his wife. Meanwhile, the Mane 6 and Spike were preparing in getting their very own military uniforms, thanks to Rarity. "Ford?" Elle's voice wavered. "Oh, god." She was on the verge of tears. Upon hearing her husband's voice, an overwhelming sense of relief washed over her. Elle could barely keep her composure. Those horrible thoughts of Ford being dead were now, for the time being, squashed. "You all right? How's Sam?" Ford asked. Elle unintentionally dodged the question, still too wrapped up of the fact that Ford was still alive. "I-I've been you calling you everywhere. Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine," her husband said. "And so are the ponies and Spike." "That's good," Elle wiped her forehead. "I've got Sam with me." "Great. Because I was thinking. I wanna get you both--" "I can't believe this is happening." Ford let out a sympathetic sigh. His wife was worked up beyond words over the MUTO popping up and laying siege on everything in their path. And with him being at point zero, where it all began, only added to the nightmarish mix. "Ford." He could hear Elle's voice breaking. "You okay? Are you doing Okay?" "I'm okay. Elle, please don't worry," Ford reassured. "Baby, I'm so scared right now," Elle confided. "I know. I'm gonna be at the hospital by sunrise. Then I'll get you and Sam out." "Okay," the young nurse nodded. "The military has a plan to deal with these things," Ford explained. "I'm coming to get you both, okay?" "Okay. Can you please just hurry?" "I will." Elle couldn't help but bring a smile to her face. Teary-eyed relief made way to heartwarming relief. She could breath easy now that er husband and their pony friends were safe. "Elle? I ju...I just want you to know that I love you." "I love you, too. Just be safe," Elle sobbed. "I'll see you soon," Ford put the phone back on the holder and made his way out of the hardware store. Elle did the same. She put the phone back on the holder. She ran her hands through her face, wiping away the tears that were trickling down. Elle was forced to return to waiting for her husband's return, which she hated. But, after the phone call, she was filled with a reignited sense of hope. "Good to go! Let's move out!" a soldier yelled. The military train jolted forward, ready for the next leg of it's journey. Ford made his way down the street to the railroad crossing, now in complete military gear. The Mane 6 and Spike were flanked alongside him like a team of badasses. The ponies and dragon were also fitted in appropriate military uniforms. Rarity may be a careful fashionista, but she could get work down quickly. "Ah"ll be, Rares, ya should did a mighty fine job with these uniforms," Applejack inspected the camo-colored coat. "Ah'm surprised they even allowed my ta keep mah hat." "Why, thank you, Applejack," Rarity said graciously. "Granted the military was pretty new to me and I was forced to follow...specific protocols, ugh, but I think they turned out simply divine." "Divine," Ford amusingly parroted. "Not the first thing that comes to mind when describing military attire." "I think they're quite nice," Fluttershy admitted. "Even if it's for a dangerous mission." Her voice fell wary. The daunting mission awaiting not just her, but her friends as well cause a knot to form in the pit of her stomach. Suddenly her eyes were blinded with bright blue. Rainbow had her wings flared out. She was scratching the slits on her coat's side. "Speak for yourself. This material is so rough and it's irritating my wings." Rarity give a fake-haughty chuckle. "Really? I wasn't expecting you, Rainbow, to be so picking with what you wear." "I am not being picky," Rainbow angrily turned to the pale-white unicorn. "I just don't like the fabric." "I like it. It's like we're part of the royal guard," Pinkie said. Not only was she wearing a uniform, she also had two pairs of black streaks across her cheeks. "Uh, what's with the war paint, Pinkie?" Twilight asked. "Intimidation." "I doubt a 200 foot monster will be intimidated by face paint," Ford said. "No offense." "None taken," the hyperactive party pony said. "I suppose it's hard to make a cutie-patootie thing like me scary." "Uhm, is that going to wash out?" Rainbow asked. "I should hope so. The marker did so washable on it." The prismatic mare put a hoof to her face and shook her head. Twilight was about to say something when he saw that Spike also had black war paint on his face. "You, too?" she asked amusingly. "Hey, it makes me look cool," Spike puffed out his chest. "Try calling me quit now?" "Aw, isn't just adorable in that little uniform?" Rarity said in the most sweet tone imaginable. Spike just let out a sharp sigh, an annoyed frown on his face. Twilight giggled to herself. "Come on, girls. We've got a train to catch," Ford strapped on his helmet and quickened to pace to the tracks. The gang quickly clambered onto the first railcar. A soldier helped Ford up the stairs to the platform surrounding the missile. By this time, news station from across the country were giving out warnings and safety advice to the citizens. "Citizens within 200 miles of the creature's current of influence are being urged to please find shelter, stay indoors, and stay off the roads." Some of the warning came too late. Most major highways had become stagnant. Drivers were now gridlocked. Emergency services were stretched thin from accidents from seemingly every state. Some had the misfortune of downed aircraft crashing onto jammed highways, which only worsened the crisis. Meanwhile, back on the USS Saratoga, Admiral Stenz was on the phone with the president, relaying to info of the missiles progress. The naval officers watched and waited. Yes, sir." ... "Yes, warheads are on the move." ... "I completely agree, sir." Stenz set the phone down and gave a nod to Captain Hampton. The captain to the rest of the crew in the control room. "All right, people. Let's go. I need to know the exact location of the MUTOs ASAP." "Aye, sir," a female officer said. "We're updating our models with the current tracking data now." Admiral Stenz made his way through the control room. "Admiral." Stenz stopped. After the last 36 hours, it was hard not to recognize the voice. "Yes?" he turned to Dr. Serizawa. "...Please don't do this," the researcher implored. "I understand your concerns, doctor. But I am sacrificing lives every minute to steer one of these things clear of population centers and now there are two more on the way." There was truth behind Stenz's words, but Dr. Serizawa knew that bombs weren't the answer. Humanity did not have the answer to this crisis. "There are millions of lives at risk," the admiral said. "So all I want to know from you is: Will it work and can they be killed?" The admiral walked over to the main control panel with the captain. "But we tried that before," Serizawa gestured to the model screen of the MUTOs' paths. "We're talking dialable yield. "Captain Hampton said. "Megatons, not kilotons. Nothing can withstand that blast. Makes the bomb we tried to kill it with in '54 look like a firecracker." The seasoned scientist looked toward the model screen. Military technology had improved and gotten more powerful over the years. But, if there was anything that could withstand what the military could dish out, It was something nature itself would create. Dr. Serizawa conjectured that the MUTOs and Godzilla could survive a blast and he knew that Godzilla, himself, was the answer. It was anything humanity could come up with or provide. It was nature's force of balance. That was the only solution. Serizawa's belief were true, and that was something Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike are going to witness firsthand. To be continued Part 10: InterceptionNightfall. Daunting, yet strangely calming. Everyone onboard the train remained quiet as the it rolled through the mountainside. A lazy fog surrounded the environment, lowering the visibility and putting everyone on a higher alert. Of course, not everyone was as attentive. "I gotta say. This has probably the most entertaining things have been since we got here," Rainbow said. "I would hardly call this entertainin'," Applejack said. "Considerin' what's at stake here." "That's exactly the thrill of it: Being on a risky mission with dangerous cargo for a greater cause. It's like being in a spy movie." "Except that's going to actually happen eventually." Pinkie said matter-of-factly. "Wait, what?" Rainbow's attention turned to the random earth pony. "What do you mean that's going to happen eventually?" Pinkie chuckled giddily. "You'll find out...evenutally." Her chuckles turned into a laughter, like she had just shared the funniest joke ever. None of the other occupants joined in though. Rainbow and Applejack had confused, skeptical looks, but quickly chalked it up to Pinkie just being Pinkie. I really should invest in some spoiler warnings. While Pinkie was laughing up a contagious storm, Twilight was recapitulating the plan over with the rest of her friends. "All right, main points; we're delivering bombs which are to lure the MUTOs and Godzilla, which will detonate and thereby killing them." "That's the simplest way of putting it," one of the soldiers said. "But, I thought Godzilla was the good guy," Rarity broached. "I remember Dr. Serizawa saying he was the way nature balances itself out." "I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around that," Twilight said candidly. "I mean, nature having a failsafe of such magnitude." "That "failsafe" is also putting lives at risk," the soldier said. "If Godzilla reached land, the destruction would be unimaginable. It's better to take them all down with the lowest risk possible." "Something tells me we might be a little too late on the unimaginable destruction," Spike eyed a destroyed railroad bridge they were passing by. "So, how are we going to detonate these things," Pinkie hopped onto one of the warheads. "I don't a fuse anyway." "It's right here," Ford pointed to a control panel from inside the exposed bomb. "Sergeant Morales. Give me a hand." Ford and Morales grabbed a side of the panel and removed it from the warhead. "I thought all these nukes detonated by remote control," Morales said. "The MUTOs knock out everything electric. Including detonators. Thing is you can't even get in range without these things going haywire." "So, then how do these bombs, um, explode?" Fluttershy asked brashly. "With this," Ford, with the help of Morales, picked up a different panel and placed it in the nuke. "It's an timer fuse. It's what they used way back then." "It works on a timer instead of remote control," Twilight concluded. "Exactly." "Okay, that's actually pretty cool," Rainbow take to the air to get a better view. "I 1,000% agree!" Pinkie continue hopping on the nuke. "Hey, get off of that! It's not a toy," the master sergeant yelled from the next flatbed over. While Ford and the other soldiers were situating the fuse, Rarity took the time to lean against the bars of the flatbed's platform and take in a deep breath of the cool, night air. She took of her helmet, allowing her elegant, royal purple mane flow against the wind. Spike then came up to her. "H-Hey, Rarity," he stammered. "Hello, Spikey," the stunning unicorn smiled sweetly. "How are you enjoy our little trip." "Well, it's certainly quiet and the surroundings beautiful. Not as beautiful as you, though." Right as he finished, Spike quickly smacked his mouth shut. His face purged of it's lavender color and replaced with a hot pink as he blushed. The young drake was expecting some kind of admonishment from Rarity, but instead was met with her lovely, little laugh. "Oh, Spike, you are quite the flatterer. Even when I'm wearing something as industrial-looking as this." She motioned to the rough, camo-colored jacket and helmet she along with the others were sporting. Spike gulped. While it was true that a military uniform was far from attractive, Rarity seemed just as breath-taking in it, according to him. "O-Of course, Rarity," Spike said. "You can make anything beautiful." Overloaded with embarrassment, the baby dragon dipped his helmet and turned away from the unicorn to hide the burning blushing that was growing brighter on his face. While Spike didn't notice, but Rarity also turned away from him, hiding a blush of her own. "Am...I interrupting something?" a timid voice asked from behind. Spike and Rarity peeked over to Fluttershy staring at them. Half of her face was hidden behind her mane and helmet. "Oh, not at all, darling," Rarity waved a hoof dismissively. "Yup. Nothing going on here," Spike added with a forced, innocent smile. Fluttershy, herself, couldn't help but a smile a little at the twos' hidden chemistry. That smile falter once she, too, hoisted herself onto her back hooves and leaned against the bars. "Are you two...s-scared?" Spike and Rarity turned to her. "Well, of course, Fluttershy," Rarity was the first to speak. "After everything that's happened, it's hard not to." "Yeah. It's like it's a nightmare that keeps getting worse," Spike agreed. "I, well..." Fluttershy paused. "Yeah, all of that, but aren't you scared of what's to come? We are traveling with a bunch of explosives and...what if we run into one of the MUTOs again?" "Oh, you need not worry about those horrible creatures, Fluttershy," Rarity said confidently. "I doubt we'll be having to so those things anytime soon." While the two mares and dragon were discussing what the closing future held, Ford was explaining to the workings of the timer fuse. "This...This is old school. Clockwork." "So, it's like an alarm clock?" Applejack inquired. "Pretty much," Ford replied. "Takes a licking, keeps on ticking," Morales said wittily. Hearing that, Pinkie thought of licking the warhead. "Hmm," her tongue slid across the cold metal. "Pah! Gross!" "That was meant as an expression," the sergeant said. "Pinkie," Twilight reprimanded. "Sorry. Him saying that brought up an idea I just couldn't pass up," Pinkie rubbed her tongue with a toothbrush that appeared out of nowhere. Ford let out a chuckle. Suddenly, a resounding boom echoed through the mountain range. Everyone's attention was drawn toward the perpendicular mountainside where a mushroom rose from behind it. Everyone's expression turned grim. "What the heck was that?" Rainbow questioned. All of a sudden, the train violently jolted. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike flopped to the floor from the sudden change in momentum. The train's brakes squealed and screeched as sparks sprayed the ground. "What is going on?" Rarity asked in a panic. The military train finally grinded to a halt just beyond a tunnel. Ford looked back to the mountainside. He could see artillery and more explosions over the top of the elevated tree line. "Holy shit," a soldier muttered. "That can't be good," Twilight said nervously. "What could they be shooting out?" Spike asked. "What else? The MUTOs!" Rainbow exclaimed. Fluttershy let out a frightened gasp and clasp her hooves over her mouth. "S-Surely it's something else, Rainbow," Rarity tried to remain calm, putting a comforting hoof on Fluttershy. "With our luck, Rarity, it can't be anything else." "Sergeant Morales, get down here with that radio," the master sergeant ordered. "On the double. Move, move!" Ford turned to Morales. Something insidious was going on. "C-Can we just stay on the train? Wear it's safer?" Rarity, by now, was holding onto Fluttershy. "I said get moving!" the master sergeant barked. Begrudgingly, the Mane 6 and Spike disembarked the train. The rest of the soldiers, including Ford and Morales, followed. "Ah have ah very bad feelin' 'bout this," Applejack said quietly to the others. "This whole mission's been nothing but a bad feeling," Rainbow said. "Let's just see what we're up against now," Twilight said anxiously. The gang all hurriedly made their way the front of the train. They could hear the distant popping of gunfire beyond the mountainous slope. Once they reached the front, the soldiers were only met with the pitch-black entrance of the tunnel was sitting not even a dozen or so feet away. Morales handed the master sergeant the radio. "Snake Eyes, this is Bravo to November. Is the bridge clear? Over." All that came out from the radio was more gunfire and people yelling. Something serious was happening, but that wasn't enough indication for the master sergeant. "I say again: We got a train of VIP cargo headed for the coast. Is the bridge clear? Over." "I have a distinct impression that bridge is not clear," Twilight said. "I will be the one to make that call, as soon as I receive confirmation of whether it's clear or not," the master sergeant said aggressively. "Well, considering that all I hear is yelling, they've clearly ran into something," Twilight stepped ahead onto the train tracks. "Doesn't really take much to decipher that." "And that something is the MUTO," Rainbow steadied her helmet. "We don't know that for sure," the master sergeant said. "Seriously?" Spike said. "We're in the middle of a monster crisis and you think whatever is attacking them up them is something else completely?" "I'm not going to jump to conclusions!" While an argument was starting to emerge, Ford cautiously trekked ahead, staring down the opening in the mountain. The tunnel had a curve inside, not allowing the lieutenant to see through to the other side. "Ah'm just saying it don't take much gumption to figure out what's goin; on out there," Applejack said. "And we should be doing something about that." The master sergeant sneered. "I will make radio contact first before coming to a decision." He turned his attention back to the radio. Rainbow rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. "You don't argue with the master sergeant," one of the soldiers advised. "Snake Eyes, I need a sitrep," the sergeant said. "Are the tracks clear? We are at phase line yellow. In the next 10 mikes, we're advancing to phase line red. Secure or not? Over." Again he was met with yelling and screaming. Then there was the sound of a monstrous growl that echoed from the opposite side of the mountainside. It stopped everyone in their tracks. All except Ford, who pressed ahead into the tunnel. "Still think it could be anything?" Rainbow asked sarcastically. The master sergeant gave her a nasty look. It did become apparent though that an investigation was warranted. So, some of the soldiers, including the Mane 6 and Spike proceeded into the deep, dark tunnel. Thankfully, the soldiers' were equipped with lights, which meant they could at least see where they were going. The slick walls of the tunnel seemingly glowed as the lights danced around, looking for anything out of place. Every so often, Sergeant Morales peer back to see if anything was following them. "I really don't like this," Fluttershy shook profusely. "Neither do I," Rarity added. "You can always go back to the train," Rainbow said bluntly. "And miss out on the show? no, thanks!" Pinkie said dramatically. "This isn't a game, pink one," one of the soldiers said. "Maybe not for us," the pink earth pony spoke amicably. "It's too late to back down anyway," Ford said as they reached the end of the tunnel. "We've already made it this far." They discovered that the tunnel connected to a large trestle bridge that spanned over a river. The bottom was barely visible, however, due to the thickening fog. Not even the mounted lights could break through the dense mist. All was quiet and calm, as if nothing ever even happened. "Wow. We're pretty high up," Rainbow observed. "About 200 feet or so," the master sergeant said. "You think it's intact?" Ford asked. "Only one way to find out," the master sergeant said. "You wanna take the top?" "Sure. You check below." Ford turned to the ponies. "Rainbow, Twilight, Fluttershy? You think maybe you could provide us with some aerial coverage." "You got it," Rainbow saluted. She spread wings and took to the air. "We'll keep our eyes peeled," Twilight followed after the cyan pegasus. "Uhm...w-w-what she said," Fluttershy gulped and hesitantly took off, as well. She didn't want to. She really didn't what to. But, Fluttershy also didn't like the idea of crossing over a constricting bridge. At the very least, in the air, she had a lot more wiggle room if the MUTO did appear. "Come on. Just do it! she mentally yelled at herself. As brave as she could, Fluttershy flew after Rainbow and Twilight. Though, her braveness amount to her shaking so bad, she had to hold her helmet to keep it from falling. "Sergeant Morales, you come with me," Ford said. "What about you girls." "Ah think we'll stay with ya, Ford," Applejack said. "Agreed. Better to stick with ponies you know best," Rarity added. "Um, I'll stay, too," Spike said. "Don't forget about me," Pinkie said playfully. "Seems a bit unbalanced," Morales mumbled under his breath. With that out of the way, the three teams began examining the bridge. The master sergeant and another soldier climbed down one of the trestles fitted with a ladder. Bats squeaked and screeched as they flew by. The two cautiously searched around rocky shorelines. All that they could see through the foggy darkness were trees and the bubbling river at the very bottom. Back on the top of the bridge, Ford, Morales, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, and Spike carefully stepped across the towering bridge. It was impossible to see the end of it, which made the bridge look it went on forever. The ponies and dragon, despite seeing everything appearing normal, were incredibly on-edge. An insidious paranoia was setting. "I don't mean to sound pejorative, but shouldn't there be...something happening," Rarity said fearfully. "We saw those and explosions and people yelling and the growl, but there's nothing here." "Ah'm with ya there, Rares," Applejack said. "It's like just disappeared or somethin'," "Like one of those ghost stories where somepony goes and missing and there spirit haunts the place they disappear, so somepony else goes to investigate and they disappear, too," Pinkie droned on. "Then, some more ponies go searching and the ghost appears and they're all "AAAHHHH!" The gang all jumped a bit from the mare's dramatization of her over-the-hill analogy. "...and they go running back home going "The ghost is real! It's going to get us!" "I think we get it, Pinkie," Rarity almost shouted. "I know. I just love telling a good story." "We don't need anymore freak-outs," Applejack said emphatically. "That's the last thing we need while on a bridge." That's when Sergeant Morales tripped. He had misplaced his step to where most of his foot was set over the awkward space between the railroad ties. He smacked against the wood ties, dropping his flashlight. The suddenness of it all cause the ponies and dragon to jump again. The beam of light swung wildly as the flashlight disappeared into the fog. "Shit," Morales hissed. "Oh, don't scare us like that," Rarity said reprimanded. "I tripped." "Here, let me help ya up," Applejack took the young man's hand and hoisted him back up. "Morales, was it? You all right?" "Yes. Thank you," the sergeant said. Down below, the master sergeant and other soldier inspected the embankments around the river. All was completely silent until they heard something crash into the ground behind them. The two quickly turned around, guns drawn. It was Morales's flashlight. It rolled along the leaf litter. "Jesus," the master sergeant lowered his gun. The two soldiers looked up at the bridge, but trying to spot the rest of the team was impossible. An dull, orange glow could be seen out of the corner of their eyes within the fog. The master sergeant and other soldier turned, guns drawn again. The glow grew brighter and brighter like it was heading toward them. A flickering shape seemed to be creating the glow, which it was indeed heading toward the two. The master sergeant and the solider, upon realizing what it really was, jumped clear as the remains of a burning tank smashed into the rocky embankment. Shattered stones flew everywhere. Then, as soon as it appeared, the tank was swept away by the river's current. The master sergeant quickly got back to his feet. His gun remained drawn, in case anything else were to happen. "Jones, you all right?" he called out. "Yeah, I'm good!" the soldier responded. The two soldiers inched back over to the shoreline. In the river, burning military vehicles were being carried off by the water. Well, there was no sugarcoating here. Something really bad must have happened for all of this to occur. The master sergeant took out a whistle and started blowing a morse code message to the rest of the group on the bridge. Meanwhile, Twilight, Rainbow, and Fluttershy had made it to the other side of the bridge. From what they gathered, nothing appeared to be abnormal or off, and there seemed to be no signs of a fight of any kind, which left them confused and concerned. "Bridge looks perfectly fine," Rainbow, for whatever reason, decided the best course of action was to push against the metal framing of the bridge. "This is one sturdy bridge." "And it connects to another tunnel," Twilight observed. "But, we saw all the chaos happening from the other side of the first tunnel. Where is it now?" Both Rainbow and Fluttershy exchanged worried works. They couldn't come up with any kind of answers. "Well, I guess that's a good thing," the cyan pegasus alluded. "It does mean we have nothing to worry about now." "Well, it didn't all just disappear, Rainbow," the troubled alicorn argued. "Something was obviously happening here and I'm asking "where did it all go?" "What if the MUTO's still here?" Fluttershy asked fearfully. "Maybe it...t-took down all those other soldiers and it's waiting for more." Rainbow looked around the entire valley. "Fluttershy, if the MUTO was still here, we'd definitely would've spotted it by now. Even in all this fog, we would still be able to see it." "So, did the other soldiers flee, perhaps?" Twilight hypothesized. "Maybe," the rainbow mare shrugged. "That's probably the most sensible conclusion we can come up with." Fluttershy felt an unnerving sensation crawling through her body. The fur on the back of her neck rose and she grew more alert; a primal instinct of something dangerous nearby. Twilight and Rainbow took notice of their friend's sudden rigidness. "Fluttershy, are you okay?" Twilight asked gently. "Does...Does a-a-anypony else get the feeling we're being w-watched," the yellow pegasus stammered. Rainbow and Twilight looked around tensely. Although they couldn't see anything, their bodies were yelling at them that something was their. Sweat began forming amongst the three ponies. A bright light shone, highlighting them. The three mares all let out a shriek of terror. Thankfully, the quickly realized it was just Ford and the others. "Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy!" Applejack called them. Twilight let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. You guys made it across." "Yep. Despite what earlier had entailed," Rarity said. "Yeah, we we're discussing that," Rainbow said. "Nothing seems to be wrong though." "Bridge is intact," Ford said. "Bulldog, this is Eagle," Morales radioed to the train. "All clear to move out. Over." "Roger that, Eagle," the radio responded. "Eagle? You look more like a sparrow to me," Pinkie said. "It's my codename," the sergeant said, exasperated. "Oh, oh, give me a codename! Name me "The Party Animal." Sergeant Morales let out a sigh of annoyance. "Oh, Pinkie," Rarity chuckled. At least, her innocent jokes brightened the mood. The Mane 6 and Spike were having a good chuckle. Even Ford was smiling a bit. Despite all that was happening, these ponies were definitely the light through all this darkness. However, nobody noticed the massive figure rising from within the trees. Now that they were given the green light, the remaining soldiers scrambled back onto the train. "Let's go! Let's go, people!" one of the ordered loudly. He clambered onto the locomotive as it began moving again. It's horn blared as it entered the tunnel. Down at the bottom of the valley, the master Sergeant and the other soldier could the train's horn echoing out from the tunnel. That's when the sergeant received a staticky message from his radio. "Say again. I do not have a visual. What is your position?" He tried to receive some kind of signal for communication, but that came out was incoherent static. "Unreadable. Say again. Over." Neither her nor Jones were paying attention to what was in front of them. A massive shape began to move, kicking up dust and rocks. What was initially assumed to be a tree was instead one of the MUTO's front legs. The two soldiers stepped back and armed their guns as the massive beast carefully stepped over the bridge. Ford, Morales, the Mane 6, and Spike were caught in the middle. The color drained from their faces upon seeing the MUTO now walking alongside the bridge. Both Rarity and Pinkie were about to let screams of terror when a purple glow enveloped their mouths and closed them shut. Twilight frantically shook her head, a horrified expression frozen to her mouth. Spike let out a quiet, frightened squeak. He practically hid himself underneath Twilight, holding her back left leg like a lifeline. "Hit the deck!" Morales said quietly. He and Ford lied flat on the backs on the track. The ponies and dragon did the same, Forcing Spike to slip out from underneath Twilight. The two lay still side-by-side. Flutteshy lied flat on her stomach. She covered her eyes, not wanting to see the MUTO so up close and personal. "Just stay quiet," Twilight whispered as quietly as she could. The group could only watch as the bat-like creature stepped closer and closer toward them. All except Fluttershy watched it's every move. Ford aimed his gun at it, just in case it did something life-threatening. Each of the MUTO steps shook the entire valley. The MUTO let grunts and growl like it was looking, or perhaps hunting, for something. It dipped down underneath the bridge. A intense wave of fear washed over the group as the creature disappeared from sight. They could still hear hellish noises it made. It's glowing, slit-like eyes peered through the gaps in the railroad ties. Sergeant Morales's radio started crackling and buzzes. The terrified sergeant frantically fiddled with it the try and turn it off. "Turn that thing off," Rarity hissed in a barely discernible voice. "I'm trying. Help me turn it off, man," Morales desperately whispered to Ford. He fiddled with it more, but the radio kept making noise. That's when the MUTO rose back up. It started imitating the radio's crackling which meant that it not only heard it, but now knew something was there. The group watched with bated, fear-stricken breaths. It's body rose, soon towering over the bridge. The dim moonlight glimmered against the MUTO's black, leathery skin. Things became truly nightmarish when the MUTO faced the group. It opened it's narrow maw, displaying it's set of jagged, fang-like teeth. The jig was undoubtedly up. The MUTO was preparing to consume each and every one of them, human, pony, and dragon alike. "What do we do?" Rainbow whispered in a panic. Given the circumstances, there wasn't much they could do. Twilight, unfortunately knew this. Running away or fighting it off weren't a possibly given the creature's size, but staying still was going to get them eaten. Twilight began to sweat like crazy. "Uh, Uhm-" HONK HONK Through the thick fog, the sound of the trains horn blared. This thankfully got the MUTO's attention. It in the direction of the sound, then imitating it, not very well mind you. The MUTO started heading for the train, stepping half it's body onto the other side of the bridge. That meant, Ford, Morales, the Mane 6, and Spike got a clear view of the monster's underbelly. Above it's hindleg laid a clear, glowing sac that was carrying a large amount of small orbs. "Ugh, sick," Rainbow said with disgust, turning her eyes away. Some of the other ponies turned away not wanting to see the graphic asset. Rarity closed her eyes tight, keeping the bile rushing up her throat from spraying out. "Tell me when it's gone," she said through gritted. As the MUTO vanished into the mist, the group all stood back. "Never mind that. It's going after the train!" Twilight exclaimed. "It's going to eat those warheads once it gets it's hands on it," Spike added. "What do we do?" Fluttershy asked helplessly. Suddenly came the sounds of people screaming and gunfire along with a disturbing roar. Ford aimed his gun out, expecting the MUTO's return. "We oughta go back up their and help 'em," Applejack said. A bright glow appeared from the fog. The train, now engulfed in flames was barreling down on them. "Too late!" Pinkie shrieked dramatically. "Run!" Ford yelled. He and the others had no choice but to book it. They ran as fast as they could down the narrow bridge. The burning locomotive, however, was fasting. It was getting closer and closer with each terror-filled second. "Move it, run!" "I just want to wake up!" Pinkie cried. "It's gaining on us," Rarity screamed. Sergeant Morales noticed one of the MUTO legs swing for the bridge. "Ford!" he tried to warn, but the leg crashed against the bridge. "Aah!" Splintered wood flew everywhere as sections of the trestle began to collapse. "JUMP!" Twilight yelled. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike leapt off the bridge and dove down toward the river below. "Cannonball!" Pinkie curled up her arms and legs. One by one, the gang splashed into the freezing waters. For a brief moment their was relief. Relief that they were safe away from the MUTO or the burning train. Pinkie and Twilight were the first to resurface. "How was that cannonball, Twi?" Pinkie asked excitedly. Twilight was still getting to her bearings after her body was forced into freezing water. "It was...It was great, Pinkie-how are you able to keep such a positive attitude? We literally almost died!" "But, we didn't. And that's what matters." Pinkie then looked up, her eyes shrinking to pinpricks. "Though that might not be a guarantee." "What? The MUTO?" Twilight looked up, confused to what Pinkie was getting at. That's when she saw the burning locomotive plummeting straight at them. The alicorn swore she felt her soul leave her body. Just then, Rainbow resurfaced. "What did I miss?" "Look out!" Twilight screeched. She pushed Rainbow down beneath the surface. Pinkie drew in a huge breath before diving back down just as the diesel smashed into the water. In a brief moment in time, nothing happened. Nothing but rush of the river and the slowly sinking train. As luck would have it, Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike all managed to resurface, gasping and coughing. None of them were hit by the falling train. "What'n tarnation was that?" Applejack said in shock. "I think the MUTO was waiting for us," Ford said. "It was trying to ambush us." "That would explain why everything was so quiet earlier," the soaking alicorn admitted. "I-Is the MUTO after us?" Fluttershy coughed. The gang could barely keep afloat against the rivers strong current, but that wasn't the worst part. Like out of a horror movie, the MUTO grabbed at the train cars that were still on the bridge. The first one dropped, causing the monster to let a aggravated bellow. Between dipping back below the surface and gasping for air, Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike were forced to watch the MUTO feasting on the radioactive payload. It ripped the second warhead off the flatbed and bit down it, trying to fit it into it's mouth. "We need...get out of here," Rarity gasped. "We need to get away from that thing." "Wait, where's Sergeant Morales?" Rainbow asked. They remembered the sergeant getting pushed off the bridge when the MUTO's arm slammed into it. However, there was no sign of him now, nor no sign of the master sergeant or the other soldier. "Guys, where are you?" Spike called out. "Morales? Morales!?" Twilight yelled. "Can anypony here us?" Applejack asked loudly. The only thing that replied was the MUTO. It let out a roar as it finished gulping down the first nuclear missile. With no one and nothing to help, the Mane 6 and Spike began to panic. "Somepony, help us!" Fluttershy screamed. Rainbow grunted as she forced her wings to unfurl. Despite being as soaked, she was able to get into the air. "Come no. There's got to be somepony here!" Wreckage rained down from the damaged bridge. Pieces of wooden and metal pelted the river. Some of them landed right on the pegasus's head. "Ack! Ow!" "Rainbow, get back down here!" Twilight cried. "If the MUTO spots us, we're all dead." Despite wishing to find any other survivors, Rainbow was forced to acknowledge that, right now, they were still in grave danger. She sunk back down into the cold water. "How many more allies most we lose before we beat these monsters," she shivered, more so out of emotion than the cold. That was something the others couldn't really give an answer to. None of them wanted to see more people die, but, after everything that's occurred, death seemed to follow in their wake. "I don't think we should be thinking about this," Ford suggested. "Maybe... we don't have to assume they're dead," Pinkie said. She shivered as she finished the last word. Even being an optimistic, happy-go-lucky pony, death was just as morbid and disheartening to her then to anyone. "Then where's Morales!? Where's the master sergeant?" Rainbow asked in tear-stricken frustration. "How long can we survive until one of us runs out of luck, huh?" Pinkie almost seemed to curl up into herself, even though she was submerged in water. Twilight decided to speak up. "Rainbow..." Her words failed her. Whatever reassurance that was coming out died in her throat. Rainbow caught this. "What? Everything's going to be fine? Nothing has been fine, Twilight!" "Rainbow!" Applejack spoke up this time. "Tell me I'm wrong, Applejack," the pegasus snapped. "I'd never thought I'd say this, but this mission is pushing me to the brink. We're being forced to stand idly as those monsters make a mess of everything. And that..." Rainbow began to tear up. Internally, she tried to keep herself composed, but the dams had been taking a beating for the last couple of days and they just couldn't hold out anymore. Fluttershy instinctively came up to her and embraced her, which Rainbow took without resistance. She hated getting this emotion in front of others, but she just couldn't find the strength to hold it. All Fluttershy could do was hug her and comfort her. "We'll get through this Rainbow...somehow," she said, but her tone betrayed her. She was just as broken up about this than Rainbow. And so were the others. "Is this really what it's going to amount to? Nothing but destruction?" Twilight whispered. "Why did we come here? I can't take it anymore," Spike began to tear up. "Ya'll... I..." not even Applejack could find it in heart to bring reassurance. Rarity and Pinkie just started crying outright. Things had reached a whole new low. They were all on their own. Nothing but the destruction of the MUTO and the unforgiving hold of the river washing them away. Pacific Ocean "He's going under!" a man said over the radio. Alarm blared inside one of the many warships that surrounded Godzilla. "Boats, sound the collision alarm. Frame 180," the ship's captain ordered. More alarm went off. The captain raced over to the nearest window just in time to see Godzilla dive completely under the water. Personnel onboard the flight deck watched dumbfounded as the monstrous kaiju disappeared under the night-darkened surface. Some ships that were too close tipped a little as the massive body kicked up waves. One of which was the USS Saratoga. Admiral Stenz was focusing on maps of the coast when the sound of rolling writing utensils snapped him out of his concentration. He curiously watched then pencils roll down the table and smack against the telephone sitting at the edge. "We're losing visual, admiral," a female officer stated. Stenz got up from his seat and turned to face the monitors which were showing Godzilla swimming though the pitch black depths. The officer met his gaze. "He's diving. Changing course and moving fast. I've got him at 33 knots and picking up speed. He's gonna outrun us sure." The admiral let out an apprehensive exhale. Something had gotten Godzilla's attention which was hastening his approach to the California Coast. It must've had something to do with the MUTO, which just made the possible situation even worse. Combined with the fact that he had recently received word that the train of warheads had been ambushed by one of the MUTO's, and suddenly the plan had a huge risk of being compromised. What worried Stenz the most was if they could come up with a backup plan in time before the MUTOs and Godzilla reach California's big cities. For now, he could only hold his breath. The morning sun had been shut out by the thick, merciless cloud cover. It didn't help that the mist was still present, all be it thinning. A coyote was standing by the shore of the river, a part where it had narrowed and calmed down. "Go on! Git!" a southern-accent voice yelled at it. The coyote raced away as Applejack stumbled along the shore. While not horribly injured, she still had a few good cuts on her body. She was trailed by Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Spike, and Twilight who were faring any better. "I guess that fall did more of a number on us that we thought," Rainbow eyed the cut to her right wing. "Could've been worse," Twilight said, nursing the gash to her left cheek. "It was more so the bridge collapse and debris falling on us than the fall." "And we're not the only ones," Spike said. He, too, was covered in cuts. But, what really disturbed the ponies was all the debris that littered the shoreline. Trees, railcar pieces, cars, and worse of all bodies lay strewn about. Fluttershy shut her eyes, unable to bare seeing the morbid sight. However, two bodies stood out amongst all of them. Rarity, who was conscious, was trying to wake up an unconscious Ford. "Come on, Ford. Wake up," she pleaded as she nudged him. "Rarity!" The unicorn turned and her expression lit up upon seeing her friends. "Oh, girls!" she galloped over to them, all of them embraced in an emotional group hug. "T-Thank goodness you're all okay. I-I-I was so worried I lost you all." "We're okay... For the most part," Twilight said. "But, are you okay, Rarity." "I'm fine, Twilight, don't worry," Rarity assured. "B-But, Ford...sniff...he won't wake up." "Fordy!" Pinkie galloped over to the lieutenant. He began to moving and cough weakly. He was completely covered in wet sand. He even spit some out of his mouth. "Ford!" Rarity was right by his side. "Are you okay!? I couldn't wake you, darling. I-I assumed..." "I'm fine," Ford coughed out. "Are the others okay?" "Yes, Ford, wer' okay," Applejack said gently. "B-But what about the others," Fluttershy forced herself to scan through all the other unmoving bodies littered around. Twilight hesitantly brought a hoof against one of the bodies necks. "No pulse," she said quietly. A wave of sorrow and heartbreak came over the ponies and dragon. More casualties. More innocent people dead. Applejack took off her hat. She brought it over her chest and closed her eyes. It was the least she could do to pay respect. Pinkie and Fluttershy were a mess, Rarity and Spike were trying their best to comfort them. Rainbow just sat on her haunches, her wings hung lazily to her sides. She let out a defeated sigh and closed her eyes. Twilight helped Ford onto his feet. Her ears flicked as she caught a distant sound. "What is that?" she said. "What is what?" Ford asked. The alicorn couldn't put her finger on it, but she could her a distant, thumping sound, but it was getting closer. Her friends picked up on this too, which knocked them out of their tear-filled stuper. "What is that noise?" Applejack asked. "I don't know," Rarity said. "Is it the MUTO, again?" Pinkie sniffled. To that, Rainbow shot right back up, her wings now flared out in defense. "Where is it? Where is it?" Her tone became angrier the second time she asked. Thankfully, it wasn't a MUTO. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike all spotted a military helicopter coming from where the river took them. They watched as it hovered several yards away from them. A second helicopter appeared, this time much larger and carrying a cargo sling. "Let's go," Ford stumbled toward where the choppers were. With the help of Twilight and Applejack, they along with the others trudged over wreckage and debris. They could see soldiers on the ground yelling who knows what. The sling had already been attached to what they were looking for. One of the nuclear warheads from the train, the only one that survived. "Hey. Hey!" Rainbow yelled to get their attention. The soldiers had completed loading the warhead onto the sling. "Watch the swinging!" one of them warned as the dangerous load was being hoisted into the air. "No swing!" a second soldier yelled. Hey!" another soldier gestured and pointed to something. One of the soldiers turned to see what he was pointing at. He saw Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike all stumbling over to them, injured and dirty. "Hold on!" the soldier yelled. To them, it was miracle anyone had survived the attack at all. He could tell that they were not in the best shape, though. "MEDIC!" to be continued Part 11: Taking a StandThe unsurreptitiousness of the train attack had left the army scrambling for any salvageability of their main plan. Thankfully, with one of the warheads mostly undamaged and operational, said plan would come to fruition, all be it, with extra cautionary decrees. This led to some frantic beldam, especially in the hospital Elle was working at. Injured patients were being carted off by nurses and army officers. All the while every television system was broadcasting evacuation and sheltering protocols. "They are insisting civilians make their way to the BART stations. All the BART stations are designated shelters. Elle was quick to take notice of all the patients being wheeled away toward the entrances of the hospital. She came up to one of them, confused and concerned. "Wait, wait. These patients are my responsibility. Where are you taking them?" The nurse pushing the hospital bed shook his head, implicated that he and the others had no control over this. "Across the bridges," a solider trailing behind said. "Critical and children only." Elle's friend passed by with several children following. "Shelters are gonna fill up fast," she said. "Trust me, they'll be safer outside the city." As they reached the entrance, Elle's friend turned back to her. "I can take Sam." "No, no, no. Ford's on his way," Elle declined. "If you change your mind, the buses leave in 10 minutes." With that Elle's friend left, leaving the young nurse by herself amongst the swarm of soldiers and patients. This was the last chance for her son to get somewhere safe, but she was running out of time and neither Ford or the ponies had showed up. All she could really do was wait for any evidence of their arrival. "Come on. Where are you, Ford?" Outside, evacuation were being wrapped up. The injured and children were piled into waiting school buses and army trucks, which were to be sent away across the bay where shelters were ready and waiting to take them in. "This way! Keep them moving!" a soldier yelled. Dozens of soldiers directed hundreds of evacuees into the vehicles. "Let's go. Come on, come," another said. Just then, several helicopters flew overhead, catching the attention of many. One of the helicopters was carrying the intact warhead, while another was carrying Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike among several soldiers. "Ohh, I just made these wonderful uniforms not even 24 hours ago and now they're completely ruined!" Rarity complained. "We have more pressing issues than our soiled uniforms at the moment," Twilight reminded. "Need we talk about the MUTOs still on the loose." "And Godzilla, wherever he is," Spike added. "At least he's going to take the MUTOs down." "Then why are we still here?" Rarity asked harshly. The others turned to the upset unicorn. That had this emotional discussion before, yet it never did end up getting resolved. It certainly was going to be when Rainbow got involved, having been the one to finally break back during the train incident. "Usually you don't hear this from me, Rarity's right," the pegasus spoke more solemnly instead of the trauma-filled angry from last night. "What reason do we need to be here? We've done next to nothing to keep this exact kind of thing from happening." "You're right...we don't hear that from you, Dashie," Pinkie observed. "It was an inevitability, Rainbow," Twilight said. "We didn't have much control over the monsters resurfacing." "Again, I ask: Why are we here then? If it was keep those monsters from destroying those things, we've done a poor job at it. And if it was to get that missile to where it needs to be, we failed that, too!" "But, it is still getting transported." "No thanks to us," Applejack lowered her head. "Ah hate to admit it girls, but ah'm startin' ta think we ain't cut out for these missions no more." Twilight turned to the amber earth pony with a shocked and hurt look. Hurt coming a place of disbelief. The young alicorn and the others prided themselves in not just being best friends, but also caring, determined, and bonded defenders of Equestria. The Elements of Harmony. There for anypony with a magic or friendship problem. But, this wasn't Equestria, and the problem was derived from friendship or magic. It was from monsters beyond proportions, monsters that the Mane 6 had ever gone up against. What hope did they have in completing this mission if they couldn't anything to turn the tables. "Sh-Shouldn't we, at least, try again?" Pinkie asked, her reassuring smile imperceptibly falter under her own crushing self-doubt. "What's the point? All we'd accomplish at this point is risking injuries again," Rarity said. "Or death," Rainbow added. The soldiers still silent, though that was mostly out being unsure what to say instead of respect or uncaring. Three of the four helicopters then diverged away from their chopper, heading toward the bay. "What are they doing now?" Fluttershy asked. "Hey! Where are they taking it?" Ford turned to the soldier next to him. "Twenty miles offshore, convergence point," the soldier explained. "We're gonna lure them there. Three birds, one stone." Ford looked back to the helicopters. "Three birds, one stone." that was what the soldier said. If what he thought was the case, then they were planning on killing Godzilla, too. The Mane 6 and Spike picked up on this, too. "Wait, three birds?" Twilight parroted. "You guys are planning on blowing up Godzilla, as well?" "That's the plan." "But, he's supposed to take down the two MUTOs," Spike attested. "Why would you kill him if he's doing what you guys are trying to do." "They're converging here, in San Francisco Bay," one of the other soldiers replied. "If we let them fight, they'll cause serious collateral damage and fatalities. We can't let that happen." "But, that is nature's balance," Fluttershy spoke up. "Dr. Serizawa said it, himself." "It's either us or them, and our priority is keeping all civilians safe from harm." The craven pegasus could keep silent at that. If this was in Equestria, keeping the residence safe was their top priority. Even though she was still against killing the creatures, Fluttershy knew there was no point arguing with a military force. "See. They have everything covered," Rainbow raised her front hooves out to the redirected helicopters. "They don't need us. We didn't need to be here in the first place." "But, what about Ford and his relationship with Joe," Spike brought up. "We helped with that." The clearly emotional pegasus let out a frustrated sigh through her nose. "Yeah, sure. We did help with that. But, let me asked you something, Spike: How much does that really matter now that Joe is dead?" Spike was about to say something, but the words died in his throat. He really had to think about that question. "I mean...at the very least, they still made up. Even if it wasn't under the best circumstances." "They barely made up. Joe would still probably be here if we had just did something. If I had just swopped him and got him away from that bridge." "Rainbow, I don't blame you for my dad's death," Ford said candidly. "By the time we realize the walkway was going to collapse, it was too late to do anything." "I'm supposed to be fast! I pride myself in that. I pride in the fact that I'm fast enough the save anypony that was in danger. Applejack, Rarity, remember the time we went camping with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo?" "Ah sure do. When we camped up all the way to Winsome Falls," Applejack said. "Oh, I remember that, too," Rarity reminisced. "And you remember what happened the night before we reached Winsome Falls?" Applejack and Rarity turned to each other. It took a second for them to remember the exact memory. "Uhh, wasn't that when Scootaloo couldn't sleep cuz of some ghost stories and nearly fell off a waterfall?" "Exactly!" the cyan pegasus exclaimed. "She would've likely fallen to her death if I hadn't been their to save her. I was able to save her because I was quick enough to reach her." "Right. We understand that," Rarity said. "But, what does that have to do with any of this?" "I was able to save a filly from falling over a waterfall. How am I unable to save a human from a collapsing walkway not even a hundred feet away?" "Rainbow you can't save everypony, even if your the fastest flier out there," Twilight said. "Well, I should've been fast enough to rescue Joe!" "We were under attack from the MUTO!" "That doesn't change the fact that I could've done something!" "ENOUGH!" The ponies, dragon, and even the soldiers tensed up. But, what really surprised the Mane 6 and Spike was that the voice had belonged to Fluttershy. Instead of shying away after raising her voice, however, the mare inhaled deeply. She then turned to Rainbow. "I understand that you feel guilty over Joe's death, but you can't let that cloud you thoughts and decisions." Fluttershy spoke with seriousness, clearness, and gentleness. Such bold benevolence had stumbled Rainbow out of her emotional lamentations. "Ford doesn't blame you for it and neither do we," the mare continued. "Not only that, just because we haven't been doing our best with this whole situation, doesn't mean we shouldn't be here to begin with." "But, Fluttershy..." A defeated look came over Rainbow, ears flattened and head bowed. "We were supposed to keep these kinds of things from happening. With the military preparing the missile, what reason is there to stick around? We did our part and we failed." "Come on. Don't beat yourselves up over this," Ford said. "You can't just expect yourselves to fix everything that gets in your way." "Maybe not, but they are the Elements of Harmony," Spike gestured to Twilight and the others. "And we were brought here because we were needed, yet we haven't done much of anything to warrant that." The other mares and Spike bowed their heads in defeat alongside there dejected friend. "What if Rainbow's right? What if we really did fail this time?" Rarity said. "I can't do this anymore, girls," Pinkie sighed. "We are just cartoon characters after all." "Ah suggest we cut our losses and find a way back home," Applejack said sadly. "Perhaps that the best," Twilight sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "All we've been is dead weight." "Coming here was a mistake," Rainbow said solemnly. Normally, Fluttershy would be in agreement with her friends. Things were bleak for them with nothing to show for them. But, seeing all her friends so done triggered something within the mare. Not something primal or reactionary, but a realization. The realization that, right now, this was the time to put her hoof down, stand up tall, and be brave. Fluttershy needed to have the courage to say "no" to all of this. "No." The Mane 6 and Spike all turned to her, once again, surprised by her unmoving valor. "We were brought here for a reason," Fluttershy glared at the others. "The dream I had. There was I reason I was given that." "What if it was just a great big coincidence?" Rainbow asked. "I refuse to believe that." "But, Fluttershy, all we've done is complicate things," Twilight stood up, a crestfallen expression on her face. "We've failed to prevent the MUTO's from causing destruction. We’ve failed our mission." "You don't know that!" Fluttershy stepped right up to Twilight's face. "Just because we haven't succeeded in our mission now, does not mean it's a complete bust. We are still here, we can still make a difference." "What can we do now?" Rarity asked poignantly. "There's no way we can stop those MUTO and Godzilla on our own." "Maybe that's not what we were here for. Maybe we're here to Ford reconcile with his father and reunite with his family." Fluttershy turned to the injured lieutenant. "Think about it. So far we've remained alive through everything that has happened. Even if Joe didn't survive, we can agree that Ford has reconciled with him, right?" "...Yes," Ford nodded. "I suppose," Twilight admitted. The others nodded. "But, why did he have to die?" Rainbow asked. "That was just an unfortunate accident," the cream-yellow pegasus responded. "Believe me, Rainbow, I'm just as heartbroken as you about it, but we can't keep living in that moment. In his last moments, Joe said to Ford to go back to his family. That's what we must do; see to it that he gets back to his wife and son safe and sound." "But, what'v the MUTOs and Godzilla when they git her?" Applejack asked warily. "We have the warhead," one of the soldiers reminded. "And what if it don't work? What's yer plan B?" The soldier gave no answer. He turned to the other soldiers that were just as lost as him. To not have a failsafe if the warhead didn't do the job was not something on anyone's minds until now. Fluttershy, on the other hand, closed her eyes, deep in thought over Applejack's prior question. There was no denying that even after Ford reunites with Elle and Sam, things would not be over. She didn't have a clear answer when it came to down to those exacts problems amongst all the others that were of concern. However, given that they still had time, she thought it wise to put those problems on the back burner and focus on the more important aspects of their mission. "I don't know. But I'm not going to just give up even if the odds are greatly against us. Like Spike said, we are the Elements of Harmony. We always pull through no matter what." She came up to Rainbow, who still had an unsure look. "Come on, Dashie. Where's all that tenacity, and bravery, and bravado? Whatever happened to never giving up?" Rainbow looked at her closest friend, shocked from her forwardness. It only took a few seconds for her to completely rethink all that she had said and felt. Fluttershy was right. Joe's death shook her and it blinded her sense of duty and loyalty, and, because of that, it was leading the distraught pegasus to have severe feelings of doubt. Now, Rainbow was not one to have such emotional conflict and doubt, but this was brand new territory for her and her friends and, in this territory. It brought a slough of circumstances and predicaments that the Mane 7 just weren't prepared for. For Rainbow, a came to such a daunting crescendo that it was having an effect on, not just her self-esteem, but the entire teams synergy. Fluttershy knew this and had the courage to point it out to them all, especially her closest friend. Rainbow Dash stared into Fluttershy's big, teal eyes. What once characterized the mare as timid and soft-spoken, but also kind, friendly, and welcoming. Now, they radiated vibrant solemnity and true, raw courage. It was something Rainbow had pretty much never seen her friends show. There were times Fluttershy showed her more out-spoken and fearless side, like when she stood up to that big dragon, but this was melded into a more encouraging approach. Instead of feeling intimidated, Rainbow felt awe-inspired, she felt her confidence coming back. She turned her other friends who seemed to be affect by Fluttershy's speech, too. They also were reignited that maybe, just maybe, there was still hope. Rainbow turned back to Fluttershy, a reassured, yet apologetic smile on her face. "You're right, Fluttershy. You're right on so many things. I was giving up too easily and I was stupid for that. I was letting Joe's death effect my confidence and self-esteem. I just... I'll admit it, everything that's happened... it's just been so confusing and hard to come to terms with. All of this is much bigger than anything we've been through." "Ah second that," Applejack briefly interjected. "I think I speak for everypony when I say that we should've prepared ourselves more than jumping in head first," Twilight said. "Agreed," Rarity said, with Spike and Pinkie nodding. "But, you still haven't given up, Fluttershy. Even with all the odds stacked against us, you were the one to remaining standing and keep fighting." "Not only that, you stood up for us, even when we were about to throw in the towel," Rainbow came to Fluttershy's side. "In all the years we've known each other, I've never seen you with such a courageous fire in your eyes. I-...I never knew you had that in you." The younger mare shuffled her wings awkwardly, her serious look melting back to her meek side. "Honestly I didn't really know I had it in me, either. I guess it just comes to you when you really need it." "Natural or not, that was commendable." Ford admitted. "Thank you, for stepping in like that, Fluttershy," Twilight said graciously. "We still may not have all the answers, but that's not grounds for giving up. We're here to help and that's what we're going to do." "Three cheers for Fluttershy!" Pinkie cheered. The Mane 6, Spike, and Ford began cheering for the courageous friend. Even some of the soldiers started cheering, respecting Fluttershy's valiance. She could only smile with an audible "sqwee." While our heroes were getting to celebrate a personal victory, it was still a far cry of what was to come. The diverted helicopters had made to their designated destination. The larger, Chinook helicopter carrying the warhead carefully lowered the massive missile onto a small, military transport boat. Soldiers helped steady the giant warhead onto the holding platform before securing it. Air raid sirens began blaring all throughout the city, alerting all of San Francisco that time was running out. School buses and army trucks hastily made a break out of the hospital parking lot. Elle, who was now outside amongst the chaos, held Sam tightly, rubbing his head in an effort to keep him calm. She had grown more impatiently worried the longer she was forced to wait for Ford's return. With the sirens going off, she knew that time was dwindling fast. The sharp sound of a beeping vehicle horn, startle Elle out of here panicky stupor. The nurse turned around to see a small school bus rolling in her direction. In that microscopic window of time she had, Elle made a hard choice. "Wait!" Elle held out her free hand. The driver stopped the buses, allowing Elle to race over to the folding entry doors. They opened and she quickly stepped inside. She saw her friend at the very front seat. "Laura, thank god," Elle whsipered. Laura smiled warmly. The young nurse set her son onto the buses steps and toward him to face her. "Sammy, you remember Laura. She's mommy's work friend, right?" Sam looked over to Laura. While he knew that his mom's friend was a nice lady, the young boy didn't like where this was going. "She's going to look after you just for a little bit. Daddy's going to be here soon. And I'm just gonna come get you right after. I promise." Elle cupped Sam's cheeks in her hands. Sam didn't like the last minute arrangement, but he was a smart enough kid to understand that his mom was doing this to keep him safe and protected, even if it meant having to be separated from her. "Okay," he said sadly, but he put on a brave face just for his mommy. "Okay?" Elle kissed Sam on the forehead. "Come on, sweetheart," Laura took Sam's hand and led him up the steps. "Your mom's gonna stay and help." The young nurse smiled as confidently and comfortingly as possible. "Elle, I'm gonna take care of him, okay?" Laura assured. She turned to Sam. "Say, "Bye-bye, Mommy." "Bye, Mommy," Sam said quietly. Elle waved to her son just as the bus doors closed. Her lower lip quivered as the school bus drove off. Elle was, at least, proud of herself for keeping it together. The last thing she wanted was for Sam to see her so upset before he left. If it was any consolation, she trusted her friend to keep her baby safe. All she could really do now was pray for both Sam safety and Ford and the ponies' hopeful return. Tactical Operations Command Oakland, California The remaining helicopter finally reached it's destination. Unfortunately, that happened to be far away from San Francisco. The chopper made a swift landing on the top of the embankment where a crudely built military base was set. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike clambered out of the chopper. A pair of soldiers helped Ford over to a paramedic. "I got them! I got them!" the paramedic helped in walking Ford over to an empty stretcher. "Just sit down here. Sit, sit. Here." "We heard you the first time," Rainbow said crudely. "He's just doing his job, Rainbow," Twilight said. Once Ford was sat down, a second paramedic arrived to look over Twilight, Spike and the others. "Did you lose consciousness?" the first paramedic asked. He looked at the gash on left side of Ford's head. "I'm okay. Really, I'm fine," the lieutenant assured dismissively. "What about you guys?" the second paramedic asked. "Just some cuts and bruises. We're fine, I assure you," Twilight said. "I don't suppose you can tell where we are, perchance," Rarity inquired. "You're in Oakland," the paramedic replied. "This is a makeshift tactical operations, so the military can keep an eye on the city when Godzilla and MUTO arrive." "Gosh, it's like everypony knows about Godzilla's arrival," Spike said. "Well, one, it's for safety reasons," a passing soldier said. "And two, it's hard to keep those things under wraps. I mean, as soon as you guys got aboard the ship, it's all the soldiers and it just spread like wildfire from there." "Ah wondered why ev'ry pony-...Uhm, my apologies, every human was bein' so calm 'round us," Applejack said. "So, wait. You said we're in Oak Land," Rainbow reminded. "I thought we were going to San Francisco." "Not when they're evacuating everyone there," the first paramedic said. "They're moving to shelters far from the city." "But what about Ford's family?" Fluttershy asked. "Like I said before, everyone's being evacuated. They are likely being transported right now, if not already in the shelters." The Mane 6 were filled with uncertainty. They still hadn't reached their intended destination, but now that planned it been muddled now that the city was being evacuated, which meant that Elle and Sam were among the thousands of people being transported to a different sight entirely. Rarity turned to Ford. "Should we be concerned about that?" "Not at the moment," the leery lieutenant said. "Should we try to look for them?" Pinkie asked, leaning her face uncomfortably close to Ford. "They could be anywhere!" "We can't really do much of anything. All we can really do is wait, unfortunately, and hope they're safe." The Mane 6 and Spike were left to ponder the volatile circumstances that now plagued them. While they didn't like the idea of forcing to wait for things to happen, it was sadly at of anyone's control. Fluttershy was unsatisfied, however. While she understood they couldn't just go back to find two people in a sea of many during the crisis, that didn't mean there was nothing left she and her friends could do. The invigorated pegasus noticed a building on the outskirts of the makeshift facility. It looked to be the main hub of the fort. Fluttershy hardened her glare and, without warning, take off into the air. The Mane 6, Spike, and Ford were all taken aback from the mare's sudden leave. "Fluttershy, wha... where are you going?" Rarity called out to her. "Fluttershy, wait!" Twilight yelled. Their calls and questions fell on deaf ears. "What'n tarnation is that girl up to?" Applejack said captiously. "I'll go after her." Rainbow opened her wings and took off after the wayward pegasus. Fluttershy reached the building in no time at all, just as a familiar figure walked inside. Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham entered the building, following behind Admiral Stenz and Captain Hampton. Fluttershy landed just in front of the doorway. "Fluttershy!" The pegasus jumped a bit. She looked back to see Rainbow landed behind her. "What in Equestria are you doing?" "Trying to get more info," the pegasus responded, her tone devoid of any anxious or fearful feelings. "If we can pinpoint where Elle, Sammy, and the other evacuees are, we'll be able to get them back here ourselves." Rainbow looked over her friend's shoulder into the building. "Uhh, I don't think we're supposed to go in there." "Yes... well," Fluttershy curled her left hind leg against her right. "I don't feel comfortable about just sitting around and waiting." The cyan pegasus, of course, did agree with what Fluttershy was saying. Rainbow didn't like the idea of doing nothing while chaos was brewing elsewhere, but this just seemed a bit, too forward. Then again, who was she to question forwardness on a situation. "Fair point. We'll have to relay anything we learn back to the others. They're still being looked over." Fluttershy nodded and the two ventured inside. The first thing the two mares noticed were all the foriegn electronics. While they had see such devices in passing in other worlds; TV monitors, computers, laptops, etc. It was certainly to peculiar experience to see it all in such a complex. Fluttershy and Rainbow remained silent as Admiral Stenz paced down the room. "Sitrep, please. Location of targets?" "Male MUTO was spotted 30 miles off the Farallon Islands," a male evacuation worker answered. "We're showing seismic activity to the east near Livermore," a female researcher added. "Should be the female closing in." Dr. Serizawa stared at the monitors displaying the monsters' predicted trajectory. That's when he felt something poke his leg. At first, he thought he was just imagining things until he heard a soft voice say: "Dr. Serizawa." He turned and looked down to see Fluttershy and Rainbow standing behind him. The seasoned researcher was in utter shock. He hadn't expected to meet any of the ponies when they left for Hawaii. He somewhat suspected they were killed during Godzilla's first fight with the MUTO, yet here two of them were. "How...How did you two get here?" he asked quietly, yet his tone still conveyed the shock he held. "It's a long story," Rainbow replied, subdued. "Are you the only ones left?" "What? No. Ford, Rarity, and the others are fine. Just a little banged up." Dr. Serizawa looked around, making sure no one had noticed. "What are you doing here?" "Trying to find where the evacuees are," Fluttershy said. "We want to help evacuate the city." The pegasus's expression faded. "Did you know they were planning on blowing Godzilla up?" Dr. Serizawa let out a sigh. "Yes, and I'm not on board with it. Nature has a way to balance itself. We are in no position to force that privilege onto ourselves." "Yeah, so we've gathered," Rainbow rubbed the top of her head in a thoughtful manner. "But, still, we need to do something to ensure everypony's safety." "I wouldn't advise going back to San Francisco," a female voice said. The three turned to Dr. Graham. "Despite the rashness of the military's plan, they're still following through with it." "We know. Seemed like the female MUTO knew, too," the dejected pegasus said. "How do you know about the attack?" Dr. Serizawa asked. "They agreed to let us on the train carrying the bombs to San Francisco, but we kind off got ambushed," Fluttershy paraphrased. "I'd prefer not to think about it." The two Japanese scientists exchanged shocked looks. "Regardless, it would be unwise to return their," Dr. Graham said. "They're already evacuating the entire city. Sticking around would likely lead to a run-in with Godzilla or the MUTOs." "But..." Fluttershy tried to object. "We can't-" "Where's Godzilla?" Admiral Stenz walked over to a quartet of TV monitors. "Last contact was still five hours ago," a female soldier responded. "Maintaining a bearing 053 degrees, descending below a depth of 10,000 feet. He'll be here within the hour." Stenz watched one of the monitors that was showing the current news, of which, showed of the residents evacuating the city. "Residents are trying to get out of the city any way they can," the news anchor said. The admiral looked away, turning his eyes over to everyone sitting at the meeting table. A horrific conclusion was etched in his mind. While he was mortified, years of being in the naval service provided Stenz with the means to keep such drastic emotion under the surface. Still, the conclusion could not go ignored. "There's still buses on that bridge." Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham looked back at each other in a horrified silence. They both knew that Godzilla was arriving soon, and if he were to show up at the bridge... "Those buses are full of children," Dr. Graham whispered. Both Fluttershy and Rainbow's jaws dropped. "Children?!" the both exclaimed. "Listen, you two..." Serizawa looked back down to speak to them, but their minds had already been made up. He and Graham could only watch as the two ponies raced out of the building. "May God have mercy on their souls," Serizawa whispered. Outside, Fluttershy galloped over to an more open area of the operations facility. Her eyes were poised on the distant skyscrapers of San Francisco, which we just barely visible through the rainy haze. Yes, rain clouds were rolling in and covering the city and surrounding area in a dramatic drench. Rainbow was immediately at the animal caretaker's side. "Fluttershy, are you really sure about this?" "I...I..." the pegasus let out a sigh. "Not entirely Rainbow, I'm still really scared about all of this, but I can't think about that right now. Kids' lives are at risk." Rainbow looked away for a few seconds, thinking of how to respond to Fluttershy's statement. "I get that. This whole spectacle has been just crazy, even for me. I'm honestly more shocked that your still not backing down from this." "I can't back down from this, no matter how scared you or I are," Fluttershy said defiantly. "Even if I'm unsure if we can really even do anything, or have doubts right now, I know we can do this. For the greater good." Everypony has times in their lives When their hearts are filled with doubts Frustration builds up inside And it makes you want to shout But if you just take that first step The next one will appear And you find you can walk, then run Then fly...! Into the stratosphere You've got to give it your best So you can pass the test Give it everything that you've got And we know you can win You just have to begin Have to give it your very best shot There are times when you want to give up When you think that you can't go on But if you fight through with all of your might You will find that you can't go wrong That you could do it all along Everypony has times in their lives When their hearts are filled with doubt But if you give it your all You'll start to work it out And I know we can't give up too soon Get yourself in the zone And we find we can walk, then run Then fly...! We can do it on our own We can do it on our own I can do it on my own I can do it on my own Fluttershy didn't know what came over her, but she let all self-restraint go. She suddenly found herself face-to-face with Rainbow. The rainbow-maned pegasus was confused by the sudden stance change. Without so much as a second, Fluttershy rushed forward. Her lips connected with Rainbow's lips. Her eyes shut tight, a tickled pink blush spreading on her face. To Rainbow's eyes widened, feeling her friend's lush lips rub against her own. To her credit, she didn't turn away or object, though that might've been because she was too surprise for her brain to conjure up a response. Still, it felt amazing. Fluttershy's mind mentally shook itself out of it's euphoric haze, prompting her to realize what she was doing. She frantically pulled away and covered her face with her mane in embarrassment. Her blush thickened as she struggled to form any form of apology. "I-I-I-I-I'm so sorry," she sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "That was too forward. I should've..." Fluttershy's apology was cut short when a bright, blue hoof covered her mouth. She nervously peeked through her silky, pink mane, expecting Rainbow to be furious with her. Instead, the mare's expression was unreadable, mostly because Rainbow, herself, was struggling to straighten out her emotions. "That was... That was nice," she said sheepishly. "Y-You're not mad?" Fluttershy asked, worried still prominent in her tone. "Of course not. To be honest, I always kinda suspected you had feelings for me." "H-How..." "Well, you weren't exactly the best at hiding your reactions whenever were got close." "Oh," Fluttershy her face back up under her mane. "You're...not upset, are you?" Rainbow asked. "Oh, no. Just...flustered," the timid mare stared at her closest friend, strands of pink hair obstructing her view. "D-Do you...um...you know... l-l-l-love me... back?" Now it was Rainbow's turn to bare a bright, cherry red blush on her face. "Well, um...I…" Fluttershy's heart skipped a beat. She could already just hear Rainbow’s confession, but then, the pegasus stopped nervously. "...look, can we please talk about this at a more appropriate time. We still have a crisis on our hooves." For a time, Fluttershy had completely forgotten of the buses stuck on the bridge. Her eyes shrink to the size of pinpricks from shock and humiliation. "R-Right," she cleared her throat. "Let's go!" With that, the two mares took off toward San Francisco. However, what neither of them realized was that two soldiers had witnessed the entire thing. The two stood awestruck by what they saw. "I ship it.” "What are you, a brony?" To be continued Part 12: The King of the Monsters RisesIt was a large leap, not one Fluttershy wasn't familiar with, but also not something she was even considering, much less expecting, to happen on a perilous mission like this. Going from somepony that followed orders from her others friends to coming up with her own directions and taking charge in her own little mission with Rainbow Dash alongside her. Despite the encouraging speech Fluttershy had shared on the helicopter and right now, where she and Rainbow were currently heading to the supposed "Golden Gate Bridge" to help with the evacuation efforts, a reasonable sense of fear gripped her like a thorn bush. However, that speech wasn't for nothing, Fluttershy still had the empowering zeal and courage to not back down from this mission, even if she was still pretty afraid. "Is that what they were referring to on the news?" Rainbow pointed to a giant, orange suspension bridge in the distance, standing high over the bay area. "They did say most of the people were stuck on a bridge." "I think so," the paler pegasus replied. "Weird. Nothing on it strikes me as being made out of gold." "Me neither. But, I think we have something more to worry about." The sky, which was once bright with a healthy blue, had now been changed to a smokey grey with a hazing mist to go along with it. It wasn't long after that when Fluttershy and Rainbow could feel tiny water droplets splashing against their fur. "Seriously?" Rainbow said pejoratively "We have to deal with rain, now?" Fluttershy wasn't a fan of getting soaked, herself. All the water weighing her down and her wet mane covering her eyes was irritating and those same things could be concurred for Rainbow, but, they were already in this far. Turning back now would be inane, even if Godzilla wasn't the one threatening everycreature's lives intentionally. Fluttershy wasn't ignorant of unintentional side effects of animal behaviors. She knew Godzilla posed a sizable threat with how close he was to a highly populated area. "We'll...We'll push through it," Fluttershy defiantly puffed out her chest. "For the children." Rainbow groaned. "Right. For the children." The two mares pressed on, the rain getting heavier and heavier by the second. The fog was also beginning to hinder their sight. It partially covered the massive bridge, making it more difficult to pinpoint an exact position. Meanwhile, on the Golden Gate Bridge, things weren't looking so bright. Fighter jets soared overhead the overcrowded bridge, no one on the ground were aware of the oncoming chaos that was to arrive. The bridge was jammed with school buses, police cars, and civilian vehicles, all of which grid-locked not knowing where to go from their current fixed position. The civilians were impatiently yelling to get a move-on. Numerous police officers and soldiers scrambled to direct the civilians to get the traffic going again, but, with the rainfall getting denser, this was proving to be difficult. "Let's get these buses through," one soldier shouted. "Let's go!" One cop approached a particular school bus and raised his hand in an attention-grabbing gesture. "We're not gonna stop the buses here." His explanation was indiscernible to the bus driver. With all the kids laughing and yelling, it was impossible to hear anything. "What?" the older man held a hand up to his right ear, conveying to the officer that he couldn't hear him. The officer remedied this by pointing to the farther lanes, but this explained little to the bus driver. "I can't hear you," he turned toward the rambunctious children. "Oh, kids, please be quiet." Of course, with kids being kids, the man's pleas fell on uncaring ears. The children continued talking loudly and laughing. One such kid, however, was quiet and conserved. Sam sat near the back of the bus. He was too lonely to hold conversation with any of the other kids on board the bus. He missed his dad, he wanted his mom back, he wanted to see those cartoon ponies, who bravely set out with his dad to find his grandfather. Being by his lonesome, Sam felt isolated in a place he wasn't accustomed to. The kids' unrestrained playfulness was halted by the sound of a police siren echoing down the bridge. The children clambered to one side of the bus where a line of combat tanks rolled by on the unoccupied lanes. The children watched in awe as the massive machines treaded by with soldiers atop, wielding machine guns. One of the tanks bulldozed over the steel barrier between the bridge’s road and sidewalk, careful as to not nail any the soldiers positioned at the sidewalk's edge. "Move into position till you have a clean line of sight!" a soldier barked. The tanks aimed their cannons out to the bay area. Soldiers raced to the bridge's north side, guns armed. From their vantage point, they could see the waters were sprinkled with battleships, waiting for Godzilla's arrival. By this point, Fluttershy and Rainbow had reached the Golden Gate Bridge. "Nothing to fear, fine citizens," Rainbow arrogantly assure. "Everything is okay with us here." Soldiers and police officers alike stared at the two pegasi with surprised and disapproving eyes. "What the hell are you doing here?" one of the officers asked. "Uh, saving the evacuees. Seems like you're having a hard time getting these people off the bridge." "That's not any of your concern," a soldier said. "Return to where you came from!" "But, we want to help," Fluttershy pleaded. The flippant Wonderbolt let a huff and turned to her friend. "This is the thanks we get?" "We didn't do this to recieve praise, Rainbow." "I know that, but still. You'd think they would be a bit more appreciative." "Leave the evacuation to us," the officer from earlier said. "We can't risk endangering innocent lives." Rainbow Dash zipped down and landed right now front of the police officer, clearly offended by what she thought he was bespeaking. "What, you think we'll mess things up and hurt people? Is that what I'm hearing? You know, I can be reckless sometimes, but I know better than to be a showoff, especially when it comes to other creatures' well-being." "You're taking what I said the wrong way," the officer rubbed his forehead in annoyance. The sky blue pegasus cocked an eyebrowed, not entirely believing the cop's statement. "I meant, your lives. Not just their lives," he pointed to all the backed up traffic. "We don't allowed civilians putting themselves in harm's way for the sake of others." "Well, we're not just ordinary citizens," Rainbow said matter-of-factly. "Saving people is part of the job, or it's at least a duty." Fluttershy had by now landed on the rain-slick roads and she was quickly discovering a problem. What were she and Rainbow to do with all these strange carts on the road. How in the world were they going to push all of them off the bridge in time. She first tried pushing one on her own, but, naturally, the thing didn't move an inch. Realizing she would be wasting her energy on this approach, Fluttershy called out to Rainbow, hoping she would have an idea "Uhm, Rainbow." The brash mare was still butting heads with the police officer. "Besides, helping these people will be easy." "Oh, yeah? How do you figure," the officer exigently asked. "You got barriers on the road," Rainbow pointed to the wooden police barricade. "What kind of rescue team blocks an escape route." "That's not..." Before the cop could get another word in, Rainbow reared up on her front legs. In one swift motion, she bucked the wooden barricade hard, causing it to clattered to the wet pavement. "There. Problem solved." The mare gave an accomplished smiled. Rainbow looked to the officer, expecting some kind of applause or thanks, but the man just glared at her. "Hmph. Critic. Guessed I'll just have to congratulate myself," Rainbow starting patting her own back. "Good job, Rainbow Dash. What would we do without-" Her self-centered commending was interrupting by a bestial groan in the distance. Everyone froze like statues, and the charged tension in the air dissipated. The kids in the bus went silent and the bus driver turned to face where the groan came from. He rubbed the condensation off the window to get a better look. "Uhh, was that who I think that was?" Rainbow asked apprehensively, "We need to get these people out of here," Fluttershy vainly tried pushing a car to get it going. "Listen, you two, get out of here," the police officer said. "Let us handle this." "No way!" the more outspoken pegasus exclaimed. "We're going to help evacuate these humans whether you like it or not." Fluttershy quickly got between Rainbow and the officer. "What my friend is trying to say is that we didn't come here just to be turned away just because we're considered civilians. We came to help. To help these innocent people who are in oncoming danger." The police officer was about to speak, but Fluttershy wasn't done. "We may not be trained professionals like you, but nopony needs to be certified to rescue anypony else when they're in danger." A contemplating silence settled amongst the three. During which, the children on board the bus stared out into the bay. Sam could see the dozens of boats sitting in the water, but nothing that screamed animalistic. That was until something smacked against the window, startling the children. It was just a seagull, but it wasn't the only one. Hundreds of seagulls and pelicans frantically flew off south, a sign of something coming from the north. Such a phenomenon broke the silence. Fluttershy, Rainbow, and the police officer stared off into the misty distance. "And exactly how do you plan on protecting yourself when Godzilla arrives?" the officer questioned. "We got helmets," Rainbow bonked a hoof against hers. Out in the bay, the battleships were on high alert. Naval officers and soldiers watched the feathery spectacle, until something caught one of the soldier's eye. "Portside! Two hundred meters!" he pointed northward. The farthest out ship, and by proxy the people aboard, spotted black spikes protruding from the water. They already knew what it was. What alarmed them was that it was not appearing to be stopping. "Brace!" one of the naval officers yelled. The soldiers on deck gripped the guard wires as the monstrous hump got closer. Suddenly, it stopped, the waves it created surged along, rocking the ship. The soldiers watched with bated breaths, wondering what Godzilla was planning on doing next. "Hold your fire. Hold your fire," the intercom sounded. No one moved and no one said a word. The only sound that could be hear was the soft pitter-patter of the rain. Then, the hump rose, quickly towering over the ships. "Holy shit" one soldier yelped. The higher the hump rose, the thinning it got, until it ended at a tip. That's when it all became apparent. This was Godzilla's tail, and the main body was behind them. The soldiers all quickly turned to see Godzilla, proper, rise up from the ocean, casting aside any battleships that were unfortunate enough to be in his wake. "Oh, shit!" Yelling and profanity began storming up as soldiers on the unluckiest ships were pretty much face-to-face with the king of the monsters. "Hold on!" "Watch on!" "Fire! Fire! Fire!" The cannons and turrets were aimed straight at the kaiju and began firing. Some hit their mark, but seemed to do little as Godzilla showed no sign of flinching. But, because the ships were still sliding off the monster's back, the cannon's trajectory was not consistent, and some of the shells missed their mark and were now heading toward the bridge. "Incoming!" Rainbow screamed. The soldiers, cops, and the two ponies dropped to the pavement. Inside the bus, the children began panicking. "Look out!" Laura yelled as children screamed and ducked for cover. "Get down! Get down in your seats!" The shells zoomed past them all, some within inches of striking the bridge. Realizing the mortal danger they were all in, the bus driver threw caution to the wind and punched the gas. He swerved off the jammed lanes. Cops and soldiers ran clear out of the bus’s path, while the driver furiously honked the horn. "Get out of the way! Get out of the way!" While that was happening, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and the officer quickly got back up from near brush with death. "What the heck are those guys doing?" Rainbow incredulously looked off to the battleships. "Godzilla has arrived, but they shouldn't be shooting!" the officer exclaimed. "Yeah, that's been made abundantly clear." "What do we do now?" Fluttershy asked urgently. "Getting clear for one thing!" the officer ran clear just as the bus zoomed by, barely missing Fluttershy and Rainbow. "WAAH!" both mares screeched. the small rig zoomed across the bridge, pushing aside barricades and parked cop cars. The driver was hellbent on getting himself and all these kids safe. All of a sudden, more shells rocketed past. One struck the bridge's suspension cable. The blast from the shell severed the cable and it slammed onto the road, blocking the buses path. The driver slammed on the brakes and the vehicles came to a screeching halt. But, now they were trapped. "Move out! Move, move, move!" a solider shouted. dozens of army men and woman hurried to the northside walkway of the Golden Gate. "Striker! There's civilians on the bridge," another soldier yelled into a radio. "Hold your fire!" By the time he gave the order, several more rounds were shot from several of the ships. Fluttershy and Rainbow saw the incoming shells heading straight for the bridge. "We need to get out of here!" Fluttershy, in a moment of panic, tugged on Rainbow's shoulders to get her to follow. "We can't leave these people behind," Rainbow resisted. "But, the missiles!" Rainbow wrapped a hoof behind Fluttershy's neck and pulled her down. The two braced for the inevitable onslaught and so did the soldiers. In the blink of an eye, a gigantic, reptilian body rose just in front of the bridge. It shielded the bridge from the exploding shells. The two mares opened their eyes and were met with Godzilla towering above them. The children on the buses stared in horror. The bus looked on helplessly. The cable was still blocking their path. "Open fire!" The order was given and the soldiers and tanks began bombarding Godzilla with rounds of bullet and shells. Godzilla let out a mighty roar and grabbed the other, intact suspension cable. Once again, the children began screaming and crying in terror. Amongst the chaos, the bus driver noticed one of the tanks backing up. It pushed back the shredded cable wire, creating a clear path. He slammed on the gas and the bus surged forward. "Move! Move!" the driver yelled. Soldiers backed out of the path, but kept a sharp eye on the kaiju. Godzilla growled and grunted, not taking to being shot at too kindly. He pulled on the suspension cable angrily. All the while the children screamed and cried like it was some kind of nightmare, and they all wanted to wake up. "We need to do something," Rainbow said, not wanting to stand by and watching everything unfold. "We have to get him away from this bridge." "But, that means getting his attention," Fluttershy stated. The two mare looked to each other. They both knew what they had to do despite the danger they would be putting themselves in. Fluttershy and Rainbow nodded to each other and took off. They flew as quickly as they could to other side of the kaiju's side, staying safe from the bullets. The pair quickly found themselves truly face-to-face with the beast. As the bus raced down the road, Sam caught sight of Fluttershy and Rainbow staring down Godzilla. His eyes widened in shock and awe. "Fluttershy? Rainbow Dash?" he said quietly, his voice not even audible amongst the panicking children. Seeing them brought him a sense of comfort. They were protecting us. They were protecting him, and that brought a smile to his face. ”Go get him, ponies.” Back with the two pegasi, Rainbow flew right up to Godzilla's face, making sure he could see her. "Hey, Godzilla, how about you try to chase this down," she rubbed her bright, blue flanks tauntingly. Godzilla growled at her, almost as if he was taking the challenge. "That's only going to make him more mad!" Fluttershy flew