• Published 30th Aug 2014
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Sunset Rekindled - EldritchNexus



Sequel to "Sunset Eclipsed". Sunset Shimmer and her friends go on a new adventure that takes them to Las Pegasus, Saddle Arabia, and beyond..

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Creatures in the Deep, Part 2

Sunset Shimmer and the others proceeded down into the Stripways, which were long, dark, and cluttered with abandoned mining equipment: wagons, wheelbarrows, lanterns, pick-axes, and rusty shovels. They were on alert for any signs of movement or clicking mandibles. Fortunately, they didn't come across either in the tunnels and all they could smell was the musk left in Lightning Dust's mane. However, this only made it harder to track any other signs of approaching mites.

"Dude, I seriously need to take a bath or something." said Lightning, after a while. "This bug-juice is--"

Suddenly, there was a rustling nearby, and Lightning involuntarily jumped onto Radiant Dawn's back with her teeth barred.

"What...what was that?!" she said, whimpering.

Sunset Shimmer's horn illuminated over the spot where Lightning heard the noise, revealing what was undoubtedly insectoid creature. However, it was much smaller than the drones, no bigger than a Pomeranian. It also appeared to be eyeless, but had two small antennae on its head, and mandibles no bigger than a dime. Its body was a pale gray-brown, and had six rail-thin legs.

It was turning its head idly, as if to examine its surroundings. It made a soft chittering noise, then crawled forwards. Silver Schmitar held up a javelin to plunge down into the creature, but Golden Sun intervened.

"Hang on." said Golden Sun. "This is just a larva. It's safe."

"Are you sure, daddy?" asked Sunset.

"I'm sure." said Golden Sun. "It should be perfectly docile, as long as one of us doesn't try hurting it."

Lightning went over to it, relieved.

"Aww, it's adorable!" she sighed. "Come here, little guy!"

She picked it up and hovered in the air, cradling the baby insect in her hooves. Suddenly, there was an even louder noise from the same direction, and a dark pony-sized shape emerged from the gloom. The other ponies saw it was a fully-grown Megamite, though it wasn't quite the same as the drones they fought in the palace. It looked just like the larva, but bigger, had visible eyes, thicker legs, and sported a darker exoskeleton. It crawled forward, turning its head as if to determine whether the ponies present would be a threat, until it turned its eyes turned on Lightning Dust. Silver Schmitar and the other paladins braced for attack, but held their ground.

"No sudden movements." Golden Sun whispered. "Not until we know what it's going to do."

The mite opened its Bowie knife-sized mandibles, and reached towards Lightning Dust...only to gingerly take the larva out of her hooves and crawl away with it. The larva squirmed a little, as if to break free, but accepted its new handler.

"That must have been a worker." said Golden Sun. "I read that they only attack what they see as a threat."

"But didn't you say they were protective of their own kind?" asked Sunset. "So how come it didn't attack us?"

“And weren’t they supposed to be in a frenzied state?” asked one of the paladins.

"Hmm..." said Golden Sun. "I'm guessing because of the musk on Lightning Dust's body--and the Megamite blood on Silver’s paladins, It must have thought we were members of the colony, and thus didn't think we would have any reason to hurt its larva. With all the pheromone trails running through this nest, any drones or young queens might end up confused if they tried searching for mates in here. That’s why they leave the nest before trying to mate."

"Lucky us, right?" asked Lightning Dust.

Suddenly, a rapid series of clinking noises were heard around them, and a dozen mites surrounded the ponies. They resembled larger versions of the worker, but with even larger mandibles, legs as thick as tree branches, big crested heads, and ridged thoraxes.

"Soldiers!" said Golden Sun. "Oh boy, why did they have to be soldiers?"

"That's bad, right?" asked Sunset.

"Oh, yes." said Golden Sun. "The soldiers are the toughest mites in each colony...and the smartest, too."

"And that means what, dad?" asked Radiant Dawn.

"It means no amount of musk will make them think we belong here, unless the queen allows." said Golden Sun. "It's their job to make sure nothing foreign enters the colony and leaves alive."

"These must have been what drove our ancestors out of the mines." said Felix Summerset, observantly.

