A New Nightmareby Schizo platypusChaptersDead upon awakingEnd of innocence OdditiesJudge, Jury, and ExicutionerTorment me no longerannouncementDead upon awakingAuthor’s note: A Huge thanks goes to PinkiePiedPiper for editing. This is my first fiction, and please don’t be gentle. –-Rainbow Platypus You are running through the abandoned mall like your life depends on it, which it does. Behind you is a swarm of the things that used to be survivors, just like you. Now, however, they are mere shells. You would not be able to recognize them if it weren’t for the fact that they were infected and transformed right in front of you. You continue running, unwilling to look back, for you already know what happens to those who slow down. Your body is burning from exertion, every step feels like nails jabbing in your legs. After what feels like forever you see the exit and your ride out of this hell-hole, it’s an old Chevy complete with a camper shell and mounted contact beams facing front and back, and enough food and ammo to supply a small platoon. Suddenly, as you reach the exit, you feel you’re being burned by thousands of fire ants all biting at the same time. You fall from the excruciating pain, and yell in agony as you see what or who the offending party is. It is a puker, and it is rearing for a second shot, no doubt aiming for your head. The monstrosity hurls its sickening brown vomit right for you, but at the last second you roll out of the way of the acidic projectile. As you recover from the roll, the puker starts to charge. What’s worse is that you can hear the rest of the swarm not far off. Knowing that you’re a goner if you take too long, you pull out your plasma cutter and start to fire away at the puker, Each shot connecting with its target; spraying blood and other bodily fluids everywhere. Your plasma cutter quickly runs out of ammo but the puker is still alive and within striking distance. As it lunges for you, you quickly strike the puker in the head with your plasma cutter. You’ve been at this too long to go down from a frontal assault. You know that the blow, while powerful enough to kill a normal person, would not keep the puker down for long. You quickly maneuver yourself into a good position and put down the monstrosity with a powerful stomp in the face. Knowing that the swarm is rapidly approaching, you limp out the door, and make your way to your car. You try to reach out for the handle but feel a huge claw wrap around your lower torso and in a swift motion it throws you to the ground with a loud CRACK. You turn to face the attacker, but your entire field of view is taken by the hulking mass of a brute. Looking upon the grotesque beast, you see, much to your horror, the faces of your fallen comrades, Doug and David, in the mass of bodies. Your observations cost you dearly though, for it allowed the giant necromorph to grab your torso and your legs. As it begins to rip you apart, time begins to slow to a crawl. You then see your entire life pass before you; your birth on a space ship leaving Titan station, your first baseball game, and your first kiss, but the last memory seems to take longer. The memory is of the day you met Veronica, later the two of you would be married only to find out you and her both have a genetic disease that would be fatal to the offspring. After the initial out-break of necromorphs in 2538, you and Veronica tried to make it to one of the last remaining safe havens left, but fate had different plans. As the two of you were making your way down to the haven, you found a little girl hiding in a shopping center. So, naturally, you took her in but as you left the store, you see Veronica’s mutilated corpse being transformed by an infector. You watched in horror as your wife was transformed in to a grotesque mass of flesh, bones, and internal organs. With tears streaming out of your eyes, you raised your plasma cutter and dismembered your own wife leaving only a bloody mess. You snap back into real time, the brute ripping your torso from your legs. The ligaments in your back begin to break with a sickening POP and you feel your diaphragm tearing from the sheer strength of the brute. You momentarily black out, only to wake and see that you lower half is now completely detached from your body and your intestines are dangling on the ground. The brute then raises your head to its mouth for a killing bite. Just as the monstrosity is about to bite down on your head, you violently sit up in a cold sweat. You realize that is was just a dream. No. That was more than a dream; it seemed so real… Your thoughts were interrupted by a small child, no more than 7 or 8, beginning to stir next to you. She yawns and says, “Good morning, daddy.” “Good morning Hope.” Hope was the orphan that you took in just before Veronica died. Her real name was Samantha, but when you adopted her you changed her name to Hope so she wouldn’t have to remember the pain of seeing her parents brutally shot to death in a riot after the necromorph outbreak. Looking around, you remember that you are in your truck on the side of the rode, while the same car from the dream, it is hardly supplied and has only a few plasma packs for your plasma cutter, much less the contact beams and ammo. Sighing, you stretch you stiff limbs. You and Hope eat a quick breakfast before heading on your way to the haven that was probably over-run by now, but any sort of shelter will do. Hopefully, there will at least be some supplies. You have traveled for a good two days now; the signs say that you are now near the Alaskan boarder with Canada. You breathe a sigh of relief. The safe haven was near Juneau, Alaska, but to your dismay you see more and more abandoned cars on the side of the highway. You know something went down here. Traveling through what was left of the United States told you that the more abandoned cars there were the more desperate people would be getting, that is if they were still human. You notice now there are bodies in the cars. Each scene getting worse and worse, you tell Hope to look away from the gory scenes, but she keeps staring at them. You know that she will never look away, never forget these scarring images. All you can do is floor it and hope she doesn’t see too much. While doing 80mph down the highway did a number on you gas tank, it did get you to your destination faster than expected. It is around three in the afternoon when you arrive at the gates to the safe haven. The gates are broken down and it looks like the haven was left in a hurry; no doubt it was over-run. You hear your daughter say, “What happened daddy?” “I don’t know Hope.” “Well what are we going to do now?” “I don’t know…” Honestly, you didn’t have a plan if this haven turned out to be a wreck; it was like you expected there to be a thriving community, willing to welcome you at first sight. Just then you hear Hope’s stomach growl, yours is soon to follow. “Well, I guess we find a livable home and hunker down for the evening. Tomorrow we’ll search for supplies. How does that sound?” you ask. Her reply is simple, “Anything for a warm place to sleep.” You eventually find a suitable home, and pull out a box of cereal and two bowls for her and yourself. After eating, the two of you decide to turn in for the night, but not before making sure that the doors and windows are secure. The next morning you and Hope set out to find supplies. You find some plasma cutter ammo in the homes. You see a little strip mall not far from where you are staying. You are relieved when you see one of the grocery marts in it is completely untouched. Not knowing when you will find food next, you grab as much as you can carry. Upon reaching the main road, you see an unfamiliar sight, an old man, carrying a medium-sized box and running down the road. You pull over next to him and ask if needs a ride but instead he says, “How fast can this thing go?” “Umm… I don’t know, really. ‘Round 95 on a straight away, I guess.” “Good, that is quite fast enough,” he mumbles to himself. “What did you say?” “Nothing!” he says. “No, you said something about this car being fast enough. Fast enough for what?” “I’m sorry that I have to do this,” he solemnly says. Pulling out a pulse rife he says, “Pop the hood.” “Why?” “Because, I need you to allow me access to your engine.” “WHY?!” You are furious at this point. “So I can save your fucking lives!” “What?” you say in a calmer tone. “I said I can save your lives.” “How?” “By using what is inside this box.” Over the course of the next few hours, the old man attached a strange glowing object to the engine of your car and explained that he was actually from the 1980’s, but had made a time travel device, which he used to get to this era. When he got here, however, earth was in the middle of the necromorph outbreak. Seeing that humanity was doomed, he set to work modifying the flux capacitor, as he called it, to be able to make inter-dimensional travel possible. Blown back by all this information, you simply ask, “What does this have to do with me?” He replies, “Well I can see that you are a loving father, and that is part of the reason, so you can continue humanity. Another reason is that you are the first person I have met to actually have a car.” “Well this all seems legit but how does it work?” “Well, all you would need to do is speed your car up to 88 miles per hour, and activate the capacitor by hitting this button,” he said motioning to a large red button on a monitor showing the current speed you are traveling he installed. Remembering something, you say, “Wait this sounds fine and all, but how is it all powered?” “Simple,” he says. “It is powered by plutonium, which your facilities here were very willing to give me some. Unfortunately, though, I was only able to get enough for one trip, and the dimension you go to is completely random.” “Well anything is better than here,” you say matter-of-factly. “Alright, it is about time for you to go. Just remember, speed up to 88 miles per hour, then hit the red button.” “Wait, you’re not coming with us?” you say. “No, I’m too old I wouldn’t last through the trip,” he replies. “Well, thanks for what you did. I could never repay you.” You back up your car as far as you can go and face the entrance to the settlement, and revving your engine, you speed down the highway, not noticing that a necromorph infector has made its way to the underside of your car. You quickly hit 88 miles per hour and tell Hope to hold on as you hit the red button. There was a sudden burst of light as you enter a kaleidoscope-like tunnel. The sudden burst of colors cause you to go into epileptic seizures and you pass out. Elsewhere Rainbow Dash was lying on a cloud waiting for sleep to over-take her as she prepared for her afternoon nap. Suddenly, she saw a huge flash of light in a field not far from Ponyville. So, being her adventurous self she set off to investigate. What she found was a black…..thing, with two; well she didn’t know what they were. One was passed out in its seat; while the other looked like she was losing consciousness. Rainbow didn’t know what to do, so she flew off to her friend Twilights house thinking, ‘She’ll know what these things are. At the very least she can contact the princesses about their presence.’ End of innocence End of innocence -Autor's note: It has come to my attention that some of you do not know what the necromorphs mentioned, i will start putting links to pictures of them as they are mentioned, just after they are discovered by the main cast, i want to keep the 'fear of the unknown,' idea up. I would like to say that the chapters will start to be coming out at a slower pace because of school. Also another thanks to PinkiePiedPiper and Shadownamesro and all of you for the feed back! You awake to find it is almost morning, and Hope is out cold next to you. Stepping out of the vehicle you take in your surroundings. First thing that comes to mind is that everything is so colorful, and on top of that the highway is nowhere to be seen. I guess that crazy old bastard was telling the truth. You take a short walk around to take in your surroundings. You see a small town about a mile or so from your location, an orchard with rows and rows of trees a bit further still, and a dark forest surrounds the entire area. You move your car next to the woods and wake Hope up so the two of you can have some breakfast. After breakfast, you feel like something is watching you from the forest, so you tell Hope to stay in the car while you investigate, and as you step out and scan the forest your fears are confirmed by the most disturbing pair of bloodshot eyes coming from a bush five meters to your left. Reaching for your plasma cutter, you face whatever is in the bush, but you find nothing there. Severely confused by what you saw, you turn to face the car. What you see disturbs you even more than the pair of eyes; their owner. It’s a huge lion, but something is off… As it charges you, you see what was off; it has bat wings and a scorpion tail! What the fuck is this bullshit! is all you can think before it swats you with its paw. You fly a good 10 meters before slamming knee-first into the ground with a sickening CRACK! You scream in agony as your right thigh feels like it is on fire. Dizzy with pain, you manage to dodge the lion-thing’s tail as it digs harmlessly into the ground where you were moments ago. As it struggles to get its tail out of the ground, you see your opportunity. Raising your plasma cutter, you fire. The monster howls in pain as it is bathed in the greenish venom from the severed tail. Not thinking twice, you aim for the creature’s neck and with a pull of the trigger the creature goes limp, its head rolls to the ground in a bloody mess. You manage to stumble back to the car. Hope, having seen the entire thing, was streaming with tears. “It’s ok, it’s all over now,” you say as you try and comfort her in your arms, ignoring the severe pain in your right leg. At least, I hope it is, you think to yourself. Know that the fresh kill will attract more predators; you look in your first-aid kit for some medical tape and resin. Finding the items, you MacGyver a rough cast for your leg, start your car, and head off to try and find a new place to stay. Nearby You are trudging through the forest, staying as close to the ground as possible. Hoping that the human won’t hear you sneak up on him. Ever since you detached from the underside of his vehicle you have been waiting for a chance to strike. Moving ever so quietly through the undergrowth, you get to the clearing. The human is gone! In his place though is a large decapitated beast. You do not know the species but think, this will suit me for my purposes for now, as you make your way out of cover toward the thing. But as you get to the edge of the woods you hear voices coming from you left. Not wanting to blow your cover, you quickly get back into the bushes just as six… horses approach the carcass. You can see that two of them are unicorns, one a lavender color and the other the brightest shade of white you have ever seen, both have a deep purple mane, above them are two winged horses, one is a light yellow color and the other was cyan with a multicolored mane. Then, one of the flying ones set down next to the carcass, she obviously upset and begins crying. An orange horse with a Stetson begins to comfort her, and an overly hyperactive pink horse is singing. The other three are just standing there, obviously dumbfounded by the fresh kill. Then, they all look up toward the sky. As you look up to see what they are looking at, you then see an even odder sight, two larger Pegasus/unicorn things arriving in a chariot. As they exit the chariot you see that one has a flowing, multicolored mane and is as white as the other unicorn; the other was a complete opposite, having a mane as black as night and a body equally as dark. As they begin to talk you climb the nearest tree to hear what they are saying. As you climb you think of how you will spread your kind across this oddly pastel-colored world. First, I need to find a suitable host… preferably one that is dead, I don’t want to get myself killed over live