Appletineby GleamingChaptersCutie Mark Crusader Zombie Hunters!Learning the BasicsDealing with BanditsRetrievalCutie Mark Crusader Zombie Hunters!Appletine:Cutie Mark Crusader Zombie Hunters “Today, I have an important announcement to make. I’m assigning a book report that is due next week where you will decide amongst yourselves on what book you’ll be writing about, in teams of no more than three if you choose to do so,” Cheerilee continued with her announcement, “So stay safe out there and make sure to read. See all of you next week!” she waved as her students trotted out of the schoolhouse. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle huddled up next to each other in a circle. “We’re gonna have to search around for a book, though I don’t believe that I have one.” Scootaloo shrugged her shoulders, unaware that she had a Daring Do book in her room. “Why don’t we borrow your Daring Do book?” Apple Bloom brought up, tapping her chin. “Rainbow Dash gave me that book, I’m not giving that up,” Scootaloo pouted and crossed her forelegs. “Well we need to find something. Sweetie Belle, what about you?” Apple Bloom quirked, raising an eyebrow and staring at her friend. “I don’t recall Rarity having any books, besides the one that Spike brought her and ate it. You don’t want to know how they got it out.” Sweetie Belle plugged her mouth with a stretched hoof to stop the flow of vomit from coming out. “The only option that we have is…” “Twilight’s library in her new castle!” the three adventurous fillies exclaimed together, they trotted away from the schoolhouse to the castle. As the sun’s light met the reflective surface of Twilight’s castle as it rose over the horizon above the hills, the light shined on the castle. They knocked on the tall doors that stood triumphantly before them, and Twilight swung the doors open with her magic. “Hey girls! What can I do for you?” Twilight asked, letting the three of them into the castle. She closed the doors behind them as they walked up the stairs to the library. The library’s book shelves were stocked with new books that Celestia sent to her the day before, to replace the destroyed books in her battle against Tirek. “We need a book to write a book report for, we’re desperate for any book that you have.” Sweetie Belle’s voice squeaked, flailing her forelegs around. “Anything that is not boring, of course.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes and thought of the list of boring books that Twilight would suggest. “Lucky for you that I have a vast collection of books to choose from,” Twilight pointed her hoof across the bookshelf, where they found books labeled from A-Z. “Thanks Twilight, we’ll take the last book under Z.” Apple Bloom turned her attention to a large book that had an infected red eye inside of a triangle on the cover; “Girls, give me a boost!” Sweetie Belle jumped on Scootaloo’s back, Apple Bloom climbed onto Sweetie’s back, and locked her hooves on the side of the book. She felt the weight of the book pull them down as their bodies swayed back and forth. The weight of the book caused them to all crash down on the floor below. “Are you okay?” Twilight asked in a concerned tone. “Yeah, we’re okay,” They quickly flipped through the contents of the book for something interesting, and a particular incantation came into the view, catching their eyes. Warn all who read this book, Forbid those who take a look This is not for the faint of heart This may be a work of art But many have not returned beyond this part “This is one weird riddle, Twilight do you know anything about this?” They all looked at Twilight, she smiled and her ears perked up. “It’s an incantation. They are similar to riddles, their sole purpose is to confuse ponies and have them go on a wild goose chase. Also, they can be activated using magic.” Twilight focused on the book, honing in on the center of her horn. A small magical orb resonated from her horn implanting itself on the page of the incantation, as the orb spun around on the open page and sealed itself inside. “You see, perfectly harmless.” The irony would soon come to bite her in the butt as a gust of wind blew through the library. Twilight shielded her eyes from the gusting winds as the increasing power from the orb expanded from the page and sucked the three Crusaders. The book closed automatically and left Twilight flabbergasted. “Oh my Celestia! Girls?! Oh no! I have to get them back!” Twilight ran to find her books of magic, specifically the books that can reverse what happened to the three fillies and bring them back. A hole in the sky spat the three fillies from the dark, grey clouds and they crashed down the hard ground below. They cracked some of the joints in their legs and necks to rid themselves of the pain, looking around the gloomy world around them. Rising up on their hooves, they scanned the area, only to see a pony with flesh hanging from her mouth, revealing her exposed jaw. “Ah don’t know where we are, but this is not the Equestria that we’ve grown up in.” Apple Bloom gasped as the pony approached them slowly, a low moan escaping her mouth. Scootaloo and Sweetie’s eyes peered at Apple Bloom’s attire: a baseball cap, a dark red shirt covering her chest, with a small purple bag on her back and navy blue jeans. “Apple Bloom, why are you wearing that silly outfit?” “We can worry about that later. Let’s just get out of here,” Scootaloo added as the rotting pony pounced down on her with its mouth wide open. Snarling and snapping her teeth at the young filly, planning to have her first meal in months. The sound of a gunshot rang in their ears as a speeding bullet penetrated through the zombie’s skull, leaving a hole where the bullet passed through and blood splattered on Scootaloo’s face. She tossed the zombie’s rotting corpse off of her, retaining the urge to vomit from its unpleasant stench. “Thanks for the help, who are you?” Scootaloo asked before getting up from the ground, leaving a small trace of dirt on her fur. A young girl with dark brown hair and a similar baseball cap to Apple Bloom’s made her way over to the three friends, picking up her bullet. She inserts the bullet back in the cartridge of her pistol and closed the bolt. “The name is Clementine, and those rotting corpses that are roaming around are zombies. I know that you girls don’t know me and are new to this world, but it’s better to trust someone than to thrive in an environment like this alone.” “Thanks for the offer, but my friends and I will discuss this to see if we can trust ya.” They huddled in a circle to speak privately. “I don’t think that we can trust this girl, we don’t even know her.” Sweetie Belle questioned, raising an eyebrow. “I have to agree with Sweetie on this one. Like Applejack always said, you can’t trust a horse with hay that you leave out in the open.” Apple Bloom added, agreeing with her friend’s previous statement. Scootaloo shook her head. “When it comes to old-fashioned sayings that don’t make a lick of sense, AB you’re the winner in that category for sure. Seriously though, if we give Clementine a chance and we get to know her better then we’ll be able to survive here. She said that nopony can thrive in an environment like this alone, especially a foreign environment. So, are you guys with me?” They looked at each other and back at Scootaloo, putting their hooves together and raising them high in the air. “Cutie Mark Crusader Zombie Hunters, YAY!” Clementine’s ears were ringing from the loud shouting that the three fillies made from the credo chant that they had done since they first met. “Hopefully I can get used to that.” They walked together to an empty house that was divided by a wooden picket fence. Clementine approached the fence and, looking through a small hole, she spotted three zombies chewing and ripping flesh off of a mare’s neck as she screamed from the pain. Her scream soon died out, after she had lost a huge amount of blood from her neck. “I hope that you ponies know how to use weapons.” Learning the BasicsLearning the Basics Clementine held onto the pistol tightly with the Crusaders in tow, sneaking through an opening in the picket fence. “Get down,” she whispered silently to the three fillies as she peered over the fence. They came through in the back yard, hoping to get into the house through the back door. But, blocking their path were three fetid ponies. The one closest to them, the one blocking the door most was a horrid display. One eye had rotted out of its skull, where they could see fragments of its brain. It’s jaw was hanging loosely on one side, the other side had been scraped along a hard surface. The other two were in similar conditions, one with its lower jaw completely broken, but attached, and the other with a missing arm and an oozing wound in its chest. They crouched down on their forelegs, moving slowly past the zombie ponies wandering around outside. Clementine moved stealthily behind one of the three zombies in front of the sliding door that lead to the backyard. Unbeknownst to the the rotting mare, Clementine pulled a knife from her saddlebag. She wrapped the knife around its neck, and pulled the struggling zombie close to her as it flailed its arms. She jabbed the knife into the creature’s neck as it attempted to gnaw at her, a river of crimson blood flowed from the neck, and Clementine pulled the knife out. “Oh