Author's Note

And hey there all.....uhh, shoot I forgot how many of you....23 according to the favorites list. It's been a long hiatus, but I, and by extension this story, am not dead! I was suffering writer's block, severe writers block ,and every time I tried to sit down to this story I just went 'buhh' and maybe got five words down. But enough about my....no let's not make that kind of joke. Here's hoping it won't take over half a year to get another chapter done.

Striped or Wiped?

Well, make do with what is given. A little effort, and a horrible mockery of pink lemonade was ours. Rapid and I sat on the porch, taking small sips of the precious liquid. Where in Equestria did those two find fresh lemons in the middle of this?

Rapid sighed once. “Well, not much to do, all things considered. Maybe find some other guards, get things ordered, find if the cloud's spreading outwards at all. What do you think Eclipse?” He had set his glass down, and was now looking to me for an answer.

“I don't know Rapid, it almost seems a lost cause. Ferals all about, rampant looting. Personally I'm worried about the rest of Equestria, and what happened to the Princesses during all this.” I fear the worst. No sign of them coming down. Either too melded to the floor to safely escape, or simply dead. The thought was enough to make me wince. After all was said and done, the guard failed. “We won't have enough here. And other cities are going to need guidance.”

Rapid looked back outwards. It was hard to figure out what went on in his head sometimes. Could be nothing. “Eclipse. Don't tell me you're thinking of going out there. Look at us! Anypony alive out there is gonna see nothing more than a monster.”

“All the more reason to. Dispel the fear before it truly starts. Get them to understand differences, keep them away from Canterlot. For their own good.” I didn't like the thought. Denying ponies a chance to go to the capital. The decision wasn't made by me. Those zebras below had made the choice. Speaking of.....”Anything come up from Zebratown while I was out?”

“Not a peep. Doubt anypony or zebra's wanting to even really leave their homes. Most just do for a food run. Why?”

“I think someone needs to check it out.” I stood up, stretching a bit. “Doubt they're in as good of shape....but I need to see if somepony survived down there.”

“Eclipse. He's probably dead.”

“I still need to check. I want to talk to him if I can. I need to.”

“Talking to him won't bring Garden back.”

“I know.”

Only having some plain clothes left, I opted for my winter coat. Too warm, maybe, but better defense than anything else I had. My armor sat in the corner, still smelling of refuse and sewage. Won't ever come out. I kept the coat open at least. Maybe I could find one of those brown denim dusters while I was out.....pfft, yeah right.

Weapons holstered, check. Ammo, check. Protective gear, check. Beard.....wish I had grown one. Today I make history. Well, as historic as finding if undead cloud creatures can still breathe Equestrian air could be. Standing at the point of no return. The cloud wasn't as thick here, but it was rolling about still. Taunting me almost. The path down to Zebratown was quiet, and uncovered surprisingly. Well, here goes nothing. Eyes shut, step forward.....exhale. Inhale, good, can still breathe. I open my eyes.

The view is normally spectacular here, but the sight that greeted me was a thing of nightmares. Equestria lay before me, broken, battered, and dead. Craters in numerous places. The clouds seemed to swallow the sky. No sign of life whatsoever. The wisps of pink around me dissipate, slowly stretching away from each other. Yet never fully. I merely look down the path, seeing small puffs of cloud curl around my head and forward, filtering away into the cleaner air.

Odd, it only did that when I exhaled. A quick test, holding a leg up, I took in a deep breath and let out. The inhale sounded hollow almost, like my vocal chords were rattling a bit. The exhale let loose a veritable torrent of the cloud. From that notion it was plainly clear that getting close to anypony not already like me was not an option. Not until I found some way to neutralize the stuff.

Closing my eyes once more, I gathered my thoughts. Getting a chance to talk with anypony was going to be a pain. They'd either catch the danger immediately and run, or not realize until they got too close. Only hope was getting the first word in, hoping they realize what's before them is only a monster in body.

The path to Zebratown was relatively quiet. Interspersed only by the sound of my hooves on the ground. I didn't like that ever so mild squelch they made on each step. Better than not being able to lift my hooves at all. Can't imagine being stuck to the ground like that. The path evened out as I reached the strip of rock that was Zebratown proper.

It wasn't a pretty sight. There was even more cloud here, though more muted, and water running through. Ribbons of pink swirled as they passed by. Not a problem for me anymore. What was a problem were the few slowly plodding corpses. Even here, the cloud's effects could be felt. Stable 3 wasn't far from here. We all had to know where the local ones were. Perhaps I could sneak by.

The moaning growl of one of the feral zebras snapped me out of my thought process. They still had a distance to cover though, which made things easier. And gave me time to think on things, like how the feral ones could tell non ferals apart and try anything. Or why I didn't end up a feral. Would I?

