From a Dying World to New Lands

Chapters

Chapter 2: City Life (Part 1)
Chapter 3: City Life (Part 2)
Chapter 4: Remember the Alamo
Chapter 5: The Afterlife?
Chapter 6: Exploration and Discovery
Chapter 7: First Contact-Trouble and Misunderstandings
Chapter 8: Welcome to Our Humble Abode
Chapter 9: Settling In
Chapter 11: A True Nightmare Night (Part 2)
Chapter 12: Compromise
Chapter 13: Unexpected Passengers
Chapter 14: Welcome Back
Chapter 15: A Change of Heart
Chapter 16: Confessions
Chapter 18: The Missing Link
Chapter 19: Game Plan
Chapter 20: Moment of Truth
Chapter 21: Heading Out
Chapter 22: Calm Before the Storm
Chapter 23: Allies and Enemies
Chapter 1: One Hell of a Favor
Chapter 10: A True Nightmare Night (Part 1)
Chapter 17: Down Time

Chapter 2: City Life (Part 1)

Perspective: Eddy Culivin
Location: Southern United States, 25 miles from home
Date: October 26, 2025

It was like a dark, towering prison of death. The Infection hasn’t been going on for nearly long enough for roads and buildings to decay, so apart from a few broken windows, the place was pretty much intact. And that’s what was so eerie about it. There was no obvious reason or cause for the emptiness, so seeing a very much intact city that’s normally swarming with people so deserted like this is unsettling. As we approached our destination, I slowed the car down significantly to 30mph and rolled down the windows. At this speed the two motors didn’t make a sound, and tire and wind noise were negligible. It was ghostly quiet in the city; the Infected that should be crawling all over here strangely nowhere in sight. Our first destination was the chemical storage warehouse thing the scouts found at the edge of town. We parked in front of the security checkpoint; a rather sizable motorized gate blocking our entrance.

“Alright, first thing’s first. I’ll get that gate open,” Edgar said, already hopping out of the vehicle, bolt cutters in hand. Very strange, considering those cutters wouldn’t do squat to the gate’s thick bars. Instead of cutting the bars though, Edgar climbed and hopped over to the other side. Once there, he targeted the chain that the motor uses to move the gate, smart move considering it’s much weaker than the gate itself. Once the gate was free of the motor, Mike stepped out to help Edgar. Everyone cringed as a metallic screeching sound bellowed from the steel contraption; I guess four years without maintenance was too much for the wheels’ bearings. Settling back into the vehicle, I slowly advanced through the checkpoint and towards the facility

Upon arriving, Mike and Edgar hopped out and grabbed their weapons. In order to remain somewhat stealthy, both used a pneumatic rifle as their primary. The weapon somewhat resembled an old bolt-action Springfield without a stock; an air tank, solenoid, and pressure regulator attached at the rear acted as the stock instead. The pressure regulator was operated by a rocker switch actuated by the thumb of the hand that holds the front grip. A bi-color LED indicates its setting; green would cause injury but was non-lethal, while red turned up the pressure was lethal. The trigger was an electrical toggle switch with a return spring that sent power when triggered to a 555 timer circuit. The circuit pulses the solenoid once per trigger pull, sending a powerful burst of compressed air that propelled a ball bearing out the barrel. The rifle was semi-auto, so the ‘bolt’ on it was actually a cleverly implemented magazine; sliding the bolt back revealed a replaceable copper tube magazine. The magazine held fifteen 5/16” steel ball-bearings.

The weapons were very reliable usually, but just in case they fail, Mike packed a Sig Sauer P226 while Edgar carried a M1911. We had all agreed not to our secondary weapon unless absolutely necessary though, as even one shot would probably alert the entire Infected population of our presence. If anyone had to resort to their secondary, we would skip town immediately after pickup.

“If you guys haven’t sent the signal or checked in in 20 minutes, we’re coming back for you,” Jonathon said quietly to them.

“We won’t be too far off, but it’ll be quicker if Jon and I search some nearby buildings while you guys secure the main goods,” I added. “If the information we got was accurate, we shouldn’t run into any major trouble.” With a final nod, they were off, and so were we.

The warehouse was on the outskirts of the city, so there were hardly any useful buildings nearby, just offices. The first thing we came across that might have been even remotely useful was an old fueling depot for fleet vehicles. We however, simply drove right past it; any fuel in there at this point was definitely past its shelf life. On our way to the closest actual store, I received a contact from Edgar.

“Eddy, we’ve reached the door to the chemical storage area, but we ran into a bit of a snag. The door is locked with one of those electronic locks.”

I thought for a moment before answering. “Is the code written down anywhere or if it’s RF-ID, are there any cards lying around?”

“There are plenty of cards in the offices Eddy, but remember that there’s no power!”

Crap, that’s right. We didn’t have a convenient source of AC voltage, so somehow, we had to bypass the lock without energizing the entire security system. I started forming a plan in my head on how to open it, but I needed to make sure that my assumptions were true first.

“Um, ok, are there any wires leading from the scanner to the door?” There was a 5-second silence before Edgar responded.

“Yea, two of them, leading to some box on top of the door.”

So my assumptions were correct after all. “Ok guys, listen. The lock is an electromagnetic lock, meaning that to open it, an electromagnet is energized to repel the permanent magnet on the door. The electromagnets usually only require a small current to work, so you’re going to bypass the scanner and energize the coil directly, understood?”

“NO, not understood!” said Mike over his Walkie-Talkie. “Walk us through it damnit, we don’t have a clue what we’re doing, otherwise the door would already be open!”

Ugh, double crap, they’re right again! “Ok. Mike, go ahead and cut those two wires leading from the scanner to the door, then strip them about ½ an inch. Edgar, while he does that, do you know how to remove the battery from your rifle?”

“Uh, pop the pin, swing the grip open and unplug, right?”

“That’s correct. Go ahead and do that, and tell me when you’re both ready.” The duo was silent for a few moments while each member completed his specific task. Eventually, Edgar came back on the line.

“Alright, I have the battery in my hands and Mike’s got two stripped wires, now what?”

“Ok, Mike. Are the wires marked in some way to distinguish them apart?”

There was a slight pause. “Yes, one of them is black with a white stripe, the other one’s just black,” he responded.

“Excellent. Alright, listen before you guys do anything. Mike’s going to lean on the door. Edgar, you’re going to connect the red wire from the battery to the white-striped wire and the black wire to the black wire. When you do this, Mike should be able to push the door open. Once he does, immediately disconnect the wires and put your battery back in. Is that clear?”

“Perfectly,” replied Edgar. Silence once again filled the car as they worked on the door. At this point, Jonathon had spotted a Target, which we decided we were going to search, so we pulled in and I disengaged the car. Before hopping out, Mike’s voice broke the silence.

“Ok we’re in, thanks.”

“No problem,” I replied. With that taken care of, Jonathon and I hopped out and pulled out our pneumatic rifles, along with our backups, a Smith and Wesson 910 for me and a Walther P99 for him. Jonathon went ahead, while I followed closely behind.

“Flashlights on,” Jonathon whispered. The inside of the store was dark and spacious. Fortunately for us, most of the shelves were either broken or toppled, allowing us to see and clear a large part of the store right from the entrance. The rest didn’t take very long; Target stores don’t have any weird turns or other layout issues that presented blind-spots. It was just clearing corridor-like spaces between shelves, which was very easy. Our search, as well as the lack of noise, confirmed no hostiles. Satisfied that the store was safe, we began to search for supplies.

There wasn’t much in the store, considering all the remaining food (with the exception of certain candies) was spoiled and the place had been previously raided, probably shortly before the city fell. We found some light bulbs, clothes, Zzzquil and even some pills. Some were easily recognizable, like Advil and such, but I did not know what some of them were for and if they were still good. The resident doctor back in town might want them however, so we took them anyway. I checked my watch as we exited and realized 18 minutes had gone by since Edgar or Mike had contacted us. It was time to check up on our friends. We loaded the stuff into the ‘frunk’ of the Tesla and drove back to the facility. It was on the way back however, that a transmission from Edgar’s Walkie-Talkie made both of us break into a cold sweat and made my right foot suddenly inch closer to the floorboard.

“Guys, it’s Edgar. We’ve secured a lot of precious cargo, but we ran into some Infected within the building. We’d rather not run into more waiting in this God-damn warehouse, know what I mean?”

Well shit…

Perspective: Mike Britowski
Location: Southern United States, 25 miles from home
Date: October 26, 2025
1 Minute after Drop-off

“Hey Mike, try that breaker over there,” Edgar said behind me. We were going to just enter the building immediately after being dropped off, but it was rather dark inside, so we looked for anything that could supply power to the building. Edgar spotted this circuit breaker lever looking thing that could have belonged to a battery backup system, so I went to see if it worked. I pushed it up into the ‘ON’ position and surprise surprise…nothing happened. I guess that’s what happens when no one runs the power plants in this city for 4 years. Still, I guess it was worth a try.

Entering the building, the first corridor we walked down was illuminated by the light pouring in through the open door, but after that the only light present came from the flashlights on our rifles, along with the bi-color LED glowing red on each rifle. There were doors lining the corridor which led to small rooms with windows, but none of the contents of the rooms were useful. It seems we had entered the building through what appears to be an office space. Some of the offices were quite messy, indicative of the panic of the previous occupants. Hell, I’d be scared too if someone had burst into my office and proved to me the end of the world was here. Other than messy though, it was quiet, meaning no Infected, at least in the offices. The Infected weren’t smart enough to stalk/hunt their prey; they were driven by instinct, kinda like zombies. They wandered aimlessly until they found a victim, and then chased them relentlessly. Lucky for us though, they weren’t here, so we were free to roam the office space.

Eventually, we came across a metal door with a sign that read ‘DANGER. CHEMICAL STORAGE AREA. AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.’ Just the door we were looking for. Unfortunately, when I pushed on the door, it refused to budge. I quickly looked around and saw a card scanner beside the doorway. Looking up, there was a metal box of sorts that seemed to be holding the door closed.

“Edgar, bad news. The door seems to be locked with some sort of electronic lock,” I said, pointing to the card scanner, then the box atop the door.

“Wait, if it’s electronic, shouldn’t the lock be off? You know, cause there’s no power?” he asked.

“I don’t know, all I do know is that it’s locked. Go ahead and try if you don’t believe me.” Edgar walked up and pushed. Sure enough, the door didn’t budge.

“Well that’s just great. Now what?” Both of us suddenly looked at each other for a few moments, as the same idea hit us. Edgar fished out his Walkie-Talkie from his pocket and contacted the person that came to mind.

“Eddy, we’ve reached the door to the chemical storage area, but we ran into a bit of a snag. The door is locked with one of those electronic locks.” After some discussion and a few questions, he directed us on how to jimmy the magnetic lock open.

“…immediately disconnect the wires and put your battery back in. Is that clear?” Eddy finished explaining over the line.

“Perfectly,” Edgar responded. He connected black to black, and held the white-striped and red wires, one in each hand. “Ready?” he asked. I applied some pressure to the door before responding.

“Ready when you are.” With that, Edgar connected the remaining two wires in his hands. Immediately, the door gave way and started to swing open, much to my relief. Said relief was short-lived however, because suddenly a very loud buzzer sounded from the metal box above the door. This startled both of us, and caused me to release the door, while Edgar broke the connection, silencing the buzzer. Luckily, I caught the door before it closed and re-locked. I pushed the door back open and we stepped in, letting the door go behind me. ‘Damnit, the buzzer must have been in-line with the coil! That was very loud, if there’s anything in here, we definitely got its attention!’ Just as I finished that thought, I heard a low growl, followed by footsteps. *Click* the door closed behind us. ‘SHIT!’ I grabbed Edgar, who was kneeling down and about to open up the grip to reconnect the battery, and pulled him up.

“You can finish connecting your battery after we hide, we’ve been detected!” I quickly fished out my Walkie-Talkie and let Eddy know we got in, or else he’ll become concerned and come back early. What if those things are waiting for Jonathon and him outside?

“Ok we’re in, thanks,” I said as calmly as possible, before rotating the volume knob to ‘off’. The warehouse had rows upon rows of shelves, almost all of them had something on them, but they were arranged oddly, making the place as confusing as a maze. Random pockets of empty space where shelves might have been only added to the chaotic appearance. ‘Was this place abandoned in the middle of a renovation or something?’ There were several boxes with unknown contents throughout the space; we didn’t really have time to look at the contents though. The large loading doors to our right were all closed, we’d have to find a way to open them later. Multiple skylights illuminated the area, so even with no power, we could see well enough inside. What we couldn’t see were those damn Infected, though the growls were getting louder. Where to hide?

They haven’t seen us yet I think, they just heard the buzzer go off. There’s got to be a way to use that to our advantage. But they’re seemingly everywhere, and since I can’t tell their exact location, diving blindly into a shelf or corner could lead us straight to them, and them to us. Hell, it wouldn’t have worked anyway; those damn skylights are letting in too much light to find a spot dark enough to hide from their enhanced vision…wait. ‘Too much light…’, that’s it!

“This way!” I whispered to Edgar, who promptly followed. I led us in between the two shelves in front of us and stopped close to the other end, directly under the ‘spotlight’ formed by the skylight.

“What are you doing!?” Edgar whispered harshly. “We’re sitting ducks out here in the open!”

“You’ll see. Trust me on this one” I responded. And just like that we waited, though we didn’t have to wait long. Very soon, one of those hideous things, the very plague of humanity itself, came into view. And it looked pissed.

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Southern United States, 25 miles from home
Date: October 26, 2025

There must have been signs that I missed. Things he said, stuff he did, anything, to try and tell me something and I must have missed them all. I don’t know when Mike went suicidal on us, but before I knew it, here I was in the middle of an Infection-infested warehouse. To top it all off, he’s telling me to ‘trust him’. Heh, well if he wanted that he should have explained dragging us out in the open, but he didn’t. My internal train of thought was a mess at this point.

‘We’re sitting out in the middle of the open, we’re gonna DIE! Maybe I can try to break free from Mike’s grip on my arm and find some real cove- oh fuck OH FUCK THERE IT IS!! It’s too late I’m dead I’m dead it’s looking right at me and I can’t shoot it and…it’s…squinting.' The creature was only 15ft or so from us, so I was able to make out all of its actions from here. It was scanning the corridor-like space between the two shelves for signs of its prey, but when it looked in our direction, it squinted hard before quickly looking away. Doubt quickly melted away as I realized what was happening. ‘It’s almost as if…the light’s blinding him and he can’t see us! The Infected are over-sensitive to light, so the skylight’s hiding us in plain sight. Mike, you’re a freakin genius, I shouldn’t have ever doubted you!’ The creature only lingered for a short time, before moving on to find the source of the noise. When it was gone, I leaned in towards Mike and whispered in his ear.

“Remind me later that I owe someone an apology,” I said. He raised an eyebrow at this, but commented no further on the subject. Another Infected came over and just like the first one, it was blinded and eventually gave up looking for us, but this one wandered into the space a little before giving up. Relief washed over me as it backed off and left, but I knew that at this rate, one would wander far enough in to bump into us. All Hell breaks loose then. I finished attaching the battery, the rifle quickly re-energizing, and turned back to Mike.

“Any ideas?” I asked/whispered.

“One, but I’ll need to test something first without drawing too much attention,” he replied. He spun around, as if looking for something, before stopping, his gaze resting on the creature at the opposite end of the space. Mike’s face quickly broke into a grin.

“And I think I just found my unfortunate victim.” The undead being was about 90ft out, and was struggling to look into the corridor and find us.

“Stay here,” Mike ordered. All of a sudden, Mike stepped out of the spotlight’s safety toward the creature. ‘Is he fucking crazy!? No no, wait, trust him on this one. I’m…somewhat sure that he (hopefully) has a plan.’ After moving a short distance from the light, the monster spotted him, and let out a low grunt before charging at him.

The Infected had this weird way of ‘running’, most likely due to deformities. The easiest way to describe it would be a limp and skip at the same time, their top speed only a jogging pace. It’s best not to underestimate them though, for while they’re not blistering fast, they don’t seem to tire when chasing prey. Right now, it was closing in on its prey Mike, who had withdrawn his rifle at this point. He raised it to his shoulder, taking aim at the creature in front of him. ‘I don't get it. If he was just going to shoot it, why step out of the protection of the light?’ He lined up the sights with the creature’s head, and waited for it to come closer. Palms sweaty from nervousness, I gripped my own rifle tighter; the pneumatic hiss from his shot would probably attract more of those things. Finally, the Infected was no more than 15ft or so from him, so checking his sights one final time, he…turned on the flashlight? Well damn, I certainly did not see that one coming! It appeared to have a desired effect though.

The powerful beam of the flashlight caught the Infected right in the face, which immediately stopped its advance as it covered its eyes, recoiling slightly. Mike wasted no time, and while switching the rifle to his left hand, withdrew a somewhat rectangular block of wood and metal from his pocket with his right. He pressed the button on said block, and with a quiet click, a thick and very sharp 4 inch blade sprung out and locked in place. Quickly bringing down his rifle and leaning it against the nearest shelf, it was his turn to charge his opponent. With light no longer blinding it, the creature removed its hands from its face, but it was too late. Mike was already upon him, and in one motion, grabbed the back of its head to hold it steady and plunged the entire blade into its right eye, angled upwards and leftwards towards the center of its brain. No sound escaped the mortally wounded creature except a quick gasp. Mike decided to seal its fate, and proceeded to violently twist the blade in its head. The being jerked a final time, before collapsing dead onto Mike. He withdrew his knife and shoved the body off of him. It landed unceremoniously on the floor with a thump. Mike folded his blade, retrieved his rifle, and returned to my position. ‘That was the most dangerous, stupid thing he’s ever done! However…that was pretty damn cool.’

“Hope you enjoyed the show, because I am not doing that again,” he said with a cocky smile. “Seems my guess was correct though, the flashlight not only blinds them, but temporarily ‘stuns’ them as well. So, here’s the plan. We’re going to hop skylights; we’ll stay under this one for now and shoot them from here. If it looks like we’re being overrun, we’ll move to another light, using the flashlights to stun them and shove them aside if we were caught in the middle of reloading. Once the majority of them are gone, we’ll stick back-to-back and clear each corridor, understood?”

“You bet, let’s do this shit,” I answered.

“Not so fast; let’s check equipment before we start,” Mike said. Sliding the bolt up and back, the magazine tube came into view. Fourteen ball bearings were seen by the slit in the copper mag, the fifteenth one in the breech already. Satisfied, I slid the bolt closed and grabbed my pistol. Full mag in place, I cycled the slide to load some brass into the chamber, then clicked on the safety and holstered it.

“Think I’m good, you ready?” I asked. I waited for him to nod his head and reply affirmatively before letting loose a shitstorm at the top of my lungs. There’s no turning back now.

Chapter 3: City Life (Part 2)

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Chapter 4: Remember the Alamo

Perspective: Eddy Culivin
Location: Southern United States, 25 miles from home
Date: October 26, 2025

Bags were thrown inside, doors slammed, and wheels screeched. Not one fuck was given about orderliness, following road rules, or speed bumps for that matter (we just cut across the parking lot). I guess that’s what happens when a big ass mob of undead is chasing you down! I found the other exit to the side of the store just in time and turned down the street perpendicular to the one the Infected had been on. As much as I just wanted to punch the throttle and drift to escape faster, the trailer we were towing wouldn’t fare so well if I did that, and would even cause us to fishtail. Adding to the fact that we were severely outnumbered was the fact that the mob was wailing and howling incredibly loudly, and was drawing out even more Infected from within the buildings. Not. Good.

“Anyone remember how to get on that God-damn highway!?” I yelled over the gunfire. Mike, who had climbed into the ‘shotgun’ seat, directed the car.

“Make a left here.”

“I can’t, the Infected are blocking it off!”

“Shit! Ok, just make a left whenever possible then.” I punched the throttle get to the next street. The vehicle was fully loaded and towing, but the two powerful electric motors brought the Model X to speed quickly. Glancing over to the 17-inch display (which was set in drive analysis mode), I was able to see the current power consumption and range remaining. I was flooring it on the straightaway we were on, so the power consumption meter was maxed out, and a mere 19 miles remained at current power draw. If we didn’t escape soon and reduce our consumption, there was a very real possibility that we’d end up stranded, having to fend off the horde with what we had left. I’ll spoil the ending of that scenario for you; we wouldn’t survive. There was another even more real possibility that we’d likely have to deal with even if we escaped. After all, Infected don’t tire when chasing prey.

Even if they can’t catch us, they’d still follow us down the highway. Guess what said highway eventually leads to? That’s right, the town just down the road from us! Phoenix would need to know; well, assuming we get out alive anyhow.

Turning aggravatingly slowly so that the trailer didn’t fishtail, I finally managed to get us away from the main mob and ended up on a particularly deserted intersection. It wouldn’t stay that way for long though; they knew where we were, and they would reach us soon enough.

“Which way Mike?” I asked.

“Right, then just follow the road. It’ll take us to the exit,” he answered. At this point, the mob could be heard clearly again, so wasting no more time, I turned right and after straightening out the vehicle, floored it. The car lurched back as the tires screamed in protest, too much power surpassing their traction limit. They quickly fell back in line, and we sped away from the intersection.

“Guys, heads up!” Jonathon pointed out. Looking up, the rest of us noticed Infected on the rooftops and in the upper floors of the surrounding buildings. I knew they couldn’t harm us from up there, but the looks they were giving us were still enough to instill fear in m…‘oh my god one of them just walked off the roof!!’ That’s right, it just freaking causally stepped off the rooftop and plummeted 10 stories to its demise. That was perhaps even more frightening than the stares, that they were so desperate to get to us they’d walk of the roof instead of descending the stairs. The creature impacted the ground feet-first in a pile of destroyed body parts and blood, a sickening crunch heard over the mob as bones shattered and flesh tore. Everything below the stomach was completely obliterated, but that wasn’t the worst part, not by a long shot.

You see, the vitals were still intact, so the Infected was regenerating! It had purposefully fallen feet-first so that its own lower half would cushion the fall, while the important bits remained unharmed. Then it could quickly regenerate its limbs and just come after us; I would admire their cleverness if I wasn’t so God-damn scared out of my mind right now! By the time we passed, it was close enough to reach out and leave a bloody hand streak on the car. A streak made with its own blood. The others were following suit, a cloud of death hanging over us as the sheer number of undead dropping blotted out most of the sun.

“Holy shit!” I screamed, turning the car towards the least occupied street on the right. There were so many of them still; we couldn’t gain speed as we weaved through the crowd. Edgar and Jonathon abandoned their fruitless efforts at shooting them through the window and just rolled them up. We’d occasionally hit one of them, grimacing as the several-ton vehicle rammed the unlucky bastard out of the way, sometimes crushing it in the process. Let’s just say that I’m glad the windshield wipers worked.

A few turns later, the exit was right in front of us, with the horde close behind. With the exit in sight, I gunned the drained Model X one last time and shot through the death cloud and back on the highway. A quick glance in the rear-view showed they were still following. ‘Shit.’ Settling on an 80mph cruise, I rechecked the touch screen; 54 miles remaining. Satisfied, I focused on keeping the car on the road as I let the adrenaline bleed from my system. A good 5 minutes passed in absolute silence before I decided to speak up.

“Someone get on the radio with Phoenix, we have a hell of a problem now.”

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 26, 2025
4:00p.m.

There be a Shitstorm brewing, son. All throughout college, that had been my favorite line for some reason. I had always looked for an excuse to use that line, and now that I have a perfect reason to use it, I wish I didn’t. So much had happened in the hours since we arrived home. Weapons maintained and loaded, windowed reinforced, and back-up radioed for. Hell, we didn’t even unload the entire car or trailer, too much to do when you’re expecting the Angel of Death to come knocking in the form of an undead mob. Phoenix had left after we discussed battle strategies to alert the town and gather reinforcements. He and his group left us all the ammo they carried with them at our house, insisting that they could get more back home. They should be back any time now. Before he left though, he did mention to us something about the lights beginning to dim out and asked if this was natural. Great, just adding to the list of things to fix…

“Home Base, this is The Cavalry. Do you read?” the speaker on my walkie-talkie blared.

“Read you loud and clear Cavalry, What’s your status?”

“20 cars strong, all occupants armed. ETA two minutes.”

“We copy Cavalry, Home Base out.” ‘Damn, only 20 cars? This is gonna suck!’ With that I clipped the walkie-talkie to my jeans and continued to work on our ‘bail plan’. It wasn’t something any one of us wanted to resort to, but being the only stationary target in this fight meant we would be the easiest to overrun. The ‘Cavalry’, as they called themselves, were going to ‘herd’ the horde off the road and shoot them from the moving vehicles. They would try to split the mob into more manageable groups by giving them more than one target, and then divert each smaller group in a different direction. Though this would get the horde to stop advancing on the town, they would instead advance upon the vehicles and our house instead, and our house can’t exactly move like a vehicle. Because of this, we had to up our defenses.

While I finished replacing the drywall, Mike was cleaning the remainder of our weapons and loading mags, while Jonathon and Eddy were setting up the auto turret. The auto turret was set up at a window at the rear of the house, facing where the Infected would be coming. The turret, made mostly of junkyard parts, consisted of a spare AR-15 with a double drum magazine. A motor/gearbox assembly is mounted near the trigger, with a cam coming from the output shaft of the gearbox actually touching the trigger. When spun, the cam hits the trigger once per rotation, and the current voltage setting gives us around 200 rounds per minute. The entire assembly is mounted to an old oscillating fan assembly, with the oscillating mechanism driven by a separate motor that makes the oscillation much faster. If needed, the auto turret will be activated and will spray lead into the crowd, and keep those pesky undead from climbing through the window.

“We’re here boys! You guys all set on your end?” Phoenix’s voice came through the walkie-talkie.

“Ready as we’ll ever be I suppose. We’ll try not to shoot you guys too much,” I snickered as I answered.

“Well gee, thanks,” came the sarcastic reply. I glanced around, noticing that everyone had finished their task and had assembled in the living room. Mike addressed the group.

“All jokes aside, we’ve got cars out there, so watch your aim and minimize stray bullets. Jonathon, warn everyone via walkie-talkie when you’re going to switch on the auto turret so that they know to avoid the south side of our house. Now let’s kick ass!”

The plan was simple. Mike and I would ascend to the second floor, while Eddy and Jonathon would remain downstairs. Mike, armed with a scoped FN-FAL, would pick off targets as they approached, then remove the scope and switch to iron sights when they were close. I would join Mike in shooting closer targets with Jonathon’s Sig 556. Downstairs, Eddy would blast any that tried to get through the barricades with the XM17-E4 while Jonathon would supplement the auto turret window’s firepower with a Vepr 12 gauge mag-fed shotgun (civilian version of the Saiga 12). The table beside the auto turret was filled with 12-round mags for the Vepr, and Jon carried a few on him should he need to move.

“Hey Eddy, come here a minute,” I called out. As he walked over, I retrieved a black aluminum cylinder from my pocket. The cylinder housed some circuitry, a single red light, and two switches. Eddy’s eyes widened at the recognition of the object; after all, he did build it.

“Look, I know it’s an ugly thought, but…but if we get overwhelmed, then…well, you know. I just figured you’d want to be the one to do it, this being your house and all.” The displeasure he was feeling at the moment was clearly written on his face; nevertheless he took and pocketed the instrument. I prayed it would stay in his pocket. Sadly, Life hasn’t exactly been kind to us at all since the Infection started; guess it saw no reason to start.

Perspective: Mike Britowski
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 26, 2025

It started out as an almost imperceptible dot in the scope, and grew as they approached. The death cloud had rained down into a sea of destruction. The horde had grown quite a bit, which isn’t surprising considering the huge ruckus we made on our way out. It was still a ways off from our position, but I guess now was as good a time as any to start causing some damage. After all, with a massive cluster of heads gathered together like that, it wasn’t hard to hit something.

*BANG!! BANG!! BANG!!* Each shot rang across the flat countryside as hot brass and lead separated within the rifle. They started dropping to the ground, but I guess a single rifle doesn’t put much of a scratch in such a massive mob. I was on my third magazine when the horde got within 500 yards, and the Cavalry was unleashed.

“Let’s move, GO GO GO!!” The roar of diesel engines was heard next to the house, and 12 pickups, 6 SUV’s and 2 cars took off into the fray. I adjusted my aim so as not to hit anyone, and continued my assault. Flesh and machinery collided as the battlefield erupted into a hell-storm of gunfire. As per the plan the vehicles circled the Infected while shooting at them to draw their attention. As soon as the mob’s attention was redirected, the vehicles immediately broke formation and scattered, and any order or structure within the horde collapsed entirely as the undead scrambled in all directions to chase the cars. All the while, they were getting pelted with bullets from the multiple passengers in each vehicle.

Occasionally a vehicle would swing by close to the house, allowing us to get in on the fight. Keeping those things out was no easy feat, but was made possible with the steel plates on the doors and windows. The ¼ inch steel plates are bolted to the floor and walls, making them difficult to remove, even with the Infected’s much stronger mutated muscles. The plates have a small ‘viewing port’ cut into it so we can shoot whatever is trying to pull our defenses down.

“Hell yea, they’re going down!”

“Keep pushing everyone, we got this!”

“Take that you freaks!”

From the radio chatter, everyone was optimistic of our fate, and I had to admit, the optimism was contagious. Everything was going according to plan. With any luck, this’ll all be a distant memory soon enough.

4:30p.m.

What the hell went wrong!? It was perfect at the start, but as the fight dragged out, our guys out there started making some dumbshit-level mistakes, ones that ended up costing lives. Four cars, probably too focused on their groups, crashed into each other. The accident killed some of them, the fire killed more, and the Infected got the rest. One car radioed in it ran out of fuel and they had to bail. How the fuck did that happen; did their car not warn them somehow of the impending power loss!? We weren’t doing so hot either; our plates were dented and the support beams the plates were anchored to had a few cracks. The Infected smartened up, and noticed that instead of pounding on the plates, they could grab it by the viewing port and yank on it, planting their feet on the outside wall for leverage. This placed more stress on the defenses, and their fatigue was beginning to show.

“Mark look out for the horde in front of you! Turn turn!!!”

“Wha-oh shit!” *CRASH!* The SUV slammed into a group of about 50 undead. The vehicle was no match for that much mass, and was eventually brought to a stop…right in the middle of the group.

“G-guys!? The car isn’t s-s-starting, I…OH GOD!! HELP! HELP! HEL-AAAAHHHHH!!!!” The radio went quiet for only a second before Phoenix came into view, his car hurtling for the disabled SUV. The vehicle ended up close to our window, and Edgar and I tried to shoot the monsters around the car, but we…we just couldn’t save them. The SUV’s windows couldn’t keep them out, and they got to the crew before we could stop them.

“Mark?...Mark are you still there!? MARK!?...Fuck…Cavalry, this is Phoenix, we got to get our shit together, we’re dying out here! Drivers, pay more attention to your surroundings, focus on pointing the vehicle in the right direction. Gunners, look out for trouble spots and report them to your drivers. All vehicles, switch on your lights now, high beams and everything. We need something to identify our friendlies and their positions.”

“Home Base to Phoenix. How’s it looking out there?” I asked.

“It’s hell out here, there’s still so many of them. Crap, speaking of which, heads up! Undead advancing to your position from multiple directions.”

‘Damnit, not what we needed right now!’ “Thanks for the heads up, Home Base out.”

“Guys!” I yell from my position. “We’re surrounded! Start up that turret and cover the other windows, Edgar and I’ll be there shortly!” *Click* ‘Fifteenth empty mag. Man our pile is dwindling.’ Grabbing and inserting yet another magazine from the ever-shrinking pile, I pull the bolt back, letting it slam forward to ready the rifle. I didn’t even fire the first shot when-

*BEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEP!* Since when did the turret beep? No wait…that’s not coming from the turret.

“Guys, I’m not hearing that turret firing!” I call out.

“Give us a freaking minute!!” Jon yelled back.

What the fuck was going on down there?

Perspective: Jonathon Burley
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 26, 2025

It all makes sense now, like the pieces of some sick puzzle clicking into place. The dimming lights, the eerie silence during my watch this morning. I knew there was something wrong, but only now as I hear the critical power level alarm from the Ultracaps do I realize what that something is. The generator. While it is normally quiet, the generator could still be heard if one was standing outside. The absolute silence this morning meant the generator had stalled, for reasons unknown. As such, the Caps had to keep the house running throughout the night and all day without being recharged. And now any available power was being routed for minimal lighting and fridge/freezer operation. There was no power left for the turret.

I wheeled around to find Eddy standing there, a look of shock, confusion, and most of all, fear on his complexion. Understandable, but in this current situation I need his full cooperation if we’re to survive this somehow.

“Eddy, I need cover!!” I screamed as I slung my Vepr over my shoulder. This seemed to snap him back to reality, and the lower floor once again erupted into a cacophony of noise as red mist went flying. I grabbed the turret and undid the wing-nuts on the bolts securing the rifle to the turret and pulled the rifle free. The turret might have failed, but the 100 rounds in the AR were still ready for action.

“Jon, what the hell happened!?” Mike hollered over the gunfire as both he and Edgar descended the stairs.

“We’ve got no power, the generator died somehow! Go cover the other windows!” I yelled back. The two scrambled to the other windows, while I directed my attention back to clearing the window the turret was supposed to have covered. Down the hall more gunfire could be heard; guess they’re covering the front. Together Eddy and I stood, a hailstorm of brass raining down from our weapons as a wall of lead stopped our enemies. Or just slowed them down it seemed.

Suddenly the window to our left exploded outward, the twenty or so undead having successfully ripped out the plate. Twisted metal. Splintered wood. Shattered glass. That’s all the window was physically. But to me, that window was so much more. It was our safety net, our last saving grace. Now it was gone.

“Guys, we have a breech, south side!!” I shouted as Eddy and I were driven back. The guys were here in a heartbeat, and helped us significantly thin out the numbers. But their help came at a price; the unguarded windows in the front were broken down, Infected now pouring in from the hallway. We had to get out of this house fast.

“Everyone, master bedroom now!” Edgar commanded. Running towards the room, I pointed my rifle back and fired aimlessly at the horde to cover our escape. About halfway there I heard an awfully familiar sound originate from my rifle. *Click* ‘Fuck my life!’ I sprinted into the master bedroom, throwing the AR onto the bed while simultaneously unslinging my Vepr. Several crashing sounds caught my attention. Books, papers and other personal items were strewn across the floor as the room was given an emergency makeover, the furniture suddenly very aesthetically pleasing when all of it was placed right in front of the door.

“Everyone check a window, they’re our only way out now,” instructed Eddy. Each of us ran to a different window, only to recoil back slightly when a ghastly and disfigured limb stuck itself through the viewing port, a furious howl following close behind it.

“Yea, my window’s not gonna work.”

“Neither will mine.”

“My window’s pretty bad.”

“No dice with mine…”

…I…I guess…I guess this is it then…

“Sorry guys, I…I don’t think we’re making it through this one. Looks like we’re gonna ‘bail out’ the hard way,” Eddy said, withdrawing a very familiar looking aluminum cylinder.

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 26, 2025

No, No, NO! It wasn’t supposed to go like this. This shouldn’t be happening, can’t be happening. Yet, the cracking door and failing plates were all sickening reminders that this was in fact real, and in less than two minutes, we’d all be really dead, one way or another. At least we can take those bastards with us to the afterlife.

The house is rigged. Heh, guess what I did with all that black powder? We were supposed to have cleared the area before blowing this place up sky high. Pretty effective weapon, considering there has to be at least 100 Infected surrounding the house now and 60 within. Should put a nice hole in their numbers. Guess Phoenix and the Cavalry will have to mop up the rest without us.

“Come on guys, one last group hug,” I said, tears threatening to spill. Everyone came together for a final time. My senses seemed heightened, taking in every sensation, as they were the last I’d ever feel. The refreshingly cool breeze touching my skin. The all-too-familiar smell of sweat and gunpowder. The horrible splintering sound of a wooden door that was seconds from giving out. The stinging trail of salty tears as they ran down my cheek, passing minor cuts on the way. The comforting warmth radiating from the bodies huddled together.

These used to be my friends, but in these four years of hell and nightmares, they’ve become my brothers; not a replacement for my family, but an extension of it. If anyone had my back, it was these guys, and I would give my life for them as they would for me. Now, Life was about to take that away from me, the only thing that I really lived for anymore. It may as well kill me, and mercifully, it planned to do just that.

“G-goodbye guys, I’ll m-miss all of you, I really will,” I cried, unable to hold back these feelings of anguish and sorrow.

“Don’t worry man,” Eddy said. “This ain’t goodbye, we’ll meet up somehow, wherever we end up.”

The door exploded, as did the window. The furniture scattered. Eddy raised the detonator.

“Catch you on the flip side guys.”

An intense light poured into the room from seemingly everywhere. Loud howling could be heard from the creatures. ‘Yea take that you fuckers! I hope you like hell!’ The light got even brighter, until it was blinding even though clenched eyelids. For a moment, there was a feeling of weightlessness.

Then there was nothing at all.

Chapter 5: The Afterlife?

Perspective: Jonathon Burley
Location:???
Date:???
Daytime, Exact time unknown

Light. Light everywhere. A very familiar sensation, considering it’s the last thing I remember happening to me. This time though, when I lifted my arm to try and block it, a satisfying shadow descended over my eyes. I guess this source of light was localized. I could have sworn I heard something vaguely resembling a bird taking flight, though the flapping of wings was much slower and louder, perhaps an angel? Maybe my mind wasn’t fully conscious yet. With a little effort, I pried open my eyelids, squinting as my eyes adjusted. I felt like I had just woken up, only with none of the ‘well-rested’ feeling you usually get and all of the stiff limbs and joints.

Several pops emanated from my joints as they moved after a seemingly long time of rest. Vision finally somewhat returning, I headed for the light source. For a short while none of my surroundings registered. All I could focus on was the sight outside the window. Luscious rolling green hills to the front of me. About a mile down vanilla, pink, and golden yellow specks were seen past the shallow hills, perhaps buildings of sorts? I don’t know, my vision is still adjusting.

Looking to the left a forest stood, the density of trees making it seem a little darker compared to the vivid and colorful hills. Flowers, sunny day, it was the most tranquil thing I had ever seen in a long time. It was a stark contrast to the dark, messy, and damaged room I was in, like I was looking through a portal to a better place.

“So this is what the afterlife looks like. It’s…peaceful. I could get used to this.” I walked to leave this room…and then stubbed my toe on the bed-frame. I immediately let loose a barrage of curse words and insults at the bed, somehow dragging the bed’s mother into the insult till it hit me.

‘Wait, pain? I’ve heard of a lot of versions of the afterlife, promising everything from golden cities to virgins, but none of them mentioned anything about pain!’ For the first time since arriving at this supposed ‘afterlife’, I looked down at my own body. Dessert-color cloth greeted my vision, along with black curved rectangles shoved in pouches in the cloth. Took me a minute, but eventually the fact that I was still wearing my vest dawned on me, a vest complete with magazines. My surroundings finally clicked too.

“This is the master bedroom, but…how?” Ok, let me get this straight. So supposedly I’m ‘dead’, but I still feel pain, I still have my equipment for my weapons (what kind of heaven allows people to bring their weapons?), and the house was still standing. Speaking of which, the house was still standing!! How!?

“Ugh damnit, the more I think about this, the less sense it makes,” I mumbled. Deciding to stop hurting my brain for now, I looked around the room, the light pouring in from the broken windows making this possible even with no artificial lighting. In a hole in the wall, buried by debris, a black hollowed cylinder peeked out at me. My Vepr. Before even reaching it though, my attention was immediately grabbed by something else, something that made my heart stop for a moment, only to resume pounding in my ears as fear overtook me. There were three bodies on the floor.

“Guys!” I yelled. “Guys, please wake up!” No response, not good! I ran over to each one. Thankfully, two fingers against each of their necks revealed a steady throbbing. They were alive, just not conscious yet. Slumping against the wall, I took a moment to calm the nerves before thinking again. Ok, time to analyze what the hell just happened. Eddy had been thrown to the wall opposite the bed, while Edgar slid under the bed, his body around one of the bedposts. I myself awoke slumped against the door to the bathroom. Still not sure why we were thrown about like this. Mike had received the worst of it, having been flung into the pile of broken furniture. What was very odd was that his body looked as though it had been dug out by someone.

Closer examination revealed that he had been…well, treated somehow; his body now sported a gauze and a few Band-Aids. Printed on the Band-Aids was a peculiar pink and baby blue three-butterfly design. Since when the hell did we have those? And who treated him? Man, I wish this whole situation would make more sense; why can’t things be as easy to explain as things like ‘why are the windows are broken’ or ‘why is the floor messy’? At least I know the answer to those, fucking Infect…ed…oh crap!!

Wasting no time, I ran for the hole in the wall, yanking out the cylinder there. Quickly cycling the bolt, I was pleased that there was ammo in the gun and that the bolt itself cycled, meaning the weapon still probably worked. If we got here, wherever ‘here’ is, then maybe the Infected were able to follow through. The fact that we’re still alive (I think) suggests otherwise, but I’m not taking any chances. Time for a preemptive strike!

Exiting the hallway, I cautiously entered the other bedroom on the first floor. It was dark, the plate still intact on this window, so I flipped the light switch. The lights in the room were kind enough to remind me of a particular situation with their dimness. It had escaped my mind in the adrenaline-fueled fight for survival, but now that I think about it, the Ultracaps were very low. Also coming to realization was the fact that everything was quiet, another nail in the coffin for the ‘Infected followed us’ theory. It also meant the fridge and freezer weren’t running; we’d have to get on that sometime soon, but not now. Back to the task at hand, the dim light helped illuminate most of the room enough to see, but just barely. The inadequate lighting still made the room dark and ominous, and created heavy shadowing along with a dark corner of the room where the light couldn’t reach. It wasn’t much fun clearing that room with so many blind spots.

Finally clearing the room, I moved on, repeating the procedure as I went. As soon as a room was cleared, the lights were immediately turned off to conserve what little power was left. Near the end there was a noise downstairs. I shouldered the weapon and cautiously made my way towards the stairs. Then I heard it. A raspy noise coming from downstairs. Still not entirely convinced the noise came from a human, I stopped at the stairway. There I stood, weapon pointing straight at the top of the stairs and finger on the trigger, itching to pull the small piece of metal that separated this world from the true afterlife. The voice spoke again, and while still raspy, now loud enough and clear enough to understand.

“J-Jon, that you?”

Perspective: Mike Britowski
Location:???
Date:???
4 minutes ago

The first thing to return was the pain. Lots of pain; a constant pressure that ached terribly, only interrupted by the frequent throbbing which hurt worse. I tried bringing my arm up to attempt to assuage the pain, only to realize I couldn’t move it. Now that I mention it, I couldn’t see or hear either. Fantastic, while my body is taking its sweet time starting up, I’m left here with my thoughts. Well, that and my agony. Is this what coma patients feel like when they’re coming to, slowly gaining one sense at a time? This is horrible, somehow conscious but not being able to either receive external stimulation or send commands. On another note, my head is killing me! Wait, no…I take that back. I guess that saying is inappropriate now, considering we’re already dead.

Hey look, my hearing returned, and my sight’s coming back! Another weird thing started happening at the same time though. The constant pain lessened, until it became a much more manageable dull ache. Wonder why that happened? Attempting to move my arm again, I was pleased when my body decided to listen to me this time. Deciding now was as good a time as any to see what happened to me, I gingerly sat up, trying to gauge if I had any serious injuries, like a broken bone or something. Other than a couple of cuts and bruises, the rest of my body felt fine. Well, there was a weird feeling, but not in a painful sense. It was as if my body was-what’s this?

Band-Aids covered a few spots on my arms, chest and legs. Also, any cuts not bandaged appeared to have been cleaned, the only indication they were there was a thin red line on several places on my body. Interesting choice in Band-Aids, but nevertheless I owed someone a ‘thank you’. Taking in my surroundings, I noticed quite a bit of greenery outside the destroyed windows. Where those plants? Yep, definitely not in the desert anymore. Another oddity in the background was the lack of a team member. Where’s Jonathon? I should probably look for him. Also this pile of splintered wood and broken plastic wasn’t exactly comfortable, further persuading me to get off my lazy ass. With some effort, I rose unsteadily to my feet. My head, disagreeing quite strongly with the whole ‘moving from this spot’ plan, protested the whole way up. I really hope we still have some of that Advil.

Climbing over a book-…excuse me, the remains of a bookshelf, I started down the hallway. Walking about the first floor, I became aware of the fact that the doors were all open, as if someone had gone through all the rooms. There was a distinct shuffling upstairs. I froze, was that Jonathon?

“Jon?” I wheezed out. God, it’s like someone poured buckets of sand down my throat, what’s with this dryness!? Attempting to draw saliva out to swallow some form of liquid, and having partial success, I tried again.

“J-Jon, that you?” Still raspy, still dry. Fortunately, it seems like Jon understood that time.

“Yea, give me a minute,” came the reply from upstairs. True to his word, Jonathon poked his head out from the top of the stairs about a minute later.

“Hey man, thanks for patching me up,” I told him as he descended the stairs.

“Actually…I didn’t do it. I was hoping you knew who did.”

“You didn’t? But, Edgar and Eddy are still passed out in the master bedroom, so who put these bandages on me?”

“You forgot to mention the gauze on your head.”

“Wha-” Sure enough, my fingers brushed against the woven cotton of the gauze on the left side of my forehead.

“God damnit, so that’s why my head hurts so much! Fell back and bashed the back of my skull, now something bashed the front of my skull. My head wasn’t designed for this kind of abuse!”

“Guys? It is you! We ended up in the afterlife together!” said a voice behind us. Turning around, the voice belonged to none other than Edgar. He was rubbing a tender spot on his back.

“Damn dude, must have been a hell of an explosion if the pain followed us all the way here.”

“Nice to see you too Edgar, but I don’t really think we’re dead actually,” Jonathon replied. Wait, what?

“What do you mean Jon? We blew up remember?” I questioned.

“Yo, what’s with all the commotion?” Eddy asked behind us. Good, everyone was awake; time to settle the debate once and for all. Are we dead or what?

“Eddy, isn’t it true that you detonated the explosives?” I asked.

“…Well…actually…”

Perspective: Eddy Culivin
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 26, 2025
1 minute before ‘detonation’

They were so close now, the restraints about to give. Edgar was reassured we would see each other when this was over; I really hope that’s true. I gripped the detonator tightly, the safety switch already being held down. Like something out of an incredibly cliché action movie scene, the window and door failed at the exact same time. Guess my time‘s up; I should say something before I die.

“Catch you on the flip side guys”…Did I really say that? God that was terrible! I’m going to die, and the last words out of my fat mouth were…I’m just glad that no survivors were around to hear that. I wonder if God was laughing his head off in heaven right now; I guess I’d find out personally in a minute. Too late to do anything about that now though, so I placed my thumb over the button. Just as I was pressing it however, a bright light filled the room. It was so blinding, I instinctively tried to cover my eyes, releasing the detonator in the process. Well that’s just fan-fucking-tastic! Now we don’t even get a painless death! As soon as I let go, my hand was no longer depressing the safety switch, so the explosives wouldn’t detonate. That is some bull…

The light however, continued to brighten, and the Infected started howling. If we’re not dying in a blaze of glory, where was this light coming from?

Never did get the answer to that one, because shortly after I blacked out.

Present

“…and so that’s what happened. If I had to guess, we’re still alive…somehow. Don’t know where we are, how we got here, and how everything’s still standing, but we’re alright one way or another,” I finished. This was quite the shock to everyone, and there were a few minutes of tense silence as the four of us tried to wrap our heads around what happened. I’m not sure who gathered their thoughts first, but one of us asked the million dollar question on all our minds.

“If we aren’t dead, where the hell are we!?”

Chapter 6: Exploration and Discovery

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location:???
Date:???

So…the good news is that we’re still alive! No amount of brainstorming on anyone’s part could possibly come up with an answer for this strange change of location, but it did save our asses. The bad news is we’re stuck here, and we don’t even know where ‘here’ is!

“So guys, uh…what now?” I asked.

“Well, first we should probably try and get the house secured,” replied Jonathon. “Not sure we can do much about the doors/windows/furniture right now, but if someone could check in the workshop there might be some scrap wood and nails left. Also, we could at least try and restore power, and definitely clean this place up.”

“After that, we should definitely find out where we are,” added Mike.

“Alright then, let’s start from the top,” I said. “Jon, you’re obviously on generator repair duty; you’re the only one who can fix it anyways. Mike, raise the wind turbines. Eddy, rotate the solar panels, and then help Mike. I’ll see if we’ve got any repair materials left, and board up the windows if we do. If not, I’ll help hoist the turbines as well.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Eddy. “Also, Mike and Jon, remember to disconnect your generators from the grid until they’ve built up speed, then set the regulators to ‘Smart Power Distribution’. Other than that, let’s get to it!” Everyone split, each going for a different task.

30 minutes later

Three sets of hammer strikes resonated in the distance as Mike, Eddy and I hammered in our boards. Turns out we had some scrap wood after all, though not enough for the eight broken windows. The turbines went up with no problems, as did the panels, but Jon was still in the generator shed, only having returned for a brief moment to grab something before heading back. The characteristic hum of the generator couldn’t be heard yet, wonder what’s taking him so long.

10 minutes later

“He’s still not back?” I thought aloud. Eddy, Mike, and I were sweeping the floor already, but Jon still hasn’t returned! As if summoned by my statement, Jonathon popped in from the front door. Finally! ‘You would show up after the work is done…’

“So?” Mike inquired. “Will it live doc?”

“Eventually, but the damage is worse than I had hoped. It’s going to be a while before it’s running again.”

‘Great…’

“Care to explain?” I asked

Perspective: Jonathon Burley
Location:??? (In the Generator Shed)
Date:???

The engine was a 0.8 liter, inline three-cylinder diesel. Usually reliable, but did rarely have problems. A quick visual inspection of all the hoses, belts, and other exterior parts revealed nothing wrong…well, almost nothing. One wire from the Mass Airflow Sensor was chewed out completely; Eddy will have to solder it back. But something more obvious stood out. There was a tail hanging out of the intake.

“What the hell?” I said to no one in particular. Poking the tail and receiving nothing, I assumed the…whatever it is…was dead. I pulled out the intake tube, and using a pair of pliers, emptied it out.

“FUCK!” I yelled as the deceased animal fell out, making me drop the whole assembly in the process. It was disfigured significantly as the engine crushed it when trying to suck it in. It was dirty, both from the grime on the floor and from the blood. All in all, the…I think it’s a rodent, or was anyway…was in horrifying condition, startling me as I pulled it out. Picking it gingerly off the floor and quickly throwing it into the trash, I continued deeper into the engine. The air filter was replaced because it had a few -ahem- ‘missing bits’ from the rodent. Concerned something made it past the filter, I checked the combustion chambers via the glow plug hole and discovered a ‘nice’ surprise.

Soot. So much soot. The engine was old after all, having previously been used the drive a 2012 Smart cdi. But I guess its age finally caught up with it; if this carbon buildup isn’t cleaned, it could prematurely wear out the engine. I’ll need to take the head off to clean it though, which is going to take a lot of time…a lot. Figuring I wasn’t going to have it running anytime soon, I decided to head upstairs to inform the others.

Perspective: Eddy Culivin
Location:???
Date:???

“Alright, we’ve done what we can to clean and repair the place, and two out of three power sources are running,” I said. “Not bad, so let’s move on. Anyone have ideas on how to go about exploring?”

“We could explore like we did in the city, from a car,” suggested Jon.

“Nope. We’re trying to save the fuel we have left, and the Model X is out of power,” countered Mike.

“Hey, did anyone catch a glimpse of the town past the hills?” Asked Edgar. He suddenly found three sets of eyes boring holes into his face.

“There’s a town here? Damnit Edgar, why didn’t you say anything?” I asked.

“You never asked,” he replied nonchalantly. I face-palmed.

“Alright, let’s go outside and see this town,” I said. We exited the house. Judging by the position of the sun, I’d say it was late morning/early afternoon. The air smelled crisp and clean, free of any smog or other contaminants. Everything was bright and colorful; a stark contrast to our place of origin.

Sure enough in the distance, a set of artificial looking blots of color contrasted against the natural landscape. Something else contrasted with the natural landscape, and it was hanging over our heads.

“Whoa! Guys, what do you make of that?” I asked. A ring made of white puffy clouds hung over our house. The strange part though, was that the cloud appeared to contain a slowly pulsing glow, faintly visible even in the sunlight. The entire ring was also spinning, though at its current speed it’s more like lethargically floating in a circle. Yet the ring was abnormally perfect, with no breaks and never straying from the top of our house despite the breeze.

“I’m not sure, and honestly I don’t like it,” said Mike. “But it seems harmless, and there’s not much we can do about it right now anyways, so let’s focus back to the task at hand. It seems redundant to send four people into town, so let’s split into groups. Two of us will go into town, the other two will…hmm, let’s see…will go into that forest.”

“I call forest!” said Jonathon.

“I call forest too!” I said quickly, not really wanting to walk that far a distance to get to the town.

“I ca-damn!” exclaimed Edgar. He then turned to Mike. “Guess it’s you and me buddy.”

“Actually, now that I think about it, if we all leave, who watches the house?” Mike pointed out. “I suggest two of us watch the house, and seeing as you two were so eager to enter the forest, Edgar and I will stay back.” The tables have turned; seems like we actually got the short end of the stick! I have a vague feeling he did that on purpose, the little cheater.

“Wha…that’s not…crap. Ugh fine, we’ll go! Just get us some stupid Walkie-Talkies and we’ll be on our way,” said Jon.

15 minutes later

“Have a nice trip you two *snicker*,” said Edgar as he closed the front door. Before leaving, Mike had suggested a few items for protection. Things like jeans and long-sleeve shirts instead of shorts and T-shirts so the plants don’t scratch us. After all, we don’t know if the wildlife is poisonous. Speaking of the wildlife, we had no idea what inhabited the forest, so we brought our pneumatic guns and backups, the pneumatics getting a fresh air tank installed on them. Well, with our equipment in place, I guess it was time to go.

“Damnit, me and my big mouth,” Jonathon muttered.

“Yea tell me about it,” I said. “Let’s just get this over with. Come on.”

With that we set out for what was going to be a boring ‘exploration’ of the forest. I just hope we don’t get lost…

Perspective: Jonathon Burley
Location:???
Date:???
25 minutes later

I had initially thought this would be an uneventful walk, but surprisingly enough, I was wrong. You see, it wasn’t just uneventful, it was difficult as well. There was so much undergrowth that Eddy and I kept tripping and had to watch our step. The forest canopy layer was very thick; not much light made it deep into the forest. I couldn’t recognize most of the plants here; neither could Eddy apparently, so we kept our distance from as much plant-life as we could. Not wanting to get lost, and not feeling the need to explore much further than the forest close to our house, we carefully trekked around inside, keeping the tree-line visible at all times. Needless to say, the going was slow.

“Ok, I’ve had enough of this stupid forest!” I complained as my feet were almost swept from under me once again. We were about 200 feet from the tree-line, and it was obvious after our ‘exploring’ that nobody lived nearby and that there weren’t any apparent major threats. In fact, there was nothing of interest in here at all!

“Alright, calm down. We’re leaving,” said Eddy. Finally, we were getting out of this miserable place, and I was eager to never return. Sadly, fate had other plans in store for us.

Out to my left, somewhere deeper into the forest, a high pitched scream bellowed out, followed by the sound of rustled bushes. The scream was easily recognizable; it sounded like a little kid screaming. Immediately, Eddy and I looked at each other, before setting off in the direction of the cry for help.

We made it just in time to catch a random snippet of conversation. “…belle, you hafta get up,” said a little girl’s voice with a southern accent. The bushes covered the child (or children; we couldn’t see how many) that cried for help, but her (or their) assailants were easily visible.

Have you ever seen something so bizarre that it blows your mind? Well the sight in front of me did more than that; it shattered my perspective on reality. You see, though most of my mind said it was improbable given the circumstances, some part of my mind had hoped we were still on Earth. At least then we’d have a way to get back. But Earth doesn’t have teleporters, and now the…bipedal aliens –for lack of a better term- confirmed my worst fears; we’re a loooong way from home.

There were three of them, with identical grey fur and…dog collars? That’s what they looked like. Sticking with dog analogies, one appeared to have a bulldog face, another had a terrier face, and the third…well I can’t quite place it. They all had paw-like feet but human-like hands, along with dog ears and tails. This whole thing was so confusing.

Still, I didn’t let that affect me for too long; someone needed our help. Just as I was about to charge in there though, an invisible force pulled me back.

“Are you crazy!?” Eddy whispered harshly, his hand on my shoulder. “We don’t know what those things are!”

“Well we have to do something,” I whispered back. “The kid needs our help!”

“It’s not a ‘kid’, it’s an alien! This could be a trap Jonathon, think! Let’s stay here and observe, at least for a little bit.”
While I really want to help the ki- uh, alien out, Eddy’s right. This could be a trap, and I was just about to walk straight into it! I need some work on the whole ‘think before you act’ thing.

“Fine.” We found a spot and watched. It wasn’t an ideal spot; we couldn’t see the aliens in trouble. It would do for now though.

