By this point, Rainbow Dash had pulled the hot air balloon so far away from the beach that she and her friends in the basket were half way back to Ponyville. It had been a little over an hour since Rainbow Dash and the others had witnessed the shocking and terrifying revelation of a giant monster's existence in Equestria. It had revealed itself to the ponies of the west coast at the same point in time that the group from Ponyville had chosen to make their first trip out there. The unexpected and frightening appearance of the monster was very traumatic for all the ponies who witnessed it. They had only managed to utter a few words as they were escaping before the trauma settled into their psyche. Nopony had said anything since then. Not even the usually talkative Pinkie Pie.

Rainbow Dash's adrenaline rush had finally played out. Now she was feeling the natural fatigue that comes after experiencing such a rush. She released the rope she was using to pull the balloon from her mouth and flew over to the basket and settled in amongst her friends. After getting into the basket, an obviously exhausted Rainbow Dash started sucking in and breathing out large gasps of air, trying to catch her breath.

"Are you alright, Rainbow Dash?" asked Pinkie Pie as she put a comforting hoof on the tuckered out pegasus' back.

"Yeah, are you okay, sugar cube?" Applejack asked as she also put her hoof on Rainbow Dash's back.

"Yeah...I'm fine. Thanks, guys, but I'm okay, really. I'm just tired," said Rainbow Dash.

She then pulled her two Earth pony friends closer to her for a group hug. Applejack and Pinkie Pie let themselves be taken by Rainbow Dash's friendly embrace, even nuzzling the sides of her face. After the group hug, Rainbow Dash spoke on.

"But right now... For the first time, I think, ever, I don't want talk about me. ...I... I wanna talk about what happened back at the beach with that... What was that thing!?" said Rainbow Dash as she started to raise her voice, the weight of the situation hitting her even harder than before.

"It was a kaiju," Twilight Sparkle answered.

All eyes turned to the alicorn princess at the mention of the strange word.

"A ka-what now?" asked Applejack.

" 'Kaiju', it means giant monster," Twilight explained.

"I believe that! Did you ponies see the size of that monster?! It was gigantic! It was enormous! ...It was ginormous! It was b-b-bigger than an... An Ursa Major!" said Pinkie Pie in her excitable way.

"Bigger, stronger, more vicious, more powerful, all and all, more dangerous," said Twilight Sparkle.

"Well that's just wonderful," said Applejack in somber sarcasm.

"Simply marvelous," Rarity added to the sarcasm.

Twilight Sparkle let out a regretful sigh.

"That's not the worst part," said Twilight in reluctance.

There was a silence at first, for everypony was somewhat taken aback. If a giant monster running loose across Equestria wasn't the worst part, then what was? Rainbow Dash was the first to break the silence and voice this question.

"Oh great, more good news! So then, what's the worst part?" said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight Sparkle was struggling to answer. She just didn't seem to want to be the bearer of bad news. But ultimately, she knew she had to be.

"It's more than likely that there are even more kaiju out there."

Everypony's jaw dropped at this revelation. None of them were able to speak. Again, even Pinkie Pie was rendered speechless at the thought of multiple giant monsters that were bigger than even the biggest dragon, stomping all around the land of Equestria.

"Twilight darling, you're not seriously suggesting there are even more vile monsters out there like the one we saw at the beach, are you?" asked Rarity.

Twilight Sparkle slowly nodded her head.

"I'm afraid so, Rarity. Though, they won't be exactly like Geon. Each one will look radically different from the other, but ultimately have the same goal," said Twilight Sparkle.

"What's that?" asked Applejack.

Twilight hesitated for only a second and a half before she answered.

"The complete destruction of life."

Again, the ponies around the alicorn princess were hit with a wave of stunned silence. The idea of creatures that live for the soul purpose of death was simply unbelievable.

"How do you know all this stuff, Twilight?" asked Spike.

"It... It's from a legend I came across while I was doing something for Princess Celestia," Twilight explained.

"So then, you know all about what's going on with these monsters suddenly popping up out of thin air?" asked Spike.

"Well..." Twilight started to say. But then, she was cut off and surprised by Spike, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash crowding around her.

"What else do you know about them?" asked Applejack.

"What are the other kaiju going to be like?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Are they even worse than that first one?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"Where was I when you found out about this legend?" asked Spike.

"Do they really want to kill and destroy everything?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Where did they come from?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"Do Princess Celestia and Princess Luna know about this?" asked Rarity.

"How many of them are there?" asked Applejack.

"How can they be stopped?" asked Spike.

"Or can they even be stop...?" Rarity started to ask.

"EVERYPONY, PLEASE STOP!" Twilight Sparkle shouted at the top of her lungs.

The group's heads snapped back in surprise. Nopony said anything after that. They just stared at Twilight Sparkle in disbelief. Twilight inhaled and exhaled to calm herself down.

"I know you all have questions. And I'd like to answer them. Really, I would. In fact, I will. But right now, I'm dealing with the shock of what just happened like all of you are. I need some time to calm down and collect myself. Because right now, I'll admit it, I am freaking out here."

Twilight Sparkle's eyes started to water and her cheeks puffed up. She fought back her tears as best she could before going on.

"I just...need some time. And when we get back to Ponyville, I promise, I'll answer all your questions, okay." said Twilight Sparkle.

Everypony looked around at each other and then back to Twilight before nodding in agreement.

"Thank you," said Twilight Sparkle, adding a little smile afterwords.

She sighed as she looked back out in the direction of Ponyville like she was before the conversation amongst her friends had started. And for a moment, everyone was silent again. They just seemed to stick to their own little area around the basket where they reflected on the possibilities of the situation described to them by Twilight.

Nopony even seemed to notice that Fluttershy didn't really make any attempt to join in the conversation. She just stayed by the same edge of the basket she'd been in since the balloon took off. As she stood there, Fluttershy kept shifting her stare from out towards the sky in front of her, to the direction of the beach where the monster Geon had come ashore and revealed himself to the world. This time however, her gaze shifted to the little filly Scootaloo, who was rolled up in a little spot on the other side of the basket. She was the only other pony not to join in on the previous conversation. She hadn't moved from that spot at anytime since the balloon took off. Her eyes started out wide open, but had since closed most of the way. She wasn't asleep though; she was trembling too much to sleep. Some of the other ponies had come over every now and then to try and make Scootaloo relax while Rainbow Dash was busy pulling the balloon. Now she was alone again, still trembling. That didn't last long, because Rainbow Dash walked over and sat down next to her. Rainbow Dash began stroking her hoof through Scootaloo's mane to try and comfort her.

Fluttershy couldn't help but feel completely guilty. The situation with the monster on the beach marks the second time Fluttershy had failed to aid Scootaloo in a bad situation. And also just like before, it was all on account of her paralyzing fear. Now Fluttershy was seeing the results of her fear driven actions. Another pony going through paralyzing fear of her own. And a filly no less. Fluttershy let out a deep breath before she walked towards Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. She stopped when she realized it would probably be better to wait until Rainbow Dash had Scootaloo completely calmed down. Rainbow Dash lowered her head closer to Scootaloo's.

"Hey, Scoots, you alright?" Rainbow Dash whispered.

Scootaloo lifted her head and looked to Rainbow Dash. What she saw was the kind, nurturing smile of her idol looking down at her.

"It's okay, Scoots, you're fine. I promise you, everything is alright," said Rainbow Dash.

Scootaloo uncurled herself from her fetal position and turned her still trembling body to face her big sister. Despite Rainbow Dash's caring smile, Scootaloo looked away as her eyes shut tight and tears fell from her eyes. Finally, the orange filly practically leaped into Rainbow Dash's welcoming embrace. As Rainbow Dash hugged Scootaloo close to her, the Cutie Mark Crusaders member said, "I was so afraid. I've never been so scared in my whole life."

Scootaloo couldn't stop herself from sobbing.

"Hey, hey, I know it was scary; that monster popping up out of nowhere. It scared me too," said Rainbow Dash.

"It did?" Scootaloo asked as she sniffled a little and wiped away some of her tears.

She pushed herself out a little to loosen Rainbow Dash's embrace so she could look up at the blue pegasus.

"Absolutely, it was a giant monster. Everypony in this basket was scared. And I guarantee there wasn't a pony on that beach that wasn't scared either. But that monster's not here now. He's miles away and we're all safe and sound on our way back to Ponyville, including you. So please, Scootaloo, don't be afraid now. You'll be okay. I'm here to look out for you," said Rainbow Dash.

Scootaloo sobbed as she let herself fall deeper into Rainbow Dash's embrace once again. Rainbow Dash rubbed her hoof up and down Scootaloo's back. After a little bit of time went by, the two pegasi loosened their hug so they could look at each other.

