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Recap / The Bridge Ch 21 Old Problems New Results

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I don't need that many.

It is night in Appleloosa, and Rodan perches on the roof of the couple Dallas and Thalia's house, scanning the surroundings for any sign of trouble. He can't stop shivering from the cold, but he can't go inside due to his claustrophobia. Thalia tells him to come inside, but when he explains the problem, she generously covers him with blankets, laughing when she applies too many. He explains he just wants to make sure there were no stragglers from the Gyaos flock, so he'll stay on patrol. She says she's read the articles on Godzilla's battle in Canterlot and she doesn't believe the claims that Godzilla and his kind are a threat. They will always be welcome here. As she goes back inside, he is happy. While he used to regret being in this small body, he is glad he can interact with these people without creating sonic booms whenever he flies or breaking buildings with the wrong movements. He was accepted on Solgell Island and he is accepted here. To him, they are one and the same: home.

The next morning, Applejack wakes up and looks upon the town with satisfaction. The repairs are all but complete, so the Buffalo tribe took a load of pies as compensation and moved on. She listens to the radio and a talk show called Good Morning Equestria comes on. The host, Horson Wells, decides to discuss Godzilla's battle against the Gyaos with his guest, psychologist and equality activist Moonbeam Glimmer. Moonbeam criticizes Godzilla, calling him nothing but a murderer. Sure, the Gyaos were dangerous, but Equestrians do their best to ward off and scare away predators, not kill them, and since Godzilla didn't eat any of the Gyaos, he doesn't even have the excuse of being a predator, he killed them for sport. Horson points out Godzilla was defending the citizens of Canterlot from being killed, but she says a killer of killers is still a killer, period. She then says since Godzilla is being harbored by the palace, the entire city is not safe as they have a sociopath who uses violence to solve problems first in their midst. Horson brings up the fact that Godzilla choose of his own free will to defend the city, and even made it a priority to take down the Gyaos who started to peck through the forcefield first. Moonbeam continues to say Godzilla is a loose cannon and a threat. Disgusted, Applejack turns off the radio.

Rodan entertains the colts and fillies by letting them ride him. He performs several aerial maneuvers and even flies fast enough to create a sonic boom. The townsfolk applaud, and Applejack is amazed that his speed rivals Rainbow Dash herself. She asks for an encore.

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Welcome to the Royal Guard.

Godzilla decides to resume training, but is surrounded by the soldiers. Worried that they are of the faction that distrusts him, he prepares for a fight, but Captain Blueberry Frost calms him down. In recognition of his heroism in defending Canterlot from the Gyaos flock, she puts an official uniform on him and dubs him the newest member of the Royal Guard. They all applaud, and Godzilla smiles, knowing that they accept him.

Princess Luna struggles through a lot of paperwork. Out of everything about being a princess, this is the most boring part for her. She is incredibly annoyed by several letters calling for Godzilla's incarceration, exile, or execution, but her spirits are lifted by a letter from Ponyville's Mayor Mare asking for Godzilla to be granted citizenship. Derpy Hooves drops off a letter from Applejack that gives a progress report on Appleloosa. When she reads the P.S., she gets excited and runs out the room looking for her sister.

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Did I do too much?

Princess Celestia is tired and stressed after having to officiate over several court sessions. Several nobles demanded arrest warrants for Godzilla and the annoying con-artists known as the Flim-Flam brothers claimed Godzilla had destroyed their invention and demanded their insurance money. A newspaper lists several ponies' opinions on the matter. "Recent polls put approval of Godzilla's actions and the Princesses deploying it at 39% approve, 36% disapprove; and 25% undecided-" She's been doing her best to assure the citizens that Godzilla is a good guy, but little progress has been made, and she thinks she knows why. She's been ruling Equestria for over a thousand years, and in all that time, she's done her best to make sure war and crime were almost nonexistent, and bellies were full. Now their entire society just got introduced to violence the likes of which they have never seen. In trying to protect her subjects, she fears she coddled them too much.

Luna finds her and points out the situation is similar to how she was treated for a while after she was redeemed after the whole Nightmare Moon fiasco. She suggests they solve it in a similar way: have the citizens get to know Godzilla so they see his true character. Luna also points out Celestia did something similar in the beginning of her rule; the citizens were terrified of their godlike ruler until she did her best to entertain them and make them see her as one of them. She presents a brochure for the Wonderbolts and Applejack's letter, which talks about how Rodan is such an awesome flier.

