Luna had spent the last half-hour rushing towards Las Pegas, since that was the most populated area around and that was one of the few areas where the monster could be. All the while Peanut was being towed behind her, in her magical aura. She ignored the blazing heat, stinging dust and the dry arid air of the surrounding desert.
Spying the Las Pegas bay she dived downwards to get a slight spray of cool water before she flew over the rolling hills that kept the lake contained. As she reached the crest of the hill she wasn't prepared for what she saw....
Peace. Absolute peace in all of Las Pegas, no devastation, destruction, mayhem or anything had happened. The only chaotic thing that had happened was the evacuation of the city's civilians. Slowing down Luna flew over the empty neighborhoods and the occasional bird that flew by her.
"Um your highness?" Luna glanced behind her and noticed she was still dragging Peanut behind her. Blushing slightly she let Peanut go and let him fly of his own accord, then flew on towards the Strip where she thought she saw some ponies. Peanut meanwhile flew over to the rails, since if the monster did appear it would from that area.
Luna meanwhile flew towards what looked like a mob forming around the Stratosphere and as she reached the edge of the crowd, she stopped flying and instead opted to walk to the front. From above all she could see was a mob, but on the ground she could see that some earth pony was yelling into a megaphone and riling the entire mob up.
And from what she could hear it was just another revolutionist taking advantage of everypony's fear and anxiety and using it for their own agenda. "All the Royal sisters are doing now, is making us move out of the way for their new castles and barracks. Forcing us the poor to relocate, when we are the ones who deserve the big houses!"
There was supposed to be a giant monster, running around razing and devouring entire cities. It was over a 100 degrees. And this pony was yelling about how she and her sister were abusing their power.... and he wasn't even doing a decent job either. Oh how it was easier before the Nightmare incident, if somepony spoke like this they could just throw them into the dungeons for a week or two. Oh well time to see why they were still there.
As Luna approached the crowd, they parted ways, some of them even gawking which made since the one on the steps leading to the Stratosphere was shouting hate against the throne. She made it halfway through the crowd, before the stallion on the stairs noticed her and starting shaking, then promptly fainted.
Luna merely shook her head, with a slight grin appearing on her muzzle, maybe this is why Celestia didn't throw anypony into the dungeons anymore. None of them could really start a revolution if this is what happened every time a leader came, while they were giving a speech. Still it was funny.
As the last of the crowd dispersed in front of her, she reached the stairs and turned around to look at the crowd. Some were scowling others were looking a bit hopeful, a few seemed to be sweating profusely. Clearing her throat with a little cough she asked, "What are you all doing here? We thought we ordered an evacuation?"
The mob seemed to shimmer, as they all looked to another for a leader, until a green-coated unicorn mare stepped forward. "'Cause we don't want to lose our homes, for your new castle!"
The unicorn and Luna stared at each other for a few minutes, giving birth to a new level of awkwardness. The unicorn wondered whether or not she was going to be executed, while Luna tried not to facehoof and break her nose . Taking a deep breath, Luna looked at the sky for a few seconds trying to gain some composure before looking back at the mob.
"We do not want a new castle, for if we wanted one, we would not build it in the middle of a desert. As for you all staying here at least head into a building, preferably ground level." As Luna said that, the crowd seemed to dissolve and head in different directions, leaving the mare alone in the front of the crowd. That left the mare flustered and flabbergasted.
She stood there looking left and right wondering why everpony was leaving before she grabbed the stallion off of the stage and dragging him to wherever she was going. Luna let out a small laugh as she watched that before looking back up to where Peanut had gone off to.
Her lip curved downwards into a grimace as she remembered why she came here in the first place. Spreading her wings, she launched herself into the sky, with the arid wing rushing into her face and making her squint her eyes to keep the dust out. She expected herself to have to fly for a few minutes to find Peanut, but to her dismay she saw him flying right towards her.
He was easily a couple hundred yards away and she could see him huffing and puffing. As he came to a stop in front of her, some of his sweat flew off his body and hit her in the face, blinking Luna used her magic to get it off of her. "We swear if thou is about to say what we think thou will say..."
Peanut quickly averted his eyes. "Well you already know what I'm going to say, judging by that voice." Spotting a few of the ponies below he added, "I think I should help get them somewhere safe. While you your highness if you just head the way I came, well heh. Yeah I'm going." With that he disappeared with another burst of speed, probably from not wanting to feel Luna's wrath.
Luna gazed after Peanut for a few seconds and watched as he started rounding up the ponies below, before she shook her head and launched herself in the direction Peanut had just came from.
This thing had destroyed entire cities and families. When she had done these things, she had at least only done it once or twice, but there was no end in sight for this monster's wrath. Scowling she added another burst of speed and directed herself to the train-tracks that led away from the city.
Looking down she knew what she fought for, family's livelihoods, their homes, memories, a whole lot of tax money that was needed for relief programs for the less developed countries. That's when a sound interrupted her thoughts.
Luna snapped her head up as she saw a giant creature come over the crest of the hills north of Las Pegas. It was every bit the monster the survivors had described and more.
Razor-sharp dorsal fins rode down the back of its head all the way to a massive tail that was being wagged back and forth, launching massive dust plumes into the air whenever it hit the ground. Huge black scales were all over its body, some of the scales shining as though they were just grown in. Huge arms with large claws were included, but were made tiny in comparison to its massive tree-trunk like legs.
The worst of all was its eyes. Filled to the brim with hate and fury, and they weren't looking at her, they were looking at the entire city sizing it up like a lion would with a injured gazelle. Wondering how to devour everything whole, without anything getting in its way.