To say that getting to Canterlot Castle was easy is a major understatement.

In fact, the main garden in front of the castle was like running through a rotting maze from Hell.

The remaining mercs and ponies rushed into the Main Hall of Canterlot Castle, some collapsing on top of each other, some scrambling away to get clear. Heavy was backing himself slowly into the castle as his minigun tore through the charging undead. When the minigun clicked empty, Heavy put the weapon down and grabbed the doors, slamming them shut. Immediately, he pressed his hulking mass against them to keep them closed.

"Go! Get furniture!" Heavy ordered. The others all nodded and within seconds, came back with various pieces of furniture. After throwing it all together against the doors, the undead mass outside could be heard banging and scratching outside, making the doors jerk with their attempts to kick them down. With a sigh of relief, Spy withdrew a cigarette from his disguise kit, pulled a lighter from an inner jacket pocket, then lit the cigarette and gave a long drag.

"Well, that was a near disaster. Is anyone injured?" he asked, looking at his teammates and accompanying ponies. They all shook their heads 'No' as they panted for air, some collapsed to the floor as they panted. Timeless wiped some sweat from his forehead with a hoof as he gathered himself.

"Alright. So what do we do now?" he asked, looking to Spy.

"You need to see your superiors, no?" Spy asked. Timeless gave a simple nod in return. "Then Heavy and myself will accompany you and look for them. Medic and Sniper; would you stay here with the ponies to keep them safe?" Spy asked.

"You got it, mate. Timeless, do you know anywhere around here that's safe?" Sniper asked. Timeless scrunched up his face as he pictured a mental map of the castle.

"I think the safest place is the Pantry. No windows, and there is only one door to guard. Plus, there's tons of food if you're hungry." he said. He pointed a hoof down the hall to their left. "Pantry is that way."

"It is a plan then. Heavy, come." Spy said, gesturing for the Russian to follow. Heavy gave a nod and followed Spy and Timeless as Sniper, along with Medic, guided the ponies to the pantry.

"Wait a minute!" Twilight called out. "Let me go with you! I need to see the Princess to make sure she's alright." Twilight said, trotting up to Spy. Spy looked to Timeless who simply gave a shrug and turned to continue walking.

"If y'all go, then we go Twi. Us ponies stick together." Applejack said, the rest of her friends giving nods in agreement. Timeless gave an exasperated groan and turned to face them.

"God almighty ladies! It's safer if just us four go and you go with the others. If you all come with us, then there's a higher chance of being ambushed by whatever is lurking in here. Smaller number, better safety." he said, stamping a hoof to secure his point. Applejack frowned and knitted her eyebrows.

"And who put you in charge, mister know-it-all?" Rainbow Dash asked with a frown. Timeless simply pointed to the Celestial Guard patch on his vest with a deadpanned expression.

"I minus well be in charge here, seeing as how I have connections." Timeless said, his tone flat and annoyed.

"He has a point girls. Besides, I'll be fine!" Twilight chirped, trying to cheer her friends up. They all looked at her, then to each other. Finally, Applejack gave a sigh.

"Alright Sugarcube. But if anything happens, you come find us." she said.

"I'll remember that." Twilight said with a smile. Timeless face-hoofed and groaned.

"Can we please move on now?" he asked. With a nod, Twilight began to trot off with Spy and Heavy in two. Twilight's friends all rejoined Sniper and Medic as they continued on to the pantry.

* * *

The sounds of hoofsteps and foot falls echoed through the dark hallway. The only source of light that filled the halls was the moonlight as it spilled in through the windows, basking the halls in its' light blue hue. At times, there was hisses and clicks coming from the dark parts of the hallways, putting the two humans and two ponies on edge. The only casualty they came across was a Royal Guard, his back rigid and pressed to the wall.

Upon closer inspection, the guard was being pinned to the wall by a crossbow bolt that had been fired through his mouth and out the back of his skull, the steel tip embedding itself in the wall.

