//------------------------------//
// Monster mayhem 
// Story: Equestria: Singular Point 
// by lazejovanov 
//------------------------------//

The Young Six were currently inside the Treehouse of Harmony, but they weren't doing their homework as they said. Instead, they closed all the windows shut, as well as locking the front doors, sealing themselves inside their treehouse. The six students were in a state of panic of what was happening outside. Just 10 minutes ago, everything was fine and normal, they were working on their homework and generally having a good time... until they spotted something they could only describe as a crimson sandstorm - something they would normally see in a desert - appearing out of nowhere and coming their way before sweeping over the entire area where their treehouse was located, along with them inside and everything turned red. The students realized far too late that the 'sandstorm' was in fact Archetype, now in a different state of matter and no longer bound to the water. They discovered this when Ocellus found herself unable of transforming and Silverstream's pearl piece wouldn't work as soon as they were exposed to the red mist.

Their situation only got worse when they spotted several large figures emerging from the redness through the window, coming their way. At first, they assumed it was Twilight and her friends coming to rescue them, but their hopes immediately disappeared when one of the figures fully-revealed itself. To the shock of the six students, it was a giant spider-like creature nearly twice the size of Celestia. The giant arachnid's body was dark green in color with yellow stripes, and its first pair of legs were tipped with metallic spurs that resembled drills. Four small blue eyes were present on the creature's head, along with two larger yellow eyes located on the sides of the head, with two small antennae located on top.

What the Young Six were looking at was a Kumonga.

Soon, more of its kind began emerging from the red mist alongside it as they started approaching the Treehouse. Yona felt her arachnophobia subtly creeping in at the sight of the approaching Kumongas; she may have gotten over her fear of regular-sized spiders, but giant spiders were quite another thing. Ocellus initially wondered (and hoped) if these creatures were friendly, but was quickly proven wrong when one of them suddenly leaped towards the treehouse, instantly covering 20 meters in a single bound, and landed right where the open window from which the Young Six were viewing them was located. The Kumonga screeched loudly as it tried to enter the treehouse through the window, or even grab one of the students to pull them out the window. Fortunately for the students, the window was too small for the monstrous arachnid to fit through. Naturally, the terrified students shut the window after managing to push the creature out, before proceeding to spread out and do the same to every window in their treehouse. The giant arachnids outside were not willing to give up their hunt so easily as dozens of them started leaping onto the treehouse from all directions.

"How did things go so wrong?" Ocellus whimpered. The young changeling and her friends were huddled together in a corner, watching the windows with anxiety and horror as the Kumongas were crawling around the treehouse outside, looking for a way in.

"I should've kept my big mouth shut." Smolder sighed, regretting her earlier statement of doubting they will be in any danger to Starlight Glimmer.

"Yona though Yona overcame fear of spiders. But Yona wrong!" The yak exclaimed.

"Not only that, we're magicless and vulnerable!" Silverstream added. With the Archetype having taken their magic away, they were basically defenseless against these creatures.

"Our only chance is to somehow escape and warn our kingdoms, like Starlight said." Sandbar stated.

"Well, that's gonna be a bit difficult with those monsters roaming outside." Gallus pointed out.

"So then, I guess we'll have to stay here until they give up and leave." Silverstream said.

But just then, a Kumonga smashes one of the glass windows with its front legs and attempts to enter, even though the window was too narrow for its bulky exoskeleton to fit through. Unfortunately, this action caused its brethren to realize that these transparent surfaces on the tree were extremely fragile, and thus prompted them to go around and break every single window they could find, all in an effort to reach the trapped students inside.

"AHHHH!" The Young Six screamed in terror as the monstrous arachnids tried to enter. Not relenting, the Kumongas continued pushing as hard as they could against the relatively narrow openings that were the now-broken widows. And it wasn't long before one of said opening started giving in to the pressure and cracking, allowing one of the Kumongas to fit half of its body inside. The six students could only watch in abject horror as the giant arachnid stared at them with its six eyes, saliva drooling from its mandibles.

It was over. One of the monsters was nearly inside, and the others were likely to break in, as well. And thanks to their exposure to the Archetype, they couldn't even use their abilities to defend themselves. They were goners.

At least, that is what the Young Six initially thought...

The Kumonga that was already half-way in was suddenly and abruptly pulled out through the cracked opening by something outside. This was followed by its screeches, a loud crunching sound, and then silence. The Young Six stared at the broken opening where the giant spider had previously been in stunned silence, various questions running through their minds as to what had just happened. Then, to their even greater surprise, the other Kumongas that had been trying their absolute hardest to break through and enter their treehouse a second ago all immediately stopped their assault and retreated. The sounds of their screeches, along with sounds of snapping, crunching and thumping, could be heard from outside.

"Uhh... what just happened?" A confused Smolder asked.

"I... I think we just got saved." Ocellus said slowly, relief washing over her body.

"But by who or what?" Sandbar wondered out loud.

"Well, guess there's only one way to figure that out." Gallus stated and pointed to one of the broken windows.

The others gulped, knowing what they were about to do is extremely risky considering what was happening less than a minute ago. Still, their curiosity was piqued, and besides, this could also be their chance to escape to safety. Slowly and cautiously, the six students made their way to the nearest broken window, and ever so slightly, peeked their heads from the edge of the broken window.

As soon as they did that, their eyes were met with a sight unlike any other; standing perhaps only 15 meters from their treehouse was a gigantic winged creature that vaguely resembled a cross between a bat and a stork. Its massive wings were folded backward as the creature stood on all four legs like a bat. Its long neck was held up high in the air, where its large head was located. This strange new creature had a long, straight beak like that of a stork, and a pair of backward-facing horns atop its head. But perhaps most striking of all was the beast's skin, which had a pitch black monochrome coloration with red speckles, while the narrow cavity on its upper mandible was pale gray. Additionally, its gigantic body appeared to be emitting smoke with small bright flints crackling around it.

"Wow~! That is one big bird!" Silverstream exclaimed, gawking at the huge beast.

"Wait... doesn't this thing look like those bird-like creatures that have been spotted in the skies all over Equestria recently?" Sandbar asked, realizing the striking resemblance between the Rodans they've heard about and this gigantic black Rodan that stood before them.

