Invasion of the Astro Monster: Destroy All Ponies

Chapter 3

Dragon in the Forest

King Ghidorah awoke groggily. He was lying in the middle of a huge crater, clearly the result of his entrance to...hey, where was he? Rising shakily to his feet, the three-headed dragon took in his surroundings.

The first thing he noticed was how BIG everything was. That mountain was huge! Those trees were huge! He was actually dwarfed by everything here. It was odd, and he didn't like it. Strangely, the gravity of the planet didn't feel any different than the rock-ball he had come from.

Speaking of gravity, Ghidorah remembered how he got here in the first place. He growled, before roaring in fury at the sky. "That damned black hole!" he shouted. "Those damned humans! That damned planet!" Ghidorah's rage turned to his long time enemy. "Damn you, Godzilla!" Birds in a nearby tree suddenly became afraid, and flew away. They chirped in fear, Ghidorah watching. He seethed angrily. The worst part of it was, he was the master of gravity. Gravity bended to his will! It was his beam, after all, and it gave him the gift of flight. But even he could not stop the raw power of a rip in space and time itself. He now felt embarrased that the puny humans had figured out a way to weaponize it, and he couldn't even control it.

He hissed frustratingly, before turning his attention back to his current surroundings. Wait a minute. If the gravity was the same, that meant the planet he was on couldn't be much bigger than the one he had come from. And yet, all of these things were huge! It was almost as if he were viewing things from the perspective of......No. No. Please, no. There was no way it could've happened. He was King Ghidorah! How could that happen to him? He was the King of Terror! It didn't even make sense. But deep down, Ghidorah knew it was true.

He had shrunk.

Ghidorah roared in fury again, this time pounding the ground as he did so. "Really?" he shrieked. Was this the Universe's cruel idea of a joke? Panting with the rage of a thousand suns, Ghidorah looked forward into the forest. The path ahead was dark, and it likely lead to whatever miserable organisms that called themselves "Civilization," had taken root here. Pathetic. He, the Destroyer of Worlds, hardly taller than a measly human. Well, if he was going to move, he most certainly would not move towards them. He spread his wings and jumped in the air.

Ghidorah felt the bliss of the atmosphere for about two seconds, before being cruelly pulled back down to the Earth. Ghidorah's faces contorted in rage yet again. Now his powers were gone too? He opened his right mouth to fire his beam, only to find that he couldn't. If you thought Ghidorah couldn't get any madder, you were wrong.

"Stupid Universe!" he shouted, slamming a tree with his twin tails. The tree shook, before splitting in half and collapsing with a satisfying crack. Ghidorah smirked. At least his natural strength was still around. He turned back to the path that lead into the forest. If he couldn't fly, his best bet would be to find help. He was trapped in who-knew-were, and he needed to know the ups and downs of this dimension. More importantly, he needed to reclaim his powers. He was certain that they didn't just leave. Someone had taken them, and he intended to find out who.

King Ghidorah entered the forest.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

The Mane Six were deep in Everfree Forest. Twilight was leading that group, paving the way and following the map. Behind her was Fluttershy, to deal with any creatures they may encounter. Rarity and Rainbow Dash had the middle, with Applejack and Pinkie Pie bringing up the rear. "So Twilight, what do you think this alien's gonna look like?" Pinkie asked.

Twilight had been getting considerably annoyed by Pinkie's questions. The whole way, she just wouldn't shut up about this...whatever it was...being an alien. "I don't know, Pinkie," she said in a tone of finality.

Before Pinkie could say anything, Rarity interrupted. "Twilight, I'm not saying it is, but if it was an alien, what would we do with it?"

Twilight paused. She didn't really know. "Well, I guess we would have to take it back to the library. From there, I would probably let Princess Celestia know that we had it, and then she would probably want to come see it. Why?"

"Just wondering," Rarity replied, her face clearly deep in contemplation.

"What if its aggressive? I'm sure it couldn't take a kick to the face - or whatever it has - from yours truly!" Rainbow Dash said brashly.

"Rainbow, we probably shouldn't do that. What if we start something we're not prepared for? Ah don't know about you, but Ah don't want to be on any alien's bad side," Applejack replied.

But before anypony could respond, they all bumped into each other. Twilight had stopped, and they were now facing a clearing. A clearing characterized by a GIGANTIC crater. Flaming bits of debris were still littered around the site, and a tree had been snapped in two. "I don't think that will be as easy as you think," Twilight said, completely awestruck by the devastation before her.

Jaws hit the floor when the rest of the party saw what Twilight saw. Rainbow Dash gulped. Rarity would have fainted, but she left her couch at home. Even Pinkie Pie was a little unnerved. "What could have done this?" Twilight asked, more to herself than any of her friends.

"I don't know," Rarity said, "But I don't think I want to find out,"

Twilight shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Alrgight, girls. Don't forget we have a job to do! Let's get in there and see what we can find out,"

As the six mares descended into the crater, each was deep in their own thoughts. It took Pinkie Pie to notice that something was missing. She stood in the center of the crater and said, "Girls? Where's the ship?"

"What do you mean, Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked.

"I was just wondering, what kind of alien can land on another planet and not have a ship?"