"You gonna be alright?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Y-yeah... I'm... I'm the toughest little filly in Ponyville," said Scootaloo as she tried to put her usual confidence back into her voice, though it still trembled a little.

"No, not just Ponyville. You're the toughest filly in all of Equestria," said Rainbow Dash.

"You'd better believe it," said Scootaloo.

Both pegasi flashed their confident smiles, they wore most often, on their faces. Now's probably going to be as good a time as any, Fluttershy thought to herself. She walked up to her two fellow pegasi and spoke up.

"Um, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo?" The two surrogate sisters looked up at the creamy yellow colored Fluttershy.

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting, but I have something I need to say to you, Scootaloo," said Fluttershy.

Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash looked to each other and then back at Fluttershy.

"Okay, I'm listening, Fluttershy," Scootaloo replied.

"I wanted to offer you the most sincere apology I can possibly give. I shouldn't have dropped you while we were running away from the monster. Uh, kaiju, that is. My being scared is no excuse for leaving a friend behind the way I did to you...again. This is twice I've let you down and it's tearing me up inside. So, I wanna say to you, Scootaloo, that I'm deeply and truly sorry. And I promise, no matter what it takes, I'll do what I can to make it up to you."

Tears started flowing out of Fluttershy's eyes and rolled down her face as she fought back the urge to break out sobbing.

"I'm sorry. ...I'm so sorry," Fluttershy said in between her small sobs.

Scootaloo was quick to act, trotting up to Fluttershy and reaching up as high as she could to hug the crying pegasus. She only got to the top of Fluttershy's front legs.

"It's okay, Fluttershy, honest. I'm here in one piece, no harm came to me. I know you've had to go through a lot when it comes to fear. I completely understand and respect that. I don't hold any hard feelings about what happened back there. I swear, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy wiped away some tears before looking down at Scootaloo.

"Really? You mean it?" asked Fluttershy with a hopeful smile.

"Cross me heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," said Scootaloo with her own reassuring smile.

Fluttershy wrapped up Scootaloo in a hug.

"Thank you, Scootaloo," said Fluttershy.

"My pleasure, Fluttershy," said Scootaloo.

After that, the orange filly walked back up to Rainbow Dash, who lightly hit her hoof into Scootaloo's shoulder.

"That was a great thing you said, Scoots," said Rainbow Dash.

"I meant it all. Honestly, if it were me in her place during that situation, I don't know for sure if I'd be able to stop and help somepony either. That monster was very scary," said Scootaloo.

"I know, it was still nice of you to say what you said though," said Rainbow Dash.

"Thanks, Rainbow Dash," said Scootaloo.

The orange pegasus pony let out a loud yawn afterwords.

"Why don't you go lay down in your spot and rest. I'll wake you when we get back to Ponyville if you aren't awake by then," said Rainbow Dash.

Scootaloo smiled as she nodded her head.

"Okay, Rainbow Dash."

So then, Scootaloo walked over to where she had been rolled up before, laid down and rolled herself up again, and was asleep within a matter of seconds.

"I would also like to apologize to you as well, Rainbow Dash?" said Fluttershy.

"Why's that?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I know how much Scootaloo means to you. If anything bad were to happen to her on my account, aside from the guilt I'd already feel, I'd feel equally as bad because somepony one of my friends holds dear to her was hurt because of me. That almost happened today and I know that you know it's true because of how you acted towards me when you came back for her," said Fluttershy.

The two ponies looked over at the sleeping filly Fluttershy was referring to. Rainbow Dash looked back to Fluttershy and spoke.

"Don't worry about it, Fluttershy, it's all good. I mean, Scootaloo's fine, no harm whatsoever, the monster's far behind us, and Scootaloo even told you that you guys were cool. Look, I'm sorry I acted bad towards you, Fluttershy. I was just... I was feeling several things at that moment."

"Like what?" asked Fluttershy.

"Oh, I don't know. ...Scared, stressed out, shocked, mad I guess. Overall, I was in a bad mood in a bad situation," said Rainbow Dash.

"Mad? Were you mad at me?" asked Fluttershy.

"Well... I... Yes, but it was only at that moment with Scootaloo and I was only a little mad at you. I was more mad at the situation we were forced into. I still can't believe that there's a giant monster on the loose. And I was there. But I swear, Fluttershy, I'm not mad at you anymore," said Rainbow Dash.

She worked up the best smile she could to reassure her yellow friend. Fluttershy returned the smile.

"I believe you, Rainbow Dash. Again, even though you said things were okay between us, I'm still very sorry for not being a better help to Scootaloo. It's just..."

Fluttershy let out a sigh when she couldn't think of how to finish her sentence.

"I'm just so tired of being a scaredy cat. I know Twilight thinks I'm brave, but I wanna be brave like she is, like you are. It's not fair. Why can't I control my fear?" said Fluttershy.

"Look, Fluttershy, I totally understand and respect that you've been in a constant struggle with your fear. But if what Twilight said about the whole multiple kaiju thing is true, then we're all gonna have to try to get a grip on our fear. And I know that's not an easy thing to ask in a situation like this. It's probably the worst thing Equestria will ever have to deal with. But it's the scariest problems like this that requires everypony to step up their courage. That includes all of us," said Rainbow Dash.

"I know, Rainbow Dash. I...just don't know how to," said Fluttershy.

"Well, isn't there, like, doctors who ponies go to specifically for that kind of thing?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy's eyes widened in surprise.

"Rainbow Dash, are you suggesting that I go to a psychologist?" asked Fluttershy.

It was Rainbow Dash's turn to go wide eyed, only it was in alarm.

"No! No! I'm not saying that! I was just throwing out a random suggestion! That was the first idea to pop into my head! I didn't mean to imply that you need a shrink or something... You know what, forget I said anything. Apparently I'm not over my shock yet."

After that, neither pony said anything to each other, although deep down, Fluttershy was wondering if maybe Rainbow Dash was right and maybe she should seek professional help.

"Hey, girls..."

It was Twilight Sparkle. Everypony turned to their alicorn friend expectingly.

"What is it, Twilight?" asked Applejack.

"Do you hear that?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

Everypony walked over to Twilight's side and stuck out an ear to listen for what she heard. It wasn't long before they heard it as well. But, the sound they heard made them feel panic run through their bodies. That seemed to be the function of this sound and the devices that made it. Not since Spike's rampage when he went through an unnatural growth into a full grown dragon has the sound had to be heard and the machines that make them have to be switched on. It was the sound of the civil defense sirens of Ponyville. Based on what Twilight Sparkle had been talking about to everypony else before, they could only assume the worst.

"Looky up yonder," said Applejack as she pointed a hoof.

What was seen didn't make the group in the balloon basket feel any better. A cloud of black smoke was coming up from the ground and floating towards the sky. Gasps of shock and fear escaped the mouths of those who were able to bring themselves to do so.

"Ponyville..." Rarity was only able to say that one word.

Rainbow Dash flew out of the basket and behind it, where she proceeded to push it towards the black smoke. When they were only half a mile away, Rainbow Dash stopped and got back in the basket. She gasped when she saw Scootaloo had awaken and was now staring at the smoke cloud with the same wide eyed, opened mouth shock as everypony else.

"Don't look, Scootaloo," said Rainbow Dash as she hugged the filly close to her.

The hot air balloon was close enough now that the ponies who occupied it could see that the cloud of smoke was being fed by small flows of smoke from huge fires that were blazing through Ponyville. Several houses and shops were either demolished or burning. The damage was immense, but by a stroke of luck, it only seemed like half the town had faced destruction. The other pony made structures managed to survive whatever came through the town seeking this devastation.

"I... I-I Don't believe it," said Twilight Sparkle.

"I'm seeing it in front of my own eyes...and I still don't believe it either," said Applejack.

"I'm seeing it, but not believing it and wishing that I was somewhere else not seeing it or that I was here and it wasn't here for me to see it," said Pinkie Pie.

She did not say it in her usual hyper way, but a more somber version that still had almost no pauses.

"It's...absolutely dreadful. ...What a horrible sight to see," said Rarity.

"Oh my gosh... Why? ...What could've done this?" said Spike.

All of a sudden, the shadow of a huge object passed over, faster than what could be believed for something the size the shadow suggests. After the shadow passed over them, the ponies in the basket stuck their heads out over the sides and looked up for the object that made the shadow. But, all they saw was the clouds and a trail of black smoke in the sky. The ponies looked for the source of the trail, but that was interrupted when a noise from below reached their ears.

"Hey, what's that noise?" asked Pinkie Pie.

She found out very quick when an object flying from below just barely missed her. Pinkie Pie jumped back and screamed as the wind gust from the object blew in her face. All the other ponies gathered around Pinkie Pie, Twilight and Rarity even putting hooves on her shoulders.