The three dog-creatures approached the bushes, bulldog armed with a hefty stick, terrier with a knife, and leader (I guess that’s what I’ll call him) with…strange. I don’t see a weapon on him.

“We have you now,” said an irritatingly scratchy voice. ‘Was that their leader’s voice? God, what must having to hear that all day be like, those poor dog-aliens.’ “We will have our revenge against those ponies that made fools out of us!”

“You won’t git away with this. Mah sister n’ her friends’ll find you, then you’ll be sorry!” said the southern alien kid.

“Silence pony! They won’t find you here in the Everfree. Enough talk, seize them!”

The pack lackeys began to close in on the cornered kid-aliens, weapons drawn. ‘Think observation time is over now.’

“If we’re gonna to do something, we better do it now,” I whispered to Eddy.

“…Alright fine, let’s save them. Try not to use deadly force unless absolutely necessary, the little ones are watching. Go, I’ll be the surprise attack should you need it.”

Needing no further motivation, I stepped out, pneumatic ball-shooter in hand. Time to save some aliens…uh, good aliens, you know…never mind.

“HEY!” I wasn’t smart enough to come up with a wittier saying, but it got the job done. Suddenly, two pairs of yellow eyes and one pair of green eyes found interest in the being that rudely interrupted their kidnapping.

“Boss look,” said bulldog in a stereotypical low-octave idiot’s voice. “Another one.”

“No, this one’s different,” said leader. “Speak, what are you, hairless ape creature?”

‘Ape creature!? You little…!’

“Name’s Jon, and I am a human. Now you answer one of my questions; will you let the young ones go? Please agree, I’d like to think the first aliens we met had some morals.”

“No, they are essential to our plan! Nothing will stop us, not even you. Now you know too much though; we take you too!”

‘Well, negotiations fell through, so much for that. Then again, I didn’t really offer a reason to let them go, so it wasn’t much of a compromise anyways…whatever. Alright, how to handle this without killing them?’ I noticed that the lackeys were now coming towards me. Both were brandishing their weapons, so I decided to use mine. The red glow illuminating part of my left palm switched to a soft green as I changed the regulator setting. ‘Fingers are pretty fragile, right?’

*PSST!* A crack sounded from bulldog as the bearing smashed into the hand holding the makeshift club, or more specifically his fingers. With a pained yell, he dropped the club and backed away, fingers trickling blood. It seems that none of the three assailants enjoyed the effects of the projectile’s ‘handshake’, as the other two froze immediately. My left thumb flicked a switch, a red glow from the LED now coloring part of my hand.

“Sorry to say, but you just brought a knife to a gunfight,” I spat out angrily. “Now let me tell you how this’ll pan out. You leave now, and you won’t get turned into a pile of corpses on the ground. Otherwise…” To emphasize my point, I aimed low and shot right in front of them. The three jumped away as a tiny spray of dirt was kicked up in front of them.

“Th-this isn’t over!” leader said as they…they tunneled into the dirt!? ‘Damn, these things are like moles!’ Remembering there were more aliens around, I carefully rounded the bushes.

There were three of them. They were humanoid in shape; complete with hands, arms, and legs (at least, they appeared to be built as bi-pedals). Hell, they all even had clothes. However, they also had fur coats, tails, large eyes, and a muzzle, like a horse…sorta. All of them sported horse-like ears as well. One had a light yellow coat, with red hair (mane?) and tail and bright orange eyes. Something that instantly stood out was a massive bow colored after its mane. Another had an orange coat, with a magenta mane and tail and dull purple eyes. A small set of what appeared to be wings extended out past its shirt. ‘Interesting. Those wings look too small; I wonder if it can fly?’ The final creature had a pristine white coat, with a swirling pink and purple mane and tail, and dull green eyes. It sported a protrusion from its forehead which kind of looked like a horn. Unlike the others though, this one had a weird red line running down its leg and random red stains, not to mention some purple discoloration of its fur in……wait.

‘Oh man, it’s injured! How did I miss that!?’ Suddenly, the light of realization was turned on, and I noticed they were all somewhat injured. The yellow and orange aliens only had small cuts and bruises, but the white one had a particularly nasty gash on its left leg, a gash that was still oozing blood.

With urgency and without thinking, I moved to better examine the injured one. The other two immediately did their best to make sure I knew they didn’t trust me. The way they stood in front of their injured kin in the face of the ‘enemy’ showed their undying loyalty for one another, but their trembling and darting eyes betrayed their fear. Backing up a bit, I kneeled down and try to communicate with them. Who knows, maybe they’re like the dogs?

“I didn’t mean to frighten you. I just wanted to assess the injuries,” I spoke as gently as I could muster. Let’s just say I haven’t used my ‘gentle’ voice in a long time, but at least they didn’t run. In fact, their eyes, as if they weren’t big enough already, widened.

“Whoa!...you talk?” asked the orange one.

“What…what are you?” asked the white one. ‘Well, assuming the southern accent came from the yellow one, all three appear to be female, though I’m basing this on voice pitch alone.’ I really wanted to tend to the white one now and answer all their questions later, but all three were looking at me with curiosity, something normal for kids. Besides, if I want to help, I’ll need to gain their trust first. I guess I’ll answer this one question.

“My name is Jon, and as I’ve mentioned to those…whatever they were before, I am a human,” I answered. I then pointed behind them, to the injured kid. “Listen, I would love to answer all your questions right now, but we need to get those wounds looked at first. May I approach to get a better look?”

They looked at each other briefly, sharing a look of concern which was completely understandable, before looking back at me, trepidation still present.

“Listen, I just want to help, and it’s clear she needs it. I promise; I’ll make sure nothing bad happens to you and that you all make it home safe, alright?”

They shot each other another look, and began whispering to each other. I caught brief snippets of their conversation, but most of it went unheard by my ears.

“…did just save us…”

“…don’t trust it…”

“…you have a better idea?...”

Finally, they began to sidestep unhurriedly to allow passage. Ever so slowly, I made my way over, being very closely watched on both sides.

“Can you stand?” I asked the little one, offering her my hand. She hesitated at first, but eventually gingerly took my hand. Gripping hers tightly, I slowly started pulling her to her feet. She planted the bottom of her her feet on the ground to stand. All of a sudden, there was a yelp and something tugged at my hand. Looking down, I saw the little one had fallen once again.

“My leg hurts,” she sniffled. “I don’t think I can use it.” Shouldering my weapon and kneeling down to her level, I scooped one arm behind her back just below the shoulders and the other under her knees, carrying her princess style. With little effort, I was back to my feet again. The other two tensed visibly, but allowed me to continue. I turned back to them.

“Are you two well enough to walk?” I asked. They nodded. “Good, please follow me. At the very least, we can get some disinfectant on that cut before taking you girls to get proper medical attention.”

“Where are we going?” said the orange one.

“We’re stopping by our house, and then we’re taking you girls to a town we spotted not too far from here.” I replied. “Is that ok with you two?”

Once again, they hesitated as they contemplated going to a stranger’s house.

“Just a quick stop to at least wrap her leg up, then we’ll go wherever you want, ok?” I assured.

“…Alright,” they responded. Satisfied with that answer, I directed my attention to an inconspicuous, harmless-looking bush, which I knew was anything but.

“Eddy we’re leaving, let’s go.” For several seconds nothing happened. ‘I could have sworn this was where he was hid-ah, there he is!’ Eddy emerged from the bush, eying the new party members as they eyed him; with uncertainty and suspicion.

“And you’re sure this is a good idea?” he asked.

“Would you have left them to fend for themselves?”

“…*sigh* let’s just go.” We started walking, me leading, girls following, Eddy bringing up the rear. The business end of his rifle was safely pointed down and to the side, but his finger never came off the trigger. I cocked my head over my shoulder to address him.

“Eddy, radio the guys back home. We’re having guests over.”

Perspective: Mike Britowski
Location:???
Date:???

“So what you’re saying is, we’re having extraterrestrial sentient beings over,” I rephrased somewhat skeptically over the Walkie-Talkie. “And you’re sure neither of you touched some weird plant or something?”

“Yes for the hundredth time, we’re not high. Look, I know it’s hard to believe, but just go with it,” came the reply from the handheld radio.

“Ok, assuming I believe you, why are they coming over?”

“Because Jon over here wants to play the role of Mr. Alien Hero Man and tend to their injuries, that’s why. Speaking of which, pull out our First-Aid stuff.”

“He…does realize that none of us are even competent in First-Aid, right? I’ve cleaned and wrapped wounds, and didn’t do a very good job of it either. That’s it.”

“That’s more than any of us have done, which is why you’re treating them.”

“WHAT!?”

“Yep, good luck.”

“Eddy, wait no…Eddy!...damnit.”

Edgar, who had been listening in, placed an arm around my shoulder. “Aw man, that sucks,” he said. “But look on the bright side.” He flashed a devilish grin. “At least I don’t have to do anything.”

“Shut up man,” I said, shoving him off in mock-anger, which elicited a chuckle from him. “Go make yourself useful and move the weapons to my room.”

“Yea, you would move them into your room,” he replied laughing. I grinned. It was moments like these that almost took my mind off the constant stress of survival. They were the small respites from the grimness of our lives that I enjoyed. Edgar began grabbing all the weapons and ammo and moving them into my room on the first floor. I directed my focus back to the table in front of me and sighed.

‘Why do I always get roped into doing these crazy things?’ From the sound of it, Eddy was none too happy about the new arrivals, though I couldn’t imagine why. Think about it; real aliens! At least Jonathon shared my excitement, but something was also wrong with that as well. They were complete strangers, yet Jonathon immediately trusts them. ‘I’m not saying they mean any ill intent, but why was Jon so quick to extend a helping hand?’

Well, I’d find out soon enough anyway. Clearing the table of miscellaneous items, I set down a large, worn down white bag. Stitched on either side was a patch which contained the famous Red Cross emblem. With that set up, I walked up to one of the windows and searched for our expected company.

It didn’t take long. The yellow, orange and white beings were a stark contrast to the natural browns and greens of the forest. The yellow and orange ones were standing next to Jonathon, while he carried the white one in his arms. All four appeared to be engaged in conversation. All except Eddy, who was behind the group. As they approached, I picked up on the conversation.

“…an’ that’s how the Appaloosians and the buffalo learned to get along!” said the yellow alien.

“You don’t say,” Jon replied, chuckling. “That’s quite the story. Never a dull moment for you girls, huh?”

I stood at the window, exchanging a look with Edgar, who was also by the window. He wore a sad smile on his face, as I’m sure I did as well. Suddenly everything clicked; why Jonathon helped them so quickly, why he was so trusting of them. I’m not sure if Eddy knew, considering he stayed while Edgar, Jon and I moved north, but Edgar and I did.

Jonathon always wanted to be a father. He was good with children, and had a soft spot for them too. Hell, he almost got his wish; had a lovely wife with a child on the way. But four years ago……on his birthday of all days…

NOTE:Non-essential Flashback, can skip if desired.

Perspective: Jonathon Burley
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Date: December 20, 2021

“Honey, guess who’s home!” I called from the door. I had just gotten home from work. We were let out early on account of some very disturbing news of infections and quarantines. Admittedly, this did put a damper on the day, considering it was my birthday, but now that I was home, I was looking forward to spending the rest of the day with my beautiful wife Sarah. Speaking of whom, where is she?

“Honey?” No answer. “Sarah, is everything alright?” Silence. Sudden thoughts of the strange infection they had talked about on the news filled my mind. ‘What if something happened to them?’ Working hard to swallow the rising fear, I began to look around. “Sarah? Sarah, where are you? Please answer. Sarah.” I walked into the living room and froze. Instead of finding my wife, I found shattered glass from the large set of windows and a trail of smeared blood that led to the master bedroom.

“Sarah!!” I ran for the master suite, fearing the worst. The worst is what I got.

“Sar- OH GOD!!” More blood and smashed glass covered the floor and bed sheets. On said bed, my wife laid…my beautiful wife, missing an arm and twitching violently on the bed, further staining the sheets. Her head tilted at me, and her mouth convulsed, trying to speak to me. But something else, something even more disturbing, had my attention.

Her stomach was torn open, flaps spread open revealing the empty cavity beneath…empty? ‘Oh nonono, where’s the baby!?’ An umbilical cord jutted through the tear, disappearing off the side of the bed.

“Run…” My head snapped back to Sarah, who had stopped twitching. She laid there staring at me, before her head hung forward, unmoving, mouth hung open. I made to approach her when the tinkling sound of shifting glass fragments stopped me where I was. I small, slimy and bloodied hand grasped the edge of the bed. With painful slowness, something pulled itself up onto the bed. My son…no, not anymore.

The infection had forced his undeveloped body to mutate enough that it could survive outside, though the umbilical cord was still attached to that… mound of flesh. The heavily disfigured body pulled itself over to my now convulsing wife who was growing her missing arm back! I stared into its pupil-less eyes, and it into mine before it screamed in a high-pitched distorted voice and lunged at me. I screamed myself and stumbled back, tripping and falling on my ass. The thing was fortunately reined in by the cord, unable to reach me…yet. Right before my eyes, Sarah got back on her feet. I was overjoyed for a second, believing she was alive. That hope was quickly and cruelly dashed when I beheld her mismatch-length arms and legs, the red tears on her ashy grey skin, and of course the gaping hole in her stomach. I scrambled to my feet and ran, the pair giving chase moments after.

Fumbling with the lock in the office, I quickly looked around. Up against the wall was a display case for showcasing rifles. At the moment, only one gun was on the shelf, an old Remington 870. I ran to it and smashed the glass, not bothering with the lock on the case and completely ignoring the crimson trails now running down my arms. I reached for a box of shells, but a loud thump on the door made me drop the box. I tried to catch a few rounds, but my damn fingers only caught one. I just managed to load it when the door flung open.

Survival instincts took over and before I knew it, the mutated being that used to be my wife was missing a head. She dropped, stopping the small monster that was attached to her from reaching me. I could only stare helplessly at what used to be my son, struggling to reach me. Did I do something wrong? Did I deserve this? Why!? I failed to protect him. He wasn’t even born yet and I already failed him.

He began tugging on the cord harder and harder. Suddenly, a fleshly ripping sound was heard as the umbilical separated and I realized he was coming for me once again. I aimed at him, only to remember I loaded one shot. It was too late to load more, so I did the only thing I could do, as much as it pained me to do so.

“Remember, daddy loves you son. He always will.” Grabbing the barrel, I swung at the creature, the impact deforming his undeveloped head as he flew back towards the other corpse. They lay unmoving. A clanging sound rang in the empty office, weapon no longer in my hand. I walked over.

“H-hey little guy…why aren’t ya moving…come on…S-Sarah, come here…I think something’s wrong with junior…Sarah…don’t ignore me too…don’t leave me…”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The ground was cold, the corner was cold. Legs tucked in, arms around legs. Head resting on corner wall. Wall hard. Sobbing.

“Happy birthday…to me…h-happy birthday…to me…”

Chapter 7: First Contact-Trouble and Misunderstandings

Perspective: Mike Britowski
Location:???
Date:???

When Jonathon stumbled upon those injured creatures, they probably reminded him of his son. This time though, the three can be saved. Maybe he sees helping them as doing for them what he could not do for his son, a step in the long road to self-forgiveness. Or I could be completely wrong. I mean, that’s a possibility too.

“Hey guys,” I heard Edgar greet from beside me, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Glad to see you all made it back in one piece!”

“Not funny,” deadpanned Jonathon. He addressed the aliens around him. “Sorry for the mess; let’s just say the trip over here wasn’t all smooth-sailing.”

“So Jon,” I said. “Care to introduce us to your new friends?” A mischievous grin spread across his face.

“No,” he replied. He walked over to the table with the bag on it and very carefully set the white alien down on it “ I think I’ll let them do it.”. He looked to the three sets of eyes with hopeful stares and smirked. “Girls, if you would.”

The yellow one stepped up. “Mah name’s Applebloom!”

The orange one buzzed her wings and hovered slightly off the ground. “I’m Scootaloo!”

The white one carefully sat up. “And I’m Sweetie Belle!”

“And we’re…” ‘Why did Eddy and Jon plug their ears?’ “…THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!!”

Oh my god! A grenade went off, a building collapsed, a jet engine started right next to my ears. Something incredibly loud just happened at the same time they were speaking, because surely that auditory onslaught I just received couldn’t have come from those three small children in front of me. My brain refused to believe it!

Letting the ringing in my ears stop, I decided to answer their introduction. “Well Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle; that was uh…quite the introduction. My name is Mike, and that over there is Edgar. Edgar, say hello…Edgar?”

“WHAT!?”

“I said say hi to our guests!”

“YOU WANT GOODBYE TO OUR PESTS!? THAT DOESN’T EVEN MAKE ANY SENSE!”

“NO, I SAID-YOU KNOW WHAT? JUST GO LIE DOWN!!”

“OK!”

While I was a good dozen yards away from ‘Ground Zero’, poor unfortunate Edgar had been standing right next to the cutie mark crusaders when they introduced themselves. Can’t blame him for his hearing loss; here’s hoping it’s temporary.

“Getting back on topic,” I said, still occasionally rubbing my ear. “I would like to look over your injury Sweetie Belle.” She carefully extended the injured limb out so I could examine it better. Thankfully, it wasn’t a life-threatening wound, but it was deep enough that I could tell it wasn’t going to close on its own. It was still slowly oozing blood, and it had stained a good portion of the hem of her white dress. Whoever takes care of her will not be happy when they see that.

“Oh man. Jonathon, this one is going to need stitches.” I felt her tense; probably shouldn’t have said that out loud…I’m an idiot…

“It’s alright,” I said trying to calm her back down. “I’m not going to do them, I’ll clean the cut, wrap it up, and Jon here will take you girls into town to get fixed up. You’ll only need a few anyway; the cut’s not that deep.”

“It’s starting to hurt quite a bit though,” Sweetie replied.

“That’s because you’re not terrified or excited right now, so the adrenaline is wearing off. At least, that’s what I think is happening; I’m not familiar with uh…your species’ anatomy. As an offhand question, what is your species? Also, where are we, if you happen to know by chance?”

“I got this,” said Jonathon before any of the three could reply. “Let’s see how much I paid attention, eh girls? Feel free to correct me when I’m wrong.”

In the time it took to clean and dress the wound, Jonathon gave both Edgar (who had come back with only slight ear-ringing) and me a quick rundown of our situation. Apparently, we’re in this place called “Equestria”. The dominant species in town and in surrounding areas are “ponies”, though they look nothing like any pony on Earth; more like an anthropomorphic one, if anything. This means they all use equine terms (filly/colt rather than boy/girl, mane rather than hair, etc.). There are other species, though their homelands are further out. There are apparently three types of ponies: Earth, Unicorn, and Pegasus. Interestingly enough, the three ponies we met represented all types. A fourth rare type ruled over the land, called an “Alicorn”…or something. The town at the foothills was called (amusingly enough) “Ponyville”. Haha, get it?…the puns…they burn. Finally, the forest Jon and Eddy were in was called the “Everfree”. I guess that’s enough info, for now anyways.

“There you go, all wrapped up,” I said cheerfully.

“Fantastic, now take them to town,” replied Eddy flatly.

“Oh, you’re actually taking them.”

Eddy looked around, before pulling me to a corner and whispering. “What!?”

“They’re probably more comfortable with someone who was there to protect them.”

“Jon did that!”

“But who was the one holding the gun on the return trip, making sure everyone was safe, hmm? Jon was carrying Sweetie Belle, so that leaves you.”

“…I hate you.” We broke our conversation and looked to see that Applebloom and Scootaloo were already following Jonathon to the garage, while he carried Sweetie Belle once again.

“So, how’re we getting back into town?” asked Scootaloo.

“We don’t hafta walk all the way back, do we?” Applebloom inquired as well. Jonathon chuckled.

“You three managed to walk all the way here, and now you complain about the walk back? I still don’t know why you wandered so far from town in the first place. But anyways, no, we won’t be walking back. See, we humans have a much faster way of getting around…”

Perspective: Eddy Culivin
Location: Ponyville Outskirts, Equestria
Date:???

The room erupted into a bunch of noise as the girls rapid-fired their questions all at once, asking about the ‘strange white carriage’ in the middle of the room. Apparently, they had ‘never seen such a unique one before’, and asked things like ‘isn’t it heavy?’ and ‘who’s pulling it?’ What was interesting about the ordeal was the fact that in order to explain the concept of a car to them, we had to tell them it was like a carriage, but had a machine in it that pulled it along. They might be ignorant of course, but this could be an insight to their level of technology. Another really good indicator was their tremendous amount of knowledge on the use of a seat-belt.

“*sigh* ok, now just slide that piece of metal with the hole in it into the thing with the big red button…yes that one…no, now it’s backwards…good, now sit tight. *Slam!*” ‘Never thought I’d have to explain how to use a freaking seat-belt!’ Just when I had finally started relaxing about the fact that we were interacting with aliens, we’re visiting a whole damn town full of them! This can’t end well, but I don’t have much of a choice in the matter anyways, so I may as well make this easy on myself and strap myself in without complaint.

“What’s this belt thingy for?” asked Scootaloo as Jon and I climbed into the front seats.

“It keeps you from flying out the windshield and dying if we crash,” I replied casually.

“EDDY!” hissed Jonathon.

“What? It’s the truth!”

“You could have phrased that a little nicer you know.”

“And you could be driving already. Now start the truck.”

“You’re impossible,” he breathed out. He turned around and addressed the ponies. “The vehicle has many safety features; one of them is the seat-belt you’re all wearing. You’ll be alright, I promise. Now, I’ll be starting the truck and it’s going to make some weird noises. Don’t be alarmed. You remember that machine called the ‘engine’ we were talking about?” They nodded. “I’m going to start it up now.”

With a quick crank, the engine came to life. I looked back to see if they pissed themselves when the engine started. ‘Nope, but they are a lot less talkative all of a sudden. Maybe this trip won’t suck as much as I thought it would.’

Pulling out of the garage, we found a small dirt road a little ways from the house that can be seen leading into town, so we followed it. It wasn’t a paved road, but it was somewhat smooth, pretty good for a dirt road. The three in the back were glued to the windows, all traces of previous fear or reservation gone, watching as the ‘carriage’ did indeed pull itself along.

“Wow.” (Behold, technology)

“This is so awesome, we’re going really fast!” (We’re only doing around 45mph)

“It’s so smooth compared to any carriage I’ve ridden in.” (The miracles of suspension)

“What’s this?”

“What does this do?”

“How is it so cold in here?”

(Etcetera)

The little comments like that kept on coming as we approached town, so that prediction of this trip not sucking was false after all. Jon and I did our best to answer any questions along the way. As the town came into focus, I got my first up-close look at it. Thatched roofs, wood buildings, no smog, no obvious signs of any machinery, and no power generation plants of any kind, or power lines. It had that whole ‘Colonial Era’ thing going on. Yep, we arrived in a wonderful little town…not.

It was at this point that I realized something: what if their hospitals are just as outdated? I mean I wasn’t thrilled about helping these pony strangers, but I didn’t want them to contract some infection from poor sanitary conditions and die. Hopefully, medical tech has progressed faster than everything else here.

Applebloom and Scootaloo were giving directions to the hospital as Jon drove. As we entered the town, Jonathon slowed us down to 20mph. Good thing too, the town was packed…notice how I said ‘was’. As soon as the growling white beast with glowing white/yellow eyes entered town, everyone bolted. I have to admit though, it was hilarious! While Jon and the others weren’t as amused, I was over here chuckling away.

“Oh God, this is too great!” I said. “Look at that one, hiding under the flower stand. We can still see you! Jon Jon, honk the horn. Come on man, do it!”

“How about we don’t draw any more attention to us, eh? How’s that sound?” he replied irritably. ‘Well, that’s no fun’.

All was calm at the little white hospital. Suddenly, the peaceful tranquility was shattered as a ferocious white beast with glowing eyes sped down the path leading towards the building. The beast was moving faster than anything on foot was supposed to, the hungry, growling monster intent on reaching its destination. It came to a stop mere feet from the entrance, the terrifying creature still growling softly. With a final roar, the beast quieted down, its eyes ceasing to glow. It was asleep, waiting for its master to awaken it once again.

Jonathon withdrew the keys from the white pickup’s ignition, the keys jingling as he transferred them to his pocket.

“Well, here we are,” he remarked cheerfully.

‘Well here we are indeed…’ I can honestly say I wasn’t looking forward to this. Given the town’s reaction, it’ll only be a matter of time before we get chased with torches and pitchforks for being ‘demons’. I can see it already…

“Yo guys, we made it to the hospital,” I called into the radio.

“Who’re you talkin’ to?” asked Apple before the radio sounded in reply.

“That’s *BANG! BANG!* great.” *static…cut*

“Is…something going on over there?”

“NO! I mean no, we’re…fine, just fine listen I gotta go.”

“Spoke kinda fast there eh Edgar? Edgar? Hello? *Sigh* God damnit…”

“How did you do that?” asked Scootaloo. “Is it more awesome human tech?”

“Uh, yea kid,” I dismissed. “That’s what it is.” I turned to Jonathon, who was equally puzzled by the strange radio chatter heard moments ago.

“What was that about?” he asked.

“Beats me,” I responded, shrugging. “The sooner we get in there though, the sooner we can go home and find out.” We slid out of the truck and helped our passengers disembark, Jonathon once again taking Sweetie.

“Thanks,” came her meager reply. Jonathon merely smiled. ‘I wish I could be as chill about this whole thing as he is.’ Currently, I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my chest, and my hands were clammy and resting by the concealed 910. My palm was pressed lightly against my pocket so that in an emergency, I would merely slide my hand up and grab the pistol.

“Let’s get this over with,” I said, pushing the door in. Imagine my surprise when I was greeted with a modern hospital, from layout to tech (mostly). The place was single colored, like the rest of the hospital. It smelled like disinfectant, the whole place looking very sterile. Overhead, tubes resembling fluorescent lights shined, though the tube itself seemed to be a long solid crystal rather than an actual tube of glass. ‘I don’t get how they work considering I didn’t see any infrastructure that would carry in electricity…interesting.’ Nurses in the traditional white dresses and red crosses walked about, some carrying syringes and medication. ‘Huh, I guess some things are universal.’ In fact the only giveaways that this wasn’t a human hospital were the lack of A/C, no computer on the front desk and those weird lights.

Oh, and that the entire staff consisted of alien ponies. Did I forget to mention that?

I heard someone gasp and a clipboard dropping and spun around. It appears we’ve been noticed. The nightmare continued to get worse as everyone else investigated the noise. We suddenly had everyone’s attention; a situation I had been hoping to avoid. ‘Get in, drop off, get out. How did such a simple plan get screwed over!?’

The place went ghostly quiet as the occupants of the hospital looked over us. There were a mix of emotions in the room, each easily detectable thanks to the ponies’ large eyes and moveable ears. Fear, shock, wonder, surprise; hell, there was even a pink pony in the back that was bouncing excitedly, though for what reason remains a mystery to me. Not that I cared though. ‘As much fun as having this staring contest is, I’ve got things to do!’

*Ahem!* “Look, I like staring at unusual things as much as the next guy, but in case anyone hasn’t noticed, we’ve got an injured filly here,” I announced, emphasizing the last point. “You know, an injury that maybe a hospital can fix?” This seemed to snap one of them out of their daze. She walked over, cautiously I might add, and relieved Jonathon of Sweetie. She then quickly disappeared through some double doors, the room so quiet we heard the footsteps as she walked away. ‘Great, now what?’

I didn’t like the fact that we were outnumbered, and wanted nothing more than to just leave. Would it be suspicious if I just ran? Probably, but I didn’t really care. My fingers were drumming nervously on the side of my pocket.

“Applejack? What’re you doin’ over here?” asked Applebloom, finally shattering the silence that prevailed over the room. I followed her gaze to a group of five mares, including the crazy pink one.

Looks like we’re meeting with the locals, whether I want to or not. I looked up. ‘*Sigh* I wonder what Edgar and Mike are up to…’

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Ponyville Outskirts, Equestria
Date:???
3 minutes ago

“What the fuck is that!?” I cried out, pointing to several holes now forming in the ground in front of our house. Furry arms were extending out of said holes as they widened, whatever was digging them intent on reaching the surface.

“Mike, we have a problem!” I shouted down the hall.

“Already on it!” the voice bellowed from the open door to Mike’s room. Seconds later, Mike emerged with two full vests and the Sig 556 and XM17-E4. The vests were nowhere near military spec; they only provided a place to hold mags and nothing more. We’d need to be careful.

Mike slid me the Sig and the respective vest, and we both quickly dawned our gear and hid behind a window facing the front. I peered out.

Dog…alien…things everywhere! There must have been at least 50 or so, fortunately all lightly armored and armed with melee weapons.

“Attention hairless apes!” came this squeaky, high-pitched voice from outside. “We the Diamond Dogs demand you return the ponies you stole from us! Surrender and your punishment shall be lenient!”

I stole a glance from the window and saw that this tiny little Diamond Dog, the equivalent of a Chihuahua, was at our front door. I looked over at Mike. “These must be the goons Eddy told us about; the ones that attacked those fillies. How do we approach this?”

“We give a warning first,” he said, and tilted his head over the side of the window, careful not to reveal too much.

“Listen, I don’t know how it works in Equestria, but where we’re from, what you’re doing is called trespassing. If we feel threatened, we have the right to defend ourselves and our property. Please don’t make us do that. We don’t have any ponies, now leave!”

“LIES! We won’t be swayed by empty threats! This is your last warning; surrender, or we’ll take you by force!” Mike shrugged his shoulders, before heading to the front door.

“What are you doing?” I whispered. He smiled deviously and replied.

“What else? I’m giving them our answer.” He then flung the door open, much to the little dog’s surprise.

“HOW THIS FOR AN EMPTY THREAT!?!” he shouted, and punted the little fucker clean off the porch. He then raised his rifle and fired upwards, tearing up the trees above their heads, so I took the example and followed suit.

The incredibly confused dogs scattered, their whole plan of attack shattered. Then again, I’d be running too if I were them; encountering an enemy with such effective ranged weapons. They quickly tunneled into the dirt, suffering no real losses (we weren’t really aiming; it was an intimidation act after all).

“That was rather…anticlimactic,” Mike noted.

“Yea, but let’s just count our blessings and move o-”. Suddenly the floor started vibrating, scratching noises being heard underneath.

“Are they trying to dig under the house!?” I exclaimed.

“They won’t get far unless they can tunnel through a solid concrete foundation,” Mike said. “What worries me is what they’ll do when they fail.” As if in response to Mike question, several holes started opening up, but at different points around the house. They were surrounding us!

“Damnit, we just escaped one invasion, we don’t need another one right now!” I shouted to no one in particular. Mike took a position by one of the broken barricades in the front, while I set up in the office near the front as well. Any dogs coming through the back would be bottle-necked down the entryway. As soon as they showed any part of their bodies, we let them have it. Ideally, they wouldn’t have even made it out of the holes, but nothing’s usually ideal. As they worked to overrun us, we slowed their progress by continually pelting them with lead.

*Click*. Without missing a beat I withdrew my sidearm and fired away.

“Yo guys, we made it to the hospital,” Eddy reported via Walkie-Talkie.

I didn’t even bother to stop firing to reply. “That’s *BANG! BANG!* great.”

“Is…something going on over there?”

“NO! I mean no, we’re…”. Before I could finish that thought, one of the damaged window barriers that we had boarded up with wood splintered apart, a mess of grey fur and metal following closely behind.

“…Fine, just fine listen I gotta go.” I dropped the radio on the floor and kicked it off to the side, reloading my rifle as I did so. Off in the distance, the still-functioning radio could be heard.

“Spoke kinda fast there eh Edgar?”…“Edgar?”…“Hello?”

Jumping right to avoid getting clubbed, I fired into the packed-together group of five, quickly dropping all of them. Mike was having similar luck dispatching the dogs. See, unlike the Infected, the dogs can be shot anywhere. Their weapons couldn’t cut through the brick walls, meaning they were confined to natural bottlenecks like windows and doors (most of which were still reinforced). Combine all that with the fact that there are much fewer of them than there were Infected meant that we were able to drive them back, even with a few broken defenses.

The last of the dogs, the ones that didn’t do the smart thing and run anyways, were taken care of, leaving the area in an eerie silence as the gunfire halted. As the adrenaline faded, and some form of cognitive thought returned though, the reality of what we just did set in. We were supposed to have scared them off, not…well, this!

‘What have we done?’

Perspective: Mike Britowski
Location: Ponyville Outskirts, Equestria
Date:???

“Hell yea! Keep running ya bastards!” I shouted. The feeling of successfully repelling an attack is hard to top, and this was no different. I walked towards Edgar, noticing how quiet everything was, the sounds of my footsteps clearly heard echoing in the entryway. “Great shooting Edgar, we did it.”

No reply drifted from the corner Edgar was in. “Edgar? Buddy, you alright?” Standing by the destroyed window barriers was Edgar, covered in dirt (among other things) but otherwise in one piece. His weapon lay on the ground, forgotten in the rubble as he continued staring out the window with an unblinking stare.

“You alright?” I asked once again. I looked out the window as well, seeing the cause of his shock. The once beautiful green hillside was littered with the dead; the hill stained the color of conflict, crimson.

“W…what …what have we done?” It was barely above a whisper, but Edgar wasn’t done there. “We…we killed them. We just massacred a large number of an alien species; a species that didn’t stand a chance against our weapons. What have we done!?” He grabbed his hair and looked down, probably to avoid looking at the macabre scene outside the window.

“We tried to warn them Edgar. Hell, we kicked their messenger in front of them and shot at them. After all that, jumping into the fray was all on them.”

“No, we…we could have, should have done something more. There had to have been a better way! This…this wasn’t how I wanted it to pan out.”

“You think I wanted this as well?”

“I know I know.”

“Edgar, look. The only other alternative was to let them capture us. You don’t know what they would have done to us, and couldn’t guarantee our survival. It was us or them, and we made our choice. We have fought for our lives for too long to just lie down and die now!”

“I KNOW…….I know…it’s just…FUCK man! We haven’t been on this world for 5 God-damn hours and there’s already like 30 bodies out there! What would the ponies think of us if they saw this? What would those children think!?”

“I…I guess I-”

“Didn’t think it through, and neither did I! I’m just so…tired of the killing, tired of the fighting, tired of all of it! Why…why can’t we go somewhere and not have to shoot something? Why does it always have to be us OR them? Why can’t we both live for once?”

Edgar had buried his face in his hands, and was silently crying. The whole time, he was whispering ‘so tired…so tired’ over and over. I was never much of a good comforter, but I guess a hand on the shoulder and saying something was better than nothing.

“I would love it if we could stop, if every bad thing that ever happened or is happening to us would just stop. Life isn’t fair though, and all we can do is pick ourselves back up when life gets us down and keep moving. It’s what we’ve always done, and it’s what we’ll have to do this time as well.”

I looked once more out the window as Edgar slowly straightened out, once again looking out as well.

“Should…we bury the bodies?” I asked.

”Unless you plan to dig that many graves, then no. I think laying them out side by side and burning them would be more dignified than a rotting pile of bodies. They may not have been very nice, but they were loyal and brave; they deserve a little dignity.”

I set my weapon down on a nearby table and headed for the front entrance. I cocked my head over my shoulder.

“Well…shall we get going then?”

Perspective: Eddy Culivin
Location: Town Hospital, Ponyville, Equestria
Date:???

‘I wonder what Edgar and Mike are up to…well, whatever it is, it’s probably a lot nicer and safer than this crap.’ I looked back down as the conversation between Applebloom and ‘Applejack’ (I believe was her name) continued.

“Dash had a bit of a flyin’ accident, an we swung on by ta visit. But never mind that sugarcube, what happened to y’all? Y’all look terrible!”

“Was…was that Sweetie Belle that was taken in there?” The white mare asked quietly, but with total shock registered on her face. I observed the four mares as they exchanged information with each ot-‘wait…four?’ Another headcount quickly confirmed the missing member. ‘OH GOD, the crazy pink one’s missing! Where is she!?’ Yea, this isn’t happening. I reached into my pocket. I had just gripped the pistol when of course..

“HIYA!” a frilly high voice said as my world turned pink. I wish I could say I handled that sudden appearance with dignity and grace, and I could say that…but it’d be a flat-out lie. With a startled yelp, I stumbled backwards, and as is such with our luck, I tripped and fell on my ass. A clacking sound made by a heavy metal object hitting the tile echoed throughout the room, followed by sliding as the pistol skittered away from me. ‘Well…fuck.’

I looked up at the pink death’s assistant herself, totally convinced she did that on purpose to disarm me. What would she do now?...

“Hi, my name’s Pinkamina Diane Pie, but all my friends call me Pinkie, you should totally do that too! You guys must be new here. You have to be because I know everyone in town, but I don’t know you guys. Also you don’t look like ponies, what are you? *GASP* OOH OOH, are you guys aliens!? That’s super-duper cool! I have to throw a Welcome to Ponyville AND Welcome to Equestria Party. It’ll be so fun! They’ll be cake and ribbons and cake and games and cake-”

The barrage of words finally ceased when someone shoved their orange-furred hand in her mouth. Imagine listening to that whole monologue…at 5X normal talking speed, and in that annoying high-pitched voice too! I looked over to thank my savior, only to realize my ‘savior’ was glaring daggers at me as she dragged the pink one (‘Pinkie’ I think) away.

“Y’all better start talkin’; what in the hay ha-“

“WHAT DID YOU RUFFIANS DO TO MY SISTER!?!?” the white mare screamed/interrupted.

“Calm down, we’re the good guys here, honestly!” pleaded Jonathon. It didn’t seem like there would be reasoning with her however, not with us at least. Propelled by an aura of pure righteous fury, she started toward us, more specifically Jon.

“I’LL DESTROY YOU!” she screeched again. Eyes quickly scanning the room, I confirmed that my situation hadn’t miraculously changed; that damned pistol was still out of sight. ‘Where the hell’s the stupid thing when you need it!?’

“Come on lady, we’re the ones who saved your sister in the first place!” I pleaded as I scooted back.

“Wait Rarity don’t, they did save us!” cried Applebloom as she tugged on “Rarity’s” dress. To my immense relief, the demon clad in purple and white stopped and slowly looked at the two children trying to stop her from devouring our souls.

“W-what?” she asked, barely above a whisper.

“We…sorta…kinda…skipped school to go to the Everfree,” said Scootaloo.

“WHAT!?” both Applejack and Rarity cried out.

“We wanted our Monster-hunter cutie marks, but we were trapped by Diamond Dogs instead,” explained Applebloom.

“Ugh, those unrefined savages again?” inquired Rarity, clearly not happy with these ‘Diamond Dogs’. Wonder if she’s had a bad experience with them before. I know we have.

“Yea, but then they came out of nowhere!” exclaimed Scootaloo. “They were like ‘leave’, and the Diamond Dogs were like ‘never!’. But then Jon took out this weird stick-thingy and went ‘POW!’ and injured one of them without even touching it! It was so cool! They took us to their house and helped Sweetie. Then we got to ride in this totally sick pony-less carriage, that was even cooler!”

Rarity stood there for a little bit, before returning her gaze to us, still having that blank look. I didn’t flinch…not even a little bit. Her mouth opened a few times, but nothing came out before she closed it again. After an eternity (probably only a couple of minutes but hey, it was a tense situation!), she finally spoke.

“I…I apologize for…err, jumping to conclusions, I sincerely do hope you can forgive my rude behavior,” she said.
I took this opportunity to slowly stand back up.

“It’s alright, no harm done,” replied Jonathon. Meanwhile, I was looking over the three mares with a cautious glance, in case one comes out of no-‘not this crap again, another one’s missing!!’

“Hey, I don’t mean to interrupt this ‘lovely’ conversation, but your group’s missing people and it’s making me uncomfortable,” I said. The mares quickly looked around.

“Well, ah know where Pinkie’s off to, but that’s uh secret. It’s a tradition round these parts; you’ll know soon enough,” said Applejack with a grin. Then the grin vanished. “But, where in tarnation is Twilight?”

A white-clad nurse with a red cross stitched to her cap, and ‘Redheart’ stitched to her uniform slowly approached. “If you’re referring to Ms. Sparkle, she left a little while ago shouting ‘it worked’ over and over again. I’m…sorry if that’s not much help.”

“Thank you ma’am,” I said. Nurse Redheart then walked over specifically towards me. ‘crap.’

“Um, I uh…believe this is yours,” she said while withdrawing a-‘HOLY SHIT!!’ I quickly sidestepped to avoid her pointing the business end towards me. Carefully, I relieved her of the pistol, pocket-holstering it once again. ‘Well, that’s enough aliens for today. I’m getting the hell outta here.’

“Jon come on, we’re…well, aren’t you the social one today?”

“They’re really nice peop-err, ponies. I was just explaining to Fluttershy what we are. Once they stop fearing us, ponies seem to be very curious, especially Fluttershy over here. Other sentient life man, this is so exciting!”

“Yes I’m bursting with joy, now let’s go.”

“Yeesh fine, I’m going.” He turned to the remaining mares. “I’m sorry, but I have to go.”

“Take care y’all, an one again I’m awful sorry bout the mix up,” said Applejack.

“It’s no problem, really. Bye everyone!”

“Goodbye!”

We headed for the door…only to be stopped when they were flung open by the purple mare (‘Twilight’ I believe, or ‘Ms. Sparkle. Her name is Twilight Sparkle?). She was breathing heavily, but somehow still smiling. A…what appeared to be a scroll was clenched in her left hand. She looked at us.

“The princess will be here soon!”

‘Oh fuck me! We’re meeting royalty!?’

Chapter 8: Welcome to Our Humble Abode

Perspective: Jonathon Burley
Location: Town Hospital, Ponyville, Equestria
Date:???

How cool is this!? We haven’t been here all that long, and already we’re getting to meet members of this world’s ruling class! ‘I wonder what they’re like. Judging by the ponies here, maybe they’re kind and benevolent, and somewhat curious as well? Ooh, I’m so excited, this is awesome and-’

“No, not happening, absolutely not!” ‘yes, not happening…wait what?’ I glanced over at Eddy, who was already looking for a way to bypass the purple mare and leave.

“But it’s the princess, you can’t just ignore her. Please, just meet with her?” asked Twilight, still trying to block off Eddy.

“Listen ma’am,” responded Eddy irritably. “We’ve just been transported to another planet. Before that, we were having an incredibly bad day, the details of which I will keep private. Pardon my rudeness, but I’m in no mood to meet with anyone else today, so I will be going home. And you can tell your princess that when she gets here.”

While he did have a few valid points, simply leaving wasn’t fair to the ponies, especially when they were only curious and had brought their princess out to meet with us. I placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Eddy,” I said, grabbing his attention. I jerked my head towards an empty corner of the building, motioning for him to follow me. He looked back at Twilight once again (who was still giving him this pleading look) and followed me.

“Listen man,” I said. “I know you’re not happy or comfortable with this situation, but you have to give these ponies a chance. They just want to be friends, and I’d personally prefer to make friends than enemies, especially in a world we don’t know anything about. I just fail to see why you can’t trust them.”

“Remember what happened last time we trusted strangers? I distinctly recall some backstabbing. They deserved what happened to them afterwards.”

“One time man! It only happened once!”

“And it’s never happened again because I didn’t and still don’t trust outsiders.”

‘God-damn he’s stubborn when he wants to be!’ “Alright, you want to play the pros versus cons game? Think about this: they might know something about how we got here. Remember what the nurse said. Twilight left saying ‘it worked’. What worked, and why did it involve us? They might be able to get us back man, they might be able to help us, but that’s not going to happen if you keep being an ass!” He was silent for a moment, contemplating the implications of what I said. He frowned, and let out an exaggerated sigh before turning back towards Twilight.

“Alright, we’ll meet her,” he relented. Twilight broke into a grin and started to say something, before being interrupted. “BUT!...but, we’ll do this our way. We’re not meeting here; I don’t like this location. Walk with me outside for a moment.”

Twilight released her grip from the door and hurriedly followed Eddy outside. I trailed behind. Once outside, Twilight attention veered off to the pick-up. The look on her face made it abundantly clear that it was killing her to know what the human-made carriage-looking thing was. To her credit, she bit her tongue (somewhat literally) and remained quiet. It almost seemed like she could tell Eddy wasn’t in the mood for questions. Clever girl. Eddy led us to where we could see in the distance the hill our house was on. It was strange to see how the house I always thought was pretty big looked so small from here.

“See that building way out on that hill?” asked Eddy, pointing to the house way off in the distance. Twilight nodded. “That’s where we‘ll talk. Jon and I are heading back, meet us there.” I gave the keys to the truck to Eddy, and told him to start it up while I had a quick word with Twilight.

“Hey, if he comes off as a jerk, I apologize. He’s…uneasy about this whole thing. Give him some time, he’ll come around eventually.” Twilight smiled in reply.

“It’s ok, I can’t say I know what you’re going through right now, but I’d imagine this all must be very confusing and new for you. I’m surprised you’re not bitter about this as well. I’ll explain everything when we meet with Celestia, and I promise to be patient with your friend.”

“Thanks for understanding Twilight.” Just then, the pick-up behind us cranked over and started, startling poor Twilight.

“What was that? Is that…the carriage? It’s alive!?”

“It’s ok, it’s just the truck, and no, it’s a machine, definitely not alive.”

“What…what is it?”

“Heheh, seems you’re not the only one who was some explaining to do. We’ll talk at the house. Oh, and there’s a total of four of us, so don’t be alarmed if you find two more humans at the house.”

“Humans…is that what you are?”

“Yes, yes we are. See you soon!”

I made my way to the pick-up, and climbed in. Eddy complained about ‘taking so long’, but I completely dismissed him. Once again we were off; the ride home would fortunately be short. The streets emptied out again, just like when we drove in. Seems it would be a while before anyone got used to the truck and its diesel engine. Once we hit the edge of town, I picked up the pace. The ride back was uneventful, but after all we’ve been through in the last 24 hours, peaceful and uneventful was a very nice break.

As I pulled up to the house however, it was clear that something was awry. A few of the windows we boarded up were broken again. More bullet holes decorated the walls of our lovely home. Speaking of holes, something had dug multiple deep holes around the house, their purpose unknown to me. Finally, a massive black scorch mark painted the grass to the left of our house, Edgar and Mike standing over it quietly. Eddy and I shared a look of confusion, both clueless as to what occurred here. When the heard the truck, they spun around. I quickly parked the truck, switched it off, and disembarked. I walked over towards Edgar and Mike, while Eddy went inside the house.

Guys, what the hell happened here?” I asked. Edgar looked away, while Mike didn’t seem too comfortable telling me what happened. Mike met my gaze and opened his mouth when-

“Damnit guys, we just cleaned this place up!” yelled Eddy from the entryway. “There’s fucking wood splinters and blood everywhere, and we’re having guests over real soon!” This seemed to bring both of them back, as Edgar and Mike looked up at us in surprise.

“WHAT!?”

7 minutes later

The frantic scramble to ‘hide the evidence’ continued as everything was quickly washed. Edgar and Mike relayed to Eddy and me what took place in this house while we were gone. I have to say; I didn’t see that one coming. I didn’t really like the dog aliens, but not even they deserved mass slaughtering. When they finished recounting their story, we told them what happened at our end, and who was coming to ‘visit’. I glanced over amused at Eddy working away.

“You know Eddy, for someone who didn’t want to meet the princess, you’re working awfully hard to impress her,” I commented jokingly.

“I just don’t want her to label us as a bunch of savages and take our heads off,” he replied. ‘Great, here we go again.’

“Come on man, why do you have to be so damn cynical about this whole situation? They just want to get to know us better. They’re harmless!”

“Well ‘Pinkie’ managed to disarm me rather quickly. They’re obviously more dangerous than what meets the eye.”

“What?” Mike asked. “How’d she disarm him?”

“Oh don’t listen to him. He’s just grumpy because Pinkie managed to startle him and he dropped his pistol. She has this bubbly and hyper personality, and got right up in his face to say hi, which Eddy here didn’t like.”

“Hahaha! Afraid of pretty pink ponies Eddy?” Mike jabbed.

“Shut the hell up!”

“You should have seen her,” I continued. “Didn’t look like she could hurt a fly, yet she pinned Big Bad Eddy down with her ‘vicious’ promises of cake!”

“HAHAHAHA!!!!”

“Guys, fucking drop it!!”

“Ahh Eddy, you really need to learn to relax,” said Edgar.

“I’m sorry, but for the last four years of my life, every time I’ve tried to ‘relax’, I’ve almost ended up dead! So you’ll excuse me if I’m a little more than untrusting of fucking strangers, especially aliens!!” The room went quiet after that; seems we went too far.

“Eddy, I’m so-”

“Hey! We’re not all bad! You don’t have to be a meanie-face a-mpff”

“Pinkie, be quiet!” …well, this is awkward. Seems like our guests have arrived, and are- ahem -really curious.

“Well, you can add espionage to the list of reasons I don’t trust you,” Eddy called out.

“Eddy, shut up!” I said

“Funny, I distinctly recall my request for the same thing being denied.”

“Just…somebody go get the door…”

“I’ll get it,” said Mike.

Perspective: Mike Britowski
Location: Ponyville Outskirts, Equestria
Date:???

“……heeeeey…….”

“Is…this a bad time?”

“Oh no, no, it’s alright!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yea of course, come in! Sorry about the mess, the trip over was uhh…rough, to say the least.” I stepped aside as five mares, a princess and four guards entered the house. Two of the guards appeared to be male, as their body and facial structure differed from the mares. The first uh, stallions I believe is the term, we’ve seen around here. All of them were looking around, fascinated by all the strange new tech. Some of the items, like the TV and computer, haven’t been used in a long time, and have gathered dust. Twilight’s critical eye left no corner unexplored though, and she looked over even the dusty contraptions with a curious stare. The guards were also intrigued, though they kept a close watch on the princess, not that I blame them. Eddy made it abundantly clear the level of trust he has with them, no reason they should trust us any more than he does.

I led the party into the living room, probably the only place large enough to fit all of us at once. Jonathon and Edgar smiled and waved at the group, Eddy crossed his arms, a look of indifference on his face.

“Your Highness, welcome to our humble abode,” I said and bowed out of courtesy, Jon and Edgar following suit. It was awkwardly quiet in the room.

“Eddy, you’re supposed to bow,” whispered Twilight urgently.

“Bowing is a sign of loyalty and respect,” replied Eddy at normal volume. “I neither know your princess enough to respect her, nor owe any allegiance to any crown. And for that matter, neither do you ass-kissers!” I wonder what the legal process is here for getting someone out of a freaking dungeon! ‘Why can’t he read the situation like a fucking normal human being and respond accordingly!?’ The guards were obviously less-than-pleased with Eddy’s answer. With a glare, they angled their spears, while Eddy withdrew his pistol. ‘Shit, this situation’s already getting out of hand!’

“Try it, I dare you,” Eddy warned through grit teeth. Imagine everyone’s surprise when at this exact moment, the princess giggled. I wasn’t the only one confused, right…right? She quickly composed herself and spoke, her voice naturally smooth and melodic.

“I apologize; it’s just been so long since somepony’s been courageous enough to express their real opinion,” she said. “It’s refreshing actually, thank you for that. None of you are required to bow to me; what your fellow human says is true.” Everyone looked at her in surprise, both human and pony alike. The guards were the first to recover and relaxed their stance, still keeping a wary eye on Eddy.

“Well…not what I expected, but whatever,” Eddy said, pocket-holstering the pistol.

“My name is Celestia, and on behalf of ponies everywhere, welcome to Equestria!” Celestia said.

“Pleasure to meet you Princess, my name is Jonathon, but most call me Jon,” said Jonathon. “This is Mike, that’s Edgar, and ‘Mr. Meanie-Face’ as someone put it, is Eddy.” Everyone snickered, Eddy snorted with a ‘not amused’ face on. “And you lovely ladies are?”

“Applejack, pleased to meetcha!”

“Pinkie Pie here!”

“Rarity, charmed.”

“F-F-F-Fluttershy.”

“Twilight, nice to meet you.” With introductions out of the way, we began conversing, each side asking a question, and the other responding before asking one in return. In this manner, they slowly learned of our race, technology, and in particular our situation. There was just one little fib we stuck to. We described Earth to them…as it was in 2021, before…well, you know. They don't need to know about the horrors that accompany that tale. The guards always kept quiet, breaking silence only when Celestia addressed them. The rest fired questions away. There seemed to be ‘categories’ in the questions depending on who asked them. Applejack seemed very interested in our farm tech, Rarity our fashion (which we were able to answer very little about), Pinkie about parties and clubs, Fluttershy about animals and shelters, and Celestia about Government and Policies.

Then there was Twilight. She seemed to want to know everything about everything! From anatomy to technology, she wrote everything down on parchment with a quill. Speaking of which, talk about colonial tech! Still, it was impressive to see her magic go. When she first levitated her quill and parchment, it caught all of us (humans) off guard. She had to explain magic and its basic concepts to us, and asked us whether we used magic. We informed her of our lack of magic, and our use of technology to compensate for that fact. Eddy (of course) wasn’t pleased that ‘the aliens had super-powers’, but he quieted down eventually. She scribbled furiously on her parchment until the inevitable happened; her inkwell ran dry.

“Oh darn, I knew I should have brought two,” she cursed. Without a word, Eddy stood up and started walking towards the entryway.

“Stay here,” he said, glancing at Twilight with an apathetic look. She nodded, though she wore a look of confusion on her face. Eventually, Eddy returned with what to them must have looked like a plastic cylinder with a tapered point.

“Here,” said Eddy. The confused look didn’t disappear as she took the pen. “Push the button on the end.” She did as she was told, and the tip came out.

“I still don’t understand,” she said.

Just try writing with it.” After a few scribbles, the ink started flowing, and the pen left dark black lines on the page.

“Incredible! A writing utensil with a built-in inkwell. Your species and your technology are amazing! Um, thanks.”

“Whatever.” ‘…What the heck did I just watch unfold?’ Eddy…not being an ass! Well, not a complete ass, but it’s a start.

“Alright, now that we’ve covered a few topics, I’d like to discuss our current situation,” said Edgar.

“Yes of course,” replied Celestia. “I should start from the beginning. A few weeks ago, a new spell was presented to me after rigorous theoretical checking. The spell would allow us to connect this dimension and another one, assuming it existed. The spell was created to finally put to rest the question ‘Do parallel universes exist?’.”

“Wait, so you’re saying we’re in an entirely different universe than our own!?” I asked, astonished.

“That is correct. The spell required a tremendous amount of power to cast, especially with all the added safeties we placed. It took until mere hours ago for me to build up the energy required to cast it. The spell would open a ‘gate’ and pull the object that was above it through. Are you all familiar with the reference to the universes as ‘fabrics’?”

“We’ve heard something about it yes,” I replied.

“Well, the theory is that if a hole is simply ripped in this fabric…bad things happen. The spell solves this problem by immediately binding to the broken threads to create a sort of permanent tube between universes. The ring above this house is this universe’s end of the tube, though it should have ended up in Canterlot.”

“Canterlot?”

“Yes, where the spell was originally cast,” explained Twilight. “One of the safeties must have kicked in. You see, all spells have safeties; otherwise, we would accidentally teleport ourselves into solid objects, or over-power a spell and have the excess energy backlash and hurt us, things like that. Had this entire house teleported into the throne room in Canterlot Palace, it might not have fit, so the safety redirected it to somewhere it would.”

“So you teleported our house, and we were dragged along for the ride,” Eddy said. “That leaves one question; we had some…uhh, ‘friends’ over. How come they didn’t tag along too?”

“Hmm, that is interesting,” said Twilight. “The other safety should have made sure to teleport any living organic matter within the object of choice to prevent accidents. An example would be teleporting a multi-story building with occupants inside, which would send anypony in the higher floors plummeting to their deaths when the building disappeared.”

“Well that explains it,” Jonathon blurted out.

“It does?”

“NO, I mean no, it doesn’t, right Jonathon?” I said, jabbing him in the side discreetly. ‘Think before you act or talk man!’

“Uhh, no? Just forget I said anything…” he replied. Smooth…

“It’s great we know how we ended up here, but I’d like to skip to the part where we find out if going home’s possible and how long,” Eddy said. Celestia grinned.

“Do you wish to return that badly to your home world?” she asked.

“Yes.” Her smile faltered ever-so-slightly.

“…Very well, I have no right to keep you here if you don’t wish it. It will take two weeks from today though to build up the required energy to send you back. I ask for your cooperation in getting along with the townspeople until then.”

“Two weeks!?” Eddy said. “I guess we’ll see our friend then, if they’re ‘still around’.”

“If you’re worried about a disruption in time in your universe caused by your absence, you don’t need to worry about it,” said Celestia.

“Oh? And why is that?” Eddy asked.

“You see, during the weeks I was building energy for the spell, my brilliant student Twilight came up with the same concern, that pulling an object from another universe would cause a disruption. Working closely with a stallion by the name of Dr. Whooves, the spell was changed ever so slightly so the ‘tube’ could deposit an object anywhere in that universe’s timeline, within a limited range of one month in either direction, that is, a month ahead or behind the present. Because of that, we can return you two weeks into the past, back to your original time. See? No disruptions.”

“That’s incredible, thank you!” I said. “We really need to get home. Not that this is a bad place; Equestria’s a very nice place, but…we’re needed back home. I hope you understand.”