"I think so," Ocellus hesitantly said, a bit unsure. "But those creatures are only as big as ponies. This one's huge! It's twice the size of a roc!"

"Which means one of two things. Either A), this is a different species that's closely related to those other creatures, or B), it's an adult and the other bird-like creatures are just babies." Gallus surmised.

"I really hope it's the former. I don't think we need those things turning into giant monsters like this one." Smolder gulped in anxiety.

"Look!" Yona suddenly pointed at the ground, "Giant spider on the ground!"

Sure enough, the other students also spotted a lone Kumonga that was on the ground, near the giant Rodan's front legs. It looked like it was trying to sneak away from the flying giant without being noticed. Unfortunately for it, however, its bright coloration didn't exactly make it inconspicuous as the giant pterosaur almost immediately spotted it. Using its long beak like a giant pair of chopsticks, the Rodan bent down and snatched the Kumonga. The winged beast then lifted its head up and gulped down its arachnid prey in one bite. The students were as amazed as they were horrified as they watched this happen, with some feeling a little nauseous.

"Well, that's one way to take care of a pest problem." Gallus couldn't help but crack a joke, though none of his friends shared in his humor, which was understandable as they were still not out of the woods.

"We should probably wait a little longer until this creature leaves." Ocellus suggested, to which her friends agreed. Even though the Rodan had just saved them from the Kumongas, they knew that it was completely unintentional on the giant pterosaur's part — it was merely a predator looking for prey, and the Kumongas, in their reckless attempt to break into the treehouse and devour the students inside, had inadvertently drawn its attention and became prey themselves.

Suddenly, the giant Rodan turned its head to the right and looked down, where it spotted the six students hiding inside the nearby treehouse. It had somehow failed to notice them earlier, and subsequently realized that the giant spiders it just ate were probably after these six small creatures hiding in that tree. Although the Kumongas were a decent meal for the Rodan, it still had room for dessert. The Young Sax gasped as the giant pterosaur turned and started approaching their treehouse, evidently having spotted them and was now intending to make them its next meal.

"Uh oh. Looks like we're the next course!" Sandbar gulped.

"Let's get out of here!" Silverstream exclaimed

Knowing that their situation had just gotten much worse than before, the six students quickly raced away from the window and to the farthest corner of the room, hoping that their treehouse will be sturdy enough to protect them from the approaching giant monster, for it was the only thing that could keep them safe right now. But fortunately for the Young Six, they wouldn't get the chance to see if their treehouse could hold up against the kaiju — because, just as it was nearing said treehouse, the giant Rodan suddenly stopped in its tracks and shifted its attention away from the students. Sensing the sudden cease of thee loud thuds that were the footsteps of the gigantic Rodan, the Young Six assumed that the beast was now close enough to attack their treehouse, but nothing came.

"Um... are we safe?" A nervous Silverstream hesitantly asked.

"Hey, maybe Twilight and her friends found us!" Smolder suddenly said with a hopeful smile.

"Yeah! That must be it!" Ocellus was quick to agree with her friend. "I bet Professor Fluttershy is taming that monster right now."

As soon as the changeling suggested this, a loud, bellowing roar was suddenly heard from outside, enough to make Yona's fur stand on end.

"Y-Yona not think that pony friends..." The young yak suggested with a frightened gulp. The roar was followed by another series of loud thuds, these ones much louder than the footsteps of the Rodan. Subsequently, the comparably-lighter thuds of the Rodan could be heard moving away from their treehouse, no doubt having reacted to the roar of the much bigger creature that was likely headed this way. Once again, the Young Six found themselves saved from yet another predator, and again, they became curious of what was coming. They again made their way to the same broken window they were at before, despite knowing the huge risk they were taking.

Like before, they peeked their heads from the edge of the window, and the first thing they saw was the giant dark Rodan now in the distance, having moved away from their treehouse and was now staring at something farther east. Readjusting their position slightly to see what it was staring at, the young students found themselves staring in awe and shock as another, even larger creature was slowly emerging from the thick, crimson haze that was the Archetype mist.

A three-clawed foot stomped down on the ground with a booming thud as the theropod-like kaiju fully emerged from the red mist and stood before the giant pterosaur, locking eyes with it. This new creature was covered with jade-green scales and somewhat resembled a dragon, but without wings - instead having three rows of maple leaf-shaped spines running along its back. It stood on its hind legs while its clawed arms dangled over the ground. The giant reptile's long tail swung back and forth, and its elongated, crocodile-like jaws dripped with saliva as it stared down the Rodan with hunger in its own eyes. Once again, another predator had found itself becoming prey as Godzilla Terrestris opened his fanged jaws wide and let out his mighty roar at the pterosaur.

"SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEONGK!"

The giant Rodan responded to this by standing upright on its hind legs, spreading its huge wings wide to make itself appear as large as possible, and let out a loud screech of its own. Naturally, this did not intimidate Godzilla in the slightest as the transformed beast began charging towards the giant pterosaur, jaws wide open. Seeing this, Rodan decides to change tactics; with a flap of its huge wings, it takes to the air, but instead of flying away as most creatures naturally would in a situation like this, the pterosaur instead chooses to fly directly towards the incoming Godzilla. To the Young Six watching this, it seemed suicidal, thinking the Rodan was either extremely brave or extremely foolish to do what it was doing. Once the two kaiju were close to each other, Godzilla Terrestris lunged forward and snapped with his jaws, which Rodan nimbly avoided. The pterosaur managed to bypass the Monster King's jaws and land on his back, where it reared its head back slightly before plunging its long beak into the reptile's body. Godzilla roared in pain and began violently thrashing his body around in an effort to get the pterosaur off of himself, seeing as he couldn't reach the winged foe with his jaws or claws. At first, it seemed to work as the Rodan spread its wings and took to the air, hovering above the now-enraged Godzilla Terrestris who was snarling up at it.

The Young Six were watching this in awe and amazement, the Rodan was certainly pushing its luck with this new creature.

"Do you think its gonna fly away?" Ocellus asked curiously.

"Somehow I doubt that." Gallus muttered.

