Godzilla Junior casually strolls through the middle of Mako's town with Electra swimming alongside to serve as a guide. She briefly zones out at the bizarreness of it all. Due to The Shroud, virtually nopony had ever been to Mako before and those that did where usually pirates who got a stroke of luck making it through and were lusting after the mermares. So to have someone just walk through the middle of town wasn't something her or any of the mermares had ever seen before. And so far the reactions were either oogling the passing stallion, as many mermares haven't gotten "shore leave" in awhile, or glaring jealously at Electra thinking she was a competitor for Junior's attention. Electra is just shocked "King" Godzilla seems to barely even notice the attention, thinking it would be the norm back on Terra.
They reach the S.S. Mermare as per Junior's requests to see it. There is a team of mermares working on it, operating on the sandbar in land pony disguises, and after the chief investigator named Amethyst Pearl takes a moment to start Eating the Eye Candy, she directs Godzilla to the lost goods they've found. In summary, none of the valuables were taken and there is no signs of a struggle, violent or not, on board; so it didn't seem like pirates caused the disappearance of the passengers and crew. Weather also doesn't seem to be to blame as the lifeboats are still there. Lack of suggestion that something dangerous happened is why all the mermare investigators seems lax about the issue while still trying to solve it. Junior goes quiet, clearly mulling over something as he inspects some of the recovered materials himself. A half hour later he stops and heads back to Electra, she hearing him murmuring something about "There’s nothing. Nothing there..."
When he tells Pearl to keep up the good work, Amethyst Pearl flirts again and promises to tell him personally if they find something more overt. Electra prays nothing bad happened to the crew and catches back up to Godzilla. He mentions Queen Maui asked him to scout and tour the island and asks Electra where to go next.
They walk through town again as Electra speculates on what life back on Terra is like for Godzilla, wondering if his lack of shocked reaction at Mako is because the kingdom she assumes he has back on Terra is similar. She asks about it and he mentioned Solgell Island has some similarities to Mako, just not as many shops. Noting that, she offers to take him to one.
They arrive in a crocker kiln house, a shop that makes pottery and china. Electra explains that due to living in the sea, obviously metal wares don't last long. So as an alternative they use ceramics for most of this wares and this is where it is made. The interior is divided in two, with seawater flooding the shop and front desk while the back work area has the water held back by some kind of magic barrier. It's behind that barrier where the chimney and kiln are to fire the pottery. As Godzilla goes about looking through the shelves, the crocker named Nixie comes out of the work area with a new batch of china she'd made. Initially a green unicorn in an apron and glasses, Nixie transforms back into her mermare form upon contact with the curtain of water and greets Electra. Upon seeing Godzilla however, she silently gasps and yanks a confused Electra behind the counter with her to hide.
Giddy, Nixie asks and is confirmed who it is with Electra noticing how red in the face her friend is getting. Knowing Nixie is attracted to Junior despite her pointing out he's actually a giant dinosaur, but Nixie eagerly points out he's not one now. Electra can only deadpan that she and half of Mako seem to have noticed that by now as Nixie notes he's a "Junior" and not "The Second"; meaning he's single. Electra tries to dissuade her by noting he'd probably only be attracted to his own kind, but Nixie winks and declares she can fix that. She greet Junior at the shelves and attempts to flirt with him, which he doesn't realize despite accidentally egging her on by calling her name cute. Wanting to step it up, Nixie causes the same spell that keeps water out of her work room in the store. Godzilla, baffled at what happened to all the water, finds Nixie in her land form laying at his hooves. When he tries to help her up, she grabs his hoof.
A few moments later and whatever she did, it causes Junior to rapidly power-walk out of the crocker kiln house with Electra apologizing that Nixie is never like this.
