20 MILES FROM THE SHORES OF WEST BEACH

"Well, if we didn't know for sure before, we sure do know for sure now," said Pinkie Pie. "We've discovered that beyond a shadow of a doubt, Godzilla can swim."

"Indeed and quite well if I do say so myself," said Rarity.

"You did say so yourself, silly" said Pinkie Pie with a giggle.

The white furred unicorn rolled her eyes in very slight annoyance at her friend's reply. Neither Pinkie Pie or anypony else noticed because they were too busy staring from their small motorboat out at the ocean. More specifically, they were looking at Godzilla's back spikes that were sticking out above the water as he swam along his way. For safety's sake, the Mane Six had distanced their boat as far away from Godzilla as they could while still being able to keep sight of his spikes. They ended up moving about forty six yards away.

In all the time they had spent heading further out to sea, the Mane Six hadn't taken their eyes off of Godzilla, except for when one of them had to steer the boat. They were mesmerized by how natural Godzilla looked swimming out in the ocean. It amazed them all, but the ones who were probably fascinated by this the most were Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle. While they had similar reasons, they both had very different ones as well. Twilight Sparkle's was because of her scientific curiosity in studying Godzilla. Fluttershy's was because she considered herself the one to have known the Godzilla the best on a personal level, yet this was something she never knew about him.

The other ponies, for the most part, were just overall fascinated by the sight of a friend of theirs they knew as a creature of land swimming so fluently.

"Well, I was curious as to what Godzilla's natural habitat was. I think we might've found it."

"You really think so, Twilight?" asked Fluttershy.

"Yes, I mean, just look at him. He's moving faster swimming than he ever did walking on dry land and it seems almost like his body was meant to go through the water. From what we were able to see before moving further away, it looked like he was swaying his body from side to side to propel himself through the water. You know, kind of like how a crocodile or alligator would do to move their bodies through water while swimming."

"He certainly does seem to be very comfortable out there," said Rarity.

"As comfortable as a freshly hatched chick in the nest," said Applejack.

"Or me in the air when I'm flying," said Rainbow Dash.

"Ooh, ooh, or me in the middle of a crazy party!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

"Exactly... I think," said Twilight Sparkle. "Honestly, right now Godzilla seems to me like a sea animal that just happens to have feet."

Everypony was quiet for a short moment as they watched Godzilla swim. They still had a hard time believing that Godzilla could swim as good as he was. He was moving so fast that they were afraid they wouldn't be able to keep up with him in their motorboat. They were doing the best they could, though, gunning the boat to its top speed of seventy five miles per hour.

"It really does looks like he's a sea dweller right now, doesn't it?" asked Fluttershy.

"I'll say it does," said Applejack. "He might be too good. If I keep pushing this motor as hard as I am to try and keep up with Godzilla, it's gonna croak like a frog trying to sing Achey Breaky Heart."

"Hey, it was the only one we could get at the time," said Pinkie Pie defensively.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Pinkie Pie," said Applejack. "I wasn't saying anything against you or nothing. I guess I should just be thankful you found us a boat that could keep up with Godzilla at all."

Not if the motor breaks like you said, Rainbow Dash thought to herself nervously.

"Thanks again, Pinkie."

"Awe shucks, it was nothin'."

"I agree with, Applejack," said Fluttershy. "It was sure lucky you knew about that dock with all the boats on it."

"How did you know about it anyways?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Oh, I spotted it when we were still up in the balloon," said Pinkie Pie. "I can see everything from up there. Including that the tiniest little zit Godzilla had on the side of his face. I gotta pop that for him later."

Can kaiju get zits? Rainbow Dash thought to herself in confusion.

"Do you really think we should've taken this motorboat without the owner's permission?" asked Rarity.

"We left him a bag of bits and a note saying we were gonna bring it back, so what's the big deal?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I guess you're right," Rarity agreed.

The Mane Six turned back out to the ocean when they suddenly heard Godzilla roaring out into the air. What they saw was Godzilla's head breaching the water and lifting into the air as he let out a roar before splashing back into the water. The Mane Six marveled at the sight, oohing and aahing all the while. They smiled, laughed, and cheered a little when Godzilla did it again, popping his head up out of the water and roaring before falling back in. Everypony that was, except for Fluttershy. She was watching with the rest of her friends, but she seemed to be distracted by something they weren't noticing.

"Goodness, it's like he's putting on some sort of show for us," said a giddy Rarity.

"You mean like a rodeo side show?" asked Applejack.

"Or like the shows I usually set up at one of my parties?" Pinkie Pie suggested.

"More like those water shows they do at aquariums and the like," Rarity replied.

"But this is even cooler because it's out in the wild where it's more natural," said Rainbow Dash.

Everypony turned when they heard Godzilla roaring yet again. They cheered out and laughed once more as they saw their kaiju friend lift his head out of the water. He roared out before splashing his head back into the water once more. Again everypony was amazed at this except Fluttershy. This time somepony else took notice. Twilight Sparkle had seen out of the corner of her eye that her pegasus friend seemed to have had a somewhat gloomy look on her face. Having remembered that Fluttershy could talk to animals and was probably closer to Godzilla than anypony else, Twilight made her way closer to Fluttershy's side.

"Is he saying anything right now, Fluttershy?"

The yellow pegasus then turned to Twilight Sparkle, while the others turned to look at both of them. At first all their expressions were of confusion, but once they saw the state Fluttershy was in, their looks turned serious. Fluttershy nodded her head before replying to Twilight Sparkle's question.

"Yes, Twilight, he is."

"Well, what's he saying?"

"Is Godzilla letting us know that he is putting on a performance for us?" asked Rarity.

Fluttershy shook her head as she said, "No, he isn't. He's letting us know that he knows we're following him. He's also trying to get us to turn back because he still doesn't want us going with him because he's afraid we could get hurt."

The Mane Six looked to each other now with matching upset expressions. Perhaps it stemmed from someone they considered a close friend telling them he didn't want them around. It was even worse because this was a friend who seemed to always want them around before. Sure Godzilla was a unique friend, but he was a friend all the same. The Mane Six were, however, all able to remember there have been other times where friends of theirs and they themselves have wanted to do things by themselves. Besides, Godzilla also had good and actually really touching reasons behind his wanting to do so.

At the same time, the Mane Six felt the need to do this with Godzilla no matter what. It was a sort of friends' intuition telling them it was right to do. Thus, the Mane Six accepted Godzilla's stance on them not coming with him, but still agreed amongst themselves to choosing to go along anyways. They didn't know exactly how Godzilla felt about this, but they hoped he would grow more accepting of the idea overtime. Signs were pointing to this not being the case, however when the Mane Six saw what Godzilla did next.

"He's diving!" said Rainbow Dash.

"He's diving even deeper into the ocean depths!" Twilight Sparkle reaffirmed.

Nopony needed to be told, for they saw it themselves. They watched as Godzilla's body shifted downwards and his back spikes sank underneath the water. The last thing they saw was a part of his tail that briefly stuck out of the water before sinking back under again. Godzilla had left the completely puzzled Mane Six behind to try and figure out where he had gone and why he had gone there.

"What the hay was that about?" asked Applejack.

"Does he really not want us to come that bad?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I don't think that's the case at all."

"You don't, Fluttershy?" asked Applejack.

"No, I don't."

"And neither do I," said Twilight Sparkle. Then she pointed a hoof at the water. "I think whatever Godzilla's looking for is down there somewhere either near or on the ocean's floor."

Everypony looked down at the water before looking back out at where Godzilla had made his dive.

"Well, either way, it looks like we can't go with and look after him after all," said Rarity.

"Hold on a minute, everypony!" Pinkie Pie called out.

