Chapter One - Business as Usual
It had been a regular day of bureaucracy and hidden government conspiracy for the unicorn stallion Thunder Armor. He was tired, hungry, and wanted to be done with today. He wasn't usually stuck at a desk, of all places. But he was on schedule for it today, with a stealth operation later that night. Despite his exhaustion, that would be the highlight this evening. The possibility of getting to see some action.
"Ugh. This desk work always gives me a headache. Not to mention the fact I constantly have to lie to the public." He said with a scoff.
"For their own safety, my hoof."
Thunder Armor kept sorting, reviewing, and stamping Celestia's seal on every form on his desk. Being a Special Task Force member meant keeping hidden all the horrible truths that Equestria's namby-pamby citizens simply couldn't fathom. Everything from the truth of ancient prophecies and legends, to the fact that Equestria was truly at war with The Changeling Horde, whose spells and warfare became increasingly depraved every day... The list seemed endless. Celestia forbid they ever know, lest their poor little minds explode. Twice.
"What they don't know CAN hurt them." was the phrase drilled into Thunder Armor's head during training. He could believe it. But didn't harmony require the Element of Honesty? His conscience constantly reminded him that lying is wrong.
Apparently fear is an exception.
Thunder looked up at the clock. Luna's evening was beginning, and it was finally time to leave the office. Night Shade, a member of Princess Luna's division of the force, had requested assistance with reports of possible Changeling activity. The night watch noticed several of the Canterlot elite heading out in the dead of night heading towards the ancient caves that led to ruined civilizations. Last that they knew, spelunking was not a hobby of local interest. Celestia forbid those aristocrats chip a hoof or get the slightest bit dirty. The idea was to locate one of the "ponies" in question, and follow them in silence.
Thunder sighed.
"Alright, take this duty and shove it. I'm off to the next one." said Thunder Armor pointlessly. There was nopony in the office this late in the day. He had a few minutes to kill, as Her Majesty hadn't fully lowered the sun. They were to meet at first moonlight, and the time drew near. He wandered over to the window towards the light of dusk.
"Beautiful evening as always, your Majesty." Thunder said in reverence.
From here, he could see out over a great expanse of sky and villages. Ponyville stuck out like a sore hoof, and now with Princess Twilight's castle, it was even more obvious.
"Equestrian government, even though I'm involved... Still confuses me." said Thunder Armor, while pondering how four princesses could reign over the same nation, and manage kingdoms of their own.
It had been a little over a year since Tirek's temporary reign of terror had nearly run the nation into the ground.
Life went on as usual, it's citizens once again blissfully ignorant of the truth. That, despite Discord's claims to be the "Master of Chaos", there were much bigger and more chaotic threats to the nation and it's livelihood. Once more, Thunder's conscience reared it righteous head, and he fought it back.
Thunder Armor closed his eyes, and took a moment to recite his loyalty oath:
"For Her Celestial Majesty, and her Nightly Kin,
we doth protect our own with the Magic within.
Knowing, yet not permitting
seeing, and not speaking.
Let ignorance be their guide, and knowledge be ours.
The Sovereignty of Celestia be not questioned, Luna's Wisdom not neglected.
I give my life in service to Equestria, with Friendship and Harmony for all."
His conscience once more suppressed by his sense of duty, he left to gear up and meet at the rendezvous with Night Shade.
Author's Note
I wanted to give a decent intro, like many a zombie epic, I wanted to give the reader a glimpse into daily life before the Pandemic begins. The stark contrast of a soldier's special knowledge of Equestria's dangers to the blissfully ignorant citizens.
The Pandemic shall be revealed soon.
Chapter Two - Doppelgangers
Night Shade crouched atop the roof of a fancy Canterlot home, silently observing the surroundings through enchanted night-vision binoculars next to Thunder Armor. He was a strong young Bat-pony stallion, strengthened further by intense training, experience, and the shadowy embrace of evening. Thunder had cast muffling spells on themselves, as an operation like this can be foiled by a single hoofstep or wing-beat. While waiting for their intended target given from local guard reports, Thunder was beginning to get restless.
"I wonder when we'll see-
"-Target spotted." Shade interrupted, at the sight of a suspected Changeling spy.
"Finally." Thunder said with relief.
"Alright. Take that route up through the alleyways. I'll follow above, signaling where he's heading. Keep weapons and spells at the ready. Avoid contact, only use them if things go south." Said Night Shade, with concise and practiced instruction.
He outranked Thunder Armor in the Special Task Force, which was in truth a joint branch of the Guard despite Shade belonging to Luna's authority. Thus, Shade was Thunder's superior. Sometimes this bothered Thunder, because they were close in age. But, he did acknowledge that Night Shade had accomplished more. In fact, due to a certain incident while in direct service to Princess Luna, he was put through the Special Task Force's training program and transferred. The details of this particular incident are confidential.
