Author'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