//------------------------------//
// Trixie's Pet 
// Story: Sunset Imperishable 
// by EldritchNexus 
//------------------------------//




Professor Abacus went on down the street with a smug grin on her face. As she went on, several ponies on the streets stopped to glare at her. Eventually, she made it to a tavern, where she went inside.

"Ah, professor." said the bartender. "The usual, then?"

"Not today." said Abacus. "I was expecting someone here today."

"Of course. They're in Parlor #3."

Abacus grinned even wider, to the point where it seemed disturbing.

"Perfect."

She went downstairs, and went through a door with the number "3" emblazoned on it in peeling letters. The room was empty, apart from a fireplace, a few chairs, and a table. But nobody was in there to meet her. However, this didn't confuse her at all. She sat herself down in a large chair facing the fireplace. A half-hour passed before the door slowly opened behind her.

"Well, it's about time." said Abacus, as a flash of red light appeared in the doorway.

King Craw entered the room.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted to use the restroom before we started talking." he said casually.

There was a flash of green light in front of the chair.

"You know that I resent meeting like this." Craw growled.

"Too bad, Craw." said Abacus' voice. "You know that the only reason why Chrysalis and Umbriel haven't found you yet is because of me."

"I know that." spat Craw, adding under his breath. "But I don't plan for this to stay that way for long."

Suddenly, the fire went out, and a dark shape rose from in front of the seat. It lunged forward and knocked Craw backwards. A beam of green light erupted from the dark shape's head, coiling itself around Craw's neck. Craw felt a surge of electrical energy jolt through his body, making him cry out in pain.

"What was that, now?"

"Nothing at all...lady Cinch." said Craw, with a hoarse tone in his voice.

The coil vanished, and the dark shape turned to re-light the fireplace. The fire illuminated the room again, revealing a slim, haggard-looking Changeling standing over Craw. She had heavy eyelids, a greasy grayish-brown mane with a slight violet tint, and a smarmy expression on her face.

"Good." said Cinch, now speaking with a distorted version of Professor Abacus's voice. "Now if you've finished with your incessant complaining, I have a job I need you to do for me."

"And what do you have in mind?" asked Craw.






"I'm so sorry, sir and ma'am." said the mechanic. "I'm afraid that we're fresh out of those parts."

"Are you kidding me?" asked Teddy. "You're the third guy we've talked to that said that!"

Teddy and Trixie had been searching the marketplace for a vendor that could sell them parts needed to repair the Summerstar. Suddenly, a gryphon whistled to them.

"'Ey, ponies!" he shouted to them. "Wanna buy somethin?"

Teddy decided to ignore him, but Trixie wasted no time in answering:

"That depends." said Trixie. "What do you sell?"

"Beasts." said the vendor. "Fantastic beasts, unlike any Equestria has ever seen. Well...most of it, anyway."

There was a series of growling noises from inside the gryphon's pavilion.

"Ah, shuddit!" he turned his head to yell, before turning to face Trixie again. "So ya wanna check it out or what?"

"I certainly have time to spare, if that answers your question." said Trixie, feigning boredom. "But that doesn't mean I'm in the mood for visiting some petting zoo."

"This ain't no ordinary petting zoo, sister." chuckled the gryphon. "Me and my boss have nothing short of the biggest, baddest, most dangerous creatures we could gather under one roof. In fact, they're so dangerous, they'd be illegal in other countries."

"So how do you know they're legal in Equestria?" asked Trixie.

"Why don't you come in and find out?" asked the gryphon.

The gryphon led Trixie into the pavilion, where dozens of massive iron cages were lined up in a row. In the cages were a menagerie of monsters: The nearest one to the entrance was relatively small, and contained a giant spider.

"We managed to get this one pretty easy, actually." said the vendor. "It was one of the creatures that attacked your city of Fillydelphia a couple months ago. Maybe you heard of that incident."

"Heard of it?" said Trixie. "I was there in time to see it--"

There was a loud banging noises coming from inside a closed cage in the middle. It was making most of the other creatures panic in their cages.

"So...what's in that one?" asked Trixie, nervously.

"That...is an Umber Hulk." said the vendor, whispering ominously into Trixie's ear. "One of the many, many creatures that dwell deep in the subterranean realms below our world."

"And what, may Trixie ask, is an Umber Hulk?"

The gryphon had a grin across his face as he slowly approached the cage.

"It has the body of a gorilla, the head of a stag beetle, the claws of a grizzly bear, the hide of an ox--"

There was a loud roar coming from inside the cage, peppered with clicking noises.

"And the ferocity of a lion...if you don't know how to tame it, that is."

"Do you know how to tame it?" asked Trixie.

"Goodness, no." snorted the gryphon. "Why d'ya think I'm keeping it in that cage? So do ya wanna buy 'em offa me or what?"

The Umber Hulk's cage started to rock back and forth, indicating that the creature was as urgent to get out of its cage as its seller was to just get away from it. If it weren't for the half-dozen chains keeping it in place, the cage likely would've been knocked over by now.