There was a noise that vaguely resembled radio static, and the soldiers screeched angrily, and closed in around the ponies.

"Wait a minute." Sunset said, looking at the soldiers' heads.

She noticed that there was a third "eye" on their heads, right behind their antennae. Around the "eye" was what appeared to be machinery of some kind.

"Wait a second!" she said. "Something's controlling them."

Suddenly, there was a loud blast of feedback. A distorted male voice called to them.

"Brilliant observation!" said the voice. "But that doesn't mean you'll get out of here with all your lives!"

The soldiers gnashed their mandibles in response to this.

"You all have twenty seconds to explain what you're all doing here before I sent the entire colony on you!"

"We're...we're here to stop the Megamites from entering the palace." said Sunset, quickly.

"Sorry, my little pony, but I'm afraid I can't allow that to happen. Not while that tyrant controls the city!"

"King Nelphyn isn't controlling the palace anymore!" Radiant Dawn shouted. "We cleared the place out hours ago!"

"Oh, did you really?" said the voice with much skepticism. "Did the idea that he might come back ever enter your miniscule brains?!"

"Just who in the world are you, anyway?" Scarlet Blaze demanded. "You sure don't sound like a bug!"

"How clever of you, my dear." said the voice. "At least somepony can--wait a minute...is that Golden Sun with you? Evelyn, would you kindly move closer?"

One of the soldier mites crawled forward until it was looking Golden Sun dead in the face. The artificial eye zoomed in and out on his head.

"Well, I never thought I'd see a familiar face so far from Equestria." said the voice, as the electronic eye shifted in and out.

"Professor Autumn, is that you?" asked Golden Sun, surprised.

Suddenly, a rock started to shift to the side, and a dark equine shape dropped down from the ceiling. It was clearly a pony, but he was wearing a strange helmet and boots that looked distinctly insectoid.

"Well, it's always great to meet a former student--and of course, colleague--of mine." said the pony, approaching Golden Sun.

"Autumn, it's great to see you!" Golden Sun said, approaching the helmeted pony.

He put his front hooves to give him a hug, but the soldier mites gnashed their mandibles.

"Take it easy, girls!" said Professor Autumn to the mites, who promptly crept back.

"Wait a minute, these mites are yours?" said Golden Sun.

"Um...most of them are." said Autumn. "I'll explain later, but now I ought to introduce myself to the others. I am Professor Leaf Autumn , formerly of Manehatten University and the University of Baltimare."

"Professor Autumn was one of my mentors when I was a college student." Golden Sun explained to his family.

"And I stuck around long enough to see him become a professor himself." said Autumn.

"Whoever you are, you have a lot of explaining to do." Felix said, his eyes narrowed. "Why are you down here, and in the company of these dangerous insects?"

"Well, let's see." said Leaf Autumn. "I was on vacation here in Saddle Arabia a few weeks ago, and was visiting the palace archives, when next thing I know, the entire city's been invaded by King Nelphyn and his horrid trio."

"You mean the Maul-Ras?" said Sunset Shimmer.

"Ah, yes." said Autumn. "Peculiar things, they are. No doubt about that. Ah! Anyway, while King Nelphyn was going around doing Celestia-knows-what, I decided to find an alternate means of escaping the palace. And I came upon these tunnels."

"So you're the one that opened the Stripways..." said Silver Schmitar, sourly.

"Yes, I know." said Autumn. "I admit I was hasty by going into these mines, but I assure you I meant no harm to your citizens at all. In fact, that's what I've been doing down here; I've been working on a number of devices that I believe could get these Megamites to help liberate Mareusalem."

"And...did you succeed?" asked Radiant Dawn.

"In some ways, yes." said Autumn, scratching his head. "But not completely. I've able to get the soldiers to listen to me, and the workers are passive as it is. But I'm afraid the drones and young queens are...another story."

"That would explain why the drones are the ones that attacked us." Sunset told her father.

"Yes, I've tried to get them under control, and I thought I succeeded for a while." said Autumn. "But there's just no controlling them around mating season."

"Tell me about it." said Radiant.