The other five mares looked to see that their pink friend had discovered and opened a wooden box that had been tucked away. What Pinkie Pie pulled out was several wet suits, oxygen tanks, and other pieces of scuba diving equipment.

"Now we can still follow Godzilla!" said Pinkie Pie excitedly.

"I know you're just trying to help, Pinkie, but I don't think we should be using somepony else's scuba gear for our own needs," said Twilight Sparkle.

"Why not?" asked Rainbow Dash. "We're already using their motorboat."

"She makes a pretty good point," said Applejack.

Twilight Sparkle thought about it for a second before speaking.

"Alright, fair enough."

"Besides, it looks like all the tanks are full," said Fluttershy.

"We'll have to remember to leave more bits when we get back for all the air we use and whatever equipment we might lose," said Rarity.

"Right," said everypony as they gathered around to get their own scuba diving gear.

"Oh, I'll just pay him double what it's all worth," said Rarity. "He deserves it after we used his stuff without his permission."

"Alright, everypony, looks like we're scubaing for Zillers," said Applejack.

Everypony had begun to put their diving gear on when all of a sudden.

"Scuba gear goes into the water, chiefy?" asked Pinkie Pie in what everypony guessed was suppose to be an old sailor's voice. "You go in with the scuba gear into the water. Kaiju's in the water...? Our kaiju...? Farewell diddy-do."

Everypony looked around to each other in total and utter confusion.

"Do you-?" Rainbow Dash started to ask.

"I honestly stopped trying a long time ago," said Applejack.

"Don't you worry nothin' 'bout it, chiefy!" Pinkie Pie yelled in that same voice. "We be finding this kaiju in a flash!"

Everypony finished up putting on their scuba diving gear and made final preparations to take the plunge. As Rainbow Dash started up the motor and set course for the spot where Godzilla had submerged himself, Rarity looked over to Fluttershy and saw a look of uncertainty cross her face. Acting quickly, Rarity came over to Fluttershy's side and gently put a hoof around her shoulders.

"What's the matter, Fluttershy darling?"

"Oh... well... I guess I'm just a little nervous."

"Nervous? What exactly are you nervous about, sweetie?"

"Several things I guess. Like the fact that I haven't gone scuba diving since that one day I was able to go to Kawahoof beach and swim with the dolphins."

"I remember you telling us all about it the day you got back from Kawahoof. From the way you described the experience, it sounded absolutely divine."

"It really was, but that happened a long time ago. I still had to take classes on how to scuba dive and I'm not sure if I can do it now."

"Oh, but, Fluttershy, you've got a great memory. It was you who memorized the entire typical flightpath for the Fillydelphia coo coo bird. I'm sure that how to scuba dive will come naturally to you once we get in the water. Besides, you may get inspiration from these diving suits which surprisingly are colored very charmingly. I know I have. Mine is the most beautiful shade of purple. It matches my mane color perfectly."

"Maybe, but I'm also worried that even if we do dive there's still no guarantee we'll find Godzilla again. It isn't the same in the ocean as it is on land with Godzilla. Unlike land where he sticks out in a crowd, the ocean is a place he can easily hide and we can lose track of him. I'm afraid that's just what we've done is lose track of him and that we won't be able find him again."

"Well, I guess that is a possibility. But I don't think it will turn out like that."

"You don't?"

"Of course, darling. When you're friends as close as we all are, you have a way of finding each other even when you're not looking. I truly believe that we'll find Godzilla again."

"You think so?"

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

"Don't worry, Fluttershy, I also have a spell that can track Godzilla's trail," said Twilight Sparkle.

"Oh, wow, really?"

"Sure, I just activate the spell which releases a light from my horn. That light will highlight the areas Godzilla has swam through."

"What's being highlighted?" asked Fluttershy.

"Godzilla's residual energy," said Twilight Sparkle. "Don't worry, we'll be able to fine him without a problem."

"See, Fluttershy, darling?" asked Rarity. "We'll do just fine following Godzilla."

"I guess you're right on that, Rarity, but I'm afraid I'm still... well, afraid of something else."

"And what is that, darling?"

"Well, if there is another kaiju down there like we all think there is, going after Godzilla could be dangerous for us. We don't know how rough the fight could or will get and how deep it could take them. Following Godzilla deeper into the depths or even trying to keep up with the fight in anyway could end really, really bad for us."

"Hmm... You may have a point, Fluttershy. I admit I was a little worried coming out here myself. Heck, I think we all were, but up until now nopony has said anything. Since you have, Fluttershy, maybe now it's time we rethink this through and try to do what's best for our safety. I'm going to tell Twilight that going along with this could spell disaster for us and see if she'll reconsider doing it."

Fluttershy's eyes widened in alarm at hearing Rarity say this.

"Oh, please don't, Rarity. I don't want to give up looking for Godzilla."

It was the purple haired unicorn's turn to look on in shock.

"But why, Fluttershy? You just told me about all the things you're scared of that could happen to us."

"Yes I did and I am still really scared. But it's like you said, so is everypony else. Yet, they're still willing to go through this to keep an eye on our friend Godzilla, so I shouldn't be willing to any less than that. Especially since I was the first friend Godzilla ever had."

Rarity smiled as bright as she could at Fluttershy's words. They rang so true and so powerful that it had made her forget all the worries she had going into this situation. Having those words touch her heart made Rarity feel like she could do anything. She was grateful to have a friend like Fluttershy that could inspire her in such a way.

"You're also the best friend he ever had, darling."

Fluttershy smiled brightly and then leaned into a hug between her and Rarity.

"Thanks, Rarity."

"Thank you, Fluttershy."

"Huh?"

"Yes, for you see, Fluttershy, since we have become friends, in many ways you've shown me what it was like to have a second sister. Listening to what you said just now, it seemed as though I had just watched that younger sister grow up a little. I'm proud of you, Fluttershy. I'm proud to see how you've grown into your own."

"Oh, Rarity, you're such a good friend. I'm lucky to have you and everypony else."

Rarity and Fluttershy tightened their hug. They wanted to feel every ounce of sister-like love each one had for the other.

"So, you ever been scuba diving before, Pinkie Pie?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Sure have! Just threw mt first scuba party a month ago!"

"How about you, AJ?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Nope, you?"

"Yeah, several times and it was always awesome. In fact, it kept getting cooler each time and definitely a lot more fun."

"Ya think you'll be able to find that same enthusiasm on this dive?"

Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked over the side of the boat at the waiting waters of the ocean below.

"Well... let's go find out," said Rainbow Dash.

With that, everypony turned on their air tanks, put on their diving goggles and then everypony, except Twilight, placed their masks over their mouths. Applejack also took the time to drop the boat's anchor while Rarity assisted Pinkie Pie in adjusting her swim goggles properly.

"Alright, everypony, looks like we're all set to go, so let's buddy up and drop," Twilight Sparkle announced.

The ponies all sat on the sides of the motorboat, with Twilight Sparkle setting herself down at the rear before putting on her mask. As the Mane Six were getting ready to dive, Rarity looked around and inspected everypony's wet suits. She liked all the colors of the suits they had on. Again, hers was purple while there was red for Pinkie, dark blue for Rainbow Dash, black for Twilight and light green for both Applejack and Fluttershy. She did wish that Applejack and Fluttershy weren't wearing the same color or at least wore different shades, but she decided to just deal with it and focus on the task at hoof.

Despite feeling a slight hint of anxiety and feeling very nervous, everypony let themselves drop back, thus falling into the water. It instantly felt like the Mane Six had all been transported into an entirely different world. From the way they saw their new environment around them through their goggles to the way they had to move around to propel themselves through the water. It was a strange and alien feeling, even for those who had gone scuba diving before. Yet, even though the feeling was a strange one, it did not mean they weren't enjoying it.

