Resident Evil: Everfree Mansionby PatienceChaptersAlpha Team: The First FloorAlpha Team: First Floor ContinuedBravo Team: First Floor ContinuedFile: Note to Personnel & Addendum for Security PersonnelDeath Scene: Caught by the Timberwolves -SPOILERS-Distress CallBravo Team: The First FloorDeath Scene: Pinkie Doesn't ShootAlpha Team: The First FloorTick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock A grandfather clock standing along the center of the right wall of the dining hall produced the droll repetitive sounds, as was its duty to do so. A massive table covered nearly 60% of the floor. There was a chair at both ends and numerous other chairs lining both sides of the table. A second floor balcony lined the room, and was held aloft by spaced pillars running along the borders of the room. Pinkie Pie and Rarity walked past me to go explore the other end of the room, I approached the table were I saw some paper work amongst other items. I riffled through the papers till I found something useful. [File: Note to Personnel & Addendum for Security Personnel] "Rarity!" I said quickly, she needed to know this. "Yes, dear?" she asked me. "Don't use magic beyond close range levitation. There are security measure to prevent anypony from using magic in this place." I cautiously levitated the note and slid it into a manilla folder in my saddle bag. It was important we gather information so we can piece this puzzle together. Taking it with me means I can look at it any time I might need to. "No magic, oh my," she said with a sigh, "That does not bode well with me." "I agree, but there's nothing we can do about it," I eyed the other items on the table. Picking a few of them up with my magic I proceeded to head towards the other end of the hall with the girls. Pinkie Pie was standing in front of the grandfather clock, rocking with the rhythm of the pendulum, but eventually she lost interest and began to walk once again. Rarity cast her eyes about the room, taking in all of its details. "I must say, whoever lived here lived very well," Rarity said aloud. "I don't know about that, Rarity," I heard Pinkie's uncharacteristically sad voice from the far end of the wall. She was standing off to the side of a large fireplace positioned in the center of the hall. She was staring at the floor; as the table and last chair cleared from my vision I found out why. "Is that blood?!" I raced to the pool of red that covered the floor. There were drag marks stemming from the pool that lead to a nearby door on the right wall. I stood over the pool, wondering what poor soul probably died here. Rarity seemed to be making every effort to not look at the pool, instead she eyed the fireplace and the mantle. "I think I may have found something, Twilight," I looked up from the blood I was inspecting, "Doesn't that little wooden shield look like a loose fit in its recess?" I took a moment to look at the decoration above the mantle. "It does..." with a little magic I pulled it from the slot. It popped out and there was a clicking sound. We looked around the room, expecting something to happen but nothing did. I went back to investigating the ornament. There were oddly spaced indents around the edge, then it clicked. "It's a key," I pointed to the indents, "I bet those indents work the same way the teeth of a key does." "Well it doesn't seem to fit that... keyhole, for lack of a better word," Rarity said, and she was right, nothing happened when we removed it and nothing was happening while it was in. "Then I'll bring it with us, we may find the right keyhole," I said as I slid the wooden shield into my saddle bags. "Why are we just standing here talking when there's a hurt pony behind that door?" Pinkie pointed to the door, sadness pervading her voice. "I'm sorry to say, Pinkie, but no pony can bleed that much and be alive. That and it's not very fresh," I explained to her. "That's no reason to not make sure." "You're right, we should go. But first give me your right forehoof," she did as I asked and I slid one of the devices I found on the table over it, "this will shoot a pulse of energy at your target, you just have to point it and then flex your hoof sharply to make it fire," I levitate the other device over to Rarity. "Oh no, no, no-no-no," she shook a hoof at me, "a weapon? I don't think I could." "Even if it's a last resort you should take it." "What about yourself? I don't know if I could use it if I had to, but you would," she was right, as well. There was only two of the devices, and where Rarity would hesitate I don't think I would. With a little tinkering I managed to get it to slide over the flashlight on my helmet. "Well lets go," I pointed to the door and we headed over to it. Beyond the door was a very tight hall. Down one end of the hall there was a set of double doors. The other end looked like it opened into an alcove, I could see the edge of a couch from where I stood. There were also doors along the wall opposite of the door we came in through. One by one we filed in. I picked up the blood trail, it led to the alcove. We approached it cautiously, we couldn't see, but we could hear and what we heard were the sounds of something being torn apart. As we came around the corner I saw what would haunt my waking and sleeping hours, alike, for the rest of my days. Crouching low over the ravenously shredded body of a pony was another pony, but there was no way this pony was alive. It was missing massive chunks from its body, and from its wounds seeped no blood. It gnawed at the body it was stooping over, tearing strips of flesh away with rough jerks of its head. A low guttural moan always seemed to be seeping from its lungs. Pinkie gasped and it became aware of our presence. We backed away from it as it slowly stood up and turned on us. It began to shamble our way slowly, its dull, lifeless eyes fixated on me. Its moaning came louder now, battering my ears as it gnashed its teeth at me. "Dining hall. Now!" I shouted and we turned tail and fled to the door we came in through. Something told me there would be no reasoning with this shadow of a former pony. We sprinted into the dining hall, slamming the door behind us. We held our breath and waited. The dead pony, the zombie, started slamming itself against the door, and moments later the door burst open sending it tumbling into the hall. It pulled itself off of the floor, but before it could resume its death walk Pinkie screamed, tears pouring from her eyes, as she unleashed two bolts from the blaster mounted on her hoof. As she fired her mane lost all of its life and her coat and mane both lost its brightness. The zombie hit the floor with a sickly crunch. It twitched for a few moments, but then it became still and blood began to pour from its wounds forming a pool around it. We all stood silently for a few moments, except for Pinkie's sobs, then Rarity spoke up. "Is it dead?" she asked. "I think so," I said, "we need to go back and tell the others about this." "Yes, I don't like not being near them anyways," Rarity said. Pinkie suddenly stopped crying and stormed past us both Rarity and I exchanged worried glances. "Pinkie, dear, are you ok?" "Oh I'm fine," she said, her eyes narrowing at the remnants of the pony she shot down, "it needed to be put out of its misery anyways." I didn't know what to say, so I just took my place at the front of the group and led the way through the doors. We were back in the large atrium. Now that I had a moment to look around I took it in. It was floored with ornate marble, and had a massive set of stairs running down the middle. These stairs led to a second story balcony that had assorted doors on all sides, along with three doors on the ground level. Unfortunately there was no sign of the others. Pinkie was on the other side of the hall already. She tried to open the door they went through. She gave the knob a twist, but the door wouldn't budge. "It won't open!" she cried out in frustration. "Its no use Pinkie. There's a typewriter over there, I'll type out some instruction and we'll leave them here for the others to find. This mansion is huge. If we are locked out then they are locked in which means they can be anywhere at this point," I started typing out my note to the others and finished it quickly, setting it on the stairs. Hopefully they would find it. "What we should do now," I said, as I drew out a piece of paper to draw a map on, "Is systematically go from room to room searching for clues, survivors, and the others." Rarity had made her way to the second door on the same wall, she tried to open it but to no avail. "Twilight! This one is locked too," she said, and I drew a circle around my symbol for a door on my map. "Wait a second," she said "there's