The question took a backseat as my horn flared, a shadowy tendril spearing the closest one, giving me an easy shot into it's grey matter from my revolver. The second went down in a flurry of 10mm rounds. It wouldn't stay down for long. A third burst from a nearby store, charging at me from the side. It was young looking. I recognized it nearly immediately. I'd been on patrol down here when Morale had come by. We thought a sweep, especially with Pinkie Pie there. Lo and behold it was her throwing a young zebra filly a birthday party. It only made it a little harder to pull the trigger on my revolver when she was almost on me. She wasn't that little filly anymore.

There didn't seem to be any more coming. But I kept my weapons ready, and as an extra precaution, shot the one I'd peppered a second ago to finish it. A quick reload later, and the trek through town began proper. It didn't take long for the noise I had made to filter outwards, as three more ferals came rushing out after me. This was gonna tax my ammo. Ah well, let them come, one at a time as usual.

Getting bowled over the next moment, I realized how stupid it was to assume they'd come single file. Two had me pinned, going to try to bite into my forelegs. A twist of one had my sword going through their skull. The second had a fireball burn their face off from where the cloud started. A sharp pain in the back of my neck let me know the third had bitten there. My winter jacket had softened the blow some luckily, but I still felt teeth digging.

I tried taking swipes at it with my blade, but it kept swerving about like a madmare. Grunting, I focused my magic once more, the nearby shadows beckoning to my call, and lashing out. White hot needles of pain erupted around me as a crisscrossing path of spikes shot out, skewering me and the zebra ghoul. Letting them drop, I fell to the ground, black ichor oozing from pinholes all over.

My body refused to move for the moment. Only my magic working, and failing as my concentration sank. The one I had blasted with a fireball was distracted at least, it still being on fire, but the other one that had been on my back was already back up. Even with all the pinholes through it's head. Seems what damage I did do wasn't enough. But damnit I didn't have the strength to move. If my luck were to hold, now would be the moment for timely intervention. I reached out, anywhere near me, with my magic, searching for my guns. What I found was a rock.

The zebra ghoul snarled at me as it advanced. With a heave, I grabbed the rock in a multitude of shadowy tendrils, bringing it to bear. It was as big as my head. Perfect. I laid it out hard, and fast, smashing the skull in, again and again. By the time I was done I was smiling wickedly, my wounds flaring a bit, but this new surge of energy found it's way throughout. It was a thrill almost. Yeah it wasn't him, but it was practice when I found him.

Tossing the rock aside, the ghoul's head was completely obliterated. There'd be no getting up from that ever. It seemed so easy, and so easy to do again. I could just...just...

No, not these thoughts. It was always these thoughts. Always coming up at bad moments. I looked down to the amulet I still wore, it's gold and jewels still gleaming, despite how long it'd been exposed. Small favors. It fell back to rest at my chest. The last one needed to be dealt with. I scooped both my guns out of a small puddle, shaking them dry. One revolver round later, and the last zebra ghoul had fallen, still burning.

The rest of the trek I stayed quiet, staying out of the main path, and away from houses I could hear shuffling or scratching from. It had gotten eerily quiet, just like Canterlot. It was short lived as I found myself standing in front of.....his home. What I had come here for. I pushed the door open, an ominous creaking and mild splintering of wood. The main room was empty, but I could definitely hear something upstairs. I crossed the room, keeping an eye out for any sudden movements, and began to climb the stairs. They creaked, horribly.

“Who's there?” Shit, they heard me....wait, they called out. So they weren't feral. This may work out differently than I imagined. The sound of hooves hitting wood above me gave me pause. Should I stay down here at the bottom of the stairs, or hide away. Considering there'd be more creaking if I moved again, confrontation it is.

The figure in question stepped into view. It wasn't who I expected. Fur pattern and eye color were wrong. Who I was looking for had been burned into my mind. No, this buck was younger, riddled with scars all over, most looking like they weren't from the cloud itself. They spoke again, dropping into a ready stance. “I do not know how you got in you mindless beast, but upon my flesh you will not feast.” The zebra charged straight down the stairs, barreling into me and sending us both crashing into the floor below. The landing was enough crash us through it and into the basement where we fell into a small pool of cloud infused water. I'd have been worried if I hadn't seen the rotted look of the zebra before he charged. We surfaced, his movement slowed by the water itself.

“Hold it I'm not one of the ferals!” Even in these slogged down conditions I knew if they were skilled in any of those crazy martial arts he'd be able to skewer me on a hoof. Surprisingly, he did hold.

“Wait....So I'm not....” He dipped his head. “My apologies, it did not occur to me others would last this fate as I did.” It made me chuckle a bit.

“Let's just get back upstairs.”

With his attempts at murder thwarted, we sat down in the living room, or what was left of it. Gaping hole and all. I offered a box of fancy buck snack cakes, but he refused.