my gosh, you just killed her!” Sweetie Belle screamed in terror, her mouth hung agape, staring at the display of absolute gore before her. Turning their heads to the source of the noise, the rotting corpses walked slowly over to Clementine and the three companions. They rushed into the house behind the sliding door and closed it from the inside, Clementine grabbed the door handle of the door and locked the door to prevent them from breaking in. “Those fuckers never learn to leave well enough alone.” “What did she just say?” Scootaloo asked, her curiosity piqued. “I think she said, ‘fucker.’" Sweetie Belle repeated, Apple Bloom cupped her hoof over her mouth. “What does fucker mean anyway?” “It means someone who fucks, I guess.” “What does fuck mean?” “It sounds like buck. So I’m going to assume it’s the same thing. Those zombies must be good at kicking things.” Apple Bloom joked, her two friends giggled silently at the joke. They walked into the kitchen, the wooden cabinets that used to stock cans of food and water were now left empty. Clementine reached into the refrigerator and swung the refrigerator door open, a can of beans was the only morsel that remained untouched. She clutched the can with her hoof and placed the can in Apple Bloom’s purple bag. Clementine kneeled down on one knee and said to them, “The key to surviving in an apocalypse is to scavenge as many items as possible, and know how to shoot a gun or use a weapon. I’m going to teach you those skills.” “Sounds easy enough, let’s go you fuckers!” Scootaloo exclaimed, raising her forelegs up in the air. “Scoots, language!” Sweetie and Apple Bloom said together, glaring at Scootaloo. “We’re going to wash your mouth with soap later,” Apple Bloom added, poking Scootaloo in the side with her hoof. “Let’s find a place to practice, follow me.” A shooting range came into their view behind a tall, metal fence with the top wrapped in barbwire and practice dummies to shoot at. The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Clementine walked around the fence, where they found a metal lock that locked the door. A sign on the door read: Closed for the day, do not enter. “How are we going to get in?” Sweetie asked. Clementine looked down at the bullets on the ground, picking up the bullets, and placing them in her bag. “Only way to get in there,” She popped the bullets into her pistol, reloading the bullets and taking a step back from the door. With a loud pop, the bullet exploded from the barrel of the pistol and quickly made contact with the metal lock. The bullet left a hole straight through the lock, and Clementine pushed the door open walking into the shooting range. The Crusaders gazed in awe at the huge assortment of guns on the wall: handguns, shotguns, assault rifles, and submachine guns. “Take your pick, girls.” Scootaloo jumped on top of a display case that was well lit by the light inside. A green moss covered the display case. It stuck to the bottom of her hooves before she attempted to jump and reach one of the shotguns, falling back down onto the green moss. “AB, Sweetie, give me a boost.” “Ya got it, Scoots. Sweetie, jump on my back,” Apple Bloom jumped on top of Scootaloo as Sweetie Belle planted her hooves on Apple Bloom’s back; she winced while Sweetie made the trip up to the shotgun. Sweetie slid the shotgun from the two hooks that were keeping it in place, and they fell down to the floor with the shotgun. The shotgun came crashing down to the moss-covered wooden floors. As it hit the floor with a loud thud, a bullet shot out of the barrel and crashed through one of the glass bottles perched on the shooting range’s counter. “For a second there, I thought we alerted the fucking zombies.” Scootaloo climbed up to her hooves and grabbed the shotgun on the floor. Apple Bloom trotted over to the shooting range targets before she tripped over a baseball bat on the floor. “Ah! What in the hay is this?” the southern filly opened her mouth and clenched the bat with her teeth. “Sweetie, ya coming?” “In a minute,” Sweetie Belle’s eyes peered down at the floor, a loose floorboard with a nail sticking out caught her eye. Sweetie Belle walked up to the loose floorboard with her hooves out, grabbing the loose floorboard and tugging on it. The squeaky filly held on the floorboard tightly with her hind legs spread out to wrench it back, and she grunted as she yanked the floorboard out with ease. “Nailed it. Coming girls.” she bounced away on her hooves to the shooting range targets. Apple Bloom ran out to one of the shooting targets, held the bat firmly in her teeth and swung the bat forward as pieces of the target flew into the air. “You’re outta here!” Scootaloo slid on her knees across to the reclined shooting target as she tilted her head up. Cocking the butt of her shotgun back, she pulled the trigger and the bullets grazed the head of the target as the head was blown to bits along the grass. A small line of smoke rose from the front of the gun as Scootaloo blew some air from her mouth, the smoke faded away soon after. “Nothing to it.” Sweetie leaped up in the air wielding her nailboard, spiking the weapon into the wooden part of the target’s head and yanked the head clean off. She landed on her hooves gracefully, bouncing happily in victory from the target’s demise before tossing the head off of her weapon. “I did it, I did it!” Clementine watched as her bullet tore a hole through her target, leaving the red spiral in the middle completely demolished. “This can’t be right, shooting range targets can’t be taken down so easily.” “Quit your worrying, Clementine. This is pretty fun!” All three of the Crusaders said together, before approaching Clementine. Apple Bloom heard an audible growl coming from her stomach. “Hold that thought, we should find a place to warm up those beans. We’re hungry, Clem.” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nodded their heads in agreement. “Us too, Clem.” “Alright then, let’s head out to the forest and make a fire.” Clementine assured them, walking out to the forest across from the long patches of grass. Cold winds whistled through the night, the group sat around in a circle on wooden logs as small flames flickered around them. They found the most convenient spot near a flowing river to feel safe and content away from the zombies. Scootaloo scooped some water from the river. While she slurped the water up, she laid her head propped up against her forehooves. “You add a whole new definition to leading a horse to water, Scoots.” Apple Bloom fell off her log, kicking her hooves up in laughter. “It wasn’t that funny, Apple Bloom.” “To each their own, time to dig in.” The can of beans opened with a pop above the campfire, the Crusaders and Clementine poked holes through the beans using their sticks. Inching the sticks closer to their mouths and extracting the beans slowly with their teeth, they felt the warmth of the beans making their way down their throats. “I’ve got to admit, Clementine, I didn’t trust ya at first but you’re slowly starting to gain ma’ trust. Got to thank you for saving Scootaloo, and teaching us how to use these weapons.” Apple Bloom said, rubbing her warm belly. “That means a lot, Apple Bloom. I hope that I continue to earn all of your trust.” Clementine smiled gleefully, munching on the rest of her bean. “This day was really awesome, if only Rainbow Dash was here though.” Scootaloo sighed before rubbing her now-full belly. “Ditto for me too, minus the Rainbow Dash part though. Anypony get the strange feeling that we’re being watched?” Sweetie Belle looked around the quiet forest, owls perched up on the top branches of the oak trees. A shooting star flashed past the quiet night sky, leaving behind bright, white sparkles in its path. “Ooh, a shooting star time to make a wish!” They closed their eyes and thought quietly to themselves. “I wish for Rainbow Dash to be here.” “I wish that I had a soft teddy bear to snuggle.” ”I wish to knock some zombie’s head off with my baseball bat.” ”I wish I knew what happened to my parents. They left me with a babysitter and never came back.” Dealing with BanditsDealing with Bandits The sun’s warm rays seeped through the trees, allowing the entire forest to bask in the bright blow. Clementine and the Crusaders stretched their limbs, and looked down at the remains of their campfire. “Let’s start finding some supplies, can’t stay here for too long.” “Yeah, you’re right about that. Time to search for some supplies!” The Crusaders said all together, walking through the forest. Foliage crunched under their hooves and animals tried to scurry away from them. Clementine trotted ahead of the group, they saw the last row of trees ahead of them where a small house protected by a large fence could be seen past the forest. They slid down a steep hill into a long wheat field leading to the house. “Only one way to get to that house, have to get there quietly,” Clementine pointed out to the two ponies guarding the outside of the house. “I’d rather blow up the fucking house,” Scootaloo huffed, holding onto her shotgun. “Think about it, Scoots. We can’t go barging in there like that, Rarity always told me to knock on the door and ask to be let in,” Sweetie gestured, pretending that there was a door in front of her. “Fine, but I’ll keep this bomb just in case.” She took out a round bomb from her saddlebag. “Okay