a symbol above the keyhole. It looks like a shield. What about your door Pinkie?" "There's a sword symbol on this one," I drew the sword and the shield. "Alright, well I don't want to head to the second floor yet. Lets go back to that hall with all the doors," I said. "You mean the one where we met that pony... thing?" Rarity asked, tentatively. "The very same." [To continue following Alpha Team] [To see what bravo team was up to while this was happening] [Death Scene: Pinkie Doesn't Shoot] Alpha Team: First Floor ContinuedBravo Team: First Floor ContinuedFile: Note to Personnel & Addendum for Security PersonnelTO: All Personnel SUBJECT: Magical Disruptors CC: Security Personnel Due to magical resonance disrupting several experiments we have installed magical disruptors in a majority of the rooms in the facility. These disruptors react to non-localized forms of magic. Magic such as short range levitation is fairly localized and will not trip them, but magic acting on other ponies and magic that exerted over other objects in the room, such as enchanting, and intense bursts of magic, such as bursts generated by attempting to teleport, will trip the disruptors. The disruptors will fire a bolt of paralyzing magic meant to stop the caster. The disruptor will then notify security, who will then record the event and remove the paralysis. ADDENDUM FOR SECURITY Due to the installation of the magical disruptors unicorn security personnel will be unable to cast the paralysis spell inside of the facility. Instead they will be issued horn mounted disruptor blasters. They slide over the horn and while in place use the eyes of their user for target acquisition and tracking. They work much in the same way as their hoof mounted counterparts issued to hornless personnel. They are activated by localized levitation magic and the mechanism is right where the tip of the horn rests. The horn and hoof mounted disruptors use the same spell as the wall mounted ones in the facility, so the spell to remove the paralysis remains the same, but must be used by contacting the horn to the paralyzed subject before casting. Otherwise the wall mounted disruptors will trip. The final change is the old ammunition is now obsolete and will trip the disruptors if used. The new ammunition is made on a frequency that is ignored by the disruptors, this means unicorns cannot use their own magic to recharge or power the horn mounted blasters. Death Scene: Caught by the Timberwolves -SPOILERS-I sprinted for the door as fast as I could, but it was not enough. The wolf smacked into me from behind and we went tumbling into the room. With a scream I made to power up my horn but I was caught in a flash of light and suddenly unable to move. My fervered eyes darted around the room, where the girls were trying their best. Rarity, like me, started charging her horn. I tried to scream for her to stop, but words would not come. The same light that hit me hit her and together we found ourselves on the ground unable to move. Our eyes met and it was then that I realized that this was going to be the end. A blood curdling scream drew my eyes to Rainbow Dash, who had a Timberwolf firmly clamped down on one of her outstretched wings. Pinkie and Applejack went barreling into the wolf that was trying to eat Rainbow. The four of them went tumbling into a pile and two more timberwolves jumped on them. Applejack managed to kick herself free from the pile, but Pinkie's and Rainbow's screams of anguish were imprinting on my soon-to-be-short-lived memory. My eyes followed Applejack. She was soon surrounded on all sides by the wolves. The bore down on her and she was slowly backed into a corner. I knew what was next, and, Celestia help me, I couldn't watch. The fresh corpses of my friends, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash, were being torn apart by the ravenous wolves, and Rarity, her eyes pleading with me, was being dragged by the tail into the corner of the room. Then it dawned upon me that Fluttershy was not among them. My eyes darted around the room. Fluttershy was still out here somewhere. Just on the edge of my vision I could see her perched on a chandelier. I felt my heart swell with warmth, at least one of us would make it. "Come down dear," I heard a voice shout. My eyes found the blond maned, white coated prince Blueblood as he came down a set of stairs in the center of the room. He was covered by a large black coat and a pair of sunglasses covered his eyes, he beckoned to Fluttershy. The wolves turned their eyes on him, but he shooed them away and they backed into the corners of the room. "Don't worry I'll protect you." I didn't trust him one bit, neither did Fluttershy. She gripped the chandelier with all her might and was shaking so hard the dangling crystals that adorned it were colliding, creating a vigorous tinkling sound. "Silly mares!" He bellowed, "Either this bio-weapon combat test went exceedingly well, or you're all just weak!" his gaze never left Fluttershy. With a jerk of magic he gripped her and pulled her to him. With a terrified screech she struggled to free herself, but he blasted her with paralyzing magic and then, with another burst of magic, he snapped her neck. "I was right, you are weak," he tossed her limp dead body behind himself with ease, and then approached me. He laid his stomach on the floor to get to eye level with me, and pulled off his sunglasses to reveal deep red eyes that looked at me critically. "Is the little princess scared?" he flicked my horn and then tugged at my wings, "It's a shame really. You're quite the mare," he stood up, placing the sunglasses back on his face. "I'd say 'you should keep your nose out of business that isn't yours, next time', but there isn't going to be a next time. Not for you anyways." With that he turned his back to me and walked back up the stairs. With him gone the wolves in the room began to approach me. They nipped at one another, contesting who was going to get the first bite. It was then that I felt the hot breath on my flank. My ears filled with the sound of growling, and my vision filled with red. Distress CallHello, I'm Twilight Sparkle. I'm writing this on a rickety old typewriter from within a room that I fear will be my final resting place. I want an record of what has happened here. I hope somepony sees this and that the Princess rains hell fire straight from Tartarus onto this miserable mansion. I would like to deliver this to the princess myself, but the moaning sounds that pervade the entirety of this mansion tell me that hoof delivering this myself may not happen. The beings in this mansion... they are ponies, but at the same time they are not. They... well perhaps I should start at the beginning. Shortly after the fall of Sombra Princess Celestia gathered me and my friends. She explained to us that because of our ties to the elements of harmony the Congress of Canterlot had called for legislation that would be tasked with keeping our powers in check and working for Equestria, not at our whims but, at their whim. Our small group became know as the Special Emergency Rescue And Mitigation Squad, SERAM Squad for short. The six of us were given special training and we are now on call 24/7 in case we are needed. It was just a short six hours ago that I received a letter about something a survey crew exploring the Everfree had found. Some ways aways from the ruins of the castle of the pony sisters the crew discovered a dilapidated mansion. They sent four of their own inside. That was two days ago and they haven't returned yet. Not only are there members of the crew trapped inside of the mansion, the members who stayed outside were attacked by 'creatures of unknown origin'. "Twilight?" The was a vague sense of being called in the furthest reaches of my mind, but I dismissed it. The voice did not relent though. "Twiiiilight..." It was Spike calling me. I could not bring myself to look away from the paper I was writing on. My thoughts needed to get on this paper right away. If I don't write them down I'll lose my train of thought and then I'll never remember them. "Twilight!" Spike shouted in my ear. I jerked forward and my magic surged. The quill went flying across the paper, smattering it with big droplets of ink as the nib jerked across the paper haphazardly. "What?!" I quickly turned my attention on Spike, snapping at him in a burst of agitation. He withdrew a bit, and suddenly it occurred to me that I was being pretty harsh. "Sorry, Spike. I didn't mean to yell. It's just... Well you know how I get." "Jeez, take a chill pill would ya?" With a smirk he presented a letter to me. "You know, that apology would go real well with some ice cream," I took the letter from him. "Fine, but not