If the devastation had scared everypony, the fact that what caused it was capable of doing so on its own downright terrified them. They looked towards the broken tree, when suddenly Applejack spotted something. "Girls! Ah think ya may wanna look at this!"

The mares trotted over to find a footprint. Wait, two footprints. Three footprints! A whole track! Twilight knelt down and examined them. "What could have made them?" Fluttershy asked.

"This is going to sound really weird, but they look kind of like dragon footprints," Twilight replied.

Immediately, Fluttershy yelped and hid behind Rainbow Dash. Rainbow rolled her eyes. "What kind of alien would leave footprints like a dragon's?" she asked.

Twilight didn't respond. "Come on, girls. The tracks are still fresh. Maybe we'll be able to catch this....thing,"

And so the mares entered the forest, too.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

King Ghidorah had never been more bored and angry at the same time in all his life. Well, there was that one time. Or that other one. In retrospect, it was actually a rather often event with him. Every time his destruction was foiled, he would have to travel through space to find a new world to destroy. This was kind of like that, except now he was smaller. And lacked his powers. Oh, how he hated everything.

Ghidorah began to notice something strange. It was like an itch at the back of his brain, and he couldn't scratch it. No doubt a side effect of landing in another dimmension. Whatever it was, he didn't like. Not that there were many things he liked. Burning planets was one, though. The death of races another. Had he been in better circumstances, the thought of those alone would have cheered him up.

However, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a growl. In the forest immediately in front of the three-headed dragon were a pair of glowing eyes. The eyes grew bigger slowly as they came closer, and a snout and head came into view. It reminded Ghidorah of that miserable creature that called itself, "Anguirus," only wooden. And without the spikes. The creature came into full view, growling and barking at Ghidorah.

This creature was pathetic, just like everything else was to the Destroyer of Worlds. He was almost offended that this creature would dare challenge him. Without a second thought, Ghidorah raised a taloned foot, before stomping it down on his foe, crushing its head.

The effect was instantaneous.

Immediately, a whole pack of the creatures burst from the trees and bushes around Ghidorah. Each one barking and baring its wooden fangs at him, they swarmed the dragon, and began to attack. There were about ten of them, and each one was trying to bite into a different part of Ghidorah's body. With a might roar, he shook them all off of him. The beasts landed on their feet, although one exploded into twigs.

The creatures surrounded him. King Ghidorah smirked. Those poor fools.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

The Mane Six suddenly heard a cackling roar.  It was a roar that chilled them to their very bone. "Twi, Ah think we may be gettin close," Applejack said. Nopony wanted to be in the forest anymore, and Twilight half-hoped she was right.

As the girls came to a small clearing, they saw something like they had never seen before. Standing where the tracks ended was a dragon. Or was it a hydra? The beast had the qualities of both. It had three heads, and was covered in golden scales. Its tail split near the middle, forming a strange double-tail. However, it also had giant, bat-like wings. The creature roared, a strange noise that almost sounded like maniacal laughter.

Attacking the beast was a whole pack of timberwolves. At least four of them had been killed already, judging from the remains strewn around the dragon-thing. One was currently biting on the beast's left neck. The thing grabbed the timberwolf by the scruff of its neck with its right head, before volently decapitating it with its middle head.

All six mares jumped behind a bush. Fluttershy was hysterical. She was hyperventilating, and it was al Rainbow could do to calm her down. The rest watched in a mix of horror and amazement from gaps in the bush.

The dragon crushed yet another timberwolf with its giant foot. The beast absolutely towered over them, it had to have been at least seven feet tall! Within moments, all of the timberwolves were destroyed. The dragon cackled his manic roar. "Fools! That's what happens when you challenge the great King Ghidorah!" he shouted at the heavens.

The mares were shocked to find that the creature could speak, and in their language too! But even in defeat, the timberwolves were not done. Applejack nudged Twilight. "Look!" she whispered. "They're reforming!"

The twigs, branches, and other pieces of wood and plant matter began to coalesce before Ghidorah's eyes. Now, standing directly before him was one of the beasts he had slain, only now much bigger. The thing was even taller than he was. It roared in fury in his face(s), before landing a powerful slash against his chest.

The slash was too powerful. Ghidorah's golden scales actually broke the claws of the giant timberwolf, causing it to howl in pain. Ghidorah smirked. "A fine parlor trick, but it won't help," he chided, before tackling the beast.

The two titans struggled, and each of Ghidorah's heads grabbed onto one of the timberwolf's legs. The timbewolf howled in pain as its limb was ripped from its body, Ghidorah holding it up with his left and right heads like a trophy. With a cackling roar, Ghidorah plunged the timberwolf's severed limb deep into its chest.

The timperwolf swatted Ghidorah off of it with its free limb, before pulling out the leg stuck in its torso. With a roar, it charge King Ghidorah again. The three-headed dragon sidestepped, lashing out with his forked tail and tripping the timberwolf. The timberwolf exploded into a million fragments, and King Ghidorah roared victoriously.

"Who's next?" he shrieked.

As if on que, a piece of the timberwolf hit the bush, knocking it clear from its roots. This revealed the six ponies, who now seemed very afraid. Ghidorah looked at them with a menacing glare.

Twilight didn't know what to do.

"Um....hi?"