In fact, once they got the hang of how to move their legs and hooves to swim through the water, they found they were rather enjoying themselves. Everyone of the Mane Six found that propelling themselves through the water as one must do to scuba dive was a truly fantastic experience. They each took a little bit of time to get the hang of swimming and moved in several different directions. It was a lot of fun for them, too. It felt like they were having the time of their lives.

Despite the entertainment that came with scuba diving, though, the Mane Six quickly regained focus of their current goal and how dangerous it could end up being. It had the possibility of being even more dangerous than what comes with a normal scuba dive through the ocean. They would not lose track of this possibility, though they still wished to find some joy from doing something they don't usually do. That of course would be scuba diving which was also something usually meant for fun anyways. Keeping all this in mind, the members of the Mane Six swam around a bit before they gathered around each other.

Everypony did a quick wave to each other before turning their attention on looking for Godzilla or at least figuring out which way he went. They soon saw, though, that this wouldn't be necessary. Twilight Sparkle's horn lit up and shined a concentrated purple beam of light around like it was a flashlight. In some places the light shined, nothing happened, but in others it turned the water around them a white color. For some reason, it tickled Rarity to see this, most likely because the white matched her fur color.

The other ponies soon remembered Twilight talking about this spell earlier. Thus they realized that this white light that appeared whenever Twilight's horn aura flashed over was the energy signature that Godzilla had left behind. Everypony followed Twilight Sparkle and swam down the thirty degree angle the energy signature swerved down into. This took them even deeper into the ocean depths. None of the Mane Six knew for sure if following this signature would lead them to Godzilla or possibly something less safe to their physical health. They didn't even know if they would stay safe while following the signature. They could only hope while also hanging onto their cautious feelings and keeping an eye out for trouble.

At first, the swim down was uneventful. While Twilight Sparkle was using her horn to follow Godzilla's energy trail, the others swam close by her and looked around both for any possible trouble and out of curiosity. Pretty much all they saw was the glowing blue, empty sea around them. All wide open spaces around the Mane Six saw and not a sign of life anywhere. There wasn't even the tiniest little baby flounder or guppy swimming about. While the Mane Six had been fascinated by the sights and feeling that came from swimming around in the ocean, they were surprised to find they could actually get bored of it.

That was all about to change really quickly. Nearing the seafloor, the Mane Six's constant looking around for trouble was about to pay off. It allowed them to finally see some sights that were actually amazing, stellar, and even beautiful. They saw huge coral reefs and all sorts of sea creatures crawling over and swimming past them. While Rarity appreciated the beauty of the brightly colored coral, Fluttershy marveled mostly at the amazing sea animals that clung to and swam around it. These included crustaceans like crabs, lobsters, shrimps, and krill. There were also echinoderms like starfish, sea-urchins, and sea lilies. Finally there were molluscs like cuttlefish, sea snails, clams, squids, and even octopi.

And again, besides all the invertebrates that clung to the reefs, there were also several other sea animals swimming around it. Most of them were many upon many different species of fish. These ranged from small ones like the yellow tang to the bigger fish like coral trout. Also swimming alongside the fish were all sorts of ray fish such as manta rays and stingrays. The seafloor was just busy with life swimming, crawling, and climbing around.

The beautiful reefs and fascinating sea life had even gotten the attention of the ponies who usually didn't think about things like this. They had never seen anything like this ever before in their entire lives. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Fluttershy were probably the ones who were enjoying this experience the most, yet at the same time Twilight and Fluttershy's minds couldn't help but wander elsewhere. They wondered what other sea creatures they could see if they managed to go even deeper than they were now, quite possibly to the very lowest point in the ocean. Though both ponies knew this was impossible for a pony to do while scuba diving for many a reason. For now they would stick to what they had originally came down into the ocean to do.

While they may not have to go to the lowest point, their journeys would still end up taking them deeper then they already were. This came to be when they reached a ten foot drop off at the edge of the ocean floor they had previously been traveling across. They had already been swimming in several hundred feet deep water, following Godzilla's energy signature. Traveling in any deeper water at this point could end up causing the Mane Six a lot of trouble. It was so bad that they were all slowly starting to feel the tiniest bit of fatigue, especially in the head, chest, and legs.

Regardless, the Mane Six swam on, while also being a little more cautious. They were well aware that their situation had changed slightly, particularly in the safety and health department. It looked like it was about to get worse when everypony saw a great white shark coming straight at them. The sight of a fish much bigger than them or any other pony with a giant mouth full of razor sharp teeth sent most of the Mane Six into a massive panic. They whipped back in alarm as the bubbles of expelled air released from their scuba masks rapidly increased in numbers per second.

The shark chilled nearly everypony to the bone as they prepared for the worst. However as they tried to swim and flee, they found that several seconds went by and nothing had happened. Despite their better judgement, everypony looked back and saw that the shark was not chasing them. Instead, Fluttershy was with the shark and appeared to be bonding with him like he were a common house pet. She gently petted him, hugged him, and even nuzzled him. The shark slowly rolled over for Fluttershy to scratch his underbelly. Everypony else stared in wide eyed amazement. It was easy for them to forget that Fluttershy was the same pony who scratched Cerberus's belly and was the first to make friends with Godzilla.

Now seeing her cuddle up to what they thought of as a blood thirsty animal like the great white shark reminded them all that Fluttershy has always had pockets of bravery. They had thought she had come such a long way with her bravery, which they were right about in a sense. But now, all of them knew, what only a few speculated before. Fluttershy had always been a brave pony, she just didn't know it yet. Now she did and so did everypony else and they couldn't be more proud of Fluttershy even if they tried.

Fluttershy finished her petting and cuddling after several moments and allowed the shark to swim off on his way. He took one more look back at his new pony friend who smiled brightly under her scuba mask as she waved goodbye. Once the shark left, everypony gathered around Fluttershy and showered her with loving pats on the back. It always delighted the yellow pegasus to have her friends gather around her and be as loving as they were. This time was no exception; being in the middle of the ocean with her friends by her side was a great feeling just like it would be anywhere else.

After the friendly display amongst the Mane Six, Twilight Sparkle waved everypony over to her, for she had swam out further along. The others all quickly swam over and then Twilight Sparkle reactivated her spell to find Godzilla's energy signature. Unfortunately, the majority of the Mane Six received a second, even bigger shock when several great white sharks swam out of the distance and came their way. While Fluttershy was not really afraid at this moment, she was still a bit surprised. She and the others received an even bigger surprise when the school of sharks swam past them and moved as fast as they could without ever even acknowledging the Mane Six. It was as if they had been scared off by something even bigger.

The Mane Six looked back out at the open ocean space and saw that this was exactly what happened. As several more sharks and other forms of sea life swam past the ponies as fast as they could, they saw a huge dark shape swimming through the water and coming their way. It was hard to make out at first, but it got closer really fast and allowed the Mane Six only seconds later to see that it was none other than their kaiju friend. Though they knew it was Godzilla, they couldn't help but still be a little spooked to see him swimming towards them. It wasn't just one thing that made them feel this way; rather it was several of them.

This included them being thrown by the fact that Godzilla was approaching them with different posture. That is, instead of walking up to them up vertically, he was floating towards them stretched out horizontally. It was just strange because of how use they were to him standing up straight on his two feet. It was also jarring because of how fast he was coming at them with how big he was. They just couldn't help but be intimidated by this. Finally, all this seemed to be enhanced by Godzilla being the giant monster he was surrounded in the dark blue of the ocean waters. As beautiful as the glow was, it would seem it also had the potential to be frightening and make other things frightening like it did with the shark from before.