True to the griffin's statement, the giant Rodan indeed had no intention of backing down from this fight. On the contrary, the flying reptile had devised a new way of fighting its grounded opponent: opening its mouth as widely as it could, an orange glow began emitting from within the giant Rodan's throat. Seconds later, a fiery sphere that appeared to be composed of hardened magma and engulfed in flames was shot from Rodan's mouth, and struck the fresh wound on Godzilla's back. The Monster King cried out in pain as the fireball exploded with incredible force upon impact with his body, worsening the wound and causing him even greater pain. Sensing an advantage, Rodan began firing more of the same attack, relentlessly peppering Godzilla with fireball after fireball, resulting in the Monster King's entire body being consumed by a series of explosions and the resulting smoke produced by said explosions, all while his attacker was staying at a safe distance in the air.

"Holy cow! Is that thing part phoenix!?" Silverstram asked in bewilderment.

"At this point, I don't even care what it is..." Smolder responded nervously.

Finally, Rodan ceased its attack and waited for the smoke to clear to see the damage it dealt to its grounded opponent. But to its surprise, once the smoke cleared away, Godzilla Terrestris was still standing, albeit with one major difference; the area where Rodan inflicted the first wound, and subsequently aimed its fireballs at, was covered with a thick, gelatinous substance that was pinkish in colour. It certainly wasn't blood, as the pterosaur had already seen and tasted that when it stabbed Godzilla with its beak. Regardless of whatever this stuff was, all Rodan knew was that its opponent was still alive and that it needed to resume its attack to finish him off. Opening its mouth, the pterosaur fired another fireball down at Godzilla. But before the fiery sphere could reach its target, the mysterious substance that was coating the Monster King's back suddenly extended upwards and formed three amorphous tentacle-like formations that caught the fireball mid-air, smothering both it and the following explosion that came after. As a result, the damage output of the explosion was significantly reduced than what it would otherwise had been.

This shocked not only Rodan, but the Young Six who were watching the battle.

"Did that thing just grow tentacles from its back..." Smolder was at loss for words, much like all of her friends.

"It looks like it." Sandbar gulped.

Undeterred, the Rodan continued firing more fireballs at Godzilla, but just like before, the amorphous substance continued forming more tentacles in order to catch, smother, or even outright swat the incoming fireballs away from Godzilla Terrestris. It was now clear to the Young Six what Godzilla was doing,

"I think those tentacles are a defense mechanism against the bird monster's fireballs." Ocellus thought out loud as she studied the battle.

After another unsuccessful attempt to damage the dinosaur-like kaiju with the fireballs thanks to the Monster King's newly-formed amorphous appendages, the tentacles that Godzilla was producing suddenly shot upwards into the air with frightening speed, intending to catch the hovering pterosaur in the air. Seeing this, Rodan quickly took evasive action and flew higher before the tentacles could reach it. Perhaps realizing that it was outmatched, the gigantic pterosaur turned and began flying away from Godzilla, seemingly heading west. The tentacles, along with the gelatinous substance that Godzilla produced, began shrinking and reducing in size until it was completely absorbed into the Monster King's body. As soon as the substance was gone, the wound that Rodan inflicted on Godzilla had completely healed and disappeared, as if it was never there to begin with.

"Wow. That thing's wounds are completely healed." Gallus commented in surprise.

"It's like this creature can do anything." Ocellus stated in amazement.

Suddenly, a loud screech prompted the Young Six to shift their attention west, and were surprised at what they saw: Instead of fleeing like they thought it would, the giant Rodan instead made a U turn and circled back around, flying directly towards Godzilla Terrestris while opening its mouth and preparing to shoot a fireball at him.

"That thing just does not know when to quit." Smolder muttered, now feeling more annoyed at the Rodan's stubborn refusal to retreat - and little did she know, Godzilla thought the exact same thing. Rodan had missed its chance to get away, and now Godzilla was going to make sure that it will be the last mistake it ever does.

Godzilla Terrestris roared and opened his fanged jaws wide, that was when the dorsal plates on his back began glowing with a bright, neon-blue colour and a ring of energy of the same colour began forming directly in front of his mouth. The Monster King narrowed his eyes, lining the incoming pterosaur up in his target zone and locking it in his line of sight so his ranged attack would hit it with precise accuracy. The glowing ring grew gradually in size as it continued to hover in front of Godzilla's gaping jaws, the theropod-like kaiju arched his neck back slightly as he slowly prepared to fire. Rodan seemed completely oblivious at what Godzilla was doing, for it was preparing its own ranged attack as it steadily flew closer to its grounded opponent.

With his target now within his striking range and getting steadily closer to him, the dorsal-plated reptilian launched the glowing halo that was in front of his mouth directly at Rodan, sending it speeding towards the flying reptile like a rocket. The pterosaur could only stare in shock as the halo came directly at it and collided with its body.

When the energy ring collided with Rodan, it produced a sound akin to a bell chiming and dissipated in a burst of shimmering blue particles. A blow of pure unequaled power rippled through the giant pterosaur's body, shutting down the attack it was charging and sending it spinning wildly as it plummeted to the ground below. When the Rodan fell to the ground, the impact produced a loud thud and kicked up a large crimson dust cloud.

The Young Six could only stare in wide-eyed disbelief at what they just witnessed, their minds racing with various different questions.

"Did you just see that...?" A bewildered Sandbar asked.

"Yup." Gallus replied, no less amazed.

"Honestly, that was kind of awesome." Smolder admitted. This creature may not be a dragon, but the abilities it just displayed were nothing to sneeze at.

"No kidding! I mean, how did it even do that? What did it just fire?!" Silverstream exclaimed, asking various questions.

"Yona rather not know answer." The young yak said in fright.

"You know, I've noticed something odd," Ocellus suddenly said, prompting her friends to look at her. "There is no record of a creature like this, the giant spiders, or those bird-like creatures existing anywhere in Equestria until now. It's only when the Archetype appeared and started spreading that these creatures also began appearing in Equestria."

"Yeah, you're right." Gallus nodded. "We don't know what these creatures are or where they came from, but they're definitely connected to that stuff."

