Equestria: Kong's Dominion

The green, swampy waters reached their chests, mosquitoes and leeches prowled in these waters, water lilies and algae clung to their bodies and uniforms; there was the group led by Peakard, in search of their leader's right-claw pony.

Their slow walk comes to a complete stop when the Major stops at the edge of the swamp, Thrax, second in line, signals to stop with his arm to those following him.

Phin Peakard raised his M14 rifle and looked through the scope.

In front of him was a lonely tree in the swamp, with scattered leaves, and unknown growls coming from it.

The hippogriff calibrated his sights and saw a kind of bird, more similar to a pterodactyl, like those found in museums, than to a real bird; bat wings, a snout with protruding teeth, and a long, serrated nose; grey, blue and yellow colours and sinister eyes.

“What an ugly-ass bird,” Peakard said to himself, before taking aim again.

The bird continued to look around before its head was disintegrated with a loud bang.

The bird's screech made all the leaves on the tree, or rather, all the birds in the tree, fly away in a flock, growling and roaring.

These birds flew over the group, and they were able to see their horrible features and were horrified.

“Dear Moonlight…” —Zash said— “Tartarus exists.”

So Peakard lowered his rifle and walked on, the others keeping pace with him.

“And monsters do exist,” Docker said quietly. “Under the bed and the ones who brought us here.”

Twilight, hearing the conversation, felt those words.

“Please, Docker,” the zebra answers. “It seems like—”

"Seems like what? Like he wants to go kill the monkey instead of getting us off the island? Yes, it does... and we're not going to get there on time," said the hippogriff, dismayed.

“Where?” Zash asks, indifferent.

“To the extraction point. We've gotta get there in less than two or three days.”

“Vee'll get zere, don't vorry,” the changeling answers, to which the zebra responds.

“Wait Thrax, what if Trotland–”

“If Peakard said he’s zere, he’s zere, period,” the orange-eyed changeling said sharply, gesturing to continue walking.

So they continued their walk reluctantly.

At the docks beside the village, Sky Cluster guided his companions towards the shore.

“We were close to making it work, Dusk and I were going to take it out to sea to try to get back… until one of those ate him.”

They stopped beside the small pier.

“There it is,” he announced to his group.

In front of them was a boat, or what looked like one, a chimera of multiple parts: wooden hull and keel, wings and ailerons of airplanes with Aris and crescent Moon signs still distinguishable on them; at the bow, reminiscent of what was a bomber's ball turret; while in the center was what appeared to be the bomber's cockpit. A fantastic piece of improvised engineering.

Tailcoatl admired the Frankenstein boat for several seconds.

“Well, it’s neat,” she said.

The others didn't look so convinced.

Sky looked at her, then at his creation, “I know, right? She's a beauty."

The cockpit of the craft still contained much of its avionics and piloting equipment, the archaic levers, the steering wheel based on the bomber's steering wheel, adorned with a baseball; a complete bomber cockpit, except it was just the shell and the instruments.

“Does this thing even floats?” Comet Trail asks.

“Well, my friend and I spent more than six years building it,” said the hippogriff proudly. “It’s called The Gray Fox, and of course it floats.”

Moving to the back, Sky placed his hand proudly over the heart of his boat, a Prance & Whinney R-2800 Double Wasp, eighteen-cylinder radial engine mated to a Colts-Royce Griffon.

Like a proud father, he caressed the metal plate of the chimera engine, turning the tip where the propeller would be.

“We took parts from my Hellcat and from his Moonfire,” he said, as the others looked on curiously. “And one day we found a B-17 on the beach, it was like a miracle.”

“You must be joking,” Jade interjects. “It looks like it’s made out of tetanus!”

Sky Cluster stepped away from the engine and faced the New Marelander unicorn.

“Sir, I know it’s not pretty, but with a couple of extra hooves we can fix it up, and if you can’t think of anything better, gentlecreatures, let’s get to work.”

Tailcoatl, Spike and Comet already looked convinced.

“Okay, let's do this,” said the pegasus.

