Invasion of the Astro Monster: Destroy All Ponies

Chapter 26

Before the Dawn

There was a long silence as the Goddess of Peace hovered in the room for a moment, recognizing Ghidorah and Rodan. The two parties simply stared uncomfortably at each other for a long time. Finally, Mothra reacted. She charged forward tackling King Ghidorah to the ground.

"I don't know how you got here, or why, but I will not let you ruin this world like you have so many others!" she screamed.

Ghidorah hissed, trying to shove her off. The butterfly kaiju would not let up, until Rodan grabbed her with his talons and pried her away. "Rodan, what are you doing? You haven't been mind-controlled again, have you?" she protested. Rodan rolled his eyes.

"Mothra, you're not exactly in the best situation right now. Can we all please just calm down?"

Ghidorah got back to his feet, glaring at his long-time enemy. Mothra just glared back. Finally, the three-headed dragon spoke. "Believe it or not, bug, I have no desire to kill you,"

Mothra remained silent, calming. Rodan let go of her as she listened to what Ghidorah had to say.

"Welcome to Equestria, land of peace and enchantment," he said with a slight hint of sarcasm. "Where war does not exist and nothing goes wrong. You know, except the random appearance of kaiju from Earth every once in a while,"

"Ghidorah, is this what happened to you? I thought you died,"

"Thought, or hoped?"

Mothra ignored the retort, and continued. "Do you have any idea of the chaos that has occurred in your absence?" she asked.

Ghidorah huffed. "I neither know nor care," he said, stealing a look at Celestia and Luna. "I have a new life here, and the past is irrelevant,"

"It's funny. For all the terrible things you did, it was miserable without you. You were the worst of the worst, the baddest of the bad. Once you were gone, evil kaiju began rising up. With no top predator, they tried to take your role. It's horrible. We've been trying to round them up and suppress them, but the humans aren't helping,"

"What stupid thing have they done this time?"

"It's the Dimension Tide, the weapon they used to defeat you. The humans have become...trigger-happy, to say the least," she said.

Ghidorah gave her a quizzical look, and she continued. "Emboldened by their victory against you, they began to open fire whenever a kaiju attacked. There was some collateral damage, but nothing they weren't willing to risk. Before I was targeted, I was informed by a powerful psychic kaiju I know that the fabric of the universe was beginning to be torn too much. If they continued, tears would be commonplace, causing them to leak into other universes, eventually destroying their own,"

"So that's why kaiju keep showing up here," Celestia finally muttered.

Mothra turned, noticing the ponies. "Oh, my apologies! I hadn't realized that there were other sentient beings here! My name is Mothra, Goddess of Peace," she said, bowing before Celestia and Luna.

They bowed in turn. "I am Princess Celestia, and this is my sister, Princess Luna. We rule over this fair land, and welcome you to it,"

"The honor is mine, your highnesses," Mothra replied.

Luna and Celestia were surprised by Mothra's manners, a far cry from any kaiju they had seen prior. Mothra turned again to King Ghidorah. "And what about you? How come you haven't destroyed this place like everything else?"

Ghidorah winced, and Celestia noticed. "King Ghidorah has changed. Equestria is nothing if not a place of forgiveness, and he has found that here. He, alongside Rodan and Biollante, serves as our protector. He has had his powers stripped, which is why he is harmless now, and has responded quite well to the situation," Celestia smiled at the golden dragon. "I am quite proud of him," she said.

Ghidorah didn't smile, but he seemed somehow slightly relieved. Mothra turned back to him. "Based off of my current size, I take it you have taken my powers as well?"

Celestia nodded.

Mothra bowed her insectoid head again. "I understand your fear, but I mean you no harm. I plead, may I have my power returned? I swear on the soul of the planet that I will protect you and your people, so long as they do not take advantage of the Earth and its fruits," she said humbly.

Ghidorah was shocked that she would ask such a thing outright. He was even more shocked, when, after giving a look at her sister, Luna said, "Yes,"

Ghidorah and Rodan both looked at her with shock. "Wait, what? How come she gets her powers but we don't?" Rodan asked, fuming.

Luna raised a hoof in a gesture for silence. "Fret not, Rodan. You have proven yourself as well. It is time we hold up our end of the deal, and returned you your powers,"

Before more could be said, the horns of the two sisters began to glow. Glowing orbs of kind light appeared, one blue and one red. The blue one was absorbed into Mothra, and the red into Rodan. Both seemed reinvigorated, but nothing else happened. Rodan looked at himself, then the ponies. "Hey, what gives? I'm still small!"

Celestia nodded. "We have not only returned your powers, but we have given you new ones - the ability to change size at will. Now, you will not need us to be present in order to fight kaiju. Please, just make sure you are well outside a building before you try to change," she said.

Rodan and Mothra both bowed, but King Ghidorah was bothered. "Wait, how come I didn't get my powers returned?" he asked.

Celestia looked away, guiltily. "I'm sorry, Ghidorah. I want to trust you, I really do, but I need more time to make this decision. I hope you understand," she said.

Ghidorah nodded, but said no more. Slowly, he lumbered away silently. "Will he be alright?" Luna asked, legitimately worried. Celestia sighed, when Mothra answered. "I'll go see," she said.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Ghidorah stood outside on the balcony. He looked out at the night sky, ignoring Mothra when she appeared next to him. There was a moment of silence, when the insect goddess finally spoke. "You've changed. I can sense that you're not the same as you used to be. You're not just rage and hate - there's something else there too, isn't there?"

Ghidorah remained silent, staring solemnly out at the sky.

"You really care about them, don't you? Somehow, these ponies found a way to make you care about them, didn't they?"

Ghidorah remained silent. Mothra chuckled. "Who would've thought. The king of terror, reformed by interdimensional ponies. I never thought I'd see the day," she said.

Ghidorah sighed. "Hedorah is here. It escaped, and if what you say is true, than it probably knows that other kaiju are leaking into the kingdom. It will recruit them, and lead them against us," he said.

Mothra sighed. "That complicates things. But it is late, the morning draws near, and a lot has happened. We will form a plan in the morning," she said, before searching for Celestia in order to find a place to bed at night. Rodan flew out of the building, heading towards his roost in the mountain peak.

Ghidorah looked up at the night sky, and silently thanked Celestia and Luna for the second chance he had been given.