"Heads up, guys! That giant monster's coming!" Sandbar exclaimed and pointed at Godzilla Terrestris, who was now approaching the spot where the Rodan fell, which meant he will have to pass by their treehouse.

The Young Six stayed as silent as they possibly could as they watched the enormous beast walk past their treehouse, easily dwarfing it, without seeming to notice them inside. Once he reached the location of where the giant pterosaur was laying, Godzilla Terrestris bent down and scooped up the lifeless body of the Rodan in his jaws. Suddenly, Godzilla turned his head around and stared directly at the Young Six, who immediately tensed up and prepared to run for their lives the moment the kaiju decides to attack them. Fortunately, the Monster King ultimately shifted his attention away from them, and with his prize still in his jaws, the dorsal-plated reptilian began heading east to enjoy his earned meal, as he preferred to feed in seclusion.

The Young Six continued to watch as Godzilla slowly disappeared into the thick red mist of Archetype, waiting until the loud thuds of his heavy footsteps to also disappear before deciding to leave.

"I think that's our cue to leave." Smolder stated, and her friends nodded.

Without wasting any more time, the Young Six exited their treehouse and went in the opposite direction of where Godzilla was going. Armed with the knowledge of everything they had just witnessed and experienced, the students knew they needed to warn their respective kingdoms. They could only hope that they are not too late.





Canterlot

Twilight Sparkle and Sunny Starscout could barely catch their breaths as they were racing towards Canterlot castle alongside their respective friends, including Anguirus and Jet Jaguar. As soon as they spotted the ominous thick cloud of Archetype having manifested from and spreading across Canterlot, Twilight, Sunny, and Jet Jaguar immediately raced to find their friends, inform them of what is happening, and then race towards Canterlot as quickly as they possibly could. Hitch and Fluttershy were the first to meet up with them, even before they could reach the latter's cottage — which was mainly thanks to Anguirus' precognitive ability foreseeing their arrival. Neither Hitch nor Sunny could still get over how impressive that ability was. Once the rest of their friends were gathered, all of them quickly began racing for Canterlot. Rainbow Dash initially was a little hesitant to go due to the presence of the Archetype, knowing it will remove her ability to fly the moment she comes in contact with it. Of course, there was no room for arguing, not when Spike and many other ponies were still in the Canterlot as this was happening, not to mention Moon Dancer who was in the process of researching how to reverse the effects of the Archetype.

As they neared the gates of Canterlot, they had no other choice but to plow directly into the ever-expanding thick haze of Archetype. And just like that, all of their magical abilities were gone in an instant; Twilight and Rarity felt their inner magic disappear, a feeling they likened to a fire inside them getting doused by water, extinguishing the source of their magical fuel. Rainbow and Fluttershy dropped to the ground, the magic that kept them airborne gone and leaving them grounded, much to the former's chagrin and frustration. Sunny and her friends were relatively unaffected, as they already had their magic stolen when they splashed into the Archetype-infested sea before arriving in Equestria's past. Once the eleven ponies and their two kaiju companions passed the gate, they were greeted with a scene straight out of a nightmare story; everything was crimson-red and visibility in the area has decreased by about 50% thanks to Canterlot being consumed by the cloud of crimson mist.

The heroes stopped as they watched many ponies screaming and running around in sheer terror. To Sunny and her friends, the chaos they were seeing before them very much mirrored the panicked frenzy the ponies of Maretime Bay were in when the Rodans invaded their town. Only this time, there weren't any Rodans present — or any immediate monsters, for that matter (excluding Jet Jaguar and Anguirus, who were with them the entire time).

"What's happening!?" Twilight asked a nearby unicorn mare who was hiding behind a wooden cart.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here, Princess! We're under attack!" The mare cried out.

"Under attack?!" Sunny exclaimed in shock.

"By what?" Rainbow asked.

The cyan pegasus got her answer when all of them suddenly heard a deep, guttural roar! Looking up, the shocked ponies saw a very large creature climbing up the top of the one of the many towers present all over Canterlot, and holding in its hand was one of the giant fans that Shining Armor installed as Canterlot's new defense system to prevent any flying threats from breaching the castle via the sky. But it was the creature's overall appearance that truly caught the ponies' attention; The creature mostly resembled a scaly, reptilian baboon that was slightly larger than Anguirus. Its arms were muscular and longer than its hind legs, with sharp claws on both the fingers and toes. The creature also had a prominently hunched back and a long tail, while its body was covered in warty green skin, with a beige underbelly and a row of spikes running along its back. It also had a long upward-facing horn located on its forehead, and a paired row of yellowish plate-like scales running down the length of its back. Its head and jaws resembled those of a baboon, with a cat-like muzzle and a pair of rhino-like ears located on both sides of the head.

To add even more fuel to this beast's terrifying appearance, its eyes were white and lacked any sort of pupils.

This creature's name was Salunga!

"Not another monster!" Rarity exclaimed in dismay.

"Where did this thing come from?!" Twilight exclaimed.

"This creature just suddenly appeared in Canterlot out of nowhere! According to witnesses, it came from one of the entrances that lead to the underground tunnels by smashing through it." The unicorn explained. "That's also when this strange red mist also started appearing and spreading all over Canterlot and everypony started losing their magic!"

Twilight, Sunny, and all of their friends were shocked and horrified to learn this. Somehow, not only has the Archetype made its way to Canterlot, but yet another mysterious creature that was connected to it also appeared. It seems that nowhere is safe from the Archetype and the monsters it was bringing with it. At that moment, Salunga looked down and spotted the twelve ponies and their two kaiju friends — and upon seeing them, the reptilian primate let out a primal roar before he threw the fan he was holding at the heroes. Seeing this, Twilight initially tried to put up a force-field but found herself unable as she realized she was now magicless. She and everyone screamed as the fan came hurling their way at an alarming speed, and without any magic to defend themselves with or ability to quickly fly away, they were goners. Fortunately, Jet Jaguar jumped over his pony friends and landed in front of them, where he holds out his arms in an X shape and awaited the incoming object. The fan struck him but ricochet off his durable body with a metallic cling before falling to the ground.