“It’s quite alright. There is just one favor I need to ask of you,” said Celestia. “This technology of yours…would it be alright if I sent somepony here to examine it? I feel there is a lot we could learn." I turned around to face my friends.

“Well guys, what do you think? I’m for it if everyone else is.”

“Yea sure!” said Edgar

“Don’t see why not,” said Jonathon.

“Not so sure about this…” said Eddy. Twilight turned to face him, and put on an adorable pouty face.

“Pleeease?” she begged. Eddy was having trouble looking her in the eye, for some strange reason. Wonder what it was.

“…ugh fine, but our weapon tech stays under lock and key , got it!?” he conceded. Everyone smiled at him, Twilight grinning from ear-to-ear.

“Deal! Thank you so much” she beamed. A guard stood up and whispered something to Celestia.

“Pardon my rudeness, but it appears other matters await me back at the castle. It was certainly a pleasure meeting with all of you; it’s a shame the sixth element bearer could not be with us at this time. I hope you get the chance to meet her.”

“Element bearers?” I asked confused.

“It is a story for another time, perhaps next time we meet.” We all stood up, the ponies to leave, humans to escort their guests. It seemed everyone had gotten comfortable in the human household, as we were all talking like old friends. Heck, even Eddy was briefly answering questions, though a few responses came off as a little dodgy. He was describing to Rarity why the place looked ‘unsightly’ as she put it, saying the place was indeed damaged and would need repairs. Fluttershy stopped hiding behind Applejack and walked like everyone else. She’s actually kinda pretty she’s not cowering in fear and out of sight. And that necklace she’s wearing…is…familiar. Wait… Looking at it again, I recognized the three pink and baby-blue butterflies on it, it was her!

“Fluttershy,” I called. She ‘eeped’ and stopped, the rest of the group stopping with her. She spun around.

“Were you here earlier by chance? The necklace design seems identical to the design of these bandages.”

“Well…I…I mean…um…oh dear. I’m sorry.” She used her mane to hide most of her face.

“So this is your handiwork. You don’t have to apologize, in fact I thank you! These were very well done.”

Slowly, she came out from under her mane. She addressed us, very softly at first, but growing more confident as she went on. “The animals told me a building appeared from out of nowhere,” she said. “At first I wanted nothing to do with it, but when they told me there were injured creatures inside I rushed over. I found you all knocked out. Mike, you seemed to have the worst injuries, so I treated you first. I was going to treat all of you, but…Jon started waking up…and I got nervous…and ran.”

“Wait, so you knew about them when we were at the hospital?” Pinkie asked. “Why didn’t you say anything!? Then I could have had more time to plan, and the super-duper party would have been super-duper-duper!”

“I tried, but…nopony listened,” she said sadly.

“Hey, this is great and all, but could you maybe pick another time to have this conversation?” Eddy asked. ‘Ah, there’s old Eddy! For a moment I thought he became nice and REASONABLE, but it was all in my head……damnit.’

“Okie-Dokie-Lokie!” replied Pinkie, not phased at all. We saw our guests off, Twilight promising to return tomorrow. After everyone had left, we stood there in silence, processing what just happened.

“Well, that was interesting,” I commented. “They seem nice, which is always a plus. At least we have a way home, right?” The others nodded in agreement. For all the misunderstandings and bad things that happened today, things are finally starting to look up. Its’ like a mini-vacation from Earth, only when this one’s over…well, ‘work’ is really going to suck.

“Hey guys,” Edgar called from the living room. “What’s this?”

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Ponyville Outskirts, Equestria
Date: 9th month, 6th day, year 4723 (Lunar Calendar Date)
(Humorously, this translates into October 26, 2025)

“Does anyone recognize this?” I asked, holding a little pink envelope with the words ‘To Hue-mains’ on the front. Nobody knew whose it was, or who left it there. We all agreed that it was probably supposed to say ‘To Humans’ and therefore intended for us. The ponies were just here though; why leave a letter? Carefully opening it, I withdrew the contents. Inside was a hand-drawn map, along with a message:

Please come to Sugarcube Corner at 7. Don’t be late!
~Pinkie Pie

“Should we go?” I asked.

“Yea, it could be fun,” Mike answered. “Besides, you and I haven’t gotten to see the town yet.”

“Prepare to be disappointed” murmured Eddy.

“Oh come on, it wasn’t bad,” said Jonathon. “Sure their technology is a little behind. So what?”

“*Sigh* Yea sure,” Eddy conceded. “We’re going to be stuck here for two weeks anyways, might as well do something.”

“Cool, so that’s settled. So, now what?” Mike asked

“We could re-board up the windows,” I suggested. “Jon can fix the generator while we’re at it. We’ll freshen up, and leave by 6:30. Shouldn’t be too far.”

“Sounds good, only there’s no wood left, but Jonathon can go and start repairs on the generator,” said Mike.

“Right, forgot about that. I guess we’ll add it to the list of things we need to check the availability of here,” I replied. “Well, we could fill those holes outside; they’re ‘unsightly’, as Rarity put it.” We all chuckled at the fashion diva’s comment, before agreeing to the set tasks. Jonathon went into the generator shed, while the rest of us went into the workshop and retrieved some shovels. With any luck, this won’t be too difficult.

6:30p.m

Come on guys, we’re gonna be late!” I called from the base of the stairs. We all showered, and dressed in clothing that’s not torn and covered in blood. I bet we don’t reek of death anymore too! We exited and locked the house, and preceded to the truck. On the way, we passed the Model X, which reminded me…

“Hey guys, don’t we still have to unpack that?” I asked, pointing to the electric vehicle.

“Yea, we do,” said Eddy. “My baby also needs a charge; that last trip wore her out. Unfortunately, until Jon over here fixes the generator, that’s not happening.”

“Now that you mention generators and chemicals, if they have vegetable oil here, think you could whip up some biodiesel?” asked Jonathon “The generator’s at 1/3 tank.”

“Don’t worry, my truck’s got less.” I replied. “Yea I’ll whip some up.” We continued conversing as we all piled in and drove to the town. As we entered though, the conversation died off quickly; something was wrong. Normally, we would have ran into some ponies by now, and they more than likely would have been scared and ran off, if what Jonathon and Eddy told me was anything to go by. There wasn’t a soul here though. It’s like the whole town just upped and left! I let off the gas and slowed to a crawl, headlights on and all. After a few turns I stopped in front of a building that looked like it was made of candy, just pure candy. I guess the name “Sugarcube Corner” wasn’t just for show.

“I don’t get it,” I thought aloud. “According to the map, this is the right place. But looking at it, it appears they closed shop or something; there’s no lights on.”

“Let’s go check it out,” Mike said

“Why?” complained Eddy. “Can’t we just leave it? We’ll just tell Pinkie it was closed. Maybe this is the wrong place after all; she can’t expect us to just know our way around here by now.”

“Well, a quick knock won’t hurt, right?” Jonathon asked.

“*Sigh* sure, let’s knock on the stupid door so we can get out of here already.” I shut off the Ford, and everyone hopped out. I walked up to the door, the group right behind.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* *CREEEAAK!*

The door creaked open ominously just a crack. I tried peering inside, but the darkness consumed any light that made it past a foot in there. It was pitch black.

“It’s unlocked,” I commented unnecessarily.

“This is a bad idea,” said Eddy. “I really don’t like this, it could be a trap.”

“Eddy, that absolutely ridiculous!” I chastised. “Just go in there and see if anyone’s home.”

“Why me!?”

“Because you’re being unreasonable, now go.” He muttered something under his breath, before he reluctantly walked up beside me and pushed the door all the way, exposing the black void within. “Hello? Anybody home? Hello?” He stepped in.

All of a sudden, light exploded out of the dark foreboding void, filing the room with light and revealing the contents inside.

“SURPRISE!!” At that moment everything slowed down. Maybe it was the adrenaline. Maybe it was something else. What I do know is that I suddenly was very aware of every detail. The decorations and food items around the room. The large banner that says ‘WELCOME TO EQUESTRIA HUE-MAINS!!’ Pinkie in the middle, surrounded by a large gathering of other ponies, all smiling at us. And out of the corner of my eye, a black metal object being leveled at Pinkie…‘wait, shit!’

“I knew it was a trap!”

“EDDY NO!”

*BANG!!!*

Silence. No one moved, no one said a word. Even Pinkie was uncharacteristically quiet, a look of surprise on her face. The others had similar reactions to the pistol’s report. Slowly, Pinkie reached up to her head, and gingerly felt around. 3cm from her forehead, her naturally super-curly mane sported a 9mm hole in it.

“W-what was that?” she asked, also uncharacteristically quietly and short. ‘Think brain, how do we fix this!?’

“Um…” ‘Think Edgar, think! Don’t blow this, you can do it! Just think fast!’ “Uhh…um…eh…counter surprise!” I said, mustering the biggest fake smile I could.

‘…We are so. Fucking. Dead.’

Chapter 9: Settling In

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville, Equestria
Date: October 26, 2025
7:02p.m.

The room was deathly silent after the stupidest remark I have ever made was said. I kinda feel bad for humanity at this point; if we really do die here, the last thing we (as a unwilling representation of humans) will be remembered for will be…yea, that. Pinkie (and everyone else for that matter), still dumbstruck by the situation, stared at us with abnormally large eyes. I continued fake-smiling.

“C…counter surprise?” asked Pinkie slowly, breaking the awkward silence in the room.

“Y-yea,” replied Mike. “You know, when someone surprises you, and you surprise them back…yea. A…counter-surprise.” He finished that with a not-as-subtle-as-it-should-have-been look in my direction that screamed ‘really?’. ‘Shut up man! I know it sucks, I was under pressure! It’s the best I could come up with!’ We stood there, watching to see if anyone would ‘magic-man-handle’ us into the nearest holes and declare them our graves. The corners of Pinkie’s mouth twitched. I flinched. Ever so slowly, they tugged upwards little by little, until she was giggling away with a smile showing off all her teeth.

“A counter surprise!” she said. “Why didn’t I think of that; it’s brilliant! Heeheehee, you humans are so much fun! *GASP* Eddy, didn’t you pull that surprise machine-thingy out in the hospital too? Were you going to counter surprise me there too!? That’s so cool! Now I have to be ready for surprises and counter surprises! I need another party cannon!! But what if they have a counter counter surprise?…”

As Pinkie continued to ramble on, the guests noticeably relaxed, and the tense air started to clear. We let out a breath in relief. I noticed I was still holding on to Eddy’s arm at the wrist, having angled the firearm just in time. I turned my head lethargically and mechanically to face him, then quickly leaned in.

“What the hell was that?” I whispered harshly. “You could’ve killed her!”

“That was the point,” he said, emphasizing the word ‘point’ by pulling his arm free at that moment. He rubbed his wrists a bit, then holstered the weapon. “Excuse me everyone, I need a smoke,” he said, turning around. We looked at him, confused.

“Eddy, you don’t smoke,” I pointed out.

“And no one needed to know till you called it out, dumbass!” he called out, before exiting the building and slamming the door. 'Great...'

“You’ll have to forgive him,” I said. “He’s not much of a social guy. But enough of that, let’s start this party that you so graciously prepared for us.”

“Woo, let’s party!” yelled Pinkie. A white mare with electric-blue hair and goggles, who was standing by what appeared to be a DJ booth, manipulated some unseen controls. Music started playing from the speakers, and the lights dimmed down and flashed in time with the music.

I have to say, Pinkie sure can run a party! She managed to seemingly attend to everyone at once, yet still managed to enjoy the party as well. The music selection was not bad, the pastries were delicious, and everyone was really chill and friendly. Mike and Jonathon also seemed to enjoy the party, and appeared to have equal success at socializing.

It looks like parties in Equestria were similar to parties on Earth (when they were still around anyways). In fact, the only part that seemed odd was that Twilight seemed to be zoned out, deep in thought rather than enjoying herself. It wasn’t hard to pick her out; not only is she purple, she was the only per- err, pony in the room just sitting at a table (alone). Eventually, she came over and asked where Eddy had gone. I told her he was probably still outside, and she thanked me and headed for the door.

Wonder what that was about.

Perspective: Eddy Culivin
Location: Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville, Equestria
Date: October 26, 2025

“*Sigh* 14 left now. Didn’t even need to waste it, they didn’t do anything,” I muttered. I slid the magazine back into the handgun, and returned the pistol to its rightful place. Behind me, the music was thumping softly away, lights flashing in time. ‘An innocent party. That’s all it was Eddy, an innocent party.’ Ok, so I jumped to conclusions, alright!? I’m sorry; I can’t exactly help the constant paranoia I have, it’s how I’ve gotten by! I’m sorry…

I sighed for the umpteenth time this evening. ‘Maybe I should just call it a night. They obviously don’t need me, and I don’t really want to go in there. Maybe I could walk around…it is a beautiful night outside. Heh, haven’t been able to enjoy a view like this since-’

“Hey.”

“GAAH!!...*huff* *huff* Yea, gimme a heart attack why don’t you.”

“I’m sorry.” I turned around to find none other than Twilight herself. Wonder if she just came to bug me with more questions. “You really don’t like surprises, do you?” she asked.

“Let’s just say…it’s been a while since my last ‘good’ surprise,” I replied. I sat back down on the porch, the purple mare taking a seat to my right.

“What happened on Earth? From what you’ve told me, it sounds like a nice place to live.”

“…I don’t want to talk about it.”

“But why?”

“Twilight, please. Just…drop it.”

“Oh come on!” she cried suddenly, startling me. “You almost killed one of my friends, give me something!!”

“I told you that was a count-”

“Eddy,” she interrupted, looking me straight in the eye with a serious, no-nonsense stare. I almost found myself withering under those piercing violet eyes. It was like she was peering into my soul. “You and I both know that’s a blatant lie.” She pointed to my right pocket, where the bulge of the 910 contained inside was showing. “Is that your ‘counter-surprise’ device?”

“How did you-”

“I saw when you withdrew it.”

“…yea, it is. What about it?” I was on guard, though it probably served no purpose at this point. I had the strongest hunch she had figured it out, and I was caught red-handed.

“Let me see it,” she said more so than asked.

“No.”

“Then that proves it.”

“Proves what!?”

“The only tech you said I couldn’t see was weapon tech. If you don’t want me to see it, then that’s the only thing it could be, a weapon; a terrifying one at that. I only saw the hole the projectile left in the wall, not the projectile itself.” ‘Damn this woman is clever! Don’t think I’m worming my way outta this.’

“You know, it could just be a personal item I don’t want you to see.”

“Then which is it?” she asked, her gaze never leaving mine. “A personal item or a weapon?” ‘She knows…fuck!’

“Alright Twilight!” I cried out, exasperated. “I over-reacted! I assessed the situation wrong and made a bad call! Are you happy now!?”

“No!” she replied, glaring at me. “This only confirms my suspicion that you did almost kill my friend! Of course I’m not happy!” The glaring contest continued, though deep down I knew that I didn’t really have a right to be angry, I just was. After a while, her gaze softened.

“Look, I know this isn’t easy for you, and I’m not going to pretend I know what you’re going through. But please, let me help you. I don’t know what’s bothering you now, or what’s wrong on Earth, and I’ll stay ignorant unless you say something.” She did make a strong argument, and I knew her request was not unreasonable. That said though, how do I explain the horrors of Earth to her in a way that wouldn’t cause her to recoil in disgust?

“…Look, humanity made a…‘mistake’ four years ago,” I began. “It was really ugly, and I don’t want to talk in detail about it. Just know that bad things happened.”

“Are bad things still happening now?”

“…Maybe.”

“Is…is that why you have to return?”

“…Perhaps.” I was really uncomfortable giving her all this information. I was even more surprised and uncomfortable that she had managed to get me to talk, even if my answers were…vague, at best. I didn’t want to tell her anything! I looked over and saw Twilight staring up at the sky, lost in thought. Guess she wasn’t sharing the same mental turmoil I was, but then again I couldn’t really tell. I joined her, basking in the light from the full moon and enjoying the vast array of stars.

“…The night sky’s really beautiful here,” I commented. Twilight glanced over.

“Does it look the same on Earth as it does here?” she asked.

“Yea, more or less. I mean, the constellations are probably different, but it’s still stars, planets, and a moon.”

“Who controls your sun and moon?”

“No one.”

“They control themselves!?”

“Yea, it’s all gravity and spinning and all this physics-y stuff that runs our universe. Still can’t believe someone actually controls the sun and moon here; that’s just crazy, at least from an alien’s perspective. I guess this is what you guys are used to, so our universe probably seems equally weird.”

“…I’d love to see it sometime. It sounds fascinating,” she said softly, a small smile on her face.

“Yea…who knows.” God knows how long we sat there, but eventually, the boys came out. Seems they had a good time; they came out chuckling with a small group of mares as the party wound down. A few of them were familiar.

“..So you actually grow your apple trees naturally? No fertilizers, pesticides, etcetera?” asked Edgar.

“I sure as sugar do!” replied Applejack. “Would y’all like ta see it sometime?”

“Yea, that’d be great!” said Jonathon. “As soon as we fix everything back home, we’d love to come over. *Glances over* Eddy, there you are! Where have…oh wow, you actually opened up to someone?” He finished that with a tilt of the head in Twilight’s direction.

“We had a conversation, that’s it,” I replied. “Now come on, it’s late and we’ve got a long day tomorrow.” We said our goodbyes and set off, slowly of course since it was dark. The guys kept pestering me to spill the beans on what happened between Twilight and I, which was annoying. Why is it that when you say ‘nothing happened’ and sincerely mean it, they still don’t believe you? Eventually, we pulled in, Edgar noting the truck now had less than 1/4 tank left. We got inside and went through our nightly routines. The last thing we did was lock all the doors, close all the windows, and turn out the lights. We turned the A/C on; it wasn’t hot outside, felt like early fall weather, but we had all the windows closed.

As I went to bed though, I couldn’t get an image out of my head. It was Twilight, staring up at the stars while being bathed in the soft white light from the moon, a small smile on her face. My brain must be more out of it than I thought. Meh, nothing a good night’s sleep can’t fix.

Perspective: Mike Britowski
Location: Ponyville Outskirts, Equestria
Date: October 27, 2025
7:30a.m.

I was jolted awake when I thought I heard a yell. I listened quietly, trying to hear it again, but the sound never came. I climbed out of bed carefully and ghosted my way out of the room and up the stairs. There was movement above me, letting me know someone was in the attic. Satisfied we weren’t in danger, I walked to the ladder.

“Yo,” I called up the ladder. “Everything alright up there?”

“Yea, everything’s alright,” a voice called down, followed shortly by Eddy descending the ladder. “The pack’s unbalanced, pretty bad too. The wind stopped early yesterday, so we didn’t generate enough power. The pack’s gone critical again. The fridge and freezer will be fine, but don’t expect any A/C today.”

“*Sigh* Well, that’s a shame. Edgar is not going to be happy about that. Any idea when Jon’ll have the biodiesel generator running?”

“He said maybe as early as today, depending on what he finds. We should tell Edgar to start making biodiesel, if possible.” As Eddy was folding the ladder to the attic so the door would close, Jonathon ascended the stairs, a mug of coffee in his hands.

“Morning guys,” he greeted. “Anyone know why the power’s out?”

“Pack’s critical…again,” I replied.

“Well that sucks.”

“Yea, you better get cracking at that generator if you don’t want this to keep happening,” said Eddy. As we discussed our plans for the day, The door to Edgar's room swung open, revealing a very sleepy Edgar. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and scratched his bed-head hair. “Morning,” he said groggily. “It’s kinda muggy in here, someone turn on the A/C.”

“Can’t,” I replied. “There’s no power.”

“Ugh, really? Damn…really could use a coffee right now.”

“No power dude, remember?”

“Right…wait, then how does Jon have one?”

“Instant coffee, heated carefully with that torch you and Mike pulled from the warehouse. If you want, you can have the half-mug that’s left,” Jonathon offered. Edgar thanked him, accepted the mug, and took a sip. “Eh, not bad, I’ve had worse. So what’s on the agenda for today?”

“Well, Jon needs to fix the generator,” I began listing. “Eddy said something about the Ultracap bank needing to be ‘balanced’ or something, I need to re-inventory our ammo supply and clean our guns cause we cycled a lot of rounds through them, and we were hoping you could start making some diesel.”

“Yea, that makes sense,” Edgar said. “One question though; who attends to our guests?”

“Guests?” Jon asked.

“Don’t you remember? Celestia was talking about sending some ponies over to look at our tech.”

“Ah crap, that’s right! I guess Mike’ll let them in and explain that we’re fixing stuff today, and tell them they’re welcome to observe anyone of they’d like.”

“They’re not welcome to observe me,” Eddy muttered.

“Yea uh-huh we’ll let them know,” I dismissed. I would remember to specifically tell one of them to observe Eddy later, just to piss him off. We split, each heading for a different part of the house. I went to my room; a large portion of our stock was moved there yesterday before the children arrived. Eddy climbed the stairs, heading for the attic where the Ultracap bank was. Jonathon stepped outside into the generator shed. A sizable amount of tools followed him in there. Finally, Edgar headed off towards the garage. After all, the chemicals we collected were still loaded into the Model X. As I worked, I made sure to keep an ear out for the door, in case they knocked or rang the doorbell.

30 minutes later

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* Looks like Edgar was right, they came today. I had just lubed up an air rifle’s internals, so I washed my hands quickly before answering the door. There were three ponies at the door, two mares and a stallion. One of the mares had a magenta coat, with a purple mane and tail with a lighter purple and a pink stripe. And…wait.

“Twilight?” I asked more to myself than her. She answered anyways.

“Good morning,” she replied cheerfully. “Is it alright if we come in today?”

“Yes, of course, come in!” I stepped aside as Twilight and the other two ponies stepped in. They weren’t familiar, but judging by the uniform, I could tell they were guards. They acted less edgy than the guards did last time, at least one of them did anyway. Twilight spoke up.

“They insisted on coming despite my several attempts to dissuade them,” she said. “I’m really sorry about this.”

“It’s no problem at all.” I turned to the guards. “Hello there, I’m Mike. Pleased to meet you,” I said, extending out my hand. The stallion went first. He had an orange coat and blue eyes and tail, though his mane (and most of his coat) was hidden under the armor he wore. He was about 5’11” and average build. “Flash Sentry, nice meeting you,” he said kindly. It seems they were friendly after all.

The mare also stepped forth, though much more reluctantly. She sported a white coat, with a light yellow tail and golden eyes. Like her fellow male guard, most of her coat and all of her mane was hidden from sight thanks to the armor. Speaking of which, her armor was exactly like Flash’s, but more contoured to comfortably fit the female body. She was a little shorter than Flash, maybe 5’9”, and was of average build as well. She extended her hand tentatively. “Sword Smith,” was all she said as she shook my hand. 'I wonder if suspicious, cynical people get along. Maybe she’d like to meet Eddy?'

“Well, we’re busy today cleaning up and repairing the place after the trip over messed things up,” I partially lied in order to stick to the fib we told everyone yesterday. We were cleaning, but other circumstances were responsible for the mess. “You guys are welcome to observe as you please, though I must ask you to refrain from entering that room. *I point to my room* A large part of our weapon stock is in there, and I really need to inventory it today.”

Edgar came in at that moment. “Ah, the scientists have come to observe their latest lab rats, have they?” he said. Twilight’s face flushed red and she began stuttering.

“No wait…that’s not…I mean it’s not-”

“Whoa, relax. I was just playing around,” he said, chuckling. He then glanced past Twilight. “Oh? Seems you brought company. And who are these two fine-looking guards?” I introduced him to everyone, Flash once again being much friendlier than Sword. We ran through the plan for today, and I think it was at this point that Edgar realized that to make biodiesel, he would have to find some vegetable oil in town.

“Flash, I have a favor to ask of you,” said Edgar. “Mind accompanying me into town? I don’t know my way around. Plus...well, I’m not sure how the townspeople will react to a human wandering the streets alone. Not everyone knows of us.”

“Yea, I’ll come with,” he replied. Sword wasn’t too keen on that.

“Flash, you’re leaving Twilight and me alone with them?” she asked incredulously. Flash surprised everyone by quickly wheeling around.

“Sword Smith, I’ve had just about enough of this ‘dangerous humans’ nonsense! Enough!” ‘…awkward…’ He quickly calmed down, and turned once again to face us. He seemed a little embarrassed about his outburst. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid she was getting on my last nerve. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to have somepony who constantly mistrusts and talks trash about aliens when they’ve done nothing wrong?”

I couldn’t help laughing at the coincidence. “Yes I do!” I blurted out. “Eddy’s the exact same way!” We shared a laugh then, well, except Sword. She left, grumbling something about ‘checking up on the hidden human outside’. Flash was accompanying Edgar to the garage, when he said the carriage that brought him could take them there. Edgar accepted, his truck’s critical fuel level deciding for him. After they left, it was just Twilight and me in the living room.

“So…” she began.

“Don’t worry, I’ll find something for you to do,” I replied. ‘Let’s see now, Edgar’s gone now, she can’t observe me for reasons obvious, and Jonathon’s about to get company. That leaves…’ I know this was an evil plan, and Eddy was going to hate me for it, but I couldn’t help it. I faced Twilight and motioned her closer to me.

I knew exactly who I was sending up to see Eddy.

Perspective: Eddy Culivin
Location: Ponyville Outskirts, Equestria
Date: October 27, 2025

“This has to be the most poorly balanced pack I have seen in a long time,” I muttered grimly to myself aloud. Let me break it down: each Ultracapacitor is referred to as a “Cell”, each producing 3 volts with tens of thousands of Farads of storage capacity. 40 of these wired in series are known as a “Bank”, producing 120 DC volts. Lots of banks are wired in parallel to produce the “Pack”, and the pack coupled with control/monitoring circuits and the DC/AC converter become the “System”. Each cell should be at the same voltage, but the monitoring circuits atop each cell beg to differ. Ten LEDs on each circuit gives a rough indication of the charge. Most are at 1 LED, but some cells are as high as 3 or down to zero!

“*Sigh* the trip over must’ve really fucked with the system.” There was some quiet conversation going on downstairs; I suppose the ‘guests’ have arrived. Ugh, I’m still not comfortable with the whole ‘being friends with them’ idea. I felt like the rest of the guys have taken too quick a liking to them, for reasons unbeknownst to me. They also seemed to like us, though I strongly suspect the reason for that is so that we share our tech with them. It’s all self-interest! The volume of the conversation downstairs increased, then silenced, then started up again. Not that I cared though; I already left specific instructions to not send anyone up. My friends would honor that request…right? The soft thudding sounds below me alerted me to the presence of someone on the second floor. One of the guys must’ve come to inform me or check my progress.

“Watch your step, cables everywhere!” I called over my shoulder and returned my attention back to the control panel.

“Thanks for the warning,” replied the voice as its owner climbed the ladder to the attic. It’s funny actually, for a moment I could have sworn one of the guys sounded very feminine. Now interested in who was coming up, I peeled away from the panel, and watched the entry-hole in the floor. Purple hair pokes through…’why me…’

“Twilight?” I asked, making a mental note to thoroughly chew out my friends for this later. She just smiled in response, before pulling herself up the rest of the way into the attic. You know, if one thought about it, I really should’ve seen this coming. Celestia needs to send someone observant, intelligent, and thorough in their note-taking to observe us. Someone she trusts, someone who reports directly to her. Who better than her personal student Twilight?

“Mike said you were up here,” said Twilight while looking around. “These metal cylinders look really advanced. What are they? What do they do?” I was just going to kick her out , to tell her that I was incredibly busy and didn’t have time for this, but something stopped me: genuine curiosity. You see, my friends’ hobbies were always considered “cool” and earned them a lot of attention. Edgar could blow stuff up, Mike had his collection of guns, and Jonathon worked on some really nice cars. Circuit-making wasn’t considered ‘cool’, and I was always labeled a nerd because of it. Seeing someone genuinely curious about electronics resonated with something in me. Maybe she could sense this and was playing me to get information; after all, I don’t know how magic works. But I caved in regardless.

“…Well, since you’re not going to leave anytime soon, put these on and follow me,” I said, tossing her a pair of thick rubber gloves to insulate her hands from the current. I led her back to the control panel. On the display, a “5%” was flashing red, indicating the pack’s sorry state. The panel also contained the main disconnect for the pack, as well as the switches to disconnect the individual banks and re-wire the cells within each in parallel, which would equalize the voltage in all the cells. That’s what I had to do now.

“You familiar with electricity?” I asked.

“Yes. It’s used in certain offensive spells, and the weather team uses it all the time to create lightning,” she replied. ‘Create lightning? Well that’s a question I’m definitely going to need the answer to, but perhaps later.’

“Well in this house, a lot of the devices and appliances, as well as the lights use electricity as energy to do stuff. These cylinders here are the storage for that power, and right now they’re all out of whack.”

“What happened to them?”

“Well I’m not sure about this, but I think the trip over screwed with them. It’s either that, or they were neglected for a while. Anyways, each cell, that what the cylinders are called in this context, is supposed to have the same voltage as the rest, but they don’t.”

“Voltage?”

‘Right…’ “Uh, the potential difference. Voltage is the unit we humans use to measure it.”

She cast her gaze over the myriad of cells in the room, contemplating something. She then turned to me. “I see. You said the ‘voltage’ in each of the ‘cells’ is different. Is that why some of these cells have a different number of lights lit up than the rest?”

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I was maybe somewhat enjoying explaining things to someone competent. ‘What’s happening to me? No no, I’m only enjoying a nice conversation, that’s all.’ “You catch on fast, that’s correct. The reason I’m up here is to balance them all out.”

I glanced over at Twilight, who was observing the circuitry on the Ultracaps. “Hey Twilight,” I began. She looked up and made eye contact. “Listen, don’t tell anyone about what I told you about Earth yesterday. I know this sounds stupid, but…I don’t want anyone to know what’s happening on Earth.”

“You have my word,” she replied with a smile. “After all, losing a friend's trust is the fastest way to lose a friend-”

Suddenly, the blue panel that covers the A/C filter exploded open, an unrecognizable mass of pink skin and curly hair emerging from the opening. “FOR-E-VER!!” the thing screeched.

“AAAAAHH, what the fuck!?” I yelled, tripping and falling on my ass. The thing disappeared into the hole, and Twilight was…she was laughing? I fail to see what’s so funny!

“That was just Pinkie,” she said in-between giggles. ‘NOT. FUNNY. I knew I should’ve killed it with fire at the party!’

“Yo, everything alright up there?” Mike called from the base of the ladder

“Yea, just got startled, that’s it.”

“You sure? That was a pretty loud yell.”

“Don’t you have bullets you need to be counting?”

“Yeesh, alright, I’ll go.”

“And you’re not off the hook buddy,” I called after him. “I’m giving everyone a verbal beat-down tonight!”

I got up and walked to the A/C unit. Grabbing the blue panel, I proceeded to install it back into the unit. Twilight, who had finally stopped giggling, walked up beside me. “So, how are we going to balance the pack?”

I could continue explaining with words, but since I was actually going to balance the pack anyways, I might as well show her. “Here, step up to the panel and I’ll explain…”

Perspective: Jonathon Burley
Location: Ponyville Outskirts, Equestria
Date: October 27, 2025

“With every mistake we must surely be learning,

Still my guitar gently weeps.”

My headphones were playing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, originally by The Beatles, but I preferred the Santana version, which is the one I’m listening to. Seriously, that man can sing with just his instrument! It’s incredible-

“Answer me human!”

“Whoa! …Hey, didn’t see you there.” Standing at the doorway was a female guard, fully clad in armor and wielding a spear. She looked kinda pissed, though as to why, I don’t know.

“I called out to you and you ignored me,” she said. ‘Oh, well that explains it.’ “Why didn’t you acknowledge me when I first called you?”

“I couldn’t hear you; earphones,” I replied, pointing to the black JVC’s in my ear. She huffed, but said nothing more. I currently had the head of the engine off, and was carefully scrubbing the top of the pistons down. Thinking the conversation was over, I went back to that.

“What are you doing, human?” she asked.

“Nothing, just cleaning, pony.”

“I have a name!” she hissed.

“As do I,” I responded nonchalantly. She glared at me, fuming, but was unable to counter my point. If she used my name, I would use hers. She crossed her arms and took a seat at the opposite end of the room, refusing to look at me anymore.

“Jonathon,” I said, not taking my eyes off of my work.

“What?”

“My name. Jon is fine too.” There was an awkward silence after that, so I returned to scrubbing the pistons. I had set aside my iPod at this point; using it now would just be plain rude. Oh well, I guess Santana can wait.

“Sword Smith…” she answered reluctantly.

“Interesting name.”

“Yea? Why’s that?”

“Well, I’m not sure if this is the norm here, but from what I’ve gathered about this world, your name has something to do with your profession. Applejack is an apple farmer, Bon-Bon makes sweets, Roseluck sells flowers; see the trend? What I’m getting at is that your name implies you make weapons, rather than wield them.” Silence…

“So? Did you used to work as a smith?” More silence…ugh, well back to work I g-

“Yea,” she finally answered. After that she let me work for a while. I thought about saying something at times, but what do I say? How do I strike up conversation with someone who doesn’t like me very much? She seems to hate me, for reasons I don’t even know. Was it because I ignored her? *Sigh* I guess I’ll never know. She wasn’t distracting and didn’t touch anything while she sat there (thankfully), but I kept noticing she eyed the small three-cylinder with curiosity. The observation gave me an idea. I waited until she glanced at the engine again.

“Curious?” I asked with a knowing grin. Again, she didn’t answer, but I saw her nod almost imperceptibly.

“If you sit over here, I can show you how it works.”

“No.”

“You don’t want to know?”

“I don’t trust you. Who knows what you’ll do to me.”

“Ah well, can’t help you there. I hope that corner’s comfortable.” It took her a little bit, but she finally gave in and inched over and sat down next to me.

“You better not try anything funny, or I’ll beat you into the ground!” she said.

“You have my word,” I replied calmly. I had no reason to fear that threat if I really wasn’t going to do anything ‘funny’. “Now then, this machine right here is called an Internal Combustion Engine, or I.C.E. for short…”

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Ponyville, Equestria
Date: October 27, 2025

The carriages here, especially the royal ones, were quite interesting. Apparently (and this was explained to me when I asked the question on the way here), only ‘animals’ walk on four legs; there are no horses and such to draw carriages. So the ponies strap themselves in and pull! Talk about culture shock, but I needed to get to town, and I’d rather not walk. In the case of this royal chariot, four pegasi pulled it along, so we were flying. Flying! It was unbelievable! It was awesome and terrifying at the same time, which only made it more fun. Is that weird? Anyways, the chariot seemed to defy gravity and float behind the pegasi rather than hang from them, like it should do. Eventually we touched down in Ponyville, the locals staring at the chariot. Whether it was because it was royal or because I was on it I had no clue.

“Thanks guys, that was so awesome!” I exclaimed to the pegasi that pulled us along.

“First time riding a chariot?” one of them asked.

“One that flies, yea,” I responded. He laughed.

“Glad you had fun,” he said. I thanked him once more and Flash and I set off. Just then, my stomach started rumbling.

“Heh, whoops,” I said, embarrassed. “Haven’t had lunch yet.

“What do humans eat?” Flash asked.

“A lot of things, but it’s ok. I’ll eat when I get back.” Flash however, wasn’t having any of that.

“The princess allotted you guys a budget for letting Twilight study your tech,” he said. “Let’s go eat somewhere, it’ll be fine.”

I would have to remember to thank the princess next time I saw her. I admit, working on an empty stomach probably wasn’t going to do me any favors, and this would be a chance to try some of the local cuisine.

“Ok sure, but let’s go somewhere where we can get a quick bite to eat,” I said. Flash took me into a local equivalent of a fast-food place. A fair bit of the townspeople still looked at me funny, but ignored them. I guess they’re still not used to us yet. Thankfully, Flash was there; I wouldn’t have wanted to walk in here alone. As we waited in line, the attention I was getting slowly dissipated, which I was most thankful for. I began looking at the menu when we were close.

“Have you ever tried hay fries?” Flash asked.

“Well, humans don’t eat hay, so not really,” I responded. “The veggie burger looks good though.”

“Alright, I’ll go order. Just wait over there.”

“Thanks.” Flash went up to order, and that’s when I learned that their currency was what appeared to be gold coins! Wow, I’d really need to remember to ask Flash about that later. Then again, gold is useless back on Earth. Not much to buy when the economy’s collapsed.

I also noticed something else, something really important that, unlike the gold, was actually very useful right now. I walked up to the cashier next to Flash.

“Excuse me ma’am,” I began. “I couldn’t help but notice; is the oil you’re frying the fries in…vegetable oil?” The cashier looked a bit uncomfortable, probably because I was human.

“Um, yes sir…why?”

“Do you just, you know, throw the oil away when you change it?”

“Well, it collected in barrels until the ponies responsible for disposing of it take it away.” The cashier was very confused, and understandably so. I don’t suppose many customers walk in asking that. But to me however, I know that I just hit the jackpot! I placed my hands on the counter, leaned in very close, and spoke in a low voice.

“I’m going to need every barrel of waste oil you’ve got.”

Author's Note

I finally found time to finish this chapter! Sorry for the delay everyone, college sucks like that sometimes, and you know, life happens. Don't worry though, I don't plan on dropping this story like I've unfortunately seen other good authors do (makes me sad). Thanks for staying with me, and there's more on the way!

Chapter 11: A True Nightmare Night (Part 2)

Perspective: Eddy Culivin
Location: Southern United States, 15 miles from town
Date: March 7, 2023

There was darkness, an all-powerful all-consuming darkness that surrounded me. I would assume I was dead, but the agonizing pain was an all-too-real reminder that I was in fact, very much alive. A sudden burst of pain from my stomach brought me back to my senses, light blinding me as I rolled from the kick. When my eyes readjusted, I found myself up looking at the ugly, scarred face of Burt.

Burt (like his lackeys Kyle, Ben, and Gustavo) had no home, no family, no last name (at least he never told us). They showed up in town a while back, and we took them in. They pulled their weight, and became just another part of the town. Yesterday, they casually remarked that there was a large ammo depot here, but it was locked down. Edgar, Mike, Jon and I offered to help, and they eagerly accepted. Too bad we had no clue what they had planned for us. Despite his appearance, Burt can seem like a nice guy when he smiles. As I was dragged to my feet from behind though, I was assured that he, and his lackeys for that matter, was a terrible excuse for a human being as I beheld the sight before me.

Mike and Jon laid strewn about, appearance similar to lifeless ragdolls on the ground. Mike had a nasty bruise on the side of his head, while Jon sported a bleeding cut on the back of his. Jon laid face down, Mike to the side. Both were out cold, and had dropped their weapons out of reach.

Edgar meanwhile was somehow conscious still, though for his sake, I wish the poor guy wasn’t. He’s a stubborn idiot when it comes to his friends; it stems from his fierce loyalty. Said dedication however, caused him to try and pick a fight with our ‘friends’. The worst part was not being able to do anything about it; they still needed me, so they bound me, slammed me face-first into the ground, and lightly persuaded me into submission rather than straight-up beating me into unconsciousness.

Looking at Edgar now, I could tell the man refused to go down. Blood poured profusely from his (probably broken) nose, staining his bruised face and swollen lips and gums. He would probably have two black eyes later, assuming we would live that long anyways. His clothes were dirty and torn, evidence that he had been kicked around on the ground. Multiple cuts decorated his entire body, which he might have gotten from being dragged around on the ground, where shards of broken glass laid. He was slumped against the wall to my left and, despite his injuries, still attempting to stand, much to Kyle’s displeasure.

“You piece of shit! You just don’t know when to quit, do you?” Kyle spat out as he started walking towards Edgar, only to be stopped quickly.

“Relax my friend,” Burt almost sing-songed cheerfully. “Look at him, he can’t even get up. Ignore him; he will cause no further trouble. This one is the one we need.”

He spun around and practically beamed at me. Still unable to move properly, Gustavo ‘supported’ me (restrained is the better term) by placing the middle his arms at the base of mine, folding them up to lock my shoulders in his arms, and hoisting me up. Even in my dazed state, I managed a glare in his direction.

“Now Eddy, I need you to finish what you started,” said Burt, gesturing to the door. You see, this was a modern ammo depot; unlike the other storages which were simply clearings with the munitions stored outside, this was a proper building, with- unfortunately -a proper security system. The final door was solid metal, with a keypad to unlock the door. The only reason we were able to get in was because there was no power.

“You know, you’re not very smart,” I coughed out. His grin faltered just a bit. “You should’ve waited for me to have opened the door before betraying us. I ain’t doing jack shit for you!” Burt frowned, and I closed my eyes. Maybe the pain from the beating wouldn’t be as bad if I didn’t see it happen. An illogical thought, but one can hope, right? When the beating didn’t come, I allowed myself a small peek. Carefully, I opened my eyes just a hair. Burt was grinning again. Crap.

“My poor unfortunate fool,” he began while very slowly, step by agonizingly-slow step, walking away from me. “If I had waited, we would have had to have chased you four through the crates, and a nasty firefight would’ve occurred. This was the easier way to deal with you four. As for working…”

He spun around and withdrew a sharp and very nasty looking eight-inch blade. “…I have a few options when it comes to you.” I looked at him, terrified out of my mind. I kept a brave face on though.

“Hah! It’ll take a lot more than that to make me do your dirty work,” I sneered. “You can go ahead and cut me up; I’m not unlocking that door.”

“Oh?” he said while chuckling.

“Who said this knife was for you?”

With that he slammed the blade in to the ground. The ground mere inches from Mike’s face. He glanced up mirthfully at my shocked face. I lost my shit.

“You fucking sick son of a bitch!” I roared, ignoring the burning sensation the effort of screaming in my current state caused. The fury that boiled the blood within me made me feel like I could punch a hole through his fucking chest if given the chance. Sadly, I was nowhere near full strength right now, and I’m not a very big guy to begin with. I’ll let you guess how much trouble Gustavo had in holding my temper tantrum back. “You leave him out of this! This is between you and me!” Ignoring me, he pivoted the knife on its tip until the blade was resting on Mike’s cheek, and pulled up, making a thin cut. A single drop of crimson blood began to seep out, growing at the base of the cut until it was large enough to roll down his cheek.

“Oh my,” he gasped, mockery dripping from every word. “It seems this knife is rather sharp! Your friend wouldn’t do to well if I used this on him.” He went in for another cut. I lashed out again, to no avail. “How about this?” he said, suddenly withdrawing the knife from Mike’s face. “You open that door and stay out of our way, and I’ll let you guys live. It’s a win-win situation, no? I get munitions, you and your friends get to scrape by in that miserable town you all call home for another couple of years, at least until it gets wiped out.” I didn’t really have much of a choice if I wanted to live, but I still needed to know…

“How do I know you won’t go back on your word?” I asked.

“Well, you’ll just have to trust me.”

“Oh yea, because that worked so great for us last time!” Without warning, Burt grabbed Mike by the face and roughly lifted his head a foot off the ground, pressing the knife against his throat.

“I could slit his throat if you prefer,” he growled.

“NO WAIT DON’T!… Alright, alright I’ll do it, just…don’t hurt him, please.” As quickly as the sudden anger flare had come, it had gone. Immediately, his trademark stupid grin returned, and he dropped Mike.

“Excellent!” he cried out. I motioned to Gustavo with a tilt of my head. “Right, can’t work like that. Release him, but watch him closely. Kyle, watch the door. Ben, go check for any ‘unwanted visitors’. *Turns to me* you see Eddy? Everything is so much easier if you play along.”

Deciding a smart-ass reply would do me no good, I chose to remain quiet and instead reached for my tool bag. I grabbed a nifty little tool I’ve had since it came out in 2018, an advanced portable logic analyzer. Using a series of inputs, the analyzer monitors the circuit and its output for changes, then reports the circuit behavior to the user. Using this, I can figure out which buttons trigger the unlock signal. Within 15 minutes, I was entering the final digits of the code.

“4, 9, and 6.”

“*BEEP* password accepted,” the computerized voice announced. With a whir, the bolts within the door retracted, and the large hunk of metal was swung open to reveal the brass and lead treasure contained inside. Upon completing my task, I was once again seized by Gustavo, much to my surprise. This was for my friends though, so I quickly stopped struggling.

“There. The door’s open and the ammo’s yours for the taking. Happy?” I said.

“Oh, very much so! Thank you kindly, good sir. Now, as a reward since you’ve been such a good boy, I think I’ll go ahead and kill you first so you don’t have to watch your friends die,” he replied cheerfully.

“AAAHH! You bastard, we had a deal!”

“Oh, but you forget…I’m not a nice guy! HAHAHAHA!” He withdrew his pistol from his belt, a .357 revolver. He angled it so it wouldn’t kill Gustavo along with me. I could feel the cold steel as it pressed against my forehead, the hollow cylinder poised to take my life. This was the end.

“Oh,” Burt said. “I almost forgot to ask. Any last words?”

“You’re a lying, manipulative motherfucker, and I wish I never met you,” I snarled. “How’s that for last wo-”

“Boss, help! *BANG BANG* Infected, they’re here!”

“What!?” Burt yelled, all traces of that jovial persona he had moments ago now gone. “Ah shit. Kyle! Go help Ben; we’ll take care of this trash.” Kyle nodded, before running towards the source of all the screaming and gunfire. Burt turned back towards me, an irritated look adorning his face. “Well, I wanted to take my time and play around a little, but it seems I’ll be killing you and the rest of those miserable pigs now. First you, then Edgar for all the trouble he’s…where did that pathetic little rat go!?” Sure enough, a quick glance to the left confirmed that Edgar had indeed disappeared.

“Should’ve killed me while you had the chance,” a voice declared to the right of me.

“What the-”

*BANG!*

The gunshot was very quickly followed by the relieving of the metal cylinder from my forehead. Burt jerked back to face the attacker, gripping his hand (or what was left of it) and trying to control the heavy bleeding. He had a wild look on his face, a whole mix of emotions: anger, shock, and my favorite, fear. ‘Payback time Burt.’

“IT HURTS!” he screamed uncontrollably. “IT HURTS YOU FUCKER! KILL HIM! KILL HIM RIGHT NO-”

*BANG BANG BANG!*

Burt’s chest exploded open in a shower of red chunks and blood. The bullets ripped mercilessly through him, bringing ol’ Burt to his knees, then to the ground. The Infected can have his rotting corpse for all I care.

I decided to capitalize on the shock Edgar induced. Remembering the shotgun slung over Gustavo’s shoulder, I formulated a plan and took action. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, allowing me to ignore enough pain to function again. Digging my feet in, I propelled myself, and by consequence Gustavo, backwards until he slammed against the wall. I used the top of my head to force his chin up, pinning his head against the wall. At the same time, I reached behind him and grabbed ahold of the nylon fiber pistol grip of the shotgun, angling the weapon straight up.

“This is for fucking with my friends!”

*BOOM!*

A feeling of freedom rushed over me as the body that once held me captive was now dropping down. Shortly after, a few skull fragments and bits of organic tissue came down, but I paid them no mind. My attention was drawn elsewhere.

Infected were beginning to storm the room we were in. Leading the pack were none other than Infected Ben and Kyle themselves.

“Edgar, we gotta keep them off of Mike and Jon!” I called out.

“One step ahead of you, here!” he replied as he tossed me a pistol. Upon closer examination, I realized it was mine, the one these goons made me surrender. I had a better idea though. I kicked over the headless corpse, and removed Mr. Boomstick from his back.

*Cha-chick!* Come on, who doesn’t love the sound of a 12-gauge racking?

Edgar and I split, each taking a side and making sure not to shoot each other as we fired into the horde. The first to go were, of course, Ben and Kyle. I made sure Edgar got Kyle, just for a little revenge. Beyond that, it was keeping the horde from consuming us and our downed friends.

Explosions rang out in the room, bouncing off the walls and echoing before quickly getting replaced by another, then another. ‘Clinks’ and “thumps’ could be heard between the explosions, as the spent brass or shells were ejected. Walls were stained and broken. Piles of corpses littered the ground, as the horde fell before us.

But they just kept coming, with seemingly no end in sight.

“Eddy!” Edgar yelled over the gunfire. “Mike and Jon; they’re up!” ‘Finally, some good news!’ Blowing a hole in the Infected crowd, I quickly made my way to Edgar’s side. Along the way, I made sure to pick up two important items we would need very soon.

“About time you joined in!” I joked, still having to yell over Edgar’s gunfire. “You alright?” I asked as I handed them each their pistols.

“Yea we’re still kicking!” Jonathon replied.

“Well then hurry and get up! We need all the help we can-”

“Eddy behind you!” I spun around to come almost face to face with a group of 5 Infected. Reacting quickly, I brought the shotgun up.

*BOOM! Cha-chick! BOOM! Cha-chick! BOOM!*

*Cha…*

“What the hell!” I screamed in a combination of frustration and fear as the pump refused to close. A quick look through the breech confirmed it; there was a shell stuck in the chamber while the shotgun was trying to feed another into it. The extraction of the spent shell had failed, and the shotgun had jammed. I reached for my pistol. I wasn’t fast enough.

*BANG!* *Crunch.*

“AAHHH!”

“No! Eddy!” The agony was excruciating. I could almost feel the individual teeth as they dug into my lower forearm, near the wrist. The background around me faded for a few seconds, as the shock of what happened got to me. Is this it? Is it really over for me?

…

‘No, I will not wallow in self-misery. If I’m going out, might as well go down kicking and screaming all the way!’ The world rushed back like a torrent, all senses going into overdrive. I was acutely aware of teeth still in my arm; time to fix that. Hot steel met its forehead. “Fucking let go already!”

*BANG!*

The upper part of its head erupted into a mess of bone and tissue as the bullet tore through it, its grip on my arm slackening enough for me to yank it free. I wheeled around and spinning-kicked (rather poorly, but still) the corpse away from me.

“Don’t worry about me, shoot!” I yelled at my concerned friends. They snapped out of their daze, quickly returning to clearing the room. There were only stragglers remaining, and now with the help of Mike and Jon, they were quickly dealt with. While the others took a more conservative approach to eliminating Infected, I was already bitten, so I figured ‘why not’, ran up to them, and blasted them in the face. My arm started going numb, but I ignored it and pushed on. I had to. When the last Infected dropped though, my legs gave out suddenly, and I dropped right with it. My friends were upon me in an instant.

“Guys,” I coughed out pathetically. “I’m not…feeling like a hundred percent here.”

“Oh shit, Oh shit, Oh shit,” was Edgar’s mantra as he helplessly stared down at me. “We can’t shoot him, he can’t die like this!”

“Edgar,” Mike said, trying to grab Edgar’s attention. The poor guy was hyperventilating and in full panic mode though, I’m not surprised he didn’t hear his name.

"He’s our best friend, there has to be a way to save him!"

“Edgar!”

"We have to save him guys, we-”

“EDGAR!” This finally silenced him. At this point my vision was beginning to slightly blur, before returning to normal, only for it to blur again moments later. “Pull your shit together, and maybe we can save him! Listen up. The Infection can only take him if he’s dead, so it’s trying to kill him right now. The Infection’s vulnerable at this point; if we can get him proper medical care fast enough, they can hold off the Infection, and it will die due to lack of host. We have some time since he was only bitten once and not ripped apart or injured repeatedly, but we gotta move now, so enough with the mental breakdowns!”

Edgar took a deep breath, and nodded while exhaling. “OK, let’s do it,” he said. “Jon! Make sure our path is clear, we’ve got Eddy!” I was picked up and assisted out of the building. There were a few remaining Infected, so I raised my arm…with considerable effort? Why was my body not responding to me? I tried shooting a few of them, but I may as well have been trying to hit an apple at 50 yards while drunk. I actually got three. I had 18 rounds.

“Ineea new mag,” I slurred. ‘Damn, not even my mouth is working correctly!’

“Eddy,” Edgar said, taking my pistol, reloading it, but holstering it rather than handing it to me. “That’s enough, just focus on staying conscious.” The old, beat-up suburban we rode in on came into view. Well, sorta. As soon as we exited the building, the sun blinded the hell out of me, which was strange since it wasn’t even that dark in there.

I was gently put in the middle row, Edgar staying back with me. Now able to see better with a roof over my head, I noticed my vision was constantly blurred now, and was getting worse.

“Eddy, you alright?” Edgar, at least I think it was Edgar, asked. It sounded like I was at one end of a tunnel, and the rest of the world was at the other end. Every sound had a ringing echo to it, and without sight, it was hard to tell what was what. I opened my mouth to respond, but my lips refused to move. Too weak to talk, I could only nod my head as the world around me started growing quieter and darker. ‘Well, at least I gave it my all. Only one thing left to do now.’

Putting in a final burst of strength, I withdrew my pistol with one hand, while flailing around with the other till I found Edgar’s hand. I pushed the pistol into his hand, nodding once. I’m sure he’d understand. I could tell it would tear at his heart to do this, but I’ll be damned if I turn into one of those things!

I could see the blurry silhouette of Edgar violently shaking his head, and screaming ‘No, no, stay with me you idiot!’. My lips tugged upwards into a broken smile for perhaps the last time, trying to let him know that it was alright; he did his best. I didn’t want to die, I really didn’t. But as much as I tried to cling to consciousness, I was too weak to hold on to it any longer.

The last thing I heard was ‘Eddy? Eddy!? Mike, floor it!’. Then everything went dark.

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Town Square, Ponyville, Equestria
Date: October 31, 2025

Silently watching the disk of light collapse, I brought my hand to my face; there was something on it. Pulling my hand back, I realized it was wet. Can you blame me though? That had been one of, if not the scariest day of my life. We were told he survived by sheer force of will to live, and perfect timing. It was so close, the doctors didn’t even know if he turned or not. He woke up with a pistol in his face. Words can never describe the relief I felt that day when he swatted the pistol away and yelled at the guy holding it.

It took a bit, but my brain finally remembered that it wasn’t rehashing bad memories; we were watching this memory happen, quite literally. And perhaps most importantly, 60-80 ponies, including one of the princesses, had watched that with us. I didn’t want to, but eventually we’d need to face the ponies. I turned slowly. Didn’t look too good out there.

In a world full of peaceful, fun-loving humanoid ponies, the scene on the screen was quite the shocker, to say the least. For a large portion of them, the events were simply too much for them. Quite a few passed out, most of their bodies rejecting the contents of their stomachs before dropping. A few lucky ones didn’t have regurgitated food next to them. The children had long since run away; Burt’s chest bursting open was the end of the story for them. Even the adults had backed away from the human on stage.

But out of all the ponies, Luna looked the most terrified of all. She was visibly trembling, and her pupils had somehow shrunken to pinpoints, which in and of itself was kind of disturbing to see (just imagine that happening on a human, and you’ll see what I mean). The damp fur that clung to her forehead was evidence of heavy sweating. She was staring at Eddy, all the while slowly shaking her head. Eddy met her terrified gaze.

“And that my dear, is why you can’t scare me, no matter what you do,” he said with a grin, oddly similar to Burt. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I believe there were apple pies around here somewhere, and I’m starving!”

“Human, w-wait!” Luna called after him, but his back was already turned, and he was heading away from her.

“Nope. Hungry,” was his only reply. Just like that he left everyone, scarred and disturbed, left them to figure out how to heal that mental wound to their sanity. For fucking apple pie. He stopped in front of a special mare though, a certain unicorn with a purple coat. Guess who.

“Aww, what’s wrong Twilight?” he mocked. He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, but the poor frightened mare would have none of that. She flinched and jumped backwards, nearly losing her balance. Rather than upset Eddy, his wicked grin only seemed to grow. “But Twilight,” he gasped, acting sarcastically surprised. “If you’re too afraid to be near me, how will you ever collect those all-too-important notes on your test subjects for Celestia?” When she didn’t respond, he chuckled, and disappeared down the road in search of that food stand.

Slowly, I trekked towards the stage. No one (the few left and conscious anyways) got in the way; in fact, they did just the opposite. A wooden ‘thunk’ sounded as I hopped up on the raised stage. The sound quickly caught Luna’s attention.

“Princess Luna,” I started kind of awkwardly. “I’m…terribly sorry for what you had to see. Eddy’s imagination is certainly wild isn’t it?” I tried a chuckle, but Luna didn’t really find it all that funny. “…Ahem, so, uhh, I noticed you were trying to tell Eddy something. Was it, you know, something one of us could answer?”

At this she looked around, though for what purpose, I had no clue. “Human, please follow me,” she said. She took my hand, leading me to a corner of town not being used by the celebration. I could still feel her trembling a bit through the hand that gripped my own. Eddy must’ve shaken her up something awful. It’ll be a miracle if we can ever show up in this town again without being run away from.

She stopped suddenly and released her grip on my hand. We stopped right under the Equestrian equivalent of a streetlight. The cast iron construction was ornate and very old-looking, and the glowing crystal inside bathed us in a white light. Something tells me however, that we didn’t come here to admire the local lamplights. Call it a hunch…

“Human, I must know,” Luna began. “Were…were any of those images real?”

“No,” I lied through my teeth. “Luna, Infected? Come on, that’s ridiculous!”

“DO NOT TRIFLE WITH ME HUMAN!” she boomed. The anger quickly dissipated, and was replaced by anxiety once again. Breathing deeply, she continued. “Human, I read his mind to pull those images; I do know where those images are coming from. They were…not imagined. They…they came from his memories.” ‘Crap, Eddy didn’t think this through all the way!’ “I will ask once more, and please, do not lie again. Were the images real?”

