//------------------------------// // Creatures in the Deep, Part 1 // Story: Sunset Rekindled // by EldritchNexus //------------------------------// "So, we go to all da trouble of flyin' ovuh here, and fightin' through a buncha gruesome bad guys..." said Frosty. "Only for the biggest bad of 'em all to just stand us up. What, does he think we're all idiots or somethin'?" "Well, I wouldn't put him past it to believe that, considering how many ponies here would qualify." said Pressure, who was tending to an injured paladin. "Ah, shuddit." Frosty spat. "Will you two cut it out?" said Scarlet Blaze. "Okay, let's all just take a deep breath here." said Nose Nip, who started to pant. "Hey, don't it feel a little...hot in here?" Sunset Shimmer and the others noticed this, too. Even though it was extremely dark, almost pitch-black inside the palace chambers, they could feel a lot of dry heated air. "Think there might be a dragon in this place somewhere?" asked Trixie, concerned. "Ah! Don't be so worried, Miss Trixie." said Felix Summerset. "This heat is simply the climate of our land at work." "Well, the climate must be trying to kill us!" said Trixie, whose horn started to glow. "I must request a more bearable environment." "Well, then you should've just stayed home, cousin." said Pressure Point, dryly. "We're in the middle of a desert, not some tropical island." "Do not mock Trixie!" Trixie spat at Pressure in the darkness. Suddenly, there was a loud popping noise and a burst of red light nearby, and Trixie squealed and involuntarily leapt into the front hooves of a nearby stallion. "Wh..what the--" Trixie shuddered, before she recognized the source of the light. Sunflower just came in, tossing flares here and there on the floor. "Seriously, we playin' blind-mares'-bluff in he' or what?" said Sunflower, once she set all the flares in the throne room and corridors. "Do ya have any idea how many flares me and Crimz had ta throw around to get dis place lit? Twenty-five. Yeah, I counted it!" "I'm surprised she can count that high." Pressure Point mumbled nearby, just out of Sunflower's hearing-range. After a few minutes, paladins started to return from the chambers, bringing liberated prisoners with them. Most of them were famished or visibly wounded, like they were just escorted out of a death camp. They all sat down in a row, where Pressure would check them for lasting injuries. Later still, paladins started coming in from the city. As it turned out, they had counted a hundred and sixty of their own deceased or missing, during the siege and the subsequent surprise attacks. The townspeople were all hiding in underground cellars and even the sewers to avoid being imprisoned by King Nelphyn's minions. They had also done a thorough search of the streets and buildings, but King Nelphyn was nowhere to be seen. This troubled Silver Schmitar and Sunset Shimmer very much. "We will have to search the palace even further." said Silver. "We must check the Stripways." "Stripways?" repeated Sunset Shimmer. "Underneath the palace, there are mine shafts that have been abandoned for centuries." said Silver. "It's possible that King Nelphyn may have re-opened them, and made his escape. I can only pray that he didn't..." "Why?" said Sunset. "Are the tunnels unstable?" "No." said Silver. "There's something else down there. Something not even the sultan would know about." "What is it?" asked Sunset. "Is there a...monster or something down there?" Silver Schmitar looked Sunset in the eyes. Though he didn't say anything, Sunset only needed to read the uneasy and cautious look in his eyes to tell that she might as well be right. Sunset Shimmer and Golden Sun were led by Silver and Felix down to the lower dungeons of the palace, which was still unnaturally dark. Behind them, Radiant Dawn, Lightning Dust, Crimson Blade, Scarlet Blaze, and several paladins followed. They entered the dungeons, and ventured through them until they found a narrow pathway that appeared to have once been obstructed by a now-destroyed barricade. "Just as I feared." said Silver Schmitar. "King Nelphyn must have discovered this passage and used it to make his escape into the Stripways." "Doesn't it seem weird that somepony as powerful as Nelphyn would decide to just retreat instead of standing his ground here in the palace?" asked Sunset. "Miss Sunset is right." said Felix. "It does seem very unusual, even if King Nelphyn were some coward." "And if King Nelphyn did retreat, he wouldn't need some secret passage to run away." said Sunset. "With the Alicorn Amulet in his possession, he could probably teleport halfway across Saddle Arabia without anyone knowing about it." "Then obviously, Nelphyn didn't actually go into the Stripways." said Silver. "But all signs point to something that might've gotten out..." Golden Sun pointed, to the rubble that once formed the barricade. "Look, it's all inside the dungeon. That must mean something broke into the palace during King Nelphyn's occupation. But what?" There was a dripping noise from above, and something very dark and wet dropped onto Lightning Dust's head with a nauseating plop! and a horrid stench filled the air. "Eww..." Lightning moaned in disgust, as she tried brushing the substance off with her front hooves. Suddenly, a larger dark form dropped down from the ceiling, and smacked down hard on the floor. Sunset Shimmer's horn glowed, illuminating the creature. The thing was very skeletal and had six legs. Its mouth was frothing with the black fluid and the stench became stronger. "What