Invasion of the Astro Monster: Destroy All Ponies

Chapter 7

The Truth Revealed

King Ghidorah began to fly back to Canterlot, when he suddenly felt something hit him. It wasn't like the hardly noticable stinging of jets he had grown accustomed to, but more as if he had passed through some sort of warm liquid. Immediately, he felt weak. His powers were being drained again.

Ghidorah felt himself begin to shrink as flight became harder and harder. By the time he had reached the balcony he had been previously on, he had regressed back to his pitiful pony size. He didn't land, as flight had become so difficult that at that point it was more of a controlled crash.

The dragon got back to his clawed feet quickly. "Mission accomplished," he said smugly, grinning at the death of his opponent. Celestia's face was stern. Twilight and her friends had since been dismissed back to Ponyville to ensure that everything was alright.

"You know the deal," she stated simply. "Luna is waiting inside,"

Ghidorah hissed inwardly, realizing that this last fight may well have been the last time he had his powers. He followed Celestia inside, to be greeted by a large table. The table was set with all kinds of vegetarian delights. It was enough to make him want to vomit. In retrospect, he should have guessed that these beings were herbivores. Not that that mattered anymore. Luna was seated at one end, and there were three other empty chairs.

Before Ghidorah could say anything, Luna piped up. "You're hurt," she said simply. Celestia inwardly kicked herself for not noticing earlier. Ghidorah's right neck was bleeding pretty badly, and would probably leak onto the food.

Ghidorah shrugged. "I've had worse,"

"Worse? What could be worse than that?" Celestia asked.

"Try being decapitated five times,"

"Five times? But you only have three heads!"

"I never said all at once,"

Celestia wouldn't have any of it, however, and called for some bandages. Within moments, Ghidorah found his right neck to be bound by white fabric, causing the bleeding to slow as well as significant discomfort. Ghidorah's left head tried to rip it off, but the glares he received from both of the princesses told him this was a bad idea.

Before anything else could happen, they were interrupted by a sudden flash. "Celestia! Luna! I'm back!" a male voice chimed. Both of the royal sisters groaned as a strange figure appeared. He was a tall, lanky thing, at least as tall as Ghidorah himself. He seemed to have been made up of the body parts of many different animals. He wore a pair of sunglasses, as well as a floral print shirt. He carried a suitcase in one paw, and a glass of chocalate milk in the other.

"Discord," Celestia said. "What took you so long?"

"Oh, our dear chef and I were having a wonderful vacation in the tropics! Unfortunately, they had to stay there," Discord's eyes suddenly flashed with malevolent mischief. "That'll teach them not to have authentic, llama-grown bananas!"

Celestia did not approve. "Discord, bring them back now,"

"Aww, do I have to?"

Celestia's stern face was all the answer Discord needed. "Fine. Party-pooper,"

Discord snapped his claws, and with a flash a mare in chef's clothing appeared.

"I'm sorry for your trouble, Gourmet. You can expect a raise this week,"

"It's no trouble at all, your highness. I understand," the mare, apparently named Gourmet, said.

Gourmet left, leaving a satisfied Discord  and two very annoyed princesses. Ghidorah, on the other hoof, had no idea what was going on. That's when Discord took notice of the new arrival. "Ah, who is this? An inter-dimensional traveler? Oh, it's been so long since we had one of those! Why, the last time was over a thousand years ago!"

Ghidorah felt simultaneously annoyed and amused by this strange new being.

"You'll have to excuse Discord," Celestia said. "He is the spirit of chaos and disharmony,"

"I do remember that last fellow. He was rather boring, though. Nothing more than a big gorilla," Discord scoffed. "Hopefully you'll be more entertaining,"

"Sister, have we forgotten the matters at hoof?" Luna interjected.

Celestia nodded, before gesturing for Discord to sit in the final empty chair. Ghidorah couldn't help but notice that his own chair was far too small, and becoming very uncomfortable. Before they could begin, something had to be addressed. "Have you anything besides this foul vegetation?" He asked as he looked down at his plate.

"Ah, a carnivore. I really should've guessed as much," Celestia said, as courteous as ever. She nodded to Discord, who merely snapped his claws again. In a flash, Ghidorah's plate had been replace with a lump of roasted meat. Ghidorah couldn't identify what it was, or how it got there, but he didn't care. He began to greedily dig in.

Luna produced a vial of blue liquid, before giving it to Ghidorah. "This is truth syrum. When you drink it, you will be incapable of lying," she stated. Ghidorah looked at the glass vial. His middle head shot out, before swallowing it whole. The head belched afterwards, and he felt slightly queesy as the effects of the truth syrum began to take hold.

"Are you ready to begin?" Celestia asked. Ghidorah nodded all three heads. "Very well. I will start with that creature. You seemed to have recognized it?"

"Yes, I recognized it,"

"Did it have a name?"

"Zilla. What a fool he was,"

"How did you know it? Are there more creatures like him?"

Ghidorah chuckled. "You don't know the half of it! Where I come from, they run rampant!"

"Is there a name to describe them?"

"Of course! We are kaiju! Beasts to make men cower in fear!"

"What are men?"

"A small, insignificant race. They are of little concern to you,"

"And these, 'kaiju.' You are one of them?"

"I am not just one of them, I am the most powerful!"

"Then how did you get here?"

"The humans - or men - had devised a weapon, capable of ripping a hole in the fabric of space and time,"

"A black hole?" Luna asked.

"Yes. They fired this weapon at me and my nemesis, a being named Godzilla. Unfortunately, only I was sucked into the hole. Afterwards, all I remember is waking up in the forest, my powers gone,"

"And who is this Godzilla?"