"Thanks, Jet Jaguar!" Sunny smiled up at the robot, who turned his head slightly to look at her and nod. Just then, Salunga leaped off of the tall tower and landed right in front of the heroes with a loud 'thud', creating several cracks on the floor underneath him, before letting out a guttural roar. Anguirus jumped over the ponies and landed next to Jet Jaguar, as both prepared to battle the monkey-like reptilian. The ankylosaur-like kaiju wastes no time in shaking his spikes and attempting to peer into the future in order to get a better understanding and prepare for whatever was coming — only to see nothing at all. Shocked, Anguirus tried again, and again, he saw nothing whatsoever. What was going on? Why was he unable to see into the future like he normally does? But he had no time to dwell on this for too long, Salunga stood up on his hind legs and let out a bellowing roar at them before dropping on all fours and charging at him and Jet Jaguar like a crazed chimpanzee. Seeing this, Anguirus and Jet Jaguar had no choice but to return the favor and charge at the incoming beast! The gap between them instantly closed as Jet Jaguar and Anguirus smashed into the larger Salunga with their combined weight and strength, resulting in a small shockwave.

Jet Jaguar threw a left-hook punch across Salunga's face, stunning him long enough for Anguirus to deliver an equally-devastating blow to the monster's head with his tail club. In retaliation, Salunga swung his right arm at Jet Jaguar, hitting him with the back of his hand and sending the robot flying and crashing into the wall of a nearby building. Salunga then grabbed Anguirus by the head wit his other hand, wrapping his fingers around the jaws to prevent the ankylosaur from biting him, and smashing his head against the ground with all the force he could muster.

"We have to help them!" Sunny exclaimed.

"But how? We just lost all of our magic the moment we got here!" Pipp pointed out. The pegasus princess has never been one to participate in fights with monsters, even with her ability to fly.

"We don't need magic of any kind to stop that monster." Twilight declared, prompting Sunny and her friends to look at her in surprise. "All we need is teamwork and trust in one another."

"This ain't the first time we've had to fight threats to Equestria without our magic." Applejack stated. "On time, Starlight, Thorax, Discord, and Trixie rescued us from Chrysalis 'nd the changelings while being robbed of their magic."

"Wait... seriously?!" Zipp gawked in surprise, as did her friends.

"It's a long story, we'll tell you later." Twilight insisted before turning her attention at the situation at hoof. "Right now, we need a plan to stop this monster, and I have just the plan."

Again, Sunny found herself shocked by Twilight's statement and confidence. Not only did the Princess of Friendship demonstrate magical feats far beyond anything anypony in her time can do, but even without magic, the Guardians of Harmony had faced and defeated powerful foes and monsters in the past? Such a feat would be considered impossible by most ponies in her time.

"Okay, we're all ears!" Rainbow stated, eager to end this as soon as possible.

Salunga stood upright on his hind legs while lifting the struggling Anguirus over his head with his hands. The monkey-like reptilian roared before he tossed the ankylosaur at Jet Jaguar, knocking them both to the ground.

"Hey, ugly!"

A small rock struck the side of Salunga's head, prompting the beast to turn around and see two ponies, Rainbow Dash and Zipp Storm, the former of whom was blowing a raspberry at him. "Come and get us if you can!" Rainbow tauntingly called out before the two turned tails and galloped away. Their stunt produced the reaction they wanted as Salunga roared in anger and gave chase after them.

The two ponies lead the kaiju deeper into Canterlot, among the many low-raise buildings where they could maneuver much more easily in order to gain some distance and impede their pursuer. While the former intention was going smoothly, it didn't go as much with their latter intention a Salunga leaped atop one of the buildings and resumed chasing them by leaping from building to building. For such a large creature, this thing was surprisingly agile and nimble, Zipp had to admit. Then, an idea popped into the pegasus princess' head as she was galloping for her life.

"Rainbow, I have an idea to get that monster quicker to our destination." Zipp stated. "But I'm gonna have to get him to chase just me."

The cyan pegasus was unsure, and a bit worried, but she nevertheless trusted her fellow daredevil pony. "Alright. Do what you have to!"

Nodding, Zipp took advantage of an empty bucket that was in their path by kicking it upwards with her hind hoof directly at Salunga's face, irritating him even more and prompting the monster to focus his primal rage entirely on her. With the first step in her plan complete, the two ponies went their separate ways, with Zipp heading towards a particularly tall conical-shaped building that was empty, with Salunga still close on her tail.

Fortunately, Zipp was able to enter the building before the monster could get her, and as soon as she was inside, she began racing up the spiral-shaped staircase that reached all the way to the top of the building. Almost mid-way up, she felt a tremor shaking the building from the outside, and a quick glance into one of windows she passed showed her the reason: with his sharp claws digging into the concrete, Salunga was climbing up the building at the same speed she was galloping from inside. Eventually, Zipp reached the end of the staircase and exited the building via a nearby window at the top. She stood atop the tall building, overlooking most of the landscape of Canterlot. But she didn't have much time to enjoy this scenery as Salunga also reached the pointed top of the tower, and was snarling at her. Zipp gulped and looked down,

"Well, here goes nothing." With that, she leaped off of the building just in time to evade Salunga's hand narrowly grabbing her. Spreading her wings as wide as possible, and thanks to a fan that was conveniently located on a shorter building just below her, providing her with extra lift, Zipp was able to glide horizontally like a flying squirrel whilst also gently descending to the ground thanks to her wings doubling as a parachute. Finally, Zipp landed on the ground with a few steps, catching her breath from the daredevil experience. "Okay, that was a bit close even for me." The white pegasus self-noted. She then looked up to see Salunga angrily roaring down at her before he jumped off the building. Because the kaiju was much larger and heavier, not to mention lacking any features for gliding or flying, he plummeted straight to the ground below and landed with a heavy thud, receiving no physical damage from the impact.

Seeing this, Zipp quickly turned and started galloping away, with the primate-like reptilian giving chase once again. This whole chase reminded the pegasus of when her sister was being chased by the Rodan in Maretime Bay not that long ago, but unlike that, Zipp wasn't simply running for her life to get away from the beast chasing her, she was luring him...

