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The Conversion Bureau - The Return of the King

by Dan_s Comments

Chapter 3: 3) Love Me Tender

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The Conversion Bureau - The Return of the King
Love Me Tender by Dan's Comments
Disclaimer: My Little Ponies is the property of Hasbro, Inc.
Godzilla is the property of Toho Company Ltd.


Making landfall south of Smokey Mountain put me a long way from Los Pegasus. But Canterlot or specifically, the Canterhorn was my aim. I'd spent several weeks getting things ready, hiding myself and my intentions. Now is the time to advertise, I thought as I watched the effect of my approach. I'd slowed my speed dramatically, and rose slowly out of the sea. The surge was only a few feet, and I advanced inland with no casualties. The sound of wood scraping across sand caught my attention.

I turned very carefully, and saw the dory with the lights at the bow and stern aimed down to attract fish, and the little colt in the middle of the boat staring at me. I checked myself carefully, and found the fish hooks caught on my hip. Pulling them out proved beyond my dexterity. Instead, I snapped the line and proceeded forward leaving the colt and boat behind. No terrified scream followed me. I looked at the bright moon light and wondered how long my luck would last.

Conflict will come, but the ponies will have not a leg to stand on claiming I either provoked or escalated it, I thought as I advanced through the woods with the Unicorn Range in the distance. I walked softly, and tried to keep an eye out for villages, homes and even occupied carts as I walked. The ponies will panic enough once they spot me, I thought, Better it happens farther inland. The closer I can get to my goal before they start throwing bodies at me, the better.
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But one set of eyes had already seen him, and she was desperately spreading the alarm.

Luna woke Celestia out of a sound sleep. "Discord lied," Luna paused, "Of course he did, but Celestia, there is a giant lizard, and it is headed this way!" Luna blurted out to the sleepy Solar Diarch.

"Wha?" Celestia said, and Luna repeated herself, careful to annunciate each word clearly.

"I've called out the Guard, and sent the Wonderbolts to investigate. It seems to be avoiding any settlements, but it will be in sight by morning, and here by midday at the latest," Luna said. She stepped back, allowing her sister a chance to analyze the situation.

"Have one of the Wonderbolts hang back, I want to know what it does when they attack," Celestia said.

Luna stared. "Perhaps I have not made clear how immense this creature is."

"The Wonderbolts will attack it, and I want to know what it does," Celestia repeated.

Luna nodded, leaving Celestia's chambers and moved off to give the orders. I'm sending those foals to their deaths, she thought as she sent one of her thestral Night Guard to take the order to carry out an attack on something that dwarfed most dragons. She idly considered that the thestral she'd chosen was a Newfoal. She looked around her guards, and noted the few Newfoals among them were actually excited by the news spreading through the darkened capital.

They know, she realized and pointed at several of them.

"Come with me, I want to know what this creature can do. Stories, legends, myths, anything to give us a clue," she ordered.

"Unless you have a giant butterfly handy," one eager, coltish guard said, "You're going to need an Oxygen Destroyer."

"What in the name of Harmony is an Oxygen Destroyer?" she asked.

Luna turned a very pale shade of teal when the guard told her. She was very glad they had destroyed the ability of humans to feel anger when they had converted them to ponies. She couldn't conceive of a more horrific weapon.

"And it's better if you use it underwater. If you use it on land, you'll turn an entire city-sized patch into a ghost town," another guard offered, "Then fifty years later, the Destroyah will be born."

Luna almost didn't want to hear. From her 'eye' of the moon, she watched the creature pick its way forward. She wondered what hope they had against it. Then she watched it emit a long flame from its mouth and its bulk lifted from the ground.

"Tell me everything," she told them.
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I picked myself up off the ground and ruefully looked at the rather mashed terrain where I'd landed. Well, it's good to know. Rocket-zilla sort of works, I thought as I tried to decide if a powered jump and a less than soft landing were worth it. Keep your options open. There's also the need for lessons that will let the Newfoals know they have something to offer me. Give them a sense of power when dealing with me.

The butter-yellow pegasus arrowing toward me told me that trouble was finally showing its head.
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Fluttershy let her bat friends lead her towards the 'living mountain'. She'd heard the earthquake and now she saw they had exaggerated not one bit. Her terror grew, until the creature stopped, and seemed to be waiting for her. At least it's not a dragon, she thought, then she gathered her courage and approached.