even closer. upon seeing the other pegasus Godzilla's beady eyes darted over to her, his movement stopping completely. Rainbow could only hover back a bit and watch as Fluttershy worked her magic. "Yeah! Use "The Stare" on him!" Fluttershy cleared her throat. "Uhm, h-hello, Mr. Godzilla. I...I was wondering if maybe...y-you could move away... from... the bridge since there's a lot of people still on it," her voice pitched higher the more she spoke, turning into more of a whispering squeak. "If that's all right with you." The monstours kaiju glared at the caring pegasus. Depsite, his glowering nature, Godzilla seemed to be thinking the suggestion over. Fluttershy could see in his eyes that he was actually listening. But, then something shifted in his demeanor. Godzilla, felt something and it was getting stronger with every second. He knew the feeling well and it brought him back to his hunting focus. In one swift motion, Godzilla let out a predatory roared and charged into the Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge easily tore apart. much to the horror of Rainbow and Fluttershy. The wires ripped away from the foundation and the road crumbled to pieces, taking several cars with it. To make matters worse, Godzilla was deviating away from them and heading for San Francisco Bay. "No! Wait, come ba-AAH!" Fluttershy was about chase after him when she felt something tear into her back left leg. A searing pain coursed up her leg. The pegasus let out a scream of pain, tears already running down her face. She was in so much pain she almost forgot to keep her wings flapping. "FLUTTERSHY!" Rainbow was quickly by her side. "Fluttershy, what happened?" "I...I don't know," the teary pegasus sobbed. "Something hit my leg." Rainbow quickly searched from any form of injury, which didn't take long. She found a small hole bleeding profusely just above her hoof. Fluttershy had accidentally been shot. "Oh, merciful Celestia," Rainbow gulped. She felt sick. Rainbow had never seen a bullet wound before. The flesh had been punctured through like a giant needle. Dark, crimson blood poured out in feeble spurts, staining Fluttershy's yellow coat and dripping down her leg into the ocean below. While Rainbow and Fluttershy and we're still comprehending what just happened. "We have to get you back to Oakland." "B-But, what about..." Fluttershy staggered in the air, forcing Rainbow to hold her by wrapping her hooves around her underbelly. "You're injured, Fluttershy, badly! We'll worry about Godzilla later." "But..." "No, buts! Just because you finally have the courage to take on this mission doesn't you can overlook a wound this serious. We're going back." Fluttershy wanted to protest, she wanted to help Godzilla. But, what's done is done and Rainbow was not going to allow her friends to put herself in danger any further. Fluttershy was still in her thoughts when she felt something dripping down to her face. It couldn't be the rain, it was too warm. They were tears, but not her tears. Then she heard a quiet sniffling from above coming from Rainbow. "R-Rainbow?" "It should've been me, not you, Fluttershy," the pegasus wept. "I should've taken that hit." Fluttershy now felt horrible. Here she was; injured and barely keeping herself flying through the pain. And here Rainbow was practically blaming herself for it. "Rainbow, it was an accident." "It still should've been me!" The anguished yelled silenced both of them. "I'm sorry," Rainbow apologized through sniffles. "I'm sorry, too," Fluttershy said guiltily. Rainbow carried Fluttershy back toward Oakland where, hopefully, she'll get the treatment she needs. By this time the bus had made it across the other side of the smashed Golden Gate Bridge along with dozens of other civilians. Only thing standing in their way was a wooden barricade, which the bus pushed aside with much effort. Meanwhile, Godzilla was still on his wary prowl. On this side of the bridge, several army transport boats were sailing across the bay. One of which was carrying the last nuclear warhead. Fighter jets zoomed overhead to keep a clear radar view on the monstrous behemoth, who was now getting dangerously close to the San Francisco coastline. This prompted immediate action from the transport boats. "All right, get in there!" a soldier aboard the warhead-hauling boat ordered. "Prepare to arm the device!" another soldier said. Rain and waves pelted the boat, soaking every soldier head-to-toe. Most stayed back to allow a clear operation in activating the warhead. "Ready! You got it?" "I'm all set." One removed the plate that covered the countdown mechanism. The first-in-commanded opened the seal, completely exposing the mechanism. "Arming keys!" the first-in-commanded said. One key was handed to two individual soldiers. Both the first-in-command and another soldier inserted the keys into the mechanism before turning to face each other. "Three! Two! One!" the soldier shouted and both turned the keys. A loud click sounded from the mechanism followed by the timeout gears beginning to spin. The displayed time began to count down. Total countdown time: 1 hour, 30 minutes. However, just as the countdown started, a bestial grunt echoed in the distance followed by an electric blast. A shockwave rapidly traveled across the area. Then, there was silence. The boat operator fiddled with the controls to try and get the boat running again. "What the hell was that?" one of the soldiers asked. "EMP," another answered. "Engine's stopped! We lost power!" the boat driver exclaimed. All throughout San Francisco, the EMP ravaged every city block, technologically speaking. Buildings went dark and vehicles went dead. The entire city went dead silent without any form of electricity. Elle was in the middle of assisting a paramedic with an injured patient when the ambulance they were working in stopped working. She and the male paramedic glanced at each other with confusion and concern. Luckily, the patient only needed a blood transfusion, which didn't require electricity. However, Elle felt compelled to step out of the ambulance and into the rainy outside. Everything electric had gone out, leaving the city in complete silence. As Elle looked to the cloud-filled sky, she saw a silhouette forming within the static gray. The closer it got, the more the silhouette formed into a rational shape. A soldier was riding a parachute down to the ground. Elle's silent study of the peculiar sight was then interrupted when she heard something crash behind her. The young nurse turn to see that a fighter jet had just crashed into a building. Flaming debris scattered everyone, sending everyone into a screaming panic. Elle watched, jaw-dropped, as a wall of fire pillared up from the sea of broken steel, glass, and concrete. Back on the downed boat. The soldiers find themselves in the epicenter of an identical predicament. Fighter jets dropped from the sky and splashed into the water all around them. The could watch and exclaim obscenities as the military aircraft dropped like flies. One jet landed just feet away from their boat, kicking up a huge wave of water. The soldiers hit the deck as they were showered in saltwater. "You all right?" one soldier asked. "Yeah," the other replied. The others checked to make sure their comrades were unharmed. As they got to their feet, some of the soldiers were able to catch a final glance of the jet as it disappeared below the water. With all that they had just witnessed, it was to be expected. After all, they all had been briefed about the EMP's capabilities. However, something that did come to mind was that if the EMP did occur, it also meant that... one of the MUTOs was nearby. That thought would all be confirmed when they heard a screech coming from above them. And, because of that, there was an answer to that: Retaliation. "Fire!" "Incoming!" The group soldiers unloaded every round they could from their rifles and mounted guns. Bullets pelted the diving MUTO, but, like it was already been made apparent, it did next to nothing. The male MUTO dived right on top of the boat, taking it and vanishing beneath the waves. Civilians around the bay got out of their cars upon watching the bat-like monster dive into the water. For a few seconds, they could only talk amongst themselves on what had just happened. Suddenly, the MUTO resurfaced right up against the bay where the water met with the land. Peoples screamed and ran for their lives as it climbed onto the crowded street, carrying the boat in it's mouth. The MUTO dropped the boat and held it down with a forearm. It then grasp the nuclear warhead in it's mouth and pulled it free from it's secured clamps. All the while, civilians fled from the nightmarish scene. The male MUTO transferred the missile to it's smaller set of legs, keeping it safe and secure. It let out a roaring growl and took to the air, deeper into the city. It glided across the tops of buildings, but it didn't travel for long or very far. The MUTO landed firmly on a building rooftop in the Chinatown section of San Francisco. In front of it was a massive cloud of dust. It let out a series of squawks, as if to make it’s presence known. A lower series of squawks sounded from within the dust cloud. Taking the answer, the male MUTO flew down closer, just in front of the dust cloud. He moved the nuclear warhead back to it's mouth. The much larger female MUTO stepped up to him from within the dust. The male MUTO let out a passionate wail, it's way of saying "Hello" to his mate. The female nuzzled him affectionately followed by both bumping nostrils together; a more private form of communication. Clicks and grunts resonated from both of them. The female MUTO took the warhead from the her mate's mouth and held it close to her egg pouch. Satisfied, the male MUTO climbed onto a building and took off into the air to search for more food. Meanwhile, the female MUTO began striking the ground with her spiked forelegs. The entire city shook and paper lantern string lights swung wildly from the violently digging. She was building a nest for her future generation of MUTOs. Things were truly about to get calamitous. Back at the Tactical Operations Command, Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike were tailing behind a rescue manager. Ford was desperate to know the whereabouts of his wife and son, while the Mane 7 were trying to know where Rainbow and Fluttershy went. "Sam Brody was checked into the Oakland Coliseum shelter an hour ago," the manager explained as he wrote things down on a clipboard. "He is safe. But, I have no record of Elle Brody. Never made it out of the city." "What about Rainbow and Fluttershy?" Twilight asked, her voice cracking from fear of her friends' safety. "Nothing about them either." "Well, they couldn't have just disappeared!" Rarity exclaimed pejoratively. "Where in this world could they have even gone?" "From what a few soldiers who saw them, they were heading to San Francisco Bay." "Why there? Isn't that were Godzilla and MUTOs are going to be intercepting?" Spike asked warily. "Knowin' Dash, she probably went there it try to fight them MUTOs," Applejack concluded. "But, why would Fluttershy go?" Twilight questioned. "In fact, why leave us at all without telling us?" "Check again. Please." Ford pleaded. "I told Elle to wait for me, and I didn't make it." The rescue manager turned to them. "I'm sorry. But, they are trying to get everyone downtown into subway shelters," he then walked away, following another rescue worker. "I'm sure your wife and friends are fine." "I'm sorry, but your assurance isn't helping much!" Rarity mocked angrily. "Oh, Dashie. Fluttershy," Pinkie said weakly. "Don't worry, Pinkie. We'll find them. Them and Elle." "And then we can ask Rainbow and Flutters where they heck they went," Applejack added with a hint of frustration. It was bad enough they were injured, but now two of their friends had separated from them without a trace. Whilst Applejack was upset at the situation, Twilight was slowly having "Twilight-patented" breakdown. "It's okay. It's all fine. It's like it's a perilous situation or anything." She held her front hooves against the side of her head. The pressure was starting to get to the young alicorn. "Twilight?" She felt Spike's hand on her side. She look over to him, a worried look on his face. Twilight let out a sigh. "Why did this have to happen. What were they thinking just leaving like that." "I get it, Twilight," Pinkie came right to her purple friend's side. "It really stinks not knowing the answers to these kind of things." "I really wish there was something I can do to help," Ford said. "It's all right, Sugarcube," Applejack said. "You carin' about their safety as all that matters ta us. And we'll make sure ta find Elle, too." The lieutenant nodded graciously. "Oh, if only there was somepony, or someone, that can help us find Rainbow and Fluttershy," Rarity lameneted. Amidst the indistinct chatter a man's voice cut through the rest of them. "Lieutenant Brody!" Ford was the first to hear it, but as the call got louder, the ponies and dragon picked up on it, too. "Is...Is that your name they're calling out?" Rarity strained her ears to get as clear as a sound as possible. "I'm looking for Lieutenant Brody and a couple of ponies with him." "That's definitely us," Spike said. The gang turned back around. A soldier stood not far from them. "Are you Brody?" he asked. "Yes," Ford called back. "You and your friends need to come with me." "And why may that be?" Rarity asked skeptically. "We need you for our mission of retrieving the nuclear warhead." "The warhead? What happened to it?" Twilight asked. "That will be explained soon, but for now, Captain Hampton wants you all," Pinkie scooched right next to Twilight and hovered her face right in front of her ear. "That's the guy who was captain of the ship we were on." The violet alicorn turned to her friend in confusion. "How do you know that?" "I saw his picture on the wall." "Plus, we have your two rogue friends," the soldier added. To that, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and, Spike all gasped in shock. "You mean... you have Rainbow and Fluttershy!?" Rarity asked hopefully. "Yes. They are currently waiting in the briefing room." The soldier pointing over to the building that Fluttershy and Rainbow were briefly in before their rescue travel to the Golden Gate Bridge. "Hoh, my Celestia," Twilight nearly collapsed in sheer shock and relief. Here she was worrying to her wit's end about Fluttershy and Rainbow's safety, and hearing that they were okay brought an insurmountable wave of calming relief that brought here to the point of tears. Her other friends were just as emotional as the princess. "Dashie! Flutters!" Pinkie took off like a rocket to where the soldier was pointing. "Wait up, Pinkie!" The rest of the Mane 6 and Spike chased after the exhilarated earth pony with Ford and soldier following behind. It was a absolute miracle that their two pegasus friends were found safe and sound. Hopefully, now they would get some answers, both from Rainbow and Fluttershy, and about the supposed mission they were needed for. Considering it was a mission concerning the army, the Mane 7 could only concluded it meant something serious and dangerous. The group were led into the headquarters, the first thing that caught their eyes was the Captain Hampton, Admiral Stenz, and six other soldiers standing around a planning table with Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham discussing something together nearby. The other thing that was there outwardly caught their attentions. "Girls!" the voices of Rainbow and Fluttershy exclaimed. "Fluttershy! Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie was the first to practically scream their names before tackling them in a hug. "I-I-It's been sooooo long since we've seen you. W-We thought you were dead!" "We weren't gone that long," Rainbow heaved as she and her pegasus friend were crushed in the teary-eyed party pony's embrace. The rest of the Mane 6 and Spike joined in. "But, she's right, you two," Twilight said, unable to keep her own tears from falling. "You girls just left us without warning. We thought something bad happened to you." "W-Well..." Fluttershy was about to explain, but she was interrupted by a sharp gasp from Rarity. "...Darling... your leg." The well-spoken fashionista pointed to Fluttershy's back left leg, which was bandaged up. "Yeah... I was going to explain," she said sorrowfully. "Well, start explainin', ya two," Applejack demanded somewhat angrily. The two mares looked turned to each other with rather guilty expressions. "When we went into this building earlier, we saw on the news that a lot of the civilians were stuck on that big, orange bridge." "You mean that bridges that's now destroyed?" Spike asked. "Which was also on the news." "Yeah, that one," Rainbow swiftly answered. "And, we kind of thought to ourselves that we should try and help those people escape before the monsters came." "But, that plan kinda fell apart," Fluttershy dipped her head low. "And by that point, Godzilla had arrived and so those giant boats started shooting at him, which all those people in danger." "We tried persuading him to leave the bridge alone, but he just... charged through it." By this point, Fluttershy was beginning to tear up. "I-I don't know why. W-We tried going after him, but then I got... shot." She looked down to her bandaged leg. "And that's when we realized that we should return before we got more hurt." Rainbow concluded. The ponies and dragon were silent. The soldiers standing nearby remained respectfully silent. "Wow," Ford said quietly. "But, why not tell us before you left?" Twilight question, frustration dripping in her tone. Fluttershy blushed in embarrassment. "Well, that's probably because..." "We were in the moment. Okay?" Rainbow suddenly interrupted. "We were just really focused on the bridge and the civilians. Coming to you guys just didn't cross our minds." Applejack put a hoof to her the bridge of her nose in and let out a embittered sigh. "I would've expected such crass actions from Rainbow, but you, Fluttershy? Ah thought ya smarter than that." "Well, it's just that..." "And furthermore, what were you two thinking? throwing yourselves into such unnecessary danger like that," Rarity added, sharing the farm mare's perturbed anger. "Oh, come on, have you girls forgotten who we are?" Rainbow asked in defense. "We're the Elements of Harmony." "That doesn't mean throwing ourselves into the lion's den whenever it presents itself," Twilight countered. "And now look, Fluttershy's been hurt." "It... wasn't that bad," Rainbow was beginning to lose her confidence. That was something she really couldn't argue with. Watching Fluttershy get hurt like that was something the brazen pegasus never wanted to see again if she could help it. Even Rainbow knew what she said not even a second ago was in no way a convincing argument. "A bullet wound is no joke," Admiral Stenz said. "See what I mean?" Twilight glared at Rainbow. "Seriously, I feel like I need to ask this again. What were you thinking?" "That was pretty reckless, Dashie. Even for you," Pinkie said, sounding uncharacteristically serious. "What? This wasn’t my idea!" Rainbow's exclaimed defensively. “Rainbow, yer as reckless as an be,” Applejack said angrily. Her friend weren’t listening. They fully believed it was all Rainbow’s decisions that led to this. As much as the cyan-blue pegasus wanted to argue, she found her guilty side get the better of her. "It's my fault." Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, and Spike turned to Fluttershy, who wore a very guilty expression. "I know you're guilty, darling," Rarity said softly. "But, you mustn't take responsibility for..." "No, it is my fault!" Fluttershy raised her voice. "It was my idea to go to the bridge to help those trapped people. It's not Rainbow's fault, like you think it is." There was a stunned silence within the group of ponies and dragon. “Y-Your idea,” Rarity said, mouth agape. "Never that I'd see the day," Spike said. "Spike," Twilight growled reprimandedly. "Ah,.. Fluttershy," Applejack was the first to speak up. "Ah never would've thought you would do something like that on ya on accord. Like ah said, ah would've expected such a choice from Rainbow." "Yes, I don't think before I act. You don't need to keep hammering it home," Rainbow said in annoyance. The carefree caretaker let out a regretful sigh. "I was the one who put my hoof down on the way here, telling you all that we can still make a difference. I was proud of myself for standing up like that. I guess I let that pride and bravery get to me and I made a very stupid decision." She took off her temporary military helmet and began to cry. "And all I have to show for it is a wet coat and a wounded leg. I went to far, put myself and Rainbow in danger, and abandoned you guys. I'm so... so sorry. I'm a horrible friend." Fluttershy slid onto her rump as she cried. Hot globs of tears rolled down her cheeks, staining her, already, we coat. She felt worse than horrible. She let her friends down in so many ways and foolishly put herself in danger, all because she wanted to show she was brave. How could she be so selfish and arrogant. Fluttershy her friends to just start berating her for her actions. What she didn't expect, however, was a pair of hooves to wrap around her in a warm embrace. She opened her bloodshot eyes to see Twilight hugging her. "You're not a horrible friend, Fluttershy. You just made a poor decision." "To be honest, we all make bad decisions all the time," Rarity said. "Of course, known of them put us in any danger, but that's besides the point." "We understand you wanted to be brave, Fluttershy. But, being brave doesn't mean putting yourself in danger at every turn. Sometimes it's about doing the smart thing." "I know what it's like making bad decisions," Spike said. "We all do," Pinkie added. "But, I learned it doesn't matter that you made a mistake. What matters is that you learn from it. I mean, imagine if I didn't learn anything when you guys held a surprise party for me. I would've went CRAZY!" “And we’re sorry for blaming you fer this, Rainbow,” Applejack apologized sorrowfully. “That wasn’t very smart of us, either.” “Yeah,” Twilight nodded. “We were all upset, but that’s not an excuse.” "It’s okay girls. To be honest I'm not entirely blameless, anyway," Rainbow said. "I should've known better than what we were doing was exceedingly dangerous. I know I may seem like I thoughtlessly put myself in danger for others' safety, and your right, I do. I should really learn to actually think before acting." "Now that's smart and brave," Applejack said warmly. The Mane 6 and Spike formed a tight embrace around the shyest friend. It brought a sense of warmth and closure to the pegasus. She better about herself, knowing her friends didn't hold her past actions against her. Fluttershy felt whole again. "We all love a good reunion, but we need to focus to more important things right now!" a soldier said loudly. "Time is of the essence!" "Oh, right! The mission," Twilight's eyes widened and quickly dispersed from the group hug. "What did you need us for, Captain." The Mane 6 and Spike surrounded themselves the table with the other soliders. "Okay, listen up," Captain Hampton said. "The male delivered the warhead to the center of downtown." "Wait, wait, wait," Rainbow interrupted. "Are you saying that..." "The male MUTO intercepted the boat with the warhead right after it's timer was primed," Admiral Stenz explained. "We need to retrieve it before it detonates." "That puts 100,000 civilians in the blast radius," Hampton continued. "And we can't stop it remotely. Everypony and dragon's mouths hung agape. "Oh, no," Fluttershy squeaked. "First the MUTOs, now we have to worry about an explosion, too?" Rainbow grumbled. "Wonderful." "Don't forget Godzilla," Pinkie added. "Oh, trust me, I didn't." "So, that's the mission?" Spike asked. "To get to bomb back before it explodes." "Yes," one of the soldiers replied. "An analog timer has been installed. The MUTOs are frying electronics within a five-mile bubble. Means approaching from ground is not an option." "So, what is the plan then?" Rarity asked, growing more worried. "Even with me and Twilight combined, I don't think we'd be able to teleport us all to where the bomb is located." "That's why we'll be conducting a HALO insertion. Jumping altitude well be 30,000 feet." "We're bein' dropped? From the sky?" Applejack asked in confusion. "Correct," Hampton said. "Oh, no. I have had bad experiences with high altitudes!" Rarity stomped her hoof in refusal. "I'm not freefalling to my death!" "Parachutes will be provided for all of us," The soldier said in growing annoyance. "We just skate to the top and drop. Here. And here." A tapped a plastic dome over a map. "If you don't hit a skyscraper on the way, you meet at rally point Charlie." "Oooh, who's Charlie?" Pinkie asked excitedly. "Is he gonna help us?" "It's alphabetic co-... why do we need these ponies on this mission?" "That's what I'm wondering," Twilight muttered under her breath. "We're stretched thin as is," Admiral Stenz said sharply. "You guys, along with the ponies and lizard..." "I'm not a lizard!" "Are the only ones that are available." The admiral turned to the Mane 6 and Spike. “They've been temporarily certified for this mission.” "We'll help in any way we can, sir," Applejack tipped her hat. "Admiral," Stenz corrected. "You were saying, Captain. The soldier sighed. "Rally point Charlie. Right here. Good?" He pointed to the glass dome again looked amongst the other soldiers. "Doctor, any guesses where to look?" another soldier asked. "Underground," Serizawa replied. "If the MUTOs have spawned... they'll be building a nest." "Oh, poo," Rarity whined. "This just keeps getting worse and worse." Stenz turned to the soldier. "Captain, when you find the warhead, how long to disarm it?" "Sir, without seeing the analog mod, I couldn't even guess," the soldier shook his head. "Sixty seconds if I can access it," Ford said, inching between a solider and Captain Hampton. "I retrofitted that device myself." "Lieutenant Brody is our only EOD tech to survive the train attack," Hampton said. "Well, it sounds like we could use you," the directive soldier said. "Yeah, he made all the schematics seem elementary," Twilight complimented. "With all due respect, if that doesn't work, then what's Plan B?" a different soldier asked. "Ah, come on, Ford's got this easily," Rainbow assured confidently. "I might not," the tech lieutenant admitted. "It's better to have some kind of backup plan in case the bomb doesn't cooperate." "The waterfront is located one klick downhill," the first solider elucidated. "Get the bomb to the pier, onto a boat and as far away from the city as possible before it detonates." "Sounds easy," Pinkie said cheerfully. "We are, quite literally, traveling into the belly of the beast. This will be anything but easy." "With the MUTOs and Godzilla roaming around," Rarity said, visibly growing pale. "Do we have a choice in this matter?" "Come on, Rares," Applejack said prudently. "This may be our most treacherous mission yet, but when has danger ever stopped us?" "Maybe if we felt we would die!" "Uhm, Captain?" Twilight spoke up. Hampton turned to her. "I think it would be best of Fluttershy and Spike sit this one out." "Wait, what?" "W-Wha?" Both pegasus and baby dragon were taken aback by Twilight's recommendation. Leaving them behind while the rest went. "Fluttershy, you're hurt, badly. I certainly don't want to risk putting yourself in harm's way when you've already been through enough." "But, I want to help," Fluttershy feebly argued. "I know, but it's in your best interest that you rest up and let your leg heal," Twilight then turned to Spike. "And I'm not letting you put yourself in danger, either." "Come on, Twilight," Spike contended. "I may be young, but I'm as tough as any other dragon." "No, Spike. I...I'm not going to let you go through any more than you've already have. I've seen you scared too many times. It's bad enough you have to live with that scar." Spike softly covered the scar under his ear frill. "It’s not that bad , Twilight. I honestly think it's pretty cool." "Do you have any idea how close you were to getting killed!" Spike staggered on his feet and stared wide-eyed at Twilight, he hadn't expected to by so emotionally charged at him. Twilight sniffled, grisly remembering the horrid memory. While, it had been some time, the memory was still fresh in her mind. The sword slicing into Spike's tough skin like a hot knife through butter. He was incredibly lucky the wound wasn't anymore severe. Even so, Twilight couldn't forgive herself for being unable to keep her baby safe. "I'm not arguing with you on this Spike," Twilight said calmly, yet firmly. "You and Fluttershy are staying and that's final." Spike just stood in disbelief. He wanted to be argue, but seeing his only mother looking at him with such protective worry and compassion, it dissipated any chance of getting upset. "Ah believe Twilight is right, ya two," Applejack spoke up. "Fluttershy, you've already been seriously injured. And Spike, Twilight's jist lookin' out fer ya." "I concur, Spikey-Wikey," Rarity said. "Perhaps it's best you two stay safe." "If you think they're unfit for the mission, then they will be housed here safely," Hampton said. "Thank you," Twilight said. "Come on, you two. This is for your safety." Spike let out a impeded sigh. "Fine." "O-Okay," Fluttershy whispered. The two wordlessly sauntered away from the group. "We'll be sure to tell you all about it!" Pinkie called out to them. Rainbow quickly turned to Twilight. "Fluttershy I understand, but Spike, I would've thought he would be useful with his fire breath and all." "He's been through enough as it is," Twilight said solemnly. "I care too much for him to be okay with him tagging along on this mission." With that out of the way, Captain Hampton looked to the rest of the group. "Any questions?" "Uh, yes?" Pinkie raised a hoof. "Do you think chocolate frosting is better than vanilla frosting?" "...Any questions concerning the mission?" No one and nopony said anything. "Dismissed." "That's it. Let's move," the soldier directed the other soldier out of the building. "My question still stands," Pinkie said, indictive. "Now is not the time for silly questions, Pinkie," Rainbow asserted. "It's not silly it's crucial!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I need to know creature's preferences about sweets. How can be a good friend if I can't..." Pinkie continued to monologue even as followed the other soldiers out. Ford and the rest followed, but he was stopped by Captain Hampton. "Lieutenant?" Ford stopped and turned to the captain. "They've already been briefed. We have no extraction plan. If you don't walk out, you don't come back at all." "Sir, I'll do whatever it takes," Ford said collectively. "We'll do whatever it takes," Applejack corrected. "We may not be from here, but we wer' brought here ta protect and help in any way we can." "You can count on us, Captain," Rainbow confidently assured. "We'll get that bomb disarmed, and we'll stop those MUTOs, too," Twilight said. The captain nodded curtly. With that, Ford and the rest of the Mane 6, minus Fluttershy and Spike, exited the building to follow after the other soldiers. Admiral Stenz watched them leave with many thoughts coursing in his head. With the plan worrying more about the public's safety with the bomb, the original plan of using against the monsters was permanently shunted. That meant the, according to Dr. Serizawa, Godzilla was their only hope. The admiral turned to an opening in the building, where the doctor stood outside watching soldiers and military vehicles moving about the complex. Stenz stepped out and stood right beside Serizawa. "This alpha predator of yours, doctor, do you really think he has a chance?" Dr. Serizawa remained silent for a few seconds, causing the admiral to turn his head to him. Then, the doctor spoke. "The arrogance of man is thinking nature is in our control and not the other way around." Dr. Serizawa weakly and eerily nodded. "Let them fight." To be continued Part 13: Showdown in San FranciscoThings were coming to a head. With Godzilla and the MUTOs finally in San Francisco, things could only get more chaotic. Despite the countless evacuation notices and warnings telling the inhabitants of the compact city to leave for safety, the city was still crowded with people trying to make a last-ditch escape. It didn't help the fact that the protocol mostly involved children and hospital patients, leaving a good majority of the population high and dry, and in the path of the incoming onslaught. Office workers, forced to stay at their desks, heard the bellows of a monstrous beast. Some left their desks to see what was going on outside, causing others to follow. Most of them got a clear of view of the rainy outside thanks to them being settled inside the skyscrapers. That allowed them the witness the male MUTO flying through the streets of the city they held dear. The people panicked, anticipating the monstrous creature to attack them. The MUTO landed on a building rooftop, practically crushing the top floors, and let out a mighty shriek. Many on the ground, which included Elle, watched in shock and horror at the MUTO. Massive chunks of concrete and glass fell from the shredded building and smashed to the ground, causing the people to flee in the opposite direction down the crowded, car-filled streets. Elle ran with the crowd, but kept her attention on the beast. However, when she turned back around, the fearful crowd stopped when another kaiju breached from the bay. Godzilla towered over them, glaring at the parasitic MUTO with a resentful fury. Again, the populace was sent into an even greater panic. Now there were two monsters staring each other down. It didn't exactly take a genius to conclude what was about to happen next. Elle couldn't keep her eyes away, but she was able to direct herself toward the entrance of a subway station. That's where most of the people around her were rushing for. As the raced into the reinforced station, the male MUTO jumped from it's building perch and flew right for Godzilla. People screamed and watched in shock as the MUTO charged into the bigger, reptilian kaiju. Godzilla roared and snapped his jaws at the MUTO, clawing and biting at each other. That was the last Elle and the others could see as the massive, steel doors closed shut, protectively locking them inside the subway station. They wouldn't be safe for long. As long as the Godzilla and male MUTO were fighting, no one was safe. Meanwhile, back the Tactical Operations, Fluttershy and Spike were sitting atop the mountain of sandbags that border the ends of the main headquarters. Soldiers stood all around them, ready to act if the mayhem in San Francisco deviated to here. From their viewpoint, they all could clearly see Godzilla and the male MUTO locking horns with each other. With the setting sun, it created a truly surreal moment. "I still don't understand," Spike finally spoke. "I get the fact that Twilight is trying to protect us, but we've been through some serious stuff. At least, you have, Fluttershy." Fluttershy shifted against the heavy bags. "I suppose. But, this is bigger than anything else me or our friends have gone through. Much more dangerous than any mission we've been through, otherworldly or otherwise." "I mean... yeah," Spike admitted. "The closest we've got was with Cloud and the others. But, it just feels like Twilight doesn't believe in us." "Now don't say that, Spike," Fluttershy's tone took on a more reprimanding approach. "You know well that Twilight as looking out for you. She wants to keep you safe. You said it herself." "I know. I just feel like she refuses to move past the battle with Sephiroth. Whenever she looks at me and gets crestfallen, I know she looks at my scar. It's like it reminds her that she failed me somehow." Spike laid his fingertips against the thin, dark line that travel under his ear frill. The memories themselves once caused his heart to jump, knowing he was just inches away from a nasty demise. Nowadays, not so much, but seeing Twilight get worked over it made Spike feel guilty. Like he was somehow responsible. "But, she didn't fail me that day. You saw how much of a skilled swordsman that guy was. I... I couldn't expect her to keep out of harm's way all the time. Not with all the threats we encountered on that mission." Fluttershy mulled over Spike's words slowly and carefully. While she wouldn't call herself the best at giving advice, that won't stop her from trying. The thoughtful pegasus turned to Spike fully. She could see how mournful the little dragon was feeling. "Spike, I can understand where you're coming from. I'm now stuck with an affliction, too," Fluttershy pointed to her bandaged leg. "I know the others, especially Rainbow, feel upset about that I ended up getting hurt. Yes, it was mostly my fault, but Rainbow, herself, that she should've taken the bullet instead of me. She blames herself for that and I feel awful for making her feel that way." As she kept taking, tears began welling up in Fluttershy's eyes. "Twilight and Rainbow both don't want us to get hurt anymore than we've already have. They just want to protect us." Spike let out a long sigh. "I love that they do. It shows how much they care about us. But, we've shown that we can be independent. Don't get my wrong, I'm glad Twilight's to protect me. It just feels like she thinks I'm helpless or something." "I don't think it's about independence or helplessness," Fluttershy said softly, wiping away her tears. "I think it's about love." "I know. I guess we can still see Godzilla take down those evil MUTOs once and for all though." Spike looked out to the bayside city, watching the two beasts clashing. It was like reading one of those action comics he had but it was truly happening in front of his eyes and not behind printed paper. Fluttershy wasn't too keen on watching Godzilla and the MUTOs fight, but seeing them made her remember something Dr. Serizawa said back at the mission briefing. "If the MUTOs have spawned, they'll be building a nest." Suddenly, it all started falling into place. Back at the train bridge, Fluttershy remember seeing the female MUTO with a orange-colored sack filled with little orbs attach to it's underbelly. The MUTO was pregnant, that much was obvious and that meant the she was currently building a nest right now with who knows how many eggs inside. Now Fluttershy, of course, loved animals and knew better then to damage or disturb a nest, whether predator or prey. But, given the destructive nature of the MUTOs, hatching more of them would spell disaster for this world: Hundreds of MUTOs causing unimaginable devastation. One would think, being an animal caregiver, Fluttershy would never think of an animals way of life so negatively, even if it was a predator. But this was not a predator, it was a parasite; a parasite that intended on irradicating all other life on this world with it's mere existence. That was something Flutttershy, in good conscience, standby and watch happen. She swiftly slipped off the sandbag wall, her wings flaring. Spike was taken aback for a second. "Fluttershy? What are you..." "We're going back to San Francisco," the pegasus said with unexpected determination. "W-Wha?" Spike sputtered. "But, I thought you said we should stay here." "Do you remember what we saw on the bridge the night before?" "You're going to have to be a but more specific. A lot of things happened on that bridge." "The MUTO that attacked us. She was pregnant." Hearing this brought Spike back to the graphic memory. "Ooh, don't remind me." He clasped a hand over his mouth. The scales around his face turning from violet to green. "Dr. Serizawa said the MUTO were likely building a nest for the eggs. And if that happens, more MUTOs will be born to cause more havoc." Spike's scales went from green to pale in a matter of seconds. The thought of more of those monstrous creatures sent chills down his spine, and suddenly his sickness dissipated. "Oh. Oh, that doesn't sound good at all. Should we tell somepony." "No," the intent pegasus said firmly. "We put a stop it." Spike's mouth dropped. "Shy, are you crazy? We can't just dive right into that warzone all by ourselves. I mean, you said it was best we stay here so we didn't get hurt any further." "I never said we should stay here," Fluttershy clarified. "I'm not happy about being sidelined for this mission either, but I didn't want to argue with our friends about that. I was hurt and they were distraught about that. They were only looking our for us, after all. But, with what the MUTO's might be planning now, I can't just sit here and let it all happen with our friends down their biting off more than they could chew." Spike slid off the sandbags and came to the raring pegasus. "This does sound serious, but, I really don't want to disobey Twilight. Not only that, but you already tried throwing yourself into danger and you ending up with an injured leg." This time, Fluttershy was the one to let out a long sigh. "Yes. I was too hasty with trying to do the right thing the first time and I let my bravery get the better of me. But, this time, this is more than doing the right thing. This is about protecting the ones closest to me and protecting everycreature on this world from the disaster that is to come if that nest isn't taken care of. Those MUTOs will destroy everything and I don't know if Godzilla will be able to handle it all. So I'm taking a stand and putting myself in the line of fire again to save my friends from the beasts." Fluttershy turned Spike with a fiery look in her eyes. "Are you willing to protect them, too." Spike hesitated for a second. He didn't want to go against Twilight's orders and put himself in severe peril. But, at the same time, no matter how young he was, Spike wanted to protect the ponies that cared about him the most. He wanted to protect the one pony that raised him and was there for him from the very start. Twilight protected Spike a number of times, now it was time he protected her. The little dragon put on his military helmet climbed onto Fluttershy's back, sharing the same determined, heroic mindset with the pegasus. "Let's go!" Fluttershy, too, put back on her helmet and stood on her hindlegs, the pain in her left seemingly disappearing, and she let out a sharp whinny. She charged forward and took off into the air. Spike held tight to her mane as the once timid pegasus soared through the air and toward San Francisco, determined to put an end to this unending nightmare. High above the thick sheets of clouds that looked over the city, a massive C-17 military jet soared through the ominous sky. inside, dozens of soldiers, including Ford, Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity, sat preparing for the airdrop. Now, Twilight and her pony friends were not familiar with any kind of military procedures. So, being in a mission that require something as extreme as jumping out of a giant airplane in the middle of a monster warzone, well... "I can't believe we are actually doing this," Rarity said, who appeared to be on the edge of an emotional breakdown. She hugged her legs like a scared child and gently rocked back and forth. "This is insane. This is absurd. This is absolutely ludicrous!" "Ssh," Ford hastily shushed the panicking unicorn. "One of the soldiers is praying." Sitting just a couple seats down, the head sergeant was speaking a pray of the Lord. "Oh, Lord God, we give thanks for the opportunities you have given us..." "I'm sorry, Ford," Rarity said quietly. "I just can't wrap my head around the fact that we are jumping out of this machine down to the carnage that is likely going on in the city." "Oh, come on, Rarity," Rainbow said. "It's not like this is first time you've gone high-flying. Remember the Young Flyers Competition? "Yes. But, at least, I had wings at that time. And when I didn't, you saved me from falling to my death." "You think I can't save you now?" Rarity stammered a bit, then let out a sigh. "It's nothing to do with you Rainbow, honest. But, freefalling from such an incredible height... it... it's just flat out reckless." "...going together as comrades to defend our great nation." "You have nothing to worry about," Ford assured. "We all have parachutes so we can land safely." "We'll be like rain drops falling in... "Pinkie demeanor was put to a near stop. "SSSlllooowww mmmoootttiiiooonnn." "Now there's a good way of puttin' it," Applejack smiled. "Hmph. Almost all of us," Rainbow corrected. "Who needs a parachute when we have wings, right Twi?" The boisterous pegasus turned to the alicorn, who seemed to be deep in thought. "Uh, Twilight?" Twilight glanced over at Rainbow in acknowledgment. "Sorry, Dash, I just have a lot on my mind." "What's on yer mind, Twi?" Applejack asked generously. "Yeah, what's gotten you all sad," Pinkie made an exaggerated frown. "It's just... thinking about the current situation we're in right now, with Godzilla and the MUTOs fighting, and having to track down a literal bomb that's ready to explode at any moment, and everything else that's happened so far. It makes me think we're not cut out for these sorts of missions." "Oh, Twilight, don't tell me you still thinking that," Rainbow said. "I know we all kind of felt that way at one point, but remember what Fluttershy said; that even now we can still make a difference even if it feels like we can." "I know," Twilight rose her voice just a smudge to convey her frustration. "But, it's not just this mission, it's all the others to different worlds." "We thank you for the time and service that you have given us together. Now as we are about to leave one another..." "On numerous occasions, we've gotten so close to getting killed in some way. Are any of this missions really worth risking our lives?" "Is that the reason you didn't want Spike or Fluttershy come along?" Rainbow asked. "You didn't want them getting killed." "...mostly," Twilight lowered her head sadly. "...let us have the strength..." "There's something yer forgettin', Twilight," Applejack spoke up. "We've been on dangerous missions back in Equestria." "Yes. And we've taken down some foul creatures there," Rarity added. "It really isn't any different here or any other place." "Yeah, like with Chrysalis, or Tirek," Pinkie also added. "But, it feels more daunting," Twilight said. "It feels so much more dangerous." "That might because your from a different world," Ford said. The ponies turned to the lieutenant, who decided to speak up. "I may not understand it completely, but if I were in a entirely different word, I would feel even basic tasks such as a rescue mission to be more dangerous. I think that's because you're not that familiar with this world than to yours, and that feeling on unknowing and confusing can make you scared or anxious." Twilight thought over her human friend's insight. It did make sense that being in a different brought a great dealing of confusion. Such feelings in these kind of situations could make anypony, or anycreature, feel terrified. Twilight looked back Ford. "Aren't you scared, too?" "Yes," the young lieutenant replied simply. "But, as soldiers, we're trained to cope with those feelings because fear can make you do stupid things. And, during a war, that can get you killed. I may be scared, but I know I'm doing this for Elle and Sam to make sure that they are safe. You would do the same if it meant keeping your family safe." Ford pulled a small, crumpled up photo of his wife and son from one of the harness pockets. "Darn tootin' ah would," Applejack said amicably. "Of course," Rainbow said. "Yeah!" Pinkie exclaimed. "If it meant keeping my family, then I would do it in a heartbeat," Rarity added. Twilight felt a surge of protective bravery wash over her. Suddenly, the feeling to protect her friends shattered any fear, anxiety, or second-guessing. "Yes. Yes I would." "That-a girl, Twily," Pinkie lightly punched the alicorn's shoulder. Suddenly, an alarm blared and the plane's light died, making way from a red warning light. "What's going on?" Rainbow said with a mixture of apprehension and hostility. "The airdrop's starting," Ford put a oxygen mask over his mouth. "Oh, Celestia," Rarity trembled. She felt a hoof on her shoulder. She turned to see Twilight. Gone was the nerve-wracked, uncertain mare earlier, now replaced with confident and determined princess. "It's okay. We've got this." Rarity smiled and nodded. The cargo door to the plane slowly opened. The soldiers were blinded by the searing light of the setting sun. They all stood and carefully made their way closer to the opening. They could see the sun, the pale blue sky, and thick blanket of clouds underneath them. And what lied further could only be guessed. "Come on!" Rainbow exclaimed impatiently. "What's the hold up." "We have to wait for the signal," Ford quickly explained. "What signal?" It was almost impossible to hear each other through the whistling wind. The sound of the siren beeping twice cut through the deafening howl. That was the signal for the soldiers to put on their protective goggles and prepare for the drop. "Ah sure hope these guys know what ther doin'," Applejack held her helmet over her hat to keep them from blowing away. "A little late for wishing that," Rainbow said. The siren beeped three more times. On the third beep, the soldiers all bolted and jumped off the plane. The Mane 5 quickly followed. It was a lot, to say the least. "GAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Rarity screamed. "WEEEEEEEEEEE!" Pinkie cheered. "Now this is some air time," Rainbow lazily laid on her back, crossing one hindleg over the other. "Will ya take this serious, Dash," Applejack yelled. "This is only the half of it. We still gotta git down ta the ground safely." "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" the fashionista continued to scream. All around them, the soldiers dropped from the sky, red flare smoke trailing behind them to indicate their current trajectory. The team dropped into the cloud cover. Dark grey filled their eyesight. "Hey, now I know how feels to be on the weather team," Pinkie stated observantly. Thunder roared and lightning flashed, lighting up the dark clouds. Most of the Mane 5 remained silent from the bizarre experience. All except for... "AAAAAHHHHHH!" Rarity screamed. "Fer goodness sake's, Rarity, we're fine," Applejack yelled. "AAHHH-Oh, I didn't know it was fine being inside a literal storm cloud!" the mortified unicorn shouted angrily. "Just stay close," Twilight said. "I promise we'll be fine." The broke through the first massive wall of clouds. Out in the lit sky, the giant cumulonimbus cloud could be seen. Lightning looked like sparks compared to the sheer size of the storm system. "Wow, I don't think the clouds back on our world get that big," Rainbow's mouth hung wide with awe. "No kiddin'," Applejack said. "That thing prolly has enough water ta flood a hundred orchards." That's when the team breached through the lower cloud cover. What met them at the bottom was chaos. The city of San Francisco had been turned into a warzone. Fires raged everywhere and buildings were either damaged or destroyed. The lively turned had become a scarred battleground. Worse still, the combatants weren't done. Ford and the Mane 5 watched in horror as Godzilla and the male MUTO tore into each other, clawing and biting each other. "Please don't eat us. Please don't eat us. Please don't eat us," Rarity clasped her hooves together and desperately pleaded. "Sweet Celestia, this is bad," Twilight said. "Go, Godzilla, you can do this!" Pinkie cheered. The only response she received was a deafening roar from the kaiju directed at the MUTO. "Ford, we're getting close to the ground," Twilight warned. Ford peeled his eyes away from the monster brawl and saw the battle-torn ground quickly zeroing toward them. He deployed his parachute, allowing his straight drop to turn into a glide. "Rainbow, let's go!" Twilight grasp Applejack and Pinkie, opened her wings and flew after Ford. "Got it!" Rainbow grabbed onto Rarity and flew after Twilight. "Ooh! Do be careful where you grab me," Rarity squawked. "Oh, hush." As the separated group glided toward the ruined streets, the male MUTO soared past them on a perpendicular street. Ford and the Mane 5 reached the ground in no time. Ford hastily removed his parachute, mask, and goggles, while Twilight and Rainbow carefully set down their non-winged friends. "Everypony accounted for?" Twilight asked. "Obviously," Rainbow said playfully. "But, where did the others go?" Pinkie asked. "It's like they flew off somewhere else." "They prolly separated already," Applejack said. The sound of animalistic grumbling followed by a hissed reverberated off the tattered buildings. The small, motely group were able to catch glimpse of Godzilla's shadow as it disappeared behind a building. "Well, were definitely in the belly of the beast now," Rainbow said. "Don't jinx it," Rarity hissed. Ford slung his rifle over his shoulder and quickly trekked over to where Godzilla's shadow had been. "Wait, Ford! Are mission is to get the warhead back, not take down Godzilla," Twilight called out to him. The ponies galloped after the lieutenant. "I got to get another look," Ford rounded the corner. He stopped upon seeing Godzilla's tail slink past down the other end of the street. His steps shook the entire city. Twilight and others quickly caught up. Even though it was only the tail end, the size alone rivaled anything Ford or the ponies had ever seen. A creature of such magnitude, even if it wasn't the first time they saw him, Godzilla's size was hard to comprehend. Which made him, intentional or not, incredible dangerous. "I think it's best that we stay out of his way," Rarity advised. "I agree," Twilight nodded. "We worry about ourselves and the mission. Now let's try and regroup with the other soldiers." "Take position! Take position!" a voice yelled out. The group quickly turned around and noticed several soldiers converging near a city bus. "Come on," Ford ran over toward them. He, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow all caught up the other soldiers. By now, they were discussing a point of searching and regroup their numbers. "What's the rundown, Chief?" Rainbow asked "I saw Team 1 move to the east," one of the soldiers explained. "Two of our team members didn't make it. I heard bits and pieces on the radio." The mission had barely begun and already two members were already done for the count. How severe it was was yet to be concluded. "A-Are they gone," Pinkie whimpered. "I don't know. Snipers on the rooftop moving into position." "Any ideas on findin' the warhead?" Applejack asked. "Here we go," another soldier held up a tracking device. "Picking up the nuke." "Where? Which way?" Twilight asked. "One klick up the hill." "Alright, we found the warhead," the first soldier gestured a hand westward. "Let's go! Up the hill, this direction. Move." With that, the group of soldiers and ponies quickly traverse down the darkened streets, strewn with debris. The only sources of lights were the flashlight mounted on the soldiers' rifles and the distant glow of building fires. Up ahead, a giant wall of smoke and dust with the silhouette of the female MUTO barely visible from within it. "Why are we hidin' toward that thing?" Applejack gestured to the barely concealed monster. "Ain't we s'posed ta be trackin' down the bomb?" "That's where the trackers says it is," one of the soldiers answered. "Wait a minute," Twilight pondered for a quick second. "That warhead. They said it was radioactive, remember?" "I think they said that, yeah," Rarity said. "What does radioactive have anything to do with this?" Rainbow asked. "Dr. Serizawa said that the MUTOs feed on radiation," the princess reminded. "He also said the were likely making nest. So, if the warhead is up ahead, then that could mean... that's their nest up ahead as well." The ponies and even some of the soldiers cringed at the thought. "Oh, no. Dear Faust, no," Rarity whimpered. "Ya mean ta tell us, Twi, that we might have ta deal with a bunch'a baby MUTOs, as well?" Applejack asked in disgust and anger. "Maybe," the alicorn shrugged sheepishly. "I don't know the incubation period of a MUTO, but..." "Consarnit! As if dealin' with two of them monsters weren't enough!" "I-I didn't mean to put a damper on the situation. I just felt like it was worth pointing out." "Let's just worry about the bomb before anything else," Rainbow said, wanting to redirect the subject. As the team drew closer to the possible nest, the tracker began beeping more rapidly. That was indication that they were nearing the warhead. Eventually, the team took cover behind a set of parked cars. "How are ya gonna reckon we deal with the bomb and the nest once we get to it?" Applejack questioned. "That's why I'm here," Ford pointed out. "The bomb I mean." "As for the nest, I can only imagine how many eggs are in their," Twilight said. "Oh, wonderful," Rarity said in sarcastic disgust. "Alien eggs. Feels like we're in a sci-fi horror novel." "Or movie," Pinkie added. "The bomb remains the top priority," one of the other soldiers said. "Hey, hey," the head sergeant whispered, getting the others attention. "Look." He directed his attention over to the other set of soldiers posted behind the second vehicle. One of them gestured at his eyes then pointed forward; code sign for taking a peek at what was going on. Ford bravely peeked through the minivan's shattered wondered. Twilight and Rainbow curiously followed his gave, also wanting to see what was happening. "What's goin' on ther?" Applejack asked. "And please spare details," Rarity said. "I want to be able to sleep tonight." The entire team was able to hear a plopping sound from beyond. However, Ford, Twilight, Rainbow chose to look out and see what exactly was making that noise. Through the dust and crumbled remains of the Chinatown, the female MUTO was squatting down in a crater it had made, letting out periodic shrieks as it deposited it's eggs inside. Twilight felt a mix of disgust and wonder. "That's graphic. Also shows that they deposit eggs like most other oviparous animals." "This is why I never enjoyed biology class," Rainbow withhold the urge to vomit. Applejack and Pinkie peeked out, curiosity getting the better of them. Upon seeing the MUTO ovipositing , their opinions were comparable were similar to Twilight and Rainbow's. "Ew," Pinkie dipped her head back behind the car door. "Wow," the apple farm stated simply. "Welp, that there proves of a nest." "You know what, don't say anything about it. I don't want to know," Rarity plugged her ears. She locked her eyes forward, but quickly found wasn't any better. Rarity let a sharp, hush gasp. "P-P-Ponies." A low rumbling cane from behind the team followed by a building collapsing. The ponies and soldiers, the latter with guns drawn, turned back at another cloud of dust. A massive, reptilian tail whipped over them. The flash of lightning illuminated the cloud, revealing the silhouette of a certain kaiju. "He's here," Rarity squeaked. The soldiers and ponies stood in frightened silence. "He must have followed us," Twilight whispered. "How was he able to do that without us hearing him?" one of the soldiers asked, slightly perturbed. "Pretty well if we've only noticed him now," Pinkie replied. "D-Do you think we would be good at hide-and-seek?" Godzilla's roar shook the entire city. The ponies held onto their helmets to keep them from flying off. "He's certainly not playing around," Rainbow stated. The ponies and soldiers turned back toward the female MUTO. the monstrous beast growled and stood straight up. She let out defensive roar before stepping towards Godzilla. Her bat-like legs broke through buildings like a hot knife through butter, showering the team in stone and glass. "Neither is she, I'm afraid," Twilight said. "Let's move, let's move," the head officer signaled the others to follow. "On my six." The rest of the soldiers quickly marched after him. Ford and the ponies were amongst the last the follow, their attention still turned to the two beasts ready to fight. "Do you think Godzilla could take to MUTOs down?" Rarity asked. "Well, Dr. Serizawa knows a lot about him and his role," Twilight said. "I'm willing to trust his word that Godzilla can beat them." "Let's hope so. For all our sakes," Ford said. "Go on, Godzilla! Kick that MUTO's butt!" Pinkie cheered loudly. "There will be time for that later. Let's worry about the bomb please," the purple alicorn reminded. As the ponies and soldiers raced toward the crater, the female MUTO and Godzilla charged toward each other. They collided like to two charging bulls. Godzilla viscously rushed forward, showing his superior strength and forcing the MUTO against the nearby buildings. Meanwhile, the Mane 5 and the soldiers clambered over mountains of debris and reaching the crater. The crater was incredibly deep. Ruptured pipelines leaked fluids into the bottom which was covered in wreckage with small fires sprinkled throughout. "Whoa, nelly," Applejack whistled in awe. "That's one deep crater." "But, where are all the eggs?" Twilight asked. "We saw her depositing them right here." "Sarge, get a look at this," one of the soldiers said. "We gotta get moving. You got a signal yet? The sergeant pulled out the tracker. "I got it?" The tracker was beeping rapidly. It marked a specific point within the crater, indicating the warheads location. "It's down there." "No time to waste. Let's go!" Rainbow zipped down to the bottom. It took some time, but the soldiers and ponies were able to reach the bottom of the crater safely. Once the location, what lied in front was a portion of a building's indoor wall with a set of wooden doors. "I-Is this were the eggs are?" Rarity gulped, imagining the worst scenario in her head. "Only one way to found out," Twilight said. Pinkie walked up to the doors and politely knocked. "Hello? May we come in?" Twilight groaned and put a hoof to her face. "Pinkie." "What? My mom always told me to knock before opening a door." "Open the door," the sergeant said irritably. Two soldiers stepped up and busted the doors open. "All right. Move, move," one of the commanded. The team ventured on through, and what await them was disturbing, to say the least. Amongst the incohesive mass of wreckage and debris, a spire of eggs hung upside-down from the ceiling. At the tip was the nuclear warhead. Ford stopped just beyond the doorframe, taking in the troubling sight. The Mane 5 stood in shock and horror. Never in their lives had they seen something so biologically obscene. "That is a lot of eggs," Pinkie observed. "Regret everything. I can't look," Rarity slid her helmet over her eyes. "Never have I witness anything more sickening. Ewh!" While the thoroughly disgusted unicorn was on the brick of hurling, the others were still taking on the sight. All the while, the soldiers were gunning toward the nuclear warhead, shining their lights around the spire. "More light. Grazer," one of the soldiers shouted. "Just think of all the baby MUTOs that will come from this singular nest," Twilight said, a mix of horror and amazement in her tone. "I don't want to imagine that," Rainbow squeaked. "This is unreal," Applejack said. "I ne'er would've suspected those MUTOs bein' as reproductive than ah jackrabbit durin' the matin' season." "No kidding," Ford shined his flashlight at the walls. veins of eggs trailed along the earth like glowing vines. Each transparent orb housed a tiny, baby MUTO squirming inside. Some may find the sight mesmerizing, others may find it abhorrent. For Ford, it was a concerning sign for the future. "Doesn't anypony else found this fascinating," Twilight said. "It shows these MUTO are similar to colonizing insects." "Maybe to you, Egghead," Rainbow gave a flat glare to the alicorn. "But, some of us don't like seeing things so surreal it borders nightmare fuel." "I second that," Rarity called back. Rainbow turned back to the pristine unicorn, who seemed to take a liking to staying behind the doors. "You coming or what?" "I think I'll stay out here, thank you. Just in case if the MUTO comes back." "Rarity, when need all the help we can get," Twilight pointed out. "I think our magic will come in handy in getting the bomb." Rarity looked around the nest. She did not want to step a hoof in that place, being surrounded by eggs that held alien life. Then again, she wasn't any safe out in the open. If the MUTO was to come back, she likely would be the first to be picked off. "Ohhhh," Rarity fearfully tapped her hoof against the ground, looking back and forth between the nest and the outside. "Wait for me!" She quickly clambered through the wreckage after her friends. Meanwhile, the rest of the soldiers were trying to get the warhead off the egg spike. "Here we go." Soldiers on ladders opened the warhead up, revealing the timer mechanism coated in slime. "Whoa, look out, heads up!" one of them warned. "How much time we got left?" another asked. The sergeant shined his light at the time. "We have 27 mikes. We gotta get this thing down." "27 minutes," Ford interated. "That's not a lot of time," Twilight said warily. "I'm sure you can keep it from exploding until then, right, Ford?" Rainbow said confidently. While time was running out for the team, Godzilla and the MUTO's fight had just begun. The female MUTO's feet scraped against the ground, pushing vehicles to the side. She swiped with her forelegs at Godzilla, but they were too short. Godzilla continued his forward assault, dragging the monstrous beast down the city streets. The MUTO reached it's front legs outward, clinging onto two separate buildings. However, it did nothing save her. The MUTO's legs torn against the building walls as Godzilla slammed her to the ground, roaring furiously. The MUTO's head smashed through glass and steel, exposing the subway stations and putting every refugee in danger, including Elle, who could only watch as the people screamed and panicked. Snipers posted on nearby buildings raced over to the carnage. "Move, move, I got you!" one of them said. "Move it out, move it out!" At the same, Fluttershy and Spike had reach the inner faction of the city and were currently witness Godzilla's beatdown. "Yeah, he's got it," Spike pumped his fist. "That's good," Fluttershy said. "That means the nest we likely be unoccupied." "What about the male?" "It's likely foraging for more food." Godzilla slammed the MUTO down once more. He planted his foot on top of her to keep the beast from getting up. The MUTO shrieked and growled, which only inclined Godzilla to stomped his foot harder. "He's got her down!" Spike exclaimed. Just when they thought Godzilla was going to finish her off, the male MUTO came shrieking in, grasping the kaiju in it's spike legs and dragging him off his mate. "Oh, no!" Fluttershy said in horror. They could only watch as the male MUTO clawed Godzilla's armor hide. Godzilla tried to retaliate, but he had no way of attacking from behind his head. The female MUTO swiftly got up and charged at the pair. She rammed into Godzilla, knocking him into a line of buildings. "No!" Fluttershy yelled. When the dust cleared, Godzilla stood back up. He glared at the female monster and let out a furious roar. He wasn't paying attention to the male MUTO, which swooped down and plunged it's spike legs into the kaiju skin. Godzilla let out a pained shriek and turned to the male MUTO. This gave the female MUTO the opening. She delivered a leg strike to Godzilla's shoulder, causing the massive beast to cry out and fall onto his palms. "We have to do something," Spike declare. "He can't handle both MUTOs." "But, there's nothing we can do," Fluttershy said. "They're much too big for us the handle." "But, Godzilla can't handle them either. Isn't there anything we can do to distract one or the other, or something?" "We need to find that nest. It's our best hope of saving this world at the moment." "But, where are we going to find it? Fluttershy looked through the ruined remains of the city known as San Francisco. Amongst the destroyed buildings and skyscrapers, she spotted a massive crater lying not far from them. That was likely where the MUTO's had begun digging. "Let's start there," she pointed at the crater. "I'm guessing that's where the nest most likely is." "Hurry!" Spike exclaimed. Fluttershy flew as fast as she could toward the crater. Spike held on to her mane tightly as the wind blew in their faces. Meanwhile, the bomb retrieval team had gotten the warhead off the spire. Twilight and Rarity held the missile in their magic while the Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, and the soldiers kept close hands and hooves to it, just in case the warhead became too much to hold. "How ya holdin'?" Applejack asked. "Sweet gems, this thing is heavy," Rarity grunted, sweating pouring down her body. "Almost got it," Twilight said, breathing heavily. "Careful! Careful!" the sergeant warned. "And down in three... two... one." The soldiers and ponies carefully lowered the warhead down on the ground. Once safely on the ground, Twilight and Rarity ceased their magical grasp, both utterly worn out. "Whew," they both said. "Good work you two," the sergeant said. "Now let's get this sucker open," Rainbow rubbed her front hooves together. "Okay, lieutenant, you're up." Ford kneeled beside the warhead and took off his helmet, preparing to deactivate the timer. Unfortunately, there came a problem. The other soldiers and ponies gripped the slime-coated cover and pulled with all their might to get it open, but it wouldn't budge. "Horseapples, this thing's stubborn," Applejack grunted. "Come on," Rainbow planted her back hooves against the warhead and yanked as hard as she could. The cover would not move. "We're running out of time here," Rarity fearfully eyed the timer counting down. "It's not budging. It's sealed shut," one of the soldiers said. "We need time to open it." "We don't have time!" another exclaimed scornfully. Let's haul it out of here. We got to get it on a boat." "Hey, once we get this cover off, Ford will get this thing turned off in no time," Rainbow argued. "We have less than 25 minutes left on the timer. It's better we float it away than waste precious seconds pulling the seal off." "He's right," the sergeant said. "Everybody grab the warhead! Let's move! Go!" "That's our best option now. Altogether now!" Twilight said. Despite exhausting their strength, Twilight and Rarity took the heavy weapon in their magic once again. The other soldiers and ponies helped heaving the warhead up and carrying out of the nest. Several other soldiers, including Ford and Rainbow Dash cleared away a path from the team. They lifted a piece of building out of the way. "Move it out, guys!" Ford shouted. "Make us proud, ponies!" Rainbow heaved, beating her wings hard as she held the wooden overhang. "We not sacrificing ourselves." "I know, but, I always wanted to say that." As the warhead was being hauled out Ford and Rainbow looked back to the upside-down spiral of eggs hanging from above. All the baby MUTOs inside, waiting to hatch. In his head, the young lieutenant thought of the implications of what the future would look like when the eggs eventually hatched. The world had fallen into chaos with just two MUTO's, what chance could it stand if there were hundreds. Even if Godzilla was able to take down the first two, there would be no way he would be able to take down hundreds. "I know. Gnarly sight," Rainbow said queasily. "What if those things hatch," Ford said. "Huh?" "Think about it. All those eggs will, one day, hatch and out will come more of those MUTOs. This world will be overrun by them. All the EMPs they'll give, all the death and destruction they'll cause." Rainbow looked back to the nest, now more alarmed than ever. "Oh... that's a problem. A real big problem." "Lieutenant, let's go!" the sergeant called out. Shaken out of the earth-shattering stupor, Ford and Rainbow let go of the wooden architecture and chased after the rest of the group. Ford stopped just beyond the door frame and turned back toward the nest again. Those thoughts lingered and they more he kept thinking of the ramifications, the more he felt something had to be done. Rainbow was just about to leave when she turned back to Ford. "What's the hold up, dude?" the cyan pegasus asked impudently. Ford stayed silent for a second, his attention fulling on the eggs. "We have to destroy them." "W-What!?" "We can't let these things remain alive. If we don't do something now, we may never get the chance again. And when these eggs hatch, that spells end of life on this planet. Those MUTO will overrun this world until there's nothing left but them. Something needs to be done about this nest... for the safety of everyone." "This is too crazy for me," Rainbow flew up eye-to-eye with the bomb specialist. "Have you taken a look around? This place is huge! How do you plan on destroying each and every egg in this nest?" "Rainbow!" A familiar, female voice caught the pegasus's attention. She froze, wide-eyed. Rainbow wasn't sure if from all the chaos and smoke, her mind were playing tricks on her or if she was really hearing what she had heard. "It can't be," Rainbow peered over Ford's head. Ford completely turned around. He, too, had heard someone calling Rainbow's name. The two saw Fluttershy come in for a landing with Spike on her back. "Fluttershy!? Spike!? Wha- eh... What are you doing here!?" "When we realized that the MUTOs were likely making a nest and laying eggs, we realized that this world would not be safe even with the two first MUTOs gone," Fluttershy explained. "So, Spike and I venture here to search for it." "Then we found the crater and concluded that the nest was here," Spike added. "We saw Twilight and others carted the warhead away, but we also spotted you and Ford at the opening. We figured something had happened." Rainbow and Ford exchanged looks of shock and surprise. "And you came here to do what exactly?" Ford asked. "We need to destroy the nest and the eggs," Fluttershy answered as sharply as she could. "We were thinking the same thing," Ford said. "But, we told you two stay at the headquarters!" Rainbow exclaimed angrily. "We know, but we felt that we needed to take action when we connected the pieces." "That doesn't..." Rainbow felt a deluge of emotions clash in her head: Anger, fear, worry, consternation, frustration. The last thing she wanted was her best friend in danger again, yet here she was with Spike alongside. She knew Twilight wouldn't be happy about that. "I didn't want you in anymore danger, Fluttershy." "But, I don't want to sit idly and watched this all unfold," Fluttershy retorted. "Why are you being like this all of a sudden? You have one time being in the spotlight and lifting our spirits and suddenly you feel invincible?" "I am not invincible." "Why couldn't you have just gone back to being scared to death and cowering in a corner? Why can't you just stay out of danger?" Fluttershy gasped, feeling a little hurt by Rainbow's words. Okay, let's calm down a bit," Spike tried to ease the tension. "Dash..." Fluttershy whimpered. "WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE HERE!?" There was a stunned silence. Nobody said a word. Then, there came crying, but not from Fluttershy. Tears began streaming down Rainbow's face as she began to sob. "I care about you, Fluttershy. I never want you to be in any kind of danger situation that's completely out of my control. We tried saving those people on the bridge, and you ended up getting shot. At that moment, all these thoughts of you getting killed raced around in my head and I... I couldn't bare that. Everything that's happened in this mission, it's just felt like a big downward slope with losing people and getting hurt and putting ourselves in even greater danger. And you, Fluttershy, you mean so much to me. I could never forgive myself if something bad ever happened to you. I can't forgive myself when you got shot. I can't bare losing you! The weeping pegasus fell to her eyes as she continued to cry. "And I'm sorry for yelling at you, but I'm just so scared, okay. I'm scared of losing you and everypony else." Fluttershy stood still, mouth slightly agape. She hadn't expected Rainbow to just open up like that and pour her heart out. Spike and Ford wisely stayed silent. Despite the severe danger they were in, a moment like this require respect and silence. Fluttershy soon treaded up to Rainbow. The teary-eyed pegasus gazed up her, tears and snot trailed down her face. Fluttershy pulled her into a soft embrace. "It's okay, Rainbow. I knew full well that you anger come from your protectiveness of me and, believe me, it warms my heart knowing that. But, there's something you must know. Right now, I'm not fearless. I'm more terrified than I've ever been in my life. But, I also realize that cowering and hiding won't solve anything. Not when this is all going on." She gestured to the rows of eggs spiraling around the walls and ceiling. "I'm not just doing this to show I'm brave. I'm doing this to protect you, and Spike, and Applejack, and Ford, and everycreature else on this world." "It's everybody," Ford corrected. "Shush!" Spike hissed sharply. "The first time you and I tried to brave the dangers and save some people, yes, it didn't go well. But, I'm not going to let one failed attempt discourage me from doing the right thing. These eggs hold a devastating future for this world and if something is done now, we may never see Ford again, or Elle and Sam. Maybe I'll always been the shy, timid, and easily-frightened pegasus, but that doesn't mean I'm going to walk away from this and expect others to handle it. I'm putting a stop to this on my own, no matter how loud my body is screaming at me to run away and hide, or no matter how much you and the others think otherwise. Even if I end up getting hurt again or worse, at least I'll know I did something that saved many lives. By now, Rainbow had wiped away the tears in her eyes as she listened to Fluttershy's speech. She felt a sense of calm wash over her, seeing Fluttershy be so calm, yet poised. The thoughts in the back of her head still lingered and the rainbow-maned pegasus's expression darkened worriedly. "I just don't want you getting hurt again like last time." "We all get hurt, Rainbow. It's a matter of if we let that get to us or not for the greater good. I maybe be wounded, but I won't let that stop me." Rainbow sniffled a bit and wiped more of her snot of her muzzle. She wrapped her hooves around her friends, reciprocating the embrace. "Again, I'm sorry for yelling at you and say those things." "I forgive you, Rainbow. I know you’re only looking at for me." The two break the hug and looked into each others' eyes. Neither acknowledged it, but both pegasi had blushes slowly forming on their cheeks. "Hey, ladies, I hate to ruin the moment, but we seriously need to do something about this," Ford pointed to the nest. Spike let out a sigh, disappointed that the moment had been ruined. "Okay, action time, ponies." Fluttershy and Rainbow shook themselves out of their gazes and turned to the baby dragon and lieutentant. "Right, the eggs," Rainbow said. "How are we going to get rid of them." "There's to many to destroy by hand," Ford scanned the area, hoping for anything that could help. It didn't take long for him to spot a tanker truck lying on it's side amongst the sea of debris. "I have a plan. Follow me." He quickly headed toward the topple tanker. Rainbow, Fluttershy, Spike looked at each other, wondering what Ford's plan was. Even still, the listened to him and went after him. Things were not looking too good for Godzilla. Both MUTOs were easily overwhelming him, with the the male on his back slashing and tearing at his armor-plated skin and the female coming with forceful rams or ferocious bites. The powerful kaiju just wasn't capable of taking on two monsters at the same time. One, final power charge from the female MUTO sent the monstrous equalizer off his feet. The snipers on nearby buildings could only watch as the kaiju roared defiantly as he was being forced to the ground. buildings caught in the battle's wake crumbled as the two MUTOs began beating Godzilla to his death. The male MUTO even leapt high into the air and slammed down on top of Godzilla. The bomb retrieval team scrambled out of the crater, none of them realizing Fluttershy and Spike arriving at the mouth of the nest as they were too focus on the bomb or watching Godzilla's beatdown unfold. The Mane 5 were in the latter half. They watched in horror as the kaiju was being pummeled into the earth. "Oh, no, no, no, no! That is not good," Twilight exclaimed. "You can take 'em, Godzilla!" Applejack encouraged. "Come on, git up!" "No, the poor thing," Rarity said. "Oh, how could this have end up into such a hopeless state? He was the balancer." "I don't think Godzilla has ever had to take down two monsters simultaneously," Twilight said solemnly. "If what we've learned is true, Godzilla hasn't had much of a exigency in a long time, and probably not in these kind of extreme circumstances." "We still have the bomb though," Pinkie said. The other ponies turned to her. It had already been universally agreed between them all that the bomb wasn't the right course of action. So, to her Pinkie Pie of all ponies bring up to entailment of using it, was one heck of an unwelcomed curveball. "Whaduya mean by that, Pinkie?" Applejack asked, not taking a liking to the pink mare's implication. "Ah thought we agreed that the bomb was a bad idea." "Well, yeah, and I still stand by that. I mean we have this mission almost completed." "Oh, ah thought..." "I know. But, if I'm being entirely honest, the bomb might end up attracting the monsters anyways." Applejack and Rarity turned to each other in confusion. "What?" "Of course! Pinkie's right!" Twilight exclaimed, coming to the realization that Pinkie had also come to. "Dr. Serizawa said the MUTOs were attracted the radiation and that's exactly what the bomb has, at least that's what we've been told." "Which is why we need it as far away from the city as possible," the head sergeant said. "Keep going!" "Right on, captain!" Pinkie saluted. "I'm a sergeant." The soldiers and ponies hastily carried the warhead out of the crater. One of the soldiers stayed back just for a moment upon realizing to of their members were suddenly gone. "Lieutenant? Rainbow?" he called out to them, but he could neither see or hear them. He looked back to the convoy then back into the crater. Despite wanting to find them to make sure Ford and Rainbow were safe, he had a mission to do. He raced back on over to the convoy to relay the news. "Two of our members are unaccounted for." "Which ones?" the sergeant asked. "Lieutenant Ford and one of the ponies. Rainbow, I think her name was." Hearing that made the other ponies gasp in shock. "Rainbow?" Twilight looked around. "Were did she go?" "How did we not notice them gone until now?" Rarity also looked around. "Somethin' must've happened to 'em," Applejack said, sounding a little panicky. "We have to go back!" "We don't have time to go back for them," one of the soldiers yelled. "This warhead is sent to go off soon." "We can't just leave two of our friends behind!" Twilight shouted defensively. "We can't jeopardize the mission!" the leading sergeant snapped back. "If we lose men along the way, we continue on." "So, what?!" Rarity questioned angrily. "We just abandon our friends and comrades because their lives are just expendable to you guys?" "Orders are orders!" The further the convoy went on, the more the arguing continued. However, there was one individual that had others idea instead of fighting with words. "Dashie!" Pinkie immediately abandoned the hauling team and galloped off toward the crater. "Hey, get back here!" one of the soldiers ordered. The mare on a mission did not listen. Encouraged by their friends loyalty, the rest of the Mane 5 quickly followed after. "Wait up, Pinkie!" Rarity shouted after her. "We're coming', Dash. Hold on, Ford!" Applejack exclaimed. Twilight shot a quick glare at the sergeant. "A true team makes sure all of it's members our safe." She too rushed away. "Forget them, we have a bomb to deal with," one of other soldiers said. With that, the rest of the team continued with carry the warhead to the waterfront. While Twilight and the others were racing back to the crater to find their missing friends, Ford, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Spike were setting their plan into motion. Rainbow and Fluttershy had stack a couple of wooden items in a small indent in the ground, while Ford stood on the tanker, standing watch. "Well this be enough?" Fluttershy dropped the remains of a wooden board into the indent. "All right, Spike, you know what to do," he said. Spike nodded with a confident smile on his face. The little inhaled then breathed out a stream of fire, igniting the wooden stack. The emerald green flames changed into a bright orange upon contact with the flammable material. "Now what?" Rainbow asked, eyeing the fire. "If this is your plan, it's a pretty weak one. I doubt a tiny fire can burn down this whole nest." "Thankfully, that's only half of it," Ford said smartly. Taking a metal pipe, the lieutenant struck a red level just underneath the tanker's chassis. He followed up with strucking a chained capsule around a pipe that stuck out from a control module. The cap popped free, causing gasoline to gush from the pump. Ford did this a second time to a second pump. Two gushing streams of gas spilled onto the ground, streaming toward the indent and the fire. The acrid smell permeated and assaulted the three other-worldly heroes, noses, having not been familiarized with such a volatile fluid. "Woah!" Rainbow and Spike both said. "Go, go! We need to leave now!" Ford shouted. He bolted out of the nest as fast as his legs could carry him. Rainbow quickly grabbed Spike and flew out the nest with Fluttershy following close behind. The gasoline flowed down into the indent, quickly filling it up. With the new ticking time bomb behind them, Ford, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Spike made a mad dash out of the crater. As they clambered up the side, Fluttershy noticed Godzilla getting thrashed by the two MUTOs. "No! Godzilla!" "What the?" Rainbow turned to see the monstrous beatdown. "He's being beaten to a pulp!" "Oh, this just keeps getting worse," Spike slid off Rainbow's back. "Forget about that! We need to get as far away as possible before the gas ignites," Ford warned as he reached the top. "You sound awfully distressed about this," Spike commented, in-turn feeling a little wary herself. "That explosion is going to be big. We need to get well away from this crater." "Well, how far?" Rainbow asked. "Just how serious of a demolition plan did we..." "DASHIE!" Rainbow was suddenly tackled in a pink blur. She tumbled to the ground, feeling the weigh of a pony on top of her. "Dashie, you're okay," Pinkie pulled the dazed mare in a bone-crushing hug. Dash could barely get a word through her squished throat. "Pinkie? What are you doing here?" "Rainbow! Ford!" came Twilight's voice. She along with Rarity and Applejack hurriedly cantered over to them. "You weren't with us back with the rest of the convoy, so we thought..." Twilight's eyes fell upon the two outliers in the group. Spike smiled sheepishly, holding his hands behind his back innocently. Fluttershy was, too, a little abashed having been caught, but she knew this was likely the best outcome. "Hello, girls," she said happily. "Wha... Wh... How?" the young princess couldn't believe her eyes. "Fluttershy?! Spike?!" "What'n tha hay are ya two doing here!?" Applejack asked in shock. "We don't have time for this!" Ford shouted, sounding more distressed. "We need to get away from this crater." "What are you talking about?" Rarity asked frantically. "We already have the bomb removed." "There's going to be another explosion!" Spike exclaimed. "We have to get out of here." The other ponies were at a loss for words at what was being said. Twilight sputtered in disbelief. "Wha... What? Spike, what in Equestria are you..." KABOOM In the blink of an eye, ponies, dragon, and lieutenant were blinded by a white light followed by a gigantic blast that shot from the crater. Ford and the Mane 7 were sent flying as a giant ball of fire and smoke mushroomed out from the crater. The blast rocked the entirety of San Francisco and caught the female MUTO's attention. She looked back and saw the rising mushroom cloud rising above her egg crater. With a shriek of horror and worry she abandoned the brawl and ran toward the crater. She mowed down several buildings, heeding no notice to the soldiers vigilantly making their way down the street with the warhead in-hand. Meanwhile, the male MUTO noticed his mate heading toward the crater. Believing something to be wrong, he left Godzilla and took off after her. Once the female MUTO made it to the nesting crater, she dipped her head in. She found her nest completely incinerated and her eggs destroyed. The female MUTO began howling and shrieking in despair at the loss of her children. Not even a couple dozen feet away, Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike all lied on the ground. army coats torn, helmets dented, and bleeding all around, varying from cuts to broken noses. "What.. was... that," Twilight groaned in pain. "It was our way of destroying the nest," Fluttershy explain weakly. "Ohhhh. How did you do it?" Pinkie asked, tilted her heads back to glance at the mare. "Nnrgh. Something about an explosive liquid," Rainbow rubbed her aching head. “It smelled weirdly metallic and acidic… kinda.” "Well, then mission accomplished," Rarity groaned. "Too accomplished." "Quiet," Ford crawled backward. "If she hears us, we're all dead." Now knowing that the MUTOs had really good hearing, thanks to the ambush at the bridge, the group wisely kept silent. But, Twilight still had one more thing to say. She took Spike's tail in her magic and brought him up to where their eyes met. The alicorn mare stared at him with a mighty glare. "You have a lot of explaining to do, Mister." Spike gulped. "Twilight, before you jump to any conclusions, it was my idea to come here in the first place," Fluttershy said quietly. "And why would you think bringing Spike here was a good idea. It's bad enough you came here with all this going on, but you brought him, too. And did that." Twilight pointed to the smoking crater. "What were you thinking?" "Ssh!" Ford shushed. The group carefully and quietly crawled away from the crater, making sure to not draw attention from the weeping MUTO. They came upon a concrete paifang post. Ford gestured the others to huddle closer to it, but, as he turned into his back, his vest pack struck the concrete post a little too hard. pieces of concrete and glass showered from above created a good amount of noise. That got the female MUTOs attention. She looked up, her eyes harrowing in on the group. "Oh, please, no," Rarity covered her face in fear. The MUTO leaned closer toward them. While she could not express any kind of emotion on her face, the Mane 6, Spike, and Ford could almost feel the rage radiating from her. They figured that she thought their were responsible from her nest's destruction, which to a degree, was true. She growled at the puny beings, sitting pathetically on the ground. "We're doomed," Applejack said sorrowfully. Twilight felt Spike cling to her tightly. She could visibly see the fear as his little body shook. Despite being upset with him disobeying her orders, Twilight figured that it wasn't the best thing to be mad at Spike if this was there final moments. As, the MUTO opened her mouth wider, baring her razor-sharp teeth, the ponies, dragon, and human could only brace for the inevitable. "No, you don't," a voice rang out defiantly. Fluttershy stood up and limp closer to the MUTO. "I'm not going to let you hurt my friends!" "Fluttershy, what are you doing?" Rainbow cried out. The vigilant gave no answer, her attention solely on the MUTO. "You are beyond shameful for terrorizing everycreature on this world. Who do you think you are laying waste to this city and making it into your personal home when you had no right in the first place!" The others watched in shock and amazement. That's when Fluttershy summoned all her concentration and gave the MUTO the most powerful Stare she could muster. "It's really no wonder why Godzilla wants you irradicated because you are nothing but a great, big bully! Now you are going to stand back and leave my friends alone!" Over the past missions they had been out, Fluttershy's Stare had not worked on both occasion she tried. Her friends, fearing the worst, cowered as they expected the MUTO to ignore her threatening glare and eat them alive. Instead, the beast seemed to hesitate. The MUTO stepped back just little bit. The Mane 7 and Ford's eyes widened. Was the MUTO actually scared. "Holy gemstones, Fluttershy actually doing it," Spike whispered. The protective pegasus kept up her disciplinary glare, locking eyes with the female MUTO. The monster growled at her, but then something else happened. The street was alit with a pale, blue glow emanating from behind the MUTO. "What's going on now?" Rarity asked fearfully. Ford, Spike, the Mane 6, and even the MUTO turned to see what was the cause for the sudden flare. "Look at that!" Pinkie pointed at Godzilla's tail rising above the cloud of dust and smoke. The kaiju's tail was glowing with a bright, blue light. The light trailed up his tail and his back before reaching the back of his head. Godzilla faced the female MUTO, who was preparing for another attack. Godzilla let in a long inhale, then unleashed a powerful beam of blue, flame-like energy from his mouth. His atomic breath beat against the MUTO, pushing it back against a building. "Woah," Applejack gaped. "Since when could he do that?" Rainbow asked in surprise. "It's almost... mesmerizing," Rarity said with twinkling eyes. "He can breath fire, too? Awesome!" Spike said. "Perhaps he can do that thanks to the radiation he's absorbed," Twilight pondered aloud. "Well, it just saved our asses," Ford said. "Hey, Fluttershy Stare was our savior here," Rainbow snapped. "Oh, um, I suppose it was," Fluttershy smiled, a blush forming on her face. She was suddenly picked up by Pinkie, who began spinning around. "That was amazing! You just stood there and stared at that MUTO and it actually was intimidated!" "Yeah, ya saved us, Fluttershy," Applejack readjusted her hat. "Stared down a creature of that size and it was the one that stood down," Ford chuckled. "Now that is bravery." "He-he, thanks, everypony," the shy mare smiled warmly. "Hooray for Fluttershy!" Spike cheered. The others began joining in on the cheering. "That was incredible, Fluttershy," Rainbow said. "That's probably the most fearless I've seen you since the time you stared down that dragon..." Rainbow suddenly stopped when she felt something wet on her hooves. She lifted it off the ground and shook it off to dry it. "Why is it wet here all of a sudden?" Fluttershy's soft, pink blush flashed to red. It soon painted her entire face, making her as red as a cherry. "Well... U-Uhm. Let's just say I was brave, but not fearless," she chuckled in embarrassment. Rainbow looked at her confusion. "What? Isn't that the same thing?" The others looked at her with cringed expression. They had already pieced together what Fluttershy was getting at. "What?" "You know what don't worry about it," Twilight said. Whilst the mini celebration was going on, the snipers on the building continued to watch Godzilla unleashed his atomic breath full blast at the MUTO. The soldiers were still on their mission on reaching the waterfront when they too noticed the blue glow from behind them. "What the hell was that?" the head sergeant turned. The soldiers got a full view Godzilla's atomic assult. "Holy shit! Did you see that?" one of the soldiers asked. Godzilla soon ran out of breath and was forced to stop. The female MUTO was about to charge him, but the kaiju was quick to release another bout of energy, slamming the MUTO back against the building. With the female MUTO down for the time being, it granted the Mane 6, Spike, and Ford the opening they need. "Let's go while they're still distracted," Twilight said. Nothing else was needed to be said. The group quickly got to their feet-slash-hooves and made a limped escape down the street. Getting as far away was their first priority, but the second was to catch up to the rest of the soldiers before they made it to the waterfront. Godzilla soon brought the female MUTO into submission. His temporary victory was short-lived, though, when the male MUTO swooped in from behind and smashed into Godzilla. Not to be beaten, Godzilla reared back his head and roared angrily. The MUTO flapped away and landed on the top of lower building. Godzilla swiped at the beast, but the MUTO took off in time and grasped onto the kaiju. The two monsters fell into a violent tussle, crashing into buildings, while trying to tear each other apart. Several blocks away, the remaining soldiers had finally neared the waterfront. With the two monsters fighting like mad, destroying everything in their path, they feared they could potentially be in the beasts' line of violent fire. "This way," one of the soldiers beckoned. They reached a large boat dock with a massive boardwalk stretching perpendicular to it. The soldiers raced down the mane gangway. The heavy warhead proved to be a serious constraint on their efficiency on transporting it. "Faster, faster," Limited as they were, the team reached the end of the dock where a large boat was parked. The boat in particular was designated for whale watcher and, because of it's size, offered them the perfect means to cast the bomb as far away from the populace as possible. "Let's get this thing started." two soldiers clambered on board and quickly headed to the cockpit. The first one pulled open the control panels, exposing the wires and circuits of the machine. "Find the ignition, sir," the second solider zipped in. "Give me that pack." The second soldier handed his comrade the tool pack. The first soldier rummaged through it before pulling out a small set of jumper cables. Even while they as far away as they could, the soldiers could hear the roaring and the crashing of the MUTO and Godzilla clashing with each other. The second soldier could see the whole battle through the boat's window. "Come on, come on. Hurry." The first soldier struck the jumper cables against the electrical terminals. The cables sparked and crackled until they finally jumpstarted the boat. The lights went on and the engine roared to life. The two soldiers looked at each other, silently satisfied with their success. However, the boats alarm went off, sending out a beeping noise that pierced through the smokey, night air. The female MUTO, while still injured and grieving, heard the noise and with that, sensed the radiation-filled weapon they carried. She stood back up and let out a wailing shriek and started stomping her way to the dock. If she could get the warhead back, then she and her mate could try again with creating another brood. The remaining soldiers carrying the warhead, quicken their pace when they heard the alien-like creature shrieking and roaring abhorrently. The two soldiers on the boat raced back outside. They could clearly see the female MUTO was solely focused on them and that meant that time to get the bomb out of here was running out. "Hurry it up. Let's go, let's go!" one of them shouted. The retrieval team hurried as much as they could with a heavy piece or artillery weighing them down. One of the soldiers trailed back a bit to see the MUTO rapidly gaining on them. "She's coming for the bomb!" he exclaimed, while catching up to the others. With the female MUTO effortlessly tearing through the city blocks and approaching the docks, the soldiers fell into a desperate inclination. Most of them helped in getting the warhead loaded onto the boat, another frantically untied the ropes securing the boat to the dock. "Let's get this weapon secured," the head sergeant said. But as the team was getting situated on the boat, it became horrifically apparent that there was no time. The female MUTO was practically already at the edge of the waterfront and glaring down on them. The time for retreating was over. Now, the soldiers were forced to create more time by withholding the ruthless monster from progressing further towards them. That meant unloading every piece of firepower they had, no matter how ineffective it would be. While the female MUTO was dead set on getting the warhead back, the male MUTO continued his viscous attack on Godzilla. He griped tight to the kaiju and bit down hard on his neck. However, Godzilla's armored skin proved to be a not-so-easy defense to cut. With the equalizer beast roaring in defiance, Godzilla clamped his jaws down on the MUTO's left wing and yanked him off. He wildly swung the heretical beast against several buildings. Godzila followed up by tossing male MUTO away, sending it careening through the air. However, the male was the one with wings, which allow him to steady himself in the air. The monstrous MUTO glided away for some distance and circled back around toward the kaiju. Godzilla stared down the MUTO. He knew what it was going to do; try to grasp onto him where he couldn't retaliate. Godzilla was smart though. As the male MUTO flew closer still, the kaiju king turned where his back was facing him. Just as the MUTO was about to charge into him, Godzilla swung his powerful tail into him, slamming the beast right into a skyscraper. The blow was devastating. Godzilla removed his tail, the male MUTO dangled lifelessly against the twisted wreck of the building. Giant, jagged pieces of steel impaled through the MUTO's head and chest, essentially trapping it. It's eyes, once glowing a dark, demented orange, now went completely black, it's head sagging down with the shower of shattered glass and concrete. That was it, the male MUTO was dead. Godzilla turned away from his fallen adversary, injured and exhausted, but his resting period was interrupted from the sound of crumbling. The kaiju turned back to find the skyscraper was beginning to collapse. Godzilla made an effort to escape, but he wasn't fast enough. The entire weight of the skyscraper fell on top of him. He let out a pained roared as he careened down to the earth. People trapped inside the exposed subway stations fell into a panic once again as the place was engulfed in dust and smoke from the falling building. Elle, who was one of many inside, clutched her head, whimpering and screaming as she found herself blinded with thick dust. Elle was not the only one in dire straits, however. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike were sprinting down the wrecked San Francisco streets as fast as they could, hobbling and through wreckage and past raging fires. "If the rest of the guys haven't left the waterfront yet, we might be able to help them and get away from this place," Ford huffed exhaustively. "Ah don't think they'll be very happy with us," Applejack limped. "We did kinda just 'bandoned them when we went lookin' for ya'll." Rainbow was helping her apple-farmer friend. She'd slung Applejack's left front hoof over her neck, keeping the country mare steady. "Speaking of not happy, Fluttershy, does this bring you any kind of déjà vu. You know, with the nightmare and all." Fluttershy did a quick look around her surroundings. "Fires everywhere, the streets littered in debris," - she eyed the crushed cars sprinkled around the road - "whatever those things are. Yeah, certainly reminds me of the nightmare I had." "Wait, you guys came here because she had a nightmare?" Ford asked. "We... didn't tell you?" Twilight asked sheepishly. The lieutenant shook his head. Twilight out a self-reprimanded sigh. "I cannot believe we never explained it to you. Okay, the gist of it is that Fluttershy had this nightmare of Godzilla fighting the MUTOs in a burning city. Of course, she didn't know the monsters at the time. One of our rulers, Princess Luna, sensed the nightmare she had and deduced that it was some kind of sign that we were needed here." "I wanted to chalk it up to just having a scary dream that meant nothing, but something about just... alluded me," Fluttershy added. "I've had many nightmares in my life, but I never had one that was so extreme and surreal. It the setting felt so off and the monsters were unlike anything I'd ever seen before. I didn't think they were even native to Equestria, that's so out-of-place they seemed." "Yeah. With how she described it the first time, it honestly made me scared," Spike said. "That all sounds weirdly biblical," Ford commented. "Biblical?" Twilight said curiously. "Like it's part of a religion." "Oh. What kind of religion?" "Stick to the main topic for now, Egghead," Rainbow said. "I have to agree with Rainbow Dash, here," Rarity concurred. "We have more important things to worry about." "Right, right. Sorry," Twilight blushed. "What we really don't understand is how Fluttershy got that dream and why it happened." "Didn't you just say you reckoned it was telling you to come to this world?" Ford asked. "Oh, yeah, that seems pretty obvious in retrospect," Pinkie chimed in. "But, we don't go on missions because of bad dreams... most of the time. See, what happens is that our cutie marks..." "Urgh, hold that thought," Rainbow came to a stop. "I don't think I ever been this exhausted in my life. And my head is killing me." "Perhaps it's best if we rest fer a few," Applejack suggested. "We've taken a bit of a beatin'." "We can't stop now. We're losing time..." Ford stumbled onto his knees, grunting and breathing heavily. "Ford!" Twilight and Fluttershy were right at his side. "That explosion sure did a number on us," Rainbow said. "Oh, my hooves are killing me," Rarity whined. "And all this dust and bleeding will undoubtedly stained my pristine, white coat. Ohhhh." "If it makes you feel any better, Rarity, you still look as beautiful as over," Spike rubbed his darkened, swollen right eye. "Thank you, Spikey-Wikey," the fashionista's heart dropped when saw noticed Spike's black eye. "Oh, my goodness, Spike, you're eye." "I-It's okay. I'll live." "You're going to get that checked out," Twilight came up to the baby dragon. She held his head and studied the swollen eye. "Relax, Twilight, it's just a black eye," Spike said. "And what about all the cuts and gashes? What about the fact that you're limping, Spike?" Twilight's tone rose, while Spike slowly shrunk down. The others were taken aback from the sudden outburst. Pinkie, usual being the one to bring down sour moods came right up to the up agitated alicorn. "What's wrong, Twilight?" Twilight glimpsed up at Pinkie with a hard glare "What's wrong?" She then turned back to Spike. What's wrong is that I specifically told you and Fluttershy to stay at that military vicinity. And yet, here you two are with us, hurt. Not only that you were helping Ford and Rainbow in destroying that nest, which, may I remind you all, created a giant explosion! I told you to stay back with Fluttershy and let the rest of us do the mission, but you came all this way here anyways." Tears began forming in Twilight's eyes. She began to sob loudly. "Why... Why did you disobey me?" Fluttershy felt another sense of déjà vu. That moment reminded her of Rainbow's emotional outburst at her a little while back. Because of that, Fluttershy understood why Twilight was so upset. "Twilight?" she carefully walked up to the pair. "It was my idea to find the nest and destroy it. None of that was Spike's doing." "I know. You already told me that, Fluttershy," Twilight wiped away some of the tears. "But, you, Spike, you still chose to go with her. That was your decision. So, again I ask, why did you disobey me?" Spike was silent for a few seconds. He, too, had tears trailing down his face. Tears of shame, tears of embarrassment, but also tears of frustration. "Because it likely would've saved this world in the long-term." Twilight was a little surprised. Out of all the answers she expected her son to say, this was not even in the vicinity of what she had in mind. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "Twilight, were you and others planning on destroying the nest at any given point?" "Wha-" "Were you?" "I-It was kind of on my mind. But, we were mostly focusing on the bomb. What does that have to do with anything?" "If you had left that nest intact, those eggs would all eventually hatch and more MUTOs would sprout from them and then this world would be even more doomed." "Well, me and Ford stayed back to destroy it," Rainbow spoke up. "It was more of a last minute thing," Ford muttered. "Well, we didn't know that," Spike said. "Sure, doing that doesn't justify disobeying you, Twilight, but I wasn't okay with being sidelined on this mission when so much is at stake. Fluttershy mostly felt the same way. It made me feel like you thought I wasn't capable of helping out." "No, Spike, the only reason I wanted to stay behind was because I was trying to protect you," Twilight argued. “For crying out loud, Fluttershy hit in the leg!” "I know that, but I still felt that way.” “I admit it, girls. It wasn’t the best decision to dive into this disaster with my leg,” Fluttershy said. “But, despite that, I knew we couldn’t standby and just hope for the best. It didn’t feel right, no matter how scared or injured I was.” “But, what if something worse happened to you?” Pinkie asked, very much worried for her friend. “I couldn’t even begin to describe how horrible I would feel if you got even more hurt, or even worse…” “Pinkie’s right,” Applejack said. “As much as we’re happy ya see ya two ‘gain, we only wanted to keep ye and Spike safe.” “We know. Trust me, we know,” Fluttershy said softly yet firmly. “But this mission is important to all of us no matter how dangerous it is. It didn’t matter if it was me, Spike, Rarity, Pinkie, or anypony else. “She’s right,” Spike kept his eyes on Twilight. “Look, I'm not saying what you did was wrong, it just that..." Spike sniffled as fresh, hot tears streamed down his cheeks. "We're both still new to this changed dynamic between you and me. I see you as my mother, Twilight, you were always there for me since the day you hatched me. We've had this talk before. But, this isn't about just you and me, it's about all of us. We are a team, Twilight, and together we work as a unit. We do these missions together, we figure out problems together, we battle bad guys together. And I know I may not be an Element of Harmony like you or Rainbow, or Applejack, or the others, but I have proven my worth on these missions on several occasion. Yes, I've had bad things happen to me on these adventures, the scar will always be proof of that, but we've all realized that just something that happens on these missions to different worlds." Twilight looked at her baby dragon, amazed and somewhat by his self-preservation. However, Spike wasn't quite done. "But, you know what, Twilight, you're still probably in the right. Like you said, you were only trying to protect and lookout for me. And it warms my heart so much how much you do care about me. Even if it's for a good cause, I still disobeyed you, and I'm so, so sorry I did that. It's just that..." The onslaught of tears continued, but these tears came from a place of sorrow and needing and Spike's quiet sobs turned broken. "I hate not being near you, Twilight. Without you, I feel so lonely and empty. I mean, you hatched me. I would be nothing if it wasn't for you. You've always been there for me, Twilight, since day one and I just can't imagine life without you. I guess deep down that's why I went with Fluttershy. Because I just couldn't bare the thought of ever seeing you again. The fear of something bad happening, like the bomb going off or one of the MUTO attacking you, it just..." Spike practically jumped into Twilight's barrel. The young alicorn was taken from the forwardness. She looked down to the sobbing dragon that clutched her like a stuffed doll. "I just want to be with." Spike continued to cry uncontrollably. Tears bled from Twilight's eyes. Hearing her baby boy pour his heart out in such a way both warmed and broke her heart. Twilight wrapped her hooves around Spike, holding him tight and letting him cry against her chest. "It's okay, Spike, just let it all out. That's it." Everyone had their waterworks going. Not a single eye was dry in that moment. Even Ford couldn't keep himself from letting a few tears free. "Had we go for running monsters to this?" Rainbow wiped here eyes. "Don't ruin this moment, darling," Rarity sniffled. Twilight soon pulled Spike from her barrel and looked down at him with the most caring, motherly eyes one could ever witness. "I get now how much that hurt you Spike. Words cannot describe how sorry I am for ever making you feel that way. But, know this, Spike, I will never let you go, I'll never abandon you. Even if we won't always be around each other, know that we will also be together in here." She put a hoof to the little drake's chest, right where his heart was. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me Spike. I love you so much that I can't imagine a world without you. You have always been my son and you always will be no matter what." "Y-You really mean that?" Spike asked. "I've never been more serious in my life." The two came together once again for a loving embrace. With tears in their eyes, the rest of the Mane 6 came together for one big group hug. Ford, while he didn't indulge in cartoonish snuggies, reached a hand out and set on Twilight's shoulder. He saw eye-to-eye with the alicorn when it came to parenthood. Honestly, it reminded him quite a lot of him and Sam. "Well said, Twilight. Well said." Unfortunately, the heart-melting moment was cut short when an animalistic rumbling reverberated across the smoldering streets. "Look!" Fluttershy pointed to the wide open roadway they stood right next to. A giant, clawed hand was set on the ground. To the shock and amazement of everyone, Godzilla lay just beside him, his head barely popping out from the massive wall of smoke and dust. "Woah," Pinkie's mouth took the shape of an "O." Godzilla tired eyes scanned the ponies, dragon, and human. Despite his fierce demeanor, the kaiju looked somewhat peaceful. It was like he knew that the creatures before him were harmless. Ford and the Mane 7 stood silent, in awe and at ease. After everything that happened, they were seeing Godzilla as a savior, not a monster. "Godzilla," Twilight said quietly. "Hey, you're awesome, man," Rainbow said. Godzilla didn't make a sound. Instead, he closed his eyes as he disappeared behind a thick curtain of misty dust. "No!" Fluttershy broke free of the hug and limped over to vanished kaiju. "Godzilla, don't die." A somber sadness washed over the group. They had see the beatdown Godzilla had received from the MUTOs. As much as they hated to admit to themselves, it might have been too much for the big guy to handle. "He's a fighter, girls," Rainbow tried lifting their spirits. "He'll get back up. I'm sure of it." "I don't know about that," Ford said. Suddenly, the group could hear gunfire and people yelling in the distance. Throughout the whole emotional ordeal they just had, they all had forgotten what they were doing in the first place. "The other soldiers!" they all exclaimed. Quickly getting back onto the feet and hooves, Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike all hightailed it to the boat docks. They reached their and were met with a wretched sight. The female was standing right above the soldiers' boat. The soldiers themselves were unleashing their entire weapon stockpile onto the inexorable beast. While they MUTO did protectively pull back a little against the bullets that got to her face, it was still a losing battle. Ford and the Mane 7 only had time to comprehend the situation before the MUTO slammed a foreleg against the boat, tearing down it's elevated viewing deck which most of the soldiers were positioned on. "No!" Rainbow yelled in dismay. "The bomb's most likely on board. That's probably why the female was attracted to come here," Twilight said. "We need to get it away from the boat!" "Might be already a lil too late for that," Applejack stated. The MUTO lowered closer to the boat. It's mouth wide open, preparing to take the warhead. "We'll see about that," Rainbow zipped into the air. She started whipping around the MUTO's face like a annoying fly.. "Come on, you overgrown bat! Just try and eat me!" The MUTO growled and swung her head around to shoo the pestering pegasus away. "Now let's get her to move away from the boat," Fluttershy said. Twilight nodded. She ignited her horn and pelted the MUTO with bursts of magic, being careful as to not accidentally hit Rainbow Dash. Spike followed in the alicorn's hoof-steps. The little dragon spat out small balls of fire to emphasize the MUTO's attention onto them. A zipping pegasus around her face, and fire and magic bombarding her, the MUTO was growing more and more enraged. Then something else hit her, but it wasn't anything from our heroes. Surprised, the Mane 6, Spike, and Ford turned to where the shot came from. A remaining team of soldiers that hadn't boarded the boat had fire a rocket launcher at the MUTO. "Whoo! Nice shot!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I thought they were all on the boat," Ford stated. "The more the merrier I suppose," Rarity said. The rogue shot, however, drove the female MUTO over the edge. She changed all focus and stomped over to the last handful of soldiers, which were standing on the boardwalk shared with Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike. "Come on, guys, this is our chance!" Rainbow called out to them. To reach the boat, the rest of the group would have to take the main gangway, which, as it turned out, was farther down the boardwalk. That meant having to get closer to the MUTO and the inevitable destruction it wished to subject on the low-life parasites that were putting a massive roadblocks on her biologically-compelled plans. The group watched with wide eyes as the monstrous MUTO lumbered it's way closer to the soldiers. "Get to the bomb!" one shouted to no one in particular, but that was all the incentive the ponies, dragon, and lieutenant needed. "Let's git goin', ya'll, we got ah bomb ta deal with," Applejack encouraged. "Full steam ahead!" Pinkie unintentionally lead the charge and galloped ahead. The rest of the team quickly followed after her. The female almost hovered over them. Thankfully, she kept her eyes on the soldiers still firing at her. Still, getting so close to a towering creature such as that had the others on edge. "Merciful Celestia, please don't notice us," Rarity kept her head low. "Incoming!" Twilight alerted. The female MUTO, with it's mouth opened wide, dived it's head into the occupied boardwalk, taking all but a few soldiers out at once. The group winced and braced at the spectacle. "This is the stuff of nightmares," Fluttershy closed her eyes, pain visible behind them. "All these innocent lives being taken." "I really hate to say this, girls, but we can't dwell on that," Twilight said sorrowfully. "They will be remembered and memorialized, like all heroic soldiers do," Ford assured. The gang reached the gangway and raced down it like their lives depended on it... because they were. Whether it be Ford or someone else, they would look back to make sure the MUTO wasn't on to them. For the time being, she was distracted with slashing down the rest of the soldiers and the boardwalk, but that time was running thin fast. Rainbow was already on the boat, trying to get the timer seal open. "Hurry guys! There isn't a whole lot of time on this thing left!" She strained with all her might to open the reinforced, plastic seal. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike hobbled their way onto the boat, practically throwing themselves aboard. Ford crawled over to the bomb. He looked at the cracked display; only thirteen minutes were left. "Let's try to get this thing open," he grabbed the seal and pulled as hard as he could. "Come on, stupid thing," Rainbow grunted. "Unh! Come on." They could see the MUTO raking it's forelegs through the boardwalk. Time left was next to nothing. Applejack and Pinkie pitched in helping in trying to get the seal opened. But, the unfortunate matter was that the seal was glued in place. No matter of natural strength would be able to get it open. The slime was just too strong. "Gah! We're running out of time!" Rarity exclaimed. "What if I try melting to seal off," Spike suggested. "Nononono! That kind of heat could cause the warhead to explode!" Ford warned. "Then what can we do?!" Pinkie asked, getting anxious. Ford looked back at the boat's controls. Even though he, along with the rest of the Mane 7, were against the idea of simply isolating the missile and letting it explode, it was the only option they had. The seal was stuck in place and the bomb's timer tick down inevitably. Any second now, the female MUTO would be right back to targeting the boat and getting the warhead, putting everyone's lives in danger. There was nothing for it. It was now or never. "We sail it away from the city," Ford got up and limped over to the controls. "But... But, it's still going to go off!" Fluttershy said fearfully. "We could still try and get this covering off," Twilight said. "We just need to keep trying." "We don't have any time left! Even if we did get the seal off, I might not have enough time to disengage the warhead. Not only that, the MUTO is right there. It will soon be coming after us when it's down with them." The Mane 6 and Spike looked amongst themselves, unsure to accept the facts in front of them. "I... still think we could try," Rainbow said hesitantly. "We just don't have time," Ford reiterated. He jammed the throttle all the way down and turned on the boat's GPS, setting it to auto. The boat's engine revved aggressively. Bubbles boiled out as the massive propeller began carrying the boat forward. "Twilight, Rainbow, everyone, I'm going to need your help for this," the young lieutenant said. "What do ya need, Ford?" Applejack asked. "We need to get this boat away from this dock," he grabbed a harpoon and leveraged it against the gangway. "Grab something and get to pushing." Twilight the others took action. She, Rainbow, and Fluttershy took to the air and started pushing against the side of the boat. Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, and Spike took whatever long enough object they could find and parroted the same procedure Ford was doing. "Put yer back into it," Applejack encouraged. "Unh! I think I sprained my wing again back there," Rainbow struggled to stay airborne. The combined efforts were able to push the heavy boat away from the dock. Once sufficiently away, Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike pulled away from the edge. The three flying ponies flopped back onto the deck, exhausted. The boat slowly chugged away from the dock. "Thats... something you don't do... every day," Twilight said between tired breaths. "At least we did it," Pinkie said, too exhausted to give a more excited uplift. "Is this really what it's come down to?" Rainbow gestured to the warhead. "Just letting this thing explode?" "Rainbow, at this point, it's the safest and most riskless option we have," Ford grunted. The was a few seconds of silence shared within the group. The message was clear and had to be accepted; letting the warhead blow up in an isolated area was the safest bet. But, there was still one issue. "But, wait a minute, dear," Rarity piped up. "If we're letting this thing explode on this boat, then why are we still on it!?" That got the others attention. Somehow, it flew over everyone's mind until now that they were still on a boat that was rigged to explode any minute. "We gotta get out of here!" Fluttershy shrieked. However, before any ideas of action could be taken, Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike were stopped when they heard the boat's engine completely die. Then, they saw a menacing, giant foreleg submerge into the water a dozen or so feet away. Fear gripped them all as they looked up. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie all withheld the urge to scream as the saw the female MUTO looming over them. It lowered it's head down closer, slimy saliva dripping from it's fanged teeth. It roared angrily at the group of friends. "No, please, no," Rarity began to dry, covering her face with her hooves. Spike cowered behind Twilight, clutching her tail like a stuffed animal. Twilight, herself, held Pinkie and Applejack close in a terrified hug. Rainbow and Fluttershy were also hugging each other. However, the shyer pegasus looked over to her best friends. She could see the fear in her eyes, she could the fear in all her friends eyes. Fluttershy looked back to the MUTO. She knew what it mostly came here for. No. She was not going to let this monster win. After everything they had been through on this journey, the caretaker pegasus was not going to let out all amount to a victory in vain. Fluttershy was scared, very scared, but, like on the helicopter, she was not going to let everything fall apart. "You stay back!" The others snapped their heads over to the pegasus. Fluttershy didn't even realize she had said that, but she wasn't going to cower away this time. She let go of Rainbow Dash and limp over to the edge of the boat, glaring at the MUTO. "You're not getting this bomb! Do you hear me? We've been through literally Tartarus making sure that you didn't succeed in making this world selfishly yours. I'm not going to back down when everything is against us. If you want that bomb, you'll have to got through me!" Fluttershy continued to glare at the beastly creature. Then, she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She turned to see Rainbow right at her side, also glaring at the MUTO. "And me." Soon, her others friends joined in. "And me," Twilight said angrily. "We're not letting you hurt anypony ever again!" "Me as well, darling," Rarity said cordially, yet threateningly. "Ya'll have to go through me, too," Applejack snorted. "Me, too," Pinkie added. "Don't forget about me," Spike said. Ford didn't have the strength to get back up, but he did pull out a handgun and pointed it at the MUTO. "I'm not going down without a fight, either." For the briefest of brief seconds, the MUTO merely stared at the unyielding group. It opened it's mouth even wider, preparing to consume the creatures in it's way. The ponies and dragon all braced, Twilight and Rarity summoning whatever strength and magic they had left. The ponies, dragon, and human had no energy and were bleeding bad, but, they were not going down without a fight. All of a sudden, the MUTO stopped jaggedly. The Mane 6, Spike, and Ford were a little unnerved by this. "What's it doing now?" Rainbow asked slowly. "Look!" Rarity pointed over the MUTO's head. It was Godzilla. He had his jaws locked on the back of the female MUTO's neck. The kaiju dragged the MUTO away and grabbed onto it's mouth, forcing it open. The bat-like monster scraped her spiked legs Godzilla in a form of retaliation, but the King of Monster's gripped was firm. He forced the MUTO's mouth open. The spikes on his back began glowing blue, and, in action movie fashion, unloaded a stream of atomic breath directly down the MUTO's gullet. The powerful jet of energy completed incinerated the monster's neck, decapitating her. Then, just like that, it was down, the atomic breath ceased and the MUTO's body flopped and sunk into the water. "Holy frosted guacamole on a cupcake," Pinkie said in shock. "Ya said it, Pinkie," Applejack said. "That was... a lot to take in," Rarity said dizzily, the blood loss was starting to get to her. Godzilla let out a final, might victory roar, then dropped the MUTO's head into the bay. I was over. It was all over. The MUTO's had been defeated and the city had been saved. Now with both of the MUTO's dead, there was no more EMP. San Francisco lights turned back on. Once thought to be dull and uncharacteristic, now brought a warming, reaffirming sense. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike let out sighs of relieve as the boat turned back on. It began leaving the bayfront and heading toward the remains of the Golden Gate Bridge. "Were still on the boat," Fluttershy said weakly. She could barely stand. The pegasus collapsed to the floor, no longer having the strength to support herself. The injuries they had received back during the explosion were starting to take their toll. The Mane 7 slowly fell to the floor. "Twilight... teleport us out of here," Rarity weakly pleaded. Twilight tried to get the spell going, but all she could get was a few fizzling sparks from her horn. She didn't have the energy to form any kind of magic. "I can't. I'm too weak." She looked back at the others. All strength spent, blood staining their fur, now enough energy to swim. They were stuck, and they were going to die. Ford fell onto his side, knowing that this was the moments he had alive. "We... can't... end like this," Rainbow tried flapping her wings, but the sprain she received prohibited to take flight. "Godzilla," Fluttershy weakly called out. "Godzilla, please help us." But there was no way he could hear her. The kaiju stepped back onto land. Godzilla let out a faint roar before he also collapsed from his injuries. Fluttershy gasped in shock and horror. "No. No, no, no, no!" Rarity cried. "We can't die now! This can't happen for real this time! What about everypony else in Equestria? What about my Sweetie Belle?!" Applejack put a hoof on Rarity's own. The sobbing fashionista turned to the country mare, who had a solemn, sorrowful look on her face. "It's over, Rares." This only made Rarity cry harder. "No! No, NO!" The earth pony pulled the devastated unicorn into a hug, letting her sob against her coat. "Ssh. It's 'kay, Rarity. Everythin' will be okay." Ford looked over to the warhead. Only five minutes were left until the inevitable. He would never get to see his wife or his son, he would never be able to return to them. But, he did ensure their safety. He and his friends fought tooth and nail to ensure the MUTOs wouldn't reign supreme over Earth. Ford protected his family with his life. As long as Elle and Sam were safe, we was willing to accept this outcome. The Mane 6 and Spike were slowly coming to terms with their fate as well. Pinkie's mane flattened like a limp balloon, tears pricking at the edges of her eyes. She felt Fluttershy put a hoof on her shoulder. The deflated earth pony turned to her. "I never got to say goodbye to the Cakes or my family." "It's okay, Pinkie. They will remember us. We'll even get to see them again." "Goodbye, Mom and Dad," Rainbow said tearfully. "Goodbye, Scootaloo." Fluttershy pulled the weeping pegasus into an embrace with Pinkie joining in. Twilight held Spike close. She had tears running down her cheeks and she could feel Spike's tears wetting down her fur. "Twilight... I don't want to die," Spike muffled voice squeaked. "It'll be okay, Spike. I promise, it will be okay." the mulberry alicorn turned to the lieutenant. "Ford?" Ford laid on his back, watching the gap between the severed Golden Gate Bridge pass by. He turned his eyes over so he could just barely see Twilight in his peripheral. "Yeah?" "Thank you, for everything. For letting us help and for protecting us." Ford gave a weak smile. "That's what a soldier does. Thank you for helping me patch things up with my dad." Twilight smiled and nodded. "You're welcome." Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike, now fully accepting their fates, waited for the bomb to go off. They closed their eyes, peaceful biding their time. Suddenly, the deck was flooded with a white light. The group was stunned from the unexpected development. Ford was barely conscious at this point, but he could just barely make out what his friends were saying. "What is that?" "What's going on?" "Are we in heaven?" "Is this what happens when the bomb goes off?" Next thing Ford knew, a rescue operator had fastened a harness around him and he was hoisted upward. The bright light was, in fact, a search light from a helicopter. They had found the lieutenant, ponies, and baby dragon in the nick of time. The two rescuers on the boat loaded the rest of the group for retrieval, whether that was by a harness or by carrying them up by hand. Everything felt like a blur that mesh together for Ford. He could hear Rarity and few others crying in joy in relief, Twilight thanking the rescuers profusely, Fluttershy and Applejack had fallen unconscious due to the fact that they had received the most severe blood loss. Ford then found himself and the others onboard the helicopter and being flown back toward the city. "Ford? Ford can you hear me?" He could see and hear Twilight taking to him, but Ford just couldn't muster a response. Suddenly, the dark, California night turned to day, at least that's what it looked like. The bomb had gone off, blanketing the sky in a bright, white light. Despite being the drained of every ounce of strength and energy they had, Ford, the Mane 6 and Spike were able to deduce one thing: They had been rescued. They were alive. They were safe. To be continued Part 14: Saviors' ReturnSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Part 1: The Frustrations of a Timid PegasusThe bright, spring sun shined over the mellow town of Ponyville. Everything was lively and dandy. Ponies were bustling about with all sorts of errands and agendas. It was just another fine day for the citizens of the bright, little town. All seemed peaceful, especially for a certain bright yellow pegasus. Fluttershy was making her way through the town, intending on traveling to the market to purchase more carrots and other vegetables for herself and some of her animal companions. She felt to warmth of the sun seeping into her coat. It felt quite nice being out on such a beautiful day. Fluttershy felt that nothing could ruin her day. "Hey, Fluttershy!" "EEP!" The yellow pegasus squeaked and jumped into the air. She turned around to see that it was just her best friend, Rainbow Dash, standing behind her with a smile. "O-Oh, hello, Rainbow,” she composed herself and fluttered to the ground. "What brings you here?" "Oh, nothing much,” Rainbow lazily flew around the yellow pegasus. "I just noticed you walking about and thought I'd say hi." "Oh, well, thanks, and hello,” Fluttershy said. "But, you know. I couldn't help but noticed you got scared from me greeting you," Rainbow landed to face Fluttershy. "Well, you know I startle easily,” the timid pegasus responded meekly. "Right, I know that,” the rainbow-maned mare affirmed. “But, I guess what I'm trying to say is that you seem to get scared more easily than before." That was shocking news to Fluttershy. She had found that she was getting more timid and scared easily, and she couldn't figure out why. "I..." Fluttershy sighed. "I know, and I don't know why." "Is it because of the new friendship missions we've been going on?" Rainbow asked. "I don't know," Fluttershy answered. That seemed to be the most reasonable explanation. She still occasionally had nightmares of fighting of that dragon creature with Cloud and the others. "Did something else happen that I'm not aware of?" Rainbow pressed on. "I don't know. I really don't know, Rainbow," the animal caretaker said, raising her voice just a little too loudly. Rainbow just gave an unsure look. Fluttershy, realizing that some other ponies around them were staring, hid her face behind her pink mane. After what felt like hours, Rainbow decided to speak up. "Well, whatever it is, I just hope you can figure it out,” she soothed. Fluttershy smiled graciously. However, she knew that Rainbow wasn’t exactly the soft type. "Thank you,” the skittish mare said. “But if I may ask, why? You've never really had too much of a problem with my timidness. Outside of some...specific circumstances." The cyan pegasus drew in a breath and sighed. "I'm willing to admit this, that's an understatement, Flutters." Rainbow said matter-of-factly. "Secondly, I'm...kinda worried about you Fluttershy." Rainbow hesitated on the last part. She never painted herself as being soft, especially to others. But, seeing her friends in distress, she knew she should make an exception. "W-Worried? About me?" the butter-yellow mare asked. "Yes,” the Element of Loyalty confirmed. “Ever since this period of time, you've also grown a lot more...what's the right word? Infrequent with us, I guess. Well, I mean to say is that you haven't been as active, especially with me and the girls." "I guess I haven't hung out with you girls as much as of late," Fluttershy admitted. "Yes. That's what I'm trying to say,” Rainbow said with concern. “And I'm not the only one who's picked up on this. The others are worried, too." "I appreciate you and the girls' concern,” Fluttershy smiled. "I-I'm sure I'll get over this." Rainbow didn't seem entirely convinced. "Are you sure?" she asked. Fluttershy hesitated for a second. Not even she was fully convinced with herself. But, she also didn't want to worry her friends even further than they already were. "Yes, Rainbow,” she finally spoke. “I promise everything will be fine." "All right. If you're certain,” Rainbow conceded. "Well, I'm off to Sweet Apple Acres. I agreed to help Applejack with watering her crops and whatnot." "You mean you're forced to help her after you lost the bet between you and Applejack on who could drink to most cider without passing out,” Fluttershy smiled wittily. "Ha, ha. Thanks for reminding me," Rainbow said dryly. "Perhaps humor is the medicine you need." She leaned closer to Fluttershy's face, a cheeky smile on her face. Fluttershy stepped back bit, not out of fear, but to hide the bright, crimson blush beginning to coat her face. "Heh. Cya around, Flutters,” Rainbow took off towards Sweet Apple Acres. "Bye, Rainbow," Fluttershy waved goodbye. "That was close." She hated keeping it hidden, but she was too scared. Ever since the first met in Flight School, Rainbow and Fluttershy had been pretty much inseparable friends. But, as the years went by, Fluttershy's feelings slowly shifted into something else. At first, she didn't want to admit it, citing the fact the Rainbow likely didn't share the same feelings, but she couldn't deny it any longer. Fluttershy had a crush on Rainbow. She was willing to admit the she loved her. She loved that she was loyal, understanding, and, when she needed to, Rainbow could sweet, too. Sure, she was brash and overly-energetic, but Fluttershy always found it more endearing than most. Ever since she came to terms with it, Fluttershy did her best to keep her crush on the cyan pegasus hidden, especially around Rainbow herself. Fluttershy still worried that Rainbow didn't reciprocate the same feelings for her. She also didn't want to risk ruining the friendship she already had with her. It was painful and she hated hiding it. She hated being so scared so much of the time, too. No one liked being scared and Fluttershy was no exception. She hated to fact that she always got startle by the most miniscule things. Her getting scared by Rainbow Dash earlier was proof of that. At the very least, her friends didn't give her any grief over it, expect Rainbow, but Fluttershy knew that Rainbow's pushiness came from a good place and she didn't mean anything bad by it. Regardless, she hated being timid and nervous pretty much all the time. Of course, the were times where she was fearless, I mean she mouthed off a dragon for crying out loud. But, she really wished she was just more calm and relaxed in such situations, instead of cowering behind her friends. Oh, colt, she was mentally going off on a tangent. She needed to focus on what she needed to do at the moment instead of falling into needless poignance. It was a brand new day, and Fluttershy intended in being in a happy mood. The purposive pegasus continued her journey through town, finally making it to the market. She scanned through the tents and stands, searching for Carrot Top's stand. Eventually, she found it and made her way over to it. "Good morning, Carrot Top," Fluttershy greeted. "Oh, jeez,” the yellow earth pony whispered to herself as she lifted her head over the countertop. "Yes, good morning...Flutter-shee." Fluttershy looked at the carrot farmer with confusion. Carrot Top was usually in a good mood in the morning. Combined with the fact that she got her name wrong didn't sit well with the pegasus. "Um, It's Fluttershy,” she corrected. "O-Oh, right, Fluttershy,” the mare chuckled sheepishly, starting to sweat. "What brings you here?" "I'm just need to purchase some carrots. If that's all right with you?" Fluttershy asked timidly. "O-Of course,” the earth pony said a bit too quickly. "Uhh, here. Have some." Carrot Top hastily shoved a hooful of carrots onto the countertop. "Uhhh, four bits, please,” she said. Fluttershy skeptically put four bits on the counter and scooped the carrots into her saddlebag. She could see Carrot Top was sweating. "Um, are you okay, Carrot?” she asked worriedly. “You seem a bit off today." "Yes, I'm fine," Carrot Top said sharply. "You can go now." The farmer mare waved Fluttershy away. Fluttershy, deciding not to create a scene, quietly trotted away. However, she knew that Carrot Top was not being herself today. Maybe she wasn't feeling well or perhaps she didn't sleep well last night. Whatever the case, Fluttershy ultimately decided not to think about it for the time being. She had other things to do. Later Fluttershy was on her way back to her cottage, content with herself. She double-checked she had everything in her saddlebag. Carrots, cucumbers, onions, parsley, grapes, beets. Yep, that was everything. As she neared her home, Fluttershy remembered Rainbow's words from this morning. "Well, whatever it is, I hope you can figure it out." That stuck with her the most out of the rest of the conversation. She just couldn't figure out why she had gotten so jumpy and on-edge as of recently. The only plausible conclusion she could make was the new missions through the Friendship Map had brought out an increased sense of alertness and anxiousness. In her head, it made sense. She considered all the truly deadly situations she and her friends were put through: Fighting a half-god experimental being with magical powers, almost being sacrificed by a hunger-driven fish, dangling over a misty gorge to rescue somepony...or some-Tigger. They were all incredibly dangerous and Fluttershy and her friends barely scraped by those circumstances without getting killed. "It's not like I haven't put myself in danger before,” she said to herself Being an Element of Harmony, Fluttershy always put her life on the line whenever something really bad came up in Equestria. Tirek's invasion, Nightmare Moon's return, the Everfree Forest overgrowth. Bottom line was, Fluttershy had put herself in dangerous situations before, even before the multi-dimensional travels. So, why was she getting more panicky as time went on. Maybe it was because those situations were in different worlds instead of Equestria. Unfamiliarity could become a catalyst for fear and uncertainty. Fluttershy knew that, and she supposed that was the explanation to this unforeseen fear increase. Fluttershy then began to ponder what she could do to correct such qualms. Perhaps she should go into therapy. BUMP Fluttershy stepped back in surprise and in pain. She had gotten so distracted with her thoughts that she hadn't realize she was already at her cottage. She had bumped her muzzle against the front door. "Oh. These thoughts are really eating away at me," she thought to herself as she rubbed her nose. No matter, she was back home now. She opened the door and was swiftly greeted by some of her animal companions. Birds, mice and even Angel Bunny same to greet her. "Hi, Angel,” the yellow pegasus greeted. “Uh, hello to you, too, Constance. Hey, Mr. Mousey, how are you feeling?" The animals all greeted her kindly. "Oh, and Angel,” Fluttershy pulled a hoof-ful of carrots out of her saddlebag. “I did promise you these like you want." Angel impatiently tried to nab them, but Fluttershy was quick to lift them out of his reach. "Ah, ah, ah. This is for later,” she asserted. The white bunny grumbled in annoyance. Fluttershy smiled in reassurance, he would get the carrots. Just not now. "Now, what else did I plan on doing today?" she said to herself as she place her saddlebag on a table. Gathering veggies at the market was really the only errand she had to do today. The mare figured she could tend to her flower garden out back and then, after that, meet up with Rarity at the spa as they often do. Today seemingly summed up to be a laid-back day for Fluttershy. She was happy with that. It was bright, sunny day today, and she was going to spend it fittingly. Fluttershy groggily opened her eyes, allowing them to refocus. She realize a number of things wrong. For one, she no longer felt the comfort of her bed, instead, her body was met with cold, rough ground. There was also the sound of crackling and snapping, at least that what it sounded like to her. The confused mare propped herself up, trying to make sense of the indescribable situation. As her eyes adjusted, she realized with horror what was making the crackling sound: Fire. Fire all around her, burning along the ground and around gigantic buildings. "W-W-What is this?” Fluttershy questioned. “Where am I?" Fear began to boil deep within her. A primal sense that told her that she was in mortal danger. But, she didn't know how to react. Fluttershy was frozen in place and unable to fulling comprehend what was happening. Where was everypony else? Where they all gone? Where was this place? Why was it on fire? Then, all of a sudden, screaming began reverberating throughout the burning enviroment. Screams of panic, anguish, and pain. It only frightened Fluttershy further. She instinctively took to the air in an attempt to escape this place. "I need to get out of here!" she cried out. But, no matter where she went, all she could see were burning buildings and wreckage strewn across the melting streets. Then, as if the situation coulnd't get any more terrifying, a massive stomp resonated from, what seemed like everywhere. The sheer air displacement rattled the poor pegasus to her core. Fluttershy lost balanced and tumbled onto the rubble-covered road. She held her aching head and sat up on her rump. She had intended on taking off again, now more determined to escape upon learning of the possibility of something big roaming around, But her eyes landed on something that made the mare's blood run cold. A creature of sorts, the even dwarfed some of the buildings was quickly stepping through the area, tearing down buildings in it's wake. It was hard to make out through the dust and smoke, but Fluttershy concluded it's shape closely compare to a bat. It's head was long and smooth, and had a ominous, orange glow that made up it's slitted eyes. Fluttershy's mouth hung wide with horror as she watched the creature let out a demonic screech. Suddenly, a much larger shape rammed into it, setting at tumbling toward Fluttershy's direction. "Eeep!" Fluttershy shrieked. She leapt behind a pile of twisted metal and concrete. She curled up into a ball and winced as the monstrous creature collided with the ground. It felt that the entire world shook on contact. Then, there was silence, aside from the sound of the raging flames. Gathering enough courage, Fluttershy slowly and fearfully stepped out from the pile of rubble. She looked back, where the creature had landed. It was struggling to get up. Fluttershy wondered if she should help it. "What would I even do? There's no way I'd be able to lift it up myself,” she thought to herself. Then came another stomp and this one sounded a lot heavier. Fluttershy's pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks. She had forgotten the being that shoved the other creature down. She turned and, well she didn't think she could get anymore scared than she already was, but that turned out to not be the case as she began to shake. The second was much larger than the first one. It was bulkier and was bipedal unlike the first creature. It's body shape was more comparable to a lizard if it was standing upright. And, Fluttershy didn't know why, but she felt it's eyes boring down straight into her soul. Then, it let out a mighty roar. The sound was deafening. Fluttershy covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut, but it did next to nothing to muffle the horrific sound. She felt that her head was about to explode, the roar was so loud. Tears began welling up in her eyes, both from pain and fear. Whatever these beings were, they were not Equestrian. The mortified mare opened her eyes and was greeted with the creature still standing there, but something was changing about it. Its back began to glow a bright blue. It traveled up it's back where it stopped just below the head. Then, the creature opened its mouth which was also beginning the glow blue. Fluttershy's ears flattened against her head in dread. She knew what was about to happen. Unfortunately, before she could do anything, the creature unleashed a great bout of blue, fire like energy surged out of it's mouth. "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Fluttershy let out a blood-curdling scream as she was bathed in fire. “…AHHHHH!” Fluttershy reeled from her covers, screaming. She stopped when she realized she was back in her bed, in her cottage. Her body was drenched in sweat and tears, her heart was racing, and she was hyperventilating. Fluttershy worked to calm herself down. She slowed her breathing and did her best to relax. It was all just a bad dream. A really, really bad dream. But, at the same time, it felt so real to her, like she was actually in that situation. More importantly, though, why did she have a nightmare like that? Fluttershy couldn't think of anything that would happen to her that would cause her brain to form something so horrific. The distraught pony let out a sigh. No way she was going to able to fall asleep again, not with all the nightmarish sights and sounds still fresh in her head. She begrudgingly got up from her bed, intending on heading to her kitchen. "Perhaps a cup of fresh tea could help calm myself down,” she quietly whispered to herself. Celestia's bright, ethereal sun rose above the horizon, bathing the lands in light. The incoming morning light seemed to act as a starter for the town of Ponyville. Ponies began leaving their homes and the town was buzzing with activity. However, despite the new wave of livelihood throughout the town, there was one inhabitant who wasn't in the best of ways. Fluttershy watched the light stream through the curtains of her windows. Since the nightmare, the poor mare was unable to get a wink of sleep. She was exhausted, her eyes had dark circles underneath them, and she had no motivation to do anything. But, that last part, she knew, could not go unexplained. Whether she truly wanted to know or not, she needed to know why such a horrible nightmare had occurred, and why she was the one to have it. If she was going to figure out the truth of her nightmare, there was only one mare that could help her. However, said mare resided all the way in Canterlot, and Fluttershy was not too keen on travelling all the way there, especially in her condition. Thankfully, she knew another way to get into contact with the pony she needed. The tired, but determined Fluttershy left the comfort of her cottage and headed for her destination with the intention of getting to the bottom of this. As the demure mare made her way through the town, she noticed some of the ponies watching her with concern. They could clearly see the dark circles under her eyes, as well as distraught look on her face. Some would ask if she was okay, to which Fluttershy would respond with something around the lines of, "I'm okay." or "Yeah. Just a little tired." and end it there. She had a specific place to be and she was going to get there, despite having to hide her nervousness and shyness from the others, even if she wasn't very good at it...at all. "I need to get to Twilight's and found out what that nightmare meant,” Fluttershy said to herself to stay focused. Normally, if she even had a nightmare, she was try her best to forget about and move on with her life. However, there was something about this nightmare in particular that disconcerted her. The most prominent thing being that it involved things that she had never seen, heard, or even thought about. On top of that, having a nightmare so graphic didn't seem fitting for somepony as timid and kind as her. And thirdly, the creature that tried to kill her, it was nothing Fluttershy had ever seen before. It first, she thought it was a dragon, but when really thinking about it's structure, it was much to burly to be a dragon, and it didn't have wings either. With all that spread out in her mind, Fluttershy knew there had to be some kind of explanation to this nightmare beyond it just happening. She would get her answer soon. She could see Twilight's castle in the distance. The resolved pegasus quickened her pace to the castle. She would find her answers even if she had a bad feeling about it. Once she was there, Fluttershy knocked on the door and waited patiently for somepony to answer it. Or, in this case, somedragon since it would be Spike that would answer the door. "Good morning, Fluttershy,” the baby dragon greeted politely. "Good morning, Spike,” Fluttershy greeted back. "Is Twilight available?" "Oh, well," Spike hesitated for a second. "She's actually talking with Princess Luna about something. I don't know what, but it seemed kind off serious. "Princess Luna is here? Could that mean she already knows what happened to me?" Fluttershy thought to herself. "Actually, I needed to talk to Princess Luna about something, too, which is why I came to Twilight,” Fluttershy said quietly. Spike nodded, but his attention wasn't on what Fluttershy was saying. He saw the dark circles under the mare's eyes, she mane was a bit unkept, she just looked greatly fatigued. "Um, are you okay, Fluttershy?" Spike asked worriedly. "You look like you haven't slept in a week." "Yeah...about that..."Fluttershy said solemnly. “I have a lot to unpack, but I really want the Princess to hear about, too. Could you, if you can, let me see Princess Luna? If that's alright with you." "Of course, Fluttershy. Follow me,” Spike let the mare in and led her to the main library room where Twilight and Luna were discussing something. Spike opened the door to reveal the two princess's talking with each other, and, like Spike has said, Luna was indeed their in all her nightly, ethereal beauty: Dark cerulean fur, a flowing mane that resembled the starry night sky, and the night-themed regalia that seemed to glow like moonlight. The two princess turned, seeing the dragon and pegasus at the doorway. "Ah, dearest Fluttershy, it seems that you have come at a crucial time,” Princess Luna spoke first. "Crucial?" Fluttershy wondered curiously. "You know of the nightmare I had last night?" "Yes, and I have reason to believe theirs more meaning to it than any other dream," The Night Princess said gracefully. "I assume that is the reason you wanted to come to Twilight?" "Y-Yes, your majesty," Fluttershy said bashfully. "Luna told me of how she was unable to enter your dream while you were asleep, Fluttershy,” Twilight stated softly. “From what she's been able to share, it sounds pretty serious." "Potentially,” Luna clarified. "But, Twilight is right, the strange nature of your dream had gatekept me from intercepting or interfering." "That would explain why you didn't show up,” Fluttershy said to herself. "But, that means you didn't see what happened, did you?" "No, unfortunately, I was unable to see what had transpired,” Luna spoke solemnly. "However, that's the reason why have travelled here to speak with Twilight and be able to help you in understanding the meaning of this unforeseen nightmare. To do that, You may have to explain what happened in your dream." Fluttershy frowned slightly. She didn't want to think of the horrible nightmare she had last night, much less talk about it. However, seeing as it may lead to the answers she needed, perhaps it was best to let it all out. "O-Okay. I'll tell,” the yellow mare said hesitantly. And so, Fluttershy explained her nightmares, from the burning buildings, the two titanic creatures fighting, and the second creature burning her to death. After, Fluttershy's explanation, the room fell silent. Twilight and Spike were both horrified and sympathetic for the pegasus for having to go through something like that. Princess Luna, on the other hand, was carefully mulling over Fluttershy's dream description in her head. "No wonder you look so under the weather,” Twilight place a hoof on the fatigued mare's shoulder. "Maybe it would be best if you lied down for a while, Fluttershy." "Really, Twilight, I'm fine,” Fluttershy said, not sounding very reassuring. "No, you're not, Fluttershy,” the Princess of Friendship spoke firmly. "You're clearly distraught over this and it's taking a toll on you and your sleep schedule." "It may become more of a problem than that, dear Twilight,” Princess Luna declared. The others turned to her in confusion and apprehension. By how the princess put it, it sounded more serious than any of them could of presumed. "What do you mean by that, Princess Luna?" Spike asked. The Night Princess cleared her throat. "When I first discover Fluttershy's nightmare, I was unable to enter it,” the night-themed alicorn explained. “However, it had this...unique energy to it, of sorts. It was an energy that was foreign to Equestria, and upon hearing of what the dream contained, I can only come to one conclusion." Twilight, Fluttershy, and Spike leaned in to hear what Luna had to say. "Fluttershy's dream was not just a dream, but a vision, as well,” the princess declared. A chorus of gasps echoed through the room. "A...A-A vision?" Fluttershy stammered. "Yes,” Luna confirmed. “Judging from the nature and the energy of the dream-slash-vision, it seems somepony or something had given that to you. For one reason or another.” "Wow, that's weirdly cool," Spike said, which earned a judgmental glare from Twilight. "But...But, why have Fluttershy receive the vision?” the violet alicorn asked. “Why not me or you, or even Celestia?" "I am unsure, dear Twilight," Luna said. “That is something we may never know. However, one thing of for certain, from the description Fluttershy has shared, it appears that her, and perhaps your other friends, are needed somewhere beyond Equestria." "Like, in a different world?" Spike asked. "Call it tuition, but I think that is the case,” the Princess of the Night responded. Fluttershy gulped. If her nightmare was anything was go off of, which was definitely the case, she knew this would be a terrifying mission. "U-Um, d-do I have to go on this m-mission?" she stammered. "Well, the vision was targeted at you,” Twilight hypothesized. “If you were the one to receive, it would imply you have some vitality in this new mission." "Are you really that scared of it?" Spike asked with concern. "Y-You didn't see what I saw in that nightmare, Spike,” Fluttershy trembled. “It w-w-was terrifying, e-even beyond w-words." Then she remembered what she told herself yesterday. She wanted to stop being so scared all the time. But, this something else entirely. those two creature were beyond terrifying for her. Even now, she didn't think she could muster up the courage to enter a world that inhabited them. But, at the same time, their was clearly a sense of urgency from the vision. Seeing the burning buildings was evidence enough. Fluttershy sucked in a breath. She could be scared, but she could also do the mission. Being scared didn't exactly stop her from any missions before. Then again, those missions consisted of problematic relationships and dark ulterior motives, not a giant, fire-breathing monster. "But, I suppose a mission is a mission,” she conceded. Spike patted Fluttershy back to comfort her. "We'll be okay, Fluttershy,” the purple dragon soothed. “We'll protect you. How bad could it be?" "But, wait, why didn't the Cutie Map alert us?” Twilight asked. “That's what it did with the prior missions." "I'm afraid I don't have an answer to that, Twilight," Luna said earnestly. "Maybe the map didn't pick up on it,” Spike suggested. "If what Celestia said is true, there's a lot of different worlds out there." Twilight pondered for a second. That was definitely in the scope of being a possibility. Though, now after everything that has come to light, the map thing was really important right not. Fluttershy received a vision from somewhere, and that place clearly needed help. "Spike, go get the others,” she said firmly.” We've got another friendship mission on our hooves.” "On it," Spike saluted and raced out of the room to fetch the rest of the Mane 6. "Princess Luna, thank you for your help," Twilight thanked. "It is my pleasure, Twilight," Luna bowed. "I believe I’ve done all I can do. Now, it is all up to you and your friends. To that, I wish you luck." "Thank you, Princess,” Fluttershy said happily. "Anything to help the Elements,” the night Princess said. “Now, I must return to Canterlot." The three mares shared a final goodbye before the cerulean alicorn left the castle to return to Canterlot. That left Twilight and Fluttershy by themselves. "I suppose we should head to the Cutie Map while we wait for the others," Twilight proposed. "Good idea," Fluttershy said quietly. The pegasus and alicorn made their way down the hall toward the Cutie Map room. "Um, Twilight, where's Starlight?" Fluttershy asked. "Oh, she's with Sunburst and Trixie,” Twilight answered. “They're having a little get-together." "Oh. Doing what?" The pegasus asked further. "Well, from what Starlight told me, Trixie bought this new card game,” the friendship princess explained. “I think she said it was called Uno or something.” "Oh, I see,” the timid mare said. The two mares made it to the map room. From there, they waited for the rest of their friends to arrive. "Uhmm, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked nervously. "Yes, Fluttershy?" Twilight said. "I don't mean to sound doubtful or anything, but...what could we even do against those monsters?" the worrisome pony asked. "I mean, I saw them first-hoof, I don't even know how we would be able to do anything to them." Twilight didn't answered immediately. Truth be told, she didn't exactly know what they could do. From how Fluttershy described it, it sounded downright apocalyptic. Still, she knew something could be done. "I really don't know, Fluttershy,” she finally said. "But, we're the Elements of Harmony, and we've been able to do some pretty impossible things. I mean, you stared down a dragon once. If you could do that, I have no doubt in my mind you could do it to those creatures, as well. It's likely the reason you received the vision." "Huh, I didn't think of that," Fluttershy admitted. "Maybe you're right, Twilight." Being reminded of the dragon stare-down gave Fluttershy a tiny confidence boost. Her Stare could potentially set those creatures straight. But, then she remembered she tried the Stare on both Sephiroth and that dog in Tom and Jerry's world and it didn't affect either of them. What if... Before she could think about those growing concerns, the door flew open revealing Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and a worn out Spike. "Spike explained what happened with Fluttershy and Princess Luna," Rarity said with concern. "Is the poor darling all right?" "For the most part," Twilight turned to the exhausted pegasus. "Y-Yeah. Even now, it still feels a little surreal,” Fluttershy said. "Don't worry, Fluttershy,” Rainbow wrapper a hoof over her the mare’s shoulder. “Whatever creatures we have to go against, they'll have to go through me before they can even think of laying a hoof, or hand, on you." She spoke with such confidence and bravado, it actually made Fluttershy a little bit better. The feeling of Rainbow’s hoof on her soft neck caused Fluttershy to blush like mad, but she covered her face with her mane to hide it. "Yeah, We've got each others' backs," Spike wheezed. "Don't worry, Fluttershy,” Pinkie said. “There's no way we're going to get killed off. The narrator wouldn't allow it." The others all looked at the pink mare with bewildered and unsettled looks. "Pinkie, why would you say something so...unhinged?" Rarity asked. "Oh, don't worry. I'm sure HE knows what I'm getting at,” The party pony stared at no-pony in particular. Though she was staring at someone. Just not anyone in their plane of existence. The young being could feel the mare's expectant eyes drilling into his soul. One if these days she's going to be the death of me. I just know it. "He, he. You're so funny, Mister Narrator," Pinkie said quietly, so that nopony could hear her. "Well, 'nough bout that,” Applejack changed the subject. “If this visions of yers is that serious, we should prolly get a move on." "Sounds like a plan," Twilight turned to the Cutie Map. Concentrating her magic, her horn began to glow brightly. She concocted up the spell and aimed it at the map. Like last time, the portal began to form on top of the table. Soon, it enveloped it and consumed the map and chairs. Now laying on the floor, the portal glowed welcomingly. "Well, let's get this party started," Rainbow immediately dove in. "Yee-haw!" Applejack leapt after her with Rarity and Pinkie following up. "Hearing of how Fluttershy described how dream, I kind of nervous of what will greet us on the other side,” Spike admitted to himself. "I'll protect you, Spike, I promise," Twilight softly, wrapping a wing around him. The baby dragon smiled, feeling safer with Twilight. "You coming, Fluttershy?" the alicorn asked. "Y-Yeah, you go on ahead,” the hesitant mare insisted. “Don't wait on me." Twilight was concerned for Fluttershy, but she thought it best not to push it. The alicorn simply nodded, and she along with Spike jumped into the portal. Fluttershy was now the only one yet to enter. She was still pretty scared of what was to come, but she knew her friends and whoever else in that world was likely counting on her. She drew on a deep breath and jumped into the portal. Maybe this mission won't be as bad as she would think. They were all in for one monstrous adventure. To be continued
Part 2: Meeting the BrodysA young man was making is way down the darkening streets of his home city. His name was Ford Brody and he was on his way home to reunite with his wife and five year old son. Ford worked as in the explosive ordnance disposal, which was part of the military. That meant his specialized in disarming bombs of all kinds. He was eager on coming back to his home, seeing as how he was away for fourteen months. Ford was excited to see his family again. That was until he noticed a mysterious glow forming in the air in front of him. Ford stopped and stared at it with confusion. Alarms bells immediately began ringing in his head. Was this some kind of attack? How coincidental for it to happen right after his deployment. What happened next shocked him. The glow turned into some kind of bright opening and six multi-colored ponies and a purple lizard dropped out of it. Ford could hear groaning from the newly-made pile. His first thought was to move on and act like nothing happened, but, something about them looked familiar. He remembered his son, Sam, talking about a certain show about ponies and something about friendship. Now, he didn't know why his son was interested in such a show, seeing as how it was likely targeted at girls, but still, if he remembered the descriptions his son had given of the characters, this was who he was talking about. It answered what they were, but it didn't answer why or how they were here. On the other hand, the Mane 7 were still laying in pile, dizzy from the inter-dimensional travel to lasted not even fifteen seconds. "Uoh,” Twilight groaned and shake her head. "I swear this portal thing might be the death of us." "Maybe not the death us, but it's the death of my perfectly kept mane!" Rarity wailed dramatically. "Why!? Why-y-y-y-y!?" "Leave it to Rarity to somehow blow things out of proportion," Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Rainbow, I cannot stress enough how many times we've had this discussion,” the put off unicorn said. "And I can't stress enough how many times I didn't listen." Rainbow said with a smirk. Rarity growled angrily. “Oh, hey another cityscape,” Pinkie stared off at the tall buildings in the distance. “That’s another for the books.” "Ah don't think arguin' is a good way to start off in'a new world,” Applejack then pointed to where Brody was standing. "Or to make a good first impression." The other ponies and Spike took notice of the young man standing not even five feet away from them. "Oh...um...Hello,” Twilight cautiously greeted. “Wait, you're a human, aren't you?" "...Yeah,” Ford answered, not knowing what to expect. "Huh, There's lot more human-centric worlds than I thought,” she said to herself. "Oh, sorry, I'm Twilight Sparkle and this Spike, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy." The ponies and dragon all waved. "Yeah, I kinda know about you,” the bomb expert said. "Wait, you do?" Rainbow asked. "Kinda. My son watches the show sometimes,” Ford explained. "Show? What are you talking about?" Twilight asked. Ford didn't answer at first. They don't know they're cartoon characters? "The show you're in, he said. “Heard it's pretty popular.” The Mane 6 and Spike looked among themselves in complete confusion. Well, except for Pinkie, for obvious and metaphysical reasons. "We're...in a show?" Fluttershy asked. "Of course we are, silly, Pinkie squished Fluttershy’s cheeks. “Who do you think I've been talking too when it looks like I'm talking to nopony?” Confusion turned to disturbed as the realization slowly came upon the rest of the group of friends. "I'm getting a headache,” Spike held his head. "Look, we can worry about that a different time,” Twilight said, turning to Ford. "Uhm, Mr...." "Brody. First name's Ford,” the man said. "Mr. Brody, do you know where we are?" the alicorn asked. "This is San Francisco,” he replied plainly. "That doesn't sound familiar in anywhere," Rainbow said. "Probably because it's a different world. Have yah forgot'n?" Applejack asked. "No, I just..." Rainbow kept quiet, unable to think of anything to retort. "Why exactly are you here?" Ford asked suspiciously. "The Cutie Map summoned us here,” Twilight begun to explain. “Basically it senses potential missions from different worlds and transports us there to try and help or solve whatever problems are there." "Well, there's nothing going on now. So, I don't see why it brought you here,” Ford said bluntly. “Listen, I need to get home. I haven't seen my wife and son in over a year. I have to get going." He was about to walk past when Twilight was brought back to his attention. "Wait! Before you do, you wouldn't happen to know any place we could stay,” she pleaded. "One that would let us in without much question?" Ford thought it over. There weren't any hotels around this part of San Francisco for miles. And, while they he and them weren't exactly acquainted, they shouldn't left out in the cold dark, especially since it was San Francisco. The one other option he had was one he wasn't a fan of. "I know a place,” he relented. Ford knocked on the door of his home and waited. "Are you sure you're okay with letting us stay with you?" Rainbow asked. "Well, my drill sergeant always said to help allies no matter how you feel about them," Ford said. "But, we aren't exactly allies,” Twilight pointed out. “You just met us." "Yeah, but my son has grown attached to your cartoon,” the army man said. “I'm sure he would be ecstatic to meet all of you." The door opened to reveal a young woman a pink shirt and a pair of jean shorts. "Oh, Ford!" she practically jumped into her husbands arms. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't come back." The two share a long, passionate kiss. "Well, I have a reason for not showing up earlier,” he said with a smile. That's when his wife noticed the Mane 6 and Spike standing sheepishly behind Ford. At first she was confused, but then, she too, recognized them. "Wait, are those ponies from that cartoon Sam likes to talk about?" she asked. "Apparently," Ford said. "This is my wife, Elle, and these Twilight and her friends. It was the only name I remembered." A rally of greetings were shared. "But, I thought they were just cartoon characters,” Elle said. "Why are they even here?" "There's a lot to be explained," Ford said. "We'll try to explain everything as best we can,” Twilight said. "Yeah, and we can meet your son, too,” Pinkie said excited. "That definitely puts a spin on your little welcome home party," Elle stated to Ford only. "There will be time for that...and other things,” he said with a passionate. His wife smiled back and they shared another deep kiss. "Uhm...I don't mean to i-i-interrupted, but s-should we head inside?" Fluttershy asked with a blush. "Yeah, it's starting to get cold out here," Rainbow shivered. The proper pleasantries would have to wait till later. For now, Ford wanted to see his son again, while having some fun with him, his wife, and their new guests. Well, sufficed to say, Sam was indeed beyond ecstatic seeing the Mane 6 and Spike. Best day ever!" the five year old say, hugging both Fluttershy and Applejack. "Woah, nelly,” Applejack said in surprise. “Ya weren't kiddin'." "Like we said, he really does like the show," Elle said with a shrug. "Yeah, even have the dragon with you,” Sam gasped. "Heh. Nice to meet you too, buddy,” Spike shook his hand. “Cool to meet a fan from another world. "Yeah, about that,” Twilight said parenthetically. “Would you mind showing us this...show?" Elle was about to say something, but Sam acted first. He grabbed the remote off the coffee table and turned on the television. The ponies and dragon watched as the young boy flipped through a couple channels before reaching the one that was airing the My Little Pony cartoon. "See? There you guys are," He said happily. My Little Pony, My Little Pony Aah, aah, aah, aah My Little Pony! I used to wonder what friendship could be... The opening theme sang from the TV. The Mane 6 and Spike were awestruck and shocked. "So, it's true,” Twilight said quietly. “In this word...we're just a cartoon." "It’s more shocking that you’re real,” Ford said. "Well, that brings up a lot of existential questions," Rarity spoke in astonishment. "Existential? This is awesome!” Rainbow flew right up to the TV. "Think about it, all our greatest moments being seen through this magic box." She gave the TV unit a good pat. "It's just a TV,” Ford said rather flatly. "I don't think we have those in Equestria," Rarity said. "I think I saw one once," Twilight spoke up. The others turned to her. "You did?" Fluttershy asked. "Yeah, but that was when I was in Sunset's world,” the princess explained. “I kind of remember seeing some large boxes that showed, what I'm assuming were, cartoons." "Come to think of it, I think I remember seeing them, too,” Spike concurred. "Ah! There I am!" Pinkie pointed to herself on the TV screen. "This is the most amazing thing ever! Why haven't you told how amazing this!?" "I know, me. Even now I'm still reeling from it," Pinkie literally reeled back with a bright smile on her face. "Ain't that the time ya discover you and ah are loosely related?" Applejack asked. "Sure is,” the exhilarated mare responded. "But, how do they know all that happened?" Twilight asked. "Coincidence maybe?" Fluttershy suggested. "Well, that's one giant coincidence if it gets all of our life experiences correctly,” the mulberry alicorn said. "How about we worry about that later,” Elle suggested. “Sam and I prepared something for Ford when he got home." "Oh, really? As if this day couldn't get interesting enough," The army worker said. The other ponies and dragon were still having a hard time coming to terms that they were a cartoon, at least in this world. That left a tin of questions for them, some they weren't sure they wanted answers to. "Ah just don't get'it,” Applejack rubbed her head. “It's all so hard ta process." "Um, maybe we should discuss this whole thing later,” Twilight suggested. “Wouldn't want to put a damper on this homecoming party." Though it was a topic that plagued their minds, the others begrudgingly agreed. "I suppose you're right, Twilight," Rarity said. "Now that I think about it, it's a little endearing seeing foals looking up to us like Sam does." "Ah 'sppose that's true,” Applejack agreed. "I...I guess,” Fluttershy added. Wait, why was she scared of the fact up over foals looking up to her. "Snap out of it!"she thought to herself. She shut her eyes tight and shook her head. "I hope this can be explained later,” Spike turned to Twilight. "I hope so, too, Spike,” the alicorn said. "We're gonna have so much fun!" Sam said happily. "I love you guys already!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I can't tell you,” Sam giggled. "Can I see it?" Ford said. "Don't let him see. Don't let him see,” Elle carefully brought a chocolate frosted cake right to where Ford was sitting. "Woah,” Ford said in surprise. “Oh my god." "It's a welcome home cake," Elle set the cake on the table. "Look at that," Ford said. "Ooo. That looks real good,” Rainbow licked her lips. Pinkie didn't say anything. Instead, leaning over so slowly towards the cake. Applejack pushed her head down, as if to tell the pink mare to not get any ideas. "Seems like you also added some decorations, as well," Twilight turned to the hand-drawn banner hanging over a sliding glass door. "That's you,” Sam pointed a tall stick figure drawing, which was referring to Ford. "And that's me." "Ah, how sweet," Rarity said softly. "What's it say?" Ford asked. "Welcome home, Daddy,” Sam read the banner. "Daddy's home. Cake every night,” Ford said with a smile. "Really?!" Pinkie asked with excitement. "Yeah, that's not happening,” Elle laughed. "But, what if,” Rainbow chuckled. The group shared a round of laughter. "Daddy's home equals cake every night," Ford played on with the joke. "How did you manage to get chocolate on your eyeball?" Elle rubbed the frosting off her son's eyelid. "Daddy did it," Sam answered innocently. Ford just gave a mischievous smile. "Subtle," Rainbow lightly punched the guy's shoulder. "You know. It's nice this mission is lot more calmer than the others," Twilight mentioned. "I mean, we're making new friends while sharing a cake." "Can't go wrong with that," Spike licked the frosting off his slice. "Best mission ever!" Pinkie cheered. Chocolate frosting covered her mouth and muzzle. Later Ford and Sam were having a playful moment on Sam's bed. After bring away from his son for fourteen months, it was long overdue to spend a little personal time with him. And with Elle preoccupied with her hair and the ponies preoccupied with the TV, Ford was going to make the most of it. "I can't sleep with you making all this noise," he said playfully, tickling Sam. Sam laughed uncontrollably. At this point though, he was all out of energy, what from getting see his daddy again and meeting those cartoon ponies he'd grown so attached to. "Come on, let's get you into bed," Ford laid the covers over the young boy. "Time to hit the rack." He gave his son a kiss on the forehead. As he made his way out of Sam's bedroom, the boy time on his side to face his father. "Dad?" he softly called out. "Yeah?" Ford turned back just outside of the doorway. "Are you still gonna be here tomorrow?" the little boy asked hopefully. Ford seemed to hesitant for a second. He didn't expect that kind of question from Sam, but, then again, he had been gone overseas for a really long time. No doubt his son missed him deeply during that time. And perhaps he had grown a slight fear that he would leave him again. Ford knew that wasn't going to happen. He was complacent on staying for as long as he could and give Sam the best life a father could bring. "Yeah,” he finally said. "Come on, let's get some sleep." Ford turned off the lights and slowly closed the door to Sam's room. With his son asleep and the ponies and dragon still glued to the television, now it was time for some personal time with his wife. First order of business, tell her all the funny stories and shenanigans that happened while on duty. The couple were in the lounge room, laughing up all hilarious stories Ford had to tell. "Turns around, nose-to-nose, he says, "At ease, lieutenant,” he reenacted the story he was telling, holding a half-empty, stemless wine glass. Elle was laughing up a storm on the couch. Ford came down and sat right next to her. Both were looking at each others' eyes lovingly. "God, I missed your laugh," Ford said. "I missed you," Elle said, her thumb hooked on her upper tooth in a teasing manner. The two shared a quick moment of silence. They both knew it was time for the frisky stuff. Ford set the wine glass on the table, which Elle took as a sign to get started. "Let's not get too heated now. We still have guests here,” she advised. "Don't let that stop us," Ford gave a sly grin. "Well, ah'll be. this Andy Griffith fella sure is a remarkable, stallion...or man, I should say," Applejack’s complimentary remark could be heard across the hallway. Despite that, Ford and Elle went pretty much all in. Elle straddle against her husband and the two locked lips. She placed her hands over Ford's head. Ford turned on his back against the couch, keeping his hand firm on his wife's back. He placed his other hand behind her thigh, right where her shorts ended. Before things could get more risqué, the phone began to ring. Elle was about to get up and answer it, but Ford playfully rolled her back onto the couch, their lips still locked together. Elle chuckled at her husband's playfulness, but there was also the possibility of the phone call being important. "I should get that,” she said. Ford didn't really respond, instead opting to lay himself on top of her to keep from getting up. "No, it could be work," Elle said teasingly. "I need to get that." She slipped past and made her way to the table where the phone was laying. "You don't need to. Come on," Ford moaned. With the intimate moment put on hold, he could begin to overhear some of the ponies. Somehow, it devolved into fighting over the remote. "It's my turn with the remote,” Rainbow demanded. “I wanna watch something more cool." "But, I wanna watch more of our show," Pinkie complained. "Consarn it, ya two,” Applejack tried to break the fighting mares apart. “We ain't arguing over this, especially since we’r guests." "Can't we just watch something we all agree on?" Spike vainly suggested. Consequently, the TV changed from channel to channel as the mares fought over the remote. "I'll be back." Save big money at Menar- Here there are 100 species of hummingbirds alone... "Hi, Phil Swift here w- "Thomas is a cheeky engi-" Given that those ponies were all adults, they sure acted like children. Ford just shook his head. Meanwhile, Elle picked up the phone. "Hello?" she answered. "Yeah, this is Mrs. Brody." "Tell him you're busy tending to your husband's needs," Ford impishly got grabby-grabby with his wife. Elle pushed him away, quietly snickering. "Yeah, he's my husband, she said through the phone. "Tell them we're not gonna buy it,” Ford rummaged through one of the cabinets, assuming it was a salesperson on the other end. As the call continued, however, Elle's smile turned to a uncertain grimace. "Yes, sir. Could you just hold on one moment?" she lowered the phone. She stared at her husband with a perturbed look. "It's the consulate. Joe's been arrested in Japan," Elle informed him. There was a brief, pregnant silence shared amongst the two, until Applejack trotted into the room. "Sorry if ya overheard all that,” she apologized. “Pinkie and Rainbow got inta ah fight with the remote thing. We thought it was time to lay off the TV, so we..." She realized that the atmosphere with Ford and Elle had...changed, to say the least. "Ehh. Everything all right ya two?" the farm pony asked. Ford exhaled deeply and sighed. "Not really, he said solemnly. Did...Did ya two get into ah fight?" Applejack asked with concern. "No. It concerns Joe," Elle said. By this point, the other ponies and dragon had came into the room alongside Applejack. "Joe? Who's Joe?" Twilight asked. Pinkie drew a deep breath, readying herself for the incoming joke she was about to make. "My father,” Ford answered. Ahhhh," Pinkie said sadly, her face deflating like a balloon. "What happened to your father?" Spike asked with concern. Ford looked back at his wife. They exchanged troubled looks. Ford frustratedly rummaged through his clothes drawers, trying to find what he need. "Elle, I can't find my pants,” he said. "They're in the other drawer,” Elle replied. He opened the second drawer in the hallway and, of course, there they were. A fresh pair of grey jeans. "So, why was he trespassing in the quarantine zone?" she asked. "Ugh. Why do you think," Ford responded flatly. "Trespassing? Quarantine? What in Equestria happened?" Twilight asked. She and her friends followed Elle down the hallway. Ford picked up a plastic packet and headed into the bathroom. "It's a lot to explain," Elle said. "And now he's become this," Ford added. "The lone crusader for the truth. All his crackpot cuckoo theories." "Oh. Really? I had a cousin that was like that," Pinkie mentioned. "Yeah, Bluestone was a real loopy one." She twirled her hoof around to emphasize her point. Meanwhile, Ford stuff a hair comb, a toothbrush, and a few other toiletries into his packet. "That's...informative, Pinkie,” Twilight said. “But not that right time to be talking about it." "Your father is a good man. He just needs your help right now," Elle said to her husband. Ford didn't respond. He had heard the same sentiment plenty of times. "Ford, he's lost everything,” she continued. "E-Everything?" Fluttershy asked, crestfallen. "Yeah, so did I. But you know what? I got over it,” Ford interjected, adding a slight tad of harshness to his tone. "Right. I can see that," Elle just smiled. The military worker finished packing his suitcase, then let out a sigh. "Listen, Sugarcube, it's clear as day that this’s bothering’ ya," Applejack spoke kindly. "Whatever it is, ya can share it with us. It's kinda our jobs to help fix these kind of situations, bein the Elements and all." "Elements?" Elle asked curiously. "We’re like protectors of our world," Twilight briefly explained. Ford looked back at the group. Perhaps it was best to just air things out a bit, so as not to cause tensions. "I'm sorry. It's just..." he paused briefly, thinking of the right words to say. "Every time I let him in close, he always tries to drag me back. And I can't. I can't put our family through that." "But...why?” Rainbow asked, wanting answers. “What did he do?" "Did he wrong you somehow?" Twilight presumed. "Not really,” Ford said. “It's complicated personal stuff." "Well, he is your family,” Elle argued. She walked up to him, while he was finishing his packing. "Hey, come here,” she hugged him in a loving embrace. "You know you're only gonna be gone for a few days, right? And then you are gonna come back to me." Yeah. Yeah,” Ford smiled. "Pardon me, you two, but should you gave you some space?" Rarity asked. "Please do,” Rainbow murmured silently. She was not interested in seeing the two humans being all lovey-dovey. "Oh, no, it's all right," Elle figured it would be a bit rude to start getting too romantic with their guests standing right there. So, she resorted to giving Ford a comforting hug. Ford gladly accepted it. "It's not the end of the world,” she assured. "Besides, maybe it's a good idea to share what happened to them." Elle turned to the Mane 6 and Spike. "They did say they were here to fix a problem,” she reminded. “Maybe that's what they're looking for." "Family issues,” Spike stated. “We've done that before." "Yeah, whatever you and your old man are going through, I'm sure we'll be able to help,” Rainbow concurred. Ford was still debating if it was really a good idea to share the traumatic experiences he had with people, or perhaps in this case ponies. But, his wife and the ponies raised a good point. They were here for a reason, surely this must be it. Maybe with their voices of reason, his father would snap out of his deluded conquest and come home. Plus, it might be therapeutic for him, as well. "Please, Mr. Brody. We really want to help,” the Princess of Friendship implore. After much deliberation, Ford drew in a breath and let out another sigh. "All right. This is what happened,” He began. And this was the story he told. To be continued.