a lot!" I told him while I flipped the letter over and over. It bore the seal of Celestia, but it was different. That and she didn't send me letters sealed in envelopes. Usually she just rolled them up and put a seal on it. Just staring at the envelope wasn't going to get me anywhere so I broke the seal and drew out the letter. A quick glance at the header told me that it was written on a typewriter and that it came from the office of the secretary of defense. Which means it has something to do with SERAM. I let out an exasperated sigh. Neither I nor the Princess really like the whole SERAM decision. After all me and the girls were just regular mares. We didn't ask for the Elements of Harmony, it was one thing to stop Nightmare Moon or to get involved with stopping Discord's rise, after all those events needed the elements, but we were not trained military. Asking us to get involved in events that other better trained ponies could handle was asking too much. To add to the insult the congress put us through training, which we all almost failed, and Fluttershy did fail. After barely scraping by they still wanted to consider their personal response team. I'm certain these 'missions' were going to be the death of us. At least the Princess had the digression to say 'hey the girls might not be able to handle this, I should send in a more able bodied crew', but to the congress we are the more able bodied crew. They are grossly overestimating the power of the elements, but orders are orders and me and the girls have to follow them. From the office of Iron Defense, Equestria Secretary of Defense. --DESTROY THIS MISSIVE AFTER YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD ITS CONTENTS-- Twilight Sparkle, leader of SERAM Squad Alpha. One day ago a survey team within the Everfree Forest stumbled upon an abandoned complex. Two hours ago they deployed their distress beacon and are not responding to our attempts to contact them. We need you to assemble your squad and investigate the perimeter. Our records indicate that they set up camp near the complex and were planning on entering it. The beacon is at their camp site. Once you have arrived use the distress beacon to contact us for further orders. --END MESSAGE-- Strange 'complex' and a distress beacon. Why did I have a feeling that this did not bode well. Unfortunately I had no time to worry, I needed to get the girls and we needed to go check out this site. Each of us had a set of saddle bags meant for when we were called to action. I went upstairs to retrieve mine. Of the items we were all given there were a set of necklaces with a plain silver ring as a charm. Mine was different than the others, when I charged it with a bit of magic it would make all the other girl's charms glow and make noise. With a little effort I sent a bolt of magic its way and started getting everything else we would need ready, it would be only a matter of minutes before the rest of the girls got here. I had all six of our saddle bags out in the center of the room. I pulled a checklist alongside of me as I tallied off all of the provisions and gear and levitated over each of our elements, tucking them into a special case and shoving them into the bag. Part of our kit included 'tactical wear' a black shirt with a light vest with an array of pockets, black pants with an array of pockets, and black helmets with flashlights, and a face mask with a respirator. Overall I thought the outfit made us look rather suspicious. Were we a rescue team or a strike team? Congress went on and on about how we are a defense team, never doing anything offensive, but after the training and then all this equipment I've began to wonder just what their intentions are. My thoughts were soon interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come on in!" Why did ponies always knock? I live in a public library. It was Rainbow Dash. "Oh, okay, so it isn't a false alarm," she gestured at what I was wearing. "Afraid not Rainbow. Hurry up and climb into your 'tactical wear', we got a 'mission'," I air quoted with my hooves and I swear, if my eyes rolled back any further they would never return to the right position. I shook my head, I've never looked down upon something like I do this SERAM program. Whatever is in the Everfree, why is it our business? I'm concerned about these ponies, I really am, but are me and the girls really qualified for this? Does a month of basic training really prepare ponies for going into these situations? This isn't the first time we've been called into action. I can be thankful for the fact that as a team we do work well. There was a situation in Canterlot where several foals had gone missing. The guard had no leads, ponies wanted answers, congress was floundering so they sent us in. Thankfully we were able to track them down, they had end up in the city sewers. They climbed down an open ponyhole and gotten lost. As a team we canvassed the neighborhood, interviewed potential witnesses, and decided to venture down into the sewers. Rarity was able to track down a diamond that one of the foals wore on a necklace that her mother had given her. I don't know if it would have ended up so happy had the guard been left to solve the mystery. And looking at that I find myself wondering if I'm wrong for not liking SERAM. We saved lives. We made a difference. But... there were no bad guys at the ends of those tunnels. The foals were lost, not foalnapped. What if they were? Could we handle that kind of situation. There are so many 'what ifs'. I'm scared of the situations that are going to go sour, and as long as we keep getting called in to help we're going to come across one. "Earth ta Twilight!" I was ripped from my thoughts by Applejack's drawl. "Huh?!" I sputtered for a moment and gathered my bearings. The rest of the girls had filtered into the room. Most of them were even in their clothes. I looked around the room and giggled nervously. Another thing that bothers me about this whole situation is that I'm the leader. When things go wrong I tend to be the leader anyways, but this is official. I don't ask, I give orders. The girls rely on me. If we go into one of the situations I am dreading we'll end up in, their lives will be in my hooves. But I couldn't let myself get distracted anymore, we had to get going. "Sorry everypony," I glanced around at everyone, briefly meeting their eyes one by one. Rainbow looked bored, she was probably in the middle of a nap before the ring around her neck started going off. And Rarity was eyeing the tactical gear with disdain. "Black on black... it's like we're going to a funeral or something equally dreadful." "I hope not," I said controlling my voice, she had managed to voice aloud one of my many fears. If the ponies over there were dead then it might as well be a funeral. Perhaps I didn't control my voice nearly as well as I though I did because everypony's ears splayed flat and back, sure sign of apprehension, fear, or sadness. "What's going on sugarcube?" Applejack asked. "We have to head into the Everfree and check out an abandoned complex that a survey team stumbled upon. Apparently they set off their distress beacon and now they won't respond to attempts to contact them. We have to go to their camp site and find the beacon and use it to get further orders. That's all I know." Pinkie Pie was staring at me intently. Her unwavering gaze was starting to give me the creeps. After a bit she finally spoke. "Are they ok?" She asked, a touch of sadness perverting her normally happy tone. This was starting to become harder by the second. "I don't know, Pinkie, all I know is we need to leave now if we're to get to the camp before dark." "Da-da-dar-kah?" A flowerpot with a pink tail asked me. "Yes Fluttershy, dark! As in the sun goes down and we can't see our own hooves in front of our faces. Let's go girls." I caught Rainbow's eye and gesture to Fluttershy, she catches my meaning and gives Fluttershy's tail a yank. "C'mon Flutters, we've got places to be, and we need you," Rainbow Dash said. Fortunately Fluttershy gave in fairly quickly. She must be getting used to our excursions, or at least she knows there no getting out of them. One by one we made our way out of the library and into the woods. It took us around two hours to reach the camp. That puts us at about three in the afternoon. There were no bumps along the way here, except for my own fevered thoughts, and once the 'complex', which turned out to be a creepy mansion, and the camp came into view my idle thoughts dissipated with the possibility of everything ending soon. "Please be a false alarm, please be a false alarm, please be a false alarm," I found myself whispering under my breath. We entered the camp site. The