"He was bitten." Timeless said, raising the guards' limp foreleg with a metallic wingtip to show the swollen and infected bite mark. "He panicked and ate his bolt." he added quietly as he returned the foreleg to its' previous position.

"Come, we must press on." Spy said. As they walked, Spy sparked another cigarette, the smoke trailing behind him as they continued.

"Spy must stop smoking. Is bad for health." Heavy said in a low rumble.

"I have been smoking for about twenty years now. Nothing has come up in my medical check-ups." Spy countered.

"Not yet." Timeless added. "Smoking can-"

"I know what it can do." Spy said, cutting off Timeless. "But you must remember, I am allied with a combat surgeon who can use a machine to heal a blown off limb. He is practically a saint." he added.

"You speak highly of him." Twilight noted as she walked beside him.

"That man, although his methods are very questionable, has saved my life more times than I can count. But not only mine, but the lives of everyone else as well. Without him, I doubt he'd be able to win half our battles." Spy said, looking down to Twilight. "He's a good friend and an excellent teammate."

"We're coming up on their private study. If I'm remembering my orders correctly, once I have gathered my intel, I am to report to the study to show them what I've gathered." Timeless said as he picked up his pace from a walk to a steady trot.

"You never told us what you were looking for anyway." Spy said.

"All will be known soon enough." Timeless replied. Once they had reached the doors to the Princesses' private study, Timeless gave a series of knocks on one of the doors. There was a click, and the doors swung back, allowing them entrance. Directly ahead of them laid Celestia and Luna, their forms surrounded by small mountains of books and volumes. Both sisters had their muzzles buried within the tomes before them, turning page after page. Timeless stepped up and cleared his throat.

"Celestial Guard Timeless Toaster reporting as ordered, your highness." Timeless said in a professional tone. "With me are Princess Twilight and two mercenaries we picked up in Ponyville." he added. Celestia and Luna looked up from their searching and gave looks of relief. Celestia stood and gestured for them to approach. Twilight trotted up to her mentor and gave Celestia a relief-filled hug.

"I'm glad to see that you two are alright." Twilight said with a smile.

"As are we, Twilight. Our protection spells are strong enough to keep the undead at bay." Celestia said, looking up to Spy and Heavy. "And, who might you two be?" she asked, curiosity glimmering in her eyes as she scanned them over.

Spy gave a light bow as she spoke. "I am Spy, madam. My teammate here is Heavy." Spy said, giving a small gesture to the hulking mercenary. Heavy gave a grunt as he folded his cannon like arms across his chest.

"Hello big pony." he said simply. Celestia raised an eyebrow and looked to Timeless for an answer.

"I met them with Princess Twilight in Ponyville. They, along with the rest of their team, managed to help a group of civilians escape Ponyville." Timeless said giving a shrug. "Pardon my language, but they kick ass." he added. Celestia looked back to Spy and Heavy with a grateful smile and bowed deeply to both of them. Spy and Heavy exchanged glances of slight confusion at the bowing, neither of them used to this sort of treatment.

"Thank you both for saving Twilight and the others. May I ask, how many of there are you on this team?" she asked.

"There are seven others, all of varying skill and lethality." Spy said grimly. But, before Celestia could continue, Timeless cleared his throat.

"Uhm, ma'am? But wouldn't you like to hear about my findings?" he asked, patting his saddlebags. Celestia nodded firmly and turned to Luna, who's horned flared up with a telekinetic spell to clear away a nearby table. Once cleared, Timeless placed his bags on it and opened one of them, dumping the contents within. Bones, photos, a journal, a pencil, and some spirit charms clattered to the table. Timeless sorted through it all, chuckling at Twilight's face of disapproval.

"Something the matter, Princess?" Timeless asked with a smirk.

"Your lack of organizational skills is very bothersome. How has nothing been damaged or lost in there?" Twilight asked. Timeless simply shrugged once again, giving Twilight no answer. Twilight frowned and rolled her eyes at this gesture and pulled aside a photo to examine it.