prey. As you go through your plans, you know that those two Pegasus/unicorn creatures are going to become a problem, no matter how much you plan around them. You finally reach the higher branches of the tree, and climbing to the edge of one of the thicker branches, you listen in on their conversation. “…. But I am sure whatever killed this manticore had a reason, Princess!” the cyan Pegasus was arguing with the larger unicorn/Pegasus thing. “I’m sure they did Rainbow, but that does not negate the damage that whatever did this can cause! The fact that whatever did this has weapons capable of decapitating a fully grown manticore means that it is an obvious threat and must be dealt with as such!” the princess said. “Listen to Celestia, Rainbow. Think of who could be next!” the lavender one said. Intrigued, you move in closer. There could be useful information in this argument. The branch creaks a bit as you shift your weight. Freezing, you see that all of the creatures stopped what they were doing and looked in your general area, scanning for the source of the noise . Not wanting to be discovered before you can launch your plans, you retreat hastily but quietly into the forest, remembering distinguishing features to find your way back later. After about 10 minutes of sneaking through the forest, you find a cave; it’s cold and wet but livable. After checking for anything that might harm you while you rest, you lie down for the night. Losing most of the original host’s skin meant that you could not sleep due to lack of eyelids, so you just lay there thinking. It’s funny. I shouldn’t be able to formulate these complex plans. Most infectors like me can only infect, much less think about what kind of necromorph they want to make. How did I get this intelligence? The person that hosts me wasn’t all that smart. Am I a mutation? Or are there still remnants of my host left in me? You feel enraged as all of these questions ramble through your mind unanswered; completely forgetting what you were thinking about earlier; you just want to kill. As if on cue a zebra with lots of bracelets and other jewelry comes into view, obviously oblivious to your position in the cave, she, at least you think it’s a she, gathers up some flowers and other herbs. Perfect, is your only thought before you strike. Near the orchard You arrive at the orchard after the very long detour to avoid the town. Parking your car, you get your first good look at you broken femur. It is still bleeding, not as much now, but still bleeding. You can also see that your make-shift cast didn’t turn out so well after all. Seeing that it won’t hold for much longer you know that you best bet is to try and find a hospital or medical clinic, but the risk of this town being hostile was too great so you dismiss the idea. Your experiences back on Earth caused you to become a bit paranoid of towns, there were so many Unitology cultists that had tried to transform you into a necromorph to help trigger the convergence event. Needless to say, you did not want any of it, so you escaped and booked it out of there with Hope, who always managed to stay hidden in the truck. Looking at the sun, you see that it is close to four in the afternoon. Perfect time to start collecting dinner. You would have used the rations you have, but the promise of fresh produce was irresistible, plus you wanted to save those in case of emergency. Before you head to the orchards, though, you collect some firewood for the night. When you return, however, you see that Hope is not where you left her. Panicking, you search the area but cannot find her. On the verge of tears of sadness for your lost daughter, you go over to the truck. What you find makes you heart drop. Hope is hiding in the back of the truck with a terrified look on her face. Walking up to the back of the truck and crawling into the bed next to her, you say, “Why are you hiding in the truck? I thought you hated lying in the back.” “I heard voices nearby and got scared.” “Voices, eh? Do you know what they were saying,” you say, testing your daughter’s hearing ability. “Well there were two voices, one from a girl and one from a boy, but the boy only said, ‘Eeeyup,’ and, ’Nope,’.” “Hmmm… and what did the girl have to say?” “She was saying something about a ‘manticore’ being killed and a princess sending guards to hunt down whatever killed it,” she said, obviously not understanding how important this information was to our remaining hidden. “Ok, that was very good. I am proud of how well you can hear,” you say, hiding your growing concern over the fact that you were being hunted. You then tell her to stay in the car before you head out to the orchard. You look at the sky. It is growing dark. The darkness will prove useful for escaping anyone that might happen upon you stealing the produce. As you stalk through the forest, you see some beautiful blue flowers near the ground, but you think better than to trust a mysterious flower in a strange world. You reach a clearing as the ground inclines upward; gradually at first, but now it is getting steeper as you progress. When you reach the top of the hill you see a small grave. Distracted by your curiosity, you move closer to the grave. It looks new, for no new grass has grown back from where the ground was dug up. Leaning closer, you read the inscription on the headstone. R.I.P. Granny Smith A mother, a grandmother, a caretaker, a citizen, and a friend. We all miss you so much. Giving the grave a wide berth, you move on to the orchard in the valley beyond the grave. Upon reaching the first trees, you see that, much to your relief, some of the trees still have… apples. Yes, they are apples. Oddly, though, you see hoof-prints on the trunks of the trees, “This is one of the weirdest uses for horses I have ever heard of,” you mumble quietly to yourself. Horses had been extinct hundreds of years before you were born, but there were old documentaries that you had watched as a child about them. they had told you that humans had either worked them to death or made them into glue. Gathering as many apples as you can carry; you hurry back to the truck. The moon is up and full tonight, and you’d rather not be spotted in its bright light carrying a half-dozen or so stolen apples. When you get back to the truck, you find Hope exactly where you left her, hiding in the back reading one of the few books that you had found looking for supplies. You ask her to come outside to warm up around the fire you are trying to start. When the wood lights, you and her lie down next to it in silence and you give her a dinner of two apples, yourself taking only one. The Moon is high above when you finish your apple, which admittedly took longer due to the fact that you were savoring the delicious apple and you are deep in though about what has happened so far in this world, So far, I have been attacked by a... Manticore? Yes, the voice Hope heard called it a Manticore. You're being hunted by guards and are currently in hiding. This is going to be a rough time living here, you think You see that, in the middle of your eating and thinking, Hope has fallen asleep next to you. So, following her example, you lie down and drift off into a peaceful sleep. Oddities-Author's note: sorry this chapter took so long, schools been a bitch to me. Hope you enjoy. The attack is quick; you leap from you rocky home at the zebra. It tries to turn from the flowers it is picking and run, but your strike is too fast to be evaded. Using the talons on your wings you begin to tear at its body, producing large gashes from which maroon-colored blood begins to pour. Seeing that your current strikes to the zebra’s back are not causing enough blood loss to take it down quickly, you move a talon to the underside of the zebra and begin to slash at its belly. After missing the first few slashes, your talon finally hits its mark, spilling the zebra’s stomach and intestines on the forest floor. With a second slash you cut the stomach from the esophagus, causing it to spill its contents to the ground. Howling in agony, it begins to draw a breath to call for help but you remove your talon from its back and cut off the zebra with a quick slash to the wind pipe. Seeing that you only have one talon latching on, it bucks you off of its back sending you to the ground with a Thud! You watch as the zebra begins to limp off into the brush. Not wanting to be hurt any more than you are, you follow behind at a distance, knowing that from all the injuries you inflicted your prey will soon bleed out. After a mere three minutes of tracking the zebra, you come upon it in a clearing. It has collapsed and was obviously going through cardiac arrest from blood loss. Moving closer you extend your proboscis and, with a quick strike, stab it into the zebra’s skull, releasing the DNA of a slasher into the zebra’s body. The transformation is slow, probably due to the lack of influence of a marker. It takes roughly an hour to transform and another hour before the new necromorph can stand and communicate with you through the series of grunts and screams you formed as a language. ‘Odd. I remember my kind forming faster, although, this one has learned how to communicate quicker than I could have ever hoped for!’ you think gleefully to yourself. Not wasting any time, you tell it that the two of you must remain hidden while you build your ranks to take over this new world. Near the orchard You slowly wake up, it’s just after dawn on your second day in this new world; or was it your third day? You can’t remember. You feel a warm breath on your side, and looking down, you see Hope curled up next to you. Quietly getting up you start to prepare a breakfast from the apples you picked last night. Eventually Hope wakes up to which you say, “Good morning sleepy head.” “Good morning daddy. You’re up early; you normally sleep until like noon.” “Well maybe I wanted a bright start to today; after all we are in a brand new world.” “Yeah, maybe this world is better than the last one we were in,” she says eating an apple. “That was the idea behind coming here,” you say matter-of-factly. “Maybe the people here are friendly! Maybe I could have some friends,” she says dreamily. “Whoa now,” you say cutting off her dreaming, “we still don’t know if the people here are friendly or not.” “Well maybe, but what if they are?” Hope had a point; you couldn’t judge this world to be like your old one. Sucking in your fear of towns, you decide to try and sneak a peek at it to see if it was friendly. “Tell you what, today I will go and look at the town. If it’s friendly we will go there. Sound good?” “Sounds good to me!” she says gleefully. You think it best to go see the town at dusk when there are more places to hide. But when dusk comes you’re scared shitless; you really don’t want to go to the town. You know, though, that Hope would be hurt if you didn’t even try; so, sucking in your fears, you begin the few mile walk to town. Walking along the path, with your plasma cutter at your side, you spot several outlying structures. To your right, about a mile down a path you can see a cottage made out of a….tree, with lots of animal stables around it. Not the oddest thing you’ve see, but it’s still on the list. Further along the road are some more normal homes and not much else. ‘Pretty boring town,’ you quietly think to yourself moving into the alleyways of the town. You move through the back alleyways to be able to see the town without being seen. The town itself is quite the opposite from the outskirts; it is colorful, even in the dark of night you can see that, the buildings each have a unique shape to it; one house looks like a gingerbread house, one is a Victorian-looking building, and another looks like it has been… dragged or pushed to its current location. The last home you come across is carved out of a huge tree. ‘What is with this world and odd uses for trees?’ you think, not noticing that you are being watched. It comes as a shock. The blinding light coming from the second story window completely illuminated your position in the shadows. A silhouette appears in a small window near the top of the tree. You stand stupidly like a deer in headlights as it just watches you, not moving or making any hint of intent. Suddenly you see a purple aura appear faintly in the window, followed by the same color aura appearing around your body, lifting your body in the air and moving toward the window. You’re panicking at this point, as you move closer to the window you can now make out more fine details on your kidnapper. Its head is a large circle with a single horn protruding from the forehead and almost elf-like ears. The window now opens and you’re pulled through it. You would have struggled but whatever is levitating you is also immobilizing you, and you are petrified of what horrors might lay beyond the window. The window frame passes by as you find yourself in a bedroom with books everywhere, a desk on the other side of the room next to two French-style doors leading to a balcony, a simple enough bed, a basket with some kind of purple and green fruit in it, and the most striking feature is a large plush unicorn standing in the middle of the room. You fall from the levitation spurt and quickly stand up, ready to face your captor, but you’re only met with a dumb stare from the unicorn plushy. Severely confused, you begin to search for an exit, and find it a few meters to your left, inlayed between some bookshelves. You make hast as you move to the exit, but you are met with the same force that brought you to this room; enveloping you and pulling back to where you were. On the way back you see a similar aura coming from the plushy, but you see now that the plushy is moving as its eyes are tracking you.Its sides are rising and falling with each breath it takes. It drops you on the floor again with a dull thud! “Ow! My leg! What the fuck? A plushy unicorn that can levitate things and is apparently alive. What was in those apples?” You say to yourself and subconsciously to the plushy to test its speaking ability. “Mmmphhhh!” the basket of fruit said…. Wait now the fruit is talking? This world is seriously fucked up. “Great, you woke Spike. Now I won’t have to wake him, making sending a letter to the princesses much easier," it says, thinking aloud. “Whoah, you can talk too? What the fuck is this place?!” “You’re in Equestria.” She said simply. The fruit in the basket was now beginning to move. “Where?” You say; the force field now holding you in place “Equestria; the home of ponies? Any of this ringing a bell?” “No, now let me go!” “No, you are seen as a threat to the welfare of Equestria and her residents.” “Why?” you say realizing you could move your arms. “Because you k…killed a manticore.” Her voice obviously shaken and the word ‘killed’. “Oh, is that what that thing was? In my defense, it attacked me first and the bastard broke my leg.” You say trying to keep her distracted while you slowly reach for you plasma cutter. “Yo, Twi what is the racket about?” The fruit was now standing. Now you see that it isn’t fruit but rather a dragon! “Spike, send a letter to the princesses saying I have cap…” Her voice was cut off by your plasma cutter hitting her in the head. “Twilight!” the dragon yelled. Now that the unicorn is unconscious you are released from the force field; landing on the floor you run as fast as you can with your broken leg down the stairs and out the door, leaving the shocked dragon in the tree-house. Limping as fast as you can see all the lights in the town are turning on and plushy horses are at their windows trying to see what the ruckus is. This only encourages you to limp faster and faster through the town. You soon reach the edge of the town and make a bee-line for the forest, only to be smashed into the ground by another one of the stupid plush horses. You turn over to face your aggressor only to catch a glimpse of a cyan-colored pegasus with a rainbow mane, before it jumps on top of you. “Who and what are you and why are you here?” it screams at you. You ignore her question and, using your free hand, grab it and throw it off of you. This only caused it to