fire pit was cold and damp and all sorts of paperwork and equipment was strewn about. It looked like something had riffled through everything. In the center of the camp was the beacon. It was big crystal on a stand. It was pulsing red. I drew closer to it and charged my horn. With a zap I sent the charge into it and a large facet turned white and then transparent, I could see a set of eyes peering through. "Twilight, this is HQ, have you secured the perimeter?" It took all of my might to not be snarky. "We're on site, there are no signs of the survey team," I said loudly into the crystal, the pony on the other side frowned. "Can you see the complex?" He asked me. "The mansion? Yeah it's right behind me." "They must have taken refuge in there, go and check it out." "Yes sir," I said and the screen flickered out. "Girls, we gotta go in there," I pointed to the mansion, we all managed to gulp in unison. Step by step we made our way towards the double doors that marked the entrance to the mansion. The front yard was a small clearing. We were almost there when Rainbow Dash let out a squeal. We all turned to her quickly, she was up on two hooves moaning in disgust as she backed away from something she had stepped in. "Ah, ew, that was gross," she said, bringing her hooves to the ground, "There's something weird on the ground right here," She said poking whatever it is with a hoof. We all gathered around it. "Is that- is that somepony's hoof?" Applejack said, taking a few steps back. Indeed it was. I glanced back at the crystal, but I only had a moment to think about contacting HQ before the howls pierced the quiet air of the Everfree. From the edges of the forest on either side of us came several timberwolves. They were smaller than usual and they looked ill. In fact there we large chunks missing from the lumber that made up their bodies, and their bits and pieces seemed to be shuddering as if they were struggling to stay together. They formed a half circle between us and the camp and they pressed forward. "Bad Timberwolves! Bad!" Fluttershy flew out in front of us. Her words having no effect on the congregation. They continued their press forward. Fluttershy backed away nervously. "T-twilight... There's no light in their eyes," She turned to me, concern filling her own eyes with tears, "The only time I've seen a timberwolf with no light in its eyes is when it was d-dead," I took the information in and decided on our next course of action. I gathered energy into my horn. "Run for the mansion!" I shouted and let loose a series of magical bolts. The struck most of the wolves and they shattered into pieces. I knew better than to think they were finished and turned tail to sprint to the mansion. Rainbow Dash was already inside holding the door open for us. One of the timberwolves I missed was gaining on me. I could hear its feet impacting the ground mere hooves behind me. I threw myself past the threshold. Rainbow slammed the door shut and immediately after there was a thud followed by whimpering. Within a couple of moments the timberwolves began to throw themselves against the door. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow leaned against the doors to keep them out and Applejack quickly tied the door shut with some rope around the knobs. We all held our breaths for several moments and then the noise died down. The timberwolves left and we were alone. Or so we thought. "Are you here to save me?" Half of us screamed, the half that didn't nearly threw Blueblood across the room with a combination of magic, force of speed, and bucking. "Ladies, please, I know I'm shocking, to say the least, but please try to contain yourselves," he said with a smirk. "You're quite right, it is quite a shock to find your majesty anywhere besides the beauty parlor," Rarity said with a pompous 'humph' and an upturned nose. "Well you'll have to excuse me, but not all explorers have to be prissy little unicorns." "Explorer my plot-" "Can it you two!" I shouted, "Blueblood, are you saying you are a part of this crew?" "Yes, right up until we were attacked by the dead ponies, then it became every stallion for himself," well now I'm never turning my back on him ever again. "Dead ponies attacked you?" "They're all over the place," he made a sweeping gesture with his forehoof, "This mansion is filled with them." "What do you mean by-" I was cut off by the sound of screaming coming from a room to the left. Blueblood backed away from the door, terror evident in his eyes. "No way! I'm not going to let those creepy fuckers eat me!" Blueblood fled, sprinting for a blue door on the opposite end of the hall. He wrenched it open and closed it behind him with a slam. "Hey get back here!" Rainbow Dash bolted after him. She stopped at the door and looked back at me. "Applejack, Fluttershy, go with Rainbow Dash and catch him. Don't go too far. We'll meet back in here after Rarity, Pinkie, and I go investigate that screaming. Deaths [Caught by the Timberwolves -SPOILERS-] Bravo Team: The First FloorWhen we came sprinting into the room that stupid prince was long gone. When I get my hooves on that jerk I'm gonna knock him upside the head, I made a circling gesture with my hoof. "No point in following that fool, we'll just get ourselves killed on our own." "Consarnit, the door's locked," Applejack said as she tried the door knob. "You're kidding, right?" I tried the knob myself, no go, "what do we do now?" "Uh, girls," "Ah don't know, where are we?" Applejack asked, which was a very valid question. "We're in a room," yeah I know, smooth, "it looks like an art room of some sort." It was a dark blue room, with poor lighting, a statue in the center of the room, and various pieces of art along the wall. "Girls I found a-" "I know that Rainbow, I got eyes too! We need a map or something," Applejack says. "This is a map..." "Hey Flutters," I turn to see her holding something in her hooves, "hey, what'cha got there?" I looked over her shoulder at what she was holding. "Hey, Applejack, I found a map!" I said, taking the map from Fluttershy. "But I found it..." "Were you saying something, Flutters?" both me and Applejack turned our attention to her, she just blushed. "I'm glad you found a map, Dashie." "Riiight. Well, we're here and..." I began. Several minutes later me and AJ got a route to the main hall sorted out. "Alright, let's go ladies." I said, and through the only other door in the room we went. The hall on the other side of the door was just as poorly lit as the art room, but it was head to toe gaudy yellow wallpaper. [To continue with Bravo Team] [To see what Alpha Team was up to while this was happening] Death Scene: Pinkie Doesn't ShootWe sprinted into the dining hall, slamming the door behind us. We held our breath and waited. The dead pony, the zombie, started slamming itself against the door, and moments later the door burst open sending it tumbling into the hall. It pulled itself off of the floor and resumed its death march. I thought I could do it, but I couldn't. I was certain it was dead, I don't even understand how it was moving at all, let alone walking, but I couldn't bring myself to use my weapon. I felt it, resting on my head. The weight of it bore down on me, and I knew that whatever was driving this zombie to pursue us was not going to relent, Alas, I could not do it. With surprising speed the zombie threw itself at Pinkie. My resolution in that moment changed, I was fully prepared to fry the abomination, but I was not prepared for the dry throaty rattle in my ears that signaled the presence of a second zombie. I fired off a bolt at the zombie attacking Pinkie, who was frozen in fear, but my aim was thrown by the second zombie barreling into my side. I was thrown to the floor, where I had a clear view of the trail of blood leading to the space under the table the second zombie had been hidden under. The pulse disruptor was thrown from my head and went skidding across the floor out of reach. The second zombie loomed over me, slowly lumbering after me as I scrambled to put space between it and I. Rarity screamed and I turned and saw a third zombie, which appears to have thrown itself over the second floor balcony to get to us, land a few feet away from her. I continued to search for a solution, I saw the disruptor and made to scramble to it. I pushed myself away from one zombie only to collide with a second zombie. I turned my head away from the zombies as they fell onto me, sinking their teeth into the flesh of my neck. My eyes met with a blood drenched Pinkie Pie, whose last words I was able to read from her lips. "I'm sorry," were the words that parted from her dying lips, and soon my vision filled with red. [img]http://img-cache.cdn.gaiaonline.com/66653e661d5a327f104665953dd42b38/http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/y386/Ashley_Thompson23/D5221AAB-5106-4F6B-BDAA-632BF37E8205-4218-0000054F2C048E7F_zpsb140bdf8.jpg[/img]