Later on, Junior stops the tour in the town square to ask about the monument in the center. It's a spiral of busts encircling a large statue. Electra introduces it as a tribute to all of Mako Island's past queens. Each queen is chosen by the former queen during the end of her reign to train them, and upon their successor's coronation the ex-queen's bust is put in the spiral. At the center of the spiral is a life size statue of Mako's founder and first queen, Queen Amatheia. Junior is a bit perplexed, asking why it wasn't Amatheia's daughters who succeeded her. Electra goes quiet for a short time as her mood is drained. She nevertheless tells him the darkest point in Mako's history. Amatheia did indeed have daughters, Melpomene and her little sister Hymnia; but they were exiled long ago.
The records of that time are spotty, but what they do know is that Mako was attacked by powerful invaders with dark magic who sowed discord and malice and then froze the entire island in ice, trapping them under the water. Melpomene and Hymnia offered themselves up as slaves if the invaders would leave and it worked. Amatheia then gathered her magic and created the Shroud to prevent future invasions, but her exhaustion plus her depression over the loss of her daughters caused her pass away. Her cousin Li'ban took charge until a proper queen could be chosen. Some time later, Melpomene and Hymnia got free of their captors and came back, and they were both pregnant (Junior automatically understands that the two were raped). However, the Shroud detected dark magic in their bellies similar to the invaders and would not allow them to pass it, preventing them from returning to Mako. When Junior asks, Electra says they couldn't just swim under it. While some tried to help the princesses return, others feared that their children would be just as evil as the invaders and exiled them. After a while, they regretted that decision and tried to find them, but they only found Melpomene's regalia on a grave. Hymnia and their children were never found.
Junior is affected by the sad tale and asks who or what were the invaders, but Electra says their records are so poor they are not sure. He asks if they ever learned what happened to the children. They are not sure. They heard stories of beings who may have been them attempting to conquer Equestria before being stopped by Star Swirl the Bearded. Electra hopes this story is not affecting his opinion of Mako, but he says no one is perfect. "As Lulu tells me, it’s not the mistakes we make that matter as much as how we make due on fixing them. Times change, and I'm sure if the events happened now things might be different." She asks him who Lulu is, and he blushes and changes the subject, so she grins and becomes curious.
They go to a restaurant called The Cove and are again stared at. Electra asks Junior if he's been to a restaurant before, and he confirms Blueberry Frost took him to one, but some of his innocent dialogue is misinterpreted as sexual. As Ondina takes their order, several Mermares jealously gossip about how close Junior and Electra are and suspect she was lying about being a lesbian. Junior notices drinks are on the menu and asks how that works when they are underwater. Electra explains that The Cove has above water seating. Ondina chimes in that it can also be used for private accommodations, then briefly transforms into a stunningly beautiful Pegasus while still underwater until she reverts back. While impressed by the display of magic, Junior is oblivious to her attempts to flirt with him and asks for the above water seating, saying he'd like to drink something. Both Electra and Ondina are stunned. As they go above the water and head to their seats, Junior says he noticed all the girls glaring at Electra, and while he doesn't know why, he figures coming here will give her some relief.
Electra asks what he normally does on Terra, saying she likes racing others. He says he normally gets physical with others, meaning fighting or sparring, but she assumes he meant it in a sexual way. She asks if he does it with males or females and he says both. Ondina comes with their drinks, and attempts to flirt with him again, then starts singing an enchanted courting song. Junior stares at her in confusion, then suddenly, Nixie and several other females leave the water and start competing with their songs. Thinking quickly, Electra asks Junior what color is someone he likes. He answers night sky blue. The gathered Mermares start altering their appearances to match, then start arguing with each other over trying to steal their man. Electra grabs him and leads him away while they are distracted.