Part 3: Nuclear MeltdownJanjira, Japan 15 years ago The quiet town was in the midst of waking up. The early morning hours were plagued with dark, misty clouds, threatening to spill precipitated payload. In one such home, a young boy crawled out of his bed to start the day. He navigated through his room, dodging all the space and military-themed toys strewn about. There was one item in particular that he needed: A paper banner that read "Happy Birthday." This kid's name was Ford and today was his father's birthday. As he picked up the hand-made banner, the phone rang. "I'll get it," Brody heard is father say. "It's probably for me." The little boy made his way out of his bedroom, dragging the line of strung, paper tiles behind. As he drew closer, he could hear his father speaking about something in Japanese. Despite living in the first world country for as long as they had, Ford still had a difficult time understanding the language, especially when it came to when his father would speak in Japanese to his co-workers at the Janjira nuclear power plant. "No, Takashi," he heard is father protest. "No. Takashi, just listen to me for a second. I'm asking for the meeting because if I have to shut the reactor down, you're not gonna want to read about it in a memo." The boy peaked behind the slightly ajar sliding door. He saw his father, Joe, on the phone with his back facing toward him. "I've been following these tremors since they started in the Philippines and now they're in our own backyard," Joe informed. ... "No, no, no. Hayato says I need to go through you about this." Ford just looked on at his father with a disappointed, yet glassy eyes. He wanted to surprise Joe before he woke up with the decorations he made for his father's birthday. But, with him awake and on the phone, that didn't look to be possible anymore. "Look, I'm just" - Joe turned around, forcing Ford to duck behind the door panel to keep from getting caught - "I'm just trying to follow protocols set forth by the company. That's all. It's my job." Just then, Ford's mom, Sandra came around the corner, wearing a casual suit. "He's awake," the boy whispered. "Oh, I know," his mom replied, whispering, as well. "He got up early." "What are we gonna do?" Ford asked, still rather upset the surprise was in spoils. Sandra sighed. "Get dressed. I'll figure it out. Okay?" "Okay," Ford walked back to his room to prepare for school. By the time the family was ready to leave, the clouds had begun to let forth the inevitable rain. Thunder rumbled in the distance, notifying the inhabitants of a possible storm. Later, Dad," Ford raced off to the school bus on the other side of the road. His father waved him goodbye. "With all due respect, Takashi, and honor..." Joe tried to pull the car door open, but it wouldn't. He signaled this to his wife, who pulled at the keys and unlocked the car. "...respect and honor, with all of that, I'm an engineer and I don't like unexplained frequency patterning near a plant where I'm responsible," Joe said calmly, but forebodingly through the phone. "I need a meeting. Make it happen." He and Sandra climbed inside the car. As Sandra set her purse down, Joe had resorted to arguing in Japanese, again. She turned to car as she watched Ford race toward the bus. "Bye, Mom!" He waved at her, his voicing barely discernable through the car. She waved back with a smile on her face. Sandra turned back to her husband, who, by this point, ended the call and was stuffing the cell phone in his coat pocket. "He made you a sign," she clipped Joe's identification card on his coat." "What?" Joe asked in confusion. "Your birthday sign," Sandra clarified. "He worked so hard." Joe stared off into space, quickly realizing that it was his birthday today. "Oh, god," he mentally beat himself up for his neglectful mistake. Joe watched as the bus slowly rolled away from it's stop. He wouldn't be able to appreciate his son's work until after a long shift at the power plant. "I'm gonna come home early," Sandra said. "I'll take the car and pick him up and we can get a proper cake. Okay?" Joe looked at his wife, caressing her cheek, then began rubbing her upper-back. The idea was great, but some work-based things needed to be done. "Listen, I need to know that it's not the sensors," he said. "Okay?" Sandra lightly nodded in understanding. "I can't be calling this meeting and look like the American maniac," he continued. "So when we get there, don't even bother coming up. Just grab a team and go down to Level 5." "You're not a maniac," Sandra shook her head. "I mean, you are, just not about this." Joe groaned as they both put on their seatbelts. She wasn't on the same level of urgency as her husband, but she knew that their was something else behind all those tremors. Something...unnatural. "Must be something we're not thinking of." Joe said. "Happy birthday." Sandra said melodiously. He turned back to her. He realized it sooner, but it didn't fully register inside his head until now, until his wife practically had to say it. Joe was slack-jawed for a second. "What? Is it--?" he said in surprise. "Yes, it is. Ha, ha," Sandra laughed and hugged him. "Oh, I forgot all about it." Joe said. The two hugged and shared a quick kiss. "Happy birthday," she said again. "Thank you," Joe said, mostly at a loss for words. Sandra began peppering him with more kisses. "I should have a birthday more often," Joe joked and laughed. Sandra chuckled in amusement. The two pulled out of the driveway and toward the nuclear power plant. "What is this?" Joe asked as he was handed a packet of papers. "Seismic anomaly," the worker replied. "This graph is minutes." He pointed to the lines that made up the info graph on one of the sheets. "X is minutes, not days. This is now." "Wait, hold on," the executive said, following closely behind Joe and the worker. "Seismic activity? Seismic like an earthquake? You're talking about earthquakes." "No, earthquakes are random, jagged," Joe answered, studying the papers. "This is consistent, increasing. This is a pattern." Meanwhile, in a different part of the power plant, Sandra had readied a team to investigate the goings-on in the reactor area. She put on a protective suit and breathing ventilator to protect herself from the radiation. "All right," she got the others' attention. "Let's make this quick." One of the member pressed a red button and the giant, steel door connecting the containment seal to the reactor room hallway opened. Sandra and her team of four made their way down the static white corridor. Giant pipelines ran down the hallways on the walls adjacent on each side. Their were going into the heart of the power plant. While their task had begun, the three men entered the main control room of the entire plant. Dozens of workers bustled about, monitoring each and every screen on the control panels. "Takashi what the hell is going on?" Joe asked. "Have you seen this?" He held out the papers to the man standing in the middle of the room. "Yeah," Takashi replied grimly. "Maybe not such a good time for a meeting." Takashi directed Joe to a computer screen monitoring the seismic readings. The lines spiked on two separate occasions, which was followed with a large, wide rise. The lines peaked and stayed that way for a while before dropping back down to near zero. "What's the source?" Joe asked, unsettled with what he was seeing. "Where's the epicenter?" "We don't know," Takashi said. "But it keeps getting stronger." "It's gotta be centered somewhere," Joe stood back up. Both men didn't know what to make of this. It was unexplainable, which was what made it so concerning. "Hayato." Joe called out. "No one else is reporting it," an older man turned from his computer screen. "We are contacting every other plant in the Kantō region." Joe walked up to one of control panels along the wall. He eyed the bright gauges and graphs that were fastened in the sea green metal paneling. All the while, Hayato tried to add logical sense into this unnatural phenomenon. "Tōkai, Fujiyama. They're unaffected. But my guess is these readings are just aftershocks from the Philippine earthquake." "Are we at full function?" Joe asked. "Yes, we are," Takashi answered. Joe turned around to face him. "But, perhaps we should be drawing down, to be safe," the lab-coated man suggested. Then, things fell into chaos. The entire room began to shake, bad enough to the point everybody was struggling for balance. The lights and screens flickered. "Take us offline," Joe said. "Now, Joe, we gotta-" the executive tried to argue, but Joe wasn't hearing it. "Do it!" he said, a sense of urgency in his voice. "Now. Wind it down." He raced over to a walkie-talkie while saying something in Japanese. He grabs one of the radios. "Sandra," he says into it. "Sandra, are you there." Then there was another, more violent, shake. This times, the lights flickered out completely and the screens went black. Sandra and her team were right outside where the reactor sat when the corridor walls began to shake shake and shutter. Alarms went off and red lights blinked, signaling an emergency. "We're turning back," Sandra waved the others back. "Let's go." As her teammates fled down the corridor, another quake occurred. A nasty hissing sound could be heard. Sandra looked back and saw a giant plume of steam blast from the reactor room and straight down the corridor. That meant that the reactor had been damaged in some way and was now leaking dangerous amounts of radiation. "Oh, my god," she hurried after her team. "Joe, are you there?" Back with Joe, the control room was beginning to crumble from the unforeseen tremors. He heard Sandra through the walkie-talkie and quickly picked it up. "Joe, there's been a breach. We're heading back to the containment seal." "Sandra, listen to me," Joe said stoically, but he was scared for his wife. "You need to get out of there. Run. If there's been a reactor breach, you won't last five minutes with or without the suits. Do you hear me?" "I hear you," she glanced back at the wave of steam and radiation roaring toward them. "We're coming!" Suddenly, a third, even more powerful, tremor occurred. People were knocked off their feet, windows shattered, equipment fell to the floor, and the ceiling began to crumble. Warning lights painted the room red. Workers fled out of the control room for safety and shelter. Joe stood back up and looked at Takashi. "I'll meet them down there myself," he said in a low tone. "Put the safety doors on manual override." He raced for the double doors. "Joe, I cannot do that!" Takashi shouted. "Keep the doors open," the distraught man demanded. "My wife is still in there!" He barged through the doors, leaving Takashi with a terrified expression plastered on his face. Joe dashed through plant, panting as he passed by dozens of plant workers seeking safety. Warning lights shined and alarms blared, like they were yelling at him to turn around and run away from the danger. He wouldn't falter, he wouldn't turn back, not with his wife in serious peril. Speaking of which, Sandra was still running for her life with her teammates. She looked back to see the wall of steam gaining on them. She was starting to get the sinking feeling that they weren't going to make it. "Come on, let's go!" she exclaimed. Joe rounded a corner, a worried expression etched on his face. Finally, he reach the containment seal. The door was wide open, exposing the corridor within. But, there was no sign of Sandra or her team. Joe pushed a button to communicate with Takashi. Takashi, tell me this door's on manual," he pleaded expectantly. "Manual. Yes," Takashi's voice sounded from the speaker. "But, Joe, we are starting to breach." "I'm right here," Joe replied desperately. "Soon as they're through, I'll seal it." He held the radio to his mouth. "Sandra, can you hear me?" Joe asked "I'm at the door. Sandra, I-I'm waiting for you." Sandra and her team were still nowhere near the containment seal, but the steam was hot on their heals. More tremor shook the corridor causing pipelines to rupture, spewing out more steam. "I'm at the checkpoint. But you have to run as fast as you can." "I am!" Sandra exclaimed. Another tremor knocked one of Sandra's teammates off balance, causing them to trip and smashed into a pipe. The metal pipe broke, gushing steam everywhere. The teammate ricocheted off the pipe and into Sandra, which caused her to fall. The two other teammates ran past them as shattered concrete rained down on them. "Kenji," Sandra tried to pull him back up, but he was out cold. "Kenji, we need to go!" She froze upon seeing the wall of steam now just feet away from her. Back outside in the containment seal, Joe was still waiting for his wife to arrive, growing more worried by the second. "Joe," Takashi said through the speaker. He then started speaking in Japanese. Joe answered back, also in Japanese. "Close the door!" Takashi demanded fearfully. "Seal the corridor or the whole city will be exposed." Joe slowly turned back toward the empty corridor. His wife was still nowhere in sight. The mere thought of locking her in there with no chance of escape...it just couldn't happen! He didn't want it to happen. "Sandra?" he spoke into the walkie-talkie again. No response. Joe was beginning to assume the worst had happened. "Joe?" Sandra's voice finally broke through. "Joe, can you hear me?" "Yes," he whispered. "Are you there?" "Sandra. Sandra, I'm here. Can you hear me?" "Yeah," Sandra said, sounding out of breath. "Joe, it's too late. We're not coming." "N-No, don't say that!" Joe shouted, his voice growing shaky. "Don't you say that! Run as hard as you can, honey." "Joe, you have to close the door." his wife pleaded. "You have to live for our son." Joe was on the verge of tears hearing her say that. He wanted her to live. He wanted her to make it through this so they could be a happy family. He wistful thoughts were cut short when yet another tremor occurred. Joe stumbled on his feet. The he saw it, the massive wall of steam heading right for him like a tsunami. "Joe, seal the door!" Takashi shouted through the speaking, outright panicking. "Now!" "Oh, my god." Joe murmured. "Five seconds! Four seconds!" Joe screamed as he stared at the cloud of radioactive death baring down on him. He pushed the red button hard and the containment door slammed shut just as the wall of steam blasted into it. Warning lights illuminated the corridor, coloring the steam in a demonic red. Joe leaned against the wall, beginning to sob. That's when he heard a faint banging against the door. Opening his eyes, he slowly turned around, praying that he was just hearing things. Through the circular wall, he saw two men in their protective suits desperately banging on the door, begging to be let out. "I'm sorry." Joe said so quietly, the words barely came out of his mouth. Then, Sandra appeared through the window. Joe gasped, covering his mouth. He almost wanted to puke. Sandra was panting, on the verge of crying herself. She took of her helmet. Joe just started to cry harder, seeing his wife practically dying right in front of him, and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. A second protective door began to close, leaving Joe and Sandra's time thin. "Take care of Ford," she said, starting to sob. "Be a good father." "I will." Joe whispered. "We didn't make it," Sandra joked, weakly chuckling, just so the final moment could be positively reminisced. The protective door closed and clamped shut, leaving the soon-to-be-widowed Joe alone. He quietly sobbed against the door, tears streaming down his face in a cascade of guilt, shame, and regret. The depressing moment was interrupted by another powerful tremor. Joe stumbled back, hearing the building beginning to groan and strain. Outside, plant workers ran for their lives as the massive cooling towers began to crumble and collapse. One of which fell right on top of the main building. Meanwhile, Ford was in the middle of class. They were watching a documentary of the life cycle of a butterfly when all hell broke loose. The TV went dead, the lights flickered, and the entire building shook. An alarm rang out through the entire school. The teacher began instructing her students to vacate the building, both in Japanese and English. "Let's go out!" she exclaimed. The class of boys and girls began hastily racing out of the classroom and into the outside where it was safer. As Ford was frantically stuffing his supplies in his pencil pouch, he looked outside. Amongst the obstructed view of the window, thanks to the numerous jarred and plants and paper origami, he saw the entire power plant crumbling apart. "Hurry!" the teacher urged. "Come on! Ford!" But, the young boy didn't move. Instead, he slowly inched to the windows, watching as the massive cooling towers fell apart like sandcastles. A look of devastation was painted on his face. His parents were somewhere amongst collapsing structures, but he didn't know if they were even alive at this point. Ford didn't scream in despair, he didn't fall into a heap to start crying, he didn't even say anything, just a distraught, horrified look, seemingly frozen in time. All the while, watching the buildings and smokestacks of the power plant shatter to the ground. To somewhat to his relief, Ford did later find out his father survived the plant's destruction. Only for that relief but replaced with heartbroken anguish when he also learned his mother did not survive. It took years of pain, therapy, and acceptance, but Ford was eventually able to move on with Sandra's passing. Joe, on the other hand, didn't. He needed to find out what caused such violent tremors. They weren't natural, it had to be something else. Joe pretty much dedicated his life to figuring out the cause of the entire ordeal and Sandra's unfair demise. To give him some credit, Joe mostly blamed himself for losing his wife. Perhaps this was his way of finding closure. However, this created a rift between him and Ford. There wasn't a brutal falling out, but Ford thought it was best to keep his distance from his father, especially when he married Elle and welcomed Sam into their lives. It was sad to his father like this, but he knew there wasn't much he could do. Present day "That's pretty much what led to all of this," Ford finished his story. The Mane 6 and Spike were...well, there was a lot of amotions going on with them: Sadness, devastation, confusion, sympathy. It was all there. "That's...That's a lot to take in," Twilight said. "What an absolute travesty," Rarity lamented. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through that." "Hey, like I said, I've been able to get over it," Ford said calmy. "But, it certainly sounds ya father hasn't," Applejack reminded. "He blames himself, doesn't he?" "...Yeah." Ford sighed. "When mom died, things just weren't the same." "I don't even think a party can fix this, "Pinkie mumbled sadly. "But, that don't mean yer relationship is gone," the farm pony impeded. "Look, ah understand yer pa may not be in the best state of mind, but ya got to at least try ta have some sort'o semblance of a relationship. This comin' from somepony who last their ma and pa at a very young age." "Applejack's right," Twilight concurred. "Being his son, you're the best chance of making him see sense." "I've tried to," the military officer said. "But, he's adamant on searching for unneeded answers. And every time, he's roped me into it, which has landed us both in trouble." The was a brief pause, the ponies and dragon took in the words Ford just shared. "Even so, this may end up being the last time you'll get to see him," Spike spoke up. "What do you mean?" Elle asked. "I don't mean to sound morbid, but, who knows when the next time you'll get to see him again," the baby dragon explained. "For all you know, he might not be...alive the next day." "Spike!" the alicorn reprimanded. "We're supposed to smoothly encourage Ford to fix his relationship, not plague him with horrific "what if" scenarios." Spike stepped back a bit, a look of regret quickly forming on his face. Then, Rainbow came between him and Twilight. "No, no. He has a point, Twi," the cyan pegasus came to the defense of Spike. "There's only so much Ford has to mend the relationship between and his father. This might be his last opportunity. I don't mean to play devil's advocate, but he may not get this opportunity again, and he might live with that regret for the rest of his life." Ford really soaked in Rainbow's words. This could be his final shot to safe his and Joe's deteriorating relationship. It would've been like with his mom's death fifteen years ago; living with the painful thoughts of wishing things had been different and having sleepless nights, racking his brain with 'what ifs" and "should've beens." Then he felt a tug on his pant leg. Ford looked down and saw Fluttershy staring up at him. "Um, forgive Rainbow and Twilight for the heated discussion," she said. "It sounds like you've about to give up with your father." "Well, that's the blunt way of putting it," Ford grumbled. "Listen, I've witnessed families having this kind of dynamic; having an estranged family member," Fluttershy said sadly. "It creates this wedge between the rest of the family. I've seen it tear them apart. I can tell you don't want that." "But, I also don't want Joe to make things worse, either," the conflicted family man said. "Yes, but, what Twilight said earlier; you have the best chance of getting your father to come back, put the past behind him, and be a prominent part of the family. None of us want to see this relationship fall apart and do nothing about it. Elle's right, it won't be the end of the world if you just try again." Once again, Ford was silent. All that was being said, held true, strong purpose and aspiration. Deep down, he wanted his father back, so did his wife and their new friends. This was the golden opportunity that presented itself, and, perhaps with the help of these ponies and dragon, maybe Joe might succumb to the acceptance and come back into their lives. While Ford and Fluttershy were having a moment, Rainbow was putting an end to her argument with Twilight. "You know there's, at least, a little bit of validation in what Spike said," she said firmly. "Even then, shouting at him like that was not necessary." Twilight sighed in embarrassment. Morbid as it was, Spike's words were a reality. "I know," she said. "And you're right. You're both right. I'm sorry, Spike. I didn't mean to snap like that." "It's okay, Twilight," the baby dragon said softly. "I know you only meant well." The two shared a brief hug before turning back to what was more important. "I'll do it," Ford said. "Wait, what?" Twilight said confusion. "You guys are right," Ford declared. "It's better to try and help my dad instead of letting this fly past. I am hoping you'll come along to help." "Of course, dear," Rarity said cheerfully. "What friends would we be if we didn't." "Huh, seems like that's been resolved," Spike turned to Twilight. "Yeah," the purple alicorn said. "Seems like it has." "Yes! Another mission in the bag," Rainbow pumped her hooves." "Ah do hope Joe as a somewhat reasonable stallion," Applejack said. "Deep down he is," Ford said. "I know he is." "Woohoo! Now this is party-worthy!" Pinkie hopped around in excitement. "Maybe we should prepare for the trip?" Fluttershy suggested. "I think that's a good idea," Elle smiled. "Actually, I still have one question," Rainbow said. "What is it?" Ford asked. "What the hay is a nuclear power plant?" she asked. "Way to be facetious, Rainbow." Applejack rolled her eyes. "Hey, I'm just curious," Rainbow spat back. "You know, that's something I'd like to know myself," Twilight pulled out a notebook. "Would you mind explaining." She had the biggest, gleaming grin that practically begged Ford to share the information with her, look puppy-dog eyes but with her mouth. Ford just sighed in bemusement, his wife chuckling at the alicorn's antics. "Twi, this is serious," Applejack argued. "I know," she said. "This could be crucial information." The orange-furred cowgirl rubbed her face in annoyance. Things seemed to just turned away from the discussions of fixing relationships into something more light-hearted by comparison. Of course, Applejack took issue with it, knowing things were still needing to be resolved. Rarity and Fluttershy were just stood by. "Perhaps we should get prepared," Rarity grabbed Spike in her magical grasp and put him on her back. "We're mostly going to be in for an emotion-heavy day tomorrow." The two mares left the bedroom. "Oh, oh, I'll go pack my party cannon," Pinkie followed after them. "Wait, you've had that the whole time?" Fluttershy asked. "Duh, it's where I always put it," the nonsensical mare giggled. "A place called "undisclosed." Elle turned to Ford with a softening expression. It won't be the end of the world," she said. The two shared a loving embrace. Perhaps things wouldn't so clear-cut after all, though. Elle's word may have been an expression, but it perfectly encapsulated what was to come for our friends. To be continued. Author's Note I, for the life of me, couldn’t find out what was being said for the Japanese dialogue.
Part 4: Boiling PointTokyo, Japan When the Mane 6 and Spike were first introduced to the tightly-built community that was Tokyo, well, it was a quite a lot to take in, in such a small period. It was loud, busy, and bustling with urban life. Pedestrians overloaded the streets, the roads were flooded with cars and buses, and elevated railway lines weaved overhead the streets and across the countless buildings that made up the city. The language, new. The culture, foreign. And, on top of that, many of the residents quickly turned heads to the cartoon group. Turns out the cartoon is relatively popular in Japan, as well. While being bombarded with fans young and old, Twilight and her friends took and greetings and compliments in stride. Assuming they were greetings and compliments. It was pretty hard to tell since the people were speaking an unknown language to them. Thankfully, Ford was there to keep them from getting overwhelmed and stay on course to their intended destination, that being the Tokyo police station where Joe was being held in. The group were forced to wait in the front desk area. On the plus side, it did provide them with chair to sit on. And so, they waited patiently. "I'm guessing there's a lot of things you want to say to your dad, right?" Twilight turned to Ford who seemed to be deep in his thoughts. Ford let out a sigh, ignoring the mundane, undiscernible chattering around them. "I don't know where to start," he finally said. "I haven't seen him in so long. And every time he gets himself into these situations, it frustrates me." "We understand, Sugarcube," Applejack scooted closer to the pair. "Though Ah can't truly know how ya feelin', Ah don't remember any close family members being closed off, but, ah come from a close-knit family. I can get a good understandin' of how hard it can be gettin' ta meet estranged family members after so long." "Shikibetsu." The group turned to see a Japanese police officer standing in front of them with an expectant look. "I...um..." Rarity fumbled. She was prepared to speak on her friends behalf, but she swiftly realized she didn't know what the officer wanted. "Could you repeat, sir," "Shikibetsu," the officer said again, this time with a bit more emphasis. "He's not mad at us, is he?" Spike asked. "No worries," Pinkie stepped in. "I got this." "But, you don't know what he wants," Rainbow said. "Nah, I'll just hoof it," the pink mare pulled out a small card and handed it to the police officer. The officer took it and studied it. It was Pinkie's identification card, or at least what Pinkie wanted it to be. What it actually was, was hoof-written info on a card with a tiny photo of the party mare...when she was a filly, which also had old, crumby frosting smeared on it. Favorite color: Yellow and green Favorite holiday: Hearth's Warming Eve Profession: Baker/Party Planner Was just a little bit of the personal info written on the paper card. The officer slowly turned to the front desk with a perturbed and skeptical look. Another officer, sitting behind the desk, just shrugged. The first officer handed the card back to Pinkie and walked away, acting like he wasn't starting to question his purpose. "Have a nice day," Pinkie happily waved to the man. The others looked amongst in bewilderment. "Huh, well that did the trick," Rainbow said, mildly astonishment. "How'dya do that, Pinkie?" Applejack asked in shock and confusion. "Don't know," Pinkie gave an exaggerated shrug. "Guess I'm just an upstanding citizens." She lowered down close to the floor, a skeptical look in her eyes. "Unless they find the the party supply contraband." "Did you say something, Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked. "Upstanding citizens!" the outgoing, pink mare almost shouted as she straightened back upright, causing the others to look at her with confusion. Just then, a buzzer went off. The group turned back to the far wall where a reinforced door opened up. A male cop and said something into his radio. He was followed by female with black hair and eye shadow. Near the front entrance of the station, older man and woman sat. "Papa," the woman nudged the man's arm upon seeing the black-hair girl. The two got and up and made their way over to the emo girl. The man began angrily reprimanding her. While the gang didn't know what he was saying, they could tell from his tone that the man was very angry and upset. The emo girl said some things, also in Japanese. The three made their way out of the station, all the while, the man still yelling at the younger woman. "Yeesh," Spike winced. "What do you supposed happened there?" "Teenagers being teenagers most likely," Rarity presumed, letting out a sigh. "I admit, I was quite rebellious during my teen years." "Rarity? Being not so "lady-like?" Rainbow asked playfully with a snarky smile. "If only I was around to see that." "Don't push it, Dash," the unicorn hissed. The cyan pegasus giggled deviously while swaying on her seat. "Heads up, ya'll," Applejack got their attention. "Ah think ya father's next ta leave." Ford snapped his head back quickly. Through the reinforced, barred window, the ponies, dragon, and human could see, aside from the two police officer, an older looking man wearing a long-sleeved back shirt, and a dark blue jacket vest. The older man looked distant, like he was void of emotion, until he saw the group through the window, primarily Ford. There was a brief moment of silence before the older man weakly smiled and nodded toward his son. And was then led over to the door. Ford didn't give a response to his father's silent greeting. He looked down on the ground and let out a long exhale. Despite working in the military, Ford couldn't help but grow a little wary. "So, that's your father?" Twilight asked. "...Yeah," Ford said despondently. "Huh," Rainbow said with a mixture of curiosity and disappointment. "I thought he'd look a little worse-for-wear." "You thought he would look like a grey-haired hermit?" the bomb expert asked. "No!" the defensive pegasus exclaimed. "...Kinda." "He seems like a nice guy," Fluttershy quickly changed the topic. "He is," Ford affirmed. "When he's not drowning himself in his work and conspiracy." "Have faith, Ford," Twilight assured earnestly. "I'm sure all he needs is a little heart-to-heart." "And then you can all be a great big, happy family," Pinkie said cheerfully. "And a great big, happy family deserves a big party to celebrate and..." By this point, Ford had decided to stop listening to that part of her speech. He knew there was chance to bring Joe and back and be a happy family for sure, he just needed the right words. "Ready to go?" Applejack asked. Ford turned to see his father standing around with the others. "Hello," he said as warmly as he could. There was a lot to be said for sure. The journey to Joe's apartment was awkward and silent, with the exception of Pinkie going off on countless tangents on the most random things. Sufficed to say, the motley group learned about her obsession with chocolate frosting. Once they did eventually make it to Joe's living quarters, things started to get more lively. The retired plant worker unlocked the door and allowed Ford, the Mane 6 and Spike inside. Once everyone was inside, Joe closed the door and turned on the lights. "This place is small," Rainbow observed. "That's what catches your attention?" Applejack asked incredulously. "What are you getting at?" the dubious pegasus questioned. "Take closer a look around," Twilight gestured around the room. The walls of Joe's apartment were littered with paper; news articles, notes, printed surveillance footage, graphs, diagrams. It all almost completely covered the warming comfort of the beige-colored walls. "Oh," Rainbow said, slight unsettled. "He takes obsession to a whole other level," Spike quietly commented. "No kiddin'," Applejack agreed. Ford turned back to his father, who was setting some personal items on the floor. He stood to meet his son's judgmental gaze. "Honestly, Mr, Brody, how do you live like this?" Rarity criticized. "I don't get many visitors," Joe answered bluntly. "Clearly," Ford muttered. "Do you need...help cleaning up?" Twilight asked. "No, no," the older man refused. "Everything's fine. This is you here," He gestured over to where is bagged items were laying. Ford set his bag down next to them. "Don't you get, like, annoyed with how you living arrangement is?" Rainbow asked. "Not really. Can't really help it anyways," Joe replied. "Even, uh, Ph.D.'s...don't get much teaching English as a second language." "So, you've resorted to detective boarding?" Twilight cautiously questioned. "It's not a job," the truth-obsessed man said. "But, it's something that must be done. For closure. For answers." Ford couldn't help but notice all the newspaper articles pinned to the walls. All of the them being themed around the nuclear meltdown fifteen years ago. "Oh, my, even after all this time, he still can't get over it," Fluttershy said sympathetically, peaking her head over Ford's shoulder. "Here we go. And a towel," Joe rummaged around. "All right." He made his way over to the other side of his apartment. There, he pulled a small packet of coffee mix from a box and put in a coffee maker. "So...how's the bomb business? It must be a growth area these days." "Bo-Bombs?" Fluttershy said, slightly aghast. "It's called "explosive ordnance disposal." Ford clarified, his eyes still glue to the old articles. "My job isn't dropping bombs. It's stopping them." That sounds incredibly dangerous," Twilight said worriedly. "That's the military for you," the army man said. Pinkie slid over to him, the side of her face making contact with his. "Can you get me into that program?" she asked, her tone implying an unsettling amount of interest. Ford just gave the pink mare a weird look. Then he turned back to the pinned articles for a brief second. This crusade for the truth was getting out of hand. He turned to Joe. "Dad..." Hey..." Joe interrupted. "...how's Elle doing?" He headed to another part of his apartment to gather a few more things. "And Sam. Oh, my god. He must be what? Three? Three and a half?" "He's almost five," Ford walked over to the shelf that almost separated the room in two. "Yeesh, this is all incredibly disorganized," Twilight viewed the shelves, overloaded with books and binders. "You really should tidy this place up." She grabbed a handful of books in her magic. "I thought you were over this," Ford grabbed a book of the shelf. "Echolocation"? "Oh, hey," Joe hastened over. "Parasitic communication--" "Please don't, if you don't mind," the older man grabbed the books and placed back on the shelf. "I have everything the way I like it." "But, it's so messy," Twilight complained. "I get a headache every time I look at it." "I concur considerably," Rarity said. "All of this is incredibly unhealthy." "I just..." Joe gestured to the shelf. "I'm studying bioacoustics." "Does that have anythin' to do with yer "searching fer the truth" stuffs?" Applejack interrogated. "You told them about that?" Joe turned to his son. "They want to help as much as I do," Ford replied. "What were you doing, going back there?" "This trespassing stuff, that was bull," the older man said dismissively. "You broke the law," Ford said bluntly. "And got thrown in jail for it," Twilight added. "I was trying to get back to our old house," Joe argued. "In a quarantine zone," Ford argued back. "Precisely," Joe barked. "The new readings are exactly like they were on that day and I can prove it to you." "Readings?" Spike asked in confusion. "I think this guy's too far gone," Rainbow whispered, which earned a jab to the back of her head from Applejack. The older man tore one of the sheets of paper off the wall. "With a little bit of luck, if I can get back to my…the house...I can show you and the world..." "Dad, no." "...this was not a natural disaster." "Mr, Brody, please..." Twilight tried to interject. "This was--" "Dad!" Ford yelled. Silence reigned throughout the apartment. Nobody spoke, or even dared to move in that brief moment of emotional tensity. "T-This might be harder than we thought," Fluttershy muttered quietly. "You can hear their anger right now," Pinkie whispered to the butter-yellow pegasus. Indeed, there was a faint whistling reverberating around the room. Joe slowly made his way over to the other side of the room again. An electric kettle was sitting on the tiny table right next to the coffee maker. Steam whistled out of the opening, until the estranged father turned it off. The whistling died down, drowning the room with silence again. "Look, Mr. Brody, from what your son has explained, you've been through a lot," Twilight finally spoke up. "I can only imagine what it's like loosing a loved one. The grief, the heartbreak, the belief that you were to blame. I understand you want some semblance of closure, but this is doing too much. And it's hurting you, it's hurting your relationships and that's not healthy. You can't keep living like this." Joe just stared out through the window. "I can't live normally until I get the truth," he said quietly. "Your mom's out there, Ford. To me...she'll always be there." "Ah understand, Sugarcube," Applejack consoled. "Believe me, ah lost mah parents at a very young age, and it took ah very long time to completely move on. Ah like ta believe they're lookin' down at me, seein' all mah accomplishments and work ah done on th'farm. It ain't easy sometimes, but it can be done. S'long as ya can accept it, ya can live on normally and peacefully." "But, I can't accept it, AJ," Joe said sadly. "They evacuated us so quickly. I don't even...have a picture of her." The mood seemed to have become disheartened. "No mementos to remember her by," Spike said grimly. "Okay, that's...that's pretty depressing," Rainbow admitted sadly. "But, that doesn't give you the right to trespass." "This has to stop," Ford added, turning to his father with a stoic, yet empathetic expression. He, too, missed his mom as much as his dad did. It was all the more reason he wanted to help Joe, bring him back onto his feet and find peace and acceptance. It's what his mother would've wanted. "You know I did everything I could. You know that, right?" Joe turned back to face Ford, his more vulnerable side beginning to break through. Ford did really respond to his father's question. He looked down, refusing to meet Joe's gaze. "Ford, you don't actually blame Joe for your mom's death, do you?" Twilight asked, sounding crestfallen. "Of course not. It's just...a lot to think about, even now," the non-employed soldier said. Ford looked back up at his dad. "Let me take you home." Joe looked up at him with a dispiritedly. "Come home with me," Ford urged. "I got a little boy who's desperate to see his grandpa." "Yeah, and who doesn't like being a grandparent?" Pinkie asked playfully. "You still have family that want you back," Twilight said solemnly. "We can help you move on from all of this." Joe couldn't help but smile a little bit. Despite being estranged and overly-focused, his son still wanted him back. "We can leave tomorrow," Ford said. He also began to smile. "Is it settled then?" Rainbow asked. "...Yeah." Joe said. "Hoo-we. That went better than ah thought it would," Applejack wiped her brow. "And here ah was worried this would devolve inta a huge fight." "You said we'll leave tomorrow, right Ford?" Rarity asked. "Yes," the army man replied. "Well, I suppose we'll have to stay here for the night," Rarity rolled her eyes. "However small and cramped it is." "Eh, we've had worse," Rainbow said coolly. The Mane 6 and Spike shared a brief round of chuckles from the pegasus' boisterous statement. Rainbow Dash was certainly right on that. The group decided to get more situated for the night. During which, Pinkie approached Joe. She stared at him with a void expression. Joe just looked around, feeling himself getting more uncomfortable. "Can I...help you?" he asked. "Do you have any blue crystals lying around?" the party mare asked quizzically. Joe wasn't sure to be either confused or disturbed by such an odd question. He also couldn't think of anything he said, did, or had that would imply he did have blue crystals. "No. No, I don't." Pinkie then let out a giggle. "Just making sure." she turned on her back hooves and cartoonishly skipped away. "See ya around, Walter." "My name's Joe," the mentally-disheveled widower said. Either Pinkie didn't hear or chose not to respond. Despite the early morning hours, the city of Tokyo was like a non-stop machine, people were hustling and bustling about preparing for work and school. The morning sun had barely climbed past the hulking mountains in the misty horizon. Ford along with Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Spike were sleeping on a makeshift futon, a traditional Japanese floor bed, while Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie made comfort with sleeping on the floor with blankets, plenty of blankets. While his mind was still hazy, Ford was able to pick up a quiet voice coming from somewhere. He blinked hard to snap the sleep away and slowly got up from the makeshift bed, somehow avoiding waking up the others. As he slowly crept around the large bookshelf, he noticed Joe sitting at his computer while taking to someone through a radio in Japanese. He couldn't translate what his father was saying, whatever Japanese he learned had rusted away through time. Joe finished speaking with whoever was on the radio and put it away along with his glasses. As he turned to get up, he found Ford standing beside the shelf. The two stared at each other for what seemed like forever. "What are you doing?" Ford questioned. Joe seemed to hesitate for a second, but quickly sat back up. "I'm heading back out there, Ford," he put on his black jacket vest. He was heading back out? To the quarantine zone? Whatever happened to agreeing to come back with him. Ford didn't know what his father had found, but he wasn't going to let him spiral again, not with them being so close to finally burying the hatchet. "One hour, in and out," Joe declared. "No. I don't think so," the military officer said firmly. "I have to go!" Joe raised his voice, which woke up some of the others. "Ugh, what is going on?" Twilight asked groggily. "Joe wants to head back out again," Ford explained. "What?" the alicorn asked incredulously. "Did I just hear that right?" Rainbow took to the air and zipped over between the father and son. "You're deciding to double-down on your quest for answers? Really? Whatever happened to getting back with the rest of the family?" "Exactly," Ford agreed. "Wait, what's going on?" Fluttershy slowly got to her hooves. "Apparently Joe has had second-thoughts about returning home," Twilight grumbled. "Seriously? Did ah'r words just fly right over ya?" Applejack asked critically. "Something new came up," Joe accounted. "Something that changes everything." "Oh, for heaven's sake," Rarity grumbled under her breath. "Is closure that much of a desperate need for you." "What I think you need is therapy," Twilight said sternly. "Or just a friend," Pinkie zipped around and wrapped a leg around the older man's neck. "Free 24/7." "What I need are answers," Joe said defensively. "I came back here and wasted six years staring through that barbed wire, thinking it was a military mistake or some horrible design flaw that they were covering up." He let out and exasperated sigh. Ford and the Mane 7 remained silent, anticipating that there was more to be said on Joe's end. He paced back to the end of the room and pulled out a pair of heavy-duty overalls. "One day, I met a guy who runs a cargo boat offshore. Every day he goes right past the reactor site. So he places a couple frequency monitors on buoys for me." "snort Bouys. That's a funny word," Pinkie giggled. All judgmental eyes were on the pink mare as she laughed and giggled. "Keep that to yourself next time, Pinkie," Rainbow deadpanned. "Anywhere," Joe continued, amidst putting on the protective overalls. "Two weeks ago, because I check this thing like every other day just for the kick in the teeth, two weeks ago, I'm tuning in...and, oh, my god...there it is." By this point he had closed the gap between him and the rest of the group. "What is? What did you found?" Twilight asked, sounding more interested than she'd want to admit. "Some form of communication," the untidy researcher clarified. "Whatever "it" is that's in there. Whatever it is they're guarding so carefully...started talking again. And I mean talking." "What did it say?" Pinkie asked in a hushed tone. "Can it hear us right now?" "I don't think he meant literal talking, Pinkie," Rainbow rectified. "And this "communication" is what's driving you to start investigating again?" Rarity asked. "Yes," Joe said, a defiant smile forming on his face. "Ha, ha. I have to go back to our house." The older man put on a thick coat. All the while, Ford had a look on his face that read "You can't be serious right now." Communications or not, it was all just a major stretch. The only thing Joe was going to get out of this was another trip to jail. "I need my old disks, if they're still there," Joe said. "I need the data to be able to prove a baseline here that this isn't a fantasy," - he pointed over to all the articles and photos pinned on the wall - "that I'm not what you think I am." Fluttershy deciding to be more courageous, stepped in away from her friends. "I think that you need to talk to someone about this," she said in firm, yet shaky voice. "I-I'm talking about a professional, by the way." "I just think he's cuckoo," Rainbow snickered. "I don't need professional help and I'm not a cuckoo," Joe said, a tinge of anger sizzled in his voice. "I'm gonna find the truth...and end this. Whatever it takes." "Let's not go there," Twilight tried a smooth out the situation. "Why can't you just let it rest?" Ford asked. "Because I sent her down there, son," his father replied. Ford exhaled through his teeth. It wasn't Joe's fault. He couldn't have ever been able to foresee any of what happened. He was letting his guilt drive his want for answers and closure. "This wasn't just a reactor meltdown," the older man said. "I don't want to hear this," Ford said blatantly. "Ah'm gonna have ta agree," Applejack added. "This ain't right. Yer lettin' yer emotions cloud ya." "Yeah, like Ford said, we didn't come here to hear you go on about breakthroughs in your search," Spike added. "I know. I know you don't," Joe admitted. "I know that's not what any of you are here for. But, Ford, you can't keep running away. And, son, you can't bury this in the past." "But, why not?" Rarity asked. "Why is it so hard for you to move on from this?" "Some things need to taken head-on. Whether you want to admit it or not," the ex-plant worker said judiciously. Ford looked down. He knew what he was about to agree to was stupid and dangerous, but, at this point, if it meant his dad would finally get closure and come back to him, then he'll do it this final time. "Fine," he conceded, looking back up at Joe. "I'll help you with this." The Mane 6 and Spike were flabbergasted by this sudden change on behavior. "You can't be serious," Rainbow said with dismay. "Ford, what gives?" Twilight asked in surprise. "I thought you were against Joe going back to the quarantine zone, much less yourself." "Yeah, ya said that it was breakin' the law," Applejack added. "I know what I said, but it's apparent to me that dad isn't going to let this up until he finds what he needs," Ford explained solemnly, turning to his father. "If you finally get the answers you want, will you come back with me and the others." "...Yes," Joe replied without emotion. "Just in and out. That's it." "B-But, Mr. Brody, this is what you didn't want to happen," Fluttershy said. "I know that, and I don't like it at all," the army man said. "But, if I'm being honest, I guess deep down inside I also want answers to the truth. I'm not tunnel-visioned on it, but there have been times in my left where I wonder to myself as to what happened on the day of the meltdown." "But, you've been so against your father with finding out the truth anyways," Spike pointed out. "That's..." "I understand it's hypocritical, but it's the truth," Ford said. "It may not be wise, but I feel it's for the best." "You ponies said you wanted to help, right?" Joe asked. "Yes?" Twilight asked cautiously. "What are you getting out?" "Would you be willing to come with us?" Joe asked. "WHAT!?" the ponies and dragon all exclaimed. "You're asking us to come along with you to some dangerous, closed off area for some disks?!" Twilight asked in complete shock. "Are you crazy?" Rainbow questioned. "There is no chance I would do such a thing!" Rarity exclaimed. "To do something so dangerous and illegal." "Plus all that radiation," the purple alicorn added. "We may not be familiar with that stuff, but, from Ford has explained to us, it's nasty stuff." "We have protective suits," Ford pointed out. "You have protective suits. We don't," Twilight said, her tone becoming more protective. "Look we came along to help fix the relationship between you and Joe, not dive into some highly-dangerous island that we have to protection from." "Hold on," Spike interrupted. "Twilight, what if a magic bubble could shield us." "What? You mean like the magic shields I use?" Twilight asked. "Yeah, maybe that could shield us against the radiation," Spike propose. The alicorn princess gave it some thought. In theory, a magic shield would protect them from anything in Equestria. But, in a different world, would that still apply? "Maybe, but there's no guarantees it will," she said. "Why exactly are you asking, Spike? Are you saying you want to go to the quarantine zone?" "Well, no, not exactly," the little dragon said sheepishly. "But, I did some thinking. If we really want to help mend this father-son relationship, might have to "take the plunge." If you catch my drift." The Mane 6 looked amongst themselves. Was Spike unto something? "Spike, I don't think we can take that risk," Twilight said. "Yeah, that's like incredibly dangerous. And that's coming from me," Rainbow added. "We can cheer from the sidelines," Pinkie held up a banner that said "Go Ford & Joe!" on it. "Or we could sit here and wait until they get back," Rarity suggested more realistically. Ugh, boring," Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Guys, I know it's a huge risk, but it's not like me and Joe are going to be safe," Ford said. The ponies and dragon, feeling conflicted, all configured into a team huddle. "Are we really doin' this?" Applejack asked. "We would be doing them a pretty big favor," Spike said. "We weren't doing this as a favor to begin with, Spikey." Rarity reminded. "Well, we won't be much help if we stand around in here," Pinkie said. "Besides, since when did danger become a discouragement for us." "Wut do you think, Twi?" the orange farm pony asked. Twilight was deep in conflicting thoughts. On one hoof, they would be helping Joe get the answers and closure he desperately wanted and indirectly helping fix Ford's relationship with him. On the other hoof, they would be throwing themselves into a place that was protected by law and overflowing with radiation. As they thoughts raced in her head, Twilight remember something Ford said earlier. "It may not be wise, but I feel it's for the best." The violet pony princess let out a long sigh. It may not be the smartest or safest decision, but, as the Elements of Harmony, it was their duty to help in any way they could on friendship missions. "We're the Elements of Harmony," she said. "Dangerous or not, we promised to keep harmony and fix any problems or threats that came out way. I know this won't be easy or safe, but it's something to show the power of friendship. The rest of the Mane 6 took in Twilight's words. While none of them liked the idea, they knew she was right with the whole "friendship mission" duty and the promise to bring harmony to anycreature. "All right, but ah'm still wary 'bout this," Applejack was the first to agree. "You know what, the more dangerous, the merrier," Rainbow said confidently. "Count me in." "Count me in, too," Pinkie added joyfully. "I'll come, too," Spike said. Rarity let out a sigh of defeat. "For friendship," she smiled. The others turned to Fluttershy, who was shaking a little bit. She really, really didn't want to go on this journey. "Remember. You wanted to stop being so scared. This is your chance." she told herself. The apprehensive pegasus swallowed hard. "Okay," "Then it's settled," Joe said. "We'll leave as soon as possible." He stepped around the group of ponies and dragon and to the other side of the bookshelf. "Just get what you need and then we'll leave," Ford followed after." "In and out," Twilight muttered quietly. "Ah really hope ya know what yer doin', Twi," Applejack spoke up ardently. "I do, Applejack," the princess reassured. "Once this is done, everything will fall into place and Joe and Ford will be back with a happy family." "And as long as we lie low, this will go without a hitch," Joe called out. "Whatever you say," Rainbow said dismissively. "Hopefully this will work," Twilight's horn began to glow brightly. Concentrating, she created a magic shield that cocooned around her and her friends in a half-circle. "We stay close," she said. The others nodded, knowing what was at stake here. They all hoped things would be an in-and-out operation, swift and easy. Unfortunately, none of our friends knew just how bad things were going to get. That island was hiding something. Something none of them could even imagine. To be continued
Part 5: Infiltration of RealityThe mission was simple. Get to the infected area without getting caught, get Joe his data disks back, and then we can all go back home and everything will go back to normal. That was the idea for the Mane 6, Spike, and Ford, but as the transport boat carried them across the coast and into the quarantine zone, it felt so much more intimidating than they first anticipated. As the boat progressively inched on, the surroundings became more foreboding: Chain-link fences lined the dry ground with rusting signs that warned of the radioactivity of the long-since abandon metropolis. The Mane 6 and Spike couldn’t help but grow apprehensive of it all. Combined with the hazy mist that coated the flooded shores, it was nothing short of eerie. "This is...a lot more surreal than I thought it would be," Twilight said, maintaining the shield over the rest of her friends. "You get used to it," Joe eyed the aging buildings around them. "That's easy coming from you," Spike rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "How far do we have to go to get to the house?" "Not too far," Joe replied through his protective suit. "As long as we stay together we should be fine." "Fine?" Rainbow asked skeptically. "Look, I'm all for helping someone who his grieving and all, but I feel like we're crossing boundaries that we should not be crossed." "I'm away of the risks," Ford spoke up. "And I know you all knew of it too before you decided to come along, Rainbow. Like I said, just this one last time, and that's the end of it." "That doesn't really make it any less discomforting," Twilight looked around the flooded neighborhoods. "What's the worst that could happen?" Pinkie optimistically asked. "We get caught and thrown in jail for trespassing," Ford answered leisurely. "Like I said, doesn't make it any less discomforting," the purple alicorn deadpanned. The boat was docked and the team soon found themselves traversing the overgrown ghost-town. Nature was slowly regaining it's natural footing. The old buildings became elevated homes for vegetation and sheets of vines hung over walkways and bridges. Joe, Ford, and the Mane 7 carefully made their way through the radioactive wasteland. "Ohh, this place is really giving me the creeps," Fluttershy shook with fear. "Tell me about it," Rarity said with dread. "Everything's so dreary and dead-looking." "Have no fear, Rarity, I will protect if anything happens," Spike was at her side, taking on a heroic swagger. That was quickly cut short when several feral dogs raced toward them, barking and yelping. fear struck the ponies and dragon like lightning. The prospect of being attacked by wild animals hadn't ever crossed their minds. "Stand back, this could get ugly," Twilight took a defensive position. Though her magic shield provided protection, the young princess didn't want to take any chances with a group of angry dogs heading right for her. However, the dogs ran right past them, not even bothering to acknowledge the group. The canines darted off and disappeared amongst the stagnant vehicles that littered the streets. "What spooked them?" Ford continued on. "Dad, guys, come on. Let's go. It's only another two blocks." "That's a relief," Applejack said. "Both the dogs and the house." "Quite so, Applejack," Rarity turned to Spike, who was holding onto her. His valiant bravado had completely vanished. The snow-white unicorn gave the dragon a deadpanned glare. Spike quickly climbed off her and smile sheepishly. "Regardless, girls, that proves that we need to tread carefully," Twilight warned. "We don't know what else is out there." "Twilight, it's a literal ghost-town. Aside from the radiation, I seriously doubt there's not much out here to be worried about," Rainbow said. The protected group continued their trek across the, all except for Joe. Who stood in place, deep in thought. The dogs that the ran into, not even a few seconds ago, looked completely normal and healthy. There were no signs of radiation poisoning or alterations to there anatomy or biology. That didn't make any sense to him. Joe pulled out a Geiger counter from his coat pocket and turned it on. The readings show zero amounts for radiation in the area, not a single fraction of it. "Dad!" Ford was growing impatient. The older man turned his eyes away from the Geiger counter and over to his son and the Mane 7. "Are we going home, or what?" "Honestly I wouldn't mind that," Rarity said timidly. "Every second spent here makes me more terrified." "I can't help but agree with you, Rarity," Pinkie slid to the mare's side. "This place is really giving me the heebie-jeebies." "But, it wouldn't make any sense ta just turn back now, "Applejack claimed. "Right," Twilight agreed. "Mr. Brody, are you coming." Joe didn't answer. Instead, he grabbed his gas mask and peel it away from his face, sending the rest of the team into a panic. "Whoa, whoa! Hey what are you doing," his son said, shocked and confused with his father's actions. "Are you crazy?!" Twilight shouted. "What about the radiation?" "Heaven's sakes, darling, what are you thinking?" Rarity asked, horrified. "P-Put the mask back on!" Fluttershy desperately demanded. Joe drew a line of long breaths, as if it was relief for himself that the gamble he just took didn't end up dooming him. Or perhaps it was hard to breath with a thick mask on. "Dad?" Ford said worriedly. "Dude, tell us if you're dying," Rainbow said. "It's clean," Joe muttered. "I knew it." "What? What are you talking about?" Twilight asked, now even more confused and scared. "You said this place was loaded with dangerous radiation." "That's the thing, there is none," the analyst said. "The radiation in this place should be lethal, but there's nothing." "Wait, so, no radiation?" Spike asked. "How can you tell?" Joe pulled his Geiger counter back out. "See this," he pointed to it. "This is a Geiger counter. It measures how much radiation is in the area. Right now, it's showing zero, which means there is no radiation here at all." "But...the meltdown," Ford pulled off his gas mask. "Does that mean we don't need the shield anymore?" Rainbow asked, turning to Twilight. "I...suppose not," the faint glow of Twilight's horn faded away, causing the shield to vanish. "It was getting stuffy in there," Spike grimaced. "Sorry," Pinkie smiled meekly. "Heh, ta think we were gettin' worked up over nothin'," Applejack chuckled. "This place is still scary," Fluttershy said, who was curled up with Rarity and Pinkie. Rainbow rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Look, now that we don't have to worry about the nonexistent radiation, can we just continue on with our mission?" "If it means getting out of here faster, then yes, let's keep going," Rarity said. And so, with the overbearing fear of radiation poisoning out of the picture, Joe, Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike made it the rest of the way to the old Brody household. It wasn't a pretty sight. The house was left victim to natural erosion. "Yeesh, this place is a dump," Spike said. "It's been sitting here for fifteen years without any upkeep," Ford said. "Should that really come as a shock?" As they treaded inside, the group was met with the earthy stench of rotting wood. Alongside that, the walls were slick with moisture and moss, and debris, organic and inorganic, littered the floor. "Be careful not to step on any glass," Joe warned. He search deeper within the home. Ford, flashlight in hand, shined it throughout the rooms. It was a haunting sight to be sure. "Do you have any fond memories of this place?" Twilight asked dolefully. Ford's answer was given in the form of his old toys strewn about his old bedroom. Plastic tanks and dinosaurs lay on the floor covered in dust and grime with cockroaches scurrying about. "Ew, ew, ew!" Rarity shrieked, tapping her hooves as the little armored pests skulked past. "Oh, Joe better find those disks soon." She grumbled in disgust, not wanting to be in this abhorrent place any longer. "Not especially," Ford answered to Twilight. "Just average childhood memories. Back when mom was around and dad wasn't all "truth crusading." "Do you miss living here?" Fluttershy asked. The Navy officer sighed in thought. There was no doubt that he missed his childhood home. There always a sense of completeness, mostly due to the fact that the family was whole. "Yes," Ford finally answered. Meanwhile, Joe was rummaging through his desecrated office space. He tossed aside pieces of wood and cardboard until, lo and behold, there was a stack of plastic cartridges that held the disks that he need. Joe hastily grabbed them. "Thank god," he mumbled quietly. He placed into inside his bag and looked around for anything else he possibly needed. That's when Joe spotted it. Amongst the shattered glass and mold-covered plaster sat a broken picture frame depicting him, his wife, Sandra, and Ford when he was just a child. The aging man picked it up and swept away the broken pieces of the frame, leaving only the intact photo. Joe's gloved hand lightly trailed against the part of picture that showed Sandra. He missed her, he missed her so much. Not a day want by that he didn't think about her at least once. The painful memories of losing Sandra brought back a suppressed feeling deep inside him; the feeling or guilt and remorse. There were times in Joe's life where he wished he was stronger, wished that his wife's passing didn't eat so much away at him. Maybe then he would've been a better father to Brody and not let such a wedge get driven between the two. While Joe was bitterly reminiscing, Ford was also getting a dose of dulling memories. He picked up a plastic soldier off a table and stared at it. It brought back memories of his younger self playing with all the toys he had, acting out war scenarios. "Everything okay, Ford?" Applejack asked softly. The Navy bomb expert couldn't help let a tear trickle out from his left eye. "Yeah, just..." he looked back down at the toy soldiers. "...a lot of suppressed memories coming back up. "Ha, ha. take that, Pinkie. Pew!" Rainbow said playfully. "Here I come, Dashie!" Pinkie giggled. The two were playing with some of the toy soldiers. They clashed them together like they were fighting. "Honestly, you two, this is now time to be playing around," Rarity reprimanded. "You don't even know where those things have been." "Uh, they've just been sitting on the ground collecting dust, duh," Rainbow emphasize by shaking her head. "Yeah, very dusty," Pinkie drew in a deep breath and blew hard on the plastic soldier. A small plume of dust flew right into Rainbow's face. The surprised pegasus was taken off guard. She crinkled her nose has the dusty caked her nostrils. She drew in a shallow breath, then another, until... "Achoo!" Pinkie fell onto her back and laughed like a mad-mare. Rainbow, despite still reeling from the nasal assault, couldn't help but laughed at the unexpected play. "All right, Pinkie, you got me," she smiled in defeat. "At least they're having fun," Twilight grumbled. "Just makes the mission a little more worthwhile," Ford said. "Wait, so you don't mind them messing with your old toys?" the studious alicorn asked. "I mean they've just been sitting on the floor for fifteen years," the military officer said. "And I'm not really interested in bringing them back." "Really? I would think you'd want to bring 'em back fer ya son," Applejack suggested. "Hmm, you have a point there," Ford gave it some thought. Back with Joe, he was still holding the photo. He held it against his chest before his eyes fell on something else. Hanging on the wall was a string banner that read "Happy Birthday Dad!" It didn't take much thinking to know that Ford was the who made that for his father. It had just been standing there from the day it was hung. At this point, Joe felt teary-eyed himself. Ford did all that for him, wanting to make his birthday special. But, that never ending up happening thanks to the so-called "nuclear disaster." With all that out in the open, Joe only wished he noticed it sooner, at least they would've shared another loving moment. The heartbroken man looked back down at the photo, a sad frown growing more raw on his face. The storm of emotions was interrupted when Joe heard rustling through the broken windows. He looked out and saw the bushes shaking and dancing. Then came the sound of thunderous whirring. "What's going on?" Spike asked. "Helicopters," Ford replied. "Oh yeah, we kinda have those in Equestria," Twilight said, but quickly realized the implication. "But, what are they doing here?" "Only one way to find out," Rainbow zoomed out of the house. The rest quickly followed. They left the ruined house and stepped out into the leaf-littered street. Several helicopters zoomed overheard. "Where are they going?" Rarity asked. The followed the same direction. As they rounded a corner, they were met with something shocking. Across a body of water was another part of the quarantine zone, which was where the nuclear power plant used to be. But, instead of that, there were some facility buildings with nearly a dozen cranes seemingly in a circular formation. "What? Seriously what is going on?" Twilight was now completely confused. "Are they rebuilding the plant?" Ford turned to Joe. "I don't know," Joe replied, just as confused. "I haven't seen-" As he turned back he saw an armored security truck pulled up toward them. He closed his eyes and sighed. They had been caught. Ford groaned and turned toward the officer who were exiting the truck. "Oh, no," Fluttershy whimpered. "Well, that's just great," Rainbow huffed. "Stand back, I'll take care us this." "No!" Twilight cried out. "Do you want us to get into more trouble." "Well, then what's the contingency plan?" the daredevil pegasus questioned. "There is no contingency plan. We have to let them take us into custody," Twilight said solemnly. "What?! I can't go around with a felony on my record," Rarity resisted. "We aren't even in Equestria," Rainbow deadpanned. "A crime is still a crime," the fashionista whined. "Just do what they want us to do," Joe said. "It's better than to alternative." He lightly gestured to the guns the officer wielded. They were demanding something in Japanese, but it was apparent what was needed to be done. A round of defeated sighs came from the ponies and dragon. "Can we at least take this to our graves?" Spike pleaded. "I don't think that's the right thing ta do," Applejack said. Left with no choice, the group was led into the back of the patrol truck, where they were cuffed. "This is no way to treat a lady," Rarity quietly whined. "To be fair, we we're trespassing," Twilight said. "Not helping," the agitated mare replied through gritted teeth. The doors slammed shut and the truck rolled off toward the site. It took longer than the group thought. It had already grown dark as the truck trailed down the bridge leading to the facility. Joe, Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike all sat quietly in the back. It was a frustrating turn of events, a simple retrieval mission turning into a cart off to interrogation and, inevitably, jail. "Dad? You okay?" Ford finally broke the silence, worried for his father. Joe was just muttering to himself, not of it discernible. "Joe, come on, talk to us," Spike encouraged. "...Should've never involved you in this," the older man spoke quietly. "I never meant any of you to get in trouble. I'm insane. I'm completely insane. It's the same as it was fifteen years ago, now I'm going to lose you." "Hey, hey, Joe. Come on. That's crazy talk," Applejack condoled. "Nah, this is crazy talk," Pinkie began spouting gibberish nonsense. "Plpfft. Mu-mu-mu. Blalalpbla!" Rarity swiftly covered the mare's mouth with her hoof. "That's enough, Pinkie," she said, trying to sound as calm as possible. "Okay-dokey," Pinkie's answered was muffled against the unicorn's hoof. "Yeah, nopony's losing anypony," Rainbow added. "They're not letting us out of here," the older man said, dread filling his tone. "Any of us. Now that they have the disks..." "The disks?" Ford questioned. "What about them?" "Why would they care about the disks?" Twilight added her own question. Joe just began muttering incoherently again. "Dude, you're like starting to freak us out," Rainbow said. Ford leaned closer to his father. "Look at me. I'm listening now. Tell me what's going on." "I'm cursed, Ford," Joe grunted. "That's all I am. I'm so sorry." "Tell me what you know!" Ford outright demanded. His outburst startle the ponies and dragon. "Whoa, nelly," Applejack said. "Ah wasn't expectin 'im to be so forward now." "Animals, Ford," Joe finally said. "Animals. Birds, mammals, insects, reptiles, whales, bats, you name it. All of the speaking, making noise, echolocation. Imagine that on a more...epic scale. That's what's on those disks, Ford. the sound of an animal screaming." "S-Screaming. Screaming for help?" Fluttershy asked. "No, it was more broad," the old plant worker said. "I couldn't figure what it was saying, but, there was communication." "Do you know what was making it?" Twilight asked. "No," Joe answered. "But, one thing I know for sure is that if get those disks, we're not getting back out." "Why?" Rarity asked apprehensively. "Because they'll want answers. They'll want more info," Joe said. "They will demand answers out of all of us, even if we have them or not." "But...But...we barely know what's going on," Fluttershy whimpered. "They'll just get you for experimental reasons," Ford said grimly. "You guy's aren't from this world after all." A new wave of dread and horror washed over the Mane 6 and Spike. Stuck in some facility with no possibility of returning home with the grave thought of what the people will do to them. "We should've never came along," Twilight chastised herself. Her wing wrapped around a frightened Spike. The rest of the ponies didn't even know what to say. The sheer thought of what could happen to them couldn't be put into words. "W-We have to get out of here!" Rainbow exclaimed. "This is an armored truck. There's no getting out of here," Ford said sorrowfully. "Says you," the determined pegasus starting ramming against the reinforced doors, but of course, they wouldn't budge. "Come on, open!" she shouted. She rammed into the doors again and again. Growing frustrating, Rainbow tried slamming her hooves against the steel doors. She began to grind her cuffs against them, but that obviously did nothing, either. Not a single thing Rainbow tried worked. The frustrated pegasus began yelling in anger, as if that would do anything. “Come on! You can’t do this to us!” “Rainbow…” Fluttershy tried to get her friend to stop. “You’ll never take us alive! Do you hear me?” the mare continued to shout. “Jūnbun!” one the officer yelled back, having had enough with Rainbow’s fruitless antics. Rainbow slowly turned back around. She was upset. She turned back to her friends. “There’s got to be something we can do,” “It’s military-grade steel,” Ford hinted at the doors. “Plus, even if we somehow get out, we won’t get far and we’ll all be in even deeper trouble.” Rainbow looked back to the others, who had their heads down in defeat. “Best to just save your energy, Dash,” Twilight said woefully. Rainbow let out a defeated sign and sat back up on the seat. There was nothing for it, they were in big trouble and there was no way out of it. “This sucks,” the perturbed pegasus said. “What else is new?” Spike asked rhetorically. The only thing our heroes could do now was sit and wait for the inevitable interrogation and imprisonment that was to come. Though it seemed things were bleak now, nobody truly knew just how dire and chaotic things were going to get. To be continued Author's Note Big thanks to kaiju and pony fan for the some of the quotes in this chapter.