Luckily, where it would take other ponies a while to recover from this, if they could at all, the Mane Six were able to get a quick handle on themselves. They knew that deep down Godzilla was their friend and in a way being afraid of him was just rude and disrespectful since he was their friend. So the Mane Six quickly greeted Godzilla by waving hello. Godzilla stopped swimming forward and just floated in place as he responded with a wave of his own. However, the Mane Six could tell by the look on his face that Godzilla wasn't completely happy they were there.

He had made it clear that he didn't want any of his pony friends following him into the dark depths of the west ocean. Godzilla wanted them to stay back at the beach where they could stay safe. Well, at least safer than they would be otherwise. He knew not all creatures did as well in the water or even on land as he did and that the ocean wasn't the most hospitable place for ponies. Seeing that they came anyway both aggravated Godzilla and made him worry for his friends. However, he also begrudgingly admitted to both himself and his friends with a roar that he was happy to see them. The ponies all felt ecstatic because though they were unable to understand their kaiju friend, they could tell he was warming up more to the idea of them coming along. They tried to make him feel even better by gathering around and petting his snout.

After a few seconds of enjoying the love and attention he was getting, Godzilla told the Mane Six that if they were gonna come along to at least keep their distance for safety's sake. All of the ponies were going to do this anyways, swimming back a ways for safety. This allowed Godzilla to turn around and continue swimming out into the ocean waters. The Mane Six waited for a little bit before swimming after Godzilla as fast as they could. Knowing where Godzilla was and having him so close to them made all of the Mane Six feel a lot safer. All the fears of creatures hidden in the dark areas of the water were completely swept away knowing they would have to deal with the King of the Monsters.

However, the exhaustion and fatigue of swimming under several hundred feet of water did not wash away so easily. Their physical health could still go south very quickly if they weren't careful. The Mane Six all realized this and did not lose track of the possibility for the rest of the swim. The good feeling and sense of comfort they got from being with Godzilla would help drive them to keep going on despite the threat to their health. Godzilla himself sensed the exhaustion his pony friends were going through. While it wasn't anything serious yet, it still concerned him, so he decided to keep careful watch of that particular detail. In the meantime, the Mane Six and Godzilla just enjoyed the pleasure of having each other's company.

Godzilla and the Mane Six's swimming took them several yards further out into the ocean before anything strange or out of the norm even seemed like it would happen. When something strange finally did appear, it took the Mane Six by surprise, though it had no visible effect on Godzilla. Twilight Sparkle was the first to spot it. She pointed it out to her friends after getting their attention. The other all followed Twilight's direction and spotted a large hole in the ocean floor. It was so big, it looked like Godzilla could swim through it with enough space to stretch out his arms and legs or spin around to come out should he chose to go in.

There were several other things strange about the hole as well. For one thing, it seemed too perfect. There were no signs of imperfections whatsoever. It looked as though whatever dug the hole did so without living any impressions in the side or anything else like that. Also strange was that a smaller, imperfect, roughly dug hole was right next to it. This one looked as though it could just fit Godzilla with barely any room to wiggle his limbs around. But perhaps even stranger was what was laying next to the biggest hole. It looked like what could only be described as a giant metal lid or hatch of some kind. That also drew Twilight's attention to the metal frame surrounding the sides of the hole, which looked to be made from the same metal as the lid.

Everypony marveled at the hole, while Godzilla stared at it with a suspicious glare on his face. Without saying anything or giving any kind of warning, the reptilian kaiju dived down and swam into the hole to investigate it. Everypony stared on as they tried to figure out where this hole came from, what made it, and why it put Godzilla in such a bad mood. Twilight Sparkle was the to first figure out the answer and the realization hit her like a ton of bricks. She then waved to get all of her friends' attention. Once they had all turned to her, Twilight used the magic of her horn to spell a few sentences in big purple glowing letters.

The sentences read:

"THIS MUST BE THE MAGIC PRISON THE ALICORN COUNCIL AND MOTHRA HAD ORIGINALLY TRAPPED THE KAIJU IN A THOUSAND YEARS AGO. GODZILLA WAS PROBABLY DRAWN HERE BY THE COMBINED SCENTS LEFT BEHIND BY ALL THE KAIJU THAT WERE ENTRAPPED HERE."

Knowing they had come across, more or less the place of origin for the monsters that had so viciously ripped their world apart made all of the ponies feel a strange sensation. It was a mixture of shock and sadness, possibly even depression; but the most clear thing they felt was anger. None of them ever really thought they would ever see the prison the kaiju had been locked in before King Sombra had released them on modern day Equestria. They had never wanted to either. Seeing it and knowing what it was just reminded them all of how the kaiju had destroyed so much they loved and how useless this prison was now. Since King Sombra had taken away the original enchantment that kept the kaiju inside in the first place, it was just a useless giant container in the sea floor.

The Mane Six couldn't help but feel a deep hatred just from looking at the empty and useless prison. It just kept making all these thoughts and emotions swell up inside of them more and more. These feelings and emotions were not set aside so easily either. Some didn't even know if they could ever let it go, though they were trying really hard to do so. They knew with the position they were in at the moment and what they were doing could possibly yield some important new discoveries pertaining to the kaiju crisis. It also wasn't a good idea to be so emotional when you're swimming in several hundred feet deep water in the middle of the ocean. So, though they were unable to completely, the Mane Six forced themselves to put their feeling aside for now.

To try and distract herself and the others, Twilight Sparkle thought of something they could do. She looked to the other ponies and used her magic to spell out another sentence.

The sentence read:

"LET'S CHECK OUT THE LID AND THE ENTRANCE TO THE PRISON REALLY QUICK AND SEE IF WE CAN FIND SOMETHING INTERESTING."

The others looked amongst themselves for a second to try and guess what everyone was thinking. Although it was hard to tell with their faces covered by scuba gear. They all eventually turned to Twilight Sparkle and nodded their heads in agreement. Then everypony swam down to the ocean floor and began circling around the wide area that held both the lid, the kaiju-sized hole in the ground and of course the prison entrance itself. Obviously the hole was dug by one of the kaiju for it and possibly some of the others to travel in. The lid was mangled and crushed nearly beyond recognition. From the looks of it, the lid was pushed off the top of the giant prison tube from the inside.

Twilight Sparkle swam closely around the destroyed lid a few times, but found no trace of the magic seal that had laid on top of it and kept the kaiju trapped inside the prison. She figured that either King Sombra had taken the seal or had destroyed it. It was even possible that the kaiju had destroyed it themselves, but Twilight wasn't sure which of these possibilities was the right one. Twilight Sparkle asked the other ponies via her magic text if they had found anything interesting, to which they shook their heads no. So the Mane Six swam over and inspected the prison entrance.

Being up close, they got a better perspective of just how big it really was. The hole was so wide, it looked like it could fit three Godzillas swimming in side by side. The prison also seemed to run very deep into the ocean floor as well. It ran down so deep that the Mane Six weren't able to see the bottom. It just went down into a black pit that seemed bottomless. What the Mane Six were able to see was the metal framing at the top of the prison and the top of the walls for the circular tube that weren't engulfed by the darkness. The framing at the top was thick and strong like the rest of the prison was. This made sense since it was suppose to hold in a force as powerful as the kaiju.

However, the framing was even thicker, which also made sense to the Mane Six judging from what they could make out of the mangled lid from before. It would probably need to be thicker for the lid to fit on top of rightly and attach to. It was just a shame that it ended up being a futile effort. The Mane Six all thought of this as they continued scanning the prison. The inside of it was especially strange to them. The rounded walls all had some sort of tubes, needles, and lines of blinking lights cluttered all over them. It all looked to the Mane Six like something very alien. It looked like something out of their world, which it very well may have been.