"Uh, excuse me," she said, and shied as the creature regarded her.

She took a deep breath. "Uh, if it's not too much trouble, would you be able to head out around Saddle Lake. I'm afraid you're shaking things up. I know you don't really want to scare anypony, so would you mind going around?" She smiled to the creature.

It pointed towards Canterlot in the distance.

"Oh, the lake isn't that big, you can get around it to Canterlot," she assured it, "But you might want to keep your distance if you don't want to scare anypony important."

He nodded his agreement and headed towards Saddle Lake, rather than heading towards Ponyville, and scaring everypony and possibly shaking up the dam outside of town.

The creature's odd gait reminded Fluttershy of something. Then she heard the footfalls. They were far softer than they should have been. She smiled. What a thoughtful monster.
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I continue using the 'mine-walker' pace of keeping my weight on my back foot and advancing my unladen foot, then putting my weight on it. It slowed my approach, but 'slow' still exceeded 30 mph/48 kph. That put my arrival at the Canterhorn at an hour before dawn.

My foot encountered something, and I bent down to get a better look at it. Something screamed over my head like a swarm of artillery shells. I straightened up to glance around, looking for the guns. Only to have the same sound scream by in front of me. I looked around and tried to see the guns.

Unable to find the artillery, I continued my advance although I hastened my steps. Ducking occasionally to see where the shots were coming from. Did she lead me into some kind of ambush? I wondered as I continued to advance. It bothered me no end that I could be under this kind of fire and still be unable to see the muzzle flashes in the darkness.

Long-range rockets? They could fire them from Canterlot and they'd burn out before I spotted them, I thought as I raised up to peer into the darkness to see them. Nothing, this is weird.
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Fleetfoot's jaw had dropped so much, she was afraid it would detach and fall off. Eleven passes her fellow Wonderbolts had made. As if some instinct, and senses keener than a pony's, warned it and it had deftly dodged their every attack. A counterattack never came.

She turned to the thestral Night Guard. "Take what we've seen to the Princess. It is advancing on Canterlot, and there seems nothing we can do to stop it."

"What would happen if you actually had hit it all those times?" the guard asked.

When Fleetfoot glared, the guard took off into the night. A high, wingover pass sailed directly over the creature's head as it stooped, as if to look across the face of Saddle Lake. Fleetfoot sighed, torn between joining her friends in this ridiculous dance, or staying back as ordered, to pray it continued to take no offensive action.

She looked at the lake and an idea occurred to her. Let's see what this thing's character really is. She stripped off her blue Wonderbolt's uniform, swung wide around the creature and dove into the lake.
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Ah screaming, it couldn't last, I thought as I advanced. I could easily pick out the source of the splashing, someone in the lake. This is going to move me into Gamera territory dammit. But much of the gestalt would not permit a call for help to go unheeded. I frankly agreed.

Dipping both massive hands in the lake, the struggling pegasus, and a fair amount of lake water was transferred on shore and set down on the bank. I stepped over the pegasus and wished there was someone to contact to get the pony some help. With artillery whizzing around like angry gnats, opening the distance seemed the best policy.

Canterlot was still a distance away, and I wanted to be on my way back 'home' before daybreak. The panic I'd cause on being seen would help no one.
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Soarin' landed near Fleetfoot who was staring at the monster who still bobbed and wove like a master to keep away from the other Wonderbolts.

"Are you insane?" Soarin' asked.

"He saved me," she said quietly, "He didn't have to, he didn't hesitate, and he didn't have to be so careful. He just did it."

"Well I can tell you what Spitfire is going to do if you don't get back in the air and track that thing. It's less than an hour from Canterlot, and who knows what it's going to do there."

"I don't think it means to hurt anypony," Fleetfoot said.

Soarin' shook his head. "It's a little big for a first date, isn't it." Her glare sent Soarin' scurrying off into the sky.

Angrily, Fleetfoot snorted. It could have hurt me, and it didn't. It could have ignored me, and it didn't. What is it, and what does it want?

She shook out her wings and clumsily clawed her way into the air to follow it. She could see that Canterlot was preparing its defenses. The great dome shield formed over the city, but in Celestia's colors rather than Shining Armor's. If she thinks that'll stop it, Fleetfoot shook her head and chuckled as she fell into formation as the Wonderbolts quit trying to dive-attack the thing and just followed it.

Next Chapter: 4) Cry Me a River Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 45 Minutes
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