Alpha Team: The First FloorTick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock A grandfather clock standing along the center of the right wall of the dining hall produced the droll repetitive sounds, as was its duty to do so. A massive table covered nearly 60% of the floor. There was a chair at both ends and numerous other chairs lining both sides of the table. A second floor balcony lined the room, and was held aloft by spaced pillars running along the borders of the room. Pinkie Pie and Rarity walked past me to go explore the other end of the room, I approached the table were I saw some paper work amongst other items. I riffled through the papers till I found something useful. [File: Note to Personnel & Addendum for Security Personnel] "Rarity!" I said quickly, she needed to know this. "Yes, dear?" she asked me. "Don't use magic beyond close range levitation. There are security measure to prevent anypony from using magic in this place." I cautiously levitated the note and slid it into a manilla folder in my saddle bag. It was important we gather information so we can piece this puzzle together. Taking it with me means I can look at it any time I might need to. "No magic, oh my," she said with a sigh, "That does not bode well with me." "I agree, but there's nothing we can do about it," I eyed the other items on the table. Picking a few of them up with my magic I proceeded to head towards the other end of the hall with the girls. Pinkie Pie was standing in front of the grandfather clock, rocking with the rhythm of the pendulum, but eventually she lost interest and began to walk once again. Rarity cast her eyes about the room, taking in all of its details. "I must say, whoever lived here lived very well," Rarity said aloud. "I don't know about that, Rarity," I heard Pinkie's uncharacteristically sad voice from the far end of the wall. She was standing off to the side of a large fireplace positioned in the center of the hall. She was staring at the floor; as the table and last chair cleared from my vision I found out why. "Is that blood?!" I raced to the pool of red that covered the floor. There were drag marks stemming from the pool that lead to a nearby door on the right wall. I stood over the pool, wondering what poor soul probably died here. Rarity seemed to be making every effort to not look at the pool, instead she eyed the fireplace and the mantle. "I think I may have found something, Twilight," I looked up from the blood I was inspecting, "Doesn't that little wooden shield look like a loose fit in its recess?" I took a moment to look at the decoration above the mantle. "It does..." with a little magic I pulled it from the slot. It popped out and there was a clicking sound. We looked around the room, expecting something to happen but nothing did. I went back to investigating the ornament. There were oddly spaced indents around the edge, then it clicked. "It's a key," I pointed to the indents, "I bet those indents work the same way the teeth of a key does." "Well it doesn't seem to fit that... keyhole, for lack of a better word," Rarity said, and she was right, nothing happened when we removed it and nothing was happening while it was in. "Then I'll bring it with us, we may find the right keyhole," I said as I slid the wooden shield into my saddle bags. "Why are we just standing here talking when there's a hurt pony behind that door?" Pinkie pointed to the door, sadness pervading her voice. "I'm sorry to say, Pinkie, but no pony can bleed that much and be alive. That and it's not very fresh," I explained to her. "That's no reason to not make sure." "You're right, we should go. But first give me your right forehoof," she did as I asked and I slid one of the devices I found on the table over it, "this will shoot a pulse of energy at your target, you just have to point it and then flex your hoof sharply to make it fire," I levitate the other device over to Rarity. "Oh no, no, no-no-no," she shook a hoof at me, "a weapon? I don't think I could." "Even if it's a last resort you should take it." "What about yourself? I don't know if I could use it if I had to, but you would," she was right, as well. There was only two of the devices, and where Rarity would hesitate I don't think I would. With a little tinkering I managed to get it to slide over the flashlight on my helmet. "Well lets go," I pointed to the door and we headed over to it. Beyond the door was a very tight hall. Down one end of the hall there was a set of double doors. The other end looked like it opened into an alcove, I could see the edge of a couch from where I stood. There were also doors along the wall opposite of the door we came in through. One by one we filed in. I picked up the blood trail, it led to the alcove. We approached it cautiously, we couldn't see, but we could hear and what we heard were the sounds of something being torn apart. As we came around the corner I saw what would haunt my waking and sleeping hours, alike, for the rest of my days. Crouching low over the ravenously shredded body of a pony was another pony, but there was no way this pony was alive. It was missing massive chunks from its body, and from its wounds seeped no blood. It gnawed at the body it was stooping over, tearing strips of flesh away with rough jerks of its head. A low guttural moan always seemed to be seeping from its lungs. Pinkie gasped and it became aware of our presence. We backed away from it as it slowly stood up and turned on us. It began to shamble our way slowly, its dull, lifeless eyes fixated on me. Its moaning came louder now, battering my ears as it gnashed its teeth at me. "Dining hall. Now!" I shouted and we turned tail and fled to the door we came in through. Something told me there would be no reasoning with this shadow of a former pony. We sprinted into the dining hall, slamming the door behind us. We held our breath and waited. The dead pony, the zombie, started slamming itself against the door, and moments later the door burst open sending it tumbling into the hall. It pulled itself off of the floor, but before it could resume its death walk Pinkie screamed, tears pouring from her eyes, as she unleashed two bolts from the blaster mounted on her hoof. As she fired her mane lost all of its life and her coat and mane both lost its brightness. The zombie hit the floor with a sickly crunch. It twitched for a few moments, but then it became still and blood began to pour from its wounds forming a pool around it. We all stood silently for a few moments, except for Pinkie's sobs, then Rarity spoke up. "Is it dead?" she asked. "I think so," I said, "we need to go back and tell the others about this." "Yes, I don't like not being near them anyways," Rarity said. Pinkie suddenly stopped crying and stormed past us both Rarity and I exchanged worried glances. "Pinkie, dear, are you ok?" "Oh I'm fine," she said, her eyes narrowing at the remnants of the pony she shot down, "it needed to be put out of its misery anyways." I didn't know what to say, so I just took my place at the front of the group and led the way through the doors. We were back in the large atrium. Now that I had a moment to look around I took it in. It was floored with ornate marble, and had a massive set of stairs running down the middle. These stairs led to a second story balcony that had assorted doors on all sides, along with three doors on the ground level. Unfortunately there was no sign of the others. Pinkie was on the other side of the hall already. She tried to open the door they went through. She gave the knob a twist, but the door wouldn't budge. "It won't open!" she cried out in frustration. "Its no use Pinkie. There's a typewriter over there, I'll type out some instruction and we'll leave them here for the others to find. This mansion is huge. If we are locked out then they are locked in which means they can be anywhere at this point," I started typing out my note to the others and finished it quickly, setting it on the stairs. Hopefully they would find it. "What we should do now," I said, as I drew out a piece of paper to draw a map on, "Is systematically go from room to room searching for clues, survivors, and the others." Rarity had made her way to the second door on the same wall, she tried to open it but to no avail. "Twilight! This one is locked too," she said, and I drew a circle around my symbol for a door on my map. "Wait a second," she said "there's a symbol above the keyhole. It looks like a shield. What about your door Pinkie?" "There's a sword symbol on this one," I drew the sword and the shield. "Alright, well I don't want to head to the second floor yet. Lets go back to that hall with all the doors," I said. "You mean the one where we met that pony... thing?" Rarity asked, tentatively. "The very same." [To continue following Alpha Team] [To see what bravo team was up to while this was happening] [Death Scene: Pinkie Doesn't Shoot]