"Goodness, dear! Are you alright, Pinkie Pie?" said Rarity.

After Pinkie Pie's breathing steadied and her chest stopped heaving, she answered.

"Yeah, I'm fine...I guess."

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

"A really, really big boulder. Trust me, I was close enough to see," replied Pinkie Pie.

"How could boulders fly up into the air like that?" asked Rarity.

At that moment, several other objects went flying up, past the balloon, rocking it some from the wind gust made by their passing.

"No, Pinkie's right, look," said Twilight Sparkle as she looked and pointed a hoof towards the ground below.

Everypony looked down and saw that there were several large, metal catapults surrounded by earth, unicorn, and pegasus stallions wearing the armor of the Equestria Royal Army. The unicorns used their magic to lift boulders into the catapults and then launched them. They surrounded the outskirts of Ponyville like they were trying to blockade all others out. Judging by the state Ponyville was in, the blockade wasn't that effective. As another boulder flew by, Applejack asked, "Why are they launching boulders into the sky? Are they aiming at us?"

"Whatever it was that made that smoke trail. That's probably it. Tell me what the heck that was," said Rainbow Dash.

"I-I-I-I think I may have found it," said a shuddering Fluttershy in a trembling voice.

Everypony looked to the yellow pegasus who was in the back of the basket pointing a hoof upward. They quickly came over and looked in the direction Fluttershy was pointing. Although most of them probably wished afterwords that they didn't. For up in the sky flying around in a circle, covered in a black smoke that flowed off it in a trail, was a giant, red eyed, sharp fanged, black vampire bat. The monstrous bat let out a loud shriek that echoed through the air.

The ponies and dragon in the balloon covered their ears to shield them from the high pitched shrieks. The bat ceased flying around in its circle and flapped its wings to get up higher in the sky than it already was. It was stopped when several of the boulders being shot up in the air bounced against its body. The bat flapped its wings in a way to keep it in place as it looked down at the catapults and the ponies operating them. At that moment, a catapult was activated and the boulder inside it was flung into the air. It ended up hitting the bat in the nose. The bat lightly shook its head in annoyance and then let out a screech as it nose dived towards the blockade. As it passed the hot air balloon, the occupants watched it fly by with wide eyed fear.

"O-o-o-one of y-y-y-y-your kaiju thingys?" asked Pinkie Pie as she leaned over to Twilight Sparkle.

"They're...not really mine..."

Twilight was cut off by the shriek of the bat monster.

"But yeah. It's name is Screech," Twilight Sparkle finished.

She watched with the others as the monster identified as Screech let out another one of its shrieks and shifted its body so it was falling feet first towards the blockade. Then when it was close enough, Screech grabbed one of the catapults in its talons, flapped its wings to take itself back up a few feet, and then flung the catapult into another. As Screech flew back up into the sky, it shrieked again as most of the ponies below it panicked.

"It may have skinny legs...but it sure puts them to use," said Spike.

"Oh my gosh. Just look at that thing," said Rarity.

While it may not have been as big as the four hundred foot dragonesque Geon, in many ways, the two hundred and thirty foot Screech was more frightening to look at. On the ground, the pegasus captain put in charge of the blockade looked out at said blockade. It had taken several hits from the kaiju they were fighting, but he knew they couldn't drop their assault. Too much was at stake for them to do so. Most of the ponies in Ponyville had taken shelter, but some were still stuck out in the streets of the town. So no matter what happens, the captain knew they had to keep the blockade going for as long as they could.

"Captain! Captain!" a young earth pony soldier called.

The captain turned and watched as the earth pony soldier trotted up to him. The earth pony saluted before speaking.

"Sir, there's a civilian balloon in the sky where we're aiming our catapults."

The captain's eyes widened in alarm.

"What?!"

The pegasus captain picked up a pair of binoculars on a table in front of him, which also had a map with an attack strategy drawn out. He lifted the binoculars to his eyes and searched the sky. He's instincts took him immediately to the giant bat monster named Screech. It was flying around as if it were waiting and deciding when to attack next. After it let out a shriek, the pegasus captain looked away, continuing to scan the sky for the civilian balloon. It wasn't too long after that he found it. His initial shock of seeing actual civilians in the middle of a war zone was added onto when he saw how dangerously close they were to the monster.

"Sweet Celestia, they'll be killed!" the captain exclaimed.

He then put down the binoculars and picked up a megaphone.

"Attention, men, hold your fire!" the captain shouted into the megaphone.

Some of the stallions followed orders and ceased attacking, while others seemed to either not hear the captain or were still shooting off their catapults out of determination and fear of Screech.

"Stop! Hold your fire! Hold your fire, men!" the captain shouted even louder into his megaphone.

This time, all soldiers followed his instructions and ceased their assault. The captain turned his attention up to the hot air balloon containing the Mane Six, Spike, and Scootaloo.

"This is Captain Thunder Hooves! Make your way to the ground! You must land! You are in dangerous airspace! Land your balloon as close as you can and then make your way to the blockade! Repeat: This is Captain Thunder Hooves! You must land!"

"He don't have to tell us twice!" said Applejack.

"I think he already did," said Pinkie Pie.

"Not now, Pinkie! Spike, let's land this thing!" said Twilight Sparkle.

Spike nodded his head and helped Twilight to begin the landing process which slowly took the balloon closer to the ground. Screech looked and saw the balloon as it lowered out of the air. She had passed it before, but at the time didn't think much of it. Now, for some reason Screech could not comprehend, nor did she question, she felt that all things, living or not, that moved needed to be destroyed. She now felt she had to protect her perceived territory from all things and make examples out of those things. Screech shrieked out before she nose dived after the balloon.

"It's coming straight for us!" Fluttershy screamed out in fear as she pointed a hoof.

All in the basket gasped as they turned and saw the kaiju was indeed aiming for them. It even started reaching its skinny, but still very long, legs out to grab the balloon in its talons. Everypony screamed as they closed their eyes and braced themselves for the hit. But that hit never came due to a lone boulder smacking into the side of Screech's body. The bat shifted its body in mid-flight towards where the boulder came from. What she saw were the same catapults that had been attacking her before.

It seemed as though one more boulder had been launched. This was in fact the case, as Captain Thunder Hooves stood by the catapult he had just released and stared intensely at the beast his soldiers had been fighting against for a good while now. Screech stared back as a snarl grew across her face. The boulders bouncing against her body didn't hurt, but they were very annoying, especially for a bat trying to fly. Screech shrieked in agitation before letting itself fly into a nose dive towards the blockade.

"Move, men! We gotta move! We can't stay still, we gotta move!" Captain Thunder Hooves shouted.

The soldier ponies ran off in several directions in an attempt to avoid Screech's assault.

"Oh, no! Those ponies will be killed!" shouted Rarity.

"Not if I can help it!" Twilight Sparkle said with an intense look upon her face.

She shut her eyes tight as her horn lit up, indicating her magic was activated. The aura of magic began to grow in mass, taking on an orb shape as it grew. When the orb was barely touching the bottom of the balloon, Twilight Sparkle released the orb from her horn, firing it at Screech. The orb of destructive magic flew down fast and hit the kaiju with explosive results. Screech shifted her body and stopped her nose dive. She looked to see the hot air balloon, which was still lowering from the sky. Screech shrieked out before flying up towards them.

"Why'd you do that, Twilight? Now that thing's gonna kill us instead!" said Rainbow Dash.

"Trust me," Twilight Sparkle replied.

Screech was about halfway to the balloon when she felt three boulders hit her from behind. The giant bat looked down and saw another boulder launched from a catapult towards her.

"Great strategy they thought of up there," Captain Thunder Hooves said out loud.

"Good, they figured it out," said Twilight Sparkle.

She then lit up her horn again and made a second orb of attack magic. She seemed more strained this time, but nonetheless continued on with the attack spell and eventually launched it. The orb hit Screech, who had by this point started flying towards the blockade. Screech shrieked in aggravation as it turned towards the balloon again. It didn't get far before getting hit from behind again by the forces of the blockade. Another shriek escaped Screech's mouth as she turned back towards the blockade. Twilight did as best she could to make another orb of energy. But she was even more strained this time than she was before. Ultimately, it ended up costing her attack a little, as the orb came out smaller than the last two. But she was able to fire it nonetheless. The orb hit Screech, however due to the smaller size, the bat kaiju didn't find it as noticable. So she continued flying towards the blockade.

"Oh! no" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed in between heavy breaths of exhaustion.

She tried to form another attack orb, but her horn fizzled out only a few seconds after it started up. Twilight tried again, but was only met with the same result. She tried a few more times before her horn stopped lighting up altogether and she was taking even heavier breaths of exhaustion. Spike hurried over to his caretaker's side and held one of her hooves in his hands.