is that thing?!" said Sunset. "No...not them!" said Silver. The creature let out a screech, and crept backwards on its hind legs. It suddenly, opened up a shell on its abdomen and sprouted two large transparent wings from underneath. The creature's mouth opened wider and wider, but then Silver grabbed a javelin from a nearby paladin, and threw it forward. The insectoid creature was impaled through its mouth, the javelin's pointed end protruding from the back of the armored scalp. It gagged and fell over dead. "What...what was that?" said Lightning Dust, in a panicked voice as she still tried brushing the black substance out of her mane. "That was the reason our ancestors closed the Stripways all those years ago." said Silver. "Megamites." said Golden Sun, muttering aloud. "Megamites?" asked Radiant. "Yes." said Golden Sun. "I did research on them when I was a student at Baltimare University. They supposedly went extinct a thousand years ago...in Equestria, anyway." "Us Saddle Arabians aren't so fortunate, professor." said a paladin. "What you're looking at is a member of the last known colony of...those things in the known world." "Our ancestors stumbled into their nesting place by complete accident centuries ago while mining in the Stripways. So we sealed off the entrances hoping they would starve themselves out." said Silver, grimly. "Clearly, this didn't happen." "Of course not." said Golden Sun. "Megamites can remain dormant for centuries as long as they aren't disturbed." "Three guesses what woke them up." said Scarlet, dryly. "But when they are woken up, they enter a frenzied state of being that lasts for...five or six years." said Golden Sun. "Especially during mating season." "Mating season?!" Radiant and Sunset said at once. "I'm afraid so." said Golden Sun, walking over to examine the dead mite. "It looks like this particular specimen you just kill, Silver, was a drone. If my recollection of Insects of the Ancient World is still faithful, I'd say it was looking for a suitable mate. When it finds one, it sprays its chosen partner with...the same fluid Lightning has in her mane right now." "What?!" said Lightning. "Oh, come on! I already have a boyfriend!" "And it gets worse from there." said Golden Sun, nervously. "Why?" asked Sunset. "Why, daddy?" "When a drone chooses its mate, it must fight for its right to keep its partner with any other drone nearby. And since Silver just skewered this one, that means the chosen mate will be...up for grabs. And since drones can't tell friend from foe when they smell the scent..." Suddenly, there was a series of loud clicking and buzzing noises coming from the entrance to the Stripways, signifying that more mites were approaching. "We're going to have a lot of pests to exterminate." said Scarlet, her horn glowing. Indeed, there were perhaps a dozen of the winged mites all climbing the walls and ceiling. All of them were chittering furiously as raced towards the group of ponies. "Let's get 'em!" Radiant shouted, his own horn glowing. The drones flooded into the dungeons, which became engulfed in combat. In two minutes, thanks to the combined efforts of the paladins and unicorns, the dungeons were littered with dead mites. The paladins took a moments to pile the dead insects together in a corner, and then regrouped with the others. "Well, thank Celestia that was taken care of." said Lightning. "We may have gotten rid of these drones, but there are still bound to be even more in the Stripways." said Golden Sun. "And if it's mating season, then that means that even more drones--and their mates--will be flying out of the nesting area to start new colonies..." "And their route will inevitably take them through...our palace!" said Felix, daunted. "No wonder King Nelphyn didn't stick around." said Sunset. "He probably would've anticipated that they would pass through here." "Really, Nelphyn can't stand up to a few...giant, very...gross bugs?" said Lightning. "I doubt that." said Radiant. "I don't know what he's planning, but it was probably never here to begin with." "But King Nelphyn will have to wait." said Silver. "We have to go into the Stripways, find the nesting area, and stop any more of these creatures from entering the palace...or worse." "We have to go in there?" said Lightning. "The Changelings were bad enough when they were our enemies." "Yeah, but at least these Megamites don't use magic, so they shouldn't be as hard to deal with." said Radiant. "I wouldn't be so sure of that." said Silver. "But we will need all the help we can get to kill those abominations once and for all." "We don't have to kill all of them." said Golden Sun. "Just the ones capable of reproducing...and of course, the ones that attack us." "Well, that's very specific." said Lightning. "Lightning, you might want to come with us." said Golden Sun. "Wh-why?" said Lightning. "I already got bug spit in my hair, now you want me to go in there?" "The scent you carry will only make the mites leave the tunnels to look for you." said Golden Sun. "If you stay with us, you'll be safe. Besides, the aroma might even make them think you were one of their own." "If the scent won't make them hurt me, then why would it be safer for me in there than out here?" asked Lightning. "Because if you stay out here, the more likely the mites will leave to attack everypony around you to get you back into their colony." said Golden Sun. "They really like to watch over their own, you see." "Okay, I think that makes sense." said Lightning. "Well, I guess I don't have much of a choice then."