File: Note to Personnel & Addendum for Security PersonnelTO: All Personnel SUBJECT: Magical Disruptors CC: Security Personnel Due to magical resonance disrupting several experiments we have installed magical disruptors in a majority of the rooms in the facility. These disruptors react to non-localized forms of magic. Magic such as short range levitation is fairly localized and will not trip them, but magic acting on other ponies and magic that exerted over other objects in the room, such as enchanting, and intense bursts of magic, such as bursts generated by attempting to teleport, will trip the disruptors. The disruptors will fire a bolt of paralyzing magic meant to stop the caster. The disruptor will then notify security, who will then record the event and remove the paralysis. ADDENDUM FOR SECURITY Due to the installation of the magical disruptors unicorn security personnel will be unable to cast the paralysis spell inside of the facility. Instead they will be issued horn mounted disruptor blasters. They slide over the horn and while in place use the eyes of their user for target acquisition and tracking. They work much in the same way as their hoof mounted counterparts issued to hornless personnel. They are activated by localized levitation magic and the mechanism is right where the tip of the horn rests. The horn and hoof mounted disruptors use the same spell as the wall mounted ones in the facility, so the spell to remove the paralysis remains the same, but must be used by contacting the horn to the paralyzed subject before casting. Otherwise the wall mounted disruptors will trip. The final change is the old ammunition is now obsolete and will trip the disruptors if used. The new ammunition is made on a frequency that is ignored by the disruptors, this means unicorns cannot use their own magic to recharge or power the horn mounted blasters.
Death Scene: Caught by the Timberwolves -SPOILERS-I sprinted for the door as fast as I could, but it was not enough. The wolf smacked into me from behind and we went tumbling into the room. With a scream I made to power up my horn but I was caught in a flash of light and suddenly unable to move. My fervered eyes darted around the room, where the girls were trying their best. Rarity, like me, started charging her horn. I tried to scream for her to stop, but words would not come. The same light that hit me hit her and together we found ourselves on the ground unable to move. Our eyes met and it was then that I realized that this was going to be the end. A blood curdling scream drew my eyes to Rainbow Dash, who had a Timberwolf firmly clamped down on one of her outstretched wings. Pinkie and Applejack went barreling into the wolf that was trying to eat Rainbow. The four of them went tumbling into a pile and two more timberwolves jumped on them. Applejack managed to kick herself free from the pile, but Pinkie's and Rainbow's screams of anguish were imprinting on my soon-to-be-short-lived memory. My eyes followed Applejack. She was soon surrounded on all sides by the wolves. The bore down on her and she was slowly backed into a corner. I knew what was next, and, Celestia help me, I couldn't watch. The fresh corpses of my friends, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash, were being torn apart by the ravenous wolves, and Rarity, her eyes pleading with me, was being dragged by the tail into the corner of the room. Then it dawned upon me that Fluttershy was not among them. My eyes darted around the room. Fluttershy was still out here somewhere. Just on the edge of my vision I could see her perched on a chandelier. I felt my heart swell with warmth, at least one of us would make it. "Come down dear," I heard a voice shout. My eyes found the blond maned, white coated prince Blueblood as he came down a set of stairs in the center of the room. He was covered by a large black coat and a pair of sunglasses covered his eyes, he beckoned to Fluttershy. The wolves turned their eyes on him, but he shooed them away and they backed into the corners of the room. "Don't worry I'll protect you." I didn't trust him one bit, neither did Fluttershy. She gripped the chandelier with all her might and was shaking so hard the dangling crystals that adorned it were colliding, creating a vigorous tinkling sound. "Silly mares!" He bellowed, "Either this bio-weapon combat test went exceedingly well, or you're all just weak!" his gaze never left Fluttershy. With a jerk of magic he gripped her and pulled her to him. With a terrified screech she struggled to free herself, but he blasted her with paralyzing magic and then, with another burst of magic, he snapped her neck. "I was right, you are weak," he tossed her limp dead body behind himself with ease, and then approached me. He laid his stomach on the floor to get to eye level with me, and pulled off his sunglasses to reveal deep red eyes that looked at me critically. "Is the little princess scared?" he flicked my horn and then tugged at my wings, "It's a shame really. You're quite the mare," he stood up, placing the sunglasses back on his face. "I'd say 'you should keep your nose out of business that isn't yours, next time', but there isn't going to be a next time. Not for you anyways." With that he turned his back to me and walked back up the stairs. With him gone the wolves in the room began to approach me. They nipped at one another, contesting who was going to get the first bite. It was then that I felt the hot breath on my flank. My ears filled with the sound of growling, and my vision filled with red.
Distress CallHello, I'm Twilight Sparkle. I'm writing this on a rickety old typewriter from within a room that I fear will be my final resting place. I want an record of what has happened here. I hope somepony sees this and that the Princess rains hell fire straight from Tartarus onto this miserable mansion. I would like to deliver this to the princess myself, but the moaning sounds that pervade the entirety of this mansion tell me that hoof delivering this myself may not happen. The beings in this mansion... they are ponies, but at the same time they are not. They... well perhaps I should start at the beginning. Shortly after the fall of Sombra Princess Celestia gathered me and my friends. She explained to us that because of our ties to the elements of harmony the Congress of Canterlot had called for legislation that would be tasked with keeping our powers in check and working for Equestria, not at our whims but, at their whim. Our small group became know as the Special Emergency Rescue And Mitigation Squad, SERAM Squad for short. The six of us were given special training and we are now on call 24/7 in case we are needed. It was just a short six hours ago that I received a letter about something a survey crew exploring the Everfree had found. Some ways aways from the ruins of the castle of the pony sisters the crew discovered a dilapidated mansion. They sent four of their own inside. That was two days ago and they haven't returned yet. Not only are there members of the crew trapped inside of the mansion, the members who stayed outside were attacked by 'creatures of unknown origin'. "Twilight?" The was a vague sense of being called in the furthest reaches of my mind, but I dismissed it. The voice did not relent though. "Twiiiilight..." It was Spike calling me. I could not bring myself to look away from the paper I was writing on. My thoughts needed to get on this paper right away. If I don't write them down I'll lose my train of thought and then I'll never remember them. "Twilight!" Spike shouted in my ear. I jerked forward and my magic surged. The quill went flying across the paper, smattering it with big droplets of ink as the nib jerked across the paper haphazardly. "What?!" I quickly turned my attention on Spike, snapping at him in a burst of agitation. He withdrew a bit, and suddenly it occurred to me that I was being pretty harsh. "Sorry, Spike. I didn't mean to yell. It's just... Well you know how I get." "Jeez, take a chill pill would ya?" With a smirk he presented a letter to me. "You know, that apology would go real well with some ice cream," I took the letter from him. "Fine, but not a lot!" I told him while I flipped the letter over and over. It bore the seal of Celestia, but it was different. That and she didn't send me letters sealed in envelopes. Usually she just rolled