The Machine Dragon

The Crystal Empire, a few days later

Twilight shivered into her thick coat as she stared upwards at the machine dragon. Icicles had begun growing under his chin, off of his unmoving fingers, and a layer of snow was coating his frigid exterior. Kiryu would be in for a cleaning soon, likely tomorrow.

He’d remained this way for nearly three weeks now, just standing and freezing and occasionally being cleaned by several thankful guards. Shining and Cadance had refused to let the dragon go to ruin or be encased in ice. No doubt it was their way of saying ‘thank you’ to the gigantic savior.

Twilight was nothing more than a tiny purple splotch in the icy white. The princess seemed insignificant as she gazed upon him. Once he was a powerful product of nature; now he was a debatably even more powerful product of humankind. Despite all of his strength, he was as harmless as a statue at the moment.

Briefly, Twilight pondered what it’d be like; to be frozen still without the ability to move. To be conscious of your surroundings. No different than when Discord was encased in stone… or the current state of Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow.

It made her shiver more than the cold did, but she brushed it off and unfurled her wings. After a moment, the alicorn took to the air, smashing through the uncountable snowflakes as she made her way upwards, soon reaching the hatch on his neck. Without much fanfare, she opened it and stepped inside, shutting the door behind her.

His interior was once more a shelter from the cold outside. Her breath was visible as she made her way over to the cockpit’s monitor. She took a seat in the chair, letting herself warm up as best she could, before her horn slowly began to light up.

“Kiryu… I know you’re here. Even without power, you can hear me. You’re more than the machine, more than even the A.I. itself,” Twilight spoke aloud. “I got your scans; I know humankind took your bones and made you into this….”

No response: the monitor remained lifelessly black.

Twilight replied by drawing more power into her horn, her face taking on a slightly strained look as she continued, “You don’t want to talk and I know that… but I wanted to have one conversation with you, even if it’s our last!”

His display remained dark.

“You deserve a friend, Kiryu. Somepony who can understand and get to know you for what you are—what you truly are,” Twilight pleaded, her horn brightening as she drew even more energy into the spell.

Still there was nothing but uncaring emptiness.

“I will be your friend, if you will let me!” the alicorn groaned, the strain getting to her now.

The spell itself wasn’t only to restore the kaiju with energy, she was putting herself into it, a piece of herself anyways. It was a strange spell; the ability to let a pony enter another's dreams, just as Luna had done. Twilight herself figured given she was the sole ruler now, she might as well learn the ability to do such a thing. Kiryu, while not physical, still was a soul, and even a soul would surely dream, right?

Well, she got to test it.

When she finally unleashed it, everything went black for her, her eyes instinctively shutting at the brightness…

The moment she opened them, everything was… different. She felt floaty and hollow. The cold pit in her stomach was back but had now spread across her entire body. Nothing around her was visible, being one big, empty, unspecific blur…

And then it came to her.
The heat, and then the burning, and then the pain.

She cried out, but nothing was able to be heard over the sheer, deafening thunderous sound of an explosion. It sounded like a cannon being fired off right into her ear canal, times a billion. She briefly wondered if she’d go deaf, however a piece of her mind assured her this was nothing more than a dream; the princess was fine.

He was not.

SSSSKKKRRRREEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNKKKKKKKKK!!!

The roar echoed, only slightly different than it had been when he’d fought Maguma. Sounded less metallic, more painful. She felt a fraction of the pain. Felt like her skin was peeling and burning and coming back all at once, thicker, tougher, scarred over.

Even when the heat subsided and she was able to see clearly, her senses were overtaken a second time. The salty taste of ocean water slammed into her mouth as she attempted to breathe, going into her nostrils, burning her sinuses. She blinked, forcing the water from them. Briefly below her, she saw a gigantic black mass coming upwards towards her…

She was soon flung from the ocean and onto the vast, emptiness of a burned-out island.

She stood on the beach, looking upon it. Nothing remained. The palm trees had all been flattened, scorch marks littered them, making them appear as if they were charcoal. The beach was now pure, solid glass. The only notable thing on the island; the only sign of life…

Was a massive clawed footprint.

The dream—memories flashed before her yet again. It all blurred as she now saw herself, standing on the rooftop of what seemed to be a human human building. The city below reminded her almost of Canterlot City, though the structure was slightly different. She could see billboards which displayed strange characters she wasn’t familiar with.

The neon lights briefly irritated her eyes.

She blinked.

Now it was gone.

It was all gone.

Burning cinders, concrete rubble, and hunks of wood were all that remained. Everything was leveled, useless. The city was dead.

She saw him.

For the first truly saw him.