then, lead the way, Clementine.” Apple Bloom stretched her forehoof out to the house as Clementine walked through the wheat field, with the three fillies in tow. They walked to the fence towering over them; a voice command device strapped to the fence began to speak. “Voice confirmation required.” “Stand back, Ah got this.” Apple Bloom spoke into the voice command. “Access denied.” the voice command answered, emitting a small shock to Apple Bloom. The shocking volt of electricity passed through her small body, a puff of smoke making its way out of her mouth. “That piece of scrap metal is going to have bullet holes through it,” Scootaloo aimed her shotgun at the device. She thought for one moment and spoke into the device as well, “Let us in, we’ll offer you sugar cookies and cake.” The device repeated its former statement and said, “Access denied.” Scootaloo gritted her teeth with the shotgun in her hoof, aiming the gun at the device. She pressed her hoof against the shotgun’s trigger and pulled. As the nose of the bullet pierced the red button of the voice command, electricity came out with a loud pop, causing the device to shut down. “That takes care of that fucking nuisance.” “Time to get in there,” Scootaloo kicked the retracting door of the fence down, running to the outside of the house. She leaned against the house’s wooden wall, and kneeled down on one knee, followed by signaling the others to come over. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Clementine trotted quickly to Scootaloo’s position after they kneeled down as well. “So what’s the plan, Scoot?” “The plan is for us to take out those two guards. I’ll take out the first guard, and Sweetie will take out the other one while you two head into the house.” Scootaloo pointed past the wall, and sure enough, there were two armed guards positioned outside of the house. “Sounds like a plan, let’s do this!” Sweetie and Apple Bloom made a pile of their hooves, encouraging their friends to join in. “On the count of three.” “One.” “Two.” “Three.” “Operation: Cutie Mark Guard Killing Crusaders is a go!” They removed their hooves from the celebratory pile for the chant, Scootaloo walked silently behind the guard and Sweetie did the same. One of the guards walked with his rifle pointed upward and his forehooves clenched tightly around it. His earpiece picked up a sound from his boss speaking into the communication device, “Keep your eyes peeled for anything fishy, and kill anypony on sight.” “Yes, sir.” He responded, walking back to his post. “Better make this fast.” Scootaloo waited patiently for him to pass by, she whispered silently on the guard’s arrival to the post. She slid her shotgun to her back and walked behind the guard without him turning around, wrapping her forelegs around his neck. Clenching back on his head and neck, she jumped on his back to avoid him knocking her off. Scootaloo stretched her hind legs tightly around his waist, she felt his flailing forelegs drooping down to his side, and dropping to his knees. “Sweet dreams, bitch,” she released her grip around his head and waist, she stood back up on her hooves. “I wonder how Sweetie Belle is doing.” Sweetie Belle skipped around, chasing a butterfly that was perched on her muzzle. “Tee-hee, come back here you pesky butterfly!” The butterfly fluttered its wings to the fence, landing on the top of the fence. “What a cute little butterfly-” A loud gunshot rang through the air as a bullet pierced the blue butterfly, blotches of crimson blood squirted out of its small body. Sweetie Belle yelled up to the sky in anger at the slain butterfly. The dark clouds covered the once blue sky as rain poured down from above, she growled and looked across at one of the guards pointing his gun at her. “Down on the ground now!” She complied and raised her hooves in the air, the guard trotted over to her still pointing his gun at her. “Down on your knees!” “Okay.” Sweetie slowly dropped to her knees and ripped his gun from his hooves, sending the gun into his face. She stretched her left foreleg out to the side, tripping him down to the rain-soaked ground. “Give up?” She reloaded the clip in the rifle, pressing her hoof against the trigger and watched as his face imploded from the impact of the bullet. “That’s what you get for killing a butterfly.” She stepped away from the brutalized corpse, pieces of flesh peeled back from where the bullet struck, almost like a banana peel. The center of his face was completely destroyed, leaving a bloody corpse behind. Sweetie noticed the earpiece on the right side of his ear, she picked the earpiece up and attached it to her right ear. “Hello, anypony there?” “This is your worst nightmare, you’re trespassing on private property. Leave now or you and your friends will never get out.” the mysterious voice uttered from the earpiece. “Who are you?” Sweetie shouted into the earpiece, but the connection cut off before he could answer. I’ve got to find the others, Sweetie thought to herself silently, running through the wet dirt covering her hooves. Scootaloo returned to the front door of the horse, where Clementine and Apple Bloom were bouncing a ball off the wall to kill time. “Have you guys seen Sweetie Belle come back yet?” “Not yet, she’ll be back.” Apple Bloom held onto her bat tightly, the ball bounced off the wall and smacked against the bat. “I hope so, we can’t proceed without her.” Clementine replied as she watched Scootaloo strap the bomb on the door, “What are you doing?” “Blowing the bomb up for shit to hit the fan,” Scootaloo strapped the bomb to the front door, setting the timer and stepping away from the door. “We have ten seconds to hide behind something, go!” Scootaloo jumped behind a bale of hay, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom hid along the side of the bale. Clementine dropped to the wall and kneeled down against it, keeping her distance away from the bomb. As the timer ticked down to the final ten seconds of its detonation and the detonation finalized, an explosion blew the door down onto the mud-covered floor of the house. “Give up and nopony gets hurt!” Apple Bloom flicked on the lights, illuminating the room and their eyes expanded at the multiple guns pointed at their faces. “Oh, buck me.” A tall, gray stallion with a slicked back black mane sat behind his desk, his forehooves propped up on his scattered papers. His right eye was covered by a black eyepatch and a scar running down the length of his face, over his left eyelid. Shark tattoos covered his long forelegs and ran down to his forehooves, each tattoo decorated in different colored ink. “What gives you the right to trespass on my property?” “To be fair, your voice recognition device was a piece of shit. Whoever sold you that robbed you of your bits, you must feel pretty stupid.” Scootaloo grinned smugly, the gray stallion smacked her across the face. “You’re lucky that I won’t kill you right now,” He placed his red striped bandana on his desk; “But I’ll save you the trouble, and explain why you’re here.” Clementine was the first one to explain, clenching her fists together. “We’re in need of some food and water. We were hoping that you had some lying around.” “It’s always the same with you survivors, asking for supplies and stabbing each other in the back.” The tall stallion grabbed a pistol from behind his desk, and pointed it up to Clementine’s head. “Do you really think that I’ll just handle over my supplies, to you of all ponies?” “Take them outside. We’re going to let the dead tear them apart, beats killing them ourselves.” The Governor tapped his hoof against the mud-covered floor, his guards nod their heads as they carried their victims out to the wheat field. “Boss, we’re just going to leave them out here?” one of the guards asked, tying the rope around their waists. “Might as well, we’ll keep an eye on them closely from here. It’s not like they can escape,” He crossed his forelegs and scoffed, completely blowing off their attempts to escape. “You won’t get away with this!” Scootaloo snapped her teeth at the aggressor. The tight rope constricted around her, binding the filly to the exterior of the fence. “We shouldn’t have to deal with you guys at all-” Sweetie felt a blow to her head as the Governor bashed his gun against her temple repeatedly. “You should choose your words wisely, what do your two friends have to say?” “Bite my flank.” Apple Bloom snarled at him, the venomous eyes looking at him. One guard pulled the trigger on his pistol, a bullet penetrated through Apple Bloom’s knee leaving a small pool of bound in the wound. “Ah!” Her wail echoed in the air, holding her knee in pain. “That was just a warning. My guards and I can shoot you if you provoke one of us, with your actions or words so keep those in check.” The Governor threw his hoof down, telling the guard to stop shooting. “This will eventually bite you in the flank,” Sweetie Belle’s eyes looked up at the Governor, then peering over at Clementine hanging her head down. “These guys are bluffing. They should realize that they’ll probably get eaten to bits.” Clementine said, the Governor’s guards looking down at her. “Take Clementine, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle out to the forest. I’ll deal with the loudmouth,” the guards nodded at the Governor, taking the three ponies into the forest. “Here’s how this is going to go, I’m just going to tell you the definition of insanity. Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. Enough about that, I’m just going to end you right here.” He pointed his pistol out at Scootaloo, pressing his hoof slowly against the trigger. Unbeknownst to the Governor, Scootaloo had a knife she took from the shooting range. Cutting the rope wrapped around her back, she moved the knife along and cut the remaining ropes precisely to avoid cutting her back. “Looks like I’m prepared to be put out of my misery, fire when ready,” she waved her hoof above her forehead dramatically, pretending to be in danger. Scootaloo cut the last rope constricting her and got up quickly on her hooves. She pressed her hooves against the fence, walking up the side of the fence as he kept his pistol aimed at her. He pulled the trigger as the bullet came shooting out of the pistol as the brash, young filly leaped off of the fence and landed behind the Governor. She grabbed his foreleg and twirled him around to her, keeping her grip firmly on the leg. She brought the foreleg down on her shoulder and jumped down on the grass, sending the cracking jolt of pain into his leg. He held onto his leg, rolling around the grass to ease the pain. Dragging his body over to the pistol, he felt Scootaloo’s hoof stop him directly in front of the pistol. “Not so fast. Had you not been so selfish, I would let you go freely.” “But now that you’ve really pissed me off, I’m going to finish you. Nice and slow.” She reached down on the grass and grabbed the pistol, also aimed the gun down at his head. Scootaloo pressed the trigger tightly with her hoof, the bullet entered through his skull, into his brain, and made its exit out through the back of his head. “That’s for smacking me, you worthless piece of trash.” Scootaloo dropped the knife and pistol into her saddlebag, she followed the guards’ tracks into the forest. RetrievalRetrieval Scootaloo continued down the trail into the forest. She heard two voices before hiding behind a tree, where she saw her friends tied behind three trees in front of the three guards holding their guns. “We were given orders to kill them if they provoke us.” “You’re right, but so far they’ve done nothing to escape,” one of the guards stated, holding the end of his shotgun. “This is a bunch of bull. If only Scootaloo was here, unless the Governor killed her.” Sweetie Belle’s eyes filled to the brim with tears. She didn’t want to think about the possibility of one of her friends being dead. “Psst,” Scootaloo whispered in Sweetie’s ear, her face lit up with joy. “Scootaloo! Is that you?” Scootaloo silenced her friend, cupping her mouth shut with her hoof. She reached into her saddlebag for the knife, taking the knife out and cutting the rope along the sharp, metal blades. “Shh! Sweetie, we don’t want to get their attention.” Scootaloo told her friend. Her ears perked up at the sound of moaning off in the distance, the zombies were closing in from the trees behind the guards. She slid the knife up and down quickly, cutting the last strand of rope down, “You take out the guards, I’ll let the others free.” Sweetie nodded her head, and climbed the tree she had been tied to. Sweetie Belle reached the top branch above the guards; She swooped down from the branch, brought down the nail board into the guards’ backs, spiking the nail board in their backs. The zombies pounced on the two guards, gnawing and chewing on with their flesh dangling in between their teeth as Scootaloo finished cutting the ropes on the other two trees. “Get your weapons now!” Clementine ordered, they nodded their heads and grabbed their weapons. The Crusaders grabbed their weapons, Clementine clutched the pistol tightly and pulled the trigger at a grotesque mare’s exposed brain, the bullet penetrating through the tissue, brain matter scattered on the ground. To their dismay, the horde surrounded them on all sides. Apple Bloom swung her bat at the zombies crowding her, bashing their heads in until their skulls were beaten senseless. Scootaloo dug her shotgun deep into the undead corpse’s stomach, she pressed the trigger and shot a plethora of bullets at the horde of zombies, piercing through the top of their skulls. Sweetie hurled her nail board at the mare stepping towards her, the nail lodged in its head, but it was still standing, even with a nail protruding from its skull. Sweetie Belle shrieked in terror, her back against a tree. “Sweetie, look out!” Scootaloo flung her knife out, the knife’s sharp tip stabbed into the mare’s skull, her body dropped down on the wet, mud-covered ground like a needle dropping silently. Despite it’s size, it had had most of it’s insides torn out, causing it to be much lighter. “Thanks for the save, Scootaloo.” Sweetie grabbed a mare’s rotting arm which was trying to grab her, flipped the arm over her back and stomped her hoof down on its rotting head. “Ashes to asses, dust to dust, you’ll never eat my brain to satisfy your lust.” “One last zombie to go,” Apple Bloom pinned the zombie against the tree with her bat, she took a step back and kicking the bat against its skull. Fresh, red blood splashed across the dark brown tree bark - the ensuing rain of blood doused her hat, washing dirt away from her baseball cap. “Finally, those undead bastards are dead,” Scootaloo fell with her back against the tree, her shotgun laying on her lap. “I wonder how Twilight is doing without us.” Sweetie said, looking up at the gloomy sky. Twilight frantically paced around her library, looking through the last set of books on her bookshelf. The last book, in particular, caught her eye then she grabbed the book with her magic and read the title out loud. The title of the book read, Portal Counterspells by Starswirl the Bearded. “This book will have the answer I’m looking for, let’s see if I can find the counterspell.” Twilight skimmed through the pages of the book, she came across a page titled: List of Counterspells. She thought to herself as she read along the lines, “The Portal Retraction Spell, this spell is used to open a portal into an alternate world where the individuals trapped in said world must go through the portal, or stay in the world forever. It must be performed using the art of arcane magic.” Twilight’s eyes looked away from the book as she stepped away for a moment. Her horn lit up profusely, tapping into the center of her magic forming a lavender circle around her. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the circle around her, she felt her body slowly levitating off of the floor. Sealing the flow of her magic, the young alicorn shot a strong blast into the opened page of the book. A small hole began to expand in the center, the portal opened in the sky above the Crusaders’ heads. “What is that up in the sky?” Scootaloo pointed up to the sky, all of them looked up at the gaping hole that the portal left above them. “Knock it off with the references, will ya? We need to find a way to get up there, Scootaloo. Try flying up there.” Apple Bloom jabbed Scootaloo in her wings. “I wish I was more experienced in magic. Hmm... I have an idea! I could try charging up my horn but first we need to get to higher ground.” Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo ran along the side of the tree, holding each other firmly by their tails. They climbed vigorously up to the top of the tall oak tree, unaware that Clementine followed them up the tree. “Clementine, what are you doing?” Scootaloo asked, appalled to see their friend come with them. “I want to come with you guys. I know it sounds crazy and absurd, but exploring your new world beats staying around here getting eaten,” Clementine said nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders and grinned at them. “Now, Clementine, are ya’ sure that ya’ want to come with us?” “Positive.” “Hope that you’re used to a world filled with ponies and weird shit.” Scootaloo giggled, a purple hoof came out of the portal. “Girls, I’m so glad to see you! You must hurry, because this portal will close, and if you’re not in it, you’ll be stuck here.” Twilight pulled her hoof back into the portal. “Time for us to get back to Equestria. Hold on tight, Clementine.” Sweetie charged up horn, pointing the horn upward at the portal and their bodies were pulled into the portal without a moment’s notice. Twilight pulled them out of the portal, the gravity almost pulled them back down into the book as they fell on the floor. “You’re back! Who’s your little friend there?” Clementine bowed her head before the princess. “The name is Clementine, your highness.” “She’s our new friend, hope you don’t mind if she stays with us.” Sweetie asked in a polite tone, her eyes were the size of dinner plates looking directly at Twilight. Twilight wasn’t the one to be tempted by Sweetie’s cuteness, but maybe an exception could be made. “If she does not cause any trouble, I’m all for it. I’ll be putting this book away-” Scootaloo doused the book in gasoline, lit up a match and flicked the match on the book. “Scootaloo, don’t burn it!” Apple Bloom shrieked at her friend, running over to the burning book. “Now we have a big problem. Looks like she’ll have to stay in Equestria, permanently.” “That book was a fucking disaster,” Scootaloo watched as the book left only ashes and dust behind, Twilight and the other two Crusaders closed their mouths without any words uttered. “Don’t ask.”