“No offense, but what they put in those things, to make them survive even this relatively unharmed, It's enough to kill someone.” He pushed them back my way, flipping them to the ingredients. Never thought of looking. Picking the box up for a closer look, well, let's just say....

“Sucrose, dextrose, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, glucose, proponiac acid, sorbic acid, formaldehyde, sodium benzoate, sodium chloride, eggs, flour, enriched flour, artificial flavors, and sugar.”

“Would keep a body preserved well after death.” He said as I finished, smirking ever so slightly. “But that's simply sidetracking. Your name and calling I am currently lacking.”

I cocked an eyebrow. Did he really....wasn't important. “Eclipse Flare. I came looking for the owner of this house. Wanted to talk. There any, bodies upstairs?” He flinched ever so slightly at the moment I said my name. I really hoped he wasn't thinking along the lines of those two others back in the sewers.

“I see. Explains the mark, and the magic.” He shook his head slightly. “I am Xantho. As for the one you're looking for, unfortunately no. Before the shield fell, I saw them rush off for the nearby Stable.” He readjusted himself in his seat, possibly getting comfy. I noticed, oddly enough, there was a glint as his tail swished. “Now, I do wish to return to my meditation, before I leave this place myself. The Stable is off to the north of here, as I'm sure you're aware.”

Should have figured. Not here, off for the Stable itself. “Well, thank you for the information Xantho. I'll make my way there.” I stood up, heading for the door, before something occurred to me. It was asinine really. “Umm, sorry, but if I may ask. What was the glint in in your tail?”

He blinked, before looking away sheepishly. “Part of my meditation. Which takes concentration. A process I cannot obtain until with your questions you refrain. So I ask that you leave, unless more of my wrath you wish to receive.” He swished his tail again, the previously hidden blade now showing through the fibers of hair. It had been held there some way, but obviously had fused to him now. It was stained on the edge. Something you wouldn't spot unless you kept a blade yourself. Blood, old blood. I winced as he drew it across his side. The other scars made sense. Carnilala tribe. Probably came from an older house in the area on the outskirts of town.

A low guttural moan came from upstairs. His eyes widened and he rushed up. I heard the unmistakable sound of a blade cutting into flesh again and again. Knowing what I knew of the Carnilala tribe, which was only what most media put out abut them, I did not wish to stick around.

Stable 3's door loomed at the end of the tunnel. The cloud was starting to fade some here. No doubt the walls were sucking it up. You could actually see through now. A few ferals mingled in here, possibly ponies that got trapped outside and were washed over by the cloud. They beat on the door dully, almost routinely. A few shots to the head fixed that.

I brought up my pipbuck for the first time in a while. The connector port still had a cable running in it. Hooking up the two, I fiddled with the controls. Having been through this a couple times for mandatory training updates in such an eventuality, it didn't take long before I had the speaker running.

“This is Eclipse Flare, Royal Guard, requesting a patch to the Overmare in charge of Stable 3.”

There was silence, save for a slightly crackling static from the speaker on my end.

“I repeat, this is Eclipse Flare, Royal Guard, do you read me?”

A few more moments of silence, and a zebra's voice came on the line.

“This is Zela, Overmare of Stable 3.” A moment later a second voice, this one sounding urbanite and definitely pony.

“And this is Sun Flask, also Overmare of Stable 3.” Wait, what?

“Please repeat, two Overmares? Last records did not indicate two Overmares.” Zela answered first.

“It was within the guidelines of the Stable. At all times there is to be a representative Overmare for the zebras-” Sun cut in.

“And one for the ponies.”

“Yes thank you very much Sun Flask.” The sarcasm was thick.

“Oh get the bee out of your bonnet Zela, we're in this together.”

“It doesn't help if you undermine me.”

“OK, true. But really now, you're making a bit of a big deal out of this.”

“Well if you'd stop butting in to what I'm saying I'd-” I butted in here.

“Ladies please, now is not a time for this discussion. First off, this is not a request for an opening of the Stable. The threat level I'd say is well above Omega.” I was hoping my raspy voice would strike that home. Sun spoke up first.

“Oh really? I sure hope not. What exactly hit, what can we expect? We turned the camera off cause it kept showing a dust cloud.”

I moaned. This...this was a hard call. “My...My recommendation is you lock the door controls. Both outside and inside. Canterlot, and the surrounding area, was hit with a megaspell. The spell, a unique variety. Are you both aware with the details of the Littlehorn Massacre?” A quick yes from both of them came my way. “Canterlot compares, but not in the 'exact same'. Think a scale of one to ten. Littlehorn was one. Canterlot's 11.” All I got was a gasp, and the sound of a camera in the corner swiveling to look this way. I looked right at it. “I hope the signal's good, cause I'll be honest. I've seen about fifty ponies walking about, and only about ten of them could be considered alive. The cloud out here is necromantic, and nothing save for full on magic bubbles seems to hold it at bay. Even with that, you're only buying time.” I sighed. “Keep everything running smoothly. You're in it for a long, long time.”