"Please, Twilight, don't pressure yourself! You did all you could," said Spike.

"But...those...ponies..." Twilight managed to say as she pointed her free hoof.

It was too late. Screech passed over the blockade and flapped her wings several times as she flew by. The powerful winds created by the flapping of the kaiju's wings sent several ponies and pieces of plant life flying all around in many directions. Several catapults were also lifted up and flew either into each other in mid-air, or crashed back into the ground, or into catapults that weren't taken up by the wind gust, or worst yet, the soldier ponies that had been operating them. Screech flew up into the air feeling satisfied with her assault.

Once the hot air balloon landed, all the passengers jumped out and began to run towards the partially destroyed catapult blockade. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew, with Dash carrying Scootaloo on her back, while the other ponies ran. Twilight Sparkle stopped when she saw that Spike was still back at the balloon and trying to tie it down. She ran back and used her magic to lift Spike towards her.

"No time for that, Spike. We need to get to safety."

Twilight's point was made by the shrieking of the bat kaiju named Screech, who was currently circling overhead. Twilight Sparkle placed Spike on her back and then started running to catch up with the others. She tried flapping her wings to fly, but she kept messing up and falling back to the ground, even almost tripping and falling face first at one point. She ultimately decided to stick to running.

Twilight Sparkle brought up the rear as the group came up to the blockade. What they saw were several soldiers trying to pick themselves up off the ground or were laying on the ground groaning and moaning in pain. Some of the injured ponies that got up tried to aid their fellow soldiers who were still on ground in pain. They were quickly joined by uninjured soldiers to also help their injured comrades. Twilight Sparkle spotted one pegasus stallion that stuck out amongst the crowd.

"Girls, I think that's the captain," said Twilight Sparkle as she pointed a hoof.

"Come on," She then ordered as she waved her hoof for the others to follow.

The violet alicorn led the group up to the pegasus stallion, who then stood and waited after he saw them coming.

"Are you Captain Thunder Hooves?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

"Yes, I am," the stallion replied.

Thunder Hooves' eyes widened in surprise and realization.

"You're Princess Twilight Sparkle!" Captain Thunder Hooves exclaimed before bowing.

Several of his troops followed suit and bowed to the princess. Twilight's usual embarrassment at being recognized by her new title was overtaken by her sense of urgency.

"Please rise, Captain," said Twilight Sparkle.

"Yes, Princess," said Captain Thunder Hooves.

Twilight Sparkle noticed that the other soldiers hadn't gotten up yet. She rolled her eyes before saying, "Will all of you please rise as well?"

They did as she asked and stood up straight.

"Okay, now please tell me, Captain, when did all this start to happen?!" asked Twilight Sparkle with urgency.

"A little more than a half hour ago. There was this big black cloud of smoke hanging over Ponyville. A two pony squad was sent out to investigate and that's when that thing came out of the cloud and begun its attack," said Captain Thunder Hooves as he pointed a hoof up at Screech.

"The squad reported back and an assault force was sent out. Unfortunately, that bat out of Tartarus had already done a lot of damage. Most of the ponies in Ponyville have already taken shelter. However, some weren't able to find a shelter and are stuck out in the streets. I sent some stallions in there to assist in the evacuation. But as of now, I don't know how that's going," said Captain Thunder Hooves.

"Then that's our que to make our way into Ponyville and help those ponies," said Rainbow Dash.

"Wait, what?" asked Captain Thunder Hooves.

"Rainbow's right. We have to help the ponies still stuck in the streets in anyway we can. Our ultimate goal should be to gather as many of the stray ponies we can and lead them to the underground shelters," said Twilight Sparkle.

"Well then, why are we still standing around letting out manes float in the breeze?" asked Applejack.

"Indeed, those ponies need our help. Let's not stand around and keep them waiting any longer," said Rarity.

"Alright, My Little Ponies, let's move out!" said Twilight Sparkle.

The ponies proceeded to make their way towards the town of Ponyville, intense and focused looks on their faces. Captain Thunder Hooves had to force himself out of his bewildered state.

"W-wait, Your High... Um... Princess, please! Please, Princess... Princess Twilight!" Captain Thunder Hooves said through his stammering.

It was too late. The group of ponies were already halfway across the field, running as fast as possible into Ponyville. Well, I can't say I object to ponies wanting to help those who need it. Heck, that's why I joined the Royal Army. I just wish it wasn't one of the princesses that was throwing herself out on the front lines. Still, there she goes, as brave as can be with her equally brave friends, thought Captain Thunder Hooves.

"May Celestia be with you and your courageous and loyal friends, Princess Twilight Sparkle," Captain Thunder Hooves said out loud.

Right after his spoken send off, a huge shadow fell over the pegasus captain. He turned around and looked up to see the kaiju called Screech swooping down like she was coming in for a landing. Screech shrieked out as she reached out her talons and grabbed hold of two different catapults, which she lifted off the ground. The flapping of Screech's wings to keep her in the air caused severe winds that sent several ponies, pieces of equipment, and random pieces of ferns and piles of dirt and similar pieces of nature flying into the air in random directions.

The ponies and debris wound up either crashing into each other or back to the ground or both. Screech squeezed her left foot talons as hard as she could until she snapped off the piece of the catapult she held. This made the catapult fall back down and crash into whatever may be below. Then Screech flung the other catapult into two other catapults, causing even more damage. Captain Thunder Hooves and several of his soldiers had ducked for cover, hoping to avoid the winds of Screech's wings, the flying debris crashing around, and the monster herself. Screech swooped back down and raked her talons across the ground, grabbing up loads of dirt and several ponies.

Then, Screech flung the load in her talon's grasp into the air. Thunder Hooves first watched, to his horror, all those ponies caught by the monster fall helplessly to the ground below. Then, he watched as the giant bat opened her mouth and released her loudest shriek yet. It was so loud, it actually caused a sonic vibration. It was revealed that Screech was able to aim this sonic vibration into a beam, which she used to rip apart what was left of the blockade and the ground it had stood on. Afterwords, Screech observed her handy work before she flew off towards Ponyville.

Captain Thunder Hooves watched helplessly as the monster flew off to the town. Then, he looked around at the destruction she had left in her wake. All the catapults reduced to scrap metal, all the land that was ripped apart, and worst of all, the lives that had been lost in what proved to be a futile attempt at stopping the mighty kaiju. The disgraced captain hung his head in regret and sorrow.

"We... No, I...have failed," was all Thunder Hooves was able to say.

---

Twilight Sparkle led her friends through the mostly abandoned and totally wrecked streets of the formerly peaceful Ponyville. The group couldn't help but look around at the damage left behind by the kaiju, Screech. The sight of burning and crushed buildings, and trees, among other items was almost enough to crush the soul and make the heart break. But everypony knew there was too much at stake for them to stop and mourn, so they trotted on. They didn't stop until they had reached the center of town.

Twilight Sparkle looked around as she gathered her thoughts and organized a strategy. Twilight then turned to her fellow ponies to brief them.

"Alright, everypony, please listen closely. They're three streets that will lead to the shelter the fastest. What we need to do is split up into three teams and go down these roads. Along the way, each team will be on the look out for any stray ponies. You'll pick them up, and escort them to the shelter," Twilight Sparkle told her friends.

"Um... Are we sure we wanna break up the team and run off in different directions in the middle of a monster rampage?" asked Rarity in a shaky voice.

"You heard Twilight and Captain Thunder Hooves, there could still be ponies out here! They could be trapped or seriously hurt," said Rainbow Dash.

"And it's our duty as the carriers of the Elements of Harmony..." Applejack started.

"And as ponies to help those who need it," Rainbow Dash finished.

Rarity was quick to realize what her two friends were saying was right and she nodded in agreement.

"Alright, here's the plan, Rainbow Dash and Rarity, you both go down Wild Colt Street," said Twilight Sparkle.

"Right," said Rainbow Dash and Rarity.

"Pinkie Pie, you and me will go down Trotting Hoof Street," said Twilight Sparkle.

"Okey, dokey, lokey," said Pinkie Pie as she saluted with a serious look on her face.

"Fluttershy, Applejack, Mane Street is the fastest way to the shelter. I need you two to escort Spike and Scootaloo to there as quick as possible," said Twilight Sparkle.

Applejack and Fluttershy nodded in agreement. But Spike seemed not so enthused, for his eyes widened in surprise.

"But, Twilight, I don't wanna..."

"No, Spike, it's too dangerous for you to be out here. I don't want you to fight me on this. I want you to be safe and Mane Street is the fastest way to the shelter. That's where I'm sending Fluttershy and Applejack and that's why I'm sending you with them. So no arguments out of you. I don't want to hear it," said Twilight Sparkle.