The Mane Six began to swim away from the prison entrance as fast as they could. This was because they had spotted Godzilla swimming back towards them. The group of ponies all swam to the sides of the prison and gave Godzilla plenty of room as he came up out of the now useless tube. They watched as Godzilla came all the way up out of the hole and then turned away and began swimming around in a circle. They were all wondering why Godzilla had decided to come all the way out here. Was it just to look at this tube that once housed the kaiju that were now his adversaries?

Twilight Sparkle sensed her friends' wondering thoughts and quickly came up with a possible explanation. She quickly shared this explanation with her friends through her magic text.

"LIKE I SAID, GODZILLA PROBABLY JUST PICKED UP THE OTHER KAIJU'S SCENT HERE. IT'S PROBABLY THE STRONGEST HERE BECAUSE ALL OF THE KAIJU STAYED IN THIS EXACT SPOT FOR SEVERAL THOUSAND YEARS. HECK, HE MAY HAVE GOTTEN CONFUSED BECAUSE SOME OF THE SCENTS HERE ARE FROM KAIJU HE'S ALREADY DEFEATED. LOL"

This amused the other ponies at first, but then it also made them feel like they had wasted their time coming out here, that it was all for nothing. A thought then came to Rarity's mind that made her very nervous. Because of how serious the implications were, she felt she had to share it with her friends. So she copied Twilight Sparkle's text spell and wrote out what she thought of.

"UM, TWILIGHT SWEETIE, I REALLY HATE TO BRING THIS UP. IF THIS IS WHERE THE KAIJU WERE KEPT FOR SO LONG, ISN'T IT POSSIBLE ONE OR MORE OF THEM COULD STILL BE HERE LINGERING ABOUT?"

This possibility began to make everypony feel extremely vulnerable. They felt even worse when they thought of how big the kaiju were compared to their much smaller pony size. They began to look around at quick speeds, zipping their heads and eyes around in all different directions. They felt as though danger could be in any corner or any wide open space of the ocean and that it could spring out and attack them at anytime. Knowing there was a strong chance a kaiju could be close by, especially in this area, made them feel very much like rabbits in a lion's den.

They thought their fears had been realized when they heard what sounded like something huge moving through the water above them. When they looked up, they were relieved to see that it was just Godzilla passing over. They also became curious when they saw him swimming away instead of swimming around them like he was before. They all looked around at each other questioningly before swimming after him. All of them were wondering what else Godzilla could be looking for out here and also now hoped it wasn't a kaiju.

They were also beginning to get even more concerned about how much deeper following Godzilla would take them. They had gone down nearly six hundred and eighty feet already. The previous record on how far anypony swam down in any ocean had been five hundred and ten feet. Knowing they had gone much deeper and were feeling the physical toll their bodies had already taken only added to their worry. They hoped to Celestia they could still stay safe swimming with Godzilla and that doing so would be worth it.

The question as to whether it would be or not seemed like it was about to be answered when the Mane Six saw what was ahead. Not more than forty yards later, the Mane Six all spotted a large object sticking out of the ground. The whole group of ponies and even Godzilla himself marveled as this incredible sight they had found. Every aspect they spotted was absolutely fascinating to all of them. It wasn't any sort of reef or sea rock formation. It wasn't even a sunken ship or something like that. The truth was, the Mane Six, nor Godzilla had no idea what it was. They had never seen anything like this before. They had seen things shaped like it, being of round, saucer-like shape, but nothing this size.

One thing could be said about it that they knew for sure was that this circular thing was that it was huge. Its length from all areas ran as long as Godzilla did from tail tip to nose tip in his swimming position. They also noticed the object was actually made of metal rather than stone. While its gigantic size was indisputable, something not so clear was the metal it was made of. It appear to be the same kind of metal the kaiju prison had been made out of, but again, none of the Mane Six knew what kind of metal that was. They had never seen any like it used for any object in daily Equestria work or life. It was all completely alien to them all.

Closer examination of the large saucer shaped object revealed that one of its sides was buried under the ocean floor. The rest of it was perched up by a cluster of sea rocks, which angled the giant saucer in a semi-slanted position, pointing one side upward a little bit. Its position among a few other details led Twilight Sparkle to believe that the object had splashed down into the ocean and sank to the sea floor where it currently laid. A detail that seemed to support Twilight's theory was, upon closer examination of another one of the sides, she spotted clear exterior damage. The damage went down deep and fed into the interior of the object as well.

While Godzilla circled above the object and the others of the Mane Six kept themselves a float as they pondered, Twilight Sparkle was hit with sudden realization. She remembered seeing this giant saucer object somewhere before. Twilight then remembered that she had not only seen it before, but she also knew exactly what it was. Twilight Sparkle excitedly turned to her friends and used her magic to spell out yet another sentence. The other ponies all quickly gathered around and read what it said.

"GIRLS, THIS IS ONE OF THE AIRSHIPS USED BY THE INVADERS THAT ORIGINALLY BROUGHT THE KAIJU TO OUR PLANET AND TRIED TO INVADE IT!"

Everypony whipped back in shock, for none of them were expecting Twilight to say what she had said. They all remembered very well their alicorn friend's stories about how these invaders came from outer space in flying saucer airships in a gambit for global damnation of their world. Some of them even vaguely remember Twilight Sparkle showing them pictures in old books of the spaceships. Despite that, they still couldn't believe that laying before their very eyes was an actual wreckage from one of those ships. Though clearly bearing a strong resemblance to the pictures they've seen, it was just too incredible for them to believe. Because of this, Rarity used her magic to text chat with Twilight Sparkle.

"ARE YOU FOR CERTAIN THAT'S WHAT THIS IS, TWILIGHT?"

"OF COURSE I AM, I MEAN LOOK AT IT. YOU'VE ALL SEEN THE PICTURES IN MY BOOKS AND KNOW WHAT THE ALIEN SHIPS LOOK LIKE. SO YOU SHOULD ALSO SEE THAT THIS SHIP LOOKS JUST LIKE THOSE PICTURES. BESIDES, IT CAN'T BE ANYTHING ELSE."

After Twilight had said all this through her magic text, the other mares looked again. Their shock had subsided, allowing the possibility Twilight was suggesting to sink in. They slowly began to see that their friend might actually be right. The pictures of the flying saucers in their memories now seemed clearer because of Twilight Sparkle's reminder. The ship itself seemed even clearer now, too, despite the dark blue surroundings of the water that consumed it and the Mane Six. This allowed everypony to see that the ship and the pictures were almost one in the same. Nopony had anymore problems believing they were staring at the wreckage of an actual alien ship from outer space.

This fact amazed them all very greatly. Here was an actual spaceship made by intelligent life from another planet. It was true that intelligent life tried to take over their world, but the implications of discovering a sunken alien ship were still fantastic to everypony. Plus the aliens had been beaten many thousands of years ago. This was just a wreck that got shot down and sank into the ocean and now laid for the scuba cladded Mane Six to gawk at.

"LET'S CHECK IT OUT," said Twilight Sparkle with her text magic.

Everypony else seemed unsure, but Twilight Sparkle didn't even wait for her friends to give their decision. She swam for the spaceship as fast as she could. Her excitement blinded her to everything else. Twilight Sparkle just wanted to get as close a look as possible at this war torn relic from another time that had long since past. The possible discoveries that awaited in this one big discovery were too tempting for a scientific mind like Twilight's to resist.

Seeing that their friend and default leader had made up her mind, the rest of the mares felt they had no choice but to swim after her. That is what friends do after all. At the same time, Godzilla spotted the Mane Six swimming towards the ship. He stopped circling around the top of it and just floated in place as he curiously watched his pony friends swim towards the saucer. The Mane Six were only inches above the ship's surface, which gave them a good enough perspective to see that the metal had not rusted at all. It showed no signs of decay or anything like seaweed or coral sticking to the metal. Except for the hole blown in the side, one would assume, at first glance, that this ship was ready to start flying again at anytime.