Part 6: Rise of the MUTOTo say being taken to a top-secret facility in a foreign countries to be interrogated and likely imprisoned was on the cards for the Mane 6, Spike, Ford, or Joe was a lie. But, it was happening now and the only thoughts simmering with the group was nothing but of dread and fear, and perhaps a bit of annoyance. Except, Joe, of course. He subconsciously knew there was the possibility he was going to get the answer he pined for, for the last fifteen years. The truck rolled into the grounds of facility. Suited guards directed the driver over to a holding area guarded by two armed guards and a gate. One of the guards came up to the passenger side where the officer showed his identification. The guard walked aside allowing access through. "This is it, huh?" Spike glumly held his head with his hands. "Being put in a cell for trespassing. Didn't know I had it in me." "You actively choose to join in on this retrieval mission," Rainbow pointed. "We all did," Twilight corrected. "And now we're all paying the price." "I guess crime really doesn't pay," the cyan pegasus sulked. "You don't say," Rarity groaned sarcastically, really emphasizing to the sell the point of Rainbow's obvious statement. "Um, g-girls?" Fluttershy spoke up meekly. "As bad as being jailed is, c-can I bring attention to what they're hiding. If that's all right with you." "She's right," Joe looked out through the thick windows of the containment doors. Through it was the clear sign of something abnormal. The rest looked with mortification. It was hard to describe; it was black with a red-orange glow pulsating through the middle. It looked to be made of some kind of rock-like material. "What the hell is that?" Ford asked. "I don't know," the old plant worker replied. "Neither do I," Twilight added. "But, I have a really bad feeling about it." "Maybe it's some kind of power source," Ford hypothesized. "Of what?" Applejack asked in confusion. "I really don't know. I really drawing blanks here," the army worker said. "You know what I sense?" Pinkie said cryptically. "...What?" Rarity asked, almost too worried to be willing to even ask. "I don't know. But, I do sense something," the pink mare responded. "Ten seconds. Ten seconds," a man said over the PA. Dozens of workers scramble over to the formation, which was beginning to pulsate and emanate faster. Some workers set down cases which held special instruments for gathering info on whatever the mass was doing. They opened the cases and held the instruments towards the rocky mass as it emanating grew more rapid. They watched with bated breaths as the pace quickened further and further until it sent out a great pulse of energy. The thing that was effected from the blast was the electronics. Lights and computer screens flickered, then returning to normal. Above all the hustle and bustle was the main monitoring area that overlooked all the goings-on around the facility. "Seven-point-two seconds and getting stronger," a bearded man, the head researcher, pointed to one of the computer screens showing the energy waves. "We're trending exponentially. That's our new curve." Two men stood upon the surveillance deck as they eyed the rocky mass. The one on the left was Gregory Whelan, one of the scientists leading the examination of the unknown mass. On the right was Dr. Ishirō Serizawa, another scientist. "Jesus, it's worst than we thought," Whelan stated desolately. "Excuse me, Dr. Serizawa?" a man came up to the pair. Dr. Serizawa turned his head so he could just barely make eye contact with him. "Two men, and a group of colorful animals were just arrested in the Q-zone." "You arrested animals?" Whelan asked, put-off by the fact that the team wasted their time to do such. "They're more than that, it seems," the man replied. "They have the ability to talk. Despite that, it's clear just by looking at them that they are not natural. They are...cartoonish, so to speak." An uneasy silence extended throughout the room. "We've got bigger problems here," Whelan rolled his eyes. "Have Dr. Graham take a look." "She did, sir. She sent me," the man answered. "Of the two men, one of them says he used to work here, doctor." Dr. Serizawa had, by this point, fully turned around to face the messenger, showing his interest had spiked. While the information alone wasn't that significant in the grand scheme of things, the seasoned scientist knew that this man could have insightful info on the power plant that went down fifteen years and, by proxy, might know about the truth behind the mass they were monitoring. With that in mind, Dr. Serizawa followed the man deep into the out facility. He was soon led to a small janitor's room where Joe was being kept, while being interrogated by two other men. He found Dr. Vivienne Graham in front of a table examining the disks that were on the mystery man. "You're not fooling anybody when you say that what happened fifteen years ago was a natural disaster," the two doctors could hear Joe's resolute defiance through the giant glass window. "Found these disks in his bag," Dr. Graham held up a hard drive. Dr. Serizawa took it and studied it along with the other belongings found in Joe's bag. "Not sure what to make of it." As they two looked through the new info, Joe was slowly growing more impatient with two men inside with him. "Not an earthquake, it wasn't a typhoon. Okay? So stop--" the old worker growled in frustration. "Look, I'm tired of talking to you about this. I want my son...and those ponies and lizard, too. I wanna see my son. I wanna know that they're all right." He turned his attention to the armed, Japanese guard standing beside the interrogator. "This guy, this guys knows," he points to him. "He knows where he is." The disgruntled man then said something to the guard in Japanese. "I want my son. And I want my bag and my disks." Joe angrily got up from his chair. "And I wanna talk to somebody in charge, not you." "Sir, please," the bald man tried to calm him down. "No, not you," Joe snapped. "I'm done talking to you. All right?" He turned to the window to see Graham and Serizawa looking through his disks. "You're looking at me right now, like I'm in a fish tank, right? That's fine. Because I know what happened here." The two scientist looked up to meet Joe's gaze. "And you keep telling everybody that this place is a death zone, but it's not. You're lying. Because what's really happening is that you're hiding something out there. I'm right, aren't I?" Not only was Joe losing his cool, he was also starting to get emotional. Tears threatened to spill from eyes as the agonizing seconds of recalling all the heart-wrenching memories. "My wife died here!" he screamed. "Something killed my wife." Serizawa's studious gaze began to soften as he continued to hear more from Joe. While knowing of the treasure trove of new information was at the forefront of his mind, he was a sympathetic man and he couldn't feel but feel a little bad for Joe. "And I have a right to know! I deserve answers!" Joe turned away from the window and paced around to try and recollect his thoughts and emotions. While he was doing that, Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham went back to viewing through the confiscated items. What caught there attention the most were the cartridges. "All these items they found on him," Dr. Graham said quietly. "And the date. Look, fifteen years ago." "I thought all of the data from that day was lost," Serizawa whispered. "I guess not," the female scientist said. Then they turned their attention the old graphs that showed all the readings on that day. All of a sudden, the lights began to flickered and buzzed. "You see? You see?" Joe said. "There it is again. That is not a transformer malfunction. That is an electromagnetic pulse." Serizawa looked back to the old readings. They bared a striking similarity to the current readings they were getting from the mysterious mass. He took off his glasses, dumbfounded by what he was learning. "It affects everything electrical for miles and miles and it is happening again. This is what caused everything in the first place. Don't you see that?" Joe stomped over to the window. His face was not even a few inches from the glass. "And it is gonna send us back to the Stone Age. You have no idea what's coming." Graham turned to Serizawa, who just stood in silent astonishment. She was getting freaked out, not from what Joe was saying, but the fact that he was right and the implications of such. Then the lights began flickering again, along with the entire facility began rumble. The electromagnetic pulses were getting stronger. In the main control room, things were falling into chaos. The entire room shook as alarms blared of an emanant danger. The readings on the computer screens spiked to an all-time high. "The pulses are seconds apart," the bearded scientist declared, racing around the room. "They're getting stronger. It's affecting the power grid." "Any radiation leakage?" Whelan asked. "Gamma levels are still zero," another scientist answered. "It sucked all three reactors dry." Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham hurried into the control as the situation was growing more dire. The pulses were coming in faster like an increasing heartrate. Another electromagnetic pulse rocked the facility. It had gotten strong enough to the point that the rocky outside of the mass was beginning to crumble and fall apart. At ground zero, researchers and scientists alike scurried back the broken pieces of stone crashed to the ground. "It's done feeding," Dr. Serizawa said. Whelan caught sight of the old readings in the older scientist's hand. "What's this," he grabbed the papers and looked through them. "Jesus, it's the same pattern." "Fifteen years ago. It's what caused the meltdown." "It's an electromagnetic pulse," Graham explained. "That's what it's building to. Converting all that radiation until it hatches." The other scientist were astonished, yet horrified at such a revelation. "We have to shut down," Serizawa notified. Knowing of the potential dangers that was to come, Dr. Whelan began barking out orders. "Secure the grid. Wildlife protocols." The lab-coated scientists began scramble to initiate the emergency protocols. Things were getting out of control and fast. They were running out of time. One scientist grabbed a speaker to the PA and also began stating orders to everyone down below. "All personnel, clear the first perimeter immediately!" More alarm went off as the security protocols went into action. The giant cranes that overlooked the perimeter were to string over a fixed construction of high-tension wire of the rocky mass. The idea was that it would act as a net should things get even worse. The crane operators worked carefully, but quickly to secure the area, all the while, everyone down below began evacuating the perimeter. The driver of the truck shouted something in Japanese before abandoning the vehicle, leaving behind Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike. "What's going on?" Ford banged on the windows. "Hey, where you going?" "Wha...Did the guy just abandon us?" Twilight asked angrily. "Whatever the reason, it doesn't look to be good," Rarity indicated skittishly. Through the thick glass, the group could see the people hurrying about, wires being covered over the mass, and even a helicopter was getting a visual over the isolated area of chaos. "What in the hay is going on?" Rainbow asked, growing more frustrated over the fact that she wasn't getting answers, and terrified over the fact the said lack of answers possibly meant worst-case scenario. "Where the hay is Joe, as well?" "Didn't they take him to be interrogated?" Spike quizzically reminded. "I want out! I want out!" Rarity frantically began banging on the doors. "Let us out! You can't keep us in here!" The rest of the Mane 6 joined her in trying to break open the doors. Outside, things are coming to a crescendo. The masses pulses were becoming more and more frequent. Every jolt of electromagnetic forces caused the entire electric grid to flicker and sputter. Finally, however, the wire net was now completely casted over the perimeter. Researchers raced along the elevated catwalks to reach safety. One smashed an alert button, signaling the protocol's completion. An alarm blared and warning lights in the control room lit up, casting the room into a lurid, ghastly red. "Grid's secure," the head researcher said. Whelan, who by this point was stressed beyond belief, had taken off his glasses. Upon hearing the researchers confirmation of the grid's protection, he lowered his head. The bald scientist felt a small wave of relief wash over him, but Whelan knew this wasn't the end of it. Dr. Serizawa stared at the pulsing mass with sorrow and trepidation. He didn't want to do what he was about to do, but it was necessary for their safety. "Kill it," he said, his voice barely above a gruff whisper. Graham and the other scientist stood in regretful silence. Like Serizawa, they knew it had to be done. The head scientist weakly nodded and mashed his palm against the failsafe button. Within seconds, massive bolts of electricity sprouted from the electric lines. They crackled and sparked as they pierced through the orange-glowing mass. Everybody was forced to shield their eyes as the bolt lit up the facility. "What'n Celestia's name are they doin'?" Applejack asked in stunned horror. "Ooh, must be a lightshow," Pinkie seemingly grabbed a basket of popcorn out of nowhere and starting munching on the popped kernels. They watched as the bolts danced across the mass. "What the hell?" Fordy said to himself. The rocky mass could no longer take the electric onslaught. Large chucks of the jet-black stone broke free and crumble to the ground. Once again, everyone on ground level rushed away to avoid getting crushed. Finally the shocking stopped and everything went silent. The massive spike readings on the computer had dropped completely, showing no sign of life whatsoever. "All readings are flatlined," the head scientist announced. Whelan cleared his throat and put his glasses back on. "Get a visual." Down below, the researchers stared at the seemingly inactive mass with stunned silence. One unlucky fellow ventured up through the catwalks for a closer look. He shined a flashlight at the mass. The first thing he noticed was the black, sludge-like goo that ran down the mass. Then he spotted something moving amongst the stone and slime. The suited researcher leaned closer over the edge to try and get a more clear visual. Suddenly, whatever was moving violently lurched out and the rest that was attached to it followed. The rocky mass exploded as the creature inside burst out, letting out a triumphant roar. The creature was gigantic, grey and black in color. It's head was flat and triangular, and it's four forelimbs end on a long spike. It slammed it's front leg into the ground, sending out a invisible wave of electromagnetic force. "Jesus," Whelan said, horrified by what he was witnessing. "Check the grid. Hit us with an EMP. We're losing power!" The lights and machines throughout the facility all went dead, flooding the facility in darkness. Meanwhile, Joe was mopingly sitting down in a chair. He was still stuck in the storage room with no sign of when he was being let out. The lights then flickered before dying completely. Joe looked up in surprised, then he heard a click. He turned his head to see the lock had deactivated. The door swung open just a hair, just enough to see people running around in a panic. "Let! Us! Out!" Rarity feebly pounded on the doors, but it had become blatantly apparent that no amount of pounding or begging was going to open them. "Ugh, I feel so useless just sitting in here," Rainbow crossed her front hooves. "Hello? Is anypony there?" Twilight called through the doors. However, all she could see was the people running away along with the industrial lights turning off. The alicorn could hear screaming and yelling outside. What about? She couldn't discern. "Seems like somethin' spooked 'em," Applejack observed. "What did spook them exactly?" Spike asked. The group of ponies, dragon, and human heard a loud, titanic growl coming from where the rocky mass was supposed to be. "That answers that question," the young dragon shuddered, fearing the worst. "W-What was that?" Fluttershy asked fearfully. "I have no idea," Ford said. "Whatever it was, it didn't sound good," Twilight said with concern. Back up in the control tower, the scientist were scrambling to get electrical systems back online. "Get the backup generators online," Whelan instructed. "Were working on it. That pulse fried every circuit," one of the scientists said. "Check the cage." "Trying the backup generators," another scientist flicked a line of switches. Finally the power was back up and running. The lights turned back on, illuminating the facility and displaying the giant creature breaking from it's stone cocoon. It shrieked and roared as it finally broke free. The scientific team were immediately frightened over the hulking creature's presence. The tower shook as the creature stomped around. "Everybody out! Now!" Whelan exclaimed. Nobody needed to be told twice. The researchers made a mad dash to the emergency exits. Dr. Graham was still too shocked to move with the crowd. Only as her fellow acquaintances pushed by her, only then did she realize that she needed to escape, too, less she be in harm's way. The gnarly being stomped it's forelimbs against the ground and shook around to get the excess rock and slime off of it. Joe found himself on a catwalk. He saw numerous people scaling down the flights over stair on the towers. One group hurried past him, to scared of their endangered lives to even give the old plant worker a second glance. Joe looked around to find what was going on that was causing such a panic. Then he heard the angered wailings of the creature. He turned to the center to see titanic being trying to break free of the wire net over it. Joe stood in complete shock. Was this the creature that was responsible for the nuclear meltdown? He looked down to the ground and saw the containment truck that brought him there. Joe knew that his son and those ponies and dragon were likely still in there. He had to save them. Inside the truck, the Mane 6's futile attempts of breaking out had degraded into an all out panic. "Get us out!" Twilight slammed her hooves against the doors. "Don't let that monster eat us!" Rarity wailed. "What even is that thing!?" Applejack asked, terrified, while at the same time trying to comfort a scared Pinkie. "I can't unsee it, I can't unsee it!" the cheery mare had turned a complete 180 and was in utter hysterics. "We'll be okay, Pinkie. Ah won't let that thing git ya," Applejack bravely comforted. "I doubt you'd have any say in the matter!" Rarity shrieked. "Have you gotten a look at this size of that horrid thing." Fluttershy, on the other hand, was not helping her friends out in trying to break open the doors. Instead, she was too freaked out by the monster, her eyes still glued to it. She recognized the creature, the one that was taking on the larger, reptilian one in her nightmare. It was right there, in reality, likely to kill them all. "Fluttershy, why are you just staring off into nothing?" Rainbow asked in frustration. "We need to get out of this stupid box." "I-I...I've seen that creature before," the frozen-still pegasus squeaked at. The ponies and dragon stopped what they were and turned to her. "Wait, you mean that's the creature from your dream?" Twilight asked. "Yeah," Fluttershy said weakly. "But, what change does that make?" Rainbow asked. "That thing is clearly not friendly." "I-I don't know, but...I..." Fluttershy couldn't think of anything to say. She had to face the facts. Confronting the creature would led to their deaths, and hoping it would save them from the clutches of this research facility was just disgustingly wishful thinking after seeing how violent it was being. "I don't know," she finally said. "But, that creature holds some significance here." "She's right," Twilight backed her up. "If the vision showed the creature, then it plays some part in the conflict." "Clearly the bad side," Rainbow said. "That's the most evil-looking thing I've ever seen." "Well, maybe it's just scared that it's trapped," the violet alicorn looked the creature as it tangled with the wire net. "So, you're saying we should free it?" Rarity asked incredulously. "Twilight, have you gone mad? That thing is not friendly." "I mean, we won't really no that for sure unless it's free," Spike argued. "No," Ford spoke up after remaining silent for the better-half of the discussion. "I'm inclined to agree with Rarity. With all the damaged it's caused, it's not here to make friends." That's when the sound of sirens could be heard getting nearer. The facility's fire department had arrived to assess the situation. The group watched as the fire engines raced by. "Hey! Let us out! Hey" Ford pounded on the windows to get their attention. "Help us, please!" Twilight shouted. The ponies and dragon went right back to trying to break open the doors. The firefighters exited the vehicles and stormed the caged area, but immediately stopped. Two spike limbs slowly crept over the containment walls the grasped the high-tension wires. The creature pulled down on the wire net. The crane holding the portion of the wire cage was forcibly bent forward. It creaked and groaned as it was being pulled down. The tower section snapped into and the entire machine collapsed. As it went, the second crane tipped over and fell against the third which caused a domino effect. The cranes tipped and fell. The final crane began to collapse over the catwalk Joe was standing on. He quickly realized that it was going to fall on top of it. "No! No! Wait, wait, wait! Stop!" he tried to stop the workers from running past him, but it was no use. The tower fixture slammed onto the catwalk, taking out several people in the process. Joe managed to hold on to the guardrail. He was just a couple feet from being crushed. However, it wasn't the only thing it was about to land on. Ford saw the falling crane about to land on the truck. "Get down! Brace!" he ordered. "What? Why?" Twilight questioned. "Just do it!" The massive crane arm slammed against the truck, sending it careening across the pavement. The Mane 6, Spike, and Ford were thrown around like they were in a tumble-dryer. "Ford!" Joe shouted, scared for his son. The ponies screamed in fear and agony as they flipped end over end in the truck. Thankfully, it came to a stop, leaving it's occupants disoriented. "Gah! What'n tarnation was that?" Applejack looked around. The doors to the truck had been broken open, only for it to show the destroyed crane slowly being dragged over the edge of the containment hole. The crane operator screamed and banged on the cracked windows for someone to save him. But, it was far to late for him. The group stared in stunned horror, Fluttershy buried her face in Applejack's chest, not wanting to witness the operator's demise. The machine went over the edge. "Oh, dear Celestia," Twilight muttered in shock. Applejack lowered her hat in sorrow. "We...Wha..." Rainbow was still in shock of what had transpired in the last several seconds. “He just…t-the screaming…hrrk,” Spike had to keep himself from vomiting. Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy started crying, both out of sheer terror and the fact the they just witnessed an innocent fall to their death. They were all distraught. This was the first time they ever witnessed an actual death. Unfortunately, things were about to get much worse. The wires from the net were still attached to the tower. When the crane went over the wires were stretched as far as they could go. "Oh, no. Girls," Spike pointed to the collapsed tower that was lying over the catwalk Joe was standing on. The others turned to find the former plant worker standing on the damaged walkway. Ford and Joe stared at each other. The realization of what was about to happen hit them both at the exact same time. In the blink of an eye, the catwalk gave way and Joe plummeted into the pile of twisted metal. "Dad!" Ford screamed. "No!" the Mane 7 all shrieked in despair. "Joey!" Rainbow took off to try and find him, but more parts of the tower fell atop the pile. Ford and others were about to race over to rescue his father when the roar of the creature stopped them in their tracks. "Oh, no," Rarity squeaked. The team of friends slowly turned around to see one spiked limb creep over the edge and planted itself on the pavement. The flat-headed creature rose above it's containment and let out a monstrous roar. Fluttershy swore she felt herself pee a tiny bit. The creature second front limb slammed to the ground, breaking a pipeline. Poisonous gas blasted from the broken pipe. Firefighters and EMS ran for the lives as the creature stomped away from it's wired prison. Some were unlucky enough to be crushed as it walked across the crumbling pavement. "Merciful Celestia," Twilight said in terror. "Rainbow, get back here quick!" "But, Joe!" the rainbow-maned pegasus hovered over the mess of crane parts. "There's gas spilling out!" Ford crawled back into a truck and put on a gas mask. "Twilight, get that shield up again!" "Rainbow!" Twilight shouted, sounding more frantic. Rainbow wanted to find Joe, but with Twilight imploring her to come back, she forced herself to fly back to her friends. She trotted into the truck where the others were hiding. "Girls, come on. The thing isn't that scary," the raucous mare said. "It's the gas I'm worried about," Twilight conjured up her magic and enveloped her friends in the protective bubble. "That pipes been broken." She pointed to the shattered pipeline that was now spewing clouds of gas the air. "We'll get Joe back, Dash. Don't worry," Applejack reassured. "I just want to go home," Pinkie fearfully shivered in the farm pony's embrace. "There, there, sugarcube. We'll be okay," Applejack soothed. The group of scared friends could only watch now as the gigantic, bat-like creature let out a mighty roar. Facility personnel ran off in different directions to escape the being's stomping ire. Then, the creature opened up a second pair of limbs which turned out to be a pair of giant, leathery wings. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike went wide-eyed as the creature took to the skies and disappeared within the dark clouds. San Francisco, California "Well it was absolutely unlike anything I've ever experienced before," a woman explained her experience of the earthquake that tore through Japan. The TV showcased the damage left by the tectonic tremor. All the news outlets were broadcasting the unforeseen tragedy, and for Ford’s wife, Elle, it was the stuff of her worst nightmare. "Yeah, it's, uh, Ford Brody," she said through the phone. "Japan to San Francisco." When she caught wind of the earthquake that caught all of Japan off-guard, her first thoughts were of the safety of her husband. Followed by the safety of the Mane 7. Now she was on the phone trying to find any info of Ford's well-being. So far, she was turning up with nothing. "Okay, could I at least...If you could let me leave you my cell-" The call ended, leaving Elle with the faint, crackling hum of an empty phone call. "Hello?" the nurse was on the brink of breaking down. "Damn it!" She slammed the phone down and sat down on a chair. Elle put her hands over her face and exhaled. She was on the brink of an emotional breakdown. Her husband and friends were stuck in Japan where a massive earthquake occurred, and she was getting no answers on what happened to them or if they were even alive. Elle removed her hands from her face, trying so hard to keep from crying. She turned to Sam, who was standing in the kitchen. While he was fairly young, he was old enough to know something was wrong and it involved his dad and pony-slash-dragon friends. It upset him and seeing his mom so upset as well made Sam feel even worse. "I'm sorry," Elle got up from the chair and walked over to her son. "Hey, it's okay." She pulled Sam into a comforting hug. "It's okay. Daddy's gonna be okay." "What about the ponies?" Sam croaked. "Yes, they'll be okay, too," Elle reassured. "Daddy's gonna be okay, and our little pony friends are gonna be okay." She held her son as tight as she could. she didn't know if Ford and the others were going to be okay, but Elle was not going to tell Sam that. She was going to hold on to the hope that they will come back to them unscathed; Ford, the ponies, dragon, and Joe. All of them. To be continued
Part 7: Nature's BeastsAuthor's Note Once again, big thanks to kauji and pony fan for some of the quotes and jokes in this chapter. Part 7: Nature's Beasts The morning sun did very little to ease the grim aftermath of the creature's destructive wake. Rescue efforts had kept on through the night into the early hours, helping the victims unfortunate enough to be on carnage's path. Paramedics and doctors worked tirelessly to treat the wounded and bag up the deceased. Helicopters of the American military soon made their presence as they surveyed the smoldering, twisted remains of the research facility. "This area is now under Naval military jurisdiction. All personnel must report to the duty office for debriefing," a man announced from the PA, before repeating it in Japanese. Dr. Serizawa stood blankly amongst the wreckage. Medical personnel, firefighters, and cops were hard at work securing the sight and treating the wounded. But, in his mind, the seasoned scientist was only concerned of what all the destruction all meant. The creature was awake and it was not going to play nice. "Dr. Serizawa!" Dr. Graham was hastily making her way to her colleague. "Dr. Serizawa! Dr. Serizawa!" Dr. Graham touch his arm to get his attention. Serizawa turned around to face her, a perturbed look on his face. Beside her was a taller, African American male in a U.S. Marines uniform. "Captain Russell Hampton," he introduced himself. "Glad to find you, sir. I've been briefed on your work with Operation Monarch." As the captain spoke, Dr. Graham eyes turned to the rows of deceased workers in body bags, waiting to be carried away. All this death happening so quickly. She never could have anticipated something so raw and horrific on such a scale. "Now, I'm told your organization has situational awareness of our unidentified creature?" Captain Russell asked to Serizawa. "Is that right?" The older scientist nodded weakly. "I'm here to inform you that we are now taking over operational authority from Monarch. So I'm gonna need you to come with me. Is there any other personnel you need?" Dr. Serizawa’s eyes scanned through the wake of twisted metal, medical personnel and body bags, looking for at least one specific person. Not far off in the distance stood an ambulance were Joe was carefully being loaded into. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike were by his side, worried for his life. Trails of dried blood winded from Joe’s mouth and head. "They'll take care of you. I'll be right next to you," Ford reassured his injured father. "We'll all be here," Twilight added. "You'll be okay, I'm sure of it." "Hang'n there, partner. You'll make it through this," Applejack said. "Okay," was all Joe could croaked out. "I-Is he really going to be okay?" Spike asked. "He's a strong man, he'll pull through," Ford said, though he didn't sound to sure himself. Dr. Serizawa pointed them and turned to the captain. "Them." One thing led to another and the group found themselves being taken into the skies by helicopter. To where, was yet to be answered. But, since the Japanese scientist was adamant they came with him, clearly it was of some important to the group. The helicopter zoomed across the vegetative ruins of Janjira before reaching the open ocean. "It's cramped in here," Rainbow remarked, try to get comfortable. "Our choppers aren't designed for large-scale transports such as this," one of the medics turned his attention back to Joe. "Let's get his vitals." Joe couldn't do much aside let out the occasional pained grown. He could feel himself slipping, he wasn't going to be around for much longer. "Shh. Shh," his son soothed. "Dad. Dad." "Mr. Brody, please be okay," Fluttershy quietly pleaded. "Radial pulse is weak. I'm counting 125." Dr. Serizawa stared at the Brody's intently, knowing they were likely to key to answer all the things that were yet to be explained. "It's okay," Ford said softly. "Um, if I may ask," Rarity said to the medics on board, "may I ask where we are being taken?" "Yeah, why are you guys being so secretive about this?" Rainbow asked further. "We're being transported to the USS Saratoga. It's now the main hub for uncovering the events that transpired last night," one of the medics explained. "Isn't that obviously?" the cyan pegasus asked rhetorically. "Giant, evil monster breaks from it's stone prison, causes destruction in it's wake, and flies away, likely to cause more chaos." "It's not that simply," the medic said. "What do you mean "it's not that simply?" Twilight asked suspiciously. "Seems pretty clear-cut to me." "Girls, look," Rarity pointed to a weakly stirring Joe. "Ford, guys, listen to me," the injured man groaned. Ford took off the breathing mask. "You were right. I'm sorry." "W-We're all sorry we didn't fully believe you," Pinkie added, her tone devoid of any sense of positivity. "We should've at least considered it more of a possibility," Twilight said sadly. "I mean, come on, we've should've known better." "Yeah. So much for benefits of other worlds," Rainbow bowed her head. "Ya didn't deserve this. Ya just wanted to learn the truth," Applejack said gently. "And all you got for yer troubles is fallin' off ah tower." "It's okay, girls," Joe said feebly. "I didn't expect much belief from anyone." He turned his attention to his son, who looked to be on the verge of tears. "Go home to your family. You keep them safe. Okay?" "Okay," Ford nodded. "But, what about us?" Spike asked. "Go home. Return to where you came from," Joe implored. "W-Wha...w-we couldn't," Twilight said, shocked by Joe's request. "We could never just leave you like this." "Especially when that monster's out there," Rainbow said, fighting back tears. "I swear, I'll make that thing pay." "Guys, this is more than I could've ever anticipated," Joe said. "This is bigger than me, or you, or Brody. Please, for your safety, it's best you let this be." There was a stunned, brief silence shared amongst the ponies and dragon. What Joe said was true, this was bigger than anything they've ever been through, but that didn't mean it was any reason to stand down. "No, we are the Elements of Harmony. Our duty is to protect and to help fix any problems," the mulberry alicorn said in resolute defiance. "We were brought here for a reason. We can't just walk away from this just because things have gotten out of hoof." "What kind of Element of Loyalty would I be if I just ran away with my tail tucked between my legs?" Rainbow said. "No matter how big the issues git, we ain't backin' down," Applejack put her hoof down. "Yeah, they've dealt with big, scary monsters before," Spike advocated. "Protection is pretty much our middle names by now," Pinkie chuckled weakly. Seeing the Mane 6 and Spike refusing to back down and showing such protective devotion did warm Joe's weak heart a bit. Knowing their tenacity and bravery, Joe could only bring himself to say one last thing. "Keep yourselves safe. Whatever it takes. Whatever it ta-" He stopped and his eyes closed shut. "M-Mr. Brody?" Fluttershy said, fearing the inevitable. "Hey, stay with me," Ford prodded his father's shoulder. "Dad? Dad?" "N-N...No," Twilight lightly gasped. "Please no." "Radial pulse is weaker. Barely feel it," the medic said. "We're losing him. Joe, can you hear me?" He lightly shook he to try to wake him back up. Pinkie, at this point, was sobbing up a storm. Rarity snaked a hoof around the crying mare's neck, allowing Pinkie to cry against her shoulder. Rarity, herself, was struggling to hold back the crumbling floodgates. "First the operator, and now him," Fluttershy sobbed hard, hiding her face within her long, pastel pink mane. It was bad enough witnessing a strangers morbid death, but to see somepony, or in this case, someone they knew dying in front of them, it felt like the entire world was breaking apart. "He's going into A-fib," the second medic said. "Give me another epi, one milligram, and 40 units of vasopressin." "What are we going to do now, Twilight?" Spike asked hopelessly. The young alicorn looked down at him, his eyes leaking the salt tears as they stream down his cheeks. Twilight could only hold him in a comforting hug. "I don't know, Spike," she rested her head in top of Spike's. "I really don't know." Ford leaned back, rubbing his hands against the side of his head. This was all too much for him and he was not handling it well. Dr. Serizawa turned to Dr. Graham. She looked back at him with a woeful look, then turned her eyes away. The situation was becoming more and more plaintive and with their main key likely dying, it was only going to become more downhill. USS Saratoga Coast of Japan The helicopter made a quick and safe landing aboard the aircraft carrier. While Joe was being carried away to receive more treatment, Rainbow couldn't help herself with inspecting the massive ship. It looked familiar to her somehow, but, for some reason, she couldn't put a hoof on it. "I swear this shape feels so familiar," she said to herself. She eyed the fighter jets parked side-by-side and the control tower that was perched in the back corner of the ship. "Rainbow, we need to go," Applejack called out to her prismatic friend, she was already out on the runway, following after the others. "Oh, sorry," Rainbow took off after them. Meanwhile, in the control tower, a debriefing was going on. The admiral of the ship was describing everything that went down at the now defunct research facility. Monitor showed the footage taken of the giant creature taking off from the shredded ground level. "This is our needle in the haystack, people. MUTO. Massive unidentified terrestrial organism. It is, however, no longer terrestrial. It is airborne." The admiral marched around the main control room, making sure everything was in order and that everybody was listening. "Now, the world still thinks this was an earthquake and it would be preferable that that remain so. Before we lost sight of it, it was headed east across the Pacific and had emitted enough EMP disruption to create havoc with our radar and satellite feeds and reduce us, for the moment, to a strictly visual pursuit. I emphasize "for the moment" because we will get on our game and we will find this thing. It is imperative that we do so." The admiral turned to the captain. "Captain, I want any and all search options on this table ASAP." "Yes, sir," Captain Russell nodded and made his out of the control room. The admiral then stepped over to Dr. Serizawa who was watching the MUTO footage on-loop. Despite having witnessing it in-person and watching the footage dozens of times, it felt like a nightmare. Every second, every frame felt like reality was playing some kind of sick joke. The bat-like creature's existence felt like a gut punch to what all of what Serizawa was researching originally. "Dr. Serizawa. Admiral William Stenz," the admiral held out a hand of greeting. The Japanese scientist lifted the strap bag in his hand onto his shoulder and shook Stenz's hand. "Nice to meet you," he said. "Glad to have you on board," the admiral said. "Sensei," Dr Graham quietly called to Serizawa through an opened door. "Excuse me," the despondent scientist left the admiral and made his way over to his colleague. Once he was through, Graham told him the bad news. "Mr. Brody's dead," Serizawa lowered his head mournfully. The two exchanged silently. Dr Graham pointed down the hall, directing the doctor where to go. The two left the control room. While Joe might be dead, Ford, and perhaps those ponies and dragon, could be helpful in sharing what Joe had uncovered. There was a desolate silence as Joe's lifeless body was slowly zipped up in a body bag. While Twilight and her friends were quietly sobbing over losing their friend, Ford remained silent and despondent. No tears were shed on his end, but that was because it was all happening on the inside. The young soldier didn't want to believe, he didn't want to think that his father was truly dead. Yet, there he was, deceased on the metal, infirmary table. After pretty much ostracizing Joe for some many years and getting the chance to try and make things right, it gets snuffed out from a disastrous monster attack. It wasn't fair. Even when Ford realized he had been wrong all this time, apologies felt too little, too late. "He didn't deserve this," Twilight sobbed. "This shouldn't have happened," Rainbow said through gritted, guilt-ridden teeth. "I-If I had just-" "No. Don't blame yerself fer this, Dash," Applejack was quick to shut down the pegasus's self-torment. "This wasn't yer fault. It was too sudden." "But...I should've...I should've been faster," the teary-eyed mare sniffled. "You can't save everypony, darling," Rarity said between choked sobs. "That's just one of the unfortunate things about...life...sob*" "Are you going to be okay, Ford?" Twilight turned to the silent man. Ford didn't give a reply, only staring at his dad's bagged-up body. The whirlwind of emotions in his head prohibited from registering anything going on in the outside world. That was until a naval officer entered the room. He lightly knocked on the steel door to get the others' attention. "Lieutenant Brody?" The group all turned to the naval officer. "Can't you see we're grieving here." Pinkie sniffled, now wearing a black funeral dress. "I understand that, but, Dr. Serizawa says he needs to see you all," the naval officer said. "Who now?" Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Come with me," the officer said. despite their uncertainty, the Mane 6, Spike, and Ford followed the naval officer through the ships corridors. Soon the officer opened a door to a small meeting room. There, Dr. Serizawa, Dr. Graham and several secretaries sitting around a meeting table. Dr. Serizawa closed the filed he was studying and stepped over to the group. "My condolences." "We are deeply sorry for your loss, lieutenant," Dr. Graham said. "But I'm afraid we need your help." "Uh-hu. You first," Rainbow said suspiciously. "Who are you guys exactly?" "And what do you need from us?" Fluttershy asked. "Forgive me," the older scientist bowed his head. "I'm Dr. Ishirō Serizawa and this is Dr. Vivienne Graham." "We were conducting research on a mysterious spore-like mass that cropped up near Janjira, Japan," Dr. Graham added. "Hence the facility?" Spike concluded. "That is correct," the female scientist replied. "Okay, but what exactly do want with us," Rarity asked, hardening her dubious look. The two doctors shared a look. "I think it's better if we showed you," Dr. Serizawa said. The Mane 6, Spike, and Ford sat down around the table. The lights were turned off and a projector displayed old footage on a projector screen. "This is the USS Nautilus." Dr. Serizawa began to explain. "In 1954, the first time a nuclear submarine ever reach the lower depths—it awakened something." "The Americans first thought it was the Russians," Dr. Graham preceded. "The Russians thought that it was them. All those nuclear bomb tests in the 50's...? The footage changed to the old bomb test footage taken not long after World War 2. The utter annihilation the nuclear bombs created was unprecedented, especially in the eyes of the Mane 6 and Spike. "Woah, nelly," Applejack said quietly. "You were testing bombs?" Spike said, a mixture of shock and excitement. "No. Not tests," Dr. Graham said. "They were trying to kill it," Dr. Serizawa. "K-Kill?" Fluttershy squeaked. The footage froze right as it showed a gigantic creature breaking through the ocean's surface. "Him," the older doctor pointed to it. The ponies, dragon, and human leaned in their chairs to get a closer look. Fluttershy, however, was the only one who remained still, a horrified expression on her face. That creature...that was the one that tried to kill her in her dream. The craven pegasus could still vividly remember the creature deafening roar and the wave of blue energy that blasted from it's mouth. Should she speak up about it. If she did, Fluttershy knew all attention would be on her then and she was too shaken to handle that. Her mind was practically yelling at her to speak up, but that just made her more conflicted. It didn't help that constantly looking at the still image of the creature brought her back to that horrible dream. Fluttershy cowered behind her voluptuous, pink mane, shielding her eyes from the stagnant horror on the screen. "What is that?" Twilight asked. "An ancient alpha predator," Dr. Serizawa answered. "Millions of years older than mankind," Dr. Graham added. "From an age when the Earth was ten times more radioactive than today. This animal and others like it consumed this radiation as a food source. But as the levels on the surface naturally subsided, these creatures adapted to live deeper in the oceans. Further underground. Absorbing radiation from the planet's core." "So, that ther' nasty stuff Joe talked about was a source of food for those ancient animals?" Applejack summarized. "Yes," the female scientist said. "The organization we work for, Monarch, was established in the wake of this discovery. The discovery of the creatures. A multinational coalition formed in secrecy to search for him. Study him. Learn everything we could." The film continued to roll, showing scientists using special instruments and old facilities. Then, it changed to recorded footage of the giant creature swimming across the ocean, it's massive, black spikes protruding through salty waves. "We call him...Gojira," Dr. Serizawa said. "He's a gorilla crossed with a whale?" Pinkie asked in confusion. The others turned to look at her, conveying different looks of confusion. "What? I've been taking Neighponese classes," the pink mare shrugged. "In English, it translates to Godzilla," one of the secretaries said. A round of "Oh's" came from Twilight and the others. "That sounds much scarier, though," Fluttershy said meekly. "But, is it still a gorilla-whale cross?" Pinkie asked "No. it is not cross between a gorilla and a whale," the aging researcher said. "That's pretty obvious," Spike said. "Truth be told, we don't know what it is exactly." "What we do know is that it's the top of the primordial ecosystem," Dr. Graham said. "A god, for all intents and purposes." "Hence the English name," the secretary added. "A monster," Ford muttered. "Fifteen years ago, we found a fossil of another giant animal in the Philippines," Dr. Serizawa said. "Like Gojira. But this creature died long ago. Killed by these." He pointed to the screen, which was now showing footage of a cave. Large, black, thorn-like masses were scattered throughout the walls and ceiling. "Ugh, revolting," Rarity said in disgust. "What even are those wretched things?" "Parasitic spores," Dr. Graham said. "One dormant. But the other hatched. Catalyzed when a mining company unknowingly drilled into it's tomb. The hatchling burrowed straight for the nearest source of radiation..." She pointed to the screen. It showed the hatchling's course to Japan. "...your father's power plant in Janjira and cocooned there for fifteen years, absorbing it's radioactive fuel to gestate, to grow." "Until it hatched like a butterfly into the creature you saw today," Dr. Serizawa added. "So, that meltdown story Ford talked about it. The one that killed his mom. That creature caused that," Spike concluded. "And that rocky mass we saw back at the sight was it's cocoon," Applejack said additionally. "So, let me get this straight," Twilight said, a hoof against her head as if to massage her growing frustration and anger. "You guys not only knew about all of this, but ultimately chose to keep them secret? Because, what? You feared causing a panic?" The two scientists could sense the alicorn's frustration and so did her friends. Dr. Serizawa knew there was no more hiding anything at this point. "You would be correct..." "Yeah, I could list off all the wrong things with that plan on one wing, but I think I can boil it down to the most glaring. The public is going to find out! And, let me tell you, secrets have a way of coming out into the public eye...and they come out hard." "You know, Twilight's right," Rainbow raised her front hooves onto the table. "You created this whole cover story of bomb testing just to hide something potentially dangerous from the public. Not cool. What if the creature decided to become hostile, huh?" "We never wanted to cause a mass panic," Dr. Serizawa retorted. "Do you have any idea how fragile and precarious the human race is? If people learned of the existence of giant, ancient creatures capable of destroying cities, society would fall into chaos. Public outcry, outrage, riots. We, as humans, are just specks to those creatures. They are almost unstoppable." By this point, Ford was now digesting all that was being shared with him. Like Twilight, he too didn't exactly why this was kept from the public eye. "Wait. You knew about this? This thing? The whole time? Why didn't you just kill it when you had the chance?" "Exactly," Rarity agreed, but felt she needed to clarify. "Granted, I'm not advocating for killing, but that monster left an entire city in ruin." "And it killed Ford's mom," Pinkie sadly added. "It was absorbing radiation from the reactors," Dr. Graham replied. "We worried killing it might release that radiation and endanger millions." "That's why our mission was to contain it," Dr. Serizawa said. "To study it's biology, to understand it." "We knew the creature was having an electrical effect on everything within a close proximity. What we didn't know was that it could harness this same power in an EMP attack." "EMP?" Twilight said. "An electromagnetic pulse," Dr. Graham clarified. Twilight pulled out a notebook and a feather pen. She opened to a blank page. "What is that exactly?" "Basically they are the electrical and magnetic forces and effects produced by an electric current," Dr. Serizawa explained. "Say an x-ray, for example. It uses electromagnetism to create pictures of inside the body." "Fascinating," Twilight wrote the info down in her notebook. "All right, enough with the eggheaded-ness," Rainbow rallied. "Back to this "Godzilla" creature." She turned to Fluttershy, who was had her mane covering her face. "You okay, Flutters?" she asked. Fluttershy was snapped out of her protective oblivion. She removed the pink hair strands from face to look at her prismatic friend. "Y-Yeah, I'll back okay." She was still on the fence on telling them about connection between the creature and her dream. "We didn't know any of the creature's capabilities," Dr. Graham turned to face Ford. "But your father did. He predicted it." "What else did he say?" Dr. Serizawa said. Ford leaned back against his chair. He recalled what Joe said to him and others back at his home. At first, he thought it was all wishful nonsense. But, now, after everything that's happened, there was true legitimacy to it all. Ford's father was onto something, and he brushed it all aside. "Please try to remember, Mr. Brody. Any of you," Dr. Graham said. "Anything that would help us. Anything at all." The Mane 6 and Spike wracked the brains to try and remember anything the Joe said that could've been of any significance to the issue at hand. "Maybe something about crystals? Blue crystals?" Pinkie wondered aloud. "That was you, Pinkie," Applejack said. "Oh, yeah, right," Pinkie giggled. "I've got nothing," Spike said. "I just thought it was rambling nonsense," "Well, clearly it wasn't now that we know the truth," Twilight said. "Did you get anything from him, Ford?" Rainbow turned to the lieutenant. "I didn't listen. I just thought he was crazy." Ford bowed his head in shame and regret. The ponies and dragon all looked at him. They all felt bad for him. "We don't blame you, dear," Rarity sympathized. "We all thought he was a little out of his mind." She put a hoof on Ford's shoulder to try and comfort him. "He was obsessed with all this..." Ford let out a sigh. "Said something about an animal call. Something talking." "Talking?" Dr. Serizawa asked inquisitively. Twilight's eyes widened, remembering what Ford was saying. "That's right. Those readings he talked about. They were showing a form of communication from something." "Yeah, he said he was studying something," Ford continued. "Echolocation." "And ah bet that creature back at the facility was the one that was talkin'," Applejack wagered. "And...for a reason," Fluttershy added. "If the MUTO was talking that day, your father must have discovered something talking back," the aged doctor said. "Hold up, Doc," Rainbow said. "Are you saying there's more than one of those "MUTO" things out there?" "There's only one way to find out," Dr. Serizawa said. "Check again. Search for a response." Dr. Graham nodded and went over to one of the computers. The male scientist then turned back to the projector screen, which was now showing footage of the MUTO's cocoon. "This parasite. It's still out there," Ford said. "Where's it headed?" "The MUTO is young...growing," Serizawa eyed the footage. "It will be looking for food." "Sources of radiation," Dr. Graham clarified. "We're monitoring all known sites. But if we don't find it soon--" Then what?" Ford straightened back up. "We'll just have to take it down ourselves," Rainbow punched both her front hooves together. "It's what we're here for after all." "No," the Japanese scientist halted Rainbow's heroic platitude. "Nature has an order. A power to restore balance." He turned back to the screen. "I believe he is that power." "What? I thought he was considered dangerous." the cyan pegasus reminded. "Dangerous, yes. But not evil," Dr. Serizawa reiterated. "I believe Gojira was biologically tasked to take down any creature that could threaten the balance of nature." "Like the MUTO," Twilight said. Serizawa nodded. "Lame! What are we doing here then?" Rainbow asked crossly. Once again, Fluttershy wanted to speak up. But the seemingly unending fear kept her mouth shut. "Why is it so hard not to be scared?" "So, what's going to happen now?" Spike asked. "You will be transported back to your residence," Dr. Graham replied. "What? You're not going to let us stay here?" Rainbow asked with disappointment. "I mean, I get that you said Godzilla is the balancer here, but we were brought here for a reason." Dr. Serizawa turned to the willful pegasus with a serious look on his face. "How exactly do you plan on taking down the MUTO?" he asked severely. "That thing is hundreds of times your size with the power of electromagnetism." "Well, we took down Tirek together," Rainbow turned to the others. "But he was know where near as big as the MUTO creatures. Even at full strength," Twilight pointed out. "Yeah...well..." "I implore you all, please, for your safety, return back home," Dr. Serizawa said. "We must put faith in Gojira. Only he can correct this biological imbalance." "What if he end'sup failin'?" Applejack asked. The aging scientist was quiet. He knew that Gojira was a very powerful creature. But Applejack did bring up a valid point. If Gojira was unable to take down the MUTO, what was the next best option? "May God have mercy on this planet," he finally said. "How reassuring," Rarity said sarcastically. With not much else to discuss, the Mane 6, Spike, and Ford were to be lead a way back home. In this case, they were running to a helicopter ready for the transport. A naval officer was with them explaining what was planned. "Sir, right now we're 50 miles from Hawaii. This transport will take you all there. You're catching a commercial flight back to San Francisco." Ford nodded in understanding as the group shuffled into the chopper. "Perhaps it's better this way," Fluttershy said. "I don't think it is," Rainbow crossed her hooves sulkily. "For crying out loud, we've dealt with giant creatures before. I mean, you remember talking down that dragon once before, Fluttershy, right." "Yeah. How could I forget," Fluttershy said sheepishly. "Right. We're more than capable of taking down that MUTO. With or without Godzilla." "Hold on, Rainbow," Twilight spoke up. "Remember that those MUTO feed on radiation. That stuff Joe said that destroys us at the atomic level." "Yeah, I remember, Twilight," the cyan pegasus said. "But you can just shield us from that." "I wouldn't be able to do that individually. That requires too much concentration in a hectic fight. The only way we could theoretically take the MUTO is with the Elements of Harmony. But we don't have those with us." "Ah hate to admit, Dash, but there ain't much we can do by ourselves against a massive, armored monster," Applejack said. "We could giving it a peace offering," Pinkie suggested. "I'm sure it like a classic, chocolate-frosted-" "It only feeds on radiation, Pinkie," the ponies and dragon all said. "Oooooohhhhhh, right." Rainbow groaned in frustration. "Ugh, why must we always back down in these situations?" "We have to have some boundaries, Rainbow," Rarity said. "Otherwise we probably wouldn't be here today." As the ponies continued their discussion, the helicopter lifted into the air and flew off to Hawaii. Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham watched as the helicopter left the perimeters. Despite what he said earlier, there was something nagging at the back of Dr. Serizawa's mind. Those ponies and dragon, as it constantly said, had so form of importance, but he just didn't know what. Back in the Brody's residence, Elle was getting Sam ready for bed, which meant making a game out of brushing his teeth. "I'm gonna need you to brush your teeth," she said playfully. All the while, Sam was giggling up a storm. "Disgusting! Those are terrible!" Elle chuckled. "We gotta brush them!" Her phone went off, receiving a call from her husband. However, because it was sitting on table far away and it was on silent, neither she or Sam could hear it. Hundreds of miles away, Ford was anxiously waiting for Elle to answer. But the only thing he received was a recorded message. "Hey, this is Elle. You missed me. Please leave a message." The satellite phone beeped once, allowing Ford to leave a message. "Elle...I don't...I don't know what they're saying on the news. There was an accident in Japan. Dad's gone. I'll explain when I see you. I'm headed to Hawaii. I'm gonna catch a flight from there. I'll see you soon." With that, the lieutenant ended the call. "How do you think she going to take all that's happened?" Spike asked. "I doubt she'll believe the MUTO part," Ford sighed. "The media is probably telling everyone it was an earthquake." "What if the MUTO come here?" Fluttershy quivered. "Take the advice from Serizawa; pray that Godzilla can handle this." Meanwhile, back on the USS Saratoga, Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham were looking through the readings Joe had collected from his investigations. His personal belongings and his disks were strewn across the table. The two scientists stare at the computer screen was the combed the readings for a possible response. "Keep scrolling," Graham said. Serizawa keep scrolling, keeping an intense focus on the passing wavelengths. He held the original paper readings in his hand as basis. "Near the end. Before the EMP," his colleague said. As the aging scientist scrolled on and on, he found a pair of similar looking readings on the screen. The computer beeped, signifying that they had found what they were looking for. "There," he point a studying finger against the screen. "Something responded." Honolulu International Airport Honolulu, Hawaii Holiday-goers and tourists piled into the monorail train as it sat waiting at it's scheduled stop. The Mane 6, Spike, and Ford all quietly sat in the train carriage as people squeezed by. Sufficed to say, it was not the most pleasant thing in the world. "As if being stuck in that boat wasn't cramped enough," Rarity complained. "I'm not complaning. It's so shiny and smooth in here," Pinkie said, mesmerized. "This is incredible," Twilight's eyes wondered around the monorail and the airport. "I've never seen anything like this. What powers this train?" "Electricity," Ford mumbled, his hands covering his face. The young alicorn let out a gasp. "Harnessing electricity. Brilliant!" She furiously scribbled notes down in her notebook. While Pinkie and Twilight were distracted, drinking up the new sights and sounds, Ford remained still. He rubbed his face to reduce stress and keep himself awake. "Feelin' the day catchin' up to ya?" Applejack asked, a comforting smile on her face. "...Yeah," was all the young lieutenant could say. "Ah understand, partner. Whenever we have a really busy day on the farm, it has a way of creepin' up on ya. Like a Timberwolf sneakin' up on ya." "Weird analogy," Ford said. "Git's the point across," Applejack slumped the seat. She point hoof around Fluttershy, who had just fallen asleep. Just then an announcement came from the PA. "Aloha, and welcome aboard. the train will begin moving shortly. For the comfort of others, no smoking, please. Thank you." Ford then pulled out a toy soldier from his coat pocket. He had picked it up from when he, Joe, and the Mane 7 were searching his old, abandoned house. "Ah thought ya said ya weren't interested in takin' those things back," Applejack said, puzzled. "I decided to take one as a souvenir...and a memory," Ford said. "And you did say it would've been nice to perhaps give them to Sam." The honest apple farmer smiled softly. She did remembered proposing the idea to him. It was nice to see Ford be so considerate and compassionate to his son. As Ford looked at the toy, he spotted a young, Japanese boy in a red-striped shirt and blue cap off in the corner of his eye. He was standing just behind the monorail doors, eyeing the plastic toy. The young lieutenant gave a smile at the boy before returning to the toy. Spike, meanwhile, scooted closer to Rainbow. "Hey, Rainbow." "Yeah, Spike." "Remember when you went to that airport with Dusty on our first mission?" The cyan mare had to take a few seconds to remember the exact memory. She did remember flying to a large airport with a weird name. "Yeah. Why do you ask?" She perked an eyebrow. "Well, I couldn't help but wonder if you saw any of those large machines there, too," Spike turned to see through the train's windows. Rainbow turned her head. Her gaze passed through the terminal where giant windows were set at the end. The prideful mare could just barely see a line of giant, commercial jets parked at the end of the airport. They looked familiar. From the long, cylindrical shape, to the silvery sheen that bounced off the body, and the bright, prismatic paint jobs, each one differing from each other. Then it came to her. "...then, Taxiway Alpha forks off to the left. But don't go that way. You want to veer right and if you get to the orange barrels, you went to far. So-" "Just go straight ahead. To the right." "Oh, yeah," Rainbow remembered the exact memory. "Yeah, I met one of the. He was a pretty chill guy. And now that I remember, I also remember why that boat looked so familiar." "Really?" Spike said, mesmerized. "Yeah, we had to land on it. He wasn't much of a talker, though." "Cool," Spike said. "Akio!" a man's voice said in a panic. The group turned to see the little boy from earlier had strayed into the monorail. The doors to the train closed shut, separating him from his parents. "Mama!" the boy cried out. "Mama!" The boy tried to pry the doors open while his mom and dad were banging their hands against it. "Oh, no, the poor dear," Rarity said in surprise. Ford was quick to be at the kid's side. "Hey, hey, hey!" He tried to get the doors open himself, but they wouldn't budge. Rainbow and Applejack helped by try to pull them open with all their might. But still, the doors remained locked. "Oh, come on! Open!" the pegasus gritted her teeth as she pulled. "Mama!" the boy cried. Suddenly, the train lurched forward. "Hey, wait. No!" Twilight exclaimed. "Who's driving this thing? Tell them to stop." "No one's driving. It's all computerized," a passenger said. "We can't open it," Ford said. "What do we do? What do we do?" Rainbow asked in concern. "Look, don't worry. Just wait here," Ford reassured the boy's parents. "I'll bring him back. Okay!" "Mama!" the boy sounded like he was on the verge of tears. As the train picked up speed, he raced down the carriage to try and stay with his mom and dad. "Sugarcube, it's too late," Applejack paced after him. "You'll have to wait for the return trip." "Hey, hey," Ford tried speaking to the boy in Japanese, but it he couldn't recall the exact words. "Mama!" the boy was nearing the end of the carriage. "Woah. Kiddo, hold on," Rainbow zipped in front of him. "There's nothing we can do now." "Woah. Hey, kid," Ford grabbed the boy to stop him. "It's okay. I'm gonna bring him back." He set the boy down on an empty seat. "All right. I'm gonna set you down here." "It'll be okay, sweetheart. We'll get you back to you mom and dad," Fluttershy reassured softly, sitting next to the young boy. The boy seemed apprehensive but remained calm. "We're gonna get you back to your mom and dad," Ford assured. "Okay?" The young boy nodded. "Yeah. You'll be back with them before you know it," Rainbow patted the boy's head. "What's your name, dear?" Rarity asked sweetly. "A...Akio," the boy squeaked. "That's a nice name," Twilight smiled. "Well, Akio, just stay with us and we promise we'll keep ya safe," Applejack said. "And we'll bring you back to your parents," Spike added. "Here. Is this what you want?" Ford pulled out the toy soldier and handed it Akio. the boy gingerly took it. The young lieutenant figured the toy was the reason Akio even entered the train. He probably wanted a better look at it and got stuck behind the doors when they closed. "Take good care of him for me." The young Akio stare at the toy figure and messed around with it. "Well, things just took an interesting turn," Twilight said. "We better not miss our flight, kid," Ford playfully tipped the boy's cap. "Oh...right. I suppose we should get used to all the sheen and bright lights here," Rarity said flatly. "Oh, please. You would enjoy that," Rainbow said coyly. The Mane 6 and Spike all shared a laugh. However, they would all soon use realized that missing their flight would be the least of their worries. Threats were coming from both sides and they were set for a collision course. To be continued
Part 8: Horror in ParadiseThe Mane 6, Spike, Ford, and Akio all settled down for the comforting trip through the airport. For what it was worth, it was a good way to calm down and unwind from all that had transpired in the past 24 hours. However, back on the USS Saratoga, things were starting to get heated. "Admiral, received an intel report," a naval officer said to the admiral. "We lost track of a nuclear Akula 50 nautical miles northwest of Hawaii. Could be the MUTO." While it was targeted at him, Dr. Serizawa's attention was brought over to the advisory. Setting down his pen and paper, the Japanese scientist got up from his seat and approached Admiral Stenz. Dr. Graham had been standing a few feet away, just as intrigued of what the officer had said. "Just got word of a missing Russian sub in the North Pacific," Admiral Stenz relayed. He turned to some of the other officer working in the control room. "Martinez?" "Aye, sir." the female officer responded. "Special Forces Team Sparta 1 is picking up a distress signal northwest of Diamond Head on the island of Oahu. They're on the ground, headed to the beacon." Some of the monitors displayed the helmet cams on the search team as they search for the missing submarine. "--on 5.23 north-northeast of the last beacon. Moving in on foot." The team of soldiers trekked through the rugged, tropical landscape. They only thing keeping them company was the distant calls of the birds and insects. Despite their orders, a few of them couldn't help but think of the absurdity of searching for a missing seacraft in the middle of jungle. "Wanna tell me why we're looking for an Akula in the jungle?" one of the them asked, unassumed of the fact that were tasked to venture into a muggy region with heavy, clunky gear. "Probably a glitch," a another presumed. "Russians said they got a ping from this location." The soldier holding the tracking radar was also receiving a ping near the location they were in. Though, the glitch idea became the untold consensus amongst the team. "Hey, I got a reading. It's right up ahead." Up above, search and rescue helicopters shined their search lights down through the thick trees, slicing through the sweltering darkness of the evening sky. "Sparta 1, this is Hawkeye," one of the pilots said. "We're getting the same ping off the transponder. Range 30 meters. Looks like you're getting warm." The team of soldiers treaded through the lush vegetation. The tracker began beeping more rapidly as they got closer to the location. Their weapon lights then luminated something abnormal amongst the tropical brush. They were torpedoes. "What the hell?" one of them said. The soldiers holding the tracker cautiously approached the pile. Large gashes had been sliced into the shells and they were coated in a white, viscous slime. The soldier wiped away some of the gunk, showing the black and yellow warning label for radioactive material. "Jesus," he said in disgust, the substance clung to his glove. That wasn't the worst part. strands of the weird substance dripped onto the torpedoes from somewhere up above. The team raised their lights up and saw, to their shock, a massive ship propeller covered in the slime. Worse still, the propeller was still attached to something. "Oh, my god," one of the soldiers gaped. The helicopters' search lights came back on. The lights trailed up an entire Russian, Akula-style submarine perched up on a hilltop. The search team were in complete disbelief. It was no glitch, it was legit. A whole Russian sub beached amongst the Hawaiian native trees, coated in a mysterious slime. "Guardian 3, we located your Russian sub." one of them announced, but there was more. "You're not going to believe what else we found." "Holy shit," one of the helicopter pilots muttered. On the far side of the shredded seacraft, the MUTO was munching down on a torpedo. It seems relatively unbothered from all the blinding lights shining on it. "It appears to be rising approximately 20 to 30 meters above the tree line. We can't tell how wide it is," the soldier's description could be heard through the ship's control room. Admiral Stenz was alarmed, but remained stoic. He turned back to Dr. Serizawa. "Cat's out of the bag, doctor. No more secrets. Our highest priority now is safety. There's close to a million people on that island." Dr. Seriawa remained silent. He lowered his head, not out of shame but of thought. With the MUTO's reappearance mulling over in his head, the seasoned researcher could only think of when Godzilla was going to arrive. Admiral Stenz came over to Captain Hampton. "Get me eyes in the air." While he was giving out orders to the captain, another one of the naval officers was picking up something on the radar. "We're picking up something else. Approaching from the Pacific." That was the piece of news Serizawa was inevitably waiting for. Godzilla was on his way. "We need to check out that object," Stenz said. "General quarters." Dr. Serizawa hurried out the door with Dr. Graham following after him. Captain Hampton picked up a phone to contact the bridge. "Bridge, this is the captain..." Dr. Serizawa hurried through the tight corridors. He was carrying a jacket and a pair of binoculars. "Where you going?" Dr. Graham asked. "Up to the flight deck," the older scientist said. "I think he is coming." "What are you doing?" Graham asked, sounding more concerned. "I have to see this." Serizawa motioned her to stay put. On the flight deck, fighter jets scrambled into the air. They zoomed toward the location of the MUTO for interception and likely extermination. Along the shores of the Hawaiian beaches, people were leisurely enjoying themselves as the setting sun cooled the fresh tropical air. Some of them were ending their day with a relaxing visit to the surf bar and grill sitting not far from the shore. However, the site of military helicopter flying overhead, stained the atmosphere with confusion. Some of the people got up from their chairs as the watched the choppers hover over several buildings. SWAT teams fast-roped from the copters, landing on the building roofs. They quickly and expertly armed their guns and got into position. The team of specialized officers remained still, pointing there guns to the mountains where the MUTO approximately was. Meanwhile, the airport rail link train chugged along the bridged line. Pinkie was currently having fun with Akio, playing around with the boy's hands. "Are we there yet?" Rainbow groaned. "Considerin' we haven't stopped, Dash, I'd say no, we haven't," Applejack answered flatly. "Ugh, this is so boringggg!" "You can play with me and Akio," Pinkie joyfully suggested. "With what? There's nothing to have fun with," Rainbow whined. "Maybe to you," the party mare went back to waving her hooves with Akio's hands. "Bloop, bloop, bloop..." "So, would thank Godzilla our ally?" Twilight quietly said to herself. "I mean, worst case scenario, we are needed to help take down the MUTO, would he help us? Or would he see us as enemies as well?" "I-I...I would rather not think about that," Fluttershy hid behind her mane. "Oh, sorry, Fluttershy, I didn't know you could hear me." "If you ask me, I think he wouldn't care," Spike said. "That's...pretty bold," Twilight reproached. "Well, think about it, Twilight. These creatures we're dealing with are gigantic. It's like us with flies, we see them as a nuisance and not a threat." Both the alicorn and pegasus shared quizzical looks. Spike did raise a decent point. Compared to the MUTO and Godzilla, the Equestrians were tiny, almost unnoticeably so. In nature the large creatures usually ignore the tiniest animals, and it would likely hold up with the likes of the creatures they've seen today. "Hmm, biologically speaking, you're kind off onto something, Spike," Twilight said. "But would it still be wise to be around if they were to...fight? That would be pretty dangerous." "uh...moral support," Spike shrugged with a innocuous smile. This lead Twilight to giggle. "Um, there's something else I think you should know," Fluttershy said. "What is it, Fluttershy?" the young princess asked. "W-well, I...I was too scared to say anything on the ship, but..." The wavering pegasus was suddenly interrupted when several fighter jets zoomed past the train. It caught all the attention from the passengers as they watched the jets roar past. "Woah!" Akio and Pinkie said in amazement. "What in the? What's going on?" Rarity asked. "And what'n tarnation are those things?" Applejack added. "Ah remember seein' 'em back on the boat, but I have no clue what they are." "They're fighter jets. Aircraft designed for battle," Ford explained. "B-Battle!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "Your society has an over-the-top answer for everything, huh?" Spike said in bemusement. "Oh, yeah," Twilight's eyes lit up. "You told us about meeting a couple them with Dusty back then. Didn't you, Rainbow?" The cyan pegasus had to think for a quick second for the memories to come to the forefront of her mind. "Yeah, yeah! I think their names were Bravo and Echo." "Okay, present talk here. Why are they flying around if they're made to fight?" Rarity asked more critically. Ford's face expressed a mixture of confusion, anxiety, and worry. Those jets were deployed out here for a reason and it wasn't a positive one. "I don't know. But I have a bad feeling about this." The battalion of fighter jets raced to the location of the MUTO. Their mission; take down the the giant beasts before it can reach the city. "Two Charlie Six, we are circling the target," one of the pilots said. "Go on your command." His eyes narrowed on the raging creatures, the choppers' lights illuminating it's dark silver body against the mountains of green. "Stand by, got a visual. Bogey at my 12." The jets zoomed past the location point. The MUTO snarled threateningly before chomping down on another torpedo. More fighter jets whizzed overhead, provoking the MUTO even more. It dropped the torpedo, sending the decommissioned weapon falling to the ground. The soldiers on the ground braced as the missile smashed into the dirt. "Be advised. Prepare to engage target," another one of the fighter pilots said. "We're getting movement down here," one of the soldiers on the ground warned. The MUTO raised it's right front leg into the air. It glowed an ominous orange. It let out a enraged shriek, which was all the telling to the soldiers that the MUTO was about to attack. "Take cover!" The MUTO slammed it's spiked leg to the ground. The search team were knocked off their feet from the impact. An electromagnetic shockwave rattled throughout the entire area. One pilot's fighter jet was hit point blank. The machine immediately died and began to plummet to the ground. "Control I have no power!" the pilot yelled. "I say again, I've lost all-" The jet sliced through the tree tops and smashed into the forest floor, creating a brutal explosion and lighting up the compromised area. Several soldiers were knocked back several feet. But, the chaos didn't end there. The electromagnetic pulse traveled throughout the island, killing all electrical devices for miles. Cars died, lights went dark and the airport rail link came to a jolting halt, catching all the passengers off guard. "What the hay?" Twilight said, startled. "What the heck was that?" "There train's stopped," Fluttershy said quietly. "You all right?" Ford held Akio securely. Akio didn't give a response. He looked down the front of the front, confused to what was going on. "Hey, why did the train stop?" Rainbow asked. "We've got places to be." "It's probably just an electric malfunction." Ford assured. "You give it 10 seconds, lights gonna come back on." Akio turned back to him, still a bit unnerved. The young soldier held the boy's hand to keep him calm. "It's okay." "I don't mean to be pessimistic, but is it normal here for a city's lights to just go dead like this?" Rarity pointed to the darkened city. Not a single bit of the light came from any of the buildings. Seemed like the entire power grid was shot. Ford took notice. Of he wasn't already on edge from the dead train, he sure was now. "Something's wrong. Very wrong." "Ya'll don't suppose them MUTO is the cause of all this," Applejack hinted, slightly unedge, herself. "Dr. Serizawa said the MUTO let out electromagnetic pulses, which kills all electrical devices," Twilight recalled. "I think it's safe to say that, yes, this is the MUTO's doing." "But, that means it's here on this island," Spike said fearfully. Rainbow immediately took to searching for it. She scanned her eyes through the train's windows to try and spot it. "Where is it? It's bound to be around her somewhere." "Let's not cause an unnecessary panic in here, please, Rainbow," Ford said. "I suggest we just sit here and wait for the train to start up again. It's not like we're going to be here for long." The stalwart pegasus let out a conceding huff and flopped back down on her seat. "Fine, but I don't have to like it." "We wouldn't expect you too, Dash," Twilight said. "Don't worry, Dashie. You can still play with me and Akio," Pinkie grinned excitedly. "Pass," the prismatic mare said. The tropical beaches were lined with confused and concern bystanders. From their point of view, they could see the mushroom cloud from the jet crash rise above the hilly slopes. Within the dozens of people, a young girl's attention was turned back to the shore. The girl in question wore a yellow shirt, jeans, and with a lei around her neck. She removed herself from her mother's grasp and curiously stepped closer to the ocean. The tide was rapidly receding, so much so that hundreds of fish now lay hapless on the newly exposed seabed. "Dad!" the girl called out. A man in a bright blue shirt and lei turned to see her daughter standing away from the crowd. "Zoe?" he quickly jogged over to her. "Zoe!" The father hoisted her daughter up. That's when he too noticed the ocean tides retreating farther and farther away. "Oh, my god." He knew what a receding tide indicated. Weather sirens started going off, warning everyone of the impending tsunami. "Run. Run! Tsunami! Tsunami!" the father cried out, running with the crowd as the frantically vacated the premises. Up above, more military helicopters were heading toward the ocean. "Bravo, Bravo. Target spotted offshore two knots due east of your position," one the pilots radioed to the Saratoga. "Could be a second bogey." Dr. Serizawa had made it up to the main deck of ship. One hand firmly grasping his jacket and the other holding a pair of binoculars. All the was going on was soldiers yelling and more helicopters taking off from the deck. But, then the doctor spotted something in the distance. He looked through his binoculars to see a chopper shining a light down on something in the water. Large, black spikes protruded from the surface and they were moving toward the ships. The water swashed and bubbled as everyone aboard the Saratoga stopped and watched the spectacle. Dr. Serizawa lowered his binoculars, a horrified expression on his face. "Gojira." The giant creature wasn't slower down and it was heading toward the massive carrier. The personnel crouched and braced, expect Godzilla to crash into the ship, but massive beast dove down at the last second, swimming underneath the ship. The searchlights pierced through the water, highlighting Godzilla's reptilian body as he slicked through the frigid depths. The ship's personnel, along with Dr. Serizawa, raced to the other side of the aircraft carrier just in time to see Godizlla resurface. The watched in disbelief as the lizard-like beast breached through the surface, casting aside several military ships like they were toys in a bathtub. Back on the Hawaiian island, the shores had been completely deserted save for one occupant. A dog leashed to a tree was barking and whining as the raging wave of water rushed from the shore. The dog barked to try to scare the tsunami away, but this obviously didn't do anything. As the unstoppable wave mowed down chairs and beach umbrellas, the abandoned pooch made a break for it. Luckily the cheap leash easily snapped free of the tree. The dog raced down the streets and quickly caught up from the panicking mob of people. The monstrous wave was quickly catching up to them. The young girl from earlier was being carried by her father as he and his wife ran for their lives. She could see the tower of water getting closer, taking down everything in it's path. People stuck in there cars could only watch and brace as the tsunami smashed into their vehicles. The family of three quickly made it inside a coffee shop. Just as the glass door closed shut, the raging torrent rushed passed. The family raced to the back of the shop. The reinforced glass began to creak and crack under the insane weight. Most people were not so lucky, however, as they were swept up in the water. The few that managed to escape onto the tops of buildings watched the streets were bathed in the freezing seawater. Cars, trees, and telephone poles were swept away and disappeared within the frothing waves. The people were aghast of the tsunami's destruction, and as the last of the remaining building lights went out, the soldiers that were posted on the rooftops shot off flares. The immediate area was alit with an ominous red. It also illuminated the giant, reptilian creature that lumbered through the flooded streets. The citizen's astonished attention was now glued directly on Godzilla as he stepped past the buildings, not seeming to care of the dozens of eyes watching him. Suddenly, gunfire. Citizens ducked down as SWAT members rained a bullet hell on the lumbering beast. However, the bullet only bounced off Godzilla's armored skin. The assault rifles might of well have been airsoft guns. The SWAT members stopped shooting, quickly realizing the meaningless affect of their weapons. They could only watch was Godzilla carved a path through the streets, tearing down chunks of buildings in search of his prey. Meanwhile, back at the beach submarines, the search team on the ground were surveying the destruction and injuries from the subsequent MUTO attack. The MUTO in question seemed to have disappeared during the chaos. "Anybody hurt?" the sergeant radioed to the team. "Anyone get an eyeball on the bogey?" "Where is he?" one of the party members asked. No one seemed to have an answer. Nobody saw where the MUTO went. That was until they here the faint snarling coming from way behind them. The group turned. One of the soldiers took of his gas mask and walked over to the edge of the hillside. From their vantage point, they could see the city's electric system turn back on. The buildings' lights flicked back to life like the sun's sweeping light. That included the airport rail link. The train's lights turned back on, much to the relief of the passengers. "Finally!" Rainbow said, glad that they were finally getting going. "We've had enough inconveniences for one day." "All say. It was starting for feel surreal in here," Twilight said. "And humid. It's ruining my mane!" Rarity haplessly stroke her brilliant, violet mane, which was starting to frizzle. "There you go," Ford said to Akio. "What did I tell you?" "So, maybe it wasn't the MUTO after all?" Twilight asked conclusively. "Well, the power turning back on doesn't really prove or disprove anything. But, I doubt we'll have to worry about them anyways." Akio watched as the lights on the bridge lit back up, illuminating the railed path to the airport gate. The lights also lit up the MUTO's hulking frame as it stalked along the bridge. It let out a roar, causing everybody to panic. "You were sayin'!" Applejack exclaimed fearfully. "Gah! Why is that beast here?!" Rarity shrieked. "It's gonna eat us!" Pinkie cried out. Suddenly the train lurched forward, heading toward the agitated MUTO. "No, no, no, no, no!" Twilight held her head in horror. "Tell the conductor to turn the train around." "There is no conductor! The train's completely automated!" Ford exclaimed. The other passengers began screaming and crying as the train closed in on the MUTO. Ford stood up upon seeing the massive creature. He held Akio close. "What do we do!?" Spike asked, panicking like he never had before. "Somepony open one of the windows" Twilight ordered, a magenta glow emanating from her horn. "I'll try to distract it." "You can't be serious, Twilight!" Rarity gaped. "Taking on that thing by yourself?" "I have to do something!" the alicorn argued. But before Twilight could even think of a way to break through the train window, gunfire rained down from high above. "Get down!" Ford forced Akio to the ground, shielding him. "Eep!" Fluttershy squealed and practically flattened herself to the floor. The others did the same, ducking to avoid potential friendly-fire. Attack helicopters swooped in from right to intercept the parasitic monster. Bullets pummeled the MUTO's body. It let out an agitated growl before setting it's sights on the on-coming train. "Where's the brakes to this thing?" Rainbow searched for any kind of lever or button that signified a braking system. All Ford could see was the gaping maw from the train's front window. Akio let out a scream, causing the young soldier to take action. "Let's go! Twilight, everybody, get down!" The Mane 6 and Spike acted with question and braced against the floor. Ford barricaded Akio against the seats and used his body as a shield. The sound of shattering glass and crumbling concrete filled the panic-stricken air. The train car leaned down causing some of the passengers to slip and fall to the pile of rubble now sitting on the tarmac. The MUTO had torn open the train car which was now teetering over the edge of the broken bridge. Ford was able to grab onto a row of seats to keep from falling. "It's okay! We have you!" Twilight managed to nab a young woman in her magic, keeping her from falling. "Please wake up! Let's just be a nightmare!" Rarity lightly bashed her hooves against her head. "That we be to good to be true," Rainbow said, holding the unicorn's tail. "Please remember to stay clear of the automatic doors," The PA said in a robotic tone. "That's not helping!" Akio was unable to hold on to anything and began sliding to the gaping hole at the end of the busted train. "Akio!" Fluttershy wailed. Ford, however, was to grab the young, Japanese boy from falling. The horrified pegasus breathed a quicky sigh of relief, which was quickly snuffed out when the train lurched further over the edge. "If this train continues to lean, it'll go over entirely!" Ford warned. Twilight, thinking on her hooves, came up with a plan. "Rainbow, come with me!" The young princess zipped through the opening. "On it!" Rainbow quickly followed, a streak of rainbow colors trailing behind. "Twilight! Rainbow! Where are ya going!?" Applejack called out, but received no reply. Once outside, the alicorn princess iterated her plan to Rainbow. "We need to get this train back on the tracks. We'll try to push back on from the bottom," she pointed to the undercarriage. "Woah, hold on, Twi," Rainbow said. "I know I'm a very capable pony, but I don't think we'd be able to push an entire train back." "We have to try!" Twilight exclaimed urgently. " Even if we can't get it back on the track, we have to keep it from falling off the bridge. If we don't, everypony inside is a goner!" The purple alicorn pointed to the smoldering pull of steel and concrete where one train car sat, twister and broken. Rainbow quickly got the message and steeled herself. "All right, let's save these ponies and humans. And dragon, too." Twilight and Rainbow zipped underneath the teetering railcar. They pressed their hooves against the undercarriage. Together, the alicorn and pegasus heaved with all their might to keep the train from going over. "Put you back into it!" Twilight yelled. "I'm trying!" Rainbow answered back sharply. The two ponies were being pushed beyond their limits to keep the train and everybody inside safe. On the tarmac, ground control had gone into complete panic. Airport workers run and dove underneath parked airplanes to hide from the aggrevated MUTO. "Go, go, go!" one of the workers yelled, ushering the entire team to take cover. The monster roared and stomped around the open flight line. To make matters worse, seawater came flooding in. Not on a tsunamic level, but it wasn't something ground personnel needed nor wanted. The one saving grace were the attack helicopter circling the MUTO's path. "Target in sight--two o-clock, 300 meters," one of the pilots said through the radio. "We're on 6-X-01. Target confirmed," the co-pilot added. They fired more rounds at the MUTO. The MUTO, however did not seem all that effected. Without warning, a large column of black spikes rose in-front of the chopper's path. The pilots violently swung the aircraft left to avoid collision. "Jesus!" They swung back toward the MUTO, but they had flown too close. Now they were on a collision course for the MUTO itself. The two pilots tried to avoid it, but it was too little, too late. The giant, silver beast let out a defiant roar and bashed it's right wing into the helicopter. It burst into flames and spun out of control toward the ground. The flaming chopper smashed into a parked commercial jet, leading to a massive explosion. People inside the terminal began screaming and panic as they watched the white-hot mushroom cloud consume the massive plane. Fiery debris flew everywhere, chain-reacting into another parked aircraft, which also burst into flames. And then a third plane exploded, it was utter pandemonium. That's when a gigantic, reptilian foot stomped onto the tarmac. Everyone in the terminal went dead silent, stun and horrified by what they were seeing. Twilight and Rainbow, who were stilling holding the train, couldn't believe what they were seeing. Everyone in the train couldn't believe what they were seeing. "Oh...my...gosh," Rarity said, barely even able to say the words. Spike let out a horrified squeak and ducked underneath the blanching unicorn. Pinkie just had her mouth wide open, maybe emotions whirled around in her head. Applejack stood completely stunned. "He's even bigger than ah thought," she muttered fearfully. Fluttershy hugged the apple farmer pony like she was her stuffed animal. Once again, it was like her nightmare was coming to reality. But, seeing him in real life, Fluttershy wished it was all a nightmare. "No," she began to cry. The MUTO let out another might roar and flared out it's wings, as if to tell the creature approaching it to back off. The monstrous, black, lizard-like creature didn't back down. It glared at the MUTO with the fury of a thousand judges. Rainbow was finally able to find her voice to ask one, simply question. "Twilight...is that..." The last word died in her throat, too overcome with astonishment and dread. Twilight gulped, sweat racing down her face like a river. In a quiet, barely audible tone said... "It's Godzilla." Sam was lazily laying on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, military and dinosaur toys on the coffee, watching the evening news on the TV. Okay, well that last part doesn't sound in-line for a young boy, but Sam was entranced of the even broadcast solely for the fact that they were airing live footage of Godzilla fighting the MUTO. All the while, reporters and witnesses going over the current chaos ensuing on the tropical island. "Sam, please turn that TV off," Elle came into the kitchen area and through down a couple articles of clothing onto the counter. Her son didn't give a response, instead keeping his eyes firmly staring at the TV screen. She let out a sigh as she grabbed a nearby cup and filled it with water. "Hey, did you hear me?" Sam just sat upright. Whether she couldn't hear his mom or flat out chose to ignore her, it was hard to tell. Elle wasn't having any of it, either way. "Off," she said more sternly. Again, nothing. Sam watched as the TV showed the MUTO take to the sky and flee of over the ocean with Godzilla in pursuit. "Come on, Sammy. Let's go," the young nurse, with Sam's clothing in-hand saunter toward his bedroom. "Let's go. It's bedtime." She turned back around to Sammy who was still on the couch. "Sammy." "Mommy, look," the young boy pointed to the TV. "Dinosaurs." Elle dismissively looked at the TV for barely a second, before looking back at her soon. If she didn't know any better, she thought she saw a giant, prehistoric-looking creature on the news. Elle did a mental double-take and looked back at the screen. Sure enough, there it was, Godzilla taking to the seas to chase after the MUTO. Of course, she herself didn't know what the creatures were exactly, just that the chaos occurred in Hawaii. Dread formed in the pit of her stomach. Not too long ago she got a message from Ford explaining that was heading to Hawaii to catch a flight. The horror hidden in her expression was indescribable. Was her husband okay? Was he even alive? Are the ponies still with him? Those questions only fueled her anxiety and dread. Combined with the fact that giant, destructive animals were now roaming the earth, she couldn't fathom a reality even if she wanted to. But, here it was, and Elle and her son were bystanders of such a terrifying reality. Worse of all Ford and the ponies could possible be victims, dead or alive. "Oh, Ford," she held to doorframe to keep from collapsing and having a meltdown. Things have gone from bad to worse to even worse for everyone involved: Ford, Elle, the Mane 7, Dr. Serizawa, everyone. However, this hell was far from over and the real danger was only just beginning. To be continued