Beneath the metal and with the flesh, he was a strange creature. As she had assumed he was very dragonlike. However, his skin was a deep, charcoal black, covered with what seemed to be scar tissue. His body rippled with powerful muscles. A great, durable tail swished behind him, leveling the partial remains of a burnt out office building, causing it to crumble to dust behind him. Suddenly, she could see planes overhead. They flew downwards, dropping their payload directly onto the dragon-like creature. He let loose a deep growl of hate as bombs exploded on the great white spines decorating his back. They flashed white suddenly, and he turned upwards, opening his mouth wide.

The mare braced herself, knowing what was coming…

Twilight could only watch on as a cloudy white vapor spewed from his mouth. Like a fog machine from Tartarus, the behemoth unleashed his breath attack upwards. The planes dropped, falling to the ground immediately as their metal wings melted on contact with the incandescent light. The ray wasn’t fire, but it was hot all the same, perhaps hotter than even the breath of some dragons!

She had little time to study or ponder, as the beast continued its rampage.

The memories shifted, she could see vague flashes of cannonfire from those strange vehicles she’d seen in the books of humans—tanks(?) she vaguely recalled the name. It didn’t matter though. They couldn’t withstand the beast’s mist-like breath as he advanced towards the center of town.

More flashes of memories, all broken and disjointed rammed right into her mind. Suddenly she could feel the electricity surge into herself,enduring his pain as he ripped through several high tension wires. They snapped like rubber bands before his powerful claws. She felt the sensation of tank shells exploding off his hide, causing him pain and angering him further. It was a sea of hatred and pain.

Nothing stopped him. Twilight herself couldn’t even interfere anymore; she was rooted still, being forced to witness the tragedies as more buildings crumbled before the beast. Trains were smashed apart and bridges were destroyed in his wake. Nothing the humans threw at him stopped the kaiju. By the end of it, the few buildings that had remained were leveled, and he stood above the wreckage like a great sinful monolith.

Everything shifted once final time…

It was worse than anything else the princess had endured thus far.

She was inside a bubbling, foaming ocean. The saltwater before her seemed to almost be at some type of rolling boil as every inch of the alicorn was coated with a pained sensation. It began with her breath being taken away, only to continue on, with her skin starting to burn. It was worse than merely sticking one's hoof to a hot stove or roaring fire though. The sensations came from within. She felt the sensation from her flesh down to her bones.

Despite the overpowering sensation, the mare shockingly managed to keep herself steady, not crying out, but gritting her teeth. Her eyes forced themselves shut, her horn lit up, trying to pull herself from Kiryu’s mind. However, just as she was about to severe the connection and escape, she heard it…

SSSSKKKRRRREEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNKKKKKKKKK!!!

The roar wasn’t angry this time. It wasn’t hateful or sad or anything else. The deep, bellowing, thunderous howl was one of complete and utter pain. Her eyes snapped open. She saw him in the whirling, ceaseless waters.

As the bubbles surrounded him, she let out a gasp of horror.

Chunks of his skin peeled away, disintegrating in the water as he sank beneath the waves. His final, dying howl was only heard by a singular boat nearby, filled with numerous glowering onlookers. She wasn’t able to examine them closer, as the spell finally kicked in, pulling her from his mind.

The last thing she saw were the bones of Gojira sinking beneath the waves, approaching their final resting place…

She blinked as the cockpit returned to her. As she’d been drifting with Kiryu, she’d poured energy into his circuits, and now the once black room was bathed in a deep red coloration as the same lightbulb from before had activated itself once more. The monitor had flicked on now, with numerous lines of text flying past the screen. She was too sick to read them even if they weren't blitzing by.

Battery Percentage: 18%...

“All… those people,” Twilight muttered, her voice sounding distant and echoed as the world around her blurred, her having to blink several times before her senses fully came back to her. When she looked back up, she could see the text and actually read it this time, thanks to the bulky letters formed by the binary yet again.

“NOW YOU KNOW ONE OF THE MANY REASONS WHY IT’D BE BETTER FOR ME TO REST.”

She blinked a few times and immediately noticed a faint wetness running down her cheeks. Had she been crying? Regardless, she wiped the involuntary tears away as she spoke, “Y-you’re… you were hurt. You weren’t thinking clearly.”

“I WAS, THINKING CLEARLY, TWILIGHT SPARKLE… ABOUT REVENGE.”

She frowned deeply, unable to speak at the moment as her head continued to swim. The text itself continued.