A sad and somewhat hurt look came over Spike's face. It almost seemed like he was about to cry.

"But, Twilight, I wanna stay with you," said Spike.

"I want that too, Spike. But if it means you being put in danger, then I'd rather you be somewhere safe. Now please don't fight me on this," said Twilight.

Spike hesitated to respond, having to look away as a tear escaped his eye. But then he looked back to Twilight Sparkle and said, "Okay, Twilight, you win. I'll go with them. But please be as safe as you can and come back in one piece."

"I promise, Spike," said Twilight Sparkle with a small smile on her face.

She then pulled Spike into a hug. Afterwords the two looked at each other a moment longer before Spike walked over to Fluttershy and Applejack.

"Now you're gonna be totally cool and listen to what Applejack and Fluttershy say, right, Squirt?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Mm Hmm, I will, Rainbow Dash," said Scootaloo as she nodded her head.

"You'd better. I love ya, Scoots," said Rainbow Dash.

"I love you too, Rainbow Dash. Take care of yourself," said Scootaloo.

The two gave each other a quick hug before Scootaloo trotted over to her group. Twilight Sparkle waved Applejack over to her, which the southern mare obliged.

"Please watch out for those three, Applejack. I don't think any of them can get through this without a close eye being kept on them. Especially..."

Twilight Sparkle stopped and looked over Applejack's shoulder at Fluttershy. She was already regretting feeling the way she did when it pertained to the yellow pegasus. After the incident with Geon on the beach, she didn't know what to feel about Fluttershy. Applejack caught on quickly and spoke up.

"Don't you worry about a thing, sugar cube. I'll keep a close eye on them and make sure they're looked after," said Applejack.

"Thank you, Applejack. I really appreciate it," said Twilight Sparkle.

"Don't mention it, Twilight. You keep your promise to Spike now, ya hear? Don't go gettin' yourself hurt unnecessarily now," said Applejack.

"Don't worry, AJ, I won't," said Twilight.

The two quickly hugged before they walked off to their respective teams.

"Good luck to all of you," Twilight Sparkle called out.

Everypony smiled before heading off down their assigned streets. Among these streets was Mane Street, the street assigned to Applejack and Fluttershy. They ran as fast as they could through the path of destruction that had been left by the dreaded kaiju. While they wanted to get to the shelter, they also kept their eyes opened for anypony who might need their help. Scootaloo rode on Applejack's back, while Spike rode on Fluttershy's. So far, neither of them saw any ponies as they made their way through the wrecked street.

Applejack was completely dedicated to finding those who might need assistance through this tragedy. Fluttershy on the other hand, was mostly looking to see whether or not Screech was in the sky above. Fluttershy was not a selfish pony by nature. Quite the opposite, she is most often the kindest pony you'd ever meet.

But fear can change a pony drastically if they let it get that strong of a hold. Unfortunately, seeing Screech and what she did to the blockade and looking around at what she did to Ponyville installed that level of fear in poor Fluttershy. While Fluttershy was looking around, she managed to steal the smallest glimpse of Spike on her back. It was all she needed to see. What she saw was the look of a sad, scared, and very worried baby dragon. But it was not for himself. Not at all; Fluttershy could tell because Spike was looking off in the direction Twilight Sparkle had gone with Pinkie Pie.

We're in immense danger and even now, Spike is selfless and thinking about somepony who is basically like his mother. And I'm unable to think about possibly helping out somepony I don't even know and just worry about myself. Even a baby dragon is braver than me, Fluttershy thought to herself. A look of motivation crossed Fluttershy's face as she focused less on looking for Screech and more on ponies that may be laying out and about in the streets that need help.

Her new found concentration and desire to seek those in need paid off fairly quickly. Though it wasn't a pony she spotted, but in fact a familiar looking cat scampering across the rubble filled street.

"Opal! What are you doing out here all by yourself?!" Fluttershy asked as she ran up to the cat.

Applejack stopped and watched Fluttershy approach Rarity's moody cat. Scootaloo took the opportunity to jump off the orange mare's back and ran over to Fluttershy's side. Fluttershy picked up the cat in her hooves and saw that Opal's eyes were wide with fear, the reaction one should expect in a scene such as they were in.

"How did she get out?" asked Scootaloo.

"I don't know. I do know Lyra was watching her while Rarity was out of town," said Fluttershy.

"Well, she's here now, so let's grab the furball and meet the others at the shelter like Twilight said," Spike demanded impatiently.

This got everypony to turn and look at Spike in surprise.

"I'm sorry, I just hate that I'm not at Twilight's side at a time like this. What if she needs my help? She could be in trouble! She could be hurt! She could even be..."

Tears started to build up in Spike's eyes.

"We know how ya feel, Spike. We're all concerned for Twilight too. Heck, we're concerned for all of our friends running around this war zone right now," said Applejack, who had walked up to the group.

"But you must realize that Twilight is a fully capable pony that we can trust to be careful, yet effective in this kind of situation. Twilight's never let us down before and has always pulled through when we needed her to," said Fluttershy.

Spike looked to the supportive ponies around him, but quickly looked away again, the same unsure look of concern on his face. Applejack walked up until her head was next to Spike's.

"Look, Spike, you know the kind of pony Twilight is right?" asked Applejack.

"Right," replied Spike.

"You know she's always guaranteed to come through when it really counts in the end, right?" asked Applejack.

"Right," replied Spike.

"Well then, you know she'll come through for us just like before. So stop your worrying. Twilight wouldn't want you to worry about her, though admittedly, she's probably worrying about you right now," said Applejack.

"I think what Applejack is trying to say is, you can be concerned for Twilight. But you shouldn't let that concern consume you. Otherwise you become unfocused and those uncontrolled emotions could make you unstable and cause friction between you and your friends," said Fluttershy.

Spike looked at the supportive smiles on his friends' faces.

"Twilight wouldn't want any of that for you, Spike," Fluttershy added.

"For real, Spike. I wouldn't worry to much about Twilight. I'm not overly worried about Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo offered.

Spike's eyes widened.

"You're not?"

"No way. And it's because I know she's totally capable of taking care of herself in a situation. I mean, hey, she's probably out taking care of several other ponies too. I know she can do it, just like I know Twilight can do it. I have faith in them, don't you?"

Everything Spike's friends were telling him sunk in and he knew it was true.

"All of you are right. I have to believe in Twilight. I do, just like I believe in all you," said Spike.

"We believe in you too, Spike," said Fluttershy.

"Alright, I'll be strong for all of you and for Twilight," said Spike.

"That's the spirit, sugar cube. Now let's hurry up to the shelter," said Applejack.

Spike nodded before picking up Opalescence out of Fluttershy's hooves.

"I got her, Fluttershy," Spike assured.

The yellow pegasus nodded in agreement. Then Spike jumped up on her back. Before Scootaloo had a chance to get back on Applejack's back, a familiar shriek filled the air. It also filled the ponies, dragon, and cat full of dread. A huge shadow passed over the group, making them look up to see the form of the giant monster known as Screech as it flew up in the sky overhead.

"Everypony, duck for cover!" Applejack called out.

Fluttershy spotted a turned over and partially wrecked wagon off to the side of the street.

"There!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she pointed a hoof to the wagon.

Spike jumped off her back and joined the ponies as they ran to and then slid under the wagon. As the others hid and cowered, Applejack stuck her head out from under the wagon to keep track of Screech.

The bat kaiju circled over the area of Mane Street searching for food. She couldn't see anything that looked like potential prey, but she knew a way to draw out those that could be. She had done it several times in this area already. Screech nosedived towards the half destroyed city below as fast as she could fly. She stopped herself when she was a few feet from crashing into a house and flew upward over said house, flapping her wings as hard as possible.

This caused a strong gust of wind to start blowing around the area. It was so strong in fact that it made the house move around, and rip off its foundation. Then finally, the walls broke apart to the point where the roof could no longer be supported right and it ended up collapsing in on the crumbling house. The wind from Screech's wings and the added gust of the house collapsing blew all around the area. It was felt by the small group hiding under the wrecked wagon. Everypony shut their eyes to keep dust and debris from blowing into them.

Opalescence struggled to get out of Spike's hands, hissing, wiggling around, and even scratching at Spike. Luckily, it didn't hurt nearly as much as it would've thanks to Spike's thick scales. It still hurt though, but Spike was able to keep himself from screaming out in pain, even managing to place one of his hands over Opal's mouth and silence her hissing. But now she was biting his hand with her teeth that were equally as razor sharp as her claws. Nopony said anything as they stayed in place and waited for the wind to past. During the gust, several pieces of debris blew past or into the ponies' faces. But still they made no sounds or movements, forcing themselves not to cry out in pain, or run out into the street, or even give the littlest flinch.