Part 9: The Tensions WorsenFluttershy felt a sick sense of déjà vu as she along with the rest of the gang trudged with the crowd through the destroyed island coast. The streets were littered with shattered glass, steel, and concrete, buildings stood with shredded pieces missing, and the air was saturated with aging smoke and dust. She felt like she was back at the research facility when the MUTO first rose, except this time it was ten times worse. The water had long since dissipated allowing reasonably safe travel through the destroyed streets. She turned to look at Ford, who was carrying Akio. She turned her sights to her other friends. They were, for a lack of a better term; miserable. Rainbow and Twilight were the most spent, having to heave an entire transport train from falling. As for Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, and Spike, they weren't really faring any better. None of them had been able to get a wink of sleep since the near-death experience with the MUTO. Pinkie was really the only one trying to keep everyone's spirits up. Godzilla's arrival had been a blessing and a curse. He was able to chase away the MUTO before it could cause any more death and destruction, but at the cost of Fluttershy's ability to sleep. “So, that happened,” Spike spoke, breaking the aching silence. Seeing Godzilla in person for the first time was…surreal, to say the least for our heroes. The experience was hard to put into words, what with the crisis that was occurring at the same time and that Godzilla’s introduction was something the Mane 6 and Spike had never had the pleasure, or in this case displeasure, of experiencing. Even knowing Godzilla was a villain, the sheer magnitude shook everybody to their bones. “He was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before,” Twilight said with a mixture of shock and curiosity. “And let it be that last,” Rarity grimaced. “Good guy or not, that was utterly nightmarish.” “I’m starting to see why you’re were so afraid of him in your dream, Fluttershy,” Pinkie said, her facaded cheeriness, masked the fear and unsettlement gripping the mare eternally. Fluttershy glanced at the rundown earth pony. Pinkie’s mane, once puffy and bright, mirroring her personality, was now sunken and dark. Not to the point of full, monotonous flatness, but it was getting there. By that only, Fluttershy could tell of Pinkie’s struggles of grasping the situations they had experienced in the last 12 hours, but even she was struggling with her emotions. Despite being told that Godzilla was more or less the equalizer of nature and that he wasn't here to cause intentional harm, the panicky pegasus still couldn't bring herself to not be afraid of him. Fluttershy hounded on herself to try and be more courageous, but having to go through such chaotic events, one's as unique as this, made it seem like an impossible climb to even consider trying to be more valorous. "How will we ever find Akio's parents now within this sea of humans?" Fluttershy's internal conflict was interrupted by Rainbow's hopeless-sounding question. "That's what these stands are for," Ford pointed out. As the team made their way through the injured and lost, they could the sound of a man's voice speak of a PA system. "Attention, please. Incoming patients please proceed..." "Do they have anything to treat headaches, cuz it feels like my head is literally splitting open," Twilight rubbed her forehead, trying to soothe the pain. "I doubt it. These stands are for the injured and lost only," Ford said. They came up to one of them where a medical coordinator and a doctor were standing, discussing something on a clipboard. "Hi. Excuse me. I'm sorry. This boy's been separated from his parents." "And do you guys have an icepack or something," Twilight added. "Just fill out this form. Will be with you in just a minute," the female coordinator pointed to another clipboard. Ford took the clipboard. Meanwhile, the Mane 6 and Spike group together for a private discussion. "What are we doing here, honestly?" Rainbow grimaced. "All we've been doing is following Ford around and getting caught up with everything without actually doing anything." "Well, we did keep the train from falling?" Twilight argued. "That's all we've done so far!" The cyan pegasus was getting agitated. Applejack then came up to here. "Rainbow, is this about what happened to Ford's father?" "Yes! Well, on my part anyways," Rainbow said, her tone unchanging. "This discussion is a collective thing." "There is some truth to what Rainbow is saying," Rarity sadly admitted. "All we've done is run or cower in fear." "Well it's kinda hard to kick to creature that's thousands of times your size," Pinkie said. "Unless we were back in the early days when they were much smaller." "Ya mean like when they'ere young?" Applejack asked. "Nope," Pinkie shook her head. "Then what did ya mean by..." "Look that's besides the point," Twilight interjected. "I just...I have no idea what to do or what we should be doing. Fluttershy, did the mean hint at anything that could be helpful to us." Fluttershy was forced to think back to the dream again. But, all that she could remember was Godzilla, the MUTO, and all the fiery destruction that came with them. "No. Nothing that I can remember." There was a grim silence within the group of ponies. "What if we were just here to help with evacuation or something like that," Spike perked up. "Maybe were to save the humans instead of actually defeating the creatures themselves." "Ugh, that just feels like a cop out." Rainbow grunted. "We would still be doing an awful job," Rarity said. "I mean, look around." She raised her hooves up, implicating all the destruction that lay about them. As the Mane 6 and Spike continued to discuss, Akio unknowingly slipped away. "Hey, you got service on that cell phone?" Ford asked another man. "No. The pay phones don't even work," the man replied. The young soldier let out a disgruntled sigh. He turned to where Akio was supposed to be standing to try and reassure him, but found the young boy had disappeared. "Akio?" Ford looked around. "Girls, where's Akio." The group of ponies and dragon stopped their discussion. They too noticed that Akio was gone. "He should've been..." Twilight's heart sank to the pit of her stomach. "Oh, no." Why wasn't anypony keepin' an eye on 'im?" Applejack glowered. "Hey, you never said anything about that," Rainbow argued. Ford put down the clipboard and quickly paced around to try and spot the boy. Rainbow, Twilight, and Fluttershy took to the air. "Akio!" Twilight called out. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," Pinkie chanted. "This isn't a game of hide-and-seek, Pinkie," Rarity said with frustration. "Akio!" "Akio!" A pair of voices could be heard in the distance. Through a break in the crowd, the group could see Akio's parents reuniting with their son. "Mama! Papa!" Akio raced over to them. The parents held the boy, relieved to finally get their son back. Ford and the Mane 7 were equally relieved. "Well, at least he's save now," the fashionista unicorn smiled. "Yeah, that sure was lucky," Spike added. "We still shouldn't have let him out of our sights," Twilight said solemnly. "No denyin' there. We just got really lucky," Applejack agreed. "If only that luck was there back at the facility," Rainbow said bitterly. "Rainbow, that wasn't your fault," Pinkie assured. "Is it? If I had just noticed sooner or just flown faster, Joe wouldn't have fallen. If I had just done something! Joe might have survived." The boisterous pegasus had tears starting to prick up from her eyes. Rainbow fought hard to keep them from falling. She had felt responsible for Joe's death. She was the fastest living thing on this planet and the fact she wasn't able to do a thing to save Joe, it shook her in a way that she never felt before. "Rainbow, Joe's death was rough on all of us, especially Ford," Twilight said. "But, you need to understand that, under those circumstances, you couldn't have known that the walkway was going to collapse until it was too late. You can't live the rest of your life feeling like your responsible for everypony, or everycreature for that matter." "But, it's our duty to protect everypony." Rainbow Dash said sadly. "That doesn't mean we're capable of saving everypony." By this point, the purple princess had tears falling from her eyes. "I don't blame you for my dad's death," Ford spoke up. "Even now, I'm still grieving. But, we can't just sit in a corner and beat ourselves up over this. We need to find a way back home before the MUTO and Godzilla really start to wreak havoc." "Ford's right, we can't be here mopin' when we still have to do something about this monster problem," Applejack tipped her hat. Rainbow took in a long, snot-riddled inhale through her nose, then exhaled out through her mouth. "Okay, worry about the monsters now." "That's the spirit," Twilight said. "Now, anypony have any idea how we're going to get off this island?" Rarity asked. "Those planes won't be flying any time soon," the bright, blue pegasus said. "Maybe we should take a boat." "That could take days," Ford said. That's when a army truck pulled up nearby. "Corporal, load up, load up," a man ordered. Two rows of soldiers then marched by, heading to the truck. "That might work," Ford said. "But those vehicles can't swim," Pinkie pointed out. Ford walked over to one of the soldiers; the sergeant. "Sergeant. Lieutenant Brody, U.S. Navy. Listen I need your help. I'm trying to get to the mainland." "Welp, it's your lucky day," the sergeant broke from the formation. "Everything not tied down is moving east." "East? That is to the mainland, right?" Spike asked. "Correct," the sergeant answered. "Whoa, whoa, is that where they're heading?" Ford asked. "Yeah. I guess we're monster hunters now." the young sergeant left to catch up with the rest of the passing soldiers. "That's sounds like our ticket to me," Twilight said. "But, monster hunters? Are they follower the MUTO and Godzilla?" Fluttershy asked. "Sounds like it," Ford said. "Let's go. The sooner was reach California, the better." And so, it was decided. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike were boarded unto a large, Boeing C-17 Globemaster, a military transport jet. From there, the took to the seas toward the west coast of the United States. The choppers and warships converged and traveled through the vast blue waters. What came to a shock to the ponies and dragon was how close they were to Godzilla. The kaiju itself was tepidly sailed through the water, he's massive back spikes poking out from the water. He wasn't going fast and he didn't seemed to bother of all the ships around, almost as if he was taking he's time in tracking down the MUTO. Fluttershy watched through one of the aircraft’s windows. The gargantuan beast remained stoic and methodical, but it brought the pegasus great fear. And she hated it. Godzilla wasn't doing anything dangerous and scary, yet Fluttershy felt her heart raced like she was running a marathon. "Everything all right, Sugarcube?" Applejack sat right beside her. Fluttershy let out a defeated sigh. "No, it's not." "What's the matter, Flutters?" "Well, it's just that...I can't help but be afraid of Godzilla and, for the life of me, I can't understand why. Dr. Serizawa said he was tasked to balance nature. He only takes monsters that threaten nature as a whole." "Yeah, he did say somethin' like that," Applejack said. "I guess that makes Godzilla a protector in a way." "That's just it. He's trying to protect this world and yet I can't bring myself to be amazed or curious. I'm just scared of him." Fluttershy put a hoof between her eyes. She let out another sigh, this time a little more frustrated. "Fluttershy..." Applejack sigh solemnly. "It's okay to be scared of things. Bein' scared doesn't make ya weak." "But, I'm scared of everything, Applejack," Fluttershy said. "heights, large crowds, I even panicked when a leaf fell on my back. I was even scared of that dragon that was sleeping on that mountain." Applejack remembered all too well. The girls were tasked to shoo away a fully grown dragon from a cave at the top of a nearby mountain. The slumbering beast bellowed tons of smoke, blinding the entire town of Ponyville. Applejack could remember the adversities they went through making it up to the top: The rockslide, the gap, waking the dragon. Fluttershy ending up reprimanding the dragon for trying to hurt her friends, but leading up to that was frightened resistance. "But, Fluttershy, you've been, uh, skittish when it comes ta dragons." "Not all. I don't have any problems with Spike," Fluttershy said. "But still, that dragon was just sleeping. It wasn't doing anything wrong aside from the smoke problem. Yet I was a shaking mess. It was only when you girls were in serious danger that I finally put more hoof down. I'm tired of being so skittish over things like this. I want to be more courageous." Applejack understood where Fluttershy was coming from. Even she knew there was cause for concern in the situation they all were in, but she couldn't imagine how Fluttershy felt, and it seemed that the pegasus was frustrated with how she felt. The apple farmer wrapped around the animal caretaker's shoulders. "Fluttershy, ya can't force yerself to not be afraid. It's something that happens deep within ya, like when ya stood up that dragon. All ya need to do is find that part of ya within ya." "But, what if I can't?" Fluttershy asked hopeless. "Yer a lot more capable than ya think, Fluttershy. I lot braver, too. There will come a time where your scared, but you put on a brave face and push through those fears despite everything your mind is tellin' ya. All ya really need is a little transparency and patience." Fluttershy looked back to Applejack, then back down to the floor. She was still a little unsure if she was capable of pulling that off again. "Listen, bein' brave doesn't mean being fearless," the humble earth pony said. "Bein brave means to face something even if ya do feel scared. Fear is a part of life. The real question is if you able to overcome it to do the right thing." The timid mare was left to marinate those last words. Would she be able to overcome her fears to keep her friends safe? Would she be able to be more mellow and out-going instead of being so shy. Applejack did give some assurance, so perhaps it was all helpless. "Thank you, Applejack," Fluttershy smiled. "Anytime, sugarcube," Applejack smiled back. On the USS Saratoga, the control workers were in the workings of mapping out the predicted location Godzilla and the MUTO were heading. Admiral Stenz study the computerized map intently while one of the workers instigated the satellite trackings. "Satellite transfer complete. Simulations uploaded." The indicator narrowed down on Godzilla's current position, which at the moment was heading toward the California coast. "Last satellite tracks predict the MUTO continuing due east," the female worker explained. "All our models have the targets converging on the Pacific Coast. As of now, it looks like Godzilla's still following the MUTO." "He's hunting," Dr. Serizawa entered the control room followed by Dr. Graham. Admiral Stenz turned him, not entirely understanding what the doctor was implying. Turning his attention away for a quick second, the admiral began making out orders. "Have all vessels maintain current distance from target. And plot the speed and heading of these things. I wanna know exactly when and where they'll make landfall." "Yes, sir," one of the naval officers said. Stenz then turned his attention back to Serizawa. It had become clear he knew some discovered details. "Doctor, what did you mean by "hunting?" the admiral asked. "You think it's chasing this MUTO?" Dr. Serizawa didn't answer at first. He was too busy with his thoughts. "But if the MUTO is his prey..." Dr. Graham spoke up. "The signal shows a call. Why call up a predator?" "No, It didn't. I think Godzilla was only listening," the languorous researcher replied. "The MUTO was calling something else." A tense silence hung in the air. No one's expression changed, but the minds were analyzing what Serizawa was implying. There was a guaranteed possibility of a third monster existing. Even with the lurid revelation, Dr. Serizawa's mind was still reeling in more information. Information that was buried deep within the recesses of his brain, casted aside as nothing more than documented info of a bygone time. Now, he wondered if it wasn't so extraneous after all. "The pattern," the older scientist said in a sharp whisper. "Focus the search on Nevada." He hurried over to the room's mapping table. "Nevada? Why would it go to Nevada?" Captain Hampton asked. The captain and the admiral were left confused. However, Dr. Graham came to the same conclusion as Dr. Serizawa. She, too was aware of vestigial data the had uncovered long ago. "It can't be. It's impossible," she said in disbelief. "What's impossible?" Admiral asked expectantly. "There was another spore, intact, found in the Philippine mine." She turned to Serizawa. Like with him, she was there when they researched the spore. "But we vivisected it. Ran every test on it for years. You confirmed it for yourself. It was dormant!" "Maybe not anymore," Serizawa said grimly. "This spore. Where is it now, doctor?" the captain asked. "It was highly radioactive. It was disposed of," Dr. Graham explained. "The Americans, they took it." "Doctor, where is it?" the admiral asked. Dr. Serizawa slowly raised his head, staring grimly to the eyes of Stenz. "Where you put all your nuclear waste." Once again, another cold silence washed over. Both the captain and the admiral knew exactly where the Japanese researcher was talking about. Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas A group of army trucks and a pair of helicopters were dispatched to the lonely repository. The trucks kicked up clouds of sun-bleached dust as they raced through the arid, dry desert. Soldiers geared up in protective uniforms and masks for the probable radiation-heavy death zone. They also armed guns, just in case the creature was feeling extra cranky. As they neared the facility, specialized personnel threw open the bard-wired fence gates, allowing entry into the tunnel drilled through the mountain. "Go, go, go!" they directed the trucks inside. The helicopters made swift landings. The heavily-armored soldiers rallied out and entered into the tunnel. The trucks came to a stop as soon as they reached inside. More soldiers climbed out. "All right, let's go! Give me a Mark 1 eyeball on every vault," the leader ordered. the team of soldiers hurriedly marched down the ghostly-green lit corridor. Each soldier took a vault door. They would slide open a small, metal covering, allowing them to look through a windowed slot into the storage units. As one of the soldiers shined his gun-mounted light through the opening, all he could see was drum of nuclear material and decommissioned warheads. "Clear!" he yelled. One by one, the soldiers opened the slots to each and every vault. So far, all that was found were untouched missiles, drums, and storage tanks. "Clear!" "Clear!" "Clear!" "Clear!" The individuals soldiers shouted confirmation for unscathed vaults. One particular soldier open the covering of one vault. Only to be met with the blinding rays of sunshine. It didn't take a genius to know something happened to this vault. "Hey!" he got the others' attention. With everyone's cautious focus now on the one vault, now it was time for a further investigation. Two of the soldiers opened the heavy vault door, while the rest readied their guns, expecting the worst. Once the door was opened the soldiers swarmed inside the fault...or what was left of it. The entire vault had been completely destroyed, along with several dozen others with it. All that remained was a giant hole in the mountain, exposing the metallic skeleton of the underground facility. Through the lingering smoke and dust, the soldiers sauntered outside. It was obvious that something had come alive and was now somewhere out in the desert. One soldier had a pair of binoculars and began searching for the creature. It didn't take much to find another, larger MUTO lumbering through the sandy biome. Worst of all, however, was that it was heading straight for downtown Las Vegas. By this point, it was too late to do but watch the inevitable. The luxurious city of Las Vegas was teeming with life. Being the midday, the casinos were abuzz with people hoping to be lucky enough to score a big buck. In one such casino, the visitors were glued to their slot machines and staff were too busy with customer's needs to notice the TV's broadcasting news footage of the MUTO laying siege on the city. Suddenly, the electricity cut out, drowning the rooms in darkness and killing all the machines. People groaned and clamored with the inconvenience. That frustration and confusion turned to terror when one of the MUTO's feet crashed through the roof. Steel and concrete showered from above and people screamed in terror as the massive creature roared and stomped a path through the expensive city. Panic ensued and emergency personnel were immediately dispatched. The MUTO continued it's stubborn warpath through the city, tearing down buildings and landmarks in the process. From within one of the countless, luxury apartments, banging resounded from the front doors of one. "Is anyone in there?" a man yelled. The knocking turned to banging when answer came. Then the doors burst open. A trio of firefighters entered and began searching for possible victims. All they could found was an empty room, the sound of slow, Elvis Presly music, and a gaping hole on the far end of the apartment. The firefighters stared in shock seeing the crumbling hole showing the carnage outside. Military helicopters zoomed by in pursuit of the MUTO. It was being bombarded with artillery, but it appeared to have little to no effect as the hulking monster continued it's unbothered trek tearing down buildings. Back on the USS Saratoga, the situation had come to a head. "Captain, our UAV's have footage of the new MUTO," one of the naval officers revealed. "Let's have a look," Admiral Stenz said. "Yes, sir," The main computer screens changed to show the new footage of the MUTO knocking down Paris Las Vegas's replica of the Eiffel Tower. "This is from five minutes ago," the officer said. "My god," the shocked admiral muttered. He turned to Captain Hampton, who shared the same somber look. "Playing all we have now," the officer said. Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham studied the footage with shock and amazement. "It's almost 300 feet," Graham said. "It's far bigger than the other one." "But this one doesn't have any wings," Stenz pointed out. "A different sex?" "A female," Serizawa concluded. The three turned back to the computer monitors. Both footage of male and female MUTO were showing, comparing the two monsters. "That's who he's been talking to," the younger scientist said. "It must be a mating call," Serizawa said. "The female remained dormant until the male matured." "Now they're seeking radiation. To reproduce." The two researchers were left awestruck and horrified at the same time. The discovery of a second MUTO was alarming enough, but them being male and female, there stood a scarily probable possibility of them mating and reproducing more MUTOs. A meeting was held with the headmen of the ship along with Serizawa and Graham. Already the military analyst had an idea to take down the MUTO and Godzilla. He laid down map of California on the table of the meeting room. Captain Hampton, Admiral Stenz, and several others circled the table. "Current tracking models indicate that all three targets are converging here: San Francisco Bay," the military analyst said. "But if we rig a nuclear warhead with a shielded timer, put it on a boat, and send it 20 miles out, the radiation lures the MUTOs and the MUTOs lure Godzilla." "And we detonate, with minimal fallout risk to the city," Hampton advocated. "You can't be serious." Dr. Graham spoke up with opposition. "They feed on radiation." "Correct. That's why we use the bomb as bait," Hampton explained. "And kill them with the sheer force of the blast," the analyst said. "This is crazy," Graham groaned. "Doctor, if you have any other ideas, I am all ears," Stenz said. "Admiral," Serizawa spoke firmly, yet stoically. All the attention was brought to him. "Yes, doctor," Stenz said. "Gojira may be the answer," Dr. Serizawa stood up from his seat. "I believe he's here to restore balance. He can defeat them." "And what? We just stand by and watch?" the admiral questioned roughly. "I'm sorry, doctor. I can't take that risk." The seasoned admiral turn his priorities back the other officers. "We'll need to prep the warheads and get them moving to the coast." "Yes, sir," the stoic captain said. "Yes, sir," said another. With that, the naval soldiers shuffled out of the room with paperwork in-hand. Stenz, Graham, and Serizawa were the only three left standing in the room. The admiral looked at the Graham, who had a look of stunned disbelief in the sense of the she could understand why they would think this was a smart plan. She shook her head and made her way out. Stenz could still sense the protest from the Dr. Serizawa. "Doctor, I know you don't agree with this. But my first priority is to safeguard our citizens." The geriatric researcher didn't give a reply. Instead, he held out his hand, which was holding something. Curious, the admiral reached out and took it from the doctor's hand. It was a pocket watch frozen in time. The hands were frozen into one position. "It's stopped," Stenz observed. "Yes," Serizawa said. "Eight-fifteen in the morning. August 6, 1945." "...Hiroshima." "It was my father's." Serizawa took back the watch and closed it. He stared hard at the admiral, not muttering another word before walking out of the room. Admiral Stenz was left alone. The doctor's message was clear to him: He had traumas with nuclear warfare and had given him a bad taste of the Americans. Yet, he was willing to look past that to help them with the their current monster problem. Serizawa wanted Stenz to do the same; look past Godzilla's damages and let him battle the MUTO. He wanted nature to do it's part, uninterrupted. Godzilla was their ally, not their enemy. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike were finally started to relax in the transport jet as it zoomed over the Pacific Ocean. It seemed that everything was finally going the way they wanted and were on their way back San Francisco. That’s when the sergeant showed up in the passenger gallery. “All right, heads up. We got new destination new orders. Let’s get geared up.” “Wait, hold on. New destination?” Twilight asked incredulously. “Does…that mean we’re not going back to San Francisco?” Fluttershy said, disheartened by the sudden change of plans. “Are you serious?” Rainbow asked angrily. “Can’t one thing go right for us?” “Settle down,” Ford said. “I’ll see what’s going on.” The Lieutenant got up from his seat as did the other soldiers, preparing to disembark the jet when it landed. “Hey. Hey, tech sergeant.” The sergeant turned to Ford. “What’s the word?” Ford inquired. The tech sergeant seemed to hesitate for a second. He wasn’t all too thrilled with the info he had received. “Another one of those things popped up in Nevada, sir.” He turned back to prepare the rest of the soldiers. Ford stood dumbstruck with the sergeant had shared with him. The Mane 6 and Spike shared the same feelings. “Another one?” Twilight parroted. “Another MUTO?” “Now that’s two monsters on our hooves,” Rarity stated worriedly. “Not to mention Godzilla,” Fluttershy added fearfully. “As if one MUTO wasn’t enough.” “What’s next? The end of the world?” Rainbow said rhetorically, clearly upset over the unfortunate news. Some of the soldiers turned to her with unamused looks. “It may very well be if something isn’t done about it,” one of the them. “Godzilla can handle it. That’s what Dr. Serizawa said,” Spike reminded. “Yeah, but with two of those giant creatures?” Applejack said. “He’s got his cut out for ‘im.” “Unless we think of something to help,” Twilight said solemnly. “We’re really being pushed into a corner here.” “Not to mention we’re not going home still,” Pinkie pulled out a paper that listed all the current problems the gang was having. “Amongst all the other issues at hoof.” It seemed to roll out for an eternity, weaving around other soldiers’ feet. “Er…right,” Twilight eyed the mile-long paper. “Like I said, we’re really grasping at straws for solutions.” “This really is starting to feel hapless,” Fluttershy said solemnly. “Ah hate to say it. But ah can’t help but agree with ya, Flutters,” Applejack said There was nothing for it, unfortunately. The plane was diverted to a new location. All our gang of friends can do now is think of another way back home and, from there, a way to take down the MUTO. Lone Pine, California About 250 miles southeast of San Francisco The town of Lone Pine was...tense, to say the least. All of the residence had long since evacuated and now the streets were overrun with soldiers and military vehicles. Fires burned greatly in the distance, creating a wall of black smoke that put a blight on the cloudy sky. One of the transport trucks came to stop in the middle of the swarmed street. Two soldiers opened the tailgate for the soldiers inside to disembark. Ford and the Mane 7 climbed out after the armed soldiers. "Okay, everybody out," one of the soldiers said. "Can't fly any further. We're well in range of it's EMP. So from here on out, it's on the ground or it's not at all. Let's go!" "On the ground or not at all?" Rainbow asked incredulously. "Lame! They really like sucking the fun out of everything." "This isn't about having fun, Rainbow," Twilight interjected. "It's for safety reasons. Besides, I'm pretty sure they were referring to the planes they transported us with." "Yeah," Ford said. "They're affected by the electromagnetic pulses." The gang noticed the mangled, smoldering remains of a crashed helicopter sitting on the road. It had been hit by a prior EMP before it had a chance to land safely. "Case and point." "Oh, my godness," Fluttershy clasped her front hooves over her mouth. Rarity then dropped to her knees. "It's hopeless. It's absolutely hopeless! All forms of transportation on this world is useless now, we're stuck in this accursed town with monsters roaming about, and we still have no way to go back home!" The ivory-colored unicorn began cry hysterically. "We're doomed!" "Oh, boy," Spike muttered. "Welp, better can this franchise while we're still alive," Pinkie said rather absentmindedly. "What are you even saying, Pinkie?" Rarity asked between choked sobs. "We're going to die?!" Fluttershy exclaimed now in a full-blown panic. "Uh, Twilight." Now even Spike was getting scared. "Uhhh...I, uh..." The pink-striped alicorn struggled to think of a solution or even any kind of answer at all. Everypony seemed to be at a loss of what to do at this point. For all that could be gathered, the odds were constantly stacked against and the issues seemed to be piling. Twilight was barely able to keep herself together, much less calm down friends from their respectively breakdowns. "Uh, guys," Ford tried to interject, but either he wasn't being heard or he was ignored. It seemed the Mane 7's mentality was dwindling, all except for one who decided to put her hoof down. "Everypony, simmer down!" Applejack's firm voice echoed through the streets. For a brief moment, everything went still and silent. Even the soldiers nearby stopped what they were doing. The rigid apple farmer put a hoof up to then, signifying they weren't who she was talking to. Dismissively, the soldiers continued on with their work. Twilight, Rainbow, and the others were as still as kids who had gotten caught from stealing from the cookie jar. Applejack then cleared throat before speaking. "Now ah understand that things are not favorable at the moment..." "That's an understatement," Rainbow muttered quietly. A harsh glare from the earth pony was enough to shut up her up. "Things may be dire and unresolvable, but cryin' ain't gonna fix nothin'. Look, we're as close to San Francisco than we've ever had. We just need some way to git there." "Are you proposing that we walk there?" Ford asked. "I don't know," Applejack answered plainly. "How far away are we?" "Like 250 miles." Once again, Rarity started up her waterworks. "Oh, this is travesty. There's no way we can walk 250 miles." "Well, maybe there's another way?" Twilight intimated. "Like what, Twilight?" Rarity glared at the alicorn. "You expect some kind of magical form of transportation to just appear from the heavens?" Suddenly, the sound of horn blared loudly. Through the smoke and dust, a diesel locomotive methodically chugged down the tracks. Behind it, specialized flatbeds carrying silo missiles followed the engine. Armed soldiers were perched on the cars' platforms, guarding the volatile load. What...What is that?" Spike asked, offput by the machine's appearance. "It's a train," Ford said flippantly. "Do you not have those back in your world?" "We do, but" - Twilight's eyes examined every part of the locomotive - "they aren't anything like that. And, furthermore, what is it carrying?" "Those are silo missiles. They're weapons." "O-Oh...my," Fluttershy stammered. The train come to slow stop right at a railroad crossing. "All right, listen up!" one of the ground soldiers announced. "This train and these weapons are headed to San Francisco. Anyone not part of this mission, disembark now!" The ponies and dragon's eye lit up upon hearing San Francisco was the trains destination. "Well, ah'll be an Apple's uncle," Applejack said brightly. "We might've just found our way back." "And at the best possible time!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Here I was thinking the series would've ended prematurely." "You...mean our lives?" Fluttershy asked cautiously. "No, not especially." Rainbow turned to Rarity with a knowing smirk. "Well, here's our magical ride back. Happy now?" "Yes, yes, our woes have been answered," Rarity rolled her eyes. "But, hold on a minute," Twilight spoke conspicuously. "One of the soldiers said those not on the mission weren't supposed to be on the train. That means we probably won't be allowed on it." "So we got our hopes up for nothing?" Spike said in despair. "No, I think I can get ourselves in," Ford said. "How? Those guys are strict, stricter than even Spitfire," Rainbow said. "I work in explosive ordnance disposal, remember?" "Well, with a name like that, it is kinda hard to." "I know how these things work," Ford said. "I'm thinking that with my expertise I might be able to convince them to be a part in the mission. I'll be able to vouch for you guys from there." "Will there even be receptive of us?" Twilight questioned. "We are from another world after all." "They don't seem to mind us now," Spike mentioned. "But, this is a huge step up. And Rainbow is right. This guys are strict." "We have to at least try," the prismatic pegasus said. "Strict or not, this might be our only way back home left." Weighing the thinning options they had, Twilight was forced to agree. "All right. We'll do it." "Who do we talk to about this?" Applejack asked. "The master sergeant," Ford said. "They're the one in charge of the decision-making." "How are we going to convince them to let us board the train?" Fluttershy asked. "That's quite easy, Fluttershy, Rarity said shrewdly. "All we need is the right words and a little bit of charm." "Negative. Can't do it, sir," the master sergeant said as he entered a hardware store. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike followed. "Oh, come on," Rarity whined. "I've tried tactic in the book." "Yah really thought that would work?" Applejack asked sarcastically. "This is a high-risk mission. That train is a national asset, not Amtrak." "But, but..." Rainbow tried to argue. "Guys, let me handle this," Ford said to them. "We good to go?" the master sergeant asked to a pair of soldiers. "Just about," one of the soldiers said. They loaded a control module inside a giant, plastic case. "From the look of the casings on those Minuteman ICBMs, I'm guessing the digital module's been bypassing and you're prepping for full analog retrofit," the lieutenant said. "Woah," Twilight said, gob-smacked. The master sergeant turned to face the lieutenant, an unimpressed look on his face. "Is my mouth supposed to drop?" "Like this," Pinkie's jawed seemingly unhinged and dropped to the ground. "See, I would be more shocked if I actually knew what any of that meant." "The missiles being detonated by hand instead of by remote control," Ford paraphrased. "Look, I get it, you're EOD," the master sergeant began making his way out of the store. "But, I already got my crew and they know what they're doing." "Aim the pointy end at the monsters, right, sarge?" one of the soldiers said. the high-ranked officer playfully slapped his clipboard against the soldier's chest. "Seems rather obvious," Rarity said bluntly. "And that's the other thing," the master sergeant said. "What about those pastel-colored ponies and lizard." "I...am not...a lizard," Spike angrily interrupted. "I am a dragon." The master sergeant looked down at him with an unconvinced look. "Seriously?" "Do you want me to prove it?" Spike's nostrils began emitting smoke. The sergeant cocked an eyebrow, trying to determine if that was a threat or not. "Okay, let's not do something we'll regret," Twilight put her hooves on the baby dragon's shoulders. "My point still stands," the sergeant said. "From what it appears they're not in any kind of military and have no knowledge of missiles whatsoever." "Yeah, but how often do you see someone able to fly super fast and keep a watchful eye out," Rainbow flared out her wings to solidify her argument. "Or can breath fire," Spike held his glare. "Or can levitate things or teleport," Twilight added, grasping a couple of tools in her magic. "Unorthodox, sure. But useful nonetheless," Ford stepped closer to the sergeant's face. "When was the last time you let one of your guys put their fingers in a live bomb?" The master sergeant didn't give an answer. "Look, this is what I do. This is my job," Ford said. The master sergeant turned away and was about to exit the hardware store. "Master sergeant," he turned back around, annoyance creeping up on his face. Ford let out a emotional sigh. "My family's in the city. Okay? I need to get on that train." "Darn tootin', here's got a wife and son desperately waitin' for his return," Applejack said. "surely ya understand the importance of family." "And need we tell of the of horrors we had to go through just to get this far?" Rarity added. "My blood pressure has reach an all-time high." "And we just really want to go back home," Fluttershy fiddled with her front hooves. "And getting to see Sammy again," Pinkie added. The master sergeant surveyed the motley group. He may be strict, but he was reasonable, too. He too had a family of his own, so he could sympathize with Ford in that department. But of the ponies and "dragon." Granted some of their said abilities could be useful for something. "I doubt we have uniforms that will fit," he said to the ponies and dragon. Rarity let out a chuckle. "Not to worry about that, dear. All I need is some fabric and a sowing machine." "You know how to make uniforms?" "Darling, I'm a fashionista. I can make any article of clothing." The master sergeant mulled over the choice a little more. "And having a couple extra pairs of eyes couldn't hurt," Rainbow said with a smirk. "All right, all right. I may come along." "Yes!" the victorious pegasus exclaimed. "Finally. We're going back to San Francisco!" Spike said happily. "Yay," Fluttershy said. "But, I want to make things perfectly clear," the master sergeant's words cut through the celebration. The Mane 6 and Spike's attention was solely on the officer. "This is not a free express ride to your destination. This is a high-risk mission that requires your full attention and willingness to follow orders. You are to listen to what is ordered without question. Do you understand that plus the risks?" The group of ponies and dragon looked amongst themselves. Even before the advisory, they understood the severity of the circumstances. Fluttershy, however, was uncomfortable being around explosives like that. "Sir, yes, sir," everypony, minus Fluttershy, all exclaimed. "Good." the master sergeant turned to Rarity. "Now get to work on those uniforms." "Will do. I'll have them ready in a jiffy," Rarity saluted. Fluttershy silently scooted closer to Rainbow, decided it best to confide with her bestest friend. "Dash, I really don't know about this." "We've already gotten this far," the athletic mare said. "Are you seriously chickening out now?" "No...w-well, um," the timid pegasus stammered. "You heard the master sergeant. This is a high-risk mission." "It's not like our missions back at home weren't dangerous." "I know, but, this feels different." "Come on, Flutters, how is this different from talking down that dragon a couple years back? Or when we took down Tirek?" Fluttershy turned her gaze away. Her body was racked with doubt and uncertainty. She looked back into Rainbow's big, scarlet eyes. They must've had some kind of superpower to her because she could begin to feel the germinating fear wither away. She felt safe in Rainbow's confident gaze. "I guess this is all so suddenly new." "It's new for all of us, Fluttershy," Rainbow said. "Come on, just put on a brave face." "O-Okay," fluttershy steeled herself and gave the bravest look she could muster. But, to Rainbow, it look more like inquisitive scowl without the angry eyebrows, like how someone would interrogate their sibling for something they knew they did, but try not to make it obvious. Rainbow shook her head to rid the thoughts. "Uh...we'll work on that." "And you just heard the spokesman say that the White House has not ruled out the use of nuclear force." The TV showed the footage of the female MUTO's rampage through Las Vegas. All the while the news reporter was informing of the governments decisions of the monster attack. The hospital was abuzz with nurses, doctors, and patients heading to where they needed to be. Not many people were paying attention to the television. Sam, on the other hand, was. He was fixed on the raw footage, being it the only form of entertainment he had while sitting behind the receptionist deck. Just then, one of the phones rang. "Sam, you mom's gonna be right back," one the female receptionists assured. She picked up the phone. "Emergency, can I help you?" ... "Hello?" ... "Oh, yeah, just a sec." The woman turned to the back of the room where Elle was helping wheel patient to the surgery waiting area. "Elle, for you," she held the telephone out to the young nurse. "Tell them I'll be here in a minute," Elle said. "Elle." The nurse looked back upon hearing her friend's tone take on a more conjuring manner. "It's your husband." Elle's eyes widened in shock. Despite the startling the revelation, she still had a duty to uphold on keeping her current patient safe. Still though, she couldn't help herself in being quick to finish the relocation of the patient. Once that was completed, Elle hurried to the break room phone. She pressed the redirect button hard, barely able to contain her emotions. "Hello?" she said. "Elle?" Ford quickly responded back. He, along with the Mane 6 and Spike, were still in Lost Pine preparing to board the train. The lieutenant was able to get to a payphone to call his wife. Meanwhile, the Mane 6 and Spike were preparing in getting their very own military uniforms, thanks to Rarity. "Ford?" Elle's voice wavered. "Oh, god." She was on the verge of tears. Upon hearing her husband's voice, an overwhelming sense of relief washed over her. Elle could barely keep her composure. Those horrible thoughts of Ford being dead were now, for the time being, squashed. "You all right? How's Sam?" Ford asked. Elle unintentionally dodged the question, still too wrapped up of the fact that Ford was still alive. "I-I've been you calling you everywhere. Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine," her husband said. "And so are the ponies and Spike." "That's good," Elle wiped her forehead. "I've got Sam with me." "Great. Because I was thinking. I wanna get you both--" "I can't believe this is happening." Ford let out a sympathetic sigh. His wife was worked up beyond words over the MUTO popping up and laying siege on everything in their path. And with him being at point zero, where it all began, only added to the nightmarish mix. "Ford." He could hear Elle's voice breaking. "You okay? Are you doing Okay?" "I'm okay. Elle, please don't worry," Ford reassured. "Baby, I'm so scared right now," Elle confided. "I know. I'm gonna be at the hospital by sunrise. Then I'll get you and Sam out." "Okay," the young nurse nodded. "The military has a plan to deal with these things," Ford explained. "I'm coming to get you both, okay?" "Okay. Can you please just hurry?" "I will." Elle couldn't help but bring a smile to her face. Teary-eyed relief made way to heartwarming relief. She could breath easy now that er husband and their pony friends were safe. "Elle? I ju...I just want you to know that I love you." "I love you, too. Just be safe," Elle sobbed. "I'll see you soon," Ford put the phone back on the holder and made his way out of the hardware store. Elle did the same. She put the phone back on the holder. She ran her hands through her face, wiping away the tears that were trickling down. Elle was forced to return to waiting for her husband's return, which she hated. But, after the phone call, she was filled with a reignited sense of hope. "Good to go! Let's move out!" a soldier yelled. The military train jolted forward, ready for the next leg of it's journey. Ford made his way down the street to the railroad crossing, now in complete military gear. The Mane 6 and Spike were flanked alongside him like a team of badasses. The ponies and dragon were also fitted in appropriate military uniforms. Rarity may be a careful fashionista, but she could get work down quickly. "Ah"ll be, Rares, ya should did a mighty fine job with these uniforms," Applejack inspected the camo-colored coat. "Ah'm surprised they even allowed my ta keep mah hat." "Why, thank you, Applejack," Rarity said graciously. "Granted the military was pretty new to me and I was forced to follow...specific protocols, ugh, but I think they turned out simply divine." "Divine," Ford amusingly parroted. "Not the first thing that comes to mind when describing military attire." "I think they're quite nice," Fluttershy admitted. "Even if it's for a dangerous mission." Her voice fell wary. The daunting mission awaiting not just her, but her friends as well cause a knot to form in the pit of her stomach. Suddenly her eyes were blinded with bright blue. Rainbow had her wings flared out. She was scratching the slits on her coat's side. "Speak for yourself. This material is so rough and it's irritating my wings." Rarity give a fake-haughty chuckle. "Really? I wasn't expecting you, Rainbow, to be so picking with what you wear." "I am not being picky," Rainbow angrily turned to the pale-white unicorn. "I just don't like the fabric." "I like it. It's like we're part of the royal guard," Pinkie said. Not only was she wearing a uniform, she also had two pairs of black streaks across her cheeks. "Uh, what's with the war paint, Pinkie?" Twilight asked. "Intimidation." "I doubt a 200 foot monster will be intimidated by face paint," Ford said. "No offense." "None taken," the hyperactive party pony said. "I suppose it's hard to make a cutie-patootie thing like me scary." "Uhm, is that going to wash out?" Rainbow asked. "I should hope so. The marker did so washable on it." The prismatic mare put a hoof to her face and shook her head. Twilight was about to say something when he saw that Spike also had black war paint on his face. "You, too?" she asked amusingly. "Hey, it makes me look cool," Spike puffed out his chest. "Try calling me quit now?" "Aw, isn't just adorable in that little uniform?" Rarity said in the most sweet tone imaginable. Spike just let out a sharp sigh, an annoyed frown on his face. Twilight giggled to herself. "Come on, girls. We've got a train to catch," Ford strapped on his helmet and quickened to pace to the tracks. The gang quickly clambered onto the first railcar. A soldier helped Ford up the stairs to the platform surrounding the missile. By this time, news station from across the country were giving out warnings and safety advice to the citizens. "Citizens within 200 miles of the creature's current of influence are being urged to please find shelter, stay indoors, and stay off the roads." Some of the warning came too late. Most major highways had become stagnant. Drivers were now gridlocked. Emergency services were stretched thin from accidents from seemingly every state. Some had the misfortune of downed aircraft crashing onto jammed highways, which only worsened the crisis. Meanwhile, back on the USS Saratoga, Admiral Stenz was on the phone with the president, relaying to info of the missiles progress. The naval officers watched and waited. Yes, sir." ... "Yes, warheads are on the move." ... "I completely agree, sir." Stenz set the phone down and gave a nod to Captain Hampton. The captain to the rest of the crew in the control room. "All right, people. Let's go. I need to know the exact location of the MUTOs ASAP." "Aye, sir," a female officer said. "We're updating our models with the current tracking data now." Admiral Stenz made his way through the control room. "Admiral." Stenz stopped. After the last 36 hours, it was hard not to recognize the voice. "Yes?" he turned to Dr. Serizawa. "...Please don't do this," the researcher implored. "I understand your concerns, doctor. But I am sacrificing lives every minute to steer one of these things clear of population centers and now there are two more on the way." There was truth behind Stenz's words, but Dr. Serizawa knew that bombs weren't the answer. Humanity did not have the answer to this crisis. "There are millions of lives at risk," the admiral said. "So all I want to know from you is: Will it work and can they be killed?" The admiral walked over to the main control panel with the captain. "But we tried that before," Serizawa gestured to the model screen of the MUTOs' paths. "We're talking dialable yield. "Captain Hampton said. "Megatons, not kilotons. Nothing can withstand that blast. Makes the bomb we tried to kill it with in '54 look like a firecracker." The seasoned scientist looked toward the model screen. Military technology had improved and gotten more powerful over the years. But, if there was anything that could withstand what the military could dish out, It was something nature itself would create. Dr. Serizawa conjectured that the MUTOs and Godzilla could survive a blast and he knew that Godzilla, himself, was the answer. It was anything humanity could come up with or provide. It was nature's force of balance. That was the only solution. Serizawa's belief were true, and that was something Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike are going to witness firsthand. To be continued
Part 10: InterceptionNightfall. Daunting, yet strangely calming. Everyone onboard the train remained quiet as the it rolled through the mountainside. A lazy fog surrounded the environment, lowering the visibility and putting everyone on a higher alert. Of course, not everyone was as attentive. "I gotta say. This has probably the most entertaining things have been since we got here," Rainbow said. "I would hardly call this entertainin'," Applejack said. "Considerin' what's at stake here." "That's exactly the thrill of it: Being on a risky mission with dangerous cargo for a greater cause. It's like being in a spy movie." "Except that's going to actually happen eventually." Pinkie said matter-of-factly. "Wait, what?" Rainbow's attention turned to the random earth pony. "What do you mean that's going to happen eventually?" Pinkie chuckled giddily. "You'll find out...evenutally." Her chuckles turned into a laughter, like she had just shared the funniest joke ever. None of the other occupants joined in though. Rainbow and Applejack had confused, skeptical looks, but quickly chalked it up to Pinkie just being Pinkie. I really should invest in some spoiler warnings. While Pinkie was laughing up a contagious storm, Twilight was recapitulating the plan over with the rest of her friends. "All right, main points; we're delivering bombs which are to lure the MUTOs and Godzilla, which will detonate and thereby killing them." "That's the simplest way of putting it," one of the soldiers said. "But, I thought Godzilla was the good guy," Rarity broached. "I remember Dr. Serizawa saying he was the way nature balances itself out." "I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around that," Twilight said candidly. "I mean, nature having a failsafe of such magnitude." "That "failsafe" is also putting lives at risk," the soldier said. "If Godzilla reached land, the destruction would be unimaginable. It's better to take them all down with the lowest risk possible." "Something tells me we might be a little too late on the unimaginable destruction," Spike eyed a destroyed railroad bridge they were passing by. "So, how are we going to detonate these things," Pinkie hopped onto one of the warheads. "I don't a fuse anyway." "It's right here," Ford pointed to a control panel from inside the exposed bomb. "Sergeant Morales. Give me a hand." Ford and Morales grabbed a side of the panel and removed it from the warhead. "I thought all these nukes detonated by remote control," Morales said. "The MUTOs knock out everything electric. Including detonators. Thing is you can't even get in range without these things going haywire." "So, then how do these bombs, um, explode?" Fluttershy asked brashly. "With this," Ford, with the help of Morales, picked up a different panel and placed it in the nuke. "It's an timer fuse. It's what they used way back then." "It works on a timer instead of remote control," Twilight concluded. "Exactly." "Okay, that's actually pretty cool," Rainbow take to the air to get a better view. "I 1,000% agree!" Pinkie continue hopping on the nuke. "Hey, get off of that! It's not a toy," the master sergeant yelled from the next flatbed over. While Ford and the other soldiers were situating the fuse, Rarity took the time to lean against the bars of the flatbed's platform and take in a deep breath of the cool, night air. She took of her helmet, allowing her elegant, royal purple mane flow against the wind. Spike then came up to her. "H-Hey, Rarity," he stammered. "Hello, Spikey," the stunning unicorn smiled sweetly. "How are you enjoy our little trip." "Well, it's certainly quiet and the surroundings beautiful. Not as beautiful as you, though." Right as he finished, Spike quickly smacked his mouth shut. His face purged of it's lavender color and replaced with a hot pink as he blushed. The young drake was expecting some kind of admonishment from Rarity, but instead was met with her lovely, little laugh. "Oh, Spike, you are quite the flatterer. Even when I'm wearing something as industrial-looking as this." She motioned to the rough, camo-colored jacket and helmet she along with the others were sporting. Spike gulped. While it was true that a military uniform was far from attractive, Rarity seemed just as breath-taking in it, according to him. "O-Of course, Rarity," Spike said. "You can make anything beautiful." Overloaded with embarrassment, the baby dragon dipped his helmet and turned away from the unicorn to hide the burning blushing that was growing brighter on his face. While Spike didn't notice, but Rarity also turned away from him, hiding a blush of her own. "Am...I interrupting something?" a timid voice asked from behind. Spike and Rarity peeked over to Fluttershy staring at them. Half of her face was hidden behind her mane and helmet. "Oh, not at all, darling," Rarity waved a hoof dismissively. "Yup. Nothing going on here," Spike added with a forced, innocent smile. Fluttershy, herself, couldn't help but a smile a little at the twos' hidden chemistry. That smile falter once she, too, hoisted herself onto her back hooves and leaned against the bars. "Are you two...s-scared?" Spike and Rarity turned to her. "Well, of course, Fluttershy," Rarity was the first to speak. "After everything that's happened, it's hard not to." "Yeah. It's like it's a nightmare that keeps getting worse," Spike agreed. "I, well..." Fluttershy paused. "Yeah, all of that, but aren't you scared of what's to come? We are traveling with a bunch of explosives and...what if we run into one of the MUTOs again?" "Oh, you need not worry about those horrible creatures, Fluttershy," Rarity said confidently. "I doubt we'll be having to so those things anytime soon." While the two mares and dragon were discussing what the closing future held, Ford was explaining to the workings of the timer fuse. "This...This is old school. Clockwork." "So, it's like an alarm clock?" Applejack inquired. "Pretty much," Ford replied. "Takes a licking, keeps on ticking," Morales said wittily. Hearing that, Pinkie thought of licking the warhead. "Hmm," her tongue slid across the cold metal. "Pah! Gross!" "That was meant as an expression," the sergeant said. "Pinkie," Twilight reprimanded. "Sorry. Him saying that brought up an idea I just couldn't pass up," Pinkie rubbed her tongue with a toothbrush that appeared out of nowhere. Ford let out a chuckle. Suddenly, a resounding boom echoed through the mountain range. Everyone's attention was drawn toward the perpendicular mountainside where a mushroom rose from behind it. Everyone's expression turned grim. "What the heck was that?" Rainbow questioned. All of a sudden, the train violently jolted. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike flopped to the floor from the sudden change in momentum. The train's brakes squealed and screeched as sparks sprayed the ground. "What is going on?" Rarity asked in a panic. The military train finally grinded to a halt just beyond a tunnel. Ford looked back to the mountainside. He could see artillery and more explosions over the top of the elevated tree line. "Holy shit," a soldier muttered. "That can't be good," Twilight said nervously. "What could they be shooting out?" Spike asked. "What else? The MUTOs!" Rainbow exclaimed. Fluttershy let out a frightened gasp and clasp her hooves over her mouth. "S-Surely it's something else, Rainbow," Rarity tried to remain calm, putting a comforting hoof on Fluttershy. "With our luck, Rarity, it can't be anything else." "Sergeant Morales, get down here with that radio," the master sergeant ordered. "On the double. Move, move!" Ford turned to Morales. Something insidious was going on. "C-Can we just stay on the train? Wear it's safer?" Rarity, by now, was holding onto Fluttershy. "I said get moving!" the master sergeant barked. Begrudgingly, the Mane 6 and Spike disembarked the train. The rest of the soldiers, including Ford and Morales, followed. "Ah have ah very bad feelin' 'bout this," Applejack said quietly to the others. "This whole mission's been nothing but a bad feeling," Rainbow said. "Let's just see what we're up against now," Twilight said anxiously. The gang all hurriedly made their way the front of the train. They could hear the distant popping of gunfire beyond the mountainous slope. Once they reached the front, the soldiers were only met with the pitch-black entrance of the tunnel was sitting not even a dozen or so feet away. Morales handed the master sergeant the radio. "Snake Eyes, this is Bravo to November. Is the bridge clear? Over." All that came out from the radio was more gunfire and people yelling. Something serious was happening, but that wasn't enough indication for the master sergeant. "I say again: We got a train of VIP cargo headed for the coast. Is the bridge clear? Over." "I have a distinct impression that bridge is not clear," Twilight said. "I will be the one to make that call, as soon as I receive confirmation of whether it's clear or not," the master sergeant said aggressively. "Well, considering that all I hear is yelling, they've clearly ran into something," Twilight stepped ahead onto the train tracks. "Doesn't really take much to decipher that." "And that something is the MUTO," Rainbow steadied her helmet. "We don't know that for sure," the master sergeant said. "Seriously?" Spike said. "We're in the middle of a monster crisis and you think whatever is attacking them up them is something else completely?" "I'm not going to jump to conclusions!" While an argument was starting to emerge, Ford cautiously trekked ahead, staring down the opening in the mountain. The tunnel had a curve inside, not allowing the lieutenant to see through to the other side. "Ah'm just saying it don't take much gumption to figure out what's goin; on out there," Applejack said. "And we should be doing something about that." The master sergeant sneered. "I will make radio contact first before coming to a decision." He turned his attention back to the radio. Rainbow rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. "You don't argue with the master sergeant," one of the soldiers advised. "Snake Eyes, I need a sitrep," the sergeant said. "Are the tracks clear? We are at phase line yellow. In the next 10 mikes, we're advancing to phase line red. Secure or not? Over." Again he was met with yelling and screaming. Then there was the sound of a monstrous growl that echoed from the opposite side of the mountainside. It stopped everyone in their tracks. All except Ford, who pressed ahead into the tunnel. "Still think it could be anything?" Rainbow asked sarcastically. The master sergeant gave her a nasty look. It did become apparent though that an investigation was warranted. So, some of the soldiers, including the Mane 6 and Spike proceeded into the deep, dark tunnel. Thankfully, the soldiers' were equipped with lights, which meant they could at least see where they were going. The slick walls of the tunnel seemingly glowed as the lights danced around, looking for anything out of place. Every so often, Sergeant Morales peer back to see if anything was following them. "I really don't like this," Fluttershy shook profusely. "Neither do I," Rarity added. "You can always go back to the train," Rainbow said bluntly. "And miss out on the show? no, thanks!" Pinkie said dramatically. "This isn't a game, pink one," one of the soldiers said. "Maybe not for us," the pink earth pony spoke amicably. "It's too late to back down anyway," Ford said as they reached the end of the tunnel. "We've already made it this far." They discovered that the tunnel connected to a large trestle bridge that spanned over a river. The bottom was barely visible, however, due to the thickening fog. Not even the mounted lights could break through the dense mist. All was quiet and calm, as if nothing ever even happened. "Wow. We're pretty high up," Rainbow observed. "About 200 feet or so," the master sergeant said. "You think it's intact?" Ford asked. "Only one way to find out," the master sergeant said. "You wanna take the top?" "Sure. You check below." Ford turned to the ponies. "Rainbow, Twilight, Fluttershy? You think maybe you could provide us with some aerial coverage." "You got it," Rainbow saluted. She spread wings and took to the air. "We'll keep our eyes peeled," Twilight followed after the cyan pegasus. "Uhm...w-w-what she said," Fluttershy gulped and hesitantly took off, as well. She didn't want to. She really didn't what to. But, Fluttershy also didn't like the idea of crossing over a constricting bridge. At the very least, in the air, she had a lot more wiggle room if the MUTO did appear. "Come on. Just do it! she mentally yelled at herself. As brave as she could, Fluttershy flew after Rainbow and Twilight. Though, her braveness amount to her shaking so bad, she had to hold her helmet to keep it from falling. "Sergeant Morales, you come with me," Ford said. "What about you girls." "Ah think we'll stay with ya, Ford," Applejack said. "Agreed. Better to stick with ponies you know best," Rarity added. "Um, I'll stay, too," Spike said. "Don't forget about me," Pinkie said playfully. "Seems a bit unbalanced," Morales mumbled under his breath. With that out of the way, the three teams began examining the bridge. The master sergeant and another soldier climbed down one of the trestles fitted with a ladder. Bats squeaked and screeched as they flew by. The two cautiously searched around rocky shorelines. All that they could see through the foggy darkness were trees and the bubbling river at the very bottom. Back on the top of the bridge, Ford, Morales, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, and Spike carefully stepped across the towering bridge. It was impossible to see the end of it, which made the bridge look it went on forever. The ponies and dragon, despite seeing everything appearing normal, were incredibly on-edge. An insidious paranoia was setting. "I don't mean to sound pejorative, but shouldn't there be...something happening," Rarity said fearfully. "We saw those and explosions and people yelling and the growl, but there's nothing here." "Ah'm with ya there, Rares," Applejack said. "It's like just disappeared or somethin'," "Like one of those ghost stories where somepony goes and missing and there spirit haunts the place they disappear, so somepony else goes to investigate and they disappear, too," Pinkie droned on. "Then, some more ponies go searching and the ghost appears and they're all "AAAHHHH!" The gang all jumped a bit from the mare's dramatization of her over-the-hill analogy. "...and they go running back home going "The ghost is real! It's going to get us!" "I think we get it, Pinkie," Rarity almost shouted. "I know. I just love telling a good story." "We don't need anymore freak-outs," Applejack said emphatically. "That's the last thing we need while on a bridge." That's when Sergeant Morales tripped. He had misplaced his step to where most of his foot was set over the awkward space between the railroad ties. He smacked against the wood ties, dropping his flashlight. The suddenness of it all cause the ponies and dragon to jump again. The beam of light swung wildly as the flashlight disappeared into the fog. "Shit," Morales hissed. "Oh, don't scare us like that," Rarity said reprimanded. "I tripped." "Here, let me help ya up," Applejack took the young man's hand and hoisted him back up. "Morales, was it? You all right?" "Yes. Thank you," the sergeant said. Down below, the master sergeant and other soldier inspected the embankments around the river. All was completely silent until they heard something crash into the ground behind them. The two quickly turned around, guns drawn. It was Morales's flashlight. It rolled along the leaf litter. "Jesus," the master sergeant lowered his gun. The two soldiers looked up at the bridge, but trying to spot the rest of the team was impossible. An dull, orange glow could be seen out of the corner of their eyes within the fog. The master sergeant and other soldier turned, guns drawn again. The glow grew brighter and brighter like it was heading toward them. A flickering shape seemed to be creating the glow, which it was indeed heading toward the two. The master sergeant and the solider, upon realizing what it really was, jumped clear as the remains of a burning tank smashed into the rocky embankment. Shattered stones flew everywhere. Then, as soon as it appeared, the tank was swept away by the river's current. The master sergeant quickly got back to his feet. His gun remained drawn, in case anything else were to happen. "Jones, you all right?" he called out. "Yeah, I'm good!" the soldier responded. The two soldiers inched back over to the shoreline. In the river, burning military vehicles were being carried off by the water. Well, there was no sugarcoating here. Something really bad must have happened for all of this to occur. The master sergeant took out a whistle and started blowing a morse code message to the rest of the group on the bridge. Meanwhile, Twilight, Rainbow, and Fluttershy had made it to the other side of the bridge. From what they gathered, nothing appeared to be abnormal or off, and there seemed to be no signs of a fight of any kind, which left them confused and concerned. "Bridge looks perfectly fine," Rainbow, for whatever reason, decided the best course of action was to push against the metal framing of the bridge. "This is one sturdy bridge." "And it connects to another tunnel," Twilight observed. "But, we saw all the chaos happening from the other side of the first tunnel. Where is it now?" Both Rainbow and Fluttershy exchanged worried works. They couldn't come up with any kind of answers. "Well, I guess that's a good thing," the cyan pegasus alluded. "It does mean we have nothing to worry about now." "Well, it didn't all just disappear, Rainbow," the troubled alicorn argued. "Something was obviously happening here and I'm asking "where did it all go?" "What if the MUTO's still here?" Fluttershy asked fearfully. "Maybe it...t-took down all those other soldiers and it's waiting for more." Rainbow looked around the entire valley. "Fluttershy, if the MUTO was still here, we'd definitely would've spotted it by now. Even in all this fog, we would still be able to see it." "So, did the other soldiers flee, perhaps?" Twilight hypothesized. "Maybe," the rainbow mare shrugged. "That's probably the most sensible conclusion we can come up with." Fluttershy felt an unnerving sensation crawling through her body. The fur on the back of her neck rose and she grew more alert; a primal instinct of something dangerous nearby. Twilight and Rainbow took notice of their friend's sudden rigidness. "Fluttershy, are you okay?" Twilight asked gently. "Does...Does a-a-anypony else get the feeling we're being w-watched," the yellow pegasus stammered. Rainbow and Twilight looked around tensely. Although they couldn't see anything, their bodies were yelling at them that something was their. Sweat began forming amongst the three ponies. A bright light shone, highlighting them. The three mares all let out a shriek of terror. Thankfully, the quickly realized it was just Ford and the others. "Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy!" Applejack called them. Twilight let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. You guys made it across." "Yep. Despite what earlier had entailed," Rarity said. "Yeah, we we're discussing that," Rainbow said. "Nothing seems to be wrong though." "Bridge is intact," Ford said. "Bulldog, this is Eagle," Morales radioed to the train. "All clear to move out. Over." "Roger that, Eagle," the radio responded. "Eagle? You look more like a sparrow to me," Pinkie said. "It's my codename," the sergeant said, exasperated. "Oh, oh, give me a codename! Name me "The Party Animal." Sergeant Morales let out a sigh of annoyance. "Oh, Pinkie," Rarity chuckled. At least, her innocent jokes brightened the mood. The Mane 6 and Spike were having a good chuckle. Even Ford was smiling a bit. Despite all that was happening, these ponies were definitely the light through all this darkness. However, nobody noticed the massive figure rising from within the trees. Now that they were given the green light, the remaining soldiers scrambled back onto the train. "Let's go! Let's go, people!" one of the ordered loudly. He clambered onto the locomotive as it began moving again. It's horn blared as it entered the tunnel. Down at the bottom of the valley, the master Sergeant and the other soldier could the train's horn echoing out from the tunnel. That's when the sergeant received a staticky message from his radio. "Say again. I do not have a visual. What is your position?" He tried to receive some kind of signal for communication, but that came out was incoherent static. "Unreadable. Say again. Over." Neither her nor Jones were paying attention to what was in front of them. A massive shape began to move, kicking up dust and rocks. What was initially assumed to be a tree was instead one of the MUTO's front legs. The two soldiers stepped back and armed their guns as the massive beast carefully stepped over the bridge. Ford, Morales, the Mane 6, and Spike were caught in the middle. The color drained from their faces upon seeing the MUTO now walking alongside the bridge. Both Rarity and Pinkie were about to let screams of terror when a purple glow enveloped their mouths and closed them shut. Twilight frantically shook her head, a horrified expression frozen to her mouth. Spike let out a quiet, frightened squeak. He practically hid himself underneath Twilight, holding her back left leg like a lifeline. "Hit the deck!" Morales said quietly. He and Ford lied flat on the backs on the track. The ponies and dragon did the same, Forcing Spike to slip out from underneath Twilight. The two lay still side-by-side. Flutteshy lied flat on her stomach. She covered her eyes, not wanting to see the MUTO so up close and personal. "Just stay quiet," Twilight whispered as quietly as she could. The group could only watch as the bat-like creature stepped closer and closer toward them. All except Fluttershy watched it's every move. Ford aimed his gun at it, just in case it did something life-threatening. Each of the MUTO steps shook the entire valley. The MUTO let grunts and growl like it was looking, or perhaps hunting, for something. It dipped down underneath the bridge. A intense wave of fear washed over the group as the creature disappeared from sight. They could still hear hellish noises it made. It's glowing, slit-like eyes peered through the gaps in the railroad ties. Sergeant Morales's radio started crackling and buzzes. The terrified sergeant frantically fiddled with it the try and turn it off. "Turn that thing off," Rarity hissed in a barely discernible voice. "I'm trying. Help me turn it off, man," Morales desperately whispered to Ford. He fiddled with it more, but the radio kept making noise. That's when the MUTO rose back up. It started imitating the radio's crackling which meant that it not only heard it, but now knew something was there. The group watched with bated, fear-stricken breaths. It's body rose, soon towering over the bridge. The dim moonlight glimmered against the MUTO's black, leathery skin. Things became truly nightmarish when the MUTO faced the group. It opened it's narrow maw, displaying it's set of jagged, fang-like teeth. The jig was undoubtedly up. The MUTO was preparing to consume each and every one of them, human, pony, and dragon alike. "What do we do?" Rainbow whispered in a panic. Given the circumstances, there wasn't much they could do. Twilight, unfortunately knew this. Running away or fighting it off weren't a possibly given the creature's size, but staying still was going to get them eaten. Twilight began to sweat like crazy. "Uh, Uhm-" HONK HONK Through the thick fog, the sound of the trains horn blared. This thankfully got the MUTO's attention. It in the direction of the sound, then imitating it, not very well mind you. The MUTO started heading for the train, stepping half it's body onto the other side of the bridge. That meant, Ford, Morales, the Mane 6, and Spike got a clear view of the monster's underbelly. Above it's hindleg laid a clear, glowing sac that was carrying a large amount of small orbs. "Ugh, sick," Rainbow said with disgust, turning her eyes away. Some of the other ponies turned away not wanting to see the graphic asset. Rarity closed her eyes tight, keeping the bile rushing up her throat from spraying out. "Tell me when it's gone," she said through gritted. As the MUTO vanished into the mist, the group all stood back. "Never mind that. It's going after the train!" Twilight exclaimed. "It's going to eat those warheads once it gets it's hands on it," Spike added. "What do we do?" Fluttershy asked helplessly. Suddenly came the sounds of people screaming and gunfire along with a disturbing roar. Ford aimed his gun out, expecting the MUTO's return. "We oughta go back up their and help 'em," Applejack said. A bright glow appeared from the fog. The train, now engulfed in flames was barreling down on them. "Too late!" Pinkie shrieked dramatically. "Run!" Ford yelled. He and the others had no choice but to book it. They ran as fast as they could down the narrow bridge. The burning locomotive, however, was fasting. It was getting closer and closer with each terror-filled second. "Move it, run!" "I just want to wake up!" Pinkie cried. "It's gaining on us," Rarity screamed. Sergeant Morales noticed one of the MUTO legs swing for the bridge. "Ford!" he tried to warn, but the leg crashed against the bridge. "Aah!" Splintered wood flew everywhere as sections of the trestle began to collapse. "JUMP!" Twilight yelled. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike leapt off the bridge and dove down toward the river below. "Cannonball!" Pinkie curled up her arms and legs. One by one, the gang splashed into the freezing waters. For a brief moment their was relief. Relief that they were safe away from the MUTO or the burning train. Pinkie and Twilight were the first to resurface. "How was that cannonball, Twi?" Pinkie asked excitedly. Twilight was still getting to her bearings after her body was forced into freezing water. "It was...It was great, Pinkie-how are you able to keep such a positive attitude? We literally almost died!" "But, we didn't. And that's what matters." Pinkie then looked up, her eyes shrinking to pinpricks. "Though that might not be a guarantee." "What? The MUTO?" Twilight looked up, confused to what Pinkie was getting at. That's when she saw the burning locomotive plummeting straight at them. The alicorn swore she felt her soul leave her body. Just then, Rainbow resurfaced. "What did I miss?" "Look out!" Twilight screeched. She pushed Rainbow down beneath the surface. Pinkie drew in a huge breath before diving back down just as the diesel smashed into the water. In a brief moment in time, nothing happened. Nothing but rush of the river and the slowly sinking train. As luck would have it, Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike all managed to resurface, gasping and coughing. None of them were hit by the falling train. "What'n tarnation was that?" Applejack said in shock. "I think the MUTO was waiting for us," Ford said. "It was trying to ambush us." "That would explain why everything was so quiet earlier," the soaking alicorn admitted. "I-Is the MUTO after us?" Fluttershy coughed. The gang could barely keep afloat against the rivers strong current, but that wasn't the worst part. Like out of a horror movie, the MUTO grabbed at the train cars that were still on the bridge. The first one dropped, causing the monster to let a aggravated bellow. Between dipping back below the surface and gasping for air, Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike were forced to watch the MUTO feasting on the radioactive payload. It ripped the second warhead off the flatbed and bit down it, trying to fit it into it's mouth. "We need...get out of here," Rarity gasped. "We need to get away from that thing." "Wait, where's Sergeant Morales?" Rainbow asked. They remembered the sergeant getting pushed off the bridge when the MUTO's arm slammed into it. However, there was no sign of him now, nor no sign of the master sergeant or the other soldier. "Guys, where are you?" Spike called out. "Morales? Morales!?" Twilight yelled. "Can anypony here us?" Applejack asked loudly. The only thing that replied was the MUTO. It let out a roar as it finished gulping down the first nuclear missile. With no one and nothing to help, the Mane 6 and Spike began to panic. "Somepony, help us!" Fluttershy screamed. Rainbow grunted as she forced her wings to unfurl. Despite being as soaked, she was able to get into the air. "Come no. There's got to be somepony here!" Wreckage rained down from the damaged bridge. Pieces of wooden and metal pelted the river. Some of them landed right on the pegasus's head. "Ack! Ow!" "Rainbow, get back down here!" Twilight cried. "If the MUTO spots us, we're all dead." Despite wishing to find any other survivors, Rainbow was forced to acknowledge that, right now, they were still in grave danger. She sunk back down into the cold water. "How many more allies most we lose before we beat these monsters," she shivered, more so out of emotion than the cold. That was something the others couldn't really give an answer to. None of them wanted to see more people die, but, after everything that's occurred, death seemed to follow in their wake. "I don't think we should be thinking about this," Ford suggested. "Maybe... we don't have to assume they're dead," Pinkie said. She shivered as she finished the last word. Even being an optimistic, happy-go-lucky pony, death was just as morbid and disheartening to her then to anyone. "Then where's Morales!? Where's the master sergeant?" Rainbow asked in tear-stricken frustration. "How long can we survive until one of us runs out of luck, huh?" Pinkie almost seemed to curl up into herself, even though she was submerged in water. Twilight decided to speak up. "Rainbow..." Her words failed her. Whatever reassurance that was coming out died in her throat. Rainbow caught this. "What? Everything's going to be fine? Nothing has been fine, Twilight!" "Rainbow!" Applejack spoke up this time. "Tell me I'm wrong, Applejack," the pegasus snapped. "I'd never thought I'd say this, but this mission is pushing me to the brink. We're being forced to stand idly as those monsters make a mess of everything. And that..." Rainbow began to tear up. Internally, she tried to keep herself composed, but the dams had been taking a beating for the last couple of days and they just couldn't hold out anymore. Fluttershy instinctively came up to her and embraced her, which Rainbow took without resistance. She hated getting this emotion in front of others, but she just couldn't find the strength to hold it. All Fluttershy could do was hug her and comfort her. "We'll get through this Rainbow...somehow," she said, but her tone betrayed her. She was just as broken up about this than Rainbow. And so were the others. "Is this really what it's going to amount to? Nothing but destruction?" Twilight whispered. "Why did we come here? I can't take it anymore," Spike began to tear up. "Ya'll... I..." not even Applejack could find it in heart to bring reassurance. Rarity and Pinkie just started crying outright. Things had reached a whole new low. They were all on their own. Nothing but the destruction of the MUTO and the unforgiving hold of the river washing them away. Pacific Ocean "He's going under!" a man said over the radio. Alarm blared inside one of the many warships that surrounded Godzilla. "Boats, sound the collision alarm. Frame 180," the ship's captain ordered. More alarm went off. The captain raced over to the nearest window just in time to see Godzilla dive completely under the water. Personnel onboard the flight deck watched dumbfounded as the monstrous kaiju disappeared under the night-darkened surface. Some ships that were too close tipped a little as the massive body kicked up waves. One of which was the USS Saratoga. Admiral Stenz was focusing on maps of the coast when the sound of rolling writing utensils snapped him out of his concentration. He curiously watched then pencils roll down the table and smack against the telephone sitting at the edge. "We're losing visual, admiral," a female officer stated. Stenz got up from his seat and turned to face the monitors which were showing Godzilla swimming though the pitch black depths. The officer met his gaze. "He's diving. Changing course and moving fast. I've got him at 33 knots and picking up speed. He's gonna outrun us sure." The admiral let out an apprehensive exhale. Something had gotten Godzilla's attention which was hastening his approach to the California Coast. It must've had something to do with the MUTO, which just made the possible situation even worse. Combined with the fact that he had recently received word that the train of warheads had been ambushed by one of the MUTO's, and suddenly the plan had a huge risk of being compromised. What worried Stenz the most was if they could come up with a backup plan in time before the MUTOs and Godzilla reach California's big cities. For now, he could only hold his breath. The morning sun had been shut out by the thick, merciless cloud cover. It didn't help that the mist was still present, all be it thinning. A coyote was standing by the shore of the river, a part where it had narrowed and calmed down. "Go on! Git!" a southern-accent voice yelled at it. The coyote raced away as Applejack stumbled along the shore. While not horribly injured, she still had a few good cuts on her body. She was trailed by Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Spike, and Twilight who were faring any better. "I guess that fall did more of a number on us that we thought," Rainbow eyed the cut to her right wing. "Could've been worse," Twilight said, nursing the gash to her left cheek. "It was more so the bridge collapse and debris falling on us than the fall." "And we're not the only ones," Spike said. He, too, was covered in cuts. But, what really disturbed the ponies was all the debris that littered the shoreline. Trees, railcar pieces, cars, and worse of all bodies lay strewn about. Fluttershy shut her eyes, unable to bare seeing the morbid sight. However, two bodies stood out amongst all of them. Rarity, who was conscious, was trying to wake up an unconscious Ford. "Come on, Ford. Wake up," she pleaded as she nudged him. "Rarity!" The unicorn turned and her expression lit up upon seeing her friends. "Oh, girls!" she galloped over to them, all of them embraced in an emotional group hug. "T-Thank goodness you're all okay. I-I-I was so worried I lost you all." "We're okay... For the most part," Twilight said. "But, are you okay, Rarity." "I'm fine, Twilight, don't worry," Rarity assured. "B-But, Ford...sniff...he won't wake up." "Fordy!" Pinkie galloped over to the lieutenant. He began to moving and cough weakly. He was completely covered in wet sand. He even spit some out of his mouth. "Ford!" Rarity was right by his side. "Are you okay!? I couldn't wake you, darling. I-I assumed..." "I'm fine," Ford coughed out. "Are the others okay?" "Yes, Ford, wer' okay," Applejack said gently. "B-But what about the others," Fluttershy forced herself to scan through all the other unmoving bodies littered around. Twilight hesitantly brought a hoof against one of the bodies necks. "No pulse," she said quietly. A wave of sorrow and heartbreak came over the ponies and dragon. More casualties. More innocent people dead. Applejack took off her hat. She brought it over her chest and closed her eyes. It was the least she could do to pay respect. Pinkie and Fluttershy were a mess, Rarity and Spike were trying their best to comfort them. Rainbow just sat on her haunches, her wings hung lazily to her sides. She let out a defeated sigh and closed her eyes. Twilight helped Ford onto his feet. Her ears flicked as she caught a distant sound. "What is that?" she said. "What is what?" Ford asked. The alicorn couldn't put her finger on it, but she could her a distant, thumping sound, but it was getting closer. Her friends picked up on this too, which knocked them out of their tear-filled stuper. "What is that noise?" Applejack asked. "I don't know," Rarity said. "Is it the MUTO, again?" Pinkie sniffled. To that, Rainbow shot right back up, her wings now flared out in defense. "Where is it? Where is it?" Her tone became angrier the second time she asked. Thankfully, it wasn't a MUTO. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike all spotted a military helicopter coming from where the river took them. They watched as it hovered several yards away from them. A second helicopter appeared, this time much larger and carrying a cargo sling. "Let's go," Ford stumbled toward where the choppers were. With the help of Twilight and Applejack, they along with the others trudged over wreckage and debris. They could see soldiers on the ground yelling who knows what. The sling had already been attached to what they were looking for. One of the nuclear warheads from the train, the only one that survived. "Hey. Hey!" Rainbow yelled to get their attention. The soldiers had completed loading the warhead onto the sling. "Watch the swinging!" one of them warned as the dangerous load was being hoisted into the air. "No swing!" a second soldier yelled. Hey!" another soldier gestured and pointed to something. One of the soldiers turned to see what he was pointing at. He saw Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike all stumbling over to them, injured and dirty. "Hold on!" the soldier yelled. To them, it was miracle anyone had survived the attack at all. He could tell that they were not in the best shape, though. "MEDIC!" to be continued