She passed between two large buildings where a folded up tapestry banner was located above between them. As soon as she passed the two buildings, the large banner suddenly unfolded downwards right in front of Salunga's path, giving the monster no time to properly react or evade it in time as he crashed directly into it. Pipp and Rarity, who were on the tops of the respective buildings and being responsible for unfolding the banner right in front of the charging kaiju, watched as Salunga came to a full stop, his horn having pierced through the tapestry and lodged the banner around his face, blocking his vision completely. As soon as the kaiju removes the banner from his face, he is greeted by an attacking swarm of geese flying around his face, packing at him with their beaks. Of course, their attacks didn't harm Salunga in the slightest, they were the equivalent to harmless house flies to a pony — but even a full-grown stallion can get annoyed and distracted by a persistent swarm of flies buzzing around his face constantly, which is exactly what was happening to Salunga. The kaiju growled and swatted at the annoying birds with his clawed hands, only to grow more irritated by their refusal to retreat. This escalates to the point where Salunga rears up on his hind legs and continues swatting at the pesky geese with both his arms... leaving him open for Hitch and Applejack as they came at him, carrying the latter's extended rope with them; Hitch holding one end of the rope while Applejack holds the other end in their mouths. They wrapped the long rope around the beast's feet by repeatedly running in circles in opposite directions from each other. Once that was complete, Hitch and Applejack pull on the opposite sides of the rope, pressing the monster's feet tightly to one another.

Their plan worked flawlessly as the kaiju roared in surprise upon losing his balance and topped to the ground on his stomach. As soon as Salunga was down, Fluttershy emerged from behind a nearby building and cried out,

"Anguirus, now!"

On her command, and with a loud roar, the ankylosaur jumped out of nowhere, soaring high in the air before landing right on top of the downed Salunga's back with all of his weight. The monkey-like reptilian roared in pain and tried to get him off, but found his attempt futile as Jet Jaguar also jumped onto his back with his own body-slam, causing him even more pain. Salunga tried to get up and free himself, but the combined weight of both Jet Jaguar and Anguirus on top of him was proving too much, not to mention his legs were still tied up. Salunga could do nothing but roar and snarl in frustration. With the rampaging monster now pinned to the ground and trapped, the ponies slowly approached the scene.

"That was your plan, to dog-pile him?" Rainbow asked her friend in surprise.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" Izzy chimed in.

"It sure did!" Pinkie crowed.

"I still can't believe this plan actually worked." Hitch said in genuine surprise, looking at the trapped beast.

"You and me both." Pipp nodded in agreement.

"Well, I for one, would have preferred if we didn't have to use that magnificent banner in our plan." Rarity huffed. "Now it's ruined."

"I'm more curious why Anguirus' ability to see into the future didn't work on that thing." Zipp suddenly pointed out, prompting the others to realize the same. If the ankylosaur's precognitive ability is magical in nature, then that would explain why it didn't work. Still, Zipp felt that something about Anguirus' ability in relation to the Archetype was unusual. Specifically, she wondered if the ankylosaur's special ability was even magical in nature, considering there has never been any mention of him or any of the other strange creatures in any historical records, both here and in her timeline.

As if Anguirus, Jet Jaguar, and all of these other creatures suddenly came here from another world. Zipp's eyes widened as the possibility came to her mind. Could this be the case? Are these creatures and the Archetype pouring into their world from another dimension? Considering Twilight and Spike have been to a parallel world inhabited by bipedal creatures called humans, it was almost a guarantee that this is indeed what is happening right now.

Even stranger: what if these creatures had time-traveled here from Equestria's long forgotten past, or possibly even its far future? She and her friends just traveled 4,000 years into the past, after all.

But before Zipp could voice her theories to the others...

"Twilight!"

A voice from behind suddenly called out, causing the Mane 6 and Mane 5 to turn around and spot a small purple dragon flying over towards them. Sunny and her friends stared at him with widened eyes and their mouths were agape as the little dragon landed in front of them.

"Spike!"

Twilight smiled and quickly raced over to hug him, happy and relieved that he is okay.

"What in Equestria happened here?" Spike asked, understandably confused by the suddenly changed Canterlot he had found himself in upon waking up. He then shifted his attention to Jet Jaguar and Anguirus, who were still keeping Salunga down and preventing him from getting up or moving much, as much as the latter tried. "And what are those creatures?"

"It's a very, very long story." Rainbow Dash replied with an exhausted sigh, not feeling particularly keen to explain everything that's been happening.

"Okay~..." Spike said slowly, sensing the tiredness and disinterest in the cyan pegasus' voice. He could tell that all of his friends had just gone through a lot, and the presence of those three strange creatures behind them, as well as this mysterious crimson mist were definitely contributors. Finally, the young dragon turned his attention to Sunny and her friends, who were all staring at him with astonishment and awe, as if they had never seen a dragon before. "Can you at least tell me who these ponies are?"

"Oh, they're from the future! Specifically 4,000 years into the future!" Pinkie answered ever so casually, as if informing him what day it is.

"Wait, what?" Spike nearly shouted in surprise, not expecting such an answer.

"It's true. We don't know how, but we've been transported to your time." Hitch answered as he approached the little dragon with a warm smile. During their time together, Fluttershy informed him about dragons, including Spike, and other races in the timeline they were currently in. He still couldn't believe that he was in the presence of a real life dragon, a creature that hasn't been seen in his timeline for thousands of years. Not to mention this dragon in particular was a cute juvenile one. "I'm Hitch, by the way. Hitch Trailblazer."

"Huh. I'm guessing I missed out a lot." Spike replied rather casually.

"You don't seem that shocked that we're from the future." Zipp idly noted.

"Meh. This isn't the first time we've had to deal with time-travel." The little dragon replied nonchalantly. "One time, Twilight and I had to go back in time to stop Starlight Glimmer from altering the timeline, resulting in several different futures where Equestria was ruled by evil villains. But we were able to fix it."