‘…well shit.’

Chapter 12: Compromise

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Town Square, Ponyville, Equestria
Date: October 31, 2025

“Were the images real?” Luna almost demanded more so than asked. At her full height, though not as tall as Celestia, she stood at least 6’ 5”. When you’re only 5’8”, that’s pretty intimidating. ‘Damn you Eddy for getting me into this!’ I had to find a way to fix this, and quickly. Luna’s no fool; it’ll be hard to deceive her.

“No, they weren’t,” I continued to deny as I thought of some way to get out of this. “The situation you saw never happened.”

“Then why were they in his memories?” Luna continued to pry.

“Some of the stuff was real. For example, the humans were real. The weapons, as well as their capabilities were real, and the location was real. But the situation was definitely imagined. Are you sure all of it came from his memories?”

This got Luna thinking. ‘Yes, a crack in her logic! If I do this right, I can blame this on her mistake.’

“I am fairly certain-”

“I didn’t ask for fairly certain, I said are you sure?”

“…”

“Well?”

“…I cannot be one hundred percent sure,” she finally admitted.

“Well then that explains it. The parts of that story that were real probably came from his memories, and you assumed the rest of it did too because of that,” I bullshitted. I had no idea what I was talking about, but I hoped it sounded convincing enough for her to buy it. Normally, my ability to bullshit has been, shall we say, lackluster at best. Thankfully, Pinkie bought the ‘counter surprise’ excuse. Judging from the thoughtful expression on Luna’s face, I was hoping that inking of deception skill I apparently possessed would manifest itself again.

Luna’s brow was knitted together, as if she was concentrating hard on something. “We…ahem, I believe I can accept that,” she relented, much to my relief. The air in my lungs rushed out in the mother of all sighs. Her stance visibly tensed however, and a look of suspicion overcame her features once again. “However, you said the weapons were real? Neither my sister nor I were aware your weaponry level was so advanced. Why was that hidden from us?”

‘Out of the frying pan and into the fire.’ “Well, we thought it would be unwise to reveal that during peace talks,” I countered.

“For what? So you could take our country by surprise, to lay siege to our lands unhindered? You seem more than capable of causing our subjects harm should you wish it!”

“Wha-no! Of course not! Why would you even think that?”

“Let’s just say we’ve had…experience, with ponies not being who they claim to be, and invasions resulting from that.”

“*Sigh* Princess, I really don’t want to fight about this. We’re not here to cause trouble. We didn’t even choose to come here in the first place! I think we’ve been very tolerant thus far…well, most of us anyways…but still.”

“If you wish to show good will, then surrender all weapons until the time of your departure.”

“Absolutely not! If it’ll help, I’m willing to open discussions again as to what to do regarding the weapons, but we will not surrender them.” I noticed that we had started to draw a small crowd. Not that I blame them; Luna can get quite vociferous when arguing. As a Princess, I’m not exactly sure she’s ever had to argue with anyone to get them to do something she demands. But as much as I like these ponies, I wasn’t about to give them our guns. I know it’s an illogical fear, and I know this’ll kind of sound like Eddy, but a small part of me thinks they’ll use our firearms to keep us here. Celestia didn’t seem to be too pleased with the idea that we were heading home. Twilight probably doesn’t want us to go either (well, I’m not so sure that’s still true anymore, thanks to certain people).

Luna seemed to notice the crowds of ponies as well. “Not here,” she said. “Gather the humans; my sister and I will discuss this further with everypony at your residence.” With that she charged her horn, the glow getting brighter until a *pop* was heard. The light disappeared instantly, along with the Princess of the Night. ‘Great…’

How were we getting out of this one? We had just formed a peaceful…well, not alliance, but a mutual benefit relation. Now, the whole thing’s in jeopardy because Eddy decided to be a dumbfuck and screw it all up! Not good. Not good at all.

I walked lethargically back. The surprisingly-well-maintained dirt road kicked up a minimal amount of dust as I trudged along. I wasn’t in any hurry to get back; I was still thinking about how I was going to explain this to the others. Unfortunately, like all good things, the silence and loneliness came to an end. Mike and Jonathon were standing by a small group of ponies. Thankfully, it seems they were conversing. As I approached, the conversation could be heard.

“So all of it was fake?” a mare asked. Mike chuckled.

“Of course!” he responded. “Eddy’s had some traumatic experiences, so he’s able to imagine some pretty disturbing stuff.” ‘There’s that gifted ability of Mike’s at work again!’

“I’ll say!” added a stallion in the group. “That was the most bucked up thing I’ve ever seen!”

“Mike, Jon, a word?” I called out. They excused themselves from the group.

“What’s up?” Jon asked.

“Get Eddy here first. I don’t want to repeat myself twice.”

“O-k then,” Mike said slowly. He turned around and started to head off, only to immediately stop. “Or not. Speak of the devil.”

“Guys,” said Eddy as he walked up. “You have to try this pie. It’s freakin delicious!” Sure enough, he was carrying an entire pie, eating it a slice at a time.

“Eddy, this is serious!” I cried out.

“Alright, alright. No need to get touchy. What happened?”

“What happened!? You happened! Thanks to that stunt you pulled off, Luna found out that the guns in that ‘imagined scenario’ are real. She is, shall we say, less than pleased.” The ground was suddenly blessed with pastry crumbs, the gooey apple filling spilling out onto the dirt.

“Shit man! Did you tell her?”

“No I didn’t tell her, she figured it out! She was reading your mind dude; she’s able to tell where the images you’re giving her are coming from. I somehow managed spew enough bullshit to mislead her into thinking the scenario wasn’t real-

*Snicker*

-Shut up Mike, I know what happened the last time I bullshitted, so you can just shut it! *Sigh* Well I misled her, but in order to do that, I had to admit that some parts of it were real, like the firearms. Now Celestia and Luna would like to have a ‘talk’ with us-” I started walking back the truck. “-at our house.” I reached the white Ford, only to find the others were still where I left them. “Right now.” No further questions or comments were made as everyone piled in.

Whatever it is the Princesses wanted, we were going to hear in about 10 minutes.

Perspective: Jonathon Burley
Location: Ponyville Outskirts, Equestria
Date: October 31, 2025

“You’re not happy!?” I yelled at Eddy from the front seat. “We’re not happy! We’re the ones getting in trouble for your actions. That little show up there was your doing.”

“I still don’t understand why everyone’s so butt-hurt about this,” Eddy responded. “They asked for a story? They got one. They wanted scary? They got scary! I don’t see the problem here.”

“Eddy, that was too much for them; you knew it would be too,” Mike added, siding with me. At this point it was pretty much Eddy vs. everyone, but the guy was still arguing back, like he’d done nothing wrong. “Don’t act innocent, you exposed a lot of secrets back there, not to mention all the nightmare fuel you gave those ponies and foals. They’ll probably have night terrors about that for years! And don’t get me started on how much of an ass thing to do that was, making us relive one of the worst days of our lives like that. Did you know Edgar waited outside the hospital room, a grown man bawling like a child because he ‘failed to save you’? Why on Earth would you ever make him go through that again!?”

Eddy, for once, shut his mouth. There was nothing he could say to counter that; he knew he fucked up. The remainder of the car ride was ridden in silence. As we pulled up to the house, I could make out two sets of four ponies, along with two chariots. One was white with intricate gold trimming. A sun emblem, made of gold, adorned each side. The chariot was pulled by four white-coated pegasi. The other carriage was almost a mirror image, only it was clad in varying shades of blue, and a moon replaced the sun. Four black-coated bats pulled it…wait. Looking at them, they actually looked like a cross between a bat and a pony. Weird, but kinda cool.

Up on the porch, waiting by the door, were the two all-powerful rulers of Equestria; two ponies that, in any other circumstance, would be very pleasant company. This time however, I wasn’t looking forward to having a conversation with them. It didn’t help that Luna was fully decked out in armor, looking like she was ready to scream bloody murder and charge us at any moment. Celestia (thankfully) was in her normal white, gemstone-and-gold-trimmed dress. She didn’t look angry or upset in the slightest, but because she’s been alive for as long as she has, I can assume her current expression was just her hell of a poker face. She’s probably had centuries to work on it after all.

Edgar decided not to even bother parking the car where it usually goes, and instead pulled up to the chariots and shut the engine off. There were no friendly waves or gestures. There were no smiles. The tension in the air was so thick you could choke on it. Silently, the humans disembarked from the Ford and walked up to the Princesses. A curt nod was all that was exchanged before Edgar pulled out the key and unlocked the door, the well-oiled hinges offering no noise to break the silence. Celestia and Luna’s horns lit up to light the way into the living room; well, at least until I hit the lights. All non-human gazes shot up at the plastic glowing spheres, captivated for a moment by the very bright, electricity-fueled LED lights. Both alicorns powered down their horns.

“Guess these will no longer be required,” said Luna as the last of the glow fizzled out. I was having a bit of a Déjà vu moment. The princesses, as well as the guards, took up the exact same positions they took the first time they visited. Hell, even we were in the same seats!

Celestia cast her neutral gaze over each of us, slowly panning from right to left, until she landed on Eddy.

“My sister has shared with me the images of the ‘story’ you made up,” Celestia began. “I was informed, after watching the story, that the situation was fiction. But the weapons, along with their devastating abilities, were fact. Does this household contain any of these weapons?”

“The house is packed full of ‘em,” replied Eddy. The guards tensed. Eyes began scanning the room. “Heck, I’ve got one on me right now.” The guards leapt up, raising their spears.

“Stand down,” Celestia commanded. It was amazing to see the level of commitment and respect these guards had for their princess. Celestia hadn’t even raised her voice, yet the guards swiftly complied. “Eddy, if I may ask, would you mind placing the weapon in plain sight?”

“Eddy wouldn’t mind at all, right Eddy?” I said. Eddy looked at me for only a moment.

“Yea, sure…” he replied dejectedly, offering no resistance for once as he slowly withdrew the 910, setting it down on the wooden table with a small *thump*. It wasn’t down for two seconds before a golden yellow glow encased the pistol. It levitated up into the air, the handgun majestically floating to eye level with the Solar Princess. The pistol twirled around in the air as Celestia examined it. The reason why she didn’t just grab it with her hands eludes me.

The pistol jerked abruptly as half the glow switched to a deep blue. “Put that thing down sister!” Luna protested. “It’s dangerous!”

“Luna, let go!”

“No, put it down!” The pistol waved around wildly in the air, scaring the ever-living shit out of me, and probably the others too. The loaded weapon spun around, barrel unsafely pointing in all directions as the two struggled with it.

*BANG!* *Ping!*

The cacophony echoed around the living, irritating my ears from lack of hearing protection. The bullet seemed to have found its mark on Celestia’s crown, as the purple-gemmed golden tiara was violently ripped off Celestia’s head. The impromptu projectile crown went sailing into the wall at the opposite end of the room, bouncing off it and hitting the floor with a loud *clank!*. Both colored glows dimmed significantly on the pistol, the weapon ceasing its wild spin in favor of floating absolutely still.

“And that’s why we keep these toys away from children,” Eddy insulted as he yanked the pistol free from both princess’s magical grip. No one even cared or noticed that he just called royalty ‘children’. Dropping the magazine, he racked the slide back to eject the chambered round, before engaging the safety and setting the pistol down again. “Next time, let me know if you’re going to levitate it so I can disarm it first. It’s obvious you have no respect for or knowledge of the firearm, even after seeing what it can do.” He motioned towards the handgun. “Now you can pick it up.”

Celestia hesitated before lifting the weapon once again, this time in her hands. She took care this time not to point the damn thing at anyone. Luna offered no resistance. “Most interesting,” Celestia commented. “If I may ask, how reliable is it?”

“Quite reliable actually,” Mike answered. “Despite many moving parts, a well-maintained gun works great.”

“I see,” Celestia said, placing the handgun on the table. “Now the question arises; what do we do with them?”

“They could surrender them to us,” Luna added hopefully, only to wither from Celestia’s reprimanding gaze.

“Luna, we have already gone over this,” the eldest royal sister said. “The humans have done nothing to earn our distrust in the past couple of days, despite having quite the armory. If they had wanted to try something, they would have already done so. Since they have nothing malicious planned, we will not be taking away these ‘fire arms’, as the humans call them.” She directed her gaze at us. “That said however, I think that for the peace of mind of my sister and I, an agreement should be reached. My personal student visits this house every day, and while I have trust in all of you, her curiosity might get the better of her. I fear for her safety.”

“Well, up until now we’ve simply made the room they’re stored in off-limits. Can’t we just continue to do that?” Mike suggested. Luna shook her head.

“She was unaware before,” she countered. “Now, one of two situations might play out. Either she gets too curious for her own good, or she becomes too frightened to return without some guarantee of her safety. Her dreams tonight should provide insight as to which of these she sides with.”

“No need princess. Seeing how she reacted to Eddy, my guess is, unfortunately, the latter,” I concluded. “We can promise you now princess, we won’t hurt her in any way. However, seeing as some agreement here is preferred over our word, we’re willing to listen to ideas.” For the next twenty minutes, ideas were thrown about and shot down as we all, ponies and humans alike, tried to figure out something that works.

“We could make the fire arms inert until your departure.” (“That would be the same as taking them away. I’m afraid we can’t work with that.”)

“We could show you their inner workings.” (“Equestria has not had a war for a very long time. This technology would only do more harm than good.”)

“We could teach Twilight to shoot.”

This one earned quite some consideration, especially after Mike explained the reasoning. “This way, Twilight will know what they do and how to use one, so she’ll handle them safely if she ever needs to, for reasons beyond me. This’ll satisfy any curiosity, while hopefully dampening her fear of them. She’s currently unfamiliar with them, and you know what they say about fear of the unknown. Finally, we don’t have to show Twilight how the weapon works, only how to operate it, so the exact inner workings remain a secret, like you wanted them to. It’s a win-win: Twilight loses her fear AND sates her curiosity, and we get to keep our guns.”

The royal sisters really thought about this one. It was, in some way, the best idea suggested so far. It might not be the ‘best’ solution for this problem, but it’ll work, and satisfy all the necessary requirements to keep everyone happy. After a little discussing in private (which could apparently be done telepathically for alicorns, as they just looked at each other for a while), Celestia returned her attention to the humans. “And you’re sure Twilight will not be hurt?” she asked.

“The only way she’ll hurt herself is if she doesn’t follow directions,” I assured. “And knowing Twilight, she’s not one to just blow off directions. She’ll be just fine.”

“And the projectiles fired, they will not harm any of our little ponies?” Luna inquired.

“They won’t. The shots will be fired into the forest outside this house, where nothing lives.” Celestia and Luna smiled.

“Very well,” said Luna. “We find these terms acceptable.”

“Excellent,” said Edgar. “Now we just have to discuss who’s going to teach her,” he stated, looking at Mike. It was the obvious choice. I was going to agree with him, but a much better plan popped into my head. I toyed with it for a little bit, weighing options, pros vs. cons, etc. I concluded that it could work, and decided ‘why not’? After all, he did ask for this.

“Hold up a minute Edgar,” I intervened before he could make his choice. “Now I know the obvious choice here is our resident weapons expert Mike, but here me out. Since we’re not teaching Twilight about the guns, only how to shoot, then any one of us can show her just as effectively as Mike can. With that in mind, we need to pick someone she connects with, as she’ll be spending a lot of time with them. She’ll need someone she enjoys being with, the person who’s spent the most time with her thus far.

“Under those criteria, who could be better than the man responsible for this mess in the first place, right Eddy?” Three sets of eyes widened in realization: Mike and Edgar’s in realization of that dastardly fact, while Eddy’s in realization that he was on the chopping block, so to speak.

“Oooh no,” Eddy protested. “Nonono! Definitely not!

“Oh I think it’s a wonderful idea,” agreed Mike with a knowing grin. Eddy looked to Edgar for help, but that hope was dashed quickly when he beheld Edgar’s almost malicious-looking smile.

“Yea, I actually like that one,” he added, bringing the final tally to 3 for and 1 against. ‘Have fun Eddy!’

“Well, now that the matter is settled, I believe this meeting is over,” Celestia said, standing up as she did so. “Thank you all very much for being so understanding.”

“Trust me,” I snickered, looking at Eddy out of the corner of my eye. “The pleasure’s all ours.” ‘Yea, everyone’s except for Eddy. HAHA, serves you right buddy!’

“When would be a reasonable time for Twilight to visit?” Celestia asked as Mike and I escorted our guests to the door.

“Have her here by 9 o’clock tomorrow,” I answered. “We’ll be ready for her then.” We were at the door, the princesses about to leave. For reasons unknown to me though, Mike pulls Celestia over.

“Listen your highness,” he began. “Twilight seems to be…a little shaken up by tonight’s events. If it’s not too much trouble, would you consider stopping by her house tonight and talking with her? Try to calm her down a little.”

“It would be no trouble at all,” she replied. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention.” With that, Mike thanked her and let her go. The royal sisters mounted their respective chariots. “Have a good night.” Celestia said from the chariot.

“You too your highnesses!” Mike called out as they took off.

I was standing by the doorway, enjoying the cool night air that gently blew against my skin. I watched the princesses go until their dots in the sky were no longer visible. The situation turned out alright after all, and there was no need to worry anymore. I turned around and addressed the others down the entryway.

“Alright guys, let’s hit the sack, especially you Eddy. You have a busy day tomorrow.”

Perspective: Eddy Culivin
Location: Ponyville Outskirts, Equestria
Date: November 1, 2025
8:30a.m.

“You guys heading out now?” I asked the boys as they loaded into Edgar’s pickup. You see yesterday, Princess Celestia shot her crown off because her little sister threw a hissy fit and tried to take the gun out of her grasp. After they left, Mike found it on the ground and retrieved it. The metal was folded in slightly where the 9mm round hit. A gaping hole adorned the center of the fold, small jagged edges lining the hole on the other side. It wasn’t really wearable in its current condition, but the guys thought it’d be a good idea to return it anyway. ‘Canterlot’ (fucking horse puns…), as they called it, was the capital city where the castle resided about 30 miles from Ponyville. Edgar and the others are going to drive all the way there, just to return it and drive all the way back.

“Yea, we’re ready to go,” Jon responded as he climbed in. Mike soon followed Jonathon in. Before Edgar got to the truck though, I put my hand on his shoulder.

“Listen Edgar,” I began. I drew in a deep breath, and continued. “I wanted to apologize for what I did yesterday.” I quickly held up a hand. “Now before you say anything, I’m not saying this just to get out of any punishment, I really am sorry. I wasn’t thinking, and scaring the shit out of the ponies seemed like a good idea at the time. I didn’t foresee the consequences.”

Edgar looked me dead in the eye, as if searching my soul for a hint of dishonesty. He sighed. “You know what’s really ticked all of us, not just me, off this past week?” he asked rhetorically. “You just can’t bring yourself to relax, even for a little bit. We find a peaceful land whose inhabitants have been really kind to us, and you think they’re all wielding knives behind their backs! Look…you really want to show everyone you’re sorry?”

“Of course! Name it and it’s done.”

“Then take this assignment seriously. Don’t push Twilight away; teach her, and maybe try actually talking to her. I’m sure you’ll find out she’s a really nice girl once you get to know her.”

‘Yea, I saw that condition coming a mile away…but for my friends…’ “Ok Edgar, I’ll do it.”

I felt his hand pat my back. “That’s the spirit! I know you’ll do great Eddy, just make sure to think before you act and you should be ok.”

“Heh, almost sounds like you’re disciplining Jon instead of me.”

“Hahaha! Yea, he’s usually the one to do that. But seriously, do this right ok?”

“You got it boss,” I mock-saluted, before dropping the stance. Edgar climbed into the driver’s seat of the Ford, and started it up. The others had rolled down their windows. “Take care you guys, I’ll see you in a couple of hours.” They nodded in reply, before driving away.

Mike stuck his head out the window. “Try not to let her shoot anybody!” he called out as a final friendly mock. I just chuckled and waved, watching the small dust cloud they kicked up dissipate as they drove off. I checked my watch. ‘8:40 huh? Might as well get everything ready; Twilight’s always punctual.’

*Beep, Beep Beep. WHIRRRRR CHINK!* I pulled open the heavy safe door and rummaged through its contents. Firearms of many sizes, shapes, and calibers were pushed aside, as the small-caliber weapons were at the back. This was one of Mike’s many gun safes, safes that haven’t been opened in a while because the ammo for most of the weapons inside is non-existent thanks to the Infection. At last, I found what I was looking for, and pulled it out. An old Ruger 10/22 popped out of the safe, completely stock. Checking and confirming the breech was empty, I pulled out two 10-round rotary magazines for it and searched for some ammo. It didn’t take long.

.22lr rounds were super cheap before the Infection, so Mike had a ton of the stuff. He still has a huge stockpile because the round was rather ineffective at dealing enough damage to delay Infected, assuming one missed a vital organ. All .22 rifles and their ammo were put away, for use in dire emergencies only. Or training apparently, because that’s what I was going to do with it. I pulled a box of 500 rounds and took two dummy rounds, then closed everything back up. I checked my watch once again; ‘8:51a.m.’ displayed on the LCD. Better get outside.

9:00a.m.

Overhead, a carriage was on final approach to our house. Pegasi spread their wings wide to slow down their ornate golden cargo as much as possible before touching down, like flaps on an airplane. The wheels came down smoothly, and the carriage was brought to a graceful stop ten feet from the porch.

Riding in the carriage was the most unusual guard I’ve ever seen. Full-body armor leaves almost nothing exposed, while the helmet covered their face, so their identity was unknown. A hole on top of the helmet let a horn poke through. The suit of armor looked rather bulky and incredibly heavy, a suspicion that was confirmed when the two guards had to help the stranger off. He/she moved painfully slow; it was so bad that I met them halfway.

I stared into the visor. I assumed the stranger was also staring at me. Several tense seconds of silence passed. “Uh, can I help you?” I asked uncertainly.

“You said to be here at 9,” the stranger responded. The voice was instantly familiar.

“Twilight?”

“That’s me!” she beamed. She attempted a wave. Took her four whole seconds to raise her arm. “I’m ready to learn about these weapons!”

“Yea, not like that you aren’t,” I replied.

“What do you mean? Why?”

“You can barely move in that thing Twilight, let alone wield a gun! That armor’s way too heavy for you, and you don’t even need it. What part of you thought this was a good idea?”

“I’m dealing with dangerous weapons here, of course I’d want to be covered in case…”

“In case what?”

“…well…”

“Well?”

“…in case you decide to hurt me. Celestia said you promised not to, but…”

Hand, meet face. Face, this is hand. “Twilight, you’re going to be out here with me for a long time. If you can’t trust me, we’ll never get through this. I’m sorry if I scared the shit out of you, but can we move on here?”

‘Don’t push Twilight away; teach her, and maybe try actually talking to her. I’m sure you’ll find out she’s a really nice girl once you get to know her.’ Edgar’s words flashed in my mind for a brief instant, reminding me of what I promised to do. ‘Damnit Edgar…’

“Look, I really am sorry about last night; I shouldn’t have done that. Now, if you follow my directions, I swear to you that you won’t get hurt.”

“…Promise?” she asked meekly.

“Yes, I promise.”

“Pinkie Promise?”

‘What are you, four!?’ “Yea sure, I Pinkie Promise.” Had I known I would have to perform some ridiculous motions while sealing the Pinkie Promise, I probably would have reconsidered. But I already started it, and I did promise to be nice.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. There, happy?”

“Very!” she replied joyfully.

“Great, now get rid of that. I need you wearing something comfortable because we’re going to be here a while,” I said, gesturing towards my jeans and brown T-shirt. Together with the guards, the trio began pulling off heavy plates of steel. Meanwhile, I rechecked that the chamber on the 10/22 was empty, before checking the functionality. I loaded the two dummy rounds into a mag and inserted it. Racking the bolt revealed that the weapon was still in good shape (it chambered the round) and that the weapon was well maintained (The bolt slid easily, no sticking). A solid *Click* confirmed trigger functionality, and racking the bolt two more times confirmed no feeding or extracting issues. I gathered the successfully-ejected rounds and set them aside.

I looked up to see that Twilight was done de-armoring, and had even taken off this under-armor suit she had on. She did have on ‘jeans and a T-shirt’, only her ‘T-shirt’ was a purple striped tank-top, and her ‘jeans’ were denim shorts, only coming like a third of the way down her thighs at most. She looked away, blushing a little as she did so.

“Sorry,” she softly spoke. “If I had sleeves or pant legs, the under-suit would have been much harder to slip on.”

“Uh-huh,” was all I said, before quickly focusing back on the weapon, checking for any rust spots. “Just like a human woman,” I muttered under my breath, ashamed that I made that connection. I mentally berated myself for this, but now that I actually stopped to take a look, the resemblance was uncanny. The shape, the curves of Twilight’s body matched perfectly the curves of a human female’s body, and an attractive one too…

Beating that thought out of my head, I stood up, weapon in hand. “Alright Twilight,” I began, pulling my focus back to the task at hand. “Before handling the weapon, I will teach you the names of the basic parts, so when I give instructions, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Next, I will show you how to handle this thing in a manner that won’t endanger you or anyone else you don’t wish to kill. Finally, I will actually give you ammo, after first passing safety of course, and let you practice your aim. Any questions?”

“None,” she replied.

“Good, now come here so you can see. This weapon right here is called a Ruger 10/22.

3 hours later

“Ok Twilight, what’s the most important rule of gun safety?” I quizzed.

“Always treat the weapon like it’s loaded,” she answered without skipping a beat.

“And because of that you shouldn’t do what?”

“I shouldn’t point the weapon at anything I don’t wish to see killed or destroyed.”

“Where should your trigger finger be?”

“Off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot.”

I couldn’t help a smile. It took Twilight a while to remembers the gun’s parts and their respective functions, but she caught on to the rules pretty quick. “Excellent,” I praised. “Alright, we’re going to run this from the top this time. I’m going to hand you this weapon, show me how you would handle it.”

I handed Twilight the 10/22. She took it, grabbing it correctly with her finger off the trigger, and pulled back the bolt. Confirming that the chamber was empty, she released the bolt and pointed it down and away from others. As a final precaution, she engaged the safety.

“Perfect!” I complemented, much to her delight.

“I’m getting the hang of this!” she exclaimed happily.

“Yes you are. In fact, I think it’s time to hand you some ammo and see how you do. As you practice your shooting, remember that there may be jams, malfunctions, or dud bullets. I will instruct you on what to do in each situation, but under no circumstances should you assume the weapon is safe just because it’s not firing immediately, understand?”

“I understand.”

“Alright! Here are ten rounds and a magazine. Follow my lead.” I grabbed the other mag and another ten rounds and demonstrated how to load the mag. She was a little clumsy at first, but with a little hands-on help, she got it. It’s amazing how soft her fur really is. Thinking about it, this is the first time since I’ve arrived that I’ve actually made any physical contact with a pony, and…‘And I’m getting off track here. Again. Focus brain, focus!’

“Ok, you ready?” I asked. She nodded. “Great. Now point the gun downrange, and go ahead and load in the mag. Good, now cycle the bolt. Take off the safety. You’re ready to shoot. Remember to line up the sight picture with the center of the target. Make sure the rifle is seated comfortably right up against your shoulder, and don’t forget to ‘squeeze’ the trigger, not pull it.” I checked for a final time that she had her ear plugs on (plugs were needed since our over-ears didn’t fit pony ears). “You may fire when ready.” Twilight took a deep breath, let it out slowly, then carefully squeezed the trigger.

*BANG!*

Chapter 13: Unexpected Passengers

Perspective: Eddy Culivin
Location:???
Date:???

My head was swimming right now. Confused and disorientated, I wandered around my home a bit. Wasn’t I doing something else? For that matter, wasn’t I not even indoors? How did I end up here?

“Hello?” I called out into the barren hallway. Not a sound returned in reply. So let me get this straight; it’s sometime during the day, and I’m home alone…this makes so little sense right now. Giving up on trying to sort this out right now, I headed into my room.

The large master bedroom was well-lit thanks to the large, unobstructed, unprotected glass windows. In fact, the sun was so bright, I couldn’t see outside no matter how much I squinted, but somehow the light wasn’t blinding inside the room. As I entered the room, I looked around and immediately jumped a little.

“Dah!...Twi? What are you doing here?” I asked. “Why didn’t you answer when I called out?” There was something seriously wrong here. Twilight wasn’t the type to blatantly ignore people, but not only did she ignore my call, she ignoring me now, to my face! She remained eerily quiet, just smiling slightly while giving me a half-lidded stare.

Wordlessly, she slipped of the bed, and started sauntering unhurriedly over towards me. Unsure of what to think, and with mixed feelings of concern and slight fear, I just kind of stood there. “Twi, what’s wrong?” I tried questioning, but she still refused to utter a single word. The second she reached me, she wrapped her arms around my waist and pulled me in for a hug.

“Wha-I…Twi! Get off.” I tried to squirm away. She didn’t budge. “Twilight, let go of me.” Nothing. “What’s gotten into you today?”

“Eddy…” It was so faint that I barely caught it, but she unmistakably called my name. I immediately ceased squirming. I could feel it, and now that I paid attention, I could hear it as well. She was trembling as she clung to me, her muffled soft crying into my chest finally registering. What could have caused her to break down like this, to fall into such a state?

“Twi, what wrong? I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s eating away at you.” She took a bit to silence her crying, then paused. The silence was deafening in the room; seriously, there wasn’t even any noise from outside. Then…

“Why did you let me die?”

My eyes immediately sprang open. I tried breaking free again, but ashy-grey, mismatched-length arms held me in place with inhuman strength. Fear gripped like a vice as I vainly continued my struggling. I knew those physical traits. They were signs, and I knew what they meant. I looked up.

Twi’s grey, slightly-deformed face greeted my sight. Red splotches and tears streaked across it. She stared at me with bloodshot, nearly pupil-less eyes. Her misaligned teeth showed when she shrieked.

“YOU LET ME DIE!”

“AAAAAAAHHHHHH…”

“…HHHHHHHHHHHHH-oof!”

The world shifted suddenly, the pitch-black of the room indicative of nighttime. I resigned myself to just lying there, staring up at the now-familiar ceiling of my own room as the adrenaline bled from my system. The cold floor helped cool my sweaty, nerve-racked body, as my brain calmed it down by repeating the same phrase over and over.

‘It was just a dream. It was just a dream.’

Tentatively, I reached out into the darkness, groping around blindly until I found the little plastic unit I was looking for on my night stand. I retrieved the alarm clock and read its display.

3:52a.m

11/9/25

It’s been two weeks since we’ve arrived. Today’s the day we go home.

Perspective: Mike Britowski
Location: Ponyville Outskirts, Equestria
Date: November 9, 2025
5:00a.m.

*Beep-Beep. Beep-Beep. Bee-Slam!* “Ugh, why do we have to wake up at the ass-crack of dawn?” I whined to no one in particular. In reality though, I already knew the answer. Today was a special day, and between rechecking our defenses, loading mags, setting up turrets, and deactivating solar panels and wind turbines, we had a lot to do. Oh, and we have to do this all without our pony guests knowing; they’ll be coming over for a last goodbye later.

Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, only somewhat successfully I might add, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up; if I stayed any longer in that bed, the sweet temptation of sleep would be too great to resist.

“Better go wake the others,” I mumbled to myself, if only to motivate the rest of my body to move. Trudging through the still-darkened hallways, I came to Eddy’s room. Knocking softly, I opened the door just a crack. “Eddy, time to get up,” I whispered loudly.

“Yea…already up,” the reply floated back. I pushed the door all the way open, and entered. I found Eddy sitting up, no emotion whatsoever on his face. His vision appeared to be unfocused, staring at the wall opposite him without really seeing it. He seemed…I don’t know, tired, despite the fact that he had probably woken up not too long ago.

“You ok?” I ventured to ask.

“Yea, just a dream.”

“I see. Anything to do with what’s happening today?” His eyes now focused on me.

“…partly…but forget it, let’s just get this over with.” He threw the sheets off and climbed out of bed. “We have to be sure we’re prepared this time. We got really lucky, but there’ll be no more do-overs. Heh, probably used up all our remaining luck to get here.”

“Not like we ever had much to begin with,” I muttered darkly.

7:00a.m.

“You smell that boys?” I asked rhetorically, if somewhat sadly. “It’s the smell of clean, non-polluted air, free of the stench of death. Enjoy it while you can fellas; it’ll be a long time before the air’s this clean on Earth.” It was early morning now, the sun beginning its slow arc over the sky. It was fairly cool still; a chilly autumn morning. Despite the fact that all of us probably wanted nothing more than to enjoy the beautiful scenery until we had to go, we had work to do. Who knows, maybe we’ll finish with enough time to sit down and take it all in one last time. But for now…

“Alright guys,” Edgar said, interrupting my thoughts. “You woke me up early against my will, so we’d better be doing something useful. What’s the plan?”

“We’re going to get ready of course,” replied Jonathon, carrying two mugs of coffee. He handed one to Edgar, the only other heavy coffee-drinker in the group. Edgar graciously accepted the mug, his third one today. “The house’s structure and window plates are fixed, so a simple check on everything will do. After that, we need to load mags and the auto-turret, bring down the wind generators and solar panels so the Infected don’t break them, and make sure we’re mentally prepared for this shitstorm.”

“Agreed,” I concurred. “I guess I’ll be stuck loading mags. In the meantime, Eddy, take down the panels and check the Ultracap system one last time. Jon, check that the generator’s fueled and in operating condition. It’ll be our only power source during the standoff, and I don’t want any more surprises. Edgar, check the defenses one last time, the make sure our ‘bail plan’ is still ready to go.”

“Sounds good,” said Eddy. “Let’s get to it.”

8:55a.m.

The final moments were the hardest. The only thing calling us back home were our friends, whom we felt responsible for. But after getting used to the tranquility and friendliness of these ponies’ lives, going back to shoot something in the face seemed like an impossible task. In these past two weeks, we’ve made new friends. We got to relax for the first time in a long time. We got to share what we know. In these past two weeks, even Eddy, the most reluctant of our group, began healing a past wound. All the suspicion and hate from that fateful betrayal disappearing slowly, all thanks to a particular purple unicorn.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m not sure I want to leave. I’m not sure I want to abandon my new friends, my new life, to leave it all behind and possibly never see any of it again. It was selfish of me I know, but…still. I’m sure the guys felt the same way, at least in some part. We had finished our tasks, and simply decided to sit on the porch and enjoy scenery that we were unlikely to ever see again. The final 5 minutes couldn’t tick down slowly enough.

For one final time, two flying carriages came into view. Celestia’s came in for a landing first, the trained pegasi quickly yet smoothly bringing the carriage down. Luna’s followed soon after, touching down with as much grace as Celestia’s. The two Royal Sisters disembarked along with, surprisingly, the six Elements, three to a carriage. Twilight was carrying a satchel slung over her shoulders. Also accompanying the Sisters were four guards, one of them being Sword.

“Well, I guess…this is goodbye,” I dejectedly stated.

“It was most interesting having you here,” said Luna. “We learned so much thanks to all of you.”

“I thank you all for your cooperation. As promised, we will return you to your friends,” Celestia said.

“Truth be told, I’m going to miss this place, and everyone here,” Edgar said.

“I, no we had a great time here,” Jonathon agreed. “We should be the ones thanking you Princesses, for all the hospitality you’ve shown us.”

“Thank you all, for everything.”

My ears could hardly believe it. I had to confirm it, and turned my head to the speaker of that sentence. Right where the speaker should have been stood Eddy. That’s right, Eddy had quietly mumbled it, but he said it. The mares smiled in reply.

We exchanged our last goodbyes with the group, shaking hands with everyone and once again thanking them for all they’ve done. Celestia and Luna had a weird smile on the whole time, like they were giddy about something. They were probably faking it, to keep everyone in good spirits. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Eddy and Twilight hugging. It was quick, but I saw it, and I was definitely going to tease the crap out of him later because of it!

“Goodbye friends!” Luna called out, the other ponies present joining in a chorus of goodbyes as well.

“Goodbye!” I responded, closing the door to our home for the last time on Equestrian soil. The last thing we saw was Celestia and Luna powering up their horns. We continued to smile and wave…until the door closed fully. Hanging on the other side of the door, out of sight of the ponies, were our pre-loaded vests. The guns were in the office next to the entryway. I turned around. The smiles evaporated faster than heated alcohol, everyone dead serious. It was time.

“Suit up boys,” I instructed. “Do it quickly, do it quietly. Go.” Within a minute, all four of us had dawned our vests and grabbed our primary and secondary weapons. We all checked our weapons, insuring their operation and making sure they were chambered with fresh brass. Both active and passive house defenses were up, having been triple checked to make sure they were in prime condition. We all moved into the living room, having agreed we would split to our pre-determined positions immediately after reaching Earth. All that was left to do was wait; we were ready to go.

“Gather round,” said Eddy. “Alright guys, this is it. Reality check everyone. This is our last chance, no more do-overs. Let’s see if we can learn from previous mistakes, and stay alive unassisted this time. If we keep organized, stay calm and do things efficiently, we’ll have the best chance at survival. I can’t be sure that we’ll survive, but I can be sure that we’ll go down kicking and screaming all the way if it comes down to it.”

“Wouldn’t go down any other way,” I added chuckling.

“Alright then, let’s do-”

“I say sister, this house definitely looks much better without the holes ‘decorating’ the walls.”

“Thank you Luna. Like I was saying, let’s…LUNA!?” Whipping around as fast as I could without breaking my neck, I confirmed that it was indeed Luna in the room…along with Celestia, Twilight, and four guards. I stole a glance at the guys, with them being as equally terrified as I was. ‘This can’t be happening!’

“W-what are you doing here?” I asked as calmly as possible. Celestia smiled.

“We’ve decided, a little last minute I might add, to formally establish contact with your universe,” she cheerfully replied. “Hope you don’t mind us tagging along.”

“We mind a lot actually!” Eddy cried, his tone laced with obvious panic. “You can’t go to Earth, you…you just can’t!”

“Guys,” Edgar called from the window. “That cloud ring above our heads is now a disk, and is starting to slowly descend!”

“Say, why is everyone in battle armor?” Luna questioned. “Was I left uninformed of something?”

“And why can’t we go to Earth?” Celestia inquired. All four of us shot each other glances, panic and horror in each one. There was no way around it.

“Because, it’s…I mean…just get out!” demanded Eddy. But the princesses remained steadfast in their decision.

“We will not leave until we get some answers.”

“We can’t tell you, but you have to leave!”

“Guys, that disk’s getting closer.”

“It’s alright, we’ll just get some answers from someone on Earth.”

“No! Please, just go!”

“Then tell us.”

“Damnit princesses, the images were real!” Eddy all but screamed. All conversation grinded to a sudden halt.

“What did you s-”

“The images.” Eddy repeated. “All of them, the ones you pulled from my head. They were all real. Do you fucking get it now? We have to go back and fight this God-damn menace, and we certainly don’t need ponies running around and getting in the way!”

“The disk’s consuming the top of the house now, hurry,” Jonathon said, having glanced out the window with Edgar.

“Sister, what do we do? Should we help these humans?”

“No, what you all need to do is evacuate the house, post-haste!”

“They have been very generous to us, and kind.”

“Please don’t consider this now, just get out!”

“And we always help those in need.”

“Here comes the disk.”

“You’ll die if you end up on Earth, GO!”

Celestia and Luna turned to face us, the confident smile a grating clash with our horrified stares. “T’would be a shame if the first alien species we’ve met went extinct because we stood idly by,” Luna declared triumphantly. “We will stay.”

An intense light poured into the room from seemingly everywhere. ‘This seems strangely familiar.’ The light got even brighter, until it was blinding even though clenched eyelids. ‘Yep definitely familiar. Shit, here we go!’ For a moment, there was a feeling of weightlessness.

Then there was nothing at all.

Chapter 14: Welcome Back

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 26, 2025

“…r…the…”

I tried cracking my eyes open, but the light shining on them was blinding. I was distinctly aware I was lying face up on the ground. However, my body refused to budge despite my brain’s insistence. I heard something off in the distance…or maybe it was closer than I thought. There’s a constant ring in my ears, like an explosive went off too close to my eardrums (a feeling I’m all too familiar with). I tried opening my eyes again. No dice.

“Home…t…Phoenix…al…there?”

The noise must be coming from the Walkie-Talkie. It mentioned…Phoenix? How would anyone in Equestria know Phoenix? My eyes sprang open regardless of their desire to do otherwise. There’s a transmission on the other side of that radio, and it’s not Eddy, Jon, nor Mike! ‘We’re home!’ It was a slightly exciting, yet immensely terrifying thought.

I tried standing, only to realize my legs were entirely numbed out still and wouldn’t support me. Mentally cursing, I tried my arms. They thankfully responded, so I drug myself across the floor to the portable radio. The ringing in my ears died down noticeably as I did so.

“Home Base, this is Phoenix, please respond. Is anyone alive in there?”

“Let it go Phoenix…they’re gone.”

“No god-dammit! There’s no way the Infected did that, they have to be in there, they have to be!”

“Home Base *huff* reads you, over,” I forced out between pants. I wish my stupid body would start working normally. Trying to do anything while it’s rebooting sucks!

“Holy shit, you’re alive! Is everyone ok in there?” Strength was returning to me, and allowed me to turn my head and look around quickly. All the ponies were, incredibly, up and about. The guys however, not so much. They were beginning to stir though.

“We’re still kicking. What happened? What’s the current situation?”

“What happened!? Infected breached your defenses. After a couple of minutes, you…I don’t know teleported or something, like 100 feet away, that’s what happened!” I whipped around to Celestia.

“Why the hell did we move?” I asked.

“If something was in your original location at the time of teleporting, one of the spell’s safeties would move our final location over to an empty spot,” Celestia explained quickly.

“I see,” I replied. I hit the ‘Talk’ button on the radio again. “Listen Calvary, a lot of shit went down when we teleported, and I cannot even hope to explain any of it without sounding deranged. We’ll explain everything after this I promise, but for now you’re going to have to trust us. In the meantime, update me on the situation.”

“…*sigh* we’re holding you to that, you hear? Anyways, Home Base is clear for now, but they’ll be a large group, about 80 or so, on your position in about 8 minutes. Get ready.”

Feeling confident enough to stand, I attempted to do so and succeeded. “Thank you Calvary,” I replied. “Oh and one more thing; be advised that there are now eleven personnel inside Home Base, so don’t shoot into the house.”

“I assume this is also going to be explained later?”

“Thanks for understanding!” I sing-songed and put away the radio. I had just turned around when-

“No, No, NO!!” Eddy screamed behind me. Guess he’s awake now. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. You weren’t supposed to come here!” Strangely enough, for once I actually agree with Eddy’s complaints. The others were also silent. Eddy wheeled around and ran for Mike’s room.

“Eddy, where are you going?” Mike asked.

“Going to fetch some tools,” he replied venomously, and disappeared into the room. I turned to the princesses, whom didn’t seem quite as fazed as they should have been with this whole situation.

“He seemed quite agitated sister,” Luna mused.

“Really?” Jon asked in disbelief. “Do you guys really not realize the mess you’re in right now?”

“We understand quite well Jonathon,” Celestia replied. “We are grossly outnumbered, Luna’s magic as well as mine is severely depleted, and one of our subjects here is…inexperienced, in ‘matters of death’. Panicking however, will get us nowhere. We must think through this rationally.”

“She’s right Jon,” Mike added. “Let’s focus on what we can do. Princesses, how long until your magic is fully recharged?”

“Unfortunately, the ambient energy in this universe is almost non-existent, and we exhausted quite a bit of magic to get here,” Celestia reminded us solemnly. “Aside from basic offensive spells, we can do no more.”

“I still have my reserve of magic,” Twilight reminded.

“And you must be very careful with how you use it, Twilight,” Luna responded. “For it seems that it cannot be easily replenished. And must I remind you how serious a condition magical exhaustion is?” Twilight shook her head.

“But what do we do then?” She asked.

“I’ve got an idea,” a voice said behind me with a bite. Eddy marched into view and thrust a vest at Twilight. “Put it on.” She didn’t argue. When she finished, he handed her a rifle, the FN-SCAR. “You wanted to come to Earth? Fine, but you’ll live like Earth people do, and right now Earth people are fighting for their fucking lives out there. Happy hunting.”

He turned to us. “Edgar, take Celestia and go defend the master bedroom. Mike, go upstairs and cover us from above. Take Twilight with you. Jonathon, take one guard with you and cover the rear. Make sure to clear our friendlies out before switching on that auto-turret. Luna, pick two guards and cover those windows over there. You! *points to a Solar Guard* You’re with me. Let’s move people!”

Eddy and the Solar Guard, a white unicorn, bolted for the front. Luna chose her two Night Guards from the group and dispersed, while Mike grabbed a stunned Twilight and pushed her up the steps. Jonathon grabbed the last guard and quickly made his way towards the auto-turret, the complaining guard in tow. She looked a bit familiar, but there wasn’t any time left to figure out why. I turned to Celestia, and pointed down the corridor to the Master Bedroom.

“Down that corridor, let’s go,” I stated, feeling a bit weird giving a sun goddess orders. She nodded without a hint of insult however, and we took off. The way Eddy split the group, the four sides of the house were covered. He would cover the front, Jon would cover the back, I got the left and Luna got the right. Mike, our top shot, would provide cover from upstairs. Twilight, whom had the least amount of combat experience, would follow him upstairs, where it was safer.

Entering quickly into the Master bedroom, Celestia and I set up near the big three windows. Tentatively, I peeked out of the port in the window’s plate. They were coming, but still a ways off. I noticed Celestia looking out from another window.

“What do you think?” I asked. “Can you hit them from here?”

“Probably, but I would need more power to refine my aim,” she responded, never breaking eye-contact with the Infected.

“Shit. Save it then, they’ll be coming closer anyways.”

“Comm check everyone, report in. Eddy checking in.”

“Jonathon checking in.”

“Mike checking in.”

I grabbed my radio. “Edgar checking in.”

“Alright guys, if you think you can hit em, then shoot. Let’s give em hell!”

Perspective: Mike Britowski
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 26, 2025

A cool late afternoon breeze swept across the room from the open windows upstairs, providing a pleasant relief from the heat downstairs. Twilight and I had just reached the window I wanted her to shoot from when Eddy checked in. Addressing him quickly, I returned my attention to Twilight. “Alright Twilight, you set up over here, and I’ll take that side over there. If you need anything, just holler.” The nervous mare nodded, and I ran to my window.

I really felt bad for Twilight. She got dragged into this shitstorm and was now expected to kill to save her life. She had to be panicking, even if she didn’t outright show it. I chanced a glance in her direction. Twilight had set up, cheek welded firmly to the cheek rest on the stock, aiming through the scope. She seemed to be taking this all in stride; I must say I’m-

“I can’t do this Mike!” she yelled. That’s what I figured… Bolting to the distraught mare, I noticed she was trembling, tears beginning to stream down her face. “I can’t do it,” she repeated. “Those humans, they look so…so alive! I-I can’t bring myself to shoot them. Please! Please don’t make me shoot them-”

“Shhhhh.” A single finger to the lips silenced her immediately. I can’t say I didn’t see this coming. That said however, I had to calm her down quickly, or she’d be unable to fight and quite vulnerable. But what the hell do I say?

“Listen to me and listen to me well Twilight; those things down there, are not human, and are most definitely not alive. They used to be alive, used to feel emotions, and had hopes and dreams just like you and me. But the Infection robbed them of that Twilight; kicked out their consciousness and took over their bodies. Imagine your soul, your mind, trapped inside a body you no longer controlled and being forced to witness the destruction it causes. Does that sound like a pleasant experience to you?”

“No of course not! No…”

The realization of what I said was quickly sinking in, her panicked expression falling to one of loss, but also of acceptance of the inevitable. “Are…are they really still, you know, ‘in there’?”

“No one knows for sure Twilight, no one’s ever had proof. But the popular theory is, unfortunately, yes. And if that’s true…I’m sure you can guess the implications.” I gave a casual glance down at the scene outside, eyes distantly scanning the chaos. “We don’t hate the people Twilight, only what their bodies have become. That’s why we address them as ‘Infected’, not ‘people’ or the like.” I peeled my eyes from the destruction outside. My hands rose up as I turned and rested gently on Twilight’s shoulders, pleading eyes now staring straight into hers. “You have to help us Twilight; help us kill those fucking Infected so we can set those poor souls free. Please!”

For a moment, she was still. For just a moment, I thought I didn’t make it through to her, that she just couldn’t do it. Slowly, ever so slowly, delicate purple fingers curled around the handle. The machined steel instrument was set once again on the window sill, the precision glass-filled tube staring out into the fray.

“This…this will set them free, right?” Twilight whimpered hesitantly. I nodded solemnly. I wasn’t lying to her; there was no point in that now. Everything I said was the truth, and I could only hope it was enough. Twilight once again gazed upon the mass of undead. She was no longer crying, no longer shaking.

“Goodbye, and I’m sorry.”

*BANG!!*

A lone crack echoed in the empty desert as a single lead projectile exploded from Twilight’s gun, ripping through the air faster than the speed of sound. Eight days of target shooting paid off, as the bullet tore directly into its intended target, an Infected’s head. The being, minus a sizable chunk of its face, dropped like a stone, dead before it hit the ground.

The solitary crack was soon followed by another, then another, as Twilight began picking them off one by one, nailing one almost every time.

“Thank you Twi.”

It was all I said between shots before running back to my window. I grabbed the radio.

“We’ve got you covered from above guys.”

Perspective: Jonathon Burley
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 26, 2025

“Hey, let go of me already!” the guard complained in a familiar voice. It stunned me momentarily, and I felt her arm rip away from my grasp. Chancing a look, I instantly recognized who I grabbed.

“Sword?” I said incredulously. She looked at my face, seemingly for the first time judging by her reaction. Her facial features dropped into a kinder expression, though not completely forgiving.

“Yea, it’s me Jon. You didn’t have to drag me here you know,” she said with no small amount of annoyance. She glanced out the window. “They’re close enough to hit with my crossbow,” Sword noted, withdrawing a crossbow. A quick glance revealed she was indeed right, though there was one thing that still bothered me.

“When’d you get a crossbow?” I asked.

“Luna made them for us just before we left after seeing all of you with ranged weapons.”

“Didn’t she need to conserve her magic?”

“Yep, which is why she used existing wood rather than materializing it. Notice anything missing?” Looking around, the fact that the dining table and chairs were missing finally clicked.

“*Sigh* you know, I actually liked that table.” A twang to my immediate left startled me, and I turned with a jump. A flash of color streaked across my vision as the arrow sailed into the crowds, sticking right into one of their foreheads.

“My apologies, but I’m sure you like being alive much more than that table,” she retorted, quickly reloading her crossbow before letting another one loose. “Now, if you’re done bickering, I’d like some help. Well, I say that, but I see all you’ve got in your hands is some hollowed cylinder attached to a fancy-looking handle.” ‘That’s right; Sword has never seen a gun before!’ I smirked.

“Yea? I’ll show you what this ‘cylinder’ can do.” I aimed down the sights of my Vepr shotgun. The thought of warning Sword of the weapon’s report crossed my mind, but where’s the fun in that?

“Hey Sword, you wearing those earplugs I gave you?”

“Yea *twang* why?”

*BOOM!*

Sword, who was reloading her bow, must have jumped good couple of feet in the air. The pellets dug into the Infected’s face, scattering and peppering others as well. Two Infected dropped, a few others stumbled. But a lot of Infected remained. Fortunately, I had a nice stash of ammo. The muscles in my finger twitched again.

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!* Round after explosive round got pumped into the crowd, kicking up a fine red mist from within. Time and time again, someone went down before the empty shell even hit the ground. I was vaguely aware of Sword freaking out in the corner, but I had a more pressing matter to attend to right now.

*Click.*

As I reached for another mag, noting from the corner of my eye that they were getting too close for comfort, Sword sat there, trying to regain her bearings. One satisfying smack later, the mag was in, and I grabbed my radio. No use riddling my teammates with holes after all.

“Jonathon to all units, the auto-turret is coming on. Clear the south side of Home Base immediately!” I called into my radio. A sudden hand in my shoulder drew my attention. Spinning to meet it, I got a face-full of spit for my troubles.

“What in the sweet holy name of Celestia was that!?” Sword all but screamed in my face. Using a hand to wipe my face, I opened my mouth to speak when-

“All units clear Jon. Now hurry up, cause there’s a shit-ton of Infected about to crawl in!” the radio blared. There was some strange static noise right after. It was shortly followed by a quick warbling squeal. Finding it very odd, but having to ignore it for now, I instead gave Sword a mischievous grin.

“Oh, you mean this old thing?” I replied sweetly, turning to face the horde of undead, while grabbing the charging handle on the Vepr. “Why, it’s just a hollow cylinder,” *cha-chick* “attached to a fancy handle.”

My finger found the turret switch. *Click.*

Perspective: Eddy Culivin
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 26, 2025

“You ever decide to follow someone’s plan, only to realize halfway in that it’s a really fucking stupid plan?” I asked the Solar Guard, whom was busy staring out the other window with his mouth agape. “Cause that’s what you’re supposed to be feeling right about now.”

“What the hell are those things?” he asked frantically.

“Infected, I already told you! Listen up, the only way to kill them is to stab their heads, or stab their heart, located right about here for humans *point to heart*. Don’t, and I repeat, do not get into hand-to-hand combat with them. Not only are they freakishly strong, one scratch or bite and you’ll die out slowly, and turn into one of them. Ranged weapons almost exclusively, we clear?”

The stallion nodded, setting his spear in a corner as he did so. Taking my advice, he withdrew the crossbow that was strapped to his back with his magic, and leveled it on the port cut out on the window plate. But something wasn’t right. His eyes grew wide. His breathing increased. With a hoarse voice, he barely managed to get out a shaky “how many were there supposed to be?” I looked out…

“Holy shit, shoot! SHOOT!!” The sound of explosions filled the room as arrows and bullets flew. Using the slit in the plate as a rest, one hand fired and pivoted the weapon as the other reached for the radio. “God damnit Phoenix, there’s a lot more than 80 of those things out there!” I shouted amidst the cacophony in the room. One problem, no response. “Phoenix? … Phoenix!” No answer. Cursing out loud, I grabbed the gun with both hands and quickly exchanged the old magazine with a new one, the bolt slapping closed with a satisfying clack. Three Infected got too close. Four bullets fixed that. Grabbing the radio, I tried again, with a different audience in mind. “Mike, I need eyes up top. What the fuck is going on out there?”

“You’re not gonna like this, but a whole bunch of the Calvary team just split, and I have no idea why,” Mike reply came through. “Some Infected followed, but the rest were attracted to the only stationary target here, us.”

“Son of a, why didn’t they warn us!?”

“My only guess is that the strange noise was their warning…somehow. They all tried to call in at the same time, and their transmissions must’ve cancelled each other out.”

‘So that’s what that was!’ *CRASH!* The noise immediately grabbed my attention. A number of bodies smashed into the front side of the house. The walls held rigidly, but arms were already reaching into the window ports, grabbing to tear off the plates. The first of the Infected hit the wall; the others weren’t far behind.

The guard, who was shooting through that window, let out a startled yelp. The surprise caused the crossbow to lose its glow and crash into the ground, releasing its arrow into the wall with a solid thump. However, when the arms started coming through, he kept enough composure though frightened, and began blasting the Infected with golden beams of pure magic. The attack was incredibly powerful, arcing from wherever the impact point was towards their heads.

That guard had some tricks up his sleeve, I’ll give him that.

It took a little bit to recover from the shock, but once I did, I immediately grabbed the radio again.

“Mike, we need extra cover, north side!”

Perspective: Mike Britowski
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 26, 2025

As I fired shot after ringing shot, I got the unwanted privilege to see the battle play out beyond the window. I watched the Infected get shot left and right, saw them attack right back. I watched our side loose cars, stalling out due to fuel starvation, watch those inside desperately fend off the horde. And when we lost too many cars, I got to watch a large chunk of our force disappear into the sunset, hopefully to return, but perhaps not. Got to see a sizable mob follow after them.

Did I mention I got to see the Infected left behind turn their attention towards us?

“Mike, we need extra cover, north side!” Eddy’s request blared thought the radio’s speaker. The problem was, the side we were covering, Edgar’s side, was getting hammered with the sudden surge of Infected. I grabbed my radio, frustration evident as I hit the ‘talk’ button.

“Home Base to Calvary, the hell is going on out there!?” I hollered into the unit.

“Lost too many cars sir!” someone on the other end responded. “Some of the guys down there didn’t make it…we…we picked up who we could, but if we lost another car…”

I sighed. ‘Not the time to be yelling Mike.’ “I’m sorry for your loss man, but we have to focus. Is the main unit coming back?”

“Y-yes sir, ETA 20 minutes.”

‘Shit, that’s a really long time!’ “Anything you can do about our sudden ‘workload increase’?”

“Hands are pretty much tied up out here, but we’ll see what we can do.”

“I appreciate it,” I finished, snapping the Walkie-Talkie back onto my belt. “Twilight!” I called. Only the continuing gunfire answered me back. “Twi!”