charge you through the air, but you were ready for this charge. You ready yourself for an impact as the pegasus charges you. As it comes in arm’s reach, you bring your fist down on its head, smashing it into the ground unconscious. You look up to see some more plushy horses gathering in the center of town with lanterns, obviously a search party. ‘Good god they assembled fast! But it looks like they don’t have guns. That’s a relief,’ you think as you turn toward the woods once more, this time you make it without incident. Heading back to camp, you gather your thoughts and formulate what you learned. “O.K. so the predominate species is a race of plushy-looking horses, and from what I gathered they think I am a hostile and want me captured. They can levitate items, talk, fly, and they have princesses, meaning they have a monarch-type government. There are also dragons in this world, unknown full size but the sound of its voice meant it probably was a youngling. The lack of firearms in the search party also meant that these horses were anti-war types, or just not technologically advanced….” You mumble to yourself as you trudge through the woods toward your camp site. The lights of your pursuers are far off in the distance, heading away from your camp. Arriving at camp, you find Hope asleep in the front seat of the truck. You take a moment to take in the cuteness of her curled up on the passenger side of the truck. Grabbing a blanket from the back of the truck, you lay it across her and your legs as you drift into sleep after the long day. When you wake, the sun has just finished its trip over the horizon, still low in the sky. Hope is still curled up next on the passenger side. You feel the warmth of happiness, instead of having to worry about necromorphs or crazy old men or even the bloody Unitologists, you only had to worry about some crazy horses that couldn’t even put up a fight. You step out of the car, careful not to wake Hope, and take in the crisp morning air. Hearing a rooster cry in the distance, you take that as your cue to wake Hope. After telling her about what you found out last night, you head off to the orchard to collect breakfast. When you collect a good sum of apples, you head back to camp, but when you reach the hill with the grave on it, you hear a cry for help. You feel panic, anxiety, and dread hit you like a freight train as you recognize the source of the cry. Hope…… -Quick apology if you don't agree with me on pony anatomy, or if Zecora was your favorite pony. Judge, Jury, and Exicutioner-if your favorite pony dies in an unsatisfactory way, I apologize in advance You drop all of the apples you were carrying and hobble around the hill into the woods near camp, knowing that showing yourself suddenly could cause the entire situation to go to hell… if there is still a situation. Continuing, you still hear a whimpering and voices but you are still too far away to understand what they are saying. You take extra care to avoid downed branches so as to not alert the entity causing Hope to scream. I need to hurry, you think as you almost forget to ready your plasma cutter. Pulling it out, you sneak through the woods behind the truck until you see a clearing through the foliage. Taking inventory of the situation, you see several gold-clad pegasi surrounding the area, in the middle of the clearing there is the unicorn from last night along with five others you didn’t know, two more pegasi, another unicorn, and two normal ponies, and two more ponies, each larger than the others. They both had wings and horns, and atop their heads were tiaras. So these are the princesses the purple one was talking about. You can see Hope being restrained by one of the armored pegasi, with the two larger ones talking to her. Not good, I need a good distraction so can grab Hope get in the truck and go, you think as you move closer to the scene. You hear a sharp CRACK! “What was that?!” a white guard in bright purple armor yells. “Fuck…” “You two! Go check it out,” he commanded. “Yes, sir!” they saluted. “Not good,” you mutter, trying to find any means of concealing yourself. Settling on the tree above you, you begin to climb. You can hear the two guards coming closer, as you position yourself above where you just were. They come into view and begin to sweep the area for any sign of your presence. You smile as they return to their commander empty handed… “Hi there!” you freeze as a super high pitched voice says from behind you. You turn to see a pink pony mere inches away from your face. The shock causes you to lose your balance and fall down on to the two guards. The fall caused the splint on your leg to break, sending several splinters into your leg. The guards grab you with the same force field as the purple unicorn did last night and bring you into the clearing. “Found what the noise was. It was another one of those things.” “Well, well, well; what do we have here? “ The one in purple armor started, “Who are you supposed to be?” “Like I’ll tell the asshole trying to kidnap my family,” you retort, gesturing to the entire company. “Shining, make sure to restrain its appendage, that’s how it got away last time.” After that being said a dark purple glow came from Shining’s horn and enveloped you… including your arms. “Now, what makes you think we were kidnapping? We were arresting her for the death of the local zebra, Zecora.” You simply sigh, "Do you really think that she could kill anything? I didn’t kill the zebra either… the only thing I killed was a manticore.” “Likely story, manticores are nearly impossible to kill, let alone by a stick like yourself,” Shining retorted. “If you want I can show you how and why I did it.” “You can tell us.” “Do you want your brain to explode from information over load?” You bluffed “No…” he said slightly confused. “Then you will let me show you… don’t worry no one will be killed in my little demonstration.” “Ok…. No funny business now.” He said releasing you from the field. Slightly surprised he fell for the trick, you pretend to demonstrate. “Ok I’ll need everyone to move away from that tree,” you say pointing to a thick tree next to where two guards were standing. They reluctantly move away from the trees, but as they pass by you grab one around the neck and Spartan-kick the other to the ground next to Shining. “Hey! You can’t do this to a royal guard!” the captured stallion protested. “I am from another world. Your laws mean nothing to me, and in my books you tried to kidnap my daughter.” “You won’t get away with this!” Shining yelled. “On the contrary, you see, I still haven’t shown you what this does,” you say, gesturing to your plasma cutter. “Fine, what do you want?” “I want the immediate release of my daughter, and to be left alone.” “Thou shalt not be left alone for thine crimes!” the navy blue Pegasus/unicorn shouted. “You don’t have much of a choice.” “Do I get a say in this?” the guard in your grasp pleads. “No, now let’s get one thing clear; I did Not kill that zebra. I only killed the manticore and that even was in self-defense. The bastard broke my femur,” you say lifting you pant with your plasma cutter hand, showing the discolored appendage. “If you didn’t kill Zecora then what did?” “I do not know all I know is I still haven’t gotten my daughter back and my trigger finger is getting really itchy right about now.” “Oh sweet Celestia no,” the unhappy pony prayed. “Daddy…” Hope, who had been released because the guards were too busy surrounding me. “Hope, get in the truck. Please, I don’t want you to have to watch.” “But… Daddy… don’t… please,” she almost to tears now. “No buts; now get in the truck,” after you say this, she sulks back to the truck and gets in the driver’s side. “Well, it seems one of my demands have been met,” this brought a sigh of relief for the guard ponies. “But… now how about my second request?” “Can’t we just talk this out?” one of the ponies that weren’t guards or princesses said. “Didn’t think of that when you tried to take custody of Hope now did you?” “My little ponies are right, surely we can settle this through diplomatic means?” the white princess asked. “None of your political bullshit can persuade me… and don’t call me Shirley.” “I never called you Surely. And…” Her sentence was cut off by an ungodly groan coming from the forest. It not only shocked you to hear it, but the realization came that this entire world is damned. It came out of the bushes opposite the princesses. You have hardly any time to react as the blades of the slasher, pierced the pony you are holding. He let out a blood-curdling scream as the necromorph ripped open his bowels, spilling his guts on the ground. You drop the pony as the slasher viciously attacked the poor pony. Observing the scene, you notice that the slasher is pony-shaped and has black and white stripes on its disfigured body. Your observations were disrupted as the slasher, satisfied with its work, turned to you and charged. Your reflexes this time beat it, though, as you quickly took off its legs and blades, killing it. To be sure, though, you proceed to walk over to it and curb-stomp its head, which burst into a million bloody pieces. “Sweet Celestia,” Shining said as he galloped to his fallen comrade’s side. “Private! Stay with me! Private stay awake! NO!!” Shining shouted as his soldier slowly died in his hooves. “You may want to move away for this next part,” you say to the grief-stricken commander. “What are you going to do?” “Make sure he doesn’t turn into one of them.” “What, why? How?” he said slightly intimidated. “That thing was a necromorph; their only purpose is to kill everything living that isn’t one of them. That’s why I came here, some crazy people worshiped the thing that made the original necromorph, and they got loose and overran the entire planet, killing my entire species. The only way to make sure that he cannot be turned is to destroy the corpse beyond reconstruction. The necromorphs are highly durable even being able to withstand decapitation, burning, and extreme blood lose without even flinching. Furthermore, this necromorph seems to be one of the advanced forms.” “Meaning?” “Meaning, this necromorph was created by an infector, they are the ones that stay back from the fighting and turn any viable corpses into new necromorphs, but also are extremely dangerous up close. “ “That sounds awful,” the white unicorn/Pegasus said. “Oh no, there are more types of necromorph than I care to count, but they all have several things in common… they are all smart, deadly, tough, and fast.” “How did you survive?” the purple unicorn from last night asked. “By showing no mercy and trusting few.” “That’s no way to live.” “No… it’s the way to stay alive.” “By living in a world of isolation? What happened to love what happened to friendship?” “It died with everyone else in my world. The only love I have is for my daughter, everyone else is just a liability.” “That’s not true.” “Is that so? Have you ever seen entire cities, with millions of people, become deserted in a matter of hours with no survivors?” “No…” “Have you seen governments lie to the populace’s face as everyone around them died?” “No…” “Have you had to kill the only one you have ever loved just to survive?” you subconsciously start to move toward the quivering unicorn. “No…” “And have you ever had to watch your world burn with a fire that will and can never be extinguished?” you are towering over her at this point. “No…” You pick her up by the scruff of her next, like a dog would its pup, “Then when you witness all of these things and still have friends, come back and we will have this conversation again.” “Hey! Put my sister down!” the commander yelled at you, crouching in an attack position. “Oh fuck off Shinny. You would have done something by now if you were any sort of soldier,” he obviously was shaken either by your use of a nick name or your assault on his honor as a soldier. “All right I have seen enough,” the white princess said. “Seen enough of what? How I am when I’m angry… This isn’t angry, this is annoyed, but right now you are pushing angry.” “No, I’ve seen enough to know that you are a danger to my little ponies and need to be detained immediately,” she said stoically. “Ohhhh,” you say like your scared, “I so scared. A white princess thinks I’m a danger and wants me detained. If you were as caring as you think you are you’d have done something to help the private over there. As far as I’m concerned, you’re no better than the rulers that lied to a dying man’s face.” That was the last straw for her. She jumped at you, horn glowing and wings flared. You dodge but drop the crying unicorn from your grasp. She obviously saw the opening from your dodge for she fired a magic bolt right at you, hitting you square in the chest, and sending you sprawling on your back. She then flies up and lands over you. Pointing her glowing horn straight at your face. You quickly hit her in the head, sending her aim awry. The tree that the bolt hit nearly hit the truck. She then realigns for another shot, but you grab her head to be sure she couldn't get another shot on you. You struggled to keep her head from blasting you into oblivion. Just as she was about to get on target, you raised your good leg and shoved her off of you. She regained her footing and charged as you got up. You again dodge her attack just in the nick of time. She turned again and charged but you were ready for her this time. Side-stepping her attack, you grab her horn at the tip, and giving it a hardy yank, sent her sprawling to the ground. Limping to her dazed form, you grab her horn yet again. Lifting her up, you address the audience to the fight. "I'll ask you again. Will you leave my daughter and I in peace?" The purple one stepped up to speak, but the cyan pegasus beat her to the first words, "You're crazy if you think we'll give in that easily!" "Wrong answer," you reply grimly. You slam the pony in your hand into the ground, effectively disorienting her. Raising your plasma cutter, you deliver three swift shots that severed her horn. She began to scream in pain, trying to massage her missing appendage. Taking advantage of her weakness, you take her severed horn and, pining her on her stomach, stab the horn into the base of the pony's skull. She was still squirming after that, so you stomp the horn all the way into her spinal chord. This was the final blow that killed her. You talk one last look at your work before you turn back to the others. Only to be greeted by a punch to the face by the cyan one. You feel her punching your chest before you slip into unconsciousness. When you awake, you find yourself in a cage on a carriage with two guards pulling it. You here a soft sniffle next to you. You look down to see Hope next to you; her eyes are blood-shot from crying, but she had a twinkle of joy in her eyes as she looks up at you. “I thought you were dead,” she says into your shirt. “Not while I still have someone to care for me,” you say to your child. “What are they going to do to us?” “I don’t know baby; I don’t know…” “Daddy…?” “Yes Hope?” “Will you sing me a song? One that you and mommy used to sing together.” “All right, but don’t expect anything good. Here goes nothing,” you say as you think of a song. Deciding on one you begin to sing. “A long long time ago I can still remember how That music used to make me smile And I knew if I had my chance That I could make those people dance And maybe they'd be happy for a while But February made me shiver With every paper I'd deliver Bad news on the doorstep I couldn't take one more step I can't remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride But something touched me deep inside **The day the music died** So Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey in Rye Singin' this'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die Did you write the book of love And do you have faith in God above If the Bible tells you so? Now do you believe in rock and roll? Can music save your mortal soul? And can you teach me how to dance real slow? Well, I know that you're in love with him Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym You both kicked off