The Mane Six swam all around this mostly well preserved ship moving in several directions. Occasionally they would take the time to rub a hoof against its metal exterior. If there were any seams welded together or something like that, the Mane Six couldn't tell. It felt like the ship was just a single piece of metal rather than several pieces put together. It was extremely fascinating, even to ponies like Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy who didn't really think about stuff like that.

What everypony else found even more fascinating was when they all reached the very middle of the spaceship. They found that the middle, the very top of the ship was not made of metal like the rest it was. Instead, where there would be a circular hole in the ship was a big plate of glass. It would've allowed those inside to see out just like it was letting the Mane Six, who were on the outside, see in. They saw that there were several chairs placed in front of a control console of some sort that they had never seen before, as was the case with most of the details about the ship. The console wrapped around the room and contained all sorts of buttons, switches, and monitors upon them, the likes of which were true marvels of technology.

In the middle of the room was another chair, but this one was even more interesting because it was elevated above the room on a high stand. The chair was surrounded by two monitors with their own tiny control consoles. Its arms had several tiny buttons and switches of their own as well. All the technology that the Mane Six saw in that ship was amazing beyond all belief to them. It put all the equipment in Twilight's laboratory back at her library home in Ponyville to shame. But rather than let it bug her, Twilight Sparkle was the most excited she had ever been in her entire life.

With all the excitement building up inside of her, Twilight Sparkle couldn't stop herself from teleporting herself and all of her friends inside of the control room. The others didn't even know they had been teleported until a few seconds after it had happened. Even after it had happened they still had a hard time believing they were standing in the middle of the control room on a spaceship. Much to the shock of everypony there, they found they were standing in a control room that was not completely filled with water. In fact, their was almost no water at all. Except for a few tiny puddles, plus the small bubble of water the ponies brought with them when they teleported in.

Despite all that, the Mane Six were not thinking about how much water was in the room at that point. They were just amazed to be standing in the middle of the alien control room at all. It had looked incredible enough when they were looking at it from the outside. Now that they were standing in the middle of the room, it was almost beyond words for the Mane Six to describe how they were feeling at the moment. They all felt like they had set hoof on the ground of a whole other world. The irony that they were standing in the middle of a ship actually from another planet was not lost on them.

The Mane Six were all gazing around in wonder at the room when Twilight Sparkle activated her horn's magic. It released a purple glowing bubble that extended out over the entire room before fading away. The other ponies all looked around in confusion for a few seconds. Then they all turned to Twilight Sparkle and received a shock when they saw her take off her goggles and scuba mask. She looked at them and smiled brightly.

"It's okay, girls. we can breath without our scuba gear now," said Twilight Sparkle. She waved a hoof around the room as she said, "Magic air bubble. It'll allow us to walk around and breath as good as we do on land for a little while."

Everypony else looked at each other for a moment. Then they all took off their goggles, scuba masks, air tanks, flippers, and wet suits. Once they finished removing all of their scuba diving equipment, everypony took a moment to breath in the air produced by Twilight Sparkle's magic air bubble. At first it was weird for them breathing magically produced air, especially in a room so bizarre to them. They eventually got over it, though and it was as if they were breathing in normal air they would breath while walking around in Ponyville.

"So how long do you think we have to breath down here, Twilight?" asked Applejack.

"Hmm... I would say somewhere around thirty five or forty five minutes."

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she flew up above her friends. "So we can basically just chill down here for a while? Awesome! I mean, just get a load of this fancy joint here!"

"I do say," said a stunned Rarity as she looked around. "This place... This ship... is simply incredible."

Everypony looked around the room in amazement for several seconds. Then they walked and flew out in different directions of the room to inspect. Twilight Sparkle used her magic to generate a bright light that lifted up high above the room so everypony could use the light to see. The technology was all even more confusing and stunning to the Mane Six up close and personal. To see all of the technologically advanced equipment that was centuries beyond their civilization's own was as scary as it was fascinating.

"The past returns," said Twilight Sparkle. "I knew we'd find something special."

"Well I'll say special, look at this," said Pinkie Pie as she pointed to a monitor and control board on the console. Then she began looking at it from different angles as she pressed her hooves against the buttons. "Hey, where do you put the token?"

"Pinkie, would you just stop messin' around?" asked Twilight Sparkle irritably.

"Hey, y'all, looky up there," said Applejack as she pointed upward.

Everyone else looked up and were slightly taken by surprise to see that Godzilla had swam up to the window above the room. He was just turning his head so he could peer his eye inside to see if the Mane Six were there. For just a split second, Rarity found the sight of Godzilla's giant eye gazing down at them from behind a window a little creepy. She eventually managed to get a hold of herself and remember that this wasn't just some monster, but a friend of hers and a very good one at that.

"I think Godzilla was just worried when he saw us disappear and came down to see what happened and if we were okay," said Fluttershy.

"Me too," said Twilight Sparkle.

"Me too," said Rarity.

"ME THREE FOUR AND FIVE!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed at the top of her lungs as she went sailing from one side of the control room to the other. Everypony else winced when they heard Pinkie Pie crash land. "Ooh, what's this thing?"

Twilight Sparkle's eyes widened in alarm before she ran after her eccentric friend while shouting, "Don't touch that, Pinkie Pie!"

The others were busy smiling up at Godzilla. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew up to the window and each placed a hoof on it as they continued to smile up at their kaiju friend. They watched as Godzilla's eye shut tightly like what usually happens when someone smiles big. This told the ponies that Godzilla was happy to see that they were safe. The gesture made everypony else smile big while their eyes all shut.

Having seen that his friends were all okay, Godzilla turned away and swam out into the blue glow of the ocean. The Mane Six all watched Godzilla swim away before looking to each other.

"What do you all suppose he's looking for out there?" asked Rarity.

"It's probably still another kaiju just like Twilight said," Applejack replied.

"You think it's also like what Twilight said before and he's just smelling the scent the kaiju left behind back at that tubey prison thing?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Who knows?" replied Applejack. "I honestly think if we were gonna run into another kaiju out here we would've done it by now."

"Well, maybe, but I'm not quite sure," said Rarity.

"Well, whether there is another kaiju nearby or not, at least one good thing came out of following Godzilla out here," said Twilight Sparkle. "We found an important piece of Equestrian history. Sure it's a very dark, even evil part of history, but it's history nonetheless. And who knows? Studies of this ship could lead to great things. Like, for example, improving our own technology. Or it could give us a better understanding of the race that brought the kaiju here. Maybe it could even give us a better understanding of the kaiju themselves."

"Say, Twilight, when you said that you knew we'd find something special, did you mean we'd find something special from following Godzilla?" asked Applejack.

"No, I was talking about when we first saw the ship itself. When I saw it, I knew instantly it'd be filled with a ton of amazing secrets just waiting to be found by pony eyes. And it's gonna be our eyes that find them! Oh, I can only imagine the advances this could bring about in modern Equestrian science! Whoo-Hoo!"

Twilight Sparkle clapped her front hooves together as she squealed in excitement. The other ponies all giggled in amusement at their violet friend's giddiness.

"Aw, Twilight, it's so cute when you get all nerdcited," said Pinkie Pie with a laugh.

"It's absolutely adorable," agreed Rarity.

"Like a pile piglets splashing in the mud hole," added Applejack.

"Or a basket of puppies," said Fluttershy.

"Eh, whatever, let's keep looking around," said Rainbow Dash before she flew off to explore the room some more.

Nopony paid any mind to Rainbow Dash, instead they were watching as Twilight Sparkle blushed with a slightly embarrassed smile on her face. The others around her giggled again as they watched Twilight rub the back of her neck.

"Oh, come now, Twilight, we were just teasing," said Rarity.