"He is the king of the monsters. He is my greatest foe, the only one to have defeated me on multiple occasions," Ghidorah's eyes suddenly flashed with anger. "Oh, how I hate him! It's his fault that I am here! Here, without my powers and at the mercy of lesser beings!"

Celestia tried not to show offense, and tried to change the topic. "Zilla. Is he related to Godzilla in any way?"

Ghidorah huffed. "He wishes. Zilla is a pathetic pretender to the throne, nothing more and nothing less,"

Celestia and Luna absorbed the information, before Luna decided to take over the questioning.

"What did you do before you came here? Did you really travel the galaxy, helping those in need?"

Ghidorah winced. The question that would damn him had come. "Yes. I did, in fact, travel through space across the galaxy. But I did not save those in need. No, I did something far different. I destroyed life wherever I found it," He said without guilt. "And I enjoyed it,"

Celestia and Luna were taken aback. "What? Why?"

"Because every predator has its prey. Every planet I came to fell, their native armies and kaiju powerless before me. Mars, Venus, Terra, Planet X! All of them fell, nothing but insects under my feet. I quickly gained a reputation. I began to be known by many names. Monster Zero, The Destroyer of Worlds, The King of Terror, but in the end my true name remained Ghidorah,"

"Then if you are so powerful, how did Godzilla beat you so many times?"

Ghidorah growled. "I do not know. Perhaps because he had powerful allies helping him. Perhaps because I became uncautious. In the end, it matters not. I am still stuck here,"

Celestia thought for a moment. "Where there any kaiju who were noble? Who actually did protect those who couldn't do it themselves?"

"Yes, but I doubt that any of them will come here,"

Luna gave Celestia a hard look. "Do you see, sister? I told you he was not to be trusted! He should be encased in stone here and now?"

Discord only smiled smugly. "I like him. I can only imagine the delicious chaos he would cause,"

Celestia got up from her seat, and moved to stand by the window. As she gazed out to Ponyville, she thought of all the lives Ghidorah had saved just moments ago. Celestia thought about it, and reached a decision.

"I am going to make you a deal, King Ghidorah,"

"I'm listening,"

"I do not know if any more of these kaiju will come to our lands," she said. "But if they do, we are completely unprepared for the threat. We need someone to fight for us, to protect us," She turned back to him. "I believe that someone is you,"

Ghidorah couldn't believe his ears. "Me? Did you not hear what I just told you or are you just that stupid?"

"Neither. I understand that your past is one of darkness and violence, but that was in another universe. Equestria is a land of forgiveness, if nothing else,"

"But, sister-"

"You would do well to remember that, Luna,"

Luna stopped talking, feeling slightly ashamed.

"I will not give you your powers. Only if another of these creatures appears will I give them back, and even then it will only be for a limited time,"

"Why? Why would you offer me this?"

"Because if dark days are ahead for us, the ponies will need a hero. They do not need to know about your past,"

Ghidorah was not satisfied with the deal. "And if I refuse?"

"Then you can enjoy spending all of eternity in stone," Celestia said almost cheerily. Ghidorah felt almost intimidated by how happy she seemed. "Your choice,"

Ghidorah looked at each of the gods he sat in the presence of. He took a deep breath. "Fine,"

*  *  *  *  * *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Fluttershy walked through the pitch-black Everfree Forest. "Angel?" she called out, terrified out of her wits. The bunny had been outside for a long time now, but had never returned home. Fluttershy got worried and decided to go look for him. "Angel?" she called out again. This time there was a squeek of recognition.

The bunny was stuck, his foot trapped by some vines. "Oh, Angel! You had me worried sick!" Fluttershy said. She immediately set to work cutting the vines with a swiss army knife she had brought. Just in case. Once she was done, Angel hopped onto her back and hugged her fiercely. "I missed you, too, Angel," she said.

Suddenly, she noticed that the vines had retracted, almost as if they had moved on their own. Then she saw it. "Hmm. That hill wasn't there yesterday," she sad aloud, taking in the massive green hill. It was covered entirely in vegetation, and not a speck of rock or dirt showed. That's when it started to glow.

Not the whole hill, of course. Instead, there was a massive orange orb in one side. It began to glow with internal heat, scaring Fluttershy. "I think it's time to go, Angel," she said. The bunny nodded in agreement. As the pegasus turned to run, she found her path blocked by a wall made entirely of vines. She screamed in surprise, before turning back. The orb was glowing again, lighting up the entire clearing. Long, tentacle-like vines tipped with venus flytrap heads had also appeared out of the ground. Fluttershy began to hyperventilate. What was going on?

That's when it appeared. From under the ground errupted a flower, about the size of a cart or wagon. It was big enough for a pony to fit inside. The flower was unopened at first, but slowly the petals began to peel apart. When the flower had finished blooming, there stood a tall, thin mare. The mare seemed to be made entirely of vines and other plant material, with a mane and tail similar to a bush. Her eyes glowed the same orange as the orb. Then, she spoke.

"Do not be afraid, little one," she said. "I mean you know harm,"

Fluttershy began to slow her breathing, calming down slightly. "Who are you?"

"I am Biollante. This is merely an avatar, of sorts, to allow me to communicate with you,"

Fluttershy sat down, putting a hoof to her head in confusion. "So much has been happening, first King Ghidorah, then that lizard thing, now this,"

The plant mare - Biollante - stepped back in surprise. "Did you say King Ghidorah?"

"Yes. Why?"

Biollante's face was almost afraid. "Because I fear you may be in grave danger."