your shoes Man, I dig those rhythm and blues I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck With a pink carnation and a pickup truck But I knew I was out of luck The day the music died I started singin' Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey in Rye Singin' this'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die Now, for ten years we've been on our own And moss grows fat on a rolling stone But, that's not how it used to be When the jester sang for the king and queen In a coat he borrowed from James Dean And a voice that came from you and me Oh and while the king was looking down The jester stole his thorny crown The courtroom was adjourned No verdict was returned And while Lenin read a book on Marx The quartet practiced in the park And we sang dirges in the dark The day the music died We were singin' Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey in Rye Singin' this'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die Helter skelter in a summer swelter The birds flew off with a fallout shelter Eight miles high and falling fast It landed foul on the grass The players tried for a forward pass With the jester on the sidelines in a cast Now the half-time air was sweet perfume While sergeants played a marching tune We all got up to dance Oh, but we never got the chance Cause the players tried to take the field The marching band refused to yield Do you recall what was revealed The day the music died? We started singin' Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey in Rye Singin' this'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die Oh, and there we were all in one place A generation lost in space With no time left to start again So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick Jack Flash sat on a candlestick Cause fire is the devil's only friend And as I watched him on the stage My hands were clenched in fists of rage No angel born in Hell Could break that Satan's spell And as the flames climbed high into the night To light the sacrificial rite I saw Satan laughing with delight The day the music died He was singin' Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey in Rye Singin' this'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die I met a girl who sang the blues And I asked her for some happy news But she just smiled and turned away I went down to the sacred store Where I'd heard the music years before But the man there said the music wouldn't play And in the streets the children screamed The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed But not a word was spoken The church bells all were broken And the three men I admire most- the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost- They caught the last train for the coast The day the music died And they were singing Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey in Rye Singin' this'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey in Rye Singin' this'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die” As you finish the song, you here Hope snoring softly; you take this as a cue to fall asleep yourself as the sun sets over the horizon. Author's Note -well shit hit the fan in this chapter. Hate all you want but I didn't leave you with too bad of cliff-hanger did I? also I would like some new cover art, so if someone is willing to make something or send me a link to something it would be much appreciated I hope the edited fight scene is better now :) Torment me no longer-I'm baaaaAackckck There is a heavy Thump; as the carriage lands in the courtyard of a large castle. You didn’t sleep much throughout the night, but Hope slept like a rock, not waking once through the flight. “Hope, wake up. We’re here,” you say softly. “Mmmph, five more minutes daddy…” she says not even opening her eyes. “UP AND AT OUT PRISONERS!” a guard shouts while he prods you with a spear. You slowly get up and carry Hope out of the carriage, slightly wincing from being poked. You groggily follow the really loud guard as you notice a second chariot near the entrance to the castle, to which you were being led. “Where are we?” Hope asked; just now opening her eyes. You try to read the inscription; fighting fatigue, “The…Castle….Anthrax?” “Quiet! We are at the castle of the princesses,” the guard shouts back at you. “Could you possibly be a little less hostile? This situation sucks as it is and I don’t need you bustin’ my balls every five seconds,” you retort back. “How do you expect me to react to a monster that killed my princess?” the guard retorts. “I would come back with something witty and mildly humorous to say, but I’m tired and I have an observation. Why are you the only one bringing me to wherever we are going?” This makes the guard think, obviously he doesn’t know why he was the only guard to bring an incredibly dangerous being into the castle. He manages to stutter out a bluff. "There are more Pegasi guards high above, watching your every move!" "You do realize that it is clear skies right now?" "Oh, umm..... Just keep moving!" he says, jabbing you with his spear again. You do as he said, moving into the two gargantuan doors. As you enter the grand room, you marvel at the ornate chandelier hanging from the ceiling nearly 10 meters above. The guard then motions for you to move to a door on the left of the large set of stairs that dominates the room. Passing through you see a dark winding staircase. As you begin your decent, Hope begins to feel really heavy, so you set her down from her position on your back, saying, "I need you to walk for now, Hope." "Is something wrong daddy?" "No," you say with a light smile, “you’re just getting so big, it's getting hard to carry you." "Oh, ok," she deadpanns. You walk to the end of the corridor in silence. The only noise is the clopping of the guard’s hooves on the cobble stone. As you near the end of the corridor, the guard gets around you to open a cell on your right. Once it is open he manages to get out a quick order to get into the cell, and you walk in. The cell is dark, the only source of light being a small arch window near the ceiling. In the corner to your right there is a small bed maybe big enough for Hope, and on the opposite side of the room from the bed there is a desk with a figure writing something at it. "Hello?" you ask. "Great Scott! I know that voice!" the figure says, could it be? No.... The figure turns as if to confirm your suspicions, and sure enough it is the professor guy that got you here. "What're you doing here?" you question as Hope clutches to your leg. "Same as you, trying to start anew in this world, but, as you can see, I was arrested for reasons beyond me." "When were you arrested?" "This morning in fact, I was working in a house that I was staying in and all of a sudden, there were guards on my front porch." "I may have something to do with that actually," you reply sheepishly, "you see this world's ruler and I got into a bit of a disagreement, I provoked, she attacked, I killed her, and now here I am. My question is how did you get here?" "Well that explains a lot. But as to how I got here, I got here the same way as you. I was standing too close to the blast from your jump that I accidentally go sucked in, along with half of Haven." "Wow, were there any necromorphs in Haven still?" "Unfortunately yes, I was actually documenting where groups of them were centered, when you came in," he said showing us the desk, which had a map of what you assumed to be the world you were currently in, marked with one dot and three arrows coming from it. "The large dot is the main group." "How did you determine this?" "Mainly the missing ponies report in the newspaper I've been collecting over the past month or so." "Month? How long have you been here?" "A couple months, woke up near a town called Appaloosa, you?" "Ponyville, but I got here a few days ago, how has there been no major reports of disappearances?" "I guess it's because most travel is by foot... Erm hoof, and the towns are a good day's travel as the crow flies." "We need to warn these ponies about the necromorphs!" You knew this was the best course of action to save this world. "But how are we going to do that from this cell?" As if an answer to your question the cell door swung open, revealing a half-dozen guards. "The princess has requested your presence," the guard grunts spitefully. "Which one of us?" "You," he says, pointing his hoof at you. "Okay," you turn to Hope," listen honey, daddy is going to be right back, okay?" "All right, just try not to kill anything, you hear?" "Wouldn't dream of it," you say giving her a hug and a kiss on the top of the head. You feel shackles being placed around your hands as you leave the cell. You follow the guards through the twists and turns of the castle, but you managed to remember the way. Sooner than expected, you arrive at a giant set of double-doors easily measuring 5 meters each and decorated with an image of the sun and another of a moon. Upon entering, you see the large Pegasus/unicorn from yesterday, along with 6 other ponies, a few scribes, and a dozen or so guards with spears all trained on you. "I see security isn't an issue here," you say half-hearted, trying to make light of the situation. All you get is a stern look of confusion from everyone in the room. "Not much of a crowd either," you mumble to yourself. "What did you say?" The midnight pony asked. "Oh! Uhhh... I said why would such a crowd be needed." "Well, we are all here to determine your fate," the lavender one, whom you had probably emotionally scarrd, said. "My fate?" "Yes, and to clear something's up," the leader said. "Like what?" You already knew what she was going to ask. "Like who you are, what you are, and where you are from, along with some others." Dingdingding! We have a winner! "I guess I'll start with the first three questions, My name is Stan Weller, I am a human, scientific name Homo sapien, and hail from the planet Earth, well near it." "No... That can't be!" "What, is the matter your highness?" You're curious now. "Your kind are extinct!" Obviously not. "What do you mean?" "The power of the human's hatred and greed reached Equstria causing me to be transformed into nightmare moon. To keep something similar from happening we released a life form into to your universe so horrendous that it had been locked in Tartarus." This revelation caused your blood to boil. "So you're saying that you released the necromorphs on humanity?! Do you know how many people died?!" Had it not been for the restrains you would have her throat. "We didn't mean.." "Didn't mean what? To commit mass genocide on a species that you had never even met! To kill billions of innocent people over what a few did! In my world you would be killed on site for such a crime! Because of you, my daughter will grow up without a mother!" You calm yourself as tears start to form in your eyes, "but, as the saying goes, 'what goes around comes around'." "What do you mean?" The alabaster unicorn with the other 6 spoke up. "The necromorphs are here, and believe when I say, they will attack and they will kill you." Everyone in the room flinched, and murmurs began to spread among the guards. Something about you being the 'destroyer' coming to 'judge' them. The midnight one spoke up, "We will consider your warning but significant evident is lacking." "Significant evidence? What about the fucking private back in the forest, what about the disappearances? How are those not 'significant evidence'?" "Irrelevant. The question is not whether or not the necromorphs are in Equestria; but rather how do we get rid of them?" "How the fuck should I know? I just tried to survive! I never had time to think of a way to completely destroy them." "You will not us that foul language when talking to the princess," a guard to your left orders. You notice that it was the captain you had nicknamed 'shiny'. "Finally speakin' up shiny? I have a question for you now that you are here." "What is it?" he asks, trying to keep up a regal appearance, but you can see the apprehension in his body language. "Are you willing to sacrifice your life and the life of your soldiers to fight for the throne? Or, when the situation comes, will you turn tail and run?" "I will fight!" He stated proudly. "We'll see soon enough," You mumble. "I have a question," the lavender one says. "What is the weapon that you used in the princess?" "My plasma cutter? That thing has saved my ass on more than one occasion, it is normally used for surgery but with the right tweaks it cut through almost anything." "Why would you need such a thing when you could just use magic?" She inquired. "Magic? My species doesn't have magic. All we have is our minds and what we can make. In the thousands of years humans have existed, we have never relied on magic for anything." "Could it be possible that we look through your mind to find out about your race?" She asks. "That's a pretty bold request, given what I've done." "I just have to know," she begs. "If you think you can handle it, I don't see why not." "Why wouldn't I be able to handle it?" She asks with a cocky slur to her voice. "Oh, let's just say, some of my memories aren't the most pleasant." "What could be worse than that thing in the forest... And you?" "Lots of things, Miss Sparkle, lots of things." Everfree forest Your numbers have been growing rapidly since the necromorph group came from the west. They had numbers in the hundreds to begin with and have since doubled the number of necromorphs in your swarm. Before you had only had yourself and a few slashers; but now... now you have two hundred slashers, one hundred fifty puckers, one hundred ten infectors, a dozen brutes, and two dozen twitchers. You let out a call for some of the slashers and puckers to meet you; your plan was to have some them combine to form a tormentor. They come together in a jumbled mob. You take 10 of the more deformed slashers and two puckers with you into a clearing. You inject each one with a code that will turn them into the different parts of a tormentor, and then tell them to form a pile on the ground until the tormentor DNA could do its thing. You hole up in a tree to rest while the group is slowly transformed into one massive necromorph. The transformation seemed agonizingly long even though it took a mere twenty minutes. Your patience, however, was rewarded with a tormentor. It stands a good four to five meters from shoulder to claw and is nearly nine meters from head to the end of its tail. It quickly starts to gain its bearings and communicate. Well that's one problem down, you think as you see it already knows the language. Suddenly it runs into the forest. You try to give chase but the thickness of the foliage slows your pace to a crawl. You can no longer hear the crashing it makes when running through the forest, and soon you are next to it. It is just standing there looking over some brush that is too high for you to see over. You quickly heave your body up the nearest tree to see what it is looking at. What you see surprises you. It is a party of nearly twelve ponies walking through the forest with several burned out torches. After you see the main group pass, another small group made up of three fillies and a mare, one white, one orange, and one yellow, and a fuchsia adult pony with three flowers tattooed on its ass. The tormentor below you gave a grunt, signaling it found a target. You join it in crouching to spring upon the unsuspecting four-some of ponies. You say something to the tormentor that would haunt any sane mind. Sick em'. -no doubt I'm goin to hell now! As always point out mistakes in the comments announcementHello! This will be a quick update for this story and my other project I am working on. First off, I will not be able to start chapter 4 until May 16, because of school and exams and stuff. Second, I would like to thank my editors, Pinkiepiepiper and Shadownamestro Thrid, I would like to thank all those who gave me feed back on how to improve, you know who you are. Fourth, I will be taking requests for crossovers you want me to do. Send me a pm or post in the comments. -Thank you for all your support. Even though the rating bar isn't the best at the moment, I'd say this story is a success!