There was silence. Again save for the camera sweeping out there. I looked back, the mass of bodies all rotting and decaying already. There began a quiet sobbing from the other side, and the sound of a door closing. I heard another door open, and the sound of hoofsteps. I could only guess one went to comfort the other.

“Shh, shh. It'll be alright Sun. There's death out there, and he went to lengths to warn us how dangerous.” The sobbing lessened only slightly, but I knew it was now because Sun had someone to sob into. Zela spoke up again. “How long before you think it'll dissipate and we can leave?”

I frowned once more. “Honestly... I found the source. It's still running now. And it couldn't be shut off.”

My walk out was somber, quiet, save for one body I noticed. Seems the ferals had chewed on this poor bastard before thumping at the door. He was barely recognizable. Well, except one detail. One I knew too well. It was that damn crooked tooth, sharpened like a fang almost. I knew now I was looking at the corpse of the one I had been looking for.

“Well, so you got here, and the cloud got you first huh?” I kicked him once. This bastard took everything I cared about from me. My wife, my daughter's happiness. I wanted to come here, strangle him, thrash him....Buck I'd be satisfied in letting that Carnilala Zebra have his way. I'd even record it. Maker knows it'd be too good for him.

A small something slipped out of the pocket of the barding he wore. Something dirty and stained. Something, small and yellow. I picked it up with a shadowy tendril. It was...a rubber duck. A rubber duck in a soldier's uniform, saluting with a wing. It was the most ridiculous thing I could think of for him to carry, yet it fit him too damn well. Him and his stubborn, egotistical pride. It made me queasy to think of him again, laying here, dead, without me having done it. I nearly crushed the thing in my magic, but it popped back into place without a care. It suddenly made me very glad those ferals were ponies and not zebras.

I pocketed the duck, and moved on. No sense in desecrating his body. The cloud had done it already.

The walk back up to home was uneventful. Mostly so anyway. I saw a contrail of rainbow pass by and head straight into Canterlot proper. No... Why would Rainbow Dash go in there so recklessly? She needed to stay alive, lead. I had to find her and urge her out. Do what I could to help her escape. In the absence of the princesses she and the other ministry mares would be the ones in charge.

Before I even made it into the city, I saw the contrail again. She left a trail of cloud wisping around her path, as if reaching out, trying to drag her back in. Hopefully she realized how dangerous it was. She never even saw me. Good, hopefully she saw nopony else as well.

I traveled the rest of the way in silence, with the occasional check of my weapons. They didn't seem any worse for wear in this situation. Maybe finding them after the cloud had been what did it. It was almost like it wanted to preserve some things. Anything else it rotted and decayed.

Home came into view not long after reentering the city. Returning to the cover of the cloud made the outside seem so, surreal. Data ran up to me and slapped me again. OK, probably deserved it for leaving her here.

“Seriously Dad. Don't run off without me!” It was clear she wouldn't be happy unless she came along. I could see Rapid and trigger trying to pass time with a baseball. The fact my neighbor on the other side had broken windows now testified it was getting nuts.

“Sorry sweetie, but this guy I had to go see alone, OK?” She looked at me with a glare. “It was the zebra, OK?” He relaxed a bit. She knew not to go near him.

“Fine, but I'm coming along next time. And you're wearing something more protective. You've been hurt too much Dad.” With that she levitated a box over. What was inside I could only imagine was just that, my imagination. She didn't really....steal this from the police dept, did she? Inside was a full set of CPD riot barding.

“Data, sweetie, where did you get this?”

“The police station, and uncle Rapid went with me, don't worry.” She did. I facehoofed.

Well, it fit pretty well actually. It'd do well out there. Sure it wasn't up to snuff with my royal guard armor, or steel ranger armor. But it'd do until we got something better. Zebratown was lost, Cloudsdale lost, Canterlot lost. There was Hoofington, Trottingham, Fillydelphia, Manehatten, Ponyville, Appleloosa, Detrot... OK in truth anything that happened during this would have only improved Detrot. Only thing now was to pick a destination and start.

Rapid and Trigger chose to stay behind. Seems a few others stopped by, mentioning getting everypony together and setting fort in the MWT hub. Would make ferals easier to manage.

With Data at my side, a small 9mm in her own holster, which reminded me to make sure she remembered everything about gun safety, she and I set off for the slope out of Canterlot. Our mission clear, find as many survivors and look into ways to negate the cloud. If cloud spread, who knows what it'd do to the rest of Equestria?

Level up! Level 6

Perk: Gunslinger – your accuracy with mouth grip weapons (or one handed by clawed or pawed standards) is increased both in and out of SATS 10%