Part 11: Taking a StandThe unsurreptitiousness of the train attack had left the army scrambling for any salvageability of their main plan. Thankfully, with one of the warheads mostly undamaged and operational, said plan would come to fruition, all be it, with extra cautionary decrees. This led to some frantic beldam, especially in the hospital Elle was working at. Injured patients were being carted off by nurses and army officers. All the while every television system was broadcasting evacuation and sheltering protocols. "They are insisting civilians make their way to the BART stations. All the BART stations are designated shelters. Elle was quick to take notice of all the patients being wheeled away toward the entrances of the hospital. She came up to one of them, confused and concerned. "Wait, wait. These patients are my responsibility. Where are you taking them?" The nurse pushing the hospital bed shook his head, implicated that he and the others had no control over this. "Across the bridges," a solider trailing behind said. "Critical and children only." Elle's friend passed by with several children following. "Shelters are gonna fill up fast," she said. "Trust me, they'll be safer outside the city." As they reached the entrance, Elle's friend turned back to her. "I can take Sam." "No, no, no. Ford's on his way," Elle declined. "If you change your mind, the buses leave in 10 minutes." With that Elle's friend left, leaving the young nurse by herself amongst the swarm of soldiers and patients. This was the last chance for her son to get somewhere safe, but she was running out of time and neither Ford or the ponies had showed up. All she could really do was wait for any evidence of their arrival. "Come on. Where are you, Ford?" Outside, evacuation were being wrapped up. The injured and children were piled into waiting school buses and army trucks, which were to be sent away across the bay where shelters were ready and waiting to take them in. "This way! Keep them moving!" a soldier yelled. Dozens of soldiers directed hundreds of evacuees into the vehicles. "Let's go. Come on, come," another said. Just then, several helicopters flew overhead, catching the attention of many. One of the helicopters was carrying the intact warhead, while another was carrying Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike among several soldiers. "Ohh, I just made these wonderful uniforms not even 24 hours ago and now they're completely ruined!" Rarity complained. "We have more pressing issues than our soiled uniforms at the moment," Twilight reminded. "Need we talk about the MUTOs still on the loose." "And Godzilla, wherever he is," Spike added. "At least he's going to take the MUTOs down." "Then why are we still here?" Rarity asked harshly. The others turned to the upset unicorn. That had this emotional discussion before, yet it never did end up getting resolved. It certainly was going to be when Rainbow got involved, having been the one to finally break back during the train incident. "Usually you don't hear this from me, Rarity's right," the pegasus spoke more solemnly instead of the trauma-filled angry from last night. "What reason do we need to be here? We've done next to nothing to keep this exact kind of thing from happening." "You're right...we don't hear that from you, Dashie," Pinkie observed. "It was an inevitability, Rainbow," Twilight said. "We didn't have much control over the monsters resurfacing." "Again, I ask: Why are we here then? If it was keep those monsters from destroying those things, we've done a poor job at it. And if it was to get that missile to where it needs to be, we failed that, too!" "But, it is still getting transported." "No thanks to us," Applejack lowered her head. "Ah hate to admit it girls, but ah'm startin' ta think we ain't cut out for these missions no more." Twilight turned to the amber earth pony with a shocked and hurt look. Hurt coming a place of disbelief. The young alicorn and the others prided themselves in not just being best friends, but also caring, determined, and bonded defenders of Equestria. The Elements of Harmony. There for anypony with a magic or friendship problem. But, this wasn't Equestria, and the problem was derived from friendship or magic. It was from monsters beyond proportions, monsters that the Mane 6 had ever gone up against. What hope did they have in completing this mission if they couldn't anything to turn the tables. "Sh-Shouldn't we, at least, try again?" Pinkie asked, her reassuring smile imperceptibly falter under her own crushing self-doubt. "What's the point? All we'd accomplish at this point is risking injuries again," Rarity said. "Or death," Rainbow added. The soldiers still silent, though that was mostly out being unsure what to say instead of respect or uncaring. Three of the four helicopters then diverged away from their chopper, heading toward the bay. "What are they doing now?" Fluttershy asked. "Hey! Where are they taking it?" Ford turned to the soldier next to him. "Twenty miles offshore, convergence point," the soldier explained. "We're gonna lure them there. Three birds, one stone." Ford looked back to the helicopters. "Three birds, one stone." that was what the soldier said. If what he thought was the case, then they were planning on killing Godzilla, too. The Mane 6 and Spike picked up on this, too. "Wait, three birds?" Twilight parroted. "You guys are planning on blowing up Godzilla, as well?" "That's the plan." "But, he's supposed to take down the two MUTOs," Spike attested. "Why would you kill him if he's doing what you guys are trying to do." "They're converging here, in San Francisco Bay," one of the other soldiers replied. "If we let them fight, they'll cause serious collateral damage and fatalities. We can't let that happen." "But, that is nature's balance," Fluttershy spoke up. "Dr. Serizawa said it, himself." "It's either us or them, and our priority is keeping all civilians safe from harm." The craven pegasus could keep silent at that. If this was in Equestria, keeping the residence safe was their top priority. Even though she was still against killing the creatures, Fluttershy knew there was no point arguing with a military force. "See. They have everything covered," Rainbow raised her front hooves out to the redirected helicopters. "They don't need us. We didn't need to be here in the first place." "But, what about Ford and his relationship with Joe," Spike brought up. "We helped with that." The clearly emotional pegasus let out a frustrated sigh through her nose. "Yeah, sure. We did help with that. But, let me asked you something, Spike: How much does that really matter now that Joe is dead?" Spike was about to say something, but the words died in his throat. He really had to think about that question. "I mean...at the very least, they still made up. Even if it wasn't under the best circumstances." "They barely made up. Joe would still probably be here if we had just did something. If I had just swopped him and got him away from that bridge." "Rainbow, I don't blame you for my dad's death," Ford said candidly. "By the time we realize the walkway was going to collapse, it was too late to do anything." "I'm supposed to be fast! I pride myself in that. I pride in the fact that I'm fast enough the save anypony that was in danger. Applejack, Rarity, remember the time we went camping with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo?" "Ah sure do. When we camped up all the way to Winsome Falls," Applejack said. "Oh, I remember that, too," Rarity reminisced. "And you remember what happened the night before we reached Winsome Falls?" Applejack and Rarity turned to each other. It took a second for them to remember the exact memory. "Uhh, wasn't that when Scootaloo couldn't sleep cuz of some ghost stories and nearly fell off a waterfall?" "Exactly!" the cyan pegasus exclaimed. "She would've likely fallen to her death if I hadn't been their to save her. I was able to save her because I was quick enough to reach her." "Right. We understand that," Rarity said. "But, what does that have to do with any of this?" "I was able to save a filly from falling over a waterfall. How am I unable to save a human from a collapsing walkway not even a hundred feet away?" "Rainbow you can't save everypony, even if your the fastest flier out there," Twilight said. "Well, I should've been fast enough to rescue Joe!" "We were under attack from the MUTO!" "That doesn't change the fact that I could've done something!" "ENOUGH!" The ponies, dragon, and even the soldiers tensed up. But, what really surprised the Mane 6 and Spike was that the voice had belonged to Fluttershy. Instead of shying away after raising her voice, however, the mare inhaled deeply. She then turned to Rainbow. "I understand that you feel guilty over Joe's death, but you can't let that cloud you thoughts and decisions." Fluttershy spoke with seriousness, clearness, and gentleness. Such bold benevolence had stumbled Rainbow out of her emotional lamentations. "Ford doesn't blame you for it and neither do we," the mare continued. "Not only that, just because we haven't been doing our best with this whole situation, doesn't mean we shouldn't be here to begin with." "But, Fluttershy..." A defeated look came over Rainbow, ears flattened and head bowed. "We were supposed to keep these kinds of things from happening. With the military preparing the missile, what reason is there to stick around? We did our part and we failed." "Come on. Don't beat yourselves up over this," Ford said. "You can't just expect yourselves to fix everything that gets in your way." "Maybe not, but they are the Elements of Harmony," Spike gestured to Twilight and the others. "And we were brought here because we were needed, yet we haven't done much of anything to warrant that." The other mares and Spike bowed their heads in defeat alongside there dejected friend. "What if Rainbow's right? What if we really did fail this time?" Rarity said. "I can't do this anymore, girls," Pinkie sighed. "We are just cartoon characters after all." "Ah suggest we cut our losses and find a way back home," Applejack said sadly. "Perhaps that the best," Twilight sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "All we've been is dead weight." "Coming here was a mistake," Rainbow said solemnly. Normally, Fluttershy would be in agreement with her friends. Things were bleak for them with nothing to show for them. But, seeing all her friends so done triggered something within the mare. Not something primal or reactionary, but a realization. The realization that, right now, this was the time to put her hoof down, stand up tall, and be brave. Fluttershy needed to have the courage to say "no" to all of this. "No." The Mane 6 and Spike all turned to her, once again, surprised by her unmoving valor. "We were brought here for a reason," Fluttershy glared at the others. "The dream I had. There was I reason I was given that." "What if it was just a great big coincidence?" Rainbow asked. "I refuse to believe that." "But, Fluttershy, all we've done is complicate things," Twilight stood up, a crestfallen expression on her face. "We've failed to prevent the MUTO's from causing destruction. We’ve failed our mission." "You don't know that!" Fluttershy stepped right up to Twilight's face. "Just because we haven't succeeded in our mission now, does not mean it's a complete bust. We are still here, we can still make a difference." "What can we do now?" Rarity asked poignantly. "There's no way we can stop those MUTO and Godzilla on our own." "Maybe that's not what we were here for. Maybe we're here to Ford reconcile with his father and reunite with his family." Fluttershy turned to the injured lieutenant. "Think about it. So far we've remained alive through everything that has happened. Even if Joe didn't survive, we can agree that Ford has reconciled with him, right?" "...Yes," Ford nodded. "I suppose," Twilight admitted. The others nodded. "But, why did he have to die?" Rainbow asked. "That was just an unfortunate accident," the cream-yellow pegasus responded. "Believe me, Rainbow, I'm just as heartbroken as you about it, but we can't keep living in that moment. In his last moments, Joe said to Ford to go back to his family. That's what we must do; see to it that he gets back to his wife and son safe and sound." "But, what'v the MUTOs and Godzilla when they git her?" Applejack asked warily. "We have the warhead," one of the soldiers reminded. "And what if it don't work? What's yer plan B?" The soldier gave no answer. He turned to the other soldiers that were just as lost as him. To not have a failsafe if the warhead didn't do the job was not something on anyone's minds until now. Fluttershy, on the other hand, closed her eyes, deep in thought over Applejack's prior question. There was no denying that even after Ford reunites with Elle and Sam, things would not be over. She didn't have a clear answer when it came to down to those exacts problems amongst all the others that were of concern. However, given that they still had time, she thought it wise to put those problems on the back burner and focus on the more important aspects of their mission. "I don't know. But I'm not going to just give up even if the odds are greatly against us. Like Spike said, we are the Elements of Harmony. We always pull through no matter what." She came up to Rainbow, who still had an unsure look. "Come on, Dashie. Where's all that tenacity, and bravery, and bravado? Whatever happened to never giving up?" Rainbow looked at her closest friend, shocked from her forwardness. It only took a few seconds for her to completely rethink all that she had said and felt. Fluttershy was right. Joe's death shook her and it blinded her sense of duty and loyalty, and, because of that, it was leading the distraught pegasus to have severe feelings of doubt. Now, Rainbow was not one to have such emotional conflict and doubt, but this was brand new territory for her and her friends and, in this territory. It brought a slough of circumstances and predicaments that the Mane 7 just weren't prepared for. For Rainbow, a came to such a daunting crescendo that it was having an effect on, not just her self-esteem, but the entire teams synergy. Fluttershy knew this and had the courage to point it out to them all, especially her closest friend. Rainbow Dash stared into Fluttershy's big, teal eyes. What once characterized the mare as timid and soft-spoken, but also kind, friendly, and welcoming. Now, they radiated vibrant solemnity and true, raw courage. It was something Rainbow had pretty much never seen her friends show. There were times Fluttershy showed her more out-spoken and fearless side, like when she stood up to that big dragon, but this was melded into a more encouraging approach. Instead of feeling intimidated, Rainbow felt awe-inspired, she felt her confidence coming back. She turned her other friends who seemed to be affect by Fluttershy's speech, too. They also were reignited that maybe, just maybe, there was still hope. Rainbow turned back to Fluttershy, a reassured, yet apologetic smile on her face. "You're right, Fluttershy. You're right on so many things. I was giving up too easily and I was stupid for that. I was letting Joe's death effect my confidence and self-esteem. I just... I'll admit it, everything that's happened... it's just been so confusing and hard to come to terms with. All of this is much bigger than anything we've been through." "Ah second that," Applejack briefly interjected. "I think I speak for everypony when I say that we should've prepared ourselves more than jumping in head first," Twilight said. "Agreed," Rarity said, with Spike and Pinkie nodding. "But, you still haven't given up, Fluttershy. Even with all the odds stacked against us, you were the one to remaining standing and keep fighting." "Not only that, you stood up for us, even when we were about to throw in the towel," Rainbow came to Fluttershy's side. "In all the years we've known each other, I've never seen you with such a courageous fire in your eyes. I-...I never knew you had that in you." The younger mare shuffled her wings awkwardly, her serious look melting back to her meek side. "Honestly I didn't really know I had it in me, either. I guess it just comes to you when you really need it." "Natural or not, that was commendable." Ford admitted. "Thank you, for stepping in like that, Fluttershy," Twilight said graciously. "We still may not have all the answers, but that's not grounds for giving up. We're here to help and that's what we're going to do." "Three cheers for Fluttershy!" Pinkie cheered. The Mane 6, Spike, and Ford began cheering for the courageous friend. Even some of the soldiers started cheering, respecting Fluttershy's valiance. She could only smile with an audible "sqwee." While our heroes were getting to celebrate a personal victory, it was still a far cry of what was to come. The diverted helicopters had made to their designated destination. The larger, Chinook helicopter carrying the warhead carefully lowered the massive missile onto a small, military transport boat. Soldiers helped steady the giant warhead onto the holding platform before securing it. Air raid sirens began blaring all throughout the city, alerting all of San Francisco that time was running out. School buses and army trucks hastily made a break out of the hospital parking lot. Elle, who was now outside amongst the chaos, held Sam tightly, rubbing his head in an effort to keep him calm. She had grown more impatiently worried the longer she was forced to wait for Ford's return. With the sirens going off, she knew that time was dwindling fast. The sharp sound of a beeping vehicle horn, startle Elle out of here panicky stupor. The nurse turned around to see a small school bus rolling in her direction. In that microscopic window of time she had, Elle made a hard choice. "Wait!" Elle held out her free hand. The driver stopped the buses, allowing Elle to race over to the folding entry doors. They opened and she quickly stepped inside. She saw her friend at the very front seat. "Laura, thank god," Elle whsipered. Laura smiled warmly. The young nurse set her son onto the buses steps and toward him to face her. "Sammy, you remember Laura. She's mommy's work friend, right?" Sam looked over to Laura. While he knew that his mom's friend was a nice lady, the young boy didn't like where this was going. "She's going to look after you just for a little bit. Daddy's going to be here soon. And I'm just gonna come get you right after. I promise." Elle cupped Sam's cheeks in her hands. Sam didn't like the last minute arrangement, but he was a smart enough kid to understand that his mom was doing this to keep him safe and protected, even if it meant having to be separated from her. "Okay," he said sadly, but he put on a brave face just for his mommy. "Okay?" Elle kissed Sam on the forehead. "Come on, sweetheart," Laura took Sam's hand and led him up the steps. "Your mom's gonna stay and help." The young nurse smiled as confidently and comfortingly as possible. "Elle, I'm gonna take care of him, okay?" Laura assured. She turned to Sam. "Say, "Bye-bye, Mommy." "Bye, Mommy," Sam said quietly. Elle waved to her son just as the bus doors closed. Her lower lip quivered as the school bus drove off. Elle was, at least, proud of herself for keeping it together. The last thing she wanted was for Sam to see her so upset before he left. If it was any consolation, she trusted her friend to keep her baby safe. All she could really do now was pray for both Sam safety and Ford and the ponies' hopeful return. Tactical Operations Command Oakland, California The remaining helicopter finally reached it's destination. Unfortunately, that happened to be far away from San Francisco. The chopper made a swift landing on the top of the embankment where a crudely built military base was set. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike clambered out of the chopper. A pair of soldiers helped Ford over to a paramedic. "I got them! I got them!" the paramedic helped in walking Ford over to an empty stretcher. "Just sit down here. Sit, sit. Here." "We heard you the first time," Rainbow said crudely. "He's just doing his job, Rainbow," Twilight said. Once Ford was sat down, a second paramedic arrived to look over Twilight, Spike and the others. "Did you lose consciousness?" the first paramedic asked. He looked at the gash on left side of Ford's head. "I'm okay. Really, I'm fine," the lieutenant assured dismissively. "What about you guys?" the second paramedic asked. "Just some cuts and bruises. We're fine, I assure you," Twilight said. "I don't suppose you can tell where we are, perchance," Rarity inquired. "You're in Oakland," the paramedic replied. "This is a makeshift tactical operations, so the military can keep an eye on the city when Godzilla and MUTO arrive." "Gosh, it's like everypony knows about Godzilla's arrival," Spike said. "Well, one, it's for safety reasons," a passing soldier said. "And two, it's hard to keep those things under wraps. I mean, as soon as you guys got aboard the ship, it's all the soldiers and it just spread like wildfire from there." "Ah wondered why ev'ry pony-...Uhm, my apologies, every human was bein' so calm 'round us," Applejack said. "So, wait. You said we're in Oak Land," Rainbow reminded. "I thought we were going to San Francisco." "Not when they're evacuating everyone there," the first paramedic said. "They're moving to shelters far from the city." "But what about Ford's family?" Fluttershy asked. "Like I said before, everyone's being evacuated. They are likely being transported right now, if not already in the shelters." The Mane 6 were filled with uncertainty. They still hadn't reached their intended destination, but now that planned it been muddled now that the city was being evacuated, which meant that Elle and Sam were among the thousands of people being transported to a different sight entirely. Rarity turned to Ford. "Should we be concerned about that?" "Not at the moment," the leery lieutenant said. "Should we try to look for them?" Pinkie asked, leaning her face uncomfortably close to Ford. "They could be anywhere!" "We can't really do much of anything. All we can really do is wait, unfortunately, and hope they're safe." The Mane 6 and Spike were left to ponder the volatile circumstances that now plagued them. While they didn't like the idea of forcing to wait for things to happen, it was sadly at of anyone's control. Fluttershy was unsatisfied, however. While she understood they couldn't just go back to find two people in a sea of many during the crisis, that didn't mean there was nothing left she and her friends could do. The invigorated pegasus noticed a building on the outskirts of the makeshift facility. It looked to be the main hub of the fort. Fluttershy hardened her glare and, without warning, take off into the air. The Mane 6, Spike, and Ford were all taken aback from the mare's sudden leave. "Fluttershy, wha... where are you going?" Rarity called out to her. "Fluttershy, wait!" Twilight yelled. Their calls and questions fell on deaf ears. "What'n tarnation is that girl up to?" Applejack said captiously. "I'll go after her." Rainbow opened her wings and took off after the wayward pegasus. Fluttershy reached the building in no time at all, just as a familiar figure walked inside. Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham entered the building, following behind Admiral Stenz and Captain Hampton. Fluttershy landed just in front of the doorway. "Fluttershy!" The pegasus jumped a bit. She looked back to see Rainbow landed behind her. "What in Equestria are you doing?" "Trying to get more info," the pegasus responded, her tone devoid of any anxious or fearful feelings. "If we can pinpoint where Elle, Sammy, and the other evacuees are, we'll be able to get them back here ourselves." Rainbow looked over her friend's shoulder into the building. "Uhh, I don't think we're supposed to go in there." "Yes... well," Fluttershy curled her left hind leg against her right. "I don't feel comfortable about just sitting around and waiting." The cyan pegasus, of course, did agree with what Fluttershy was saying. Rainbow didn't like the idea of doing nothing while chaos was brewing elsewhere, but this just seemed a bit, too forward. Then again, who was she to question forwardness on a situation. "Fair point. We'll have to relay anything we learn back to the others. They're still being looked over." Fluttershy nodded and the two ventured inside. The first thing the two mares noticed were all the foriegn electronics. While they had see such devices in passing in other worlds; TV monitors, computers, laptops, etc. It was certainly to peculiar experience to see it all in such a complex. Fluttershy and Rainbow remained silent as Admiral Stenz paced down the room. "Sitrep, please. Location of targets?" "Male MUTO was spotted 30 miles off the Farallon Islands," a male evacuation worker answered. "We're showing seismic activity to the east near Livermore," a female researcher added. "Should be the female closing in." Dr. Serizawa stared at the monitors displaying the monsters' predicted trajectory. That's when he felt something poke his leg. At first, he thought he was just imagining things until he heard a soft voice say: "Dr. Serizawa." He turned and looked down to see Fluttershy and Rainbow standing behind him. The seasoned researcher was in utter shock. He hadn't expected to meet any of the ponies when they left for Hawaii. He somewhat suspected they were killed during Godzilla's first fight with the MUTO, yet here two of them were. "How...How did you two get here?" he asked quietly, yet his tone still conveyed the shock he held. "It's a long story," Rainbow replied, subdued. "Are you the only ones left?" "What? No. Ford, Rarity, and the others are fine. Just a little banged up." Dr. Serizawa looked around, making sure no one had noticed. "What are you doing here?" "Trying to find where the evacuees are," Fluttershy said. "We want to help evacuate the city." The pegasus's expression faded. "Did you know they were planning on blowing Godzilla up?" Dr. Serizawa let out a sigh. "Yes, and I'm not on board with it. Nature has a way to balance itself. We are in no position to force that privilege onto ourselves." "Yeah, so we've gathered," Rainbow rubbed the top of her head in a thoughtful manner. "But, still, we need to do something to ensure everypony's safety." "I wouldn't advise going back to San Francisco," a female voice said. The three turned to Dr. Graham. "Despite the rashness of the military's plan, they're still following through with it." "We know. Seemed like the female MUTO knew, too," the dejected pegasus said. "How do you know about the attack?" Dr. Serizawa asked. "They agreed to let us on the train carrying the bombs to San Francisco, but we kind off got ambushed," Fluttershy paraphrased. "I'd prefer not to think about it." The two Japanese scientists exchanged shocked looks. "Regardless, it would be unwise to return their," Dr. Graham said. "They're already evacuating the entire city. Sticking around would likely lead to a run-in with Godzilla or the MUTOs." "But..." Fluttershy tried to object. "We can't-" "Where's Godzilla?" Admiral Stenz walked over to a quartet of TV monitors. "Last contact was still five hours ago," a female soldier responded. "Maintaining a bearing 053 degrees, descending below a depth of 10,000 feet. He'll be here within the hour." Stenz watched one of the monitors that was showing the current news, of which, showed of the residents evacuating the city. "Residents are trying to get out of the city any way they can," the news anchor said. The admiral looked away, turning his eyes over to everyone sitting at the meeting table. A horrific conclusion was etched in his mind. While he was mortified, years of being in the naval service provided Stenz with the means to keep such drastic emotion under the surface. Still, the conclusion could not go ignored. "There's still buses on that bridge." Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham looked back at each other in a horrified silence. They both knew that Godzilla was arriving soon, and if he were to show up at the bridge... "Those buses are full of children," Dr. Graham whispered. Both Fluttershy and Rainbow's jaws dropped. "Children?!" the both exclaimed. "Listen, you two..." Serizawa looked back down to speak to them, but their minds had already been made up. He and Graham could only watch as the two ponies raced out of the building. "May God have mercy on their souls," Serizawa whispered. Outside, Fluttershy galloped over to an more open area of the operations facility. Her eyes were poised on the distant skyscrapers of San Francisco, which we just barely visible through the rainy haze. Yes, rain clouds were rolling in and covering the city and surrounding area in a dramatic drench. Rainbow was immediately at the animal caretaker's side. "Fluttershy, are you really sure about this?" "I...I..." the pegasus let out a sigh. "Not entirely Rainbow, I'm still really scared about all of this, but I can't think about that right now. Kids' lives are at risk." Rainbow looked away for a few seconds, thinking of how to respond to Fluttershy's statement. "I get that. This whole spectacle has been just crazy, even for me. I'm honestly more shocked that your still not backing down from this." "I can't back down from this, no matter how scared you or I are," Fluttershy said defiantly. "Even if I'm unsure if we can really even do anything, or have doubts right now, I know we can do this. For the greater good." Everypony has times in their lives When their hearts are filled with doubts Frustration builds up inside And it makes you want to shout But if you just take that first step The next one will appear And you find you can walk, then run Then fly...! Into the stratosphere You've got to give it your best So you can pass the test Give it everything that you've got And we know you can win You just have to begin Have to give it your very best shot There are times when you want to give up When you think that you can't go on But if you fight through with all of your might You will find that you can't go wrong That you could do it all along Everypony has times in their lives When their hearts are filled with doubt But if you give it your all You'll start to work it out And I know we can't give up too soon Get yourself in the zone And we find we can walk, then run Then fly...! We can do it on our own We can do it on our own I can do it on my own I can do it on my own Fluttershy didn't know what came over her, but she let all self-restraint go. She suddenly found herself face-to-face with Rainbow. The rainbow-maned pegasus was confused by the sudden stance change. Without so much as a second, Fluttershy rushed forward. Her lips connected with Rainbow's lips. Her eyes shut tight, a tickled pink blush spreading on her face. To Rainbow's eyes widened, feeling her friend's lush lips rub against her own. To her credit, she didn't turn away or object, though that might've been because she was too surprise for her brain to conjure up a response. Still, it felt amazing. Fluttershy's mind mentally shook itself out of it's euphoric haze, prompting her to realize what she was doing. She frantically pulled away and covered her face with her mane in embarrassment. Her blush thickened as she struggled to form any form of apology. "I-I-I-I-I'm so sorry," she sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "That was too forward. I should've..." Fluttershy's apology was cut short when a bright, blue hoof covered her mouth. She nervously peeked through her silky, pink mane, expecting Rainbow to be furious with her. Instead, the mare's expression was unreadable, mostly because Rainbow, herself, was struggling to straighten out her emotions. "That was... That was nice," she said sheepishly. "Y-You're not mad?" Fluttershy asked, worried still prominent in her tone. "Of course not. To be honest, I always kinda suspected you had feelings for me." "H-How..." "Well, you weren't exactly the best at hiding your reactions whenever were got close." "Oh," Fluttershy her face back up under her mane. "You're...not upset, are you?" Rainbow asked. "Oh, no. Just...flustered," the timid mare stared at her closest friend, strands of pink hair obstructing her view. "D-Do you...um...you know... l-l-l-love me... back?" Now it was Rainbow's turn to bare a bright, cherry red blush on her face. "Well, um...I…" Fluttershy's heart skipped a beat. She could already just hear Rainbow’s confession, but then, the pegasus stopped nervously. "...look, can we please talk about this at a more appropriate time. We still have a crisis on our hooves." For a time, Fluttershy had completely forgotten of the buses stuck on the bridge. Her eyes shrink to the size of pinpricks from shock and humiliation. "R-Right," she cleared her throat. "Let's go!" With that, the two mares took off toward San Francisco. However, what neither of them realized was that two soldiers had witnessed the entire thing. The two stood awestruck by what they saw. "I ship it.” "What are you, a brony?" To be continued
Part 12: The King of the Monsters RisesIt was a large leap, not one Fluttershy wasn't familiar with, but also not something she was even considering, much less expecting, to happen on a perilous mission like this. Going from somepony that followed orders from her others friends to coming up with her own directions and taking charge in her own little mission with Rainbow Dash alongside her. Despite the encouraging speech Fluttershy had shared on the helicopter and right now, where she and Rainbow were currently heading to the supposed "Golden Gate Bridge" to help with the evacuation efforts, a reasonable sense of fear gripped her like a thorn bush. However, that speech wasn't for nothing, Fluttershy still had the empowering zeal and courage to not back down from this mission, even if she was still pretty afraid. "Is that what they were referring to on the news?" Rainbow pointed to a giant, orange suspension bridge in the distance, standing high over the bay area. "They did say most of the people were stuck on a bridge." "I think so," the paler pegasus replied. "Weird. Nothing on it strikes me as being made out of gold." "Me neither. But, I think we have something more to worry about." The sky, which was once bright with a healthy blue, had now been changed to a smokey grey with a hazing mist to go along with it. It wasn't long after that when Fluttershy and Rainbow could feel tiny water droplets splashing against their fur. "Seriously?" Rainbow said pejoratively "We have to deal with rain, now?" Fluttershy wasn't a fan of getting soaked, herself. All the water weighing her down and her wet mane covering her eyes was irritating and those same things could be concurred for Rainbow, but, they were already in this far. Turning back now would be inane, even if Godzilla wasn't the one threatening everycreature's lives intentionally. Fluttershy wasn't ignorant of unintentional side effects of animal behaviors. She knew Godzilla posed a sizable threat with how close he was to a highly populated area. "We'll...We'll push through it," Fluttershy defiantly puffed out her chest. "For the children." Rainbow groaned. "Right. For the children." The two mares pressed on, the rain getting heavier and heavier by the second. The fog was also beginning to hinder their sight. It partially covered the massive bridge, making it more difficult to pinpoint an exact position. Meanwhile, on the Golden Gate Bridge, things weren't looking so bright. Fighter jets soared overhead the overcrowded bridge, no one on the ground were aware of the oncoming chaos that was to arrive. The bridge was jammed with school buses, police cars, and civilian vehicles, all of which grid-locked not knowing where to go from their current fixed position. The civilians were impatiently yelling to get a move-on. Numerous police officers and soldiers scrambled to direct the civilians to get the traffic going again, but, with the rainfall getting denser, this was proving to be difficult. "Let's get these buses through," one soldier shouted. "Let's go!" One cop approached a particular school bus and raised his hand in an attention-grabbing gesture. "We're not gonna stop the buses here." His explanation was indiscernible to the bus driver. With all the kids laughing and yelling, it was impossible to hear anything. "What?" the older man held a hand up to his right ear, conveying to the officer that he couldn't hear him. The officer remedied this by pointing to the farther lanes, but this explained little to the bus driver. "I can't hear you," he turned toward the rambunctious children. "Oh, kids, please be quiet." Of course, with kids being kids, the man's pleas fell on uncaring ears. The children continued talking loudly and laughing. One such kid, however, was quiet and conserved. Sam sat near the back of the bus. He was too lonely to hold conversation with any of the other kids on board the bus. He missed his dad, he wanted his mom back, he wanted to see those cartoon ponies, who bravely set out with his dad to find his grandfather. Being by his lonesome, Sam felt isolated in a place he wasn't accustomed to. The kids' unrestrained playfulness was halted by the sound of a police siren echoing down the bridge. The children clambered to one side of the bus where a line of combat tanks rolled by on the unoccupied lanes. The children watched in awe as the massive machines treaded by with soldiers atop, wielding machine guns. One of the tanks bulldozed over the steel barrier between the bridge’s road and sidewalk, careful as to not nail any the soldiers positioned at the sidewalk's edge. "Move into position till you have a clean line of sight!" a soldier barked. The tanks aimed their cannons out to the bay area. Soldiers raced to the bridge's north side, guns armed. From their vantage point, they could see the waters were sprinkled with battleships, waiting for Godzilla's arrival. By this point, Fluttershy and Rainbow had reached the Golden Gate Bridge. "Nothing to fear, fine citizens," Rainbow arrogantly assure. "Everything is okay with us here." Soldiers and police officers alike stared at the two pegasi with surprised and disapproving eyes. "What the hell are you doing here?" one of the officers asked. "Uh, saving the evacuees. Seems like you're having a hard time getting these people off the bridge." "That's not any of your concern," a soldier said. "Return to where you came from!" "But, we want to help," Fluttershy pleaded. The flippant Wonderbolt let a huff and turned to her friend. "This is the thanks we get?" "We didn't do this to recieve praise, Rainbow." "I know that, but still. You'd think they would be a bit more appreciative." "Leave the evacuation to us," the officer from earlier said. "We can't risk endangering innocent lives." Rainbow Dash zipped down and landed right now front of the police officer, clearly offended by what she thought he was bespeaking. "What, you think we'll mess things up and hurt people? Is that what I'm hearing? You know, I can be reckless sometimes, but I know better than to be a showoff, especially when it comes to other creatures' well-being." "You're taking what I said the wrong way," the officer rubbed his forehead in annoyance. The sky blue pegasus cocked an eyebrowed, not entirely believing the cop's statement. "I meant, your lives. Not just their lives," he pointed to all the backed up traffic. "We don't allowed civilians putting themselves in harm's way for the sake of others." "Well, we're not just ordinary citizens," Rainbow said matter-of-factly. "Saving people is part of the job, or it's at least a duty." Fluttershy had by now landed on the rain-slick roads and she was quickly discovering a problem. What were she and Rainbow to do with all these strange carts on the road. How in the world were they going to push all of them off the bridge in time. She first tried pushing one on her own, but, naturally, the thing didn't move an inch. Realizing she would be wasting her energy on this approach, Fluttershy called out to Rainbow, hoping she would have an idea "Uhm, Rainbow." The brash mare was still butting heads with the police officer. "Besides, helping these people will be easy." "Oh, yeah? How do you figure," the officer exigently asked. "You got barriers on the road," Rainbow pointed to the wooden police barricade. "What kind of rescue team blocks an escape route." "That's not..." Before the cop could get another word in, Rainbow reared up on her front legs. In one swift motion, she bucked the wooden barricade hard, causing it to clattered to the wet pavement. "There. Problem solved." The mare gave an accomplished smiled. Rainbow looked to the officer, expecting some kind of applause or thanks, but the man just glared at her. "Hmph. Critic. Guessed I'll just have to congratulate myself," Rainbow starting patting her own back. "Good job, Rainbow Dash. What would we do without-" Her self-centered commending was interrupting by a bestial groan in the distance. Everyone froze like statues, and the charged tension in the air dissipated. The kids in the bus went silent and the bus driver turned to face where the groan came from. He rubbed the condensation off the window to get a better look. "Uhh, was that who I think that was?" Rainbow asked apprehensively, "We need to get these people out of here," Fluttershy vainly tried pushing a car to get it going. "Listen, you two, get out of here," the police officer said. "Let us handle this." "No way!" the more outspoken pegasus exclaimed. "We're going to help evacuate these humans whether you like it or not." Fluttershy quickly got between Rainbow and the officer. "What my friend is trying to say is that we didn't come here just to be turned away just because we're considered civilians. We came to help. To help these innocent people who are in oncoming danger." The police officer was about to speak, but Fluttershy wasn't done. "We may not be trained professionals like you, but nopony needs to be certified to rescue anypony else when they're in danger." A contemplating silence settled amongst the three. During which, the children on board the bus stared out into the bay. Sam could see the dozens of boats sitting in the water, but nothing that screamed animalistic. That was until something smacked against the window, startling the children. It was just a seagull, but it wasn't the only one. Hundreds of seagulls and pelicans frantically flew off south, a sign of something coming from the north. Such a phenomenon broke the silence. Fluttershy, Rainbow, and the police officer stared off into the misty distance. "And exactly how do you plan on protecting yourself when Godzilla arrives?" the officer questioned. "We got helmets," Rainbow bonked a hoof against hers. Out in the bay, the battleships were on high alert. Naval officers and soldiers watched the feathery spectacle, until something caught one of the soldier's eye. "Portside! Two hundred meters!" he pointed northward. The farthest out ship, and by proxy the people aboard, spotted black spikes protruding from the water. They already knew what it was. What alarmed them was that it was not appearing to be stopping. "Brace!" one of the naval officers yelled. The soldiers on deck gripped the guard wires as the monstrous hump got closer. Suddenly, it stopped, the waves it created surged along, rocking the ship. The soldiers watched with bated breaths, wondering what Godzilla was planning on doing next. "Hold your fire. Hold your fire," the intercom sounded. No one moved and no one said a word. The only sound that could be hear was the soft pitter-patter of the rain. Then, the hump rose, quickly towering over the ships. "Holy shit" one soldier yelped. The higher the hump rose, the thinning it got, until it ended at a tip. That's when it all became apparent. This was Godzilla's tail, and the main body was behind them. The soldiers all quickly turned to see Godzilla, proper, rise up from the ocean, casting aside any battleships that were unfortunate enough to be in his wake. "Oh, shit!" Yelling and profanity began storming up as soldiers on the unluckiest ships were pretty much face-to-face with the king of the monsters. "Hold on!" "Watch on!" "Fire! Fire! Fire!" The cannons and turrets were aimed straight at the kaiju and began firing. Some hit their mark, but seemed to do little as Godzilla showed no sign of flinching. But, because the ships were still sliding off the monster's back, the cannon's trajectory was not consistent, and some of the shells missed their mark and were now heading toward the bridge. "Incoming!" Rainbow screamed. The soldiers, cops, and the two ponies dropped to the pavement. Inside the bus, the children began panicking. "Look out!" Laura yelled as children screamed and ducked for cover. "Get down! Get down in your seats!" The shells zoomed past them all, some within inches of striking the bridge. Realizing the mortal danger they were all in, the bus driver threw caution to the wind and punched the gas. He swerved off the jammed lanes. Cops and soldiers ran clear out of the bus’s path, while the driver furiously honked the horn. "Get out of the way! Get out of the way!" While that was happening, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and the officer quickly got back up from near brush with death. "What the heck are those guys doing?" Rainbow incredulously looked off to the battleships. "Godzilla has arrived, but they shouldn't be shooting!" the officer exclaimed. "Yeah, that's been made abundantly clear." "What do we do now?" Fluttershy asked urgently. "Getting clear for one thing!" the officer ran clear just as the bus zoomed by, barely missing Fluttershy and Rainbow. "WAAH!" both mares screeched. the small rig zoomed across the bridge, pushing aside barricades and parked cop cars. The driver was hellbent on getting himself and all these kids safe. All of a sudden, more shells rocketed past. One struck the bridge's suspension cable. The blast from the shell severed the cable and it slammed onto the road, blocking the buses path. The driver slammed on the brakes and the vehicles came to a screeching halt. But, now they were trapped. "Move out! Move, move, move!" a solider shouted. dozens of army men and woman hurried to the northside walkway of the Golden Gate. "Striker! There's civilians on the bridge," another soldier yelled into a radio. "Hold your fire!" By the time he gave the order, several more rounds were shot from several of the ships. Fluttershy and Rainbow saw the incoming shells heading straight for the bridge. "We need to get out of here!" Fluttershy, in a moment of panic, tugged on Rainbow's shoulders to get her to follow. "We can't leave these people behind," Rainbow resisted. "But, the missiles!" Rainbow wrapped a hoof behind Fluttershy's neck and pulled her down. The two braced for the inevitable onslaught and so did the soldiers. In the blink of an eye, a gigantic, reptilian body rose just in front of the bridge. It shielded the bridge from the exploding shells. The two mares opened their eyes and were met with Godzilla towering above them. The children on the buses stared in horror. The bus looked on helplessly. The cable was still blocking their path. "Open fire!" The order was given and the soldiers and tanks began bombarding Godzilla with rounds of bullet and shells. Godzilla let out a mighty roar and grabbed the other, intact suspension cable. Once again, the children began screaming and crying in terror. Amongst the chaos, the bus driver noticed one of the tanks backing up. It pushed back the shredded cable wire, creating a clear path. He slammed on the gas and the bus surged forward. "Move! Move!" the driver yelled. Soldiers backed out of the path, but kept a sharp eye on the kaiju. Godzilla growled and grunted, not taking to being shot at too kindly. He pulled on the suspension cable angrily. All the while the children screamed and cried like it was some kind of nightmare, and they all wanted to wake up. "We need to do something," Rainbow said, not wanting to stand by and watching everything unfold. "We have to get him away from this bridge." "But, that means getting his attention," Fluttershy stated. The two mare looked to each other. They both knew what they had to do despite the danger they would be putting themselves in. Fluttershy and Rainbow nodded to each other and took off. They flew as quickly as they could to other side of the kaiju's side, staying safe from the bullets. The pair quickly found themselves truly face-to-face with the beast. As the bus raced down the road, Sam caught sight of Fluttershy and Rainbow staring down Godzilla. His eyes widened in shock and awe. "Fluttershy? Rainbow Dash?" he said quietly, his voice not even audible amongst the panicking children. Seeing them brought him a sense of comfort. They were protecting us. They were protecting him, and that brought a smile to his face. ”Go get him, ponies.” Back with the two pegasi, Rainbow flew right up to Godzilla's face, making sure he could see her. "Hey, Godzilla, how about you try to chase this down," she rubbed her bright, blue flanks tauntingly. Godzilla growled at her, almost as if he was taking the challenge. "That's only going to make him more mad!" Fluttershy flew even closer. upon seeing the other pegasus Godzilla's beady eyes darted over to her, his movement stopping completely. Rainbow could only hover back a bit and watch as Fluttershy worked her magic. "Yeah! Use "The Stare" on him!" Fluttershy cleared her throat. "Uhm, h-hello, Mr. Godzilla. I...I was wondering if maybe...y-you could move away... from... the bridge since there's a lot of people still on it," her voice pitched higher the more she spoke, turning into more of a whispering squeak. "If that's all right with you." The monstours kaiju glared at the caring pegasus. Depsite, his glowering nature, Godzilla seemed to be thinking the suggestion over. Fluttershy could see in his eyes that he was actually listening. But, then something shifted in his demeanor. Godzilla, felt something and it was getting stronger with every second. He knew the feeling well and it brought him back to his hunting focus. In one swift motion, Godzilla let out a predatory roared and charged into the Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge easily tore apart. much to the horror of Rainbow and Fluttershy. The wires ripped away from the foundation and the road crumbled to pieces, taking several cars with it. To make matters worse, Godzilla was deviating away from them and heading for San Francisco Bay. "No! Wait, come ba-AAH!" Fluttershy was about chase after him when she felt something tear into her back left leg. A searing pain coursed up her leg. The pegasus let out a scream of pain, tears already running down her face. She was in so much pain she almost forgot to keep her wings flapping. "FLUTTERSHY!" Rainbow was quickly by her side. "Fluttershy, what happened?" "I...I don't know," the teary pegasus sobbed. "Something hit my leg." Rainbow quickly searched from any form of injury, which didn't take long. She found a small hole bleeding profusely just above her hoof. Fluttershy had accidentally been shot. "Oh, merciful Celestia," Rainbow gulped. She felt sick. Rainbow had never seen a bullet wound before. The flesh had been punctured through like a giant needle. Dark, crimson blood poured out in feeble spurts, staining Fluttershy's yellow coat and dripping down her leg into the ocean below. While Rainbow and Fluttershy and we're still comprehending what just happened. "We have to get you back to Oakland." "B-But, what about..." Fluttershy staggered in the air, forcing Rainbow to hold her by wrapping her hooves around her underbelly. "You're injured, Fluttershy, badly! We'll worry about Godzilla later." "But..." "No, buts! Just because you finally have the courage to take on this mission doesn't you can overlook a wound this serious. We're going back." Fluttershy wanted to protest, she wanted to help Godzilla. But, what's done is done and Rainbow was not going to allow her friends to put herself in danger any further. Fluttershy was still in her thoughts when she felt something dripping down to her face. It couldn't be the rain, it was too warm. They were tears, but not her tears. Then she heard a quiet sniffling from above coming from Rainbow. "R-Rainbow?" "It should've been me, not you, Fluttershy," the pegasus wept. "I should've taken that hit." Fluttershy now felt horrible. Here she was; injured and barely keeping herself flying through the pain. And here Rainbow was practically blaming herself for it. "Rainbow, it was an accident." "It still should've been me!" The anguished yelled silenced both of them. "I'm sorry," Rainbow apologized through sniffles. "I'm sorry, too," Fluttershy said guiltily. Rainbow carried Fluttershy back toward Oakland where, hopefully, she'll get the treatment she needs. By this time the bus had made it across the other side of the smashed Golden Gate Bridge along with dozens of other civilians. Only thing standing in their way was a wooden barricade, which the bus pushed aside with much effort. Meanwhile, Godzilla was still on his wary prowl. On this side of the bridge, several army transport boats were sailing across the bay. One of which was carrying the last nuclear warhead. Fighter jets zoomed overhead to keep a clear radar view on the monstrous behemoth, who was now getting dangerously close to the San Francisco coastline. This prompted immediate action from the transport boats. "All right, get in there!" a soldier aboard the warhead-hauling boat ordered. "Prepare to arm the device!" another soldier said. Rain and waves pelted the boat, soaking every soldier head-to-toe. Most stayed back to allow a clear operation in activating the warhead. "Ready! You got it?" "I'm all set." One removed the plate that covered the countdown mechanism. The first-in-commanded opened the seal, completely exposing the mechanism. "Arming keys!" the first-in-commanded said. One key was handed to two individual soldiers. Both the first-in-command and another soldier inserted the keys into the mechanism before turning to face each other. "Three! Two! One!" the soldier shouted and both turned the keys. A loud click sounded from the mechanism followed by the timeout gears beginning to spin. The displayed time began to count down. Total countdown time: 1 hour, 30 minutes. However, just as the countdown started, a bestial grunt echoed in the distance followed by an electric blast. A shockwave rapidly traveled across the area. Then, there was silence. The boat operator fiddled with the controls to try and get the boat running again. "What the hell was that?" one of the soldiers asked. "EMP," another answered. "Engine's stopped! We lost power!" the boat driver exclaimed. All throughout San Francisco, the EMP ravaged every city block, technologically speaking. Buildings went dark and vehicles went dead. The entire city went dead silent without any form of electricity. Elle was in the middle of assisting a paramedic with an injured patient when the ambulance they were working in stopped working. She and the male paramedic glanced at each other with confusion and concern. Luckily, the patient only needed a blood transfusion, which didn't require electricity. However, Elle felt compelled to step out of the ambulance and into the rainy outside. Everything electric had gone out, leaving the city in complete silence. As Elle looked to the cloud-filled sky, she saw a silhouette forming within the static gray. The closer it got, the more the silhouette formed into a rational shape. A soldier was riding a parachute down to the ground. Elle's silent study of the peculiar sight was then interrupted when she heard something crash behind her. The young nurse turn to see that a fighter jet had just crashed into a building. Flaming debris scattered everyone, sending everyone into a screaming panic. Elle watched, jaw-dropped, as a wall of fire pillared up from the sea of broken steel, glass, and concrete. Back on the downed boat. The soldiers find themselves in the epicenter of an identical predicament. Fighter jets dropped from the sky and splashed into the water all around them. The could watch and exclaim obscenities as the military aircraft dropped like flies. One jet landed just feet away from their boat, kicking up a huge wave of water. The soldiers hit the deck as they were showered in saltwater. "You all right?" one soldier asked. "Yeah," the other replied. The others checked to make sure their comrades were unharmed. As they got to their feet, some of the soldiers were able to catch a final glance of the jet as it disappeared below the water. With all that they had just witnessed, it was to be expected. After all, they all had been briefed about the EMP's capabilities. However, something that did come to mind was that if the EMP did occur, it also meant that... one of the MUTOs was nearby. That thought would all be confirmed when they heard a screech coming from above them. And, because of that, there was an answer to that: Retaliation. "Fire!" "Incoming!" The group soldiers unloaded every round they could from their rifles and mounted guns. Bullets pelted the diving MUTO, but, like it was already been made apparent, it did next to nothing. The male MUTO dived right on top of the boat, taking it and vanishing beneath the waves. Civilians around the bay got out of their cars upon watching the bat-like monster dive into the water. For a few seconds, they could only talk amongst themselves on what had just happened. Suddenly, the MUTO resurfaced right up against the bay where the water met with the land. Peoples screamed and ran for their lives as it climbed onto the crowded street, carrying the boat in it's mouth. The MUTO dropped the boat and held it down with a forearm. It then grasp the nuclear warhead in it's mouth and pulled it free from it's secured clamps. All the while, civilians fled from the nightmarish scene. The male MUTO transferred the missile to it's smaller set of legs, keeping it safe and secure. It let out a roaring growl and took to the air, deeper into the city. It glided across the tops of buildings, but it didn't travel for long or very far. The MUTO landed firmly on a building rooftop in the Chinatown section of San Francisco. In front of it was a massive cloud of dust. It let out a series of squawks, as if to make it’s presence known. A lower series of squawks sounded from within the dust cloud. Taking the answer, the male MUTO flew down closer, just in front of the dust cloud. He moved the nuclear warhead back to it's mouth. The much larger female MUTO stepped up to him from within the dust. The male MUTO let out a passionate wail, it's way of saying "Hello" to his mate. The female nuzzled him affectionately followed by both bumping nostrils together; a more private form of communication. Clicks and grunts resonated from both of them. The female MUTO took the warhead from the her mate's mouth and held it close to her egg pouch. Satisfied, the male MUTO climbed onto a building and took off into the air to search for more food. Meanwhile, the female MUTO began striking the ground with her spiked forelegs. The entire city shook and paper lantern string lights swung wildly from the violently digging. She was building a nest for her future generation of MUTOs. Things were truly about to get calamitous. Back at the Tactical Operations Command, Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike were tailing behind a rescue manager. Ford was desperate to know the whereabouts of his wife and son, while the Mane 7 were trying to know where Rainbow and Fluttershy went. "Sam Brody was checked into the Oakland Coliseum shelter an hour ago," the manager explained as he wrote things down on a clipboard. "He is safe. But, I have no record of Elle Brody. Never made it out of the city." "What about Rainbow and Fluttershy?" Twilight asked, her voice cracking from fear of her friends' safety. "Nothing about them either." "Well, they couldn't have just disappeared!" Rarity exclaimed pejoratively. "Where in this world could they have even gone?" "From what a few soldiers who saw them, they were heading to San Francisco Bay." "Why there? Isn't that were Godzilla and MUTOs are going to be intercepting?" Spike asked warily. "Knowin' Dash, she probably went there it try to fight them MUTOs," Applejack concluded. "But, why would Fluttershy go?" Twilight questioned. "In fact, why leave us at all without telling us?" "Check again. Please." Ford pleaded. "I told Elle to wait for me, and I didn't make it." The rescue manager turned to them. "I'm sorry. But, they are trying to get everyone downtown into subway shelters," he then walked away, following another rescue worker. "I'm sure your wife and friends are fine." "I'm sorry, but your assurance isn't helping much!" Rarity mocked angrily. "Oh, Dashie. Fluttershy," Pinkie said weakly. "Don't worry, Pinkie. We'll find them. Them and Elle." "And then we can ask Rainbow and Flutters where they heck they went," Applejack added with a hint of frustration. It was bad enough they were injured, but now two of their friends had separated from them without a trace. Whilst Applejack was upset at the situation, Twilight was slowly having "Twilight-patented" breakdown. "It's okay. It's all fine. It's like it's a perilous situation or anything." She held her front hooves against the side of her head. The pressure was starting to get to the young alicorn. "Twilight?" She felt Spike's hand on her side. She look over to him, a worried look on his face. Twilight let out a sigh. "Why did this have to happen. What were they thinking just leaving like that." "I get it, Twilight," Pinkie came right to her purple friend's side. "It really stinks not knowing the answers to these kind of things." "I really wish there was something I can do to help," Ford said. "It's all right, Sugarcube," Applejack said. "You carin' about their safety as all that matters ta us. And we'll make sure ta find Elle, too." The lieutenant nodded graciously. "Oh, if only there was somepony, or someone, that can help us find Rainbow and Fluttershy," Rarity lameneted. Amidst the indistinct chatter a man's voice cut through the rest of them. "Lieutenant Brody!" Ford was the first to hear it, but as the call got louder, the ponies and dragon picked up on it, too. "Is...Is that your name they're calling out?" Rarity strained her ears to get as clear as a sound as possible. "I'm looking for Lieutenant Brody and a couple of ponies with him." "That's definitely us," Spike said. The gang turned back around. A soldier stood not far from them. "Are you Brody?" he asked. "Yes," Ford called back. "You and your friends need to come with me." "And why may that be?" Rarity asked skeptically. "We need you for our mission of retrieving the nuclear warhead." "The warhead? What happened to it?" Twilight asked. "That will be explained soon, but for now, Captain Hampton wants you all," Pinkie scooched right next to Twilight and hovered her face right in front of her ear. "That's the guy who was captain of the ship we were on." The violet alicorn turned to her friend in confusion. "How do you know that?" "I saw his picture on the wall." "Plus, we have your two rogue friends," the soldier added. To that, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and, Spike all gasped in shock. "You mean... you have Rainbow and Fluttershy!?" Rarity asked hopefully. "Yes. They are currently waiting in the briefing room." The soldier pointing over to the building that Fluttershy and Rainbow were briefly in before their rescue travel to the Golden Gate Bridge. "Hoh, my Celestia," Twilight nearly collapsed in sheer shock and relief. Here she was worrying to her wit's end about Fluttershy and Rainbow's safety, and hearing that they were okay brought an insurmountable wave of calming relief that brought here to the point of tears. Her other friends were just as emotional as the princess. "Dashie! Flutters!" Pinkie took off like a rocket to where the soldier was pointing. "Wait up, Pinkie!" The rest of the Mane 6 and Spike chased after the exhilarated earth pony with Ford and soldier following behind. It was a absolute miracle that their two pegasus friends were found safe and sound. Hopefully, now they would get some answers, both from Rainbow and Fluttershy, and about the supposed mission they were needed for. Considering it was a mission concerning the army, the Mane 7 could only concluded it meant something serious and dangerous. The group were led into the headquarters, the first thing that caught their eyes was the Captain Hampton, Admiral Stenz, and six other soldiers standing around a planning table with Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham discussing something together nearby. The other thing that was there outwardly caught their attentions. "Girls!" the voices of Rainbow and Fluttershy exclaimed. "Fluttershy! Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie was the first to practically scream their names before tackling them in a hug. "I-I-It's been sooooo long since we've seen you. W-We thought you were dead!" "We weren't gone that long," Rainbow heaved as she and her pegasus friend were crushed in the teary-eyed party pony's embrace. The rest of the Mane 6 and Spike joined in. "But, she's right, you two," Twilight said, unable to keep her own tears from falling. "You girls just left us without warning. We thought something bad happened to you." "W-Well..." Fluttershy was about to explain, but she was interrupted by a sharp gasp from Rarity. "...Darling... your leg." The well-spoken fashionista pointed to Fluttershy's back left leg, which was bandaged up. "Yeah... I was going to explain," she said sorrowfully. "Well, start explainin', ya two," Applejack demanded somewhat angrily. The two mares looked turned to each other with rather guilty expressions. "When we went into this building earlier, we saw on the news that a lot of the civilians were stuck on that big, orange bridge." "You mean that bridges that's now destroyed?" Spike asked. "Which was also on the news." "Yeah, that one," Rainbow swiftly answered. "And, we kind of thought to ourselves that we should try and help those people escape before the monsters came." "But, that plan kinda fell apart," Fluttershy dipped her head low. "And by that point, Godzilla had arrived and so those giant boats started shooting at him, which all those people in danger." "We tried persuading him to leave the bridge alone, but he just... charged through it." By this point, Fluttershy was beginning to tear up. "I-I don't know why. W-We tried going after him, but then I got... shot." She looked down to her bandaged leg. "And that's when we realized that we should return before we got more hurt." Rainbow concluded. The ponies and dragon were silent. The soldiers standing nearby remained respectfully silent. "Wow," Ford said quietly. "But, why not tell us before you left?" Twilight question, frustration dripping in her tone. Fluttershy blushed in embarrassment. "Well, that's probably because..." "We were in the moment. Okay?" Rainbow suddenly interrupted. "We were just really focused on the bridge and the civilians. Coming to you guys just didn't cross our minds." Applejack put a hoof to her the bridge of her nose in and let out a embittered sigh. "I would've expected such crass actions from Rainbow, but you, Fluttershy? Ah thought ya smarter than that." "Well, it's just that..." "And furthermore, what were you two thinking? throwing yourselves into such unnecessary danger like that," Rarity added, sharing the farm mare's perturbed anger. "Oh, come on, have you girls forgotten who we are?" Rainbow asked in defense. "We're the Elements of Harmony." "That doesn't mean throwing ourselves into the lion's den whenever it presents itself," Twilight countered. "And now look, Fluttershy's been hurt." "It... wasn't that bad," Rainbow was beginning to lose her confidence. That was something she really couldn't argue with. Watching Fluttershy get hurt like that was something the brazen pegasus never wanted to see again if she could help it. Even Rainbow knew what she said not even a second ago was in no way a convincing argument. "A bullet wound is no joke," Admiral Stenz said. "See what I mean?" Twilight glared at Rainbow. "Seriously, I feel like I need to ask this again. What were you thinking?" "That was pretty reckless, Dashie. Even for you," Pinkie said, sounding uncharacteristically serious. "What? This wasn’t my idea!" Rainbow's exclaimed defensively. “Rainbow, yer as reckless as an be,” Applejack said angrily. Her friend weren’t listening. They fully believed it was all Rainbow’s decisions that led to this. As much as the cyan-blue pegasus wanted to argue, she found her guilty side get the better of her. "It's my fault." Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, and Spike turned to Fluttershy, who wore a very guilty expression. "I know you're guilty, darling," Rarity said softly. "But, you mustn't take responsibility for..." "No, it is my fault!" Fluttershy raised her voice. "It was my idea to go to the bridge to help those trapped people. It's not Rainbow's fault, like you think it is." There was a stunned silence within the group of ponies and dragon. “Y-Your idea,” Rarity said, mouth agape. "Never that I'd see the day," Spike said. "Spike," Twilight growled reprimandedly. "Ah,.. Fluttershy," Applejack was the first to speak up. "Ah never would've thought you would do something like that on ya on accord. Like ah said, ah would've expected such a choice from Rainbow." "Yes, I don't think before I act. You don't need to keep hammering it home," Rainbow said in annoyance. The carefree caretaker let out a regretful sigh. "I was the one who put my hoof down on the way here, telling you all that we can still make a difference. I was proud of myself for standing up like that. I guess I let that pride and bravery get to me and I made a very stupid decision." She took off her temporary military helmet and began to cry. "And all I have to show for it is a wet coat and a wounded leg. I went to far, put myself and Rainbow in danger, and abandoned you guys. I'm so... so sorry. I'm a horrible friend." Fluttershy slid onto her rump as she cried. Hot globs of tears rolled down her cheeks, staining her, already, we coat. She felt worse than horrible. She let her friends down in so many ways and foolishly put herself in danger, all because she wanted to show she was brave. How could she be so selfish and arrogant. Fluttershy her friends to just start berating her for her actions. What she didn't expect, however, was a pair of hooves to wrap around her in a warm embrace. She opened her bloodshot eyes to see Twilight hugging her. "You're not a horrible friend, Fluttershy. You just made a poor decision." "To be honest, we all make bad decisions all the time," Rarity said. "Of course, known of them put us in any danger, but that's besides the point." "We understand you wanted to be brave, Fluttershy. But, being brave doesn't mean putting yourself in danger at every turn. Sometimes it's about doing the smart thing." "I know what it's like making bad decisions," Spike said. "We all do," Pinkie added. "But, I learned it doesn't matter that you made a mistake. What matters is that you learn from it. I mean, imagine if I didn't learn anything when you guys held a surprise party for me. I would've went CRAZY!" “And we’re sorry for blaming you fer this, Rainbow,” Applejack apologized sorrowfully. “That wasn’t very smart of us, either.” “Yeah,” Twilight nodded. “We were all upset, but that’s not an excuse.” "It’s okay girls. To be honest I'm not entirely blameless, anyway," Rainbow said. "I should've known better than what we were doing was exceedingly dangerous. I know I may seem like I thoughtlessly put myself in danger for others' safety, and your right, I do. I should really learn to actually think before acting." "Now that's smart and brave," Applejack said warmly. The Mane 6 and Spike formed a tight embrace around the shyest friend. It brought a sense of warmth and closure to the pegasus. She better about herself, knowing her friends didn't hold her past actions against her. Fluttershy felt whole again. "We all love a good reunion, but we need to focus to more important things right now!" a soldier said loudly. "Time is of the essence!" "Oh, right! The mission," Twilight's eyes widened and quickly dispersed from the group hug. "What did you need us for, Captain." The Mane 6 and Spike surrounded themselves the table with the other soliders. "Okay, listen up," Captain Hampton said. "The male delivered the warhead to the center of downtown." "Wait, wait, wait," Rainbow interrupted. "Are you saying that..." "The male MUTO intercepted the boat with the warhead right after it's timer was primed," Admiral Stenz explained. "We need to retrieve it before it detonates." "That puts 100,000 civilians in the blast radius," Hampton continued. "And we can't stop it remotely. Everypony and dragon's mouths hung agape. "Oh, no," Fluttershy squeaked. "First the MUTOs, now we have to worry about an explosion, too?" Rainbow grumbled. "Wonderful." "Don't forget Godzilla," Pinkie added. "Oh, trust me, I didn't." "So, that's the mission?" Spike asked. "To get to bomb back before it explodes." "Yes," one of the soldiers replied. "An analog timer has been installed. The MUTOs are frying electronics within a five-mile bubble. Means approaching from ground is not an option." "So, what is the plan then?" Rarity asked, growing more worried. "Even with me and Twilight combined, I don't think we'd be able to teleport us all to where the bomb is located." "That's why we'll be conducting a HALO insertion. Jumping altitude well be 30,000 feet." "We're bein' dropped? From the sky?" Applejack asked in confusion. "Correct," Hampton said. "Oh, no. I have had bad experiences with high altitudes!" Rarity stomped her hoof in refusal. "I'm not freefalling to my death!" "Parachutes will be provided for all of us," The soldier said in growing annoyance. "We just skate to the top and drop. Here. And here." A tapped a plastic dome over a map. "If you don't hit a skyscraper on the way, you meet at rally point Charlie." "Oooh, who's Charlie?" Pinkie asked excitedly. "Is he gonna help us?" "It's alphabetic co-... why do we need these ponies on this mission?" "That's what I'm wondering," Twilight muttered under her breath. "We're stretched thin as is," Admiral Stenz said sharply. "You guys, along with the ponies and lizard..." "I'm not a lizard!" "Are the only ones that are available." The admiral turned to the Mane 6 and Spike. “They've been temporarily certified for this mission.” "We'll help in any way we can, sir," Applejack tipped her hat. "Admiral," Stenz corrected. "You were saying, Captain. The soldier sighed. "Rally point Charlie. Right here. Good?" He pointed to the glass dome again looked amongst the other soldiers. "Doctor, any guesses where to look?" another soldier asked. "Underground," Serizawa replied. "If the MUTOs have spawned... they'll be building a nest." "Oh, poo," Rarity whined. "This just keeps getting worse and worse." Stenz turned to the soldier. "Captain, when you find the warhead, how long to disarm it?" "Sir, without seeing the analog mod, I couldn't even guess," the soldier shook his head. "Sixty seconds if I can access it," Ford said, inching between a solider and Captain Hampton. "I retrofitted that device myself." "Lieutenant Brody is our only EOD tech to survive the train attack," Hampton said. "Well, it sounds like we could use you," the directive soldier said. "Yeah, he made all the schematics seem elementary," Twilight complimented. "With all due respect, if that doesn't work, then what's Plan B?" a different soldier asked. "Ah, come on, Ford's got this easily," Rainbow assured confidently. "I might not," the tech lieutenant admitted. "It's better to have some kind of backup plan in case the bomb doesn't cooperate." "The waterfront is located one klick downhill," the first solider elucidated. "Get the bomb to the pier, onto a boat and as far away from the city as possible before it detonates." "Sounds easy," Pinkie said cheerfully. "We are, quite literally, traveling into the belly of the beast. This will be anything but easy." "With the MUTOs and Godzilla roaming around," Rarity said, visibly growing pale. "Do we have a choice in this matter?" "Come on, Rares," Applejack said prudently. "This may be our most treacherous mission yet, but when has danger ever stopped us?" "Maybe if we felt we would die!" "Uhm, Captain?" Twilight spoke up. Hampton turned to her. "I think it would be best of Fluttershy and Spike sit this one out." "Wait, what?" "W-Wha?" Both pegasus and baby dragon were taken aback by Twilight's recommendation. Leaving them behind while the rest went. "Fluttershy, you're hurt, badly. I certainly don't want to risk putting yourself in harm's way when you've already been through enough." "But, I want to help," Fluttershy feebly argued. "I know, but it's in your best interest that you rest up and let your leg heal," Twilight then turned to Spike. "And I'm not letting you put yourself in danger, either." "Come on, Twilight," Spike contended. "I may be young, but I'm as tough as any other dragon." "No, Spike. I...I'm not going to let you go through any more than you've already have. I've seen you scared too many times. It's bad enough you have to live with that scar." Spike softly covered the scar under his ear frill. "It’s not that bad , Twilight. I honestly think it's pretty cool." "Do you have any idea how close you were to getting killed!" Spike staggered on his feet and stared wide-eyed at Twilight, he hadn't expected to by so emotionally charged at him. Twilight sniffled, grisly remembering the horrid memory. While, it had been some time, the memory was still fresh in her mind. The sword slicing into Spike's tough skin like a hot knife through butter. He was incredibly lucky the wound wasn't anymore severe. Even so, Twilight couldn't forgive herself for being unable to keep her baby safe. "I'm not arguing with you on this Spike," Twilight said calmly, yet firmly. "You and Fluttershy are staying and that's final." Spike just stood in disbelief. He wanted to be argue, but seeing his only mother looking at him with such protective worry and compassion, it dissipated any chance of getting upset. "Ah believe Twilight is right, ya two," Applejack spoke up. "Fluttershy, you've already been seriously injured. And Spike, Twilight's jist lookin' out fer ya." "I concur, Spikey-Wikey," Rarity said. "Perhaps it's best you two stay safe." "If you think they're unfit for the mission, then they will be housed here safely," Hampton said. "Thank you," Twilight said. "Come on, you two. This is for your safety." Spike let out a impeded sigh. "Fine." "O-Okay," Fluttershy whispered. The two wordlessly sauntered away from the group. "We'll be sure to tell you all about it!" Pinkie called out to them. Rainbow quickly turned to Twilight. "Fluttershy I understand, but Spike, I would've thought he would be useful with his fire breath and all." "He's been through enough as it is," Twilight said solemnly. "I care too much for him to be okay with him tagging along on this mission." With that out of the way, Captain Hampton looked to the rest of the group. "Any questions?" "Uh, yes?" Pinkie raised a hoof. "Do you think chocolate frosting is better than vanilla frosting?" "...Any questions concerning the mission?" No one and nopony said anything. "Dismissed." "That's it. Let's move," the soldier directed the other soldier out of the building. "My question still stands," Pinkie said, indictive. "Now is not the time for silly questions, Pinkie," Rainbow asserted. "It's not silly it's crucial!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I need to know creature's preferences about sweets. How can be a good friend if I can't..." Pinkie continued to monologue even as followed the other soldiers out. Ford and the rest followed, but he was stopped by Captain Hampton. "Lieutenant?" Ford stopped and turned to the captain. "They've already been briefed. We have no extraction plan. If you don't walk out, you don't come back at all." "Sir, I'll do whatever it takes," Ford said collectively. "We'll do whatever it takes," Applejack corrected. "We may not be from here, but we wer' brought here ta protect and help in any way we can." "You can count on us, Captain," Rainbow confidently assured. "We'll get that bomb disarmed, and we'll stop those MUTOs, too," Twilight said. The captain nodded curtly. With that, Ford and the rest of the Mane 6, minus Fluttershy and Spike, exited the building to follow after the other soldiers. Admiral Stenz watched them leave with many thoughts coursing in his head. With the plan worrying more about the public's safety with the bomb, the original plan of using against the monsters was permanently shunted. That meant the, according to Dr. Serizawa, Godzilla was their only hope. The admiral turned to an opening in the building, where the doctor stood outside watching soldiers and military vehicles moving about the complex. Stenz stepped out and stood right beside Serizawa. "This alpha predator of yours, doctor, do you really think he has a chance?" Dr. Serizawa remained silent for a few seconds, causing the admiral to turn his head to him. Then, the doctor spoke. "The arrogance of man is thinking nature is in our control and not the other way around." Dr. Serizawa weakly and eerily nodded. "Let them fight." To be continued