"So Timeless. What have you found in your travels?" Luna asked, placing her hooves on the table.

"About three months ago, I was assigned to an investigative mission to seek out the source of some odd magic near Vanhoover. When I arrived, I asked the locals some questions, and they told me that an evil force was dwelling within their boneyards, and that I should not anger it. One night, I staked out one of their graveyards and waited for hours before anything interesting happened." Timeless said, opening his journal to the first page. "July twenty-fifth, three forty-four in the morning. A weak magical energy entered the graveyard in the form of a dark mist. Once inside, it hovered over the graves for about fifteen minutes. After the fifteen minutes were up, it simply dissipated. Five minutes later, skeletons began to rise from the graves, and began to shamble towards the graveyard gate. But due to the magics' weak nature, the cadavers simply fell to pieces right outside the gate." he read aloud, gesturing to the photo that Twilight was looking at.

"After Vanhoover, I got a tip that there were similar occurrences happening within White Tail Woods. The locals there have been reporting sightings of the dead entering their villages during the night, but with no attacks. When I arrived to one of these villages, they had already captured one of the zombies. One of the villagers told me that it was the previous mayor of the town, and that he had died two weeks before. I was allowed access to examine the subject." Timeless continued. He passed forward a photo of a unicorn buck. He had been in the process of decaying, one of his milky eyes dangling from the socket. "Upon examination, I found that it was the same dark magic that had been occurring outside Vanhoover. But this time, it was strong enough to fully reanimate, lasting three times as long as the Vanhoover skeletons."

"But what does this mean? How does it relate to the attack on Ponyville? Get to the point, please." Twilight said, annoyed with the story telling.

"I was getting to that, good lord woman." Timeless said with a roll of his eyes. Celestia and Luna both smiled at the light bickering and gestured for Timeless to continue. "I used one of my charms to entrap this dark magic within it to track down the source. After two months, I finally found it within the Everfree Forest." Timeless said. He pushed forward another photo, this time one of a weird looking altar of sorts. It was obsidian black and had a warped ape skull acting as a sort of crest above a slab of stone. "It seems that someone was using this altar as a magical amplifier. When I approached it, I found a sacrificial slab of stone, and that it was recently used due to the still drying blood splatters."

Celestia and Luna suddenly gasped and looked to each other, looks of horror on their faces. "What. What is it?" Timeless asked.

"Sister, you don't think...?" Luna asked worriedly.

Celestia shuddered and nodded. "I fear so, dear sister. The signs are all leading up to it." she said.

"Mind filling us in?" Spy asked. Celestia and Luna exchanged one more glance and nodded.

"When my sister and I defeated Discord, we went on a mission to eradicate any and all dark magic that he had brought upon the land. Our travels too us far and wide, and when we found the sources of the magic, they were originating from the same altar. One day, the magic led us to the Northern Tundra and to a ancient castle. When we entered, we were assaulted by necromantic magic. During our fight, we were forced to retreat into the main hall of the castle. Once within, we discovered the skeleton of a tall, ape like creature." Celestia said, looking to Heavy and Spy. "Much like you two." she added. Heavy's and Spy's eyes widened and they looked to each other in surprise. "When we approached to investigate, we were repelled by the same necromantic magic that had attacked us." Celestia continued, shaking heavily. Luna put a hoof on her sisters' shoulder.

"We had been told a name. One that still lingers within our minds." Luna said grimly.

"What was the name, Princess?" Twilight asked.

"Smert'." Celestia said darkly. Heavy gasped a bit in recognition of the name.

"You know it?" Timeless asked. Heavy nodded slowly.

"Da. In my language, Smert' is translated to Death. The Grim Reaper." Heavy said darkly.

"Smert' forced Luna and I to run from the castle. We had made plans to try and expel him from the land, but the duties of rebuilding Equestria took over and we had since forgotten about it." Luna said in an ashamed tone. "It seems that he has been able to build up strength over these many years." she added. Celestia looked up, her face solid.