"Yeah, we totally get how important this place is and how awesome it is," said Pinkie Pie.

"We also understand why it would be especially exciting for you as a scientist to make a discovery like this," said Fluttershy.

"Like Rarity said, we were just funnin' ya is all," said Applejack.

Everypony gathered around closer to Twilight as they nodded their heads reassuringly.

"Though I have to admit, and I think everypony can agree, it is rather amusing to watch you and your..." Rarity struggled to find the correct word. "What was that word you used, Pinkie Pie?"

"ADORKABLENESS!" Pinkie yelled out as she hopped around.

"Yes, that's it!" said Rarity. "Adorkableness and we only call it that because it truly is adorable."

Twilight Sparkle smiled as she pulled her friends in for a group hug.

"It's okay, girls, I have the same moments watching you all sometimes," said Twilight Sparkle.

She patted the closest of her friends on the back before walking away to explore the ship more while leaving her friends to wonder what she meant. Twilight Sparkle looked around as she took several steps towards the base of the steps on the stand that elevated the one chair up in the middle of the room above everything else. Twilight stared at the chair and could tell that this was without a doubt where the guy in charge would sit. The others watched as Twilight began to ascend up the steps towards the command chair. As they watched, they all took note of how they felt Twilight Sparkle looked very natural ascending to a seat elevated above all other things in a room.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash, who had been flying around the room the entire time, stopped in mid-flight and looked around thoughtfully before speaking out to her friends.

"Uh, I hate to possibly be morbid and bring this up, but shouldn't their be bodies laying around here? You know, of the aliens? At least maybe some sort of decayed remains?"

"Hmm, that's actually a good point, Rainbow Dash," said Twilight Sparkle. "Why aren't there any corpses here?"

Everypony thought for a minute of what the best possible answer could be.

"Maybe the aliens that were suppose to be in here weren't in here when they died," said Fluttershy. Everypony turned to the yellow pegasus to hear what she had to say. "I mean, maybe when the ship started to go down, they all ran for the exit."

"Possibly, and maybe they met their fates out in the halls which may or may not be submerged in water," said Rarity.

"Or maybe they made it out and ended up drowning outside of the ship?" suggested Pinkie Pie.

"It could be any number of things I guess," said Applejack.

"Do you think it's possible they survived?" asked Fluttershy.

"Nah," said Rainbow Dash. "If these aliens are anything like what Twilight told us about them, I think if they had survived, they would've gone straight to work on a plan-B and sprung it by now."

"I think Rainbow Dash is right," said Twilight Sparkle. "I'm completely confident that we don't have anything to fear. From the aliens at least. That means we're free to explore the fascinating spoils of war that is this ship."

Everypony else gathered around closer to the command chair as they watched Twilight Sparkle take a few more steps up closer to said chair. While they did not feel the need to geek out like Twilight had, they could still very much appreciate both making such a great discovery and exploring it as well. They all took one more look around to take in all the sights the control room had to offer. It was just as wondrous to them as it had been the first time they saw the room.

"Has this really been sitting down here for over a thousand years?" asked Rarity.

"I guarantee it has," said Twilight Sparkle. "I know it doesn't really look like it, which is very surprising to me. But I've read every piece of known information about the time of the invasion and everything says it was during the ancient times in the last days of the Alicorn Council."

Applejack let out a sort whistle as she looked around in amazement.

"Well, golly, I'd say this place has held up better than a farm in the middle of a three day thunderstorm," said the southern Earth pony.

"You can say that again," said Rainbow Dash.

"Well, golly, I'd say this place has held up better than a farm in the middle of a three day thunderstorm," said Pinkie Pie with a southern accent to match Applejack's. Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked to their pink friend in annoyance, to which she responded with a look of confusion. "What?"

"I said Applejack could say it," Rainbow Dash explained impatiently. "And it's not like I meant it literally."

"I thought litter was Twilight's thing," said Pinkie Pie.

"I think you mean literature, darling," said Rarity.

"Oh yeah," said Pinkie Pie.

Rainbow Dash let out an annoyed growl before deciding to just let it go. Fluttershy flew up alongside her and patted her on the back supportively. Then Fluttershy turned her attention out to the glass dome them that showed the big blue ocean outside.

"What's up, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked after taking notice of her friend.

"Well..." Fluttershy flew closer to the glass as she continued to stare out into the water. "I'm pretty sure Godzilla really did come out here looking for another kaiju. But I also wonder why he came here to this ship even after he saw there wasn't a kaiju around here."

Everypony thought for a few seconds of what a possible explanation could be.

"Well, it's possible there could've been a kaiju here once before and Godzilla was tracking the scent here," suggested Applejack.

"Maybe it's possible, in some way I can't understand, that they kept a kaiju on this ship before releasing it during the invasion," said Rarity.

"Hmm... both of those are very strong possibilities," said Twilight Sparkle. "But is it one of those reasons? And is not, what else could it be?"

"Maybe because he knows there's danger here," a voice called out from nowhere. The Mane Six all let out gasps as they looked around in alarm for whoever the voice might belong to. "And that might also be why he specifically told you not to come with him."

"That voice," Twilight Sparkle whispered. "It belongs to-"

The alicorn princess was cut off by an evil cackle that echoed throughout the control room as it suddenly got darker. Their ears also picked up the sound of a weak wind beginning to blow. They all turned to where they thought the wind was coming from, which turned out to be the command chair. Their eyes all widened when they saw a cloud of shadowy black smoke swirling around the chair. A small crackle of lightning from the cloud made Twilight Sparkle teleport off the steps and back down with the rest of her friends. Everypony watched in disbelief and horror as the shadowy mist faded away. It was replaced now by the imposing form of King Sombra, the lord of darkness.

He let out a small chuckle as he grinned sinisterly down at the now cowering Mane Six. However, despite the awesome presence King Sombra displayed, the cowering only lasted for a little bit. Most of the Mane Six quickly changed their tone and stared up at Sombra defiantly. They were surprised by the evil king's entrance before, but now that they saw it was him behind the smoke and mirrors, they were more so angry than anything else. While Fluttershy still had some of her fear in her, having her friends nearby her made it so she could fight back against it. Though she still did not seem as confident as her friends in facing down the dark king.

"Sombra," Twilight practically spat out the name.

"Small correction, me dear princess, the name is King Sombra," the unicorn stallion replied.

"Humph, as if any of us care," said Rainbow Dash.

Sombra looked at the pegasus mare with obvious anger in his eyes. However, he was able to contain himself and maintain a calm composure.

"Disrespect for royalty aside, I'm actually glad to see you all again," said King Sombra. "Especially altogether this time."

The dark lord turned his gaze upon poor Fluttershy, who couldn't help but lightly tremble. This seemed to make the grin on Sombra's face intensify.

"Hello, Ms. Fluttershy, so nice to formally met you this time around," said King Sombra with a cackle at the end.

Fluttershy couldn't stop herself from looking away and burying her face into Applejack's shoulder, for hers was the closest. Applejack wrapped a hoof around her shaken friend while she, much like the other mares, glared up at King Sombra.

"You leave her alone, ya big ol' field rat," said Applejack.

"Back off or else we're gonna get physical with you," Pinkie Pie practically growled as her glare intensified.

To put further emphasis on Pinkie's statement, Rainbow Dash smacked her front hooves together. King Sombra just looked down at the mares threatening him with an extremely uninterested look on his face.

"Ooh, I'm so scared," said King Sombra very sarcastically.

"She's right, Sombra, we aren't afraid to get our hooves dirty," said Twilight Sparkle. "How did you even get here anyways?"

"Why, Twilight dear, I thought you'd never ask," said King Sombra as his eyes brightened up. "But since you have, I'll tell you. I simply just followed you here from the beach."