Dead upon awakingAuthor’s note: A Huge thanks goes to PinkiePiedPiper for editing. This is my first fiction, and please don’t be gentle. –-Rainbow Platypus You are running through the abandoned mall like your life depends on it, which it does. Behind you is a swarm of the things that used to be survivors, just like you. Now, however, they are mere shells. You would not be able to recognize them if it weren’t for the fact that they were infected and transformed right in front of you. You continue running, unwilling to look back, for you already know what happens to those who slow down. Your body is burning from exertion, every step feels like nails jabbing in your legs. After what feels like forever you see the exit and your ride out of this hell-hole, it’s an old Chevy complete with a camper shell and mounted contact beams facing front and back, and enough food and ammo to supply a small platoon. Suddenly, as you reach the exit, you feel you’re being burned by thousands of fire ants all biting at the same time. You fall from the excruciating pain, and yell in agony as you see what or who the offending party is. It is a puker, and it is rearing for a second shot, no doubt aiming for your head. The monstrosity hurls its sickening brown vomit right for you, but at the last second you roll out of the way of the acidic projectile. As you recover from the roll, the puker starts to charge. What’s worse is that you can hear the rest of the swarm not far off. Knowing that you’re a goner if you take too long, you pull out your plasma cutter and start to fire away at the puker, Each shot connecting with its target; spraying blood and other bodily fluids everywhere. Your plasma cutter quickly runs out of ammo but the puker is still alive and within striking distance. As it lunges for you, you quickly strike the puker in the head with your plasma cutter. You’ve been at this too long to go down from a frontal assault. You know that the blow, while powerful enough to kill a normal person, would not keep the puker down for long. You quickly maneuver yourself into a good position and put down the monstrosity with a powerful stomp in the face. Knowing that the swarm is rapidly approaching, you limp out the door, and make your way to your car. You try to reach out for the handle but feel a huge claw wrap around your lower torso and in a swift motion it throws you to the ground with a loud CRACK. You turn to face the attacker, but your entire field of view is taken by the hulking mass of a brute. Looking upon the grotesque beast, you see, much to your horror, the faces of your fallen comrades, Doug and David, in the mass of bodies. Your observations cost you dearly though, for it allowed the giant necromorph to grab your torso and your legs. As it begins to rip you apart, time begins to slow to a crawl. You then see your entire life pass before you; your birth on a space ship leaving Titan station, your first baseball game, and your first kiss, but the last memory seems to take longer. The memory is of the day you met Veronica, later the two of you would be married only to find out you and her both have a genetic disease that would be fatal to the offspring. After the initial out-break of necromorphs in 2538, you and Veronica tried to make it to one of the last remaining safe havens left, but fate had different plans. As the two of you were making your way down to the haven, you found a little girl hiding in a shopping center. So, naturally, you took her in but as you left the store, you see Veronica’s mutilated corpse being transformed by an infector. You watched in horror as your wife was transformed in to a grotesque mass of flesh, bones, and internal organs. With tears streaming out of your eyes, you raised your plasma cutter and dismembered your own wife leaving only a bloody mess. You snap back into real time, the brute ripping your torso from your legs. The ligaments in your back begin to break with a sickening POP and you feel your diaphragm tearing from the sheer strength of the brute. You momentarily black out, only to wake and see that you lower half is now completely detached from your body and your intestines are dangling on the ground. The brute then raises your head to its mouth for a killing bite. Just as the monstrosity is about to bite down on your head, you violently sit up in a cold sweat. You realize that is was just a dream. No. That was more than a dream; it seemed so real… Your thoughts were interrupted by a small child, no more than 7 or 8, beginning to stir next to you. She yawns and says, “Good morning, daddy.” “Good morning Hope.” Hope was the orphan that you took in just before Veronica died. Her real name was Samantha, but when you adopted her you changed her name to Hope so she wouldn’t have to remember the pain of seeing her parents brutally shot to death in a riot after the necromorph outbreak. Looking around, you remember that you are in your truck on the side of the rode, while the same car from the dream, it is hardly supplied and has only a few plasma packs for your plasma cutter, much less the contact beams and ammo. Sighing, you stretch you stiff limbs. You and Hope eat a quick breakfast before heading on your way to the haven that was probably over-run by now, but any sort of shelter will do. Hopefully, there will at least be some supplies. You have traveled for a good two days now; the signs say that you are now near the Alaskan boarder with Canada. You breathe a sigh of relief. The safe haven was near Juneau, Alaska, but to your dismay you see more and more abandoned cars on the side of the highway. You know something went down here. Traveling through what was left of the United States told you that the more abandoned cars there were the more desperate people would be getting, that is if they were still human. You notice now there are bodies in the cars. Each scene getting worse and worse, you tell Hope to look away from the gory scenes, but she keeps staring at them. You know that she will never look away, never forget these scarring images. All you can do is floor it and hope she doesn’t see too much. While doing 80mph down the highway did a number on you gas tank, it did get you to your destination faster than expected. It is around three in the afternoon when you arrive at the gates to the safe haven. The gates are broken down and it looks like the haven was left in a hurry; no doubt it was over-run. You hear your daughter say, “What happened daddy?” “I don’t know Hope.” “Well what are we going to do now?” “I don’t know…” Honestly, you didn’t have a plan if this haven turned out to be a wreck; it was like you expected there to be a thriving community, willing to welcome you at first sight. Just then you hear Hope’s stomach growl, yours is soon to follow. “Well, I guess we find a livable home and hunker down for the evening. Tomorrow we’ll search for supplies. How does that sound?” you ask. Her reply is simple, “Anything for a warm place to sleep.” You eventually find a suitable home, and pull out a box of cereal and two bowls for her and yourself. After eating, the two of you decide to turn in for the night, but not before making sure that the doors and windows are secure. The next morning you and Hope set out to find supplies. You find some plasma cutter ammo in the homes. You see a little strip mall not far from where you are staying. You are relieved when you see one of the grocery marts in it is completely untouched. Not knowing when you will find food next, you grab as much as you can carry. Upon reaching the main road, you see an unfamiliar sight, an old man, carrying a medium-sized box and running down the road. You pull over next to him and ask if needs a ride but instead he says, “How fast can this thing go?” “Umm… I don’t know, really. ‘Round 95 on a straight away, I guess.” “Good, that is quite fast enough,” he mumbles to himself. “What did you say?” “Nothing!” he says. “No, you said something about this car being fast enough. Fast enough for what?” “I’m sorry that I have to do this,” he solemnly says. Pulling out a pulse rife he says, “Pop the hood.” “Why?” “Because, I need you to allow me access to your engine.” “WHY?!” You are furious at this point. “So I can save your fucking lives!” “What?” you say in a calmer tone. “I said I can save your lives.” “How?” “By using what is inside this box.” Over the course of the next few hours, the old man attached a strange glowing object to the engine of your car and explained that he was actually from the 1980’s, but had made a time travel device, which he used to get to this era. When he got here, however, earth was in the middle of the necromorph outbreak. Seeing that humanity was doomed, he set to work modifying the flux capacitor, as he called it, to be able to make inter-dimensional travel possible. Blown back by all this information, you simply ask, “What does this have to do with me?” He replies, “Well I can see that you are a loving father, and that is part of the reason, so you can continue humanity. Another reason is that you are the first person I have met to actually have a car.” “Well this all seems legit but how does it work?” “Well, all you would need to do is speed your car up to 88 miles per hour, and activate the capacitor by hitting this button,” he said motioning to a large red button on a monitor showing the current speed you are traveling he installed. Remembering something, you say, “Wait this sounds fine and all, but how is it all powered?” “Simple,” he says. “It is powered by plutonium, which your facilities here were very willing to give me some. Unfortunately, though, I was only able to get enough for one trip, and the dimension you go to is completely random.” “Well anything is better than here,” you say matter-of-factly. “Alright, it is about time for you to go. Just remember, speed up to 88 miles per hour, then hit the red button.” “Wait, you’re not coming with us?” you say. “No, I’m too old I wouldn’t last through the trip,” he replies. “Well, thanks for what you did. I could never repay you.” You back up your car as far as you can go and face the entrance to the settlement, and revving your engine, you speed down the highway, not noticing that a necromorph infector has made its way to the underside of your car. You quickly hit 88 miles per hour and tell Hope to hold on as you hit the red button. There was a sudden burst of light as you enter a kaleidoscope-like tunnel. The sudden burst of colors cause you to go into epileptic seizures and you pass out. Elsewhere Rainbow Dash was lying on a cloud waiting for sleep to over-take her as she prepared for her afternoon nap. Suddenly, she saw a huge flash of light in a field not far from Ponyville. So, being her adventurous self she set off to investigate. What she found was a black…..thing, with two; well she didn’t know what they were. One was passed out in its seat; while the other looked like she was losing consciousness. Rainbow didn’t know what to do, so she flew off to her friend Twilights house thinking, ‘She’ll know what these things are. At the very least she can contact the princesses about their presence.’
End of innocence End of innocence -Autor's note: It has come to my attention that some of you do not know what the necromorphs mentioned, i will start putting links to pictures of them as they are mentioned, just after they are discovered by the main cast, i want to keep the 'fear of the unknown,' idea up. I would like to say that the chapters will start to be coming out at a slower pace because of school. Also another thanks to PinkiePiedPiper and Shadownamesro and all of you for the feed back! You awake to find it is almost morning, and Hope is out cold next to you. Stepping out of the vehicle you take in your surroundings. First thing that comes to mind is that everything is so colorful, and on top of that the highway is nowhere to be seen. I guess that crazy old bastard was telling the truth. You take a short walk around to take in your surroundings. You see a small town about a mile or so from your location, an orchard with rows and rows of trees a bit further still, and a dark forest surrounds the entire area. You move your car next to the woods and wake Hope up so the two of you can have some breakfast. After breakfast, you feel like something is watching you from the forest, so you tell Hope to stay in the car while you investigate, and as you step out and scan the forest your fears are confirmed by the most disturbing pair of bloodshot eyes coming from a bush five meters to your left. Reaching for your plasma cutter, you face whatever is in the bush, but you find nothing there. Severely confused by what you saw, you turn to face the car. What you see disturbs you even more than the pair of eyes; their owner. It’s a huge lion, but something is off… As it charges you, you see what was off; it has bat wings and a scorpion tail! What the fuck is this bullshit! is all you can think before it swats you with its paw. You fly a good 10 meters before slamming knee-first into the ground with a sickening CRACK! You scream in agony as your right thigh feels like it is on fire. Dizzy with pain, you manage to dodge the lion-thing’s tail as it digs harmlessly into the ground where you were moments ago. As it struggles to get its tail out of the ground, you see your opportunity. Raising your plasma cutter, you fire. The monster howls in pain as it is bathed in the greenish venom from the severed tail. Not thinking twice, you aim for the creature’s neck and with a pull of the trigger the creature goes limp, its head rolls to the ground in a bloody mess. You manage to stumble back to the car. Hope, having seen the entire thing, was streaming with tears. “It’s ok, it’s all over now,” you say as you try and comfort her in your arms, ignoring the severe pain in your right leg. At least, I hope it is, you think to yourself. Know that the fresh kill will attract more predators; you look in your first-aid kit for some medical tape and resin. Finding the items, you MacGyver a rough cast for your leg, start your car, and head off to try and find a new place to stay. Nearby You are trudging through the forest, staying as close to the ground as possible. Hoping that the human won’t hear you sneak up on him. Ever since you detached from the underside of his vehicle you have been waiting for a chance to strike. Moving ever so quietly through the undergrowth, you get to the clearing. The human is gone! In his place though is a large decapitated beast. You do not know the species but think, this will suit me for my purposes for now, as you make your way out of cover toward the thing. But as you get to the edge of the woods you hear voices coming from you left. Not wanting to blow your cover, you quickly get back into the bushes just as six… horses approach the carcass. You can see that two of them are unicorns, one a lavender color and the other the brightest shade of white you have ever seen, both have a deep purple mane, above them are two winged horses, one is a light yellow color and the other was cyan with a multicolored mane. Then, one of the flying ones set down next to the carcass, she obviously upset and begins crying. An orange horse with a Stetson begins to comfort her, and an overly hyperactive pink horse is singing. The other three are just standing there, obviously dumbfounded by the fresh kill. Then, they all look up toward the sky. As you look up to see what they are looking at, you then see an even odder sight, two larger Pegasus/unicorn things arriving in a chariot. As they exit the chariot you see that one has a flowing, multicolored mane and is as white as the other unicorn; the other was a complete opposite, having a mane as black as night and a body equally as dark. As they begin to talk you climb the nearest tree to hear what they are saying. As you climb you think of how you will spread your kind across this oddly pastel-colored world. First, I need to find a suitable host… preferably one that is dead, I don’t want to get myself killed over live prey. As you go through your plans, you know that those two Pegasus/unicorn