"Timeless, I'm assigning you a new mission." she said.

Timeless groaned. "Please don't tell me..." he whined.

"Do not complain, this is your profession. Besides, you have back up in the event that things get overwhelming." Celestia said, nodding to Spy, Heavy, and Twilight.

"Don't worry Timeless, I can research advanced ways to repel and defeat strong magic." Twilight said with a smirk.

"Let me guess, we have to defeat Smert'?" Spy asked. The others all nodded in confirmation.

"Heavy does not like this, but Heavy never backs down from a fight." Heavy said, cracking his knuckles and popping his neck.

"I can help you research, madam Twilight." Spy offered.

"Thank you, that would be greatly appreciated!" she said happily.

"Alright then, looks like we have a-" Timeless began, but before he could finish the sentence, the doors exploded open and a pile of bodies tumbled within the study. Heavy and Spy turned and aimed their weapons at the bodies. From within the pile, a hand wrapped in batting tape punched up, followed by the rest of the body. Heavy growled and lowered his minigun.

"Scout!" he said with a frown. "Heavy almost killed tiny baby man!"

"Hey guys! Sorry ta' drop in in yous' like dis." Scout said with a chuckle. Spy sighed and folded away his knife, putting it in an inner jacket pocket.

"What are you all doing here?" he asked, looking to the other mercs as they stood up and brushed themselves off. From outside the hall, the surviving ponies all looked within at the bickering mercs. Soldier spoke up.

"We blasted our way through the zombies and found the others in the pantry! I even found some more bread!" Soldier said, patting the wrapped loaves of bread hanging from his belt.

"Idiot! We do not need another bread incident!" Medic said, slapping the back of Soldiers' head.

"It's for when I get hungry!" Soldier countered.

"Everyone inside." Celestia ordered. "We do not need to attract the presence of more undead here." she added. Without a second thought, the mercs and ponies all crowded into the study. The ponies bowed to the princesses upon seeing them.

"I assume you are the rest of Heavy's and Spy's colleagues?" Celestia asked. The other mercs nodded in confirmation as they gathered around the table.

"We can get to introductions later." Timeless said. "We start researching spells and tactics now. I'll fill the rest of you in on what we've been discussing." Timeless said.

"We can break off into teams and search the study. It's fairly large, so there should be something buried here." Twilight said. "Get some rest, princesses. We can take over from here." Twilight said. Celestia gave Twilight a light hug and sighed in relief.

"Thank you. Good luck everypony." Celestia said. With a nod, she and Luna both ascended up a flight of stairs to seek some rest.

"Okay everyone! I need three teams! Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie!" Soldier said, going into drill sergeant mode. The mercs and ponies all lined up into a single line with Soldier pacing before them. "We will find a way to beat the enemy! We will not give up! We will not surrender! We will go through every book and tear apart every book if we need to!" he said. Twilight seemed to pale at the last bit, grimacing at the images of torn apart books. "Alpha. You will search the north end! Bravo, the east wing, and Charlie, the west wing! Move out!" Soldier ordered. Everyone saluted and broke off into their teams, gathering in the areas assigned to them. As they did, Soldier took one of the bread loaves and bit into it, eating with a satisfied smile.

On the floor over looking the study, Celestia and Luna watched as the three groups gathered books and shared information amongst each other.

"Do you think they will find something?" Luna asked with a worried frown. Celestia closed her eyes and gave a small sigh before responding.

"I have faith in Twilight and her friends. These...mercenaries, however...I can only hope for the best from them." she said.

"If they managed to save Twilight and the others, then I'm sure we can expect good things from them. They seem nice enough." Luna said.

"I hope you're right, Luna..." Celestia said, giving a small yawn.

"Come sister, let us get some sleep." Luna said, leading Celestia down the hall and to the guest rooms.

Author's Note

Here you go guys! And explanation to what the hells' going on!
Figures it's a Necromancer BUT WHO CARES?!
Necromancer enemies are awesome anyway!
Hope you enjoyed!