Cutie Mark Crusader Zombie Hunters!Appletine:Cutie Mark Crusader Zombie Hunters “Today, I have an important announcement to make. I’m assigning a book report that is due next week where you will decide amongst yourselves on what book you’ll be writing about, in teams of no more than three if you choose to do so,” Cheerilee continued with her announcement, “So stay safe out there and make sure to read. See all of you next week!” she waved as her students trotted out of the schoolhouse. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle huddled up next to each other in a circle. “We’re gonna have to search around for a book, though I don’t believe that I have one.” Scootaloo shrugged her shoulders, unaware that she had a Daring Do book in her room. “Why don’t we borrow your Daring Do book?” Apple Bloom brought up, tapping her chin. “Rainbow Dash gave me that book, I’m not giving that up,” Scootaloo pouted and crossed her forelegs. “Well we need to find something. Sweetie Belle, what about you?” Apple Bloom quirked, raising an eyebrow and staring at her friend. “I don’t recall Rarity having any books, besides the one that Spike brought her and ate it. You don’t want to know how they got it out.” Sweetie Belle plugged her mouth with a stretched hoof to stop the flow of vomit from coming out. “The only option that we have is…” “Twilight’s library in her new castle!” the three adventurous fillies exclaimed together, they trotted away from the schoolhouse to the castle. As the sun’s light met the reflective surface of Twilight’s castle as it rose over the horizon above the hills, the light shined on the castle. They knocked on the tall doors that stood triumphantly before them, and Twilight swung the doors open with her magic. “Hey girls! What can I do for you?” Twilight asked, letting the three of them into the castle. She closed the doors behind them as they walked up the stairs to the library. The library’s book shelves were stocked with new books that Celestia sent to her the day before, to replace the destroyed books in her battle against Tirek. “We need a book to write a book report for, we’re desperate for any book that you have.” Sweetie Belle’s voice squeaked, flailing her forelegs around. “Anything that is not boring, of course.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes and thought of the list of boring books that Twilight would suggest. “Lucky for you that I have a vast collection of books to choose from,” Twilight pointed her hoof across the bookshelf, where they found books labeled from A-Z. “Thanks Twilight, we’ll take the last book under Z.” Apple Bloom turned her attention to a large book that had an infected red eye inside of a triangle on the cover; “Girls, give me a boost!” Sweetie Belle jumped on Scootaloo’s back, Apple Bloom climbed onto Sweetie’s back, and locked her hooves on the side of the book. She felt the weight of the book pull them down as their bodies swayed back and forth. The weight of the book caused them to all crash down on the floor below. “Are you okay?” Twilight asked in a concerned tone. “Yeah, we’re okay,” They quickly flipped through the contents of the book for something interesting, and a particular incantation came into the view, catching their eyes. Warn all who read this book, Forbid those who take a look This is not for the faint of heart This may be a work of art But many have not returned beyond this part “This is one weird riddle, Twilight do you know anything about this?” They all looked at Twilight, she smiled and her ears perked up. “It’s an incantation. They are similar to riddles, their sole purpose is to confuse ponies and have them go on a wild goose chase. Also, they can be activated using magic.” Twilight focused on the book, honing in on the center of her horn. A small magical orb resonated from her horn implanting itself on the page of the incantation, as the orb spun around on the open page and sealed itself inside. “You see, perfectly harmless.” The irony would soon come to bite her in the butt as a gust of wind blew through the library. Twilight shielded her eyes from the gusting winds as the increasing power from the orb expanded from the page and sucked the three Crusaders. The book closed automatically and left Twilight flabbergasted. “Oh my Celestia! Girls?! Oh no! I have to get them back!” Twilight ran to find her books of magic, specifically the books that can reverse what happened to the three fillies and bring them back. A hole in the sky spat the three fillies from the dark, grey clouds and they crashed down the hard ground below. They cracked some of the joints in their legs and necks to rid themselves of the pain, looking around the gloomy world around them. Rising up on their hooves, they scanned the area, only to see a pony with flesh hanging from her mouth, revealing her exposed jaw. “Ah don’t know where we are, but this is not the Equestria that we’ve grown up in.” Apple Bloom gasped as the pony approached them slowly, a low moan escaping her mouth. Scootaloo and Sweetie’s eyes peered at Apple Bloom’s attire: a baseball cap, a dark red shirt covering her chest, with a small purple bag on her back and navy blue jeans. “Apple Bloom, why are you wearing that silly outfit?” “We can worry about that later. Let’s just get out of here,” Scootaloo added as the rotting pony pounced down on her with its mouth wide open. Snarling and snapping her teeth at the young filly, planning to have her first meal in months. The sound of a gunshot rang in their ears as a speeding bullet penetrated through the zombie’s skull, leaving a hole where the bullet passed through and blood splattered on Scootaloo’s face. She tossed the zombie’s rotting corpse off of her, retaining the urge to vomit from its unpleasant stench. “Thanks for the help, who are you?” Scootaloo asked before getting up from the ground, leaving a small trace of dirt on her fur. A young girl with dark brown hair and a similar baseball cap to Apple Bloom’s made her way over to the three friends, picking up her bullet. She inserts the bullet back in the cartridge of her pistol and closed the bolt. “The name is Clementine, and those rotting corpses that are roaming around are zombies. I know that you girls don’t know me and are new to this world, but it’s better to trust someone than to thrive in an environment like this alone.” “Thanks for the offer, but my friends and I will discuss this to see if we can trust ya.” They huddled in a circle to speak privately. “I don’t think that we can trust this girl, we don’t even know her.” Sweetie Belle questioned, raising an eyebrow. “I have to agree with Sweetie on this one. Like Applejack always said, you can’t trust a horse with hay that you leave out in the open.” Apple Bloom added, agreeing with her friend’s previous statement. Scootaloo shook her head. “When it comes to old-fashioned sayings that don’t make a lick of sense, AB you’re the winner in that category for sure. Seriously though, if we give Clementine a chance and we get to know her better then we’ll be able to survive here. She said that nopony can thrive in an environment like this alone, especially a foreign environment. So, are you guys with me?” They looked at each other and back at Scootaloo, putting their hooves together and raising them high in the air. “Cutie Mark Crusader Zombie Hunters, YAY!” Clementine’s ears were ringing from the loud shouting that the three fillies made from the credo chant that they had done since they first met. “Hopefully I can get used to that.” They walked together to an empty house that was divided by a wooden picket fence. Clementine approached the fence and, looking through a small hole, she spotted three zombies chewing and ripping flesh off of a mare’s neck as she screamed from the pain. Her scream soon died out, after she had lost a huge amount of blood from her neck. “I hope that you ponies know how to use weapons.”
Learning the BasicsLearning the Basics Clementine held onto the pistol tightly with the Crusaders in tow, sneaking through an opening in the picket fence. “Get down,” she whispered silently to the three fillies as she peered over the fence. They came through in the back yard, hoping to get into the house through the back door. But, blocking their path were three fetid ponies. The one closest to them, the one blocking the door most was a horrid display. One eye had rotted out of its skull, where they could see fragments of its brain. It’s jaw was hanging loosely on one side, the other side had been scraped along a hard surface. The other two were in similar conditions, one with its lower jaw completely broken, but attached, and the other with a missing arm and an oozing wound in its chest. They crouched down on their forelegs, moving slowly past the zombie ponies wandering around outside. Clementine moved stealthily behind one of the three zombies in front of the sliding door that lead to the backyard. Unbeknownst to the the rotting mare, Clementine pulled a knife from her saddlebag. She wrapped the knife around its neck, and pulled the struggling zombie close to her as it flailed its arms. She jabbed the knife into the creature’s neck as it attempted to gnaw at her, a river of crimson blood flowed from the neck, and Clementine pulled the knife out. “Oh my gosh, you just killed her!” Sweetie Belle screamed