Part 13: Showdown in San FranciscoThings were coming to a head. With Godzilla and the MUTOs finally in San Francisco, things could only get more chaotic. Despite the countless evacuation notices and warnings telling the inhabitants of the compact city to leave for safety, the city was still crowded with people trying to make a last-ditch escape. It didn't help the fact that the protocol mostly involved children and hospital patients, leaving a good majority of the population high and dry, and in the path of the incoming onslaught. Office workers, forced to stay at their desks, heard the bellows of a monstrous beast. Some left their desks to see what was going on outside, causing others to follow. Most of them got a clear of view of the rainy outside thanks to them being settled inside the skyscrapers. That allowed them the witness the male MUTO flying through the streets of the city they held dear. The people panicked, anticipating the monstrous creature to attack them. The MUTO landed on a building rooftop, practically crushing the top floors, and let out a mighty shriek. Many on the ground, which included Elle, watched in shock and horror at the MUTO. Massive chunks of concrete and glass fell from the shredded building and smashed to the ground, causing the people to flee in the opposite direction down the crowded, car-filled streets. Elle ran with the crowd, but kept her attention on the beast. However, when she turned back around, the fearful crowd stopped when another kaiju breached from the bay. Godzilla towered over them, glaring at the parasitic MUTO with a resentful fury. Again, the populace was sent into an even greater panic. Now there were two monsters staring each other down. It didn't exactly take a genius to conclude what was about to happen next. Elle couldn't keep her eyes away, but she was able to direct herself toward the entrance of a subway station. That's where most of the people around her were rushing for. As the raced into the reinforced station, the male MUTO jumped from it's building perch and flew right for Godzilla. People screamed and watched in shock as the MUTO charged into the bigger, reptilian kaiju. Godzilla roared and snapped his jaws at the MUTO, clawing and biting at each other. That was the last Elle and the others could see as the massive, steel doors closed shut, protectively locking them inside the subway station. They wouldn't be safe for long. As long as the Godzilla and male MUTO were fighting, no one was safe. Meanwhile, back the Tactical Operations, Fluttershy and Spike were sitting atop the mountain of sandbags that border the ends of the main headquarters. Soldiers stood all around them, ready to act if the mayhem in San Francisco deviated to here. From their viewpoint, they all could clearly see Godzilla and the male MUTO locking horns with each other. With the setting sun, it created a truly surreal moment. "I still don't understand," Spike finally spoke. "I get the fact that Twilight is trying to protect us, but we've been through some serious stuff. At least, you have, Fluttershy." Fluttershy shifted against the heavy bags. "I suppose. But, this is bigger than anything else me or our friends have gone through. Much more dangerous than any mission we've been through, otherworldly or otherwise." "I mean... yeah," Spike admitted. "The closest we've got was with Cloud and the others. But, it just feels like Twilight doesn't believe in us." "Now don't say that, Spike," Fluttershy's tone took on a more reprimanding approach. "You know well that Twilight as looking out for you. She wants to keep you safe. You said it herself." "I know. I just feel like she refuses to move past the battle with Sephiroth. Whenever she looks at me and gets crestfallen, I know she looks at my scar. It's like it reminds her that she failed me somehow." Spike laid his fingertips against the thin, dark line that travel under his ear frill. The memories themselves once caused his heart to jump, knowing he was just inches away from a nasty demise. Nowadays, not so much, but seeing Twilight get worked over it made Spike feel guilty. Like he was somehow responsible. "But, she didn't fail me that day. You saw how much of a skilled swordsman that guy was. I... I couldn't expect her to keep out of harm's way all the time. Not with all the threats we encountered on that mission." Fluttershy mulled over Spike's words slowly and carefully. While she wouldn't call herself the best at giving advice, that won't stop her from trying. The thoughtful pegasus turned to Spike fully. She could see how mournful the little dragon was feeling. "Spike, I can understand where you're coming from. I'm now stuck with an affliction, too," Fluttershy pointed to her bandaged leg. "I know the others, especially Rainbow, feel upset about that I ended up getting hurt. Yes, it was mostly my fault, but Rainbow, herself, that she should've taken the bullet instead of me. She blames herself for that and I feel awful for making her feel that way." As she kept taking, tears began welling up in Fluttershy's eyes. "Twilight and Rainbow both don't want us to get hurt anymore than we've already have. They just want to protect us." Spike let out a long sigh. "I love that they do. It shows how much they care about us. But, we've shown that we can be independent. Don't get my wrong, I'm glad Twilight's to protect me. It just feels like she thinks I'm helpless or something." "I don't think it's about independence or helplessness," Fluttershy said softly, wiping away her tears. "I think it's about love." "I know. I guess we can still see Godzilla take down those evil MUTOs once and for all though." Spike looked out to the bayside city, watching the two beasts clashing. It was like reading one of those action comics he had but it was truly happening in front of his eyes and not behind printed paper. Fluttershy wasn't too keen on watching Godzilla and the MUTOs fight, but seeing them made her remember something Dr. Serizawa said back at the mission briefing. "If the MUTOs have spawned, they'll be building a nest." Suddenly, it all started falling into place. Back at the train bridge, Fluttershy remember seeing the female MUTO with a orange-colored sack filled with little orbs attach to it's underbelly. The MUTO was pregnant, that much was obvious and that meant the she was currently building a nest right now with who knows how many eggs inside. Now Fluttershy, of course, loved animals and knew better then to damage or disturb a nest, whether predator or prey. But, given the destructive nature of the MUTOs, hatching more of them would spell disaster for this world: Hundreds of MUTOs causing unimaginable devastation. One would think, being an animal caregiver, Fluttershy would never think of an animals way of life so negatively, even if it was a predator. But this was not a predator, it was a parasite; a parasite that intended on irradicating all other life on this world with it's mere existence. That was something Flutttershy, in good conscience, standby and watch happen. She swiftly slipped off the sandbag wall, her wings flaring. Spike was taken aback for a second. "Fluttershy? What are you..." "We're going back to San Francisco," the pegasus said with unexpected determination. "W-Wha?" Spike sputtered. "But, I thought you said we should stay here." "Do you remember what we saw on the bridge the night before?" "You're going to have to be a but more specific. A lot of things happened on that bridge." "The MUTO that attacked us. She was pregnant." Hearing this brought Spike back to the graphic memory. "Ooh, don't remind me." He clasped a hand over his mouth. The scales around his face turning from violet to green. "Dr. Serizawa said the MUTO were likely building a nest for the eggs. And if that happens, more MUTOs will be born to cause more havoc." Spike's scales went from green to pale in a matter of seconds. The thought of more of those monstrous creatures sent chills down his spine, and suddenly his sickness dissipated. "Oh. Oh, that doesn't sound good at all. Should we tell somepony." "No," the intent pegasus said firmly. "We put a stop it." Spike's mouth dropped. "Shy, are you crazy? We can't just dive right into that warzone all by ourselves. I mean, you said it was best we stay here so we didn't get hurt any further." "I never said we should stay here," Fluttershy clarified. "I'm not happy about being sidelined for this mission either, but I didn't want to argue with our friends about that. I was hurt and they were distraught about that. They were only looking our for us, after all. But, with what the MUTO's might be planning now, I can't just sit here and let it all happen with our friends down their biting off more than they could chew." Spike slid off the sandbags and came to the raring pegasus. "This does sound serious, but, I really don't want to disobey Twilight. Not only that, but you already tried throwing yourself into danger and you ending up with an injured leg." This time, Fluttershy was the one to let out a long sigh. "Yes. I was too hasty with trying to do the right thing the first time and I let my bravery get the better of me. But, this time, this is more than doing the right thing. This is about protecting the ones closest to me and protecting everycreature on this world from the disaster that is to come if that nest isn't taken care of. Those MUTOs will destroy everything and I don't know if Godzilla will be able to handle it all. So I'm taking a stand and putting myself in the line of fire again to save my friends from the beasts." Fluttershy turned Spike with a fiery look in her eyes. "Are you willing to protect them, too." Spike hesitated for a second. He didn't want to go against Twilight's orders and put himself in severe peril. But, at the same time, no matter how young he was, Spike wanted to protect the ponies that cared about him the most. He wanted to protect the one pony that raised him and was there for him from the very start. Twilight protected Spike a number of times, now it was time he protected her. The little dragon put on his military helmet climbed onto Fluttershy's back, sharing the same determined, heroic mindset with the pegasus. "Let's go!" Fluttershy, too, put back on her helmet and stood on her hindlegs, the pain in her left seemingly disappearing, and she let out a sharp whinny. She charged forward and took off into the air. Spike held tight to her mane as the once timid pegasus soared through the air and toward San Francisco, determined to put an end to this unending nightmare. High above the thick sheets of clouds that looked over the city, a massive C-17 military jet soared through the ominous sky. inside, dozens of soldiers, including Ford, Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity, sat preparing for the airdrop. Now, Twilight and her pony friends were not familiar with any kind of military procedures. So, being in a mission that require something as extreme as jumping out of a giant airplane in the middle of a monster warzone, well... "I can't believe we are actually doing this," Rarity said, who appeared to be on the edge of an emotional breakdown. She hugged her legs like a scared child and gently rocked back and forth. "This is insane. This is absurd. This is absolutely ludicrous!" "Ssh," Ford hastily shushed the panicking unicorn. "One of the soldiers is praying." Sitting just a couple seats down, the head sergeant was speaking a pray of the Lord. "Oh, Lord God, we give thanks for the opportunities you have given us..." "I'm sorry, Ford," Rarity said quietly. "I just can't wrap my head around the fact that we are jumping out of this machine down to the carnage that is likely going on in the city." "Oh, come on, Rarity," Rainbow said. "It's not like this is first time you've gone high-flying. Remember the Young Flyers Competition? "Yes. But, at least, I had wings at that time. And when I didn't, you saved me from falling to my death." "You think I can't save you now?" Rarity stammered a bit, then let out a sigh. "It's nothing to do with you Rainbow, honest. But, freefalling from such an incredible height... it... it's just flat out reckless." "...going together as comrades to defend our great nation." "You have nothing to worry about," Ford assured. "We all have parachutes so we can land safely." "We'll be like rain drops falling in... "Pinkie demeanor was put to a near stop. "SSSlllooowww mmmoootttiiiooonnn." "Now there's a good way of puttin' it," Applejack smiled. "Hmph. Almost all of us," Rainbow corrected. "Who needs a parachute when we have wings, right Twi?" The boisterous pegasus turned to the alicorn, who seemed to be deep in thought. "Uh, Twilight?" Twilight glanced over at Rainbow in acknowledgment. "Sorry, Dash, I just have a lot on my mind." "What's on yer mind, Twi?" Applejack asked generously. "Yeah, what's gotten you all sad," Pinkie made an exaggerated frown. "It's just... thinking about the current situation we're in right now, with Godzilla and the MUTOs fighting, and having to track down a literal bomb that's ready to explode at any moment, and everything else that's happened so far. It makes me think we're not cut out for these sorts of missions." "Oh, Twilight, don't tell me you still thinking that," Rainbow said. "I know we all kind of felt that way at one point, but remember what Fluttershy said; that even now we can still make a difference even if it feels like we can." "I know," Twilight rose her voice just a smudge to convey her frustration. "But, it's not just this mission, it's all the others to different worlds." "We thank you for the time and service that you have given us together. Now as we are about to leave one another..." "On numerous occasions, we've gotten so close to getting killed in some way. Are any of this missions really worth risking our lives?" "Is that the reason you didn't want Spike or Fluttershy come along?" Rainbow asked. "You didn't want them getting killed." "...mostly," Twilight lowered her head sadly. "...let us have the strength..." "There's something yer forgettin', Twilight," Applejack spoke up. "We've been on dangerous missions back in Equestria." "Yes. And we've taken down some foul creatures there," Rarity added. "It really isn't any different here or any other place." "Yeah, like with Chrysalis, or Tirek," Pinkie also added. "But, it feels more daunting," Twilight said. "It feels so much more dangerous." "That might because your from a different world," Ford said. The ponies turned to the lieutenant, who decided to speak up. "I may not understand it completely, but if I were in a entirely different word, I would feel even basic tasks such as a rescue mission to be more dangerous. I think that's because you're not that familiar with this world than to yours, and that feeling on unknowing and confusing can make you scared or anxious." Twilight thought over her human friend's insight. It did make sense that being in a different brought a great dealing of confusion. Such feelings in these kind of situations could make anypony, or anycreature, feel terrified. Twilight looked back Ford. "Aren't you scared, too?" "Yes," the young lieutenant replied simply. "But, as soldiers, we're trained to cope with those feelings because fear can make you do stupid things. And, during a war, that can get you killed. I may be scared, but I know I'm doing this for Elle and Sam to make sure that they are safe. You would do the same if it meant keeping your family safe." Ford pulled a small, crumpled up photo of his wife and son from one of the harness pockets. "Darn tootin' ah would," Applejack said amicably. "Of course," Rainbow said. "Yeah!" Pinkie exclaimed. "If it meant keeping my family, then I would do it in a heartbeat," Rarity added. Twilight felt a surge of protective bravery wash over her. Suddenly, the feeling to protect her friends shattered any fear, anxiety, or second-guessing. "Yes. Yes I would." "That-a girl, Twily," Pinkie lightly punched the alicorn's shoulder. Suddenly, an alarm blared and the plane's light died, making way from a red warning light. "What's going on?" Rainbow said with a mixture of apprehension and hostility. "The airdrop's starting," Ford put a oxygen mask over his mouth. "Oh, Celestia," Rarity trembled. She felt a hoof on her shoulder. She turned to see Twilight. Gone was the nerve-wracked, uncertain mare earlier, now replaced with confident and determined princess. "It's okay. We've got this." Rarity smiled and nodded. The cargo door to the plane slowly opened. The soldiers were blinded by the searing light of the setting sun. They all stood and carefully made their way closer to the opening. They could see the sun, the pale blue sky, and thick blanket of clouds underneath them. And what lied further could only be guessed. "Come on!" Rainbow exclaimed impatiently. "What's the hold up." "We have to wait for the signal," Ford quickly explained. "What signal?" It was almost impossible to hear each other through the whistling wind. The sound of the siren beeping twice cut through the deafening howl. That was the signal for the soldiers to put on their protective goggles and prepare for the drop. "Ah sure hope these guys know what ther doin'," Applejack held her helmet over her hat to keep them from blowing away. "A little late for wishing that," Rainbow said. The siren beeped three more times. On the third beep, the soldiers all bolted and jumped off the plane. The Mane 5 quickly followed. It was a lot, to say the least. "GAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Rarity screamed. "WEEEEEEEEEEE!" Pinkie cheered. "Now this is some air time," Rainbow lazily laid on her back, crossing one hindleg over the other. "Will ya take this serious, Dash," Applejack yelled. "This is only the half of it. We still gotta git down ta the ground safely." "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" the fashionista continued to scream. All around them, the soldiers dropped from the sky, red flare smoke trailing behind them to indicate their current trajectory. The team dropped into the cloud cover. Dark grey filled their eyesight. "Hey, now I know how feels to be on the weather team," Pinkie stated observantly. Thunder roared and lightning flashed, lighting up the dark clouds. Most of the Mane 5 remained silent from the bizarre experience. All except for... "AAAAAHHHHHH!" Rarity screamed. "Fer goodness sake's, Rarity, we're fine," Applejack yelled. "AAHHH-Oh, I didn't know it was fine being inside a literal storm cloud!" the mortified unicorn shouted angrily. "Just stay close," Twilight said. "I promise we'll be fine." The broke through the first massive wall of clouds. Out in the lit sky, the giant cumulonimbus cloud could be seen. Lightning looked like sparks compared to the sheer size of the storm system. "Wow, I don't think the clouds back on our world get that big," Rainbow's mouth hung wide with awe. "No kiddin'," Applejack said. "That thing prolly has enough water ta flood a hundred orchards." That's when the team breached through the lower cloud cover. What met them at the bottom was chaos. The city of San Francisco had been turned into a warzone. Fires raged everywhere and buildings were either damaged or destroyed. The lively turned had become a scarred battleground. Worse still, the combatants weren't done. Ford and the Mane 5 watched in horror as Godzilla and the male MUTO tore into each other, clawing and biting each other. "Please don't eat us. Please don't eat us. Please don't eat us," Rarity clasped her hooves together and desperately pleaded. "Sweet Celestia, this is bad," Twilight said. "Go, Godzilla, you can do this!" Pinkie cheered. The only response she received was a deafening roar from the kaiju directed at the MUTO. "Ford, we're getting close to the ground," Twilight warned. Ford peeled his eyes away from the monster brawl and saw the battle-torn ground quickly zeroing toward them. He deployed his parachute, allowing his straight drop to turn into a glide. "Rainbow, let's go!" Twilight grasp Applejack and Pinkie, opened her wings and flew after Ford. "Got it!" Rainbow grabbed onto Rarity and flew after Twilight. "Ooh! Do be careful where you grab me," Rarity squawked. "Oh, hush." As the separated group glided toward the ruined streets, the male MUTO soared past them on a perpendicular street. Ford and the Mane 5 reached the ground in no time. Ford hastily removed his parachute, mask, and goggles, while Twilight and Rainbow carefully set down their non-winged friends. "Everypony accounted for?" Twilight asked. "Obviously," Rainbow said playfully. "But, where did the others go?" Pinkie asked. "It's like they flew off somewhere else." "They prolly separated already," Applejack said. The sound of animalistic grumbling followed by a hissed reverberated off the tattered buildings. The small, motely group were able to catch glimpse of Godzilla's shadow as it disappeared behind a building. "Well, were definitely in the belly of the beast now," Rainbow said. "Don't jinx it," Rarity hissed. Ford slung his rifle over his shoulder and quickly trekked over to where Godzilla's shadow had been. "Wait, Ford! Are mission is to get the warhead back, not take down Godzilla," Twilight called out to him. The ponies galloped after the lieutenant. "I got to get another look," Ford rounded the corner. He stopped upon seeing Godzilla's tail slink past down the other end of the street. His steps shook the entire city. Twilight and others quickly caught up. Even though it was only the tail end, the size alone rivaled anything Ford or the ponies had ever seen. A creature of such magnitude, even if it wasn't the first time they saw him, Godzilla's size was hard to comprehend. Which made him, intentional or not, incredible dangerous. "I think it's best that we stay out of his way," Rarity advised. "I agree," Twilight nodded. "We worry about ourselves and the mission. Now let's try and regroup with the other soldiers." "Take position! Take position!" a voice yelled out. The group quickly turned around and noticed several soldiers converging near a city bus. "Come on," Ford ran over toward them. He, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow all caught up the other soldiers. By now, they were discussing a point of searching and regroup their numbers. "What's the rundown, Chief?" Rainbow asked "I saw Team 1 move to the east," one of the soldiers explained. "Two of our team members didn't make it. I heard bits and pieces on the radio." The mission had barely begun and already two members were already done for the count. How severe it was was yet to be concluded. "A-Are they gone," Pinkie whimpered. "I don't know. Snipers on the rooftop moving into position." "Any ideas on findin' the warhead?" Applejack asked. "Here we go," another soldier held up a tracking device. "Picking up the nuke." "Where? Which way?" Twilight asked. "One klick up the hill." "Alright, we found the warhead," the first soldier gestured a hand westward. "Let's go! Up the hill, this direction. Move." With that, the group of soldiers and ponies quickly traverse down the darkened streets, strewn with debris. The only sources of lights were the flashlight mounted on the soldiers' rifles and the distant glow of building fires. Up ahead, a giant wall of smoke and dust with the silhouette of the female MUTO barely visible from within it. "Why are we hidin' toward that thing?" Applejack gestured to the barely concealed monster. "Ain't we s'posed ta be trackin' down the bomb?" "That's where the trackers says it is," one of the soldiers answered. "Wait a minute," Twilight pondered for a quick second. "That warhead. They said it was radioactive, remember?" "I think they said that, yeah," Rarity said. "What does radioactive have anything to do with this?" Rainbow asked. "Dr. Serizawa said that the MUTOs feed on radiation," the princess reminded. "He also said the were likely making nest. So, if the warhead is up ahead, then that could mean... that's their nest up ahead as well." The ponies and even some of the soldiers cringed at the thought. "Oh, no. Dear Faust, no," Rarity whimpered. "Ya mean ta tell us, Twi, that we might have ta deal with a bunch'a baby MUTOs, as well?" Applejack asked in disgust and anger. "Maybe," the alicorn shrugged sheepishly. "I don't know the incubation period of a MUTO, but..." "Consarnit! As if dealin' with two of them monsters weren't enough!" "I-I didn't mean to put a damper on the situation. I just felt like it was worth pointing out." "Let's just worry about the bomb before anything else," Rainbow said, wanting to redirect the subject. As the team drew closer to the possible nest, the tracker began beeping more rapidly. That was indication that they were nearing the warhead. Eventually, the team took cover behind a set of parked cars. "How are ya gonna reckon we deal with the bomb and the nest once we get to it?" Applejack questioned. "That's why I'm here," Ford pointed out. "The bomb I mean." "As for the nest, I can only imagine how many eggs are in their," Twilight said. "Oh, wonderful," Rarity said in sarcastic disgust. "Alien eggs. Feels like we're in a sci-fi horror novel." "Or movie," Pinkie added. "The bomb remains the top priority," one of the other soldiers said. "Hey, hey," the head sergeant whispered, getting the others attention. "Look." He directed his attention over to the other set of soldiers posted behind the second vehicle. One of them gestured at his eyes then pointed forward; code sign for taking a peek at what was going on. Ford bravely peeked through the minivan's shattered wondered. Twilight and Rainbow curiously followed his gave, also wanting to see what was happening. "What's goin' on ther?" Applejack asked. "And please spare details," Rarity said. "I want to be able to sleep tonight." The entire team was able to hear a plopping sound from beyond. However, Ford, Twilight, Rainbow chose to look out and see what exactly was making that noise. Through the dust and crumbled remains of the Chinatown, the female MUTO was squatting down in a crater it had made, letting out periodic shrieks as it deposited it's eggs inside. Twilight felt a mix of disgust and wonder. "That's graphic. Also shows that they deposit eggs like most other oviparous animals." "This is why I never enjoyed biology class," Rainbow withhold the urge to vomit. Applejack and Pinkie peeked out, curiosity getting the better of them. Upon seeing the MUTO ovipositing , their opinions were comparable were similar to Twilight and Rainbow's. "Ew," Pinkie dipped her head back behind the car door. "Wow," the apple farm stated simply. "Welp, that there proves of a nest." "You know what, don't say anything about it. I don't want to know," Rarity plugged her ears. She locked her eyes forward, but quickly found wasn't any better. Rarity let a sharp, hush gasp. "P-P-Ponies." A low rumbling cane from behind the team followed by a building collapsing. The ponies and soldiers, the latter with guns drawn, turned back at another cloud of dust. A massive, reptilian tail whipped over them. The flash of lightning illuminated the cloud, revealing the silhouette of a certain kaiju. "He's here," Rarity squeaked. The soldiers and ponies stood in frightened silence. "He must have followed us," Twilight whispered. "How was he able to do that without us hearing him?" one of the soldiers asked, slightly perturbed. "Pretty well if we've only noticed him now," Pinkie replied. "D-Do you think we would be good at hide-and-seek?" Godzilla's roar shook the entire city. The ponies held onto their helmets to keep them from flying off. "He's certainly not playing around," Rainbow stated. The ponies and soldiers turned back toward the female MUTO. the monstrous beast growled and stood straight up. She let out defensive roar before stepping towards Godzilla. Her bat-like legs broke through buildings like a hot knife through butter, showering the team in stone and glass. "Neither is she, I'm afraid," Twilight said. "Let's move, let's move," the head officer signaled the others to follow. "On my six." The rest of the soldiers quickly marched after him. Ford and the ponies were amongst the last the follow, their attention still turned to the two beasts ready to fight. "Do you think Godzilla could take to MUTOs down?" Rarity asked. "Well, Dr. Serizawa knows a lot about him and his role," Twilight said. "I'm willing to trust his word that Godzilla can beat them." "Let's hope so. For all our sakes," Ford said. "Go on, Godzilla! Kick that MUTO's butt!" Pinkie cheered loudly. "There will be time for that later. Let's worry about the bomb please," the purple alicorn reminded. As the ponies and soldiers raced toward the crater, the female MUTO and Godzilla charged toward each other. They collided like to two charging bulls. Godzilla viscously rushed forward, showing his superior strength and forcing the MUTO against the nearby buildings. Meanwhile, the Mane 5 and the soldiers clambered over mountains of debris and reaching the crater. The crater was incredibly deep. Ruptured pipelines leaked fluids into the bottom which was covered in wreckage with small fires sprinkled throughout. "Whoa, nelly," Applejack whistled in awe. "That's one deep crater." "But, where are all the eggs?" Twilight asked. "We saw her depositing them right here." "Sarge, get a look at this," one of the soldiers said. "We gotta get moving. You got a signal yet? The sergeant pulled out the tracker. "I got it?" The tracker was beeping rapidly. It marked a specific point within the crater, indicating the warheads location. "It's down there." "No time to waste. Let's go!" Rainbow zipped down to the bottom. It took some time, but the soldiers and ponies were able to reach the bottom of the crater safely. Once the location, what lied in front was a portion of a building's indoor wall with a set of wooden doors. "I-Is this were the eggs are?" Rarity gulped, imagining the worst scenario in her head. "Only one way to found out," Twilight said. Pinkie walked up to the doors and politely knocked. "Hello? May we come in?" Twilight groaned and put a hoof to her face. "Pinkie." "What? My mom always told me to knock before opening a door." "Open the door," the sergeant said irritably. Two soldiers stepped up and busted the doors open. "All right. Move, move," one of the commanded. The team ventured on through, and what await them was disturbing, to say the least. Amongst the incohesive mass of wreckage and debris, a spire of eggs hung upside-down from the ceiling. At the tip was the nuclear warhead. Ford stopped just beyond the doorframe, taking in the troubling sight. The Mane 5 stood in shock and horror. Never in their lives had they seen something so biologically obscene. "That is a lot of eggs," Pinkie observed. "Regret everything. I can't look," Rarity slid her helmet over her eyes. "Never have I witness anything more sickening. Ewh!" While the thoroughly disgusted unicorn was on the brick of hurling, the others were still taking on the sight. All the while, the soldiers were gunning toward the nuclear warhead, shining their lights around the spire. "More light. Grazer," one of the soldiers shouted. "Just think of all the baby MUTOs that will come from this singular nest," Twilight said, a mix of horror and amazement in her tone. "I don't want to imagine that," Rainbow squeaked. "This is unreal," Applejack said. "I ne'er would've suspected those MUTOs bein' as reproductive than ah jackrabbit durin' the matin' season." "No kidding," Ford shined his flashlight at the walls. veins of eggs trailed along the earth like glowing vines. Each transparent orb housed a tiny, baby MUTO squirming inside. Some may find the sight mesmerizing, others may find it abhorrent. For Ford, it was a concerning sign for the future. "Doesn't anypony else found this fascinating," Twilight said. "It shows these MUTO are similar to colonizing insects." "Maybe to you, Egghead," Rainbow gave a flat glare to the alicorn. "But, some of us don't like seeing things so surreal it borders nightmare fuel." "I second that," Rarity called back. Rainbow turned back to the pristine unicorn, who seemed to take a liking to staying behind the doors. "You coming or what?" "I think I'll stay out here, thank you. Just in case if the MUTO comes back." "Rarity, when need all the help we can get," Twilight pointed out. "I think our magic will come in handy in getting the bomb." Rarity looked around the nest. She did not want to step a hoof in that place, being surrounded by eggs that held alien life. Then again, she wasn't any safe out in the open. If the MUTO was to come back, she likely would be the first to be picked off. "Ohhhh," Rarity fearfully tapped her hoof against the ground, looking back and forth between the nest and the outside. "Wait for me!" She quickly clambered through the wreckage after her friends. Meanwhile, the rest of the soldiers were trying to get the warhead off the egg spike. "Here we go." Soldiers on ladders opened the warhead up, revealing the timer mechanism coated in slime. "Whoa, look out, heads up!" one of them warned. "How much time we got left?" another asked. The sergeant shined his light at the time. "We have 27 mikes. We gotta get this thing down." "27 minutes," Ford interated. "That's not a lot of time," Twilight said warily. "I'm sure you can keep it from exploding until then, right, Ford?" Rainbow said confidently. While time was running out for the team, Godzilla and the MUTO's fight had just begun. The female MUTO's feet scraped against the ground, pushing vehicles to the side. She swiped with her forelegs at Godzilla, but they were too short. Godzilla continued his forward assault, dragging the monstrous beast down the city streets. The MUTO reached it's front legs outward, clinging onto two separate buildings. However, it did nothing save her. The MUTO's legs torn against the building walls as Godzilla slammed her to the ground, roaring furiously. The MUTO's head smashed through glass and steel, exposing the subway stations and putting every refugee in danger, including Elle, who could only watch as the people screamed and panicked. Snipers posted on nearby buildings raced over to the carnage. "Move, move, I got you!" one of them said. "Move it out, move it out!" At the same, Fluttershy and Spike had reach the inner faction of the city and were currently witness Godzilla's beatdown. "Yeah, he's got it," Spike pumped his fist. "That's good," Fluttershy said. "That means the nest we likely be unoccupied." "What about the male?" "It's likely foraging for more food." Godzilla slammed the MUTO down once more. He planted his foot on top of her to keep the beast from getting up. The MUTO shrieked and growled, which only inclined Godzilla to stomped his foot harder. "He's got her down!" Spike exclaimed. Just when they thought Godzilla was going to finish her off, the male MUTO came shrieking in, grasping the kaiju in it's spike legs and dragging him off his mate. "Oh, no!" Fluttershy said in horror. They could only watch as the male MUTO clawed Godzilla's armor hide. Godzilla tried to retaliate, but he had no way of attacking from behind his head. The female MUTO swiftly got up and charged at the pair. She rammed into Godzilla, knocking him into a line of buildings. "No!" Fluttershy yelled. When the dust cleared, Godzilla stood back up. He glared at the female monster and let out a furious roar. He wasn't paying attention to the male MUTO, which swooped down and plunged it's spike legs into the kaiju skin. Godzilla let out a pained shriek and turned to the male MUTO. This gave the female MUTO the opening. She delivered a leg strike to Godzilla's shoulder, causing the massive beast to cry out and fall onto his palms. "We have to do something," Spike declare. "He can't handle both MUTOs." "But, there's nothing we can do," Fluttershy said. "They're much too big for us the handle." "But, Godzilla can't handle them either. Isn't there anything we can do to distract one or the other, or something?" "We need to find that nest. It's our best hope of saving this world at the moment." "But, where are we going to find it? Fluttershy looked through the ruined remains of the city known as San Francisco. Amongst the destroyed buildings and skyscrapers, she spotted a massive crater lying not far from them. That was likely where the MUTO's had begun digging. "Let's start there," she pointed at the crater. "I'm guessing that's where the nest most likely is." "Hurry!" Spike exclaimed. Fluttershy flew as fast as she could toward the crater. Spike held on to her mane tightly as the wind blew in their faces. Meanwhile, the bomb retrieval team had gotten the warhead off the spire. Twilight and Rarity held the missile in their magic while the Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, and the soldiers kept close hands and hooves to it, just in case the warhead became too much to hold. "How ya holdin'?" Applejack asked. "Sweet gems, this thing is heavy," Rarity grunted, sweating pouring down her body. "Almost got it," Twilight said, breathing heavily. "Careful! Careful!" the sergeant warned. "And down in three... two... one." The soldiers and ponies carefully lowered the warhead down on the ground. Once safely on the ground, Twilight and Rarity ceased their magical grasp, both utterly worn out. "Whew," they both said. "Good work you two," the sergeant said. "Now let's get this sucker open," Rainbow rubbed her front hooves together. "Okay, lieutenant, you're up." Ford kneeled beside the warhead and took off his helmet, preparing to deactivate the timer. Unfortunately, there came a problem. The other soldiers and ponies gripped the slime-coated cover and pulled with all their might to get it open, but it wouldn't budge. "Horseapples, this thing's stubborn," Applejack grunted. "Come on," Rainbow planted her back hooves against the warhead and yanked as hard as she could. The cover would not move. "We're running out of time here," Rarity fearfully eyed the timer counting down. "It's not budging. It's sealed shut," one of the soldiers said. "We need time to open it." "We don't have time!" another exclaimed scornfully. Let's haul it out of here. We got to get it on a boat." "Hey, once we get this cover off, Ford will get this thing turned off in no time," Rainbow argued. "We have less than 25 minutes left on the timer. It's better we float it away than waste precious seconds pulling the seal off." "He's right," the sergeant said. "Everybody grab the warhead! Let's move! Go!" "That's our best option now. Altogether now!" Twilight said. Despite exhausting their strength, Twilight and Rarity took the heavy weapon in their magic once again. The other soldiers and ponies helped heaving the warhead up and carrying out of the nest. Several other soldiers, including Ford and Rainbow Dash cleared away a path from the team. They lifted a piece of building out of the way. "Move it out, guys!" Ford shouted. "Make us proud, ponies!" Rainbow heaved, beating her wings hard as she held the wooden overhang. "We not sacrificing ourselves." "I know, but, I always wanted to say that." As the warhead was being hauled out Ford and Rainbow looked back to the upside-down spiral of eggs hanging from above. All the baby MUTOs inside, waiting to hatch. In his head, the young lieutenant thought of the implications of what the future would look like when the eggs eventually hatched. The world had fallen into chaos with just two MUTO's, what chance could it stand if there were hundreds. Even if Godzilla was able to take down the first two, there would be no way he would be able to take down hundreds. "I know. Gnarly sight," Rainbow said queasily. "What if those things hatch," Ford said. "Huh?" "Think about it. All those eggs will, one day, hatch and out will come more of those MUTOs. This world will be overrun by them. All the EMPs they'll give, all the death and destruction they'll cause." Rainbow looked back to the nest, now more alarmed than ever. "Oh... that's a problem. A real big problem." "Lieutenant, let's go!" the sergeant called out. Shaken out of the earth-shattering stupor, Ford and Rainbow let go of the wooden architecture and chased after the rest of the group. Ford stopped just beyond the door frame and turned back toward the nest again. Those thoughts lingered and they more he kept thinking of the ramifications, the more he felt something had to be done. Rainbow was just about to leave when she turned back to Ford. "What's the hold up, dude?" the cyan pegasus asked impudently. Ford stayed silent for a second, his attention fulling on the eggs. "We have to destroy them." "W-What!?" "We can't let these things remain alive. If we don't do something now, we may never get the chance again. And when these eggs hatch, that spells end of life on this planet. Those MUTO will overrun this world until there's nothing left but them. Something needs to be done about this nest... for the safety of everyone." "This is too crazy for me," Rainbow flew up eye-to-eye with the bomb specialist. "Have you taken a look around? This place is huge! How do you plan on destroying each and every egg in this nest?" "Rainbow!" A familiar, female voice caught the pegasus's attention. She froze, wide-eyed. Rainbow wasn't sure if from all the chaos and smoke, her mind were playing tricks on her or if she was really hearing what she had heard. "It can't be," Rainbow peered over Ford's head. Ford completely turned around. He, too, had heard someone calling Rainbow's name. The two saw Fluttershy come in for a landing with Spike on her back. "Fluttershy!? Spike!? Wha- eh... What are you doing here!?" "When we realized that the MUTOs were likely making a nest and laying eggs, we realized that this world would not be safe even with the two first MUTOs gone," Fluttershy explained. "So, Spike and I venture here to search for it." "Then we found the crater and concluded that the nest was here," Spike added. "We saw Twilight and others carted the warhead away, but we also spotted you and Ford at the opening. We figured something had happened." Rainbow and Ford exchanged looks of shock and surprise. "And you came here to do what exactly?" Ford asked. "We need to destroy the nest and the eggs," Fluttershy answered as sharply as she could. "We were thinking the same thing," Ford said. "But, we told you two stay at the headquarters!" Rainbow exclaimed angrily. "We know, but we felt that we needed to take action when we connected the pieces." "That doesn't..." Rainbow felt a deluge of emotions clash in her head: Anger, fear, worry, consternation, frustration. The last thing she wanted was her best friend in danger again, yet here she was with Spike alongside. She knew Twilight wouldn't be happy about that. "I didn't want you in anymore danger, Fluttershy." "But, I don't want to sit idly and watched this all unfold," Fluttershy retorted. "Why are you being like this all of a sudden? You have one time being in the spotlight and lifting our spirits and suddenly you feel invincible?" "I am not invincible." "Why couldn't you have just gone back to being scared to death and cowering in a corner? Why can't you just stay out of danger?" Fluttershy gasped, feeling a little hurt by Rainbow's words. Okay, let's calm down a bit," Spike tried to ease the tension. "Dash..." Fluttershy whimpered. "WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE HERE!?" There was a stunned silence. Nobody said a word. Then, there came crying, but not from Fluttershy. Tears began streaming down Rainbow's face as she began to sob. "I care about you, Fluttershy. I never want you to be in any kind of danger situation that's completely out of my control. We tried saving those people on the bridge, and you ended up getting shot. At that moment, all these thoughts of you getting killed raced around in my head and I... I couldn't bare that. Everything that's happened in this mission, it's just felt like a big downward slope with losing people and getting hurt and putting ourselves in even greater danger. And you, Fluttershy, you mean so much to me. I could never forgive myself if something bad ever happened to you. I can't forgive myself when you got shot. I can't bare losing you! The weeping pegasus fell to her eyes as she continued to cry. "And I'm sorry for yelling at you, but I'm just so scared, okay. I'm scared of losing you and everypony else." Fluttershy stood still, mouth slightly agape. She hadn't expected Rainbow to just open up like that and pour her heart out. Spike and Ford wisely stayed silent. Despite the severe danger they were in, a moment like this require respect and silence. Fluttershy soon treaded up to Rainbow. The teary-eyed pegasus gazed up her, tears and snot trailed down her face. Fluttershy pulled her into a soft embrace. "It's okay, Rainbow. I knew full well that you anger come from your protectiveness of me and, believe me, it warms my heart knowing that. But, there's something you must know. Right now, I'm not fearless. I'm more terrified than I've ever been in my life. But, I also realize that cowering and hiding won't solve anything. Not when this is all going on." She gestured to the rows of eggs spiraling around the walls and ceiling. "I'm not just doing this to show I'm brave. I'm doing this to protect you, and Spike, and Applejack, and Ford, and everycreature else on this world." "It's everybody," Ford corrected. "Shush!" Spike hissed sharply. "The first time you and I tried to brave the dangers and save some people, yes, it didn't go well. But, I'm not going to let one failed attempt discourage me from doing the right thing. These eggs hold a devastating future for this world and if something is done now, we may never see Ford again, or Elle and Sam. Maybe I'll always been the shy, timid, and easily-frightened pegasus, but that doesn't mean I'm going to walk away from this and expect others to handle it. I'm putting a stop to this on my own, no matter how loud my body is screaming at me to run away and hide, or no matter how much you and the others think otherwise. Even if I end up getting hurt again or worse, at least I'll know I did something that saved many lives. By now, Rainbow had wiped away the tears in her eyes as she listened to Fluttershy's speech. She felt a sense of calm wash over her, seeing Fluttershy be so calm, yet poised. The thoughts in the back of her head still lingered and the rainbow-maned pegasus's expression darkened worriedly. "I just don't want you getting hurt again like last time." "We all get hurt, Rainbow. It's a matter of if we let that get to us or not for the greater good. I maybe be wounded, but I won't let that stop me." Rainbow sniffled a bit and wiped more of her snot of her muzzle. She wrapped her hooves around her friends, reciprocating the embrace. "Again, I'm sorry for yelling at you and say those things." "I forgive you, Rainbow. I know you’re only looking at for me." The two break the hug and looked into each others' eyes. Neither acknowledged it, but both pegasi had blushes slowly forming on their cheeks. "Hey, ladies, I hate to ruin the moment, but we seriously need to do something about this," Ford pointed to the nest. Spike let out a sigh, disappointed that the moment had been ruined. "Okay, action time, ponies." Fluttershy and Rainbow shook themselves out of their gazes and turned to the baby dragon and lieutentant. "Right, the eggs," Rainbow said. "How are we going to get rid of them." "There's to many to destroy by hand," Ford scanned the area, hoping for anything that could help. It didn't take long for him to spot a tanker truck lying on it's side amongst the sea of debris. "I have a plan. Follow me." He quickly headed toward the topple tanker. Rainbow, Fluttershy, Spike looked at each other, wondering what Ford's plan was. Even still, the listened to him and went after him. Things were not looking too good for Godzilla. Both MUTOs were easily overwhelming him, with the the male on his back slashing and tearing at his armor-plated skin and the female coming with forceful rams or ferocious bites. The powerful kaiju just wasn't capable of taking on two monsters at the same time. One, final power charge from the female MUTO sent the monstrous equalizer off his feet. The snipers on nearby buildings could only watch as the kaiju roared defiantly as he was being forced to the ground. buildings caught in the battle's wake crumbled as the two MUTOs began beating Godzilla to his death. The male MUTO even leapt high into the air and slammed down on top of Godzilla. The bomb retrieval team scrambled out of the crater, none of them realizing Fluttershy and Spike arriving at the mouth of the nest as they were too focus on the bomb or watching Godzilla's beatdown unfold. The Mane 5 were in the latter half. They watched in horror as the kaiju was being pummeled into the earth. "Oh, no, no, no, no! That is not good," Twilight exclaimed. "You can take 'em, Godzilla!" Applejack encouraged. "Come on, git up!" "No, the poor thing," Rarity said. "Oh, how could this have end up into such a hopeless state? He was the balancer." "I don't think Godzilla has ever had to take down two monsters simultaneously," Twilight said solemnly. "If what we've learned is true, Godzilla hasn't had much of a exigency in a long time, and probably not in these kind of extreme circumstances." "We still have the bomb though," Pinkie said. The other ponies turned to her. It had already been universally agreed between them all that the bomb wasn't the right course of action. So, to her Pinkie Pie of all ponies bring up to entailment of using it, was one heck of an unwelcomed curveball. "Whaduya mean by that, Pinkie?" Applejack asked, not taking a liking to the pink mare's implication. "Ah thought we agreed that the bomb was a bad idea." "Well, yeah, and I still stand by that. I mean we have this mission almost completed." "Oh, ah thought..." "I know. But, if I'm being entirely honest, the bomb might end up attracting the monsters anyways." Applejack and Rarity turned to each other in confusion. "What?" "Of course! Pinkie's right!" Twilight exclaimed, coming to the realization that Pinkie had also come to. "Dr. Serizawa said the MUTOs were attracted the radiation and that's exactly what the bomb has, at least that's what we've been told." "Which is why we need it as far away from the city as possible," the head sergeant said. "Keep going!" "Right on, captain!" Pinkie saluted. "I'm a sergeant." The soldiers and ponies hastily carried the warhead out of the crater. One of the soldiers stayed back just for a moment upon realizing to of their members were suddenly gone. "Lieutenant? Rainbow?" he called out to them, but he could neither see or hear them. He looked back to the convoy then back into the crater. Despite wanting to find them to make sure Ford and Rainbow were safe, he had a mission to do. He raced back on over to the convoy to relay the news. "Two of our members are unaccounted for." "Which ones?" the sergeant asked. "Lieutenant Ford and one of the ponies. Rainbow, I think her name was." Hearing that made the other ponies gasp in shock. "Rainbow?" Twilight looked around. "Were did she go?" "How did we not notice them gone until now?" Rarity also looked around. "Somethin' must've happened to 'em," Applejack said, sounding a little panicky. "We have to go back!" "We don't have time to go back for them," one of the soldiers yelled. "This warhead is sent to go off soon." "We can't just leave two of our friends behind!" Twilight shouted defensively. "We can't jeopardize the mission!" the leading sergeant snapped back. "If we lose men along the way, we continue on." "So, what?!" Rarity questioned angrily. "We just abandon our friends and comrades because their lives are just expendable to you guys?" "Orders are orders!" The further the convoy went on, the more the arguing continued. However, there was one individual that had others idea instead of fighting with words. "Dashie!" Pinkie immediately abandoned the hauling team and galloped off toward the crater. "Hey, get back here!" one of the soldiers ordered. The mare on a mission did not listen. Encouraged by their friends loyalty, the rest of the Mane 5 quickly followed after. "Wait up, Pinkie!" Rarity shouted after her. "We're coming', Dash. Hold on, Ford!" Applejack exclaimed. Twilight shot a quick glare at the sergeant. "A true team makes sure all of it's members our safe." She too rushed away. "Forget them, we have a bomb to deal with," one of other soldiers said. With that, the rest of the team continued with carry the warhead to the waterfront. While Twilight and the others were racing back to the crater to find their missing friends, Ford, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Spike were setting their plan into motion. Rainbow and Fluttershy had stack a couple of wooden items in a small indent in the ground, while Ford stood on the tanker, standing watch. "Well this be enough?" Fluttershy dropped the remains of a wooden board into the indent. "All right, Spike, you know what to do," he said. Spike nodded with a confident smile on his face. The little inhaled then breathed out a stream of fire, igniting the wooden stack. The emerald green flames changed into a bright orange upon contact with the flammable material. "Now what?" Rainbow asked, eyeing the fire. "If this is your plan, it's a pretty weak one. I doubt a tiny fire can burn down this whole nest." "Thankfully, that's only half of it," Ford said smartly. Taking a metal pipe, the lieutenant struck a red level just underneath the tanker's chassis. He followed up with strucking a chained capsule around a pipe that stuck out from a control module. The cap popped free, causing gasoline to gush from the pump. Ford did this a second time to a second pump. Two gushing streams of gas spilled onto the ground, streaming toward the indent and the fire. The acrid smell permeated and assaulted the three other-worldly heroes, noses, having not been familiarized with such a volatile fluid. "Woah!" Rainbow and Spike both said. "Go, go! We need to leave now!" Ford shouted. He bolted out of the nest as fast as his legs could carry him. Rainbow quickly grabbed Spike and flew out the nest with Fluttershy following close behind. The gasoline flowed down into the indent, quickly filling it up. With the new ticking time bomb behind them, Ford, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Spike made a mad dash out of the crater. As they clambered up the side, Fluttershy noticed Godzilla getting thrashed by the two MUTOs. "No! Godzilla!" "What the?" Rainbow turned to see the monstrous beatdown. "He's being beaten to a pulp!" "Oh, this just keeps getting worse," Spike slid off Rainbow's back. "Forget about that! We need to get as far away as possible before the gas ignites," Ford warned as he reached the top. "You sound awfully distressed about this," Spike commented, in-turn feeling a little wary herself. "That explosion is going to be big. We need to get well away from this crater." "Well, how far?" Rainbow asked. "Just how serious of a demolition plan did we..." "DASHIE!" Rainbow was suddenly tackled in a pink blur. She tumbled to the ground, feeling the weigh of a pony on top of her. "Dashie, you're okay," Pinkie pulled the dazed mare in a bone-crushing hug. Dash could barely get a word through her squished throat. "Pinkie? What are you doing here?" "Rainbow! Ford!" came Twilight's voice. She along with Rarity and Applejack hurriedly cantered over to them. "You weren't with us back with the rest of the convoy, so we thought..." Twilight's eyes fell upon the two outliers in the group. Spike smiled sheepishly, holding his hands behind his back innocently. Fluttershy was, too, a little abashed having been caught, but she knew this was likely the best outcome. "Hello, girls," she said happily. "Wha... Wh... How?" the young princess couldn't believe her eyes. "Fluttershy?! Spike?!" "What'n tha hay are ya two doing here!?" Applejack asked in shock. "We don't have time for this!" Ford shouted, sounding more distressed. "We need to get away from this crater." "What are you talking about?" Rarity asked frantically. "We already have the bomb removed." "There's going to be another explosion!" Spike exclaimed. "We have to get out of here." The other ponies were at a loss for words at what was being said. Twilight sputtered in disbelief. "Wha... What? Spike, what in Equestria are you..." KABOOM In the blink of an eye, ponies, dragon, and lieutenant were blinded by a white light followed by a gigantic blast that shot from the crater. Ford and the Mane 7 were sent flying as a giant ball of fire and smoke mushroomed out from the crater. The blast rocked the entirety of San Francisco and caught the female MUTO's attention. She looked back and saw the rising mushroom cloud rising above her egg crater. With a shriek of horror and worry she abandoned the brawl and ran toward the crater. She mowed down several buildings, heeding no notice to the soldiers vigilantly making their way down the street with the warhead in-hand. Meanwhile, the male MUTO noticed his mate heading toward the crater. Believing something to be wrong, he left Godzilla and took off after her. Once the female MUTO made it to the nesting crater, she dipped her head in. She found her nest completely incinerated and her eggs destroyed. The female MUTO began howling and shrieking in despair at the loss of her children. Not even a couple dozen feet away, Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike all lied on the ground. army coats torn, helmets dented, and bleeding all around, varying from cuts to broken noses. "What.. was... that," Twilight groaned in pain. "It was our way of destroying the nest," Fluttershy explain weakly. "Ohhhh. How did you do it?" Pinkie asked, tilted her heads back to glance at the mare. "Nnrgh. Something about an explosive liquid," Rainbow rubbed her aching head. “It smelled weirdly metallic and acidic… kinda.” "Well, then mission accomplished," Rarity groaned. "Too accomplished." "Quiet," Ford crawled backward. "If she hears us, we're all dead." Now knowing that the MUTOs had really good hearing, thanks to the ambush at the bridge, the group wisely kept silent. But, Twilight still had one more thing to say. She took Spike's tail in her magic and brought him up to where their eyes met. The alicorn mare stared at him with a mighty glare. "You have a lot of explaining to do, Mister." Spike gulped. "Twilight, before you jump to any conclusions, it was my idea to come here in the first place," Fluttershy said quietly. "And why would you think bringing Spike here was a good idea. It's bad enough you came here with all this going on, but you brought him, too. And did that." Twilight pointed to the smoking crater. "What were you thinking?" "Ssh!" Ford shushed. The group carefully and quietly crawled away from the crater, making sure to not draw attention from the weeping MUTO. They came upon a concrete paifang post. Ford gestured the others to huddle closer to it, but, as he turned into his back, his vest pack struck the concrete post a little too hard. pieces of concrete and glass showered from above created a good amount of noise. That got the female MUTOs attention. She looked up, her eyes harrowing in on the group. "Oh, please, no," Rarity covered her face in fear. The MUTO leaned closer toward them. While she could not express any kind of emotion on her face, the Mane 6, Spike, and Ford could almost feel the rage radiating from her. They figured that she thought their were responsible from her nest's destruction, which to a degree, was true. She growled at the puny beings, sitting pathetically on the ground. "We're doomed," Applejack said sorrowfully. Twilight felt Spike cling to her tightly. She could visibly see the fear as his little body shook. Despite being upset with him disobeying her orders, Twilight figured that it wasn't the best thing to be mad at Spike if this was there final moments. As, the MUTO opened her mouth wider, baring her razor-sharp teeth, the ponies, dragon, and human could only brace for the inevitable. "No, you don't," a voice rang out defiantly. Fluttershy stood up and limp closer to the MUTO. "I'm not going to let you hurt my friends!" "Fluttershy, what are you doing?" Rainbow cried out. The vigilant gave no answer, her attention solely on the MUTO. "You are beyond shameful for terrorizing everycreature on this world. Who do you think you are laying waste to this city and making it into your personal home when you had no right in the first place!" The others watched in shock and amazement. That's when Fluttershy summoned all her concentration and gave the MUTO the most powerful Stare she could muster. "It's really no wonder why Godzilla wants you irradicated because you are nothing but a great, big bully! Now you are going to stand back and leave my friends alone!" Over the past missions they had been out, Fluttershy's Stare had not worked on both occasion she tried. Her friends, fearing the worst, cowered as they expected the MUTO to ignore her threatening glare and eat them alive. Instead, the beast seemed to hesitate. The MUTO stepped back just little bit. The Mane 7 and Ford's eyes widened. Was the MUTO actually scared. "Holy gemstones, Fluttershy actually doing it," Spike whispered. The protective pegasus kept up her disciplinary glare, locking eyes with the female MUTO. The monster growled at her, but then something else happened. The street was alit with a pale, blue glow emanating from behind the MUTO. "What's going on now?" Rarity asked fearfully. Ford, Spike, the Mane 6, and even the MUTO turned to see what was the cause for the sudden flare. "Look at that!" Pinkie pointed at Godzilla's tail rising above the cloud of dust and smoke. The kaiju's tail was glowing with a bright, blue light. The light trailed up his tail and his back before reaching the back of his head. Godzilla faced the female MUTO, who was preparing for another attack. Godzilla let in a long inhale, then unleashed a powerful beam of blue, flame-like energy from his mouth. His atomic breath beat against the MUTO, pushing it back against a building. "Woah," Applejack gaped. "Since when could he do that?" Rainbow asked in surprise. "It's almost... mesmerizing," Rarity said with twinkling eyes. "He can breath fire, too? Awesome!" Spike said. "Perhaps he can do that thanks to the radiation he's absorbed," Twilight pondered aloud. "Well, it just saved our asses," Ford said. "Hey, Fluttershy Stare was our savior here," Rainbow snapped. "Oh, um, I suppose it was," Fluttershy smiled, a blush forming on her face. She was suddenly picked up by Pinkie, who began spinning around. "That was amazing! You just stood there and stared at that MUTO and it actually was intimidated!" "Yeah, ya saved us, Fluttershy," Applejack readjusted her hat. "Stared down a creature of that size and it was the one that stood down," Ford chuckled. "Now that is bravery." "He-he, thanks, everypony," the shy mare smiled warmly. "Hooray for Fluttershy!" Spike cheered. The others began joining in on the cheering. "That was incredible, Fluttershy," Rainbow said. "That's probably the most fearless I've seen you since the time you stared down that dragon..." Rainbow suddenly stopped when she felt something wet on her hooves. She lifted it off the ground and shook it off to dry it. "Why is it wet here all of a sudden?" Fluttershy's soft, pink blush flashed to red. It soon painted her entire face, making her as red as a cherry. "Well... U-Uhm. Let's just say I was brave, but not fearless," she chuckled in embarrassment. Rainbow looked at her confusion. "What? Isn't that the same thing?" The others looked at her with cringed expression. They had already pieced together what Fluttershy was getting at. "What?" "You know what don't worry about it," Twilight said. Whilst the mini celebration was going on, the snipers on the building continued to watch Godzilla unleashed his atomic breath full blast at the MUTO. The soldiers were still on their mission on reaching the waterfront when they too noticed the blue glow from behind them. "What the hell was that?" the head sergeant turned. The soldiers got a full view Godzilla's atomic assult. "Holy shit! Did you see that?" one of the soldiers asked. Godzilla soon ran out of breath and was forced to stop. The female MUTO was about to charge him, but the kaiju was quick to release another bout of energy, slamming the MUTO back against the building. With the female MUTO down for the time being, it granted the Mane 6, Spike, and Ford the opening they need. "Let's go while they're still distracted," Twilight said. Nothing else was needed to be said. The group quickly got to their feet-slash-hooves and made a limped escape down the street. Getting as far away was their first priority, but the second was to catch up to the rest of the soldiers before they made it to the waterfront. Godzilla soon brought the female MUTO into submission. His temporary victory was short-lived, though, when the male MUTO swooped in from behind and smashed into Godzilla. Not to be beaten, Godzilla reared back his head and roared angrily. The MUTO flapped away and landed on the top of lower building. Godzilla swiped at the beast, but the MUTO took off in time and grasped onto the kaiju. The two monsters fell into a violent tussle, crashing into buildings, while trying to tear each other apart. Several blocks away, the remaining soldiers had finally neared the waterfront. With the two monsters fighting like mad, destroying everything in their path, they feared they could potentially be in the beasts' line of violent fire. "This way," one of the soldiers beckoned. They reached a large boat dock with a massive boardwalk stretching perpendicular to it. The soldiers raced down the mane gangway. The heavy warhead proved to be a serious constraint on their efficiency on transporting it. "Faster, faster," Limited as they were, the team reached the end of the dock where a large boat was parked. The boat in particular was designated for whale watcher and, because of it's size, offered them the perfect means to cast the bomb as far away from the populace as possible. "Let's get this thing started." two soldiers clambered on board and quickly headed to the cockpit. The first one pulled open the control panels, exposing the wires and circuits of the machine. "Find the ignition, sir," the second solider zipped in. "Give me that pack." The second soldier handed his comrade the tool pack. The first soldier rummaged through it before pulling out a small set of jumper cables. Even while they as far away as they could, the soldiers could hear the roaring and the crashing of the MUTO and Godzilla clashing with each other. The second soldier could see the whole battle through the boat's window. "Come on, come on. Hurry." The first soldier struck the jumper cables against the electrical terminals. The cables sparked and crackled until they finally jumpstarted the boat. The lights went on and the engine roared to life. The two soldiers looked at each other, silently satisfied with their success. However, the boats alarm went off, sending out a beeping noise that pierced through the smokey, night air. The female MUTO, while still injured and grieving, heard the noise and with that, sensed the radiation-filled weapon they carried. She stood back up and let out a wailing shriek and started stomping her way to the dock. If she could get the warhead back, then she and her mate could try again with creating another brood. The remaining soldiers carrying the warhead, quicken their pace when they heard the alien-like creature shrieking and roaring abhorrently. The two soldiers on the boat raced back outside. They could clearly see the female MUTO was solely focused on them and that meant that time to get the bomb out of here was running out. "Hurry it up. Let's go, let's go!" one of them shouted. The retrieval team hurried as much as they could with a heavy piece or artillery weighing them down. One of the soldiers trailed back a bit to see the MUTO rapidly gaining on them. "She's coming for the bomb!" he exclaimed, while catching up to the others. With the female MUTO effortlessly tearing through the city blocks and approaching the docks, the soldiers fell into a desperate inclination. Most of them helped in getting the warhead loaded onto the boat, another frantically untied the ropes securing the boat to the dock. "Let's get this weapon secured," the head sergeant said. But as the team was getting situated on the boat, it became horrifically apparent that there was no time. The female MUTO was practically already at the edge of the waterfront and glaring down on them. The time for retreating was over. Now, the soldiers were forced to create more time by withholding the ruthless monster from progressing further towards them. That meant unloading every piece of firepower they had, no matter how ineffective it would be. While the female MUTO was dead set on getting the warhead back, the male MUTO continued his viscous attack on Godzilla. He griped tight to the kaiju and bit down hard on his neck. However, Godzilla's armored skin proved to be a not-so-easy defense to cut. With the equalizer beast roaring in defiance, Godzilla clamped his jaws down on the MUTO's left wing and yanked him off. He wildly swung the heretical beast against several buildings. Godzila followed up by tossing male MUTO away, sending it careening through the air. However, the male was the one with wings, which allow him to steady himself in the air. The monstrous MUTO glided away for some distance and circled back around toward the kaiju. Godzilla stared down the MUTO. He knew what it was going to do; try to grasp onto him where he couldn't retaliate. Godzilla was smart though. As the male MUTO flew closer still, the kaiju king turned where his back was facing him. Just as the MUTO was about to charge into him, Godzilla swung his powerful tail into him, slamming the beast right into a skyscraper. The blow was devastating. Godzilla removed his tail, the male MUTO dangled lifelessly against the twisted wreck of the building. Giant, jagged pieces of steel impaled through the MUTO's head and chest, essentially trapping it. It's eyes, once glowing a dark, demented orange, now went completely black, it's head sagging down with the shower of shattered glass and concrete. That was it, the male MUTO was dead. Godzilla turned away from his fallen adversary, injured and exhausted, but his resting period was interrupted from the sound of crumbling. The kaiju turned back to find the skyscraper was beginning to collapse. Godzilla made an effort to escape, but he wasn't fast enough. The entire weight of the skyscraper fell on top of him. He let out a pained roared as he careened down to the earth. People trapped inside the exposed subway stations fell into a panic once again as the place was engulfed in dust and smoke from the falling building. Elle, who was one of many inside, clutched her head, whimpering and screaming as she found herself blinded with thick dust. Elle was not the only one in dire straits, however. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike were sprinting down the wrecked San Francisco streets as fast as they could, hobbling and through wreckage and past raging fires. "If the rest of the guys haven't left the waterfront yet, we might be able to help them and get away from this place," Ford huffed exhaustively. "Ah don't think they'll be very happy with us," Applejack limped. "We did kinda just 'bandoned them when we went lookin' for ya'll." Rainbow was helping her apple-farmer friend. She'd slung Applejack's left front hoof over her neck, keeping the country mare steady. "Speaking of not happy, Fluttershy, does this bring you any kind of déjà vu. You know, with the nightmare and all." Fluttershy did a quick look around her surroundings. "Fires everywhere, the streets littered in debris," - she eyed the crushed cars sprinkled around the road - "whatever those things are. Yeah, certainly reminds me of the nightmare I had." "Wait, you guys came here because she had a nightmare?" Ford asked. "We... didn't tell you?" Twilight asked sheepishly. The lieutenant shook his head. Twilight out a self-reprimanded sigh. "I cannot believe we never explained it to you. Okay, the gist of it is that Fluttershy had this nightmare of Godzilla fighting the MUTOs in a burning city. Of course, she didn't know the monsters at the time. One of our rulers, Princess Luna, sensed the nightmare she had and deduced that it was some kind of sign that we were needed here." "I wanted to chalk it up to just having a scary dream that meant nothing, but something about just... alluded me," Fluttershy added. "I've had many nightmares in my life, but I never had one that was so extreme and surreal. It the setting felt so off and the monsters were unlike anything I'd ever seen before. I didn't think they were even native to Equestria, that's so out-of-place they seemed." "Yeah. With how she described it the first time, it honestly made me scared," Spike said. "That all sounds weirdly biblical," Ford commented. "Biblical?" Twilight said curiously. "Like it's part of a religion." "Oh. What kind of religion?" "Stick to the main topic for now, Egghead," Rainbow said. "I have to agree with Rainbow Dash, here," Rarity concurred. "We have more important things to worry about." "Right, right. Sorry," Twilight blushed. "What we really don't understand is how Fluttershy got that dream and why it happened." "Didn't you just say you reckoned it was telling you to come to this world?" Ford asked. "Oh, yeah, that seems pretty obvious in retrospect," Pinkie chimed in. "But, we don't go on missions because of bad dreams... most of the time. See, what happens is that our cutie marks..." "Urgh, hold that thought," Rainbow came to a stop. "I don't think I ever been this exhausted in my life. And my head is killing me." "Perhaps it's best if we rest fer a few," Applejack suggested. "We've taken a bit of a beatin'." "We can't stop now. We're losing time..." Ford stumbled onto his knees, grunting and breathing heavily. "Ford!" Twilight and Fluttershy were right at his side. "That explosion sure did a number on us," Rainbow said. "Oh, my hooves are killing me," Rarity whined. "And all this dust and bleeding will undoubtedly stained my pristine, white coat. Ohhhh." "If it makes you feel any better, Rarity, you still look as beautiful as over," Spike rubbed his darkened, swollen right eye. "Thank you, Spikey-Wikey," the fashionista's heart dropped when saw noticed Spike's black eye. "Oh, my goodness, Spike, you're eye." "I-It's okay. I'll live." "You're going to get that checked out," Twilight came up to the baby dragon. She held his head and studied the swollen eye. "Relax, Twilight, it's just a black eye," Spike said. "And what about all the cuts and gashes? What about the fact that you're limping, Spike?" Twilight's tone rose, while Spike slowly shrunk down. The others were taken aback from the sudden outburst. Pinkie, usual being the one to bring down sour moods came right up to the up agitated alicorn. "What's wrong, Twilight?" Twilight glimpsed up at Pinkie with a hard glare "What's wrong?" She then turned back to Spike. What's wrong is that I specifically told you and Fluttershy to stay at that military vicinity. And yet, here you two are with us, hurt. Not only that you were helping Ford and Rainbow in destroying that nest, which, may I remind you all, created a giant explosion! I told you to stay back with Fluttershy and let the rest of us do the mission, but you came all this way here anyways." Tears began forming in Twilight's eyes. She began to sob loudly. "Why... Why did you disobey me?" Fluttershy felt another sense of déjà vu. That moment reminded her of Rainbow's emotional outburst at her a little while back. Because of that, Fluttershy understood why Twilight was so upset. "Twilight?" she carefully walked up to the pair. "It was my idea to find the nest and destroy it. None of that was Spike's doing." "I know. You already told me that, Fluttershy," Twilight wiped away some of the tears. "But, you, Spike, you still chose to go with her. That was your decision. So, again I ask, why did you disobey me?" Spike was silent for a few seconds. He, too, had tears trailing down his face. Tears of shame, tears of embarrassment, but also tears of frustration. "Because it likely would've saved this world in the long-term." Twilight was a little surprised. Out of all the answers she expected her son to say, this was not even in the vicinity of what she had in mind. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "Twilight, were you and others planning on destroying the nest at any given point?" "Wha-" "Were you?" "I-It was kind of on my mind. But, we were mostly focusing on the bomb. What does that have to do with anything?" "If you had left that nest intact, those eggs would all eventually hatch and more MUTOs would sprout from them and then this world would be even more doomed." "Well, me and Ford stayed back to destroy it," Rainbow spoke up. "It was more of a last minute thing," Ford muttered. "Well, we didn't know that," Spike said. "Sure, doing that doesn't justify disobeying you, Twilight, but I wasn't okay with being sidelined on this mission when so much is at stake. Fluttershy mostly felt the same way. It made me feel like you thought I wasn't capable of helping out." "No, Spike, the only reason I wanted to stay behind was because I was trying to protect you," Twilight argued. “For crying out loud, Fluttershy hit in the leg!” "I know that, but I still felt that way.” “I admit it, girls. It wasn’t the best decision to dive into this disaster with my leg,” Fluttershy said. “But, despite that, I knew we couldn’t standby and just hope for the best. It didn’t feel right, no matter how scared or injured I was.” “But, what if something worse happened to you?” Pinkie asked, very much worried for her friend. “I couldn’t even begin to describe how horrible I would feel if you got even more hurt, or even worse…” “Pinkie’s right,” Applejack said. “As much as we’re happy ya see ya two ‘gain, we only wanted to keep ye and Spike safe.” “We know. Trust me, we know,” Fluttershy said softly yet firmly. “But this mission is important to all of us no matter how dangerous it is. It didn’t matter if it was me, Spike, Rarity, Pinkie, or anypony else. “She’s right,” Spike kept his eyes on Twilight. “Look, I'm not saying what you did was wrong, it just that..." Spike sniffled as fresh, hot tears streamed down his cheeks. "We're both still new to this changed dynamic between you and me. I see you as my mother, Twilight, you were always there for me since the day you hatched me. We've had this talk before. But, this isn't about just you and me, it's about all of us. We are a team, Twilight, and together we work as a unit. We do these missions together, we figure out problems together, we battle bad guys together. And I know I may not be an Element of Harmony like you or Rainbow, or Applejack, or the others, but I have proven my worth on these missions on several occasion. Yes, I've had bad things happen to me on these adventures, the scar will always be proof of that, but we've all realized that just something that happens on these missions to different worlds." Twilight looked at her baby dragon, amazed and somewhat by his self-preservation. However, Spike wasn't quite done. "But, you know what, Twilight, you're still probably in the right. Like you said, you were only trying to protect and lookout for me. And it warms my heart so much how much you do care about me. Even if it's for a good cause, I still disobeyed you, and I'm so, so sorry I did that. It's just that..." The onslaught of tears continued, but these tears came from a place of sorrow and needing and Spike's quiet sobs turned broken. "I hate not being near you, Twilight. Without you, I feel so lonely and empty. I mean, you hatched me. I would be nothing if it wasn't for you. You've always been there for me, Twilight, since day one and I just can't imagine life without you. I guess deep down that's why I went with Fluttershy. Because I just couldn't bare the thought of ever seeing you again. The fear of something bad happening, like the bomb going off or one of the MUTO attacking you, it just..." Spike practically jumped into Twilight's barrel. The young alicorn was taken from the forwardness. She looked down to the sobbing dragon that clutched her like a stuffed doll. "I just want to be with." Spike continued to cry uncontrollably. Tears bled from Twilight's eyes. Hearing her baby boy pour his heart out in such a way both warmed and broke her heart. Twilight wrapped her hooves around Spike, holding him tight and letting him cry against her chest. "It's okay, Spike, just let it all out. That's it." Everyone had their waterworks going. Not a single eye was dry in that moment. Even Ford couldn't keep himself from letting a few tears free. "Had we go for running monsters to this?" Rainbow wiped here eyes. "Don't ruin this moment, darling," Rarity sniffled. Twilight soon pulled Spike from her barrel and looked down at him with the most caring, motherly eyes one could ever witness. "I get now how much that hurt you Spike. Words cannot describe how sorry I am for ever making you feel that way. But, know this, Spike, I will never let you go, I'll never abandon you. Even if we won't always be around each other, know that we will also be together in here." She put a hoof to the little drake's chest, right where his heart was. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me Spike. I love you so much that I can't imagine a world without you. You have always been my son and you always will be no matter what." "Y-You really mean that?" Spike asked. "I've never been more serious in my life." The two came together once again for a loving embrace. With tears in their eyes, the rest of the Mane 6 came together for one big group hug. Ford, while he didn't indulge in cartoonish snuggies, reached a hand out and set on Twilight's shoulder. He saw eye-to-eye with the alicorn when it came to parenthood. Honestly, it reminded him quite a lot of him and Sam. "Well said, Twilight. Well said." Unfortunately, the heart-melting moment was cut short when an animalistic rumbling reverberated across the smoldering streets. "Look!" Fluttershy pointed to the wide open roadway they stood right next to. A giant, clawed hand was set on the ground. To the shock and amazement of everyone, Godzilla lay just beside him, his head barely popping out from the massive wall of smoke and dust. "Woah," Pinkie's mouth took the shape of an "O." Godzilla tired eyes scanned the ponies, dragon, and human. Despite his fierce demeanor, the kaiju looked somewhat peaceful. It was like he knew that the creatures before him were harmless. Ford and the Mane 7 stood silent, in awe and at ease. After everything that happened, they were seeing Godzilla as a savior, not a monster. "Godzilla," Twilight said quietly. "Hey, you're awesome, man," Rainbow said. Godzilla didn't make a sound. Instead, he closed his eyes as he disappeared behind a thick curtain of misty dust. "No!" Fluttershy broke free of the hug and limped over to vanished kaiju. "Godzilla, don't die." A somber sadness washed over the group. They had see the beatdown Godzilla had received from the MUTOs. As much as they hated to admit to themselves, it might have been too much for the big guy to handle. "He's a fighter, girls," Rainbow tried lifting their spirits. "He'll get back up. I'm sure of it." "I don't know about that," Ford said. Suddenly, the group could hear gunfire and people yelling in the distance. Throughout the whole emotional ordeal they just had, they all had forgotten what they were doing in the first place. "The other soldiers!" they all exclaimed. Quickly getting back onto the feet and hooves, Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike all hightailed it to the boat docks. They reached their and were met with a wretched sight. The female was standing right above the soldiers' boat. The soldiers themselves were unleashing their entire weapon stockpile onto the inexorable beast. While they MUTO did protectively pull back a little against the bullets that got to her face, it was still a losing battle. Ford and the Mane 7 only had time to comprehend the situation before the MUTO slammed a foreleg against the boat, tearing down it's elevated viewing deck which most of the soldiers were positioned on. "No!" Rainbow yelled in dismay. "The bomb's most likely on board. That's probably why the female was attracted to come here," Twilight said. "We need to get it away from the boat!" "Might be already a lil too late for that," Applejack stated. The MUTO lowered closer to the boat. It's mouth wide open, preparing to take the warhead. "We'll see about that," Rainbow zipped into the air. She started whipping around the MUTO's face like a annoying fly.. "Come on, you overgrown bat! Just try and eat me!" The MUTO growled and swung her head around to shoo the pestering pegasus away. "Now let's get her to move away from the boat," Fluttershy said. Twilight nodded. She ignited her horn and pelted the MUTO with bursts of magic, being careful as to not accidentally hit Rainbow Dash. Spike followed in the alicorn's hoof-steps. The little dragon spat out small balls of fire to emphasize the MUTO's attention onto them. A zipping pegasus around her face, and fire and magic bombarding her, the MUTO was growing more and more enraged. Then something else hit her, but it wasn't anything from our heroes. Surprised, the Mane 6, Spike, and Ford turned to where the shot came from. A remaining team of soldiers that hadn't boarded the boat had fire a rocket launcher at the MUTO. "Whoo! Nice shot!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I thought they were all on the boat," Ford stated. "The more the merrier I suppose," Rarity said. The rogue shot, however, drove the female MUTO over the edge. She changed all focus and stomped over to the last handful of soldiers, which were standing on the boardwalk shared with Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike. "Come on, guys, this is our chance!" Rainbow called out to them. To reach the boat, the rest of the group would have to take the main gangway, which, as it turned out, was farther down the boardwalk. That meant having to get closer to the MUTO and the inevitable destruction it wished to subject on the low-life parasites that were putting a massive roadblocks on her biologically-compelled plans. The group watched with wide eyes as the monstrous MUTO lumbered it's way closer to the soldiers. "Get to the bomb!" one shouted to no one in particular, but that was all the incentive the ponies, dragon, and lieutenant needed. "Let's git goin', ya'll, we got ah bomb ta deal with," Applejack encouraged. "Full steam ahead!" Pinkie unintentionally lead the charge and galloped ahead. The rest of the team quickly followed after her. The female almost hovered over them. Thankfully, she kept her eyes on the soldiers still firing at her. Still, getting so close to a towering creature such as that had the others on edge. "Merciful Celestia, please don't notice us," Rarity kept her head low. "Incoming!" Twilight alerted. The female MUTO, with it's mouth opened wide, dived it's head into the occupied boardwalk, taking all but a few soldiers out at once. The group winced and braced at the spectacle. "This is the stuff of nightmares," Fluttershy closed her eyes, pain visible behind them. "All these innocent lives being taken." "I really hate to say this, girls, but we can't dwell on that," Twilight said sorrowfully. "They will be remembered and memorialized, like all heroic soldiers do," Ford assured. The gang reached the gangway and raced down it like their lives depended on it... because they were. Whether it be Ford or someone else, they would look back to make sure the MUTO wasn't on to them. For the time being, she was distracted with slashing down the rest of the soldiers and the boardwalk, but that time was running thin fast. Rainbow was already on the boat, trying to get the timer seal open. "Hurry guys! There isn't a whole lot of time on this thing left!" She strained with all her might to open the reinforced, plastic seal. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike hobbled their way onto the boat, practically throwing themselves aboard. Ford crawled over to the bomb. He looked at the cracked display; only thirteen minutes were left. "Let's try to get this thing open," he grabbed the seal and pulled as hard as he could. "Come on, stupid thing," Rainbow grunted. "Unh! Come on." They could see the MUTO raking it's forelegs through the boardwalk. Time left was next to nothing. Applejack and Pinkie pitched in helping in trying to get the seal opened. But, the unfortunate matter was that the seal was glued in place. No matter of natural strength would be able to get it open. The slime was just too strong. "Gah! We're running out of time!" Rarity exclaimed. "What if I try melting to seal off," Spike suggested. "Nononono! That kind of heat could cause the warhead to explode!" Ford warned. "Then what can we do?!" Pinkie asked, getting anxious. Ford looked back at the boat's controls. Even though he, along with the rest of the Mane 7, were against the idea of simply isolating the missile and letting it explode, it was the only option they had. The seal was stuck in place and the bomb's timer tick down inevitably. Any second now, the female MUTO would be right back to targeting the boat and getting the warhead, putting everyone's lives in danger. There was nothing for it. It was now or never. "We sail it away from the city," Ford got up and limped over to the controls. "But... But, it's still going to go off!" Fluttershy said fearfully. "We could still try and get this covering off," Twilight said. "We just need to keep trying." "We don't have any time left! Even if we did get the seal off, I might not have enough time to disengage the warhead. Not only that, the MUTO is right there. It will soon be coming after us when it's down with them." The Mane 6 and Spike looked amongst themselves, unsure to accept the facts in front of them. "I... still think we could try," Rainbow said hesitantly. "We just don't have time," Ford reiterated. He jammed the throttle all the way down and turned on the boat's GPS, setting it to auto. The boat's engine revved aggressively. Bubbles boiled out as the massive propeller began carrying the boat forward. "Twilight, Rainbow, everyone, I'm going to need your help for this," the young lieutenant said. "What do ya need, Ford?" Applejack asked. "We need to get this boat away from this dock," he grabbed a harpoon and leveraged it against the gangway. "Grab something and get to pushing." Twilight the others took action. She, Rainbow, and Fluttershy took to the air and started pushing against the side of the boat. Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, and Spike took whatever long enough object they could find and parroted the same procedure Ford was doing. "Put yer back into it," Applejack encouraged. "Unh! I think I sprained my wing again back there," Rainbow struggled to stay airborne. The combined efforts were able to push the heavy boat away from the dock. Once sufficiently away, Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike pulled away from the edge. The three flying ponies flopped back onto the deck, exhausted. The boat slowly chugged away from the dock. "Thats... something you don't do... every day," Twilight said between tired breaths. "At least we did it," Pinkie said, too exhausted to give a more excited uplift. "Is this really what it's come down to?" Rainbow gestured to the warhead. "Just letting this thing explode?" "Rainbow, at this point, it's the safest and most riskless option we have," Ford grunted. The was a few seconds of silence shared within the group. The message was clear and had to be accepted; letting the warhead blow up in an isolated area was the safest bet. But, there was still one issue. "But, wait a minute, dear," Rarity piped up. "If we're letting this thing explode on this boat, then why are we still on it!?" That got the others attention. Somehow, it flew over everyone's mind until now that they were still on a boat that was rigged to explode any minute. "We gotta get out of here!" Fluttershy shrieked. However, before any ideas of action could be taken, Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike were stopped when they heard the boat's engine completely die. Then, they saw a menacing, giant foreleg submerge into the water a dozen or so feet away. Fear gripped them all as they looked up. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie all withheld the urge to scream as the saw the female MUTO looming over them. It lowered it's head down closer, slimy saliva dripping from it's fanged teeth. It roared angrily at the group of friends. "No, please, no," Rarity began to dry, covering her face with her hooves. Spike cowered behind Twilight, clutching her tail like a stuffed animal. Twilight, herself, held Pinkie and Applejack close in a terrified hug. Rainbow and Fluttershy were also hugging each other. However, the shyer pegasus looked over to her best friends. She could see the fear in her eyes, she could the fear in all her friends eyes. Fluttershy looked back to the MUTO. She knew what it mostly came here for. No. She was not going to let this monster win. After everything they had been through on this journey, the caretaker pegasus was not going to let out all amount to a victory in vain. Fluttershy was scared, very scared, but, like on the helicopter, she was not going to let everything fall apart. "You stay back!" The others snapped their heads over to the pegasus. Fluttershy didn't even realize she had said that, but she wasn't going to cower away this time. She let go of Rainbow Dash and limp over to the edge of the boat, glaring at the MUTO. "You're not getting this bomb! Do you hear me? We've been through literally Tartarus making sure that you didn't succeed in making this world selfishly yours. I'm not going to back down when everything is against us. If you want that bomb, you'll have to got through me!" Fluttershy continued to glare at the beastly creature. Then, she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She turned to see Rainbow right at her side, also glaring at the MUTO. "And me." Soon, her others friends joined in. "And me," Twilight said angrily. "We're not letting you hurt anypony ever again!" "Me as well, darling," Rarity said cordially, yet threateningly. "Ya'll have to go through me, too," Applejack snorted. "Me, too," Pinkie added. "Don't forget about me," Spike said. Ford didn't have the strength to get back up, but he did pull out a handgun and pointed it at the MUTO. "I'm not going down without a fight, either." For the briefest of brief seconds, the MUTO merely stared at the unyielding group. It opened it's mouth even wider, preparing to consume the creatures in it's way. The ponies and dragon all braced, Twilight and Rarity summoning whatever strength and magic they had left. The ponies, dragon, and human had no energy and were bleeding bad, but, they were not going down without a fight. All of a sudden, the MUTO stopped jaggedly. The Mane 6, Spike, and Ford were a little unnerved by this. "What's it doing now?" Rainbow asked slowly. "Look!" Rarity pointed over the MUTO's head. It was Godzilla. He had his jaws locked on the back of the female MUTO's neck. The kaiju dragged the MUTO away and grabbed onto it's mouth, forcing it open. The bat-like monster scraped her spiked legs Godzilla in a form of retaliation, but the King of Monster's gripped was firm. He forced the MUTO's mouth open. The spikes on his back began glowing blue, and, in action movie fashion, unloaded a stream of atomic breath directly down the MUTO's gullet. The powerful jet of energy completed incinerated the monster's neck, decapitating her. Then, just like that, it was down, the atomic breath ceased and the MUTO's body flopped and sunk into the water. "Holy frosted guacamole on a cupcake," Pinkie said in shock. "Ya said it, Pinkie," Applejack said. "That was... a lot to take in," Rarity said dizzily, the blood loss was starting to get to her. Godzilla let out a final, might victory roar, then dropped the MUTO's head into the bay. I was over. It was all over. The MUTO's had been defeated and the city had been saved. Now with both of the MUTO's dead, there was no more EMP. San Francisco lights turned back on. Once thought to be dull and uncharacteristic, now brought a warming, reaffirming sense. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike let out sighs of relieve as the boat turned back on. It began leaving the bayfront and heading toward the remains of the Golden Gate Bridge. "Were still on the boat," Fluttershy said weakly. She could barely stand. The pegasus collapsed to the floor, no longer having the strength to support herself. The injuries they had received back during the explosion were starting to take their toll. The Mane 7 slowly fell to the floor. "Twilight... teleport us out of here," Rarity weakly pleaded. Twilight tried to get the spell going, but all she could get was a few fizzling sparks from her horn. She didn't have the energy to form any kind of magic. "I can't. I'm too weak." She looked back at the others. All strength spent, blood staining their fur, now enough energy to swim. They were stuck, and they were going to die. Ford fell onto his side, knowing that this was the moments he had alive. "We... can't... end like this," Rainbow tried flapping her wings, but the sprain she received prohibited to take flight. "Godzilla," Fluttershy weakly called out. "Godzilla, please help us." But there was no way he could hear her. The kaiju stepped back onto land. Godzilla let out a faint roar before he also collapsed from his injuries. Fluttershy gasped in shock and horror. "No. No, no, no, no!" Rarity cried. "We can't die now! This can't happen for real this time! What about everypony else in Equestria? What about my Sweetie Belle?!" Applejack put a hoof on Rarity's own. The sobbing fashionista turned to the country mare, who had a solemn, sorrowful look on her face. "It's over, Rares." This only made Rarity cry harder. "No! No, NO!" The earth pony pulled the devastated unicorn into a hug, letting her sob against her coat. "Ssh. It's 'kay, Rarity. Everythin' will be okay." Ford looked over to the warhead. Only five minutes were left until the inevitable. He would never get to see his wife or his son, he would never be able to return to them. But, he did ensure their safety. He and his friends fought tooth and nail to ensure the MUTOs wouldn't reign supreme over Earth. Ford protected his family with his life. As long as Elle and Sam were safe, we was willing to accept this outcome. The Mane 6 and Spike were slowly coming to terms with their fate as well. Pinkie's mane flattened like a limp balloon, tears pricking at the edges of her eyes. She felt Fluttershy put a hoof on her shoulder. The deflated earth pony turned to her. "I never got to say goodbye to the Cakes or my family." "It's okay, Pinkie. They will remember us. We'll even get to see them again." "Goodbye, Mom and Dad," Rainbow said tearfully. "Goodbye, Scootaloo." Fluttershy pulled the weeping pegasus into an embrace with Pinkie joining in. Twilight held Spike close. She had tears running down her cheeks and she could feel Spike's tears wetting down her fur. "Twilight... I don't want to die," Spike muffled voice squeaked. "It'll be okay, Spike. I promise, it will be okay." the mulberry alicorn turned to the lieutenant. "Ford?" Ford laid on his back, watching the gap between the severed Golden Gate Bridge pass by. He turned his eyes over so he could just barely see Twilight in his peripheral. "Yeah?" "Thank you, for everything. For letting us help and for protecting us." Ford gave a weak smile. "That's what a soldier does. Thank you for helping me patch things up with my dad." Twilight smiled and nodded. "You're welcome." Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike, now fully accepting their fates, waited for the bomb to go off. They closed their eyes, peaceful biding their time. Suddenly, the deck was flooded with a white light. The group was stunned from the unexpected development. Ford was barely conscious at this point, but he could just barely make out what his friends were saying. "What is that?" "What's going on?" "Are we in heaven?" "Is this what happens when the bomb goes off?" Next thing Ford knew, a rescue operator had fastened a harness around him and he was hoisted upward. The bright light was, in fact, a search light from a helicopter. They had found the lieutenant, ponies, and baby dragon in the nick of time. The two rescuers on the boat loaded the rest of the group for retrieval, whether that was by a harness or by carrying them up by hand. Everything felt like a blur that mesh together for Ford. He could hear Rarity and few others crying in joy in relief, Twilight thanking the rescuers profusely, Fluttershy and Applejack had fallen unconscious due to the fact that they had received the most severe blood loss. Ford then found himself and the others onboard the helicopter and being flown back toward the city. "Ford? Ford can you hear me?" He could see and hear Twilight taking to him, but Ford just couldn't muster a response. Suddenly, the dark, California night turned to day, at least that's what it looked like. The bomb had gone off, blanketing the sky in a bright, white light. Despite being the drained of every ounce of strength and energy they had, Ford, the Mane 6 and Spike were able to deduce one thing: They had been rescued. They were alive. They were safe. To be continued
Part 14: Saviors' ReturnSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