them up and put a seal on it. Just staring at the envelope wasn't going to get me anywhere so I broke the seal and drew out the letter. A quick glance at the header told me that it was written on a typewriter and that it came from the office of the secretary of defense. Which means it has something to do with SERAM. I let out an exasperated sigh. Neither I nor the Princess really like the whole SERAM decision. After all me and the girls were just regular mares. We didn't ask for the Elements of Harmony, it was one thing to stop Nightmare Moon or to get involved with stopping Discord's rise, after all those events needed the elements, but we were not trained military. Asking us to get involved in events that other better trained ponies could handle was asking too much. To add to the insult the congress put us through training, which we all almost failed, and Fluttershy did fail. After barely scraping by they still wanted to consider their personal response team. I'm certain these 'missions' were going to be the death of us. At least the Princess had the digression to say 'hey the girls might not be able to handle this, I should send in a more able bodied crew', but to the congress we are the more able bodied crew. They are grossly overestimating the power of the elements, but orders are orders and me and the girls have to follow them. From the office of Iron Defense, Equestria Secretary of Defense. --DESTROY THIS MISSIVE AFTER YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD ITS CONTENTS-- Twilight Sparkle, leader of SERAM Squad Alpha. One day ago a survey team within the Everfree Forest stumbled upon an abandoned complex. Two hours ago they deployed their distress beacon and are not responding to our attempts to contact them. We need you to assemble your squad and investigate the perimeter. Our records indicate that they set up camp near the complex and were planning on entering it. The beacon is at their camp site. Once you have arrived use the distress beacon to contact us for further orders. --END MESSAGE-- Strange 'complex' and a distress beacon. Why did I have a feeling that this did not bode well. Unfortunately I had no time to worry, I needed to get the girls and we needed to go check out this site. Each of us had a set of saddle bags meant for when we were called to action. I went upstairs to retrieve mine. Of the items we were all given there were a set of necklaces with a plain silver ring as a charm. Mine was different than the others, when I charged it with a bit of magic it would make all the other girl's charms glow and make noise. With a little effort I sent a bolt of magic its way and started getting everything else we would need ready, it would be only a matter of minutes before the rest of the girls got here. I had all six of our saddle bags out in the center of the room. I pulled a checklist alongside of me as I tallied off all of the provisions and gear and levitated over each of our elements, tucking them into a special case and shoving them into the bag. Part of our kit included 'tactical wear' a black shirt with a light vest with an array of pockets, black pants with an array of pockets, and black helmets with flashlights, and a face mask with a respirator. Overall I thought the outfit made us look rather suspicious. Were we a rescue team or a strike team? Congress went on and on about how we are a defense team, never doing anything offensive, but after the training and then all this equipment I've began to wonder just what their intentions are. My thoughts were soon interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come on in!" Why did ponies always knock? I live in a public library. It was Rainbow Dash. "Oh, okay, so it isn't a false alarm," she gestured at what I was wearing. "Afraid not Rainbow. Hurry up and climb into your 'tactical wear', we got a 'mission'," I air quoted with my hooves and I swear, if my eyes rolled back any further they would never return to the right position. I shook my head, I've never looked down upon something like I do this SERAM program. Whatever is in the Everfree, why is it our business? I'm concerned about these ponies, I really am, but are me and the girls really qualified for this? Does a month of basic training really prepare ponies for going into these situations? This isn't the first time we've been called into action. I can be thankful for the fact that as a team we do work well. There was a situation in Canterlot where several foals had gone missing. The guard had no leads, ponies wanted answers, congress was floundering so they sent us in. Thankfully we were able to track them down, they had end up in the city sewers. They climbed down an open ponyhole and gotten lost. As a team we canvassed the neighborhood, interviewed potential witnesses, and decided to venture down into the sewers. Rarity was able to track down a diamond that one of the foals wore on a necklace that her mother had given her. I don't know if it would have ended up so happy had the guard been left to solve the mystery. And looking at that I find myself wondering if I'm wrong for not liking SERAM. We saved lives. We made a difference. But... there were no bad guys at the ends of those tunnels. The foals were lost, not foalnapped. What if they were? Could we handle that kind of situation. There are so many 'what ifs'. I'm scared of the situations that are going to go sour, and as long as we keep getting called in to help we're going to come across one. "Earth ta Twilight!" I was ripped from my thoughts by Applejack's drawl. "Huh?!" I sputtered for a moment and gathered my bearings. The rest of the girls had filtered into the room. Most of them were even in their clothes. I looked around the room and giggled nervously. Another thing that bothers me about this whole situation is that I'm the leader. When things go wrong I tend to be the leader anyways, but this is official. I don't ask, I give orders. The girls rely on me. If we go into one of the situations I am dreading we'll end up in, their lives will be in my hooves. But I couldn't let myself get distracted anymore, we had to get going. "Sorry everypony," I glanced around at everyone, briefly meeting their eyes one by one. Rainbow looked bored, she was probably in the middle of a nap before the ring around her neck started going off. And Rarity was eyeing the tactical gear with disdain. "Black on black... it's like we're going to a funeral or something equally dreadful." "I hope not," I said controlling my voice, she had managed to voice aloud one of my many fears. If the ponies over there were dead then it might as well be a funeral. Perhaps I didn't control my voice nearly as well as I though I did because everypony's ears splayed flat and back, sure sign of apprehension, fear, or sadness. "What's going on sugarcube?" Applejack asked. "We have to head into the Everfree and check out an abandoned complex that a survey team stumbled upon. Apparently they set off their distress beacon and now they won't respond to attempts to contact them. We have to go to their camp site and find the beacon and use it to get further orders. That's all I know." Pinkie Pie was staring at me intently. Her unwavering gaze was starting to give me the creeps. After a bit she finally spoke. "Are they ok?" She asked, a touch of sadness perverting her normally happy tone. This was starting to become harder by the second. "I don't know, Pinkie, all I know is we need to leave now if we're to get to the camp before dark." "Da-da-dar-kah?" A flowerpot with a pink tail asked me. "Yes Fluttershy, dark! As in the sun goes down and we can't see our own hooves in front of our faces. Let's go girls." I caught Rainbow's eye and gesture to Fluttershy, she catches my meaning and gives Fluttershy's tail a yank. "C'mon Flutters, we've got places to be, and we need you," Rainbow Dash said. Fortunately Fluttershy gave in fairly quickly. She must be getting used to our excursions, or at least she knows there no getting out of them. One by one we made our way out of the library and into the woods. It took us around two hours to reach the camp. That puts us at about three in the afternoon. There were no bumps along the way here, except for my own fevered thoughts, and once the 'complex', which turned out to be a creepy mansion, and the camp came into view my idle thoughts dissipated with the possibility of everything ending soon. "Please be a false alarm, please be a false alarm, please be a false alarm," I found myself whispering under my breath. We entered the camp site. The fire pit was cold and damp and all sorts of paperwork and equipment was strewn about. It looked like something had riffled through everything. In the center of the camp was the beacon. It was big