Screech looked down expectingly at the streets below. When her attack first began, the majority of ponies ran through the streets, while some others had tried to hide. She did nosedives like the one she just used to destroy that house and they came scurrying out into the streets for the picking. And oh, were they easy pickings for Screech. This time however, it didn't seem to work. Screech circled around one more time and then let out a snort of annoyance. Then Screech let out one of her shrieks before flying off to the north.

As the bat kaiju flew over, Applejack ducked her head back under the the wagon. When the kaiju's shadow fell over the area, Fluttershy's trembling increased ten full from what it was before. The fearful sounds she made were heard by the filly and young dragon on both her sides. Hearing and seeing that Fluttershy was even more afraid than they were instilled a new found courage in both Spike and Scootaloo as they both reached out a hand and a hoof and held both of Fluttershy's front hooves. Fluttershy felt this which made her open her eyes and look to her sides.

She saw, both times, supportive smiles from those who held her hooves, Spike and Scootaloo. Fluttershy responded to their kind gestures with a grateful smile of her own. But the the smile slightly faded when she realized she just had to be calmed down by two kids. How embarrassing that must be when you're a full grown mare.

Applejack stuck her head out of the wagon once the shadow of Screech passed by. She watched the giant monster fly away until it was out of sight.

"Alright y'all, let's get back up on our hooves and mosey on to the shelter," said Applejack before she completely pulled herself out from under the wagon.

Fluttershy let Spike and Scootaloo crawl out to the street before her. Then after Fluttershy pulled herself out from under the wagon, she walked up to Scootaloo and Spike.

"Thank you both very much," said Fluttershy.

"You're welcome, Fluttershy," said Spike.

"It's no problem," said Scootaloo.

After that, Scootaloo walked away and jumped onto Applejack's back while Fluttershy kneeled down to let Spike back on her back. While Spike was pulling himself back up onto Fluttershy's back, the pegasus pony couldn't help but notice the scratches left by Opalesence.

"Oh my goodness! Poor baby, you got hurt trying to restrain Opal," said Fluttershy concernedly.

"Don't worry about it, Fluttershy. Thick scales, remember? Besides, I've taken so much abuse from Opal that I'm use to it by now. I'll be fine," said Spike.

"I hope so," said Fluttershy as she offered her passenger a nurturing smile.

She then looked to Opalesence.

"Now, Opal, I want you to stay calm and be nice to Spike the rest of the time you're in his care. He's only trying to keep you safe so you can be reunited with Rarity in one piece. Do you understand?" said Fluttershy in a lightly stern, but still mostly gentle tone that she uses with animals when she has to.

The cat gave a small nod as she let out a little meow before relaxing in Spike's arms.

"Thanks, Fluttershy, she was getting to be a hand full," said Spike.

"My pleasure, Spike," said Fluttershy.

"Come on, y'all, we still got a ways yet to go!" Applejack called.

Fluttershy responded by flapping her wings to start flying and catch up with Applejack. The orange Earth pony saw her pegasus friend coming and continued to gallop onwards to the shelter.

A little further up north of this little group on Wild Colt Street, Rainbow Dash flew overhead while Rarity ran as fast as she could to keep up with the blue pegasus. Despite the great speed she was currently flying at, Rainbow Dash could've easily gone much faster. But she stayed at her current, slower speed for two reasons. So that Rarity wouldn't lose her and because she didn't want to miss some ponies possibly out on the streets that may need help. She kept a constant lookout, as did Rarity, the white unicorn looking all around her for any ponies as she ran. It ended up being Rainbow Dash who found one first.

"Rarity, look up ahead," Rainbow Dash called out.

Rarity first looked up to Rainbow Dash, who was pointing a hoof and then followed the direction she was pointing and saw a familiar gray pegasus pony. Derpy Hooves was busy at work trying to lift a broken off piece of a house roof and having no luck doing it. Rarity and Rainbow Dash could tell by the way Derpy Hooves was pulling on the piece of roof, the urgency on her face, and the beads of sweat rolling down her forehead that this was very important to her. Rainbow Dash and Rarity ran up the struggling pegasus pony.

"Derpy, what's the matter? Why are you messing with that structure?" asked Rarity.

"Did you lose a muffin under it or something?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Derpy Hooves looked to the two ponies with a look of pure terror.

"A bunch of kids are trapped under here, including my little Dinky Doo!" Derpy Hooves exclaimed as tears flowed from her eyes.

Rainbow Dash and Rarity gasped in horror, while Derpy Hooves resumed trying to pull up the roof piece. Rainbow Dash flew down to Derpy's side and began pulling up on the roof piece as well. Rarity got behind the two pegasi and used her unicorn magic to try and lift the broken off structure. With the combined effort of the three mares, the roof slowly started to lift off the ground.

As what was left of daylight shined over the previously covered spot, the foals that were trapped underneath opened their eyes, slowed their fear driven shivering, and looked up to see the three ponies that had saved them.

"Mommy!" Dinky Doo cried out.

"Move it, everypony! Move, move, move!" yelled Rainbow Dash.

All five of the foals ran out from underneath the raised roof piece. Besides Dinky Doo, there was Twist-a-loo, Snips, Silver Spoon, and..

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity cried out when she saw her little sister come out from under the roof.

"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle cried out in a similar manner.

After all the foals were out from underneath the broken roof piece, the three mares dropped it back down. Dinky Doo then jumped into her mother's hooves while Rarity and Sweetie Belle ran up to each other.

"I knew you'd save me, Mommy!" said Dinky Doo before her mom hugged her even tighter.

Rainbow Dash looked to the other three foals and asked them, "Are you guys alright?"

The three children responded by running up to Rainbow Dash and pressing against her as they cried over what they went through. Rainbow Dash was taken aback at first, but eventually she got over it and offered a caring smile as she placed a hoof around the three. Her sisterhood with Scootaloo had made it easier for her to interact with children than it would've been otherwise.

Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle snuggled up to Rarity and sobbed immensely while Rarity had her hoof gently wrapped around her little sister.

"It's okay, Sweetie Belle. I'm here now, don't cry," Rarity said softly.

Sweetie Belle said nothing, choosing instead to continue to sob over the trauma she went through during the kaiju attack.

"It's okay. You're okay now," Rarity tried to reassure her sister.

But still Sweetie Belle couldn't bring herself to stop sobbing profusely.

"It's gonna be alright, Sweetums, I promise. Ssshh," said Rarity.

Sweetie Belle finally got control of her crying. She sniffled a little as she tried to fight back more tears from falling and wiped away the tears she had already shed. Then Sweetie Belle looked up at her older sister and tried to force a smile.

"Th-th-thank you, Rarity, for saving me," said Sweetie Belle.

Then she looked to Derpy Hooves and Rainbow Dash.

"Thanks to all of you for saving us," said Sweetie Belle.

Rainbow Dash and Derpy Hooves both smiled in reply.

"At a girl, Sweetie Belle," said Rarity.

She then hugged her little sister closer to her. Then a thought came into Rarity's head.

"Sweetie Belle, why aren't you with Mother and Father?" asked Rarity.

When she looked down and waited for Sweetie Belle's answer, Rarity saw that her little sister's face looked as though she were about to start crying again. Sweetie Belle shut her eyes and looked away from Rarity. Instead of being annoyed by the filly's lack of response, Rarity began to grow concerned, as was evident by the change of the look on her face.

"Where are they, Sweetie Belle?" asked Rarity.

Sweetie Belle's eyelids tightened before she forced her eyes open and looked back to her big sister.

"We got separated in a crowd of running ponies when the bat monster started attacking. I tried to find them, but instead I found them," said Sweetie Belle as she pointed to the other kids at the last part of her sentence.

"Now... Now I'm afraid something bad might have happened to Mommy and Daddy. Like... Like maybe the monster got 'em!"

Sweetie Belle couldn't control herself anymore. She rushed into Rarity's hooves and began to sob once again. Rarity hugged her distressed sister, but felt terror as she did. What if Father and Mother did fall victim to Screech? No, it cannot be true! It isn't true! Mommy and Daddy are just fine! They have to be, Rarity thought to herself.

"Don't cry, Sweetie Belle. I'm sure Mother and Father are alright. They probably looked for you until the thought of looking at the shelter came to them. They probably thought you would've gone there like they were trying to. I'll bet if we go, we'll find them there. So please don't cry, Sweetie Belle. If we go to the shelter, Mother and Father will be there waiting for us, you'll see," said Rarity.

But there was a break in her voice despite her confident words. The break was joined by an look of increasing concern and sadness, which was topped off by tears escaping Rarity's eyes. The ponies around the two unicorn sisters couldn't help but feel sympathy and pity for them, as was evident by the somber looks on their faces.