"The beach?" asked the Mane Six in confusion.

"You were there?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

"Yes," Sombra answered. "I simply transformed into my shadow form and hid at a safe distance where I could watch the fight. I actually wasn't that far from where you girls were. I was so close I could practically reach out and touch one of you."

Those last sentences sent shivers down the spines of the Mane Six. Just the thought Sombra being that close without them knowing made them all feel extremely uncomfortable. Horrified expressions crossed all of the Mane Six faces. Seeing their horror seemed to give King Sombra a sick sense of pleasure which he expressed when his eyes widened and his sadistic grin grew bigger. However, the Mane Six soon switched back to their furious glares, which seemed more intense than before. The tyrant paid no heed to these dirty looks and continued speaking.

"Anyways, I was sure that the Behemoth was going to be the final nail in Godzilla's coffin, especially with that... explosive finishing move. But if that ended up not being the case, knowing the kind of resilient soldier Godzilla is, I had a contingency plan in place. I knew Godzilla would follow the scent of a kaiju out here and I knew you girls would be too stupidly blinded by friendship and being good friends not to follow him. That's why I decided to lure you all here. This is where I will strike the final blow against every single last one of you. Soon you ponies won't even be a whispering wind of the past when I'm through with you!"

King Sombra then let out a loud scream that echoed through the control room as he unleashed several bolts of red and green lightning from his horn. However, Twilight Sparkle was ready to fight back, using her alicorn magic to release a large orb of light. The light got so bright that it engulfed the entire room. When the light faded away, everypony saw that it had actually nullified King Sombra's magic and swept away the bolts he was creating. King Sombra looked on for a moment in shock before turning his facial expression into a snarl as he growled in anger. His reaction caused everyone of the Mane Six to smile at him boldly.

"I've got some bad news for you, Sombra," said Twilight Sparkle. "We're not scared of you anymore. Your little boogey pony act only works once. On us at least. But as long as we stand together, we know we can conquer any challenge we're in, including having to face off against you. And now you have so foolishly revealed yourself to us here in a spot where you thought we would be vulnerable. However, it is, in fact, you who is the vulnerable one. As powerful as you are, divided we are all equally as powerful. When we're together, however, there is nothing you we can't do and there's nothing you can do against us. Together we will triumph over you and all your evil right here and now."

"We'll just see about that, my little ponies," said King Sombra very snidely.

His eyes and horn all lit up in a lime green glow as he used his dark magic to activate a spell of some kind. Before any of the Mane Six could do anything, they all felt a sudden jolt like the floor under their hooves had moved for a second. This made all of them let out a small scream of surprise, but they let out an even bigger scream when they felt the room fall forward a little. Everypony knew right away that the ship had just leveled out and was now laying flat on the ground. They did not know, however, why this happened. King Sombra saw the confusion on their faces and chuckled in delight.

"Teleportation spell," the dark unicorn explained. "You're quite familiar with those I hear, princess."

"But... where did you teleport us, too, and why?" asked Fluttershy.

"Oh, just over a thousand feet deep under the ocean," King Sombra answered. "And I did it because I didn't want any interruptions from your kaiju friend or for you to have a way out of what is about to happen."

Suddenly a noise came from outside the ship, somewhere in the ocean. It took the Mane Six by surprise and even got a slight sliver of fear out of them. That was because the noise out in the ocean sounded like something really big swimming by. The Mane Six were all starting to get a little more scared when they began to think of what could be swimming around out there.

They all let out a small yelp when a shadow fell upon them. They looked up at the glass dome above and gasped to see some sort of large creature swimming by. It had swam by too fast to get a good look at and fully make out, but it was still frightening just knowing that such a beast was right outside.

"Please tell me that was Godzilla," said Applejack.

"I'm afraid not, little cowgirl," said King Sombra. "See, your overly large pet lizard wasn't following a scent that just led nowhere. Oh, no, as a matter of fact, I had my kaiju swim all around that area just so his scent could be left fresh to confuse your lizard. Then I had him come here and now I'm going to have him attack this ship and kill all of you so you'll be out of my hair!"

"But destroying the ship will kill you too!" Pinkie Pie pointed out.

"Not quite, my simple minded dear," said King Sombra. "My shadow form will protect me long enough to make it to the surface unharmed. Heck, it did when I came down here to release the kaiju in the first place, didn't it?"

Before anypony could answer, the shadow had appeared again, but when they looked up at the glass dome, there was a huge, monstrous face looking back down at them.

"You ponies might be able to take me together as a unit like you said. However, you cannot possibly hope to match the awesome might of a kaiju. Your friendship, as powerful as it may be, is no challenge to my pet here. My little ponies, say hello to the face of your death. Meet Manda."

---

Here it is at long last. Sorry that it took so long. Besides there being a bit of a delay for personal reasons, I also had to do extremely careful focus on writing and editing this particular chapter. I had to pay closer attention to detail because I've never written a chapter like this before. Oh, sure, I've done several underwater chapters before, but none like this where the reader actually has to follow the characters swimming underwater and not talking, both for such an extended amount of time. I did the best research my patience would allow me to do before writing those parts, so if anything in this chapter seems kind of off, it's because I probably didn't do proper research on how to write something like this.

But don't be afraid to let me know I did something wrong in a review after reading this story. Or if you think it's good, then tell me so also in a review after reading this chapter. Basically, what I'm saying is PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA leave a review after reading and don't be afraid to tell me of any spelling or grammar mistakes I might have made so I can correct them to the best of my ability. Also, if you do, don't just tell me I made a mistake, tell me what the mistake was so I'll know right where it is. Please and thank you.

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Now, this is usually where I would sign off, but instead I got something else to say. This is a special message to a special person who unfortunately going through a tough time right now. I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but a while back, a person on YouTube made a very positive video review of this story here. It meant a lot to me and I let him know by leaving a comment on that video and subscribing to him on YouTube. I don't know his real name, but he goes by the username of Deadpoolzilla.

Since then, I've watched and grew to love several of his videos. I even left questions on his Q&A videos and he's answered everyone of them. I can tell that this Deadpoolzilla is a good person. I have a good sense about people, me senses are telling me Deadpoolzillla is pretty damn cool. Unfortunately, he's going through several things right now that are anything but cool. I won't go into detail feeling uncomfortable in doing so, but if you are curious, he posted a video all about on his YouTube. So you can go check that out and I would suggest also checking out several of his other videos and even subscribing to him. Seriously, Deadpoolzilla's content is awesome, I think.

This message goes out to him personally. So, Deadpoolzilla, if you're still following this story and reading this overly long author's note, I know I already left a comment on your video, but I want to let you know once more that I truly, extremely truly hope you pull through the unfortunate dark times you are going through. As I've stated many times already, your a good person and I love the content you make on YouTube. And it still means a lot to me that you made that video review of this story. I go back and listen to it every time I fall, more so spiral into a funk of depression and feel like I don't want to write this story anymore, that I just want to give it all up.

It reminds me that people like this story. People have gone out of their way to review it both in the review section of this story and have made at least one video review for it on YouTube. That will always mean a lot to me and to see that someone who makes me feel that way is going through such hard times really saddens me. You deserve so much more than the BS you're going through and you also deserve every subscriber you have and ever will have. Just know that while you may be going through this, you will never truly be going through it alone. You have many fans and friends who want to be there for you through the good times and the bad. Heck, I know at least one of them has made a video basically saying the same thing I am right now. I watched it and I teared up a little, I admit.

Just know what I say before is true, all of it. And also that I'll keep praying for you. I have been praying ever since I said that originally and haven't stopped. Take heart Deadpoolzilla, good things are coming for you in the future. I can see it.

God bless you, Deadpoolzilla.