I found the poor mare firing erratically out the window. Compared to her previous accuracy, she was doing absolutely terribly. Shot would miss by feet, not inches. Sweat poured from everywhere, eyes wide and pupils shrunk, clammy and shaky hands; this mare was a mess. Disturbing her now was a very bad idea, so I waited. When her gun clicked empty, I gently grabbed her shoulder and shook lightly. It’s a good thing I waited, because I have never seen Twilight jump so high or scream quite as loud before. She had to visually confirm it was me who grabbed her before she settled down.

“T-there’s too many of them!” Twilight cried out, a trembling quality present in her voice. She was in fact correct; a large group was arriving at the windows at Edgar’s and Celestia’s quarter. The Calvary probably wouldn’t be of much help thinning this out till the main force arrived later. That said, however, there was little we could do right now except divide available resources, and Eddy also needs help.

“Relax Twilight, we’ve been through worse,” I assured her to calm her down. I wasn’t entirely sure that was accurate though. “I need you to concentrate on aiming right, think you can do that?” She hesitated a moment, presumably unsure of the answer. Reluctantly, she nodded. “Good. We’ve had a change of plans; you’ll go down to north side and help Eddy, and I’ll take this from here.”

“But this crowd is huge!” Twilight protested.

“Twi, I’ve got this. Now g-”

There was no warning, no epic buildup, nothing. All of a sudden, the window lit up like the sun, the theoretical ball of fire blinding us from outside. I had just enough time to twist my head away from the harsh light before it was very quickly accompanied by a loud explosion that rocked the house throughout. Being forced to suddenly drop to a knee to avoid falling over is not a fun experience.

When the trembling stopped, my body went on autopilot for a second. As if anticipating her response, my body was standing up and my arms were extending before I even realized. By the time Twilight turned around, my arms were wrapped around her torso, already restraining the wildly flailing mare.

“Let me go!” she screamed. “I need to help her! I need to go down there and-”

“And what?” I snapped back. “Get yourself killed!? Twilight, you wouldn’t know what the hell to do down there! If you’re panicking this much without seeing the scene, you’ll be useless down there.” I spun her quickly and forced her to look me in the eyes. “I need you to stick to the original plan. Go down the hall, assist the North side personnel.”

“But-”

“But nothing Twi! I’ll go down there. Are we clear?” Presumably out of fear, she nodded quickly. With that cleared, I grabbed the small plastic radio from my belt, and quickly handed it to Twilight. “You remember how to use that?” Again, she nodded.

“What about you though?” she asked. I was already flying down the stairs when I answered.

“I have Edgar’s, now go!” I didn’t look back, I didn’t wait for a response, I just ran. Despite being mostly calm on the outside, I was absolutely terrified of what might’ve happened down there. Reaching the corridor that led to the master bedroom, I turned sharply into it and sprinted down it. The door to said room wasn’t closed, so I could see clearly the chaos within it.

Celestia was on one knee, panting heavily. Her dress was torn and blood wept from minor wounds, but she was otherwise alright. Edgar was face up on the ground, not far from Celestia. He appeared to be alright, though he was groaning as he stirred on the ground.

By far the most prominent thing in that room though, was the giant gaping hole in the wall.

Forget individual window plates, a sizable chunk of the entire wall was missing! Beyond it, lying some distance away, was a sea of Infected corpses. Like 60 bodies, haphazardly strewn about on the barren desert floor. Stepping through the rubble, and receiving a nod in Edgar’s direction from the princess, I made my way to Edgar, concerned something had happened to my dear friend. Edgar was caked in dirt, his clothing torn like Celestia’s. He groaned as he sat up.

“Ugh, God damnit,” he spat out, rising to a seating position. Relieved beyond belief that he was alright, I actually chuckled a little as I offered him my hand.

“Heh heh, no rest for the weary man,” I joked, pulling simultaneously with my arm to bring Edgar to his feet. He gave an appreciative nod, before turning his gaze to face out the window. His eyes widened a bit. Then they closed, his head coming down as he sighed. Deciding to also look out the window, I noticed that some of the corpses were getting back up again. There were some that were charred beyond recognition, others missing pieces of their heads or chests. But some were unfortunately lucky.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me with this shit,” Edgar complained while picking up his rifle and dusting it off. “It’s like we’re in Hell or something!” A cheeky grin grew on my face.

“No Edgar, we’re not in Hell, we’re home. Welcome Back.”

Chapter 15: A Change of Heart

Perspective: Jonathon Burley
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 26, 2025

Smoke rose from the steel barrel of the Vepr, the metal cylinder heated from the intense heat of the many rounds it fired. To anyone unfamiliar with the weapon (Sword), it appeared as though the weapon breathed fire every time it roared, as if it were alive, finally settling into a pronounced silence after all its enemies were vanquished. The turret had stopped firing. The window was shut and latched. Compared to the hell storm of noise just moments ago, the distant pops and shouts around the house were practically silent. Sword decided to break that silence.

“Wow…Remind me not to get on any human’s bad side,” she said.

“Oh hush you,” I replied. “We don’t just kill things willy-nilly.” Grabbing my radio, I decided to call in for a status update. I was feeling rather confident that things were going smoothly, despite an explosive that went off recently. ‘That Edgar, he really should warn people before setting those things off. Gonna get someone killed one day.’ Regardless, if Sword and I were having this little trouble dispatching Infected, the others must be bored stiff.

“Everyone, South Side of Home Base is clear. Repeat, all clear,” I called in.

“What the Hell!?” the voice blared from the other side. I couldn’t pick out which of the guys it was; the constant gunfire on their end drowning out any distinguishing details. “How did you-never mind. Listen, we need help bad up here! There a huge number of these things!” My smile was quickly fading.

“Um, weren’t there only, like, 80 of them?” I croaked out nervously.

“Hah! If by 80 you mean quadruple that amount, then yes, we have ‘like 80’ of them. Now hurry!”

Aaaaaannd there goes my good mood.

“Fuck!” I yelled, snapping the radio into place. I was already in motion as I grabbed my Vepr. Heavy wooden thumps behind me assured me that Sword was right behind me, even without looking back to check. We were heading for the front of the house, as that was where most of the gunfire was coming from. We never really made it there.

Out of nowhere, an Infected appeared in front of us. An Infected inside the house. Panic rose rapidly as I realized this was where Luna was supposed to be guarding. What happened to Luna? What of her guards? I didn't even hear the barrier bre-

Three points of metal punched through the skin of the Infected’s neck. Near its shoulder, a black-furred hand, complete with a similar three-claw weapon, came into view and grabbed the Infected’s shoulder. Hand and claw moved quickly in opposite directions, ripping the Infected’s head off with a sickening crunch and a heaping dosage of blood everywhere. The hand holding the shoulder dropped, letting the bloody remains of the corpse drop unceremoniously to the ground. The corpse fell to reveal a mare standing behind it. Dark, leathery wings. Yellow slit eye. Fangs. Yep, this was one of Luna’s personal guards. A Bat Pony.

“The window broke,” she said plainly, matter-of-fact-ly, like it was no big deal.

“W-what? How!?” I asked, flabbergasted by her lack of alarm at the fact that her only defenses was broken.

“We let it break. You should watch yourselves.” And just like that she jumped back, giving her wings a single flap to switch her direction to the right in mid-air. She disappeared behind the wall, where sounds of Infected and clashing swords could be heard. Sword and I looked at each other. Then to the wall on the right. Than back again.

“You…want to go help them?” Sword asked uncertainly.

“I…I suppose we should…probably,” I replied, rubbing the back of my head. We each checked our respective weapons; Sword giving her crossbow a once-over and loading it afterwards, while I checked to make sure I had enough shells in the gun, and on my person. Our eyes met as we each looked up at the same time to check on each other. Both nodding once, we rounded the corner.

The scene that unfolded before us was one of what could only be described as controlled chaos. There were Infected everywhere, having obviously poured in from the hole in the wall where the window plate used to be. The crazy part was that each of the three ponies currently fighting were nimble enough to dodge hits from multiple directions, only to turn around and slash or strike an Infected down. They were inside the eye of the shitstorm!

Luna in particular was interesting to watch; her large size compared to the rest seemingly contradicting her quick movements. Her hidden brute strength allowed her to swing a huge six foot claymore around like it was made of paper! And she was quite devastating on the battlefield. As I watched her, Luna swung in a wide arc, slashing four Infected in front of her and clearing a small path for her. She quickly jumped forward, avoiding a strike from behind. As she came down, she angled her sword downward and drove it right through another Infected’s face, bringing it down with her. Spinning around, she offed her attacker’s head so quickly, she was already striking down another victim by the time it fell to the ground. Her night guards moved with similar speed, not quite as fast but close. They however, were only using these three-blade claws, a testament to Luna’s real strength.

“Wow,” I said, staring unashamed at the spectacle before me. “Remind me not to get on any pony’s bad side.”

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 26, 2025
5 Minutes Earlier

“What the hell!? It’s like every time we kill one, two more take its place!” I yelled more to myself than anyone else. This was getting ridiculous; the Infected surged in number after the Calvary left. We were fine at first, but I’m running out of ammo, Celestia’s considerably drained, and 5 Infected are trying to rip out the center window plate. Said plate’s supports are now cracked, and getting worse. I shoot them, but more come to fill the vacancy!

Even as I shoot, I noticed Celestia’s dropped to one knee. ‘Oh shit. Don’t crap out on me now Celestia, I really need your help!’ “Celestia, you ok?” I asked, rushing to her side. She hasn’t keeled over yet, but her heavy breathing clearly showed her fatigue. Her head was hung slightly, eyes closed but brow furrowed in concentration.

“Stand back from the window Edgar,” she said, calmly but firmly. Immediately, her horn lit up, shining a brilliant yellow that only grew brighter.

“Whoa whoa whoa Celestia! What are you doing?”

“I’m going to hurl almost all my remaining magic at them when the plate breaks, and detonate it. It should get most of them.”

‘Wait, did she say detonate?’ The fact that I loaded the walls of the house with black powder was suddenly at the very forefront of my mind. “Delay the detonation!" I screamed. "Push them back, then blow it up!"

"I'll-" She didn't even get to finish her response. Five Infected, giving a final hard tug, ripped the plate right out of the wall. They did it with so much power in fact, that the mass of bodies staggered back considerably. The power behind their efforts also ripped out the remainder of the wall, the pieces loosely attached to the plate section by electrical cables and the detonation cord for all the black powder in those sections. 'They're taking the explosives with them. Bad Idea.' As I watched the scene unfold, a beam of yellow, so bright it could easily be mistaken for white, shot right past me, barreling towards where the plate once stood. The Infected never even had a chance to slow down their backpedal before a force they would never see rammed violently into the plate of dented metal they were carrying. They were hurled further backwards, now completely at the mercy of the plate.

Then it blew up.

I think Celestia was expecting a large explosion; after all, it was a pretty sizable ball of pure magic. I don't think she knew about the black powder though, nor expected the explosion to rattle the very earth the house sat on. The shockwave blew apart the plate, and the Infected behind it. It flung debris right at the horde of Infected, before flinging them around as well. The explosion must have been at least 100 feet out from the side of the house, but when the shockwave arrived, it threw me off my feet. The last thing I remembered was kissing the cold wooden floor. Hard.

I awoke, and rolled over to find Mike standing above me. I accepted his outstretched hand, and climbed unsteadily back to my feet. Looking past Mike, I got my first look at the devastation Celestia's attack had caused. There was now a gaping hole where the wall used to be. Not sure how the house survived that, but I'm not going to complain. Beyond the broken wall, bodies were flung everywhere. There wasn't very much blood for the amount of bodies out there; I guess most of them succumbed to blunt-force-trauma. Some though, had been peppered with loose debris, their broken bodies rendered forever motionless after the ordeal.

Unfortunately, not all the bodies were well and truly dead. About 20 of them began to stir, twitching and writhing on the ground as their injuries began to heal. “You’ve gotta be kidding me with this shit,” I said while picking up my rifle and dusting it off. “It’s like we’re in Hell or something!”

“No Edgar, we’re not in Hell, we’re home. Welcome back,” Mike responded. I gave him a flat stare, though it only lasted a moment before I chuckled while shaking my head.

"Yea," I said, leveling my gun at the Infected. Mike did the same. "Welcome back."

Gunfire erupted once more from the quiet room, Mike and I having no trouble dispatching the remaining Infected. Most didn't even get to stand up before they were put down for good. The ones that did were in too bad a shape and/or too far to come remotely close enough to hurt us. They were quickly mowed down as well. At one point though, my gun clicked empty, and I reached for another magazine that wasn't there. Mike had to finish off the last two.

"Shit," I muttered, slinging my now-useless rifle over my shoulder. “I’m out. Guess this’ll have to get me through.” I withdrew my pistol and checked the magazine in it, as well as the mags on my person. 5 magazines, 10 rounds each, 50 rounds total. Not very much left at all…

I was going to ask Mike what we should do now, but someone beat me to the punch before I could even open my mouth. “H-hello? Can anypo-one hear me?” a familiar female voice came in through the Walkie-Talkie. ‘Is that Twilight? How did she get a radio?’ Mike picked up my radio, which I only now realized wasn’t on me, and answered.

“We read you, what’s up?” he replied.

“There’s a lot of Infected up north, please help!” Mike and I glanced at each other for only a second.

“We’ll be right up,” Mike finished, and tossed me my radio back. After clipping it securely to my belt, I jerked a thumb in Celestia’s direction.

“Ok, so she’s out of juice,” I started. My thumb then turned to point at me. “And I’m almost out of ammo. What now?”

“You stay here and protect the princess,” Mike answered, checking his vest as he did so. “I’ve still got some ammo left, so I’ll go assist Twilight. If you stay here and don’t make too much noise, the Infected should leave you alone. Though you should still have enough ammo to pick off the occasional straggler or two if needed. Radio for help if you need it, ok?”

“Will do Mike. Take care up there, and good luck.”

“You too buddy.” With that, he turned and left the room, running quickly down the hall towards the stairs. When he was gone, I helped Celestia to a wall, and she gratefully slumped down against it, exhausted. I picked a spot next to her, and slumped down myself. The room was relatively quiet, the booming of shots echoing distantly in the background. A long silence stretched on for a while. Eventually, I decided it needed to be broken with something, anything, even small-talk.

“So...quite the day we’re having, am I right?”

Perspective: Eddy Culivin
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 26, 2025

It like they all came this way. I can't tell you how many of them there are, the bodies are pressed up against the walls of the house and blocking off the view. I can't tell you how many times I called for help, but no one has showed up yet. I'm not sure anyone is even covering us upstairs anymore, but if they are, they're not putting much of a dent in their numbers. What I can tell you is that we seem to be fighting a losing battle; I'm running out of bullets, Morning Star (the solar guard) next to me is starting to show signs of fatigue, and the Infected just won't stop coming our way.

I guess that's what happens when you decide to guard the front of anything.

"God Damn everything!" I screamed in frustration. When? When would the help I asked for multiple times get here? Because we could really use a lot of it right now!

It seems some divine entity was absolutely determined to make this day as terrible as possible for the both of us, because suddenly the very familiar snapping and screeching sound of metal breaking and getting torn away was heard between the booming of gunfire. I didn't want to look, I really didn't, but I did anyway. To my surprise, the sight that greeted me wasn't a hole torn in the wall, but rather a jagged wound in it. They didn't tear the plate off, they just pulled it out some. The hole was created though, and with a path of entry, the Infected started to enter, pushing and shoving to get inside. Though only five actually made it inside before an office desk, surrounded in a yellow glow, came flying into view. It raced towards the opening, impacting with such force that it rammed several bodies clear out of the opening and sent them flying before sealing the hole up.

Looking over, I smiled at the panting unicorn. "Nice save," I complimented. He looked up, a smug but exhausted smile adorning his face.

"Thank-look out!" His face went from smug to terrified in a split second. I whirled around to see the five Infected barreling straight for me. 'Shit, I completely forgot about these guys!' I raised my rifle a fired. I got one. Then another. And another and another. But I didn't quite get the fifth one.

It's almost like watching its companions die smartened it up, for when I pulled the trigger on the last remaining Infected, it ducked. It evaded the shot! Not only did it duck, but it never stopped charging as it did so. I couldn't readjust my aim in time, and the Infected rose up and swatted the rifle right out of my hands. It clattered against the floor moments later. With no time to draw my secondary, I did the only thing I could think to do; I geared back and slammed my fist right into the Infected’s face. I almost immediately regretted my decision. While it did reel back from the blow, pain exploded from my knuckles, radiating throughout my entire hand. It wasn't broken, but fucking damn did it hurt! The Infected came after me again, and this time there was nothing I could do in time. 'Not this shit again!'

My vision went white. I didn't feel the Infected bite down, couldn't hear my screams, couldn't even see anything. But something was wrong. Gold mixed in with the white, and I started getting the feeling that my vision, and for that matter my other senses, were working just fine. I focused closely on what I was seeing, and realized that I wasn't seeing a sheet of white, but a bunch of brilliant white short hairs. A coat?

As the moments passed the white disappeared to my left and I found myself staring at the wall once more, though this time there was no Infected in front of me. An angry cry sounded off to my left, followed by the sound of something unsheathing. Snapping my head left, I found Morning Star on top of a now-still Infected corpse, blood trailing down from a chest wound in the corpse.

I couldn't believe it. The guard, a pony, saved me? I-I just...it was so unexpected. I didn't know what to think of it, couldn't figure it out at all. I didn't have time to think much about it though, for I heard a splintering sound to my right. The desk was starting to break.

I rushed over to Morning, offering him my hand without thinking. "Th...thanks for the save," I mumbled awkwardly. "I owe you one. You ok?"

He groaned in pain, eventually accepting my hand. His horn was glowing faintly still; a healing spell perhaps? "Yes, I'm alright," he replied. He then turned his attention towards the desk, which was getting weaker and weaker with each shove. "We aren't going to last much longer at this rate. Are your friends coming to assist us anytime soon?"

"I called in several times, none answered yet," I muttered. "I don't know, maybe their hands are all tied up with defending their side."

"Still, either they assist us soon, or we come up with a way to kill all those angry Infected by ourselves. Any brilliant ideas?" 'Of course I would have to think of something! Bright ideas; I'll show him a bright idea...Hold on...' Mind racing at a million miles an hour, a plan started to take shape. A fucking crazy plan, but it might just work.

"How much magic you got left?" I asked the unicorn.

"I'm low, but not entirely out yet," he replied. "Why?"

"Think you could magic in a bright light? Bright enough to be uncomfortable for us, but not completely blinding."

"Now why in Celestia's good name would I do that!?"

"Infected are hyper-sensitive to light. *SNAP!* Shit, here they come! Get ready for my signal!" The remains of the desk were quickly shoved aside as Infected began pouring in from the wall's wound. I wanted to flare them so bad right where they stood, but I fought down that initial instinct. We had to wait, wait until almost all of them, if not all, were inside before activating the light. They continued pouring in, getting closer and closer. Every pore on my body leaked sweat, adrenaline ran rampant throughout my body, and I found it harder and harder to resist giving the signal early.

"Now!?" Morning asked, just as twitchy and nervous as I was, from his tone.

"Not yet," I replied. "Almost!"

Then I saw it. The last Infected walk through, and there was a stop in the influx of bodies. "NOW!" Bright white light suddenly exploded from the unicorn’s horn. The light filled the room without exception; no nook or cranny could escape illumination.

The room was also filled with screaming.

The Infected, having received an unwelcome burst of light to their sensitive eyes, screeched in agony as they recoiled from the source. They were stumbling, staggering, vulnerable. I raised my rifle. Bodies dropped so fast five were dead before the first one even hit the ground. They all came at us in a line, meaning I aimed in one direction and pulled the trigger as fast as I could, and no more problems, just like that. The Infected didn’t even try to get us anymore, they just wanted out as fast as possible. So I gave them an ‘out’.

Zero. No Infected remained anymore. No growling, no screeching; hell, there wasn’t even the sound of distant intense gunfire anymore, just the occasional pop here and there. I turned to Morning. “Alright, that’s enough,” I told him. “They’re dead.” The light vanished as quickly as it had come, revealing my macabre work in all its splendor. A line of bodies trailed all the way back to the broken plate, and said leaking bodies deposited puddles of blood on the floor, puddles that joined together to give the illusion of a river of red. Off to my left, a ruffling sound was followed by a thump and a vibration in the floor. Morning Star was on one knee.

I leapt over the line of bodies and was on him in an instant. Something wasn’t right; he was breathing very heavily, each breath sounding hard and labored. His horn was still glowing, albeit faintly, and his entire body was trembling. Concern, which I once thought was impossible for me to feel towards a pony, was invading every thought.

“Morning, are you ok?” I asked, kneeling down to get a better look at the pony. “You look like shit.”

“Don’t worry about me,” he replied. “Magic just becomes physically exhausting when we near our limits, like a warning to stop casting soon or else.” I looked at his horn, then back. What he was saying and what he was doing were contradicting themselves.

“Then stop casting,” I said, growing more worried the longer his horn stayed lit. He didn’t say anything, just stared at the ground. “Morning, stop casting your magic, the fight’s over,” I said a bit more urgently. The unicorn started wavering. “Morning!”

I caught him with an arm around his back before he hit the floor. “Gah, I can’t do this anymore,” he gasped, his horn finally fizzling out. His face was contorted in a mixture of pain and exhaustion, but try as I might, I couldn’t see what was wrong with him. As I searched for the illusive injury, I became aware of a warm sensation wrapping around the arm I was using to hold him up. Curious, I pulled him a little further forward and took a look…

…and saw crimson. Coming from nasty claw and bite marks his back.

“How…How long?” I asked, barely above a whisper. Morning wasn’t the only one trembling anymore.

“I…*sigh*when I tackled the Infected,” he admitted, defeated. “He got me, but I figured that if you had found out, you might have been too distracted to concentrate and save us…well, one of us. So I cast a simple masking spell, and held it.”

I could barely breathe. ‘He didn’t save me back there, he…he sacrificed himself for me!’ The emotional toll felt like I was brought to my knees and kicked in the back, my face smashing into the hard unforgiving floor of reality. He was injured by an Infected, and fought on regardless. He’s so tired now that he’s in danger of passing out, and if that happens, then shortly after…No, No, NO! I wasn’t going to think about that now. I need to find a way to get him out of here and somewhere they could treat him.

‘The Cavalry! Some of their cars were retrofitted as basic ambulances. They could keep him alive!’ “Stay with me, I’m going to save you,” I told Morning as I frantically fished for my radio.

“Eddy, there’s nothing-”

“No shut up! You’re not dying on me!” I clicked the talk button. “Home Base to Cavalry, we need a medic car here for immediate evac.”

“No can do Home Base. We need all available cars on this end, and sending a car there now would be a terrible mistake.”

“I got a man dying over here God Damnit! What the hell do you mean by ‘terrible mistake’!?”

“Our forces are swamped right now! If we sent a car out, a group of Infected is sure to follow. If they see someone coming out of that house, they’re gonna want in. Let me ask you this: are you equipped to handle another attack?”

I was about to just answer affirmatively so they would send a car out, but I stopped. I really considered it. Whoever was upstairs has been firing non-stop for most of the attack; they can’t have much ammo left. Upstairs is probably out of this fight. Our plate is broken, and my companion is down. I used to have mags coming out the wazoo; now I have two left, plus the partial one in the rifle, plus whatever I have for my secondary. Front side is definitely out. I heard the auto-turret click empty, and I called for Jonathon’s assistance but got no answer. Rear is out. There was a fucking huge explosion to my left. No radio chatter from Edgar, and minimal gunfire from that side. Left side is probably out.

The only ones I could call for assistance would be Luna and her team, and I don’t even know if they’re alive, ok, and not currently fighting and unable to assist. Home Base was still standing, but barely. We were in pretty bad shape.

“…No sir,” I muttered through grit teeth. “We can’t repel another attack in our current state.”

“Then I’m sorry, but there’s nothing we can do now. Tell your friend to sit tight, the main team is arriving in six minutes.”

I said nothing in reply. There was nothing to say. They didn’t know it, none of them did, but I knew, and Morning Star knew as well.

He wasn’t going to last six minutes.

“Eddy,” he croaked out with a sad smile, his voice starting to sound weaker. “There isn’t anything you can do for me now.”

“Why’d you do it God Damnit!?” I screamed, shaking. “I don’t deserve your kindness. I don’t deserve any of it! You were all so nice and-and I just spat in your faces. I dragged you to your fucking death! Why? Why did you save me? I should be the one dying, not you! How could I have possibly been worth your life!?” Tears began to spill as I broke down; the situation was just too much. “It wasn’t even your war to fight,” I whimpered, voice cracking. Unwanted memories started flooding in, memories that reminded me of just how terrible I’ve been to the race I now owed my life to.

“Just when I had finally started relaxing about the fact that we were interacting with aliens, we’re visiting a whole damn town full of them! This can’t end well…”

“So you’ll excuse me if I’m a little more than untrusting of fucking strangers, especially aliens!!”

“What the hell was that?” Edgar whispered harshly. “You could’ve killed her!” “That was the point.”

The hospital. The party. Nightmare Night. Time and time again I’m reminded of how these ponies only wanted to welcome us in with open arms, and learn about us. Befriend us. Help us. And time and time again, I realized just how harshly I rejected them, refused them. I went as far as to almost kill one of them, for throwing us a party!

I was low. Lower than low, I was scum of the Earth low at best. “Why’d you do it?” I whispered, unable to even look him in the eye.

Morning Star wasn’t angry. He wasn’t even upset in the slightest, neither by my outburst nor the fact that he was dying. He didn’t curse me out, he didn’t cry, he just smiled a weak smile and gazed upon me.

“I saw a strength in you,” he started. My gaze immediately snapped to his. “You’re a stubborn, blind idiot sometimes, but you’re also quick-thinking, and clever. You’re more useful in this situation than I would be. Even if I survive, it would take more than a week for my magic to recover. But you humans don’t need magic. You can still fight-”

I held him as he devolved into a coughing fit. As he pulled his hand back, specks of red decorated it. There wasn’t much time left at all. “Promise me,” he continued after a pause, raising a trembling, weak hand to grab my shirt collar. “Promise me you’ll protect them, all of them. Things will seem hopeless at times but never give up. Keep them safe, please.”

“I promise!” I cried. “I’ll do whatever it takes.” His lips curled into a smile as his breathing grew faint and shallow.

“Eddy,” he whispered. “If I die, I’ll turn into one of them, right?” I shakily nodded, not liking where this was heading at all. He turned his head and looked at me; well, his eyes faced mine, but they were unfocused. “I want to die as a pony.”

“No…No, I don’t…I-I can’t do it Star, I can’t.”

“Eddy, don’t make a proud stallion beg. Please, end my life.” I didn’t want to accept it, he wasn’t going to die, he wasn’t! But it wasn’t what actually happened. He really is dying, and who the fuck was I to deny this dying stallion his last wish? I withdrew my pistol with the hand I wasn’t holding him with, and placed it on his forehead, hand trembling violently.

“Goodbye Morning Star; your sacrifice won’t be in vain,” I sobbed. I was openly crying now, and I didn’t care.

“Goodbye Eddy Culivin. All my hope rests with you now.”

A single gunshot rang in the quiet room. The sound seemed to echo for a long time, as there was no thumping sound of a body hitting the floor. It was just a bang. The unicorn’s body jerked a bit, but fell limp shortly after. It didn’t move after that, nor would it ever move again. I pressed myself into his body, hugging it tightly, neither feeling nor caring about the blood that was soaking my shirt.

I just silently cried as I held my fallen savior.

Perspective: Mike Britowski
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 26, 2025

The house was quiet. No Infected, but it wasn’t clear how many of our friends survived. I turned to Twilight. “Come on, we need to see the damage,” I said. She nodded hesitantly, and I was quite certain she didn’t actually want to go down there and see what happened.

“Did…is Celestia alright?” Twilight asked, presumably fearful of finding Celestia’s body as ‘damage’. At least I could give her some truthful good news.

“She’s worn out, but otherwise alright,” I replied. “Edgar watching over her as we speak; she’s in good hands.” This induced a small grin in the purple mare. Seemingly satisfied with that answer, we headed downstairs. Twilight kept her weapon at the ready, just in case, but when we hit the bottom of the stairs, it was apparent she wouldn’t need it.

Luna was standing triumphantly in the middle of a pile, dead Infected surrounding her on all sides. Jonathon was off to the left with…hey, isn’t that Sword? Well. Anyways, coming out of the hallway was Edgar, with a pistol in one hand and Celestia in the other. She was leaning on him heavily, and was taking slow deliberate steps, but she was moving. Twilight and Luna immediately came to Celestia’s aid, thanking Edgar as they relieved him of the tired alicorn.

“Everyone alright?” I asked the gathered group, who all responded affirmatively. Most of the ponies were winded, and all the humans were low on ammunition, but it seemed that otherwise everyone really was ok-

*BANG!*

Everyone immediately looked at one another. What the Hell was that? Were there more Infected? “I-It sounded like it came from that room,” said Twilight, pointing to the office. ‘Wasn’t that where Eddy was supposed to be?’

“I’m going to check it out,” I stated, and walked to the front. Curious it seemed, everyone else followed as well. Nervous glances were exchanged. What would we find in there?

Quiet sobbing emanated from the office. When I rounded the corner, I found it belonged to the last person I would expect to be crying: Eddy. Making the scene even more surreal, Eddy was holding the body of the guard that went with him in his arms. It was obvious from the amount of blood that the guard was either severely wounded, or already dead.

My gut feeling was, unfortunately, the latter.

“Jesus man,” I breathed out, stunned by what I was seeing. “What…what did you do?”

Eddy tried composing himself, but couldn’t quite pick all of himself up. His reply was still shaky. “I-he was hurt and…I didn’t…I had to put a bullet in his head, or he’d end up like th-them.” He gestured to the line of bodies that littered the floor as he finished speaking. It was painful to watch, to see one of my closest friends so broken and utterly devastated. What came next only added insult to injury.

“Oh yea!” blared the speaker in all our radios. “Cavalry to Home Base, we’re back in the game! We heard you needed a medic car?” Eddy didn’t move at first. It was as if he hadn’t even heard the transmission. I began unclipping my radio to respond. But Eddy beat me to it with a quick snatch of his own radio.

“No. We don’t need a car. Not anymore.” There was a long drawn out silence that followed.

“I…I can’t believe it. Who…who was it?”

“Just do your fucking job.”

“But I…never mind. Is Home Base still in this? No other Infected are paying attention to you guys right now. They’re all heading to town.” For the first time since we got here, Eddy looked up at us, his bloodshot eyes staring at each and every one of us. He stared long and unblinking, before raising his radio.

“No. No, we’re done.”

“I see. We’ll pick off the rest then, should be able to get them before they enter town. Good job out there, and thanks for the help.”

“Yea.” He dropped the radio to the floor shortly afterwards. As he did so, Celestia ventured forth. She got close, but Eddy didn’t seem to notice, or if he did, gave no indication of knowing. Or caring.

“He didn’t suffer too much, right?” she asked the broken human.

“Right to the end,” was Eddy’s curt reply. Celestia had been looking at the body, but at the mention of his suffering, had turned away.

“That is unfortunate. I’m sorry.”

“Tell me,” said Eddy, slowly. “Did you know him? What was his name?”

“I’m afraid he wasn’t assigned to my personal guard, and I don’t know very much about him,” replied Celestia. Eddy turned to the other guards and proposed the same question.

“Private Morning Star,” one said without hesitation, the other two nodding.

“Funny,” Eddy continued, gently laying Morning Star’s body down before standing. “They seemed to know him. He was very passionate about protecting the ones he cared about, and he cared a lot about you.” His voice grew a bit louder, and took on a slight accusatory edge. “But I guess that didn’t matter. Tell me Celestia, do you care about what your fellow guards have to say?”

“Of course I do!” Celestia narrowed her eyes. “What are you trying to say?”

“Oh I’ll tell you, right after this final question. Did you ask him?”

“What?”

Eddy’s voice grew louder still, slightly over normal conversing volume now. It kept getting louder as he went on. “Did you ask him? Did you ask if he was ok coming to this world, coming to fight here?”

“Well, I mean-”

“NO YOU FUCKING DIDN’T!!” Eddy exploded. It was plain for all to see, even the ponies. He had finally snapped. “The only person you asked was your sister, and when you agreed to come to this shithole, you dragged all of them along as your brain-dead pawns! You learned what Earth was really like, yet you didn’t ask them. You didn’t ask ANY of them if they wanted to come; you just assumed they’d all just throw away their lives for you. You didn’t even give them a chance to back out, to choose if they wanted to die!

“I warned you. I warned you about what would happen if you came. I told you someone would die. Now look what happened. LOOK WHAT FUCKING HAPPENED!!” Everyone, including me, was blown away by his outburst. I don’t think I’ve seen Eddy this pissed off since…well, ever! He glared right into Celestia’s eyes. He wasn’t screaming, but he was far from over.

“There’s doing your job as a guard and protecting the princess, and then there’s a gross abuse of that ‘responsibility’ by said princess. If you wanted to jump into the fray with this little suicide mission of yours, they should’ve at least been given a choice before you dragged them along with you, because THIS *waves arms everywhere* this wasn’t in the job description. But you dragged him here anyways, and now the blood’s on your hands. Congratulations, I hope it was worth it.” With that, he turned, gingerly picked up the body once more, and made his way to a broken window. Carefully, he dodged the twisted pieces of metal and stepped out through the opening, heading off to God-knows-where.

I wanted to say something, anything, to comfort the princesses. To tell them it wasn’t their fault; that Eddy was just being an ass (again). But this time, this time I held my tongue. All the humans present did. Eddy may have been harsh, but his points rang true. Never mind the fact that one of their fellow ponies are dead, the things they were forced to do today to survive likely caused some form of psychological trauma that will haunt them for the rest of their days. To be taken from a mostly perfect world, and forced to slaughter once-living beings by the dozen will probably give them all nightmares for a very long time.

All I can say is I hope Luna is good at her job.

To try and justify their actions now would be to condone what they had done, and Celestia and Luna had really fucked up this time. So I said nothing. I did nothing. Even as I saw the tears stream down Celestia’s face, I just shook my head slightly, and walked out of the room.

7:00p.m.

Dry barren land stretched out for miles in any direction of the one structure in the desert. No valleys, no hills, almost nothing at all existed on that surface of land that was of any interest.

Save one thing.

To the left of the structure, not more than 20 feet from it, was a mound of dirt. Someone had pulled out the dirt in this mound, only to fill the hole again once the digging was complete. Atop this unremarkable pile of dirt, a jagged piece of stainless steel jutted out. Directly behind this marker stood a human and a pony. They continued to stand there, even after all the others had left long ago, leaving their final farewells as they did so.

Eddy and Twilight leaned up against each other, presumably drawing comfort from the mere touch. They would occasionally glance down at the metal, only to hang their heads low and hug each other tighter. Perhaps they were even crying together.

One wouldn’t be able to tell at a distance, but if you got close enough to the scrap of metal, you would find that there are actually words scratched upon its reflective surface.

Here lies Morning Star,
Who fought and died for those he cared for,
And for the belief that no matter how dark the night,
The sun will rise again on a new day.

For those two still out there, the tears didn’t stop that night, nor would they completely for a while. And when the crying did cease, the emotional scar they acquired would hurt for a long time after.

Chapter 16: Confessions

Perspective: ???
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 27, 2025
2:13a.m.

“Hell to the YES! That’s the last of them boys, we did it!”

“Ya hear that Home Base? We’re all clear!”

“All personnel, switch to channel 14,” I ordered, pressing the appropriate buttons to get me to the desired channel. I waited a few moments, giving everyone else time to switch as well. “Everyone, it’s 2:13 in the morning. All Home Base personnel are probably asleep at this point. A shit-load of stuff happened to them today, and it’d be best if we let them rest rather than pester them through the radio.”

“Speaking of which, what the Hell was that teleportation shit they pulled?”

“Did anyone else hear them say eleven people were inside?”

“Ah did too, but ah reckon there ain’t eleven in there no more. The way they sounded after we came back, at least one o’ their guys are dead…or worse.”

“Alright, that’s enough,” I intervened. “Speculating will get us nowhere. I will check in tomorrow at nine personally to see if they’re alright, and to schedule a meeting. We can ask them all the questions we want then, but for now, let’s get some rest. Cavalry dismissed!”

I sighed as I put away the radio. “They’re quite the rambunctious group, aren’t they?” I asked. The woman next to me chuckled.

“They sure are Boss, but they do bring up some interesting points,” she replied. “Are you sure you can trust them anymore? They did leave quite a few things unanswered, very important things.”

“Well, to be fair, it wasn’t the most appropriate time for an explanation. Besides, I know those men very well, and I trust them with my life. I’m sure all this will be answered soon.” I frowned a little. “Also Julia, you are my wife now. You don’t have to use that silly nickname everyone gave me, just use my real first name.”

Julia rubbed the back of her head, a sheepish grin adorning her face. “Heh heh, sorry. It’s just hard to switch the name I’ve called you since forever ago for something different. But you’re right; I should use your real name, Phoenix.”

I smiled in reply. “Thank you darling.”

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 27, 2025
8:00a.m.

Sunlight filtered through my eyelids as I came to. The problem: I wasn’t ready for sunlight to filter through yet. Groaning, I attempted to pull the blanket over my head…only to realize that I didn’t have a blanket.

Or pillow.

Or bed.

“What the?” I mumbled, temporarily confused as to why I was on the floor somewhere instead of my bed. I looked around, the furnishings of the living room registering in my groggy state. I also noticed Jonathon and Mike lying around in different parts of the living room. Turning the mental gears for a few seconds, I finally remembered what happened. We had guests over, and unless I wanted to cuddle up next to a pony for the night, one of us wasn’t sleeping on the bed. So I ended up letting some of our guests use it, and apparently I wasn’t the only one. So with no bed and no extra covers, we all just ended up sleeping on the floor.

The others weren’t up, nor would they be for a while; last night was hard for everyone, and there wasn’t really anything pressing to do. For now. Not wanting to lie here and whittle my time away staring at the ceiling, I slowly pushed myself to my feet, rubbing a few spots that were a little sore from both yesterday’s events and sleeping on the floor. As I headed for the kitchen, I noticed that Eddy wasn’t in the living room. I’m sure I’d run into him later. Putting that on the back burner for now, I entered the kitchen and fired up the coffee machine.

I sat there, enjoying both the hot beverage and the peace and quiet that was sorely missed yesterday. It was a Hell of a day, one I’m not eager to repeat…ever. Forty minutes and two mugs of coffee later, I was feeling a whole lot more awake. I was beginning to get a little concerned though at this point; the house was dead quiet. If Eddy was awake, I’m sure I would have heard something by now. ‘Maybe he went out for a walk to clear his head?’ I exited the house to see if I could find my friend somewhere outside. And find him I did.

I first I thought he was conscious, and had spent the whole night in front of the grave. As I approached, I realized he was slumped over, his eyes closed. Quiet snoring emanated from the unconscious man. He probably spent so long in front of that marker, he might just have passed out like that.

“Jesus man,” I whispered in disbelief. I grabbed Eddy’s shoulder and began rocking it gently. “Eddy, wake up.”

He jerked and sputtered awake, slowly taking in his surroundings, only to realize he wasn’t alone. He looked up at me, his face telling me more than his words ever could. Dark bags drooped from underneath red eyes. His hair, his clothes, his everything was a mess. To top it all off, a forced neutral expression that tried, but ultimately failed to hide the grief felt behind it.

“Eddy, have…have you been out here all night?” I asked, a little shocked at the condition I found him in. He didn’t say anything though; the seconds ticked on by as if he hadn’t even heard what was said. “Well?” I continued to press. Eddy hesitated for a moment more, before nodding slowly.

“Eddy, this isn’t the way to deal with this,” I said. “I know you’re mourning, I know you’re upset, but spending all night out here is too much. What if some more Infected came back? You know as well as I do how dangerous it is to be outside at night.” Nothing. No acknowledgement, no words, nothing. This was starting to anger me a little. I grabbed Eddy by the shoulders and forced his gaze to meet mine. “Look at me. No amount of sitting here is going to bring him back. You have to move on, you absolutely have to, because we’re still alive here. And I need you with us if we’re going to get through this.”

Eddy rose to his feet, eyes narrowed a bit as he spoke. “So what, I’m just supposed to forget what happened? Forget about what he did for me?”

“That is not what I meant and you know it. I-”

“He saved my life Edgar! How dare you ask me to forget that?”

“Fucking Damnit Eddy, I’m asking you to pay your respects and move on, not wallow in ‘what-should-have-been’ and self-pity!”

“I don’t deserve pity Edgar Worthington, I deserve death. I fucked up, I was careless, but he ended up paying the price for my fuck-up. He used his life to save my sorry ass!”

“Well then he FUCKING WASTED IT if all you’re going to do is sit around and WAIT TO GET KILLED!” I screamed. Eddy stopped. It was as if someone had unplugged him. His anger vanished completely, only to be replaced with sorrow. Perhaps I had hit a tender spot with that remark? I didn’t want to hurt him; I just wanted him to see that he was being stupid. “Eddy, I didn’t mean-”

“No, you did mean it,” he said. “And…and you’re right.” He turned to look at the grave, staring at the piece of metal that marked the final resting spot of the guard. “You haven’t even been gone a day, and I’m already failing you,” he said wistfully. He stared a moment longer, before quickly wiping his eyes with his hand. “Edgar, what I did was fucking stupid, and it won’t happen again. We’re gonna stick together, and we’re going to survive.” A smile grew rapidly on my face.

“Now that’s more like it!” I said, patting Eddy’s back. “Let’s get back inside, we got a lot to go over, and we still have to figure what to do with our ‘guests’.” At the mention of ponies, Eddy’s frown returned full force. The argument from yesterday came to mind immediately. “Eddy, I know you’re not happy with them. Truth be told, I don’t exactly agree with the princess’ decision either. But like it or not, we’re a team here. We all want the same thing, and we could really use their help in this. Try to get along.”

Eddy mulled this over, saying nothing as he turned and headed for the house. It wasn’t until we reached the door that he spoke. “That depends entirely on them,” he said, grabbing the door handle and pushing the door in. It seems someone was just about to open the door from the other side as well, for a startled yelp came from the other side. Eddy swung the door all the way open to reveal the very topics of our conversation, Celestia and Luna.

“Morning,” I said, trying to be friendly.

“Good morning Edgar,” Celestia replied. She turned to Eddy, only to look down moments later. You see, I tried to be friendly. Eddy made no effort at all to conceal his disdain. He glared at both princesses, neither of them returning the gaze. The tension was thick in the air; this was suddenly very awkward. After what seemed like forever, Celestia spoke. “Eddy, I’m-”

“Save it,” Eddy cut in harshly, silencing her once more. His tone softened afterwards, but it was still obvious he was angry. “I’m not the one you should be apologizing to; this didn’t affect me, directly anyways. I’m…overlooking this, because it’s what Star would have probably wanted. As for the rest of them, you both want to make things right? Then you gather all your ponies, and apologize to them. Look every single one of them in the eye, and apologize for all the shit they had to go through.” Eddy broke eye-contact, and made his way over to the kitchen. “Whether they forgive you or not, is up to them,” he called out, before disappearing into the kitchen.

“He’s right sister,” Luna said at last. “We should apologize to our subjects for the wrong we have bestowed upon them.”

“If it makes you two feel any better,” I said, drawing their attention, “the guys have no qualms with any of you. Even if we didn’t exactly agree with your actions, they uhh, inevitably helped save our lives, and for that, we are grateful.” Celestia allowed a thin smile to grace her lips.

“Thank you Edgar,” she said kindly. The smile only lasted for a moment though. “We must still speak with our subjects though. If you’ll excuse us, we’ll be upstairs.” I nodded, and watched them start up the stairs, before heading into the kitchen myself.

Inside, I found that Eddy had taken advantage of the fact that I had left the coffee machine loaded to make himself a pot. I don’t blame him at all; he probably didn’t sleep until well into the night, and even then it probably wasn’t restful sleep, with him being hunched over like he was. Though I already had two, I decided one more couldn’t hurt and served myself another mug. I sat at the table, opposite Eddy.

“That…could have actually gone a lot worse,” I said, referencing the earlier encounter with the Royal Sisters. “I’m quite pleased with the way you handled that.” Eddy put his mug down.

“Like I said, it’s what he would have probably wanted,” Eddy replied. “Besides, you’re right. We could use their help, so we should probably get along.” He frowned for a bit. “But they still had to apologize to their ponies for what they did to them; that shit’s unacceptable.” I nodded. We sat there, enjoying the relative silence. It didn’t last.

“Morning guys,” Jonathon said as he and Mike shuffled in. “Wow Eddy, you planning on drinking that whole pot?” Eddy smirked.

“Make your own damn coffee,” he joked, motioning towards the pot. Jon and Mike chuckled, each serving themselves. They didn’t even get to sit down when a voice called to them.

“Home Base? Home Base, come in,” Phoenix’s voice filtered in through the radio. It wasn’t our Walkie-Talkies this time; it was an actual short range radio used for communication between the town and our house. The fact that Phoenix was using this meant he was in town, and he didn’t sound panicked, so the fight last night probably went well. I allowed myself to breathe a small sigh of relief. While Jonathon sat down, Mike, who was closest to the radio, snagged it on the way to the table. He set it down in the middle, before taking a seat.

Eddy grabbed the mic and pressed the talk button. “Home Base reads you, go ahead,” he replied.

“Good to see you’re all up. Are you all ok? From my understanding, one of you didn’t…didn’t make it.”

I cast a nervous look at Eddy. He didn’t appear to be angered like yesterday, just a little down. “It wasn’t one of our guys Phoenix; Mike, Edgar, Jon and myself are alright.”

“Oh thank God! I was so worried it was one of you four, but by the time the last Infected fell, it was too late to check. I’m glad you guys are alright.” There was a brief pause in the transmission. “However, while I’m glad you four are alive, this death just raises more questions. We need to have a talk. The boys over here are looking for some answers, and quite frankly, so am I. Some very strange things happened at Home Base yesterday, and we need to know what, and why.”

The four of us exchanged nervous glances. How do we go about this? We knew this confrontation was inevitable, but we, or at least I, have been dreading this moment.

“What do we tell him?” asked Mike.

“I’d rather not tell them anything,” said Eddy. “I know these guys; they’re not always known for their level-headedness.”

“No, we have to tell them,” said Jonathon. “They already suspect something, and even if they didn’t, they come here every so often anyways. One of them, especially Phoenix, is bound to find out, and the unfortunate pony is likely to get shot.”

“I’d have to agree with Jon,” I added. Reluctantly it seemed, we had reached an answer. Eddy picked up the mic.

“Alright, round up the boys. We’ll see you in an hour, our place.”

“Roger that,” and the radio went silent once more.

“Well shit,” Eddy said. “Now what do we do?”

Perspective: Jonathon Burley
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 27, 2025

“So that’s kind of the situation,” I finished explaining. Shortly after getting off the radio, I went upstairs to inform the ponies of our friends’ impending arrival. I found them in one of the rooms. They all had red eyes, as if they had been crying, though were smiling for some reason. I would have asked what was going on, but time was of the essence.

“So, what do you suggest we do?” asked Luna.

“Well, the boys and I were thinking that you would wait in corridor to the master bedroom, out of sight, until we called you,” I responded. “That way, we have time to prepare them, instead of just dropping the whole alien thing on their laps out of nowhere. They wouldn’t respond too well to that.”

“I see. We shall wait in the corridor then until further notice.”

“Thank you Luna.” With that, I led the ponies downstairs, directing them where to wait. Once they were in place, I assisted the guys in preparation for the arrival of the Cavalry crew. The living room was designated as the meeting place, and all chairs, stools, and anything that could be sat on was brought into it. The sofas, as well as all the chairs, were arranged into a semi-circle of sorts, facing the corridor our guests would be coming out from. With that taken care of, all we could do was wait.

It wasn’t long before the first car came into view, followed by another. A total of four cars came towards us. It was a bit of a frightening sight, considering the group we called The Cavalry was originally twenty cars strong. The cars pulled off the road, having to travel on the unpaved dried ground to reach us. Guess we’ll need to pave a new driveway to our house, since the old one now leads to nothing. The cars came up to the front porch, parking haphazardly before shutting off. Their passengers disembarked, and I prepared to catch some flak for our questionable actions as of recently.

I was more than surprised to find that everyone was very friendly, as we shook hands and greeted like old friends. They had questions, but it seemed we were trustworthy enough in their eyes. The last one in the group was Phoenix, whom I greeted with a firm handshake and a quick hug.

“Jonathon, so glad to see you’re alright,” Phoenix said.

“We’re a little battered and shaken, but thankfully still standing,” I replied with a smile, though it faded shortly after. “Phoenix, is this everyone?” Phoenix’s expression turned solemn.

“A lot of men didn’t make it Jon. This isn’t the full unit, but it’s a sizable chunk of what’s left.” A lump formed in my throat. I tried to come up with a meaningful thing to say, something to express my sorrow for the loss, but all that came out was a simple “I’m sorry”. I didn’t realize how many cars had stopped working or had crashed during the fight. I heard a few cars died, they were picking up crew members from those disabled vehicles, but a lot of those crews probably perished, since most cars came loaded to capacity already. I couldn’t help but feel partly responsible, like a nagging feeling that we could have saved more had Home Base fought harder. There wasn’t anything I could have really done though; no one expected the fight to drag out that long.

Phoenix sighed, before replying. “So am I Jon, so am I. But that’s not what we’re here for.”

“I know,” I replied. “And we’re going to answer all your questions, I promise. Let’s step inside though; it’s going to take a while, and some of the things we need to show you requires you to be calm and collected.” Phoenix raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more.

“It’s been a while Jonathon,” a voice suddenly called out from behind Phoenix. An older man stepped out from behind Phoenix, sporting a standard lab coat, black slacks, and black shoes. Recognition dawned immediately from only a quick glance. The man in question is known by many, has done many things for the town.

Among other things, this was the doctor who saved Eddy’s life two years ago.

“Dr. Tidwell!” I exclaimed, shaking the man’s hand with a broad smile. “What are you doing here? I thought only Cavalry personnel were coming up?” I asked, glancing questioningly at Phoenix. “Did he join the Cavalry unit at some point?”

Tidwell chuckled, before responding in his usual semi-formal manner. “No my dear boy; I did nothing of the sort.” He nodded slightly in Phoenix’s direction. “Boss here asked me to tag along, should you or your men require medical attention.”

“Thanks, but all of us are fine, really. Still, we should catch up sometime, as I’m sure the others will be glad to see you too. But we can’t waste any more time; as I’ve said before, we have a lot to explain.” I led the group of humans inside. A total of sixteen people, including Mike, Edgar, Eddy and myself were brought to the living room and seated.

This was it, no turning back now.

Mike cleared his throat. “Alright guys, I know you all have a bunch of questions, but a lot of them are bound to get answered when we explain what happened.” I looked out into the crowd, and noticed that most of the audience members were not only armed, but openly carrying their weapon. I wanted to tell everyone to keep their weapons holstered, but Mike continued speaking. “Now, a bunch of what we’re going to say is going to sound like total bullshit, but I swear it’s the truth.” He then turned to me. “Jon, would you fetch our friends?” I nodded. As I left though, a part of me couldn't help but realize that while we said we weren't going to drop the alien thing on their laps instantly, that was exactly what we were going to do! But I digress; it has to happen at some point anyway. While I collected our guests, Mike continued. “I’m sure all of you heard the transmission that stated we had more than four personnel inside Home Base. Well uh…here they are.”

As he said that, I stepped out of the corridor, followed by three guards, one student, and two princesses, all of them ponies. Dead silence followed their arrival; no one moved, shifted in their seat, or even seemed to breathe. Their faces were of confusion, which quickly turned to shock as they examined our guests.

One man in the front stood up, and backed away a little bit, fear evident in his face. Others started to do the same. Subtly, I positioned myself between the crowd and the ponies, as I saw a few of them reach for their belt holsters.

One of the Cavalry members voiced his concerns, a concern the others seemed to share. “Are those things Infected?” Immediately, the room erupted into chaos as everyone voiced questions, opinions and comments at the same time. Most in the crowd had stood up by this point, a few backed up, others kept their hands on their guns, ready to draw.

“Alright, enough, enough!” Phoenix yelled to his crew.

“B-but Boss-”

“No shut up!” he yelled again, this time getting his crew to settle down. “What the Hell did you think everyone screaming all at once was going to accomplish?” Silence met his rhetorical question. “I’m sure these, uh… guests are not hostile, right?” he finished that with a glance in my direction.

“Of course not,” I quickly jumped to the ponies’ aid. “Without their help, Home Base would have likely perished.” A quiet mummer ran through the crowd at that. Everyone sat down again, and I noticed with great relief that most had relinquished their hold on their sidearm, albeit watching the ponies cautiously.

“Now boys,” Phoenix continued. It was easy to tell he was a little shaken, though he was keeping a mostly calm appearance quite well. “Normally I’d think you were fucking with all of us with this, but I saw the wings on two of them move a little. I’m going to need you to explain everything, slowly, clearly. Ok?”

“Understood Phoenix,” I said, very relieved that he was here. His faith in us, and the influence he has over these men (due to the respect they have for him) just diffused a potentially lethal situation.

As he instructed, we took turns retelling our story. At certain points we needed the ponies to demonstrate something for us, or we would have sounded completely insane. When we mentioned magic, some of the audience members snickered. Twilight calmly stood up, and levitated a cup of water over one of the non-believers…and then proceeded to dump it all over him. Needless to say, no further interruptions were had.

At the mention of our teleportation to a new world, Luna asked everyone to hold hands in a circle. When the circle was hesitantly completed, Luna injected a vision of Equestria for all to experience. Since she had fought with a sword during yesterday’s battle, she still had plenty of magic left, and was able to do this without negative consequences.

We gave a brief description of what transpired during our two week absence. Edgar came up with the idea of showing everyone all the biofuel he made during our time there, to prove we were actually gone for some amount of time. Phoenix knew we had little fuel left, everyone had little left, and none was made before the attack. Thirty five gallons of biodiesel doesn’t just come out of thin air. To further drive the point home, Eddy asked Luna to do the same thing she did on the stage during Nightmare Night. Everyone was treated to a POV video from Eddy’s perspective, and saw clips of the brief events we described.

By the time we were done, everyone was quiet, either rendered speechless or quietly contemplating what we said. The look of surprise was uniform though. “So…thoughts anyone?” I asked, as the silence was getting awkward.

“You really meant it when you said it was a lot to take in,” came an answer from one of the audience members.

“I’m still having trouble believing it,” came another reply.

“Amen to that!”

“So wait…y’all went to another universe?”

“Boss, what do you make of this?”

Phoenix pondered this a while more. The lack of response slowly silenced his crew, and all eyes turned to the middle-aged man in expectation of an answer. “I’m not sure what to think,” he finally said, turning to look at the four of us. “I mean, on one hand, you weren’t kidding when you said this would be hard to believe.” He turned his gaze away, where it focused instead on the subjects of this whole talk, the ponies. “But on the other hand, the evidence is right in front of my face. In some weird way…everything checks out. It makes sense, and none of this should.”

Phoenix studied each of the ponies closely, as if his opinion of them would be made clear if he stared at them long enough. “And you said they were here to help?” he questioned. “How? Why?”

“I can personally attest to them being here to help,” Eddy said confidently. Phoenix turned to look him in the eyes.

“How so?” Phoenix asked. There was no hesitation in Eddy’s reply, his face steeled into a look of determination.

“Because one of them is now six feet under for saving my sorry ass.”

There was complete silence in the room for a few moments. Phoenix’s eyes widened in surprise; clearly he wasn’t expecting such a convincing argument. A look of realization crossed his face. It seemed the mental gears in his head had turned and put two and two together.

“So the transmission yesterday…” Eddy nodded his head.

“Morning Star was his name, from what I’ve heard,” I informed Phoenix. “We walked into the office after the fight and he was lying dead in Eddy’s arms. We were later informed he took a bite for Eddy, and Eddy had to…‘lay him to rest’, after the fight. He’s buried outside.”

Phoenix addressed the princesses. “I’m…sorry, for your loss,” was all he could say in his surprised state.

“He made a noble sacrifice, and will be dearly missed,” replied Luna with a sad smile.

“To answer your other questions Phoenix, they’re helping us out of the kindness of their hearts, but I don’t know how,” said Mike.

“They learned of the real situation back on Earth kinda last minute, and decided to help us even more last minute,” added Edgar.

“I see,” said Phoenix. “So you are here to help.” He smiled for perhaps the first time since this meeting began. “Thank you for your assistance. Did you have anything special in mind?”

Celestia stepped up. “We need to know more about the disease, as all I know currently is that those creatures outside used to be human once.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tidwell flinch. No one was around him, no one speaking to him, and nothing was heading his way. ‘Strange…’

“I’m afraid that aside from the fact that the disease is caused by a specially designed cell gone haywire, I don’t know much.”

“That’s a shame. Perhaps we could study some of the…bodies, outside.”

“The cells are probably dead at this point in those bodies.” Celestia looked down in thought at this, trying to figure out what to do.

“Sister, is there nothing we can do?” asked Luna.

Edgar smiled at the princesses. “Don’t worry, I know we can find something for you-”

“Stop.”