"Can we help them find their mommy and daddy? Can we please, Mommy?" asked Dinky Doo as she looked up to Derpy Hooves.

The gray pegasus had her daughter in a hug. She hugged Dinky Doo even tighter when she asked that.

"It's probably like Rarity said, Dinky. They're probably already at the shelter. Which is where we need to be," said Derpy Hooves.

It was at this point that Rainbow Dash heard the voices of several other ponies coming from somewhere, she could not tell. She eventually tracked down where the voices were coming from just as a group of ponies, including a few royal soldiers, came running down the right side of a four way intersection.

"Hey! Over here! Hey!" Rainbow Dash called out to the group.

They didn't seem to hear her though, as they kept running across the intersection, screaming at the top of their lungs as they ran.

"Hey!" shouted Rainbow Dash before she took to the air.

She landed a few feet away from the end of the intersection and called out again.

"Hey, come back! You're going the wrong..."

Rainbow Dash was cut off by the sound of an object falling from the sky. She only had time to scream with the rest of her group when Screech pounced down on the intersection, trying to sink her talons into the crowd of ponies. She barely missed them however, with the impact of her falling talons crashing through the ground making the stragglers of the crowd go flying forward. They got up and resumed running with the crowd. As the ponies disappeared down the left street of the intersection, Rainbow Dash turned around and ran to the others of her group. Dinky Doo and Sweetie Belle were held close by Derpy Hooves and Rarity, while Rainbow Dash hurried over and held the remaining kids close to her.

Screech flapped her wings to lift her off the ground and take her after the group of ponies. Despite the houses and other buildings obscuring their vision, the ponies of Rainbow Dash and Rarity's group were still able to see Screech, who towered high over all the roof tops of every building in Ponyville. They watched as Screech appeared to land once again, followed by her bending down her head towards the ground. The ponies weren't able to see what Screech was doing.

All they had to go on were the sounds made as a result of Screech's actions. The sounds were Screech's jaws opening and closing, ponies' screams silenced, and the sounds of crushing and squashing whenever Screech's mouth opened and closed. The ponies could only look on in wide eyed, mouth opened horror at the thought of what those noises most likely meant. Screech lifted her head up and then began to flap her wings, taking her off the ground and into the air. She turned around until she was facing the direction of the street Rainbow Dash and Rarity's group was on.

"Hide!" Rainbow Dash shouted before she grabbed Silver Spoon and Snips and put them on her back.

She then grabbed Twist-a-loo in her hooves and flew towards the sidewalk. Rarity used her magic to lift Sweetie Belle onto her back before following behind Rainbow Dash, and then followed by Derpy Hooves carrying Dinky Doo. The ponies ducked down in a small alley between two buildings, hoping they wouldn't be seen. They looked up when a giant shadow fell upon them. They saw Screech fly overhead. The ponies shared a collective shudder of fear as they watched as Screech flew over them. All that is, except for Rainbow Dash. Her fear slowly turned into anger as she remembered only a minute ago when she saw Screech turn towards her group. She saw that the sides of Screech's mouth were red, as was the monster's tongue, which she flicked out and used to lick the sides of her mouth. Rainbow Dash was now glaring in hatred at the passing monster. The group of ponies slowly crept out of the alley once Screech had passed by and watched her fly away. It looks like it's heading south, Rainbow Dash thought to herself.

"That was a close one," said Derpy Hooves.

"Much too close for comfort if you ask me," said Rarity.

"Rarity."

The white unicorn looked to Rainbow Dash, the pegasus who called out her name.

"Go on without me. Get Derpy, your sister, and the rest of these kids to the shelter safely," said Rainbow Dash.

Rarity's eyes widened in surprise.

"What about you? What are you going to do?" asked Rarity.

She took notice of the hard glare on Rainbow Dash's face, her eyes seeming to burn with hatred.

"Something some ponies would either call really brave or really stupid. As of right now, I'm leaning more towards stupid," said Rainbow Dash.

Rarity tilted her head slightly as she thought about what Rainbow Dash might have meant by that. The answer made Rarity's eyes open wide with alarm.

"Rainbow Dash, you can't do that! You'll be killed!" said Rarity.

"Somepony's got to lead that monster out of town. And it's gonna be me. It has to be me. I'm the only pony fast enough to do it," said Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow Dash.."

"I'm sorry, Rarity, but whether you like it or not, I'm doing this!"

And with that, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and took to the sky.

"Rainbow Dash, wait!" Derpy Hooves called out as she flew after the blue pegasus.

Rainbow Dash turned around and waited impatiently. Derpy hit the branch of a tree during her flight and ended up spinning somewhat. But she recovered and spoke.

"I can help you!"

"Help them!"

Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof at Rarity and the kids before turning away from Derpy and flying off after the kaiju.

"Rainbow Dash, wait!" yelled Rarity.

But it was too late; by then, Rainbow Dash was far, far away. The group of ponies were left staring at the sky.

"So...what do we do?" asked Sweetie Belle.

Nopony said nothing at first. Instead they looked around at each other in confusion, hoping one or the other would have the answer.

"We do as Rainbow Dash said."

Everypony looked to Rarity, who let out a heavy sigh after what she had just said.

"We go to the shelter. Come along, everyone. Don't lag behind," said Rarity.

She used her hoof to hurry the foals along in front of her, while Derpy Hooves carried Dinky Doo on her back.

"Do you think Rainbow Dash will be okay?" asked Derpy.

Rarity stopped and looked first to Derpy Hooves, then to the sky.

"I don't know. ...I just have to hope so," said Rarity.

She then resumed hurrying the foals along to the shelter.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings as fast as ever to try and catch up to Screech. At first, she had no idea how she was going to get the kaiju's attention. She knew what she wanted to do, which was lead Screech away from town. But the question was how could she get such a big monster to pay attention to a single, small pony like her. But as she flew to catch up with the kaiju, Rainbow Dash had it partially figured out. To get Screech's attention, Rainbow Dash would use her ultimate weapon. Rainbow Dash tried to push herself even harder to catch up with of the things that helped her reputation as the fastest flier in Equestria was all the hard work she put on herself to get to that point.

Despite the wind blowing in her face, Rainbow Dash saw that she was in fact getting closer to Screech, having spotted the kaiju up several yards ahead of her. Whether that was a good thing or not remained to be seen. The intensity in Rainbow Dash's eyes increased as she gritted her teeth and forced herself forward, flying faster and faster still. She inched closer and closer to the bat kaiju until she was just under Screech's feet.

Rainbow Dash looked up at the enormous bat, getting a chance to see up close just how much bigger the two hundred foot plus monster was compared to her. Seeing the horrifying sight so close made the shadows of fear and doubt creep into the back of Rainbow Dash's psyche.

I can't do this! What was I thinking?! This thing is a hundred times my size! But Rainbow Dash quickly shook those doubts away as she quickly remembered what was at stake and just who she was.

I have yo do this! There's no other pony who can right now! And why shouldn't it be me? I'm Rainbow Dash, the fastest and best flier in all of Equestria! No way some flying rodent's gonna psych me out! I'm one of the carriers of the Elements of Harmony. Mine is the element of loyalty. It's time to prove it by being loyal to Ponyville and getting this vermin out of here! One order of super sized pest control coming up!

Rainbow Dash pushed herself harder to fly faster. Something everypony that's come in contact with Rainbow Dash has learned is that when it seems like she's used up all her resources, she manages to step it up another notch. And that's whether they saw it coming or not.

It was when Rainbow Dash reached the point where she was directly under Screech that she unleashed her ultimate achievement. Rainbow Dash first pulled off the impressive feat when she was just a filly in a race to defend the honor of her fellow pegasus and one of her closest friends, Fluttershy. Then she did it again years later at the Young Flyers Competition in Cloudsdale, despite the doubt from some, even herself of whether she could or not. Ever since then, she's pulled out the move either when requested of her or when she just feels like showing off. This time however, she knew it was something she had to do.

The end result was Rainbow Dash breaking the sound barrier, creating the thunderous clap of normally unseen, but greatly felt, power that is a sonic boom. However, this one was illuminated by the colors of the rainbow. This was what has been dubbed as a sonic rainboom. As a result of the sonic rainboom, Rainbow Dash was sent flying away twice as fast as she was before with a rainbow trail left behind from her tail and mane. The other result from the burst of power was Screech, the giant monster bat being knocked out of her flight pattern with incredible force.

At first she rolled with the wave of the sonic rainboom, then she started to fall from the sky. Screech flapped her wings randomly to try and get control of her flying again. It was only a few seconds before Screech got back control, after which she flapped her wings to get back to the altitude she was at before. Screech looked around in wild eyed anger for the source of the sonic rainboom. She spotted the rainbow stream and followed it with her eyes to spot Rainbow Dash several yards ahead of her.