crystal on a stand. It was pulsing red. I drew closer to it and charged my horn. With a zap I sent the charge into it and a large facet turned white and then transparent, I could see a set of eyes peering through. "Twilight, this is HQ, have you secured the perimeter?" It took all of my might to not be snarky. "We're on site, there are no signs of the survey team," I said loudly into the crystal, the pony on the other side frowned. "Can you see the complex?" He asked me. "The mansion? Yeah it's right behind me." "They must have taken refuge in there, go and check it out." "Yes sir," I said and the screen flickered out. "Girls, we gotta go in there," I pointed to the mansion, we all managed to gulp in unison. Step by step we made our way towards the double doors that marked the entrance to the mansion. The front yard was a small clearing. We were almost there when Rainbow Dash let out a squeal. We all turned to her quickly, she was up on two hooves moaning in disgust as she backed away from something she had stepped in. "Ah, ew, that was gross," she said, bringing her hooves to the ground, "There's something weird on the ground right here," She said poking whatever it is with a hoof. We all gathered around it. "Is that- is that somepony's hoof?" Applejack said, taking a few steps back. Indeed it was. I glanced back at the crystal, but I only had a moment to think about contacting HQ before the howls pierced the quiet air of the Everfree. From the edges of the forest on either side of us came several timberwolves. They were smaller than usual and they looked ill. In fact there we large chunks missing from the lumber that made up their bodies, and their bits and pieces seemed to be shuddering as if they were struggling to stay together. They formed a half circle between us and the camp and they pressed forward. "Bad Timberwolves! Bad!" Fluttershy flew out in front of us. Her words having no effect on the congregation. They continued their press forward. Fluttershy backed away nervously. "T-twilight... There's no light in their eyes," She turned to me, concern filling her own eyes with tears, "The only time I've seen a timberwolf with no light in its eyes is when it was d-dead," I took the information in and decided on our next course of action. I gathered energy into my horn. "Run for the mansion!" I shouted and let loose a series of magical bolts. The struck most of the wolves and they shattered into pieces. I knew better than to think they were finished and turned tail to sprint to the mansion. Rainbow Dash was already inside holding the door open for us. One of the timberwolves I missed was gaining on me. I could hear its feet impacting the ground mere hooves behind me. I threw myself past the threshold. Rainbow slammed the door shut and immediately after there was a thud followed by whimpering. Within a couple of moments the timberwolves began to throw themselves against the door. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow leaned against the doors to keep them out and Applejack quickly tied the door shut with some rope around the knobs. We all held our breaths for several moments and then the noise died down. The timberwolves left and we were alone. Or so we thought. "Are you here to save me?" Half of us screamed, the half that didn't nearly threw Blueblood across the room with a combination of magic, force of speed, and bucking. "Ladies, please, I know I'm shocking, to say the least, but please try to contain yourselves," he said with a smirk. "You're quite right, it is quite a shock to find your majesty anywhere besides the beauty parlor," Rarity said with a pompous 'humph' and an upturned nose. "Well you'll have to excuse me, but not all explorers have to be prissy little unicorns." "Explorer my plot-" "Can it you two!" I shouted, "Blueblood, are you saying you are a part of this crew?" "Yes, right up until we were attacked by the dead ponies, then it became every stallion for himself," well now I'm never turning my back on him ever again. "Dead ponies attacked you?" "They're all over the place," he made a sweeping gesture with his forehoof, "This mansion is filled with them." "What do you mean by-" I was cut off by the sound of screaming coming from a room to the left. Blueblood backed away from the door, terror evident in his eyes. "No way! I'm not going to let those creepy fuckers eat me!" Blueblood fled, sprinting for a blue door on the opposite end of the hall. He wrenched it open and closed it behind him with a slam. "Hey get back here!" Rainbow Dash bolted after him. She stopped at the door and looked back at me. "Applejack, Fluttershy, go with Rainbow Dash and catch him. Don't go too far. We'll meet back in here after Rarity, Pinkie, and I go investigate that screaming. Deaths [Caught by the Timberwolves -SPOILERS-]
Bravo Team: The First FloorWhen we came sprinting into the room that stupid prince was long gone. When I get my hooves on that jerk I'm gonna knock him upside the head, I made a circling gesture with my hoof. "No point in following that fool, we'll just get ourselves killed on our own." "Consarnit, the door's locked," Applejack said as she tried the door knob. "You're kidding, right?" I tried the knob myself, no go, "what do we do now?" "Uh, girls," "Ah don't know, where are we?" Applejack asked, which was a very valid question. "We're in a room," yeah I know, smooth, "it looks like an art room of some sort." It was a dark blue room, with poor lighting, a statue in the center of the room, and various pieces of art along the wall. "Girls I found a-" "I know that Rainbow, I got eyes too! We need a map or something," Applejack says. "This is a map..." "Hey Flutters," I turn to see her holding something in her hooves, "hey, what'cha got there?" I looked over her shoulder at what she was holding. "Hey, Applejack, I found a map!" I said, taking the map from Fluttershy. "But I found it..." "Were you saying something, Flutters?" both me and Applejack turned our attention to her, she just blushed. "I'm glad you found a map, Dashie." "Riiight. Well, we're here and..." I began. Several minutes later me and AJ got a route to the main hall sorted out. "Alright, let's go ladies." I said, and through the only other door in the room we went. The hall on the other side of the door was just as poorly lit as the art room, but it was head to toe gaudy yellow wallpaper. [To continue with Bravo Team] [To see what Alpha Team was up to while this was happening]
Death Scene: Pinkie Doesn't ShootWe sprinted into the dining hall, slamming the door behind us. We held our breath and waited. The dead pony, the zombie, started slamming itself against the door, and moments later the door burst open sending it tumbling into the hall. It pulled itself off of the floor and resumed its death march. I thought I could do it, but I couldn't. I was certain it was dead, I don't even understand how it was moving at all, let alone walking, but I couldn't bring myself to use my weapon. I felt it, resting on my head. The weight of it bore down on me, and I knew that whatever was driving this zombie to pursue us was not going to relent, Alas, I could not do it. With surprising speed the zombie threw itself at Pinkie. My resolution in that moment changed, I was fully prepared to fry the abomination, but I was not prepared for the dry throaty rattle in my ears that signaled the presence of a second zombie. I fired off a bolt at the zombie attacking Pinkie, who was frozen in fear, but my aim was thrown by the second zombie barreling into my side. I was thrown to the floor, where I had a clear view of the trail of blood leading to the space under the table the second zombie had been hidden under. The pulse disruptor was thrown from my head and went skidding across the floor out of reach. The second zombie loomed over me, slowly lumbering after me as I scrambled to put space between it and I. Rarity screamed and I turned and saw a third zombie, which appears to have thrown itself over the second floor balcony to get to us, land a few feet away from her. I continued to search for a solution, I saw the disruptor and made to scramble to it. I pushed myself away from one zombie only to collide with a second zombie. I turned my head away from the zombies as they fell onto me, sinking their teeth into the flesh of my neck. My eyes met with a blood drenched Pinkie Pie, whose last words I was able to read from her lips. "I'm sorry," were the words that parted from her dying lips, and soon my vision filled with red. [img]http://img-cache.cdn.gaiaonline.com/66653e661d5a327f104665953dd42b38/http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/y386/Ashley_Thompson23/D5221AAB-5106-4F6B-BDAA-632BF37E8205-4218-0000054F2C048E7F_zpsb140bdf8.jpg[/img]