"Yes, sir." Said Thunder obediently. He levitated his grappling hook off his belt, attached the hook to a solid ornamental statue, and rappelled down the side of the impressive Canterlot home.
Thunder moved contrary to his name through the surprisingly clean alleys, following his target. An occasional glance upwards towards Shade would reassure him that he was still properly tracking their target, which, if it was in fact a Changeling, looked very convincing. It appeared to be a grey earth pony stallion with a top hat, bow tie, and monocle. He was making his way through the dark and quiet streets towards the west gate.
Towards the direction of the caverns, Thunder mentally noted.
Continuing his pursuit, which required swift, quiet movements and occasionally refreshing his muffle spell, his black pull-over mask concealing the light from his horn. He eventually overtook his target and saw the Changeling's approach. With a glance towards Night Shade, who had found cover and rest on a nearby cloud, Thunder waited hidden behind shiny metal garbage cans to make the next move.
Alright, he's almost out of the city. This is confirming every suspicion... Thunder Armor thought, while waiting for the Changeling to pass by. But then, he noticed the way to the west gate becoming busier. And busier. Something wasn't right. More and more high-class "ponies" were making their way onto the street. Two, then four, then ten. Then twenty. And more, And more! Thunder remained calm, and wondered if he should get a better hiding place... He looked toward Night Shade, who used the universal sign for "GET THE BUCK OUT OF THERE." Good, they weren't going to abort. Thunder Armor examined the alley he'd ended up in. There was some old boxes and a dumpster. He was about a block from the gate itself, and needed to move. More and more "ponies" seemed to be coming out of the darkness itself, and he was paranoid that there was... Oh, no. There was. Thunder barely had to turn when he saw them. Coming up from the alley behind him, there were several pony-shaped figures coming towards his direction. He had to move. Now. He didn't dare risk a fight, if it got too noisy all Tartarus would break loose. With Cerberus.
They hadn't yet noticed him, they seemed rather intent on reaching the street. Thunder decided his best way out was up, but that risked drawing attention...
He resented the next thought he had: The dumpster behind me. Yuck.
Thankfully, the left-hoof lid was open, and so slipping into it unseen was easy. The smell, however... For the sake of the reader, let's not go there.
Thunder Armor waited for them to pass, listening. More steps. And more... How many are there? Thunder thought, growing tired of crouching in garbage. He didn't dare shift positions, if he let a single part of him become visible above the dumpster's top, he'd be found out. Finally, after what felt like an hour, there was silence. No steps. No chatter... All was silent in Canterlot. Thunder crawled out of the dumpster, thankful to be free from it's stench. Well, somewhat. It decided to hang around in his nostrils like that one unwanted visitor.
The streets were quiet. Thunder Armor poked his head around the corner to see towards the west gate. There was nopony. Or Changeling. This was definitely more than a spy ring, this had already become a full-on army, amassed to take over Canterlot. They were gathering.
"Oh, crap! Wher-" Thunder managed, before Night Shade appeared seemingly from nowhere, both answering his question and startling him half to death.
"We need to move. They've left the city, and due to you getting stuck, we need to catch up. But, seeing that there's a crowd, catching up shouldn't be difficult. Come on, soldier." Night Shade said methodically.
"Yes, sir." Was the only appropriate response, and quite frankly, the only thing he could manage.
Dusting himself off and levitating off any spare pieces of garbage still attached, Thunder Armor obeyed orders and followed behind Night Shade in pursuit of the mass of several hundred of what were clearly clones. They were following at full gallop, muffled by magic.
Keeping to shadows and foliage, they eventually caught up and they observed the doppelgangers were heading single-file into what appeared to be the entrance to a deep, ancient cavern, the ruins of a long-lost civilization.
"Once they're all in, we follow." said Night Shade.
"Yes, sir." replied Thunder Armor.
Something sinister is just below the surface.
Chapter Three - The Undead Awaken
Thunder Armor and Night Shade had entered the cool, dark cavern, making Thunder thankful that their combat uniforms were nice and warm. There was a constant dripping, a leak in the ceiling that nature had neglected to patch.
Night Shade required no enchantment or device here, in total blackness his eyes gave off a slight yellow glow as a natural ability. In Canterlot, he had needed the binoculars as a pony can only see so far. Thunder, however, had cast a tactical spell on himself, taught to unicorns put through S.T.F. training. It allowed him a similar form of vision that Night Shade had.
"How long before they realize the guard at the entrance is gone, sir?" Thunder asked, thinking of the Changeling's communication spells passed on by their Queen.
"They'll realize in about twenty minutes when they check in with him and realize he's out cold. They see what he sees. Which is why we needed to find them two minutes ago." Night Shade replied, with a hint of stress unusually evident in his voice.