creatures are going to become a problem, no matter how much you plan around them. You finally reach the higher branches of the tree, and climbing to the edge of one of the thicker branches, you listen in on their conversation. “…. But I am sure whatever killed this manticore had a reason, Princess!” the cyan Pegasus was arguing with the larger unicorn/Pegasus thing. “I’m sure they did Rainbow, but that does not negate the damage that whatever did this can cause! The fact that whatever did this has weapons capable of decapitating a fully grown manticore means that it is an obvious threat and must be dealt with as such!” the princess said. “Listen to Celestia, Rainbow. Think of who could be next!” the lavender one said. Intrigued, you move in closer. There could be useful information in this argument. The branch creaks a bit as you shift your weight. Freezing, you see that all of the creatures stopped what they were doing and looked in your general area, scanning for the source of the noise . Not wanting to be discovered before you can launch your plans, you retreat hastily but quietly into the forest, remembering distinguishing features to find your way back later. After about 10 minutes of sneaking through the forest, you find a cave; it’s cold and wet but livable. After checking for anything that might harm you while you rest, you lie down for the night. Losing most of the original host’s skin meant that you could not sleep due to lack of eyelids, so you just lay there thinking. It’s funny. I shouldn’t be able to formulate these complex plans. Most infectors like me can only infect, much less think about what kind of necromorph they want to make. How did I get this intelligence? The person that hosts me wasn’t all that smart. Am I a mutation? Or are there still remnants of my host left in me? You feel enraged as all of these questions ramble through your mind unanswered; completely forgetting what you were thinking about earlier; you just want to kill. As if on cue a zebra with lots of bracelets and other jewelry comes into view, obviously oblivious to your position in the cave, she, at least you think it’s a she, gathers up some flowers and other herbs. Perfect, is your only thought before you strike. Near the orchard You arrive at the orchard after the very long detour to avoid the town. Parking your car, you get your first good look at you broken femur. It is still bleeding, not as much now, but still bleeding. You can also see that your make-shift cast didn’t turn out so well after all. Seeing that it won’t hold for much longer you know that you best bet is to try and find a hospital or medical clinic, but the risk of this town being hostile was too great so you dismiss the idea. Your experiences back on Earth caused you to become a bit paranoid of towns, there were so many Unitology cultists that had tried to transform you into a necromorph to help trigger the convergence event. Needless to say, you did not want any of it, so you escaped and booked it out of there with Hope, who always managed to stay hidden in the truck. Looking at the sun, you see that it is close to four in the afternoon. Perfect time to start collecting dinner. You would have used the rations you have, but the promise of fresh produce was irresistible, plus you wanted to save those in case of emergency. Before you head to the orchards, though, you collect some firewood for the night. When you return, however, you see that Hope is not where you left her. Panicking, you search the area but cannot find her. On the verge of tears of sadness for your lost daughter, you go over to the truck. What you find makes you heart drop. Hope is hiding in the back of the truck with a terrified look on her face. Walking up to the back of the truck and crawling into the bed next to her, you say, “Why are you hiding in the truck? I thought you hated lying in the back.” “I heard voices nearby and got scared.” “Voices, eh? Do you know what they were saying,” you say, testing your daughter’s hearing ability. “Well there were two voices, one from a girl and one from a boy, but the boy only said, ‘Eeeyup,’ and, ’Nope,’.” “Hmmm… and what did the girl have to say?” “She was saying something about a ‘manticore’ being killed and a princess sending guards to hunt down whatever killed it,” she said, obviously not understanding how important this information was to our remaining hidden. “Ok, that was very good. I am proud of how well you can hear,” you say, hiding your growing concern over the fact that you were being hunted. You then tell her to stay in the car before you head out to the orchard. You look at the sky. It is growing dark. The darkness will prove useful for escaping anyone that might happen upon you stealing the produce. As you stalk through the forest, you see some beautiful blue flowers near the ground, but you think better than to trust a mysterious flower in a strange world. You reach a clearing as the ground inclines upward; gradually at first, but now it is getting steeper as you progress. When you reach the top of the hill you see a small grave. Distracted by your curiosity, you move closer to the grave. It looks new, for no new grass has grown back from where the ground was dug up. Leaning closer, you read the inscription on the headstone. R.I.P. Granny Smith A mother, a grandmother, a caretaker, a citizen, and a friend. We all miss you so much. Giving the grave a wide berth, you move on to the orchard in the valley beyond the grave. Upon reaching the first trees, you see that, much to your relief, some of the trees still have… apples. Yes, they are apples. Oddly, though, you see hoof-prints on the trunks of the trees, “This is one of the weirdest uses for horses I have ever heard of,” you mumble quietly to yourself. Horses had been extinct hundreds of years before you were born, but there were old documentaries that you had watched as a child about them. they had told you that humans had either worked them to death or made them into glue. Gathering as many apples as you can carry; you hurry back to the truck. The moon is up and full tonight, and you’d rather not be spotted in its bright light carrying a half-dozen or so stolen apples. When you get back to the truck, you find Hope exactly where you left her, hiding in the back reading one of the few books that you had found looking for supplies. You ask her to come outside to warm up around the fire you are trying to start. When the wood lights, you and her lie down next to it in silence and you give her a dinner of two apples, yourself taking only one. The Moon is high above when you finish your apple, which admittedly took longer due to the fact that you were savoring the delicious apple and you are deep in though about what has happened so far in this world, So far, I have been attacked by a... Manticore? Yes, the voice Hope heard called it a Manticore. You're being hunted by guards and are currently in hiding. This is going to be a rough time living here, you think You see that, in the middle of your eating and thinking, Hope has fallen asleep next to you. So, following her example, you lie down and drift off into a peaceful sleep.
Oddities-Author's note: sorry this chapter took so long, schools been a bitch to me. Hope you enjoy. The attack is quick; you leap from you rocky home at the zebra. It tries to turn from the flowers it is picking and run, but your strike is too fast to be evaded. Using the talons on your wings you begin to tear at its body, producing large gashes from which maroon-colored blood begins to pour. Seeing that your current strikes to the zebra’s back are not causing enough blood loss to take it down quickly, you move a talon to the underside of the zebra and begin to slash at its belly. After missing the first few slashes, your talon finally hits its mark, spilling the zebra’s stomach and intestines on the forest floor. With a second slash you cut the stomach from the esophagus, causing it to spill its contents to the ground. Howling in agony, it begins to draw a breath to call for help but you remove your talon from its back and cut off the zebra with a quick slash to the wind pipe. Seeing that you only have one talon latching on, it bucks you off of its back sending you to the ground with a Thud! You watch as the zebra begins to limp off into the brush. Not wanting to be hurt any more than you are, you follow behind at a distance, knowing that from all the injuries you inflicted your prey will soon bleed out. After a mere three minutes of tracking the zebra, you come upon it in a clearing. It has collapsed and was obviously going through cardiac arrest from blood loss. Moving closer you extend your proboscis and, with a quick strike, stab it into the zebra’s skull, releasing the DNA of a slasher into the zebra’s body. The transformation is slow, probably due to the lack of influence of a marker. It takes roughly an hour to transform and another hour before the new necromorph can stand and communicate with you through the series of grunts and screams you formed as a language. ‘Odd. I remember my kind forming faster, although, this one has learned how to communicate quicker than I could have ever hoped for!’ you think gleefully to yourself. Not wasting any time, you tell it that the two of you must remain hidden while you build your ranks to take over this new world. Near the orchard You slowly wake up, it’s just after dawn on your second day in this new world; or was it your third day? You can’t remember. You feel a warm breath on your side, and looking down, you see Hope curled up next to you. Quietly getting up you start to prepare a breakfast from the apples you picked last night. Eventually Hope wakes up to which you say, “Good morning sleepy head.” “Good morning daddy. You’re up early; you normally sleep until like noon.” “Well maybe I wanted a bright start to today; after all we are in a brand new world.” “Yeah, maybe this world is better than the last one we were in,” she says eating an apple. “That was the idea behind coming here,” you say matter-of-factly. “Maybe the people here are friendly! Maybe I could have some friends,” she says dreamily. “Whoa now,” you say cutting off her dreaming, “we still don’t know if the people here are friendly or not.” “Well maybe, but what if they are?” Hope had a point; you couldn’t judge this world to be like your old one. Sucking in your fear of towns, you decide to try and sneak a peek at it to see if it was friendly. “Tell you what, today I will go and look at the town. If it’s friendly we will go there. Sound good?” “Sounds good to me!” she says gleefully. You think it best to go see the town at dusk when there are more places to hide. But when dusk comes you’re scared shitless; you really don’t want to go to the town. You know, though, that Hope would be hurt if you didn’t even try; so, sucking in your fears, you begin the few mile walk to town. Walking along the path, with your plasma cutter at your side, you spot several outlying structures. To your right, about a mile down a path you can see a cottage made out of a….tree, with lots of animal stables around it. Not the oddest thing you’ve see, but it’s still on the list. Further along the road are some more normal homes and not much else. ‘Pretty boring town,’ you quietly think to yourself moving into the alleyways of the town. You move through the back alleyways to be able to see the town without being seen. The town itself is quite the opposite from the outskirts; it is colorful, even in the dark of night you can see that, the buildings each have a unique shape to it; one house looks like a gingerbread house, one is a Victorian-looking building, and another looks like it has been… dragged or pushed to its current location. The last home you come across is carved out of a huge tree. ‘What is with this world and odd uses for trees?’ you think, not noticing that you are being watched. It comes as a shock. The blinding light coming from the second story window completely illuminated your position in the shadows. A silhouette appears in a small window near the top of the tree. You stand stupidly like a deer in headlights as it just watches you, not moving or making any hint of intent. Suddenly you see a purple aura appear faintly in the window, followed by the same color aura appearing around your body, lifting your body in the air and moving toward the window. You’re panicking at this point, as you move closer to the window you can now make out more fine details on your kidnapper. Its head is a large circle with a single horn protruding from the forehead and almost elf-like ears. The window now opens and you’re pulled through it. You would have struggled but whatever is levitating you is also immobilizing you, and you are petrified of what horrors might lay beyond the window. The window frame passes by as you find yourself in a bedroom with books everywhere, a desk on the other side of the room next to two French-style doors leading to a balcony, a simple enough bed, a basket with some kind of purple and green fruit in it, and the most striking feature is a large plush unicorn standing in the middle of the room. You fall from the levitation spurt and quickly stand up, ready to face your captor, but you’re only met with a dumb stare from the unicorn plushy. Severely confused, you begin to search for an exit, and find it a few meters to your left, inlayed between some bookshelves. You make hast as you move to the exit, but you are met with the same force that brought you to this room; enveloping you and pulling back to where you were. On the way back you see a similar aura coming from the plushy, but you see now that the plushy is moving as its eyes are tracking you.Its sides are rising and falling with each breath it takes. It drops you on the floor again with a dull thud! “Ow! My leg! What the fuck? A plushy unicorn that can levitate things and is apparently alive. What was in those apples?” You say to yourself and subconsciously to the plushy to test its speaking ability. “Mmmphhhh!” the basket of fruit said…. Wait now the fruit is talking? This world is seriously fucked up. “Great, you woke Spike. Now I won’t have to wake him, making sending a letter to the princesses much easier," it says, thinking aloud. “Whoah, you can talk too? What the fuck is this place?!” “You’re in Equestria.” She said simply. The fruit in the basket was now beginning to move. “Where?” You say; the force field now holding you in place “Equestria; the home of ponies? Any of this ringing a bell?” “No, now let me go!” “No, you are seen as a threat to the welfare of Equestria and her residents.” “Why?” you say realizing you could move your arms. “Because you k…killed a manticore.” Her voice obviously shaken and the word ‘killed’. “Oh, is that what that thing was? In my defense, it attacked me first and the bastard broke my leg.” You say trying to keep her distracted while you slowly reach for you plasma cutter. “Yo, Twi what is the racket about?” The fruit was now standing. Now you see that it isn’t fruit but rather a dragon! “Spike, send a letter to the princesses saying I have cap…” Her voice was cut off by your plasma cutter hitting her in the head. “Twilight!” the dragon yelled. Now that the unicorn is unconscious you are released from the force field; landing on the floor you run as fast as you can with your broken leg down the stairs and out the door, leaving the shocked dragon in the tree-house. Limping as fast as you can see all the lights in the town are turning on and plushy horses are at their windows trying to see what the ruckus is. This only encourages you to limp faster and faster through the town. You soon reach the edge of the town and make a bee-line for the forest, only to be smashed into the ground by another one of the stupid plush horses. You turn over to face your aggressor only to catch a glimpse of a cyan-colored pegasus with a rainbow mane, before it jumps on top of you. “Who and what are you and why are you here?” it screams at you. You ignore her question and, using your free hand, grab it and throw it off of you. This only caused it to charge you through the air, but you were ready for this charge. You ready