Invasion of the Astro Monster: Destroy All Ponies

Chapter 14

Battle Under the Clouds

If there was one thing the Canterlot Castle staff had learned about Rodan since his arrival, it was that he was a huge jerk. Of all the kaiju that had recently made their home, the so-called "hero" was easily the most aggravating. Biollante was pleasant enough, but seemed antisocial. She never talked to anypony unless she had to. Ghidorah was downright unnaproachable, but at least he didn't bother anypony. But Rodan? He absolutely delighted in being the biggest pain in the flank he could possibly be. And he was currently doing a very good job of it.

"So, Princess, when do I get to fight something?" He asked, hovering next to Celestia. The alicorn nearly groaned. Her nearly limitless patience was being tried very much by the pterosaur, and she was beggining to grow weary. She hated the way he said the word "Princess," as though it were a derogatory term.

"I don't know, Rodan," she said. "Whenever the next kaiju appears, I'll send you to deal with it,"

Rodan floated around, hardly paying attention. "Gee, I sure hope somebody shows up, then. All this waiting is getting to me!"

Luckily, Rodan would not have to wait much longer, as a royal guard came running into the throne room. "Your highness!" he said, panting. "A kaiju has been spotted under Cloudsdale! It's heading this way!"

Celestia almost felt relieved, having an excuse to get rid of Rodan. Her horn glowed, and the spell was cast. Rodan felt his powers return, grinning. "You know what to do," Celestia said simply.

Rodan mockingly saluted, before disappearing out the window and beginning to grow.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Orga lumbered forward, looking up at the strange sight before him. He hardly remembered how he got...wherever he happened to be right now. He had certainly seen a lot, but this was something else. Floating relatively far away from him was a city- made of clouds.

How did that even work? Clouds were primarily composed of water vapor, at least if these clouds were anything like the last planet he was on's own examples. Based on the fact that everything else seemed to be, he deduced that they were indeed, identical. But that got him no answers - how did the clouds retain their shape? He could see organisms moving on them. How did they not fall through? Were they somehow lighter than air? But then why didn't they float away? Perhaps they had metallic counterbalances, or were even sentient.

Orga continued to muse for a while, before continuing on his way. He needed to find a source of knowledge to absorb, preferably a digital one. He had yet to see civilization, but he imagined that if it was here, it had to be advanced enough so that it would be useful. Until he destroyed it, that is.

Orga was pulled out of his thoughts by a taloned foot kicking him in the jaw. Orga stumbled back, looking up to see his attacker in the eye.

"Boy, you're a big one, aren't ya?" Rodan chided.

Orga growled. He wasn't one to talk, but instead took in his opponent. Orga was tactical - everything he did was dictated by logic and reason. Rodan was just the opposite. He reacted on the fly, and rarely put any forethought into his actions. It almost made Orga sick. As he felt anger building up inside him, he decided to react accordingly.

Orga's massive fist lunged forward, hitting Rodan squarely in the chest. The pterosaur kaiju was knocked back and fell onto the ground with a resounding thud. "Oh good, I was hoping I'd see a good fight today!" Rodan taunted from the ground, before launching himself into the air.

In Cloudsdale, ponies turned to watch the titans battle. Rainbow Dash saw the two beings, and was shocked by Rodan's speed. As the kaiju corkscrewed away from one of Orga's punches, an audible "Ahh," shot through the crowd. Rainbow's eyes widened. "So cool," she muttered.

Rodan flew forward, sweeping his legs forward. His talons sweeped Orga's legs out from under him, causing the larger kaiju to collapse. Orga roared, a deep guttural noise. Rodan flew up, before crashing down. His talons dug into Orga's carapace, causing a huge amount of pain. Orga roared in rage.

Before, it had simply been a matter of dealing with an annoyance. Now, Orga was angry. He rolled over, and fired his shoulder cannon. The blast of energy took Rodan by surprise, and hit him square in the face. The smaller kaiju was sent flying into the air, before collapsing on the ground.

Orga lifted himself back up, ready to continue the fight. He didn't wait for Rodan to get up, instead slamming both of his fists down on the prone kaiju. Rodan roared in pain, before launching himself off of the ground and into the air. Now with the higher ground, Rodan fired a blast of his Uranium Heat Beam from the sky, hitting Orga in the neck. He continued to fire, battering Orga with a barrage of forcused radioactive flame.

Orga was getting sick of this. He punched his fist into the air, hitting Rodan in the chest. Rodan was slammed into the ground, landing at the base of a mountain. Rodan could tell that his early advantage wasn't lasting. He looked up at Orga, who was lumbering towards him. Rodan hopped to his feet, ready to continue the fight. Then he smelled something. Could it be? Oh, what luck! Rodan grinned as a plan formed in his head.

"Catch me if you can, big guy!" he said, before flying up the mountain.

Orga roared, before giving a slow chase after Rodan. He climbed up the mountain, his massive knuckles supporting his frame. Rodan hovered, slowly backing up towards the moutains peak. Once he reached the top, he waited for Orga to draw near. Then, he disappeared into a massive crater at the top. Orga stood at the rim, looking down. This wasn't a mountain - it was a volcano. And at the bottom of this crater was a very large pit of lava. Smoke billowed fromt the crater, obscuring Orga's view. He facepalmed.

"How stupid does he think I am?"

Honestly, Orga was offended. Did Rodan really think he was stupid enough to jump into the volcano blindly after him? Orga had made mistakes before, but that was a whole different level.

Orga was interrupted from his thoughts by a taloned kick to his back. Taken off-guard, he was sent head first into the volcano. Roaring in defiance, he fell, before disappearing into the lava. Rodan smirked, glad that his strategy payed off. The smoke had proven a beneficial, if not planned, means to sneak up behind Orga. He sighed contentedly, wiping his wing claws together.

"Don't worry, just another day of me being awesome," he said to himself.

With that accomplished, he flew back towards Canterlot, unaware of a rainbow-maned fan he had just made in Cloudsdale.