“IT WAS IN MY NATURE TO ATTACK THEM. THEY DID IT TO ME. THEY MADE ME SUFFER…”

“YET IT WASN’T THEIR FAULT. EVEN IF THEY DESERVE MY HATRED FOR RESURRECTING, THEY DID NOT CAUSE ME ANGUISH, MAKE ME INTO THIS MONSTER.”

“You’re not a monster!” Twilight growled back, her tearful eyes narrowing. “If that was really what you were… you wouldn’t have saved the Crystal Empire, saved my subjects, saved so many lives.”

“YOU THINK IN BLACK AND WHITE.”

“MORALITY IS SUBJECTIVE.”

“GOOD BEINGS CAN COMMIT HORRIFIC SINS.”

“HORRIFIC BEINGS CAN COMMIT GOOD DEEDS.”

“EVEN STILL, THAT PHILOSOPHY DOESN’T ACCOUNT FOR THE BRUTALITY OF NATURE.”

“I AM NOT A GOOD BEING, BUT I WAS ACTING NATURALLY, NO DIFFERENT THAN ANY OTHER WOUNDED ANIMAL.”

“We’re not speaking on a matter of survival, Kiryu,” Twilight confronted, “When you saved the Crystal Empire, you did what you did not because you had to, but because you wanted to… Maybe even because it was the right thing to do.”

“ALL I AM ABLE TO DO IS FIGHT. I MERELY DID WHAT WAS IN MY NATURE.”

Twilight’s face scrunched up at his reply, her teeth grinding against each other, “Even if you fought, you fought for a righteous cause! Is that not worthy of praise?”

“DO YOU THEN ACCEPT A TYRANT BECAUSE HIS OWN END GOALS WERE RIGHTEOUS?”

“OR, MORE PRIMAL, DO YOU ACCEPT THE CANNIBALIZATION OF ONE'S OWN YOUNG, TO ENSURE THE SURVIVABILITY OF THE MOTHER?”

“You know that isn’t comparable to your position, Kiryu. You’re not a tyrant ruler imposing your view of the world on everypony, and you’re not a wild animal who did what you did out of a want to live… even then, ponies— creatures who you would call tyrants can change…” Twilight’s mind raced, being reminded of the likes of Sunset and Starlight. She shook off her thoughts as she continued. “I am speaking from personal experience. I have seen it with my own two eyes.”

There was nothing from the monitor for several minutes.

Finally, more binary flashed.

“I DOUBT WE WOULD BE SPEAKING IF YOU DIDN’T NEED SOMETHING FROM ME.”

“If the kaiju attacks didn’t come, I would still be here. You are a part of my kingdom now… assuming you want to be?” Twilight said, her tone soft, offering the machine a place in Equestria.

“BENEATH THE DIRT OF IT, MAYBE.”

Twilight sighed, her face soft and uncertain, “Is that truly the only thing you want? To die?”

There was no response from the screen.

The mare continued staring at it, taking a moment to collect herself, “You know Kiryu… nopony could’ve stopped you if you’d flown into the sea. You could’ve rested beneath the waves from there…”

The monitor simply remained blank.

The mare stamped a forehoof, snorting in annoyance as she felt a fire trying to rise up inside of her yet again, partly fighting off her sadness, “If you really wanted to die, then you could’ve done it! We wouldn’t even be here talking if you truly desired to cease to be!”

It merely remained empty, with the machine dragon not giving any further communication. She waited for him. Waited for minutes and minutes on end. Even when almost a half hour had passed, she still remained there, a glum look on her face, as the embers inside seemed to fade back to the cold solemness.

“Kiryu…” she broke the long silence, “...Let me help you. Please.”

“THERE IS NO HELP FOR ME, TWILIGHT SPARKLE…”

“That’s not true!” she sniffled, more tears flowing from her eyes. “I am the Princess of Equestria; I have helped hundreds of other creatures with their problems. You’re no different!”

The display was barren once more. Nothing changed as Twilight managed to control herself, forcing the welling sadness back down inside of her, swallowing it up and going back into the closest attempt at a princess mode she could muster.

She heard the whirring of the electricity as it traveled through his wiring. The faint humm was almost pleasant on the ears, if only for the fact it faintly distracted her away from the suicidal cyborg.

Finally, there was a response, the monitor flashing to life.

“DO WHAT YOU MUST, TWILIGHT SPARKLE.”

And then he was gone again.

The tears remained rolling down her cheeks for a few moments, before she wiped them away again. A small smile destroyed the complete look of sadness on her face as she took a few deep, steady breaths.

“Thank you Kiryu… for everything…” she sniffled one final time. “Now it’s time for Equestria to repay you.”

Outside, the silver dragon remained standing, the ice still clinging to him as it had when the tiny purple speck had entered inside of him…