The pair hide behind some boulders. She is amazed that he was able to resist their songs, but he gets confused and says they were just singing "Shooby Doo" over and over again. She laughs and explains that most of a Mermare's songs are telepathic, but they don't work on certain species, like apparently Kaiju. Electra says they should get ready so Junior can have dinner with Queen Maui, but he has an important question. He is aware that all the Mermares were flirting with him, but he wants to know why. Incredulous, she says surely he had a ton of suitors back home. He corrects her; as far as they know, there are only two females of his species on Terra, Raiga, who is not interested, and Biollante, his sister. He had no experience with romance back home. Electra says the only reason why she doesn't flirt with him is because she is a lesbian. As for the others, he is quite a catch because he's handsome, powerful, a hero, and he can survive underwater like they can. She talks about how Mermares who found lovers would be forced to either return to the sea and leave their families or stay on land indefinitely. Amazingly, an inhabitant of Appleloosa and another in Dodge Junction are really Mermares who chose to stay with their families. Since Junior can't drown, they likely see him as a perfect mate who can live with them on Mako.
Junior sighs and sadly says he's been fighting for survival and to save everyone's lives since childhood and he's never had time to think about topics like romance. Now that he's in Equestria and finally has time, he has no idea what to do. Electra carefully says that her father was a lifeguard who won her mother's heart when she saw him save a colt from drowning. Unfortunately, her father passed away before she was born, but her mother considers their month together the happiest time of her life and has never regretted it. The point is, now that Junior finally has time, he shouldn't be afraid to try. Junior fondly thinks of Princess Luna and confesses he does indeed like someone, but he had been confused and thought his focusing on her was selfish, but now he knows better and thanks Electra. Electra is simply amazed that he is so devoted to her that he could ignore an entire island of beauties.
As dusk approaches, Princess Luna wakes up and is eager to be greeted by Junior as usual, but she is greeted by a guard named Private Chance instead. She asks where he is, and Chance says Celestia sent him on a mission. Luna is annoyed that nopony told her about this and points out Junior was supposed to stay in Canterlot to defend it from kaiju attacks. Chance says since Twilight Sparkle and Mothra Lea are commuting between Ponyville and Canterlot, they should be safe. Before he is dismissed, he tells her that Celestia is waiting for her in the dining hall.
Glad to have a chance to just be sisters and not royalty, Luna and Celestia go to a small rec room, set their regalia aside, and have a meal. Luna beats Celestia in an eating contest, meaning she gets to ask the questions this time. She asks if Celestia was the one who told Godzilla about her nickname Lulu. She confirms it, and says she's noticed the affection they have for one another. Luna asks if she is in love with Godzilla. Celestia tells her no; affection and infatuation are different. Love takes time, and someone who is truly in love doesn't have to ask if they are, but Luna and Junior are on the right path. Luna says she likes him because he interacts with her like a normal person, not intimidated or trying to suck up to her because she is a princess. Luna then notices Junior is very similar to Celestia's ex-boyfriend, the heroic Mirror Universe version of King Sombra. Celestia admits there are similarities, and she's still sad she lost her love, but she won't stand in Luna's way. She advises Luna to tell Junior how she feels soon. The two then joke about how every member of the Sentry family is very forward when it comes to romance.
Celestia can't stop herself from laughing and says she is sorry. Luna asks what she did, so Celestia tells her about the lost ship and how she sent Junior to Mako Island to retrieve it. Outraged, Luna roars that she can't believe she sent him all alone to an island of females. She screams that she has to stop him from giving Mako a population explosion, puts on her crown backwards, then teleports out of the castle and flies away so fast she breaks the sound barrier.
Junior sits at a table with Queen Maui. He tells her he had a good time. Maui tells a story about how when she was a youth, she was constantly sneaking onto land or on boats, as she was obsessed with learning about ponies. One day, a boat she sneaked onto had been taken over by pirates, and they threw a bucket of sea water to turn her back to her true form and captured her as well. Since she was only a child, they didn't rape her, but they took her with them because Mermares supposedly bring luck. It's true, but she made it bad luck and the pirates were ambushed by the Royal Guard. Junior was told a little of this story by Blueberry Frost. It was Stalwart Sentry's final mission before he retired, and Shining Armor and Blueberry Frost were there too. While fighting the pirates, Blueberry found Maui, who had returned to her pony form after becoming dry, and untied her, not knowing who she really was. Maui joined the battle with her water magic and together, they captured the pirates. When Maui returned to Mako, Queen Rita was impressed by the magic she displayed and choose her as her successor. Now that she's Queen, she cannot freely leave the island, so she hopes to open The Shroud to let visitors in.