Screech was taken aback with wide eyed, opened mouth shock. She couldn't understand how something so much smaller than her was able to generate a force powerful enough to nearly knock her out of the sky. This surprise slowly melted into rage, as was shown on Screech's face when her wide eyed, mouth opened surprise twisted into an angry snarl. Screech shook her head around violently before letting out a shriek and flying after Rainbow Dash.

The speedster of a pegasus looked back when it sounded like Screech's shrieks were getting closer. She saw that this was the case, with Screech seeming to be determined as ever to catch up with Rainbow Dash. Seeing that she had gotten under Screech's skin so much made Rainbow Dash's signature, confident smile cross her face. It was the first time she had that particular smile since she was at the beach earlier that day. She stressed the point of her returned confidence further by rotating until her back was to the ground and looking back at Screech. Then she spoke.

"Catch me if you can, you rat with wings!"

Rainbow Dash finished her taunting by putting her hooves at the side of her head as she stuck out her tongue and blew raspberries at the kaiju. Then she rotated again until her back was once again to the sky, followed by her flying off at her full speed. It turned out, however, that Screech was holding back her true flight speed as well. This was proven by Screech flapping her wings even harder in a way that carried her through the air even faster. This meant that she was also carried closer to Rainbow Dash. The blue pegasus looked back when it seemed like the sounds the kaiju made were getting closer. She saw that Screech was flapping her wings furiously and was thrashing her head around in anger as her shrieks rang through the air and as she got closer.

Wow, I must of really gotten under this bat brain's skin. I wonder how fast it can really fly? After that thought went through Rainbow Dash's head, another one came that made her smile boldly. Let's find out. The chase was on, with Rainbow Dash flying onward as Screech followed the rainbow trail she left to try and catch her.

As the two kept flying, it wasn't long before Screech's hard wing flapping paid off and she was breathing down on the blue and rainbow speedster. Rainbow Dash didn't need to glance back to know that Screech had finally caught up to her. Yet she did anyways and it turned out that she did need to glance back. But for another reason.

Because it was at that moment that the giant bat monster opened her enormous jaws in an attempt to chomp down on the pegasus that angered her so. Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide as she let out a yelp and dove to the right to avoid Screech's closing mouth. Luckily, Rainbow Dash managed to inch far enough away to avoid Screech's razor sharp teeth. The sounds of Screech's jaws closing echoed through the sky. Rainbow Dash didn't get to return to her straight flight path though as Screech immediately opened her mouth and tried to bite down on the speeding flier yet again. Rainbow Dash dodged to the left to avoid Screech's mouth. Then Screech tried yet again to bite down on Rainbow Dash, making her dodge to the right. Screech again attempted to wrap her jaws around the small pony, only to be met with the same result of Rainbow Dash dodging away to the left. Only instead of just moving over to dodge being devoured, Rainbow Dash barrel rolled over to the left and then turned off in that direction, leaving Screech behind and flying in a totally different direction.

The surprised kaiju had to shift her body, kicking her feet out in front of her as she pulled her wings back to stop herself from flying forward at full speed. She did not expect her prey to turn off in another direction after chasing her in a straight path for as long as she did. She was also unable to understand how Rainbow Dash was able to pull off such a clean turn at the speed they were both flying at. After Screech slowed down, she started flapping her wings yet again and turned after her prey.

Rainbow Dash watched as all of Screech's actions transpired. It ain't no where as agile as me. But then again, who is? Also, it may be big, bad, and ugly. but it's doesn't seem to be very smart, Rainbow Dash thought to herself. These thoughts just made her confident smirk bigger than it already was.

After Screech let out an annoyed shriek, Rainbow Dash annoyed her even further.

"Don't hate me 'cause you ain't me!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

She then turned right and led Screech around in a circle before resuming flight towards the south. Rainbow Dash didn't notice it, but at some point, it seemed she may have lowered in altitude. It seemed so because Rainbow Dash was now flying amongst the rooftops that she once flew high above. And judging by how close her shrieks sounded, Screech had followed Rainbow Dash. She looked back to see that was true. Rainbow Dash shifted her view back in front of her and barely had time to fly around a rooftop she was approaching at top speed. Screech, who was also flying at top speed, took a different approach to avoiding the rooftop. She lifted her talons out in front of her and grasped the roof and swung around it.

Rainbow Dash flew in between two more rooftops, while the much bigger Screech just crashed her body through them. The loud sounds of the collision rung deep in Rainbow Dash's ears as she also felt the strong wind of pieces of the buildings flying past her. The wide eyed, fearful pony also looked back for any incoming debris. Dodging them was easier said than done, as there were several different pieces of debris in all shapes and sizes and they seemed to be all over the place. Rainbow Dash was barely able to avoid them all. There were points when she even thought she wouldn't be able to do it. But once all the debris had fallen, Rainbow Dash was still airborne at speeds only she could go. Once Rainbow Dash realized she was completely safe, her confidence was back in full force.

Yup, only I'm awesome enough to pull off something as epic as that. I got to get this bat back into higher altitude. Rainbow Dash put her plan into action by shifting her flight path. It was little by little, but Screech followed in hot pursuit, just like Rainbow Dash wanted. She started off flying upwards, but eventually the flight path turned into a full vertical loop. Screech followed the loop, continuing her chase.

Once Rainbow Dash and Screech finished their loop, the blue pegasus continued leading the kaiju southwards. Rainbow Dash looked down to make sure that she and the monster chasing her were now high above the roof tops, safe from any more possible collisions. Finally as Rainbow Dash led Screech on, they were now finally leaving Ponyville behind as Rainbow Dash wanted. Now they were heading towards the area Rainbow Dash was specifically going southwards for. And that was the Everfree Forest.

Rainbow Dash led Screech over the tree tops of the seemingly endless forest of wonder and mystery. She wasn't sure what she was going to do next now that she had Screech above the Evefree Forest. She was making this plan up mostly as she went along. But she knew she had to get Screech out of Ponyville and somewhere she couldn't hurt anymore ponies.

But now that Rainbow Dash had led Screech out of town, what would she do now? Rainbow Dash pondered this question as she led Screech even further away from her home town and further out over the forest terrain. They kept going in a straight line, which turned out wasn't the best thing for Rainbow Dash. This was because now Screech had manged to get up behind her again. So close in fact that Screech tried to wrap her jaws around the pegasus pony. Luckily Rainbow Dash was able to force herself forward enough to avoid the monster's mouth clamping down upon her. At a hundred yards out, Rainbow Dash's eyes snapped open as an idea came to her mind.

Before she put her plan into action however, Rainbow Dash decided to lead Screech out a little further. The giant bat shrieked out in annoyance and dissatisfaction at having not been able to catch and dispose of the smaller creature that had caused her so much aggravation. Further and further the chase went on until Rainbow Dash had led Screech three hundred yards out over the Everfree Forest. Then the fastest flier in all of Equestria dived down towards the huge trees of the strange place, with Screech following in hot pursuit. Rainbow Dash did not pull up at all, instead letting herself crash through the branches of the trees and into the forest. Screech followed her targeted prey and ended up crashing through the trees of the Everfree Forest.

The giant bat kaiju moved through the terrain of the forest for thirty or so feet before she finally gave up and flew back up into the air. Crashing through all those trees, boulders, and other forest debris got annoying very fast. When Screech came out of the forest, she saw that Rainbow Dash didn't come with her. The monster looked around at the forest below, trying to figure out how she had lost Rainbow Dash. The snarl on Screech's face softened as her eyes darted in search. This was because she was now tired and the desire to destroy all in her path was not nearly as strong as it was before. Screech slowly flew around and searched a little longer before she ultimately decided to call it quits. At least for now. Screech then looked for a place to rest. She spotted some mountains further out into the Everfree Forest. Screech then flew a course for those mountains, shrieking in anger as she approached them.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was under the branches of the trees of the Everfree Forest. She watched from under the brush as Screech flew away. She wanted to wait until she was sure it was absolutely safe for her. She also wanted to make sure Ponyville was safe. And for the time being, it looked that way, with Screech choosing to go further into the Everfree Forest. Rainbow Dash stayed hidden by the trees until Screech was out of sight. Once she was gone, Rainbow Dash's confident smile flashed as big as ever.

"Still the best!" said Rainbow Dash in celebration.

Then the blue pegasus turned back to Ponyville and started her trip back home.

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Be sure to leave a review after reading. And don't be afraid to let me know of any mistakes I made, be they spelling errors, grammar errors or other errors so I can correct them to the best of my abilities. I'm The Guy Who Likes To Write Stuff, signing off.