Fluttershy prepares a new roll of film in her camera and strolls through the village. The native zebras are friendly, but stoic and silent as ever.

She takes photos here and there, warriors with spears, cooks at work, fisherzebras, weavers, farmers, etc.

Although silent and expressionless, a slight, modest smile could be seen on their faces, bringing comfort to the yellow pegasus.

She even let them see her camera and use it cautiously.

Somehow, they managed to understand each other without words, and they got together to take a photo of the entire tribe.

The shy pegasus took a photo to remember, all saluting according to her visual instructions, with the left hoof up.

Suddenly a sound reached her ears, a cry for help, according to the tone. It was inevitable that her attention would be drawn to it. It sounded like a cow and came from outside the walls.

She cautiously and curiously approached the small entrance that the wall has in it, the inhabitants followed her, but did not accompany her when she ventured outside.

She stepped through the entrance into the hostile outside world, seeing the huge, sharpened logs that protected the wall from intruders trying to climb it.

She followed the sound for a few meters until she saw the creature.

It was a giant buffalo, although this one looks juvenile, trapped under the tail and fuselage of a downed Huey helicopter, bellowing for help; it had probably been there for hours.

“Oh no, poor thing. I’ll help you out,” said the pegasus, calmly and measuredly.

Fluttershy tried to push, pull and lift the tail of the aircraft with all her might, but it was useless, the aircraft barely lifted a few inches.

The animal's face showed desperation and help, but Fluttershy couldn't move it.

Suddenly the helicopter suddenly lifted off, rising high enough for the animal to stand up and bellow in relief.

Fluttershy took a few steps back in shock at seeing what had picked up the helicopter.

In front of her stood Kong, towering over her, helicopter in hand, growling and staring straight at her.

The little pony was frozen in panic.

But the titan dropped the fuselage, which crashed meters away from her, causing even more sparks and smoke.

Kong just stared at her, his gaze inquisitive.

Seconds felt like hours.

Finally, the titan turned around and went back the way he came, letting her breathe a sigh of relief.

Major Phin Peakard led his soldiers across the marsh in the scorching afternoon heat. All around were rugged cliffs, rivers and grass.

The single file moved west, Twilight was in the middle of the group.

Surveying his surroundings, the Major saw that a huge primate handprint had been marked with dried blood on a cliff. Peakard stopped in his tracks and turned to see the mark in all its grandeur.

“Wow, you see that?” —he points with his rifle— “It does bleed.”

Everyone stopped to look at the mark, awed by its magnitude.

“It was us,” he says, determined. “Let’s find Trotland, there’s enough ammo on the fallen Stallion and finish off the ape.”

Peakard turned and resumed his march, the others followed him.

Twilight stared at the hand for a few more moments, admiring the intrinsic beauty of this mark. “It’s magnificent.”

“Do you know vhy I use this one, instead of the M16?” Thrax tells her, standing beside the alicorn, showing him the AK in his possession. “Ich took it from a peasant who vas vith Talarayi, he surrendered vhen vee razed his village, he vas like fifty years old and had never seen a weapon until vee arrived.”

Twilight was intrigued by the little story the changeling told her.

“Sometimes the enemy doesn’t exist until vee look for it,” the soldier said, resuming his pace and leaving the alicorn behind.

“And what will happen if he knocks on the door?”

“Ich'll still have his gun,” he replies indifferently, raising the assault rifle above his head.

Twilight became thoughtful before resuming her pace.

Comet Trail joined some wires together, making electrical contact that managed to slightly activate the engine's spark plugs.

Rusty screws, orange chains, and rotten metal marked the surroundings of The Grey Fox.

“OK, we have forty-eight hours to get to the north coast,” Tailcoatl announces. “Trail, do you know what you’re doing?”

“Of course, my father has a mechanic cutie-mark, if I don’t fix this, he’ll disinherit me.” The thestral says, rising his head from inside the ship’s hull. “If he ever sees me again…”

“Wait a second, Miss Mercenary, Stalliongrad was an ally of Equestria… And now they’re actually at war?” Sky turns to Tailcoatl, confused. “And the Empire? And why are we in the UPA now? Is Novo still there?”