"Listen, I'm so sorry about what happened with the ones you encountered out there." said Autumn. "They were out of my control. But since you seem to have already wiped out most of the drones, I'm sure I can find a way to keep the rest under control."

"That's a relief." said Golden Sun.

"But Professor Autumn, we're still going to need to deal with Nelphyn." said Sunset.

"Of course, we will." said Autumn. "Just step into my office."


They were all led into a large chamber behind the moved rock. There were a number of high-tech gadgets lined up on the walls.

"Where did you get all this stuff?" asked Radiant Dawn.

"This is all leftover from the university's glory days." said Professor Autumn. "In fact, most of it was designed by me. When the university's budget collapsed, I took my tech--and my research--elsewhere. I thought I would benefit the Saddle Arabians with my teachings about...well, I guess I already told you all the rest."

"Tell me, you wouldn't know what the Elder Rock is, would you?" asked Sunset Shimmer, who just remembered the name.

"Oh, yes." Leaf Autumn said. "It's said to be a rock that fell from the heavens long ago, around the time the Empire of Megalon was crushed by an unknown enemy. It was also the namesake of the ancient city of Al-Duroc."

"Al-Duroc?" asked Radiant. "Where's that?"

"Fifty leagues North of here." said Professor Autumn. "Apparently, it's been abandoned for centuries, but nopony's allowed to go there. Some kind of local superstition, and it's apparently the breeding ground of many dangerous creatures."

"Leagues?" repeated Lightning Dust.

"A league is a unit of distance." said Golden Sun. "Equivalent to three miles, much like how a yard is considered equivalent to three feet."

"So we're going to have to travel a hundred-and-fifty miles North, huh?" said Sunset Shimmer.

"If you plan on going there, but whyever would you?" asked Silver Schmitar.

"Because I have a hunch that's where we'll find King Nelphyn." said Sunset.

"I've sent soldiers there many times, but none ever lived to tell the tale." said Silver. "An omen and a curse befall all who set hoof in its ruins. Not to mention that most of the city is deep underground, buried beneath the sands of both time and the unforgiving wastelands above. Going there would mean certain doom, even for the greatest of our champions."

"True, but if we hang around doing nothing, King Nelphyn could strike again and do something even worse. If you think what he did to Mareusalem is bad, just imagine what he could do to the rest of Saddle Arabia, or even to the neighboring lands."

"I agree." said Silver. "We must act as soon as we can. But Mareusalem and the other cities will still need to be protected from potential invasion, given how unpredictable our enemy is. I don't know how many paladins I can spare for such a crusade."

"Perhaps I may be able to help." said Professor Autumn, clearing his throat.

"What do you have in mind?" asked Silver Schmitar.

"Well, since Al-Duroc is mostly underground, perhaps some of these Megamites help you dig a safer route inside?"

"Really?" said Sunset. "They can do that?"

"Sure!" said Professor Autumn. "The mites are fantastic when it comes to burrowing holes. In fact, it only took them twenty minutes to dig out the chamber we're standing in."

"But how would we get them to do what we want?" asked Scarlet Blaze. "They don't exactly seem interested in helping ponies...apart from you, anyway."

"Well, the drones and soldiers might not." said Leaf Autumn. "But the workers may do the job. They're clever though not too ambitious, but if you give them a comfortable environment to work in, the right incentive, and feed them plenty of food, they'll do any job you set their minds to. Yes, even if you're not their queen."

"Really." said Golden Sun. "How fascinating."

"I'm sure they could even help your city, master paladin." Autumn said to Silver. "By the sound of things, King Nelphyn really made a mess of it."

"Wow, I'm glad we didn't attack the workers, then." said Lightning. "I guess It'd be pretty cool to have some of those bugs around, after all."

"You are gonna let us use some of them, right?" asked Radiant Dawn.

"Well..." said Autumn. "I would certainly say 'yes', but here's the thing...I've never actually tried moving workers out of the colony, except for short periods of time. The soldiers get very restless when workers are away, and they've been known to go out and drag them back inside if they've been absent for too long."

"Well, we'll just have to try something, then." said Sunset.

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