Sunset Imperishable

by EldritchNexus

Disturbing the Peace, Part 2

Indigo Zap was holding Ellie Jaye in her hooves, hovering a few feet above the ground.

"Wow, Lightning." said Indigo Zap. "A rare species, huh?"

"Yep." nodded Lightning Dust. "From one of the last couple Megamite colonies in Saddle Arabia".

"So they're called 'Megamites', huh?" asked Indigo. "Well, I'd say they're a might 'mega'! Heh, 'might'. Geddit?"

"Yeah, sis." chuckled Lightning, hollowly. "I, uhh...sure get it."

"You must be so lucky to have this thing as a pet."

"Well, she isn't just my pet." said Lightning. "Ellie's my friend. I'd even say she's the closest thing I have to a foal."

"Aww, so you think this bug's your baby?" snickered Indigo.

She started speaking in baby-talk to Ellie, even as she bobbed her left and right in her hooves.

"C'mon, Ellie." she giggled. "Wanna give your Auntie Indigo a nice, big bug-hug?"

"Uh...sis? I wouldn't go tryin' that if I were you..." Lightning interjected.

"Nah, she's cool with me." said Indigo. "ain't that right, El--AAIIIIIIIEEEEE!"

Ellie Jaye broke free of Indigo's hooves, and clamped her legs around her ribcage. Indigo had a pained expression on her face as she gasped for air. She lost control and fell back down to the ground, where she landed on her back with Ellie still clasped to her body.

"That's enough, Ellie!" said Lightning. "Let go."

Ellie chittered in confusion, and loosened her grip on Indigo, but still didn't let go. Then she clicked her mandibles softly while turning her head from side-to-side.

"You have to be gentle with her, Indie." said Lightning. "Ya have to hold her just right, or she could squeeze you in two. She's got kung-fu grip in those legs of hers. Don't feel bad, though; I learned it the hard way, too."

"So you say..." Indigo chuckled awkwardly, trying to mask her pain. "There's a nice girl. Just...let...Aunt Indie go, okay?"

She cautiously placed a hoof on Ellie's back, and ran it up and down her exoskeleton, encouraging her to loosen her grip. Lightning dropped down after her. There was a low rumbling nearby.

"What the heck's that noise?" Lightning asked.

---

The black worm-like creatures were surging through the city, ripping through buildings like paper. Rubble was scattering everywhere and ponyfolk were fleeing in a state of intense panic.

"What the buckin' hoof is going on here?!" Teddy shouted over the calamity.

"I don't know, Teddy." said Trixie, whose horn was glowing. "But the Great and Powerful Trixie shall put a stop to it."

She galloped forward, blasting projectiles at the black worms. At first, they paid no heed to her. However, when she shot a stream of magical lightning at one of them, they ceased their advance and turned to notice her. They burrowed into the pavement, and started tunneling around her in circles.

"Show yourselves, fiends!" Trixie hollered at them.

She shot spell after spell at the elevated ground, but to no avail. Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling, and the ground she was started on started to crack. She bolted away, just as it began to collapse into a sinkhole. The pit was twenty feet in diameter, and ten fathoms deep. The worms emerged from the pit. One of them looked down at the staggering Trixie, while the other burrowed underground again. It began to tunnel to the outskirts of town, towards the University of Baltimare.

The first worm made a deep roaring noise that caused Trixie's pet Manticore to flee and hide behind a food-cart. Trixie shot a spell into the worm's mouth, causing white-hot sparks to issue from its jaws. There was heavy galloping from the side, and Nose Nip and Frosty charged up to the creature. Frosty was holding up a makeshift flamethrower that was salvaged from the Summerstar. Nose Nip had the Cluster Buster, as well.

"Hey, mega-ugly!" Frosty shouted. "Get back ta yo' dune!"

The worm looked down at him and opened its mouth. It started to make a loud sucking noise, and Frosty and Nose Nip both felt a strong tug on their weapons. Frosty's flamethrower disappeared into the creature's mouth, where it was shredded by its countless rows of razor-sharp teeth.

"What's going on here?" asked Nose Nip.

"Aww, come on!" Frosty complained. "I didn't even get a chance to use it!"

"Then use your magic!" Trixie shouted. "Are you a unicorn or not?"

"Oh...right."

Frosty's horn started to glow, and he blasted a freezing spell at the worm. The body was unaffected, but the inside of the mouth was riddled with ice. Nose Nip started galloping up the length of the worm's body to get to the head, the Cluster Buster loaded and ready to fire.

"Like eating metal, do ya?" Nose Nip shouted at it. "Then eat this!"

He pointed the Cluster Buster down, and pulled back on the oversized trigger with his front-left hoof. There was a loud BANG!, a massive number of metal objects of various shapes and sizes burst straight from the Cluster Buster's barrel and struck the worm's hide. He pulled back again and again until the rear end of the weapon violently shattered. The fourth blast went through the worm's thick black armor and out the other side. It let out a garbled wail as it careened into a nearby shop with Nose Nip still riding it.

"Nips!" Frosty yelled.

Frosty, Trixie, and Teddy went into the ruins of the store, and found Nose Nip laying stunned and bruised next to the downed worm. His head and front hooves were half-covered in dust and powder from the rubble, making him seem a paler green than usual.

"Did...I...get 'em?" sputtered Nose Nip. "O Yeshmiyek, I'm hurting all over!"