Monster X staggers through Zenith, trying to find his friends. He's still bleeding from his back, and his nightmare still haunts his vision. The voice from his nightmare tells him Grand King Ghidorah knows the truth of their past. Ghidorah must be destroyed. He finds his friends, and the voice tells him Ghidorah will kill them unless they take him out. They ask him what is wrong, and he collapses as his entire body is wracked with pain. Gigan is filled with fear as he realizes what is about to happen. The voice screams, "Kill Ghidorah!" over and over again, and Monster X's mind is overwhelmed with hate. He knocks Megalon and Irys through the air and demands to know where Ghidorah is. Gigan manages to catch the two before they hit a wall and says Ghidorah is not here and he must calm down. Instead, he goes berserk, running down the hall and blasting and smashing everything in sight. Gigan orders Megalon and Irys to run while he goes after him.

Gigan flies down the hall while muttering he can't believe this nightmare is happening again. Monster X is beating up Leatherback and Otachi when Gigan sneaks up and wraps metal cables around him. He tells the two to run as he struggles to restrain Monster X. Gigan has recorded Monster X's strength limit and knows he can restrain him, but is shocked when he easily surpasses the limit, breaks the cables, and swings him through the air. The voice tells him that anyone who hinders him is an ally of Ghidorah and must be destroyed as well.

The fight moves to Bagan's throne room. Bagan watches curiously and makes no move to interfere as Gigan desperately uses his laser eye beams, but Monster X ignores his burns. Monster X is so fast that Gigan has to resort to teleporting to keep up, and his systems are starting to overheat. They trade blows, with Gigan taking more and more damage. Gigan yells at him to snap out of it, and starts detailing the day they met in the arena for an exhibition match for the Xilians and Nebulans, the day he met Megalon and laughed for the first time, and how he saved Irys from Gaira. Monster X just starts beating him harder, and as his ivory colored armor starts to fall apart, his black skin starts to be replaced by golden scales. Right before he finishes Gigan off, he suddenly snaps out of it and asks him what happened, but he sees a beam approaching and throws Gigan out of the way, getting blasted across the room himself.

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The Dragon versus the Xilian.

Grand King Ghidorah laughs at his successful sneak attack. Overcome with the rage again, Monster X gets up as his claws and muscles grow and his torso seems to shift. The two fire their blasts at each other repeatedly. When Ghidorah senses the energy Monster X is emitting, he senses that one of the only two beings who ever nearly killed him is about to emerge. Terrified, he tries to retreat, but Bagan suddenly opens a portal and shoves Monster X through it. Irys and Megalon enter and help Gigan up. Gigan demands to know what happened to Monster X, but Bagan merely says he is in a world where he can do no harm, and will be retrieved after he has calmed down. For now, everyone is to return to their quarters.

Irys and Megalon help Gigan back to his chambers. Thanks to the promise Bagan gave when he first recruited them, wisps of darkness start to repair his body. Irys and Megalon demand to know what is going on. Gigan sighs and says he never wanted this experience to be brought up again, but they deserve to know. About one hundred years ago, before Megalon was constructed, Monster X and Gigan were assigned to investigate when some Xilian outposts were destroyed by an unknown party. On an icy planet, they discovered the culprit, Grand King Ghidorah. Ghidorah overwhelmed them and was about to kill them when Monster X suddenly transformed into a being similar to him, Kaizer Ghidorah. Kaizer Ghidorah easily defeated King Ghidorah and forced him to retreat, but in his berserk state, he turned on Gigan and nearly killed him before he changed back with no memory of what happened.

In his throne room, Bagan heard everything Gigan said. Monster X was quite a useful pawn, but this Kaizer Ghidorah is a big liability. Still, such power that dwarfs King Ghidorah's must not go to waste and will better serve to restore him to full strength. He concentrates and summons his great minion, Enjin, the demonic ape. He orders Enjin to find Kaizer Ghidorah, kill him, and drain his energy. Enjin howls and jumps through a portal, and locks on to Kaizer Ghidorah's life force.

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