Junior says he can sympathize with that, as he cannot return to the place where he was raised by his mother without destroying it. She asks if he has any ideas on what happened to the boat. He shudders as he tells her about Grand King Ghidorah and his ability to teleport away an entire city's worth of children. However, he has his doubts because Ghidorah is not known for being subtle; every time he does this, he takes a lot more people and completely wrecks everything. They agree they must get the boat back to Equestria for a more thorough investigation.
Maui moves to more pleasant topics and asks how he feels about Princess Luna. He says she is valued and asks why she asks. She pulls out the letter and says Celestia wrote another message on the back with invisible ink, then reveals it with her magic.
- "Dear Queen Maui, as you probably presumed by the notch on the upper left corner; this is a special message for yourself and those you trust it to. Know that I say all of the following not as a threat, but as a friend. You must know that King Godzilla Gojo Junior is most certainly not available, for he and my dear little sister have bonded quite well. She hasn’t said anything yet, but I don’t see her walking around red in the face and her wings stiff as boards for her not to be thinking it.Do not attempt flirtations as he is under claim. You would be wasting your time anyways, I do not believe he understands them at all. It would also be wise not to provoke my sister, for I approve of his company around her and wouldn’t wish to see that stopped. Especially given she doesn’t know he’s gone to Mako and won’t be finding out until the evening.I have never seen Luna so happy in centuries and I have good reason to believe her ‘confidant’ is responsible. Why I intend to find out, but I know what I’ve been seeing. I like this one.Consider this a test of multiple fronts in addition to the practical reasons of my sending my friend to your shores. I am well assured my dear little sister will most certainly be questioning me as soon as she awakens to find he’s not the one by her bedside.Wishing you well and trusting your judgement, Princess Celestia."
Maui says she can respect that. While she's hungry for a mate, she'd never try to steal someone else's. Junior says even if she did flirt with him, it wouldn't work. He's never felt anything for the opposite gender until he met Luna, and she's the only one he feels it for. Maui says that actually makes sense. She's read several books, and certain types of birds, reptiles, and dinosaurs mate for life, and only display libido for that one mate after a courting cycle. Junior thinks about it; besides Raiga and Biollante, there were other saurian kaiju like Titanosaurus and Orka, but he never really had a chance to just sit down and talk with them in a non fight situation. In Equestria, Mothra Lea is too much like his sister, Blade Dancer came on too strong, and others like Blueberry Frost and Moonbeam Glimmer were strictly business. Luna was the only one he really bonded with. He says she may be on to something. Maui says in the time before he leaves, she'd like to help him with something. She drains the water from the chamber and turns into an Earth Pony. Since there will be a gala to celebrate Cadance's pregnancy, Maui will give him a dance lesson so he can dance with Luna.
Outside, Electra dives for cover when what appears to be a falling star penetrates The Shroud. Luna crashes through the ceiling and sees Junior and Maui dancing together. She attempts to yell at them, but passes out from her exertions. Maui chuckles as she instantly understands what happened, while Junior sighs and picks her up.
Luna wakes up in bed to find Maui standing over her. Maui explains that she is in a bed on the S.S. Mermare. She quickly tells her Junior did not "fool around" with any of the inhabitants and encourages her to tell him how she feels. Maui suddenly bids her goodbye and jumps overboard. Luna steps onto the deck to find Godzilla back in his true form dragging the boat out to sea. While Luna is glad he is all right and did not do what she was afraid of, she plans on a little payback for making her worry and embarrass herself. She goes back to sleep.