After the incident in service to Luna, he refused to let "failure" become an option. It was a word that simply no longer existed in his vocabulary.
They descended deeper into the ancient cavern that had existed long before Celestia and Luna. There were narrow corridors, small parts where the cave opened into tiny domes, and evidence of former civilization. Moss and fungus grew along walls and pathways, emanating blue and yellow auras.
Finally, they came to a massive underground dome, a huge crack in the ceiling formed by the roaring waterfall creating a small pool that filled, then drained, into old aqueducts carved out by the long-dead inhabitants. Old, decaying housing, structured in a strange cube shapes, were once stacked one on top of another, staircases providing entrance to higher floors. Now, thousands of years later, they were collapsing and eroding, a mixture of petrified wood and carved stone.
There were also skeletons scattered about the floors and staircases, seemingly posed to perish together in violent conflict with each other.
Thunder Armor took all of this in as they descended the massive carved stone staircase, simultaneously in awe and disgust.
How could such a seemingly Utopian society end up like this? Thunder thought. As they reached the bottom, he saw the answer he had once read in a legend deemed by the S.T.F.'s standards to be "fiction."
Observing the positions of several of the ancient skeletal bodies, he realized they had died protecting themselves. Thunder realized with horror permeating his mind and soul:
The Undead.
According to legend, it was a curse that killed a group of miners deep under the surface. They had unearthed crystals, and upon touching them they were instantly killed and a few moments later, reanimated by the latent eldritch necromancy. The bodies dead, slowly decaying and a constant hunger for flesh.
The magic acted like disease, spreading into the bloodstream of any who were not completely consumed and turning them. Within less than a day, a grand civilization fell.
"I've got a really bad feeling about this, sir." said Thunder Armor.
"Shove it aside, we've got a job to do." replied Night Shade.
As they were rounding the perimeter, a group of Changelings leaped out from behind rocky outcroppings and attacked!
"AMBUSH! screamed Night Shade, drawing the Bat'leth* slung over his side and taking flight.
Thunder Armor ducked for cover behind a fallen column, to avoid the Changelings' green energy beams that became sticky green slime on impact. He drew his long sword and short sword off his belt, levitating them at either side. About fifteen of them were focused on Thunder, and the other focused on Night Shade above, with five of the other group taking flight and giving chase to him.
"I GUESS THIS MEANS OUR TWENTY MINUTES ARE UP!?" Thunder screamed over the sound of at least thirty different Changelings firing their green magic.
"LIGHT 'EM UP, SOLDIER!!!" commanded Night Shade, dodging a spell and using the momentum to send an airborne Changeling to it's demise by sinking his blade into the neck, the green insectoid blood spilling out. Shade ripped the blade out mercilessly, and let the body drop below.
Meanwhile, Thunder Armor knew exactly what Shade meant: The Incendiary potions on his bandoleer.
Canterlot's top military scientists and mages had come together in recent years to create volatile potions that explode when shattered. The combat advantage was clearly seen among the guard divisions allowed to use them, and thus production eventually was divided into making four kinds of these potions: Explosive, Incendiary, Corrosive, and Shock.
Thunder Armor waited for a break in the Changeling's spellfire, gave a couple potions a shake with levitation, then lobbed them over the column towards the Changeling squad...
With a shatter, the potions exploded and washed the area in magical purifying flame. The intense heat caused instant immolation for several of the squad below.
Night Shade soared above the heat, grinning through the sword's bit. He was in his element.
Leading the pursuers along, he sped towards the cavern wall. The airborne Changelings gave chase, then four realized their foolish mistake much too late.
Night Shade had flown forward, brought his hooves to the wall, and pushed off with all his might. The result was both lengths of his blade separating heads from bodies as he flew backwards, allowing his body to free fall toward the ground. The other ten that had not been so gullible gave chase, dive-bombing with green magic enveloping their heads.
This, however, proved to Night Shade that they were stupider than the four he had just killed. He rolled his body upright, and swept to the side. With the Changelings diving, he hovered to the side to watch them fall right into the fiery trap below.
Thunder Armor stepped out from behind cover to approach the swath of flames still burning. As the Changelings landed, he fired off combat spells to dispatch of any that weren't catching fire, of which were few. "IT BURRRNSSSS! AHHHHhahaha...." cried one, running from the flames. Thunder rolled his eyes as the Changeling should have done with its body, and flung his short sword at it. The small double-edged sword found itself lodged through Changeling torso.
Night Shade descended to Thunder's side.
"Good work. Now, put out the fire and check for survivors."
"Yes, sir." Thunder Armor did as he was told, extinguishing the magical flames and checking pulses. None were left alive.
As Thunder finished up checking bodies and gathered his weapons, he saw a pulsing, brown glow emanating from around a corner. Night Shade noticed this, too.