in terror, her mouth hung agape, staring at the display of absolute gore before her. Turning their heads to the source of the noise, the rotting corpses walked slowly over to Clementine and the three companions. They rushed into the house behind the sliding door and closed it from the inside, Clementine grabbed the door handle of the door and locked the door to prevent them from breaking in. “Those fuckers never learn to leave well enough alone.” “What did she just say?” Scootaloo asked, her curiosity piqued. “I think she said, ‘fucker.’" Sweetie Belle repeated, Apple Bloom cupped her hoof over her mouth. “What does fucker mean anyway?” “It means someone who fucks, I guess.” “What does fuck mean?” “It sounds like buck. So I’m going to assume it’s the same thing. Those zombies must be good at kicking things.” Apple Bloom joked, her two friends giggled silently at the joke. They walked into the kitchen, the wooden cabinets that used to stock cans of food and water were now left empty. Clementine reached into the refrigerator and swung the refrigerator door open, a can of beans was the only morsel that remained untouched. She clutched the can with her hoof and placed the can in Apple Bloom’s purple bag. Clementine kneeled down on one knee and said to them, “The key to surviving in an apocalypse is to scavenge as many items as possible, and know how to shoot a gun or use a weapon. I’m going to teach you those skills.” “Sounds easy enough, let’s go you fuckers!” Scootaloo exclaimed, raising her forelegs up in the air. “Scoots, language!” Sweetie and Apple Bloom said together, glaring at Scootaloo. “We’re going to wash your mouth with soap later,” Apple Bloom added, poking Scootaloo in the side with her hoof. “Let’s find a place to practice, follow me.” A shooting range came into their view behind a tall, metal fence with the top wrapped in barbwire and practice dummies to shoot at. The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Clementine walked around the fence, where they found a metal lock that locked the door. A sign on the door read: Closed for the day, do not enter. “How are we going to get in?” Sweetie asked. Clementine looked down at the bullets on the ground, picking up the bullets, and placing them in her bag. “Only way to get in there,” She popped the bullets into her pistol, reloading the bullets and taking a step back from the door. With a loud pop, the bullet exploded from the barrel of the pistol and quickly made contact with the metal lock. The bullet left a hole straight through the lock, and Clementine pushed the door open walking into the shooting range. The Crusaders gazed in awe at the huge assortment of guns on the wall: handguns, shotguns, assault rifles, and submachine guns. “Take your pick, girls.” Scootaloo jumped on top of a display case that was well lit by the light inside. A green moss covered the display case. It stuck to the bottom of her hooves before she attempted to jump and reach one of the shotguns, falling back down onto the green moss. “AB, Sweetie, give me a boost.” “Ya got it, Scoots. Sweetie, jump on my back,” Apple Bloom jumped on top of Scootaloo as Sweetie Belle planted her hooves on Apple Bloom’s back; she winced while Sweetie made the trip up to the shotgun. Sweetie slid the shotgun from the two hooks that were keeping it in place, and they fell down to the floor with the shotgun. The shotgun came crashing down to the moss-covered wooden floors. As it hit the floor with a loud thud, a bullet shot out of the barrel and crashed through one of the glass bottles perched on the shooting range’s counter. “For a second there, I thought we alerted the fucking zombies.” Scootaloo climbed up to her hooves and grabbed the shotgun on the floor. Apple Bloom trotted over to the shooting range targets before she tripped over a baseball bat on the floor. “Ah! What in the hay is this?” the southern filly opened her mouth and clenched the bat with her teeth. “Sweetie, ya coming?” “In a minute,” Sweetie Belle’s eyes peered down at the floor, a loose floorboard with a nail sticking out caught her eye. Sweetie Belle walked up to the loose floorboard with her hooves out, grabbing the loose floorboard and tugging on it. The squeaky filly held on the floorboard tightly with her hind legs spread out to wrench it back, and she grunted as she yanked the floorboard out with ease. “Nailed it. Coming girls.” she bounced away on her hooves to the shooting range targets. Apple Bloom ran out to one of the shooting targets, held the bat firmly in her teeth and swung the bat forward as pieces of the target flew into the air. “You’re outta here!” Scootaloo slid on her knees across to the reclined shooting target as she tilted her head up. Cocking the butt of her shotgun back, she pulled the trigger and the bullets grazed the head of the target as the head was blown to bits along the grass. A small line of smoke rose from the front of the gun as Scootaloo blew some air from her mouth, the smoke faded away soon after. “Nothing to it.” Sweetie leaped up in the air wielding her nailboard, spiking the weapon into the wooden part of the target’s head and yanked the head clean off. She landed on her hooves gracefully, bouncing happily in victory from the target’s demise before tossing the head off of her weapon. “I did it, I did it!” Clementine watched as her bullet tore a hole through her target, leaving the red spiral in the middle completely demolished. “This can’t be right, shooting range targets can’t be taken down so easily.” “Quit your worrying, Clementine. This is pretty fun!” All three of the Crusaders said together, before approaching Clementine. Apple Bloom heard an audible growl coming from her stomach. “Hold that thought, we should find a place to warm up those beans. We’re hungry, Clem.” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nodded their heads in agreement. “Us too, Clem.” “Alright then, let’s head out to the forest and make a fire.” Clementine assured them, walking out to the forest across from the long patches of grass. Cold winds whistled through the night, the group sat around in a circle on wooden logs as small flames flickered around them. They found the most convenient spot near a flowing river to feel safe and content away from the zombies. Scootaloo scooped some water from the river. While she slurped the water up, she laid her head propped up against her forehooves. “You add a whole new definition to leading a horse to water, Scoots.” Apple Bloom fell off her log, kicking her hooves up in laughter. “It wasn’t that funny, Apple Bloom.” “To each their own, time to dig in.” The can of beans opened with a pop above the campfire, the Crusaders and Clementine poked holes through the beans using their sticks. Inching the sticks closer to their mouths and extracting the beans slowly with their teeth, they felt the warmth of the beans making their way down their throats. “I’ve got to admit, Clementine, I didn’t trust ya at first but you’re slowly starting to gain ma’ trust. Got to thank you for saving Scootaloo, and teaching us how to use these weapons.” Apple Bloom said, rubbing her warm belly. “That means a lot, Apple Bloom. I hope that I continue to earn all of your trust.” Clementine smiled gleefully, munching on the rest of her bean. “This day was really awesome, if only Rainbow Dash was here though.” Scootaloo sighed before rubbing her now-full belly. “Ditto for me too, minus the Rainbow Dash part though. Anypony get the strange feeling that we’re being watched?” Sweetie Belle looked around the quiet forest, owls perched up on the top branches of the oak trees. A shooting star flashed past the quiet night sky, leaving behind bright, white sparkles in its path. “Ooh, a shooting star time to make a wish!” They closed their eyes and thought quietly to themselves. “I wish for Rainbow Dash to be here.” “I wish that I had a soft teddy bear to snuggle.” ”I wish to knock some zombie’s head off with my baseball bat.” ”I wish I knew what happened to my parents. They left me with a babysitter and never came back.”