The Griffin Empire, well, is still the same, just consolidated; Aris joined the UPA to finish off Chrysalis… Novo retired and now Skystar is there… and between Stalliongrad, Equestria and the Empire, well, it's more of a cold war what's going on right now.” The pegasus answers.

“Well, I already imagined that Her Majesty would retire sooner or later and… a Cold War? Do they rest in the summer?”

Tailcoatl stares at him, trying to think of a response to that, while Jade Finder meditates at the stern of the boat until Sky speaks to him.

“What about the hoofball World Cup? Did Aris win?”

“The Hippos?” —Comet intervenes— “they haven’t even reached the quarter-finals. Actually, have they ever won?”

“They are my national team, where are you from, boy?”

“Fillydelphia, Equestria.”

“Oh, of course, have the foals won any cups? Yeah, I doubt it.”

“Yes, in fact, a couple of times, at this year’s World Cup and the one before last.”

“Yeah, of course,” the veteran said sarcastically.

“And who wins in a fight, a pony or a hippogriff?” the batpony asks, rising his head again.

“The pony, just for his magic.”

Comet Trail nodded in victory and went back to his business.

“Yes, because the pony is small, and must have some sort of magic, but if the hippogriff takes it to the water, he wins by a hair.” Sky says with all the confidence in the world.

The batpony just nodded condescendingly.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? Checkmate!”

Tailcoatl and Spike, repairing their parts, just had fun with the conversation.

“And we also sent a pony to the Moon,” Jade Finder added, thoughtfully.

“Really?” —said the hippogriff, looking up at the sky— “so what? They left him there? I thought only Celestia can do that… So what did that poor bastard did to deserve it?”

“Nothing, we sent him up there for science, it was only thanks to the magic of it that he achieved it,” said the unicorn, looking up.

Sky preferred not to give the matter any further thought, and resumed his work.

“Hurry up, guys, we're running out of daylight,” says Tailcoatl.

The forest of white trees surrounded Trotland on all sides, the whiteness and tranquility of the place gave him the shivers. What an oppressive atmosphere.

He stuck his knife into a tree trunk and left hanging the belt containing the letter to his wife and son back in New Mareland, pistol and ammunition. He sat down on a fallen tree trunk.

“Hydra Leader, this is Trotland, over.” He tried to get through the radio, but got nowhere.

Static.

“Hydra Leader, this is Trotland, anyone there? Over.”

Static.

Resigned, he turned down the radio and looked around.

“My dear Will, sometimes life kicks you more than it should,” he said to himself.

He left the radio on the trunk and went to rest.

Suddenly the trunk moved and his heart skipped a beat. He jumped, and rolled a few meters and stood up.

In front of him, the trunk came to life, sprouting six legs and a insectoid head. It walked towards him slowly.

Trotland, terrified, grabbed his rifle and fired ten shots, stopping the giant insect before him.

The animal just squealed in confusion, looked at him, hid its head and turned around, walking away.

“Damn bug, I almost had a heart attack,” he said to himself, sighting in relief.

Suddenly he heard a guttural sound behind him… It was a growl. His heart sank.

He turned around and immediately saw a huge lizard on two legs and a long tail, its head looked like a skull with lots very sharp teeth lunging at him.

The last thing he saw was the jaws of the beast approaching at unimaginable speeds. Then nothing, it was all black, he felt nothing.

The surrounding ground was splattered with drops of blood and the forest fell deathly silent.

Night fell on Skull Island. The only light was the equatorial lights in the sky and the torchlight from the village and a room in the superstructure of the wrecked ship.

The walls of the cabin are filled with drawings of Kong, words and glyphs, a mix of Chiropterra and Hippogriffia customs could be seen in the rusted walls, as well as an entire wall marked with vertical and diagonal lines, all marking the days that passed. A total of 8,045 days passed.