Sunny and her friends stared at Spike in complete and utter bewilderment and disbelief, unable to wrap their minds around the incomprehensibleness of what the little dragon just said. Sunny was especially shocked by this, as there was never any mention of Twilight, or anypony else, ever traveling back in time to stop a pressing threat. She wondered if the Guardians of Harmony deliberately left this out in order to prevent possible future threats from finding a way to time-travel and undo their work. It also just occurred to her: when she and her friends return to their own timeline, would Twilight have to erase their memories of their time here, as well as their own, in order to prevent any disruptions in the timestream? The Earth pony felt uneasy at the thought of her memories having to be erased after everything she and her friends just learned and experienced here. Still, she knew that for the greater good of Equestria, and possibly reality, they may not have any other choice. Regardless, Sunny decided not to speak out her thoughts at the moment, as this wasn't the appropriate time for that kind of discussion.

As the ponies were conversing with the young drake, they didn't notice Salunga's horn begin glowing like a light-bulb. That was when the monster's body started emitting extremely high levels of electricity, which was visibly surging outwards around his body. Anguirus roared in pain as the massive voltage coursed through his and Jet Jaguar's bodies, causing them both immense pain and distress. The robot's eyes rapidly flickered on and off as a result of this, forcing him to get off of Salunga to avoid possibly his system short-circuiting. Anguirus followed soon after, unable to bear the pain any longer. Salunga wastes no time in quickly getting up and delivering powerful blows to both Jet Jaguar and Anguirus with his muscular arms.

"Look out!" Spike cried out as the ponies turned around and saw the enraged Salunga charging at them. The ponies immediately took off in different directions in hopes of getting away in time, but the monkey-like reptilian had already set his sights on a particular pony: Sunny Starscout. Try as she might, she couldn't outrun the fast-approaching beast, and quickly found herself snatched up as she felt the monster's fingers wrap around her body and lift her off the ground.

"Sunny!" Hitch, Izzy, Pipp and Zipp cried out in horror.

Holding his prey in one hand, Salunga turned around and jumped atop the roof of a nearby small building. The monkey-like reptilian quickly moved on to the house next to it, and continued to sprint across the roofs of the small buildings that were close around him until he reached a slightly taller and more colorful building with a spire atop, which also happened to be connected to another building of identical size and shape via a large, concrete bridge that was about 40 feet off the ground. Salunga wasted no time jumping directly on top of the bridge, creating several deep cracks from the impact, before jumping onto the tower on the other side. Throughout this whole event, Sunny was completely dazed and felt her stomach turn due to the stress of being carried by a monster that also happened to be an acrobatic climber. Salunga then saw an even bigger building, 100 feet tall or more, with a colorful spire on the top located 80 feet away from the tower he was on. Not bothering to think twice, the monkey-like reptilian bent his knees and free arm before jumping forward with as much force as he could muster. Sunny's adrenaline promptly skyrocketed as she and her captor soared through the air, and she screamed at the top of her lungs. And just like that, Salunga cleared the 80 feet distance in an instant. He landed right on the midsection area of the tower, digging his sharp claws into the smooth concrete surface in order to latch onto the large building. With this amazing feat of acrobatics, Salunga began climbing up the top of the tower, albeit more slowly than normal due to carrying his prey in one hand.

Meanwhile, Twilight and her friends, as well as Sunny's friends, along with Jet Jaguar and Anguirus were racing after Salunga on ground level as fast as they could. If they weren't in a race to save their friend's life, they would be amazed at what an acrobatic and nimble climber Salunga was, as he easily cleared such a large distance in a short amount of time by leaping to one tall building, climbing up the top, and then jumping over to the next building that was closest; all the while they had to follow him via hoof. This was especially frustrating for Rainbow Dash and Zipp Storm, who couldn't currently fly. The only exception was Spike, because unlike ponies, a dragon's ability to fly is non-magical.

"It looks like he's heading for the castle!" Twilight exclaimed, watching in horror as the monkey-like reptilian approached ever closer to the castle by leaping to higher and higher buildings like a giant tarsier.

"We'll never catch up to them at this point!" Pipp exclaimed in despair.

"I can, but I'm not sure what good I can do against that thing. Not to mention even if I could fly up there, those fans Shining Armor installed will blow me away," Spike inquired while flying beside Twilight.

The Princess of Friendship thought hard to come up with the best possible scenario where they could save Sunny Starscout from Salunga without endangering her life in the process. Yet, all of the possible calculations in her mind are doomed to fail; trying to create a makeshift balloon for all of them to fly up there would waste too much time, not to mention they would also be getting blown away by the fans. Trying to use Pinkie's party canon to launch themselves at the monster like they did against the Storm King could work, but it is more likely to fail as the beast and its hostage were a very fast target, thus the chance of making a bullseye was extremely slim, not to mention that a miss would be fatal for them. The idea of firing a cannonball at the beast was also out of the question, due to the risk to Sunny.

Sometimes, even the most brilliant of minds faces a circumstance where there is no safe option to stop it, and it frustrated Twilight to no end. So was that it? Is there truly no way to save Sunny from that monster? Could she live with herself knowing she couldn't save Sunny's life? What kind of ruler would that make her? Twilight's thoughts were interrupted when Jet Jaguar suddenly ran past her, his heavy footsteps making small cracks on the ground as he ran past all the ponies and Anguirus with speed none of them could keep up with (at least not on foot/hoof).

"Wow! Jet Jaguar's moving fast!" Pinkie exclaimed in amazement.

"He's desperate to save Sunny just as we all are!" Zipp replied, galloping next to her.

The adrenaline in Sunny's body had practically reached its limit at this point; the monster that was holding her was now at the top of the second tallest tower of Canterlot castle, one which was visible all the way from Ponyville. Salunga was holding onto the tip of the spire of the tower — which had an emblem in the shape of the sun — with one hand, while holding the pony with his other. Still, despite the terrifying view and her being in mortal danger, a small part of Sunny couldn't help but feel awe at the breath-taking sight; the thick haze of crimson dust had not yet reached the towers, thus she could see all of Canterlot from up here, as well as the lands and mountains beyond, including Ponyville. That was when she spotted Jet Jaguar, looking tiny due to how high she was, racing towards the base of the tower Salunga was currently atop. She also spotted her friends, Twilight and the Guardians of Harmony, as well as Anguirus, racing after him, though it didn't seem like they were able to keep up with the colorful robot.