Dealing with BanditsDealing with Bandits The sun’s warm rays seeped through the trees, allowing the entire forest to bask in the bright blow. Clementine and the Crusaders stretched their limbs, and looked down at the remains of their campfire. “Let’s start finding some supplies, can’t stay here for too long.” “Yeah, you’re right about that. Time to search for some supplies!” The Crusaders said all together, walking through the forest. Foliage crunched under their hooves and animals tried to scurry away from them. Clementine trotted ahead of the group, they saw the last row of trees ahead of them where a small house protected by a large fence could be seen past the forest. They slid down a steep hill into a long wheat field leading to the house. “Only one way to get to that house, have to get there quietly,” Clementine pointed out to the two ponies guarding the outside of the house. “I’d rather blow up the fucking house,” Scootaloo huffed, holding onto her shotgun. “Think about it, Scoots. We can’t go barging in there like that, Rarity always told me to knock on the door and ask to be let in,” Sweetie gestured, pretending that there was a door in front of her. “Fine, but I’ll keep this bomb just in case.” She took out a round bomb from her saddlebag. “Okay then, lead the way, Clementine.” Apple Bloom stretched her forehoof out to the house as Clementine walked through the wheat field, with the three fillies in tow. They walked to the fence towering over them; a voice command device strapped to the fence began to speak. “Voice confirmation required.” “Stand back, Ah got this.” Apple Bloom spoke into the voice command. “Access denied.” the voice command answered, emitting a small shock to Apple Bloom. The shocking volt of electricity passed through her small body, a puff of smoke making its way out of her mouth. “That piece of scrap metal is going to have bullet holes through it,” Scootaloo aimed her shotgun at the device. She thought for one moment and spoke into the device as well, “Let us in, we’ll offer you sugar cookies and cake.” The device repeated its former statement and said, “Access denied.” Scootaloo gritted her teeth with the shotgun in her hoof, aiming the gun at the device. She pressed her hoof against the shotgun’s trigger and pulled. As the nose of the bullet pierced the red button of the voice command, electricity came out with a loud pop, causing the device to shut down. “That takes care of that fucking nuisance.” “Time to get in there,” Scootaloo kicked the retracting door of the fence down, running to the outside of the house. She leaned against the house’s wooden wall, and kneeled down on one knee, followed by signaling the others to come over. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Clementine trotted quickly to Scootaloo’s position after they kneeled down as well. “So what’s the plan, Scoot?” “The plan is for us to take out those two guards. I’ll take out the first guard, and Sweetie will take out the other one while you two head into the house.” Scootaloo pointed past the wall, and sure enough, there were two armed guards positioned outside of the house. “Sounds like a plan, let’s do this!” Sweetie and Apple Bloom made a pile of their hooves, encouraging their friends to join in. “On the count of three.” “One.” “Two.” “Three.” “Operation: Cutie Mark Guard Killing Crusaders is a go!” They removed their hooves from the celebratory pile for the chant, Scootaloo walked silently behind the guard and Sweetie did the same. One of the guards walked with his rifle pointed upward and his forehooves clenched tightly around it. His earpiece picked up a sound from his boss speaking into the communication device, “Keep your eyes peeled for anything fishy, and kill anypony on sight.” “Yes, sir.” He responded, walking back to his post. “Better make this fast.” Scootaloo waited patiently for him to pass by, she whispered silently on the guard’s arrival to the post. She slid her shotgun to her back and walked behind the guard without him turning around, wrapping her forelegs around his neck. Clenching back on his head and neck, she jumped on his back to avoid him knocking her off. Scootaloo stretched her hind legs tightly around his waist, she felt his flailing forelegs drooping down to his side, and dropping to his knees. “Sweet dreams, bitch,” she released her grip around his head and waist, she stood back up on her hooves. “I wonder how Sweetie Belle is doing.” Sweetie Belle skipped around, chasing a butterfly that was perched on her muzzle. “Tee-hee, come back here you pesky butterfly!” The butterfly fluttered its wings to the fence, landing on the top of the fence. “What a cute little butterfly-” A loud gunshot rang through the air as a bullet pierced the blue butterfly, blotches of crimson blood squirted out of its small body. Sweetie Belle yelled up to the sky in anger at the slain butterfly. The dark clouds covered the once blue sky as rain poured down from above, she growled and looked across at one of the guards pointing his gun at her. “Down on the ground now!” She complied and raised her hooves in the air, the guard trotted over to her still pointing his gun at her. “Down on your knees!” “Okay.” Sweetie slowly dropped to her knees and ripped his gun from his hooves, sending the gun into his face. She stretched her left foreleg out to the side, tripping him down to the rain-soaked ground. “Give up?” She reloaded the clip in the rifle, pressing her hoof against the trigger and watched as his face imploded from the impact of the bullet. “That’s what you get for killing a butterfly.” She stepped away from the brutalized corpse, pieces of flesh peeled back from where the bullet struck, almost like a banana peel. The center of his face was completely destroyed, leaving a bloody corpse behind. Sweetie noticed the earpiece on the right side of his ear, she picked the earpiece up and attached it to her right ear. “Hello, anypony there?” “This is your worst nightmare, you’re trespassing on private property. Leave now or you and your friends will never get out.” the mysterious voice uttered from the earpiece. “Who are you?” Sweetie shouted into the earpiece, but the connection cut off before he could answer. I’ve got to find the others, Sweetie thought to herself silently, running through the wet dirt covering her hooves. Scootaloo returned to the front door of the horse, where Clementine and Apple Bloom were bouncing a ball off the wall to kill time. “Have you guys seen Sweetie Belle come back yet?” “Not yet, she’ll be back.” Apple Bloom held onto her bat tightly, the ball bounced off the wall and smacked against the bat. “I hope so, we can’t proceed without her.” Clementine replied as she watched Scootaloo strap the bomb on the door, “What are you doing?” “Blowing the bomb up for shit to hit the fan,” Scootaloo strapped the bomb to the front door, setting the timer and stepping away from the door. “We have ten seconds to hide behind something, go!” Scootaloo jumped behind a bale of hay, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom hid along the side of the bale. Clementine dropped to the wall and kneeled down against it, keeping her distance away from the bomb. As the timer ticked down to the final ten seconds of its detonation and the detonation finalized, an explosion blew the door down onto the mud-covered floor of the house. “Give up and nopony gets hurt!” Apple Bloom flicked on the lights, illuminating the room and their eyes expanded at the multiple guns pointed at their faces. “Oh, buck me.” A tall, gray stallion with a slicked back black mane sat behind his desk, his forehooves propped up on his scattered papers. His right eye was covered by a black eyepatch and a scar running down the length of his face, over his left eyelid. Shark tattoos covered his long forelegs and ran down to his forehooves, each tattoo decorated in different colored ink. “What gives you the right to trespass on my property?” “To be fair, your voice recognition device was a piece of shit. Whoever sold you that robbed you of your bits, you must feel pretty stupid.” Scootaloo grinned smugly, the gray stallion smacked her across the face. “You’re lucky that I won’t kill you right now,” He placed his red striped bandana on his desk; “But I’ll save you the trouble, and explain why you’re here.” Clementine was the first one to explain, clenching her fists together. “We’re in need of some food and water. We were hoping that you had some lying around.” “It’s always the same with you survivors, asking for supplies and stabbing each other in the back.” The tall stallion grabbed a pistol from behind his desk, and pointed it up to Clementine’s head. “Do you really think that I’ll just handle over my supplies, to you of all ponies?” “Take them outside. We’re going to let the dead tear them apart, beats killing them ourselves.” The Governor tapped his hoof against the mud-covered floor, his guards nod their heads as they carried their victims out to the wheat field. “Boss, we’re just going to leave them out here?” one of the guards asked, tying the rope around their waists. “Might as well, we’ll keep an eye on them closely from here. It’s not like they can escape,” He crossed his forelegs and scoffed, completely blowing off their attempts to escape. “You won’t get away with this!” Scootaloo snapped her teeth at the aggressor. The tight rope constricted around her, binding the filly to the exterior of the fence. “We shouldn’t have to deal with you guys at all-” Sweetie felt a blow to her head as the Governor bashed his gun against her temple repeatedly. “You should choose your words wisely, what do your two friends have to say?” “Bite my flank.” Apple Bloom snarled at him, the venomous eyes looking at him. One guard pulled the trigger on his pistol, a bullet penetrated through Apple Bloom’s knee leaving a small pool of bound in the wound. “Ah!” Her wail echoed in the air, holding her knee in pain. “That was just a warning. My guards and I can shoot you if you provoke one of us, with your actions or words so keep those in check.” The Governor threw his hoof down, telling the guard to stop shooting. “This will eventually bite you in the flank,” Sweetie Belle’s eyes looked up at the Governor, then peering over at Clementine hanging her head down. “These guys are bluffing. They should realize that they’ll probably get eaten to bits.” Clementine said, the Governor’s guards looking down at her. “Take Clementine, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle out to the forest. I’ll deal with the loudmouth,” the guards nodded at the Governor, taking the three ponies into the forest. “Here’s how this is going to go, I’m just going to tell you the definition of insanity. Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. Enough about that, I’m just going to end you right here.” He pointed his pistol out at Scootaloo, pressing his hoof slowly against the trigger. Unbeknownst to the Governor, Scootaloo had a knife she took from the shooting range. Cutting the rope wrapped around her back, she moved the knife along and cut the remaining ropes precisely to avoid cutting her back. “Looks like I’m prepared to be put out of my misery, fire when ready,” she waved her hoof above her forehead dramatically, pretending to be in danger. Scootaloo cut the last rope constricting her and got up quickly on her hooves. She pressed her hooves against the fence, walking up the side of the fence as he kept his pistol aimed at her. He pulled the trigger as the bullet came shooting out of the pistol as the brash, young filly leaped off of the fence and landed behind the Governor. She grabbed his foreleg and twirled him around to her, keeping her grip firmly on the leg. She brought the foreleg down on her shoulder and jumped down on the grass, sending the cracking jolt of pain into his leg. He held onto his leg, rolling around the grass to ease the pain. Dragging his body over to the pistol, he felt Scootaloo’s hoof stop him directly in front of the pistol. “Not so fast. Had you not been so selfish, I would let you go freely.” “But now that you’ve really pissed me off, I’m going to finish you. Nice and slow.” She reached down on the grass and grabbed the pistol, also aimed the gun down at his head. Scootaloo pressed the trigger tightly with her hoof, the bullet entered through his skull, into his brain, and made its exit out through the back of his head. “That’s for smacking me, you worthless piece of trash.” Scootaloo dropped the knife and pistol into her saddlebag, she followed the guards’ tracks into the forest.
RetrievalRetrieval Scootaloo continued down the trail into the forest. She heard two voices before hiding behind a tree, where she saw her friends tied behind three trees in front of the three guards holding their guns. “We were given orders to kill them if they provoke us.” “You’re right, but so far they’ve done nothing to escape,” one of the guards stated, holding the end of his shotgun. “This is a bunch of bull. If only Scootaloo was here, unless the Governor killed her.” Sweetie Belle’s eyes filled to the brim with tears. She didn’t want to think about the possibility of one of her friends being dead. “Psst,” Scootaloo whispered in Sweetie’s ear, her face lit up with joy. “Scootaloo! Is that you?” Scootaloo silenced her friend, cupping her mouth shut with her hoof. She reached into her saddlebag for the knife, taking the knife out and cutting the rope along the sharp, metal blades. “Shh! Sweetie, we don’t want to get their attention.” Scootaloo told her friend. Her ears perked up at the sound of moaning off in the distance, the zombies were closing in from the trees behind the guards. She slid the knife up and down quickly, cutting the last strand of rope down, “You take out the guards, I’ll let the others free.” Sweetie nodded her head, and climbed the tree she had been tied to. Sweetie Belle reached the top branch above the guards; She swooped down from the branch, brought down the nail board into the guards’ backs, spiking the nail board in their backs. The zombies pounced on the two guards, gnawing and chewing on with their flesh dangling in between their teeth as Scootaloo finished cutting the ropes on the other two trees. “Get your weapons now!” Clementine ordered, they nodded their heads and grabbed their weapons. The Crusaders grabbed their weapons, Clementine clutched the pistol tightly and pulled the trigger at a grotesque mare’s exposed brain, the bullet penetrating through the tissue, brain matter scattered on the ground. To their dismay, the horde surrounded them on all sides. Apple Bloom swung her bat at the zombies crowding her, bashing their heads in until their skulls were beaten senseless. Scootaloo dug her shotgun deep into the undead corpse’s stomach, she pressed the trigger and shot a plethora of bullets at the horde of zombies, piercing through the top of their skulls. Sweetie hurled her nail board at the mare stepping towards her, the nail lodged in its head, but it was still standing, even with a nail protruding from its skull. Sweetie Belle shrieked in terror, her back against a tree. “Sweetie, look out!” Scootaloo flung her knife out, the knife’s sharp tip stabbed into the mare’s skull, her body dropped down on the wet, mud-covered ground like a needle dropping silently. Despite it’s size, it had had most of it’s insides torn out, causing it to be much lighter. “Thanks for the save, Scootaloo.” Sweetie grabbed a mare’s rotting arm which was trying to grab her, flipped the arm over her back and stomped her hoof down on its rotting head. “Ashes to asses, dust to dust, you’ll never eat my brain to satisfy your lust.” “One last zombie to go,” Apple Bloom pinned the zombie against the tree with her bat, she took a step back and kicking the bat against its skull. Fresh, red blood splashed across the dark brown tree bark - the ensuing rain of blood doused her hat, washing dirt away from her baseball cap. “Finally, those undead bastards are dead,” Scootaloo fell with her back against the tree, her shotgun laying on her lap. “I wonder how Twilight is doing without us.” Sweetie said, looking up at the gloomy sky. Twilight frantically paced around her library, looking through the last set of books on her bookshelf. The last book, in particular, caught her eye then she grabbed the book with her magic and read the title out loud. The title of the book read, Portal Counterspells by Starswirl the Bearded. “This book will have the answer I’m looking for, let’s see if I can find the counterspell.” Twilight skimmed through the pages of the book, she came across a page titled: List of Counterspells. She thought to herself as she read along the lines, “The Portal Retraction Spell, this spell is used to open a portal into an alternate world where the individuals trapped in said world must go through the portal, or stay in the world forever. It must be performed using the art of arcane magic.” Twilight’s eyes looked away from the book as she stepped away for a moment. Her horn lit up profusely, tapping into the center of her magic forming a lavender circle around her. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the circle around her, she felt her body slowly levitating off of the floor. Sealing the flow of her magic, the young alicorn shot a strong blast into the opened page of the book. A small hole began to expand in the center, the portal opened in the sky above the Crusaders’ heads. “What is that up in the sky?” Scootaloo pointed up to the sky, all of them looked up at the gaping hole that the portal left above them. “Knock it off with the references, will ya? We need to find a way to get up there, Scootaloo. Try flying up there.” Apple Bloom jabbed Scootaloo in her wings. “I wish I was more experienced in magic. Hmm... I have an idea! I could try charging up my horn but first we need to get to higher ground.” Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo ran along the side of the tree, holding each other firmly by their tails. They climbed vigorously up to the top of the tall oak tree, unaware that Clementine followed them up the tree. “Clementine, what are you doing?” Scootaloo asked, appalled to see their friend come with them. “I want to come with you guys. I know it sounds crazy and absurd, but exploring your new world beats staying around here getting eaten,” Clementine said nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders and grinned at them. “Now, Clementine, are ya’ sure that ya’ want to come with us?” “Positive.” “Hope that you’re used to a world filled with ponies and weird shit.” Scootaloo giggled, a purple hoof came out of the portal. “Girls, I’m so glad to see you! You must hurry, because this portal will close, and if you’re not in it, you’ll be stuck here.” Twilight pulled her hoof back into the portal. “Time for us to get back to Equestria. Hold on tight, Clementine.” Sweetie charged up horn, pointing the horn upward at the portal and their bodies were pulled into the portal without a moment’s notice. Twilight pulled them out of the portal, the gravity almost pulled them back down into the book as they fell on the floor. “You’re back! Who’s your little friend there?” Clementine bowed her head before the princess. “The name is Clementine, your highness.” “She’s our new friend, hope you don’t mind if she stays with us.” Sweetie asked in a polite tone, her eyes were the size of dinner plates looking directly at Twilight. Twilight wasn’t the one to be tempted by Sweetie’s cuteness, but maybe an exception could be made. “If she does not cause any trouble, I’m all for it. I’ll be putting this book away-” Scootaloo doused the book in gasoline, lit up a match and flicked the match on the book. “Scootaloo, don’t burn it!” Apple Bloom shrieked at her friend, running over to the burning book. “Now we have a big problem. Looks like she’ll have to stay in Equestria, permanently.” “That book was a fucking disaster,” Scootaloo watched as the book left only ashes and dust behind, Twilight and the other two Crusaders closed their mouths without any words uttered. “Don’t ask.”