Comet Trail put on a rock music cassette with his radio and started playing, so to speak, with a native spear.

“And whose music is that? What happened to jazz, Vera Mane?” the veteran asked.

“You’re like a time traveler, just that this is the new vibe,” the batpony replied, making movements with his new found deadly toy.

Sky Cluster tried to get ready for when he left, using a piece of mirror to see his reflection, a hippogriff with more than forty years of life, half of them spent on a uncharted island in the middle of Aris-knows-where. Around him walked Jade, interrogating him.

“I don’t know if I’ll like what I’ll see after shaving…” Sky said to himself.

“I hope that thing you call a boat will take us upriver in thirty-six hours, because if the window closes… we’ll have to row against the current, Mr. Sky,” said the unicorn, worried.

Meanwhile, Spike was looking through Twilight's notes that he still had with him, trying to convince himself that all these years of research were worth it. His mind wandered between the idea that his friend and adoptive sister had probably already been eaten, crushed, or sickened in this hellish corner of the world, and the idea that he hoped she was with Peakard, sane and alive.

He didn't blame her for anything either, he knew the risks and he wanted to come too, he would never abandon her, much less for a discovery as vital as this one. He was as involved with the titans as she always was.

With his mind wandering here and there, he settled down for sleep and lay down on the makeshift bed he managed to piece together from leaves and branches.

Meanwhile, Sky continued talking to Jade.

“I don’t know when I’m talking and when I’m not,” he said, smiling.

“You are,” Jade replies.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

“Am I talking?”

"Yes."

“Your mouth moves.”

"Sorry?" Jade said, confounded.

“I’m going to stab you at midnight, boy” he said, smiling evilly.

“Really?” the pony said, worried.

Sky just laughed, “Just horsing around… Unless…”

As the hippogriff and the unicorn tried to understand each other, Tailcoatl entered the cabin and passed by the batpony practicing his martial moves. He approached a large opening where Fluttershy was, who had set up her camera on a tripod, looking up to the equatorial lights.

“How paradoxical that the most dangerous places are the most dangerous, isn’t it?” the pegasus of Tenochtitlan tells her.

“Indeed… I'd love to take a long exposure photo, but the flash broke.”

“Ah, I know... Use this,” said the pegasus, taking a lighter out of her saddlebag.

The device the gold-colored pegasus had had a golden horse skull and a painted gem engraved on it.

“Doctor Caballeron’s insignia?” the shy pegasus asked curiously.

“It was his. When he was arrested back in 1010, those of us who escaped capture and scattered, I have been to many places since then, but this lighter has never left me since then.”

“Yes, Twilight told me about you, your whole history,” the pegasus said, bringing the flame closer to the shutter.

“I was a mercenary for Zalathel Zarca, Hira Ramachan, Akida Bomboko, then the UPA and now I am on this island… I guess I've gotten used to war and dangerous situations."

“Do you have family?”

“No… not that I know of… That reminds me that your friend told me that we go to war searching something… It seems I'm still trying to find it."

"You'll do," the other pegasus answered.

They looked up to the colorful night sky.

The equatorial auroras shone brightly in the clear night sky above the soldiers, gathered around a campfire, some sleeping, some standing guard.

“Docker, stop vasting time and vatch ze perimeter,” Thrax said to his companion, returning to rest a bit from his guard.

The hippogriff immediately stands up, and silently takes his position.

Meanwhile, Peakard sits, contemplating the small fire they managed to make. The flames illuminated his eyes.

Twilight slowly approached him and sat in front of him.

He didn't mind her, the fire reflected in his irises.

“Major Peakard…” —said the alicorn— “this mission to the downed helicopter… it’s madness. I understand your desire to find the Lieutenant, but I fear the rest of your ideas...”

Peakard watched, almost mesmerized, the fire and then turned to look at the princess.

“If you don’t like the way I do things, you know where the exit door is, Princess. You set this off when you put the island on the map and I’m not running away.”

Twilight looked at him worriedly.

“I know an enemy when I see one.”