Dead Rising: Off the World

Chapter 3 - Smile For The Camera----------

Frank West found himself walking towards the town. Ironically enough, it was so colorful, Frank literally needed sunglasses to proceed into the heart of the residential area. When he arrived at several houses, he saw no one around the place.

"Hello? Anybody there?"

Despite his efforts, no one responded. Apparently, he was in a ghost town, and he definitely hated ghost towns. It reminded him of Willamette; no life, but just the animated dead cruising around.

While he walked around aimlessly, he found an apple lying on the ground. Feeling eager to finally find some type of food, he reached out and grabbed it.

"At least there's some peace and quiet here. A great prize considering the fact that I just fought some insane dude..."

Frank took a bite out of the apple he picked up. An unexpected sweet taste filled him in, much to the photographer's joy.

"Shame that the person who farmed these ain't here."

However, just when he was about to take another bite, he heard a noise behind him. He turned around only to find nothing. When he decided to ignore it, another noise came from his right side. Frank desperately attempted to find the source of the noise, but failed multiple times. Finally, when the noise came out once more, Frank faked himself turning around, only to find himself face-to-face with...

'Another pony with big eyes... am I really dead or something?' thought Frank.

The small pony had a red mane with yellowish fur on it. Unlike the bigger Pegasus he had met earlier, this filly apparently had no tattoos on its a- er, flank. In a Southern accent, the filly spoke to him,

"W-What are ya' supposed to be, mister?"

Frank wanted to kick away the pony away while screaming curse words, but he knew that would be too sadistic. And judging by the voice and appearance, it was a very young female. The man replied,

"Ever heard of humans?"

"What's a... hoo-man?"

'That sounds really wrong, but whatever.'

"A human," said Frank calmly, "is a bipedal creature. We are advanced in technology, but we are destructive in nature. It'd be best not to hang out with me, kiddo."

The filly seemed to be surprised by the description, as she shivered at the thought of destruction. Attempting to change the subject with the new creature before her, the filly once again spoke up,

"M-Mah name's Applebloom! What's yer's?"

The photographer chuckled a little. It had been a long time since he actually introduced himself.

"The name's Frank West. Just your average freelance photographer. I've been through lots of... um, junk that made my life a little hard, but the odds were too small to prevent me from covering up big stories. Recently, I've covered the story behind Willamette, a city in-"

"W-Woah, woah there!" cried out Applebloom, "I don't understand a thing yer sayin'! Could ya' kinda summarize it?"

Frank found it hard not to smash the filly, but nevertheless, he kept his normal poker-face on and answered her wish,

"Basically, I've covered big stuff. My job is to find out the truth behind mysterious things and also take photos of them. You could consider me as one of the daring ones in life."

Applebloom had her mouth agape as he said this.

"So you uncover the truth behind things to prevent lies? That's so awesome!"

Frank didn't know what to say about the filly. First, she was afraid of the man. Now she seemed to be intrigued and curious of his overall reputation. He felt himself smiling proudly.

"I guess so. I guess so..."

However, a thought popped up in Frank's mind.

"Say kid, where did the rest of the peo- ponies go? I'm sure you're not the only one living here, right?"

Suddenly, he heard another feminine Southern voice cry out from a distance,

"APPLEBLOOM! STAY AWAY FROM THAT THING!"

He turned around to see an orange pony with a cowboy hat charging at him.

'Aw, crap. It's yet ANOTHER BIKER GANG HORSE?!'

Before he could think anymore of the topic 'ass', he rolled away from the pony. The orange pony slammed onto a cottage nearby. Applebloom cried out,

"APPLEJACK!"

'Go "eff" your family and yourself, kiddo.'

Applejack quickly went out of her stunned state and turned back to stare at Frank once more. This time, however, she did not charge; instead, she attempted to have a conversation with him.

"What in tarnation are ya', monster?!"

"Well, I- wait, did you just call me a 'monster'?"

The pony replied, "Well, duh! What else am 'ah supposed to call ya'?"

Frank coolly answered, "A human. Duh. And I was just answering what your relative-"

"Sister."

"Sister," Frank said while glaring at Applebloom, "was asking me. I had no intentions of harming her, and I don't see any reason why I should."

Just when Applejack tried to yell out something, another feminine voice cried out,

"Well you JUST HURT AJ, PUNK!"

Frank turned around only to find a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow mane floating. Behind her were several more ponies that he didn't recognize... except for a familiar yellow Pegasus.

"She tried to hurt me! It was in self-defense, hippy. Chill out, alright?"

The Pegasus fumed at this statement,

"A-A HIPPY?! I am Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in Equestria!"

Frank muttered loudly, "Hell, I'm sure that even Kent Swanson would beat the crap out of you..."

Just when Dash was about to tackle Frank, a purple unicorn sighed and walked up to him.

"U-Umm... please forgive the rashness of my friend here, but she's just loyal to her friends. My name is Twilight Sparkle."

The formal unicorn raised up a hoof. Frank stared intently at it, but decided that no harm could actually be done from just shaking it. He put his hand on the hoof and shook it.

"Frank. Frank West."

"Soooo... would you like to come to a more private area? I mean, the residents are actually quite intimidated by your appearance here..." Twilight chuckled nervously as her eyes darted around many cottages. Frank also looked around, noticing that there were actually a crapload of ponies observing him with fear.

"...Maybe."

Just when he finished, an energetic pink pony suddenly popped up right in front of his face.

"Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, and I wanna make a party just for you! You seem to be a strange creature! Ooh, those are some weird clothes you have there! I know the perfect ingredients for a cake that you will definitely, oh definitely love! I als-"

Frank interrupted Pinkie by pointing his gun, clearly annoyed by the sudden outburst. All of the ponies gasped, including a frightened Applebloom.

"Shut up, or I'm going to end your party of life."

The pink pony quivered slightly as the unknown object was pointed at her head. A white unicorn with a purple mane stuttered out,

"N-Now, t-that's quite r-rude of you! Don't you know how to be a gentlecolt?"

Frank rolled his eyes as he said,

"I'm a man, not a stupid horse with some weird tattoo on its ass."

At this statement, everypony gasped once more. Dash charged in, despite her efforts of not doing so. Frank saw the rainbow-maned pony attempting to attack him. However, much to the pony's chagrin, he jumped and kicked her using both of his legs and fell on his back. He did do it a little softly, but the pony still felt pain in her ribs. The yellow Pegasus cried out,

"Don't hurt her!"

"Fluttershy!" yelled out Twilight, "Don't try to do the Stare!"

'What the hell is the Stare? Is it some sexual thing?...' thought Frank. However, he soon found himself staring into Fluttershy's eyes. At first, he was frightened because of the possibility that she may possess him. But after a few moments later, he noticed nothing happened.

"...Umm, is something on my face?"

Fluttershy gasped as she fell back on her flank. The others gasped as well, much to Frank's confusion. When silence overcame the chaotic group, Frank suggested,

"How about we talk in a private place?"

Twilight nodded, "Perfect choice, Frank."

'Everything's going on a little too quickly... I guess this place is nuts.' thought Frank as he headed for wherever Twilight took him.

(Author's Notes)

Hey guys! The next chapter is going to introduce the Mane Six fully. Also, Frank is in for a little surprise after the next chapter... stay tuned!