The command came from the most unlikely of sources. Everyone turned to the person that voice came from, Dr. Tidwell.

“I know a way our visitors can help us,” he continued as he turned to face the ponies. “But first, allow me a story if you will, one that should have been told a long time ago.” Eddy, who finally noticed the aging man, addressed him.

“Dr. Tidwell? How did-never mind. What’s this about?”

“You will see soon enough Eddy.” He quickly looked at all the humans present. “I’m so sorry my friends,” was all he said before turning back. I was worried at this point. What story? Why is he sorry? Where the Hell was this coming from?

“Long ago, I was a simple practitioner of medicine,” he began. “I took great joy in helping people; they came to me in need and I would always deliver. But I also had a passion for experimenting, for pushing boundaries, for seeing what was possible. When I wasn’t tending to the sick, I was exploring new cures, publishing everything I found. I became a scientist of sorts.”

Tidwell seemed nostalgic of those times, retelling those times with a smile. “It was a weird thing to do, going from practicing medicine to studying it. Seems like it should be the other way around! I was noted for several interesting finds, but nothing completely ground-breaking. I didn’t think I had accomplished anything truly note-worthy.” His smile vanished. “Eventually though, someone did take notice. I’m sure you’ve all heard of G-Netics?”

I’m sure every human present in the room felt the same way as I did when we heard that name. It felt like the bottom of my stomach dropped out, and my heart immediately began to pound in anxious fear.

“T-Tidwell, that-”

“Please, let me finish; this is something I must do.” He addressed the ponies. “I know the name doesn’t mean much to you, but G-Netics eventually created the cell that was responsible for this mess.” Now it was the ponies turn to be surprised, as they realized what we did just moment s ago. “When the accident happened, I was able to escape by hiding instead of running away when things got ugly. The broadcast made it seem like everyone had perished, and I used that to go ‘under the radar’, as it were. I’ve been nothing but a ‘simple doctor’ ever since.” A single tear ran down the doctor’s cheek, tangling itself in his beard. “And that my friends, is why I can help you help us.”

‘…Well, this day has certainly been full of surprises!’

Phoenix stood up. “Tidwell, this…you never said anything about this.”

“Of course not Phoenix! Don’t you see? Being on that damned team was the greatest mistake I ever made, the source of my greatest shame! I wanted to help. I thought we could raise humanity to its greatest height yet…” He looked away, unable to face anyone any longer. He said in a quiet voice, “but in my arrogance, we doomed it.”

Nobody moved as the man began to silently weep, covering his eyes with his hands. The man who moved here long ago, who decided to practice medicine in the middle of nowhere as a simple doctor, was one of those responsible for this whole mess. It was quite the shock, and no one could show any other emotion than pure, blatant surprise. No human at least.

Slowly, Celestia made her way over to the distraught man. She placed a hand on his shoulder, catching his attention, and making him turn up to look at the pony. Celestia wore a smile that seemed to calm the man down, if only a little.

“We ponies have a quote for these situations. ‘The road to Tartarus is paved with good intentions.’ It means that even with honest motives, good ponies can sometimes do bad things. We have all made mistakes before, and I can say I have personally made some decisions that I thought would benefit everyone, only to have it backfire.” She finished that with a glance at Eddy. Through the stoic mask, Eddy gave her a small nod, his facial features softening just a bit. “But dwelling in the past will only make you miss the present. You made a mistake, but all is not lost. You still have your friends, whom while shocked at the moment, do not seem like the kind of people to turn their backs on you. In addition, if you can help us understand this strange disease, perhaps we may be able to help.”

Even from here, I could see the hope flare up in Tidwell’s eyes. As the moments passed, his whole attitude began to change. This was his chance, to undo the wrong he had done, to truly save humanity. The sadness from before seemed to give way to determination, and he met Celestia’s eyes with renewed confidence.

“Well princess, then it seems we have a lot to discuss.”

Author's Note

The next few chapters aren't going to contain as much action as in chapter 15, as most sane individuals wouldn't be eager to jump back into a grueling fight with Infected without some semblance of a plan. Hopefully, 17 will come out much faster. See you guys next chapter!

Chapter 18: The Missing Link

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 27, 2025
10 minutes after Mike’s departure

“Make sure the plating is ¼ inch, or we’ll never hear the end of it from Eddy,” I relayed over the radio to Mike.

“Guys, I’ve told you a billion times; if it’s not ¼ inch, it won’t fit. If it won’t fit, it’s useless. And if it’s useless, that’s wasted effort, blah blah blah,” came Mike’s impression of Eddy ranting over the radio. We shared a quick laugh, at poor Eddy’s expense. “Don’t worry, I triple-checked the thickness; we’re not getting chewed out tonight. Is that everything?”

“I believe so. If anything else turns up, I’ll go and get it myself. See you when you get back.”

“You bet.” With that, I clipped the radio to my belt, and returned my attention to the task at hand. Mainly, trying to convince a very stubborn princess…

“Celestia, you really should take it easy; you’re not even fully recovered yet,” I told the princess, rubbing my temples as I did so. While the others had retired to their rooms or elsewhere (with the exception of Twilight), Celestia had been insistent on following Jonathon and me around, trying to help. *Sigh* I could feel a headache coming on.

In response, Celestia just continued smiling, and followed us out of the room. “You know, the way you keep worrying about me, you sound just like a Royal Guard,” she replied mirthfully.

“Honestly…” Realizing I wasn’t going to convince her otherwise, I resigned myself to leading her around. As we exited from the Master Bedroom, Jonathon and I caught a glimpse of Eddy heading for the back door, Twilight in tow.

“Hey Eddy, what’s the verdict on the power situation?” Jonathon asked. To our surprise, it didn’t even seem like Eddy had heard us, the man staying silent as he slipped through the back door. Twilight thankfully, seemed to have heard us, and turned to address us.

“Almost fixed,” she said. “Just have to replace one of the cells that got damaged on the way over from Equestria. Eddy says there are spares in the workshop.” She turned around, and I think it’s at this point that she realized Eddy had already left. “Eddy? Hey, wait up!” And like that she’s gone too.

“Well that was…interesting,” I said. “Wonder why Eddy ignored you.”

“Think he’s ‘distracted’?” Jon replied with a smirk, wiggling his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. ‘I get it.’

“You don’t possibly think-”

“One way to find out.” I quickly directed my attention back towards Celestia.

“You think you’re well enough to sneak around with us?” I asked. The Solar Princess put on a mischievous grin.

“I think I can manage,” she replied. We set off quickly for the back door. Peering out of it, we saw Twilight and Eddy disappearing into his old workshop. Confirming that the coast was clear, we stepped out of the house and made our way over as quickly as we could without giving ourselves away. I crouched low at the entrance and carefully peered around the corner, Jonathon doing the same right above me, and Celestia above him. The building we were peeking into was a very simple one; only four walls in a rectangle, a roof, a small door, and a very large door. As we peered in from the small door we found Eddy groping around in the darkness.

“Where’s that blasted switch?” he muttered, before a dim glow materialized right next to him. He looked at Twilight, but not for long, turning quickly away with a mumbled “thank you Twi”.

“Did you see the red on his face?” Jon asked quietly, but excitedly. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so flustered!”

“Your friend must be getting very close to my student if she told him to call her Twi; only her close friends call her that,” Celestia added, grinning all the while. “Well well Twilight, you’ve got your first admirer.”

“I don’t know guys,” I said. “I think we’re reading too much into this-” I stopped when I saw their barely-contained glee. “And I think two certain individuals are having too much fun with the idea,” I deadpanned.

*Click. BUZZZZZZ.*

We ceased whispering and returned to the scene inside to find Eddy at the light switch. A buzz filled the room as the old bulbs started glowing weakly; they would get stronger as they warmed up. Twilight immediately started looking around, as strange machines were everywhere.

For the rest of us humans though, what hit us wasn’t curiosity, but rather a huge wave of nostalgia.

“What are these?” Twilight asked, spinning slowly in place as she took everything in.

“Remnants of the past,” Eddy replied simply. “Once, back when the guys and I were still in school, we found a lot of common ground in wanting to build projects like these. Through building these things, we got to know each other better, and became practically inseparable in our friendship.” He looked at her, noticing her obvious curiosity. “I-If you want, I could point out a few of them on our way to the spare cells.” Her delighted expression told him all he needed to know, so into the workshop they went.

“Still think we’re reading too much into it?” Jonathon asked with a playful jab at my ribs.

“Yes I do,” I stated matter-of-factly. “There’s nothing solid here. Not yet anyways.”

“Well you’re no fun.” Jonathon pouted.

“This is a spud gun, or a potato launcher,” Eddy’s voice carried through from deeper inside the building.

“We’ll need to move to get a better angle,” Celestia whispered. Nodding, I moved in, the others following behind.

As we snuck our way over to get a better look, Eddy continued to talk, answering Twilight’s questions. “Why we built it? Why not? It’s fun as all Hell to shoot, and the ammo is just regular potatoes. Back before the Infection, potatoes were super common and dirt cheap, and they’re biodegradable too.”

“I see,” Twilight responded, before directing her attention to the right of the potato cannon. “What about those wheeled contraptions?”

“Haha, I remember those! The ones with four wheels are called go-karts, and the ones with two wheels are minibikes. The easiest explanation I can give is they’re very rudimentary vehicles, like our cars, but less powerful and designed for fun.” As they went deeper into the large workshop, Eddy listed off and briefly explained more projects. The jet engine (made with a large truck turbo), the air engine (based off a two-stroke), rudimentary land mines, R/C vehicles, our Pneumatic Rifles, and many, many more. Finally, they came to the end of the building. Several shelves lined one end of the space, and in the other, was the skeleton of our once greatest project-to-be.

“And what’s that one?” Twilight asked excitedly. Several seconds went by, but no answer ever came. “Eddy?” She spun to find him in a melancholy state, staring up at the structure of welded steel with a sad smile.

“That,” he started, “was the project we were working on when the world went to Hell.”

“I’m…Sorry.”

“Don’t be. No reason to be. For your information, it was supposed to be a plane, a very simple aircraft called an Ultralight that would take one person into the air. We started work on it, but as you can see, we never finished. It’s been sitting here ever since. It’s funny though, I thought it was a pile of parts, but it actually resembles a plane; even the engine and propeller were mounted. Edgar, were we really this far into the Ultralight?”

“Yes we were,” I said…wait. ‘Shit.’

“You can stop sneaking around behind my back. Jon, Celestia, you too.” We bashfully came out from the box we had hidden behind.

“What gave us away?” I asked.

“You guys suck at hiding. I turned around once to see if I had missed something cool and saw your faces and Celestia’s horn. Mainly Celestia’s horn; you should be more mindful about that if you’re going to secretly tail someone.”

Meanwhile, it seemed that Twilight finally came out of her stupor, and directed her attention towards Celestia. “Princess, why were you following us?” she asked bewildered.

Celestia blushed a little. “I couldn’t help myself; I had to see if a little rumor floating around was true.”

“What rumor?”

“That-”

“Heeeeey,” Jonathon thankfully interrupted. “So, Eddy, what are you doing in here? With Twilight. Alone.”

Eddy glared at Jonathon, either getting what he was hinting at, or angry for interrupting Celestia revealing why we were following them. He let it go quickly though, and reached for one of the many boxes under a shelf labeled ‘Spares-Electrical System’. He reached inside and lifted out a large blue cylinder by the ends. Attached to the top was a small circuit board, and text adorned the other side. On each threaded end, a large nut was screwed into position.

“I was fetching one of these for the System, a spare Ultracapacitor,” Eddy replied, showing the cylinder to everyone present. “This one is rated for three volts, at…gah, the label’s smudged! Anyways, very large capacity, but three volts is safe to handle, which is why I’m grabbing it by the terminals. It’s also empty.” He showed us the circuit board, explaining that lights would be on in the board if the capacitor had any charge.

“Is this one of those electrical energy storage devices you mentioned in your letter Twilight?” Celestia asked, curiously eyeing the cylinder.

“Yes it is,” Twilight replied. “It’s part of an array that powers everything in their house. There are a huge number of these in the attic.”

“If you want Celestia, you can carry it back to the attic, and examine it along the way,” Eddy offered.

“Celestia, you really shouldn’t be carrying anything around,” I warned. “It’s a miracle you’re still standing considering how tired you were yesterday, and I already foolishly let you walk around, so…Are you even listening to me?”

“Yes my loyal guard, I’m always listening,” she teased with a wink in my direction. The rest of the group chuckled a bit as they exited the building, leaving me for a second with a single thought.

‘Such a stubborn princess!’

“Hey, if you’re not going to listen, at least wait up!” I called out, running to catch up. She didn’t even notice when I fell into step with her. The look of fascination on her face was priceless as she thoroughly examined the futuristic energy storage device in her hands.

“Imagine what our worlds could accomplish together if we combined our knowledge,” Celestia said. “Things would change forever, for both worlds.”

“I’m not sure everything would come together as easily as you think it will,” I warned. “I’m sure there are bad ponies, like there are bad people, that will wish to exploit these new advances.”

“There will always be challenges and obstacles on the road to something grand Edgar, but I believe our races could create something awe-inspiring together if given the ch…chance.”

“Are you ok?” I asked. I watched her waver a little, before recovering.

“I’m fine…I…”

I was already moving by the time she started falling. I was thankful for the reflexes I didn’t know I had, for she landed safely in my arms rather than hit the floor.

“Guys, situation!” I yelled, grabbing their attention immediately. I was already picking her up princess-style by the time they ran back.

“What happened!?” Twilight yelled.

“I don’t know!” I replied. “We were talking, then she started wavering, and fell. Listen, I’m taking her inside to a bed. Someone go fetch Luna, or whoever can diagnose her.” With that, I sprinted for the back door a fast as I could. The others ran ahead, Twilight and Eddy continuing into the house, while Jon held the door open. “Thanks man.”

“Are you going to take her to her room?”

“No way in Hell; I’m not chancing the stairs,” I said as I blew past the aforementioned structure, instead heading into the corridor that led into the Master Bedroom. As I ran into the room, Jon ran back to direct the others here. Not a second after laying her down, Luna and all three guards burst into the room.

“What happened here?” Luna asked, trying to remain calm.

“She was walking back from the workshop when she lost consciousness,” I answered quickly. “Can you fix this?”

“Let me see.” A blue glow enveloped her horn a moment later. The Lunar Princess closed her eyes in concentration, and lowered her head gently until her horn made contact with Celestia’s. The contact caused the glow to expand, covering Celestia in a faint blue glow as well. Time seemed to tick by agonizingly slowly; every second felt like an hour as everyone present waited with bated breath for Luna’s verdict. Finally, after a minute that felt more like an eternity, the glow disappeared and Luna raised her head.

“Is she ok?” Luna opened her eyes, fixing them on me.

“Yes Edgar, she will be alright; she merely fainted. With so little magic currently within her, she is more susceptible to physical exhaustion, and can faint from excessive physical activity. Basically, the lack of magic is making her physically weak as well.”

“Damnit, I knew I shouldn’t have let her run around with us!” I swore. “I’m so sorry Luna; she insisted on following us outside, and I should have done more to keep her from straining herself.” Rather than angry though, Luna wore a knowing grin on her face.

“And your increased protests would have accomplished nothing dear Edgar; my sister can be very stubborn, believing she’s fine when she really isn’t. She’s not used to taking breaks, so you’ll have to forgive her if she tries to be continuously busy.”

“Well, glad that’s settled,” Eddy said from across the room. “I really need to get the power on though, so if you’ll excuse me…” He turned, and took one step before stopping again. “Also, Edgar, I had no idea you were that strong.”

“What do you mean?”

“You literally sprinted into the house while carrying Celestia in. That takes some strength.”

“Heheh, what can I say? Adrenaline does some crazy things.”

“I’ll say. Anyways, I’m heading out. You guys coming?” I looked between Eddy and Celestia’s sleeping form. I quickly made a decision.

“Nah, you guys go ahead. I’ll stay right here.”

Perspective: Jonathon Burley
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 27, 2025

After excusing ourselves, Eddy and I left the room to retrieve the Ultracapacitor that had fallen from Celestia’s grip when she fainted.

“You think it’s still usable?” I asked.

“It better be,” Eddy replied. “I don’t have an unlimited number of these things, and they were damn expensive too. Manufacturer claimed they were very robust though, so if it’s broken, I want a refund!”

We shared a quick laugh at the absurdity of the situation. As we were about to reach the back door, the front door opened. Guess Mike was back.

“So, how’d it go?” I asked him as he came into view.

“Pretty good, Phoenix and I left the materials we gathered in the garage, and the food stored out in the freezer.”

“And the ‘favor’?”

“He wants me to teach the princesses to shoot as well so they can defend themselves if worst comes to worst. He even gave me these guns.”

“Well, looks like you got your work cut out for you.”

“Tell me about it. *Looks at Eddy* Speaking of work, where’s your favorite assistant Eddy?”

“Ok, that’s it!” he cried, dragging me, and for some reason Mike as well, out the back door. ‘I think I’m in trouble!’ He released his grip on both of us, wheeling around quickly as he did so.

“In the workshop, you, Edgar, and Celestia were stalking Twilight and me, and now Mike is talking about my ‘favorite assistant’. *Points at me* Why the Hell were you guys stalking me *points to Mike* and what are you trying to imply?”

I looked at Mike for a second before returning my attention to Eddy. “Don’t worry Mike; I got this. Eddy, I’m going to be straight with you. How do you feel about Twilight?” He stared at us. He stared at us for a while. His face changed from confusion to realization; he probably figured out where this was heading. Several times his mouth opened to respond, but nothing came out. Looking between us several times, he finally answered.

“Is…is that what this is about? Really? Twilight and I are friends Jon, nothing else!”

“But you spend an awful lot of time with her,” Mike pressed.

“And when you came down, you were completely out of it,” I continued with Mike. “In fact, you ignored Edgar outright when you came downstairs. And in the shop, you acted all flustered around Twilight. And since when did you start calling her ‘Twi’? Celestia said only close friends called her that.”

“Wha-no! Ok, firstly, what the Hell did you think you were going to find us doing in the workshop? Seriously? I would have taken her to my room if I was doing something that private.”

“Oh? Already considering taking her to your room Eddy?” Mike teased with a huge shit-eating grin.

“I-no…Will you let me finish damnit!?” We laughed as Eddy went bright red. “Secondly, I might be getting along with ponies, but I’m certainly not a Pony Lover. And thirdly, Twilight and I are just friends, did I mention that enough?”

“Oh come now Eddy, you’re being a bit racist there now, don’t you think?” I countered. “Besides, why couldn’t you like Twilight?”

“Because she’s a pony.”

“Other than that. You’ve never really shown an interest in anyone before; maybe all you needed was an extra special girl to come steal your heart away. And if being a pony is the only reason you’re against dating her-”

“I told you I don’t like her that way, ok!? Look guys, we’re trying to literally save the world here. I don’t have time for foolish endeavors like love. Nothing is going on between us, so you can tell Edgar and whoever else is in your little entourage that it ain’t happening.” He quickly wheeled around, facing towards the Ultracapacitor. “Now, unless you want all that food we just got to spoil, I suggest you let me finish fixing that stupid System. It’s given me enough trouble already.”

Once Eddy was out of earshot, I leaned in towards Mike and whispered. “Damn, I was sure we’d get him to come clean.”

“It’s Eddy we’re talking about,” Mike said. “Remember how long it took him to open up to us?”

“Yea, he was rather reserved. Still is, apparently. But I know he likes her, and if you’d had been there with Edgar and me, you would’ve seen it also.”

“Now that you mention it, Twilight has been clinging to Eddy a lot too. She’s been with him most of the day, and asked to follow him up to the attic as well.”

“Hold this.” Out of nowhere an object was thrust into my chest, the force Eddy used causing me to stagger a bit. “Can you save this for another time?” Eddy asked, annoyed. “We’ve got shit to do.”

“Why don’t you ask for your lovely assistant then?” I teased.

“Alright, I’ve had just about enough of…” Something was amiss. All the anger in his expression evaporated in an instant. He was examining something on me, though I couldn’t figure out what. His expression was unadulterated surprise, as a million things flew through his head but not one came out, judging by how much his mouth was moving. I chanced a look at the capacitor I was carrying, but couldn’t find anything wrong with it. Mike started to notice this weird change too.

“Eddy, you ok?” Mike asked. “Look, we’re sorry about teasing you so much.”

“It’s not that you nitwit,” Eddy snapped. “Jonathon…the Ultracap had no charge in it when we pulled it out, right?”

“Well, yea.” I answered. “You went on and on about the ‘monitoring circuits’ and such.”

“Wait a minute,” Mike interjected. Confusion was written all over his face now as he stepped closer to the Ultracap. “I don’t get it, you said it was empty?”

“Spin it around Jon.”

“What? Why would I-”

“Just do it already!”

“Ok ok, sheesh.” Grabbing the cylinder by the ends, I spun it 180 degrees. And I saw it. I saw what had everyone confused. As I stared at what couldn’t possibly be right, the others crowded around me. “What the Hell?” was all I could say. The others, either thinking the same thing, or unable to come up with something to say at all, remained silent.

On the monitoring circuit, which was once devoid of life, four LEDs were glowing brightly, defying all kinds of logic.

Author's Note

We have an interesting development now! More on that next chapter of course. I'm so glad school's over for now; I was actually able to get this out at a (sort of) reasonable time!

Chapter 19: Game Plan

Perspective: Eddy Culivin
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 27, 2025

“What the Heck do you think could’ve caused that?” Mike asked, dumbfounded. Sitting in Jonathon’s hands was a partially charged Ultracapacitor, which I could have sworn was empty before…

“Guys.” It was barely above a whisper, yet I quickly found their attention directed at me. “The capacitor was empty until I gave it to Celestia. Since we didn’t pay attention to it shortly after Celestia dropped it I can’t be sure of this, but maybe, just maybe, Celestia unknowingly charged it.”

“But how?” Jonathon asked.

“No clue.”

“Wait wait wait, back up a second. Maybe there’s another explanation. After all, Celestia was so weak she was practically devoid of magic, last time I checked.”

“She wasn’t that drained if she was still moving around,” Mike added. “And besides, I really doubt some random stranger came out here and partially charged this up while we were occupied.”

“We need to take this inside,” I intervened. “I have a feeling we’ll need the ponies’ help to get to the bottom of this.”

“They should all still be with Celestia,” Jon noted.

“Well then let’s go.” Jonathon carefully cradled the Ultracapacitor like it was made of glass, and followed us in. I heard voices coming from my room as we approached, confirming that there were still people inside. As we entered into the corridor, we found the guards, as well as Luna, outside the Master Bedroom. They were all pressed against the door, trying to listen in. Edgar’s voice could be made out from behind the door. He seemed upset…

“And do you have any idea how worried I was when you just dropped like that!?” Edgar exclaimed. “Please…just, listen to me every now and then. I’m not trying to run your life, but I can’t have you die on me either.” There was a pause, before hearing, “please Celestia, this is serious! I was really worried.” More silence followed.

“You’re right,” Celestia’s voice finally carried through the door. “And I apologize for putting you through that.” If they were going to say anything more, they never got the chance. As touching as this moment was, we had more pressing matters. I swung the door open, almost toppling all the ponies pressed against it. Mike and Jonathon followed as I walked up to the bed.

“Celestia, pardon the interruption, but we really need your help,” I said, before looking over my shoulder at the other ponies. “And theirs too.”

“What’s this about?” Edgar asked.

“I’m not going to beat around the bush; we think she charged up the Ultracapacitor somehow.”

“What?” Both Edgar and Celestia said simultaneously. Jon stepped up, the evidence in his arms.

“Remembered how Eddy mentioned the circuit and the battery meter?” he said. They both nodded. “Well, take a look.” Words weren’t necessary as their reaction told us everything we needed to know. By now the other ponies began crowding around Jonathon, clearly interested in what was going on.

“But how?” Edgar said.

“That’s what we came here to find out,” Mike said, stepping closer to the bed. “Celestia, do you remember charging the capacitor on the way to the house?”

“To do so would’ve required some sort of energy,” she responded. “I am very low on magical energy right now, I can’t be wasteful.”

“In addition to that, my sister would not be that foolish,” Luna added. “If she expended magical energy in her state, she would…faint.” Luna’s words slowed down as what she said and what actually happened clicked perfectly. Her eyes widened in realization, and her head turned slowly to Celestia. “Tia, are you sure you didn’t?”

“Remember, that capacitor was empty before you grabbed it,” Mike continued, looking to Celestia for answers.

“I just…I just don’t know,” Celestia said. “I didn’t even feel it if I was using magic. I remember feeling weak, and then I awoke here.”

“So what you’re saying is that can be your magic in there,” I said. I heard Celestia’s confirmation before my mind kicked into overdrive, dulling the senses to focus and try to piece everything together. ‘The ponies have limited magic, and physically tire when they run low. They would recharge with the ambient energy in their world, but no such thing exists on ours. Except this mysterious ‘sporadic energy’ that Luna mentioned earlier. But what the Hell is it? It obviously has something to do with electricity, but what? Could it be electromagnetic waves? But in that case, light would recharge their magic, and it’s not doing that. Let’s do a little test though.’ With a temporary plan of action set, the world rushed back into focus.

“Luna, do you remember talking about that sporadic energy source you sensed on Earth?” I interrupted. It was a little rude to just burst into a conversation I admit, but I might get to something through these tests.

“Yes I do, but I don’t see how this ties in,” Luna responded.

“Neither do I,” I said, earning me more confused looks from those around me. “Not yet anyways. Listen, can you feel it now?” She closed her eyes, remaining silent for just a moment.

“It is there, but it is weak. It is appearing and disappearing rapidly at a steady rate for now, but it will randomly get a litter stronger, or vanish completely without warning. If you’re going to try something, I suggest you do it with haste.” Needing no further encouragement, I pulled out my radio, quickly selecting an unused channel so as to not block communication channels. Pressing the ‘Talk’ button, I spoke into the radio as I spoke with Luna.

“Can you feel any difference Luna?” I asked her, making sure my words were picked up by the radio’s mic as well.

“Hmm, if I focus, I can feel the smallest of variations,” Luna answered. “Though I do not believe that contraption is the source of this power that I sense.”

‘Figures it wouldn’t be that easy. So not electromagnetic. What about magnetic fields? But Earth’s magnetic fields wouldn’t disappear, nor would they rapidly fluctuate. Shit, ok then, just electric fields? However, I’m not sure if there's anything generating just those near here. Argh, what the fuck is it!?’

“Eddy.”

“WHAT!?”

“Whoa shit, calm down man! I was just going to ask if I could turn on the ceiling fan.” I registered Edgar’s voice, forcing me to stop for a moment. As I took a deep breath, I felt the frustration bleed out a little.

“Yea, sure,” I answered, much more calmly this time. “Let me just set the regulators on the solar and wind generators to bypass the pack.”

“You mean the ‘Both’ setting on the regulator? If so, it’s already set Eddy; that’s what you always tell us to set it to.”

“…I’m really fucking out of it today, aren’t I? Go ahead and switch it on Edgar, it should work. I’m sorry about earlier. Was just thinking.”

“Yea, you always have been difficult to call back when you space out.”

“Hey, I was actually thinking.”

“Oh I’m sure you were.” *Click*

“I felt something!” All conversations ground to a halt instantaneously. As the quiet humming of the ceiling fan motor filled the room, everyone, frozen where they were, turned to face Luna. “The energy source got stronger. It keeps appearing and disappearing at the same rate, but it is stronger now when it’s here. It’s…difficult to describe.”

“Edgar, turn off the ceiling fan for a moment,” I said. Edgar did as I instructed, and the ceiling fan ceased humming as the power feeding it was cut. “Luna, did it get weaker?”

“It did, I don’t believe this!”

“Edgar, turn it on again.”

“You got it!” *Click*

“Luna?”

“It’s stronger again!”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Twilight moving closer to me. “Eddy, is the power that goes into that fan special?” she asked.

“No, it’s just 120 Volts AC, same as almost every other home appliance,” I responded. “But, that may be the answer. AC. Alternating Current. The current flows through a wire and creates an alternating magnetic field, albeit a very weak one, since the wire isn’t wrapped in a coil. If your bodies are able to act like a closed wire loop near this field, then the changing magnetic flux through your bodies due to the alternating magnetic field would induce an EMF, or ElectroMotive Force. Basically, a voltage. The induced sinusoidal voltage creates a sinusoidal current inside you all, which apparently you ponies can use as energy to recharge your magic. This explains the ‘sporadic’ nature, since we turn stuff on an off all the time. It also explains the reason it disappears and appears rapidly, since the sinusoidal current often hits zero, since it alternates at the same frequency as line voltage, 60Hz. This is perfect, it all makes sense now!”

Blank. Stares. Not one comprehending nod, not a single smile, nada. Sometimes, being the only nerd around sucks…

“The ponies can use electrical currents as magical energy, and apparently vice versa as well,” I deadpanned. There was a resounding ‘oh’ as the shorter explanation seemed to resonate better with everyone who wasn’t an Electrical Engineer. Aka, everyone.

“Jon, could you pass the Ultracapacitor to Twi for a moment?” I asked. Jon nodded, and passed off the device to Twilight. “Alright Twi, I want you to grab it by the ends. Now, since I don’t know how this works, I’m relying on you to tell me if this is even possible. Can you sense the energy stored in the electric field of the capacitor?”

“I can,” Twilight responded quickly. “It’s amazing; how did I not notice this at all before?”

“Because I told you not to grab the ends, or touch anything up in the attic for that matter. Ok, moment of truth. Since you can sense the energy in the capacitor, can you add to it, or absorb it?”

“Let me see.” My request was apparently more inherent than we thought, because in no time at all, I watched the monitoring circuit extinguish all four lit LEDs, before relighting them again. Twilight continued until all ten LEDs were glowing.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” Edgar said, astonished. “Arthur Clarke was right after all.”

“That truly is incredible,” I said as Twilight’s horn stopped glowing.

“But why would electricity in this world equal magic in theirs?” Jon pondered.

“I’ve actually been thinking about that myself,” Twilight said. “We have to look at the similarities here. Both forces have a dominating influence in their respective worlds. Picture Equestria suffering a "magic outage" for a week. Farms couldn't grow nearly as fast, weather would go wild, unicorns couldn't do much of anything, the celestial bodies wouldn't move. We'd be in big trouble!”

“I think I see where this is going,” I added. “Guys, picture Earth without power for a week. Communications dead, factories dead, economies ground to a halt. If the world was working like it was before the Infection, we'd be in big trouble too!”

“We come from universes with many similarities,” Twilight continued. “And magic can be used to create electricity in our universe, and apparently vice versa as well.”

“So that means-”

“We can do the same in this universe!” we both finished together. We looked out to everyone, hoping they followed along. It seemed everyone did. The guys however, were also smiling for other reasons.

“You two are perfect for each other,” Jonathon teased, the others snickering with him. I felt an intense heat in my cheeks, and I was sure that my face was bright red. Looking over, it seemed Twilight had the same problem.

“I already approve the wedding,” Celestia joined in without missing a beat. This brought everyone from snickering to outright laughing. Except Twi and me.

“Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed, the red on her cheeks showing through her purple coat.

“God damnit guys,” I breathed out. “Can we please focus here? We have a means to restore your magical energy, and it won’t take you four weeks to do so either. This is huge!”

“Alright, we’ll stop,” said Jonathon when the group decided we had had enough. “So, what’s the big plan?”

“I was thinking we could probably use the generator to get Celestia, Twi, and Luna up to full power,” I replied. “We can head out tomorrow and try the spell we were talking about, and go from there. Jon, you should probably go prep the generator. Disconnect it from the grid, and start it if it isn’t already running.”

“Sure thing, but shouldn’t you, you know, turn the power on before we do anything? So we don't have to run the generator all night again?”

‘…Shit. Gonna burn through all our Biodiesel real quick at this rate.’ I grabbed the Ultracapacitor, heading for the door quickly. “Ok, let me take care of this really quickly, then we can try this out. You guys take Celestia to the generator shed, I’ll meet you there.”

“Do you need any help Eddy?” Twilight asked. A sense of dread washed over me like a tidal wave. From behind, I could already feel the tease coming, and there was no stopping it.

“Yea Eddy, take your lovely assistant with you,” Jon snickered.

“Fuck it I’m done,” I muttered, storming out of the room as I did so.

Perspective: Jonathon Burley
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 27, 2025

“Alright Twilight, are you ready?” I called out from the generator’s dashboard.

“As ready as I’ll ever be I suppose,” she respond a little uncertainly. Nodding once, I directed my attention to Eddy.

“Fire it up to idle speed only; we want to start off with a low voltage,” Eddy instructed. Disconnecting the generator from the grid, I set the throttle to idle and proceeded to turn the key, the generator only having to turn over twice before coming to life. I’ll admit; Sword and I did a really good job with this thing!

The engine revved up to its idle speed of 750rpm, the voltage gauge stabilizing as the rpm steadied. “Alright, she’s steady and holding. Reading 30 Volts on the gauge,” I informed the gathered group. All eyes moved to Twilight in anticipation. “Whenever you’re ready Twilight, grab the ends.”

Twilight glanced at the thick output cables, slowly reaching for them. My hand moved to hover over the circuit breaker; if things went south, I could kill the power immediately. She moved close to the cables’ exposed ends, then quickly and suddenly closed the gap and grabbed them.

The generator was the only noise in the shed. It hummed steadily, unaware that anything had happened. It didn’t stop, or even slow down. A quick glance at the amp gauge revealed no current.

“You feeling ok Twi?” Eddy asked.

“It’s…strange,” she replied. “It’s like I’ve been manipulating this force all my life. I can easily hold on to the ends of these cables and feel the energy in them, but I can control if and how much energy I take in.”

“You have been manipulating magical energy all your life Twilight,” Celestia added. “It should come to you as naturally as breathing. Whether conscious or not, your body has been absorbing and converting different forms of energy into raw magical power daily. Perhaps this power source is handled much the same way, allowing you to use it as you would the ambient magical energy on Equestria.”

“So would you be ok if I turned up the available power?” I asked. Twilight nodded.

“Let’s give it a shot.”

“Ramp the speed slowly Jon; the output voltage at operating speed is dangerous,” Eddy warned. As per his advice, I pushed the throttle lever slowly forward, keeping the other hand on the circuit breaker just in case. The rpm reading came up to and exceeded 1500, then 2000, and continued climbing. Everyone frequently asked Twilight of her condition, though she didn’t seem the least bit fazed by the potentially lethal current being held at bay at her fingertips. Ramping up the final 1500, the generator was at operating speed, pushing 140 Volts.

“This is it,” I informed everyone. “That’s 3500rpm.”

“Amazing,” Eddy breathed out. “If I, or Jon, or any other human did what you’re doing Twi, we’d get blasted with a current that would stop our hearts real quick. But here comes the moment of truth; can you recover magical energy from the generator?”

Twilight took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. Everyone’s attention was focused on her as she poured her own attention into her current task…for about a second.

*PING!* “Ow!”

Before we knew it, the generator had sputtered and died. Everyone stared at Twilight incredulously. For her part, Twilight had donned a sheepish smile.

“Too much?” she asked innocently.

“Well you tripped the circuit breaker, which activated a failsafe that killed the engine, sooo yea,” Eddy explained. He then looked over at me. “You ok buddy?”

“Yea, the lever just got my finger when it tripped. Damn that spring is strong; that shit hurt!”

“Glad to hear it.” Eddy clapped his hands together. “Alrighty then, let’s try that again, only this time I’ll be monitoring current draw. Jonathon, if you would be so kind…”

“Yea I got it.” Resetting the breaker, I turned the ignition key, the generator roaring to life and spooling to speed. “That’s 3500, whenever you’re ready.” With Eddy keeping a close eye on the amp gauge, we carefully figured out what the maximum power draw was for this generator.

“If you hold current draw around there, it should be ok,” Eddy said.

“At this rate though, it could take weeks to get Celestia and Luna to maximum strength,” Twilight informed us. I looked at Eddy, the same unbelieving expression on both our faces.

“But that’s a 49 horsepower motor,” I protested.

“And that generator can output 25 kilowatts,” Eddy added. “That’s a lot of energy; assuming direct hookup to a DC to AC converter, the generator alone could run our entire house and charge my electric car at the same time!” Twilight smirked.

“They raise and lower the sun and moon every day,” she pointed out. “That takes quite a bit of power.”

“…Point taken,” we both agreed. We decided to let Celestia recharge, since she needed magical energy the most.

“How long until you could potentially cast that spell?” I asked.

“To build enough energy for just that spell would only take about two hours,” Celestia responded.

“Heh, the power of one human life: 50 kilowatts,” Eddy joked. From across the shed, the door suddenly opened, revealing Edgar and Mike in the doorway.

“We just contacted Phoenix on the radio,” Edgar announced. “He’s surprised we came up with a solution so fast; he thought we were joking at first.”

“He’s going to get in touch with Doc tonight, and let him know we’ll be there at 8a.m. sharp tomorrow,” Mike added. “That means we’ll be out of here by 7:45. Make sure you all wake up accordingly. We’ll be re-implementing our night watches: Edgar, then Jon, then Eddy, and I’ll take the last watch. The usual, two and a half hour shifts.”

“Damnit, and I had just gotten comfortable not doing those,” Edgar muttered. “I guess our time in Equestria has made us lazy.”

“Speak for yourself fat-ass,” Eddy jokingly said. This earned him a chuckle from the guys.

As the idle chatter continued, I couldn’t help but smile. For all the terrible shit that has happened since our return, we finally found a silver lining in all this. Our group, though wary, accepted our friends, we discovered a spell that might reverse the plague, and Eddy even found a way around our main problem with it. If this plan actually works, we’ll have a means to stop this Infected plague, once and for all.

“You know guys, today was a good day,” I stated.

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 27, 2025
10:30p.m.

‘Good, only an hour left and I can go to sleep.’ I quit glancing at my watch as I continued my automatic sweep of the front side of our house. The night so far was quiet, and I couldn’t hear any Infected approaching; a good sign. I broke my sweep just for a second, and took a sip of coffee, before resuming my scanning.

I nearly leapt out of my skin when the front door, located right beside me, swung open unexpectedly. Taking deep breaths and a few moments to quell my racing heart, I turned my head to the front door. “You’re a little early for your shift Jon; go back to bed,” I told him.

Imagine my surprise when the door closed to reveal Luna standing outside instead. “It is only me, I did not mean to startle you Edgar,” she said. I pulled a seat up for her, which she graciously accepted. I was grateful her company during the uneventful watch.

“So, couldn’t sleep?” I asked.

“Alas, I could not. So much has happened in so little time. In truth, it is a little overwhelming.”

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. “Speaking of that, sorry about dinner. I’m sure that doesn’t help during this stressful time.”

“Think nothing of it,” Luna smiled in reply. “We have hosted ambassadors from several carnivorous races, so the consumption of meat does not bother us. Though I must admit having to eat meat myself was a surprise. It was not nearly as bad as I had thought, though I am glad Miss Fluttershy was not in our midst.”

“Yea, that…might not have gone over as well.” We sat in silence for a little, me enjoying the lunar princess’s company, Luna gazing up at the night sky. The moon was three quarters full, and only faint wisps of clouds obstructed the canvas of stars.

“How long have you had to guard the house like this?” Luna asked. “And why only at night?

“Well, we’ve been doing this ever since this mess started four years ago. During the day, Infected are mostly blind, but at night, their sensitive vision lets them see really well in the dim light. They tend to wander more during this time.”

“I see.” Luna fidgeted a bit. “I’m sorry if this is a sensitive topic, but I have only heard stories about Earth as it is now. I was…wondering, if it’s not too painful of course, if you would enlighten as to how it was before.”

‘Ah, where to begin?’ “The world at the time was…interesting, to say the least. There was so much going on, so many cultures and so many different ways of living. Before the world went to Hell, long-standing conflicts were finally starting to come to a close, technology was marching along at an impressive pace, the richer countries were trying to bring the poorer countries up to speed with them.

“That’s not to say wars, terrorist attacks, disease, and other things didn’t see their fair share in the world. Crimes, drugs, human trafficking and more; there was good and bad on our little blue rock in space.

“Despite this, humanity accomplished so much. We’re tenacious little bastards; we’ve found many ways to overcome our shortcomings. We’ve built cars that travel faster than any land animal, hydraulics to do our heavy lifting, planes that fly many times the speed of sound, the list goes on. We’ve managed to travel to the moon, connect the entire planet via communications and info sharing systems, cured many diseases; we’ve done a lot. It had its numerous flaws, but our world was an amazing place nonetheless.

“Sadly, in our pursuit of progress, we got ahead of ourselves and created the mess you see here. The world’s never been the same since.”

Luna remained silent, taking all this in. When I finished, she spoke. “Your people are truly amazing. Without magic, you’ve managed to not only survive, but thrive. You have accomplished things that we cannot even fathom, and the proof is right in this very home. Machines more complex than anything we have in Equestria, and they’re nothing more than consumer-grade goods here.”

“Well, you have to remember that technology in this world is like magic in Equestria. I’m sure scholars and researchers are constantly studying magic and finding out new things about it.”

Luna looked up wistfully at the night sky. “This is true. My sister’s student was at the forefront of these studies oftentimes. Twilight would always cause a stir in the castle according to my sister's stories, or in Ponyville when she moved there. It was a pleasant interruption to the monotone of our lives, usually quite humorously so…”

I heard Luna sigh quietly. “Homesick?” I asked.

“Very much so; our stay on Earth hasn’t been the most, ahem, peaceful.”

“Yea, Earth’s in a bad spot right now.” I stopped scanning, turning my attention fully towards Luna. “Hey Luna, I’ve been meaning to ask. What’s the probability that this actually works?”

“It is hard to say really, since experiments in magic have never been done on humans. Quite honestly…I’m terrified to find out. I’m terrified to go to such a dangerous place tomorrow, to see if we can grab the attention of only one Infected, to see if this works, to see if we can escape with our lives. So many unknowns, so many possibilities for catastrophe. Failure could result in our very deaths! I’m scared Edgar, petrified!”

Not knowing what else to do, I grabbed the distraught mare and pulled her in for a hug. “Calm yourself Luna, everything’s gonna be alright,” I told her quietly and reassuringly. “This isn’t the first time the boys and I have found ourselves in a tight spot. If push comes to shove, we’re getting everyone out, whether we accomplished our goal or not. We will not lose another pony Luna, I promise.”

Luna didn’t say anything, but she didn’t push me away either. So I sat there for the rest of my shift, even after she drifted to sleep, repeating a single phrase to her whenever I felt her shiver in dread for what’s to come.

“Everything’s gonna be alright.”

Author's Note

If anyone's wondering why this took so long to get out, I've been upgrading the piss out of my motorized bicycle. I apologize for any future distractions my bike may provide!

Chapter 20: Moment of Truth

Perspective: Mike Britowski
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 28, 2025
7:45a.m.

“I’m sorry Twilight, but you really have to stay behind this time,” I said, trying to diffuse the situation before they started fighting again. You see, there are only eight seats in the car, and we need one for the Infected we will (hopefully) rescue. That means that between the four of us, Doc, Celestia, and Luna, there was no room left for Twilight. We thought having Eddy deliver the news would soften the blow, but…

“I’m not kidding around Twi, stop being so stubborn!”

…Since when does Eddy ever ‘soften the blow’? They had started going back and forth, making it a bit awkward for the rest of us. Even the ‘lover’s quarrel’ joke Jon cracked lost its humor. So we stepped in, hoping to resolve this peacefully.

“Look Twi, we’ve been doing this for years before you even knew we existed. We don’t ‘need’ you to come with us; we’ll be just fine on our own.”

But I guess it wasn’t meant to be. I could see the hurt clear as day on Twilight’s face. Before any of us could say anything else, she sighed in defeat, and voiced a quiet “just do whatever you want then” before turning for the house.

“And they were doing so well,” Celestia wistfully said, shaking her head.

“Well, that’s Eddy for you,” Jon replied. “Never was good with the ladies, cause he’s as blunt as a rock. About as dense as one too sometimes.”

“Oh, I’m sorry I wasn’t drowning in pussy like you were Jonathon,” Eddy snapped sarcastically.

“Is it really any wonder though? Twilight expressed concern for your well-being, and you just basically told her to fuck off.”

“Look, I don’t have time to deal with this shit right now. Just shut the fuck up and get in the car. We’re late as it is already.” As we followed Eddy to the car, we trailed slightly behind, so he wouldn’t hear. I addressed Jonathon and Celestia.

“Must you two antagonize him constantly?” I reprimanded silently. “He’s not in a good mood, don’t piss him off anymore. We need everyone’s heads in the game if we’re going to have a shot at this.” I received apologies from the both of them, albeit with Jon’s being half-hearted at best. I could understand though; he wasn’t technically wrong with his point.

With that taken care of, we climbed into the Model X and took off for the town. It was a short ride, one had in relative silence. The barren desert quickly gave way to the spotted building density of the town, and soon after we pulled up to the quaint little medical building.

Calling it a hospital was too generous; the building looked more like a two-story house. It, like a lot of the buildings in town, was well along in its years. Whatever paint the building had on it had long since worn away. Bricks were missing in several places, exposing the wooden skeleton underneath. The shutters on the top windows were practically glued shut, since the hinges had rusted to the point of sticking. Despite this though, Doc makes very good use of the old thing, keeping it presentable and sterile on the inside.

Speaking of the doctor, we pulled up to find him already waiting by the door. “Morning Tidwell,” Eddy greeted as he shook the older gentleman’s hand. We quickly loaded Tidwell’s gear, and climbed aboard, buckling in for the long haul. “Sorry for the slight delay, got a little held up this morning.” As the car began rolling, Tidwell cast a questioning glance my way. I shook my head, mouthing the word ‘later’.

“Not a problem Eddy,” he replied, brushing off the subject for now. “I’m absolutely floored you all managed to find a workaround to the magic problem so quickly though. If I may ask, how did you come up with the idea to use electricity? I’m afraid Phoenix never mentioned that part.”

“Believe it or not, pure chance,” I responded. “Or luck, fate, whatever you want to call it. Point is, Eddy let Celestia here hold an Ultracap, and she dumped energy into it without even realizing it. Proved that the two energies were kind of interchangeable, though only unicorns can convert them so far.”

“Fascinating. To think that such a complex spell that would save someone’s life would only require the energy of one Ultracapacitor.”

“Actually, Eddy over here dumped 140 Volts through Celestia for a little over two hours,” Edgar interjected. For a few moments, only the sound of wind whipping against the car could be heard.

“I’m sorry, I think my ears deceived me for a moment; did you say Eddy purposely electrocuted someone?”

“Thanks a lot Edgar,” Eddy muttered quietly. “It’s not as bad as he makes it sound. We ramped the voltage slowly, and it all worked out alright.”

“That’s hardly the point!” Tidwell exclaimed. “Did they know electricity was lethal at sufficiently high currents? Did you take any precautions at all? These are visitors from another dimension Eddy; you can’t simply throw them in the metaphorical frying pan like that!”

“Dr. Tidwell,” Celestia stepped in, silencing the rambling man. “It’s alright, Eddy did warn us of the dangers, and they all took every precaution they could to ensure our safety.” Her smile grew a little more. “In fact, Eddy, Jonathon, Edgar, and Mike have done everything in their power so far to keep us safe; I think we’ll be alright in their care.” Tidwell acquiesced to her point, calming considerably.

“Very well,” Tidwell relented. He turned to look at us. “So, what is the plan gentlemen?”

“Well, we’ll need to find a spot with very little Infected, preferably on the outskirts of the city so we don’t trigger a flash mob like last time,” Eddy explained. “We were thinking the warehouse we collected our chemicals from the last time we were here. It’s on the outskirts, and there were only a few Infected there. Should be a good ‘hunting ground’.”

“Once we’ve found our target, the ‘fun’ part begins,” Jonathon added, sarcastically emphasizing ‘fun’. “Somehow, we need to isolate the target from the others, so we can pounce on it. We’ll use the pneumatic rifles to shoot it in the throat.”

“Seems a bit counter-productive,” Tidwell interjected.

“Not really; that’s not a lethal shot for an Infected, unless you completely sever the head,” I explained. “It will stop it from crying out and attracting unwanted attention, and while the spinal cord rebuilds, we can secure and gag it.”

“Finally, just after the target has fully recovered, Celestia will blast it, and we’ll hope that a healthy human comes out of it,” Edgar finished. Just in time too, as the city was drawing closer. The abandoned buildings loomed into the sky, and the angle of the early morning sun made the buildings cast shadows on many of the streets inside. The emptiness of it all elicited that same feeling of unease we felt the first time we were here.

Eddy slowed down as we approached, and I took the opportunity to reach around back and pull two cases from the trunk area. I motioned for Celestia and Luna to come closer, and opened the cases. Inside, the chrome and royal blue pistols gleamed in the sunlight.

I also withdrew two pistol belts, complete with a holster and magazine pouches. “I know I haven’t had any time to really show you how these work, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to learn quickly princesses,” I almost whispered, while handing them the belts to put on. “I really hope we don’t need these, but worst-case scenario, we might need your help fending off an attack, and magic energy is something you guys don’t have a lot of right now. I’ll give you the quick and dirty rundown on these. You hold them like this, you point the hole here at your target, and you pull this piece back to fire. After eight shots, hit this lever and save the mag that comes out, grab a new mag from your belt, insert it copper-side forward, and hit this other lever to shoot again.”

I presented them each with their weapon. Both, especially Luna, eyed them with trepidation. “Are…Are you sure this is safe?” Luna asked.

“I’m afraid we can’t, in good conscience, send you out into this Hellhole without some way to defend yourselves. Just keep them in your holsters with this lever, the safety, flicked up, and hope that we don’t need them. If we do, flick the lever down before shooting.”

Celestia and Luna nodded, before grabbing their respective pistols. Luna examined hers more so than Celestia, having never held a firearm. Both carefully flicked their safeties on, before holstering the weapon and spare magazines.

“Heads up guys,” Eddy said in a hushed voice. “We’re here.”

“Thank God we left the security gate open,” Edgar added. “It screeched like a banshee when we moved it the first time.” We pulled up to the entrance, disembarking as quietly as we could. All eyes scanned the surroundings nervously for any surprises. The silence was oppressive, only furthering the feeling of unease in the group. I loaded up the pneumatic rifle, checking air and magazine, before signaling to the others that I was ready.

“Are there Infected inside?” Tidwell whispered. “It’s a bit quiet.” As a response, I picked up a tiny pebble, no bigger than maybe half a fingernail, and tossed it up onto the roof. It impacted right in the middle, a very quiet metallic ping echoed softly from the metal roof. The sensitive ears of the Infected inside must have heard this however, as a loud clank followed by a low moan and slow shuffling emanated from within the building’s walls. The shuffling got quieter, as the Infected moved to the center of the building to investigate the noise.

“Yea, they’re in there all right.”

Perspective: ???
Location: ???
Date: ???
Daytime

I trudged through the empty streets, lost in my thoughts once again. There wasn’t anything else to do really, nothing left to feel, to experience, to live for. Heh, can this even be considered living? Sure my heart beats, but…

“Turn around.”

I obey without thought, spinning on my heels and heading elsewhere. They don’t let me wander much further than city limits, and I can’t exactly ignore Them. They’re always there, watching, listening; I think They can make my muscles contract the way They want them to. When I’m with Them, I’m nothing. A floating voice without a body, a stream of conscience without a purpose.

But it’s not all bad. They’re nice to me…usually. When there’s nothing to do, nothing to gather, report on, fix, They let me wander. My body listens to me, and I feel in control again. I know it’s a lie, pseudo-control at best, but anything that helps me cling to the fraying string of sanity I retain helps.

I encounter many people in my wanderings, friendly faces I can talk to. I usually don’t, because They listen in on everything, but They give us the option. I’ve come to the conclusion that we talk to Them first, and They translate whatever we say for us. I can only speak small shreds of English. Despite this, I can understand everything everyone says and they can understand me, as if it’s being translated in my head before it goes to or from my conscience.

It’s one of those things that took a lot of getting used to. I’m sure everyone in my position went through the same thing. Fear, disbelief, refusal, despair…acceptance. Honestly, it’s quite useful at this point.

*Clink*…”Investigate.”

With no other choice, I walked slowly in the direction of the noise until I could make out a little guard shack even in the blinding sunlight. If I still could, my heart would’ve started beating faster, my hands clamming up. If I still could, I would’ve turned around and ran away, not bothered investigating, not risked someone’s life. I prayed the noise didn’t come from someone being careless. They knew I strongly disagreed with Them, most people did, but I didn’t care.

My hands grabbed the door handle and ripped the door open before I even knew it. Inside, there was nothing. I looked again…nothing. I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding. But then, if someone wasn’t here, what made the noise?

I received my answer immediately, as the wind gusted and picked up some small stones. I heard the same sound again, coming from the gate. So that’s what it was. I turned to leave, noticing that the chain that pulled the gate was cut. Interesting, someone broke in.

My conscience stopped cold. Wait! I didn’t mean that! It was-

“Oh? So you think a survivor is in there? Or could possibly come back?”

No, I-

“Well we’ll just have a look around then. Shouldn’t be a problem.”

What have I done? If anyone comes back, or worse, is in there right now, I’ve just doomed them. I’m sure that They will enjoy placing me here, waiting for anyone foolish enough to come. They’re going to trap me in there. No. I want to wander! Don’t take the only thing I have left, please!

“Get inside.”

I turned and sprinted in the opposite direction, hoping against hope that I could get away. My legs pumped as fast as their twisted forms could carry me, and the gate disappeared behind the blinding wall of sunlight. I did it. I got away-

“Did you really think that would work?”

My body stopped, turned around, and ran for the gate. No matter how hard I tried, I never felt my body resist, my input to it was never heard. They’re in my head, They have my brain hostage, and They will never leave. Always there, always watching, listening, controlling. I will never be free.

“What the, who did this? My lovelies, no!”

Like a beacon of light, Their surprise called me back from my downward-spiraling thoughts. They are never surprised. They are rarely angry. But as I gazed upon the insides of the warehouse I found myself in, I could see what caused Them so much distress.

Bodies. Their former bodies everywhere. They all had caked-on blood from multiple wounds. One thing was common though; on every body, at least one wound was fatal. Whoever got here, they took a lot of these monsters with them. Ha! It was small, puny compared to the number of Them alive, but anything that causes Them pain was good in my books.

Without warning my body picked up a crowbar and swung at myself with it. The unmistakable sound of a bone snapping graced my ears, and I wasn’t even able to scream at the excruciating pain that shot up my leg.

“You think this is funny!? You will shut up, or I will break you as many times as it takes for you to do so! After all, these wounds won’t kill you.”

They were right after all. As I watched on, my leg righted itself, and the pain subsided as the bone set at unnatural speeds. They didn’t even flinch, likely not feeling the pain of my body. They never did, as if They could detach themselves from my nerves at will. My body raised the crowbar again. Wait, please no! I’ll be good, I promise-

*Ting*

They stopped. Something, a noise deeper inside, from the center of the room. Could whoever did this still be here? I dropped the crowbar, making it clatter loudly against the floor. My body let out a groan, before heading to the source of the noise.

I started panicking. Why are we making so much noise? The person responsible obviously knew what he was doing, if the bodies everywhere were any indication. We should be sneaking up on them, not alerting them! I’m going to die for real; I’m going to end up like them.

“Ha! Do you really think I care about this body? I’m in another vessel, safe from whoever this is. If you die, I’ll just send a bunch of my pawns this way to kill the bastard.”

I reached the corridor formed by two shelves, but couldn’t see much in there due to the skylight letting in a flood of bright sunlight in. Great, now I don’t even get to see my attacker when he shoots me in the face.

Trudging slowly, I entered, feeling my way around in the bright light. No matter how hard I looked though, I couldn’t find anything, or anyone.

“Guess it really was a false alarm. Looks like luck was on your side today. Guess you get to live.”

I felt a pang of despair at those words. I had been so scared initially of dying, but is it really that bad? Is it any worse than this?

“Yes it is! You don’t want to die, trust me.”

Why should I!? Hell, dying would finally grant me peace; I wouldn’t have to kill anymore!

“…How about this? I’ll let you take the rest of the day off. Wander to your heart’s content.”

Oh, so now you care? Why would you be nice to me? It’s not like I can disobey you anyway.

“Because I need you.”

You told me I was disposable literally minutes ago!

“I was mad. As long as you’re alive, I can use you, and it’s easier on me if you don’t resist. I know telling you this will only make you resist harder, but it’s futile no matter how hard you try. In time, you’ll see things my way. Besides, you’ve only got two options at this point. You can stay in here, or wander around.”

Whatever. Turning around I walked to the end of the corridor. The blinding light was no longer in my eyes, and I could see perfectly in the darkened warehouse. I rounded the corner at the end of the corridor…

…and found myself confronted by a shiny steel cylinder.

“Shit.”

*PSST!*

My body went numb as the world spun wildly. With a thump, I found myself staring at the ceiling of the warehouse, unable to move. Considering my body wasn’t moving at all, They had lost control over my body as well, if only temporarily.

He was here. The man that finished off all of Them. I couldn’t feel anything below the neck, which is probably where I got hit. I didn’t notice him come in at all, and I didn’t hear his silenced weapon very well, but I heard him approach perfectly. He was coming quickly.

