Isaac found himself unphased by the splendour the castle alone had to offer. Such unique and genuine craftsmanship was lost to him.While Twilight still appreciated its allure, the human concentrated primarily on his weapon, checking it for any faults caused by damage it may have suffered. Isaac was pleased to discover that the ponies hadn't been able to raid his suit's inventory. He'd never found the need for anything short of med-packs and ammunition. Leaving room for anything else would have increased his chances of dying. He had plenty of power nodes which he didn't need since his pulse rifle was upgraded entirely, as was his RIG and Stasis charge. Even his Telekinesis had been upgraded to allow greater reach. He was as good as he was going to get at this rate, with no shortage of ammunition and first aid, his plan to create a workbench from scratch seemed assured.

"So how far's this fort you mentioned?" Isaac asked.

"Ponyville is just south of Canterlot. It's the most logical place to choose from since my friend's Apple Orchard could feed Canterlot for months on end if rationed properly. Though, that being said, Nobles would definitely be a problem. I'm sure you know how they are?" Twilight gave a look that asked for empathy relating to the situation.

"Introverted, self-centred, stuck-up bottomless pits that inspire hatred from those around them? Yes, I know the type." he replied, holstering his pulse rifle over his shoulder. Twilight laughed at his description.

"That's right. Rationing their food will undoubtedly make others want to throw them to these Necromorphs you mentioned." she replied.

"You could always not tell them, and just help the more... morally established of your kind instead." Isaac suggested. Twilight shook her head.

"Unfortunately, as Princess I have a duty to all my ponies, regardless of my feelings towards certain individuals." Twilight expressed a somewhat submissive expression as she spoke.

"I could always take them out on the way, clean and simple, no-one would ever know." he offered Twilight just chuckled.

"Thank you, Isaac, but if we're going to survive this, then we'll need everypony." she said, smiling.

"In my experience, all you need is a male and female, time goes on from there."

"You know what I mean, Isaac." Twilight nudged him with her wing, the pair chuckling as if there were no danger. As they walked together, Isaac was noticed by a few royal guards. They couldn't help but stare as he was so different from them. He walked like the Princess' assistant Spike, but wasn't a dragon. He had armour that far surpassed their own and weapons faster than crossbows and easier to use with fewer reloads.

"All kidding aside..." Isaac began, drawing Twilight's full attention. "What's coming isn't something you can take lightly. It won't be a matter of posting a couple of guards on every side of the wall. You'll need all around security twenty-four seven. Necromorphs have no sense of rhyme or reason. They'll attack when they want, when they see you. It's not a matter of just staying out of infected areas, they'll come looking for you. Believe me, I know exactly how this will turn out. And sleep is foreign to me now."

Twilight couldn't help but feel a deep sense of remorse for Isaac as she saw the wear and tear on his features. He looked older than he sounded.

"It's alright," she said. "Canterlot has a total of several thousand Royal Guards. Three thousand during the day, another three during the Night, and the rest are my own guard. There are currently four Princesses ruling over Equestria. Celestia rules over the day, and her sister, Luna rules over the night. Luna has been gracious enough to give me co-rulership over the night alongside her. I'll explain why later if you wish. Finally, there's my sister in-law; Cadence. She rules an empire in the North with my Brother. Figuratively speaking, the Crystal Empire would probably be the safest place to go, seeing as how the castle is made out of crystal. Surely these monsters couldn't break through Crystal?" she asked. Isaac considered the new information. While it was true that the Necromorphs he'd encountered before wouldn't have been able to do so...

"It's difficult to say. Your race is different to my own, so I don't know the limits of these new Necromorphs. Your magic's an unknown variable. So until I learn all I can about the Necromorphs on this world, My opinion is that the Crystal Empire you mentioned is as safe as any other place. But I recommend letting them know. If they are successful in keeping them at bay, then all we'd have to do is find a way to get from here to there." he said, looking straight ahead.

Twilight found Isaac's absolute personality reassuring. He sounded as though he knew what he was talking about. She felt safe around him because of that.

"How quickly do these things take over?" she asked.

"Difficult to say. The Ishimura would have been about five times the size of this castle, given what I've seen so far. It took a full day before the company I worked for realised something was out of sorts and a further three days for our team to arrive. By then, it was almost completely taken over." he replied, removing his helmet to rub his temple.

"Something wrong?" Twilight asked. Isaac didn't answer immediately. His eyes were scrunched shut; when he opened them, the image of Nicole stood beside Twilight.

"Make...Us...whole!" she said, disappearing in a distorted flash of light. Isaac returned to his normal state and looked Twilight in the eye.

"They're here." he said, replacing his helmet.

Author's Note

Took a while, but It's updated. I'd been thinking about this story in small doses and it was getting annoying so I decided to update now.