"Normally, a crea--a creature like this would sell for five-hundred mil..." he attempted to speak over the chatter of the menagerie. "But since you seem like such a trustworthy mare--and since I really don't wanna risk getting my head bitten off any longer than necessary!--how's about we make it fifty grand?!"

Two dark claw-like fingers reached through the bars of the cage, and started scratching the outside of the gate. Trixie could make out two glistening red lights from inside, no doubt the eyes. A noxious smell was in the air.

"I would love it buy it off of you, but..." said Trixie, who started to gag. "But that just wouldn't work out for me."

Then she looked in a cage at the end of the menagerie, and started smiling.

"But I would like that manticore, though." Trixie said.

The vendor looked warily at the cage Trixie was pointing towards, and guffawed.

"That thing?" he laughed hollowly. "You sure?"

He approached the manticore's cage. The creature winced, and backed into a corner like a frightened puppy.

"C'mon." he beckoned it with his claw.

The manticore gulped, and slowed crawled back to the front of the cage.

"He's a big baby." said the gryphon. "Doesn't even like eating meat. Why would you want him?"

"Well, as it happens." said Trixie. "I'm a travelling showpony, and I need a manticore for a trick I plan to pull off for my magic show. One that's easy to train. That I can trust to let somepony enter its mouth without swallowing them for real."

"Well, lucky for you, this is probably the most docile manticore you'll ever find." said the gryphon. "I thought nobody was gonna want him."

"So how much?" asked Trixie.

"Five hundred bits." said the gryphon.

"It's a deal." said Trixie, fumbling through her saddle-bag. "Uh...do you take Saddle Arabian currency?"

"Sure." said the gryphon. "As long as it's valuable somewhere."

"Oh, come on..." grumbled Trixie. "I forgot that Teddy had all the money."

Then the Umber Hulk's cage started to rattle some more. There was a banging noise, followed by some visible dents appearing on the sides of the cage. The gryphon noticed this right away, and he cleared his throat.

"How's about I make you a deal." said the gryphon.

"Yeah?" asked Trixie, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "What's that?"

"I'll let you have the manticore for free..." said the vendor.

"Really?"

"But...you have to take this happy camper over here with you." he pointed at the Umber Hulk's cage.

"But I told you that it wouldn't work for me!" protested Trixie.

"Then you can give it to somepony else." said the gryphon snidely. "Surely, you can think of a friend--even an enemy--that could deserve it?"

"Perhaps." said Trixie. "But--"

"Just sign here." the gryphon brought out a clipboard with a paper attached. "And here. And here."

Trixie inscribed her name in triplicate, as "The Great and Powerful Trixie", and filled in the other information required.

"Well, congrats." said the gryphon. "You are now the proud owner of one of the most rare and dangerous creatures that this world has ever seen...and a manticore, I guess."

He was now wearing a very strange and triumphant smile across his beak as he tapped on the Umber Hulk's cage.

"And since you signed the paper, that means I'm no longer responsible for anything that this abomination does. Have fun!"

He pulled back a metal plate that was keeping the cage sealed. and the giant gorilla-beetle monster lunged out from the cage's shadowy depths. Its body was glistening in the lantern-light inside the pavilion, and its circular red eyes were glowing ominously as they stared down at Trixie. It paused, and then roared loudly in her face. Trixie felt her silver mane stand on end, and the irises of her eyes shrunk down to tiny dots.

"What've I gotten myself into?" Trixie muttered to herself.

The gryphon let the manticore out of its cage, and brought it out next to the Umber Hulk. The manticore cringed as it looked up at the Umber Hulk's long pincers, but did not make any attempt to escape.

"Well...let's go." Trixie took a deep breath.

The two creatures followed her out of the pavilion. The Umber Hulk bursting out like a linebacker, with the manticore crawling gingerly in its wake. Teddy, who was standing outside waiting for Trixie to emerge, flipped back in shock when he saw these creatures come out after her.

"Trixie...what?" he stammered. "What the heck is that?!"

Trixie pointed at the manticore.

"This is my new pet." she said, before pointing at the Umber Hulk. "That one...is yours."

"Whaaaaaaaaaaa..." Teddy droned in dismay.

His drone was interrupted by the Umber Hulk, which slouched forward, and loudly roared in his face. Teddy's orange mohawk-like mane was standing on end even harder than usual, and the irises of his eyes shrank to tiny dots. All the other ponies present on the street were now staring at the two ponies and their creatures. Some of them were horrified, and would have probably run away screaming if they didn't see the spiked collars around their necks, or the Fantastic Creatures pavilion nearby.

"Uh...new pets." Teddy winced nervously at the other ponies.

The Umber Hulk looked around at the passersby, and growled for all of them to leave, which they did.

"Maybe you two could learn something from each other." smirked Trixie.

Teddy looked at Trixie, then the Umber Hulk, and shrugged.