So this is where I die. Somehow, I can’t find it in myself to be scared anymore. I was almost glad; at least now, I can do whatever I wanted to, I could be free. A throbbing pain started burning in my neck, as They tried desperately to repair my broken body. But he was already upon me now. If he had stayed alive this long, then he was smart. He knew that a shot to the neck wasn’t fatal, and he had come to finish the job. He smiled excitedly at me. I know, you’re happy to kill another ‘monster’, don’t rub it in. I know what I’ve become, what I’ve done, and I’m ashamed of all of it. He knelt down beside me, but rather than stab me, or shoot me, he called for his team to ‘hurry up’, then said the last words I ever expected to hear.

“Hey buddy. You’re gonna be alright.”

I’m not sure I heard that right, but in the next moment, he backed off quickly. The world spun again, and my face met the ground. They held me there for a moment, as they did…whatever it was they were doing. I couldn’t feel my body yet, so I had no clue what they were up to.

“Make sure he’s secure, then stand clear! Celestia, charge the spell!”

“I’m on it. Twenty seconds.”

“Are you sure these ropes will hold?” Like flipping a light switch, the motion of being rotated was accompanied by the gift of sight again. There was a whole group of people, I could see that now.

“They should hold out for long enough, hopefully.”

“Ha ha ha ha! Did they tie me up? Did they really think a rope would hold me down? These fools are stupider than I thought! How did they survive so long?"

Loathe as I am to do so, I had to agree with Them on this one; how did they survive so long if they think they can just tie all of Them up?

“No matter, let’s have a little fun.”

My body started struggling against the restraints. The rope was strong, but my mutated muscles were stronger. I could feel the fibers stretching to their limit.

“Oh shit, he’s up again!”

“Celestia, how long!?”

“Five more seconds, let me concentrate!”

“Oh no you don’t!” *SNAP!*

With a feral roar, my arms swung upwards, having torn right through the rope. They made me spin around, ready to tackle the foolish survivor that had taken too long to use his weapon…but I froze.

What greeted my sight wasn’t human at all. A coat of pristine white, a muzzle, ears on the top of its head, for just a fraction of a second I thought I was talking to a horse. But that was quickly dispelled when I noticed it was standing on two legs. It had hands, which were now outstretched and pointed palms-out towards me. An unnatural yellow light was coming from its hands, and…a horn? Further crumbling my illusion of a person, long feathered wings sprouted from behind the creature, as the glow reached a climax. Even its eyes were glowing at this point, and it was all I could do to keep from turning away.

I could swear I heard it utter the words ‘please work’, before the glow came racing at me at a speed that I had no hope of dodging in time. I think They knew that as well.

“What the fuck is that!? Wait. S-stay back! NOOO-”

The brilliant ball of light slammed into me, knocking me down to the floor. I didn’t feel the impact, nor did I feel any pain. Their final cry was strangled short as the light collided.

The last thing I felt was a strange warmth, before it all faded away.

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Southern United States, 25 miles from home
Date: October 28, 2025

We watched as the glow was absorbed by the Infected body. Slowly the deformities receded, the body on the floor taking on a much more normal human shape.

“It’s…it’s working,” I breathed out, awe struck by the sight before me. But it seemed like the Infection wasn’t giving up without a fight. The man was unconscious, but his body started going into spasms, convulsing madly as the last of the Infection signs disappeared. All at once the glow faded, and his body flopped unceremoniously into the concrete floor. Everyone waited with bated breath, Mike with the rifle at the ready, but the body didn’t move.

Tidwell slowly approached, with Mike behind him, sights trained on the corpse. If the body was still an Infected, Mike would take care of it before it could hurt the doctor. Very cautiously, Tidwell reached forward, before quickly slapping on the heart monitor probes and stepping back. He’s not taking any chances with this one. He switched on the monitor.

Against all odds, a steady string of beeps sounded from the machine. “My God, he’s alive!” Tidwell exclaimed. Tidwell quickly checked over the body. Infected are still technically ‘alive’ after all, so a beating heart didn’t mean much. “Eyes look normal, teeth normal, skin normal, muscle tone, growths; physically, all signs of the Infection are gone.”

“But will he wake up?” Mike asked grimly.

“I don’t know. I don’t have the equipment to measure brain activity. He could be unconscious, or in a coma. The magical blast could have permanently damaged his brain in ways I can’t even begin to fathom.”

“I’m sorry doctor,” Luna said as she approached the elder man. “We were worried this would happen. Blasting a creature that has never experienced magic with a spell of that caliber, it might have been too much for him.” All eyes gazed at the unmoving body, which did little more than breathe. “I’m sorry.”

“What do we do now?” I asked, still staring dejectedly at the body. “We only gave Celestia enough juice for one shot, plus a little extra so she wouldn’t pass out. We can’t exactly try again.”

“Would it even be worth it?” Mike questioned. “If all we get are brain-dead people, perhaps…perhaps killing them off is granting them a mercy. I know I for one wouldn’t want to be unresponsive for the rest of my days.”

“We can’t give up yet Mike,” said Celestia. “We’ve only tried once; there’s no way to get accurate data from one trial run. Everyone reacts a little different to magic.”

Mike opened his mouth to respond, when a groan silenced the group. Quickly, everyone’s attention was pulled to the body, which was starting to move. The man slowly sat up, rubbing his head as he did so. “Ugh…mi cabeza me esta matando (my head’s killing me),” he said. Opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was, unfortunately, Celestia.

Immediately, he pressed against the furthest wall. “Q-que carajo es eso (w-what the fuck is that)!?” he shouted, pointing a trembling finger at her.

“Shit, anyone remember tenth grade Spanish?” Mike asked.

“Eddy slept through that class, Jon cheated his way to victory, and I almost failed,” I reminded him. We turned to Tidwell.

“I’m afraid I took an interest in the Germanic language,” Tidwell told us. “Perhaps it may be of use later?”

“But it’s not gonna help us now,” Mike finished. He ended up approaching the panicking man, and pointed a finger at Celestia. “Amigo (friend),” he said uncertainly. “Story uhh, largo (long). Explicar (explain)…later.” He moved one hand in front of the other to gesticulate the meaning of later.

“Yea, I’m pretty sure you got most of that wrong,” Eddy commented. It seemed though, that Mike didn’t mess up as bad as he thought. The man looked at Mike, and pointed to Celestia again.

“F-friend?” he asked.

“Yes,” Mike said excitedly. “Know English?”

“Little.”

“Ok. They are friends. Saved your life.” The man looked up to the sisters now, albeit much calmer. He tentatively approached.

“Thank you,” he said, with a small smile forming on his face. “Thank you a lot.” Celestia and Luna smiled in return.

“You’re welcome,” Celestia replied. I could barely contain myself. It worked! It freaking worked! The implications for this were staggering. ‘Just wait until everyone hears about this. They are going to be so ecstatic-’

My thoughts were interrupted by Jonathon sprinting into the room.

“Jon, you’ll never guess what just happened. It worked, the guy’s alive!” Jonathon opened his mouth, then stopped. He turned to face the man.

“My God. Celestia, Luna…you did it.” He suddenly shook his head. “I’m afraid celebrations will have to wait. There’s a massive group of Infected sprinting over here as we speak. Luckily, we’re on a hill so I saw them coming from far away, but I still figure we’ve got about three minutes before they reach us. I have no idea what set them off but we’ve gotta move.”

Mike turned to the man. “Tenemos que ir (We have to go),” He told him urgently. Mike pointed to one of the Infected corpses lying on the floor. “Infected ven-vine… viniendo (coming).” The man stared at the fallen Infected for only a second, before his eye grew wide. His gaze shot up to meet Mike’s, and he uttered a single word.

“Vamonos.”

Author's Note

That last word meant "Let's go", in case one was unfamiliar with Spanish. I finally figured out how I wanted this to pan out. This, coupled with a small break in the semester thanks to the approaching Thanksgiving holiday, allowed me to pump this one out.

Chapter 21: Heading Out

Perspective: ???
Location: ???
Date: ???

“Nooooo -oof!” The shifting, the sights and smells, they were all unfamiliar. One moment I had been in a warehouse on the edge of the city. Now I was, I was…

‘Home?’

To be so forcefully ejected, something bad must have happened. I tried accessing the body I was just in. Normally, even after one of my Pawns die, some of my cells are still alive for a few hours, and I can glean some information from them. But when I tried accessing sensory data, sound, sight, anything, nothing happened. Nothing came back.

‘What happened?’

I felt a tingle in my hands, only to realize they were…vibrating? No, that’s not right. I dove through my human puppet’s memories. ‘Ah, shaking. This is a symptom of…fear?’ Was I afraid? Afraid of the people who tried to enslave me? The people that tried to eradicate me when their control over me failed? I’ll admit I was, at first. But they’re under my control now; they shouldn’t scare me like this!

“What the fuck happened?” I voiced this time. I clenched my hands as anger began to override fear. What weapon had they used that was so devastating that it wiped all of my cells in that body from existence? What had the humans done this time, what was that horse lady thing, and why the fuck is it trying to kill me too?

“What the fuck is happening!?” I screamed. A loud crash drew my attention. Looking left, the splintered remains of my desk littered the floor. ‘Great, now I need a new one. Clam down, focus, think.’ As I sent two Pawns to fetch me a new desk, a brilliant thought occurred to me. The Winged Unicorn Lady, the group of humans, they were all still at the warehouse. There’s no way they had escaped, not that quickly. I don’t normally actively target a group of humans, but this one grabbed my attention in the worst way, so I’m making an exception. I used infrasound to relay my message to everyone. “All of you, to the warehouse now! Find them and turn them!”

You’re not getting away Winged Unicorn Lady. You have humanity’s secrets to give up after all.

Perspective: Eddy Culivin
Location: Southern United States, 25 miles from home
Date: October 28, 2025

“There’s no way these Infected could have figured out where we were!” I said between labored breaths. The Model X was closing in fast as we raced towards it. “We’re missing something here. Killing one Infected quietly doesn’t attract a horde.”

“While I agree with you, we need to focus on escaping right now,” Mike responded. We reached the car and practically threw ourselves inside, Celestia quickly helping the weak survivor into the vehicle. Mike took shotgun again, and pointed out our exit route. With all eight accounted for and buckled in, I slammed the accelerator, the Model X rocketing away from the warehouse.

“If we follow this outer loop, it should circle the city and get us back on the road home,” Mike pointed out. As we left the horde behind, the others watched the surroundings for more signs of trouble. It seemed though, that it was just one large group that decided to attack a very specific location, like an army marching to a battlefield. Now that’s a terrifying thought; someone helping the Infected. But then again, how else would the mob have found us? A cold pit started settling in my stomach. What if some of them were getting smart enough to track us? I didn’t want that following us home.

“We gotta throw them,” I said.

“What?”

“We can’t let a horde that large follow us back; they’ll rip the whole town to shreds! We have to lose them. I don’t know how they found us, but I’m going to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

With a touch of the brakes and a whip of the steering wheel, the car left the road, heading out into the dirt.

“What are you doing!?” Edgar shouted from the back.

“Creating false trails. I’ll drive out for a little, before looping back and following the tracks I’m making now back to the road. Do this a few times, and the Infected will have a fun time following some dead ends. Meanwhile, we’ll take the normal road back, and leave no trail to follow.”

I left a few more trails in the roads leading to our two-lane road, finally, coming to the intersection with it. Turning right would lead us home, but instead I disabled the Traction Control and floored the accelerator, giving the wheel a turn to the left. The tires screeched as the car shot back into town.

“Eddy, we’re going the wrong way!” yelled Mike, who gripped the door and the edge of his seat tightly.

I slowed the car down, turning it around before heading the right way on the road. As I reactivated the Traction Control, I enlightened my passengers. “Sorry about that everyone, I wanted to create a set of tire tracks leading back into the city, just for good measure.”

“This idea really has you worked up Eddy,” Jonathon said. “Something wrong?”

“This whole situation’s wrong Jon. They should have been no way in Hell for them to have known we were there. And did you see the size of that mob? They don’t gather together like that unless they’re chasing something. At most, we should’ve gotten unlucky and had a few wander up the road, which we would’ve had to have taken care of. But the ferocity they charged with, those numbers. They knew we were in there Jon, and that terrifies me.

“What the fuck tipped them off?”

Perspective: ???

“What do you mean they’re gone!?” I roared over the infrasound channel. One of my trusted informants, a man whose will to resist had broken entirely, went with the mob under my authority to supervise the extraction of the Winged Unicorn Lady. This was not the news I was expecting back.

“Apologies my lord, but the vehicle is nowhere in sight. The most we found are the tracks it left behind, but they are…random, like the vehicle didn’t know where it was going-oh, one moment…yes…we found a set of tracks heading straight into the city!”

So they panicked and made a wrong turn, huh? Something about that strikes me as odd. These individuals have to be the smart type, not the type to make stupid mistakes like that. They’ve stayed out of my control for this long after all.

“The tracks, where are they?”

“On the outer ring, on an intersection with an outbound road.”

What was that human saying? Ah, those cheeky bastards, that was it. “Secure a perimeter around the city; nothing gets in or out. I want twenty or so Pawns to follow the outbound road where the treads were, and groups of ten to follow the other outbound roads. Alert all other cities of this possible menace. The rest of the Pawns are to search the city. I want those humans found!”

“As you command, my lord.”

As the link cut out, I returned my attention to the two Pawns in the room, who were just finishing up with the new desk. One of them grabbed a black box with cords hanging out from it, intending to put the box away. Instead I halted him.

“Leave it on the desk,” I said. “You may take your leave.” The Pawns departed, leaving me alone with the device, a ‘HF Radio’, as the humans called it. Master gave one to each us. The plan was to use it to stay in touch with Master, since infrasound was too slow and short-range. But things didn’t quite work that way. While I can extract information from my Pawns, as well as make them perform simple tasks against their will, fine motor control was impossible; too many muscle commands to send seamlessly. As such, I can’t force my Pawns to restore power to the city, not if they don’t submit to me completely. And they stubbornly refuse to obey.

I took a deep breath and unclenched my fist. ‘New desk. Brand. New. Desk.’ I needed that radio now more than ever though. Master needs to know about this new threat. This new human weapon that could potentially wipe us out without a trace. I could always bounce an infrasound message using Pawns as relays, but that would take a while. Still, there were no better options at the moment.

“Guess we’re doing this the hard way.”

Perspective: Mike Britowski
Location: Southern United States
Date: November 1, 2025
8:45a.m.

When we arrived four days ago with our guest, the news spread like wildfire. Everyone went crazy; some even claimed the ponies were Gods, or agents sent by God, and prostrated themselves in their presence. While that whole mess was going on, we found someone who actually spoke Spanish, and had them explain the situation to Emanuel, the confused and scared survivor. He’s still being monitored and tended to, as apparently the Infection just barely keeps your body going. Didn’t stop him from joining us for one Hell of a celebration though. Good times.

“And you’re sure you packed everything?” I asked for the umpteenth time this morning. “Remember that we might be gone for a little bit. You won’t be able to communicate with us or come back for anything once we leave.” It was probably the nerves, if I’m being honest. We’ve almost always ventured out as a group, but not this time. Worst still, I have to stay back. Part of the ‘big plan’.

Celestia decided that this house could be like a base of operations. She spent all last night recharging, so she could return to Equestria today to gather unicorns and supplies for fortification. Eddy suggested upgraded generators to provide a much larger supply of magic. As the details were hashed out, it was decided that splitting up to collect the parts needed was our fastest bet.

“Yes for the thousandth time,” Eddy droned. “We’ll be fine; we’ve got everything we need to crash at Phoenix’s for a few days after we nab those forklifts. This’ll be fun, right Twi?”

“Sure,” was all she said, walking towards the Model X.

“Oooh, someone’s still in trouble,” Jonathon remarked, earning a glare from Eddy.

“It’s gonna be one awkward car ride,” Edgar joined in, much to Eddy’s displeasure.

“Shouldn’t you guys be leaving already?” Eddy asked irritably. “You’ve got a much longer drive.”

This was true. Jonathon and Edgar were heading out to a city further away to secure a nice big engine, since the city next door had been picked clean of any usable diesel engines. Eddy and, of all people, Twilight, are heading back to the same warehouse we rescued Emanuel from to steal their forklifts. Apparently, the electric motors in them can be repurposed as generators. Twilight offered to cloak the vehicle as it approached if needed, and to use telekinesis to get the heavy forklifts on the trailer.

As for me, I was to stay behind and properly show the Royal Sisters to shoot. Though since they have to return to Equestria, and since the house would probably get dragged with them, guess where I’m going. I’m pretty excited, considering I’ll be away from the nightmare that is the Infection, though I’ll be worried sick about my friends.

“Yea yea, we’re heading out,” Edgar replied, before taking on a more serious complexion. “Please, be careful out there guys. Even if Equestria’s pretty tame compared to here, I want you to take care of yourself Mike. Eddy, Twilight, that goes doubly so for you guys. I…I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you guys.”

Eddy placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, we’ll be alright. We’ll be careful, promise. Right guys?” We nodded in agreement. “Now, go get that engine. Remember, lots and lots of torque, RPM is a secondary concern. It won’t be pretty, efficient, or regulated, but this beast of a generator’s going to push out fucking bucket-loads of raw power, got it?”

“Got it!” we all replied.

“Awesome. Now, with the exception of Mike, everyone should radio the other party once they’ve arrived back in town. Also call in if you need assistance. Jon, Edgar, radio check in one hour to make sure the HF radios are working right. They have an internal battery, but keep them plugged in as much as possible. Good luck.”

Edgar climbed into his Ford pickup, with Jonathon following suit on the passenger side. In the bed were a myriad of tools, lots of extra diesel, and a few different types of weapons complete with ammo. I wanted them to be safe, since I didn’t know what situation they’d find themselves in.

With a final farewell, they departed down the two lane road, heading towards the city next door. Unlike Eddy and Twilight though, whose final destination was that city, Jonathon and Edgar were heading there to connect onto a main highway, which should take them through to a more heavily populated area. I hope they’ll be alright.

With a sigh, I turned to Eddy, who was telling Twilight not to wait in the car, since they had to wait for Jon and Edgar’s radio check before departing. “So, with an hour to kill, what now?” I asked.

“Well, there’s not much to do really. I made sure the house’s electrical system was fine, and left instructions on how to check it once you made the jump. You’re stocked on biodiesel, you’ve got plenty of rounds to train Celestia and Luna, and the fridge and freezer are stocked.”

So what you’re saying is, we wait.” I deadpanned.

“Pretty much.”

9:45a.m.

“Hey Mike, I need to talk to you about something.”

I cracked a single eye to stare at the person who interrupted my siesta. Eddy had already taken a seat next to me. *Sigh* hopefully this would be quick. “What about?” I asked.

“Look, I uh…I…fuck, this is harder than I thought,” he mumbled. ‘Oh? What has him all worked up?’ Now curious, I chased away the sandman and sat up from my reclined position in the seat, and gave him my full undivided attention. “Look, you’re uh, good with the ladies right?”

A thousand thoughts of Twilight and him together flew through my mind, and a smile almost threatened to show. But Eddy was staring intently at me, as if he really needed my opinion on whatever he was trying to ask. If this was serious, then teasing him now was not a good idea.

“I mean, I’m not inexperienced, but I’m far from the ladykiller Jon was before getting married.” I chuckled, adding “Hell, even after marriage he still was. This one coworker would not leave him alone. Pretty cute girl, but a little on the crazy side. In fact, if it’s advice on women you need, he’ll probably be a much better bet.”

His eyes widened immediately in horror. “No! No no, Jon cannot know anything about this, ok? If he finds out I admitted to him being right about this, he’ll never let me live it down.”

“Eddy, this is about Twilight, isn’t it?” It wasn’t a question so much as a statement. And judging by the quick glance he stole towards Twilight, who was still waiting in the Model X, I can assume I hit the nail on the head.

“Well…yea.” ‘Bingo.’ I chanced a glance at Twilight as well, noticing that while she appeared to have not noticed anything from this distance, an ear had swiveled in our direction. I contemplated whether or not to tell Eddy, but figured this would be the only way she’d ever hear his true feelings; he certainly wasn’t going to tell her. “I just…I just don’t know what to do with her,” Eddy continued, while I returned my attention to him. “I do not like her the way Jonathon has been not-so-subtly hinting at, but I do consider her a friend. Or a kindred spirit or something, just, you know, closer than like, an acquaintance.

“Well anyways, ever since the mission, she’s been…I don’t know, distant. She’s not being rude or going out of her way to avoid me or anything, but I can barely get her to say more than a few sentences.” He looked around, as if to confirm again that no one was nearby. “You swear you won’t tell Jon about this, right?”

“My lips are sealed, promise,” I responded, smiling warmly. “I want you to feel like you can talk to me Eddy, so I won’t tell a soul.”

“Ok, thanks. Well, you see, we, Twi and I, we used to just sit and talk sometimes, during the last few days on Equestria.”

“Wow, you guys really warmed up to each other, huh?”

“Slowly at first, but we started talking a lot more after I sincerely apologized for what I did during Nightmare Night. Afterwards, she would accompany me when I had work, and sometimes she’d invite me into town for lunch or something. We would trade stories, laugh together, she even invited me back once to play some games she indulged in every now and then.”

“Games?”

“Yea, like chess and checkers and stuff. Some cards games too. I would barely ever win, but we had fun, you know, doing what friends do. It might have been because she was genuinely interested in what I said, and that we always had fun together, but I really looked forward to hanging out with her, though I’d never admit it on Equestria. But lately, she won’t talk to me, and it’s bugging me a lot more than it really should. I don’t know what to do Mike; I have zero experience with women. I know she’s mad at me, but…“

“Then why don’t we start with that,” I offered, taking another quick peek at Twilight. Sure enough, Twilight had scooted over closer to the end of the vehicle which was closer to us, and her ear switched ever so slightly between Eddy and me. “You said she was mad at you, do you know what for?”

“It was probably because I told her that she couldn’t come along. But I had to! There wasn’t room in the car, and everyone there was essential-”

“Not everyone,” I interrupted. “We technically only needed one alicorn, and one of us could have stayed behind. If you had asked me to switch with Twilight, or even for you to have stayed here with her yourself, I would’ve backed you up. Come on Eddy, tell me the real reason.”

“I just…She has so little combat experience and…look I just didn’t want her to get hurt, alright!?” His eyes widened, and he snapped his gaze towards Twilight. She quickly averted hers, but it wasn’t quick enough. “Aw shit,” he muttered. “She probably heard that.”

“Jon and Edgar reporting in,” Jonathon’s voice suddenly came through the speakers. “We’ve hit the one hour mark, attempting communications check. Can you guys hear me?”

Quickly snapping out of the shock, I grabbed the microphone. “W-we read you loud and clear guys.”

“Great, we’ll continue on then. Good luck on your respective trips guys; we’ll see you when we get back.”

“Happy hunting,” I replied, before clipping the microphone to the radio. I turned to find Eddy in a panic. “Mike quick, what do I do?” he pleaded. “What do I tell her, what do I say?"

“You want to know what to do?” He nodded vigorously. “Talk to her, tell her what you told me. Despite the stereotype, women aren’t crazy. Now this is just my guess, but she probably thinks you abandoned her here, after you were getting along so well. A smart girl like Twilight though, she’ll follow your reasoning if you explain it to her. Now, go get her tiger!”

With a playful shove, he was on his way. “And I told you it’s not like that,” he shot back. I laughed, standing on the porch until Eddy started the car. Silently, the vehicle stalked away and disappeared down the road.

“Very sage advice Mike.” I hadn’t even realized I jumped until I hit the floor again. Behind me stood Luna. Her mane was actually flowing in the light breeze this time, no magic. Behind the door, I could hear Celestia snickering.

After a moment to catch my breath, I responded. “Well, I’m by no means an expert on women, but that kid has virtually zero experience. I just did what I could.”

“Then he is much like Twi in that regard,” Celestia said, emerging from the doorway. “As well-read as she is, and for all the experiences she’s had as a result of being an Element, she has little experience with stallions.”

“So is that why you’re trying to hook those two up? Frankly, it’s not really any of my business, so I’ll stop pestering him about it so much.” I switched purposefully between the two. “But I suggest you stop pressing his buttons as well. Since he’s really shy about that sort of thing, teasing him every now and then is funny, I get it.” An accusing finger shot out. “But you especially Celestia, and Jonathon and Edgar have been hammering him on and on about it.”

Celestia at least had the decency to look abashed. “I suppose I got a little carried away,” she said. “I’ll tone it down a bit, I promise.”

“Good,” I replied. “Now with that out of the way, we should probably head out. If rounding up materials and soldiers is really going to take as long as you think it will, then we need to get going.”

All doors and windows were locked down. The wind turbine was already taken down, and the solar panels rotated inwards. As per Eddy’s instruction, the switches connecting the chargers to the pack were set in the off position. All the lights, fans, the AC, and electrical appliances that were on were switched back off, relieving the pack of that large drain placed on it. Eddy thought some energy surge happened every time we jumped, so he drained the pack considerably so it could absorb the spike without more caps failing. A final check confirmed everything was secured and ready.

“You may want to sit down Mike, as it seems humans have a tendency to pass out during teleportation,” Luna warned. It was a warning I readily heeded. As I watched, the Royal Sisters strode outside, their horns igniting in the late morning sun. While’s Celestia’s yellow aura was almost invisible, Luna’s blue aura contrasted her background, shimmering in the desert landscape. Beams of energy leaped forth from both sisters, rocketing towards the ring of cloud atop the house. Seconds later they entered, securing the front door.

“Thirty five seconds until teleportation,” Celestia said. Though unnecessary for them, they nonetheless took a seat in the living room. As we waited for the final seconds to tick away, the short range radio came to life.

“Hell of a light show for a departure!” Phoenix’s voice sounded. “It’s like the sky’s ablaze above your heads.” Quickly bolting over and grabbing the radio, I sat back down with eighteen seconds to spare.

“Yea, those clouds are extremely bright when they hit the house. Listen, we’re heading out in like ten seconds. Take care of the town while we’re out.”

“Godspeed Mike.”

An intense light poured into the room. The familiar feeling of weightlessness took hold.

Unlike all the other times though, for once I actually smiled as my vision finally cut to black.

Chapter 22: Calm Before the Storm

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Southern United States, 267 miles from home
Date: November 1, 2025

“Motherfucker!” Jonathon yelled. While I wasn’t as pissed off as Jonathon was, the offending orange road signs did annoy me quite a bit.

“Just our fucking luck,” he continued. “The world ends and construction is still a bitch,” For some ungodly reason, when they expanded the highway, they had decided to also expand the exit ramp for some reason, the one that loops over this highway and connects it with the north-bound one heading into the heart of the city. Chunks were still missing from the ramp, and while my truck could easily plow through the ‘Road Closed’ sign, it can’t fly. Fortunately…

“It’s not so bad Jon,” I said, attempting to calm my angry friend. I pointed to the orange sign with an arrow directing us to the next exit. Similar signs could be seen in the distance. “Look over there; they were nice enough to lay out a detour route.” The car tilted gently as I accelerated towards the next exit. “It’s just a minor setback, no need to get bent out of shape. Besides, at least we won’t have to deal with traffic.”

Finally relaxing, Jonathon even managed a smile at the thought. “Amen to that, traffic’s the real time killer.”

“You see? This silly detour will add a few minutes at most. We’ll be alright.” The pickup sped onto the next exit ramp, kicking up a small cloud of dirt as it did so. Upon exiting to the feeder, the signs pointed out a left turn up ahead.

“Looks like the detour is taking us around that neighborhood we saw, then hopefully back onto the highway,” I commented.

“Why don’t we just cut across the neighborhood?” Jonathon asked, pointing out the entrance as he did so. “I don’t think detour routes can normally cut across residential areas. But since no one’s around to care…”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt. The neighborhood layout looked like a grid from the highway, so I doubt we’ll get too lost.”

Entering and navigating through the neighborhood turned out to be as easy as it looked. The layout was in fact just a giant grid, with a few exceptions. As we navigated the roads within however, something began to stand out.

The Infection’s been around for four years. While that’s no-where near enough time for buildings to deteriorate, that’s more than enough time for grass to overgrow, certain plants to die, and for any looting to have taken place. Some of these houses however, actually looked inhabited. The grass was messy but not nearly as tall as some of the other houses. The windows are either intact, or boarded up. Some even had cars in the driveway, cars that looked like they had been driven and washed sometime in the last month.

“Is it just me, or does this seem wrong to you?” Jonathon asked. “I swear, that group of Infected really set an eerie mood today.”

I knew what he was referring to. This morning on our way out, we encountered a group of Infected on the road inbound to the city. The creepiest part about it was that while I was one hundred percent sure they couldn’t have missed the diesel truck roaring past them, they in fact didn’t seem to notice it.

Or they were ignoring it, which is a much more terrifying thought.

Could Eddy have been on to something yesterday when he laid out those false paths? Could someone actually be helping the Infected, or worse, could the Infected be developing intelligence?

“Edgar?”

“What? Oh, sorry about that Jon. But you’re right; some of these houses look far too nice given the circumstances.” Jonathon pointed out one house in particular.

“Stop at that house,” he said.

“What? Why?”

“Do you see the condition of that car? That’s a ’65 Cobra right there, and it looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor! Someone lives in that house for sure.”

Even though I slowed down as we approached the specified house, I really didn’t like where this was going. “So what if someone lives there? Why do we have to bother them?”

“Edgar, aren’t you at least a little curious? This neighborhood still seems to have quite a few people living in it, despite being so close to a city. Aren’t you curious as to how that’s possible? They could have some potentially game-changing information.”

“Or they could just shoot at us!” We were slowly rolling past the house at this point. Without warning, Jonathon opened the door and jumped out.

“I’ll take my chances, just a quick knock.”

“Jon wait! Think this through a little more…Jonathon!” But the stubborn idiot had already made up his mind. He was going to knock on that door, one way or another. Seeing no alternative, I threw the truck in park and shut it off. I quickly hopped out, and grabbed one of the rifles from the back of the pickup. It was a simple bolt-action rifle, with integrated bipod and a 3X scope. I quickly set up on the hood of the truck; by the time Jonathon reached the porch, I had the crosshairs trained on the door, just to the left of where Jonathon stood.

He was going to knock, but he noticed that the door was already open just a crack. It would appear that someone forgot to close it all the way. He ended up knocking on the open door anyway, but received no reply. Jon tilted his head curiously, before motioning me to him. Seeing no immediate threats through the scope, I unloaded the gun, before switching it out for a shotgun. I knew what Jonathon was probably going to want to do, and it involved going inside.

I didn’t even wait to reach him before addressing him. “You want to go inside, don’t you?” I deadpanned, frowning further when he nodded. “This is a terrible idea.”

Jonathon ignored me and stepped through the front door. “Hello?” he called out. “If anybody lives here, we’d like to talk.” Fearing the worst of the stupid situation Jon decided to throw us into, I took position behind one of the walls, just poking the barrel of the shotgun out from behind it. Dead silence answered Jonathon’s call. He trudged slowly forward, trying again. “Hello?”

I reluctantly followed Jonathon, keeping my eyes peeled. I noticed that the house was nicely decorated and clean, as if the owners had simply stepped out and would return shortly. No dust and no broken windows, among other things, hinted at the fact that someone lived here, but where were they? No sooner had I finished that thought than a man walked out from behind a wall, gun leveled at both of us.

“That’s far enough you two.”

Perspective: Mike Britowski
Location: Royal Castle, Canterlot, Equestria
Date: November 26, 2025

After a grueling amount of paperwork, red tape, and recruiting of volunteers, Celestia and Luna had finally managed to put together a regiment of royal guards to bolster our forces at the soon-to-be base. The earth ponies and the pegasi of said regiment were loading up the required materials for the makeshift base, before returning for a briefing and special lessons in fighting Infected. The unicorns were once again target practicing the new anti-Infected spell. All in all, it was another normal day at the castle’s Training Grounds.

At least it would have been, if the air hadn’t been split by a deafening bang.

In a secluded corner, a single .45 round ripped right through a spare armored chestpiece being used for target practice, before continuing on and plowing into the ground about 100 feet in front of said chestpiece. Two alicorns and a human stared in stunned silence as the guards rushed to see what the explosion was about.

“Wow,” I said, astonished. “You let your guards run around in that?”

“The armor is more than adequate enough for its purposes,” Luna replied defensively. “Our world doesn’t have weapons as dangerous as yours.”

“And I understand that princess, but I’m afraid that I’m going to have to recommend higher grade stuff for the guards heading to Earth. An Infected could rip this armor to shreds with their bare hands, and any frightened or cruel human can get through it with a pistol cartridge. And that wasn’t even a round specifically designed to pierce armor; that was just standard ball ammunition!”

Luna’s gaze alternated between the hole in the chestpiece, and the one in the ground. Furrowing her eyebrows, she relented. “I suppose I can see why that would be problematic. I shall order the required enchantments be performed prior to our leave.”

“Thank you Luna. Also, if you could get us some sandbags, that would be great. Now, onto the real reason we’re here. You two remember your gun safety training, right?”

They nodded. As the nearby guards started piling on the sandbags, Celestia and Luna withdrew their pistols from their holsters. They dropped the magazine, checked the breech to make sure it was empty, then pointed the pistols down with the safety on.

“Luna, very good. Celestia, finger off the trigger, but otherwise good. Remember, if your finger is on the trigger and you get surprised for any reason, it’s all too easy to squeeze it and accidentally send a round into somebody you never meant to shoot.”

“I apologize,” Celestia said.

“No that’s alright; it’s why we’re practicing. Now, it looks like the sandbags are just about set up, so I’m going to set the chestpiece about fifty feet back, by the bags. You’ll each take turns shooting at the target, aiming for the center right here, ok?” They nodded. “Alright, here are some magazines loaded with live ammunition. Luna, you’re up first. Remember to line up your sight picture, and squeeze the trigger.”

Luna stepped up and loaded in her magazine, before flipping off her safety and cycling the slide. “Whenever you’re ready,” I encouraged.

*BANG! PING!*

“Nice, nailed it on your first try Luna! Looks like you went a little low. Don’t try to compensate for the recoil by pulling the muzzle down; the bullet is long gone by the time the gun starts kicking back.”

“I will keep that in mind, thank you,” said Luna, smiling as she stepped back.

“Now, as an exercise, I want both of you to engage the safety and holster your gun after firing. I know it seems silly to holster your gun after every shot, but holstering and unholstering your weapon is a skill you need to have down so well, it’s second nature. Usually when drawing your weapon, it’s during a high-stress situation and you need it quick. In some cases, seconds wasted fumbling around trying to draw your gun can mean the difference between life and death. So we’re going to practice unholstering your gun a lot.” Both mares nodded, while Luna holstered her pistol.

“Now Celestia, why don’t you give it a try?” Wordlessly, she stepped forward, pushing a fresh magazine into her .45 and cycling the slide.

*BANG!*

Unfortunately, her round missed the target entirely and sailed into the sandbags. “Don’t be afraid of it Celestia. I know this will disappear when you get more comfortable with your gun, but try to control your flinching when you squeeze the trigger.” I turned to Luna. “Alright, it’s your turn Luna.”

Luna’s second round was even more impressive, scoring a hit a mere inch low from center mass. “Huzzah!” she had yelled. “No weapon is too great for the mighty Princess of the Night to wield!” Celestia’s second shot however…

“Wow, uh, ok then. That statue wasn’t important, was it?” I asked, eyeing the now headless sculpture of…something. Celestia’s shot had missed the target, sailed over the sandbags, ricocheted off the stone castle walls, and flew into a garden.

“Thankfully, Discord has been free of his prison for a while now, thanks to the element of kindness. A fake statue remains as a history piece.”

“Well, let’s maybe grab a few more sandbags before we try that again.” Luna seemed to find that immensely amusing, while Celestia glared at us, cheeks flush with embarrassment. “No it’s ok, really. Some people, or uh, ponies require a bit…a lot more training is all. And you just uh, happen to be one of them.”

The Goddess of the Sun didn’t cease her glare. Luna guffawing in the background didn’t help.

Perspective: ???
Location: ???
Date: November 1, 2025

“A message from Sixty Seven?” I asked baffled. “Are you sure?”

The messenger looked puzzled. “He sent me himself; I assure you the message comes directly from him.”

“How peculiar,” I said, pacing slowly around the room. “How very peculiar indeed. Ever since our war with the humans began, Sixty Seven hasn’t reported anything of interest. Now all of a sudden, there’s some earth-shattering news he needs to deliver. At least I would assume so, since he personally sent you here.” I couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity of it all. “Very well then, show it to me.”

I sat down in my chair to allow the messenger access. He moved behind me, placing a hand on either side of my head. Immediately the sensory data began to play out. I was in an old warehouse of sorts, no doubt a location in Sixty Seven’s city. The room was segmented haphazardly by shelves lined with items, while boxes, crates, and miscellaneous items littered the floor. A musty smell permeated through the air, along with something else that I couldn’t quite place, perhaps the items in the boxes or on the shelves. The room was dimly lit, but it was perfect for our improved eyesight.

As I watched from the perspective of this particular Pawn, I listened to the conversation Sixty Seven was having with it. Something had roused his suspicion, and he had ordered the Pawn to investigate. I frowned when the Pawn spotted the numerous bodies on the floor.

“It would seem Sixty Seven has a bit of a human problem,” I mused, watching as he disciplined his Pawn for misbehaving. “There shouldn’t be any large groups left in his city though, not after this long. Perhaps they were passing through.”

A metallic plinking noise caught everyone’s attention. “Oh? Are they still inside?” I watched the lonely Pawn stumble through the blinding curtain of light, searching for the illusive human. It was smart, luring the Pawn into a place where it was at a massive disadvantage. But alas, there was no human in the makeshift corridor…

Or so I thought, so imagine my surprise when it was waiting just outside it, and blasted the Pawn in the neck. As it went down, I could hear it shout for his friends. I snorted in amusement. “What, does Sixty Seven need my help clearing out this pack of vermin? It would seem that the little activity he gets has made him rather weak.”

The messenger however, did not stop playing the scene, so I kept watching. I nearly fell out of my seat laughing as the group attempted to tie up the Pawn, using rope no less. Perhaps this was Sixty Seven’s true purpose? “So they captured the Pawn, hoping to experiment on it to find out some cure or weakness. Little do the foolish creatures know, rope won’t hold it down, and even if it did we’re still connected to it. Messenger, show me where they took the Pawn; show me the location of their research facility.” Instead, I saw the Pawn rip free of its bindings, much to my amusement.

But all that amusement, all the mirth and laughter, died the second it turned around.

What stood before it was no human. This…thing was an abomination, as if a human and a horse had somehow succeeded in mating, and somehow gave their child wings and a pointed head spear as well. “What the fuck is that!?” I could hear Sixty Seven scream, mirroring my thoughts exactly. The creature built up some sort of energy, before releasing it straight at the Pawn. I expected to feel excruciating pain, to see the body crumple to the floor, something. But the transfer stopped there.

“Play the rest of it,” I immediately demanded. To my continued horror, the messenger shook his head.

“I’m afraid that’s all there is,” he said. “My lord was forcibly ejected from the Pawn’s stream of conscience when the blast from the Winged Unicorn Lady hit. He was unable to retrieve any more information after that, as if the Pawn just…ceased to exist altogether.”

The messenger moved so that he was standing before me once again. “Few have seen this recording, but those of us that have are terrified, including, if I may be so bold as to make an assumption, Sixty Seven himself. The humans have a powerful new weapon against us now, and the way it destroys the link between Pawn and Controller so completely hints that humans may have somehow gained an understanding of our communication methods. This was the message my lord wanted to deliver.”

“Tenacious bastards,” I seethed. “They just don’t know when to quit, do they?” I turned to the messenger. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. You are dismissed.” The messenger dipped his head respectfully before turning to leave.

“One more thing,” the messenger said. “If you find any information on this weapon, Sixty Seven humbly requests that you let him know at your earliest convenience.” With that, the messenger departed, likely heading back to his home city.

When I was sure the messenger was gone, I dropped my head into my hands. I noticed immediately that they were trembling. Heck, everything was trembling. “These fucking humans!” I shouted. It seemed that the longer they stayed alive, the harder they fought. They’ve already formed little pockets of protection that we can’t penetrate without heavy losses, and now this! What do we do about this!?

In my panic, a desperate plan began to form. One of them, even just one lone human in this city, has to know what that weapon is. If I can grab all the humans left in this city, I can take their bodies under my control effortlessly, and then I just have to overpower their mental defenses and learn what they know. At least one of those idiots has to know something about this ‘Winged Unicorn Lady’!

I quickly summoned two Pawns. They came minutes later, their arrival signaled by a knock on the door. “Enter.”

“You called sir?”

“Send a message to all Pawns; we are combing through our city again for humans. Don’t let any escape this time, capture every last one of them at all costs!” As they departed, I stood up and made my way towards the window. Peering out, I took in the scenery before me. Beyond the glass barrier laid a city, a city still partially inhabited by humans, despite my efforts to the contrary. But that was all about to change.

To Hell with heavy casualties; I’m going to get some information about this weapon, and end this threat right now.

Author's Note

I graduated with a bachelor's in Electrical Engineering! So that's pretty cool. I got a job recently, started last week. That's also pretty cool. I don't know how this will affect my writing time.

That's...not as cool.

At least I can get home and not have to do a mountain of homework, so that's promising. Already working on the next chapter, so don't worry. Chapters may be slow to come, but I haven't given up on this story. I plan to finish it, so don't lose hope! See you guys in the next one

Chapter 23: Allies and Enemies

Author's Note

Me: Come on Real Life, can't you see I'm trying to write Horse Words (tm)? Leave me alone!

Real Life: I suppose I can do that. Be a real shame though, there were like 9 motorcycles waiting for you to buy broken and fix up, and I think there was a fiance and a 1962 Thunderbird somewhere in-

Me: The Horse Words can fucking wait.

*2 Years Later*

Oh fuck! My story, my readers. Horse Words, come to me!

In all seriousness, I've done a bunch in two years, including working sporadically on this. I finally felt that I should split what I already had written into two and publish something, even if there's little going on in this chapter. This has the added bonus of already being part way into the next chapter, which is a motivation booster! I'll hopefully see you guys in the next one sooner!

...but that Thunderbird really needs parts...

Chapter 23: Allies and Enemies

Perspective: Jonathon Burley
Location: Southern United States, 269 miles from home
Date: November 1, 2025

1:15p.m

We were all locked in a kind of stalemate, with both Edgar and the man aiming their guns at each other, and I stuck in the middle. In the glaring light of common sense, perhaps entering another’s home, even though the door was open and we called out to them, was a bad idea. Maybe.

“You two are new,” he muttered, though seemingly more to himself than to us. He shook his head, redirecting his glare towards us. “But it doesn’t matter. You can tell your boss that I already paid for this month. And don’t you dare tell me she upped the price; she promised she wouldn’t do that again. We have very little as it is.”

Well, shit. It appears as though we were being mistaken for another pair, and from the looks of it some real unsavory types too. “I’m afraid I don’t know who you’re referring to. We’re from out of town, we really did just want to talk.”

The man’s gaze shift from me to Edgar, then back again. “Yea? Your friend over there doesn’t seem too eager to talk.” I looked over, noticing that Edgar still had his shotgun shouldered, and aimed directly at the man.

“Edgar, put that down.” To his credit, the only thing that gave his away surprise was a hard blink, before narrowing his eyes once again.

“And get us both killed? I’m fine holding this here, thanks.”

“Edgar, that’s not what we came here for. This man probably thinks we’re here to rob him. Put the gun down.” Edgar bit his lower lip for a few seconds, seemingly considering my request. With a grunt, he slowly brought down his weapon.

The man looked at us, his gaze boring into each of us. After a few tense seconds of silence, he sighed, and lowered his weapon as well. “Hell, it doesn’t even matter,” he said, pulling the slide back on the shotgun. Immediately, we both noticed the lack of a shell being ejected. “Even if you were with her, it wouldn’t have mattered. They probably know this old thing hasn’t seen a shell in a while now. I couldn’t do anything to stop them, or you two for that matter.”

‘What…what’s going on? What does he mean?’ Instead of answering though, the man simply waved us into the living room. “If you’re really here to talk, you might as well sit down,” he said. Seeing no better choice at the moment, we followed him in.

The man took a seat opposite us, waiting for us to get comfortable before continuing. “I guess some introductions are in order. My name’s Patrick, though everyone calls me Pat.”

“Jonathon, though people call me Jon. And this here is Edgar, and he’s not cool enough to have a nickname.”

“Hey!”

Patrick cracked a small smile. “Well it sure is nice seeing some friendly faces around here for once. I would offer you a drink, but we’re a little low on…well, just about everything at the moment.”

“It’s ok, we definitely understand,” Edgar replied. “We brought our own, so there’s no need. Appreciate the sentiment though.”

“So you still have all your supplies? That means you didn’t run into her while you were out and about,” Patrick commented. “You guys lucked out; she would have ‘kindly offered’ to relieve you of all your stuff had you seen her. She’s not patrolling this area now though, and won’t be for a good bit. But never mind that; what did you want to talk about?”

“This neighborhood,” I said without missing a beat. “There are so many houses that look inhabited, and yet we’re so close to the city. How, how did everyone survive?”

“And who is this woman we should be watching out for?” Edgar added.

“Well, those two things are actually tied together,” he stated. “I guess we’ll start with her. Her name’s Caroline, though if you ever have the displeasure of meeting her, you have to call her ‘Missus’ or she’ll break your fingers. The crazy bitch has a Godfather complex; the mob-boss-wannabe runs this little ‘slice of paradise’.

“As for the neighborhood, it started when this city was overrun. We thought we were doomed just like you guys did, but Caroline stepped in, along with her little group of bandits. The woman may be a bitch, but she’s a well-armed bitch, with a great shot and equally competent friends. They drove off any Infected that tried to enter the neighborhood, quite successfully too. We had one or two more attacks after that first wave, but since then the Infected have kinda just left us alone.”

“That first wave must have been huge though,” Edgar noted. “She must have had quite the firepower to drive it off.”

“Oh yea; fully-automatic weapons, stockpiles of ammo, even some grenade-like things she got from God knows where. She was one of those ‘preppers’ that stockpiled supplies like the end of the world was near. Guess she was right though.

“But back to the story, she became our hero after that first wave. People gave her gifts as thanks for saving our lives. She wasn’t nearly as bad then. But as the years wore on, whether she was bi-polar and it got worse, or all the power got to her head, she became much crueler. The smallest of sleights would set her off and she’d beat you, and she’d make examples of the people who pissed her off enough, which wasn’t hard to do. It was too late to stop her at this point though, and she basically continued on her terror campaign unabated, which is still happening. Oh yea, and those ‘gifts’? They became expected payments, current situation be damned.”

“I almost don’t want to know, but…” Edgar started, looking a bit pale. “What happens to those who ran out of things to ‘gift’ her?”

Pat grimaced. “You had two options. Either she would raid your house and take it for herself, throwing you out with nothing but the clothes on your back, or she’d send you on a supply run.”

“Well, that last one doesn’t sound so-”

“Into the city. Unarmed. With vague instructions on where to go and what to get.”

“Oh…”

“It was a fate worse than death, and if you never came back, well, no skin off her back.”

“I’ve got a question,” I interjected. “Does that Cobra outside still run?” He nodded. “Then why haven’t you packed your stuff and left already? This place is obviously Hell to live in, so why stay?”

He was about to respond, but a little shuffling noise upstairs caught our attention. I turned my head just in time to catch a little blur of motion zip behind the wall at the top of the staircase. It seemed I wasn’t the only one to notice.

“Melisa, it’s not nice to eavesdrop,” Patrick reprimanded gently. Slowly, the source of the little blur of motion reappeared, though barely. A single blue eye and a bit of brown hair peeked out from behind the wall. “It’s ok sweetie, these two are actually nice.” Seemingly encouraged, Melisa came out from behind the wall, her little white dress fluttering as she zoomed down the stairs. I noticed no one else seemed to live here, but I dared not ask. Thoughts of what could have happened to her mother flashed in my mind briefly, none of them good. Another much darker thought settled in. This poor girl was old enough to have been around before the Infection, and probably remembers those carefree times too. Had she seen the horrors outside, been forced to deal with them personally? Had this little girl been forced to watch as this Caroline woman basically abused her father and stole everything they had?

Did this cruel world rip away that carefree innocence she had?

Unaware of my brooding, Melisa rushed to her father, jumping into his arms. “This is my daughter Melisa, and she’s the reason why I stay,” Patrick said, breaking me out of my thoughts. “It’s not ideal here, not by a long shot, but it’s safe. I can raise my little princess in peace, and give her a life that’s almost normal. I can’t protect her from all of it, but I do my best.” He looked back up at us. “Besides, where else would we go? I haven’t heard of any other populated areas, though I’ll admit we don’t exactly get outside news often. I’m sure other safe places exist, but without knowing exactly where they are, we’d probably run out of gas before we found one.”

“You could come with us to our town,” Edgar immediately suggested. “The townsfolk are really friendly, and everyone helps each other out. Life is simple there; everyone does something, whether that is fixing stuff, working out in the fields, or in defense. We produce food, and the military comes and collects it. In exchange, they supply us with rations, water, ammo, you name it.”

Patrick’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wait, the military actually gives you supplies?” We nodded. Patrick brought a hand to his chin, and furrowed his brow in contemplation. He went quiet for a moment, seemingly internalizing the new information. “Melisa, why don’t you go upstairs?” he said. Melisa switched her gaze between her father and us. When she looked at us though. That look she gave us, that pleading look. I think she knew what was going on, what was about to be discussed, and she was begging us to help. She simply nodded once, and departed upstairs. When she was out of earshot, Patrick continued. “There’s a catch, isn’t there?”

“Well, unless you’re as well-armed as this Caroline chick, then we don’t have quite the amount of firepower at our disposal,” Edgar replied.

“Also, we had a huge Infected wave attack a couple of days ago. They never made it to the town, but quite a few men and women who volunteered to protect the town lost their lives. It’s not something you have to volunteer for, but if you do end up picking defense as your contribution, know that there is a real risk involved.”

“You…you really get to choose?” Patrick asked.

“Yes, it’s entirely voluntary,” I replied. “And you’d think nobody would volunteer to fight if that was the case, but you’d be surprised.” Silence again. Patrick seemed conflicted, and as the seconds wore on he only seemed to grow more so.

“I…” he began, but never finished the thought. He hung his head, bringing a trembling hand to his face. “I’m afraid I…I’m at a loss on what to do. You don’t stand to gain anything by lying to me, yet it seems too good to be true. But if this is real…if it really is, then I feel it would be stupid to let this slip by. And yet, leaving this house, this safe spot which holds many dear memories, and braving a trip out there alone also seems foolish. I just, I just don’t know what to do. I just want my little girl to be safe, no matter what happens to me.” He clenched his free hand into a fist, squeezing tightly in frustration.

“This isn’t something you have to consider now,” Edgar said, trying to put the man’s mind as ease. I jumped in.

“It’s also not an offer that has an expiration date. In fact, I think Edgar still has a map in the glovebox. We can draw you a route, and should you ever decide to come, just ask for Phoenix and tell him Edgar and Jon sent you; he’ll hook you up.”

This seemed to calm the man greatly. He looked back up, eyes shining with gratitude. “Thank you, really. I uh, I’ll need some time to think about it. I’ll also have to ask Melisa if-”

“I want to go dad,” answered a voice upstairs. Everyone froze for a second, the conversation stopping dead. My eyes traced a path up the stairs, settling on the child’s small form at the top.

“Sw-sweetie, what have I said about eavesdropping?” Patrick asked. He tried to sound upset, to put on his fatherly reprimanding voice, but he couldn’t quite seem to muster it at the moment. “How long have you been there?”

“I didn’t go,” she admitted quietly. “Daddy, you’re always so sad. You give all your happiness away, just to make me happy. But I want you to be happy too! That mean lady and those monsters make you sad, so let’s leave them!” She ran towards her father, throwing her arms as far around him as she could, burying her face in his stomach. He sat there, shocked into inaction as he tried to think of something to say. “Please dad. You never smile anymore. I want you to smile again.”

Carefully, he wrapped his arms around his daughter, returning her embrace fully. “I suppose we’ll be taking you up on your offer,” he said, with a hint of a smirk threatening to fully show. He placed his hands on Melisa’s shoulders, looking her in the eye. “Do you think you could quickly throw all your stuff into a bag?”

“Now?” she asked excitedly. His smirk split into a full grin.

“If my little princess doesn’t want to stay here, then we won’t spend another second here longer than we have to.” He replied warmly. Giddy and with much enthusiasm, Melisa raced up the stairs. “Melisa,” he called out. She stopped halfway up. She seemed to have already known whatever Patrick was going to say next, as she raced back down the stairs and into a room on the first floor. Mere seconds later she zoomed out once more, trailing a small pink suitcase this time. Ascending the steps as quickly as her little legs could carry her, she rounded the bend at the top and disappeared down a hallway.

Patrick turned to us once more, grin still present. “I can’t thank you enough for your kindness,” he said. “If you’ll give me a few minutes, we’ll have everything packed and be ready to go.”

“Need a hand with anything?” Edgar asked. Patrick looked ready to politely decline, but stopped.

“Actually, if you have room in your car, I’d like to take our barrels of gasoline with us.”

We stopped cold.

I thought I was hearing things. I turned to Edgar, but it seems that I was not the only one to have heard it. Slowly, I turned my head to this man, who had said something that could not be. “Sure, but wait…gasoline? As in, not diesel?”

If Patrick understood the significance of what he’d just said, he didn’t show it. In fact, a single arched eyebrow was all he did. “Yes, some unleaded fuel with some extra strength fuel preserver. The stuff works miracles on ethanol-free gas. Lasts forever, especially if you keep it indoors and the container sealed tight. Why?”

I thought of all the gasoline-engine equipment, equipment that was left behind because no one thought there was any gas left to use them. “If possible, could we…could we have a small sample?” I asked.

“After everything you’ve done, it’s the least I can do,” Patrick said. As we walked outside and helped Patrick load in the 55 gallon drums, I decided to let Edgar in on my thought process.

“If Twilight got a sample, she might be able to make more. Even if she can’t, she could give it to her ‘friends’, and they might be able to replicate it ‘back home’.” Edgar’s eyes grew wide, and a smile began to grow as he realized what I was talking about. He was just as excited to get the sample back as I was, and we helped Patrick and Melisa pack and ready up in record time.

“I believe that’s everything,” Patrick said as he wiped his brow. “I guess we’ll just follow you?”

“Actually,” I began. “We were originally here because we had to pick up a large diesel engine for a generator we’re making. We’ll have to head into the city to find one.” Patrick’s eyes widened in alarm.

“You’re going in there? That place is crawling with those things! If you want a generator, why don’t you take one of those building backup generators that come on when the power goes out? They’ve got a few buildings on the outskirts; you wouldn’t have to go in there.”

“Unfortunately, they don’t usually use diesel for those, since who knows when the generator would be used, and the diesel might go bad. Those generators actually run on natural gas, and the engine internals are completely different than a diesel. In fact, aside from the fuel injectors, natural gas engines are exactly like…like gasoline engines.”

It was almost stupid that I didn’t think of it earlier. If we can get Twilight to take the gasoline sample to Equestria, then they should be able to puzzle out how to make more. And instead of running a diesel generator…

“Patrick you’re a genius!”

“I am?”

“He is?”

“That’s my daddy for you!”

“We don’t even need to make a generator, we can just use a building standby generator like Patrick said. The internals are essentially the same as a gasoline engine, so all we’d have to do is modify the fuel delivery system, and we’ll have a pre-built generator.”

Edgar seemed to have caught on. “And if Twilight or her friends can make more gas, then we could actually run it!” He quickly sprinted over to the truck.

“Hold on, I’ll tell Eddy and Twilight to return home if they’re not already on their way, there’s been a change of plans.”

Chapter 1: One Hell of a Favor

Perspective: Eddy Culivin
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 25, 2025

It’s kind of tragic when you think about it, it really is. I mean, a few people saw something like this coming, but most of us said they were crazy, that they were wrong. Yet the end of the world really did come, or something like that. Don’t get me wrong, there are humans left on Earth, we’re just…not as abundant as we once were. Of all the things that could have (almost) wiped us out though, of all the disasters people prepped for, I don’t think anyone saw ‘cell regeneration accident’ coming. If it had worked as planned, people could’ve regrown lost limbs, malfunctioning or failed organs, T-cells; it would have been the single greatest achievement in medical history. But things rarely ever go exactly as planned.

From what was reported on the news before all hell broke loose, the serum to be tested consisted of specially developed cells that could merge with existing cells and copy their DNA, analyze the body for any defects based on acquired DNA, and replace missing/broken cells as needed. The first and only test subjects though, suffered excruciating pain, and then mysteriously died; it wasn’t the best start to the project. The bodies were covered and brought to a separate building for a closely-observed autopsy. Upon uncovering the bodies though, it was apparent something was going horribly wrong.