yourself for an impact as the pegasus charges you. As it comes in arm’s reach, you bring your fist down on its head, smashing it into the ground unconscious. You look up to see some more plushy horses gathering in the center of town with lanterns, obviously a search party. ‘Good god they assembled fast! But it looks like they don’t have guns. That’s a relief,’ you think as you turn toward the woods once more, this time you make it without incident. Heading back to camp, you gather your thoughts and formulate what you learned. “O.K. so the predominate species is a race of plushy-looking horses, and from what I gathered they think I am a hostile and want me captured. They can levitate items, talk, fly, and they have princesses, meaning they have a monarch-type government. There are also dragons in this world, unknown full size but the sound of its voice meant it probably was a youngling. The lack of firearms in the search party also meant that these horses were anti-war types, or just not technologically advanced….” You mumble to yourself as you trudge through the woods toward your camp site. The lights of your pursuers are far off in the distance, heading away from your camp. Arriving at camp, you find Hope asleep in the front seat of the truck. You take a moment to take in the cuteness of her curled up on the passenger side of the truck. Grabbing a blanket from the back of the truck, you lay it across her and your legs as you drift into sleep after the long day. When you wake, the sun has just finished its trip over the horizon, still low in the sky. Hope is still curled up next on the passenger side. You feel the warmth of happiness, instead of having to worry about necromorphs or crazy old men or even the bloody Unitologists, you only had to worry about some crazy horses that couldn’t even put up a fight. You step out of the car, careful not to wake Hope, and take in the crisp morning air. Hearing a rooster cry in the distance, you take that as your cue to wake Hope. After telling her about what you found out last night, you head off to the orchard to collect breakfast. When you collect a good sum of apples, you head back to camp, but when you reach the hill with the grave on it, you hear a cry for help. You feel panic, anxiety, and dread hit you like a freight train as you recognize the source of the cry. Hope…… -Quick apology if you don't agree with me on pony anatomy, or if Zecora was your favorite pony.
Judge, Jury, and Exicutioner-if your favorite pony dies in an unsatisfactory way, I apologize in advance You drop all of the apples you were carrying and hobble around the hill into the woods near camp, knowing that showing yourself suddenly could cause the entire situation to go to hell… if there is still a situation. Continuing, you still hear a whimpering and voices but you are still too far away to understand what they are saying. You take extra care to avoid downed branches so as to not alert the entity causing Hope to scream. I need to hurry, you think as you almost forget to ready your plasma cutter. Pulling it out, you sneak through the woods behind the truck until you see a clearing through the foliage. Taking inventory of the situation, you see several gold-clad pegasi surrounding the area, in the middle of the clearing there is the unicorn from last night along with five others you didn’t know, two more pegasi, another unicorn, and two normal ponies, and two more ponies, each larger than the others. They both had wings and horns, and atop their heads were tiaras. So these are the princesses the purple one was talking about. You can see Hope being restrained by one of the armored pegasi, with the two larger ones talking to her. Not good, I need a good distraction so can grab Hope get in the truck and go, you think as you move closer to the scene. You hear a sharp CRACK! “What was that?!” a white guard in bright purple armor yells. “Fuck…” “You two! Go check it out,” he commanded. “Yes, sir!” they saluted. “Not good,” you mutter, trying to find any means of concealing yourself. Settling on the tree above you, you begin to climb. You can hear the two guards coming closer, as you position yourself above where you just were. They come into view and begin to sweep the area for any sign of your presence. You smile as they return to their commander empty handed… “Hi there!” you freeze as a super high pitched voice says from behind you. You turn to see a pink pony mere inches away from your face. The shock causes you to lose your balance and fall down on to the two guards. The fall caused the splint on your leg to break, sending several splinters into your leg. The guards grab you with the same force field as the purple unicorn did last night and bring you into the clearing. “Found what the noise was. It was another one of those things.” “Well, well, well; what do we have here? “ The one in purple armor started, “Who are you supposed to be?” “Like I’ll tell the asshole trying to kidnap my family,” you retort, gesturing to the entire company. “Shining, make sure to restrain its appendage, that’s how it got away last time.” After that being said a dark purple glow came from Shining’s horn and enveloped you… including your arms. “Now, what makes you think we were kidnapping? We were arresting her for the death of the local zebra, Zecora.” You simply sigh, "Do you really think that she could kill anything? I didn’t kill the zebra either… the only thing I killed was a manticore.” “Likely story, manticores are nearly impossible to kill, let alone by a stick like yourself,” Shining retorted. “If you want I can show you how and why I did it.” “You can tell us.” “Do you want your brain to explode from information over load?” You bluffed “No…” he said slightly confused. “Then you will let me show you… don’t worry no one will be killed in my little demonstration.” “Ok…. No funny business now.” He said releasing you from the field. Slightly surprised he fell for the trick, you pretend to demonstrate. “Ok I’ll need everyone to move away from that tree,” you say pointing to a thick tree next to where two guards were standing. They reluctantly move away from the trees, but as they pass by you grab one around the neck and Spartan-kick the other to the ground next to Shining. “Hey! You can’t do this to a royal guard!” the captured stallion protested. “I am from another world. Your laws mean nothing to me, and in my books you tried to kidnap my daughter.” “You won’t get away with this!” Shining yelled. “On the contrary, you see, I still haven’t shown you what this does,” you say, gesturing to your plasma cutter. “Fine, what do you want?” “I want the immediate release of my daughter, and to be left alone.” “Thou shalt not be left alone for thine crimes!” the navy blue Pegasus/unicorn shouted. “You don’t have much of a choice.” “Do I get a say in this?” the guard in your grasp pleads. “No, now let’s get one thing clear; I did Not kill that zebra. I only killed the manticore and that even was in self-defense. The bastard broke my femur,” you say lifting you pant with your plasma cutter hand, showing the discolored appendage. “If you didn’t kill Zecora then what did?” “I do not know all I know is I still haven’t gotten my daughter back and my trigger finger is getting really itchy right about now.” “Oh sweet Celestia no,” the unhappy pony prayed. “Daddy…” Hope, who had been released because the guards were too busy surrounding me. “Hope, get in the truck. Please, I don’t want you to have to watch.” “But… Daddy… don’t… please,” she almost to tears now. “No buts; now get in the truck,” after you say this, she sulks back to the truck and gets in the driver’s side. “Well, it seems one of my demands have been met,” this brought a sigh of relief for the guard ponies. “But… now how about my second request?” “Can’t we just talk this out?” one of the ponies that weren’t guards or princesses said. “Didn’t think of that when you tried to take custody of Hope now did you?” “My little ponies are right, surely we can settle this through diplomatic means?” the white princess asked. “None of your political bullshit can persuade me… and don’t call me Shirley.” “I never called you Surely. And…” Her sentence was cut off by an ungodly groan coming from the forest. It not only shocked you to hear it, but the realization came that this entire world is damned. It came out of the bushes opposite the princesses. You have hardly any time to react as the blades of the slasher, pierced the pony you are holding. He let out a blood-curdling scream as the necromorph ripped open his bowels, spilling his guts on the ground. You drop the pony as the slasher viciously attacked the poor pony. Observing the scene, you notice that the slasher is pony-shaped and has black and white stripes on its disfigured body. Your observations were disrupted as the slasher, satisfied with its work, turned to you and charged. Your reflexes this time beat it, though, as you quickly took off its legs and blades, killing it. To be sure, though, you proceed to walk over to it and curb-stomp its head, which burst into a million bloody pieces. “Sweet Celestia,” Shining said as he galloped to his fallen comrade’s side. “Private! Stay with me! Private stay awake! NO!!” Shining shouted as his soldier slowly died in his hooves. “You may want to move away for this next part,” you say to the grief-stricken commander. “What are you going to do?” “Make sure he doesn’t turn into one of them.” “What, why? How?” he said slightly intimidated. “That thing was a necromorph; their only purpose is to kill everything living that isn’t one of them. That’s why I came here, some crazy people worshiped the thing that made the original necromorph, and they got loose and overran the entire planet, killing my entire species. The only way to make sure that he cannot be turned is to destroy the corpse beyond reconstruction. The necromorphs are highly durable even being able to withstand decapitation, burning, and extreme blood lose without even flinching. Furthermore, this necromorph seems to be one of the advanced forms.” “Meaning?” “Meaning, this necromorph was created by an infector, they are the ones that stay back from the fighting and turn any viable corpses into new necromorphs, but also are extremely dangerous up close. “ “That sounds awful,” the white unicorn/Pegasus said. “Oh no, there are more types of necromorph than I care to count, but they all have several things in common… they are all smart, deadly, tough, and fast.” “How did you survive?” the purple unicorn from last night asked. “By showing no mercy and trusting few.” “That’s no way to live.” “No… it’s the way to stay alive.” “By living in a world of isolation? What happened to love what happened to friendship?” “It died with everyone else in my world. The only love I have is for my daughter, everyone else is just a liability.” “That’s not true.” “Is that so? Have you ever seen entire cities, with millions of people, become deserted in a matter of hours with no survivors?” “No…” “Have you seen governments lie to the populace’s face as everyone around them died?” “No…” “Have you had to kill the only one you have ever loved just to survive?” you subconsciously start to move toward the quivering unicorn. “No…” “And have you ever had to watch your world burn with a fire that will and can never be extinguished?” you are towering over her at this point. “No…” You pick her up by the scruff of her next, like a dog would its pup, “Then when you witness all of these things and still have friends, come back and we will have this conversation again.” “Hey! Put my sister down!” the commander yelled at you, crouching in an attack position. “Oh fuck off Shinny. You would have done something by now if you were any sort of soldier,” he obviously was shaken either by your use of a nick name or your assault on his honor as a soldier. “All right I have seen enough,” the white princess said. “Seen enough of what? How I am when I’m angry… This isn’t angry, this is annoyed, but right now you are pushing angry.” “No, I’ve seen enough to know that you are a danger to my little ponies and need to be detained immediately,” she said stoically. “Ohhhh,” you say like your scared, “I so scared. A white princess thinks I’m a danger and wants me detained. If you were as caring as you think you are you’d have done something to help the private over there. As far as I’m concerned, you’re no better than the rulers that lied to a dying man’s face.” That was the last straw for her. She jumped at you, horn glowing and wings flared. You dodge but drop the crying unicorn from your grasp. She obviously saw the opening from your dodge for she fired a magic bolt right at you, hitting you square in the chest, and sending you sprawling on your back. She then flies up and lands over you. Pointing her glowing horn straight at your face. You quickly hit her in the head, sending her aim awry. The tree that the bolt hit nearly hit the truck. She then realigns for another shot, but you grab her head to be sure she couldn't get another shot on you. You struggled to keep her head from blasting you into oblivion. Just as she was about to get on target, you raised your good leg and shoved her off of you. She regained her footing and charged as you got up. You again dodge her attack just in the nick of time. She turned again and charged but you were ready for her this time. Side-stepping her attack, you grab her horn at the tip, and giving it a hardy yank, sent her sprawling to the ground. Limping to her dazed form, you grab her horn yet again. Lifting her up, you address the audience to the fight. "I'll ask you again. Will you leave my daughter and I in peace?" The purple one stepped up to speak, but the cyan pegasus beat her to the first words, "You're crazy if you think we'll give in that easily!" "Wrong answer," you reply grimly. You slam the pony in your hand into the ground, effectively disorienting her. Raising your plasma cutter, you deliver three swift shots that severed her horn. She began to scream in pain, trying to massage her missing appendage. Taking advantage of her weakness, you take her severed horn and, pining her on her stomach, stab the horn into the base of the pony's skull. She was still squirming after that, so you stomp the horn all the way into her spinal chord. This was the final blow that killed her. You talk one last look at your work before you turn back to the others. Only to be greeted by a punch to the face by the cyan one. You feel her punching your chest before you slip into unconsciousness. When you awake, you find yourself in a cage on a carriage with two guards pulling it. You here a soft sniffle next to you. You look down to see Hope next to you; her eyes are blood-shot from crying, but she had a twinkle of joy in her eyes as she looks up at you. “I thought you were dead,” she says into your shirt. “Not while I still have someone to care for me,” you say to your child. “What are they going to do to us?” “I don’t know baby; I don’t know…” “Daddy…?” “Yes Hope?” “Will you sing me a song? One that you and mommy used to sing together.” “All right, but don’t expect anything good. Here goes nothing,” you say as you think of a song. Deciding on one you begin to sing. “A long long time ago I can still remember how That music used to make me smile And I knew if I had my chance That I could make those people dance And maybe they'd be happy for a while But February made me shiver With every paper I'd deliver Bad news on the doorstep I couldn't take one more step I can't remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride But something touched me deep inside **The day the music died** So Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey in Rye Singin' this'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die Did you write the book of love And do you have faith in God above If the Bible tells you so? Now do you believe in rock and roll? Can music save your mortal soul? And can you teach me how to dance real slow? Well, I know that you're in love with him Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym You both kicked off your shoes Man, I dig those rhythm and blues