However, she wasn't the only one who noticed this; Salunga, having also spotted them, glared down at them and shifted his attention to the tower that was now closest, which also happened to be the tallest tower in Canterlot and located dangerously close to the edge of the castle. Sunny quickly realized what her captor was planning, and braced herself for yet another terrifying ride. As she expected, Salunga once again bent his knees and leaped over to the tallest tower in Canterlot, landing right where a window was located.

Seeing this, Jet Jaguar quickly changed course and started racing towards the base of the tallest tower. And by the speed he was running, he should be able to reach it in about a few minutes... which isn't fast enough. Looking up, Jet Jaguar saw that Salunga was preparing to devour Sunny as he opened his huge jaws wide and was bringing the terrified pony in. He had to save her! He had to save her now! That was when Jet Jaguar's eyes began glowing a bright white light... followed by another, much brighter light of the same color illuminating in his chest and shining brightly among the thick haze of Archetype.

That was when something extraordinary happened...

The crimson mist around him suddenly disappears, being replaced by many long and sharp crystals of the same color and of various sizes that rapidly grew outwards and jutted in all directions at an incredible speed, impaling anything and everything unfortunate enough to get caught in their path in the process, including all the buildings around Jet Jaguar. This affect didn't stop here, but continues to spread all over Canterlot, as the thick cloud of red dust that had nearly engulfed all of Canterlot was now rapidly disappearing and replaced by a gigantic tangle of red crystals, many as large as some of the tallest buildings.

"Wow!" Twilight exclaimed in surprise as one of the massive crystals sprouted sideways in-between herself and some of her friends, thankfully missing all of them. The ponies and Anguirus subsequently halted in their tracks, shocked by the sudden appearance of these giant crystals. One moment they were galloping through a thick red mist to save their friend, the second the world around was reverting mostly to normal, with the exception of the building-sized red crystals that were now sprouting and jutting everywhere around them. Everypony was in a loss for words at this sudden change as it raised many more questions — questions that will have to wait until Sunny is rescued. With that, the ten ponies, Spike, and Anguirus resumed running to reach the tower as soon as possible.

Sunny Starscout was practically staring death in the face; certain that none of those other bothersome creatures will reach him up here, Salunga opened his jaws to devour his prey whole. The apricot pony could do nothing but stare in silent horror at her waiting death. She was about to get eaten, and her life, along with all he dreams and hopes, will come to an end. What a cruel twist of fate.

But before Salunga could chomp down on her, several of the red crystals that were still growing extremely quickly raced up the tallest tower with blinding speed, and impaled Salunga's body in multiple directions; with four going straight through his torso and one through the arm that was holding Sunny. The monkey-like reptilian cried out in pain, as one would expect, and immediately released the pony from his grip. Instead of falling directly down, Sunny landed on one of the giant crystals that were impaling Salunga, before sliding down it. Sunny screamed as she slided down the gigantic crystal, almost like a roller-coaster but with no safety features should she slide off it. Thankfully, thanks to the crystal being intertwined with other crystals of comparable size, she was able to grab hold of another massive crystal that happened to be in her slide path. With effort, Sunny managed to climb up the side of the crystal before jumping onto the parapet walk that was located at the midsection of the tower, and entering the door.

Jet Jaguar was nearing the base of the tallest tower, jumping over any red crystals that were in his way. But as he neared the base...

"Jet Jaguar?" A soft voice sounded up ahead, prompting the robot to stop and look in the direction. There, opening a nearby door and emerging was Sunny Starscout, alive and unharmed. Without saying a word, the pony immediately galloped towards the colorful robot and hugged his metallic leg tightly. "I'm so glad you came to save me." She said with a tearful smile. Jet Jaguar responded by bending down on one knee and gently wrapping his metallic arms around the pony, returning the hug.

A loud cracking sound was heard from above, prompting the pony and robot to look up at the tower. Large and deep cracks were spreading through the midsection area of the tower on which Salunga was still atop, likely due to not being able to handle the combined weight of the monster on the top and the gigantic crystals impaling him. As the cracks continued to spread, the tower finally began to crumble until it toppled over like a tree. Sunny and Jet Jaguar watched as the tower fell off of Canterlot and the mountain on which the castle was located, sending the still-living Salunga, who was now trapped on the tower, plummeting straight down and out of sight.

"Sunny!"

Sunny and Jet Jaguar turned around to see Twilight and  their friends finally arriving at the scene. Izzy, Hitch, Zipp, and Pipp ran past the Mane Six and galloped towards their friend, as did she towards them. The five ponies came together and embraced each other in a group hug, all of them happy and relieved that their friend was safe and sound after that harrowing experience.

"I thought we'd never see you again, Sunny." Hitch softly said.

"Neither did I," His friend softly replied. "But I'm glad we did."

Twilight and her friends smiled warmly at this; the bond these ponies shared matched their own in every way, and it just goes to show that even after 4,000 years, the Magic of Friendship is still very much alive and strong.

"Twilight!" A new voice suddenly called out, prompting all the ponies, Spike and the kaiju to turn around and see Moon Dancer galloping towards them as fast as she could, and with a look of alarmed panic on her face. "Oh, thank goodness you're all here!" She sighed in relief as she came to a full stop in front of the Mane Six, barely able to catch her breath.

"Calm down, Moon Dancer!" Twilight said, placing a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "What's going on?"

"I... I was doing research on the Archetype, as usual, and I found something terrifying about it." Moon Dancer explained through heavy pants.

"Yeah, we noticed that, too. In addition to absorbing magic, it's also somehow making these monsters appear all over Equerstria." Rainbow Dash said. The cyan pegasus heard a deep growl and looked around to see Anguirus glaring at her, offended by her implication of him being a monster like the hostile creatures that have been attacking them without provocation. "Hehe. Not you, Anguirus. You're cool."

"No, it's not just that. I've been researching the Archetype all day to find out what else it can do... and I discovered that if it continues spreading without being stopped..." Moon Dancer paused for a moment, not knowing how Twilight and the rest will react to what she is about to say, but they could all tell that what she was about to say will be of the of most importance.

"It will end the world."

Both the Mane Six and Mane Five felt their blood run cold, along with a cold chill running down their spine as the unicorn said this.