The images shown on the TV, images still burned into my memory all these years later, showed that while the bodies regained their missing appendages, the ‘miracle cell’ had tried to regenerate everything, and severely disfigured the bodies. All their internals, organs, bones and tissues, had been over-generated and deformed the body. The skin remained somewhat normal, but the bloated internals had stretched and ripped it, revealing bloody hulking masses of muscle. It was the single most revolting thing I had ever seen…until they awoke. Then, on live television, everyone got to watch as the reanimated corpses bit, clawed, and literally tore everyone in the room apart, then broke out. Moments later, the torn corpses (except the ones missing heads or hearts) began to regenerate, deform, and reanimate as well. The Infected cameraman slowly picked up the camera and stared into it, before screaming at it and breaking it, the feed shortly after going dead.

Long story short, because the infection took over a host so quickly, the military was unable to stop large cities from falling. The fact that one had to be dead before the infection took over was a blessing though. It meant that the checkpoint inspectors didn’t have to check everyone; if you were alive, you were ok. Quite a few people made it out before the infection came because of this; a lot of them didn’t however. I was lucky; I lived two miles from a small town in a rural-type area. My three best friends, Edgar Worthington, Mike Britowski, and Jonathon Burley, were also lucky; they were able to make it out of the city they lived in and to my house before shit went downhill. I-

“EDDY!” Edgar yelled, snapping me back to reality. Crap, this is what happens when I have time to think. My mind wanders back to how this nightmare started. “Geez man, quit spacing out. We’re here.”

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 25, 2025

I swear, when Eddy spaces out, it’s hard to reel him in sometimes. Anyways, here we are in the peaceful town in…well, I can’t quite remember actually. I guess when the apocalypse dawns on you, trivial things like state borders are lost and forgotten. Ever since the Infection spread, the only places that were able to defend themselves and continue human life were small, somewhat isolated towns, much like this one. Because these towns are the only surviving pockets of human life left, the military aids these towns greatly, resupplying us with food, water, and ammo weekly. Thanks to this, when the occasional horde strolls into town, we’re able to drive them back. Being on the losing side of a coin flip, Eddy and I were tasked with going into town to collect our share of said supplies, while Jonathon and Mike held down the fort. We pulled the truck into the parking lot of a now-useless Walmart. There were a few people in the parking lot gathering supplies, but one particular person there was waiting for us with a few boxes at his sides.

“Hey Edgar, Eddy!” the person called out. “Glad you guys made it!”

“Phoenix! Good to see you’re still in one piece,” Eddy responded. “How’s the radio working?”

“It works great ever since you fixed it. Listen, there’s someone in town that’s having electrical problems in…” Their voices faded as Phoenix, the ‘Sheriff’ of sorts around here, and Eddy, or ‘Electrician’ walked away. Phoenix, or ‘Boss’ as he’s known around here, and a few others around town (us included) have nicknames which spawned from our most useful talents. Since Phoenix and my buddies and I are close though, we usually disregard them. Eddy is an expert with circuitry, so he can fix all sorts of gadgets, as well as solder custom circuits. My nickname, Pyromaniac, was given because of my knowledge on whipping up all sorts of flammable and explosive powders and liquids. Mike is known as Gunmen; his skill in firearm maintenance and repair, as well as his tendency to hoard ammo means he’s got quite the stash of firepower. Finally, Jon is known as Motor-head; his ability to repair mechanical mechanisms (especially when it comes to cars) quickly earned him that nickname.

The five of us had met in college, and with our complimentary skill sets had quickly become the best of friends while working in groups in shop class. We built all sorts of things together, from potato cannons to go-karts; hell, we even had plans for an ultralight at one point. Those plans fell through after the Infection spread though, and the unfinished ultralight (or should I say mostly pile of parts), and the rest of our little projects sat in Eddy’s workshop behind the house. They haven’t been touched since the Infection.

“Hey dude, can I get a hand here?” I spun around to find that Eddy had already finished speaking with Phoenix and had begun loading the boxes into the back of my Ford F-250 Diesel. I was about to go and help when Phoenix’s voice came from behind me.

“Actually Eddy, Ima need to borrow your friend here for a moment. That ok with you?” Eddy mumbled something inaudibly before waving us off. Phoenix took that as a ‘yes’ and motioned me over away from the others.

“Listen Edgar, I have a favor to ask of you and your friends.” ‘Ah shit, this sounds like trouble.’ Now curious, I urged him to continue.

“Shoot.”

“Ok. You remember our reconnaissance team, right?”

“Yea.”

“Well, a few days ago, they stumbled upon a…place with a large supply of chemicals. They don’t know which ones are useful, but there’s bound to be something worth keeping in there, ya know what I mean? They also said there was a good chance that this particular place had other supplies that could prove very useful to us.”

Something was definitely up. This sounded like very good news, but the fact that he refuses to name the place, or even comment much about it, puts me on edge. Also, if the reconnaissance team was already at this ‘place’, why had they not investigated further or taken some of the supplies? There was definitely more to this, something that he’s not telling me, and I intend to find out what it is.

“You know, there’s a saying about things that are too good to be true. Now out with it, what’s the catch?”

“Well…it’s…uh…”

“Phoenix, tell me what the catch is.”

“Ok ok. The place is a small city nea-“

“A city!?”

“Keep it down! Yes, it’s a city.”

I took a deep breath to rein in my disbelief before continuing, my voice much quieter this time. “A city is where this whole mess started. Cities are where this shit spread. What did you smoke to allow the go-ahead for the scout team to search a city!?”

“Listen Edgar, all the neighboring towns that are close by are dried up by now. The military may provide the bare essentials, but when we need to make repairs, or when we need to design something, or in literally any other situation, we have to find our own supplies. Look, I know you’re not particularly happy with my actions, but you must remember that at this point, any nearby cities have already been overrun. You know about that little quirk of the Infected; the large majority of the population leaves the city once it’s devoid of people.”

“But a small portion always stays behind, and depending on its size, there could be thousands of Infected in the city!”

“Well that’s apparently not the case this time, since our team made it out just fine! They even said it was more deserted than most cities.”

“…Ok, fine. Say I go along with this for a minute. What do you need from us?”

“Harvesting season for the only farm left here is approaching very soon. And you know that soon after that, the military comes by to pick up our harvest to store and distribute. The machines that make this process fast and easy need fuel, but our supply of Biodiesel is low. The town’s got plenty of vegetable oil, but little of the chemicals needed for the titration process. If we don’t get fuel soon, we’ll have to hand harvest, and I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how dangerous that can be. We’d have a large part of the population out in a field with little protection.”

“But why can’t you send literally anyone else instead? We’re not the only ones who know how to make Biodiesel, not by a long shot.”

“Two reasons actually. First, you’ll want a vehicle that doesn’t make much noise,” he slightly jerked his head in Eddy’s direction “and there’s only one of those round here. Secondly…well honestly, everyone else is rather reluctant to go, not to mention you guys are better suited for this.

“Seriously? We’re ‘better suited’ just because Eddy has an electric car?”

“It’s not just that. There are only two entrances to this town, and you guys live right on the road for one of them. You’ve been guarding half the entrances for the town this whole time, and have seen, and killed, more Infected than most here. We need you guys; will you please go get what we need, and explore other shops for useful items?”

Well that’s just fan-freaking-tastic! If we don’t go, everyone ends up in the fields and could possibly be attacked. ‘Will you please go’ MY ASS, it doesn’t seem like we have much of a choice! It almost feels like I’m being guilt-tripped into this. It also feels like the universe is trolling us. Of course Eddy’s SUV would be the only electric in town, and he’s the only one that knows much about it. Of course I would know exactly what we’re looking for, and of course we happened to be at the ‘right place at the right time’. Seriously Life, stop lining us up for this, we don’t want the job! Unfortunately, Life seems really keen on making us do this, so with little choice in the matter, I let out a sigh of resignation.

“…We’ll need extra ammo, 9mm and .45, just in case. We leave tomorrow at early dawn. Also, you guys owe us big time!”

“Whatever you need man, we’ll even supply you with ball bearings for your pneumatic weapons! You don’t know how much this means to us, thank you so much!” I was then treated to a bone-crushing bear hug, courtesy of Phoenix, before he left to retrieve our extra ammo and a map with directions. By the time I made it back to the truck and loaded the supplies, Eddy was already seated in the passenger seat. The look of confusion on his face told me he’d seen the contents of the boxes I loaded in.

“So, not that I’m complaining or anything, but why were we suddenly given a huge supply of ammo to add to our already-enormous pile of ammo?” Eddy asked. This was going to be fun to explain.

“Yea, about that. You see…”

Perspective: Mike Britowski
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 25, 2025

"Hey Jon, could you pass me a cotton swab?” I asked. He passed one over the table, and I proceeded to clean the inside of the blued steel cylinder in my hands. Once clean I inserted it, along with the recoil spring back into the slide. After greasing the rails and reassembling the weapon, I gave the M1911 a final once-over before loading a snap cap and giving the slide a pull, then releasing it. A satisfying metal-on-metal clack rang through the room, and the click that shortly followed after pulling the trigger assured me everything was in working order. I pulled the slide once more and as expected, the snap cap ejected, so I set both it and the M1911 aside and reached for the next gun to be cleaned, a civilian version of an AUG, the XM17-E4.

This was one of my favorite activities. There aren’t many fun things to do in an Infection pandemic, and cleaning and maintaining our weapons helps clear my mind and helps me temporarily forget my worries and troubles. Some might find it ironic to find comfort in maintaining a killing machine, but these pieces of plastic, wood, and steel have kept us alive all this time. I used to admire my gun collection, but now I have the upmost respect for the firearms, as well as those who made them. Also, cleaning our firearms is a useful task. Useful, unlike some people.

“Jon, you’re just sitting there on your ass! Get over here and do something useful!”

“What!?” Jon exclaimed. “For your information, Eddy just contacted me via walkie-talkie and told me to prepare a few things for his arrival. I was just doing that, so I was doing something useful thank you very much!”

*Sigh* “Sure, whatever. Anyways, what did he ask you to do?”

“It’s a little strange actually. No I don’t know why he asked me to do this, but he told me to plug in his Model X, start the generator, and load a few specific items into the back of the Model X. He also said we start our watch shifts early, because tomorrow we head out at the crack of dawn. Where we’re going however, I have no clue.”

“Hmm, that is strange. I guess we’ll find out what he has planned for us when he gets back. Anyways, you said the generator was running, right? Could you go ahead and rotate the solar panels inward, and if the wind generators are up, could you take them down please?”

“The wind generators are already down; there wasn’t much of a breeze today. I’ll go ahead and rotate the solar panels though”. With that he disappeared back upstairs, heading towards the attic.

“Hey, check the charge percentage of the Ultracapacitor Bank while you’re up there!” I shouted up to him. I heard a reply, but didn’t quite catch what he said. I just hope he understood; that bank is what’ll get us through the night. From what I heard from our resident circuit geek, Ultracapacitors overtook batteries a few years ago in capacity and life, something about no chemicals storing the energy or something like that. This means our solar/wind/generator energy collector system uses Ultracapacitors now. The bank is massive, taking up almost the entire house’s attic, and will run our fridge/freezer, a few lights, and the A/C for 24 hours once fully charged, or the entire house for about 8-10 hours.

“78 percent charge on the Ultracaps!” I heard Jonathon yell from the attic. Well that’s a relief! Even without the generator, we’ll have more than enough power for the night. Satisfied, I went back to cleaning the rifle in my hands. It was peaceful in the house for a while, the only noticeable sound being the quiet hum of the diesel generator in the little shed next to our house. Eventually, a second diesel engine joined the first one, revved down, and then silenced. Guess the guys were back.

I called Jonathon, and between the four of us, we put away the supplies. The multiple boxes of extra ammo did not escape my sight, but when questioned, the only response I got out of Edgar or Eddy was ‘we’ll discuss it with you and Jon over dinner’. Eventually, dinner came around. Jon and I were already seated at the table, having cleared it of gun cleaning materials. We awaited an explanation.

Perspective: Jonathon Burley
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 26, 2025
3:30a.m.

Well this blows! Not only did I have to wake up earlier than usual for my night watch shift, but after everyone wakes up in an hour and a half, we head off into a city. This fact alone made it hard to sleep, and I already had trouble sleeping. Heck, I don’t think anyone’s truly had a good night’s rest since the Infection. Right now I’m on the front porch with my trusty Sig 556, waiting, listening, looking for them. The porch was retrofitted with lights to illuminate a good 50 feet in all visible directions from the porch. Normally, this would be a stupid idea; the lights would seem to be a beacon in the dark to attract the Infected. Luckily, observations showed that strong stimulation overloaded their senses, meaning they see well in low light, and can hear and smell extraordinarily well, but daylight and other bright lights, as well as strong sounds and scents disorient them. Easy prey. Lucky for all of us though, there hasn’t been an attack in 4 months now, so here’s hoping for yet another uneventful watch.

5:20a.m.

Thank God it’s finally over, that was creepy! Don’t get me wrong, the night watch had been quiet and uneventful, which I’m grateful for. But something about the silence bothered me, and it felt like there was something important that I’m forgetting that the silence should have reminded me about. Maybe I just need more sleep; that would be nice. Dismissing that thought, I return my attention to last-minute checking all equipment in the Tesla Model X. Satisfied that everything was in order, I closed the trunk and checked the connection to the storage container we were towing. It looked like those U-Haul towing containers, but larger, and it would be carrying all the stuff that didn’t fit in either the trunk or the ‘frunk’ (the front trunk; it’s what Tesla calls it). The connection to the container was secure, so I climbed into the left seat in the second row of the SUV, intent on strapping myself in for the ride.

“Hey guys!” That sounded like Mike. “Headlights coming this way!” Headlights!? It’s freaking 5:30 in the morning! Who would be coming our way at this time? Whatever, at least it’s not Infected. Grunting, I slid back out of the seat and awaited the mystery vehicle. As it pulled up, I could make out a very familiar driver, along with one male and two female passengers I didn’t recognize.

“Phoenix!? What the hell are you doing here so early?” I asked.

“Well,” he began, jumping down from the driver’s side of the truck. “Since you guys are helping us out, we thought the least we could do was watch over the place while you’re gone. Also, moving out here means that even when you’re in the city, you’ll be in the outskirts of our radio range. If you need anything, let us know. Not sure how effective we’ll be if you need backup, considering it’ll take at least 12 minutes at top speed to reach you, but we’ll do our best. If you need extra ammo or storage space though, we’ll be there to help you out.” He then turned to Mike and flashed him a grin.

“Oh, and don’t worry, if anything happens, we brought our own ammo. Your stash is safe with us.” Mike couldn’t help but chuckle softly at this. After wishing us luck, we climbed into the SUV and I strapped myself in. This time, there were no distractions stopping me as I closed the left rear Falcon-Wing door. Eddy put his foot on the brake and hit the start button. The vehicle came to life and let out a mighty feral roar…and by that I mean the screens lit up and a quiet two-note tone let us know the car was on. Seriously, it’s an electric, what were you expecting?

“Everyone ready?” Eddy asked from the driver’s seat. We all answered affirmatively; well, as ready as we’ll ever be I suppose.

With that, along with a final wave to our temporary house sitters, we departed in silence down the little two-lane road.

Chapter 10: A True Nightmare Night (Part 1)

Chapter 10: A True Nightmare Night

Perspective: Edgar Worthington
Location: Ponyville Outskirts, Equestria
Date: October 30, 2025

Well, several days passed without incident…and by that I mean no one got hurt too badly. Let’s see, notable points these last few days…well, I don’t think the cashier likes me anymore. Yea, don’t ask me what possessed me to do that, couldn’t honestly tell you. On the plus side though, it turns out the restaurants here all throw out their waste oil, so we got a huge supply of oil for me to turn into biodiesel. I think Flash thinks I’m insane, hoarding all this oil that to him seems useless. Glad he let me take it regardless! Let’s see, what else?

Oh! On the 28th, Eddy went to the shed to help solder that broken air sensor thingy on the generator. Twilight grabbed the soldering iron and burned her hand accidentally, and Eddy reprimanded her pretty harshly. I bet she was just curious, didn’t see the need to yell at her. Thankfully, it was a minor burn; she had let go quickly. I swear I don’t know what's going on with that guy. Yea he yelled at her, but why did he even bother? Does he care? Bah, I digress.

Moving on, Jonathon informed us that day that the carbon build-up was pretty bad, but thanks to Sword Smith’s help, they would have it running by the end of the day. That’s right; Sword Smith, the grumpy cynical mare…helping! That’s like Eddy being nice to strangers, it doesn’t happen often/at all! She still isn’t very trusting of us, but she seems to have relaxed a little bit, at least around Jonathon anyway. By Midday, they cranked over the motor, and it fired right up! It was exciting to see the old machine come back to life, and even more exciting was the fact that there would finally be some God-damn A/C in the house! I don’t know what it is about that house, but with the windows closed, I bake alive in there!

On the 29th, Twilight was finally able to record a host of observations of our tech actually working. Up until that point, there was no power, so all the devices in our house were inoperable. Not today! She was particularly amazed by all the things electricity could do, mentioning at one point it was ‘almost as versatile as magic’. While the others showed off all our stuff, I slaved away in front of the garage making biodiesel. I swear that stuff is time-consuming to make! Luckily, we have the ingredients for a huge batch. I didn’t use them all, but I did make like 50 gallons of the stuff so I wouldn’t need to make more for a while, or started to anyway. There this step where you have to let it sit so that the biodiesel and contaminants separate, then pull the contaminants out. I’ll do that today, but I’ll have to make it quick.

Twilight has requested assistance today in preparing for a holiday tomorrow called ‘Nightmare Night’. From the way she explained it, it sounds very similar to Halloween, an observation she (obviously) wrote down. I have to hand it to her, the woman-err, mare does her job quite well, leaving no observation un-noted. But anyway, we had to head into town today to decorate the whole place and set up games and stuff for the event.

“Edgar, that truck full yet?” Jonathon called from the garage entryway. What am I doing right now you ask? Fueling up of course; the truck was almost empty! Since I now had the fuel to use it, why wouldn’t we take the truck into town? Twilight offered a ride in the chariot, but I think the other guys and I will stick to the ground for now. She’s meeting us near the Town Square.

“Almost!” I replied. “In fact, tell everyone to get their sorry behinds over here, we’re heading out.” Jonathon’s head disappeared back through the doorway. I removed the nozzle of the 10-gallon gas can from the filler neck, and set the can aside. The truck needed 15 gallons to fill up; I was pretty low! Everyone piled in, and with the turn of the key and a pull of the gear selector, we were off.

The ride over was, as always, uneventful. As we approached town, I slowed down. The townspeople had gotten busy, as was apparent by the amount of work already done. A fair amount of decorations were already up. An interesting thing about the decorations was their color; while there were plenty of carved pumpkins, skulls, bats, spiders, etc., the prominent colors weren’t black and orange, but rather black and varying shades of blue. Also peculiar were the black unicorn heads everywhere, along with reptilian-like turquoise eyes everywhere. Well, it’s a question for later.

As we pulled up, the familiar scene of everyone hiding behind stuff played out again. Seriously, this was getting old real fast! Hell, even Eddy wasn’t laughing anymore (Jon told me what happened the first time the truck rolled into town). Instead of parking off to the side, I maneuvered the pickup around the stalls and entertainment and stopped right in the middle. Shutting the engine off, I climbed out of the truck and stood on the bed; I was ending this today.

“See?” I called out to the townspeople. “It’s just a pony-less carriage. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” Unfortunately, this still didn’t quell their fear very much; they popped out of their hiding places, some even dared to venture out, but they all kept their distance from the machine.

“Well, that’s a shame Edgar,” Eddy said. “Here, let me try. *Ahem* What the Hell is wrong with you people? Is everyone afraid of rocks in this town as well or what?”

“That thing isn’t a rock,” came a meek response.

“Yea, but guess what the two have in common? They’re both inanimate objects!*Knocks on back of Pickup to prove point* Being scared of this thing is like being scared of a rock, or a leaf. Do you have any idea how fucking retarded you all look right now?”…*Sigh* 'God damnit Eddy.' Well, looking at the pros here, Eddy’s plan worked like a charm. Most ponies had a look that seemed to combine residual fear, anger, and a hint of embarrassment into one expression. How Eddy didn’t get lynched for literally insulting the entire town I’ll never know. He didn’t even seem to care; he just waltzed right up and through the crowd to get out of Town Square, and to the spot where Twilight had told us to meet her. Acted like nothing happened!

After apologizing to everyone and moving the pickup, we caught up with Eddy and Twilight.

“About time you showed up,” Eddy jabbed playfully.

“Wouldn’t have been a problem if you hadn’t been an idiot,” I retorted. I turned my attention to Twilight. “So, what needs to be done today?”

“Well, I was just about to help Applejack with setting up her stand,” she began listing. “I think the ponies in charge of the pumpkin catapults could use some help, as well as the spider toss. The decorations in that box *point to box* need to be strung up, and if you check around, there might still be some odd jobs here and there that need completing.”

“Right, then let’s get to it,” I said.

2 hours later

I sat on the ground, overlooking the finished Town Square. A mild cool breeze from the North was blowing, causing the banners and dangling spiders to sway gently in the wind. The unobstructed early-afternoon sun shone on the serene landscape. To my right, Eddy was lying down, hands behind his head, eyes closed. To my left, Jonathon and Mike were sitting like I was, enjoying a break after completing their tasks.

“It’s…nice here, really peaceful and quiet,” I commented. There was a round of ‘yep’ or ‘mhmm’ from the guys. “Sometimes, I really…you know, wish we could stay here.”

“I know what you mean Edgar,” said Jon. “Sometimes I think the same.”

“No wars, no you-know-what’s, no…problems,” said Mike. “In fact, I think the only one who doesn’t like it here is Eddy.”

“I never said I hated the place,” Eddy replied. “Just the inhabitants; they’re annoying as hell sometimes and untrustworthy all the time.” I sighed, as I’m sure everyone else did too. We would argue with him, but what’d be the point? “It is rather pretty here though, especially at night. It’s almost a shame we can’t stay here, but we need to save our guys back home.”

“Save them from what, darling?” came a voice from behind us. That manner of speaking made it clear Rarity had asked. Quickly turning around revealed Twilight and her friends standing behind us. ‘Way to go Eddy…’

“Nothing, they just got themselves in some trouble, that’s all,” said Mike, quickly covering for us. ‘Nice save man! I’ll let you do the bullshitting from now on.’ “Was there something you ladies needed?”

“We were wonderin’ if y’all like ta come an have lunch with us,” said Applejack. I would have said something, but our rumbling stomachs answered for us. We accepted their offer, and followed the group to their regular picnic spot, a nice grassy hill just outside of town. It was a nice place, just as quiet and cool as where we were previously. After helping set up the blanket and all the food items, we dug in. As I’ve come to expect, all the food was vegan, but it was good so there were no complaints from me.

“So,” Rarity asked. “I must know; what kind of costume are you wearing to the party?”

“Actually, we don’t have costumes,” Jon answered. Rarity suddenly spit out her tea and looked straight at us. “Nothing at all? Oh dear, this simply will not do!” she said more to herself than anyone there. She was mumbling something about ‘there’s still time’ and ‘must take them in’. I looked at the rest of the mares for answers. They all just gave us tired smiles; a sign that she does this often.

“Rarity,” Eddy said in an exhausted tone. I think he was just tired of dealing with ponies today, and wasn’t in the mood to deal with this. He did manage to draw Rarity’s attention tough. “It’s alright, we don’t want costumes.”

“But there’s still time to make some fab-”

“Rarity.” She stopped talking. “Please. Thanks, but no thanks.” Her ears drooped, a look of sadness now overtaking her features.

“We really appreciate the sentiment though, maybe another time,” I said. This seemed to cheer her up a bit. Soon the conversation started up again, and everyone was having a good time, even Eddy, and more surprisingly Fluttershy, participated in the conversation. We shared stories, traded tidbits about our lives, small talk really. But it was nice. Nice until-

*RING!* One minute we’re talking, the next this random alarm clock bell starts ringing. Pinkie reaches around and pulls out an alarm clock out of seemingly nowhere! Upon silencing it, she says: “Whoo, time to see Dashie!”

“…Uhh, what just happened?” I asked.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash gets released from the hospital today,” says Fluttershy.

“Do you wanna come with? Huh, do you do you do you?” Pinkie asked excitedly, bouncing around like a caffeinated rubber ball. I looked at the others, who shrugged and said ‘I guess we can go’, or something like that. Well, Eddy technically said ‘I’m getting dragged along for this anyway, so we might as well go’, but it means the same thing coming from him. So off to the hospital we went.

I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?

Perspective: Jonathon Burley
Location: Ponyville Hospital, Equestria
Date: October 30, 2025

“Twilight, this time you’ve gone too far!” The cyan-coated mare yelled at her. Poor Twilight just stood there, speechless and confused like the rest of us. Let’s back it up, shall we? We come to visit, we walk into her room, Rainbow Dash suddenly gets mad…does that make any sense?

“I know you’re into all the smarty-pants science-y stuff, and I know you like to experiment, but this is taking it too far!”

“W-what do-”

“Look at them!” she roared, pointing to…Mike? Me? I think she’s pointing at us, the humans anyways. “Look what you did to them! Do those ponies look normal to you? Do they!?”

“But they’re-”

“No buts Twilight. What did you do to them?” She sounded incredibly pissed off; either Twilight’s genetically experimented with stuff before, or Rainbow is just hot-headed. Either way, we’d need to set a few things straight; and by the look of things, we’d better do it fast!

“Uhh, Rainbow Dash?” I asked, trying to wrench her focus from Twilight. Thankfully, it worked.

“Thank Celestia you can still talk,” she said. “What did Twilight do to you?”

“I believe you’re misunderstanding here. You see, several days ago, Twilight attempted to create a-”

“Wow, I didn’t know we came here to tell a multi-hour epic of how we got here,” Eddy jabbed.

“Shut up Eddy! *Ahem* well long story short, we’re not ponies.” Rainbow Dash looked at us carefully, as if trying to piece together what we were. After about half a minute of studying us, she spoke.

“Minotaur?” she asked hesitantly, as if unsure of her answer.

“Not really.”

“Diamond Dog?” she said, eyes narrowing slightly. For a second, the image of the ghastly creature flashed in my head, followed by the burn site that used to be near our house.

“No,” I answered solemnly. “We’re humans Rainbow; we’re not from anywhere in Equestria.”

“No way, you’re all just pulling my wing!”

“I finally got that spell I was telling everypony about working,” Twilight was finally able to say. “They really aren’t from here.” It was quiet for a while. I suppose the news that aliens came to see you out of the hospital would rattle anyone up. So we kind of just let that sink in for a little bit. Well, most of us did anyways…

“That’s incredible, weren’t you being released today?” Eddy asked. She nodded. “Well then get your ass out of bed and let’s go!”

“H-hey! What’s your problem, bub?”

“My problem is that I was dragged over here, there are bad memories associated with this place, and Edgar won’t give me the keys to the truck so I can get out of here. Answer your question?”

“Bad memories?” Mike asked.

“I distinctly remember Rarity opening the Gates of Hell and almost throwing us into them. ‘I’ll destroy you’ is what I think she said, no wait, screamed. But enough of that, let’s get going already.” He exited the room shortly after. I think Dash wanted to say something to him, but he left before she could. Her slight anger dissipated after a little bit though, and she returned her focus to Twilight, albeit much less furious this time.

“So they’re really not from here?” she asked. Twilight and the rest shook their heads. “I guess I’m…sorry…about that Twilight. I thought you seriously messed somepony up!”

“No harm done,” and with a make-up hug, all was forgiven. It was sweet, and I’m glad Eddy was outside, or he would’ve made some snarky remark to ruin the whole thing.

“Let’s get you home,” said Twilight.

7:00p.m.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Rainbow stretched her wings by doing a few loops and tricks in the air. They were pretty impressive, at least from the point of view of a being that can’t fly. I don’t know, maybe Pegasi thought those were easy tricks, but they were cool to me anyways. We got to the Town Square and parted ways. An incredible thing happened there; when we started the truck, a few ponies jumped, not expecting the noise, but otherwise no one ran in fright! I guess insulting their intelligence worked…'I've said it once and I'll say it again: God damnit Eddy!'

Anyways, here we are at home, some of us doing a few things, but mostly just lazing around. Eddy was glad for power, and was out in the garage ‘juicing up his baby’, as he put it. Am I the only one who thinks that sounds weird? The work on the power grid is done, and the bullets holes were plugged with some mysterious hardening goo they gave us. Not sure what it is, but it worked! All that remains to do now is to fix the windows, which Twilight said could be done. She asked why they were so reinforced though, which gave us a hard time, but Edgar came up with the ‘genius’ idea that Eddy was paranoid, which she immediately accepted. Heh, sorry Eddy, but it was too good an excuse to pass up!

The house was nice and cool, thanks to the generator working again. Sword was a big help with that, she helped in cleaning and reassembly. Did a decent job of it too. She seems a lot less hostile these days, no longer threatening to ‘beat me into the ground’. She even told me what happened after a while; that the place she worked at closed down, and she had to find work elsewhere. I kinda feel bad for her; she seemed to be pretty good with mechanical stuff, judging by how fast she picked up on the explanation I gave her of the generator. I’ll have to remember to thank her later, but for now, I’m totally beat!

“Hey guys, I’m heading to bed,” I called out. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight Jon,” came a series of replies. With that, I climbed the stairs, checked that everything on the second floor was locked down (old habits die hard), and went to bed.

Tomorrow night was going to be interesting. No doubt about it.

Perspective: Same (Jonathon)
Location: Town Square, Ponyville, Equestria
Date: October 31, 2025
7:30p.m.

We pulled into town very slowly, headlights on and foot on brake the whole time. The streets were thick with children (or foals, I believe) running around going door-to-door. I was currently sitting in the bed of the pickup. Why, you ask? Well, it would appear that foals are not as reserved as their parents, and got really close the ‘cool white beast with glowing eyes’. They even asked if they could ride in it like I was doing, so I helped them up. By the time we reached Town Square, we had picked up one or two (more like 20) hitchhikers, much to their amusement.

After looking around for a bit, we found a nice little patch of space not being used for anything, and parked there. The Square was alive with lights, music, and games. Ponies dressed as pretty much everything roamed the streets. Hell, there was even a pony dressed as a chicken, literally pecking at the candy!

“Alright kiddos, we’re here,” I called out. The foals disembarked in a fit of giggles and laughter, each finding its own creative way to jump off the bed.

“Thanks mister!” A little colt in a pirate costume said. I smiled and waved back. After they had dispersed, the humans climbed out of the cabin. Wearing normal clothes to a Hallow- err; excuse me, a Nightmare Night celebration kinda sucked, not to mention it made you stand out. Nevertheless, it should still be fun.

“Good luck trying to do that with your Model X,” Edgar said as he climbed out of the driver’s seat.

“Good luck running your truck when there’s no more biodiesel,” Eddy shot back. They both mock-glared at each other, before breaking into a grin and chuckling.

“There’s the Eddy we know and love,” Mike said. “Not grumpy and pissy.”

“Hey, I’m not ‘grumpy and pissy’ around you guys.”

“I know, but you’ve got to learn to lighten up around others. Go out there, play some games, socialize!”

“…”

“Come on Eddy, at least try!”

“Fine alright, I’ll try. Happy?”

“Very.” Mike finished that with a cheeky grin. So we split, each heading to a station to mingle in the crowd and just have a good time. I discovered that I utterly suck at spider tossing, but at least I could bob for apples (you should’ve seen Edgar try. Hilarious!).

Eventually everyone rallied up and started heading off in the same direction. Confused as to why everyone was leaving, we followed.

“What do you think’s happening?” I asked.

“It’s the candy offering to Nightmare Moon,” a mare answered behind me. The group eventually ended up in this courtyard. It was mostly empty, a flat grassy ground surrounded by strange, dark-green trees. In the middle of the space however, sat a statue. It was tall and imposing, not to mention expertly crafted. It seemed to depict a unicorn-wait no, it also has wings. It depicts an Alicorn, one with an evil grin, sharp teeth, and reptilian eyes. She seemed to be wearing armor of some sort.

“Go offer some candy Eddy,” Edgar said snickering. He pointed to the statue, which the foals (and that pony in the chicken costume) were now gathering around and depositing their candy at. “After all, it’s tradition for the little ones to do so.”

“Funny,” he deadpanned, before smirking. “Especially coming from the youngest in the group.”

“True, but I don’t have any candy.” Edgar pointed to the few pieces in Eddy’s hands.

“Some kid offered it to me; I couldn’t exactly say no,” he retorted. “*Sigh* well, I’m not going to eat it. Might as well do something with it.” He walked over towards the statue, and stood before it. He extended his hand when-

“HAHAHAHAA!” Dark storm clouds rolled in, lightning cracking within. The howls of the wind grew stronger. A dark presence came down near the statue. The foals screamed. The ponies (and that one zebra) backed away. The presence approached the statue. Eddy…just stood there, unamused…

‘Fuck Eddy! Is it too much to ask for you to just play along for once?’ “I am pleased with your offering; so pleased, that I may just eat it, instead of eating you!” The mare (whom I assumed was Nightmare Moon) bellowed. Eddy gave her a level stare in response.

“Great, here’s your candy. We free to go?” he asked. Nightmare leaned in until she was very close to his face. “Mortal, do you not know who I am? I am the evil Nightmare Moon!” Thunder cackled through the clouds as she said that.

Eddy looked at her incredulously. He turned his head slowly, looking at the crowd before him. He looked at us, but all we could do was shrug our shoulders. Was he really expecting something? He returned his gaze to the mare before him, before throwing his arms up in exasperation.

“That’s it!” he cried, and wheeled around to face the crowd. “This is the scariest thing you could come up with!? A black Alicorn with tor…no. No. No. No…You’re all a bunch of racists! Is it cause she’s black!?” ‘…well that was completely unexpected. Sadly, he did have a point; the only black pony here is the evil one.’

“I can’t believe this,” he continued. “I’m guessing Celestia’s the good one hmm? This just takes the fucking cake.” There was a blinding flash behind Eddy, revealing Luna after the glow had died down. She looked thoroughly befuddled.

“Human, art thou not afraid of us?” Luna asked.

“Not in the slightest,” Eddy replied. “You’ll have to do much better than that.” At this point, the crowd began to move back in, whispering things like ‘does he know?’ and ‘do humans even feel fear?’. Even the little ones came back. Luna pondered for a moment.

“Show us then,” she commanded.

“What?” Eddy replied.

“Show us what ‘truly scary’ means to you.”

“Sorry, but unless you can read minds and somehow let everyone see it at the same time, that’s not happening.” She stood there, a grin slowly creeping up on her face. Eddy face-palmed. “Right, you and your magic.”

“Go on human, imagine something truly horrifying.” ‘Sorry Luna, but there’s no way Eddy’s gonna agree to that. You may as well-’

“Alright.” ‘Like I was saying, never…wait what?’ “I think I’ll imagine a little story, a scary story for a ‘scary’ night, would everyone like that?” The ponies eagerly nodded, sitting down on the grass. ‘I never thought Eddy would agree with this, maybe he’s finally opening up? Could it be true?’

“Let’s see,” he began. “I’ll include a few humans-” ‘Aw look at that, he’s including us in there too!’ “-eight of them, to be exact.” ‘…Eight?’

“I’ll throw in some human weapons. And let’s not forget some monsters, to make it really scary.

“Let’s add some serious conflict in there, and some action.

“Let’s set the story two years ago, on our home world.

“And let’s throw in some betrayal.”

The ponies cheered, oblivious to the mounting distress of the human audience members. To them it sounded like a hell of a story. We knew better. I fearfully cast my gaze over to the left, meeting with Mike’s and Edgar’s. I knew, and they knew. They knew the reason I felt cold and sweaty, the reason for the lump in my throat, the reason for my heartbeat pounding in my ears.

“Eddy?” I wheezed out, my throat unexpectedly and suddenly quite dry. “You…you sure you want to tell this story?”

“Aw come now Jonny, don’t spoil the fun,” he said with a wild grin. “Let’s do this princess!” Luna placed her hand atop Eddy head, and her horn began to glow. Eddy closed his eyes, but the wicked grin never left his face. Forming adjacent to Eddy, a thin disk of soft light began to form, an all-too-familiar landscape appearing within. This was not a story. This would not be pleasant. This was a very real memory of an event that happened two years ago, the day the trusting side of Eddy was locked away forever.

This was the day he almost died.

Author's Note

Got really tired of the 'Rainbow beats the new guy up' cliche. Was what I did better? Also, distressing flashback, heading your way!

Chapter 17: Down Time

Perspective: Mike Britowski
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 27, 2025

“So the cells were injected into a healthy portion of tissue near the damage, and it was meant to copy the ‘DNA’, these instructions. Then, detecting a difference from these instructions in the body, the cells would replace any bad or missing cells. Am I understanding correctly thus far?” asked Luna, whom now sat on the couch opposite Tidwell. After that little uplifting speech, Phoenix decided to call his crew outside, where they could collect the bodies and burn them. As they left, they assured Tidwell that they didn’t blame him, and that we would all overcome this together, somehow. Now, only Tidwell, the ponies, and the boys and I remained.

“And since most people were fine when they were ‘infected’, the cells are only located in the growths, and in parts of their brain?” added Celestia, whom sat across from here sister. The doctor nodded to both ponies.

“Sister, I believe that if we are allowed to study a sample of this ‘cell’, we may perhaps find a unique identifying trait that will allow us to target these errant cells!” Luna beamed proudly. “Then, we can destroy them by isolating and superheating them.”

“Interesting,” mused Tidwell. “But you’d need to find a way to targets all the infected cells simultaneously. If you miss even one, the person will ‘die’ again, as the newly regenerated cells take over the central nervous system again. And I should warn you; the cells undergo mitosis very quickly.” Blanks stares is all he got. “The multiply rapidly.”

“Ahh,” everyone replied simultaneously.

“In addition, you would need to repair some of the tissue that was damaged during the Infection, such as their grey, torn skin. It’s not as easy as it sounds.” Celestia furrowed her brow.

“Luna, this would take a substantial amount of power to pull off, assuming a human can even survive that much magic and that many changes to their body forced through them,” she discussed with her sister. “An average unicorn could only fire a spell this complex and powerful twice, if well-rested. Even the number of times we could pull it off pales in comparison to the number of unfortunate humans afflicted by this.”

“Sorry for interrupting, but you said you did have a spell that could work?” I asked.

Well in theory, we could weave a variety of spells into a concentration of magic at our horn, then fire said magic at an Infected,” Luna explained. “However, we are not sure that the human in question would even survive, let alone if the ‘spell’ would work.”

“And even if we got really lucky and everything worked, you guys would quickly exhaust your magic reserves,” Edgar added in.

“Not to mention, I think Celestia’s is incredibly low right now, correct?” said Jonathon.

“That is correct,” Celestia confirmed.

“It would seem,” Eddy started, “that we either need a more efficient spell, or more reserve magic on-hand.”

“Even if we could open the portal now, there wouldn’t be enough unicorn guards for every Infected,” Celestia pointed out. “You mentioned there were once billions of humans.”

“While that may be true, that wasn’t what I was talking about. This may seem far-fetched, but if we could somehow find an ‘external source’ of magic, maybe it could be used as a ‘charger’ of sorts.”

“But that is where the problem lies,” interjected Luna. “This ‘external source’, as you call it, was all around us in Equestria. There was ambient energy everywhere, and our magic could simply be replenished by not using it, allowing our bodies to absorb this ambient energy. Because of this, any kind of ‘magic storage devices’ were researched out of curiosity, not need.”

“So research was slow and extremely limited at best,” noted Eddy. “And the technology is primitive.” Luna nodded.

“So there’s nothing you can do on this end?” Edgar asked.

“There seems to be an incredibly small amount of energy permeating through the air, but it is sporadic at best, and at this level, it would take weeks just to build enough magical power to cast the spell we are talking about, let alone open the portal.”

It seemed that a feasible solution was out of the question for now unfortunately. Unless we could find a way to restore their magic quickly, the spell the princesses mentioned was useless. They did mention something about sporadic ambient energy on Earth though, which is strange since Earth didn’t have magic. Might be something worth looking into soon.

In the meantime, I guess we’ll have to make do with what we have.

“Since we have no other better option, how long until one of you is able to cast this spell?” I asked.

“I’m afraid it could takes three or four weeks just to build enough energy to cast such a spell,” Celestia informed us. “And this is assuming we don’t use our magic at all in that timeframe, and that I just target the cells and Luna destroys them and heals the tissue.”

“All that time and power for one shot?” Jonathon asked, bewildered. Celestia nodded. “At this rate, the sun will burn out before we finish!”

“Your sun has a limited life?” Celestia leaned in and asked quietly.

“Yep, only about four to six billion years left,” I replied with a bit of good-humored sarcasm. She smiled.

“But at this stage in the game, it’s the only alternative we’ve got Jon,” Eddy countered, continuing the discussion with Jonathon. For his part, Jon gave Eddy a dubious look.

“So what do we do in the meantime?” he asked.

“We wait, and prepare to capture an Infected and test the spell.” Eddy muttered.

“So, do what we’ve been doing since the Infection began? Waiting?”

“Hey, I don’t like sitting around either, but it’s what has to happen. Unless you have a better plan?”

“Excuse me,” Tidwell’s voice drifted into the conversation, making them both turn to look at him. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but did I hear you say you were going to apprehend an Infected for testing?”

“Well, we can’t exactly test a spell that supposed to heal an Infected without, you know, an Infected.” I added.

“And where would you acquire this ‘test subject’?”

“The city Tidwell. Unless there’s a safer place you know of.”

“I was afraid you’d say that,” he muttered under his breath. He turned to address all of us. “I apologize, but have you all gone mad? You barely escaped from there last time with your lives. And a massive horde followed you back, which took half the Cavalry with it when it died. And now you’re all telling me that you’re going to go back!?”

“We don’t have a choice Tidwell!” I cried out. “We’ve been living in a sort of denial this whole time. Working, waiting, pretending everything’s normal when it’s not. When a horde shows up, we blast it away, ignore the deaths, and act like nothing happened. You wanted to fix this mess? This is the only alternative we have right now. It’s either that, or continue to do what we’ve been doing and kill them off. Pick your poison.”

Tidwell and I continue to glare at each other. Eventually, Tidwell broke eye contact, and sighed. He remained quiet for a little bit, before saying something that caught us all off-guard. “Then…if that’s the case, I’m coming with you all.”

“…what?”

“You are, unfortunately, correct; this is the only alternative available. As such, I’m coming with you to assist: I can treat wounds you may sustain during this crazy plan of yours, and I can stabilize, or attempt to as the case may be, the patient after the spell should it be required. I’ll need some trunk space for my equipment though, if you don’t mind.”

“But, I mean…are you sure?” Edgar asked. “It’s not exactly, you know, safe out there.”

Tidwell chuckled. “It’s not exactly safe anywhere my dear boy. The town just happens to be relatively safer.”

“Well Tidwell, if you’re sure about this, you’re more than welcome to join us,” I said. From somewhere off to the side, I heard a chuckle.

“If you’re going to take the good doctor with you, you should probably teach him to shoot first,” a voice called from the entryway. Looking back, Phoenix could be seen standing in the doorway, looking slightly disheveled. Then again, dragging numerous bodies into a pile is tough work; we’ve personally been part of the cleanup many times. Phoenix smirked before continuing. “I’ve seen him shoot. Let me put it this way: if you’re looking to avoid getting shot by Tidwell, the best place to be is directly in front of him.”

The doctor seemed less than pleased with this remark, as a frown crossed his face as he stared at Phoenix. “I’ll have you know I got him, thank you very much,” he retorted. “I even got him before he could leave the hospital room.”

Rather than deter Phoenix, this comment caused his shit-eating grin to grow. “Sure you did,” he replied sarcastically, seemingly struggling not to laugh. “It took you all seven rounds, but you sure showed him who was boss. Blew his whole damn finger right off!”

I roared with laughter. I think everyone laughed; even the ponies chuckled a bit. I think I saw Tidwell mutter something, but my sides hurt too bad for me to care at the moment. “It won’t be easy,” I gasped as I tried to catch my breath. “But I’m sure I can get Tidwell here shooting like a pro in no time.”

“If you say so,” Phoenix said, calming down as well. He looked behind him for a moment, then turned back to us. “Well, I best be going now; the boys are done cleaning up.”

“How’d they handle it?” Eddy asked, suddenly somber for some reason. “They alright?” Phoenix seemed to have understood as well, for the cheer in his expression noticeably diminished.

“Some better than others,” he replied. “It’s not an easy thing to do, and it never gets easier. But they’ll be ok; they just need a little time.” Suddenly it hit me.

Some of the bodies that were burned were the Cavalry’s own men; they had to burn their friends.

“We offer our condolences,” Luna said solemnly. “We will find a way to end this plight so that this may never happen again.” Phoenix smiled.

“Thanks Luna, I’ll pass it along.” His expression turned contemplative for a bit, studying Luna and Celestia. He then directed his attention to me. “Also, I just remembered; you need extra supplies since you’ve been gone for two weeks, correct?” ‘That’s right! I hadn’t even thought about it, but we’re low on food, and now ammo too. And some defenses need repairs as well.’

“Now that you mention it, we do need some supplies,” I mused. “And we have six more living here for the time being, so we need quite a bit more supplies. Should we grab from the spares?” Phoenix nodded.

“I could drive down and pick ’em up for us,” Edgar offered.

“Actually, I was hoping Mike would come along,” Phoenix said. “There’s something I need to talk to him about, if that’s ok with you guys.”

“Sure, I’ll come with,” I replied, the others nodding as well.

“Excellent. We’ll be heading back into town with the boys, be back soon everyone.”

“Try not to break anything while I’m gone,” I called out jokingly. The guys chuckled…for about a second. All of a sudden, all the lights went out, the A/C stopped, and a buzzer could faintly be heard sounding in the attic. “…or not.”

“Oh God damnit!” Eddy exclaimed.

“A power fault?” Jonathon asked.

“Yes unfortunately. I swear the same shit happened when we teleported to Equestria.” He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger, sighing as he did so. “Well, at least we all have something to keep us busy now. Jon, please assist Edgar with a structural damage report. Let Mike know what we need when you’re done. If you guys need me, you know where to find me.”

Everyone split, including the ponies; some just tagged along with Jon and Edgar, while others went upstairs to their rooms. Eddy turned around to head up as well, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. “Can…can I come with you?” Twilight asked shyly. Whether she knew it or not, she was asking with the kind of cute expression that was hard to say no to. Jonathon, Edgar and I watched with great amusement as Eddy led Twilight upstairs. I think we were all even thinking the same thing.

‘We are totally going to tease you for this later Eddy.’

Perspective: Eddy Culivin
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 27, 2025

“You think the pack is unbalanced again?” Twilight asked behind me as I trudged towards the entrance to the attic. “That was the reason the power was off last time, right?”

“Not exactly,” I replied as I yanked down the folded staircase from the ceiling. “It was unbalanced, but it was also really low on juice. Though the generator was running throughout the firefight yesterday, and all through the night, so I doubt we’re out of power.” I finished unfolding the ladder, and climbed up. Grabbing two thick pairs of gloves, I slipped mine on and handed the other pair to Twilight after she had pulled herself up into the attic. “You know the drill. Put these on, and don’t touch anything.”

Doing as she was told, Twilight followed me as I made my way to the control panel. I immediately smacked a button on the panel, silencing the infernal racket. “Finally,” I breathed out. Without turning around, I addressed Twilight. “Hey Twi?”

“Yes?”

“Remind me to rip out that stupid buzzer and install a more pleasant-sounding one.”

She giggled a little. “You got it,” she said. Smiling to myself, I checked the Fault LEDs to see what was going on. The ‘Multiple Bank Failure’ fault was on, and the panel display was dark. The ‘Zero Voltage’ and ‘Pack Imbalance’ fault was also on. But I saw the Ultracap voltage monitor circuits show six out of ten LEDs illuminated for multiple banks, so there wasn’t zero voltage. What was going on?

“Hey Eddy, some of these ‘cells’ are dead,” I heard Twilight call out. Walking over to her, the extent of the ‘damage’ was seen. Two of the banks, all 80 caps total, were completely dead. Another one had all the cells at 1 LED out of ten.

“Well that explains a lot actually,” I stated. “Two banks reached a voltage of zero and the failsafe circuits shut them off. Probably the trip over that messed with the system again.”

Twilight looked around, examining the other banks. “If only two ‘banks’ are dead, why shut everything down though?” she asked.

“Since more than one bank had a fault, the safeties killed the whole system as a precaution.” Walking back to the control panel, I yanked a lever, which triggered a small *click* from the Main Contactor. Pulling a similar lever next to the one I pulled before produced a similar sound from the Charge Contactor. With the system successfully isolated from the charge circuits and the house, I checked to make sure the breaker was tripped to isolate the pack from the rest of the system. Seeing this was so, I reached for a few switches which connected all the cells in parallel to balance, only to find Twilight already on it.

“I remembered from last time,” she explained with a smile before I could even ask.

A grin crossed my face. “I’m really starting to like you Twilight Sparkle.”

…the implications of what I had said had just sunk in. Twi blushed a little, while I stammered like the stupid ass I was to try and fix this. “A-as a friend! I-I meant like you as a friend.”

“Y-Yea,” she said. “I knew that silly.” We both did that little chuckle people do in awkward situations. ‘This is why I’m an introvert…’

“I’m uhh, going to go check the pack,” I said. She followed as I went around checking the state of each bank. As we watched, the LEDs on some of the dead packs came on, while the reading on the other banks dropped. Eventually, all the cells read four LEDs.

Flipping the parallel switches off, I re-engaged the Charge Contactor. Reaching behind the panel, I reset the breaker that connected the pack to the monitoring systems and DC to AC converter. A beep sounded from the panel and its readouts lit up, registering balance and charge state. The panel read 39% charge remaining. “Ready?” I asked Twilight. She nodded. “Here goes.” Throwing a lever, the final click was heard as the Main Contactor engaged. The A/C came to life next to us, signaling the power was back. “And that’s how it’s done!” I said, feeling proud for a job well done. Since we were back on Earth though, and our luck was always dismal at best here, of course the feeling didn’t last long.

“Eddy, the lights that says ‘zero voltage’ is on,” Twilight said, crushing my hopes that it was really that simple. ‘Great…’

Walking back to the panel again, I noticed the ‘Zero Voltage’ fault light was indeed still on, taunting me with its luminescence. “Let’s check the banks that were dead again.” I said. There was no answer from Twilight, so I turned around to find out she wasn’t even there. ‘Even better…’ “Twi?”

“Found it!” She called out. “Bank 14 is dead still.” I couldn’t help but chuckle a little. If I had her as an assistant, things around here would get fixed three times as fast. Going through the pack-isolating procedure again, I made sure all power was off and that Bank 14 was isolated from the rest of the pack as well, before heading to the faulty bank. ‘It’s so nice to work with someone who actually cares about this stuff. She even picks up on concepts quickly, allowing her to help instead of sitting there and watching.’ I was enjoying Twilight’s company more than I thought I would. ‘She’s competent, patient, and really cute to boot…

‘WOAH, back the fuck up brain! Where the Hell did that last one come from?’ I grabbed the multimeter and sat in front of the bank, making sure Twilight couldn’t see my face. Said face was currently bright red, and it wasn’t because it was hot upstairs either. Subconscious and I were going to need to have a little chat about ‘appropriateness’ when this was done. After probing all the Ultracapacitors, I discovered one that gave no capacitive reading. Guess the trip back actually damaged this one, rather than just draining it.

Pointing the damaged cell out to Twilight, we proceeded down the ladder to retrieve a spare from the workshop, along with the tools we needed to change it out. The trip over was quiet, as I was still thinking about that thought earlier.

‘What is wrong with me?’

Perspective: Phoenix Henson
Location: Southern United States
Date: October 27, 2025

“So obviously blasting just its finger wasn’t going to do much, so I strolled in there and put one between its eyes.” I recounted, much to Mike’s amusement. On the trip over, Mike had regaled me with everything that had happened to them in greater detail, and had afterwards asked about the incident with Tidwell, which I described for him. I felt a weird disconnection during Mike’s story though; to me, Mike never left. To him, I’ve been gone two weeks. Quite literally. We had finished gathering all the materials to rebuild their windows, and were gathering supplies for the next two weeks.

“It’s going to be a lot harder for me to get Tidwell shooting right if that’s the case,” Mike said.

“He’s not that bad a shot normally, but when he panics, look out.”

“Yikes, that’s an ominous warning right there Phoenix.” We shared a brief chuckle at that. Mike grabbed a box and hoisted it up onto the pickup’s bed. Taking a good look at it, he frowned. “Hey Phoenix, we got any more veggies?”

I gave him a questioning look. “Not really Mike; you know it’s all rationed out. You can’t really choose what you get. Why?”

“Well, our guests are ‘technically’ ponies, or at least that’s what they identify as. Eating meat probably isn’t something they do.” ‘I hadn’t even considered that, though it’s a big problem. Crap, let me see what I can do…’

“Well for now, I’m afraid there’s not much I can do; they might have to eat a little meat.” Mike muttered something under his breath that sounded like ‘they got themselves into this mess’. “But when we harvest, I’ll see about securing some of it for your guests.”

“Thanks Phoenix,” he said with a grateful smile. He turned to look at the cargo in the back of the truck. “Well, I think that about wraps it up here. We forgetting anything?”

“Not that I can think of. Let’s get moving, since I bet you’re itching to know why I brought you out here specifically.”

I hopped in the driver’s seat, starting the truck and driving it just past the gate. Mike closed up the doors to the building, then the gate. He climbed into the passenger seat shortly after.

“So, what’s this about Phoenix?” he asked as the vehicle rumbled towards its destination.

“Well, I didn’t want to say this in front of the ponies, in case they took offense. I remember them saying something about using magic to fight, and later telling us that their magic is running out. That got me thinking: what if another Infected mob came storming through? How would they defend themselves? I realized that they might not be able to. So I thought about what we could do, and realized that while we may not be able to help them with their magic, we could give them something they could use that doesn’t need magic.”

“…You’re asking me to teach the ponies to shoot?”

“Specifically the princesses, since I’m sure the guards were trained and are proficient with whatever they were using yesterday. These ponies valiantly chose to come here to see if they could help us, so in turn the least we could do is make sure they are safe during their stay.”

“I see. Well, I’ll be happy to teach them to shoot, though I’ll need to find suitable guns for them.”

“Actually, I’ve already thought of that.” And with perfect timing, the truck came to a stop, right in front of our destination. “Come on in and I’ll show you.”

I hopped out and opened the door to the two-story house I called home. Immediately, the scent of cooking meat hit my nostrils, and damn was it good! “Phoenix, is that you?” a woman called from the kitchen.

“Yes baby, it’s me,” I replied. "I’m here with Mike. I need to give him something and drive him home.” A soft clank was heard as something was set down, followed by footsteps. And out of the kitchen emerged my woman, beautiful even with those faded jeans and stained cooking apron. Hell, she could make a trash bag look pretty.

“Mike, it’s been too long!” she happily said, coming to give Mike her infamous bone-crushing hug. Despite her petite appearance, that woman had some serious strength.

After being able to breathe again, Mike replied with a smile. “I’ll say! We just don’t stop by very often unfortunately.”

“So, you were going to spill the beans about what happened yesterday, right? That light and the house moving, what happened?”

I stepped in. “Sorry Julia, but it’s a very long and hard to believe tale, and I’ve gotta get Mike back to his place soon. I’ll tell you over dinner, promise.” She seemed a little disappointed, but relented.

“Alight, but you’re not getting out of it come dinner Phoenix.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, dear.” After giving my wife a quick kiss, I led Mike upstairs, where my safe was located. Punching in the code and inserting the key, I opened the door and fished out two cases. “I tried to match their coat colors, though the closest I had to white was chrome unfortunately,” I explained, simultaneously opening the cases.

Inside the first one was a polished chrome M1911. It was a .45 caliber, beautiful in its simplicity. All chrome, white grips, with a standard eight round magazine. The other was similar, though this one was a deep royal blue. Wood grips accented its finish, and it came with eight-round magazines matching the gun's color. I’ll definitely miss the royal blue one more than the other; it’s a personal favorite of mine. But it’s going to a worthy cause, so I’ll gladly give it up. ‘Please take care of them.’

“Wow, looks like you put a lot of thought into this,” Mike commented.

“It’s just a gesture I thought they’d appreciate,” I replied, handing Mike the cases. “Each one has four magazines, including the one in the gun. Ideally, they won’t have to fire a single round, though that’s unlikely to happen. If they need more than four magazines though, then you’re not doing a very good job protecting them.”

“Har Har, funny,” Mike deadpanned with a roll of his eyes. After checking each case, Mike shut them, and lugged one in each hand, ready to leave. As I watched him finish up his inspection though, I got a little nervous. The situation we were in was rather delicate; we had to keep the rulers of an entire planet safe. Should we fail…well, I prefer not to think about that. And while I trusted Mike greatly, I still needed him to know how serious his task was.

“Mike,” I called. He turned to me, and the look on my face must have let him know what I was going to ask. Rather unexpectedly, he smirked, and replied.

“Don’t you worry about our guests Boss, I’ll keep ‘em safe.”

Author's Note

Wow that took too long to get out! 17 credit hours are really kicking my ass...

Anyways, I apologize that nothing super interesting has happened in the last two chapters. I promise it will start to pick up a little soon.