"Don't worry, you got it!" Frosty said. "I can't believe how tough that weapon was! Too bad it's busted, or we coulda used--"

"Frosty! Trixie!" said Teddy, who was looking at the destroyed worm's exit and entry wounds. "Nose Nip, you guys might wanna check this out."

Nose Nip got up, and went with the others to investigate the creature. However, just as they were about to surround it, the worm started emitting flames and sparks from the wounds. Then it started to billow left and right.

"I don't like the looks of this..." Frosty whispered.

Radiant Dawn, Lightning Dust, and Indigo Zap arrived at that moment.

Lightning and Indigo were both shocked at what they saw. Radiant Dawn's horn started to glow as the worm raised its head and began swiveling about.

---

TEN MINUTES LATER...

The University of Baltimare was in chaos. The walls and floors were all shaking. Professors and students alike were scattering every which way, trying to find the nearest exit from the building. It felt as if some Kaiju-sized beast was charging across the campus. Then there were loud crashes and bangs that echoed into each other from no specific direction.

"What's going on?!" Sunset Shimmer yelled over the commotion.

"I don't know!" Golden Sun shouted.

Professor Rocket galloped madly towards them.

"Some kind of creature!" he told them, gasping for breath. "Attacking the B.R.E.W....Turbo's trying to stop it!"

"Oh, no." Golden Sun frowned.

He raced down the hall and entered the chamber. The interior looked like a war-zone, and a gaping pit was opening in the middle of it, extending down to the basement levels. Turbo Fusion was nowhere to be seen.

"Turbo!" Golden Sun hollered down into the tunnel. "Turbo! Where are you?!"

There was no response. He, Sunset, and the rest of the remaining alumni of the university were crowding around the hole.

"I can't believe it." Rocket stammered. "It got him. Th-the creature must've gotten him. I know I shouldn't have left him here!"

"Calm down, professor!" Sunset told him. "What creature? What got Turbo?"

"It was...some kind of giant black worm or serpent. It just burrowed from under the ground. Tore through the floor like cardboard."

"And destroyed some of the surrounding rooms in doing so." said one of the other professors. "Abacus is gonna be furious about this."

"You'd be right, Mr. Javelin." said a voice behind them.

"Ma'am, we...we..." Professor Javelin hesitated as he and the others turned around.

"Don't give me your excuses." Professor Abacus told him. "This is unforgivable."

"It wasn't our fault, Abbey." said Rocket. "We were attacked. This huge worm--"

"Yes, I know about it." said Abacus. "But I'm afraid that there's simply nothing that can be done about it right now. The university must be closed down until this situation has been resolved."

There were gasps throughout the room.

---

Sunset and Golden Sun were trotting along the forest path between Baltimare and the University.

"Dad, I'm sorry about--"

"You don't need to apologize, Sunset." Golden Sun told his daughter, as the two left the university campus with Bathilda in tow. "None of it was your fault."

"But what was this creature?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

Radiant Dawn and the others galloped towards them, with Indigo and Lightning speeding next to them.

"Sunset! Dad!" Radiant Dawn shouted. "Something big just tore through the town. And it's on the move."

"We know, Red." said Sunset. "It attacked us not even five minutes ago."

"No, Sunset!" said Trixie. "There's two of them. The one that was headed to the university, and the one Nose Nip just blasted."

"The one that attacked us burrowed underground, and took one of the professors with it." Golden Sun summarized. "Now you tell me there's another one?"

"Yeah, but it burrowed underground, too." said Nose Nip, "There was something happening when I put a hole through it with the Cluster Buster. It was shooting sparks and fire all over the place."

"So it's some kind of dragon?" asked Golden Sun.

"It didn't look like any dragon I ever saw." said Nose Nip. "I think it's something else."

"Yeah, there's something about that worm that seemed...mechanical." said Teddy.

"Like a robot?" asked Sunset.

Trixie snorted in disbelief.

"You've been in the human world for too long, Sunset." she said. "This is Equestria. Equestria is part of a world of magical creatures. What the Great and Powerful Trixie and her cohorts previously confronted is undoubtedly just another magical creature."

"I don't care what that thing is supposed to be." said a gruff voice.

Crimson Blade, Sunflower, and Scarlet Blaze galloped up to them very moment.

"We saw something big knock down the western treeline from underneath the roots." said Scarlet. "I'm willing to bet that it was one of those worms."

"They might be headed fo' Cant-ah-lot!" Sunflower exclaimed.

"That settles it." Radiant Dawn said. "Lightning and I have been on leave long enough. Someone needs to get to Canterlot and raise the alarm."

"And track down those two worms." added Sunset.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the LOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGG wait.

Comments

[stapart]

Sorry for the LOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGG wait.

OK, we forgive YOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUU

[00RaiserGundam]

7940016 What he said.

[EldritchNexus]

9198589
Not really cancelled. I might return to it one day, once all my faculties are in order. I'm just focused on other projects outside of the MLP fandom at the moment that I really wanted to work on.

[EldritchNexus]

9198877
I have a lot of problems and bad memories regarding MLP and I feel uncertain if my stories are really relevant anymore, but I never said that I'm never coming back. I just don't have any plans to continue on this story at the moment. I apologize if it seemed like I was giving up. There's still a lot of stuff I still want to do that's related to this story, and I would love to get back to it once I'm ready to do so.

I have another story that I'm working on that appeals to my current mindset. I'd rather get that done first, so that I'll have more time to get over my MLP-related problems. Plus, the experience from writing that other story might benefit the future chapters of this one.