I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck With a pink carnation and a pickup truck But I knew I was out of luck The day the music died I started singin' Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey in Rye Singin' this'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die Now, for ten years we've been on our own And moss grows fat on a rolling stone But, that's not how it used to be When the jester sang for the king and queen In a coat he borrowed from James Dean And a voice that came from you and me Oh and while the king was looking down The jester stole his thorny crown The courtroom was adjourned No verdict was returned And while Lenin read a book on Marx The quartet practiced in the park And we sang dirges in the dark The day the music died We were singin' Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey in Rye Singin' this'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die Helter skelter in a summer swelter The birds flew off with a fallout shelter Eight miles high and falling fast It landed foul on the grass The players tried for a forward pass With the jester on the sidelines in a cast Now the half-time air was sweet perfume While sergeants played a marching tune We all got up to dance Oh, but we never got the chance Cause the players tried to take the field The marching band refused to yield Do you recall what was revealed The day the music died? We started singin' Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey in Rye Singin' this'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die Oh, and there we were all in one place A generation lost in space With no time left to start again So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick Jack Flash sat on a candlestick Cause fire is the devil's only friend And as I watched him on the stage My hands were clenched in fists of rage No angel born in Hell Could break that Satan's spell And as the flames climbed high into the night To light the sacrificial rite I saw Satan laughing with delight The day the music died He was singin' Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey in Rye Singin' this'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die I met a girl who sang the blues And I asked her for some happy news But she just smiled and turned away I went down to the sacred store Where I'd heard the music years before But the man there said the music wouldn't play And in the streets the children screamed The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed But not a word was spoken The church bells all were broken And the three men I admire most- the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost- They caught the last train for the coast The day the music died And they were singing Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey in Rye Singin' this'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey in Rye Singin' this'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die” As you finish the song, you here Hope snoring softly; you take this as a cue to fall asleep yourself as the sun sets over the horizon. Author's Note -well shit hit the fan in this chapter. Hate all you want but I didn't leave you with too bad of cliff-hanger did I? also I would like some new cover art, so if someone is willing to make something or send me a link to something it would be much appreciated I hope the edited fight scene is better now :)
Torment me no longer-I'm baaaaAackckck There is a heavy Thump; as the carriage lands in the courtyard of a large castle. You didn’t sleep much throughout the night, but Hope slept like a rock, not waking once through the flight. “Hope, wake up. We’re here,” you say softly. “Mmmph, five more minutes daddy…” she says not even opening her eyes. “UP AND AT OUT PRISONERS!” a guard shouts while he prods you with a spear. You slowly get up and carry Hope out of the carriage, slightly wincing from being poked. You groggily follow the really loud guard as you notice a second chariot near the entrance to the castle, to which you were being led. “Where are we?” Hope asked; just now opening her eyes. You try to read the inscription; fighting fatigue, “The…Castle….Anthrax?” “Quiet! We are at the castle of the princesses,” the guard shouts back at you. “Could you possibly be a little less hostile? This situation sucks as it is and I don’t need you bustin’ my balls every five seconds,” you retort back. “How do you expect me to react to a monster that killed my princess?” the guard retorts. “I would come back with something witty and mildly humorous to say, but I’m tired and I have an observation. Why are you the only one bringing me to wherever we are going?” This makes the guard think, obviously he doesn’t know why he was the only guard to bring an incredibly dangerous being into the castle. He manages to stutter out a bluff. "There are more Pegasi guards high above, watching your every move!" "You do realize that it is clear skies right now?" "Oh, umm..... Just keep moving!" he says, jabbing you with his spear again. You do as he said, moving into the two gargantuan doors. As you enter the grand room, you marvel at the ornate chandelier hanging from the ceiling nearly 10 meters above. The guard then motions for you to move to a door on the left of the large set of stairs that dominates the room. Passing through you see a dark winding staircase. As you begin your decent, Hope begins to feel really heavy, so you set her down from her position on your back, saying, "I need you to walk for now, Hope." "Is something wrong daddy?" "No," you say with a light smile, “you’re just getting so big, it's getting hard to carry you." "Oh, ok," she deadpanns. You walk to the end of the corridor in silence. The only noise is the clopping of the guard’s hooves on the cobble stone. As you near the end of the corridor, the guard gets around you to open a cell on your right. Once it is open he manages to get out a quick order to get into the cell, and you walk in. The cell is dark, the only source of light being a small arch window near the ceiling. In the corner to your right there is a small bed maybe big enough for Hope, and on the opposite side of the room from the bed there is a desk with a figure writing something at it. "Hello?" you ask. "Great Scott! I know that voice!" the figure says, could it be? No.... The figure turns as if to confirm your suspicions, and sure enough it is the professor guy that got you here. "What're you doing here?" you question as Hope clutches to your leg. "Same as you, trying to start anew in this world, but, as you can see, I was arrested for reasons beyond me." "When were you arrested?" "This morning in fact, I was working in a house that I was staying in and all of a sudden, there were guards on my front porch." "I may have something to do with that actually," you reply sheepishly, "you see this world's ruler and I got into a bit of a disagreement, I provoked, she attacked, I killed her, and now here I am. My question is how did you get here?" "Well that explains a lot. But as to how I got here, I got here the same way as you. I was standing too close to the blast from your jump that I accidentally go sucked in, along with half of Haven." "Wow, were there any necromorphs in Haven still?" "Unfortunately yes, I was actually documenting where groups of them were centered, when you came in," he said showing us the desk, which had a map of what you assumed to be the world you were currently in, marked with one dot and three arrows coming from it. "The large dot is the main group." "How did you determine this?" "Mainly the missing ponies report in the newspaper I've been collecting over the past month or so." "Month? How long have you been here?" "A couple months, woke up near a town called Appaloosa, you?" "Ponyville, but I got here a few days ago, how has there been no major reports of disappearances?" "I guess it's because most travel is by foot... Erm hoof, and the towns are a good day's travel as the crow flies." "We need to warn these ponies about the necromorphs!" You knew this was the best course of action to save this world. "But how are we going to do that from this cell?" As if an answer to your question the cell door swung open, revealing a half-dozen guards. "The princess has requested your presence," the guard grunts spitefully. "Which one of us?" "You," he says, pointing his hoof at you. "Okay," you turn to Hope," listen honey, daddy is going to be right back, okay?" "All right, just try not to kill anything, you hear?" "Wouldn't dream of it," you say giving her a hug and a kiss on the top of the head. You feel shackles being placed around your hands as you leave the cell. You follow the guards through the twists and turns of the castle, but you managed to remember the way. Sooner than expected, you arrive at a giant set of double-doors easily measuring 5 meters each and decorated with an image of the sun and another of a moon. Upon entering, you see the large Pegasus/unicorn from yesterday, along with 6 other ponies, a few scribes, and a dozen or so guards with spears all trained on you. "I see security isn't an issue here," you say half-hearted, trying to make light of the situation. All you get is a stern look of confusion from everyone in the room. "Not much of a crowd either," you mumble to yourself. "What did you say?" The midnight pony asked. "Oh! Uhhh... I said why would such a crowd be needed." "Well, we are all here to determine your fate," the lavender one, whom you had probably emotionally scarrd, said. "My fate?" "Yes, and to clear something's up," the leader said. "Like what?" You already knew what she was going to ask. "Like who you are, what you are, and where you are from, along with some others." Dingdingding! We have a winner! "I guess I'll start with the first three questions, My name is Stan Weller, I am a human, scientific name Homo sapien, and hail from the planet Earth, well near it." "No... That can't be!" "What, is the matter your highness?" You're curious now. "Your kind are extinct!" Obviously not. "What do you mean?" "The power of the human's hatred and greed reached Equstria causing me to be transformed into nightmare moon. To keep something similar from happening we released a life form into to your universe so horrendous that it had been locked in Tartarus." This revelation caused your blood to boil. "So you're saying that you released the necromorphs on humanity?! Do you know how many people died?!" Had it not been for the restrains you would have her throat. "We didn't mean.." "Didn't mean what? To commit mass genocide on a species that you had never even met! To kill billions of innocent people over what a few did! In my world you would be killed on site for such a crime! Because of you, my daughter will grow up without a mother!" You calm yourself as tears start to form in your eyes, "but, as the saying goes, 'what goes around comes around'." "What do you mean?" The alabaster unicorn with the other 6 spoke up. "The necromorphs are here, and believe when I say, they will attack and they will kill you." Everyone in the room flinched, and murmurs began to spread among the guards. Something about you being the 'destroyer' coming to 'judge' them. The midnight one spoke up, "We will consider your warning but significant evident is lacking." "Significant evidence? What about the fucking private back in the forest, what about the disappearances? How are those not 'significant evidence'?" "Irrelevant. The question is not whether or not the necromorphs are in Equestria; but rather how do we get rid of them?" "How the fuck should I know? I just tried to survive! I never had time to think of a way to completely destroy them." "You will not us that foul language when talking to the princess," a guard to your left orders. You notice that it was the captain you had nicknamed 'shiny'. "Finally speakin' up shiny? I have a question for you now that you are here." "What is it?" he asks, trying to keep up a regal appearance, but you can see the apprehension in his body language. "Are you willing to sacrifice your life and the life of your soldiers to fight for the throne? Or, when the situation comes, will you turn tail and run?" "I will fight!" He stated proudly. "We'll see soon enough," You mumble. "I have a question," the lavender one says. "What is the weapon that you used in the princess?" "My plasma cutter? That thing has saved my ass on more than one occasion, it is normally used for surgery but with the right tweaks it cut through almost anything." "Why would you need such a thing when you could just use magic?" She inquired. "Magic? My species doesn't have magic. All we have is our minds and what we can make. In the thousands of years humans have existed, we have never relied on magic for anything." "Could it be possible that we look through your mind to find out about your race?" She asks. "That's a pretty bold request, given what I've done." "I just have to know," she begs. "If you think you can handle it, I don't see why not." "Why wouldn't I be able to handle it?" She asks with a cocky slur to her voice. "Oh, let's just say, some of my memories aren't the most pleasant." "What could be worse than that thing in the forest... And you?" "Lots of things, Miss Sparkle, lots of things." Everfree forest Your numbers have been growing rapidly since the necromorph group came from the west. They had numbers in the hundreds to begin with and have since doubled the number of necromorphs in your swarm. Before you had only had yourself and a few slashers; but now... now you have two hundred slashers, one hundred fifty puckers, one hundred ten infectors, a dozen brutes, and two dozen twitchers. You let out a call for some of the slashers and puckers to meet you; your plan was to have some them combine to form a tormentor. They come together in a jumbled mob. You take 10 of the more deformed slashers and two puckers with you into a clearing. You inject each one with a code that will turn them into the different parts of a tormentor, and then tell them to form a pile on the ground until the tormentor DNA could do its thing. You hole up in a tree to rest while the group is slowly transformed into one massive necromorph. The transformation seemed agonizingly long even though it took a mere twenty minutes. Your patience, however, was rewarded with a tormentor. It stands a good four to five meters from shoulder to claw and is nearly nine meters from head to the end of its tail. It quickly starts to gain its bearings and communicate. Well that's one problem down, you think as you see it already knows the language. Suddenly it runs into the forest. You try to give chase but the thickness of the foliage slows your pace to a crawl. You can no longer hear the crashing it makes when running through the forest, and soon you are next to it. It is just standing there looking over some brush that is too high for you to see over. You quickly heave your body up the nearest tree to see what it is looking at. What you see surprises you. It is a party of nearly twelve ponies walking through the forest with several burned out torches. After you see the main group pass, another small group made up of three fillies and a mare, one white, one orange, and one yellow, and a fuchsia adult pony with three flowers tattooed on its ass. The tormentor below you gave a grunt, signaling it found a target. You join it in crouching to spring upon the unsuspecting four-some of ponies. You say something to the tormentor that would haunt any sane mind. Sick em'. -no doubt I'm goin to hell now! As always point out mistakes in the comments
announcementHello! This will be a quick update for this story and my other project I am working on. First off, I will not be able to start chapter 4 until May 16, because of school and exams and stuff. Second, I would like to thank my editors, Pinkiepiepiper and Shadownamestro Thrid, I would like to thank all those who gave me feed back on how to improve, you know who you are. Fourth, I will be taking requests for crossovers you want me to do. Send me a pm or post in the comments. -Thank you for all your support. Even though the rating bar isn't the best at the moment, I'd say this story is a success!