Shade looked at Thunder and nodded knowingly.
"Proceed."
"Yes, sir."
They approached the source of the sickly, glowing light. Thunder Armor saw the cavern leading downward, at a slight incline.... He also saw innumerable chrysalises, containing decaying bodies of Canterlot socialites lining the walls.
"Oh, my..." Thunder Armor managed, before dry heaving. The sight was truly hellish, with portions of neck having been torn away so that a Changeling might suck out any love the unfortunate soul might have. Their faces were locked in utmost agony.
"Get it together. We keep moving, an-"
"HHHUUUUURRRRAAGCCCHHHH!!"** a horrible, blood curdling sound let loose from deeper in, interrupting Night Shade.
Thunder Armor shot up, readying his weapons for what he dreaded in his mind.
Night Shade looked towards the direction of the sound and drew his Bat'leth once more.
"I'm thaking pointh." Shade said through the bit.
Thunder Armor nodded, and steadied his nerves.
They moved slowly and carefully, watching the area for movement. Suddenly, Thunder couldn't see. He realized that his spell expired... He cursed under his breath in the dim, pulsing brown glow. He could see the silhouette of Shade ahead of him, still moving... He cast the night vision spell once more.
As soon as he did, Night Shade let out a scream of absolute pain!
"Sir! SIR! What happened?" Thunder Armor rushed to the collapsed body of his superior... And discovered him lying in a pool of his own blood. Night Shade was twitching, as if he was having a seizure.
"Sir! Come on, stay with me!"
"Urggh..! Ackh!" Night Shade couldn't do anything but gargle and sputter. His throat had been ripped out.
Thunder swallowed hard, and looked around. He saw no sign of the attacker, and no sign of Night's Bat'leth. Which told Thunder that the weapon probably found itself sunk deep into the flesh of whatever creature attacked him. Thunder looked closely at the wound. It appeared that Night Shade had been bitten, and there was a strange sickly brown liquid swirling in the blood.
Thunder's right ear twitched at a noise...
Backing up, he looked toward the source of the sound, straight up, and dropped his weapons at the sight. He saw hundreds of Changelings hanging from chrysalises on the cavern ceiling, watching him. Their usually blueish eyes were instead glowing and pulsing with the brown light. The cocoons also shared the sick color that resembled decay.
They were the source of the strange aura...
Thunder Armor realized with horror: The Changelings had already won. It didn't take much for him to realize that they had been experimenting with necromantic energies, from his knowledge of the Undead's legend.
In all of his shock of realization, he didn't notice the body of Night Shade reanimate. Night Shade was dead, but his body slowly rose from the floor. It took its first breath of undeath, and turned toward the smell of the living.
The body of the former S.T.F. bat pony shambled over to Thunder Armor, who was still frozen in shock...
Who then shook himself out of it, and heard the strange and irregular breathing of his now Undead superior. Thunder tried to focus levitation on his nearby sword, but his fear was too great. The life was gone from Shade's eyes, replaced by a brown glow. A disgusting ooze dripped from his muzzle and through his mask, falling to the floor and reacting with the blood-soaked stone.
Thunder finally got a full grip on himself, and turned to run. As he did, Changelings started to drop like dead weight. They were hatching from the cocoons... And so were the missing socialites! Thunder was soon surrounded, with no way out. His eyes darted to every possible direction, searching for escape... There was none.
"Well, if I'm going down... I MIGHT AS WELL GO DOWN FIGHTING!!" Thunder Armor shouted with all his will, and grabbed for the last two incendiary bottles on his bandoleer.
He gave them a shake, and tossed them, washing the innumerable Undead with flames. The mob of rotting flesh was not fazed, though some fell in the extreme heat, it was not enough to break through.
Thunder sat, knowing his life would soon end. He closed his eyes, and recited his loyalty oath for the last time, regretting he could not warn Equestria of the coming doom.
"For Her Celestial Majesty, and her Nightly Kin,
we doth protect our own with the Magic within.
Knowing, yet not permitting
seeing, and not speaking.
Let ignorance be their guide, and knowledge be ours.
The Sovereignty of Celestia be not questioned, Luna's Wisdom not neglected.
I give my life in service to Equestria, with Friendship and Harmony for all."
At the last word, Thunder Armor became washed in agony as he became a feast of flesh for the newly Undead.
Author's Note
*I'd imagine a Bat Pony would be armed with something like this, and it's also my theory that Pegasai use dual-bladed swords, to compensate for a lack of magic to levitate a weapon. On the subject, I'd imagine Earth Ponies and Unicorns using more standard swords and weapons. Case in point, many of the Canterlot guard in the wedding arc were using spears.
Bat-pony Weapons:
**If you've ever seen The Walking Dead, which, chances are if you're reading this, you probably have, it's basically the sound that walkers make.
